Early
German Immigrants Perspectives of Iowa: Part II
[Editors note: This
passage is from an edited volume entitled IMMIGRANTS, O.J. Fargo, editor.
This 1851 excerpt was written by a German immigrant to his friends back in the
homeland.]
The daily routine of American life is quite different from the German. In both
summer and winter, only here meals are served - 6:00 in the morning, 12 at noon,
and 6 in the evening.
Bacon and several kinds of meat are
served at every meal; morning and noon, coffee; evening, tea. Fresh bread is
served at every meal. The Americans set a good table, and yet the Germans at
first leave the table hungry, because Americans without speaking a word all
fall to like hungry wolves, and before the German has really begun to eat, all
has been eaten. No soup is served except in some German inns. No one leaves
the house in the morning without having eaten.
There are no Indians here except
in winter, when they come to hunt and to sell their furs and pelts. Rabbits
are smaller than in Germany. Prairie chickens are about the size of German ducks.
Mosquitoes, gnats and flies fail not, neither do several kinds of snakes, of
which the worst are the rattlesnakes. I've already killed 30 of them.
The Yankees or native Americans are
often queer fellows. Even in the best society the gentlemen put their feet up
on the table or they put their chairs close to the window and let their feet
hang out.
When Herr Friedrick's land was surveyed,
we had to wade through a swamp, where our boots filled with water. We took off
our boots and poured the water out; but the surveyor, an older Yankee, who had
a new pair of boots, took out his knife and cut holes to let the water run out.
Still, he's the best kind of man and helpful to the Germans here.
All who are willing to work, though poor, need not fear to come to free America, and no one will be disappointed. Here one does not have to fear arbitrary despots to whom one must sacrifice his well-earned wages in high taxes; and though perhaps there will be much to contend with at first, especially for those who have families, these difficulties will soon be overcome, and all will be happy and free.
Mr. Fargo is the Director of Media Services and a social studies consultant for the Green Valley Area Education Agency in Creston. He's also a member of our Humanities Iowa speakers bureau.