USA > Nebraska > Platte County > Past and present of Platte County, Nebraska : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 1
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Cc 078.201 P69p v.1 1198398
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01066 6094
PAST AND PRESENT
OF
PLATTE COUNTY,
NEBRASKA
A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement
G. W. PHILLIPS
SUPERVISING EDITOR
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME 1
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1915
1198398
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
JEAN NICOLET AT GREEN BAY
JESUIT ENDEAVOR-REDISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI -- LA SALLE'S UNDERTAKINGS - HENNEPIN'S JOURNEY - LOUISIANA UNDER FRENCH AND SPANISH RULE-CESSION OF LOUISIANA TO THE U. S .- DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA-THE TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA- THE TERRITORY OF MISSOURI-A PERIOD OF NO GOVERNMENT- INDIAN TRIBES AND TREATIES-NEBRASKA AS A TERRITORY- TRADERS AND MISSIONARIES-THE MORMON EXODUS-THE GOLD HUNTERS-NEBRASKA AS SEEN IN 1856-ERECTION OF NEBRASKA - ORGANIZATION OF THE TERRITORY-ARRIVAL AND DEATH OF GOVERNOR BURT-LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL-THE ENABLING ACT-CONSTITUTION OF 1866-PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S VETO- FORMAL ADMISSION OF THE STATE-NEBRASKA AS A STATE- COUNTIES, WITH AREAS 9
CHAPTER II THE PIONEERS
CONSOLIDATION OF TWO TOWN SITE COMPANIES-THE PIONEER MILL -WINTER OF DEEP SNOW-SOME WHO CAME IN 1857. . ... 46
CHAPTER III
WHAT MANNER OF MEN THEY WERE 54
CHAPTER IV
ORGANIZATION OF PLATTE COUNTY
GOVERNMENT-LIST OF COUNTY OFFICIALS FROM 1858 TO 1914- COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-BOARD OF SUPERVISORS-CHANGE TO SUPERVISOR DISTRICTS-COUNTY CLERK-TREASURER-SHERIFF -- CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT-REGISTER OF DEEDS-PROBATE JUDGE - PROSECUTING ATTORNEY - DISTRICT ATTORNEY COUNTY ATTORNEY-COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT-SURVEYOR- CORONER-MEMBERS OF LEGISLATURE. 67
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Rostock Brake
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
FINANCIAL REPORT-ELECTION NOTICE FOR COURTHOUSE-PRE- MIUMS ON TREE PLANTING-CERTIFICATE OF MERIT-TOWN- SHIP SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT ADOPTED. 82
CHAPTER VI THE COURTHOUSE AND OTHERS
COUNTY JAIL-THE COUNTY FARM. 114
CHAPTER VII TRANSPORTATION
HIGHWAYS AND FERRIES-FIRST FERRY-EARLY BRIDGES-TRANS- PORTATION-THE UNION PACIFIC REACHES COLUMBUS-SIOUX CITY AND COLUMBUS BRANCH OF THE UNION PACIFIC-THE FRE- MONT, ELKHORN AND MISSOURI VALLEY RAILROAD-THE BUR- LINGTON AND MISSOURI RAILROAD. 118
CHAPTER VIII RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH- HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY IN COLUM- BUS, NEBRASKA-INDEPENDENT GERMAN EVANGELICAL PROTEST- ANT CONGREGATION - FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH - METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH - PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - CONGREGA- TIONAL CHURCH-GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH- UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST - REORGANIZED CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS-ST. ANTHONY'S (POLISH) CATHOLIC CHURCH - GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN IMMANUEL CHURCH-THE CEMETERY .130
CHAPTER IX EDUCATIONAL
SUPERINTENDENT SPEICE'S ANNUAL REPORT-RURAL SCHOOLS. .146
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER X THE PRESS
THE COLUMBUS GOLDEN AGE-COLUMBUS JOURNAL-COLUMBUS . REPUBLICAN-COLUMBUS GAZETTE-PLATTE COUNTY DEMOCRAT
-THE LEADER-THE COLUMBUS DEMOCRAT- THE COLUMBUS TELEGRAM - THE NEBRASKA BIENE - CRESTON STATESMAN - ยท LOOKING GLASS-MONROE REPUBLICAN-PLATTE CENTER SIGNAL -THE HUMPHREY DEMOCRAT-TIIE LINDSAY POST. 155
CHAPTER XI BENCH AND BAR
PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE BAR. .166
CHAPTER XII
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
PLATTE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. .172
CHAPTER XIII THE SIMPLE LIFE
SOD AND LOG HOUSES -- BREAKING OUT A FARM-PIONEER BEDSTEADS -SHOEMAKERS AND REPAIRERS- EARLY TIME BLACKSMITHS - CARPENTERS AND JOINERS-HARVESTING WILD HAY-BURIAL OF THE DEAD-PRAIRIE FIRES-THE GRASSHOPPER SCOURGE. .176
CHAPTER XIV MILITARY HISTORY
DEATH OF LOGAN FONTENELLE-COLUMBUS INFANTRY-THE CO- LUMBUS GUARDS-MURDEROUS INDIANS IN PLATTE COUNTY- THE CIVIL WAR-PROCLAMATION-PLATTE COUNTY IN THE WAR -SECOND NEBRASKA CAVALRY-WILLIAM BURGESS AND THE PAWNEE RESERVATION 188
CHAPTER XV
SCOUT, INDIAN FIGHTER AND PIONEER CITIZEN
COLUMBUS THE BIRTHPLACE OF BUFFALO BILL'S "WILD WEST SHOW"
-FRED MATHEWS, OVERLAND STAGE DRIVER OF PIONEER DAYS. . 209
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVI REMINISCENCES
WHEN THE OFFICE SOUGHT THE MAN AND FAILED- FIRST DISTRICT COURT IN PLATTE COUNTY - MRS. PAT MURRAY AND THE PAWNEES- INDIANS CREATE A PANIC AT COLUMBUS-THE GLAD- DENITES - TRAGEDY AT SHINN'S FERRY - JOHN E. KELLY, POLITICIAN-MUCH IN LITTLE-HIS NAME WAS JOHN RECK . . . . 216
CHAPTER XVII REMINISCENCES CONTINUED
IMPRESSIONS OF COLUMBUS AFTER TWENTY YEARS' ABSENCE-CO- LUMBUS AND PLATTE COUNTY THEN AND NOW . 229
CHAPTER XVIII CLIPPINGS FROM "JOURNAL" OF EARLY DAYS
FARMERS CLUB-MARCH, 1875, COLUMBUS AS A POINT FOR OUT- FITTING AND DEPARTURE FOR BLACK HILLS-FIRST PLATTE COUNTY FAIR-PLATTE COUNTY FAIR. 235
CHAPTER XIX THIS CHAPTER A LITTLE HISTORY IN ITSELF
SHIPMENTS OF GRAIN-IMPROVEMENTS IN COLUMBUS-IMMIGRA- TION-REAL ESTATE-THE LOUP FORK BRIDGE-PLATTE RIVER BRIDGE-BRIDGING THE PLATTE-SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY -SCHOOL INTERESTS-LOUP RIVER BRIDGE TO BE FINISHED NEXT SATURDAY-PRAIRIE FIRES-STEARNS PRAIRIE-LOOKING GLASS VALLEY- THE LOUP BREAK. 245
CHAPTER XX COLUMBUS
THE FIRST BUILDING- COLUMBUS INCORPORATED AS A TOWN-AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF COLUMBUS-COLUMBUS ABSORBS A RIVAL TOWN-BECOMES A CITY OF THE SECOND CLASS -CITY HALL-FIRE DEPARTMENT-FIRST ANNUAL BALL OF THE FIRE COMPANIES-FIRE DEPARTMENT COVERS ITSELF WITH GLORY -WATERWORKS SYSTEM-SEWERAGE-MUNICIPAL SEWERS- PAVING-ELECTRIC LIGHTS- GAS COMPANY-BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY-INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE COMPANY-MAYORS AND CLERKS FROM 1865 TO 1915-MAYOR- CLERK-COLUMBUS TOWNSHIP 260
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CONTENTS CHAPTER XXI COLUMBUS CONTINUED
POSTOFFICE - HOSTELRIES - AMERICAN HOTEL - THE HAMMOND HOUSE-THE CLOTHER HOUSE-GRAND PACIFIC HOTEL-THURS- TON HOTEL-THE EVANS-AMUSEMENT PLACES-INDUSTRIES PAST AND PRESENT-BANKS-THE COLUMBUS STATE BANK- COMMERCIAL NATIONAL BANK-FIRST NATIONAL BANK-THE GERMAN NATIONAL BANK-YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- TION-AMOUNT SUBSCRIBED BY MARCH 20, 1907-BUSINESS MEN'S CLUB-THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBUS PUBLIC LIBRARY -FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS-GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC -OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION-PLATTE COUNTY'S THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY-COLUMBUS MAENNERCHOR 280
CHAPTER XXII EARLY COLUMBUS NOT DEVOID OF AMBITION ... 308
CHAPTER XXIII
SHELL CREEK TOWNSHIP
DEAD AT LAST - REMINISCENCES OF SHELL CREEK, BY JOHN WALKER .311
CHAPTER XXIV OCONEE TOWNSHIP
MONROE-SOME OF THE FIRST COMERS-POSTOFFICE-THE BANK OF MONROE - CHURCHES -THE SEED GROWING INDUSTRY AT MONROE-VILLAGE OF OCONEE-POSTOFFICE. .319
CHAPTER XXV GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP
HUMPHREY-CITY HALL-ELECTRIC LIGHTS-WATERWORKS SYS- TEM-FIRE DEPARTMENT-ENGINE COMPANY NO. 1-CHURCHES -METHODIST EPISCOPAL-PRESBYTERIAN- GERMAN BAPTIST- FINANCIAL-POSTOFFICE-OLD SETTLER RECOUNTS SOME REMI- NISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS-CORNLEA-POSTOFFICE-FINAN- CIAL 330
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXVI ST. BERNARD TOWNSHIP
ST. BERNARD-LINDSAY-POSTOFFICE-FIRE DEPARTMNT-WATER- WORKS-ELECTRIC LIGHTS-FINANCIAL-FARMERS AND MER- CHANTS BANK-CHURCHES-HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH . 344
CHAPTER XXVII LOST CREEK TOWNSHIP
PLATTE CENTER-POSTOFFICE-WATERWORKS-ELECTRIC LIGHTS
FIRE DEPARTMENT-BANKS-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES. .. .353
CHAPTER XXVIII CRESTON TOWNSHIP
TOWN OF CRESTON-POSTOFFICE-SCHOOLS-CITIZENS STATE BANK -TOWN HALL-WATERWORKS-CHURCHES-PRESBYTERIAN- BAPTIST-FRATERNAL ORDERS. .362
CHAPTER XXIX BUTLER TOWNSHIP
DUNCAN-DUNCAN INCORPORATED-POSTOFFICE. .371
CHAPTER XXX BURROWS TOWNSHIP
TARNOV .377
CHAPTER XXXI MONROE TOWNSHIP
BISMARK TOWNSHIP-SHERMAN TOWNSHIP-JOLIET TOWNSHIP-
LOUP TOWNSHIP .380
CHAPTER XXXII GRAND PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP
WOODVILLE TOWNSHIP-HUMPHREY TOWNSHIP-WALKER TOWN- SHIP 386
CHAPTER XXXIII THE CAUSE OF TEMPERANCE
RED RIBBON MOVEMENT- THE FIRST PICTURE TAKER-PARTITION OF TOWNSHIPS-INFORMATION-DESCRIPTION OF TOWNSHIPS. . 393
Past and Present of Platte County
CHAPTER I
JEAN NICOLET AT GREEN BAY
In 1634 the first white man set foot upon the territory west of Lake Michigan. Jean Nicolet, agent of the Company of One Hun- dred, an association legalized by the French king, ventured thither on a mission of trade, to induce the Indians of that region to send their furs to the lower country. Here he became advised of the fact that there existed "the country of the Illinois," through which the streams flowed into a mightier river to the southwestward. But the French agent did not get sight of the Wisconsin; his explorations were con- fined to a comparatively small area in the vicinity of Green Bay.
JESUIT ENDEAVOR
The time at length arrived when was to be revealed the mystery which had so long enshrouded the "great water." The existence of the river could no longer be doubted. Its exploration above the uppermost point reached by De Soto was only a question of time. Nicolet heard of the mighty stream, but mistook it for the sea. In 1658, two fur traders, who had reached Lake Superior, were told that the ferocious Sioux dwelt on the banks of a great river to the west- ward. And as early as 1665, at what is now known as Ashland Bay, in Wisconsin, a Jesuit missionary-Claude Allouez-talked with wild warriors from the mysterious "Messippi." The same priest four years afterward, while on a visit to the Indians on Fox River, of Green Bay, was assured that the wide rolling river was not far away; that it had its source a great way to the north and flowed southward, they knew not whither. And in 1667, the intrepid La Salle, if he did not actually see the magnificent stream, floated, it is claimed, down one of its principal eastern tributaries. The exploration therefore of the Upper Mississippi could not longer be delayed. Vol. I-1
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
REDISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI
Louis Joliet and James Marquette joined hands to solve the prob- lem of the ocean river of the West-the one a fur trader of the St. Lawrence; the other, a Jesuit missionary at (old) Point St. Ignace, on the north side of the Strait of Mackinaw. The travelers were pro- vided with a simple outfit-two birch-bark canoes, a supply of smoked meat and Indian corn and a limited amount of baggage. They em- barked with five Frenchmen, beginning their voyage May 17, 1673. They paddled along the northern shores of Lake Michigan, then up Green Bay to its head, when they entered the mouth of Fox River. Ascending that stream to Lake Winnebago, they were soon once more in the river they had left, and on the 7th of June they reached a village of the Mascoutins, in what is now believed to be Green Lake County, Wisconsin. Here they obtained two savages as guides to the Wisconsin, as no white man had ever penetrated farther westward than the point they had now reached. On the 10th they again em- barked and were not long after at the "portage," between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, which they crossed. They launched their canoes on the last mentioned stream. Here their Indian guides left them. They could not be induced to venture into a region inhabited by a people, as they believed, the very incarnation of ferocity. With a delight and an exultation which can readily be imagined, the adven- turous Joliet, after descending the Wisconsin to its mouth, floated out upon the bosom of the Mississippi.
Down the current of the river journeyed the Frenchmen, passing in succession the mouths of the Rock, the Des Moines, the Illinois. when they were finally "aroused by a real danger. A torrent of yel- low mud rushed furiously athwart the calm blue current of the Mis- sissippi, boiling and surging and sweeping in its course logs, branches and uprooted trees. They had reached the mouth of the Missouri." Then they proceeded on, passing the more placid Ohio, and still on- ward they paddled their canoes until they reached the mouth of the Arkansas, where they rested. Joliet was satisfied that the Missis- sippi discharged its waters into the Gulf of Mexico, and he resolved to return. Painfully they made their way back, toiling up the stream until they reached the Illinois. Hoping by this river to find a shorter route to Lake Michigan, the explorers entered it, ascending to a "portage," which took them to the stop on which the City of Chicago now stands, where they beheld with joy the outstretching inland sea, then known to them as Lake Illinois, now Lake Michigan. Down
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
its coast they wearily paddled their frail canoes, until finally, in September, they again reached the head of Green Bay. Here Mar- quette remained to recruit his exhausted strength, but Joliet proceeded to the St. Lawrence to make known his important discoveries to Count Frontenac.
LA SALLE'S UNDERTAKINGS
The work left unfinished by Joliet-the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi-was accomplished by the indomitable La Salle. The discovery of a water route to China, the planting of colonies in the West, the building of a fort at the point where the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico-these were the magnificent schemes revolving in his mind while at Fort Frontenac, Canada. Having first obtained a royal commission for perfecting the discovery of the great river, La Salle, with the necessary companions and stores, as- cended Lake Ontario, entered the Niagara River, and, passing around the falls, selected a spot at the mouth of a stream now known as Cayuga Creek, on the American side, about two leagues above the cataract where he commenced building the "Griffin," a bark of sixty tons. This craft, after many delays, was finally fully equipped, and spreading her sails, boldly stood on her way westward-the first ves- sel to navigate Lake Erie. This was in August, 1679.
A pleasant and rapid run brought them to the mouth of the Detroit River. Thence they passed into Lake Huron, and after a rough voyage upon that lake, the "Griffin" was safely moored in the Straits of Mackinaw. In September, La Salle passed westward into Lake Michigan and cast anchor, finally, near one of the islands at the entrance of Green Bay. From this point the vessel was sent back with a rich cargo of furs, under orders to return with provisions and supplies, to be conveyed to the head of Lake Michigan. But the "Griffin" and her crew were never more heard of. She probably foundered and all on board perished. La Salle, with fourteen men, after parting with his vessel, started up Lake Michigan in four canoes deeply laden. After terrible hardships he reached the head of the lake, and, circling around it, paddled his way into the mouth of the river St. Joseph-called by him the "Miamis."
From this river La Salle crossed to a branch of the Illinois, down which he floated to the main stream, on whose banks, below what is now Peoria, he finally rested. Leaving all his companions except five, he then determined to return to Canada to bring forward sup-
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
plies. This return trip was undertaken on foot in the month of March, 1680, and has been commented upon for the daring and hardihood necessary for its successful accomplishment, but more es- pecially as to the route pursued. La Salle followed up the Illinois, crossed over to Lake Michigan and was soon at the mouth of the St. Joseph. Here he was assured of the fate of the "Griffin" by two men whom he found; so he pushed onward with his party through the unknown wilds of what is now southern Michigan. Finally, the Detroit River was reached and crossed and the persevering French- men, taking a direct line thence to Lake Erie, came to its northern shores at a place not far from Point Pelee, he having sent two of his men from the Detroit to Mackinaw. Upon the lake he embarked in a canoe made as best he could, and in it reached the Niagara River in safety. Thence he made his way without accident to Fort Frontenac, at the foot of Lake Ontario, after sixty-five days of incessant toil from his place of starting on the Illinois-the most arduous journey perhaps ever made by Frenchmen in all their expeditions, either in the valley of the St. Lawrence or the Mississippi.
HENNEPIN'S JOURNEY
Previous to La Salle's leaving the Illinois, Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan friar, had been sent down that river to explore it to its mouth, and, after reaching the Mississippi, to move up that river and report his discoveries, Hennepin journeyed as far as the Falls of St. Anthony, which he named, and returned after much suffering and many narrow escapes by way of the Wisconsin River to Lake Michi- gan-wintering (1680-81) upon the Straits of Mackinaw, and finally, in the last mentioned year, reaching by way of Lake Huron and the lower lakes, the river St. Lawrence in safety.
On the 6th day of February, 1682, there stood at the mouth of the Illinois River gazing out upon the silent waters, La Salle. He had returned from Canada by way of the lakes to the point where he then was, his destination being the mouth of the Mississippi. Although fully satisfied that the great stream flowed onward to the gulf, yet, as before mentioned, he was resolved to complete the work begun by Joliet and explore it to its mouth. Boldly he and his party embarked in their canoes. Onward they floated, every stage of their adventurous progress being marked with strange sights, but they hesitated not. They had many adventures with the savages: many hardships to encounter; many obstacles to overcome; but finally, in
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
the early part of April, the great gulf opened before them. They had reached what the sad followers of De Soto had seen one hundred and fifty years previous-the mouth of the Mississippi. Thereupon the whole country drained by the Mississippi was taken possession of in the name of the French king. In the autumn of 1683, La Salle, by way of the Illinois, once more returned to the St. Lawrence. Thus Europeans explored, from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Golf of Mexico, a country to which La Salle gave the name of Louisiana.
"We have given the name Louisiana to this great discovery," said Hennepin to the King of France, in 1682, "being persuaded that Your Majesty would not disapprove that a part of the earth watered by a river more than eight hundred leagues in length, and much greater than Europe, which we may call the Delight of America, and which is capable of forming a great empire, should henceforth be known under the august name of Louis, that it may thereby have some show of right to aspire to the honor of your protection, and hope for the advantage of belonging to you."
The vast area watered by the Missouri was, as yet, an undiscovered country. "As we were descending the river," wrote Marquette of his voyage down the Mississippi, in 1673, with Joliet, "we saw high rocks with hideous monsters painted on them and upon which the bravest Indians dare not look. They are as large as a calf, with head and horns like a goat; their eyes red; beard like a tiger's and a face like a man's. Their tails are so long that they pass over their heads and between their forelegs under their belly and end like a fish's tail. They are painted red, green and black. They are so well drawn that I cannot believe they were made by the Indians. And for what pur- pose they were made seems to me a great mystery. As we fell down the river and while we were discoursing upon these monsters, we heard a great rushing and bubbling of waters, and small islands of floating trees coming from the mouth of the Pekitanoni (the Mis- souri) with such rapidity that we could not trust ourselves to go near it. The water of this river is so muddy that we could not drink it. It so discolors the Mississippi as to make the navigation of it dan- gerous. This river comes from the northwest and empties into the Mississippi, and on its banks are situated a number of Indian vil- Jages. . The Indians told us that by ascending the Peki- tanoni, about six days' journey from its mouth, we would find a beau- tiful prairie twenty or thirty leagues broad, at the end of which, to the northwest, is a small river, which is not difficult to navigate. This river runs toward the southwest for ten or fifteen leagues, after which
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
it enters a small lake, which is the source of another deep river, run- ning to the west, where it empties into the sea." Such was the first description ever given to civilized man of the country of the Missouri; vague and indefinite it is, but bearing some resemblance to the region as it was afterward seen.
The hope entertained by Father Marquette was to find communi- cation with the California Sea, "in order to be able to publish the gospel to all the nations of this New World, who have so long been plunged in heathen darkness." This avenue he was led to believe might be found through what are now called the Missouri and Platte rivers, for from the Indians he had learned that by advancing up the Missouri five or six days, "you come to a beautiful prairie twenty or thirty leagues long, which you must cross to the northwest. It ter- minates at another little river, on which you can embark, it not being difficult to transport canoes over so beautiful a country as that prairie. This second river runs southwest for ten or fifteen leagues, after which it enters a small lake, which is the source of another deep river run- ning to the west, where it empties into the sea." The brave Christian worker was not correctly informed as to the geography of the region beyond Nebraska, but his spirit shines out as one of the most glorious in the annals of devout endeavor through the pages of his journal. Such men are the rare exemplars for the people of all time to shape their lives by. Patient, hopeful, courageous, sincere, the name of Marquette is one to be cherished because of what he was, as well as what he did.
The first effort at cartography in the West was made by Father Marquette in 1673. This crude map contains a much closer resem- blance to the later and more scientifically designed charts than does that of any of the early maps to the regions attempted to be described.
"We found," says the historian of La Salle's voyage down the Mississippi in 1682, "the Ozage (Missouri) River coming from the west. It is fully as large as the River Colbert (Mississippi), into which it empties, troubling it so that from the mouth of the Ozage the water is hardly drinkable."
From the St. Lawrence, La Salle returned to France to make arrangements for colonizing the country he had explored. In July, 1684, he left Rochelle with a fleet of four vessels for the mouth of the Mississippi. Being ignorant of the coast, his vessels went too far westward and landed at Matagorda Bay, Texas. This was Feb- ruary 14, 1685. He was fully one hundred and twenty leagues away from the great river he was in search of. His expedition proved a
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PAST AND PRESENT OF PLATTE COUNTY
failure, for one of his vessels was shipwrecked, and on the 14th of March his principal associate determined to abandon the project of establishing a colony. IIe left La Salle without mechanical imple- ments and other necessary articles to commence operations within an uncultivated region. He was in an unknown country, on an inhos- pitable shore, surrounded by savages and exposed to the most im- minent dangers. A fort was erected to protect them on the Rivere aix Vaches, which was named St. Louis, in honor of the French king. Early in 1686, La Salle decided to return to Canada, taking with him seventeen persons, and leaving twenty at Fort St. Louis, includ- ing men, women and children-the wretched remnant of the one hundred and eighty persons who had accompanied him from France. On his journey from Fort St. Louis, La Salle was assassinated by one of his own men, and his colony left behind was afterward broken up, nearly all perishing miserably at the hands of merciless savages. Thus ended the first attempt at colonizing Louisiana.
Any further attempt at colonization of the Lower Mississippi was interrupted by a war between the Iroquois and the British colo- nies on the one side and the French of Canada on the other, com- mencing in 1689, which was terminated by the peace of Ryswick in 1697. However, several Canadians attracted by the beauty and fer- tility of the country had, meanwhile, established themselves during this period along the shores of the great river. Settlements were also formed in the Illinois country, east of the Mississippi. As soon as peace was reestablished on a solid and permanent basis, the French court bestowed its attention upon the affairs of the New World. On the 27th of February, 1699, Iberville, with a small colony consisting mostly of Canadians, entered the Mississippi from the gulf. In May he planted his colony on the Bay of Biloxi, within the limits of the present State of Mississippi. Sauvolle was the first governor. He was succeeded by Bienville.
LOUISIANA UNDER FRENCH AND SPANISH RULE
On the 17th of September, 1712, the entire province of Louisiana, including the vast country between the Rocky Mountains on the west and the Alleghanies on the east-in short, the entire area drained by the Mississippi-was granted to Anthony Crozart, a wealthy French merchant. Of course, within his grant was the whole of the territory now constituting the State of Nebraska. Crozart agreed to send every year two ships from France with goods and emigrants. In
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