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STORY OF AN 
 OLD TOWN 
 
 With Reminiscences of Early NebraskaL and 
 BiotfraLphies of Pioneers. 
 
 e-BY- 
 
 A. P. DeMILT 
 
 A Narrative of Truth Describing tKe Birth of Nebraska, and 
 
 Its Progress, of Its Oldest To-wrvs, and 
 
 Its First Settlers. 
 
 published by 
 
 Douglas Pbihting Company 
 
 omaha, nebbaska 
 
 1902 
 
A- ^1^003 
 
 Entered according to Act ot Congress, in tine year 1902, 
 
 by A. P. DeMilt, in tiie office of the Librarian 
 
 of OoDgress, at Washington. 
 
 All Eights Eeserved. 
 
IK 1)1.( MI'i: \L\\s 
 
 The Coming Railraad. 
 
 A. P. DeMilt, Author. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This work as now presented to the pubHc has been 
 arduous and painstaking, its object being to array a set 
 of facts without deviation from the truth, portraying a 
 part of the early history of Nebraska and its inhab- 
 itants. 
 
 The task has been laborious as well as tedious, com- 
 manding the most minute research and consuming 
 many years. To Robert W. Furnas, Geo. W. Doane, 
 Capt. Silas T. Learning, Henry Fontenelle, A. B. Ful- 
 ler, Christopher C. Dunn, Dr. J. B. Whittier, John 
 Lewis, James Ashley, and a host of others, the author 
 is deeply indebted for the valuable assistance rendered. 
 Without their co-operation the work would have been 
 impossible. Entering Nebraska as a vast wilderness 
 we leave it as one of the prosperous states of the union ; 
 certainly a most wonderful transformation. In pictur- 
 ing this great change we not only present general char- 
 acteristics but personal, thereby making it of interest 
 to the individual as well as the public. The author is 
 positive in his statement that within this book historical 
 events will be found of our state that no other book of 
 like kind contains. In fact on this point he has been 
 
exceedingly cautious; an avoidance of repetition. In 
 the presentment of dates, they have not been used 
 unless verified; and his greatest enjoyment to record 
 something which other writers have left undone or 
 overlooked. This work is not copious nor complete, 
 but what has been said, is simple, truthful and in- 
 structive, and upon perusal the readers will have at 
 their "tongue's end" a graphic and concise history of 
 the state. No embellishments have been attempted, and 
 all events treated abruptly, keeping but one vital point 
 in constant view — the truth. Hoping the work will 
 meet with the approval of the public and earn for itself 
 at least a little merit, the author humbly signs himself 
 Your servant, A. P. De Milt. 
 
STORY OF AN OLD 
 TOWN, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEWIS AND CLARK THE COUNCIL BLUFFS DEATH OF 
 
 BLACKBIRD AND HIS BURIAL— WOODS THE FIRST SET- 
 TLER TREATY OF OMAHA INDIANS ARTICLES OF 
 
 AGREEMENT REMOVAL TO THEIR PRESENT HOME. 
 
 The settlement of Nebraska begins with the expedi- 
 tion of Lewis and Clark; Captain Meriwether Lewis 
 of the United States army, and Captain William Qark, 
 appointed by President Thomas Jeliferson in 1803 to 
 navigate the Ohio and Missouri rivers, determine the 
 typography of the then unknown west, and make over- 
 tures of peace with hostile Indians. The first- notable 
 pause that would be of any direct interest to the reader 
 as a Nebraskan, by these famous explorers, was at 
 Council Bluffs, so called, for the reason a treaty of 
 peace was ratified by them and a tribe of Indians, upon 
 
8 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 these hills in 1804. Prior to the arrival of Lewis and 
 Clark, it was an Indian village; in 18 19, Fort Atkin- 
 son, a military post, was established here; and now 
 known -as the village of Fort Calhoun. 
 
 Their next stop, which was in the summer of the 
 same year, was at the tomb of Blackbird, a huge mound 
 of dirt, on a high bluff, overlooking the river, ten miles 
 north from the townsite of Decatur, at the mouth of 
 the creek which bears his name. Lewis and Clark state 
 in their diary, they planted a small American flag on 
 top of Blackbird's grave. This chief was the leader 
 at that time of the powerful Me-ha tribe, better known 
 now as the Omahas. Blackbird died in a smallpox 
 epidemic in 1800, not far from where he was buried. 
 Tradition tells, it was by his own request the remains 
 were interred on the hill. The chief on his death-bed 
 instructed his people to this effect : "The white man 
 is my friend; therefore let my spirit rest in peace on 
 the highest hill of the Missouri river, so that as they 
 pass, up and down, I may see them, and greet them 
 with pleasant smiles, and welcome them to my chil- 
 dren, and my land of beautiful forests and prairies; 
 of peace and plenty." 
 
 Blackbird was a smart, sagacious chief, both feared 
 and loved by his people. He was a powerful factor 
 in establishing peace between the white man and the 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 9 
 
 Indian. A commission as chief of the Me-lias was 
 presented to Wa-shing-a-sar-be, by "El Baron de 
 Carondalet," at the City of New Orleans, May, 1796; 
 the Indian title translated into English meaning Black 
 Bird. 
 
 The great chief's affection for his pale face brother 
 was almost childlike, and his fondness for little 
 nic-nacs, and sweetmeats, a weakness. 
 
 By some writers Blackbird is recorded as sanguine, 
 treacherous and crafty; a man who performed acts of 
 goodness for an evil purpose. Others parade him as 
 a sachem worthy of respect, a prototype of the ideal 
 North American Indian, whose moral strength and 
 natural love of humankind disseminated among the 
 people of his tribe and their associates, the white man 
 and the Indian, the bond of peace and the seeds of 
 mutual companionship. 
 
 Whatever the unwritten pages of the man's soul 
 may be, this fact cannot be disputed even by the foolish 
 skeptic and illiterate prejudiced. Like Washington, 
 he was for harmony and peace, a virtue within itself; 
 aaid strove for the union of co-operation between his 
 people and the United States Government, a noble 
 cause in which he was eminently successful. 
 
 Tradition tells it, handed down by the lips of western 
 pioneers, that he learned the art of using strychnine 
 
IQ STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 from a post teacher, and in this manner, exterminated 
 his antagonistic sub-alternates of the tribe. Wa-shina- 
 a-sar-be was mysterious. He would go forth in the 
 morning, with the rising of the sun, so the fable runs, 
 and instruct the Wa-kar-me, medicine man, to announce 
 among the tents of the people, in a loud voice, proclaim- 
 . ing that a certain warrior would die, upon a fixed day 
 and time, because the Great Father had demanded his 
 presence in Spiritland. The doomed man invariably 
 died, and the literal cause of the death would never 
 be known beyond the fact, that it was so ordained by 
 Blackbird, and the spirit of the condemned had been 
 called away by God. 
 
 In the month of August, 1896, the writer visited the 
 grave of Blackbird, in company with F. W. Parker 
 and Chas. S. Huntington of Omaha, Marshal Hamil- 
 ton of Florence, and Henry Fontenelle of Decatur. 
 There was not a vestige left of this huge mound, which 
 was at the time of his burial about 45 feet high and 
 30 feet in circumference. Time and rains have worn 
 it away, and the pomp and ostentation of man, in his 
 obsequies of the dead, displayed by earnest zeal and 
 touching pathos, one hundred years ago, is now an 
 incident of the past. All traces of the mound are gone, 
 and those not familiar with the location of the grave, 
 and the corroborating evidence of the Indians, it would 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II 
 
 be difficult for them to identify or designate the spot. 
 The slightest indication of a disturbance of the sur- 
 roundings has been erased by the pqwerful and beau- 
 tiful laws of Nature. Again the wild oat grasses wave 
 in graceful accents to summer breezes, and here and 
 there on little knolls and small patches of table land, 
 flourish a labyrinth of native fragrant flowers. A 
 single oak tree about twenty feet high, the trunk about 
 eight inches in diameter, and about fifty years old, 
 stands to the north of the grave, perhaps a distance 
 of fifty yards. A few molar teeth and some pieces of 
 bone were picked up upon the point which Mr. Fonte- 
 nelle located as the grave of Blackbird, and Mr. Parker, 
 who is a student of archaeology, declared them to be 
 human. 
 
 The interment of Blackbird included much show of 
 pageantry. He was buried in a sitting position, facing 
 the river, and his horse, a splendid animal, was entom- 
 ed alive with his master. A full membership of the tribe 
 was present, their iDodies decorated with bright colors 
 of paint, gaudy feathers, buckskin clothing, inlaid with 
 fancy bead work. Their holy man pronounced the bene- 
 dictions for the repose and the safe guidance of the soul 
 to the Spiritland. A symposium, consisting of wild 
 animal meats, a native root tea, soups, and a bread 
 made of corn; war, bear, scalp, medicine, buffalo, and 
 
12 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 woman dances; horse and foot races of long and short 
 distances; lasting five days, was participated in by the 
 tribe. Many valuable presents and the chattels of the 
 dead man, were given away to the poor, best dancers 
 for endurance and grace, and winners of the faces. 
 At night, relatives, friends and the medicine man would 
 gather around the grave, and sing the Indian death 
 chant and wail, continuing until morning. In addition 
 to this, each night, for successive five nights, a fire was 
 built upon the mound to light the way of the soul to 
 the Spiritland, and a quantity of food deposited as 
 nourishment, for the progress and determination of 
 the journey. 
 
 * * * 
 
 The first involuntary permanent settlement by a 
 white man, within the present corporate limits of De- 
 catur, was Woods, in the year of 1837, at the mouth of 
 Wood Creek, named after him. He came up along the 
 river, from an extreme southern settlement, with a 
 party of explorers. He took sick and died here, and 
 was buried on the hill back of Henry Fontenelle's 
 house. The next invasion, so to speak, of any impor- 
 tance, by the paleface, was in the spring of 1853, by 
 Col. Peter A. Sarpy and Clement Lambert of Bellevue. 
 At that time they were in the employment of the Amer- 
 ican Fur Company. Their camp was at the mouth of 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 3 
 
 Wood Creek, and they came up to meet a band of In- 
 dians who were coming in from a buffalo and deer 
 
 hunt, and bartered with them for their furs. 
 * * * 
 
 It was in the month of September of this same year, 
 by the United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
 Geo. W. Manypenny, that he visited the Omahas to 
 negotiate for the purchase of their vast territory. The 
 overtures of the government's representatives were 
 listened to with favor, and for the purpose of con- 
 ferring with the President of the United States, at 
 Washington, tinder the direction of Major Gatewood, 
 agent for the Omahas, another general meeting of the 
 tribe was held, and a council of chiefs were selected, 
 Logan Fontenelle, principal chief and spokesman; the 
 purpose for the arrangement and ratifying of a treaty 
 which should be satisfactory to the Indians. The con- 
 ference. President Pierce upon the part of the govern- 
 ment, and Logan Fontenelle and sub-chiefs, upon the 
 part of the Omaha tribe, met at the Capitol, Wash- 
 ington, D. C, on March i6, 1854, for final consumma- 
 tion. The Omahas reserved as a home 300,000 acres, 
 where they now live, and took possession during the 
 summer of 1854. 
 
 With the exception of a few minor details, follow- 
 ing is a truthful copy of the treaty and articles of 
 
14 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 agreement, comprising the consideration of the United 
 States Government, and upon the part of the Omaha 
 Indian tribe : 
 
 Treaty between the Omaha Indians and the United 
 States Government, executed on the 21st day of June, 
 1854, and signed by Franklin Pierce, President, and 
 W. L. Marcy, Secretary of State: 
 
 Whereby the Omaha Indians rehnquish all rights 
 to their large territory in favor of the government, 
 reserving a tract of land, 300,000 acres, where they 
 now live, as their future home. Consideration : To 
 pay annually to tribe $42,000, for three years, com- 
 mencing Jan. I, 1855. To pay $30,000 per annum, 
 for term of ten years, .next succeeding three years. To 
 pay $20,000 per annum, for the term of fifteen years, 
 next succeeding ten years. To pay $10,000 per annum 
 for the term of twelve years, next succeeding fifteen 
 years. 
 
 The Omaha Indians to cede to the United States all 
 lands west of the Missouri river, and south of a line 
 drawn due west from a point in the center of the main 
 channel of said Missouri river, due east of where the 
 Ayoway river disembogues out of the bluffs to the 
 western part of the Omaha country, and forever re- 
 linquish all rights and title to the country south of 
 said land. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 5 
 
 The Omahas relinquish all claims for money or 
 other thing, under former treaties, and likewise all 
 claims which they may have heretofore at any time 
 up to land on the east side of Missouri River. Pro- 
 vided, the Omahas shall be entitled to and receive from 
 the government the unpaid balance of the $25,000 ap- 
 propriated for their use by act of August 30, 185 1. 
 
 The Omahas agree, so soon after the United States 
 shall have complied with the necessary provision for 
 the fulfilling of this instrument, they will vacate the 
 ceded country, and remove to lands reserved for them. 
 
 The within named moneys are to be paid to the 
 Omahas, or expended for their use and benefit, under 
 the direction of the President of the United States, 
 and for such beneficial objects as in his judgment will 
 be calculated to advance them in moral laws, educa- 
 tion, and civilization; also for buildings, opening 
 farms, breaking land, providing stock, agricultural im- 
 plements, seeds, etc., provisions, clothing, and mer- 
 chandise, iron, steel, arms and ammunition, mechanics 
 and tools, and for medical purposes. 
 
 That the sum of $41,000 to be paid out and expended 
 under the direction of the President, and in such man- 
 ner as he shall approve, for the removal of the Omahas 
 to their new home, subsistarice for one year, and the 
 expenses of the delegation, who may be appointed to 
 
1 6 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 make the exploration, and for the fencing and break- 
 ing up of 200 acres of land at their new home, and for 
 the settlement of the affairs. And when the Indians 
 in council have expressed themselves satisfied then it 
 shall be deemed and taken for their new home, but if 
 otherwise, the President is to cause a new location. 
 
 The President may from time to time at his discre- 
 tion, cause the whole or such portion of the land hereby- 
 reserved, as he may think proper, or of such land, as 
 may be selected, in lieu thereof, as provided, to be sur- 
 veyed into lots, and to assign to such Indian or Indians 
 of said tribe as are willing to avail themselves of the 
 privilege, and who will locate on the same as a perma- 
 nent home: Single person, one-eighth of a sp'-".:cn; 
 family of two, one-quarter section; family of six, and 
 not exceeding ten, one-quarter section for every addi- 
 tional five members; and the President may at his dis- 
 cretion issue a patent to such persons or families, and 
 shall be exempt from levy, sale or forfeiture, which 
 shall continue in force until a state constitution em- 
 bracing such lands in the boundary shall have been 
 formed and the legislature of the state shall remove the 
 restrictions; said restrictions by the state not to be 
 removed without the consent of Congress. 
 
 Should the Omahas determine to make this new ter- 
 ritory their ijew home, the United States agrees to 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I7 
 
 erect for the Omahas' at their new home, a grist and 
 saw mill, and keep the same in repair, and provide a 
 miller for ten years; also to erect a good blacksmith- 
 shop, supply the sam.e with tools and keep it in repair 
 ten years, and provide a blacksmith for a like period; 
 and an experienced farmer for the term of ten years, to 
 instruct the Indians in agriculture. 
 
 The annuities of the Indians shall not be taken to 
 pay the debts of individuals. 
 
 The Omahas acknowledge their dependence on the 
 government of the United States and promise to be 
 friendly with all the citizens thereof, and pledge them- 
 selves to commit no depredations on the property of 
 such citizens. Should this pledge be violated, and the 
 fact satisfactorily proven before the agent, the prop- 
 erty taken shall be returned, or in default thereof, or 
 if injured or destroyed, compensation may be made 
 by the government out of their annuities. Nor will 
 they make war on other tribes, except in self-defense; 
 but will submit matters of difference between them and 
 other Indians, to the government, or its agent, for de- 
 ■ cision, and abide thereby. 
 
 The Omahas acknowledge themselves indebted to 
 Lewis Saunsico (a half-breed) for services, the sum 
 of $1,000, which they have not been able to pay, and 
 the United States agrees to pay the same. 
 
STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 The Omahas are desirous to exclude the use of 
 ardent spirits from their country, and to prevent their 
 people from drinking the same, and therefore it is pro- 
 vided that any Omaha who is guilty of bringing liquor 
 into their country, or drinks liquor, may have his or 
 her proportion of the annuities withheld from him or 
 her for such time as the President may determine. 
 
 The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 
 Church has on the lands of the Omahas, a manual labor 
 boarding school for the education of the Omaha and 
 Ottoe and other Indian youth, which is now in suc- 
 cessful operation, and as it will be some time before 
 the necessary buildings can be erected on the reserva- 
 tion, and desirous that the school should not be sus- 
 pended, it is agreed that the said board shall have four 
 adjoining quarter sections of land, so as to include as 
 near as may be all the improvements heretofore made 
 by them; and — the President is authorized to issue 
 to proper authorities of said board a patent in fee 
 simple for such quarter sections. 
 
 The Omahas agree that all the necessary roads, high- 
 ways, and railroads, which may be constructed as their 
 country improves, and the lines of which may run 
 through such tract, as may be reserved for their perma- 
 nent home, shall have a right-of-way through the 
 reservation, first a compensation being paid therefor, 
 in money. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I9 
 
 The treaty shall be obligatory on the contracting 
 
 parties as soon as the same shall be ratified by the 
 
 President and Senate of the United States. 
 (Signed) Geo. W. Manypenny, 
 
 Commissioner. 
 
 Signed: Shongaska, or Logan Fontanelle; Estha- 
 maga, or Joseph La Flesche; Gratamahje, of Standing 
 Hawk; Gahhegagahgingah, or Little Chief; Tah- 
 Wahgahha, or Village Maker; Wahnokega, or Noise; 
 Sodanahze, or Yellow Smoke. 
 
 Executed in the presence of James M. Gatewood, 
 Indian Agent; James Goszler, Charles Calvert, James 
 D. Kerr, Henry Beird, Alfred Chapman; and Louis 
 Saunsoci, interpreter. 
 
 In the executive session Senate of the United 
 States, April 17, 1854, it was resolved by a two-thirds 
 vote of the senate present concurring : That the Sen- 
 ate advise and consent to the ratification of the articles 
 of agreement and convention made and concluded in 
 the City of Washington on the i6th day of March, 
 1854, by George W. Manypenny, as agent, and the 
 already named Omaha Indian council; that being 
 thereto duly authorized by said tribe; with following 
 amendment: Article 3; strike out "1851," and insert 
 1852. Franklin Pierce, 
 
 - Attest : President. 
 
 AsHBURY Dickens, Secretary. 
 
CHAPTER TWO. 
 
 nebraska as a territory the first governor 
 
 death of burt location of the capitol 
 
 Nebraska's oldest town — first newspaper — ad- 
 mission AS A state list OF GOVERNORS INDIAN 
 
 TRADERS DECATUR TOWNSITE AND FERRV CO. IN- 
 CORPORATORS THE engineer's MAP. 
 
 The act which admitted Nebraska as a territory 
 was passed by Congress, May 4, 1854. At a pubHc 
 gathering in the Httle historical village of Bellevue 
 in the summer of the same year, Rev. Wm. Hamilton 
 was elected as provisional governor, a Presbyterian 
 missionary, who in the latter part of his life made De- 
 catur his home, and died at this place. 
 
 Francis Blurt was the first executive officer of the 
 territory by appointment of the government, assuming 
 the seat of authority, October 8, 1854. He was a 
 native of Pendleton, South Carolina, and a man of 
 about 45 years; broad intellectual characteristics, and 
 one who would have accomplished much good for our 
 state had he lived. Governor Burt died shortly after 
 his arrival to Nebraska Territory. He had only con- 
 trolled the reigns of government ten days when he 
 passed away. The date and place of his death is Octo- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 21 
 
 ber 1 8, 1854, at the old Presbyterian Mission House 
 at Bellevue. Mr. Burt was conscious of his condition, 
 and retained his presence of mind to the last breath. 
 Rev. Wm. Hamilton was at the dying governor's bed- 
 side, to assist the dying man in bodily comforts, and 
 ■ administer to him the condolence of a Christian's faith 
 and love. It was Rev. Hamilton who closed the eyes, 
 which should never more witness the enactments upon 
 the panorama of humanity's theatre. 
 
 After the death of Governor Burt, Secretary Thos. 
 B. Cuming became the acting governor of the ter- 
 ritory. He stated to Rev. Hamilton if a donation of 
 100 acres was given him, he would use his influente 
 to locate the capitol at Bellevue. Mr. Hamilton 
 rejected thei proposition most strongly, and using his 
 own words, replied : "Not a foot of land to the man, 
 sir." After considerable personal animosity and politi- 
 cal manipulation, and the worst of the difficulties over- 
 come, the capitol was located at Omaha. 
 
 The first territorial convention of the legislature, of 
 the Territory, which was held in Omaha, was called 
 to order by the gavel of Gov: Cuming, January 16, 
 1855. Those who represented Burt county at this 
 memorial gathering were B. R. Folsom, as councilman, 
 of Tekamah; and A. C. Purple, as representative, of 
 Tekamah; the former gentleman also the founder of 
 the city of Tekamah. 
 
22 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Bellevue is beyond all dottbt the oldest' settlement by 
 white people in the state. 1823 an Indian agency was 
 established here; but even prior to this time there was 
 a trader's post, in the interests of the American Fur 
 Company. It is quite possible the Indian trader made 
 his debut in Nebraska just after the beginning of 1800, 
 but beyond this date, any statement of the white man, 
 in the character of a post-trader in Nebraska, would 
 be doubtful. In 1846, Rev. Ed McKinney, a Presby- 
 terian missionary, was sent out by the Presbyterian 
 Board of Foreign Missions to do missionary work 
 among' the Indians at this point. He built for himself 
 that same year a log shanty to reside in, and in 1848, 
 under his supervision a mission house was erected to 
 instruct Indian children in. On January 19, 1854, 
 Bellevue was incorporated as a village, and among 
 those who took part in its organization were Col. Peter 
 A. Sarpy and Commodore Steven Decatur. The first 
 newspaper published in Nebraska Territory was at 
 Bellevue, Nov. 14, 1854; Thos. Morton, editor. The 
 first church in Nebraska was also erected here. 
 
 The incorporation of Omaha was the same year as 
 Bellevue, only a trifle later, Sept. i, 1854. Florence 
 as a village is older than Omaha or Bellevue, its in- 
 corporation taking place in 1853, upon the site where 
 a Mormon band camped in 1845. In 1848 the Mor- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 23 
 
 mons w;ere ordered off by the Indian agent. Some of 
 the band crossed the river and went over into Iowa, 
 but the most of them immigrated to Salt Lake. In 
 their movement to the west, Florence was the general 
 station and starting point for their wagon trains. 
 
 Tekamah may be recorded as manifesting indica- 
 tions of life, 1855. There were two log houses and 
 one tent, and the population about eight people. As 
 incorporated villages, Decatur and Tekamah are about 
 the same age, but as a settlement, Decatur is one year 
 the older. 
 
 Decatur receives its origin from three Indian traders 
 of Bellevue, in 1854, Col. Peter A. Sarpy, Henry 
 Fontanelle, and Clemet Lambert, who built log houses, 
 and transacted business with the Omaha Indians who 
 had just moved up. 
 
 A chronological table of the governors of Nebraska 
 as a territory, and their homes, is as follows; also giv- 
 ing the date of inauguration : 
 
 Francis Burt, Bellevue, Oct. 16, 1854. 
 
 Mark W. Bard, Omaha, Feb. 20, 1855. 
 
 W. A. Richardson, Omaha, Jan. 12, 1858. 
 
 Samuel W. Black, Omaha, May 2, 1858. 
 
 Alvin Saunders, Omaha, May 15, 1861. 
 
 Nebraska was admitted as a state March 11, 1867. 
 Following is a list of the governors, their homes and 
 
24 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 the date of executive inauguration : 
 
 David Butler, Pawnee City, Feb. 20, 1867. 
 
 Robt. W. Furnas, Brownville, Jan. 13, 1873. 
 
 Silas Garber, Omaha, Jan. 11, 1875. 
 
 Albinus Nance, Osceola, Jan. 9, 1879. 
 
 John W. Dawes, Crete, Jan. 4, 1883. 
 
 John M. Thayer, Omaha, Jan. 8, 1891. 
 
 Lorenzo Crounse, Fort Calhoun, Jan. 13, 1893. 
 
 Silas A. Holcomb, Broken Bow, Jan. 3, 1895-97. 
 
 Wm. A. Poynter, Albion, Jan. 3, 1899. 
 
 The incorporation of Decatur took place in the fall 
 of 1856. The exact date is not known, as there is no 
 record of it. Its incorporators were S. A. Decatur, 
 Thos. H. Whitacre, T. H. Hineman, George W. Mason 
 and Herman Glass. The name of the incorporation 
 was "The Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company." 
 Mason was its attorney and secretary. Over $12,000 
 was invested in improvements and the laying out of 
 the town. The next spring, Jones, Brown and Charley 
 Porter of New York State came out and purchased 
 some stock of the incorporation. At_ that time shares 
 were worth from $40 to $50. This was the year that 
 S. T. Leaming came, and when the news got out that 
 he was a civil engineer and railroad surveyor of the 
 I. C. A. L. R. R., and had purchased a large tract of 
 land adjoining the townsite, people went wild, and 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 25 
 
 Stock in the Decatur Townsite and Ferry Co. jumped 
 in two weeks from $40 to $1,100 a share. 
 
 In the spring of 1857, about the time that Geo. W. 
 Doane arrived here, the town was laid out and sur- 
 veyed by Thos. H. Whitacre, assisted by Silas T. 
 Learning. A map of the town was drafted by Mr. 
 Whitacre, and lithographed in St. Louis. In the south- 
 east portion of the map is the following recommenda- 
 tion in script letters : 
 
 "Thos. H. Whitacre, Topographical and Civil En- 
 gineer, Decatur, N. T." 
 
 Decatur is situated on the west bank of the Missouri 
 River, '42 parallel of North Latitude. The river banks 
 are high above the highest water marks of themselves 
 and offered one of the best landings on the river, con- 
 sisting of a tenacious clay mixed with limestone. The 
 timber on both banks of river prove to full satisfac- 
 tion that the river has never changed or washed. Tim- 
 ber in great abundance of good quality on the east 
 side of river. The Iowa Central Railroad when com- 
 pleted will terminate at this place and from here west 
 a very practical railroad line offers either to the north 
 bend of the Platte River, or on a due line to the south 
 pass, making this on the most direct and practical line 
 of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad." 
 
 And now I invite my readers to go with me into 
 
20 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 pathways and among the everglades of the past, and 
 as we move along in these sacred and interesting chan- 
 nels, I will recite for him or her, reminiscences of the 
 first settlers of Decatur; the men who witnessed and 
 took part in its incorporation, assisted in its progress, 
 and made it possible for the little village to subsist 
 upon its own environments, and tend to a future which 
 might bring for it, some day, by the emulations of its 
 natural undeveloped commercial possibilities, the suc- 
 cesses and advantages of a large and prosperous 
 metropolis. In the foregoing chapters, a general out- 
 line of the condition of Nebraska will also be given, 
 as found by the hardy pioneer; and many of the most 
 important events which transpired throughout the ter- 
 ritory will also be presented. In the preceding chap- 
 ters, the author is quite evident this field has been care- 
 fully gone over. The pioneers of Northeastern Ne- 
 braska will next be dealt with. 
 
CHAPTER THREE. 
 
 GRAPHIC AND PITHY BIOGRAPHIES OF DECATUR'S 
 EARLIEST SETTLERS CAPTAIN PORTER, DR. WHIT- 
 ACRE, COL. SARPY, LAMBERT, OAKLEY, FONTENELLE, 
 FULLER, CANFIELD, OWENS, ENGLEMAN, AND 
 
 OTHERS THE FIRST MAYOR THE FIRST VILLAGE 
 
 ELECTION OPENING SESSION OF COUNCIL COPIES 
 
 OF ELECTIONS NOTORIOUS CLAIM CLUBS OF '56- 
 
 '57 JACK morrow's CLOSE CALL. 
 
 This chapter bubbles over with fascinating interest, 
 because it introduces to the reader the personality of 
 the actors who made it possible for Decatur to become 
 a village, and live; the staid, invincible characters who 
 fought and faced the vicissitudes of the wilderness and 
 gave to their posterity a future which teems with 
 wealth and golden opportunity. Upon this same 
 ground where they chased and shot the deer and buf- 
 falo for their meat and subsistance, today there rolls 
 up heavenward clouds of smoke from the untiring 
 factory, and the harmony which oscilates from the 
 great wheel of commercial industry is sweet music to 
 their successive and progressive generations. These 
 biographies are chopped into short paragraphs, de- 
 
b 
 
 28 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN.. 
 
 void of embellishments, and so arranged as to be con- 
 venient for ready reference. 
 
 Charles Porter, a captain in the United States army 
 during the Indian outbreak, came to Decatur from 
 New York State with a man named Jones in 1857. 
 They brought with them a steam mill, but could never 
 get it to operate. Bunked with Leaming in his sod 
 house for a long time. Porter was engaged in the 
 merchandise business part of the time and John D. 
 McMurphy was one of his clerks. Porter now re- 
 sides in Brooklyn, New York, employed in the Gov- 
 ernment navy yards and has charge of the lumber 
 department. 
 
 The "Turn Around Tavern," a shanty made of Cot- 
 tonwood slabs, owner, Mat Wilber, was one of the 
 first buildings of Decatur. After its discontinuance as 
 a hotel, it was occupied by Sam Hollard of Council 
 BlufTs, a young man of much ability, who used it for 
 a merchandise store. Hollard was sent here by Dr. 
 Horn, also of Council Bluffs. Carried a stock of 
 groceries, liquors and other stuffs. Quite successful 
 for a while, but grew careless and finally failed. 
 Drifted into the habit of ducking his troubles in the 
 bowl of dissipation and went back to his Council 
 Blufis home when he died. Dr. Horn was a staunch 
 friend of HoUard's and cared for him to the last. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 29 
 
 Captain Silas T. Learning, a native of New York 
 State, came here in tlie fall of 1856, the year of the 
 incorporation. Bought the claim where he now lives 
 from a man named Rose, paying him $6,400 in gold 
 for it, consisting of three hundred and twenty acres. 
 This was the year before the Government survey had 
 been made. Also pre-empted one hundred and sixty 
 acres and kept a good horse. Had to run the animal 
 twice to Omaha, where the registrar's ofhce was, a 
 Mr. Parker in charge, to save his land from jumpers. 
 The captain slept in a sod house on his land, and took 
 his meals with Wilson, the keeper of the tavern. Early 
 part of his life in Decatur interested in real estate. 
 Bought 1,000 acres of land across the river and a 
 number of shares of Decatur townsite stock. Was 
 positive that a railroad was coming and located here 
 on the strength of that belief. A railroad company 
 was organized in Decatur in 1857, of which Mr. 
 Leaming was appointed chief engineer. As his assist- 
 ants he secured the services of Don Barker and John 
 McBride, both residing in town at the time and thor- 
 oughly qualified to fill the positions. These two gen- 
 tlemen were formerly employed as surveyors for the 
 I. C. & A. L. R. R., now known as the Chicago & 
 Northwestern. Don was an old bachelor; went to 
 Wyoming and died there. John McBride is remem- 
 
20 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 bered as a young fellow who visited with Commodore 
 Decatur and made his headquarters there. He was a 
 sport, fond of dogs, and pretty girls, and enjoyed 
 hunting and fishing. Went from here to California. 
 
 Two brothers, Ben Gilbert and John Oak, natives 
 of Sweden, made their home here in 1857, but did 
 not stay long. Gilbert homesteaded a piece of land 
 nine miles south on the blufif road, and Oak one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres on Silver Creek, over the bridge 
 west of the poor farm. The names Gilbert and Oak 
 was granted to them by an act of the Territorial Leg- 
 islature. In 1865 O'ak pre-empted the townsite on 
 which the city of Oakland has been built and named 
 the town. Went from there to Homer; built a grist 
 mill, bought some property, failed and died. Gilbert 
 still lives on his homestead and is one of Burt county's 
 prosperous farmers. 
 
 T. H. Hineman, one of the incorporators, came 
 over the river from Onawa in 1855. Homesteaded 
 a piece of land south of town known as the Hineman 
 farm. Owned considerable Decatur property and 
 was worth about $12,000. Native of New York State 
 and born October 22, 1818. Latter part of his life 
 lived with the Canfield and Fuller families. Slipped 
 on the sidewalk and broke his leg, which caused his 
 death, February 25, 1888. Sick two weeks. Mrs. A. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 3 1 
 
 B. Fuller has a twenty-five cent American coin which 
 Hineman carried in his pocket since he was a boy. It 
 was made the same year he was born. Hineman's . 
 surname was Truman Hart, but for short, as he 
 laughingly put it, called himself "Truehearted." 
 
 Jeremiah Carter, from Pennsylvania, arrived in 
 1856; took a claim west of town and in later years 
 deeded it to Mrs. A. B. Fuller to care for him until he 
 died. Queer character; a rough but very faithful old 
 man. In i860 took care of the stables at this place 
 for the Western Stage Company and Mail Route run- 
 ning from Sioux Cify to Omaha. When Carter first 
 came here he boarded with Hobbs and at the Brown 
 Hotel. He was a drummer boy in the war of 1812 
 and received a pension of $12 a month. Died at the 
 home of Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, February 7, 1882, and 
 was buried up on the hill. Born in New York State, 
 February 15, 1795. 
 
 Brown, a New Yorker, built a three-story frame 
 hotel in 1857, 24x40, where the old bank building 
 stands now. On this investment he went broke. 
 Traded a gold watch to S. T. Leaming, which cost 
 him $100, for a horse, and went to Denver, Colorado. 
 Jumped a claim, part of the townsite, and held it. 
 It was one of those lucky moves which makes a man 
 rich in a day. Brown built the famous Brown Palace 
 
32 > STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 of Denver City, a structure that cost over $1,000,000. 
 His Decatur property was purchased by A. B. Fuller. 
 \ On May i, 1876, the hotel was destroyed by fire; 
 cause, a defective chimney. 
 
 George W. Mason, one of the incorporators and a 
 native of New York, came to Decatur in the spring 
 of 1856. Was a legal advisor and secretary of the 
 Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company, and a wide- 
 awake lawyer who had the interest of the village at 
 heart. His health was not good and he was troubled 
 with the asthma. Homesteaded the farm that Frank 
 J. Griffin lives on now. Went to Virginia and died 
 Built the dwelling which Thos. R. Ashley and family 
 reside in. 
 
 Steven Decatur Bross, better known as Commodore 
 , Decatur, came to the town which was named in his 
 honor, from Bellevue, at which place a clerk in the 
 trading post of Col. Peter A. Sarpy. Followed the 
 Omahas who moved up that year, and located on a 
 farm now know:n as the Decatur Springs place, the 
 property of James Ashley. The Commodore built a 
 sod and frame house and temporarily resided here. 
 Married a widow lady, Mrs. Thomas of Council Bluffs, 
 who had three children — Abbie, Waldo, and Lizzie. 
 Decatur entered the mercantile business before the in- 
 corporation act and made lots of money in his traffic 
 

 a 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 to 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 33 
 
 with the Indians, who at that time were drawing- 
 large annuities. Was a portly, erect, fine looking man, 
 and quite a favorite with the ladies. Courteous and 
 graceful in his speech and movements, he won the 
 confidence of the town and made friends wherever 
 he went. For some reason which has never been dis- 
 closed he dropped his name Bross. Governor Bross, 
 editor and proprietor of the Chicago Tribune, was a 
 brother of his; also Colonel Bross of the Board of 
 Trade Battery of Chicago. Decatur went from here 
 to Colorado and was a representative from that state 
 in 1876 to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. 
 He died in Colorado and his widow lives in San Diego, 
 California, with her daughter, Mrs. Abbie Stevens, 
 whose husband at one time in the early 6o's, was a 
 merchant of Decatur. The Commodore was a pecu- 
 liar gentleman; very eccentric, and yet in spite of his 
 oddity a good neighbor and regarded all law-abid- 
 ing men as equals. AVas a clerk in Sarpy's trading 
 post at Decatur a few months. 
 
 Hank D. Cline was one of the early settlers after 
 the incorporation of the town. A native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and after remaining here a few years, returned 
 to his home, and now lives in the city of Philadelphia. 
 Hank built the dwelling that James Dillon and fam- 
 ily now occupy; was a carpenter by trade and took 
 
34 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 the contract for the Henry ■Fontenelle residence; Ed. 
 Canfield and Lorenzo Hobbs assisting him in the 
 work; and Jacob Snyder, who now lives west of town 
 on the Blackbird Creek near the reservation line, was 
 the man who put on the plaster and built the , chim- 
 neys. Material for the dwelling, frame and finishing 
 stuff was hauled up from Omaha and cost something 
 over $2,000. Finest piece of residence property at 
 that time for miles around. Fontenelle was then Gov- 
 ernment interpreter for the Omahas, commanding a 
 large salary, and could well afford to erect such a 
 handsome home. 
 
 Jones of New York State, bettei- known as "Farmer 
 Jones," located here in 1857; boarded at the Brown 
 Hotel, then under the management of Mr. Sidmore. 
 Pre-empted 160 acres just over the west line of the 
 town, now in possession of F. E. McNutt; was a man 
 of means with a polished education and came on the 
 strength of a report that a railroad would be built to 
 town. After a few years of patient waiting he left in 
 ■disgust, and now resides in Lafayette, Indiana. 
 
 Matthew C. Wilber and his wife were among the 
 first arrivals in the spring of 1856. Mrs. Wilber 
 taught school in a little town north of Onawa, which 
 later was consumed by the incorporation of Whiting. 
 Matt was interested in horses; conducted a rough and 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 35 
 
 ready livery stable. Mrs. Wilber resigned her position 
 as school teacher, and assisted her husband in the man- 
 agement of the Turn Around Tavern. Went from 
 here to Omaha and invested in a livery barn. Mr. 
 Wilber died in that city in 1890; and his wife followed 
 him two years afterw;ard. 
 
 Dr. Thomas H. Whitacre, a physician by profession, 
 educated for a civil engineer and a native of New 
 York, located here in 1855; one of the incorporators 
 and employed by the Townsite and Ferry Company to 
 draft a plat and survey the town. Practiced medicine 
 here and throughout the country; population at that 
 time very limited, and the first doctor to hang out his 
 shingle in Decatur. Dr. Low followed him shortly 
 afterward in the practice. Mr. Whitacre was a man 
 full of energy and ambition and it was largely through 
 his instrumentality that the organization of the De- 
 catur Townsite and Ferry Company took place. 
 Elected several terms as village recorder and coun- 
 cilman. After the rainbow of hope which had radiated 
 its bright colors of future promise on the railroad 
 map of Decatur for so long at last faded away into 
 the gloom of eternal despair, ' the doctor went back 
 to his Olhio home and a few years later died. The ^ 
 handful of old .settlers who still live and knew him, 
 revere the memory of Thomas H. Whitacre as a man 
 
2,6 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 whose charactei- was above reproach. When a resi- 
 dent of Decatur he Hved where the James Neary fam- 
 ily do now and was the builder of that house. 
 
 Paul Dominick w:as an old Frenchman; born at 
 Jefferson Barracks, and came to Decatur, or rather 
 the settlement, in the summer of 1855. Located on 
 a claim what is now known as the "Colonel Paul 
 Place." Blacksmith by trade and erected a shop on 
 his farm. Killed himself one rainy morning, while 
 preparing to go to Pike's Peak. 
 
 William Gaylord, an easterner, became a resident in 
 1857; a carpenter by trade, and built the Page dwell- 
 ing, better known as the Heath House. Also a con- 
 tractor; went from here to Omaha and died there. 
 
 Lucien Fontenelle was born in 1803 at a small set- 
 tlement called Burat in the southern part of the State 
 of Louisiana. When but 14 years old a clerk in a 
 New Orleans banking house. Was of royal descent, 
 and his parents perished in a hurricane when he was 
 a baby, at the town of his birth. When this sad in- 
 cident occurred, Lucien and his sister Amelia were 
 under the care of an aunt. Madam Merlier, of the City 
 of New Orleans. It was the hand of fate that saved 
 him. The parents left their children a large estate 
 and they were placed under the care of their aunt, 
 Mrs. Merlier. She was a cruel, haughty woman, and 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 37 
 
 one day in a fit of passion she struck Lucien. This 
 wounded the boy's independence and pride and he ran 
 away from home. Went to the northwest, coming 
 most of the way with Major Pilcher of the United 
 States army. Fontenelle was employed by the Amer- 
 ican Fur Company; crossed the Rockies to the Pacific 
 coast; conducted a trader's post at Fort Laramie, as- 
 sisted by a Mr. Dripps; married an Omaha Indian 
 woman, and the latter part of his life lived in Bellevue, 
 where he died and was buried. Fontenelle was a typi- 
 cal frontiersman; generous to a fault, and true to his 
 friends. There were five children, Albert, Tecumseh, 
 Logan, Henry, and Susan. Henry came from Belle- 
 vue to Decatur with the Omahas in the summer of 
 1854. Locatetd on the jiorth side of Wood Creek, 
 next to the river, where he lived until he died, Wed- 
 nesday morning, March 26, 1899. 
 
 Henry Fontenelle was born at Fort Laramie, August 
 20, 1 83 1. Educated under the direction of Father 
 De Smit, the historical Catholic missionary; and ap- 
 prenticed himself to the wheelwright trade in Kansas 
 City. In an early day near Decatur conducted a large 
 merchandise store and made lots of money. C. C. 
 Dunn, now of Blair, clerked for him several years. 
 Mr. Fontenelle took an active part in the organization 
 of Thurston County. Married Miss Emily Pappan, 
 
38 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 of St. Louis, at Bellevue, on the 28th day of February, 
 1855. Tb them were born the following children: 
 Lucien A., March 9, 1856; Eugene, July 21, 1858; 
 Victoria, September 2, i860; Raymond, February 
 27, 1862; Emily, November 15, 1864; Emma, Febru- 
 ary 15, 1869; Ella, October 16, 1870; and Nattie, 
 October 16, 1876. All are dead but Eugene and Ray- 
 mond. Eugene married Miss May O'tteson of De- 
 catur at Pender, March 16, 1899; ceremony performed 
 by Judge Curry. 
 
 Lorenzo Hobbs and family of Massachusetts located 
 here in the latter part of the 50's. Contractor, and 
 built the house which is now occupied by Mr. and 
 Mrs. D. C. Griffin. First used as a hotel. Pre-empted 
 40 acres of land joining the town on the east. Moved 
 to Omaha where his wife died. Re-married and now 
 lives in Montana. Will, his eldest son, has been 
 Sheriff of Siskiyou County, California, for years. 
 Henry, another son, resides in Bancroft, a well-to-do 
 merchant. In 1881 the building now occupied by 
 John T. Choyce was built for Hobbs, by A. B. Fuller, 
 to use as a general merchandise store. 
 
 Clement Lambert was born near the City of St. 
 Louis, October 2, 1807. When a boy he ran away 
 from home to join the expedition of Gen. Fremont, 
 who succeeded in determining much of the typography 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 39 
 
 of this western country. Lambert was an employe of 
 the American Fur Company. Came to Decatur from 
 Bellevue with Peter A. Sarpy in tlie sumrner of 1854. 
 Both of them established a trading post here. Engle- 
 man, an old soldier of the Mexican war, in the United 
 States service, clerking for Sarpy at his Bellevue store, 
 came up that year and took charge of the post at this 
 place. Engleman also receives a pension of $12 a 
 month and was postmaster of the settlement. Mr. 
 Lambert was a resident of Decatur until the day of his 
 death, March 5, 1879. In 1867 his sister moved to 
 Omaha from her St. Louis home. She was an in- 
 valid; her complaint rheurnatism, and as a relief used 
 coal oil, applying it externally. It will never be. known 
 just how it happened, but the house caught fire and 
 she was burnt to death. 
 
 Mr. Jones, the man who came here with Charley 
 Porter, was of a high family, and all of his people 
 well connected. A. Jones, a brother, at one time was 
 the editor and proprietor of one of- the leading papers 
 of New York City; John Jones, another brother, was 
 chief clerk in the Omaha postoiifice in an early day. 
 His daughter, Mary, married Dr. Sherlls, pastor of 
 the Omaha Congregational Church. Jones went west 
 from here; invested his money in mining stock, and 
 lost everything he had. Became estranged from his 
 
40 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 family and then went back to the old home in New 
 York City. Captain Leaming met him in Chicago 
 a number of years ago and he was then reporting for 
 one of the dailies. Jones was . despondent and melan- 
 choly. Leaming, without permission, telegraphed his 
 family in New York City; they came out and it was a 
 happy reunion. Mr. Jones went back with them. 
 
 Michael Calnon and his wife, Bridget Haley, were 
 natives of Ireland. To them have been born.: Thadeus 
 B., Mary Pauline, John A, James, William G., Lewis 
 F., Thomas E., and George M. Mr. Calnon, by occu- 
 pation, was a farmer; religion. Catholic; politics, a 
 democrat. From Ireland came to Canada, then to 
 Illinois and worked in the lead mines;; took a pre- 
 emption near Omaha in 1855; drove off by land sharks 
 at the point of a pistol. At another time with his 
 hands tied behind him, a party of masked men took 
 him to the river, and at the end of a rope ducked him 
 in the Missouri, threatening to drown Mr. Calnon 
 if he did not withdraw all claims and title to his home- 
 stead. Refused to concede to their demands; the 
 rope slipped and he was pulled out a little farther down 
 the stream, about twenty feet from the shore, with a 
 long pole, by a couple of friends. Some of the per- 
 petrators of this outrage are now prominent citizens 
 of Omaha. For his wife's sake, Mr. Calnon abandoned 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASICA- 4I 
 
 the claim and moved to Decatur in 1857. He was 
 not the only man who Was molested and tormented 
 in his rights by the infamous outlawry of these rogues. 
 Calnon homesteaded 160 acres near Decatur, and died 
 here; Dr. Whitacre attended the sick bed. He was 
 buried up on the hill. Ail the children are Burt 
 County residents; prosperous farmers and business 
 men. 
 
 Thomas Foley, an Irishman, came from the east 
 with Brackett and Blackstone, and had two sons, James 
 and John. A bricklayer and stonemason by trade; 
 homesteaded 160 acres west of town and deeded it to 
 his son James, who sold it to Maryott & McHirron. 
 James went from there to Blair and engaged in the 
 cattle business with a man named Chittenden; now 
 has a commission office in South Omaha. John went 
 to California. Tom went from here to Blair to live 
 with his son and died there. While residents of De- 
 catur the Foleys lived in a small frame house which 
 stood in the rear of where the Chapin & Son drug store 
 is now. Time has obliterated it from the present, and 
 a few years ago it felj, a yictim of decay and hard 
 usage. The first Catholic mass read in Decatur was at 
 Mr. Foley's home by Father Ryan of St. John's, Ne- 
 braska, in 1862. 
 
 Frank Welch was an eastern boy and a civil en- 
 
42 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 gineer by profession; came here in 1856, and the first 
 postmaster of Decatur proper. Afterwards represented 
 the people of this district as congressman in the legis- 
 lative halls at Washington. Owned a half interest in 
 the merchandise fii'm of Stevens & Welch; the former 
 gentleman the son-in-law of Commodore Decatur. 
 Frank dropped dead while attending a convention at 
 West Eoint several years ago. He was a member of 
 the House at the time and Congress adjourned a day 
 as a mark of respect. His obituary was put upon the 
 records and a number of memorial speeches delivered 
 by noted associates. Was a member of the council, 
 and village recorder for several years. He was very 
 popular among Decatur people and liked by all who 
 knew him. His birthplace was Boston, Massachu- 
 setts. 
 
 The' following list concludes Decatur's earliest set- 
 tlers: George W. Doane, first lawyer; his office, the 
 little building where Daniel Morley keeps his coffins; 
 his partner, David L. Collier; came here in 1857. 
 Christopher C. Dunn, an expert machinist from Chi- 
 cago, 1857. John Chase, from B-ellevue, trader, 1855; 
 village treasurer, 1858. S. T. Preston, plasterer; 
 Adam Kerns, saw mill man; John Leonard, machinist; 
 Mike Evans, general work; Charles Goodell, carpen- 
 ter; S. T. Young, farmer; A. B. Fuller, hotel man. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 43 
 
 contractor and builder; E. D. Canfield, carpenter and 
 contractor. Harry Owens, general work, and later 
 farmer. During the winter of 1857 and the deep 
 snow, Mr. Owens went to Onawa on horseback, for 
 the mail, and was paid $10 for the trip. He was the 
 only man who could wade the snow, on account of his 
 height. 
 
 The dissolution of the Decatur Townsite and Ferry 
 Company was gradual. New faces appeared; fam- 
 ilies came, bought lotfi and built homes. The stock 
 exhausted itself in the demands of fresh arrivals, and 
 in the fall of 1857 there was a total assimilation by 
 the tissues of a growing public. The first village 
 election by the people was on January 14th, 1857, and 
 the following is a cop] of the meeting of the initiatory 
 council : 
 
 Opening session of 1 he Decatur City Common. Coun- 
 cil, held February 8, i 858. Met at the house of S. B. 
 Griswald, all of the aMermen present, and the mayor 
 in the chair. The meeting was called to order by the 
 mayor, and the following certificates were produced 
 for record: For ma} or, Silas T. Learning; aldermen, 
 Jacob Snyder, and D, B. Gaylord; all duly signed by 
 the deputy county cli;rk. On motion of S. T. Team- 
 ing moved that W. W. Wilson of this city be ap- 
 pointed city attorne} . Said W. W. Wilson was duly 
 
44 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 elected and the recorder instructed to inform him of 
 said election. On motion of the mayor the recorder 
 was instructed to inform the city attorney that he 
 should draw up a set of city ordinances. On motion 
 of the mayor adjourned. Frank Welch, Recorder. 
 
 Following is a copy of the certificate of election of 
 Captain S T. Leaming, the first mayor of Decatur: 
 
 (Filed February 8th, 1858.) I, I. R. Hyde, Deputy 
 Clerk in and for the County of Burt, N. T., do hereby 
 certify that an election held in the City of Decatur, on 
 the 14th day of January, 1858, Silas T. Leaming was 
 duly elected mayor of said city. Given under my 
 hand this 15th day of January, 1858. I. R. Hyde, 
 Deputy County Clerk. 
 
 At a meeting of the council a short time afterwards, 
 the following ordinances were voted upon and ac- 
 cepted: Ordinance No i, "To provide for the meet- 
 ing of the city council"; No. 2, "To regulate official 
 bonds"; No. 3, "Regulating official fees"; No. 4, "To 
 define the duties of the recorder"; No. 5, "To provide 
 for the granting of a license to sell intoxicating 
 liquors." 
 
 Following is a copy of the journal of the town coun- 
 cil held in the town office, Monday, June 4, i860: 
 Mayor Hobbs in the chair. Aldermen present : Stev- 
 ens, Leaming and Kearns. Leaming presented his 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 45 
 
 bond which was accepted, as alderman. T. H. Whit- 
 acre's bond was presented by C. F. Porter as recorder, 
 which was accepted. By request of S. T. Learning 
 the minutes of the last meeting were read and laid 
 on the table until the next meeting. On motion ad- 
 journed until June ii. Thos. H. Whitacre, Re- 
 corder. 
 
 Following is a copy of the journal of the town 
 council held at Mr. Hobbs' home, June 2, i860 : Pres- 
 ent Aldermen Evans and Dunn; Mayor Plobbs in the 
 chair. Minutes of last meeting read and approved. 
 The poll list of the annual charter election was read, 
 of which the following is a copy: May 7th, i860, at 
 an election held in Decatur, Burt County, N. T., the 
 whole number of votes cast was twenty-four, (24), 
 and the following persons secured the respective num- 
 ber of votes opposite their names for the different 
 respective offices : 
 
 M. Evans, for Mayor 12 
 
 C. F. Porter for Mayor 12 
 
 L. Hobbs, for Councilman 10 
 
 C. Dunn, for Councilman 10 
 
 F. Welch, for Councilman 10 
 
 A. Kerns, for Councilman 15 
 
 A. Higley, for Councilman 10 
 
 S. T. Learning, for Councilman. ... 13 
 
46 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 A. B. Fuller, for Councilman 2 
 
 a 
 
 Thos. H. Whitacre, for Recorder. . . 17 
 
 J. S. Ramseyer, for Recorder 7 
 
 F. H. Stevens, for Treasurer 10 
 
 C. Engleman, for Treasurer 14 
 
 J. E. Wilson, for Assessor i 
 
 A. B. Fuller, for Assessor 9 
 
 J. Dalrymple, for Assessor 12 
 
 T., C. Goodell, Marshal 11 
 
 Wm. Point, Marshal 12 
 
 Judges of election : H. B. Gaylord, S. T. Learning, 
 and Adam Kerns. Clerk of election : Thos. H. Whit- 
 acre and J. E. Dowley. 
 
 Officers elected : Aldermen : Kerns and Teaming. 
 Recorder: T. H. Whitacre. Treasurer: C. Engle- 
 man. Assessor : J. Dalrymple. William Point, Mar- 
 shal. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Evans the mayor was ordered 
 to give notice for an election to be held in the town 
 of Decatur, on the first Monday of July next to elect 
 a mayor and one alderman. Motion carried. On 
 .motion adjourned to Monday night next, the regular 
 monthly meeting. Chas. F. Porter, Recorder. 
 
 Following is the copy of an election held in the vil- 
 lage of Decatur, N. T., on the Sth day of May, 1862; 
 Chas. F. Porter, for Mayor. ., 16 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 47 
 
 C. 'Lambert, Alderman i 
 
 F. H. Stevens, Alderman 13 • 
 
 T. J. Laughlin, Alderman 12 
 
 S. T. Leaming, Alderman 7 
 
 S. Decatur, Alderman . .-. i 
 
 Thos. H. Whitacre, Recorder . ... 14 
 
 Frank Welch, Recorder i 
 
 Adam Kerns, Treasurer 13 
 
 Lorenzo Hobbs, Treasurer i 
 
 A. B. Fuller, Assessor 12 
 
 Hiram Higley, Assessor i 
 
 J. L Ogg, Marshal 12 
 
 The land claim clubs of '56 and '57 of this country 
 were bold in their criminal actions, resorting to many 
 deeds of outlawry and respecting nothing but the force 
 of arms emanating to their own vicious and selfish 
 ends. In their assertion of right of possession to cer- 
 tain claims atrocious acts were committed, to gain 
 title to lands which in the eyes of the law — should a 
 court of justice have intervened — rightfully belonged 
 to the honest and well-meaning homesteader. A few 
 of the outrages perpetrated by these lawless organiza- 
 tions may be recorded as follows : 
 
 The State Historical Society says: That the club 
 of Omaha in '56 took Michael Calnon to the Mis- 
 souri, River, and after cutting a hole large enough, 
 
48 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 ducked him in the chilly waters until he was almost 
 drowned and frozen and then escorted him to the 
 United States land office by the subtle persuasion of 
 a loaded pistol pointed at his head and compelled to 
 give up the claim which was rightfully his by the law 
 of the land. 
 
 Dr. Henry of Omaha and another man had a dis- 
 pute about a claim near Bellevue. Dr. Henry's gun 
 very mysteriously exploded and his comrade fell dead 
 at his feet. At the time of the accident the doctor 
 and the adverse claimant were engaged in friendly 
 chat; and also making overtures to settle the dispute 
 by dividing the claim — 'which both finally agreed to 
 do. The accidental and deplorable death of the doc- 
 tor's neighbor during the conversation gave Mr. 
 Henry complete and absolute possession, thanks to 
 the unexpected arrival of an amiable arbitrator — the 
 doctor's exploded fire-arm. 
 
 In those days every townsite along the Missouri 
 River was under the control of some some land claim 
 club and the man who came to homestead a piece of 
 land was compelled to go five or six miles beyond the 
 line of these so-called townsites. A captain of a 
 steamboat pulling up the river observed a settler on 
 the banks and shouted to him : "Hello, there. What's 
 the name of your town?" The settler replied in a 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 49 
 
 loud voice : "This haint no town. I'm tryin' to farm 
 here." "Good," yelled back the captain, waiving his 
 arms and apparently highly delighted. "Come abroad 
 and get a drink; you're the first farmer I've ever seen 
 in Nebraska Territory." 
 
 This is a fair illustration going to show the scarcity 
 of farmers and the abundance of land sharks in those 
 rough and tumble times. 
 
 After the financial crash of '57, when the wildcat 
 banks went broke, few of the townsites were of any 
 value except for farming land. Many people had lost 
 or spent what ready money they brought with them 
 to the Territory, and in '58 a silver quarter looked to 
 them as big* as a cart wheel. It was then the claim 
 clubs went to the wall. , 
 
 Perhaps one of the best-known men in Middle Ne- 
 braska in the early 6o's was Jack Morrow, whose 
 ranch was near Cottonwood Springs, a few miles 
 west of Fort Kearney. Jack was a fine-looking fel- 
 low, generous hearted, but full of dissolute habits. 
 One of his principal occupations was trading trav- 
 elers good oxen for sore-footed ones, always getting 
 a nice little bunch of money to boot; and also had 
 the faculty of knowing where .stolen horses could be 
 found, a gift which almost cost him his life. In those 
 days the luxuriant grasses of the valleys grew to a 
 
^O STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 height of ten to fourteen feet, and the friendly set- 
 tlements many long and weary miles apart. Near 
 Fort Kearney was the home of the Cheyenne Indians 
 and they were ever on the alert to steal ponies and 
 attack the smallest of emigrant trains. One evening 
 a party of gold seekers put up at Jack's for the night 
 and the courteous landlord made them feel very much 
 to home. The next morning when the boys went out 
 to hitch up to proceed on their journey their ponies 
 were discovered missing. ' Morrow taking in the situ- 
 ation at a glance and turning around addressed the 
 leader, a brawny, determined-looking fellow: "Say, 
 mister, you give me $25 and I will have your horses 
 back here in two hours." The traveler looked at Jack 
 for a moment and then grabbed him by the throat, 
 and poking a pistol under his nose said : "Stranger, 
 I don't know whether you're a horse thief or not, but , 
 if those ponies ain't back here in two hours, me and 
 my crowd are going to have a little neck-tie party 
 and you'll be the man that works one end of it. Mor- 
 row's hands and feet were tied and it was then he saw 
 the hopelessness of the case. Despatching a half- 
 breed boy that lived with him out to the Cheyenne's 
 camp, the ponies were returned to Cottonwood Springs 
 in less than two hours. Jack was a great Indian man, 
 and while perhaps not the real culprit, knew who the 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 5 1 
 
 guilty parties were; told the strangers they were gen- 
 tlemen and thanked them for sparing his life. Mor- 
 row made a fortune on his ranch and died a few years 
 ago. 
 
CHAPTER FOUR. 
 
 THE JAMES FAMILY NEBRASKA INDIAN SCARE OR- 
 GANIZATION OF MASONIC LODGE PROGRESS OF 
 
 DECATUR HISTORY OF HER SCHOOLS AND 
 
 CHURCHES DROWNING OF OWENS, BLAKE, MANS- 
 FIELD, AND OTHERS ROBT. MOORE AND THE RISE 
 
 AND FALL OF TIEVILLE ROMANCE OF KIT CARSON 
 
 MURDER OF FRENCH DESPERADO BY THE INDIANS 
 
 SILVER creek's OLD NAME. 
 
 This paragraph introduces an exception in the his- 
 tory of the old town, a character well knowti to the 
 people of the West and the United States; mother of 
 Frank and Jesse Jaines, famous and successful bandits 
 and outlaws, natives of the State of Missouri. Mrs. 
 Samuels taught one term of school in the village at 
 the town hall in the year 'of 1862. Her second hus- 
 band was a doctor and of late years resided on a 
 well-improved farm in Clay County, near Kearney, 
 State of Missouri, not far from the old stamping 
 grounds of her renegade sons. During this lady's 
 stay in Decatur she established for herself a circle of 
 warm friends, but some of her pupils were deathly 
 afraid of her, and an incident is told of how she drove 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 53" 
 
 a mischievous boy from the school room with a broom 
 stick. Mrs. Samuels was a portly woman and reputed 
 as a person of impulsive qualities, but cool-headed 
 in a crisis, and really a brave woman. 
 
 Upon return to her^ old home near Kearney during 
 the progress of the civil -war, a bomb was thrown 
 through a window of her house, crashing the glass 
 and landing on the floor in the center of the room, 
 where it exploded with terrific force. One of Mrs. 
 Samuel's arms was torn from her shoulder by the 
 flying pieces and her infant baby killed. This cruel 
 and blood-thirsty act was perpetrated by the villianous 
 Quantrell and his rebel outlaws, venting their terrible 
 spleen upon an innocent mother and child, for the 
 spite and hatred they held for her sons, Jesse and 
 Frank; and it was only a short time prior to this out- 
 rage that these same men waylaid and murdered Mr. 
 James, an honest and industrious farmer, respected 
 by his neighbors. The latter atrocious act was what 
 incited Frank and Jesse to become outlaws; and over 
 the dead body of their murdered father they registered 
 an oath in heaven that neither would rest until the 
 last member of Quantrell's band bit the dust of death 
 with their boots on. This pledge was carried out to 
 the letter and the boys' revenge complete, for the 
 James brothers hounded the Quantrells to the grave, 
 
54 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 not one escaping the vendetti and to the last surviving 
 member, fell a victim to the qath swtorn on their heads 
 by Jesse and Frank. Mrs. Samuels died in the fall of 
 1900 in Kansas City at the home of her grandson, 
 Jesse James, a successful tobacco merchant of that 
 city. 
 
 In an hour of peril and danger the mother never 
 forsook her sons and one time when the officers of the 
 law came to arrest Jesse she hid him under her skirts. 
 Another time when the officers were forcing an en- 
 trance, Mrs. Samuels met them at the door, knocked 
 the foremost down with her fist, and gave her son the 
 signal. Jesse heard it and going to the back door 
 disposed of the fellow there in a manner peculiar to 
 himself and made his escape. 
 
 Jesse was killed by Bob Ford at St. Joe at his home 
 while he was standing on a chair dusting a picture. 
 The outlaw's pistols lay on the bed, thus placing him- 
 self at the mercy of his murderer. It is said that Jesse 
 contemplated killing Bob and Charlie Ford at the time 
 of his death. He suspicioned them of treachery. It 
 is strange, too, that in a few years after, Charlie Ford 
 was killed and Bob committed suicide. 
 
 Dr. Whittier of Decatur had in his possession for 
 a long time a note against the rebel bandit Quantrell; 
 the amount, $4. It was a present to him from a friend. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 55 
 
 Capt. J. D. Conner, of Decatur county, Kansas. The 
 note was outlawed when the doctor got possession of 
 it and only retained it as a keepsake. The note wa'< 
 given to Connor by Quantrell for a pair of pants, he 
 living then on an adjoining farm and known and re- 
 spected by his neighbors as a model young man. 
 
 The first Indian scare of any importance to occur 
 in Northeastern Nebraska took place in 1858. The 
 report came down the river, brought by a man, in a 
 small boat, headed for St. Louis. He spread the news 
 in Decatur settlement that the Sioux were on the war- 
 path and even then on their way from the north, their 
 course of destruction following the settlements bor- 
 dering the Missouri river, pilfering and burnmg every- 
 thing before them, and murdering helpless families. 
 The alarming report created a panic. Women fainted 
 and strong men turned pale. A host of people all over 
 the country sold out at a sacrifice and returned to their 
 eastern homes, many of them not waiting to sell, but 
 immediately forsaking their homes and farms, fleeing 
 to settlements on the south and in Iowa for protection, 
 under the impulse of fright. But like many other 
 fables which have started without a foundation and 
 told for the truth, it wa^ ^niy an empty rumor, and 
 dissolved itself from the minds of the people almost 
 in a single day. When the truth became known, de- 
 
56 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 serters returned and new ones followed along, and then 
 once more the affrighted settlements grew and thrived. 
 Decatur did have one genuine Indian scare, how- 
 ever, which almost culminated seriously. It happened 
 along close to the occurrence of the one just men- 
 tioned. Some of the post traders had been dealing out 
 liquors to the Oraahas. Under the influence the In- 
 dians committed all kinds of depredations as well as 
 frightening and threatening the white women, until 
 virtue ceased to be a reward and their acts intolerable. 
 A vigilance committee waited on the guilty traders and 
 notified them if they persisted in this , illegal traffic, a 
 sentence of death would be imposed on them, but if 
 they ceased their nefarious business would be allowed 
 to go in peace. This effective step by the citizens 
 established peace, and for many years afterwards a 
 drunken Indian in Decatur would have been a novel 
 sight. Before the trouble was squashed the settlement 
 was "wild and wooly" and fights came off regular 
 every thirty minutes in the day as well as the night. 
 A killing was a common occurrence, but when the Iq- 
 dians threatened to go on the warpath, and came to 
 town decorated in fancy feathers and bright colors — 
 then the settlers interfered, restoring oi'der out of this 
 wild chaos, caused by a reckless indulgence in fire- 
 water. 
 
Hon. Thomas K. Ashley, Pioneer 
 Schoolboy of Nebraska. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 57 
 
 In 1 86 1 a compensation was granted by George 
 Armstrong, Grand Master of Nebraska, for the forma- 
 tion of a lodge in Decatur; and in the following year, 
 the Grand Lodge of Nebraska granted a charter and 
 Decatur Lodge No. 7, A. F. and A. M., was consti- 
 tuted with the following officers : O. H. Irish, W. M. ; 
 Chas. F. Porter, W. S.; B. R. Folsom, J. W.; John S. 
 Ratnsey, secretary; Wm. A. Amsbury, S. D. ; Lorenzo 
 Hobbs, J. D., and E. D. Canfield, Tiler. This lodge 
 continued its organization until 1874, when it sur- 
 rendered its charter, many of the members after the 
 dissolution joining at Tekamah. On the 17th of 
 September, 1881, a dispensation was granted W. J. 
 Outhwaite, R. W. Reynolds, L. D. Hoppock, James 
 Ashley, M. J. Kenyon, Franklin Goodell, H. C. Mc- 
 Hirron, James Littel, and R. G. Langley to organize 
 as a lodge, and on the 20th day of June, 1882, Star 
 Lodge No. 88 received its charter. On the ist day of 
 August, 1891, the lodge room and its furniture was 
 destroyed by fire. It is now located in a cozy hall over 
 C. B. Barlow's merchandise store, and in good work- 
 ing order. 
 
 The first term of public school taught in Decatur 
 was a winter term, beginning in the fall of 1861, Mrs. 
 E. D. Canfield, teacher, in the town hall. Pupils : T. 
 R. Ashley, Lizzie Lambert, Will Plobbs, Gertie Fuller, 
 
58 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Beattie Hobbs, James Calnon, Tim Calnon, Lizzie 
 Thompson and Albert Cline. 
 
 Mrs. Alice Perry followed Mrs. Canfield, succeeded 
 by Mrs. Samuels; then Miss Shaw, to Miss Hamilton, 
 followed by M. McCrady, Mrs. Decatur, Mr.. Masters, 
 Miss Welch and Miss Washburn. 
 
 Then the town hall was abandoned and the perpetu- 
 ation of the school continued in a little building hack 
 of the parish residence. The following teachers suc- 
 cessively taught here: Miss Benjamin, W. E. Drury, 
 Miss Laughlin, Mr. Morrison, Miss Whitcomb, Miss 
 Dakin, Mr. Monk, Mr. Button, and Dr. Wm. B. 
 Gregg. In 1874 the present brick building was erected, 
 since which time the schools have steadily increased, 
 until the enrollment has passed the three hundred 
 mark. Since the progress of educational work in this 
 latter school building, the following instructors have 
 successively been in charge : Prof. Secord, Mrs. Jack- 
 son; Professors Lake, Graves, Towel, Sears, Atkinson, 
 Hadley, Kitts, Fowler, Smith, Quinn, Frazier, Mr. E. 
 G. Smith and Prof. Hanson. It was through the efforts 
 of B. B. Smith that a library was placed 
 in the school, and many good books have been added 
 to the collection by private donations. The schools 
 are now doing twelfth grade work and the pupils hav- 
 ing completed the course of study can enter the Uni- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 59 
 
 versity of Nebraska without an examination. High 
 School giraduates as follows: Class of 1891, Mary 
 L. Y. Deen and Phoebe E. Learning. Class of 1893, 
 Lucy Learning, Stanton Wilder, George F. Morley, 
 and Wm. I. Langley. Class of 1894, Ida Stanton, 
 Howard Long, and Jesse E. Himler (dead.) Class 
 of 1896, Flora Calnon and Mason Darling. Class of 
 1897, Edward Wilder, James R. Wilder, Jason B. 
 White, and . William R. Eagleton. Class of 1898, 
 Edith F. Gantz, Jesse P. Lake, and Lewis W. Page. 
 Class of 1899, Shannon Gatewood, Mable A. Ashley, 
 Ralph Langley, and Lizzie White. Decatur has the 
 finest school library in Burt county. Its course of 
 studies are high, modern, including branches in, science, 
 and the rapid strides and advancement accomplished 
 in educational fields have far exceeded the expectations 
 of its patrons and the board of education. As a 
 graded school it is second to none in the county and as 
 good as any in the state. 
 
 The first white man known to have met his death by 
 drowning near Decatur was Thomas Owens, a brother 
 of Mont Owens, in the summer of 1862, at the mouth 
 of Wood Creek, in the Missouri River, and the sup- 
 position is, he was a victim of water cramps. Tom 
 called for help, but it was too late to render any as- 
 sistance. A number of boys, among the crowd James 
 
6o STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Calnon, also in bathing, attempted a rescue, but Owens 
 went down for the last time before they could reach 
 him. The body was never recovered. 
 
 Wilts Mansfield met a similar fate in 1871. He and 
 Frank Kelso were swimming from a sand bar in the 
 center of the river, opposite Decatur, to the Nebraska 
 bank. The boys made the shore all right and started 
 back after a short rest, but missed the point of the bar 
 which they had headed for and wore their strength 
 out against a strong current. The boys were too tired 
 to retrace their course and trusted in getting by the 
 swift water, in which successful, would have put them 
 within a few feet of the bar. When at last the fear- 
 ful predicament was realized that the sand bar could 
 never be reached, and that they were too tired to go 
 back, they called for help. A rescue party responded 
 to the appeal, and when within a few feet of the strug- 
 gling swimmers, Mansfield sank from exhaustion. 
 Kelso Was saved and now lives in Oregon, and doing 
 well. Wilts Mansfield was a favorite among our 
 townspeople and is spoken of by those who knew him 
 as a bright, gentlemanly young fellow. His body was 
 found about four miles below here on the river's edge, 
 and interred in the Decatur cemetery. 
 
 On April 3, 1870, David Hart, William Fitser, and 
 Elmer Blake became victims of the treacherous Mis- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 6l 
 
 souri. Blake, working for F. D. Wilson, on the other 
 side of the river, came over after the other two men. 
 It was a windy day and the waves were high. The 
 crossing was attempted just below Decatur and the 
 boys had got about half way over when the boat tipped 
 bottom side up. This did not discourage them, how- 
 ever, and they all climbed on top. The boat tipped 
 again, and this time only two men climbed on. An- 
 other revolution of the boat and only one man ap- 
 peared; a little farther down the river the skiff rolled 
 again, and this time anxious watchers from the river 
 banks could discern nothing. The human freight was 
 unloaded and an empty hull rode the rough bosom of 
 a passive stream to an involuntary destination. 
 
 In the early summer of 1874, while crossing the 
 river, Nelson Oakley was tipped out of a boat; how, 
 was never known, and drowned while swimming to 
 shore. He passed the ferry boat which had just 
 started for the Iowa side. Sam Smith, an employe, 
 called out if he could make it, and Oakley looking back 
 over his shoulder laughed, made a reply, and went 
 down. Sam jumped, but it was too late — Oakley was 
 never seen again. 
 
 In the summer of 1895, Charlie Philips, a Decatur 
 boy about 16 years old, lost his life by drowning, near 
 the mouth of Wood Creek. He was bathing with a 
 
62 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 host of youthful companions, got beyond his depth, 
 and went down. The body was recovered by Lafe 
 Cronk, the search for PhilHps lasting about half an 
 hour. Dr. Ross attempted a resurrection, but the ef- 
 fort was fruitless. The remains were interred in the 
 Decatur cemetery. 
 
 The Episcopal Chapel of Decatur was built in 1862, 
 and the first church of that denomination erected in 
 the diocese and the state. Rev. Batt was the pastor, 
 and remained , here about two years, boarding with 
 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ashley. He was a married man. 
 The membership while not large is an earnest and en- 
 ergetic one, and a gradual increase has been mani- 
 fested on the enrollment record for the past three 
 years. The members of this church recently built a 
 new church, design from Chicago architect; cost, 
 about $1,200. 
 
 In 1861, Mr. and Mrs. Robt. Ashley moved down 
 from Dakota City, and their first notable work shortly 
 after their arrival was the organization of a Methodist 
 Sunday School. Previous to this time. Rev. Asbury 
 of Dakota City came down every two weeks and held 
 services. The growth of the Methodist Church has 
 been rapid and very prolific, and its enrollment of 
 membership the largest of any denomination in the 
 village. In the summer of 1889 the present hand- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 63 
 
 some edifice was erected, costing $1,767.81 — private 
 donations and by those interested in church organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church, which was abandoned in 
 1888, was built in the year of 1871, through the in- 
 strumentaHty of Dr. John M. Peebles, a residing 
 Presbyterian minister of Decatur. In 1870 he at- 
 tended the General Assembly at Baltimore, Maryland, 
 and received at this religion conventicle a contribution 
 of $500 for a church at Decatur and Lyons. On his 
 way home he purchased the lumber for both churches 
 at Chicago. A number of private donations were pre- 
 sented, and Mr. Wm. Thaw, of Philadelphia, was a 
 liberal contributor. In the fall of 1871 a public supper 
 was given for the church, the proceeds to go toward 
 paying for the plastering of the church. Dr. Peebles 
 was its pastor for ten years and then resigned on ac- 
 count of his health. Dr. Sloan succeeded him, follow- 
 ed by Rev. Griswal! — one year each. Rev. WilLam 
 Hamilton also occupied the pulpit one year. 
 
 The German Baptist Church was built in the fall of 
 1893, costing $800, and the money secured by local 
 private donations. Rev. Galib Light is the resident 
 minister; his home on a farm eight miles west and 
 south of town. The membership is limited, but solid, 
 and devotional services are held about once a month. 
 
64 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 The Catholic Church, standing where it does today, 
 was moved there in 1880, from the river bank, and 
 previous to the purchase was built by a Sioux City 
 company for a warehotise. The money which pur- 
 chased the building was willed to the Catholics of this 
 community by John Henry, an old soldier, better 
 known as "Johnny Smoker." He took as a home- 
 stead the farm where John Eddy Coneally lives now, 
 and sold it to him. There was a $700 payment due on 
 the place and Henry made a will in favor of the Cath- 
 olics, appointing C. C. Dunn administrator. Was 
 thrown from a horse and the injuries received killed 
 him. The parish priest is Father Crowley, his resi- 
 dence Bancroft, and the members are principally out- 
 of-town people. 
 
 One of the most prominent events of the year of 
 1864, was the birth of a little town, over the river, 
 where Hardy's farm is now, called Tieville. It was 
 a wood-choppers' settlement, consisting of about 250 
 inhabitants, no stores, and a postoffice. The man who 
 established it was Robt. Moore, an Irishman, from 
 Boston, Mass., and through the influence of his wife's 
 relatives, awarded the contract for furnishing ties for 
 the Union Pacific railroad, to be delivered at Omaha. 
 The first move Moore made was the purchase of 320 
 acres of Monona county timber land bordering the 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 65 
 
 river, and the next to employ all the men he could 
 to cut it. The continuation of his contract lasted for 
 three successive years, '65, '66, and '67. Moore be- 
 came immensely wealthy and after the close of his 
 business in Iowa resided in Decatur. Went to New- 
 hampshire in the summer of 1878, and now has a 
 handsome home on the sea coast. He left his lumber 
 business in the hands of Al: Abbot, now of Pender; 
 and W. S. Page closed out his real estate, the last 
 batch being the townsite of Tieville, sold to Michael 
 Vincent, of Onawa, for $4,000. 
 
 In those days it was gay and lively on both sides of 
 the river. In the evenings when the boats came in the 
 Tieville boys and girls would go down and dance on 
 the decks. Captain La Barge of the Emily La Barge, 
 a fine side wheel steamer, carried the most of Moore's 
 stuff to Omaha. This boat also made trips from St. 
 Louis to Fort Benton. A stern wheeler, the Dear- 
 lodge, also freighted ties and cordwood to Omaha for 
 Moore. Captain Horn was in charge; its crew, 
 negros. John Lewis, now a resident of Decatur, was 
 one of the supervisors of the loading of these boats. 
 Captain La Barge told him in the summer of '66 for 
 two trips his profits were $150,000; one to Fort Ben- 
 ton, and the other to Berthal, Missouri river towns in 
 North Dakota. The same year, the Cora, a fine stern 
 
66 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 wheel steamer, made a run from St. Louis to P'ort 
 Benton, going up loaded with a government consign- 
 ment, and coming back with furs. It is the only boat, 
 with St. Louis as a starting point, that made two trips 
 in one season, going as far as Fort Benton. 
 
 Tieville was commonly called "Shanty Town." 
 When Moore left the town left. Its postmaster was 
 David Fiscus, and its School teachers, Mattie and 
 Susan Lewis, the latter now the wife of Geo. J. White, 
 of Decatur. The inhabitants bought their provisions 
 in Decatur and when Moore closed out his tie, lumber 
 and wood business, many of them moved over here 
 Religious meetings were held there occasionally, con- 
 ducted by James Veil, a Methodist preacher, who after- 
 wards became c[uite prominent. He was a bright fel- 
 low and during the week days worked along with the 
 other boys in the woods, cutting ties and getting out 
 logs. Came down the river in a fiat boat from a point 
 in Montana. Jack Lewis has played many a game of 
 cribbage with Veil. He remained in Tieville two 
 years and then went to Dakota. Even the townsite 
 of Tieville is gone now, washed' away by the river, 
 and nothing remains to tell the story that once here 
 stood a thriving little village of 'the sixties. 
 
 Kit Carson is one of those veteran pioneers of the 
 West known by all American people and his name 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 6/ 
 
 shall forever be venerated. As much as has been said 
 about this beloved man,'"there still remains a very im- 
 portant romance of him, which up to this time has 
 remained unprinted. In a very early day Carson tired 
 of the wilderness of Iowa, and keen for new adven- 
 tures, crossed the Missouri and pitched his camp in an 
 •Omaha Indian village, situated then where the famous 
 village of Bellevue is now. There was also a small 
 white settlement here, but its numbers were few, yet 
 the men who made it lived afterwards to become im- 
 mortal characters in the history of Nebraska. There 
 was Lucian Fontenelle, an Indian trader, and in the 
 ■employ of the North American Fur Company; Peter 
 Sarpy, a clerk for the same company; Stephen De- 
 -catur, Clement Lambert, and Mr. Hamilton and Kin- 
 ney, Presbyterian missionaries. This was in the early 
 '40's, and a white woman was an unknown c[uantity. 
 When Kit Carson arrived he was hailed with delight 
 .and soon became warm friends of the boys, for they 
 were all young men. then. One evening when they 
 were gathered around the cheerful fireplace of the 
 log-hut where Fontenelle lived and transacted busi- 
 ness, smoking their pipes, Sarpy jokingly reniarked: 
 "Kit, why don't you get married?" "Well, to speak 
 the truth, Pete," retorted the young trapper, "I believe 
 I will if I can get Moneta (a young and pretty Indian 
 
68 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 girl) to agree with me on a mutual understanding." 
 The boys all laughed good-naturedly at Kit's earnest- 
 ness, but nothing more was thought of it until a few 
 days later Carson surprised them with the remark, 
 "Well, boys, I was tied up this afternoon and Moneta 
 is the mistress of my tent." The pipe of peace was 
 smoked, of course, and an extra piece of venison 
 cooked for supper that night. Kit was kind to his 
 wife and they appeared to be very happy. Nebraska 
 in those days was a very wild country and a skirmish 
 between two war-like tribes of Indians a frequent oc- 
 currence. The Omahas and Sioux were never very 
 friendly, and one pretty fall day when some scouts 
 reported to their chiefs that Dakotahs (the Sioux) 
 were hiding in the neighborhood to steal ponies and 
 kill women and children, it did not surprise any one 
 in camp, and that evening the report was confirmed 
 when the story was told that Fontenelle's wife had 
 killed a Sioux with an ax while he was in the act of 
 sticking a knife in her baby, and that she had wounded 
 another while making his escape through a window 
 covered with a buffalo hide. The attack which must 
 come placed the. Omahas in a defenseless position for 
 the most of the warriors were on the Elkhorn valley 
 hunting buffalo and elk. A council was held and Kit 
 volunteered to face the dangers and notify the hunting 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 6y 
 
 party of the imminent peril which threatened to de- 
 stroy their families and their village. Kissing his 
 wife "good-bye" and mounting his horse he rode away 
 into the wilderness of the north. This was their fare- 
 well parting and they never met again. Kit arrived 
 safe in the Elkhorn valley camp, told the Omahas of 
 their danger and then rode away again,, following a 
 trail which led toward the mountains of the west. 
 Young Henry Fontenelle, a mere boy, mounted a horse 
 and rode as fast as the animal would carry him for 
 Bellevue to inform the people of the hunting party's 
 return. He rode the horse until it dropped dead and 
 then ran the rest of the way, a distance of sixty miles, 
 and fell fainting at his mother's door. The Sioux de- 
 layed their attack too long and the Omahas arrived in 
 time to prevent the massacre and save their property. 
 During Kit's life with his wife there was born to them 
 a boy and a girl, said to be almost as fair as white 
 children. When the Omahas moved to their present 
 home in '54, she and her children came with thtm, 
 and for her somber and melancholy ways came to be 
 known among her people as "Old Granny." When 
 between the ages of 10 and 12 years the boy and girl 
 took sick and died. A few years afterwards the 
 mother followed and her body was interred on the 
 hill back of the house where Eugene Fontenelle lives 
 
70 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 now. Mrs. Fontenelle was present at the funeral and 
 remembers seeing Carson at Bellevue when she was a 
 Uttle girl. This lady says every evening Granny 
 would go forth to the top of a certain favorite high 
 hill and shading her e)'es with her hand, look long and 
 earnestly toward the horizon of the west, as if trying 
 to discern some object in the distance. If the woman's 
 heart could have been mirrored perhaps it might have 
 reflected the image of Kit. 
 
 How true it is every time a man steps he puts his 
 foot on a human grave. It is scarcely known by any- 
 one that on the gradual incline of the hill near the 
 Burt county poor farm, which sweeps down toward 
 Silver Creek, there lays the dust of a French desper- 
 ado, who was murdered by the Indians in the infancy 
 of the past century. On the banks of this creek close 
 to the bluffs, many years before the entrance of the 
 white man, the Meha Indians staked their tents and 
 built their fires for the winter, for in those days the 
 great Missouri Bottom teemed with the tramp of the 
 buffalo and the wild chase of the timid deer. The im- 
 passive stoic of the prairie was much surprised one 
 evening by the arrival in camp of a pale face, riding 
 in at a furious rate on a spirited mustang. His name 
 was Pineau, and a fugitive from justice. The Indians 
 gave him food and shelter and before the first moon 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 71 
 
 had gone by he was married into the tribe. The new- 
 comer proved to be cruel and brutal, not only abusing 
 his wife in the most shameful manner, but also all the 
 little children of the village. His atrocious acts be- 
 came so manifest and intolerable that a council was 
 held and a judgment rendered that he must either 
 leave the village or suffer death. When Pineau heard 
 of this he flew into a furious passion and attacked 
 his interpreter with a knife. White Eagle, one of the 
 chiefs, standing by, gleaning the mad man's foul in- 
 tentions, raised his war club and struck him a ter- 
 rific blow over the head. It crushed the man's skull 
 and he fell dead at White Eagle's feet. The Indians 
 named the creek after the Frenchman, and for many 
 years it was known as Pineau River; in those 'days be- 
 ing a much larger stream of water than it is now. 
 
CHAPTER FIVE. 
 
 ANCIENT NEBRASKA CORONADO's INVASION AND THE 
 
 SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD LOUISIANA TERRITORY 
 
 FRANCIS DEROIN IN 1808 AND SARPY'S FIRST AP- 
 PEARANCE DELONG' expedition INDIAN AGENCY 
 
 ESTABLISHED AT BELLEVUE OLD FORT ATKINSON 
 
 AND THE FAMOUS COUNCIL BLUFFS EMIGRATION 
 
 OF THE MORMONS, AND THE BIRTH OF MILLER'S 
 HOLLOW EARLY DAYS OF OMAHA, AND THE IN- 
 DIAN WAR. 
 
 Nebraska is an Indian word signifying "white 
 water," and Missouri, the name of the river that 
 brushes our state on its east bank, is also an Indian 
 word, signifying "muddy stream." Beginning with 
 the river and following a westardly course that reaches 
 a central line crossing our country, the typography is 
 principally made up of rolling hills and broad, fertile 
 valleys, but from this point as it gradually inclines 
 farther west, emerges into a huge sand plateau or 
 basin. As an agricultural country, for its splendid 
 capabilities, its eastern portion cannot be surpassed, 
 and the western division could not be better supplied 
 or adapted for successful stock raising. The state is 
 well supplied with water by running streams and on 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 73 
 
 their banks flourish the wahiut, dm, oak, hickory, cot- 
 tonwood, ash, box elder and a few other varieties of 
 trees. On the bottom lands wild strawberries grow in 
 abundance, and in the gulches and on sheltered hilltops 
 in generous confusion will be found delicious plum 
 fruit, hazlenuts, wild cherry, mulberries and grapes. 
 Flowers grow in reckless profusion and when the sea- 
 son has been favorable oftentimes the broad valleys 
 and wide prairie lands represent a sea of smiling roses. 
 Before the advent of the whiteman buffalos ran at 
 large, also the deer, elk, and many other animals. In 
 the morning could be heard the gobble of the tufkey 
 and in the evening the cooing of the wild dove and the 
 timid squacks of ducks and geese. But great changes 
 have taken place and the old has made room for the 
 new, hence the task of presenting this work to the 
 public. 
 
 Archaeologists say on dwarfty hills and in certain 
 valleys throughout Nebraska a close observer will dis- 
 cern a peculiar and dim circular indention in the 
 ground, the diameter of which is perhaps 20 to 30 
 feet. Measuring to a direct center point and digging 
 down, the investigation will disclose a defunct fire- 
 place, broken pieces of pottery and odd eating tools 
 and war implements. These evidences go to show, 
 they say, a race of people not in existence now, inhab- 
 
74 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 ited this country prior to the advent of the Indian. 
 Putting this and that together and other connecting 
 links picked up here and there from Old Mexico to 
 Canada, biologists have been led into the belief, a long 
 time ago, a colony of mandarins or Chinese, crossed 
 the isthmus near Alaska and invaded this country for 
 the purpose of making it their home. It may be, too, 
 at one time the two hemispheres were joined together 
 by a narrow strip of land, but through some violent 
 or phenomenal convulsion of the earth, a body of 
 water arose and separated them. Among some of the 
 lost tribes of the races of people are the cliff dwellers 
 and the mound villagers ; therefore it is but small won- 
 der, with the facts staring you in the face, Nebraska 
 should represent a mammoth masoleum under whose • 
 surface lies at rest races of people that long ago played 
 their parts in the annals of the world. 
 
 The marvelous invasions recorded by historians of 
 Spanish cavaliers into this country, highly embellished, 
 when stripped of their finery and exposed in the plain 
 robes of naked truth, are really nothing more than 
 very matter of fact affairs. 
 
 Fabulous legends are recorded of "Stephen the 
 Moor," "Coronado the Brilliant," and a few others 
 that have been lauded to the grandest heights of beau- 
 tiful imagery — all in search of the seven cities of 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 75 
 
 Cibola and the land of Quivera — tempting the legends 
 which were woven into charming bits of delightful 
 enchantment, and courteously proffered to invaders of 
 the Gulf coast and before the polished courts of Spain. 
 It was told the houses of the seven cities were made of 
 gold and silver and the streets inkiid with precious 
 stones; that there the fountain of life bubbled forth 
 and all who drank thereof would live forever. In an 
 ^ge of superstition it was easy for the people to believe 
 such things, and hundreds of adventurers flocked to 
 America in search of the promised land and the seven 
 .cities, which in truth were nothing more than seven 
 very common Indian villages. Foremost among these 
 explorers, who seduced women, murdered innocent 
 men and burned villages that gave to them homage 
 in their long search and march for golden wealth, was 
 Coronado, who discovered the land of Quivera, in the 
 southern portion of Nebraska on the banks of the 
 Platte river, which proved to be nothing more than 
 an ordinary Indian village, for its chief a venerable 
 old Indian, Tartarrax, who greeted the invaders 
 kindly. 
 
 Coronado, in a fit of disgust, hanged the man who 
 had acted as his guide in leading him to this place, 
 where he expected to find crosses of gold, crowns set 
 
76 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 in precious jewels, and countless wealth; and thus 
 virtually ended the delusive hunt for the mythical 
 cities. 
 
 On February 15th, 1764, La Clede's company lo- 
 cated on the present site of St. Louis and named the 
 town, and two vears afterward Spanish troops took 
 possession in the name of the king. The victorious 
 conquests of Napoleon in Europe against Spain soon 
 caused that country to evacuate, and again the Terri- 
 tory of Louisiana reverted back to the French, and on 
 April 30th, 1803, that great general ceded the territory 
 to the United States, and on October 31st in the same 
 year a temporary government was organized. 
 
 By an act Si congress, June 14, 1812, the name was 
 changed, calling it "'Missouri Territory," providing 
 the vast country with a governor, secretary, couiicil 
 and house of representatives, the judicial power being 
 invested in a superior court, the judges appointed by 
 the president. 
 
 1819 Major Long started from Pittsburg in his ex- 
 pedition to the west under orders of John C. Calhoun, 
 secretary of war, the object of the trip to determine 
 the typography of this then unexplored country. Long 
 navigated the Platte, counseled with the Indian tribes, 
 effected treaties of peace, and visited Fort Sage, situ- 
 ated fifty miles below Kansas River, at that time the 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. JJ 
 
 last frontier on the settlement going west. Five miles 
 below Council Bluffs, on the Nebraska side of the 
 river, he found Samuel Lisa, manager of a trading 
 post at this "point in the interest of the Missouri fur 
 company. Here Long and his party built 'cabins and 
 wintered one season. Long's daring skill in this ex- 
 pedition was noteworthy and historically important, 
 his investigations covering the greater part of the Mis- 
 souri Valley and extending to the Rocky mountains. 
 His report to the government was concise and useful, 
 and shortly after his return, Arkansas Territory .was 
 created, and on March 2nd, 1821, Missouri admitted 
 as a state. 
 
 1822 Wm. H. Ashley, representing the Rocky 
 Mountain Fur Company, ascended the Missouri to the 
 mouth of the Yellowstone, but it proved a disastrous 
 trip, and through accident, deceit, and warring with 
 the Indians, he lost about a fourth of his men, and ac- 
 complished but little, besides experiencing other diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Dece,mber 30th, 1825, the Kansas Indians ceded a 
 large tract of land to the United States,* thus opening 
 new territory for more settlers, and on May 22nd, 
 1842, John C. Fremont started out from St. Louis, 
 employed by the government, to explore the western 
 country; Kit Carson, the famous trapper and guide, 
 
78 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 accompanying him. Fremont's course carried liim 
 directly across Nebraska, and his report, now a part 
 of the Hbrary of congress, afforded valuable informa- 
 tion for an intelligent opening pf our state, which was 
 ceded to the United States by the Indians in 1854. 
 
 The first permanent settlement in the wilderness of 
 Nebraska occurred on the banks of the Missouri River 
 near where "the village of Bellevue now stands — in the 
 form of a frontier trading post, property of the Mis- 
 souri Fur Company, and in charge of Francis Deroin, 
 a fearless and ambitious Frenchman, about the year 
 1808. Deroin was succeeded by another Frenchman 
 named Reaubadeux, and in 1824, Peter A. Sarpy was 
 installed as manager. But even prior to this date it 
 has been handed down from records given by Indians, 
 that the white man invaded their country west of the 
 river, but what their names may have been still re- 
 mains a secret. One. year prior to Sarpy's advent, an 
 Indian agency was established at Bellevue, by consent 
 of the government, which was used as a general depot 
 of supplies for trappers, traders, scouts, adventurers, 
 and for the deeper motive of disseminating the prin- 
 ciples of peace among the natives and also with a view 
 to the future opening up of that wild and uninhabited 
 territory. This agency was removed from Fort At- 
 kinson, a military post, about thirty miles up the^ river, 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 79 
 
 representing- the site upon which Lewis and Clark 
 made their famous negotiations of peace in the year of 
 1803 with the Meha Indians — known in history as the 
 "Council Bluffs," a high hill overlooking the Mis- 
 souri — where they sat in meditation and smoked the 
 pipe of peace with the uncivilized red man. Most of 
 the whitemen in these days intermarried with the na- 
 tives, as a white woman was an unknown quantity, 
 and among some of these were Sarpy, Deroin, Fonte- 
 nelle. Kit Carson and Reaubadeux. 
 
 In 1846 the Presbyterian Mission Board of New 
 York City secured enough ground for a mission site 
 and thereupon built a rough log school house for the 
 purpose of inculcating into the hearts and minds of 
 the Indian children the principles of education and 
 the ethics of religion. The school was under the super- 
 vision of Rev. Ed. McKinney, assisted by Wm. Ham- 
 ilton, who afterwards became the superintendent. 
 Even before the year of 1844, however, an Indian mis- 
 sion had been erected, on Council Creek, a tributary 
 of the Platte, conducted by Rev. Dunbar and Rev. 
 Elhs, both, owing to hostile treatment received at the 
 hands of the Sioux, for safety of their lives, compelled 
 to abandon their religious work, and fled to Bellevue . 
 for refuge and protection, and entered into the mis- 
 sionary work at this settlement. 
 
8g story gf an old town. 
 
 In 1847, the Mormons with Brigham Young as 
 their leader, crossed the Missouri River at Bellevue — 
 peniiiless and near starvation's door — on their long 
 and weary march to the "new promised land" of the 
 far west. Sarpy crossed them free of charge with his 
 ferryboat, and sustained them through several severe 
 winter months with fuel and provisions. His gener- 
 osity has not been forgotten, and to this day in certain 
 seclusive camps of the Mormons in Utah, the name 
 of Peter Sarpy is remembered and revered, and they 
 look back upon him as a patron saint sent by God to 
 meet them by the wayside at that time, during their 
 memorable march, to succor and aid them, in that dark 
 hour of dire trouble and sore need. 
 
 The first marriage in Bellevue was that of Louis 
 Saunsici, a half breed Omaha, to a Mormon wornan, 
 whom he soon deserted for the more effete compan- 
 ionship of an Indian girl with whom he had become 
 enamored. His legal wife, disgusted and discouraged, 
 migrated to Salt Lake City, where she enrolled her 
 wounded and discarded affections to that already long 
 list of the pious and polygamist prophet, Brigham 
 Young. 
 
 In 1843 that famous historical and daring explorer, 
 Gen. Fremont, returned from his geographical investi- 
 gations of the west, stopping over for a few days at 
 
S 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 8l 
 
 Bellevue, where he sold his overland outfit, proceeding 
 to St. Louis by boat down the river. 
 
 In 1852, Bellevue was organized and known as the 
 '•'Old Town Company." In 1854 it was reorganized 
 and in 1856, incorporated, with Reuben Lovejoy as its 
 first mayor. That same year the mission reserve was 
 incorporated, its site a section of land, and the Fon- 
 tenelle bank opened its doors for a legitimate busi- 
 ness. 
 
 The year of 1854, J. Sterling Morton, a young re- 
 porter from Detroit, arrived in Bellevue, a man with a 
 brilliant mind, that has accomplished much good for 
 Nebraska, and who has filled some of the highest 
 offices in the land. The first Masonic order organized 
 in the Territory was at Bellevue, March, 1854, Ne- 
 braska Lodge No. I, L. B. McKinney, worshipful 
 master. 
 
 The first murder trial in Nebraska by procedure of 
 law was that of Dr. Henry for the killing of George 
 Hollister, the court convening in the village of Omaha. 
 Hollister was a young farmer and he and Henry quar- 
 reled in regard to the ownership of some land. The 
 slayer was confined to the village blacksmith shop at 
 Btelleyue and the deceased accorded a respectable burial. 
 A government steamer arrived during the trouble, its 
 cargo a company of eight soldiers, affiicted with the 
 
82 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 cholera. Henry, the only medico in the settlement, 
 was released during the day and at night escorted back 
 to his temporary prison house. On first trial he was 
 convicted, but in the second recei-^ed his freedorn, after 
 which he lived long, and became a useful and prom- 
 inent citizen. 
 
 In 1844, the Mormons settled at Norvoo, Illinois, 
 in large numbers, were expelled from the state, and 
 to seek a new home, migrated west, crossed the Mis- 
 souri River, and located in what , is now Douglas 
 county. The inhabitants aggregated rapidly, and be- 
 fore the year was gone, a population of 15,000 had 
 been acquired. The new comers cut down large tracts 
 of timber for fuel and building purposes, these depre- 
 dations angering the Indians very much, and com- 
 plaining to their agent, again the Mormons were ex- 
 pelled and driven away from a new home where they 
 did not expect to be molested. Many of the sect went 
 back east, some down into Missouri but a large band, 
 under the leadership of Miller, an imposing and prom- 
 inent prophet of this people, went over into the bluffs 
 east of Kanesville, and lost themselves, naming their 
 settlement, "Miller's Hollow," where it is said many 
 strange and mysterious things took place in those 
 days. Here the Mormons built a rude tabernacle, 
 lived in dug-outs and log cabins and tilled the soil, 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 83 
 
 assuming the right of possession under the title of a 
 "squatter's claim." 
 
 In 1 85 1 a spirit of discontent found its way among 
 this seclusive sect, however, and then began their great 
 march to the "new promised land"; and the deserted 
 settlement became a mass of thrifty weeds and rank 
 grasses. . 
 
 In 1853, a Mr. Brown, Dr. Enos Lowe, Jesse Wil- 
 liams, and Wm. D. Brown of Kanesville, crossed the 
 river in a ferryboat to inspect the present site of the 
 city of Omaha, and favorably impressed, later they 
 organized themselves into a ferry company, purchased 
 a boat, and began business on a limited and cautious 
 scale. The ferry made several successful trips, but in 
 the spring of '55 the high water threw it Upon the 
 banks, where it remained — a thing of the past. Mr. 
 Jones, a persevering and an ambitious pioneer, secured 
 the postmastership, carrying the mail in his hat and 
 pockets, but fearful of the responsibilities, shifted the 
 burdens on the shoulders of a Mormon, named Frank, 
 who accepted the commission and kept the mail in a 
 bushel basket. Frank built himself a small house and 
 established his home as the village postofifice. 
 
 In spite of the fact that this country had not yet 
 been ceded to the government by the Indians, a small 
 body of men came and squatted on the land, the in- 
 
84 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 trusion being objected to strongly by the Indians. The 
 suspense was of short duration, however, and in '55 
 when the treaty was ratified, a general influx was pre- 
 valent, and Omaha's growth rapid and progressive. 
 
 Mr. Johnson, one of the brave little settlers before 
 the opening, defiantly represented himself as a mer- 
 chant, blacksmith, and editor; Seeley, a carpenter; and 
 William Clarncey publicly conducted a grocery. After 
 the passage of the bill admitting Nebraska as a terri- 
 tory, the town was laid cut, and Enos Lowe elected 
 president, this gentleman naming the town "Omaha," 
 an Indian word, which means "above the water." 
 
 The first and only sermon preached in the y.ear of 
 1854 was by Rev. Isaac Cooper, from across the river, 
 the service house, a 16-foot room, representing the 
 humble home of Alexander Davis; the congregation 
 numbering less than twenty. There was no collection 
 taken up, "Old Hundred" was sang, and text of the 
 sermon forgotten shortly after it had been announced. 
 An eminent character to arrive in 1855 was Dr. George 
 Miller, a man of intelligence and benevolence, who has 
 lived to become a prominent public character in the his- 
 tory of Nebraska. Dr. Miller was editor of the Herald 
 for many years, and his efforts have alwEiys been for 
 the best welfare of the people and his country. A 
 writer in picturing the excitement over the capitol 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 85 
 
 ciuestion says : "The lobbies were once crowded with 
 respective parties to the contest, armed with bludgeons, 
 brickbats and pistols, and a fight was thought to be 
 imminent — but it didn't occur." In another place he 
 says : "Any refractory member opposed to Omaha as 
 the seat of government who refused to be seated when 
 so ordered by the speaker was forcibly notified that 
 if he didn't sit down he would be knocked down, the 
 result of which was usually satisfactory to the 
 speaker." The contestants for the capitol were Flor- 
 ence, Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, and 
 Omaha, the contest representing a very heated con- 
 troversy, in which wild chaos and intense excitement 
 ran at large. But Omaha was the proud victor and 
 she enjoyed her spoils hugely, until the commonwealth 
 demanded retribution, and plucked the juicy plum to 
 plant it in the fertile soil of Lincoln. 
 
 January, 1867, the Northwestern railroad crossed 
 the river on a pile bridge for the first time, to greet the 
 happy and enthusiastic citizens of Omaha. The fol- 
 lowing month by an act of congress the seat of gov- 
 ernment was taken away from the city, but the loss 
 did no injury to her growth, for today Omaha is one 
 of the great metropolises of the west. Her population 
 then was about 15,000, now it can be counted very 
 close to half a million. 
 
86 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Perhaps the most atrocious acts committed in pio- 
 neer days and which will always leave a dark stain 
 of disgrace upon the bright pages of Nebraska's his- 
 tory were those of the notorious claim clubs of Omaha. 
 The Doc Smith, Calnon, and Marphy affairs can 
 never be covered up, hai^d as some writers have tried 
 to wliite\\'ash these shameful and disgraceful inci- 
 dents. It is well remembered even by settlers who live 
 yet, how Murphy was almost choked to death and com- 
 pelled to sign away his right to i6o acres of land; and 
 how Calnon was ducked in the river and then marched 
 to the land office at the point of a pistol, and forced 
 to put his signature to a paper that made him a pauper, 
 and when he moved up in Burt county a short time 
 after, died there from the effects of the bath which 
 he received in the Missouri. Too many witnesses live 
 for these facts to be denied gracefully. The killing 
 of Hollister was another incident, and the cold-blooded 
 murder of an honest man in Covington in 1856. The 
 accounts related here represent but a small part of the 
 depredations committed by these claim clubs. 
 
 In the fall of 1864 culminated a spirit of hostilities 
 perpetrated upon the whites by the Cheyennes and the 
 warlike Sioux. It is claimed Major O'Brian, an im- 
 pertinent officer stationed at Fort McPherson, near 
 Cottonwood Springs, contributed much towards this 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 8/ 
 
 outbreak of the Indians, by being very unkind to them, 
 and in their friendly visits to the fort, he would rough- 
 ly order them away. Profligate white men stole their 
 ponies, disturbed their peaceful hunting camps, and 
 committed other depredations, and the Indians having 
 no recourse, resolved upon war as their only means for 
 redress. The killing of two white men on a ranch in 
 Colorado heralded the beginning of the troubles, their 
 deaths attributed to the Cheyennes, and an attack wa* 
 made upon their tribe by a posse of cattlemen and set- 
 tlers, a number of Cheyennes being killed. This only 
 served to sharpen their appetite of hatred for the 
 whites, and from that time on, continuous attacks were 
 made on travellers crossing the plains, stage routes, 
 and small settlements, by the Cheyennes and the 
 Sioux, who were thoroughly hostile now, and eager 
 for the warpath. The first indication of a general out- 
 break that smacked of a spirit of real war, took place 
 at Plum Creek, August 8th, 1864, when a wagon train 
 was captured and the occupants massacred. Fortun- 
 ately the telegraph lines were not molested and the 
 fearful news was flashed across the entire country. 
 People from everywhere fled to the forts for protec- 
 tion, but before an organized defense had been pre- 
 pared, many emigrants and settlers were murdered, 
 women and children as well as men. At Tekamah a 
 
88 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 company of twenty-two men was organized with B. 
 R. Folsom as their captain, appointed by Governor 
 Saunders. Similar organizations were effected all over 
 the country, but in spite of this precaution and uni- 
 form defense, many innocent people, were killed and 
 scalped. In September, 1864, near Cottonwood 
 Springs, a party of laborers at work on a farm adjoin- 
 ing Hinman's place, were surprised and slain; also a 
 squad of soldiers under command of Captain Mitchell, 
 while picking wild plums on the bluffs near the fort, 
 were routed unexpectedly and many of them killed, 
 the attack was so sudden. It is said that Spotted Tail, 
 the famous fighting chief of the Sioux, was the leader 
 of this warring party. As a result of these troubles, 
 which was due to the 'danger of transportation, the 
 cost of provisions ran up to an enormously high price 
 — meat selling for twenty cents a pound, coffee a dol- 
 lar, flour ten to twenty dollars a hundred, and hay sold 
 for $40 a ton. The Indian war lasted for five years, 
 during which time much innocent blood was spilled, 
 and in central and western Nebraska untold misery 
 and suffering prevailed. Once a freight train was at- 
 tacked, captured and burned up, and in order for the 
 occupants to escape they were compelled to run a 
 gauntlet of death. 
 
 1867, by invitation, all Indian chiefs who had taken 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 89 
 
 part "in the hostile rebellion, met at North Platte to 
 confer with a United States commission sent out to 
 negotiate with the Indians for a treaty of peace. The 
 chiefs were highly entertained, feasted, ladened with 
 presents, and effusively flattered, and the commission- 
 ers went home satisfied the council had been a success 
 and that peace was again restored to the disabled west. 
 But, alas ! for their bouyant confidence — the old sores 
 soon broke out again, and matters grew from bad to 
 worse. Major Frank North, commander of 300 gal- 
 lant Pawnees, did much toward bringing the war to a 
 close and many a time did he and his fearless braves 
 ride to a victorious encounter with the Sioux — a tribe 
 of Indians the Pawnees considered their worst enemies. 
 Col. Carr, in command of a troop of U. S. regulars, 
 also took a prominent part in the suppression of the 
 outbreak, and last but not least, was Wm. Cody (Buf- 
 falo Bill), the leader of a daring squad of government 
 scouts. Most of the engagements took place in the 
 Republican Valley. The trail occupied much time, 
 but eventually the Sioux were discovered by some 
 Pawnee scouts. The Dakotas, about 2,500 strong, 
 were surprised on a sand hill on their way to the 
 Platte, and in hopes of disconcerting the enemy, fled 
 in small bands in all directions. The United States 
 troops scattered also and followed, and a few days 
 
90 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 afterwards a party of 600 Sioux were surprised on the 
 borders of the Platte, and an attack was made simul- 
 taneously from both sides, and in this battle, under 
 the leadership of Buffalo Bill, many of the Indians 
 were killed. On July nth, 1869, Gen. Carr, with his 
 entire command, fought a battle with the Sioux at 
 Summit Springs. The struggle was short but com- 
 plete, a few soldiers and Pawnees being killed, but on 
 the other side over 600 Sioux fell, victims of American 
 bullets. 
 
 Tall Bull and other prominent chiefs were killed 
 in this battle and their deaths and the terrible defeat, 
 discouraged and disheartened the hostile tribes, and 
 they returned to their homes. The decisive victory 
 ,of Summit Springs practically ended the Indian trou- 
 bles, although many minor skirmishes took place 
 afterwards. 
 
CHAPTER SIX. 
 
 DAKOTA COUNTY IN ITS INFANCY BIRTH AND DECLINE 
 
 OF OMADI ITS FIRST SETTLERS PIONEER RECOL- 
 LECTIONS OF COVINGTON DEATH OF MRS. REAM 
 
 AND OTHER FATALITIES BURT COUNTY'S PIONEERS 
 
 INCORPORATION OF TEKAMAII, AND EARLY SET- 
 TLERS STRUGGLE OF LANGE, SAXDWIG, LYDICK, AND 
 
 OTHERS' SETTLEMENT OF LOGAN VALLEY INCOR- 
 PORATION OF OAKLAND AND LYONS REMINISCENCES 
 
 OF THE TWO VILLAGES, BIOGRAPHIES AND THE MUR- 
 DER OF MUNSON. 
 
 Warner's hi.story of Dakota county says : "On the 
 first clay of July, 1855, George T. AVoods, Armell, a 
 Frenchman, and two Blackfeet Indians crossed the 
 river from Iowa,, and went afoot to what is now known 
 as the Col. H. Baird Bluffs, thence south a short dis- 
 tance, and drove down the first claim stakes ever 
 driven in Dalrata county soil, and that Jesse Wigle, 
 with his family, on the 19th day of August, same year, 
 were the first to settle in the cotmty." It further 
 says : "The first settlers of Omadi, were Woods, C. 
 A. Horr, and Moses Krepp, who crossed the river on 
 September ist, 1855, and built log cabins. The set- 
 tlement grew rapidly, a saw mill was put in operation, 
 
92 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 and native lumber sold for $30 a thousand feet; John 
 Bay put up a log cabin store, and in '56, new settlers 
 arrived. Then the town was laid out, and William 
 McBeath opened a mercantile establishment, Abraham 
 Hirsh started a hotel, followed soon afterwards by- 
 Henry Ream, who engaged in the same business. In 
 ■'57 the population numbered over four hundred, and 
 in the middle of April of this year, Miss Putman, from 
 Sioux City, came down and taught the first school. 
 A newspaper was launched, christened the "Enter- 
 prise," owner and editor, George W. Rust; and a 
 shingle mill was operated by Shull and Hartman. 
 
 1857 a postoffice was granted and on March 22nd, 
 1858, the first village election was held, and Rev, 
 Smith was the pioneer missionary, conducting relig- 
 ious services in the school house. Omadi was situ- 
 ated at the foot of what was known as Pilgrim's Hill, 
 and manifested lively promises of becoming a great 
 and thriving city some day. But, alas ! through the 
 unkindness of fate, it was ordained otherwise, for in 
 1862 the treacherous Missouri washed away a portion 
 of the town, the banks continuing to crumble and 
 tumble in from year to year, and the citizens, dis- 
 couraged, moved away, and now all that remains of 
 this once hopeful and prosperous village sleeps today 
 under the broad bosom of an unmerciful river. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 93 
 
 Mr. Warner continues as follows : "A plat of the 
 town of Dakota City was filed for record September 
 20th, 1856, by J. D. M. Crockwell, and incorporated 
 by the county commissioners April 5th, 1858. Cov- 
 ington was first taken as. a townsite in 1856 by the 
 old Sioux City company, of which Dr. John Cook was 
 president, and christened Harney City. The townsite 
 was jumped by another company and the name of the 
 village changed to Newport, but before it was filed 
 for record, February 4th, 1857, it was given the name 
 of Covington and incorporated by the county commis- 
 sioners, September ist, 1858. Gustave Pecaut was the 
 first settler, building a log cabin and making this his 
 home in 1854. The first child born was John Quin, 
 1857; the first marriage, John Feenan to Margurette 
 Boyle, and the first death, an old man who was found 
 dead down near the river. The first sermon was de- 
 livered by Rev. Thomas Chestnut of Sioux City, and 
 the first school taught by Mary Pinkerton, 1857, in a 
 little log school house. John Fennen launched the first 
 boat, a flat barge, to convey passengers across the 
 river; and in 1889, John Moan and others built a pon- 
 toon bridge at a cost of $20,000, opened to the public 
 May i8th with spirited demonstrations of pleasure, in 
 which thousands of people took part. The first news- 
 
94 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 paper in the town was established 1870, its name the 
 "Covington News," proprietor and editor, B. L. North, 
 and eai'ly as '57 the village enjoyed the privileges of a 
 postoffice with Charles D. Martin as its initiatory con- 
 dtictor. 
 
 In September, 1855, a band of Sioux Indians swept 
 down upon the little settlement of Omadi and stole 
 everything' the villagers had, even to their boat; but 
 no one was injured. During the same summer three 
 Ponca Indians entered the home of Henry Ream, liv- 
 ing in the northwestern part of Dakota county, and 
 after ransacking his house, pulled his wife from her 
 bed upon which she lay, seriously ill from childbirth. 
 The lady died a few days after, as well as the baby; 
 and the Indians were, captured and executed. 
 
 The population of Dakota county in 1855 was 
 eighty-six, in 1890, 5,599. Following is some of the 
 crimes and casualties as given by Mr. Warner that 
 have taken place in Dakota county : 
 
 August, 1856, Moses Bacon, while crossing the 
 river to Covington in a small boat, capsized, his skiff 
 Tunning upon a snag, and he -was drowned. 
 
 1857, John Fitzpatrick shot by George Griffey in a 
 saloon at Covington. They were quarreling about a 
 claim. 
 
 William Tucker in the spring of '56 was killed in 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 95 
 
 the Omadi saw mill by being caught in a belt and 
 crushed to death while circling the fly wheel. 
 
 Dominick Beilinski shot and killed Jim Harris, a 
 Winnebago, January, 1878, whom he claimed was 
 cutting a tree on Beilinski's claim. The murderer 
 jumped his bail and was never heard of since. 
 
 Emma Biggs jumped from a ferryboat into the 
 river at Covington July, 1880, and was drowned. 
 
 William Hull committed suicide in the winter of 
 '81, going to a ravine southeast of Homer, where he 
 shot himself. 
 
 Mrs. Ludwig Kipper, despondent from ill health, 
 cut her throat at her home near Homer, and died from 
 the effects of her rash deed, August 25th, 1888. 
 
 Michael Dorsey was shot and killed by Patrick Boyle 
 at Jackson, February 5 th, 1880. Boyle established a 
 plea of self-defense, and was cleared. 
 
 The Homer State Bank was robbed of $1,500 on 
 the night of October ist, 1891; no clew was secured 
 of the robbers, however, although the county commis- 
 sioners offered a reward of $200 for the arrest and 
 conviction of the thieves. 
 
 The first justice of the peace for Omaha precinct 
 was Samuel Smith, 1856, and in 1863 the name was 
 changed to Dakota precinct. The first justice of- the 
 
96 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 peace for Omadi precinct, 1857, was Alexander Ford, 
 later followed by G. Lampson. 
 
 Burt county was christened in honor of Nebraska's 
 first g-overnor, Francis Burt. Its early settlers suffered 
 many hardships, and in the winter of '55, when the 
 big snow storm came, two of the pioneers, F. E. 
 Lange and Ernest Sandig, living at that time in a little 
 shanty on what is known as Gillick's Bend; in the 
 spring, when the high water came and the river over- 
 flowed, they were cut of? ffom all intercourse, and to 
 save themselves from starvation subsisted on the car- 
 cass of an ox that had froze to death, and also com- 
 pelled to butcher and eat a pet dog as the last resort. 
 
 The first election in Burt county took place in De- 
 cember, 1854, in which B. R. Folsom was sent to the 
 Territorial Council, and Gen. Robertson and H. C. 
 Purple Avere sent to the House of Representatives. 
 May i6th, '55, Folsom was appointed probate judge 
 by Governor Cuming. 
 
 The first election for county officers was held No- 
 vember 6th, 1855, with the result as follows: Wm. 
 Bates, probate judg-e; John Nevitt, sheriff; Lewis 
 Peterson, register, and Olney Harrington and Adam 
 dinger, justices of the peace. In 1876 the Chicago, 
 St. Paul & Minneapolis railroad reached Tekamah and 
 up to 1880 extended its tracks as far as Bancroft. 
 
Charles O. Freeman, Pioneer Schoolboy 
 of Nebraska. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 97 
 
 On April 19th, 1855, a permanent settlement was 
 founded at Tekamah, by the following party of pio- 
 neers : B. R. Folsom, Z. T. Wilder, John B. Folsom, 
 Niles R. Folsom, W. F. Goodwill, and W. N. Byers, 
 the latter gentleman naming the town, and who did 
 not remain long. The year before the election the 
 inhabitants of Burt county did not number but twen- 
 ty-six. The town was incorporated March 14th, 1855, 
 and immediately became the county seat. Olney Har- 
 rington was the first postmaster and Miles Chicot the 
 first merchant. Some of the earliest pioneers of Te- 
 kamah are as follows : W. W. and J. P. Latta, P. F. 
 Peterson, George P. Thomas, Isaac Gibson, Conger, 
 Haywood, Robert Carr, E. Shaffer, John Driscoll, and 
 many others. 
 
 Folsom was a native of Germany; came to Burt 
 county 1854 with others and laid out a claim of 640 
 acres, now the city of Tekamah; engaged in farming, 
 and with his brother conducted a saw mill on the 
 Arizona Bottoms, first of its kind north of Omaha. 
 
 Gibson, a native of Indiana, arrived in Tekamah in 
 the spring of '57; purchased a grocery— the only one 
 in the village; also bought a 540-acre farm; interested 
 in real estate and live stock; probate judge 1863. 
 
 W. W. Latta was born in Ashland county, Ohio, 
 and made Bulrt county his home in July, 1857; his 
 
98 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 brother James came out a few years later. Both gen- 
 tlemen prominent characters in the history of the coun- 
 ty; progressive men; now engaged in banking busi- 
 ness and one of the largest stock raisers and farmers 
 in eastern Nebraska. 
 
 Peterson, an Illinois boy, went to California in 
 1852 and located in Burt county in 1855; pre-empted 
 160 acres; postmaster of Tekamah for several years; 
 his daughter, Emma, first white child born .in the 
 county. 
 
 George P. Thomas was born in New York and in 
 the fall of 'S5 arrived in Tekamah; located in the tim- 
 ber and set up a steam saw mill he brought with him, 
 which he operated successfully for one year, and then 
 it was destroyed by fire; progressive farmer; built an 
 elevator and later engaged in drug business; elected 
 to the office of sheriff and served four years; also 
 member of the first state legislature. 
 
 Wm. B. Bieck, from Scotland, settled in Burt county 
 in 1855, and entered into farming; represented Burt 
 county in the Territorial legislature, 1855-56, and 
 member of the senate in 1879. 
 
 John L. Burpee, born in the state of Massachusetts, 
 came to Nebraska in 1858; 1862 went to Pennsyl- 
 vania and engaged in stave shingle and mill business; 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 99 
 
 returned to Burt county, 1864. A successful and an 
 ambitious farmer. 
 
 H. C. Lydick, an Ohio boy, settled in Arizona 
 precinct in 1856; locating a claim of 160 acres upon 
 which his residence stands now; 1862 enlisted in Com- 
 pany B, Second Nevada cavalry, serving eleven 
 months. In an early day, Mr. Lydick's home was a 
 dug-out, and his principal occupation trading and sell- 
 ing horses to the Indians and his neighbor settlers; 
 now owns over a thousand acres and a prominent stock 
 feeder and raiser of the county. 
 
 P. L. Rork, a native of New York, is one of the 
 foremost characters of Burt county; 1862 enlisted in 
 Company C, Eleventh Michigan cavalry; upon being 
 mustered out made his home in Arizona precinct; a 
 fearless republican and an active member in county 
 politics. 
 
 M. M. Harney, from Jacksonville, Illinois, came to 
 De Soto, 1857; enlisted in the Union army, serving 
 eleven months; 1864 located in Arizona precinct; 
 owns several hundred acres of land and one of the 
 solid farmers of the county. 
 
 J. H. Stork is a native of Prussia, Europe, and in 
 the spring of 1856 made his home at Fontenelle, Ne- 
 braska; 1863 enlisted in Company A, Second Nebraska 
 cavalry, serving eleven months; man'ied Miss Michael, 
 
lOO STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 and the young couple settled on the Arizona Bottom 
 in 1865; owns 520 acres and his improvements up-to- 
 date and creditable. 
 
 H. M. Spielman, of Arizona precinct, was born in 
 Blair county. Pennsylvania, and came to Burt county 
 1857; pre-empted 160 acres, his possessions accru'ng 
 until now he owns nearly 1,000 acres; an active mem- 
 ber of the school board in his district. His brother 
 Jesse located close to him in the same year and now 
 owns over i,OQo acres; also first treasurer of Burl 
 county. Both brothers were actively engaged in the 
 stock business for many years. 
 
 Elisha McGuire, from Carroll county, Ohio, came 
 to Iowa in '51, and drove stage; moved to Omahi in 
 '58, and drove stage out of this city for two years; 
 in i860 located on a farm in Arizona precinct;' 1863 
 enlisted in Company B, Second Nebraska. Mr. Mc- 
 Guire is one of the oldest of the pioneers of the west 
 living. 
 
 A few other old settlers are as follows : Samuel Cor- 
 nelius, from Pennsylvania, came to Tekamah in iBjV, 
 A. N. Corbin, from same state, in the fall of '56, set- 
 tled in B'urt county; John Fees, coming with his 
 parents, and born March 2nd, 1856, in Tekamah, 
 claims he was the first white boy born in the county; 
 and M. L. Reyman, from Washington county. In- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. lOI 
 
 diana, locating in Burt county, December, 1857. 
 
 The first settler to locate upon the site which now 
 represents the bustling little city of Oakland was Aaron 
 Arlington and when the town was laid out and incor- 
 tives of Pennsylvania, made this spot their home in 
 1859. John Oak, from the eastern part of the county, 
 went over in 1862 and purchased the site from Mr. 
 Arlington, who with his wife and four daughters, na- 
 porated it v/as' named in honor of Mr. Oak. Some of 
 the earlier pioneers to make this settlement their home 
 were James Askwig, Morrell, George Heales, and John 
 S. Lemmon. The first store was opened by Marks and 
 Ross in 1870, and the first physician, Dr. Leeper, and 
 the first lawyer, A. B. Charde. Rev. Axling preached 
 the first sermon, and the first school taught was by 
 Miss Paulina Clark, in 1878, and its first and oldest 
 newspaper, the "Independent," established by George 
 Brewster, October ist, 1880. Beginning with a pop- 
 ulation of six, the census of Oakland now will reach 
 very close to the 1,500 mark. 
 
 John S. Lemmon is one of the important early set- 
 tlers of this town, although his home for the past few 
 years has been in Thurston county. A native of In- 
 diana, he came to Council Bluffs in 1854; removed to 
 Fontenelle, where his father was running a saw mill, 
 and worked for him until '61, when he enlisted in the 
 
102 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Union army. Taken prisoner near Atlanta, Georgia, 
 1864, and a prisoner of war until the spring of 1865; 
 1868 moved to Oakland on a farm, and remained there 
 until the new town Pender was laid out, and then 
 moved to that locality to battle with the gods of for- 
 tune. Mr. Lemmon has been a leading character in 
 the history of Thurston county. 
 
 A. B. Charde, an eastern boy, came to Decatur in 
 1875 and commenced the study of law with Watson- 
 Parish and completed his studies with F. M. Johnson 
 in 1878; removed to Oakland and engaged in the law 
 and real estate business. 
 
 Watson Parish, an attorney and banker, was born 
 in the state of Tennessee; he and Mr. James Ashley 
 of Decatur opened the first bank in Oakland and when 
 the war broke out enlisted in the Union army, serving 
 four months. His first home in Nebraska was in De- 
 catur, 1866; elected to the legislature 1869, and served 
 an extra session; moved to Oakland shortly after it 
 was incorporated; a few years ago went to California 
 and made an immense fortune in real estate, but lately 
 lost considerable of it through bad speculations. 
 
 William E. Peebles, one of the early merchandise 
 dealers of Oakland, was born in Elgin, Illinois; his 
 father was a doctor of medicine and a preacher of the 
 gospel; 1867 came with his parents to Decatur, Ne- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I03 
 
 braska, and father and son conducted a drug and 
 grocery store in the building now occupied by Mr. and 
 Mrs. J. P. Page, who have converted it into a first- 
 class hotel. Mr. Peebles was a man of ability, and it 
 was through his influence, assisted by Henry Fon- 
 tenelle, that Thurston county was organized. He was 
 the founder of the village of Pender and had the town 
 laid out, and built the famous brick hotel of that city 
 at a cost of very near $40,000. Mr. Peebles died in 
 the summer of 1900, at his handsome home in Pender. 
 
 Ira Thomas is a native of New York state, and ar- 
 rived in Tekamah, 1869; at one time editor and pro- 
 prietor of the "Nebraska Advocate." One of the early 
 settlers of Oakland and engaged in the grain business. 
 Mr. Thomas is a straightforward democrat and one 
 of the leading lawyers of the county. 
 
 The first permanent settlers of Lyons were Waldo 
 Lyon and Josiah Everett and his three brothers, locat- 
 ing here in ihe latter part of the '6o's; also the Hart 
 brothers, Peter McMullin, and in 1867, Levi Richard- 
 son and his family moved over from Decatur. Mr. 
 Lyons, running a saw mill down on the Arizona Bot- 
 toms, sawed out a pile of lumber, moved it over on the 
 Logan, built himself a house, pre-empted 160 acres, 
 entered enough more to make out a section, and then 
 laid out the town which bears his name. The first 
 
I04 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 child born in the settlement was a daughter of Pete 
 McMullin's. Rev. Peebles of Decatur preached the 
 first sermon, and it was through his influence a Pres- 
 byterian church was established and built in the vil- 
 lage. Mr. Peebles bought most of the lumber in Chi- 
 ciga and had it shipped out. 
 
 The beautiful valley in which Lyons lays was 
 named by the Quincy colony in honor of Logan Fon- 
 tenelle, a prominent leader of the Omaha Indians, who 
 was a peaceful man and who showed the whites many 
 favors and hospitalities, during their early entrance 
 into this country. When Mr. Lyon laid out his vil- 
 lage into town lots he inserted the following eccentric 
 clause in each deed : That no intoxicants could be sold 
 on the premises and in violation thereof the. property to 
 revert back to him — ^and to this day Lyons is without 
 a saloon. A few of the pioneers of Logan Valley and 
 its neighborhood is given as follows : 
 
 Waldo Lyons was born in Vermont and reared in 
 Connecticut; 1843 moved to Wisconsin, and in the fall 
 of '65 went to Omaha, where he engaged in the mer- 
 chandise business for one yeai", and then came to Ari- 
 zona precinct, Burt county, conducting a general store 
 and operating a saw mill. It was in '69 that Mr. Lyon 
 moved out on the Logan, and the year following he 
 built the big flour mill in the town of which he is the 
 
James Ashley 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I05 
 
 founder. Elected to the state senate, and also a mem- 
 ber of the first state constitutional convention. 
 
 R. S. Hart and his brothers, James and Charles, are 
 among the first settlers of Logan Valley, locating 
 claims there in 1865, emigrating from Wisconsin; 
 1861, Riley enlisted in Company B., Tenth Wisconsin 
 cavalry, serving three years; fall of '81, R. S. moved 
 from his farm to Lyons and entered into the imple- 
 ment business. -He has the honor of having broke 
 the first piece of prairie and turned the first sod where 
 the village of Lyons now stands. 
 
 Franklin Everett was born in Maine, and came to 
 Wisconsin, 1852, and in 1868 arrived in Burt county; 
 occupation, banker, farmer and stock raiser, and large 
 land owner — a landlord noted- for his kindness and 
 generosity to his renters; 1874 he opened up a general 
 store in Lyons and was a.ppointed postmaster. The 
 Everetts represent a large family, are wealthy, and 
 prominent figures in western Burt county. 
 
 Other pioneers of that neighborhood are : Joel Yea- 
 ton, the Fiscuss families, Joe Smith, and Beal Barber. 
 Mr. Comer was one of the first store-keepers of Lyons, 
 also Freeland and Warner, John Freeland, a brother 
 residing in Decatur, hauling the firms merchandise 
 over from Onawa, Iowa. The pioneers of Logan Val- 
 lev vere never molested, but, when the news was 
 
I06 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 brought to them of the killing of Munson by six Win- 
 nebagoes, it alarmed and worried the settlers, and the 
 report also awakened a feeling of horror and furious 
 indignation in the hearts of the people, which swept 
 over the entire country. Munson lived out on Plum 
 Creek and was in his field with a yoke of oxen break- 
 ing land when treacherously and without warning he 
 was murderously attacked by six Winnebago Indians 
 that previous to this brutal and cowardly meeting had 
 appeared friendly and neighborly. Not satisfied with 
 hacking their victim to death with tomahawks, Mun- 
 son's head was cut off and tossed carelessly in the 
 grasses of the prairie to become food for the wolves. 
 The body was discovered shortly after the committal 
 of the foul crime, by a white neighbor, and a commit- 
 tee appointed to investigate the ghastly afifair, of which 
 Frank Fisher, now living in Decatur, was one. The 
 Indians were run down, tried in a court of justice, and 
 sentenced to the penitentiary for life, where they all 
 died with one exception, "White Breast," who was 
 released from prison on account of sickness and sent 
 home, and who died a few days after his arrival at the 
 Winnebago agency. 
 
CHAPTER SEVEN. 
 
 TRAGIC DEATH OF HELLISH NEBRASKA'S FIRST RAIL- 
 ROAD SURVEY REMINISCENCES OF DECATUR— MUR- 
 DER AT COVINGTON STRUGGLES OF '56 AND LIFE ON 
 
 THE BORDER OMAHA's BIG PAYMENT A MEMOIR 
 
 OF SARPY, THE FAMOUS PIONEER DESTRUCTION OF 
 
 THE BROWN HOTEL, AND THE SUICIDE OF MRS. 
 BROWN AND ED. GRIFFIN^ — ERECTION OF DECATUR'S 
 BRICK SCHOOL HOUSE-^THE VILLAGE COAL MINING 
 
 COMPANY SHOOTING OF CRAGON ^DISASTROUS 
 
 FIRE ORGANIZATION OF SECRET SOCIETIES STA- 
 TISTICS ON BURT COUNTY, AND THE STATE POPU- 
 LATION PROGRESS OF INDUSTRIES, ETC. 
 
 Reverting back again to early recollections of De- 
 catur, the winter of '57 witnessed the beginning of a 
 solemn drama, wlien Henry Mellish, a young eastern 
 lad, of elastic health, drifted in a blinding snow storm 
 up the lonely Wood Creek valley and was lost sight 
 of forever. Mellish came up from St. Louis on a 
 steamboat and went to work on the new agency dwell- 
 ings, then being built on the site where the old Henry 
 Fontenelle house stands now. Shortly after its com 
 pletion, the residence took fire, on an early Saturday 
 
T08 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. ' 
 
 morning, and the settlers were awakened from a somid 
 sleep hastened to the scene of disaster, Mellish among 
 them, to render what aid they could, but when they 
 arrived, human effort could not have saved the build- 
 ing, and all the villagers could do was to stand idly 
 but anxiously by, and watch the handsome structure 
 hungrily devoured by the ravishes of the wild flames. 
 When the fire had completed its work of destruction, 
 it began snowing, fast and thick, the storm continu- 
 ing until evening, and Mellish was not missed, only 
 when some one at the supper table inquired where he 
 was. The next morning a searching party was insti- 
 tuted, and the country scoured for miles around, but 
 without reward. Waldo Thompson, the next spring, 
 on his way to Arlington's, living where Oakland is 
 now, when about half way, came very near being 
 thrown from his horse, the ainmal shying at some hid- 
 den object in the grass. Thompson dismounted, and 
 in his search found a man's skull, some human bones, 
 and a little farther off a man's coat. He returned to 
 town with his discoveries, and Dr. Whitacre made an 
 examination of the skull and identified it as that of 
 Mellish's by a gold falling in one of the teeth, a piece 
 of dental work he had executed for the unfortunate 
 young man during the summer of '56. The remains 
 ivere tenderly placed in a neatly home-made coffin, and 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 109 
 
 amid touching ceremonies, interred on the hill back of 
 where the village school house stands today; and this 
 burial constitutes the first interment to have taken 
 place in the Decatur cemetery. 
 
 Although the tracks have not been laid, the rum- 
 bling of the rolling wheels of the flying cars have not 
 been heard, and a daring engineer must yet pull the 
 throttle that blows his whistle of warning, a survey 
 was made- for a practical route many long and weary 
 years ago — and it will go down in history as the first 
 in Nebraska, with that venerable old pioneer, Capt. S. 
 T. Leaming. as its chief, and Christopher C. Dunn 
 as baggagemaster of the overland trip. Other mem- 
 bers of the party were Don Barker, Wm. McBride, 
 and John Kispert. The survey began in the fall of 
 '58, in the little settlement of Decatur, starting the 
 chain frO'm the banks of the river and carried to a 
 point beyond the Elkhorn, compassing a distance of 
 over fifty miles, and the work only abandoned then 
 on account of a shortage in provisions, and advancing 
 cold weather. The survey was called the "Decatur 
 and South Pass Railroad," a feasable and direct line 
 to the Rocky mountains, authorized by the great 
 Northwestern, known in those days under another 
 name. The first camp (an American wall tent and 
 an Indian bufifalo teepee) was pitched at the head of 
 
no STORY OF AN ULO TOWN. 
 
 Elm Creek valley, and the party awakened from a 
 sound sleep by the crackling of a fierce and sweeping 
 prairie fire. The next day occurred a total eclipse of 
 the sun, the wind blowing strongly and cold. As it 
 was dark as night, it impeded the progress of the boys 
 and they were compelled to lay over until it cleared 
 up. To cross the Logan, a tree was felled, and Dunn, 
 to transport his oxen and the loaded wagon, had to 
 go below a few miles and ford the stream. The first 
 ::ime he tried it his outfit got stuck, and this forced 
 him to sleep out alone one night, but the next morn- 
 ing his companions came down and pulled Dunn out. 
 Up on the Elkhorn the surveying party camped near 
 a settlement of two families, Moore and Babbitt, 
 which was called Dewitt. Here the boys were treated 
 very kindly by a man named Crawford. The next 
 summer Dewitt was raided by a band of pilfering 
 Pawnees, and Moore and Babbitt driven away from 
 their homes. A rude raft was constructed and floated 
 in the Elkhorn for the surveyors to go back and forth 
 on in the prosecution of their woirk on the other side 
 of the river, and this, including a few other incidents, 
 constitutes the first railroad survey made in Nebraska 
 Territory. 
 
 Christopher C. Dunn, formerly of Decatur, and 
 now residing in Blair, is one of Nebraska's oldest set- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. Ill 
 
 tiers, a man of truth and veracity, with a mind crisp, 
 bright and retentive, and for the following- reminis- 
 cences the author acknowledges his indebtednesses : 
 
 In the fall of 1856 an honest and well-meaning 
 homesteader was brutally shot down in his own door- 
 way on a farm where the city of Covington stands 
 now, with his wife standing by his side ; the murderer 
 coolly mounting his horse and riding away. The pre- 
 sumption is, he was the hired tool of one of the notori- 
 ous claim clubs of those days, some of which stopped 
 short of nothing, to gain possession of a piece of land 
 they coveted. The murderer to escape the wrath of 
 the settlement, fled, making his first stop-over in De- 
 catur, registering for the night at the Brown hotel. It 
 so happened Sheriff Wilson and Chris Dunn occupied 
 the room adjoining the one taken by the man from 
 the north, and were kept awake most of the night by 
 their next door neighbor walking the floor. The 
 sheriff, suspicioning something wrong, told Dunn he 
 intended making an investigation the next morning 
 and should his suspicions warrant it, he would place 
 the fellow under arrest. They arose early, went down 
 and inquired of the landlord who the stranger might 
 be — ^but too late; the bird had flown. The widow of 
 the murdered man protested possession by the claim 
 club, and in the contest which followed for owner- 
 
112 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 ship, a decision came from Washington in favor of 
 the woman. The adverse claimants had already put 
 up a sawmill and made other improvements, part of 
 which they never recovered. 
 
 In 1859, E. D. Borum was struck dead by a stroke 
 of lightning. He and Dunn were sitting side by side 
 on a bench in front of the village hotel, at that time 
 under the management of Guy Barnum; and Adam 
 Kerns was standing in the doorway. A light storm 
 came up suddenly, and not so very much thunder; a 
 flash of lightning chased across the sky, and Borum 
 fell dead, from his seat, face down, to the sidewalk. 
 At the postmortem it could not be shown that even the 
 skin had been broken by the flash, nor any marks on 
 the body to show it had been burned. However, the 
 coroner ascribed the cause of death to disfusion of 
 lightning. 
 
 Christopher C. Dunn came to Decatur with Will 
 Phillips, James Johnson, and Herinan Cole, fi'om 
 Cuming City, Neb., enticed to this village by news 
 of a railroad that was to be built there. Their last 
 breakfast on the trip was eaten with Louis Peterson 
 and his wife at the farm which is now known as the 
 Latta ranch, the bill of fare consisting principally of 
 dried elk's meat. The little party arrived in Decatur 
 in the evening, and the boys put up at the "Turn 
 
-^-M 
 
General Stove of George M. Byram. 
 
 f^RC^S-H 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II3 
 
 Around Tavern," known as the city hotel, a small, two- 
 room affair, roofed only on one side, the other side be- 
 ing covered with an old tent. Dunn was out of to- 
 bacco and wanted some, and on inquiring for a store 
 ^\•as directed to Lambert's trading post — nothing more 
 than a little rough and ready log house. Without more 
 ceremony, Dunn pushed the door open and walked in, 
 little thinking his timely arrival would prevent a mur- 
 der. A man was lying flat on his back on the floor 
 and another man sitting astride of him, with a long 
 butcher knife in his hand, just in the act of striking a 
 fatal blow. Dunn stepped in as Paul Dominick ex- 
 claimed, "Sacre dege mur," a French curse of some 
 choice variety which the author would not dare at- 
 tempt to interpret, and then it was he leaned forward 
 to drive the knife into his victim's heart, when quick 
 as a flash Dunn jumped, catching Dominick by the 
 wrists and then called for help, the appeal being 
 answered by Tom McDonald. The men were parted 
 and finally pacified. The fellow who lay on the floor 
 was Pat Hamilton. This incident gives the reader 
 an idea of the character of some of the dare devil 
 spirits the settlers had to deal with in those wild and 
 adventurous times. 
 
 The spring of 1857 was when the first big payment 
 was made to the Omaha Indians, representing $40,000 
 8 
 
114 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 in gold, $20 per capita, issued by the agent, under a 
 huge Cottonwood tree north of Wood creek, about 100 
 yards from the Missouri river. Henry Fontenelle was 
 government interpreter, and Sarpy and Lambert both 
 had a yard full of ponies, which they sold to the In- 
 dians for $ioo- a head. The chiefs got first choice 
 then the sub-chiefs, and so on down to the common 
 warrior. A small piece of rope was presented the pur- 
 chaser, who entered the yard alone, and, making his 
 selection, caught his own horse. Tom McDonald con- 
 ducted a temporary store on the grounds and sold 
 flour and meat to the Indians for fancy prices. To 
 depict Sarpy as Dunn remembers him in a word pic- 
 ture the man would appear something like this : In 
 statue, low sized, rather heavy, dark complexioned, 
 full of energy, rather high tempered, generous and 
 kind, ambitious and a hard drinker — a very determined 
 and good looking man. Necoma, an Omaha Indian, 
 was his wife, and, when Sarpy died he willed her a 
 small sum of money. While he was shrewd and also 
 an advocate of peace, yet he recognized no law but 
 a square deal and a good trade, and always slept with 
 one eye open for business. It is said Sarpy had been 
 married several times and when he was living with 
 Tacoma, had a white woman for a wife, in the city of 
 Omaha. He was united to his Indian woman in ac- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II5 
 
 cordance with the customs of her tribe, which is noth- 
 ing more than mutual consent, and giving the bride's 
 father a few ponies, robes, etc. 
 
 John McMurphy came to Nebraska from New York 
 in 1867 and lived- to be one of the foremost writers 
 in our state. Clerked and freighted for Charlie Porter 
 and engaged in the mercantile business for himself; 
 married Miss Dakin, a Decatur girl; estabhshed the 
 "Hoof and Horn," of South Omaha; at one time on 
 the editorial staff of the Bee; editor of a paper at 
 Blair, and editor and proprietor of a daily at Beatrice. 
 Mr. McMurphy was endowed with a broad intellect, 
 generous to a fault, and a man who fought for the 
 battles of Nebraska from start to finish, and for the 
 good he accomplished, will live in the hearts of the 
 people and on the pages of our state's history. Mr. 
 McMurphy died very suddenly in the city of Omaha 
 a few years ago with an affection of the heart. His 
 loyalty to a friend or employe may be cited by illus- 
 trating the circumstances under which he lost one of 
 his eyes. 
 
 1859 John was working for Steven Decatur on his 
 ranch at Decatur Springs, taking care of stock and 
 doing other chores. One spring morning a big prairie 
 fire swept down the valley threatening to destroy 
 everything before it. McMurphy, anxious to save the 
 
Il6 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Commodore's property from destruction, jumped into 
 the high flames of the tall grass, regardless of his own 
 welfare, and by persistent stubbornness succeeded in 
 changing the course of the fire enough so that Deca- 
 tur's property escaped the fierce ravish, but in his brave 
 fight, his face and hands were badly bhstered, and 
 from the effects of the injuries received, lost the power 
 of sight in his left eye. 
 
 Tlie first labor for Dunn to perform in Decatur was 
 a little blacksmith work up on the side hill, for John 
 A. Horbaugh, who had broken, some of the irons on 
 his wagon — the first man to do any farming around 
 Decatur; and helped to put together the first locomo- 
 tive this side of Chicago, the "Blackhawk," of which 
 there is a record. 
 
 Dominick shot himself a short time after his attempt 
 to kill Pat Hamilton in Lambert's store. Mr. Lam- 
 bert had loaded his wagons for Pike's Peak, ready to 
 go, Dominidc to accompany Hm, but it rained the 
 morning they intended starting, so Lambert ordered 
 the goods unpacked, stating he would defer the trip 
 until the weather had settled. This displeased Dom- 
 inick very much and he became sulky. During the un- 
 loading, he went to the back of the wagoiT and jerked 
 out his rifle, a Winchester, and the trigger must have 
 caught in the endgate for the gun exploded, the con- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 11/ 
 
 tents hitting Dominick square in the stomach, and he 
 died the next day. 
 
 Christopher C. Dunn was born at Mount Lucas, 
 Kings county, Ireland, November 20th, 1830. Expert 
 machinist, mastering his trade in the shops of Nugent 
 & Owens of Chicago; was caught on Broadway, New 
 York City, in the McCrady riot, and saw the gutters 
 run with blood in front of the Astor house after the 
 first volley was fired by Jim Fiske's City Guards; en- 
 listed as a volunteer, and first sergeant of Monfarey's 
 Chicago City Guards, and on duty in the lager beer 
 riots in 1855. Came to Decatur April, 1857, and 
 married Miss Theresa Jane Welch, a young lady who 
 opened the first millinery shop in Burt county, the cer- 
 emony being performed at Onawa, Iowa, in 1862. In 
 1858 three commissioners were appointed by the ter- 
 ritorial legislature: James E. Wilson, Stephen De- 
 catur, ^nd Christopher Dunn, to locate a road from 
 Decatur to West Point. Dunn plowed a deed furrow 
 to mark out the road between the two towns, and it 
 was a God-send, for in those days the country was a 
 naked wilderness, and the wandering pioneer losing 
 his way from the dim trails of the prairie, \vhen he 
 came in contact with the line, knew by acting on the 
 implied suggestion of either direction, at the terminus 
 
Il8 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 would be found a settlement of neighborly white 
 people. 
 
 To picture Nebraska Territory briefly as it was in 
 those days the description would read something like 
 the following : The territory was still the home of the 
 Indian. Columbus was a small trading point, its only 
 dwelling a rough and ready hotel for the accommoda- 
 tion of freighters, scouts, travellers, and trappers, a 
 small flat boat to carry passengers across the Loupe, 
 one store and a handful of settlers. At Grand Island 
 a small colony of foreigners had squatted, who lived 
 in shanties. At Kearney was a traders' post and Jules- 
 burg, the last station going west, a little later boasted 
 of a telegraph oflice. Besides a few other inland set- 
 tlements and including the Missouri river towns, such 
 was the meagre inhabitation of Nebraska in 1858, 
 when the march of civilization had begun in earnest 
 
 to break down the thick undergrowth of the rich and 
 
 » 
 fertile west. 
 
 Decatur settlement in the year of 1856 looked any- 
 thing else but the prosperous and lively town she is 
 now, with her peace and plenty, enjoying the labor, 
 improvement and wealth of an enterprising popula- 
 tion very close to the one thousand mark. On what 
 the citizens call Main street now, which constituted 
 the entire village then, there stood three unfinished 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II9 
 
 shanties, two log cabins, "Hi" Chase's one-room trad- 
 ing post, and Sarpy's so-called frame store, built of 
 rough Cottonwood slabs. On the bottomlands, the 
 buffalo, elk, and deer roamed at will, and in the rich 
 and fertile valleys, a multitude of tall and slender 
 grasses moved in graceful motion to the slightest 
 breath of wind. In the morning could be heard the 
 gobble of the turkey and in the eventide came the timid 
 quack of ducks and other wild fowl off in the gloam- 
 ing. The settlement barely numbered twelve, and a 
 \vhite woman was yet to make her debut. The daily 
 diet consisted of corn bread and jerked meat, and 
 white bread a luxury and almost unknown, for flour 
 had to be imported from a long distance, and then at 
 a great expense. The persevering pioneer's bed was 
 manufactured out of discarded dry goods and grocery 
 boxes, nailed up in one corner of his homely hut, and 
 to soften it, an armful of dry slough grass was thrown 
 upon the board slats. For lights, candles were manu- 
 factured of tallow, in moulds a household tool which 
 some of the settlers had brought with them from the 
 east. Others unable to secure enough lumber with 
 which to manufacture a bedstead, spread their blankets 
 and robes upon the floor and so 'rested and slept 
 through the night. 
 
 This little home in the wilderness was treeless and 
 
120 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 to gladden their hearts with the sight of fohage, the 
 inhabitants must look into the forests of Iowa or wan- 
 der in the scattering timber up along Wood creek. 
 The ground was wet and swampy in places, and the 
 only visitors, peaceful Indians from the reservation, 
 decorated with bright paints and waving plumes of the 
 eagle and hawk, who came down to barter their furs 
 and spend their money for provisions and to lay in a 
 supply of "pa-da-ne," better known in those days un- 
 der the names of "rot-gut" and "whisky." 
 
 The severity of the winter of '56 drove most of the 
 settlers south, but with the coming of spring they all 
 returned again, and then Decatur Townsite Company 
 was organized, the village laid out, and steamboats 
 transporting lumber up the river — the material was 
 used for the construction of new dwellings. The com- 
 pany spent many thousands of dollars for the purpose 
 of improving and beautifying the town. Trees were 
 planted, a ferry established, and Capt. Learning, as 
 first mayor, was the father of the village. Judge 
 Doane, now of Omaha, a young barrister from the 
 east, arrived in town, built himself a neat little ofifice, 
 hung out his shingle and began the practice of his pro- 
 fession. Dr. Whitacre presided as village physician, 
 and Mat Wilbur returned from Omaha with his wife, 
 and brought with him a team of horses and a wagon, 
 
Hon. H. D. Byram 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 121 
 
 the first to enter the town. Frank Welch was installed 
 as city postmaster, but Hinman, who came over from 
 Onawa in '55, was postmaster for the settlement, super- 
 ceded by a man. named Percival, and then followed the 
 appointment of Welch. 
 
 New store buildings were erected as well as new 
 homes; the Omahas began receiving large annuities, 
 spending the most of their gold dollars in Decatur, 
 thus circulating an enormous amount of money that 
 was very acceptable and beneficial. Mechanics and 
 determined farmers from the east located in the com- 
 munity; a three-story hotel was built in the town, also 
 a city liall and a school house started, and with this 
 splendid commencement and output, Decatur pre- 
 sented an appearance that was not only bright but 
 promising. 
 
 On May ist, 1862, letters patent in the United 
 States were granted Decatur and signed by President 
 Abraham Lincoln. In the fall of 1869 it was made a 
 city of the second class, and in the spring of 1880 re- 
 duced to a village again. The first birth in Decatur 
 was a daughter of O. F. AVilson, and the first death 
 that of John Gardner. In 1859 a Mr. Paul, who had 
 located on a piece of land south of Decatur, with the 
 view of starting a rival town, accidentally shot and 
 
122 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 killed himself. He intended naming his town, "St. 
 Paul." 
 
 Since this memorial date the growth and advance- 
 ment of Decatur has been slow but steady, often meet- 
 ing with some discouraging handicap, only to begin 
 its march of progress again, with renewed energy and 
 vigor. i 
 
 In the early '70's the city council granted Lewis 
 and Coyle a charter to operate a steam ferry, the first 
 of its kind on the river at this point. In the summer 
 of 1875 the present handsome brick school building 
 was erected under the supervision of A. B. Fuller, this 
 gentleman turning out his own brick, and it was in 
 the same year he built the splendid brick residence 
 which his widow lives in now, at a cost of $5,000; and 
 early in the morning. May 30, "Decoration Day," the 
 Brown Hotel, built in 1857, caught fire and burned 
 to the ground, then the property of Fuller, and his loss 
 on furniture alone was over $1,200. 
 
 During the winter of '76, Mrs. Brown, the wife of 
 the village blacksmith, living then where the Stillman 
 family reside now, committed suicide by cutting her 
 throat with a butcher knife. Mrs. Brown was suffer- 
 ing from ill health and had recently lost a daughter 
 she was very fond of, and it was the opinion of friends 
 her great grief and gloomy despondency is what 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 23 
 
 caused the lady to destroy her life. Mr. Brown and 
 his sons shortly after this sad event moved to Onawa, 
 but these gentlemen still claimed Decatur for their 
 home, and proved their right by coming back each fall 
 for several years to vote. They eventually changed 
 their residence, however, and are now active and pro- 
 gressive farmers of the Divide. 
 
 It was in the winter of 1880 when Ed. Griffin tired 
 of this mundane world and blew out his brains while 
 sitting on his wife's lap, one evening at his home; the 
 residence property now occupied by James Dillon and 
 family. Ed. was a barber by trade, handsome, and 
 a very stylish young fellow. Sensitive by nature, he 
 took part in an oyster supper given by a party of 
 friends on the night of the tragedy, and was griev- 
 ously ofifended by some thoughtless remark' 'offered 
 in a careless manner by one of his jolly associates. A 
 few bottles ©f intoxicating beverages were opened, and 
 it goes without saying, the boys enjoyed the careless 
 and happy influence and were ."feeling their oats a 
 trifle." Ed. upon returning home, kissed his wife, bit 
 off a chew of tobacco, and then told her he was going 
 to leave this world of false friends and hard times, and 
 before she could remonstrate, carried out his awful 
 threat. 
 
 On the 29th day of March, 1879, the Decatur Bank 
 
124 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 was incorporated, with James Ashley as president, 
 Walter Drury, cashier, and Watson Parish, assistant 
 cashier; capital stock, $10,000. Later Parish moved to 
 Oakland; E. D. Canfield bought out Drury's interests, 
 and on January ist, 1890, Thomas R-. Ashley pur- 
 chased a one-third share; and on May ist, 1898, the 
 bank closed its doors from mutual dissatisfaction of 
 business, by the partners, paying one hundred cents 
 on the dollar. Previous to the incorporation of the 
 bank of Decatur, Charles D. Dakin had conducted a 
 banking business, receiving deppsits and making loans, 
 and called himself a banker. During all these years 
 of progress a grist mill had been put in operation, now 
 the property of M. J. Kenyon, also a saw mill, now the 
 property of Charles Noyse, and a brick yard 
 conducted by C. C. Bacon. In 1889 and the years fol^ 
 lowingj^ brought forth new enterprises as well as more 
 accidents.' In 1881 a newspaper was established, en- 
 titled "The Decatur Herald," first edited by a man 
 named Woodward, succeeded by Price and Neville. 
 
 The same year a mining company was organized, 
 consisting of A. B. Fuller, George Atwater, Walter 
 Drury, and others, for the purpose of excavating for 
 coal in the neighborhood, as some good indications 
 and favorable specimens had been discovered. Col. 
 George F. Straight, a mining expert, was employed to 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 25 
 
 make the test and supervise the investigations. At a 
 depth of 70 feet a vein of Hgnite coal was found, and 
 at a depth of 570 feet a vein of four and a half feet was 
 struck, but the cost of digging the mineral was too 
 great and so the work was abandoned- — ^and thus van- 
 ished Decatur's mining possibilities — perhaps forever. 
 In the forepart of the eighty's, Mr. Fuller built a large 
 two-story merchandise store for Mr. Hobbs, now oc- 
 cupied by John T. Choyce and Ernest Rohde, and 
 other substantial improvements were made in the 
 town. 
 
 On the evening of January ist, 1882, Frank Cragon 
 was shot, accidentally^ in the store of Atwater and 
 Hoppock and crippled for life. He was on his way 
 to the postoffice and had stopped in at the store to 
 warm, and also making preparations to attend a dance 
 that night. Shortly after the fatal occurrence he be- 
 came the protege of Mrs. Mary C. Page, and through 
 all the years of his sickness and helplessness this lady 
 was very considerate in her care for his welfare and 
 comfort. Frank appreciated the services, and as he 
 often said to his friends, "My dear mother could not 
 be kinder and more patient with me than Mrs. Page 
 is." About 1884 he started a small paper which he 
 named "The Decatur Eaglet," certainly a very bright 
 little paper. Frank was a sagacious young fellow and 
 
126 STORY CF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 had he retained his health would have made a mark for 
 himself. In the summer of 1889 a spirit of progress 
 moved him and he entered into a newspaper enter- 
 prise in the city of Pender with Harry S. Swenson 
 as a partner, but remained only a few months, when 
 a terrible siege of homesickness overtook him and he 
 returned to his adopted mother in Decatur, Mrs. Page. 
 Cragon's health was very poor when he arrived in De- 
 catur, and the changing brought no improvement, 
 which he had hoped for, and on December 6th, 1889, 
 the poor fellow was called to the otlier world by that 
 grim and unmerciful messenger of death, and laid to 
 rest in the village cemetery. 
 
 In the latter part of the seventies the Wood's hotel 
 was built, a very handsome and commodious .little 
 tavern, and it enjoyed a profitable business for several 
 years, but about '88 the shadow of destruction fell 
 across its threshold and it burned to the ground. At 
 the time of the accident the hotel was under the man- 
 agement of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ashley. 
 
 The year 1890 witnessed new enterprises and also 
 a very disastrous fire. It took place on the morning 
 of August 8th, and perhaps the worst to occur in the 
 village. Byram, Brothers' large merchandise store 
 very mysteriously broke out in flames, and this build- 
 ing was not the only one destroyed, but also T. A. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I27 
 
 Loveland's harness shop, and JoJin G. Ashley's fine 
 general store, just replete with a new and fresh line 
 of goods. Most of the business firms were covered 
 with insurance, but Byram Brothers were only partly 
 so, and their net loss was over $7,000. A few months 
 prior to this event their store was entered by burglars 
 and $120 taken, besides some of the stock. 
 
 On the evening of August loth, two days after the 
 fire, a surprise party was tendered to Mr. Henry 
 Byram and his wife at their cottage home by a host ' 
 of friends and neighbors, in honor of their tenth wed- 
 ding anniversary. Mr. Byram was presented with a 
 gold .watch and chain and Mrs. Byram with a silver 
 cake basket, Rev. Hamilton and Rev. Miller deliver- 
 ing the speeches of presentation. A delicious lunch- 
 eon was served on the lawn, consisting of ices, fruit, 
 and cake. It was a beautiful moonlight night and the 
 artistic arrangement of Japanese and Chinese lanterns 
 hung effectively in the rich foliage qf the shrubbery 
 and trees, presented a picture of harmony and delight. 
 Under the leadership of B. F. McDonald, the Decatur 
 Silver Cornet Band filled the night with song and 
 charming music, which made light the hearts of the 
 merry feasters. Mr. and Mrs. Byram will always look 
 back to this occasion as one of the happiest moments 
 
128 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 of their lives, and as an expression of public sentiment, 
 and kindness which can never be forgotten. 
 
 In regard to the secret organizations of Decatur, 
 they will be enumerated as follows : A charter was 
 granted Decatur Camp, M. W. A., No. 673, on the 
 9th day of April, 1890, by Head Counsel W. H. 
 Northcott, of Fulton, Illinois. A charter was granted 
 the Royal Neighbors, an auxiliary to the Woodmen, 
 March 23rd, 1899, by Mrs. E. D. Watt, Supreme 
 Oracle. Both camps have been very progressive since 
 their organization, and now have enrolled a large 
 membership. 
 
 The W. O. W.'s Red Elm Camp was granted a 
 charter December 2nd, 1898, by Joseph Cullen Root, 
 Head Counsel Commander of Omaha. Woodman 
 Circle, an auxiliary to the W. O'. W., was organized 
 February 8th, 1900. The number of the camp is 39. 
 Although these two orders are young they have en- 
 joyed a very encouraging growth. 
 
 On the evening of April nth, 1898, a charter was 
 granted the Modern Brotherhood of America by the 
 Supreme President with a charter membership of 19. 
 While the lodge is not numerically big, it is good in 
 quality, and a reliable secret order. 
 
 Other secret orders of the village are given as fol- 
 lows, recently organized : The Eastern Star, Coming 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 129 
 
 Young of America, Royal Archates, and one the name 
 of which is not known by the pubhc. 
 
 Submitting a few remarks on general information 
 pertaining to Burt county and the state of Nebraska 
 closes this chapter. It would be safe to estimate the 
 population of Burt for i860 at about 1,000; up to 
 1870, close to 7,000; 1890, at 11,500, and for 1900, 
 about 20,000. 
 
 The population of Nebraska in the. middle '50's did 
 not number over 5,000; i860, about 20,000; 1870, 
 130,000; 1880, 450,000, and 1890, over a million. Tlie 
 number of school teachers in the state, 1890, was 11,- 
 183, and the number of pupils, 423,126. Total valua- 
 tion of real and personal property, 1880, over $90,- 
 000,000; per capita, $200.23; 1890, aggregate value, 
 $184,770,000; per capita, $174.49. The number of 
 tons of hay harvested 'for i860 was over 24,000 for 
 1890 something over 3,000,000 tons. Yield of tobacco, 
 i860, 3,600 pounds; 1880, 57,000 pounds, and 1890, 
 ii,ot)0 pounds. The yield of potatoes for i860 was 
 162,000 bushels; 1890, 9,138,000 bushels. Fruit 
 products are as follows: Apples, 1,172,000 bushels; 
 apricots, 223 bushels; cherries, 18,004 bushels; 
 peaches, 19,700 bushels; pears, 1,114, and plums, 15',- 
 800 bushels. Production of cereals.: Number of 
 buslifils of wheat raised i860, 147,800; 1890, 10,571,- 
 
130 STORY, OF AN OLD TOWN. , 
 
 000 bushel; oats, i860, 74,502 bushels; 1890, 43,843,- 
 640 bushels; barley, i860, 1,100 bushels; 1890, 1,822,- 
 III bushels; rye, i860, 12,495 bushels; 1890, 1,085,- 
 083 bushels; corn, i860, 1,482,000 bushels; 1890, 
 215,895,996 bushels. 
 
 In i860 there was something over 4,000 head of 
 horses in Nebraska; now the amount will number 
 close to 700,000. In i860, cattle numbered about 30,- 
 000; now this industry will count close to 20,000,000 
 head. Sheep numbered in i860, 2,355 head; for 1890, 
 the average amount was 209,243. Mules in i860 num- 
 bered something over 469 head; 1890, 46,512. 
 
 Nebraska's industrial and commercial growth has 
 been rapid a!nd to illustrate, a few are enumerated as 
 follows :. Cheese, butter and milk industries for 1890 
 numbered 58 establishments; 1880, only 21; men's 
 clothing, 1890, 136; 1880, only 28; flour and" grist 
 mills up to 1890, 185; confectionery, in 1880, only 
 4; up to 1890, 18; liquors and malt, 1880, 23; now 
 only 14; tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, 1889, 21 fac- 
 tories; now 84. Printing establishments, 1880, 22; up 
 to 1890, 443 publishing houses. In 1880 there were 
 but two planing mills; 1890, there were 24. All other 
 industries have increased proportionately. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT. 
 
 JUSTICE WILBUR AND HIS ANCIENT DOCKETS NOTED 
 
 ITINERANT PREACHER, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
 THE FIRST CHURCH IN BURT COUNTY REMINIS- 
 CENCE OF VALE, A REFORMED GAMBLER BIOGRA- 
 PHIES FATHER HAMILTON, AND THE ORIGIN OF 
 
 THE FAMOUS INDIAN RESERVATION OLD SETTLERS 
 
 OF BURT AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES — -CONCLUSION. 
 
 The docket book of Matthew C. Wilber, justice of 
 the peace for tfee village of Decatur, for the years of 
 1858 and 1859, is an interesting reminiscence, and a 
 few titles of the cases which he heard before his anci- 
 ent co'urt are quoted as follows : 
 
 "Territory of Nebraska vs. S. B. Griswold. Com- 
 plaint, selling liquor to Indians. Warrant issued 29th 
 day of June, 1858, and upon affidavit of Thomas 
 Whitty, deposeth and says that Griswold did sell and 
 give intoxicating liquors to a certain half breed in 
 said territory on a prescribed day; therefore Thomas 
 H. Whitacre is here by appointment as special con- 
 stable to arrest him and bring the body before the 
 court; the writ of execution returned on the 2nd day 
 of July and the said Griswold having been given a 
 
132 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 1 
 
 fair and an impartial trial vipon the evidence, was 
 found guilty of the charge herein named, and is bound 
 over to the district court in the sum of $500. 
 
 "Mike Evans and Thomas Whitty vs. I. C. Jones"; 
 a suit brought by the plaintiff to recover $37.60, price 
 and value of 7,500 shingles, sold and delivered to said 
 defendant. Summons returned May 20th, 1858, and 
 trial heard in town hall; and having weighed the argu- 
 ments of council for both parties, it is considered by 
 the court, that the defendant recover costs in this be- 
 half. Plaintiffs appeal for a new trial, and in the re- 
 hearing, the justice finds for them a judgment against 
 defendant for $37.50, and costs. 
 
 "Thomas Holton vs. George Scidmore : A suit 
 brought before this court by plaintiff to recover dam- 
 ages for the wrongful detention of property; and on 
 March 30th, 1859, the summons was returned, and 
 the court proceeded to trial at Brown's hotel. By writ 
 of replevin the goods and cha.ttels were given in cus- 
 tody of the plaintiff by Lorenzo Hobbs, special con- 
 stable, bond and security according to law having been 
 given in behalf of the plaintiff by Guy Barnum and 
 Silas Leaming; and upon the evidence of the witnesses 
 the court finds that the plaintiff can recover from the 
 defendant one yoke of oxen valued at $85 and costs of 
 within suit. The prosecuting attorney in the cases 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I33 
 
 cited was George W. Doane, and for the defense, 
 David Collier. Hon. Albert White succeeded Mr. Wil- 
 ber as justice of the peace, and a few of the cases heard 
 before him are as follows : 
 
 "Territory of Nebraska vs. Jacob Snieder." Action 
 in tresspass. 
 
 "Perry Owens vs. Adam Kerns." Suit in action for 
 labor performed by plaintiff. 
 
 "Territory of Nebraska vs. John Kendall." In- 
 formation of plaintiff of one M. Owens, says that de- 
 fendant made an assault upon his person with intent 
 to do bodily injury. Action reduced to a misdemeanor 
 and said Kendall, who pleaded "not guilty," fined for 
 the costs of trial. 
 
 "Henry Marsh vs. Charles Blackstone." In which 
 plaintiff demands damage for failure to deliver a cer- 
 tain yoke of oxen. Henry Cline acted as special con- 
 stable in these cases and served the summons. 
 
 In the court of C. Outhwaite, justice of the peace 
 for 1866 and 1867, the following cases were heard: 
 
 "M. Evans vs. John Callahan." Replevin suit to 
 recover one red heifer. 
 
 "A. B. Fuller vs. Tom Jones." Plaintiff demands 
 $18 for failure to pay board bill, and storage rent. 
 "Daniel Corhart vs. John Sprague." Complaint, 
 
134 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 petit larceny. Many other cases are cited, but lack of 
 space will not allow the enumeration. 
 
 To Tekamah belongs the honor of having estab- 
 lished the first permanent church organization in Burt 
 county, this notable event taking place in 1858, under 
 the direction of Rev. J. M. Taggart, an itinerant mis- 
 sionary, who laid the corner stones of the now opulent 
 Baptist parish, with the meagre material of eight, but 
 very earnest God-loving souls. Taggart's work began 
 in '56 in the west, his field of religious efforts con- 
 fined to Missouri river settlements between Platts- 
 mouth and Decatur, conducting his services in school 
 houses, town halls, private homes, and other places he 
 might secure; his mode of travel, on horseback, and 
 some times afoot. Mrs. Ed. Shafer was his first ac- 
 cession to the Tekamah church after its organization 
 by the eight constituents, and Rev. J. P. Hungate was 
 the first resident pastor of that parish, beginning with 
 i860 and ending with 1864. Much good has emanated 
 from the religious seeds planted by Rev. Taggart in 
 his little congregation so long ago, and today the books 
 of this church will register a membership of over four 
 hundred. 
 
 Rev. James Vale, a reformed gambler, better known 
 as "Buckeye," for the reason he was a native of Ohio, 
 was a romantic character of Tieville, the defunct wood- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I35 
 
 choppers' settlement situated on the Iowa side of the 
 river, «ast of Decatur. Vale and his wife, an educated 
 lady, came down the Missouri in a small boat, hailing 
 ■from a miners' camp up in the mountains; and upon 
 his arrival in the village paroled himself as a minister 
 of the gospel, and the citizens taking him at his word 
 installed him as their pastor, services being held once 
 and twice a week. Ramo, a wood chopper, recognized 
 Vale as a shady character of Montana, and told Jack 
 Lewis, confidentiaJly, that he, as one of a vigilance 
 committee, had waited on Vale and Plummer, then in 
 the liquor business in a mining camp, one dark night; 
 and Vale was ordered to leave the settlement before 
 morning. Plummer, a noted desperado, and a brother- 
 in-law of Vale; was taken by the committee to the 
 nearest tree and hung; his offense, stealing cattle and 
 killing an officer of the law. Vale made his escape 
 from the incensed citizens by jumping in a Makanaw 
 boat and 'coming down the river. Vale filled the pulpit 
 of the Decatur Methodist church once, and liked by 
 all who knew him, for he was accommodating ami 
 pleasant. He learnt John Lewis of Decatur the science 
 of cribbage, and told him he- had played many a game 
 for $5 a side. During his residence in Tieville he 
 worked every day with the boys, chopping cord-wood 
 and railroad ties; remained two years and then went 
 
136 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Up in Dakota, and it is said he was very successful in 
 his undertakings up there. 
 
 The residue of this chapter will be devoted to biog- 
 raphies not already herein mentioned in the work 
 which also includes old and prominent settlers of river 
 towns south of Decatur : 
 
 Rev. William Hamilton — Born in Lycuming coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, August ist, 181 1, on the banks of 
 the beautiful Susquehanna; graduate of Jefferson Col- 
 lege, Washington, Pennsylvania, and married Miss 
 Julia Griffin of that city; ordained a preacher, and 1837 
 appointed by the Presbytery of Northumberland to 
 take charge of the Iowa and Sac mission on Wolf 
 Creek, 25 miles from St. Joe, Missouri; destined by 
 the Indians to die once, but friends of the tribe 
 changed the purpose, and they went across the river 
 and shot another white man. Rev. Hamilton was also 
 attacked by a blacksmith once (whiteman), the fellow 
 making his assault with a pistol in one hand and a 
 bowie knife in the other. Hamilton's fearless defense 
 and great strength saved him. The would-be mur- 
 derer was afterwards burned at the stake in Texas for 
 killing the prosecuting attorney in court; and in his 
 awful agonies confessed to killing several white men 
 and one Indian. 1853, Rev. Hamilton was transferred 
 to the Omaha Indian mission at Bellevue, continuing 
 
Dr. J. B. Whittler. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 137 
 
 in this noble work until the day of his death, which 
 took place' in the village of Decatur a few years ago, 
 the victim of a stroke of paralysis. In 1856 the United 
 States government contributed $65,000 and the Pres- 
 byterian board of foreign missions $15,000, and under 
 the supervision of Rev. Hamilton the famous Indian 
 mission was built on the Omaha reservation, s'tuated 
 on a picturesque elevation overlooking the Missouri 
 River. The. rock for the mission was quarried out 
 not far from the site and the other building material 
 shipped up from Fort Plattsmouth; and upon its com- 
 pletion, Hamilton moved up and became" the superin- 
 tendent of the school. A few years later he lost his 
 wife, who was fatally injured by being thrown from a 
 buggy. The old mission is interesting for the -histori- 
 cal atmosphere which surrounds it. It was here in 
 1843 that Big Elk died from an attack of smallpox, 
 also carrying ofif two hundred of his choicest warriors. 
 It was here also that the Omahas met the warlike 
 Sioux in battle, and today on the ridges will be found 
 a scattering of bones^ canny tell-tales of these bloody 
 conflicts. A few old "chaches" remain, secret excava- 
 tions in the ground, used by the ancient traders to hide 
 their goods in during the wild skirmishes between 
 quarreling tribes of pugnacious Indians. 1869 Rev. 
 Hamilton was united in marriage to Miss Etta Hunt- 
 
138 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 ing, a school teacher of the mission, and to them, have 
 been born three children, Lotta, Julia, and John, all of 
 whom are living. Hamilton's missionary work among 
 the Omahas was effective. Fifty years ago this people 
 bowed to the morning sun and gave up their offerings 
 to the stars; today their reservation is dotted with 
 school houses and Christian churches, and now they 
 read the same books, talk the same language and wor- 
 ship the same God the white man does. About the 
 time of this great man's- death the mission was aband- 
 oned, and a few years ago it was sold to Ed. Farley 
 of Bancroft "and Walter Diddock of Omaha agency for 
 the consideration of $150. 
 
 When the Northwestern > laid its tracks across the 
 state of ■ Iowa, Mat Hamlin started with it from 
 Illinois, in the employ of the Western Mail and Stage 
 Company as a carrier. It involved considerable time 
 to complete this mammoth piece of railroad engineer- 
 ing, and as the company proceeded in its extension 
 of terminals, Mat transported the mails from the point 
 arrived at on to the next inland station, and the first 
 driver out of Council Bluffs after that road had 
 reached the Missouri River. Then followed up John 
 I. Blair's Sioux City and Pacific, same manner, and 
 drove the last four-horse team carrying the mail into 
 Sioux City. Mat drove- stage in the Blackhills, also 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 39 
 
 conductor of mails between Beatrice, Nebraska, and 
 Maryville, Kansas, distance of forty miles'. He was 
 the veteran mail carrier of the West. A kind and gen- 
 erous man, but a hard drinker; careless, and not hav- 
 ing provided for old age, sickness forced him to the 
 Burt county poor farm in the sumtner of 1900, where 
 he died the following winter. 
 
 Dr. J. B. Whittier — Born in Newhampshire, and a 
 graduate of Dartmouth College, where Daniel Web- 
 ster studied law. Dr. Whittier is also a cousin of 
 John Greenleaf Whittier, America's famous poet; 1863 
 resided at Washington, and appointed by President 
 Lincoln paymaster in the United States army, head- 
 quarters at New Orleans, remaining in that city and 
 this service until the close of the rebellion; moved to 
 Chicago and took up the study of medicine and grad- 
 uated with honors from Hanneman Medical College, 
 the largest of its kind in the world. After completing 
 his course, hung his shingle out, and received a "night 
 call," traveling many miles in the coldto wait on his 
 patient; administered to the sick, but received no pay 
 and no thanks. This treatment discouraged the doctor 
 so much that he abandoned the practice of medicine, 
 and he went west and engaged in the mining business 
 in Colorado for several years. From this state he re- 
 moved to Decatur, Nebraska, bought some farms and 
 
140 STORY OF AN, OLD TOWN. 
 
 interested himself in agriculture and stock raising. One 
 of the origipal stock owners of the First National 
 Bank of Tekamah, and owns a vast amount of real 
 estate in Kansas.. His farms in Burt county are elab- 
 orately improved, arranged for comfort and conveni- 
 ence, and the doctor has established the reputation for 
 himself of being one of the kindest and most consid- 
 erate landlords in the county. In the city of Lincoln, 
 on the20th day of February, 1895, Dr. Whittier and 
 Miss Ida Stanton were united in the holy bonds of 
 matrimony, the bride one of Burt county's fairest and 
 sweetest daughters. Ever since this delightful event 
 this happy couple have made their home in the village 
 of Decatur. Dr. Whittier is the composer of a host 
 of creditable pieces of verse, and certainly belongs to 
 the cycle of muses; but reticent and modest in these 
 efforts, it is doubtful if the public will ever have the 
 pleasure of reading them. It is only known by a very 
 few that he is entitled to a relationship to the late de- 
 ceased Queen'*Victoria, and the causes which have led 
 to this distinction are quite romantic. The relation- 
 ship begins during the reign of George III. of Eng- 
 land, when Sarah, his sister, eloped with the king's 
 weaver, whose name was William Nutt. After the 
 young couple were secretly married, they fled to this 
 country and then disinherited by the royal family. In 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I4I 
 
 time the king's anger softened, and extending li!s for- 
 giveness, Sarah and her husband were i-e-owned, and 
 l)eing in straightened circumstances, money was sent 
 to them in a strong iron box, at intervals, by King 
 Geo'rge; and later a deed to the Nutt place, situated 
 in Newhampshire, was given James by the king, then 
 the royal park in America, of which Nutt had 
 been appointed royal keeper. Sarah, or Mrs. Nutt's, 
 daughter was the mother of Dr. Whittier's mother, 
 or Dr. Whittier's great grandmother, which establishes 
 Dr. Whittier as a fourth cousin of Edward, the pres- 
 ent king of England, and his mother a third cousin; 
 and her mother a first cousin of George IV. and Wil- 
 liam IV. of England, sons of George III; George IV. 
 succeeding his father to the throne, and William IV. 
 succeeding his brother. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ashley left England October 
 19th, i860, and arrived in Dakota City November 
 19th, following the river up from St. Joe with an ox 
 team which Mr. Ashley purchased in that City, St. 
 Joe at that time being the railroad terminus. They 
 arrived in Dakota City on a Monday evening and the 
 candle lights were burning in the windows. Here 
 Mr. Ashley met his brother James, then the village 
 blacksmith, and he went to work in his shops. Febru- 
 ary 5th, 186 1, the young couple moved to Decatur, 
 
142 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 coming down on the Iowa side of the river on ac- 
 count of the heavy snow, and Mr. Ashley engaged in 
 the blacksmith business for himself. Later he traded 
 his team and wagon to Billy Points for his shanty, 
 fifty acres of land down on Silver Creek and $io in 
 money. When Mr. and Mrs. Ashley began house- 
 keeping all they had was a cheap cook stove, four old 
 chairs, a borrowed bedstead well stocked with bed- 
 bugs, three cups and saucers, three plates, and a lim- 
 ited amount of tin eating tools and ware. Mr. Hobbs 
 in one of his trips to Omaha brought back with him 
 two lamps, the first to enter the village, and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ashley secured one of them. Mr. Ashley's 
 blacksmith shop was a success and he drew patronage 
 from West Point, Washington county, and distant set- 
 tlements in Iowa. In the autumn of '69- he moved 
 down on his farm and remained until the spring of 
 '72, when he received his appointment as government 
 blacksmith for the Omahas. Resided here twelve 
 years, doing all kinds of department work, acting in 
 the capacity of a sub-ageni;. The Omahas became much 
 attached to Mr. and Mrs. Ashley, and in one of their 
 councils extracted a promise from them they would 
 not leave tlie reservation of their accord, and ofiEered 
 them land. They were the only white people among 
 the Omahas at this time. They returned to Decatur, 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I43 
 
 however, and conducted a hotel for several years, 
 which they purchased in 1879. Under President Har- 
 rison's administration, Mr. Ashley received^his ap- 
 pointment as U. S. Indian agent for the Omahas and 
 Winnebagos, and upon expiration of his office returned 
 to Decatur; his present home a dwelling costing 
 $2,500, with modern equipments. Mr. and Mrs. Ash- 
 ley have been life-long members of the Methodist 
 church and established a Sunday School in Decatlir 
 early ■ in . the summer of '61. In this early day, 
 Rev. Amsbury of Dakota City came down every two 
 weeks and held services. They have two living chil- 
 dren, Thomas R., born in England, 1855, and Eva 
 Louise, born in Burt county, September 13th, 1869, 
 and who is now the wife of Hon. Chas. P. Mathew- 
 son, U. S. Indian agent for the Winnebagoes and 
 Omahas. Thomas R. is a pioneer school boy of Ne- 
 braska, a graduate in law and one of the foremost 
 lawyers before the Burt county bar. He has attended 
 every republican convention in the county since he was 
 twenty-one, and an active member in the political field. 
 Married Miss Alice Byram of Decatuc, September 
 28th, 1880; ceremony performed by Rev. Sloan, and 
 to them has been born one child, Mabel A., November 
 6th, 1 88 1. Mr. Ashley has been offered nominations, 
 
144 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 but always declined. Controls 1,700 acres of reserva- 
 tion land, most of which is under cultivation. 
 
 Captain S. T. Learning was born in Schoharri 
 county, New York, and educated for a civil engineer. 
 1833, at the age of four, moved to La Porte, Indiana, 
 and in 1852 crossed the plains to California, return- 
 ing ii;i 1855 and engaged in railroad work in Iowa; 
 and in the spring of '57 made his home in Decatur. 
 1859 elected to the Territorial legislature; appointed 
 by the government to allot farms to the Omahas and 
 Winnebagoes, the former being alloted in 1863 and 
 the latter in 1S64; Major Painter agent for the Oma- 
 has and Major White for the Winnebagoes. County 
 surveyor of Burt county for two years; 1862 enlisted 
 in Company I, Second Nebraska, Hon. Robert W. 
 Furnas his colonel, and Hon. John Taff, a well known 
 politician, his major; 1863 promoted lieutenant and 
 later received his commission as captain; 1889 moved 
 to Milwaukee, and manager of a medical institute. 
 Here he married his second wife, a Scotch lady of re- 
 finement and high social tastes. Returned to his De- 
 catur home in the spring of '97; owns one of the finest 
 walnut groves in Nebraska, twelve and a half acres, 
 and Dr. Miller of Omaha, authority on tree culture, 
 estimates their value at $1,100 per acre. The captain 
 has three boys and one girl by his first wife; Edward, 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I45 
 
 the oldest, is in California; Collier D. is railroading in 
 Wisconsin, and Silas is studying law at the Madison 
 University, Milwaukee; Anna, who married Charlie 
 Shafer, a Tekamah boy, resides in Los Angeles, Cali- 
 fornia; Charlotte M., a step-daughter, age ii, attends 
 school at home, and H. E. J. is the baby, and does just 
 as he pleases. 
 
 Hon. Frank Welch was born on the historic ground 
 of B'unker Hill, February loth, 1835, and located in 
 Decatur in the fall of '57. A graduate of the high 
 schools of Boston, he chose the profession of civil en- 
 gineering and entrusted with several important sur- 
 veys in the West, and identified himself with the 
 progress of Nebraska until the day of his death, which 
 took place at Neligh, Nebraska, September 4th, 1874, 
 the victim of a paralytic stroke. He was attending a 
 political cojivention, and expired while sitting in a 
 chair. Although away from home, he was surrounded 
 in these last sad moments by a circle of warm friends. 
 Mr. Welch was prominent in Nebraska politics. He 
 was a representative of the Territorial legislature, and 
 in 1865 elected president of the upper house, and in 
 1 87 1 appointed register of the land office at West 
 Point. In 1872 he secured the nomination for metoi- 
 ber of congress and after a spirited contest elected by 
 an overwhelming majority. Upon the announcement 
 10 
 
146 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 of his death, the United States legislature adjourned 
 a day, to pay tribute to his memory, Mr. Majors, his 
 successor, delivering an impressive memorial, also did 
 Mr. Sapp of Iowa, Mr. Patterson of Colorado, be- 
 sides a number of eastern congressmen who were in- 
 timate friends. Frank Welch was a man of fine social 
 powers, popular and ambitious. He was united in mar- 
 riage to Miss Elizabeth Butts of Hudson, New York, 
 in 1863, and shortly after the occurrence of this union 
 he engaged in the mercantile business, which was not 
 a financial success. The village of Decatur remembers 
 Mr. Welch as her ancient postmaster, merchant, mem- 
 ber of the town council, and village recorder. He was 
 a useful man because he was trustworthy. One of his 
 most important surveys took place in 1857, when he 
 run the line of a projected railroad across the state of 
 Iowa; and had the honor of representing the largest 
 ■congressional district in the United States, the solitary 
 representative in the lower house from a state embrac- 
 ing seventy-five thousand square miles. Earnest arid 
 faithful for the welfare of his constituents, it is 
 thought the strain hastened or at least contributed 
 to his finis, which cut down a strong and noble man 
 in the flower-time of his life. Frank Welch will not 
 be forgotten. 
 
 Calvin Root was born September 9th, 1806, in Le- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I47 
 
 banon, New York; and married Miss Almira M. Wil- 
 cox on June 23rd, 1829, in Columbia county, same 
 state. Emigrated from Wisconsin in the summer of 
 '61 with his wife and two children, Nevada and 
 Frank; George and Alice Perry also accompanying him. 
 The trip was made overland, George Perry riding his 
 pony. Mr. Root was a carpenter by trade, and in 
 1864 appointed miller for the Omaha Indian mission. 
 In 1876 he was appointed supervisor of the govern- 
 ment grist and saw mill at the same place, and it was 
 here that he died, January loth, 1882. Mr. Root 
 crossed the plains to California in company with De- 
 catur Young, father of S. T. Young, in 1852. The 
 journey was made by wagon and it took three montha 
 They were gone three years. In the possession of his 
 daughter, Mrs. Stillman, is a small oblong wooden 
 box which Mr. Root made for his sweetheart to keep 
 her love letters in. It is a quaint little relic, full of 
 fond memories, and about seventy-five years old. 
 
 John Lewis was born in Westchester, New York, 
 March i8th, 1844, and married Miss Mary A. Kelso 
 of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, at Sioux City, September 
 4th, 1 87 1, ceremony performed by Father McNulty. 
 This union was blessed with three living children, born 
 as follows : William R., March 12th, 1873; Anna M., 
 January 6th, 1879; Mary Evalyn, January 19th, 1881. 
 
148 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Mr. Lewis came from Wisconsin to Nebraska with a 
 party of homeseekers in the spring of '66 ; worked for 
 Robt. Moore of Tieville for several years, and one of 
 his foremen. Entered on a piece of land on the 
 "Divide," and sold out later. Member of the village 
 board of Decatur for many years; also served as town- 
 ship assessor for several terms. With his partner, Mr. 
 Coyle, the first to operate a steam ferry on the Mis- 
 souri river in the early seventies. 
 
 George W. Doane — Bprn in Circleville, Ohio, De- 
 cember 1 6th, 1824; graduate of law and eminent bar- 
 rister of Nebraska; politics, democrat; and religion, 
 Presbyterian; located in Decatur in 1857; i860 re- 
 moved to Calhoun, then the central point for legal 
 transactions. In tht aummer of '57 elected district 
 attorney for the Third judicial district; elected to the 
 Territorial legislature 1858; October 2Sth, 1859, mar- 
 ried Miss Emily R. Greenhow of Vincennes, Indiana, 
 and this venerable couple are now enjoying the love 
 and companionship of five living children, Cora, Guy, 
 William, Daisy, and George W. ; 1862 moved east and 
 practiced law in Cincinnati, and 1864 returned and 
 made his home in Omaha; 1865 elected prosecuting 
 attorney for Douglas county ; member of the city coun- 
 cil 1868, and 1880 elected to the state senate; nom- 
 inee for congress on the democratic ticket and defeated 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I49 
 
 by a very small majority. Now owns a few lots in 
 village of Decatur. Mr. Doane is a pioneer of ISfe- 
 braska who accomplished much good for his state and 
 the commonwealth. Starting out a poor boy, his stock 
 in trade, rugged health and grim determination, he has 
 lived to see his gray hairs covered with garlands and 
 the civic wreath of honor. 
 
 P". E. Lange — Born in Saxony, and emigrated to 
 America 1852; cabinet-maker by trade; occupation, 
 farmer; non-religious, and in politics, independent. 
 Postmaster of Golden Springs for many years. Mr. 
 Lange came to Burt county in the spring of '55 from 
 St. Joe, Missouri, and homesteaded a piece of land 
 which represents his present home; a wealthy farmer; 
 served several terms as county commissioner. In an 
 early day an attempt was made to lay out a town near 
 Golden Springs to be known as "Central Bluffs." A 
 store and some dwellings were erected — but the boom 
 was not popular and the proposed city soon passed into 
 oblivion. 
 
 George E. Atwater — A native of La Porte, Indiana, 
 came to Decatur with $25 in his pocket; engaged in 
 the mercantile business and built up a large trade; 
 chairman of the village board 1881. Now a real estate 
 dealer and proprietor of a furniture store in Yankton, 
 South Dakota. 
 
ISO STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Walter Lewis, an English doctor, left his home in 
 1856, and attired in a broadcloth suit, high silk tile, 
 white gloves, and a stylish walking stick, crossed the 
 state of Iowa with an ox team, arriving in Council 
 Bluffs on the fourth day of July, a picture of woe, his 
 dainty wardrobe a complete wreck; but the spirit of 
 the man was undaunted, and going direct to the 
 county clerk's office, he registered, declaring his inten- 
 tion of becoming an American citizen. Persuaded by 
 friends, the young doctor located in Monroe, a small 
 settlement near Columbus, his residence and office a 
 dug-out. One day, while away on professional busi- 
 ness, a roving band of mischevious Pawnees entered 
 his domain and stole Lewis' bedding, provisions, and 
 clothing. Discouraged by such treatment, he moved 
 to Omaha, and one of the first to practice medicine in 
 that city when it was but a mere village. Dr. Lewis 
 has been a continuous resident of Decatur for over 
 twenty-five years and a practitioner of medicine for 
 over fifty years. Married Miss Carter of Burt county; 
 owns a cozy piece of residence property, and independ- 
 ent financially, religiously, and politically. 
 
 Andrew J. Best. — ^Born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, 
 August 13th, 1833; educated for the ministry, and 
 resigned a charge to enlist in the Union army. Wound- 
 ed in the battle of "Stone River," and receives a pen- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 15I 
 
 sion of $12 per month; 1870 made his home in Burt 
 county and married for the second time, his wife, tfte 
 widow of Judge White, the pioneer justice of Decatur. 
 The hardships and discouragements Mr. Best received 
 in the war disheartened him, and he has never preached 
 the gospel of rehgion since. 
 
 George J. White was born in New York City, Feb- 
 ruary 14th, 1844, and married Miss Susan A. Lewis 
 of Westchester, New York, in the village of Tieville, 
 February 8th, 1871; and to this pioneer couple have 
 been born the following children : James P., February 
 2nd, 1872; Catherine M., July i8th, 1874; Elizabeth, 
 June loth, 1881; Lewis B-, August 24th, 1883; Mary 
 J., February 19th, 1885, and Margurette M., May 
 26th, 1889. Mr. White was mess cook on Captain 
 Overton's steamboat when she sunk while on her way 
 from Sioux City to Omaha; then went to work as 
 waiter in Judge Peak's hotel at Onawa; also drove 
 stage between Decatur and Tieville; United States 
 volunteer in the civil war and receives a pension of 
 $12 a month. Bought 120 acres of land on the 
 "Divide," but sold out later and moved to Decatur. 
 Mrs. White was Tieville's school teacher previous to 
 her marriage. Mr. White is commander of the local 
 G. A. R., and has filled many of the local public offices 
 of the village and precinct. 
 
152 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Edwin Higley was born in Onondagua county, New 
 York, December 24th, 1825, and married Miss Louisa 
 White of Waukesha, Wis., in 1846; and to them were 
 born three children : Herman, Frank E., and Addie 
 F. Enlisted in Union army at Waukesha 1862; and 
 taken prisoner in Arkansas between Pine Bluff and 
 Little Rock; helped take Mobile in 1865, and in the 
 siege of the Spanish Fort; discharged at Brownville, 
 Texas, same year, and July, '66, moved to Decatur, 
 and receives a pension of $12 a month. On July 2nd, 
 1862, he married Mrs. Susie H. Thompson, a widow 
 lady of Decatur, and in their comfortable home they 
 have gathered around them a valuable collection of 
 family relics, such as Mrs. Higley's mother's rocking 
 chair, a hundred years old; an old-fashioned tea pot; 
 some old oil paintings, valued at $500; a pair of can- 
 dle sticks with a tray and snuffers, 1 50 years old, and 
 a black silk quilt, many of the pieces from the scrap 
 tapestry of the royal palaces of Europe. 
 
 Frank O. Y'Dean was born in Sweden, November 
 20th, 1847, ^"d married Miss Charlotte Isaacs of the 
 same country at Linskiping, December 31st, 1872, and 
 to this couple have been born four children : Mary 
 L., August 8th, 1873; John H., April 2nd, 1875; Emil 
 F., May 23rd, 1880, and David J., June 23rd, 1885. 
 Mr. Y'Deen came to this country in 1881, a poor man. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 53 
 
 first working as a section hand on a railroad near Lin- 
 coln. Then he moved to Decatur and adopted farming, 
 being eminently successful, and is now in very com- 
 fortable circumstances. His daughter, Miss Mary, was 
 a member of the first graduating class of the Decatur 
 high schools. Mr.,Y'Deen was also a sharpshooter in 
 the army of Sweden and won several medals for ex- 
 cellent marksmanship. 
 
 Azaziah B. Fuller was born in Erie county, Penn- 
 sylvania, December 9th, 1821; his wife. Miss Mary 
 Crawford, was born in the same county, September 
 27th, 1827, and they were united in marriage in Erie 
 county, November 19th, 1846; and to them were given 
 the following children: Ella G., October 9th, 1847; 
 Helen G., October isth, 1849; Maryannetta, June 29th, 
 185 1 ; Lizzie, November 9th, 1855; Kate, February 
 25th, 1858; Clyde H., September 16, 1861; May C, 
 September 24th, 1866, and Harriet M., July 23rd, 
 1868. Mr. Fuller was one of Decatur's earliest and 
 foremost citizens, always alive to the interests of his 
 town. So much has been said of this venerable pio- 
 neer in preceding chapters that a repetition would be 
 superfluous. He was a large contractor and builder, 
 and most of the dwellings in Decatur of an early day 
 were built by him. He entered into contract to fur- 
 nish ties for the Union Pacific; built Decatur's fine 
 
154 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 school house; erected buildings for the government on 
 the Omaha and Winnebago reservations; also on other 
 reserves; and always to the front in all public enter- 
 prises. His fondest hope was to secure a railroad, but 
 he did not live to see his wish realized. He now sleeps 
 in peace in the village cemetery and his widow is a 
 prominent and influential member of the Episcopal 
 church. Mrs. Fuller's estate is a -large one, consisting 
 of 765 acres of land, 28 town lots,' 2 fine dwellings, 
 and one store building, also a block of lots in Cedar 
 Rapids, Nebraska. 
 
 Charles B. Barlow is an Englishman by birth and 
 came to Paterson, N. J., 1861, and engaged in the silk 
 business. In 1865 he returned to England on a visit, 
 leaving New York on the day President Lincoln was 
 assassinated, but did riot hear the news until his arrival 
 in the harbor of Liverpool. Present in Hyde Park, 
 London, when Prince Albert and the queen bid their 
 soldiers farewell previous to their departure for the 
 Crimean war. Also a guest at a public reception given 
 by the lord mayor of London in honor of the Duke 
 of Wellington, who came into the hall with Queen 
 Victoria leaning on his arm; and during the evening 
 the queen presented to the great general a handsome 
 sword as a token of honor for his valient services ren- 
 dered in behalf of his country. Mr. Barlow also en- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 55 
 
 joys the distinguished privilege of having presented 
 Ws^courtesies in person to the beloved queen and con- 
 versing v^rith her. When he came to this country "he 
 was a poor boy, but by persistant industry and econ- 
 omy has emassed a small fortune. He viras united in 
 marriage to a Miss Choyce of Illinois, and this union 
 was blessed with four children: Rhoda, Charles, 
 Emma, and John, who are now well-to-do residents 
 of Nebraska. Mr. Barlow had the misfortune to lose 
 his estimable companion a few years ago, and she vfas 
 laid to rest in the village cemetery. Mr. Barlow owns 
 one of the largest general stores in Decatur, some val- 
 uable town property, besides a good farm \ west of 
 town. In religion he is a Methodist and in politics a 
 strong republican. 
 
 Charles R. Dakin. — Born in city of Concord, Mas- 
 sachusetts; 1833 made his home in Geneva, New York, 
 and in 1835 moved to Cleveland and clerked in a store; 
 fall of 1839 emigrated to Wakesha, Wisconsin, and 
 engaged in the mercantile business, and 1863 took up 
 his residence on a farm near Decatur, and in 1875 
 established himself as a banker in the village. Served 
 as treasurer of the school board of Decatur. Died 
 many years ago and the remains interred in the village 
 cemetery. 
 
 D. C. Griffin. — Born in Schoharri county. New 
 
156 STORY OF 'AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 York, September 22nd, 1824; occupation, farmer; re- 
 ligion, Methodist, and politics, democrat; has an abso- 
 lute title to 560 acres of improved farming land in 
 Burt county; named in honor of the founder of the 
 New York canal. Governor DeWitt Clinton. Married 
 Miss C. C. Johnson at Elyria, Ohio, October 14th, 
 1846. Mr. Griffin and his estimable wife moved to 
 Decatur from La Porte, Indiana, shortly after the 
 close of the civil war. His residence property is the 
 old Parks place, remodeled at a cost of $3,000, and a 
 typical down-eastern home, surrounded by one of the 
 prettiest lawns in the county. To this aged couple 
 five children have been given: Charles, Frank, Earl, 
 George, and Mary Frances, three of whom are dead. 
 The two surviving members are Charles and Frank. 
 Charles is a prominent insurance agent located at Lin- 
 coln, and Frank is one of Burt county's foremost stock 
 feeders and raisers. 
 
 Cass Cramer. — Bbrn in Springfield, Pennsylvania, 
 January 27th, 1835. When 17 years old enlisted in 
 the Union army. Wounded in a skirmish with Mos- 
 ley, the rebel gorrilla, in the spring of '65 at Hamilton, 
 Virginia. After the war located in Richardson county, 
 Nebraska, and drove a freight team ; interested in a 
 cattle ranch in Knuckles county; cow-puncher on Lar- 
 amie plains. Identified with Thurston county stock 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 57 
 
 men for many years; owns a good farm in Burt county, 
 besides town property; a free born republican; relig- 
 ion, liberal; and receives a pension of $8 per month. 
 Still lives in single bliss, but' not averse to the charms 
 of woman. 
 
 Calvin C. Bacon. — Born Henderson Harbor, New 
 York, June nth, 1838; free thinker and independent 
 democrat. For many years a sailor on the big lakes 
 and the St. Lawrence River. By trade a plasterer 
 and brick mason. 1869 crossed the Missouri at Omaha 
 and receiving an invitation from his brother, 
 came to Decatur, and one of the pleasing landmarks of 
 the village. A poor man when he arrived in Burt 
 county; now owns a good farm, besides some valuable 
 town property. Had a narrow escape from death once 
 by falling from a 14-foot barn and confined to his bed 
 for several weeks. Although a bachelor, he is a lover 
 of womankind, still prefers to live alone. 
 
 E. D. Canfield. — Born in Essex county, New York, 
 May 24th, 1828, near the famous fort which Ethan 
 Allan with three men captured from the English in 
 "the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
 Congress." When 21 he went to Wakesha, Wiscon- 
 sin, and clerked several years. Married Miss Sophie 
 Root of that city, October 17th, 1853; and this union 
 was blessed with two children; Clara Belle, Ocfo- 
 
158 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 ber 17th, 1855, and Willis H., January 29th, 1862. 
 In 1858 Mr. Canfield and his wife emigrated to JTe- 
 braska and made their home in Decatur; Mrs. Can- 
 field the first school teacher in the village. All the 
 money they had on hand when they arrived was a 
 fifty-cent piece. Mr. Canfield taught school among 
 the Yankton Sioux for three years and a half; i860 
 he and Mrs. Root contracted to build twenty-five school 
 houses for the Winnebagoes; also entered into con- 
 tracts with Mr. Fuller for the construction of some 
 dwellings at Omaha agency. In the year of 1881, Mr. 
 Canfield lost his wife through a serious illness, and 
 on May 2nd, 1883, married Miss Cora E. Blue, one 
 of Burt county's estimable young ladies; 1884 became 
 a member of the Decatur bank; member of the village 
 board one year; also served one term as justice of the 
 peace — his only official business to unite in marriage 
 Mr. and Mrs. Daniel E. Morley. Mr. Canfield used 
 to take pride in stating: "The Canfields irepresent a 
 large family, but I never knew one to be in jail, and 
 neither have I ever known one to be rich. This ven- 
 erable pioneer passed away in the spring of 1901, and 
 the remains interred in the village cemetery. He was 
 a direct republican and a strong Episcopalian. His 
 estate valued at about $12,000. 
 Seymore T. Preston. — Born in DeKalb, New York, 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 59 
 
 August 25th, 1824; Episcopalian, and politics, repub- 
 lican; owns a good farm and some town property. 
 Taught school near the place of his birth and drove 
 stage in the city of Boston. Located in Decatur 1858, 
 and a pioneer plasterer. Married Miss Mary M. 
 Brown of Dakota county, i860, and they have three 
 children living: Emma, Ida, and Lettie, the latter 
 who is now one of Decatur's popular milliners. 
 
 Chas. A. Darling was born in La Porte, Indiana, 
 July 9th, 1857, and married Miss Laura Blackstone 
 of Burt county, February 4th, 1882, at Tekamah. A 
 prominent real estate and land agent at Lyons; taught 
 school in Burt county in an early day. His wife's 
 parents are old settlers, locating on the Blackbird in 
 1859. While living here, Mr. Blackstone was raided 
 by the Indians, taking half of his provisions, some 
 spoons, and half of the top of a small cherry wood 
 table. The table is still kept by. the family as a relic. 
 Mr. Darling attended the Decatur schools when a boy, 
 and clerked for George Atwater. 
 
 Pete Riafferty, from Wisconsin, came to this coun- 
 try in '66; engaged in general work near Onawa for 
 several years. Married Miss Gray of Decatur. Farm- 
 ed on the "Divide," near the Blackbird, and then 
 bought out the Tom Whitelaw homestead for $300, 
 his present home, situated a few miles west of town. 
 
l60 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 Peter Coyle and Jerry Carter planted the first trees 
 in the village of Decatur in 1857, hired by the t6wn- 
 site company. A few of these landmarks yet remain, 
 splendid specimens of their specie (cottonwood) and 
 the power of time. 
 
 Silas P. Byram was born in Morristown, New 
 York, October 12th, 1824; and married Miss Sarah 
 Meacham of Newton, New Jersey, at Newark, Octo- 
 ber 31st, 1850, and to this venerable couple the fol- 
 lowing children have been born : Helen J., Henry D., 
 George M., Alice E., Evangeline N., and Eugene L., 
 now well-to-do men and women, successful on life's 
 highway. Mr. Byram was quite wealthy and upon his 
 death a few years ago the property was divided by 
 mutual agreement. 
 
 James Ashley. — Born June 22nd, 1820, town of 
 Northwell, England; bid farewell to his native soil 
 summer of 1852, and six weeks on the ocean, engag- 
 ing passage on a sailing vessel. Lived in the city of 
 Brooklyn and Chicago until 1857, when he moved to 
 Dakota City and opened a blacksmith shop. On July 
 24th, 1859, he was united in marriage to Miss Garner 
 of Dakota county, and to them have been born the fol- 
 lowing children: John, George, Jennie, Fred and 
 Charles. George died August ist, 1880, of inflamma- 
 tory rheumatism; Fred is a prosperous hardware mer- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. l6l 
 
 chant of Decatur; Charles, one of Decatur's popular 
 mercantile dealers, and John is now serving his sec- 
 ond term as treasurer of Burt county, a man who has 
 won the honor and esteem of his associates and 
 friends. Jennie married Mr. Charles Maryott of Pen- 
 der, a wel-to-do and leading lumber merchant of that 
 city. Mrs. Ashley laughingly tells it, the first time 
 she met her husband was at a Methodist church meet- 
 ing in a country school house in Dakota county, and 
 inquired of a lady acquaintance, "Who was that dandy 
 well-dressed little fellow who sat in front of me to- 
 night?" "Why, don't you know?" her friend ex- 
 claimed, "why, that's Jim Ashley, the little English- 
 man, and our new village blacksmith up to Logan." 
 it was surely love at first sight, for Mr. Ashley made 
 similar inquiries in regard to Miss Garner; the young 
 couple soon became acquainted, which ended in a very 
 happy marriage. Mr. Ashley located i6o acres on 
 the river flat, and a man from Omaha, who had the 
 reputation of being a tough character, threatened to 
 shoot the young blacksmith if he did not vacate the 
 premises. But the plucky Englishman was not so 
 easily frightened. Instead of going, he remainea. 
 made some improvements, built a house, proved up 
 and sold out for $800. Through the influence of 
 Agent George B. Graft, i860, Mr. Ashley received his 
 
 11 
 
l62 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 appointment as government blacksmith for tHe Oma- 
 has; 1864 he moved to Decatur and bought a half in- 
 terest in his brother Robert's blacksmith shop; later 
 moved back to the agency, remaining seven years;' last 
 two as post trader. In the summer of '74 purchased 
 Warner's hardware store at Decatur and moved his 
 family down, and the house he lives in now was built 
 by Adam Reems, the first saw mill man of Decatur, 
 and a fifty-niner. Mr. Ashley's oldest boy, John, was 
 the first white boy born on the reservation, and Jennie 
 Bent, daughter of Rev. Bent, superintendent of the 
 Omaha mission in i860, the first white girl. Mr. Ash- 
 ley has filled most of the local offices pertaining to 
 the village of Decatur, without his seeking, and a very 
 quiet, unpretentious man, who is beloved by his neigh- 
 bors for his kindness and benevolence. 
 
 Rev. Charles Cross was born in Genesee county, 
 New York, March 19th, 1822; educated for the min- 
 istry and ordained at Greencastle, Indiana, ' 1854. 
 Rev. Cross was married to Miss Wealthy Cross at 
 Pulaski, N. Y., Oct. 22, 1842; and this loving com- 
 panion was taken from him by the angel of 
 death on April 3d, 1891, at Herman, Neb. 
 Graduate of Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsyl- 
 vania. President McKinley was a "graduate of this 
 college; also Doctor Edward Sears of Decatur. Rev. 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 163 
 
 Cross was stationed at such places as Petersburg, 
 Washington, and New Albany, some of the best ap- 
 pointnients in the conference. Came to Nebraska in 
 1871, locating near Herman, one year before the in- 
 corporation of that town. Superintendent of Wash- 
 ington county from '73 to 'jy; and solemnized more 
 marriages and preached more funeral sermons than 
 any other minister in the county. Also officiated at 
 the funeral of Henry Fontenelle, a noted pioneer of 
 Nebraska. On September 22nd, 1894, Rev. Cross 
 was united in marriage to Mrs. Jane .Clough, a pioneer 
 widow lady of Burt county. Mrs. Clough was born 
 in Victor, Ontario county. New York, March 26th 
 1829, and located at Golden Springs, Nebraska, in 
 1866. Mr. Cross has retired from active service in 
 the church; broad in his views and beloved by his 
 neighbors. He and his estimable wife are comfortably 
 located in Decatur, and the owners of a very pleasant 
 and inviting little fireside. 
 
 James E. Boyd was born in the county of Tyrone, 
 Ireland; ex-governor of Nebraska, and former mayor 
 of Omaha, and became a resident of this city in 1856, 
 applying himself to the carpenter's profession; his 
 brother, John M., was a co-worker. Interested in 
 stock raising for several years near Gibbons, Ne- 
 braska, then an open prairie; proprietor of a merchan- 
 
164 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN". 
 
 dise store at Kearney City; and 1866 accepted grad- 
 ing contracts from the Union Pacific; 1868 returned 
 to Omaha; elected a member of the first state legisla- 
 ture, while a resident, of Buffalo county. Promoter of 
 Omaha's city gas works; and in the winter of 1869 
 organized the Omaha and Northwestern and, its first 
 president, and the road built to Blair. Extensively in- 
 terested in cattle ranches out west; one of the founders 
 of the Central National Bank of Omaha, 1870, and 
 1880 elected a member of the board of aldermen. Mr. 
 Boyd was a resident of Kanesville, just across the 
 river, for several years previous to his location in 
 Omaha. 
 
 J. J. Brown, from New York, located in the city 
 of Omaha in the spring of 1856 and opened a mer- 
 chandise store, and in after years established himself 
 in the wholesale business. A wide-awake citizen arid 
 ^.Iways took a prominent part in public enterprises ben- 
 eficial to the city. 
 
 Samuel R. Brown, a native of Ohio, identified him- 
 self with the city of Omaha in 1854, and grew up with 
 the village. Engaged in mining a few years in Col- 
 orado. A pioneer who was a jack of all trades in an 
 early day; freighting across the plains, carpentering, 
 store keeper, land dealer, miner and banker; and suf- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 161; 
 
 fered many hardships in his struggles for success and 
 wealth. 
 
 James T. Allen, a young man from Pontiac, Mich- 
 igan; 1856 came to Bellevue and opened a hotel, fhe 
 largest in the territory at that time; 1858 moved to 
 Omaha and conducted the Herndon House for several 
 years; 1866 emigrated to Julesburg and established a 
 railroad eating house. Later superintendent of tree 
 culture for Union Pacific; prominent pioneer of Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 James H. Baldw^in, a New York boy, located in 
 Omaha in 1856; employed by the government shortly 
 after his arrival to build bridges between Omaha and 
 Running Water; i860 went to Colorado and engaged 
 in the mining business, and after three years' experi- 
 ence, returned to his old home and interested himself 
 in the wood industry, and emerged into a professional 
 house-mover, also dealing in real estate. 
 
 Jirah P. Page. — Born ' in Herkimer county. New 
 York, March ist, 1847; came to Decatur the night be- 
 fore the morning the Brown Hotel burned to the 
 ground. Carpenter by trade; married Miss Mary C. 
 Moore, a native of Troy, Ohio, April i6th, 1867, at 
 the city of Olena, Ohio; father of five living children, 
 Ida, Ada, Maud, Lewis, and Lyle. Enlisted in the 
 Union army when a mere boy. At one time deputy 
 
l66 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 U. S. marshal, member of village board, and has held 
 other offices. Mr. and Mrs. Page are veteran restau- 
 ranteurs of Decatur, having been engaged in this busi- 
 ness for over twenty years. 
 
 Dr. Louis Phillip Ross, a native of Newton, West 
 Virginia, born June 27, 1857, and married Miss Clara 
 Wolf, of same state. May 30th, 1878. Graduate of 
 medicine, Louisville Medical College, Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky; self-made man, and now prominent doctor of 
 Burt county. Has filled several prominent official 
 medical appointments; taught school eleven years in 
 the states of Kansas, Minnesota, and West Virginia, 
 prior to his study of medicine. In politics a direct 
 democrat and a recognized leader in his party. Dr. 
 Ross has a fine home and his family enjoy life. 
 
 Byron L. Wilder was born in Sandy Creek, New 
 York, August 12th, 1841 ; Miss Chloe Snyder, Sandy 
 Creek, same state, August 9, 1844. They were mar- 
 ried in Sandy Creek by Rev. C. L. Dunning, Febru- 
 ary 22, 1 871; and to them have been born four chil- 
 dren, Maud, March, 1872; Stanton, February 28th, 
 1876; Edward, February 2nd, 1878, and James, April 
 19, 1880. Mr. Wilder came to Decatur March 7, 
 1881; occupation, farmer; member Methodist church, 
 and politics, republican. Died April 17, 1890. His 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 67 
 
 widow owns one residence and fourteen lots and values 
 personal property at $3,c(bo. 
 
 Charles O'. Freeman was born in Kalamazoo coun- 
 ty, Michigan, September 4th, 1867; and when six 
 months old his parents moved to Nebraska, their final 
 home, one mile northeast of Craig. Herded cattle in 
 his young days ; then engaged in the poultry business ; 
 and when about 20 went on the road as a peddler. 
 Came to Decatur in 189.3, with one trunk full of 
 goods — now owns one of the largest general stores 
 in the town. He is the seventh son of twelve children. 
 Married Miss Mina Tallman of Scott county, Iowa, 
 and to them have been born one girl, December 18th, 
 1901. 
 
 John Rasch, a German, born on the banks of the 
 River Rhine, a stove moulder by trade; fought for the 
 Union cause in the civil war, and entered upon a sol- 
 dier's claim in Burt county in 1872; mustered out of 
 army at Madison, Wisconsin, and receives a pension 
 of $6 a month. 
 
 W. S. Page, a New Yorker by birth, arrived in 
 Decatur March ist, 1871; village blacksmith; also 
 land agent; homesteaded 160 acres of land; and jus- 
 tice of the peace for twelve years successfully. An 
 ardent spiritualist. Died January 5th, 1895. 
 
 Levi L. Darling; is a, native of Chesterfield, Mass., 
 
l6S STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 nad made his debut in Decatur 1866. A prominent 
 factor in its youthful history; now lives in Alberta, 
 Canada. A farmer, with broad religion, but strong 
 populist. His sons and daughters are wel-to-do peo- 
 ple of the county. 
 
 Hon. Robt. W. Furnas was born in Miami county, 
 Ohio, and in his youth learned the art of printing; 
 and when 23 years old, editor of the "Times," Troy, 
 Ohio. In March, 1856, located in Brownville, Ne- 
 braska, his present home,- and estabhshed the "Ne- 
 braska Advertiser." Elected to Territorial legisla- 
 ture, and served one year as clerk. When the civil war 
 broke out enlisted in Union army and commissioned 
 by President Lincoln as colonel, and organized an 
 Indian brigade of three regiments; and in Gen. Sully's 
 expedition against the Sioux. 1867 he was appointed 
 U. S. Indian agent for the Omahas, accomplishing 
 much good for this tribe, learning them the rudi- 
 mentary principles of agriculture; 1872 he was elected 
 governor of Nebraska by the repubhcan party. Mr. 
 Furnas has occupied' all of the high offices of the state 
 and eminent in secret societies. To him belongs the 
 honor of having organized the first school board in 
 the Territory of Nebraska, and of having presided 
 over the first educational convention. He has been an 
 active advocate of tree culture and has accomplished 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 169 
 
 much good in this direction for Nebraska, converting 
 barren prairies into valuable tracts of stately forests. 
 Mr. Furnas married Miss Mary McComas of Cin- 
 cinnati, in 1845, and this union was blessed with five 
 children. In recent years he lost his wife and now has 
 taken another estimable companion. This pioneer's life 
 is made up of good deeds, and for these acts of merit 
 and unselfishness the commonwealth has crowned its 
 leader with the civic wreath of public honor. 
 
 Sam Orchard of Omaha, is a native of Washington 
 county, Indiana, and located in Nebraska in 1855. He 
 is one of the oldest living pioneers of the ^ state.; the 
 first man to import potatoes out of Nebraska, a boat- 
 load billed for St. Louis, paying 25 cents a bushel for 
 them. — and made some money in the speculation. On 
 the second shipment, howev,er, he lost money and 
 Orchard quit the business disgusted. In an early day 
 Omaha's leading carpet and furniture dealer; during 
 the rebelhon, assistant provost marshal, also surveyor 
 of customs; in '72 resigned latter charge to accept 
 office of assistant postmaster, acting in this capacity 
 until 1877. Married Miss Crawford of Omaha, 1865, 
 and this union was blessed with two children, Charles 
 C. and Mabel G. Mr. Orchard has been deeply af- 
 flicted, having lost the sweet companionship of a fov- 
 ing wife and the devoted affection of a charming 
 
170 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 daughter and a promising son. Mr. Orchard malcfes 
 his home at the Karbach hotel in Omaha; a man of 
 kindly disposition, beloved by all who know him, and 
 a typical pioneer of Nebraska. Although time has> 
 turned his hair to gray and death has robbed him of 
 his brightest jewels, his faith in a Divine Providence 
 is inviolable, and he lives in the'daily walks of his life 
 a patient and God-loving man, a true representative of 
 the noble characters Who made it possible for Ne- 
 braska to become the glorious and prosperous state 
 she is today. 
 
 A second cousin to Logan Fontenelle, the historical; 
 leader of the Omaha Indians, the author's prerogative 
 to record a truthful sketch of this man ought to be 
 unquestionable, lyiere conjecture or idle imagination' 
 have befen the sources of information used by many 
 writers in regard to his life and tragic death and ac- 
 curate data up to this time has not been presented. 
 Logan. Fontenelle was a Nebraska boy by birth, born, 
 near the little village of Bellevue in the year 1821; 
 and instructed in the rudiments of education by Father 
 De Smit at Kansas City; a small portion of his youth 
 was passed in St. Louis, and he crossed the plains with 
 his father, locating at Fort Laramie, where Mr. Fon- 
 tenelle conducted a trader's post. But most of Logan's 
 boyhood was spent in Bellevue, taking advan- 
 
REMINISCENCES QF NEBRASKA. 171 
 
 tage of the mission schools, and growing up into man's 
 estate among the Indians; a favorite with them, and 
 upon maturity, for his bravery and daring feats, 
 elected chief of the Omahas. Logan Fontenelle was 
 a half-breed; his father a Frenchman and his mother 
 an Indian woman. In stature he was slightly below 
 the medium, straight as an arrow, dark piercing eyes, 
 and long straight black hair; courteous and polished 
 in society, among his own people he was a true Indian, 
 alert and generous to a fault; to an enemy he was re- 
 lentless as he was unforgiving, and led his warriors 
 to many a successful battle against the unconquerable 
 Sioux — an inevitable foe. He was an ardent advo- 
 cate for peace and his intervention in behalf of the 
 whites for the settlement of this country was an m- 
 fluence that is deserving of the highest of human re- 
 wards. The incidents which brought about his prema- 
 ture death may be related as follows : In the spring 
 of 1855, Logan with a band of warriors, some women 
 and children, went up in the valley of the Elkhorn to 
 provide meat for the coming summer. Continuous at- 
 tacks from the Sioux, however, annoyed, the hunting 
 party to such an extent, it became discouraged and 
 turned its steps homeward. When nearing the Elk- 
 horn, and presuming themselves safe beyond further 
 attack, Logan, and a ciiosen few went in the advance 
 
172 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 
 
 and gave chase to a herd of elk they scared up, and 
 unconsciously almost rode into the arms of a roving 
 band' of Sioux. A fight ensued immediately, but the 
 Omahas, much weaker in numbers, sought protection 
 in flight. Logan's scalp had long been coveted by tne 
 Sioux^ — for he was considered a great warrior — and 
 they gave preference to his trail, and followed close 
 in the chase. Fontenelle headed Tiis faithful pony 
 toward the Elkhorn, and ' would have escaped but in 
 crossing the stream his animal mired in the quicksand 
 and mud, and before he could extricate himself the 
 enemy was upon the bank. Logan made a brave fight, 
 selling his life dearly — killing five of the Sioux before 
 he fell frorri his horse. The remaining Dakotahs then 
 detached his scalp — a trophy of high honor — and rode 
 away — just as reinforcements from the Omahas came 
 up. Fontenelle's body was taken to Bellevue, where 
 he was buried by the side of his father, amid much 
 ostentation and elaborate pageantry, participated in 
 by the entire tribe. His untimely death was a deep 
 loss to the Omahas, for he had lived he would have 
 accomplished much good for his people. 
 
 In the summer of 1870 a hunting party of Omahas 
 went down on the Smokyhill, in Kansas, but game was 
 scarce, and had it not been for the kindness and good 
 offices of friendly whites, the Indians would have per- 
 
REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 173 
 
 ished, and as it was, did, in a small degree, suffer the 
 pangs of hunger. This was their last hunt on the 
 once great plains of the west, and realizing the hope- 
 lessness of depending on wild ■ meat secured in the 
 chase, for a subsistence, it was thus the child of na- 
 ture abandoned the field and his favorite sport, 
 through dire necessity, to cope in the struggle of life, 
 with artifice; and became a diligent and progressive 
 tiller of the soil. Fifty years ago the Omaha reserva- 
 tion was a vast area of rolling prairie; its inhabitants, 
 the North American Indians; today the reservation is 
 known as Thurston county; and the North American 
 Indian yet its residents. But what a transformation. 
 Now he ranks in the commonwealth as a citizen; votes 
 at the election booth, and pays his personal taxes. On 
 the Sabbath he attends Christian service, and in tlie 
 week days his children will be found at school — apt 
 and laborious pupils. "Por his neighbor, is the white- 
 man, and his once wild reservation, is now dotted with 
 thriving churches, and crowded citadels of education; 
 the whole land thickly populated with a prosperous 
 and happy people. 
 
 [THE END.]