Freeborn County is home to pioneers from many different nations. Their common denominator was the rich farmland and the related businesses that promised a good life for their families. When Lt. Albert Miller Lea surveyed the area in 1835 with the Dragoons of Fort Des Moines, he described sparkling lakes encircled by gently sloping woodlands, smooth prairies interspersed with shady groves and rich with the melody of feathered songsters—one of the most beautiful lands ever witnessed.