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The Palimpsest

The First Iowa State Fair

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Masthead Logo The Palimpsest
Volume 35 | Number 7 Article 4
7-1-1954
The First Iowa State Fair
Earle D
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Recommended Citation
D, E. "The First Iowa State Fair." The Palimpsest 35 (1954), 270-279.
Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/palimpsest/vol35/iss7/4
iThe First Iowa State Fair
The first State fair of Iowa, held at Fairfield, 
October 25-27, 1854, offered as great a contrast to 
a present day exhibition of the same name as Iowa 
of 1854 differed from the modern Commonwealth. 
Grounds and equipment were meager and simple. 
The report of the committee on arrangements was 
eloquent of the lingering frontier.
They had “procured six acres . . . and en­
closed the same with a substantial straight rail 
fence, ten feet high . . . erected a shed on the 
north side of the enclosure, two hundred and fifty 
feet in length and twenty feet in width, with a 
table under the same, the full length of the shed, 
and about five feet wide . . . erected stalls upon 
all sides of the enclosure . . . built about sixty 
rail pens . . . made a track in the enclosure, 1500 
feet in length and twenty feet wide, with a sub­
stantial rope guard around the same, leaving a 
space around said track from thirty to one hundred 
and fifty feet in width for visitors . . . erected an 
office for the board of managers . . . and a stand 
in the center of the enclosure for the speakers, 
chief marshal, and committees.“
The total expenditure for staging this State­
wide exhibition was about three hundred and
270
THE FIRST IOWA STATE FAIR 271
twenty dollars. To economize space in the limited 
enclosure, no horses "attached to any vehicle 
whatever" were to be admitted except for judging 
purposes. The grounds were policed by a "chief 
marshal and five assistant marshals, and a number 
of policemen," who were made conspicuous by 
wearing a "blue sash around the body."
Transportation was still in the primitive stage. 
"They came on foot, on horseback or in two­
wheeled carts, jogging along behind slow-moving, 
ponderous oxen." A favorite means of convey­
ance was the covered wagon in which the family 
might camp on the road and at the fair. From out­
lying regions appeared hardy frontiersmen with 
long pistols stuck in their belts, both for protection 
and ornament. The dashing young bloods of ’54 
— with high-mettled steeds instead of high-pow­
ered sport cars — were probably more self-con­
scious and certainly more envied than their mod­
ern type.
Considering limitations of travel and sparseness 
of settlement, the attendance, variously estimated 
from 7000 to 10,000 on the "bid day," was re­
markably good. "For several days before the 
Fair," commented a local paper, "strangers com­
menced pouring into Fairfield by scores; the day 
before the Fair commenced they came by hun­
dreds; and on the first and second days of the Fair 
they crowded in by thousands. Such a concourse 
of people never before assembled in Iowa. Every
272 THE PALIMPSEST
portion of the State was represented; and all 
seemed deeply interested in this first great organ- 
ized struggle of the agricultural interests of 
Io w a /’ Local accommodations were taxed to the 
utmost to provide for such an unprecedented 
throng. “Arriving early in the morning of the first 
d a y / ' a visitor recounted, “we found every avenue 
of the town crowded with people, horses, and 
every manner of vehicle, and all the hotels crowd­
ed to overflowing. The good citizens of the place, 
however, determined to make themselves equal to 
the emergency, lost no time in providing comfort­
able quarters for the rapidly ingathering comers, 
so that by noon every man upon the ground knew 
where to find an excellent ‘eating and sleeping 
place’.”
The leading entertainment feature for this large 
and representative gathering, and the one that, to 
judge from contemporary and reminiscent ac­
counts, made the greatest impression upon the 
spectators, was the exhibition of horseback riding 
by women, or, to use the official designation, “fe­
male equestrianism.” Ten such performers, dis­
tinguished by varicolored ribbons, competed for a 
lady's superior gold hunting w atch,” offered by 
President Clagett in response to an appeal which 
his gallantry could not allow to go unanswered.” 
According to the elaborate rules of the contest, 
each lady in order of number accompanied by her 
cavalier” was to “ride once round the circle,
THE FIRST IOWA STATE FAIR 273
when the cavalier will retire to the center, keeping 
within convenient distance of the lady to render 
any service she may require.” The lady was then 
to ride four times about the circle at any speed she 
might choose. And finally the contestants, accom­
panied by their cavaliers, would “have leave to 
make the circuit of the ring six times at a gait not 
exceeding that of an easy canter.”
The Lady of the Barred Red Ribbon, Miss 
M aria Minton, was the first to enter the lists. She 
was a “fair rider, but unfavorably mounted.” And 
then, “mounted upon a magnificent blood bay, all 
action and full of power and spirit,” came the 
Lady of the Broad Blue Ribbon — Miss Eliza 
Jane Hodges of Iowa City, a little girl, only thir­
teen years old. Under “the instinctive tact” of his 
mistress, the dashing charger was made to “keep 
the track and gauge his gait to suit the rider’s 
pleasure.” From a headlong gallop at the start, 
Miss Hodges brought her mount to a trot, from 
which he rose to a canter, then to a “lively 
charge,” and finally performed his “prettiest 
tricks” which were “fearfully swift but evidently 
suited himself and his fearless rider.” “A long, 
loud shout greeted the daring little equestrian as 
she completed her last round and wheeled with 
the rapidity of lightning from the course.”
Quite in contrast was Miss Belle Turner of 
Keokuk, the Lady of the Pink Ribbon. “An easy, 
self-possessed, and graceful rider,” finely mount-
274 THE PALIMPSEST
ed, she “showed consummate skill in the manage­
ment of her horse.“ Her “elegant form, fine face, 
and soft blue eyes also rather seemed to heighten 
the effect than otherwise.”
Miss Louise Parks, the Lady of the W hite Rib­
bon, proved to be a “handsome rider, full of cour­
age, and well accomplished in the management of 
reins and whip.” The Lady of the Yellow Ribbon, 
M rs. Ann Eckert, attracted “universal admira­
tion“ by her perfect riding, but unfortunately “her 
horse, though a fine one, was not gaited for such 
an occasion.” Mrs. Green, the Lady of the 
Barred Green Ribbon, was likewise badly mount­
ed, but she “rode like a queen,” spirited, graceful, 
and confident. Everybody was on the side of Miss 
Kate Pope, the Lady of the Light Blue Ribbon, 
“and about the same majority against her horse.” 
She appeared to be an “all-fired fine young lady, 
full of life, full of spirit, full of fun, and full of 
ambition.”
The eighth contestant was Miss Emma Porter, 
“a lovely little miss of fifteen,” who wore the 
white and green ribbon. Tastefully arrayed, beau­
tifully mounted, and gracefully natural, she won 
general applause and commendation. Two sisters, 
H. and Cynthia Ball, rode last. They were both 
much admired — the one for her skill and self- 
possession, and the other for her modest though 
fearless manner. But their performance was 
marred by tame or otherwise unfavorable steeds.
THE FIRST IOWA STATE FAIR 275
In response to a “universal desire” the exhibi­
tion of female equestrianism was repeated the next 
day with much the same results. Miss Hodges, 
the popular favorite, went through “the most 
dashing, terrific and perfectly dare-devil perform­
ance ever witnessed on horseback. The scene was 
thrilling, fearful, magnificent. The boldest held 
their breath as, mounted on her proud and un- 
tameable charger, she flew around the course with 
the rapidity of lightning and with the sweeping 
force of a whirlwind, and all this with a childlike 
smile upon her countenance and her whip in full 
play, thus imparting to all a more than half assur­
ance that the daring little rider was equal to the 
emergency and abundantly able to take care of 
herself. At the completion of the fourth round, 
and still at full and fearful speed, she wheeled 
gloriously from the track, and was greeted with an 
earthquake of cheers as she brought in her bound­
ing animal to a graceful halt in front of the com­
mittee's stand.”
This daring example “excited a lively ambition 
among all the ribbons.” Their riding was more 
spirited and “much more pleasing” than on the 
first day. Each seemed determined to prove her­
self worthy of the prize. W hen the last round had 
been accomplished all the ladies with their cava­
liers reined up before the judges, and the prize 
was awarded to the Lady of the Pink Ribbon, 
Miss Belle Turner, whose gracefulness rendered
2 76 THE PALIMPSEST
insignificant what she may have lacked in bold­
ness. But the decision of the judges was not in 
accord with the opinion of the spectators, who 
were determined that the Iowa City girl, she of the 
Broad Blue Ribbon, should not go unrewarded.
Spontaneously, and as if by concert, men sprang 
up in all quarters of the field, and in less than five 
minutes” a hundred and sixty-five dollars were 
contributed, for the “poor and unlettered” child, 
together with provisions for her attendance, “free 
of all charge, for three terms at the Female Semin­
ary ’ at Fairfield and one term at the embryo col­
lege at M ount Pleasant. A reporter who had been 
spellbound and overwhelmed at the daring exhi­
bition of the little favorite,” was reconciled to the 
judges’ decision by the “sober, second thought” 
which “teaches us, as it must all, that if we would 
encourage a tasteful, correct, and lady-like school 
of female equestrianism, such as we should be 
willing our misses and daughters should imitate, 
the decision of the Committee was based upon cor­
rect grounds.”
On the first day, as “a sort of side affair, and 
not connected legitimately with the fair proper,” 
Lee County admirers presented Governor Grimes 
an enormous “Denmark cheese” weighing three 
hundred and sixty pounds. James B. Howell made 
an appropriate speech of presentation to which the 
Governor-elect responded felicitously.
In general, however, the exhibition was serious
A Marsh Harvester Exhibited in 1867 
I wo Hundred W ere Sold in Iowa That Year
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T H E  F IR S T  IO W A  S T A T E  F A IR 277
in tone and instructive in content from the address 
of Attorney George C. Dixon, which required 
over an hour for delivery and twenty-five pages 
for printing, to the judging of exhibits. For the 
period, the showing of stock and grains seems to 
have been most commendable. In the not wholly 
critical judgment of a local reporter, “there were 
many animals” that would “attract attention at 
any State Fair in the Union.” Durham cattle out­
numbered all other kinds of fine stock, while no 
less than one hundred head of thoroughbred and 
light horses were exhibited. Due partly to the dif­
ficulties of transportation, there were only eleven 
entries of swine, which was regretted because “the 
raising of swine is a source of immense revenue.”
The editor of the Fairfield Ledger thought that 
some specimens of wheat were “superior,” while 
“as to corn it is useless to talk of finding any bet­
ter. One sample of oats was the best we ever 
saw.” In the grain yield competition, Hezekiah 
Fagan of Polk County won first prize for the best 
five acres of Indian corn with a production of one 
hundred and thirty-nine and one-half bushels, 
shelled, to the acre! The prize fall wheat yield was 
twenty-six bushels per acre, while H. G. and J. 
Stuart of Lee County raised sixty-six bushels of 
spring wheat on two acres.
The implement display included “plows, har­
rows, corn-planters, reapers, threshing machines, 
fanning mills, corn crushers, and, in fact, nearly
>
278 T H E  P A L IM P S E S T
9 9
everything that the farmer could wish for
in many cases could not obtain as the article was 
not yet produced for the market. A tkin's Self 
Raker and Reaper attracted particular attention as 
one of the greatest improvements exhibited.
Prison-made goods were in evidence. The w ar­
den of the penitentiary took the prize for the "best 
collection of agricultural implements" which "con­
sisted of hoes, rakes, forks, scythes, snaths, ôc., 
all of superior material and workmanship.
The miscellaneous class had such varied exhib­
its as a "monochromatic painting," "a floral paint­
ing," "a collection of snakes," "best paper hang­
ing," "a fur hat," and a "new style of artificial 
teeth," ingeniously devised "for restoring the nat­
ural contour of the face." Secretary Shaffer 
brought his museum which contained a curious as­
sortment of more than a hundred varieties of 
snakes and lizards preserved in alcohol. A Du­
buque photographer showed some remarkable 
mezzographs" or daguerreotypes on paper. 
Having copied a person's countenance he could 
make ‘any number of pictures without the person 
having to sit for them."
Lingering pioneer conditions were evidenced in 
premiums for such entries as "team of oxen, not 
less than three yoke," native or "dunghill" fowl, 
ox yoke, and grain cradle.
The most unsatisfactory aspect of this first State 
exhibition was the inadequate financial returns.
4 4
4
THE FIRST IOWA STATE FAIR 279
The receipts, after excluding "about fifty dollars 
of counterfeit, or otherwise worthless money," were 
insufficient to pay expenses, so the generous and 
enthusiastic president of the State Agricultural 
Society made up the deficit. Financially the out­
look was not bright but officials and friends, after 
the enthusiasm and enterprise manifested in the 
first exhibition, had high hopes of the future. "W e 
have, therefore," the treasurer’s report concluded, 
"no tangible means for the progress of the next 
Fair; but, trusting to the energy and enterprise of 
our farmers and mechanics; trusting to the dili­
gence of the committee to memorialize our next 
legislature, and trusting to the zeal and industry 
of the officers of the Society, we promise abundant 
aid; and we insure to all a Fair in 1855 far supe­
rior in all respects to that which has just passed."
E a r l e  D. R o s s


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