Elk Horn, Iowa

My paternal grandfather came to this country from Denmark in 1881, supposedly as a tourist, but ended up staying. He lived for several years in a community of Danish immigrants in the small town of Elk Horn, Iowa, where he married and had four children. While living there, he was listed as a "publisher" and he was also one of the first postmasters of Elk Horn. Since his first wife died there, we came to Elk Horn to see if we could find her grave. We found the church record of her death in 1901, but could find no record of where she was buried. Thanks to the wonderful staff at the genealogical research library, we were also able to find obituaries of her death. Someone with a very dramatic flair wrote the following:

"... She leaves as a memory here on earth a grief stricken husband and four children who will never again pillow their tired throbbing heads upon a loving mother's breast pulsing with life and strength: never hear again the lullaby that so oft soothed them to dreamland slumber, ..."



Elk Horn has a world class museum about the emigration of Danes to this country that is well worth visiting.

Elk Horn also has a functional windmill that was built in Denmark in 1848 for grinding flour. In 1976, it was disassembled, each piece numbered, shipped to the USA, and reassembled in Elk Horn.






While we exploring the country roads in the area, we came across this hawk that had just captured a snake. Barbara was able to capture a few photos from out of our Jeep as it flew off.