Tag Archives: LeMars

While researching the background for my historical western romance, Loveland, I came upon some interesting stories of the British aristocracy in America in the late 1800s.  One that captured my imagination is the story of the Close Colony, a settlement in northwest Iowa around the LeMars area. This was projected as being for British gentlemen farmers who might live as landed gentry in the American mid-west. While the thought of British aristocrats living in Iowa may seem a bit incongruous to our contemporary sense of place, coming to unplowed soil on the American prairie, and owning huge tracts of land as gentlemen farmers, was not so unappealing to the second sons of noblemen who would not be inheriting their father’s wealth. Continue reading →