The Wild Past of Iowa

The Wild Past of Iowa

By Ryan Graden

Iowa officially became a state on December 28, 1846 but that does not mean people weren’t living here long before that.

I often wondered as I’ve been in the timber, “Who was here before me?” Alternatively, even along those lines, “What was here before me?” I’m sure if the timber could speak, I would sit and listen to it tell me stories for days on end. What it saw. What took shelter underneath it? What rested in its branches? Who was hunting nearby and what they were hunting for? Wouldn’t it be neat to know what has walked on the ground that you and I walk on when we are spending time in Iowa’s wild?

With those thoughts in mind, a few years ago, I set out to understand a little more of what Iowa looked like when people started to make their way into the Midwest. What did they see, harvest, and use when they were trying to make a living and survive among the prairies of middle America. What I found out was incredible and it left me wishing for the things that are now in the past.

Let me lead you into the past and show you what Iowa had to offer its people around the time that it became a state.
In 1825 there were settlers and federally employed Indian agents who began to explore and settle the land that we now call Iowa. All agreed, in those days, that Iowa was “a land so full of game.” At that time, there was an abundance in the variety of species that called Iowa home. Iowa’s rich soil, water resources, and climate seemed to produce an environment that was conducive to many different species. Thus, the ecosystem was self-sustaining and could sustain the men and women that moved into the area. To a point that is.

Bison
When Iowa first started to be settled, Bison was a common resident in most of the areas of Iowa. In the mid-1700’s it was estimated that the population of Bison in North America numbered somewhere between 50-75 million head. The sheer numbers in herds that were seen across the prairies must have been dumbfounding. Who wouldn’t be amazed at what they saw as they crested the rolling hills here in the Midwest.

Here in Iowa, Bison were present in many accounts and journals of the pioneers that made their way across our state or settled in it. Herds of 500 to 5000 were not uncommon to see in the areas of Clay and Palo Alto counties, in the area of Emmetsburg. Most of these early settlers described bison as “large wild cattle” and were quickly understood in their value for meat, hide, and other tools.

For Native Americans, the bison were a much-respected animal and a valuable source of their survival. Again, valued for their meat, hides, and tools made out of bones and horn, the Bison were treasured and held in a spiritual respect with most tribes. Most only harvested what they needed and let the rest of the Bison continue to live an existence on the prairie and in the timber. The numbers were sustainable and Bison thrived as residents of our state.

That all changed when the railroad established itself through the Midwest. The ability to ship meat, hides, and other valuables created a market for this natural resource and it was exploited into near extinction. Bison herds were reduced to a number of around 1000 head and the American Bison was almost lost to us completely.

Now, Bison are present, but not in their true wild form. There are still a few “wild” herds that can trace their lineage to true native standing. Most of those bloodlines now live in Yellowstone National Park as well as a few Canadian Provinces. However, the chances of you and I ever seeing a wild bison again…probably not.

Here in Iowa, occasionally, creek beds, river banks, and fields will turn up bison bones, skulls, and teeth. Next time you are out on one of Iowa’s waterways, keep a keen eye for an ivory bone colored bone sticking out of the bank. You might just have your chance to own a true part of Iowa’s history.

Elk
Much like Bison, Elk were once a common fixture of the Midwestern landscape. Just think what it would have been like to be on horseback making your way through Iowa’s flowing ocean of prairie grasses and hearing an elk bugling off in the distance. I am sure the local timber that you hunt probably heard those calls first hand in their past. However, again, those calls are long in the past and our ears will probably never hear them here.

Elk were accounted for in many of the writings of the early pioneers as they made their way through Iowa. Estimates of elk numbers in the late 1700’s puts them in a population of about 10 million for North America. They could be found in all the Midwestern states and even into Canada. However, like many of the other native game species in Iowa, hunters valued their size, meat, and antlers. As a result their population began to decline very rapidly. By the late 1900’s many of the herds west of the Mississippi were gone due to over hunting and loss of habitat to farming.

There are accounts of elk being seen and harvested in Webster, Boone, Wright, and Lyon counties. Herds numbering in the hundreds and hunters killing up to six or more per day to feed families or troops. By the 1870’s most of the elk were gone from Iowa and the remaining herds were pushed into the area of the Rockies.

Bear
When I moved to where I live now, I discovered a story that made me realize bears once lived in the timber that I now hunt. Supposedly, a local Native American chief named Inkpaduta claimed he killed the last black bear in Iowa in the early 1800’s. Now, again, I am not sure if that is true or not, but it sparked my interest.

Bears, mostly black bears, were a common site in the scene of Iowa as people moved in to the country. At the time, they were easily the largest predator in the state. Most of the written accounts that are left concerning bears in Iowa come from stories of somebody shooting one. Accounts of killing bears in Clayton County, Mahaska County, Buchannan County, Fayette County, Winnebago County and many more told of bears shot in the timber, found in caves, and even on the prairie.

These animals were not harvested for the same reasons that Elk and Bison were. In most cases, bears were killed in situations of protection for people or livestock. A few of those hunts were triggered when livestock had been harmed or killed and men used their dogs to track down these predators to kill them and keep them from doing it again. By the 1870’s the sightings of bears was gone and the great predator of the prairie had moved out of the state.

I know, over the years of my lifetime, occasionally black bears have been seen in our state from time to time. States local to us such as Minnesota and Wisconsin are known to have huntable numbers within their state borders. However, the likelihood of ever seeing a thriving population in Iowa again is probably next to nothing. We will just have to travel elsewhere to see them.

Wolves
Could you imagine seeing something like this pass underneath your stand? A large 100lb wild dog perusing the timber for its next meal. That meal might be you!

In many accounts, wolves and coyotes were often mistaken for each other and even mixed up in sightings of early settlers or pioneers. Nonetheless, we do know that wolves were a part of Iowa even as late as the middle 1800’s.

Gray Wolves were another common predator here on the prairie. Making meals out of Deer, Elk, and other wild game. Sadly, when farms and livestock began to be a part of the environment, wolves took advantage of the “food” that was often left unprotected on the farm.

Again, many of the accounts of wolves that were left for us to read mentioned situations of people being followed by them, experiencing sightings, and even finding them at carcasses of livestock that had been killed. In most cases, these wolves were chased down or trapped, and eventually killed in order to protect people and animals. In 1858 the state passed a bounty law that would pay $3 for Timber Wolves and $1.50 for coyotes harvested. My grandfather once told me years ago that he remembers friends of his bringing in a “pair of ears” to collect a bounty on a coyote when he was young.

Occasionally, Wolves have been spotted here in Iowa. Mostly by folks who are farming or calling predators intentionally. Every so often, some are shot by mistake thinking they are a coyote.

Our landscape has changed, no doubt, in the last 200 years here in Iowa. What our people saw as they gazed over the prairie back then is very different from what you and I see now. They saw it raw and wild, the way God had created it to be. Sadly, nowadays, we are left with the remnants of what was and we will have to settle for that.

Still, we can enjoy what we have at our finger tips and look for the “left behinds” of what was here a few hundred years ago (bones, skulls, and antlers). Who knows, if you are lucky, you might just find a treasure of Iowa’s past. Good luck!