 and saw nothing but the wide expanse of heaven and the waving prairie grass, not a tree or bush. We had to wade in mud half to our knees and lift our wagons out of the mire. The women helped, and when they did, the men felt prompted to do double effort. James Brown. Please consider that this was an exodus of more than 10,000 people strung out across 300 miles of Iowa prairie. With that many people crossing Iowa,