History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Dickinson

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History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/Volume 3/Early History of Iowa Counties
by Benjamin F. Gue

Dickinson

Dubuque

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244834History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/Volume 3/Early History of Iowa Counties — DickinsonBenjamin F. Gue

DICKINSON COUNTY lies along the Minnesota line in the third tier east of the western boundary of the State. It is one of the smallest of counties containing but four hundred five square miles, was originally a part of Fayette but in 1851 was created with its present boundaries and first attached to Polk. The county was named for Daniel S. Dickinson, a distinguished New York statesman and contains several of the most beautiful lakes in the west, among which are East and West Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Silver Lake and Swan Lake. It is estimated that the lakes in the county cover an area of about fifty square miles. A history of the first settlements and their extermination by the Sioux Indians is given in another place.

In the year 1857, after the massacre, other settlers came to the county and made homes about the lakes. Among them were R. A. Smith, Dr. J. S. Prescott, B. F. Parmenter, R. U. Wheelock, O. C. Howe, Henry Barkman, Morris Markham and George E. Spencer. In 1857 a town was laid out on the peninsula, formed by Spirit Lake and East Okoboji, by George E. Spencer, O. C. Howe and B. F. Parmenter and named Spirit Lake; this became the county-seat. The first officers of the county were elected in 1857, as follows: Judge, O. C. Howe; recorder and treasurer, M. A. Blanchard; clerk of District Court, R. A. Smith; sheriff, C. F. Hill; prosecuting attorney, B. F. Parmenter. In August, 1870, Orson Rice established the Spirit Lake Beacon, the first newspaper in the county, at the county-seat. The editor was A. W. Osborne and the

WEST OKOBOJI LAKE,
In Dickinson County

paper was printed the first year at the office of the Northern Vindicator, at Estherville in Emmet County.

The beauty of the lakes and groves of Dickinson County annually attracts thousands of tourists from a distance during the summer. Hotels, cottages, scores of boats of all classes and other accommodations have made Okoboji and Spirit Lake most delightful summer resorts.