Humboldt County
Historical Association
PO Box 162
Humboldt, Iowa
50548
Return to FEATURES
The Des
Moines River—Rutland
to Humboldt
by
Russ Campbell
In the 20's Jack Eversoll and Tony Nissen started a rendering plant about a quarter mile east of Rutland on the north side of the river just south of Floyd Blomker's house on the blacktop just east of Rutland. Jens Odgaard as a young boy, worked there. Later it was a slaughter house run by Alfred Jensen and ran until about 1950.
In about the late 20's or early 30's Peter Jensen and son Harvey Jensen (who married Otis and Herb Nelson's sister) built what was later called Shipman's Cabins. Harvey's sister married Will Wendle. These cabins are straight west of Harold Thompson's buildings on the north side of the river. These consisted of three cabins plus a kitchen unit.
Just east of those cabins around a bend in the river a nice cabin was built in the late 30's or early 40's by a Dr. Huffman from Fort Dodge who was an eye doctor.
Just south of that cabin which is just north of Myer's Island is where a boy [whose first name was] Eddie drowned in deep water. Since than that place has been called The Eddy. The boy's body was recovered by Myron Whipple's father which takes it back to the 1920's or before.
Just south of there is the Myer's Island which I believe is the only island in Iowa privately owned. In the early 1920's Joe Myers (Denton Myers' dad) bought a piece of land from John Berkhimer to have a place to cut wood for fire. A few years later the river changed its course which made it an island so that is why he has the only private island in Iowa.
Judson Haynes drowned north of Berkhimer bridge in 1915. His body was recovered by Ralph Bellows, who was a boater, hunter, etc., and also owned the Coca-Cola Plant.
Mary Lou Odgaard (little sister of Jens Odgaard) was killed in 1932 in a car on the Berkhimer bridge when hit by a Standard Oil gas truck driven by Floyd Cooper.
Charles Daniels drowned after a boat driven by Harold Parsons hit a sunken log during high water just south of Highway 3 bridge, I think in the 60s.
On the upper terrace of Sheldon Park towards the south end there is a pioneer lady from a covered wagon buried just south of a lilac bush which I believe is still in the park. This happened in the 1860s or 1870s as near as I could find out.
Just southwest across the river from Carl Parson's house (east end of the Country Club) where the creek empties out is where Ralph Bellows had an elaborate duck blind built.
Just north a couple hundred feet from Carl Parson's house was Andrew Christensen's oil well where he took a lot of his Danish friends for quite a few bucks in the late 20s or early 30s.
About 2 blocks south of Carl Parson's house was a cabin built in 1939 by kids that took lumber from the Highway 3 bridge building crew and floated it down the river to build a nice little cabin on the east side of the river.
Next comes the Scout Island which was a complete island surrounded by water all the time. We fished there on the south side all the time year around. This included from the 20s to the 60s.
Just north of the west dam there used to be a farmstead (house, corn crib, etc.) where Bill and Edna Munson lived and farmed. He used to drive his truck, car, and teams across the river just west of Mrs. Harold DeGroote's house.
From 1908 till 1960 there was a large houseboat either in the water or on the bank. It was owned by Bill Stearns and had a large Reo truck motor that propelled. It sat where Dr. Arent built his house above the dam.
In the late 20s or early 30s Gus Rictor went across above the dam on the ice with a good sized sled with a box on it over to the Munson farm to get some corn for his chickens. He loaded too much on the sled and on the way back across the river the weight of the load cracked the ice and he drowned. His body was recovered after a lot of ice was broken up.
Just west of Dr. Harmon's house about 4 blocks and about a block up the creek Cassie Skow built a dam once that lasted a few years before high water washed it out.
Just east of Highway 169 where the east fish pond is where Bill and Cliff Myers lived in two double-walled tens the year around and just hunted and fished and trapped. They also did very little other work.
In the early 1900s the Metzner twin girls were both drowned during a severe storm. Both girls were in a separate boat with their boy friends who could swim but couldn't save the two girls. I don't know what stretch of the river they drowned on.
Since preparing this history of the Des Moines river I have talked to Mrs. Bernice Smith and she gave me the following information: About 1913 just north of the Munson Buildings as the river ban turns west were three lovely homes that faced north. They were owned by the Stearns family, the Pinney family, and the third unknown. Also back behind all the trees was a field that was tillable that was the first Humboldt Country Club. This was later moved to the Volberding Hill where it remained until 1928 when it was moved to its present location. My father farmed that ground the last time it was farmed in 1917.
I also forgot to mention that where Sherm and Paul Silbaugh live there were two ice houses (one wooden, one block) that were blown down in a near tornado in about 1928. The straw between the ice chunks held out all summer after the storm.
Also at a time before that there was a dance hall by the ice house. And just east of there was the Big Tree where a lot of skinny dipping took place.
Added to Humboldt Public Library Collection 1998