The Story of The Stolen Courthouse first heard in a Storm Cellar in Hawarden
http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/Youth/Awards/NOA.aspx
My RAGBRAI adventure this year is dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America, Grand Canyon Council, Camelback District. Please consider making a donation to my GoFundMe campaign.
https://www.gofundme.com/bike-ride-across-iowa-for-bsa
I begin the adventure today in Orange City, Iowa. I previously told you about being herded into a storm cellar of a house in Hawarden, Iowa, in 1998. I heard the beginning of the story of the stolen Courthouse in that crowded basement that day. Sioux County, Iowa, was established in 1860. Calypso was designated as the County seat, which is now part of Hawarden, Iowa. Calypso and Hawarden are located on the bank of the Big Sioux River, just above where the Big Sioux enters the Missouri River. Most of the early County seats were along the rivers because at the time, rivers were the highways. No railroads. No autos. Very few roads. Sioux County development moved to land further away from the river. Farmers started farming land further away from the river.
Orange City, located in Sioux County, was originally named Holland, and was later renamed in honor of William of Orange in Holland. The area is still strongly Dutch. The population of the Orange City area soon greatly exceeded that of Calypso. The citizens of Orange City decided the Courthouse, which was a small log cabin in Calypso, should be moved to Orange City. There are several versions of the story, but the one I heard in that storm cellar back in 1998, was that a group of citizens of Orange City, in the dead of night and in the dead of winter, descended upon Calypso, broke into the Courthouse, and stole the safe and the County records, removing them to Orange City.
A later story was that a delegation of Orange City citizens went to Calypso, asked for the key to the Courthouse, and were turned down. The next day, the citizens returned with about fifty armed men and fifty sleds, demanded the key to the Courthouse, which was turned over. Thereafter, they removed the safe and the County records and took them to Orange City. Of course, lots of litigation ensued over this, but the Courthouse to this day, is still in Orange City.
Four years later, in 2002, RAGBRAI went through Orange City. At that time, no businesses were open on Sundays; however, all of the men of Orange City were on the Town Square dressed in orange blazers and handing out orange New Testaments. I decided they were doing penance for their ancestors who stole the Courthouse in the 1880s.
Orange City has been a pass-through town for RAGBRAI on several Sundays before now. This is the first year that Orange City will be a start town. Yesterday, I flew to Omaha, where I joined up with the Pottawatomie Peddlers for the bus ride to Orange City, Iowa. We arrived in Orange City about 2:00 pm, which gave me time to investigate whether they are "doing penance for their ancestors".
Stay tuned for more on RAGBRAI and the Boy Scouts.
Sam
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