Detroit Free Press , September 15, 1860 Now this is the kind of story that I like. That of utter nonsense disguised as patriotism. While there are many articles mentioning the actual raising of a so-called Douglas Pole most were very brief snippets. After browsing many mentions of Douglas Poles I got wind of the idea that it was a political matter and it made more sense. Not much but some. As in Lincoln vs. Douglas for President. Still there are hardly any mentions of the actual purpose though I did track down a 1950 article discussing some of Iowa's notable raisings. This would be an interesting topic for a book. The Des Moines Register , May 17, 1950 Anyhow, a Douglas Pole was raised in Livonia on September 15, 1860 at the store of Horace Heath near the Nankin Post Office. The raising of Lincoln Poles in the area apparently didn't go as smoothly. Or at least the Free Press chose to highlight the failures since they were opposed to the so-called black republicans (anti slav...