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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences, by Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences
+
+Author: Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
+
+Release Date: January 4, 2011 [eBook #34844]
+[Most recently updated: January 15, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Brian Sogard, Sharon Verougstraete and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEBRASKA PIONEER REMINISCENCES ***
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: MRS. LAURA B. POUND
+
+Second and Sixth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the
+American Revolution. 1896-1897, 1901-1902]
+
+
+
+
+COLLECTION OF
+NEBRASKA PIONEER
+REMINISCENCES
+
+ISSUED BY THE
+
+NEBRASKA SOCIETY OF
+THE DAUGHTERS OF THE
+AMERICAN REVOLUTION
+
+[Illustration]
+
+NINETEEN SIXTEEN
+
+
+THE TORCH PRESS
+
+CEDAR RAPIDS
+
+IOWA
+
+
+
+
+FORETHOUGHT
+
+
+This Book of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences is issued by the Daughters
+of the American Revolution of Nebraska, and dedicated to the daring,
+courageous, and intrepid men and women--the advance guard of our
+progress--who, carrying the torch of civilization, had a vision of the
+possibilities which now have become realities.
+
+To those who answered the call of the unknown we owe the duty of
+preserving the record of their adventures upon the vast prairies of
+"Nebraska the Mother of States."
+
+    "In her horizons, limitless and vast
+    Her plains that storm the senses like the sea."
+
+Reminiscence, recollection, personal experience--simple, true
+stories--this is the foundation of History.
+
+Rapidly the pioneer story-tellers are passing beyond recall, and the
+real story of the beginning of our great commonwealth must be told now.
+
+The memories of those pioneers, of their deeds of self-sacrifice and
+devotion, of their ideals which are our inheritance, will inculcate
+patriotism in the children of the future; for they should realize the
+courage that subdued the wilderness. And "lest we forget," the heritage
+of this past is a sacred trust to the Daughters of the American
+Revolution of Nebraska.
+
+The invaluable assistance of the Nebraska State Historical Society, and
+the members of this Book Committee, Mrs. C. S. Paine and Mrs. D. S.
+Dalby, is most gratefully acknowledged.
+
+                                                LULA CORRELL PERRY
+                                                 (Mrs. Warren Perry)
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  SOME FIRST THINGS IN THE HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY              11
+  BY GEORGE F. WORK
+
+  EARLY EXPERIENCES IN ADAMS COUNTY                             18
+  BY GENERAL ALBERT V. COLE
+
+  FRONTIER TOWNS                                                22
+  BY FRANCIS M. BROOME
+
+  HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOX BUTTE COUNTY                         25
+  BY IRA E. TASH
+
+  A BROKEN AXLE                                                 27
+  BY SAMUEL C. BASSETT
+
+  A PIONEER NEBRASKA TEACHER                                    30
+  BY MRS. ISABEL ROSCOE
+
+  EXPERIENCES OF A PIONEER WOMAN                                32
+  BY MRS. ELISE G. EVERETT
+
+  RECOLLECTIONS OF WEEPING WATER                                36
+  BY I. N. HUNTER
+
+  INCIDENTS AT PLATTSMOUTH                                      41
+  BY ELLA POLLOCK MINOR
+
+  FIRST THINGS IN CLAY COUNTY                                   43
+  BY MRS. CHARLES M. BROWN
+
+  REMINISCENCES OF CUSTER COUNTY                                46
+  BY MRS. J. J. DOUGLAS
+
+  AN EXPERIENCE                                                 50
+  BY MRS. HARMON BROSS
+
+  LEGEND OF CROW BUTTE                                          51
+  BY DR. ANNA ROBINSON CROSS
+
+  LIFE ON THE FRONTIER                                          54
+  BY JAMES AYRES
+
+  PLUM CREEK (LEXINGTON)                                        57
+  BY WILLIAM M. BANCROFT, M. D.
+
+  EARLY RECOLLECTIONS                                           62
+  BY C. CHABOT
+
+  RECOLLECTIONS OF THE FIRST SETTLER OF DAWSON COUNTY           64
+  BY MRS. DANIEL FREEMAN
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN DAWSON COUNTY                                   67
+  BY LUCY E. HEWITT
+
+  PIONEER JUSTICE                                               72
+  BY B. F. KRIER
+
+  A GOOD INDIAN                                                 74
+  BY MRS. CLIFFORD WHITAKER
+
+  FROM MISSOURI TO DAWSON COUNTY                                75
+  BY A. J. PORTER
+
+  THE ERICKSON FAMILY                                           76
+  BY MRS. W. M. STEBBINS
+
+  THE BEGINNINGS OF FREMONT                                     78
+  BY SADIE IRENE MOORE
+
+  A GRASSHOPPER STORY                                           82
+  BY MARGARET F. KELLY
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN FREMONT                                         84
+  BY MRS. THERON NYE
+
+  PIONEER WOMEN OF OMAHA                                        90
+  BY MRS. CHARLES H. FISETTE
+
+  A PIONEER FAMILY                                              93
+  BY EDITH ERMA PURVIANCE
+
+  THE BADGER FAMILY                                             97
+
+  THE FIRST WHITE SETTLER IN FILLMORE COUNTY                   102
+
+  PIONEERING IN FILLMORE COUNTY                                107
+  BY JOHN R. MCCASHLAND
+
+  FILLMORE COUNTY IN THE SEVENTIES                             109
+  BY WILLIAM SPADE
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA                                       111
+  BY J. A. CARPENTER
+
+  REMINISCENCES OF GAGE COUNTY                                 112
+  BY ALBERT L. GREEN
+
+  RANCHING IN GAGE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES                      123
+  BY PETER JANSEN
+
+  EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF GAGE COUNTY                           127
+  BY MRS. E. JOHNSON
+
+  BIOGRAPHY OF FORD LEWIS                                      129
+  BY MRS. (D. S.) H. VIRGINIA LEWIS DALBEY
+
+  A BUFFALO HUNT                                               131
+  BY W. H. AVERY
+
+  A GRASSHOPPER RAID                                           133
+  BY EDNA M. BOYLE ALLEN
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN PAWNEE COUNTY                                  135
+  BY DANIEL B. CROPSEY
+
+  EARLY EVENTS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY                             137
+  BY GEORGE CROSS
+
+  EARLY DAYS OF FAIRBURY AND JEFFERSON COUNTY                  139
+  BY GEORGE W. HANSEN
+
+  THE EARLIEST ROMANCE OF JEFFERSON COUNTY                     147
+  BY GEORGE W. HANSEN
+
+  EXPERIENCES ON THE FRONTIER                                  152
+  BY FRANK HELVEY
+
+  LOOKING BACKWARD                                             155
+  BY GEORGE E. JENKINS
+
+  THE EASTER STORM OF 1873                                     158
+  BY CHARLES B. LETTON
+
+  BEGINNINGS OF FAIRBURY                                       161
+  BY JOSEPH B. MCDOWELL
+
+  EARLY EXPERIENCES IN NEBRASKA                                163
+  BY ELIZABETH PORTER SEYMOUR
+
+  PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS                                       166
+  BY MRS. C. F. STEELE
+
+  HOW THE SONS OF GEORGE WINSLOW FOUND THEIR FATHER'S GRAVE    168
+  _Statement by Mrs. C. F. Steele_                             168
+  _Statement by George W. Hansen_                              169
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY                               175
+  BY MRS. M. H. WEEKS
+
+  LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL AT LINCOLN                           176
+  BY JOHN H. AMES
+
+  AN INCIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN                        182
+  BY ORTHA C. BELL
+
+  LINCOLN IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES                               184
+  BY ORTHA C. BELL
+
+  A PIONEER BABY SHOW                                          186
+  BY MRS. FRANK I. RINGER
+
+  MARKING THE SITE OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK COUNCIL AT FORT
+    CALHOUN                                                    187
+  BY MRS. LAURA B. POUND
+
+  EARLY HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY                              190
+  BY MAJOR LESTER WALKER
+
+  GREY EAGLE, PAWNEE CHIEF                                     194
+  BY MILLARD S. BINNEY
+
+  LOVERS' LEAP (POEM)                                          196
+  BY MRS. A. P. JARVIS
+
+  EARLY INDIAN HISTORY                                         198
+  BY MRS. SARAH CLAPP
+
+  THE BLIZZARD OF 1888                                         203
+  BY MINNIE FREEMAN PENNY
+
+  AN ACROSTIC                                                  204
+  BY MRS. ELLIS
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN NANCE COUNTY                                   206
+  BY MRS. ELLEN SAUNDERS WALTON
+
+  THE PAWNEE CHIEF'S FAREWELL (POEM)                           208
+  BY CHAUNCEY LIVINGSTON WILTSE
+
+  MY TRIP WEST IN 1861                                         211
+  BY SARAH SCHOOLEY RANDALL
+
+  STIRRING EVENTS ALONG THE LITTLE BLUE                        214
+  BY CLARENDON E. ADAMS
+
+  MY LAST BUFFALO HUNT                                         219
+  BY J. STERLING MORTON
+
+  HOW THE FOUNDER OF ARBOR DAY CREATED THE MOST FAMOUS
+    WESTERN ESTATE                                             235
+  BY PAUL MORTON
+
+  EARLY REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA CITY--SOCIAL ASPECTS         240
+  BY ELLEN KINNEY WARE
+
+  SOME PERSONAL INCIDENTS                                      242
+  BY W. A. MCALLISTER
+
+  A BUFFALO HUNT                                               244
+  BY MINNIE FREEMAN PENNY
+
+  PIONEER LIFE                                                 246
+  BY MRS. JAMES G. REEDER
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN POLK COUNTY                                    248
+  BY CALMAR MCCUNE
+
+  PERSONAL REMINISCENCES                                       252
+  BY MRS. THYRZA REAVIS ROY
+
+  TWO SEWARD COUNTY CELEBRATIONS                               254
+  BY MRS. S. C. LANGWORTHY
+
+  SEWARD COUNTY REMINISCENCES                                  255
+  COMPILED BY MARGARET HOLMES CHAPTER D. A. R.
+
+  PIONEERING                                                   263
+  BY GRANT LEE SHUMWAY
+
+  EARLY DAYS IN STANTON COUNTY                                 266
+  BY ANDREW J. BOTTORFF AND SVEN JOHANSON
+
+  FRED E. ROPER, PIONEER                                       268
+  BY ERNEST E. CORRELL
+
+  THE LURE OF THE PRAIRIES                                     272
+  BY LUCY L. CORRELL
+
+  SUFFRAGE IN NEBRASKA                                         275
+  _Statement by Mrs. Gertrude M. McDowell_                     275
+  _Statement by Lucy L. Correll_                               277
+
+  AN INDIAN RAID                                               279
+  BY ERNEST E. CORRELL
+
+  REMINISCENCES                                                281
+  BY MRS. E. A. RUSSELL
+
+  REMINISCENCES OF FORT CALHOUN                                284
+  BY W. H. ALLEN
+
+  REMINISCENCES OF WASHINGTON COUNTY                           286
+  BY MRS. EMILY BOTTORFF ALLEN
+
+  REMINISCENCES OF PIONEER LIFE AT FORT CALHOUN                288
+  BY MRS. N. J. FRAZIER BROOKS
+
+  REMINISCENCES OF DE SOTO                                     289
+  BY OLIVER BOUVIER
+
+  REMINISCENCES                                                290
+  BY THOMAS M. CARTER
+
+  FORT CALHOUN IN THE LATE FIFTIES                             293
+  BY MRS. E. H. CLARK
+
+  SOME ITEMS FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY                            295
+  BY MRS. MAY ALLEN LAZURE
+
+  COUNTY-SEAT OF WASHINGTON COUNTY                             298
+  BY FRANK MCNEELY
+
+  THE STORY OF THE TOWN OF FONTENELLE                          299
+  BY MRS. EDA MEAD
+
+  THOMAS WILKINSON AND FAMILY                                  305
+
+  NIKUMI                                                       307
+  BY MRS. HARRIETT S. MACMURPHY
+
+  THE HEROINE OF THE JULES SLADE TRAGEDY                       322
+  BY MRS. HARRIETT S. MACMURPHY
+
+  THE LAST ROMANTIC BUFFALO HUNT ON THE PLAINS OF NEBRASKA     326
+  BY JOHN LEE WEBSTER
+
+  OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE NEBRASKA SOCIETY, D. A. R.            333
+  BY MRS. CHARLES H. AULL
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  MRS. LAURA B. POUND                               _Frontispiece_
+
+  OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT NEAR LEROY, NEBRASKA                    18
+
+  OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT ON THE NEBRASKA-WYOMING STATE LINE      18
+
+  MRS. ANGIE F. NEWMAN                                          22
+
+  DEDICATION OF MONUMENT COMMEMORATING THE OREGON TRAIL AT
+  KEARNEY, NEBRASKA                                             27
+
+  MRS. ANDREW K. GAULT                                          50
+
+  MONUMENT MARKING THE OLD TRAILS, FREMONT, NEBRASKA            78
+
+  MRS. CHARLOTTE F. PALMER                                      90
+
+  MRS. FRANCES AVERY HAGGARD                                   127
+
+  OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT NEAR FAIRBURY, NEBRASKA                139
+
+  MRS. ELIZABETH C. LANGWORTHY                                 155
+
+  MRS. CHARLES B. LETTON                                       168
+
+  BOULDER AT FORT CALHOUN, COMMEMORATING THE COUNCIL
+  OF LEWIS AND CLARK WITH THE OTOE AND MISSOURI INDIANS        187
+
+  MRS. OREAL S. WARD                                           203
+
+  OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT ON KANSAS-NEBRASKA STATE LINE          240
+
+  MRS. CHARLES OLIVER NORTON                                   252
+
+  OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT NEAR HEBRON, NEBRASKA                  268
+
+  MRS. WARREN PERRY                                            305
+
+  MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN, ANTELOPE PARK, LINCOLN                    326
+
+  MRS. CHARLES H. AULL                                         333
+
+  MONUMENT MARKING THE INITIAL POINT OF THE CALIFORNIA
+  TRAIL, RIVERSIDE PARK, OMAHA                                 337
+
+  CALIFORNIA TRAIL MONUMENT, BEMIS PARK, OMAHA                 337
+
+
+
+
+SOME FIRST THINGS IN THE HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY
+
+BY GEORGE F. WORK
+
+
+Adams county is named for the first time, in an act of the territorial
+legislature approved February 16, 1867, when the south bank of the
+Platte river was made its northern boundary. There were no settlers here
+at that time although several persons who are mentioned later herein had
+established trapping camps within what are now its boundaries. In 1871
+it was declared a county by executive proclamation and its present
+limits defined as, in short, consisting of government ranges, 9, 10, 11,
+and 12 west of the sixth principal meridian, and townships 5, 6, 7, and
+8, north of the base line, which corresponds with the south line of the
+state.
+
+Mortimer N. Kress, familiarly known to the early settlers as "Wild
+Bill," Marion Jerome Fouts, also known as "California Joe," and James
+Bainter had made hunting and trapping camps all the way along the Little
+Blue river, prior to this time. This stream flows through the south part
+of the county and has its source just west of its western boundary in
+Kearney county. James Bainter filed on a tract just across its eastern
+line in Clay county as his homestead, and so disappears in the history
+of Adams county. Mortimer N. Kress is still living and now has his home
+in Hastings, a hale, hearty man of seventy-five years and respected by
+all. Marion J. Fouts, about seventy years of age, still lives on the
+homestead he selected in that early day and is a respected, prominent
+man in that locality.
+
+Gordon H. Edgerton, now a resident and prominent business man of
+Hastings, when a young man, in 1866, was engaged in freighting across
+the plains, over the Oregon trail that entered the county where the
+Little Blue crosses its eastern boundary and continued in a
+northwesterly direction, leaving its western line a few miles west and a
+little north of where Kenesaw now stands, and so is familiar with its
+early history. There has already been some who have questioned the
+authenticity of the story of an Indian massacre having taken place
+where this trail crosses Thirty-two Mile creek, so named because it was
+at this point about thirty-two miles east of Fort Kearny. This massacre
+took place about the year 1867, and Mr. Edgerton says that it was
+universally believed at the time he was passing back and forth along
+this trail. He distinctly remembers an old threshing machine that stood
+at that place for a long time and that was left there by some of the
+members of the party that were killed. The writer of this sketch who
+came to the county in 1874, was shown a mound at this place, near the
+bank of the creek, which he was told was the heaped up mound of the
+grave where the victims were buried, and the story was not questioned so
+far as he ever heard until recent years. Certainly those who lived near
+the locality at that early day did not question it. This massacre took
+place very near the locality where Captain Fremont encamped, the night
+of June 25, 1842, as related in the history of his expedition and was
+about five or six miles south and a little west of Hastings. I well
+remember the appearance of this trail. It consisted of a number of
+deeply cut wagon tracks, nearly parallel with each other, but which
+would converge to one track where the surface was difficult or where
+there was a crossing to be made over a rough place or stream. The
+constant tramping of the teams would pulverize the soil and the high
+winds would blow out the dust, or if on sloping ground, the water from
+heavy rains would wash it out until the track became so deep that a new
+one would be followed because the axles of the wagons would drag on the
+ground. It was on this trail a few miles west of what is now the site of
+Kenesaw, that a lone grave was discovered by the first settlers in the
+country, and a story is told of how it came to be there. About midway
+from where the trail leaves the Little Blue to the military post at Fort
+Kearny on the Platte river a man with a vision of many dollars to be
+made from the people going west to the gold-fields over this trail, dug
+a well about one hundred feet deep for the purpose of selling water to
+the travelers and freighters. Some time later he was killed by the
+Indians and the well was poisoned by them. A man by the name of Haile
+camped here a few days later and he and his wife used the water for
+cooking and drinking. Both were taken sick and the wife died, but he
+recovered. He took the boards of his wagon box and made her a coffin
+and buried her near the trail. Some time afterwards he returned and
+erected a headstone over her grave which was a few years since still
+standing and perhaps is to this day, the monument of a true man to his
+love for his wife and to her memory.
+
+The first homestead was taken in the county by Francis M. Luey, March 5,
+1870, though there were others taken the same day. The facts as I get
+them direct from Mr. Kress are that he took his team and wagon, and he
+and three other men went to Beatrice, where the government land office
+was located, to make their entries. When they arrived at the office,
+with his characteristic generosity he said: "Boys, step up and take your
+choice; any of it is good enough for me." Luey was the first to make his
+entry, and he was followed by the other three. Francis M. Luey took the
+southwest quarter of section twelve; Mortimer N. Kress selected the
+northeast quarter of section thirteen; Marion Jerome Fouts, the
+southeast quarter of eleven; and the fourth person, John Smith, filed on
+the southwest quarter of eleven, all in township five north and range
+eleven west of the sixth principal meridian. Smith relinquished his
+claim later and never made final proof, so his name does not appear on
+the records of the county as having made this entry. The others settled
+and made improvements on their lands. Mortimer N. Kress built a sod
+house that spring, and later in the summer, a hewed log house, and these
+were the first buildings in the county. So Kress and Fouts, two old
+comrades and trappers, settled down together, and are still citizens of
+the county. Other settlers rapidly began to make entry in the
+neighborhood, and soon there were enough to be called together in the
+first religious service. The first sermon was preached in Mr. Kress'
+hewed log house by Rev. J. W. Warwick in the fall of 1871.
+
+The first marriage in the county was solemnized in 1872 between Roderick
+Lomas or Loomis and "Lila" or Eliza Warwick, the ceremony being
+performed by the bride's father, Rev. J. W. Warwick. Prior to this,
+however, on October 18, 1871, Eben Wright and Susan Gates, a young
+couple who had settled in the county, were taken by Mr. Kress in his
+two-horse farm wagon to Grand Island, where they were married by the
+probate judge.
+
+The first deaths that occurred in the county were of two young men who
+came into the new settlement to make homes for themselves in 1870,
+selected their claims and went to work, and a few days later were
+killed in their camp at night. It was believed that a disreputable
+character who came along with a small herd of horses committed the
+murder, but no one knew what the motive was. He was arrested and his
+name given as Jake Haynes, but as no positive proof could be obtained he
+was cleared at the preliminary examination, and left the country. A
+story became current a short time afterward that he was hanged in Kansas
+for stealing a mule.
+
+The first murder that occurred in the county that was proven was that of
+Henry Stutzman, who was killed by William John McElroy, February 8,
+1879, about four miles south of Hastings. He was arrested a few hours
+afterward, and on his trial was convicted and sent to the penitentiary.
+
+The first child born in the county was born to Francis M. Luey and wife
+in the spring of 1871. These parents were the first married couple to
+settle in this county. The child lived only a short time and was buried
+near the home, there being no graveyard yet established. A few years ago
+the K. C. & O. R. R. in grading its roadbed through that farm disturbed
+the grave and uncovered its bones.
+
+In the spring and summer of 1870 Mr. Kress broke about fifty acres of
+prairie on his claim and this constituted the first improvement of that
+nature in the county.
+
+J. R. Carter and wife settled in this neighborhood about 1870, and the
+two young men, mentioned above as having been murdered, stopped at their
+house over night, their first visitors. It was a disputed point for a
+long time whether Mrs. Carter, Mrs. W. S. Moote, or Mrs. Francis M. Luey
+was the first white woman to settle permanently in the county; but Mr.
+Kress is positive that the last named was the first and is entitled to
+that distinction. Mrs. Moote, with her husband, came next and camped on
+their claim, then both left and made their entries of the land. In the
+meantime, before the return of the Mootes, Mr. and Mrs. Carter made
+permanent settlement on their land, so the honors were pretty evenly
+divided.
+
+The first white settler in the county to die a natural death and receive
+Christian burial was William H. Akers, who had taken a homestead in
+section 10-5-9. The funeral services were conducted by Rev. J. W.
+Warwick.
+
+In the summer of 1871 a colony of settlers from Michigan settled on
+land on which the townsite of Juniata was afterward located, and
+October 1, 1871, the first deed that was placed on record in the county
+was executed by John and Margaret Stark to Col. Charles P. Morse before
+P. F. Barr, a notary public at Crete, Nebraska, and was filed for record
+March 9, 1872, and recorded on page 1, volume 1, of deed records of
+Adams county. The grantee was general superintendent of the Burlington &
+Missouri River Railroad Company which was then approaching the eastern
+edge of the county, and opened its first office at Hastings in April,
+1873, with agent Horace S. Wiggins in charge. Mr. Wiggins is now a
+well-known public accountant and insurance actuary residing in Lincoln.
+The land conveyed by this deed and some other tracts for which deeds
+were soon after executed was in section 12, township 7, range 11, and on
+which the town of Juniata was platted. The Stark patent was dated June
+5, 1872, and signed by U. S. Grant as president. The town plat was filed
+for record March 9, 1872.
+
+The first church organized in the county was by Rev. John F. Clarkson,
+chaplain of a colony of English Congregationalists who settled near the
+present location of Hastings in 1871. He preached the first sermon while
+they were still camped in their covered wagons at a point near the
+present intersection of Second street and Burlington avenue, the first
+Sunday after their arrival. A short time afterward, in a sod house on
+the claim of John G. Moore, at or near the present site of the Lepin
+hotel, the church was organized with nine members uniting by letter, and
+a few Sundays later four more by confession of their faith. This data I
+have from Peter Fowlie and S. B. Binfield, two of the persons composing
+the first organization.
+
+The first Sunday school organized in the county was organized in a small
+residence then under construction on lot 3 in block 4 of Moore's
+addition to Hastings. The frame was up, the roof on, siding and floor in
+place, but that was all. Nail kegs and plank formed the seats, and a
+store box the desk. The building still stands and constitutes the main
+part of the present residence of my family at 219 North Burlington
+avenue. It was a union school and was the nucleus of the present
+Presbyterian and Congregational Sunday schools. I am not able to give
+the date of its organization but it was probably in the winter of
+1872-73. I got this information from Mr. A. L. Wigton, who was
+influential in bringing about the organization and was its first
+superintendent.
+
+The first school in the county was opened about a mile south of Juniata
+early in 1872, by Miss Emma Leonard, and that fall Miss Lizzie Scott was
+employed to teach one in Juniata. So rapidly did the county settle that
+by October 1, 1873, thirty-eight school districts were reported
+organized.
+
+The acting governor, W. H. James, on November 7, 1871, ordered the
+organization of the county for political and judicial purposes, and
+fixed the day of the first election to be held, on December 12
+following. Twenty-nine votes were cast and the following persons were
+elected as county officers:
+
+    Clerk, Russell D. Babcock.
+    Treasurer, John S. Chandler.
+    Sheriff, Isaac W. Stark.
+    Probate Judge, Titus Babcock.
+    Surveyor, George Henderson.
+    Superintendent of Schools, Adna H. Bowen.
+    Coroner, Isaiah Sluyter.
+    Assessor, William M. Camp.
+    County Commissioners: Samuel L. Brass, Edwin M. Allen, and
+    Wellington W. Selleck.
+
+The first assessment of personal property produced a tax of $5,500, on
+an assessed valuation of $20,003, and the total valuation of personal
+and real property amounted to $957,183, mostly on railroad lands of
+which the Burlington road was found to own 105,423 acres and the Union
+Pacific, 72,207. Very few of the settlers had at that time made final
+proof. This assessment was made in the spring of 1872.
+
+The first building for county uses was ordered constructed on January
+17, 1872, and was 16x20 feet on the ground with an eight-foot story,
+shingle roof, four windows and one door, matched floor, and ceiled
+overhead with building paper. The county commissioners were to furnish
+all material except the door and windows and the contract for the work
+was let to Joseph Stuhl for $30.00. S. L. Brass was to superintend the
+construction, and the building was to be ready for occupancy in ten
+days.
+
+The salary of the county clerk was fixed by the board at $300, that of
+the probate judge at $75 for the year.
+
+It is claimed that the law making every section line a county road, in
+the state of Nebraska, originated with this board in a resolution passed
+by it, requesting their representatives in the senate and house of the
+legislature then in session to introduce a bill to that effect and work
+for its passage. Their work must have been effective for we find that in
+July following, the Burlington railroad company asked damages by reason
+of loss sustained through the act of the legislature taking about eight
+acres of each section of their land, for these public roads.
+
+The first poorhouse was built in the fall of 1872. It was 16x24 feet,
+one and one-half stories high, and was constructed by Ira G. Dillon for
+$1,400, and Peter Fowlie was appointed poormaster at a salary of $25 per
+month. And on November 1 of that year he reported six poor persons as
+charges on the county, but his administration must have been effective
+for on December 5, following, he reported none then in his charge.
+
+The first agricultural society was organized at Kingston and the first
+agricultural fair of which there is any record was held October 11 and
+12, 1873. The fair grounds were on the southeast corner of the northwest
+quarter of section 32-5-9 on land owned by G. H. Edgerton, and quite a
+creditable list of premiums were awarded.
+
+The first Grand Army post was organized at Hastings under a charter
+issued May 13, 1878, and T. D. Scofield was elected commander.
+
+The first newspaper published in the county was the _Adams County
+Gazette_, issued at Juniata by R. D. and C. C. Babcock in January, 1872.
+This was soon followed by the _Hastings Journal_ published by M. K.
+Lewis and A. L. Wigton. These were in time consolidated and in January,
+1880, the first daily was issued by A. L. and J. W. Wigton and called
+the _Daily Gazette-Journal_.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY EXPERIENCES IN ADAMS COUNTY
+
+BY GENERAL ALBERT V. COLE
+
+
+I was a young business man in Michigan in 1871, about which time many
+civil war veterans were moving from Michigan and other states to Kansas
+and Nebraska, where they could secure free homesteads. I received
+circulars advertising Juniata. They called it a village but at that time
+there were only four houses, all occupied by agents of the Burlington
+railroad who had been employed to preÎmpt a section of land for the
+purpose of locating a townsite. In October, 1871, I started for Juniata,
+passing through Chicago at the time of the great fire. With a comrade I
+crossed the Missouri river at Plattsmouth on a flatboat. The Burlington
+was running mixed trains as far west as School Creek, now Sutton. We
+rode to that point, then started to walk to Juniata, arriving at Harvard
+in the evening. Harvard also had four houses placed for the same purpose
+as those in Juniata. Frank M. Davis, who was elected commissioner of
+public lands and buildings in 1876, lived in one house with his family;
+the other three were supposed to be occupied by bachelors.
+
+We arranged with Mr. Davis for a bed in an upper room of one of the
+vacant houses. We were tenderfeet from the East and therefore rather
+suspicious of the surroundings, there being no lock on the lower door.
+To avoid being surprised we piled everything we could find against the
+door. About midnight we were awakened by a terrible noise; our
+fortifications had fallen and we heard the tramp of feet below. Some of
+the preÎmptors had been out on section 37 for wood and the lower room
+was where they kept the horse feed.
+
+The next morning we paid our lodging and resumed the journey west.
+Twelve miles from Harvard we found four more houses placed by the
+Burlington. The village was called Inland and was on the east line of
+Adams county but has since been moved east into Clay county. Just before
+reaching Inland we met a man coming from the west with a load of buffalo
+meat and at Inland we found C. S. Jaynes, one of the preÎmptors,
+sitting outside his shanty cutting up some of the meat. It was twelve
+miles farther to Juniata, the railroad grade being our guide. The
+section where Hastings now stands was on the line but there was no town,
+not a tree or living thing in sight, just burnt prairie. I did not think
+when we passed over that black and desolate section that a city like
+Hastings would be builded there. The buffalo and the antelope had gone
+in search of greener pastures; even the wolf and the coyote were unable
+to live there at that time.
+
+[Illustration: OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT ON NEBRASKA-WYOMING STATE LINE
+
+Erected by the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution of Nebraska
+and Wyoming. Dedicated April 4, 1913. Cost $200]
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT ON THE OREGON TRAIL
+
+Seven miles south of Hastings. Erected by Niobrara Chapter, Daughters of
+the American Revolution at a cost of $100]
+
+Six miles farther on we arrived at Juniata and the first thing we did
+was to drink from the well in the center of the section between the four
+houses. This was the only well in the district and that first drink of
+water in Adams county was indeed refreshing. The first man we met was
+Judson Buswell, a civil war veteran, who had a homestead a mile away and
+was watering his mule team at the well. Although forty-four years have
+passed, I shall never forget those mules; one had a crooked leg, but
+they were the best Mr. Buswell could afford. Now at the age of
+seventy-three he spends his winters in California and rides in his
+automobile, but still retains his original homestead.
+
+Juniata had in addition to the four houses a small frame building used
+as a hotel kept by John Jacobson. It was a frail structure, a story and
+a half, and when the Nebraska wind blew it would shake on its
+foundation. There was one room upstairs with a bed in each corner.
+During the night there came up a northwest wind and every bed was on the
+floor the next morning. Later another hotel was built called the Juniata
+House. Land seekers poured into Adams county after the Burlington was
+completed in July, 1872, and there was quite a strife between the
+Jacobson House and the Juniata House. Finally a runner for the latter
+hotel advertised it as the only hotel in town with a cook stove.
+
+Adams county was organized December 12, 1871. Twenty-nine voters took
+part in the first election and Juniata was made the county-seat.
+
+We started out the next morning after our arrival to find a quarter
+section of land. About a mile north we came to the dugout of Mr.
+Chandler. He lived in the back end of his house and kept his horses in
+the front part. Mr. Chandler went with us to locate our claims. We
+preÎmpted land on section twenty-eight north of range ten west, in what
+is now Highland township. I turned the first sod in that township and
+put down the first bored well, which was 117 feet deep and cost $82.70.
+Our first shanty was 10x12 feet in size, boarded up and down and papered
+on the inside with tar paper. Our bed was made of soft-pine lumber with
+slats but no springs. The table was a flat-top trunk.
+
+In the spring of 1872 my wife's brother, George Crane, came from
+Michigan and took 80 acres near me. We began our spring work by breaking
+the virgin sod. We each bought a yoke of oxen and a Fish Brothers wagon,
+in Crete, eighty miles away, and then with garden tools and provisions
+in the wagon we started home, being four days on the way. A few miles
+west of Fairmont we met the Gaylord brothers, who had been to Grand
+Island and bought a printing press. They were going to publish a paper
+in Fairmont. They were stuck in a deep draw of mud, so deeply imbedded
+that our oxen could not pull their wagon out, so we hitched onto the
+press and pulled it out on dry land. It was not in very good condition
+when we left it but the boys printed a very clean paper on it for a
+number of years.
+
+In August Mrs. Cole came out and joined me. I had broken 30 acres and
+planted corn, harvesting a fair crop which I fed to my oxen and cows.
+Mrs. Cole made butter, our first churn being a wash bowl in which she
+stirred the cream with a spoon, but the butter was sweet and we were
+happy, except that Mrs. Cole was very homesick. She was only nineteen
+years old and a thousand miles from her people, never before having been
+separated from her mother. I had never had a home, my parents having
+died when I was very small, and I had been pushed around from pillar to
+post. Now I had a home of my own and was delighted with the wildness of
+Nebraska, yet my heart went out to Mrs. Cole. The wind blew more
+fiercely than now and she made me promise that if our house ever blew
+down I would take her back to Michigan. That time very nearly came on
+April 13, 1873. The storm raged three days and nights and the snow flew
+so it could not be faced. I have experienced colder blizzards but never
+such a storm as this Easter one. I had built an addition of two rooms on
+my shanty and it was fortunate we had that much room before the storm
+for it was the means of saving the lives of four friends who were caught
+without shelter. Two of them, a man and wife, were building a house on
+their claim one-half mile east, the others were a young couple who had
+been taking a ride on that beautiful Sunday afternoon. The storm came
+suddenly about four in the afternoon; not a breath of air was stirring
+and it became very dark. The storm burst, black dirt filled the air, and
+the house rocked. Mrs. Cole almost prayed that the house would go down
+so she could go back East. But it weathered the blast; if it had not I
+know we would all have perished. The young man's team had to have
+shelter and my board stable was only large enough for my oxen and cow so
+we took his horses to the sod house on the girl's claim a mile away.
+Rain and hail were falling but the snow did not come until we got home
+or we would not have found our way. There were six grown people and one
+child to camp in our house three days and only one bed. The three women
+and the child occupied the bed, the men slept on the floor in another
+room. Monday morning the snow was drifted around and over the house and
+had packed in the cellar through a hole where I intended to put in a
+window some day. To get the potatoes from the cellar for breakfast I had
+to tunnel through the snow from the trap door in the kitchen. It was
+impossible to get to the well so we lifted the trap door and melted
+fresh snow when water was needed.
+
+The shack that sheltered my live stock was 125 feet from the house and
+it took three of us to get to the shack to feed. Number two would keep
+within hearing of number one and the third man kept in touch with number
+two until he reached the stable. Wednesday evening we went for the
+horses in the sod house and found one dead. They had gnawed the wall of
+the house so that it afterwards fell down.
+
+I could tell many other incidents of a homesteader's life, of trials and
+short rations, of the grasshoppers in 1874-75-76, of hail storms and hot
+winds; yet all who remained through those days of hardship are driving
+automobiles instead of oxen and their land is worth, not $2.50 an acre,
+but $150.
+
+
+
+
+FRONTIER TOWNS
+
+BY FRANCIS M. BROOME
+
+
+With the first rush of settlers into northwest Nebraska, preceding the
+advent of railroads, numerous villages sprang up on the prairies like
+mushrooms during a night. All gave promise, at least on paper, of
+becoming great cities, and woe to the citizen unloyal to that sentiment
+or disloyal to his town. It is sufficient to recount experiences in but
+one of these villages for customs were similar in all of them, as
+evidence of the freedom common to early pioneer life.
+
+In a central portion of the plains, that gave promise of future
+settlement, a man named Buchanan came out with a wagonload of boards and
+several boxes of whiskey and tobacco and in a short space of time had
+erected a building of not very imposing appearance. Over the door of
+this building a board was nailed, on which was printed the word "SALOON"
+and, thus prepared for business, this man claimed the distinction of
+starting the first town in that section. His first customers were a band
+of cowboys who proceeded to drink up all of the stock and then to see
+which one could shoot the largest number of holes through the building.
+This gave the town quite a boom and new settlers as far away as
+Valentine began hearing of the new town of Buchanan. Soon after another
+venturesome settler brought in a general merchandise store and then the
+rush began, all fearing they might be too late to secure choice
+locations. The next public necessity was a newspaper, which soon came,
+and the town was given the name of Nonpareil. It was regularly platted
+into streets and alleys, and a town well sunk in the public square.
+Efforts to organize a civil government met with a frost, everyone
+preferring to be his own governor. A two-story hotel built of rough
+native pine boards furnished lodging and meals for the homeless, three
+saloons furnished drinks for the thirsty twenty-four hours in the day
+and seven days in the week; two drug stores supplied drugs in case of
+sickness and booze from necessity for payment of expenses. These with a
+blacksmith shop and several stores constituted the town for the first
+year and by reason of continuous boosting it grew to a pretentious size.
+The second year some of the good citizens, believing it had advanced far
+enough to warrant the establishment of a church, sent for a Methodist
+minister. This good soul, believing his mission in life was to drive out
+sin from the community, set about to do it in the usual manner, but soon
+bowed to the inevitable and, recognizing prevailing customs, became
+popular in the town. Boys, seeing him pass the door of saloons, would
+hail him and in a good-natured manner give him the contents of a jackpot
+in a poker game until, with these contributions and sums given him from
+more religious motives, he had accumulated enough to build a small
+church.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. ANGIE F. NEWMAN
+
+Second Vice-President General from Nebraska, National Society, Daughters
+of the American Revolution. Elected 1898]
+
+After the organization of the county, the place was voted the
+county-seat, and a courthouse was built. The court room when not in use
+by the court was used for various public gatherings and frequently for
+dances.
+
+Everybody had plenty of money and spent it with a prodigal hand. The
+"save-for-rainy-days" fellows had not yet arrived on the scene. They
+never do until after higher civilization steps in. Old Dan, the hotel
+keeper, was considered one of the best wealth distributors in the
+village. His wife, a little woman of wonderful energy, would do all the
+work in a most cheerful manner while Dan kept office, collected the
+money and distributed it to the pleasure of the boys and profit to the
+saloons, and both husband and wife were happy in knowing that they were
+among the most popular people of the village. It did no harm and
+afforded the little lady great satisfaction to tell about her noble
+French ancestry for it raised the family to a much higher dignity than
+that of the surrounding plebeian stock of English, Irish, and Dutch, and
+nobody cared so long as everything was cheerful around the place.
+Cheerfulness is a great asset in any line of business. The lawyer of the
+village, being a man of great expectations, attempted to lend dignity to
+the profession, until, finding that board bills are not paid by dignity
+and becoming disgusted with the lack of appreciation of legal talent, he
+proceeded to beat the poker games for an amount sufficient to enable him
+to leave for some place where legal talent was more highly appreciated.
+
+These good old days might have continued had the railroads kept out,
+but railroads follow settlement just as naturally as day follows night.
+They built into the country and with them came a different order of
+civilization.
+
+Many experiences of a similar character might be told concerning other
+towns in this section, namely, Gordon, where old Hank Ditto, who ran the
+roadhouse, never turned down a needy person for meals and lodging, but
+compelled the ones with money to pay for them. Then there was Rushville,
+the supply station for vast stores of goods for the Indian agency and
+reservation near by; Hay Springs, the terminal point for settlers coming
+into the then unsettled south country. Chadron was a town of unsurpassed
+natural beauty in the Pine Ridge country, where Billy Carter, the Dick
+Turpin of western romance, held forth in all his glory and at whose
+shrine the sporting fraternity performed daily ablutions in the
+bountiful supply of booze water. Crawford was the nesting place for all
+crooks that were ever attracted to a country by an army post.
+
+These affairs incident to the pioneer life of northwestern Nebraska are
+now but reminiscences, supplanted by a civilization inspired by all of
+the modern and higher ideals of life.
+
+
+
+
+HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOX BUTTE COUNTY
+
+BY IRA E. TASH
+
+
+Box Butte county, Nebraska, owes its existence to the discovery of gold
+in the Black Hills in 1876. When this important event occurred, the
+nearest railroad point to the discovery in Deadwood Gulch was Sidney,
+Nebraska, 275 miles to the south. To this place the gold seekers rushed
+from every point of the compass. Parties were organized to make the
+overland trip to the new El Dorado with ox teams, mule teams, and by
+every primitive mode of conveyance. Freighters from Colorado and the
+great Southwest, whose occupation was threatened by the rapid building
+of railroads, miners from all the Rocky Mountain regions of the West,
+and thousands of tenderfeet from the East, all flocked to Sidney as the
+initial starting point. To this heterogeneous mass was added the
+gambler, the bandit, the road agent, the dive keeper, and other
+undesirable citizens. This flood of humanity made the "Old Sidney Trail"
+to the Black Hills. Then followed the stage coach, Wells-Fargo express,
+and later the United States mail. The big freighting outfits conveyed
+mining machinery, provisions, and other commodities, among which were
+barrels and barrels of poor whiskey, to the toiling miners in the Hills.
+Indians infested the trail, murdered the freighters and miners, and ran
+off their stock, while road agents robbed stages and looted the express
+company's strong boxes. Bandits murdered returning miners and robbed
+them of their nuggets and gold dust. There was no semblance of law and
+order. When things got too rank, a few of the worst offenders were
+lynched, and the great, seething, hurrying mass of humanity pressed on
+urged by its lust for gold.
+
+This noted trail traversed what is now Box Butte county from north to
+south, and there were three important stopping places within the
+boundaries of the county. These were the Hart ranch at the crossing of
+Snake creek, Mayfield's, and later the Hughes ranch at the crossing of
+the Niobrara, and Halfway Hollow, on the high tableland between. The
+deep ruts worn by the heavily loaded wagons and other traffic passing
+over the route are still plainly visible, after the lapse of forty
+years. This trail was used for a period of about nine years, or until
+the Northwestern railroad was extended to Deadwood, when it gave way to
+modern civilization.
+
+Traveling over this trail were men of affairs, alert men who had noted
+the rich grasses and wide ranges that bordered the route, and marked it
+down as the cattle raiser's and ranchman's future paradise. Then came
+the great range herds of the Ogallalla Cattle Company, Swan Brothers,
+Bosler Brothers, the Bay State and other large cow outfits, followed by
+the hard-riding cowboy and the chuck wagon. These gave names to
+prominent landmarks. A unique elevation in the eastern part of the
+county they named Box Butte. Butte means hill or elevation less than a
+mountain, Box because it was roughly square or box-shaped. Hence the
+surrounding plains were designated in cowman's parlance "the Box Butte
+country," and as such it was known far and wide.
+
+Later, in 1886 and 1887, a swarm of homeseekers swept in from the East,
+took up the land, and began to build houses of sod and to break up the
+virgin soil. The cowman saw that he was doomed, and so rounded up his
+herds of longhorns and drove on westward into Wyoming and Montana. These
+new settlers soon realized that they needed a unit of government to meet
+the requirements of a more refined civilization. They were drawn
+together by a common need, and rode over dim trails circulating
+petitions calling for an organic convention. They met and provided for
+the formation of a new county, to be known as "Box Butte" county.
+
+This name was officially adopted, and is directly traceable to the
+discovery of gold in the Black Hills. The lure of gold led the hardy
+miner and adventurer across its fertile plains, opened the way for the
+cattleman who named the landmark from which the county takes its name,
+and the sturdy settler who followed in his wake adopted the name and
+wrote it in the archives of the state and nation.
+
+[Illustration: UNVEILING OF MONUMENT AT KEARNEY, NEBRASKA, IN
+COMMEMORATION OF THE OREGON TRAIL
+
+Left to right: Mrs. Ashton C. Shallenberger, Governor Shallenberger,
+Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, State Regent Nebraska Society, Daughters of the
+American Revolution; Mrs. Andrew K. Gault, Vice-President General,
+National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Charles O.
+Norton, Regent Ft. Kearney Chapter, Daughters of the American
+Revolution; John W. Patterson, Mayor of Kearney; John Lee Webster,
+President Nebraska State Historical Society; Rev. R. P. Hammons, E. B.
+Finch, assisting with the flag rope]
+
+
+
+
+A BROKEN AXLE
+
+BY SAMUEL C. BASSETT
+
+
+In 1860, Edward Oliver, Sr., his wife and seven children, converts to
+the Mormon faith, left their home in England for Salt Lake City, Utah.
+At Florence, Nebraska, on the Missouri river a few miles above the city
+of Omaha, they purchased a traveling outfit for emigrants, which
+consisted of two yoke of oxen, a prairie-schooner wagon, and two cows;
+and with numerous other families having the same destination took the
+overland Mormon trail up the valley of the Platte on the north side of
+the river.
+
+When near a point known as Wood River Centre, 175 miles west of the
+Missouri river, the front axle of their wagon gave way, compelling a
+halt for repairs, their immediate companions in the emigrant train
+continuing the journey, for nothing avoidable, not even the burial of a
+member of the train, was allowed to interfere with the prescribed
+schedule of travel. The Oliver family camped beside the trail and the
+broken wagon was taken to the ranch of Joseph E. Johnson, who combined
+in his person and business that of postmaster, merchant, blacksmith,
+wagon-maker, editor, and publisher of a newspaper (_The Huntsman's
+Echo_). Johnson was a Mormon with two wives, a man passionately fond of
+flowers which he cultivated to a considerable extent in a fenced
+enclosure. While buffalo broke down his fence and destroyed his garden
+and flowers, he could not bring himself to kill them. He was a
+philosopher and, it must be conceded, a most useful person at a point so
+far distant from other sources of supplies.
+
+The wagon shop of Mr. Johnson contained no seasoned wood suitable for an
+axle and so from the trees along Wood river was cut an ash from which
+was hewn and fitted an axle to the wagon and the family again took the
+trail, but ere ten miles had been traveled the green axle began to bend
+under the load, the wheels ceased to track, and the party could not
+proceed. In the family council which succeeded the father urged that
+they try to arrange with other emigrants to carry their movables
+(double teams) and thus continue their journey.
+
+The mother suggested that they return to the vicinity of Wood River
+Centre and arrange to spend the winter. To the suggestion of the mother
+all the children added their entreaties. The mother urged that it was a
+beautiful country, with an abundance of wood and water, grass for
+pasture, and hay in plenty could be made for their cattle, and she was
+sure crops could be raised. The wishes of the mother prevailed, the
+family returned to a point about a mile west of Wood River Centre, and
+on the banks of the river constructed a log hut with a sod roof in which
+they spent the winter. When springtime came, the father, zealous in the
+Mormon faith, urged that they continue their journey; to this neither
+the mother nor any of the children could be induced to consent and in
+the end the father journeyed to Utah, where he made his home and married
+a younger woman who had accompanied the family from England, which
+doubtless was the determining factor in the mother refusing to go.
+
+The mother, Sarah Oliver, proved to be a woman of force and character.
+With her children she engaged in the raising of corn and vegetables, the
+surplus being sold to emigrants passing over the trail and at Fort
+Kearny, some twenty miles distant.
+
+In those days there were many without means who traveled the trail and
+Sarah Oliver never turned a hungry emigrant from her door, and often
+divided with such the scanty store needed for her own family. When
+rumors came of Indians on the warpath the children took turns on the
+housetop as lookout for the dread savages. In 1863 two settlers were
+killed by Indians a few miles east of her home. In the year 1864
+occurred the memorable raid of the Cheyenne Indians in which horrible
+atrocities were committed and scores of settlers were massacred by these
+Indians only a few miles to the south. In 1865 William Storer, a near
+neighbor, was killed by the Indians.
+
+Sarah Oliver had no framed diploma from a medical college which would
+entitle her to the prefix "Dr." to her name, possibly she was not
+entitled to be called a trained nurse, but she is entitled to be long
+remembered as one who ministered to the sick, to early travelers hungry
+and footsore along the trail, and to many families whose habitations
+were miles distant.
+
+Sarah Oliver and her family endured all the toil and privation common
+to early settlers, without means, in a new country, far removed from
+access to what are deemed the barest necessities of life in more settled
+communities.
+
+She endured all the terrors incident to settlement in a sparsely settled
+locality, in which year after year Indian atrocities were committed and
+in which the coming of such savages was hourly expected and dreaded. She
+saw the building and completion of the Union Pacific railroad near her
+home in 1866; she saw Nebraska become a state in the year 1867. In 1870
+when Buffalo county was organized her youngest son, John, was appointed
+sheriff, and was elected to that office at the first election
+thereafter. Her eldest son, James, was the first assessor in the county,
+and her son Edward was a member of the first board of county
+commissioners and later was elected and served with credit and fidelity
+as county treasurer.
+
+When, in the year 1871, Sarah Oliver died, her son Robert inherited the
+claim whereon she first made a home for her family and which, in this
+year, 1915, is one of the most beautiful, fertile farm homes in the
+county and state.
+
+    A DREAM-LAND COMPLETE
+
+    Dreaming, I pictured a wonderful valley,
+      A home-making valley few known could compare;
+    When lo! from the bluffs to the north of Wood river
+      I saw my dream-picture--my valley lies there.
+
+    Miles long, east and west, stretch this wonderful valley:
+      Broad fields of alfalfa, of corn, and of wheat;
+    'Mid orchards and groves the homes of its people;
+      The vale of Wood river, a dream-land complete.
+
+    Nebraska, our mother, we love and adore thee;
+      Within thy fair borders our lot has been cast.
+    When done with life's labors and trials and pleasures,
+      Contented we'll rest in thy bosom at last.
+
+
+
+
+A PIONEER NEBRASKA TEACHER
+
+BY MRS. ISABEL ROSCOE
+
+
+In 1865, B. S. Roscoe, twenty-two years of age, returned to his home in
+Huron county, Ohio, after two years' service in the civil war. He
+assisted his father on the farm until 1867, when he was visited by F. B.
+Barber, an army comrade, a homesteader in northwestern Nebraska. His
+accounts of the new country were so attractive that Mr. Roscoe, who had
+long desired a farm of his own, decided to go west.
+
+He started in March, 1867, was delayed in Chicago by a snow blockade,
+but arrived in Omaha in due time. On March 24, 1867, Mr. Roscoe went to
+Decatur via the stage route, stopping for dinner at the Lippincott home,
+called the half-way house between Omaha and Decatur. He was advised to
+remain in Decatur for a day or two for the return of B. W. Everett from
+Maple Creek, Iowa, but being told that Logan creek, where he wished to
+settle, was only sixteen miles distant, he hired a horse and started
+alone. The snow was deep with a crust on top but not hard enough to bear
+the horse and rider. After going two miles through the deep snow he
+returned to Decatur. On March 26 he started with Mr. Everett, who had a
+load of oats and two dressed hogs on his sled, also two cows to drive.
+They took turns riding and driving the cows. The trail was hard to
+follow and when they reached the divide between Bell creek and the
+Blackbird, the wind was high and snow falling. They missed the road and
+the situation was serious. There was no house, tree, or landmark nearer
+than Josiah Everett's, who lived near the present site of Lyons, and was
+the only settler north of what is now Oakland, where John Oak resided.
+They abandoned the sled and each rode a horse, Mr. Everett trying to
+lead the way, but the horse kept turning around, so at last he let the
+animal have its way and they soon arrived at Josiah Everett's homestead
+shanty, the cows following.
+
+The next day Mr. Roscoe located his homestead on the bank of Logan
+creek. A couple of trappers had a dugout near by which they had made by
+digging a hole ten feet square in the side of the creek bank and
+covering the opening with brush and grass. Their names were Asa Merritt
+and George Kirk.
+
+Mr. Roscoe then returned to Decatur and walked from there to Omaha,
+where he filed on his claim April 1, 1867. The ice on the Missouri river
+was breaking though drays and busses were still crossing. Mr. Roscoe
+walked across the river to Council Bluffs and then proceeded by train to
+Bartlett, Iowa, intending to spend the summer near Brownville, Nebraska.
+In August he returned to his homestead and erected a claim shanty. The
+following winter was spent working in the woods at Tietown. In the
+winter of 1869 fifty dollars was appropriated for school purposes in
+Everett precinct and Mr. Roscoe taught school for two months in his
+shanty and boarded around among the patrons.
+
+
+
+
+EXPERIENCES OF A PIONEER WOMAN
+
+BY MRS. ELISE G. EVERETT
+
+
+On December 31, 1866, in a bleak wind I crossed the Missouri river on
+the ice, carrying a nine months' old baby, now Mrs. Jas. Stiles, and my
+four and a half year old boy trudging along. My husband's brother,
+Josiah Everett, carried three-year-old Eleanor in one arm and drove the
+team and my husband was a little in advance with his team and wagon
+containing all our possessions. We drove to the town of Decatur, that
+place of many hopes and ambitions as yet unfulfilled. We were
+entertained by the Herrick family, who said we would probably remain on
+Logan creek, our proposed home site, because we would be too poor to
+move away.
+
+On January 7, 1867, in threatening weather, we started on the last stage
+of our journey in quest of a home. Nestled deep in the prairie hay and
+covered with blankets, the babies and I did not suffer. The desolate,
+wind-swept prairie looked uninviting but when we came to the Logan
+Valley, it was beautiful even in that weather. The trees along the
+winding stream, the grove, now known as Fritt's grove, gave a home-like
+look and I decided I could be content in that valley.
+
+We lived with our brother until material for our shack could be brought
+from Decatur or Onawa, Iowa. Five grown people and seven children,
+ranging in ages from ten years down, lived in that small shack for three
+months. That our friendship was unimpaired is a lasting monument to our
+tact, politeness, and good nature.
+
+The New Year snow was the forerunner of heavier ones, until the
+twenty-mile trip to Decatur took a whole day, but finally materials for
+the shack were on hand. The last trip extended to Onawa and a sled of
+provisions and two patient cows were brought over. In Decatur, B. S.
+Roscoe was waiting an opportunity to get to the Logan and was invited to
+"jump on." It was late, the load was heavy, and somewhere near Blackbird
+creek the team stuck in the drifts. The cows were given their liberty,
+the horses unhooked, and with some difficulty the half frozen men
+managed to mount and the horses did the rest--the cows keeping close to
+their heels; and so they arrived late in the night. Coffee and a hot
+supper warmed the men sufficiently to catch a few winks of sleep--on
+bedding on the floor. A breakfast before light and they were off to
+rescue the load. The two frozen and dressed porkers had not yet
+attracted the wolves, and next day they crossed the Logan to the new
+house.
+
+A few days more and the snowdrifts were a mighty river. B. W. was a sort
+of Crusoe, but as everything but the horses and cows--and the trifling
+additional human stock--was strewn around him, he suffered nothing but
+anxiety. Josiah drove to Decatur, procured a boat, and with the aid of
+two or three trappers who chanced to be here, we were all rowed over the
+mile-wide sea, and were at home!
+
+Slowly the water subsided, and Nebraska had emerged from her territorial
+obscurity (March 1, 1867) before it was possible for teams to cross the
+bottom lands of the Logan.
+
+One Sunday morning I caught sight of two moving figures emerging from
+the grove. The dread of Indian callers was ever with me, but as they
+came nearer my spirits mounted to the clouds--for I recognized my
+sister, Mrs. Andrew Everett, as the rider, and her son Frank leading the
+pony. Their claim had been located in March, but owing to the frequent
+and heavy rains we were not looking for them so soon. The evening before
+we had made out several covered wagons coming over the hills from
+Decatur, but we were not aware that they had already arrived at
+Josiah's. The wagons we had seen were those of E. R. Libby, Chas.
+Morton, Southwell, and Clements.
+
+A boat had brought my sister and her son across the Logan--a pony being
+allowed to swim the stream but the teams were obliged to go eight miles
+south to Oakland, where John Oak and two or three others had already
+settled, and who had thrown a rough bridge across.
+
+Before fall the Andrew Everett house (no shack) was habitable--also a
+number of other families had moved in on both sides of the Logan, and it
+began to be a real neighborhood.
+
+One late afternoon I started out to make preparations for the night, as
+Mr. Everett was absent for a few days. As I opened the door two Indians
+stood on the step, one an elderly man, the other a much-bedecked young
+buck. I admitted them; the elder seated himself and spoke a few friendly
+words, but the smart young man began immediately to inspect the few
+furnishings of the room. Though quaking inwardly, I said nothing till he
+spied a revolver hanging in its leather case upon the wall and was
+reaching for it. I got there first, and taking it from the case I held
+it in my hands. At once his manner changed. He protested that he was a
+_good_ Indian, and only wanted to _see_ the gun, while the other
+immediately rose from his chair. In a voice I never would have
+recognized as my own, I informed him that it was time for him to _go_.
+The elder man at last escorted him outside with me as rear guard. Fancy
+my feelings when right at the door were ten or more husky fellows, who
+seemed to propose entering, but by this time the desperate courage of
+the arrant coward took possession of me, and I barred the way. It was
+plain that the gun in my hand was a surprise, and the earnest entreaties
+of my five-year-old boy "not to shoot them" may also have given them
+pause. They said they were cold and hungry; I assured them that I had
+neither room nor food for them--little enough for my own babies. At last
+they all went on to the house of our brother, Andrew Everett. I knew
+that they were foraging for a large party which was encamped in the
+grove. Soon they came back laden with supplies which they had obtained,
+and now they insisted on coming in to _cook them_, and the smell of
+spirits was so unmistakable that I could readily see that Andrew had
+judged it best to get rid of them as soon as possible, thinking that
+they would be back in camp by dark, and the whiskey, which they had
+obtained between here and Fremont, would have evaporated. But it only
+made them more insistent in their demands and some were looking quite
+sullen. At last a young fellow, _not_ an Indian--for he had long dark
+curls reaching to his shoulders--with a strategic smile asked in good
+English for a "drink of water." Instead of leaving the door, as he
+evidently calculated, I called to my little boy to bring it. A giggle
+ran through the crowd at the expense of the strategist but it was plain
+they were growing ugly. Now the older Indian took the opportunity to
+make them an earnest talk, and though it was against their wishes, he at
+last started them toward the grove. After a while Frank Everett, my
+nephew, who had come down to bolster up my courage, and the children
+went to bed and to sleep, but no sleep for me; as the gray dawn was
+showing in the east, a terrific pounding upon the door turned my blood
+to ice. Again and again it came, and at last I tiptoed to the door and
+stooped to look through the crack. A pair of very slim ankles was all
+that was visible and as I rose to my feet, the very sweetest music I had
+ever heard saluted me, the neigh of my pet colt Bonnie, who had failed
+to receive her accustomed drink of milk the previous evening and took
+this manner of reminding me.
+
+This was the only time we were ever menaced with actual danger, and many
+laughable false alarms at last cured me of my fears of a people among
+whom I now have valued friends.
+
+
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF WEEPING WATER, NEBRASKA
+
+BY I. N. HUNTER
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Hunter were pioneer settlers of Nebraska and Weeping
+Water, coming from Illinois by team. Their first settlement in the state
+was near West Point in Cuming county where father staked out a claim in
+1857. Things went well aside from the usual hardships of pioneer life,
+such as being out of flour and having to pound corn in an iron kettle
+with an iron wedge to obtain corn meal for bread. When the bottom of the
+kettle gave way as a result of the many thumpings of the wedge, a new
+plan was devised--that of chopping a hole in a log and making a crude
+wooden kettle which better stood the blows of the wedge. This method of
+grinding corn was used until a trip could be made with an ox team, to
+the nearest mill, forty miles distant; a long and tedious trip always
+but much more so in this particular instance because of the high water
+in the streams which were not bridged in those days. These were small
+hardships compared to what took place when the home was robbed by
+Indians. These treacherous savages stripped the premises of all the live
+stock, household and personal effects. Cattle and chickens were killed
+and eaten and what could not be disposed of in this way were wantonly
+destroyed and driven off. Clothing and household goods were destroyed so
+that little was saved except the clothing the members of the family had
+on. From the two feather beds that were ripped open, mother succeeded in
+gathering up enough feathers to make two pillows and these I now have in
+my home. They are more than a half century old. A friendly Indian had
+come in advance of the hostile band and warned the little settlement of
+the approach of the Indians with paint on their faces. His signs telling
+them to flee were speedily obeyed and in all probability this was all
+that saved many lives, as the six or seven families had to keep together
+and travel all night to keep out of the reach of the Indians until the
+people at Omaha could be notified and soldiers sent to the scene. On
+the arrival of the soldiers the Indians immediately hoisted a white flag
+and insisted that they were "good Indians."
+
+As no one had been killed by the Indians, it was the desire of the
+soldiers to merely make the Indians return the stolen property and
+stock, but as much property was destroyed, the settlers received very
+little. A number of the Indians were arrested and tried for robbing the
+postoffice which was at our home. My parents were the principal
+witnesses and after the Indians were acquitted, it was feared they might
+take revenge, so they were advised to leave the country.
+
+With an ox team and a few ragged articles of clothing they started east.
+When he reached Rock Bluffs, one of the early river towns of Cass
+county, father succeeded in obtaining work. His wages were seventy-five
+cents a day with the privilege of living in a small log cabin. There was
+practically no furniture for the cabin, corn husks and the few quilts
+that had been given them were placed on the floor in the corner to serve
+as a place to sleep. Father worked until after Christmas time without
+having a coat. At about this time, he was told to take his team and make
+a trip into Iowa. Just as he was about to start, his employer said to
+him: "Hunter, where's your coat?" The reply was, "I haven't any." "Well,
+that won't do; you can't make that trip without a coat; come with me to
+the store." Father came out of the store with a new under coat and
+overcoat, the first coat of any kind he had had since his home was
+invaded by the red men.
+
+An explanation of the purpose of the trip into Iowa will be of interest.
+The man father worked for was a flour and meat freighter with a route to
+Denver, Colorado. In the winter he would go over into Iowa, buy hogs and
+drive them across the river on the ice, to Rock Bluffs, where they were
+slaughtered and salted down in large freight wagons. In the spring, from
+eight to ten yoke of oxen would be hitched to the wagon, and the meat,
+and often times an accompanying cargo of flour, would be started across
+the plains to attractive markets in Denver.
+
+Father made a number of these trips to Denver as ox driver.
+
+The writer was born at Rock Bluffs in 1860. We moved to Weeping Water in
+1862 when four or five dwellings and the little old mill that stood near
+the falls, comprised what is now our beautiful little city of over 1,000
+population.
+
+During the early sixties, many bands of Indians numbering from forty to
+seventy-five, visited Weeping Water. It was on one of their visits that
+the writer made the best record he has ever made, as a foot racer. The
+seven or eight year old boy of today would not think of running from an
+Indian, but half a century ago it was different. It was no fun in those
+days to be out hunting cattle and run onto a band of Indians all sitting
+around in a circle. In the morning the cattle were turned out to roam
+about at will except when they attempted to molest a field, and at night
+they were brought home if they could be found. If not the search was
+continued the next day. Some one was out hunting cattle all the time it
+seemed. With such a system of letting cattle run at large, it was really
+the fields that were herded and not the cattle. Several times a day some
+member of the family would go out around the fields to see if any cattle
+were molesting them. One of our neighbors owned two Shepherd dogs which
+would stay with the cattle all day, and take them home at night. It was
+very interesting to watch the dogs drive the cattle. One would go ahead
+to keep the cattle from turning into a field where there might be an
+opening in the rail fence, while the other would bring up the rear. They
+worked like two men would. But the family that had trained dogs of this
+kind was the exception; in most cases it was the boys that had to do the
+herding. It was on such a mission one day that the writer watched from
+under cover of some bushes, the passing of about seventy-five Indians
+all on horseback and traveling single file. They were strung out a
+distance of almost a mile. Of course they were supposed to be friendly,
+but there were so many things that pointed to their tendency to be
+otherwise at times, that we were not at all anxious to meet an Indian no
+matter how many times he would repeat the characteristic phrase, "Me
+good Injun." We were really afraid of them and moreover the story was
+fresh in our minds of the murder of the Hungate family in Colorado, Mrs.
+Hungate's parents being residents of our vicinity at that time. Her
+sister, Mrs. P. S. Barnes, now resides in Weeping Water.
+
+Thus it will be seen that many Indian experiences and incidents have
+been woven into the early history of Weeping Water. In conclusion to
+this article it might be fitting to give the Indian legend which
+explains how the town received its name of Weeping Water. The poem was
+written by my son, Rev. A. V. Hunter, of Boston, and is founded on the
+most popular of the Indian legends that have been handed down.
+
+    THE LEGEND OF WEEPING WATER
+
+    Long before the white man wandered
+      To these rich Nebraska lands,
+    Indians in their paint and feathers
+      Roamed in savage warlike bands.
+
+    They, the red men, feared no hardships;
+      Battles were their chief delights;
+    Victory was their great ambition
+      In their awful bloody fights.
+
+    Then one day the war cry sounded
+      Over valley, hill and plain.
+    From the North came dusky warriors,
+      From that vast unknown domain.
+
+    When the news had reached the valley
+      That the foe was near at hand,
+    Every brave was stirred to action
+      To defend his home, his land.
+
+    To the hills they quickly hastened
+      There to wait the coming foe.
+    Each one ready for the conflict
+      Each with arrow in his bow.
+
+    Awful was the scene that followed,
+      Yells and warwhoops echoed shrill.
+    But at last as night descended
+      Death had conquered; all was still.
+
+    Then the women in the wigwams
+      Hearing rumors of the fight,
+    Bearing flaming, flickering torches
+      Soon were wandering in the night.
+
+    There they found the loved ones lying
+      Calm in everlasting sleep.
+    Little wonder that the women,
+      Brokenhearted, all should weep.
+
+    Hours and hours they kept on weeping,
+      'Til their tears began to flow
+    In many trickling streamlets
+      To the valley down below.
+
+    These together joined their forces
+      To produce a larger stream
+    Which has ever since been flowing
+      As you see it in this scene.
+
+    Indians christened it Nehawka
+      Crying Water means the same.
+    In this way the legend tells us
+      Weeping Water got its name.
+
+
+
+
+INCIDENTS AT PLATTSMOUTH
+
+BY ELLA POLLOCK MINOR
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Vallery were living in Glenwood, Iowa, in 1855, when
+they decided to purchase a store from some Indians in Plattsmouth. Mr.
+Vallery went over to transact the business, and Mrs. Vallery was to
+follow in a few days. Upon her arrival in Bethlehem, where she was to
+take the ferry, she learned that the crossing was unsafe on account of
+ice floating in the river. There were two young men there, who were very
+anxious to get across and decided to risk the trip. They took a letter
+to her husband telling of the trouble. The next day, accompanied by
+these two young men, Mr. Vallery came over after her in a rowboat, by
+taking a course farther north. The boat was well loaded when they
+started on the return trip. Some of the men had long poles, and by
+constantly pushing at the ice they kept the boat from being crushed or
+overturned.
+
+Mrs. Vallery's oldest daughter was the third white child born in the
+vicinity of Plattsmouth. And this incident happened soon after her
+arrival in 1855. Mrs. Vallery had the baby in a cradle and was preparing
+dinner when she heard a knock at the door. Before she could reach it, an
+Indian had stepped in, and seeing some meat on the table asked for it.
+She nodded for him to take it, but he seemed to have misunderstood, and
+then asked for a drink of water. While Mrs. Vallery was getting the
+drink, he reached for the baby, but she was too quick for him and
+succeeded in reaching the baby first. He then departed without further
+trouble.
+
+At one time the Vallerys had a sick cow, and every evening several
+Indians would come to find out how she was. She seemed to get no better
+and still they watched that cow. In the course of a week she died,
+evidently during the night, because the next morning the first thing
+they heard was the Indians skinning the cow, out by the shed, and
+planning a "big feed" for that night down by the river.
+
+The late Mrs. Thomas Pollock used to tell us how the Indians came
+begging for things. Winnebago John, who came each year, couldn't be
+satisfied very easily, so my grandmother found an army coat of her
+brother's for him. He was perfectly delighted and disappeared with it
+behind the wood pile, where he remained for some time. The family
+wondered what he was doing, so after he had slipped away, they went out
+and hunted around for traces of what had kept him. They soon found the
+clue; he had stuffed the coat in under the wood, and when they pulled it
+out, they found it was minus all the brass buttons.
+
+Another time one of Mrs. Pollock's children, the late Mrs. Lillian
+Parmele, decided to play Indian and frighten her two brothers, who were
+going up on the hill to do some gardening. She wrapped up in cloaks,
+blankets and everything she could find to make herself look big and
+fierce, then went up and hid in the hazel brush, where she knew they
+would have to pass. Pretty soon she peeked out and there was a band of
+Indians coming. Terrified, she ran down toward her home, dropping pieces
+of clothing and blankets as she went. The Indians seeing them, ran after
+her, each one anxious to pick up what she was dropping. The child
+thinking it was she they were after, let all her belongings go, so she
+could run the better and escape them. After that escapade quite a number
+of things were missing about the house, some of them being seen later at
+an Indian camp near by.
+
+
+
+
+FIRST THINGS IN CLAY COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. CHARLES M. BROWN
+
+
+The first settler of Clay county, Nebraska, was John B. Weston, who
+located on the Little Blue, built a log hut in 1857 and called the place
+Pawnee Ranch. It became a favorite stopping place of St. Joe and Denver
+mail carriers.
+
+The first settler of Sutton was Luther French who came in March, 1870,
+and homesteaded eighty acres. Mr. French surveyed and laid out the
+original townsite which was named after Sutton, Massachusetts. His
+dugout and log house was built on the east bank of School creek, east of
+the park, and just south of the Kansas City and Omaha railroad bridge.
+Traces of the excavation are still visible. The house was lined with
+brick and had a tunnel outlet near the creek bottom for use in case of
+an Indian attack. Among his early callers were Miss Nellie Henderson and
+Capt. Charles White who rode in from the West Blue in pursuit of an
+antelope, which they captured.
+
+Mrs. Wils Cumming was the first white woman in Sutton. She resided in
+the house now known as the Mrs. May Evans (deceased) place. Part of this
+residence is the original Cumming home.
+
+At this time the population of Sutton consisted of thirty-four men and
+one woman. In the spring of 1871, F. M. Brown, who was born in Illinois
+in 1840, came to Nebraska and settled on a homestead in Clay county,
+four miles north of the present site of Sutton. At that time Clay county
+was unorganized territory, and the B. & M. railroad was being extended
+from Lincoln west.
+
+September 11, 1871, Governor James issued a proclamation for the
+election of officers and the organization of Clay county fixing the
+date, October 14, 1871. The election was held at the home of Alexander
+Campbell, two miles east of Harvard, and fifty-four votes were cast.
+Sutton was chosen as the county-seat. F. M. Brown was elected county
+clerk; A. K. Marsh, P.O. Norman, and A. A. Corey were elected county
+commissioners. When it came to organizing and qualifying the officers,
+only one freeholder could be found capable of signing official bonds and
+as the law required two sureties, R. G. Brown bought a lot of Luther
+French and was able to sign with Luther French as surety on all official
+bonds. As the county had no money and no assessments had been made all
+county business was done on credit. There was no courthouse and county
+business was conducted in the office of R. G. Brown, until February,
+1873, when a frame building to be used as a courthouse was completed at
+a cost of $1,865. This was the first plastered building in the county
+and was built by F. M. Brown.
+
+In May, 1873, a petition for an election to relocate the county seat was
+filed, but the motion of Commissioner A. K. Marsh that the petition be
+"tabled, rejected and stricken from the files" ended the discussion
+temporarily. In 1879 the county-seat was removed to Clay Center. Several
+buildings were erected during the fall of 1873 and Sutton became the
+center of trade in the territory between the Little Blue and the Platte
+rivers.
+
+Melvin Brothers opened the first store in 1873 south of the railroad
+tracks, now South Sanders avenue. At that time it was called "Scrabble
+Hill."
+
+In 1874 the town was incorporated and a village government organized,
+with F. M. Brown as mayor.
+
+Luther French was the first postmaster.
+
+Thurlow Weed opened the first lumber yard.
+
+William Shirley built and run the first hotel.
+
+L. R. Grimes and J. B. Dinsmore opened the first bank.
+
+Pyle and Eaton built and operated the first elevator.
+
+Isaac N. Clark opened the first hardware store.
+
+Dr. Martin V. B. Clark, a graduate of an Ohio medical college, was the
+first physician in the county and opened the first drug store in Sutton.
+In 1873, during the first term of district court, he was appointed one
+of the commissioners of insanity. In 1877 he was elected coroner.
+
+The Odd Fellows hall was the first brick building erected.
+
+The Congregational church, built in 1875, was the first church building
+in the county.
+
+William L. Weed taught the first school, beginning January 20, 1872,
+with an enrollment of fourteen scholars.
+
+In 1876 the Evangelical Association of North America sent Rev. W.
+Schwerin to Sutton as a missionary.
+
+In the early seventies the Burlington railroad company built and
+maintained an immigrant house on the corner south of the present Cottage
+hotel. This was a long frame building of one room with a cook stove in
+either end. Many of the immigrants were dependent upon a few friends who
+were located on the new land in the vicinity. Their food consisted
+largely of soup made with flour and water; any vegetables they were able
+to get were used. Meat was scarce with the immigrants. They had
+considerable milk, mostly sour, brought in by their friends. The
+immigrants remained here until they found work; most of them moved on to
+farms. The house burned about 1880.
+
+In the early days Sutton was a lively business place with all the
+features of a frontier town. Now it is a city enjoying the comforts of
+modern improvements and refined society.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES OF CUSTER COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. J. J. DOUGLAS
+
+
+In July, 1888, I arrived at Broken Bow, which is situated geographically
+about the center of the state. That village looked strange to me with
+not a tree in sight excepting a few little cuttings of cottonwood and
+box elder here and there upon a lawn. After having lived all my life in
+a country where every home was surrounded by groves and ornamental shade
+trees, it seemed that I was in a desert.
+
+I had just completed a course of study in a normal school prior to
+coming to Nebraska, and was worn out in mind and body, so naturally my
+first consideration was the climatic condition of the country and its
+corresponding effect upon the vegetation. I wondered how the people
+stood the heat of the day but soon discovered that a light gentle breeze
+was blowing nearly all the time, so that the heat did not seem intense
+as it did at my Iowa home.
+
+After I had been in Broken Bow about two weeks I was offered a position
+in the mortgage loan office of Trefren and Hewitt. The latter was the
+first county clerk of Custer county. I held this position a few weeks,
+then resigned to take charge of the Berwyn school at the request of Mr.
+Charles Randall, the county superintendent. Berwyn was a village
+situated about ten miles east of Broken Bow. It consisted of one general
+merchandise store, a postoffice, depot, and a blacksmith shop. I shall
+never forget my first impression on arriving at Berwyn very early on
+that September morning. It was not daylight when the train stopped at
+the little depot, and what a feeling of loneliness crept over me as I
+watched that train speed on its way behind the eastern hills! I found my
+way to the home of J. O. Taylor (who was then living in the back end of
+his store building) and informed him that I was the teacher who had come
+to teach the school and asked him to direct me to my boarding place.
+Being a member of the school board, Mr. Taylor gave me the necessary
+information and then sent his hired man with a team and buggy to take
+me a mile farther east to the home of Ben Talbot, where I was to stay.
+
+The Talbot home was a little sod house consisting of two small rooms. On
+entering I found Mrs. Talbot preparing breakfast for the family. I was
+given a cordial welcome, and after breakfast started in company with
+Mrs. Talbot's little girl for the schoolhouse. The sense of loneliness
+which had taken possession of me on my way to this place began to be
+dispelled. I found Mrs. Talbot to be a woman of kind heart and generous
+impulses. She had two little girls, the older one being of school age. I
+could see the schoolhouse up on the side of a hill. It was made of sod
+and was about twelve by fifteen feet. The roof was of brush and weeds,
+with some sod; but I could see the blue sky by gazing up through the
+roof at almost any part of it. I looked out upon the hills and down the
+valley and wondered where the pupils were to come from, as I saw no
+houses and no evidence of habitation anywhere excepting Mr. Talbot's
+home. But by nine o'clock about twelve children had arrived from some
+place, I knew not where.
+
+I found in that little, obscure schoolhouse some of the brightest and
+best boys and girls it was ever my good fortune to meet. There soon
+sprang up between us a bond of sympathy. I sympathized with them in
+their almost total isolation from the world, and they in turn
+sympathized with me in my loneliness and homesickness.
+
+On opening my school that first morning, great was my surprise to learn
+how well those children could sing. I had never been in a school where
+there were so many sweet voices. My attention was particularly directed
+to the voices of two little girls as they seemed remarkable for children
+of their years. I often recall one bright sunny evening after I had
+dismissed school and stood watching the pupils starting out in various
+directions for their homes, my attention was called to a path that led
+down the valley through the tall grass. I heard singing and at once
+recognized the voices of these two little girls. The song was a favorite
+of mine and I could hear those sweet tones long after the children were
+out of sight in the tall grass. I shall never forget how charmingly
+sweet that music seemed to me.
+
+I soon loved every pupil in that school and felt a keen regret when the
+time came for me to leave them. I have the tenderest memory of my
+association with that district, though the school equipment was meager
+and primitive. After finishing my work there I returned to Broken Bow
+where I soon accepted a position in the office of J. J. Douglass, clerk
+of the district court. Mr. Douglass was one of the organizers of Custer
+county and was chosen the first clerk of the court, which position he
+held for four years. I began my work in this office on November 16,
+1888, and held the position till the close of his term.
+
+During this time many noted criminal cases were tried in court, Judge
+Francis G. Hamer of Kearney being the judge. One case in which I was
+especially interested was the DeMerritt case, in which I listened to the
+testimony of several of my pupils from the Berwyn district. Another
+far-famed case was the Haunstine case, in which Albert Haunstine
+received a death sentence. To hear a judge pronounce a death sentence is
+certainly the most solemn thing one can imagine. Perhaps the most trying
+ordeal I ever experienced was the day of the execution of Haunstine. It
+so happened that the scaffold was erected just beneath one of the
+windows of our office on the south side of the courthouse. As the nails
+were being driven into that structure how I shuddered as I thought that
+a human being was to be suspended from that great beam. Early in the
+morning on the day of the execution people from miles away began to
+arrive to witness the cruelest event that ever marred the fair name of
+our beloved state. Early in the day, in company with several others, I
+visited the cell of the condemned man. He was busy distributing little
+souvenirs he had made from wood to friends and members of his family. He
+was pale but calm and self-composed. My heart ached and my soul was
+stirred to its very depth in sympathy for a fellow being and yet I was
+utterly helpless so far as extending any aid or consolation. The thought
+recurred to me so often, why is it men are so cruel to each
+other--wolfish in nature, seeking to destroy their own kind? And now the
+thought still comes to me, will the day ever dawn when there will be no
+law in Nebraska permitting men to cruelly take the life of each other to
+avenge a wrong? I trust that the fair name of Nebraska may never be
+blotted again by another so-called _legal_ execution.
+
+It was during the time I was in that office the first commencement of
+the Broken Bow high school was held, the class consisting of two
+graduates, a boy and a girl. The boy is now Dr. Willis Talbot, a
+physician of Broken Bow, and the girl, who was Stella Brown, is now the
+wife of W. W. Waters, mayor of Broken Bow.
+
+We moved our office into the new courthouse in January, 1890. Soon after
+we saw the completion of the mammoth building extending the entire
+length of the block on the south side of the public square called the
+Realty block. The Ansley Cornet band was the first band to serenade us
+in the new courthouse.
+
+Mr. Douglass completed his term of office as clerk of the district court
+on January 7, 1892, and two weeks later we were married and went for a
+visit to my old home in Iowa. Soon after returning to Broken Bow we
+moved to Callaway. I shall never forget my first view of the little city
+of which I had heard so much, the "Queen City of the Seven Valleys."
+After moving to Callaway I again taught school and had begun on my
+second year's work when I resigned to accept a position in the office of
+the state land commissioner, H. C. Russell, at Lincoln, where I remained
+for two years. During the time I was in that office Mr. Douglass was
+appointed postmaster at Callaway, so I resigned my work in Lincoln and
+returned home to work in the postoffice. We were in this office for
+seven years, after which I accepted a position in the Seven Valleys
+bank. After a year I again took up school work and have been engaged in
+that ever since. We have continued to reside at Callaway all these years
+and have learned to love the rugged hills and glorious sunshine. The
+winds continue to blow and the sands beat upon our pathway, but we would
+not exchange our little cottage in the grove for a palace in the far
+East.
+
+
+
+
+AN EXPERIENCE
+
+BY MRS. HARMON BROSS
+
+
+An experience through which I passed in northwestern Nebraska in the
+early days comes to my mind very frequently.
+
+When the railroad first went through that region to Chadron, Mr. Bross
+was general missionary for the Northwest, including central Wyoming and
+the Black Hills country.
+
+When we first visited Chadron it was a town of white tents, and we
+occupied a tent for several days. Then the tent was needed for other
+purposes and Mr. Bross suggested that we find lodging in a building in
+process of erection for a hotel. The frame was up and enclosed, the
+floors laid, but no stairs and no division into rooms. The proprietor
+said we could have a bed in the upper room, where there were fifty beds
+side by side. He would put a curtain around the bed. As that was the
+only thing to do, we accepted the situation and later I climbed a ladder
+to the upper floor.
+
+The bed in one corner was enclosed with a calico curtain just the size
+of the bed. I climbed on, and prepared the baby boy and myself for
+sleep. As I was the only woman in the room, and every bed was occupied
+before morning by two men, the situation was somewhat unique. However, I
+was soon asleep.
+
+About three o'clock I was awakened by the stealthy footsteps of two men
+on the ladder. They came to the bed at the foot of the one we occupied,
+and after settling themselves to their satisfaction began discussing the
+incidents of the night. As they were gamblers, the conversation was a
+trifle strange to a woman.
+
+Soon in the darkness below and close to the side of the building where
+we were, rang out several pistol shots with startling distinctness.
+
+One man remarked, in a calm, impersonal tone, "I prefer to be on the
+ground floor when the shots fly around like that." The remark was not
+especially reassuring for a mother with a sleeping baby by her side.
+
+As no one in the room seemed to be disturbed, and as the tumult below
+soon died away, I again slept, and awakened in the morning none the
+worse for the experience of the night.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. ANDREW K. GAULT
+
+Third Vice-President General from Nebraska, National Society, Daughters
+of the American Revolution. Elected 1913]
+
+
+
+
+LEGEND OF CROW BUTTE
+
+BY DR. ANNA ROBINSON CROSS
+
+
+The early history of Crawford and its environment is replete with tales
+of Indian scares; the pioneer settlers banding themselves together and
+arming for protection against possible Indian raids, all presenting
+lurid material for the most exciting stories, if one could gather the
+accurate data.
+
+The legend of Crow Butte is one of the most thrilling, and at the same
+time the most important, of the many tales told by the old settlers
+around the winter fireside.
+
+In the early history of the Sioux and Crow Indians, much strife and
+ill-feeling was engendered between the two tribes by the stealing of
+horses. As no satisfactory settlement could be arranged between them, it
+was declared, after a solemn pow-wow, that a decisive battle should be
+fought, and the field for the said conflict was chosen on the land east
+of the present site of Crawford. The final stand was taken on one of the
+peculiar clay formations known as buttes, found in northwestern
+Nebraska. These eminences, dividing this section of the country into
+valleys and ridges of hills, add very much to the beauty of the
+landscape, by their seeming likeness to a succession of battlements and
+old castles.
+
+This particular butte, standing like a sentinel about five miles east of
+Crawford, rises to a height of nearly three hundred feet on the east
+side, and is possible of ascent by gradual elevation on the west side.
+It appears to stand distinct and alone, forming a landmark on the
+horizon that has guided many a settler and traveler to home and safety.
+The writer is one of the number of travelers who, from bitter
+experiences in long winter drives over the prairie, has learned to
+appreciate the landmark of the old Crow Butte.
+
+The Sioux, having driven the Crows to the top of this butte, thought, by
+guarding the path, they could quickly conquer by starving them out.
+Under cover of night the Crows decided, after due deliberation, that the
+warriors could escape, if the old men of the tribe would remain and
+keep up a constant singing. This was done. The young and able-bodied
+men, making ropes of their blankets, were let down the steep side of the
+butte, while the poor old men kept up a constant wailing for days, until
+death, from lack of food and exhaustion, had stilled their voices. As
+the singing gradually ceased, the Sioux, while watching, saw white
+clouds passing over the butte, having the appearance of large, white
+birds with outstretched wings, on which they carried the old men to the
+"Happy Hunting Grounds." The Sioux, awed by the illusion, believed it an
+omen of peace and declared that forever after there should be no more
+wars between the Crows and the Sioux.
+
+Through Capt. James H. Cook, an early settler and pioneer of this
+section, who has served as scout and interpreter for the Indians for
+years, I have learned that it was near this Crow Butte that the last
+great treaty was made with the Indians, in which the whole of the Black
+Hills country was disposed of to the white people. According to his
+statement, the affair came very nearly ending in a battle in which many
+lives might have been lost. The bravery and quick action of a few men
+turned the tide in favor of the white people.
+
+The following original poem by Pearl Shepherd Moses is quite appropriate
+in this connection:
+
+    TO CROW HEART BUTTE
+
+    Oh, lofty Crow Heart Butte, uprising toward the sun,
+      What is your message to the world below?
+    Or do you wait in silence, race outrun,
+      The march of ages in their onward flow?
+
+    Ye are so vast, so great, and yet so still,
+      That but a speck I seem in nature's plan;
+    Or but a drop without a way or will
+      In this mad rush miscalled the race of man.
+
+    In nature's poems you a period stand
+      Among her lessons we can never read;
+    But with high impulse and good motive found,
+      You help us toward the brave and kindly deed.
+
+    The winds and sunshine, dawns and throbbing star,
+      Yield you their message from the ether clear,
+    While moonlight crowns your brow so calm and fair
+      With homage kingly as their greatest peer.
+
+    A longing fills me as I nightly gaze;
+      Would I could break your spell of silence vast;
+    But centuries and years and months and days
+      Must add themselves again unto the past.
+
+    And I can only wish that I were as true,
+      Always found faithful and as firmly stand
+    For right as you since you were young and new,
+      A wondrous product from a mighty hand.
+
+
+
+
+LIFE ON THE FRONTIER
+
+BY JAMES AYRES
+
+
+_Prairie Covered with Indians_
+
+In July, 1867, a freight train left the old Plum Creek station late one
+night for the west. As the company was alarmed for the safety of the
+trains, Pat Delahunty, the section boss, sent out three men on a
+hand-car over his section in advance of this train. They had gone about
+three miles to the bend west of the station when they were attacked by
+Indians. This was at a point nearly north of the John Jacobson claim.
+There are still on the south side of the track some brickbats near the
+culvert. This is the place where the Indians built a fire on the south
+side of the track and took a position on the north side. When the
+hand-car came along, they fired upon it. They killed one man and wounded
+another, a cockney from London, England, and thinking him dead took his
+scalp. He flinched. They stuck a knife in his neck but even that did not
+kill him. He recovered consciousness and crawled into the high weeds.
+The freight came and fell into the trap. While the Indians were breaking
+into the cars of the wrecked freight, the Englishman made his escape,
+creeping a mile to the north. As soon as morning came, Patrick Delahunty
+with his men took a hand-car and went to investigate. Before they had
+gone half a mile they could see the Indians all around the wreck. Each
+one had a pony. They had found a lot of calico in one car and each
+Indian had taken a bolt and had broken one end loose and was unfolding
+it as he rode over the prairie. Yelling, they rode back and forth in
+front of one another with calico flying, like a Maypole dance gone mad.
+When they saw the section men with guns, they broke for the Platte river
+and crossed it due south of where Martin Peterson's house now stands.
+The section men kept shooting at them but got no game. They found that a
+squaw-man had probably had a hand in the wrecking of the train for the
+rails had been pried up just beyond the fire. The smoke blinded the
+engineer and he ran into the rails which were standing as high as the
+front of the boiler. The engineer and the fireman were killed. The
+engine ran off the track, but the cars remained on the rails. The
+Indians opened every car and set fire to two or three of the front ones.
+One car was loaded with brick. The writer got a load of these brick in
+1872 and built a blacksmith forge. Among the bricks were found pocket
+knives, cutlery, and a Colt's revolver.
+
+The man who had been scalped came across the prairie toward the section
+men. They thought he was an Indian. His shirt was gone and his skin was
+covered with dried blood. They were about to shoot when Delahunty said,
+"Stop, boys," for the man had his hands above his head. They let him
+come nearer and when he was a hundred yards away Delahunty said, "By
+gobs, it's Cockney!" They took him to the section house and cared for
+him. He told them these details. After this event he worked for the
+Union Pacific railroad at Omaha. Then he went back to England. The
+railroad had just been built and there was only one train a day.
+
+
+_Wild Turkeys and Wild Cats_
+
+Tom Mahum was the boss herder for Ewing of Texas and had brought his
+herd up that summer and had his cattle on Dilworth's islands until he
+could ship them to Chicago. He bantered me for a turkey hunt, and we
+went on horseback up Plum creek. He was a good shot and we knew we would
+get game of some kind. We followed the creek five miles, when we scared
+up a flock of turkeys. They were of the bronze kind, large and heavy. We
+got three, and as we did not find any more, we took the tableland for
+the Platte. As we came down a pocket we ran into a nest of wildcats.
+There were four of them. One cat jumped at a turkey that was tied to
+Tom's saddle. That scared his horse so that it nearly unseated him, but
+he took his pistol and killed the cat. I was afraid they would jump at
+me. They growled and spit, and I edged away until I could shoot from my
+pony, and when twenty-five yards away I slipped in two cartridges and
+shot two of the cats. The fourth one got away and we were glad to let it
+go. We took the three cats to town, skinned them, and sold the pelts to
+Peddler Charley for one dollar. Tom talked about that hunt when I met
+him in Oregon a few years ago.
+
+
+_A Scare_
+
+On another occasion, Perley Wilson and I took a hunt on the big island
+south of the river where there were some buffalo. The snow was about
+eight inches deep and we crossed the main stream on the ice. Before we
+got over, I saw a moccasin track and showed it to Wilson. He said we had
+better get out. "No," said I, "let us trail it and find where it goes."
+It took us into a very brushy island. Wilson would go no further, but I
+took my shotgun, cocked both barrels, and went on but with caution for
+fear the Indian would see me first. I got just half way in, and I heard
+a "Ugh!" right behind me. The hair on my head went straight up. I was
+scared, but I managed to gasp, "Sioux?" "No, Pawnee. Heap good Indian."
+Then he laughed and I breathed again. I asked, "What are you doing
+here?" "Cooking beaver," he replied, and led the way to his fire. He had
+a beaver skinned hanging on a plum tree and he had a tin can over the
+fire, boiling the tail. I returned to Wilson and told him about it. He
+said, "It is no use to try to sneak up on an Indian in the brush, for he
+always sees you first." I could have shot the Indian, as he only had a
+revolver, but that would have been cowardly as he had the first drop on
+me and could have had my scalp. We got home with no game that day.
+
+
+
+
+PLUM CREEK (LEXINGTON), NEBRASKA
+
+BY WM. M. BANCROFT, M.D.
+
+
+On April 5, 1873, I arrived at Plum Creek, now Lexington, with what was
+called the second colony from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Captain F. J.
+Pearson, who was in charge, later became editor of the _Pioneer_. Judge
+Robert B. Pierce and the Tucker family were also with this colony. On
+our arrival the only town we found was a mile east of the present site
+of Lexington. It consisted of a section house, a small shanty called the
+Johnson restaurant, one story and a half log house run by Daniel Freeman
+as a general store, and a stockade built of ties used as a place of
+safety for the horses and cows. The upper story of the Freeman building
+was occupied by the Johnson family, who partitioned it off with blankets
+to accommodate the immigrants, and the only lights we could depend on
+were candle dips from the Freeman store at twenty-five cents each. At
+this time bread sold at twenty-five cents per loaf.
+
+There was also an immigrant house 20 by 40 feet located on the north
+side of the railroad nearly opposite the other buildings referred to.
+This house was divided into rooms 6 by 8 feet square with a hall
+between. The front room was used as Dawson county's first office by John
+H. MacColl, then county clerk. There was also a coal shed and a water
+tank on the south side of the track. The depot was a mile west on a
+railroad section where the town was finally built.
+
+The reason for the change of townsite was a fight by Freeman against the
+Union Pacific company. Freeman owned the quarter section of government
+land, on which the buildings referred to were located.
+
+The first house in Plum Creek was built by Robert Pierce, whose family
+got permission to live in a freight car on the side-track while the
+house was being built. While in the freight car the family was attacked
+by measles. In order to gain entrance to this temporary residence a
+step-ladder had to be used, and in visiting the family while in the
+car, I would find them first at one end of the switch and next at the
+other, and would have to transfer the ladder each time. Later on Robert
+Pierce was elected probate judge and served until by reason of his age
+he retired.
+
+Tudor Tucker built the first frame house on Buffalo creek five miles
+northeast of town. The first store building in Plum Creek was built by
+Mr. Betz. The first hotel was built by E. D. Johnson, who deserves much
+credit for his work in building up Dawson county. In 1873 the population
+numbered about 175. The old townsite was soon abandoned and the town of
+Plum Creek on its present site became a reality.
+
+The completion of the Platte river bridge was celebrated July 4, 1873,
+by a big demonstration. It then became necessary to get the trade from
+the Republican Valley, Plum Creek being the nearest trading point for
+that locality. Since there were no roads from the south, a route had to
+be laid out. With this object in view, Judge Pierce, E. D. Johnson,
+Elleck Johnson, and I constituted ourselves a committee to do the work.
+We started across the country and laid up sod piles every mile, until we
+reached the Arapahoe, 48 miles southwest. Coming back we shortened up
+the curves. This was the first road from the south into Plum Creek, and
+we derived a great amount of trade from this territory. It was no
+uncommon thing for the Erwin & Powers Company, conducting a general
+store at this time, to take in from one thousand to twelve hundred
+dollars on Saturdays.
+
+The first church and Sunday school was organized Sunday, April 13, 1873,
+three and one-half miles north of town at the farm of Widow Mullen.
+Those present, including myself, were: Mrs. Mullen and family, Captain
+John S. Stuckey, afterwards treasurer of Dawson county, Joseph Stuckey,
+Samuel Clay Stuckey and wife, Edgar Mellenger, and one negro servant.
+Joseph Stuckey was appointed leader, James Tipton, superintendent of the
+Sunday school, and I took charge of the music. The first regular sermon
+was preached by a Mr. Wilson who came to Overton to live on a homestead.
+He consented to preach for us until we could fill his place by an
+appointment at general conference. We held the first regular service
+both of the church and the Sunday school in the old frame schoolhouse
+located in the east ward. We also held revivals in the Hill hall where
+Smith's opera house now stands.
+
+On this Sunday afternoon about five o'clock the great April storm
+started with blizzard from the northwest. It was impossible for any of
+us to get away until Tuesday afternoon. On Monday night Captain Stuckey,
+Doc Mellenger, and I had to take the one bed. During the night the bed
+broke down and we lay until morning huddled together to keep from
+freezing. Mellenger and I left Tuesday afternoon, when the storm abated,
+and started back toward the old town. The storm again caught us and
+drifted us to Doc's old doby two and one-half miles north of the
+townsite. By this time the snow had drifted from four to five feet in
+depth. The horses took us to the dugout stable in which we put them.
+Then we had to dig our way to the doby where we remained from Tuesday
+evening until Thursday morning. We had nothing to eat during that time
+but a few hard biscuits, a little bacon, and three frozen chickens, and
+nothing but melted snow to drink. The bedstead was a home-made affair
+built of pine boards. This we cut up and used for fuel and slept on the
+dirt floor. The storm was so terrific that it was impossible to get to
+the well, fifteen feet from the doby. We became so thirsty from the snow
+water that Doc thought he would try to get to the well. He took a rope
+and pistol, tied the rope around his waist and started for the well. His
+instructions were that if I heard the pistol I was to pull him in. After
+a very short time the pistol report came and I pulled and pulled and Doc
+came tumbling in without pistol or bucket. It was so cold he had nearly
+frozen his hands. Thursday was clear and beautiful. One of the persons
+from Mullen's, having gone to town, reported that we had left there
+Tuesday afternoon. On account of this report a searching party was sent
+out to look for us.
+
+Another item of interest was the Pawnee and Sioux massacre on August 5,
+1873. It was the custom of the Pawnees, who were friendly and were
+located on a reservation near Columbus, Nebraska, to go on a fall hunt
+for buffalo meat for their winter use. The Sioux, who were on the Pine
+Bluff reservation, had an old grudge against the Pawnees and knew when
+this hunt took place. The Pawnees made Plum Creek their starting point
+across the country southwest to the head of the Frenchman river. They
+camped about ten miles northwest of Culbertson, a town on the B. & M.
+railroad. The camp was in the head of a pocket which led from a
+tableland to the Republican river. The Sioux drove a herd of buffalo on
+the Pawnees while the latter were in camp. Not suspecting danger the
+Pawnees began to kill the buffalo, when the Sioux came up, taking them
+by surprise. The Pawnees, being outnumbered, fled down the caÒon. The
+Sioux followed on either bank and cross-fired them, killing and wounding
+about a hundred. I was sent by the government with Mr. Longshore, the
+Indian agent of Columbus, and two guides to the scene of the massacre,
+which was about one hundred and forty miles southwest of Plum Creek, for
+the purpose of looking after the wounded who might have been left
+behind. We made this trip on horseback. The agent had the dead buried
+and we followed up the wounded. We found twenty-two at Arapahoe and ten
+or fifteen had left and started on the old Fort Kearny trail. We brought
+the twenty-two wounded to Plum Creek, attended to their wounds and then
+shipped them in a box car to the reservation at Columbus.
+
+My first trip to Wood river valley twenty miles north, was to attend
+James B. Mallott, one of the first settlers. They were afraid to let me
+go without a guard but I had no fear of the Indians, so they gave me a
+belt of cartridges and a Colt's revolver. Finally MacColl, the county
+clerk, handed me a needle gun and commanded me to get back before dark.
+I started on horseback with this arsenal for Wood river and made the
+visit, but on my return I stopped to let the horse rest and eat
+bluestem. Soon the horse became frightened and began to paw and snort.
+On looking back toward the divide, I saw three Indians on horseback were
+heading my way. We were not long in getting started. I beat them by a
+mile to the valley, arriving safely at Tucker's farm on Buffalo creek.
+The Indians did not follow but rode along the foothills to the west. A
+party of four or five from Tucker's was not long in giving chase, but
+the Indians had disappeared in the hills. A little later, Anton Abel,
+who lived a mile north of town, came in on the run and stated that a
+file of eight or ten Indians, with scalp sticks waving, were headed
+south a half mile west of town. A number mounted their horses and gave
+chase to the river where the Indians crossed and were lost sight of. We
+never suffered much loss or injury from the Indians. Many scares were
+reported, but like the buffalo after 1874-75, they were a thing of the
+past in our county.
+
+My practice for the first ten or twelve years among the sick and
+injured, covered a field almost unlimited. I was called as far north as
+Broken Bow in the Loup valley, fifty miles, east to Elm Creek, Buffalo
+county, twenty miles, west to Brady Island, Lincoln county, thirty-five
+miles, and south to the Republican river. Most of the time there were no
+roads or bridges. The valley of the Platte in Dawson county is now the
+garden spot of the state. As stated before the settlement of 1872 was on
+the extreme edge of the frontier. Now we have no frontier. It is
+progressive civilization from coast to coast. I have practiced my
+profession for over forty years continuously in this state, and am still
+in active practice. I have an abiding faith that I shall yet finish up
+with an airship in which to visit my patients.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY RECOLLECTIONS
+
+BY C. CHABOT
+
+
+After repeated invitations from my old boyhood companion, Dr. Bancroft,
+to visit him in his new home in western Nebraska, I left Philadelphia
+and arrived in Omaha the early part of April, 1878. Omaha at that time
+did not impress me very favorably. After buying my ticket to Plum Creek
+(in those days you could only buy a ticket to Omaha) the next thing in
+order was to get in line and have my trunk checked, and witness baggage
+"smashers" demolish a few trunks, then coolly offer to rope them at
+twenty-five cents each. Our train left at 11 a. m. and arrived in Plum
+Creek at 11 p. m., good time for those days. The train left with all
+seats occupied and some passengers standing. Everybody was eager to see
+the great prairie country. We expected to see Indians and buffalo, but
+only a few jack rabbits appeared, which created quite a laugh, as it was
+the first time any of us had ever seen one run. After we had traveled
+about twenty miles, "U. P. Sam," as he called himself, came into our car
+and treated us to a song of his own composition. In his song he related
+all the wonders of the great Union Pacific railroad and the country
+between Omaha and Ogden. I saw him two years later in Dawson county,
+playing the violin at a country dance, and singing songs about different
+persons at the gathering. All you had to do was to give him a few points
+as to a man's disposition and habits with a few dimes and he would have
+the whole company laughing.
+
+We stopped at Grand Island for supper, and in due time arrived in Plum
+Creek. Dr. Bancroft was waiting for me and after being introduced to
+many of his western friends, we retired for the night. Next morning
+feeling the necessity of visiting a barber shop, I asked the doctor if
+there was a barber shop in town. Judging from the accommodations at the
+hotel I had my doubts. "We have a good barber in town," he replied, "but
+I will go with you." On arriving at the corner of what is now Main and
+Depot streets we entered a building which I discovered to be a saloon.
+I protested, but before I had had time to say much, the doctor asked the
+barkeeper where Ed. (the barber) was. "Why, he has gone south of the
+river to plaster a house," was the reply. Then I thought "what kind of a
+country have I come to, barber and plasterer the same person." Then my
+mind wandered back to the far East where I saw a comfortable bath room,
+and I thought "What can the doctor see in this country to deny himself
+all the comforts of home?" Before I had time to recover from my
+reveries, I was surrounded by cowboys who insisted that I drink with
+them. I protested and if it had not been for Dr. Bancroft I suppose they
+would have made me dance to the music of their six shooters or drink,
+but as I was a friend of "Little Doc" (as they called him) that was
+sufficient and the tenderfoot was allowed to leave. Then and only then I
+saw in the northwest corner of the room the barber's chair.
+
+I accompanied Dr. Bancroft on many drives over the country going as far
+north as the Loup and Dismal rivers. We went several times south to
+Arapahoe; in fact it was but a short time before I was acquainted with
+most all the settlers in Dawson and adjacent counties. The population at
+that time was hardly 2,000 in Dawson county. In a very short time I
+began to feel more at home. The hospitality of the people was something
+I had never dreamed of; the climate and good fresh air so invigorating
+that I soon adjusted myself to surrounding conditions, and before I had
+been here a month I decided to cast my lot with the rest of the new
+settlers and became one of them.
+
+While I have had many ups and downs I cannot say that I regret having
+done so. When I look back and think of the many friends I made in the
+early days and how we stood hand in hand in our adversities as well as
+in our good fortunes, I cannot help feeling that we are more than
+friends and belong to one big family.
+
+
+
+
+RECOLLECTIONS OF THE FIRST SETTLER OF DAWSON COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. DANIEL FREEMAN
+
+
+I came from Canada to Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Freeman was a freighter
+to Pike's Peak, but was not always successful. He spent $4,000 on one
+train and came back with only a team of oxen and a team of ponies. The
+next spring, 1862, I bought a stage-coach and using the pony team, I
+took my three children, the youngest only two months old, and drove all
+the way to Nebraska. My husband was there and had started a little store
+just across from the pony express station on Plum creek. He bought
+buffalo hides of the Indians and shipped them east. The buffalo were in
+easy reach and we had fresh meat every day. We had a big sign with the
+word "Bakery" on it. I baked a hundred pounds of flour every day. I
+would make yeast bread over night and bake it in the forenoon, and make
+salt-rising in the morning and bake it in the afternoon. We got St.
+Louis flour that the freighters brought from Denver when they came back.
+I sold my bread for fifty cents a loaf and made as much as thirty
+dollars a day. I made cheese, too. We had seventy-five head of cows and
+milked twenty-five. We would take a young calf and let it fill its
+stomach with its mother's milk, then kill it. Then we took the stomach
+and washed and wiped it and hung it up on a nail to dry. When it was
+perfectly dry we would put it away carefully in a cloth and used it for
+rennet to make the cheese. I would put a little piece of it in new
+milk and it would form a solid curd. My husband made me a press and a
+mold. I got twenty-five cents a pound for my cheese, and sold lots of
+it. I got up fine meals and charged two dollars a meal. The people were
+glad to pay it. There was plenty of firewood. The trees drifted down the
+river and we piled the wood up on the islands, but after the settlers
+came they would steal it. There was no need of anybody going hungry
+those days, for anyone could kill a buffalo. One day a herd of thirty
+came within ten feet of our door, and our cows went away with them. The
+children and I walked three miles before we came up to the cows and
+could get them back home. We were near the river and it was not far down
+to water. We dug holes in the ground and sunk five salt barrels. The
+water came up in these and we always had plenty of water. Sometimes we
+dipped the barrels dry, but they would be full the next morning. There
+wasn't a pump in the country for years.
+
+The people who kept the Pony Express station were named Humphries. These
+stations were about fifty miles apart. There would be lots of people at
+the station every night, for after the Indians became troublesome, the
+people went in trains of about a hundred wagons. There were many six
+oxen teams. The Indians never troubled anybody until the whites killed
+so many buffalo and wasted so much. There were carcasses all over the
+prairies. The Indians used every part, and they knew this great
+slaughter of the buffalo meant starvation for them, so they went on the
+warpath in self-defense. They would skulk on the river bank where the
+trail came close, and would rush up and attack the travelers. The
+soldiers were sent out as escorts and their families often went with
+them. One night at Plum Creek Pony Express station twin babies were born
+to the lieutenant and wife. I went over in the morning to see if I could
+help them, but they were all cared for by the lieutenant. He had washed
+the babies and had the tent in order. I do not remember his name now. We
+often saw tiny babies with their mothers lying in the wagons that came
+by. They would be wrapped up, and looked very comfortable. Water was so
+scarce that they had to pay for enough to wash the babies.
+
+Brigham Young made trip after trip with foreign people of all kinds but
+blacks. Most of these could not speak English, and I don't think Brigham
+bought any water for them, as they were filthy dirty. Brigham was a
+great big fat man, and he kept himself pretty neat. He made just about
+one trip a year. One company of these immigrants was walking through,
+and the train was a couple of miles long. They went south of the river
+on the Oregon trail. There was no other road then.
+
+On August 8, 1864, the Sioux people killed eleven men at 11:00 o'clock
+in the morning, on Elm creek. I was afraid to stay on our ranch, so I
+took the children and started to Fort Kearny. On the way we came to the
+place of the massacre. The dead men were lying side by side in a long
+trench, their faces were covered with blood and their boots were on.
+Three women were taken prisoners. I heard that there were two children
+in the party, and that they were thrown in the grass, but I looked all
+around for them and didn't find any signs of them. Friends of these
+people wrote to Mr. E. M. F. Leflang, to know if he could locate them.
+The Indians never troubled us except to take one team during this war,
+but I was always afraid when I saw the soldiers coming. They would come
+in the store and help themselves to tobacco, cookies, or anything. Then
+the teamsters would swing their long black-snake whips and bring them
+down across my chicken's heads, then pick them up and carry them to
+camp. I think the officers were the most to blame, for they sold the
+soldiers' rations, and the men were hungry.
+
+When the Union Pacific railroad was first built we lived on our
+homestead north of the river and the town was started on our land. We
+had the contract to supply the wood for the engines. They didn't use any
+other fuel then. We hired men to cut the wood on Wood river where
+Eddyville and Sumner are now. I boarded the men in our new big house
+across from the depot in old Plum Creek. The store was below and there
+was an outside stairway for the men to go up. That summer Mr. Freeman
+was in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York talking up this country.
+Mr. Freeman was the first county clerk and his office was upstairs over
+the store. We rented some of the rooms to newcomers. We did a big
+business until the railroad moved the town to their section, a mile
+west. Mr. Freeman kept on trapping, and finally was drowned near
+Deadwood, South Dakota. I stayed by Dawson county and raised my family
+and they all are settled near me and have good homes.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN DAWSON COUNTY
+
+BY LUCY R. HEWITT
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Hewitt, in June, 1873, journeyed from Forreston,
+Illinois, to Plum Creek, Nebraska. Their object was to take advantage of
+the offer the government was making to civil war soldiers, whereby each
+soldier could obtain one hundred and sixty acres of land. They stopped
+at Grand Island and Kearney, but at neither place could they find two
+adjoining quarter sections, not yet filed on. They wanted two, for my
+grandfather, Rockwood, who lived with us was also a soldier. At Plum
+Creek, now Lexington, they were able to obtain what they wanted but it
+was six miles northwest of the station.
+
+Plum Creek at that early date consisted of the depot. The town was a
+mile east and when my parents arrived at Plum Creek, they were obliged
+to walk back to the town, in order to find lodging for the night. Rooms
+seem to have been scarce for they had to share theirs with another man
+and his wife. They found a place to eat in the restaurant owned by Mr.
+and Mrs. E. D. Johnson.
+
+In August of the same year, they made a second trip to Nebraska, this
+time with wagon and carriage, bringing with others a carpenter who built
+their house upon the dividing line of the two homesteads. This house had
+the distinction of being the first two-story house in the neighborhood.
+All the others were one-story, because the settlers feared the high
+winds that occasionally swept over the prairies. For a few months it was
+the farthest away from town.
+
+In the three months between the two trips the town had moved to the
+depot, and had grown from nothing to a village of sixty houses and
+stores. The Johnsons had brought their restaurant and placed it upon the
+site where a little later they built a hotel called the Johnson house.
+Mr. T. Martin had built the first hotel which he named the Alhambra. I
+have a very faint recollection of being in this hotel when the third
+trip brought the household goods and the family to the new home. It was
+in December when this last journey was taken, and great was the
+astonishment of the older members of the family to see the ground
+covered with a foot of snow. They had been told that there was
+practically no winter in Nebraska, and they had believed the statement.
+They found that the thermometer could drop almost out of sight with the
+cold, and yet the greater part of many winters was very pleasant.
+
+My father opened a law office in the town and T. L. Warrington, who
+taught the first school in the village, read law with him, and kept the
+office open when the farm required attention. The fields were small at
+first and did not require so very much time.
+
+The first exciting event was a prairie fire. A neighbor's family was
+spending the day at our farm and some other friends also came to call.
+The day was warm, no wind was stirring until about 4 o'clock, when it
+suddenly and with much force blew from the north and brought the fire,
+which had been smoldering for some days in the bluffs to the north of
+the farm, down into the valley with the speed of a racing automobile. We
+children were very much frightened, and grandmother who was sick with a
+headache, was so startled she forgot her pain--did not have any in fact.
+Mother and Mrs. Fagot, the neighbor's wife, were outside loosening the
+tumble weeds and sending them along with the wind before the fire could
+catch them. In that way they saved the house from catching fire. My
+father, who had seen the fire come over the hills, as he was driving
+from town, had unhitched the horses and riding one of them as fast as
+possible, reached home in time to watch the hay stacks. Three times they
+caught fire and each time he beat it out with a wet gunny sack. I think
+this happened in March, 1874.
+
+That same year about harvest time the country was visited by
+grasshoppers. They did considerable damage by nipping off the oat heads
+before the farmers could finish the reaping. My aunt who was visiting us
+suggested that the whole family walk through the potato field and send
+the hoppers into the grass beyond. It was a happy thought, for the
+insects ate grass that night and the next day a favorable wind sent them
+all away.
+
+The worst grasshopper visitation we had was in July, 1876. One Sunday
+morning father and mother and I went to town to church. The small grain
+had been harvested and the corn all along the way was a most beautiful,
+dark green. When we were about a mile from town a slight shade seemed to
+come over the sun; when we looked up for the cause, we saw millions of
+grasshoppers slowly dropping to the ground. They came down in such
+numbers that they clung two or three deep to every green thing. The
+people knew that nothing in the way of corn or gardens could escape such
+devastating hordes and they were very much discouraged. To add to their
+troubles, the Presbyterian minister that morning announced his intention
+to resign. He, no doubt, thought he was justified.
+
+I was pretty small at that time and did not understand what it all
+meant, but I do know that as we drove home that afternoon, the
+cornfields looked as they would in December after the cattle had fed on
+them--not a green shred left. The asparagus stems, too, were equally
+bare. The onions were eaten down to the very roots. Of the whole garden,
+there was, in fact, nothing left but a double petunia, which grandmother
+had put a tub over. So ravenous were the pests that they even ate the
+cotton mosquito netting that covered the windows.
+
+In a day or two when nothing remained to eat, the grasshoppers spread
+their wings and whirred away. Then grandfather said, "We will plant some
+beans and turnips, there is plenty of time for them to mature before
+frost." Accordingly, he put in the seeds and a timely rain wet them so
+that in a very few days they had sprouted and were well up, when on
+Monday morning, just two weeks and one day from the time of the first
+visitation, a second lot dropped down and breakfasted off grandfather's
+beans. It was too late in the season then to plant more.
+
+My mother had quite a flock of turkeys and a number of chickens. They
+were almost dazed at the sight of so many perfectly good insects. They
+tried to eat them all but had to give up the task. They ate enough,
+however, to make themselves sick.
+
+This time I believe the grasshoppers stayed several days. They seemed to
+be hunting some good hard ground in which to lay their eggs. The
+following spring the warm days brought out millions of little ones,
+which a prairie fire later destroyed.
+
+The corn crop having been eaten green and the wheat acreage being rather
+small, left many people with nothing to live on during the winter. Many
+moved away and many of those who could not get away had to be helped. It
+was then that Dawson county people learned that they had good friends in
+the neighboring states for they sent carloads of food and clothing to
+their less fortunate neighbors.
+
+A good many homesteaders were well-educated, refined people from
+Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere. They were a very congenial
+company and often had social times together. They were for the most part
+young people, some with families of young children, others just married,
+and some unmarried. I remember hearing my mother tell of a wedding that
+she and father attended. The ceremony was performed at a private house
+and then the whole company adjourned to a large hall where everybody who
+wanted to, danced and the rest watched until the supper was served by
+Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in their new hotel. The bride on this occasion was
+Miss Addie Bradley and the groom was W. H. Lingle, at one time county
+superintendent of public instruction.
+
+For some time after the starting of the town of Plum Creek there was no
+church edifice but there was a good sized schoolhouse, and here each
+Sunday morning the people for miles around gathered. One Sunday the
+Methodist preacher talked to all the people and the next week the
+Presbyterian minister preached to the same congregation, until the
+courthouse was built, and then the Presbyterians used the courtroom. I
+have heard the members say that they received more real good from those
+union services than they ever did when each denomination had a church of
+its own. The Episcopalians in the community were the most enterprising
+for they built the first church, a little brick building that seated one
+hundred people. It was very plainly furnished, but it cost fifteen
+hundred dollars, due to the fact that the brick was brought from Kearney
+and freight rates were high. It stood on the site of the present modern
+building and was built in 1874. My grandfather, an ardent Churchman,
+often read the service when there was no rector in town.
+
+Speaking of the courthouse reminds me that it was not always put to the
+best use. I cannot remember when the following incident occurred, but I
+do remember hearing it talked of. A man who lived on the south side of
+the Platte river was accused of poisoning some flour that belonged to
+another man. He was ordered arrested and two or three men, among them
+Charles Mayes, the deputy sheriff, were sent after him. He resisted
+arrest and using his gun, killed Mayes. He was finally taken and brought
+to town and put into the county jail in the basement of the courthouse.
+Mayes had been a very popular man and the feeling was very high against
+his slayer, so high, indeed, that some time between night and morning
+the man was taken from the jail, and the next morning his lifeless body
+was found hanging at the back door of the courthouse.
+
+One of the pleasures of the pioneer is hunting. In the early days there
+was plenty of game in Dawson county, buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, jack
+rabbits, and several game birds, such as plover, prairie hen, ducks,
+geese, and cranes. By the time we arrived, however, the buffalo had been
+driven so far away that they were seldom seen. There was plenty of
+buffalo meat in the market, however, for hunters followed them and shot
+them, mostly for their hides. The meat was very good, always tender and
+of fine flavor. My father rushed into the house one day and called for
+his revolver. A herd of buffalo was racing across the fields towards the
+bluffs on the north. Father and some of the men with him, thought
+possibly they might get near enough to shoot one. But although he rode
+as fast as his pony could carry him, he could not get close enough and
+the herd, once it reached the hills was safe. The poor beasts had been
+chased for miles and were weary, but they did not give up. The cows
+huddled the calves together and pushed them along and the bulls led the
+way. Father learned afterward that his pony had been trained by the
+Indians to hunt; and if he had given him the rein and allowed him to go
+at it in his own way, he would have gone so close that father could have
+shot one. But he did not know this until the buffalo were far away.
+
+
+
+
+PIONEER JUSTICE
+
+BY B. F. KRIER
+
+
+In the early history of Lexington, Nebraska, as in all western states,
+there was no crime committed more reprehensible than that of stealing a
+horse. One might kill a man and it would be overlooked or excused, but
+the offense of stealing a horse was a crime that nothing could atone for
+but the "wiping out" of the thief. And generally when the horse thief
+was caught the nearest tree or the upraised end of a wagon tongue was
+immediately brought into use as a gallows upon which the criminal was
+duly hanged without the formalities of courts or juries. It was amply
+sufficient to know that the accused had stolen a horse, and it mattered
+but little to whom the horse belonged or whether the owner was present
+to take a hand in the execution. The culprit was dealt with in such
+manner that he never stole another animal.
+
+This sentiment prevailed among the first settlers of Dawson county, as
+was shown in 1871, shortly after the organization of the county. Among
+the officials of the county at that time was a justice of the peace, a
+sturdy, honest man, who had been a resident of the county several years
+before it was organized. One day in 1871 a half-breed Sioux came riding
+from the east into Plum Creek (as Lexington was then called). The Indian
+stopped in the town and secured a meal for himself and feed for his
+horse.
+
+While he was eating, two Pawnee warriors arrived at the station on a
+freight train, from the east. They at once hunted up the sheriff, a
+broad-shouldered Irishman named John Kehoe, and made complaint that the
+half-breed Sioux had stolen a horse from one of them and had the animal
+in his possession. Complaint was formally made and a warrant issued for
+the half-breed's arrest upon the charge of horse-stealing, the warrant
+being issued by the aforesaid justice of the peace.
+
+The Sioux was at once taken in custody by the sheriff and brought before
+the justice. One of the Pawnees swore the horse the half-breed rode when
+he entered the town was his property, and the other Pawnee upon oath
+declared he knew it was. The prisoner denied the statement made by the
+Pawnees and vehemently declared the animal was his property; that he
+came by it honestly, and that the Pawnee had no title whatever in the
+horse.
+
+There was no jury to hear and judge the evidence, and the justice was
+compelled to decide the case. He had had some experience with redskins,
+and entertained but small regard for any of them, but as the
+preponderance of the evidence was against the Sioux, he decided the
+latter was guilty, and after a short study of the matter sentenced the
+culprit to be hanged.
+
+There were no lawyers in Plum Creek at that time, a condition that has
+not existed since, and each side did its own talking. The Sioux at once
+filed a vigorous complaint against the sentence, but was ordered by the
+court to keep still.
+
+Realizing he had no chance, he became silent, but some of the citizens
+who were present and listening to the trial, interposed objections to
+the strenuous sentence, and informed the court that "as we are now
+organized into a county and have to go by law, you can't sentence a man
+to hang fer stealin' a hoss."
+
+This staggered the justice somewhat and he again took the matter under
+advisement, and shortly after made the following change in the sentence,
+addressing the prisoner as follows "----, Dem laws don't let you get
+hanged, vich iss not right. You iss one teef; dat iss a sure ting, and I
+shust gif you fifteen minutes to git out of dis state of Newbrasky."
+
+The Pawnee secured possession of the horse, but whether it belonged to
+them or not is questionable, and hit the eastern trail for the "Pawnee
+house," while the Sioux warrior hastily got himself together and made a
+swift hike toward the setting sun and safety.
+
+
+
+
+A GOOD INDIAN
+
+BY MRS. CLIFFORD WHITTAKER
+
+
+The late John H. MacColl came to Dawson county in 1869 to benefit his
+health, but shortly after reaching here he had an attack of mountain
+fever, that left his lower limbs paralyzed. The nearest medical aid he
+could get was from the army surgeon at Fort McPherson, forty miles to
+the west. He made a number of trips to attend Mr. MacColl, and finally
+told him that he would never be any better. An old Indian medicine man
+happened along about that time and he went to see Mr. MacColl. By
+curious signs, gesticulations, and grunts, he made Mr. MacColl
+understand that he could cure him and that he would be back the next day
+at the rising of the sun. True to his word, he came, bringing with him
+an interpreter who explained to Mr. MacColl that the medicine man could
+cure him if he would submit to his treatment. Mr. MacColl was desperate
+and willing to do almost anything, so he agreed. The patient was
+stripped and laid flat on a plank. The medicine man then took a
+saw-edged knife and made no less than a hundred tiny gashes all over his
+patient's body. This done he produced a queer herb, and began chewing
+it. Then he spit it in his hand, as needed, and rubbed it into each tiny
+wound. That was all, and in three days Mr. MacColl could stand alone,
+and in a week he could walk.
+
+This incident was told to me in 1910 by the sister, Laura MacColl.
+
+
+
+
+FROM MISSOURI TO DAWSON COUNTY IN 1872
+
+BY A. J. PORTER
+
+
+I left southwest Missouri late in October, 1872, accompanied by my
+sister, and journeyed by team via Topeka, Kansas, to Nebraska. We spent
+our first night in Nebraska at Fairbury, November 8, 1872. Trains on the
+St. Joe and Grand Island railroad had just reached that point.
+
+After visiting a few days with the Carney families near Fairmont we took
+the train for Plum Creek (now Lexington) and reached Kearney at 10
+o'clock P. M. All rooms being occupied we sat in the office of the hotel
+till morning. None of the Union Pacific trains stopped at that place
+except to take mail. At 10 o'clock that night we got a train to Plum
+Creek, which place we reached at 12 o'clock. There being no hotel we
+stayed in the depot until morning, when we found our brother living on a
+homestead.
+
+During our stay I filed on land six miles northeast of Plum Creek. The
+next April I brought my family by wagon over the same route and reached
+Dawson county a month after the noted Easter storm of 1873. At that time
+we saw hundreds of hides of Texas cattle, that had perished in the
+storm, hanging on fences surrounding the stockyards at Elm Creek.
+
+We remained on our homestead until August, 1876, at which time we came
+to Fillmore county and bought the southwest quarter of section eleven in
+Madison township, which place we now own.
+
+
+
+
+THE ERICKSON FAMILY
+
+BY MRS. W. M. STEBBINS
+
+
+Charles J. Erickson left Sweden in 1864 and for two years lived in New
+York, Indiana, and Illinois. In 1866 he moved to Fort McPherson,
+Nebraska. He worked around the Fort until 1871 when he took a homestead
+nine miles east. The next year, he sent to Sweden for his family. They
+arrived at McPherson station--now Maxwell--on September 1, 1872. Mr.
+Erickson died in April, 1877. The family resided on the old homestead
+until 1910, when they moved to Gothenburg, Nebraska. The sons, Frank and
+John Erickson, who still reside in Nebraska, unite in the following
+statement:
+
+"Coming to this part of the state at so early a date we have been eye
+witnesses to the development and transformation of the country from a
+bleak, wild prairie covered with blue stem grasses, upon which fed
+thousands of buffalo, deer, antelope, and elk. The Indians still
+controlled the country and caused us to have many sleepless nights.
+
+"In those early days we always took our guns with us when we went away
+from home, or into the field to work. Several times we were forced to
+seek shelter in the Fort, or in some home, saving our scalps from the
+Indians by the fleetness of our ponies. But how changed now.
+
+"One of our early recollections is the blackened posts and poles along
+the old Oregon trail. As we gazed down the trail these looked like
+sentinels guarding the way, but we soon learned they were the poles of
+the first telegraph line built across Nebraska. It extended from
+Nebraska City to Fort Laramie, Wyoming. When the Union Pacific railroad
+was built through here--on the north side of the river--in 1866, the
+telegraph line followed and the old line on the south side of the Platte
+was abandoned. The old poles were of red cedar taken from the caÒons and
+were all burned black by the prairie fires. They soon disappeared, being
+used by the Indians and the emigrants for firewood. The old trail and
+telegraph line crossed our farm and only a few years ago we dug out of
+the ground one of the stubs of a cedar telegraph pole about two feet in
+diameter and six feet long, and there are still more of these old stubs
+in our fields.
+
+"In the early seventies the most prominent ranches in this section were
+Upper 96 and Lower 96. These ranches had first been the relay stations
+of the old Wells Fargo Express Company. At each of these may be seen
+well preserved cedar log buildings still in use built by this company
+when they first established their express business across the plains in
+the middle of the last century. On the advent of the Union Pacific, the
+Wells Fargo Express Company abandoned these stations and they became the
+property of the 96 Ranch. Although they have passed through the hands of
+several different owners they have always retained their names of Upper
+96 ranch and Lower 96 ranch.
+
+"The caÒons leading into the hills from the south side of the river are
+named from the early ranches along the valley near the mouths of the
+caÒons; Conroy from Conroy's ranch, Jeffrie from Jeffrie's ranch, Gilman
+from Gilman's ranch, and Hiles from Hiles' ranch. An exception to the
+above is the Dan Smith caÒon which is named after Dan Smith in memory of
+the tragedy with which his name is connected. Dan Smith and wife were
+working at the Lower 96 ranch in 1871. Mrs. Smith wished to attend a
+ball to be given by the officers at Fort McPherson and wanted her
+husband to go with her, but he being of a jealous disposition refused to
+go. She mounted her horse and started to go alone when he called to her
+to come back and take his gun to protect herself from the Indians. She
+turned around and started back toward him. He drew his gun and fired,
+killing her instantly. She was buried at the Lower 96 ranch and until a
+few years ago her grave was kept green. After shooting his wife, Dan
+Smith mounted her horse and rode away into the hills to the south. The
+soldiers at the Fort twenty-five miles away were notified and the next
+day they came to hunt for the murderer. They surrounded him in a caÒon
+in the hills and there shot him to death leaving his body a prey for
+buzzards and wolves. The caÒon to this day is called Dan Smith CaÒon and
+through it is the main road leading from Gothenburg to Farnam,
+Nebraska."
+
+
+
+
+THE BEGINNINGS OF FREMONT
+
+BY SADIE IRENE MOORE
+
+
+Fremont was named for John C. Fremont, who was a candidate against
+Buchanan for president. The first stakes were set August 23, 1856, the
+boundaries being finished three days later. "The first habitation of any
+sort, was constructed of poles surrounded by prairie grass. It was built
+and owned by E. H. Barnard and J. Koontz, in 1856, and stood upon the
+site of the present Congregational church." In the autumn of 1856,
+Robert Kittle built and owned the first house. A few weeks later his
+house was occupied by Rev. Isaac E. Heaton, wife and two daughters, who
+were the first family to keep house in Fremont. Alice Flor, born in the
+fall of 1857, was the first child born in Fremont. She is now Mrs.
+Gilkerson, of Wahoo. The first male child born in Fremont was Fred
+Kittle. He was born in March, 1858, and died in 1890. On August 23,
+1858, occurred the first marriage. The couple were Luther Wilson and
+Eliza Turner. The first death was that of Seth P. Marvin, who was
+accidentally drowned in April, 1857, while crossing the Elkhorn seven
+miles northeast of Fremont. The Marvin home was a mile and a quarter
+west of Fremont and this house was the rendezvous of the parties who
+laid out Fremont. Mr. Marvin was one of the town company.
+
+The first celebration of the Fourth of July was in 1857. Robert Kittle
+sold the first goods. J. G. and Towner Smith conducted the first regular
+store. In 1860, the first district school was opened with Miss McNeil
+teacher. Then came Mary Heaton, now Mrs. Hawthorne. Mrs. Margaret
+Turner, followed by James G. Smith, conducted the first hotel situated
+where the First National bank now is. This was also the "stage house,"
+and here all the traders stopped en route from Omaha to Denver. In the
+evening the old hotel resounded with the music of violin and the sound
+of merry dancing. Charles Smith conducted a drug store where Holloway
+and Fowler now are. A telegraph line was established in 1860. The first
+public school was held in a building owned by the Congregational
+church at the corner of Eighth and D streets. Miss Sarah Pneuman, now
+Mrs. Harrington, of Fremont, was the teacher. When court convened,
+school adjourned, there being no courthouse. In three years the school
+had grown from sixteen to one hundred pupils, with three teachers. The
+first public schoolhouse was built at the corner of Fifth and D streets.
+In 1866 the Union Pacific was built. The first bank was established in
+1867. The _Tribune_, the first newspaper, was published July 24, 1868.
+"The Central School" was built in 1869 and the teacher, in search of
+truant boys, would ascend to the top, where with the aid of field glass,
+she could see from the Platte to the Elkhorn. Today, can be seen on the
+foundations of this old landmark, the marks of slate pencils, which were
+sharpened by some of our middle aged business men of today.
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT AT FREMONT, NEBRASKA, MARKING THE OVERLAND
+EMIGRANT TRAILS OR CALIFORNIA ROAD
+
+Erected by Lewis-Clark Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution]
+
+Mrs. Cynthia Hamilton, of Fremont, gives an interesting account of the
+early days. In June, 1857, she, with her husband, Mr. West, their
+daughter, Julia, Mrs. West's brother, the late Wilson Reynolds, and Mrs.
+Reynolds, reached the few dwellings then comprising Fremont, after an
+eighteen or nineteen days trip in moving wagons from Racine, Wisconsin.
+They first stopped at the house of Robert Kittle, corner Military and
+Broad streets. This house was made from trees grown on the bluffs
+southwest of town, and had a red cedar shingle roof, the shingles shaved
+from logs floated down the Platte. After two days, they all moved to a
+log house in "Pierce's Grove." While living here, Mrs. Hamilton tells of
+hearing a great commotion among the tinware and upon investigation,
+found it was caused by a huge snake. In August of the same year they
+moved to their homestead, northwest of town, on the Rawhide. It is now
+known as the Rohr place. Here they remained two years. In winter the men
+made trips to the river for wood, and the women must either accompany
+them or remain at home, alone, far from another house. Thus, alone one
+day, she saw a large band of Indians approaching. The chief, picking up
+an axe from the wood pile, placed it under the window where she sat,
+indicating that she must take care of it, else some one might steal it.
+He then led his band northward. During all the residence on the
+homestead the three members of the family suffered continually from
+ague. In the fall of 1859, Mrs. West and her child returned to
+Wisconsin, where they remained ten months. During her absence, Mr. West
+became a trader with the Indians and once in Saunders county as he was
+selling a quantity of meat on a temporary counter, the Indians became
+rather unruly. His white companions fled, and Mr. West seizing a club,
+went among the Indians, striking them right and left. For this, they
+called him a brave and ever afterwards called him "Buck Skadaway,"
+meaning curly hair. When Mrs. West returned from Wisconsin, she came
+down the Mississippi and up the Missouri to Omaha, then a small town.
+From there they drove to Fremont, with horse and buggy, via Florence.
+Mr. West now bought a cottonwood house, battened up and down. It
+consisted of two rooms, and stood on the site of the present residence
+of Thad Quinn. Wilson Reynolds bought two lots on the south side of
+Sixth street near the West home for twenty-five cents. Here he built a
+house made partly of black walnut taken from the banks of the Platte. In
+this house, was born our present postmaster, B. W. Reynolds. Mrs.
+Hamilton relates that the Indians were frequent callers at her home, one
+even teaching her to make "corn coffee," "by taking a whole ear of corn,
+burning it black and then putting it in the coffee pot." Food consisted
+of vegetables, which were grown on the prairie sod, prairie chickens,
+small game, and corn bread. Butter was twenty-five cents a pound. Syrup
+was made by boiling down watermelon. Boiled beans were mashed to a pulp
+and used as butter. "Everything was high and when the money and supplies
+which we bought were exhausted it was hard to get more." Screens were
+unknown and the flies and mosquitoes were terrible. In the evenings
+everyone would build a smudge so that they could sleep. Not a tree was
+to be seen except those on the banks of the streams. Tall prairie grass
+waved like the ocean and prairie fires were greatly feared. Everyone
+began setting out trees at once.
+
+"In those days Broad street was noted as a racing road for the Indians
+and now it is a boulevard for automobiles," says Mrs. Hamilton. "Yes,"
+she continued, "I well remember the Fourth of July celebration in 1857.
+There were about one hundred people in attendance. Miss McNeil was my
+little girl's first teacher and Dr. Rhustrat was our first physician."
+In 1861, after a short illness, Mr. West died. He was buried beside his
+infant daughter in the cemetery, which at that time stood near the
+present brewery. The bodies were afterward removed to Barnard's
+cemetery and later to Ridge. The following year, Mrs. West, with her
+daughter, Julia, returned to her parents at Racine, Wisconsin, where she
+remained for many years. In 1876, as the wife of William Hamilton she
+returned and made her home on one of her farms near the stockyards.
+Twenty-five years ago this place was sold for $100 per acre while the
+old homestead northwest of town brought $25 per acre in 1875. After
+selling the south farm she and Mr. Hamilton, who died a few years ago,
+bought the present home on Broad street. Everyone should honor the early
+settlers, who left their eastern homes, endured hardships and privations
+that a beautiful land might be developed for posterity. They should be
+pensioned as well as our soldiers. And we, of the younger generation,
+should respect and reverence their memory.
+
+
+
+
+A GRASSHOPPER STORY
+
+BY MARGARET F. KELLY
+
+
+I came to Fremont, Nebraska, in May, 1870, and settled on a farm on
+Maple creek. In 1874 or 1875 we were visited by grasshoppers. I had
+never formed an idea of anything so disastrous. When the "hoppers" were
+flying the air was full of them. As one looked up, they seemed like a
+severe snow storm. It must have been like one of the plagues of Egypt.
+They were so bad one day that the passenger train on the Union Pacific
+was stalled here. I went to see the train and the odor from the crushed
+insects was nauseating. I think the train was kept here for three hours.
+The engine was besmeared with them. It was a very wonderful sight. The
+rails and ground were covered with the pests. They came into the houses
+and one lady went into her parlor one day and found her lace curtains on
+the floor, almost entirely eaten. Mrs. George Turner said that she came
+home from town one day when the "hoppers" were flying and they were so
+thick that the horses could not find the barn. Mrs. Turner's son had a
+field of corn. W. R. Wilson offered him fifty dollars for it. When he
+began to husk it, there was no corn there. A hired man of Mrs. Turner's
+threw his vest on the ground. When he had finished his work and picked
+up the vest it was completely riddled by the grasshoppers. I heard one
+man say that he was out riding with his wife and they stopped by a field
+of wheat where the "hoppers" were working and they could hear their
+mandibles working on the wheat. When they flew it sounded like a train
+of cars in motion. Horses would not face them unless compelled. One year
+I had an eighty acre field of corn which was being cultivated. The men
+came in and said the "hoppers" were taking the corn. They did not stay
+long, but when they left no one would have known that there had ever
+been any corn in that field. My brother from California came in 1876. On
+the way to the farm a thunder storm came up and we stopped at a friend's
+until it was over. My brother said, "I would not go through the
+experience again for $10,000, and I would not lose the experience for
+the same amount." The "hoppers" came before the storm and were thick on
+the ground. It was a wonderful experience. In those days we cut our
+small grain with "headers." The grain head was cut and fell into boxes
+on wagons. After dinner one day, the men went out to find the
+grasshoppers in full possession. A coat which had been left hanging was
+completely destroyed. Gardens and field crops were their delight. They
+would eat an onion entirely out of the hard outer skin. I had a thirty
+acre field of oats which looked fine on Saturday. We could not harvest
+it then and on Monday it looked like an inverted whisk broom. Some of
+the "hoppers" were three inches long. The backs were between brown and
+slate color and underneath was white. I think we received visits from
+them for five years.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN FREMONT
+
+BY MRS. THERON NYE
+
+
+From the year 1856 until the beginning of the civil war in 1861 the
+early settlers of Nebraska experienced nearly all of the ills and
+hardships incidental to a pioneer life. Fifty years have passed since
+then and to one having lived through those trying days--or to a stranger
+who merely listens to the almost incredulous tales of a past
+generation--there arises a question as to why any sane person or persons
+should desire to leave a land of comparative comfort and plenty for one
+of deprivation and possible starvation.
+
+The early settlers of Fremont were for the most part young people from
+the eastern states, full of ambition and hope. There is in the youthful
+heart a spirit of energy, of doing and daring in order to realize, if
+possible, dreams of a perhaps glorious future in which may be won honor
+and fame and wealth. Then again the forces of nature are never at rest
+and man, being a part of the great whole, must inevitably keep in step
+with the universal law. A few lines written for a paper several years
+ago give the first impression of the landscape which greeted the eyes of
+a stranger on entering the valley of the Elkhorn river in 1858, April
+26:
+
+"This is the picture as I see it plainly in retrospect--a country, and
+it was all a country, with a smooth, level, gray surface which appeared
+to go on toward the west forever and forever. On the north were the
+bluffs of the Elkhorn river, but the great Elkhorn Valley was a part of
+an unknown world. South of the little townsite of Fremont the Platte
+river moved sluggishly along to meet and be swallowed up in the great
+Missouri. Ten or twelve log cabins broke the monotony of the treeless
+expanse that stretched far away, apparently to a leaden sky. My heart
+sank within me as I thought but did not say, 'How can I ever live in a
+place like this?'" And yet the writer of the above lines has lived in
+Fremont for forty-seven years.
+
+The histories of the world are chiefly men's histories. They are
+stories of governments, of religions, of wars, and only in exceptional
+instances has woman appeared to hold any important place in the affairs
+of nations. From the earliest settlement of the colonies in the new
+world until the present time, women have not only borne with bravery and
+fortitude the greater trials of the pioneer life, but from their
+peculiar organization and temperament suffered more from the small
+annoyances than their stronger companions of the other sex. The
+experiences of the home and family life of the early settlers of the
+great West have never entered into the annals of history nor can a
+truthful story be told without them, but thus far no doubt the apparent
+neglect has been due to woman herself, who until quite recently has felt
+that she was a small factor in the world's affairs.
+
+In the beginning of the new life in Fremont women had their first
+introduction to the log cabin which was to be their home for many years.
+It was not as comfortable as it looks picturesque and romantic printed
+on paper. It was a story and a half high, sixteen by twenty feet in
+size. The logs were hewn on two sides, but the work performed by the
+volunteer carpenters of that time was not altogether satisfactory,
+consequently the logs did not fit closely but the open spaces between
+were filled with a sort of mortar that had a faculty of gradually
+dropping off as it dried, leaving the original holes and openings
+through which the winter winds whistled and Nebraska breezes blew the
+dirt.
+
+The houses were made of cottonwood logs and finished with cottonwood
+lumber. The shingles warped so the roof somewhat resembled a sieve. The
+rain dripped through it in summer and snow sifted through it in winter.
+The floors were made of wide rough boards, the planing and polishing
+given by the broom, the old-fashioned mop, and the scrubbing brush. The
+boards warped and shrunk so that the edges turned up, making wide cracks
+in the floor through which many small articles dropped down into a large
+hole in the ground miscalled a cellar. It was hardly possible to keep
+from freezing in these houses in winter. Snow sifted through the roof,
+covering beds and floors. The piercing winds blew through every crack
+and crevice. Green cottonwood was the only fuel obtainable and that
+would sizzle and fry in the stove while water froze standing under the
+stove. This is no fairy tale.
+
+The summers were not much more pleasant. It must be remembered that
+there were no trees in Fremont, nothing that afforded the least
+protection from the hot rays of a Nebraska sun. Mosquitoes and flies
+were in abundance, and door screens were unknown at that time. The
+cotton netting nailed over windows and hung over and around the beds was
+a slight protection from the pests, although as the doors must
+necessarily be opened more or less no remedy could be devised that would
+make any perceptible improvement. To submit was the rule and the law in
+those days, but many, many times it was done under protest.
+
+The first floor was divided or partitioned off, by the use of quilts or
+blankets, into a kitchen, bedroom, and pantry. The chamber, or what
+might be called attic, was also partitioned in the same way, giving as
+many rooms as it would hold beds. The main articles of food for the
+first two years consisted of potatoes, corn meal, and bacon. The meal
+was made from a variety of corn raised by the Indians and called Pawnee
+corn. It was very soft, white, and palatable. Wheat flour was not very
+plentiful the first year. Bacon was the only available meat.
+Occasionally a piece of buffalo meat was obtained, but it being very
+hard to masticate only served to make a slight change in the gravy,
+which was otherwise made with lard and flour browned together in an iron
+frying pan, adding boiling water until it was of the right consistency,
+salt and pepper to suit the taste. This mixture was used for potatoes
+and bread of all kinds. Lard was a necessity. Biscuits were made of
+flour, using a little corn meal for shortening and saleratus for
+raising. Much of the corn was ground in an ordinary coffee mill or in
+some instances rubbed on a large grater or over a tin pan with a
+perforated bottom, made so by driving nails through it. The nearest
+flouring mill was at Fort Calhoun, over forty miles away, which was then
+a three days' journey, taking more time than a trip to California at the
+present day. Nothing, however, could be substituted for butter. The lack
+of meat, sugar, eggs and fruit, tea and coffee, was borne patiently, but
+wheat flour and corn meal bread with its everlasting lard gravy
+accompaniment was more than human nature could bear, yet most of the
+people waxed strong and flourished on bread and grease. Oh, where are
+the students of scientific research and domestic economy? There were
+possibly three or four cows in the settlement, and if there was ever an
+aristocracy in Fremont, it was represented by the owners of said cows.
+
+In 1858 a little sorghum was raised. "Hope springs eternal in the human
+breast." Men, women, and children helped to prepare the stalks when at
+the right stage for crushing, which was done with a very primitive
+home-made machine. The juice obtained was boiled down to syrup, but
+alas, the dreams of a surfeit of sweetness vanished into thin air, for
+the result of all the toil and trouble expended was a production so
+nauseous that it could not be used even for vinegar.
+
+Wild plums and grapes grew in profusion on the banks of the rivers.
+There was much more enjoyment in gathering the fruit than in eating or
+cooking it. The plums were bitter and sour, the grapes were sour and
+mostly seeds, and sugar was not plentiful.
+
+The climate was the finest in the world for throat and lung troubles,
+but on the breaking up of the soil malaria made its appearance and many
+of the inhabitants suffered from ague and fever. Quinine was the only
+remedy. There were neither physicians nor trained nurses here, but all
+were neighbors and friends, always ready to help each other when the
+occasion required.
+
+In 1856, the year in which Fremont was born, the Pawnee Indians were
+living four miles south across the Platte river on the bluffs in
+Saunders county. They numbered about four thousand and were a constant
+source of annoyance and fear. In winter they easily crossed the river on
+the ice and in summer the water most of the time was so low they could
+swim and wade over, consequently there were few days in the year that
+they did not visit Fremont by the hundred. Weeks and months passed
+before women and children became accustomed to them and they could never
+feel quite sure that they were harmless. Stealing was their forte. Eyes
+sharp and keen were ever on the alert when they were present, yet when
+they left almost invariably some little article would be missed. They
+owned buffalo robes and blankets for which the settlers exchanged
+clothing which they did not need, jewelry, beads, and ornaments, with a
+little silver coin intermixed. The blankets and robes were utilized for
+bedding and many were the shivering forms they served to protect from
+the icy cold of the Nebraska winters. In 1859 the government moved them
+to another home on the Loup river and in 1876 they were removed to
+Indian territory.
+
+Snakes of many kinds abounded, but rattlesnakes were the most numerous.
+They appeared to have a taste for domestic life, as many were found in
+houses and cellars. A little four-year-old boy one sunny summer day ran
+out of the house bare-footed, and stepping on the threshold outside the
+door felt something soft and cold to his feet. An exclamation of
+surprise caused a member of the household to hasten to the door just in
+time to see a young rattlesnake gliding swiftly away. In several
+instances they were found snugly ensconced under pillows, on lounges,
+and very frequently were they found in cellars.
+
+For more than two years there was no way of receiving or sending mail
+only as one or another would make a trip to Omaha, which was usually
+once a week. In 1859 a stage line was put on between Omaha and Fort
+Kearny. No one can tell with what thankfulness and rejoicing each and
+every improvement in the condition and surroundings was greeted by the
+settlers. Dating from the discovery of gold in Colorado the pioneer was
+no more an object of pity or sympathy. Those who had planted their
+stakes and made their claims along the old military and California trail
+were independent. Many of the emigrants became discouraged and turned
+their faces homeward before getting a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. On
+their way home they sold loads of provisions for a song. The same fall
+the fertile soil of the Platte Valley, after two years of cultivation,
+responded to the demand of civilization. There was a market west for
+every bushel of grain and every pound of vegetables grown. So at least
+the patient and persevering ones received their reward.
+
+The sources of amusement were few, and yet all enjoyed the strange new
+life. A pleasant ride over the level prairie dotted with wild flowers,
+in any sort of vehicle drawn by a pair of oxen, was as enjoyable to the
+young people then as a drive over the country would now be in the finest
+turnout that Fremont possesses. A dance in a room twelve by sixteen feet
+in a log cabin, to the music of the Arkansas Traveler played on one
+violin, was "just delightful." A trip to Omaha once or twice a year was
+a rare event in the woman's life particularly. Three days were taken,
+two to drive in and out, and one to do a little trading (not shopping)
+and look around to view the sights. A span of horses, a lumber wagon
+with a spring seat in front high up in the air, was the conveyance.
+Women always wore sunbonnets on these occasions to keep their complexion
+fair.
+
+Several times in the earlier years the Mormons passed through here with
+long trains of emigrants journeying to the promised land, and a sorry
+lot they were, for the most of them were footsore and weary, as they all
+walked. The train was made up of emigrant covered wagons drawn by oxen,
+and hand carts drawn by cows, men and women, and dogs. It was a sight
+never to be forgotten.
+
+This is merely a short description of some of the trials and sufferings
+endured by the majority of the early settlers of this state. Many of the
+actors in the drama have passed away, a few only now remaining, and soon
+the stories of their lives will be to the coming generation like
+forgotten dreams.
+
+
+
+
+PIONEER WOMEN OF OMAHA
+
+BY MRS. CHARLES H. FISETTE
+
+
+Very few of those now living in Omaha can have any realization of the
+privations, not to say hardships, that were endured by the pioneer women
+who came here at an early date. A few claim shanties were scattered at
+distant intervals over this beautiful plateau, and were eagerly taken by
+those who were fortunate enough to secure them. There was seldom more
+than one room in them, so that no servants could be kept, even if there
+were any to be had. Many an amusing scene could have been witnessed if
+the friends who had been left behind could have peeped in at the door
+and have seen the attempts made at cooking by those who never had cooked
+before.
+
+A description of one of the homes might be of interest. A friend of ours
+owned a claim shanty that stood on the hill west of what is now
+Saunders, or Twenty-fourth street, and he very kindly offered it to us,
+saying he would have it plastered and fixed up. We, of course, accepted
+it at once and as soon as possible it was made ready and we moved into
+it late one evening, very happy to have a home. The house consisted of
+upstairs, downstairs, and a cellar, the upstairs being just high enough
+for one to stand erect in the center of the room, provided one was not
+very tall. The stairs were nothing but a ladder, home-made at that, in
+one corner of the room, held in place by a trunk. It was some time
+before I succeeded in going up and down gracefully. I happened to be
+upstairs when our first caller came and in my effort to get down quickly
+caught my feet in one of the rungs of the ladder and landed on the
+aforementioned trunk so suddenly that it brought everyone in the room to
+their feet. It took away all the formality of an introduction.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Hanscom lived half a mile north of the cottage just
+described, and had what seemed to others a house that was almost
+palatial. It contained three rooms, besides a kitchen, and had many
+comforts that few had in those days, including a cradle, which held a
+rosy-cheeked, curly-headed baby girl, who has long since grown to
+womanhood and had babies of her own. Another home, standing where
+Creighton College now stands, was built by a nephew of the late Rev.
+Reuben Gaylord, but was afterwards occupied by Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Byers,
+who have for many years resided in Colorado. The Gaylords moved from
+there to a new home at Eleventh and Jackson streets. Their family
+consisted of three children: Mrs. S. C. Brewster, of Irvington, who is
+still living at the age of 77 years; a son, Ralph Gaylord; and an
+adopted daughter, Georgia, who has since died.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLOTTE F. PALMER
+
+First State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1894-1895]
+
+A one story house built just in the rear of Tootle and Mauls' store on
+Farnam, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, was kept as a
+boarding house by Kentucky Wood and his wife. It was considered a
+high-toned boarding house, although the partitions were made of
+unbleached cloth and the floor of the dining room was covered with
+sawdust. Judges Lockwood and Bradley, two of our territorial judges,
+boarded there and a dinner was given in their honor by the landlord. The
+invited guests included Governor and Mrs. Cuming, Colonel and Mrs. C. B.
+Smith, and Dr. Geo. L. Miller. That was the first dinner party ever
+given in Omaha. Governor and Mrs. Cuming then boarded at the Douglas
+house, Thirteenth and Harney streets, and their rooms were often filled
+with the elite of this young and growing city. Mrs. Cuming was very
+popular in the little gatherings which were frequently held. She was the
+leading light and was always ready and willing to assist in any good
+work. Wherever there was sickness she was sure to be found. Mrs. Thomas
+Davis was another who was always doing little acts of kindness. She was
+the mother of the late Mrs. Herman Kountze, who, at that time, was the
+only white little girl in Omaha. Still another who never turned anyone
+away from her door who needed help was Mrs. E. Estabrook.
+
+Mrs. A. D. Jones, our first postmaster's wife, lived at that time at
+what was called Park Wild, in a one story log and frame house, which was
+afterwards occupied by General G. M. Dodge, the distinguished soldier,
+so well and widely known to the whole country as the chief engineer of
+the Union Pacific railroad. Among others who were here were Mrs. Edwin
+Patrick and Mrs. Allen Root, also Mrs. T. G. Goodwill, who lived in the
+Kentucky Wood house that I have already mentioned. She afterwards built
+the brick house that still stands near the northwest corner of
+Davenport street, facing south. It is an old landmark near Fifteenth
+street.
+
+One of the most prominent women of that day was Mrs. John M. Thayer,
+whose home at that time was said to have been the first civilized
+appearing home. It was plastered, clapboarded, and shingled. The entire
+community envied Mrs. Thayer her somewhat imposing residence. It was in
+very strong contrast, however, with the beautiful brick house which
+General Thayer afterwards built and occupied for several years, on the
+northeast corner of Sixteenth and Davenport streets.
+
+Mrs. Samuel Rogers, Mrs. William Snowden, Mrs. Thomas O'Conner, Mrs. O.
+B. Selden, Mrs. Hadley Johnson, and Mrs. Harrison Johnson were among the
+first women who lived in Omaha. Mrs. A. J. Poppleton may be classed
+among the number, although at that time she was living in Council
+Bluffs, then called Kanesville, where she was one of the leading young
+ladies.
+
+The first hotel in Omaha, a log house, eighteen by twenty feet, one
+story high, was named the St. Nicholas. It was first occupied by the
+family of Wm. P. Snowden, and stood on the corner of Twelfth and Jackson
+streets in 1855. The Douglas house, a two story frame building, was
+erected at the southwest corner of Thirteenth and Harney streets. The
+rear part was made of cottonwood slabs, and in the winter time it was
+said to have been very cold. It was the leading hotel and all the
+high-toned people stopped there. The Tremont house, between Thirteenth
+and Fourteenth streets, was built in 1856, and opened by Wm. F. Sweezy
+and Aaron Root. Mr. Sweezy is still living in Omaha. The Farnham,
+between Thirteenth and Fourteenth on Harney, was built in 1858. The
+famous Herndon house was built in 1856 by Dr. Geo. L. Miller and Lyman
+Richardson. The Hamilton, a brick building, was erected in 1856 by C. W.
+Hamilton, C. B. Smith, and H. M. Judson. The proprietors bought their
+furniture in St. Louis and brought it to Omaha by steamboat. The upper
+part of the house was one large bedroom with beds ranged against the
+walls. About once a week the furniture was all removed from this room
+and it was temporarily converted into a ballroom.
+
+
+
+
+A PIONEER FAMILY
+
+BY EDITH ERMA PURVIANCE
+
+
+Dr. Wm. Washington Wiley, with his wife, Gertrude Miranda Wiley, and
+their children, came to Nebraska July 6, 1857, and lived at Saratoga
+(now in Omaha) a year and a half. They came from Ohio in covered wagons,
+driving their cows along. It took two months to make the trip.
+
+They caught up with a company of Mormon emigrants when they reached Iowa
+City, Iowa, three or four hundred of whom camped along about five miles
+ahead of the Wiley family. They stopped at Florence a few weeks to buy
+provisions and teams to carry them across the plains to Utah. These
+Mormons had two-wheeled carts. These carts were provision carts drawn by
+both men and women.
+
+Mrs. Wiley was of Holland Dutch descent, and inherited the thrift and
+capability of her ancestors. She deserved great credit for her quick
+action in saving one victim from the Claim Club. This Claim Club was an
+organization of prominent Omaha business men. John Kelly, a nephew of
+Mrs. Wiley's sister, had a claim of one hundred sixty acres near Omaha.
+There were four wagonloads of men out looking for him to compel him to
+give them the papers showing his right to the land. The late Joseph
+Redman, of Omaha, lived near Mrs. Wiley, and when he saw the men coming
+for John Kelly he went to Mrs. Wiley and requested her to warn young
+Kelly, as she could get past the men, but he could not. Mrs. Redman went
+to Mrs. Wiley's house and took care of the three months' old baby and
+five other children. John Kelly was working at the carpenter's trade in
+Omaha, about three miles south of Mrs. Wiley's. All she had to ride was
+a stallion, of which she was afraid, and which had never been ridden by
+a woman. She rode slowly until out of sight of the wagonloads of men and
+then hit the horse every other jump. She made him run all the way,
+passing some Indians on the way, who looked at her wonderingly but did
+not try to stop her. After going to several places she finally located
+John Kelly. He wanted to go to the ferry, but her judgment was better
+and she said they would look for him there the first thing, which they
+did. She took him on behind her and rode to the home of Jane Beeson, his
+aunt, who put him down cellar and then spread a piece of rag carpet over
+the trap door. The Claim Club men were there several times that day to
+look for him, but did not search the house. After dark he walked to
+Bellevue, twelve miles, and the next morning crossed the Missouri river
+on the ferry boat and went to Missouri. When his claim papers were
+returned from Washington he returned and lived on his land without any
+further trouble. He would have been badly beaten and probably killed had
+it not been for Mrs. Wiley's nerve and decision in riding a fractious
+horse to warn him of his danger.
+
+While Dr. and Mrs. Wiley resided at Omaha the territorial law-makers
+disagreed, part of them going to Florence to make laws and part of them
+to Omaha, each party feeling it was the rightful law-making body of the
+territory.
+
+In December, 1859, the family crossed the Platte river on the ice and
+located on a farm in Cass county, three miles west of the Missouri
+river, about three miles southwest of the present town of Murray,
+although the old town of Rock Bluffs was their nearest town at that
+time. Dr. Wiley and the older children went on ahead with the household
+goods and live stock. Mrs. Wiley, with the small children, rode in a
+one-horse buggy. She did not know the way and there were no fences or
+landmarks to guide her. She had the ague so badly she could hardly drive
+the horse. A sack containing $1,800 in gold was tied around her waist.
+This was all the money they had, and they intended to use it to build a
+house and barn on their new farm. She objected to carrying so much
+money, but Dr. Wiley said it was safer from robbers with her than with
+him. In spite of her illness and the difficulty in traveling in an
+unknown country a distance of thirty-five or forty miles, she reached
+the new home safely. She took off the sack of gold, threw it in a
+corner, and fell on the bed exhausted. They lived all winter in a log
+house of two rooms. There was a floor and roof, but no ceiling, and the
+snow drifted in on the beds. Most of the family were sick all winter.
+
+The next summer they built a frame house, the first in that locality,
+which caused the neighbors to call them "high toned." Mrs. Wiley bought
+a parlor set of walnut furniture, upholstered in green.
+
+General Worth, who had been a congressman, wrote to Washington, D. C.,
+and got the commission, signed by Abraham Lincoln, appointing Dr. Wiley
+postmaster, the name of the postoffice being Three Groves. They kept the
+postoffice eleven years.
+
+They kept the stage station five years. It was the main stop between St.
+Joseph and Omaha before the railroad went through. They had from ten to
+fifteen people to dinner one coach load. The stage coach was drawn by
+four horses, and carried both mail and passengers. The horses were
+changed for fresh ones at the Wiley farm. At first the meals were
+twenty-five cents; the last two years, fifty cents. This was paid by the
+passengers and not included in the stage fare.
+
+Shortly after the discovery of Pike's Peak and gold in Colorado,
+freighters, with big freight wagons of provisions drawn by six or eight
+oxen, stopped there over night. There were usually twelve men, who slept
+on the floor, paying eighteen dollars for supper, breakfast, and
+lodging. Mr. McComas and Mr. Majors (father of Col. Thomas J. Majors)
+each had freight wagons starting at Nebraska City and taking the
+supplies to Denver and Pike's Peak via Fort Kearny, Nebraska. When the
+Union Pacific railroad was completed in 1869 the freighters had to sell
+their oxen and wagons, as they could not compete with the railroad in
+hauling freight.
+
+The Omaha, Pawnee, and Otoe Indians, when visiting other Indians, would
+stop at Dr. Wiley's and ask for things to eat. Sometimes there would be
+fifty of them. An old Indian would peer in. If the shade was pulled down
+while he was looking in he would call the party vile names. If food was
+given him a dozen more Indians would come and ask for something. If
+chickens were not given them they helped themselves to all they found
+straying around. It would make either tribe angry to ask if they were
+going to visit any other tribe. The Pawnees would say, "Omaha no good";
+the Omahas would say, "Pawnee no good."
+
+Mrs. Wiley kept a copy of the _Omaha Republican_, published November 30,
+1859. The paper is yellow with age, but well preserved, and a few years
+ago she presented it to the State Historical Society. It is a four-page
+paper, the second and third pages being nearly all advertisements. It
+contains a letter written by Robert W. Furnas, ex-governor of Nebraska,
+and a long article about the late J. Sterling Morton. This was about the
+time Mr. Morton tried to claim the salt basin at Lincoln as a
+preÎmption, and wanted to locate salt works there.
+
+Mrs. Wiley always took a great interest in the development of the state;
+she attended the State Fair almost every year, spending a great deal of
+time looking over the new machinery.
+
+Dr. Wiley died in 1887 and Mrs. Wiley in 1914. Mrs. Wiley lived to the
+age of 87 years.
+
+Little Erma Purviance, daughter of Dr. W. E. and Edith E. Purviance, of
+Omaha, is a great-granddaughter of Mrs. Wiley, and also a namesake. May
+she possess some of the virtue and intelligence of her ancestor.
+
+     NOTE: Mrs. Wiley's two daughters, Araminta and Hattie, were
+     students in the early years at Brownell Hall, then the only means
+     of obtaining an education, as there were very few public schools.
+     Some of the children and grandchildren still live on the lands
+     taken by Dr. and Mrs. Wiley, and have always been among the
+     well-to-do citizens of Cass county.
+
+     Mrs. Edith Erma Purviance, the writer of the foregoing article,
+     spent most of her girlhood with her grandmother, who sent her to
+     the State University, where she made good use of her advantages.
+     Other children of Mrs. Wiley were also university students or
+     identified with the various schools of the state. Mrs. A. Dove
+     Wiley Asche, youngest daughter of Mrs. Wiley, now occupies the old
+     home, out of which so recently went the brave pioneer who made it
+     of note among the early homes of the territory.--HARRIETT S.
+     MACMURPHY.
+
+
+
+
+THE BADGER FAMILY
+
+
+Lewis H. Badger drove with his parents, Henry L. and Mary A. Badger,
+from their home in Livingston county, Illinois, to Fillmore county,
+Nebraska. They had a covered emigrant wagon and a buggy tied behind.
+Lewis was twelve years old October 5, 1868, the day they crossed the
+Missouri river at Nebraska City, the nearest railroad station to their
+future home. The family stayed with friends near Saltillo while H. L.
+Badger came on with the horse and buggy and picked out his claim on the
+north side of Fillmore county, it being the northwest quarter of section
+2, township 8, range 3, west of the sixth principal meridian.
+
+At that time the claims were taken near the river in order that water
+might be obtained more easily, and also to be near the railroad which
+had been surveyed and staked out in the southern edge of York county
+near the West Blue river.
+
+The Badger family came on to Lincoln, then a mere village, and stopped
+there. They bought a log chain, and lumber for a door; the window frames
+were hewed from logs. When they reached the claim they did not know
+where to ford the river so they went on farther west to Whitaker's and
+stayed all night. There they forded the river and came on to the claim
+the next morning, October 20, 1868. There they camped while Mr. Badger
+made a dugout in the banks of the West Blue river, where the family
+lived for more than two years. The hollow in the ground made by this
+dugout can still be seen.
+
+In 1870 H. L. Badger kept the postoffice in the dugout. He received his
+commission from Postmaster General Creswell. The postoffice was known as
+West Blue. About the same time E. L. Martin was appointed postmaster at
+Fillmore. Those were the first postoffices in Fillmore county. Before
+that time the settlers got their mail at McFadden in York county. Mr.
+Badger kept the postoffice for some time after moving into the log house
+and after the establishment of the postoffice at Fairmont.
+
+In 1867 the Indians were all on reservations but by permission of the
+agents were allowed to go on hunting trips. If they made trouble for the
+settlers they were taken back to the reservations. While the Badgers
+were living in the dugout a party of about one thousand Omaha Indians
+came up the river on a hunting trip. Some of their ponies got away and
+ate some corn belonging to a man named Dean, who lived farther down the
+river. The man loved trouble and decided to report them to the agent.
+The Indians were afraid of being sent back to the reservation so the
+chief, Prairie Chicken, his brother, Sammy White, and seventeen of the
+other Indians came into the dugout and asked Mr. Badger to write a
+letter to the agent for them stating their side of the case. This he did
+and read it to Sammy White, the interpreter, who translated it for the
+other eighteen. It proved satisfactory to both Indians and agent.
+
+In August, 1869, while Mr. Badger was away helping a family named
+Whitaker, who lived up the river, to do some breaking, the son, Lewis,
+walked to where his father was at work, leaving Mrs. Badger at home
+alone with her four-year-old daughter. About four o'clock it began to
+rain very hard and continued all night. The river raised until the water
+came within eighteen inches of the dugout door. The roof leaked so that
+it was almost as wet inside as out. Mr. Badger and Lewis stayed at the
+Whitaker dugout. They fixed the canvas that had been the cover of the
+wagon over the bed to keep Grandmother Whitaker dry and the others sat
+by the stove and tried to keep warm, but could not. The next morning the
+men paddled down the rived to the Badger dugout in a wagon box. The
+wagon box was a product of their own making and was all wood, so it
+served the purpose of a boat.
+
+It should be explained that the reason the roofs of the dugouts and log
+houses leaked was because of the material used in their construction.
+Shingles were out of the question to these settlers of small means
+living one hundred miles from the railroad. There were plenty of trees
+near the river, so the settlers hewed out logs for ridge poles, then
+placed willow poles and brush across for a support. On top of that they
+put dirt and sod. When it rained the water naturally soaked through. The
+roof would leak for several days after a big rain.
+
+The next dwelling place of the Badger family was a log house built on
+the south half of the quarter section. For some time they lived in the
+log house and kept their stock in the dugout stable on the river bank.
+Thus they were living during the great April storm of 1873, which lasted
+for three days. All of the draws and ravines, even the river, were
+packed full of snow that was solid enough to hold a man up. There was
+very little snow on the level, it all being in drifts in the low places.
+The Badgers had a corn field between the log house and the river. While
+the storm raged Lewis wrapped himself in a blanket, and by following the
+rows of corn made his way to the dugout stable and fed the horses corn
+once each day. It was impossible to give them water.
+
+Henry L. Badger was commissioned by Governor Butler the first notary
+public in Fillmore county. Later he was appointed by acting Governor
+James, registrar of voters for the election to be held April 21, 1871,
+to elect officers for the new county. At that election he was elected
+both county clerk and county surveyor.
+
+In the late sixties when the county was first settled the country
+abounded in buffalo, deer, antelope, elk, prairie chickens, wild geese,
+ducks, and turkeys. The muddy stream known as West Blue river was clear
+and the fish found in it were not of the same variety as those caught
+now. Wild plums grew in abundance along the river bank and were much
+larger and of finer quality than the wild plums of today. In those days
+glass jars for canning were not as plentiful as now, so they picked the
+plums late in the fall, put them in a barrel and poured water over them
+and kept them for winter use.
+
+Lewis Badger tells of going on buffalo hunts with his father and seeing
+herds of thousands of the big animals, and driving for ten hours through
+the herd. He has now an old silver half dime that he found in an
+abandoned stage station on the Oregon trail, when on a buffalo hunt.
+
+In early days the settlers did lots of trapping. The Indians were
+frequent visitors and one time an Indian went with Mr. Badger and his
+son to look at their traps. In one trap they found a mink. Mr. Badger
+remarked that they got a mink in that same trap the day before. The
+Indian said, "Him lucky trap." The Indian would not steal but he wanted
+the lucky trap, so the next day that trap was gone and another in its
+place. The Indian seemed to get the best of the bargain for it is a fact
+that they never caught a thing in the trap he left.
+
+Sammy and Luke White, brothers of chief Prairie Chicken of the Omahas,
+frequently visited the early settlers. Sammy could talk English and was
+a good interpreter. He told of a big Indian battle in the western part
+of the state wherein the Sioux and Cheyenne, and Omahas, Otoes, Poncas,
+and Pawnees all took part and fought for two days and only killed two
+Indians. His brother, Prairie Chicken, killed one of the Indians and
+scalped him in the midst of the battle. For that act of bravery he was
+made a chief. After telling the story of his brother, when asked about
+himself, Sammy very modestly said, "Me 'fraid, me run."
+
+On one of Mr. Badger's hunting trips he killed a deer. When it was
+dressed Lewis was sent to the Whitaker dugout with a quarter of the
+meat. An Indian, Pawnee Jack, happened to be there at the time and it
+stormed so they had to keep him all night, much to their disgust.
+Evidently he enjoyed their hospitality, especially the venison, for when
+they started him on the next morning he inquired where the "papoose"
+lived that brought the "buckskin," meaning the venison. They told him
+and he made straight for the Badger dugout and the "buckskin." It
+stormed so they were forced to keep him there two nights before sending
+him on.
+
+Although most painfully familiar to every early settler, no pioneer
+story is complete without the grasshoppers. They came in herds and
+droves and ate every green thing. For days great clouds of them passed
+over. The next year they hatched out in great numbers and flew away
+without hurting anything. Mr. Badger had a nice young orchard that he
+had planted and tended. The grasshoppers ate the leaves off the trees
+and as it was early in August they leaved out again and were frozen so
+they died. Snakes feasted on the hoppers. Since seeing a garter snake at
+that time just as full of grasshoppers as it could possibly be, Lewis
+Badger has never killed a snake or permitted one to be killed on his
+farm. He declared that anything that could make away with so many
+grasshoppers should be allowed to live. Many people asked for and
+received the so-called "aid for grasshopper sufferers." In this section
+of the country it seemed absolutely unnecessary as there had been
+harvested a good crop of wheat, previous to the coming of the hoppers.
+
+In 1871 the railroad was built through the county. That season Lewis
+Badger sold watermelons, that he had raised, to the construction gang at
+work on the road. The town of Fairmont was started the same year. In
+those days the settlers would walk to town. It was nothing unusual for
+Mr. and Mrs. Badger and Lewis to walk to Fairmont, a distance of six
+miles.
+
+When the Badger family settled on their claim, they planted a row of
+cottonwood trees around it. These trees have made a wonderful growth. In
+1911 part of them were sawed into lumber. There are two especially large
+cottonwood trees on the farm. One measures twenty-six feet in
+circumference at the base and nineteen feet around five feet above the
+ground and runs up forty feet before it begins to branch out. The other
+is thirty-three feet around the base but branches into three trees four
+feet above the ground.
+
+Mrs. H. L. Badger was a witness of the first wedding in the county, that
+of Wm. Whitaker and Sabra Brumsey, which took place June 28, 1871. The
+ceremony was performed by the first county judge, Wm. H. Blaine, who
+stayed all night at the Badger home and attended the wedding the next
+day.
+
+Mrs. H. L. Badger died January 11, 1894, and Mr. Badger July 21, 1905.
+The son Lewis and family still own and farm the old homestead.
+
+
+
+
+FIRST WHITE SETTLER IN FILLMORE COUNTY
+
+
+The first settlement in Fillmore county, Nebraska, was made in 1866 by
+Nimrod J. Dixon, a native of Pennsylvania. He was married to Lydia
+Gilmore, who had previously filed on a homestead adjoining his. Mr. and
+Mrs. Dixon continued to reside on their homestead until they moved to
+Fairmont, Nebraska, where they are now living, having lived on the farm
+forty years.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Dixon were married February 28, 1867, at the home of Mrs.
+Dixon's father, Elias Gilmore, near Blue Vale. Mr. Dixon got the license
+at Nebraska City. From that time until the summer of 1868 they were the
+only settlers in the county and were seven or eight miles from the
+nearest neighbor.
+
+In relating her experiences Mrs. Dixon said: "I was afraid to stay
+alone, so when Mr. Dixon had to go away I went with him or my sisters
+stayed with me. At that time we had to go to Milford for flour and
+twenty-five miles to get a plow-lay sharpened. At such times Mr. Dixon
+would stay at my father's home near Blue Vale and help them two or three
+days with their breaking, in return for which one of the boys would come
+and help him.
+
+"The Indians visited us frequently and I was afraid of them. One time a
+number of them came and two entered the dugout and asked for flour. We
+gave them as much as we could spare, but they could see the flour
+sitting on a bench behind the door and wanted more. We refused, but they
+became very insistent, so much so that Mr. Dixon grabbed a black-snake
+whip that hung on the wall and started toward them. This show of
+resistance was all that was necessary. It proved to the Indians that Mr.
+Dixon was not afraid of them, so they gave him powder and shot to regain
+his friendship.
+
+"An Indian came in one day and gave me a lot of beads, then he wanted
+flour, which we gave him. He took it and held it out to me, saying,
+'Squaw cook it, squaw cook it!' This I refused to do, so he said, 'Give
+me the beads, give me the beads.'
+
+"My baby, Arthur, born January 9, 1869, was the first white child born
+in Fillmore county. I recall one time that I was home alone with the
+baby. An Indian came in and handed me a paper that said he had lost a
+pony. I assured him that we had seen nothing of the pony. He saw a new
+butcher knife that was lying on the table, picked it up, and finally
+drew out his old knife and held it toward me, saying, 'Swap, swap!' I
+said, 'Yes,' so he went away with my good knife.
+
+"The worst fright I ever did have was not from Indians. My sister Minnie
+was with me and we were out of salt. Mr. Dixon said he would go across
+the river to Whitaker's and borrow some. We thought that he wouldn't be
+gone long so we stayed at home. While he was away a cloud came up and it
+began to rain. I never did see it rain harder. The river raised, and the
+water in the ravine in front of the dugout came nearly to the door. The
+roof leaked so we were nearly as wet indoors as we would have been out.
+The rain began about four o'clock in the afternoon. It grew dark and Mr.
+Dixon did not return. We thought that he would certainly be drowned in
+trying to cross the river. While we were in this state of suspense, the
+door burst open and a half-clad woman rushed in, saying, 'Don't let me
+scare you to death.' I was never so frightened in my life, and it was
+some time before I recognized her as my neighbor, Mrs. Fairbanks.
+
+"Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks had gone to Whitaker's, who were coopers, to get
+some barrels fixed for sorghum, and left the children at home. When it
+rained they thought they must try to cross the river and get to their
+children. Mr. Dixon came with them. At first they tried to ride horses
+across, but the one Mrs. Fairbanks was riding refused to swim and threw
+her into the water, so she had to swim back. They were all excellent
+swimmers, so they started again in a wagon box which those on land tried
+to guide by means of a line. With the aid of the wagon box and by
+swimming they succeeded in getting across. That was in the fall of 1869.
+
+"The only time I ever saw a buffalo skinned was when a big herd stayed a
+week or more on the south side of the river. Kate Bussard and I stood on
+the top of the dugout and watched the chase, and after they killed one
+we went nearer and watched them skin it."
+
+Mr. Dixon took his claim without seeing it. In October, 1866, he went
+to the land office and learned that he could then take a homestead of
+one hundred and sixty acres but the new law would soon go into effect
+providing that settlers could only homestead eighty acres. Mr. Dixon was
+afraid that he could not go and see the claim and get back to Nebraska
+City and file on it in time to get one hundred and sixty acres. In
+telling about it Mr. Dixon says, "I thought it would, indeed, be a poor
+quarter section that would not have eighty acres of farm land, so I took
+my chances.
+
+"In the year 1868, the first year that we had any crops planted, it
+almost forgot to rain at all. The barley was so short that it fell
+through the cradle. There were no bridges so we had to ford the river.
+It was hard to haul much of a load across because the wagon would cut
+into the mud on the two banks while the sandy river bottom would stand a
+pretty good load. That difficulty I overcame by making bundles or
+sheaves of willow poles and placing them at the two banks and covering
+them with sand. Later the settlers made a bridge across the river near
+the homestead of H. L. Badger. This has ever since been known as the
+'Badger Bridge.' The first bridge was made of logs which we procured
+along the river.
+
+"I was making a hayrack of willow poles at the time of the total eclipse
+of the sun. It began to grow dark, the chickens went to roost, and it
+seemed that night was coming on.
+
+"The year 1869 was rainy and we raised good crops and fine potatoes that
+season. That was the year they were driving Texas cattle up to eat the
+northern grass and then ship them east over the Union Pacific railroad.
+The cattle stampeded, so they lost many of them and we saw them around
+for a year or more.
+
+"My first buffalo hunt was in 1867. The country seemed to be covered
+with great herds and the Indians were hunting them. Twenty of us started
+out with five wagons. There were Jake and Boss Gilmore, Jim Johnson, and
+myself in one wagon. We had only about three days' supplies with us,
+expecting to get buffalo before these were exhausted, but the Indians
+were ahead of us and kept the buffalo out of our range. Our party
+crossed the Little Blue at Deweese. Beyond there we found carcasses of
+buffalo and a fire where the Indians had burned out a ranch. Realizing
+that it was necessary for us to take precautions, we chose Colonel
+Bifkin our leader and decided to strike another trail and thus avoid the
+Indians if possible. We traveled toward the Republican river but found
+no track of either buffalo or Indians, so we turned around and followed
+the Indians. By that time our food supply was exhausted, but by good
+luck we shot two wild turkeys.
+
+"We were soon following the Indians so closely that we ate dinner where
+they ate breakfast and by night we were almost in sight of them. We
+thought it best to put out a guard at night. My station was under a
+cottonwood tree near a foot-log that crossed a branch of the Little
+Blue. I was to be relieved at eleven o'clock. I heard something coming
+on the foot-log. I listened and watched but it was so dark that I could
+see nothing, but could hear it coming closer; so I shot and heard
+something drop. Colonel Bifkin, who was near, coming to relieve me,
+asked what I was shooting at. 'I don't know, perhaps an Indian; it
+dropped,' I replied. We looked and found merely a coon, but it did good
+service as wagon grease, for we had forgotten that very necessary
+article.
+
+"The Indians kept the main herd ahead of them so we were only able to
+see a few buffalo that had strayed away. We went farther west and got
+two or three and then went into camp on the Little Blue. We always left
+a guard at camp and all of the fun came when Boss Gilmore and I were on
+guard so we missed it. The others rounded up and killed about twenty
+buffalo. One fell over the bluff into the river and it fell to our lot
+to get it out and skin it, but by the time we got it out the meat had
+spoiled. The water there was so full of alkali that we could not drink
+it and neither could the horses, so we started back, struck the freight
+road and followed it until we came to Deep Well ranch on the Platte
+bottom. We had driven without stopping from ten o'clock in the forenoon
+till two o'clock in the morning. We lay down and slept then, but I was
+awakened early by chickens crowing. I roused the others of our party and
+we went in search of something to eat. It had been eight days since we
+had had any bread and I was never so bread-hungry as then. We came to
+the Martin home about three miles west of Grand Island and although we
+could not buy bread, the girls baked biscuits for us and I ate eleven
+biscuits. That was the home of the two Martin boys who were pinned
+together by an arrow that the Indians shot through both of them while
+riding on one pony.
+
+"That morning I saw the first construction train that came into Grand
+Island over the Union Pacific railroad. If I remember correctly it was
+in November, 1867.
+
+"We took home with us five wagonloads of buffalo meat. I did not keep
+any of the hides because I could not get them tanned. Mr. Gilmore got
+Indian women to tan a hide for him by giving them sugar and flour. They
+would keep asking for it and finally got all that was coming to them
+before the hide was done, so they quit tanning, and Mr. Gilmore had to
+keep baiting them by giving them more sugar and flour in order to get it
+done."
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have eight children, all living. They still own the
+original homestead that was their home for so many years.
+
+
+
+
+PIONEERING IN FILLMORE COUNTY
+
+BY JOHN R. MCCASHLAND
+
+
+In the fall of 1870, with Mrs. McCashland and two children, Addie and
+Sammy, I left Livingston county, Illinois, and drove to Fillmore county,
+Nebraska. We started with two wagons and teams. I had three good horses
+and one old plug. I drove one team and had a man drive the other until I
+became indignant because he abused the horses and let him go. Mrs.
+McCashland drove the second team the rest of the way.
+
+A family of neighbors, Thomas Roe's, were going west at the same time,
+so we were together throughout the journey until we got lost in the
+western part of Iowa. The road forked and we were so far behind we did
+not see which way Roe turned and so went the other way. It rained that
+night and a dog ate our supplies so we were forced to procure food from
+a settler. We found the Roe family the next evening just before we
+crossed the Missouri river, October 15, 1870.
+
+East of Lincoln we met a prairie schooner and team of oxen. An old lady
+came ahead and said to us, "Go back, good friends, go back!" When
+questioned about how long she had lived here, she said, "I've wintered
+here and I've summered here, and God knows I've been here long enough."
+
+When Mrs. McCashland saw the first dugout that she had ever seen, she
+cried. It did not seem that she could bear to live in a place like that.
+It looked like merely a hole in the ground.
+
+We finally reached the settlement in Fillmore county and lived in a
+dugout with two other families until I could build a dugout that we
+could live in through the winter. That done, I picked out my claim and
+went to Lincoln to file on it and bought lumber for a door and for
+window frames.
+
+I looked the claim over, chose the site for buildings, and when home
+drew the plans of where I wanted the house, stable, well, etc., on the
+dirt hearth for Mrs. McCashland to see. She felt so bad because she had
+to live in such a place that I gave it up and went to the West Blue
+river, which was near, felled trees, and with the help of other
+settlers hewed them into logs and erected a log house on the homestead.
+While living in the dugout Indian women visited Mrs. McCashland and
+wanted to trade her a papoose for her quilts. When she refused, they
+wanted her to give them the quilts.
+
+I had just forty-two dollars when we reached Fillmore county, and to
+look back now one would hardly think it possible to live as long as we
+did on forty-two dollars. There were times that we had nothing but meal
+to eat and many days we sent the children to school with only bread for
+lunch.
+
+I was a civil war veteran, which fact entitled me to a homestead of one
+hundred and sixty acres. I still own that homestead, which is farmed by
+my son. After visiting in the East a few years ago I decided that I
+would not trade my quarter section in Fillmore county for several times
+that much eastern land.
+
+
+
+
+FILLMORE COUNTY IN THE SEVENTIES
+
+BY WILLIAM SPADE
+
+
+We came to Nebraska in October of 1870 by wagon and wintered a mile east
+of what now is the Red Lion mill. We made several trips to Lincoln
+during the fall and winter and one to Nebraska City, where brother Dan
+and I shucked corn for a farmer for a dollar a day with team.
+
+I moved on the William Bussard claim, later the Elof Lindgren farm, in
+March, 1871, and raised a crop, then moved on our homestead in section
+24, town 8, range 3 west. We built part dugout and part sodup for a
+house and slept in it the first night with only the blue sky for a roof.
+Then we put on poles, brush, hay, dirt, and sod for a roof. This was in
+October, and we lived in this dugout until 1874, then built a sod house.
+
+In April, 1873, we had a three days' snow storm called a blizzard. In
+the spring of 1871 I attended the election for the organization of the
+county of Fillmore. I followed farming as an occupation and in the fall
+of 1872 William Howell and I bought a threshing machine, which we ran
+for four seasons. Some of the accounts are still due and unpaid. Our
+lodging place generally was the straw stack or under the machine and our
+teams were tied to a wagon, but the meals we got were good. Aside from
+farming and threshing I put in some of the time at carpentry, walking
+sometimes six miles back and forth, night and morning.
+
+In July or August, 1874, we had a visit from the grasshoppers, the like
+of which had never been seen before nor since. They came in black clouds
+and dropped down by the bushel and ate every green thing on earth and
+some things in the earth. We had visits from the Indians too but they
+mostly wanted "hogy" meat or something to fill their empty stomachs.
+Well, I said we built a sodup of two rooms with a board floor and three
+windows and two doors, plastered with Nebraska mud. We thought it a
+palace, for some time, and were comfortable.
+
+In June, 1877, I took a foolish notion to make a fortune and in company
+with ten others, supplied with six months' provisions, started for the
+Black Hills. We drove ox teams and were nearly all summer on the road;
+at least we did not reach the mining places till August. In the meantime
+the water had played out in the placer mining district so there was
+"nothing doing." We prospected for quartz but that did not pan out
+satisfactorily, so we traded our grub that we did not need for gold dust
+and returned to our homes no richer than when we left. However, we had
+all of the fresh venison we could use both coming and going, besides
+seeing a good many Indians and lots of wild country that now is mostly
+settled up.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA
+
+BY J. A. CARPENTER
+
+
+I came to Gage county, Nebraska, in the fall of 1865, and homesteaded
+160 acres of land, four miles from the village of Beatrice, in the Blue
+River valley. I built a log house 12x14 feet with one door and two
+windows. The floor was made of native lumber in the rough, that we had
+sawed at a mill operated by water power.
+
+With my little family I settled down to make my fortune. Though drouth
+and grasshoppers made it discouraging at times, we managed to live on
+what little we raised, supplemented by wild game--that was plentiful.
+Wild turkeys and prairie chickens could be had by going a short distance
+and further west there were plenty of buffalo and antelope.
+
+Our first mail was carried from Nebraska City on horseback. The first
+paper published in Gage county was in 1867 and was called the _Blue
+Valley Record_. In 1872 a postoffice was established in the settlement
+where we lived, which was an improvement over going four miles for mail.
+For the first schoolhouse built in the district where I lived I helped
+haul the lumber from Brownville, Nebraska, on the Missouri river,
+sixty-five miles from the village of Beatrice. The first few crops of
+wheat we raised were hauled to Nebraska City, as there was no market at
+home for it. On the return trip we hauled merchandise for the
+settlement. Every fall as long as wild game was near us we would spend a
+week or two hunting; to lay in our winter supply of meat. I remember
+when I came through where the city of Superior now is, first in 1866 and
+again in 1867, nothing was to be seen but buffalo grass and a few large
+cottonwood trees. I killed a buffalo near the present town of Hardy.
+
+We have lived in Nebraska continuously since 1865 and it is hard to
+believe the progress that it has made in these few years.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES OF GAGE COUNTY
+
+BY ALBERT L. GREEN
+
+
+The writer has in his possession an old map of the North American
+continent published in London in 1796, twelve years after the close of
+the American Revolution, whereon the region now comprising the state of
+Nebraska is shown as a part of Quivera; that supposed kingdom of
+fabulous riches in quest of which Coronado pursued his tedious
+wanderings more than three hundred years ago. At the time this map was
+published the French had visited Indian tribes as far west as the
+Missouri, and it must have been from French and Spanish sources that the
+geographer and map-maker gathered the information that enabled him to
+compile that part of his map covering the vast unknown regions of the
+west. Guess-work and supposition resulted in elongations and
+abbreviations of territory and rivers that made it possible for him to
+show our own Blue river as emptying into the Gulf of California, and the
+great kingdoms of Quivera and Teguayo as extending from the Missouri
+river to the Pacific coast. The greater part of what is now Mexico is
+shown as "New Biscay" and "New Navarre," while Mexico or "New Spain" is
+crowded down towards Central America. The existence of the Rocky
+Mountains, at the time this map was made, was unknown; and the whole
+region covered by them is shown as a vast plain. While spending leisure
+hours among some rare old books in the library of the Union League of
+Philadelphia, I came across the chronicles of Coronado's wanderings and
+adventures, as detailed by his monkish chaplain and preserved in the
+Spanish archives. A careful perusal of these fully convinced me that the
+route traversed was through eastern Nebraska as far northward as the
+present site of Lincoln, and possibly as far as the Platte. The great
+salt marsh was referred to, and the particulars of a disastrous
+encounter with the warlike Otoes are given. Mention is made of the
+Missouri nation and its bold warriors, as well as of other tribes whose
+habitat and hunting grounds were the plains or prairies of eastern
+Nebraska. In prehistoric times the Indian trails led along the level
+river bottoms where both wood and water could be obtained and where game
+was usually most abundant, and also in the direction of salt springs or
+licks where salt might be obtainable and the larger kinds of game be
+more plentiful. At the time of its settlement by white people the bottom
+lands of the Blue were threaded by many deeply worn trails that had
+evidently been traveled for centuries and a careful consideration of
+happenings, as recorded by the monkish chronicler, and the fact I have
+just stated in regard to the prehistoric routes of travel, forces the
+conclusion that Coronado's weary cavalcade must undoubtedly have
+followed the course of the Blue river to a point where the well worn
+trail diverged towards the great salt basin. Possibly the party may have
+encamped on the site of Beatrice and there can be little doubt that one
+of the Indian cities mentioned by the faithful monkish historian,
+occupied the present site of Blue Springs, where evidences of an ancient
+Indian town can still be seen, and the outlines of ancient
+fortifications be traced. Fragments of Indian pottery and stone knives
+and implements, of both the paleolithic and the neolithic ages, are
+frequently turned up by the plowshare in that vicinity, all indicating a
+long established occupancy that must have continued for centuries. As
+late as the early part of the last century the Pawnees occupied the
+site; and when the writer as United States government agent took charge
+of the Otoes and Missouris, in the summer of 1869, there were still old
+warriors living who remembered hearing their fathers tell of deeds of
+bloody warfare done in this very vicinity, and who pointed out to the
+writer the very spot, in a deep draw or ravine on the prairie a few
+miles east of Blue Springs, where a war party of thirty Otoes met a
+well-deserved, but terrible death. At the time of this occurrence the
+Otoes were living at the mouth of the Nemaha and were on very bad terms
+with the Pawnees, many of whose scalps the writer has seen adorning Otoe
+medicine bags or hanging in their wigwams. The Pawnees had started on a
+buffalo hunt, leaving at home only the old and decrepit and a few
+children, and the Otoes, knowing that the defenders of the village had
+started on the hunt, made an attack at daybreak the next morning,
+murdering and scalping old and young alike and after loading themselves
+with plunder, hastened on their homeward trip. Unfortunately for the
+Otoes the Pawnee hunters had encamped only eight miles up Indian creek
+and one of them that morning had returned to the village on some errand
+and arrived just in time to discover what was going on. The Otoes
+wounded him severely, but he succeeded in escaping to the Pawnee camp
+and giving the alarm. The enraged Pawnee warriors, mounted on their
+freshest and fastest ponies, were not long in reaching the village, nor
+were they long in discovering the trail of the Otoe war party, which
+they followed until they overtook it at the place pointed out to the
+writer. Here a fierce battle took place which resulted in the complete
+extermination of the Otoe party; the tall slough grass, in which they
+took shelter, having been set on fire, the wounded all perished in the
+conflagration. This is probably one of the most tragic incidents of
+which we have any knowledge as having happened within the limits of Gage
+county.
+
+The first store established within the county was located in a log house
+on Plum creek near the present site of the village of Liberty. It was
+established, primarily as an Indian trading place, by a Mr. MacDonald,
+of St. Joseph, Missouri, but was under the management of Mrs. Palmer,
+who with her husband, David, were the first white settlers within the
+limits of the county, having arrived in 1857 a few weeks prior to the
+coming of the founders of Beatrice. David was drowned a few years ago
+while bathing in the Blue. The store on Plum creek, on one occasion, was
+raided by a party of Pawnees who, loaded with plunder, were pursued by a
+large party of Otoes, who overtook them on the Little Blue some distance
+above the present site of Fairbury, and killed them all. The site of
+this battle was pointed out to the writer by the Otoes while
+accompanying them on a buffalo hunt in 1870. The skulls and bones of the
+slain were still in evidence at that time, being concealed in the dense
+thicket in which the battle had taken place.
+
+About the year 1868 a war party of Osages made a raid on the aboriginal
+inhabitants of the county and murdered and scalped several squaws who
+were chopping wood near the Blue. The trail of the Osages was followed,
+by a war party of Otoes, to the reservation of the former and
+satisfaction exacted in the shape of a gift of forty head of ponies. On
+their way back the Otoes concluded that they had settled too cheaply and
+feared they might be censured by the kindred of the murdered women.
+They halted, and leaving the forty head of ponies under guard, made a
+flying raid on the Osage pony herds and succeeded in stealing and
+getting safely away with another forty head. In due time, with eighty
+head of Osage ponies, they made a triumphal daylight entry into their
+home village. If they had been unsuccessful they would have stolen in
+one by one during the darkness of the night.
+
+The last Indian war party to traverse the soil of Gage county consisted
+of thirty naked and painted Omahas. It transpired that a party of
+Kickapoos had raided the pony herds of the Omahas and stolen thirty head
+of ponies, and in order to throw suspicion on the Otoes, had cunningly
+directed their trail towards the Otoe reservation, passing in the night
+as near to the Otoe village as possible without being discovered. The
+Otoes at this time were expecting, and trying to guard against, a raid
+from the Osages, whom they had great reason to fear, as it was fully
+expected that they would exact satisfaction, sooner or later, for that
+extra forty head of ponies that the Otoes had stolen. As a protection
+from the Osages, the Otoes had constructed a sort of a stockade of poles
+tied together with withes and strips of bark, in front of each wigwam,
+where they kept their nearly eight hundred head of ponies under careful
+watch every night. The Omaha war party stealthily approached under cover
+of the darkness and finding sentinels posted and watching, they hid in
+the tall weeds and sunflowers as close to the stockades as they could
+safely get, until daybreak, when the sleepy sentinels, thinking all
+danger over, entered the wigwams for something to eat and a nap, then
+emerging from their hiding places the Omahas made quick work of cutting
+the lashings that bound the poles and selecting thirty of the best
+ponies they could get hold of. The noise of the ponies' hoof-beats, as
+the Omahas rode swiftly away, aroused the Otoes, and in a very few
+minutes the whole village was in a commotion. Fierce war whoops
+resounded; the heralds went about calling the braves into action and
+soon there was mounting in hot haste. The writer, awakened by the
+tumult, stepped out upon a balcony in front of the agency building and
+beheld a sight such as no historian of the county will ever again
+record. In the far distance the naked Omahas were riding for their very
+lives, while perhaps a hundred or more Otoes were lashing their ponies
+in a wild frenzy of pursuit. In the village the greatest commotion
+prevailed, the women wailed, the heralds shouted, and the dogs barked;
+scores of women stood on the tops of their wigwams shrieking and
+gesticulating and the temper of the community closely resembled that of
+a nest of hornets when aroused by the rude thrust of a pole. It was
+nearly noon when the distant war whoops, announcing the return of the
+pursuers, were heard; as they drew near it was apparent that they were
+wildly triumphant and were bringing with them the thirty hideously
+painted Omahas. The prisoners were delivered to the agent who directed
+his police to disarm them, and cause them to be seated on the floor of
+the council room where they formed a dejected looking group with their
+naked bodies and shaved and vermillion painted heads. It was then that
+their leader explained that their seizure of ponies was honestly
+intended as a reprisal for ponies which they had lost. Old Medicine
+Horse, an Otoe chief, assured them that his braves would have killed
+every one of them if the agent had not talked so much about the
+wickedness of killing, and it was only their fear of displeasing him
+that caused them to take prisoners instead of scalps. After much
+speech-making, the agent adjourned the council and suggested that the
+Otoes take the Omahas to their wigwams, feed them, and allow them to
+depart in peace; and this was done. The only blood shed during the
+campaign was in the shooting of one of Elijah Filley's hogs by the
+Omahas. The first notification I had of this atrocious and bloody affair
+was when Elijah, then quite a young man, came to see me and file a
+complaint, bringing with him the blood-stained arrow that had pierced
+the vitals of his innocent hog.
+
+Perhaps one of the saddest tragedies of those early days occurred in
+1870 when two homesteaders, returning to their families from a trip to
+Brownville for provisions, were brutally murdered by a half-breed named
+Jim Whitewater. Jim was just returning from a buffalo hunt and had
+secured a supply of whiskey from a man named Wehn, at Fairbury. Being
+more than half drunk, he conceived the idea that the bravest thing he
+could do would be to kill some white people; and it happened that he
+came across the poor homesteaders just at that time. It was about dusk
+and the poor fellows had halted for the night, by the side of a draw
+where the grass was tall enough to cut for their horses. They had
+unharnessed their teams, tied them to the wagons and were in the act of
+mowing grass for them when a pistol shot rang out and one of them fell
+mortally wounded; the other, being attacked, and though mortally hurt,
+tried to defend himself with the scythe that he had been using, and in
+doing so cut the Indian's hand, almost severing the thumb. The scene of
+this terrible affair was just over the Gage county line in Jefferson
+county and consequently it devolved on the sheriff of that county to
+discover and arrest the murderer. As Whitewater had been seen in the
+vicinity, suspicion pointed to him and his arrest followed. He soon
+escaped from the officers and was hidden for two weeks, when the Indian
+police discovered his place of concealment in the timber on Wolf creek.
+His own brother, assisted by other Indians, captured him by strategy,
+bound him securely with their lariats and delivered him at the agency.
+The writer had gone to Beatrice on business and was not expected back
+until the next day, but in his absence his wife, then a young woman of
+about twenty, took energetic measures to insure the safety of the
+prisoner by ordering him placed in irons, and kept under a strong guard
+until the agent's return. In the meantime, having finished the business
+at Beatrice and there being a full moon, the writer decided to drive the
+twenty miles to the agency between sundown and midnight, which he did,
+arriving there shortly after midnight. Of course, until his arrival, he
+had no intimation that Whitewater had been captured. Before leaving home
+the Indians had reported that they had reason to believe that he was
+hiding somewhere on Wolf creek, as his wife had taken dried buffalo meat
+to that locality, and as the writer, in returning, had to drive for
+about forty rods through the heavy timber bordering that creek and cross
+it at a deep and rather dangerous ford, and knowing that Whitewater had
+declared that he would take both the agent and the sheriff with him to
+the other world, and that he was heavily armed, the writer is not
+ashamed to confess to a feeling of nervousness almost akin to fear, as
+he was about to enter that stretch of timber shaded road dimly lighted
+by the full moon. He first carefully let down the curtains of the
+carriage and then made his team dash at full speed through the long
+stretch of timber, plunge and flounder through the ford, and out once
+more upon the open prairie, the driver expecting at almost any moment
+to hear the crack of a pistol. On arriving within sight of the agency
+building, instead of finding it dark and silent as he had expected, the
+writer was greatly surprised to see it well lighted and many Indian
+police standing about it as if on guard. The next morning the writer
+with several Indian chiefs and the Indian police started for Fairbury
+with the prisoner; the Indians riding two abreast and carrying a large
+United States flag at the head of the procession. The trip was made via
+Beatrice and the distance traveled was about fifty miles. The Indians
+feared an attack from the Rose creek settlers; neighbors and friends of
+the murdered men, and as they approached Fairbury the entire line of
+Indians commenced a melodious chant which the interpreter explained as
+nothing less than an appeal to the Great Spirit asking him to incline
+the hearts of the people to treat the Indians kindly and fairly. On
+arriving at Fairbury the cavalcade halted in the public square and was
+soon surrounded by the entire population of the hamlet. It was nearly
+dark, but the good ladies of the place set about preparing a bountiful
+meal for the hungry Indians, to which they did ample justice. There
+being no jail in the place, we waived a hearing and started the next
+morning for Pawnee City, where prison accommodations could be had.
+Shortly after leaving Fairbury the interpreter told the Indians that
+evidently the Great Spirit had heard their appeal, to which they all
+vociferously assented. Jim was kept at Pawnee City until his trial,
+which took place at Fairbury before Judge O. P. Mason, who sentenced him
+to imprisonment for life. Whitewater was one of three individuals among
+the Otoes who could read and write, the other two being Battiste Barneby
+and Battiste Deroin, both of whom were very capable interpreters.
+Polygamy being allowable among the Otoes, Deroin was one who had availed
+himself of its privileges, his two wives being sisters. On learning that
+Whitewater had been imprisoned for life, his wife soon found another
+husband, greatly to his sorrow and chagrin. It was during Whitewater's
+imprisonment that the reservation was sold and the Indians removed.
+Eighteen years after his conviction he received a pardon and left the
+penitentiary to rejoin the tribe. What retribution he meted out to those
+who aided in his capture or to his wife's second husband, the writer has
+never learned.
+
+A year before the writer took charge of the Otoes and Missouris, a
+delegation of their chiefs had accompanied their agent Major Smith, to
+Washington and made a treaty under which the whole reservation of
+160,000 acres was to be sold at $1.50 per acre. The writer was informed
+by Major Smith that a railroad company would become the ultimate
+beneficiary, provided the treaty was ratified by the senate, and that he
+had been promised a section of land if the scheme proved successful.
+Smith urged the writer to use all the influence possible to secure the
+ratification of the treaty and before the writer had taken any steps to
+secure its defeat, he also received an intimation, if not an absolute
+promise, from interested parties, that in the event of its ratification,
+he should have his choice of any section of land on the domain.
+Believing that such a treaty was adverse to the interests and welfare of
+the Indians, the writer at once set about to accomplish its defeat, in
+which, through the aid of eastern friends, he was finally successful.
+
+Coronado's chronicler mentions, among other nations with whom the
+expedition came in contact, the _Missourias_ as being very fierce and
+warlike, and it may be a matter of local historical interest to state
+that the Missouri "nation" with which Coronado became acquainted, and
+from which one of the world's largest rivers and one of the largest and
+richest states take their names, reduced to a remnant of less than one
+hundred individuals, found an abiding place within the limits of Gage
+county for more than a generation. Placed on a reservation with the
+Otoes and under the care of the same agent, they still retained their
+own chief and their own language, though circumstances gradually induced
+the adoption of the Otoe tongue. The old chief of the Missouris was
+called Eagle and was known as a war chief. It was his province to
+command and direct all hunting operations. He was a man of very striking
+appearance, over six feet in height, straight as an arrow, with fine
+features and apparently about seventy-five years of age in 1869. He was
+an hereditary chief, and probably a lineal descendant of one of the
+kings of the Missouri nation that Coronado and his followers met. Old
+Eagle was the only chief of the Missouris, and was respected and highly
+esteemed by both the Missouris and the Otoes. During a buffalo hunt, in
+which the writer participated with the Indians, Eagle chief was the
+highest authority in regard to all matters pertaining to the chase and
+attack on the herd. In 1869 the head chief of the Otoes was Arkeketah
+who was said to have been appointed to that position by Major Daily. He
+was a polygamist and very much opposed to the ways of the white man. In
+fact he was such a reactionary and stumbling-block to the progress of
+the tribe that the writer finally deposed him and advanced Medicine
+Horse to the position of head chief.
+
+The number of Indians living within the borders of Gage county in 1869
+was probably not far from eight hundred. The reservation, comprising two
+hundred and fifty square miles, extended some distance into Kansas and
+also took in a part of Jefferson county in this state, but the Indians
+were all domiciled in Gage county. Their principal village was situated
+close to the site now occupied by the town of Barnston and where a fine
+spring afforded an ample supply of water. The wigwams were of a type
+adopted by the Indians long before the discovery of America, and most of
+them were large enough to accommodate several families. It was a custom
+of the Otoes to vacate the wigwams and live during the winter in tipis
+which were pitched in the timber where fuel was close at hand. In 1869
+only three persons in the confederated tribes wore citizens clothes, the
+rest were all blanket Indians, who, during warm weather, went almost
+naked, and habitually painted their faces and shaved heads, with
+vermillion and indigo.
+
+The principal burial place of the Otoes was on a bluff overlooking the
+river bottoms, and within a short distance of where Barnston now stands.
+For years it was visited, as one of the curiosities of the reservation,
+by the white settlers and strangers, chiefly on account of the weird and
+ghostly funeral oaks that stood on the brink of the bluff, bearing,
+lashed to their gnarled and crooked limbs, gruesome burdens of dead
+Indians, wrapped in bark and partly mummified by the sun and wind; there
+was probably a score of these interesting objects resting peacefully on
+the boughs of these three oaks; they had been there for many years, and
+might possibly have remained to this day had not a great prairie fire
+during the summer of 1871 destroyed the oaks and their ghastly burden,
+leaving only an assortment of charred bones and skulls to mark the site.
+
+A strange and pathetic tragedy, in connection with this old burial
+place, transpired shortly before the writer took charge of the agency
+and its affairs; and it was from the interpreter, Battiste Deroin, that
+the particulars were obtained. The incident may be worth preserving by
+the local historian, as illustrating the absolute faith of the Indians
+in a continued existence of the spirit beyond the grave. Dogs were
+frequently strangled at children's funerals in order that the dog's
+spirit might accompany that of the child, and it was a common sight to
+see a dog's body sitting upright with its back to a stake and securely
+tied in that position, in the vicinity of the old burial place. The man
+who figured in this tragedy was very aged and feeble, and the little
+child was very dear to him; he doubtless knew that he had not long to
+live and that he very soon would have to travel over the same lonely
+trail that the little child was about to take. Doubtless he realized
+fully what a comfort it would be to each, if they could take the long
+journey together. The Otoes always buried their dead in a sitting
+posture; and the old man, when seated in the grave, held the body of the
+child in his arms. The relatives took a last farewell of both the dead
+child and its living caretaker; the grave was covered with a buffalo
+robe supported on poles or heavy sticks, and the mass of earth taken
+from the grave was piled thereon; this being their usual mode of burial.
+
+The custom of strangling a horse or pony at the burial of an Indian
+brave was a common occurrence among the Otoes prior to 1870 and the old
+burial place on the bluff was somewhat decorated with horses' skulls
+laid upon the graves of warriors who are supposed to have gone to heaven
+on horseback. The tail of the horse sacrificed was usually fastened to a
+pole that stood at the head of the grave.
+
+The first school established within the limits of the county was a
+mission school under the care of the Rev. Mr. Murdock, and the old stone
+building, built for it on Mission creek, was the first stone building in
+the county. It was a ruin in 1869.
+
+In 1869 there were still some beavers to be found along the Blue; and at
+that time the river abounded with large gars, some of which were three
+or four feet in length; a fish which has since become entirely extinct
+in the Blue, probably because the water is no longer clear. The gar was
+one of the primitive fishes of the silurian age; it was very destructive
+of all other fish. White people never ate it, but the Indians thought
+it fairly good. The Indians obtained most of their fish by shooting with
+arrows from the river banks. They often succeeded in shooting very large
+fish owing to the clearness of the water. This could not be done now
+that the prairies have been put into cultivation, as that has destroyed
+the clearness of the water.
+
+As late as 1869 there were some wild deer in the county and little
+spotted fawns were occasionally caught. The writer procured two of the
+latter from the Indians and gave them to Ford Roper's family in
+Beatrice; they became very tame and were frequently seen on the streets
+of the town. In 1870 the writer, while driving from Blue Springs to
+Beatrice, met a large buck with antlers, as it emerged from an opening
+in the bluffs.
+
+Among the first settlers of the county were some families from Tennessee
+who settled near the present town of Liberty on Plum creek. They did
+their own spinning and weaving, and having been accustomed to raising
+cotton and mixing it with the wool for spinning, they undertook to raise
+it here. The writer remembers seeing their cotton patches, but never saw
+them gathering cotton.
+
+The first bridge built in the county to cross the river, was built on
+Market street, Beatrice, about the year 1870. It was a very narrow
+wooden structure, only wide enough for one wagon at a time to pass over.
+The firm of Peavy and Curtiss of Pawnee City were the contractors and
+the contract price was $4,000. It was regarded as a public improvement
+of very great importance to the town.
+
+
+
+
+RANCHING IN GAGE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES
+
+BY PETER JANSEN
+
+
+I came to Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1874, after having been through
+Minnesota, Dakota, and Kansas, looking for a place where a settlement of
+our people, the Mennonites, could be established. Of all the land I had
+looked over, I liked southeastern Nebraska best, and the little town of
+Beatrice on the banks of the Big Blue, then consisting of maybe fifty
+dwellings and a few stores on lower Court street, seemed very
+picturesque and attractive. After forty years I have not changed my
+opinion. We found a suitable tract of prairie just across the line in
+Jefferson county, which we bought of the Burlington and Missouri River
+railroad at $3.50 per acre on easy payments. Beatrice remained our chief
+place of business. Smith Brothers had just started a banking business in
+one-half of a little shack, the other half being occupied by a
+watchmaker carrying a small stock of jewelry. Klein & Lang had a general
+store on the corner of Second and Court streets, and here we did nearly
+all of our trading. The "Pacific House" on Second street was the only
+hotel. Here I made headquarters for some time. Mr. and Mrs. Randall, the
+hosts, were very kind to me. The latter died a few years later in the
+prime of her life.
+
+We soon commenced to build up what was for years known as "Jansen's
+Ranch," about twenty miles southwest of Beatrice, and stock it with
+sheep, which we brought from Wisconsin. The first summer I had a
+temporary sheep corral about where the West Side schoolhouse now stands.
+We used to drive from the ranch to Beatrice diagonally across the
+prairie; very few section lines had been established, and there was only
+one house between the two points.
+
+Major Wheeler, of stage route fame, lived at the Pacific house and took
+a kindly interest in the young emigrant boy. I remember on one occasion
+I had brought in a carload of valuable breeding sheep and quartered them
+for the night in the corral of the livery stable across the street from
+the hotel, run then by S. P. Lester. I was afraid of strange dogs
+attacking them, and sat up all night on the porch watching. In the
+morning, while washing up in the primitive wash-room, I overheard the
+major telling Mr. Randall about it. He concluded by saying: "That young
+fellow is all right; a boy who sits up all night with a few sheep will
+certainly succeed." I felt proud over the praise, and it encouraged me
+very much.
+
+We were told by the few settlers who had preceded us that the upland
+prairie would not grow anything and that the bottom land was the only
+place where crops could be raised with any assurance of success.
+However, we were going to try farming, anyway. I bought a yoke of young
+oxen and a breaking plow and started in. The oxen were not well broken,
+and the plow was new and would not scour. Besides, I did not know
+anything about breaking prairie or driving oxen. The latter finally
+became impatient and ran away, dragging the plow with them. It was a hot
+day in May, and they headed for a nearby slough, going into the water up
+to their sides. I had by that time discarded my shoes and followed them
+as fast as I could. When I reached the slough, quite out of breath and
+thoroughly disgusted, I sat down and nearly cried and wished I were back
+in Russia where I did not have to drive oxen myself. About this time the
+nearest neighbor, a Mr. Babcock, living four miles away, happened along
+driving a team of old, well broken oxen. He asked what my trouble was,
+and after I told him in broken English, he said: "Well, Pete, take off
+your trousers and go in and get your oxen and plow out, and I will help
+you lay off the land and get your plow agoing," which he did, and so
+started me farming.
+
+My younger brother, John, and I bached it for two years. One of us would
+herd the sheep and the other stay at home and do the chores and cooking.
+We took turns about every week. We had a room partitioned off in the end
+of the sheep shed, where we lived.
+
+Game was plentiful those days, and during the fall and winter we never
+lacked for meat.
+
+I had by that time, I regret to say, acquired the filthy American habit
+of chewing (I have quit it long since), and enjoyed it very much while
+doing the lonely stunt of herding the flock.
+
+One day we had gotten a new supply of groceries and also a big plug of
+what was known as "Star" chewing tobacco. Next morning I started out on
+my pony with the sheep, the plug in my pocket, and anticipating a good
+time. Soon a severe thunder storm came up, and lightning was striking
+all around me. I felt sure I would be hit and they would find me dead
+with the big plug of tobacco in my pocket. My mother knew nothing of my
+bad habit, and I also knew that it would nearly kill her to find out, so
+I threw the plug far away and felt better--for awhile. The clouds soon
+passed away, however, and the sun came out brightly and soon found me
+hunting for that plug, which, to my great disappointment, I never
+recovered.
+
+Those early winters, seems to me, were severer than they are now, and
+the snow storms or blizzards much fiercer, probably because the wind had
+an unrestricted sweep over the vast prairies.
+
+In a few years our flocks had increased, so that we built a corral and
+shed a mile and a half away, where we kept our band of wethers and a
+herder.
+
+About Christmas, I think it was in 1880, a blizzard started, as they
+usually did, with a gentle fall of snow, which lasted the first day.
+During the night the wind veered to the north, and in the morning we
+could not see three rods; it seemed like a sea of milk! We were very
+anxious to know the fate of our herder and his band of sheep, and
+towards noon I attempted to reach them, hitching a pair of horses to a
+sleigh and taking a man along. We soon got lost and drove around in a
+circle, blinded by the snow, for hours, my companion giving up and
+resigning himself to death. We probably would have both perished had it
+not been for the sagacity of my near horse, to which I finally gave the
+reins, being benummed myself. He brought us home, and you may believe
+the barking of the shepherd dogs sounded very musical to me as we neared
+the barn.
+
+We got our fuel from the Indian reservation about eight miles south of
+us on the creek, where now stands the thriving town of Diller. The
+Indians were not allowed to sell any timber, but a generous gift of
+tobacco was too tempting to them to resist.
+
+Rattlesnakes were found frequently in those days, and their venomous
+bites caused great agony and sometimes death. One Sunday afternoon, wife
+and myself were sitting on the porch of our small frame house, while our
+baby was playing a few feet away in a pile of sand. Our attention was
+attracted by her loud and gleeful crooning. Looking up, we saw her
+poking a stick at a big rattler, coiled, ready to spring, about three
+feet away. I have always detested snakes and would give even a harmless
+bull-snake a wide berth. However, I took one big jump and landed on Mr.
+Rattler with both feet, while my wife snatched the baby out of harm's
+way.
+
+The next ten years made a great change. We had proven that farming on
+the tablelands could be made a success, railroads had been built, and
+towns and villages had sprung up like mushrooms. We even got a
+telephone. The wilderness had been conquered.
+
+When I look back upon those first years of early settlement, with their
+privations and hardships, I cannot refrain from thinking they were the
+happiest ones of my life, especially after I got married in 1877 and my
+dear wife came to share joy and sorrow with me. To her I attribute to a
+very large extent what little I may have achieved in the way of helping
+to build up this great commonwealth.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. FRANCES AVERY HAGGARD
+
+Third State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1898]
+
+
+
+
+EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF GAGE COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. E. JOHNSON
+
+
+Emerson aptly said, "America is another word for opportunity." We
+realize this most truly when we compare present prosperity with early
+day living in the middle West.
+
+In 1878 my brother, A. M. McMaster, and family, arrived in Nebraska
+City. They came overland to Gage county and settled on section 15, two
+and a half miles northeast of Filley and one mile south of what was then
+known as Melroy postoffice, so-called in honor of two little boys born
+the same year the postoffice was established, Mell Gale and Roy
+Tinklepaugh, whose parents were among the earliest settlers in this
+neighborhood.
+
+My brother built his house of lumber he had shipped to Nebraska City.
+Beatrice was our market place. We sold all our grain, hogs, and produce
+there. Eggs were five cents a dozen and butter six cents a pound. The
+first year we came we bought five hundred bushels of corn at twelve
+cents a bushel delivered, and cribbed it.
+
+There was an Indian trail across the farm, and often the Indians would
+pass going from the Omaha reservation to the Otoe reservation at
+Barnston; the children would become frightened and hide under the bed;
+the Indians would often call and ask for flour and meat.
+
+There was not a house between Elijah Filley's stone barn and Beatrice on
+the Scott street road, and no bridges. The trail we followed going to
+Beatrice led us north to Melroy, making the traveling distance one and a
+half miles farther than in these times of well preserved section lines
+and graded country roads. This stone barn of Elijah Filley's was an
+early landmark. I have heard Mr. Filley tell interesting anecdotes of
+his early years here, one of an Indian battle near the present site of
+Virginia.
+
+Before the town of Filley was in existence, there was a postoffice
+called "Cottage Hill," which is shown on old time maps of the state.
+
+One of the curiosities of the early times was a cow with a wooden leg,
+running with a herd of cattle. The hind leg was off at the knee joint.
+She was furnishing milk for the family of her owner, a Mr. Scott living
+on Mud creek, near the town of Filley.
+
+Mr. Scott often told of pounding their corn to pulverize it. The nearest
+mill was at Nebraska City. This difficult traffic continued until 1883,
+when the Burlington came through Filley.
+
+Two or three years after we had located here, two young men came along
+from Kansas looking for work. My brother was away from home, working at
+carpentry, and his wife, fearing to be alone, would lock the stair door
+after they retired and unlock it in the morning before they appeared.
+They gathered the corn and then remained and worked for their board. One
+day, one of the young men was taken sick. The other was sent for Dr.
+Boggs. He lost his way in a raging blizzard and came out five miles
+north of where he intended to, but reached the doctor and secured
+medicine, the doctor not being able to go. The next day Dr. Boggs, with
+his son to shovel through the drifts, succeeded in getting there. The
+young man grew worse, they sent for his mother, and she came by stage.
+The storm was so fierce the stage was left there for a week; the horses
+were taken to Melroy postoffice. The young man died and was taken in the
+stage to Beatrice to be shipped home, men going with shovels to dig a
+road. Arriving there it was found that the railroad was blocked. As they
+could not ship the body, they secured a casket and the next day brought
+it back to our house. My brother was not at home, and they took the
+corpse to a neighbor's house. The next day they buried him four miles
+east, at what is now known as Crab Orchard.
+
+True, life in those days tended to make our people sturdy, independent
+and ingenious, but for real comfort it is not strange that we prefer
+present day living, with good mail service, easy modes of
+transportation, modern houses, and well equipped educational
+institutions.
+
+
+
+
+BIOGRAPHY OF FORD LEWIS
+
+BY (MRS. D. S.) H. VIRGINIA LEWIS DALBEY
+
+
+As my father, Ford Lewis, was one of the pioneer land owners in Nebraska
+and assisted actively in settling the southeast part of the state, I
+have been requested to give a brief sketch of his life and early
+experiences in this state. My only regret in writing this is that he is
+not here to speak for himself. Ford Lewis was born in Deckertown, New
+Jersey, July 25, 1829, son of Phoebe and Levi Lewis, the latter engaged
+in mercantile business both in Hamburg and Hackettstown, New Jersey.
+
+After finishing his education at William Rankin's Classical School and
+studying under Chris Marsh, author of double entry bookkeeping, he
+assisted his father in the mercantile business for some time. However,
+he preferred other pursuits and after a successful test of his judgment
+in real estate, started west. At Syracuse, New York, he was induced to
+engage in partnership under the name of Chapman & Lewis, watch case
+manufacturers and importers of watch movements; keeping standard time
+for the New York Central and other roads and supplying railroad
+officials, conductors, and engineers with the highest grade of watches.
+
+Selling his interest in 1856, he accepted the general agency of the
+Morse Publishing House, New York, making his headquarters at Charleston,
+South Carolina, in winter and at Cleveland, Ohio, in summer, until 1859,
+when he went to Jerseyville, Illinois, with his parents and sister,
+buying and selling real estate in that city and Jersey county until
+1867, when, with Congressman Robert M. Knapp, he visited Nebraska, and
+made his first investment in government land, many of his United States
+patents being signed by Presidents Grant and Johnson.
+
+Ford Lewis was in pioneer days one of the largest owners of farm lands
+in Nebraska, his holdings being chiefly in Pawnee, Otoe, Gage, Johnson,
+and Lancaster counties. On one of his advertising cards he states that,
+"occupied for eighteen years past in the purchase and sale of over
+80,000 acres of other lands, these, on account of their well known
+intrinsic value have been reserved intact."
+
+Mr. Lewis founded the towns of Lewiston in Pawnee county and Virginia in
+Gage county, naming the latter in honor of his daughter.
+
+At a meeting of the Nebraska legislature held at Omaha in 1867, Mr.
+Lewis was an interested spectator, and before the capital of the state
+was changed he predicted its location in the salt basin, almost on the
+spot where Lincoln now stands. He accordingly purchased property in the
+vicinity of what is now Beatrice, making a comfortable fortune as the
+result of his wisdom and foresight. By Ford Lewis' liberality to those
+purchasing land from him, in selling at reasonable prices, and extending
+their contracts during hard times, instead of making purchasers forfeit
+their land because of inability to meet their payments, he encouraged
+and assisted many settlers who are now some of Nebraska's most
+prosperous farmers to keep their land, which is now the source of their
+prosperity. During the period when he was borrowing money for his
+investments in Nebraska land, many Illinois people remarked that Ford
+Lewis was "land crazy," but have since wished they had had his vision,
+and courage to hold their purchases through the crop failures and
+drouths which are sometimes the portion of every community: those who
+followed his advice now "rise up and call him blessed."
+
+That he was not alone in his judgment is evidenced by the large land
+holdings of the late Lord Scully of England and the late John W.
+Bookwalter of Springfield, Ohio, who recently died in Italy, and was a
+warm personal friend of my father's, having purchased some of his land
+from him.
+
+Mr. Lewis married Miss Elizabeth Davis of Jerseyville, Illinois, in
+1864. She was the first girl baby born in that town, her parents being
+among the earliest pioneers there from New Jersey; so her childhood
+memories of bears, Indians, and slave refugees during the civil war, and
+roaming the woods surrounding their home prepared her to be a capable
+and sympathetic helpmate for my father during his many pioneer trips to
+Nebraska.
+
+
+
+
+A BUFFALO HUNT
+
+BY W. H. AVERY
+
+
+In the fall of 1866, about the last of October, a party of nine men,
+myself included, started out from Rose creek for a buffalo hunt. At
+Whiterock, Kansas, we were joined by another party of four men with "Old
+Martin Fisher," an early Whiterock settler, as official guide. Our
+equipment consisted of four wagons, one of which was drawn by a double
+ox team. There were numerous firearms and plenty of provisions for the
+trip. The party was much elated over the first day's experiences as
+night found us in possession of four fine buffalo. That evening while we
+were riding out after one of the buffalo our ears were greeted by the
+Indian yell. Looking back up a draw we saw five redmen galloping toward
+us. At the time we did not know they were friendly, but that was proven
+later. They came up to us and wanted powder or "bullet" and also wanted
+to swap guns. All they succeeded in getting was a necktie which one of
+the men gave them. After a short parley among themselves they left,
+going back to our camp where we had left one man to guard the camp and
+prepare supper. There they helped themselves to the loaf of bread the
+guard had just baked, a $12 coat, a $22 revolver, and one good bridle;
+away they went and that was the last seen of them. The night was passed
+in safety and the next day we hunted without any exciting experiences.
+The following day we met with only fair success so thought we had better
+start for home. In the morning the party divided, our guide, Fisher, and
+two men going on and leaving the rest of us to hunt as we went along. We
+succeeded in getting only one buffalo, but Fisher's men had done better
+and were ready to make tracks for home. That night they had suspicions
+that there were Indians near so built no fire and in the morning soon
+after breaking camp a party of Indians came upon them. There was
+considerable parleying about a number of things which the Indians wanted
+but the men were unwilling to make any bargains whatever. All the
+Indians but one started off and this one still wanted to parley and
+suddenly drew his revolver and shot Fisher in the shoulder. The Indian
+then rode off at breakneck speed and that was the last seen of them.
+Fisher warned the men not to shoot as he was uncertain as to how many
+redmen might be in their vicinity and he did not want to take any great
+risk of them all being killed. Our party did not know of the accident
+until we returned home and we had no encounter with the party of
+Indians. We were thankful to be safely home after a ten days hunt.
+
+
+
+
+A GRASSHOPPER RAID
+
+BY EDNA M. BOYLE ALLEN
+
+
+Perhaps children who live in a pioneer country remember incidents in
+their early life better than children living in older settled countries.
+These impressions stand out clearly and in prominence all the rest of
+their lives.
+
+At least there are several things which happened before I was six years
+old that are as vivid in my memory as if they had happened but
+yesterday. Such was the coming of the grasshoppers in 1874, when I was
+two years old.
+
+My father, Judge Boyle, then owned the block on the north side of Fifth
+street between I and J streets, in the village of Fairbury. Our house
+stood where J. A. Westling's house now stands. Near our place passed the
+stage road to Beatrice. A common remark then was, "We are almost to
+Fairbury, there is Boyle's house."
+
+Father always had a big garden of sweet corn, tomatoes, cabbage, etc.,
+and that year it was especially fine.
+
+One day he came rushing home from his office saying, "The grasshoppers
+are coming." Mother and he hurried to the garden to save all the
+vegetables possible before the grasshoppers arrived. I put on a little
+pink sunbonnet of which I was very proud, and went out to watch my
+parents gather the garden truck as fast as they could and run to the
+cellar door and toss it down. I jumped up and down thoroughly enjoying
+the excitement. Finally, the grasshoppers, which were coming from the
+northwest like a dark cloud, seeming so close, father shut the cellar
+door before he and mother returned to the garden for another load. They
+had just filled their arms when the grasshoppers began to drop and not
+wishing to let any down cellar they threw what vegetables they had on
+the ground and turned a big wooden wash tub over them. By this time my
+little pink sunbonnet was covered with big grasshoppers. Mother picked
+me up in her arms and we hurried into the house. From the north kitchen
+window we watched every stalk of that garden disappear, even the onions
+were eaten from the ground.
+
+When father went to get the vegetables from under the wooden tub there
+wasn't a thing there. The grasshoppers had managed to crawl and dig
+their way under the edge of that tub.
+
+The only time an Indian ever frightened me was in the fall of 1875. I
+was used to having the Otoe Indians come to our house. Mother was not
+afraid of them so of course I was not. Among them was a big fellow
+called John Little Pipe. The door in the hall of our house had glass in
+the upper half. One afternoon mother being nearly sick was lying down on
+the couch and I took my doll trying to keep quiet playing in the hall.
+Looking up suddenly I saw John stooping and looking in through the glass
+in the door. I screamed and ran to mother. He didn't like my screaming
+but followed me into the sitting room and upon seeing mother lying down
+said, "White lady sick?" Mother was on her feet in a moment. He sat down
+and after grumbling a while about my screaming he began to beg for a
+suit of clothes. Mother said, "John, you know well enough you are too
+large to wear my husband's clothes." Then he wanted something for his
+squaw and children. Finally mother gave him an old dress of hers. He
+looked it over critically and asked for goods to patch it where it was
+worn thin. Grabbing his blanket where it lay across his knees he shook
+it saying, "Wind, whew, whew." After receiving the patches, he wanted
+food but mother told him he could not have a thing more and for him to
+go. He started, but toward the closet he had seen her take the dress
+from. She said, "You know better than to go to that door. You go out the
+way you came in." He meekly obeyed. I had seen him many times before and
+saw him several times afterward but that was the only time I was
+frightened.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN PAWNEE COUNTY
+
+BY DANIEL B. CROPSEY
+
+
+In March, 1868, I left Fairbury, Illinois, with my two brothers and a
+boy friend in a covered wagon drawn by two mules. We landed at Nebraska
+City after swimming the mules to get to the ferry on which we crossed
+the Big Muddy. We then drove to Lincoln the first week in April. My
+father had purchased a home there on the site where the Capital hotel
+now stands. Lincoln then was but a hamlet of a few hundred people. There
+were no shade trees nor sidewalks and no railroad. Later father built a
+larger house, out a considerable distance in those days, but today it
+faces the capitol building. The house is a brick structure, and all the
+bricks were hauled from Nebraska City. Afterwards father sold the home
+to Chancellor Fairfield of the State University.
+
+The year before we came father had come to Nebraska and had bought a
+large body of land, about ten thousand acres, in Pawnee county. I being
+the oldest boy in our family, it devolved upon me to go to Pawnee county
+to look after the land, which was upland and considered by the older
+inhabitants of little value; but the tract is now worth about a million
+dollars. Among other duties I superintended the opening up of the lines
+and plowing out fifty-two miles of hedge rows around and through this
+land. I am sorry to say that most of the money and labor were lost for
+prairie fires almost completely destroyed the hedge.
+
+I had many experiences during my two years' sojourn in Pawnee county.
+The work was hard and tedious. Shelter and drinking-water were
+scarce--we drank water from the buffalo wallows or went thirsty, and at
+times had to brave the storms in the open. The people were poor and many
+lived in sod houses or "dugouts," and the living was very plain. Meat
+and fruit were rarities. The good people I lived with did their best to
+provide, but they were up against it. Grasshoppers and the drouth were
+things they had to contend with. At times our meals consisted of bread
+and butter and pumpkin, with pumpkin pie for Sunday dinner. The barn we
+usually carried with us. It consisted of a rope from sixty to a hundred
+feet long for each mule or horse and was called the lariat. I put the
+pony one night in the barn across the ravine, I well remember, and in
+the morning I found a river between the barn and me. A rain had fallen
+in the night and I had to wait nearly a day before I could get to the
+pony.
+
+Our only amusement was running down young deer and rabbits and killing
+rattlesnakes.
+
+We often met the red man with his paint and feathers. He was ever ready
+to greet you with "How!" and also ready to trade ponies, and never
+backward about asking for "tobac." As I was neither brave nor well
+acquainted with the Indians I was always ready to divide my "tobac."
+Later I found out I was easy, for the boys told me whenever they met the
+beggar Indian they told him to "puckachee," which they said meant for
+him to move on.
+
+We had no banks, and we cashed our drafts with the merchants. David
+Butler was governor at that time. He was a merchant as well, and made
+his home in Pawnee, so he was my banker. On two occasions I had the
+pleasure of riding with him in his buggy from Pawnee to Lincoln. It was
+indeed a privilege to ride in a buggy, for we all rode ponies those
+days, and I think I was envied by most of the boys and girls of Pawnee.
+On one of my return trips with the governor my good mother had baked a
+nice cake for me to take with me, which I put under the seat along with
+a lot of wines of several kinds and grades which the governor's friends
+had given him. Of course mother didn't know about the liquids. I'll
+never forget that trip. We grew very sociable and the Nemaha valley grew
+wider and wider as we drove along; and when we arrived at Pawnee the
+next day the cake was all gone, our faces were like full moons, and it
+was fully a week before I had any feeling in my flesh.
+
+I also well remember the first train which ran between Lincoln and
+Plattsmouth. That was a great day, and the Burlington excursion was made
+up of box cars and flat cars with ties for seats. Crowds of young people
+took advantage of the excursion and we enjoyed it much more than we
+would today in a well-equipped pullman.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY EVENTS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY
+
+BY GEORGE CROSS
+
+
+Along in the seventies, when everyone was interested in the project of
+the erection of a United Brethren college in Fairbury, the leading
+promoter of that enterprise held a revival in the Baptist church. The
+weather was warm and as his zeal in expounding the gospel increased he
+would remove his coat, vest, and collar, keeping up meantime a vigorous
+chewing of tobacco. The house was usually crowded and among the
+late-comers one night was W. A. Gould, who was obliged to take a seat in
+front close to the pulpit. The next day some one offered congratulations
+at seeing him in church, as it was the first time he had ever been seen
+at such a place in Fairbury. "Yes," said Gould, "I used to attend
+church, but that was the first time I ever sat under the actual
+drippings of the sanctuary, for the minister spit all over me."
+
+The most closely contested election ever held in Jefferson county was
+that in 1879 on the question of voting bonds to the Burlington and
+Missouri railroad to secure the passing through Fairbury of the line
+being built east from Red Cloud. The proposition was virtually to
+indirectly relieve the road from taxation for ten years. As bonding
+propositions were submitted in those days this was considered a very
+liberal one, as the taxes were supposed to offset the bonds and if the
+road was not built there would be neither bonds nor taxes. It required a
+two-thirds vote to carry the bonds and as the northern and southern
+portions of the county were always jealous of Fairbury the contest was a
+bitter one. Some of the stakes of the old Brownville & Ft. Kearny survey
+were yet standing and some still hoped that road would be built. The
+people of Fairbury resorted to all known devices to gain votes, some of
+which have not yet been revealed. It was long before the days of the
+Australian ballot and more or less bogus tickets were in circulation at
+every election. On this occasion a few tickets containing a double
+negative were secretly circulated in a precinct bitterly opposed to the
+bonds. Several of these were found in the ballot box and of course
+rejected, which left on the face of the returns a majority of one in
+favor of the bonds. It has always been believed that Fairbury lost the
+road because the officials of the road, who also comprised the townsite
+company, thought they could make more by building up new towns of their
+own.
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT ON THE OREGON TRAIL, THREE MILES NORTH OF
+FAIRBURY
+
+Erected by Quivira Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.
+Dedicated October 29, 1912.
+
+Cost $200]
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS OF FAIRBURY AND JEFFERSON COUNTY
+
+BY GEORGE W. HANSEN
+
+
+The first white settler in what is now Jefferson county was Daniel
+Patterson, who established a ranch in 1856 where the Overland, or Oregon
+trail crosses the Big Sandy. Newton Glenn located the same year at the
+trail crossing on Rock creek. The first government survey of land in
+this county was made in 1857, and the plat and field notes show the
+location of "Patterson's Trading Post" on the southeast quarter of
+section 16, town 3 north, range 1 east.
+
+Early in May, 1859, D. C. Jenkins, disappointed in his search for gold
+at Pike's Peak, returned on foot pushing a wheelbarrow with all his
+possessions the entire distance. He stopped at the Big Sandy and
+established a ranch a short distance below Patterson's place. A few
+weeks later, on May 25, 1859, Joel Helvey and his family, enroute for
+Pike's Peak, discouraged by the reports of Mr. Jenkins and other
+returning gold hunters, settled on the Little Sandy at the crossing of
+the trail. About the same time came George Weisel, who now lives in
+Alexandria, James Blair, whose son Grant now lives near Powell, on the
+land where his father first located, and D. C. McCanles, who bought the
+Glenn ranch on Rock creek. The Helvey family have made this county their
+home ever since. One of Joel Helvey's sons, Frank, then a boy of
+nineteen, is now living in Fairbury. He knew Daniel Patterson and D. C.
+McCanles, and with his brothers Thomas and Jasper, buried McCanles, Jim
+Woods, and Jim Gordon, Wild Bill's victims of the Rock creek tragedy of
+1861. He drove the Overland stage, rode the pony express, was the first
+sheriff of this county, and forms a connecting link between the days of
+Indian raids and the present. Alexander Majors, one of the proprietors
+of the Overland stage line, presented each of the drivers with a bible,
+and Frank Helvey's copy is now loaned to the Nebraska State Historical
+Society. Thomas Helvey and wife settled on Little Sandy, a short
+distance above his father's ranch, and there on July 4, 1860, their son
+Orlando, the first white child in the present limits of Jefferson and
+Thayer counties, was born.
+
+During the civil war a number of families came, settling along the
+Little Blue and in the fertile valleys of Rose, Cub, and Swan creeks. In
+1862 Ives Marks settled on Rose creek, near the present town of
+Reynolds, and built a small sawmill and church. He organized the first
+Sunday school at Big Sandy.
+
+The first election for county officers was held in 1863. D. L. Marks was
+elected county clerk, T. J. Holt, county treasurer, Ed. Farrell, county
+judge. In November, 1868, Ives Marks was elected county treasurer. If a
+person was unable to pay his entire tax, he would accept a part, issue a
+receipt, and take a note for the balance. Sometimes he would give the
+note back so that the party would know when it fell due. He drove around
+the county collecting taxes, and kept his funds in a candle box. He
+drove to Lincoln in his one-horse cart, telling everyone he met that he
+was Rev. Ives Marks, treasurer of Jefferson county, and that he had five
+hundred dollars in that box which he was taking to the state treasurer.
+
+Fairbury was laid out in August, 1869, by W. G. McDowell and J. B.
+Mattingly. Immediately after the survey Sidney Mason built the first
+house upon the townsite of Fairbury, on the corner northwest of the
+public square, where now stands the U. S. postoffice. Mrs. Mason kept
+boarders, and advertised that her table was loaded with all the
+delicacies the market afforded, and I can testify from personal
+experience that the common food our market did afford was transformed
+into delicacies by the magic of her cooking. Mrs. Mason has lived in
+Fairbury ever since the town was staked out, and now (1915), in her
+ninety-sixth year, is keeping her own house and performing all the
+duties of the home cheerfully and happily.
+
+Mrs. Mason's grandson, Claiborn L. Shader, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. L.
+Shader, now of Lincoln, was the first child born in Fairbury.
+
+One of the most vivid and pleasant memories that comes to me after the
+lapse of forty-five years is that of a boy, tired and footsore from a
+hundred-mile walk from the Missouri river, standing on the hill where
+the traveler from the east first sees the valley of the Little Blue,
+looking down on a little group of about a dozen houses--the village of
+Fairbury. This was in the summer of 1870, and was my first view of the
+town that was ever after to be my home.
+
+On the second floor of Thomas & Champlin's store I found George Cross
+and my brother, Harry Hansen, running off the _Fairbury Gazette_,
+alternating in inking the types with the old-fashioned roller and
+yanking the lever of the old-fashioned hand press. This was about the
+first issue of the _Gazette_ entirely printed at home. The first issues
+were set up at home, hauled to Beatrice in a lumber wagon, and printed
+in the office of the Beatrice _Express_, until the press arrived in
+Fairbury.
+
+When subscriptions were mostly paid in wood, butter, squash, and
+turnips, you can imagine what a time Mr. Cross had in skirmishing around
+for cash to pay for paper and ink, and the wages of a printer; so he
+decided if the paper was to survive and build up the country, he must
+have a printer for a partner, and he sold a half interest in the
+_Gazette_ to my brother and me. The principal source of our revenue was
+from printing the commissioners' proceedings and the delinquent tax
+list, taking our pay in county warrants. These warrants drew ten per
+cent interest, were paid in a year, and we sold them to Editor Cramb's
+grandfather for seventy-five cents on the dollar. On that basis they
+yielded him forty per cent per annum--too low a rate, we thought, to
+justify holding.
+
+Prairie grass grew luxuriantly in the streets. There were not enough
+buildings around the public square to mark it. On the west side were
+three one-story buildings, the best one still standing, now owned by Wm.
+Christian and used as a confectionery; it was then the office of the
+county clerk and board of county commissioners. The second was the
+pioneer store of John Brown, his office as justice of the peace, and his
+home; the third was a shanty covered with tarred paper, the office and
+home of Dr. Showalter, physician, surgeon, politician, and sometimes
+exhorter; and a past master he was in them all. On the north side were
+two of the same class of buildings, one occupied by Mr. McCaffery, whose
+principal business was selling a vile brand of whiskey labeled
+Hostetter's Bitters, and the other was Wesley Bailey's drug store and
+postoffice. George Cross had the honor of being postmaster, but Wes drew
+the entire salary of four dollars and sixteen cents per month, for
+services as deputy and rent for the office. On the east side there was
+but one building, Thomas & Champlin's Farmers' store. On the south side
+there was nothing. On the south half of the square was our ball ground.
+Men were at work on the foundation of the Methodist church, the first
+church in Fairbury. We were short on church buildings but long on
+religious discussions.
+
+Where the city hall now stands were the ruins of the dugout in which
+Judge Boyle and family had lived the previous winter. He had built a
+more stately mansion of native cottonwood lumber--his home, law and
+real-estate office. M. H. Weeks had for sale a few loads of lumber in
+his yard on the corner northeast of the square, hauled from Waterville
+by team, a distance of forty-five miles. All supplies were hauled from
+Waterville, the nearest railroad station, and it took nearly a week to
+make the round trip. Judge Mattingly was running a sawmill near the
+river, cutting the native cottonwoods into dimension lumber and common
+boards.
+
+The Otoe Indians, whose reservation was on the east line of the county,
+camped on the public square going out on their annual buffalo hunts. The
+boys spent the evenings with them in their tents playing seven-up, penny
+a game, always letting the Indians win. They went out on their last hunt
+in the fall of 1874, and traveled four hundred miles before finding any
+buffalo. The animals were scarce by reason of their indiscriminate
+slaughter by hunters, and the Otoes returned in February, 1875, with the
+"jerked" meat and hides of only fifteen buffalo.
+
+The Western Stage Company ran daily to and from Beatrice, connecting
+there by stage with Brownville and Nebraska City. The arrival of the
+stage was the great and exciting event of each day; it brought our mail
+and daily newspaper, an exchange to the _Gazette_; and occasionally it
+brought a passenger.
+
+After resting from my long walk I decided to go on to Republic county,
+Kansas, and take a homestead. There were no roads on the prairie beyond
+Marks' mill, and I used a pocket compass to keep the general direction,
+and by the notches on the government stones determined my location. I
+found so much vacant government land that it was difficult to make a
+choice, and after two trips to the government land office at Junction
+City, located four miles east of the present town of Belleville. I built
+a dugout, and to prevent my claim being jumped, tacked a notice on the
+door, "Gone to hunt a wife." Returning to Fairbury, I stopped over
+night with Rev. Ives Marks at Marks' mill. He put me to bed with a
+stranger, and in the morning when settling my bill, he said: "I'll
+charge you the regular price, fifteen cents a meal, but this other man
+must pay twenty cents, he was so lavish with the sugar." On this trip I
+walked four hundred and forty miles. Two years later I traded my
+homestead to Mr. Alfred Kelley for a shotgun, and at that time met his
+daughter Mary. Mary and I celebrated our fortieth anniversary last May,
+with our children and grandchildren.
+
+The first schoolhouse in Fairbury was completed in December, 1870, and
+for some time was used for church services, dances, and public
+gatherings. The first term of school began January 9, 1871, with P. L.
+Chapman for teacher.
+
+In December, 1871, I was employed to teach the winter and spring terms
+of school at a salary of fifty dollars a month, and taught in one room
+all the pupils of Fairbury and surrounding country.
+
+Mr. Cross announced in the _Gazette_ that no town of its size in the
+state was so badly in need of a shoemaker as Fairbury, and he hoped some
+wandering son of St. Crispin would come this way. Just such a wandering
+shoemaker came in the person of Robert Christian, with all his clothes
+and tools in a satchel, and twenty-five cents in his pocket. He managed
+to get enough leather from worn-out boots given him to patch and
+halfsole others, and was soon prosperous.
+
+During the summer of 1871 C. F. Steele built a two-story building on the
+lot now occupied by the First National bank, the first floor for a
+furniture store, the second floor for a home. When nearly completed a
+hurricane demolished it and scattered the lumber over the prairie for
+two miles south. It was a hard blow on Mr. Steele. He gathered together
+the wind-swept boards and, undismayed, began again the building of his
+store and business.
+
+In the fall of 1871, William Allen and I built the Star hotel, a
+two-story building, on the east side, with accommodations for ten
+transient guests--large enough, we thought, for all time.
+
+In the early days of my hotel experience, I was offered some cabbages by
+a farmer boy--rather a reserved and studious looking lad. He raised good
+cabbages on his father's homestead a few miles north of town. After
+dickering awhile over the price, I took his entire load. He afterwards
+said that I beat him down below cost of production, and then cleaned him
+out, while I insisted that he had a monopoly and the price of cabbages
+should have been regulated by law. Soon after, I was surprised to find
+him in my room taking an examination for a teacher's certificate, my
+room-mate being the county superintendent, and rather astonished, I
+said, "What! you teach school?"--a remark he never forgot. He read law
+with Slocumb & Hambel, was some time afterwards elected county attorney
+and later judge of this district. Ten years ago he was elected one of
+the judges of the supreme court of the state of Nebraska, and this
+position he still fills with distinguished ability. I scarcely need to
+mention that this was Charles B. Letton.
+
+A celebration was held on July 4, 1871, at Mattingly's sawmill, and
+enthusiasm and patriotism were greatly stimulated by the blowing of a
+steam whistle which had recently been installed in the mill. Colonel
+Thomas Harbine, vice-president of the St. Joseph & Denver City R. R.
+Co., now the St. Joseph & Grand Island railroad, made the principal
+address, his subject being "The railroad, the modern civilizer, may we
+hail its advent." The Otoe Indian, Jim Whitewater, got drunk at this
+celebration, and on his way to the reservation murdered two white men
+who were encamped near Rock creek. He was arrested by the Indians,
+brought to Fairbury, and delivered to the authorities, after which chief
+Pipe Stem and chief Little Pipe visited the _Gazette_ office and watched
+the setting of type and printing on the press with many a grunt of
+satisfaction. I was present at the trial of Whitewater the following
+spring. After the verdict of guilty was brought in, Judge O. P. Mason
+asked him if he had anything to say why judgment should not be
+pronounced. Whitewater proceeded to make a lengthy speech, ridiculed the
+former sheriff, S. J. Alexander, and commenced criticizing the judge.
+The judge ordered him to sit down. A look of livid rage came over
+Whitewater's face, and he stooped slightly as though to spring. Then the
+judge turned pale, and in that rasping voice which all who knew him
+remember well, commanded the sheriff to seat the prisoner, which was
+done.
+
+The spring of 1872 marked a new era in the life of Fairbury. On March
+13th of that year the St. Joseph and Denver City railroad built into and
+through our city. From the time the track-layers struck Jenkin's Mills,
+a crowd of us went down every day to see the locomotive and watch the
+progress of the work. One of our fondest dreams had come true.
+
+In the fall of 1873 Col. Thomas Harbine began the erection of the first
+bank building, a one-story frame structure on the east side of the
+square. George Cross was the bank's first customer, and purchased draft
+No. 1. Upon the death of Col. Harbine's son John, in August, 1875, I
+became cashier, bookkeeper, teller, and janitor of the "Banking House of
+Thomas Harbine." In 1882 this bank incorporated under the state banking
+law as the "Harbine Bank of Fairbury," and I have been connected with it
+in various capacities ever since.
+
+We had our pleasures in those pioneer days, but had to make them
+ourselves. Theatrical troupes never visited us--we were not on the
+circuit--but we had a dramatic company of our own. Mr. Charles B.
+Slocumb, afterwards famous as the author of the Slocumb high license
+law, was the star actor in the club. A local critic commenting on our
+first play said: "Mr. Slocumb as a confirmed drunkard was a decided
+success. W. W. Watson as a temperance lecturer was eminently fitted for
+his part. G. W. Hansen as a hard-up student would have elicited applause
+on any stage."
+
+Election days in those "good old times" gave employment to an army of
+workers sent out by candidates to every precinct to make votes, and to
+see that those bought or promised were delivered. John McT. Gibson of
+Gibson precinct, farmer, green-backer, and poet, read an original poem
+at a Fourth of July celebration forty years ago, one verse of which
+gives us an idea of the bitterness of feeling existing in the political
+parties of that time:
+
+    "Unholy Mammon can unlock the doors
+    Of congress halls and legislative floors,
+    Dictate decisions of its judges bought,
+    And poison all the avenues of thought.
+    Metes out to labor miseries untold,
+    And grasps forever at a crown of gold."
+
+I do not care to live too much in the past; but when the day's work is
+done, I love to draw aside the curtain that hides the intervening years,
+and in memory live over again Fairbury's pioneer days of the early
+seventies. Grasshoppers and drouth brought real adversity then, for,
+unlike the present, we were unprepared for the lean years. But we had
+hope and energy, and pulled together for the settlement of our county
+and the growth and prosperity of Fairbury.
+
+We dreamed then of the days to come--when bridges should span the
+streams, and farm houses and fields of grain and corn should break the
+monotony of the silent, unending prairie. We were always working for
+better things to come--for the future. The delectable mountains were
+always ahead of us--would we ever reach them?
+
+
+
+
+THE EARLIEST ROMANCE OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEBRASKA
+
+BY GEORGE W. HANSEN
+
+
+One hundred and three years ago Hannah Norton was born "away down east"
+in the state of Maine. Hannah married Jason Plummer, and in the year
+1844, seized by the wanderlust, they decided to move west. One morning
+their little daughter Eleanor, four years old, stood outside the cabin
+door with her rag doll pressed tightly to her breast, and watched her
+parents load their household goods into the heavy, covered wagon, yoke
+up the oxen, and make preparations for a long journey.
+
+As little Eleanor clambered up the wheel and into the wagon, she felt
+none of the responsibilities of the long pioneer life that lay before
+her, nor did she know or care about her glorious ancestry.
+
+Only a few decades previous her ancestor, Major Peter Norton, who had
+fought gallantly in the war of the Revolution, had gone to his
+reward. His recompense on earth had been the consciousness of
+patriotic duty well performed in the cause of liberty and
+independence. A hero he was, but the Maine woods were full of
+Revolutionary heroes. He was not yet famous. It was reserved for
+Peter Norton's great-great-great-granddaughters to perpetuate the
+story of his heroic deeds. One, Mrs. Auta Helvey Pursell, the
+daughter of our little Eleanor, is now a member of Quivera chapter,
+D. A. R., of Fairbury, Nebraska, and another, Lillian Norton, is
+better known to the world she has charmed with her song, as Madame
+Nordica.
+
+But little Eleanor was wholly unmindful of past or future on that
+morning long ago. She laughed and chattered as the wagon rolled slowly
+on its westward way.
+
+A long, slow, and painful journey through forests and over mountains,
+then down the Ohio river to Cincinnati was at last finished, and the
+family made that city their home. After several years the oxen were
+again yoked up and the family traveled to the West, out to the prairies
+of Iowa, where they remained until 1863. Then, hearing of a still
+fairer country where free homes could be taken in fertile valleys that
+needed no clearing, where wild game was abundant and chills and fever
+unknown, Jason, Hannah, and Eleanor again traveled westward. After a
+toilsome journey they settled in Swan creek valley, Nebraska territory,
+near the present northern line of Jefferson county.
+
+Theirs were pioneer surroundings. The only residents were ranchers
+scattered along the creeks at the crossings of the Oregon trail. A few
+immigrants came that year and settled in the valleys of the Sandys, Swan
+creek, Cub creek, Rose creek, and the Little Blue. No human habitation
+stood upon the upland prairies. The population was four-fifths male, and
+the young men traveled up and down the creeks for miles seeking partners
+for their dances, which were often given. But it was always necessary
+for a number of men to take the part of ladies. In such cases they wore
+a handkerchief around one arm to distinguish them.
+
+The advent of a new family into the country was an important event, and
+especially when a beautiful young lady formed a part of it. The families
+of Joel Helvey and Jason Plummer became neighborly at once, visiting
+back and forth with the friendly intimacy characteristic of all
+pioneers. Paths were soon worn over the divide between Joel Helvey's
+ranch on the Little Sandy and the Plummer home on Swan creek, and one of
+Joel's boys was accused of making clandestine rambles in that direction.
+Certain it was that many of the young men who asked Eleanor for her
+company to the dances were invariably told that Frank Helvey had already
+spoken. Their dejection was explained in the vernacular of the
+time--they had "gotten the mitten."
+
+The music for the dances was furnished by the most energetic fiddlers in
+the land, and the art of playing "Fisher's Hornpipe," "Devil's Dream,"
+and "Arkansaw Traveler" in such lively, triumphant tones of the fiddle
+as played by Joe Baker and Hiram Helvey has been lost to the world.
+Sometimes disputes were settled either before or after the dance by an
+old-fashioned fist fight. In those days the accepted policy was that if
+you threshed your adversary soundly, the controversy was settled--there
+was no further argument about it. At one dance on the Little Sandy some
+"boys" from the Blue decided to "clear out" the ranchers before the
+dance, and in the lively melee that followed, Frank Helvey inadvertently
+got his thumb in his adversary's mouth; and he will show you yet a scar
+and cloven nail to prove this story. The ranchers more than held their
+own, and after the battle invited the defeated party to take part in the
+dance. The invitation was accepted and in the morning all parted good
+friends.
+
+On August 6, 1864, the Overland stage, which had been turned back on its
+way to the west, brought news that the Sioux and Cheyenne were on the
+warpath. They had massacred entire settlements on the Little Blue and
+along the trail a few miles west, and were planning to kill every white
+person west of Beatrice and Marysville.
+
+For some time the friendly old Indians had told Joel Helvey that the
+young men were chanting the old song:
+
+    "Some day we shall drive the whites back
+    Across the great salt water
+    Whence they came;
+    Happy days for the Sioux
+    When the whites go back."
+
+Little attention had been paid to these warnings, the Helvey family
+believing they could take care of themselves as they had during the past
+eighteen years in the Indian country. But the report brought by the
+stage was too alarming to be disregarded; and the women asked to be
+taken to a place of safety.
+
+At this time Mrs. Plummer and her daughter Eleanor were visiting at the
+home of Joel Helvey. They could not return to Swan creek, for news had
+come that all Swan creek settlers had gone to Beatrice. There was no
+time to be lost. The women and father Helvey, who was then in failing
+health, were placed in wagons, the boys mounted horses to drive the
+cattle, and all "struck out" over the trail following the divide towards
+Marysville, where breastworks had been thrown up and stockades had been
+built.
+
+During the day Frank found many excuses to leave the cattle with his
+brothers while he rode close to the wagon in which Eleanor was seated.
+It was a time to try one's courage and he beguiled the anxious hours
+with tales of greater dangers than the impending one and assured her,
+with many a vow of love, that he could protect her from any attack the
+Indians might make.
+
+The first night the party camped at the waterhole two miles northwest of
+the place where now an imposing monument marks the crossing of the
+Oregon trail and the Nebraska-Kansas line. Towards evening of the next
+day they halted on Horseshoe creek. In the morning it was decided to
+make this their permanent camp. There was abundant grass for their
+stock, and here they would cut and stack their winter hay.
+
+A man in the distance saw the camp and ponies, and mistaking the party
+for Indians, hurried to Marysville and gave the alarm. Captain
+Hollenberg and a squad of militia came out and from a safe distance
+investigated with a spyglass. Finding the party were white people he
+came down and ordered them into Marysville. The captain said the Indians
+would kill them all and, inflamed by the bloodshed, would be more
+ferocious in their attack on the stockade.
+
+The Helveys preferred taking their chances with the Indians rather than
+leave their cattle to the mercies of the Kansas Jayhawkers, and told the
+captain that when the Indians came they would get to Marysville first
+and give the alarm.
+
+Their camp was an ideal spot under the grateful shadow of noble trees.
+The songs of birds in the branches above them, the odor of prairie
+flowers and the new-mown hay about them, lent charm to the scene. Two of
+the party, at least, lived in an enchanted land. After the blistering
+heat of an August day Frank and Eleanor walked together in the shadows
+and coolness of night and watched the moon rise through the trees. And
+here was told the old, old story, world old yet ever new. Here were laid
+the happy plans for future years. And yet through all these happy days
+there ran a thread of sorrow. Father Joel Helvey failed rapidly, and on
+September 3 he passed away. After he was laid to rest, the entire party
+returned to the ranch on Little Sandy.
+
+The day for the wedding, September 21, at last arrived. None of the
+officers qualified to perform marriage ceremonies having returned since
+the Indian raid, Frank and Eleanor, with Frank's sister as chaperon,
+drove to Beatrice. On arriving there they were delighted to meet
+Eleanor's father. His consent to the marriage was obtained and he was
+asked to give away the bride. The marriage party proceeded to Judge
+Towle's cabin on the Big Blue where the wedding ceremony was solemnly
+performed and "Pap" Towle gave the bride the first kiss.
+
+And thus, just fifty years ago, the first courtship in Jefferson county
+was consummated.
+
+
+
+
+EXPERIENCES ON THE FRONTIER
+
+BY FRANK HELVEY
+
+
+I was born July 7, 1841, in Huntington county, Indiana. My father, Joel
+Helvey, decided in 1846 to try his fortune in the far West. Our family
+consisted of father, mother, three boys, and three girls. So two heavy
+wagons were fitted up to haul heavy goods, and a light wagon for mother
+and the girls. The wagons were the old-fashioned type, built very heavy,
+carrying the customary tar bucket on the rear axle.
+
+Nebraska was at this time in what was called the Indian country, and no
+one was allowed to settle in it. We stopped at old Fort Kearny--now
+Nebraska City. In a short time we pulled up stakes and housed in a log
+cabin on the Iowa side. Father, two brothers--Thomas and Whitman--and I
+constructed a ferry to run across the Missouri river, getting consent of
+the commandant at the fort to move the family over on the Nebraska side;
+but he said we would have to take our chances with the Indians. We broke
+a small patch of ground, planting pumpkins, melons, corn, etc. The
+Indians were very glad to see us and very friendly--in fact, too much
+so. When our corn and melons began to ripen, they would come in small
+bands, gather the corn and fill their blankets. It did no good for us to
+protest, so we boys thought we would scare them away. We hid in the
+bushes close to the field. Soon they came and were filling their
+blankets. We shot over their heads, but the Indians didn't scare--they
+came running straight toward us. They gave us a little of our own
+medicine and took a few shots at us. We didn't scare any more Indians.
+
+When word came in the fall of 1858 that gold had been discovered in
+Pike's Peak by the wagonload, that settled it. We got the fever, and in
+April, 1859, we started for Pike's Peak. We went by the way of Beatrice,
+striking the Overland trail near the Big Sandy. An ex-soldier, Tim
+Taylor, told us he believed the Little Sandy to be the best place in
+southern Nebraska. We built a ranch house on the trail at the crossing
+of Little Sandy and engaged in freighting from the Missouri river to
+the Rocky Mountains. This we did for several years, receiving seven to
+eight cents per pound. We hauled seven thousand to eight thousand pounds
+on a wagon, and it required from seventy-five to eighty days to make a
+round trip with eight and ten yoke of oxen to a wagon. I spent about
+nine years freighting across the plains from Atchison, Leavenworth, St.
+Joseph, and Nebraska City to Denver, hauling government supplies to Fort
+Laramie. In 1863-64 I served as substitute stage driver, messenger, or
+pony express rider. I have met at some time or another nearly every
+noted character or "bad man" that passed up and down the trail. I met
+Wild Bill for the first time at Rock Creek ranch. I met him often after
+the killing of McCanles, and helped bury the dead. I was well acquainted
+with McCanles. Wild Bill was a remarkable man, unexcelled as a shot,
+hard to get acquainted with. Lyman, or Jack, Slade was considered the
+worst man-killer on the plains.
+
+The Indians did not give us much trouble until the closing year of the
+civil war. Our trains were held up several times, being forced to
+corral. We were fortunate not to lose a man. I have shot at hundreds of
+Indians. I cannot say positively that I ever killed one, although I was
+considered a crack shot. I can remember of twenty or more staying with
+us one night, stretching out on their blankets before the fireplace, and
+departing in the morning without making a move out of the way. The
+Pawnees and Otoes were very bitter toward the Sioux and Cheyennes. In
+the summer of 1862 over five hundred Indians were engaged in an all-day
+fight on the Little Blue river south of Meridian. That night over a
+hundred warriors danced around a camp-fire with the scalps of their foes
+on a pole, catching the bloody scalp with their teeth. How many were
+killed we never knew.
+
+My brothers and I went on one special buffalo hunt with three different
+tribes of Indians--Otoes, Omahas, and Pawnees--about one thousand in
+all, on Rose creek, about where the town of Hubbell is situated. We were
+gone about four days. The Indians would do all the killing. When they
+got what they wanted, then we boys would get our meat. There was plenty
+for all. The prairies were covered with buffalo; they were never out of
+sight. On the 4th of July, 1859, six of us with two wagons, four yoke
+of oxen to a wagon, went over on the Republican where there were always
+thousands of buffalo. We were out two weeks and killed what meat we
+wanted. We always had a guard out at night when we camped, keeping the
+wolves from our fresh meat. We came home to the ranch heavily loaded. We
+sold some and dried some for our own use.
+
+I homesteaded, June 13, 1866, on the Little Blue, five miles northwest
+of Fairbury, and helped the settlers looking for homesteads locate their
+land. My father, Joel Helvey, entered forty acres where we had
+established our ranch on Little Sandy in 1861, the first year any land
+was entered in this county. I was the first sheriff of this county;
+served four years, 1867-1870. No sheriff had qualified or served before
+1867. County business was done at Big Sandy and Meridian, and at the
+houses of the county officers. We carried the county records around from
+place to place in gunny sacks.
+
+I am glad I participated in the earliest happenings of this county, and
+am proud to be one of its citizens.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. ELIZABETH C. LANGWORTHY
+
+Seventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1905-1906]
+
+
+
+
+LOOKING BACKWARD
+
+BY GEORGE E. JENKINS
+
+
+Looking backward forty years and more, I feel as Longfellow so
+beautifully expresses it,
+
+    "You may build more splendid habitations,
+    Fill your rooms with sculpture and with paintings,
+    But you cannot buy with gold the old associations,"
+
+for in that time I have seen Fairbury grow from a little hamlet to a
+city of the first class, surrounded by a country that we used to call
+"the Indian country," considered unfit for agricultural purposes, but
+today it blossoms as the rose and no finer land lies anywhere.
+
+I have read with great interest of the happenings of ten, twenty, thirty
+years ago as published each week in our Fairbury papers, but am going to
+delve into ancient history a little deeper and tell you from personal
+experience of the interesting picture presented to me forty-odd years
+ago, I think in the year 70 or '71, for I distinctly remember the day I
+caught the first glimpse of Fairbury. It was a bright and sunshiny
+morning in July. We had been making the towns in western Kansas and had
+gotten rather a late start from Concordia the day before; a storm coming
+up suddenly compelled us to seek shelter for the night. My traveling
+companion was A. V. Whiting, selling shoes, and I was selling dry-goods,
+both from wholesale houses in St. Joseph, Missouri. Mr. Whiting is well
+and honorably known in Fairbury as he was afterwards in business there
+for many years. He has been a resident of Lincoln for twenty-three
+years.
+
+There were no railroads or automobiles in the country at that time and
+we had to depend on a good pair of horses and a covered spring wagon. We
+found a place of shelter at Marks' mill, located on Rose creek fifteen
+miles southwest of Fairbury, and here we stayed all night. I shall
+always remember our introduction there, viz: as we drove up to the house
+I saw a large, portly old man coming in from the field on top of a load
+of hay, and as I approached him I said, "My name is Jenkins, sir--" but
+before I could say more he answered in a deep bass voice, saying, "My
+name is Clodhopper, sir," which he afterwards explained was the name
+that preachers of the United Brethren church were known by at that time.
+This man, Marks, was one of the first county treasurers of Jefferson
+county, and it is related of him that while he was treasurer he had
+occasion to go to Lincoln, the capital of the state, to pay the taxes of
+the county, and being on horseback he lost his way and meeting a
+horseman with a gun across his shoulder, he said to the stranger, "I am
+treasurer of Jefferson county. My saddle-bags are full of gold and I am
+on the way to Lincoln to pay the taxes of the county, but I have lost my
+way. Please direct me."
+
+Returning to my story of stopping over night at Rose creek: we were most
+hospitably entertained and at breakfast next morning we were greatly
+surprised on being asked if we would have wild or tame sweetening in our
+coffee, as this was the first time in all our travels we had ever been
+asked that question. We were told that honey was wild sweetening and
+sugar the tame sweetening. I cannot refrain from telling a little
+incident that occurred at this time. When we had our team hitched up and
+our sample trunks aboard, we asked Mr. Marks for our bill and were told
+we could not pay anything for our entertainment, and just then Mrs.
+Marks appeared on the scene. She had in her hand a lot of five and ten
+cent war shinplasters, and as she handed them to Mr. Marks he said,
+"Mother and I have been talking the matter over and as we have not
+bought any goods from you we decided to give you a dollar to help you
+pay expenses elsewhere"; and on our refusing to take it he said, "I want
+you to take it, for it is worth it for the example you have set to my
+children." Politely declining the money and thanking our host and
+hostess for their good opinion and splendid entertainment, we were soon
+on our way to pay our first visit to Fairbury.
+
+We arrived about noon and stopped at a little one-story hotel on the
+west side of the square, kept by a man by the name of Hurd. After dinner
+we went out to see the town and were told it was the county-seat of
+Jefferson county. The courthouse was a little one-story frame building
+and is now located on the west side of the square and known as
+Christian's candy shop. There was one large general store kept by
+Champlin & McDowell, a drug store, a hardware store, lumber yard,
+blacksmith shop, a schoolhouse, church, and a few small buildings
+scattered around the square. The residences were small and widely
+scattered. Primitive conditions prevailed everywhere, and we were told
+the population was one hundred and fifty but we doubted it. The old
+adage reads, "Big oaks from little acorns grow," and it has been my
+privilege and great pleasure to have seen Fairbury "climb the ladder
+round by round" until today it has a population of fifty-five hundred.
+
+
+
+
+THE EASTER STORM OF 1873
+
+BY CHARLES B. LETTON
+
+
+Spring opened very early in the year 1873. Farmers plowed and harrowed
+the ground and sowed their oats and spring wheat in February and March.
+The grass began to grow early in April and by the middle of the month
+the small-grain fields were bright green with the new crops. Most of the
+settlers on the uplands of Jefferson county were still living in dugouts
+or sod houses. The stables and barns for the protection of their live
+stock were for the most part built by setting forked posts in the
+ground, putting rough poles and brush against the sides and on the roof,
+and covering them with straw, prairie grass, or manure. Sometimes the
+bank of a ravine was made perpendicular and used as one side. The
+covering of the walls and roof of these structures needed continual
+renewal as the winds loosened it or as the spring rains caused it to
+settle. Settlers became careless about this early in the spring,
+thinking that the winter was over. The prairies were still bare of
+hedges, fences, or trees to break the winds or catch the drifting snow.
+
+Easter Sunday occurred on the thirteenth of April. For days before, the
+weather had been mild and the air delightful. The writer was then living
+alone in a dugout seven miles north of Fairbury in what is now the rich
+and fertile farming community known as Bower. The granary stood on the
+edge of a ravine a short distance from the dugout. The stable or barn
+was partly dug into the bank of this ravine; the long side was to the
+north, while the roof and the south side were built of poles and straw
+in the usual fashion of those days. On the afternoon of Easter Sunday it
+began to rain and blow from the northwest. The next morning I had been
+awake for some time waiting for daylight when I finally realized that
+the dim light coming from the windows was due to the fact that they were
+covered with snow drifts. I could hear the noise of the wind but had no
+idea of the fury of the tempest until I undertook to go outside to feed
+the stock. As soon as I opened the door I found that the air was full
+of snow, driven by a tremendous gale from the north. The fury of the
+tempest was indescribable. The air appeared to be a mass of moving snow,
+and the wind howled like a pack of furies. I managed to get to the
+granary for some oats, but on looking into the ravine no stable was to
+be seen, only an immense snow drift which almost filled it. At the point
+where the door to the stable should have been there appeared a hole in
+the drift where the snow was eddying. On crawling into this I found that
+during the night the snow had drifted in around the horses and cattle,
+which were tied to the manger. The animals had trampled it under their
+feet to such an extent that it had raised them so that in places their
+backs lifted the flimsy roof, and the wind carrying much of the covering
+away, had filled the stable with snow until some of them were almost and
+others wholly buried, except where the remains of the roof protected
+them.
+
+Two animals died while I was trying to extricate them and at night I was
+compelled to lead two or three others into the front room of the dugout
+and keep them there until the storm was over in order to save their
+lives. It was only by the most strenuous efforts I was able to get to
+the house. My clothing was stiff. The wind had driven the snow into the
+fabric, as it had thawed it had frozen again, until it formed an
+external coating of ice.
+
+I had nothing to eat all day, having gone out before breakfast, and when
+night came and I attempted to build a fire in the cook stove I found
+that the storm had blown away the joints of stovepipe which projected
+through the roof and had drifted the hole so full of snow that the snow
+was in the stove itself. I went on the roof, cleared it out, built a
+fire, made some coffee and warmed some food, then went to bed utterly
+fatigued and, restlessly tossing, dreamed all night that I was still in
+the snow drift working as I had worked all day.
+
+Many other settlers took their cattle and horses into their houses or
+dugouts in order to save them. Every ravine and hollow that ran in an
+easterly or westerly direction was filled with snow from rim to rim. In
+other localities cattle were driven many miles by this storm. Houses, or
+rather shacks, were unroofed and people in them frozen to death.
+Travelers caught in the blizzard, who attempted to take refuge in
+ravines, perished and their stiffened bodies were found when the drifts
+melted weeks afterward. Stories were told of people who had undertaken
+to go from their houses to their outbuildings and who, being blinded by
+the snow, became lost and either perished or nearly lost their lives,
+and of others where the settler in order to reach his well or his
+outbuildings in safety fastened a rope to the door and went into the
+storm holding to the rope in order to insure his safe return. Deer,
+antelope, and other wild animals perished in the more sparsely settled
+districts. The storm lasted for three days, not always of the same
+intensity, and freezing weather followed for a day or two thereafter. In
+a few days the sun shone, the snow melted, and spring reappeared; the
+melting drifts, that lay for weeks in some places, being the only
+reminder of the severity of the storm.
+
+To old settlers in Nebraska and northern Kansas this has ever since been
+known as "The Easter Storm." In the forty-six years that I have lived in
+Nebraska there has only been one other winter storm that measurably
+approached it in intensity. This was the blizzard of 1888 when several
+people lost their lives. At that time, however, people were living in
+comfort; trees, hedges, groves, stubble, and cornfields held the snow so
+that the drifts were insignificant in comparison. The cold was more
+severe but the duration of the storm was less and no such widespread
+suffering took place.
+
+
+
+
+BEGINNINGS OF FAIRBURY
+
+BY JOSEPH B. MCDOWELL
+
+
+In the fall of 1868 my brother, W. G. McDowell, and I started from
+Fairbury, Illinois, for Nebraska. Arriving at Brownville, we were
+compelled to take a stage for Beatrice, as the only railroad in the
+state was the Union Pacific.
+
+Brownville was a little river village, and Tecumseh was the only town
+between Brownville and Beatrice. It probably had one hundred
+inhabitants. There was only one house between it and Beatrice. The trip
+from Brownville to Beatrice took two days with a night stop at Tecumseh.
+The scenery consisted of rolling prairie covered with buffalo grass, and
+a few trees along the banks of Rock creek. We stopped for dinner at a
+house a few miles northeast of the present site of Endicott, where the
+Oregon trail stages changed horses.
+
+On our arrival at Beatrice we found a little village of about three
+hundred inhabitants. The only hotel had three rooms: a reception room,
+one bedroom with four beds--one in each corner--and a combination
+dining-room and kitchen. There was a schoolhouse fourteen by sixteen
+feet, but there were no churches. We bought a few town lots, entered two
+or three sections of land, and decided to build a stone hotel, as there
+was plenty of stone along the banks of the Blue river, and in the water.
+
+We then took a team and spring-wagon and started to find a location for
+a county-seat for Jefferson county. We found the land where Fairbury is
+now located was not entered, so we entered it with the intention of
+making it the county-seat.
+
+On our return to Beatrice we let the contract for the stone hotel, which
+still stands today. We returned to Illinois, but the following February
+of 1869 I came back to look after the building of the hotel. I bought a
+farm with buildings on it, and began farming and improving the land I
+had entered. In the summer of 1869 my brother came out again, and we
+drove over to lay out the county-seat of Jefferson county, which we
+named after Fairbury, Illinois, with the sanction of the county
+commissioners. We shipped the machinery for a sawmill to Waterville,
+Kansas, and hauled it to Fairbury with teams. Judge Mattingly bought it
+and sawed all the lumber that was used for building around Fairbury.
+Armstrong Brothers started a small store in a shack.
+
+About 1870, I came over from Beatrice and built the first store
+building, on the east side of the square, which was replaced a few years
+ago by the J. D. Davis building. The Fairbury Roller Mill was built in
+1873 by Col. Andrew J. Cropsey. I bought his interest in 1874 and have
+had it ever since. In 1880 I came to make my home in Fairbury and have
+watched its steady growth from its beginning, to our present thriving
+and beautiful little city of 1915.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY EXPERIENCES IN NEBRASKA
+
+BY ELIZABETH PORTER SEYMOUR
+
+
+In the spring of 1872, we came from Waterloo, Iowa, to Plymouth,
+Nebraska. My husband drove through, and upon his arrival I came by train
+with my young brother and baby daughter four months old.
+
+When my husband came the previous fall to buy land, there was no
+railroad south of Crete, and he drove across the country, but the
+railroad had since been completed to Beatrice. There was a mixed train,
+with one coach, and I was the only lady passenger. There was one young
+girl, who could not speak any English, but who had a card hung on her
+neck telling where she was to go. The trainmen held a consultation and
+decided that the people lived a short distance from the track, in the
+vicinity of Wilber, so they stopped the train and made inquiries.
+Finding these people expected someone, we waited until they came and got
+the girl. My husband met me at Beatrice, and the next morning we started
+on a fourteen-mile drive to Plymouth, perched upon a load of necessaries
+and baggage.
+
+We had bought out a homesteader, so we had a shelter to go into. This
+consisted of a cottonwood house fourteen by sixteen feet, unplastered,
+and with a floor of rough boards. It was a dreary place, but in a few
+days I had transformed it. One carpet was put on the floor and another
+stretched overhead on the joists. This made a place to store things, and
+gave the room a better appearance. Around the sides of the room were
+tacked sheets, etc., making a white wall. On this we hung a few
+pictures, and when the homesteader appeared at the door, he stood amazed
+at our fine appearance. A rude lean-to was built to hold the kitchen
+stove and work-table.
+
+Many times that summer a feeling of intense loneliness at the dreary
+condition came over me, but the baby Helen, always happy and smiling,
+drove gloom away. Then, in August, came the terrible blow of losing our
+baby blossom. Cholera infantum was the complaint. A young mother's
+ignorance of remedies, and the long distance from a doctor, caused a
+delay that was fatal.
+
+Before we came, the settlers had built a log schoolhouse, with sod roof
+and plank seats. In the spring of 1872, the Congregational Home
+Missionary Society sent Rev. Henry Bates of Illinois to the field, and
+he organized a Congregational church of about twenty-five members, my
+husband and myself being charter members. For a time we had service in
+the log schoolhouse, but soon had a comfortable building for services.
+
+Most of the land about Plymouth was owned by a railroad company, and
+they laid out a townsite, put up a two-story schoolhouse, and promised a
+railroad soon. After years of waiting, the railroad came, but the
+station was about two miles north. Business went with the railroad to
+the new town, and the distinction was made between New Plymouth and Old
+Plymouth.
+
+Prairie chickens and quail were quite abundant during the first years,
+and buffalo meat could often be bought, being shipped from the western
+part of the state. In the droves of cattle driven past our house to the
+Beatrice market, I have occasionally seen a buffalo.
+
+Deer and wolves were sometimes seen, and coyotes often made havoc with
+our fowls, digging through the sod chicken house to rob the roosts.
+Rattlesnakes were frequently killed and much dreaded, but deaths from
+the bite were very rare, though serious illness often resulted.
+
+Prairie fires caused the greatest terror, and the yearly losses were
+large. Everyone plowed fire guards and tried to be prepared, but, with
+tall grass and weeds and a strong wind, fire would be carried long
+distances and sweep everything before it with great rapidity.
+
+Indians frequently camped on Cub creek for a few days in their journey
+from one reservation to another to visit. They would come to the houses
+to beg for food, and, though they never harmed us, we were afraid of
+them. More than once I have heard a slight noise in my kitchen, and on
+going out, found Indians in possession; they never knocked. I was glad
+to give them food and hasten their departure.
+
+In the summer of 1873, quite a party of us went to the Otoe reservation
+to see just how the Indians lived. We had two covered wagons and one
+provision wagon. We cooked our food by a camp-fire, slept out of doors,
+and had a jolly time. We spent nearly one day on the reservation,
+visiting the agent's house and the school and peering into the huts of
+the Indians. At the schoolhouse the pupils were studious, but several of
+them had to care for papooses while studying, and the Indians were
+peering into the doors and windows, watching proceedings. Most of the
+Indians wore only a blanket and breech cloth, but the teacher was
+evidently trying to induce the young pupils to wear clothes, and
+succeeded in a degree. One boy amused us very much by wearing flour
+sacks for trousers. The sacks were simply ripped open at the end, the
+stamps of the brand being still upon them, one sack being lettered in
+red and the other in blue. Preparations were going on for a visit to the
+Omahas by a number of braves and some squaws, and they were donning
+paint and feathers. The agent had received some boxes of clothing from
+the East for them, which they were eager to wear on their trip. Not
+having enough to fit them out, one garment was given to each, and they
+at once put them on. It was very ludicrous to see them, one with a hat,
+another with a shirt, another with a vest, etc. At last they were ready
+and rode away on their ponies. As we drove away, an Indian and squaw,
+with papoose, were just ahead of us. A thunder storm came up, and the
+brave Indian took away from the squaw her parasol and held it over his
+head, leaving her unprotected.
+
+Although the settlers on the upland were widely scattered, they were
+kind and neighborly, as a rule--ready to help each other in all ways,
+especially in sickness and death. One Thanksgiving a large number of
+settlers brought their dinners to the church, and after morning services
+enjoyed a good dinner and social hour together. That church, so
+important a factor in the community in early days, was disbanded but a
+few years ago. Pioneer life has many privations, but there are also very
+many pleasant experiences.
+
+
+
+
+PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
+
+BY MRS. C. F. STEELE
+
+
+Calvin F. Steele came to Nebraska, in March, 1871, staying for a little
+time in Beatrice. He heard of a new town just starting called Fairbury.
+Thinking this might be a good place for one with very little capital to
+start in business, he decided to go there and see what the prospects
+were. Nearly all of the thirty-three miles was unbroken prairie, with no
+landmarks to guide one. Mr. Steele had hired a horse to ride. Late in
+the afternoon the sky was overcast, and a storm came up. He saw some
+distance ahead of him a little rise of ground, and urging his horse
+forward he made for that, hoping he might be able to catch sight of the
+town he sought. To his surprise he found himself on top of a dugout.
+
+The man of the house came rushing out. Mr. Steele explained and asked
+directions, only to find he was not near Fairbury as he hoped. He was
+kindly taken in for the night, and while all slept in the one room, that
+was so clean and comfortable, and the welcome so kindly, a friendship
+was started that night, a friendship that grew and strengthened with the
+years and lasted as long as E. D. Brickley, the man of the dugout,
+lived.
+
+I arrived in Fairbury the first day of May, 1871. The morning after I
+came I counted every building in the town, including all outbuildings
+having a roof. Even so I could only bring the grand total up to thirty.
+
+That summer proved a very hot one--no ice, and very few buildings had a
+cellar. We rented for the summer a little home of three rooms. The only
+trees in sight were a few cottonwoods along the ravine that ran through
+the town and on the banks of the Little Blue river. How to keep milk
+sweet or butter cool was a problem. At last I thought of our well, still
+without a pump. I would put the eatables in a washboiler, put the cover
+on, tie a rope through the handles, and let the boiler down into the
+well. In late September a lady told me as her husband was going away she
+would bring her work and sit with me. I persuaded her to stay for
+supper. I intended to have cold meat, a kind of custard known as
+"floating island"; these with milk and butter were put down the well.
+After preparing the table I went out and drew up my improvised
+refrigerator, and removing the cover went in with milk and butter.
+Returning almost instantly, the door closed with a bang and frightened a
+stray dog doubtless attracted by the smell of meat. He started to run
+and was so entangled in the ropes that as far as I could see, dog,
+boiler, and contents were still going.
+
+The whole thing was so funny I laughed at the time, and still do when I
+recall that scene of so long ago.
+
+
+
+
+HOW THE SONS OF GEORGE WINSLOW FOUND THEIR FATHER'S GRAVE
+
+BY MRS. C. F. STEELE AND GEORGE W. HANSEN
+
+
+_Statement by Mrs. Steele_
+
+I have been asked to tell the story of how the sons of George Winslow
+found their father's grave.
+
+In April, 1911, it was my pleasure and privilege to go to Washington to
+attend the national meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
+I went in company with Mrs. C. B. Letton as well as a number of other
+delegates from different parts of the state. While passing around to
+cast our votes for president general, an eastern lady noticing our
+badges exchanged greetings with some of our delegates and expressed a
+wish to meet some one from Fairbury. She was told that Fairbury had a
+delegate and I was called up to meet Mrs. Henry Winslow of Meriden,
+Connecticut. She greeted me cordially, saying her husband's father was a
+"Forty-niner" and while on his way to California was taken sick, died,
+and was buried by the side of the Oregon trail. In February, 1891, a
+letter appeared in a Boston paper from Rev. S. Goldsmith of Fairbury,
+Nebraska, saying that he had seen a grave with the inscription "Geo.
+Winslow, Newton, Ms. AE. 25" cut on a crude headstone, and that he was
+ready to correspond with any interested party as to the lone grave or
+its silent occupant. This letter came to the notice of the sons of
+George Winslow, and they placed Mr. Goldsmith in communication with
+David Staples, of San Francisco, California, who was a brother-in-law of
+George Winslow and a member of the same company on the overland journey
+to California.
+
+Mr. Staples wrote him about the organization of the company, which was
+called the "Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association," and the sickness
+and death of George Winslow; but after this they heard nothing further
+from the Nebraska man.
+
+Mrs. Winslow asked me if I knew anything of the grave. I did not, but
+promised to make inquiries regarding it on my return home.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES B. LETTON
+
+Eighth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1907-1908]
+
+Soon after reaching home, Judge and Mrs. Letton came down from Lincoln
+and as guests of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Hansen we were all dining together.
+The conversation turned to the trip Mrs. Letton and I had enjoyed
+together, and we told the story of the talk with Mrs. Winslow. To my
+great surprise and pleasure Judge Letton said, "Why, Mrs. Steele, I
+remember seeing, many years ago, close by the Oregon trail, somewhere
+near the head of Whiskey Run, a grave marked with a red sandstone, and
+it is probably the grave you are searching for. I believe Mr. Hansen can
+find it."
+
+A few days after this Mr. Hansen reported the finding of the grave. He
+said the headstone had been knocked down by a mower and dragged several
+rods away, and that he had replaced it upon the grave; that the
+inscription on the stone was as distinct as though freshly cut. I at
+once wrote to Mrs. Winslow, giving her the facts, and telling her Mr.
+Hansen would gladly answer any questions and give such further
+information as she might wish.
+
+The grateful letter I received in reply more than compensated me for
+what I had done.
+
+
+_Statement by Mr. Hansen_
+
+Upon a beautiful swell of the prairie between the forks of Whiskey Run,
+overlooking the charming valley of the Little Blue river, in a quiet
+meadow, five miles north and one mile west of Fairbury, close to the
+"old legitimate trail of the Oregon emigrants," is a lone grave marked
+with a red sandstone slab, twenty inches in height, of equal width, and
+six inches thick, on which is carved "Geo. Winslow, Newton, Ms. AE. 25."
+
+Through this meadow untouched by the plow may still be seen the deep,
+grass-grown furrows of the Oregon trail; and when George Winslow's
+companions laid him at rest by its side, they buried him in historic
+ground, upon earth's greatest highway.
+
+To the honor of George Winslow's comrades be it said they loved him so
+well that in their grief the feverish haste to reach the gold fields was
+forgotten, and every member did what he could to give him Christian
+burial and perpetuate his memory. They dug his grave very deep so that
+neither vandals nor wolves would disturb him. They searched the
+surrounding country and found, two miles away, a durable quality of
+sandstone, which they fashioned with their rude tools for his monument,
+his uncle Jesse Winslow carving with great care his name, home, and age,
+and on a footstone the figures 1849. This service of love rendered him
+that day gave to his sons their father's grave, and enabled us
+sixty-three years afterwards to obtain the story of his life, and the
+story of the journey of his company to California.
+
+Of all the thousands of men who were buried by the side of the old trail
+in 1849 and 1850, the monument of George Winslow alone remains. All the
+rest, buried in graves unmarked or marked with wooden slabs, have passed
+into oblivion.
+
+In June, 1912, it was my pleasure to meet George Winslow's sons, George
+E. of Waltham, Massachusetts, and Henry O. at the home of the latter in
+Meriden, Connecticut. They were intensely interested in the incident of
+their father's death and in the protection of his grave. It was planned
+that they should obtain a granite boulder from near their father's home
+in which the old red sandstone set up by his companions in 1849 might be
+preserved, and a bronze tablet fashioned by Henry O. Winslow's hands
+placed upon its face. This has been done, and the monument was unveiled
+on October 29, 1912, with appropriate ceremonies.
+
+I learned from them that Charles Gould, then in the eighty-ninth year,
+the last survivor of the party, lived at Lake City, Minnesota. Mr. Gould
+kept a record of each day's events from the time the Boston and Newton
+Joint Stock Association left Boston until it arrived at Sutter's Fort,
+California. A copy of this interesting diary and a copy of a
+daguerreotype of Mr. Gould taken in 1849 are now in the possession of
+the Nebraska State Historical Society. The original letter written by
+George Winslow to his wife Eliza from Independence, Missouri, May 12,
+1849, and the letter of Brackett Lord written at Fort Kearny June 17,
+1849, describing Winslow's sickness, death, and burial, and a copy of a
+daguerreotype of George Winslow taken in 1849, were given me by Mr.
+Henry O. Winslow to present to the Nebraska State Historical Society.
+
+From the Winslow memorial published in 1877, we learn that George
+Winslow was descended from Kenelm Winslow of Dortwitch, England, whose
+two sons Edward and Kenelm emigrated to Leyden, Holland, and joined the
+Pilgrim church there in 1617. Edward came to America with the first
+company of emigrants in the Mayflower, December, 1620, and was one of
+the committee of four who wrote the immortal compact or Magna Charta. He
+became governor of Plymouth colony in 1633. His brother Kenelm came to
+America in the Mayflower with the long hindered remainder of the Pilgrim
+church on a later voyage.
+
+His son Kenelm Winslow was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1635. His
+son, Josiah Winslow, born 1669, established the business of cloth
+dressing at Freetown, Massachusetts. His son James Winslow, born 1712,
+continued his father's business, and was a colonel in the second
+regiment Massachusetts militia. His son Shadrach Winslow, born 1750,
+graduated at Yale in 1771 and became an eminent physician. At the
+outbreak of the Revolutionary war, being a gentleman of independent
+fortune, he fitted out a warship or a privateer, and was commissioned to
+attack the enemy on the high seas. He was captured off the coast of
+Spain, and confined in a dismal prison ship where he suffered much. His
+son Eleazer Winslow, born 1786, took up his abode in the Catskill
+mountains with a view to his health and while there at Ramapo, New York,
+on August 11, 1823, his son George Winslow was born.
+
+The family moved to Newton, Mass., now a suburb of Boston, where George
+learned his father's trade, that of machinist and molder. In the same
+shop and at the same time, David Staples and Brackett Lord, who
+afterwards became brothers-in-law, and Charles Gould were learning this
+trade.
+
+George Winslow was married in 1845. His first son, George Edward, was
+born May 15, 1846. His second son Henry O., was born May 16, 1849, the
+day the father left the frontier town of Independence, Missouri, for
+California.
+
+The Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association consisted of twenty-five
+picked young men from Newton and the vicinity of Boston, each member
+paying $300 into the treasury. The incidents along the journey we obtain
+from Mr. Gould's excellent journal. They left Boston, April 16, 1849,
+traveling by rail to Buffalo, taking the steamer Baltic for Sandusky,
+Ohio, and then by rail to Cincinnati, where they arrived April 20, at
+9:00 o'clock p. m.
+
+They left Cincinnati April 23rd, on the steamer Griffin Yeatman for St.
+Louis, and arrived there April 27th, then by steamer Bay State, to
+Independence, Missouri. The boat was crowded principally with passengers
+bound for California. A set of gamblers seated around a table well
+supplied with liquor kept up their game all night. Religious services
+were held on board on the Sabbath, Rev. Mr. Haines preaching the sermon.
+The usual exciting steamboat race was had, their boat leaving the
+steamer Alton in the rear, where, Mr. Gould remarks "we think she will
+be obliged to stay."
+
+On May 3rd, they landed at Independence, Missouri, and began
+preparations for the overland journey. In the letter written by George
+Winslow to his wife, he says:
+
+"We have no further anxiety about forage; millions of buffalo have
+feasted for ages on these vast prairies, and as their number have been
+diminished by reason of hunters, it is absurd to think we will not have
+sufficient grass for our animals....
+
+"We have bought forty mules which cost us $50 apiece. I have been
+appointed teamster, and had the good luck to draw the best wagon. I
+never slept better in my life. I always find myself in the morning--or
+my bed, rather--flat as a pan cake. As the darn thing leaks just enough
+to land me on terra firma by morning, it saves me the trouble of
+pressing out the wind; so who cares....
+
+"Sunday morning, May 13, 1849. This is a glorious morning and having
+curried my mules and washed my clothes and bathed myself, I can
+recommence writing to you Eliza....
+
+"We engaged some Mexicans to break the mules. To harness them they tied
+their fore legs together and threw them down. The fellows then got on
+them and wrung their ears, which like a nigger's shin, is the tenderest
+part. By that time they were docile enough to take the harness. The
+animals in many respects resemble sheep, they are very timid and when
+frightened will kick like thunder. They got six harnessed into a team,
+when one of the leaders, feeling a little mulish, jumped right straight
+over the other one's back. One fellow offered to bet the liquor that he
+could ride an unbroken one he had bought; the bet was taken--but he had
+no sooner mounted the fool mule than he landed on his hands and feet in
+a very undignified manner; a roar of laughter from the spectators was
+his reward. I suppose by this time you have some idea of a mule....
+
+"I see by your letter that you have the blues a little in your anxiety
+for my welfare. I do not worry about myself, then why do you for me? I
+do not discover in your letter any anxiety on your own account; then let
+us for the future look on the bright side and indulge in no more useless
+anxiety. It effects nothing, and is almost universally the bugbear of
+the imagination.... The reports of the gold region here are as
+encouraging as they were in Massachusetts. Just imagine to yourself
+seeing me return with from $10,000 to $100,000...."
+
+On May 16th this company of intrepid men started out upon the long
+overland trail to California. They traveled up the Kansas river, delayed
+by frequent rains and mud hub deep, reaching the lower ford of the
+Kansas on the 26th, having accomplished about fifty miles in ten days.
+The wagons were driven on flatboats and poled across by five Indians.
+The road now becoming dry, they made rapid progress until the 29th, when
+George Winslow was suddenly taken violently sick with the cholera. Two
+others in the party were suffering with symptoms of the disease. The
+company remained in camp three days and the patients having so far
+recovered, it was decided to proceed. Winslow's brothers-in-law, David
+Staples and Brackett Lord, or his uncle, Jesse Winslow, were with him
+every moment, giving him every care. As they journeyed on he continued
+to improve. On June 5th they camped on the Big Blue, and on the 6th,
+late in the afternoon, they reached the place where the trail crosses
+the present Nebraska-Kansas state line into Jefferson county, Nebraska.
+Mr. Gould writes: "About a half hour before sunset a terrific thunder
+shower arose, which baffles description, the lightning flashes dazzling
+the eyes, and the thunder deafening the ears, and the rain falling in
+torrents. It was altogether the grandest scene I have ever witnessed.
+When the rain ceased to fall the sun had set and darkness closed in."
+
+To this storm is attributed George Winslow's death. The next morning he
+appeared as well as usual, but at 3 o'clock became worse, and the
+company encamped. He failed rapidly, and at 9 o'clock a. m., the next
+day, the 8th of June, 1849, painlessly and without a struggle, he sank
+away as though going to sleep. He was taken to the center of the corral,
+where funeral services were performed, by reading from the scriptures
+by Mr. Burt, and prayer by Mr. Sweetser. He was then borne to the grave
+by eight bearers, and followed by the rest of the company. Tears rolled
+down the cheeks of those strong men as each deposited a green sprig in
+the open grave.
+
+For him the trail ended here--in these green pastures. All the rest of
+his company traveled the long old trail across plains, mountains, and
+deserts, and reached the fabled gardens and glittering sands of El
+Dorado, only to find them the ashes of their hopes. He alone of all that
+company was never disillusioned.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. M. H. WEEKS
+
+
+When I look upon the little city of Fairbury and see the beautiful
+trees, fine lawns, and comfortable homes, it is hard to realize the
+feelings I had in July, 1873, when as a bride, coming from the dear old
+Granite state, we came to our future home. I wanted to "go on" somewhere
+else, for everything that is usually green was so parched and dreary
+looking and desolate. The only trees were at the homes of L. C. Champlin
+and S. G. Thomas.
+
+We spent the night at the Purdy house, and the following day drove to
+our homestead; and in fording the river where the Weeks bridge is now,
+the water poured into the express wagon (finest conveyance in town)
+driven by Will Hubbell. At least two of the party were much alarmed--our
+sister Mary Weeks and the writer.
+
+It was the first of many peculiar experiences, such as taking my sewing
+and a rocking chair, on a hayrack, to the hay field, rather than stay
+home alone for fear of the Otoe Indians. The first intimation of their
+presence would be their faces pressed against the window glass, and that
+would give one a creepy feeling.
+
+I have ridden to town many times on loads of sand, rock, and hay; and
+when the ford was impassable with wagons, I would go on horseback, with
+arms around the neck of faithful Billy, and eyes closed for fear of
+tumbling off into the water. On the return trip both of our horses would
+be laden with bags of provisions.
+
+In 1867 my husband went with a party of twenty-five on a buffalo hunt
+with a man by the name of Soules as guide. They secured plenty of elk,
+deer, and buffalo. The wagons were formed in a circle, to corral the
+horses and mules nights for fear of an attack by the Indians; each one
+taking turns as sentinel. The mules would always whistle if an Indian
+was anywhere near, so he felt secure even if he did sleep a little. They
+only saw the Indians at a distance as they were spearing the buffalo.
+
+All things have surely changed, and now we ride in autos instead of
+covered wagons. What will the next fifty years bring?
+
+
+
+
+LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL AT LINCOLN
+
+BY JOHN H. AMES
+
+
+By an act of the legislature, approved June 14, 1867, it was provided
+that the governor, secretary, and auditor of state, should be
+commissioners for the purpose of locating the seat of government and
+public buildings of the state of Nebraska, and they were vested with the
+necessary powers and authority for proceeding, as soon as practicable,
+to effect that purpose, and required on or before the fifteenth day of
+July in the same year, to select from among certain lands belonging to
+the state, and lying within the counties of Seward, Saunders, Butler,
+and Lancaster, "a suitable site, of not less than six hundred and forty
+acres lying in one body, for a town, due regard being had to its
+accessibility from all portions of the state and its general fitness for
+a capital."
+
+The commissioners were also required, immediately upon such selections
+being made, to appoint a competent surveyor and proceed to "survey, lay
+off and stake out the said tract of land into lots, blocks, streets,
+alleys, and public squares or reservations for public buildings"; and
+the act declared that such town when so laid out and surveyed, should
+"be named and known as Lincoln," and the same was thereby declared to be
+"the permanent seat of government of the state of Nebraska, at which all
+the public offices of the state should be kept, and at which all the
+sessions of the legislature thereof should be held."
+
+The act further provided that the lots in the alternate blocks, not
+reserved as aforesaid, in said town, should, after notice thereof had
+been given by advertisement for the time and in the manner therein
+prescribed, be offered for sale to the highest and best bidder; and the
+commissioners were authorized, after having held the sale for five
+successive days, as therein provided, at Lincoln, Nebraska City, and
+Omaha, to adjourn the same to be held at such other place or places
+within or without the state, as they might see proper, provided that at
+such sales no lots should be sold for a less price than a minimum to be
+fixed on each lot by the commissioners, previous to the opening of the
+sales. All moneys received for the sale of said lots were declared to be
+a state building fund, and were directed to be deposited in the state
+treasury and kept separate from all other funds for that purpose. Notice
+was directed to be issued immediately after the sale of lots, asking
+from architects plans and specifications for a building, the foundation
+of which should be of stone, and the superstructure of stone or brick,
+which should be suitable for the two houses of the legislature and the
+executive offices of the state, and which might be designed as a portion
+of a larger edifice, but the cost of which should not exceed fifty
+thousand dollars. Provision was also made for the letting of the
+contract for its construction, and appointing a superintendent thereof,
+and also for the erection at Lincoln, as soon as sufficient funds
+therefor could be secured by the sale of public lands or otherwise, of a
+state university, agricultural college, and penitentiary; but no
+appropriation, other than of the state lands and lots as above
+described, was made for the aid of any of the enterprises herein
+mentioned.
+
+What was the result of sending three men fifty miles out into an
+unbroken, and at that time, almost unknown prairie, to _speak_ into
+existence simply by the magic of their own unconquerable, though
+unaided, enterprise and perseverance, a city that should not only be
+suitable for the seat of government of the state, but should be able,
+almost as soon as its name was pronounced, to contribute from its own
+resources sufficient funds for the erection of a state house and other
+necessary public state buildings, remains to be seen.
+
+It appears from the report of the commissioners, made to the senate and
+house of representatives at its first regular session, held in January,
+1869, that, having provided themselves with an outfit, and employed Mr.
+Augustus F. Harvey, as surveyor, to ascertain the location of the lines
+of the proposed sites, they left Nebraska City on the afternoon of the
+18th of July, 1867, for the purpose of making the selection required in
+the act.
+
+After having visited and examined the town sites of Saline City, or
+"Yankee Hill," and Lancaster, in Lancaster county, they proceeded to
+visit and examine the several proposed sites in each of the counties
+named in the act, in which occupations they were engaged until the
+twenty-ninth of the same month, when they returned, and made a more
+thorough examination of the two sites above referred to, at which time
+the favorable impressions received of Lancaster on their first visit
+were confirmed. Says the report:
+
+"We found a gently undulating surface, its principal elevation being
+near the centre of the proposed new site. The village already
+established being in the midst of a thrifty and considerable
+agricultural population; rock, timber, and water power available within
+short distances; the centre of the great saline region within two miles;
+and in addition to all other claims, the special advantage was that the
+location was at the centre of a circle, of about 110 miles in diameter,
+along or near the circumference of which are the Kansas state line
+directly south, the important towns of Pawnee City, Nebraska City,
+Plattsmouth, Omaha, Fremont, and Columbus.... Under these circumstances
+we entertained the proposition of the people residing in the vicinity of
+Lancaster, offering to convey to the state in _fee simple_ the west half
+of the west half of section 25, the east half and the southwest quarter
+of section 26, which, with the northwest quarter of section 26 (the last
+named quarter being saline land), all in town 10, range 6 east; the
+whole embracing 800 acres, and upon which it was proposed to erect the
+new town. In addition, the trustees of the Lancaster Seminary
+Association proposed to convey to the state, for an addition to the site
+named in the foregoing proposition, the town site of Lancaster,
+reserving, however, certain lots therein which had been disposed of in
+whole or in part to the purchasers thereof."
+
+After being satisfied of the sufficiency of the titles proposed to be
+conveyed to the state, and having carefully "considered all the
+circumstances of the condition of the saline lands, the advantage of the
+situation, its central position, and the value of its surroundings over
+a district of over _twelve thousand square miles_ of rich agricultural
+country, it was determined to accept the proposition made by the owners
+of the land." Accordingly on the afternoon of the 29th of July the
+commissioners assembled at the house of W. T. Donavan, in Lancaster, and
+by a unanimous vote formally declared the present site of the capital
+city of Lincoln, which action was first made public by a proclamation
+issued on the 14th day of August next following.
+
+On the 15th of August, Messrs. Harvey and Smith, engineers, with a corps
+of assistants, commenced the survey of the town, the design being
+calculated for the making of a beautiful city. The streets are one
+hundred and twenty feet wide, and all except the business streets
+capable of being improved with a street park outside the curb line; as,
+for instance: On the one hundred feet streets, pavements twelve feet
+wide and a park or double row of trees outside the pavement, and planted
+twelve feet apart so as to admit of a grass plat between, may be made on
+both sides the street. This will leave on the one hundred feet streets a
+roadway fifty-two feet wide; with pavements as above, and parks fifteen
+feet wide, will leave a roadway on the one hundred and twenty feet
+streets of sixty feet; while on the business streets a ninety-foot
+roadway was thought to be amply sufficient for the demands of trade.
+
+Reservations of about twelve acres each were made for the state house,
+state university, and a city park, these being at about equal distances
+from each other.
+
+Reservations of one block each were made for a courthouse for Lancaster
+county, for a city hall and market space, for a state historical and
+library association, and _seven_ other squares in proper locations for
+public schools. Reservations were also made of three lots each in
+desirable locations for ten religious denominations, upon an
+understanding with the parties making the selections on behalf of the
+several denominations, that the legislature would require of them a
+condition that the property should only be used for religious purposes,
+and that some time would be fixed within which suitable houses of
+worship, costing not less than some reasonable minimum amount, should be
+erected. One lot each was also reserved for the use of the Independent
+Order of Good Templars, and Odd Fellows, and the order of Ancient Free
+and Accepted Masons. These reservations were afterwards confirmed by the
+legislature, with conditions recommended by the commissioners, and
+religious denominations were required to build on their reserved lots
+previous to or during the summer of 1870.
+
+In anticipation of the completion of the survey, due advertisement
+thereof was made as provided by law, and a sale of lots opened at
+Lincoln on the 17th day of September, for the purpose of raising the
+necessary funds for commencing the construction of the state house.
+
+Owing to the unpropitious state of the weather but few bidders were
+present, and the results of the first day's sales were light and
+disheartening; during their continuation, however, circumstances were
+changed for the better, and at the end of five days $34,000 had been
+realized. Subsequent sales were held at Nebraska City and Omaha, which
+by the fourth day of October had increased that amount to the sum of
+$53,000. Sales were subsequently held at Lincoln on the seventeenth of
+June and September, 1868, from which were realized the sum of $22,580.
+
+On the tenth of September, 1867, the commissioners issued their notice
+to architects, inviting, for a period of thirty days, plans and
+specifications for a state house; and upon the tenth of October, after
+having considered the merits of the several plans presented, they
+concluded to accept that of Prof. John Morris, of Chicago, whom they
+thereupon appointed superintendent of construction, and issued notice to
+builders, inviting proposals for a term of three months, for the
+erection of the work; Prof. Morris in the meantime commencing such
+preliminary work as excavations for foundations, delivery of material
+for foundation, and other arrangements as should tend to facilitate the
+progress of the work after the contract was let.
+
+On the tenth of November the superintendent caused the ground to be
+broken in the presence of a number of the citizens of Lancaster, the
+removal of the first earth being awarded to Master Frele Morton Donavan,
+the first child born in, and the youngest child of the oldest settler of
+Lancaster county.
+
+On the eleventh of January, 1868, the bid of Mr. Joseph Ward, proposing
+to furnish the material and labor, and erect the building contemplated
+in the contract for the sum of $49,000, was accepted, and from that time
+forward the work steadily progressed, with the exception of a few
+unavoidable delays, until its completion.
+
+On account, however, of the increasing wants of the state, the
+difficulties attending, the changes of material and increased amount of
+work and additional accommodation found necessary and advisable, the
+commissioners deemed it expedient to exceed the amount of expenditure
+contemplated in the statute; the additional expense being defrayed from
+the proceeds of the sales of lots and lands appropriated for that
+purpose.
+
+It was originally intended that the walls of the building should be
+built of red sandstone, and faced with blue limestone, but upon
+proceeding with the work the architect and builder found that the
+difficulties attending the procuration of the last named material would,
+unless the object was abandoned, result in an impossibility of the
+completion of the work at contract prices; and in so far retarding its
+progress as to prevent its erection in time for the use of the next
+session of the legislature. Its use, therefore, was accordingly
+abandoned, and it was decided to substitute in lieu thereof the
+magnesian limestone of Beatrice, which the experience of the architect
+had proved to be of far better character for building purposes than the
+blue limestone, it being less liable to wear or damage from frost or
+fire or any other action of the elements.
+
+This change having been made, the work was pushed vigorously forward,
+and on the third day of December, 1868, was so far completed as to be
+ready for the occupancy of the state officers, and the governor,
+therefore, on that day issued his proclamation announcing the removal of
+the seat of government from Omaha to Lincoln and ordering the
+transportation of the archives of the state to the new capitol.
+
+
+
+
+AN INCIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN
+
+BY ORTHA C. BELL
+
+
+On February 1, 1872, I arrived in Lincoln, the capital of the state.
+About the middle of January, 1875, the residents of Lincoln were greatly
+startled at seeing a man, shoeless and coatless, mounted on a horse
+without saddle or bridle, coming down Eleventh street at full speed, and
+crying at the top of his voice, "Mutiny at the pen!" The man proved to
+be a guard from the penitentiary heralding the news of this outbreak and
+calling for help. The prisoners had taken advantage of the absence of
+Warden Woodhurst, overpowered Deputy Warden C. J. Nobes, bound and
+gagged the guard. The leader, Quinn Bohanan, disrobed the deputy warden,
+exchanged his own for the clothing and hat of the deputy, and produced
+the effect of a beard with charcoal. This disguise was all so complete
+that the guards did not detect the ruse when the prisoners were marched
+through the yards, supposed to be in charge of the deputy. When on the
+inside of the prison they used the warden's family as hostages and took
+possession of the arsenal, and were soon in command of the situation.
+
+The man on horseback had spread the news through the city in a very
+short time and soon hundreds of men with all kinds of guns had left
+their places of business and gone to the penitentiary, which they
+surrounded, holding the prisoners within the walls.
+
+The governor wired for a detail from the regulars, stationed at Fort
+Omaha, and with all possible haste they were rushed to the scene. They
+were soon in charge of the situation, and negotiations were begun for a
+restoration of normal conditions, which result was attained in three
+days' time.
+
+During all this time Warden Woodhurst was on the outside of the walls
+and his brave little wife, with their two small children, were on the
+inside. Mrs. Woodhurst used all the diplomacy at her command to save her
+own life and that of the two children. She and the children had served
+as shields to the prisoners, protecting them from the bullets of the
+soldiers on the firing line around the penitentiary.
+
+The incident closed without loss of life to citizen or prisoner, but has
+left a lasting impression on the minds of those who were present.
+
+
+
+
+LINCOLN IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES
+
+BY (MRS. O. C.) MINNIE DEETTE POLLEY BELL
+
+
+In the spring of 1874 my father, Hiram Polley, came from Ohio to
+Lincoln, I being a young lady of nineteen years. To say that the new
+country with its vast prairies, so different from our beautiful timber
+country, produced homesickness, would be putting it mildly. My parents
+went on to a farm near what is now the town of Raymond, I remaining in
+Lincoln with an aunt, Mrs. Watie E. Gosper. My father built the barn as
+soon as possible and this was used for the house until after the crops
+were put in, then work was begun on the house that they might have it
+before cold weather.
+
+The first trouble that came was the devastating plague of grasshoppers
+which swept over this section of the country in the years 1874 and 1875.
+Not long after this a new trouble was upon us. The day dawned bright and
+fair, became hotter and more still, until presently in the distance
+there could be seen the effects of a slight breeze; this however was
+only the advance of a terrible windstorm. When the hurricane had passed,
+the barn, which only a few months before had served as the house, was in
+ruins. Undaunted, my father set about to rebuild the barn, which still
+remains on the farm; the farm, however, is now owned by other parties.
+
+In the winter of 1875 there was quite a fall of snow, and one of the
+funny sights was a man driving down O street with a horse hitched to a
+rocking chair. Everything that could be used for a sleigh was pressed
+into service. This was a strange sight to me, having come from Ohio
+where we had from three to four months of sleighing with beautiful
+sleighs and all that goes to make up a merry time.
+
+During this winter many were using corn for fuel and great quantities
+were piled on the ground, which of course made rats very plentiful--so
+much so that when walking on the streets at dusk one would almost have
+to kick them out of the way or wait for them to pass.
+
+In the course of time a young man appeared upon the scene, and on
+December 10, 1874, I was married to Ortha C. Bell. We were married in
+the house which now stands at the northeast corner of Twelfth and M
+streets, then the home of my aunt, Mrs. Gosper. Four children were born
+to us: the first, a daughter, dying in infancy; the second, Jennie
+Bell-Ringer, of Lincoln; the third, a son, Ray Hiram Bell, dying at the
+age of three; and the fourth, a daughter, Hazel Bell-Smith. Two
+grandchildren have come to brighten our lives, DeEtte Bell Smith and
+Edmund Burke Smith. Our home at 931 D street, which we built in 1886, is
+still occupied by us.
+
+
+
+
+A PIONEER BABY SHOW
+
+BY (MRS. FRANK I.) JENNIE BELL-RINGER
+
+
+I am a Nebraska product, having been born in the city of Lincoln, just
+across the street from the state university, on R street, between
+Eleventh and Twelfth.
+
+When yet very young my proud mother entered me in an old-fashioned baby
+show which was held in the old opera house, known as "The Hallo Opera
+House." This show was not conducted as the "Better Babies" contest of
+today is conducted, but rather along the line of a game of chance. The
+judges went around and talked and played with the various babies. The
+baby that made the best impression on the judges, or perhaps, more
+correctly speaking, the baby that was on its good behavior, was the one
+that made the best impression on the judges.
+
+To make a long story short, I evidently, at that tender age, knew when
+to put on my company manners, and when the prizes were awarded, I held
+the lucky number and rode away in a handsome baby buggy, the first
+prize.
+
+The second prize was awarded to John Dean Ringer, second son of Mr. and
+Mrs. Bradford Ringer. The third prize was given to Harry Hardenburg; and
+an impromptu fourth prize was awarded to a colored baby.
+
+The day I was married my newly acquired brother, in bestowing good
+wishes upon me, said there was only one fault he had to find with me,
+and upon inquiry as to what that might be, he answered, "You took the
+first prize away from me at the baby show."
+
+[Illustration: BOULDER AT FORT CALHOUN
+
+Commemorating the Council of Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri
+Indians, August 3, 1804. Erected by the Daughters of the American
+Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Nebraska State
+Historical Society]
+
+
+
+
+MARKING THE SITE OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK COUNCIL AT FORT CALHOUN
+
+BY MRS. LAURA B. POUND
+
+
+Looking backward for thirteen years, it is difficult for me to realize
+that at the beginning of my fourth term as state regent, in 1902, there
+were as yet only two chapters of the Daughters of the American
+Revolution in Nebraska. From 1894 to 1902 there had been three other
+state regents besides myself; and it was surely through no lack of
+diligence or patriotism that the organization grew so slowly. Mrs. S. C.
+Langworthy had been appointed organizing regent at Seward in 1896; Mrs.
+J. A. Cline at Minden, and Mrs. Sarah G. Bates at Long Pine in 1897; and
+Miss Anna Day at Beatrice in 1899. The total membership in the state
+probably did not exceed two hundred and fifty, and these, with the
+exception of the regents already named, belonged to the Deborah Avery
+and the Omaha chapters.
+
+In 1899, Mrs. Eliza Towle reported to the president general and the
+national board of management that the Omaha chapter had decided to place
+a monument at Fort Calhoun--undoubtedly at the suggestion of Mrs.
+Harriet S. MacMurphy, who was much interested in the early history of
+that place.
+
+As the hundredth anniversary of the acquisition of the Louisiana
+territory approached, and interest began to center around the expedition
+of Lewis and Clark, it was found that the only point touched in Nebraska
+by these explorers which could be positively identified was old Council
+Bluff, near Fort Calhoun; and here the Omaha chapter had decided to
+erect a monument. At a meeting of the Omaha chapter in 1901, the state
+regent directed the attention of the members to this fact, and it was
+voted to enlarge the scope of the undertaking, to make the marking of
+the site a state affair, and to ask the coˆperation of the Sons of the
+American Revolution and of the State Historical Society. This action was
+ratified at the first conference of the Daughters of the American
+Revolution held in Nebraska, the meeting having been called especially
+for that purpose, in October, 1902. A committee in conjunction with the
+Sons of the American Revolution asked the state legislature of 1903 for
+a sum of five thousand dollars to buy the site of Fort Atkinson and to
+erect a suitable monument, under the auspices of the Sons and the
+Daughters of the American Revolution, the monument to be erected
+according to plans and specifications furnished by the two societies.
+
+Disappointed by the failure of the legislature to make the desired
+appropriation but in no way discouraged, the Daughters of the American
+Revolution at the second state conference, held in October, 1903, voted
+to observe the anniversary of the first official council held by Lewis
+and Clark with the Indians in the Louisiana territory, and to
+commemorate the event by placing a Nebraska boulder upon the site. As
+chairman of the committee, it fell to my lot to raise the money and to
+find the boulder; and it is with pleasure that I record the ease with
+which the first part of my duty was accomplished. The Deborah Avery
+chapter gave seventy-five dollars, the Omaha chapter one hundred, and
+the two new chapters organized in 1902, Quivira of Fairbury and
+Lewis-Clark of Fremont, raised the sum to two hundred, each promising
+more if it was needed.
+
+To find a Nebraska boulder was more difficult; and it was still more
+difficult to find a firm in Nebraska willing to undertake to raise it
+from its native bed and to carve upon it the insignia of the D. A. R.,
+with a suitable inscription. Finally a boulder of Sioux Falls granite
+was found in the Marsden farm, north of Lincoln, and it was given to the
+society by the owner, who remarked that he was "glad to be rid of it."
+Its dimensions were 7-1/2x8-1/3x3-1/2 feet. Its weight was between seven
+and eight tons. The firm of Kimball Brothers of Lincoln took the
+contract for its removal and inscription. Through the assistance of Mr.
+A. E. Sheldon of the State Historical Society, the Burlington and
+Missouri railroad generously transported it to Fort Calhoun, where its
+placing was looked after by Mr. J. H. Daniels of the Sons of the
+American Revolution. As the project had drifted away from the original
+intention, and had become a memorial to commemorate an event rather than
+to mark a spot, the boulder was placed on the public school grounds at
+Fort Calhoun. At last, almost five years from the time of the broaching
+of the project, the wish of the society was accomplished.
+
+The following condenses an account of the unveiling of the boulder, and
+the program, from the report of Miss Anna Tribell Adams of the Omaha
+chapter for the _American Monthly_ of January, 1905:
+
+"On August 3, 1904, the village of Fort Calhoun, fifteen miles above
+Omaha on the Missouri river, was the scene of the unveiling of a boulder
+commemorating the first peace council between the United States
+government and the chiefs of the Otoe and Missouri Indian tribes. The
+town as well as the school grounds were brave with bunting and flags.
+Everyone wore with a small flag the souvenir button on which was a
+picture of the boulder with a suitable inscription. As a matter of
+history it is a pleasure to record that the button was designed by Mrs.
+Elsie De Cou Troup of the Omaha chapter. One worn by one of the speakers
+is in the collection of the Deborah Avery chapter in the rooms of the
+State Historical Society at Lincoln.
+
+"Among those present were Brigadier General Theodore Wint, representing
+the United States government, Governor J. H. Mickey, Adjutant General
+and Mrs. J. H. Culver, Mr. J. A. Barrett and Mr. A. E. Sheldon of the
+State Historical Society, Senator J. H. Millard, ex-Governor J. E. Boyd,
+and others.
+
+"The Thirtieth Infantry band from Fort Calhoun opened the program. Then
+came a brief reproduction, in pageant-manner, by the Knights of
+Ak-Sar-Ben of Omaha, of the Council of 1804, enacting the Lewis and
+Clark treaty. Mr. Edward Rosewater of the Omaha _Bee_ extended the
+welcome of the day, and brought to the attention of the audience the
+presence of Mr. Antoine Cabney, the first white child born in Nebraska,
+whose birthplace, in 1827, was near the site of Fort Calhoun. The state
+regent, Mrs. Abraham Allee, introduced Governor Mickey, who spoke
+briefly. He was followed by J. A. Barrett of the State Historical
+Society, who gave an account of the Lewis and Clark Council. Honorable
+W. F. Gurley of Omaha then delivered the address of the day. At the
+conclusion of the formal program the boulder was unveiled. In the
+presentation speech by Mrs. S. B. Pound of Lincoln, the boulder was
+committed formally, in the name of the Sons and the Daughters of the
+American Revolution and of the State Historical Society, to the care of
+the citizens of Fort Calhoun."
+
+
+
+
+EARLY HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY
+
+BY MAJOR LESTER WALKER
+
+(Late captain Fifth U. S. Cavalry and brevet major U. S. Army)
+
+
+It is supposed that the first white men who visited Lincoln county were
+the Mallet brothers, who passed this way to Santa Fe in 1739. Pierre and
+Auguste Chouteau were sent out from St. Louis to explore the
+northwestern country in 1762. In 1780 another expedition was sent to
+explore the country between the Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains.
+
+After the expedition of Lewis and Clark, which followed up the Missouri
+river, the first government expedition was made in 1819, under Major
+Stephen H. Long, who traveled up the north side of the Platte and
+crossed just above the forks of the two rivers, then going up the valley
+between the two streams to the site of the present town of North Platte.
+
+Titian Peale, the naturalist of Philadelphia, was with this expedition
+and the Peale family living at North Platte, are relatives of his. In
+1835, Col. Henry Dodge visited this section of the country in the
+government employ to treat with the Arikara Indians.
+
+In 1843, Col. John C. Fremont, making his expedition up the Platte,
+celebrated the Fourth of July of that year, in what is now Lincoln
+county. During the year 1844 travel up the Platte river became quite
+heavy and the first building in the county was erected by a Frenchman
+(name unknown) near the present residence of Mrs. Burke at Fort
+McPherson, and was used as a trading ranch, but was abandoned in 1848.
+
+In 1852, a man by the name of Brady settled on the south side of the
+island now known as Brady Island. Brady is supposed to have been killed
+some time during the following year by the Indians.
+
+In 1858, the first permanent settlement in the county was made at
+Cottonwood Springs and the first building was erected in the fall of the
+year by Boyer & Roubidoux. I. P. Boyer had charge of this ranch. In the
+same year another trading ranch was built at O'Fallon's Bluffs on the
+south side of the river. In 1859 Dick Darling erected the second
+building at Cottonwood Springs. This building was purchased by Charles
+McDonald for a store, and he stocked it with general merchandise. In
+1860, Mr. McDonald brought his wife from Omaha, she being the first
+white woman to settle in Lincoln county. Mrs. McDonald lived here about
+three years before another white woman settled at Cottonwood Springs.
+Mr. McDonald is now living at North Platte, engaged in the banking
+business. Mrs. McDonald died in December, 1898, and is buried at North
+Platte.
+
+In the spring of 1860, J. A. Morrow built a ranch about twelve miles
+west from Cottonwood, to accommodate the great rush to California. To
+give some idea of the extent of the freight and emigrant business along
+this route, it was no uncommon thing to count from seven hundred to one
+thousand wagons passing in one day.
+
+During the year 1861, the Creighton telegraph line was completed through
+the county. In June, 1861, the first white child was born. His name is
+W. H. McDonald, son of Chas. McDonald, now of North Platte, Nebraska.
+
+In the spring of 1860, W. M. Hinman removed from Port Laramie to
+Cottonwood Springs, and opened up a farm, trading with the emigrants and
+Indians. In November, 1863, Fort McPherson was established by the
+government at this settlement of Cottonwood Springs. This military post
+was first commanded by Major George M. O'Brien.
+
+Fort McPherson was established none too soon, for it was in the
+following year, 1864, that the war with the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians
+commenced. This war continued for over five years and many emigrants and
+soldiers were killed.
+
+What is now known as Lincoln county, was first organized as a county
+under the territorial government of Nebraska in 1860. Cottonwood Springs
+was made the county-seat. The following officers were elected: County
+commissioners--I. P. Boyer, J. C. Gilman and J. A. Morrow;
+judge--Charles McDonald; treasurer--W. M. Hinman. Instead of calling the
+county Lincoln, it was named "Shorter." Nothing, however, was done under
+this organization. Judge McDonald qualified and the only business was
+the marriage ceremony.
+
+On September 3, 1866, a meeting was held and arrangements made to
+reorganize Shorter county under the name of Lincoln county. Under the
+reorganization, the following officers were elected: J. C. Gilman, W. M.
+Hinman, and J. A. Morrow were elected county commissioners; S. D.
+Fitchie, county judge; Wilton Baker, sheriff; and Charles McDonald,
+clerk. The county seat was at Cottonwood Springs. W. M. Hinman built a
+sawmill near Cottonwood Springs and did a large business. The Union
+Pacific railroad was then being constructed through this county and the
+caÒons south of the Platte abounded with cedar timber, furnishing an
+abundance of material.
+
+During November, 1866, the Union Pacific railroad was completed to North
+Platte and a town was laid out by the railroad company. The plat of the
+town was filed with the clerk of the county on January 31, 1867; a
+military post was established, and a garrison of soldiers was stationed
+here.
+
+In 1867 the Union Pacific railroad began the erection of shops and
+roundhouse, North Platte having been designated as a division station.
+During the year 1867, a freight train was wrecked by the Indians.
+Several of the trainmen were killed and the train plundered and burned.
+In September, 1867, the Indian chiefs were all called to assemble at
+North Platte, where they were met by the commissioners appointed by the
+government to treat with them. These commissioners were General Sherman,
+General Harney, and John P. Sanborne, and a treaty of peace was entered
+into. During the stay of these commissioners, they were well entertained
+by the citizens of North Platte. The county-seat was moved from
+Cottonwood Springs to North Platte at an election held October 8, 1867.
+A total of twenty-one votes were cast. The officers elected were B. I.
+Hinman, representative; W. M. Hinman, county judge; Charles McDonald,
+clerk; O. O. Austin, sheriff; Hugh Morgan, treasurer, and A. J. Miller,
+county commissioner. There was no courthouse, and the records were kept
+at the home of W. M. Hinman, who had moved from his farm to North
+Platte. The first county warrant was issued in 1867. The first term of
+district court was held at North Platte in 1867, Judge Gantt then being
+the circuit judge for the entire state. July 1, 1867, the first levy on
+the Union Pacific railroad in Lincoln county was made on an assessed
+valuation of $49,000.00.
+
+During this year, there was an Indian scare and settlers throughout the
+county thronged to the military parks at McPherson and North Platte,
+taking refuge in the railroad roundhouse at the latter place.
+
+The first money collected from fines was that paid into the county
+treasury on February 1, 1868, by R. C. Daugherty, a justice of the
+peace, who fined a man $21.50 for stealing an overcoat.
+
+The first school in the county was taught at North Platte during the
+summer of 1868. Theodore Clark was the first teacher. The next term of
+school began November 30, 1868, and was taught by Mary Hubbard, now Mrs.
+P. J. Gilman.
+
+The first Sunday school in the county was at North Platte, and was
+founded by Mrs. Keith, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Cogswell, and Mrs. Kramph.
+There were only three children in attendance.
+
+During the year 1868, troubles with the Indians were on the increase. On
+one occasion, "Dutch" Frank, running an engine and coming round a curve
+with his train, saw a large body of Indians on each side of the road,
+while a number were crowded on the track. Knowing it would be certain
+death to stop, he increased the speed of his train and went through
+them, killing quite a number.
+
+In May, 1869, the Fifth U. S. Cavalry arrived at Fort McPherson under
+General Carr. Eight companies were left here and four companies went to
+Sidney and Cheyenne. The government was surveying this county at that
+time and the troops were used to protect the surveyors. Large bands of
+Indians had left the reservation and were killing settlers and stealing
+horses. During the summer of 1869 the order from General Auger,
+commanding the department, was to clear the country of Indians between
+the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific. I was an officer of the Fifth
+U. S. Cavalry and was in command of the post at North Platte in 1869 and
+1870, and was in all the Indian campaigns until I resigned in 1878.
+
+The first bank in North Platte was started in 1875 by Walker Brothers
+and was later sold to Charles McDonald.
+
+
+
+
+GRAY EAGLE, PAWNEE CHIEF
+
+BY MILLARD S. BINNEY
+
+
+It is not often that one sees a real Indian chief on the streets of
+Fullerton, but such happened in June, 1913, when the city was visited by
+David Gillingham, as he is known in the English tongue, or Gray Eagle,
+as his people call him, chief of the Pawnees.
+
+Gray Eagle is the son of White Eagle, whom the early inhabitants of
+Nance county will remember as chief of the Pawnees at the time the
+county was owned by that tribe.
+
+Gray Eagle was born about three miles this side of Genoa, in 1861. He
+spent his boyhood in the county and when white men began to build at the
+place that is now Genoa, he attended school there. When he was fourteen
+years of age he accompanied his tribe to its new home at Pawnee City,
+Oklahoma, where he has since resided. The trip overland was made mostly
+on horseback, and the memories of it are very interesting as interpreted
+to us by Chief Gray Eagle, and John Williamson, of Genoa, one of the few
+white men to make this long journey with the red men. Gray Eagle made
+one trip back here in 1879, visiting the spot that is now
+Fullerton--then only a few rude shacks.
+
+Uppermost in Gray Eagle's mind had always been the desire to return and
+see what changes civilization had brought. In 1913 he was sent to St.
+Louis as a delegate to the Baptist convention, after which he decided to
+visit the old scenes. From St. Louis he went to Chicago and from that
+city he came to Genoa.
+
+"I have always wanted to see if I could locate the exact spot of my
+birth," said Gray Eagle, in perfect English, as he talked to us on this
+last visit, "and I have been successful in my undertaking. I found it
+last week, three miles this side of Genoa. I was born in a little, round
+mud-house, and although the house is long since gone, I discovered the
+circular mound that had been its foundation. I stood upon the very spot
+where I was born, and as I looked out over the slopes and valleys that
+had once been ours; at the corn and wheat growing upon the ground that
+had once been our hunting grounds; at the quietly flowing streams that
+we had used so often for watering places in the days so long gone by; my
+heart was very sad. Yet I've found that spot and am satisfied. I can now
+go back to the South and feel that my greatest desire has been granted."
+
+When asked if the Indians of today followed many of the customs of their
+ancestors, he answered that they did not. Occasionally the older
+Indians, in memory of the days of their supremacy, dressed themselves to
+correspond and acted as in other days, but the younger generation knows
+nothing of those things and is as the white man. In Oklahoma they go to
+school, later engage in farming or enter business. "Civilization has
+done much for them," said Gray Eagle. "They are hard workers and have
+ambitions to accomplish great things and be better citizens. Only we old
+Indians, who remember the strenuous times of the early days, have the
+wild blood in our veins. The younger ones have never even seen a
+buffalo."
+
+Then he told of his early life in the county and related interesting
+stories of the past--Gray Eagle, the Indian chief, and John Williamson,
+the pioneer, talking together, at times, in a tongue that to us was
+strange, but to them an echo of a very real past.
+
+The Loup he called Potato Water, because of the many wild potatoes that
+formerly grew upon its banks. Horse creek he remembered as Skeleton
+Water, the Pawnees one time having fought a band of Sioux on its banks.
+They were victorious but lost many warriors. Their own dead they buried,
+leaving the bodies of their enemies to decay in the sun. Soon the banks
+of the creek were strewn with skeletons and ever after the creek was
+known to the Indians as Skeleton Water. The Cedar was known as Willow
+creek, Council creek as the Skidi, and the Beaver as the Sandburr.
+
+
+
+
+    LOVERS' LEAP
+
+    BY MRS. A. P. JARVIS
+
+
+    I pause before I reach the verge
+      And look, with chilling blood, below;
+    Some dread attraction seems to urge
+      Me nearer to the brink to go.
+    The hunting red men used to force
+      The buffalo o'er this frightful steep;
+    They could not check their frantic course;
+      By following herds pressed down they leap,
+
+    Then lie a bleeding, mangled mass
+      Beside the little stream below.
+    Their red blood stained the waving grass,
+      The brook carnation used to flow.
+    Yet a far more pathetic tale
+      The Pawnees told the pioneer
+    Of dusky maid and stripling pale
+      Who found in death a refuge here.
+
+    The youth had been a captive long,
+      Yet failed to friendly favor find;
+    He oft was bound with cruel thong,
+      Yet Noma to the lad was kind.
+    She was the chieftain's only child,
+      As gentle as the cooing dove.
+    Pure was this daughter of the wild;
+      The pale-face lad had won her love.
+
+    Her father, angered at her choice,
+      Had bid'n her wed a chieftain brave;
+    She answered with a trembling voice,
+      "I'd rather lie within my grave."
+    The day before the appointed eve
+      When Wactah was to claim his bride,
+    The maid was seen the camp to leave--
+      The pale-face youth was by her side.
+
+    She led him to this dangerous place
+      That on the streamlet's glee doth frown;
+    The sunlight, gleaming on her face,
+      Her wild, dark beauty seemed to crown.
+    "Dear youth," exclaimed the dusky maid,
+      "I've brought thee here thy faith to prove:
+    If thou of death art not afraid,
+      We'll sacrifice our lives to love."
+
+    Hand linked in hand they looked below,
+      Then, headlong, plunged adown the steep.
+    The Pawnees from that hour of woe
+      Have named the place The Lovers' Leap.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY INDIAN HISTORY
+
+BY MRS. SARAH CLAPP
+
+
+In 1843 Mr. and Mrs. Lester W. Platt were first engaged in missionary
+work among the Pawnees, and in 1857 the government set aside a tract of
+land thirty miles by fifteen miles, in the rich prairie soil of Nance
+county, for their use; and when the Indian school was established at
+Genoa, Mrs. Platt was made matron or superintendent.
+
+My mother taught in this school during the years 1866-67. She found the
+work interesting, learned much of the customs and legends of the Pawnees
+and grew very fond of that noble woman, Mrs. Platt, who was able to tell
+thrilling stories of her experiences during her mission work among the
+members of that tribe.
+
+At the time my mother taught in the Genoa school, the Sioux, who were
+the greatest enemies of the Pawnees, on account of wanting to hunt in
+the same territory, were supposed to be friendly with the settlers, but
+drove away their horses and cattle and stole everything in sight,
+furnishing much excitement.
+
+My father, Captain S. E. Cushing, accompanied my uncle, Major Frank
+North, on a number of expeditions against the hostile Indians, during
+the years 1869 until 1877. He was with Major North at the time of the
+famous charge on the village of the Cheyennes, when the notorious chief,
+Tall Bull, was killed by my uncle.
+
+In 1856, when Frank North came to Nebraska, a young boy, he mingled
+fearlessly with the Indians along the Missouri in the region of Omaha,
+where our family first settled, learning their mode of warfare and
+living, and their language, which he spoke as fluently as his mother
+tongue. In 1861 he took a position as clerk and interpreter at the
+Pawnee reservation and by 1863 he had become known as a daring scout.
+
+The next year the building of the Union Pacific railroad was started,
+and as the work progressed westward the fierce Arapahoes, Cheyennes, and
+Sioux began attacking the laborers, until it seemed deadly peril to
+venture outside the camps. It was useless to call on the regular troops
+for help as the government needed them all to hold in check the armies
+of Lee and Johnston. A clipping from the Washington _Sunday Herald_, on
+this subject, states that "a happy thought occurred to Mr. Oakes Ames,"
+the main spirit of the work. He sent a trusty agent to hunt up Frank
+North, who was then twenty-four years old. "What can be done to protect
+our working parties, Mr. North?" said Mr. Ames. "I have an idea," Mr.
+North answered. "If the authorities at Washington will allow me to
+organize a battalion of Pawnees and mount and equip them, I will
+undertake to picket your entire line and keep off other Indians.
+
+"The Pawnees are the natural enemies of all the tribes that are giving
+you so much trouble, and a little encouragement and drill will make them
+the best irregular horse you could desire."
+
+This plan was new but looked feasible. Accordingly Mr. Ames went to
+Washington, and, after some effort, succeeded in getting permission to
+organize a battalion of four hundred Pawnee warriors, who should be
+armed as were the U.S. cavalry and drilled in such simple tactics as the
+service required, and my uncle was commissioned a major of volunteers
+and ordered to command them. The newspaper clipping also says: "It would
+be difficult to estimate the service of Major North in money value."
+General Crook once said, in speaking of him, "Millions of government
+property and hundreds of lives were saved by him on the line of the
+Union Pacific railroad, and on the Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana
+frontiers."
+
+There is much to be said in his praise, but I did not intend writing a
+eulogy, rather to tell of the stories which have come down to me, with
+which he and my other relatives were so closely connected.
+
+During the many skirmishes and battles fought by the Pawnees, under
+Major North, he never lost a man; moreover, on several different
+occasions he passed through such hair-breadth escapes that the Pawnees
+thought him invulnerable. In one instance, while pursuing the retreating
+enemy, he discovered that his command had fallen back and he was
+separated from them by over a mile. The enemy, discovering his plight,
+turned on him. He dismounted, being fully armed, and by using his horse
+as a breastwork he managed to reach his troops again, though his
+faithful horse was killed. This and many like experiences caused the
+Pawnees to believe that their revered leader led a charmed life. He
+never deceived them, and they loved to call him "Little Pawnee Le-Sharo"
+(Pawnee Chief), and so he was known as the White Chief of the Pawnees.
+
+The coming of the railroad through the state, bringing thousands of
+settlers with household furnishings and machinery for tilling the soil,
+was of the greatest importance. It was concerning the guarding of that
+right of way that a writer for the _Horse World_ has some interesting
+memories and devotes an article in a number in February, 1896, to the
+stories of Colonel W. F. Cody, Major Frank North, Captain Charles Morse,
+Captain Luther North, Captain Fred Mathews, and my father, Captain S. E.
+Cushing. The correspondent was under my father, in Company B, during one
+of the scouting expeditions, when the company was sent to guard
+O'Fallon's Bluffs, west of Fort McPherson on the Union Pacific. He tells
+much more of camp activities and of his initiation into border life than
+of the skirmishes or scouting trips. He was fond of horses and tells of
+a memorable race in which a horse of Buffalo Bill's was beaten by my
+father's horse "Jack."
+
+My uncle, Captain Luther North, who also commanded a company of scouts
+at that time, now resides in Omaha.
+
+While yet a boy he freighted between Omaha and Columbus and carried the
+mail, by pony, during a period when my grandmother felt that when she
+bade him good-bye in the morning she might never see him again, so
+unsettled was the feeling about the Indians. He was intimately
+acquainted with every phase of Indian life. He knew their pastimes and
+games, work of the medicine men and magicians, and especially was he
+familiar with many of their legends. I am happy to have been one of the
+children who often gathered 'round him to listen to the tales of his own
+experiences or stories told him by the red men.
+
+One personal experience in the family happened before the building of
+the railroad, probably in sixty-one or sixty-two. A number of men,
+accompanied by the wives of two of them, went to put up hay for the
+government, on land located between Genoa and Monroe. One night the
+Indians surrounded their camp, presumably to drive away their stock.
+Naturally the party rebelled, and during the melee which followed Adam
+Smith and another man were killed and one of the women, Mrs. Murray, was
+wounded but saved herself by crawling away through the tall grass. The
+recital of this trouble grew in magnitude the farther it traveled, until
+people grew frantic with fear, believing it to mean an uprising of the
+Sioux. The settlers from Shell creek and all directions, bringing
+horses, cattle, and even their fowls, together with personal belongings,
+flocked into the village of Columbus for mutual protection. My mother,
+then a young girl, describes the first night as one of much confusion.
+
+Some of the fugitives were sheltered with friends, others camped in the
+open. Animals, feeling as strange as did their masters, were bawling or
+screeching, and no one could sleep, as the greatest excitement
+prevailed.
+
+"They built a stockade of upright posts about eight feet high, around
+the town," says my uncle Luther, thinking that as the Indians usually
+fought on horseback, this would be a great help if not a first-class
+fort.
+
+They organized a militia company and men were detailed for guard duty
+and stationed at different points along the stockade, so serious seemed
+the situation. One night Luther North and two other young men were sent
+on picket duty outside the stockade. They took their horses and blankets
+and went up west of town about half a mile, to keep an eye on the
+surrounding country. A Mr. Needham had gone up to his farm (now the John
+Dawson farm) that day, and did not return until it was getting dark. The
+guards thought it would be great fun to give him a little scare, so as
+he approached they wrapped themselves in their blankets, mounted, and
+rode down under a bank. Just as he passed they came up in sight and gave
+the Indian war whoop and started after him. He whipped his team into a
+run; they chased him, yelling at every step, but stopped a reasonable
+distance from the stockade and then went back. Mr. Needham gave graphic
+description of how the Indians had chased him, which so upset the entire
+population that sleep was out of the question that night. Moreover he
+cautioned his wife in this wise: "Now, Christina, if the Indians come,
+it is everybody for himself, and you will have to skulk." This remark
+made by Mr. Needham became a byword, and even down into the next
+generation was a favorite saying and always provoked a smile. The young
+guards had no fear whatever of marauding Indians, and, blissfully
+unaware of the commotion they had aroused, went back up the road to a
+melon patch, ate a sufficient amount of the luscious fruit, picketed
+their horses, wrapped themselves in their blankets, and lay them down to
+pleasant dreams. The next morning they rode into town and reported no
+red men in sight. After a few weeks, when there was no further evidence
+of trouble from the savages, the people gradually dispersed to their
+homes and farms which were, by that time, much in need of attention.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. OREAL S. WARD
+
+Ninth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1909-1910]
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIZZARD OF 1888
+
+BY MINNIE FREEMAN PENNEY
+
+
+On January 12, 1888, the states of Nebraska and South Dakota were
+visited by a blizzard so fierce and cruel and death-dealing that
+residents of those sections cannot speak of it even now without an
+involuntary shudder.
+
+The storm burst with great suddenness and fury, and many there were who
+did not live to tell the story of their suffering. And none suffered
+more keenly than did the occupants of the prairie schoolhouses. Teachers
+and pupils lost their lives or were terribly maimed. The great storm
+indicated most impressively the measure of danger and trial that must be
+endured by the country school teacher in the isolated places on the
+frontier.
+
+Three Nebraska country school teachers--Loie Royce of Plainfield, Etta
+Shattuck of Holt county, and Minnie Freeman of Mira Valley, were the
+subjects of much newspaper writing.
+
+Miss Royce had nine pupils. Six went home for luncheon and remained on
+account of the storm. The three remaining pupils with the teacher stayed
+in the schoolhouse until three o'clock. Their fuel gave out, and as her
+boarding house was but fifteen rods away, the teacher decided to take
+the children home with her.
+
+In the fury of the storm they wandered and were lost. Darkness came, and
+with it death. One little boy sank into the eternal silence. The brave
+little teacher stretched herself out on the cold ground and cuddled the
+two remaining ones closer. Then the other little boy died and at
+daylight the spirit of the little girl, aged seven, fluttered away,
+leaving the young teacher frozen and dumb with agony. Loie Royce "hath
+done what she could; angels can do no better." Miss Royce lost both feet
+by amputation.
+
+Etta Shattuck, after sending her children home (all living near) tried
+to go to her home. Losing her way, she took refuge in a haystack, where
+she remained, helpless and hungry Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
+suffering intensely and not able to move. She lived but a short time
+after her terrible experience.
+
+Minnie Freeman was teaching in Mira Valley, Valley county. She had in
+her charge seventeen pupils. Finding it impossible to remain in the
+schoolhouse, she took the children with her to her boarding place almost
+a mile from the schoolhouse.
+
+Words are useless in the effort to portray that journey to the safe
+shelter of the farmhouse, with the touching obedience of the children to
+every word of direction--rather _felt_ than _heard_, in that fierce
+winding-sheet of ice and snow. How it cut and almost blinded them! It
+was terrible on their eyes. They beat their way onward, groping blindly
+in the darkness, with the visions of life and death ever before the
+young teacher responsible for the destiny of seventeen souls.
+
+All reached the farmhouse and were given a nice warm supper prepared by
+the hostess and the teacher, and comfortable beds provided.
+
+Minnie Freeman was unconscious of anything heroic or unusual. Doing it
+in the simple line of duty to those placed in her care, she still
+maintains that it was the trust placed in the Great Spirit who guides
+and cares for His own which led the little band--
+
+    "Through the desert and illimitable air,
+    Lone wandering, but not lost."
+
+
+
+
+    AN ACROSTIC
+
+    _Written to Miss Minnie Freeman in 1888 by Mrs. Ellis of St. Paul,
+    Nebraska. Mrs. Ellis was then seventy-eight years old--now
+    deceased_
+
+    'Midst driving winds and blinding snows,
+    Impending dangers round her close;
+    No shelter from the blast and sleet,
+    No earthly help to guide her feet.
+    In God alone she puts her trust,
+    Ever to guide the brave and just.
+
+    Fierce and loud the awful storm,
+    Racking now her slender form,
+    Eager to save the little band
+    Entrusted to her guiding hand.
+    Marshalled her host, see, forth she goes
+    And falters not while tempest blows;
+    Now God alone can help, she knows.
+
+    See them falling as they go;
+    Angry winds around them blow.
+    Is there none to hear their cry?
+    Now her strength will almost fail;
+    Tranquil, she braves the fearful gale.
+
+    PreÎminent her name shall stand,
+    A beacon light o'er all the land,
+    Unrivalled on the page of time;
+    Let song and story swell the chime.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN NANCE COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. ELLEN SAUNDERS WALTON
+
+
+In 1872, after passing through a great sorrow, a longing came to me to
+enter the missionary field among the Indians. At that time the Pawnee
+tribe was located on their reservation, now Nance county, and I was sent
+to work among them. It was interesting, at the same time sad and
+depressing, to witness the degeneration and savagery of tribal life; and
+ofttimes it was seemingly hopeless to civilize and christianize them.
+
+In 1874 the Pawnees were removed by the government to Indian territory,
+now Oklahoma, and the reservation was thrown on the market. This became
+Nance county, and a new order of things followed. Settlers came to the
+little hamlet of Genoa, that had been first settled by the Mormons in
+1857, and though later given over to the Indians, it was one of the
+oldest towns in Nebraska.
+
+A church was established under the care of the New England
+Congregational Mission and Rev. Charles Starbuck was put in charge. A
+small farmhouse where travelers could be accommodated, and a few homes
+of those who had bought land, comprised the village life. This freedom
+from restraint was indeed new to one accustomed to the rush of busy life
+in New York. Daily rides over the prairie on my pony were a delight.
+
+It was wonderful how many cultured people drifted into the almost
+unknown western country. It was not infrequent to see in humble sod
+houses shelves filled with standard books and writings of the best
+authors. This was the second wave of population, and though many things
+had to be sacrificed that in the old life were considered necessary to
+comfort, pioneer life had its happy features. One especially was the
+kindly expression of helpfulness in time of sickness or sorrow. The
+discomforts and self denials and the longing for dear ones far away grow
+dim and faded! only memories of pleasant hours remain. Then came the
+third wave of men and women settling all around, bringing fashion and
+refining influences, and entertainment of various kinds. Churches,
+elevators, banks, and business houses were built and Nance county began
+to show the march of civilization and progress. Where first we knew the
+flower-gemmed prairie, modern homes spring up and good roads follow the
+trails of the Indian and the hunter.
+
+
+
+
+    THE PAWNEE CHIEF'S FAREWELL
+
+    BY CHAUNCEY LIVINGSTON WILTSE
+
+
+    As I strolled alone, when the day had flown,
+      Through the once Pawnee reserve,
+    Where the memories keep of the brave asleep
+      By the winding Cedar's curve--
+    Methought the leaves of the old oak trees
+      'Neath the sheltering hill-range spoke,
+    And they said: "It's here that hearts knew no fear,
+      Where arose the Pawnee smoke!
+
+    "In the eventide, when all cares subside,
+      Is the hour the tribe liked best;
+    When the gold of day crossed the hills away,
+      And, like those who tried, found rest.
+    O'er this Lovers' Leap, where now shadows creep,
+      Strode the chief, in thought, alone--
+    And he said: 'Trees true, and all stars in view,
+      And you very winds my own!
+
+    "'I soon shall pass, like the blades of grass,
+      Where the wandering shadows go;
+    Only leaves will tell what my tribe did well--
+      But you Hearts of Oak--you know!
+    To those Hunting Grounds that are never found
+      Shall my tribe, in time, depart;
+    Then it will be you to tell who were true,
+      With the dawn-song in their heart!
+
+    "'You will sing a song, with the winds along,
+      How the Pawnee loved these hills!
+    Here he loved to stray, all the wind-glad day--
+      In his heart the wind sings still!
+    You will whisper, too, how he braved the Sioux,
+      How life's days he did his part;
+    Though not understood, how he wished but good,
+      With but love within his heart!
+
+    "'The White Father's call reaches us, and all
+      To his South Wind land we fly,
+    Yet we fain would stay with you hills alway--
+      It is hard to say good-bye!
+    You, our fatherland, we could once command,
+      We are driven from, so fast;
+    But you hills alway in our hearts will stay
+      And be with us at the last!
+
+    "'Here we took our stand for our fatherland,
+      Here our sons to manhood grew;
+    Here their loves were found, where these hills surround--
+      Here the winds sang to them, too!
+    By this Cedar's side, where the waters glide,
+      We went forth to hunt and dream;
+    Here we felt the spell of you oaks as well,
+      And felt all that love may seem!
+
+    "'Here we felt the pang of the hot wind tang,
+      Here we felt the blizzard's breath;
+    Here we faced the foe, as the stars all know--
+      Here we saw the face of Death!
+    Here we braved the wrath of the lightning's path,
+      Here we dared starvation's worst;
+    Here tonight we stand, for our fatherland,
+      Banished from what was ours--first!
+
+    "'Bravely we obey, and will go away;
+      The White Father wills it so;
+    But our thoughts will roam to this dawntime home
+      Where our fathers sleep, below!
+    And some shining day, beyond white men's sway,
+      We will meet our long-lost own--
+    Where you singing winds and the dawn begins,
+      One will say, "Come in--come home!"
+
+    "'Just beyond you hills, the Rest Land still
+      Is waiting for us all;
+    At earth's sunset hour One will wake each flower,
+      And us home will softly call!
+    Trees and stream, good-bye! Now our parting's nigh;
+      Know you memory's sweet to me!
+    Though our footsteps go, you may always know
+      You've the heart of each Pawnee!'
+
+    "As the chief passed by, stars filled the sky,
+      And the moonlight softest fell--
+    But the night winds said, 'Peace is overhead!'
+      And the hills said, 'All is well!'"
+
+
+
+
+MY TRIP WEST IN 1861
+
+BY SARAH SCHOOLEY RANDALL
+
+
+In 1857 my brother, Charles A. Schooley, landed at Brownville and soon
+after purchased several tracts of land near there, one being the old
+home of Church Howe and adjoining the present site of the village of
+Howe. Incidentally, my husband's father, N. G. Randall, three years
+later purchased land within three miles--known later as Bedford.
+
+In 1860, while my brother was visiting his old home, White Deer Valley,
+near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the smoldering flames of adventure were
+kindled in my mind which nothing but a trip west could quench. On
+March 1, 1861, we left Williamsport by train from Pittsburgh and on
+arriving there went to the Monongahela hotel, then a magnificent
+building. Abe Lincoln had just left the hotel, much to our
+disappointment. After a few days we engaged passage on the _Argonaut_ to
+St. Louis via the Monongahela, the Ohio, and the Mississippi rivers. Our
+experiences were varied and exciting enough to meet my expectations.
+During one night we stood tied to a tree and another night the pumps
+were kept going to keep us from sinking. Small consolation we got from
+the captain's remark that this was "the last trip for this old hulk." We
+had ample time for seeing all the important cities along the
+shore--Cincinnati, Louisville, etc.
+
+Arriving at St. Louis we took passage on a new boat, _Sunshine_, and set
+sail upstream. Perhaps we felt a few pangs of fear as we neared the real
+pioneer life. We changed boats again at St. Joe and then our trip
+continued, now up the treacherous Missouri. Every now and then we struck
+a snag which sent the dishes scurrying from the table. I am reminded
+that this trip was typical of our lives: floating downstream is easy but
+upstream is where we strike the snags.
+
+Of our valued acquaintances met on the trip were Rev. and Mrs. Barrette,
+the former a Presbyterian minister coming to Brownville, and our
+friendship continued after reaching our destination. Arriving in
+Brownville, we went to the McPherson hotel, where we continued to hear
+disturbing rumors about the coming civil war.
+
+After a few days we took a carriage and went west ten miles over the
+beautiful rolling prairies to our ranch. I was charmed with the scene,
+which was vastly different from the mountains and narrow winding valleys
+of Pennsylvania, and was determined to stay, though my brother had lost
+his enthusiasm and gave me two weeks to change my mind. Many a homesick
+spell I had when I would have very quickly returned to my father's home
+of peace and plenty, but the danger of travel detained me. I assured my
+brother that if he would only stay I would be very brave and economical.
+I only wanted five small rooms plainly furnished and a horse and
+carriage. When the place was ready we left Brownville in a big wagon,
+drawn by oxen, and fortified by a load of provisions. When we came in
+sight of our bungalow it proved to be a one-room, unpainted and
+unplastered edifice, but I soon overcame that defect by the use of
+curtains, and as all lived alike then, we were content with our
+surroundings. Our first callers were three hundred Indians on an
+expedition. I had been reading extensively about Indians, so knew when I
+saw their squaws and papooses with them that they were friendly--in
+fact, rather too familiar.
+
+My brother fenced his land and planted it in corn and all kinds of
+vegetables. The season being favorable there was an abundant crop, both
+cultivated and wild. The timber abounded with grapes, plums, nuts, etc.,
+and strawberries on the prairies. We had a well of fine water, a good
+cellar or cave, and a genuine "creampot" cow. Instead of a carriage I
+had a fine saddle horse (afterwards sold to a captain in the army), and
+how we did gallop over the prairies! One of my escapades was to a
+neighbor's home ten miles away for ripe tomatoes. In lieu of a sack we
+tied together the neck and sleeves of a calico wrapper, filled it with
+the tomatoes, then tied the bottom and balanced it astride the horse in
+front of me. Going through the tall slough grass in one place near
+Sheridan, now Auburn, the horse became frantic with heat and flies and
+attempted to run away. The strings gave way and the tomatoes scattered.
+Finally the saddle turned and the well-trained horse stopped. An
+inventory revealed one sleeve full of tomatoes remaining.
+
+Among our near neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Milo Gates and family, and
+Mr. and Mrs. Engle. Mrs. Gates's cheerful optimism made this pioneer
+life not only possible but enjoyable.
+
+After five months, my brother joined the army and went south as a
+captain; was several times promoted, and stayed all through the war. A
+year after I went back to Brownville to stay until the war was over, and
+there made many valued acquaintances: Senator Tipton's sister, Mrs.
+Atkinson, Judge Wheeler, H. C. Lett, the McCrearys, Hackers, Whitneys,
+Carsons, Dr. Guin, Furnas, Johnson, etc. About this time the citizens
+gave a party for the boys who enlisted, and there I met E. J. Randall,
+whom I married soon after he returned from the army. Of the four Randall
+brothers who enlisted one was killed, one wounded, and one taken
+prisoner. Two of them still live, Dr. H. L. Randall of Aurora,
+forty-seven years a practicing physician in Nebraska and at one time
+surgeon at the Soldiers' Home, Grand Island; and A. D. Randall of
+Chapman, Nebraska, who enlisted at the age of sixteen and served all
+through the war.
+
+After a college course of four years my husband entered the ministry and
+served for twenty-five years in Nebraska, except for one year of mission
+work at Cheyenne, Wyoming. The itinerant life is not unlike the pioneer
+life and brought with it the bitter and sweet as well, but the bitter
+was soon forgotten and blessed memories remain of the dear friends
+scattered all over the state of Nebraska, and indeed to the ends of the
+earth.
+
+Dr. Wharton said when paying his tribute to my departed husband, "He
+still lives on in the lives of those to whom he has ministered." Our
+children are Charles H. Randall of Los Angeles, California, member of
+congress, and Mrs. Anna Randall Pope of Lincoln, Nebraska.
+
+
+
+
+STIRRING EVENTS ALONG THE LITTLE BLUE
+
+BY CLARENDON E. ADAMS
+
+
+_Painting a Buffalo_
+
+The following narrative of Albert Bierstadt's visit to what is now
+Nuckolls county, Nebraska, was told to me by Mr. E. S. Comstock, a
+pioneer of the county. Mr. Comstock made his first settlement in this
+county at Oak Grove, in 1858, and was in charge of the Oak Grove ranch
+when this incident took place.
+
+In 1863 Mr. Bierstadt returned from the Pacific coast via the Overland
+stage route, which was then conducted by Russell, Majors & Waddell, the
+pioneer stage and pony expressmen of the plains. Arriving at Oak Grove
+ranch, Mr. Bierstadt and his traveling companion, a Mr. Dunlap,
+correspondent of the New York _Post_, decided to stop a few days and
+have a buffalo hunt. In company with E. S. Comstock, his son George, and
+a neighbor by the name of Eubanks, who was killed by the Indians the
+next year, they proceeded to the Republican Valley and camped the first
+night in the grove on Lost creek, now known as Lincoln Park. The
+following morning the party proceeded up the river to the farm now owned
+by Frank Schmeling. Here they discovered a large herd of buffalo grazing
+along the creek to the west and covering the prairies to the north for
+several miles. Mr. Comstock says that it was one of the largest herds of
+buffalo he had ever encountered and that Mr. Bierstadt became greatly
+excited and said, "Now, boys, is our time for fun. I want to see an
+enraged wounded buffalo. I want to see him so mad that he will bellow
+and tear up the ground." Mr. Comstock said they arranged for the affray:
+Mr. Bierstadt was to take his position on a small knoll to the east of
+the herd, fix himself with his easel so that he could sketch the
+landscape and the grazing bison, and when this was done the wounding of
+one of the buffalo bulls was to take place.
+
+Bierstadt was stationed on a small knoll in plain view of the herd; Mr.
+Eubanks was stationed in a draw near Bierstadt, in order to protect him
+from the charges of the buffalo, if necessary. George Comstock was to
+select a buffalo bull from the herd and wound him and then tantalize him
+by shaking a red blanket at him until he was thoroughly enraged, then he
+was to give him another wound from his rifle and lead out in the
+direction of Mr. Bierstadt.
+
+The wounded buffalo became furious and charged Comstock's horse
+repeatedly, but Comstock, being an expert horseman, evaded the fierce
+charges and was all the time coming nearer to Bierstadt. When within
+about three hundred yards Comstock whirled his horse to the side of the
+maddened monster. As a buffalo does not see well out of the side of his
+eyes on account of the long shaggy hair about the face, Comstock was
+lost to his view. The infuriated animal tossed his head high in air and
+the only thing he saw was Bierstadt. Onward he rushed toward the artist,
+pawing the ground and bellowing furiously. Bierstadt called for help and
+took to his heels. The buffalo struck the easel and sent it in splinters
+through the air. Onward he rushed after the fleeing artist, who was
+making the best time of his life. Mr. Comstock said he was running so
+fast that his coat tails stuck so straight out that you could have
+played a game of euchre on them. The buffalo was gaining at every jump.
+
+At this point in his story Mr. Comstock became greatly excited. He was
+standing on the identical spot telling me the story, and was living the
+exciting scene over again. "Why," he said, "I thought Eubanks never
+would shoot. I was scared. The buffalo nearly had his horns under
+Bierstadt's coat tail. He was snorting froth and blood all over him, but
+the gun cracked and the buffalo fell and Bierstadt was so overcome he
+fell at the same time entirely exhausted, but saved from a fearful
+death." When he recovered sufficiently to talk, he said, "That's enough;
+no more wounded buffalo for me." Mr. Bierstadt was several days
+recovering from his fearful experience, but while he was recovering, he
+was painting the picture. "Mr. Dunlap, the correspondent, wrote a
+graphic and vivid pen picture of the exciting scene," said Mr. Comstock;
+"but when Mr. Bierstadt finished his picture of the infuriated charging
+buffalo and the chase, the pen picture was not in it."
+
+This was the painting that brought Bierstadt into prominence as an
+artist. It was exhibited at the first Chicago exhibition and was sold
+for $75,000. I saw the picture in Chicago before I heard Mr. Comstock's
+narrative, and as I was one of the owners of El Capitan Rancho, the
+landscape of the famous painting, I fixed his story vividly upon my
+memory. Mr. Mike Woerner now owns a portion of El Capitan Rancho, the
+landscape of this famous painting. A portion of this original painting
+is embraced in Mr. Bierstadt's masterpiece, "The Last of the Buffalo."
+
+
+_An Indian Raid_
+
+The settlement of the section now included in Nuckolls county was
+attended with more privation and suffering from Indian raids and
+depredations than any other county in the state of Nebraska. The great
+Indian raids of August 7, 1864, extended from Denver, Colorado, to Gage
+county, Nebraska, at which time every stage station and settlement along
+the entire line of the Overland trail was included in that skilfully
+planned attack. A certain number of warriors were assigned to each place
+and the attack was simultaneous along the line for four hundred miles in
+extent.
+
+The Oak Grove ranch was among the most formidable in fortifications and
+a band of forty well-armed braves was sent to capture and destroy it. On
+the day of the attack G. S. Comstock, owner of Oak Grove ranch, was away
+from home; but besides his family there were five men at the stockade.
+The Indians came to the ranch about mid-day in a friendly attitude. They
+had left their ponies about a quarter of a mile away. They asked for
+something to eat and were permitted to come into the house with their
+guns and bows and arrows on their persons. They finished their dinner
+and each received a portion of tobacco and some matches. Then without
+any warning they turned upon the inmates of the ranch yelling and
+shooting like demons, and only for the quickness and great presence of
+mind of one of the Comstock boys the whites would all have been killed
+or taken away captives to submit to the cruelty of the savage foe.
+
+A Mr. Kelly, from Beatrice, was there and was the first to fall pierced
+with an arrow. He had a navy revolver in his belt. The Indians rushed
+for it but young Comstock was too quick for them and seized the revolver
+first and shot down the leader of the braves. Seeing the fate of their
+leader, the Indians rushed to the door in great fright. The revolver was
+in skilful hands and three more of the braves went down under the
+unerring aim of young Comstock. Kelly and Butler were both killed
+outright. Two men by the name of Ostrander and a boy were wounded. All
+the other occupants of the ranch had their clothes pierced with arrows
+or bullets.
+
+The Indians ran to their ponies, and while they were away planning
+another attack, the wounded were cared for as best they could. The doors
+were securely barred and the living were stationed in the most
+advantageous places for defense. The friendly game of the Indians had
+not worked as they expected, but they were not daunted and soon they
+encircled the house, riding, shooting, and yelling. This fiendish
+warfare they kept up all the afternoon. They tried several times to set
+the buildings on fire but shots from experienced marksmen, both men and
+women, kept them at bay.
+
+The new leader of the Indians rode a white pony and seemed at times to
+work his warriors up to great desperation, and young Comstock made up
+his mind to shoot him the next time that he appeared. It was now too
+dark to distinguish one man from another. Mr. Comstock, senior, was
+mounted on a white horse and he was enroute home about the time the
+Indians were expected to return. The vigilant son raised his gun, took
+aim, and was about to shoot, when one of the girls, remembering that her
+father rode a white horse, called out, "Father, is it you?" An
+affirmative answer came back just in time to prevent the fatal shot
+which would have followed in an instant more. Mr. Comstock had ridden
+through the Indian lines, while returning to his ranch, unmolested. He
+said to me he believed the Indians spared his life that evening on
+account of favors he had always granted them.
+
+Five miles east of the Comstock ranch that day a boy eighteen years old
+by the name of Ulig was met by two Indians. One of them shook hands with
+him while the other pierced his body with a spear and then scalped him
+and left him writhing in the broiling sun to die on the prairie. This
+savage and brutal act was followed by others unparalleled even in savage
+warfare. Four miles above Oak Grove at a place called the Narrows on the
+Little Blue river, lived a family of ten persons by the name of Eubanks.
+They were from the East and knew nothing of Indians' cruel warfare and
+when they were attacked they left their cabin and ran for the trees and
+brush along the river banks. Nine of them were murdered in the most
+brutal manner: scalped and stripped of their clothing. Two of the women,
+Mrs. Eubanks, with a young babe in her arms, and Laura Roper, a school
+teacher who was there on a visit, were the only ones who arrived at a
+place of concealment and would have escaped had not the babe from heat
+and fright cried out. The practiced ear of the Indians caught the sound
+and they were made captives and subjected to the most inhuman and
+beastly treatment by the horrible savages. After the mother was made a
+captive the baby cried from hunger. The mother was so famished she could
+not nourish the babe but held it fondly in her arms trying to soothe it;
+and one of the merciless savages stepped up and brained it with his
+tomahawk. No pen or brush can tell the horrors of this diabolical deed.
+
+The two women were subjected to six months of bondage impossible to
+describe. I was telling this story one day to the late Captain Henry E.
+Palmer of Omaha, and learned from him that he and his command of
+soldiers and Pawnee scouts followed these inhuman wretches over the
+plains trying to bring them to bay, and finally down on the Solomon
+river in Kansas captured some of the Indian chiefs and succeeded in
+exchanging them for the two women captives.
+
+This is one of the terrible chapters in the early settlement of Nuckolls
+county and was graphically detailed to me by Mr. Comstock soon after I
+settled in the county.
+
+
+
+
+MY LAST BUFFALO HUNT
+
+BY J. STERLING MORTON
+
+(Read before the Nebraska State Historical Society, January 10, 1899)
+
+
+Among all the glowing and glorious autumns of the forty-odd which I have
+enjoyed in clear-skied Nebraska, the most delicious, dreamy, and
+tranquil was that of 1861. The first day of October in that year
+surpassed in purity of air, clouds, and coloring all the other October
+days in my whole life. The prairies were not a somber brown, but a
+gorgeous old-gold; and there drifted in the dry, crisp atmosphere
+lace-like fragments of opalescent clouds which later in the afternoon
+gave the horizon the look of a far-away ocean upon which one could see
+fairy ships, and upon its farther-away shores splendid castles, their
+minarets and towers tipped with gold. The indolence of savagery
+saturated every inhalation, and all physical exertion except in the hunt
+or chase seemed repellent, irksome, and unendurable.
+
+Then it was that--like an evolution from environment--the desire and
+impulse to go upon a buffalo hunt seized upon and held and encompassed
+and dominated every fibre of my physical, every ambition and aspiration
+of my mental, make-up. Controlled by this spontaneous reincarnation of
+the barbaric tastes and habits of some nomadic ancestor of a prehistoric
+generation, arrangements for an excursion to Fort Kearny on the Platte
+(Colonel Alexander, of the regular army, then in command) were
+completed. With food rations, tent and camping furniture, and arms and
+ammunition, and pipes and tobacco, and a few drops of distilled rye (to
+be used only when snake-bitten), a light one-horse wagon drawn by a
+well-bred horse which was driven by the writer, was early the next
+morning leaving Arbor Lodge, and briskly speeding westward on the
+"Overland Trail" leading to California. And what rare roads there were
+in those buoyant days of the pioneers! All the prairies, clear across
+the plains from the Missouri river to the mountains, were perfectly
+paved with solid, tough, but elastic sod. And no asphalt or block-paved
+avenue or well-worked pike can give the responsive pressure to the touch
+of a human foot or a horse-hoof that came always from those smooth and
+comely trails. Especially in riding on horseback were the felicities of
+those primitive prairie roads emphasized and accentuated. Upon them one
+felt the magnetism and life of his horse; they animated and electrified
+him with the vigor and spirit of the animal until in elation, the rider
+became, at least emotionally, a centaur--a semi-horse human. The
+invigoration and exaltation of careering over undulating prairies on a
+beautiful, speedy, and spirited horse thrilled every sense and
+satisfied, as to exhilaration, by physical exercise, the entire mental
+personality. Nature's roads in Nebraska are unequaled by any of their
+successors.
+
+This excursion was in a wagon without springs; and after driving alone,
+as far as the Weeping Water crossing, I overtook an ox train loaded with
+goods and supplies for Gilman's ranch on the Platte away beyond Fort
+Kearny.
+
+One of the proprietors, Mr. Jed Gilman, was in command of the outfit,
+and by his cordial and hospitable invitation I became his willing and
+voracious guest for the noonday meal. With a township for a dining room
+over which arched the turquoise-colored sky, like a vaulted ceiling,
+frescoed with clouds of fleecy white, we sat down upon our buffalo robes
+to partake of a hearty meal. There was no white settler within miles of
+our camp. The cry of "Dinner is now ready in the next car" had never
+been heard west of the Mississippi river nor even dreamed of in the
+East. The bill of fare was substantial: bacon fried, hot bread, strong
+coffee, stronger raw onions, and roasted potatoes. And the appetite
+which made all exquisitely palatable and delicious descended to us out
+of the pure air and the exhilaration of perfect health. And then came
+the post-prandial pipe--how fragrant and solacing its fumes--from
+Virginia natural leaf, compared to which the exhalations from a perfecto
+cigar are today a disagreeable stench. There was then the leisure to
+smoke, the liberty and impulse to sing, to whoop, and to generally
+simulate the savages into whose hunting grounds we were making an
+excursion. Life lengthened out before us like the Overland route to the
+Pacific in undulations of continuously rising hillocks and from the
+summit of each one scaled we saw a similarly attractive one beyond in a
+seemingly never-ending pathway of pleasure, ambition, and satisfaction.
+The gold of the Pacific coast was not more real then than the invisible
+possibilities of life, prosperity, success, and contentment which were
+to teem, thrive, and abound upon these prairies which seemed only farms
+asleep or like thoughts unuttered--books unopened.
+
+But the smoke over, the oxen again yoked to the wagons and the train,
+like a file of huge white beetles, lumbered along to the songs,
+swearing, and whip-crackings of the drivers toward the crossing of Salt
+creek. However, by my persuasive insistence, Mr. Gilman left his wagon
+boss in charge and getting into my wagon accompanied me. Together we
+traveled briskly until quite late at night when we made camp at a point
+near where the town of Wahoo now stands. There was a rough ranch cabin
+there, and we remained until the following morning, when we struck out
+at a brisk trot toward Fort Kearny, entering the Platte Valley at
+McCabe's ranch. The day and the road were perfect. We made good time. At
+night we were entertained at Warfield's, on the Platte. The water in the
+well there was too highly flavored to be refreshing. Nine skunks had
+been lifted out of it the day of our arrival and only Platte river water
+could be had, which we found rather stale for having been hauled some
+distance in an old sorghum cask. But fatigue and a square meal are an
+innocent opiate and we were soon fast asleep under the open sky with the
+moon and stars only to hear how loudly a big ranchman can snore in a
+bedroom of a million or more acres. In the morning of our third day out,
+we were up, breakfasted with the sunrise, and drove on over the then
+untried railroad bed of the Platte Valley at a rattling gait. The stanch
+and speedy animal over which the reins were drawn, a splendid bay of
+gentle birth, had courage and endurance by heredity, and thus we made
+time. Ranches were from twenty to thirty miles apart. And the night of
+the third day found us at Mabin's.
+
+This was a hotel, feed barn, dry goods establishment, and saloon all
+under one roof, about thirty miles from Fort Kearny. After a reasonably
+edible supper, Mr. Gilman and I were escorted to the saloon and informed
+that we could repose and possibly sleep in the aisle which divided it
+from the granary which was filled with oats. Our blankets and buffalo
+robes were soon spread out in this narrow pathway. On our right were
+about two hundred bushels of oats in bulk, and on our left the counter
+which stood before variously shaped bottles containing alleged gin,
+supposed whiskey, and probable brandy. We had not been long in a
+recumbent position before--instead of sleep gently creeping over us--we
+experienced that we were race courses and grazing grounds for
+innumerable myriads of sand fleas. Immediately Gilman insisted that we
+should change our apartment and go out on the prairies near a haystack;
+but I stubbornly insisted that, as the fleas had not bitten me, I would
+continue indoors. Thereupon Gilman incontinently left, and then the
+fleas with vicious vigor and voracity assaulted me. The bites were
+sharp, they were incisive and decisive. They came in volleys. Then in
+wrath I too arose from that lowly but lively couch between the oats and
+the bar and sullenly went out under the starlit sky to find Mr. Gilman
+energetically whipping his shirt over a wagon wheel to disinfest it from
+fleas. But the sand fleas of the Platte are not easily discharged or
+diverted, from a fair and juicy victim. They have a wonderful tenacity
+of purpose. They trotted and hopped and skipped along behind us to the
+haystack. They affectionately and fervidly abided with us on the
+prairie; and it is safe to say that there never were two human beings
+more thoroughly perforated, more persistently punctured with flea bites
+than were the two guests at Mabins's ranch during all that long and
+agonizing night. However, there came an end to the darkness and the
+attempt at sleep, and after an early breakfast we resumed the Fort
+Kearny journey to arrive at its end in the late afternoon of the fourth
+day.
+
+There I found Colonel Alexander, of the regular army, in command. John
+Heth, of Virginia, was the sutler for the post and after some
+consultation and advisement it was determined that we might without much
+danger from Indians go south to the Republican river for a buffalo hunt.
+At that time the Cheyennes, who were a bloodthirsty tribe, were in arms
+against the white people and yearning for their scalps wherever found.
+But to avoid or mitigate dangers Colonel Alexander considerately
+detailed Lieutenant Bush with twelve enlisted men, all soldiers of
+experience in the Indian country, to go with us to the Republican Valley
+as an escort or guard--in military parlance, on detached service. Thus
+our party moved southward with ample force of arms for its defense.
+
+The four hunters of the expedition were Lieutenant Bush, John Heth, John
+Talbot (who had been honorably discharged from the regular army after
+some years of service) and myself. The excursion was massed and ready
+for departure at 8 o'clock on the bright morning of October 6, 1861. The
+course taken was nearly due south from the present site of Kearney city
+in Buffalo county. The expedition consisted of two large army wagons,
+four mules attached to each wagon, a light, two-horse spring wagon, and
+four trained riding horses experienced in the chase, together with
+twelve soldiers of the regular U. S. army and the gentlemen already
+named. It had not traveled more than twenty-five miles south of Fort
+Kearny before it came in view of an immense and seemingly uncountable
+herd of buffalo.
+
+My first sight of these primitive beeves of the plains I shall never
+forget. They were so distant that I could not make out their individual
+forms and I at once jumped to the conclusion that they were only an
+innumerable lot of crows sitting about upon the knobs and hillocks of
+the prairies. But in a few moments, when we came nearer, they
+materialized and were, sure enough, real bellowing, snorting, wallowing
+buffaloes. At first they appeared to give no heed to our outfit, but
+after we saddled and mounted our horses and rode into their midst they
+began to scatter and to form into small bands, single file. The herd
+separated into long, black swaying strings and each string was headed by
+the best meat among its numbers. The leading animal was generally a
+three-year-old cow. Each of these strings, or single-file bands, ran in
+a general southeast direction and each of the four hunters--Bush, Heth,
+Talbot, and the writer--selected a string and went for the preÎminent
+animal with enthusiasm, zeal, and impulsive foolhardiness.
+
+In the beginning of the pell-mell, hurry-scurry race it seemed that it
+would be very easy to speedily overtake the desired individual buffalo
+that we intended to shoot and kill. The whole band seemed to run
+leisurely. They made a sort of sidewise gait, a movement such as one
+often sees in a dog running ahead of a wagon on a country road. Upon the
+level prairie we made very perceptible gains upon them, but when a
+declivity was reached and we made a down hill gallop we were obliged to
+rein in and hold up the horses, or take the chances of a broken leg or
+neck by being ditched in a badger or wolf hole. But the buffaloes with
+their heavy shoulders and huge hair-matted heads lumbered along down the
+incline with great celerity, gaining so much upon us that every now and
+then one of them would drop out from the line upon reaching an
+attractive depression, roll over two or three times in his "wallow,"
+jump up and join his fleeing fellows before we could reach him.
+
+But finally after swinging and swaying hither and thither with the band
+or line as it swayed and swung, the lead animal was reached and with
+much exultation and six very nervous shots put to death. My trophy
+proved to be a buffalo cow of two or three years of age; and after she
+had dropped to the ground, a nimble calf, about three months old,
+evidently her progeny, began making circles around and around the dead
+mother and bleating pitifully, enlarging the circle each time, until at
+last it went out of sight onto the prairie and alone, all the other
+parts of the herd having scattered beyond the rising bluffs and far
+away.
+
+That afternoon was fuller of tense excitement, savage enthusiasms, zeal
+and barbaric ambition than any other that could be assorted from my life
+of more than sixty years. There was a certain amount of ancestral
+heathenism aroused in every man, spurring a horse to greater swiftness,
+in that chase for large game. And there was imperial exultation of the
+primitive barbaric instinct when the game fell dead and its whooping
+captors surrounded its breathless carcass.
+
+But the wastefulness of the buffalo hunter of those days was wicked
+beyond description and, because of its utter recklessness of the future,
+wholly unpardonable. Only the hump, ribs, the tongue, and perhaps now
+and then one hind-quarter were saved for use from each animal. The
+average number of pounds of meat saved from each buffalo killed between
+the years 1860 and 1870 would not exceed twenty. In truth, thousands of
+buffaloes were killed merely to get their tongues and pelts. The
+inexcusable and unnecessary extermination of those beef-producing and
+very valuable fur-bearing animals only illustrates the extravagance of
+thoughtlessness and mental nearsightedness in the American people when
+dealing with practical and far-reaching questions. It also demonstrates,
+in some degree, the incapacity of the ordinary every-day law-makers of
+the United States. Game laws have seldom been enacted in any of the
+states before the virtual extinction of the game they purposed to
+protect. Here in Nebraska among big game were many hundreds of
+thousands of buffaloes, tens of thousands of elk and deer and antelope,
+while among smaller game the wild turkey and the prairie chicken were
+innumerable. But today Nebraska game is practically extinct. Even the
+prairie chicken and the wild turkey are seldom found anywhere along the
+Missouri bluffs in the southern and eastern part of the commonwealth.
+
+Looking back: what might have been accomplished for the conservation of
+game in the trans-Missouri country is suggested so forcibly that one
+wonders at the stupendous stupidity which indolently permitted its
+destruction.
+
+The first night outward and southeastward from Fort Kearny we came to
+Turkey creek which empties into the Republican river. There, after dark,
+tents were pitched at a point near the place where the government in
+previous years established kilns and burned lime for the use of soldiers
+in building quarters for themselves and the officers at Fort Kearny
+which was constructed in 1847 by Stewart L. Van Vliet, now a retired
+brigadier general and the oldest living graduate of West Point. After a
+sumptuous feast of buffalo steak, a strong pint of black coffee and a
+few pipes of good tobacco, our party retired; sleep came with celerity
+and the camp was peacefully at rest, with the exception of two regular
+soldiers who stood guard until 12 o'clock, and were then relieved by two
+others who kept vigil until sunrise. At intervals I awoke during the
+night and listened to the industrious beavers building dams on the
+creek. They were shoveling mud with their trowel-shaped tails into the
+crevices of their dams with a constantly-resounding slapping and
+splashing all night. The architecture of the beaver is not unlike that
+which follows him and exalts itself in the chinked and daubed cabins of
+the pioneers.
+
+The darkness was followed by a dawn of beauty and breakfast came soon
+thereafter, and for the first time my eyes looked out upon the
+attractive, fertile and beautiful valley of the Republican river. All
+that delightful and invigorating day we zealously hunted. We found
+occasionally small bands of buffaloes here and there among the bluffs
+and hills along the valley of the Republican. But these animals were
+generally aged and of inferior quality. Besides such hunting, we found a
+great quantity of blue-winged and green-winged teal in the waters of
+the Republican and bagged not a few of them. There is no water-fowl, in
+my judgment, not even the redheaded duck and canvasback duck, which
+excels in delicate tissue and flavor the delicious teal.
+
+Just a little before sundown, on the third day of our encampment, by the
+bluffs land of the Republican, Lieutenant Bush and Mr. Heth in one
+party, and John Talbot and I in another, were exploring the steep,
+wooded bluffs which skirted the valley. The timber growing at that time
+on the sides of these bluffs was, much of it, of very good size and I
+shall never forget going down a precipitous path along the face of a
+hill and suddenly coming upon a strange and ghastly sight among the top
+limbs and branches of an oak tree which sprang from the rich soil of a
+lower level. The weird object which then impressed itself upon my memory
+forever was a dead Indian sitting upright in a sort of wicker-work
+coffin which was secured by thongs to the main trunk of the tree. The
+robe with which he had been clothed had been torn away by buzzards and
+only the denuded skeleton sat there. The bleached skull leered and
+grinned at me as though the savage instinct to repulse an intruder from
+their hunting grounds still lingered in the fleshless head. Perfectly I
+recall the long scalp-lock, floating in the wind, and the sense of dread
+and repellent fear which, for the startled moment, took possession of me
+in the presence of this arboreally interred Indian whose remains had
+been stored away in a tree-top instead of having been buried in the
+ground.
+
+Not long after this incident we four came together again down in the
+valley at a great plum orchard. The plum trees covered an area of
+several acres; they stood exceedingly close together. The frosts had
+been just severe enough to drop the fruit onto the ground. Never before
+nor since have my eyes beheld or my palate tasted as luscious fruit as
+those large yellow and red plums which were found that afternoon lying
+in bushels in the valley of the Republican. While we were all seated
+upon the ground eating plums and praising their succulence and flavor we
+heard the click-cluck of a turkey. Immediately we laid ourselves flat
+upon the earth and in the course of ten minutes beheld a procession of
+at least seventy-five wild turkeys feeding upon plums. We remained
+moveless and noiseless until those turkeys had flown up into the tall
+cottonwood trees standing thereabouts and gone to roost. Then after
+darkness had settled down upon the face of the earth we faintly
+discerned the black forms or hummocks of fat turkeys all through the
+large and leafless limbs of the cottonwoods which had been nearly
+defoliated by the early frosts of October. It required no deft
+marksmanship or superior skill to bring down forty of those birds in a
+single evening. That number we took into camp. In quick time we had
+turkey roasted, turkey grilled, turkey broiled; and never have I since
+eaten any turkey so well flavored, so juicy and rich, as that fattened
+upon the wild plums of the Republican Valley in the year 1861.
+
+At last, surfeited with hunting and its successes, we set out on our
+return to Fort Kearny. When about half way across the divide, a
+sergeant, one of the most experienced soldiers and plainsmen of the
+party, declared that he saw a small curl of smoke in the hazy distance
+and a little to the west and south of us. To my untrained eye the smoke
+was at first invisible, but with a field glass I ultimately discerned a
+delicate little blue thread hanging in the sky, which the soldiers
+pronounced smoke ascending from an Indian camp. Readjusting the glasses
+I soon made out to see three Indians stretched by the fire seemingly
+asleep, while two were sitting by the embers apparently cooking, eating
+and drinking. Very soon, however, the two feasters espied our wagons and
+party. Immediately they came running on foot to meet us; the other
+three, awaking, followed them; speedily they were in our midst. They
+proved, however, to be peaceful Pawnees. Mr. John Heth spoke the
+language of that tribe and I shall never forget the coolness with which
+these representatives of that nomadic race informed him that Mrs. Heth
+and his little two-years-of-age daughter, Minnie, were in good health in
+their wigwam at Fort Kearny; they were sure of it because they had
+looked into the window of the Heth home the day before and saw them
+eating and drinking their noonday meal.
+
+These Indians then expressed a wish for some turkey feathers. They were
+told to help themselves. Immediately they pulled out a vast number of
+the large feathers of the wings and tails and decorated their own heads
+with them. The leader of the aboriginal expedition, in conversation with
+Mr. Heth, informed him that although they were on foot they carried the
+lariats which we saw hanging from their arms for the purpose of
+hitching onto and annexing some Cheyenne ponies which they were going
+south to steal. They walked away from home, but intended to ride back.
+The barbaric commander in charge of this larcenous expedition was named
+"The Fox," and when questioned by Mr. Heth as to the danger of the
+enterprise, and informed that he might probably lose his life and get no
+ponies at all, Captain Fox smiled and said grimly that he knew he should
+ride back to the Pawnee village on the Loup the owner of good horses;
+that only a year or two before that time he had been alone down into the
+Cheyenne village and got a great many horses safely out and up onto the
+Loup fork among the Pawnees without losing a single one. "The Fox"
+admitted, however, that even in an expedition so successful as the one
+which he recalled there were a great many courage-testing inconveniences
+and annoyances. But he dwelt particularly upon the fact that the
+Cheyennes always kept their ponies in a corral which was in the very
+center of their village. The huts, habitations, tipis, and wigwams of
+the owners of the ponies were all constructed around their communal
+corral in a sort of a circle, but "The Fox" said that he nevertheless,
+in his individual excursion of which he proudly boasted, crawled during
+the middle of the night in among the ponies and was about to slip a
+lariat on the bell-mare without her stirring, when she gave a little
+jump, and the bell on her neck rang out pretty loudly. Then he laid down
+in the center of the herd and kept still, very still, while the horses
+walked over him and tramped upon him until he found it very unpleasant.
+But very soon he saw and heard some of the Cheyennes come out and look
+and walk about to see if anything was wrong. Then he said he had to stay
+still and silent under the horses' hoofs and make no noise, or die and
+surely be scalped. At last, however, the Cheyennes, one after another,
+all went back into their wigwams to sleep, and then he very slowly and
+without a sound took the bell off from the mare, put his lariat on her
+neck quietly, led her out and all the herd of Cheyenne ponies followed.
+He never stopped until he was safe up north of the Platte river and had
+all his equine spoils safe in the valley of the Loup fork going towards
+the Pawnee village where Genoa now stands.
+
+The Fox was an "expansionist" and an annexationist out of sympathy for
+the oppressed ponies of the Cheyennes.
+
+"The Fox" declared that the number of horses he made requisition for at
+that time on the stables of the Cheyennes was three hundred. At this
+statement some incredulity was shown by Mr. Heth, myself, and some
+others present. Immediately "The Fox" threw back his woolen blanket
+which was ornamented on the inside with more than two hundred small
+decorative designs of horses. Among the Pawnees, and likewise, if I
+remember rightly, among the Otoes and Omahas, robes and blankets were
+thus embellished and so made to pass current as real certificates of a
+choice brand of character for their wearers. Each horse depicted on the
+robe was notice that the owner and wearer had stolen such horse.
+Finally, after expressions of friendship and good will, the expedition
+in charge of "The Fox" bade us adieu and briskly walked southward on
+their mission for getting horses away from their traditional enemies.
+
+It is perhaps worth while to mention that, it being in the autumn of the
+year, all these Indians were carefully and deftly arrayed in
+autumn-colored costumes. Their blankets, head-gear and everything else
+were the color of dead and dried prairie grass. This disguise was for
+the purpose of making themselves as nearly indistinguishable as possible
+on the brown surface of the far-stretching plains. For then the weeds
+and grasses had all been bleached by the fall frosts. We were given an
+exhibition of the nearly perfect invisibleness of "The Fox" by his
+taking a position near a badger hole around which a lot of tall weeds
+had grown upon the prairie, and really the almost exact similitude of
+coloring which he had cunningly reproduced in his raiment made him even
+at a short distance indistinguishable among the faded weeds and grasses
+by which he was surrounded.
+
+In due time we reached Fort Kearny and after a pleasant and most
+agreeable visit with Mr. Heth and his family, Colonel Alexander and
+Lieutenant Bush, I pushed on alone for the Missouri river, by the North
+Platte route, bringing home with me two or three turkeys and a quarter
+of buffalo meat.
+
+About the second evening, as I remember it, I arrived at the agency of
+the four bands of the Pawnee on the Loup fork of the Platte river, near
+where the village of Genoa in Nance county now stands. Judge Gillis of
+Pennsylvania was the U. S. government agent then in charge of that
+tribe, and Mr. Allis was his interpreter. There I experienced the
+satisfaction of going leisurely and observingly through the villages of
+the four bands of Pawnees, which there made their habitation. The names
+of the four confederate bands of Pawnee Indians were Grand Pawnee, Wolf
+Pawnee, Republican Pawnee, and Tapage Pawnee. At that time they all
+together numbered between four thousand and five thousand.
+
+Distinguished among them for fearlessness and impetuous courage and
+constant success in war was an Indian who had been born with his left
+hand so shrunken and shriveled that it looked like the contracted claw
+of a bird. He was celebrated among all the tribes of the plains as
+"Crooked Hand, the Fighter." Hearing me express a wish for making the
+acquaintance of this famous warrior and scalp accumulator, Judge Gillis
+and Mr. Allis kindly volunteered to escort me to his domicile and
+formally introduce me. We took the trail which lay across Beaver creek
+up into the village. This village was composed of very large, earthen,
+mound-like wigwams. From a distance they looked like a number of great
+kettles turned wrong side up on the prairie. Finally we came to the
+entrance of the abode of Crooked Hand. He was at home. I was presented
+to him by the interpreter, Mr. Allis. Through him, addressing the tawny
+hero who stood before me, I said:
+
+It has come to my ears that you are and always have been a very brave
+man in battle. Therefore I have made a long journey to see you and to
+shake the hand of a great warrior.
+
+This seemed to suit his bellicose eminence and to appeal to his barbaric
+vanity. Consequently I continued, saying: I hear that you have skilfully
+killed a great many Sioux and that you have kept the scalp of each
+warrior slain by you. If this be true, I wish you would show me these
+trophies of your courage and victories?
+
+Immediately Crooked Hand reached under a sort of rude settee and pulled
+out a very cheap traveling trunk, which was locked. Then taking a string
+from around his neck he found the key thereunto attached, inserted it in
+the lock, turned it, and with gloating satisfaction threw back the lid
+of the trunk. It is fair to state that, notwithstanding Mr. Crooked
+Hand's personal adornments in the way of paint, earrings, and battle
+mementoes, he was evidently not a man of much personal property, for the
+trunk contained not one other portable thing except a string of thirteen
+scalps. This he lifted out with his right hand and held up before me as
+a connoisseur would exhibit a beautiful cameo--with intense satisfaction
+and self-praise expressed in his features.
+
+The scalps were not large, averaging not much more in circumference than
+a silver dollar (before the crime of 1873). Each scalp was big enough to
+firmly and gracefully retain the scalp-lock which its original possessor
+had nourished. Each scalp was neatly lined with flaming red flannel and
+encircled by and stitched to a willow twig just as boys so stretch and
+preserve squirrel skins. Then there was a strong twine which ran through
+the center of each of the thirteen scalps leaving a space of something
+like three or four inches between each two.
+
+After looking at these ghastly certificates of prowess in Indian warfare
+I said to the possessor: "Do you still like to go into fights with the
+Sioux?" He replied hesitatingly:
+
+"Yes, I go into the fights with the Sioux but I stay only until I can
+kill one man, get his scalp and get out of the battle."
+
+Then I asked: "Why do you do this way now, and so act differently from
+the fighting plans of your earlier years when you remained to the end of
+the conflict?" Instantly he replied and gave me this aboriginal
+explanation:
+
+"You see, my friend, I have only one life. To me death must come only
+once. But I have taken thirteen lives. And now when I go into battle
+there are thirteen chances of my being killed to one of my coming out of
+the fight alive."
+
+This aboriginal application of the doctrine of chance is equally as
+reasonable as some of the propositions relating to chances found in
+"Hedges' Logic," which I studied in the regular college course. There is
+more excuse for a savage faith in chance than can be made for the
+superstitious belief in it which is held by some civilized people.
+
+My last buffalo hunt was finished and its trophies and its choicest
+memories safely stored for exhibition or reminiscence at Arbor Lodge.
+More than thirty-seven years afterwards I am permitted this evening by
+your indulgence and consideration to attempt faintly to portray the
+country and its primitive condition at that time in that particular
+section of Nebraska which is now Franklin county.
+
+But in concluding this discursive and desultory narrative I cannot
+refrain from referring to and briefly descanting on another and an
+earlier and larger expedition into the valley of the Republican which
+set out from Mexico in the year 1540 under the command of Coronado.
+
+That explorer was undoubtedly the first white man to visit Nebraska. In
+his report to the Spanish government is a description of buffalo which
+for graphic minuteness and correctness has never been excelled. Thus it
+pictures them as they appeared to him and his followers more than three
+hundred and fifty years ago:
+
+"These oxen are of the bigness and color of our bulls, but their horns
+are not so great. They have a great bunch upon their foreshoulders, and
+more hair upon their fore-part than on their hinder-part; and it is like
+wool. They have, as it were, a horse mane upon their back bone, and much
+hair, and very long from the knees downward. They have great tufts of
+hair hanging down their foreheads, and it seemeth they have beards,
+because of the great store of hair hanging down at their chins and
+throats. The males have very long tails, and a great knob or flock at
+the end, so that in some respects they resemble the lion, and in some
+other the camel. They push with their horns, they run, they overtake and
+kill a horse when they are in their rage and anger. Finally, it is a
+fierce beast of countenance and form of body. The horses fled from them,
+either because of their deformed shape, or because they had never seen
+them before. Their masters [meaning no doubt the Indians] have no other
+riches or substance; of them they eat, they drink, they apparel, they
+shoe themselves; and of their hides they make many things, as houses,
+shoes, apparel and robes; of their bones they make bodkins; of their
+sinews and hair, thread; of their horns, maws and bladders, vessels; of
+their dung, fire; and of their calf skins, budgets, wherein they draw
+and keep water. To be short, they make so many things of them as they
+have need of, or as may suffice them in the use of this life."
+
+It is perhaps a work of supererogation for me after the lapse of three
+and a half centuries to endorse and verify the accuracy of that word
+picture of the buffalo. A photograph of the great herd which I rode
+into during my hunt could hardly better convey to the mind the images of
+buffalo. The hundreds of years intervening between my own excursion into
+the valley of the Republican and the invasion of Coronado had neither
+impaired, improved, nor perceptibly changed either the buffalo or the
+soil of that fertile section now comprising the county of Franklin in
+the state of Nebraska. Of that immediate propinquity Coronado said: "The
+place I have reached is in the fortieth degree of latitude. The earth is
+the best possible for all kinds of productions of Spain, for while it is
+very strong and black, it is very well watered by brooks, springs and
+rivers. I found prunes" [wild plums, no doubt, just as my party and the
+wild turkeys were feasting upon in October, 1861] "like those of Spain,
+some of which are black; also some excellent grapes and mulberries."
+
+And Jaramillo, who was with Coronado, says: "This country has a superb
+appearance, and such that I have not seen better in all Spain, neither
+in Italy nor France, nor in any other country where I have been in the
+service of your majesty. It is not a country of mountains; there are
+only some hills, some plains and some streams of very fine water. It
+satisfies me completely. I presume that it is very fertile and favorable
+for the cultivation of all kinds of fruits."
+
+And this land whence the Coronado expedition upon foot retraced its
+march to Old Mexico, a distance, by the trail he made, of 3,230 miles,
+was in latitude forty degrees and distant westward from the Missouri
+about one hundred and forty miles. Geographically, topographically, and
+in every other way, the description of Franklin and the neighborhood of
+Riverton in that county.
+
+Here then in Franklin county it is recorded that the last horse
+belonging to Coronado and his band of precious-metal hunters died. At
+that time all the horses on this continent had been imported. The loss
+of this animal that day at that place was like the loss today of a
+man-of-war for Spain in a great naval conflict with the United States.
+It was discouraging and overwhelming and resulted in the relinquishment
+of further exploration for the land of Quivera--the home of gold and
+silver--and the return to Old Mexico. There was no use for saddles,
+bridles and other equestrian trappings, for with no horse to ride even
+stirrups were thrown away, and it has been the good fortune of Nebraska
+to have them exhumed after a sequestration of more than three centuries.
+
+And thus, after so many years of delay, I give you the story of the
+first buffalo hunt and the last buffalo hunt in the Republican Valley
+concerning which I am competent to make statement.
+
+
+
+
+HOW THE FOUNDER OF ARBOR DAY CREATED THE MOST FAMOUS WESTERN ESTATE
+
+BY PAUL MORTON
+
+     "The memories that live and bloom in trees, that whisper of the
+     loved and lost in summer leaves, are as imperishable as the seasons
+     of the year--immortal as the love of a mother."--J. STERLING
+     MORTON.
+
+
+I suppose the story of a successful pioneer will always interest and
+encourage people. The narrative of a strong, far-sighted man who makes
+something out of nothing seems to put heart into the average worker.
+That is why I am telling the story of how my father, J. Sterling Morton,
+and his young wife, set their faces toward the West, one October day in
+1854, and built them a home on the prairies.
+
+Arbor Lodge as it stands today, with its classic porticoes, its gardens,
+and its arboretum, the present country home of my brother, Mr. Joy
+Morton, is not the home that I remember as a boy. That was a much more
+modest edifice. Yet even that house was a palace compared with the first
+one, which was a little log-cabin standing on the lonely prairie,
+exposed to blizzards and Indians, and with scarcely a tree in sight.
+
+My father was a young newspaper man in Detroit, only recently out of
+college, when he took his bride, two years his junior, out to the
+little-known frontier. Attracted by the information about the new
+country brought out by Douglas and others in the Kansas-Nebraska debates
+in congress, he conceived and acted on the idea that here were fortunes
+to be made. Taking such household goods as they could, they traveled to
+the new land, making the last stage up the Missouri river by boat.
+
+Nebraska at that time was the Indian's own country. There were not over
+1,500 white people in the entire state. All the country west of the
+Missouri was called in the geographies the Great American Desert, and it
+took a good deal of faith to believe that anything could be made to grow
+where annual fires destroyed even the prairie grass and the fringes of
+cottonwoods and scrub-oaks along the rivers. Today this section, within
+a radius of some two hundred miles, includes perhaps the most fertile
+soil in the world and has become a center of industry, agriculture, and
+horticulture for the middle west. There was then no political
+organization, no laws; men went about fully armed. There were no roads
+and no bridges to speak of in the entire state; it was "waste land."
+
+This was part of the land of the Louisiana Purchase, and my father
+bought a quarter section (160 acres) from the man who preÎmpted it from
+the government. The price paid was $1.25 an acre. Today the estate
+comprises about 1,000 acres, and the land is readily saleable at a
+hundred times this price.
+
+On the spot where Arbor Lodge now stands, my father built his first
+log-cabin. This was soon replaced by a modest frame house; there was not
+then another frame house between it and the Rocky Mountains, six hundred
+miles away. On the same place two succeeding houses were built by my
+father, the present, and fifth, Arbor Lodge having been built by his
+sons after his death. My father called these first four houses, "seed,
+bud, blossom, and fruit."
+
+The first winter was a mild one, fortunately, but there were plenty of
+hardships for the young people. There were no very near neighbors, the
+village of Kearny Heights, now Nebraska City, being then over two miles
+away. The Indians formed the greatest danger. I can remember a day in my
+boyhood when we had everything packed up, ready to flee across the
+Missouri to Iowa from the murderous Pawnees and Cheyennes, who,
+fortunately, did not come that time. A part of that first winter my
+father and mother spent in Bellevue.
+
+When spring came they set about building their home. Later on they had
+young trees sent to them from the East, including some excellent
+varieties of apples, peaches, cherries, pears, etc. Things grew fast; it
+was only the prairie fires that had kept the land a desert so long, and
+year by year these fires had enriched the soil.
+
+The farm was located on the Overland trail, the favorite route to Pike's
+Peak and the El Dorado. Many of the Mormon emigrants crossed the river
+at that place. I can remember the big trains of ox and mule teams
+passing the house.
+
+My father's interests were always inseparably joined with those of the
+community; he was in public life from the start, and Nebraska's fortunes
+were his. His neighbors all had the same experiences, and many a farmer
+who started with nothing is now wealthy. The farmers had to bring in
+from Missouri and Iowa all the food for themselves and their horses and
+cattle the first year. They were living on faith. During the first
+spring and summer the anxiety was great, but they were rewarded by a
+good harvest in the fall. The success of that harvest settled the
+Nebraska question forever. It was a land that could support its
+inhabitants.
+
+But the end was not yet. The "get-rich-quick" fever struck the
+community. Immigration was over-stimulated, and town lots were
+manufactured at a great rate. In a few months they increased in price
+from $300 to $3,000 apiece. Banks were created and money was made plenty
+by legislation. My father never caught this fever, being always a
+sound-money man and believing in wealth based on the soil.
+
+At the end of the second summer the crop of town lots and Nebraska
+bank-notes was greater than the crop of corn. But the lesson was not
+learned until the panic of 1857 drove out the speculators and left the
+farmers in possession of the territory. With the spring of 1858 sanity
+came to rule once more, and there was less bank making and more prairie
+breaking. The citizens had learned that agriculture was to be the
+salvation of the new country. In 1857, two dollars a bushel had been
+paid for imported corn, but in 1859 the same steamers that had brought
+it in bore thousands of bushels south at forty cents a bushel, bringing
+more money into the territory than all the sales of town lots for a
+year.
+
+The first territorial fair was held in Nebraska City in 1859, and on
+that occasion my father made a speech in which he reviewed the history
+of the new territory up to that time. I speak of these things because my
+father was always a man of public interests, and his fortunes were
+wrapped up in those of the territory. His hardships came when the
+community went crazy, and his fortune grew when sanity was once more
+restored.
+
+I know of nothing that better illustrates my father's private character
+than an editorial which he wrote and published in _The Conservative_ a
+short time before the untimely death of my brother Carl. The fact that
+both the author and the two loved ones of whom he so tenderly wrote have
+passed to the Great Beyond, imparts to this beautiful passage a most
+exquisite pathos:
+
+"It was a bright, balmy morning in April more than a quarter of a
+century ago. The sun was nursing the young grass into verdure, and the
+prairie was just beginning to put off its winter coat of somber
+colorings. Tranquil skies and morning mists were redolent at Arbor Lodge
+of the coming resurrection of the foliage and flowers that died the
+autumn before. All about the cottage home there was hope and peace; and
+everywhere the signs of woman's watchful love and tidy care, when,
+suddenly, toned with affectionate solicitude, rang out: 'Carl, Carl!'
+but no answer came. Downstairs, upstairs, at the barn, even in the well,
+everywhere, the mother's voice called anxiously, again and again. But
+the silence, menacing and frightening, was unbroken by an answer from
+the lost boy. At last, however, he was found behind a smokehouse, busily
+digging in the ground with a small spade, though only five years of age,
+and he said: 'I'm too busy to talk. I'm planting an orchard,' and sure
+enough, he had set out a seedling apple tree, a small cottonwood, and a
+little elm.
+
+"The delighted mother clasped him in her arms, kissed him, and said:
+'This orchard must not be destroyed.'
+
+"And so now
+
+    "'I hear the muffled tramp of years
+      Come stealing up the slopes of Time;
+    They bear a train of smiles and tears
+      Of burning hopes and dreams sublime.'
+
+"The child's orchard is more than thirty years of age. The cottonwood is
+a giant now, and its vibrant foliage talks, summer after summer, in the
+evening breeze with humanlike voice, and tells its life story to the
+graceful, swaying elm near by, while the gnarled and scrubby little
+apple tree, shaped, as to its head, like a despondent toadstool, stands
+in dual shade, and bears small sweet apples, year after year, in all
+humility. But that orchard must not be destroyed. It was established by
+the youngest tree planter who ever planted in this tree planter's
+state, and for his sake and the memory of the sweet soul who nursed and
+loved him, it lives and grows, one cottonwood, one apple tree, one elm.
+
+    "'But O, for the touch of a vanished hand,
+    And the sound of a voice that is still.'
+
+"The memories that live and bloom in trees, that whisper of the loved
+and lost in summer leaves, are as imperishable as the seasons of the
+year--immortal as the love of a mother."
+
+
+
+
+EARLY REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA CITY
+
+BY ELLEN KINNEY WARE
+
+
+_Social Aspects_
+
+As a girl graduate I came to Nebraska City from Virginia, at an early
+day. It seemed to me that I was leaving everything attractive socially
+and intellectually, behind me, but I was mistaken. On arriving here, I
+expected to see quite a town, was disappointed, for two large brick
+hotels, and a few scattered houses comprised the place. Among my first
+acquaintances was the family of Governor Black, consisting of his
+daughter about my own age, his wife, and himself. He was not only bright
+and clever, but a wit as well, and famous as a story-teller. Alas a sad
+fate awaited him. For leaving here to take command of a Pennsylvania
+regiment, he was killed early in the civil war.
+
+Those were freighting days and Russell, Majors and Waddell, government
+freighters, made this their headquarters. Alexander Majors brought his
+family here adding much socially to the town. Major Martin, an army
+officer, was stationed here. He was a charming gentleman and had a
+lovely wife. Dancing was the principal amusement with the young people.
+Informal dances at private homes and occasionally on a steamboat when it
+arrived, brilliantly lighted and having a band of music on board. At the
+"Outfit" as it was called, where the supplies for the freighting company
+were kept, dwelt a family, Raisin by name, who were exceedingly
+hospitable, not only entertaining frequently, but often sending an
+ambulance for their guests. At these parties no round dancing was
+indulged in, just simple quadrilles and the lancers. Mr. and Mrs. J.
+Sterling Morton, who lived on a country place, a short distance from
+town, which has since become widely known as Arbor Lodge, were among the
+most active entertainers, dispensing that delightful hospitality for
+which in later times they were so well known.
+
+And so we lived without railroads, without telephones, automobiles, or
+theaters. But I believe that our social enjoyment was greater than it is
+now. Instead of railroads, we had steamboats arriving almost daily
+from St. Louis, St. Joseph, and other towns. In carriages we drove to
+Omaha and back, and the social intercourse of the two towns was much
+greater than it is now.
+
+[Illustration: OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT, LOCATED AT THE POINT WHERE THE
+LINE BETWEEN JEFFERSON AND GAGE COUNTIES INTERSECTS THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA
+STATE LINE
+
+Dedicated May 12, 1914. Cost $350. Trail crosses state line 1,986 feet
+east, and crosses Jefferson-Gage county line 2,286 feet north of this
+point. Erected by the citizens of Gage and Jefferson counties, Nebraska,
+Washington county, Kansas, and Elizabeth Montague Chapter, Daughters of
+the American Revolution]
+
+Amateur theatricals took the place of the theater, and often brilliant,
+undreamed of talent was shown. Literature also was not neglected, many
+highly educated men and women were among our pioneers and literary
+societies were a prominent part of our social life. We played chess in
+those days, but not cards. This alone might be taken as an index of how
+much less frivolous that day was than the present.
+
+In 1860 Bishop Talbot arrived here from Indianapolis and made this his
+home, adding greatly socially and intellectually to the life of the
+community. In his family was the Rev. Isaac Hager, beloved and revered
+by all who knew him, a most thorough musician, as well as a fine
+preacher.
+
+Remembering old times we sometimes ask ourselves, where now are the men
+and women, equal to the ones we knew in those days, certainly there are
+none superior to them, in intellect, manners, wit, and true nobility.
+
+    "Oh brave hearts journeyed to the west,
+    When this old town was new!"
+
+
+
+
+SOME PERSONAL INCIDENTS
+
+BY W. A. MCALLISTER
+
+
+My father and family came to Nebraska in 1858, living two years at
+Genoa. At this time the government assigned what is now Nance county, to
+the Pawnee Indians, as a reservation. When the white settlers sought
+other homes our family located eight miles east of Columbus, at
+McAllister's lake. Every fall my father hired about sixty squaws to husk
+out his crop of corn. Only one buck ever came to work, and he was always
+known as "Squaw Charlie" after that. He spoke English quite well. They
+were slow workers, husking about twenty bushels per day. They were very
+gluttonous at meals, eating much bread, with meat soup containing
+potatoes and other vegetables, cooked in large twenty gallon camp
+kettles. This was supplemented by watermelons by the wagonload. It
+required a week or ten days to harvest the corn crop. The Indians were
+very thievish, stealing almost as much as their wages amounted to.
+During these years I often witnessed their "Medicine Dances."
+
+When fifteen years old I enlisted in Company B, Second Nebraska Cavalry,
+and went to Fort Kearny. Our company relieved the Tenth Infantry, which
+went to the front. In less than twenty days this company was nearly
+annihilated at the battle of Fredericksburg.
+
+While at the fort a buffalo hunt was organized by the officers, and I
+had an opportunity to go. Our party went south to the valley of the
+Republican. The first night we camped at the head of the Big Blue, and
+the second day I noticed south of us, about eight miles distant, a dark
+line along the horizon extending as far east and west as the eye could
+reach. I inquired what it was and an old hunter replied "buffaloes." I
+could not believe him, but in a few hours found he was right, for we
+were surrounded by millions of them. They were hurrying to the east with
+a roaring like distant thunder. Our sportsmen moved in a body through
+the herd looking for calves, not caring to carry back the meat of the
+old specimens. Strange to say this tremendous herd seemed to be
+composed of males, for the cows were still on the Oklahoma ranges caring
+for their calves, until strong enough to tramp north again. We noticed
+an old fellow making good progress on three legs, one foot having been
+injured. One of the party wished to dispose of him, but his wooly
+forehead covered with sand, turned every bullet. Finally the hunter
+asked me to attract his attention, while he placed a bullet in his
+heart. In doing this, he almost succeeded in goring my pony, but I
+turned a second too quickly for him. I was near enough to see the fire
+flashing from his angry eyes. In a few minutes he fell with a thud.
+
+Several years after the war being over, I worked for the Union Pacific
+railroad company. At Kearney, in 1869, we met the Buck surveying party,
+who had come west to lay out, for the government, the lands of the
+Republican Valley. In this company was a young man from Pontiac,
+Illinois, named Harry McGregor. He left a home of plenty to hunt buffalo
+and Indians, but found among other privations, he could not have all the
+sugar he wished, so at Kearney he decided to leave the party and work
+with us. This decision saved his life, for the rest of the surveyors,
+about ten in all, after starting south next morning, were never seen
+again. They were surprised and killed by the Indians. Their skeletons
+were found several years later, bleaching on the Nebraska prairie.
+
+
+
+
+MAJOR NORTH'S BUFFALO HUNT
+
+BY MINNIE FREEMAN PENNY
+
+
+A party under the direction of Major Frank North set out with six wagon
+teams and four buffalo horses on November 13, 1871, to engage in a
+buffalo hunt. The other men were Luther North, C. Stanley, Hopkins
+Brown, Charles Freeman, W. E. Freeman, W. E. Freeman, Jr., and Messrs.
+Bonesteel, Wasson, and Cook. They camped the first night at James
+Cushing's ranch, eighteen miles out; the second night at Jason Parker's
+home at Lone Tree, now Central City, and the third night arrived at
+Grand Island. On the way to Grand Island one of the party accidentally
+started a prairie fire six miles east of Grand Island. A hard fight was
+made and the flames subdued just in time to save a settler's stable.
+
+Leaving Grand Island on the sixteenth they crossed the Platte river and
+camped on the West Blue. From this point in the journey the party
+suffered incredible hardships until their return.
+
+About midnight the wind changed to the north, bringing rain and sleet,
+and inside of an hour a blizzard was raging on the open prairie. The
+horses were covered with snow and ice and there was no fuel for the
+fires. The men went out as far as they dared to go for wood, being
+unsuccessful. It was decided to try to follow the Indian trail
+south--made by the Pawnee scouts under Major North. Little progress
+could be made and they soon "struck camp" near some willows that
+afforded a little protection to their horses and a "windbreak" was made
+for man and beast. This camp was at the head of the Big Sandy, called by
+this party the "Big Smoky" for the men suffered agonies from the smoke
+in the little tipi.
+
+For two days the storm continued in all its terrible force. The wind
+blew and the air was so full of snow that it was blinding. The cold was
+intense. The men finally determined to find some habitation at any price
+and in groups of two and three left camp following the creek where they
+were sure some one had settled. A sod house was found occupied by two
+English families who received the party most hospitably. Charles
+Freeman, older than the other men of the party, suffered a collapse and
+remained at this home. During the night the storm abated and next
+morning, finding all the ravines choked with heavy snow drifts, it was
+decided by vote to abandon the hunt. They dug out their belongings from
+under many feet of snow, sold their corn to the English families to
+lighten their load and started back. The journey home was full of
+accidents, bad roads, and drifted ravines. Reaching the Union Pacific
+railroad at Grand Island Major North and Mr. Bonesteel returned to
+Columbus by rail, also Mr. Stanley from Lone Tree. The rest of the party
+returned by team, arriving on November 24.
+
+Major North admitted that of all his experiences on the prairie--not
+excepting his years with the Pawnee scouts--this "beat them all" as
+hazardous and perplexing.
+
+The foregoing is taken from my father's diary.
+
+
+
+
+PIONEER LIFE
+
+BY MRS. JAMES G. REEDER
+
+
+It is almost impossible for people of the present day to realize the
+hardships and privations that the first settlers in Nebraska underwent.
+Imagine coming to a place where there was nothing but what you had
+brought with you in wagons. Add to the discomfort of being without
+things which in your former home had seemed necessities, the pests which
+abound in a new country: the rattlesnake, the coyote, the skunk, the
+weasel, and last--but not least--the flea.
+
+My father, Samuel C. Smith, held the post of "trader" for the Pawnee
+Indians under Major Wheeler in 1865-66. We lived in a house provided by
+the government, near the Indian school at Genoa, or "The Reservation,"
+as it was commonly called. I was only a few weeks old, and in order to
+keep me away from the fleas, a torture to everyone, they kept me in a
+shallow basket of Indian weave, suspended from the ceiling by broad
+bands of webbing, far enough from the floor and wall to insure safety.
+
+I have heard my mother tell of how the Indians would walk right into the
+house without knocking, or press their faces against a window and peer
+in. They were usually respectful; they simply knew no better. Sometimes
+in cold weather three or four big men would walk into the kitchen and
+insist upon staying by the fire, and mother would have hard work to
+drive them out.
+
+The next year my father moved his family to a homestead two miles east
+of Genoa where he had built a large log house and stables surrounded by
+a high tight fence, which was built for protection against the
+unfriendly Indians who frequently came to make war on the Pawnees. The
+government at times kept a company of soldiers stationed just north of
+us, and when there would be an "Indian scare," the officers' wives as
+well as our few neighbors would come to our place for safety. Major
+Noyes was at one time stationed there. Firearms of all sorts were
+always kept handy, and my mother could use them as skilfully as my
+father.
+
+One night my father's barn was robbed of eight horses by the Sioux and
+the same band took ten head from Mr. Gerrard, who lived four miles east
+of us. E. A. Gerrard, Luther North, and my father followed their trail
+to the Missouri river opposite Yankton, South Dakota, and did not see a
+white man while they were gone. They did not recover the horses, but
+twenty years after the government paid the original cost of the horses
+without interest. The loss of these horses and the accidental death of a
+brother of mine so discouraged my father that he moved to Columbus in
+1870.
+
+One of the delights of my childhood were the nights in early autumn when
+all the neighborhood would go out to burn the grass from the prairie
+north of us for protection against "prairie fires," as great a foe as
+was the unfriendly Indian of a few years before.
+
+In the summer of 1874, which in Nebraska history is known as "the
+grasshopper year," my grandmother, Mrs. William Boone, accompanied by
+her daughter, Mrs. Mary Hemphill, and granddaughter, Ada Hemphill, came
+to make us a visit. For their entertainment we drove in a three-seated
+platform spring wagon or carryall to see the Indians in their village
+near Genoa. Their lodges were made of earth in a circular form with a
+long narrow entrance extending out like the handle of a frying pan. As
+we neared the village we came upon an ordinary looking Indian walking in
+the road, and to our surprise my father greeted him very cordially and
+introduced him to us. It was Petalesharo, chief of the Pawnees, but
+without the feathers and war-paint that I imagined a chief would always
+wear. He invited us to his lodge and we drove to the entrance, but my
+grandmother and aunt could not be persuaded to leave the surrey. My
+cousin, being more venturesome, started in with my father, but had gone
+only a few steps when she gathered up her skirts and cried, "Oh, look at
+the fleas! Just see them hop!" and came running back to the rig,
+assuring us she had seen enough. The Indians must have taken the fleas
+with them when they moved to Oklahoma, for we seldom see one now.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN POLK COUNTY
+
+BY CALMAR MCCUNE
+
+
+In the early history of the county, county warrants were thicker than
+the leaves on the trees (for trees were scarce then), and of money in
+the pockets of most people there was none. Those were the days when that
+genial plutocrat, William H. Waters, relieved the necessities of the
+needy by buying up county warrants for seventy-five cents on the dollar.
+Don't understand this as a reflection on the benevolent intentions of
+Mr. Waters, for he paid as high a price as anybody else offered; I
+mention it only to illustrate the financial condition of the people and
+the body politic.
+
+Henry Mahan was postmaster and general merchant. The combined postoffice
+and store which, with a blacksmith shop, constituted the business part
+of the town of Osceola, was located on the west side of the square. It
+was a one and one-half story frame and on the second floor was _The
+Homesteader_ (now the Osceola _Record_). Here H. T. Arnold, W. F.
+Kimmel, Frank Burgess, the writer, and Stephen Fleharty exercised their
+gray matter by grinding out of their exuberant and sometimes lurid
+imaginations original local items and weighty editorials. In those days
+if a top buggy was seen out on the open, treeless prairie, the entire
+business population turned out to watch it and soon there were bets as
+to whether it came from Columbus or Seward, for then there was not a top
+buggy in Polk county. The first drug store was opened by John Beltzer, a
+country blacksmith who suddenly blossomed from the anvil into a
+full-fledged pharmacist. Doctor Stone compounded the important
+prescriptions for a while.
+
+I need not try to describe the grasshopper raid of 1874 for the
+old-timers remember it and I could not picture the tragedy so that
+others could see it. To see the sun's rays dimmed by the flying agents
+of destruction; to witness the disappearance of every vestige of green
+vegetation--the result of a year's labor, which was to most of the
+inhabitants the only resource against actual want, to see this I say,
+one must live through it. Many of the early settlers were young people
+newly married, who had left their homes in the East with all their
+earthly possessions in a covered wagon, or "prairie schooner" as it was
+called, and making the trip overland, had landed with barely enough
+money to exist until the first crop was harvested. Added to the loss and
+privation entailed by the visitation of the winged host was the constant
+dread that the next season would bring a like scourge.
+
+On Sunday afternoon, April 13, 1873, I left the farm home of James Bell
+in Valley precinct for Columbus, expecting to take the train there
+Monday morning for Omaha. The season was well advanced, the treeless
+prairie being covered with verdure. It was a balmy sunshiny spring day,
+as nearly ideal as even Nebraska can produce.
+
+As I left the Clother hotel that evening to attend the Congregational
+church I noticed that the clouds were banking heavily in the northwest.
+There was a roll of distant thunder, a flash of lightning, and a series
+of gentle spring showers followed and it was raining when I went to bed
+at my hotel. Next morning when I looked out of my window I could not see
+half-way across the street. The wind was blowing a gale, which drove
+large masses of large, heavy snow-flakes southward. Already where
+obstructions were met the huge drifts were forming. This continued
+without cessation of either snow or wind all day Monday and until late
+Tuesday night. Wednesday about noon the snow plow came, followed by the
+Monday train, which I boarded for Omaha. As the train neared Fremont I
+could see the green knolls peeping up through the snow, and at Omaha the
+snow had disappeared. There they had had mainly rain instead of snow. I
+may say that the storm area was not over two hundred miles wide with
+Clarks as about the center, the volume gradually diminishing each way
+from that point. It should be borne in mind that the farmers raised
+mainly spring wheat and oats. These grains had been sown several weeks
+before the storm and were all up, but the storm did not injure them in
+the least.
+
+On leaving Omaha a few days later I went to Grand Island. At Gardner's
+Siding, between Columbus and Clarks, a creek passed under the track.
+This had filled bank high with snow which now melting, formed a lake.
+The track being bad the train ran so slowly that I had time to count
+fifty floating carcasses of cattle upon the surface of the water. This
+was the fate of many thousands of head of stock.
+
+Nobody dared to venture out into that storm for no human being could
+face it and live. The great flakes driven by a fifty-mile gale would
+soon plaster shut eyes, nose and mouth--in fact, so swift was the gale
+that no headway could be made against it.
+
+In those days merchants hauled their goods from Columbus or Seward and
+all the grain marketed went to the same points. Wheat only was hauled,
+corn being used for feed or fuel.
+
+A trip to Columbus and return the same day meant something. A start
+while the stars still twinkled; the mercury ten, twenty, or even thirty
+degrees below, was not a pleasure trip, to the driver on a load of
+wheat. But the driver was soon compelled to drop from the seat, and
+trudge along slapping his hands and arms against his body to keep from
+freezing. Leaving home at three or four o'clock in the morning he was
+lucky if he got home again, half frozen and very weary, several hours
+after dark. Speaking of exposure to wintry blasts, reminds me of a trip
+on foot I made shortly after my arrival in Polk county. December 24,
+1872, I started to walk from the Milsap neighborhood in Hamilton county,
+several miles west of where Polk now stands, to the home of William
+Stevens, near the schoolhouse of District No. 5. It was a clear, bitter
+cold morning, the wind blowing strongly from the northwest, the ground
+coated with a hard crust of snow. I kept my bearings as best I could,
+for it should be remembered that there were no roads or landmarks and I
+was traveling purely by guess. Along about mid-day I stumbled upon a
+little dugout, somewhere north of where Stromsburg now stands--the first
+house I had seen. On entering I found a young couple who smiled me a
+welcome, which was the best they could do, for, as I saw from the
+inscriptions on a couple of boxes, they were recent arrivals from
+Sweden. The young lady gave me some coffee and rusks, and I am bound to
+say that I never tasted better food than that coffee and those rusks. I
+did not see another house until I reached the bluffs, where, about
+sunset, I was gladdened by the sight of the Stevens house in the valley,
+a couple of miles distant. When I finally reached this hospitable home
+the fingers of both hands were frozen and my nose and ears badly
+frosted.
+
+In the early days we traveled from point to point by the nearest and
+most direct route, for while the land was being rapidly taken up, there
+were no section line roads. Whenever the contour of the land permitted,
+we angled, being careful to avoid the patches of cultivated land. There
+were no trees, no fences, and very few buildings, so, on the level
+prairie, nothing obstructed the view as far as the eye could carry. The
+sod houses and stables were a godsend, for lumber was very expensive and
+most of the settlers brought with them lean purses. It required no
+high-priced, skilled labor to build a "soddy," and properly built they
+were quite comfortable.
+
+When I grow reminiscent and allow my mind to go back to those pioneer
+days, the span of time between then and now seems very brief, but when I
+think longer and compare the _then_ with the _now_, it seems as though
+that sod house-treeless-ox driving period must have been at least one
+hundred years ago. It is a far cry from the ox team to the automobile.
+
+
+
+
+PERSONAL REMINISCENCES
+
+BY MRS. THYRZA REAVIS ROY
+
+
+In March, 1865, my husband, George Roy, and I started from our home in
+Avon, Illinois, to Nebraska territory. The railroad extended to St.
+Joseph, Missouri. There they told us we would have to take a steamboat
+up the Missouri river to Rulo, forty miles from St. Joseph. We took
+passage on a small steamboat, but the ice was breaking up and the boat
+ran only four miles up the river. They said it was too dangerous to go
+farther so told us we would have to go back or land and get some one to
+drive us to Rulo, or the Missouri side of the river across from Rulo. We
+decided to land, and hired a man to drive us across country in an old
+wagon. It was very cold and when we reached the place where we would
+have to cross the Missouri, the ice was running in immense blocks. It
+was sunset, we were forty miles from a house on that side of the river.
+There was a man on the other side of the river in a small skiff. Mr. Roy
+waved to him and he crossed and took us in. Every moment it seemed those
+cakes of ice would crush the little skiff, but the man was an expert
+dodger and after a perilous ride he let us off at Rulo. By that time it
+was dark. We went to a roughly boarded up shanty they called a tavern.
+It snowed that night and the snow beat in on our bed. The next morning
+we hired a man to take us to Falls City, ten miles from Rulo. Falls City
+was a hamlet of scarcely three hundred souls. There was a log cabin on
+the square; one tiny schoolhouse, used for school, Sunday school, and
+church. As far as the eye could reach, it was virgin prairie.
+
+There was very little rain for two years after we came. All provisions,
+grain, and lumber were shipped on boats to Rulo. There was only an
+Indian trail between Rulo and Falls City. Everything was hauled over
+that trail.
+
+After the drouth came the grasshoppers, and for two years they took all
+we had. The cattle barely lived grazing in the Nemaha valley. All grain
+was shipped in from Missouri.
+
+The people had no amusements in the winter. In the summer they had
+picnics and a Methodist camp-meeting, on the Muddy river north of Falls
+City.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES OLIVER NORTON
+
+Tenth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1911-1912]
+
+Over the Nemaha river two and one-half miles southwest of Falls City, on
+a high hill above the falls from which the town was named, was an Indian
+village. The Sac and Foxes and Iowa Indians occupied the village. Each
+spring and fall they went visiting other tribes, or other tribes visited
+them. They would march through the one street of Falls City with their
+ponies in single file. The tipi poles were strapped on each side of the
+ponies and their belongings and presents, for the tribe they were going
+to visit, piled on the poles. The men, women, and children walked beside
+the ponies, and the dogs brought up the rear. Sometimes, when the
+Indians had visitors, they would have a war-dance at night and the white
+people would go out to view it. Their bright fires, their scouts
+bringing in the news of hostile Indians in sight, and the hurried
+preparations to meet them, were quite exciting. The Indians were great
+beggars, and not very honest. We had to keep things under lock and key.
+They would walk right into the houses and say "Eat!" The women were all
+afraid of them and would give them provisions. If there was any food
+left after they had finished their eating, they would take it away with
+them.
+
+Their burying-ground was very near the village. They buried their dead
+with all accoutrements, in a sitting posture in a grave about five feet
+deep, without covering.
+
+The Indians cultivated small patches of land and raised corn, beans,
+pumpkins, etc. A man named Fisher now owns the land on which the Indians
+lived when I reached the country.
+
+The people were very sociable. It was a healthy country, and we had
+health if very little else. We were young and the hardships did not seem
+so great as they do in looking backward fifty years.
+
+     NOTE--Thyrza Reavis Roy was born August 7, 1834, in Cass county,
+     Illinois, the daughter of Isham Reavis and Mahala Beck Reavis. Her
+     great-grandfather, Isham Reavis, fought in the war of the
+     Revolution. Her grandfather, Charles Reavis, and her own father,
+     Isham Reavis, fought in the war of 1812. She is a real daughter of
+     the war of 1812. She is a member of the U. S. Daughters of 1812, a
+     member of the Deborah Avery Chapter D. A. R. of Lincoln, and a
+     member of the Territorial Pioneers Association of Nebraska. Her
+     husband, George Roy, died at Falls City March 2, 1903.
+
+
+
+
+TWO SEWARD COUNTY CELEBRATIONS
+
+BY MRS. S. C. LANGWORTHY
+
+
+I recall one reminiscence of my early life in Nebraska which occurred in
+1876, when we first located in Seward. We could have gone no farther,
+even had we wished, as Seward was then the terminus of the Billings line
+of the Burlington railroad.
+
+We soon learned that a county celebration was to be held on the fourth
+of July, and I naturally felt a great curiosity to know how a crowd of
+people would look to whom we had been sending boxes of clothing and
+bedding in response to appeals from the grasshopper sufferers. My
+surprise cannot be imagined when I saw people clothed as well as
+elsewhere and with baskets filled with an abundance of good things for a
+picnic dinner.
+
+The same pretty grove in which this gathering occurred thirty-nine years
+ago is now our beautiful city park, where during the summer of 1914 our
+commercial club gave an old-time barbecue costing the members twelve
+hundred dollars. They secured the state band and fine speakers, and
+served a bounteous dinner to about fifteen thousand people. Everything
+was free to all who came, and a happier crowd can not be imagined. I
+speak of this because in the years to come it will be a pleasant
+reminiscence to many who may have been present.
+
+     NOTE--Elizabeth C. (Bennett) Langworthy, fourth state regent of the
+     Nebraska Society D. A. R., is a daughter of Jacob and Caroline
+     (Valentine) Bennett. Her paternal grandfather was also Jacob
+     Bennett, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was taken prisoner
+     and held in an English ship off the coast of Quebec for some time.
+     Mrs. Langworthy was born in Orleans county, New York, in 1837. The
+     family moved to Wisconsin in 1849, and the daughter finished her
+     education at Hamline University, then located at Red Wing,
+     Minnesota. In 1858 she was married to Stephen C. Langworthy, and in
+     1876 became a resident of Seward, Nebraska. Mr. Langworthy died
+     March 3, 1904.
+
+     Mrs. Langworthy has been active and prominent in club work, and is
+     widely known. She served for five years as a member of the school
+     board at Seward and organized the History and Art Club of Seward of
+     which she was president for several years. She was the first
+     secretary of the State Federation of Woman's Clubs, and was elected
+     president in 1898. Mrs. Langworthy is the mother of six children.
+
+
+
+
+SEWARD COUNTY REMINISCENCES
+
+COMPILED BY MARGARET HOLMES CHAPTER D. A. R.
+
+
+Seward county shared with other counties all of the privations and
+experiences of pioneer life, though it seems to have had less trouble
+with hostile Indians than many localities in the state.
+
+The struggles of pioneer settlers in the same country must necessarily
+be similar, though of course differing in detail. The first settlers
+deemed it important to locate on a stream where firewood could be
+obtained, and they were subject to high waters, prairie fires, constant
+fear of the Indian, and lack of provisions.
+
+At one time the little band of settlers near the present site of Seward
+was reduced to one pan of corn, though they were not quite as reduced as
+their historic Pilgrim forefathers, when a load of provisions arrived
+that had been storm-bound.
+
+Reminiscences are best at first hand, and the following letters, taken
+from the _History of Seward County_ by W. W. Cox, recount some of the
+incidents of early pioneer life by those who really lived it.
+
+Mrs. Sarah F. Anderson writes as follows:
+
+"At the time of the great Indian scare of 1864, my father's family was
+one of the families which the Nebraska City people had heard were
+killed. It had been rumored throughout the little settlement that there
+were bands of hostile Indians approaching, and that they were committing
+great depredations as they went.
+
+"One Sunday morning my uncle and Thomas Shields started down the river
+on a scouting expedition. After an all-day search, just at nightfall,
+they came suddenly upon an Indian camp. The men thought their time had
+come, but the redskins were equally scared. There was no chance to back
+out, and they resolved to know whether the Indians were friendly or
+hostile. As they bravely approached the camp, the Indians began to
+halloo, 'Heap good Omaha!' The men then concluded to camp over night
+with them, and they partook of a real Indian supper. The next morning
+they went home satisfied that there were no hostile Indians in the
+country.
+
+"A day or two after this, my father (William Imlay) and his brothers
+were on upper Plum creek haying, when grandfather Imlay became
+frightened and hastened to our house and said the Indians were coming
+upon the settlement. He then hurried home to protect his own family.
+About three o'clock in the afternoon we saw a band of them approaching.
+They were about where the B. & M. depot now stands. We were living about
+eighty rods above the present iron bridge. My mother, thinking to escape
+them, locked the cabin door, and took all the children across the creek
+to the spring where she kept the milk. To kill time, she commenced
+churning. Very soon, four Indians (great, big, ugly creatures) came
+riding up to the spring and told mother that she was wanted over to the
+house. She said, 'No, I can't go; I am at work.' But they insisted in
+such a menacing manner that she felt obliged to yield and go. They said,
+'Come, come,' in a most determined manner. The children all clinging to
+her, she started, and those great sneaking braves guarded her by one
+riding on each side, one before, and one behind. Poor mother and we four
+children had a slim show to escape. They watched our every movement,
+step by step. When we reached the cabin, there sat sixteen burly Indians
+in a circle around the door. When we came up, they all arose and saluted
+mother, then sat down again. They had a young Indian interpreter. As
+they thought they had the family all thoroughly frightened, the young
+Indian began in good shape to tell just what they wanted. They would
+like to have two cows, two sacks of flour, and some meat. Mother saw
+that she must guard the provisions with desperation, as they had cost
+such great effort, having been hauled from the Missouri river. The
+Indians said, 'The Sioux are coming and will take all away, and we want
+some.' 'No,' said mother, 'we will take our cattle and provisions and go
+to Plattsmouth.' 'But,' said the Indian, 'they will be here tonight and
+you can't get away.' Mother at this point began to be as much angry as
+frightened. 'I will not give you anything. You are lying to me. If the
+Sioux were so close, you would all be running yourselves.' At this point
+another brave, who had been pacing the yard, seeing mother grow so warm,
+picked up our axe and marched straight up to her and threw it down at
+her feet. She picked it up and stood it beside her. Mother said
+afterward that her every hair stood on end, but knowing that Indians
+respect bravery, she resolved to show no cowardice. We could all see
+that the whole river bend was swarming with Indians. Mother said with
+emphasis, 'I now want you to take your Indians and be gone at once.'
+Then they said, 'You are a brave squaw,' and the old chief motioned to
+his braves and they marched off to camp. The next day our family all
+went over to Plum creek and remained until things became settled.
+
+"The following winter father was at Omaha attending the legislature; and
+I am sure that over a thousand Indians passed our place during the
+winter. It required pluck to withstand the thievish beggars. Sometimes
+they would sneak up and peep in at the window. Then others would beg for
+hours to get into the house.
+
+"A great amount of snow had fallen, and shortly after father's return
+home, a heavy winter rain inundated all the bottom lands. We all came
+pretty near being drowned but succeeded in crawling out of the cabin at
+the rear window at midnight. Our only refuge was a haystack, where we
+remained several days entirely surrounded by water, with no possible
+means of escape. Mr. Cox made several attempts to rescue us. First he
+tried to cross the river in a molasses pan, and narrowly escaped being
+drowned, as the wind was high and the stream filled with floating ice.
+The next day he made a raft and tried to cross, but the current was so
+rapid he could not manage it. It drifted against a tree where the water
+was ten feet deep, and the jar threw him off his balance, and the upper
+edge of the raft sank, so that the rapid current caught the raft and
+turned it on edge against the tree. Mr. Cox caught hold of a limb of the
+tree and saved himself from drowning. A desperate struggle ensued but he
+finally kicked and stamped until he got the raft on top of the water
+again, but it was wrong side up. We then gave up all hopes of getting
+help until the water subsided. The fourth day, tall trees were chopped
+by father on one side and by Mr. Cox on the other, and their branches
+interlocked, and we made our escape to his friendly cabin, where we
+found a kindly greeting, rest, food, and fire."
+
+The following from the pen of Addison E. Sheldon is recorded in the same
+_History of Seward County_:
+
+"My recollections of early Seward county life do not go back as far as
+the author's. They begin with one wind-blown day in September, 1869,
+when I, a small urchin from Minnesota, crossed the Seward county line
+near Pleasant Dale on my way with my mother and step-father (R. J.
+McCall), to the new home on the southeast quarter of section 18, town 9,
+range 2 east--about three miles southeast of the present Beaver
+Crossing. Looked back upon now, through all the intervening years, it
+seems to me there never was an autumn more supremely joyous, a prairie
+more entrancing, a woodland belt more alluring, a life more captivating
+than that which welcomed the new boy to the frontier in the beautiful
+West Blue valley. The upland 'divides' as I remember them were entirely
+destitute of settlement, and even along the streams, stretches of two,
+three, and five miles lay between nearest neighbors.
+
+"What has become of the Nebraska wind of those days? I have sought it
+since far and wide in the Sand Hills and on the table lands of western
+Nebraska--that wind which blew ceaselessly, month after month, never
+pausing but to pucker its lips for a stronger blast! Where are the seas
+of rosin-weed, with their yellow summer parasols, which covered the
+prairie in those days? I have sought them too, and along gravelly ridges
+or some old ditch yet found a few degenerate descendants of the old-time
+host.
+
+"Mention of merely a few incidents seeming to hold the drama and poetry
+of frontier life at that time: 'Pittsburgh, the city of vision, at the
+junction of Walnut creek and the West Blue, inhabited by a population of
+20,000 people, with a glass factory, a paper factory, a brick factory,
+oil wells, a peat factory, woolen mills, junction of three railway
+lines, metropolis of the Blue Valley.' All this and so much more that I
+dare not attempt to picture it; a real existence in the brain of
+Christopher Lezenby in the years of 1871-72. What unwritten dramas sleep
+almost forgotten in the memories of early settlers! When Mr. Lezenby
+began to build his metropolis with the assistance of Attorney Boyd of
+Lincoln and a few other disinterested speculators, he was the possessor
+of several hundred acres of land, some hundreds of cattle, and other
+hundreds of hogs, and a fair, unmarried daughter. What pathetic
+memories of the old man, month after month, surveying off his beautiful
+farm into city lots for the new metropolis, while his cattle disappeared
+from the prairies and his swine from the oak thickets along the Walnut;
+with sublime and childish simplicity repeating day after day the
+confession of his faith that 'next week' work would begin; 'next week'
+the foundation for the factories would be laid; 'next week' the railway
+surveyors would set the grade stakes. And this real rural tragedy lasted
+through several years, ending in the loss of all his property, the
+marriage of his daughter to Irwin Stall, and the wandering forth of the
+old man until he died of a broken heart in California.
+
+"One monument yet remains to mark the site and perpetuate the memory of
+Pittsburgh, a flowing well, found I think at the depth of twenty-eight
+feet in the year 1874 and continuously flowing since that. Strange that
+no one was wise enough to take the hint and that it was twenty years
+later before the second flowing well was struck at Beaver Crossing,
+leading to the systematic search for them which dotted the entire valley
+with their fountains.
+
+"There were no high water bridges across the West Blue in those days. I
+remember acting as mail carrier for a number of families on the south
+bank of the Blue during the high waters of two or three summers,
+bringing the mail from the city of Pittsburgh postoffice on the north
+bank. A torn shirt and a pair of short-legged blue overalls--my entire
+wardrobe of those days--were twisted into a turban about my head, and
+plunging into the raging flood of the Blue which covered all the lower
+bottoms, five minutes' vigorous swimming carried me through the froth
+and foam and driftwood to the other side where I once more resumed my
+society clothes and, after securing the mail, upon my return to the
+river bank, tied it tightly in the turban and crossed the river as
+before.
+
+"I remember my first lessons in political economy, the fierce fight
+between the northern and the southern parts of the county upon the
+question of voting bonds to the Midland Pacific railway during the years
+1871-72. It was a sectional fight in fact, but in theory and in debate
+it was a contest over some first principles of government. The question
+of the people versus the corporation, since grown to such great
+proportions, was then first discussed to my childish ears. One incident
+of that contest is forever photographed on my brain--a crowd of one
+hundred farmers and villagers lounging in the shadow of T. H. Tisdale's
+old store. A yellow-skinned, emaciated lawyer from Lincoln who looked,
+to my boyish vision, like a Chinese chieftain from Manchuria, was
+speaking with fluent imaginative words in favor of the benefits the
+people of Seward county might secure by voting the bonds. This was H. W.
+Sommerlad, registrar of Lincoln land office. A short Saxon opponent,
+Rev. W. G. Keen of Walnut creek, was picked from the crowd by
+acclamation to reply to the Lincoln lawyer. The impression of his fiery
+words denouncing the aggressions of capital and appealing to the
+memories of the civil war and the Revolutionary fathers to arouse the
+people's independence is with me yet.
+
+"Next in the economic vista is the old Brisbin sod schoolhouse east of
+Walnut creek where a grange was organized. Here a lyceum was held
+through several winters in which the debates were strongly tinctured
+with the rising anti-monopoly sentiment of those hard times. George
+Michael and Charley Hunter, leaders of the boyish dare-deviltry of those
+days, were chosen as judges upon the debates in order to insure their
+good behavior, and they gravely decided for the negative or affirmative
+many deep discussions of doubtful themes.
+
+"Beaver Crossing in the early days was remarkable for the great number
+of boys in its surrounding population, and I have observed in these
+later years when visiting there, that the custom of having boy babies in
+the family does not appear to have entirely gone out of fashion. That
+great swarm of restless boy population which gathered, sometimes two
+hundred strong, Saturday afternoons on the Common! What 'sleights of art
+and feats of strength' went round! What struggles of natural selection
+to secure a place upon the 'First Nine' of the baseball team! For years
+Beaver Crossing had the best baseball club in three or four counties,
+and some of her players won high laurels on distant diamonds.
+
+"One custom which obtained in those frontier days seems to have been
+peculiar to the time, for I have not found it since in other frontier
+communities. It was the custom of 'calling off' the mail upon its
+arrival at the postoffice. The postmaster, old Tom Tisdale--a genuine
+facsimile of Petroleum V. Nasby--would dump the sacks of mail, brought
+overland on a buckboard, into a capacious box upon the counter of his
+store, then pick up piece by piece, and read the inscriptions thereon in
+a sonorous voice to the crowd, sometimes consisting of one or two
+hundred people. Each claimant would cry out 'Here!' when his name was
+called. Sometimes two-thirds of the mail was distributed in this way,
+saving a large amount of manual labor in pigeon-holing the same. Nasby
+had a happy and caustic freedom in commenting upon the mail during the
+performance, not always contemplated, I believe, by the United States
+postal regulations. A woman's handwriting upon a letter addressed to a
+young man was almost certain to receive some public notice from his
+sharp tongue, to the great enjoyment of the crowd and sometimes the
+visible annoyance of the young man. At one time he deliberately turned
+over a postal card written by a well-known young woman of Beaver
+Crossing who was away at school, and on observing that the message was
+written both horizontally and across, commented, 'From the holy mother,
+in Dutch.' If I should ever meet on the mystic other shore, which poets
+and philosophers have tried to picture for us, old Tom Tisdale, I would
+expect to see him with his spectacles pushed back from his nose,
+'calling off' the mail to the assembled spirits, the while entertaining
+them with pungent personal epigrams.
+
+"One startling picture arises from the past, framed as Browning writes
+'in a sheet of flame'--the picture of the great prairie fire of October,
+1871, which swept Seward county from south to north, leaving hardly a
+quarter section of continuous unburnt sod. A heavy wind, increasing to a
+hurricane, drove this fire down the West Blue valley. It jumped the Blue
+river in a dozen places as easily as a jack rabbit jumps a road. It left
+a great broad trail of cindered haystacks and smoking stables and
+houses. A neighbor of ours who was burnt out remarked that he had 'been
+through hell in one night,' and had 'no fear of the devil hereafter.'
+
+"At the other end of the scale of temperature are recollections of the
+'Great Storm' of April 13, 14, 15, 1873. There burst from a June
+atmosphere the worst blizzard in the history of the state. For three
+days it blew thick, freezing sleet, changing to snow so close and dense
+and dark that a man in a wagon vainly looked for the horses hitched to
+it through the storm. Men who were away from home lost their lives over
+the state. Stock was frozen to death. In sod houses, dugouts, and log
+cabins settlers huddled close about the hearth, burning enormous baskets
+of ten-cent corn to keep from freezing.
+
+"In these later years of life, Fate has called me to make minute study
+of many historical periods and places. Yet my heart always turns to
+review the early scenes of settlement and civilization in Seward county
+with a peculiar thrill of personal emotion and special joy in the risen
+and rising fortunes of those who there built the foundations of a great
+commonwealth. No land can be dearer than the land of one's childhood and
+none can ever draw my thoughts further over plain or ocean than the
+happy valley upon West Blue whose waters spring spontaneously from
+beneath the soil to water her fortunate acres."
+
+
+
+
+PIONEERING
+
+BY GRANT LEE SHUMWAY
+
+
+On September 15, 1885, I crossed the Missouri river at Omaha, and came
+west through Lincoln. The state fair was in full blast but our party did
+not stop, as we were bound for Benkleman, Parks, and Haigler, Nebraska.
+
+After looking over Dundy county, Nebraska, and Cheyenne county, Kansas,
+the rest of the party returned to Illinois.
+
+I went to Indianola, and with Mr. Palmatier, I started for the Medicine.
+He carried the mail to Stockville and Medicine, which were newly
+established postoffices in the interior to the north, and his conveyance
+was the hind wheels of an ordinary wagon, to which he had fashioned a
+pair of thills. He said that he was using such a vehicle because it
+enabled him to cut off several miles in the very rough country through
+which we passed.
+
+The jolting was something fierce, but being young and used to riding in
+lumber wagons, I did not mind. I was very much interested in everything,
+but the things that linger most clearly in my mind after all these years
+are the bushy whiskered, hopeful faces of the men who greeted us from
+dugouts and sod cabins. The men's eyes were alight with enthusiasm and
+candor, but I do not remember of having seen a woman or child upon the
+trip.
+
+It seems that men can drop back into the primitive so much more easily
+than women: not perhaps with all the brutality of the First Men, but
+they can adjust themselves to the environment of the wilderness, and the
+rusticity of the frontier, with comparative ease.
+
+I stopped for the night in Hay caÒon, a branch of Lake caÒon, at Hawkins
+brothers' hay camp, and I remember when they told me that they had three
+hundred tons of hay in the stack, that it seemed almost an inconceivable
+quantity. On our old Illinois farm twenty-five or thirty tons seemed a
+large amount, but three hundred tons was beyond our range of reasoning.
+However, we now stack that much on eighty acres in the Scottsbluff
+country.
+
+In due time I went on over the great tableland to the city of North
+Platte, and going down the caÒon on the south side of the south river, I
+killed my first jack rabbit, an event which seemed to make me feel more
+of a westerner than any circumstance up to that time.
+
+My first impression of North Platte, with its twelve saloons, was not of
+the best. And my conception of Buffalo Bill dropped several notches in
+esteem when I saw the Wild West saloon. But in the light of years, I am
+less puritanical in my views of the first people of the plains. In
+subsequent years I rode the range as a cowboy, and drove twenty-mule
+teams with a single line and a black-snake, and while always I remained
+an abstainer and occasionally found others that did likewise, I learned
+to tolerate, and then enjoy, the witticisms and foolishness of those
+that did indulge. Sometimes the boys in their cups would "smoke up" the
+little cities of the plains, but they never felt any resentment if one
+of their number did not participate in their drinking and festive
+sports.
+
+I spent the winter of 1885 on the ranch of Hall & Evans, near North
+Platte, and one of the pleasantest acquaintanceships of my life has been
+that of John Evans, now registrar of the land office at North Platte.
+
+In the spring of '86 the constant stream of emigrant wagons going west
+gave one an impression that in a little time the entire West would be
+filled, and I grew impatient to be upon my way and secure selections. In
+May I arrived at Sidney and from there rode in a box car to Cheyenne.
+When we topped the divide east of Cheyenne, I saw the snow-capped peaks
+of the Rockies for the first time.
+
+During the summer I "skinned mules," aiding in the construction of the
+Cheyenne & Northern, now a part of the Hill system that connects Denver
+with the Big Horn basin and Puget sound.
+
+Returning to Sidney in the autumn, I fell in with George Hendricks, who
+had been in the mines for twenty years and finally gave it up. We
+shoveled coal for the Union Pacific until we had a grub stake for the
+winter. I purchased a broncho, and upon him we packed our
+belongings--beds, blankets, tarpaulin, provisions, cooking utensils,
+tools, and clothing, and started north over the divide for "Pumpkin
+creek," our promised land. In a little over a day's travel, one leading
+the horse and the other walking behind to prod it along, we reached
+Hackberry caÒon, and here, in a grove by a spring, we built our first
+cabin.
+
+Three sides were log, the cracks filled with small pieces of wood and
+plastered with mud from the spring, and the back of the cabin was
+against a rock, and up this rock we improvised a fireplace, with loose
+stones and mud.
+
+When we had rigged a bunk of native red cedar along the side of this
+rude shelter, and the fire was burning in our fireplace, the coffee
+steaming, the bread baking in the skillet, the odor of bacon frying, and
+the wind whistling through the tree-tops, that cabin seemed a mighty
+cozy place.
+
+We could sometimes hear the coyotes and the grey wolves howl at night,
+but a sense of security prevailed, and our sleep was sound. Out of the
+elements at hand, we had made the rudiments of a home on land that was
+to become ours--our very own--forever.
+
+
+
+
+EARLY DAYS IN STANTON COUNTY
+
+
+_Statement by Andrew J. Bottorff_
+
+I came to Nebraska at the close of the civil war, having served during
+the entire campaign with the Seventeenth Indiana regiment. I came west
+with oxen and wagon in the fall of 1866, bringing my family. We wintered
+at Rockport, but as soon as spring opened went to Stanton county, where
+I took a homestead. Here we had few neighbors and our share of
+hardships, but thrived and were happy.
+
+One day I heard my dogs barking and found them down in a ravine, near
+the Elkhorn river, with an elk at bay, and killed him with my axe.
+
+The first year I was appointed county surveyor. Having no instruments at
+hand, I walked to Omaha, over a hundred miles distant, and led a fat cow
+to market there. I sold the cow but found no instruments. I was told of
+a man at Fort Calhoun who had an outfit I might get, so wended my way
+there. I found E. H. Clark, who would sell me the necessary supplies,
+and I bought them; then carried them, with some other home necessities
+obtained in Omaha, back to Stanton, as I had come, on foot.
+
+I am now seventy-five years old, and have raised a large family; yet
+wife and I are as happy and spry as if we had never worked, and are
+enjoying life in sunny California, where we have lived for the last ten
+years.
+
+
+_Statement by Sven Johanson_
+
+With my wife and two small children I reached Omaha, Nebraska, June 26,
+1868. We came direct from Norway, having crossed the stormy Atlantic in
+a small sailboat, the voyage taking eight weeks.
+
+A brother who had settled in Stanton county, 107 miles from Omaha, had
+planned to meet us in that city. After being there a few days this
+brother, together with two other men, arrived and we were very happy.
+With two yoke of oxen and one team of horses, each hitched to a load of
+lumber, we journeyed from Omaha to Stanton county. Arriving there, we
+found shelter in a small dugout with our brother and family, where we
+remained until we filed on a homestead and had built a dugout of our
+own.
+
+We had plenty of clothing, a good lot of linens and homespun materials,
+but these and ten dollars in money were all we possessed.
+
+The land office was at Omaha and it was necessary for me to walk there
+to make a filing. I had to stop along the way wherever I could secure
+work, and in that way got some food, and occasionally earned a few
+cents, and this enabled me to purchase groceries to carry back to my
+family. There were no bridges across rivers or creeks and we were
+compelled to swim; at one time in particular I was very thankful I was a
+good swimmer. A brother-in-law and myself had gone to Fremont, Nebraska,
+for employment, and on our return we found the Elkhorn river almost out
+of its banks. This frightened my companion, who could not swim, but I
+told him to be calm, we would come to no harm. I took our few groceries
+and our clothing and swam across, then going back for my companion, who
+was a very large man, I took him on my back and swam safely to the other
+shore.
+
+While I was away, my family would be holding down our claim and taking
+care of our one cow. We were surrounded by Indians, and there were no
+white people west of where we lived.
+
+In the fall of 1869 we secured a yoke of oxen, and the following spring
+hauled home logs from along the river and creek and soon had a
+comfortable log house erected.
+
+Thus we labored and saved little by little until we were able to erect a
+frame house, not hewn by hand, but made from real lumber, and by this
+time we felt well repaid for the many hardships we had endured. The old
+"homestead" is still our home, but the dear, faithful, loving mother who
+so bravely bore all the hardships of early days was called to her rich
+reward January 28, 1912. She was born June 15, 1844, and I was born
+October 14, 1837.
+
+
+
+
+FRED E. ROPER, PIONEER
+
+BY ERNEST E. CORRELL
+
+
+Fred E. Roper, a pioneer of Hebron, Nebraska, was eighty years old on
+October 10, 1915. Sixty-one years ago Mr. Roper "crossed the plains,"
+going from New York state to California.
+
+Eleven years more than a half-century--and to look back upon the then
+barren stretch of the country in comparison with the present fertile
+region of prosperous homes and populous cities, takes a vivid stretch of
+imagination to realize the dreamlike transformation. At that time San
+Francisco was a village of about five hundred persons living in adobe
+huts surrounded by a mud wall for a fortified protection from the
+marauding Indians.
+
+Fred E. Roper was born in Candor Hill, New York, October 10, 1835. When
+three years old he moved with his parents to Canton, Bradford county,
+Pennsylvania, and later moved with his brother to Baraboo, Wisconsin.
+Then he shipped as a "hand" on a raft going down the Wisconsin and
+Mississippi rivers to St. Louis, getting one dollar a day and board. He
+returned north on a steamer, stopping at Burlington, Iowa, where his
+sister resided.
+
+In 1854, when he was nineteen years of age, Mr. Roper "started west."
+His sister walked to the edge of the town with him as he led his
+one-horned cow, which was to furnish milk for coffee on the camp-out
+trip, which was to last three months, enroute to the Pacific coast.
+
+There were three outfits--a horse train, mule train, and ox train. Mr.
+Roper traveled in an ox train of twenty-five teams. The travelers
+elected officers from among those who had made the trip before, and
+military discipline prevailed.
+
+At nights the men took turns at guard duty in relays--from dark to
+midnight and from midnight to dawn, when the herder was called to turn
+the cattle out to browse. One man herded them until breakfast was ready,
+and another man herded them until time to yoke up. This overland train
+was never molested by the Indians, although one night some spying
+Cheyennes were made prisoners under guard over night until the oxen were
+yoked up and ready to start.
+
+[Illustration: OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT, TWO MILES NORTH OF HEBRON
+
+Erected by the citizens of Hebron and Thayer county, and Oregon Trail
+Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, dedicated May 24, 1915.
+Cost $400]
+
+The prospectors crossed the Missouri river at Omaha, which at that time
+had no residences or business buildings. Enroute to Salt Lake City, the
+South Platte route was followed, averaging about twenty miles a day.
+Enough provisions were carried to last through the journey and as they
+had some provisions left when they reached Salt Lake City, they were
+sold to the half-starved Mormons at big prices.
+
+Some perplexing difficulties were encountered on the journey. At one
+point in the mountains, beyond Salt Lake City, the trail was so narrow
+that the oxen were unhitched and led single file around the cliff, while
+the wagons were taken apart and lowered down the precipice with ropes.
+
+When crossing the desert, additional water had to be carried in extra
+kegs and canteens. When the tired cattle got near enough to the river to
+smell the fresh water, they pricked up their ears, stiffened their
+necks, and made a rush for the stream, so the men had to stand in front
+of them until the chains were loosened to prevent their crazily dashing
+into the water with the wagons.
+
+Mr. Roper worked by the day for three months in the mines northeast of
+San Francisco. While placer mining, he one day picked up a gold nugget,
+from which his engagement ring was made by a jeweler in San Francisco,
+and worn by Mrs. Roper until her death, October 28, 1908. The ring was
+engraved with two hearts with the initials M. E. R., and is now in the
+possession of their son Maun, whose initials are the same.
+
+Mr. Roper was one of a company of three men who worked a claim that had
+been once worked over, on a report that there was a crevasse that had
+not been bottomed. The first workers did not have "quicksilver," which
+is necessary to catch fine gold, but Mr. Roper's company had a jug
+shipped from San Francisco. Nothing less than a fifty-pound jug of
+quicksilver would be sold, at fifty cents a pound. This was used in
+sluice-boxes as "quicksilver riffles," to catch the fine float gold,
+when it would instantly sink to the bottom of the quicksilver, while the
+dirt and stones would wash over; the coarse rock would be first tossed
+out with a sluice-fork (similar to a flat-tined pitchfork). In three
+years the three men worked the mine out, making about fifteen hundred
+dollars apiece.
+
+With his share carried in buckskin sacks belted around his waist under
+his clothes, Mr. Roper started in a sailing vessel up north along the
+coast on a trip, hunting for richer diggings. Then he went on a steamer
+to the Isthmus of Panama, which he crossed with a hired horse team, then
+by steamer to New York and by railroad to Philadelphia to get his gold
+minted.
+
+After his marriage in 1861 Mr. Roper returned to the West and in '64 ran
+a hotel at Beatrice called "Pat's Cabin." When Nebraska voted on the
+question of admission to statehood, Mr. Roper's ballot was vote No. 3.
+
+Desiring to get a home of his own, Fred Roper came on west into what is
+now Thayer county, and about six miles northwest of the present site of
+Hebron up the Little Blue, he bought out the preÎmption rights of Bill
+and Walt Hackney, who had "squatted" there with the expectation of
+paying the government the customary $1.25 per acre. In certain
+localities those claims afterwards doubled to $2.50 per acre. Mr. Roper
+paid only the value of the log cabin and log stables, and came into
+possession of the eighty acres, which he homesteaded, and later bought
+adjoining land for $1.25 per acre.
+
+Occasionally he made trips to St. Joe and Nebraska City for supplies,
+which he freighted overland to Hackney ranch. At that time Mr. Roper
+knew every man on the trail from the Missouri river to Kearney. On these
+trips he used to stop with Bill McCandles, who was shot with three other
+victims by "Wild Bill" on Rock creek in Jefferson county.
+
+The first house at Hackney ranch was burned by the Cheyenne Indians in
+their great raid of 1864, at which time Miss Laura Roper (daughter of
+Joe B. Roper) and Mrs. Eubanks were captured by the Indians near Fox
+Ford in Nuckolls county and kept in captivity until ransomed by Colonel
+Wyncoop of the U. S. army for $1,000. Si Alexander of Meridian
+(southeast of the present town of Alexandria), was with the government
+troops at the time of Miss Roper's release near Denver. Her parents,
+believing her dead, had meanwhile moved back to New York state. (Laura
+Roper is still alive, being now Mrs. Laura Vance, at Skiatook,
+Oklahoma.) At the time of the above-mentioned raid, the Indians at
+Hackney ranch threw the charred cottonwood logs of the house into the
+well, to prevent travelers from getting water. Fred Roper was then at
+Beatrice, having just a few days before sold Hackney ranch to an
+overland traveler. After the raid the new owner deserted the place, in
+the fall of 1869, and in a few months Mr. Roper returned from Beatrice
+and again preÎmpted the same place.
+
+In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Roper moved to Meridian and ran a tavern for about
+a year, then moved back to Hackney, where they resided until the fall of
+1893, when they moved into Hebron to make their permanent home. Mr.
+Roper was postmaster at Hebron for four years under Cleveland's last
+administration.
+
+
+
+
+THE LURE OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+BY LUCY L. CORRELL
+
+
+The memories of the long hot days of August, 1874, are burned into the
+seared recollection of the pioneers of Nebraska. For weeks the sun had
+poured its relentless rays upon the hopeful, patient people, until the
+very atmosphere seemed vibrant with the pulsing heat-waves.
+
+One day a young attorney of Hebron was called to Nuckolls county to "try
+a case" before a justice of the peace, near a postoffice known as
+Henrietta. Having a light spring wagon and two ponies he invited his
+wife and little baby to accompany him for the drive of twenty-five
+miles. Anything was better than the monotony of staying at home, and the
+boundless freedom of the prairies was always enticing. An hour's drive
+and the heat of the sun became oppressively intense. The barren distance
+far ahead was unbroken by tree, or house, or field. There was no sound
+but the steady patter of the ponies' feet over the prairie grass; no
+moving object but an occasional flying hawk; no road but a trail through
+the rich prairie grass, and one seemed lost in a wilderness of unvarying
+green. The heat-waves seemed to rise from the ground and quiver in the
+air. Soon a wind, soft at first, came from the southwest, but ere long
+became a hot blast, and reminded one of the heated air from an opened
+oven door. Added to other inconveniences came the intense thirst
+produced from the sun and dry atmosphere--and one might have cried "My
+kingdom for a drink!"--but there was no "kingdom."
+
+After riding about nine miles there came into view the homestead of
+Teddy McGovern--the only evidence of life seen on that long day's drive.
+Here was a deep well of cold water. Cheery words of greeting and hearty
+handclasps evidenced that all were neighbors in those days. Again
+turning westward a corner of the homestead was passed where were several
+little graves among young growing trees--"Heartache corner" it might
+have been called. The sun shone as relentless there as upon all
+Nebraska, that scorching summer.
+
+As the afternoon wore on, looking across the prairies the heat-waves
+seemed to pulse and beckon us on; the lure of the prairies was upon us,
+and had we chosen we could not but have obeyed. Only the pioneers knew
+how to endure, to close their eyes to exclude the burning light, and
+close the lips to the withering heat.
+
+At last our destination was reached at the homestead of the justice of
+the peace. We were gladly seated to a good supper with the host and
+family of growing boys. After the meal the "Justice Court" was held out
+of doors in the shade of the east side of the house, there being more
+room and "more air" outside. The constable, the offender, the witness
+and attorney and a few neighbors constituted the prairie court, and
+doubtless the decisions were as legal and as lasting as those of more
+imposing surroundings of later days.
+
+But the joy of the day had only just begun, for as the sun went down, so
+did even the hot wind, leaving the air so heavy and motionless and
+oppressive one felt his lungs closing up. The boys of the family sought
+sleep out of doors, the others under the low roof of a two-roomed log
+house. Sleep was impossible, rest unknown until about midnight, when
+mighty peals of thunder and brilliant lightning majestically announced
+the oncoming Nebraska storm. No lights were needed, as nature's
+electricity was illuminatingly sufficient. The very logs quivered with
+the thunder's reverberations, and soon a terrific wind loaded with hail
+beat against the little house until one wondered whether it were better
+to be roasted alive by nature's consuming heat, or torn asunder by the
+warring elements. But the storm beat out its fury, and with daylight Old
+Sol peeped over the prairies with a drenched but smiling face.
+
+Adieus were made and the party started homeward. After a few miles'
+travel the unusual number of grasshoppers was commented upon, and soon
+the air was filled with their white bodies and beating wings; then the
+alarming fact dawned upon the travelers that this was a grasshopper
+raid. The pioneers had lived through the terrors of Indian raids, but
+this assault from an enemy outside of the human realm was a new
+experience. The ponies were urged eastward, but the hoppers cheerfully
+kept pace and were seen to be outdistancing the travelers. They filled
+the air and sky and obliterated even the horizon. Heat, thirst, distance
+were all submerged in the appalling dread of what awaited.
+
+As the sun went down the myriads of grasshoppers "went to roost." Every
+vegetable, every weed and blade of grass bore its burden. On the
+clothes-line the hoppers were seated two and three deep; and upon the
+windlass rope which drew the bucket from the well they clung and
+entwined their bodies.
+
+The following morning the hungry millions raised in the air, saluted the
+barren landscape and proceeded to set an emulating pace for even the
+busy bee. They flew and beat about, impudently slapping their wings
+against the upturned, anxious faces, and weary eyes, trying to penetrate
+through the apparent snowstorm--the air filled with the white bodies of
+the ravenous hordes. This appalling sight furnished diversion sufficient
+to the inhabitants of the little community for that day.
+
+People moved quietly about, in subdued tones wondering what the outcome
+would be. How long would the hoppers remain? Would they deposit their
+eggs to hatch the following spring and thus perpetuate their species?
+Would the old progenitors return?
+
+But, true to the old Persian proverb, "this too, passed away." The
+unwelcome intruders departed leaving us with an occasional old boot-leg,
+or leather strap, or dried rubber, from which the cormorants had sucked
+the "juice."
+
+The opening of the next spring was cold and rainy. Not many of the
+grasshopper eggs hatched. Beautiful Nebraska was herself again and
+"blossomed as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+SUFFRAGE IN NEBRASKA
+
+
+_Statement by Mrs. Gertrude M. McDowell_
+
+When I was requested to write a short article in regard to woman's
+suffrage in Nebraska I thought it would be an easy task. As the days
+passed and my thoughts became confusedly spread over the whole question
+from its incipiency, it proved to be not an easy task but a most
+difficult one. There was so much of interest that one hardly knew where
+to begin and what to leave unsaid.
+
+This question has been of life-long interest to me and I have always
+been in full sympathy with the movement. When the legislature in 1882
+submitted the suffrage amendment to the people of the state of Nebraska
+for their decision, we were exceedingly anxious concerning the outcome.
+
+A state suffrage association was formed. Mrs. Brooks of Omaha was
+elected president; Mrs. Bittenbender of Lincoln, recording secretary;
+Gertrude M. McDowell of Fairbury, corresponding secretary.
+
+There were many enthusiastic workers throughout the state. Among them, I
+remember Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby, of Beatrice, whom we considered our
+general; Mrs. Lucinda Russell and Mrs. Mary Holmes of Tecumseh, Mrs.
+Annie M. Steele of Fairbury, Mrs. A. J. Sawyer, Mrs. A. J. Caldwell, and
+Mrs. Deborah King of Lincoln, Mrs. E. M. Correll of Hebron and many more
+that I do not now recall.
+
+There were many enthusiastic men over the state who gave the cause
+ardent support. Senator E. M. Correll of Hebron was ever on the alert to
+aid in convention work and to speak a word which might carry conviction
+to some unbeliever.
+
+Some years previous to our campaign, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy
+Stone on one of their lecture tours in the West were so impressed with
+the enthusiasm and good work of Hon. E. M. Correll that they elected him
+president of the National Suffrage Association, for one year. I also
+recall Judge Ben S. Baker, now of Omaha, and C. F. Steele of Fairbury,
+as staunch supporters of the measure. During the campaign, many
+national workers were sent into the state, among them Susan B. Anthony,
+Phoebe Couzens, Elizabeth Saxon of New Orleans, and others. They
+directed and did valiant work in the cause. We failed to carry the
+measure in the state, but we are glad to note that it carried in our own
+town of Fairbury.
+
+Thanks to the indomitable personality of our Nebraska women, they began
+immediately to plan for another campaign. In 1914, our legislature again
+submitted an amendment and it was again defeated. Since then I have been
+more than ever in favor of making the amendment a national one,
+President Wilson to the contrary notwithstanding--not because we think
+the educational work is being entirely lost, but because so much time
+and money are being wasted on account of our foreign population and
+their attitude towards reform. It is a grave and a great question. One
+thing we are assured of, viz: that we will never give up our belief in
+the final triumph of our great cause.
+
+It is a far cry from the first woman's suffrage convention in 1850,
+brought about by the women who were excluded from acting as delegates at
+the anti-slavery convention in London in 1840.
+
+Thus a missionary work was begun then and there for the emancipation of
+women in "the land of the free and the home of the brave." We can never
+be grateful enough to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B.
+Anthony, and other noble, self-sacrificing women who did so much pioneer
+work in order to bring about better laws for women and in order to
+change the moth-eaten thought of the world.
+
+Many felt somewhat discouraged when the election returns from New
+Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York announced the defeat of the measure,
+but really when we remember the long list of states that have equal
+suffrage we have reason to rejoice and to take new courage. We now have
+Wyoming, Kansas, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington,
+Nevada, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Illinois, besides the
+countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, New Zealand,
+Australia, Nova Scotia, and some parts of England.
+
+In the future when the cobwebs have all been swept from the mind of the
+world and everyone is enjoying the new atmosphere of equal rights only a
+very few will realize the struggle these brave women endured in order
+to bring about better conditions for the world.
+
+
+_Statement by Lucy L. Correll_
+
+Hebron, Thayer county, Nebraska, was the cradle of the Nebraska woman
+suffrage movement, as this was the first community in the state to
+organize a permanent woman's suffrage association.
+
+Previous to this organization the subject had been agitated through
+editorials in the Hebron _Journal_, and by a band of progressive,
+thinking women. Upon their request the editor of the _Journal_, E. M.
+Correll, prepared an address upon "Woman and Citizenship." Enthusiasm
+was aroused, and a column of the _Journal_ was devoted to the interests
+of women, and was ably edited by the coterie of ladies having the
+advancement of the legal status of women at heart.
+
+Through the efforts of Mr. Correll, Susan B. Anthony was induced to come
+to Hebron and give her lecture on "Bread versus the Ballot," on October
+30, 1877. Previous to this time many self-satisfied women believed they
+had all the "rights" they wanted, but they were soon awakened to a new
+consciousness of their true status wherein they discovered their
+"rights" were only "privileges."
+
+On April 15, 1879, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, upon invitation,
+lectured in Hebron and organized the Thayer County Woman's Suffrage
+Association. This society grew from fifteen, the number at organization,
+to about seventy-five, many leading business men becoming members.
+
+Other organizations in the state followed, and at the convening of the
+Nebraska legislature of 1881, a joint resolution providing for the
+submission to the electors of this state an amendment to section 1,
+article VII, of the constitution, was presented by Representative E. M.
+Correll, and mainly through his efforts passed the house by the
+necessary three-fifths majority, and the senate by twenty-two to eight,
+but was defeated at the polls.
+
+During that memorable campaign of 1881-82, Lucy Stone Blackwell, and
+many other talented women of note, from the eastern states, lectured in
+Nebraska for the advancement of women, leaving the impress of the
+nobility of their characters upon the women of the middle West.
+
+The Thayer County Woman's Suffrage Association was highly honored, as
+several of its members held positions of trust in the state association,
+and one of its members, Hon. E. M. Correll, who was publishing the
+_Woman's Journal_, at Lincoln, at the time of the annual conference of
+the American Woman's Suffrage Association, at Louisville, Kentucky, in
+October, 1881, was elected to the important position of president of
+that national organization, in recognition of the work he had performed
+for the advancement of the cause of "Equality before the Law."
+
+This association served its time and purpose and after many years was
+instrumental in organizing the Hebron Library Association.
+
+The constitution and by-laws of this first woman's suffrage association
+of the state are still well preserved. The first officers were: Susan E.
+Ferguson, president; Harriet G. Huse, vice president; Barbara J.
+Thompson, secretary; Lucy L. Correll, treasurer; A. Martha Vermillion,
+corresponding secretary. Of these first officers only one is now
+living.
+
+
+
+
+AN INDIAN RAID
+
+BY ERNEST E. CORRELL
+
+
+In 1869, Fayette Kingsley and family resided on the Haney homestead at
+the southeast corner of Hebron, where Mr. Haney had been brutally
+murdered in the presence of his three daughters in 1867, the daughters
+escaping and eventually reaching their home, "back east."
+
+On May 26, 1869, "Old Daddy" Marks, accompanied by a young man for
+protection, drove over from Rose creek to warn Kingsley's that the
+Indians were on a raid. While they were talking, Mr. Kingsley heard the
+pit-pat of the Indian horses on the wet prairie. From the west were
+riding thirty-six Indians, led by a white man, whose hat and fine boots
+attracted attention in contrast to the bare-headed Indians wearing
+moccasins.
+
+In the house were enough guns and revolvers to shoot sixty rounds
+without loading. When Mrs. Kingsley saw the Indians approaching she
+scattered the arms and ammunition on the table where the men could get
+them. There were two Spencer carbines, a double-barreled shotgun, and
+two navy revolvers, besides other firearms.
+
+Mr. Kingsley and Charlie Miller (a young man from the East who was
+boarding with them) went into the house, got the guns, and leveled them
+on the Indians, who had come within 250 yards of the log-house, but who
+veered off on seeing the guns. One of the party at the house exclaimed,
+"The Indians are going past and turning off!" Mr. Marks then said, "Then
+for God's sake, don't shoot!"
+
+The Indians went on down the river and drove away eleven of King
+Fisher's horses. Two of Fisher's boys lay concealed in the grass and saw
+the white leader of the Indians remove his hat, showing his close-cut
+hair. He talked the Indian language and ordered the redskins to drive up
+a pony, which proved to be lame and was not taken. The Indians continued
+their raid nearly to Meridian.
+
+Meanwhile at Kingsley's preparations were made for a hurried flight. Mr.
+Marks said he must go home to protect his own family on Rose creek, but
+the young man accompanying him insisted that he cross the river and
+return by way of Alexander's ranch on the Big Sandy, as otherwise they
+would be following the Indians. Mr. Kingsley, with his wife and three
+children, went with them to Alexander's ranch, staying there two weeks
+until Governor Butler formed a company of militia composed of the
+settlers, to protect the frontier. A company of the Second U. S. Cavalry
+was sent here and stationed west of Hackney, later that summer. The
+Indians killed a man and his son, and took their horses, less than two
+miles from the soldiers' camp.
+
+On returning to the homestead, two cows and two yoke of oxen were found
+all right. Before the flight, Mr. Kingsley had torn down the pen,
+letting out a calf and a pig. Sixty days later, on recovering the pig,
+Mr. Kingsley noticed a sore spot on its back, and he pulled out an arrow
+point about three inches long.
+
+The Indians had taken all the bedding and eatables, even taking fresh
+baked bread out of the oven. They tore open the feather-bed and
+scattered the contents about--whether for amusement or in search of
+hidden treasures is not known. They found a good pair of boots, and cut
+out the fine leather tops (perhaps for moccasins) but left the heavy
+soles. From a new harness they also took all the fine straps and left
+the tugs and heavy leather. They had such a load that at the woodpile
+they discarded Mr. Kingsley's double-barreled shotgun, which had been
+loaded with buckshot for them.
+
+Captain Wilson, a lawyer who boarded with Mr. Kingsley, had gone to warn
+King Fisher, leaving several greenbacks inside a copy of the Nebraska
+statutes. These the Indians found and appropriated--perhaps their white
+leader was a renegade lawyer accustomed to getting money out of the
+statutes.
+
+In 1877 Mr. Kingsley's family had a narrow escape from death in a
+peculiar manner. After a heavy rain the walls of his basement caved in.
+His children occupied two beds standing end to end and filling the end
+of the basement. When the rocks from the wall caved in, both beds were
+crushed to the floor and a little pet dog on one of the beds was killed,
+but the children had no bones broken. Presumably the bedding protected
+them and the breaking of the bedsteads broke the jar of the rocks on
+their bodies.
+
+Mr. Kingsley has a deeply religious nature, and believes that Divine
+protection has been with him through life.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES
+
+BY MRS. E. A. RUSSELL
+
+
+In September, 1884, Rev. E. A. Russell was transferred by the American
+Baptist Publication Society from his work in the East to Nebraska, and
+settled on an eighty-acre ranch near Ord. Mr. Russell had held
+pastorates for twenty-six years in New Hampshire, New York, and Indiana,
+but desired to come west for improvement in health. He was accompanied
+by his family of seven. Western life was strange and exciting with
+always the possibility of an Indian raid, and dangerous prairie fires.
+It was the custom to plow a wide furrow around the home buildings as a
+precaution against the latter.
+
+The first year in Nebraska, our oldest daughter, Alice M. Russell, was
+principal of the Ord school, and Edith taught in the primary grade.
+
+On the fifth of August, 1885, late in the afternoon, a terrific
+hail-storm swept over the country. All crops were destroyed; even the
+grass was beaten into the earth, so there was little left as pasture for
+cattle. Pigs and poultry were killed by dozens and the plea of a
+tender-hearted girl, that a poor calf, beaten down by hailstones, might
+be brought "right into the kitchen," was long remembered. Not a window
+in our house remained unbroken. The floor was covered with rain and
+broken glass and ice; and our new, white, hard-finished walls and
+ceilings were bespattered and disfigured.
+
+This hail-storm was a general calamity. The whole country suffered and
+many families returned, disheartened, to friends in the East.
+
+The Baptist church was so shattered that, for its few members, it was no
+easy task to repair it. But they soon put it in good condition, only to
+see it utterly wrecked by a small cyclone the following October.
+
+The income that year from a forty-acre cornfield was one small "nubbin"
+less than three inches in length.
+
+All these things served to emphasize the heart-rending stories we had
+heard of sufferings of early pioneers. The nervous shock sustained by
+the writer was so great that a year elapsed before she was able to see
+clearly, or to read. As she was engaged on the four years' post-graduate
+course of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, her eldest son
+read aloud to her during that year and her work was completed at the
+same time as he and his younger sister graduated with the class of 1887.
+
+Some time later the writer organized a Chautauqua Circle, Ord's first
+literary society. Its president was a Mr. King and its secretary E. J.
+Clements, now of Lincoln, Nebraska.
+
+During our second winter in Nebraska the writer did not see a woman to
+speak to after her daughters went to their schools in Lincoln, where one
+was teaching and the other a University pupil.
+
+Of the "Minnie Freeman Storm" in January, 1888, all our readers have
+doubtless heard. Our two youngest boys were at school a mile away; but
+fortunately we lived south of town and they reached home in safety.
+
+In 1881 Fort Hartsuff, twelve miles away, had been abandoned. The
+building of this fort had been the salvation of pioneers, giving them
+work and wages after the terrible scourge of locusts in 1874. It was
+still the pride of those who had been enabled to remain in the desolated
+country and we heard much about it. So, when a brother came from New
+England to visit an only sister on the "Great American Desert," we took
+an early start one morning and visited "The Fort." The buildings, at
+that time, were in fairly good condition. Officers' quarters, barracks,
+commissary buildings, stables, and other structures were of concrete, so
+arranged as to form a hollow square; and, near by on a hill, was a
+circular stockade, which was said to be connected with the fort by an
+underground passage.
+
+A prominent figure in Ord in 1884 was an attractive young lady who later
+married Dr. F. D. Haldeman. In 1904 Mrs. Haldeman organized _Coronado_
+chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Her sister, Dr. Minerva
+Newbecker, has practiced medicine in Ord for many years. Another sister,
+Clara Newbecker, has long been a teacher in the public schools of
+Chicago. These three sisters, who descended from Lieutenant Philip
+Newbecker, of Revolutionary fame, and Mrs. Nellie Coombs, are the only
+living charter members of _Coronado_ chapter. The chapter was named in
+honor of that governor of New Galicia in Mexico who is supposed to have
+passed through some portion of our territory in 1540 when he fitted out
+an expedition to seek and christianize the people of that wonderful
+region where "golden bells and dishes of solid gold" hung thick upon the
+trees.
+
+About all that is definitely known is that he set up a cross at the big
+river, with the inscription: "Thus far came Francisco de Coronado,
+General of an expedition."
+
+And now, in 1915, the family of seven, by one marriage after another,
+has dwindled to a lonely--two.
+
+The head of our household, with recovered health, served his
+denomination twenty years in this great field, comprising Nebraska,
+Upper Colorado, and Wyoming. He retired in 1904 to the sanctuary of a
+quiet home.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES OF FORT CALHOUN
+
+BY W. H. ALLEN
+
+
+I reached Fort Calhoun in May, 1856, with my friends, Mr. and Mrs. John
+Allen; coming with team and wagon from Edgar county, Illinois. I was
+then eleven years old. Fort Calhoun had no soldiers, but some of the
+Fort Atkinson buildings were still standing. I remember the liberty
+pole, the magazine, the old brick-yard, at which places we children
+played and picked up trinkets. There was one general store then, kept by
+Pink Allen and Jascoby, and but few settlers. Among those I remember
+were, my uncle, Thomas Allen; E. H. Clark, a land agent; Col. Geo.
+Stevens and family, who started a hotel in 1856, and Orrin Rhoades,
+whose family lived on a claim five miles west of town. That summer my
+father took a claim near Rhoades', building a log house and barn at the
+edge of the woods. We moved there in the fall, and laid in a good supply
+of wood for the huge fireplace, used for cooking as well as heating. Our
+rations were scanty, consisting of wild game for meat, corn bread,
+potatoes and beans purchased at Fort Calhoun. The next spring we cleared
+some small patches for garden and corn, which we planted and tended with
+a hoe. There were no houses between ours and Fort Calhoun, nor any
+bridges. Rhoades' house and ours were the only ones between Fontenelle
+and Fort Calhoun. Members of the Quincy colony at Fontenelle went to
+Council Bluffs for flour and used our place as a half-way house,
+stopping each way over night. How we children did enjoy their company,
+and stories of the Indians. We were never molested by the red men, only
+that they would come begging food occasionally.
+
+I had no schooling until 1860 when I worked for my board in Fort Calhoun
+at E. H. Clark's and attended public school a few months. The next two
+years I did likewise, boarding at Alex. Reed's.
+
+From 1866 to 1869 inclusive I cut cord-wood and railroad ties which I
+hauled to Omaha for use in the building of the Union Pacific railroad.
+I received from $8.00 to $15.00 per cord for my wood, and $1.00 each for
+ties.
+
+Deer were plentiful and once when returning from Omaha I saw an old deer
+and fawn. Unhitching my team I jumped on one horse and chased the young
+one down, caught and tamed it. I put a bell on its neck and let it run
+about at will. It came to its sleeping place every night until the next
+spring when it left, never to be seen by us again.
+
+In the fall of 1864 I was engaged by Edward Creighton to freight with a
+wagon train to Denver, carrying flour and telegraph supplies. The cattle
+were corralled and broke at Cole's creek, west of Omaha known then as
+"Robber's Roost," and I thought it great fun to yoke and break those
+wild cattle. We started in October with forty wagons, seven yoke of oxen
+to each wagon. I went as far as Fort Cottonwood, one hundred miles
+beyond Fort Kearny, reaching there about November 20. There about a
+dozen of us grew tired of the trip and turned back with a wagon and one
+ox team. On our return, at Plum creek, thirty-fives miles west of Fort
+Kearny we saw where a train had been attacked by Indians, oxen killed,
+wagons robbed and abandoned. We waded the rivers, Loup Fork and Platte,
+which was a cold bath at that time of year.
+
+I lived at this same place in the woods until I took a homestead three
+miles farther west in 1868.
+
+My father's home was famous at that time, also years afterward, as a
+beautiful spot, in which to hold Fourth of July celebrations, school
+picnics, etc., and the hospitality and good cooking of my mother, "Aunt
+Polly Allen" as she was familiarly called, was known to all the early
+settlers in this section of the country.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. EMILY BOTTORFF ALLEN
+
+
+I came to Washington county, Nebraska, with my parents in the fall of
+1865, by ox team from Indiana. We stopped at Rockport, where father and
+brothers got work at wood chopping. They built a house by digging into a
+hill and using logs to finish the front. The weather was delightful, and
+autumn's golden tints in the foliage were beautiful.
+
+We gathered hazel nuts and wild grapes, often scaring a deer from the
+underbrush. Our neighbors were the Shipleys, who were very hospitable,
+and shared their garden products with us.
+
+During the winter father bought John Frazier's homestead, but our home
+was still in a dugout, in which we were comfortable. We obtained all
+needed supplies from Fort Calhoun or Omaha.
+
+In the spring Amasa Warrick, from Cuming City, came to our home in
+search of a teacher and offered me the position, which I accepted. Elam
+Clark of Fort Calhoun endorsed my teacher's certificate. I soon
+commenced teaching at Cuming City, and pupils came for miles around. I
+boarded at George A. Brigham's. Mr. Brigham was county surveyor,
+postmaster, music teacher, as well as land agent, and a very fine man.
+
+One day, while busy with my classes, the door opened and three large
+Indians stole in, seating themselves near the stove. I was greatly
+alarmed and whispered to one of my pupils to hasten to the nearest
+neighbor for assistance. As soon as the lad left, one Indian went to the
+window and asked "Where boy go?" I said, "I don't know." The three
+Indians chattered together a moment, and then the spokesman said. "I
+kill you sure," but seeing a man coming in the distance with a gun, they
+all hurried out and ran over the hill.
+
+I taught at Cuming City until the school fund was exhausted, and by that
+time the small schoolhouse on Long creek was completed. Allen Craig and
+Thomas McDonald were directors. I boarded at home and taught the first
+school in this district, with fourteen pupils enrolled. At this time
+Judge Bowen of Omaha was county superintendent, and I went there to have
+my certificate renewed.
+
+When all the public money in the Long Creek district was used up, I went
+back to Cuming City to teach. The population of this district had
+increased to such an extent that I needed an assistant, and I was
+authorized to appoint one of my best pupils to the position. I selected
+Vienna Cooper, daughter of Dr. P. J. Cooper. I boarded at the Lippincott
+home, known as the "Halfway House" on the stage line between Omaha and
+Decatur. It was a stage station where horses were changed and drivers
+and passengers stopped over night.
+
+At the close of our summer term we held a picnic and entertainment on
+the Methodist church grounds, using the lumber for the new church for
+our platform and seats. This entertainment was pronounced the grandest
+affair ever held in the West.
+
+The school funds of the Cuming City district being again exhausted, I
+returned to Long Creek district in the fall of 1867, and taught as long
+as there was any money in the treasury. By that time the village of
+Blair had sprung up, absorbing Cuming City and De Soto, and I was
+employed to teach in their new log schoolhouse. T. M. Carter was
+director of the Blair district. Orrin Colby of Bell Creek, was county
+superintendent, and he visited the schools of the county, making the
+rounds on foot. I taught at Blair until April, 1869, when I was married
+to William Henry Allen, a pioneer of Fort Calhoun. Our license was
+issued by Judge Stilts of Fort Calhoun, where we were married by Dr.
+Andrews. We raised our family in the Long Creek district, and still
+reside where we settled in those pioneer days.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES OF PIONEER LIFE AT FORT CALHOUN
+
+BY MRS. N. J. FRAZIER BROOKS
+
+
+I came to Nebraska in the spring of 1857 from Edgar county, Illinois,
+with my husband, Thomas Frazier, and small daughter, Mary. We traveled
+in a wagon drawn by oxen, took a claim one and one-half miles south of
+Fort Calhoun and thought we were settling near what would be Nebraska's
+metropolis. My husband purchased slabs at the saw mill at Calhoun and
+built our shanty of one room with a deck roof. For our two yoke of oxen
+he made a shed of poles and grass and we all were comfortable and happy
+in our new home. In the spring Mr. Frazier broke prairie, put in the
+most extensive crops hereabouts, for my husband was young and ambitious.
+We had brought enough money with us to buy everything obtainable in this
+new country, but he would often say, "I'd hate to have the home folks
+see how you and Mary have to live." Deer were a common sight and we ate
+much venison; wild turkeys were also plentiful. They could be heard
+every morning and my husband would often go in our woods and get one for
+our meat.
+
+In 1859 he went to Boone county, Iowa, and bought a cow, hauling her
+home in a wagon. She soon had a heifer calf and we felt that our herd
+was well started. The following winter was so severe that during one
+storm we brought the cow in our house to save her. The spring of 1860
+opened up fine and as we had prospered and were now making money from
+our crops we built us a frame house, bought a driving team, cows, built
+fences, etc. I still own this first claim, and although my visions of
+Fort Calhoun were never realized I know of no better place in which to
+live and my old neighbors, some few of whom are still here, proved to be
+everlasting friends.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES OF DE SOTO IN 1855
+
+BY OLIVER BOUVIER
+
+
+Mother Bouvier, a kind old soul, who settled in De Soto in the summer of
+1855, had many hardships. Just above her log house, on the ridge, was
+the regular Indian trail and the Indians made it a point to stop at our
+house regularly, as they went to Fort Calhoun or to Omaha. She
+befriended them many times and they always treated her kindly. "Omaha
+Mary," who was often a caller at our house was always at the head of her
+band. She was educated and could talk French well to us. What she said
+was law with all the Indians. Our creek was thick with beavers and as a
+small boy I could not trap them, but she could, and had her traps there
+and collected many skins from our place. I wanted her to show me the
+trick of it, but she would never allow me to follow her. At one time I
+sneaked along and she caught me in the act and grabbed me by the collar
+and with a switch in her hand, gave me a severe warming. This same squaw
+was an expert with bow and arrow, and I have seen her speedily cross the
+Missouri river in a canoe with but one oar. Our wall was always black
+and greasy by the Indians sitting against it while they ate the plates
+of mush and sorghum my mother served them. I have caught many buffalo
+calves out on the prairies, and one I brought to our De Soto home and
+tamed it. My sister Adeline and myself tried to break it to drive with
+an ox hitched to a sled, but never succeeded to any great extent. One
+day Joseph La Flesche came along and offered us $50.00 for it and we
+sold it to him but he found he could not separate it from our herd, so
+bought a heifer, which it would follow and Mr. Joseph Boucha and myself
+took them up to the reservation for him. He entertained us warmly at his
+Indian quarters for two or three days. I have cured many buffalo steak
+(by the Indian method) and we used the meat on our table.
+
+
+
+
+REMINISCENCES
+
+BY THOMAS M. CARTER
+
+
+In the spring of 1855, with my brother, Alex Carter, E. P. and D. D.
+Stout, I left the beautiful hills and valleys of Ohio, to seek a home in
+the west. After four weeks of travel by steamboat and stage, horseback
+and afoot, we reached the town of Omaha, then only a small village. It
+took us fourteen days to make the trip from St. Louis to Omaha.
+
+While waiting at Kanesville or Council Bluffs as it is now called, we
+ascended the hills back of the town and gazed across to the Nebraska
+side. I thought of Daniel Boone as he wandered westward on the Kentucky
+hills looking into Ohio. "Fair was the scene that lay before the little
+band, that paused upon its toilsome way, to view the new found land."
+
+At St. Mary we met Peter A. Sarpy. He greeted us all warmly and invited
+all to get out of the stage and have a drink at his expense. As an
+inducement to settle in Omaha, we were each offered a lot anywhere on
+the townsite, if we would build on it, but we had started for De Soto,
+Washington county, and no ordinary offer could induce us to change our
+purpose.
+
+We thought that with such an excellent steamboat landing and quantities
+of timber in the vicinity, De Soto had as good a chance as Omaha to
+become the metropolis. We reached De Soto May 14, 1855, and found one
+log house finished and another under way. Zaremba Jackson, a newspaper
+man, and Dr. Finney occupied the log cabin and we boarded with them
+until we had located a claim and built a cabin upon the land we
+subsequently entered and upon which the city of Blair is now built.
+
+After I had built my cabin of peeled willow poles the Cuming City Claim
+Club warned me by writing on the willow poles of my cabin that if I did
+not abandon that claim before June 15, 1855, I would be treated to a
+free bath in Fish creek and free transportation across the Missouri
+river. This however proved to be merely a bluff. I organized and was
+superintendent of the first Sunday school in Washington county in the
+spring of 1856.
+
+The first board of trustees of the Methodist church in the county was
+appointed by Rev. A. G. White, on June 1, 1866, and consisted of the
+following members, Alex Carter, L. D. Cameron, James Van Horn, M. B.
+Wilds, and myself. The board met and resolved itself into a building
+committee and appointed me as chairman. We then proceeded to devise
+means to provide for a church building at Cuming City, by each member of
+the board subscribing fifty dollars. At the second meeting it was
+discovered that this was inadequate and it was deemed necessary for this
+subscription to be doubled. The church was built, the members of the
+committee hewing logs of elm, walnut, and oak for sills and hauling with
+ox teams. The church was not completely finished but was used for a
+place of worship. This building was moved under the supervision of Rev.
+Jacob Adriance and by his financial support from Cuming City to Blair in
+1870. Later it was sold to the Christian church, moved off and remodeled
+and is still doing service as a church building in Blair.
+
+Jacob Adriance was the first regular Methodist pastor to be assigned to
+the mission extending from De Soto to Decatur. His first service was
+held at De Soto on May 3, 1857, at the home of my brother, Jacob Carter,
+a Baptist. The congregation consisted of Jacob Carter, his family of
+five, Alex Carter, myself and wife.
+
+The winter before Rev. Adriance came Isaac Collins was conducting
+protracted meetings in De Soto and so much interest was being aroused
+that some of the ruffians decided to break up the meetings. One night
+they threw a dead dog through a window hitting the minister in the back,
+knocking over the candles and leaving us in darkness. The minister
+straightened up and declared, "The devil isn't dead in De Soto yet."
+
+I was present at the Calhoun claim fight at which Mr. Goss was killed
+and Purple and Smith were wounded.
+
+The first little log school was erected on the townsite of Blair, the
+patrons cutting and hauling the lumber. I was the first director and
+Mrs. William Allen _nee_ Emily Bottorff, first teacher.
+
+I served as worthy patriarch of the First Sons of Temperance
+organization in the county and lived in De Soto long enough to see the
+last of the whiskey traffic banished from that township.
+
+I have served many years in Washington county as school director,
+justice of the peace, and member of the county board.
+
+In October, 1862, I joined the Second Nebraska cavalry for service on
+the frontier. Our regiment lost a few scalps and buried a number of
+Indians. We bivouacked on the plains, wrapped in our blankets, while the
+skies smiled propitiously over us and we dreamed of home and the girls
+we left behind us, until reveille called to find the drapery of our
+couch during the night had been reinforced by winding sheets of drifting
+snow.
+
+
+
+
+FORT CALHOUN IN THE LATER FIFTIES
+
+BY MRS. E. H. CLARK
+
+
+E. H. Clark came from Indiana in March, 1855, with Judge James Bradley,
+and was clerk of the district court in Nebraska under him. He became
+interested in Fort Calhoun, then the county-seat of Washington county.
+The town company employed him to survey it into town lots, plat the
+same, and advertise it. New settlers landed here that spring and lots
+were readily sold. In June, 1855, Mr. Clark contracted with the
+proprietors to put up a building on the townsite for a hotel; said
+building to be 24x48 feet, two stories high, with a wing of the same
+dimensions; the structure to be of hewn logs and put up in good style.
+For this he was to receive one-ninth interest in the town. Immediately
+he commenced getting out timber, boarding in the meantime with Major
+Arnold's family, and laboring under many disadvantages for want of
+skilled labor and teams, there being but one span of horses and seven
+yoke of cattle in the entire precinct at this time. What lumber was
+necessary for the building had to be obtained from Omaha at sixty
+dollars per thousand and hauled a circuitous route by the old Mormon
+trail. As an additional incident to his trials, one morning at breakfast
+Mr. Clark was told by Mrs. Arnold that the last mouthful was on the
+table. Major Arnold was absent for supplies and delayed, supposedly for
+lack of conveyance; whereupon Mr. Clark procured two yoke of oxen and
+started at once for Omaha for provisions and lumber. Never having driven
+oxen before he met with many mishaps. By traveling all night through
+rain and mud he reached sight of home next day at sunrise, when the oxen
+ran away upsetting the lumber and scattering groceries all over the
+prairies. Little was recovered except some bacon and a barrel of flour.
+
+Finally the hotel was ready for occupancy and Col. George Stevens with
+his family took up their residence there. It was the best hostelry in
+the west. Mr. Stevens was appointed postmaster and gave up one room to
+the office. The Stevens family were very popular everywhere.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. John B. Kuony were married at the Douglas house, Omaha,
+about 1855 and came to the new hotel as cooks; but soon afterward
+started a small store which in due time made them a fortune. This
+couple were also popular in business, as well as socially.
+
+In March, 1856, my husband sent to Indiana for me. I went to St. Louis
+by train, then by boat to Omaha. I was three weeks on the boat, and had
+my gold watch and chain stolen from my cabin enroute. I brought a set of
+china dishes which were a family heirloom, clothes and bedding. The
+boxes containing these things we afterward used for table and lounge. My
+husband had a small log cabin ready on my arrival.
+
+I was met at Omaha by Thomas J. Allen with a wagon and ox team. He
+hauled building material and provisions and I sat on a nail keg all the
+way out. He drove through prairie grass as high as the oxen's back. I
+asked him how he ever learned the road. When a boat would come up the
+river every one would rush to buy furniture and provisions; I got a
+rocking chair in 1857, the first one in the town. It was loaned out to
+sick folks and proved a treasure. In 1858 we bought a clock of John
+Bauman of Omaha, paying $45.00 for it, and it is still a perfect time
+piece.
+
+My father, Dr. J. P. Andrews, came in the spring of 1857 and was a
+practicing physician, also a minister for many years here. He was the
+first Sunday school superintendent here and held that office continually
+until 1880 when he moved to Blair.
+
+In 1858 the Vanier brothers started a steam grist mill which was a great
+convenience for early settlers. In 1861 Elam Clark took it on a mortgage
+and ran it for many years. Mr. Clark also carried on a large fur trade
+with the Indians, and they would go east to the bottoms to hunt and camp
+for two or three weeks.
+
+At one time I had planned a dinner party and invited all my lady
+friends. I prepared the best meal possible for those days, with my china
+set all in place and was very proud to see it all spread, and when just
+ready to invite my guests to the table, a big Indian appeared in the
+doorway and said, "hungry" in broken accents. I said, "Yes I get you
+some" and started to the stove but he said, "No," and pointed to the
+table. I brought a generous helping in a plate but he walked out doors,
+gave a shrill yell which brought several others of his tribe and they at
+once sat down, ate everything in sight, while the guests looked on in
+fear and trembling; having finished they left in great glee.
+
+
+
+
+SOME ITEMS FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY
+
+BY MRS. MAY ALLEN LAZURE
+
+
+Alfred D. Jones, the first postmaster of Omaha, tells in the _Pioneer
+Record_ of the first Fourth of July celebration in Nebraska.
+
+"On July 4, 1854, I was employed in the work of surveying the townsite
+of Omaha. At this time there were only two cabins on the townsite, my
+postoffice building and the company claim house. The latter was used as
+our boarding house. Inasmuch as the Fourth would be a holiday, I
+concluded it would be a novelty to hold a celebration on Nebraska soil.
+I therefore announced that we would hold a celebration and invited the
+people of Council Bluffs, by inserting a notice in the Council Bluffs
+paper, and requested that those who would participate should prepare a
+lunch for the occasion.
+
+"We got forked stakes and poles along the river, borrowed bolts of
+sheeting from the store of James A. Jackson; and thus equipped we
+erected an awning to shelter from the sun those who attended. Anvils
+were procured, powder purchased and placed in charge of cautious
+gunners, to make a noise for the crowd. The celebration was held on the
+present high school grounds.
+
+"The picnickers came with their baskets, and the gunner discharged his
+duty nobly. A stranger, in our midst, was introduced as Mr. Sawyer, an
+ex-congressman from Ohio."
+
+I had a life-long acquaintance with one of those early picnickers, Mrs.
+Rhoda Craig, a daughter of Thomas Allen, who built the first house in
+Omaha. Mrs. Craig was the first white girl to live on the site of Omaha.
+She often told the story of that Fourth of July in Omaha. Their fear of
+the Indians was so great that as soon as dinner was over, they hurried
+to their boats and rowed across to Council Bluffs for safety.
+
+Another pioneer woman was Aimee Taggart Kenny, who came to Fontenelle
+with her parents when a small child. Her father was a Baptist missionary
+in Nebraska, and his earliest work was with the Quincy colony. I have
+heard her tell the following experience:
+
+"On several occasions we were warned that the Indians were about to
+attack us. In great fear, we gathered in the schoolhouse and watched all
+night, the men all well armed. But we were never molested. Another time
+mother was alone with us children. Seeing the Indians approaching we
+locked the doors, went into the attic by means of an outside ladder and
+looked out through a crack. We saw the red men try the door, peep in at
+the windows, and then busy themselves chewing up mother's home-made
+hop-yeast, which had been spread out to dry. They made it into balls and
+tossed it all away."
+
+John T. Bell of Newberg, Oregon, contributed the following:
+
+"I have a pleasant recollection of your grandfather Allen. My father's
+and mother's people were all southerners and there was a kindliness
+about Mr. and Mrs. Allen that reminded me of our own folks back in
+Illinois. I often stopped to see them when going to and from the Calhoun
+mill.
+
+"I was also well acquainted with Mrs. E. H. Clark, and Rev. Mr. Taggart
+and his family were among the most highly esteemed residents of our
+little settlement of Fontenelle. Mr. Taggart was a man of fine humor. It
+was the custom in those early days for the entire community to get
+together on New Year's day and have a dinner at 'The College.' There
+would be speech-making, and I remember that on one of these occasions
+Mr. Taggart said that no doubt the time would come when we would all
+know each others' real names and why we left the states.
+
+"The experiences of the Bell family in the early Nebraska days were ones
+of privation. We came to Nebraska in 1856 quite well equipped with
+stock, four good horses, and four young cows which we had driven behind
+the wagon from western Illinois. The previous winter had been very mild
+and none of the settlers were prepared for the dreadful snow storm which
+came on the last day of November and continued for three days and
+nights. Our horses and cows were in a stable made by squaring up the
+head of a small gulch and covering the structure with slough grass. At
+the end of the storm when father could get out to look after the stock
+there was no sign of the stable. The low ground it occupied was levelled
+off by many feet of snow. He finally located the roof and found the
+stock alive and that was about all. The animals suffered greatly that
+winter and when spring came we had left only one horse and no cows. That
+lone horse was picking the early grass when he was bitten in the nose by
+a rattlesnake and died from the effects. One of those horses, 'Old Fox,'
+was a noble character. We had owned him as long as I could remember, and
+when he died we children all cried. I have since owned a good many
+horses but not one equalled Old Fox in the qualities that go to make up
+a perfect creature.
+
+"After the civil war my brother Will and I were the only members of our
+family left in Nebraska. We served with Grant and Sherman and then went
+back to Fontenelle, soon afterward beginning the improvement of our farm
+on Bell creek in the western part of the county. By that time conditions
+had so improved in Nebraska that hardships were not so common. I was
+interested in tree planting even as a boy and one of the distinct
+recollections of our first summer in Nebraska was getting so severely
+poisoned in the woods on the Elkhorn when digging up young sprouts, that
+I was entirely blind. A colored man living in Fontenelle told father
+that white paint would cure me and so I was painted wherever there was a
+breaking out, with satisfactory results.
+
+"Later the planting of cottonwood, box elder, maple, and other trees
+became a general industry in Nebraska and I am confident that I planted
+twenty thousand trees, chiefly cottonwood. To J. Sterling Morton, one of
+Nebraska's earliest and most useful citizens, Nebraska owes a debt of
+gratitude. He was persistent in advocating the planting of trees. In his
+office hung a picture of an oak tree; on his personal cards was a
+picture of an oak tree with the legend 'Plant Trees'; on his
+letterheads, on his envelopes was borne the same injunction and the
+picture of an oak tree. On the marble doorstep of his home was cut a
+picture of an oak tree and the words 'Plant Trees'; on the ground-glass
+of the entrance door was the same emblem. I went to a theater he had
+built and on the drop curtain was a picture of an oak tree and the words
+'Plant Trees.' Today the body of this useful citizen lies buried under
+the trees he planted in Wyuka cemetery, near Nebraska City."
+
+
+
+
+COUNTY SEAT OF WASHINGTON COUNTY
+
+BY FRANK MCNEELY
+
+
+In 1855 an act was passed by the territorial legislature reorganizing
+Washington county and designating Fort Calhoun as the county-seat.
+
+De Soto, a small village five miles north of Fort Calhoun, wished the
+county-seat to be moved there. In the winter of 1858 a crowd of De Soto
+citizens organized and with arms went to Fort Calhoun to take the
+county-seat by force. Fort Calhoun citizens barricaded themselves in the
+log courthouse and held off the De Soto band until the afternoon of the
+second day, when by compromise, the county-seat was turned over to De
+Soto. One man was killed in this contest, in which I was a participant.
+
+The county-seat remained in De Soto until an election in the fall of
+1866 when the vote of the people relocated it at Fort Calhoun, where it
+remained until 1869. An election in the latter year made Blair the
+county-seat.
+
+A courthouse was built in Blair, the present county-seat of Washington
+county, in 1889, at a cost of $50,000.
+
+     NOTE--In the early days every new town, and they were all new, was
+     ambitious to become the county-seat and many of them hopefully
+     sought the honor of becoming the capital of the territory.
+     Washington county had its full share of aspiring towns and most of
+     them really got beyond the paper stage. There were De Soto, Fort
+     Calhoun, Rockport, Cuming City, and last but not least--Fontenelle,
+     then in Washington county, now a "deserted village" in Dodge
+     county. Of these only Fort Calhoun remains more than a memory. De
+     Soto was founded by Potter C. Sullivan and others in 1854, and in
+     1857 had about five hundred population. It began to go down in
+     1859, and when the city of Blair was started its decline was rapid.
+     Rockport, which was in the vicinity of the fur trading
+     establishments of early days, was a steamboat landing of some
+     importance and had at one time a population of half a hundred or
+     more. Now only the beautiful landscape remains. Cuming City, like
+     De Soto, received its death blow when Blair was founded, and now
+     the townsite is given over to agricultural purposes.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THE TOWN OF FONTENELLE
+
+BY MRS. EDA MEAD
+
+
+When Nebraska was first organized as a territory, a party of people in
+Quincy, Illinois, conceived the idea of starting a city in the new
+territory and thus making their fortune. They accordingly sent out a
+party of men to select a site.
+
+These men reached Omaha in 1854. There they met Logan Fontenelle, chief
+of the Omahas, who held the land along the Platte and Elkhorn rivers. He
+agreed to direct them to a place favorable for a town. Upon reaching the
+spot, where the present village is now situated, they were so pleased
+that they did not look farther, but paid the chief one hundred dollars
+for the right to claim and locate twenty square miles of land. This
+consisted of land adjoining the Elkhorn river, then ascending a high
+bluff, a tableland ideal for the location of the town.
+
+These men thought the Elkhorn was navigable and that they could ship
+their goods from Quincy by way of the Missouri, Platte, and Elkhorn
+rivers.
+
+Early in the spring of 1855 a number of the colonists, bringing their
+household goods, left Quincy on a small boat, the "Mary Cole," expecting
+to reach Fontenelle by way of the Elkhorn; and then use the boat as a
+packet to points on the Platte and Elkhorn rivers.
+
+But the boat struck a snag in the Missouri and, with a part of the
+cargo, was lost. The colonists then took what was saved overland to
+Fontenelle.
+
+By the first of May, 1855, there were sufficient colonists on the site
+to hold the claims. Then each of the fifty members drew by lot for the
+eighteen lots each one was to hold. The first choice fell to W. H.
+Davis. He chose the land along the river, fully convinced of its
+superior situation as a steamboat landing.
+
+The colonists then built houses of cottonwood timber, and a store and
+hotel were started. Thus the little town of about two hundred
+inhabitants was started with great hopes of soon becoming a large city.
+
+Land on the edge of the bluff had been set aside for a college building.
+This was called Collegeview. Here a building was begun in 1856 and
+completed in 1859. This was the first advanced educational institution
+to be chartered west of the Missouri river.
+
+In 1865 this building was burned. Another building was immediately
+erected, but after a few years' struggle for patronage, they found it
+was doomed to die, so negotiated with the people of Crete, Nebraska, and
+the Congregational organizations (for it was built by the
+Congregationalists) in Nebraska. It therefore became the nucleus of what
+is now Doane College.
+
+The bell of the old building is still in use in the little village.
+
+The first religious services were held by the Congregationalists. The
+church was first organized by Rev. Reuben Gaylord, who also organized
+the First Congregational church in Omaha.
+
+In Fontenelle the Congregationalists did not have a building but
+worshiped in the college. This church has long since ceased to exist,
+but strange as it may seem after so many years, the last regular pastor
+was the same man, Rev. Reuben Gaylord, who organized it.
+
+There was a little band of fifteen Methodists; this was called the
+Fontenelle Mission. In 1857 an evangelist, Jerome Spillman, was sent to
+take charge of this little mission. He soon had a membership of about
+three score people. A church was organized and a building and parsonage
+completed. This prospered with the town, but as the village began to
+lose ground the church was doomed to die. The building stood vacant for
+a number of years but was finally moved to Arlington.
+
+The settlers found the first winter of 1855-56 mild and agreeable. They
+thought that this was a sample of the regular winter climate; so when
+the cold, blizzardy, deep-snow winter of 1856-57 came it found the
+majority ill prepared. Many were living in log cabins which had been
+built only for temporary use. The roofs were full of holes and just the
+dirt for floors.
+
+On awaking in the morning after the first blizzard many found their
+homes drifted full of snow; even the beds were covered. The snow lay
+four or five feet deep on the level and the temperature was far below
+zero.
+
+Most of the settlers lost all of their stock. Food was scarce, but wild
+game was plentiful. Mr. Sam Francis would take his horse and gun and
+hunt along the river. The settlers say he might be seen many times that
+winter coming into the village with two deer tied to his horse's tail
+trailing in the snow. By this means, he saved many of the colonists from
+starvation.
+
+Provisions were very high priced. Potatoes brought four and five dollars
+a bushel; bacon and pork could not be had at any price. One settler is
+said to have sold a small hog for forty-five dollars; with this he
+bought eighty acres of land, which is today worth almost one hundred
+eighty dollars an acre.
+
+A sack of flour cost from ten to fifteen dollars.
+
+At this time many who had come just for speculation left, thus only the
+homebuilders or those who had spent their all and could not return,
+remained.
+
+Then came trouble with the Indians. In the year 1859 the Pawnees were
+not paid by the government, for some reason. They became desperate and
+began stealing cattle from the settlers along the Elkhorn around
+Fontenelle. The settlers of Fontenelle formed a company known as the
+"Fontenelle Mounted Rangers," and together with a company sent out by
+Governor Black from Omaha with one piece of light artillery, started
+after the Pawnees who were traveling west and north.
+
+They captured six prisoners and held them bound. While they were camped
+for rest, a squaw in some way gave a knife to one of the prisoners. He
+pretended to kill himself by cutting his breast and mouth so that he
+bled freely. He then dropped as if dead. Amidst the confusion the other
+five, whose ropes had been cut, supposedly by this same squaw, escaped.
+
+As the settlers were breaking camp to still pursue the fleeing tribe,
+they wondered what to do with the dead Indian. Someone expressed doubt
+as to his really being dead. Then one of the settlers raised his gun and
+said he would soon make sure. No sooner had the gun been aimed than the
+Indian jumped to his feet and said, "Whoof! Me no sick!" They then
+journeyed on to attack the main tribe. When near their camp the settlers
+formed a semi-circle on a hill, with the artillery in the center.
+
+As soon as the Indians saw the settlers, they came riding as swiftly as
+possible to make an attack, but when within a short distance and before
+the leader of the settlers could call "Fire!" they retreated. They
+advanced and retreated in this way three times. The settlers were at a
+loss to understand just what the Indians intended to do; but decided
+that they did not know of the artillery until near enough to see it,
+then were afraid to make the attack, so tried to scare the settlers, but
+failing to do this they finally advanced with a white rag tied to a
+stick.
+
+The Indians agreed to be peaceable and stop the thieving if the settlers
+would pay for a pony which had been accidentally killed, and give them
+medicine for the sick and wounded.
+
+Some of the men who took part in this fight say that if the leader had
+ordered the settlers to fire on the first advance of the Indians every
+settler would have been killed. There were twice as many Indians in the
+first place and the settlers afterwards found that not more than
+one-third of their guns would work; and after they had fired once, while
+they were reloading, the Indians with their bows and arrows would have
+exterminated them. They consider it was the one piece of light artillery
+that saved them, as the Indians were very much afraid of a cannon. This
+ended any serious Indian trouble, but the housewives had to be ever on
+the alert for many years.
+
+Each spring either the Omahas or Pawnees passed through the village on
+their way to visit some other tribe, and then returned in the fall. Then
+through the winter stray bands would appear who had been hunting or
+fishing along the river.
+
+As they were seen approaching everything that could be was put under
+lock, and the doors of the houses were securely fastened. The Indians
+would wash and comb their hair at the water troughs, then gather
+everything about the yard that took their fancy. If by any chance they
+got into a house they would help themselves to eatables and if they
+could not find enough they would demand more. They made a queer
+procession as they passed along the street. The bucks on the horses or
+ponies led the way, then would follow the pack ponies, with long poles
+fastened to each side and trailing along behind loaded with the baggage,
+then came the squaws, with their babies fastened to their backs,
+trudging along behind.
+
+One early settler tells of her first experience with the Indians. She
+had just come from the far East, and was all alone in the house, when
+the door opened and three Indians entered, a buck and two squaws. They
+closed the door and placed their guns behind it, to show her that they
+would not harm her. They then went to the stove and seated themselves,
+making signs to her that they wanted more fire. She made a very hot
+fire in the cook stove.
+
+The old fellow examined the stove until he found the oven door; this he
+opened and took three frozen fish from under his blanket and placed them
+upon the grate. While the fish were cooking, he made signs for something
+to eat. The lady said she only had bread and sorghum in the house. This
+she gave them, but the Indian was not satisfied; he made a fuss until
+she finally found that he wanted butter on his bread. She had to show
+him that the sorghum was all she had. They then took up the fish and
+went out of doors by the side of the house to eat it. After they were
+gone she went out to see what they had left. She said they must have
+eaten every bit of the fish except the hard bone in the head, that was
+all that was left and that was picked clean.
+
+Among the first settlers who came in 1855 was a young German who was an
+orphan and had had a hard life in America up to this time.
+
+He took a claim and worked hard for a few years. He then went back to
+Quincy and persuaded a number of his own countrymen to come out to this
+new place and take claims, he helping them out, but they were to pay him
+back as they could.
+
+Years passed; they each and all became very prosperous. But this first
+pioneer prospered perhaps to the greatest degree. The early settlers
+moved away one by one; as they left he would buy their homes.
+
+The houses were torn down or moved away, the trees and shrubs were
+uprooted, until now this one man, or his heirs--for he has gone to his
+reward--owns almost the whole of the once prosperous little village, and
+vast fields of grain have taken the place of the homes and streets.
+
+It is hard to stand in the streets of the little village which now has
+about one hundred fifty inhabitants and believe that at one time it was
+the county-seat of Dodge county, and that it lacked only one vote of
+becoming the capital of the state. There are left only two or three of
+the first buildings. A short distance south of this village on a high
+bluff overlooking the river valley, and covered with oaks and
+evergreens, these early pioneers started a city which has grown for many
+years, and which will continue to grow for years to come. In this city
+of the dead we find many of the people who did much for the little
+village which failed, but who have taken up their abode in this
+beautiful spot, there to remain until the end of time.
+
+This story of Fontenelle has been gathered from my early recollections
+of the place and what I have learned through grandparents, parents, and
+other relatives and friends.
+
+My mother was raised in Fontenelle, coming there with her parents in
+1856. She received her education in that first college.
+
+My father was the son of one of the first Congregational missionaries to
+be sent there. I received my first schooling in the little village
+school.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. WARREN PERRY
+
+Eleventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1913-1914]
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS WILKINSON AND FAMILY
+
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson, early Nebraska settlers, were of English
+birth, and came to America when very young. They met in Illinois and
+were married in 1859 at Barrington. They moved to Louisiana, remaining
+there until the outbreak of the civil war, when they returned to
+Illinois for a short time, and then emigrated to the West, traveling in
+a covered wagon and crossing the Missouri river on the ferry. They
+passed through Omaha, and arrived at Elk City, Nebraska, July 27, 1864,
+with their two children, Ida and Emma, who at the present time are
+married and live in Omaha.
+
+Soon after arriving in Elk City, Mr. Wilkinson lost one of his horses,
+which at that time was a great misfortune. He purchased another from the
+United States government, which they called "Sam" and which remained in
+the family for many years.
+
+At one time provisions were so high Mr. Wilkinson traded his watch for a
+bushel of potatoes.
+
+At that time land was very cheap and could be bought for from two to
+five dollars per acre. The same land is now being held at two hundred
+dollars per acre. Labor was scarce, with the exception of that which
+could be obtained from the Indians. There were a large number of Indians
+in that part of the country, and the settlers often hired the squaws to
+shuck corn and cut firewood.
+
+Mrs. Wilkinson has often told of the Indians coming to her door and
+demanding corn meal or beef. They always wanted beef and would not
+accept pork. They would come at night, look in at the windows, and call
+for firewater, tobacco, and provisions. Their visits were so frequent
+that Mrs. Wilkinson soon mastered much of their language and was able to
+talk to them in their own tongue.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson first settled about twenty-five miles from Omaha
+on the old military road. During the early days of their life there,
+Mrs. Wilkinson made large quantities of butter for regular customers in
+Omaha. They often arose at three o'clock, hitched up the lumber wagon,
+and started for town, there to dispose of her butter and eggs and return
+with a supply of provisions.
+
+As a rule the winters were extremely severe and Mrs. Wilkinson has often
+told of the terrible snow storms which would fill the chimneys so full
+of snow it would be impossible to start a fire, and she would have to
+bundle the children up in the bedclothes and take them to the nearest
+house to keep from freezing.
+
+During their second year in Nebraska they went farther west and located
+at "Timberville," which is now known as Ames. There they kept a "ranch
+house" and often one hundred teams arrived at one time to remain over
+night. They would turn their wagons into an immense corral, build their
+camp fires, and rest their stock. These were the "freighters" of the
+early days, and generally got their own meals.
+
+During their residence at Elk City, two more children were born, Nettie
+and Will.
+
+They continued to live on the farm until the year 1887, when they moved
+to Blair, Nebraska, there to rest in their old age.
+
+Mr. Wilkinson died July 18, 1912. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Lucy
+Wilkinson, a son, Wm. W. Wilkinson, and two daughters, Mrs. J. Fred
+Smith and Mrs. Herman Shields. Mrs. George B. Dyball, another daughter,
+died May 13, 1914.
+
+
+
+
+NIKUMI
+
+BY MRS. HARRIET S. MACMURPHY
+
+
+He glanced from the letter in his hand to the Indian woman sitting in
+the door of the skin tipi, and the papoose on the ground beside her,
+then down the river, his eyes moving on, like the waters, and seeing
+some vision of his brain, far distant. After a time his gaze came back
+and rested upon the woman and her babe again.
+
+"If I could take the child," he murmured.
+
+The squaw watched him furtively while she drew the deer sinew through
+the pieces of skin from which she was fashioning a moccasin. She
+understood, although spoken in English, the words he was scarce
+conscious of uttering, and, startled out of her Indian instinct of
+assumed inattention, looked at him with wide-opened eyes, trying to
+fathom a matter hardly comprehended but of great moment to her.
+
+"Take the child"--where, and for what? Was he going to leave and sail
+down the great river to the St. Louis whence came all traders and the
+soldiers on the boats? Going away again as he had come to her many
+seasons ago? "Take the child," her child and his? Her mouth closed
+firmly, her eyes darkened and narrowed, as she stooped suddenly and
+lifted the child to her lap; and the Indian mother's cunning and
+watchfulness were aroused and pitted against the white father's love of
+his child.
+
+Fort Atkinson was the most western post of the line established by
+President Monroe in 1819, after the Louisiana Purchase, to maintain the
+authority of the United States against Indian turbulence and British
+aggression, and had been in existence about four years before our story
+opens.
+
+Here had been stationed the Sixth U. S. Infantry, who had wearily
+tramped for two months the banks of the Missouri river and dragged their
+boats after them, a distance of nearly a thousand miles of river travel
+to reach this post in the wilderness. Not a white man then occupied what
+is now the state of Iowa, except Julien Dubuque and a score or so of
+French traders. Not a road was to be found nor a vehicle to traverse
+it. But one or two boats other than keel boats and barges had ever
+overcome the swift current of the great Missouri thus far.
+
+The Santa Fe trail, that wound over the hills west of the fort,
+connected them with the Mexican Spanish civilization of the Southwest,
+and the great rivers with their unsettled land far away on the Atlantic
+seaboard.
+
+Seventy-five years ago these soldiers dropped the ropes with which they
+had dragged the barges and keel boats and themselves thither, and
+picking up spade and shovel, dug foundations, molded and burned brick,
+cut down trees, and built barracks for themselves and the three
+detachments of artillery who terrified the redmen with the mysterious
+shells which dropped down amongst them and burst in such a frightful
+manner.
+
+They numbered about twelve hundred men, and the bricks they molded and
+the cellars they dug still remain to tell of the Fort Atkinson that was,
+beside whose ruins now stands the little village of Fort Calhoun,
+sixteen miles north of Omaha on the Missouri river.
+
+Dr. Gale, whom we have thus seen considering a question of great
+importance both to himself and to the Indian woman with whom he seems to
+have some relation, was the surgeon of the Sixth Infantry, an
+Englishman, short, thick-set, and evidently of good birth, although the
+marks of his rough life and rather dissolute habits obscured it in some
+degree.
+
+The point where Fort Atkinson was built was the noted "Council Bluff" at
+which Lewis and Clark held the Indian council famous in the first annals
+of western explorations, and it still remains a rendezvous for the
+various tribes of Indians, the "Otoes, Pawnees, 'Mahas, Ayeaways, and
+Sioux," attracted thither by the soldiers and the trading posts, and
+secure from each others' attacks on this neutral ground.
+
+Shortly after the troops were located here an Ayeaway (Iowa) chief and
+his band pitched their tents near the fort. The daughter of this chief
+was named Nikumi; she was young and had not been inured to the hard
+tasks which usually fell to the squaws, so her figure was straight, her
+eyes bright, and her manner showed somewhat the dignity of her position.
+
+Not a white woman was there within a radius of five hundred miles except
+a few married ones belonging to the fort; was it strange that Dr. Gale,
+the younger son of an English family who had left civilization for a
+life of adventure in the New World, and who seemed destined to dwell
+away from all women of his own race, should woo this Indian princess and
+make her his wife? He had chosen the best of her race, for all who
+remember her in after years speak of her dignified carriage, her
+well-formed profile, and her strength of will and purpose, so remarkable
+among Indian women.
+
+For four years she had been his wife, and the child she had just seized
+and held in her arms as if she would never let her go, was their child,
+little Mary, as her father named her, perhaps from his own name, Marion.
+
+But now this union, which her unknowing mind had never surmised might
+not be for all time, and his, alas, too knowing one had carelessly
+assumed while it should be his pleasure, was about to be severed.
+
+A boat had come up the river and brought mail from Chariton or La
+Charette, as the Frenchmen originally named it, several hundred miles
+below, and the point to which mail for this fort was sent.
+
+These uncertain arrivals of news from the outside world made important
+epochs in the life of the past. The few papers and letters were handled
+as if they had been gold, and the contents were read and reread until
+almost worn out. For Dr. Gale came a bulky letter or package of letters
+tied together and sealed over the string with a circle of red wax. There
+was no envelope, as we have now, but each letter was written so as to
+leave a blank space after folding for the superscription, and the
+postage was at least twenty-five cents on the three letters so tied
+together. The postmark of the outer one was New York City; it was from a
+law firm and informed Dr. Marion F. Gale, surgeon of the Sixth Infantry,
+stationed at Fort Atkinson, the "camp on the Missouri river," that the
+accompanying letters had been received by them from a firm of London
+solicitors, and begging to call his attention to the same. His attention
+being most effectually called thereto elicited first that Messrs.
+Shadwell & Fitch of London desired them to ascertain the whereabouts of
+Marion F. Gale, late of Ipswich, England, and now supposed to be serving
+in the U. S. army in the capacity of surgeon, and convey to him the
+accompanying information, being still further to the effect that by a
+sudden death of James Burton Gale, who died without male issue, he,
+Marion F. Gale, being next of kin, was heir to the estate of Burton
+Towers, Ipswich, England. Last came a letter from the widow of his
+brother, telling him the particulars of his brother's death.
+
+Ten years before he had left home with a hundred pounds in his pocket
+and his profession, to make himself a career in the new country.
+
+There were two brothers older than he, one of them married, and there
+seemed little prospect that he would ever become proprietor of Burton
+Towers; but they, who lived apparently in security, were gone, and he
+who had traversed the riverway of an unknown and unsettled country,
+among Indians and wild animals, was alive and well to take their place.
+
+He thought of the change, back to the quiet life of an English country
+squire, after these ten years of the free life of the plains, and the
+soldiers and the Indians. The hunting of the buffalo, the bear, and the
+elk exchanged for the tame brush after a wild fox, or the shooting of a
+few partridges.
+
+But the family instinct was strong, after all, and his eye gleamed as he
+saw the old stone house, with its gables and towers, its glorious lawns
+and broad driveway with the elms meeting overhead. Oh, it would satisfy
+that part of his nature well to go back as its master. This vision it
+was that had filled his eyes as they looked so far away. But then they
+came back again and rested on Nikumi and the child.
+
+A certain kind of love had been begotten in his heart for the Indian
+maiden by her devotion to him, although he had taken her without a
+scruple at the thought of leaving her when circumstances called him
+away. But now he felt a faint twinge of the heart as he realized that
+the time had come, and a stronger one when he thought that he must part
+with the child. "But why need I do it?" he soliloquized. "I can take the
+child with me and have her educated in a manner to fit her for my
+daughter; if she is as bright as her mother, education and environment
+will fit her to fill any position in life, but with Nikumi it is too
+late to begin, and she has no white blood to temper the wildness of the
+Indian. I will take the child."
+
+Not a care for the mother love and rights. "Only a squaw." What rights
+had she compared with this English gentleman who had taken her from her
+tribe, and now would cast her back again and take away her child? But
+ah, my English gentleman, you reckoned without your ordinary sagacity
+when you settled that point without taking into consideration the mother
+love and the Indian cunning and watchfulness, their heritage from
+generations of warfare with each other.
+
+"What have you got?" she asked in the flowing syllables of the Indian
+tongue, for like the majority of Indians, though she understood much
+English she never, to the end of her days, deigned to speak it.
+
+"Some words from my friends in the far-away country over the waters,
+Nikumi," he answered. "My brother is dead."
+
+"Ah, and you are sad. You will go there to that land?" she said.
+
+"I don't know, Nikumi; I may have to go over, for there is much land and
+houses and fields to be cared for. I am going down to see Sarpy, now. He
+came up on the boat today."
+
+She watched him as he strode off down past the cattle station towards
+the fort. In the summer time her love of her native life asserted
+itself, and she left the log quarters which Dr. Gale provided for her,
+and occupied a tipi, or tent of skins, down among the cottonwoods and
+willows of the bottom lands where portions of her tribe were generally
+to be found. When he passed out of sight she took her baby and went to a
+tipi a short distance from hers, where a stalwart buck lay on a shaggy
+buffalo robe on the shady side, smoking a pipe of kinnikinick, and
+playing with some young dogs. She spoke with him a few minutes. He
+ceased playing with the dogs, sat up and listened, and finally with a
+nod of assent to some request of hers started off towards the fort. She
+followed shortly after and glided about from the post store to the
+laundresses' quarters, stopping here and there where groups of soldiers
+were gathered, and listening attentively to their talk about the news
+that had come by the boats.
+
+She learned that these boats were to be loaded with furs from Sarpy's
+trading post and go back to St. Louis in a few days. In the meantime the
+young buck, who was her brother, had gone by her directions to Sarpy's
+trading post, just below the fort. She had told him what she knew and
+surmised; that the "pale-faced medicine man," as the Indians called him,
+had received a paper from his friends across the great waters towards
+the rising sun which told his brother was dead, and that he might have
+to go there to care for the houses and lands his brother had left; that
+she had heard him say "If I could take the child," and she feared he
+might take her papoose away; "and he shall not," she said passionately.
+"I must know what he will do. Go you and listen if the medicine man
+talks with Sarpy; watch him closely and find out all."
+
+He had followed the Indian trail which skirted along the edge of the
+high bluffs on the eastern boundary of the fort, and reached the trading
+post from the north. Going in he uttered the single word "tobac," and
+while the clerk was handing it out to him he glanced around in the
+aimless, stolid Indian manner, as if looking over the blankets and skins
+hung against the logs. Back at the further, or southwest, corner of the
+store, near a window, and partially screened by a rude desk made of a
+box set upon a table and partitioned into pigeon-holes, sat two men. One
+of them was Dr. Gale, the other, Peter A. Sarpy.
+
+To the ears of most readers the name will convey no particular
+impression; if a resident of Nebraska it would call to mind the fact
+that a county in that state was named Sarpy, and the reader might have a
+hazy consciousness that an early settler had borne that name; but in the
+days of this story and for thirty years later it meant power and fame.
+The agent of the American Fur Company in that section, Peter A. Sarpy's
+word was law; to him belonged the trading posts, or so it was believed;
+he commanded the voyageurs who cordelled the boats and they obeyed.
+Every winter he went down the great river before it was frozen over, to
+St. Louis, and every spring his boats came up after the ice had broken
+up, and before the great mountain rise came on in June, with new goods
+that were anxiously looked for, and eagerly seized in exchange for the
+buffalo robes, the beaver, mink, otter, and deer skins that had been
+collected through the winter. He was of French parentage, a small man,
+with the nervous activity of his race; the brightest of black eyes;
+careful of his dress, even in the wilds; the polish of the gentleman
+always apparent in his punctilious greeting to everyone; but making the
+air blue with his ejaculations if his orders were disobeyed or his ire
+aroused. Famous the length of the river for his bravery and
+determination, he was a man well fitted to push actively the interests
+of the company of which he was the agent as well as a member.
+
+The Indian passed noiselessly out and going around to the side of the
+building seated himself upon the ground, and pulling his long pipe from
+the folds of his blanket, filled it with the "tobac," rested it on the
+ground, and leisurely began to smoke. It was no unusual thing for the
+Indians thus to sit round the post, and no one took any notice of him,
+nor in fact that he was very near the open window, just out of the range
+of vision of the two men sitting within.
+
+"So upon me devolves the succession of the estate of Burton Towers,"
+Gale was saying to Sarpy, "and my sister-in-law writes that some one is
+imperatively needed to look after the estate as there is no male member
+of the family left in England."
+
+"And you will leave your wild life of the prairies to go back to the
+tame existence of rural English life? Egad, I don't believe I could
+stand it even to be master of the beautiful demesnes which belong to my
+family. Power is sweet, but Mon Dieu, the narrowness, the
+conventionalities, the tameness of existence!"
+
+"No worse than the tameness of this cursed fort for the last year or
+two. It was very well at first when the country was new to us and the
+Indians showed some fight that gave us a little excitement, but now
+we've exhausted all the resources, and an English squire, even, will be
+a great improvement. You've some change, you know. St. Louis in winter
+gives you a variety."
+
+"What are you going to do with Nikumi and Mary?"
+
+"That's what I want to talk to you about. I find I'm fonder of the child
+than I thought, and indeed it gives my heartstrings a bit of a wrench to
+leave Nikumi behind; but to take her is out of the question. Mary,
+however, I can educate; she is bright enough to profit by it, and young
+enough to make an English woman of. I believe I shall try to get her
+away quietly, and take her with me."
+
+"You ought to have lived here long enough to have some knowledge of the
+Indians, but I'm damned if I think you are smart enough to get that
+child away from its mother," said Sarpy.
+
+"Well, I'll try it, anyway. The worst trouble I apprehend is getting
+away myself at so short notice. When do your boats go down again?"
+
+"In about a week."
+
+"To leave the troops without any surgeon is rather risky, but they're
+pretty healthy at this season, and young Carver has been studying with
+me considerably, and can take my place for a short time. If I succeed in
+getting leave of absence to go on to Washington, Atkinson will probably
+send some one up from St. Louis as soon as possible. I shall have to get
+leave of absence from Leavenworth here, and then again from Atkinson at
+St. Louis. Then I can send in my resignation after I arrive at
+Philadelphia. All this beside the intermediate hardships and delays in
+reaching there."
+
+To the Indian outside much of this was unintelligible, but he heard and
+understood perfectly "I think I shall try to get her away from her
+mother and take her with me," and later the reply that the boats would
+go down in about a week.
+
+That was sufficient for him, and he arose, gathered up his blanket that
+had dropped down from his shoulders, slipped the pipe into his belt
+which held it around his waist, and then his moccasined feet trod the
+narrow trail, one over the other, the great toe straight in a line with
+the instep, giving the peculiar gait for which the Indian is famous.
+
+He found Nikumi back at her tipi: the kettle was hung from the tripod of
+three sticks over the fire, and a savory smell arose which he sniffed
+with pleasure as he approached, for Nikumi was favored above her tribe
+in the supplies which she received from the camp, and which included
+great luxuries to the Indians. Nikumi was very generous to her relatives
+and friends, and often shared with them the pot which she had varied
+from the original Indian dish of similar origin by diligently observing
+the methods of the camp cooks.
+
+She had learned to use dishes, too, and bringing forth two bowls, some
+spoons, and a tin cup, ladled some of the savory mixture into them, for
+she had evidently learned the same lesson as her white sisters: when you
+would get the best service from a man, feed him well.
+
+On the present site of Fort Atkinson may be found, wherever the ground
+is plowed over or the piles of bricks and depressions that mark the
+cellars of the buildings are overhauled, a profusion of old buttons,
+fragments of firearms, cannon balls and shells, and many pieces of delf.
+A quaint old antiquarian who lives there has a large collection of them
+which he shows with delight.
+
+Who knows but that some of the fragments are pieces of Nikumi's bowl,
+for as her brother told her of Gale's words to Sarpy, her face added to
+its bronze hue an indescribable grayish tinge, and starting suddenly,
+the bowl fell from her hand, striking the stones which formed a circle
+for the fire, and broke into fragments. She forgot to eat, and a rapid
+flow of words from her lips was accompanied by gestures that almost
+spoke. They should keep strict watch of the loading of the boats, she
+said, and of the voyageurs in charge of them, and when they saw signs of
+departure of them, she would take the child and go--and she pointed, but
+spoke no word. He must make a little cave in the hillside, and cover it
+with trees and boughs, and she would provide food. When the white
+medicine man had gone he could tell her by a strip of red tied in the
+branch of a tree like a bird, which could be seen down the ravine from
+her hiding place, and she would be found again in her tipi as if she had
+never been absent. He grunted assent as well as satisfaction at the
+innumerable bowls of soup, and then stretched himself comfortably and
+pulled out his pipe.
+
+Meanwhile little Mary, the heroine of this intrigue, was eating soup and
+sucking a bone contentedly. Would she be an Indian or an English maiden?
+She was an Indian one now and happy, too. And Nikumi? She had come to
+her white husband and remained with him contented and happy. He had been
+good to her in the main, although he swore at her and abused her
+sometimes when he got drunk or played at cards too long, but he was
+better than the braves were to their squaws, and she did not have to
+work as they did; she had wood and food and she could buy at the trading
+post the blankets and the strouding and the gay red cloths, and the
+beads with which the squaws delighted to adorn their necks and to stitch
+with deer sinew into their moccasins. She had lived each day unconscious
+that there might not be a tomorrow like it. But it had dropped from the
+skies, this sudden knowledge that had changed everything.
+
+Had she had no child she would doubtless have mourned silently for the
+man who had come and taken her life to be lived beside his and then left
+her worse than alone; but the greater blow had deadened the force of the
+lesser, and only her outraged mother love cried out.
+
+She sat on the buffalo robe inside the tipi and watched the child
+rolling about outside with the little fat puppy, hugging it one moment,
+savagely spatting it over the eyes the next. She had no right to rebel;
+an Indian did what he would with his squaw, how much more a white man,
+and to any decree concerning herself she would doubtless have submitted
+silently, but to lose her child--that she would not do, and she knew how
+to save it.
+
+All unconscious of this intrigue, Gale made his preparations for
+departure, and it was soon known through the camp that he was about to
+go to the "states."
+
+He had taken pains to conceal the fact of his intended final departure
+for England.
+
+He secretly made arrangements with the man who acted as cook for the
+boats to take charge of little Mary until they got to St. Louis, where
+they could get a servant, and going down the river would take but a few
+days.
+
+Gale's condition of mind was not to be envied during the interval before
+he started. He scarcely felt the injustice to Nikumi in thus leaving
+her, but he could not quite reconcile with even his weak sense of her
+rights that he should take the child away from her, and yet he fully
+intended to do so. He spent much of the time with Nikumi at her summer
+residence, the tipi, and she treated him with the same gentle deference
+and quiet submissiveness that were usual to her, so completely deceiving
+him that he did not once surmise she knew anything of his plans. The
+last two or three days he occupied himself in packing a case of articles
+of various kinds that he had accumulated: an Indian pipe of the famous
+red pipestone of the Sioux country, with its long flat stem of wood cut
+out in various designs and decorated with feathers and bits of metal;
+moccasins of deer skin, handsomely beaded and trimmed with fringes, some
+of them made by Nikumi's own hands; specimens of the strange Mexican
+cloths woven from the plumage of birds, brought by the trading Mexicans
+up the Santa Fe trail; a pair of their beautiful blankets, one robe, a
+few very fine furs, among them a black bear skin of immense size, a
+little mat woven of the perfumed grasses, which the Indians could find
+but the white man never, some of the nose and ear rings worn by the
+squaws.
+
+Nikumi came to his quarters while he was taking these things down from
+the walls and shelves where she had always cared for them with so much
+pride. In answer to her inquiring gaze he said: "I go Nikumi, to the far
+eastern land, and these I shall take with me to show my friends what we
+had that is beautiful in the land of the Indian and the buffalo, that
+they wish to know all about." "And when will you return to Nikumi and
+Mary?" "I can not tell; I hope before many moons; will you grieve to
+have me go Nikumi?" "Nikumi will look every day to the rising sun and
+ask the Great Spirit to send her pale-faced medicine man back safely to
+her and the child." He put his arms about her with a strange spasm of
+heart relenting, realizing for a moment the wrong he was purposing to
+commit. But ah, the stronger taking advantage of the weaker. The strong
+race using for their own pleasure the weak one. "Ye that are strong
+ought to help the weak." He also prepared at Sarpy's trading post, and
+by his advice, a smaller package of such things as would be desirable
+for little Mary's welfare and comfort.
+
+It was greatly lacking in the articles we should consider necessary
+these times, but when we realize that every piece of merchandise which
+reached this far away post had to be transported thousands of miles by
+river it is matter of wonder how much there was.
+
+The morning of the day before the boats were to start he occupied
+himself with some last preparations, giving Nikumi a number of articles
+that she had used around his quarters to take to her tipi, and telling
+her he would leave money with Sarpy so that she might get what was
+necessary for herself and Mary. In the afternoon he went down to the
+post and did not return to the quarters until late, where he supped at
+the mess table and then went in the direction of Nikumi's tent. He had
+devised, he thought, a cunning plan to get Nikumi to go the next morning
+for some fresh leaves of a shrub which she often procured for him to mix
+in his tobacco, and of which he was very fond; and after her departure
+he would make for the boat and embark hastily with little Mary, whom he
+would keep. Resolving the broaching of his plan as he approached the
+tipi, he did not notice that it failed to show the usual signs of
+habitation until he drew near when he observed that the kettle hanging
+from the tripod over the circle of stones had no fire beneath it, and no
+steam issuing from it, no dogs were playing about, and there was no sign
+of Nikumi and little Mary. He began to look about for them; the flap of
+skin usually fastened up to form a doorway was dropped down; he put it
+up and stooping, entered the tipi. It was almost entirely empty; the
+skins which had formed the beds were gone; the dishes seemed to be
+there, but the food of which he knew she always kept a supply, was all
+gone, and there were no signs of the articles of clothing belonging to
+them. Sarpy's words come to him, "I'm damned if I think you are smart
+enough to get the child away from its mother," and he knew that Nikumi
+had outwitted him. He should never see mother or child again.
+
+He turned and traced angrily the narrow trail to Sarpy's. Striding in
+and down the low, dingy, fur odorous room to the rear where Sarpy sat
+lazily smoking his pipe he exclaimed, "You were right, Sarpy, Nikumi has
+gone with the child." Sarpy took his pipe from his mouth slowly, "Well
+I'm sorry you are disappointed, but it will be better for you and the
+child, too; she would have grieved herself to death, and worried you
+almost to the verge of lunacy first, and you would have had the burden
+on your conscience of Nikumi unhappy, and all for no good." "But I'll
+not give her up. I had set my heart on it; I shall start a search party
+for her at once." "And much good it will do you. There isn't a soldier
+in your camp that can find what an Indian chooses to hide, if it is not
+more than six feet away from him. You will only inform the camp of your
+design and of the fact that a squaw has outwitted you."
+
+Gale knew too well the truth of his statement, but he paced up and down
+the building angrily for some time, determining at each turn towards the
+door to start out at the head of a search party, but turning again with
+an oath toward the rear as the futility of it all was forced upon him.
+
+Sarpy regarded him quietly, a half smile in his eyes. He understood the
+conflict of feelings, the pain at leaving Nikumi, not very great, but
+enough to cause him some discomfort; the now added pain of separation
+from the child, also; the chagrin at being outwitted by a squaw, and one
+who had always seemed so submissive, and whom he had not dreamed
+possessed so much acuteness; the English obstinacy aroused by
+antagonism, all struggling against his knowledge that he could do
+nothing. Sarpy in his place would have invoked all the spirits of the
+darker regions, but he probably would never have put himself in a like
+predicament. To his class, seekers of fortunes in the New World, the
+Indian was simply a source of revenue and pleasure, treated fairly well
+to be sure, because that was the better policy; while it suited their
+convenience to use them they did so; when the need was supplied they
+cast them off; possibly Gale, if he analyzed the situation at all,
+thought the same, but under the present circumstances, a different set
+of emotions dominated him. Nikumi, superior to her tribe, had inspired
+inconveniently deep feelings, and he found his fatherly love a factor he
+had not counted on.
+
+At last he approached Sarpy, and throwing himself in a chair, took out
+one of the two great soothers of man's woes, his pipe, lighted it and
+proceeded to mingle its smoke with that of Sarpy's. "I suppose I shall
+have to give it up, but I'm damned if I can submit to it with
+equanimity, yet; outwitted by an apparently innocent and submissive
+squaw, I suppose two months from now I'll be thanking my lucky stars
+that I'm not saddled with a brat of an Indian, and at intervals
+thereafter shall be falling upon my knees, and repeating the operation.
+But I'm blessed if I can see it so now."
+
+"Yes it will be better for you as well as the others, and as soon as you
+get away from here you will view it very differently," said Sarpy.
+
+And Nikumi in her cave dug into the bluff, held her baby tight in her
+arms, and listened to every sound, while she watched by aid of the rude
+but cunningly devised dark lantern, the reptiles and insects which
+crawled about, moving only to dispatch a snake or two that were
+venomous.
+
+Could Gale have seen her would he have relented and left the child to
+her? Has it been the history of the union of the stronger and weaker
+races that the stronger have given up their desires?
+
+"You will have to look out for Mary, too, Sarpy, as you have promised to
+do for Nikumi. I haven't any more money to leave with you at present,
+but I will send you some from England. I don't want her to grow up
+without any education at all, and have to slave and toil as squaws do
+generally, nor Nikumi either." "I'll see to them," said Sarpy, briefly,
+"there isn't much chance for education unless they keep up the post here
+and she be permitted to learn with the white children; for I don't
+suppose Nikumi will ever let her go away to school as Fontenelle sends
+his boys, but she shall have what education she can get and Nikumi shall
+not be obliged to go back to her tribe for support as long as I am
+here," and the smoke of the Frenchman's and Englishman's pipes ascended
+to ratify this compact.
+
+The next day at sunrise the boats dropped swiftly down the river. A
+figure at the stern of one of them watched until the last sign of the
+landing place faded in the early morning light.
+
+Dr. Gale had played a brief part in the settlement of a new country from
+which he now disappeared as if he had never been.
+
+In after years only the few who belonged to that early settlement
+remembered that Mary was his child, and told of it sometimes, when they
+recounted the adventurous life of those early days. A young man listened
+to these reminiscences from the lips of the strange, irascible, but warm
+hearted Frenchman, and treasured them in memory. Hence this true tale.
+Nikumi released from her reptile inhabited cave by the little red bird
+in the tree down the ravine, came back to her tipi. She had kept her
+child but she had lost her lover and her life. How should she take it up
+again? She had been always quiet and little given to the chatter and
+laughter of the young squaws; she was only a little more quiet now, and
+Mary's lot was decided; she would always be an Indian woman.
+
+One day Sarpy came to her and told her that Gale had left money for her
+and she was to come to the fort for what she wished. And after a time it
+came to pass that Sarpy took her to wife as Gale had done. Perhaps that
+was in his mind when he looked at Gale with a smile in his eyes; but
+Nikumi would not listen to him till she had waited long, and until Sarpy
+told her and she heard from others that Gale would never come again. And
+she was his faithful wife for many years, occupying always, because of
+her inherent dignity and real womanliness, a position high in the
+estimation both of the white and the red men. Many tales are told of her
+life with Sarpy, how at one time she carried him miles on her back when
+he was stricken with fever in the mountains, until she brought him to
+aid and safety. Another time when he had given orders that no more goods
+should be given her from the post (she was always very liberal to her
+relatives and he wished to check it) she quietly picked up two or three
+bolts of calico, and walking to the river bank, threw them in; a second
+armful followed, and then the enemy capitulated. And still another time
+when Sarpy had bought a beautiful black mare, "Starlight," to minister
+to the pleasure of a designing English widow, she one day quietly
+appeared when the horse was driven round by Sarpy's black servant, and
+ordered it taken to the stable, and enforced the order, too. But this is
+another story.
+
+In later years, as Sarpy's dominion ceased with the gradual decline of
+the fur company, and he spent much of his time in St. Louis, Nikumi
+lived with Mary, who had married an Indian like herself, with a mixture
+of white blood in his veins, although he was French, and who occupied a
+prominent position in one of the tribes to whom was given a distinct
+reservation. From this mixture of English, French, and Indian bloods has
+arisen a family which stands at the head of their tribe, and one member
+who is known throughout this country. It is worthy of notice, too, that
+with one exception it has been the women of the family who have shown
+the qualities which gave them preÎminence.
+
+Nikumi died March 23, 1888, at the home of her daughter Mary; but her
+children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren live to show that
+sometimes the mixture of races tends to development of the virtues, and
+not, as has been so often said, of the vices of both races.
+
+
+
+
+THE HEROINE OF THE JULES-SLADE TRAGEDY
+
+BY MRS. HARRIET S. MACMURPHY
+
+
+Our two weeks' ride over Iowa prairies was ended and we had reached our
+new home in Nebraska. I sat in the buggy, a child of twelve, with my
+three-year-old brother beside me, on the eastern bank of the Missouri
+river, while father went down where the ferry boat lay, to make ready
+for our crossing.
+
+In the doorway of a log cabin near by stood a young girl two or three
+years older than I. We gazed at each other shyly. She was bare-headed
+and bare-footed, her cheeks tanned, and her abundant black hair
+roughened with the wind, but her eyes were dark and her figure had the
+grace of untrammeled out door life. To my girl's standard she did not
+appeal, and I had not then the faintest conception of the romance and
+tragedy of which she was the heroine.
+
+We gazed at each other until father gave the signal for me to drive down
+on the clumsy raft-like boat behind the covered half-wagon half-carriage
+that held the other members of our family, which I did in fear and
+trembling that did not cease until we had swung in and out as the boat
+strained at the rope to which it was attached, the waters of the "Old
+Muddy," the like of which I had never seen before, straining and drawing
+it down with the current, and a fresh spasm of fear was added as we
+reached the far shore and dropped off the boat with a thud down into the
+soft bank. We had reached Decatur, our future Nebraska home, adjoining
+the Indian reservation with its thousand Omahas.
+
+For a long time I did not know anything further of the girl of the log
+cabin by the river side, only that they told us the family were named
+Keyou and the men were boatmen and fishermen and ran the ferry. This
+first chapter of my little story opened in the spring of 1863.
+
+Six years later my girlhood's romance brought marriage with my
+home-coming soldier, who in his first days in the territory of Nebraska
+had passed through many of the romantic events that a life among the
+Indians would bring, among them clerking in a trading post with one
+"Billy" Becksted, now the husband of my maiden of the riverside log
+cabin. And Billy and John always continued the comradeship of the free,
+happy, prairie hunting life, riding the "buckskin" ponies with which
+they began life together, although they came together from very
+different walks of life.
+
+And I learned of my husband that "Addie," as we had learned to call her,
+young as she was when first I saw her, had been the wife of a Frenchman
+named Jules, after whom the town of Julesburg (Colorado) is named, and
+his dreadful death at the hands of one Slade was one of the stock
+stories of the plains well known to every early settler.
+
+Billy and Addie after a time drifted away from Decatur down the river
+and we lost sight of them.
+
+We, too, left the home town and became residents of Plattsmouth.
+
+One day my husband, returning from a trip in the country said, "I ran
+across Billy and Addie Becksted today and they were so glad to see me
+that Addie put her arms round me and kissed me, with tears in her eyes."
+Later we learned with sorrow that Billy was drinking and then that he
+had come down to Plattsmouth and tried to find my husband, who was out
+of town and had gone back home and when almost there had taken a dose of
+morphine, and they had found him unconscious and dying near their log
+cabin under the bluffs half a mile above the Bellevue station. And my
+husband really mourned that he had not been at home, perhaps to have
+kept good-hearted Billy from his woeful fate. After a time Addie married
+Elton, a brother of Billy's, and one Sunday I persuaded my husband to go
+down to them in their cabin under the bluffs.
+
+"I have always wanted to get Addie to tell me her story of her life with
+Jules," I said.
+
+"I don't believe you can get her to talk about it," said Mac, "she never
+speaks of it, Elton says."
+
+We went, and they were delighted to see us, killed the fatted chicken
+and gathered for us some of the wild berries that grew in the bluffs,
+and then as we sat under the trees with the bluff towering above us, I
+asked her for the story of her girlhood's days out on the plains, when
+only a single house that sheltered three or four people was her home,
+and not another for many miles.
+
+"I was just a child," she said, "and Jules was more like my father than
+my husband. But there were few women in the country in those days and
+Jules said to my parents that he would take good care of me, and so they
+gave me to him, and they went on to Denver. He had a man and his wife to
+take care of the place and do the work, and I just did whatever I wanted
+to. We were on the great trail to California and Pike's Peak and trains
+would come by and purchase supplies from us, so I did not get lonesome.
+Jules had had some trouble with a man named Slade a few years before and
+had shot Slade, but had taken him to Denver and put him in a hospital
+and paid to have him cared for and Slade and he had made it all up, my
+husband thought. Slade's ranch was further west and on the other side of
+his ranch Jules had another ranch with cattle on, and one day he started
+off with two or three men to bring some of the cattle back. He had been
+told that Slade had threatened to kill him but he did not believe it,
+although he went armed and with good men, he thought. This time he did
+not take me along as he had the cattle to drive. When he got near
+Slade's place Slade and his gang came down on Jules and his men,
+shouting and shooting, drove off Jules' men, took him and carried him to
+Slade's ranch. One of Jules' men followed them and saw them tie Jules up
+to a great box and then Slade stood a ways off with his rifle and shot
+at Jules, just missing his ear or his neck or his hand that was
+stretched out and tied; sometimes hitting him just enough to draw the
+blood. He kept this up all the rest of the day and then towards night he
+fired a shot that killed him. The boys who were with Jules came back to
+us and told us what had been done. We were so frightened we did not know
+what to do at first, for we expected every minute that Slade and his
+gang would come and kill us. They did come the next day and carried off
+a lot of the stuff we had in the trading post but did not do any harm to
+us. The man and his wife that were with us and the boys then got a team
+together and put enough stuff into the wagon to do us until we could get
+to Denver. All the rest and the cattle I guess Slade got. Jules had
+money in some bank in Denver, he had always said, but we never could
+find it. I found my folks and after a while we came back here where we
+had lived before we went to Denver."
+
+She told her story in the simplest commonplace manner, but it did not
+need any addition of word or gesture to paint on my memory for all time
+the pathos beneath.
+
+A girl of fourteen, happy and care-free under the protection of her
+father husband one day, putting him in the place of father, and mother,
+trusting to him, and suddenly standing beside the rude trading post way
+out on the treeless spaces of the trail that seemed to come from
+solitude and lead away to it again, and listening to the story of the
+frightened cowboy on his broncho whose almost unintelligible words
+finally made her understand that her protector, the kind man she had
+learned to love, had died a death so horrible it would make the
+strongest man shudder. And with only three or four frightened,
+irresponsible people to save her, perhaps from a similar or worse fate?
+But the women of the plains had but little childhood, and must act the
+part that came to them no matter what it might be.
+
+Afterward she told me more of her strange life with Jules, of his
+fatherly, protecting care of her, of his good heart, of the trouble with
+Slade, which was Slade's fault in the first place, and it was plain to
+see the ideal that had always been cherished way down in her
+subconsciousness of the man who played such an eventful but brief part
+in her life. It was a wrong, perhaps, but natural feeling to have when I
+found by after reading of annals of the plains that Slade died the death
+that such a fiendish nature should have suffered.
+
+Addie Becksted still lives in a little cabin down among the hills about
+Bellevue, her children and grandchildren about her, and still bears
+traces of the beauty that was hers as a girl. She is only about ten
+miles distant from Omaha but has not visited it for years.
+
+When I go to see her, as I do occasionally, she puts her arms about me
+and kisses me on the cheek. And her still bright brown eyes look the
+affection of all the years and events that we have known together.
+
+It is well worth while to have these humble friends who have lived
+through the pioneer days with us.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST ROMANTIC BUFFALO HUNT ON THE PLAINS OF NEBRASKA
+
+BY JOHN LEE WEBSTER
+
+
+In the autumn of 1872 a group of men, some of whom were then prominent
+in Nebraska history, Judge Elmer S. Dundy and Colonel Watson B. Smith,
+and one who afterward achieved national fame as an American explorer,
+Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, and another who has since become known
+throughout Europe and America as a picturesque character and showman,
+Colonel Wm. F. Cody, participated in what proved to be the last romantic
+buffalo hunt upon the western plains of the state of Nebraska.
+
+Elmer S. Dundy was a pioneer who had come to Nebraska in 1857. He had
+been a member of the territorial legislature for two successive terms;
+he was appointed a territorial judge in 1863, and became the first
+United States district judge after the admission of the state into the
+union. Colonel Watson B. Smith at that time held the office of clerk of
+the United States district and circuit courts for the district of
+Nebraska. Some years afterward he met a tragic death by being shot
+(accidentally or by assassination) in the corridors of the federal
+building in the city of Omaha. Colonel Smith was a lovable man, of the
+highest unimpeachable integrity and a most efficient public officer.
+There was also among the number James Neville, who at that time held the
+office of United States attorney and who afterward became a judge of the
+district court of Douglas county. He added zest, vim, and spirit by
+reason of some personal peculiarities to be mentioned later on.
+
+These men, with the writer of this sketch, were anxious to have the
+experience and the enjoyment of the stimulating excitement of
+participating in a buffalo hunt before those native wild animals of the
+plains should become entirely extinct. To them it was to be a romantic
+incident in their lives and long to be remembered as an event of pioneer
+days. They enjoyed the luxury of a pullman car from Omaha to North
+Platte, which at that time was little more than a railway station at
+a division point upon the Union Pacific, and where was also located a
+military post occupied by a battalion of United States cavalry.
+
+[Illustration: MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN
+
+Erected in Antelope Park, Lincoln, Nebraska, by Deborah Avery Chapter,
+Daughters of the American Revolution, in memory of Mary M. A. Stevens,
+First Regent of the Chapter (1896-1898). Dedicated, June 17, 1914. Cost
+$300]
+
+Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, a regular army officer and American
+explorer, at one time commanded an arctic expedition in search of traces
+of the remains of Dr. Franklin. At another time he was in command of an
+exploring expedition of the Yukon river. At another time he commanded an
+expedition into the northernmost regions of Alaska in the interest of
+the New York _Times_. He also became a writer and the author of three
+quite well known books: _Along Alaska's Great River_, _Nimrod in the
+North_, and _Children of the Cold_.
+
+At the time of which we are speaking Lieutenant Schwatka was stationed
+at the military post at North Platte. He furnished us with the necessary
+army horses and equipment for the hunting expedition, and he himself
+went along in command of a squad of cavalry which acted as an escort to
+protect us if need be when we should get into the frontier regions where
+the Indians were at times still engaged in the quest of game and
+sometimes in unfriendly raids.
+
+William F. Cody, familiarly known as "Buffalo Bill," who had already
+achieved a reputation as a guide and hunter and who has since won a
+world reputation as a showman, went along with us as courier and chief
+hunter. He went on similar expeditions into the wilder regions of
+Wyoming with General Phil Sheridan, the Grand Duke Alexis, and others
+quite equally celebrated.
+
+This Omaha group of amateur buffalo hunters, led by Buffalo Bill and
+escorted by Lieutenant Schwatka and his squad of cavalry, rode on the
+afternoon of the first day from North Platte to Fort McPherson and there
+camped for the night with the bare earth and a blanket for a bed and a
+small army tent for shelter and cover.
+
+On the next morning after a rude army breakfast, eaten while we sat
+about upon the ground, and without the luxury of a bath or a change of
+wearing apparel, this cavalcade renewed its journey in a southwesterly
+direction expecting ultimately to reach the valley of the Republican. We
+consumed the entire day in traveling over what seemed almost a barren
+waste of undulating prairie, except where here and there it was broken
+by a higher upland and now and then crossed by a ravine and
+occasionally by a small stream of running water, along the banks of
+which might be found a small growth of timber. The visible area of the
+landscape was so great that it seemed boundless--an immense wilderness
+of space, and the altitude added to the invigorating and stimulating
+effect of the atmosphere.
+
+We amateurs were constantly in anticipation of seeing either wild
+animals or Indians that might add to the spirit and zest of the
+expedition. There were no habitations, no fields, no farms. There was
+the vast expanse of plain in front of us ascending gradually westward
+toward the mountains with the blue sky and sunshine overhead. I do not
+recollect of seeing more than one little cabin or one little pioneer
+ranch during that whole day's ride. I do know that as the afternoon wore
+on those of us who were amateur horsemen were pleased to take our turns
+as the opportunity offered of riding in the army wagon which carried our
+supplies, and leading our horses.
+
+When the shades of night of the second day had come we had seen many
+antelope and now and then heard the cry of the coyote and the wolf but
+we had not seen any sign of buffalo, but we did receive information from
+some cattlemen or plain wanderers that there was a band of roving
+Indians in that vicinity which created in us a feeling of some
+anxiety--not so much for our personal safety as that our horses might be
+stolen and we be left in these remote regions without the necessary
+facilities for traveling homeward.
+
+Our camp for the night was made upon a spot of low ground near the bank
+of a small creek which was bordered by hills on either side and
+sheltered by a small grove of timber near at hand. The surrounding hills
+would cut off the sight of the evening camp fires, and the timber would
+obscure the ascending columns of smoke as they spread into space through
+the branches of the trees.
+
+The horses were picketed near the camp around the commissary wagon and
+Lieutenant Schwatka placed the cavalrymen upon sentinel duty. The night
+was spent with some restlessness and sleep was somewhat disturbed in
+anticipation of a possible danger, and I believe that all of us rather
+anxiously awaited the coming of the morning with the eastern sunlight
+that we might be restored to that feeling of security that would come
+with freedom of action and the opportunity for "preparedness." When
+morning did come we had the pleasure of greeting each other with
+pleasant smiles and a feeling of happy contentment. We had not been
+molested by the Indians and our military sentinels had not seen them.
+
+On the afternoon of the third day of our march into the wilderness we
+reached the farther margin of a high upland of the rim of a plain, where
+we had an opportunity of looking down over a large area of bottom land
+covered by vegetation and where there appeared to be signs of water.
+From this point of vantage we discovered a small herd of browsing
+buffalo but so far away from us as to be beyond rifle range. These
+animals were apparently so far away from civilization or human
+habitation of any kind that their animal instinct gave them a feeling of
+safety and security.
+
+We well knew that these animals could scent the approach of men and
+horses even when beyond the line of vision. We must study the currents
+of the air and plan our maneuvers with the utmost caution if we expected
+to be able to approach within any reasonable distance without being
+first discovered by them.
+
+We intrusted ourselves to the guidance of Buffalo Bill, whose experience
+added to his good judgment, and so skilfully did he conduct our
+maneuvers around the hills and up and down ravines that within an hour
+we were within a reasonable distance of these wild animals before they
+discovered us, and then the chase began. It was a part of the plan that
+we should surround them but we were prudently cautioned by Mr. Cody that
+a buffalo could run faster for a short distance than our horses.
+Therefore we must keep far enough away so that if the buffalo should
+turn toward any of us we could immediately turn and flee in the opposite
+direction as fast as our horses could carry us.
+
+I must stop for a moment to recite a romantic incident which made this
+buffalo chase especially picturesque and amusing. Judge Neville had been
+in the habit of wearing in Omaha a high silk hat and a full dress coat
+(in common parlance a spiketail). He started out on this expedition
+wearing this suit of clothes and without any change of garments to wear
+on the hunt. So it came about that when this group of amateur buffalo
+huntsmen went riding pell-mell over the prairies after the buffalo, and
+likewise when pursued by them in turn, Judge Neville sat astride his
+running war-horse wearing his high silk hat and the long flaps of his
+spiketail coat floating out behind him on the breeze as if waving a
+farewell adieu to all his companions. He presented a picture against the
+horizon that does not have its parallel in all pioneer history.
+
+It was entirely impossible for us inexperienced buffalo hunters while
+riding galloping horses across the plains to fire our rifles with any
+degree of accuracy. Suffice it to say we did not succeed in shooting any
+buffalo and I don't now even know that we tried to do so. We were too
+much taken up with the excitement of the chase and of being chased in
+turn. At one time we were the pursuers and at another time we were being
+pursued, but the excitement was so intense that there was no limit to
+our enjoyment or enthusiasm.
+
+Buffalo Bill furnished us the unusual and soul-stirring amusement of
+that afternoon. He took it upon himself individually to lasso the
+largest bull buffalo of the herd while the rest of us did but little
+more than to direct the course of the flight of these wild animals, or
+perhaps, more correctly expressed--to keep out of their way. It did not
+take Buffalo Bill very long to lasso the large bull buffalo as his fleet
+blooded horse circled around the startled wild animal. When evening came
+we left the lassoed buffalo out on the plains solitary and alone,
+lariated to a stake driven into the ground so firmly that we felt quite
+sure he could not escape. It is my impression that we captured a young
+buffalo out of the small herd, which we placed in a corral found in that
+vicinity.
+
+On the following morning we went out upon the plains to get the lassoed
+buffalo and found that in his efforts to break away he had broken one of
+his legs. We were confronted with the question whether we should let the
+animal loose upon the prairies in his crippled condition or whether it
+would be a more merciful thing to shoot him and put him out of his pain
+and suffering. Buffalo Bill solved the vexatious problem by concluding
+to lead the crippled animal over to the ranchman's house and there he
+obtained such instruments as he could, including a butcher knife, a
+hand-saw, and a bar of iron. He amputated the limb of the buffalo above
+the point of the break in the bone and seared it over with a hot iron to
+close the artery and prevent the animal from bleeding to death. The
+surgical operation thus rudely performed upon this big, robust wild
+animal of the prairie seemed to be quite well and successfully
+performed. The buffalo was then left in the ranchman's corral with the
+understanding that he would see it was well fed and watered.
+
+We were now quite a way from civilization and near the Colorado border
+line, and notwithstanding our subsequent riding over the hills and
+uplands during the following day we did not discover any other buffalo
+and those which had gotten away from us on the preceding day could not
+be found. During that day we turned northward, and I can remember that
+about noon we came to a cattleman's ranch where for the first time since
+our start on the journey we sat down to a wooden table in a log cabin
+for our noonday meal. During the afternoon we traveled northward as
+rapidly as our horses could carry us but night came on when we were
+twenty miles or more southwest of Fort McPherson and we found it again
+necessary to go into camp for the night, sleeping in the little army
+tents which we carried along with us in the commissary wagon.
+
+Colonel Cody on this journey had been riding his own private horse--a
+beautiful animal, capable of great speed. I can remember quite well that
+Mr. Cody said that he never slept out at night when within twenty miles
+of his own home. He declined to go into camp with us but turned his
+horse to the northward and gave him the full rein and started off at a
+rapid gallop over the plains, expecting to reach his home before the
+hour of midnight. It seemed to us that it would be a desolate, dreary,
+lonesome and perilous ride over the solitude of that waste of country,
+without roads, without lights, without sign boards or guides, but
+Buffalo Bill said he knew the direction from the stars and that he would
+trust his good horse to safely carry him over depressions and ravines
+notwithstanding the darkness of the night. So on he sped northward
+toward his home.
+
+On the next day we amateur buffalo hunters rode on to Fort McPherson and
+thence to North Platte where we returned our army horses to the military
+post with a debt of gratitude to Lieutenant Schwatka, who at all times
+had been generous, courteous, and polite to us, as well as an
+interesting social companion.
+
+So ended the last romantic and rather unsuccessful buffalo hunt over the
+western plains of the state of Nebraska--a region then desolate, arid,
+barren, and almost totally uninhabited, but today a wealthy and
+productive part of our state.
+
+The story of the buffalo hunt in and of itself is not an incident of
+much importance but it furnishes the material for a most remarkable
+contrast of development within a period of a generation. The wild
+buffalo has gone. The aboriginal red man of the plains has disappeared.
+The white man with the new civilization has stepped into their places.
+It all seems to have been a part of Nature's great plan. Out of the
+desolation of the past there has come the new life with the new
+civilization, just as new worlds and their satellites have been created
+out of the dust of dead worlds.
+
+There was a glory of the wilderness but it has gone. There was a mystery
+that haunted all those barren plains but that too has gone. Now there
+are fields and houses and schools and groves of forest trees and
+villages and towns, all prosperous under the same warm sunshine as of a
+generation ago when the buffalo grazed on the meadow lands and the
+aboriginal Indians hunted over the plains.
+
+[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES H. AULL
+
+Twelfth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1915-1916]
+
+
+
+
+OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE NEBRASKA SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN
+REVOLUTION
+
+BY MRS. CHARLES H. AULL, _State Regent_
+
+
+The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was
+organized in Washington, District of Columbia, October 11, 1890, and
+incorporated under the laws of Congress, June 8, 1891. Its charter
+membership numbered 818. Its declared object was:
+
+     "To perpetuate the memory of the spirit of the men and women who
+     achieved American Independence by the acquisition and protection of
+     historical spots, and the erection of monuments; by the
+     encouragement of historical research in relation to the Revolution
+     and the publication of its results; by the preservation of
+     documents and relics, and of the records of the individual services
+     of revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion of
+     celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries.
+
+     "To carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address
+     to the American people, 'to promote, as an object of primary
+     importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge,'
+     thus developing an enlightened public opinion, and affording to
+     young and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest
+     capacity for performing the duties of American citizens.
+
+     "To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American
+     freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid
+     in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty."
+
+Although there were previously some "members at large" in Nebraska, no
+chapter had been organized until the formation of Deborah Avery chapter
+in 1896. At present (1916) there are thirty-three chapters with a
+membership of fifteen hundred, and a well organized state society
+actively engaged in historical, educational, and patriotic work. Each
+chapter pays to the state society a per capita tax of twenty-five cents.
+A conference is held annually to plan the state work and promote the
+purposes of the national society.
+
+Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer of Omaha was appointed by the national society
+as organizing regent for Nebraska, June 7, 1894. She was reappointed in
+February, 1895, and again in February, 1896.
+
+No chapters were formed until in 1896, when Mary M. A. Stevens of
+Lincoln was admitted to membership in the national society, January 8,
+and was made organizing regent by Mrs. Philip Hichborn, vice-president
+general in charge of organization. Under the direction of Miss Stevens,
+Deborah Avery chapter was formed May 15, 1896, and chartered June 17
+following.
+
+In May, 1896, Mrs. Laura B. Pound of Lincoln was appointed state regent
+to succeed Mrs. Palmer and the real work of organization was begun.
+
+Omaha chapter was formed June 29, 1896, and approved by the national
+society October 1, 1896. In December, 1896, Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy
+was appointed organizing regent at Seward but a chapter was not
+completed there until nine years later. In February, 1897, Mary M. A.
+Stevens of Deborah Avery chapter and Mrs. Henry L. Jaynes of Omaha
+chapter were delegates to the continental congress at Washington. Miss
+Stevens nominated Mrs. Pound for state regent and Mrs. Jaynes nominated
+Mrs. John M. Thurston of Omaha for vice-president general from Nebraska.
+Their election followed. Mrs. Thurston died March 14, 1898, and her
+sister-in-law, Mrs. Angie Thurston Newman of Lincoln was elected at the
+following congress to succeed her. No new chapters were perfected in
+1897 but Minnie Shedd Cline of Minden and Mrs. Sarah G. Bates of
+Valentine were appointed organizing regents.
+
+Mrs. Frances Avery Haggard of Lincoln was elected state regent by the
+continental congress in February, 1898. She devoted her energies to
+raising money and supplies for the relief work undertaken by the
+Daughters during the Spanish-American war. At the close of her first
+term Mrs. Haggard declined a renomination.
+
+The third state regent was Mrs. Elizabeth Towle of Omaha, who was first
+elected in 1899 and reÎlected in 1900. Miss Anna Day of Beatrice was
+appointed organizing regent by Mrs. Towle.
+
+In 1901 Mrs. Laura B. Pound was again elected state regent and served
+two terms. The national society having made provision for state
+vice-regents, Mrs. Mildred L. Allee of Omaha was elected to that office.
+Mrs. Annie Strickland Steele was appointed organizing regent at
+Fairbury, Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck at Fremont, and Mrs. Olive A.
+Haldeman at Ord. In her last report as state regent Mrs. Pound recorded
+two new chapters, Quivira chapter at Fairbury, organized December 3,
+1902, and Lewis-Clark chapter at Fremont, January 17, 1903, with
+chapters at Beatrice and Ord in process of formation. Quivira chapter
+was chartered February 3, 1903, and Lewis-Clark chapter was chartered
+February 13, 1903.
+
+The first state conference was called by Mrs. Pound in October, 1902,
+and was held in Lincoln at the home of the late Mrs. Addison S.
+Tibbetts. This conference was called to nominate a state regent and plan
+for observing the centennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. This
+event was celebrated August 3, 1904, the anniversary of the council of
+Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri Indians. On this date a
+Nebraska boulder was dedicated at Fort Calhoun with appropriate
+exercises, participated in by the Sons of the American Revolution and
+the Nebraska State Historical Society. This was the first historical
+event commemorated by the Daughters in Nebraska.
+
+Mrs. Mildred L. Allee of Omaha was nominated for state regent at the
+conference in 1902, and Mrs. Emma Kellogg of Lincoln for vice-regent.
+These nominations were approved at the continental congress in 1903 and
+both nominees were elected, and reÎlected in 1904.
+
+Coronado chapter at Ord was organized January 25, 1904, and Elizabeth
+Montague chapter at Beatrice June 17, 1904. The former was chartered
+September 30, 1904, and the latter June 21, 1905.
+
+On October 20, 1903, the second annual state conference was held in
+Omaha. Mrs. Charles Warren Fairbanks, president general of the national
+society, was the guest of honor and delivered an address upon the
+subject, "The Mission of the Daughters of the American Revolution."
+
+The third annual state conference assembled in Lincoln, October 19,
+1904, for a two days' session. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy of Seward
+was chosen for state regent and Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck of Fremont was
+the choice of the conference for vice-regent. Both were elected, and
+both were renominated at the fourth state conference held at Fairbury in
+October, 1905. Mrs. Langworthy organized the Margaret Holmes chapter at
+Seward April 10, 1905, and Nikumi chapter at Blair, February 23, 1906.
+
+Lincoln entertained the fifth annual state conference October 29-30,
+1906, Mrs. Donald McLean, president general, being the guest of honor.
+At this conference a state organization was perfected and by-laws
+adopted providing that nominations for state regent and vice-regent
+should be made by the state board of management and submitted to the
+continental congress for election. Other officers for the state
+organization were to be elected at the annual conference. This system
+was followed until 1910, when the by-laws of the national society were
+changed to permit each state organization to elect its own regent and
+vice-regent.
+
+Mrs. Charles B. Letton of Quivira chapter, Fairbury, was nominated for
+state regent and Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck for vice-regent at the meeting
+of the board of management in the spring of 1907, and were elected at
+the national congress immediately following. Mrs. Letton was reÎlected
+in 1908 and Mrs. S. D. Barkalow of Omaha was elected vice-regent.
+
+The sixth annual state conference was held in Omaha October 22-23, 1907.
+Mrs. Letton appointed three organizing regents, one at Aurora, where no
+chapter has yet been formed; Mrs. Arthur E. Allyn at Hastings, and Mrs.
+Charles Oliver Norton at Kearney. On May 16, 1908, she organized the
+Fort Kearney chapter at Kearney, which was chartered October 27, 1908,
+with Mrs. Norton as its first regent.
+
+Mrs. Richard C. Hoyt presented the following resolution to the sixth
+annual conference and moved its adoption, the motion being seconded by
+Mrs. Henrietta M. Rees:
+
+"Therefore, be it resolved that the D. A. R. of Nebraska coˆperate with
+the State Historical Society in taking some steps toward marking the old
+Oregon trail in Nebraska and that a committee be appointed to act in
+unison with the Historical Society."
+
+The resolution was adopted. Members of the Omaha chapter who were
+interested in this matter at the time, say that the idea was suggested
+by Dr. George L. Miller of Omaha, then president of the State Historical
+Society. In accordance with the foregoing resolution Mrs. Letton, state
+regent, appointed the following committee: Mrs. John J. Stubbs,
+Omaha; Mrs. George H. Brash, Beatrice; and Mrs. Stephen B. Pound,
+Lincoln.
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT LOCATED IN BEMIS PARK, OMAHA, ON THE CALIFORNIA
+TRAIL OR MILITARY ROAD
+
+Erected by Omaha Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution]
+
+[Illustration: MONUMENT IN RIVERSIDE PARK, OMAHA, MARKING THE INITIAL
+POINT OF THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL
+
+Erected by Omaha Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution]
+
+The seventh annual conference was held at Fremont October 29-30, 1908.
+At this conference Mrs. Letton urged that plans be made for marking the
+Oregon trail across Nebraska, and called upon Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton
+who had been appointed chairman of the Oregon trail committee to present
+the subject to the conference.
+
+In April, 1909, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward of Lincoln was elected state regent
+and Mrs. S. D. Barkalow of Omaha was reÎlected vice-regent. In 1910 Mrs.
+Ward was reÎlected state regent with Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton as
+vice-regent.
+
+The eighth state conference was held at Beatrice October 28-29, 1909. At
+this conference it was voted to present two marble pedestals to Memorial
+Continental Hall. It was resolved to vigorously prosecute the efforts to
+secure an appropriation from the legislature for the marking of the
+Oregon trail. Mrs. Charles B. Letton, during her last term as state
+regent, had endeavored to have the legislature of 1909 appropriate money
+for marking this trail, but no action was taken by that body until the
+session of 1911, when, through the efforts of Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, who
+had been elected state regent, $2,000 was appropriated "for the purpose
+of assisting in the procuring of suitable monuments to mark the Oregon
+trail in the state of Nebraska." This money was to be expended under the
+direction of a commission composed of "the state surveyor of Nebraska,
+the state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the
+state of Nebraska, and the secretary of the Nebraska State Historical
+Society." This act was approved April 7, 1911. On April 10th following,
+the above-named commissioners met and organized as the "Oregon Trail
+Memorial Commission," with Robert Harvey president, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward
+vice-president, and Clarence S. Paine secretary-treasurer.
+
+During Mrs. Ward's term as state regent she organized four chapters, St.
+Leger Cowley chapter, Lincoln, December 3, 1909; Niobrara chapter,
+Hastings, October 12, 1910; Otoe chapter, Nebraska City, February 15,
+1911; Major Isaac Sadler chapter, Omaha, March 1, 1911.
+
+The ninth annual state conference was held in Seward, October 19-20,
+1910, and Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton of Kearney was elected state
+regent, and Mrs. Warren Perry of Fairbury vice-regent. They were
+reÎlected at the tenth state conference, held at Kearney, October 23-25,
+1911. The following eleven chapters were organized during Mrs. Norton's
+administration:
+
+    Platte chapter, Columbus, October 20, 1911.
+    Reavis-Ashley chapter, Falls City, January 5, 1912.
+    Superior chapter, Superior, January 12, 1912.
+    Thirty-seventh Star chapter, McCook, February 21, 1912.
+    David City chapter, David City, March 5, 1912.
+    Pawnee chapter, Fullerton, March 28, 1912.
+    David Conklin chapter, Callaway, February 22, 1913.
+    Josiah Everett chapter, Lyons, February 26, 1913.
+    Bonneville chapter, Lexington, February 26, 1913.
+    Nancy Gary chapter, Norfolk, February 27, 1913.
+    Stephen Bennett chapter, Fairmont, February 28, 1913.
+
+Mrs. Norton attended the third meeting of the Oregon Trail Commission,
+held May 2, 1911, and was elected vice-president in place of Mrs. Oreal
+S. Ward whom she had succeeded as state regent. During her term Mrs.
+Norton vigorously prosecuted the work of marking the Oregon trail, with
+the assistance of Mrs. Charles B. Letton, whom she had appointed as
+chairman of the Oregon trail committee. During her administration the
+contract was made for regulation markers to be used in marking the
+trail, and several were erected. There were also several special
+monuments erected ranging in cost from $100 to $350. The first monument
+to be planned for during this period was the one on the Kansas-Nebraska
+state line, to cost $350, which, however, was not dedicated until later,
+and the last monument to be dedicated during Mrs. Norton's term was the
+one on the Nebraska-Wyoming line, costing $200, for which Mrs. Norton
+raised the money from the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution
+in Nebraska and Wyoming. During this time there was also a very careful
+survey made of the trail and sites for monuments were selected.
+
+In April, 1910, Mrs. Andrew K. Gault of Omaha was elected vice-president
+general from Nebraska at the national congress and reÎlected in 1912,
+serving, in all, four years.
+
+The eleventh annual conference was held in Lincoln, October 22-24,
+1912. Mrs. Mathew T. Scott, president general, was the honor guest.
+Amendments to the by-laws were adopted in harmony with the by-laws of
+the national organization and the date of the state conference was
+changed from October to March. It was provided that all state officers
+should serve for one term of two years, and the per capita tax was
+raised from ten cents to twenty-five cents. Mrs. Warren Perry of
+Fairbury was elected state regent and Mrs. Charles H. Aull of Omaha
+vice-regent.
+
+The twelfth annual state conference convened at Fairbury, March 17-19,
+1914. During Mrs. Perry's term of office there were organized the
+following chapters:
+
+    Oregon Trail chapter, Hebron, October 20, 1913.
+    Jonathan Cass chapter, Weeping Water, January 23, 1914.
+    Elijah Gove chapter, Stromsburg, February 16, 1914.
+    Fontenelle chapter, Plattsmouth, April 21, 1914.
+    Reverend Reuben Pickett chapter, Chadron, March 4, 1915.
+
+At the close of her administration twelve organizing regents were at
+work: Mrs. Eleanor Murphey Smith, Crete; Mrs. Capitola Skiles Tulley,
+Alliance; Mrs. Mabel Raymond, Scottsbluff; Miss Jessie Kellogg, Red
+Cloud; Mrs. Alice Dilworth, Holdrege; Mrs. Clara King Jones, Wayne; Mrs.
+C. M. Wallace, Shelton; Mrs. Charles Brown, Sutton; Mrs. Margaret Orr,
+Clay Center; Mrs. Viola Romigh, Gothenburg; Mrs. Leona A. Craft,
+Morrill; Dr. Anna Cross, Crawford.
+
+The most important work to engage the attention of the state society
+during the administration of Mrs. Perry was the erection of monuments on
+the Oregon trail, and the accumulation of material for the present
+volume of reminiscences. A large number of the regulation markers on the
+Oregon trail were erected during this time; several special monuments
+dedicated and others arranged for.
+
+The thirteenth state conference was held in Omaha, March 17-19, 1915.
+Mrs. Charles H. Aull of Omaha was elected state regent, and Mrs. E. G.
+Drake of Beatrice vice-regent. Three chapters have been organized under
+the present administration:
+
+    Capt. Christopher Robinson chapter, Crawford, June 16, 1915.
+    Butler-Johnson chapter, Sutton, June 17, 1915.
+    Three Trails chapter, Gothenburg, December 31, 1915.
+
+At the present time plans are being formulated for marking the
+California trail from Omaha and Florence along the north side of the
+Platte river to the Wyoming line. This work will be carried forward by
+the Daughters, through the agency of the Nebraska Memorial Association
+of which the state regent is vice-president.
+
+
+
+
+    FINIS
+
+
+    "The moving Finger writes, and having writ,
+    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
+    Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
+    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
+
+    --_Omar Khayyam_
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Abel, Anton, 60
+
+Adams, Anna Tribell, 189
+
+Adams, Clarendon E., _Stirring Events along the Little Blue_, 214
+
+Adams County _Gazette_, 17
+
+Adams county, historical sketch of, 11, 18
+
+Adriance, Rev. Jacob, 291
+
+Akers, William H., 14
+
+Ak-Sar-Ben, Knights of, 189
+
+Alexander, Colonel, 219, 222, 229
+
+Alexander, S. J., 144, 270
+
+Alexander's ranch, 279
+
+Alexandria, Nebraska, 139, 270
+
+Alexis of Russia, Grand Duke, 327
+
+Allee, Mildred L. (Mrs. Abraham), 189, 334, 335
+
+Allen, Edna M. Boyle, _A Grasshopper Raid_, 133
+
+Allen, Edwin M., 16
+
+Allen, Mrs. Emily Bottorff, _Reminiscences of Washington County_, 286
+
+Allen, Mr. and Mrs. John, 284
+
+Allen, Pink, 284
+
+Allen, Thomas, 284, 295
+
+Allen, Thomas J., 299
+
+Allen, William, 143
+
+Allen, William Henry, _Reminiscences of Fort Calhoun_, 284, 287
+
+Allen, Mrs. William Henry, 291
+
+Alliance, Nebraska, 339
+
+Allis, Samuel, 230
+
+Allyn, Mrs. Arthur E., 336
+
+American Baptist Publication Society, 281
+
+American Fur Company, 312
+
+American Monthly magazine, 189
+
+American Woman's Suffrage Association, 278
+
+Ames, John H., _Location of the Capital at Lincoln_, 176
+
+Ames, Nebraska, 306
+
+Ames, Oakes, 199
+
+Anderson, Mrs. Sarah F., 255
+
+Andrews, Dr. J. P., 287, 294
+
+Anthony, Susan B., 276, 277
+
+Arapahoe, Nebraska, 58, 60, 63
+
+Arbor Lodge, 219, 231, 235, 239, 240
+
+Arkeketah (Otoe chief), 120
+
+Arlington, Nebraska, 300
+
+Armstrong brothers, 162
+
+Arnold, Mrs., 293
+
+Arnold, Major, 293
+
+Asche, Mrs. A. Dove Wiley, 96
+
+Atkinson, Mrs., 213
+
+Atkinson, General Henry, 314
+
+Auburn, Nebraska, 212
+
+Auger, General C. C., 193
+
+Aull, Mrs. Charles H., _Outline History of the Nebraska Society,
+Daughters of the American Revolution_, 333, 339
+
+Aurora, Nebraska, 213
+
+Austin, O. O., 192
+
+Avery, W. H., _A Buffalo Hunt_, 131
+
+Ayres, James, _Life on the Frontier_, 54
+
+
+Babcock, ----, 124
+
+Babcock, C. C., 17
+
+Babcock, Russell D., 16, 17
+
+Babcock, Titus, 16
+
+Badger family, 97
+
+Badger, Henry L., 97, 101, 104
+
+Badger, Mrs. H. L., 101
+
+Badger, Lewis H., 97
+
+Badger, Mary A., 97
+
+Bailey, Wesley, 141
+
+Bainter, James, 11
+
+Baker, Ben S., 275
+
+Baker, Joe, 148
+
+Baker, Wilton, 192
+
+Bancroft, Dr. William M., 57, 67
+
+Banking House of Thomas Harbine, 145
+
+Barber, F. B., 30
+
+Barkalow, Mrs. S. D., 336, 337
+
+Barnard, E. H., 78
+
+Barneby, Battiste, 118
+
+Barnes, Mrs. P. S., 38
+
+Barnston, Nebraska, 120, 127
+
+Barr, P. F., 15
+
+Barrett, Jay Amos, 189
+
+Barrette, Rev. and Mrs., 211
+
+Bartlett, Iowa, 31
+
+Bassett, Samuel C., _A Broken Axle_, 27; _Dreamland Complete_ (poem), 28
+
+Bates, Rev. Henry, 164
+
+Bates, Mrs. Sarah G., 187, 334
+
+Bauman, John, 294
+
+Bay State Cattle Company, 26
+
+Beatrice _Express_, 141
+
+Beatrice, Nebraska, 111, 113, 117, 118, 122, 123, 127, 128, 133, 142,
+149, 152, 161, 163, 166, 181, 187, 216, 270, 271, 275, 334, 335, 336,
+337, 339
+
+Beaver creek (Sandburr creek), 195
+
+Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, 258, 259, 260, 261
+
+Becksted, Addie, 323, 325
+
+Becksted, Billy, 323
+
+Becksted, Elton, 323
+
+Bedford, Nebraska, 211
+
+Beeson, Jane, 94
+
+Bell creek, 30, 287, 297
+
+Bell, James, 249
+
+Bell, John T., 296
+
+Bell, Ortha C., _An Incident in the History of Lincoln_, 182, 185
+
+Bell, Mrs. Ortha C., _Lincoln in the Early Seventies_, 184-185
+
+Bell, Ray Hiram, 185
+
+Belleville, Kansas, 142
+
+Bellevue, Nebraska, 236, 323, 325
+
+Beltzer, John, 248
+
+Beni, Jules, 323, 324, 325
+
+Benkleman, Nebraska, 263
+
+Bennett, Caroline Valentine, 254
+
+Bennett, Jacob, 254
+
+Berwyn, Nebraska, 46
+
+Bethlehem, Iowa, 41
+
+Betz, ----, 58
+
+Bierstadt, Albert, 214, 215
+
+Bifkin, Colonel, 105
+
+Big Blue river, 123, 151, 173, 242
+
+Big Sandy, 139, 140, 148, 152, 154, 245, 280
+
+Binfield, S. B., 15
+
+Binney, Millard S., _Gray Eagle, Pawnee Chief_, 194
+
+Bittenbender, Mrs. Ada M., 275
+
+Black, Gov. Samuel W., 240, 301
+
+Black Hills, 25, 50, 52, 110
+
+Blackbird creek, 30, 32
+
+Blackwell, Lucy Stone, 277
+
+Blaine, William H., 101
+
+Blair, Grant, 139
+
+Blair, James, 139
+
+Blair, Nebraska, 287, 291, 294, 298, 336
+
+Blizzards, 20, 59, 75, 99, 109, 125, 128, 158, 160, 203, 205, 244, 245,
+249, 250, 261, 282, 300
+
+Blue river, 111, 113, 121, 161, 261
+
+Blue Springs, Nebraska, 112, 113, 122
+
+Blue Vale, 102
+
+_Blue Valley Record_, 111
+
+Boggs, Dr., 128
+
+Bohanan, Quinn, 182
+
+Bonesteel, ----, 244, 245
+
+Bonneville chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Bookwalter, John W., 130
+
+Boone, Mrs. William, 247
+
+Bosler brothers, 26
+
+Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association, 168, 170, 171
+
+Bottorff, Andrew J., _Early Days in Stanton County_, 266
+
+Boucha, Joseph, 289
+
+Bouvier, Adeline, 289
+
+Bouvier, Mother, 289
+
+Bouvier, Oliver, _Reminiscences of De Soto in 1855_, 289
+
+Bowen, Adna H., 16
+
+Bowen, Judge, 287
+
+Bower, Nebraska, 158
+
+Box Butte county, _Historical sketch of_, 25, 26
+
+Boyd, ----, 258
+
+Boyd, James E., 189
+
+Boyer and Roubidoux, 190
+
+Boyer, J. P., 190, 191
+
+Boyle, Judge, 133, 142
+
+Bradley, Judge James, 91, 293
+
+Brady, ----, 190
+
+Brady Island, 61, 190
+
+Brash, Mrs. George H., 336
+
+Brass, Samuel L., 16
+
+Brewster, Mrs. S. C., 91
+
+Brickley, E. D., 166
+
+Brigham, George A., 286
+
+Brisbane, ----, 260
+
+Broken Bow, Nebraska, 46, 48, 49
+
+Brooks, Mrs. ----, 275
+
+Brooks, Mrs. N. J. Frazier, _Reminiscences of Pioneer Life at Fort
+Calhoun_, 288
+
+Broome, Francis M., _Frontier towns_, 22
+
+Bross, Rev. Harmon, 50
+
+Bross, Mrs. Harmon, _An Experience_, 50
+
+Brown, Mrs. Charles, 339
+
+Brown, Mrs. Charles M., _First Things in Clay County_, 43
+
+Brown, F. M., 43, 44
+
+Brown, Hopkins, 244
+
+Brown, John, 141
+
+Brown, R. G., 44
+
+Brownell hall, 96
+
+Brownville & Fort Kearny railroad, 137
+
+Brownville, Nebraska, 31, 111, 116, 142, 161, 211, 212
+
+Buchanan, a frontier town, 22
+
+Buck surveying party, 243
+
+Buffalo, 18, 19, 27, 59, 60, 64, 71, 76, 99, 103, 104-106, 111, 117,
+119, 131, 142, 153, 154, 164, 175, 214, 216, 219, 234, 242, 243, 289,
+326, 332
+
+Buffalo county, 29, 61, 223
+
+Buffalo creek, 58, 60
+
+Burgess, Frank, 248
+
+Burke, Mrs. ----, 190
+
+Burlington and Missouri R. R. Co., 15, 16, 18, 43, 66, 122, 128, 136,
+137, 188, 254
+
+Burt, Mr. ----, 174
+
+Bush, Lieutenant ----, 222, 223, 226, 229
+
+Bussard, Kate, 103
+
+Bussard, William, 109
+
+Buswell, Judson, 19
+
+Butler, ----, 217
+
+Butler, Gov. David, 99, 136
+
+Butler Johnson chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 339
+
+Byers, Mr. and Mrs. William N., 91
+
+
+Cabney, Antoine, 189
+
+Caldwell, Mrs. A. J., 275
+
+California trail, 88, 339
+
+Callaway, Nebraska, 49, 338
+
+Cameron, L. D., 291
+
+Camp, William M., 16
+
+Campbell, Alexander, 43
+
+Capital hotel, Lincoln, 135
+
+Captain Christopher Robinson chapter, Daughters of the American
+Revolution, 339
+
+Carney family, 75
+
+Carpenter, J. A., _Early Days in Nebraska_, 111
+
+Carr, Gen. E. A., 193
+
+Carson family, 213
+
+Carter, Alex., 290, 291
+
+Carter, "Billy," 24
+
+Carter, Jacob, 291
+
+Carter, Mr. and Mrs. J. R., 14
+
+Carter, Thomas M., _Reminiscences_, 290
+
+Cass county, Nebraska, 37, 94
+
+Cedar creek (Willow creek), 195
+
+Central City, Nebraska, 244
+
+Chabot, C., _Early Recollections_, 62
+
+Chadron, Nebraska, 24, 50, 339
+
+Champlin and McDowell, 156
+
+Champlin, L. C., 175
+
+Chandler, John S., 16, 19
+
+Chapman, Nebraska, 213
+
+Chapman, P. L., 143
+
+Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, 282
+
+Cheyenne and Northern R. R., 264
+
+Cheyenne county, Kansas, 263
+
+Cheyenne, Wyoming, 193, 213
+
+Chief Pipe Stem (Otoe Indian), 144
+
+Chouteau, Auguste, 190
+
+Chouteau, Pierre, 190
+
+Christian, ----, 156
+
+Christian, Robert, 143
+
+Christian, William, 141
+
+Claim clubs, 93
+
+Clapp, Mrs. Sarah, _Early Indian History_, 198
+
+Clark, E. H., 266, 284, 293
+
+Clark, Mrs. E. H., _Fort Calhoun in the Early Fifties_, 293, 296
+
+Clark, Elam, 286, 294
+
+Clark, Isaac N., 44
+
+Clark, Dr. Martin V. B., 44
+
+Clark, Theodore, 193
+
+Clarks, Nebraska, 249
+
+Clarkson, Rev. John F., 15
+
+Clay Center, Nebraska, 44, 339
+
+Clay county, 11, 18, 43
+
+Clements, ----, 33
+
+Clements, E. J., 282
+
+Cline, Mrs. J. A., 187
+
+Cline, Minnie Shed, 334
+
+Clother hotel, Columbus, 249
+
+Cody, William F. (Buffalo Bill), 200, 263, 326, 327, 329-331
+
+Cogswell, Mrs., 193
+
+Colby, Mrs. Clara Bewick, 275
+
+Colby, Orrin, 287
+
+Cole, Gen. Albert V., _Early Experiences in Adams County_, 18
+
+Cole's creek, 285
+
+Collegeview (Fontenelle college), 300
+
+Collins, Rev. Isaac, 291
+
+Columbus, Nebraska, 59, 60, 201, 242, 247-250
+
+Comstock, E. S., 214, 216
+
+Comstock, George S., 214-217
+
+Concordia, Kansas, 155
+
+Conroy's ranch, 77
+
+Cook, ----, 244
+
+Cook, Capt. James H., 52
+
+Cooper, Dr. P. J., 287
+
+Cooper, Vienna, 287
+
+Corey, A. A., 43
+
+Coronado chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 282, 335
+
+Coronado, Francisco de, 112, 113, 119, 232, 233, 283
+
+Correll, Ernest E., _Fred E. Roper, Pioneer_, 268; _An Indian Raid_, 279
+
+Correll, E. M., 275, 277, 278
+
+Correll, Lucy L., _The Lure of the Prairies_, 272, 275; _Suffrage in
+Nebraska_, 277, 278
+
+Cottage Hill postoffice, 127
+
+Cottonwood Springs, 190, 191, 192
+
+Council Bluff (Fort Calhoun), Nebraska, 308
+
+Council Bluffs, Iowa, 31, 92, 276, 284, 290, 295
+
+Council creek (Skidi creek), 195
+
+Cox, William W., 255, 257
+
+Crab Orchard, Nebraska, 128
+
+Craft, Mrs. Leona A., 339
+
+Craig, Allen, 286
+
+Craig, Mrs. Rhoda, 295
+
+Cramb, J. O., 141
+
+Cramb, Will F., 141
+
+Crane, George, 20
+
+Crawford, Nebraska, 24, 51, 339
+
+Creighton college, 90
+
+Creighton, Edward, 285
+
+Creighton telegraph line, 191
+
+Crete, Nebraska, 15, 20, 163, 300, 339
+
+Crook, General George, 199
+
+Crooked Hand, the Fighter (Pawnee Indian), 230
+
+Cropsey, Col. Andrew J., 162
+
+Cropsey, Daniel B., _Early Days in Pawnee County_, 135
+
+Cross, Dr. Anna, _Legend of Crow Butte_, 51, 339
+
+Cross, George, _Early Events in Jefferson County_, 137, 141, 143, 145
+
+Crow Butte, Legend of, 51
+
+Crow Heart Butte (poem), Pearl Shepherd Moses, 52
+
+Cub creek, 140, 148, 164
+
+Culbertson, Nebraska, 60
+
+Culver, Gen. Jacob H., 189
+
+Culver, Mrs. Jacob H., 189
+
+Cuming City Claim Club, 290
+
+Cuming City, Nebraska, 286, 287, 290, 291, 298
+
+Cuming county, 36
+
+Cuming, Governor Thomas B., 91
+
+Cuming, Mrs. Thomas B., 91
+
+Cumming, Mrs. Nils, 43
+
+Cushing, James, 244
+
+Cushing, Capt. S. E., 198, 200
+
+_Custer County, Reminiscences of_, by Mrs. J. J. Douglas, 46, 48
+
+
+_Daily-Gazette-Journal_, 17
+
+Daily, Major, 120
+
+Dalbey, Dwight S., 129
+
+Dalbey, Mrs. Dwight S., member Book committee, 5
+
+Dalbey, Mrs. Virginia Lewis, _Biography of Ford Lewis_, 129
+
+Daniels, J. H., 188
+
+Darling, Dick, 191
+
+Daugherty, R. C., 193
+
+Daughter of the American Revolution, 168, 187, 188, 253
+
+David City, Nebraska, 338
+
+David City chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Davis, Frank M., 18
+
+Davis, J. V., 162
+
+Davis, Mrs. Thomas, 91
+
+Davis, W. H., 299
+
+Dawson county, 57, 61-64, 67, 72, 74
+
+Dawson, John, 201
+
+Day, Miss Anna, 187, 334
+
+Deadwood, South Dakota, 66
+
+Deborah Avery chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 187, 188,
+189, 253, 333, 334
+
+Decatur, Nebraska, 30-33, 287, 322, 323
+
+Deep Well ranch, 105
+
+Delahunty, Patrick, 54
+
+DeMerritt, Case of, 48
+
+Deroin, Battiste, 118, 121
+
+De Soto, Nebraska, 287-289, 290, 298
+
+Diller, Nebraska, 125
+
+Dillon, Ira G., 17
+
+Dilworth, Mrs. Alice, 339
+
+Dilworth's Islands, 55
+
+Dinsmore, John B., 44
+
+Dismal river, 63
+
+Ditto, Hank, 24
+
+Dixon, Mr. and Mrs. Nimrod J., 102
+
+Doane college, 300
+
+Dodge county, 298, 303
+
+Dodge, Gen. Grenville M., 91
+
+Dodge, Col. Henry, 190
+
+Donavan, Frele Morton, 180
+
+Donavan, W. T., 178
+
+Douglas county, Nebraska, 326
+
+Douglas house, Omaha, 92
+
+Douglas, J. J., 48, 49
+
+Douglas, Mrs. J. J., _Reminiscences of Custer County_, 46
+
+Douglas, Stephen A., 235
+
+Dubuque, Julien, 307
+
+Dundy county, Nebraska, 263
+
+Dundy, Judge Elmer S., 326
+
+Dunlap, ----, 215
+
+Drake, Mrs. E. G., 339
+
+Dreamland Complete (poem), 29
+
+Dyball, Mrs. George B., 306
+
+
+Eagle (Missouri Indian chief), 119
+
+Eddyville, Nebraska, 66
+
+Edgerton, Gordon H., 11, 12, 17
+
+El Capitan Rancho, 216
+
+Elijah Gore chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 339
+
+Elizabeth Montague chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 335
+
+Elk City, Nebraska, 305, 306
+
+Elkhorn river, 78, 84, 266, 267, 297, 299, 300
+
+Ellis, Mrs. ----, _An Acrostic_, 204
+
+Elm creek, Nebraska, 61, 65, 75
+
+Endicott, Nebraska, 161
+
+Engle, Mr. and Mrs., 213
+
+Erickson, Charles J., 76
+
+Erickson, Frank, 76
+
+Erickson, John, 76
+
+Erwin & Powers company, 58
+
+Estabrook, Mrs. Experience, 91
+
+Eubanks, Mr. and Mrs., 214, 215, 217, 218, 270
+
+Evans, John, 264
+
+Evans, Mrs. May, 43
+
+Everett, Mr. and Mrs., 33, 34
+
+Everett, B. W., 30, 32
+
+Everett, Eleanor, 32
+
+Everett, Mrs. Elise G., _Experiences of a Pioneer Woman_, 32
+
+Everett, Frank, 33, 34
+
+Everett, Josiah, 30, 32, 33
+
+Ewing, ----, 55
+
+
+Fagot, Mrs., ----, 68
+
+Fairbanks, Mr. and Mrs., 103
+
+Fairbanks, Mrs. Charles Warren, 335
+
+Fairbury _Gazette_, 141-143
+
+Fairbury, Nebraska, 75, 116, 118, 133, 137, 139-146, 147, 154-158, 161,
+162, 166, 168, 175, 188, 275, 335-337
+
+Fairfield, Chancellor E. B., 135
+
+Fairmont, Nebraska, 20, 75, 101, 338
+
+Falls City, Nebraska, 252, 253, 338
+
+Farnam, Nebraska, 77
+
+Ferguson, Susan E., 278
+
+Fifth U. S. Cavalry, 190, 193
+
+Filley, Elijah, 116, 127
+
+Filley, Nebraska, 127
+
+Fillmore county, 75, 97, 102, 107, 109
+
+Fillmore postoffice, 27
+
+Finney, Dr., 290
+
+First National bank, Fairbury, 143
+
+First Territorial Fair, 237
+
+Fisette, Mrs. Charles H., _Pioneer Women of Omaha_, 90
+
+Fish creek, 290
+
+Fisher, ----, 253
+
+Fisher, King, 279
+
+Fisher, Martin, 131
+
+Fitchie, S. D., 192
+
+Florence, Nebraska, 27, 80, 93, 248, 339
+
+Fontenelle chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 339
+
+Fontenelle college, 296
+
+Fontenelle, Logan, 299
+
+Fontenelle mission, 300
+
+Fontenelle Mounted Rangers, 301
+
+Fontenelle, Nebraska, 284, 295, 296, 297, 298, 301, 304
+
+Fort Atkinson, 188, 284, 307, 308
+
+Fort Calhoun, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 293, 294, 298, 308
+
+Fort Cottonwood, 285
+
+Fort Hartsuff, 282
+
+Fort Kearney chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 336
+
+Fort Kearny (Nebraska City), 152
+
+Fort Kearny, 12, 28, 60, 65, 88, 95, 176, 219-223, 225, 227, 229, 242,
+285
+
+Fort Laramie, Wyoming, 76
+
+Fort Leavenworth, 314
+
+Fort McPherson, 74, 76, 190, 191, 193, 200, 327, 331
+
+Fort Omaha, 182
+
+Fourth of July celebration, 295
+
+Fouts, Marion Jerome (California Joe), 11, 13
+
+Fowlie, Peter, 15, 17
+
+Fox, The (Pawnee Indian), 228, 229
+
+Fox Ford, 270
+
+Francis, Samuel, 300
+
+Franklin, Dr., 327
+
+Franklin county, 232, 233
+
+Frazier, John, 286
+
+Frazier, Thomas, 288
+
+Freeman, Charles, 244, 245
+
+Freeman, Daniel, 57, 66
+
+Freeman, Mrs. Daniel, _Recollections of the First Settler of Dawson
+County_, 64
+
+Freeman, Minnie (see Penney), 203, 204
+
+Freeman, W. E., 244
+
+Freighting, 11, 25, 37, 64, 95, 153, 270, 285
+
+Fremont, John C., 12, 78
+
+Fremont, Nebraska, 78, 82, 84, 178, 188, 249, 267, 335
+
+French, Luther, 43-44
+
+Frenchman river, 59
+
+Fritt's grove, 32
+
+_Frontier Towns_, Frances M. Broome, 22
+
+Fullerton, Nebraska, 194, 338
+
+Furnas, Gov. Robert W., 96, 213
+
+
+Gage county, 111, 112-122, 123, 127-130, 216
+
+Gale, Dr. Marion F., 307-321
+
+Gale, Mary, 307-321
+
+Gale, Mell, 127
+
+Gantt, Judge Daniel, 192
+
+Gardner's Siding, 249
+
+Gates, Mr. and Mrs. Milo, 213
+
+Gates, Susan, 13
+
+Gault, Mrs. Andrew K., 338
+
+Gaylord brothers, 20
+
+Gaylord, Georgia, 91
+
+Gaylord, Ralph, 91
+
+Gaylord, Rev. Reuben, 91, 300
+
+Genoa, Nebraska, 194, 198, 200, 206, 228, 229, 242, 246, 247
+
+Gerrard, E. A., 247
+
+Gibson, John McT., 145
+
+Gilkerson, Alice Flor, 78
+
+Gillingham, David (Gray Eagle), 194
+
+Gillis, Judge, 230
+
+Gilman, J. C., 191, 192
+
+Gilman, Jed, 220, 221, 222
+
+Gilman, Mrs. P. J. (Mary Hubbard), 193
+
+Gilman's ranch, 77, 220
+
+Gilmore, Boss, 104
+
+Gilmore, Elias, 102
+
+Gilmore, Jake, 104
+
+Gilmore, Lydia, 102
+
+Gilmore, Minnie, 103
+
+Glenn, Newton, 139
+
+Glenwood, Iowa, 41
+
+Goldsmith, Rev. S., 168
+
+Goodwill, Mrs. Taylor G., 91
+
+Gordon, Jim, 139
+
+Gordon, Nebraska, 24
+
+Gosper, Mrs. Watie, 184
+
+Goss, ----, 291
+
+Gothenburg, Nebraska, 76, 339
+
+Gould, Charles, 170, 171
+
+Gould, W. A., 137
+
+Grand Island, Nebraska, 13, 20, 62, 67, 105, 106, 213, 244, 245
+
+Grant, U. S., 15
+
+Grasshoppers, 21, 68, 82, 109, 133, 184, 247-248, 252, 273, 274
+
+Gray Eagle (Pawnee chief), 194-195
+
+Great American Desert, 235, 282
+
+Green, Albert L., _Reminiscences of Gage County_, 112
+
+Grimes, L. R., 44
+
+Guin, Dr., 213
+
+Gurley, W. F., 189
+
+
+Hackberry caÒon, 265
+
+Hacker family, 213
+
+Hackney ranch, 270, 271, 280
+
+Hackney, Walt, 270
+
+Hackney, William, 270
+
+Hager, Rev. Isaac, 241
+
+Haggard, Mrs. Frances Avery, 334
+
+Haigler, Nebraska, 263
+
+Haile, ----, 12
+
+Haines, Rev., 172
+
+Haldeman, Dr. F. D., 282
+
+Haldeman, Mrs. Olive A. (Mrs. F. D.), 282, 335
+
+Halfway Hollow ranch, 25
+
+Hall & Evans, 264
+
+Hamer, Judge Francis G., 48
+
+Hamilton county, 250
+
+Hamilton, Mrs. Cynthia, 79, 80
+
+Hamilton hotel, 92
+
+Hamilton, Mrs. William, 79, 81
+
+Haney, ----, 279
+
+Hanscom, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J., 90
+
+Hansen, George W., _Early Days of Fairbury and Jefferson County_, 139,
+145; _The Earliest Romance of Jefferson County_, 147; _Finding the Grave
+of George Winslow_, 168-174
+
+Hansen, Harry, 141
+
+Hansen, Mary Kelley, 143
+
+Harbine Bank of Fairbury, 145
+
+Harbine, John, 145
+
+Harbine, Col. Thomas, 144, 145
+
+Hardenburg, Harry, 186
+
+Hardy, Nebraska, 111
+
+Harney, General W. S., 192
+
+Harrington, Sarah P., 79
+
+Hart ranch, 25
+
+Harvard, Nebraska, 18, 43
+
+Harvey, Augustus F., 177, 178
+
+Harvey, Robert, 337
+
+Hastings _Journal_, 17
+
+Hastings, Nebraska, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 336, 337
+
+Haunstine, Albert, 48
+
+Hawkins brothers, 263
+
+Hawthorne, Mary Heaton, 78
+
+Hay caÒon, 263
+
+Hay Springs, Nebraska, 24
+
+Haynes, Jack, 14
+
+Heaton, Rev. Isaac E., 78
+
+Heaton, Mrs. Isaac E., 78
+
+Hebron _Journal_, 277
+
+Hebron Library association, 278
+
+Hebron, Nebraska, 270-272, 275, 277, 279, 339
+
+Helvey, Frank, 139, 148-151, _Experiences on the Frontier_, 152, 154
+
+Helvey, Jasper, 139
+
+Helvey, Joel, 139, 148-150, 152, 154
+
+Helvey, Orlando, 140
+
+Helvey, Thomas, 139, 152
+
+Helvey, Whitman, 152
+
+Hemphill, Ada, 247
+
+Hemphill, Mrs. Mary, 247
+
+Henderson, George, 16
+
+Henderson, Nellie, 43
+
+Hendricks, George, 264
+
+Henrietta postoffice, 272
+
+Herndon house, 92
+
+Herrick family, 32
+
+Heth, John, 222, 223, 226, 227, 228, 229
+
+Heth, Mrs. John, 227
+
+Heth, Minnie, 227
+
+Hewitt, Lucy R., _Early Days in Dawson County_, 67
+
+Hewitt, Thomas J., 67
+
+Hewitt, Mrs. Thomas J., 67
+
+Hichborn, Mrs. Philip, 334
+
+Hickok, James B. (Wild Bill), 139, 153
+
+Hiles' ranch, 77
+
+Hinman, Beach I., 192
+
+Hinman, Washington M., 191, 192
+
+History and Art club, Seward, 254
+
+Holdrege, Nebraska, 339
+
+Hollenbeck, Mrs. Janet K., 335, 336
+
+Hollenberg, Captain, 150
+
+Holloway & Fowler, 78
+
+Holmes, Mrs. Mary, 275
+
+Holt county, 203
+
+Horse creek (Skeleton Water), 195
+
+Horseshoe creek, 150
+
+Howe, Church, 211
+
+Howe, Nebraska, 211
+
+Howell, William, 109
+
+Hoyt, Mrs. Richard C., 336
+
+Hubbard, Mary (Mrs. P. J. Gilman), 193
+
+Hubbell, Nebraska, 153
+
+Hubbell, Will, 175
+
+Hughes' ranch, 25
+
+Humphries, ----, 65
+
+Hungate family, 38
+
+Hunter, Rev. A. V., 39
+
+Hunter, Charley, 260
+
+Hunter, George Michael, 260
+
+Hunter, I. N., _Recollections of_, 36
+
+Hunter, Mr. and Mrs. L. D., 36
+
+_Huntsman's Echo_, 27
+
+Hurd, ----, 156
+
+Huse, Harriet, 278
+
+
+Imlay, William, 256
+
+Indians, 28, 33, 34, 36-38, 41, 42, 51, 54-56, 59, 60, 64, 65, 72, 74,
+76, 79, 80, 86, 87, 95, 97-100, 102, 104-106, 108-110, 112-122, 134,
+136, 142, 144, 149, 150, 152, 154, 164, 165, 175, 189, 191-202, 208-210,
+216-218, 222, 227-231, 242, 246, 247, 253-257, 270, 279, 280, 286, 289,
+294, 296, 301-303, 305, 307-321
+
+Indian burial, 120, 121
+
+Indian creek, 113
+
+Indian massacres, 12, 28, 54, 59, 65, 243, 285
+
+Indian police, 117, 118
+
+Indian school, Genoa, 246
+
+Indianola, Nebraska, 263
+
+Inland, Nebraska, 18
+
+Independence, Missouri, 170, 171, 172
+
+Irvington, Nebraska, 91
+
+
+Jackson, James A., 295
+
+Jackson, Zaremba, 290
+
+Jacobson, John, 19, 54
+
+Jacobson house, 19
+
+James, Gov. William H., 16, 99, 43
+
+Jansen, John, 124
+
+Jansen, Peter, _Ranching in Gage and Jefferson Counties_, 123
+
+Jarvis, Mrs. A. P., _Lovers' Leap_, 196
+
+Jascoby, ----, 284
+
+Jaynes, C. S., 18
+
+Jaynes, Mrs. Henry L., 334
+
+Jefferson county, 117, 120, 123, 137, 139-151, 156, 158, 161, 173, 175,
+270
+
+Jeffrie's ranch, 77
+
+Jenkins, D. C., 139
+
+Jenkins, George E., _Looking Backward_, 155
+
+Jenkins' Mill, 145
+
+Johanson, Sven, _Early Days in Stanton county_, 266
+
+Johanson, Mrs. Sven, 267
+
+Johnson county, 129
+
+Johnson family, 213
+
+Johnson, Mrs. E., _Early Recollections of Gage County_, 127
+
+Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. E. D., 57, 58, 67, 70
+
+Johnson, Elleck, 58
+
+Johnson, Mrs. Hadley, 92
+
+Johnson, Mrs. Harrison, 92
+
+Johnson, Jim, 104
+
+Johnson, Joseph E., 27
+
+Jonathan Cass chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 339
+
+Jones, Alfred D., 295
+
+Jones, Mrs. Alfred D., 91
+
+Jones, Mrs. Clara King, 339
+
+Josiah Everett chapter, daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Judson, H. M., 92
+
+Julesburg, Colorado, 323
+
+Junction City, Kansas, 142
+
+Juniata, Nebraska, 15, 16, 18, 19
+
+Juniata house, 19
+
+
+Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Iowa, 92, 290
+
+Kansas City & Omaha R. R., 14
+
+Kansas Pacific R. R., 193
+
+Kearney county, 11
+
+Kearney, Nebraska, 48, 67, 70, 75, 223, 243, 270, 336, 337
+
+Kearny Heights (Nebraska City), 236
+
+Keen, Rev. W. G., 260
+
+Kehoe, John, 72
+
+Keith, Mrs., 193
+
+Kelley, Alfred, 143
+
+Kelly, ----, 216, 217
+
+Kelly, John, 93
+
+Kelly, Margaret F., _A Grasshopper Story_, 82
+
+Kellogg, Miss Jessie, 339
+
+Kellogg, Mrs. Emma, 335
+
+Kenesaw, 11, 12
+
+Kenny, Aimee Taggart, 295
+
+Keyou, ----, 322
+
+Kimball brothers, 188
+
+King, ----, 282
+
+King, Mrs. Deborah, 275
+
+Kingsley, Fayette, 279, 280
+
+Kirk, George, 31
+
+Kittle, Fred, 78
+
+Kittle, Robt., 78, 79
+
+Klein and Lang, 123
+
+Knapp, Robert M., 129
+
+Koontz, J., 78
+
+Kountze, Mrs. Herman, 91
+
+Kramph, Mrs., 193
+
+Kress, Mortimer N. (Wild Bill), 11, 13, 14
+
+Krier, B. F., _Pioneer Justice_, 72
+
+Kuony, Mr. and Mrs. John B., 293
+
+
+La Flesche, Joseph, 289
+
+Lake caÒon, 263
+
+Lancaster county, 129, 177, 180
+
+Lancaster, Nebraska, 177, 178, 180
+
+Langworthy, Elizabeth C. (Mrs. Stephen C.), 187; _Two Seward County
+Celebrations_, 254, 334, 335
+
+Lazure, Mrs. May Allen, _Some Items from Washington County_, 295
+
+Lee, General, 199
+
+Leflang, E. M. F., 66
+
+Leonard, Emma, 16
+
+Lepin hotel, 15
+
+Lester, S. P., 124
+
+Lett, H. C., 213
+
+Letton, Mrs. Charles B., 168, 169, 336, 337, 338
+
+Letton, Judge Charles B., 144; _The Easter Storm of 1873_, 158-160, 169
+
+Lewis and Clark, 187, 188, 189, 190, 308
+
+Lewis-Clark chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 188, 335
+
+Lewis, Elizabeth Davis, 130
+
+Lewis, Ford, 129, 130
+
+Lewis, Levi, 129
+
+Lewis, M. K., 17
+
+Lewis, Phoebe, 129
+
+Lewiston, Nebraska, 130
+
+Lexington, Nebraska, 54, 57, 67, 72, 338
+
+Lezenby, Christopher, 258
+
+Libby, E. R., 33
+
+Liberty, Nebraska, 122
+
+Lincoln, Nebraska, 43, 107, 109, 112, 135, 156, 176-182, 184-186, 188,
+213, 259, 260, 275, 278, 334, 335, 337
+
+Lincoln county, 61, 190-193
+
+Lindgren, Elof, 109
+
+Lingle, Mrs. Addie Bradley, 70
+
+Lingle, W. H., 70
+
+Lippincott Halfway House, 287
+
+Little Blue river, 11, 12, 43, 44, 104, 105, 148, 149, 153, 154, 166,
+217, 270
+
+Little Pipe, John (Otoe Indian), 134, 144
+
+Little Sandy, 139, 148, 152, 153
+
+Lockwood, Judge William F., 91
+
+Logan creek, 30, 32
+
+Logan Valley, 32
+
+Lomas (or Loomis), Roderick, 13
+
+Lone Tree (Central City), Nebraska, 244, 245
+
+Long creek, 286, 287
+
+Long, Major Stephen H., 190
+
+Longshore, ----, 60
+
+Long Pine, Nebraska, 187
+
+Lord, Brackett, 170, 171, 173
+
+Lost creek (Lincoln park), 214
+
+Louisiana Purchase, 236, 307
+
+Loup river, 63, 88 (Potato Water), 195, 228, 229, 285
+
+_Lovers' Leap_, 196
+
+Lower 96 ranch, 77
+
+Luey, Francis M., 13, 14
+
+Lyons, Nebraska, 338
+
+
+MacColl, John H., 57, 60, 74
+
+MacColl, Laura, 74
+
+MacMurphy, Harriet S., 96, 187; _Nikumi_, 307; _The Heroine of the
+Jules-Slade Tragedy_, 322
+
+MacMurphy, John A., 323
+
+McAllister, W. A., _Some Personal Incidents_, 242
+
+McCabe's ranch, 221
+
+McCaffery, ----, 141
+
+McCall, R. J., 258
+
+McCandles, Bill, 270
+
+McCanles, D. C., 139, 153
+
+McCashland, Addie, 107
+
+McCashland, John R., _Pioneering in Fillmore County_, 107
+
+McCashland, Mrs. John R., 107
+
+McCashland, Sammy, 107
+
+McComas, ----, 95
+
+McCook, Nebraska, 338
+
+McCreary family, 213
+
+McCune, Calmer, _Early Days in Polk County_, 248
+
+McDonald, Mrs. Charles, 191
+
+McDonald, Charles, 191, 192, 193
+
+McDonald, Thomas, 286
+
+McDonald, W. H., 191
+
+McDowell, Mrs. Gertrude M., _Suffrage in Nebraska_, 275
+
+McDowell, Joseph B., _Beginnings of Fairbury_, 161, 162
+
+McDowell, W. G., 140, 161
+
+McElroy, William John, 14
+
+McGovern, Teddy, 272
+
+McGregor, Harry, 243
+
+McLean, Mrs. Donald, 336
+
+McMaster, A. M., 127
+
+McNeely, Frank, _County-seat of Washington County_, 298
+
+McNeil, Miss, 78, 180
+
+McPherson hotel, Brownville, 212
+
+McPherson station, 76
+
+Mabin's ranch, 221, 222
+
+Mahan, Henry, 248
+
+Mahum, Tom, 55
+
+Major Isaac Sadler chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 337
+
+Majors, Alexander, 139, 240
+
+Majors, Col. Thomas J., 95
+
+Mallet brothers, 190
+
+Mallott, James B., 60
+
+Maple Creek, Iowa, 30, 82
+
+Margaret Holmes chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, _Seward
+County Reminiscences_, 255, 335
+
+Marks, Mrs. Ives, 156
+
+Marks, Rev. Ives, 140, 143, 156, 279
+
+Marks' mill, 142, 155
+
+Marsden, ----, 188
+
+Marsh, A. K., 43, 44
+
+Martin, ----, 105
+
+Martin, E. L., 97
+
+Martin, Major, 240
+
+Marvin, Seth P., 78
+
+Mary Cole steamboat, 299
+
+Marysville, Kansas, 149, 150
+
+Mason, Judge O. P., 118, 144
+
+Mason, Sidney, Mr. and Mrs., 140
+
+Mathews, Capt. Fred, 200
+
+Mattingly, J. B., 140, 142, 144, 162
+
+Maxwell, Nebraska, 76
+
+Mayes, Charles, 71
+
+Mayfield's ranch, 25
+
+Mead, Mrs. Eda, _The Story of the Town of Fontenelle_, 299
+
+Medicine, Nebraska, 263
+
+Medicine Horse (Otoe chief), 116, 120
+
+Mellenger, "Doc," 59
+
+Mellenger, Edgar, 58
+
+Melroy, Nebraska, 127, 128
+
+Melvin brothers, 44
+
+Memorial Continental Hall, 337
+
+Meridian, Nebraska, 153, 154, 270, 271, 279
+
+Merritt, Asa, 31
+
+Mickey, Gov. John H., 189
+
+Midland Pacific R. R., 259
+
+Milford, Nebraska, 102
+
+Military road, 305
+
+Millard, Joseph H., 189
+
+Miller, Mrs., 193
+
+Miller, A. J., 192
+
+Miller, Charlie, 279
+
+Miller, Dr. George L., 91, 336
+
+Minden, Nebraska, 187, 334
+
+Minor, Ella Pollock, _Incidents at Plattsmouth_, 41
+
+Mira Valley, 203, 204
+
+Mission creek, 121
+
+Missouri river, 18, 27, 31, 41, 80, 97, 107, 111, 112, 135, 140, 152,
+153, 189, 190, 198, 211, 219, 335, 247, 252, 256, 263, 269, 270, 289,
+290, 299, 305, 307-309, 322
+
+Missouri river ferry, 322
+
+Monroe, Nebraska, 200
+
+Moore, John S., 15
+
+Moore, Sadie Irene, _The Beginnings of Fremont_, 78
+
+Moote, Mr. and Mrs. W. S., 14
+
+Morgan, Hugh, 192
+
+Mormon trail, 27, 28, 293
+
+Mormons, 27, 89, 93, 206, 236, 269
+
+Morrill, Nebraska, 339
+
+Morris, Prof. John, 180
+
+Morrow, J. A., 191, 192
+
+Morse, Capt. Charles, 200
+
+Morse, Col. Charles F., 15
+
+Morton, Carl, 238
+
+Morton, Caroline Joy, 235, 240
+
+Morton, Charles, 33
+
+Morton, J. Sterling, 96; _My Last Buffalo Hunt_, 219, 235, 239, 240, 297
+
+Morton, Joy, 235
+
+Morton, Paul, _How the Founder of Arbor Day Created the Most Famous
+Western Estate_, 235
+
+Moses, Pearl Shepherd, _Crow Heart Butte_ (poem), 52
+
+Mott, Lucretia, 276
+
+Mud creek, 128
+
+Mullen, Mrs., 58
+
+Murdock, Rev., 121
+
+Murray, Mrs., 201
+
+Murray, Nebraska, 94
+
+
+Nance county, 194-195, 198, 206, 207, 229, 242
+
+Nancy, Gary chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Narrows, The, 217
+
+National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, 333
+
+National Suffrage Association, 275
+
+Nebraska City, Nebraska, 76, 97, 102, 104, 109, 111, 127, 135, 176, 177,
+178, 180, 236, 270, 297, 337
+
+Nebraska Memorial Association, 339
+
+Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, 254
+
+Nebraska Society, Sons of the American Revolution, 335, 338
+
+Nebraska State Historical Society, 95, 139, 170, 179, 187-189, 219, 335,
+336
+
+Nebraska Territorial Pioneers' Association, 253
+
+Needham, Mr., 201
+
+Needham, Mrs. Christina, 201
+
+Nemaha river, 253
+
+Neville, Judge James, 326, 329
+
+Newbecker, Clara, 282
+
+Newbecker, Dr. Minerva, 282
+
+Newbecker, Lieut. Philip, 282
+
+Newman, Mrs. Angie Thurston, 334
+
+_Nikumi_, 307-321
+
+Nikumi chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 336
+
+Niobrara chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 337
+
+Niobrara river, 25
+
+Nobes, C. J., 182
+
+Nonpareil, a frontier town, 22
+
+Norfolk, Nebraska, 338
+
+Norman, P. O., 43
+
+North, Major Frank, 198, 200, 244, 245
+
+North, Capt. Luther, 200, 201, 244
+
+North Platte, Nebraska, 190, 191, 192, 193, 264, 326, 327, 331
+
+Northwestern R. R., 26
+
+Norton, Mrs. Charles Oliver, 336, 337, 338
+
+Norton, Hannah, 147
+
+Norton, Lilian (Madam Nordica), 147
+
+Norton, Major Peter, 147
+
+Noyes, Major, 246
+
+Nuckolls county, 214, 216, 218, 270, 272
+
+Nye, Mrs. Theron, _Early Days in Fremont_, 84
+
+
+Oak, John, 30
+
+Oak Grove ranch, 214, 216
+
+Oakland, Nebraska, 30
+
+O'Brien, Major George M., 191
+
+O'Conner, Mrs. Thomas, 92
+
+O'Fallon's Bluffs, 191, 200
+
+Ogallalla Cattle Company, 26
+
+Oliver, Sr., Edward, 27
+
+Oliver, Edward, 29
+
+Oliver, James, 29
+
+Oliver, John, 29
+
+Oliver, Robert, 29
+
+Oliver, Sarah, 28
+
+Omaha, Nebraska, 30, 36, 62, 78, 80, 88, 90, 93, 130, 176, 178, 180,
+181, 189, 191, 198, 241, 249, 263, 266, 267, 269, 275, 284-287, 289,
+290, 294, 295, 299, 300, 301, 305-306, 308, 325, 326, 329, 333-339
+
+Omaha _Bee_, 189
+
+Omaha chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 187, 188, 189, 334,
+336
+
+Omaha Mary, 289
+
+Omaha _Republican_, 75
+
+Onawa, Iowa, 32
+
+Ord, Nebraska, 281, 335
+
+Oregon trail, 11, 65, 76, 139, 150, 161, 168, 169, 336-339
+
+Oregon Trail chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 339
+
+Oregon Trail Memorial Commission, 337, 338
+
+Orr, Mrs. Margaret, 339
+
+Osceola, Nebraska, 248
+
+Osceola _Record_, 248
+
+Ostrander, ----, 217
+
+Otoe chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 337
+
+Otoe county, 129
+
+Otoe Indian reservation, 112-122, 125, 127, 142, 322
+
+Overland Stage line, 139, 149, 214
+
+Overland trail, 139, 152, 216, 219, 220, 236, 268, 269
+
+Overton, Nebraska, 58
+
+
+Pacific house, Beatrice, 123
+
+Pacific Telegraph line, 76, 78
+
+Paine, Mrs. C. S., 5
+
+Paine, Clarence S., 337
+
+Palmatier, ----, 263
+
+Palmer, Mrs. Charlotte F., 333, 334
+
+Palmer, Capt. Henry E., 218
+
+Parker, Jason, 244
+
+Parks, Nebraska, 263
+
+Parmele, Mrs. Lilian, 42
+
+Patrick, Mrs. Edwin, 91
+
+Patterson, Daniel, 139
+
+Patterson's trading post, 139
+
+Pawnee City, Nebraska, 118, 122, 136, 178
+
+Pawnee county, 129, 135, 136
+
+Pawnee Indian reservation, 198, 206, 208, 230, 242, 246
+
+Pawnee ranch, 43
+
+Pawnee scouts, 199, 218
+
+Peale, Titian, 190
+
+Pearson, Capt. F. J., 57
+
+Peavy and Curtiss, 122
+
+Penney, Minnie Freeman, _The Blizzard of 1888_, 203; _Major North's
+Buffalo Hunt_, 244
+
+Perry, Mrs. Lula Correll (Mrs. Warren), 5, 337, 339
+
+Petalesharo (Pawnee chief), 247
+
+Peterson, Martin, 54
+
+Pierce, Judge Robert D., 57
+
+Pine Bluff reservation, 59
+
+Pine Ridge country, 24
+
+_Pioneer_, Dawson county, 57
+
+_Pioneer Record_, 295
+
+Pittsburgh postoffice, Nebraska, 258, 259
+
+Plainfield, Nebraska, 203
+
+Platt, Elvira Gaston, 198
+
+Platt, Lester W., 198
+
+Platte chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Platte river, 11, 27, 44, 55, 56, 58, 70, 76, 79, 84, 87, 94, 105, 190,
+192, 219, 220, 228, 229, 245, 285, 299, 339
+
+Platte Valley, 221
+
+Plattsmouth, Nebraska, 18, 41, 136, 178, 256, 323, 339
+
+Pleasant Dale, Nebraska, 258
+
+Plum creek, 55, 57, 58, 64, 256, 257, 285
+
+Plum creek (Gage county), 114, 122
+
+Plum creek (Lexington), Nebraska, 54, 57, 60, 62, 66, 67, 70, 72, 75
+
+Plummer, Eleanor, 147, 149, 150
+
+Plummer, Mrs. Jason, 149
+
+Plummer, Jason, 147, 148
+
+Plymouth, Nebraska, 168
+
+Polk county, 248, 251
+
+Polk, Nebraska, 250
+
+Polley, Hiram, 184
+
+Pollock, Mrs. Thomas, 41
+
+Pony Express, 64, 65
+
+Pope, Mrs. Anna Randall, 213
+
+Poppleton, Mrs. Andrew J., 92
+
+Porter, A. J., _From Missouri to Dawson County in 1872_, 75
+
+Pound, Mrs. Laura B., _Marking the Site of the Lewis and Clark Council
+at Fort Calhoun_, 187, 189, 334, 335, 336
+
+Pumpkin creek, 265
+
+Purdy house, Fairbury, 175
+
+Purple, ----, 291
+
+Pursell, Mrs. Auta Helvey, 147
+
+Purviance, Edith Erma, _A Pioneer Family_, 93
+
+Purviance, Erma, 96
+
+Purviance, Dr. W. E., 96
+
+Prairie Chicken (Omaha Indian), 100
+
+Prairie fires, 68, 120, 164, 247
+
+Pyle and Eaton, 44
+
+
+Quincy colony, 284, 296, 299-304
+
+Quivira, 112, 233
+
+Quivira chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 147, 188, 335,
+336
+
+
+Randall, Mr. and Mrs., 123
+
+Randall, A. D., 213
+
+Randall, Charles, 46, 213
+
+Randall, E. J., 213
+
+Randall, Dr. H. L., 213
+
+Randall, N. G., 211
+
+Randall, Sarah Schooley, _My Trip West in 1861_, 211
+
+Rawhide creek, 79
+
+Raymond, Mrs. Mabel, 339
+
+Raymond, Nebraska, 184
+
+Reavis-Ashley chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Reavis, Isham, 253
+
+Reavis, Mahala Beck, 253
+
+Red Cloud, Nebraska, 137, 339
+
+Red Lion mill, 109
+
+Redman, Joseph, 93
+
+Reed, Alexander, 284
+
+Reeder, Mrs. James G., _Pioneer Life_, 246
+
+Rees, Henrietta M., 336
+
+Republic county, Kansas, 142
+
+_Republican_, Omaha, 95
+
+Republican river, 60, 61, 105, 154, 222, 225, 242
+
+Republican Valley, 58, 214, 222, 243, 327
+
+Reverend Reuben Pickett chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution,
+339
+
+Reynolds, Nebraska, 140
+
+Reynolds, B. W., 80
+
+Reynolds, Wilson, 80
+
+Rhoades, Orrin, 284
+
+Rhustrat, Dr., 80
+
+Richardson, Lyman, 92
+
+Ringer, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, 186
+
+Ringer, Frank J., 186
+
+Ringer, Jennie Bell, 185
+
+Ringer, John Dean, 186
+
+Riverton, Nebraska, 239
+
+Rock Bluffs, Nebraska, 37, 94
+
+Rock creek, 139, 144, 153, 161, 270
+
+Rockport, Nebraska, 266, 286, 298
+
+Rockwood, Martin T., 67
+
+Roe, Thomas, 107
+
+Rogers, Mrs. Samuel E., 92
+
+Romigh, Mrs. Viola, 339
+
+Root, Aaron, 92
+
+Root, Mrs. Allen, 91
+
+Roper, Ford, 122
+
+Roper, Fred E., 268-271
+
+Roper, Joe B., 270
+
+Roper, Laura, 218, 270
+
+Roper, Mann E., 269
+
+Roscoe, B. S., 30, 31, 32
+
+Roscoe, Mrs. Isabel, _A Pioneer Nebraska Teacher_, 30
+
+Rose creek, 140, 144, 148, 153, 155, 156, 279
+
+Rosewater, Edward, 189
+
+Roy, George, 252, 253
+
+Roy, Mrs. Thyrza Reavis, _Personal Reminiscences_, 252, 253
+
+Royce, Loie, 203
+
+Rulo, Nebraska, 252
+
+Rushville, Nebraska, 24
+
+Russell, Alice M., 281
+
+Russell, Mrs. E. A., _Reminiscences_, 281
+
+Russell, Rev. E. A., 281
+
+Russell, H. C., 49
+
+Russell, Mrs. Lucinda, 275
+
+Russell, Majors and Waddell, 214, 240
+
+
+St. Joe & Denver City R. R. Co., 144
+
+St. Joe and Grand Island R. R., 75, 144
+
+St. Joseph, Missouri, 155, 211, 241, 252, 270
+
+St. Leger Cowley chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 337
+
+St. Marys, Iowa, 290
+
+St. Nicholas hotel, 92
+
+St. Paul, Nebraska, 204
+
+Saline City, 177
+
+Salt creek, 221
+
+Saltillo, Nebraska, 97
+
+Salt Lake City, 269
+
+Sanborne, John P., 192
+
+Sand Hills, 258
+
+Santa Fe trail, 308, 316
+
+Saratoga (Omaha), Nebraska, 93
+
+Sarpy, Peter A., 290, 307-321
+
+Sarpy's trading post, 311, 317
+
+Saunders county, 80, 87
+
+Sawyer, Mrs. A. J., 275
+
+Saxon, Elizabeth, 276
+
+Schmeling, Frank, 214
+
+School creek, 18, 43
+
+Schooley, Charles A., 211
+
+Schwatka, Lieut. Frederick, 326, 327, 328, 331
+
+Schwerin, Rev. W., 45
+
+Scofield, T. D., 17
+
+Scott, ----, 128
+
+Scott, Miss Lizzie, 16
+
+Scott, Mrs. Mathew T., 338
+
+Scottsbluff country, 264
+
+Scottsbluff, Nebraska, 339
+
+Scully, Lord, 130
+
+Second Nebraska Cavalry, 242, 292
+
+Second U. S. Cavalry, 280
+
+Selden, Mrs. O. B., 92
+
+Selleck, Wellington W., 16
+
+Seward, 254
+
+Seward county, 254, 255, 262
+
+Seward, Nebraska, 187, 248, 250, 334, 336, 337
+
+Seymour, Elizabeth Porter, _Early Experiences in Nebraska_, 163-165
+
+Shader, Mr. and Mrs. A. L., 140
+
+Shader, Claiborn, 140
+
+Shattuck, Etta, 203
+
+Sheldon, Addison E., 188, 189, 258
+
+Shell creek, 201
+
+Shelton, Nebraska, 339
+
+Sheridan (Auburn), Nebraska, 212
+
+Sheridan, Gen. Phil, 327
+
+Sherman, General, 192
+
+Shields, Mrs. Herman, 306
+
+Shields, Thomas, 255
+
+Shipley, 286
+
+Shirley, William, 44
+
+Shorter county, 191-192
+
+Showalter, Dr., 141
+
+Shumway, Grant Lee, _Pioneering_, 263
+
+Sidney, Nebraska, 25, 193, 264
+
+Sidney trail, 25
+
+Sixth U. S. Infantry, 307, 309
+
+Slade, Jack, 324, 325
+
+Slade, Lyman or Jack, 153
+
+Slocumb, Charles, 145
+
+Slocumb and Hambel, 144
+
+Sluyter, Isaiah, 16
+
+Smith, ----, 178, 291
+
+Smith, Adam, 201
+
+Smith Brothers, 123
+
+Smith, C. B., 91, 92
+
+Smith, Mrs. C. B., 91
+
+Smith, Charles, 78
+
+Smith, Dan, 77
+
+Smith, Mrs. Dan, 77
+
+Smith, De Etta Bell, 185
+
+Smith, Edmund Burke, 185
+
+Smith, Mrs. Eleanor Murphey, 339
+
+Smith, Hazel Bell, 185
+
+Smith, Mrs. J. Fred, 306
+
+Smith, J. G., 78
+
+Smith, John, 13
+
+Smith, Major, 119
+
+Smith, Samuel C., 246
+
+Smith, Towner, 78
+
+Smith, Col. Watson B., 326
+
+Snake creek, 25
+
+Snowden, Mrs. William P., 92
+
+Solomon river, 218
+
+Sommerlad, H. W., 260
+
+Sons of the American Revolution, 187, 188
+
+Soules, ----, 175
+
+Southwell, ----, 33
+
+Spade, Dan, 109
+
+Spade, William, _Fillmore County in the 70's_, 109
+
+Spanish American War, 334
+
+Spillman, Jerome, 300
+
+Stall, Irwin, 259
+
+Stanley, C., 244, 245
+
+Stanton county, 266, 267
+
+Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 275, 277
+
+Staples, David, 168, 171-173
+
+Starbuck, Rev. Charles, 206
+
+Star hotel, Fairbury, 143
+
+Stark, Isaac W., 16
+
+Stark, John, 15
+
+Stark, Margaret, 15
+
+State Federation of Woman's Clubs, 254
+
+Stebbins, Mrs. W. M., _The Erickson Family_, 76
+
+Steele, Annie M., 275
+
+Steele, Mrs. Annie Strickland, 334
+
+Steele, Calvin F., 143, 166, 275
+
+Steele, Mrs. C. F., _Personal Recollections_, 166-167; _Finding the
+George Winslow Grave_, 168
+
+Stephen, Bennett chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Stevens, Col. George, 284, 293
+
+Stevens, Mary M. A., 334
+
+Stevens, William, 250
+
+Stiles, James, 32
+
+Stilts, Judge, 287
+
+Stockville, Nebraska, 263
+
+Stone, Dr. ----, 248
+
+Stone, Lucy, 275
+
+Storer, William, 28
+
+Stout, D. D., 290
+
+Stout, E. P., 290
+
+Stromsburg, Nebraska, 339
+
+Stubbs, Mrs. J. J., 336
+
+Stuckey, Capt. John S., 58
+
+Stuckey, Joseph, 58
+
+Stuckey, Samuel Clay, 58
+
+Stuhl, Joseph, 16
+
+Stutzman, Henry, 14
+
+Sullivan, Potter C., 298
+
+Sumner, Nebraska, 66
+
+Superior chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Superior, Nebraska, 111, 338
+
+Sutton, Nebraska, 18, 43, 44, 339
+
+Swan Brothers, 26
+
+Swan creek, 140, 148-149
+
+Sweetser, ----, 174
+
+Sweezy, William F., 92
+
+
+Taggart, Rev. J. M., 296
+
+Talbot, Mr. and Mrs. Ben, 47
+
+Talbot, Bishop, 241
+
+Talbot, John, 223, 226
+
+Talbot, Dr. Willis, 49
+
+Tall Bull (Cheyenne Indian), 198
+
+Tash, Ira E., _Historical Sketch of Box Butte County_, 25
+
+Taylor, J. O., 46
+
+Taylor, Tim, 152
+
+Tecumseh, Nebraska, 161, 275
+
+Tenth U. S. Infantry, 242
+
+Thayer county, 140, 270, 277
+
+Thayer County Woman's Suffrage Association, 277, 278
+
+Thayer, Gen. John M., 92
+
+Thayer, Mrs. John M., 92
+
+_The Conservative_, 238
+
+_The Homesteader_, 248
+
+Thomas, S. G., 175
+
+Thomas & Champlin, 141, 142
+
+Thompson, Barbara J., 278
+
+Thirty-seventh Star chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Thirty-two Mile creek, 12
+
+Three Groves, Nebraska, 95
+
+Three Trails chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 339
+
+Thurston, Mrs. John M., 334
+
+Tibbetts, Mrs. Addison S., 335
+
+Timberville (Ames), Nebraska, 306
+
+Tinklepaugh, Roy, 127
+
+Tipton, James, 59
+
+Tipton, Thomas W., 213
+
+Tisdale, Thomas H., 260, 261
+
+Tooth & Maul, 91
+
+Towle, Albert, 151
+
+Towle, Mrs. Eliza, 187
+
+Towle, Mrs. Elizabeth, 334
+
+Tree planting, 238, 297
+
+Trefren and Hewitt, 46
+
+Tremont house, 92
+
+_Tribune_, The Fremont, 79
+
+Troup, Mrs. Elsie De Cou, 189
+
+Tucker, ----, 60
+
+Tucker family, 57
+
+Tucker, Tudor, 58
+
+Tulley, Mrs. Capitola Skiles, 339
+
+Turkey creek, 225
+
+Turner, Eliza, 78
+
+Turner, Mrs. George, 82
+
+Turner, Mrs. Margaret, 78
+
+
+Ulig, ----, 217
+
+Union Pacific R. R., 16, 29, 54, 55, 57, 62, 66, 75, 76, 82, 84, 91, 95,
+104, 106, 161, 192, 193, 198, 199, 200, 243, 245, 264, 327
+
+United States Daughters of the War of 1812, 253
+
+Upper 96 ranch, 77
+
+
+Valentine, Nebraska, 22, 334
+
+Vallery, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob, 41
+
+Valley county, 204
+
+Van Horn, James, 291
+
+Van Vliet, Brig. Gen. Stewart L., 225
+
+Vance, Mrs. Laura (Laura Roper), 270
+
+Vanier brothers, 294
+
+Vermillion, A. Martha, 278
+
+Virginia, Nebraska, 127, 130
+
+
+Wahoo, Nebraska, 78, 221
+
+Walker brothers, 193
+
+Walker, Major Lester, _Early History of Lincoln County_, 190
+
+Wallace, Mrs. C. M., 339
+
+Walnut creek, 258, 259, 260
+
+Walton, Mrs. Ellen Saunders, _Early Days in Nance County_, 206
+
+Ward, Joseph, 180
+
+Ward, Mrs. Oreal S., 337, 338
+
+Ware, Ellen Kinney, _Early Reminiscences of Nebraska City_, 240
+
+Warfield's ranch, 221
+
+Warrick, Amasa, 286
+
+Warrington, T. L., 68
+
+Warwick, Rev. J. W., 13
+
+Warwick, Lila (or Eliza), 13, 14
+
+Washington county, 286, 287, 290-298
+
+Wasson, ----, 244
+
+Waters, Stella Brown, 49
+
+Waters, William H., 248
+
+Waters, W. W., 49
+
+Waterville, Kansas, 162
+
+Waterville, Nebraska, 142
+
+Watson, W. W., 145
+
+Wayne, Nebraska, 339
+
+Webster, John Lee, _The Last Romantic Buffalo Hunt on the Plains of
+Nebraska_, 326
+
+Weed, Thurlow, 44
+
+Weed, William L., 44
+
+Weeks, M. H., 142
+
+Weeks, Mrs. M. H., _Early Days in Jefferson County_, 175
+
+Weeks, Mary, 175
+
+Weeping Water, Legend of, 39
+
+Weeping Water, Nebraska, 36, 37, 38, 339
+
+Weeping Water river, 220
+
+Wehn, ----, 116
+
+Weisel, George, 139
+
+Wells Fargo Express Company, 25, 77
+
+West, ----, 80
+
+West, Mr. and Mrs., 79
+
+West, Julia, 79
+
+West Blue river, 43, 97, 107, 245, 258, 262
+
+West Blue postoffice, 97
+
+West Point, Nebraska, 36
+
+Western Stage Company, 142
+
+Westling, J. A., 133
+
+Weston, John B., 43
+
+Wharton, Rev. Fletcher L., 213
+
+Wheeler, Judge, 213
+
+Wheeler, Major, 123, 246
+
+Whiskey Run, 169
+
+Whitaker, ----, 103
+
+Whitaker, Sabra Brumsey, 101
+
+White, Rev. A. G., 291
+
+White, Capt. Charles, 43
+
+White Eagle (Pawnee Chief), 194
+
+White, Luke, 100
+
+White, Sammy, 98, 100
+
+Whiterock, Kansas, 131
+
+Whitewater, Jim (Otoe half-breed), 116, 117, 144
+
+Whiting, A. V., 155
+
+Whitney family, 213
+
+Whittaker, Mrs. Clifford, _A Good Indian_, 74
+
+Wiggins, Horace S., 15
+
+Wigton, A. L., 15, 17
+
+Wigton, J. W., 17
+
+Wilbur, Nebraska, 163
+
+Wild Bill (James B. Hickok), 139, 153, 270
+
+Wild Cat banks, 237
+
+Wilds, M. B., 291
+
+Wiley, Araminta, 96
+
+Wiley, Gertrude Miranda, 93
+
+Wiley, Hattie, 96
+
+Wiley, Dr. William Washington, 93
+
+Wilkinson, Emma, 305
+
+Wilkinson, Ida, 305
+
+Wilkinson, Nettie, 306
+
+Wilkinson, Thomas, 305, 306
+
+Wilkinson, Mrs. Thomas, 305, 306
+
+Wilkinson, William W., 306
+
+Williamson, John, 194, 195
+
+Wilson, ----, 58
+
+Wilson, Capt., 280
+
+Wilson, Luther, 78
+
+Wilson, Perley, 56
+
+Wilson, W. R., 82
+
+Wiltse, Chauncey Livingston, _The Pawnee Chief's Farewell_, 208-210
+
+Winslow, Edward, 171
+
+Winslow, Eleazer, 171
+
+Winslow, George, 168-174
+
+Winslow, Mrs. George, 170
+
+Winslow, George E., 170
+
+Winslow, George Edward, 171
+
+Winslow, Henry O., 170, 171
+
+Winslow, Mrs. Henry, 168
+
+Winslow, James, 171
+
+Winslow, Jesse, 170, 173
+
+Winslow, Josiah, 171
+
+Winslow, Kenelm, 170, 171
+
+Winslow, Shadrach, 171
+
+Wint, Brig. Gen. Theodore, 189
+
+Woerner, Mike, 216
+
+Wolf creek, 117
+
+_Woman's Journal_, 277, 278
+
+Woman's suffrage, 275-278
+
+Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Kentucky, 91
+
+Wood river, 27, 60, 66
+
+Wood River Centre, 27, 28
+
+Woodhurst, Mrs., 182
+
+Woodhurst, Warden, 182
+
+Woods, Jim, 139
+
+Work, George F., _Historical Sketch of Adams County_, 11
+
+Wright, Eben, 13
+
+Wyncoop, Col. ----, 270
+
+Wyoming Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Wyoming Society Sons of the American Revolution, 338
+
+Wyuka cemetery, Nebraska City, 297
+
+
+Yankee Hill, 177
+
+Yankton, South Dakota, 247
+
+Young, Brigham, 65
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Punctuation has been standardised.
+
+Minor printer errors (e.g. omitted, superfluous or transposed
+characters) have been fixed.
+
+Kearny and Kearney are both used in this text.
+
+Page 13, "Rhoderic" changed to "Roderick" (Roderick Lomas) [per internet
+search]
+
+Page 25, "Eldorado" changed to "El Dorado" (trip to the new El Dorado)
+
+Page 96, "Asch" changed to "Asche" (A. Dove Wiley Asche) [per internet
+search]
+
+Page 125, "benumed" changed to "benummed" (being benummed myself) [per
+Webster's 1828 Dictionary]
+
+Page 170, "daguerrotype" changed to "daguerreotype" (daguerreotype of
+Mr.) (daguerreotype of George)
+
+Page 171, "1833" changed to "1633" (colony in 1633)
+
+Page 219, "repellant" changed to "repellent" (seemed repellent, irksome)
+
+Page 226, "repellant" changed to "repellent" (and repellent fear)
+
+Page 226, "arborially" changed to "arboreally" (arboreally interred)
+
+Page 227, "markmanship" changed to "marksmanship" (no deft marksmanship)
+
+Page 281, "Nemeha" changed to "Nemaha" (grazing in the Nemaha)
+
+Page 308, "Ottoes" changed to "Otoes" (the "Ottoes, Pawnees)
+
+Page 315, the spelling of "delf" was retained (per Webster 1828
+Dictionary)
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEBRASKA PIONEER REMINISCENCES ***
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+
+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences, by 
+Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 4, 2011 [eBook #34844]<br />
+[Most recently updated: January 15, 2021]</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Brian Sogard, Sharon Verougstraete and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEBRASKA PIONEER REMINISCENCES ***</div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width:45%;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 401px;"><a name="front" id="front"></a>
+<img src="images/illus_001.jpg" width="401" height="600" alt="Mrs. Laura B. Pound
+
+Second and Sixth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1896-1897, 1901-1902" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Laura B. Pound
+
+Second and Sixth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1896-1897, 1901-1902</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h1>
+COLLECTION OF<br />
+NEBRASKA PIONEER<br />
+REMINISCENCES<br /></h1>
+<p class="center"><br />
+ISSUED BY THE<br />
+<br /></p>
+<h2>NEBRASKA SOCIETY OF<br />
+THE DAUGHTERS OF THE<br />
+AMERICAN REVOLUTION<br />
+<br /></h2>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/emblem.png" width="150" height="146" alt="" title="" />
+<br />
+<br />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center">NINETEEN SIXTEEN<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+THE TORCH PRESS<br />
+<br />
+CEDAR RAPIDS<br />
+<br />
+IOWA<br />
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FORETHOUGHT</h2>
+
+
+<p>This Book of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences is issued
+by the Daughters of the American Revolution of Nebraska,
+and dedicated to the daring, courageous, and intrepid
+men and women&mdash;the advance guard of our progress&mdash;who,
+carrying the torch of civilization, had a vision of
+the possibilities which now have become realities.</p>
+
+<p>To those who answered the call of the unknown we owe
+the duty of preserving the record of their adventures
+upon the vast prairies of "Nebraska the Mother of
+States."</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"In her horizons, limitless and vast<br />
+Her plains that storm the senses like the sea."<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Reminiscence, recollection, personal experience&mdash;simple,
+true stories&mdash;this is the foundation of History.</p>
+
+<p>Rapidly the pioneer story-tellers are passing beyond
+recall, and the real story of the beginning of our great
+commonwealth must be told now.</p>
+
+<p>The memories of those pioneers, of their deeds of self-sacrifice
+and devotion, of their ideals which are our inheritance,
+will inculcate patriotism in the children of the
+future; for they should realize the courage that subdued
+the wilderness. And "lest we forget," the heritage of
+this past is a sacred trust to the Daughters of the American
+Revolution of Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>The invaluable assistance of the Nebraska State Historical
+Society, and the members of this Book Committee,
+Mrs. C. S. Paine and Mrs. D. S. Dalby, is most gratefully
+acknowledged.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">
+<span class="smcap">Lula Correll Perry</span><br />
+<span class="tdind">(Mrs. Warren Perry)</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+<div>
+<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Some First Things in the History of Adams County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By George F. Work</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Experiences in Adams County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By General Albert V. Cole</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Frontier Towns</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Francis M. Broome</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Historical Sketch of Box Butte County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ira E. Tash</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Broken Axle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Samuel C. Bassett</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Pioneer Nebraska Teacher</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Isabel Roscoe</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Experiences of a Pioneer Woman</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Elise G. Everett</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Recollections of Weeping Water</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By I. N. Hunter</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Incidents at Plattsmouth</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ella Pollock Minor</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">First Things in Clay County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Charles M. Brown</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences of Custer County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. J. J. Douglas</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Experience</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Harmon Bross</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Legend of Crow Butte</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Dr. Anna Robinson Cross</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Life on the Frontier</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By James Ayres</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Plum Creek (Lexington)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By William M. Bancroft</span>, M. D.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Recollections</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By C. Chabot</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Recollections of the First Settler of Dawson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Daniel Freeman</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Dawson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Lucy E. Hewitt</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneer Justice</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By B. F. Krier</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Good Indian</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Clifford Whitaker</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">From Missouri To Dawson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By A. J. Porter</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Erickson Family</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. W. M. Stebbins</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Beginnings of Fremont</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Sadie Irene Moore</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Grasshopper Story</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Margaret F. Kelly</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Fremont</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Theron Nye</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneer Women of Omaha</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Charles H. Fisette</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Pioneer Family</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Edith Erma Purviance</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Badger Family</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The First White Settler in Fillmore County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneering in Fillmore County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By John R. McCashland</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fillmore County in the Seventies</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By William Spade</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By J. A. Carpenter</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences of Gage County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Albert L. Green</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Ranching in Gage and Jefferson Counties</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Peter Jansen</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Recollections of Gage County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. E. Johnson</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Biography of Ford Lewis</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. (D. S.) H. Virginia Lewis Dalbey</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Buffalo Hunt</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By W. H. Avery</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Grasshopper Raid</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Edna M. Boyle Allen</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Pawnee County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Daniel B. Cropsey</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Events in Jefferson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By George Cross</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days of Fairbury and Jefferson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By George W. Hansen</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Earliest Romance of Jefferson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By George W. Hansen</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Experiences on the Frontier</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Frank Helvey</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Looking Backward</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span><span class="smcap">By George E. Jenkins</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Easter Storm of 1873</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Charles B. Letton</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Beginnings of Fairbury</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Joseph B. McDowell</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Experiences in Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Elizabeth Porter Seymour</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Personal Recollections</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. C. F. Steele</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">How the Sons of George Winslow Found Their Father's Grave</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><i>Statement by Mrs. C. F. Steele</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><i>Statement by George W. Hansen</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Jefferson County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. M. H. Weeks</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Location of the Capital at Lincoln</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By John H. Ames</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Incident in the History of Lincoln</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ortha C. Bell</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Lincoln In the Early Seventies</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ortha C. Bell</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Pioneer Baby Show</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Frank I. Ringer</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Marking the Site of the Lewis and Clark Council at Fort Calhoun&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Laura B. Pound</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early History of Lincoln County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Major Lester Walker</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Grey Eagle, Pawnee Chief</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Millard S. Binney</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Lovers' Leap (Poem)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. A. P. Jarvis</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Indian History</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Sarah Clapp</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Blizzard of 1888</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Minnie Freeman Penny</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Acrostic</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Ellis</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Nance County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Ellen Saunders Walton</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Pawnee Chief's Farewell (Poem)</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Chauncey Livingston Wiltse</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">My Trip West in 1861</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Sarah Schooley Randall</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Stirring Events Along the Little Blue</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Clarendon E. Adams</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">My Last Buffalo Hunt</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span><span class="smcap">By J. Sterling Morton</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">How the Founder of Arbor Day Created the Most Famous Western Estate&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Paul Morton</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Reminiscences of Nebraska City&mdash;Social Aspects</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ellen Kinney Ware</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Some Personal Incidents</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By W. A. McAllister</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Buffalo Hunt</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Minnie Freeman Penny</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneer Life</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. James G. Reeder</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Polk County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Calmar McCune</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Personal Reminiscences</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Thyrza Reavis Roy</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Two Seward County Celebrations</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. S. C. Langworthy</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Seward County Reminiscences</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">Compiled by Margaret Holmes Chapter D. A. R.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneering</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Grant Lee Shumway</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Early Days in Stanton County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Andrew J. Bottorff and Sven Johanson</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fred E. Roper, Pioneer</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ernest E. Correll</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Lure of the Prairies</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Lucy L. Correll</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Suffrage in Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><i>Statement by Mrs. Gertrude M. McDowell</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><i>Statement by Lucy L. Correll</i></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Indian Raid</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Ernest E. Correll</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. E. A. Russell</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences of Fort Calhoun</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By W. H. Allen</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences of Washington County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_286">286</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Emily Bottorff Allen</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences of Pioneer Life at Fort Calhoun</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. N. J. Frazier Brooks</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences of De Soto</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_289">289</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Oliver Bouvier</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Reminiscences</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Thomas M. Carter</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Fort Calhoun in the Late Fifties</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span><span class="smcap">By Mrs. E. H. Clark</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Some Items From Washington County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. May Allen Lazure</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">County-seat of Washington County</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Frank McNeely</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Story of the Town of Fontenelle</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Eda Mead</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Thomas Wilkinson and Family</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nikumi</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_307">307</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Harriett S. MacMurphy</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Heroine of the Jules Slade Tragedy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_322">322</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Harriett S. MacMurphy</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Last Romantic Buffalo Hunt on the Plains Of Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By John Lee Webster</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Outline History of the Nebraska Society, D. A. R.</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdind"><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Charles H. Aull</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+
+<div>
+<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Laura B. Pound</span></td><td align="left"><i><a href="#front">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Oregon Trail Monument near Leroy, Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Oregon Trail Monument on the Nebraska-Wyoming State Line</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Angie F. Newman</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dedication of Monument Commemorating the Oregon Trail at Kearney, Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Andrew K. Gault</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Monument Marking the Old Trails, Fremont, Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Frances Avery Haggard</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Oregon Trail Monument near Fairbury, Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Charles B. Letton</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_168">168</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Boulder at Fort Calhoun, commemorating the council Of Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri Indians</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Oreal S. Ward</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Oregon Trail Monument on Kansas-Nebraska State Line</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_252">252</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Oregon Trail Monument near Hebron, Nebraska</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Warren Perry</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Memorial Fountain, Antelope Park, Lincoln</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_326">326</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Charles H. Aull</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Monument marking the initial point of the California Trail, Riverside Park, Omaha</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">California Trail Monument, Bemis Park, Omaha</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SOME FIRST THINGS IN THE HISTORY OF ADAMS COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By George F. Work</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Adams county is named for the first time, in an act of the
+territorial legislature approved February 16, 1867, when the
+south bank of the Platte river was made its northern boundary.
+There were no settlers here at that time although several persons
+who are mentioned later herein had established trapping camps
+within what are now its boundaries. In 1871 it was declared a
+county by executive proclamation and its present limits defined
+as, in short, consisting of government ranges, 9, 10, 11, and 12
+west of the sixth principal meridian, and townships 5, 6, 7, and
+8, north of the base line, which corresponds with the south line
+of the state.</p>
+
+<p>Mortimer N. Kress, familiarly known to the early settlers as
+"Wild Bill," Marion Jerome Fouts, also known as "California
+Joe," and James Bainter had made hunting and trapping
+camps all the way along the Little Blue river, prior to this time.
+This stream flows through the south part of the county and has
+its source just west of its western boundary in Kearney county.
+James Bainter filed on a tract just across its eastern line in
+Clay county as his homestead, and so disappears in the history
+of Adams county. Mortimer N. Kress is still living and now
+has his home in Hastings, a hale, hearty man of seventy-five years
+and respected by all. Marion J. Fouts, about seventy years of
+age, still lives on the homestead he selected in that early day and
+is a respected, prominent man in that locality.</p>
+
+<p>Gordon H. Edgerton, now a resident and prominent business
+man of Hastings, when a young man, in 1866, was engaged in
+freighting across the plains, over the Oregon trail that entered
+the county where the Little Blue crosses its eastern boundary
+and continued in a northwesterly direction, leaving its western
+line a few miles west and a little north of where Kenesaw now
+stands, and so is familiar with its early history. There has already
+been some who have questioned the authenticity of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+story of an Indian massacre having taken place where this trail
+crosses Thirty-two Mile creek, so named because it was at this
+point about thirty-two miles east of Fort Kearny. This massacre
+took place about the year 1867, and Mr. Edgerton says that it
+was universally believed at the time he was passing back and
+forth along this trail. He distinctly remembers an old threshing
+machine that stood at that place for a long time and that
+was left there by some of the members of the party that were
+killed. The writer of this sketch who came to the county in
+1874, was shown a mound at this place, near the bank of the
+creek, which he was told was the heaped up mound of the grave
+where the victims were buried, and the story was not questioned
+so far as he ever heard until recent years. Certainly those who
+lived near the locality at that early day did not question it.
+This massacre took place very near the locality where Captain
+Fremont encamped, the night of June 25, 1842, as related in
+the history of his expedition and was about five or six miles
+south and a little west of Hastings. I well remember the appearance
+of this trail. It consisted of a number of deeply cut
+wagon tracks, nearly parallel with each other, but which would
+converge to one track where the surface was difficult or where
+there was a crossing to be made over a rough place or stream.
+The constant tramping of the teams would pulverize the soil and
+the high winds would blow out the dust, or if on sloping ground,
+the water from heavy rains would wash it out until the track became
+so deep that a new one would be followed because the axles
+of the wagons would drag on the ground. It was on this trail
+a few miles west of what is now the site of Kenesaw, that a lone
+grave was discovered by the first settlers in the country, and a
+story is told of how it came to be there. About midway from
+where the trail leaves the Little Blue to the military post at
+Fort Kearny on the Platte river a man with a vision of many
+dollars to be made from the people going west to the gold-fields
+over this trail, dug a well about one hundred feet deep for the
+purpose of selling water to the travelers and freighters. Some
+time later he was killed by the Indians and the well was poisoned
+by them. A man by the name of Haile camped here a
+few days later and he and his wife used the water for cooking
+and drinking. Both were taken sick and the wife died, but he
+recovered. He took the boards of his wagon box and made her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+a coffin and buried her near the trail. Some time afterwards he
+returned and erected a headstone over her grave which was a few
+years since still standing and perhaps is to this day, the monument
+of a true man to his love for his wife and to her memory.</p>
+
+<p>The first homestead was taken in the county by Francis M.
+Luey, March 5, 1870, though there were others taken the same
+day. The facts as I get them direct from Mr. Kress are that he
+took his team and wagon, and he and three other men went to
+Beatrice, where the government land office was located, to make
+their entries. When they arrived at the office, with his characteristic
+generosity he said: "Boys, step up and take your
+choice; any of it is good enough for me." Luey was the first to
+make his entry, and he was followed by the other three. Francis
+M. Luey took the southwest quarter of section twelve; Mortimer
+N. Kress selected the northeast quarter of section thirteen;
+Marion Jerome Fouts, the southeast quarter of eleven; and the
+fourth person, John Smith, filed on the southwest quarter of
+eleven, all in township five north and range eleven west of the
+sixth principal meridian. Smith relinquished his claim later
+and never made final proof, so his name does not appear on the
+records of the county as having made this entry. The others
+settled and made improvements on their lands. Mortimer N.
+Kress built a sod house that spring, and later in the summer, a
+hewed log house, and these were the first buildings in the county.
+So Kress and Fouts, two old comrades and trappers, settled
+down together, and are still citizens of the county. Other settlers
+rapidly began to make entry in the neighborhood, and soon
+there were enough to be called together in the first religious
+service. The first sermon was preached in Mr. Kress' hewed
+log house by Rev. J. W. Warwick in the fall of 1871.</p>
+
+<p>The first marriage in the county was solemnized in 1872 between
+<a name="rod1" id="rod1"></a><ins title="Original has Rhoderic">Roderick Lomas</ins> or Loomis and "Lila" or Eliza Warwick,
+the ceremony being performed by the bride's father, Rev. J. W.
+Warwick. Prior to this, however, on October 18, 1871, Eben
+Wright and Susan Gates, a young couple who had settled in the
+county, were taken by Mr. Kress in his two-horse farm wagon
+to Grand Island, where they were married by the probate judge.</p>
+
+<p>The first deaths that occurred in the county were of two
+young men who came into the new settlement to make homes for
+themselves in 1870, selected their claims and went to work, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+a few days later were killed in their camp at night. It was
+believed that a disreputable character who came along with
+a small herd of horses committed the murder, but no one
+knew what the motive was. He was arrested and his name given
+as Jake Haynes, but as no positive proof could be obtained he
+was cleared at the preliminary examination, and left the country.
+A story became current a short time afterward that he was
+hanged in Kansas for stealing a mule.</p>
+
+<p>The first murder that occurred in the county that was proven
+was that of Henry Stutzman, who was killed by William John
+McElroy, February 8, 1879, about four miles south of Hastings.
+He was arrested a few hours afterward, and on his trial was
+convicted and sent to the penitentiary.</p>
+
+<p>The first child born in the county was born to Francis M.
+Luey and wife in the spring of 1871. These parents were the
+first married couple to settle in this county. The child lived only
+a short time and was buried near the home, there being no graveyard
+yet established. A few years ago the K. C. &amp; O. R. R. in
+grading its roadbed through that farm disturbed the grave and
+uncovered its bones.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring and summer of 1870 Mr. Kress broke about fifty
+acres of prairie on his claim and this constituted the first improvement
+of that nature in the county.</p>
+
+<p>J. R. Carter and wife settled in this neighborhood about 1870,
+and the two young men, mentioned above as having been murdered,
+stopped at their house over night, their first visitors. It
+was a disputed point for a long time whether Mrs. Carter, Mrs.
+W. S. Moote, or Mrs. Francis M. Luey was the first white woman
+to settle permanently in the county; but Mr. Kress is positive
+that the last named was the first and is entitled to that distinction.
+Mrs. Moote, with her husband, came next and camped on
+their claim, then both left and made their entries of the land.
+In the meantime, before the return of the Mootes, Mr. and Mrs.
+Carter made permanent settlement on their land, so the honors
+were pretty evenly divided.</p>
+
+<p>The first white settler in the county to die a natural death and
+receive Christian burial was William H. Akers, who had taken
+a homestead in section 10-5-9. The funeral services were conducted
+by Rev. J. W. Warwick.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1871 a colony of settlers from Michigan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+settled on land on which the townsite of Juniata was afterward
+located, and October 1, 1871, the first deed that was placed on
+record in the county was executed by John and Margaret Stark
+to Col. Charles P. Morse before P. F. Barr, a notary public at
+Crete, Nebraska, and was filed for record March 9, 1872, and recorded
+on page 1, volume 1, of deed records of Adams county.
+The grantee was general superintendent of the Burlington &amp;
+Missouri River Railroad Company which was then approaching
+the eastern edge of the county, and opened its first office at
+Hastings in April, 1873, with agent Horace S. Wiggins in
+charge. Mr. Wiggins is now a well-known public accountant
+and insurance actuary residing in Lincoln. The land conveyed
+by this deed and some other tracts for which deeds were soon
+after executed was in section 12, township 7, range 11, and on
+which the town of Juniata was platted. The Stark patent was
+dated June 5, 1872, and signed by U. S. Grant as president.
+The town plat was filed for record March 9, 1872.</p>
+
+<p>The first church organized in the county was by Rev. John F.
+Clarkson, chaplain of a colony of English Congregationalists
+who settled near the present location of Hastings in 1871. He
+preached the first sermon while they were still camped in their
+covered wagons at a point near the present intersection of Second
+street and Burlington avenue, the first Sunday after their
+arrival. A short time afterward, in a sod house on the claim of
+John G. Moore, at or near the present site of the Lepin hotel,
+the church was organized with nine members uniting by letter,
+and a few Sundays later four more by confession of their faith.
+This data I have from Peter Fowlie and S. B. Binfield, two of
+the persons composing the first organization.</p>
+
+<p>The first Sunday school organized in the county was organized
+in a small residence then under construction on lot 3 in block 4
+of Moore's addition to Hastings. The frame was up, the roof
+on, siding and floor in place, but that was all. Nail kegs and
+plank formed the seats, and a store box the desk. The building
+still stands and constitutes the main part of the present residence
+of my family at 219 North Burlington avenue. It was a
+union school and was the nucleus of the present Presbyterian
+and Congregational Sunday schools. I am not able to give the
+date of its organization but it was probably in the winter of
+1872-73. I got this information from Mr. A. L. Wigton, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+was influential in bringing about the organization and was its
+first superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>The first school in the county was opened about a mile south
+of Juniata early in 1872, by Miss Emma Leonard, and that fall
+Miss Lizzie Scott was employed to teach one in Juniata. So
+rapidly did the county settle that by October 1, 1873, thirty-eight
+school districts were reported organized.</p>
+
+<p>The acting governor, W. H. James, on November 7, 1871,
+ordered the organization of the county for political and judicial
+purposes, and fixed the day of the first election to be held, on
+December 12 following. Twenty-nine votes were cast and the
+following persons were elected as county officers:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+Clerk, Russell D. Babcock.<br />
+Treasurer, John S. Chandler.<br />
+Sheriff, Isaac W. Stark.<br />
+Probate Judge, Titus Babcock.<br />
+Surveyor, George Henderson.<br />
+Superintendent of Schools, Adna H. Bowen.<br />
+Coroner, Isaiah Sluyter.<br />
+Assessor, William M. Camp.<br />
+County Commissioners: Samuel L. Brass, Edwin M. Allen, and<br />
+Wellington W. Selleck.<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The first assessment of personal property produced a tax of
+$5,500, on an assessed valuation of $20,003, and the total valuation
+of personal and real property amounted to $957,183, mostly
+on railroad lands of which the Burlington road was found to
+own 105,423 acres and the Union Pacific, 72,207. Very few of
+the settlers had at that time made final proof. This assessment
+was made in the spring of 1872.</p>
+
+<p>The first building for county uses was ordered constructed on
+January 17, 1872, and was 16x20 feet on the ground with an
+eight-foot story, shingle roof, four windows and one door,
+matched floor, and ceiled overhead with building paper. The
+county commissioners were to furnish all material except the
+door and windows and the contract for the work was let to
+Joseph Stuhl for $30.00. S. L. Brass was to superintend the
+construction, and the building was to be ready for occupancy in
+ten days.</p>
+
+<p>The salary of the county clerk was fixed by the board at $300,
+that of the probate judge at $75 for the year.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is claimed that the law making every section line a county
+road, in the state of Nebraska, originated with this board in a
+resolution passed by it, requesting their representatives in the
+senate and house of the legislature then in session to introduce
+a bill to that effect and work for its passage. Their work must
+have been effective for we find that in July following, the Burlington
+railroad company asked damages by reason of loss sustained
+through the act of the legislature taking about eight
+acres of each section of their land, for these public roads.</p>
+
+<p>The first poorhouse was built in the fall of 1872. It was
+16x24 feet, one and one-half stories high, and was constructed
+by Ira G. Dillon for $1,400, and Peter Fowlie was appointed
+poormaster at a salary of $25 per month. And on November
+1 of that year he reported six poor persons as charges on the
+county, but his administration must have been effective for on
+December 5, following, he reported none then in his charge.</p>
+
+<p>The first agricultural society was organized at Kingston and
+the first agricultural fair of which there is any record was held
+October 11 and 12, 1873. The fair grounds were on the southeast
+corner of the northwest quarter of section 32-5-9 on land
+owned by G. H. Edgerton, and quite a creditable list of premiums
+were awarded.</p>
+
+<p>The first Grand Army post was organized at Hastings under
+a charter issued May 13, 1878, and T. D. Scofield was elected
+commander.</p>
+
+<p>The first newspaper published in the county was the <i>Adams
+County Gazette</i>, issued at Juniata by R. D. and C. C. Babcock in
+January, 1872. This was soon followed by the <i>Hastings Journal</i>
+published by M. K. Lewis and A. L. Wigton. These were
+in time consolidated and in January, 1880, the first daily was
+issued by A. L. and J. W. Wigton and called the <i>Daily Gazette-Journal</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY EXPERIENCES IN ADAMS COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By General Albert V. Cole</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I was a young business man in Michigan in 1871, about which
+time many civil war veterans were moving from Michigan and
+other states to Kansas and Nebraska, where they could secure
+free homesteads. I received circulars advertising Juniata. They
+called it a village but at that time there were only four houses,
+all occupied by agents of the Burlington railroad who had been
+employed to preëmpt a section of land for the purpose of locating
+a townsite. In October, 1871, I started for Juniata, passing
+through Chicago at the time of the great fire. With a comrade
+I crossed the Missouri river at Plattsmouth on a flatboat. The
+Burlington was running mixed trains as far west as School
+Creek, now Sutton. We rode to that point, then started to walk
+to Juniata, arriving at Harvard in the evening. Harvard also
+had four houses placed for the same purpose as those in Juniata.
+Frank M. Davis, who was elected commissioner of public
+lands and buildings in 1876, lived in one house with his family;
+the other three were supposed to be occupied by bachelors.</p>
+
+<p>We arranged with Mr. Davis for a bed in an upper room of
+one of the vacant houses. We were tenderfeet from the East
+and therefore rather suspicious of the surroundings, there being
+no lock on the lower door. To avoid being surprised we piled
+everything we could find against the door. About midnight we
+were awakened by a terrible noise; our fortifications had fallen
+and we heard the tramp of feet below. Some of the preëmptors
+had been out on section 37 for wood and the lower room was
+where they kept the horse feed.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning we paid our lodging and resumed the journey
+west. Twelve miles from Harvard we found four more
+houses placed by the Burlington. The village was called Inland
+and was on the east line of Adams county but has since been
+moved east into Clay county. Just before reaching Inland we
+met a man coming from the west with a load of buffalo meat and
+at Inland we found C. S. Jaynes, one of the preëmptors, sitting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+outside his shanty cutting up some of the meat. It was twelve
+miles farther to Juniata, the railroad grade being our guide.
+The section where Hastings now stands was on the line but there
+was no town, not a tree or living thing in sight, just burnt
+prairie. I did not think when we passed over that black and
+desolate section that a city like Hastings would be builded there.
+The buffalo and the antelope had gone in search of greener pastures;
+even the wolf and the coyote were unable to live there at
+that time.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/illus_002.jpg" width="600" height="548" alt="Oregon Trail Monument
+on Nebraska-Wyoming
+State Line
+
+Erected by the Sons and
+Daughters of the American
+Revolution of Nebraska
+and Wyoming.
+Dedicated April 4, 1913.
+Cost $200" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Oregon Trail Monument
+on Nebraska-Wyoming
+State Line
+
+Erected by the Sons and
+Daughters of the American
+Revolution of Nebraska
+and Wyoming.
+Dedicated April 4, 1913.
+Cost $200</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 339px;">
+<img src="images/illus_003.jpg" width="339" height="600" alt="Monument on the Oregon
+Trail
+
+Seven miles south of Hastings.
+Erected by Niobrara Chapter,
+Daughters of the American Revolution
+at a cost of $100" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Monument on the Oregon
+Trail
+
+Seven miles south of Hastings.
+Erected by Niobrara Chapter,
+Daughters of the American Revolution
+at a cost of $100</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Six miles farther on we arrived at Juniata and the first thing
+we did was to drink from the well in the center of the section
+between the four houses. This was the only well in the district
+and that first drink of water in Adams county was indeed refreshing.
+The first man we met was Judson Buswell, a civil
+war veteran, who had a homestead a mile away and was watering
+his mule team at the well. Although forty-four years have
+passed, I shall never forget those mules; one had a crooked leg,
+but they were the best Mr. Buswell could afford. Now at the
+age of seventy-three he spends his winters in California and
+rides in his automobile, but still retains his original homestead.</p>
+
+<p>Juniata had in addition to the four houses a small frame
+building used as a hotel kept by John Jacobson. It was a frail
+structure, a story and a half, and when the Nebraska wind blew
+it would shake on its foundation. There was one room upstairs
+with a bed in each corner. During the night there came up a
+northwest wind and every bed was on the floor the next morning.
+Later another hotel was built called the Juniata House.
+Land seekers poured into Adams county after the Burlington
+was completed in July, 1872, and there was quite a strife between
+the Jacobson House and the Juniata House. Finally a
+runner for the latter hotel advertised it as the only hotel in
+town with a cook stove.</p>
+
+<p>Adams county was organized December 12, 1871. Twenty-nine
+voters took part in the first election and Juniata was made
+the county-seat.</p>
+
+<p>We started out the next morning after our arrival to find a
+quarter section of land. About a mile north we came to the
+dugout of Mr. Chandler. He lived in the back end of his house
+and kept his horses in the front part. Mr. Chandler went with
+us to locate our claims. We preëmpted land on section twenty-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>eight
+north of range ten west, in what is now Highland township.
+I turned the first sod in that township and put down the
+first bored well, which was 117 feet deep and cost $82.70. Our
+first shanty was 10x12 feet in size, boarded up and down and
+papered on the inside with tar paper. Our bed was made of
+soft-pine lumber with slats but no springs. The table was a
+flat-top trunk.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1872 my wife's brother, George Crane, came
+from Michigan and took 80 acres near me. We began our
+spring work by breaking the virgin sod. We each bought a yoke
+of oxen and a Fish Brothers wagon, in Crete, eighty miles away,
+and then with garden tools and provisions in the wagon we
+started home, being four days on the way. A few miles west of
+Fairmont we met the Gaylord brothers, who had been to Grand
+Island and bought a printing press. They were going to publish
+a paper in Fairmont. They were stuck in a deep draw of
+mud, so deeply imbedded that our oxen could not pull their
+wagon out, so we hitched onto the press and pulled it out on
+dry land. It was not in very good condition when we left it but
+the boys printed a very clean paper on it for a number of years.</p>
+
+<p>In August Mrs. Cole came out and joined me. I had broken
+30 acres and planted corn, harvesting a fair crop which I fed
+to my oxen and cows. Mrs. Cole made butter, our first churn
+being a wash bowl in which she stirred the cream with a spoon,
+but the butter was sweet and we were happy, except that Mrs.
+Cole was very homesick. She was only nineteen years old and
+a thousand miles from her people, never before having been
+separated from her mother. I had never had a home, my parents
+having died when I was very small, and I had been pushed
+around from pillar to post. Now I had a home of my own and
+was delighted with the wildness of Nebraska, yet my heart went
+out to Mrs. Cole. The wind blew more fiercely than now and
+she made me promise that if our house ever blew down I would
+take her back to Michigan. That time very nearly came on
+April 13, 1873. The storm raged three days and nights and the
+snow flew so it could not be faced. I have experienced colder
+blizzards but never such a storm as this Easter one. I had
+built an addition of two rooms on my shanty and it was fortunate
+we had that much room before the storm for it was the
+means of saving the lives of four friends who were caught with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>out
+shelter. Two of them, a man and wife, were building a
+house on their claim one-half mile east, the others were a young
+couple who had been taking a ride on that beautiful Sunday
+afternoon. The storm came suddenly about four in the afternoon;
+not a breath of air was stirring and it became very dark.
+The storm burst, black dirt filled the air, and the house rocked.
+Mrs. Cole almost prayed that the house would go down so she
+could go back East. But it weathered the blast; if it had not I
+know we would all have perished. The young man's team had
+to have shelter and my board stable was only large enough for
+my oxen and cow so we took his horses to the sod house on the
+girl's claim a mile away. Rain and hail were falling but the
+snow did not come until we got home or we would not have
+found our way. There were six grown people and one child to
+camp in our house three days and only one bed. The three
+women and the child occupied the bed, the men slept on the floor
+in another room. Monday morning the snow was drifted around
+and over the house and had packed in the cellar through a hole
+where I intended to put in a window some day. To get the
+potatoes from the cellar for breakfast I had to tunnel through
+the snow from the trap door in the kitchen. It was impossible
+to get to the well so we lifted the trap door and melted fresh
+snow when water was needed.</p>
+
+<p>The shack that sheltered my live stock was 125 feet from the
+house and it took three of us to get to the shack to feed. Number
+two would keep within hearing of number one and the third
+man kept in touch with number two until he reached the stable.
+Wednesday evening we went for the horses in the sod house and
+found one dead. They had gnawed the wall of the house so that
+it afterwards fell down.</p>
+
+<p>I could tell many other incidents of a homesteader's life, of
+trials and short rations, of the grasshoppers in 1874-75-76, of
+hail storms and hot winds; yet all who remained through those
+days of hardship are driving automobiles instead of oxen and
+their land is worth, not $2.50 an acre, but $150.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FRONTIER TOWNS</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Francis M. Broome</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>With the first rush of settlers into northwest Nebraska, preceding
+the advent of railroads, numerous villages sprang up on
+the prairies like mushrooms during a night. All gave promise,
+at least on paper, of becoming great cities, and woe to the citizen
+unloyal to that sentiment or disloyal to his town. It is sufficient
+to recount experiences in but one of these villages for customs
+were similar in all of them, as evidence of the freedom common
+to early pioneer life.</p>
+
+<p>In a central portion of the plains, that gave promise of future
+settlement, a man named Buchanan came out with a wagonload
+of boards and several boxes of whiskey and tobacco and in a
+short space of time had erected a building of not very imposing
+appearance. Over the door of this building a board was nailed,
+on which was printed the word "SALOON" and, thus prepared
+for business, this man claimed the distinction of starting the
+first town in that section. His first customers were a band of
+cowboys who proceeded to drink up all of the stock and then to
+see which one could shoot the largest number of holes through
+the building. This gave the town quite a boom and new settlers
+as far away as Valentine began hearing of the new town of
+Buchanan. Soon after another venturesome settler brought in
+a general merchandise store and then the rush began, all fearing
+they might be too late to secure choice locations. The next public
+necessity was a newspaper, which soon came, and the town
+was given the name of Nonpareil. It was regularly platted into
+streets and alleys, and a town well sunk in the public square.
+Efforts to organize a civil government met with a frost, everyone
+preferring to be his own governor. A two-story hotel built
+of rough native pine boards furnished lodging and meals for
+the homeless, three saloons furnished drinks for the thirsty
+twenty-four hours in the day and seven days in the week; two
+drug stores supplied drugs in case of sickness and booze from
+necessity for payment of expenses. These with a blacksmith<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+shop and several stores constituted the town for the first year
+and by reason of continuous boosting it grew to a pretentious
+size. The second year some of the good citizens, believing it
+had advanced far enough to warrant the establishment of a
+church, sent for a Methodist minister. This good soul, believing
+his mission in life was to drive out sin from the community, set
+about to do it in the usual manner, but soon bowed to the inevitable
+and, recognizing prevailing customs, became popular in
+the town. Boys, seeing him pass the door of saloons, would
+hail him and in a good-natured manner give him the contents of
+a jackpot in a poker game until, with these contributions and
+sums given him from more religious motives, he had accumulated
+enough to build a small church.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 483px;">
+<img src="images/illus_004.jpg" width="483" height="600" alt="Mrs. Angie F. Newman
+
+Second Vice-President General from Nebraska, National Society, Daughters
+of the American Revolution. Elected 1898" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Angie F. Newman
+
+Second Vice-President General from Nebraska, National Society, Daughters
+of the American Revolution. Elected 1898</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>After the organization of the county, the place was voted the
+county-seat, and a courthouse was built. The court room when
+not in use by the court was used for various public gatherings
+and frequently for dances.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody had plenty of money and spent it with a prodigal
+hand. The "save-for-rainy-days" fellows had not yet arrived
+on the scene. They never do until after higher civilization steps
+in. Old Dan, the hotel keeper, was considered one of the best
+wealth distributors in the village. His wife, a little woman of
+wonderful energy, would do all the work in a most cheerful
+manner while Dan kept office, collected the money and distributed
+it to the pleasure of the boys and profit to the saloons, and
+both husband and wife were happy in knowing that they were
+among the most popular people of the village. It did no harm
+and afforded the little lady great satisfaction to tell about her
+noble French ancestry for it raised the family to a much higher
+dignity than that of the surrounding plebeian stock of English,
+Irish, and Dutch, and nobody cared so long as everything was
+cheerful around the place. Cheerfulness is a great asset in any
+line of business. The lawyer of the village, being a man of
+great expectations, attempted to lend dignity to the profession,
+until, finding that board bills are not paid by dignity and becoming
+disgusted with the lack of appreciation of legal talent,
+he proceeded to beat the poker games for an amount sufficient
+to enable him to leave for some place where legal talent was
+more highly appreciated.</p>
+
+<p>These good old days might have continued had the railroads<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+kept out, but railroads follow settlement just as naturally as
+day follows night. They built into the country and with them
+came a different order of civilization.</p>
+
+<p>Many experiences of a similar character might be told concerning
+other towns in this section, namely, Gordon, where old
+Hank Ditto, who ran the roadhouse, never turned down a needy
+person for meals and lodging, but compelled the ones with money
+to pay for them. Then there was Rushville, the supply station
+for vast stores of goods for the Indian agency and reservation
+near by; Hay Springs, the terminal point for settlers coming
+into the then unsettled south country. Chadron was a town of
+unsurpassed natural beauty in the Pine Ridge country, where
+Billy Carter, the Dick Turpin of western romance, held forth
+in all his glory and at whose shrine the sporting fraternity performed
+daily ablutions in the bountiful supply of booze water.
+Crawford was the nesting place for all crooks that were ever
+attracted to a country by an army post.</p>
+
+<p>These affairs incident to the pioneer life of northwestern
+Nebraska are now but reminiscences, supplanted by a civilization
+inspired by all of the modern and higher ideals of life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>HISTORICAL SKETCH OF BOX BUTTE COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Ira E. Tash</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Box Butte county, Nebraska, owes its existence to the discovery
+of gold in the Black Hills in 1876. When this important
+event occurred, the nearest railroad point to the discovery in
+Deadwood Gulch was Sidney, Nebraska, 275 miles to the south.
+To this place the gold seekers rushed from every point of the
+compass. Parties were organized to make the overland trip to
+the new <a name="dorado" id="dorado"></a><ins title="Original has Eldorado">El Dorado</ins> with ox teams, mule teams, and by every
+primitive mode of conveyance. Freighters from Colorado and
+the great Southwest, whose occupation was threatened by the
+rapid building of railroads, miners from all the Rocky Mountain
+regions of the West, and thousands of tenderfeet from the East,
+all flocked to Sidney as the initial starting point. To this heterogeneous
+mass was added the gambler, the bandit, the road agent,
+the dive keeper, and other undesirable citizens. This flood of
+humanity made the "Old Sidney Trail" to the Black Hills.
+Then followed the stage coach, Wells-Fargo express, and later
+the United States mail. The big freighting outfits conveyed
+mining machinery, provisions, and other commodities, among
+which were barrels and barrels of poor whiskey, to the toiling
+miners in the Hills. Indians infested the trail, murdered the
+freighters and miners, and ran off their stock, while road agents
+robbed stages and looted the express company's strong boxes.
+Bandits murdered returning miners and robbed them of their
+nuggets and gold dust. There was no semblance of law and
+order. When things got too rank, a few of the worst offenders
+were lynched, and the great, seething, hurrying mass of humanity
+pressed on urged by its lust for gold.</p>
+
+<p>This noted trail traversed what is now Box Butte county from
+north to south, and there were three important stopping places
+within the boundaries of the county. These were the Hart
+ranch at the crossing of Snake creek, Mayfield's, and later the
+Hughes ranch at the crossing of the Niobrara, and Halfway
+Hollow, on the high tableland between. The deep ruts worn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+by the heavily loaded wagons and other traffic passing over the
+route are still plainly visible, after the lapse of forty years.
+This trail was used for a period of about nine years, or until
+the Northwestern railroad was extended to Deadwood, when it
+gave way to modern civilization.</p>
+
+<p>Traveling over this trail were men of affairs, alert men who
+had noted the rich grasses and wide ranges that bordered the
+route, and marked it down as the cattle raiser's and ranchman's
+future paradise. Then came the great range herds of the Ogallalla
+Cattle Company, Swan Brothers, Bosler Brothers, the Bay
+State and other large cow outfits, followed by the hard-riding
+cowboy and the chuck wagon. These gave names to prominent
+landmarks. A unique elevation in the eastern part of the
+county they named Box Butte. Butte means hill or elevation
+less than a mountain, Box because it was roughly square or box-shaped.
+Hence the surrounding plains were designated in cowman's
+parlance "the Box Butte country," and as such it was
+known far and wide.</p>
+
+<p>Later, in 1886 and 1887, a swarm of homeseekers swept in
+from the East, took up the land, and began to build houses of
+sod and to break up the virgin soil. The cowman saw that he
+was doomed, and so rounded up his herds of longhorns and
+drove on westward into Wyoming and Montana. These new
+settlers soon realized that they needed a unit of government to
+meet the requirements of a more refined civilization. They were
+drawn together by a common need, and rode over dim trails
+circulating petitions calling for an organic convention. They
+met and provided for the formation of a new county, to be
+known as "Box Butte" county.</p>
+
+<p>This name was officially adopted, and is directly traceable to
+the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. The lure of gold led
+the hardy miner and adventurer across its fertile plains, opened
+the way for the cattleman who named the landmark from which
+the county takes its name, and the sturdy settler who followed
+in his wake adopted the name and wrote it in the archives of
+the state and nation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/illus_005.jpg" width="600" height="369" alt="Unveiling of Monument at Kearney, Nebraska, in commemoration of the Oregon Trail
+
+Left to right: Mrs. Ashton C. Shallenberger, Governor Shallenberger, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, State Regent Nebraska
+Society, Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Andrew K. Gault, Vice-President General, National
+Society, Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Charles O. Norton, Regent Ft. Kearney Chapter, Daughters
+of the American Revolution; John W. Patterson, Mayor of Kearney; John Lee Webster, President Nebraska
+State Historical Society; Rev. R. P. Hammons, E. B. Finch, assisting with the flag rope" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Unveiling of Monument at Kearney, Nebraska, in commemoration of the Oregon Trail
+
+Left to right: Mrs. Ashton C. Shallenberger, Governor Shallenberger, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, State Regent Nebraska
+Society, Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Andrew K. Gault, Vice-President General, National
+Society, Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Charles O. Norton, Regent Ft. Kearney Chapter, Daughters
+of the American Revolution; John W. Patterson, Mayor of Kearney; John Lee Webster, President Nebraska
+State Historical Society; Rev. R. P. Hammons, E. B. Finch, assisting with the flag rope</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A BROKEN AXLE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Samuel C. Bassett</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1860, Edward Oliver, Sr., his wife and seven children,
+converts to the Mormon faith, left their home in England for
+Salt Lake City, Utah. At Florence, Nebraska, on the Missouri
+river a few miles above the city of Omaha, they purchased a
+traveling outfit for emigrants, which consisted of two yoke of
+oxen, a prairie-schooner wagon, and two cows; and with numerous
+other families having the same destination took the overland
+Mormon trail up the valley of the Platte on the north side
+of the river.</p>
+
+<p>When near a point known as Wood River Centre, 175 miles
+west of the Missouri river, the front axle of their wagon gave
+way, compelling a halt for repairs, their immediate companions
+in the emigrant train continuing the journey, for nothing avoidable,
+not even the burial of a member of the train, was allowed
+to interfere with the prescribed schedule of travel. The Oliver
+family camped beside the trail and the broken wagon was taken
+to the ranch of Joseph E. Johnson, who combined in his person
+and business that of postmaster, merchant, blacksmith, wagon-maker,
+editor, and publisher of a newspaper (<i>The Huntsman's
+Echo</i>). Johnson was a Mormon with two wives, a man passionately
+fond of flowers which he cultivated to a considerable
+extent in a fenced enclosure. While buffalo broke down his
+fence and destroyed his garden and flowers, he could not bring
+himself to kill them. He was a philosopher and, it must be
+conceded, a most useful person at a point so far distant from
+other sources of supplies.</p>
+
+<p>The wagon shop of Mr. Johnson contained no seasoned wood
+suitable for an axle and so from the trees along Wood river
+was cut an ash from which was hewn and fitted an axle to the
+wagon and the family again took the trail, but ere ten miles had
+been traveled the green axle began to bend under the load, the
+wheels ceased to track, and the party could not proceed. In the
+family council which succeeded the father urged that they try<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+to arrange with other emigrants to carry their movables (double
+teams) and thus continue their journey.</p>
+
+<p>The mother suggested that they return to the vicinity of Wood
+River Centre and arrange to spend the winter. To the suggestion
+of the mother all the children added their entreaties. The
+mother urged that it was a beautiful country, with an abundance
+of wood and water, grass for pasture, and hay in plenty could
+be made for their cattle, and she was sure crops could be raised.
+The wishes of the mother prevailed, the family returned to a
+point about a mile west of Wood River Centre, and on the banks
+of the river constructed a log hut with a sod roof in which they
+spent the winter. When springtime came, the father, zealous in
+the Mormon faith, urged that they continue their journey; to
+this neither the mother nor any of the children could be induced
+to consent and in the end the father journeyed to Utah, where
+he made his home and married a younger woman who had accompanied
+the family from England, which doubtless was the
+determining factor in the mother refusing to go.</p>
+
+<p>The mother, Sarah Oliver, proved to be a woman of force and
+character. With her children she engaged in the raising of corn
+and vegetables, the surplus being sold to emigrants passing over
+the trail and at Fort Kearny, some twenty miles distant.</p>
+
+<p>In those days there were many without means who traveled
+the trail and Sarah Oliver never turned a hungry emigrant
+from her door, and often divided with such the scanty store
+needed for her own family. When rumors came of Indians on
+the warpath the children took turns on the housetop as lookout
+for the dread savages. In 1863 two settlers were killed by Indians
+a few miles east of her home. In the year 1864 occurred
+the memorable raid of the Cheyenne Indians in which horrible
+atrocities were committed and scores of settlers were massacred
+by these Indians only a few miles to the south. In 1865 William
+Storer, a near neighbor, was killed by the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah Oliver had no framed diploma from a medical college
+which would entitle her to the prefix "Dr." to her name, possibly
+she was not entitled to be called a trained nurse, but she is
+entitled to be long remembered as one who ministered to the
+sick, to early travelers hungry and footsore along the trail, and
+to many families whose habitations were miles distant.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah Oliver and her family endured all the toil and priva<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>tion
+common to early settlers, without means, in a new country,
+far removed from access to what are deemed the barest necessities
+of life in more settled communities.</p>
+
+<p>She endured all the terrors incident to settlement in a sparsely
+settled locality, in which year after year Indian atrocities were
+committed and in which the coming of such savages was hourly
+expected and dreaded. She saw the building and completion of
+the Union Pacific railroad near her home in 1866; she saw Nebraska
+become a state in the year 1867. In 1870 when Buffalo
+county was organized her youngest son, John, was appointed
+sheriff, and was elected to that office at the first election thereafter.
+Her eldest son, James, was the first assessor in the
+county, and her son Edward was a member of the first board
+of county commissioners and later was elected and served with
+credit and fidelity as county treasurer.</p>
+
+<p>When, in the year 1871, Sarah Oliver died, her son Robert
+inherited the claim whereon she first made a home for her family
+and which, in this year, 1915, is one of the most beautiful,
+fertile farm homes in the county and state.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="padtop"><p>
+<span class="tdind">A DREAM-LAND COMPLETE</span><br />
+<br />
+Dreaming, I pictured a wonderful valley,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A home-making valley few known could compare;</span><br />
+When lo! from the bluffs to the north of Wood river<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I saw my dream-picture&mdash;my valley lies there.</span><br />
+<br />
+Miles long, east and west, stretch this wonderful valley:<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Broad fields of alfalfa, of corn, and of wheat;</span><br />
+'Mid orchards and groves the homes of its people;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The vale of Wood river, a dream-land complete.</span><br />
+<br />
+Nebraska, our mother, we love and adore thee;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Within thy fair borders our lot has been cast.</span><br />
+When done with life's labors and trials and pleasures,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Contented we'll rest in thy bosom at last.</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A PIONEER NEBRASKA TEACHER</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Isabel Roscoe</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1865, B. S. Roscoe, twenty-two years of age, returned to
+his home in Huron county, Ohio, after two years' service in the
+civil war. He assisted his father on the farm until 1867, when
+he was visited by F. B. Barber, an army comrade, a homesteader
+in northwestern Nebraska. His accounts of the new country
+were so attractive that Mr. Roscoe, who had long desired a farm
+of his own, decided to go west.</p>
+
+<p>He started in March, 1867, was delayed in Chicago by a snow
+blockade, but arrived in Omaha in due time. On March 24,
+1867, Mr. Roscoe went to Decatur via the stage route, stopping
+for dinner at the Lippincott home, called the half-way house between
+Omaha and Decatur. He was advised to remain in Decatur
+for a day or two for the return of B. W. Everett from
+Maple Creek, Iowa, but being told that Logan creek, where he
+wished to settle, was only sixteen miles distant, he hired a horse
+and started alone. The snow was deep with a crust on top but
+not hard enough to bear the horse and rider. After going two
+miles through the deep snow he returned to Decatur. On March
+26 he started with Mr. Everett, who had a load of oats and two
+dressed hogs on his sled, also two cows to drive. They took
+turns riding and driving the cows. The trail was hard to follow
+and when they reached the divide between Bell creek and
+the Blackbird, the wind was high and snow falling. They missed
+the road and the situation was serious. There was no house,
+tree, or landmark nearer than Josiah Everett's, who lived near
+the present site of Lyons, and was the only settler north of what
+is now Oakland, where John Oak resided. They abandoned the
+sled and each rode a horse, Mr. Everett trying to lead the way,
+but the horse kept turning around, so at last he let the animal
+have its way and they soon arrived at Josiah Everett's homestead
+shanty, the cows following.</p>
+
+<p>The next day Mr. Roscoe located his homestead on the bank
+of Logan creek. A couple of trappers had a dugout near by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+which they had made by digging a hole ten feet square in the
+side of the creek bank and covering the opening with brush and
+grass. Their names were Asa Merritt and George Kirk.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Roscoe then returned to Decatur and walked from there
+to Omaha, where he filed on his claim April 1, 1867. The ice
+on the Missouri river was breaking though drays and busses
+were still crossing. Mr. Roscoe walked across the river to
+Council Bluffs and then proceeded by train to Bartlett, Iowa,
+intending to spend the summer near Brownville, Nebraska. In
+August he returned to his homestead and erected a claim shanty.
+The following winter was spent working in the woods at Tietown.
+In the winter of 1869 fifty dollars was appropriated for
+school purposes in Everett precinct and Mr. Roscoe taught
+school for two months in his shanty and boarded around among
+the patrons.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EXPERIENCES OF A PIONEER WOMAN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Elise G. Everett</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>On December 31, 1866, in a bleak wind I crossed the Missouri
+river on the ice, carrying a nine months' old baby, now Mrs.
+Jas. Stiles, and my four and a half year old boy trudging along.
+My husband's brother, Josiah Everett, carried three-year-old
+Eleanor in one arm and drove the team and my husband was a
+little in advance with his team and wagon containing all our
+possessions. We drove to the town of Decatur, that place of
+many hopes and ambitions as yet unfulfilled. We were entertained
+by the Herrick family, who said we would probably remain
+on Logan creek, our proposed home site, because we would
+be too poor to move away.</p>
+
+<p>On January 7, 1867, in threatening weather, we started on the
+last stage of our journey in quest of a home. Nestled deep in
+the prairie hay and covered with blankets, the babies and I did
+not suffer. The desolate, wind-swept prairie looked uninviting
+but when we came to the Logan Valley, it was beautiful even in
+that weather. The trees along the winding stream, the grove,
+now known as Fritt's grove, gave a home-like look and I decided
+I could be content in that valley.</p>
+
+<p>We lived with our brother until material for our shack could
+be brought from Decatur or Onawa, Iowa. Five grown people
+and seven children, ranging in ages from ten years down, lived
+in that small shack for three months. That our friendship was
+unimpaired is a lasting monument to our tact, politeness, and
+good nature.</p>
+
+<p>The New Year snow was the forerunner of heavier ones, until
+the twenty-mile trip to Decatur took a whole day, but finally
+materials for the shack were on hand. The last trip extended
+to Onawa and a sled of provisions and two patient cows were
+brought over. In Decatur, B. S. Roscoe was waiting an opportunity
+to get to the Logan and was invited to "jump on." It
+was late, the load was heavy, and somewhere near Blackbird
+creek the team stuck in the drifts. The cows were given their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+liberty, the horses unhooked, and with some difficulty the half
+frozen men managed to mount and the horses did the rest&mdash;the
+cows keeping close to their heels; and so they arrived late in the
+night. Coffee and a hot supper warmed the men sufficiently to
+catch a few winks of sleep&mdash;on bedding on the floor. A breakfast
+before light and they were off to rescue the load. The two
+frozen and dressed porkers had not yet attracted the wolves, and
+next day they crossed the Logan to the new house.</p>
+
+<p>A few days more and the snowdrifts were a mighty river.
+B. W. was a sort of Crusoe, but as everything but the horses
+and cows&mdash;and the trifling additional human stock&mdash;was
+strewn around him, he suffered nothing but anxiety. Josiah
+drove to Decatur, procured a boat, and with the aid of two or
+three trappers who chanced to be here, we were all rowed over
+the mile-wide sea, and were at home!</p>
+
+<p>Slowly the water subsided, and Nebraska had emerged from
+her territorial obscurity (March 1, 1867) before it was possible
+for teams to cross the bottom lands of the Logan.</p>
+
+<p>One Sunday morning I caught sight of two moving figures
+emerging from the grove. The dread of Indian callers was ever
+with me, but as they came nearer my spirits mounted to the
+clouds&mdash;for I recognized my sister, Mrs. Andrew Everett, as
+the rider, and her son Frank leading the pony. Their claim
+had been located in March, but owing to the frequent and heavy
+rains we were not looking for them so soon. The evening before
+we had made out several covered wagons coming over the hills
+from Decatur, but we were not aware that they had already arrived
+at Josiah's. The wagons we had seen were those of E. R.
+Libby, Chas. Morton, Southwell, and Clements.</p>
+
+<p>A boat had brought my sister and her son across the Logan&mdash;a
+pony being allowed to swim the stream but the teams were
+obliged to go eight miles south to Oakland, where John Oak and
+two or three others had already settled, and who had thrown
+a rough bridge across.</p>
+
+<p>Before fall the Andrew Everett house (no shack) was habitable&mdash;also
+a number of other families had moved in on both
+sides of the Logan, and it began to be a real neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>One late afternoon I started out to make preparations for
+the night, as Mr. Everett was absent for a few days. As I
+opened the door two Indians stood on the step, one an elderly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+man, the other a much-bedecked young buck. I admitted them;
+the elder seated himself and spoke a few friendly words, but the
+smart young man began immediately to inspect the few furnishings
+of the room. Though quaking inwardly, I said nothing
+till he spied a revolver hanging in its leather case upon the wall
+and was reaching for it. I got there first, and taking it from
+the case I held it in my hands. At once his manner changed.
+He protested that he was a <i>good</i> Indian, and only wanted to <i>see</i>
+the gun, while the other immediately rose from his chair. In a
+voice I never would have recognized as my own, I informed him
+that it was time for him to <i>go</i>. The elder man at last escorted
+him outside with me as rear guard. Fancy my feelings when
+right at the door were ten or more husky fellows, who seemed
+to propose entering, but by this time the desperate courage of
+the arrant coward took possession of me, and I barred the way.
+It was plain that the gun in my hand was a surprise, and the
+earnest entreaties of my five-year-old boy "not to shoot them"
+may also have given them pause. They said they were cold and
+hungry; I assured them that I had neither room nor food for
+them&mdash;little enough for my own babies. At last they all went
+on to the house of our brother, Andrew Everett. I knew that
+they were foraging for a large party which was encamped in the
+grove. Soon they came back laden with supplies which they
+had obtained, and now they insisted on coming in to <i>cook them</i>,
+and the smell of spirits was so unmistakable that I could readily
+see that Andrew had judged it best to get rid of them as soon
+as possible, thinking that they would be back in camp by dark,
+and the whiskey, which they had obtained between here and
+Fremont, would have evaporated. But it only made them more
+insistent in their demands and some were looking quite sullen.
+At last a young fellow, <i>not</i> an Indian&mdash;for he had long dark
+curls reaching to his shoulders&mdash;with a strategic smile asked in
+good English for a "drink of water." Instead of leaving the
+door, as he evidently calculated, I called to my little boy to bring
+it. A giggle ran through the crowd at the expense of the strategist
+but it was plain they were growing ugly. Now the older
+Indian took the opportunity to make them an earnest talk, and
+though it was against their wishes, he at last started them toward
+the grove. After a while Frank Everett, my nephew, who
+had come down to bolster up my courage, and the children went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+to bed and to sleep, but no sleep for me; as the gray dawn was
+showing in the east, a terrific pounding upon the door turned
+my blood to ice. Again and again it came, and at last I tiptoed
+to the door and stooped to look through the crack. A pair of
+very slim ankles was all that was visible and as I rose to my
+feet, the very sweetest music I had ever heard saluted me, the
+neigh of my pet colt Bonnie, who had failed to receive her accustomed
+drink of milk the previous evening and took this manner
+of reminding me.</p>
+
+<p>This was the only time we were ever menaced with actual
+danger, and many laughable false alarms at last cured me of my
+fears of a people among whom I now have valued friends.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>RECOLLECTIONS OF WEEPING WATER, NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By I. N. Hunter</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Hunter were pioneer settlers of Nebraska
+and Weeping Water, coming from Illinois by team. Their first
+settlement in the state was near West Point in Cuming county
+where father staked out a claim in 1857. Things went well aside
+from the usual hardships of pioneer life, such as being out of
+flour and having to pound corn in an iron kettle with an iron
+wedge to obtain corn meal for bread. When the bottom of the
+kettle gave way as a result of the many thumpings of the wedge,
+a new plan was devised&mdash;that of chopping a hole in a log and
+making a crude wooden kettle which better stood the blows of the
+wedge. This method of grinding corn was used until a trip
+could be made with an ox team, to the nearest mill, forty miles
+distant; a long and tedious trip always but much more so in this
+particular instance because of the high water in the streams
+which were not bridged in those days. These were small hardships
+compared to what took place when the home was robbed
+by Indians. These treacherous savages stripped the premises
+of all the live stock, household and personal effects. Cattle and
+chickens were killed and eaten and what could not be disposed
+of in this way were wantonly destroyed and driven off. Clothing
+and household goods were destroyed so that little was saved
+except the clothing the members of the family had on. From
+the two feather beds that were ripped open, mother succeeded
+in gathering up enough feathers to make two pillows and these
+I now have in my home. They are more than a half century
+old. A friendly Indian had come in advance of the hostile band
+and warned the little settlement of the approach of the Indians
+with paint on their faces. His signs telling them to flee were
+speedily obeyed and in all probability this was all that saved
+many lives, as the six or seven families had to keep together and
+travel all night to keep out of the reach of the Indians until the
+people at Omaha could be notified and soldiers sent to the scene.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+On the arrival of the soldiers the Indians immediately hoisted
+a white flag and insisted that they were "good Indians."</p>
+
+<p>As no one had been killed by the Indians, it was the desire of
+the soldiers to merely make the Indians return the stolen property
+and stock, but as much property was destroyed, the settlers
+received very little. A number of the Indians were arrested
+and tried for robbing the postoffice which was at our home. My
+parents were the principal witnesses and after the Indians were
+acquitted, it was feared they might take revenge, so they were
+advised to leave the country.</p>
+
+<p>With an ox team and a few ragged articles of clothing they
+started east. When he reached Rock Bluffs, one of the early
+river towns of Cass county, father succeeded in obtaining work.
+His wages were seventy-five cents a day with the privilege of
+living in a small log cabin. There was practically no furniture
+for the cabin, corn husks and the few quilts that had been given
+them were placed on the floor in the corner to serve as a place
+to sleep. Father worked until after Christmas time without
+having a coat. At about this time, he was told to take his team
+and make a trip into Iowa. Just as he was about to start, his
+employer said to him: "Hunter, where's your coat?" The
+reply was, "I haven't any." "Well, that won't do; you can't
+make that trip without a coat; come with me to the store."
+Father came out of the store with a new under coat and overcoat,
+the first coat of any kind he had had since his home was
+invaded by the red men.</p>
+
+<p>An explanation of the purpose of the trip into Iowa will be
+of interest. The man father worked for was a flour and meat
+freighter with a route to Denver, Colorado. In the winter he
+would go over into Iowa, buy hogs and drive them across the
+river on the ice, to Rock Bluffs, where they were slaughtered and
+salted down in large freight wagons. In the spring, from eight
+to ten yoke of oxen would be hitched to the wagon, and the meat,
+and often times an accompanying cargo of flour, would be started
+across the plains to attractive markets in Denver.</p>
+
+<p>Father made a number of these trips to Denver as ox driver.</p>
+
+<p>The writer was born at Rock Bluffs in 1860. We moved to
+Weeping Water in 1862 when four or five dwellings and the little
+old mill that stood near the falls, comprised what is now our
+beautiful little city of over 1,000 population.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>During the early sixties, many bands of Indians numbering
+from forty to seventy-five, visited Weeping Water. It was on
+one of their visits that the writer made the best record he has
+ever made, as a foot racer. The seven or eight year old boy of
+today would not think of running from an Indian, but half a
+century ago it was different. It was no fun in those days to
+be out hunting cattle and run onto a band of Indians all sitting
+around in a circle. In the morning the cattle were turned out
+to roam about at will except when they attempted to molest a
+field, and at night they were brought home if they could be
+found. If not the search was continued the next day. Some one
+was out hunting cattle all the time it seemed. With such a
+system of letting cattle run at large, it was really the fields that
+were herded and not the cattle. Several times a day some member
+of the family would go out around the fields to see if any
+cattle were molesting them. One of our neighbors owned two
+Shepherd dogs which would stay with the cattle all day, and
+take them home at night. It was very interesting to watch the
+dogs drive the cattle. One would go ahead to keep the cattle
+from turning into a field where there might be an opening in
+the rail fence, while the other would bring up the rear. They
+worked like two men would. But the family that had trained
+dogs of this kind was the exception; in most cases it was the
+boys that had to do the herding. It was on such a mission one
+day that the writer watched from under cover of some bushes,
+the passing of about seventy-five Indians all on horseback and
+traveling single file. They were strung out a distance of almost
+a mile. Of course they were supposed to be friendly, but there
+were so many things that pointed to their tendency to be otherwise
+at times, that we were not at all anxious to meet an Indian
+no matter how many times he would repeat the characteristic
+phrase, "Me good Injun." We were really afraid of them and
+moreover the story was fresh in our minds of the murder of the
+Hungate family in Colorado, Mrs. Hungate's parents being residents
+of our vicinity at that time. Her sister, Mrs. P. S. Barnes,
+now resides in Weeping Water.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it will be seen that many Indian experiences and incidents
+have been woven into the early history of Weeping Water.
+In conclusion to this article it might be fitting to give the Indian
+legend which explains how the town received its name of Weep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>ing
+Water. The poem was written by my son, Rev. A. V. Hunter,
+of Boston, and is founded on the most popular of the Indian
+legends that have been handed down.</p>
+
+<blockquote class="padtop"><p>
+THE LEGEND OF WEEPING WATER<br />
+<br />
+Long before the white man wandered<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To these rich Nebraska lands,</span><br />
+Indians in their paint and feathers<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Roamed in savage warlike bands.</span><br />
+<br />
+They, the red men, feared no hardships;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Battles were their chief delights;</span><br />
+Victory was their great ambition<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In their awful bloody fights.</span><br />
+<br />
+Then one day the war cry sounded<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Over valley, hill and plain.</span><br />
+From the North came dusky warriors,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From that vast unknown domain.</span><br />
+<br />
+When the news had reached the valley<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That the foe was near at hand,</span><br />
+Every brave was stirred to action<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To defend his home, his land.</span><br />
+<br />
+To the hills they quickly hastened<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There to wait the coming foe.</span><br />
+Each one ready for the conflict<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Each with arrow in his bow.</span><br />
+<br />
+Awful was the scene that followed,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yells and warwhoops echoed shrill.</span><br />
+But at last as night descended<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Death had conquered; all was still.</span><br />
+<br />
+Then the women in the wigwams<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hearing rumors of the fight,</span><br />
+Bearing flaming, flickering torches<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Soon were wandering in the night.</span><br />
+<br />
+There they found the loved ones lying<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Calm in everlasting sleep.</span><br />
+Little wonder that the women,<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Brokenhearted, all should weep.</span><br />
+<br />
+Hours and hours they kept on weeping,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Til their tears began to flow</span><br />
+In many trickling streamlets<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To the valley down below.</span><br />
+<br />
+These together joined their forces<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To produce a larger stream</span><br />
+Which has ever since been flowing<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">As you see it in this scene.</span><br />
+<br />
+Indians christened it Nehawka<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Crying Water means the same.</span><br />
+In this way the legend tells us<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Weeping Water got its name.</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>INCIDENTS AT PLATTSMOUTH</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Ella Pollock Minor</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Vallery were living in Glenwood, Iowa,
+in 1855, when they decided to purchase a store from some Indians
+in Plattsmouth. Mr. Vallery went over to transact the business,
+and Mrs. Vallery was to follow in a few days. Upon her arrival
+in Bethlehem, where she was to take the ferry, she learned
+that the crossing was unsafe on account of ice floating in the
+river. There were two young men there, who were very anxious
+to get across and decided to risk the trip. They took a letter
+to her husband telling of the trouble. The next day, accompanied
+by these two young men, Mr. Vallery came over after
+her in a rowboat, by taking a course farther north. The boat
+was well loaded when they started on the return trip. Some of
+the men had long poles, and by constantly pushing at the ice
+they kept the boat from being crushed or overturned.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Vallery's oldest daughter was the third white child born
+in the vicinity of Plattsmouth. And this incident happened
+soon after her arrival in 1855. Mrs. Vallery had the baby in a
+cradle and was preparing dinner when she heard a knock at the
+door. Before she could reach it, an Indian had stepped in, and
+seeing some meat on the table asked for it. She nodded for him
+to take it, but he seemed to have misunderstood, and then asked
+for a drink of water. While Mrs. Vallery was getting the
+drink, he reached for the baby, but she was too quick for him
+and succeeded in reaching the baby first. He then departed
+without further trouble.</p>
+
+<p>At one time the Vallerys had a sick cow, and every evening
+several Indians would come to find out how she was. She seemed
+to get no better and still they watched that cow. In the course
+of a week she died, evidently during the night, because the next
+morning the first thing they heard was the Indians skinning the
+cow, out by the shed, and planning a "big feed" for that night
+down by the river.</p>
+
+<p>The late Mrs. Thomas Pollock used to tell us how the Indians<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+came begging for things. Winnebago John, who came each
+year, couldn't be satisfied very easily, so my grandmother found
+an army coat of her brother's for him. He was perfectly delighted
+and disappeared with it behind the wood pile, where
+he remained for some time. The family wondered what he was
+doing, so after he had slipped away, they went out and hunted
+around for traces of what had kept him. They soon found the
+clue; he had stuffed the coat in under the wood, and when they
+pulled it out, they found it was minus all the brass buttons.</p>
+
+<p>Another time one of Mrs. Pollock's children, the late Mrs.
+Lillian Parmele, decided to play Indian and frighten her two
+brothers, who were going up on the hill to do some gardening.
+She wrapped up in cloaks, blankets and everything she could
+find to make herself look big and fierce, then went up and hid in
+the hazel brush, where she knew they would have to pass. Pretty
+soon she peeked out and there was a band of Indians coming.
+Terrified, she ran down toward her home, dropping pieces of
+clothing and blankets as she went. The Indians seeing them,
+ran after her, each one anxious to pick up what she was dropping.
+The child thinking it was she they were after, let all her
+belongings go, so she could run the better and escape them.
+After that escapade quite a number of things were missing about
+the house, some of them being seen later at an Indian camp
+near by.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FIRST THINGS IN CLAY COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Charles M. Brown</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The first settler of Clay county, Nebraska, was John B. Weston,
+who located on the Little Blue, built a log hut in 1857 and
+called the place Pawnee Ranch. It became a favorite stopping
+place of St. Joe and Denver mail carriers.</p>
+
+<p>The first settler of Sutton was Luther French who came in
+March, 1870, and homesteaded eighty acres. Mr. French surveyed
+and laid out the original townsite which was named after
+Sutton, Massachusetts. His dugout and log house was built on
+the east bank of School creek, east of the park, and just south
+of the Kansas City and Omaha railroad bridge. Traces of the
+excavation are still visible. The house was lined with brick and
+had a tunnel outlet near the creek bottom for use in case of an
+Indian attack. Among his early callers were Miss Nellie Henderson
+and Capt. Charles White who rode in from the West
+Blue in pursuit of an antelope, which they captured.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wils Cumming was the first white woman in Sutton.
+She resided in the house now known as the Mrs. May Evans
+(deceased) place. Part of this residence is the original Cumming
+home.</p>
+
+<p>At this time the population of Sutton consisted of thirty-four
+men and one woman. In the spring of 1871, F. M. Brown, who
+was born in Illinois in 1840, came to Nebraska and settled on a
+homestead in Clay county, four miles north of the present site
+of Sutton. At that time Clay county was unorganized territory,
+and the B. &amp; M. railroad was being extended from Lincoln
+west.</p>
+
+<p>September 11, 1871, Governor James issued a proclamation
+for the election of officers and the organization of Clay county
+fixing the date, October 14, 1871. The election was held at the
+home of Alexander Campbell, two miles east of Harvard, and
+fifty-four votes were cast. Sutton was chosen as the county-seat.
+F. M. Brown was elected county clerk; A. K. Marsh, P.O. Norman,
+and A. A. Corey were elected county commissioners. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+it came to organizing and qualifying the officers, only one freeholder
+could be found capable of signing official bonds and as
+the law required two sureties, R. G. Brown bought a lot of
+Luther French and was able to sign with Luther French as
+surety on all official bonds. As the county had no money and
+no assessments had been made all county business was done on
+credit. There was no courthouse and county business was conducted
+in the office of R. G. Brown, until February, 1873, when
+a frame building to be used as a courthouse was completed at a
+cost of $1,865. This was the first plastered building in the
+county and was built by F. M. Brown.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1873, a petition for an election to relocate the county
+seat was filed, but the motion of Commissioner A. K. Marsh that
+the petition be "tabled, rejected and stricken from the files"
+ended the discussion temporarily. In 1879 the county-seat was
+removed to Clay Center. Several buildings were erected during
+the fall of 1873 and Sutton became the center of trade in the
+territory between the Little Blue and the Platte rivers.</p>
+
+<p>Melvin Brothers opened the first store in 1873 south of the
+railroad tracks, now South Sanders avenue. At that time it
+was called "Scrabble Hill."</p>
+
+<p>In 1874 the town was incorporated and a village government
+organized, with F. M. Brown as mayor.</p>
+
+<p>Luther French was the first postmaster.</p>
+
+<p>Thurlow Weed opened the first lumber yard.</p>
+
+<p>William Shirley built and run the first hotel.</p>
+
+<p>L. R. Grimes and J. B. Dinsmore opened the first bank.</p>
+
+<p>Pyle and Eaton built and operated the first elevator.</p>
+
+<p>Isaac N. Clark opened the first hardware store.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Martin V. B. Clark, a graduate of an Ohio medical college,
+was the first physician in the county and opened the first
+drug store in Sutton. In 1873, during the first term of district
+court, he was appointed one of the commissioners of insanity.
+In 1877 he was elected coroner.</p>
+
+<p>The Odd Fellows hall was the first brick building erected.</p>
+
+<p>The Congregational church, built in 1875, was the first church
+building in the county.</p>
+
+<p>William L. Weed taught the first school, beginning January
+20, 1872, with an enrollment of fourteen scholars.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In 1876 the Evangelical Association of North America sent
+Rev. W. Schwerin to Sutton as a missionary.</p>
+
+<p>In the early seventies the Burlington railroad company built
+and maintained an immigrant house on the corner south of the
+present Cottage hotel. This was a long frame building of one
+room with a cook stove in either end. Many of the immigrants
+were dependent upon a few friends who were located on the
+new land in the vicinity. Their food consisted largely of soup
+made with flour and water; any vegetables they were able to
+get were used. Meat was scarce with the immigrants. They
+had considerable milk, mostly sour, brought in by their friends.
+The immigrants remained here until they found work; most of
+them moved on to farms. The house burned about 1880.</p>
+
+<p>In the early days Sutton was a lively business place with all
+the features of a frontier town. Now it is a city enjoying the
+comforts of modern improvements and refined society.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES OF CUSTER COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. J. J. Douglas</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In July, 1888, I arrived at Broken Bow, which is situated
+geographically about the center of the state. That village looked
+strange to me with not a tree in sight excepting a few little
+cuttings of cottonwood and box elder here and there upon a lawn.
+After having lived all my life in a country where every home
+was surrounded by groves and ornamental shade trees, it seemed
+that I was in a desert.</p>
+
+<p>I had just completed a course of study in a normal school
+prior to coming to Nebraska, and was worn out in mind and
+body, so naturally my first consideration was the climatic condition
+of the country and its corresponding effect upon the vegetation.
+I wondered how the people stood the heat of the day but
+soon discovered that a light gentle breeze was blowing nearly all
+the time, so that the heat did not seem intense as it did at my
+Iowa home.</p>
+
+<p>After I had been in Broken Bow about two weeks I was offered
+a position in the mortgage loan office of Trefren and
+Hewitt. The latter was the first county clerk of Custer county.
+I held this position a few weeks, then resigned to take charge
+of the Berwyn school at the request of Mr. Charles Randall, the
+county superintendent. Berwyn was a village situated about
+ten miles east of Broken Bow. It consisted of one general merchandise
+store, a postoffice, depot, and a blacksmith shop. I
+shall never forget my first impression on arriving at Berwyn
+very early on that September morning. It was not daylight
+when the train stopped at the little depot, and what a feeling of
+loneliness crept over me as I watched that train speed on its
+way behind the eastern hills! I found my way to the home
+of J. O. Taylor (who was then living in the back end of his store
+building) and informed him that I was the teacher who had
+come to teach the school and asked him to direct me to my
+boarding place. Being a member of the school board, Mr. Taylor
+gave me the necessary information and then sent his hired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+man with a team and buggy to take me a mile farther east to
+the home of Ben Talbot, where I was to stay.</p>
+
+<p>The Talbot home was a little sod house consisting of two small
+rooms. On entering I found Mrs. Talbot preparing breakfast
+for the family. I was given a cordial welcome, and after breakfast
+started in company with Mrs. Talbot's little girl for the
+schoolhouse. The sense of loneliness which had taken possession
+of me on my way to this place began to be dispelled. I found
+Mrs. Talbot to be a woman of kind heart and generous impulses.
+She had two little girls, the older one being of school age. I
+could see the schoolhouse up on the side of a hill. It was made
+of sod and was about twelve by fifteen feet. The roof was of
+brush and weeds, with some sod; but I could see the blue sky by
+gazing up through the roof at almost any part of it. I looked
+out upon the hills and down the valley and wondered where the
+pupils were to come from, as I saw no houses and no evidence of
+habitation anywhere excepting Mr. Talbot's home. But by nine
+o'clock about twelve children had arrived from some place, I
+knew not where.</p>
+
+<p>I found in that little, obscure schoolhouse some of the brightest
+and best boys and girls it was ever my good fortune to meet.
+There soon sprang up between us a bond of sympathy. I sympathized
+with them in their almost total isolation from the
+world, and they in turn sympathized with me in my loneliness
+and homesickness.</p>
+
+<p>On opening my school that first morning, great was my surprise
+to learn how well those children could sing. I had never
+been in a school where there were so many sweet voices. My attention
+was particularly directed to the voices of two little girls
+as they seemed remarkable for children of their years. I often
+recall one bright sunny evening after I had dismissed school and
+stood watching the pupils starting out in various directions for
+their homes, my attention was called to a path that led down
+the valley through the tall grass. I heard singing and at once
+recognized the voices of these two little girls. The song was a
+favorite of mine and I could hear those sweet tones long after
+the children were out of sight in the tall grass. I shall never
+forget how charmingly sweet that music seemed to me.</p>
+
+<p>I soon loved every pupil in that school and felt a keen regret
+when the time came for me to leave them. I have the tenderest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+memory of my association with that district, though the school
+equipment was meager and primitive. After finishing my work
+there I returned to Broken Bow where I soon accepted a position
+in the office of J. J. Douglass, clerk of the district court.
+Mr. Douglass was one of the organizers of Custer county and
+was chosen the first clerk of the court, which position he held
+for four years. I began my work in this office on November 16,
+1888, and held the position till the close of his term.</p>
+
+<p>During this time many noted criminal cases were tried in
+court, Judge Francis G. Hamer of Kearney being the judge.
+One case in which I was especially interested was the DeMerritt
+case, in which I listened to the testimony of several of my pupils
+from the Berwyn district. Another far-famed case was the
+Haunstine case, in which Albert Haunstine received a death sentence.
+To hear a judge pronounce a death sentence is certainly
+the most solemn thing one can imagine. Perhaps the most trying
+ordeal I ever experienced was the day of the execution of
+Haunstine. It so happened that the scaffold was erected just
+beneath one of the windows of our office on the south side of the
+courthouse. As the nails were being driven into that structure
+how I shuddered as I thought that a human being was to be
+suspended from that great beam. Early in the morning on the
+day of the execution people from miles away began to arrive to
+witness the cruelest event that ever marred the fair name of our
+beloved state. Early in the day, in company with several others,
+I visited the cell of the condemned man. He was busy distributing
+little souvenirs he had made from wood to friends and
+members of his family. He was pale but calm and self-composed.
+My heart ached and my soul was stirred to its very
+depth in sympathy for a fellow being and yet I was utterly
+helpless so far as extending any aid or consolation. The thought
+recurred to me so often, why is it men are so cruel to each
+other&mdash;wolfish in nature, seeking to destroy their own kind?
+And now the thought still comes to me, will the day ever dawn
+when there will be no law in Nebraska permitting men to cruelly
+take the life of each other to avenge a wrong? I trust that the
+fair name of Nebraska may never be blotted again by another
+so-called <i>legal</i> execution.</p>
+
+<p>It was during the time I was in that office the first commencement
+of the Broken Bow high school was held, the class consist<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>ing
+of two graduates, a boy and a girl. The boy is now Dr.
+Willis Talbot, a physician of Broken Bow, and the girl, who was
+Stella Brown, is now the wife of W. W. Waters, mayor of
+Broken Bow.</p>
+
+<p>We moved our office into the new courthouse in January,
+1890. Soon after we saw the completion of the mammoth building
+extending the entire length of the block on the south side of
+the public square called the Realty block. The Ansley Cornet
+band was the first band to serenade us in the new courthouse.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Douglass completed his term of office as clerk of the district
+court on January 7, 1892, and two weeks later we were
+married and went for a visit to my old home in Iowa. Soon
+after returning to Broken Bow we moved to Callaway. I shall
+never forget my first view of the little city of which I had heard
+so much, the "Queen City of the Seven Valleys." After moving
+to Callaway I again taught school and had begun on my
+second year's work when I resigned to accept a position in the
+office of the state land commissioner, H. C. Russell, at Lincoln,
+where I remained for two years. During the time I was in that
+office Mr. Douglass was appointed postmaster at Callaway, so I
+resigned my work in Lincoln and returned home to work in the
+postoffice. We were in this office for seven years, after which
+I accepted a position in the Seven Valleys bank. After a year
+I again took up school work and have been engaged in that ever
+since. We have continued to reside at Callaway all these years
+and have learned to love the rugged hills and glorious sunshine.
+The winds continue to blow and the sands beat upon our pathway,
+but we would not exchange our little cottage in the grove
+for a palace in the far East.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN EXPERIENCE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Harmon Bross</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>An experience through which I passed in northwestern Nebraska
+in the early days comes to my mind very frequently.</p>
+
+<p>When the railroad first went through that region to Chadron,
+Mr. Bross was general missionary for the Northwest, including
+central Wyoming and the Black Hills country.</p>
+
+<p>When we first visited Chadron it was a town of white tents,
+and we occupied a tent for several days. Then the tent was
+needed for other purposes and Mr. Bross suggested that we find
+lodging in a building in process of erection for a hotel. The
+frame was up and enclosed, the floors laid, but no stairs and no
+division into rooms. The proprietor said we could have a bed
+in the upper room, where there were fifty beds side by side. He
+would put a curtain around the bed. As that was the only thing
+to do, we accepted the situation and later I climbed a ladder to
+the upper floor.</p>
+
+<p>The bed in one corner was enclosed with a calico curtain just
+the size of the bed. I climbed on, and prepared the baby boy
+and myself for sleep. As I was the only woman in the room,
+and every bed was occupied before morning by two men, the
+situation was somewhat unique. However, I was soon asleep.</p>
+
+<p>About three o'clock I was awakened by the stealthy footsteps
+of two men on the ladder. They came to the bed at the foot of
+the one we occupied, and after settling themselves to their satisfaction
+began discussing the incidents of the night. As they
+were gamblers, the conversation was a trifle strange to a woman.</p>
+
+<p>Soon in the darkness below and close to the side of the building
+where we were, rang out several pistol shots with startling
+distinctness.</p>
+
+<p>One man remarked, in a calm, impersonal tone, "I prefer to
+be on the ground floor when the shots fly around like that."
+The remark was not especially reassuring for a mother with a
+sleeping baby by her side.</p>
+
+<p>As no one in the room seemed to be disturbed, and as the
+tumult below soon died away, I again slept, and awakened in the
+morning none the worse for the experience of the night.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 483px;">
+<img src="images/illus_006.jpg" width="483" height="600" alt="Mrs. Andrew K. Gault
+
+Third Vice-President General from Nebraska, National Society, Daughters
+of the American Revolution. Elected 1913" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Andrew K. Gault
+
+Third Vice-President General from Nebraska, National Society, Daughters
+of the American Revolution. Elected 1913</span>
+</div><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LEGEND OF CROW BUTTE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Dr. Anna Robinson Cross</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The early history of Crawford and its environment is replete
+with tales of Indian scares; the pioneer settlers banding themselves
+together and arming for protection against possible Indian
+raids, all presenting lurid material for the most exciting
+stories, if one could gather the accurate data.</p>
+
+<p>The legend of Crow Butte is one of the most thrilling, and at
+the same time the most important, of the many tales told by the
+old settlers around the winter fireside.</p>
+
+<p>In the early history of the Sioux and Crow Indians, much
+strife and ill-feeling was engendered between the two tribes by
+the stealing of horses. As no satisfactory settlement could be
+arranged between them, it was declared, after a solemn pow-wow,
+that a decisive battle should be fought, and the field for
+the said conflict was chosen on the land east of the present site
+of Crawford. The final stand was taken on one of the peculiar
+clay formations known as buttes, found in northwestern Nebraska.
+These eminences, dividing this section of the country
+into valleys and ridges of hills, add very much to the beauty of
+the landscape, by their seeming likeness to a succession of battlements
+and old castles.</p>
+
+<p>This particular butte, standing like a sentinel about five miles
+east of Crawford, rises to a height of nearly three hundred feet
+on the east side, and is possible of ascent by gradual elevation
+on the west side. It appears to stand distinct and alone, forming
+a landmark on the horizon that has guided many a settler
+and traveler to home and safety. The writer is one of the number
+of travelers who, from bitter experiences in long winter
+drives over the prairie, has learned to appreciate the landmark
+of the old Crow Butte.</p>
+
+<p>The Sioux, having driven the Crows to the top of this butte,
+thought, by guarding the path, they could quickly conquer by
+starving them out. Under cover of night the Crows decided,
+after due deliberation, that the warriors could escape, if the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+men of the tribe would remain and keep up a constant singing.
+This was done. The young and able-bodied men, making ropes
+of their blankets, were let down the steep side of the butte, while
+the poor old men kept up a constant wailing for days, until
+death, from lack of food and exhaustion, had stilled their voices.
+As the singing gradually ceased, the Sioux, while watching, saw
+white clouds passing over the butte, having the appearance of
+large, white birds with outstretched wings, on which they carried
+the old men to the "Happy Hunting Grounds." The
+Sioux, awed by the illusion, believed it an omen of peace and
+declared that forever after there should be no more wars between
+the Crows and the Sioux.</p>
+
+<p>Through Capt. James H. Cook, an early settler and pioneer
+of this section, who has served as scout and interpreter for the
+Indians for years, I have learned that it was near this Crow
+Butte that the last great treaty was made with the Indians, in
+which the whole of the Black Hills country was disposed of to
+the white people. According to his statement, the affair came
+very nearly ending in a battle in which many lives might have
+been lost. The bravery and quick action of a few men turned
+the tide in favor of the white people.</p>
+
+<p>The following original poem by Pearl Shepherd Moses is quite
+appropriate in this connection:</p>
+
+<blockquote class="padtop"><p>
+<span class="tdind">TO CROW HEART BUTTE</span><br />
+<br />
+Oh, lofty Crow Heart Butte, uprising toward the sun,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">What is your message to the world below?</span><br />
+Or do you wait in silence, race outrun,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The march of ages in their onward flow?</span><br />
+<br />
+Ye are so vast, so great, and yet so still,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That but a speck I seem in nature's plan;</span><br />
+Or but a drop without a way or will<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In this mad rush miscalled the race of man.</span><br />
+<br />
+In nature's poems you a period stand<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Among her lessons we can never read;</span><br />
+But with high impulse and good motive found,<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">You help us toward the brave and kindly deed.</span><br />
+<br />
+The winds and sunshine, dawns and throbbing star,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yield you their message from the ether clear,</span><br />
+While moonlight crowns your brow so calm and fair<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With homage kingly as their greatest peer.</span><br />
+<br />
+A longing fills me as I nightly gaze;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Would I could break your spell of silence vast;</span><br />
+But centuries and years and months and days<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Must add themselves again unto the past.</span><br />
+<br />
+And I can only wish that I were as true,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Always found faithful and as firmly stand</span><br />
+For right as you since you were young and new,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A wondrous product from a mighty hand.</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LIFE ON THE FRONTIER</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By James Ayres</span></h3>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Prairie Covered with Indians</i></p>
+
+<p>In July, 1867, a freight train left the old Plum Creek station
+late one night for the west. As the company was alarmed for
+the safety of the trains, Pat Delahunty, the section boss, sent out
+three men on a hand-car over his section in advance of this train.
+They had gone about three miles to the bend west of the station
+when they were attacked by Indians. This was at a point nearly
+north of the John Jacobson claim. There are still on the south
+side of the track some brickbats near the culvert. This is the
+place where the Indians built a fire on the south side of the
+track and took a position on the north side. When the hand-car
+came along, they fired upon it. They killed one man and
+wounded another, a cockney from London, England, and thinking
+him dead took his scalp. He flinched. They stuck a knife
+in his neck but even that did not kill him. He recovered consciousness
+and crawled into the high weeds. The freight came
+and fell into the trap. While the Indians were breaking into
+the cars of the wrecked freight, the Englishman made his escape,
+creeping a mile to the north. As soon as morning came, Patrick
+Delahunty with his men took a hand-car and went to investigate.
+Before they had gone half a mile they could see the Indians all
+around the wreck. Each one had a pony. They had found a lot
+of calico in one car and each Indian had taken a bolt and had
+broken one end loose and was unfolding it as he rode over the
+prairie. Yelling, they rode back and forth in front of one another
+with calico flying, like a Maypole dance gone mad. When
+they saw the section men with guns, they broke for the Platte
+river and crossed it due south of where Martin Peterson's house
+now stands. The section men kept shooting at them but got no
+game. They found that a squaw-man had probably had a hand
+in the wrecking of the train for the rails had been pried up just
+beyond the fire. The smoke blinded the engineer and he ran
+into the rails which were standing as high as the front of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+boiler. The engineer and the fireman were killed. The engine
+ran off the track, but the cars remained on the rails. The Indians
+opened every car and set fire to two or three of the front
+ones. One car was loaded with brick. The writer got a load of
+these brick in 1872 and built a blacksmith forge. Among the
+bricks were found pocket knives, cutlery, and a Colt's revolver.</p>
+
+<p>The man who had been scalped came across the prairie toward
+the section men. They thought he was an Indian. His shirt
+was gone and his skin was covered with dried blood. They were
+about to shoot when Delahunty said, "Stop, boys," for the man
+had his hands above his head. They let him come nearer and
+when he was a hundred yards away Delahunty said, "By gobs,
+it's Cockney!" They took him to the section house and cared
+for him. He told them these details. After this event he
+worked for the Union Pacific railroad at Omaha. Then he went
+back to England. The railroad had just been built and there
+was only one train a day.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Wild Turkeys and Wild Cats</i></p>
+
+<p>Tom Mahum was the boss herder for Ewing of Texas and had
+brought his herd up that summer and had his cattle on Dilworth's
+islands until he could ship them to Chicago. He bantered
+me for a turkey hunt, and we went on horseback up Plum
+creek. He was a good shot and we knew we would get game of
+some kind. We followed the creek five miles, when we scared
+up a flock of turkeys. They were of the bronze kind, large and
+heavy. We got three, and as we did not find any more, we took
+the tableland for the Platte. As we came down a pocket we ran
+into a nest of wildcats. There were four of them. One cat
+jumped at a turkey that was tied to Tom's saddle. That scared
+his horse so that it nearly unseated him, but he took his pistol
+and killed the cat. I was afraid they would jump at me. They
+growled and spit, and I edged away until I could shoot from my
+pony, and when twenty-five yards away I slipped in two cartridges
+and shot two of the cats. The fourth one got away and
+we were glad to let it go. We took the three cats to town,
+skinned them, and sold the pelts to Peddler Charley for one dollar.
+Tom talked about that hunt when I met him in Oregon a
+few years ago.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>A Scare</i></p>
+
+<p>On another occasion, Perley Wilson and I took a hunt on the
+big island south of the river where there were some buffalo.
+The snow was about eight inches deep and we crossed the main
+stream on the ice. Before we got over, I saw a moccasin track
+and showed it to Wilson. He said we had better get out. "No,"
+said I, "let us trail it and find where it goes." It took us into
+a very brushy island. Wilson would go no further, but I took
+my shotgun, cocked both barrels, and went on but with caution
+for fear the Indian would see me first. I got just half way in,
+and I heard a "Ugh!" right behind me. The hair on my head
+went straight up. I was scared, but I managed to gasp, "Sioux?"
+"No, Pawnee. Heap good Indian." Then he laughed and I
+breathed again. I asked, "What are you doing here?" "Cooking
+beaver," he replied, and led the way to his fire. He had a
+beaver skinned hanging on a plum tree and he had a tin can
+over the fire, boiling the tail. I returned to Wilson and told him
+about it. He said, "It is no use to try to sneak up on an Indian
+in the brush, for he always sees you first." I could have shot
+the Indian, as he only had a revolver, but that would have been
+cowardly as he had the first drop on me and could have had my
+scalp. We got home with no game that day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PLUM CREEK (LEXINGTON), NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Wm. M. Bancroft</span>, M.D.</h3>
+
+
+<p>On April 5, 1873, I arrived at Plum Creek, now Lexington,
+with what was called the second colony from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
+Captain F. J. Pearson, who was in charge, later became
+editor of the <i>Pioneer</i>. Judge Robert B. Pierce and the
+Tucker family were also with this colony. On our arrival the
+only town we found was a mile east of the present site of Lexington.
+It consisted of a section house, a small shanty called
+the Johnson restaurant, one story and a half log house run by
+Daniel Freeman as a general store, and a stockade built of ties
+used as a place of safety for the horses and cows. The upper
+story of the Freeman building was occupied by the Johnson
+family, who partitioned it off with blankets to accommodate the
+immigrants, and the only lights we could depend on were candle
+dips from the Freeman store at twenty-five cents each. At this
+time bread sold at twenty-five cents per loaf.</p>
+
+<p>There was also an immigrant house 20 by 40 feet located on the
+north side of the railroad nearly opposite the other buildings
+referred to. This house was divided into rooms 6 by 8 feet
+square with a hall between. The front room was used as Dawson
+county's first office by John H. MacColl, then county clerk.
+There was also a coal shed and a water tank on the south side
+of the track. The depot was a mile west on a railroad section
+where the town was finally built.</p>
+
+<p>The reason for the change of townsite was a fight by Freeman
+against the Union Pacific company. Freeman owned the
+quarter section of government land, on which the buildings referred
+to were located.</p>
+
+<p>The first house in Plum Creek was built by Robert Pierce,
+whose family got permission to live in a freight car on the side-track
+while the house was being built. While in the freight car
+the family was attacked by measles. In order to gain entrance
+to this temporary residence a step-ladder had to be used, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+in visiting the family while in the car, I would find them first at
+one end of the switch and next at the other, and would have to
+transfer the ladder each time. Later on Robert Pierce was
+elected probate judge and served until by reason of his age he
+retired.</p>
+
+<p>Tudor Tucker built the first frame house on Buffalo creek
+five miles northeast of town. The first store building in Plum
+Creek was built by Mr. Betz. The first hotel was built by E. D.
+Johnson, who deserves much credit for his work in building up
+Dawson county. In 1873 the population numbered about 175.
+The old townsite was soon abandoned and the town of Plum
+Creek on its present site became a reality.</p>
+
+<p>The completion of the Platte river bridge was celebrated
+July 4, 1873, by a big demonstration. It then became necessary
+to get the trade from the Republican Valley, Plum Creek being
+the nearest trading point for that locality. Since there were
+no roads from the south, a route had to be laid out. With this
+object in view, Judge Pierce, E. D. Johnson, Elleck Johnson,
+and I constituted ourselves a committee to do the work. We
+started across the country and laid up sod piles every mile, until
+we reached the Arapahoe, 48 miles southwest. Coming back we
+shortened up the curves. This was the first road from the south
+into Plum Creek, and we derived a great amount of trade from
+this territory. It was no uncommon thing for the Erwin &amp;
+Powers Company, conducting a general store at this time, to
+take in from one thousand to twelve hundred dollars on Saturdays.</p>
+
+<p>The first church and Sunday school was organized Sunday,
+April 13, 1873, three and one-half miles north of town at the
+farm of Widow Mullen. Those present, including myself, were:
+Mrs. Mullen and family, Captain John S. Stuckey, afterwards
+treasurer of Dawson county, Joseph Stuckey, Samuel Clay
+Stuckey and wife, Edgar Mellenger, and one negro servant.
+Joseph Stuckey was appointed leader, James Tipton, superintendent
+of the Sunday school, and I took charge of the music.
+The first regular sermon was preached by a Mr. Wilson who
+came to Overton to live on a homestead. He consented to preach
+for us until we could fill his place by an appointment at general
+conference. We held the first regular service both of the church
+and the Sunday school in the old frame schoolhouse located in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+the east ward. We also held revivals in the Hill hall where
+Smith's opera house now stands.</p>
+
+<p>On this Sunday afternoon about five o'clock the great April
+storm started with blizzard from the northwest. It was impossible
+for any of us to get away until Tuesday afternoon. On
+Monday night Captain Stuckey, Doc Mellenger, and I had to
+take the one bed. During the night the bed broke down and
+we lay until morning huddled together to keep from freezing.
+Mellenger and I left Tuesday afternoon, when the storm abated,
+and started back toward the old town. The storm again caught
+us and drifted us to Doc's old doby two and one-half miles north
+of the townsite. By this time the snow had drifted from four
+to five feet in depth. The horses took us to the dugout stable in
+which we put them. Then we had to dig our way to the doby
+where we remained from Tuesday evening until Thursday morning.
+We had nothing to eat during that time but a few hard
+biscuits, a little bacon, and three frozen chickens, and nothing
+but melted snow to drink. The bedstead was a home-made affair
+built of pine boards. This we cut up and used for fuel and
+slept on the dirt floor. The storm was so terrific that it was impossible
+to get to the well, fifteen feet from the doby. We became
+so thirsty from the snow water that Doc thought he would
+try to get to the well. He took a rope and pistol, tied the rope
+around his waist and started for the well. His instructions
+were that if I heard the pistol I was to pull him in. After a
+very short time the pistol report came and I pulled and pulled
+and Doc came tumbling in without pistol or bucket. It was so
+cold he had nearly frozen his hands. Thursday was clear and
+beautiful. One of the persons from Mullen's, having gone to
+town, reported that we had left there Tuesday afternoon. On
+account of this report a searching party was sent out to look
+for us.</p>
+
+<p>Another item of interest was the Pawnee and Sioux massacre
+on August 5, 1873. It was the custom of the Pawnees, who were
+friendly and were located on a reservation near Columbus,
+Nebraska, to go on a fall hunt for buffalo meat for their winter
+use. The Sioux, who were on the Pine Bluff reservation, had
+an old grudge against the Pawnees and knew when this hunt
+took place. The Pawnees made Plum Creek their starting point
+across the country southwest to the head of the Frenchman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+river. They camped about ten miles northwest of Culbertson,
+a town on the B. &amp; M. railroad. The camp was in the head of a
+pocket which led from a tableland to the Republican river.
+The Sioux drove a herd of buffalo on the Pawnees while the latter
+were in camp. Not suspecting danger the Pawnees began
+to kill the buffalo, when the Sioux came up, taking them by surprise.
+The Pawnees, being outnumbered, fled down the cañon.
+The Sioux followed on either bank and cross-fired them, killing
+and wounding about a hundred. I was sent by the government
+with Mr. Longshore, the Indian agent of Columbus, and two
+guides to the scene of the massacre, which was about one hundred
+and forty miles southwest of Plum Creek, for the purpose
+of looking after the wounded who might have been left behind.
+We made this trip on horseback. The agent had the dead
+buried and we followed up the wounded. We found twenty-two
+at Arapahoe and ten or fifteen had left and started on the old
+Fort Kearny trail. We brought the twenty-two wounded to
+Plum Creek, attended to their wounds and then shipped them in
+a box car to the reservation at Columbus.</p>
+
+<p>My first trip to Wood river valley twenty miles north, was to
+attend James B. Mallott, one of the first settlers. They were
+afraid to let me go without a guard but I had no fear of the Indians,
+so they gave me a belt of cartridges and a Colt's revolver.
+Finally MacColl, the county clerk, handed me a needle gun and
+commanded me to get back before dark. I started on horseback
+with this arsenal for Wood river and made the visit, but on my
+return I stopped to let the horse rest and eat bluestem. Soon the
+horse became frightened and began to paw and snort. On looking
+back toward the divide, I saw three Indians on horseback were
+heading my way. We were not long in getting started. I beat
+them by a mile to the valley, arriving safely at Tucker's farm on
+Buffalo creek. The Indians did not follow but rode along the
+foothills to the west. A party of four or five from Tucker's was
+not long in giving chase, but the Indians had disappeared in the
+hills. A little later, Anton Abel, who lived a mile north of town,
+came in on the run and stated that a file of eight or ten Indians,
+with scalp sticks waving, were headed south a half mile west of
+town. A number mounted their horses and gave chase to the river
+where the Indians crossed and were lost sight of. We never
+suffered much loss or injury from the Indians. Many scares were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+reported, but like the buffalo after 1874-75, they were a thing of
+the past in our county.</p>
+
+<p>My practice for the first ten or twelve years among the sick
+and injured, covered a field almost unlimited. I was called as
+far north as Broken Bow in the Loup valley, fifty miles, east
+to Elm Creek, Buffalo county, twenty miles, west to Brady
+Island, Lincoln county, thirty-five miles, and south to the Republican
+river. Most of the time there were no roads or bridges.
+The valley of the Platte in Dawson county is now the garden
+spot of the state. As stated before the settlement of 1872 was
+on the extreme edge of the frontier. Now we have no frontier.
+It is progressive civilization from coast to coast. I have practiced
+my profession for over forty years continuously in this
+state, and am still in active practice. I have an abiding faith
+that I shall yet finish up with an airship in which to visit my
+patients.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY RECOLLECTIONS</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By C. Chabot</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>After repeated invitations from my old boyhood companion,
+Dr. Bancroft, to visit him in his new home in western Nebraska,
+I left Philadelphia and arrived in Omaha the early part of
+April, 1878. Omaha at that time did not impress me very
+favorably. After buying my ticket to Plum Creek (in those
+days you could only buy a ticket to Omaha) the next thing in
+order was to get in line and have my trunk checked, and witness
+baggage "smashers" demolish a few trunks, then coolly offer to
+rope them at twenty-five cents each. Our train left at 11 a. m.
+and arrived in Plum Creek at 11 p. m., good time for those days.
+The train left with all seats occupied and some passengers standing.
+Everybody was eager to see the great prairie country.
+We expected to see Indians and buffalo, but only a few jack
+rabbits appeared, which created quite a laugh, as it was the
+first time any of us had ever seen one run. After we had traveled
+about twenty miles, "U. P. Sam," as he called himself, came
+into our car and treated us to a song of his own composition. In
+his song he related all the wonders of the great Union Pacific
+railroad and the country between Omaha and Ogden. I saw
+him two years later in Dawson county, playing the violin at a
+country dance, and singing songs about different persons at the
+gathering. All you had to do was to give him a few points as
+to a man's disposition and habits with a few dimes and he would
+have the whole company laughing.</p>
+
+<p>We stopped at Grand Island for supper, and in due time arrived
+in Plum Creek. Dr. Bancroft was waiting for me and
+after being introduced to many of his western friends, we retired
+for the night. Next morning feeling the necessity of visiting a
+barber shop, I asked the doctor if there was a barber shop in
+town. Judging from the accommodations at the hotel I had
+my doubts. "We have a good barber in town," he replied,
+"but I will go with you." On arriving at the corner of what
+is now Main and Depot streets we entered a building which I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+discovered to be a saloon. I protested, but before I had had
+time to say much, the doctor asked the barkeeper where Ed.
+(the barber) was. "Why, he has gone south of the river to
+plaster a house," was the reply. Then I thought "what kind
+of a country have I come to, barber and plasterer the same person."
+Then my mind wandered back to the far East where I
+saw a comfortable bath room, and I thought "What can the doctor
+see in this country to deny himself all the comforts of home?"
+Before I had time to recover from my reveries, I was surrounded
+by cowboys who insisted that I drink with them. I protested
+and if it had not been for Dr. Bancroft I suppose they would
+have made me dance to the music of their six shooters or drink,
+but as I was a friend of "Little Doc" (as they called him) that
+was sufficient and the tenderfoot was allowed to leave. Then
+and only then I saw in the northwest corner of the room the
+barber's chair.</p>
+
+<p>I accompanied Dr. Bancroft on many drives over the country
+going as far north as the Loup and Dismal rivers. We went
+several times south to Arapahoe; in fact it was but a short time
+before I was acquainted with most all the settlers in Dawson and
+adjacent counties. The population at that time was hardly
+2,000 in Dawson county. In a very short time I began to feel
+more at home. The hospitality of the people was something I
+had never dreamed of; the climate and good fresh air so invigorating
+that I soon adjusted myself to surrounding conditions,
+and before I had been here a month I decided to cast my
+lot with the rest of the new settlers and became one of them.</p>
+
+<p>While I have had many ups and downs I cannot say that I
+regret having done so. When I look back and think of the
+many friends I made in the early days and how we stood hand
+in hand in our adversities as well as in our good fortunes, I
+cannot help feeling that we are more than friends and belong
+to one big family.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>RECOLLECTIONS OF THE FIRST SETTLER OF DAWSON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Daniel Freeman</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I came from Canada to Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Freeman
+was a freighter to Pike's Peak, but was not always successful.
+He spent $4,000 on one train and came back with only a team
+of oxen and a team of ponies. The next spring, 1862, I bought
+a stage-coach and using the pony team, I took my three children,
+the youngest only two months old, and drove all the way to
+Nebraska. My husband was there and had started a little store
+just across from the pony express station on Plum creek. He
+bought buffalo hides of the Indians and shipped them east. The
+buffalo were in easy reach and we had fresh meat every day.
+We had a big sign with the word "Bakery" on it. I baked a
+hundred pounds of flour every day. I would make yeast bread
+over night and bake it in the forenoon, and make salt-rising in
+the morning and bake it in the afternoon. We got St. Louis
+flour that the freighters brought from Denver when they came
+back. I sold my bread for fifty cents a loaf and made as much
+as thirty dollars a day. I made cheese, too. We had seventy-five
+head of cows and milked twenty-five. We would take a
+young calf and let it fill its stomach with its mother's milk, then
+kill it. Then we took the stomach and washed and wiped it and
+hung it up on a nail to dry. When it was perfectly dry we
+would put it away carefully in a cloth and used it for rennet to
+make the cheese. I would put a little piece of it in new milk
+and it would form a solid curd. My husband made me a press
+and a mold. I got twenty-five cents a pound for my cheese,
+and sold lots of it. I got up fine meals and charged two dollars
+a meal. The people were glad to pay it. There was plenty of
+firewood. The trees drifted down the river and we piled the
+wood up on the islands, but after the settlers came they would
+steal it. There was no need of anybody going hungry those
+days, for anyone could kill a buffalo. One day a herd of thirty
+came within ten feet of our door, and our cows went away with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+them. The children and I walked three miles before we came
+up to the cows and could get them back home. We were near the
+river and it was not far down to water. We dug holes in the
+ground and sunk five salt barrels. The water came up in these
+and we always had plenty of water. Sometimes we dipped the
+barrels dry, but they would be full the next morning. There
+wasn't a pump in the country for years.</p>
+
+<p>The people who kept the Pony Express station were named
+Humphries. These stations were about fifty miles apart. There
+would be lots of people at the station every night, for after the
+Indians became troublesome, the people went in trains of about
+a hundred wagons. There were many six oxen teams. The
+Indians never troubled anybody until the whites killed so many
+buffalo and wasted so much. There were carcasses all over the
+prairies. The Indians used every part, and they knew this great
+slaughter of the buffalo meant starvation for them, so they went
+on the warpath in self-defense. They would skulk on the river
+bank where the trail came close, and would rush up and attack
+the travelers. The soldiers were sent out as escorts and their
+families often went with them. One night at Plum Creek Pony
+Express station twin babies were born to the lieutenant and wife.
+I went over in the morning to see if I could help them, but they
+were all cared for by the lieutenant. He had washed the babies
+and had the tent in order. I do not remember his name now.
+We often saw tiny babies with their mothers lying in the wagons
+that came by. They would be wrapped up, and looked very
+comfortable. Water was so scarce that they had to pay for
+enough to wash the babies.</p>
+
+<p>Brigham Young made trip after trip with foreign people of
+all kinds but blacks. Most of these could not speak English,
+and I don't think Brigham bought any water for them, as they
+were filthy dirty. Brigham was a great big fat man, and he
+kept himself pretty neat. He made just about one trip a year.
+One company of these immigrants was walking through, and
+the train was a couple of miles long. They went south of the
+river on the Oregon trail. There was no other road then.</p>
+
+<p>On August 8, 1864, the Sioux people killed eleven men at
+11:00 o'clock in the morning, on Elm creek. I was afraid to
+stay on our ranch, so I took the children and started to Fort
+Kearny. On the way we came to the place of the massacre.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+The dead men were lying side by side in a long trench, their
+faces were covered with blood and their boots were on. Three
+women were taken prisoners. I heard that there were two
+children in the party, and that they were thrown in the grass,
+but I looked all around for them and didn't find any signs of
+them. Friends of these people wrote to Mr. E. M. F. Leflang, to
+know if he could locate them. The Indians never troubled us
+except to take one team during this war, but I was always afraid
+when I saw the soldiers coming. They would come in the store
+and help themselves to tobacco, cookies, or anything. Then the
+teamsters would swing their long black-snake whips and bring
+them down across my chicken's heads, then pick them up and
+carry them to camp. I think the officers were the most to blame,
+for they sold the soldiers' rations, and the men were hungry.</p>
+
+<p>When the Union Pacific railroad was first built we lived on
+our homestead north of the river and the town was started on
+our land. We had the contract to supply the wood for the engines.
+They didn't use any other fuel then. We hired men to
+cut the wood on Wood river where Eddyville and Sumner are
+now. I boarded the men in our new big house across from the
+depot in old Plum Creek. The store was below and there was
+an outside stairway for the men to go up. That summer Mr.
+Freeman was in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York talking
+up this country. Mr. Freeman was the first county clerk
+and his office was upstairs over the store. We rented some of
+the rooms to newcomers. We did a big business until the railroad
+moved the town to their section, a mile west. Mr. Freeman
+kept on trapping, and finally was drowned near Deadwood, South
+Dakota. I stayed by Dawson county and raised my family and
+they all are settled near me and have good homes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN DAWSON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Lucy R. Hewitt</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Hewitt, in June, 1873, journeyed
+from Forreston, Illinois, to Plum Creek, Nebraska. Their object
+was to take advantage of the offer the government was making
+to civil war soldiers, whereby each soldier could obtain
+one hundred and sixty acres of land. They stopped at Grand
+Island and Kearney, but at neither place could they find two
+adjoining quarter sections, not yet filed on. They wanted two,
+for my grandfather, Rockwood, who lived with us was also a
+soldier. At Plum Creek, now Lexington, they were able to
+obtain what they wanted but it was six miles northwest of the
+station.</p>
+
+<p>Plum Creek at that early date consisted of the depot. The
+town was a mile east and when my parents arrived at Plum
+Creek, they were obliged to walk back to the town, in order to
+find lodging for the night. Rooms seem to have been scarce for
+they had to share theirs with another man and his wife. They
+found a place to eat in the restaurant owned by Mr. and Mrs.
+E. D. Johnson.</p>
+
+<p>In August of the same year, they made a second trip to Nebraska,
+this time with wagon and carriage, bringing with others
+a carpenter who built their house upon the dividing line of the
+two homesteads. This house had the distinction of being the
+first two-story house in the neighborhood. All the others were
+one-story, because the settlers feared the high winds that occasionally
+swept over the prairies. For a few months it was the
+farthest away from town.</p>
+
+<p>In the three months between the two trips the town had moved
+to the depot, and had grown from nothing to a village of sixty
+houses and stores. The Johnsons had brought their restaurant
+and placed it upon the site where a little later they built a hotel
+called the Johnson house. Mr. T. Martin had built the first
+hotel which he named the Alhambra. I have a very faint recollection
+of being in this hotel when the third trip brought the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+household goods and the family to the new home. It was in
+December when this last journey was taken, and great was the
+astonishment of the older members of the family to see the
+ground covered with a foot of snow. They had been told that
+there was practically no winter in Nebraska, and they had believed
+the statement. They found that the thermometer could
+drop almost out of sight with the cold, and yet the greater part
+of many winters was very pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>My father opened a law office in the town and T. L. Warrington,
+who taught the first school in the village, read law with
+him, and kept the office open when the farm required attention.
+The fields were small at first and did not require so very much
+time.</p>
+
+<p>The first exciting event was a prairie fire. A neighbor's family
+was spending the day at our farm and some other friends
+also came to call. The day was warm, no wind was stirring
+until about 4 o'clock, when it suddenly and with much force
+blew from the north and brought the fire, which had been smoldering
+for some days in the bluffs to the north of the farm, down
+into the valley with the speed of a racing automobile. We
+children were very much frightened, and grandmother who was
+sick with a headache, was so startled she forgot her pain&mdash;did
+not have any in fact. Mother and Mrs. Fagot, the neighbor's
+wife, were outside loosening the tumble weeds and sending them
+along with the wind before the fire could catch them. In that
+way they saved the house from catching fire. My father, who
+had seen the fire come over the hills, as he was driving from
+town, had unhitched the horses and riding one of them as fast
+as possible, reached home in time to watch the hay stacks. Three
+times they caught fire and each time he beat it out with a wet
+gunny sack. I think this happened in March, 1874.</p>
+
+<p>That same year about harvest time the country was visited
+by grasshoppers. They did considerable damage by nipping off
+the oat heads before the farmers could finish the reaping. My
+aunt who was visiting us suggested that the whole family walk
+through the potato field and send the hoppers into the grass
+beyond. It was a happy thought, for the insects ate grass that
+night and the next day a favorable wind sent them all away.</p>
+
+<p>The worst grasshopper visitation we had was in July, 1876.
+One Sunday morning father and mother and I went to town to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+church. The small grain had been harvested and the corn all
+along the way was a most beautiful, dark green. When we were
+about a mile from town a slight shade seemed to come over the
+sun; when we looked up for the cause, we saw millions of grasshoppers
+slowly dropping to the ground. They came down in
+such numbers that they clung two or three deep to every green
+thing. The people knew that nothing in the way of corn or
+gardens could escape such devastating hordes and they were
+very much discouraged. To add to their troubles, the Presbyterian
+minister that morning announced his intention to resign.
+He, no doubt, thought he was justified.</p>
+
+<p>I was pretty small at that time and did not understand what
+it all meant, but I do know that as we drove home that afternoon,
+the cornfields looked as they would in December after the
+cattle had fed on them&mdash;not a green shred left. The asparagus
+stems, too, were equally bare. The onions were eaten down to
+the very roots. Of the whole garden, there was, in fact, nothing
+left but a double petunia, which grandmother had put a
+tub over. So ravenous were the pests that they even ate the
+cotton mosquito netting that covered the windows.</p>
+
+<p>In a day or two when nothing remained to eat, the grasshoppers
+spread their wings and whirred away. Then grandfather
+said, "We will plant some beans and turnips, there is plenty of
+time for them to mature before frost." Accordingly, he put in
+the seeds and a timely rain wet them so that in a very few days
+they had sprouted and were well up, when on Monday morning,
+just two weeks and one day from the time of the first visitation,
+a second lot dropped down and breakfasted off grandfather's
+beans. It was too late in the season then to plant more.</p>
+
+<p>My mother had quite a flock of turkeys and a number of
+chickens. They were almost dazed at the sight of so many perfectly
+good insects. They tried to eat them all but had to give
+up the task. They ate enough, however, to make themselves
+sick.</p>
+
+<p>This time I believe the grasshoppers stayed several days.
+They seemed to be hunting some good hard ground in which to
+lay their eggs. The following spring the warm days brought
+out millions of little ones, which a prairie fire later destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>The corn crop having been eaten green and the wheat acreage
+being rather small, left many people with nothing to live on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+during the winter. Many moved away and many of those
+who could not get away had to be helped. It was then that
+Dawson county people learned that they had good friends in
+the neighboring states for they sent carloads of food and clothing
+to their less fortunate neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>A good many homesteaders were well-educated, refined people
+from Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere. They were a
+very congenial company and often had social times together.
+They were for the most part young people, some with families
+of young children, others just married, and some unmarried. I
+remember hearing my mother tell of a wedding that she and
+father attended. The ceremony was performed at a private
+house and then the whole company adjourned to a large hall
+where everybody who wanted to, danced and the rest watched
+until the supper was served by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson in their
+new hotel. The bride on this occasion was Miss Addie Bradley
+and the groom was W. H. Lingle, at one time county superintendent
+of public instruction.</p>
+
+<p>For some time after the starting of the town of Plum Creek
+there was no church edifice but there was a good sized schoolhouse,
+and here each Sunday morning the people for miles
+around gathered. One Sunday the Methodist preacher talked
+to all the people and the next week the Presbyterian minister
+preached to the same congregation, until the courthouse was
+built, and then the Presbyterians used the courtroom. I have
+heard the members say that they received more real good from
+those union services than they ever did when each denomination
+had a church of its own. The Episcopalians in the community
+were the most enterprising for they built the first church, a little
+brick building that seated one hundred people. It was very
+plainly furnished, but it cost fifteen hundred dollars, due to the
+fact that the brick was brought from Kearney and freight rates
+were high. It stood on the site of the present modern building
+and was built in 1874. My grandfather, an ardent Churchman,
+often read the service when there was no rector in town.</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of the courthouse reminds me that it was not always
+put to the best use. I cannot remember when the following incident
+occurred, but I do remember hearing it talked of. A
+man who lived on the south side of the Platte river was accused
+of poisoning some flour that belonged to another man. He was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+ordered arrested and two or three men, among them Charles
+Mayes, the deputy sheriff, were sent after him. He resisted
+arrest and using his gun, killed Mayes. He was finally taken
+and brought to town and put into the county jail in the basement
+of the courthouse. Mayes had been a very popular man
+and the feeling was very high against his slayer, so high, indeed,
+that some time between night and morning the man was
+taken from the jail, and the next morning his lifeless body was
+found hanging at the back door of the courthouse.</p>
+
+<p>One of the pleasures of the pioneer is hunting. In the early
+days there was plenty of game in Dawson county, buffalo, elk,
+deer, antelope, jack rabbits, and several game birds, such as
+plover, prairie hen, ducks, geese, and cranes. By the time we
+arrived, however, the buffalo had been driven so far away that
+they were seldom seen. There was plenty of buffalo meat in the
+market, however, for hunters followed them and shot them,
+mostly for their hides. The meat was very good, always tender
+and of fine flavor. My father rushed into the house one day
+and called for his revolver. A herd of buffalo was racing across
+the fields towards the bluffs on the north. Father and some of
+the men with him, thought possibly they might get near enough
+to shoot one. But although he rode as fast as his pony could
+carry him, he could not get close enough and the herd, once it
+reached the hills was safe. The poor beasts had been chased for
+miles and were weary, but they did not give up. The cows
+huddled the calves together and pushed them along and the bulls
+led the way. Father learned afterward that his pony had been
+trained by the Indians to hunt; and if he had given him the rein
+and allowed him to go at it in his own way, he would have gone
+so close that father could have shot one. But he did not know
+this until the buffalo were far away.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PIONEER JUSTICE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By B. F. Krier</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the early history of Lexington, Nebraska, as in all western
+states, there was no crime committed more reprehensible than that
+of stealing a horse. One might kill a man and it would be overlooked
+or excused, but the offense of stealing a horse was a
+crime that nothing could atone for but the "wiping out" of the
+thief. And generally when the horse thief was caught the nearest
+tree or the upraised end of a wagon tongue was immediately
+brought into use as a gallows upon which the criminal was duly
+hanged without the formalities of courts or juries. It was amply
+sufficient to know that the accused had stolen a horse, and it
+mattered but little to whom the horse belonged or whether the
+owner was present to take a hand in the execution. The culprit
+was dealt with in such manner that he never stole another animal.</p>
+
+<p>This sentiment prevailed among the first settlers of Dawson
+county, as was shown in 1871, shortly after the organization of
+the county. Among the officials of the county at that time was
+a justice of the peace, a sturdy, honest man, who had been a
+resident of the county several years before it was organized.
+One day in 1871 a half-breed Sioux came riding from the east
+into Plum Creek (as Lexington was then called). The Indian
+stopped in the town and secured a meal for himself and feed for
+his horse.</p>
+
+<p>While he was eating, two Pawnee warriors arrived at the station
+on a freight train, from the east. They at once hunted up
+the sheriff, a broad-shouldered Irishman named John Kehoe,
+and made complaint that the half-breed Sioux had stolen a horse
+from one of them and had the animal in his possession. Complaint
+was formally made and a warrant issued for the half-breed's
+arrest upon the charge of horse-stealing, the warrant
+being issued by the aforesaid justice of the peace.</p>
+
+<p>The Sioux was at once taken in custody by the sheriff and
+brought before the justice. One of the Pawnees swore the horse
+the half-breed rode when he entered the town was his property,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+and the other Pawnee upon oath declared he knew it was. The
+prisoner denied the statement made by the Pawnees and vehemently
+declared the animal was his property; that he came by it
+honestly, and that the Pawnee had no title whatever in the horse.</p>
+
+<p>There was no jury to hear and judge the evidence, and the
+justice was compelled to decide the case. He had had some experience
+with redskins, and entertained but small regard for
+any of them, but as the preponderance of the evidence was
+against the Sioux, he decided the latter was guilty, and after a
+short study of the matter sentenced the culprit to be hanged.</p>
+
+<p>There were no lawyers in Plum Creek at that time, a condition
+that has not existed since, and each side did its own talking.
+The Sioux at once filed a vigorous complaint against the
+sentence, but was ordered by the court to keep still.</p>
+
+<p>Realizing he had no chance, he became silent, but some of the
+citizens who were present and listening to the trial, interposed
+objections to the strenuous sentence, and informed the court
+that "as we are now organized into a county and have to go by
+law, you can't sentence a man to hang fer stealin' a hoss."</p>
+
+<p>This staggered the justice somewhat and he again took the
+matter under advisement, and shortly after made the following
+change in the sentence, addressing the prisoner as follows "&mdash;&mdash;,
+Dem laws don't let you get hanged, vich iss not right. You iss
+one teef; dat iss a sure ting, and I shust gif you fifteen minutes
+to git out of dis state of Newbrasky."</p>
+
+<p>The Pawnee secured possession of the horse, but whether it
+belonged to them or not is questionable, and hit the eastern
+trail for the "Pawnee house," while the Sioux warrior hastily
+got himself together and made a swift hike toward the setting
+sun and safety.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A GOOD INDIAN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Clifford Whittaker</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The late John H. MacColl came to Dawson county in 1869 to
+benefit his health, but shortly after reaching here he had an
+attack of mountain fever, that left his lower limbs paralyzed.
+The nearest medical aid he could get was from the army surgeon
+at Fort McPherson, forty miles to the west. He made a
+number of trips to attend Mr. MacColl, and finally told him
+that he would never be any better. An old Indian medicine man
+happened along about that time and he went to see Mr. MacColl.
+By curious signs, gesticulations, and grunts, he made Mr. MacColl
+understand that he could cure him and that he would be
+back the next day at the rising of the sun. True to his word,
+he came, bringing with him an interpreter who explained to Mr.
+MacColl that the medicine man could cure him if he would submit
+to his treatment. Mr. MacColl was desperate and willing
+to do almost anything, so he agreed. The patient was stripped
+and laid flat on a plank. The medicine man then took a saw-edged
+knife and made no less than a hundred tiny gashes all
+over his patient's body. This done he produced a queer herb,
+and began chewing it. Then he spit it in his hand, as needed,
+and rubbed it into each tiny wound. That was all, and in three
+days Mr. MacColl could stand alone, and in a week he could
+walk.</p>
+
+<p>This incident was told to me in 1910 by the sister, Laura MacColl.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FROM MISSOURI TO DAWSON COUNTY IN 1872</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By A. J. Porter</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I left southwest Missouri late in October, 1872, accompanied
+by my sister, and journeyed by team via Topeka, Kansas, to
+Nebraska. We spent our first night in Nebraska at Fairbury,
+November 8, 1872. Trains on the St. Joe and Grand Island
+railroad had just reached that point.</p>
+
+<p>After visiting a few days with the Carney families near Fairmont
+we took the train for Plum Creek (now Lexington) and
+reached Kearney at 10 o'clock P. M. All rooms being occupied
+we sat in the office of the hotel till morning. None of the Union
+Pacific trains stopped at that place except to take mail. At
+10 o'clock that night we got a train to Plum Creek, which place
+we reached at 12 o'clock. There being no hotel we stayed in the
+depot until morning, when we found our brother living on a
+homestead.</p>
+
+<p>During our stay I filed on land six miles northeast of Plum
+Creek. The next April I brought my family by wagon over the
+same route and reached Dawson county a month after the noted
+Easter storm of 1873. At that time we saw hundreds of hides
+of Texas cattle, that had perished in the storm, hanging on
+fences surrounding the stockyards at Elm Creek.</p>
+
+<p>We remained on our homestead until August, 1876, at which
+time we came to Fillmore county and bought the southwest
+quarter of section eleven in Madison township, which place we
+now own.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE ERICKSON FAMILY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. W. M. Stebbins</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Charles J. Erickson left Sweden in 1864 and for two years
+lived in New York, Indiana, and Illinois. In 1866 he moved to
+Fort McPherson, Nebraska. He worked around the Fort until
+1871 when he took a homestead nine miles east. The next year,
+he sent to Sweden for his family. They arrived at McPherson
+station&mdash;now Maxwell&mdash;on September 1, 1872. Mr. Erickson
+died in April, 1877. The family resided on the old homestead
+until 1910, when they moved to Gothenburg, Nebraska. The
+sons, Frank and John Erickson, who still reside in Nebraska,
+unite in the following statement:</p>
+
+<p>"Coming to this part of the state at so early a date we have
+been eye witnesses to the development and transformation of
+the country from a bleak, wild prairie covered with blue stem
+grasses, upon which fed thousands of buffalo, deer, antelope, and
+elk. The Indians still controlled the country and caused us to
+have many sleepless nights.</p>
+
+<p>"In those early days we always took our guns with us when
+we went away from home, or into the field to work. Several
+times we were forced to seek shelter in the Fort, or in some
+home, saving our scalps from the Indians by the fleetness of our
+ponies. But how changed now.</p>
+
+<p>"One of our early recollections is the blackened posts and
+poles along the old Oregon trail. As we gazed down the trail
+these looked like sentinels guarding the way, but we soon learned
+they were the poles of the first telegraph line built across Nebraska.
+It extended from Nebraska City to Fort Laramie, Wyoming.
+When the Union Pacific railroad was built through
+here&mdash;on the north side of the river&mdash;in 1866, the telegraph
+line followed and the old line on the south side of the Platte
+was abandoned. The old poles were of red cedar taken from
+the cañons and were all burned black by the prairie fires. They
+soon disappeared, being used by the Indians and the emigrants
+for firewood. The old trail and telegraph line crossed our farm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+and only a few years ago we dug out of the ground one of the
+stubs of a cedar telegraph pole about two feet in diameter and
+six feet long, and there are still more of these old stubs in our
+fields.</p>
+
+<p>"In the early seventies the most prominent ranches in this
+section were Upper 96 and Lower 96. These ranches had first
+been the relay stations of the old Wells Fargo Express Company.
+At each of these may be seen well preserved cedar log buildings
+still in use built by this company when they first established
+their express business across the plains in the middle of the last
+century. On the advent of the Union Pacific, the Wells Fargo
+Express Company abandoned these stations and they became
+the property of the 96 Ranch. Although they have passed
+through the hands of several different owners they have always
+retained their names of Upper 96 ranch and Lower 96 ranch.</p>
+
+<p>"The cañons leading into the hills from the south side of the
+river are named from the early ranches along the valley near
+the mouths of the cañons; Conroy from Conroy's ranch, Jeffrie
+from Jeffrie's ranch, Gilman from Gilman's ranch, and Hiles
+from Hiles' ranch. An exception to the above is the Dan
+Smith cañon which is named after Dan Smith in memory of the
+tragedy with which his name is connected. Dan Smith and wife
+were working at the Lower 96 ranch in 1871. Mrs. Smith
+wished to attend a ball to be given by the officers at Fort McPherson
+and wanted her husband to go with her, but he being of
+a jealous disposition refused to go. She mounted her horse and
+started to go alone when he called to her to come back and take
+his gun to protect herself from the Indians. She turned around
+and started back toward him. He drew his gun and fired, killing
+her instantly. She was buried at the Lower 96 ranch and until
+a few years ago her grave was kept green. After shooting his
+wife, Dan Smith mounted her horse and rode away into the hills
+to the south. The soldiers at the Fort twenty-five miles away
+were notified and the next day they came to hunt for the murderer.
+They surrounded him in a cañon in the hills and there
+shot him to death leaving his body a prey for buzzards and
+wolves. The cañon to this day is called Dan Smith Cañon and
+through it is the main road leading from Gothenburg to Farnam,
+Nebraska."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE BEGINNINGS OF FREMONT</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Sadie Irene Moore</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Fremont was named for John C. Fremont, who was a candidate
+against Buchanan for president. The first stakes were set
+August 23, 1856, the boundaries being finished three days later.
+"The first habitation of any sort, was constructed of poles surrounded
+by prairie grass. It was built and owned by E. H.
+Barnard and J. Koontz, in 1856, and stood upon the site of the
+present Congregational church." In the autumn of 1856, Robert
+Kittle built and owned the first house. A few weeks later
+his house was occupied by Rev. Isaac E. Heaton, wife and two
+daughters, who were the first family to keep house in Fremont.
+Alice Flor, born in the fall of 1857, was the first child born in
+Fremont. She is now Mrs. Gilkerson, of Wahoo. The first
+male child born in Fremont was Fred Kittle. He was born in
+March, 1858, and died in 1890. On August 23, 1858, occurred
+the first marriage. The couple were Luther Wilson and Eliza
+Turner. The first death was that of Seth P. Marvin, who was
+accidentally drowned in April, 1857, while crossing the Elkhorn
+seven miles northeast of Fremont. The Marvin home was a
+mile and a quarter west of Fremont and this house was the
+rendezvous of the parties who laid out Fremont. Mr. Marvin
+was one of the town company.</p>
+
+<p>The first celebration of the Fourth of July was in 1857. Robert
+Kittle sold the first goods. J. G. and Towner Smith conducted
+the first regular store. In 1860, the first district school
+was opened with Miss McNeil teacher. Then came Mary Heaton,
+now Mrs. Hawthorne. Mrs. Margaret Turner, followed by James
+G. Smith, conducted the first hotel situated where the First National
+bank now is. This was also the "stage house," and here
+all the traders stopped en route from Omaha to Denver. In the
+evening the old hotel resounded with the music of violin and the
+sound of merry dancing. Charles Smith conducted a drug store
+where Holloway and Fowler now are. A telegraph line was established
+in 1860. The first public school was held in a building<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+owned by the Congregational church at the corner of Eighth and
+D streets. Miss Sarah Pneuman, now Mrs. Harrington, of Fremont,
+was the teacher. When court convened, school adjourned,
+there being no courthouse. In three years the school had grown
+from sixteen to one hundred pupils, with three teachers. The
+first public schoolhouse was built at the corner of Fifth and D
+streets. In 1866 the Union Pacific was built. The first bank
+was established in 1867. The <i>Tribune</i>, the first newspaper, was
+published July 24, 1868. "The Central School" was built in
+1869 and the teacher, in search of truant boys, would ascend to
+the top, where with the aid of field glass, she could see from the
+Platte to the Elkhorn. Today, can be seen on the foundations
+of this old landmark, the marks of slate pencils, which were
+sharpened by some of our middle aged business men of today.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 446px;">
+<img src="images/illus_007.jpg" width="446" height="600" alt="Monument at Fremont, Nebraska, marking the Overland
+Emigrant Trails or California Road
+
+Erected by Lewis-Clark Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Monument at Fremont, Nebraska, marking the Overland
+Emigrant Trails or California Road
+
+Erected by Lewis-Clark Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Cynthia Hamilton, of Fremont, gives an interesting account
+of the early days. In June, 1857, she, with her husband,
+Mr. West, their daughter, Julia, Mrs. West's brother, the late
+Wilson Reynolds, and Mrs. Reynolds, reached the few dwellings
+then comprising Fremont, after an eighteen or nineteen days
+trip in moving wagons from Racine, Wisconsin. They first
+stopped at the house of Robert Kittle, corner Military and
+Broad streets. This house was made from trees grown on the
+bluffs southwest of town, and had a red cedar shingle roof, the
+shingles shaved from logs floated down the Platte. After two
+days, they all moved to a log house in "Pierce's Grove." While
+living here, Mrs. Hamilton tells of hearing a great commotion
+among the tinware and upon investigation, found it was caused
+by a huge snake. In August of the same year they moved to
+their homestead, northwest of town, on the Rawhide. It is now
+known as the Rohr place. Here they remained two years. In
+winter the men made trips to the river for wood, and the women
+must either accompany them or remain at home, alone, far from
+another house. Thus, alone one day, she saw a large band of
+Indians approaching. The chief, picking up an axe from the
+wood pile, placed it under the window where she sat, indicating
+that she must take care of it, else some one might steal it. He
+then led his band northward. During all the residence on the
+homestead the three members of the family suffered continually
+from ague. In the fall of 1859, Mrs. West and her child returned
+to Wisconsin, where they remained ten months. During<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+her absence, Mr. West became a trader with the Indians and
+once in Saunders county as he was selling a quantity of meat on
+a temporary counter, the Indians became rather unruly. His
+white companions fled, and Mr. West seizing a club, went among
+the Indians, striking them right and left. For this, they called
+him a brave and ever afterwards called him "Buck Skadaway,"
+meaning curly hair. When Mrs. West returned from Wisconsin,
+she came down the Mississippi and up the Missouri to Omaha,
+then a small town. From there they drove to Fremont, with
+horse and buggy, via Florence. Mr. West now bought a cottonwood
+house, battened up and down. It consisted of two rooms,
+and stood on the site of the present residence of Thad Quinn.
+Wilson Reynolds bought two lots on the south side of Sixth
+street near the West home for twenty-five cents. Here he built
+a house made partly of black walnut taken from the banks of
+the Platte. In this house, was born our present postmaster, B.
+W. Reynolds. Mrs. Hamilton relates that the Indians were frequent
+callers at her home, one even teaching her to make "corn
+coffee," "by taking a whole ear of corn, burning it black and
+then putting it in the coffee pot." Food consisted of vegetables,
+which were grown on the prairie sod, prairie chickens, small
+game, and corn bread. Butter was twenty-five cents a pound.
+Syrup was made by boiling down watermelon. Boiled beans
+were mashed to a pulp and used as butter. "Everything was
+high and when the money and supplies which we bought were
+exhausted it was hard to get more." Screens were unknown and
+the flies and mosquitoes were terrible. In the evenings everyone
+would build a smudge so that they could sleep. Not a tree was
+to be seen except those on the banks of the streams. Tall prairie
+grass waved like the ocean and prairie fires were greatly feared.
+Everyone began setting out trees at once.</p>
+
+<p>"In those days Broad street was noted as a racing road for the
+Indians and now it is a boulevard for automobiles," says Mrs.
+Hamilton. "Yes," she continued, "I well remember the Fourth
+of July celebration in 1857. There were about one hundred
+people in attendance. Miss McNeil was my little girl's first
+teacher and Dr. Rhustrat was our first physician." In 1861,
+after a short illness, Mr. West died. He was buried beside his
+infant daughter in the cemetery, which at that time stood near
+the present brewery. The bodies were afterward removed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+Barnard's cemetery and later to Ridge. The following year,
+Mrs. West, with her daughter, Julia, returned to her parents at
+Racine, Wisconsin, where she remained for many years. In
+1876, as the wife of William Hamilton she returned and made
+her home on one of her farms near the stockyards. Twenty-five
+years ago this place was sold for $100 per acre while the old
+homestead northwest of town brought $25 per acre in 1875.
+After selling the south farm she and Mr. Hamilton, who died a
+few years ago, bought the present home on Broad street. Everyone
+should honor the early settlers, who left their eastern
+homes, endured hardships and privations that a beautiful land
+might be developed for posterity. They should be pensioned as
+well as our soldiers. And we, of the younger generation, should
+respect and reverence their memory.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A GRASSHOPPER STORY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Margaret F. Kelly</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I came to Fremont, Nebraska, in May, 1870, and settled on a
+farm on Maple creek. In 1874 or 1875 we were visited by grasshoppers.
+I had never formed an idea of anything so disastrous.
+When the "hoppers" were flying the air was full of them. As
+one looked up, they seemed like a severe snow storm. It must
+have been like one of the plagues of Egypt. They were so bad
+one day that the passenger train on the Union Pacific was stalled
+here. I went to see the train and the odor from the crushed
+insects was nauseating. I think the train was kept here for
+three hours. The engine was besmeared with them. It was a
+very wonderful sight. The rails and ground were covered with
+the pests. They came into the houses and one lady went into
+her parlor one day and found her lace curtains on the floor,
+almost entirely eaten. Mrs. George Turner said that she came
+home from town one day when the "hoppers" were flying and
+they were so thick that the horses could not find the barn. Mrs.
+Turner's son had a field of corn. W. R. Wilson offered him
+fifty dollars for it. When he began to husk it, there was no
+corn there. A hired man of Mrs. Turner's threw his vest on
+the ground. When he had finished his work and picked up the
+vest it was completely riddled by the grasshoppers. I heard
+one man say that he was out riding with his wife and they
+stopped by a field of wheat where the "hoppers" were working
+and they could hear their mandibles working on the wheat.
+When they flew it sounded like a train of cars in motion.
+Horses would not face them unless compelled. One year I had
+an eighty acre field of corn which was being cultivated. The
+men came in and said the "hoppers" were taking the corn.
+They did not stay long, but when they left no one would have
+known that there had ever been any corn in that field. My brother
+from California came in 1876. On the way to the farm a
+thunder storm came up and we stopped at a friend's until it
+was over. My brother said, "I would not go through the ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>perience
+again for $10,000, and I would not lose the experience
+for the same amount." The "hoppers" came before the storm
+and were thick on the ground. It was a wonderful experience.
+In those days we cut our small grain with "headers." The
+grain head was cut and fell into boxes on wagons. After dinner
+one day, the men went out to find the grasshoppers in full
+possession. A coat which had been left hanging was completely
+destroyed. Gardens and field crops were their delight. They
+would eat an onion entirely out of the hard outer skin. I had
+a thirty acre field of oats which looked fine on Saturday. We
+could not harvest it then and on Monday it looked like an inverted
+whisk broom. Some of the "hoppers" were three inches
+long. The backs were between brown and slate color and underneath
+was white. I think we received visits from them for
+five years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN FREMONT</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Theron Nye</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>From the year 1856 until the beginning of the civil war in
+1861 the early settlers of Nebraska experienced nearly all of the
+ills and hardships incidental to a pioneer life. Fifty years
+have passed since then and to one having lived through those
+trying days&mdash;or to a stranger who merely listens to the almost
+incredulous tales of a past generation&mdash;there arises a question
+as to why any sane person or persons should desire to leave a
+land of comparative comfort and plenty for one of deprivation
+and possible starvation.</p>
+
+<p>The early settlers of Fremont were for the most part young
+people from the eastern states, full of ambition and hope. There
+is in the youthful heart a spirit of energy, of doing and daring
+in order to realize, if possible, dreams of a perhaps glorious future
+in which may be won honor and fame and wealth. Then
+again the forces of nature are never at rest and man, being a
+part of the great whole, must inevitably keep in step with the
+universal law. A few lines written for a paper several years
+ago give the first impression of the landscape which greeted the
+eyes of a stranger on entering the valley of the Elkhorn river
+in 1858, April 26:</p>
+
+<p>"This is the picture as I see it plainly in retrospect&mdash;a
+country, and it was all a country, with a smooth, level, gray
+surface which appeared to go on toward the west forever and
+forever. On the north were the bluffs of the Elkhorn river,
+but the great Elkhorn Valley was a part of an unknown world.
+South of the little townsite of Fremont the Platte river moved
+sluggishly along to meet and be swallowed up in the great Missouri.
+Ten or twelve log cabins broke the monotony of the treeless
+expanse that stretched far away, apparently to a leaden
+sky. My heart sank within me as I thought but did not say,
+'How can I ever live in a place like this?'" And yet the writer
+of the above lines has lived in Fremont for forty-seven years.</p>
+
+<p>The histories of the world are chiefly men's histories. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+are stories of governments, of religions, of wars, and only in exceptional
+instances has woman appeared to hold any important
+place in the affairs of nations. From the earliest settlement of
+the colonies in the new world until the present time, women have
+not only borne with bravery and fortitude the greater trials of
+the pioneer life, but from their peculiar organization and temperament
+suffered more from the small annoyances than their
+stronger companions of the other sex. The experiences of the
+home and family life of the early settlers of the great West
+have never entered into the annals of history nor can a truthful
+story be told without them, but thus far no doubt the apparent
+neglect has been due to woman herself, who until quite recently
+has felt that she was a small factor in the world's affairs.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of the new life in Fremont women had their
+first introduction to the log cabin which was to be their home
+for many years. It was not as comfortable as it looks picturesque
+and romantic printed on paper. It was a story and a half
+high, sixteen by twenty feet in size. The logs were hewn on
+two sides, but the work performed by the volunteer carpenters
+of that time was not altogether satisfactory, consequently the
+logs did not fit closely but the open spaces between were filled
+with a sort of mortar that had a faculty of gradually dropping
+off as it dried, leaving the original holes and openings through
+which the winter winds whistled and Nebraska breezes blew the
+dirt.</p>
+
+<p>The houses were made of cottonwood logs and finished with
+cottonwood lumber. The shingles warped so the roof somewhat
+resembled a sieve. The rain dripped through it in summer and
+snow sifted through it in winter. The floors were made of wide
+rough boards, the planing and polishing given by the broom,
+the old-fashioned mop, and the scrubbing brush. The boards
+warped and shrunk so that the edges turned up, making wide
+cracks in the floor through which many small articles dropped
+down into a large hole in the ground miscalled a cellar. It was
+hardly possible to keep from freezing in these houses in winter.
+Snow sifted through the roof, covering beds and floors. The
+piercing winds blew through every crack and crevice. Green
+cottonwood was the only fuel obtainable and that would sizzle
+and fry in the stove while water froze standing under the stove.
+This is no fairy tale.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The summers were not much more pleasant. It must be remembered
+that there were no trees in Fremont, nothing that
+afforded the least protection from the hot rays of a Nebraska
+sun. Mosquitoes and flies were in abundance, and door screens
+were unknown at that time. The cotton netting nailed over
+windows and hung over and around the beds was a slight protection
+from the pests, although as the doors must necessarily
+be opened more or less no remedy could be devised that would
+make any perceptible improvement. To submit was the rule
+and the law in those days, but many, many times it was done
+under protest.</p>
+
+<p>The first floor was divided or partitioned off, by the use of
+quilts or blankets, into a kitchen, bedroom, and pantry. The
+chamber, or what might be called attic, was also partitioned in
+the same way, giving as many rooms as it would hold beds. The
+main articles of food for the first two years consisted of potatoes,
+corn meal, and bacon. The meal was made from a variety
+of corn raised by the Indians and called Pawnee corn. It was
+very soft, white, and palatable. Wheat flour was not very plentiful
+the first year. Bacon was the only available meat. Occasionally
+a piece of buffalo meat was obtained, but it being very
+hard to masticate only served to make a slight change in the
+gravy, which was otherwise made with lard and flour browned
+together in an iron frying pan, adding boiling water until it was
+of the right consistency, salt and pepper to suit the taste. This
+mixture was used for potatoes and bread of all kinds. Lard
+was a necessity. Biscuits were made of flour, using a little corn
+meal for shortening and saleratus for raising. Much of the
+corn was ground in an ordinary coffee mill or in some instances
+rubbed on a large grater or over a tin pan with a perforated
+bottom, made so by driving nails through it. The nearest flouring
+mill was at Fort Calhoun, over forty miles away, which was
+then a three days' journey, taking more time than a trip to
+California at the present day. Nothing, however, could be substituted
+for butter. The lack of meat, sugar, eggs and fruit,
+tea and coffee, was borne patiently, but wheat flour and corn
+meal bread with its everlasting lard gravy accompaniment was
+more than human nature could bear, yet most of the people
+waxed strong and flourished on bread and grease. Oh, where
+are the students of scientific research and domestic economy?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+There were possibly three or four cows in the settlement, and if
+there was ever an aristocracy in Fremont, it was represented by
+the owners of said cows.</p>
+
+<p>In 1858 a little sorghum was raised. "Hope springs eternal
+in the human breast." Men, women, and children helped to
+prepare the stalks when at the right stage for crushing, which
+was done with a very primitive home-made machine. The juice
+obtained was boiled down to syrup, but alas, the dreams of a
+surfeit of sweetness vanished into thin air, for the result of all
+the toil and trouble expended was a production so nauseous that
+it could not be used even for vinegar.</p>
+
+<p>Wild plums and grapes grew in profusion on the banks of the
+rivers. There was much more enjoyment in gathering the fruit
+than in eating or cooking it. The plums were bitter and sour,
+the grapes were sour and mostly seeds, and sugar was not plentiful.</p>
+
+<p>The climate was the finest in the world for throat and lung
+troubles, but on the breaking up of the soil malaria made its appearance
+and many of the inhabitants suffered from ague and
+fever. Quinine was the only remedy. There were neither
+physicians nor trained nurses here, but all were neighbors and
+friends, always ready to help each other when the occasion required.</p>
+
+<p>In 1856, the year in which Fremont was born, the Pawnee
+Indians were living four miles south across the Platte river on
+the bluffs in Saunders county. They numbered about four
+thousand and were a constant source of annoyance and fear.
+In winter they easily crossed the river on the ice and in summer
+the water most of the time was so low they could swim and wade
+over, consequently there were few days in the year that they did
+not visit Fremont by the hundred. Weeks and months passed
+before women and children became accustomed to them and they
+could never feel quite sure that they were harmless. Stealing
+was their forte. Eyes sharp and keen were ever on the alert
+when they were present, yet when they left almost invariably
+some little article would be missed. They owned buffalo robes
+and blankets for which the settlers exchanged clothing which
+they did not need, jewelry, beads, and ornaments, with a little
+silver coin intermixed. The blankets and robes were utilized
+for bedding and many were the shivering forms they served to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+protect from the icy cold of the Nebraska winters. In 1859 the
+government moved them to another home on the Loup river and
+in 1876 they were removed to Indian territory.</p>
+
+<p>Snakes of many kinds abounded, but rattlesnakes were the
+most numerous. They appeared to have a taste for domestic
+life, as many were found in houses and cellars. A little four-year-old
+boy one sunny summer day ran out of the house bare-footed,
+and stepping on the threshold outside the door felt something
+soft and cold to his feet. An exclamation of surprise
+caused a member of the household to hasten to the door just in
+time to see a young rattlesnake gliding swiftly away. In several
+instances they were found snugly ensconced under pillows, on
+lounges, and very frequently were they found in cellars.</p>
+
+<p>For more than two years there was no way of receiving or
+sending mail only as one or another would make a trip to Omaha,
+which was usually once a week. In 1859 a stage line was put
+on between Omaha and Fort Kearny. No one can tell with what
+thankfulness and rejoicing each and every improvement in the
+condition and surroundings was greeted by the settlers. Dating
+from the discovery of gold in Colorado the pioneer was no more
+an object of pity or sympathy. Those who had planted their
+stakes and made their claims along the old military and California
+trail were independent. Many of the emigrants became
+discouraged and turned their faces homeward before getting a
+glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. On their way home they sold
+loads of provisions for a song. The same fall the fertile soil of
+the Platte Valley, after two years of cultivation, responded to
+the demand of civilization. There was a market west for every
+bushel of grain and every pound of vegetables grown. So at
+least the patient and persevering ones received their reward.</p>
+
+<p>The sources of amusement were few, and yet all enjoyed the
+strange new life. A pleasant ride over the level prairie dotted
+with wild flowers, in any sort of vehicle drawn by a pair of oxen,
+was as enjoyable to the young people then as a drive over the
+country would now be in the finest turnout that Fremont possesses.
+A dance in a room twelve by sixteen feet in a log cabin,
+to the music of the Arkansas Traveler played on one violin, was
+"just delightful." A trip to Omaha once or twice a year was a
+rare event in the woman's life particularly. Three days were
+taken, two to drive in and out, and one to do a little trading<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+(not shopping) and look around to view the sights. A span of
+horses, a lumber wagon with a spring seat in front high up in
+the air, was the conveyance. Women always wore sunbonnets
+on these occasions to keep their complexion fair.</p>
+
+<p>Several times in the earlier years the Mormons passed through
+here with long trains of emigrants journeying to the promised
+land, and a sorry lot they were, for the most of them were footsore
+and weary, as they all walked. The train was made up of
+emigrant covered wagons drawn by oxen, and hand carts drawn
+by cows, men and women, and dogs. It was a sight never to be
+forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>This is merely a short description of some of the trials and
+sufferings endured by the majority of the early settlers of this
+state. Many of the actors in the drama have passed away, a few
+only now remaining, and soon the stories of their lives will be to
+the coming generation like forgotten dreams.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PIONEER WOMEN OF OMAHA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Charles H. Fisette</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Very few of those now living in Omaha can have any realization
+of the privations, not to say hardships, that were endured
+by the pioneer women who came here at an early date. A few
+claim shanties were scattered at distant intervals over this beautiful
+plateau, and were eagerly taken by those who were fortunate
+enough to secure them. There was seldom more than one
+room in them, so that no servants could be kept, even if there
+were any to be had. Many an amusing scene could have been
+witnessed if the friends who had been left behind could have
+peeped in at the door and have seen the attempts made at cooking
+by those who never had cooked before.</p>
+
+<p>A description of one of the homes might be of interest. A
+friend of ours owned a claim shanty that stood on the hill west
+of what is now Saunders, or Twenty-fourth street, and he very
+kindly offered it to us, saying he would have it plastered and
+fixed up. We, of course, accepted it at once and as soon as possible
+it was made ready and we moved into it late one evening,
+very happy to have a home. The house consisted of upstairs,
+downstairs, and a cellar, the upstairs being just high enough for
+one to stand erect in the center of the room, provided one was
+not very tall. The stairs were nothing but a ladder, home-made
+at that, in one corner of the room, held in place by a trunk. It
+was some time before I succeeded in going up and down gracefully.
+I happened to be upstairs when our first caller came and
+in my effort to get down quickly caught my feet in one of the
+rungs of the ladder and landed on the aforementioned trunk
+so suddenly that it brought everyone in the room to their feet.
+It took away all the formality of an introduction.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Hanscom lived half a mile north of the cottage
+just described, and had what seemed to others a house that was
+almost palatial. It contained three rooms, besides a kitchen, and
+had many comforts that few had in those days, including a
+cradle, which held a rosy-cheeked, curly-headed baby girl, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+has long since grown to womanhood and had babies of her own.
+Another home, standing where Creighton College now stands,
+was built by a nephew of the late Rev. Reuben Gaylord, but was
+afterwards occupied by Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Byers, who have for
+many years resided in Colorado. The Gaylords moved from
+there to a new home at Eleventh and Jackson streets. Their
+family consisted of three children: Mrs. S. C. Brewster, of Irvington,
+who is still living at the age of 77 years; a son, Ralph
+Gaylord; and an adopted daughter, Georgia, who has since died.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 468px;">
+<img src="images/illus_008.jpg" width="468" height="600" alt="Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer
+
+First State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1894-1895" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer
+
+First State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1894-1895</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>A one story house built just in the rear of Tootle and Mauls'
+store on Farnam, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets,
+was kept as a boarding house by Kentucky Wood and his wife.
+It was considered a high-toned boarding house, although the partitions
+were made of unbleached cloth and the floor of the dining
+room was covered with sawdust. Judges Lockwood and Bradley,
+two of our territorial judges, boarded there and a dinner
+was given in their honor by the landlord. The invited guests
+included Governor and Mrs. Cuming, Colonel and Mrs. C. B.
+Smith, and Dr. Geo. L. Miller. That was the first dinner party
+ever given in Omaha. Governor and Mrs. Cuming then boarded
+at the Douglas house, Thirteenth and Harney streets, and their
+rooms were often filled with the elite of this young and growing
+city. Mrs. Cuming was very popular in the little gatherings
+which were frequently held. She was the leading light and was
+always ready and willing to assist in any good work. Wherever
+there was sickness she was sure to be found. Mrs. Thomas
+Davis was another who was always doing little acts of kindness.
+She was the mother of the late Mrs. Herman Kountze, who, at
+that time, was the only white little girl in Omaha. Still another
+who never turned anyone away from her door who needed help
+was Mrs. E. Estabrook.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. A. D. Jones, our first postmaster's wife, lived at that
+time at what was called Park Wild, in a one story log and frame
+house, which was afterwards occupied by General G. M. Dodge,
+the distinguished soldier, so well and widely known to the whole
+country as the chief engineer of the Union Pacific railroad.
+Among others who were here were Mrs. Edwin Patrick and Mrs.
+Allen Root, also Mrs. T. G. Goodwill, who lived in the Kentucky
+Wood house that I have already mentioned. She afterwards
+built the brick house that still stands near the northwest corner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+of Davenport street, facing south. It is an old landmark near
+Fifteenth street.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most prominent women of that day was Mrs. John
+M. Thayer, whose home at that time was said to have been the
+first civilized appearing home. It was plastered, clapboarded,
+and shingled. The entire community envied Mrs. Thayer her
+somewhat imposing residence. It was in very strong contrast,
+however, with the beautiful brick house which General Thayer
+afterwards built and occupied for several years, on the northeast
+corner of Sixteenth and Davenport streets.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Samuel Rogers, Mrs. William Snowden, Mrs. Thomas
+O'Conner, Mrs. O. B. Selden, Mrs. Hadley Johnson, and Mrs.
+Harrison Johnson were among the first women who lived in
+Omaha. Mrs. A. J. Poppleton may be classed among the number,
+although at that time she was living in Council Bluffs, then
+called Kanesville, where she was one of the leading young ladies.</p>
+
+<p>The first hotel in Omaha, a log house, eighteen by twenty feet,
+one story high, was named the St. Nicholas. It was first occupied
+by the family of Wm. P. Snowden, and stood on the corner
+of Twelfth and Jackson streets in 1855. The Douglas house, a
+two story frame building, was erected at the southwest corner
+of Thirteenth and Harney streets. The rear part was made of
+cottonwood slabs, and in the winter time it was said to have
+been very cold. It was the leading hotel and all the high-toned
+people stopped there. The Tremont house, between Thirteenth
+and Fourteenth streets, was built in 1856, and opened by Wm. F.
+Sweezy and Aaron Root. Mr. Sweezy is still living in Omaha.
+The Farnham, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth on Harney,
+was built in 1858. The famous Herndon house was built in
+1856 by Dr. Geo. L. Miller and Lyman Richardson. The Hamilton,
+a brick building, was erected in 1856 by C. W. Hamilton,
+C. B. Smith, and H. M. Judson. The proprietors bought their
+furniture in St. Louis and brought it to Omaha by steamboat.
+The upper part of the house was one large bedroom with beds
+ranged against the walls. About once a week the furniture was
+all removed from this room and it was temporarily converted
+into a ballroom.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A PIONEER FAMILY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Edith Erma Purviance</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Dr. Wm. Washington Wiley, with his wife, Gertrude Miranda
+Wiley, and their children, came to Nebraska July 6, 1857, and
+lived at Saratoga (now in Omaha) a year and a half. They
+came from Ohio in covered wagons, driving their cows along.
+It took two months to make the trip.</p>
+
+<p>They caught up with a company of Mormon emigrants when
+they reached Iowa City, Iowa, three or four hundred of whom
+camped along about five miles ahead of the Wiley family. They
+stopped at Florence a few weeks to buy provisions and teams to
+carry them across the plains to Utah. These Mormons had
+two-wheeled carts. These carts were provision carts drawn by
+both men and women.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wiley was of Holland Dutch descent, and inherited the
+thrift and capability of her ancestors. She deserved great credit
+for her quick action in saving one victim from the Claim Club.
+This Claim Club was an organization of prominent Omaha business
+men. John Kelly, a nephew of Mrs. Wiley's sister, had a
+claim of one hundred sixty acres near Omaha. There were four
+wagonloads of men out looking for him to compel him to give
+them the papers showing his right to the land. The late Joseph
+Redman, of Omaha, lived near Mrs. Wiley, and when he saw the
+men coming for John Kelly he went to Mrs. Wiley and requested
+her to warn young Kelly, as she could get past the men, but he
+could not. Mrs. Redman went to Mrs. Wiley's house and took
+care of the three months' old baby and five other children.
+John Kelly was working at the carpenter's trade in Omaha,
+about three miles south of Mrs. Wiley's. All she had to ride
+was a stallion, of which she was afraid, and which had never
+been ridden by a woman. She rode slowly until out of sight of
+the wagonloads of men and then hit the horse every other jump.
+She made him run all the way, passing some Indians on the way,
+who looked at her wonderingly but did not try to stop her.
+After going to several places she finally located John Kelly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+He wanted to go to the ferry, but her judgment was better and
+she said they would look for him there the first thing, which
+they did. She took him on behind her and rode to the home of
+Jane Beeson, his aunt, who put him down cellar and then spread
+a piece of rag carpet over the trap door. The Claim Club men
+were there several times that day to look for him, but did not
+search the house. After dark he walked to Bellevue, twelve
+miles, and the next morning crossed the Missouri river on the
+ferry boat and went to Missouri. When his claim papers were
+returned from Washington he returned and lived on his land
+without any further trouble. He would have been badly beaten
+and probably killed had it not been for Mrs. Wiley's nerve and
+decision in riding a fractious horse to warn him of his danger.</p>
+
+<p>While Dr. and Mrs. Wiley resided at Omaha the territorial
+law-makers disagreed, part of them going to Florence to make
+laws and part of them to Omaha, each party feeling it was the
+rightful law-making body of the territory.</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1859, the family crossed the Platte river on
+the ice and located on a farm in Cass county, three miles west
+of the Missouri river, about three miles southwest of the present
+town of Murray, although the old town of Rock Bluffs was their
+nearest town at that time. Dr. Wiley and the older children
+went on ahead with the household goods and live stock. Mrs.
+Wiley, with the small children, rode in a one-horse buggy. She
+did not know the way and there were no fences or landmarks to
+guide her. She had the ague so badly she could hardly drive
+the horse. A sack containing $1,800 in gold was tied around
+her waist. This was all the money they had, and they intended
+to use it to build a house and barn on their new farm. She
+objected to carrying so much money, but Dr. Wiley said it was
+safer from robbers with her than with him. In spite of her illness
+and the difficulty in traveling in an unknown country a
+distance of thirty-five or forty miles, she reached the new home
+safely. She took off the sack of gold, threw it in a corner, and
+fell on the bed exhausted. They lived all winter in a log house of
+two rooms. There was a floor and roof, but no ceiling, and the
+snow drifted in on the beds. Most of the family were sick all
+winter.</p>
+
+<p>The next summer they built a frame house, the first in that
+locality, which caused the neighbors to call them "high toned."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+Mrs. Wiley bought a parlor set of walnut furniture, upholstered
+in green.</p>
+
+<p>General Worth, who had been a congressman, wrote to Washington,
+D. C., and got the commission, signed by Abraham Lincoln,
+appointing Dr. Wiley postmaster, the name of the postoffice
+being Three Groves. They kept the postoffice eleven
+years.</p>
+
+<p>They kept the stage station five years. It was the main stop
+between St. Joseph and Omaha before the railroad went through.
+They had from ten to fifteen people to dinner one coach load.
+The stage coach was drawn by four horses, and carried both
+mail and passengers. The horses were changed for fresh ones
+at the Wiley farm. At first the meals were twenty-five cents;
+the last two years, fifty cents. This was paid by the passengers
+and not included in the stage fare.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the discovery of Pike's Peak and gold in Colorado,
+freighters, with big freight wagons of provisions drawn by
+six or eight oxen, stopped there over night. There were usually
+twelve men, who slept on the floor, paying eighteen dollars for
+supper, breakfast, and lodging. Mr. McComas and Mr. Majors
+(father of Col. Thomas J. Majors) each had freight wagons
+starting at Nebraska City and taking the supplies to Denver
+and Pike's Peak via Fort Kearny, Nebraska. When the Union
+Pacific railroad was completed in 1869 the freighters had to
+sell their oxen and wagons, as they could not compete with the
+railroad in hauling freight.</p>
+
+<p>The Omaha, Pawnee, and Otoe Indians, when visiting other
+Indians, would stop at Dr. Wiley's and ask for things to eat.
+Sometimes there would be fifty of them. An old Indian would
+peer in. If the shade was pulled down while he was looking in
+he would call the party vile names. If food was given him a
+dozen more Indians would come and ask for something. If
+chickens were not given them they helped themselves to all they
+found straying around. It would make either tribe angry to
+ask if they were going to visit any other tribe. The Pawnees
+would say, "Omaha no good"; the Omahas would say, "Pawnee
+no good."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wiley kept a copy of the <i>Omaha Republican</i>, published
+November 30, 1859. The paper is yellow with age, but well preserved,
+and a few years ago she presented it to the State His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>torical
+Society. It is a four-page paper, the second and third
+pages being nearly all advertisements. It contains a letter
+written by Robert W. Furnas, ex-governor of Nebraska, and a
+long article about the late J. Sterling Morton. This was about
+the time Mr. Morton tried to claim the salt basin at Lincoln as
+a preëmption, and wanted to locate salt works there.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wiley always took a great interest in the development of
+the state; she attended the State Fair almost every year, spending
+a great deal of time looking over the new machinery.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Wiley died in 1887 and Mrs. Wiley in 1914. Mrs. Wiley
+lived to the age of 87 years.</p>
+
+<p>Little Erma Purviance, daughter of Dr. W. E. and Edith E.
+Purviance, of Omaha, is a great-granddaughter of Mrs. Wiley,
+and also a namesake. May she possess some of the virtue and
+intelligence of her ancestor.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>: Mrs. Wiley's two daughters, Araminta and Hattie,
+were students in the early years at Brownell Hall, then the only
+means of obtaining an education, as there were very few public
+schools. Some of the children and grandchildren still live on
+the lands taken by Dr. and Mrs. Wiley, and have always been
+among the well-to-do citizens of Cass county.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Edith Erma Purviance, the writer of the foregoing
+article, spent most of her girlhood with her grandmother, who
+sent her to the State University, where she made good use of
+her advantages. Other children of Mrs. Wiley were also university
+students or identified with the various schools of the
+state. Mrs. A. Dove Wiley <a name="asche" id="asche"></a><ins title="Original has Asch">Asche</ins>, youngest daughter of Mrs.
+Wiley, now occupies the old home, out of which so recently went
+the brave pioneer who made it of note among the early homes
+of the territory.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Harriett S. MacMurphy.</span></p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE BADGER FAMILY</h2>
+
+
+<p>Lewis H. Badger drove with his parents, Henry L. and Mary
+A. Badger, from their home in Livingston county, Illinois, to
+Fillmore county, Nebraska. They had a covered emigrant wagon
+and a buggy tied behind. Lewis was twelve years old October
+5, 1868, the day they crossed the Missouri river at Nebraska
+City, the nearest railroad station to their future home. The
+family stayed with friends near Saltillo while H. L. Badger
+came on with the horse and buggy and picked out his claim on
+the north side of Fillmore county, it being the northwest quarter
+of section 2, township 8, range 3, west of the sixth principal
+meridian.</p>
+
+<p>At that time the claims were taken near the river in order
+that water might be obtained more easily, and also to be near
+the railroad which had been surveyed and staked out in the
+southern edge of York county near the West Blue river.</p>
+
+<p>The Badger family came on to Lincoln, then a mere village,
+and stopped there. They bought a log chain, and lumber for a
+door; the window frames were hewed from logs. When they
+reached the claim they did not know where to ford the river so
+they went on farther west to Whitaker's and stayed all night.
+There they forded the river and came on to the claim the next
+morning, October 20, 1868. There they camped while Mr.
+Badger made a dugout in the banks of the West Blue river,
+where the family lived for more than two years. The hollow
+in the ground made by this dugout can still be seen.</p>
+
+<p>In 1870 H. L. Badger kept the postoffice in the dugout. He
+received his commission from Postmaster General Creswell.
+The postoffice was known as West Blue. About the same time
+E. L. Martin was appointed postmaster at Fillmore. Those were
+the first postoffices in Fillmore county. Before that time the
+settlers got their mail at McFadden in York county. Mr. Badger
+kept the postoffice for some time after moving into the log house
+and after the establishment of the postoffice at Fairmont.</p>
+
+<p>In 1867 the Indians were all on reservations but by permission<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+of the agents were allowed to go on hunting trips. If they made
+trouble for the settlers they were taken back to the reservations.
+While the Badgers were living in the dugout a party of about
+one thousand Omaha Indians came up the river on a hunting
+trip. Some of their ponies got away and ate some corn belonging
+to a man named Dean, who lived farther down the river.
+The man loved trouble and decided to report them to the agent.
+The Indians were afraid of being sent back to the reservation so
+the chief, Prairie Chicken, his brother, Sammy White, and seventeen
+of the other Indians came into the dugout and asked Mr.
+Badger to write a letter to the agent for them stating their side
+of the case. This he did and read it to Sammy White, the interpreter,
+who translated it for the other eighteen. It proved
+satisfactory to both Indians and agent.</p>
+
+<p>In August, 1869, while Mr. Badger was away helping a family
+named Whitaker, who lived up the river, to do some breaking,
+the son, Lewis, walked to where his father was at work,
+leaving Mrs. Badger at home alone with her four-year-old daughter.
+About four o'clock it began to rain very hard and continued
+all night. The river raised until the water came within
+eighteen inches of the dugout door. The roof leaked so that it
+was almost as wet inside as out. Mr. Badger and Lewis stayed
+at the Whitaker dugout. They fixed the canvas that had been
+the cover of the wagon over the bed to keep Grandmother Whitaker
+dry and the others sat by the stove and tried to keep warm,
+but could not. The next morning the men paddled down the
+rived to the Badger dugout in a wagon box. The wagon box
+was a product of their own making and was all wood, so it
+served the purpose of a boat.</p>
+
+<p>It should be explained that the reason the roofs of the dugouts
+and log houses leaked was because of the material used in
+their construction. Shingles were out of the question to these
+settlers of small means living one hundred miles from the railroad.
+There were plenty of trees near the river, so the settlers
+hewed out logs for ridge poles, then placed willow poles and
+brush across for a support. On top of that they put dirt and
+sod. When it rained the water naturally soaked through. The
+roof would leak for several days after a big rain.</p>
+
+<p>The next dwelling place of the Badger family was a log house
+built on the south half of the quarter section. For some time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+they lived in the log house and kept their stock in the dugout
+stable on the river bank. Thus they were living during the
+great April storm of 1873, which lasted for three days. All of
+the draws and ravines, even the river, were packed full of snow
+that was solid enough to hold a man up. There was very little
+snow on the level, it all being in drifts in the low places. The
+Badgers had a corn field between the log house and the river.
+While the storm raged Lewis wrapped himself in a blanket, and
+by following the rows of corn made his way to the dugout stable
+and fed the horses corn once each day. It was impossible to
+give them water.</p>
+
+<p>Henry L. Badger was commissioned by Governor Butler the
+first notary public in Fillmore county. Later he was appointed
+by acting Governor James, registrar of voters for the election
+to be held April 21, 1871, to elect officers for the new county.
+At that election he was elected both county clerk and county
+surveyor.</p>
+
+<p>In the late sixties when the county was first settled the country
+abounded in buffalo, deer, antelope, elk, prairie chickens,
+wild geese, ducks, and turkeys. The muddy stream known as
+West Blue river was clear and the fish found in it were not of
+the same variety as those caught now. Wild plums grew in
+abundance along the river bank and were much larger and of
+finer quality than the wild plums of today. In those days glass
+jars for canning were not as plentiful as now, so they picked
+the plums late in the fall, put them in a barrel and poured water
+over them and kept them for winter use.</p>
+
+<p>Lewis Badger tells of going on buffalo hunts with his father
+and seeing herds of thousands of the big animals, and driving
+for ten hours through the herd. He has now an old silver half
+dime that he found in an abandoned stage station on the Oregon
+trail, when on a buffalo hunt.</p>
+
+<p>In early days the settlers did lots of trapping. The Indians
+were frequent visitors and one time an Indian went with Mr.
+Badger and his son to look at their traps. In one trap they
+found a mink. Mr. Badger remarked that they got a mink in
+that same trap the day before. The Indian said, "Him lucky
+trap." The Indian would not steal but he wanted the lucky
+trap, so the next day that trap was gone and another in its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+place. The Indian seemed to get the best of the bargain for it
+is a fact that they never caught a thing in the trap he left.</p>
+
+<p>Sammy and Luke White, brothers of chief Prairie Chicken
+of the Omahas, frequently visited the early settlers. Sammy
+could talk English and was a good interpreter. He told of a
+big Indian battle in the western part of the state wherein the
+Sioux and Cheyenne, and Omahas, Otoes, Poncas, and Pawnees
+all took part and fought for two days and only killed two Indians.
+His brother, Prairie Chicken, killed one of the Indians
+and scalped him in the midst of the battle. For that act of
+bravery he was made a chief. After telling the story of his
+brother, when asked about himself, Sammy very modestly said,
+"Me 'fraid, me run."</p>
+
+<p>On one of Mr. Badger's hunting trips he killed a deer. When
+it was dressed Lewis was sent to the Whitaker dugout with a
+quarter of the meat. An Indian, Pawnee Jack, happened to be
+there at the time and it stormed so they had to keep him all
+night, much to their disgust. Evidently he enjoyed their hospitality,
+especially the venison, for when they started him on the
+next morning he inquired where the "papoose" lived that
+brought the "buckskin," meaning the venison. They told him
+and he made straight for the Badger dugout and the "buckskin."
+It stormed so they were forced to keep him there two
+nights before sending him on.</p>
+
+<p>Although most painfully familiar to every early settler, no
+pioneer story is complete without the grasshoppers. They came
+in herds and droves and ate every green thing. For days great
+clouds of them passed over. The next year they hatched out in
+great numbers and flew away without hurting anything. Mr.
+Badger had a nice young orchard that he had planted and
+tended. The grasshoppers ate the leaves off the trees and as it
+was early in August they leaved out again and were frozen so
+they died. Snakes feasted on the hoppers. Since seeing a
+garter snake at that time just as full of grasshoppers as it could
+possibly be, Lewis Badger has never killed a snake or permitted
+one to be killed on his farm. He declared that anything that
+could make away with so many grasshoppers should be allowed
+to live. Many people asked for and received the so-called "aid
+for grasshopper sufferers." In this section of the country it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+seemed absolutely unnecessary as there had been harvested a
+good crop of wheat, previous to the coming of the hoppers.</p>
+
+<p>In 1871 the railroad was built through the county. That season
+Lewis Badger sold watermelons, that he had raised, to the
+construction gang at work on the road. The town of Fairmont
+was started the same year. In those days the settlers would
+walk to town. It was nothing unusual for Mr. and Mrs. Badger
+and Lewis to walk to Fairmont, a distance of six miles.</p>
+
+<p>When the Badger family settled on their claim, they planted
+a row of cottonwood trees around it. These trees have made a
+wonderful growth. In 1911 part of them were sawed into lumber.
+There are two especially large cottonwood trees on the
+farm. One measures twenty-six feet in circumference at the
+base and nineteen feet around five feet above the ground and
+runs up forty feet before it begins to branch out. The other
+is thirty-three feet around the base but branches into three trees
+four feet above the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. H. L. Badger was a witness of the first wedding in the
+county, that of Wm. Whitaker and Sabra Brumsey, which took
+place June 28, 1871. The ceremony was performed by the first
+county judge, Wm. H. Blaine, who stayed all night at the
+Badger home and attended the wedding the next day.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. H. L. Badger died January 11, 1894, and Mr. Badger
+July 21, 1905. The son Lewis and family still own and farm
+the old homestead.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FIRST WHITE SETTLER IN FILLMORE COUNTY</h2>
+
+
+<p>The first settlement in Fillmore county, Nebraska, was made
+in 1866 by Nimrod J. Dixon, a native of Pennsylvania. He was
+married to Lydia Gilmore, who had previously filed on a homestead
+adjoining his. Mr. and Mrs. Dixon continued to reside
+on their homestead until they moved to Fairmont, Nebraska,
+where they are now living, having lived on the farm forty years.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Dixon were married February 28, 1867, at the
+home of Mrs. Dixon's father, Elias Gilmore, near Blue Vale.
+Mr. Dixon got the license at Nebraska City. From that time
+until the summer of 1868 they were the only settlers in the
+county and were seven or eight miles from the nearest neighbor.</p>
+
+<p>In relating her experiences Mrs. Dixon said: "I was afraid
+to stay alone, so when Mr. Dixon had to go away I went with
+him or my sisters stayed with me. At that time we had to go to
+Milford for flour and twenty-five miles to get a plow-lay sharpened.
+At such times Mr. Dixon would stay at my father's home
+near Blue Vale and help them two or three days with their
+breaking, in return for which one of the boys would come and
+help him.</p>
+
+<p>"The Indians visited us frequently and I was afraid of them.
+One time a number of them came and two entered the dugout
+and asked for flour. We gave them as much as we could spare,
+but they could see the flour sitting on a bench behind the door
+and wanted more. We refused, but they became very insistent,
+so much so that Mr. Dixon grabbed a black-snake whip that hung
+on the wall and started toward them. This show of resistance
+was all that was necessary. It proved to the Indians that Mr.
+Dixon was not afraid of them, so they gave him powder and
+shot to regain his friendship.</p>
+
+<p>"An Indian came in one day and gave me a lot of beads, then
+he wanted flour, which we gave him. He took it and held it out
+to me, saying, 'Squaw cook it, squaw cook it!' This I refused
+to do, so he said, 'Give me the beads, give me the beads.'</p>
+
+<p>"My baby, Arthur, born January 9, 1869, was the first white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+child born in Fillmore county. I recall one time that I was
+home alone with the baby. An Indian came in and handed me
+a paper that said he had lost a pony. I assured him that we
+had seen nothing of the pony. He saw a new butcher knife that
+was lying on the table, picked it up, and finally drew out his old
+knife and held it toward me, saying, 'Swap, swap!' I said,
+'Yes,' so he went away with my good knife.</p>
+
+<p>"The worst fright I ever did have was not from Indians. My
+sister Minnie was with me and we were out of salt. Mr. Dixon
+said he would go across the river to Whitaker's and borrow
+some. We thought that he wouldn't be gone long so we stayed
+at home. While he was away a cloud came up and it began to
+rain. I never did see it rain harder. The river raised, and the
+water in the ravine in front of the dugout came nearly to the
+door. The roof leaked so we were nearly as wet indoors as we
+would have been out. The rain began about four o'clock in the
+afternoon. It grew dark and Mr. Dixon did not return. We
+thought that he would certainly be drowned in trying to cross
+the river. While we were in this state of suspense, the door
+burst open and a half-clad woman rushed in, saying, 'Don't let
+me scare you to death.' I was never so frightened in my life,
+and it was some time before I recognized her as my neighbor,
+Mrs. Fairbanks.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. and Mrs. Fairbanks had gone to Whitaker's, who were
+coopers, to get some barrels fixed for sorghum, and left the children
+at home. When it rained they thought they must try to
+cross the river and get to their children. Mr. Dixon came with
+them. At first they tried to ride horses across, but the one Mrs.
+Fairbanks was riding refused to swim and threw her into the
+water, so she had to swim back. They were all excellent swimmers,
+so they started again in a wagon box which those on land
+tried to guide by means of a line. With the aid of the wagon
+box and by swimming they succeeded in getting across. That
+was in the fall of 1869.</p>
+
+<p>"The only time I ever saw a buffalo skinned was when a big
+herd stayed a week or more on the south side of the river. Kate
+Bussard and I stood on the top of the dugout and watched the
+chase, and after they killed one we went nearer and watched
+them skin it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Dixon took his claim without seeing it. In October, 1866,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+he went to the land office and learned that he could then take a
+homestead of one hundred and sixty acres but the new law would
+soon go into effect providing that settlers could only homestead
+eighty acres. Mr. Dixon was afraid that he could not go and
+see the claim and get back to Nebraska City and file on it in time
+to get one hundred and sixty acres. In telling about it Mr.
+Dixon says, "I thought it would, indeed, be a poor quarter section
+that would not have eighty acres of farm land, so I took my
+chances.</p>
+
+<p>"In the year 1868, the first year that we had any crops planted,
+it almost forgot to rain at all. The barley was so short that
+it fell through the cradle. There were no bridges so we had to
+ford the river. It was hard to haul much of a load across because
+the wagon would cut into the mud on the two banks while
+the sandy river bottom would stand a pretty good load. That
+difficulty I overcame by making bundles or sheaves of willow
+poles and placing them at the two banks and covering them with
+sand. Later the settlers made a bridge across the river near
+the homestead of H. L. Badger. This has ever since been known
+as the 'Badger Bridge.' The first bridge was made of logs which
+we procured along the river.</p>
+
+<p>"I was making a hayrack of willow poles at the time of the
+total eclipse of the sun. It began to grow dark, the chickens
+went to roost, and it seemed that night was coming on.</p>
+
+<p>"The year 1869 was rainy and we raised good crops and fine
+potatoes that season. That was the year they were driving
+Texas cattle up to eat the northern grass and then ship them
+east over the Union Pacific railroad. The cattle stampeded, so
+they lost many of them and we saw them around for a year or
+more.</p>
+
+<p>"My first buffalo hunt was in 1867. The country seemed to
+be covered with great herds and the Indians were hunting them.
+Twenty of us started out with five wagons. There were Jake
+and Boss Gilmore, Jim Johnson, and myself in one wagon. We
+had only about three days' supplies with us, expecting to get
+buffalo before these were exhausted, but the Indians were ahead
+of us and kept the buffalo out of our range. Our party crossed
+the Little Blue at Deweese. Beyond there we found carcasses
+of buffalo and a fire where the Indians had burned out a ranch.
+Realizing that it was necessary for us to take precautions, we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+chose Colonel Bifkin our leader and decided to strike another
+trail and thus avoid the Indians if possible. We traveled toward
+the Republican river but found no track of either buffalo or
+Indians, so we turned around and followed the Indians. By
+that time our food supply was exhausted, but by good luck we
+shot two wild turkeys.</p>
+
+<p>"We were soon following the Indians so closely that we ate
+dinner where they ate breakfast and by night we were almost
+in sight of them. We thought it best to put out a guard at
+night. My station was under a cottonwood tree near a foot-log
+that crossed a branch of the Little Blue. I was to be relieved
+at eleven o'clock. I heard something coming on the foot-log.
+I listened and watched but it was so dark that I could see nothing,
+but could hear it coming closer; so I shot and heard something
+drop. Colonel Bifkin, who was near, coming to relieve
+me, asked what I was shooting at. 'I don't know, perhaps an
+Indian; it dropped,' I replied. We looked and found merely a
+coon, but it did good service as wagon grease, for we had forgotten
+that very necessary article.</p>
+
+<p>"The Indians kept the main herd ahead of them so we were
+only able to see a few buffalo that had strayed away. We went
+farther west and got two or three and then went into camp on
+the Little Blue. We always left a guard at camp and all of the
+fun came when Boss Gilmore and I were on guard so we missed
+it. The others rounded up and killed about twenty buffalo.
+One fell over the bluff into the river and it fell to our lot to get
+it out and skin it, but by the time we got it out the meat had
+spoiled. The water there was so full of alkali that we could not
+drink it and neither could the horses, so we started back, struck
+the freight road and followed it until we came to Deep Well
+ranch on the Platte bottom. We had driven without stopping
+from ten o'clock in the forenoon till two o'clock in the morning.
+We lay down and slept then, but I was awakened early by chickens
+crowing. I roused the others of our party and we went in
+search of something to eat. It had been eight days since we had
+had any bread and I was never so bread-hungry as then. We
+came to the Martin home about three miles west of Grand Island
+and although we could not buy bread, the girls baked biscuits
+for us and I ate eleven biscuits. That was the home of the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+Martin boys who were pinned together by an arrow that the
+Indians shot through both of them while riding on one pony.</p>
+
+<p>"That morning I saw the first construction train that came
+into Grand Island over the Union Pacific railroad. If I remember
+correctly it was in November, 1867.</p>
+
+<p>"We took home with us five wagonloads of buffalo meat. I
+did not keep any of the hides because I could not get them
+tanned. Mr. Gilmore got Indian women to tan a hide for him
+by giving them sugar and flour. They would keep asking for it
+and finally got all that was coming to them before the hide was
+done, so they quit tanning, and Mr. Gilmore had to keep baiting
+them by giving them more sugar and flour in order to get it
+done."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Dixon have eight children, all living. They
+still own the original homestead that was their home for so
+many years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PIONEERING IN FILLMORE COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By John R. McCashland</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the fall of 1870, with Mrs. McCashland and two children,
+Addie and Sammy, I left Livingston county, Illinois, and drove
+to Fillmore county, Nebraska. We started with two wagons and
+teams. I had three good horses and one old plug. I drove one
+team and had a man drive the other until I became indignant
+because he abused the horses and let him go. Mrs. McCashland
+drove the second team the rest of the way.</p>
+
+<p>A family of neighbors, Thomas Roe's, were going west at the
+same time, so we were together throughout the journey until we
+got lost in the western part of Iowa. The road forked and we
+were so far behind we did not see which way Roe turned and so
+went the other way. It rained that night and a dog ate our
+supplies so we were forced to procure food from a settler. We
+found the Roe family the next evening just before we crossed
+the Missouri river, October 15, 1870.</p>
+
+<p>East of Lincoln we met a prairie schooner and team of oxen.
+An old lady came ahead and said to us, "Go back, good friends,
+go back!" When questioned about how long she had lived here,
+she said, "I've wintered here and I've summered here, and God
+knows I've been here long enough."</p>
+
+<p>When Mrs. McCashland saw the first dugout that she had ever
+seen, she cried. It did not seem that she could bear to live in a
+place like that. It looked like merely a hole in the ground.</p>
+
+<p>We finally reached the settlement in Fillmore county and lived
+in a dugout with two other families until I could build a dugout
+that we could live in through the winter. That done, I picked
+out my claim and went to Lincoln to file on it and bought lumber
+for a door and for window frames.</p>
+
+<p>I looked the claim over, chose the site for buildings, and when
+home drew the plans of where I wanted the house, stable, well,
+etc., on the dirt hearth for Mrs. McCashland to see. She felt so
+bad because she had to live in such a place that I gave it up and
+went to the West Blue river, which was near, felled trees, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+with the help of other settlers hewed them into logs and erected
+a log house on the homestead. While living in the dugout Indian
+women visited Mrs. McCashland and wanted to trade her a
+papoose for her quilts. When she refused, they wanted her to
+give them the quilts.</p>
+
+<p>I had just forty-two dollars when we reached Fillmore county,
+and to look back now one would hardly think it possible to live
+as long as we did on forty-two dollars. There were times that
+we had nothing but meal to eat and many days we sent the
+children to school with only bread for lunch.</p>
+
+<p>I was a civil war veteran, which fact entitled me to a homestead
+of one hundred and sixty acres. I still own that homestead,
+which is farmed by my son. After visiting in the East
+a few years ago I decided that I would not trade my quarter
+section in Fillmore county for several times that much eastern
+land.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FILLMORE COUNTY IN THE SEVENTIES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By William Spade</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>We came to Nebraska in October of 1870 by wagon and wintered
+a mile east of what now is the Red Lion mill. We made
+several trips to Lincoln during the fall and winter and one to
+Nebraska City, where brother Dan and I shucked corn for a
+farmer for a dollar a day with team.</p>
+
+<p>I moved on the William Bussard claim, later the Elof Lindgren
+farm, in March, 1871, and raised a crop, then moved on our
+homestead in section 24, town 8, range 3 west. We built part
+dugout and part sodup for a house and slept in it the first night
+with only the blue sky for a roof. Then we put on poles, brush,
+hay, dirt, and sod for a roof. This was in October, and we lived
+in this dugout until 1874, then built a sod house.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1873, we had a three days' snow storm called a blizzard.
+In the spring of 1871 I attended the election for the organization
+of the county of Fillmore. I followed farming as an
+occupation and in the fall of 1872 William Howell and I bought
+a threshing machine, which we ran for four seasons. Some of
+the accounts are still due and unpaid. Our lodging place generally
+was the straw stack or under the machine and our teams
+were tied to a wagon, but the meals we got were good. Aside
+from farming and threshing I put in some of the time at carpentry,
+walking sometimes six miles back and forth, night and
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>In July or August, 1874, we had a visit from the grasshoppers,
+the like of which had never been seen before nor since.
+They came in black clouds and dropped down by the bushel and
+ate every green thing on earth and some things in the earth.
+We had visits from the Indians too but they mostly wanted
+"hogy" meat or something to fill their empty stomachs. Well,
+I said we built a sodup of two rooms with a board floor and
+three windows and two doors, plastered with Nebraska mud.
+We thought it a palace, for some time, and were comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1877, I took a foolish notion to make a fortune and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+in company with ten others, supplied with six months' provisions,
+started for the Black Hills. We drove ox teams and
+were nearly all summer on the road; at least we did not reach
+the mining places till August. In the meantime the water had
+played out in the placer mining district so there was "nothing
+doing." We prospected for quartz but that did not pan out
+satisfactorily, so we traded our grub that we did not need for
+gold dust and returned to our homes no richer than when we
+left. However, we had all of the fresh venison we could use
+both coming and going, besides seeing a good many Indians and
+lots of wild country that now is mostly settled up.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By J. A. Carpenter</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I came to Gage county, Nebraska, in the fall of 1865, and
+homesteaded 160 acres of land, four miles from the village of
+Beatrice, in the Blue River valley. I built a log house 12x14
+feet with one door and two windows. The floor was made of
+native lumber in the rough, that we had sawed at a mill operated
+by water power.</p>
+
+<p>With my little family I settled down to make my fortune.
+Though drouth and grasshoppers made it discouraging at times,
+we managed to live on what little we raised, supplemented by
+wild game&mdash;that was plentiful. Wild turkeys and prairie
+chickens could be had by going a short distance and further
+west there were plenty of buffalo and antelope.</p>
+
+<p>Our first mail was carried from Nebraska City on horseback.
+The first paper published in Gage county was in 1867 and was
+called the <i>Blue Valley Record</i>. In 1872 a postoffice was established
+in the settlement where we lived, which was an improvement
+over going four miles for mail. For the first schoolhouse
+built in the district where I lived I helped haul the lumber from
+Brownville, Nebraska, on the Missouri river, sixty-five miles
+from the village of Beatrice. The first few crops of wheat we
+raised were hauled to Nebraska City, as there was no market at
+home for it. On the return trip we hauled merchandise for the
+settlement. Every fall as long as wild game was near us we
+would spend a week or two hunting; to lay in our winter supply
+of meat. I remember when I came through where the city
+of Superior now is, first in 1866 and again in 1867, nothing was
+to be seen but buffalo grass and a few large cottonwood trees.
+I killed a buffalo near the present town of Hardy.</p>
+
+<p>We have lived in Nebraska continuously since 1865 and it is
+hard to believe the progress that it has made in these few years.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES OF GAGE COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Albert L. Green</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The writer has in his possession an old map of the North
+American continent published in London in 1796, twelve years
+after the close of the American Revolution, whereon the region
+now comprising the state of Nebraska is shown as a part of
+Quivera; that supposed kingdom of fabulous riches in quest of
+which Coronado pursued his tedious wanderings more than three
+hundred years ago. At the time this map was published the
+French had visited Indian tribes as far west as the Missouri,
+and it must have been from French and Spanish sources that
+the geographer and map-maker gathered the information that
+enabled him to compile that part of his map covering the vast
+unknown regions of the west. Guess-work and supposition resulted
+in elongations and abbreviations of territory and rivers
+that made it possible for him to show our own Blue river as
+emptying into the Gulf of California, and the great kingdoms
+of Quivera and Teguayo as extending from the Missouri river
+to the Pacific coast. The greater part of what is now Mexico
+is shown as "New Biscay" and "New Navarre," while Mexico
+or "New Spain" is crowded down towards Central America.
+The existence of the Rocky Mountains, at the time this map was
+made, was unknown; and the whole region covered by them is
+shown as a vast plain. While spending leisure hours among
+some rare old books in the library of the Union League of Philadelphia,
+I came across the chronicles of Coronado's wanderings
+and adventures, as detailed by his monkish chaplain and preserved
+in the Spanish archives. A careful perusal of these fully
+convinced me that the route traversed was through eastern Nebraska
+as far northward as the present site of Lincoln, and possibly
+as far as the Platte. The great salt marsh was referred to,
+and the particulars of a disastrous encounter with the warlike
+Otoes are given. Mention is made of the Missouri nation and
+its bold warriors, as well as of other tribes whose habitat and
+hunting grounds were the plains or prairies of eastern Nebraska.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+In prehistoric times the Indian trails led along the level river
+bottoms where both wood and water could be obtained and
+where game was usually most abundant, and also in the direction
+of salt springs or licks where salt might be obtainable and the
+larger kinds of game be more plentiful. At the time of its settlement
+by white people the bottom lands of the Blue were
+threaded by many deeply worn trails that had evidently been
+traveled for centuries and a careful consideration of happenings,
+as recorded by the monkish chronicler, and the fact I have
+just stated in regard to the prehistoric routes of travel, forces
+the conclusion that Coronado's weary cavalcade must undoubtedly
+have followed the course of the Blue river to a point where
+the well worn trail diverged towards the great salt basin. Possibly
+the party may have encamped on the site of Beatrice and
+there can be little doubt that one of the Indian cities mentioned
+by the faithful monkish historian, occupied the present site of
+Blue Springs, where evidences of an ancient Indian town can
+still be seen, and the outlines of ancient fortifications be traced.
+Fragments of Indian pottery and stone knives and implements,
+of both the paleolithic and the neolithic ages, are frequently
+turned up by the plowshare in that vicinity, all indicating a
+long established occupancy that must have continued for centuries.
+As late as the early part of the last century the Pawnees
+occupied the site; and when the writer as United States government
+agent took charge of the Otoes and Missouris, in the summer
+of 1869, there were still old warriors living who remembered
+hearing their fathers tell of deeds of bloody warfare done in
+this very vicinity, and who pointed out to the writer the very
+spot, in a deep draw or ravine on the prairie a few miles east
+of Blue Springs, where a war party of thirty Otoes met a well-deserved,
+but terrible death. At the time of this occurrence
+the Otoes were living at the mouth of the Nemaha and were on
+very bad terms with the Pawnees, many of whose scalps the
+writer has seen adorning Otoe medicine bags or hanging in their
+wigwams. The Pawnees had started on a buffalo hunt, leaving
+at home only the old and decrepit and a few children, and the
+Otoes, knowing that the defenders of the village had started on
+the hunt, made an attack at daybreak the next morning, murdering
+and scalping old and young alike and after loading
+themselves with plunder, hastened on their homeward trip.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+Unfortunately for the Otoes the Pawnee hunters had encamped
+only eight miles up Indian creek and one of them that morning
+had returned to the village on some errand and arrived just in
+time to discover what was going on. The Otoes wounded him
+severely, but he succeeded in escaping to the Pawnee camp and
+giving the alarm. The enraged Pawnee warriors, mounted on
+their freshest and fastest ponies, were not long in reaching the
+village, nor were they long in discovering the trail of the Otoe
+war party, which they followed until they overtook it at the
+place pointed out to the writer. Here a fierce battle took place
+which resulted in the complete extermination of the Otoe party;
+the tall slough grass, in which they took shelter, having been
+set on fire, the wounded all perished in the conflagration. This
+is probably one of the most tragic incidents of which we have
+any knowledge as having happened within the limits of Gage
+county.</p>
+
+<p>The first store established within the county was located in a
+log house on Plum creek near the present site of the village of
+Liberty. It was established, primarily as an Indian trading
+place, by a Mr. MacDonald, of St. Joseph, Missouri, but was
+under the management of Mrs. Palmer, who with her husband,
+David, were the first white settlers within the limits of the
+county, having arrived in 1857 a few weeks prior to the coming
+of the founders of Beatrice. David was drowned a few years
+ago while bathing in the Blue. The store on Plum creek, on
+one occasion, was raided by a party of Pawnees who, loaded with
+plunder, were pursued by a large party of Otoes, who overtook
+them on the Little Blue some distance above the present site of
+Fairbury, and killed them all. The site of this battle was pointed
+out to the writer by the Otoes while accompanying them on a
+buffalo hunt in 1870. The skulls and bones of the slain were
+still in evidence at that time, being concealed in the dense thicket
+in which the battle had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>About the year 1868 a war party of Osages made a raid on the
+aboriginal inhabitants of the county and murdered and scalped
+several squaws who were chopping wood near the Blue. The
+trail of the Osages was followed, by a war party of Otoes, to
+the reservation of the former and satisfaction exacted in the
+shape of a gift of forty head of ponies. On their way back the
+Otoes concluded that they had settled too cheaply and feared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+they might be censured by the kindred of the murdered women.
+They halted, and leaving the forty head of ponies under guard,
+made a flying raid on the Osage pony herds and succeeded in
+stealing and getting safely away with another forty head. In
+due time, with eighty head of Osage ponies, they made a triumphal
+daylight entry into their home village. If they had
+been unsuccessful they would have stolen in one by one during
+the darkness of the night.</p>
+
+<p>The last Indian war party to traverse the soil of Gage county
+consisted of thirty naked and painted Omahas. It transpired
+that a party of Kickapoos had raided the pony herds of the
+Omahas and stolen thirty head of ponies, and in order to throw
+suspicion on the Otoes, had cunningly directed their trail towards
+the Otoe reservation, passing in the night as near to the
+Otoe village as possible without being discovered. The Otoes
+at this time were expecting, and trying to guard against, a raid
+from the Osages, whom they had great reason to fear, as it was
+fully expected that they would exact satisfaction, sooner or later,
+for that extra forty head of ponies that the Otoes had stolen. As
+a protection from the Osages, the Otoes had constructed a sort
+of a stockade of poles tied together with withes and strips of
+bark, in front of each wigwam, where they kept their nearly
+eight hundred head of ponies under careful watch every night.
+The Omaha war party stealthily approached under cover of the
+darkness and finding sentinels posted and watching, they hid in
+the tall weeds and sunflowers as close to the stockades as they
+could safely get, until daybreak, when the sleepy sentinels, thinking
+all danger over, entered the wigwams for something to eat
+and a nap, then emerging from their hiding places the Omahas
+made quick work of cutting the lashings that bound the poles
+and selecting thirty of the best ponies they could get hold of.
+The noise of the ponies' hoof-beats, as the Omahas rode swiftly
+away, aroused the Otoes, and in a very few minutes the whole
+village was in a commotion. Fierce war whoops resounded; the
+heralds went about calling the braves into action and soon there
+was mounting in hot haste. The writer, awakened by the tumult,
+stepped out upon a balcony in front of the agency building and
+beheld a sight such as no historian of the county will ever again
+record. In the far distance the naked Omahas were riding for
+their very lives, while perhaps a hundred or more Otoes were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+lashing their ponies in a wild frenzy of pursuit. In the village
+the greatest commotion prevailed, the women wailed, the heralds
+shouted, and the dogs barked; scores of women stood on the tops
+of their wigwams shrieking and gesticulating and the temper
+of the community closely resembled that of a nest of hornets
+when aroused by the rude thrust of a pole. It was nearly noon
+when the distant war whoops, announcing the return of the pursuers,
+were heard; as they drew near it was apparent that they
+were wildly triumphant and were bringing with them the thirty
+hideously painted Omahas. The prisoners were delivered to the
+agent who directed his police to disarm them, and cause them
+to be seated on the floor of the council room where they formed
+a dejected looking group with their naked bodies and shaved
+and vermillion painted heads. It was then that their leader
+explained that their seizure of ponies was honestly intended
+as a reprisal for ponies which they had lost. Old Medicine
+Horse, an Otoe chief, assured them that his braves would have
+killed every one of them if the agent had not talked so much
+about the wickedness of killing, and it was only their fear of
+displeasing him that caused them to take prisoners instead of
+scalps. After much speech-making, the agent adjourned the
+council and suggested that the Otoes take the Omahas to their
+wigwams, feed them, and allow them to depart in peace; and
+this was done. The only blood shed during the campaign was
+in the shooting of one of Elijah Filley's hogs by the Omahas.
+The first notification I had of this atrocious and bloody affair
+was when Elijah, then quite a young man, came to see me and
+file a complaint, bringing with him the blood-stained arrow that
+had pierced the vitals of his innocent hog.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps one of the saddest tragedies of those early days occurred
+in 1870 when two homesteaders, returning to their families
+from a trip to Brownville for provisions, were brutally
+murdered by a half-breed named Jim Whitewater. Jim was just
+returning from a buffalo hunt and had secured a supply of
+whiskey from a man named Wehn, at Fairbury. Being more
+than half drunk, he conceived the idea that the bravest thing
+he could do would be to kill some white people; and it happened
+that he came across the poor homesteaders just at that time.
+It was about dusk and the poor fellows had halted for the night,
+by the side of a draw where the grass was tall enough to cut for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+their horses. They had unharnessed their teams, tied them to
+the wagons and were in the act of mowing grass for them when
+a pistol shot rang out and one of them fell mortally wounded;
+the other, being attacked, and though mortally hurt, tried to
+defend himself with the scythe that he had been using, and in
+doing so cut the Indian's hand, almost severing the thumb. The
+scene of this terrible affair was just over the Gage county line
+in Jefferson county and consequently it devolved on the sheriff
+of that county to discover and arrest the murderer. As Whitewater
+had been seen in the vicinity, suspicion pointed to him
+and his arrest followed. He soon escaped from the officers and
+was hidden for two weeks, when the Indian police discovered
+his place of concealment in the timber on Wolf creek. His own
+brother, assisted by other Indians, captured him by strategy,
+bound him securely with their lariats and delivered him at the
+agency. The writer had gone to Beatrice on business and was
+not expected back until the next day, but in his absence his
+wife, then a young woman of about twenty, took energetic
+measures to insure the safety of the prisoner by ordering him
+placed in irons, and kept under a strong guard until the agent's
+return. In the meantime, having finished the business at Beatrice
+and there being a full moon, the writer decided to drive
+the twenty miles to the agency between sundown and midnight,
+which he did, arriving there shortly after midnight. Of course,
+until his arrival, he had no intimation that Whitewater had
+been captured. Before leaving home the Indians had reported
+that they had reason to believe that he was hiding somewhere on
+Wolf creek, as his wife had taken dried buffalo meat to that
+locality, and as the writer, in returning, had to drive for about
+forty rods through the heavy timber bordering that creek and
+cross it at a deep and rather dangerous ford, and knowing that
+Whitewater had declared that he would take both the agent and
+the sheriff with him to the other world, and that he was heavily
+armed, the writer is not ashamed to confess to a feeling of nervousness
+almost akin to fear, as he was about to enter that
+stretch of timber shaded road dimly lighted by the full moon.
+He first carefully let down the curtains of the carriage and then
+made his team dash at full speed through the long stretch of
+timber, plunge and flounder through the ford, and out once
+more upon the open prairie, the driver expecting at almost any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+moment to hear the crack of a pistol. On arriving within sight
+of the agency building, instead of finding it dark and silent as
+he had expected, the writer was greatly surprised to see it well
+lighted and many Indian police standing about it as if on
+guard. The next morning the writer with several Indian chiefs
+and the Indian police started for Fairbury with the prisoner;
+the Indians riding two abreast and carrying a large United
+States flag at the head of the procession. The trip was made
+via Beatrice and the distance traveled was about fifty miles.
+The Indians feared an attack from the Rose creek settlers;
+neighbors and friends of the murdered men, and as they approached
+Fairbury the entire line of Indians commenced a
+melodious chant which the interpreter explained as nothing
+less than an appeal to the Great Spirit asking him to incline
+the hearts of the people to treat the Indians kindly and fairly.
+On arriving at Fairbury the cavalcade halted in the public
+square and was soon surrounded by the entire population of
+the hamlet. It was nearly dark, but the good ladies of the
+place set about preparing a bountiful meal for the hungry Indians,
+to which they did ample justice. There being no jail in
+the place, we waived a hearing and started the next morning
+for Pawnee City, where prison accommodations could be had.
+Shortly after leaving Fairbury the interpreter told the Indians
+that evidently the Great Spirit had heard their appeal, to which
+they all vociferously assented. Jim was kept at Pawnee City
+until his trial, which took place at Fairbury before Judge O. P.
+Mason, who sentenced him to imprisonment for life. Whitewater
+was one of three individuals among the Otoes who could
+read and write, the other two being Battiste Barneby and Battiste
+Deroin, both of whom were very capable interpreters.
+Polygamy being allowable among the Otoes, Deroin was one who
+had availed himself of its privileges, his two wives being sisters.
+On learning that Whitewater had been imprisoned for life, his
+wife soon found another husband, greatly to his sorrow and
+chagrin. It was during Whitewater's imprisonment that the
+reservation was sold and the Indians removed. Eighteen years
+after his conviction he received a pardon and left the penitentiary
+to rejoin the tribe. What retribution he meted out to
+those who aided in his capture or to his wife's second husband,
+the writer has never learned.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A year before the writer took charge of the Otoes and Missouris,
+a delegation of their chiefs had accompanied their agent
+Major Smith, to Washington and made a treaty under which
+the whole reservation of 160,000 acres was to be sold at $1.50
+per acre. The writer was informed by Major Smith that a
+railroad company would become the ultimate beneficiary, provided
+the treaty was ratified by the senate, and that he had been
+promised a section of land if the scheme proved successful.
+Smith urged the writer to use all the influence possible to secure
+the ratification of the treaty and before the writer had taken
+any steps to secure its defeat, he also received an intimation,
+if not an absolute promise, from interested parties, that in the
+event of its ratification, he should have his choice of any section
+of land on the domain. Believing that such a treaty was adverse
+to the interests and welfare of the Indians, the writer at
+once set about to accomplish its defeat, in which, through the
+aid of eastern friends, he was finally successful.</p>
+
+<p>Coronado's chronicler mentions, among other nations with
+whom the expedition came in contact, the <i>Missourias</i> as being
+very fierce and warlike, and it may be a matter of local historical
+interest to state that the Missouri "nation" with which
+Coronado became acquainted, and from which one of the world's
+largest rivers and one of the largest and richest states take
+their names, reduced to a remnant of less than one hundred
+individuals, found an abiding place within the limits of Gage
+county for more than a generation. Placed on a reservation
+with the Otoes and under the care of the same agent, they still
+retained their own chief and their own language, though circumstances
+gradually induced the adoption of the Otoe tongue.
+The old chief of the Missouris was called Eagle and was known
+as a war chief. It was his province to command and direct all
+hunting operations. He was a man of very striking appearance,
+over six feet in height, straight as an arrow, with fine features
+and apparently about seventy-five years of age in 1869. He
+was an hereditary chief, and probably a lineal descendant of one
+of the kings of the Missouri nation that Coronado and his followers
+met. Old Eagle was the only chief of the Missouris,
+and was respected and highly esteemed by both the Missouris
+and the Otoes. During a buffalo hunt, in which the writer participated
+with the Indians, Eagle chief was the highest author<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>ity
+in regard to all matters pertaining to the chase and attack
+on the herd. In 1869 the head chief of the Otoes was Arkeketah
+who was said to have been appointed to that position by Major
+Daily. He was a polygamist and very much opposed to the
+ways of the white man. In fact he was such a reactionary and
+stumbling-block to the progress of the tribe that the writer
+finally deposed him and advanced Medicine Horse to the position
+of head chief.</p>
+
+<p>The number of Indians living within the borders of Gage
+county in 1869 was probably not far from eight hundred. The
+reservation, comprising two hundred and fifty square miles,
+extended some distance into Kansas and also took in a part of
+Jefferson county in this state, but the Indians were all domiciled
+in Gage county. Their principal village was situated close to
+the site now occupied by the town of Barnston and where a
+fine spring afforded an ample supply of water. The wigwams
+were of a type adopted by the Indians long before the discovery
+of America, and most of them were large enough to accommodate
+several families. It was a custom of the Otoes to vacate
+the wigwams and live during the winter in tipis which were
+pitched in the timber where fuel was close at hand. In 1869
+only three persons in the confederated tribes wore citizens
+clothes, the rest were all blanket Indians, who, during warm
+weather, went almost naked, and habitually painted their faces
+and shaved heads, with vermillion and indigo.</p>
+
+<p>The principal burial place of the Otoes was on a bluff overlooking
+the river bottoms, and within a short distance of where
+Barnston now stands. For years it was visited, as one of the
+curiosities of the reservation, by the white settlers and strangers,
+chiefly on account of the weird and ghostly funeral oaks that
+stood on the brink of the bluff, bearing, lashed to their gnarled
+and crooked limbs, gruesome burdens of dead Indians, wrapped
+in bark and partly mummified by the sun and wind; there was
+probably a score of these interesting objects resting peacefully
+on the boughs of these three oaks; they had been there for many
+years, and might possibly have remained to this day had not a
+great prairie fire during the summer of 1871 destroyed the oaks
+and their ghastly burden, leaving only an assortment of charred
+bones and skulls to mark the site.</p>
+
+<p>A strange and pathetic tragedy, in connection with this old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+burial place, transpired shortly before the writer took charge
+of the agency and its affairs; and it was from the interpreter,
+Battiste Deroin, that the particulars were obtained. The incident
+may be worth preserving by the local historian, as illustrating
+the absolute faith of the Indians in a continued existence
+of the spirit beyond the grave. Dogs were frequently strangled
+at children's funerals in order that the dog's spirit might accompany
+that of the child, and it was a common sight to see a
+dog's body sitting upright with its back to a stake and securely
+tied in that position, in the vicinity of the old burial place.
+The man who figured in this tragedy was very aged and feeble,
+and the little child was very dear to him; he doubtless knew
+that he had not long to live and that he very soon would have to
+travel over the same lonely trail that the little child was about
+to take. Doubtless he realized fully what a comfort it would be
+to each, if they could take the long journey together. The
+Otoes always buried their dead in a sitting posture; and the old
+man, when seated in the grave, held the body of the child in
+his arms. The relatives took a last farewell of both the dead
+child and its living caretaker; the grave was covered with a
+buffalo robe supported on poles or heavy sticks, and the mass
+of earth taken from the grave was piled thereon; this being their
+usual mode of burial.</p>
+
+<p>The custom of strangling a horse or pony at the burial of an
+Indian brave was a common occurrence among the Otoes prior
+to 1870 and the old burial place on the bluff was somewhat decorated
+with horses' skulls laid upon the graves of warriors who
+are supposed to have gone to heaven on horseback. The tail
+of the horse sacrificed was usually fastened to a pole that stood
+at the head of the grave.</p>
+
+<p>The first school established within the limits of the county
+was a mission school under the care of the Rev. Mr. Murdock,
+and the old stone building, built for it on Mission creek, was the
+first stone building in the county. It was a ruin in 1869.</p>
+
+<p>In 1869 there were still some beavers to be found along the
+Blue; and at that time the river abounded with large gars, some
+of which were three or four feet in length; a fish which has
+since become entirely extinct in the Blue, probably because the
+water is no longer clear. The gar was one of the primitive fishes
+of the silurian age; it was very destructive of all other fish.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+White people never ate it, but the Indians thought it fairly
+good. The Indians obtained most of their fish by shooting with
+arrows from the river banks. They often succeeded in shooting
+very large fish owing to the clearness of the water. This could
+not be done now that the prairies have been put into cultivation,
+as that has destroyed the clearness of the water.</p>
+
+<p>As late as 1869 there were some wild deer in the county and
+little spotted fawns were occasionally caught. The writer procured
+two of the latter from the Indians and gave them to Ford
+Roper's family in Beatrice; they became very tame and were frequently
+seen on the streets of the town. In 1870 the writer,
+while driving from Blue Springs to Beatrice, met a large buck
+with antlers, as it emerged from an opening in the bluffs.</p>
+
+<p>Among the first settlers of the county were some families
+from Tennessee who settled near the present town of Liberty
+on Plum creek. They did their own spinning and weaving, and
+having been accustomed to raising cotton and mixing it with the
+wool for spinning, they undertook to raise it here. The writer
+remembers seeing their cotton patches, but never saw them
+gathering cotton.</p>
+
+<p>The first bridge built in the county to cross the river, was
+built on Market street, Beatrice, about the year 1870. It was a
+very narrow wooden structure, only wide enough for one wagon
+at a time to pass over. The firm of Peavy and Curtiss of Pawnee
+City were the contractors and the contract price was $4,000.
+It was regarded as a public improvement of very great importance
+to the town.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>RANCHING IN GAGE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Peter Jansen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I came to Beatrice, Nebraska, in 1874, after having been
+through Minnesota, Dakota, and Kansas, looking for a place
+where a settlement of our people, the Mennonites, could be established.
+Of all the land I had looked over, I liked southeastern
+Nebraska best, and the little town of Beatrice on the
+banks of the Big Blue, then consisting of maybe fifty dwellings
+and a few stores on lower Court street, seemed very picturesque
+and attractive. After forty years I have not changed my opinion.
+We found a suitable tract of prairie just across the line in
+Jefferson county, which we bought of the Burlington and Missouri
+River railroad at $3.50 per acre on easy payments. Beatrice
+remained our chief place of business. Smith Brothers
+had just started a banking business in one-half of a little shack,
+the other half being occupied by a watchmaker carrying a
+small stock of jewelry. Klein &amp; Lang had a general store on
+the corner of Second and Court streets, and here we did nearly
+all of our trading. The "Pacific House" on Second street was
+the only hotel. Here I made headquarters for some time. Mr.
+and Mrs. Randall, the hosts, were very kind to me. The latter
+died a few years later in the prime of her life.</p>
+
+<p>We soon commenced to build up what was for years known as
+"Jansen's Ranch," about twenty miles southwest of Beatrice,
+and stock it with sheep, which we brought from Wisconsin. The
+first summer I had a temporary sheep corral about where the
+West Side schoolhouse now stands. We used to drive from the
+ranch to Beatrice diagonally across the prairie; very few section
+lines had been established, and there was only one house
+between the two points.</p>
+
+<p>Major Wheeler, of stage route fame, lived at the Pacific house
+and took a kindly interest in the young emigrant boy. I remember
+on one occasion I had brought in a carload of valuable
+breeding sheep and quartered them for the night in the corral
+of the livery stable across the street from the hotel, run then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+by S. P. Lester. I was afraid of strange dogs attacking them,
+and sat up all night on the porch watching. In the morning,
+while washing up in the primitive wash-room, I overheard the
+major telling Mr. Randall about it. He concluded by saying:
+"That young fellow is all right; a boy who sits up all night
+with a few sheep will certainly succeed." I felt proud over the
+praise, and it encouraged me very much.</p>
+
+<p>We were told by the few settlers who had preceded us that
+the upland prairie would not grow anything and that the bottom
+land was the only place where crops could be raised with any
+assurance of success. However, we were going to try farming,
+anyway. I bought a yoke of young oxen and a breaking plow
+and started in. The oxen were not well broken, and the plow
+was new and would not scour. Besides, I did not know anything
+about breaking prairie or driving oxen. The latter finally became
+impatient and ran away, dragging the plow with them.
+It was a hot day in May, and they headed for a nearby slough,
+going into the water up to their sides. I had by that time discarded
+my shoes and followed them as fast as I could. When I
+reached the slough, quite out of breath and thoroughly disgusted,
+I sat down and nearly cried and wished I were back in Russia
+where I did not have to drive oxen myself. About this time
+the nearest neighbor, a Mr. Babcock, living four miles away,
+happened along driving a team of old, well broken oxen. He
+asked what my trouble was, and after I told him in broken
+English, he said: "Well, Pete, take off your trousers and go
+in and get your oxen and plow out, and I will help you lay off
+the land and get your plow agoing," which he did, and so started
+me farming.</p>
+
+<p>My younger brother, John, and I bached it for two years.
+One of us would herd the sheep and the other stay at home and
+do the chores and cooking. We took turns about every week.
+We had a room partitioned off in the end of the sheep shed,
+where we lived.</p>
+
+<p>Game was plentiful those days, and during the fall and winter
+we never lacked for meat.</p>
+
+<p>I had by that time, I regret to say, acquired the filthy American
+habit of chewing (I have quit it long since), and enjoyed
+it very much while doing the lonely stunt of herding the flock.</p>
+
+<p>One day we had gotten a new supply of groceries and also a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+big plug of what was known as "Star" chewing tobacco. Next
+morning I started out on my pony with the sheep, the plug in
+my pocket, and anticipating a good time. Soon a severe thunder
+storm came up, and lightning was striking all around me. I
+felt sure I would be hit and they would find me dead with the
+big plug of tobacco in my pocket. My mother knew nothing
+of my bad habit, and I also knew that it would nearly kill her
+to find out, so I threw the plug far away and felt better&mdash;for
+awhile. The clouds soon passed away, however, and the sun
+came out brightly and soon found me hunting for that plug,
+which, to my great disappointment, I never recovered.</p>
+
+<p>Those early winters, seems to me, were severer than they are
+now, and the snow storms or blizzards much fiercer, probably
+because the wind had an unrestricted sweep over the vast prairies.</p>
+
+<p>In a few years our flocks had increased, so that we built a
+corral and shed a mile and a half away, where we kept our
+band of wethers and a herder.</p>
+
+<p>About Christmas, I think it was in 1880, a blizzard started,
+as they usually did, with a gentle fall of snow, which lasted the
+first day. During the night the wind veered to the north, and
+in the morning we could not see three rods; it seemed like a
+sea of milk! We were very anxious to know the fate of our
+herder and his band of sheep, and towards noon I attempted to
+reach them, hitching a pair of horses to a sleigh and taking a
+man along. We soon got lost and drove around in a circle,
+blinded by the snow, for hours, my companion giving up and
+resigning himself to death. We probably would have both perished
+had it not been for the sagacity of my near horse, to
+which I finally gave the reins, being <a name="benummed" id="benummed"></a><ins title="Original has benumed">benummed</ins> myself. He
+brought us home, and you may believe the barking of the shepherd
+dogs sounded very musical to me as we neared the barn.</p>
+
+<p>We got our fuel from the Indian reservation about eight miles
+south of us on the creek, where now stands the thriving town
+of Diller. The Indians were not allowed to sell any timber,
+but a generous gift of tobacco was too tempting to them to resist.</p>
+
+<p>Rattlesnakes were found frequently in those days, and their
+venomous bites caused great agony and sometimes death. One
+Sunday afternoon, wife and myself were sitting on the porch
+of our small frame house, while our baby was playing a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+feet away in a pile of sand. Our attention was attracted by
+her loud and gleeful crooning. Looking up, we saw her poking
+a stick at a big rattler, coiled, ready to spring, about three feet
+away. I have always detested snakes and would give even a
+harmless bull-snake a wide berth. However, I took one big
+jump and landed on Mr. Rattler with both feet, while my wife
+snatched the baby out of harm's way.</p>
+
+<p>The next ten years made a great change. We had proven
+that farming on the tablelands could be made a success, railroads
+had been built, and towns and villages had sprung up
+like mushrooms. We even got a telephone. The wilderness
+had been conquered.</p>
+
+<p>When I look back upon those first years of early settlement,
+with their privations and hardships, I cannot refrain from thinking
+they were the happiest ones of my life, especially after I got
+married in 1877 and my dear wife came to share joy and sorrow
+with me. To her I attribute to a very large extent what little
+I may have achieved in the way of helping to build up this
+great commonwealth.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 460px;">
+<img src="images/illus_009.jpg" width="460" height="600" alt="Mrs. Frances Avery Haggard
+
+Third State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1898" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Frances Avery Haggard
+
+Third State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1898</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY RECOLLECTIONS OF GAGE COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. E. Johnson</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Emerson aptly said, "America is another word for opportunity."
+We realize this most truly when we compare present
+prosperity with early day living in the middle West.</p>
+
+<p>In 1878 my brother, A. M. McMaster, and family, arrived in
+Nebraska City. They came overland to Gage county and settled
+on section 15, two and a half miles northeast of Filley
+and one mile south of what was then known as Melroy postoffice,
+so-called in honor of two little boys born the same year the postoffice
+was established, Mell Gale and Roy Tinklepaugh, whose
+parents were among the earliest settlers in this neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>My brother built his house of lumber he had shipped to Nebraska
+City. Beatrice was our market place. We sold all our
+grain, hogs, and produce there. Eggs were five cents a dozen
+and butter six cents a pound. The first year we came we
+bought five hundred bushels of corn at twelve cents a bushel
+delivered, and cribbed it.</p>
+
+<p>There was an Indian trail across the farm, and often the
+Indians would pass going from the Omaha reservation to the
+Otoe reservation at Barnston; the children would become
+frightened and hide under the bed; the Indians would often
+call and ask for flour and meat.</p>
+
+<p>There was not a house between Elijah Filley's stone barn and
+Beatrice on the Scott street road, and no bridges. The trail
+we followed going to Beatrice led us north to Melroy, making
+the traveling distance one and a half miles farther than in
+these times of well preserved section lines and graded country
+roads. This stone barn of Elijah Filley's was an early landmark.
+I have heard Mr. Filley tell interesting anecdotes of his
+early years here, one of an Indian battle near the present site
+of Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Before the town of Filley was in existence, there was a postoffice
+called "Cottage Hill," which is shown on old time maps
+of the state.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One of the curiosities of the early times was a cow with a
+wooden leg, running with a herd of cattle. The hind leg was
+off at the knee joint. She was furnishing milk for the family
+of her owner, a Mr. Scott living on Mud creek, near the town
+of Filley.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Scott often told of pounding their corn to pulverize it.
+The nearest mill was at Nebraska City. This difficult traffic
+continued until 1883, when the Burlington came through Filley.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three years after we had located here, two young men
+came along from Kansas looking for work. My brother was
+away from home, working at carpentry, and his wife, fearing
+to be alone, would lock the stair door after they retired and
+unlock it in the morning before they appeared. They gathered
+the corn and then remained and worked for their board. One
+day, one of the young men was taken sick. The other was sent
+for Dr. Boggs. He lost his way in a raging blizzard and came
+out five miles north of where he intended to, but reached the
+doctor and secured medicine, the doctor not being able to go.
+The next day Dr. Boggs, with his son to shovel through the
+drifts, succeeded in getting there. The young man grew worse,
+they sent for his mother, and she came by stage. The storm
+was so fierce the stage was left there for a week; the horses were
+taken to Melroy postoffice. The young man died and was taken
+in the stage to Beatrice to be shipped home, men going with
+shovels to dig a road. Arriving there it was found that the
+railroad was blocked. As they could not ship the body, they
+secured a casket and the next day brought it back to our house.
+My brother was not at home, and they took the corpse to a
+neighbor's house. The next day they buried him four miles
+east, at what is now known as Crab Orchard.</p>
+
+<p>True, life in those days tended to make our people sturdy,
+independent and ingenious, but for real comfort it is not
+strange that we prefer present day living, with good mail service,
+easy modes of transportation, modern houses, and well
+equipped educational institutions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BIOGRAPHY OF FORD LEWIS</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By (Mrs. D. S.) H. Virginia Lewis Dalbey</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>As my father, Ford Lewis, was one of the pioneer land owners
+in Nebraska and assisted actively in settling the southeast
+part of the state, I have been requested to give a brief sketch
+of his life and early experiences in this state. My only regret
+in writing this is that he is not here to speak for himself. Ford
+Lewis was born in Deckertown, New Jersey, July 25, 1829, son
+of Phoebe and Levi Lewis, the latter engaged in mercantile business
+both in Hamburg and Hackettstown, New Jersey.</p>
+
+<p>After finishing his education at William Rankin's Classical
+School and studying under Chris Marsh, author of double entry
+bookkeeping, he assisted his father in the mercantile business
+for some time. However, he preferred other pursuits and after
+a successful test of his judgment in real estate, started west.
+At Syracuse, New York, he was induced to engage in partnership
+under the name of Chapman &amp; Lewis, watch case manufacturers
+and importers of watch movements; keeping standard
+time for the New York Central and other roads and supplying
+railroad officials, conductors, and engineers with the highest
+grade of watches.</p>
+
+<p>Selling his interest in 1856, he accepted the general agency
+of the Morse Publishing House, New York, making his headquarters
+at Charleston, South Carolina, in winter and at Cleveland,
+Ohio, in summer, until 1859, when he went to Jerseyville,
+Illinois, with his parents and sister, buying and selling real
+estate in that city and Jersey county until 1867, when, with
+Congressman Robert M. Knapp, he visited Nebraska, and made
+his first investment in government land, many of his United
+States patents being signed by Presidents Grant and Johnson.</p>
+
+<p>Ford Lewis was in pioneer days one of the largest owners of
+farm lands in Nebraska, his holdings being chiefly in Pawnee,
+Otoe, Gage, Johnson, and Lancaster counties. On one of his
+advertising cards he states that, "occupied for eighteen years
+past in the purchase and sale of over 80,000 acres of other lands,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+these, on account of their well known intrinsic value have been
+reserved intact."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Lewis founded the towns of Lewiston in Pawnee county
+and Virginia in Gage county, naming the latter in honor of his
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>At a meeting of the Nebraska legislature held at Omaha in
+1867, Mr. Lewis was an interested spectator, and before the
+capital of the state was changed he predicted its location in the
+salt basin, almost on the spot where Lincoln now stands. He
+accordingly purchased property in the vicinity of what is now
+Beatrice, making a comfortable fortune as the result of his
+wisdom and foresight. By Ford Lewis' liberality to those
+purchasing land from him, in selling at reasonable prices, and
+extending their contracts during hard times, instead of making
+purchasers forfeit their land because of inability to meet their
+payments, he encouraged and assisted many settlers who are now
+some of Nebraska's most prosperous farmers to keep their land,
+which is now the source of their prosperity. During the period
+when he was borrowing money for his investments in Nebraska
+land, many Illinois people remarked that Ford Lewis was "land
+crazy," but have since wished they had had his vision, and
+courage to hold their purchases through the crop failures and
+drouths which are sometimes the portion of every community:
+those who followed his advice now "rise up and call him
+blessed."</p>
+
+<p>That he was not alone in his judgment is evidenced by the
+large land holdings of the late Lord Scully of England and the
+late John W. Bookwalter of Springfield, Ohio, who recently died
+in Italy, and was a warm personal friend of my father's, having
+purchased some of his land from him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Lewis married Miss Elizabeth Davis of Jerseyville, Illinois,
+in 1864. She was the first girl baby born in that town,
+her parents being among the earliest pioneers there from New
+Jersey; so her childhood memories of bears, Indians, and slave
+refugees during the civil war, and roaming the woods surrounding
+their home prepared her to be a capable and sympathetic
+helpmate for my father during his many pioneer trips to
+Nebraska.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A BUFFALO HUNT</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By W. H. Avery</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the fall of 1866, about the last of October, a party of nine
+men, myself included, started out from Rose creek for a buffalo
+hunt. At Whiterock, Kansas, we were joined by another
+party of four men with "Old Martin Fisher," an early Whiterock
+settler, as official guide. Our equipment consisted of four
+wagons, one of which was drawn by a double ox team. There
+were numerous firearms and plenty of provisions for the trip.
+The party was much elated over the first day's experiences as
+night found us in possession of four fine buffalo. That evening
+while we were riding out after one of the buffalo our ears
+were greeted by the Indian yell. Looking back up a draw we
+saw five redmen galloping toward us. At the time we did not
+know they were friendly, but that was proven later. They
+came up to us and wanted powder or "bullet" and also wanted
+to swap guns. All they succeeded in getting was a necktie which
+one of the men gave them. After a short parley among themselves
+they left, going back to our camp where we had left one
+man to guard the camp and prepare supper. There they helped
+themselves to the loaf of bread the guard had just baked, a $12
+coat, a $22 revolver, and one good bridle; away they went and
+that was the last seen of them. The night was passed in safety
+and the next day we hunted without any exciting experiences.
+The following day we met with only fair success so thought we
+had better start for home. In the morning the party divided,
+our guide, Fisher, and two men going on and leaving the rest
+of us to hunt as we went along. We succeeded in getting only
+one buffalo, but Fisher's men had done better and were ready
+to make tracks for home. That night they had suspicions that
+there were Indians near so built no fire and in the morning
+soon after breaking camp a party of Indians came upon them.
+There was considerable parleying about a number of things
+which the Indians wanted but the men were unwilling to make
+any bargains whatever. All the Indians but one started off and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+this one still wanted to parley and suddenly drew his revolver
+and shot Fisher in the shoulder. The Indian then rode off at
+breakneck speed and that was the last seen of them. Fisher
+warned the men not to shoot as he was uncertain as to how many
+redmen might be in their vicinity and he did not want to take
+any great risk of them all being killed. Our party did not know
+of the accident until we returned home and we had no encounter
+with the party of Indians. We were thankful to be
+safely home after a ten days hunt.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A GRASSHOPPER RAID</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Edna M. Boyle Allen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Perhaps children who live in a pioneer country remember
+incidents in their early life better than children living in older
+settled countries. These impressions stand out clearly and in
+prominence all the rest of their lives.</p>
+
+<p>At least there are several things which happened before I was
+six years old that are as vivid in my memory as if they had
+happened but yesterday. Such was the coming of the grasshoppers
+in 1874, when I was two years old.</p>
+
+<p>My father, Judge Boyle, then owned the block on the north
+side of Fifth street between I and J streets, in the village of
+Fairbury. Our house stood where J. A. Westling's house now
+stands. Near our place passed the stage road to Beatrice. A
+common remark then was, "We are almost to Fairbury, there
+is Boyle's house."</p>
+
+<p>Father always had a big garden of sweet corn, tomatoes, cabbage,
+etc., and that year it was especially fine.</p>
+
+<p>One day he came rushing home from his office saying, "The
+grasshoppers are coming." Mother and he hurried to the garden
+to save all the vegetables possible before the grasshoppers
+arrived. I put on a little pink sunbonnet of which I was very
+proud, and went out to watch my parents gather the garden
+truck as fast as they could and run to the cellar door and toss
+it down. I jumped up and down thoroughly enjoying the excitement.
+Finally, the grasshoppers, which were coming from
+the northwest like a dark cloud, seeming so close, father shut
+the cellar door before he and mother returned to the garden
+for another load. They had just filled their arms when the
+grasshoppers began to drop and not wishing to let any down
+cellar they threw what vegetables they had on the ground and
+turned a big wooden wash tub over them. By this time my little
+pink sunbonnet was covered with big grasshoppers. Mother
+picked me up in her arms and we hurried into the house. From<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+the north kitchen window we watched every stalk of that garden
+disappear, even the onions were eaten from the ground.</p>
+
+<p>When father went to get the vegetables from under the wooden
+tub there wasn't a thing there. The grasshoppers had managed
+to crawl and dig their way under the edge of that tub.</p>
+
+<p>The only time an Indian ever frightened me was in the fall
+of 1875. I was used to having the Otoe Indians come to our
+house. Mother was not afraid of them so of course I was not.
+Among them was a big fellow called John Little Pipe. The door
+in the hall of our house had glass in the upper half. One afternoon
+mother being nearly sick was lying down on the couch
+and I took my doll trying to keep quiet playing in the hall.
+Looking up suddenly I saw John stooping and looking in
+through the glass in the door. I screamed and ran to mother.
+He didn't like my screaming but followed me into the sitting
+room and upon seeing mother lying down said, "White lady
+sick?" Mother was on her feet in a moment. He sat down and
+after grumbling a while about my screaming he began to beg
+for a suit of clothes. Mother said, "John, you know well enough
+you are too large to wear my husband's clothes." Then he
+wanted something for his squaw and children. Finally mother
+gave him an old dress of hers. He looked it over critically and
+asked for goods to patch it where it was worn thin. Grabbing
+his blanket where it lay across his knees he shook it saying,
+"Wind, whew, whew." After receiving the patches, he wanted
+food but mother told him he could not have a thing more and
+for him to go. He started, but toward the closet he had seen
+her take the dress from. She said, "You know better than to
+go to that door. You go out the way you came in." He meekly
+obeyed. I had seen him many times before and saw him
+several times afterward but that was the only time I was frightened.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN PAWNEE COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Daniel B. Cropsey</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In March, 1868, I left Fairbury, Illinois, with my two brothers
+and a boy friend in a covered wagon drawn by two mules. We
+landed at Nebraska City after swimming the mules to get to the
+ferry on which we crossed the Big Muddy. We then drove to
+Lincoln the first week in April. My father had purchased a
+home there on the site where the Capital hotel now stands.
+Lincoln then was but a hamlet of a few hundred people. There
+were no shade trees nor sidewalks and no railroad. Later father
+built a larger house, out a considerable distance in those days,
+but today it faces the capitol building. The house is a brick
+structure, and all the bricks were hauled from Nebraska City.
+Afterwards father sold the home to Chancellor Fairfield of the
+State University.</p>
+
+<p>The year before we came father had come to Nebraska and
+had bought a large body of land, about ten thousand acres, in
+Pawnee county. I being the oldest boy in our family, it devolved
+upon me to go to Pawnee county to look after the land,
+which was upland and considered by the older inhabitants of
+little value; but the tract is now worth about a million dollars.
+Among other duties I superintended the opening up of the lines
+and plowing out fifty-two miles of hedge rows around and
+through this land. I am sorry to say that most of the money
+and labor were lost for prairie fires almost completely destroyed
+the hedge.</p>
+
+<p>I had many experiences during my two years' sojourn in
+Pawnee county. The work was hard and tedious. Shelter and
+drinking-water were scarce&mdash;we drank water from the buffalo
+wallows or went thirsty, and at times had to brave the storms in
+the open. The people were poor and many lived in sod houses
+or "dugouts," and the living was very plain. Meat and fruit
+were rarities. The good people I lived with did their best to
+provide, but they were up against it. Grasshoppers and the
+drouth were things they had to contend with. At times our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+meals consisted of bread and butter and pumpkin, with pumpkin
+pie for Sunday dinner. The barn we usually carried with
+us. It consisted of a rope from sixty to a hundred feet long
+for each mule or horse and was called the lariat. I put the
+pony one night in the barn across the ravine, I well remember,
+and in the morning I found a river between the barn and me.
+A rain had fallen in the night and I had to wait nearly a day
+before I could get to the pony.</p>
+
+<p>Our only amusement was running down young deer and rabbits
+and killing rattlesnakes.</p>
+
+<p>We often met the red man with his paint and feathers. He
+was ever ready to greet you with "How!" and also ready to
+trade ponies, and never backward about asking for "tobac."
+As I was neither brave nor well acquainted with the Indians I
+was always ready to divide my "tobac." Later I found out I
+was easy, for the boys told me whenever they met the beggar
+Indian they told him to "puckachee," which they said meant
+for him to move on.</p>
+
+<p>We had no banks, and we cashed our drafts with the merchants.
+David Butler was governor at that time. He was a
+merchant as well, and made his home in Pawnee, so he was my
+banker. On two occasions I had the pleasure of riding with him
+in his buggy from Pawnee to Lincoln. It was indeed a privilege
+to ride in a buggy, for we all rode ponies those days, and
+I think I was envied by most of the boys and girls of Pawnee.
+On one of my return trips with the governor my good mother
+had baked a nice cake for me to take with me, which I put under
+the seat along with a lot of wines of several kinds and grades
+which the governor's friends had given him. Of course mother
+didn't know about the liquids. I'll never forget that trip. We
+grew very sociable and the Nemaha valley grew wider and wider
+as we drove along; and when we arrived at Pawnee the next
+day the cake was all gone, our faces were like full moons, and
+it was fully a week before I had any feeling in my flesh.</p>
+
+<p>I also well remember the first train which ran between Lincoln
+and Plattsmouth. That was a great day, and the Burlington
+excursion was made up of box cars and flat cars with ties for
+seats. Crowds of young people took advantage of the excursion
+and we enjoyed it much more than we would today in a well-equipped
+pullman.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY EVENTS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By George Cross</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Along in the seventies, when everyone was interested in the
+project of the erection of a United Brethren college in Fairbury,
+the leading promoter of that enterprise held a revival in
+the Baptist church. The weather was warm and as his zeal in
+expounding the gospel increased he would remove his coat, vest,
+and collar, keeping up meantime a vigorous chewing of tobacco.
+The house was usually crowded and among the late-comers one
+night was W. A. Gould, who was obliged to take a seat in front
+close to the pulpit. The next day some one offered congratulations
+at seeing him in church, as it was the first time he had ever
+been seen at such a place in Fairbury. "Yes," said Gould, "I
+used to attend church, but that was the first time I ever sat
+under the actual drippings of the sanctuary, for the minister
+spit all over me."</p>
+
+<p>The most closely contested election ever held in Jefferson
+county was that in 1879 on the question of voting bonds to the
+Burlington and Missouri railroad to secure the passing through
+Fairbury of the line being built east from Red Cloud. The
+proposition was virtually to indirectly relieve the road from
+taxation for ten years. As bonding propositions were submitted
+in those days this was considered a very liberal one, as the taxes
+were supposed to offset the bonds and if the road was not built
+there would be neither bonds nor taxes. It required a two-thirds
+vote to carry the bonds and as the northern and southern
+portions of the county were always jealous of Fairbury the contest
+was a bitter one. Some of the stakes of the old Brownville
+&amp; Ft. Kearny survey were yet standing and some still hoped
+that road would be built. The people of Fairbury resorted to
+all known devices to gain votes, some of which have not yet been
+revealed. It was long before the days of the Australian ballot
+and more or less bogus tickets were in circulation at every election.
+On this occasion a few tickets containing a double negative
+were secretly circulated in a precinct bitterly opposed to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+bonds. Several of these were found in the ballot box and of
+course rejected, which left on the face of the returns a majority
+of one in favor of the bonds. It has always been believed that
+Fairbury lost the road because the officials of the road, who also
+comprised the townsite company, thought they could make more
+by building up new towns of their own.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/illus_010.jpg" width="600" height="383" alt="Monument on the Oregon Trail, three miles north of Fairbury
+
+Erected by Quivira Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Dedicated October 29, 1912.
+
+Cost $200" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Monument on the Oregon Trail, three miles north of Fairbury
+
+Erected by Quivira Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Dedicated October 29, 1912.
+
+Cost $200</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS OF FAIRBURY AND JEFFERSON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By George W. Hansen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The first white settler in what is now Jefferson county was
+Daniel Patterson, who established a ranch in 1856 where the
+Overland, or Oregon trail crosses the Big Sandy. Newton
+Glenn located the same year at the trail crossing on Rock creek.
+The first government survey of land in this county was made in
+1857, and the plat and field notes show the location of "Patterson's
+Trading Post" on the southeast quarter of section 16,
+town 3 north, range 1 east.</p>
+
+<p>Early in May, 1859, D. C. Jenkins, disappointed in his search
+for gold at Pike's Peak, returned on foot pushing a wheelbarrow
+with all his possessions the entire distance. He stopped at the
+Big Sandy and established a ranch a short distance below Patterson's
+place. A few weeks later, on May 25, 1859, Joel Helvey
+and his family, enroute for Pike's Peak, discouraged by the reports
+of Mr. Jenkins and other returning gold hunters, settled
+on the Little Sandy at the crossing of the trail. About the same
+time came George Weisel, who now lives in Alexandria, James
+Blair, whose son Grant now lives near Powell, on the land where
+his father first located, and D. C. McCanles, who bought the
+Glenn ranch on Rock creek. The Helvey family have made
+this county their home ever since. One of Joel Helvey's sons,
+Frank, then a boy of nineteen, is now living in Fairbury. He
+knew Daniel Patterson and D. C. McCanles, and with his
+brothers Thomas and Jasper, buried McCanles, Jim Woods, and
+Jim Gordon, Wild Bill's victims of the Rock creek tragedy of
+1861. He drove the Overland stage, rode the pony express, was
+the first sheriff of this county, and forms a connecting link between
+the days of Indian raids and the present. Alexander
+Majors, one of the proprietors of the Overland stage line, presented
+each of the drivers with a bible, and Frank Helvey's
+copy is now loaned to the Nebraska State Historical Society.
+Thomas Helvey and wife settled on Little Sandy, a short distance
+above his father's ranch, and there on July 4, 1860, their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+son Orlando, the first white child in the present limits of Jefferson
+and Thayer counties, was born.</p>
+
+<p>During the civil war a number of families came, settling
+along the Little Blue and in the fertile valleys of Rose, Cub, and
+Swan creeks. In 1862 Ives Marks settled on Rose creek, near
+the present town of Reynolds, and built a small sawmill and
+church. He organized the first Sunday school at Big Sandy.</p>
+
+<p>The first election for county officers was held in 1863. D. L.
+Marks was elected county clerk, T. J. Holt, county treasurer,
+Ed. Farrell, county judge. In November, 1868, Ives Marks was
+elected county treasurer. If a person was unable to pay his entire
+tax, he would accept a part, issue a receipt, and take a note
+for the balance. Sometimes he would give the note back so that
+the party would know when it fell due. He drove around the
+county collecting taxes, and kept his funds in a candle box. He
+drove to Lincoln in his one-horse cart, telling everyone he met
+that he was Rev. Ives Marks, treasurer of Jefferson county, and
+that he had five hundred dollars in that box which he was taking
+to the state treasurer.</p>
+
+<p>Fairbury was laid out in August, 1869, by W. G. McDowell
+and J. B. Mattingly. Immediately after the survey Sidney Mason
+built the first house upon the townsite of Fairbury, on the
+corner northwest of the public square, where now stands the
+U. S. postoffice. Mrs. Mason kept boarders, and advertised that
+her table was loaded with all the delicacies the market afforded,
+and I can testify from personal experience that the common
+food our market did afford was transformed into delicacies by
+the magic of her cooking. Mrs. Mason has lived in Fairbury
+ever since the town was staked out, and now (1915), in her
+ninety-sixth year, is keeping her own house and performing all
+the duties of the home cheerfully and happily.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Mason's grandson, Claiborn L. Shader, son of Mr. and
+Mrs. A. L. Shader, now of Lincoln, was the first child born in
+Fairbury.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most vivid and pleasant memories that comes to me
+after the lapse of forty-five years is that of a boy, tired and footsore
+from a hundred-mile walk from the Missouri river, standing
+on the hill where the traveler from the east first sees the
+valley of the Little Blue, looking down on a little group of
+about a dozen houses&mdash;the village of Fairbury. This was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+the summer of 1870, and was my first view of the town that was
+ever after to be my home.</p>
+
+<p>On the second floor of Thomas &amp; Champlin's store I found
+George Cross and my brother, Harry Hansen, running off the
+<i>Fairbury Gazette</i>, alternating in inking the types with the old-fashioned
+roller and yanking the lever of the old-fashioned hand
+press. This was about the first issue of the <i>Gazette</i> entirely
+printed at home. The first issues were set up at home, hauled
+to Beatrice in a lumber wagon, and printed in the office of the
+Beatrice <i>Express</i>, until the press arrived in Fairbury.</p>
+
+<p>When subscriptions were mostly paid in wood, butter, squash,
+and turnips, you can imagine what a time Mr. Cross had in
+skirmishing around for cash to pay for paper and ink, and the
+wages of a printer; so he decided if the paper was to survive
+and build up the country, he must have a printer for a partner,
+and he sold a half interest in the <i>Gazette</i> to my brother and me.
+The principal source of our revenue was from printing the commissioners'
+proceedings and the delinquent tax list, taking our
+pay in county warrants. These warrants drew ten per cent interest,
+were paid in a year, and we sold them to Editor Cramb's
+grandfather for seventy-five cents on the dollar. On that basis
+they yielded him forty per cent per annum&mdash;too low a rate,
+we thought, to justify holding.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie grass grew luxuriantly in the streets. There were not
+enough buildings around the public square to mark it. On the
+west side were three one-story buildings, the best one still standing,
+now owned by Wm. Christian and used as a confectionery;
+it was then the office of the county clerk and board of county
+commissioners. The second was the pioneer store of John Brown,
+his office as justice of the peace, and his home; the third was a
+shanty covered with tarred paper, the office and home of Dr.
+Showalter, physician, surgeon, politician, and sometimes exhorter;
+and a past master he was in them all. On the north
+side were two of the same class of buildings, one occupied by
+Mr. McCaffery, whose principal business was selling a vile brand
+of whiskey labeled Hostetter's Bitters, and the other was Wesley
+Bailey's drug store and postoffice. George Cross had the honor
+of being postmaster, but Wes drew the entire salary of four dollars
+and sixteen cents per month, for services as deputy and
+rent for the office. On the east side there was but one building,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+Thomas &amp; Champlin's Farmers' store. On the south side there
+was nothing. On the south half of the square was our ball
+ground. Men were at work on the foundation of the Methodist
+church, the first church in Fairbury. We were short on church
+buildings but long on religious discussions.</p>
+
+<p>Where the city hall now stands were the ruins of the dugout
+in which Judge Boyle and family had lived the previous winter.
+He had built a more stately mansion of native cottonwood lumber&mdash;his
+home, law and real-estate office. M. H. Weeks had for
+sale a few loads of lumber in his yard on the corner northeast
+of the square, hauled from Waterville by team, a distance of
+forty-five miles. All supplies were hauled from Waterville, the
+nearest railroad station, and it took nearly a week to make the
+round trip. Judge Mattingly was running a sawmill near the
+river, cutting the native cottonwoods into dimension lumber and
+common boards.</p>
+
+<p>The Otoe Indians, whose reservation was on the east line of
+the county, camped on the public square going out on their annual
+buffalo hunts. The boys spent the evenings with them in
+their tents playing seven-up, penny a game, always letting the
+Indians win. They went out on their last hunt in the fall of
+1874, and traveled four hundred miles before finding any buffalo.
+The animals were scarce by reason of their indiscriminate
+slaughter by hunters, and the Otoes returned in February, 1875,
+with the "jerked" meat and hides of only fifteen buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>The Western Stage Company ran daily to and from Beatrice,
+connecting there by stage with Brownville and Nebraska City.
+The arrival of the stage was the great and exciting event of each
+day; it brought our mail and daily newspaper, an exchange to
+the <i>Gazette</i>; and occasionally it brought a passenger.</p>
+
+<p>After resting from my long walk I decided to go on to Republic
+county, Kansas, and take a homestead. There were no
+roads on the prairie beyond Marks' mill, and I used a pocket
+compass to keep the general direction, and by the notches on the
+government stones determined my location. I found so much
+vacant government land that it was difficult to make a choice,
+and after two trips to the government land office at Junction
+City, located four miles east of the present town of Belleville.
+I built a dugout, and to prevent my claim being jumped, tacked
+a notice on the door, "Gone to hunt a wife." Returning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+Fairbury, I stopped over night with Rev. Ives Marks at Marks'
+mill. He put me to bed with a stranger, and in the morning
+when settling my bill, he said: "I'll charge you the regular
+price, fifteen cents a meal, but this other man must pay twenty
+cents, he was so lavish with the sugar." On this trip I walked
+four hundred and forty miles. Two years later I traded my
+homestead to Mr. Alfred Kelley for a shotgun, and at that time
+met his daughter Mary. Mary and I celebrated our fortieth
+anniversary last May, with our children and grandchildren.</p>
+
+<p>The first schoolhouse in Fairbury was completed in December,
+1870, and for some time was used for church services,
+dances, and public gatherings. The first term of school began
+January 9, 1871, with P. L. Chapman for teacher.</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1871, I was employed to teach the winter and
+spring terms of school at a salary of fifty dollars a month, and
+taught in one room all the pupils of Fairbury and surrounding
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cross announced in the <i>Gazette</i> that no town of its size in
+the state was so badly in need of a shoemaker as Fairbury, and
+he hoped some wandering son of St. Crispin would come this
+way. Just such a wandering shoemaker came in the person of
+Robert Christian, with all his clothes and tools in a satchel, and
+twenty-five cents in his pocket. He managed to get enough
+leather from worn-out boots given him to patch and halfsole
+others, and was soon prosperous.</p>
+
+<p>During the summer of 1871 C. F. Steele built a two-story
+building on the lot now occupied by the First National bank,
+the first floor for a furniture store, the second floor for a home.
+When nearly completed a hurricane demolished it and scattered
+the lumber over the prairie for two miles south. It was a hard
+blow on Mr. Steele. He gathered together the wind-swept
+boards and, undismayed, began again the building of his store
+and business.</p>
+
+<p>In the fall of 1871, William Allen and I built the Star hotel,
+a two-story building, on the east side, with accommodations for
+ten transient guests&mdash;large enough, we thought, for all time.</p>
+
+<p>In the early days of my hotel experience, I was offered some
+cabbages by a farmer boy&mdash;rather a reserved and studious looking
+lad. He raised good cabbages on his father's homestead a
+few miles north of town. After dickering awhile over the price,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+I took his entire load. He afterwards said that I beat him down
+below cost of production, and then cleaned him out, while I insisted
+that he had a monopoly and the price of cabbages should
+have been regulated by law. Soon after, I was surprised to find
+him in my room taking an examination for a teacher's certificate,
+my room-mate being the county superintendent, and rather
+astonished, I said, "What! you teach school?"&mdash;a remark he
+never forgot. He read law with Slocumb &amp; Hambel, was some
+time afterwards elected county attorney and later judge of this
+district. Ten years ago he was elected one of the judges of the
+supreme court of the state of Nebraska, and this position he still
+fills with distinguished ability. I scarcely need to mention that
+this was Charles B. Letton.</p>
+
+<p>A celebration was held on July 4, 1871, at Mattingly's sawmill,
+and enthusiasm and patriotism were greatly stimulated by
+the blowing of a steam whistle which had recently been installed
+in the mill. Colonel Thomas Harbine, vice-president of the St.
+Joseph &amp; Denver City R. R. Co., now the St. Joseph &amp; Grand
+Island railroad, made the principal address, his subject being
+"The railroad, the modern civilizer, may we hail its advent."
+The Otoe Indian, Jim Whitewater, got drunk at this celebration,
+and on his way to the reservation murdered two white men who
+were encamped near Rock creek. He was arrested by the Indians,
+brought to Fairbury, and delivered to the authorities,
+after which chief Pipe Stem and chief Little Pipe visited the
+<i>Gazette</i> office and watched the setting of type and printing on
+the press with many a grunt of satisfaction. I was present at
+the trial of Whitewater the following spring. After the verdict
+of guilty was brought in, Judge O. P. Mason asked him if he
+had anything to say why judgment should not be pronounced.
+Whitewater proceeded to make a lengthy speech, ridiculed the
+former sheriff, S. J. Alexander, and commenced criticizing the
+judge. The judge ordered him to sit down. A look of livid
+rage came over Whitewater's face, and he stooped slightly as
+though to spring. Then the judge turned pale, and in that
+rasping voice which all who knew him remember well, commanded
+the sheriff to seat the prisoner, which was done.</p>
+
+<p>The spring of 1872 marked a new era in the life of Fairbury.
+On March 13th of that year the St. Joseph and Denver City railroad
+built into and through our city. From the time the track-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>layers
+struck Jenkin's Mills, a crowd of us went down every day
+to see the locomotive and watch the progress of the work. One
+of our fondest dreams had come true.</p>
+
+<p>In the fall of 1873 Col. Thomas Harbine began the erection
+of the first bank building, a one-story frame structure on the east
+side of the square. George Cross was the bank's first customer,
+and purchased draft No. 1. Upon the death of Col. Harbine's
+son John, in August, 1875, I became cashier, bookkeeper, teller,
+and janitor of the "Banking House of Thomas Harbine." In
+1882 this bank incorporated under the state banking law as the
+"Harbine Bank of Fairbury," and I have been connected with
+it in various capacities ever since.</p>
+
+<p>We had our pleasures in those pioneer days, but had to make
+them ourselves. Theatrical troupes never visited us&mdash;we were
+not on the circuit&mdash;but we had a dramatic company of our own.
+Mr. Charles B. Slocumb, afterwards famous as the author of the
+Slocumb high license law, was the star actor in the club. A
+local critic commenting on our first play said: "Mr. Slocumb
+as a confirmed drunkard was a decided success. W. W. Watson
+as a temperance lecturer was eminently fitted for his part. G.
+W. Hansen as a hard-up student would have elicited applause
+on any stage."</p>
+
+<p>Election days in those "good old times" gave employment
+to an army of workers sent out by candidates to every precinct
+to make votes, and to see that those bought or promised were delivered.
+John McT. Gibson of Gibson precinct, farmer, green-backer,
+and poet, read an original poem at a Fourth of July
+celebration forty years ago, one verse of which gives us an idea
+of the bitterness of feeling existing in the political parties of
+that time:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"Unholy Mammon can unlock the doors<br />
+Of congress halls and legislative floors,<br />
+Dictate decisions of its judges bought,<br />
+And poison all the avenues of thought.<br />
+Metes out to labor miseries untold,<br />
+And grasps forever at a crown of gold."<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>I do not care to live too much in the past; but when the day's
+work is done, I love to draw aside the curtain that hides the intervening
+years, and in memory live over again Fairbury's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+pioneer days of the early seventies. Grasshoppers and drouth
+brought real adversity then, for, unlike the present, we were unprepared
+for the lean years. But we had hope and energy, and
+pulled together for the settlement of our county and the growth
+and prosperity of Fairbury.</p>
+
+<p>We dreamed then of the days to come&mdash;when bridges should
+span the streams, and farm houses and fields of grain and corn
+should break the monotony of the silent, unending prairie. We
+were always working for better things to come&mdash;for the future.
+The delectable mountains were always ahead of us&mdash;would we
+ever reach them?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE EARLIEST ROMANCE OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By George W. Hansen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>One hundred and three years ago Hannah Norton was born
+"away down east" in the state of Maine. Hannah married
+Jason Plummer, and in the year 1844, seized by the wanderlust,
+they decided to move west. One morning their little daughter
+Eleanor, four years old, stood outside the cabin door with her
+rag doll pressed tightly to her breast, and watched her parents
+load their household goods into the heavy, covered wagon, yoke
+up the oxen, and make preparations for a long journey.</p>
+
+<p>As little Eleanor clambered up the wheel and into the wagon,
+she felt none of the responsibilities of the long pioneer life that
+lay before her, nor did she know or care about her glorious ancestry.</p>
+
+<p>Only a few decades previous her ancestor, Major Peter Norton,
+who had fought gallantly in the war of the Revolution, had
+gone to his reward. His recompense on earth had been the consciousness
+of patriotic duty well performed in the cause of liberty
+and independence. A hero he was, but the Maine woods
+were full of Revolutionary heroes. He was not yet famous. It
+was reserved for Peter Norton's great-great-great-granddaughters
+to perpetuate the story of his heroic deeds. One, Mrs.
+Auta Helvey Pursell, the daughter of our little Eleanor, is now
+a member of Quivera chapter, D. A. R., of Fairbury, Nebraska,
+and another, Lillian Norton, is better known to the world she
+has charmed with her song, as Madame Nordica.</p>
+
+<p>But little Eleanor was wholly unmindful of past or future on
+that morning long ago. She laughed and chattered as the wagon
+rolled slowly on its westward way.</p>
+
+<p>A long, slow, and painful journey through forests and over
+mountains, then down the Ohio river to Cincinnati was at last
+finished, and the family made that city their home. After several
+years the oxen were again yoked up and the family traveled
+to the West, out to the prairies of Iowa, where they re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>mained
+until 1863. Then, hearing of a still fairer country
+where free homes could be taken in fertile valleys that needed
+no clearing, where wild game was abundant and chills and fever
+unknown, Jason, Hannah, and Eleanor again traveled westward.
+After a toilsome journey they settled in Swan creek valley,
+Nebraska territory, near the present northern line of Jefferson
+county.</p>
+
+<p>Theirs were pioneer surroundings. The only residents were
+ranchers scattered along the creeks at the crossings of the Oregon
+trail. A few immigrants came that year and settled in the
+valleys of the Sandys, Swan creek, Cub creek, Rose creek, and
+the Little Blue. No human habitation stood upon the upland
+prairies. The population was four-fifths male, and the young
+men traveled up and down the creeks for miles seeking partners
+for their dances, which were often given. But it was always
+necessary for a number of men to take the part of ladies. In
+such cases they wore a handkerchief around one arm to distinguish
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The advent of a new family into the country was an important
+event, and especially when a beautiful young lady formed a part
+of it. The families of Joel Helvey and Jason Plummer became
+neighborly at once, visiting back and forth with the friendly
+intimacy characteristic of all pioneers. Paths were soon worn
+over the divide between Joel Helvey's ranch on the Little Sandy
+and the Plummer home on Swan creek, and one of Joel's boys
+was accused of making clandestine rambles in that direction.
+Certain it was that many of the young men who asked Eleanor
+for her company to the dances were invariably told that Frank
+Helvey had already spoken. Their dejection was explained in
+the vernacular of the time&mdash;they had "gotten the mitten."</p>
+
+<p>The music for the dances was furnished by the most energetic
+fiddlers in the land, and the art of playing "Fisher's Hornpipe,"
+"Devil's Dream," and "Arkansaw Traveler" in such
+lively, triumphant tones of the fiddle as played by Joe Baker
+and Hiram Helvey has been lost to the world. Sometimes disputes
+were settled either before or after the dance by an old-fashioned
+fist fight. In those days the accepted policy was that
+if you threshed your adversary soundly, the controversy was
+settled&mdash;there was no further argument about it. At one dance
+on the Little Sandy some "boys" from the Blue decided to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+"clear out" the ranchers before the dance, and in the lively
+melee that followed, Frank Helvey inadvertently got his thumb
+in his adversary's mouth; and he will show you yet a scar and
+cloven nail to prove this story. The ranchers more than held
+their own, and after the battle invited the defeated party to take
+part in the dance. The invitation was accepted and in the
+morning all parted good friends.</p>
+
+<p>On August 6, 1864, the Overland stage, which had been turned
+back on its way to the west, brought news that the Sioux and
+Cheyenne were on the warpath. They had massacred entire
+settlements on the Little Blue and along the trail a few miles
+west, and were planning to kill every white person west of
+Beatrice and Marysville.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the friendly old Indians had told Joel Helvey
+that the young men were chanting the old song:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"Some day we shall drive the whites back<br />
+Across the great salt water<br />
+Whence they came;<br />
+Happy days for the Sioux<br />
+When the whites go back."<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Little attention had been paid to these warnings, the Helvey
+family believing they could take care of themselves as they had
+during the past eighteen years in the Indian country. But the
+report brought by the stage was too alarming to be disregarded;
+and the women asked to be taken to a place of safety.</p>
+
+<p>At this time Mrs. Plummer and her daughter Eleanor were
+visiting at the home of Joel Helvey. They could not return to
+Swan creek, for news had come that all Swan creek settlers
+had gone to Beatrice. There was no time to be lost. The
+women and father Helvey, who was then in failing health, were
+placed in wagons, the boys mounted horses to drive the cattle,
+and all "struck out" over the trail following the divide towards
+Marysville, where breastworks had been thrown up and stockades
+had been built.</p>
+
+<p>During the day Frank found many excuses to leave the cattle
+with his brothers while he rode close to the wagon in which
+Eleanor was seated. It was a time to try one's courage and he
+beguiled the anxious hours with tales of greater dangers than
+the impending one and assured her, with many a vow of love,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+that he could protect her from any attack the Indians might
+make.</p>
+
+<p>The first night the party camped at the waterhole two miles
+northwest of the place where now an imposing monument marks
+the crossing of the Oregon trail and the Nebraska-Kansas line.
+Towards evening of the next day they halted on Horseshoe
+creek. In the morning it was decided to make this their permanent
+camp. There was abundant grass for their stock, and
+here they would cut and stack their winter hay.</p>
+
+<p>A man in the distance saw the camp and ponies, and mistaking
+the party for Indians, hurried to Marysville and gave the
+alarm. Captain Hollenberg and a squad of militia came out
+and from a safe distance investigated with a spyglass. Finding
+the party were white people he came down and ordered them
+into Marysville. The captain said the Indians would kill them
+all and, inflamed by the bloodshed, would be more ferocious in
+their attack on the stockade.</p>
+
+<p>The Helveys preferred taking their chances with the Indians
+rather than leave their cattle to the mercies of the Kansas Jayhawkers,
+and told the captain that when the Indians came they
+would get to Marysville first and give the alarm.</p>
+
+<p>Their camp was an ideal spot under the grateful shadow of
+noble trees. The songs of birds in the branches above them, the
+odor of prairie flowers and the new-mown hay about them, lent
+charm to the scene. Two of the party, at least, lived in an enchanted
+land. After the blistering heat of an August day
+Frank and Eleanor walked together in the shadows and coolness
+of night and watched the moon rise through the trees. And
+here was told the old, old story, world old yet ever new. Here
+were laid the happy plans for future years. And yet through
+all these happy days there ran a thread of sorrow. Father Joel
+Helvey failed rapidly, and on September 3 he passed away.
+After he was laid to rest, the entire party returned to the ranch
+on Little Sandy.</p>
+
+<p>The day for the wedding, September 21, at last arrived. None
+of the officers qualified to perform marriage ceremonies having
+returned since the Indian raid, Frank and Eleanor, with Frank's
+sister as chaperon, drove to Beatrice. On arriving there they
+were delighted to meet Eleanor's father. His consent to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+marriage was obtained and he was asked to give away the bride.
+The marriage party proceeded to Judge Towle's cabin on the
+Big Blue where the wedding ceremony was solemnly performed
+and "Pap" Towle gave the bride the first kiss.</p>
+
+<p>And thus, just fifty years ago, the first courtship in Jefferson
+county was consummated.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EXPERIENCES ON THE FRONTIER</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Frank Helvey</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I was born July 7, 1841, in Huntington county, Indiana. My
+father, Joel Helvey, decided in 1846 to try his fortune in the
+far West. Our family consisted of father, mother, three boys,
+and three girls. So two heavy wagons were fitted up to haul
+heavy goods, and a light wagon for mother and the girls. The
+wagons were the old-fashioned type, built very heavy, carrying
+the customary tar bucket on the rear axle.</p>
+
+<p>Nebraska was at this time in what was called the Indian
+country, and no one was allowed to settle in it. We stopped at
+old Fort Kearny&mdash;now Nebraska City. In a short time we
+pulled up stakes and housed in a log cabin on the Iowa side.
+Father, two brothers&mdash;Thomas and Whitman&mdash;and I constructed
+a ferry to run across the Missouri river, getting
+consent of the commandant at the fort to move the family over
+on the Nebraska side; but he said we would have to take our
+chances with the Indians. We broke a small patch of ground,
+planting pumpkins, melons, corn, etc. The Indians were very
+glad to see us and very friendly&mdash;in fact, too much so. When
+our corn and melons began to ripen, they would come in small
+bands, gather the corn and fill their blankets. It did no good
+for us to protest, so we boys thought we would scare them away.
+We hid in the bushes close to the field. Soon they came and
+were filling their blankets. We shot over their heads, but the
+Indians didn't scare&mdash;they came running straight toward us.
+They gave us a little of our own medicine and took a few shots
+at us. We didn't scare any more Indians.</p>
+
+<p>When word came in the fall of 1858 that gold had been discovered
+in Pike's Peak by the wagonload, that settled it. We
+got the fever, and in April, 1859, we started for Pike's Peak.
+We went by the way of Beatrice, striking the Overland trail
+near the Big Sandy. An ex-soldier, Tim Taylor, told us he believed
+the Little Sandy to be the best place in southern Nebraska.
+We built a ranch house on the trail at the crossing of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+Little Sandy and engaged in freighting from the Missouri river
+to the Rocky Mountains. This we did for several years, receiving
+seven to eight cents per pound. We hauled seven thousand
+to eight thousand pounds on a wagon, and it required from
+seventy-five to eighty days to make a round trip with eight and
+ten yoke of oxen to a wagon. I spent about nine years freighting
+across the plains from Atchison, Leavenworth, St. Joseph,
+and Nebraska City to Denver, hauling government supplies to
+Fort Laramie. In 1863-64 I served as substitute stage driver,
+messenger, or pony express rider. I have met at some time or
+another nearly every noted character or "bad man" that passed
+up and down the trail. I met Wild Bill for the first time at
+Rock Creek ranch. I met him often after the killing of McCanles,
+and helped bury the dead. I was well acquainted with
+McCanles. Wild Bill was a remarkable man, unexcelled as a
+shot, hard to get acquainted with. Lyman, or Jack, Slade was
+considered the worst man-killer on the plains.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians did not give us much trouble until the closing
+year of the civil war. Our trains were held up several times,
+being forced to corral. We were fortunate not to lose a man.
+I have shot at hundreds of Indians. I cannot say positively
+that I ever killed one, although I was considered a crack shot.
+I can remember of twenty or more staying with us one night,
+stretching out on their blankets before the fireplace, and departing
+in the morning without making a move out of the way.
+The Pawnees and Otoes were very bitter toward the Sioux and
+Cheyennes. In the summer of 1862 over five hundred Indians
+were engaged in an all-day fight on the Little Blue river south
+of Meridian. That night over a hundred warriors danced
+around a camp-fire with the scalps of their foes on a pole, catching
+the bloody scalp with their teeth. How many were killed
+we never knew.</p>
+
+<p>My brothers and I went on one special buffalo hunt with three
+different tribes of Indians&mdash;Otoes, Omahas, and Pawnees&mdash;about
+one thousand in all, on Rose creek, about where the town of
+Hubbell is situated. We were gone about four days. The Indians
+would do all the killing. When they got what they
+wanted, then we boys would get our meat. There was plenty
+for all. The prairies were covered with buffalo; they were never
+out of sight. On the 4th of July, 1859, six of us with two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+wagons, four yoke of oxen to a wagon, went over on the Republican
+where there were always thousands of buffalo. We were
+out two weeks and killed what meat we wanted. We always
+had a guard out at night when we camped, keeping the wolves
+from our fresh meat. We came home to the ranch heavily loaded.
+We sold some and dried some for our own use.</p>
+
+<p>I homesteaded, June 13, 1866, on the Little Blue, five miles
+northwest of Fairbury, and helped the settlers looking for homesteads
+locate their land. My father, Joel Helvey, entered forty
+acres where we had established our ranch on Little Sandy in
+1861, the first year any land was entered in this county. I was
+the first sheriff of this county; served four years, 1867-1870.
+No sheriff had qualified or served before 1867. County business
+was done at Big Sandy and Meridian, and at the houses of the
+county officers. We carried the county records around from
+place to place in gunny sacks.</p>
+
+<p>I am glad I participated in the earliest happenings of this
+county, and am proud to be one of its citizens.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 472px;">
+<img src="images/illus_011.jpg" width="472" height="600" alt="Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy
+
+Seventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1905-1906" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy
+
+Seventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1905-1906</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LOOKING BACKWARD</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By George E. Jenkins</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Looking backward forty years and more, I feel as Longfellow
+so beautifully expresses it,</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"You may build more splendid habitations,<br />
+Fill your rooms with sculpture and with paintings,<br />
+But you cannot buy with gold the old associations,"<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>for in that time I have seen Fairbury grow from a little hamlet
+to a city of the first class, surrounded by a country that we used
+to call "the Indian country," considered unfit for agricultural
+purposes, but today it blossoms as the rose and no finer land
+lies anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>I have read with great interest of the happenings of ten,
+twenty, thirty years ago as published each week in our Fairbury
+papers, but am going to delve into ancient history a little deeper
+and tell you from personal experience of the interesting picture
+presented to me forty-odd years ago, I think in the year 70 or
+'71, for I distinctly remember the day I caught the first glimpse
+of Fairbury. It was a bright and sunshiny morning in July.
+We had been making the towns in western Kansas and had gotten
+rather a late start from Concordia the day before; a storm
+coming up suddenly compelled us to seek shelter for the night.
+My traveling companion was A. V. Whiting, selling shoes, and
+I was selling dry-goods, both from wholesale houses in St. Joseph,
+Missouri. Mr. Whiting is well and honorably known in
+Fairbury as he was afterwards in business there for many years.
+He has been a resident of Lincoln for twenty-three years.</p>
+
+<p>There were no railroads or automobiles in the country at that
+time and we had to depend on a good pair of horses and a covered
+spring wagon. We found a place of shelter at Marks'
+mill, located on Rose creek fifteen miles southwest of Fairbury,
+and here we stayed all night. I shall always remember our introduction
+there, viz: as we drove up to the house I saw a large,
+portly old man coming in from the field on top of a load of hay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+and as I approached him I said, "My name is Jenkins, sir&mdash;"
+but before I could say more he answered in a deep bass voice,
+saying, "My name is Clodhopper, sir," which he afterwards explained
+was the name that preachers of the United Brethren
+church were known by at that time. This man, Marks, was one
+of the first county treasurers of Jefferson county, and it is related
+of him that while he was treasurer he had occasion to go to
+Lincoln, the capital of the state, to pay the taxes of the county,
+and being on horseback he lost his way and meeting a horseman
+with a gun across his shoulder, he said to the stranger, "I am
+treasurer of Jefferson county. My saddle-bags are full of gold
+and I am on the way to Lincoln to pay the taxes of the county,
+but I have lost my way. Please direct me."</p>
+
+<p>Returning to my story of stopping over night at Rose creek:
+we were most hospitably entertained and at breakfast next
+morning we were greatly surprised on being asked if we would
+have wild or tame sweetening in our coffee, as this was the first
+time in all our travels we had ever been asked that question.
+We were told that honey was wild sweetening and sugar the
+tame sweetening. I cannot refrain from telling a little incident
+that occurred at this time. When we had our team hitched up
+and our sample trunks aboard, we asked Mr. Marks for our bill
+and were told we could not pay anything for our entertainment,
+and just then Mrs. Marks appeared on the scene. She had in her
+hand a lot of five and ten cent war shinplasters, and as she handed
+them to Mr. Marks he said, "Mother and I have been talking
+the matter over and as we have not bought any goods from you
+we decided to give you a dollar to help you pay expenses elsewhere";
+and on our refusing to take it he said, "I want you to
+take it, for it is worth it for the example you have set to my
+children." Politely declining the money and thanking our host
+and hostess for their good opinion and splendid entertainment,
+we were soon on our way to pay our first visit to Fairbury.</p>
+
+<p>We arrived about noon and stopped at a little one-story hotel
+on the west side of the square, kept by a man by the name of
+Hurd. After dinner we went out to see the town and were told
+it was the county-seat of Jefferson county. The courthouse
+was a little one-story frame building and is now located on the
+west side of the square and known as Christian's candy shop.
+There was one large general store kept by Champlin &amp; McDow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>ell,
+a drug store, a hardware store, lumber yard, blacksmith
+shop, a schoolhouse, church, and a few small buildings scattered
+around the square. The residences were small and widely scattered.
+Primitive conditions prevailed everywhere, and we were
+told the population was one hundred and fifty but we doubted
+it. The old adage reads, "Big oaks from little acorns grow,"
+and it has been my privilege and great pleasure to have seen
+Fairbury "climb the ladder round by round" until today it has
+a population of fifty-five hundred.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE EASTER STORM OF 1873</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Charles B. Letton</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Spring opened very early in the year 1873. Farmers plowed
+and harrowed the ground and sowed their oats and spring wheat
+in February and March. The grass began to grow early in
+April and by the middle of the month the small-grain fields
+were bright green with the new crops. Most of the settlers on
+the uplands of Jefferson county were still living in dugouts or
+sod houses. The stables and barns for the protection of their
+live stock were for the most part built by setting forked posts
+in the ground, putting rough poles and brush against the sides
+and on the roof, and covering them with straw, prairie grass, or
+manure. Sometimes the bank of a ravine was made perpendicular
+and used as one side. The covering of the walls and roof
+of these structures needed continual renewal as the winds loosened
+it or as the spring rains caused it to settle. Settlers became
+careless about this early in the spring, thinking that the winter
+was over. The prairies were still bare of hedges, fences, or trees
+to break the winds or catch the drifting snow.</p>
+
+<p>Easter Sunday occurred on the thirteenth of April. For days
+before, the weather had been mild and the air delightful. The
+writer was then living alone in a dugout seven miles north of
+Fairbury in what is now the rich and fertile farming community
+known as Bower. The granary stood on the edge of a
+ravine a short distance from the dugout. The stable or barn
+was partly dug into the bank of this ravine; the long side was
+to the north, while the roof and the south side were built of
+poles and straw in the usual fashion of those days. On the
+afternoon of Easter Sunday it began to rain and blow from the
+northwest. The next morning I had been awake for some time
+waiting for daylight when I finally realized that the dim light
+coming from the windows was due to the fact that they were
+covered with snow drifts. I could hear the noise of the wind
+but had no idea of the fury of the tempest until I undertook to
+go outside to feed the stock. As soon as I opened the door I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+found that the air was full of snow, driven by a tremendous
+gale from the north. The fury of the tempest was indescribable.
+The air appeared to be a mass of moving snow, and the wind
+howled like a pack of furies. I managed to get to the granary
+for some oats, but on looking into the ravine no stable was to be
+seen, only an immense snow drift which almost filled it. At the
+point where the door to the stable should have been there appeared
+a hole in the drift where the snow was eddying. On
+crawling into this I found that during the night the snow had
+drifted in around the horses and cattle, which were tied to the
+manger. The animals had trampled it under their feet to such
+an extent that it had raised them so that in places their backs
+lifted the flimsy roof, and the wind carrying much of the covering
+away, had filled the stable with snow until some of them
+were almost and others wholly buried, except where the remains
+of the roof protected them.</p>
+
+<p>Two animals died while I was trying to extricate them and at
+night I was compelled to lead two or three others into the front
+room of the dugout and keep them there until the storm was
+over in order to save their lives. It was only by the most strenuous
+efforts I was able to get to the house. My clothing was
+stiff. The wind had driven the snow into the fabric, as it had
+thawed it had frozen again, until it formed an external coating
+of ice.</p>
+
+<p>I had nothing to eat all day, having gone out before breakfast,
+and when night came and I attempted to build a fire in the
+cook stove I found that the storm had blown away the joints
+of stovepipe which projected through the roof and had drifted
+the hole so full of snow that the snow was in the stove itself.
+I went on the roof, cleared it out, built a fire, made some coffee
+and warmed some food, then went to bed utterly fatigued and,
+restlessly tossing, dreamed all night that I was still in the snow
+drift working as I had worked all day.</p>
+
+<p>Many other settlers took their cattle and horses into their
+houses or dugouts in order to save them. Every ravine and
+hollow that ran in an easterly or westerly direction was filled
+with snow from rim to rim. In other localities cattle were
+driven many miles by this storm. Houses, or rather shacks,
+were unroofed and people in them frozen to death. Travelers
+caught in the blizzard, who attempted to take refuge in ravines,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+perished and their stiffened bodies were found when the drifts
+melted weeks afterward. Stories were told of people who had
+undertaken to go from their houses to their outbuildings and
+who, being blinded by the snow, became lost and either perished
+or nearly lost their lives, and of others where the settler in
+order to reach his well or his outbuildings in safety fastened a
+rope to the door and went into the storm holding to the rope in
+order to insure his safe return. Deer, antelope, and other wild
+animals perished in the more sparsely settled districts. The
+storm lasted for three days, not always of the same intensity,
+and freezing weather followed for a day or two thereafter. In
+a few days the sun shone, the snow melted, and spring reappeared;
+the melting drifts, that lay for weeks in some places,
+being the only reminder of the severity of the storm.</p>
+
+<p>To old settlers in Nebraska and northern Kansas this has ever
+since been known as "The Easter Storm." In the forty-six
+years that I have lived in Nebraska there has only been one other
+winter storm that measurably approached it in intensity. This
+was the blizzard of 1888 when several people lost their lives.
+At that time, however, people were living in comfort; trees,
+hedges, groves, stubble, and cornfields held the snow so that
+the drifts were insignificant in comparison. The cold was more
+severe but the duration of the storm was less and no such widespread
+suffering took place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>BEGINNINGS OF FAIRBURY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Joseph B. McDowell</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the fall of 1868 my brother, W. G. McDowell, and I started
+from Fairbury, Illinois, for Nebraska. Arriving at Brownville,
+we were compelled to take a stage for Beatrice, as the only railroad
+in the state was the Union Pacific.</p>
+
+<p>Brownville was a little river village, and Tecumseh was the
+only town between Brownville and Beatrice. It probably had
+one hundred inhabitants. There was only one house between it
+and Beatrice. The trip from Brownville to Beatrice took two
+days with a night stop at Tecumseh. The scenery consisted of
+rolling prairie covered with buffalo grass, and a few trees along
+the banks of Rock creek. We stopped for dinner at a house a
+few miles northeast of the present site of Endicott, where the
+Oregon trail stages changed horses.</p>
+
+<p>On our arrival at Beatrice we found a little village of about
+three hundred inhabitants. The only hotel had three rooms: a
+reception room, one bedroom with four beds&mdash;one in each
+corner&mdash;and a combination dining-room and kitchen. There was
+a schoolhouse fourteen by sixteen feet, but there were no
+churches. We bought a few town lots, entered two or three sections
+of land, and decided to build a stone hotel, as there was
+plenty of stone along the banks of the Blue river, and in the
+water.</p>
+
+<p>We then took a team and spring-wagon and started to find a
+location for a county-seat for Jefferson county. We found the
+land where Fairbury is now located was not entered, so we entered
+it with the intention of making it the county-seat.</p>
+
+<p>On our return to Beatrice we let the contract for the stone
+hotel, which still stands today. We returned to Illinois, but the
+following February of 1869 I came back to look after the building
+of the hotel. I bought a farm with buildings on it, and began
+farming and improving the land I had entered. In the
+summer of 1869 my brother came out again, and we drove over
+to lay out the county-seat of Jefferson county, which we named<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+after Fairbury, Illinois, with the sanction of the county commissioners.
+We shipped the machinery for a sawmill to Waterville,
+Kansas, and hauled it to Fairbury with teams. Judge Mattingly
+bought it and sawed all the lumber that was used for
+building around Fairbury. Armstrong Brothers started a small
+store in a shack.</p>
+
+<p>About 1870, I came over from Beatrice and built the first store
+building, on the east side of the square, which was replaced a
+few years ago by the J. D. Davis building. The Fairbury Roller
+Mill was built in 1873 by Col. Andrew J. Cropsey. I bought
+his interest in 1874 and have had it ever since. In 1880 I came
+to make my home in Fairbury and have watched its steady
+growth from its beginning, to our present thriving and beautiful
+little city of 1915.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY EXPERIENCES IN NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Elizabeth Porter Seymour</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the spring of 1872, we came from Waterloo, Iowa, to Plymouth,
+Nebraska. My husband drove through, and upon his arrival
+I came by train with my young brother and baby daughter
+four months old.</p>
+
+<p>When my husband came the previous fall to buy land, there
+was no railroad south of Crete, and he drove across the country,
+but the railroad had since been completed to Beatrice.
+There was a mixed train, with one coach, and I was the only
+lady passenger. There was one young girl, who could not speak
+any English, but who had a card hung on her neck telling where
+she was to go. The trainmen held a consultation and decided
+that the people lived a short distance from the track, in the
+vicinity of Wilber, so they stopped the train and made inquiries.
+Finding these people expected someone, we waited until they
+came and got the girl. My husband met me at Beatrice, and
+the next morning we started on a fourteen-mile drive to Plymouth,
+perched upon a load of necessaries and baggage.</p>
+
+<p>We had bought out a homesteader, so we had a shelter to go
+into. This consisted of a cottonwood house fourteen by sixteen
+feet, unplastered, and with a floor of rough boards. It was a
+dreary place, but in a few days I had transformed it. One carpet
+was put on the floor and another stretched overhead on the
+joists. This made a place to store things, and gave the room a
+better appearance. Around the sides of the room were tacked
+sheets, etc., making a white wall. On this we hung a few pictures,
+and when the homesteader appeared at the door, he stood
+amazed at our fine appearance. A rude lean-to was built to
+hold the kitchen stove and work-table.</p>
+
+<p>Many times that summer a feeling of intense loneliness at the
+dreary condition came over me, but the baby Helen, always
+happy and smiling, drove gloom away. Then, in August, came
+the terrible blow of losing our baby blossom. Cholera infantum
+was the complaint. A young mother's ignorance of remedies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+and the long distance from a doctor, caused a delay that was
+fatal.</p>
+
+<p>Before we came, the settlers had built a log schoolhouse, with
+sod roof and plank seats. In the spring of 1872, the Congregational
+Home Missionary Society sent Rev. Henry Bates of
+Illinois to the field, and he organized a Congregational church
+of about twenty-five members, my husband and myself being
+charter members. For a time we had service in the log schoolhouse,
+but soon had a comfortable building for services.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the land about Plymouth was owned by a railroad
+company, and they laid out a townsite, put up a two-story schoolhouse,
+and promised a railroad soon. After years of waiting,
+the railroad came, but the station was about two miles north.
+Business went with the railroad to the new town, and the distinction
+was made between New Plymouth and Old Plymouth.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie chickens and quail were quite abundant during the
+first years, and buffalo meat could often be bought, being
+shipped from the western part of the state. In the droves of
+cattle driven past our house to the Beatrice market, I have occasionally
+seen a buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>Deer and wolves were sometimes seen, and coyotes often made
+havoc with our fowls, digging through the sod chicken house to
+rob the roosts. Rattlesnakes were frequently killed and much
+dreaded, but deaths from the bite were very rare, though serious
+illness often resulted.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie fires caused the greatest terror, and the yearly losses
+were large. Everyone plowed fire guards and tried to be prepared,
+but, with tall grass and weeds and a strong wind, fire
+would be carried long distances and sweep everything before it
+with great rapidity.</p>
+
+<p>Indians frequently camped on Cub creek for a few days in
+their journey from one reservation to another to visit. They
+would come to the houses to beg for food, and, though they
+never harmed us, we were afraid of them. More than once I
+have heard a slight noise in my kitchen, and on going out, found
+Indians in possession; they never knocked. I was glad to give
+them food and hasten their departure.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1873, quite a party of us went to the Otoe
+reservation to see just how the Indians lived. We had two covered
+wagons and one provision wagon. We cooked our food by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+a camp-fire, slept out of doors, and had a jolly time. We spent
+nearly one day on the reservation, visiting the agent's house
+and the school and peering into the huts of the Indians. At
+the schoolhouse the pupils were studious, but several of them
+had to care for papooses while studying, and the Indians were
+peering into the doors and windows, watching proceedings.
+Most of the Indians wore only a blanket and breech cloth, but
+the teacher was evidently trying to induce the young pupils to
+wear clothes, and succeeded in a degree. One boy amused us
+very much by wearing flour sacks for trousers. The sacks were
+simply ripped open at the end, the stamps of the brand being
+still upon them, one sack being lettered in red and the other in
+blue. Preparations were going on for a visit to the Omahas by
+a number of braves and some squaws, and they were donning
+paint and feathers. The agent had received some boxes of
+clothing from the East for them, which they were eager to wear
+on their trip. Not having enough to fit them out, one garment
+was given to each, and they at once put them on. It was very
+ludicrous to see them, one with a hat, another with a shirt, another
+with a vest, etc. At last they were ready and rode away
+on their ponies. As we drove away, an Indian and squaw, with
+papoose, were just ahead of us. A thunder storm came up, and
+the brave Indian took away from the squaw her parasol and held
+it over his head, leaving her unprotected.</p>
+
+<p>Although the settlers on the upland were widely scattered,
+they were kind and neighborly, as a rule&mdash;ready to help each
+other in all ways, especially in sickness and death. One Thanksgiving
+a large number of settlers brought their dinners to the
+church, and after morning services enjoyed a good dinner and
+social hour together. That church, so important a factor in the
+community in early days, was disbanded but a few years ago.
+Pioneer life has many privations, but there are also very many
+pleasant experiences.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. C. F. Steele</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Calvin F. Steele came to Nebraska, in March, 1871, staying
+for a little time in Beatrice. He heard of a new town just starting
+called Fairbury. Thinking this might be a good place for
+one with very little capital to start in business, he decided to go
+there and see what the prospects were. Nearly all of the thirty-three
+miles was unbroken prairie, with no landmarks to guide
+one. Mr. Steele had hired a horse to ride. Late in the afternoon
+the sky was overcast, and a storm came up. He saw some
+distance ahead of him a little rise of ground, and urging his
+horse forward he made for that, hoping he might be able to
+catch sight of the town he sought. To his surprise he found
+himself on top of a dugout.</p>
+
+<p>The man of the house came rushing out. Mr. Steele explained
+and asked directions, only to find he was not near Fairbury as
+he hoped. He was kindly taken in for the night, and while all
+slept in the one room, that was so clean and comfortable, and
+the welcome so kindly, a friendship was started that night, a
+friendship that grew and strengthened with the years and lasted
+as long as E. D. Brickley, the man of the dugout, lived.</p>
+
+<p>I arrived in Fairbury the first day of May, 1871. The morning
+after I came I counted every building in the town, including
+all outbuildings having a roof. Even so I could only bring the
+grand total up to thirty.</p>
+
+<p>That summer proved a very hot one&mdash;no ice, and very few
+buildings had a cellar. We rented for the summer a little home
+of three rooms. The only trees in sight were a few cottonwoods
+along the ravine that ran through the town and on the banks of
+the Little Blue river. How to keep milk sweet or butter cool
+was a problem. At last I thought of our well, still without a
+pump. I would put the eatables in a washboiler, put the cover
+on, tie a rope through the handles, and let the boiler down into
+the well. In late September a lady told me as her husband was
+going away she would bring her work and sit with me. I per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>suaded
+her to stay for supper. I intended to have cold meat, a
+kind of custard known as "floating island"; these with milk and
+butter were put down the well. After preparing the table I
+went out and drew up my improvised refrigerator, and removing
+the cover went in with milk and butter. Returning almost
+instantly, the door closed with a bang and frightened a stray
+dog doubtless attracted by the smell of meat. He started to run
+and was so entangled in the ropes that as far as I could see, dog,
+boiler, and contents were still going.</p>
+
+<p>The whole thing was so funny I laughed at the time, and still
+do when I recall that scene of so long ago.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>HOW THE SONS OF GEORGE WINSLOW FOUND THEIR FATHER'S GRAVE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. C. F. Steele and George W. Hansen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Statement by Mrs. Steele</i></p>
+
+<p>I have been asked to tell the story of how the sons of George
+Winslow found their father's grave.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1911, it was my pleasure and privilege to go to
+Washington to attend the national meeting of the Daughters of
+the American Revolution. I went in company with Mrs. C. B.
+Letton as well as a number of other delegates from different
+parts of the state. While passing around to cast our votes for
+president general, an eastern lady noticing our badges exchanged
+greetings with some of our delegates and expressed a
+wish to meet some one from Fairbury. She was told that Fairbury
+had a delegate and I was called up to meet Mrs. Henry
+Winslow of Meriden, Connecticut. She greeted me cordially,
+saying her husband's father was a "Forty-niner" and while on
+his way to California was taken sick, died, and was buried by
+the side of the Oregon trail. In February, 1891, a letter appeared
+in a Boston paper from Rev. S. Goldsmith of Fairbury,
+Nebraska, saying that he had seen a grave with the inscription
+"Geo. Winslow, Newton, Ms. AE. 25" cut on a crude headstone,
+and that he was ready to correspond with any interested
+party as to the lone grave or its silent occupant. This letter
+came to the notice of the sons of George Winslow, and they
+placed Mr. Goldsmith in communication with David Staples, of
+San Francisco, California, who was a brother-in-law of George
+Winslow and a member of the same company on the overland
+journey to California.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Staples wrote him about the organization of the company,
+which was called the "Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association,"
+and the sickness and death of George Winslow; but after
+this they heard nothing further from the Nebraska man.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Winslow asked me if I knew anything of the grave. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>
+did not, but promised to make inquiries regarding it on my return
+home.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 478px;">
+<img src="images/illus_012.jpg" width="478" height="600" alt="Mrs. Charles B. Letton
+
+Eighth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1907-1908" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Charles B. Letton
+
+Eighth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1907-1908</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Soon after reaching home, Judge and Mrs. Letton came down
+from Lincoln and as guests of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Hansen we
+were all dining together. The conversation turned to the trip
+Mrs. Letton and I had enjoyed together, and we told the story
+of the talk with Mrs. Winslow. To my great surprise and pleasure
+Judge Letton said, "Why, Mrs. Steele, I remember seeing,
+many years ago, close by the Oregon trail, somewhere near the
+head of Whiskey Run, a grave marked with a red sandstone,
+and it is probably the grave you are searching for. I believe
+Mr. Hansen can find it."</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this Mr. Hansen reported the finding of the
+grave. He said the headstone had been knocked down by a
+mower and dragged several rods away, and that he had replaced
+it upon the grave; that the inscription on the stone was as distinct
+as though freshly cut. I at once wrote to Mrs. Winslow,
+giving her the facts, and telling her Mr. Hansen would gladly
+answer any questions and give such further information as she
+might wish.</p>
+
+<p>The grateful letter I received in reply more than compensated
+me for what I had done.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Statement by Mr. Hansen</i></p>
+
+<p>Upon a beautiful swell of the prairie between the forks of
+Whiskey Run, overlooking the charming valley of the Little Blue
+river, in a quiet meadow, five miles north and one mile west of
+Fairbury, close to the "old legitimate trail of the Oregon emigrants,"
+is a lone grave marked with a red sandstone slab, twenty
+inches in height, of equal width, and six inches thick, on
+which is carved "Geo. Winslow, Newton, Ms. AE. 25."</p>
+
+<p>Through this meadow untouched by the plow may still be seen
+the deep, grass-grown furrows of the Oregon trail; and when
+George Winslow's companions laid him at rest by its side, they
+buried him in historic ground, upon earth's greatest highway.</p>
+
+<p>To the honor of George Winslow's comrades be it said they
+loved him so well that in their grief the feverish haste to reach
+the gold fields was forgotten, and every member did what he
+could to give him Christian burial and perpetuate his memory.
+They dug his grave very deep so that neither vandals nor wolves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+would disturb him. They searched the surrounding country and
+found, two miles away, a durable quality of sandstone, which
+they fashioned with their rude tools for his monument, his uncle
+Jesse Winslow carving with great care his name, home, and age,
+and on a footstone the figures 1849. This service of love rendered
+him that day gave to his sons their father's grave, and
+enabled us sixty-three years afterwards to obtain the story of
+his life, and the story of the journey of his company to California.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the thousands of men who were buried by the side of
+the old trail in 1849 and 1850, the monument of George Winslow
+alone remains. All the rest, buried in graves unmarked or
+marked with wooden slabs, have passed into oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>In June, 1912, it was my pleasure to meet George Winslow's
+sons, George E. of Waltham, Massachusetts, and Henry O. at
+the home of the latter in Meriden, Connecticut. They were intensely
+interested in the incident of their father's death and in
+the protection of his grave. It was planned that they should
+obtain a granite boulder from near their father's home in which
+the old red sandstone set up by his companions in 1849 might
+be preserved, and a bronze tablet fashioned by Henry O. Winslow's
+hands placed upon its face. This has been done, and the
+monument was unveiled on October 29, 1912, with appropriate
+ceremonies.</p>
+
+<p>I learned from them that Charles Gould, then in the eighty-ninth
+year, the last survivor of the party, lived at Lake City,
+Minnesota. Mr. Gould kept a record of each day's events from
+the time the Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association left
+Boston until it arrived at Sutter's Fort, California. A copy
+of this interesting diary and a copy of a <a name="daguerreo" id="daguerreo"></a><ins title="Original has daguerrotype">daguerreotype</ins> of Mr.
+Gould taken in 1849 are now in the possession of the Nebraska
+State Historical Society. The original letter written by George
+Winslow to his wife Eliza from Independence, Missouri, May
+12, 1849, and the letter of Brackett Lord written at Fort Kearny
+June 17, 1849, describing Winslow's sickness, death, and burial,
+and a copy of a daguerreotype of George Winslow taken in 1849,
+were given me by Mr. Henry O. Winslow to present to the Nebraska
+State Historical Society.</p>
+
+<p>From the Winslow memorial published in 1877, we learn that
+George Winslow was descended from Kenelm Winslow of Dort<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>witch,
+England, whose two sons Edward and Kenelm emigrated
+to Leyden, Holland, and joined the Pilgrim church there in 1617.
+Edward came to America with the first company of emigrants
+in the Mayflower, December, 1620, and was one of the committee
+of four who wrote the immortal compact or Magna Charta. He
+became governor of Plymouth colony in <a name="date" id="date"></a><ins title="Original has 1833">1633</ins>. His brother
+Kenelm came to America in the Mayflower with the long hindered
+remainder of the Pilgrim church on a later voyage.</p>
+
+<p>His son Kenelm Winslow was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts,
+in 1635. His son, Josiah Winslow, born 1669, established
+the business of cloth dressing at Freetown, Massachusetts. His
+son James Winslow, born 1712, continued his father's business,
+and was a colonel in the second regiment Massachusetts militia.
+His son Shadrach Winslow, born 1750, graduated at Yale in
+1771 and became an eminent physician. At the outbreak of the
+Revolutionary war, being a gentleman of independent fortune,
+he fitted out a warship or a privateer, and was commissioned
+to attack the enemy on the high seas. He was captured off the
+coast of Spain, and confined in a dismal prison ship where he
+suffered much. His son Eleazer Winslow, born 1786, took up
+his abode in the Catskill mountains with a view to his health
+and while there at Ramapo, New York, on August 11, 1823, his
+son George Winslow was born.</p>
+
+<p>The family moved to Newton, Mass., now a suburb of Boston,
+where George learned his father's trade, that of machinist and
+molder. In the same shop and at the same time, David Staples
+and Brackett Lord, who afterwards became brothers-in-law, and
+Charles Gould were learning this trade.</p>
+
+<p>George Winslow was married in 1845. His first son, George
+Edward, was born May 15, 1846. His second son Henry O.,
+was born May 16, 1849, the day the father left the frontier town
+of Independence, Missouri, for California.</p>
+
+<p>The Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association consisted of
+twenty-five picked young men from Newton and the vicinity of
+Boston, each member paying $300 into the treasury. The incidents
+along the journey we obtain from Mr. Gould's excellent
+journal. They left Boston, April 16, 1849, traveling by rail to
+Buffalo, taking the steamer Baltic for Sandusky, Ohio, and then
+by rail to Cincinnati, where they arrived April 20, at 9:00
+o'clock p. m.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They left Cincinnati April 23rd, on the steamer Griffin Yeatman
+for St. Louis, and arrived there April 27th, then by steamer
+Bay State, to Independence, Missouri. The boat was crowded
+principally with passengers bound for California. A set of
+gamblers seated around a table well supplied with liquor kept
+up their game all night. Religious services were held on board
+on the Sabbath, Rev. Mr. Haines preaching the sermon. The
+usual exciting steamboat race was had, their boat leaving the
+steamer Alton in the rear, where, Mr. Gould remarks "we think
+she will be obliged to stay."</p>
+
+<p>On May 3rd, they landed at Independence, Missouri, and began
+preparations for the overland journey. In the letter written
+by George Winslow to his wife, he says:</p>
+
+<p>"We have no further anxiety about forage; millions of buffalo
+have feasted for ages on these vast prairies, and as their number
+have been diminished by reason of hunters, it is absurd to
+think we will not have sufficient grass for our animals....</p>
+
+<p>"We have bought forty mules which cost us $50 apiece. I
+have been appointed teamster, and had the good luck to draw
+the best wagon. I never slept better in my life. I always find
+myself in the morning&mdash;or my bed, rather&mdash;flat as a pan cake.
+As the darn thing leaks just enough to land me on terra firma
+by morning, it saves me the trouble of pressing out the wind;
+so who cares....</p>
+
+<p>"Sunday morning, May 13, 1849. This is a glorious morning
+and having curried my mules and washed my clothes and bathed
+myself, I can recommence writing to you Eliza....</p>
+
+<p>"We engaged some Mexicans to break the mules. To harness
+them they tied their fore legs together and threw them down.
+The fellows then got on them and wrung their ears, which like
+a nigger's shin, is the tenderest part. By that time they were
+docile enough to take the harness. The animals in many respects
+resemble sheep, they are very timid and when frightened
+will kick like thunder. They got six harnessed into a team,
+when one of the leaders, feeling a little mulish, jumped right
+straight over the other one's back. One fellow offered to bet
+the liquor that he could ride an unbroken one he had bought;
+the bet was taken&mdash;but he had no sooner mounted the fool
+mule than he landed on his hands and feet in a very undignified
+manner; a roar of laughter from the spectators was his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+reward. I suppose by this time you have some idea of a
+mule....</p>
+
+<p>"I see by your letter that you have the blues a little in your
+anxiety for my welfare. I do not worry about myself, then
+why do you for me? I do not discover in your letter any anxiety
+on your own account; then let us for the future look on the
+bright side and indulge in no more useless anxiety. It effects
+nothing, and is almost universally the bugbear of the imagination....
+The reports of the gold region here are as encouraging
+as they were in Massachusetts. Just imagine to yourself
+seeing me return with from $10,000 to $100,000...."</p>
+
+<p>On May 16th this company of intrepid men started out upon
+the long overland trail to California. They traveled up the
+Kansas river, delayed by frequent rains and mud hub deep,
+reaching the lower ford of the Kansas on the 26th, having accomplished
+about fifty miles in ten days. The wagons were
+driven on flatboats and poled across by five Indians. The road
+now becoming dry, they made rapid progress until the 29th,
+when George Winslow was suddenly taken violently sick with
+the cholera. Two others in the party were suffering with symptoms
+of the disease. The company remained in camp three days
+and the patients having so far recovered, it was decided to proceed.
+Winslow's brothers-in-law, David Staples and Brackett
+Lord, or his uncle, Jesse Winslow, were with him every moment,
+giving him every care. As they journeyed on he continued to
+improve. On June 5th they camped on the Big Blue, and on the
+6th, late in the afternoon, they reached the place where the trail
+crosses the present Nebraska-Kansas state line into Jefferson
+county, Nebraska. Mr. Gould writes: "About a half hour
+before sunset a terrific thunder shower arose, which baffles description,
+the lightning flashes dazzling the eyes, and the thunder
+deafening the ears, and the rain falling in torrents. It was
+altogether the grandest scene I have ever witnessed. When the
+rain ceased to fall the sun had set and darkness closed in."</p>
+
+<p>To this storm is attributed George Winslow's death. The
+next morning he appeared as well as usual, but at 3 o'clock
+became worse, and the company encamped. He failed rapidly,
+and at 9 o'clock a. m., the next day, the 8th of June, 1849, painlessly
+and without a struggle, he sank away as though going to
+sleep. He was taken to the center of the corral, where funeral<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+services were performed, by reading from the scriptures by
+Mr. Burt, and prayer by Mr. Sweetser. He was then borne to
+the grave by eight bearers, and followed by the rest of the company.
+Tears rolled down the cheeks of those strong men as each
+deposited a green sprig in the open grave.</p>
+
+<p>For him the trail ended here&mdash;in these green pastures. All
+the rest of his company traveled the long old trail across plains,
+mountains, and deserts, and reached the fabled gardens and
+glittering sands of El Dorado, only to find them the ashes of
+their hopes. He alone of all that company was never disillusioned.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN JEFFERSON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. M. H. Weeks</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>When I look upon the little city of Fairbury and see the beautiful
+trees, fine lawns, and comfortable homes, it is hard to realize
+the feelings I had in July, 1873, when as a bride, coming
+from the dear old Granite state, we came to our future home.
+I wanted to "go on" somewhere else, for everything that is
+usually green was so parched and dreary looking and desolate.
+The only trees were at the homes of L. C. Champlin and S. G.
+Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>We spent the night at the Purdy house, and the following
+day drove to our homestead; and in fording the river where the
+Weeks bridge is now, the water poured into the express wagon
+(finest conveyance in town) driven by Will Hubbell. At least
+two of the party were much alarmed&mdash;our sister Mary Weeks
+and the writer.</p>
+
+<p>It was the first of many peculiar experiences, such as taking
+my sewing and a rocking chair, on a hayrack, to the hay field,
+rather than stay home alone for fear of the Otoe Indians. The
+first intimation of their presence would be their faces pressed
+against the window glass, and that would give one a creepy feeling.</p>
+
+<p>I have ridden to town many times on loads of sand, rock, and
+hay; and when the ford was impassable with wagons, I would go
+on horseback, with arms around the neck of faithful Billy, and
+eyes closed for fear of tumbling off into the water. On the return
+trip both of our horses would be laden with bags of provisions.</p>
+
+<p>In 1867 my husband went with a party of twenty-five on a
+buffalo hunt with a man by the name of Soules as guide. They
+secured plenty of elk, deer, and buffalo. The wagons were
+formed in a circle, to corral the horses and mules nights for fear
+of an attack by the Indians; each one taking turns as sentinel.
+The mules would always whistle if an Indian was anywhere
+near, so he felt secure even if he did sleep a little. They only
+saw the Indians at a distance as they were spearing the buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>All things have surely changed, and now we ride in autos instead
+of covered wagons. What will the next fifty years bring?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL AT LINCOLN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By John H. Ames</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>By an act of the legislature, approved June 14, 1867, it was
+provided that the governor, secretary, and auditor of state,
+should be commissioners for the purpose of locating the seat of
+government and public buildings of the state of Nebraska, and
+they were vested with the necessary powers and authority for
+proceeding, as soon as practicable, to effect that purpose, and required
+on or before the fifteenth day of July in the same year, to
+select from among certain lands belonging to the state, and lying
+within the counties of Seward, Saunders, Butler, and Lancaster,
+"a suitable site, of not less than six hundred and forty acres
+lying in one body, for a town, due regard being had to its accessibility
+from all portions of the state and its general fitness for
+a capital."</p>
+
+<p>The commissioners were also required, immediately upon such
+selections being made, to appoint a competent surveyor and proceed
+to "survey, lay off and stake out the said tract of land into
+lots, blocks, streets, alleys, and public squares or reservations for
+public buildings"; and the act declared that such town when so
+laid out and surveyed, should "be named and known as Lincoln,"
+and the same was thereby declared to be "the permanent
+seat of government of the state of Nebraska, at which all the
+public offices of the state should be kept, and at which all the sessions
+of the legislature thereof should be held."</p>
+
+<p>The act further provided that the lots in the alternate blocks,
+not reserved as aforesaid, in said town, should, after notice
+thereof had been given by advertisement for the time and in the
+manner therein prescribed, be offered for sale to the highest and
+best bidder; and the commissioners were authorized, after having
+held the sale for five successive days, as therein provided, at
+Lincoln, Nebraska City, and Omaha, to adjourn the same to be
+held at such other place or places within or without the state,
+as they might see proper, provided that at such sales no lots
+should be sold for a less price than a minimum to be fixed on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+each lot by the commissioners, previous to the opening of the
+sales. All moneys received for the sale of said lots were declared
+to be a state building fund, and were directed to be deposited
+in the state treasury and kept separate from all other
+funds for that purpose. Notice was directed to be issued immediately
+after the sale of lots, asking from architects plans and
+specifications for a building, the foundation of which should be
+of stone, and the superstructure of stone or brick, which should
+be suitable for the two houses of the legislature and the executive
+offices of the state, and which might be designed as a portion
+of a larger edifice, but the cost of which should not exceed
+fifty thousand dollars. Provision was also made for the letting
+of the contract for its construction, and appointing a superintendent
+thereof, and also for the erection at Lincoln, as soon as
+sufficient funds therefor could be secured by the sale of public
+lands or otherwise, of a state university, agricultural college,
+and penitentiary; but no appropriation, other than of the state
+lands and lots as above described, was made for the aid of any
+of the enterprises herein mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>What was the result of sending three men fifty miles out into
+an unbroken, and at that time, almost unknown prairie, to <i>speak</i>
+into existence simply by the magic of their own unconquerable,
+though unaided, enterprise and perseverance, a city that should
+not only be suitable for the seat of government of the state, but
+should be able, almost as soon as its name was pronounced, to
+contribute from its own resources sufficient funds for the erection
+of a state house and other necessary public state buildings,
+remains to be seen.</p>
+
+<p>It appears from the report of the commissioners, made to the
+senate and house of representatives at its first regular session,
+held in January, 1869, that, having provided themselves with an
+outfit, and employed Mr. Augustus F. Harvey, as surveyor, to
+ascertain the location of the lines of the proposed sites, they
+left Nebraska City on the afternoon of the 18th of July, 1867,
+for the purpose of making the selection required in the act.</p>
+
+<p>After having visited and examined the town sites of Saline
+City, or "Yankee Hill," and Lancaster, in Lancaster county,
+they proceeded to visit and examine the several proposed sites
+in each of the counties named in the act, in which occupations
+they were engaged until the twenty-ninth of the same month,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+when they returned, and made a more thorough examination of
+the two sites above referred to, at which time the favorable impressions
+received of Lancaster on their first visit were confirmed.
+Says the report:</p>
+
+<p>"We found a gently undulating surface, its principal elevation
+being near the centre of the proposed new site. The village
+already established being in the midst of a thrifty and considerable
+agricultural population; rock, timber, and water power
+available within short distances; the centre of the great saline
+region within two miles; and in addition to all other claims,
+the special advantage was that the location was at the centre of a
+circle, of about 110 miles in diameter, along or near the circumference
+of which are the Kansas state line directly south, the
+important towns of Pawnee City, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth,
+Omaha, Fremont, and Columbus.... Under these circumstances
+we entertained the proposition of the people residing in
+the vicinity of Lancaster, offering to convey to the state in <i>fee
+simple</i> the west half of the west half of section 25, the east half
+and the southwest quarter of section 26, which, with the northwest
+quarter of section 26 (the last named quarter being saline
+land), all in town 10, range 6 east; the whole embracing 800
+acres, and upon which it was proposed to erect the new town.
+In addition, the trustees of the Lancaster Seminary Association
+proposed to convey to the state, for an addition to the site named
+in the foregoing proposition, the town site of Lancaster, reserving,
+however, certain lots therein which had been disposed of in
+whole or in part to the purchasers thereof."</p>
+
+<p>After being satisfied of the sufficiency of the titles proposed to
+be conveyed to the state, and having carefully "considered all
+the circumstances of the condition of the saline lands, the advantage
+of the situation, its central position, and the value of its
+surroundings over a district of over <i>twelve thousand square
+miles</i> of rich agricultural country, it was determined to accept
+the proposition made by the owners of the land." Accordingly
+on the afternoon of the 29th of July the commissioners assembled
+at the house of W. T. Donavan, in Lancaster, and by a
+unanimous vote formally declared the present site of the capital
+city of Lincoln, which action was first made public by a proclamation
+issued on the 14th day of August next following.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th of August, Messrs. Harvey and Smith, engineers,
+with a corps of assistants, commenced the survey of the town,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+the design being calculated for the making of a beautiful city.
+The streets are one hundred and twenty feet wide, and all except
+the business streets capable of being improved with a street
+park outside the curb line; as, for instance: On the one hundred
+feet streets, pavements twelve feet wide and a park or
+double row of trees outside the pavement, and planted twelve
+feet apart so as to admit of a grass plat between, may be made
+on both sides the street. This will leave on the one hundred feet
+streets a roadway fifty-two feet wide; with pavements as above,
+and parks fifteen feet wide, will leave a roadway on the one
+hundred and twenty feet streets of sixty feet; while on the business
+streets a ninety-foot roadway was thought to be amply
+sufficient for the demands of trade.</p>
+
+<p>Reservations of about twelve acres each were made for the
+state house, state university, and a city park, these being at
+about equal distances from each other.</p>
+
+<p>Reservations of one block each were made for a courthouse
+for Lancaster county, for a city hall and market space, for a
+state historical and library association, and <i>seven</i> other
+squares in proper locations for public schools. Reservations
+were also made of three lots each in desirable locations for ten
+religious denominations, upon an understanding with the parties
+making the selections on behalf of the several denominations,
+that the legislature would require of them a condition that the
+property should only be used for religious purposes, and that
+some time would be fixed within which suitable houses of worship,
+costing not less than some reasonable minimum amount,
+should be erected. One lot each was also reserved for the use
+of the Independent Order of Good Templars, and Odd Fellows,
+and the order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. These
+reservations were afterwards confirmed by the legislature, with
+conditions recommended by the commissioners, and religious denominations
+were required to build on their reserved lots previous
+to or during the summer of 1870.</p>
+
+<p>In anticipation of the completion of the survey, due advertisement
+thereof was made as provided by law, and a sale of lots
+opened at Lincoln on the 17th day of September, for the purpose
+of raising the necessary funds for commencing the construction
+of the state house.</p>
+
+<p>Owing to the unpropitious state of the weather but few bid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>ders
+were present, and the results of the first day's sales were
+light and disheartening; during their continuation, however,
+circumstances were changed for the better, and at the end of
+five days $34,000 had been realized. Subsequent sales were held
+at Nebraska City and Omaha, which by the fourth day of October
+had increased that amount to the sum of $53,000. Sales were
+subsequently held at Lincoln on the seventeenth of June and
+September, 1868, from which were realized the sum of $22,580.</p>
+
+<p>On the tenth of September, 1867, the commissioners issued
+their notice to architects, inviting, for a period of thirty days,
+plans and specifications for a state house; and upon the tenth
+of October, after having considered the merits of the several
+plans presented, they concluded to accept that of Prof. John
+Morris, of Chicago, whom they thereupon appointed superintendent
+of construction, and issued notice to builders, inviting
+proposals for a term of three months, for the erection of the
+work; Prof. Morris in the meantime commencing such preliminary
+work as excavations for foundations, delivery of material
+for foundation, and other arrangements as should tend to facilitate
+the progress of the work after the contract was let.</p>
+
+<p>On the tenth of November the superintendent caused the
+ground to be broken in the presence of a number of the citizens
+of Lancaster, the removal of the first earth being awarded to
+Master Frele Morton Donavan, the first child born in, and the
+youngest child of the oldest settler of Lancaster county.</p>
+
+<p>On the eleventh of January, 1868, the bid of Mr. Joseph
+Ward, proposing to furnish the material and labor, and erect
+the building contemplated in the contract for the sum of $49,000,
+was accepted, and from that time forward the work steadily
+progressed, with the exception of a few unavoidable delays, until
+its completion.</p>
+
+<p>On account, however, of the increasing wants of the state, the
+difficulties attending, the changes of material and increased
+amount of work and additional accommodation found necessary
+and advisable, the commissioners deemed it expedient to exceed
+the amount of expenditure contemplated in the statute; the additional
+expense being defrayed from the proceeds of the sales of
+lots and lands appropriated for that purpose.</p>
+
+<p>It was originally intended that the walls of the building
+should be built of red sandstone, and faced with blue limestone,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+but upon proceeding with the work the architect and builder
+found that the difficulties attending the procuration of the last
+named material would, unless the object was abandoned, result
+in an impossibility of the completion of the work at contract
+prices; and in so far retarding its progress as to prevent its erection
+in time for the use of the next session of the legislature.
+Its use, therefore, was accordingly abandoned, and it was decided
+to substitute in lieu thereof the magnesian limestone of Beatrice,
+which the experience of the architect had proved to be of far
+better character for building purposes than the blue limestone,
+it being less liable to wear or damage from frost or fire or any
+other action of the elements.</p>
+
+<p>This change having been made, the work was pushed vigorously
+forward, and on the third day of December, 1868, was so
+far completed as to be ready for the occupancy of the state officers,
+and the governor, therefore, on that day issued his proclamation
+announcing the removal of the seat of government from
+Omaha to Lincoln and ordering the transportation of the archives
+of the state to the new capitol.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN INCIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF LINCOLN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Ortha C. Bell</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>On February 1, 1872, I arrived in Lincoln, the capital of the
+state. About the middle of January, 1875, the residents of Lincoln
+were greatly startled at seeing a man, shoeless and coatless,
+mounted on a horse without saddle or bridle, coming down
+Eleventh street at full speed, and crying at the top of his voice,
+"Mutiny at the pen!" The man proved to be a guard from
+the penitentiary heralding the news of this outbreak and calling
+for help. The prisoners had taken advantage of the absence of
+Warden Woodhurst, overpowered Deputy Warden C. J. Nobes,
+bound and gagged the guard. The leader, Quinn Bohanan, disrobed
+the deputy warden, exchanged his own for the clothing
+and hat of the deputy, and produced the effect of a beard with
+charcoal. This disguise was all so complete that the guards did
+not detect the ruse when the prisoners were marched through
+the yards, supposed to be in charge of the deputy. When on the
+inside of the prison they used the warden's family as hostages
+and took possession of the arsenal, and were soon in command
+of the situation.</p>
+
+<p>The man on horseback had spread the news through the city
+in a very short time and soon hundreds of men with all kinds of
+guns had left their places of business and gone to the penitentiary,
+which they surrounded, holding the prisoners within the
+walls.</p>
+
+<p>The governor wired for a detail from the regulars, stationed
+at Fort Omaha, and with all possible haste they were rushed to
+the scene. They were soon in charge of the situation, and negotiations
+were begun for a restoration of normal conditions,
+which result was attained in three days' time.</p>
+
+<p>During all this time Warden Woodhurst was on the outside of
+the walls and his brave little wife, with their two small children,
+were on the inside. Mrs. Woodhurst used all the diplomacy at
+her command to save her own life and that of the two children.
+She and the children had served as shields to the prisoners, pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>tecting
+them from the bullets of the soldiers on the firing line
+around the penitentiary.</p>
+
+<p>The incident closed without loss of life to citizen or prisoner,
+but has left a lasting impression on the minds of those who were
+present.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LINCOLN IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By (Mrs. O. C.) Minnie DeEtte Polley Bell</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the spring of 1874 my father, Hiram Polley, came from
+Ohio to Lincoln, I being a young lady of nineteen years. To
+say that the new country with its vast prairies, so different from
+our beautiful timber country, produced homesickness, would be
+putting it mildly. My parents went on to a farm near what is
+now the town of Raymond, I remaining in Lincoln with an aunt,
+Mrs. Watie E. Gosper. My father built the barn as soon as
+possible and this was used for the house until after the crops
+were put in, then work was begun on the house that they might
+have it before cold weather.</p>
+
+<p>The first trouble that came was the devastating plague of
+grasshoppers which swept over this section of the country in the
+years 1874 and 1875. Not long after this a new trouble was
+upon us. The day dawned bright and fair, became hotter and
+more still, until presently in the distance there could be seen the
+effects of a slight breeze; this however was only the advance of
+a terrible windstorm. When the hurricane had passed, the
+barn, which only a few months before had served as the house,
+was in ruins. Undaunted, my father set about to rebuild the
+barn, which still remains on the farm; the farm, however, is
+now owned by other parties.</p>
+
+<p>In the winter of 1875 there was quite a fall of snow, and one
+of the funny sights was a man driving down O street with a
+horse hitched to a rocking chair. Everything that could be used
+for a sleigh was pressed into service. This was a strange sight
+to me, having come from Ohio where we had from three to four
+months of sleighing with beautiful sleighs and all that goes to
+make up a merry time.</p>
+
+<p>During this winter many were using corn for fuel and great
+quantities were piled on the ground, which of course made rats
+very plentiful&mdash;so much so that when walking on the streets
+at dusk one would almost have to kick them out of the way or
+wait for them to pass.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the course of time a young man appeared upon the scene,
+and on December 10, 1874, I was married to Ortha C. Bell. We
+were married in the house which now stands at the northeast
+corner of Twelfth and M streets, then the home of my aunt,
+Mrs. Gosper. Four children were born to us: the first, a daughter,
+dying in infancy; the second, Jennie Bell-Ringer, of Lincoln;
+the third, a son, Ray Hiram Bell, dying at the age of
+three; and the fourth, a daughter, Hazel Bell-Smith. Two
+grandchildren have come to brighten our lives, DeEtte Bell
+Smith and Edmund Burke Smith. Our home at 931 D street,
+which we built in 1886, is still occupied by us.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>A PIONEER BABY SHOW</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By (Mrs. Frank I.) Jennie Bell-Ringer</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I am a Nebraska product, having been born in the city of
+Lincoln, just across the street from the state university, on R
+street, between Eleventh and Twelfth.</p>
+
+<p>When yet very young my proud mother entered me in an old-fashioned
+baby show which was held in the old opera house,
+known as "The Hallo Opera House." This show was not conducted
+as the "Better Babies" contest of today is conducted,
+but rather along the line of a game of chance. The judges went
+around and talked and played with the various babies. The
+baby that made the best impression on the judges, or perhaps,
+more correctly speaking, the baby that was on its good behavior,
+was the one that made the best impression on the judges.</p>
+
+<p>To make a long story short, I evidently, at that tender age,
+knew when to put on my company manners, and when the prizes
+were awarded, I held the lucky number and rode away in a
+handsome baby buggy, the first prize.</p>
+
+<p>The second prize was awarded to John Dean Ringer, second
+son of Mr. and Mrs. Bradford Ringer. The third prize was
+given to Harry Hardenburg; and an impromptu fourth prize
+was awarded to a colored baby.</p>
+
+<p>The day I was married my newly acquired brother, in bestowing
+good wishes upon me, said there was only one fault he had
+to find with me, and upon inquiry as to what that might be, he
+answered, "You took the first prize away from me at the baby
+show."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/illus_013.jpg" width="600" height="337" alt="Boulder at Fort Calhoun
+
+Commemorating the Council of Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri Indians, August 3, 1804.
+Erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Nebraska
+State Historical Society" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Boulder at Fort Calhoun
+
+Commemorating the Council of Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri Indians, August 3, 1804.
+Erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Nebraska
+State Historical Society</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MARKING THE SITE OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK COUNCIL AT FORT CALHOUN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Laura B. Pound</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Looking backward for thirteen years, it is difficult for me to
+realize that at the beginning of my fourth term as state regent,
+in 1902, there were as yet only two chapters of the Daughters of
+the American Revolution in Nebraska. From 1894 to 1902
+there had been three other state regents besides myself; and it
+was surely through no lack of diligence or patriotism that the
+organization grew so slowly. Mrs. S. C. Langworthy had been
+appointed organizing regent at Seward in 1896; Mrs. J. A. Cline
+at Minden, and Mrs. Sarah G. Bates at Long Pine in 1897; and
+Miss Anna Day at Beatrice in 1899. The total membership in
+the state probably did not exceed two hundred and fifty, and
+these, with the exception of the regents already named, belonged
+to the Deborah Avery and the Omaha chapters.</p>
+
+<p>In 1899, Mrs. Eliza Towle reported to the president general
+and the national board of management that the Omaha chapter
+had decided to place a monument at Fort Calhoun&mdash;undoubtedly
+at the suggestion of Mrs. Harriet S. MacMurphy, who was
+much interested in the early history of that place.</p>
+
+<p>As the hundredth anniversary of the acquisition of the Louisiana
+territory approached, and interest began to center around
+the expedition of Lewis and Clark, it was found that the only
+point touched in Nebraska by these explorers which could be
+positively identified was old Council Bluff, near Fort Calhoun;
+and here the Omaha chapter had decided to erect a monument.
+At a meeting of the Omaha chapter in 1901, the state regent
+directed the attention of the members to this fact, and it was
+voted to enlarge the scope of the undertaking, to make the marking
+of the site a state affair, and to ask the coöperation of the
+Sons of the American Revolution and of the State Historical
+Society. This action was ratified at the first conference of the
+Daughters of the American Revolution held in Nebraska, the
+meeting having been called especially for that purpose, in Octo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>ber,
+1902. A committee in conjunction with the Sons of the
+American Revolution asked the state legislature of 1903 for a
+sum of five thousand dollars to buy the site of Fort Atkinson
+and to erect a suitable monument, under the auspices of the Sons
+and the Daughters of the American Revolution, the monument
+to be erected according to plans and specifications furnished by
+the two societies.</p>
+
+<p>Disappointed by the failure of the legislature to make the desired
+appropriation but in no way discouraged, the Daughters
+of the American Revolution at the second state conference, held
+in October, 1903, voted to observe the anniversary of the first
+official council held by Lewis and Clark with the Indians in the
+Louisiana territory, and to commemorate the event by placing
+a Nebraska boulder upon the site. As chairman of the committee,
+it fell to my lot to raise the money and to find the boulder;
+and it is with pleasure that I record the ease with which the
+first part of my duty was accomplished. The Deborah Avery
+chapter gave seventy-five dollars, the Omaha chapter one hundred,
+and the two new chapters organized in 1902, Quivira of
+Fairbury and Lewis-Clark of Fremont, raised the sum to two
+hundred, each promising more if it was needed.</p>
+
+<p>To find a Nebraska boulder was more difficult; and it was still
+more difficult to find a firm in Nebraska willing to undertake to
+raise it from its native bed and to carve upon it the insignia of
+the D. A. R., with a suitable inscription. Finally a boulder of
+Sioux Falls granite was found in the Marsden farm, north of
+Lincoln, and it was given to the society by the owner, who remarked
+that he was "glad to be rid of it." Its dimensions
+were 7-1/2x8-1/3x3-1/2 feet. Its weight was between seven and eight
+tons. The firm of Kimball Brothers of Lincoln took the contract
+for its removal and inscription. Through the assistance of Mr.
+A. E. Sheldon of the State Historical Society, the Burlington
+and Missouri railroad generously transported it to Fort Calhoun,
+where its placing was looked after by Mr. J. H. Daniels of the
+Sons of the American Revolution. As the project had drifted
+away from the original intention, and had become a memorial
+to commemorate an event rather than to mark a spot, the boulder
+was placed on the public school grounds at Fort Calhoun. At
+last, almost five years from the time of the broaching of the
+project, the wish of the society was accomplished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The following condenses an account of the unveiling of the
+boulder, and the program, from the report of Miss Anna Tribell
+Adams of the Omaha chapter for the <i>American Monthly</i> of January,
+1905:</p>
+
+<p>"On August 3, 1904, the village of Fort Calhoun, fifteen miles
+above Omaha on the Missouri river, was the scene of the unveiling
+of a boulder commemorating the first peace council between
+the United States government and the chiefs of the Otoe
+and Missouri Indian tribes. The town as well as the school
+grounds were brave with bunting and flags. Everyone wore
+with a small flag the souvenir button on which was a picture of
+the boulder with a suitable inscription. As a matter of history
+it is a pleasure to record that the button was designed by Mrs.
+Elsie De Cou Troup of the Omaha chapter. One worn by one
+of the speakers is in the collection of the Deborah Avery chapter
+in the rooms of the State Historical Society at Lincoln.</p>
+
+<p>"Among those present were Brigadier General Theodore Wint,
+representing the United States government, Governor J. H.
+Mickey, Adjutant General and Mrs. J. H. Culver, Mr. J. A. Barrett
+and Mr. A. E. Sheldon of the State Historical Society, Senator
+J. H. Millard, ex-Governor J. E. Boyd, and others.</p>
+
+<p>"The Thirtieth Infantry band from Fort Calhoun opened the
+program. Then came a brief reproduction, in pageant-manner,
+by the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben of Omaha, of the Council of 1804,
+enacting the Lewis and Clark treaty. Mr. Edward Rosewater
+of the Omaha <i>Bee</i> extended the welcome of the day, and brought
+to the attention of the audience the presence of Mr. Antoine
+Cabney, the first white child born in Nebraska, whose birthplace,
+in 1827, was near the site of Fort Calhoun. The state regent,
+Mrs. Abraham Allee, introduced Governor Mickey, who spoke
+briefly. He was followed by J. A. Barrett of the State Historical
+Society, who gave an account of the Lewis and Clark
+Council. Honorable W. F. Gurley of Omaha then delivered the
+address of the day. At the conclusion of the formal program
+the boulder was unveiled. In the presentation speech by Mrs.
+S. B. Pound of Lincoln, the boulder was committed formally, in
+the name of the Sons and the Daughters of the American Revolution
+and of the State Historical Society, to the care of the
+citizens of Fort Calhoun."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Major Lester Walker</span><br />
+
+(Late captain Fifth U. S. Cavalry and brevet major U. S. Army)</h3>
+
+
+<p>It is supposed that the first white men who visited Lincoln
+county were the Mallet brothers, who passed this way to Santa
+Fe in 1739. Pierre and Auguste Chouteau were sent out from
+St. Louis to explore the northwestern country in 1762. In 1780
+another expedition was sent to explore the country between the
+Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains.</p>
+
+<p>After the expedition of Lewis and Clark, which followed up
+the Missouri river, the first government expedition was made in
+1819, under Major Stephen H. Long, who traveled up the north
+side of the Platte and crossed just above the forks of the two
+rivers, then going up the valley between the two streams to the
+site of the present town of North Platte.</p>
+
+<p>Titian Peale, the naturalist of Philadelphia, was with this expedition
+and the Peale family living at North Platte, are relatives
+of his. In 1835, Col. Henry Dodge visited this section of
+the country in the government employ to treat with the Arikara
+Indians.</p>
+
+<p>In 1843, Col. John C. Fremont, making his expedition up the
+Platte, celebrated the Fourth of July of that year, in what is
+now Lincoln county. During the year 1844 travel up the Platte
+river became quite heavy and the first building in the county
+was erected by a Frenchman (name unknown) near the present
+residence of Mrs. Burke at Fort McPherson, and was used as a
+trading ranch, but was abandoned in 1848.</p>
+
+<p>In 1852, a man by the name of Brady settled on the south
+side of the island now known as Brady Island. Brady is supposed
+to have been killed some time during the following year
+by the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>In 1858, the first permanent settlement in the county was
+made at Cottonwood Springs and the first building was erected
+in the fall of the year by Boyer &amp; Roubidoux. I. P. Boyer had
+charge of this ranch. In the same year another trading ranch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+was built at O'Fallon's Bluffs on the south side of the river.
+In 1859 Dick Darling erected the second building at Cottonwood
+Springs. This building was purchased by Charles McDonald
+for a store, and he stocked it with general merchandise. In 1860,
+Mr. McDonald brought his wife from Omaha, she being the first
+white woman to settle in Lincoln county. Mrs. McDonald lived
+here about three years before another white woman settled at
+Cottonwood Springs. Mr. McDonald is now living at North
+Platte, engaged in the banking business. Mrs. McDonald died
+in December, 1898, and is buried at North Platte.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1860, J. A. Morrow built a ranch about
+twelve miles west from Cottonwood, to accommodate the great
+rush to California. To give some idea of the extent of the
+freight and emigrant business along this route, it was no uncommon
+thing to count from seven hundred to one thousand
+wagons passing in one day.</p>
+
+<p>During the year 1861, the Creighton telegraph line was completed
+through the county. In June, 1861, the first white child
+was born. His name is W. H. McDonald, son of Chas. McDonald,
+now of North Platte, Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of 1860, W. M. Hinman removed from Port
+Laramie to Cottonwood Springs, and opened up a farm, trading
+with the emigrants and Indians. In November, 1863, Fort McPherson
+was established by the government at this settlement
+of Cottonwood Springs. This military post was first commanded
+by Major George M. O'Brien.</p>
+
+<p>Fort McPherson was established none too soon, for it was in
+the following year, 1864, that the war with the Sioux and Cheyenne
+Indians commenced. This war continued for over five
+years and many emigrants and soldiers were killed.</p>
+
+<p>What is now known as Lincoln county, was first organized as
+a county under the territorial government of Nebraska in 1860.
+Cottonwood Springs was made the county-seat. The following
+officers were elected: County commissioners&mdash;I. P. Boyer, J.
+C. Gilman and J. A. Morrow; judge&mdash;Charles McDonald;
+treasurer&mdash;W. M. Hinman. Instead of calling the county
+Lincoln, it was named "Shorter." Nothing, however, was done
+under this organization. Judge McDonald qualified and the
+only business was the marriage ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>On September 3, 1866, a meeting was held and arrangements<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+made to reorganize Shorter county under the name of Lincoln
+county. Under the reorganization, the following officers were
+elected: J. C. Gilman, W. M. Hinman, and J. A. Morrow were
+elected county commissioners; S. D. Fitchie, county judge;
+Wilton Baker, sheriff; and Charles McDonald, clerk. The county
+seat was at Cottonwood Springs. W. M. Hinman built a
+sawmill near Cottonwood Springs and did a large business.
+The Union Pacific railroad was then being constructed through
+this county and the cañons south of the Platte abounded with
+cedar timber, furnishing an abundance of material.</p>
+
+<p>During November, 1866, the Union Pacific railroad was completed
+to North Platte and a town was laid out by the railroad
+company. The plat of the town was filed with the clerk of the
+county on January 31, 1867; a military post was established,
+and a garrison of soldiers was stationed here.</p>
+
+<p>In 1867 the Union Pacific railroad began the erection of shops
+and roundhouse, North Platte having been designated as a division
+station. During the year 1867, a freight train was wrecked
+by the Indians. Several of the trainmen were killed and the
+train plundered and burned. In September, 1867, the Indian
+chiefs were all called to assemble at North Platte, where they
+were met by the commissioners appointed by the government to
+treat with them. These commissioners were General Sherman,
+General Harney, and John P. Sanborne, and a treaty of peace
+was entered into. During the stay of these commissioners, they
+were well entertained by the citizens of North Platte. The
+county-seat was moved from Cottonwood Springs to North
+Platte at an election held October 8, 1867. A total of twenty-one
+votes were cast. The officers elected were B. I. Hinman,
+representative; W. M. Hinman, county judge; Charles McDonald,
+clerk; O. O. Austin, sheriff; Hugh Morgan, treasurer, and
+A. J. Miller, county commissioner. There was no courthouse,
+and the records were kept at the home of W. M. Hinman, who
+had moved from his farm to North Platte. The first county
+warrant was issued in 1867. The first term of district court
+was held at North Platte in 1867, Judge Gantt then being the
+circuit judge for the entire state. July 1, 1867, the first levy
+on the Union Pacific railroad in Lincoln county was made on
+an assessed valuation of $49,000.00.</p>
+
+<p>During this year, there was an Indian scare and settlers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+throughout the county thronged to the military parks at McPherson
+and North Platte, taking refuge in the railroad roundhouse
+at the latter place.</p>
+
+<p>The first money collected from fines was that paid into the
+county treasury on February 1, 1868, by R. C. Daugherty, a
+justice of the peace, who fined a man $21.50 for stealing an
+overcoat.</p>
+
+<p>The first school in the county was taught at North Platte
+during the summer of 1868. Theodore Clark was the first
+teacher. The next term of school began November 30, 1868, and
+was taught by Mary Hubbard, now Mrs. P. J. Gilman.</p>
+
+<p>The first Sunday school in the county was at North Platte,
+and was founded by Mrs. Keith, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Cogswell, and
+Mrs. Kramph. There were only three children in attendance.</p>
+
+<p>During the year 1868, troubles with the Indians were on the
+increase. On one occasion, "Dutch" Frank, running an engine
+and coming round a curve with his train, saw a large body of
+Indians on each side of the road, while a number were crowded
+on the track. Knowing it would be certain death to stop, he
+increased the speed of his train and went through them, killing
+quite a number.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1869, the Fifth U. S. Cavalry arrived at Fort McPherson
+under General Carr. Eight companies were left here and
+four companies went to Sidney and Cheyenne. The government
+was surveying this county at that time and the troops were used
+to protect the surveyors. Large bands of Indians had left the
+reservation and were killing settlers and stealing horses. During
+the summer of 1869 the order from General Auger, commanding
+the department, was to clear the country of Indians
+between the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific. I was an
+officer of the Fifth U. S. Cavalry and was in command of the
+post at North Platte in 1869 and 1870, and was in all the Indian
+campaigns until I resigned in 1878.</p>
+
+<p>The first bank in North Platte was started in 1875 by Walker
+Brothers and was later sold to Charles McDonald.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>GRAY EAGLE, PAWNEE CHIEF</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Millard S. Binney</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>It is not often that one sees a real Indian chief on the streets
+of Fullerton, but such happened in June, 1913, when the city
+was visited by David Gillingham, as he is known in the English
+tongue, or Gray Eagle, as his people call him, chief of the
+Pawnees.</p>
+
+<p>Gray Eagle is the son of White Eagle, whom the early inhabitants
+of Nance county will remember as chief of the Pawnees at
+the time the county was owned by that tribe.</p>
+
+<p>Gray Eagle was born about three miles this side of Genoa, in
+1861. He spent his boyhood in the county and when white men
+began to build at the place that is now Genoa, he attended
+school there. When he was fourteen years of age he accompanied
+his tribe to its new home at Pawnee City, Oklahoma,
+where he has since resided. The trip overland was made mostly
+on horseback, and the memories of it are very interesting as interpreted
+to us by Chief Gray Eagle, and John Williamson, of
+Genoa, one of the few white men to make this long journey with
+the red men. Gray Eagle made one trip back here in 1879, visiting
+the spot that is now Fullerton&mdash;then only a few rude
+shacks.</p>
+
+<p>Uppermost in Gray Eagle's mind had always been the desire
+to return and see what changes civilization had brought. In
+1913 he was sent to St. Louis as a delegate to the Baptist convention,
+after which he decided to visit the old scenes. From
+St. Louis he went to Chicago and from that city he came to
+Genoa.</p>
+
+<p>"I have always wanted to see if I could locate the exact spot
+of my birth," said Gray Eagle, in perfect English, as he talked
+to us on this last visit, "and I have been successful in my undertaking.
+I found it last week, three miles this side of Genoa. I
+was born in a little, round mud-house, and although the house
+is long since gone, I discovered the circular mound that had
+been its foundation. I stood upon the very spot where I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+born, and as I looked out over the slopes and valleys that had
+once been ours; at the corn and wheat growing upon the ground
+that had once been our hunting grounds; at the quietly flowing
+streams that we had used so often for watering places in the
+days so long gone by; my heart was very sad. Yet I've found
+that spot and am satisfied. I can now go back to the South and
+feel that my greatest desire has been granted."</p>
+
+<p>When asked if the Indians of today followed many of the customs
+of their ancestors, he answered that they did not. Occasionally
+the older Indians, in memory of the days of their
+supremacy, dressed themselves to correspond and acted as in
+other days, but the younger generation knows nothing of those
+things and is as the white man. In Oklahoma they go to school,
+later engage in farming or enter business. "Civilization has
+done much for them," said Gray Eagle. "They are hard workers
+and have ambitions to accomplish great things and be better
+citizens. Only we old Indians, who remember the strenuous
+times of the early days, have the wild blood in our veins. The
+younger ones have never even seen a buffalo."</p>
+
+<p>Then he told of his early life in the county and related interesting
+stories of the past&mdash;Gray Eagle, the Indian chief, and
+John Williamson, the pioneer, talking together, at times, in a
+tongue that to us was strange, but to them an echo of a very
+real past.</p>
+
+<p>The Loup he called Potato Water, because of the many wild
+potatoes that formerly grew upon its banks. Horse creek he
+remembered as Skeleton Water, the Pawnees one time having
+fought a band of Sioux on its banks. They were victorious but
+lost many warriors. Their own dead they buried, leaving the
+bodies of their enemies to decay in the sun. Soon the banks of
+the creek were strewn with skeletons and ever after the creek
+was known to the Indians as Skeleton Water. The Cedar was
+known as Willow creek, Council creek as the Skidi, and the
+Beaver as the Sandburr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>LOVERS' LEAP</h2>
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. A. P. Jarvis</span></h3>
+<blockquote><p>
+I pause before I reach the verge<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And look, with chilling blood, below;</span><br />
+Some dread attraction seems to urge<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Me nearer to the brink to go.</span><br />
+The hunting red men used to force<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The buffalo o'er this frightful steep;</span><br />
+They could not check their frantic course;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By following herds pressed down they leap,</span><br />
+<br />
+Then lie a bleeding, mangled mass<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Beside the little stream below.</span><br />
+Their red blood stained the waving grass,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The brook carnation used to flow.</span><br />
+Yet a far more pathetic tale<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Pawnees told the pioneer</span><br />
+Of dusky maid and stripling pale<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who found in death a refuge here.</span><br />
+<br />
+The youth had been a captive long,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yet failed to friendly favor find;</span><br />
+He oft was bound with cruel thong,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yet Noma to the lad was kind.</span><br />
+She was the chieftain's only child,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">As gentle as the cooing dove.</span><br />
+Pure was this daughter of the wild;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The pale-face lad had won her love.</span><br />
+<br />
+Her father, angered at her choice,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Had bid'n her wed a chieftain brave;</span><br />
+She answered with a trembling voice,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I'd rather lie within my grave."</span><br />
+The day before the appointed eve<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When Wactah was to claim his bride,</span><br />
+The maid was seen the camp to leave&mdash;<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">The pale-face youth was by her side.</span><br />
+<br />
+She led him to this dangerous place<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">That on the streamlet's glee doth frown;</span><br />
+The sunlight, gleaming on her face,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Her wild, dark beauty seemed to crown.</span><br />
+"Dear youth," exclaimed the dusky maid,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I've brought thee here thy faith to prove:</span><br />
+If thou of death art not afraid,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We'll sacrifice our lives to love."</span><br />
+<br />
+Hand linked in hand they looked below,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then, headlong, plunged adown the steep.</span><br />
+The Pawnees from that hour of woe<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Have named the place The Lovers' Leap.</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY INDIAN HISTORY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Sarah Clapp</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1843 Mr. and Mrs. Lester W. Platt were first engaged in
+missionary work among the Pawnees, and in 1857 the government
+set aside a tract of land thirty miles by fifteen miles, in
+the rich prairie soil of Nance county, for their use; and when
+the Indian school was established at Genoa, Mrs. Platt was made
+matron or superintendent.</p>
+
+<p>My mother taught in this school during the years 1866-67.
+She found the work interesting, learned much of the customs
+and legends of the Pawnees and grew very fond of that noble
+woman, Mrs. Platt, who was able to tell thrilling stories of her
+experiences during her mission work among the members of that
+tribe.</p>
+
+<p>At the time my mother taught in the Genoa school, the Sioux,
+who were the greatest enemies of the Pawnees, on account of
+wanting to hunt in the same territory, were supposed to be
+friendly with the settlers, but drove away their horses and cattle
+and stole everything in sight, furnishing much excitement.</p>
+
+<p>My father, Captain S. E. Cushing, accompanied my uncle,
+Major Frank North, on a number of expeditions against the
+hostile Indians, during the years 1869 until 1877. He was with
+Major North at the time of the famous charge on the village of
+the Cheyennes, when the notorious chief, Tall Bull, was killed
+by my uncle.</p>
+
+<p>In 1856, when Frank North came to Nebraska, a young boy,
+he mingled fearlessly with the Indians along the Missouri in the
+region of Omaha, where our family first settled, learning their
+mode of warfare and living, and their language, which he spoke
+as fluently as his mother tongue. In 1861 he took a position as
+clerk and interpreter at the Pawnee reservation and by 1863 he
+had become known as a daring scout.</p>
+
+<p>The next year the building of the Union Pacific railroad was
+started, and as the work progressed westward the fierce Arapahoes,
+Cheyennes, and Sioux began attacking the laborers, until<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+it seemed deadly peril to venture outside the camps. It was useless
+to call on the regular troops for help as the government
+needed them all to hold in check the armies of Lee and Johnston.
+A clipping from the Washington <i>Sunday Herald</i>, on this
+subject, states that "a happy thought occurred to Mr. Oakes
+Ames," the main spirit of the work. He sent a trusty agent to
+hunt up Frank North, who was then twenty-four years old.
+"What can be done to protect our working parties, Mr. North?"
+said Mr. Ames. "I have an idea," Mr. North answered. "If
+the authorities at Washington will allow me to organize a battalion
+of Pawnees and mount and equip them, I will undertake
+to picket your entire line and keep off other Indians.</p>
+
+<p>"The Pawnees are the natural enemies of all the tribes that
+are giving you so much trouble, and a little encouragement and
+drill will make them the best irregular horse you could desire."</p>
+
+<p>This plan was new but looked feasible. Accordingly Mr. Ames
+went to Washington, and, after some effort, succeeded in getting
+permission to organize a battalion of four hundred Pawnee warriors,
+who should be armed as were the U.S. cavalry and drilled
+in such simple tactics as the service required, and my uncle was
+commissioned a major of volunteers and ordered to command
+them. The newspaper clipping also says: "It would be difficult
+to estimate the service of Major North in money value." General
+Crook once said, in speaking of him, "Millions of government
+property and hundreds of lives were saved by him on the
+line of the Union Pacific railroad, and on the Nebraska, Wyoming,
+and Montana frontiers."</p>
+
+<p>There is much to be said in his praise, but I did not intend
+writing a eulogy, rather to tell of the stories which have come
+down to me, with which he and my other relatives were so
+closely connected.</p>
+
+<p>During the many skirmishes and battles fought by the Pawnees,
+under Major North, he never lost a man; moreover, on several
+different occasions he passed through such hair-breadth
+escapes that the Pawnees thought him invulnerable. In one instance,
+while pursuing the retreating enemy, he discovered that
+his command had fallen back and he was separated from them
+by over a mile. The enemy, discovering his plight, turned on
+him. He dismounted, being fully armed, and by using his horse
+as a breastwork he managed to reach his troops again, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+his faithful horse was killed. This and many like experiences
+caused the Pawnees to believe that their revered leader led a
+charmed life. He never deceived them, and they loved to call
+him "Little Pawnee Le-Sharo" (Pawnee Chief), and so he was
+known as the White Chief of the Pawnees.</p>
+
+<p>The coming of the railroad through the state, bringing thousands
+of settlers with household furnishings and machinery for
+tilling the soil, was of the greatest importance. It was concerning
+the guarding of that right of way that a writer for the
+<i>Horse World</i> has some interesting memories and devotes an
+article in a number in February, 1896, to the stories of Colonel
+W. F. Cody, Major Frank North, Captain Charles Morse, Captain
+Luther North, Captain Fred Mathews, and my father, Captain
+S. E. Cushing. The correspondent was under my father,
+in Company B, during one of the scouting expeditions, when the
+company was sent to guard O'Fallon's Bluffs, west of Fort McPherson
+on the Union Pacific. He tells much more of camp
+activities and of his initiation into border life than of the skirmishes
+or scouting trips. He was fond of horses and tells of a
+memorable race in which a horse of Buffalo Bill's was beaten by
+my father's horse "Jack."</p>
+
+<p>My uncle, Captain Luther North, who also commanded a company
+of scouts at that time, now resides in Omaha.</p>
+
+<p>While yet a boy he freighted between Omaha and Columbus
+and carried the mail, by pony, during a period when my grandmother
+felt that when she bade him good-bye in the morning she
+might never see him again, so unsettled was the feeling about
+the Indians. He was intimately acquainted with every phase of
+Indian life. He knew their pastimes and games, work of the
+medicine men and magicians, and especially was he familiar with
+many of their legends. I am happy to have been one of the
+children who often gathered 'round him to listen to the tales of
+his own experiences or stories told him by the red men.</p>
+
+<p>One personal experience in the family happened before the
+building of the railroad, probably in sixty-one or sixty-two. A
+number of men, accompanied by the wives of two of them, went
+to put up hay for the government, on land located between
+Genoa and Monroe. One night the Indians surrounded their
+camp, presumably to drive away their stock. Naturally the
+party rebelled, and during the melee which followed Adam<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+Smith and another man were killed and one of the women, Mrs.
+Murray, was wounded but saved herself by crawling away
+through the tall grass. The recital of this trouble grew in magnitude
+the farther it traveled, until people grew frantic with
+fear, believing it to mean an uprising of the Sioux. The settlers
+from Shell creek and all directions, bringing horses, cattle, and
+even their fowls, together with personal belongings, flocked into
+the village of Columbus for mutual protection. My mother,
+then a young girl, describes the first night as one of much confusion.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the fugitives were sheltered with friends, others
+camped in the open. Animals, feeling as strange as did their
+masters, were bawling or screeching, and no one could sleep, as
+the greatest excitement prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>"They built a stockade of upright posts about eight feet high,
+around the town," says my uncle Luther, thinking that as the
+Indians usually fought on horseback, this would be a great help
+if not a first-class fort.</p>
+
+<p>They organized a militia company and men were detailed for
+guard duty and stationed at different points along the stockade,
+so serious seemed the situation. One night Luther North and
+two other young men were sent on picket duty outside the stockade.
+They took their horses and blankets and went up west of
+town about half a mile, to keep an eye on the surrounding country.
+A Mr. Needham had gone up to his farm (now the John
+Dawson farm) that day, and did not return until it was getting
+dark. The guards thought it would be great fun to give him a
+little scare, so as he approached they wrapped themselves in
+their blankets, mounted, and rode down under a bank. Just as
+he passed they came up in sight and gave the Indian war whoop
+and started after him. He whipped his team into a run; they
+chased him, yelling at every step, but stopped a reasonable distance
+from the stockade and then went back. Mr. Needham
+gave graphic description of how the Indians had chased him,
+which so upset the entire population that sleep was out of the
+question that night. Moreover he cautioned his wife in this
+wise: "Now, Christina, if the Indians come, it is everybody
+for himself, and you will have to skulk." This remark made by
+Mr. Needham became a byword, and even down into the next
+generation was a favorite saying and always provoked a smile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+The young guards had no fear whatever of marauding Indians,
+and, blissfully unaware of the commotion they had aroused,
+went back up the road to a melon patch, ate a sufficient amount
+of the luscious fruit, picketed their horses, wrapped themselves
+in their blankets, and lay them down to pleasant dreams. The
+next morning they rode into town and reported no red men in
+sight. After a few weeks, when there was no further evidence
+of trouble from the savages, the people gradually dispersed to
+their homes and farms which were, by that time, much in need
+of attention.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/illus_014.jpg" width="480" height="600" alt="Mrs. Oreal S. Ward
+
+Ninth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1909-1910" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Oreal S. Ward
+
+Ninth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1909-1910</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE BLIZZARD OF 1888</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Minnie Freeman Penney</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>On January 12, 1888, the states of Nebraska and South Dakota
+were visited by a blizzard so fierce and cruel and death-dealing
+that residents of those sections cannot speak of it even now without
+an involuntary shudder.</p>
+
+<p>The storm burst with great suddenness and fury, and many
+there were who did not live to tell the story of their suffering.
+And none suffered more keenly than did the occupants of the
+prairie schoolhouses. Teachers and pupils lost their lives or
+were terribly maimed. The great storm indicated most impressively
+the measure of danger and trial that must be endured by
+the country school teacher in the isolated places on the frontier.</p>
+
+<p>Three Nebraska country school teachers&mdash;Loie Royce of
+Plainfield, Etta Shattuck of Holt county, and Minnie Freeman
+of Mira Valley, were the subjects of much newspaper writing.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Royce had nine pupils. Six went home for luncheon and
+remained on account of the storm. The three remaining pupils
+with the teacher stayed in the schoolhouse until three o'clock.
+Their fuel gave out, and as her boarding house was but fifteen
+rods away, the teacher decided to take the children home with
+her.</p>
+
+<p>In the fury of the storm they wandered and were lost. Darkness
+came, and with it death. One little boy sank into the
+eternal silence. The brave little teacher stretched herself out
+on the cold ground and cuddled the two remaining ones closer.
+Then the other little boy died and at daylight the spirit of the
+little girl, aged seven, fluttered away, leaving the young teacher
+frozen and dumb with agony. Loie Royce "hath done what she
+could; angels can do no better." Miss Royce lost both feet by
+amputation.</p>
+
+<p>Etta Shattuck, after sending her children home (all living
+near) tried to go to her home. Losing her way, she took refuge
+in a haystack, where she remained, helpless and hungry Friday,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+Saturday, and Sunday, suffering intensely and not able to move.
+She lived but a short time after her terrible experience.</p>
+
+<p>Minnie Freeman was teaching in Mira Valley, Valley county.
+She had in her charge seventeen pupils. Finding it impossible
+to remain in the schoolhouse, she took the children with her to
+her boarding place almost a mile from the schoolhouse.</p>
+
+<p>Words are useless in the effort to portray that journey to the
+safe shelter of the farmhouse, with the touching obedience of
+the children to every word of direction&mdash;rather <i>felt</i> than <i>heard</i>,
+in that fierce winding-sheet of ice and snow. How it cut and
+almost blinded them! It was terrible on their eyes. They beat
+their way onward, groping blindly in the darkness, with the
+visions of life and death ever before the young teacher responsible
+for the destiny of seventeen souls.</p>
+
+<p>All reached the farmhouse and were given a nice warm supper
+prepared by the hostess and the teacher, and comfortable beds
+provided.</p>
+
+<p>Minnie Freeman was unconscious of anything heroic or unusual.
+Doing it in the simple line of duty to those placed in
+her care, she still maintains that it was the trust placed in the
+Great Spirit who guides and cares for His own which led the
+little band&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"Through the desert and illimitable air,<br />
+Lone wandering, but not lost."<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN ACROSTIC</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p><i>Written to Miss Minnie Freeman in 1888 by Mrs. Ellis of St.
+Paul, Nebraska. Mrs. Ellis was then seventy-eight
+years old&mdash;now deceased</i></p></blockquote>
+
+<p>
+'Midst driving winds and blinding snows,<br />
+Impending dangers round her close;<br />
+No shelter from the blast and sleet,<br />
+No earthly help to guide her feet.<br />
+In God alone she puts her trust,<br />
+Ever to guide the brave and just.<br />
+<br />
+Fierce and loud the awful storm,<br />
+Racking now her slender form,<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>Eager to save the little band<br />
+Entrusted to her guiding hand.<br />
+Marshalled her host, see, forth she goes<br />
+And falters not while tempest blows;<br />
+Now God alone can help, she knows.<br />
+<br />
+See them falling as they go;<br />
+Angry winds around them blow.<br />
+Is there none to hear their cry?<br />
+Now her strength will almost fail;<br />
+Tranquil, she braves the fearful gale.<br />
+<br />
+Preëminent her name shall stand,<br />
+A beacon light o'er all the land,<br />
+Unrivalled on the page of time;<br />
+Let song and story swell the chime.<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN NANCE COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Ellen Saunders Walton</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1872, after passing through a great sorrow, a longing came
+to me to enter the missionary field among the Indians. At that
+time the Pawnee tribe was located on their reservation, now
+Nance county, and I was sent to work among them. It was interesting,
+at the same time sad and depressing, to witness
+the degeneration and savagery of tribal life; and ofttimes
+it was seemingly hopeless to civilize and christianize them.</p>
+
+<p>In 1874 the Pawnees were removed by the government to Indian
+territory, now Oklahoma, and the reservation was thrown
+on the market. This became Nance county, and a new order of
+things followed. Settlers came to the little hamlet of Genoa,
+that had been first settled by the Mormons in 1857, and though
+later given over to the Indians, it was one of the oldest towns
+in Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>A church was established under the care of the New England
+Congregational Mission and Rev. Charles Starbuck was put in
+charge. A small farmhouse where travelers could be accommodated,
+and a few homes of those who had bought land, comprised
+the village life. This freedom from restraint was indeed
+new to one accustomed to the rush of busy life in New York.
+Daily rides over the prairie on my pony were a delight.</p>
+
+<p>It was wonderful how many cultured people drifted into the
+almost unknown western country. It was not infrequent to see
+in humble sod houses shelves filled with standard books and
+writings of the best authors. This was the second wave of population,
+and though many things had to be sacrificed that in the
+old life were considered necessary to comfort, pioneer life had
+its happy features. One especially was the kindly expression of
+helpfulness in time of sickness or sorrow. The discomforts and
+self denials and the longing for dear ones far away grow dim
+and faded! only memories of pleasant hours remain. Then
+came the third wave of men and women settling all around,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+bringing fashion and refining influences, and entertainment of
+various kinds. Churches, elevators, banks, and business houses
+were built and Nance county began to show the march of civilization
+and progress. Where first we knew the flower-gemmed
+prairie, modern homes spring up and good roads follow the
+trails of the Indian and the hunter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE PAWNEE CHIEF'S FAREWELL</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Chauncey Livingston Wiltse</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>
+As I strolled alone, when the day had flown,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through the once Pawnee reserve,</span><br />
+Where the memories keep of the brave asleep<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By the winding Cedar's curve&mdash;</span><br />
+Methought the leaves of the old oak trees<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Neath the sheltering hill-range spoke,</span><br />
+And they said: "It's here that hearts knew no fear,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where arose the Pawnee smoke!</span><br />
+<br />
+"In the eventide, when all cares subside,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Is the hour the tribe liked best;</span><br />
+When the gold of day crossed the hills away,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And, like those who tried, found rest.</span><br />
+O'er this Lovers' Leap, where now shadows creep,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Strode the chief, in thought, alone&mdash;</span><br />
+And he said: 'Trees true, and all stars in view,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And you very winds my own!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'I soon shall pass, like the blades of grass,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where the wandering shadows go;</span><br />
+Only leaves will tell what my tribe did well&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But you Hearts of Oak&mdash;you know!</span><br />
+To those Hunting Grounds that are never found<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall my tribe, in time, depart;</span><br />
+Then it will be you to tell who were true,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With the dawn-song in their heart!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'You will sing a song, with the winds along,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How the Pawnee loved these hills!</span><br />
+Here he loved to stray, all the wind-glad day&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In his heart the wind sings still!</span><br />
+You will whisper, too, how he braved the Sioux,<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">How life's days he did his part;</span><br />
+Though not understood, how he wished but good,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">With but love within his heart!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'The White Father's call reaches us, and all<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To his South Wind land we fly,</span><br />
+Yet we fain would stay with you hills alway&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">It is hard to say good-bye!</span><br />
+You, our fatherland, we could once command,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We are driven from, so fast;</span><br />
+But you hills alway in our hearts will stay<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And be with us at the last!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Here we took our stand for our fatherland,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here our sons to manhood grew;</span><br />
+Here their loves were found, where these hills surround&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here the winds sang to them, too!</span><br />
+By this Cedar's side, where the waters glide,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We went forth to hunt and dream;</span><br />
+Here we felt the spell of you oaks as well,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And felt all that love may seem!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Here we felt the pang of the hot wind tang,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here we felt the blizzard's breath;</span><br />
+Here we faced the foe, as the stars all know&mdash;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here we saw the face of Death!</span><br />
+Here we braved the wrath of the lightning's path,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Here we dared starvation's worst;</span><br />
+Here tonight we stand, for our fatherland,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Banished from what was ours&mdash;first!</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Bravely we obey, and will go away;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The White Father wills it so;</span><br />
+But our thoughts will roam to this dawntime home<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where our fathers sleep, below!</span><br />
+And some shining day, beyond white men's sway,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We will meet our long-lost own&mdash;</span><br />
+Where you singing winds and the dawn begins,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">One will say, "Come in&mdash;come home!"</span><br />
+<br />
+"'Just beyond you hills, the Rest Land still<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Is waiting for us all;</span><br />
+At earth's sunset hour One will wake each flower,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And us home will softly call!</span><br />
+Trees and stream, good-bye! Now our parting's nigh;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Know you memory's sweet to me!</span><br />
+Though our footsteps go, you may always know<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">You've the heart of each Pawnee!'</span><br />
+<br />
+"As the chief passed by, stars filled the sky,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the moonlight softest fell&mdash;</span><br />
+But the night winds said, 'Peace is overhead!'<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And the hills said, 'All is well!'"</span><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MY TRIP WEST IN 1861</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Sarah Schooley Randall</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1857 my brother, Charles A. Schooley, landed at Brownville
+and soon after purchased several tracts of land near there,
+one being the old home of Church Howe and adjoining the present
+site of the village of Howe. Incidentally, my husband's
+father, N. G. Randall, three years later purchased land within
+three miles&mdash;known later as Bedford.</p>
+
+<p>In 1860, while my brother was visiting his old home, White
+Deer Valley, near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the smoldering
+flames of adventure were kindled in my mind which nothing but
+a trip west could quench. On March 1, 1861, we left Williamsport
+by train from Pittsburgh and on arriving there went to the
+Monongahela hotel, then a magnificent building. Abe Lincoln
+had just left the hotel, much to our disappointment. After a
+few days we engaged passage on the <i>Argonaut</i> to St. Louis via
+the Monongahela, the Ohio, and the Mississippi rivers. Our
+experiences were varied and exciting enough to meet my expectations.
+During one night we stood tied to a tree and another
+night the pumps were kept going to keep us from sinking.
+Small consolation we got from the captain's remark that this
+was "the last trip for this old hulk." We had ample time for
+seeing all the important cities along the shore&mdash;Cincinnati,
+Louisville, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at St. Louis we took passage on a new boat, <i>Sunshine</i>,
+and set sail upstream. Perhaps we felt a few pangs of
+fear as we neared the real pioneer life. We changed boats again
+at St. Joe and then our trip continued, now up the treacherous
+Missouri. Every now and then we struck a snag which sent the
+dishes scurrying from the table. I am reminded that this trip
+was typical of our lives: floating downstream is easy but upstream
+is where we strike the snags.</p>
+
+<p>Of our valued acquaintances met on the trip were Rev. and Mrs.
+Barrette, the former a Presbyterian minister coming to Brownville,
+and our friendship continued after reaching our destination.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+Arriving in Brownville, we went to the McPherson hotel, where
+we continued to hear disturbing rumors about the coming civil
+war.</p>
+
+<p>After a few days we took a carriage and went west ten miles
+over the beautiful rolling prairies to our ranch. I was charmed
+with the scene, which was vastly different from the mountains
+and narrow winding valleys of Pennsylvania, and was determined
+to stay, though my brother had lost his enthusiasm and
+gave me two weeks to change my mind. Many a homesick spell
+I had when I would have very quickly returned to my father's
+home of peace and plenty, but the danger of travel detained me.
+I assured my brother that if he would only stay I would be very
+brave and economical. I only wanted five small rooms plainly
+furnished and a horse and carriage. When the place was ready
+we left Brownville in a big wagon, drawn by oxen, and fortified
+by a load of provisions. When we came in sight of our bungalow
+it proved to be a one-room, unpainted and unplastered edifice,
+but I soon overcame that defect by the use of curtains, and
+as all lived alike then, we were content with our surroundings.
+Our first callers were three hundred Indians on an expedition.
+I had been reading extensively about Indians, so knew when I
+saw their squaws and papooses with them that they were friendly&mdash;in
+fact, rather too familiar.</p>
+
+<p>My brother fenced his land and planted it in corn and all
+kinds of vegetables. The season being favorable there was an
+abundant crop, both cultivated and wild. The timber abounded
+with grapes, plums, nuts, etc., and strawberries on the prairies.
+We had a well of fine water, a good cellar or cave, and a genuine
+"creampot" cow. Instead of a carriage I had a fine saddle
+horse (afterwards sold to a captain in the army), and how we
+did gallop over the prairies! One of my escapades was to a
+neighbor's home ten miles away for ripe tomatoes. In lieu of a
+sack we tied together the neck and sleeves of a calico wrapper,
+filled it with the tomatoes, then tied the bottom and balanced it
+astride the horse in front of me. Going through the tall slough
+grass in one place near Sheridan, now Auburn, the horse became
+frantic with heat and flies and attempted to run away. The
+strings gave way and the tomatoes scattered. Finally the saddle
+turned and the well-trained horse stopped. An inventory revealed
+one sleeve full of tomatoes remaining.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Among our near neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Milo Gates and
+family, and Mr. and Mrs. Engle. Mrs. Gates's cheerful optimism
+made this pioneer life not only possible but enjoyable.</p>
+
+<p>After five months, my brother joined the army and went south
+as a captain; was several times promoted, and stayed all through
+the war. A year after I went back to Brownville to stay until
+the war was over, and there made many valued acquaintances:
+Senator Tipton's sister, Mrs. Atkinson, Judge Wheeler, H. C.
+Lett, the McCrearys, Hackers, Whitneys, Carsons, Dr. Guin,
+Furnas, Johnson, etc. About this time the citizens gave a party
+for the boys who enlisted, and there I met E. J. Randall, whom
+I married soon after he returned from the army. Of the four
+Randall brothers who enlisted one was killed, one wounded, and
+one taken prisoner. Two of them still live, Dr. H. L. Randall
+of Aurora, forty-seven years a practicing physician in Nebraska
+and at one time surgeon at the Soldiers' Home, Grand Island;
+and A. D. Randall of Chapman, Nebraska, who enlisted at the
+age of sixteen and served all through the war.</p>
+
+<p>After a college course of four years my husband entered the
+ministry and served for twenty-five years in Nebraska, except
+for one year of mission work at Cheyenne, Wyoming. The
+itinerant life is not unlike the pioneer life and brought with it
+the bitter and sweet as well, but the bitter was soon forgotten
+and blessed memories remain of the dear friends scattered all
+over the state of Nebraska, and indeed to the ends of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Wharton said when paying his tribute to my departed
+husband, "He still lives on in the lives of those to whom he has
+ministered." Our children are Charles H. Randall of Los Angeles,
+California, member of congress, and Mrs. Anna Randall
+Pope of Lincoln, Nebraska.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>STIRRING EVENTS ALONG THE LITTLE BLUE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Clarendon E. Adams</span></h3>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Painting a Buffalo</i></p>
+
+<p>The following narrative of Albert Bierstadt's visit to what is
+now Nuckolls county, Nebraska, was told to me by Mr. E. S.
+Comstock, a pioneer of the county. Mr. Comstock made his first
+settlement in this county at Oak Grove, in 1858, and was in
+charge of the Oak Grove ranch when this incident took place.</p>
+
+<p>In 1863 Mr. Bierstadt returned from the Pacific coast via the
+Overland stage route, which was then conducted by Russell,
+Majors &amp; Waddell, the pioneer stage and pony expressmen of the
+plains. Arriving at Oak Grove ranch, Mr. Bierstadt and his
+traveling companion, a Mr. Dunlap, correspondent of the New
+York <i>Post</i>, decided to stop a few days and have a buffalo hunt.
+In company with E. S. Comstock, his son George, and a neighbor
+by the name of Eubanks, who was killed by the Indians the
+next year, they proceeded to the Republican Valley and camped
+the first night in the grove on Lost creek, now known as Lincoln
+Park. The following morning the party proceeded up the river
+to the farm now owned by Frank Schmeling. Here they discovered
+a large herd of buffalo grazing along the creek to the west
+and covering the prairies to the north for several miles. Mr.
+Comstock says that it was one of the largest herds of buffalo he
+had ever encountered and that Mr. Bierstadt became greatly
+excited and said, "Now, boys, is our time for fun. I want to
+see an enraged wounded buffalo. I want to see him so mad that
+he will bellow and tear up the ground." Mr. Comstock said
+they arranged for the affray: Mr. Bierstadt was to take his position
+on a small knoll to the east of the herd, fix himself with his
+easel so that he could sketch the landscape and the grazing
+bison, and when this was done the wounding of one of the buffalo
+bulls was to take place.</p>
+
+<p>Bierstadt was stationed on a small knoll in plain view of the
+herd; Mr. Eubanks was stationed in a draw near Bierstadt, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+order to protect him from the charges of the buffalo, if necessary.
+George Comstock was to select a buffalo bull from the
+herd and wound him and then tantalize him by shaking a red
+blanket at him until he was thoroughly enraged, then he was to
+give him another wound from his rifle and lead out in the direction
+of Mr. Bierstadt.</p>
+
+<p>The wounded buffalo became furious and charged Comstock's
+horse repeatedly, but Comstock, being an expert horseman,
+evaded the fierce charges and was all the time coming nearer to
+Bierstadt. When within about three hundred yards Comstock
+whirled his horse to the side of the maddened monster. As a
+buffalo does not see well out of the side of his eyes on account
+of the long shaggy hair about the face, Comstock was lost to
+his view. The infuriated animal tossed his head high in air and
+the only thing he saw was Bierstadt. Onward he rushed toward
+the artist, pawing the ground and bellowing furiously. Bierstadt
+called for help and took to his heels. The buffalo struck
+the easel and sent it in splinters through the air. Onward he
+rushed after the fleeing artist, who was making the best time of
+his life. Mr. Comstock said he was running so fast that his coat
+tails stuck so straight out that you could have played a game of
+euchre on them. The buffalo was gaining at every jump.</p>
+
+<p>At this point in his story Mr. Comstock became greatly excited.
+He was standing on the identical spot telling me the
+story, and was living the exciting scene over again. "Why,"
+he said, "I thought Eubanks never would shoot. I was scared.
+The buffalo nearly had his horns under Bierstadt's coat tail. He
+was snorting froth and blood all over him, but the gun cracked
+and the buffalo fell and Bierstadt was so overcome he fell at the
+same time entirely exhausted, but saved from a fearful death."
+When he recovered sufficiently to talk, he said, "That's enough;
+no more wounded buffalo for me." Mr. Bierstadt was several
+days recovering from his fearful experience, but while he was
+recovering, he was painting the picture. "Mr. Dunlap, the correspondent,
+wrote a graphic and vivid pen picture of the exciting
+scene," said Mr. Comstock; "but when Mr. Bierstadt finished
+his picture of the infuriated charging buffalo and the
+chase, the pen picture was not in it."</p>
+
+<p>This was the painting that brought Bierstadt into prominence
+as an artist. It was exhibited at the first Chicago exhibition and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+was sold for $75,000. I saw the picture in Chicago before I
+heard Mr. Comstock's narrative, and as I was one of the owners
+of El Capitan Rancho, the landscape of the famous painting, I
+fixed his story vividly upon my memory. Mr. Mike Woerner
+now owns a portion of El Capitan Rancho, the landscape of this
+famous painting. A portion of this original painting is embraced
+in Mr. Bierstadt's masterpiece, "The Last of the Buffalo."</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>An Indian Raid</i></p>
+
+<p>The settlement of the section now included in Nuckolls county
+was attended with more privation and suffering from Indian
+raids and depredations than any other county in the state of
+Nebraska. The great Indian raids of August 7, 1864, extended
+from Denver, Colorado, to Gage county, Nebraska, at which
+time every stage station and settlement along the entire line of
+the Overland trail was included in that skilfully planned attack.
+A certain number of warriors were assigned to each place
+and the attack was simultaneous along the line for four hundred
+miles in extent.</p>
+
+<p>The Oak Grove ranch was among the most formidable in fortifications
+and a band of forty well-armed braves was sent to capture
+and destroy it. On the day of the attack G. S. Comstock,
+owner of Oak Grove ranch, was away from home; but besides
+his family there were five men at the stockade. The Indians
+came to the ranch about mid-day in a friendly attitude. They
+had left their ponies about a quarter of a mile away. They
+asked for something to eat and were permitted to come into the
+house with their guns and bows and arrows on their persons.
+They finished their dinner and each received a portion of tobacco
+and some matches. Then without any warning they turned
+upon the inmates of the ranch yelling and shooting like demons,
+and only for the quickness and great presence of mind of one of
+the Comstock boys the whites would all have been killed or taken
+away captives to submit to the cruelty of the savage foe.</p>
+
+<p>A Mr. Kelly, from Beatrice, was there and was the first to fall
+pierced with an arrow. He had a navy revolver in his belt.
+The Indians rushed for it but young Comstock was too quick
+for them and seized the revolver first and shot down the leader
+of the braves. Seeing the fate of their leader, the Indians
+rushed to the door in great fright. The revolver was in skilful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+hands and three more of the braves went down under the unerring
+aim of young Comstock. Kelly and Butler were both
+killed outright. Two men by the name of Ostrander and a boy
+were wounded. All the other occupants of the ranch had their
+clothes pierced with arrows or bullets.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians ran to their ponies, and while they were away
+planning another attack, the wounded were cared for as best
+they could. The doors were securely barred and the living were
+stationed in the most advantageous places for defense. The
+friendly game of the Indians had not worked as they expected,
+but they were not daunted and soon they encircled the house,
+riding, shooting, and yelling. This fiendish warfare they kept
+up all the afternoon. They tried several times to set the buildings
+on fire but shots from experienced marksmen, both men and
+women, kept them at bay.</p>
+
+<p>The new leader of the Indians rode a white pony and seemed
+at times to work his warriors up to great desperation, and young
+Comstock made up his mind to shoot him the next time that he
+appeared. It was now too dark to distinguish one man from
+another. Mr. Comstock, senior, was mounted on a white horse
+and he was enroute home about the time the Indians were expected
+to return. The vigilant son raised his gun, took aim, and
+was about to shoot, when one of the girls, remembering that her
+father rode a white horse, called out, "Father, is it you?" An
+affirmative answer came back just in time to prevent the fatal
+shot which would have followed in an instant more. Mr. Comstock
+had ridden through the Indian lines, while returning to his
+ranch, unmolested. He said to me he believed the Indians
+spared his life that evening on account of favors he had always
+granted them.</p>
+
+<p>Five miles east of the Comstock ranch that day a boy eighteen
+years old by the name of Ulig was met by two Indians. One of
+them shook hands with him while the other pierced his body with
+a spear and then scalped him and left him writhing in the broiling
+sun to die on the prairie. This savage and brutal act was
+followed by others unparalleled even in savage warfare. Four
+miles above Oak Grove at a place called the Narrows on the
+Little Blue river, lived a family of ten persons by the name of
+Eubanks. They were from the East and knew nothing of Indians'
+cruel warfare and when they were attacked they left<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+their cabin and ran for the trees and brush along the river banks.
+Nine of them were murdered in the most brutal manner: scalped
+and stripped of their clothing. Two of the women, Mrs. Eubanks,
+with a young babe in her arms, and Laura Roper, a school teacher
+who was there on a visit, were the only ones who arrived at a
+place of concealment and would have escaped had not the babe
+from heat and fright cried out. The practiced ear of the Indians
+caught the sound and they were made captives and subjected
+to the most inhuman and beastly treatment by the horrible
+savages. After the mother was made a captive the baby
+cried from hunger. The mother was so famished she could not
+nourish the babe but held it fondly in her arms trying to soothe
+it; and one of the merciless savages stepped up and brained it
+with his tomahawk. No pen or brush can tell the horrors of
+this diabolical deed.</p>
+
+<p>The two women were subjected to six months of bondage impossible
+to describe. I was telling this story one day to the late
+Captain Henry E. Palmer of Omaha, and learned from him that
+he and his command of soldiers and Pawnee scouts followed
+these inhuman wretches over the plains trying to bring them to
+bay, and finally down on the Solomon river in Kansas captured
+some of the Indian chiefs and succeeded in exchanging them for
+the two women captives.</p>
+
+<p>This is one of the terrible chapters in the early settlement of
+Nuckolls county and was graphically detailed to me by Mr.
+Comstock soon after I settled in the county.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MY LAST BUFFALO HUNT</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By J. Sterling Morton</span></h3>
+
+<p class="center">(Read before the Nebraska State Historical Society, January
+10, 1899)</p>
+
+
+<p>Among all the glowing and glorious autumns of the forty-odd
+which I have enjoyed in clear-skied Nebraska, the most delicious,
+dreamy, and tranquil was that of 1861. The first day of October
+in that year surpassed in purity of air, clouds, and coloring
+all the other October days in my whole life. The prairies were
+not a somber brown, but a gorgeous old-gold; and there drifted
+in the dry, crisp atmosphere lace-like fragments of opalescent
+clouds which later in the afternoon gave the horizon the look of
+a far-away ocean upon which one could see fairy ships, and
+upon its farther-away shores splendid castles, their minarets and
+towers tipped with gold. The indolence of savagery saturated
+every inhalation, and all physical exertion except in the hunt
+or chase seemed <a name="repel1" id="repel1"></a><ins title="Original has repellant">repellent</ins>, irksome, and unendurable.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was that&mdash;like an evolution from environment&mdash;the
+desire and impulse to go upon a buffalo hunt seized upon
+and held and encompassed and dominated every fibre of my
+physical, every ambition and aspiration of my mental, make-up.
+Controlled by this spontaneous reincarnation of the barbaric
+tastes and habits of some nomadic ancestor of a prehistoric generation,
+arrangements for an excursion to Fort Kearny on the
+Platte (Colonel Alexander, of the regular army, then in command)
+were completed. With food rations, tent and camping
+furniture, and arms and ammunition, and pipes and tobacco,
+and a few drops of distilled rye (to be used only when snake-bitten),
+a light one-horse wagon drawn by a well-bred horse
+which was driven by the writer, was early the next morning
+leaving Arbor Lodge, and briskly speeding westward on the
+"Overland Trail" leading to California. And what rare roads
+there were in those buoyant days of the pioneers! All the
+prairies, clear across the plains from the Missouri river to the
+mountains, were perfectly paved with solid, tough, but elastic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+sod. And no asphalt or block-paved avenue or well-worked pike
+can give the responsive pressure to the touch of a human foot
+or a horse-hoof that came always from those smooth and comely
+trails. Especially in riding on horseback were the felicities of
+those primitive prairie roads emphasized and accentuated. Upon
+them one felt the magnetism and life of his horse; they animated
+and electrified him with the vigor and spirit of the animal until
+in elation, the rider became, at least emotionally, a centaur&mdash;a
+semi-horse human. The invigoration and exaltation of careering
+over undulating prairies on a beautiful, speedy, and spirited
+horse thrilled every sense and satisfied, as to exhilaration, by
+physical exercise, the entire mental personality. Nature's roads
+in Nebraska are unequaled by any of their successors.</p>
+
+<p>This excursion was in a wagon without springs; and after
+driving alone, as far as the Weeping Water crossing, I overtook
+an ox train loaded with goods and supplies for Gilman's ranch
+on the Platte away beyond Fort Kearny.</p>
+
+<p>One of the proprietors, Mr. Jed Gilman, was in command of
+the outfit, and by his cordial and hospitable invitation I became
+his willing and voracious guest for the noonday meal. With a
+township for a dining room over which arched the turquoise-colored
+sky, like a vaulted ceiling, frescoed with clouds of fleecy
+white, we sat down upon our buffalo robes to partake of a hearty
+meal. There was no white settler within miles of our camp.
+The cry of "Dinner is now ready in the next car" had never
+been heard west of the Mississippi river nor even dreamed of in
+the East. The bill of fare was substantial: bacon fried, hot
+bread, strong coffee, stronger raw onions, and roasted potatoes.
+And the appetite which made all exquisitely palatable and delicious
+descended to us out of the pure air and the exhilaration
+of perfect health. And then came the post-prandial pipe&mdash;how
+fragrant and solacing its fumes&mdash;from Virginia natural leaf,
+compared to which the exhalations from a perfecto cigar are
+today a disagreeable stench. There was then the leisure to
+smoke, the liberty and impulse to sing, to whoop, and to generally
+simulate the savages into whose hunting grounds we were
+making an excursion. Life lengthened out before us like the
+Overland route to the Pacific in undulations of continuously
+rising hillocks and from the summit of each one scaled we saw a
+similarly attractive one beyond in a seemingly never-ending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+pathway of pleasure, ambition, and satisfaction. The gold of
+the Pacific coast was not more real then than the invisible possibilities
+of life, prosperity, success, and contentment which were
+to teem, thrive, and abound upon these prairies which seemed
+only farms asleep or like thoughts unuttered&mdash;books unopened.</p>
+
+<p>But the smoke over, the oxen again yoked to the wagons and
+the train, like a file of huge white beetles, lumbered along to the
+songs, swearing, and whip-crackings of the drivers toward the
+crossing of Salt creek. However, by my persuasive insistence,
+Mr. Gilman left his wagon boss in charge and getting into my
+wagon accompanied me. Together we traveled briskly until
+quite late at night when we made camp at a point near where
+the town of Wahoo now stands. There was a rough ranch cabin
+there, and we remained until the following morning, when we
+struck out at a brisk trot toward Fort Kearny, entering the
+Platte Valley at McCabe's ranch. The day and the road were
+perfect. We made good time. At night we were entertained
+at Warfield's, on the Platte. The water in the well there was
+too highly flavored to be refreshing. Nine skunks had been
+lifted out of it the day of our arrival and only Platte river water
+could be had, which we found rather stale for having been
+hauled some distance in an old sorghum cask. But fatigue and a
+square meal are an innocent opiate and we were soon fast asleep
+under the open sky with the moon and stars only to hear how
+loudly a big ranchman can snore in a bedroom of a million or
+more acres. In the morning of our third day out, we were up,
+breakfasted with the sunrise, and drove on over the then untried
+railroad bed of the Platte Valley at a rattling gait. The stanch
+and speedy animal over which the reins were drawn, a splendid
+bay of gentle birth, had courage and endurance by heredity, and
+thus we made time. Ranches were from twenty to thirty miles
+apart. And the night of the third day found us at Mabin's.</p>
+
+<p>This was a hotel, feed barn, dry goods establishment, and saloon
+all under one roof, about thirty miles from Fort Kearny.
+After a reasonably edible supper, Mr. Gilman and I were escorted
+to the saloon and informed that we could repose and possibly
+sleep in the aisle which divided it from the granary which
+was filled with oats. Our blankets and buffalo robes were soon
+spread out in this narrow pathway. On our right were about
+two hundred bushels of oats in bulk, and on our left the counter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+which stood before variously shaped bottles containing alleged
+gin, supposed whiskey, and probable brandy. We had not been
+long in a recumbent position before&mdash;instead of sleep gently
+creeping over us&mdash;we experienced that we were race courses
+and grazing grounds for innumerable myriads of sand fleas.
+Immediately Gilman insisted that we should change our apartment
+and go out on the prairies near a haystack; but I stubbornly
+insisted that, as the fleas had not bitten me, I would continue
+indoors. Thereupon Gilman incontinently left, and then
+the fleas with vicious vigor and voracity assaulted me. The
+bites were sharp, they were incisive and decisive. They came in
+volleys. Then in wrath I too arose from that lowly but lively
+couch between the oats and the bar and sullenly went out under
+the starlit sky to find Mr. Gilman energetically whipping his
+shirt over a wagon wheel to disinfest it from fleas. But the
+sand fleas of the Platte are not easily discharged or diverted,
+from a fair and juicy victim. They have a wonderful tenacity
+of purpose. They trotted and hopped and skipped along behind
+us to the haystack. They affectionately and fervidly abided
+with us on the prairie; and it is safe to say that there never
+were two human beings more thoroughly perforated, more persistently
+punctured with flea bites than were the two guests at
+Mabins's ranch during all that long and agonizing night. However,
+there came an end to the darkness and the attempt at
+sleep, and after an early breakfast we resumed the Fort Kearny
+journey to arrive at its end in the late afternoon of the fourth
+day.</p>
+
+<p>There I found Colonel Alexander, of the regular army, in
+command. John Heth, of Virginia, was the sutler for the post
+and after some consultation and advisement it was determined
+that we might without much danger from Indians go south to
+the Republican river for a buffalo hunt. At that time the
+Cheyennes, who were a bloodthirsty tribe, were in arms against
+the white people and yearning for their scalps wherever found.
+But to avoid or mitigate dangers Colonel Alexander considerately
+detailed Lieutenant Bush with twelve enlisted men, all
+soldiers of experience in the Indian country, to go with us to the
+Republican Valley as an escort or guard&mdash;in military parlance,
+on detached service. Thus our party moved southward with
+ample force of arms for its defense.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The four hunters of the expedition were Lieutenant Bush,
+John Heth, John Talbot (who had been honorably discharged
+from the regular army after some years of service) and myself.
+The excursion was massed and ready for departure at 8 o'clock
+on the bright morning of October 6, 1861. The course taken
+was nearly due south from the present site of Kearney city in
+Buffalo county. The expedition consisted of two large army
+wagons, four mules attached to each wagon, a light, two-horse
+spring wagon, and four trained riding horses experienced in the
+chase, together with twelve soldiers of the regular U. S. army
+and the gentlemen already named. It had not traveled more
+than twenty-five miles south of Fort Kearny before it came in
+view of an immense and seemingly uncountable herd of buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>My first sight of these primitive beeves of the plains I shall
+never forget. They were so distant that I could not make out
+their individual forms and I at once jumped to the conclusion
+that they were only an innumerable lot of crows sitting about
+upon the knobs and hillocks of the prairies. But in a few moments,
+when we came nearer, they materialized and were, sure
+enough, real bellowing, snorting, wallowing buffaloes. At first
+they appeared to give no heed to our outfit, but after we saddled
+and mounted our horses and rode into their midst they began to
+scatter and to form into small bands, single file. The herd separated
+into long, black swaying strings and each string was headed
+by the best meat among its numbers. The leading animal
+was generally a three-year-old cow. Each of these strings, or
+single-file bands, ran in a general southeast direction and each
+of the four hunters&mdash;Bush, Heth, Talbot, and the writer&mdash;selected
+a string and went for the preëminent animal with
+enthusiasm, zeal, and impulsive foolhardiness.</p>
+
+<p>In the beginning of the pell-mell, hurry-scurry race it seemed
+that it would be very easy to speedily overtake the desired individual
+buffalo that we intended to shoot and kill. The whole
+band seemed to run leisurely. They made a sort of sidewise
+gait, a movement such as one often sees in a dog running ahead
+of a wagon on a country road. Upon the level prairie we made
+very perceptible gains upon them, but when a declivity was
+reached and we made a down hill gallop we were obliged to rein
+in and hold up the horses, or take the chances of a broken leg
+or neck by being ditched in a badger or wolf hole. But the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+buffaloes with their heavy shoulders and huge hair-matted heads
+lumbered along down the incline with great celerity, gaining so
+much upon us that every now and then one of them would drop
+out from the line upon reaching an attractive depression, roll
+over two or three times in his "wallow," jump up and join his
+fleeing fellows before we could reach him.</p>
+
+<p>But finally after swinging and swaying hither and thither with
+the band or line as it swayed and swung, the lead animal was
+reached and with much exultation and six very nervous shots
+put to death. My trophy proved to be a buffalo cow of two or
+three years of age; and after she had dropped to the ground, a
+nimble calf, about three months old, evidently her progeny, began
+making circles around and around the dead mother and bleating
+pitifully, enlarging the circle each time, until at last it went out
+of sight onto the prairie and alone, all the other parts of the
+herd having scattered beyond the rising bluffs and far away.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon was fuller of tense excitement, savage enthusiasms,
+zeal and barbaric ambition than any other that could
+be assorted from my life of more than sixty years. There was a
+certain amount of ancestral heathenism aroused in every man,
+spurring a horse to greater swiftness, in that chase for large
+game. And there was imperial exultation of the primitive barbaric
+instinct when the game fell dead and its whooping captors
+surrounded its breathless carcass.</p>
+
+<p>But the wastefulness of the buffalo hunter of those days was
+wicked beyond description and, because of its utter recklessness
+of the future, wholly unpardonable. Only the hump, ribs, the
+tongue, and perhaps now and then one hind-quarter were saved
+for use from each animal. The average number of pounds of
+meat saved from each buffalo killed between the years 1860 and
+1870 would not exceed twenty. In truth, thousands of buffaloes
+were killed merely to get their tongues and pelts. The inexcusable
+and unnecessary extermination of those beef-producing
+and very valuable fur-bearing animals only illustrates the extravagance
+of thoughtlessness and mental nearsightedness in the
+American people when dealing with practical and far-reaching
+questions. It also demonstrates, in some degree, the incapacity
+of the ordinary every-day law-makers of the United States.
+Game laws have seldom been enacted in any of the states before
+the virtual extinction of the game they purposed to protect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+Here in Nebraska among big game were many hundreds of thousands
+of buffaloes, tens of thousands of elk and deer and antelope,
+while among smaller game the wild turkey and the prairie
+chicken were innumerable. But today Nebraska game is practically
+extinct. Even the prairie chicken and the wild turkey
+are seldom found anywhere along the Missouri bluffs in the
+southern and eastern part of the commonwealth.</p>
+
+<p>Looking back: what might have been accomplished for the
+conservation of game in the trans-Missouri country is suggested
+so forcibly that one wonders at the stupendous stupidity which
+indolently permitted its destruction.</p>
+
+<p>The first night outward and southeastward from Fort Kearny
+we came to Turkey creek which empties into the Republican
+river. There, after dark, tents were pitched at a point near the
+place where the government in previous years established kilns
+and burned lime for the use of soldiers in building quarters for
+themselves and the officers at Fort Kearny which was constructed
+in 1847 by Stewart L. Van Vliet, now a retired brigadier
+general and the oldest living graduate of West Point. After a
+sumptuous feast of buffalo steak, a strong pint of black coffee
+and a few pipes of good tobacco, our party retired; sleep came
+with celerity and the camp was peacefully at rest, with the exception
+of two regular soldiers who stood guard until 12 o'clock,
+and were then relieved by two others who kept vigil until sunrise.
+At intervals I awoke during the night and listened to the
+industrious beavers building dams on the creek. They were
+shoveling mud with their trowel-shaped tails into the crevices of
+their dams with a constantly-resounding slapping and splashing
+all night. The architecture of the beaver is not unlike that
+which follows him and exalts itself in the chinked and daubed
+cabins of the pioneers.</p>
+
+<p>The darkness was followed by a dawn of beauty and breakfast
+came soon thereafter, and for the first time my eyes looked out
+upon the attractive, fertile and beautiful valley of the Republican
+river. All that delightful and invigorating day we zealously
+hunted. We found occasionally small bands of buffaloes
+here and there among the bluffs and hills along the valley of
+the Republican. But these animals were generally aged and
+of inferior quality. Besides such hunting, we found a great
+quantity of blue-winged and green-winged teal in the waters of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+the Republican and bagged not a few of them. There is no
+water-fowl, in my judgment, not even the redheaded duck and
+canvasback duck, which excels in delicate tissue and flavor the
+delicious teal.</p>
+
+<p>Just a little before sundown, on the third day of our encampment,
+by the bluffs land of the Republican, Lieutenant Bush
+and Mr. Heth in one party, and John Talbot and I in another,
+were exploring the steep, wooded bluffs which skirted the valley.
+The timber growing at that time on the sides of these bluffs
+was, much of it, of very good size and I shall never forget going
+down a precipitous path along the face of a hill and suddenly
+coming upon a strange and ghastly sight among the top limbs
+and branches of an oak tree which sprang from the rich soil of
+a lower level. The weird object which then impressed itself
+upon my memory forever was a dead Indian sitting upright in a
+sort of wicker-work coffin which was secured by thongs to the
+main trunk of the tree. The robe with which he had been
+clothed had been torn away by buzzards and only the denuded
+skeleton sat there. The bleached skull leered and grinned at me
+as though the savage instinct to repulse an intruder from their
+hunting grounds still lingered in the fleshless head. Perfectly
+I recall the long scalp-lock, floating in the wind, and the sense
+of dread and <a name="repel2" id="repel2"></a><ins title="Original has repellant">repellent</ins> fear which, for the startled moment, took
+possession of me in the presence of this <a name="arbor" id="arbor"></a><ins title="Original has arborially">arboreally</ins> interred Indian
+whose remains had been stored away in a tree-top instead
+of having been buried in the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after this incident we four came together again down
+in the valley at a great plum orchard. The plum trees covered
+an area of several acres; they stood exceedingly close together.
+The frosts had been just severe enough to drop the fruit onto
+the ground. Never before nor since have my eyes beheld or
+my palate tasted as luscious fruit as those large yellow and red
+plums which were found that afternoon lying in bushels in the
+valley of the Republican. While we were all seated upon the
+ground eating plums and praising their succulence and flavor
+we heard the click-cluck of a turkey. Immediately we laid ourselves
+flat upon the earth and in the course of ten minutes beheld
+a procession of at least seventy-five wild turkeys feeding
+upon plums. We remained moveless and noiseless until those
+turkeys had flown up into the tall cottonwood trees standing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+thereabouts and gone to roost. Then after darkness had settled
+down upon the face of the earth we faintly discerned the
+black forms or hummocks of fat turkeys all through the large
+and leafless limbs of the cottonwoods which had been nearly
+defoliated by the early frosts of October. It required no deft
+<a name="marks" id="marks"></a><ins title="Original has markmanship">marksmanship</ins> or superior skill to bring down forty of those
+birds in a single evening. That number we took into camp.
+In quick time we had turkey roasted, turkey grilled, turkey
+broiled; and never have I since eaten any turkey so well flavored,
+so juicy and rich, as that fattened upon the wild plums of the
+Republican Valley in the year 1861.</p>
+
+<p>At last, surfeited with hunting and its successes, we set out
+on our return to Fort Kearny. When about half way across the
+divide, a sergeant, one of the most experienced soldiers and
+plainsmen of the party, declared that he saw a small curl of
+smoke in the hazy distance and a little to the west and south
+of us. To my untrained eye the smoke was at first invisible, but
+with a field glass I ultimately discerned a delicate little blue
+thread hanging in the sky, which the soldiers pronounced smoke
+ascending from an Indian camp. Readjusting the glasses I soon
+made out to see three Indians stretched by the fire seemingly
+asleep, while two were sitting by the embers apparently cooking,
+eating and drinking. Very soon, however, the two feasters
+espied our wagons and party. Immediately they came running
+on foot to meet us; the other three, awaking, followed them;
+speedily they were in our midst. They proved, however, to be
+peaceful Pawnees. Mr. John Heth spoke the language of that
+tribe and I shall never forget the coolness with which these
+representatives of that nomadic race informed him that Mrs.
+Heth and his little two-years-of-age daughter, Minnie, were in
+good health in their wigwam at Fort Kearny; they were sure of
+it because they had looked into the window of the Heth home the
+day before and saw them eating and drinking their noonday
+meal.</p>
+
+<p>These Indians then expressed a wish for some turkey feathers.
+They were told to help themselves. Immediately they pulled
+out a vast number of the large feathers of the wings and tails
+and decorated their own heads with them. The leader of the
+aboriginal expedition, in conversation with Mr. Heth, informed
+him that although they were on foot they carried the lariats<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+which we saw hanging from their arms for the purpose of hitching
+onto and annexing some Cheyenne ponies which they were
+going south to steal. They walked away from home, but intended
+to ride back. The barbaric commander in charge of this
+larcenous expedition was named "The Fox," and when questioned
+by Mr. Heth as to the danger of the enterprise, and informed
+that he might probably lose his life and get no ponies at
+all, Captain Fox smiled and said grimly that he knew he should
+ride back to the Pawnee village on the Loup the owner of good
+horses; that only a year or two before that time he had been
+alone down into the Cheyenne village and got a great many
+horses safely out and up onto the Loup fork among the Pawnees
+without losing a single one. "The Fox" admitted, however,
+that even in an expedition so successful as the one which he
+recalled there were a great many courage-testing inconveniences
+and annoyances. But he dwelt particularly upon the fact that
+the Cheyennes always kept their ponies in a corral which was
+in the very center of their village. The huts, habitations, tipis,
+and wigwams of the owners of the ponies were all constructed
+around their communal corral in a sort of a circle, but "The
+Fox" said that he nevertheless, in his individual excursion of
+which he proudly boasted, crawled during the middle of the
+night in among the ponies and was about to slip a lariat on the
+bell-mare without her stirring, when she gave a little jump, and
+the bell on her neck rang out pretty loudly. Then he laid down
+in the center of the herd and kept still, very still, while the
+horses walked over him and tramped upon him until he found
+it very unpleasant. But very soon he saw and heard some of
+the Cheyennes come out and look and walk about to see if anything
+was wrong. Then he said he had to stay still and silent
+under the horses' hoofs and make no noise, or die and surely be
+scalped. At last, however, the Cheyennes, one after another,
+all went back into their wigwams to sleep, and then he very
+slowly and without a sound took the bell off from the mare, put
+his lariat on her neck quietly, led her out and all the herd of
+Cheyenne ponies followed. He never stopped until he was safe
+up north of the Platte river and had all his equine spoils safe
+in the valley of the Loup fork going towards the Pawnee village
+where Genoa now stands.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Fox was an "expansionist" and an annexationist out of
+sympathy for the oppressed ponies of the Cheyennes.</p>
+
+<p>"The Fox" declared that the number of horses he made requisition
+for at that time on the stables of the Cheyennes was three
+hundred. At this statement some incredulity was shown by
+Mr. Heth, myself, and some others present. Immediately "The
+Fox" threw back his woolen blanket which was ornamented on
+the inside with more than two hundred small decorative designs
+of horses. Among the Pawnees, and likewise, if I remember
+rightly, among the Otoes and Omahas, robes and blankets were
+thus embellished and so made to pass current as real certificates
+of a choice brand of character for their wearers. Each horse
+depicted on the robe was notice that the owner and wearer had
+stolen such horse. Finally, after expressions of friendship and
+good will, the expedition in charge of "The Fox" bade us
+adieu and briskly walked southward on their mission for getting
+horses away from their traditional enemies.</p>
+
+<p>It is perhaps worth while to mention that, it being in the autumn
+of the year, all these Indians were carefully and deftly
+arrayed in autumn-colored costumes. Their blankets, head-gear
+and everything else were the color of dead and dried prairie
+grass. This disguise was for the purpose of making themselves
+as nearly indistinguishable as possible on the brown surface of
+the far-stretching plains. For then the weeds and grasses had
+all been bleached by the fall frosts. We were given an exhibition
+of the nearly perfect invisibleness of "The Fox" by his
+taking a position near a badger hole around which a lot of tall
+weeds had grown upon the prairie, and really the almost exact
+similitude of coloring which he had cunningly reproduced in his
+raiment made him even at a short distance indistinguishable
+among the faded weeds and grasses by which he was surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>In due time we reached Fort Kearny and after a pleasant
+and most agreeable visit with Mr. Heth and his family, Colonel
+Alexander and Lieutenant Bush, I pushed on alone for the
+Missouri river, by the North Platte route, bringing home with
+me two or three turkeys and a quarter of buffalo meat.</p>
+
+<p>About the second evening, as I remember it, I arrived at the
+agency of the four bands of the Pawnee on the Loup fork of
+the Platte river, near where the village of Genoa in Nance county<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+now stands. Judge Gillis of Pennsylvania was the U. S. government
+agent then in charge of that tribe, and Mr. Allis was
+his interpreter. There I experienced the satisfaction of going
+leisurely and observingly through the villages of the four bands
+of Pawnees, which there made their habitation. The names of
+the four confederate bands of Pawnee Indians were Grand
+Pawnee, Wolf Pawnee, Republican Pawnee, and Tapage Pawnee.
+At that time they all together numbered between four thousand
+and five thousand.</p>
+
+<p>Distinguished among them for fearlessness and impetuous
+courage and constant success in war was an Indian who had been
+born with his left hand so shrunken and shriveled that it looked
+like the contracted claw of a bird. He was celebrated among all
+the tribes of the plains as "Crooked Hand, the Fighter." Hearing
+me express a wish for making the acquaintance of this
+famous warrior and scalp accumulator, Judge Gillis and Mr.
+Allis kindly volunteered to escort me to his domicile and formally
+introduce me. We took the trail which lay across Beaver
+creek up into the village. This village was composed of very
+large, earthen, mound-like wigwams. From a distance they
+looked like a number of great kettles turned wrong side up on
+the prairie. Finally we came to the entrance of the abode of
+Crooked Hand. He was at home. I was presented to him by
+the interpreter, Mr. Allis. Through him, addressing the tawny
+hero who stood before me, I said:</p>
+
+<p>It has come to my ears that you are and always have been a
+very brave man in battle. Therefore I have made a long journey
+to see you and to shake the hand of a great warrior.</p>
+
+<p>This seemed to suit his bellicose eminence and to appeal to his
+barbaric vanity. Consequently I continued, saying: I hear
+that you have skilfully killed a great many Sioux and that you
+have kept the scalp of each warrior slain by you. If this be
+true, I wish you would show me these trophies of your courage
+and victories?</p>
+
+<p>Immediately Crooked Hand reached under a sort of rude settee
+and pulled out a very cheap traveling trunk, which was
+locked. Then taking a string from around his neck he found
+the key thereunto attached, inserted it in the lock, turned it,
+and with gloating satisfaction threw back the lid of the trunk.
+It is fair to state that, notwithstanding Mr. Crooked Hand's per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>sonal
+adornments in the way of paint, earrings, and battle mementoes,
+he was evidently not a man of much personal property,
+for the trunk contained not one other portable thing except a
+string of thirteen scalps. This he lifted out with his right hand
+and held up before me as a connoisseur would exhibit a beautiful
+cameo&mdash;with intense satisfaction and self-praise expressed in
+his features.</p>
+
+<p>The scalps were not large, averaging not much more in circumference
+than a silver dollar (before the crime of 1873).
+Each scalp was big enough to firmly and gracefully retain the
+scalp-lock which its original possessor had nourished. Each
+scalp was neatly lined with flaming red flannel and encircled by
+and stitched to a willow twig just as boys so stretch and preserve
+squirrel skins. Then there was a strong twine which ran
+through the center of each of the thirteen scalps leaving a space
+of something like three or four inches between each two.</p>
+
+<p>After looking at these ghastly certificates of prowess in Indian
+warfare I said to the possessor: "Do you still like to go
+into fights with the Sioux?" He replied hesitatingly:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I go into the fights with the Sioux but I stay only until
+I can kill one man, get his scalp and get out of the battle."</p>
+
+<p>Then I asked: "Why do you do this way now, and so act
+differently from the fighting plans of your earlier years when
+you remained to the end of the conflict?" Instantly he replied
+and gave me this aboriginal explanation:</p>
+
+<p>"You see, my friend, I have only one life. To me death must
+come only once. But I have taken thirteen lives. And now
+when I go into battle there are thirteen chances of my being
+killed to one of my coming out of the fight alive."</p>
+
+<p>This aboriginal application of the doctrine of chance is equally
+as reasonable as some of the propositions relating to chances
+found in "Hedges' Logic," which I studied in the regular college
+course. There is more excuse for a savage faith in chance
+than can be made for the superstitious belief in it which is held
+by some civilized people.</p>
+
+<p>My last buffalo hunt was finished and its trophies and its
+choicest memories safely stored for exhibition or reminiscence at
+Arbor Lodge. More than thirty-seven years afterwards I am
+permitted this evening by your indulgence and consideration to
+attempt faintly to portray the country and its primitive condi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>tion
+at that time in that particular section of Nebraska which is
+now Franklin county.</p>
+
+<p>But in concluding this discursive and desultory narrative I
+cannot refrain from referring to and briefly descanting on another
+and an earlier and larger expedition into the valley of the
+Republican which set out from Mexico in the year 1540 under
+the command of Coronado.</p>
+
+<p>That explorer was undoubtedly the first white man to visit Nebraska.
+In his report to the Spanish government is a description
+of buffalo which for graphic minuteness and correctness
+has never been excelled. Thus it pictures them as they appeared
+to him and his followers more than three hundred and fifty years
+ago:</p>
+
+<p>"These oxen are of the bigness and color of our bulls, but
+their horns are not so great. They have a great bunch upon
+their foreshoulders, and more hair upon their fore-part than on
+their hinder-part; and it is like wool. They have, as it were, a
+horse mane upon their back bone, and much hair, and very
+long from the knees downward. They have great tufts of hair
+hanging down their foreheads, and it seemeth they have beards,
+because of the great store of hair hanging down at their chins
+and throats. The males have very long tails, and a great knob
+or flock at the end, so that in some respects they resemble the
+lion, and in some other the camel. They push with their horns,
+they run, they overtake and kill a horse when they are in their
+rage and anger. Finally, it is a fierce beast of countenance and
+form of body. The horses fled from them, either because of
+their deformed shape, or because they had never seen them
+before. Their masters [meaning no doubt the Indians] have no
+other riches or substance; of them they eat, they drink, they
+apparel, they shoe themselves; and of their hides they make
+many things, as houses, shoes, apparel and robes; of their bones
+they make bodkins; of their sinews and hair, thread; of their
+horns, maws and bladders, vessels; of their dung, fire; and of
+their calf skins, budgets, wherein they draw and keep water.
+To be short, they make so many things of them as they have
+need of, or as may suffice them in the use of this life."</p>
+
+<p>It is perhaps a work of supererogation for me after the lapse
+of three and a half centuries to endorse and verify the accuracy
+of that word picture of the buffalo. A photograph of the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+herd which I rode into during my hunt could hardly better
+convey to the mind the images of buffalo. The hundreds of
+years intervening between my own excursion into the valley of
+the Republican and the invasion of Coronado had neither impaired,
+improved, nor perceptibly changed either the buffalo or
+the soil of that fertile section now comprising the county of
+Franklin in the state of Nebraska. Of that immediate propinquity
+Coronado said: "The place I have reached is in the
+fortieth degree of latitude. The earth is the best possible for all
+kinds of productions of Spain, for while it is very strong and
+black, it is very well watered by brooks, springs and rivers. I
+found prunes" [wild plums, no doubt, just as my party and the
+wild turkeys were feasting upon in October, 1861] "like those
+of Spain, some of which are black; also some excellent grapes
+and mulberries."</p>
+
+<p>And Jaramillo, who was with Coronado, says: "This country
+has a superb appearance, and such that I have not seen
+better in all Spain, neither in Italy nor France, nor in any other
+country where I have been in the service of your majesty. It
+is not a country of mountains; there are only some hills, some
+plains and some streams of very fine water. It satisfies me completely.
+I presume that it is very fertile and favorable for the
+cultivation of all kinds of fruits."</p>
+
+<p>And this land whence the Coronado expedition upon foot retraced
+its march to Old Mexico, a distance, by the trail he made,
+of 3,230 miles, was in latitude forty degrees and distant westward
+from the Missouri about one hundred and forty miles.
+Geographically, topographically, and in every other way, the description
+of Franklin and the neighborhood of Riverton in that
+county.</p>
+
+<p>Here then in Franklin county it is recorded that the last
+horse belonging to Coronado and his band of precious-metal
+hunters died. At that time all the horses on this continent had
+been imported. The loss of this animal that day at that place
+was like the loss today of a man-of-war for Spain in a great
+naval conflict with the United States. It was discouraging and
+overwhelming and resulted in the relinquishment of further exploration
+for the land of Quivera&mdash;the home of gold and silver&mdash;and
+the return to Old Mexico. There was no use for saddles,
+bridles and other equestrian trappings, for with no horse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+ride even stirrups were thrown away, and it has been the good
+fortune of Nebraska to have them exhumed after a sequestration
+of more than three centuries.</p>
+
+<p>And thus, after so many years of delay, I give you the story
+of the first buffalo hunt and the last buffalo hunt in the Republican
+Valley concerning which I am competent to make statement.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>HOW THE FOUNDER OF ARBOR DAY CREATED THE MOST FAMOUS WESTERN ESTATE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Paul Morton</span></h3>
+
+<blockquote><p>"The memories that live and bloom in trees, that whisper of
+the loved and lost in summer leaves, are as imperishable as the
+seasons of the year&mdash;immortal as the love of a mother."&mdash;<span class="smcap">J.
+Sterling Morton.</span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>I suppose the story of a successful pioneer will always interest
+and encourage people. The narrative of a strong, far-sighted
+man who makes something out of nothing seems to put heart
+into the average worker. That is why I am telling the story of
+how my father, J. Sterling Morton, and his young wife, set
+their faces toward the West, one October day in 1854, and built
+them a home on the prairies.</p>
+
+<p>Arbor Lodge as it stands today, with its classic porticoes, its
+gardens, and its arboretum, the present country home of my
+brother, Mr. Joy Morton, is not the home that I remember as a
+boy. That was a much more modest edifice. Yet even that
+house was a palace compared with the first one, which was a
+little log-cabin standing on the lonely prairie, exposed to blizzards
+and Indians, and with scarcely a tree in sight.</p>
+
+<p>My father was a young newspaper man in Detroit, only recently
+out of college, when he took his bride, two years his
+junior, out to the little-known frontier. Attracted by the information
+about the new country brought out by Douglas and
+others in the Kansas-Nebraska debates in congress, he conceived
+and acted on the idea that here were fortunes to be made. Taking
+such household goods as they could, they traveled to the
+new land, making the last stage up the Missouri river by boat.</p>
+
+<p>Nebraska at that time was the Indian's own country. There
+were not over 1,500 white people in the entire state. All the
+country west of the Missouri was called in the geographies the
+Great American Desert, and it took a good deal of faith to believe
+that anything could be made to grow where annual fires
+destroyed even the prairie grass and the fringes of cottonwoods<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+and scrub-oaks along the rivers. Today this section, within a
+radius of some two hundred miles, includes perhaps the most
+fertile soil in the world and has become a center of industry,
+agriculture, and horticulture for the middle west. There was
+then no political organization, no laws; men went about fully
+armed. There were no roads and no bridges to speak of in the
+entire state; it was "waste land."</p>
+
+<p>This was part of the land of the Louisiana Purchase, and my
+father bought a quarter section (160 acres) from the man who
+preëmpted it from the government. The price paid was $1.25
+an acre. Today the estate comprises about 1,000 acres, and the
+land is readily saleable at a hundred times this price.</p>
+
+<p>On the spot where Arbor Lodge now stands, my father built
+his first log-cabin. This was soon replaced by a modest frame
+house; there was not then another frame house between it and
+the Rocky Mountains, six hundred miles away. On the same
+place two succeeding houses were built by my father, the present,
+and fifth, Arbor Lodge having been built by his sons after his
+death. My father called these first four houses, "seed, bud,
+blossom, and fruit."</p>
+
+<p>The first winter was a mild one, fortunately, but there were
+plenty of hardships for the young people. There were no very
+near neighbors, the village of Kearny Heights, now Nebraska
+City, being then over two miles away. The Indians formed
+the greatest danger. I can remember a day in my boyhood
+when we had everything packed up, ready to flee across the
+Missouri to Iowa from the murderous Pawnees and Cheyennes,
+who, fortunately, did not come that time. A part of that first
+winter my father and mother spent in Bellevue.</p>
+
+<p>When spring came they set about building their home. Later
+on they had young trees sent to them from the East, including
+some excellent varieties of apples, peaches, cherries, pears, etc.
+Things grew fast; it was only the prairie fires that had kept
+the land a desert so long, and year by year these fires had enriched
+the soil.</p>
+
+<p>The farm was located on the Overland trail, the favorite
+route to Pike's Peak and the El Dorado. Many of the Mormon
+emigrants crossed the river at that place. I can remember the
+big trains of ox and mule teams passing the house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>My father's interests were always inseparably joined with
+those of the community; he was in public life from the start,
+and Nebraska's fortunes were his. His neighbors all had the
+same experiences, and many a farmer who started with nothing
+is now wealthy. The farmers had to bring in from Missouri
+and Iowa all the food for themselves and their horses and cattle
+the first year. They were living on faith. During the first
+spring and summer the anxiety was great, but they were rewarded
+by a good harvest in the fall. The success of that harvest
+settled the Nebraska question forever. It was a land that
+could support its inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>But the end was not yet. The "get-rich-quick" fever struck
+the community. Immigration was over-stimulated, and town
+lots were manufactured at a great rate. In a few months they
+increased in price from $300 to $3,000 apiece. Banks were
+created and money was made plenty by legislation. My father
+never caught this fever, being always a sound-money man and
+believing in wealth based on the soil.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the second summer the crop of town lots and
+Nebraska bank-notes was greater than the crop of corn. But
+the lesson was not learned until the panic of 1857 drove out
+the speculators and left the farmers in possession of the territory.
+With the spring of 1858 sanity came to rule once more,
+and there was less bank making and more prairie breaking.
+The citizens had learned that agriculture was to be the salvation
+of the new country. In 1857, two dollars a bushel had been
+paid for imported corn, but in 1859 the same steamers that had
+brought it in bore thousands of bushels south at forty cents a
+bushel, bringing more money into the territory than all the
+sales of town lots for a year.</p>
+
+<p>The first territorial fair was held in Nebraska City in 1859,
+and on that occasion my father made a speech in which he
+reviewed the history of the new territory up to that time. I
+speak of these things because my father was always a man of
+public interests, and his fortunes were wrapped up in those of
+the territory. His hardships came when the community went
+crazy, and his fortune grew when sanity was once more restored.</p>
+
+<p>I know of nothing that better illustrates my father's private
+character than an editorial which he wrote and published in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+<i>The Conservative</i> a short time before the untimely death of my
+brother Carl. The fact that both the author and the two loved
+ones of whom he so tenderly wrote have passed to the Great
+Beyond, imparts to this beautiful passage a most exquisite
+pathos:</p>
+
+<p>"It was a bright, balmy morning in April more than a quarter
+of a century ago. The sun was nursing the young grass
+into verdure, and the prairie was just beginning to put off its
+winter coat of somber colorings. Tranquil skies and morning
+mists were redolent at Arbor Lodge of the coming resurrection
+of the foliage and flowers that died the autumn before. All
+about the cottage home there was hope and peace; and everywhere
+the signs of woman's watchful love and tidy care, when,
+suddenly, toned with affectionate solicitude, rang out: 'Carl,
+Carl!' but no answer came. Downstairs, upstairs, at the barn,
+even in the well, everywhere, the mother's voice called anxiously,
+again and again. But the silence, menacing and frightening,
+was unbroken by an answer from the lost boy. At last,
+however, he was found behind a smokehouse, busily digging
+in the ground with a small spade, though only five years of age,
+and he said: 'I'm too busy to talk. I'm planting an orchard,'
+and sure enough, he had set out a seedling apple tree, a small
+cottonwood, and a little elm.</p>
+
+<p>"The delighted mother clasped him in her arms, kissed him,
+and said: 'This orchard must not be destroyed.'</p>
+
+<p>"And so now</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"'I hear the muffled tramp of years<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Come stealing up the slopes of Time;</span><br />
+They bear a train of smiles and tears<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of burning hopes and dreams sublime.'</span><br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"The child's orchard is more than thirty years of age. The
+cottonwood is a giant now, and its vibrant foliage talks, summer
+after summer, in the evening breeze with humanlike voice,
+and tells its life story to the graceful, swaying elm near by,
+while the gnarled and scrubby little apple tree, shaped, as to
+its head, like a despondent toadstool, stands in dual shade, and
+bears small sweet apples, year after year, in all humility. But
+that orchard must not be destroyed. It was established by the
+youngest tree planter who ever planted in this tree planter's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+state, and for his sake and the memory of the sweet soul who
+nursed and loved him, it lives and grows, one cottonwood, one
+apple tree, one elm.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"'But O, for the touch of a vanished hand,<br />
+And the sound of a voice that is still.'<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>"The memories that live and bloom in trees, that whisper of
+the loved and lost in summer leaves, are as imperishable as the
+seasons of the year&mdash;immortal as the love of a mother."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA CITY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Ellen Kinney Ware</span></h3>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Social Aspects</i></p>
+
+<p>As a girl graduate I came to Nebraska City from Virginia,
+at an early day. It seemed to me that I was leaving everything
+attractive socially and intellectually, behind me, but I was mistaken.
+On arriving here, I expected to see quite a town, was
+disappointed, for two large brick hotels, and a few scattered
+houses comprised the place. Among my first acquaintances was
+the family of Governor Black, consisting of his daughter about
+my own age, his wife, and himself. He was not only bright and
+clever, but a wit as well, and famous as a story-teller. Alas a
+sad fate awaited him. For leaving here to take command of a
+Pennsylvania regiment, he was killed early in the civil war.</p>
+
+<p>Those were freighting days and Russell, Majors and Waddell,
+government freighters, made this their headquarters. Alexander
+Majors brought his family here adding much socially to
+the town. Major Martin, an army officer, was stationed here.
+He was a charming gentleman and had a lovely wife. Dancing
+was the principal amusement with the young people. Informal
+dances at private homes and occasionally on a steamboat when
+it arrived, brilliantly lighted and having a band of music on
+board. At the "Outfit" as it was called, where the supplies for
+the freighting company were kept, dwelt a family, Raisin by
+name, who were exceedingly hospitable, not only entertaining
+frequently, but often sending an ambulance for their guests.
+At these parties no round dancing was indulged in, just simple
+quadrilles and the lancers. Mr. and Mrs. J. Sterling Morton,
+who lived on a country place, a short distance from town, which
+has since become widely known as Arbor Lodge, were among the
+most active entertainers, dispensing that delightful hospitality
+for which in later times they were so well known.</p>
+
+<p>And so we lived without railroads, without telephones, automobiles,
+or theaters. But I believe that our social enjoyment
+was greater than it is now. Instead of railroads, we had steam<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>boats
+arriving almost daily from St. Louis, St. Joseph, and other
+towns. In carriages we drove to Omaha and back, and the
+social intercourse of the two towns was much greater than it is
+now.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 377px;">
+<img src="images/illus_015.jpg" width="377" height="600" alt="Oregon Trail Monument, located at the
+point where the line between Jefferson
+and Gage Counties intersects the Kansas-Nebraska
+State Line
+
+Dedicated May 12, 1914. Cost $350. Trail crosses state
+line 1,986 feet east, and crosses Jefferson-Gage county
+line 2,286 feet north of this point. Erected by the citizens
+of Gage and Jefferson counties, Nebraska, Washington
+county, Kansas, and Elizabeth Montague Chapter,
+Daughters of the American Revolution" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Oregon Trail Monument, located at the
+point where the line between Jefferson
+and Gage Counties intersects the Kansas-Nebraska
+State Line
+
+Dedicated May 12, 1914. Cost $350. Trail crosses state
+line 1,986 feet east, and crosses Jefferson-Gage county
+line 2,286 feet north of this point. Erected by the citizens
+of Gage and Jefferson counties, Nebraska, Washington
+county, Kansas, and Elizabeth Montague Chapter,
+Daughters of the American Revolution</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Amateur theatricals took the place of the theater, and often
+brilliant, undreamed of talent was shown. Literature also was
+not neglected, many highly educated men and women were
+among our pioneers and literary societies were a prominent part
+of our social life. We played chess in those days, but not cards.
+This alone might be taken as an index of how much less frivolous
+that day was than the present.</p>
+
+<p>In 1860 Bishop Talbot arrived here from Indianapolis and
+made this his home, adding greatly socially and intellectually
+to the life of the community. In his family was the Rev. Isaac
+Hager, beloved and revered by all who knew him, a most thorough
+musician, as well as a fine preacher.</p>
+
+<p>Remembering old times we sometimes ask ourselves, where
+now are the men and women, equal to the ones we knew in those
+days, certainly there are none superior to them, in intellect,
+manners, wit, and true nobility.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+"Oh brave hearts journeyed to the west,<br />
+When this old town was new!"<br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SOME PERSONAL INCIDENTS</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By W. A. McAllister</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>My father and family came to Nebraska in 1858, living two
+years at Genoa. At this time the government assigned what is
+now Nance county, to the Pawnee Indians, as a reservation.
+When the white settlers sought other homes our family located
+eight miles east of Columbus, at McAllister's lake. Every fall
+my father hired about sixty squaws to husk out his crop of corn.
+Only one buck ever came to work, and he was always known as
+"Squaw Charlie" after that. He spoke English quite well.
+They were slow workers, husking about twenty bushels per day.
+They were very gluttonous at meals, eating much bread, with
+meat soup containing potatoes and other vegetables, cooked in
+large twenty gallon camp kettles. This was supplemented by
+watermelons by the wagonload. It required a week or ten days
+to harvest the corn crop. The Indians were very thievish, stealing
+almost as much as their wages amounted to. During these
+years I often witnessed their "Medicine Dances."</p>
+
+<p>When fifteen years old I enlisted in Company B, Second Nebraska
+Cavalry, and went to Fort Kearny. Our company relieved
+the Tenth Infantry, which went to the front. In less
+than twenty days this company was nearly annihilated at the
+battle of Fredericksburg.</p>
+
+<p>While at the fort a buffalo hunt was organized by the officers,
+and I had an opportunity to go. Our party went south to the
+valley of the Republican. The first night we camped at the
+head of the Big Blue, and the second day I noticed south of us,
+about eight miles distant, a dark line along the horizon extending
+as far east and west as the eye could reach. I inquired what it
+was and an old hunter replied "buffaloes." I could not believe
+him, but in a few hours found he was right, for we were surrounded
+by millions of them. They were hurrying to the east
+with a roaring like distant thunder. Our sportsmen moved in a
+body through the herd looking for calves, not caring to carry
+back the meat of the old specimens. Strange to say this tre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>mendous
+herd seemed to be composed of males, for the cows
+were still on the Oklahoma ranges caring for their calves, until
+strong enough to tramp north again. We noticed an old fellow
+making good progress on three legs, one foot having been injured.
+One of the party wished to dispose of him, but his wooly forehead
+covered with sand, turned every bullet. Finally the hunter
+asked me to attract his attention, while he placed a bullet in
+his heart. In doing this, he almost succeeded in goring my pony,
+but I turned a second too quickly for him. I was near enough
+to see the fire flashing from his angry eyes. In a few minutes
+he fell with a thud.</p>
+
+<p>Several years after the war being over, I worked for the
+Union Pacific railroad company. At Kearney, in 1869, we met
+the Buck surveying party, who had come west to lay out, for the
+government, the lands of the Republican Valley. In this company
+was a young man from Pontiac, Illinois, named Harry McGregor.
+He left a home of plenty to hunt buffalo and Indians,
+but found among other privations, he could not have all the
+sugar he wished, so at Kearney he decided to leave the party
+and work with us. This decision saved his life, for the rest of
+the surveyors, about ten in all, after starting south next morning,
+were never seen again. They were surprised and killed by the
+Indians. Their skeletons were found several years later, bleaching
+on the Nebraska prairie.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>MAJOR NORTH'S BUFFALO HUNT</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Minnie Freeman Penny</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>A party under the direction of Major Frank North set out
+with six wagon teams and four buffalo horses on November 13,
+1871, to engage in a buffalo hunt. The other men were Luther
+North, C. Stanley, Hopkins Brown, Charles Freeman, W. E.
+Freeman, W. E. Freeman, Jr., and Messrs. Bonesteel, Wasson,
+and Cook. They camped the first night at James Cushing's
+ranch, eighteen miles out; the second night at Jason Parker's
+home at Lone Tree, now Central City, and the third night arrived
+at Grand Island. On the way to Grand Island one of the
+party accidentally started a prairie fire six miles east of Grand
+Island. A hard fight was made and the flames subdued just
+in time to save a settler's stable.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving Grand Island on the sixteenth they crossed the Platte
+river and camped on the West Blue. From this point in the
+journey the party suffered incredible hardships until their return.</p>
+
+<p>About midnight the wind changed to the north, bringing rain
+and sleet, and inside of an hour a blizzard was raging on the
+open prairie. The horses were covered with snow and ice and
+there was no fuel for the fires. The men went out as far as
+they dared to go for wood, being unsuccessful. It was decided
+to try to follow the Indian trail south&mdash;made by the Pawnee
+scouts under Major North. Little progress could be made and
+they soon "struck camp" near some willows that afforded a little
+protection to their horses and a "windbreak" was made for man
+and beast. This camp was at the head of the Big Sandy, called
+by this party the "Big Smoky" for the men suffered agonies
+from the smoke in the little tipi.</p>
+
+<p>For two days the storm continued in all its terrible force.
+The wind blew and the air was so full of snow that it was blinding.
+The cold was intense. The men finally determined to find
+some habitation at any price and in groups of two and three
+left camp following the creek where they were sure some one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+had settled. A sod house was found occupied by two English
+families who received the party most hospitably. Charles Freeman,
+older than the other men of the party, suffered a collapse
+and remained at this home. During the night the storm abated
+and next morning, finding all the ravines choked with heavy
+snow drifts, it was decided by vote to abandon the hunt. They
+dug out their belongings from under many feet of snow, sold
+their corn to the English families to lighten their load and started
+back. The journey home was full of accidents, bad roads,
+and drifted ravines. Reaching the Union Pacific railroad at
+Grand Island Major North and Mr. Bonesteel returned to Columbus
+by rail, also Mr. Stanley from Lone Tree. The rest of
+the party returned by team, arriving on November 24.</p>
+
+<p>Major North admitted that of all his experiences on the prairie&mdash;not
+excepting his years with the Pawnee scouts&mdash;this
+"beat them all" as hazardous and perplexing.</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing is taken from my father's diary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PIONEER LIFE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. James G. Reeder</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>It is almost impossible for people of the present day to realize
+the hardships and privations that the first settlers in Nebraska
+underwent. Imagine coming to a place where there was nothing
+but what you had brought with you in wagons. Add to the discomfort
+of being without things which in your former home had
+seemed necessities, the pests which abound in a new country:
+the rattlesnake, the coyote, the skunk, the weasel, and last&mdash;but
+not least&mdash;the flea.</p>
+
+<p>My father, Samuel C. Smith, held the post of "trader" for
+the Pawnee Indians under Major Wheeler in 1865-66. We lived
+in a house provided by the government, near the Indian school
+at Genoa, or "The Reservation," as it was commonly called. I
+was only a few weeks old, and in order to keep me away from
+the fleas, a torture to everyone, they kept me in a shallow basket
+of Indian weave, suspended from the ceiling by broad bands of
+webbing, far enough from the floor and wall to insure safety.</p>
+
+<p>I have heard my mother tell of how the Indians would walk
+right into the house without knocking, or press their faces
+against a window and peer in. They were usually respectful;
+they simply knew no better. Sometimes in cold weather three or
+four big men would walk into the kitchen and insist upon staying
+by the fire, and mother would have hard work to drive them
+out.</p>
+
+<p>The next year my father moved his family to a homestead two
+miles east of Genoa where he had built a large log house and
+stables surrounded by a high tight fence, which was built for
+protection against the unfriendly Indians who frequently came
+to make war on the Pawnees. The government at times kept a
+company of soldiers stationed just north of us, and when there
+would be an "Indian scare," the officers' wives as well as our
+few neighbors would come to our place for safety. Major Noyes
+was at one time stationed there. Firearms of all sorts were al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>ways
+kept handy, and my mother could use them as skilfully
+as my father.</p>
+
+<p>One night my father's barn was robbed of eight horses by the
+Sioux and the same band took ten head from Mr. Gerrard, who
+lived four miles east of us. E. A. Gerrard, Luther North, and
+my father followed their trail to the Missouri river opposite
+Yankton, South Dakota, and did not see a white man while they
+were gone. They did not recover the horses, but twenty years
+after the government paid the original cost of the horses without
+interest. The loss of these horses and the accidental death
+of a brother of mine so discouraged my father that he moved to
+Columbus in 1870.</p>
+
+<p>One of the delights of my childhood were the nights in early
+autumn when all the neighborhood would go out to burn the
+grass from the prairie north of us for protection against "prairie
+fires," as great a foe as was the unfriendly Indian of a few years
+before.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1874, which in Nebraska history is known
+as "the grasshopper year," my grandmother, Mrs. William
+Boone, accompanied by her daughter, Mrs. Mary Hemphill, and
+granddaughter, Ada Hemphill, came to make us a visit. For
+their entertainment we drove in a three-seated platform spring
+wagon or carryall to see the Indians in their village near Genoa.
+Their lodges were made of earth in a circular form with a long
+narrow entrance extending out like the handle of a frying pan.
+As we neared the village we came upon an ordinary looking Indian
+walking in the road, and to our surprise my father greeted
+him very cordially and introduced him to us. It was Petalesharo,
+chief of the Pawnees, but without the feathers and war-paint
+that I imagined a chief would always wear. He invited us to
+his lodge and we drove to the entrance, but my grandmother
+and aunt could not be persuaded to leave the surrey. My cousin,
+being more venturesome, started in with my father, but had
+gone only a few steps when she gathered up her skirts and cried,
+"Oh, look at the fleas! Just see them hop!" and came running
+back to the rig, assuring us she had seen enough. The Indians
+must have taken the fleas with them when they moved to Oklahoma,
+for we seldom see one now.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN POLK COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Calmar McCune</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the early history of the county, county warrants were
+thicker than the leaves on the trees (for trees were scarce then),
+and of money in the pockets of most people there was none.
+Those were the days when that genial plutocrat, William H.
+Waters, relieved the necessities of the needy by buying up
+county warrants for seventy-five cents on the dollar. Don't
+understand this as a reflection on the benevolent intentions of
+Mr. Waters, for he paid as high a price as anybody else offered;
+I mention it only to illustrate the financial condition of the
+people and the body politic.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Mahan was postmaster and general merchant. The
+combined postoffice and store which, with a blacksmith shop, constituted
+the business part of the town of Osceola, was located on
+the west side of the square. It was a one and one-half story
+frame and on the second floor was <i>The Homesteader</i> (now the
+Osceola <i>Record</i>). Here H. T. Arnold, W. F. Kimmel, Frank
+Burgess, the writer, and Stephen Fleharty exercised their gray
+matter by grinding out of their exuberant and sometimes lurid
+imaginations original local items and weighty editorials. In
+those days if a top buggy was seen out on the open, treeless
+prairie, the entire business population turned out to watch it and
+soon there were bets as to whether it came from Columbus or
+Seward, for then there was not a top buggy in Polk county. The
+first drug store was opened by John Beltzer, a country blacksmith
+who suddenly blossomed from the anvil into a full-fledged
+pharmacist. Doctor Stone compounded the important prescriptions
+for a while.</p>
+
+<p>I need not try to describe the grasshopper raid of 1874 for
+the old-timers remember it and I could not picture the tragedy
+so that others could see it. To see the sun's rays dimmed by the
+flying agents of destruction; to witness the disappearance of
+every vestige of green vegetation&mdash;the result of a year's labor,
+which was to most of the inhabitants the only resource against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+actual want, to see this I say, one must live through it. Many
+of the early settlers were young people newly married, who had
+left their homes in the East with all their earthly possessions in
+a covered wagon, or "prairie schooner" as it was called, and
+making the trip overland, had landed with barely enough money
+to exist until the first crop was harvested. Added to the loss
+and privation entailed by the visitation of the winged host was
+the constant dread that the next season would bring a like
+scourge.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday afternoon, April 13, 1873, I left the farm home
+of James Bell in Valley precinct for Columbus, expecting to
+take the train there Monday morning for Omaha. The season
+was well advanced, the treeless prairie being covered with verdure.
+It was a balmy sunshiny spring day, as nearly ideal as
+even Nebraska can produce.</p>
+
+<p>As I left the Clother hotel that evening to attend the Congregational
+church I noticed that the clouds were banking heavily
+in the northwest. There was a roll of distant thunder, a flash
+of lightning, and a series of gentle spring showers followed and
+it was raining when I went to bed at my hotel. Next morning
+when I looked out of my window I could not see half-way across
+the street. The wind was blowing a gale, which drove large
+masses of large, heavy snow-flakes southward. Already where
+obstructions were met the huge drifts were forming. This continued
+without cessation of either snow or wind all day Monday
+and until late Tuesday night. Wednesday about noon the snow
+plow came, followed by the Monday train, which I boarded for
+Omaha. As the train neared Fremont I could see the green
+knolls peeping up through the snow, and at Omaha the snow
+had disappeared. There they had had mainly rain instead of
+snow. I may say that the storm area was not over two hundred
+miles wide with Clarks as about the center, the volume gradually
+diminishing each way from that point. It should be borne
+in mind that the farmers raised mainly spring wheat and oats.
+These grains had been sown several weeks before the storm and
+were all up, but the storm did not injure them in the least.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving Omaha a few days later I went to Grand Island.
+At Gardner's Siding, between Columbus and Clarks, a creek
+passed under the track. This had filled bank high with snow
+which now melting, formed a lake. The track being bad the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+train ran so slowly that I had time to count fifty floating carcasses
+of cattle upon the surface of the water. This was the
+fate of many thousands of head of stock.</p>
+
+<p>Nobody dared to venture out into that storm for no human
+being could face it and live. The great flakes driven by a fifty-mile
+gale would soon plaster shut eyes, nose and mouth&mdash;in
+fact, so swift was the gale that no headway could be made
+against it.</p>
+
+<p>In those days merchants hauled their goods from Columbus or
+Seward and all the grain marketed went to the same points.
+Wheat only was hauled, corn being used for feed or fuel.</p>
+
+<p>A trip to Columbus and return the same day meant something.
+A start while the stars still twinkled; the mercury ten, twenty,
+or even thirty degrees below, was not a pleasure trip, to the
+driver on a load of wheat. But the driver was soon compelled
+to drop from the seat, and trudge along slapping his hands and
+arms against his body to keep from freezing. Leaving home at
+three or four o'clock in the morning he was lucky if he got
+home again, half frozen and very weary, several hours after
+dark. Speaking of exposure to wintry blasts, reminds me of a
+trip on foot I made shortly after my arrival in Polk county.
+December 24, 1872, I started to walk from the Milsap neighborhood
+in Hamilton county, several miles west of where Polk now
+stands, to the home of William Stevens, near the schoolhouse
+of District No. 5. It was a clear, bitter cold morning, the wind
+blowing strongly from the northwest, the ground coated with a
+hard crust of snow. I kept my bearings as best I could, for it
+should be remembered that there were no roads or landmarks
+and I was traveling purely by guess. Along about mid-day I
+stumbled upon a little dugout, somewhere north of where
+Stromsburg now stands&mdash;the first house I had seen. On entering
+I found a young couple who smiled me a welcome, which was
+the best they could do, for, as I saw from the inscriptions on a
+couple of boxes, they were recent arrivals from Sweden. The
+young lady gave me some coffee and rusks, and I am bound to
+say that I never tasted better food than that coffee and those
+rusks. I did not see another house until I reached the bluffs,
+where, about sunset, I was gladdened by the sight of the Stevens
+house in the valley, a couple of miles distant. When I finally<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+reached this hospitable home the fingers of both hands were
+frozen and my nose and ears badly frosted.</p>
+
+<p>In the early days we traveled from point to point by the
+nearest and most direct route, for while the land was being rapidly
+taken up, there were no section line roads. Whenever the
+contour of the land permitted, we angled, being careful to avoid
+the patches of cultivated land. There were no trees, no fences,
+and very few buildings, so, on the level prairie, nothing obstructed
+the view as far as the eye could carry. The sod houses
+and stables were a godsend, for lumber was very expensive and
+most of the settlers brought with them lean purses. It required
+no high-priced, skilled labor to build a "soddy," and properly
+built they were quite comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>When I grow reminiscent and allow my mind to go back to
+those pioneer days, the span of time between then and now seems
+very brief, but when I think longer and compare the <i>then</i> with
+the <i>now</i>, it seems as though that sod house-treeless-ox driving
+period must have been at least one hundred years ago. It is a
+far cry from the ox team to the automobile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PERSONAL REMINISCENCES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Thyrza Reavis Roy</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In March, 1865, my husband, George Roy, and I started from
+our home in Avon, Illinois, to Nebraska territory. The railroad
+extended to St. Joseph, Missouri. There they told us we would
+have to take a steamboat up the Missouri river to Rulo, forty
+miles from St. Joseph. We took passage on a small steamboat,
+but the ice was breaking up and the boat ran only four miles up
+the river. They said it was too dangerous to go farther so told
+us we would have to go back or land and get some one to drive
+us to Rulo, or the Missouri side of the river across from Rulo.
+We decided to land, and hired a man to drive us across country
+in an old wagon. It was very cold and when we reached the
+place where we would have to cross the Missouri, the ice was
+running in immense blocks. It was sunset, we were forty miles
+from a house on that side of the river. There was a man on
+the other side of the river in a small skiff. Mr. Roy waved to
+him and he crossed and took us in. Every moment it seemed
+those cakes of ice would crush the little skiff, but the man was
+an expert dodger and after a perilous ride he let us off at Rulo.
+By that time it was dark. We went to a roughly boarded up
+shanty they called a tavern. It snowed that night and the snow
+beat in on our bed. The next morning we hired a man to take
+us to Falls City, ten miles from Rulo. Falls City was a hamlet
+of scarcely three hundred souls. There was a log cabin on the
+square; one tiny schoolhouse, used for school, Sunday school,
+and church. As far as the eye could reach, it was virgin prairie.</p>
+
+<p>There was very little rain for two years after we came. All
+provisions, grain, and lumber were shipped on boats to Rulo.
+There was only an Indian trail between Rulo and Falls City.
+Everything was hauled over that trail.</p>
+
+<p>After the drouth came the grasshoppers, and for two years
+they took all we had. The cattle barely lived grazing in the
+<a name="nemaha" id="nemaha"></a><ins title="Original has Nemeha">Nemaha</ins> valley. All grain was shipped in from Missouri.</p>
+
+<p>The people had no amusements in the winter. In the summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+they had picnics and a Methodist camp-meeting, on the Muddy
+river north of Falls City.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 356px;">
+<img src="images/illus_016.jpg" width="356" height="600" alt="Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton
+
+Tenth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1911-1912" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton
+
+Tenth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1911-1912</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Over the Nemaha river two and one-half miles southwest of
+Falls City, on a high hill above the falls from which the town
+was named, was an Indian village. The Sac and Foxes and
+Iowa Indians occupied the village. Each spring and fall they
+went visiting other tribes, or other tribes visited them. They
+would march through the one street of Falls City with their
+ponies in single file. The tipi poles were strapped on each side
+of the ponies and their belongings and presents, for the tribe
+they were going to visit, piled on the poles. The men, women,
+and children walked beside the ponies, and the dogs brought up
+the rear. Sometimes, when the Indians had visitors, they would
+have a war-dance at night and the white people would go out to
+view it. Their bright fires, their scouts bringing in the news of
+hostile Indians in sight, and the hurried preparations to meet
+them, were quite exciting. The Indians were great beggars, and
+not very honest. We had to keep things under lock and key.
+They would walk right into the houses and say "Eat!" The
+women were all afraid of them and would give them provisions.
+If there was any food left after they had finished their eating,
+they would take it away with them.</p>
+
+<p>Their burying-ground was very near the village. They buried
+their dead with all accoutrements, in a sitting posture in a grave
+about five feet deep, without covering.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians cultivated small patches of land and raised corn,
+beans, pumpkins, etc. A man named Fisher now owns the land
+on which the Indians lived when I reached the country.</p>
+
+<p>The people were very sociable. It was a healthy country, and
+we had health if very little else. We were young and the hardships
+did not seem so great as they do in looking backward fifty
+years.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>&mdash;Thyrza Reavis Roy was born August 7, 1834, in Cass
+county, Illinois, the daughter of Isham Reavis and Mahala Beck
+Reavis. Her great-grandfather, Isham Reavis, fought in the
+war of the Revolution. Her grandfather, Charles Reavis, and
+her own father, Isham Reavis, fought in the war of 1812. She
+is a real daughter of the war of 1812. She is a member of the
+U. S. Daughters of 1812, a member of the Deborah Avery Chapter
+D. A. R. of Lincoln, and a member of the Territorial Pioneers
+Association of Nebraska. Her husband, George Roy, died
+at Falls City March 2, 1903.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>TWO SEWARD COUNTY CELEBRATIONS</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. S. C. Langworthy</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I recall one reminiscence of my early life in Nebraska which
+occurred in 1876, when we first located in Seward. We could
+have gone no farther, even had we wished, as Seward was then
+the terminus of the Billings line of the Burlington railroad.</p>
+
+<p>We soon learned that a county celebration was to be held on
+the fourth of July, and I naturally felt a great curiosity to know
+how a crowd of people would look to whom we had been sending
+boxes of clothing and bedding in response to appeals from the
+grasshopper sufferers. My surprise cannot be imagined when I
+saw people clothed as well as elsewhere and with baskets filled
+with an abundance of good things for a picnic dinner.</p>
+
+<p>The same pretty grove in which this gathering occurred thirty-nine
+years ago is now our beautiful city park, where during the
+summer of 1914 our commercial club gave an old-time barbecue
+costing the members twelve hundred dollars. They secured the
+state band and fine speakers, and served a bounteous dinner to
+about fifteen thousand people. Everything was free to all who
+came, and a happier crowd can not be imagined. I speak of this
+because in the years to come it will be a pleasant reminiscence to
+many who may have been present.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>&mdash;Elizabeth C. (Bennett) Langworthy, fourth state regent
+of the Nebraska Society D. A. R., is a daughter of Jacob
+and Caroline (Valentine) Bennett. Her paternal grandfather
+was also Jacob Bennett, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He
+was taken prisoner and held in an English ship off the coast of
+Quebec for some time. Mrs. Langworthy was born in Orleans
+county, New York, in 1837. The family moved to Wisconsin in
+1849, and the daughter finished her education at Hamline University,
+then located at Red Wing, Minnesota. In 1858 she was
+married to Stephen C. Langworthy, and in 1876 became a resident
+of Seward, Nebraska. Mr. Langworthy died March 3, 1904.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Langworthy has been active and prominent in club work,
+and is widely known. She served for five years as a member of
+the school board at Seward and organized the History and Art
+Club of Seward of which she was president for several years.
+She was the first secretary of the State Federation of Woman's
+Clubs, and was elected president in 1898. Mrs. Langworthy is
+the mother of six children.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SEWARD COUNTY REMINISCENCES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Compiled by Margaret Holmes Chapter D. A. R.</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Seward county shared with other counties all of the privations
+and experiences of pioneer life, though it seems to have had less
+trouble with hostile Indians than many localities in the state.</p>
+
+<p>The struggles of pioneer settlers in the same country must
+necessarily be similar, though of course differing in detail. The
+first settlers deemed it important to locate on a stream where
+firewood could be obtained, and they were subject to high waters,
+prairie fires, constant fear of the Indian, and lack of provisions.</p>
+
+<p>At one time the little band of settlers near the present site of
+Seward was reduced to one pan of corn, though they were not
+quite as reduced as their historic Pilgrim forefathers, when a
+load of provisions arrived that had been storm-bound.</p>
+
+<p>Reminiscences are best at first hand, and the following letters,
+taken from the <i>History of Seward County</i> by W. W. Cox, recount
+some of the incidents of early pioneer life by those who
+really lived it.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Sarah F. Anderson writes as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"At the time of the great Indian scare of 1864, my father's
+family was one of the families which the Nebraska City people
+had heard were killed. It had been rumored throughout the
+little settlement that there were bands of hostile Indians approaching,
+and that they were committing great depredations
+as they went.</p>
+
+<p>"One Sunday morning my uncle and Thomas Shields started
+down the river on a scouting expedition. After an all-day
+search, just at nightfall, they came suddenly upon an Indian
+camp. The men thought their time had come, but the redskins
+were equally scared. There was no chance to back out, and they
+resolved to know whether the Indians were friendly or hostile.
+As they bravely approached the camp, the Indians began to
+halloo, 'Heap good Omaha!' The men then concluded to camp
+over night with them, and they partook of a real Indian supper.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+The next morning they went home satisfied that there were no
+hostile Indians in the country.</p>
+
+<p>"A day or two after this, my father (William Imlay) and his
+brothers were on upper Plum creek haying, when grandfather
+Imlay became frightened and hastened to our house and said the
+Indians were coming upon the settlement. He then hurried
+home to protect his own family. About three o'clock in the
+afternoon we saw a band of them approaching. They were
+about where the B. &amp; M. depot now stands. We were living
+about eighty rods above the present iron bridge. My mother,
+thinking to escape them, locked the cabin door, and took all the
+children across the creek to the spring where she kept the milk.
+To kill time, she commenced churning. Very soon, four Indians
+(great, big, ugly creatures) came riding up to the spring and
+told mother that she was wanted over to the house. She said,
+'No, I can't go; I am at work.' But they insisted in such a
+menacing manner that she felt obliged to yield and go. They
+said, 'Come, come,' in a most determined manner. The children
+all clinging to her, she started, and those great sneaking braves
+guarded her by one riding on each side, one before, and one behind.
+Poor mother and we four children had a slim show to
+escape. They watched our every movement, step by step. When
+we reached the cabin, there sat sixteen burly Indians in a circle
+around the door. When we came up, they all arose and saluted
+mother, then sat down again. They had a young Indian interpreter.
+As they thought they had the family all thoroughly
+frightened, the young Indian began in good shape to tell just
+what they wanted. They would like to have two cows, two sacks
+of flour, and some meat. Mother saw that she must guard the
+provisions with desperation, as they had cost such great effort,
+having been hauled from the Missouri river. The Indians said,
+'The Sioux are coming and will take all away, and we want
+some.' 'No,' said mother, 'we will take our cattle and provisions
+and go to Plattsmouth.' 'But,' said the Indian, 'they will be
+here tonight and you can't get away.' Mother at this point began
+to be as much angry as frightened. 'I will not give you
+anything. You are lying to me. If the Sioux were so close,
+you would all be running yourselves.' At this point another
+brave, who had been pacing the yard, seeing mother grow so
+warm, picked up our axe and marched straight up to her and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+threw it down at her feet. She picked it up and stood it beside
+her. Mother said afterward that her every hair stood on end,
+but knowing that Indians respect bravery, she resolved to show
+no cowardice. We could all see that the whole river bend was
+swarming with Indians. Mother said with emphasis, 'I now
+want you to take your Indians and be gone at once.' Then they
+said, 'You are a brave squaw,' and the old chief motioned to his
+braves and they marched off to camp. The next day our family
+all went over to Plum creek and remained until things became
+settled.</p>
+
+<p>"The following winter father was at Omaha attending the
+legislature; and I am sure that over a thousand Indians passed
+our place during the winter. It required pluck to withstand the
+thievish beggars. Sometimes they would sneak up and peep in
+at the window. Then others would beg for hours to get into the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"A great amount of snow had fallen, and shortly after father's
+return home, a heavy winter rain inundated all the bottom lands.
+We all came pretty near being drowned but succeeded in crawling
+out of the cabin at the rear window at midnight. Our only
+refuge was a haystack, where we remained several days entirely
+surrounded by water, with no possible means of escape. Mr.
+Cox made several attempts to rescue us. First he tried to cross
+the river in a molasses pan, and narrowly escaped being
+drowned, as the wind was high and the stream filled with floating
+ice. The next day he made a raft and tried to cross, but the
+current was so rapid he could not manage it. It drifted against
+a tree where the water was ten feet deep, and the jar threw him
+off his balance, and the upper edge of the raft sank, so that the
+rapid current caught the raft and turned it on edge against the
+tree. Mr. Cox caught hold of a limb of the tree and saved himself
+from drowning. A desperate struggle ensued but he finally
+kicked and stamped until he got the raft on top of the water
+again, but it was wrong side up. We then gave up all hopes of
+getting help until the water subsided. The fourth day, tall trees
+were chopped by father on one side and by Mr. Cox on the other,
+and their branches interlocked, and we made our escape to his
+friendly cabin, where we found a kindly greeting, rest, food,
+and fire."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The following from the pen of Addison E. Sheldon is recorded
+in the same <i>History of Seward County</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"My recollections of early Seward county life do not go back
+as far as the author's. They begin with one wind-blown day
+in September, 1869, when I, a small urchin from Minnesota,
+crossed the Seward county line near Pleasant Dale on my way
+with my mother and step-father (R. J. McCall), to the new
+home on the southeast quarter of section 18, town 9, range 2
+east&mdash;about three miles southeast of the present Beaver Crossing.
+Looked back upon now, through all the intervening years,
+it seems to me there never was an autumn more supremely joyous,
+a prairie more entrancing, a woodland belt more alluring,
+a life more captivating than that which welcomed the new boy
+to the frontier in the beautiful West Blue valley. The upland
+'divides' as I remember them were entirely destitute of settlement,
+and even along the streams, stretches of two, three, and
+five miles lay between nearest neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>"What has become of the Nebraska wind of those days? I
+have sought it since far and wide in the Sand Hills and on the
+table lands of western Nebraska&mdash;that wind which blew ceaselessly,
+month after month, never pausing but to pucker its lips
+for a stronger blast! Where are the seas of rosin-weed, with
+their yellow summer parasols, which covered the prairie in those
+days? I have sought them too, and along gravelly ridges or
+some old ditch yet found a few degenerate descendants of the
+old-time host.</p>
+
+<p>"Mention of merely a few incidents seeming to hold the drama
+and poetry of frontier life at that time: 'Pittsburgh, the city
+of vision, at the junction of Walnut creek and the West Blue,
+inhabited by a population of 20,000 people, with a glass factory,
+a paper factory, a brick factory, oil wells, a peat factory, woolen
+mills, junction of three railway lines, metropolis of the Blue
+Valley.' All this and so much more that I dare not attempt to
+picture it; a real existence in the brain of Christopher Lezenby
+in the years of 1871-72. What unwritten dramas sleep almost
+forgotten in the memories of early settlers! When Mr. Lezenby
+began to build his metropolis with the assistance of Attorney
+Boyd of Lincoln and a few other disinterested speculators, he
+was the possessor of several hundred acres of land, some hundreds
+of cattle, and other hundreds of hogs, and a fair, unmar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>ried
+daughter. What pathetic memories of the old man, month
+after month, surveying off his beautiful farm into city lots for
+the new metropolis, while his cattle disappeared from the prairies
+and his swine from the oak thickets along the Walnut; with
+sublime and childish simplicity repeating day after day the confession
+of his faith that 'next week' work would begin; 'next
+week' the foundation for the factories would be laid; 'next
+week' the railway surveyors would set the grade stakes. And
+this real rural tragedy lasted through several years, ending in
+the loss of all his property, the marriage of his daughter to
+Irwin Stall, and the wandering forth of the old man until he
+died of a broken heart in California.</p>
+
+<p>"One monument yet remains to mark the site and perpetuate
+the memory of Pittsburgh, a flowing well, found I think at the
+depth of twenty-eight feet in the year 1874 and continuously
+flowing since that. Strange that no one was wise enough to
+take the hint and that it was twenty years later before the second
+flowing well was struck at Beaver Crossing, leading to the
+systematic search for them which dotted the entire valley with
+their fountains.</p>
+
+<p>"There were no high water bridges across the West Blue in
+those days. I remember acting as mail carrier for a number of
+families on the south bank of the Blue during the high waters
+of two or three summers, bringing the mail from the city of
+Pittsburgh postoffice on the north bank. A torn shirt and a pair
+of short-legged blue overalls&mdash;my entire wardrobe of those
+days&mdash;were twisted into a turban about my head, and plunging
+into the raging flood of the Blue which covered all the lower
+bottoms, five minutes' vigorous swimming carried me through
+the froth and foam and driftwood to the other side where I once
+more resumed my society clothes and, after securing the mail,
+upon my return to the river bank, tied it tightly in the turban
+and crossed the river as before.</p>
+
+<p>"I remember my first lessons in political economy, the fierce
+fight between the northern and the southern parts of the county
+upon the question of voting bonds to the Midland Pacific railway
+during the years 1871-72. It was a sectional fight in fact,
+but in theory and in debate it was a contest over some first
+principles of government. The question of the people versus
+the corporation, since grown to such great proportions, was then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+first discussed to my childish ears. One incident of that contest
+is forever photographed on my brain&mdash;a crowd of one hundred
+farmers and villagers lounging in the shadow of T. H.
+Tisdale's old store. A yellow-skinned, emaciated lawyer from
+Lincoln who looked, to my boyish vision, like a Chinese chieftain
+from Manchuria, was speaking with fluent imaginative
+words in favor of the benefits the people of Seward county
+might secure by voting the bonds. This was H. W. Sommerlad,
+registrar of Lincoln land office. A short Saxon opponent,
+Rev. W. G. Keen of Walnut creek, was picked from the crowd
+by acclamation to reply to the Lincoln lawyer. The impression
+of his fiery words denouncing the aggressions of capital and
+appealing to the memories of the civil war and the Revolutionary
+fathers to arouse the people's independence is with me
+yet.</p>
+
+<p>"Next in the economic vista is the old Brisbin sod schoolhouse
+east of Walnut creek where a grange was organized. Here
+a lyceum was held through several winters in which the debates
+were strongly tinctured with the rising anti-monopoly sentiment
+of those hard times. George Michael and Charley Hunter, leaders
+of the boyish dare-deviltry of those days, were chosen as
+judges upon the debates in order to insure their good behavior,
+and they gravely decided for the negative or affirmative many
+deep discussions of doubtful themes.</p>
+
+<p>"Beaver Crossing in the early days was remarkable for the
+great number of boys in its surrounding population, and I have
+observed in these later years when visiting there, that the custom
+of having boy babies in the family does not appear to have entirely
+gone out of fashion. That great swarm of restless boy
+population which gathered, sometimes two hundred strong, Saturday
+afternoons on the Common! What 'sleights of art and
+feats of strength' went round! What struggles of natural selection
+to secure a place upon the 'First Nine' of the baseball
+team! For years Beaver Crossing had the best baseball club
+in three or four counties, and some of her players won high
+laurels on distant diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>"One custom which obtained in those frontier days seems to
+have been peculiar to the time, for I have not found it since in
+other frontier communities. It was the custom of 'calling off'
+the mail upon its arrival at the postoffice. The postmaster, old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+Tom Tisdale&mdash;a genuine facsimile of Petroleum V. Nasby&mdash;would
+dump the sacks of mail, brought overland on a buckboard,
+into a capacious box upon the counter of his store, then pick up
+piece by piece, and read the inscriptions thereon in a sonorous
+voice to the crowd, sometimes consisting of one or two hundred
+people. Each claimant would cry out 'Here!' when his name
+was called. Sometimes two-thirds of the mail was distributed in
+this way, saving a large amount of manual labor in pigeon-holing
+the same. Nasby had a happy and caustic freedom in
+commenting upon the mail during the performance, not always
+contemplated, I believe, by the United States postal regulations.
+A woman's handwriting upon a letter addressed to a young man
+was almost certain to receive some public notice from his sharp
+tongue, to the great enjoyment of the crowd and sometimes the
+visible annoyance of the young man. At one time he deliberately
+turned over a postal card written by a well-known young
+woman of Beaver Crossing who was away at school, and on observing
+that the message was written both horizontally and
+across, commented, 'From the holy mother, in Dutch.' If I
+should ever meet on the mystic other shore, which poets and
+philosophers have tried to picture for us, old Tom Tisdale, I
+would expect to see him with his spectacles pushed back from
+his nose, 'calling off' the mail to the assembled spirits, the while
+entertaining them with pungent personal epigrams.</p>
+
+<p>"One startling picture arises from the past, framed as Browning
+writes 'in a sheet of flame'&mdash;the picture of the great prairie
+fire of October, 1871, which swept Seward county from south
+to north, leaving hardly a quarter section of continuous unburnt
+sod. A heavy wind, increasing to a hurricane, drove this fire
+down the West Blue valley. It jumped the Blue river in a
+dozen places as easily as a jack rabbit jumps a road. It left a
+great broad trail of cindered haystacks and smoking stables and
+houses. A neighbor of ours who was burnt out remarked that
+he had 'been through hell in one night,' and had 'no fear of the
+devil hereafter.'</p>
+
+<p>"At the other end of the scale of temperature are recollections
+of the 'Great Storm' of April 13, 14, 15, 1873. There burst
+from a June atmosphere the worst blizzard in the history of the
+state. For three days it blew thick, freezing sleet, changing to
+snow so close and dense and dark that a man in a wagon vainly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+looked for the horses hitched to it through the storm. Men who
+were away from home lost their lives over the state. Stock was
+frozen to death. In sod houses, dugouts, and log cabins settlers
+huddled close about the hearth, burning enormous baskets of
+ten-cent corn to keep from freezing.</p>
+
+<p>"In these later years of life, Fate has called me to make
+minute study of many historical periods and places. Yet my
+heart always turns to review the early scenes of settlement and
+civilization in Seward county with a peculiar thrill of personal
+emotion and special joy in the risen and rising fortunes of those
+who there built the foundations of a great commonwealth. No
+land can be dearer than the land of one's childhood and none
+can ever draw my thoughts further over plain or ocean than the
+happy valley upon West Blue whose waters spring spontaneously
+from beneath the soil to water her fortunate acres."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>PIONEERING</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Grant Lee Shumway</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>On September 15, 1885, I crossed the Missouri river at Omaha,
+and came west through Lincoln. The state fair was in full blast
+but our party did not stop, as we were bound for Benkleman,
+Parks, and Haigler, Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>After looking over Dundy county, Nebraska, and Cheyenne
+county, Kansas, the rest of the party returned to Illinois.</p>
+
+<p>I went to Indianola, and with Mr. Palmatier, I started for the
+Medicine. He carried the mail to Stockville and Medicine,
+which were newly established postoffices in the interior to the
+north, and his conveyance was the hind wheels of an ordinary
+wagon, to which he had fashioned a pair of thills. He said that
+he was using such a vehicle because it enabled him to cut off
+several miles in the very rough country through which we
+passed.</p>
+
+<p>The jolting was something fierce, but being young and used
+to riding in lumber wagons, I did not mind. I was very much
+interested in everything, but the things that linger most clearly
+in my mind after all these years are the bushy whiskered, hopeful
+faces of the men who greeted us from dugouts and sod cabins.
+The men's eyes were alight with enthusiasm and candor,
+but I do not remember of having seen a woman or child upon
+the trip.</p>
+
+<p>It seems that men can drop back into the primitive so much
+more easily than women: not perhaps with all the brutality of
+the First Men, but they can adjust themselves to the environment
+of the wilderness, and the rusticity of the frontier, with
+comparative ease.</p>
+
+<p>I stopped for the night in Hay cañon, a branch of Lake cañon,
+at Hawkins brothers' hay camp, and I remember when they told
+me that they had three hundred tons of hay in the stack, that it
+seemed almost an inconceivable quantity. On our old Illinois
+farm twenty-five or thirty tons seemed a large amount, but three
+hundred tons was beyond our range of reasoning. However,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+we now stack that much on eighty acres in the Scottsbluff
+country.</p>
+
+<p>In due time I went on over the great tableland to the city of
+North Platte, and going down the cañon on the south side of the
+south river, I killed my first jack rabbit, an event which seemed
+to make me feel more of a westerner than any circumstance up
+to that time.</p>
+
+<p>My first impression of North Platte, with its twelve saloons,
+was not of the best. And my conception of Buffalo Bill dropped
+several notches in esteem when I saw the Wild West saloon.
+But in the light of years, I am less puritanical in my views of
+the first people of the plains. In subsequent years I rode the
+range as a cowboy, and drove twenty-mule teams with a single
+line and a black-snake, and while always I remained an abstainer
+and occasionally found others that did likewise, I learned to tolerate,
+and then enjoy, the witticisms and foolishness of those
+that did indulge. Sometimes the boys in their cups would
+"smoke up" the little cities of the plains, but they never felt
+any resentment if one of their number did not participate in
+their drinking and festive sports.</p>
+
+<p>I spent the winter of 1885 on the ranch of Hall &amp; Evans, near
+North Platte, and one of the pleasantest acquaintanceships of
+my life has been that of John Evans, now registrar of the land
+office at North Platte.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring of '86 the constant stream of emigrant wagons
+going west gave one an impression that in a little time the entire
+West would be filled, and I grew impatient to be upon my way
+and secure selections. In May I arrived at Sidney and from
+there rode in a box car to Cheyenne. When we topped the
+divide east of Cheyenne, I saw the snow-capped peaks of the
+Rockies for the first time.</p>
+
+<p>During the summer I "skinned mules," aiding in the construction
+of the Cheyenne &amp; Northern, now a part of the Hill
+system that connects Denver with the Big Horn basin and Puget
+sound.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to Sidney in the autumn, I fell in with George
+Hendricks, who had been in the mines for twenty years and
+finally gave it up. We shoveled coal for the Union Pacific until
+we had a grub stake for the winter. I purchased a broncho, and
+upon him we packed our belongings&mdash;beds, blankets, tarpaulin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+provisions, cooking utensils, tools, and clothing, and started
+north over the divide for "Pumpkin creek," our promised land.
+In a little over a day's travel, one leading the horse and the
+other walking behind to prod it along, we reached Hackberry
+cañon, and here, in a grove by a spring, we built our first cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Three sides were log, the cracks filled with small pieces of
+wood and plastered with mud from the spring, and the back of
+the cabin was against a rock, and up this rock we improvised a
+fireplace, with loose stones and mud.</p>
+
+<p>When we had rigged a bunk of native red cedar along the
+side of this rude shelter, and the fire was burning in our fireplace,
+the coffee steaming, the bread baking in the skillet, the
+odor of bacon frying, and the wind whistling through the tree-tops,
+that cabin seemed a mighty cozy place.</p>
+
+<p>We could sometimes hear the coyotes and the grey wolves howl
+at night, but a sense of security prevailed, and our sleep was
+sound. Out of the elements at hand, we had made the rudiments
+of a home on land that was to become ours&mdash;our very own&mdash;forever.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>EARLY DAYS IN STANTON COUNTY</h2>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Statement by Andrew J. Bottorff</i></p>
+
+<p>I came to Nebraska at the close of the civil war, having
+served during the entire campaign with the Seventeenth Indiana
+regiment. I came west with oxen and wagon in the fall of
+1866, bringing my family. We wintered at Rockport, but as
+soon as spring opened went to Stanton county, where I took a
+homestead. Here we had few neighbors and our share of hardships,
+but thrived and were happy.</p>
+
+<p>One day I heard my dogs barking and found them down in a
+ravine, near the Elkhorn river, with an elk at bay, and killed
+him with my axe.</p>
+
+<p>The first year I was appointed county surveyor. Having no
+instruments at hand, I walked to Omaha, over a hundred miles
+distant, and led a fat cow to market there. I sold the cow but
+found no instruments. I was told of a man at Fort Calhoun who
+had an outfit I might get, so wended my way there. I found
+E. H. Clark, who would sell me the necessary supplies, and I
+bought them; then carried them, with some other home necessities
+obtained in Omaha, back to Stanton, as I had come, on foot.</p>
+
+<p>I am now seventy-five years old, and have raised a large family;
+yet wife and I are as happy and spry as if we had never
+worked, and are enjoying life in sunny California, where we
+have lived for the last ten years.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Statement by Sven Johanson</i></p>
+
+<p>With my wife and two small children I reached Omaha, Nebraska,
+June 26, 1868. We came direct from Norway, having
+crossed the stormy Atlantic in a small sailboat, the voyage taking
+eight weeks.</p>
+
+<p>A brother who had settled in Stanton county, 107 miles from
+Omaha, had planned to meet us in that city. After being there
+a few days this brother, together with two other men, arrived
+and we were very happy. With two yoke of oxen and one team
+of horses, each hitched to a load of lumber, we journeyed from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+Omaha to Stanton county. Arriving there, we found shelter in
+a small dugout with our brother and family, where we remained
+until we filed on a homestead and had built a dugout of our
+own.</p>
+
+<p>We had plenty of clothing, a good lot of linens and homespun
+materials, but these and ten dollars in money were all we possessed.</p>
+
+<p>The land office was at Omaha and it was necessary for me to
+walk there to make a filing. I had to stop along the way wherever
+I could secure work, and in that way got some food, and
+occasionally earned a few cents, and this enabled me to purchase
+groceries to carry back to my family. There were no
+bridges across rivers or creeks and we were compelled to swim;
+at one time in particular I was very thankful I was a good
+swimmer. A brother-in-law and myself had gone to Fremont,
+Nebraska, for employment, and on our return we found the Elkhorn
+river almost out of its banks. This frightened my companion,
+who could not swim, but I told him to be calm, we would
+come to no harm. I took our few groceries and our clothing and
+swam across, then going back for my companion, who was a very
+large man, I took him on my back and swam safely to the other
+shore.</p>
+
+<p>While I was away, my family would be holding down our
+claim and taking care of our one cow. We were surrounded by
+Indians, and there were no white people west of where we lived.</p>
+
+<p>In the fall of 1869 we secured a yoke of oxen, and the following
+spring hauled home logs from along the river and creek and
+soon had a comfortable log house erected.</p>
+
+<p>Thus we labored and saved little by little until we were able
+to erect a frame house, not hewn by hand, but made from real
+lumber, and by this time we felt well repaid for the many hardships
+we had endured. The old "homestead" is still our home,
+but the dear, faithful, loving mother who so bravely bore all the
+hardships of early days was called to her rich reward January
+28, 1912. She was born June 15, 1844, and I was born October
+14, 1837.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FRED E. ROPER, PIONEER</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Ernest E. Correll</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Fred E. Roper, a pioneer of Hebron, Nebraska, was eighty
+years old on October 10, 1915. Sixty-one years ago Mr. Roper
+"crossed the plains," going from New York state to California.</p>
+
+<p>Eleven years more than a half-century&mdash;and to look back
+upon the then barren stretch of the country in comparison with
+the present fertile region of prosperous homes and populous
+cities, takes a vivid stretch of imagination to realize the dreamlike
+transformation. At that time San Francisco was a village
+of about five hundred persons living in adobe huts surrounded
+by a mud wall for a fortified protection from the marauding
+Indians.</p>
+
+<p>Fred E. Roper was born in Candor Hill, New York, October
+10, 1835. When three years old he moved with his parents to
+Canton, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and later moved with
+his brother to Baraboo, Wisconsin. Then he shipped as a
+"hand" on a raft going down the Wisconsin and Mississippi
+rivers to St. Louis, getting one dollar a day and board. He returned
+north on a steamer, stopping at Burlington, Iowa, where
+his sister resided.</p>
+
+<p>In 1854, when he was nineteen years of age, Mr. Roper "started
+west." His sister walked to the edge of the town with him
+as he led his one-horned cow, which was to furnish milk for
+coffee on the camp-out trip, which was to last three months,
+enroute to the Pacific coast.</p>
+
+<p>There were three outfits&mdash;a horse train, mule train, and ox
+train. Mr. Roper traveled in an ox train of twenty-five teams.
+The travelers elected officers from among those who had made
+the trip before, and military discipline prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>At nights the men took turns at guard duty in relays&mdash;from
+dark to midnight and from midnight to dawn, when the herder
+was called to turn the cattle out to browse. One man herded
+them until breakfast was ready, and another man herded them
+until time to yoke up. This overland train was never molested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+by the Indians, although one night some spying Cheyennes were
+made prisoners under guard over night until the oxen were
+yoked up and ready to start.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 444px;">
+<img src="images/illus_017.jpg" width="444" height="600" alt="Oregon Trail Monument, two miles north of Hebron
+
+Erected by the citizens of Hebron and Thayer county, and Oregon Trail
+Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, dedicated May 24, 1915.
+Cost $400" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Oregon Trail Monument, two miles north of Hebron
+
+Erected by the citizens of Hebron and Thayer county, and Oregon Trail
+Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, dedicated May 24, 1915.
+Cost $400</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The prospectors crossed the Missouri river at Omaha, which
+at that time had no residences or business buildings. Enroute
+to Salt Lake City, the South Platte route was followed, averaging
+about twenty miles a day. Enough provisions were carried
+to last through the journey and as they had some provisions
+left when they reached Salt Lake City, they were sold to the
+half-starved Mormons at big prices.</p>
+
+<p>Some perplexing difficulties were encountered on the journey.
+At one point in the mountains, beyond Salt Lake City, the trail
+was so narrow that the oxen were unhitched and led single file
+around the cliff, while the wagons were taken apart and lowered
+down the precipice with ropes.</p>
+
+<p>When crossing the desert, additional water had to be carried
+in extra kegs and canteens. When the tired cattle got near
+enough to the river to smell the fresh water, they pricked up
+their ears, stiffened their necks, and made a rush for the stream,
+so the men had to stand in front of them until the chains were
+loosened to prevent their crazily dashing into the water with
+the wagons.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Roper worked by the day for three months in the mines
+northeast of San Francisco. While placer mining, he one day
+picked up a gold nugget, from which his engagement ring was
+made by a jeweler in San Francisco, and worn by Mrs. Roper
+until her death, October 28, 1908. The ring was engraved with
+two hearts with the initials M. E. R., and is now in the possession
+of their son Maun, whose initials are the same.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Roper was one of a company of three men who worked a
+claim that had been once worked over, on a report that there was
+a crevasse that had not been bottomed. The first workers did
+not have "quicksilver," which is necessary to catch fine gold,
+but Mr. Roper's company had a jug shipped from San Francisco.
+Nothing less than a fifty-pound jug of quicksilver would
+be sold, at fifty cents a pound. This was used in sluice-boxes as
+"quicksilver riffles," to catch the fine float gold, when it would
+instantly sink to the bottom of the quicksilver, while the dirt and
+stones would wash over; the coarse rock would be first tossed out
+with a sluice-fork (similar to a flat-tined pitchfork). In three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+years the three men worked the mine out, making about fifteen
+hundred dollars apiece.</p>
+
+<p>With his share carried in buckskin sacks belted around his
+waist under his clothes, Mr. Roper started in a sailing vessel up
+north along the coast on a trip, hunting for richer diggings.
+Then he went on a steamer to the Isthmus of Panama, which he
+crossed with a hired horse team, then by steamer to New York
+and by railroad to Philadelphia to get his gold minted.</p>
+
+<p>After his marriage in 1861 Mr. Roper returned to the West
+and in '64 ran a hotel at Beatrice called "Pat's Cabin." When
+Nebraska voted on the question of admission to statehood, Mr.
+Roper's ballot was vote No. 3.</p>
+
+<p>Desiring to get a home of his own, Fred Roper came on west
+into what is now Thayer county, and about six miles northwest
+of the present site of Hebron up the Little Blue, he bought out
+the preëmption rights of Bill and Walt Hackney, who had
+"squatted" there with the expectation of paying the government
+the customary $1.25 per acre. In certain localities those claims
+afterwards doubled to $2.50 per acre. Mr. Roper paid only the
+value of the log cabin and log stables, and came into possession
+of the eighty acres, which he homesteaded, and later bought adjoining
+land for $1.25 per acre.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally he made trips to St. Joe and Nebraska City for
+supplies, which he freighted overland to Hackney ranch. At
+that time Mr. Roper knew every man on the trail from the Missouri
+river to Kearney. On these trips he used to stop with Bill
+McCandles, who was shot with three other victims by "Wild
+Bill" on Rock creek in Jefferson county.</p>
+
+<p>The first house at Hackney ranch was burned by the Cheyenne
+Indians in their great raid of 1864, at which time Miss
+Laura Roper (daughter of Joe B. Roper) and Mrs. Eubanks
+were captured by the Indians near Fox Ford in Nuckolls county
+and kept in captivity until ransomed by Colonel Wyncoop of
+the U. S. army for $1,000. Si Alexander of Meridian (southeast
+of the present town of Alexandria), was with the government
+troops at the time of Miss Roper's release near Denver.
+Her parents, believing her dead, had meanwhile moved back to
+New York state. (Laura Roper is still alive, being now Mrs.
+Laura Vance, at Skiatook, Oklahoma.) At the time of the
+above-mentioned raid, the Indians at Hackney ranch threw the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+charred cottonwood logs of the house into the well, to prevent
+travelers from getting water. Fred Roper was then at Beatrice,
+having just a few days before sold Hackney ranch to an overland
+traveler. After the raid the new owner deserted the place,
+in the fall of 1869, and in a few months Mr. Roper returned
+from Beatrice and again preëmpted the same place.</p>
+
+<p>In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Roper moved to Meridian and ran a
+tavern for about a year, then moved back to Hackney, where
+they resided until the fall of 1893, when they moved into Hebron
+to make their permanent home. Mr. Roper was postmaster
+at Hebron for four years under Cleveland's last administration.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE LURE OF THE PRAIRIES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Lucy L. Correll</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>The memories of the long hot days of August, 1874, are burned
+into the seared recollection of the pioneers of Nebraska. For
+weeks the sun had poured its relentless rays upon the hopeful,
+patient people, until the very atmosphere seemed vibrant with
+the pulsing heat-waves.</p>
+
+<p>One day a young attorney of Hebron was called to Nuckolls
+county to "try a case" before a justice of the peace, near a
+postoffice known as Henrietta. Having a light spring wagon
+and two ponies he invited his wife and little baby to accompany
+him for the drive of twenty-five miles. Anything was better
+than the monotony of staying at home, and the boundless freedom
+of the prairies was always enticing. An hour's drive and
+the heat of the sun became oppressively intense. The barren
+distance far ahead was unbroken by tree, or house, or field.
+There was no sound but the steady patter of the ponies' feet
+over the prairie grass; no moving object but an occasional flying
+hawk; no road but a trail through the rich prairie grass, and
+one seemed lost in a wilderness of unvarying green. The heat-waves
+seemed to rise from the ground and quiver in the air.
+Soon a wind, soft at first, came from the southwest, but ere long
+became a hot blast, and reminded one of the heated air from an
+opened oven door. Added to other inconveniences came the intense
+thirst produced from the sun and dry atmosphere&mdash;and
+one might have cried "My kingdom for a drink!"&mdash;but there
+was no "kingdom."</p>
+
+<p>After riding about nine miles there came into view the homestead
+of Teddy McGovern&mdash;the only evidence of life seen on
+that long day's drive. Here was a deep well of cold water.
+Cheery words of greeting and hearty handclasps evidenced that
+all were neighbors in those days. Again turning westward a
+corner of the homestead was passed where were several little
+graves among young growing trees&mdash;"Heartache corner" it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+might have been called. The sun shone as relentless there as
+upon all Nebraska, that scorching summer.</p>
+
+<p>As the afternoon wore on, looking across the prairies the heat-waves
+seemed to pulse and beckon us on; the lure of the prairies
+was upon us, and had we chosen we could not but have obeyed.
+Only the pioneers knew how to endure, to close their eyes to exclude
+the burning light, and close the lips to the withering heat.</p>
+
+<p>At last our destination was reached at the homestead of the
+justice of the peace. We were gladly seated to a good supper
+with the host and family of growing boys. After the meal the
+"Justice Court" was held out of doors in the shade of the east
+side of the house, there being more room and "more air" outside.
+The constable, the offender, the witness and attorney and
+a few neighbors constituted the prairie court, and doubtless the
+decisions were as legal and as lasting as those of more imposing
+surroundings of later days.</p>
+
+<p>But the joy of the day had only just begun, for as the sun
+went down, so did even the hot wind, leaving the air so heavy
+and motionless and oppressive one felt his lungs closing up.
+The boys of the family sought sleep out of doors, the others
+under the low roof of a two-roomed log house. Sleep was impossible,
+rest unknown until about midnight, when mighty peals
+of thunder and brilliant lightning majestically announced the
+oncoming Nebraska storm. No lights were needed, as nature's
+electricity was illuminatingly sufficient. The very logs quivered
+with the thunder's reverberations, and soon a terrific wind loaded
+with hail beat against the little house until one wondered
+whether it were better to be roasted alive by nature's consuming
+heat, or torn asunder by the warring elements. But the storm
+beat out its fury, and with daylight Old Sol peeped over the
+prairies with a drenched but smiling face.</p>
+
+<p>Adieus were made and the party started homeward. After a
+few miles' travel the unusual number of grasshoppers was commented
+upon, and soon the air was filled with their white bodies
+and beating wings; then the alarming fact dawned upon the
+travelers that this was a grasshopper raid. The pioneers had
+lived through the terrors of Indian raids, but this assault from
+an enemy outside of the human realm was a new experience.
+The ponies were urged eastward, but the hoppers cheerfully
+kept pace and were seen to be outdistancing the travelers. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>
+filled the air and sky and obliterated even the horizon. Heat,
+thirst, distance were all submerged in the appalling dread of
+what awaited.</p>
+
+<p>As the sun went down the myriads of grasshoppers "went to
+roost." Every vegetable, every weed and blade of grass bore its
+burden. On the clothes-line the hoppers were seated two and
+three deep; and upon the windlass rope which drew the bucket
+from the well they clung and entwined their bodies.</p>
+
+<p>The following morning the hungry millions raised in the air,
+saluted the barren landscape and proceeded to set an emulating
+pace for even the busy bee. They flew and beat about, impudently
+slapping their wings against the upturned, anxious faces,
+and weary eyes, trying to penetrate through the apparent snowstorm&mdash;the
+air filled with the white bodies of the ravenous
+hordes. This appalling sight furnished diversion sufficient to
+the inhabitants of the little community for that day.</p>
+
+<p>People moved quietly about, in subdued tones wondering what
+the outcome would be. How long would the hoppers remain?
+Would they deposit their eggs to hatch the following spring and
+thus perpetuate their species? Would the old progenitors return?</p>
+
+<p>But, true to the old Persian proverb, "this too, passed away."
+The unwelcome intruders departed leaving us with an occasional
+old boot-leg, or leather strap, or dried rubber, from which the
+cormorants had sucked the "juice."</p>
+
+<p>The opening of the next spring was cold and rainy. Not
+many of the grasshopper eggs hatched. Beautiful Nebraska
+was herself again and "blossomed as the rose."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SUFFRAGE IN NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Statement by Mrs. Gertrude M. McDowell</i></p>
+
+<p>When I was requested to write a short article in regard to
+woman's suffrage in Nebraska I thought it would be an easy
+task. As the days passed and my thoughts became confusedly
+spread over the whole question from its incipiency, it proved to
+be not an easy task but a most difficult one. There was so much
+of interest that one hardly knew where to begin and what to
+leave unsaid.</p>
+
+<p>This question has been of life-long interest to me and I have
+always been in full sympathy with the movement. When the
+legislature in 1882 submitted the suffrage amendment to the
+people of the state of Nebraska for their decision, we were exceedingly
+anxious concerning the outcome.</p>
+
+<p>A state suffrage association was formed. Mrs. Brooks of
+Omaha was elected president; Mrs. Bittenbender of Lincoln,
+recording secretary; Gertrude M. McDowell of Fairbury, corresponding
+secretary.</p>
+
+<p>There were many enthusiastic workers throughout the state.
+Among them, I remember Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby, of Beatrice,
+whom we considered our general; Mrs. Lucinda Russell and
+Mrs. Mary Holmes of Tecumseh, Mrs. Annie M. Steele of Fairbury,
+Mrs. A. J. Sawyer, Mrs. A. J. Caldwell, and Mrs. Deborah
+King of Lincoln, Mrs. E. M. Correll of Hebron and many more
+that I do not now recall.</p>
+
+<p>There were many enthusiastic men over the state who gave the
+cause ardent support. Senator E. M. Correll of Hebron was
+ever on the alert to aid in convention work and to speak a word
+which might carry conviction to some unbeliever.</p>
+
+<p>Some years previous to our campaign, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
+and Lucy Stone on one of their lecture tours in the West were
+so impressed with the enthusiasm and good work of Hon. E. M.
+Correll that they elected him president of the National Suffrage
+Association, for one year. I also recall Judge Ben S. Baker,
+now of Omaha, and C. F. Steele of Fairbury, as staunch sup<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>porters
+of the measure. During the campaign, many national
+workers were sent into the state, among them Susan B. Anthony,
+Phoebe Couzens, Elizabeth Saxon of New Orleans, and others.
+They directed and did valiant work in the cause. We failed to
+carry the measure in the state, but we are glad to note that it
+carried in our own town of Fairbury.</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to the indomitable personality of our Nebraska women,
+they began immediately to plan for another campaign. In 1914,
+our legislature again submitted an amendment and it was again
+defeated. Since then I have been more than ever in favor of
+making the amendment a national one, President Wilson to the
+contrary notwithstanding&mdash;not because we think the educational
+work is being entirely lost, but because so much time and
+money are being wasted on account of our foreign population
+and their attitude towards reform. It is a grave and a great
+question. One thing we are assured of, viz: that we will never
+give up our belief in the final triumph of our great cause.</p>
+
+<p>It is a far cry from the first woman's suffrage convention in
+1850, brought about by the women who were excluded from acting
+as delegates at the anti-slavery convention in London in
+1840.</p>
+
+<p>Thus a missionary work was begun then and there for the
+emancipation of women in "the land of the free and the home
+of the brave." We can never be grateful enough to Lucretia
+Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and other
+noble, self-sacrificing women who did so much pioneer work in
+order to bring about better laws for women and in order to
+change the moth-eaten thought of the world.</p>
+
+<p>Many felt somewhat discouraged when the election returns
+from New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York announced the
+defeat of the measure, but really when we remember the long
+list of states that have equal suffrage we have reason to rejoice
+and to take new courage. We now have Wyoming, Kansas,
+Utah, Idaho, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada,
+Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Illinois, besides the
+countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, New
+Zealand, Australia, Nova Scotia, and some parts of England.</p>
+
+<p>In the future when the cobwebs have all been swept from the
+mind of the world and everyone is enjoying the new atmosphere
+of equal rights only a very few will realize the struggle these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+brave women endured in order to bring about better conditions
+for the world.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center"><i>Statement by Lucy L. Correll</i></p>
+
+<p>Hebron, Thayer county, Nebraska, was the cradle of the Nebraska
+woman suffrage movement, as this was the first community
+in the state to organize a permanent woman's suffrage
+association.</p>
+
+<p>Previous to this organization the subject had been agitated
+through editorials in the Hebron <i>Journal</i>, and by a band of progressive,
+thinking women. Upon their request the editor of the
+<i>Journal</i>, E. M. Correll, prepared an address upon "Woman and
+Citizenship." Enthusiasm was aroused, and a column of the
+<i>Journal</i> was devoted to the interests of women, and was ably
+edited by the coterie of ladies having the advancement of the
+legal status of women at heart.</p>
+
+<p>Through the efforts of Mr. Correll, Susan B. Anthony was induced
+to come to Hebron and give her lecture on "Bread versus
+the Ballot," on October 30, 1877. Previous to this time many
+self-satisfied women believed they had all the "rights" they
+wanted, but they were soon awakened to a new consciousness of
+their true status wherein they discovered their "rights" were
+only "privileges."</p>
+
+<p>On April 15, 1879, Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, upon invitation,
+lectured in Hebron and organized the Thayer County
+Woman's Suffrage Association. This society grew from fifteen,
+the number at organization, to about seventy-five, many leading
+business men becoming members.</p>
+
+<p>Other organizations in the state followed, and at the convening
+of the Nebraska legislature of 1881, a joint resolution providing
+for the submission to the electors of this state an amendment to
+section 1, article VII, of the constitution, was presented by
+Representative E. M. Correll, and mainly through his efforts
+passed the house by the necessary three-fifths majority, and the
+senate by twenty-two to eight, but was defeated at the polls.</p>
+
+<p>During that memorable campaign of 1881-82, Lucy Stone
+Blackwell, and many other talented women of note, from the
+eastern states, lectured in Nebraska for the advancement of
+women, leaving the impress of the nobility of their characters
+upon the women of the middle West.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Thayer County Woman's Suffrage Association was highly
+honored, as several of its members held positions of trust in the
+state association, and one of its members, Hon. E. M. Correll,
+who was publishing the <i>Woman's Journal</i>, at Lincoln, at the
+time of the annual conference of the American Woman's Suffrage
+Association, at Louisville, Kentucky, in October, 1881,
+was elected to the important position of president of that national
+organization, in recognition of the work he had performed
+for the advancement of the cause of "Equality before the Law."</p>
+
+<p>This association served its time and purpose and after many
+years was instrumental in organizing the Hebron Library Association.</p>
+
+<p>The constitution and by-laws of this first woman's suffrage
+association of the state are still well preserved. The first officers
+were: Susan E. Ferguson, president; Harriet G. Huse,
+vice president; Barbara J. Thompson, secretary; Lucy L. Correll,
+treasurer; A. Martha Vermillion, corresponding secretary.
+Of these first officers only one is now living.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>AN INDIAN RAID</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Ernest E. Correll</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1869, Fayette Kingsley and family resided on the Haney
+homestead at the southeast corner of Hebron, where Mr. Haney
+had been brutally murdered in the presence of his three daughters
+in 1867, the daughters escaping and eventually reaching
+their home, "back east."</p>
+
+<p>On May 26, 1869, "Old Daddy" Marks, accompanied by a
+young man for protection, drove over from Rose creek to warn
+Kingsley's that the Indians were on a raid. While they were
+talking, Mr. Kingsley heard the pit-pat of the Indian horses on
+the wet prairie. From the west were riding thirty-six Indians,
+led by a white man, whose hat and fine boots attracted attention
+in contrast to the bare-headed Indians wearing moccasins.</p>
+
+<p>In the house were enough guns and revolvers to shoot sixty
+rounds without loading. When Mrs. Kingsley saw the Indians
+approaching she scattered the arms and ammunition on the table
+where the men could get them. There were two Spencer carbines,
+a double-barreled shotgun, and two navy revolvers, besides
+other firearms.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kingsley and Charlie Miller (a young man from the East
+who was boarding with them) went into the house, got the guns,
+and leveled them on the Indians, who had come within 250 yards
+of the log-house, but who veered off on seeing the guns. One of
+the party at the house exclaimed, "The Indians are going past
+and turning off!" Mr. Marks then said, "Then for God's sake,
+don't shoot!"</p>
+
+<p>The Indians went on down the river and drove away eleven
+of King Fisher's horses. Two of Fisher's boys lay concealed in
+the grass and saw the white leader of the Indians remove his
+hat, showing his close-cut hair. He talked the Indian language
+and ordered the redskins to drive up a pony, which proved to
+be lame and was not taken. The Indians continued their raid
+nearly to Meridian.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile at Kingsley's preparations were made for a hurried
+flight. Mr. Marks said he must go home to protect his own
+family on Rose creek, but the young man accompanying him insisted
+that he cross the river and return by way of Alexander's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+ranch on the Big Sandy, as otherwise they would be following
+the Indians. Mr. Kingsley, with his wife and three children,
+went with them to Alexander's ranch, staying there two weeks
+until Governor Butler formed a company of militia composed
+of the settlers, to protect the frontier. A company of the Second
+U. S. Cavalry was sent here and stationed west of Hackney,
+later that summer. The Indians killed a man and his son, and
+took their horses, less than two miles from the soldiers' camp.</p>
+
+<p>On returning to the homestead, two cows and two yoke of
+oxen were found all right. Before the flight, Mr. Kingsley had
+torn down the pen, letting out a calf and a pig. Sixty days
+later, on recovering the pig, Mr. Kingsley noticed a sore spot on
+its back, and he pulled out an arrow point about three inches
+long.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had taken all the bedding and eatables, even
+taking fresh baked bread out of the oven. They tore open the
+feather-bed and scattered the contents about&mdash;whether for
+amusement or in search of hidden treasures is not known. They
+found a good pair of boots, and cut out the fine leather tops
+(perhaps for moccasins) but left the heavy soles. From a new
+harness they also took all the fine straps and left the tugs and
+heavy leather. They had such a load that at the woodpile they
+discarded Mr. Kingsley's double-barreled shotgun, which had
+been loaded with buckshot for them.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Wilson, a lawyer who boarded with Mr. Kingsley,
+had gone to warn King Fisher, leaving several greenbacks inside
+a copy of the Nebraska statutes. These the Indians found and
+appropriated&mdash;perhaps their white leader was a renegade lawyer
+accustomed to getting money out of the statutes.</p>
+
+<p>In 1877 Mr. Kingsley's family had a narrow escape from
+death in a peculiar manner. After a heavy rain the walls of his
+basement caved in. His children occupied two beds standing
+end to end and filling the end of the basement. When the rocks
+from the wall caved in, both beds were crushed to the floor and
+a little pet dog on one of the beds was killed, but the children
+had no bones broken. Presumably the bedding protected them
+and the breaking of the bedsteads broke the jar of the rocks on
+their bodies.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kingsley has a deeply religious nature, and believes that
+Divine protection has been with him through life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. E. A. Russell</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In September, 1884, Rev. E. A. Russell was transferred by the
+American Baptist Publication Society from his work in the East
+to Nebraska, and settled on an eighty-acre ranch near Ord. Mr.
+Russell had held pastorates for twenty-six years in New Hampshire,
+New York, and Indiana, but desired to come west for improvement
+in health. He was accompanied by his family of
+seven. Western life was strange and exciting with always the
+possibility of an Indian raid, and dangerous prairie fires. It
+was the custom to plow a wide furrow around the home buildings
+as a precaution against the latter.</p>
+
+<p>The first year in Nebraska, our oldest daughter, Alice M. Russell,
+was principal of the Ord school, and Edith taught in the
+primary grade.</p>
+
+<p>On the fifth of August, 1885, late in the afternoon, a terrific
+hail-storm swept over the country. All crops were destroyed;
+even the grass was beaten into the earth, so there was little left
+as pasture for cattle. Pigs and poultry were killed by dozens
+and the plea of a tender-hearted girl, that a poor calf, beaten
+down by hailstones, might be brought "right into the kitchen,"
+was long remembered. Not a window in our house remained
+unbroken. The floor was covered with rain and broken glass
+and ice; and our new, white, hard-finished walls and ceilings
+were bespattered and disfigured.</p>
+
+<p>This hail-storm was a general calamity. The whole country
+suffered and many families returned, disheartened, to friends in
+the East.</p>
+
+<p>The Baptist church was so shattered that, for its few members,
+it was no easy task to repair it. But they soon put it in
+good condition, only to see it utterly wrecked by a small cyclone
+the following October.</p>
+
+<p>The income that year from a forty-acre cornfield was one small
+"nubbin" less than three inches in length.</p>
+
+<p>All these things served to emphasize the heart-rending stories<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+we had heard of sufferings of early pioneers. The nervous shock
+sustained by the writer was so great that a year elapsed before
+she was able to see clearly, or to read. As she was engaged on
+the four years' post-graduate course of the Chautauqua Literary
+and Scientific Circle, her eldest son read aloud to her during
+that year and her work was completed at the same time as he
+and his younger sister graduated with the class of 1887.</p>
+
+<p>Some time later the writer organized a Chautauqua Circle,
+Ord's first literary society. Its president was a Mr. King and its
+secretary E. J. Clements, now of Lincoln, Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>During our second winter in Nebraska the writer did not see
+a woman to speak to after her daughters went to their schools in
+Lincoln, where one was teaching and the other a University
+pupil.</p>
+
+<p>Of the "Minnie Freeman Storm" in January, 1888, all our
+readers have doubtless heard. Our two youngest boys were at
+school a mile away; but fortunately we lived south of town and
+they reached home in safety.</p>
+
+<p>In 1881 Fort Hartsuff, twelve miles away, had been abandoned.
+The building of this fort had been the salvation of pioneers,
+giving them work and wages after the terrible scourge of
+locusts in 1874. It was still the pride of those who had been
+enabled to remain in the desolated country and we heard much
+about it. So, when a brother came from New England to visit
+an only sister on the "Great American Desert," we took an
+early start one morning and visited "The Fort." The buildings,
+at that time, were in fairly good condition. Officers' quarters,
+barracks, commissary buildings, stables, and other structures
+were of concrete, so arranged as to form a hollow square; and,
+near by on a hill, was a circular stockade, which was said to be
+connected with the fort by an underground passage.</p>
+
+<p>A prominent figure in Ord in 1884 was an attractive young
+lady who later married Dr. F. D. Haldeman. In 1904 Mrs.
+Haldeman organized <i>Coronado</i> chapter, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. Her sister, Dr. Minerva Newbecker, has practiced
+medicine in Ord for many years. Another sister, Clara
+Newbecker, has long been a teacher in the public schools of Chicago.
+These three sisters, who descended from Lieutenant Philip
+Newbecker, of Revolutionary fame, and Mrs. Nellie Coombs, are
+the only living charter members of <i>Coronado</i> chapter. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+chapter was named in honor of that governor of New Galicia in
+Mexico who is supposed to have passed through some portion of
+our territory in 1540 when he fitted out an expedition to seek
+and christianize the people of that wonderful region where
+"golden bells and dishes of solid gold" hung thick upon the
+trees.</p>
+
+<p>About all that is definitely known is that he set up a cross at
+the big river, with the inscription: "Thus far came Francisco
+de Coronado, General of an expedition."</p>
+
+<p>And now, in 1915, the family of seven, by one marriage after
+another, has dwindled to a lonely&mdash;two.</p>
+
+<p>The head of our household, with recovered health, served his
+denomination twenty years in this great field, comprising Nebraska,
+Upper Colorado, and Wyoming. He retired in 1904 to
+the sanctuary of a quiet home.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES OF FORT CALHOUN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By W. H. Allen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I reached Fort Calhoun in May, 1856, with my friends, Mr.
+and Mrs. John Allen; coming with team and wagon from Edgar
+county, Illinois. I was then eleven years old. Fort Calhoun had
+no soldiers, but some of the Fort Atkinson buildings were still
+standing. I remember the liberty pole, the magazine, the old
+brick-yard, at which places we children played and picked up
+trinkets. There was one general store then, kept by Pink Allen
+and Jascoby, and but few settlers. Among those I remember
+were, my uncle, Thomas Allen; E. H. Clark, a land agent; Col.
+Geo. Stevens and family, who started a hotel in 1856, and Orrin
+Rhoades, whose family lived on a claim five miles west of town.
+That summer my father took a claim near Rhoades', building a
+log house and barn at the edge of the woods. We moved there
+in the fall, and laid in a good supply of wood for the huge fireplace,
+used for cooking as well as heating. Our rations were
+scanty, consisting of wild game for meat, corn bread, potatoes and
+beans purchased at Fort Calhoun. The next spring we cleared
+some small patches for garden and corn, which we planted and
+tended with a hoe. There were no houses between ours and Fort
+Calhoun, nor any bridges. Rhoades' house and ours were the
+only ones between Fontenelle and Fort Calhoun. Members of
+the Quincy colony at Fontenelle went to Council Bluffs for flour
+and used our place as a half-way house, stopping each way over
+night. How we children did enjoy their company, and stories
+of the Indians. We were never molested by the red men, only
+that they would come begging food occasionally.</p>
+
+<p>I had no schooling until 1860 when I worked for my board
+in Fort Calhoun at E. H. Clark's and attended public school a
+few months. The next two years I did likewise, boarding at
+Alex. Reed's.</p>
+
+<p>From 1866 to 1869 inclusive I cut cord-wood and railroad ties
+which I hauled to Omaha for use in the building of the Union<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+Pacific railroad. I received from $8.00 to $15.00 per cord for
+my wood, and $1.00 each for ties.</p>
+
+<p>Deer were plentiful and once when returning from Omaha I
+saw an old deer and fawn. Unhitching my team I jumped on
+one horse and chased the young one down, caught and tamed it.
+I put a bell on its neck and let it run about at will. It came
+to its sleeping place every night until the next spring when it
+left, never to be seen by us again.</p>
+
+<p>In the fall of 1864 I was engaged by Edward Creighton to
+freight with a wagon train to Denver, carrying flour and telegraph
+supplies. The cattle were corralled and broke at Cole's
+creek, west of Omaha known then as "Robber's Roost," and I
+thought it great fun to yoke and break those wild cattle. We
+started in October with forty wagons, seven yoke of oxen to each
+wagon. I went as far as Fort Cottonwood, one hundred miles
+beyond Fort Kearny, reaching there about November 20. There
+about a dozen of us grew tired of the trip and turned back with
+a wagon and one ox team. On our return, at Plum creek, thirty-fives
+miles west of Fort Kearny we saw where a train had been
+attacked by Indians, oxen killed, wagons robbed and abandoned.
+We waded the rivers, Loup Fork and Platte, which was a cold
+bath at that time of year.</p>
+
+<p>I lived at this same place in the woods until I took a homestead
+three miles farther west in 1868.</p>
+
+<p>My father's home was famous at that time, also years afterward,
+as a beautiful spot, in which to hold Fourth of July celebrations,
+school picnics, etc., and the hospitality and good cooking
+of my mother, "Aunt Polly Allen" as she was familiarly
+called, was known to all the early settlers in this section of the
+country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES OF WASHINGTON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Emily Bottorff Allen</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I came to Washington county, Nebraska, with my parents in
+the fall of 1865, by ox team from Indiana. We stopped at
+Rockport, where father and brothers got work at wood chopping.
+They built a house by digging into a hill and using logs to finish
+the front. The weather was delightful, and autumn's golden
+tints in the foliage were beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>We gathered hazel nuts and wild grapes, often scaring a deer
+from the underbrush. Our neighbors were the Shipleys, who
+were very hospitable, and shared their garden products with us.</p>
+
+<p>During the winter father bought John Frazier's homestead,
+but our home was still in a dugout, in which we were comfortable.
+We obtained all needed supplies from Fort Calhoun or
+Omaha.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring Amasa Warrick, from Cuming City, came to our
+home in search of a teacher and offered me the position, which
+I accepted. Elam Clark of Fort Calhoun endorsed my teacher's
+certificate. I soon commenced teaching at Cuming City, and
+pupils came for miles around. I boarded at George A. Brigham's.
+Mr. Brigham was county surveyor, postmaster, music
+teacher, as well as land agent, and a very fine man.</p>
+
+<p>One day, while busy with my classes, the door opened and
+three large Indians stole in, seating themselves near the stove.
+I was greatly alarmed and whispered to one of my pupils to
+hasten to the nearest neighbor for assistance. As soon as the
+lad left, one Indian went to the window and asked "Where boy
+go?" I said, "I don't know." The three Indians chattered
+together a moment, and then the spokesman said. "I kill you
+sure," but seeing a man coming in the distance with a gun, they
+all hurried out and ran over the hill.</p>
+
+<p>I taught at Cuming City until the school fund was exhausted,
+and by that time the small schoolhouse on Long creek was completed.
+Allen Craig and Thomas McDonald were directors. I
+boarded at home and taught the first school in this district, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+fourteen pupils enrolled. At this time Judge Bowen of Omaha
+was county superintendent, and I went there to have my certificate
+renewed.</p>
+
+<p>When all the public money in the Long Creek district was
+used up, I went back to Cuming City to teach. The population
+of this district had increased to such an extent that I needed an
+assistant, and I was authorized to appoint one of my best pupils
+to the position. I selected Vienna Cooper, daughter of Dr. P. J.
+Cooper. I boarded at the Lippincott home, known as the "Halfway
+House" on the stage line between Omaha and Decatur. It
+was a stage station where horses were changed and drivers and
+passengers stopped over night.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of our summer term we held a picnic and entertainment
+on the Methodist church grounds, using the lumber
+for the new church for our platform and seats. This entertainment
+was pronounced the grandest affair ever held in the West.</p>
+
+<p>The school funds of the Cuming City district being again exhausted,
+I returned to Long Creek district in the fall of 1867,
+and taught as long as there was any money in the treasury. By
+that time the village of Blair had sprung up, absorbing Cuming
+City and De Soto, and I was employed to teach in their new
+log schoolhouse. T. M. Carter was director of the Blair district.
+Orrin Colby of Bell Creek, was county superintendent, and he
+visited the schools of the county, making the rounds on foot. I
+taught at Blair until April, 1869, when I was married to William
+Henry Allen, a pioneer of Fort Calhoun. Our license was issued
+by Judge Stilts of Fort Calhoun, where we were married by Dr.
+Andrews. We raised our family in the Long Creek district, and
+still reside where we settled in those pioneer days.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES OF PIONEER LIFE AT FORT CALHOUN</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. N. J. Frazier Brooks</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>I came to Nebraska in the spring of 1857 from Edgar county,
+Illinois, with my husband, Thomas Frazier, and small daughter,
+Mary. We traveled in a wagon drawn by oxen, took a claim
+one and one-half miles south of Fort Calhoun and thought we
+were settling near what would be Nebraska's metropolis. My
+husband purchased slabs at the saw mill at Calhoun and built our
+shanty of one room with a deck roof. For our two yoke of oxen
+he made a shed of poles and grass and we all were comfortable
+and happy in our new home. In the spring Mr. Frazier broke
+prairie, put in the most extensive crops hereabouts, for my husband
+was young and ambitious. We had brought enough money
+with us to buy everything obtainable in this new country, but
+he would often say, "I'd hate to have the home folks see how
+you and Mary have to live." Deer were a common sight and
+we ate much venison; wild turkeys were also plentiful. They
+could be heard every morning and my husband would often go
+in our woods and get one for our meat.</p>
+
+<p>In 1859 he went to Boone county, Iowa, and bought a cow,
+hauling her home in a wagon. She soon had a heifer calf and
+we felt that our herd was well started. The following winter was
+so severe that during one storm we brought the cow in our house
+to save her. The spring of 1860 opened up fine and as we had
+prospered and were now making money from our crops we built
+us a frame house, bought a driving team, cows, built fences, etc.
+I still own this first claim, and although my visions of Fort Calhoun
+were never realized I know of no better place in which to
+live and my old neighbors, some few of whom are still here,
+proved to be everlasting friends.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES OF DE SOTO IN 1855</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Oliver Bouvier</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Mother Bouvier, a kind old soul, who settled in De Soto in
+the summer of 1855, had many hardships. Just above her log
+house, on the ridge, was the regular Indian trail and the Indians
+made it a point to stop at our house regularly, as they went to
+Fort Calhoun or to Omaha. She befriended them many times and
+they always treated her kindly. "Omaha Mary," who was often
+a caller at our house was always at the head of her band. She
+was educated and could talk French well to us. What she said
+was law with all the Indians. Our creek was thick with beavers
+and as a small boy I could not trap them, but she could, and had
+her traps there and collected many skins from our place. I
+wanted her to show me the trick of it, but she would never allow
+me to follow her. At one time I sneaked along and she caught
+me in the act and grabbed me by the collar and with a switch
+in her hand, gave me a severe warming. This same squaw was
+an expert with bow and arrow, and I have seen her speedily
+cross the Missouri river in a canoe with but one oar. Our wall
+was always black and greasy by the Indians sitting against it
+while they ate the plates of mush and sorghum my mother served
+them. I have caught many buffalo calves out on the prairies,
+and one I brought to our De Soto home and tamed it. My sister
+Adeline and myself tried to break it to drive with an ox hitched
+to a sled, but never succeeded to any great extent. One day
+Joseph La Flesche came along and offered us $50.00 for it and
+we sold it to him but he found he could not separate it from
+our herd, so bought a heifer, which it would follow and Mr.
+Joseph Boucha and myself took them up to the reservation for
+him. He entertained us warmly at his Indian quarters for two
+or three days. I have cured many buffalo steak (by the Indian
+method) and we used the meat on our table.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>REMINISCENCES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Thomas M. Carter</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the spring of 1855, with my brother, Alex Carter, E. P. and
+D. D. Stout, I left the beautiful hills and valleys of Ohio, to seek
+a home in the west. After four weeks of travel by steamboat
+and stage, horseback and afoot, we reached the town of Omaha,
+then only a small village. It took us fourteen days to make the
+trip from St. Louis to Omaha.</p>
+
+<p>While waiting at Kanesville or Council Bluffs as it is now
+called, we ascended the hills back of the town and gazed across
+to the Nebraska side. I thought of Daniel Boone as he wandered
+westward on the Kentucky hills looking into Ohio. "Fair
+was the scene that lay before the little band, that paused upon
+its toilsome way, to view the new found land."</p>
+
+<p>At St. Mary we met Peter A. Sarpy. He greeted us all warmly
+and invited all to get out of the stage and have a drink at
+his expense. As an inducement to settle in Omaha, we were
+each offered a lot anywhere on the townsite, if we would build
+on it, but we had started for De Soto, Washington county, and
+no ordinary offer could induce us to change our purpose.</p>
+
+<p>We thought that with such an excellent steamboat landing and
+quantities of timber in the vicinity, De Soto had as good a
+chance as Omaha to become the metropolis. We reached De
+Soto May 14, 1855, and found one log house finished and another
+under way. Zaremba Jackson, a newspaper man, and Dr. Finney
+occupied the log cabin and we boarded with them until we
+had located a claim and built a cabin upon the land we subsequently
+entered and upon which the city of Blair is now built.</p>
+
+<p>After I had built my cabin of peeled willow poles the Cuming
+City Claim Club warned me by writing on the willow poles of
+my cabin that if I did not abandon that claim before June 15,
+1855, I would be treated to a free bath in Fish creek and free
+transportation across the Missouri river. This however proved
+to be merely a bluff. I organized and was superintendent of the
+first Sunday school in Washington county in the spring of 1856.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The first board of trustees of the Methodist church in the
+county was appointed by Rev. A. G. White, on June 1, 1866, and
+consisted of the following members, Alex Carter, L. D. Cameron,
+James Van Horn, M. B. Wilds, and myself. The board met and
+resolved itself into a building committee and appointed me as
+chairman. We then proceeded to devise means to provide for a
+church building at Cuming City, by each member of the board
+subscribing fifty dollars. At the second meeting it was discovered
+that this was inadequate and it was deemed necessary for
+this subscription to be doubled. The church was built, the members
+of the committee hewing logs of elm, walnut, and oak for
+sills and hauling with ox teams. The church was not completely
+finished but was used for a place of worship. This building
+was moved under the supervision of Rev. Jacob Adriance and
+by his financial support from Cuming City to Blair in 1870.
+Later it was sold to the Christian church, moved off and remodeled
+and is still doing service as a church building in Blair.</p>
+
+<p>Jacob Adriance was the first regular Methodist pastor to be
+assigned to the mission extending from De Soto to Decatur.
+His first service was held at De Soto on May 3, 1857, at the home
+of my brother, Jacob Carter, a Baptist. The congregation consisted
+of Jacob Carter, his family of five, Alex Carter, myself
+and wife.</p>
+
+<p>The winter before Rev. Adriance came Isaac Collins was conducting
+protracted meetings in De Soto and so much interest
+was being aroused that some of the ruffians decided to break up
+the meetings. One night they threw a dead dog through a window
+hitting the minister in the back, knocking over the candles
+and leaving us in darkness. The minister straightened up and
+declared, "The devil isn't dead in De Soto yet."</p>
+
+<p>I was present at the Calhoun claim fight at which Mr. Goss
+was killed and Purple and Smith were wounded.</p>
+
+<p>The first little log school was erected on the townsite of Blair,
+the patrons cutting and hauling the lumber. I was the first
+director and Mrs. William Allen <i>nee</i> Emily Bottorff, first teacher.</p>
+
+<p>I served as worthy patriarch of the First Sons of Temperance
+organization in the county and lived in De Soto long enough to
+see the last of the whiskey traffic banished from that township.</p>
+
+<p>I have served many years in Washington county as school
+director, justice of the peace, and member of the county board.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In October, 1862, I joined the Second Nebraska cavalry for
+service on the frontier. Our regiment lost a few scalps and
+buried a number of Indians. We bivouacked on the plains,
+wrapped in our blankets, while the skies smiled propitiously
+over us and we dreamed of home and the girls we left behind
+us, until reveille called to find the drapery of our couch during
+the night had been reinforced by winding sheets of drifting snow.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FORT CALHOUN IN THE LATER FIFTIES</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. E. H. Clark</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>E. H. Clark came from Indiana in March, 1855, with Judge
+James Bradley, and was clerk of the district court in Nebraska
+under him. He became interested in Fort Calhoun, then the
+county-seat of Washington county. The town company employed
+him to survey it into town lots, plat the same, and advertise
+it. New settlers landed here that spring and lots were
+readily sold. In June, 1855, Mr. Clark contracted with the proprietors
+to put up a building on the townsite for a hotel; said
+building to be 24x48 feet, two stories high, with a wing of the
+same dimensions; the structure to be of hewn logs and put up
+in good style. For this he was to receive one-ninth interest in
+the town. Immediately he commenced getting out timber, boarding
+in the meantime with Major Arnold's family, and laboring
+under many disadvantages for want of skilled labor and teams,
+there being but one span of horses and seven yoke of cattle in
+the entire precinct at this time. What lumber was necessary
+for the building had to be obtained from Omaha at sixty dollars
+per thousand and hauled a circuitous route by the old Mormon
+trail. As an additional incident to his trials, one morning at
+breakfast Mr. Clark was told by Mrs. Arnold that the last mouthful
+was on the table. Major Arnold was absent for supplies and
+delayed, supposedly for lack of conveyance; whereupon Mr.
+Clark procured two yoke of oxen and started at once for Omaha
+for provisions and lumber. Never having driven oxen before
+he met with many mishaps. By traveling all night through
+rain and mud he reached sight of home next day at sunrise,
+when the oxen ran away upsetting the lumber and scattering
+groceries all over the prairies. Little was recovered except some
+bacon and a barrel of flour.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the hotel was ready for occupancy and Col. George
+Stevens with his family took up their residence there. It was
+the best hostelry in the west. Mr. Stevens was appointed postmaster
+and gave up one room to the office. The Stevens family
+were very popular everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. John B. Kuony were married at the Douglas
+house, Omaha, about 1855 and came to the new hotel as cooks;
+but soon afterward started a small store which in due time made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>
+them a fortune. This couple were also popular in business, as
+well as socially.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1856, my husband sent to Indiana for me. I went
+to St. Louis by train, then by boat to Omaha. I was three weeks
+on the boat, and had my gold watch and chain stolen from my
+cabin enroute. I brought a set of china dishes which were a
+family heirloom, clothes and bedding. The boxes containing
+these things we afterward used for table and lounge. My husband
+had a small log cabin ready on my arrival.</p>
+
+<p>I was met at Omaha by Thomas J. Allen with a wagon and
+ox team. He hauled building material and provisions and I sat
+on a nail keg all the way out. He drove through prairie grass
+as high as the oxen's back. I asked him how he ever learned the
+road. When a boat would come up the river every one would
+rush to buy furniture and provisions; I got a rocking chair in
+1857, the first one in the town. It was loaned out to sick folks
+and proved a treasure. In 1858 we bought a clock of John
+Bauman of Omaha, paying $45.00 for it, and it is still a perfect
+time piece.</p>
+
+<p>My father, Dr. J. P. Andrews, came in the spring of 1857 and
+was a practicing physician, also a minister for many years here.
+He was the first Sunday school superintendent here and held
+that office continually until 1880 when he moved to Blair.</p>
+
+<p>In 1858 the Vanier brothers started a steam grist mill which
+was a great convenience for early settlers. In 1861 Elam Clark
+took it on a mortgage and ran it for many years. Mr. Clark
+also carried on a large fur trade with the Indians, and they
+would go east to the bottoms to hunt and camp for two or three
+weeks.</p>
+
+<p>At one time I had planned a dinner party and invited all my
+lady friends. I prepared the best meal possible for those days,
+with my china set all in place and was very proud to see it all
+spread, and when just ready to invite my guests to the table, a
+big Indian appeared in the doorway and said, "hungry" in
+broken accents. I said, "Yes I get you some" and started to
+the stove but he said, "No," and pointed to the table. I brought
+a generous helping in a plate but he walked out doors, gave a
+shrill yell which brought several others of his tribe and they
+at once sat down, ate everything in sight, while the guests
+looked on in fear and trembling; having finished they left in
+great glee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>SOME ITEMS FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. May Allen Lazure</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Alfred D. Jones, the first postmaster of Omaha, tells in the
+<i>Pioneer Record</i> of the first Fourth of July celebration in Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>"On July 4, 1854, I was employed in the work of surveying
+the townsite of Omaha. At this time there were only two
+cabins on the townsite, my postoffice building and the company
+claim house. The latter was used as our boarding house. Inasmuch
+as the Fourth would be a holiday, I concluded it would be
+a novelty to hold a celebration on Nebraska soil. I therefore
+announced that we would hold a celebration and invited the
+people of Council Bluffs, by inserting a notice in the Council
+Bluffs paper, and requested that those who would participate
+should prepare a lunch for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"We got forked stakes and poles along the river, borrowed
+bolts of sheeting from the store of James A. Jackson; and thus
+equipped we erected an awning to shelter from the sun those
+who attended. Anvils were procured, powder purchased and
+placed in charge of cautious gunners, to make a noise for the
+crowd. The celebration was held on the present high school
+grounds.</p>
+
+<p>"The picnickers came with their baskets, and the gunner discharged
+his duty nobly. A stranger, in our midst, was introduced
+as Mr. Sawyer, an ex-congressman from Ohio."</p>
+
+<p>I had a life-long acquaintance with one of those early picnickers,
+Mrs. Rhoda Craig, a daughter of Thomas Allen, who
+built the first house in Omaha. Mrs. Craig was the first white
+girl to live on the site of Omaha. She often told the story of
+that Fourth of July in Omaha. Their fear of the Indians was so
+great that as soon as dinner was over, they hurried to their
+boats and rowed across to Council Bluffs for safety.</p>
+
+<p>Another pioneer woman was Aimee Taggart Kenny, who came
+to Fontenelle with her parents when a small child. Her father
+was a Baptist missionary in Nebraska, and his earliest work was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+with the Quincy colony. I have heard her tell the following
+experience:</p>
+
+<p>"On several occasions we were warned that the Indians were
+about to attack us. In great fear, we gathered in the schoolhouse
+and watched all night, the men all well armed. But we
+were never molested. Another time mother was alone with us
+children. Seeing the Indians approaching we locked the doors,
+went into the attic by means of an outside ladder and looked
+out through a crack. We saw the red men try the door, peep
+in at the windows, and then busy themselves chewing up
+mother's home-made hop-yeast, which had been spread out to
+dry. They made it into balls and tossed it all away."</p>
+
+<p>John T. Bell of Newberg, Oregon, contributed the following:</p>
+
+<p>"I have a pleasant recollection of your grandfather Allen.
+My father's and mother's people were all southerners and there
+was a kindliness about Mr. and Mrs. Allen that reminded me of
+our own folks back in Illinois. I often stopped to see them
+when going to and from the Calhoun mill.</p>
+
+<p>"I was also well acquainted with Mrs. E. H. Clark, and Rev.
+Mr. Taggart and his family were among the most highly esteemed
+residents of our little settlement of Fontenelle. Mr.
+Taggart was a man of fine humor. It was the custom in those
+early days for the entire community to get together on New
+Year's day and have a dinner at 'The College.' There would
+be speech-making, and I remember that on one of these occasions
+Mr. Taggart said that no doubt the time would come when we
+would all know each others' real names and why we left the
+states.</p>
+
+<p>"The experiences of the Bell family in the early Nebraska
+days were ones of privation. We came to Nebraska in 1856
+quite well equipped with stock, four good horses, and four young
+cows which we had driven behind the wagon from western Illinois.
+The previous winter had been very mild and none of the
+settlers were prepared for the dreadful snow storm which came
+on the last day of November and continued for three days and
+nights. Our horses and cows were in a stable made by squaring
+up the head of a small gulch and covering the structure with
+slough grass. At the end of the storm when father could get out
+to look after the stock there was no sign of the stable. The low
+ground it occupied was levelled off by many feet of snow. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+finally located the roof and found the stock alive and that was
+about all. The animals suffered greatly that winter and when
+spring came we had left only one horse and no cows. That lone
+horse was picking the early grass when he was bitten in the nose
+by a rattlesnake and died from the effects. One of those horses,
+'Old Fox,' was a noble character. We had owned him as long
+as I could remember, and when he died we children all cried.
+I have since owned a good many horses but not one equalled Old
+Fox in the qualities that go to make up a perfect creature.</p>
+
+<p>"After the civil war my brother Will and I were the only
+members of our family left in Nebraska. We served with Grant
+and Sherman and then went back to Fontenelle, soon afterward
+beginning the improvement of our farm on Bell creek in the
+western part of the county. By that time conditions had so improved
+in Nebraska that hardships were not so common. I was
+interested in tree planting even as a boy and one of the distinct
+recollections of our first summer in Nebraska was getting so severely
+poisoned in the woods on the Elkhorn when digging up
+young sprouts, that I was entirely blind. A colored man living
+in Fontenelle told father that white paint would cure me and so
+I was painted wherever there was a breaking out, with satisfactory
+results.</p>
+
+<p>"Later the planting of cottonwood, box elder, maple, and
+other trees became a general industry in Nebraska and I am
+confident that I planted twenty thousand trees, chiefly cottonwood.
+To J. Sterling Morton, one of Nebraska's earliest and
+most useful citizens, Nebraska owes a debt of gratitude. He
+was persistent in advocating the planting of trees. In his office
+hung a picture of an oak tree; on his personal cards was a picture
+of an oak tree with the legend 'Plant Trees'; on his letterheads,
+on his envelopes was borne the same injunction and the
+picture of an oak tree. On the marble doorstep of his home
+was cut a picture of an oak tree and the words 'Plant Trees';
+on the ground-glass of the entrance door was the same emblem.
+I went to a theater he had built and on the drop curtain was a
+picture of an oak tree and the words 'Plant Trees.' Today the
+body of this useful citizen lies buried under the trees he planted
+in Wyuka cemetery, near Nebraska City."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>COUNTY SEAT OF WASHINGTON COUNTY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Frank McNeely</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In 1855 an act was passed by the territorial legislature reorganizing
+Washington county and designating Fort Calhoun as
+the county-seat.</p>
+
+<p>De Soto, a small village five miles north of Fort Calhoun,
+wished the county-seat to be moved there. In the winter of
+1858 a crowd of De Soto citizens organized and with arms went
+to Fort Calhoun to take the county-seat by force. Fort Calhoun
+citizens barricaded themselves in the log courthouse and held off
+the De Soto band until the afternoon of the second day, when
+by compromise, the county-seat was turned over to De Soto.
+One man was killed in this contest, in which I was a participant.</p>
+
+<p>The county-seat remained in De Soto until an election in the
+fall of 1866 when the vote of the people relocated it at Fort
+Calhoun, where it remained until 1869. An election in the latter
+year made Blair the county-seat.</p>
+
+<p>A courthouse was built in Blair, the present county-seat of
+Washington county, in 1889, at a cost of $50,000.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Note</span>&mdash;In the early days every new town, and they were all
+new, was ambitious to become the county-seat and many of them
+hopefully sought the honor of becoming the capital of the territory.
+Washington county had its full share of aspiring towns
+and most of them really got beyond the paper stage. There
+were De Soto, Fort Calhoun, Rockport, Cuming City, and last but
+not least&mdash;Fontenelle, then in Washington county, now a "deserted
+village" in Dodge county. Of these only Fort Calhoun
+remains more than a memory. De Soto was founded by Potter
+C. Sullivan and others in 1854, and in 1857 had about five hundred
+population. It began to go down in 1859, and when the
+city of Blair was started its decline was rapid. Rockport, which
+was in the vicinity of the fur trading establishments of early
+days, was a steamboat landing of some importance and had at
+one time a population of half a hundred or more. Now only the
+beautiful landscape remains. Cuming City, like De Soto, received
+its death blow when Blair was founded, and now the
+townsite is given over to agricultural purposes.</p></blockquote><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE STORY OF THE TOWN OF FONTENELLE</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Eda Mead</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>When Nebraska was first organized as a territory, a party of
+people in Quincy, Illinois, conceived the idea of starting a city
+in the new territory and thus making their fortune. They accordingly
+sent out a party of men to select a site.</p>
+
+<p>These men reached Omaha in 1854. There they met Logan
+Fontenelle, chief of the Omahas, who held the land along the
+Platte and Elkhorn rivers. He agreed to direct them to a place
+favorable for a town. Upon reaching the spot, where the present
+village is now situated, they were so pleased that they did
+not look farther, but paid the chief one hundred dollars for the
+right to claim and locate twenty square miles of land. This consisted
+of land adjoining the Elkhorn river, then ascending a high
+bluff, a tableland ideal for the location of the town.</p>
+
+<p>These men thought the Elkhorn was navigable and that they
+could ship their goods from Quincy by way of the Missouri,
+Platte, and Elkhorn rivers.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the spring of 1855 a number of the colonists, bringing
+their household goods, left Quincy on a small boat, the
+"Mary Cole," expecting to reach Fontenelle by way of the Elkhorn;
+and then use the boat as a packet to points on the Platte
+and Elkhorn rivers.</p>
+
+<p>But the boat struck a snag in the Missouri and, with a part of
+the cargo, was lost. The colonists then took what was saved
+overland to Fontenelle.</p>
+
+<p>By the first of May, 1855, there were sufficient colonists on
+the site to hold the claims. Then each of the fifty members
+drew by lot for the eighteen lots each one was to hold. The first
+choice fell to W. H. Davis. He chose the land along the river,
+fully convinced of its superior situation as a steamboat landing.</p>
+
+<p>The colonists then built houses of cottonwood timber, and a
+store and hotel were started. Thus the little town of about two
+hundred inhabitants was started with great hopes of soon becoming
+a large city.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Land on the edge of the bluff had been set aside for a college
+building. This was called Collegeview. Here a building was
+begun in 1856 and completed in 1859. This was the first advanced
+educational institution to be chartered west of the Missouri
+river.</p>
+
+<p>In 1865 this building was burned. Another building was immediately
+erected, but after a few years' struggle for patronage,
+they found it was doomed to die, so negotiated with the people
+of Crete, Nebraska, and the Congregational organizations (for
+it was built by the Congregationalists) in Nebraska. It therefore
+became the nucleus of what is now Doane College.</p>
+
+<p>The bell of the old building is still in use in the little village.</p>
+
+<p>The first religious services were held by the Congregationalists.
+The church was first organized by Rev. Reuben Gaylord,
+who also organized the First Congregational church in Omaha.</p>
+
+<p>In Fontenelle the Congregationalists did not have a building
+but worshiped in the college. This church has long since ceased
+to exist, but strange as it may seem after so many years, the last
+regular pastor was the same man, Rev. Reuben Gaylord, who organized
+it.</p>
+
+<p>There was a little band of fifteen Methodists; this was called
+the Fontenelle Mission. In 1857 an evangelist, Jerome Spillman,
+was sent to take charge of this little mission. He soon
+had a membership of about three score people. A church was
+organized and a building and parsonage completed. This prospered
+with the town, but as the village began to lose ground the
+church was doomed to die. The building stood vacant for a
+number of years but was finally moved to Arlington.</p>
+
+<p>The settlers found the first winter of 1855-56 mild and agreeable.
+They thought that this was a sample of the regular winter
+climate; so when the cold, blizzardy, deep-snow winter of
+1856-57 came it found the majority ill prepared. Many were
+living in log cabins which had been built only for temporary
+use. The roofs were full of holes and just the dirt for floors.</p>
+
+<p>On awaking in the morning after the first blizzard many
+found their homes drifted full of snow; even the beds were covered.
+The snow lay four or five feet deep on the level and the
+temperature was far below zero.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the settlers lost all of their stock. Food was scarce,
+but wild game was plentiful. Mr. Sam Francis would take his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+horse and gun and hunt along the river. The settlers say he
+might be seen many times that winter coming into the village
+with two deer tied to his horse's tail trailing in the snow. By
+this means, he saved many of the colonists from starvation.</p>
+
+<p>Provisions were very high priced. Potatoes brought four and
+five dollars a bushel; bacon and pork could not be had at any
+price. One settler is said to have sold a small hog for forty-five
+dollars; with this he bought eighty acres of land, which is today
+worth almost one hundred eighty dollars an acre.</p>
+
+<p>A sack of flour cost from ten to fifteen dollars.</p>
+
+<p>At this time many who had come just for speculation left,
+thus only the homebuilders or those who had spent their all and
+could not return, remained.</p>
+
+<p>Then came trouble with the Indians. In the year 1859 the
+Pawnees were not paid by the government, for some reason.
+They became desperate and began stealing cattle from the settlers
+along the Elkhorn around Fontenelle. The settlers of
+Fontenelle formed a company known as the "Fontenelle Mounted
+Rangers," and together with a company sent out by Governor
+Black from Omaha with one piece of light artillery, started after
+the Pawnees who were traveling west and north.</p>
+
+<p>They captured six prisoners and held them bound. While
+they were camped for rest, a squaw in some way gave a knife to
+one of the prisoners. He pretended to kill himself by cutting
+his breast and mouth so that he bled freely. He then dropped
+as if dead. Amidst the confusion the other five, whose ropes
+had been cut, supposedly by this same squaw, escaped.</p>
+
+<p>As the settlers were breaking camp to still pursue the fleeing
+tribe, they wondered what to do with the dead Indian. Someone
+expressed doubt as to his really being dead. Then one of
+the settlers raised his gun and said he would soon make sure.
+No sooner had the gun been aimed than the Indian jumped to
+his feet and said, "Whoof! Me no sick!" They then journeyed
+on to attack the main tribe. When near their camp the settlers
+formed a semi-circle on a hill, with the artillery in the center.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the Indians saw the settlers, they came riding as
+swiftly as possible to make an attack, but when within a short
+distance and before the leader of the settlers could call "Fire!"
+they retreated. They advanced and retreated in this way three
+times. The settlers were at a loss to understand just what the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>
+Indians intended to do; but decided that they did not know of
+the artillery until near enough to see it, then were afraid to
+make the attack, so tried to scare the settlers, but failing to do
+this they finally advanced with a white rag tied to a stick.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians agreed to be peaceable and stop the thieving if the
+settlers would pay for a pony which had been accidentally killed,
+and give them medicine for the sick and wounded.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the men who took part in this fight say that if the
+leader had ordered the settlers to fire on the first advance of the
+Indians every settler would have been killed. There were twice
+as many Indians in the first place and the settlers afterwards
+found that not more than one-third of their guns would work;
+and after they had fired once, while they were reloading, the
+Indians with their bows and arrows would have exterminated
+them. They consider it was the one piece of light artillery that
+saved them, as the Indians were very much afraid of a cannon.
+This ended any serious Indian trouble, but the housewives had
+to be ever on the alert for many years.</p>
+
+<p>Each spring either the Omahas or Pawnees passed through the
+village on their way to visit some other tribe, and then returned
+in the fall. Then through the winter stray bands would appear
+who had been hunting or fishing along the river.</p>
+
+<p>As they were seen approaching everything that could be was
+put under lock, and the doors of the houses were securely fastened.
+The Indians would wash and comb their hair at the water
+troughs, then gather everything about the yard that took their
+fancy. If by any chance they got into a house they would help
+themselves to eatables and if they could not find enough they
+would demand more. They made a queer procession as they
+passed along the street. The bucks on the horses or ponies led
+the way, then would follow the pack ponies, with long poles
+fastened to each side and trailing along behind loaded with the
+baggage, then came the squaws, with their babies fastened to
+their backs, trudging along behind.</p>
+
+<p>One early settler tells of her first experience with the Indians.
+She had just come from the far East, and was all alone in the
+house, when the door opened and three Indians entered, a buck
+and two squaws. They closed the door and placed their guns
+behind it, to show her that they would not harm her. They then
+went to the stove and seated themselves, making signs to her that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+they wanted more fire. She made a very hot fire in the cook
+stove.</p>
+
+<p>The old fellow examined the stove until he found the oven
+door; this he opened and took three frozen fish from under his
+blanket and placed them upon the grate. While the fish were
+cooking, he made signs for something to eat. The lady said she
+only had bread and sorghum in the house. This she gave them,
+but the Indian was not satisfied; he made a fuss until she finally
+found that he wanted butter on his bread. She had to show
+him that the sorghum was all she had. They then took up the
+fish and went out of doors by the side of the house to eat it.
+After they were gone she went out to see what they had left.
+She said they must have eaten every bit of the fish except the
+hard bone in the head, that was all that was left and that was
+picked clean.</p>
+
+<p>Among the first settlers who came in 1855 was a young German
+who was an orphan and had had a hard life in America up
+to this time.</p>
+
+<p>He took a claim and worked hard for a few years. He then
+went back to Quincy and persuaded a number of his own countrymen
+to come out to this new place and take claims, he helping
+them out, but they were to pay him back as they could.</p>
+
+<p>Years passed; they each and all became very prosperous. But
+this first pioneer prospered perhaps to the greatest degree. The
+early settlers moved away one by one; as they left he would buy
+their homes.</p>
+
+<p>The houses were torn down or moved away, the trees and
+shrubs were uprooted, until now this one man, or his heirs&mdash;for
+he has gone to his reward&mdash;owns almost the whole of the
+once prosperous little village, and vast fields of grain have taken
+the place of the homes and streets.</p>
+
+<p>It is hard to stand in the streets of the little village which now
+has about one hundred fifty inhabitants and believe that at one
+time it was the county-seat of Dodge county, and that it lacked
+only one vote of becoming the capital of the state. There are
+left only two or three of the first buildings. A short distance
+south of this village on a high bluff overlooking the river valley,
+and covered with oaks and evergreens, these early pioneers
+started a city which has grown for many years, and which will
+continue to grow for years to come. In this city of the dead we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>
+find many of the people who did much for the little village
+which failed, but who have taken up their abode in this beautiful
+spot, there to remain until the end of time.</p>
+
+<p>This story of Fontenelle has been gathered from my early
+recollections of the place and what I have learned through
+grandparents, parents, and other relatives and friends.</p>
+
+<p>My mother was raised in Fontenelle, coming there with her
+parents in 1856. She received her education in that first college.</p>
+
+<p>My father was the son of one of the first Congregational missionaries
+to be sent there. I received my first schooling in the
+little village school.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 485px;">
+<img src="images/illus_018.jpg" width="485" height="600" alt="Mrs. Warren Perry
+
+Eleventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1913-1914" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Warren Perry
+
+Eleventh State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1913-1914</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THOMAS WILKINSON AND FAMILY</h2>
+
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wilkinson, early Nebraska settlers,
+were of English birth, and came to America when very young.
+They met in Illinois and were married in 1859 at Barrington.
+They moved to Louisiana, remaining there until the outbreak of
+the civil war, when they returned to Illinois for a short time,
+and then emigrated to the West, traveling in a covered wagon
+and crossing the Missouri river on the ferry. They passed
+through Omaha, and arrived at Elk City, Nebraska, July 27,
+1864, with their two children, Ida and Emma, who at the present
+time are married and live in Omaha.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after arriving in Elk City, Mr. Wilkinson lost one of
+his horses, which at that time was a great misfortune. He purchased
+another from the United States government, which they
+called "Sam" and which remained in the family for many
+years.</p>
+
+<p>At one time provisions were so high Mr. Wilkinson traded his
+watch for a bushel of potatoes.</p>
+
+<p>At that time land was very cheap and could be bought for from
+two to five dollars per acre. The same land is now being held at
+two hundred dollars per acre. Labor was scarce, with the exception
+of that which could be obtained from the Indians. There
+were a large number of Indians in that part of the country, and
+the settlers often hired the squaws to shuck corn and cut firewood.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wilkinson has often told of the Indians coming to her
+door and demanding corn meal or beef. They always wanted
+beef and would not accept pork. They would come at night,
+look in at the windows, and call for firewater, tobacco, and provisions.
+Their visits were so frequent that Mrs. Wilkinson soon
+mastered much of their language and was able to talk to them
+in their own tongue.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson first settled about twenty-five miles
+from Omaha on the old military road. During the early days of
+their life there, Mrs. Wilkinson made large quantities of butter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+for regular customers in Omaha. They often arose at three
+o'clock, hitched up the lumber wagon, and started for town,
+there to dispose of her butter and eggs and return with a supply
+of provisions.</p>
+
+<p>As a rule the winters were extremely severe and Mrs. Wilkinson
+has often told of the terrible snow storms which would fill
+the chimneys so full of snow it would be impossible to start a
+fire, and she would have to bundle the children up in the bedclothes
+and take them to the nearest house to keep from freezing.</p>
+
+<p>During their second year in Nebraska they went farther west
+and located at "Timberville," which is now known as Ames.
+There they kept a "ranch house" and often one hundred teams
+arrived at one time to remain over night. They would turn
+their wagons into an immense corral, build their camp fires, and
+rest their stock. These were the "freighters" of the early days,
+and generally got their own meals.</p>
+
+<p>During their residence at Elk City, two more children were
+born, Nettie and Will.</p>
+
+<p>They continued to live on the farm until the year 1887, when
+they moved to Blair, Nebraska, there to rest in their old age.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Wilkinson died July 18, 1912. He is survived by his
+wife, Mrs. Lucy Wilkinson, a son, Wm. W. Wilkinson, and two
+daughters, Mrs. J. Fred Smith and Mrs. Herman Shields. Mrs.
+George B. Dyball, another daughter, died May 13, 1914.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>NIKUMI</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Harriet S. MacMurphy</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>He glanced from the letter in his hand to the Indian woman
+sitting in the door of the skin tipi, and the papoose on the
+ground beside her, then down the river, his eyes moving on, like
+the waters, and seeing some vision of his brain, far distant.
+After a time his gaze came back and rested upon the woman and
+her babe again.</p>
+
+<p>"If I could take the child," he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>The squaw watched him furtively while she drew the deer
+sinew through the pieces of skin from which she was fashioning
+a moccasin. She understood, although spoken in English, the
+words he was scarce conscious of uttering, and, startled out of
+her Indian instinct of assumed inattention, looked at him with
+wide-opened eyes, trying to fathom a matter hardly comprehended
+but of great moment to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Take the child"&mdash;where, and for what? Was he going to
+leave and sail down the great river to the St. Louis whence came
+all traders and the soldiers on the boats? Going away again as
+he had come to her many seasons ago? "Take the child," her
+child and his? Her mouth closed firmly, her eyes darkened and
+narrowed, as she stooped suddenly and lifted the child to her
+lap; and the Indian mother's cunning and watchfulness were
+aroused and pitted against the white father's love of his child.</p>
+
+<p>Fort Atkinson was the most western post of the line established
+by President Monroe in 1819, after the Louisiana Purchase,
+to maintain the authority of the United States against
+Indian turbulence and British aggression, and had been in existence
+about four years before our story opens.</p>
+
+<p>Here had been stationed the Sixth U. S. Infantry, who had
+wearily tramped for two months the banks of the Missouri river
+and dragged their boats after them, a distance of nearly a thousand
+miles of river travel to reach this post in the wilderness.
+Not a white man then occupied what is now the state of Iowa,
+except Julien Dubuque and a score or so of French traders.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+Not a road was to be found nor a vehicle to traverse it. But
+one or two boats other than keel boats and barges had ever overcome
+the swift current of the great Missouri thus far.</p>
+
+<p>The Santa Fe trail, that wound over the hills west of the fort,
+connected them with the Mexican Spanish civilization of the
+Southwest, and the great rivers with their unsettled land far
+away on the Atlantic seaboard.</p>
+
+<p>Seventy-five years ago these soldiers dropped the ropes with
+which they had dragged the barges and keel boats and themselves
+thither, and picking up spade and shovel, dug foundations,
+molded and burned brick, cut down trees, and built barracks
+for themselves and the three detachments of artillery who
+terrified the redmen with the mysterious shells which dropped
+down amongst them and burst in such a frightful manner.</p>
+
+<p>They numbered about twelve hundred men, and the bricks
+they molded and the cellars they dug still remain to tell of the
+Fort Atkinson that was, beside whose ruins now stands the little
+village of Fort Calhoun, sixteen miles north of Omaha on the
+Missouri river.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Gale, whom we have thus seen considering a question of
+great importance both to himself and to the Indian woman with
+whom he seems to have some relation, was the surgeon of the
+Sixth Infantry, an Englishman, short, thick-set, and evidently
+of good birth, although the marks of his rough life and rather
+dissolute habits obscured it in some degree.</p>
+
+<p>The point where Fort Atkinson was built was the noted
+"Council Bluff" at which Lewis and Clark held the Indian
+council famous in the first annals of western explorations, and
+it still remains a rendezvous for the various tribes of Indians,
+the "<a name="otoes" id="otoes"></a><ins title="Original has Ottoes">Otoes</ins>, Pawnees, 'Mahas, Ayeaways, and Sioux," attracted
+thither by the soldiers and the trading posts, and secure from
+each others' attacks on this neutral ground.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the troops were located here an Ayeaway (Iowa)
+chief and his band pitched their tents near the fort. The daughter
+of this chief was named Nikumi; she was young and had not
+been inured to the hard tasks which usually fell to the squaws,
+so her figure was straight, her eyes bright, and her manner
+showed somewhat the dignity of her position.</p>
+
+<p>Not a white woman was there within a radius of five hundred
+miles except a few married ones belonging to the fort; was it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+strange that Dr. Gale, the younger son of an English family
+who had left civilization for a life of adventure in the New
+World, and who seemed destined to dwell away from all women
+of his own race, should woo this Indian princess and make her
+his wife? He had chosen the best of her race, for all who remember
+her in after years speak of her dignified carriage, her
+well-formed profile, and her strength of will and purpose, so
+remarkable among Indian women.</p>
+
+<p>For four years she had been his wife, and the child she had
+just seized and held in her arms as if she would never let her
+go, was their child, little Mary, as her father named her, perhaps
+from his own name, Marion.</p>
+
+<p>But now this union, which her unknowing mind had never
+surmised might not be for all time, and his, alas, too knowing
+one had carelessly assumed while it should be his pleasure, was
+about to be severed.</p>
+
+<p>A boat had come up the river and brought mail from Chariton
+or La Charette, as the Frenchmen originally named it, several
+hundred miles below, and the point to which mail for this fort
+was sent.</p>
+
+<p>These uncertain arrivals of news from the outside world made
+important epochs in the life of the past. The few papers and
+letters were handled as if they had been gold, and the contents
+were read and reread until almost worn out. For Dr. Gale
+came a bulky letter or package of letters tied together and sealed
+over the string with a circle of red wax. There was no envelope,
+as we have now, but each letter was written so as to leave a
+blank space after folding for the superscription, and the postage
+was at least twenty-five cents on the three letters so tied together.
+The postmark of the outer one was New York City; it
+was from a law firm and informed Dr. Marion F. Gale, surgeon
+of the Sixth Infantry, stationed at Fort Atkinson, the
+"camp on the Missouri river," that the accompanying letters
+had been received by them from a firm of London solicitors,
+and begging to call his attention to the same. His attention
+being most effectually called thereto elicited first that Messrs.
+Shadwell &amp; Fitch of London desired them to ascertain the whereabouts
+of Marion F. Gale, late of Ipswich, England, and now
+supposed to be serving in the U. S. army in the capacity of
+surgeon, and convey to him the accompanying information, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+still further to the effect that by a sudden death of James Burton
+Gale, who died without male issue, he, Marion F. Gale, being
+next of kin, was heir to the estate of Burton Towers, Ipswich,
+England. Last came a letter from the widow of his brother,
+telling him the particulars of his brother's death.</p>
+
+<p>Ten years before he had left home with a hundred pounds in
+his pocket and his profession, to make himself a career in the
+new country.</p>
+
+<p>There were two brothers older than he, one of them married,
+and there seemed little prospect that he would ever become proprietor
+of Burton Towers; but they, who lived apparently in
+security, were gone, and he who had traversed the riverway of
+an unknown and unsettled country, among Indians and wild
+animals, was alive and well to take their place.</p>
+
+<p>He thought of the change, back to the quiet life of an English
+country squire, after these ten years of the free life of the plains,
+and the soldiers and the Indians. The hunting of the buffalo,
+the bear, and the elk exchanged for the tame brush after a wild
+fox, or the shooting of a few partridges.</p>
+
+<p>But the family instinct was strong, after all, and his eye
+gleamed as he saw the old stone house, with its gables and towers,
+its glorious lawns and broad driveway with the elms meeting
+overhead. Oh, it would satisfy that part of his nature well to
+go back as its master. This vision it was that had filled his eyes
+as they looked so far away. But then they came back again and
+rested on Nikumi and the child.</p>
+
+<p>A certain kind of love had been begotten in his heart for the
+Indian maiden by her devotion to him, although he had taken
+her without a scruple at the thought of leaving her when circumstances
+called him away. But now he felt a faint twinge
+of the heart as he realized that the time had come, and a stronger
+one when he thought that he must part with the child. "But
+why need I do it?" he soliloquized. "I can take the child with
+me and have her educated in a manner to fit her for my daughter;
+if she is as bright as her mother, education and environment
+will fit her to fill any position in life, but with Nikumi it is too
+late to begin, and she has no white blood to temper the wildness
+of the Indian. I will take the child."</p>
+
+<p>Not a care for the mother love and rights. "Only a squaw."
+What rights had she compared with this English gentleman who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+had taken her from her tribe, and now would cast her back again
+and take away her child? But ah, my English gentleman, you
+reckoned without your ordinary sagacity when you settled that
+point without taking into consideration the mother love and the
+Indian cunning and watchfulness, their heritage from generations
+of warfare with each other.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you got?" she asked in the flowing syllables of
+the Indian tongue, for like the majority of Indians, though she
+understood much English she never, to the end of her days,
+deigned to speak it.</p>
+
+<p>"Some words from my friends in the far-away country over
+the waters, Nikumi," he answered. "My brother is dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, and you are sad. You will go there to that land?" she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, Nikumi; I may have to go over, for there is
+much land and houses and fields to be cared for. I am going
+down to see Sarpy, now. He came up on the boat today."</p>
+
+<p>She watched him as he strode off down past the cattle station
+towards the fort. In the summer time her love of her native life
+asserted itself, and she left the log quarters which Dr. Gale provided
+for her, and occupied a tipi, or tent of skins, down among
+the cottonwoods and willows of the bottom lands where portions
+of her tribe were generally to be found. When he passed out
+of sight she took her baby and went to a tipi a short distance
+from hers, where a stalwart buck lay on a shaggy buffalo robe
+on the shady side, smoking a pipe of kinnikinick, and playing
+with some young dogs. She spoke with him a few minutes.
+He ceased playing with the dogs, sat up and listened, and finally
+with a nod of assent to some request of hers started off towards
+the fort. She followed shortly after and glided about from the
+post store to the laundresses' quarters, stopping here and there
+where groups of soldiers were gathered, and listening attentively
+to their talk about the news that had come by the boats.</p>
+
+<p>She learned that these boats were to be loaded with furs from
+Sarpy's trading post and go back to St. Louis in a few days.
+In the meantime the young buck, who was her brother, had gone
+by her directions to Sarpy's trading post, just below the fort.
+She had told him what she knew and surmised; that the "pale-faced
+medicine man," as the Indians called him, had received
+a paper from his friends across the great waters towards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+rising sun which told his brother was dead, and that he might
+have to go there to care for the houses and lands his brother had
+left; that she had heard him say "If I could take the child,"
+and she feared he might take her papoose away; "and he shall
+not," she said passionately. "I must know what he will do.
+Go you and listen if the medicine man talks with Sarpy; watch
+him closely and find out all."</p>
+
+<p>He had followed the Indian trail which skirted along the edge
+of the high bluffs on the eastern boundary of the fort, and
+reached the trading post from the north. Going in he uttered
+the single word "tobac," and while the clerk was handing it out
+to him he glanced around in the aimless, stolid Indian manner, as
+if looking over the blankets and skins hung against the logs.
+Back at the further, or southwest, corner of the store, near a
+window, and partially screened by a rude desk made of a box
+set upon a table and partitioned into pigeon-holes, sat two men.
+One of them was Dr. Gale, the other, Peter A. Sarpy.</p>
+
+<p>To the ears of most readers the name will convey no particular
+impression; if a resident of Nebraska it would call to mind
+the fact that a county in that state was named Sarpy, and the
+reader might have a hazy consciousness that an early settler had
+borne that name; but in the days of this story and for thirty
+years later it meant power and fame. The agent of the American
+Fur Company in that section, Peter A. Sarpy's word was
+law; to him belonged the trading posts, or so it was believed; he
+commanded the voyageurs who cordelled the boats and they
+obeyed. Every winter he went down the great river before it
+was frozen over, to St. Louis, and every spring his boats came up
+after the ice had broken up, and before the great mountain rise
+came on in June, with new goods that were anxiously looked for,
+and eagerly seized in exchange for the buffalo robes, the beaver,
+mink, otter, and deer skins that had been collected through the
+winter. He was of French parentage, a small man, with the
+nervous activity of his race; the brightest of black eyes; careful
+of his dress, even in the wilds; the polish of the gentleman always
+apparent in his punctilious greeting to everyone; but making
+the air blue with his ejaculations if his orders were disobeyed
+or his ire aroused. Famous the length of the river for
+his bravery and determination, he was a man well fitted to push<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+actively the interests of the company of which he was the agent
+as well as a member.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian passed noiselessly out and going around to the
+side of the building seated himself upon the ground, and pulling
+his long pipe from the folds of his blanket, filled it with the
+"tobac," rested it on the ground, and leisurely began to smoke.
+It was no unusual thing for the Indians thus to sit round the
+post, and no one took any notice of him, nor in fact that he was
+very near the open window, just out of the range of vision of
+the two men sitting within.</p>
+
+<p>"So upon me devolves the succession of the estate of Burton
+Towers," Gale was saying to Sarpy, "and my sister-in-law
+writes that some one is imperatively needed to look after the
+estate as there is no male member of the family left in England."</p>
+
+<p>"And you will leave your wild life of the prairies to go back
+to the tame existence of rural English life? Egad, I don't believe
+I could stand it even to be master of the beautiful demesnes
+which belong to my family. Power is sweet, but Mon
+Dieu, the narrowness, the conventionalities, the tameness of existence!"</p>
+
+<p>"No worse than the tameness of this cursed fort for the last
+year or two. It was very well at first when the country was new
+to us and the Indians showed some fight that gave us a little
+excitement, but now we've exhausted all the resources, and an
+English squire, even, will be a great improvement. You've some
+change, you know. St. Louis in winter gives you a variety."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do with Nikumi and Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I want to talk to you about. I find I'm fonder
+of the child than I thought, and indeed it gives my heartstrings
+a bit of a wrench to leave Nikumi behind; but to take her is out
+of the question. Mary, however, I can educate; she is bright
+enough to profit by it, and young enough to make an English
+woman of. I believe I shall try to get her away quietly, and
+take her with me."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to have lived here long enough to have some
+knowledge of the Indians, but I'm damned if I think you are
+smart enough to get that child away from its mother," said
+Sarpy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'll try it, anyway. The worst trouble I apprehend
+is getting away myself at so short notice. When do your boats
+go down again?"</p>
+
+<p>"In about a week."</p>
+
+<p>"To leave the troops without any surgeon is rather risky, but
+they're pretty healthy at this season, and young Carver has been
+studying with me considerably, and can take my place for a
+short time. If I succeed in getting leave of absence to go on to
+Washington, Atkinson will probably send some one up from St.
+Louis as soon as possible. I shall have to get leave of absence
+from Leavenworth here, and then again from Atkinson at St.
+Louis. Then I can send in my resignation after I arrive at
+Philadelphia. All this beside the intermediate hardships and
+delays in reaching there."</p>
+
+<p>To the Indian outside much of this was unintelligible, but he
+heard and understood perfectly "I think I shall try to get her
+away from her mother and take her with me," and later the
+reply that the boats would go down in about a week.</p>
+
+<p>That was sufficient for him, and he arose, gathered up his
+blanket that had dropped down from his shoulders, slipped the
+pipe into his belt which held it around his waist, and then his
+moccasined feet trod the narrow trail, one over the other, the
+great toe straight in a line with the instep, giving the peculiar
+gait for which the Indian is famous.</p>
+
+<p>He found Nikumi back at her tipi: the kettle was hung from
+the tripod of three sticks over the fire, and a savory smell arose
+which he sniffed with pleasure as he approached, for Nikumi
+was favored above her tribe in the supplies which she received
+from the camp, and which included great luxuries to the Indians.
+Nikumi was very generous to her relatives and friends,
+and often shared with them the pot which she had varied
+from the original Indian dish of similar origin by diligently observing
+the methods of the camp cooks.</p>
+
+<p>She had learned to use dishes, too, and bringing forth two
+bowls, some spoons, and a tin cup, ladled some of the savory
+mixture into them, for she had evidently learned the same lesson
+as her white sisters: when you would get the best service from
+a man, feed him well.</p>
+
+<p>On the present site of Fort Atkinson may be found, wherever
+the ground is plowed over or the piles of bricks and depressions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+that mark the cellars of the buildings are overhauled, a profusion
+of old buttons, fragments of firearms, cannon balls and
+shells, and many pieces of <a name="delf" id="delf"></a><ins title="Spelling retained per Webster's 1828 Dictionary">delf</ins>. A quaint old antiquarian who
+lives there has a large collection of them which he shows with
+delight.</p>
+
+<p>Who knows but that some of the fragments are pieces of
+Nikumi's bowl, for as her brother told her of Gale's words to
+Sarpy, her face added to its bronze hue an indescribable grayish
+tinge, and starting suddenly, the bowl fell from her hand, striking
+the stones which formed a circle for the fire, and broke into
+fragments. She forgot to eat, and a rapid flow of words from
+her lips was accompanied by gestures that almost spoke. They
+should keep strict watch of the loading of the boats, she said,
+and of the voyageurs in charge of them, and when they saw signs
+of departure of them, she would take the child and go&mdash;and
+she pointed, but spoke no word. He must make a little cave in
+the hillside, and cover it with trees and boughs, and she would
+provide food. When the white medicine man had gone he could
+tell her by a strip of red tied in the branch of a tree like a bird,
+which could be seen down the ravine from her hiding place, and
+she would be found again in her tipi as if she had never been
+absent. He grunted assent as well as satisfaction at the innumerable
+bowls of soup, and then stretched himself comfortably
+and pulled out his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile little Mary, the heroine of this intrigue, was eating
+soup and sucking a bone contentedly. Would she be an Indian
+or an English maiden? She was an Indian one now and
+happy, too. And Nikumi? She had come to her white husband
+and remained with him contented and happy. He had been
+good to her in the main, although he swore at her and abused
+her sometimes when he got drunk or played at cards too long,
+but he was better than the braves were to their squaws, and she
+did not have to work as they did; she had wood and food and
+she could buy at the trading post the blankets and the strouding
+and the gay red cloths, and the beads with which the squaws
+delighted to adorn their necks and to stitch with deer sinew into
+their moccasins. She had lived each day unconscious that there
+might not be a tomorrow like it. But it had dropped from the
+skies, this sudden knowledge that had changed everything.</p>
+
+<p>Had she had no child she would doubtless have mourned si<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>lently
+for the man who had come and taken her life to be lived
+beside his and then left her worse than alone; but the greater
+blow had deadened the force of the lesser, and only her outraged
+mother love cried out.</p>
+
+<p>She sat on the buffalo robe inside the tipi and watched the
+child rolling about outside with the little fat puppy, hugging it
+one moment, savagely spatting it over the eyes the next. She
+had no right to rebel; an Indian did what he would with his
+squaw, how much more a white man, and to any decree concerning
+herself she would doubtless have submitted silently, but to
+lose her child&mdash;that she would not do, and she knew how to
+save it.</p>
+
+<p>All unconscious of this intrigue, Gale made his preparations
+for departure, and it was soon known through the camp that he
+was about to go to the "states."</p>
+
+<p>He had taken pains to conceal the fact of his intended final
+departure for England.</p>
+
+<p>He secretly made arrangements with the man who acted as
+cook for the boats to take charge of little Mary until they got to
+St. Louis, where they could get a servant, and going down the
+river would take but a few days.</p>
+
+<p>Gale's condition of mind was not to be envied during the interval
+before he started. He scarcely felt the injustice to Nikumi
+in thus leaving her, but he could not quite reconcile with
+even his weak sense of her rights that he should take the child
+away from her, and yet he fully intended to do so. He spent
+much of the time with Nikumi at her summer residence, the
+tipi, and she treated him with the same gentle deference and
+quiet submissiveness that were usual to her, so completely deceiving
+him that he did not once surmise she knew anything of
+his plans. The last two or three days he occupied himself in
+packing a case of articles of various kinds that he had accumulated:
+an Indian pipe of the famous red pipestone of the Sioux
+country, with its long flat stem of wood cut out in various designs
+and decorated with feathers and bits of metal; moccasins
+of deer skin, handsomely beaded and trimmed with fringes,
+some of them made by Nikumi's own hands; specimens of the
+strange Mexican cloths woven from the plumage of birds, brought
+by the trading Mexicans up the Santa Fe trail; a pair of their
+beautiful blankets, one robe, a few very fine furs, among them a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>
+black bear skin of immense size, a little mat woven of the perfumed
+grasses, which the Indians could find but the white man
+never, some of the nose and ear rings worn by the squaws.</p>
+
+<p>Nikumi came to his quarters while he was taking these things
+down from the walls and shelves where she had always cared for
+them with so much pride. In answer to her inquiring gaze he
+said: "I go Nikumi, to the far eastern land, and these I shall
+take with me to show my friends what we had that is beautiful
+in the land of the Indian and the buffalo, that they wish to know
+all about." "And when will you return to Nikumi and Mary?"
+"I can not tell; I hope before many moons; will you grieve to
+have me go Nikumi?" "Nikumi will look every day to the
+rising sun and ask the Great Spirit to send her pale-faced medicine
+man back safely to her and the child." He put his arms
+about her with a strange spasm of heart relenting, realizing for
+a moment the wrong he was purposing to commit. But ah, the
+stronger taking advantage of the weaker. The strong race using
+for their own pleasure the weak one. "Ye that are strong
+ought to help the weak." He also prepared at Sarpy's trading
+post, and by his advice, a smaller package of such things as
+would be desirable for little Mary's welfare and comfort.</p>
+
+<p>It was greatly lacking in the articles we should consider necessary
+these times, but when we realize that every piece of merchandise
+which reached this far away post had to be transported
+thousands of miles by river it is matter of wonder how much
+there was.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the day before the boats were to start he occupied
+himself with some last preparations, giving Nikumi a
+number of articles that she had used around his quarters to take
+to her tipi, and telling her he would leave money with Sarpy
+so that she might get what was necessary for herself and Mary.
+In the afternoon he went down to the post and did not return
+to the quarters until late, where he supped at the mess table and
+then went in the direction of Nikumi's tent. He had devised,
+he thought, a cunning plan to get Nikumi to go the next morning
+for some fresh leaves of a shrub which she often procured
+for him to mix in his tobacco, and of which he was very fond;
+and after her departure he would make for the boat and embark
+hastily with little Mary, whom he would keep. Resolving the
+broaching of his plan as he approached the tipi, he did not notice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>
+that it failed to show the usual signs of habitation until he drew
+near when he observed that the kettle hanging from the tripod
+over the circle of stones had no fire beneath it, and no steam
+issuing from it, no dogs were playing about, and there was no
+sign of Nikumi and little Mary. He began to look about for
+them; the flap of skin usually fastened up to form a doorway
+was dropped down; he put it up and stooping, entered the tipi.
+It was almost entirely empty; the skins which had formed the
+beds were gone; the dishes seemed to be there, but the food of
+which he knew she always kept a supply, was all gone, and
+there were no signs of the articles of clothing belonging to them.
+Sarpy's words come to him, "I'm damned if I think you are
+smart enough to get the child away from its mother," and he
+knew that Nikumi had outwitted him. He should never see
+mother or child again.</p>
+
+<p>He turned and traced angrily the narrow trail to Sarpy's.
+Striding in and down the low, dingy, fur odorous room to the
+rear where Sarpy sat lazily smoking his pipe he exclaimed,
+"You were right, Sarpy, Nikumi has gone with the child."
+Sarpy took his pipe from his mouth slowly, "Well I'm sorry
+you are disappointed, but it will be better for you and the child,
+too; she would have grieved herself to death, and worried you
+almost to the verge of lunacy first, and you would have had the
+burden on your conscience of Nikumi unhappy, and all for no
+good." "But I'll not give her up. I had set my heart on it;
+I shall start a search party for her at once." "And much good
+it will do you. There isn't a soldier in your camp that can find
+what an Indian chooses to hide, if it is not more than six feet
+away from him. You will only inform the camp of your design
+and of the fact that a squaw has outwitted you."</p>
+
+<p>Gale knew too well the truth of his statement, but he paced
+up and down the building angrily for some time, determining
+at each turn towards the door to start out at the head of a search
+party, but turning again with an oath toward the rear as the
+futility of it all was forced upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Sarpy regarded him quietly, a half smile in his eyes. He
+understood the conflict of feelings, the pain at leaving Nikumi,
+not very great, but enough to cause him some discomfort; the
+now added pain of separation from the child, also; the chagrin
+at being outwitted by a squaw, and one who had always seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>
+so submissive, and whom he had not dreamed possessed so much
+acuteness; the English obstinacy aroused by antagonism, all
+struggling against his knowledge that he could do nothing.
+Sarpy in his place would have invoked all the spirits of the
+darker regions, but he probably would never have put himself
+in a like predicament. To his class, seekers of fortunes in the
+New World, the Indian was simply a source of revenue and
+pleasure, treated fairly well to be sure, because that was the
+better policy; while it suited their convenience to use them they
+did so; when the need was supplied they cast them off; possibly
+Gale, if he analyzed the situation at all, thought the same, but
+under the present circumstances, a different set of emotions
+dominated him. Nikumi, superior to her tribe, had inspired
+inconveniently deep feelings, and he found his fatherly love a
+factor he had not counted on.</p>
+
+<p>At last he approached Sarpy, and throwing himself in a chair,
+took out one of the two great soothers of man's woes, his pipe,
+lighted it and proceeded to mingle its smoke with that of Sarpy's.
+"I suppose I shall have to give it up, but I'm damned if
+I can submit to it with equanimity, yet; outwitted by an apparently
+innocent and submissive squaw, I suppose two months
+from now I'll be thanking my lucky stars that I'm not saddled
+with a brat of an Indian, and at intervals thereafter shall be
+falling upon my knees, and repeating the operation. But I'm
+blessed if I can see it so now."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes it will be better for you as well as the others, and as
+soon as you get away from here you will view it very differently,"
+said Sarpy.</p>
+
+<p>And Nikumi in her cave dug into the bluff, held her baby
+tight in her arms, and listened to every sound, while she watched
+by aid of the rude but cunningly devised dark lantern, the
+reptiles and insects which crawled about, moving only to dispatch
+a snake or two that were venomous.</p>
+
+<p>Could Gale have seen her would he have relented and left the
+child to her? Has it been the history of the union of the stronger
+and weaker races that the stronger have given up their desires?</p>
+
+<p>"You will have to look out for Mary, too, Sarpy, as you have
+promised to do for Nikumi. I haven't any more money to leave
+with you at present, but I will send you some from England.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>
+I don't want her to grow up without any education at all, and
+have to slave and toil as squaws do generally, nor Nikumi either."
+"I'll see to them," said Sarpy, briefly, "there isn't much
+chance for education unless they keep up the post here and she
+be permitted to learn with the white children; for I don't suppose
+Nikumi will ever let her go away to school as Fontenelle
+sends his boys, but she shall have what education she can get
+and Nikumi shall not be obliged to go back to her tribe for support
+as long as I am here," and the smoke of the Frenchman's
+and Englishman's pipes ascended to ratify this compact.</p>
+
+<p>The next day at sunrise the boats dropped swiftly down the
+river. A figure at the stern of one of them watched until the
+last sign of the landing place faded in the early morning light.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Gale had played a brief part in the settlement of a new
+country from which he now disappeared as if he had never
+been.</p>
+
+<p>In after years only the few who belonged to that early settlement
+remembered that Mary was his child, and told of it
+sometimes, when they recounted the adventurous life of those
+early days. A young man listened to these reminiscences from
+the lips of the strange, irascible, but warm hearted Frenchman,
+and treasured them in memory. Hence this true tale. Nikumi
+released from her reptile inhabited cave by the little red bird in
+the tree down the ravine, came back to her tipi. She had kept
+her child but she had lost her lover and her life. How should
+she take it up again? She had been always quiet and little
+given to the chatter and laughter of the young squaws; she was
+only a little more quiet now, and Mary's lot was decided; she
+would always be an Indian woman.</p>
+
+<p>One day Sarpy came to her and told her that Gale had left
+money for her and she was to come to the fort for what she
+wished. And after a time it came to pass that Sarpy took
+her to wife as Gale had done. Perhaps that was in his mind
+when he looked at Gale with a smile in his eyes; but Nikumi
+would not listen to him till she had waited long, and until Sarpy
+told her and she heard from others that Gale would never come
+again. And she was his faithful wife for many years, occupying
+always, because of her inherent dignity and real womanliness,
+a position high in the estimation both of the white and the red
+men. Many tales are told of her life with Sarpy, how at one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>
+time she carried him miles on her back when he was stricken
+with fever in the mountains, until she brought him to aid and
+safety. Another time when he had given orders that no more
+goods should be given her from the post (she was always very
+liberal to her relatives and he wished to check it) she quietly
+picked up two or three bolts of calico, and walking to the river
+bank, threw them in; a second armful followed, and then the
+enemy capitulated. And still another time when Sarpy had
+bought a beautiful black mare, "Starlight," to minister to the
+pleasure of a designing English widow, she one day quietly appeared
+when the horse was driven round by Sarpy's black servant,
+and ordered it taken to the stable, and enforced the order,
+too. But this is another story.</p>
+
+<p>In later years, as Sarpy's dominion ceased with the gradual
+decline of the fur company, and he spent much of his time
+in St. Louis, Nikumi lived with Mary, who had married an Indian
+like herself, with a mixture of white blood in his veins,
+although he was French, and who occupied a prominent position
+in one of the tribes to whom was given a distinct reservation.
+From this mixture of English, French, and Indian bloods
+has arisen a family which stands at the head of their tribe, and
+one member who is known throughout this country. It is worthy
+of notice, too, that with one exception it has been the women
+of the family who have shown the qualities which gave them
+preëminence.</p>
+
+<p>Nikumi died March 23, 1888, at the home of her daughter
+Mary; but her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
+live to show that sometimes the mixture of races tends to development
+of the virtues, and not, as has been so often said, of the
+vices of both races.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE HEROINE OF THE JULES-SLADE TRAGEDY</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Harriet S. MacMurphy</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>Our two weeks' ride over Iowa prairies was ended and we had
+reached our new home in Nebraska. I sat in the buggy, a child
+of twelve, with my three-year-old brother beside me, on the
+eastern bank of the Missouri river, while father went down
+where the ferry boat lay, to make ready for our crossing.</p>
+
+<p>In the doorway of a log cabin near by stood a young girl two
+or three years older than I. We gazed at each other shyly. She
+was bare-headed and bare-footed, her cheeks tanned, and her
+abundant black hair roughened with the wind, but her eyes were
+dark and her figure had the grace of untrammeled out door
+life. To my girl's standard she did not appeal, and I had not
+then the faintest conception of the romance and tragedy of
+which she was the heroine.</p>
+
+<p>We gazed at each other until father gave the signal for me to
+drive down on the clumsy raft-like boat behind the covered
+half-wagon half-carriage that held the other members of our
+family, which I did in fear and trembling that did not cease
+until we had swung in and out as the boat strained at the rope
+to which it was attached, the waters of the "Old Muddy," the
+like of which I had never seen before, straining and drawing it
+down with the current, and a fresh spasm of fear was added
+as we reached the far shore and dropped off the boat with a
+thud down into the soft bank. We had reached Decatur, our
+future Nebraska home, adjoining the Indian reservation with
+its thousand Omahas.</p>
+
+<p>For a long time I did not know anything further of the girl
+of the log cabin by the river side, only that they told us the
+family were named Keyou and the men were boatmen and fishermen
+and ran the ferry. This first chapter of my little story
+opened in the spring of 1863.</p>
+
+<p>Six years later my girlhood's romance brought marriage with
+my home-coming soldier, who in his first days in the territory
+of Nebraska had passed through many of the romantic events<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>
+that a life among the Indians would bring, among them clerking
+in a trading post with one "Billy" Becksted, now the husband
+of my maiden of the riverside log cabin. And Billy and
+John always continued the comradeship of the free, happy,
+prairie hunting life, riding the "buckskin" ponies with which
+they began life together, although they came together from
+very different walks of life.</p>
+
+<p>And I learned of my husband that "Addie," as we had
+learned to call her, young as she was when first I saw her, had
+been the wife of a Frenchman named Jules, after whom the town
+of Julesburg (Colorado) is named, and his dreadful death at
+the hands of one Slade was one of the stock stories of the plains
+well known to every early settler.</p>
+
+<p>Billy and Addie after a time drifted away from Decatur down
+the river and we lost sight of them.</p>
+
+<p>We, too, left the home town and became residents of Plattsmouth.</p>
+
+<p>One day my husband, returning from a trip in the country
+said, "I ran across Billy and Addie Becksted today and they
+were so glad to see me that Addie put her arms round me and
+kissed me, with tears in her eyes." Later we learned with sorrow
+that Billy was drinking and then that he had come down
+to Plattsmouth and tried to find my husband, who was out of
+town and had gone back home and when almost there had taken
+a dose of morphine, and they had found him unconscious and
+dying near their log cabin under the bluffs half a mile above
+the Bellevue station. And my husband really mourned that he
+had not been at home, perhaps to have kept good-hearted Billy
+from his woeful fate. After a time Addie married Elton, a
+brother of Billy's, and one Sunday I persuaded my husband to
+go down to them in their cabin under the bluffs.</p>
+
+<p>"I have always wanted to get Addie to tell me her story of
+her life with Jules," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe you can get her to talk about it," said Mac,
+"she never speaks of it, Elton says."</p>
+
+<p>We went, and they were delighted to see us, killed the fatted
+chicken and gathered for us some of the wild berries that grew
+in the bluffs, and then as we sat under the trees with the bluff
+towering above us, I asked her for the story of her girlhood's
+days out on the plains, when only a single house that sheltered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>
+three or four people was her home, and not another for many
+miles.</p>
+
+<p>"I was just a child," she said, "and Jules was more like my
+father than my husband. But there were few women in the
+country in those days and Jules said to my parents that he
+would take good care of me, and so they gave me to him, and
+they went on to Denver. He had a man and his wife to take care
+of the place and do the work, and I just did whatever I wanted
+to. We were on the great trail to California and Pike's Peak
+and trains would come by and purchase supplies from us, so I
+did not get lonesome. Jules had had some trouble with a man
+named Slade a few years before and had shot Slade, but had
+taken him to Denver and put him in a hospital and paid to have
+him cared for and Slade and he had made it all up, my husband
+thought. Slade's ranch was further west and on the other side
+of his ranch Jules had another ranch with cattle on, and one
+day he started off with two or three men to bring some of the
+cattle back. He had been told that Slade had threatened to
+kill him but he did not believe it, although he went armed and
+with good men, he thought. This time he did not take me
+along as he had the cattle to drive. When he got near Slade's
+place Slade and his gang came down on Jules and his men,
+shouting and shooting, drove off Jules' men, took him and carried
+him to Slade's ranch. One of Jules' men followed them
+and saw them tie Jules up to a great box and then Slade stood
+a ways off with his rifle and shot at Jules, just missing his
+ear or his neck or his hand that was stretched out and tied;
+sometimes hitting him just enough to draw the blood. He kept
+this up all the rest of the day and then towards night he fired
+a shot that killed him. The boys who were with Jules came
+back to us and told us what had been done. We were so frightened
+we did not know what to do at first, for we expected every
+minute that Slade and his gang would come and kill us. They
+did come the next day and carried off a lot of the stuff we had
+in the trading post but did not do any harm to us. The man
+and his wife that were with us and the boys then got a team
+together and put enough stuff into the wagon to do us until we
+could get to Denver. All the rest and the cattle I guess Slade
+got. Jules had money in some bank in Denver, he had always
+said, but we never could find it. I found my folks and after a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>
+while we came back here where we had lived before we went to
+Denver."</p>
+
+<p>She told her story in the simplest commonplace manner, but
+it did not need any addition of word or gesture to paint on my
+memory for all time the pathos beneath.</p>
+
+<p>A girl of fourteen, happy and care-free under the protection
+of her father husband one day, putting him in the place of
+father, and mother, trusting to him, and suddenly standing beside
+the rude trading post way out on the treeless spaces of the
+trail that seemed to come from solitude and lead away to it
+again, and listening to the story of the frightened cowboy on his
+broncho whose almost unintelligible words finally made her understand
+that her protector, the kind man she had learned to
+love, had died a death so horrible it would make the strongest
+man shudder. And with only three or four frightened, irresponsible
+people to save her, perhaps from a similar or worse
+fate? But the women of the plains had but little childhood,
+and must act the part that came to them no matter what it
+might be.</p>
+
+<p>Afterward she told me more of her strange life with Jules, of
+his fatherly, protecting care of her, of his good heart, of the
+trouble with Slade, which was Slade's fault in the first place,
+and it was plain to see the ideal that had always been cherished
+way down in her subconsciousness of the man who played such
+an eventful but brief part in her life. It was a wrong, perhaps,
+but natural feeling to have when I found by after reading of
+annals of the plains that Slade died the death that such a fiendish
+nature should have suffered.</p>
+
+<p>Addie Becksted still lives in a little cabin down among the
+hills about Bellevue, her children and grandchildren about her,
+and still bears traces of the beauty that was hers as a girl. She
+is only about ten miles distant from Omaha but has not visited
+it for years.</p>
+
+<p>When I go to see her, as I do occasionally, she puts her arms
+about me and kisses me on the cheek. And her still bright
+brown eyes look the affection of all the years and events that we
+have known together.</p>
+
+<p>It is well worth while to have these humble friends who have
+lived through the pioneer days with us.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE LAST ROMANTIC BUFFALO HUNT ON THE PLAINS OF NEBRASKA</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By John Lee Webster</span></h3>
+
+
+<p>In the autumn of 1872 a group of men, some of whom were
+then prominent in Nebraska history, Judge Elmer S. Dundy and
+Colonel Watson B. Smith, and one who afterward achieved
+national fame as an American explorer, Lieutenant Frederick
+Schwatka, and another who has since become known throughout
+Europe and America as a picturesque character and showman,
+Colonel Wm. F. Cody, participated in what proved to be the
+last romantic buffalo hunt upon the western plains of the state
+of Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>Elmer S. Dundy was a pioneer who had come to Nebraska in
+1857. He had been a member of the territorial legislature for
+two successive terms; he was appointed a territorial judge in
+1863, and became the first United States district judge after the
+admission of the state into the union. Colonel Watson B. Smith
+at that time held the office of clerk of the United States district
+and circuit courts for the district of Nebraska. Some years
+afterward he met a tragic death by being shot (accidentally or
+by assassination) in the corridors of the federal building in the
+city of Omaha. Colonel Smith was a lovable man, of the highest
+unimpeachable integrity and a most efficient public officer. There
+was also among the number James Neville, who at that time held
+the office of United States attorney and who afterward became
+a judge of the district court of Douglas county. He added
+zest, vim, and spirit by reason of some personal peculiarities to
+be mentioned later on.</p>
+
+<p>These men, with the writer of this sketch, were anxious to
+have the experience and the enjoyment of the stimulating excitement
+of participating in a buffalo hunt before those native
+wild animals of the plains should become entirely extinct. To
+them it was to be a romantic incident in their lives and long to
+be remembered as an event of pioneer days. They enjoyed the
+luxury of a pullman car from Omaha to North Platte, which at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>
+that time was little more than a railway station at a division
+point upon the Union Pacific, and where was also located a military
+post occupied by a battalion of United States cavalry.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 600px;">
+<img src="images/illus_019.jpg" width="600" height="406" alt="Memorial Fountain
+
+Erected in Antelope Park, Lincoln, Nebraska, by Deborah Avery Chapter, Daughters of the American
+Revolution, in memory of Mary M. A. Stevens, First Regent of the Chapter (1896-1898). Dedicated,
+June 17, 1914. Cost $300" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Memorial Fountain
+
+Erected in Antelope Park, Lincoln, Nebraska, by Deborah Avery Chapter, Daughters of the American
+Revolution, in memory of Mary M. A. Stevens, First Regent of the Chapter (1896-1898). Dedicated,
+June 17, 1914. Cost $300</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, a regular army officer and
+American explorer, at one time commanded an arctic expedition
+in search of traces of the remains of Dr. Franklin. At another
+time he was in command of an exploring expedition of the Yukon
+river. At another time he commanded an expedition into
+the northernmost regions of Alaska in the interest of the New
+York <i>Times</i>. He also became a writer and the author of three
+quite well known books: <i>Along Alaska's Great River</i>, <i>Nimrod
+in the North</i>, and <i>Children of the Cold</i>.</p>
+
+<p>At the time of which we are speaking Lieutenant Schwatka
+was stationed at the military post at North Platte. He furnished
+us with the necessary army horses and equipment for the
+hunting expedition, and he himself went along in command of a
+squad of cavalry which acted as an escort to protect us if need
+be when we should get into the frontier regions where the Indians
+were at times still engaged in the quest of game and sometimes
+in unfriendly raids.</p>
+
+<p>William F. Cody, familiarly known as "Buffalo Bill," who
+had already achieved a reputation as a guide and hunter and
+who has since won a world reputation as a showman, went along
+with us as courier and chief hunter. He went on similar expeditions
+into the wilder regions of Wyoming with General Phil
+Sheridan, the Grand Duke Alexis, and others quite equally celebrated.</p>
+
+<p>This Omaha group of amateur buffalo hunters, led by Buffalo
+Bill and escorted by Lieutenant Schwatka and his squad of cavalry,
+rode on the afternoon of the first day from North Platte
+to Fort McPherson and there camped for the night with the
+bare earth and a blanket for a bed and a small army tent for
+shelter and cover.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning after a rude army breakfast, eaten while
+we sat about upon the ground, and without the luxury of a bath
+or a change of wearing apparel, this cavalcade renewed its journey
+in a southwesterly direction expecting ultimately to reach
+the valley of the Republican. We consumed the entire day in
+traveling over what seemed almost a barren waste of undulating
+prairie, except where here and there it was broken by a higher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>
+upland and now and then crossed by a ravine and occasionally
+by a small stream of running water, along the banks of which
+might be found a small growth of timber. The visible area of
+the landscape was so great that it seemed boundless&mdash;an immense
+wilderness of space, and the altitude added to the invigorating
+and stimulating effect of the atmosphere.</p>
+
+<p>We amateurs were constantly in anticipation of seeing either
+wild animals or Indians that might add to the spirit and zest of
+the expedition. There were no habitations, no fields, no farms.
+There was the vast expanse of plain in front of us ascending
+gradually westward toward the mountains with the blue sky and
+sunshine overhead. I do not recollect of seeing more than one
+little cabin or one little pioneer ranch during that whole day's
+ride. I do know that as the afternoon wore on those of us who
+were amateur horsemen were pleased to take our turns as the
+opportunity offered of riding in the army wagon which carried
+our supplies, and leading our horses.</p>
+
+<p>When the shades of night of the second day had come we had
+seen many antelope and now and then heard the cry of the
+coyote and the wolf but we had not seen any sign of buffalo, but
+we did receive information from some cattlemen or plain wanderers
+that there was a band of roving Indians in that vicinity
+which created in us a feeling of some anxiety&mdash;not so much
+for our personal safety as that our horses might be stolen and
+we be left in these remote regions without the necessary facilities
+for traveling homeward.</p>
+
+<p>Our camp for the night was made upon a spot of low ground
+near the bank of a small creek which was bordered by hills on
+either side and sheltered by a small grove of timber near at
+hand. The surrounding hills would cut off the sight of the
+evening camp fires, and the timber would obscure the ascending
+columns of smoke as they spread into space through the branches
+of the trees.</p>
+
+<p>The horses were picketed near the camp around the commissary
+wagon and Lieutenant Schwatka placed the cavalrymen
+upon sentinel duty. The night was spent with some restlessness
+and sleep was somewhat disturbed in anticipation of a possible
+danger, and I believe that all of us rather anxiously awaited
+the coming of the morning with the eastern sunlight that we
+might be restored to that feeling of security that would come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>
+with freedom of action and the opportunity for "preparedness."
+When morning did come we had the pleasure of greeting each
+other with pleasant smiles and a feeling of happy contentment.
+We had not been molested by the Indians and our military sentinels
+had not seen them.</p>
+
+<p>On the afternoon of the third day of our march into the wilderness
+we reached the farther margin of a high upland of the
+rim of a plain, where we had an opportunity of looking down
+over a large area of bottom land covered by vegetation and where
+there appeared to be signs of water. From this point of vantage
+we discovered a small herd of browsing buffalo but so far
+away from us as to be beyond rifle range. These animals were
+apparently so far away from civilization or human habitation of
+any kind that their animal instinct gave them a feeling of safety
+and security.</p>
+
+<p>We well knew that these animals could scent the approach
+of men and horses even when beyond the line of vision. We
+must study the currents of the air and plan our maneuvers with
+the utmost caution if we expected to be able to approach within
+any reasonable distance without being first discovered by them.</p>
+
+<p>We intrusted ourselves to the guidance of Buffalo Bill, whose
+experience added to his good judgment, and so skilfully did he
+conduct our maneuvers around the hills and up and down ravines
+that within an hour we were within a reasonable distance
+of these wild animals before they discovered us, and then the
+chase began. It was a part of the plan that we should surround
+them but we were prudently cautioned by Mr. Cody that a
+buffalo could run faster for a short distance than our horses.
+Therefore we must keep far enough away so that if the buffalo
+should turn toward any of us we could immediately turn and
+flee in the opposite direction as fast as our horses could carry us.</p>
+
+<p>I must stop for a moment to recite a romantic incident which
+made this buffalo chase especially picturesque and amusing.
+Judge Neville had been in the habit of wearing in Omaha a high
+silk hat and a full dress coat (in common parlance a spiketail).
+He started out on this expedition wearing this suit of clothes
+and without any change of garments to wear on the hunt. So it
+came about that when this group of amateur buffalo huntsmen
+went riding pell-mell over the prairies after the buffalo, and likewise
+when pursued by them in turn, Judge Neville sat astride<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>
+his running war-horse wearing his high silk hat and the long
+flaps of his spiketail coat floating out behind him on the breeze
+as if waving a farewell adieu to all his companions. He presented
+a picture against the horizon that does not have its parallel
+in all pioneer history.</p>
+
+<p>It was entirely impossible for us inexperienced buffalo hunters
+while riding galloping horses across the plains to fire our rifles
+with any degree of accuracy. Suffice it to say we did not succeed
+in shooting any buffalo and I don't now even know that
+we tried to do so. We were too much taken up with the excitement
+of the chase and of being chased in turn. At one time
+we were the pursuers and at another time we were being pursued,
+but the excitement was so intense that there was no limit
+to our enjoyment or enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo Bill furnished us the unusual and soul-stirring
+amusement of that afternoon. He took it upon himself individually
+to lasso the largest bull buffalo of the herd while the rest
+of us did but little more than to direct the course of the flight
+of these wild animals, or perhaps, more correctly expressed&mdash;to
+keep out of their way. It did not take Buffalo Bill very long
+to lasso the large bull buffalo as his fleet blooded horse circled
+around the startled wild animal. When evening came we left
+the lassoed buffalo out on the plains solitary and alone, lariated
+to a stake driven into the ground so firmly that we felt quite
+sure he could not escape. It is my impression that we captured
+a young buffalo out of the small herd, which we placed in a
+corral found in that vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning we went out upon the plains to get
+the lassoed buffalo and found that in his efforts to break away
+he had broken one of his legs. We were confronted with the
+question whether we should let the animal loose upon the prairies
+in his crippled condition or whether it would be a more
+merciful thing to shoot him and put him out of his pain and suffering.
+Buffalo Bill solved the vexatious problem by concluding
+to lead the crippled animal over to the ranchman's house and
+there he obtained such instruments as he could, including a
+butcher knife, a hand-saw, and a bar of iron. He amputated
+the limb of the buffalo above the point of the break in the bone
+and seared it over with a hot iron to close the artery and prevent
+the animal from bleeding to death. The surgical operation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>
+thus rudely performed upon this big, robust wild animal of the
+prairie seemed to be quite well and successfully performed. The
+buffalo was then left in the ranchman's corral with the understanding
+that he would see it was well fed and watered.</p>
+
+<p>We were now quite a way from civilization and near the
+Colorado border line, and notwithstanding our subsequent riding
+over the hills and uplands during the following day we did
+not discover any other buffalo and those which had gotten away
+from us on the preceding day could not be found. During that
+day we turned northward, and I can remember that about noon
+we came to a cattleman's ranch where for the first time since
+our start on the journey we sat down to a wooden table in a log
+cabin for our noonday meal. During the afternoon we traveled
+northward as rapidly as our horses could carry us but night
+came on when we were twenty miles or more southwest of Fort
+McPherson and we found it again necessary to go into camp
+for the night, sleeping in the little army tents which we carried
+along with us in the commissary wagon.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Cody on this journey had been riding his own private
+horse&mdash;a beautiful animal, capable of great speed. I can remember
+quite well that Mr. Cody said that he never slept out at
+night when within twenty miles of his own home. He declined
+to go into camp with us but turned his horse to the northward
+and gave him the full rein and started off at a rapid gallop over
+the plains, expecting to reach his home before the hour of midnight.
+It seemed to us that it would be a desolate, dreary, lonesome
+and perilous ride over the solitude of that waste of country,
+without roads, without lights, without sign boards or guides, but
+Buffalo Bill said he knew the direction from the stars and that
+he would trust his good horse to safely carry him over depressions
+and ravines notwithstanding the darkness of the night. So
+on he sped northward toward his home.</p>
+
+<p>On the next day we amateur buffalo hunters rode on to Fort
+McPherson and thence to North Platte where we returned our
+army horses to the military post with a debt of gratitude to
+Lieutenant Schwatka, who at all times had been generous, courteous,
+and polite to us, as well as an interesting social companion.</p>
+
+<p>So ended the last romantic and rather unsuccessful buffalo
+hunt over the western plains of the state of Nebraska&mdash;a region<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>
+then desolate, arid, barren, and almost totally uninhabited, but
+today a wealthy and productive part of our state.</p>
+
+<p>The story of the buffalo hunt in and of itself is not an incident
+of much importance but it furnishes the material for a
+most remarkable contrast of development within a period of a
+generation. The wild buffalo has gone. The aboriginal red
+man of the plains has disappeared. The white man with the
+new civilization has stepped into their places. It all seems to
+have been a part of Nature's great plan. Out of the desolation
+of the past there has come the new life with the new civilization,
+just as new worlds and their satellites have been created out of
+the dust of dead worlds.</p>
+
+<p>There was a glory of the wilderness but it has gone. There
+was a mystery that haunted all those barren plains but that too
+has gone. Now there are fields and houses and schools and
+groves of forest trees and villages and towns, all prosperous
+under the same warm sunshine as of a generation ago when the
+buffalo grazed on the meadow lands and the aboriginal Indians
+hunted over the plains.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 478px;">
+<img src="images/illus_020.jpg" width="478" height="600" alt="Mrs. Charles H. Aull
+
+Twelfth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1915-1916" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Mrs. Charles H. Aull
+
+Twelfth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
+Revolution. 1915-1916</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE NEBRASKA SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION</h2>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">By Mrs. Charles H. Aull</span>, <i>State Regent</i></h3>
+
+
+<p>The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution
+was organized in Washington, District of Columbia,
+October 11, 1890, and incorporated under the laws of Congress,
+June 8, 1891. Its charter membership numbered 818. Its declared
+object was:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"To perpetuate the memory of the spirit of the men and
+women who achieved American Independence by the acquisition
+and protection of historical spots, and the erection of monuments;
+by the encouragement of historical research in relation
+to the Revolution and the publication of its results; by the preservation
+of documents and relics, and of the records of the individual
+services of revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by
+the promotion of celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries.</p>
+
+<p>"To carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell
+address to the American people, 'to promote, as an object of primary
+importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge,'
+thus developing an enlightened public opinion, and affording
+to young and old such advantages as shall develop in them
+the largest capacity for performing the duties of American
+citizens.</p>
+
+<p>"To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American
+freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and
+to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Although there were previously some "members at large" in
+Nebraska, no chapter had been organized until the formation of
+Deborah Avery chapter in 1896. At present (1916) there are
+thirty-three chapters with a membership of fifteen hundred, and
+a well organized state society actively engaged in historical, educational,
+and patriotic work. Each chapter pays to the state
+society a per capita tax of twenty-five cents. A conference is
+held annually to plan the state work and promote the purposes
+of the national society.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer of Omaha was appointed by the
+national society as organizing regent for Nebraska, June 7, 1894.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>
+She was reappointed in February, 1895, and again in February,
+1896.</p>
+
+<p>No chapters were formed until in 1896, when Mary M. A.
+Stevens of Lincoln was admitted to membership in the national
+society, January 8, and was made organizing regent by Mrs.
+Philip Hichborn, vice-president general in charge of organization.
+Under the direction of Miss Stevens, Deborah Avery
+chapter was formed May 15, 1896, and chartered June 17 following.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1896, Mrs. Laura B. Pound of Lincoln was appointed
+state regent to succeed Mrs. Palmer and the real work of organization
+was begun.</p>
+
+<p>Omaha chapter was formed June 29, 1896, and approved by
+the national society October 1, 1896. In December, 1896, Mrs.
+Elizabeth C. Langworthy was appointed organizing regent at
+Seward but a chapter was not completed there until nine years
+later. In February, 1897, Mary M. A. Stevens of Deborah
+Avery chapter and Mrs. Henry L. Jaynes of Omaha chapter
+were delegates to the continental congress at Washington. Miss
+Stevens nominated Mrs. Pound for state regent and Mrs. Jaynes
+nominated Mrs. John M. Thurston of Omaha for vice-president
+general from Nebraska. Their election followed. Mrs. Thurston
+died March 14, 1898, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Angie Thurston
+Newman of Lincoln was elected at the following congress to
+succeed her. No new chapters were perfected in 1897 but Minnie
+Shedd Cline of Minden and Mrs. Sarah G. Bates of Valentine
+were appointed organizing regents.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Frances Avery Haggard of Lincoln was elected state regent
+by the continental congress in February, 1898. She devoted
+her energies to raising money and supplies for the relief
+work undertaken by the Daughters during the Spanish-American
+war. At the close of her first term Mrs. Haggard declined
+a renomination.</p>
+
+<p>The third state regent was Mrs. Elizabeth Towle of Omaha,
+who was first elected in 1899 and reëlected in 1900. Miss Anna
+Day of Beatrice was appointed organizing regent by Mrs. Towle.</p>
+
+<p>In 1901 Mrs. Laura B. Pound was again elected state regent
+and served two terms. The national society having made provision
+for state vice-regents, Mrs. Mildred L. Allee of Omaha
+was elected to that office. Mrs. Annie Strickland Steele was ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>pointed
+organizing regent at Fairbury, Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck
+at Fremont, and Mrs. Olive A. Haldeman at Ord. In her
+last report as state regent Mrs. Pound recorded two new chapters,
+Quivira chapter at Fairbury, organized December 3, 1902,
+and Lewis-Clark chapter at Fremont, January 17, 1903, with
+chapters at Beatrice and Ord in process of formation. Quivira
+chapter was chartered February 3, 1903, and Lewis-Clark chapter
+was chartered February 13, 1903.</p>
+
+<p>The first state conference was called by Mrs. Pound in October,
+1902, and was held in Lincoln at the home of the late Mrs.
+Addison S. Tibbetts. This conference was called to nominate
+a state regent and plan for observing the centennial of the Lewis
+and Clark expedition. This event was celebrated August 3,
+1904, the anniversary of the council of Lewis and Clark with
+the Otoe and Missouri Indians. On this date a Nebraska boulder
+was dedicated at Fort Calhoun with appropriate exercises, participated
+in by the Sons of the American Revolution and the
+Nebraska State Historical Society. This was the first historical
+event commemorated by the Daughters in Nebraska.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Mildred L. Allee of Omaha was nominated for state regent
+at the conference in 1902, and Mrs. Emma Kellogg of Lincoln
+for vice-regent. These nominations were approved at the
+continental congress in 1903 and both nominees were elected,
+and reëlected in 1904.</p>
+
+<p>Coronado chapter at Ord was organized January 25, 1904,
+and Elizabeth Montague chapter at Beatrice June 17, 1904.
+The former was chartered September 30, 1904, and the latter
+June 21, 1905.</p>
+
+<p>On October 20, 1903, the second annual state conference was
+held in Omaha. Mrs. Charles Warren Fairbanks, president general
+of the national society, was the guest of honor and delivered
+an address upon the subject, "The Mission of the Daughters of
+the American Revolution."</p>
+
+<p>The third annual state conference assembled in Lincoln, October
+19, 1904, for a two days' session. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy
+of Seward was chosen for state regent and Mrs. Janet K.
+Hollenbeck of Fremont was the choice of the conference for vice-regent.
+Both were elected, and both were renominated at the
+fourth state conference held at Fairbury in October, 1905.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span>
+Mrs. Langworthy organized the Margaret Holmes chapter at
+Seward April 10, 1905, and Nikumi chapter at Blair, February
+23, 1906.</p>
+
+<p>Lincoln entertained the fifth annual state conference October
+29-30, 1906, Mrs. Donald McLean, president general, being the
+guest of honor. At this conference a state organization was
+perfected and by-laws adopted providing that nominations for
+state regent and vice-regent should be made by the state board
+of management and submitted to the continental congress for
+election. Other officers for the state organization were to be
+elected at the annual conference. This system was followed
+until 1910, when the by-laws of the national society were changed
+to permit each state organization to elect its own regent and
+vice-regent.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Charles B. Letton of Quivira chapter, Fairbury, was
+nominated for state regent and Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck for
+vice-regent at the meeting of the board of management in the
+spring of 1907, and were elected at the national congress immediately
+following. Mrs. Letton was reëlected in 1908 and Mrs.
+S. D. Barkalow of Omaha was elected vice-regent.</p>
+
+<p>The sixth annual state conference was held in Omaha October
+22-23, 1907. Mrs. Letton appointed three organizing regents,
+one at Aurora, where no chapter has yet been formed; Mrs.
+Arthur E. Allyn at Hastings, and Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton at
+Kearney. On May 16, 1908, she organized the Fort Kearney
+chapter at Kearney, which was chartered October 27, 1908, with
+Mrs. Norton as its first regent.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Richard C. Hoyt presented the following resolution to
+the sixth annual conference and moved its adoption, the motion
+being seconded by Mrs. Henrietta M. Rees:</p>
+
+<p>"Therefore, be it resolved that the D. A. R. of Nebraska coöperate
+with the State Historical Society in taking some steps
+toward marking the old Oregon trail in Nebraska and that a
+committee be appointed to act in unison with the Historical
+Society."</p>
+
+<p>The resolution was adopted. Members of the Omaha chapter
+who were interested in this matter at the time, say that the idea
+was suggested by Dr. George L. Miller of Omaha, then president
+of the State Historical Society. In accordance with the foregoing
+resolution Mrs. Letton, state regent, appointed the follow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span>ing
+committee: Mrs. John J. Stubbs, Omaha; Mrs. George H.
+Brash, Beatrice; and Mrs. Stephen B. Pound, Lincoln.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 383px;">
+<img src="images/illus_021.jpg" width="383" height="600" alt="Monument Located in
+Bemis Park, Omaha, on
+the California Trail or
+Military Road
+
+Erected by Omaha Chapter,
+Daughters of the American
+Revolution" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Monument Located in
+Bemis Park, Omaha, on
+the California Trail or
+Military Road
+
+Erected by Omaha Chapter,
+Daughters of the American
+Revolution</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter padbase" style="width: 367px;">
+<img src="images/illus_022.jpg" width="367" height="600" alt="Monument in Riverside
+Park, Omaha, marking the
+Initial Point of the California
+Trail
+
+Erected by Omaha Chapter, Daughters
+of the American Revolution" title="" />
+<span class="caption">Monument in Riverside
+Park, Omaha, marking the
+Initial Point of the California
+Trail
+
+Erected by Omaha Chapter, Daughters
+of the American Revolution</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The seventh annual conference was held at Fremont October
+29-30, 1908. At this conference Mrs. Letton urged that plans
+be made for marking the Oregon trail across Nebraska, and
+called upon Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton who had been appointed
+chairman of the Oregon trail committee to present the subject
+to the conference.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1909, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward of Lincoln was elected
+state regent and Mrs. S. D. Barkalow of Omaha was reëlected
+vice-regent. In 1910 Mrs. Ward was reëlected state regent with
+Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton as vice-regent.</p>
+
+<p>The eighth state conference was held at Beatrice October
+28-29, 1909. At this conference it was voted to present two marble
+pedestals to Memorial Continental Hall. It was resolved to
+vigorously prosecute the efforts to secure an appropriation from
+the legislature for the marking of the Oregon trail. Mrs. Charles
+B. Letton, during her last term as state regent, had endeavored to
+have the legislature of 1909 appropriate money for marking this
+trail, but no action was taken by that body until the session of
+1911, when, through the efforts of Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, who had
+been elected state regent, $2,000 was appropriated "for the purpose
+of assisting in the procuring of suitable monuments to mark
+the Oregon trail in the state of Nebraska." This money was to be
+expended under the direction of a commission composed of "the
+state surveyor of Nebraska, the state regent of the Daughters of
+the American Revolution in the state of Nebraska, and the secretary
+of the Nebraska State Historical Society." This act was
+approved April 7, 1911. On April 10th following, the above-named
+commissioners met and organized as the "Oregon Trail
+Memorial Commission," with Robert Harvey president, Mrs.
+Oreal S. Ward vice-president, and Clarence S. Paine secretary-treasurer.</p>
+
+<p>During Mrs. Ward's term as state regent she organized four
+chapters, St. Leger Cowley chapter, Lincoln, December 3, 1909;
+Niobrara chapter, Hastings, October 12, 1910; Otoe chapter, Nebraska
+City, February 15, 1911; Major Isaac Sadler chapter,
+Omaha, March 1, 1911.</p>
+
+<p>The ninth annual state conference was held in Seward, Octo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>ber
+19-20, 1910, and Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton of Kearney was
+elected state regent, and Mrs. Warren Perry of Fairbury vice-regent.
+They were reëlected at the tenth state conference, held
+at Kearney, October 23-25, 1911. The following eleven chapters
+were organized during Mrs. Norton's administration:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+Platte chapter, Columbus, October 20, 1911.<br />
+Reavis-Ashley chapter, Falls City, January 5, 1912.<br />
+Superior chapter, Superior, January 12, 1912.<br />
+Thirty-seventh Star chapter, McCook, February 21, 1912.<br />
+David City chapter, David City, March 5, 1912.<br />
+Pawnee chapter, Fullerton, March 28, 1912.<br />
+David Conklin chapter, Callaway, February 22, 1913.<br />
+Josiah Everett chapter, Lyons, February 26, 1913.<br />
+Bonneville chapter, Lexington, February 26, 1913.<br />
+Nancy Gary chapter, Norfolk, February 27, 1913.<br />
+Stephen Bennett chapter, Fairmont, February 28, 1913.<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Mrs. Norton attended the third meeting of the Oregon Trail
+Commission, held May 2, 1911, and was elected vice-president in
+place of Mrs. Oreal S. Ward whom she had succeeded as state regent.
+During her term Mrs. Norton vigorously prosecuted the
+work of marking the Oregon trail, with the assistance of Mrs.
+Charles B. Letton, whom she had appointed as chairman of the
+Oregon trail committee. During her administration the contract
+was made for regulation markers to be used in marking the trail,
+and several were erected. There were also several special monuments
+erected ranging in cost from $100 to $350. The first
+monument to be planned for during this period was the one on
+the Kansas-Nebraska state line, to cost $350, which, however,
+was not dedicated until later, and the last monument to be dedicated
+during Mrs. Norton's term was the one on the Nebraska-Wyoming
+line, costing $200, for which Mrs. Norton raised the
+money from the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution
+in Nebraska and Wyoming. During this time there was
+also a very careful survey made of the trail and sites for monuments
+were selected.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1910, Mrs. Andrew K. Gault of Omaha was elected
+vice-president general from Nebraska at the national congress
+and reëlected in 1912, serving, in all, four years.</p>
+
+<p>The eleventh annual conference was held in Lincoln, October<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>
+22-24, 1912. Mrs. Mathew T. Scott, president general, was the
+honor guest. Amendments to the by-laws were adopted in harmony
+with the by-laws of the national organization and the date
+of the state conference was changed from October to March.
+It was provided that all state officers should serve for one term
+of two years, and the per capita tax was raised from ten cents to
+twenty-five cents. Mrs. Warren Perry of Fairbury was elected
+state regent and Mrs. Charles H. Aull of Omaha vice-regent.</p>
+
+<p>The twelfth annual state conference convened at Fairbury,
+March 17-19, 1914. During Mrs. Perry's term of office there
+were organized the following chapters:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+Oregon Trail chapter, Hebron, October 20, 1913.<br />
+Jonathan Cass chapter, Weeping Water, January 23, 1914.<br />
+Elijah Gove chapter, Stromsburg, February 16, 1914.<br />
+Fontenelle chapter, Plattsmouth, April 21, 1914.<br />
+Reverend Reuben Pickett chapter, Chadron, March 4, 1915.<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>At the close of her administration twelve organizing regents
+were at work: Mrs. Eleanor Murphey Smith, Crete; Mrs. Capitola
+Skiles Tulley, Alliance; Mrs. Mabel Raymond, Scottsbluff;
+Miss Jessie Kellogg, Red Cloud; Mrs. Alice Dilworth, Holdrege;
+Mrs. Clara King Jones, Wayne; Mrs. C. M. Wallace, Shelton;
+Mrs. Charles Brown, Sutton; Mrs. Margaret Orr, Clay Center;
+Mrs. Viola Romigh, Gothenburg; Mrs. Leona A. Craft, Morrill;
+Dr. Anna Cross, Crawford.</p>
+
+<p>The most important work to engage the attention of the state
+society during the administration of Mrs. Perry was the erection
+of monuments on the Oregon trail, and the accumulation of
+material for the present volume of reminiscences. A large number
+of the regulation markers on the Oregon trail were erected
+during this time; several special monuments dedicated and
+others arranged for.</p>
+
+<p>The thirteenth state conference was held in Omaha, March
+17-19, 1915. Mrs. Charles H. Aull of Omaha was elected state
+regent, and Mrs. E. G. Drake of Beatrice vice-regent. Three
+chapters have been organized under the present administration:</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>
+Capt. Christopher Robinson chapter, Crawford, June 16, 1915.<br />
+Butler-Johnson chapter, Sutton, June 17, 1915.<br />
+Three Trails chapter, Gothenburg, December 31, 1915.<br />
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>At the present time plans are being formulated for marking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>
+the California trail from Omaha and Florence along the north
+side of the Platte river to the Wyoming line. This work will
+be carried forward by the Daughters, through the agency of the
+Nebraska Memorial Association of which the state regent is
+vice-president.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FINIS</h2>
+
+
+<p>
+"The moving Finger writes, and having writ,<br />
+Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit<br />
+Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,<br />
+Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."<br />
+</p>
+<p class="tdind">
+&mdash;<i>Omar Khayyam</i><br />
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span></p><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span></p>
+<h2>INDEX</h2>
+
+
+
+<table style="width:75%;" border="1" summary="indexlist">
+	<tr>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_A">A</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_B">B</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_C">C</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_D">D</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_E">E</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_F">F</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_G">G</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_H">H</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_I">I</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_J">J</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_K">K</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_L">L</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_M">M</a></td>
+	</tr>
+	<tr>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_N">N</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_O">O</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_P">P</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_Q">Q</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_R">R</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_S">S</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_T">T</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_U">U</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_V">V</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_W">W</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#IX_Y">Y</a></td>
+	</tr>
+</table>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_A" name="IX_A"></a>Abel, Anton, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
+<li>Adams, Anna Tribell, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Adams, Clarendon E., <i>Stirring Events along the Little Blue</i>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li>
+<li>Adams County <i>Gazette</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Adams county, historical sketch of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li>
+<li>Adriance, Rev. Jacob, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Akers, William H., <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Ak-Sar-Ben, Knights of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Alexander, Colonel, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li>
+<li>Alexander, S. J., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Alexander's ranch, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Alexandria, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Alexis of Russia, Grand Duke, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li>
+<li>Allee, Mildred L. (Mrs. Abraham), <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Edna M. Boyle, <i>A Grasshopper Raid</i>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Edwin M., <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Mrs. Emily Bottorff, <i>Reminiscences of Washington County</i>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Mr. and Mrs. John, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Pink, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Thomas, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Thomas J., <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
+<li>Allen, William, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Allen, William Henry, <i>Reminiscences of Fort Calhoun</i>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Allen, Mrs. William Henry, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Alliance, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Allis, Samuel, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li>
+<li>Allyn, Mrs. Arthur E., <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>American Baptist Publication Society, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li>
+<li>American Fur Company, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
+<li>American Monthly magazine, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>American Woman's Suffrage Association, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Ames, John H., <i>Location of the Capital at Lincoln</i>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li>
+<li>Ames, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Ames, Oakes, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li>
+<li>Anderson, Mrs. Sarah F., <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li>
+<li>Andrews, Dr. J. P., <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li>
+<li>Anthony, Susan B., <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Arapahoe, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li>
+<li>Arbor Lodge, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+<li>Arkeketah (Otoe chief), <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li>
+<li>Arlington, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Armstrong brothers, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Arnold, Mrs., <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Arnold, Major, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Asche, Mrs. A. Dove Wiley, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Atkinson, Mrs., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Atkinson, General Henry, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li>
+<li>Auburn, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>Auger, General C. C., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Aull, Mrs. Charles H., <i>Outline History of the Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American Revolution</i>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Aurora, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Austin, O. O., <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Avery, W. H., <i>A Buffalo Hunt</i>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li>
+<li>Ayres, James, <i>Life on the Frontier</i>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_B" name="IX_B"></a>Babcock, ----, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li>
+<li>Babcock, C. C., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Babcock, Russell D., <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Babcock, Titus, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Badger family, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Badger, Henry L., <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Badger, Mrs. H. L., <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
+<li>Badger, Lewis H., <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Badger, Mary A., <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Bailey, Wesley, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Bainter, James, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
+<li>Baker, Ben S., <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Baker, Joe, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li>
+<li>Baker, Wilton, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Bancroft, Dr. William M., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Banking House of Thomas Harbine, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Barber, F. B., <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
+<li>Barkalow, Mrs. S. D., <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Barnard, E. H., <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Barneby, Battiste, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
+<li>Barnes, Mrs. P. S., <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li>
+<li>Barnston, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Barr, P. F., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Barrett, Jay Amos, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Barrette, Rev. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Bartlett, Iowa, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li>
+<li>Bassett, Samuel C., <i>A Broken Axle</i>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>Dreamland Complete</i> (poem), <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Bates, Rev. Henry, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li>
+<li>Bates, Mrs. Sarah G., <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Bauman, John, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li>
+<li>Bay State Cattle Company, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Beatrice <i>Express</i>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Beatrice, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Beaver creek (Sandburr creek), <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Beaver Crossing, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li>
+<li>Becksted, Addie, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li>
+<li>Becksted, Billy, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li>
+<li>Becksted, Elton, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li>
+<li>Bedford, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Beeson, Jane, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li>
+<li>Bell creek, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li>
+<li>Bell, James, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li>
+<li>Bell, John T., <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li>
+<li>Bell, Ortha C., <i>An Incident in the History of Lincoln</i>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Bell, Mrs. Ortha C., <i>Lincoln in the Early Seventies</i>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Bell, Ray Hiram, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Belleville, Kansas, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Bellevue, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li>
+<li>Beltzer, John, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Beni, Jules, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li>
+<li>Benkleman, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Bennett, Caroline Valentine, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Bennett, Jacob, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Berwyn, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
+<li>Bethlehem, Iowa, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Betz, ----, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Bierstadt, Albert, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li>
+<li>Bifkin, Colonel, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li>
+<li>Big Blue river, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
+<li>Big Sandy, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Binfield, S. B., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Binney, Millard S., <i>Gray Eagle, Pawnee Chief</i>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>Bittenbender, Mrs. Ada M., <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Black, Gov. Samuel W., <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li>
+<li>Black Hills, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li>
+<li>Blackbird creek, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Blackwell, Lucy Stone, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Blaine, William H., <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
+<li>Blair, Grant, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Blair, James, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Blair, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Blizzards, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Blue river, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li>
+<li>Blue Springs, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
+<li>Blue Vale, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li>
+<li><i>Blue Valley Record</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
+<li>Boggs, Dr., <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
+<li>Bohanan, Quinn, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li>
+<li>Bonesteel, ----, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
+<li>Bonneville chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Bookwalter, John W., <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+<li>Boone, Mrs. William, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Bosler brothers, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Bottorff, Andrew J., <i>Early Days in Stanton County</i>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li>
+<li>Boucha, Joseph, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Bouvier, Adeline, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Bouvier, Mother, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Bouvier, Oliver, <i>Reminiscences of De Soto in 1855</i>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Bowen, Adna H., <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Bowen, Judge, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Bower, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li>
+<li>Box Butte county, <i>Historical sketch of</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Boyd, ----, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li>
+<li>Boyd, James E., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Boyer and Roubidoux, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Boyer, J. P., <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>Boyle, Judge, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Bradley, Judge James, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Brady, ----, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Brady Island, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Brash, Mrs. George H., <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Brass, Samuel L., <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Brewster, Mrs. S. C., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Brickley, E. D., <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li>
+<li>Brigham, George A., <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>Brisbane, ----, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li>
+<li>Broken Bow, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Brooks, Mrs. ----, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Brooks, Mrs. N. J. Frazier, <i>Reminiscences of Pioneer Life at Fort Calhoun</i>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li>
+<li>Broome, Francis M., <i>Frontier towns</i>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li>
+<li>Bross, Rev. Harmon, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li>
+<li>Bross, Mrs. Harmon, <i>An Experience</i>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li>
+<li>Brown, Mrs. Charles, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Brown, Mrs. Charles M., <i>First Things in Clay County</i>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Brown, F. M., <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Brown, Hopkins, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Brown, John, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Brown, R. G., <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Brownell hall, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Brownville &amp; Fort Kearny railroad, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li>
+<li>Brownville, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>Buchanan, a frontier town, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li>
+<li>Buck surveying party, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
+<li>Buffalo, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li>
+<li>Buffalo county, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li>
+<li>Buffalo creek, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
+<li>Burgess, Frank, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Burke, Mrs. ----, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Burlington and Missouri R. R. Co., <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Burt, Mr. ----, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li>
+<li>Bush, Lieutenant ----, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li>
+<li>Bussard, Kate, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Bussard, William, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Buswell, Judson, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
+<li>Butler, ----, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
+<li>Butler, Gov. David, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li>
+<li>Butler Johnson chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Byers, Mr. and Mrs. William N., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_C" name="IX_C"></a>Cabney, Antoine, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Caldwell, Mrs. A. J., <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>California trail, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Callaway, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Cameron, L. D., <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Camp, William M., <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Campbell, Alexander, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Capital hotel, Lincoln, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li>
+<li>Captain Christopher Robinson chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Carney family, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Carpenter, J. A., <i>Early Days in Nebraska</i>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
+<li>Carr, Gen. E. A., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Carson family, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Carter, Alex., <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Carter, "Billy," 24</li>
+<li>Carter, Jacob, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Carter, Mr. and Mrs. J. R., <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Carter, Thomas M., <i>Reminiscences</i>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Cass county, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li>
+<li>Cedar creek (Willow creek), <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Central City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Chabot, C., <i>Early Recollections</i>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li>
+<li>Chadron, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Champlin and McDowell, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li>
+<li>Champlin, L. C., <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Chandler, John S., <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
+<li>Chapman, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Chapman, P. L., <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Cheyenne and Northern R. R., <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
+<li>Cheyenne county, Kansas, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Cheyenne, Wyoming, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Chief Pipe Stem (Otoe Indian), <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>Chouteau, Auguste, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Chouteau, Pierre, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Christian, ----, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li>
+<li>Christian, Robert, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Christian, William, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Claim clubs, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Clapp, Mrs. Sarah, <i>Early Indian History</i>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li>
+<li>Clark, E. H., <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Clark, Mrs. E. H., <i>Fort Calhoun in the Early Fifties</i>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li>
+<li>Clark, Elam, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li>
+<li>Clark, Isaac N., <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Clark, Dr. Martin V. B., <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Clark, Theodore, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Clarks, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li>
+<li>Clarkson, Rev. John F., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Clay Center, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Clay county, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Clements, ----, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li>
+<li>Clements, E. J., <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Cline, Mrs. J. A., <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li>
+<li>Cline, Minnie Shed, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Clother hotel, Columbus, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li>
+<li>Cody, William F. (Buffalo Bill), <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>-<a href="#Page_331">331</a></li>
+<li>Cogswell, Mrs., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Colby, Mrs. Clara Bewick, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Colby, Orrin, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Cole, Gen. Albert V., <i>Early Experiences in Adams County</i>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li>
+<li>Cole's creek, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Collegeview (Fontenelle college), <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Collins, Rev. Isaac, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Columbus, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a></li>
+<li>Comstock, E. S., <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li>
+<li>Comstock, George S., <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
+<li>Concordia, Kansas, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li>
+<li>Conroy's ranch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Cook, ----, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Cook, Capt. James H., <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
+<li>Cooper, Dr. P. J., <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Cooper, Vienna, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Corey, A. A., <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Coronado chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Coronado, Francisco de, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li>
+<li>Correll, Ernest E., <i>Fred E. Roper, Pioneer</i>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>An Indian Raid</i>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Correll, E. M., <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Correll, Lucy L., <i>The Lure of the Prairies</i>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>Suffrage in Nebraska</i>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Cottage Hill postoffice, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Cottonwood Springs, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Council Bluff (Fort Calhoun), Nebraska, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
+<li>Council Bluffs, Iowa, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Council creek (Skidi creek), <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Cox, William W., <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li>
+<li>Crab Orchard, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
+<li>Craft, Mrs. Leona A., <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Craig, Allen, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>Craig, Mrs. Rhoda, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Cramb, J. O., <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Cramb, Will F., <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Crane, George, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li>
+<li>Crawford, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Creighton college, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
+<li>Creighton, Edward, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Creighton telegraph line, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>Crete, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Crook, General George, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li>
+<li>Crooked Hand, the Fighter (Pawnee Indian), <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li>
+<li>Cropsey, Col. Andrew J., <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Cropsey, Daniel B., <i>Early Days in Pawnee County</i>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li>
+<li>Cross, Dr. Anna, <i>Legend of Crow Butte</i>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Cross, George, <i>Early Events in Jefferson County</i>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Crow Butte, Legend of, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li>
+<li>Crow Heart Butte (poem), Pearl Shepherd Moses, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
+<li>Cub creek, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li>
+<li>Culbertson, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
+<li>Culver, Gen. Jacob H., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Culver, Mrs. Jacob H., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Cuming City Claim Club, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Cuming City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>Cuming county, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li>
+<li>Cuming, Governor Thomas B., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Cuming, Mrs. Thomas B., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Cumming, Mrs. Nils, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Cushing, James, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Cushing, Capt. S. E., <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li>
+<li><i>Custer County, Reminiscences of</i>, by Mrs. J. J. Douglas, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_D" name="IX_D"></a><i>Daily-Gazette-Journal</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Daily, Major, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li>
+<li>Dalbey, Dwight S., <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Dalbey, Mrs. Dwight S., member Book committee, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li>
+<li>Dalbey, Mrs. Virginia Lewis, <i>Biography of Ford Lewis</i>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Daniels, J. H., <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li>
+<li>Darling, Dick, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>Daugherty, R. C., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Daughter of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>David City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>David City chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Davis, Frank M., <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li>
+<li>Davis, J. V., <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Davis, Mrs. Thomas, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Davis, W. H., <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
+<li>Dawson county, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
+<li>Dawson, John, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
+<li>Day, Miss Anna, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Deadwood, South Dakota, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Deborah Avery chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Decatur, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li>
+<li>Deep Well ranch, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li>
+<li>Delahunty, Patrick, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
+<li>De Merritt, Case of, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li>
+<li>Deroin, Battiste, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li>
+<li>De Soto, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>-<a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>Diller, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li>
+<li>Dillon, Ira G., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Dilworth, Mrs. Alice, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Dilworth's Islands, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
+<li>Dinsmore, John B., <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Dismal river, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li>
+<li>Ditto, Hank, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li>
+<li>Dixon, Mr. and Mrs. Nimrod J., <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li>
+<li>Doane college, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Dodge county, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li>
+<li>Dodge, Gen. Grenville M., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Dodge, Col. Henry, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Donavan, Frele Morton, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
+<li>Donavan, W. T., <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li>
+<li>Douglas county, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li>
+<li>Douglas house, Omaha, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Douglas, J. J., <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Douglas, Mrs. J. J., <i>Reminiscences of Custer County</i>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
+<li>Douglas, Stephen A., <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li>
+<li>Dubuque, Julien, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li>
+<li>Dundy county, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Dundy, Judge Elmer S., <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li>
+<li>Dunlap, ----, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li>
+<li>Drake, Mrs. E. G., <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Dreamland Complete (poem), <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Dyball, Mrs. George B., <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_E" name="IX_E"></a>Eagle (Missouri Indian chief), <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li>
+<li>Eddyville, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Edgerton, Gordon H., <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>El Capitan Rancho, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li>
+<li>Elijah Gore chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Elizabeth Montague chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Elk City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Elkhorn river, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Ellis, Mrs. ----, <i>An Acrostic</i>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li>
+<li>Elm creek, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Endicott, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li>
+<li>Engle, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Erickson, Charles J., <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Erickson, Frank, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Erickson, John, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Erwin &amp; Powers company, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Estabrook, Mrs. Experience, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Eubanks, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Evans, John, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
+<li>Evans, Mrs. May, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Everett, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li>
+<li>Everett, B. W., <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Everett, Eleanor, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Everett, Mrs. Elise G., <i>Experiences of a Pioneer Woman</i>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Everett, Frank, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></li>
+<li>Everett, Josiah, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li>
+<li>Ewing, ----, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_F" name="IX_F"></a>Fagot, Mrs., ----, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
+<li>Fairbanks, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Fairbanks, Mrs. Charles Warren, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Fairbury <i>Gazette</i>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>-<a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Fairbury, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>-<a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>-<a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Fairfield, Chancellor E. B., <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li>
+<li>Fairmont, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Falls City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Farnam, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Ferguson, Susan E., <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Fifth U. S. Cavalry, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Filley, Elijah, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Filley, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Fillmore county, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Fillmore postoffice, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li>
+<li>Finney, Dr., <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>First National bank, Fairbury, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>First Territorial Fair, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li>
+<li>Fisette, Mrs. Charles H., <i>Pioneer Women of Omaha</i>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
+<li>Fish creek, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Fisher, ----, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Fisher, King, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Fisher, Martin, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li>
+<li>Fitchie, S. D., <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Florence, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Fontenelle chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Fontenelle college, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li>
+<li>Fontenelle, Logan, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
+<li>Fontenelle mission, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Fontenelle Mounted Rangers, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li>
+<li>Fontenelle, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a></li>
+<li>Fort Atkinson, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
+<li>Fort Calhoun, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
+<li>Fort Cottonwood, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Fort Hartsuff, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Fort Kearney chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Fort Kearny (Nebraska City), <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li>
+<li>Fort Kearny, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Fort Laramie, Wyoming, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Fort Leavenworth, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li>
+<li>Fort McPherson, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li>
+<li>Fort Omaha, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li>
+<li>Fourth of July celebration, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Fouts, Marion Jerome (California Joe), <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li>
+<li>Fowlie, Peter, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Fox, The (Pawnee Indian), <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li>
+<li>Fox Ford, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Francis, Samuel, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Franklin, Dr., <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li>
+<li>Franklin county, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li>
+<li>Frazier, John, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>Frazier, Thomas, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li>
+<li>Freeman, Charles, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
+<li>Freeman, Daniel, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Freeman, Mrs. Daniel, <i>Recollections of the First Settler of Dawson County</i>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></li>
+<li>Freeman, Minnie (see Penney), <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li>
+<li>Freeman, W. E., <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Freighting, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Fremont, John C., <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Fremont, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>French, Luther, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Frenchman river, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
+<li>Fritt's grove, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li><i>Frontier Towns</i>, Frances M. Broome, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li>
+<li>Fullerton, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Furnas, Gov. Robert W., <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_G" name="IX_G"></a>Gage county, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li>
+<li>Gale, Dr. Marion F., <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
+<li>Gale, Mary, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
+<li>Gale, Mell, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Gantt, Judge Daniel, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Gardner's Siding, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li>
+<li>Gates, Mr. and Mrs. Milo, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Gates, Susan, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li>
+<li>Gault, Mrs. Andrew K., <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Gaylord brothers, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li>
+<li>Gaylord, Georgia, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Gaylord, Ralph, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Gaylord, Rev. Reuben, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Genoa, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Gerrard, E. A., <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Gibson, John McT., <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Gilkerson, Alice Flor, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Gillingham, David (Gray Eagle), <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>Gillis, Judge, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li>
+<li>Gilman, J. C., <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Gilman, Jed, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li>
+<li>Gilman, Mrs. P. J. (Mary Hubbard), <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Gilman's ranch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li>
+<li>Gilmore, Boss, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Gilmore, Elias, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li>
+<li>Gilmore, Jake, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Gilmore, Lydia, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li>
+<li>Gilmore, Minnie, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Glenn, Newton, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Glenwood, Iowa, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Goldsmith, Rev. S., <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li>
+<li>Goodwill, Mrs. Taylor G., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Gordon, Jim, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Gordon, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li>
+<li>Gosper, Mrs. Watie, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li>
+<li>Goss, ----, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Gothenburg, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Gould, Charles, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Gould, W. A., <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li>
+<li>Grand Island, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
+<li>Grant, U. S., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Grasshoppers, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li>
+<li>Gray Eagle (Pawnee chief), <a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Great American Desert, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Green, Albert L., <i>Reminiscences of Gage County</i>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
+<li>Grimes, L. R., <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Guin, Dr., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Gurley, W. F., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_H" name="IX_H"></a>Hackberry cañon, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li>
+<li>Hacker family, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Hackney ranch, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Hackney, Walt, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Hackney, William, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Hager, Rev. Isaac, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li>
+<li>Haggard, Mrs. Frances Avery, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Haigler, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Haile, ----, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li>
+<li>Haines, Rev., <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li>
+<li>Haldeman, Dr. F. D., <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Haldeman, Mrs. Olive A. (Mrs. F. D.), <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Halfway Hollow ranch, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Hall &amp; Evans, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
+<li>Hamer, Judge Francis G., <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li>
+<li>Hamilton county, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li>
+<li>Hamilton, Mrs. Cynthia, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+<li>Hamilton hotel, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Hamilton, Mrs. William, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li>
+<li>Haney, ----, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Hanscom, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J., <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
+<li>Hansen, George W., <i>Early Days of Fairbury and Jefferson County</i>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>The Earliest Romance of Jefferson County</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li>
+  <li><i>Finding the Grave of George Winslow</i>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Hansen, Harry, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Hansen, Mary Kelley, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Harbine Bank of Fairbury, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Harbine, John, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Harbine, Col. Thomas, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Hardenburg, Harry, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li>
+<li>Hardy, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
+<li>Harney, General W. S., <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Harrington, Sarah P., <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li>
+<li>Hart ranch, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Harvard, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Harvey, Augustus F., <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li>
+<li>Harvey, Robert, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Hastings <i>Journal</i>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Hastings, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Haunstine, Albert, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li>
+<li>Hawkins brothers, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Hawthorne, Mary Heaton, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Hay cañon, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Hay Springs, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li>
+<li>Haynes, Jack, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Heaton, Rev. Isaac E., <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Heaton, Mrs. Isaac E., <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Hebron <i>Journal</i>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Hebron Library association, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Hebron, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Helvey, Frank, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <i>Experiences on the Frontier</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li>
+<li>Helvey, Jasper, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Helvey, Joel, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li>
+<li>Helvey, Orlando, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li>
+<li>Helvey, Thomas, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li>
+<li>Helvey, Whitman, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li>
+<li>Hemphill, Ada, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Hemphill, Mrs. Mary, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Henderson, George, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Henderson, Nellie, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Hendricks, George, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
+<li>Henrietta postoffice, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li>
+<li>Herndon house, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Herrick family, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Heth, John, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></li>
+<li>Heth, Mrs. John, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li>
+<li>Heth, Minnie, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li>
+<li>Hewitt, Lucy R., <i>Early Days in Dawson County</i>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Hewitt, Thomas J., <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Hewitt, Mrs. Thomas J., <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Hichborn, Mrs. Philip, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Hickok, James B. (Wild Bill), <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>Hiles' ranch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Hinman, Beach I., <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Hinman, Washington M., <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>History and Art club, Seward, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Holdrege, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Hollenbeck, Mrs. Janet K., <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Hollenberg, Captain, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+<li>Holloway &amp; Fowler, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Holmes, Mrs. Mary, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Holt county, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li>
+<li>Horse creek (Skeleton Water), <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Horseshoe creek, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+<li>Howe, Church, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Howe, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Howell, William, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Hoyt, Mrs. Richard C., <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Hubbard, Mary (Mrs. P. J. Gilman), <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Hubbell, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>Hubbell, Will, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Hughes' ranch, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Humphries, ----, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
+<li>Hungate family, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li>
+<li>Hunter, Rev. A. V., <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
+<li>Hunter, Charley, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li>
+<li>Hunter, George Michael, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li>
+<li>Hunter, I. N., <i>Recollections of</i>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li>
+<li>Hunter, Mr. and Mrs. L. D., <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li>
+<li><i>Huntsman's Echo</i>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li>
+<li>Hurd, ----, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li>
+<li>Huse, Harriet, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_I" name="IX_I"></a>Imlay, William, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
+<li>Indians, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>-<a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>-<a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>-<a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>-<a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>-<a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
+<li>Indian burial, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li>
+<li>Indian creek, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
+<li>Indian massacres, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Indian police, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
+<li>Indian school, Genoa, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Indianola, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Inland, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li>
+<li>Independence, Missouri, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li>
+<li>Irvington, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_J" name="IX_J"></a>Jackson, James A., <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Jackson, Zaremba, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Jacobson, John, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
+<li>Jacobson house, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
+<li>James, Gov. William H., <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Jansen, John, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li>
+<li>Jansen, Peter, <i>Ranching in Gage and Jefferson Counties</i>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
+<li>Jarvis, Mrs. A. P., <i>Lovers' Leap</i>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li>
+<li>Jascoby, ----, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
+<li>Jaynes, C. S., <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li>
+<li>Jaynes, Mrs. Henry L., <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Jefferson county, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Jeffrie's ranch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Jenkins, D. C., <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Jenkins, George E., <i>Looking Backward</i>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li>
+<li>Jenkins' Mill, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Johanson, Sven, <i>Early Days in Stanton county</i>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li>
+<li>Johanson, Mrs. Sven, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li>
+<li>Johnson county, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Johnson family, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Mrs. E., <i>Early Recollections of Gage County</i>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. E. D., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Elleck, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Mrs. Hadley, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Mrs. Harrison, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Jim, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Johnson, Joseph E., <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li>
+<li>Jonathan Cass chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Jones, Alfred D., <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Jones, Mrs. Alfred D., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Jones, Mrs. Clara King, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Josiah Everett chapter, daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Judson, H. M., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Julesburg, Colorado, <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li>
+<li>Junction City, Kansas, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Juniata, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
+<li>Juniata house, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_K" name="IX_K"></a>Kanesville (Council Bluffs), Iowa, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Kansas City &amp; Omaha R. R., <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Kansas Pacific R. R., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Kearney county, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
+<li>Kearney, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Kearny Heights (Nebraska City), <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li>
+<li>Keen, Rev. W. G., <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li>
+<li>Kehoe, John, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
+<li>Keith, Mrs., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Kelley, Alfred, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Kelly, ----, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
+<li>Kelly, John, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Kelly, Margaret F., <i>A Grasshopper Story</i>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
+<li>Kellogg, Miss Jessie, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Kellogg, Mrs. Emma, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Kenesaw, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li>
+<li>Kenny, Aimee Taggart, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Keyou, ----, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li>
+<li>Kimball brothers, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li>
+<li>King, ----, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>King, Mrs. Deborah, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Kingsley, Fayette, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Kirk, George, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li>
+<li>Kittle, Fred, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Kittle, Robt., <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li>
+<li>Klein and Lang, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
+<li>Knapp, Robert M., <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Koontz, J., <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Kountze, Mrs. Herman, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Kramph, Mrs., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Kress, Mortimer N. (Wild Bill), <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Krier, B. F., <i>Pioneer Justice</i>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
+<li>Kuony, Mr. and Mrs. John B., <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_L" name="IX_L"></a>La Flesche, Joseph, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Lake cañon, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Lancaster county, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
+<li>Lancaster, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
+<li>Langworthy, Elizabeth C. (Mrs. Stephen C.), <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>Two Seward County Celebrations</i>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Lazure, Mrs. May Allen, <i>Some Items from Washington County</i>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Lee, General, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li>
+<li>Leflang, E. M. F., <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Leonard, Emma, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Lepin hotel, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Lester, S. P., <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li>
+<li>Lett, H. C., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Letton, Mrs. Charles B., <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Letton, Judge Charles B., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>The Easter Storm of 1873</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Lewis and Clark, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li>
+<li>Lewis-Clark chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Lewis, Elizabeth Davis, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+<li>Lewis, Ford, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+<li>Lewis, Levi, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Lewis, M. K., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Lewis, Phoebe, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Lewiston, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+<li>Lexington, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Lezenby, Christopher, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li>
+<li>Libby, E. R., <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li>
+<li>Liberty, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
+<li>Lincoln, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_182">182</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Lincoln county, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Lindgren, Elof, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Lingle, Mrs. Addie Bradley, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li>
+<li>Lingle, W. H., <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li>
+<li>Lippincott Halfway House, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Little Blue river, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Little Pipe, John (Otoe Indian), <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>Little Sandy, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>Lockwood, Judge William F., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Logan creek, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Logan Valley, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Lomas (or Loomis), Roderick, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li>
+<li>Lone Tree (Central City), Nebraska, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
+<li>Long creek, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Long, Major Stephen H., <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Longshore, ----, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
+<li>Long Pine, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li>
+<li>Lord, Brackett, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li>
+<li>Lost creek (Lincoln park), <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li>
+<li>Louisiana Purchase, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li>
+<li>Loup river, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, 88 (Potato Water), <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li><i>Lovers' Leap</i>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li>
+<li>Lower 96 ranch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Luey, Francis M., <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Lyons, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_M" name="IX_M"></a>MacColl, John H., <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
+<li>MacColl, Laura, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
+<li>MacMurphy, Harriet S., <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>Nikumi</i>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</li>
+  <li><i>The Heroine of the Jules-Slade Tragedy</i>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>MacMurphy, John A., <a href="#Page_323">323</a></li>
+<li>McAllister, W. A., <i>Some Personal Incidents</i>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
+<li>McCabe's ranch, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+<li>McCaffery, ----, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>McCall, R. J., <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li>
+<li>McCandles, Bill, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>McCanles, D. C., <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>McCashland, Addie, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>McCashland, John R., <i>Pioneering in Fillmore County</i>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>McCashland, Mrs. John R., <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>McCashland, Sammy, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>McComas, ----, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
+<li>McCook, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>McCreary family, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>McCune, Calmer, <i>Early Days in Polk County</i>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>McDonald, Mrs. Charles, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>McDonald, Charles, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>McDonald, Thomas, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>McDonald, W. H., <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>McDowell, Mrs. Gertrude M., <i>Suffrage in Nebraska</i>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>McDowell, Joseph B., <i>Beginnings of Fairbury</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>McDowell, W. G., <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li>
+<li>McElroy, William John, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>McGovern, Teddy, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li>
+<li>McGregor, Harry, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li>
+<li>McLean, Mrs. Donald, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>McMaster, A. M., <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>McNeely, Frank, <i>County-seat of Washington County</i>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>McNeil, Miss, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
+<li>McPherson hotel, Brownville, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>McPherson station, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Mabin's ranch, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li>
+<li>Mahan, Henry, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Mahum, Tom, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li>
+<li>Major Isaac Sadler chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Majors, Alexander, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+<li>Majors, Col. Thomas J., <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
+<li>Mallet brothers, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Mallott, James B., <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
+<li>Maple Creek, Iowa, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
+<li>Margaret Holmes chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <i>Seward County Reminiscences</i>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Marks, Mrs. Ives, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li>
+<li>Marks, Rev. Ives, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Marks' mill, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li>
+<li>Marsden, ----, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li>
+<li>Marsh, A. K., <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Martin, ----, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></li>
+<li>Martin, E. L., <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Martin, Major, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+<li>Marvin, Seth P., <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Mary Cole steamboat, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
+<li>Marysville, Kansas, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+<li>Mason, Judge O. P., <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>Mason, Sidney, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li>
+<li>Mathews, Capt. Fred, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li>
+<li>Mattingly, J. B., <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Maxwell, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Mayes, Charles, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
+<li>Mayfield's ranch, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Mead, Mrs. Eda, <i>The Story of the Town of Fontenelle</i>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
+<li>Medicine, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Medicine Horse (Otoe chief), <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li>
+<li>Mellenger, "Doc," 59</li>
+<li>Mellenger, Edgar, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Melroy, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
+<li>Melvin brothers, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Memorial Continental Hall, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Meridian, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Merritt, Asa, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li>
+<li>Mickey, Gov. John H., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Midland Pacific R. R., <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li>
+<li>Milford, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li>
+<li>Military road, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li>
+<li>Millard, Joseph H., <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Miller, Mrs., <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Miller, A. J., <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Miller, Charlie, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Miller, Dr. George L., <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Minden, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Minor, Ella Pollock, <i>Incidents at Plattsmouth</i>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Mira Valley, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li>
+<li>Mission creek, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li>
+<li>Missouri river, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li>
+<li>Missouri river ferry, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li>
+<li>Monroe, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li>
+<li>Moore, John S., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Moore, Sadie Irene, <i>The Beginnings of Fremont</i>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Moote, Mr. and Mrs. W. S., <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Morgan, Hugh, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Mormon trail, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Mormons, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li>
+<li>Morrill, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Morris, Prof. John, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
+<li>Morrow, J. A., <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Morse, Capt. Charles, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li>
+<li>Morse, Col. Charles F., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Morton, Carl, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li>
+<li>Morton, Caroline Joy, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+<li>Morton, Charles, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li>
+<li>Morton, J. Sterling, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>My Last Buffalo Hunt</i>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Morton, Joy, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li>
+<li>Morton, Paul, <i>How the Founder of Arbor Day Created the Most Famous Western Estate</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li>
+<li>Moses, Pearl Shepherd, <i>Crow Heart Butte</i> (poem), <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li>
+<li>Mott, Lucretia, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li>
+<li>Mud creek, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
+<li>Mullen, Mrs., <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Murdock, Rev., <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li>
+<li>Murray, Mrs., <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
+<li>Murray, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_N" name="IX_N"></a>Nance county, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
+<li>Nancy, Gary chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Narrows, The, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
+<li>National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li>
+<li>National Suffrage Association, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Nebraska City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Nebraska Memorial Association, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Nebraska Society, Sons of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Nebraska State Historical Society, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Nebraska Territorial Pioneers' Association, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Needham, Mr., <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
+<li>Needham, Mrs. Christina, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
+<li>Nemaha river, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Neville, Judge James, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li>
+<li>Newbecker, Clara, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Newbecker, Dr. Minerva, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Newbecker, Lieut. Philip, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li>
+<li>Newman, Mrs. Angie Thurston, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li><i>Nikumi</i>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
+<li>Nikumi chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Niobrara chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Niobrara river, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Nobes, C. J., <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li>
+<li>Nonpareil, a frontier town, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li>
+<li>Norfolk, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Norman, P. O., <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>North, Major Frank, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
+<li>North, Capt. Luther, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>North Platte, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li>
+<li>Northwestern R. R., <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Norton, Mrs. Charles Oliver, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Norton, Hannah, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li>
+<li>Norton, Lilian (Madam Nordica), <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li>
+<li>Norton, Major Peter, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li>
+<li>Noyes, Major, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Nuckolls county, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li>
+<li>Nye, Mrs. Theron, <i>Early Days in Fremont</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_O" name="IX_O"></a>Oak, John, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
+<li>Oak Grove ranch, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li>
+<li>Oakland, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
+<li>O'Brien, Major George M., <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>O'Conner, Mrs. Thomas, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>O'Fallon's Bluffs, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li>
+<li>Ogallalla Cattle Company, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Oliver, Sr., Edward, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li>
+<li>Oliver, Edward, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Oliver, James, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Oliver, John, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Oliver, Robert, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Oliver, Sarah, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li>
+<li>Omaha, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>-<a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>-<a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>-<a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Omaha <i>Bee</i>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Omaha chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Omaha Mary, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Omaha <i>Republican</i>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Onawa, Iowa, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Ord, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Oregon trail, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>-<a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Oregon Trail chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Oregon Trail Memorial Commission, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Orr, Mrs. Margaret, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Osceola, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Osceola <i>Record</i>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Ostrander, ----, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
+<li>Otoe chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Otoe county, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Otoe Indian reservation, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_322">322</a></li>
+<li>Overland Stage line, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li>
+<li>Overland trail, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li>
+<li>Overton, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_P" name="IX_P"></a>Pacific house, Beatrice, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
+<li>Pacific Telegraph line, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Paine, Mrs. C. S., <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li>
+<li>Paine, Clarence S., <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Palmatier, ----, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Palmer, Mrs. Charlotte F., <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Palmer, Capt. Henry E., <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li>
+<li>Parker, Jason, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Parks, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Parmele, Mrs. Lilian, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li>
+<li>Patrick, Mrs. Edwin, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Patterson, Daniel, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Patterson's trading post, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Pawnee City, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li>
+<li>Pawnee county, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li>
+<li>Pawnee Indian reservation, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Pawnee ranch, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Pawnee scouts, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li>
+<li>Peale, Titian, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Pearson, Capt. F. J., <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
+<li>Peavy and Curtiss, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
+<li>Penney, Minnie Freeman, <i>The Blizzard of 1888</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>Major North's Buffalo Hunt</i>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Perry, Mrs. Lula Correll (Mrs. Warren), <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Petalesharo (Pawnee chief), <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Peterson, Martin, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
+<li>Pierce, Judge Robert D., <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
+<li>Pine Bluff reservation, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
+<li>Pine Ridge country, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li>
+<li><i>Pioneer</i>, Dawson county, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
+<li><i>Pioneer Record</i>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li>
+<li>Pittsburgh postoffice, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li>
+<li>Plainfield, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li>
+<li>Platt, Elvira Gaston, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li>
+<li>Platt, Lester W., <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li>
+<li>Platte chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Platte river, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Platte Valley, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+<li>Plattsmouth, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Pleasant Dale, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li>
+<li>Plum creek, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li>
+<li>Plum creek (Gage county), <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
+<li>Plum creek (Lexington), Nebraska, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Plummer, Eleanor, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+<li>Plummer, Mrs. Jason, <a href="#Page_149">149</a></li>
+<li>Plummer, Jason, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li>
+<li>Plymouth, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li>
+<li>Polk county, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li>
+<li>Polk, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li>
+<li>Polley, Hiram, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li>
+<li>Pollock, Mrs. Thomas, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Pony Express, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
+<li>Pope, Mrs. Anna Randall, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Poppleton, Mrs. Andrew J., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Porter, A. J., <i>From Missouri to Dawson County in 1872</i>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Pound, Mrs. Laura B., <i>Marking the Site of the Lewis and Clark Council at Fort Calhoun</i>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Pumpkin creek, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li>
+<li>Purdy house, Fairbury, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Purple, ----, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Pursell, Mrs. Auta Helvey, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></li>
+<li>Purviance, Edith Erma, <i>A Pioneer Family</i>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Purviance, Erma, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Purviance, Dr. W. E., <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Prairie Chicken (Omaha Indian), <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+<li>Prairie fires, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Pyle and Eaton, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_Q" name="IX_Q"></a>Quincy colony, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>-<a href="#Page_304">304</a></li>
+<li>Quivira, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li>
+<li>Quivira chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_R" name="IX_R"></a>Randall, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
+<li>Randall, A. D., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Randall, Charles, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Randall, E. J., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Randall, Dr. H. L., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Randall, N. G., <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Randall, Sarah Schooley, <i>My Trip West in 1861</i>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Rawhide creek, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li>
+<li>Raymond, Mrs. Mabel, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Raymond, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li>
+<li>Reavis-Ashley chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Reavis, Isham, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Reavis, Mahala Beck, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Red Cloud, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Red Lion mill, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Redman, Joseph, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Reed, Alexander, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
+<li>Reeder, Mrs. James G., <i>Pioneer Life</i>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Rees, Henrietta M., <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Republic county, Kansas, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li><i>Republican</i>, Omaha, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
+<li>Republican river, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
+<li>Republican Valley, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li>
+<li>Reverend Reuben Pickett chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Reynolds, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li>
+<li>Reynolds, B. W., <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+<li>Reynolds, Wilson, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+<li>Rhoades, Orrin, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li>
+<li>Rhustrat, Dr., <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+<li>Richardson, Lyman, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Ringer, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li>
+<li>Ringer, Frank J., <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li>
+<li>Ringer, Jennie Bell, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Ringer, John Dean, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li>
+<li>Riverton, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li>
+<li>Rock Bluffs, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a></li>
+<li>Rock creek, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Rockport, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>Rockwood, Martin T., <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Roe, Thomas, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>Rogers, Mrs. Samuel E., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Romigh, Mrs. Viola, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Root, Aaron, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Root, Mrs. Allen, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Roper, Ford, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li>
+<li>Roper, Fred E., <a href="#Page_268">268</a>-<a href="#Page_271">271</a></li>
+<li>Roper, Joe B., <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Roper, Laura, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Roper, Mann E., <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li>
+<li>Roscoe, B. S., <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Roscoe, Mrs. Isabel, <i>A Pioneer Nebraska Teacher</i>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
+<li>Rose creek, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Rosewater, Edward, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Roy, George, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Roy, Mrs. Thyrza Reavis, <i>Personal Reminiscences</i>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Royce, Loie, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li>
+<li>Rulo, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></li>
+<li>Rushville, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li>
+<li>Russell, Alice M., <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li>
+<li>Russell, Mrs. E. A., <i>Reminiscences</i>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li>
+<li>Russell, Rev. E. A., <a href="#Page_281">281</a></li>
+<li>Russell, H. C., <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Russell, Mrs. Lucinda, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Russell, Majors and Waddell, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_S" name="IX_S"></a>St. Joe &amp; Denver City R. R. Co., <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>St. Joe and Grand Island R. R., <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>St. Joseph, Missouri, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>St. Leger Cowley chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>St. Marys, Iowa, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>St. Nicholas hotel, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>St. Paul, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li>
+<li>Saline City, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li>
+<li>Salt creek, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+<li>Saltillo, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Salt Lake City, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li>
+<li>Sanborne, John P., <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Sand Hills, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li>
+<li>Santa Fe trail, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li>
+<li>Saratoga (Omaha), Nebraska, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Sarpy, Peter A., <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>-<a href="#Page_321">321</a></li>
+<li>Sarpy's trading post, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li>
+<li>Saunders county, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li>
+<li>Sawyer, Mrs. A. J., <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Saxon, Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li>
+<li>Schmeling, Frank, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li>
+<li>School creek, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Schooley, Charles A., <a href="#Page_211">211</a></li>
+<li>Schwatka, Lieut. Frederick, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li>
+<li>Schwerin, Rev. W., <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li>
+<li>Scofield, T. D., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Scott, ----, <a href="#Page_128">128</a></li>
+<li>Scott, Miss Lizzie, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Scott, Mrs. Mathew T., <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Scottsbluff country, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
+<li>Scottsbluff, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Scully, Lord, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+<li>Second Nebraska Cavalry, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li>
+<li>Second U. S. Cavalry, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Selden, Mrs. O. B., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Selleck, Wellington W., <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Seward, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Seward county, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
+<li>Seward, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li>
+<li>Seymour, Elizabeth Porter, <i>Early Experiences in Nebraska</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a></li>
+<li>Shader, Mr. and Mrs. A. L., <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li>
+<li>Shader, Claiborn, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></li>
+<li>Shattuck, Etta, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li>
+<li>Sheldon, Addison E., <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li>
+<li>Shell creek, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
+<li>Shelton, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Sheridan (Auburn), Nebraska, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>Sheridan, Gen. Phil, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li>
+<li>Sherman, General, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Shields, Mrs. Herman, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Shields, Thomas, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li>
+<li>Shipley, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>Shirley, William, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Shorter county, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Showalter, Dr., <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Shumway, Grant Lee, <i>Pioneering</i>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Sidney, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a></li>
+<li>Sidney trail, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Sixth U. S. Infantry, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></li>
+<li>Slade, Jack, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li>
+<li>Slade, Lyman or Jack, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>Slocumb, Charles, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Slocumb and Hambel, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>Sluyter, Isaiah, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Smith, ----, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Adam, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li>
+<li>Smith Brothers, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li>
+<li>Smith, C. B., <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Mrs. C. B., <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Charles, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Dan, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Mrs. Dan, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>Smith, De Etta Bell, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Edmund Burke, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Mrs. Eleanor Murphey, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Hazel Bell, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Mrs. J. Fred, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Smith, J. G., <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Smith, John, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Major, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Samuel C., <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Towner, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Smith, Col. Watson B., <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li>
+<li>Snake creek, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Snowden, Mrs. William P., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Solomon river, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li>
+<li>Sommerlad, H. W., <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li>
+<li>Sons of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li>
+<li>Soules, ----, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Southwell, ----, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li>
+<li>Spade, Dan, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Spade, William, <i>Fillmore County in the 70's</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li>
+<li>Spanish American War, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Spillman, Jerome, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></li>
+<li>Stall, Irwin, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li>
+<li>Stanley, C., <a href="#Page_244">244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li>
+<li>Stanton county, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li>
+<li>Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Staples, David, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_173">173</a></li>
+<li>Starbuck, Rev. Charles, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li>
+<li>Star hotel, Fairbury, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li>
+<li>Stark, Isaac W., <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Stark, John, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Stark, Margaret, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>State Federation of Woman's Clubs, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li>
+<li>Stebbins, Mrs. W. M., <i>The Erickson Family</i>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li>
+<li>Steele, Annie M., <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Steele, Mrs. Annie Strickland, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Steele, Calvin F., <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Steele, Mrs. C. F., <i>Personal Recollections</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">167</a>;
+  <ul>
+  <li><i>Finding the George Winslow Grave</i>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li>
+  </ul></li>
+<li>Stephen, Bennett chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Stevens, Col. George, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Stevens, Mary M. A., <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Stevens, William, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li>
+<li>Stiles, James, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li>
+<li>Stilts, Judge, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li>
+<li>Stockville, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Stone, Dr. ----, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Stone, Lucy, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Storer, William, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li>
+<li>Stout, D. D., <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Stout, E. P., <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li>
+<li>Stromsburg, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Stubbs, Mrs. J. J., <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li>
+<li>Stuckey, Capt. John S., <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Stuckey, Joseph, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Stuckey, Samuel Clay, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Stuhl, Joseph, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li>
+<li>Stutzman, Henry, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Sullivan, Potter C., <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>Sumner, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Superior chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Superior, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Sutton, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Swan Brothers, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Swan creek, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a></li>
+<li>Sweetser, ----, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li>
+<li>Sweezy, William F., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_T" name="IX_T"></a>Taggart, Rev. J. M., <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li>
+<li>Talbot, Mr. and Mrs. Ben, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li>
+<li>Talbot, Bishop, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li>
+<li>Talbot, John, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li>
+<li>Talbot, Dr. Willis, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Tall Bull (Cheyenne Indian), <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li>
+<li>Tash, Ira E., <i>Historical Sketch of Box Butte County</i>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li>
+<li>Taylor, J. O., <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
+<li>Taylor, Tim, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></li>
+<li>Tecumseh, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></li>
+<li>Tenth U. S. Infantry, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li>
+<li>Thayer county, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Thayer County Woman's Suffrage Association, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Thayer, Gen. John M., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li>Thayer, Mrs. John M., <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li><i>The Conservative</i>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li>
+<li><i>The Homesteader</i>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Thomas, S. G., <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Thomas &amp; Champlin, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Thompson, Barbara J., <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Thirty-seventh Star chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Thirty-two Mile creek, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li>
+<li>Three Groves, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
+<li>Three Trails chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Thurston, Mrs. John M., <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Tibbetts, Mrs. Addison S., <a href="#Page_335">335</a></li>
+<li>Timberville (Ames), Nebraska, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Tinklepaugh, Roy, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li>
+<li>Tipton, James, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li>
+<li>Tipton, Thomas W., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Tisdale, Thomas H., <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li>
+<li>Tooth &amp; Maul, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Towle, Albert, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></li>
+<li>Towle, Mrs. Eliza, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li>
+<li>Towle, Mrs. Elizabeth, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Tree planting, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li>
+<li>Trefren and Hewitt, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li>
+<li>Tremont house, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+<li><i>Tribune</i>, The Fremont, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li>
+<li>Troup, Mrs. Elsie De Cou, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Tucker, ----, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></li>
+<li>Tucker family, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
+<li>Tucker, Tudor, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Tulley, Mrs. Capitola Skiles, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Turkey creek, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li>
+<li>Turner, Eliza, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Turner, Mrs. George, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
+<li>Turner, Mrs. Margaret, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_U" name="IX_U"></a>Ulig, ----, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li>
+<li>Union Pacific R. R., <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li>
+<li>United States Daughters of the War of 1812, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li>
+<li>Upper 96 ranch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_V" name="IX_V"></a>Valentine, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Vallery, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Valley county, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li>
+<li>Van Horn, James, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Van Vliet, Brig. Gen. Stewart L., <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li>
+<li>Vance, Mrs. Laura (Laura Roper), <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Vanier brothers, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></li>
+<li>Vermillion, A. Martha, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Virginia, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_W" name="IX_W"></a>Wahoo, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+<li>Walker brothers, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Walker, Major Lester, <i>Early History of Lincoln County</i>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Wallace, Mrs. C. M., <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Walnut creek, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li>
+<li>Walton, Mrs. Ellen Saunders, <i>Early Days in Nance County</i>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li>
+<li>Ward, Joseph, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li>
+<li>Ward, Mrs. Oreal S., <a href="#Page_337">337</a>, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Ware, Ellen Kinney, <i>Early Reminiscences of Nebraska City</i>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+<li>Warfield's ranch, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+<li>Warrick, Amasa, <a href="#Page_286">286</a></li>
+<li>Warrington, T. L., <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
+<li>Warwick, Rev. J. W., <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li>
+<li>Warwick, Lila (or Eliza), <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li>
+<li>Washington county, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>-<a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>Wasson, ----, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li>
+<li>Waters, Stella Brown, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Waters, William H., <a href="#Page_248">248</a></li>
+<li>Waters, W. W., <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Waterville, Kansas, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Waterville, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Watson, W. W., <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Wayne, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Webster, John Lee, <i>The Last Romantic Buffalo Hunt on the Plains of Nebraska</i>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li>
+<li>Weed, Thurlow, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Weed, William L., <a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Weeks, M. H., <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Weeks, Mrs. M. H., <i>Early Days in Jefferson County</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Weeks, Mary, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></li>
+<li>Weeping Water, Legend of, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
+<li>Weeping Water, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_339">339</a></li>
+<li>Weeping Water river, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li>
+<li>Wehn, ----, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li>
+<li>Weisel, George, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Wells Fargo Express Company, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li>
+<li>West, ----, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+<li>West, Mr. and Mrs., <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li>
+<li>West, Julia, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li>
+<li>West Blue river, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
+<li>West Blue postoffice, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>West Point, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></li>
+<li>Western Stage Company, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Westling, J. A., <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Weston, John B., <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>Wharton, Rev. Fletcher L., <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Wheeler, Judge, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Wheeler, Major, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Whiskey Run, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li>
+<li>Whitaker, ----, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Whitaker, Sabra Brumsey, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
+<li>White, Rev. A. G., <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>White, Capt. Charles, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></li>
+<li>White Eagle (Pawnee Chief), <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>White, Luke, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+<li>White, Sammy, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+<li>Whiterock, Kansas, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li>
+<li>Whitewater, Jim (Otoe half-breed), <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li>
+<li>Whiting, A. V., <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li>
+<li>Whitney family, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Whittaker, Mrs. Clifford, <i>A Good Indian</i>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li>
+<li>Wiggins, Horace S., <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li>
+<li>Wigton, A. L., <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Wigton, J. W., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li>
+<li>Wilbur, Nebraska, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></li>
+<li>Wild Bill (James B. Hickok), <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Wild Cat banks, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li>
+<li>Wilds, M. B., <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li>
+<li>Wiley, Araminta, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Wiley, Gertrude Miranda, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Wiley, Hattie, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Wiley, Dr. William Washington, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li>
+<li>Wilkinson, Emma, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li>
+<li>Wilkinson, Ida, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li>
+<li>Wilkinson, Nettie, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Wilkinson, Thomas, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Wilkinson, Mrs. Thomas, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Wilkinson, William W., <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Williamson, John, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Wilson, ----, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li>
+<li>Wilson, Capt., <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Wilson, Luther, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></li>
+<li>Wilson, Perley, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></li>
+<li>Wilson, W. R., <a href="#Page_82">82</a></li>
+<li>Wiltse, Chauncey Livingston, <i>The Pawnee Chief's Farewell</i>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_210">210</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Edward, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Eleazer, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, George, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Mrs. George, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, George E., <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, George Edward, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Henry O., <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Mrs. Henry, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, James, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Jesse, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Josiah, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Kenelm, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Winslow, Shadrach, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li>
+<li>Wint, Brig. Gen. Theodore, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li>
+<li>Woerner, Mike, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li>
+<li>Wolf creek, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
+<li><i>Woman's Journal</i>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Woman's suffrage, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Wood, Mr. and Mrs. Kentucky, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Wood river, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Wood River Centre, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li>
+<li>Woodhurst, Mrs., <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li>
+<li>Woodhurst, Warden, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li>
+<li>Woods, Jim, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li>
+<li>Work, George F., <i>Historical Sketch of Adams County</i>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li>
+<li>Wright, Eben, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li>
+<li>Wyncoop, Col. ----, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li>
+<li>Wyoming Society Daughters of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Wyoming Society Sons of the American Revolution, <a href="#Page_338">338</a></li>
+<li>Wyuka cemetery, Nebraska City, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul>
+<li><a id="IX_Y" name="IX_Y"></a>Yankee Hill, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li>
+<li>Yankton, South Dakota, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li>
+<li>Young, Brigham, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<div class="bbox">
+<p>Transcriber's Notes:</p>
+
+<p>Punctuation has been standardised.</p>
+
+<p>Minor printer errors (e.g. omitted, superfluous or transposed
+characters) have been fixed.</p>
+
+<p>Kearny and Kearney are both used in this text.</p>
+
+<p>Page 13, "Rhoderic" changed to "<a href="#rod1">Roderick</a>" (Roderick Lomas) [per internet search]</p>
+
+<p>Page 25, "Eldorado" changed to "<a href="#dorado">El Dorado</a>" (trip to the new El Dorado)</p>
+
+<p>Page 96, "Asch" changed to "<a href="#asche">Asche</a>" (A. Dove Wiley Asche) [per internet search]</p>
+
+<p>Page 125, "benumed" changed to "<a href="#benummed">benummed</a>" (being benummed myself) [per Webster's 1828 Dictionary]</p>
+
+<p>Page 170, "daguerrotype" changed to "<a href="#daguerreo">daguerreotype</a>" (daguerreotype of Mr.) (daguerreotype of George)</p>
+
+<p>Page 171, "1833" changed to "<a href="#date">1633</a>" (colony in 1633)</p>
+
+<p>Page 219, "repellant" changed to "<a href="#repel1">repellent</a>" (seemed repellent, irksome)</p>
+
+<p>Page 226, "repellant" changed to "<a href="#repel2">repellent</a>" (and repellent fear)</p>
+
+<p>Page 226, "arborially" changed to "<a href="#arbor">arboreally</a>" (arboreally interred)</p>
+
+<p>Page 227, "markmanship" changed to "<a href="#marks">marksmanship</a>" (no deft marksmanship)</p>
+
+<p>Page 281, "Nemeha" changed to "<a href="#nemaha">Nemaha</a>" (grazing in the Nemaha)</p>
+
+<p>Page 308, "Ottoes" changed to "<a href="#otoes">Otoes</a>" (the "Ottoes, Pawnees)</p>
+
+<p>Page 315, the spelling of "<a href="#delf">delf</a>" was retained (per Webster 1828 Dictionary)</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEBRASKA PIONEER REMINISCENCES ***</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 34844-h.htm or 34844-h.zip</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/8/4/34844/</div>
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
+Updated editions will replace the previous one&mdash;the old editions will
+be renamed.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #34844 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34844)
author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-14 20:02:28 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-14 20:02:28 -0700
commit	f5f912b97a4b16b1b999a630dc38a131791b240a (patch)
tree	4139545862bf78077c17a74aabe9b8141f52fa7c