Pioneers Leave Civilization

Early immigrants to Iowa left friends and family in the East to move to the new land. They also left behind established cities and schools.

Their travels had taken them from the forest in the East to the open prairies of Illinois and Iowa. They were leaving behind friends and civilization as they had known it: established cities with their markets, churches, schools and newspapers. Ahead wilderness and unknown hardships. Many settlers assumed that the lack of trees in Iowa meant poor soil—that nothing could grow—but soon this idea vanished as more farmers ventured onto prairies and found the land extremely rich. In Iowa there was little need to clear trees as they had done back East. The open prairie was ready for the plow almost immediately.