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Nebraska.
Private Library
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1565- 1936
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01814 9150
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GENEALOGY 978.2 B275N
THE
HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT
OF
NEBRASKA.
By JAY AMOS BARRETT, M.A., INSTRUCTOR IN GREEK AND CIVICS, LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL, 1889-1892; AND AUTHOR OF "THE EVOLUTION OF THE ORDINANCE OF 1787."
LINCOLN, NEB .: J. H. MILLER, PUBLISHER. 1892.
COPYRIGHTED 1892. BY J. H. MILLER. (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
LINCOLN, NED : PACE, WILLIAMS & NORTH, PAINTERS.
-
Alp Parents,
In Recognition of their Devotion to Family, Loyalty to Country, and Thorough Integrity in All Things,
This Book
Affectionately Dedicated.
CONTENTS.
PART I .- HISTORY.
CHAPTER. PAGES.
1. Physical Features 1-21
II. Indians .... 22-26
III. Explorers, Missionaries and Traders 27-32
IV. Advance Movements. 33-35
V. The Acquisition of the Territory 36-38
VI. The Kansas-Nebraska Act in Congress
39-43
VII. The Bill Itself. 44-46
VIII. The Territory of Nebraska 47-60
IX. The State.
61-69
X. Development of the Resources of Nebraska ... 70-73
PART II .- CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
I. United States Land Survey 77-81
II. The School District
82-85
III. Cities and Villages 86-89
IV. The County 90-95
V. The State. 96-124
SECTION.
I. Constitutional Studies 98-107
II. Taxation 107-112
III. Elections 112-119
IV. Education 119-122
V. Public Institutions. 122-124
VI. Federal Relations. 125-131
APPENDIX. Constitution of Nebraska 133-161
INDEX
163
MAPS.
MAP.
I. Lines of Elevation 4
II. River Systems. 6
III. Geological Map 13
IV. Territory of Nebraska 48
V. Territory of Nebraska 50
VI. Judicial Districts. 106
VII. Congressional Districts 130
PREFACE.
The annals of Nebraska are so little known and the place of a citizen is so faintly comprehended, that no apology is necessary for offering this volume to the teachers and scholars of the State. A man cannot know his duty to his neighbor or to his government unless he understands how he is related to the other members of society. This work is offered in the hope that it may be easier for teachers to create an interest in this line of study, and also that the work may be useful in private study.
I desire to thank the several friends that have helped me in preparing this book, especially Mr. Frank E. Bishop and Mr. George W. Woodbury. To Prof. George E. Howard I am indebted for my interest in historical work, and I wish to pub- licly express my appreciation of his fidelity as a teacher.
JAY A. BARRETT,
LINCOLN, August 22, 1892.
INTRODUCTION.
The American people are but just beginning to realize the importance of the study of history ; es- pecially of their own history, and more espe- cially of local history. Indeed, the latter has long been in the condition of the prophet who is always without honor in his own country. Men have travelled many weary miles, and have ex- pended large sums of money and hours of valua- ble time, to learn that which has lain at the door of some really intelligent citizen without his ever recognizing that it was or could be of value or interest to himself or to others. The history of some other state, or county, or town-of some other people-that is grand and stirring, and its perusal is fraught with inspiration, with warn- ing, with instruction, with reproof. But we have lived such monotonous lives, we have always been such common people, there has been so little that has been at all striking or out of the usual run of things; of what earthly value or interest are our simple chronicles? Great men and great events are like the ague-always in the next county.
But the time has come when we begin to rec- ognize that this country of ours has been made what it is, not by so-called leaders, or by speech- makers, or by any imposing figures on the can-
Introduction.
vass, but by very common people indeed. We have advanced, not by startling leaps and rapid bounds, but by painful and continuous effort, and by this effort on the part of all the people. And we have come to understand that this progress of the people and of the whole people is of more value and 'of more interest than the pedigree of kings; no matter what kind of kings they may be. The mad career of robber Rome, the rush of mailed knights, the battles of kingdoms for exist- ence-in order that they might the more success- fully prey upon each other; this is or at least has been very taking, and has been on the tongues' end of all our children. But now we ask more about the white-wained prairie schooners, the little settlements that gradually encroach upon the desert or the wilderness; the men and women who made homes in the sod houses and the dug- outs, and the simple folk that while laboring for their daily bread created magnificent mediterran- ean republics in this but recently an unknown land.
He who calls attention to the beginnings of things in this spirit of thankfulness for the work that was thus done and thus well done, who is willing to embalm the more simple story of early struggles for a free state, who calls attention to our own ancestry and our own past, he is worthy of both recognition and gratitude. Mr. Barrett has done this and more in the little volume for which he has very courteously asked me to write
Introduction.
the introduction. Faithfully and patiently he has threaded together the events of early Nebraska life, and has put the result within the reach of every child in the State. The little volume is intended primarily for use in the schools, and that is exactly where it ought to be placed. In the hands of a good teacher, and there should be no others, it will go very far towards giving a correct perspective of our history, towards plac- ing things in their true light and true relations. That the narrative is correctly given is vouched for by the training of the author, received at that University which this State has wisely placed at the head of its system of free schools, and by the excellent work which he has done in other lines and which has received due and prompt recogni- tion by those amply able to speak with authority in such matters.
In adding the chapters on Local Government, the author has greatly increased the value of the volume. Many a man knows all about how the national government is and should be regulated, but cannot name the more simple duties and re- sponsibilities of a probate judge. Many a man can discuss the tariff very learnedly, but has very little idea about local taxation. But the fact is that the home government demands our first at- tention and our greatest care. That touches us more closely than any other form of public life or organization. Only as the local work is well done and intelligently done, can we hope that the
Introduction.
government of the nation will be what it ought to be.
The references to some of the more elementary authorities in the volume lead naturally to the remark, which cannot be out of place here, that there ought to be in every common school in the State a good library, which shall be at the same time a circulating library for the families of the district. A small sum intelligently expended each year would soon work wonders. It is not difficult to see how even this slight addition to the amount now raised, would in some districts, because of our wretchedly unequal method of taxation, seem unbearable. But the good sense of the people of this State will not long endure such a system as is now in vogue. When a county tax is substi- tuted for the present inefficient and unnecessarily burdensome system, the school library will be within easy reach.
No lover of Nebraska, and no one desiring to see better citizenship in this State, can fail to welcome as earnest and painstaking and success- ful an effort as is this little volume.
JAMES H. CANFIELD.
LINCOLN, August 15, 1892.
PART I. History of Nebraska.
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
I .- PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The location of a city or state has much to do with the amount of its rainfall, the strength of its winds and the severity of its weather. It is not enough, therefore, to say that the piece of country called Nebraska lies slightly north of the center of the United States. More than that, it lies on the western side of the great valley drained by the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, bordering on the SITUA- former. It stretches from that muddy
TION. river on the east to the foothills of the
Rocky Mountains on the west. The presence of this high range between Nebraska and the Pacific Ocean keeps out winds and moisture from that direction. Its situation, also, with re- gard to the large body of water south of it must not be overlooked. The Gulf does not seem to be near enough to affect Nebraska much, yet it has a very important influence upon the climate. Only level country intervenes between this state and the water to the south.
In size Nebraska is much larger than the average state. If all divisions of the United States were made the same in size, each would be about 63,000 square miles in extent. Nebraska
2
History of Nebraska.
has 76,885 square miles. Such large figures, however, do not give much idea of its vastness. South Dakota has almost exactly the same area, but Kansas, Utah and Minnesota are somewhat larger, each having over 80,000 square miles. How many of the eastern states could be comfortably located in one of these ordinary western common- wealths like Nebraska or Kansas? From their areas, it appears that all the New England states, with Delaware and New Jersey besides, SIZE. have about 72,000 square miles. How do these divisions of the western prairies, of which there are so many that they seem very ordinary to Americans, compare with European countries ? The larger areas of that continent are, of course, very much greater in extent. Austria, the German Empire, or France, is about three times the size of Nebraska.
Spain, Turkey, Sweden, Norway and Italy are each more exten- sive. But with the smaller areas, most of the republics contained in the Union compare very favorably. Greece with all its islands, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and Wales are to- gether about equal to Nebraska in size.
The northern and southern boundaries of the State are formed, for the most part, by the paral- lels of 40° and 43°. The Missouri, flowing south- east, is the eastern boundary between these lines. The place where this river crosses the northern parallel is about twenty-one and one-half degrees west of Washington, and at the southeastern cor-
3
Physical Features.
ner of the State the river is eighteen and one-half degrees. Therefore the Missouri, as a boundary of the State, flows eastward about 170 miles and BOUND. southward over 200. The parallel of 40° ARIES. is the southern boundary only as far west as the 25th meridian from Washington. The line then follows this meridian to the parallel of 41º which forms the remainder of the southern bound- ary, thus leaving a large rectangular area out of the southwestern corner. The western limit is the 27th meridian. The longest distance across the State from east to west is about 420 miles. From north to south, about 208. The longest distance within the limits, from southeast to northwest, is over 500 miles.
Nebraska is distant nearly 850 miles in a direct line from the mouth of the Mississippi river. The descent from the upper valleys averages only one foot to the mile, making the southeastern corner of the State somewhat less than 875 feet above the Gulf. Starting from this lowest land, the rise is both north and west. At Omaha, which is about
ELEVA- one hundred miles north in a direct line, TION the surface is a hundred feet higher, and AND SLOPE. at Covington, another hundred miles fur- ther north, the river varies between 1,076 and 1,100 feet. The land all along the eastern border lies high above the level of the river, in bluffs and steep ascents. Along the southern boundary the rise is more rapid. From the general level of the southeastern county, beginning at 900 feet, the
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4
History of Nebraska.
country attains an elevation of 3,258 feet at Haigler, in the southwestern corner. This dis- tance is about 360 miles, and the rise is therefore about six and one-half feet to the mile. This rise is quite gradual the whole distance, but a little more rapid in the western part. Similarly the Platte valley descends from 4,096 feet at Sid- ney to 950 feet at its mouth. From Ponca, in the
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WASHINOTON.
MAP 1. LINES OF ELEVATION.
(After Henry Gannett, 1880. Ho. Misc. Doc., 47th Cong., 2nd Sess., Vol. 13. Map 19. Washington, 1883.)
northeastern corner, which is 1,141 feet, the State rises to 3,628 feet at Mansfield, in the extreme northwest. Across the State, from north to south, there does not seem to be great difference between the elevations of the river valleys and of the land which separates them. Four valleys show the following altitudes a little west of center of the State:
The Republican, at Culbertson, 2,565 feet.
The Platte, at North Platte, 2,804 feet.
4000 FEET.
1000
5
Physical Features.
The Middle Loup, at Thedford, 2,842 feet. The Niobrara, at Valentine, 2,579 feet.
It would seem from these that the center of the State is higher than the northern and southern borders, and that the Niobrara and the Republican rivers are of about the same height above the Gulf. The highest points in the State are in the extreme west. The map shows that the land all along the western boundary is above 4,000 feet. Scott's Bluff is thought to be the highest point in the State and is given at nearly 6,000 feet, while Pine Ridge lacks only 500 feet of this.
Nebraska is very well situated in respect to drainage, and is well supplied with rivers and creeks. The smooth and gently sloping surface has a tendency to distribute the running water evenly over the surface of the country. There are three separate valleys of considerable size. In the center of the State and running the whole length from west to east is the Platte River. Its valley occupies very nearly half the State. Most of its tributaries are on the north side, because the water-shed which separates it from the Republi- can Valley on the south is close to it. It drains the country much more than half way to the Nio- brara on the north. The names Platte and Ne- braska are the same in meaning, the first being DRAIN- French and the latter Indian. They sig- AGE. nify shallow water. Extending almost the whole length of the northern border is the valley of the Niobrara, which is said to be a Ponca
6
History of Nebraska.
word meaning the same as the word Nebraska. This river drains about a sixth of the State. The Republican River, which courses half the length of the southern boundary and then turns south into Kansas, receives the water from a larger part of the State than the Niobrara by about 2,000 square miles. In the northeast and southeast,
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MAP II. RIVER SYSTEMS.
A. Valley of the l'latte.
B. Valley of the Repub ican.
C. Valley of the Niobrara.
D. Lands draining directly into the Missouri.
E'. Lands without surface drainage.
F. Lands drained by the Cheyenne and White rivers.
small areas drain directly into the Missouri. In the northwestern part is a triangular piece of country that does not appear to have any connec- tion with the large rivers that drain the State, at least on the surface. There are some small creeks which run a few miles and then are entirely taken
7
Physical Features.
into the soil again. This tract occupies upward of 7,000 square miles.
The mean annual temperature of the State varies from 46° to 51°. As in the case of the rainfall, it is highest in the southeast. CLIMATE. During the spring and summer there are many consecutive days with the tempera- ture above 50°, and this fact is of great impor- tance to the farmers. The highest temperatures that occur anywhere in North America are found within a tract of country extending the full length of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers,
TEM-
PERA- and lying for the most part west of them. TURE. The central and southeastern parts of Ne- braska lie in this region. It is expected that at times the mercury will reach a high figure. The greatest recorded temperature of the State is 112º above zero, and the lowest 35° below. There is therefore a range of 147º.
Temperature and rainfall in Nebraska seem to be arranged so that the farmer may get the largest amount of good at the growing season. The annual fall of rain is twenty-four inches, a very ordinary amount compared with other places fur- ther east. If this were evenly distributed through- out the year, there would be for each month only two inches of rain. This would not be enough to allow the crops usually planted in the State to mature properly. Fortunately it is not so distrib- uted, for much of it comes just when the growing and maturing crops need it. About two-thirds of
8
History of Nebraska.
all the rain falls during the five months from April to August inclusive. In the winter months, when there is less need for rain, very little falls. For each of the months of November, December, Jan- RAIN- uary and February, the average is less
FALL. than an inch. In comparison with the states directly east of it, Nebraska has not so large an annual fall of rain, but the country is as fav- orably situated for agriculture, because that which does fall comes when it does the most good. In its distribution over the State, the southeast is more fortunate than the west. The rainfall in the former is even greater than in the extreme eastern states, from Maine to Virginia. The amount gradually decreases toward the western and north- western regions of the State, where the average for the year is smaller than in the eastern half of the United States. It is often insufficient to pro- duce good crops. The weather reports fail to show that there is any increase in the rainfall, yet there is a general impression that the amount is greater than it was many years ago.
West of the Mississippi, from the Gulf to Brit- ish America, is an uninterrupted plain, sloping gradually from north to south. A former Chief Signal Officer of the United States, Gen. A. W. Greeley, says that there is here, perhaps, the most remarkable wind system in the world.1 The winds blow continuously and often violently over these plains, because they are so extensive and
1 American Weather, 172.
9
Physical Features.
almost no obstructions exist. In general, the winds are strongest near the sea, and their force grows less and less towards the interior of a country. But here is found a notable exception.
Here the winds are as strong as near the WINDS. coast and are often more violent. In a country heated as readily by the sun as these plains are, there will be occasional breezes from every quarter. But the surroundings of the region give the prevailing direction to the winds. One expects to find them blowing mostly from the north or from the south, because the great Rocky Mountain Range extends all along the west. The weather reports show that this is true. During the year 1890, more than half of the monthly reports from weather stations in Nebraska gave prevailing north and northwest winds. A smaller number of reports showed winds from the very opposite direction. There was scarcely any east wind, and comparatively few times did west and southwest winds prevail. The wind in Nebraska most frequently blows in the same direction in which the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri river extend. In the year mentioned, north and north- west winds prevailed during the eight months from October to May inclusive. For the four other months of the year, the winds were from the south and southeast.
Among the things which visitors remember longest after passing a winter or a summer in the State of Nebraska, are the storms. Especially is
10
History of Nebraska.
this true of the winter storm called a blizzard,
which occurs here quite as frequently as STORMS in Dakota or Minnesota. The disturb- ances of the atmosphere called by the Weather Bureau "low area storms" and "high area storms," usually start on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, either at the northwest near the head- waters of the Missouri, or at the southwest in New Mexico. If they start in the northwest, they generally take one of two directions: either they pass eastward over the Great Lakes, (a) Low or else they go southeast, following the Area
Storms.
Missouri valley. In the latter case the storm is felt in Nebraska, but commonly passes too far to the north to affect the State seriously. When currents of air over a large extent of territory move towards the center, going round in the direc- tion opposite to a clock's motion as they come together, and rising there, the whole is called a cyclonic or low area storm. The center of the disturbance also moves along like the little eddies or whirls of water in the rivers. In the case of a storm such as this, the air is disturbed for hun- dreds of miles on every side. In any one place the wind blows toward the center of the storm, unless that is near. The general rule is "Turn your back to the wind, and the center of the storm is to your left." It is usually in the southeastern Torna- part of these low area storms that torna- does. does occur. These are so-called by the Weather Bureau, but they are known in the news-
11
Physical Features.
papers as cyclones. Nebraska is so situated with regard to the passage of low area storms, either from the northwest or from the southwest, as to escape many that occur to the northeast, east, or southeast. As storms pass up from the south- west, many tornadoes begin in the eastern part of Kansas, and go over into Missouri. The loss of life from tornadoes in the latter state is greater than anywhere else in the United States.
Winter storms are generally of the other kind. In these the air moves in the opposite direction in all respects. It goes away from the center, at which the air is descending, and circles round in the same direction as the hands of a clock. An- other name for them is anti-cyclones. During this kind of a.storm, the cold air pours down from the north across the smooth plains, often swiftly and violently. With enough snow to fill the air,
it becomes the blizzard. It begins in (b) High Area the north, above Montana and Dakota, Storms. and either passes directly to the south
across Nebraska and Kansas, or crosses the country eastward and enters the St. Lawrence valley. Sometimes it takes a half-way course be- tween these two. Thedanger from blizzards in the north lies in the combination of high wind, in- tense cold, and drifting snow. High area storms also cause great damage to crops further south, by carrying snow and cold even into Florida. To this class belong the great storms of February 9-14, 1881, and January 12, 1888.
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History of Nebraska.
There is such an immediate connection between the agriculture of a state and its geology, that it is proper to take a glance here at the rocks of Ne-
ROCKS braska. In its youth the Earth was
AND mostly covered with water. It has been
SOILS. found out that the part of North America which first showed itself, was a V-shaped piece of land extending northward from the Great Lakes. The ceaseless
Nebraska was still sea-bottom. action of the water upon the original rocks con- stantly formed sediment, and during untold ages layers were gathering over the surface of the State. For an inconceivable long time this process went on, the land-surface slowly increasing and the water growing more shallow. The sediment de-
posited by the water became hard, and is
THE
EARLI- now called limestone, sandstone and shales.
EST
ROCKS.
There finally came a period when the whole swampy region from Pennsylvania to Ne- braska was covered by the rankest growth of vegetation. After great masses of plant life had accumulated, the level of the surface sank, letting in the salt water again and causing a layer of sediment over the vegetation. In this manner the great coal beds of the country were formed. The growth of plant life was not so heavy in the West as in Pennsylvania and the East, for the beds of coal that are found in Nebraska are com- paratively thin. This process of forming coal beds went on until there were in some parts of North America as many as seventy-six seams of coal with
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Physical Features.
COAL the intervening deposits of rock. All
MEAS- URES. these layers together are called the coal measures. It is only in the southeastern part of Nebraska that these rocks appear. The layers of coal are too thin and the quality too poor for it to be mined, except for local use. Of the limestone, shale and sandstone which make up the sediment deposited at this time, the first is the most important, both for making soil and for building purposes. These oldest rocks on the
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(After a map of Prof. Lewis E. Hicks in Agricultural Report of Ne- braska, 1889, p 367.)
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