occupied by favored settlers for residences. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of county warrants were issued of which no record was kept, then sold and traded for property. County and school bonds were beautifully engraved and sold through brokers at a discount which tempted eastern buyers to invest in securities which bore ten per cent. interest. When other settlers came and saw how business had been managed, the perpetrators of the frauds fled, leaving enormous debts standing against the county and school districts. For many years suits were pending in the courts for the collection of these fraudulent bonds and warrants and great odium was brought upon the county. None of the perpetrators of these crimes were brought to justice. But after the year 1865 the county government passed under the control of honest settlers and the frauds ceased.
In 1858 a Mr. Barnes laid out the town of Sioux Rapids near the Little Sioux River and, being a man of property, hoped to be able to build up an important place. In 1859 the Sioux Indians were again threatening the frontier settlements and Mr. Barnes sent his son-in-law to Fort Dodge to procure arms for the defense of the settlers. While traveling over the unsettled prairies he was overtaken by a blizzard and so badly frozen that both feet had to be amputated. Mr. Barnes was so disheartened by this calamity that he abandoned his town enterprise and left the country. “Barnes” township and “Barnes Grove” perpetuate his memory. For many years Sioux Rapids was the county-seat. In 1870 the town of Storm Lake was laid out on the north shore of the beautiful lake of that name. The original proprietor was John I. Blair, the builder of the Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railroad, which was the first in the county. The lake is about two miles wide by five miles long, having its outlet in the Boyer River. In October, 1870, Vestal and Young established the Storm Lake Pilot, a weekly newspaper, in the new town. The Little Sioux River runs through the
