Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties, Part 3

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 820

USA > Nebraska > Adams County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 3
USA > Nebraska > Clay County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 3
USA > Nebraska > Hall County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 3
USA > Nebraska > Hamilton County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton counties, Nebraska, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 3

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

from her body, leaving it naked. The men who perpetrated this outrage belonged to Company B, of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and it is quite needless to remark that they were never brought to justice.

In 1876, the government decided to remove the Poncas to the Indian Territory. By this time the Poneas had acquired many of the arts of civiliza- tion. They had comfortable homes, well-tilled farms and supported a school. It was hard for them to leave the homes where they had lived for so many years, especially as they could not understand why they should be compelled to go. A number of chiefs visited the lands in the Indian Territory and found them so cheerless and so sterile that they protested vigorously against the proposed removal, but all in vain. They were forcibly removed from their homes by the soldiers, and compelled to marele to the Indian Territory, where they lived most un- happily. Finally Standing Bear and thirty of his people ran away from the Indian Territory, and after a long weary foot journey of three months reached their old friends on the Omaha reservation. They were again arrested. Standing Bear, in his narra- tive of the sufferings of his tribe, says: "Half of us were siek. We would rather have died than have been carried baek; but we could not help ourselves." But help did reach them from an unexpected source. The news of their arrest roused no little excitement in Omaha. At the request of an Omaha editor, Mr. T. II. Tibbles, two prominent attorneys, A. J. Pop- pleton and John L. Webster, applied for a writ of habeas corpus. Standing Bear and his people were brought before Judge Elmer S. Dundy, of the Uni- ted States District Court. The ease attracted National attention. It was argued eloquently and ably by G. M. Lambertson, United States District Attorney, on the one side and by Messrs. Poppleton and Webster on the other. Judge Dundy decided that the Indian is a "person" within the intent and purpose of the constitution, and released the pris- oners. The result of the trial attracted general attention through the East and much sympathy was manifested for the unfortunate Poncas. They were finally restored to their reservation, where they still reside in peace and contentment.

The Pawnees were probably the largest and most

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powerful Indian nation that lived in Nebraska pre- vious to the advent of the white men. When Louis and Clarke visited the Platte country they found the Pawnees living on the south side of the Platte River, forty-five miles above its month. There were four branches of the tribe at that time-the Pawnees proper, consisting of five hundred men with their families, the Republican Pawnees, so named from their having lived on the Republican branch of the Kansas River, whence they emigrated to join the principal band on the Platte. They numbered about 250, exclusive of women and children. The third was the Pawnee Loups, or Wolf Pawnees, who re- sided on the Wolf Fork of the Platte River nearly a hundred miles from the main branch of the tribe. These numbered 280 men. The fourth band for- merly resided far south of Nebraska, but in their wars with their enemies they were so often defeated that they were compelled to move northward to a land where they could be at peace. The four tribes soon after the visit of Lewis and Clarke in 1804, formed a confederation and became practically one tribe. In 1834 they ceded to the United States all their lands south of the Platte River. By another treaty, in 1848, they relinquished still another part of their lands, and by a subsequent treaty made in 1857, after the organization of Nebraska Territory, they gave up all their lands and settled upon a reservation of 288,000 acres of land in the Loup Valley. Here they resided until 1874, when they consented to a removal to the Indian Territory, where they still reside.

The Otoes, another small tribe found in Ne- braska by Lewis and Clarke, were spoken of as the remnant of a once powerful nation. Their home was originally on the west bank of the Missouri, about thirty miles above the mouth of the Platte River. They were of a wandering disposition, in frequently moving from point to point. At one time their village was located upon the present site of the city of Omaha and at another time near the present site of Nebraska City. Their first treaty with the government was made in 1834, by which they ceded to the United States a large portion of the lands they had hitherto claimed as their own. Again, in 1854, they ceded to the United States all

their lands, taking in lieu thereof a reservation in the southeastern part of the State, a portion of which they still occupy.

The Omaha Indians formerly resided north of the Missouri River, in Dakota; but being constantly harrassed by the Sioux they moved into Nebraska in the early part of the present century. When the Territory of Nebraska was organized the Omahas claimed as their territory the lands west and south of the Missouri and adjoining it, and north of the Platte River. In 1854 this land was ceded to the United States, the Omahas removing to a reserva- tion of 345,000 acres in the northeastern part of the State.

The Sioux tribes more properly belonged to Iowa and Dakota; but in the early part of the pres- ent century they overran the Nebraska country, and for many years claimed all that part of the State lying south of the Platte River as their hunting grounds. They were the most warlike of all the western Indians and were constantly at war with their neighboring tribes. The Pawnees were their deadliest enemies, and the two tribes were almost constantly at war. The supremacy of the Pawnees was finally settled in 1832 by one of the most des- perate encounters ever recorded in the annals of In- dian warfare. The battle was fought near the junc- tion of the Big Sandy and Little Blue River, within the present limits of Jefferson County. According to the best accounts, 16,000 savages participated in the conflict. The Pawnees were under the command of the chief Tac-po-ha-na, while the Sioux were led by Oco-no-me-woe, of whom it is claimed the cele- brated Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, is a lineal descen- dant. The struggle for supremacy lasted for three days and the Sioux were completely worsted, losing over 3,000 men. The Pawnees sustained a loss of 2,000 men. The story of this most remarkable con- flict was told in 1870 by an aged French trader named Mont Crevie, one of the numerous agents of the American Fur Company, who were scattered all over the western plains.

From the time Nebraska was formally thrown open to settlement until the white settlers became so numerous as to be formidable, the Indians, and especially the Pawnees, were exceedingly trouble-

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

some. Their depredations, however, consisted mostly of petty thievery, with an occasional murder and outrage. The only serious uprising of Indians in Nebraska, since the organization of the Territory, . occurred in 1864. A number of causes have been · assigned for this uprising; but it is probable that the Indians had been nursing the accumulated griev- ances of years, until their anger had been fully aroused to a formidable outbreak. Their plans in- cluded nothing less than the complete extermination of the white settlers along the trails from the western to the eastern part of the State. The up- rising was planned with a skill and cunning known only to the savage breast. For two years the prep- arations went on. Every Sioux and Pawnee Indian was well armed with the most approved modern weapon, and for a time it was believed that these arms were secretly supplied by the agents of the Confederate government, and that the great out- break was instigated by these emissaries of seces- sion. Bnt, whether this was the case or not, it is needless to say that but little credence has ever been paid to the story. A party of Indians had been de- tailed to attack every settlement along the Fremont trails for a distance of two hundred miles. The morning of Sunday, August 7, 1864, had been selected as the day for the assault along the entire line, and on that day the assault was made simul- taneously according to program. The first mas- sacre reported was at Plumb Creek, in Dawson

County, where eleven settlers were murdered in cold blood. Plum Creek was a telegraph station, and the operator, divining at once that the threat- ened outbreak had come, immediately flashed the news along the line, giving warning of the danger. The existence of the telegraph line, together with the fact that the Pinm Creek massacre occurred earlier in the day than any of the others contem- plated, saved the lives of many settlers who took measures to protect themselves upon receipt of the warning. A stampede of settlers to the eastern part of the State at once commenced. Nearly every settlement in the valley was abandoned, the settlers pushing for the Missouri River in order to escape destruction. The government threw all available troops in the west into the Platte Valley and after three weeks of arduous work, in which many In- dians as well as soldiers lost their lives, the, upris- ing was quelled. The majority of the settlers ven- tured back to the homes they had abandoned with so much precipitation, and peace once more reigned along the Platte.

The uprising of 1864 was the last serious dis- turbance raised by the Indians in Nebraska. Since that time a number of "scares " have occurred; but these instances are hardly of sufficient importance to be worthy of especial mention. They will be treated of fully in the history of the connties, where they are chiefly interesting by reason of their local associations.

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

CHAPTER III.

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE TERRITORY-POPULATION OF NEBRASKA AT THE FORMATION OF THE TERRITORY-THE EARLIEST VISITS OF THE WHITE MEN-THE TRADING POST AND SETTLEMENT AT BELLEVUE-COL. PETER A. SARPY-THE MORMON SETTLEMENT AT FLORENCE-FIRST ATTEMPTS TO FOUND THE CITY OF OMAHA-THE SETTLEMENT OF DOUGLAS COUNTY-COL. JOHN BOULWARE- THE SETTLEMENT AT ST. DEROIN-THE FOUNDING OF BROWNVILLE-EARLY HISTORY OF DOUGLAS COUNTY-STEPHEN STORY AND HIS SETTLE- MENT IN RICHARDSON COUNTY.

Hail, memory, hail ! In thy exhaustless mine From age to age unnumbered treasures shine! Thought and her shadowy brood thy call obey, And place and time are subject to thy sway .- Rogers.

N the 30th of May, 1854, when President Pierce affixed his signature to the Kansas- Nebraska bill, the Territory of Nebraska gave but little promise of the great State of to-day. The white popula- tion of the Territory at that time was less than 3,000 souls, scattered among the little settlements at Bellevue, Omaha, Brownville and other places along the Missouri bottoms.

The oldest settlements in Nebraska were made within the present bound- aries of Sarpy county. Lewis and Clarke, in their famous expedition in search of the headwaters of the Missouri River, explored that part of Nebraska lying immediately adjacent to the mouth of the Platte River, in July 1804, and camped for some time near the present site of Bellevue. In 1805, the same spot was visited by Mannel Lisa, a Spanish adventurer, who had doubtless been attracted to the region more from curiosity than from any more practical incentive. It was not, however, until 1810, that a permanent

settlement was attempted in Nebraska. In that year the American Fur Company, organized and controlled by the genius of John Jacob Astor, estab- lished a trading-post at Bellevue, and placed a French-Canadian by the name of Francis Deroin in charge. Deroin was soon afterwards succeeded by a fellow-countryman named Joseph Roubidoux, who held the position until 1816, when he was in turn succeeded by John Carbanne. The latter agent remained until 1823, when he was relieved by Peter Sarpy, a man whose name is inseparably linked with the early history of the Territory of Nebraska. He was a splendid specimen of the hardy race of pioneers who have at the present day almost entirely disappeared. He possessed all the hardihood, all the bravery, all the endurance, necessary for a life on the ragged edge of civilization. At the time of the formation of the Territory, Peter Sarpy was described as being abont fifty-five years of age, rather below the medium in height, with black hair, dark complexion, well-knit and compact features and a heavy beard that had scorned the razor's edge for many years. His manner was commanding, his address fluent, and, in the presence of the opposite sex, he was polished and refined. He preferred the

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

freedom of the western plains to the gaiety and refinement of the more civilized life of the East, and was never happier than when visiting the rude wig- wams of the Indians encamped around the old trad- ing-post. Such was the appearance and character- isties of one of the oldest settlers of Nebraska. In the same year that Peter Sarpy arrived at Bellevne the Indian agency, which had previously been located at Fort Calhoun, within the present limits of Wash- ington County, was also removed to Bellevue, mak- ing the place the most important settlement in the Territory. The trading post drew all the fur trap- pers, traders and Indians for hundreds of miles around, and in certain seasons of the year Bellevue presented an exceedingly lively and animated appear- ance. The affairs of the little settlement pursued the even tenor of their ways until 1846, when it received new accessions. A representative of the Presbyterian Board of Missions, in the person of Rev. Edward MeKinney, visited Bellevue in that year, and decided to establish a mission at that point. The mission was duly established, a school house erected, and D. E. Reed placed in charge. Mr. Reed was another early pioneer who was prom- inently associated with the settlement of Nebraska. He was the first school teacher, the first regularly- appointed postmaster, and the first editor in the new Territory.

Up to the year 1852 the settlement at Bellevue had always been known as Council Bluffs. This name was not, however, entirely satisfactory to the settlers, and in that year steps were taken to form a company and lay out a town. It was not until February 9, 1854, however, that the town company was formally organized and the settlement given the name of Bellevue. The original incorporators of the town of Bellevue were Peter Sarpy, Stephen Decatur, Hiram Bennett, George Nepner, William R. English, James M. Galeswood, George F. Furner, P. J. McMahon, A. W. Hollister and C. A. Ford. The first postoffice in Nebraska Territory was estab- lished at Bellevue in 1849, but it was not until 1855, nearly a year after the Territory had been formally erected and thrown open to settlement, that a regu- lar postmaster, Mr. D. E. Reed, was officially appointed.

At the time of the organization of Nebraska, Bellevue was the most important settlement in the Territory, and would have undoubtedly been selected as the capital but for the strange perversity of one man. In October, 1853, Gov. Burt and Secretary Cuming, the Territorial officers appointed by Presi- dent Pierce, arrived at Bellevue for the purpose of setting up the Territorial government. By an in- serutable dispensation of all-wise Providence Gov. Burt died after having resided in Nebraska but ten days. Secretary Cuming, who assumed the duties of governor until a successor to Mr. Burt could be regularly appointed, proposed to locate the capital of the new Territory at Bellevue, providing 100 acres of land were donated to the future State. Rev. Mr. Hamilton, superintendent of the Presby- terian mission, which controlled the town site of Bellevue, as well as the lands immediately surround- ing the town, declined to donate the land asked for, and in consequence Omaha became the first capital of the Territory of Nebraska.

In 1819 the government located a military post within the present limits of Washington County. The post was then called Fort Atkinson, but after- ward this name was changed to Fort Calhoun. It stood on the spot where Lewis and Clarke held their famous council with the chiefs of the Otoe and Missouri Indians.

Next to Peter Sarpy, John Boulware is believed to be the first white man to attempt a settlement in the yet nnorganized Territory of Nebraska. Ile established himself at Fort Calhoun in 1826 and resided there for many years. In 1846 he estab- lished, or rather, was placed in charge of a govern- ment ferry, at Fort Kearney, at the present site of Nebraska City. The fort was used as a military post by the government until 1848, when it was abandoned and the garrison removed to new Fort Kearney. The American Fur Company also estab- lished a trading post at old Fort Kearney in 1846 or 1847, and continued it until 1854.

A trading post was established at St. Deroin, in the southern part of Nemaha County, in 1853, and a town laid ont. Robert Hawke, afterward a prom- inent merchant of Nebraska City, opened a small store at this point in that year. In 1854 Richard

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

Brown came to Nemaha County, and located on the spot where Brownville now stands.

Next to the settlement at Bellevue, the most im- portant settlement made in Nebraska, previous to the formation of the Territory, was made within the present confines of Douglas County. The first set- tlement at Omaha was not made until 1852 or 1854; but previous to this time the Mormons in large num- bers had found a temporary residing place near that city. In 1844 the Mormons were driveu from Illi- nois. The higher civilization of the East declined to tolerate their peculiar religious beliefs, and they pushed westward toward the setting sun in hopes of finding some place where they could live up to the tenets of their religion without fear of molestation. They crossed the Mississippi, wended their way through the broad State of Iowa, and crossed the Missouri. Here, on the extreme western limit of civilization, they believed they might rest in peace. A colony was located upon or very near the present site of Florence. Here the Mormons built quite a city, with residences, stores, and a place of worship. The land surrounding the settlement was cultivated, and within a short time fully 10,000 disciples of Joseph Smith were settled in and around Florence. The Mormons, however, were not destined to become important factors in the developement of the new Territory. In 1850 Brigham Young had taken a band of pioneers across the plains, over the Rockies, to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, where he founded the city that has become known throughout the civilized world as the one plague spot upon the map of the United States. As soon as it was deter- mined to make Salt Lake City the metropolis of a new Territory, where the disciples of Smith could practice their peculiar teachings, the Mormons all over the East prepared to emigrate to the modern Zion. In 1851 the Mormons at Florence abandoned their homes and farms, took up their journey west- ward, and the place that had known them for six or seven years knew them no longer.

After the Mormon hegira there is no definite record of any permanent settlements in Douglas County for several years. The city of Council Bluffs, on the opposite side of the river, had, in 1853, become quite a city, with 2,000 inhabitants.

In June, 1853, William D. Brown established a ferry between Council Bluffs and the Nebraska side, and made several explorations along the river bot- toms. In the same month a company was organ- ized for the purpose of locating a town opposite Council Bluffs and operating a steam ferry-boat be- tween the two points. The company was composed of William D. Brown, Joseph Street, Jesse Wil- liams and Enos Lowe. These gentlemen visited the site of the proposed city of Omaha several times, made friends with the Indians and "squatted" on several claims. Owing to the fact that the Indian title to the land had not yet been extinguished, no attempt was made to make a complete settlement. In the meantime, A. D. Jones, a surveyor living in Council Bluffs, had crossed the river to Nebraska and, with the consent of the Indians, settled upon a claim which he proposed to occupy as soon as the Territory was thrown open to settlement. Nothing further was done in the way of settling Douglas County until the following year.

Early in the spring of 1854, as soon as it be- came apparent that the Territory would be formally organized and thrown open to settlement, a number of men crossed the river from Council Bluffs and took up claims. Among these the names of the following have been preserved: A. D. Jones, J. E. Johnson, Robert B. Whitted, William Clancy, Jef- fry Brothers, J. C. Reeves, James Hickey, Benja- min Leonard, A. R. Gilmore, C. H. Downs, W. P. Snowden, O. B. Seldon, J. W. Paddock, William Gray, John Withnell, George L. Miller, A. J. Pop- pleton, Loran Miller, J. G. Megeath, A. B. Moore, O. D. Richardson. There were others who came about the same time, and these, with the ones named above, were the first bona-fide settlers of Douglas County. They were typical specimens of the pio- neers who laid the foundation for the magnificent city of Omaha and State of Nebraska. They went about the work of building a town with commend- able zeal and earnestness. Dwelling houses, stores and shops were commenced and places of business opened. The first building was completed by A. D. Jones on May 28, 1854, just two days before Presi- dent Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska bill. A town site was selected, surveyed and platted, and

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

the new city named "Omaha." The history of Omaha and Douglas County would of itself fill a large volume; but as it is the purpose in these pages, and especially in this chapter, to give merely a brief sketch of the history of the State of Nebraska, no effort will be made to follow up the history of sin- gle counties not included in the scope of the main body of the work.

Still another early settlement in Nebraska, pre- vious to the organization of the Territory, was made at the mouth of the Platte River, within the present limits of Cass County. In the spring of 1853, Sam- nel Martin, having first obtained the necessary per- mission from the government to establish a trading post in the Platte country, crossed the river from Iowa and erected a two-story building at a point on the south branch of the Platte River, near its mouth, where the city of Plattsmouth now stands. This was the first building erected by a white man in Cass County, previous to the organization of the Territory. In June, 1854, as soon as the news of the final opening of the Territory had been received, a large number of settlers crossed the Missouri River from Iowa and staked out claims. The largest settlement was made at Plattsmouth, and in 1856, two years after the Territory had been organized, Cass County contained a population of 1,251.

Another Nebraska pioneer, whose name is worthy of especial prominence in the pre-Territorial history of Nebraska, was Stephen Story, who settled in Richardson County in 1844. Although born in Vermont, Story was taken to Canada by his parents

when but two years of age, where he lived until he was twenty-one. In Canada he fell in with a class of young men whose adventurous spirit led them to adopt the lives of lumbermen, traders and trappers. Young Story joined a party of kindred spirits and all came to the West. He wandered up and down the Missouri Valley and finally settled in Richard- son County, in 1844. But the Indians made mat- ters decidedly unpleasant for him and he was com- pelled to leave. He joined the army and served in the Mexican War, after which he drifted to Califor- nia. In 1850, after working in the gold mines of the Golden State for a year, he turned his face to the plains and again settled down in Richardson County, this time permanently. Ile lived upon a farm for a number of years and started the town of St. Stephen. He was a prominent figure in Rich- ardson County until the day of his death, which occurred on January 27, 1882.

Two other well-known pioneers were Charles Martin and F. X. Dupuis, both of whom settled in Richardson County previous to the formation of the Territory. Both had been trappers and hunters, and both had passed through all the strange vicissi- tudes of a life on the plains.

In the foregoing pages of this chapter has been given a brief sketch of the settlement of the Terri- tory previous to its formation. When Gov. Burt arrived in Nebraska to assume the duties of gov- ernor of the new Territory, he found well-established settlements at Omaha, Bellevue and Plattsmouth, with a number of smaller communities scattered along the Missouri River bottoms.

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FORMATION OF THE TERRITORY-OTHER TERRITORIES ADMITTED-CALLS FOR THE FORMATION OF THE "PLATTE COUNTRY "-FIRST ATTEMPT TO ERECT THE TERRITORY OF NEBRASKA-A RESUME OF POLIT- ICAL EVENTS LEADING TO TIIE OPPOSITION TO THE ERECTION OF NEBRASKA -- THE MIS- SOURI COMPROMISE-SECOND ATTEMPT TO FORM THE TERRITORY OF NEBRASKA- OPPOSITION OF SOUTHERN SENATORS-THE SLAVERY ISSUE-SENATOR DOUGLAS INTRODUCES THE KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL-ITS OPPO- SITION AND FINAL, PASSAGE.

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Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co. Number of Pages: 820

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 820