What Our Land Must Have Looked Like Way Back When


Nature walks on the property can be pretty amazing, especially now in the spring. Green is busting out all over, and on a bright blue-sky kind of day being outside is irresistible.


I often wonder what this area of land looked like over the centuries. We know that this space was once all timber before it was turned into an acreage with a house. At least one of the ponds is man made, but we’re not sure beyond that.


So think back to 1843 when Ottumwa was founded in the land rush. At this time of year there would have been countless trees on each hill, and they would all be sprouting this beautiful shade of bright green. And even with as many animals as we have on the Carrell Wildlife Preserve today, there would have been so much more when it was wild and untouched.


And if you rewind the clock several centuries, you would find Native American tribes living in the area. I love their beliefs of working with nature and making it part of your way of life, and I wonder if they were in awe of it the way we are. 


The landscape of our property looks very different today than hundreds of years ago, but it is just as beautiful. What do you know about your land, your city and your state as it was centuries ago? Times change, but the beauty of the world around us never does.

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