Artifacts from Ag History

[Abby Brown] There's a small town in Iowa that has a big museum with exhibits full of artifacts and history about life in the area, including coal mining and the pioneer days. Today, we're going to check out some agricultural equipment that you won't see used on any farms these days.

(Map marking Wayne County in south central Iowa.)

The Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon stands as a proud representation of history for this community and the surrounding areas. One of the buildings here is a heritage barn containing a huge collection of old fashioned farm equipment. Iowa’s early settlers would have used these tools.

The first engine powered farm tractors used steam. The Prairie Trails Museum has two steam-powered tractors. They were true workhorses on pioneer farms.

(A black tractor with a horizontal cylindrical boiler at the front like a small train engine. The engine has a canopy top and big chevron ribbed metal rims in the back. The front of the tractor is held up by two smaller metal wheel frames.)

(A steam powered threshing machine with a large canvas rope, like a firehose, running from the large wheel on the tractor to two smaller wheels on the threshing machine in front of the tractor like a pulley system.)

This is a rare agricultural artifact. It's a wooden corn planter that would have been used in the 1850s or so. And so up here would be where the horses would get attached. And back here is where one person would sit. This person's job was to move these wooden levers back and forth, which planted a seed down below where the rudders were making a line in the dirt. And back behind was another person. That person's job was to steer the horses. And finally, the wheel with a nice wide surface would come along and cover up the corn.

Farming is just one of the many legacies celebrated at the Prairie Trails Museum. There are loads of displays and artifacts that keep visitors turning every corner in anticipation.

Every county in Iowa has deep roots in agriculture. Wayne County brings that history to life.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.