Our study of the high places in Iowa literature has already been
somewhat extended into the new century. The transfer of the Iowa
magazine to St. Louis, in 1898, and its speedy suspension thereafter
did not deter many Iowans from continuing to write. Difficult as it
was for our unknowns to find a market for their wares in Eastern
magazines and publishing houses, the persistent few, who knew they had
what the public should want, "knocked" again and again "at the golden
gates of the morning," and in due time the gates were opened unto
them.
Edwin Legrange Sabin's first essay in _Midland_ fiction was "A
Ghostly Carouse,"--full of promise. His first book, "The Magic Mashie
and other Golfish Stories," in common with all his other works, throbs
with the heart of youth. His magazine verse, mainly humorous, has the
same quality. Latterly he has been illuminating history, and
especially the fast-dissolving wild life of the West, with stories
closely adhering to fact and yet rampant with adventure--the kind of
books our outdoor boys take to bed with them! To his readers Kit
Carson, Fremont, Buffalo Bill, are as much alive as are the heroes of
the stadium, the tennis court and the links. But underneath this
delightfully light literature there is well-nigh concealed a poet of
the Swinburne type, as witness this bit of verse:
"Upon the purple hillside, vintage-stained,
In drowsy langour brown October lies,
Like one who has the banquet goblet drained,
And looks abroad with dream enchanted eyes."[5]
[5] Country Life in America, October, 1902.
Mrs. Bertha M. Shambaugh's _Midland_ sketch of "Amana Colony; a
Glimpse of the Community of True Inspiration,"[6] suggested something
more than "a glimpse," and in 1908 appeared an exhaustive study of
that "peculiar people," entitled "Amana, the Community of True
Inspiration," a valuable contribution to Iowa history.
[6] In the Midland Monthly, v. 6, p. 27.
Professor Selden L. Whitcomb, of Grinnell, had previously published
several outlines for the study of literature, but his first volume of
"Lyrical Verse" appeared in 1898. Two other books of poems followed,
one in 1912, the other in 1914. His verse is marked by delicacy of
poetical suggestion and perfection of rhyme and rhythm.
George Meason Whicher, of New York, whose name is now often seen in
_The Continent_ of Chicago, is the author of "From Muscatine and Other
Poems" and of recent prose with Italian and Latin background. Mr.
Whicher is the author of four poems in the _Midland_, all harking back
to the poet's boyhood days in Muscatine, Iowa.
Dr. Frank Irving Herriott, dean of sociology at Drake University, a
voluminous writer on historical and sociological themes, has a long
list of works to his credit, all bearing twentieth century dates
except one published by the American Academy which appeared in 1892.
He wrote for the _Midland_ a strong plea for public libraries, a
plea which, doubtless, had its influence in inaugurating the library
movement in Iowa beginning with the new century.
Another scholar in the sociological field who has made his impression
upon thousands of students and adult readers is Dr. Frank L. McVey,
president of the University of North Dakota. His historical sketch in
the _Midland_, "The Contest in the Maumee Valley," was followed
by other published papers and these by several books on sociological
themes, among them "Modern Industrialism" and "The Making of a Town."
There are few more scholarly literary critics than Welker Given, of
Clinton, Iowa. His Shakespearean and classical studies have won for
him an enviable place among students of the classics.
Mrs. Anna Howell Clarkson, of New York, wife of Hon. J. S. Clarkson,
long prominent in Iowa journalism and in national politics, followed
up her _Midland_ article on "The Evolution of Iowa Politics" with
a book entitled "A Beautiful Life and Its Associations," a tribute of
loving regard to a former teacher and friend, Mrs. Drusilla Alden
Stoddard.
A _critique_ on "Our Later Literature and Robert Browning" in the Iowa
magazine in April, 1897, may, or may not, have turned the current of
Lewis Worthington Smith's whole life; but its critical power made
friends for the Nebraska professor and warmed the welcome given him
when, in 1902, he took up his work in the English department of Drake
University of Des Moines. While Professor Smith has published several
works on language and literature and an acting drama entitled "The Art
of Life," his literary reputation rests mainly upon his poetry. Since
the opening of the new century, volume has followed volume; first
"God's Sunlight," then "In the Furrow," and, in 1916, "The English
Tongue," and "Ships in Port." Many of the poems in the two last
named evince the impact of the World War upon a soul of strong
sensibilities. Tempted to quote whole poems, as showing the wide range
of this poet's vision, I will limit myself to the first stanza of "The
English Tongue":
"Words that have tumbled and tossed from the Avon and Clyde
On to where Indus and Ganges pour down to the tide.
Words that have lived, that have felt, that have gathered and
grown.
Words! Is it nothing that no other people have known
Speech of such myriad voices, so full and so free,
Song by the fireside and crash of the thunders at sea?"
Jessie Welborn Smith, wife of Professor Smith, is a frequent
contributor of short stories and sketches to popular magazines.
The late Henry Wallace, though for many years an agricultural editor
in Iowa, modestly began his contribution to general literature in
the _Midland_ with a pen-picture of the Scotch-Irish in America.
Subsequently he wrote his "Uncle Henry's Letters to a Farm Boy," which
has run through many editions; also "Trusts and How to Deal With Them"
and "Letters to the Farm-Folk."
Eugene Secor, of Forest City, published poems in the _Midland_ which
were followed by "Verses for Little Folk and Others," "A Glimpse of
Elysium" and "Voices of the Trees."
Helen Hoyt Sherman's modest "Village Romance" led to a long list of
popular books, published since her marriage and under her married
name, Helen Sherman Griffiths. Born in Des Moines, her present home is
in Cincinnati.
Herbert Bashford, born in Sioux City, now living in Washington and
California, contributed to the _Midland_ a half-dozen poems of
much promise. Mr. Bashford is now literary editor of the _San
Francisco Bulletin_ and has several books of poems and several
popular dramas to his credit.
Mrs. Ella Hamilton Durley, of Los Angeles, formerly of Des Moines, a
pioneer president of our Press and Authors' Club, and a prolific
writer for the press, followed her journal and magazine successes with
two novels, "My Soldier Lady" and "Standpatter," a novel of Southern
California love and politics.
Caroline M. Sheldon, Professor of Romance Languages in Grinnell
College, has followed up her _Midland_ study of American poetry with
"Princess and Pilgrim in England," and a translation and study of
Echegary's play, "The Great Galeoto."
Many still recall with interest the realistic serial which ran in the
_Midland_, entitled "The Young Homesteaders," also a number of short
sketches and stories of pioneer life in the West, by Frank Welles
Calkins, then of Spencer, Iowa, now a Minnesotan. Mr. Calkins has
since become a frequent contributor to magazines, and a writer of
books of outdoor life and adventure. His latest novel, "The Wooing of
Takala," appeared in 1907.
One of the marked successes in the world of books and periodicals is
Julia Ellen Rogers, long a teacher of science in Iowa high schools.
While a resident of Des Moines she contributed to the _Midland_ a
descriptive article, "Camping and Climbing in the Big Horn," which
evinced her love of "all outdoors" and her ability to describe what
she saw. Her editorial connection with _Country Life in America_ and
her popular series of nature studies, "Among Green Trees," "Trees
Every Child Should Know," "Earth and Sky," "Wild Animals Every Child
Should Know," have given their author and her books a warm welcome
from Maine to California.
One of the bright particular stars in our firmament, remaining almost
undiscovered until near the close of the century's first decade, is
Arthur Davison Ficke, of Davenport. Circumstances--his father's
eminence at the bar--conspired to make the young poet a lawyer; but he
could not--long at a time--close his ears to the wooing of the muse,
and off he went, at frequent intervals, in hot pursuit of the elusive
Euterpe. Though still a lawyer of record, the inward call of the soul
must soon become too strong to be resisted. _Poeta nascitur._ I can
see the young lawyer-poet in his own "Dream Harbor," and can feel his
glad response to the call from the dream-world:
"Winds of the South from the sunny beaches
Under the headland call to me;
And I am sick for the purple reaches,
Olive-fringed, by an idle sea.
"Where low waves of the South are calling
Out of the silent sapphire bay,
And slow tides are rising, falling,
Under the cliffs where the ripples play."
It was natural that the sons of the late Henry Sabin should write
acceptably. Though slightly older in years, Elbridge H. Sabin is
younger in literature than his brother "Ed." The first decade of the
new century was well advanced before Elbridge turned his attention
from law to literature. The brief touch of life in the open given him
while soldiering during the Spanish-American war may have suggested
the change in his career. His first essay in authorship was "Early
American History for Young Americans" (1904). He then turned his gaze
skyward and in 1907 appeared "Stella's Adventures in Starland."
Fairyland next invited him and in 1910 appeared "The Magical Man of
Mirth," soon followed by "The Queen of the City of Mirth." In 1913
appeared his "Prince Trixie."
James B. Weaver, son of General Weaver, another lawyer with the poet
soul, but with a somewhat firmer hold on "the things that are," has
written much prose which only requires the touch of the _vers
libre_ editor to turn it into poetry. His appreciation of Kipling
and other poets and his fine character-sketches, as for example that
of Martin Burke, pioneer stage-driver and farmer, are remembered with
delight. Just once, many years ago, when, a happy father, he looked
for the first time upon his "Baby Boy," the poet in his nature
obtained the upper hand of the lawyer and he wrote:
"O golden head! O sunny heart!
Forever joyous be thy part
In this fair world; and may no care
Cut short thy youth, and may no snare
Entrap thy feet! I pray thee, God,
For smoother paths than I have trod."[7]
[7] Midland Monthly, March, 1897.
Mr. Weaver was president of the Iowa Press and Authors Club in 1914-15
and the success of the famous Iowa Authors' Homecoming in October,
1914, was in large measure due to his untiring efforts.
In that Great American Desert of "free verse," the Chicago magazine,
_Poetry_, the persistent seeker can find here and there an oasis
that will well repay his search. One of these surprises is a poem
entitled "The Wife,"[8] by Mrs. Helen Cowles LeCron, of Des Moines. It
is the plea of a longing soul for relief from the "sullen silence,"
and the "great gaunt shadows" of the "shaggy mountains," and for a
return to "the gentle land," and to "the careless hours when life was
very sweet." Mrs. LeCron is a prolific writer of clever and timely
verse for the press, and is a poet of many possibilities.
[8] Poetry, Chicago, June, 1913.
Honore Willsie (whose maiden name is Dunbar) was born in Ottumwa,
Iowa, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and is a resident
of New York City. To her able editorship may be attributed the new
literary quality of _The Delineator_. It was Mrs. Willsie's
varied successes as a writer of papers on social problems, sketches,
short stories and serials which won for her the literary editorship of
that popular periodical. Her success as a novelist mainly rests upon
"Heart of the Desert," "Still Jim," and "Lydia of the Pines," all
published within the last four years, and each stronger than its
predecessor.
A successful art publisher and an enthusiastic traveler, Thomas D.
Murphy, a native Iowan, long a resident of Red Oak, is the author of a
group of well-written and profusely illustrated books of travel, all
written within the last decade, as follows: "British Highways and
Byways"; "In Unfamiliar England"; "Three Wonderlands of the American
West"; "On Old-World Highways"; and "On Sunset Highways."
Allan Updegraff is a born Iowan whose fame has come early in life. His
"Second Youth" (1917) is winning praise from the critics as "an
agreeable contrast with the stuffy bedroom atmosphere" of many books
of the period, as refreshingly "modest humor," and as having "touches
of characterization and serious feeling" which keep up the interest to
the close.
Among the native Iowans who have distinguished themselves in
literature is Willis George Emerson, of Denver, born near Blakesburg,
Iowa. Mr. Emerson is author of "Buell Hampton," and a half-dozen other
novels, the latest, "The Treasure of Hidden Mountain," also a hundred
or more sketches and stories of travel.
Of the well-known authors who, during the impressionable years of
their youth resided for a time in Iowa, the most famous is "Mark
Twain" (Samuel L. Clemens) who, after his _wanderjahr_, in the late
summer of 1854, took the "Keokuk Packet" and landed in Muscatine,
Iowa, and there became the guest of his brother, Orrin, and his
sister, Jane. Early in the spring of '55, his brother meantime having
married and removed to Keokuk, Iowa, he paid his brother another
visit. Orrin offered him five dollars a week and board to remain and
help him in his printing office. The offer was promptly accepted. The
Keokuk episode extended over a period of nearly two years, "two vital
years, no doubt, if all the bearings could be known." Here he made his
first after-dinner speech, which delighted his audience. Here he made
a record in a debating society. Unable to pay his brother his wages,
Orrin took him in as a partner! A lucky find of a fifty-dollar bill
enabled Twain to start on his travels. Meanwhile he contracted to
write travel sketches for the Keokuk _Saturday Post_. His first letter
was dated "Cincinnati, November 14, 1856." "It was written in the
exaggerated dialect then considered humorous. The genius that a little
more than ten years later would delight the world flickered feebly
enough at twenty-one."[9] A second letter concluded the series! Years
later, just before he joined the Holy Land excursion out of which grew
his "Innocents Abroad," he visited Keokuk and delivered a lecture. He
came again after his return from the trip, on his triumphal lecture
tour across the continent. Years later he and Cable gave readings in
Keokuk, and while there he arranged a permanent residence for his
mother. In 1886, with his wife and daughter, he paid his mother a
visit, renewing old acquaintances and making new friends. In August,
1890, he was called to Keokuk by the last illness of his mother. It
will thus be seen that, next to his home in Elmira, New York, his
"heart's home" was Keokuk.
[9] Paine--Life of "Mark Twain."
Nixon Waterman, author, journalist and lecturer, born in Newark,
Illinois, and long a resident of Boston, was for several years an
attache of a small daily paper in Creston, Iowa. Among his published
works is a comedy entitled "Io, from Iowa." In his several books of
verse are many poems evidently inspired by memories of old times on
the prairies of southwestern Iowa. Here is an echo from the poet's
lost youth:
"Strange how Memory will fling her
Arms about some scenes we bring her,
And the fleeting years but make them fonder grow;
Though I wander far and sadly
From that dear old home, how gladly
I recall the cherished scenes of long ago!"[10]
[10] "Memories" from "A Book of Verses," by Nixon Waterman,
1900.
William Otis Lillibridge, of Sioux Falls, whose brilliant career as a
novelist was closed by death in 1909, was graduated from the College
of Dentistry, State University of Iowa, in 1898. His "Ben Blair" and
"Where the Trail Divides," gave abundant promise.
Randall Parish, though born in Illinois, was admitted to the bar in
Iowa, and for a time was engaged in newspaper work in Sioux City.
Since 1904, when he leaped into fame by his historical novel, "When
Wilderness Was King," volume after volume has come from the press and
every one has met with quick response from the public.
It is hard to account for Herbert Quick. Born on a farm in Grundy
County, Iowa, a teacher in Mason City and elsewhere in Iowa, a lawyer
in Sioux City, mayor of Sioux City for three terms, a telephone
manager, editor of _La Follette's Weekly_, editor of _Farm and
Fireside_, democratic politician, at present an active member of
the Federal Farm Loan Board--with all this record of service, Mr.
Quick has somehow found time, since 1904, to make for himself a name
and fame as a magazine contributor, and, too, as a novelist who writes
novels so novel that they find thousands of readers! Among his best
known books are "Aladdin & Co," "Virginia of the Air Lanes," and "On
Board the Good Ship Earth." Mr. Quick is preeminently a twentieth
century man of affairs. Immersed as he now is in farm loans, it would
not surprise his friends at any time if he were to issue another
compelling novel!
Rupert Hughes, eminently successful as a novelist and dramatist,
though Missouri-born, was for years a resident of Keokuk, Iowa, and
his Iowa associations were so strong that he dropped everything to
come halfway across the continent that he might participate in the
reunion of Iowa authors in 1914. Mr. Hughes' books are among the
best-selling and his plays among the best-drawing. This popular author
has turned soldier. He was an officer of the New York National Guards
in Mexico and again when war against Germany was declared he was among
the first to respond to the call for troops.
Dr. Edward A. Steiner, of Grinnell, Iowa, a sociologist with a vision,
has done more than any other man to bring together in friendly working
relationship our native-born and foreign-born Americans. He has not
only gone up and down the earth preaching an applied Christianity, but
he has also written into nearly a dozen books, all of which have had
many readers, his own experiences in the old world and the new, and
his valuable observations--those of a trained sociologist bent upon
righting the wrongs of ignorance and selfishness as he has found them
embedded in customs and laws. The World War has opened a large field
of usefulness for the Grinnell preacher of national and international
righteousness.
Newell Dwight Hillis, the popular Brooklyn preacher, lecturer and
author, was born in Maquoketa, Iowa, but has spent most of his life
outside the state.
A new name in fictional literature is that of Ethel Powelson Hueston.
Mrs. Hueston was reared in a family of eleven children, and her
popular first book, "Prudence of the Parsonage," written on a claim in
Idaho while caring for her invalid husband--who died in 1915--is the
story of her own experience in a parsonage in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
"Prudence Says So" is a continuation of the story. Mrs. Hueston was
recently married to Lieutenant Edward J. Best, at Golden, Colorado.
Margaret Coulson Walker and Ida M. Huntington, both of Des Moines,
have added to the information and delight of children by a number of
illustrated books. Miss Walker's "Bird Legends and Life," and "Lady
Hollyhock and Her Friends," and Miss Huntington's "Garden of Heart's
Delight," and "Peter Pumpkin in Wonderland" are favorites with many.
Miss Emilie Blackmore Stapp, literary editor of the _Des Moines
Capital_, has written a number of popular stories for children. Her
"Squaw Lady," "Uncle Peter Heathen," and "The Trail of the Go-Hawks"
have found many readers. She has done more than write stories. She has
organized a national club called the "Go-Hawks Happy Tribe," and the
Tribe has undertaken to raise a million pennies to help buy food for
starving children in France and Belgium. The grand total of pennies
reported September, 1917, was 255,000!
Edna Ferber, of "Emma McChesney" fame, and the author of a half-dozen
clever novels, the latest of which is "Fanny Herself," was born in
Wisconsin, but spent much of her youth in Ottumwa, Iowa, where her
father was a successful merchant.
Oney Fred Sweet, born in Hampton, Iowa, and sometime a journalist in
Des Moines, has made a national reputation as a feature writer on the
_Chicago Tribune_ and as a contributor of verse and sketches to the
magazines.
Laura L. Hinckley, of Mount Vernon, Iowa, is a frequent contributor to
the leading magazines. Recent stories in the _Saturday Evening Post_
and in the _Woman's Home Companion_ attest her ability in a difficult
field.
A promising young claimant for literary honors is (Lotta) Allen
Meachem, of New York, born in Washington County, Iowa. Following
several good stories in the magazines, comes her "Belle Jones--A Story
of Fulfilment," published by Dutton.
Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd, born in Iowa City, now a resident of New York,
was in early life a teacher, but since 1898 has been on the staff of
the _New York Sun_. Her "Misdemeanors of Nancy," in 1892, was the
beginning of a successful career in authorship. Her "Nancy," "Bettina"
and "Belinda" are better known to many than are their own next door
neighbors.
Men who have not learned to deny the eternal boy in their nature find
as much enjoyment as boys themselves in reading "Widow O'Callahan's
Boys," and everybody enjoys "Maggie McLanehan," both creations of
Gulielma Zollinger, of Newton, Iowa. Three other books, not so well
known, are added to the list of Miss Zollinger's achievements in
literature.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Eslick) Cooper, born in Homer, Iowa, has spent most of
her adult life in the Orient and is an authority on the status of
women in Oriental lands. She is the author of "Sayonara," a play
produced by Maxine Elliot, of many magazine articles, and of a half
dozen books, all published since 1910. Her books are vivid pictures of
life in China, Egypt, Turkey and Japan.
Among the most prominent magazine writers and journalists of the
period is Judson Welliver. He several years ago graduated from Iowa
journalism to the larger field, the national capital, and has latterly
become one of the regular contributors to _Munsey's_, and a frequent
contributor to other periodicals.
Another prominent magazine writer is Joe Mitchell Chapple, early in
life editor of a La Porte, Iowa, weekly. Mr. Chapple is the founder,
publisher and editor of the _National Magazine_, Boston, and the
author of "Boss Bart," a novel, and editor of a popular collection of
verse.
One of the youngest magazine writers forging to the front is Horace M.
Towner, Jr., of Corning, Iowa, son of Congressman Towner. A long list
might be made of his recent contributions to the leading magazines.
A group of new writers, some of them Iowans, have happily been given a
medium for reaching the public through the new _Midland_, of Iowa
City. Mr. Frederick, the editor, has in the main evinced excellent
judgment in the selection of stories, sketches and verse, and has won
commendation from our severest Eastern critics. The new _Midland_ has,
doubtless, started not a few middle-western authors on their way to
the front in the field of literature.
The World War has already added the names of several Iowans to the
literature of the great struggle. The best known is James Norman Hall,
of Colfax, Iowa, whose "Kitchener's Mob" and articles in the
_Atlantic_ have added greatly to popular knowledge of conditions
at the front. Already twice wounded, the first time in the trenches;
the latest--may it be the last!--in the air, this brave young American
can well say with Virgil, "all of which I saw and part of which I
was." After his discharge from the English army, Mr. Hall went abroad
commissioned to do literary work for Houghton, Mifflin & Company; but
his zeal for the cause of the Allies, combined possibly with a young
man's love of adventure, led him to re-enter the service, this time in
the Aviation Corps. He is now (in September, 1917) slowly recovering
from a shot which penetrated his left lung.
The Gleasons, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Gleason, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and
of New York City, have both won honors in the Red Cross work in
Belgium and incidentally have made valuable contributions to the
"human interest" story of the World War. Mrs. Helen Hayes Gleason was
the first American woman knighted by King Albert for meritorious
service at the front. Mr. Gleason in his "Young Hilda at the Wars"
begins his charming story of Hilda with this tribute to the state in
which his wife first saw the light:
"She was an American girl from the very prosperous State of Iowa,
which if not as yet the mother of presidents, is at least the parent
of many exuberant and useful persons. Will power is grown out yonder
as one of the crops."
"Golden Lads," by Mr. and Mrs. Gleason, is a vivid recital of
experiences with the Hector Munro Ambulance Corps at the front in
Belgium.
Though the evaluations in this review are confined chiefly to _belles
lettres_, it would not be fair to the reader to omit the state's large
indebtedness to Dr. B. F. Shambaugh and his scholarly associates of
the State Historical Society, of Iowa City, for their many valuable
contributions to the general, social and economic history of Iowa; to
Dr. Jesse Macy, of Grinnell, for his valuable studies in the science
of government; to the late Samuel Calvin, also to Dr. Thomas H.
McBride, of the State University, Dr. Louis H. Pammel, of the State
College, and Dr. Charles Keyes, of Des Moines, for their contributions
to science; to Dr. Charles H. Weller, of the State University, for his
"Athens and Its Monuments," and other works throwing light upon an
ancient civilization; to George E. Roberts, of New York, a native
Iowan, for his clear elucidation of national and world problems; to
the late Judges Kinne, Deemer and MacLean, and other jurists for
standard works on jurisprudence; to Carl Snyder, Woods Hutchinson and
a host of other Iowans who are contributing to the current literature
of our time.
This review, incomplete at best, would be unfair to the president of
the Iowa Press and Authors Club were it to conclude without mention of
the inspiration of her leadership. Mrs. Alice Wilson Weitz began life
as a journalist at the Iowa State Capital. In the course of her busy
and successful later career as wife, mother and public-spirited
citizen, she has somehow found time to write on literary and timely
themes. Her latest contribution to the state of her birth is a
scenario entitled "The Wild Rose of Iowa" which was to have been
produced on the screen in all the cities of the state; but,
unfortunately, the film, prepared with great labor and expense, and
with the aid of some of the best dramatic talent in Iowa, was
destroyed or lost on the way from Chicago to Des Moines. It is to be
hoped that this may soon be reproduced, for Mrs. Weitz' scenario
admirably presented in symbol the whole story of Iowa's wonderful
development from savagery to twentieth-century civilization.
A list of Iowa State University publications--a pamphlet of forty-one
pages--includes hundreds of monographs, dissertations, etc., covering
a wide range of original research.
It must have become evident from this incomplete review that Iowa is
literarily, to say the least, no longer inarticulate. It is equally
apparent, to those who really know their Iowa, that, far from being a
dead level of uninteresting prosperity, our state is rich in
suggestive literary material, ready and waiting for the authors of the
future. Topographically, Iowa abounds in surprises. In the midst of
her empire of rich rolling prairie are lakes and rivers, rugged cliffs
and wooded hills, villages and cities set upon hills overlooking
beautiful valleys through which streams wind their way seaward, her
east and west borders defended by castellated rocks overlooking our
two great rivers. Ethnologically, within these borders are communities
of blanket Indians still living in wigwams, surrounded by communities
in which are practiced all the arts of an advanced civilization.
Sociologically, side by side with her native-born and native-bred
citizens, are communities of Christian Socialists, also remnants of a
French experiment in Communism, Quakers, Mennonites, anti-polygamous
Mormons, and whole regions in which emigrants from Holland, Germany
and Scandinavia are slowly and surely acquiring American habits of
thought and life. Historically speaking, we have the early and late
pioneer period with its rapid adjustment to new conditions, with its
multiform perils developing latent heroism, its opportunities for
character-building and for public service. Later the heroic period,
during which a peace-loving people quit the plow, the workshop, the
country store, the office and even the pulpit, to rally to the defence
of the Union. Then, the reconstruction and the new-construction
period, in which Iowa prospered under the leadership of _men_--men who
knew their duties as well as their rights, men who recognized, and
insisted upon recognition of, that "sovereign law, the state's
collected will." And now, an epoch of reviving patriotism coupled with
a world-embracing passion for democracy, in which the youths and young
men of the state are consecrating their strength, their talents and
their lives to a great cause.