The anti-German sentiment during World War I reached a point where "people speaking German on the street were attacked and rebuked." Iowa Governor William L. Harding legitimized such expressions of prejudice and war-time fanaticism when he issued "The Babel Proclamation" on May 23, 1918. Antagonism toward Germans and their…

The parage of foreign policy usually skipped rural Iowa, but on September 23, 1959, the eyes of the nation focused on Coon Rapids. Invited guests, curious onlookers, anxious reporters and photographers surrounded Roswell and Elizabeth Garst's white, wooden farmhouse. More than 700 National Guardsmen lined the highway between Des Moines and Garst's…

In 1935, Aldo Leopold bought an abandoned farm in the sand counties along the Wisconsin River near Baraboo. Leopold sensed promise in the land, and with his wife and five children nursed the land back to health. They cleaned out the chicken coop and affectionately called their new family retreat "The Shack." Leopold kept detailed notes during the…