Echoes of the Prairie
Here is where you will find written scripts and bonus information for episodes of Echoes of the Prairie.
Echoes of the Prairie features the history of places in TSPR's broadcast region. Echoes of the Prairie airs Tuesday - Friday at 8:19 am and 5:48 pm. Each episode features content created and recorded by local residents. For more information about the program's content contributors please visit the show's home page.
Joseph Smith Homestead
In the spring of 1805 William Ewing set out to set up a trading post for the US Indian Affairs office. He cut down several oak trees on the peninsula that is now called Nauvoo and built a two story block house by May of 1805. Ewing managed the post for a short period of time, but it was closed due to mismanagement. A series of Indian Agents came through to open the trading post for short periods of time, but by 1810 the building sat abandoned and vacant. In 1824 Captain James White purchased the land and cabin and reopened the trading post. On May 10, 1839 Joseph Smith and his wife Emma would move into this log cabin after purchasing it from Captain White. This building still stands today and is called the Joseph Smith Homestead. Joseph expanded it several times for his growing family and growing church needs. Today the building is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is open for tours.
This episode was written by Rebecca Williamson
Billy Sunday
Without a doubt, Burlington lived up to the reputation of river towns. The refined class was eclipsed by the ruffian class. Vast quantities of alcohol resulted in frequent brawls and even in shots being fired.
In 1905, Burlington was ripe for an appearance by Billy Sunday, the most notable evangelist of the time. In preparation, a temporary tabernacle was built. It seated four thousand, was 163 by 69 feet, and required forty wagon loads of sawdust to serve as the three-inch-thick floor. Because the five-week revival was to be in November and December, six stoves were placed inside for heating.
Billy Sunday had already made a name for himself as a professional baseball player. Playing initially for Chicago, he was reputed to be the fastest man in the National League – circling the bases in 14 seconds.
After his 1886 conversion, Billy went on the evangelism trail. Pulpit acrobatics served him well. Favored targets were the “red-nosed, buttermilk-eyed, beetle-browed, peanut-brained, saloon-keepers,” quoted the Burlington Gazette. One day, with a few free hours, he acted as timekeeper at a Burlington-Winfield football game. When a scuffle broke out, he quelled it by “flinging men right and left.”
The revival was a success with 2,500 people being converted. Records don’t show how many stuck with the conversion.
This Episode was written by Mary Krohlow.
Caroline Grote
No woman shaped Western Illinois University’s early years more than Caroline Grote. Born in 1863, she spent 56 years in education, breaking barriers as Illinois’ first female county superintendent.
In 1906, when Bayliss was president of Western Illinois State Teachers College, he hired Carolyn Grote to train school teachers. But she also advocated for improving conditions in rural schools. In one report, she noted that many schools had windows that “were seldom washed,” and outhouses that were deplorable. School libraries were often inadequate and not suited to the needs of the students.
Grote’s career took a new turn in 1908 when she became the Dean of Women and supervised the women students. One rule she upheld was that “every modern girl should have a chaperone.”
Even at 69, Caroline Grote never stopped learning, earning a doctorate from Columbia University. She retired in 1935, and to honor her impact, WIU renamed Monroe Hall to Grote Hall, ensuring her legacy lives on.
This episode was written by Sue Scott.
Keokuk Breweries
In 1973, the discovery of caverns beneath a yard on Plank Road in Keokuk brought to light the town’s rich history of beer and whiskey production.
Around 150 years ago, Keokuk had five breweries and seven distilleries. Keokuk’s first brewery was built in 1850 between 12th and 13th on Main Street. It was owned by William Schowalter. Joseph Kurtz would begin brewing at this location after taking over in 1855. He called it “City Brewery” and moved the operation to 19th and Plank Road by 1861. The Leisy Brewing Company was an impressive-looking operation along the riverfront in West K and Pechstein and Nagel’s Keokuk Brewery occupied the north side of the 1400 block of Main Street. They operated until January 1, 1916 when Prohibition was enacted in Iowa. Other breweries in Keokuk’s history included Kennedy and Vockrodt Ale, Eagle Brewery, Mississippi Brewery, Peter Haubert Brewery, Frederick Letterer, and F. W. Anschutz. Distilleries included Martin Keating, N. Leonard and Company, John S. McCoy, and Stannus and Evans.
Saloons promoted locally produced beer and whiskey, and beer gardens featured musical talents to attract patrons who would enjoy Keokuk’s brews.
Fires wiped out many breweries and by 1900, only two remained. When those remaining operations closed, so did a chapter in Keokuk’s manufacturing history.
This episode was written and voiced by Angela Gates of the Keokuk History Center.
Poe ain't comin'
"Poe ain't comin'."
That's what they might have said in 1849 in Oquawka, Illinois.
Edgar Allan Poe had already made "The Raven" croak and "The Tell-Tale Heart" beat by 1848 but the Mississippi River town of Oquawka, Illinois, wanted Poe not for his poems and tales but for his fame as an editor and the prestige Poe would bring to the new Oquawka Spectator.
Twenty year-old Edwin Patterson, son of The Spectator's founder, was a Poe fan. Patterson wrote Poe in December, 1848, inviting him to the edge of the Midwest and the beginning of the West. Poe could make The Spectator the literary heart of the nation, Patterson hoped. Oquawka had high hopes for itself too. Civic pride and boosterism were bulwarks of 19th century small town presses.
The life of a magazine editor in 19th Century America could be prestigious as well as precarious. The toast of a town or the nation one moment or falling deeper than the House of Usher the next. Patterson and Poe corresponded for months, with varying degrees of enthusiasm on the part of Poe.
Finally, circumstances intervened. Patterson waited for a letter that never came. Edgar Allan Poe died under strange circumstances in October, 1849. Poe was 40 years old.
Patterson soon caught the gold bug and left for California. The Spectator continued publication until 1908.
This edition was written by Joel Ward and voiced by Joel Ward.
SOURCES
Might Edgar Allan Poe have made Oquawka a literary hub?
Jeff Rankin
https://jeffrankin.medium.com/might-edgar-allan-poe-have-made-oquawka-a-literary-hub-6ea6e8c31091
What if Edgar Allan Poe had moved to Oquawka?
Rex Cherrington
https://www.thezephyr.com/poequawka.htm
IMAGES
Edgar Allen Poe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe
Edgar Allen Poe
Encyclopedia Britannica
https://cdn.britannica.com/52/76652-050-F4A6B093/Edgar-Allan-Poe.jpg
River Scene, Oquawka Illinois
Henderson County Library
https://www.hendersoncolibrary.com/oquawka/mississippi-river/
W.A. Sheaffer and the Birth of an Iconic Pen Company
In 1907, a Fort Madison jeweler named Walter A. Sheaffer revolutionized the way people wrote. Frustrated with the messy and inconvenient fountain pens of the time, Sheaffer invented a self-filling pen using a lever system—eliminating the need for separate ink bottles. With just $35 and an idea, he filed a patent and set out to change the writing world.
By 1912, Sheaffer Pen Company was officially founded right here in Fort Madison. What started in the back of his jewelry store quickly grew into a global brand. Sheaffer pens became known for their craftsmanship, innovation, and reliability—earning a reputation that made them a favorite among writers, business leaders, and even U.S. presidents.
For nearly a century, Fort Madison was home to the world headquarters of Sheaffer Pen Company. Though production has moved, the legacy of W.A. Sheaffer lives on. His innovation didn’t just put Fort Madison on the map—it made an indelible mark on history, one signature at a time.
Episode was written by: James Lemberger
Monmouth Western Stoneware Company
Welcome to Monmouth, Illinois, where a quiet patch of land once hid a discovery that would help shape an American industry. In the 1850s, as farmers tilled the soil, and more railroad tracks began laying west, a treasure beneath their feet was discovered. It’s not gold, not silver, but clay. And not just any clay. This was a rich, remarkably workable deposit perfect for pottery and stoneware.
Local entrepreneurs quickly realized what they were standing on. Word spread, kilns were built, and before long Monmouth became a hot spot for high-quality clay products. But the real breakthrough came in 1906, when several regional potteries joined forces. Their merger formed a name that would become legendary in American ceramics: Western Stoneware Company.
Western Stoneware wasn’t just making jugs and crocks. Potters were crafting the everyday vessels that fed America: butter churns, food storage jars, water coolers, and later, decorative pieces that collectors now hunt for like buried treasure.
And it all started with those extraordinary Monmouth clay beds. Raw material that ignited a company, fueled a region, and left its mark in every beautifully glazed piece of Western Stoneware.
Episode written by Ann Tenold
Virginia “Jennie” Scripps
Eliza Virginia Scripps or Miss Jennie as she was known, was born on October 10th,1852, in Rushville, IL. While her older siblings were off starting and running newspapers all over the United States, Miss Jennie remained in Rushville, caring for her parents and their farm. She remained on the homestead until her parents passed and fire destroyed the original home in 1897. She then moved to California, but also bought a home in Rushville on West Lafayette which still stands today and is the home of the author's grandparents.
Her commitments to the town are still recognized today. In 1909, she had the Episcopal Church built in remembrance of her father; and Scripps Park was created from the Scripps Homestead, which she had turned over to the city of Rushville to be used for a park or recreation. Her sister, Ellen Browning Scripps, celebrated Miss Jennie by having The Virginia (a replica of the original home) constructed near the original site.
Miss Jennie’s kindness and dedication left a lasting mark on her hometown of Rushville. She gave back to the community creating landmarks and spaces still respected today. She died in London, on April 28,1921, and is buried in Rushville.
Episode written by Reed Fretueg, Rushville Industry High School Student
How Loraine, Illinois got it's name
The town of Loraine was started in 1870 on the Carthage branch of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. Like many small towns in Western Illinois at that time, it was started as the result of the railroad coming through the prairie. Anthony Pitzger Lionberger worked for the CB&Q railroad and helped put the railroad line through the area that became Loraine. The residents admired Anthony so much that they named the town after his daughter Loraine who was two at the time. In August of 1873, at the age of 40 after jumping off a train onto a railroad spike, Anthony sadly passed away from blood poisoning. Little Loraine lived a long full life eventually passing away in 1952 at the age of 83. Anthony Pitzger Lionberger is my 3 times great Uncle.
Episode written by: Rebecca Williamson
The Pearl Button Capitol of the World
Walk around the riverfront in places like Canton Missouri these days and you can still find peculiar little shells, polished smooth, with several small holes cut in them. Younger people are puzzled but older folks know them as relics of a once powerful industry and of an age before modern plastics when freshwater mussels were central to the region’s economy.
In the early 1900s, this part of the Mississippi was the “pearl button capital of the world”. The largest producer, the Hawkeye Pearl button factory in Muscatine Iowa, specialized in mother-of-pearl buttons and other pearl novelties, producing at its peak a staggering 1.5 million mother-of-pearl buttons a year.
Clammers collected mussels and worked in camps along the river to open them and remove the meat and pearls. In cutting plants in Canton, Keokuk, and Oskaloosa the raw shells were processed. Some cut the shells into squares, while others polished, drilled the holes, or machined decorative designs. At its peak, the Hawkeye Pearl Button Factory had more than 800 employees.
Eventually, as Mississippi mussels were fished to scarcity, zippers and other closures became more popular, and mass-produced plastic buttons came to dominate, the pearl button trade died out. Canton’s Hawkeye Pearl button factory closed in 1960. The last Muscatine pearl button was produced in 1967. Today a 28 foot tall statue of a clammer stands in Muscatine as tribute to the workers who built what was once a $1 million a year industry at a time when more than a third of the world’s buttons came from our area.
Episode written by Scott Giltner
The Naming of Burlington, Iowa
Other than the fur traders who reaped untold riches in their trade with the Fox and Indians, it was 1832 when the earliest settlers were allowed west of the Mississippi. The area which would become Burlington became a popular site. In 1833 streets were being laid out. John B. Gray bought one of the first lots and opened the first grocery store. He also acquired naming rights and settled on Burlington - in honor of his Vermont home town. Prior to the official naming, the area had been known as Shoquoquon - meaning Flint Hills.
Then in 1859, several Wisconsin and Burlington people became part of the Colorado gold rush. There were Alonzo Allen and Henry Dickens, George and Morse Coffin, and the Beckwith family. They settled along St. Vrain Creek. Some panned for gold – others chose farming. By 1962, a name was needed so that a post office could be established. It became Burlington – this time in honor of Burlington, Iowa. Despite high hopes for the settlement – flooding became an issue – just as at home. There remains an Old Burlington Cemetery, but most residents moved to nearby Longmont.
Episode written by Mary Krohlow