From the manuscript of Capt. R. P. Speer, read before the Old Settlers' annual picnic in 1903, the following story is taken, relative to the pioneer life of the county:

"I will call your attention to the general condition of our county when I came to it on September 16, 1853, and to some of the most interesting facts connected with its settlement and growth since the time.

"Then the improvements in Cedar Falls consisted of fourteen log cabins and rough one-story frame houses, one very small dry goods and grocery store, a small drug store, a small saw mill and a very small grist mill in which two dressed prairie boulders were used for grinding corn. But shortly afterward five other cheap one-story houses were built and occupied. At that time many jack-oak trees and stumps were found on Main Street between Third and Eighth streets and nine-tenths of the ground which had been surveyed and platted for a town was thickly covered with hazel bushes and small timber.

"Then there was no railroad nearer than Freeport in Illinois and it was necessary to haul dry goods, groceries and many other things which were needed from Dubuque on wagons. Only seventy-six small tracts of government land had been entered in this county prior to 1853 and after I came to Cedar Falls herds of elk and buffaloes were seen frequently within six miles of the town. At that time, beef; pork, poultry, butter and eggs were very scarce, but venison and fresh fish were plentiful. In 1853 and 1854 there were only four unmarried ladies within five miles of the town and there were no dances, or other social entertainments, but wild game was plentiful and every man had a gun.

"When I came to Black Hawk County nine log cabins were the only improvements in Waterloo, and very few settlers were found outside of Cedar Falls and Waterloo in the county. I brought with me to Cedar Falls a much better law library than was in the county at that time, but shortly after my arrival I found that other lawyers had preceded me, and that they had no clients. Therefore, I concluded to dispose of my law books as soon as possible and engage in some other more promising business. As I had studied and practiced land surveying and I was confident that there would be a rush of outsiders to Iowa very soon for government lands, I bought a surveyor's compass and chain, ordered plats of the government lands to be sent to me and was ready to answer calls as soon as there should be a demand for my services. Then I helped for several weeks to enlarge the mill race, and when that job was completed I cut 350 saw logs for Edwin Brown in the woods on the east side of the river and worked the remainder of the winter as tail sawyer in the Overman saw mill.

"In the spring of 1854 many strangers came to Cedar Falls and Waterloo, who desired to secure government lands in Iowa, or buy lots in promising towns, and for three years I was kept busy tracing section lines, showing government lands and selling lands and town lots. In the spring of 1855 I bought a half interest in thirty-eight acres of land lying west of Main Street and north of what is now Twelfth Street for $111 per acre, which I surveyed and platted as R. P. Speer's addition to Cedar Falls. I sold all of the lots on the west side of Main Street, $150 per lot on both sides of Washington Street, and $100 per lot on both sides of Clay Street.

"In 1855 many new houses were built in Cedar Falls, in Waterloo and on farms outside of the towns, of elm, basswood and walnut lumber which was cut in the Cedar Falls mills. About that time a few thousand feet of finishing lumber was brought to town on wagons from Dubuque, which cost $104 per 1,000 feet. Then, although times were good, it was impossible for Cedar Falls or Waterloo to grow rapidly, as neither pine lumber, bricks, lime, nails, etc., could be bought at wholesale prices nearer than at Dubuque and to bring them to Black Hawk County over bad roads by horse-power was very expensive.

"In 1856 Dexter and Harrington began to manufacture good bricks west of the mill dam, and in the same year a good lime kiln was built between the mill race and the river. Very soon afterwards many brick houses were built in Cedar Falls, which improved the appearance of the town very much. In 1853 a big frame schoolhouse, 40 by 50 feet, was built by a voluntary subscription on the knoll west of Main Street and opposite the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway depot, out of native lumber. After its completion it was used frequently on Sundays by missionaries who were sent out to preach to the frontier people. On one of such occasions an eccentric old gentlemen arose from his seat when the preacher was about half through his sermon and advanced toward him, remarking as follows: 'My friend, I do not like to interrupt you, but I have not time to remain here longer and as I expect you will call for a collection, after completing your sermon, I will give you my share now,' and he handed a dime to the preacher and remarked, 'That is the real Jackson money. Good day, sir.'

While I am at it I will refer to only two other of the amusing incidents which were common on the frontier in 1854 and 1855. A Cedar Falls justice of the peace was requested one Saturday to call at a certain house and marry an old bachelor and an old maid on the following Sunday at 1 o'clock P. M. When the officer arrived at the house he found it full of neighbors and the woman was stirring a large dishpan full of whiskey and punch three times, the bride and groom took the floor to be married. After the justice of the peace had got about half through with the ceremony the bride interrupted him with the remark, 'Excuse me, 'squire, as I believe I am standing on the wrong side.' The squire's answer was, 'Stand your ground, madam, as one side is as good as the other.'

"At another time a farmer was elected to a township office and the law required that he should qualify before a proper officer. When the officer proposed the oath to him as follows: 'Mr.---, you do solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and that of the State of Iowa and that you will discharge the duties of the office to which you have been elected according to law,' his answer was, 'Yes, as far as is consistent with my views.'

"In 1854 we had a great Indian scare in Black Hawk County. Some of the few people who had settled in Cerro Gordo County, Floyd and Butler, came down the river as rapidly as possible--on foot, on horseback and in wagons--on their way to Cedar Rapids. They reported that several hundred Sioux Indians had killed white settlers along Clear Lake and that they were coming down the Cedar River, leaving nothing but death and ruin behind them. And as they were followed by others who brought worse reports a company of about forty armed men left Cedar Falls the next morning, to hold the Indians back until the women and children could be sent to places of safety. The first night the company camped near what is now Clarksville and the next morning it advanced as rapidly as possible toward Clear Lake, but in the afternoon we were informed that no white people had been molested, but that the Sioux had attacked a small band of Winnebago Indians and had killed one of them. When we found that the Sioux had intended no harm to the whites, we started on our return trip arriving at Janesville in the afternoon of the next day, where we halted and procured a good supply of what some people called 'Cedar River water,' because it would freeze in bottles or jugs out of doors in cold weather. Then the march was resumed again and the company arrived in Cedar Falls about 10 o'clock P.M., when all of our guns were discharged and three cheers were given, which was a bad mistake, as our friends supposed that we had been scalped and that the Sioux had attacked the town. But they trembled and listened until they heard the white men talk, and then everybody was happy, except one man and woman, who lived in the southern part of town and who started on the run for Waterloo and it was reported that they crossed Spring Creek the next morning on the double quick.

"The Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, now the Illinois Central, was completed to Cedar Falls in 1861, but to prevent the construction of this road along Black Hawk Creek, or its crossing the river near the mouth of Beaver Creek it was necessary for the citizens of Cedar Falls to donate land and town lots, which could have sold readily in 1856 for $75,000.

"Before and during the war our hay was stacked out of doors, our domestic animals were kept in sheds, which were covered with straw or prairie hay, our seed corn was dropped by hand, covered with hoes and cultivated after it came up with a shovel plow; generally hay was cut with hand scythes and gathered into windrows with hand rakes and forks, and most of the small grain was cut with cradles and raked and bound in sheaves by hand. Let us glance at some of the improvements which have been made in agricultural implements and the reduction which has been made in their cost within a few years. About 1867 the McCormick reaper, which cost $225, was used by some men who had large farms and enough money to buy it. Six horses were necessary to operate it in the field. The grain was thrown on the ground with the fork by a man who stood on the machine and five men were required to follow it and bind the sheaves by hand. Afterward a much cheaper reaper was offered for sale which dropped the unbound sheaves on the ground and only four horses were required to operate it. In a short time the dropping harvester was followed by another new machine which was so arranged that two men could stand on it and bind loose grain as fast as five men could bind it after a McCormick or dropping machine. Then a skillfully made and durable self binder was offered to the farmers, which would cut and bind fifteen acres of grain per day and only one man was necessary to mind the team and operate the machine. In 1863 the Buckeye mower, which cut a swath of grass four feet wide, was sold for $110, but now a better machine which will cut a swath six feet wide can be bought for $45. In 1870 the best wagon sold for $110, but now equally good wagons can be bought for $62. Fully as great improvements and reductions in cost have been made on corn planters, cultivators, plows etc., and during the same time equal advancement was made in manufacturing most of the other useful things."