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CHAPTER FOURTEEN The State ofthe Colony Y 1883, the year the Cowan brothers arrived in Iowa, some of the earlier settlers had already tired of the adventure and in decamping badmouthed the country, much to the ire of the locals. "It is not what it is represented to be, "" they say," reported one newspaper. "Its resources are exaggerated, its climate misrepresented.... Tilling the soil and tending the cattle is such very hard work.... It is no place for a gentleman to live. Consequently, they are returning home and filling the small space accorded them in the drawing rooms with the result of their acute observations and wails of disappointment.... There is no sadness in the Northwest over their flight. In leaving they sundered no ties which will bleed at their departure .... The idea of caste, of an American aristocracy, is unknown to the brawny-armed settlers.... "I What befell the Closes' town, Quorn, seemed to portend the waning of British presence and influence. The Chicago and North Western Railroad, building grades and laying tracks from the east, finally neared Quorn in the spring of 1883. On 22 June landowner and railroad-builder John I. Blair, whose firm, Blair Town and Lot Company, brought into being some eighty towns, purchased for $1,000 the site of present day Kingsley, one mile east of Quorn. The platting of towns expected to be served by railroads was one of the chief speculative ventures in the settling of the West: some became rich by having a town successfully burst into being; others saw their nebulous villages wither and die as the transportation system bypassed their cherished spot. Blair employed a Vermonter, N. P. Kingsley, to layout the new town, which, instead of Quorn, would be served by the railroad.2 When news of the creation of Kingsley became known, Quorn citizens pretended to be calm, although all businesses quickly crossed the West Fork and settled near the railroad. "Those travelling between here and Kingsley in the night should carry a headlight, otherwise they might run against some of the numerous buildings now on the road," the Quom Lynx noted. Some in Quorn thought the old town would remain as the residential section, but when the Post Office and all other town identification was transferred to Kingsley, the village of Quorn was doomed. Observers speculated that the development of Kingsley at the expense of Quorn was a reaction against Close Brothers, who had been too assertive in trying to induce the railroad to come to Quorn. It 187 188 GENTLEMEN ON THE PRAIRIE seems more likely that the Closes were simply not watching developments carefully enough; nor was the survival of Quorn of vital interest to them any longer. By the time William Close returned to Iowa in November for his only visit in 1883, the removal of businesses to Kingsley had been largely accomplished .3 Ironically, while the Closes were losing their town, the Paullins were succeeding with theirs. Paullina, platted in 1882, was served by another spur line of the Chicago and North Western, the same road that shunned Quorn. With the help of a steady supply of pups, Henry and Edward were busily establishing their wheat, flax, and stock farms. Although in April 1883 newspapers reported the Paullin brothers "temporarily embarrassed," they were soon "again all right, and doing a more extensive business than ever."4 The search for cheap, available tracts led Close Brothers north to Minnesota , which like northwest Iowa was a pocket of sparse settlement. Railroads were just beginning to penetrate the region, thereby providing sound transportation for agricultural products. As early as 1879 James had been scouting in Pipestone; by 1883, southwestern Minnesota had become a major interest of the firm. An agreement was worked out with the city of Pipestone in April 1883 whereby in exchange for ninety-nine town lots and a half interest in 200 acres north of the city limits, the firm agreed to establish an office in Pipestone ; exert influence to promote more railroad building to the town; give priority to developing land nearby; and erect a good hotel to cost not less than $11,000, which had to be finished by January 1884.5 The hotel was completed on schedule, and Fred and Margaret Close moved to Pipestone in February 1884, settling with Mrs. Humble in an apartment above the company office. Fred revealed plans to start a major horsebreeding establishment and built a large barn, mostly to accommodate his brother James...

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