2010 Old Threshers Reunion at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

The Quauqueton Mill in mid-southern Buchanan Co, Iowa, was in operation around 1842. A large, masona ...more

ry, powerful mill on the east bank of the Wapsipinicon River. There were few mills in NE Iowa at this time so early year settlers had to travel long distances, some approaching a hundred miles to get a few deer skin bags of wheat turned to flour after the fall harvest and before severe weather set in on the prairies. The trip was dangerous, often done during freeze up as travel was easier than slogging through the tall/wet grass prairie of Iowa.

Steam plowing was common the last half of the 1800's and into the early 1900's. Steam was powerful a ...more

nd could pull 6 to 8 bottom plows while horses and early gas tractors were usually limited to 1-3 bottom plows. Hamilton, IL, 2003 Threshers.

Nearly every pioneer village had several blacksmiths and at least one wagon maker and wheel wright ( ...more

maker). The same shop would do mechanicsl work of all types including normal blacksmith and tool making, plus wagon/implement repair, as well as make new wheels and new wagons, sleds, carts, carriages. This shops were of primary importance to the farms and villages as these area were bascially self sufficient societies for decades.
iowaz@swbell.net

Steam engines were running sawmills in Iowa about the time of settlement of most counties. Water wa ...more

s often the first source of power for mills, but steam was close behind. Steam power was very important in areas without any water power and continued important into the first decades of the 1900's when early gasoline engines would overtake other sources of farm power.

Most electrical production in the late 1800's, early 1900's was produced locally by steam engines ru ...more

nning electrical generators. A limited amount of water power was also utilized. Often a local mechanic, mill operator or blacksmith brought in a rather small generator to set up the first 'power plant' in a farming community. Rural electrical service did not occur in most of Iowa until the late 1930's and into the 1940's. Family farms did not have power until near the end of their era.

Rails coming into most of Iowa by the early 1870's brought boom times to those villages that trains ...more

passed or were close to the rails. Train 'whistle' stops became villages with merchants for shipping and sales.

Harnessing horse/mule power. Tack was hung on the wall of the work horse barn with repair equipment nearby.

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Multiple teams of horses and mules were used to power a large wheat/oat threshing machine, which wou ...more

ld be a 'farming neighborhood' project. Steam engines and early gasoline engines would become the norm.

Near Bonaparte, Iowa, is one of the last remaining examples of a major pioneer lime kiln in the Midw ...more

est. It is a location rarely visited. Pioneer lime kilns of all sizes were locally found throughout the country but slowly replaced by the larger industrial level kilns as rail transporation progresses. iowaz@swbell.net

The Bonaparte Pottery Factory on the Des Moines River was started about 1866 and continued productin ...more

g large amounts of pottery shipped out by river, rail, wagon route until about 1880 Pottery was extemely important for mercantile containers, household ware, butter churns, etc. The pottery converted to an lumber yard and knowledge of the site 'lost' until privately purchased in the 1990's with the owners discovering the pottery history and interested in restoration. iowaz@swbell.net

Bonaparte Iowa was a thriving pioneer village with a large amount of industy industry and trade duri ...more

ng the mid/late 1800's. Major brick making, milling, pottery, lime production, along with numerous other needed pioneer products and trades flurished in Bonaparte. iowaz@swbell.net

Old Thresher, Shelbine, Shelby Co. MO, 2005

A true modern stone mason came out of semi-retirement in 2004/2005 to restore a modern verson of Huc ...more

k Finn's below Cardiff Hill at the north end of the historic area along the Mississippi River in Hannibal, MO. This is a rare view into the history of how many of the better limestone foundations and buildings of the Midwest were built in the 1800's and beyond. iowaz@swbell.net

Threshing wheat with steam power and bailing wheat straw with early gas tractors. Hamiltion, IL, 2003 Treshers.

Tractors and machinery. Hamilton, IL, 2003 Threshers.

Pioneer Log Cabin, Hamilton, IL, 2003 Threshers.

Bushnell and Burnside Depots. Hamilton, IL, 2003 Threshers.

Horse Pull at Hamilton Old Threshers, IL, 2003. Pulling horses are impressively powerful animals. ...more

The last page in cool down shows the muscle bulk and veins of these teams. This series is from start of competition to cool down, so some of the best pulling pics are toward the end when the loads are huge enough to challenge the teams to the point of stopping the pull. The teams know exactly what they must do and as soon as the hitch is hooked up they have to be commanded instantly pulling as a team so hard one has to wonder what they are going to break on their bodies. iowaz@hotmail.com

Steam sawmill in operation at Hamilton, IL, 2003 Threshers.

Plowing with horses at the 2003 Hamilton, IL, Old Threshers. There is also a team of big draft mules in this series of pics.

Harris Horse Pulling Team out of the Kirksville, Missouri area at the 2003 Old Threshers, Hamilton, IL.

Tractors and machinery are paraded by the grandstand starting about noon and continuing non-stop for three plus hours each day of Old Threshers. iowaz@swbell.net

Annual Civil War Re-enactment in Keokuk, Iowa, 2003. Pics are lower resolution as were taken with an early digital camera from the 1990's. iowaz@hotmail.com

Old Threshers, Hamilton, IL, 2002. Small file size pics with an early digital camera.

Civil War Re-enactment at Palmyra, Missouri. First annual in 2002. Pics are older, small file size. iowaz@hotmail.com

Lincoln's New Salem Pioneer Village, NE of Springfield, Illinois. The 'Honest Abe' early manhood village. Pics are small file size from an early digital. File name of pic gives topic.