Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

Iowa’s Land Yacht

Forest City, Iowa, home of Winnebago Industries—well-known for bringing modern camping innovations to Iowa in the 1950s. But long before anyone had heard of Winnebago campers, a man in another Iowa community was gaining recognition for his design of a “camping car”—or “land yacht” as some called it.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 18 Apr 2015

Iowa Girl in the Trenches

“I went to the war because those whom I loved were in the war. I wished to go where they were,” Helen Hayes Gleason explained.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 11 Apr 2015

What Happened to Private Ross?

Private Harry Ross' family believed he was discharged from military duty and sent back to the United States. That’s where Private Ross’ trail goes cold. He never returned to Des Moines where his mother eagerly awaited his arrival.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 4 Apr 2015

Education Leaders Recommend Closing Rural Schools

“The Rural School Problem,” “Rural Schools Ought to Be Abandoned,” “What to Do With Small Schools” — In some ways news headlines in the 20th century were not much different than those of the 21st century. Education issues were hot news items.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 28 Mar 2015

Education Leaders Recommend Closing Rural Schools

Thief Takes $20,000 from Jackson County

It was called “a robbery as mysterious as any that has happened anywhere.”

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 21 Mar 2015

Iowa Preacher Starts "War"

Rev. George Cyphert Tally of Keokuk County was described as having as a “rugged, forceful, crude” man with “more zeal than discretion” but also a gifted orator. In the midst of the Civil War, the preacher started a confrontation between local Copperheads and Union supporters that required interventi

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 14 Mar 2015

The Iron Man Battalion

Yank Magazine, a military weekly news magazine published during World War II, ran a lengthy spread on the 34th Division in March 1945. Although men from all over the United States comprised the 34th, at one time it had been densely populated with Iowan and the writer of the article titled “Iron Man

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 7 Mar 2015

Bloodthirsty Adventuress or Modest Woman?

What was the truth about Gunda Martindale? Was she a “blood-thirsty adventuress” or a “modest, unassuming” woman?

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 28 Feb 2015

Bloodthirsty Adventuress or Modest Woman?

Enoch Arden in Iowa

An Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem, "Enoch Arden," tells the story of a man shipwrecked on an island for 10 years who returns home to find his wife happily married to his childhood friend. Never revealing himself to his wife, he dies of a broken heart. During the U.S. Civil War, this work of fiction came

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 21 Feb 2015

Daring Robbers Terrorize Train Passengers

“Get down out of sight, or we’ll shoot you!” That’s what passengers crouched in their seats on a Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific heard as the train made its way east out of Council Bluffs on July 21, 1873.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 18 Feb 2015

Iowa’s Land Yacht

Iowa Girl in the Trenches

What Happened to Private Ross?

Education Leaders Recommend Closing Rural Schools

Thief Takes $20,000 from Jackson County

Iowa Preacher Starts "War"

The Iron Man Battalion

Bloodthirsty Adventuress or Modest Woman?

Enoch Arden in Iowa

Daring Robbers Terrorize Train Passengers

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