THE 1880’S IMMIGRATION AND OUTLAWS

Once again quoting from Quick’s autobiography, One Man’s Life, he relates several direct experiences with a couple of the Rainsbarger brothers. Quick, it seems, draws little conclusion as to the actual guilt of the Rainsbargers. He may or may not have known if they were guilty or framed. He did make some comments as to what it was like to live in the area at the time these tragic events took place. He makes it clear that there were outlaws in Steamboat Rock.

“Most people have difficulty in visualizing the life of a community with a gang of outlaws in its midst. They think of a body of men living like the Doones in their valley or in some secret glen like that of the merry men of Sherwood Forest. As a matter of fact, the Rainsbargers went about among us like our other neighbors. They
carried on their farms, and Finn always went with what we called a thrashing gang; and we who had jobs of thrashing used to see him tending the separator. Feeding the grain into the cylinder, standing on the platform of the horse power and driving the circling teams, wearing greasy overalls, telling the thrashing-gang stories at noon times and when the machine stood idle, and eating pie with his knife like the rest of us. So with all the Rainsbargers and their more or less mysterious associates who came and went–usually unseen, I suppose. We all knew that horses and hogs were stolen, cattle hamstrung and that other deeds of evil were done;  occasionally even a man, like Henry Severance out in Grundy County or the Railway agent at Steamboat Rock,
would disappear under circumstances which indicated foul play. Opinion was divided as to the guilt of the Rainsbarger gang, as we gradually came to call our Doones. Most of the discussions of this were more or less
secret. Things were growing worse, but the Rainsbargers had many friends and no direct evidence against them could be adduced.”

“I remember that once when I was a youth and making one of my visits to Steamboat Rock, a six-foot, gangling, towheaded yokel with buttermilk eyes and the best haircut that my brother Eldora could give, I was getting a glimpse of dizzy life in the local poolroom and soft-drink parlor. A tanned, burly, clean shaved man of about
thirty came in at the door and approached the bar. A hush settled on the assemblage. He put his doubled fist on the bar and looked us over.”

“’I’ve got to have blood!’ he roared, pounding on the bar with a terrible frown. ‘I’ve got to have blood!’ and then with a smile he added, ‘Blood or cigars!’”

“The practical joker was one of the Rainsbargers–Manse, I think; one of the pair afterward so tragically put to death in the jail at Eldora at the time when the gang was wiped out.”

In the cases of Nathan, Frank, Finley and Mance Rainsbarger it turns out that they were caught up in the misdeeds of others. They were framed for things that they had nothing to do with. Unfortunately for them
the whole truth was not proven until they were all in their graves.

The real guilty parties thought to be “upright citizens” escaped the original ordeal with their names unscarred.

William Hiserodt, the most prominent player in the events of the 1880’s, was born in Columbia County, New
York, in 1840, He had come to Hardin county with his parents, and when they passed away, he farmed in Jackson township for a time.

After coming to Steamboat Rock he had been one of the town’s blacksmiths, and in the 1880’s owned one of it’s three hotels called the Western House. Hiserodt was of medium stature with a broad stocky build. He had a gruff voice and an unusually dark complexion with coal black eyes and an equally black hair and beard. He was
known by two nicknames, “Black Bill” and “Black Hiserodt”. Despite his appearance, he was well liked and possessed a very charismatic personality.

Some of the coins were made at Hiserodt’s, hotel in Steamboat Rock. Still others were shipped in from Dubuque and Sioux City. It was later confirmed that the counterfeiters were connected with similar operations throughout the Midwest.

Nothing in the history of Steamboat Rock has received so much attention as the story of the Rainsbargers. Even today there are those who still hold them guilty of the many crimes that they were accused of in the late 1880’s, even though facts have been uncovered that certainly absolve them of the most serious of those crimes.

A wonderful book was written by Mildred O. Janssen in 1994. Her writings are perhaps the best at telling the real story of the Rainsbargers. More importantly they are from a descendant of the Johns and Rainsbarger line. Mrs. Janssen begins her writings as follows:

“Countless articles in newspapers and other publications have been written about the “Rainsbargers,” a name
synonymous with outlaws in the late 1800’s in Iowa. The myths, legends, theories and conclusions have continued from those uncertain times even until today.”

“In gathering many of these writings, I have attempted to detail a collective account of what took place. Doubts and questions continue although much that was taken for fact in the early days has since been repudiated. But there is no doubt the history of our state has been discolored by the turbulence of this era; tarnished by actual happenings; scandalized by lies and innuendo.”

Mildred begins her story with the murder committed by Finley Rainsbarger described earlier. She shares some
interesting information about Henry Johns being involved even at this early point in the story.