Show instituting AN IOWA COURT it is ie not an infrequent procedure for journals throughout the great W west leap to revert to pioneer times in their own localities so BO as aa to get matters mattera relating thereto in proper historical shape neither la Is it infrequent to notice netice in such pioneer annals the names of men intimately with the people who founded utah thus showing that the settlers of our lair fair territory have lots left the impress of their pioneering genius in nearly every one of the western states A recent illustration of thin Is ia given in the council bluffs of february 11 a copy of which has hae been handed to us by hadley D Joho aon sou esq esip of this thia city the bon nonpareil has bae an article on the early history of the present t judiciary system of potts county 1 I owa in which appear the names of well known and high highly ay respected citizens citizen of utah among theme are the late alex mcrae fur for many years yeara bishop of the enevol eleventh El eveith tb ward I 1 to a this city the late orson hyde of the council of apostle the lato george P sallee once associate justice of utah hadley D johnson Jobi ison ani anca othera the nonpareil recites that previous to 1861 1851 there was no DO regular judiciary in that section of the state but that at the n of the county in 1848 the board of 0 supervisors acted in the dual capacity of judge and jury and assi ted by several magistrates they dispensed wh what at ever justice there was to he be hau bad la in those days the manner in which they ran things was very nd can he i eon een in the first record of potta pott watts wat tamie county now in 10 the audi auditor torl office 12 the institution ut of a district eburt is then recounted as lollo lowi wf in 1851 the 8 sixth judicial district of iowa was formed in southwestern iowa pottawattamie county was bv far th the most important part of the new district and court was waa opened in kanesville Kanes ville may mav 6 1851 james sloan was elected judie judge and took his bis seat on that day the other function functionaries aries of the court were alex mcrae sheriff and evan M oreene greene clerk previous to judge sloans elevation to the bench he had served for three years as county clerk he made an excellent record in the tha into and had an easy thing of it at the first election lor for district judge held in the county the original formation of the court lorms forms an interesting chapter in the first record kept by the clerk it is in now in possession of the present incumbent of thit that office and is highly prized both as a work of technical skill askill and historical importance there were only tour four attorneys practicing before the honorable court of pottawattamie coun county at that early day and the quartet of leg legal Q lights had a monopoly on the scant practice which they conducted in connection with their other business they william M were lecompte esq george P wiles esq hadley D johnson and orson hyde esq esq eq it was a question how bow they should be admitted and as there was no regularly admitted actor ney belonging to the new court it became necessary to waive ceremony and make a start george P stiles esq presented william I 1 M lecompte te esq andon and on teTto motion he was admit admitted to the bar lecompte esq then performed the same for mr stiles and the other two ceremony y aa lawyers it is ie not reported in the whether whet her they at once formed records abar a bar association cia tion but that they were held in high esteem to is evident from the sarup scrupulous ta IOUs with care which the suffix eab 99 is placed after their names whenever in the they appear court records after the bar admission ceremonies had bad been completed judge william W lellam M Le lecompte Compto sloan esq prosecuting RP appointed PoInted attorney and the court business proceeded to the record of oases cases the first day of court shows that number one on the list beard was entitled the state bbate of iowa Vs VB ed 0 beetie beebe assault battery appealed led by defendant from and the decision of jacob mcgraw justice the peace OP in this the decision 0 of the justice was overturned as 88 it alto ako was in the second c case beard where alpheus P haug find had been convicted of assault battery in justice McGraw and pa 00 court urt most of the oases cases heard by jujiro sloan grew out of personal encounters between the woolly citizens of the bustle rig western town and this beneral statement sta of affairs by the will recall to old settlers vivid memories memo rieB of scenes in which fortunately utah was wae not it a participator to any great extent when the gold excitement of 1849 commenced co m this point became a favorite favor ite crossing for the tide of immigration prom from 1850 to 1853 a stream of crowded all the prospectors ferries and the city presented the appearance of a vast it also encampment brought to the frontier thousands of people of no credit to any community and this locality through gh those tragic scenes passed common to all western cities j just taking shape this thia brought much business to io the young court although judge lynch was also active in those days |