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 5

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 5
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 5
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 5
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 5

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).

seen wallowing in the mud near the shore. Thou- sands of water-fowl would have been riding the gen- tle waves. Elephants, camels, oveodons and horses would have been seen there slaking their thirst in the streamlets flowing into the lake. Life would have been observed everywhere-the hum of insects and the song of birds in the air-life in the trees, in forest and glade, on land and lake. Most of it, too, was happy life. It is true, some unfortunate rumi- nants would fall victims to the gigantic wolves and cats of the time, but the carnivora were not the rulers of the land. Grass and leaf and seed and fruit eating animals were the rulers of the Pliocene world in Central North America. It was a physical paradise, for violence, rapine and murder were the exception, not the rule. Violence, indeed, has ex- isted in every geological epoch, but in Pliocene America, herbivorous life was so dominant that it could successfully defend itself against the carniv- ora, and the latter evidently obtained the most of his prey by stealth, and by picking off the aged and infirm. Animal life is generally happy when left alone, and this was especially the case during Ameri- can Pliocene times.

The Pliocene epoch, in which a happy state of affairs existed in the animal kingdom, continued for countless ages; but ever restless Nature was again at work. In the closing centuries of this epoch the great Pliocene lake was drained and its bed became dry land. The climate gradually became colder and the snows of winter accumulated too rapidly to be removed by the summer's warmth. This finally resulted in the glaciation of the plains of Nebraska. A thick mantle of ice covered the . State and the glacial epoch was inaugurated. A vast sheet of ice, 3,000 feet in thickness, covered this entire region, moving southward at the rate of but a few inches a day and crushing out all ani- mal and vegetable life in its irresistible progress. This vast sea of ice left in its path enormous beds of blue clay and other drift materials. Following the ice came the floods, bringing with them huge icebergs with loads of sand, gravel and boulders. Then followed a period of slow elevation, during which the waters were drained off and a new forest bed formed. Again the ice sheet advanced, crush-

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

ing out the magnificent forest growth. The retreat of the second ice sheet was followed by another subsidence, the land was again flooded and a lake occupied the plains. Then dawned the Loess epoeh, the epoch in which Nebraska was prepared for the advent of man.

When the Loess era was inaugurated, the greater part of Nebraska was covered by a vast inland sea of fresh water. The waters of the lake were loaded with loess, a sediment left by the retreating glaeiers. As the great lakes became filled up with this sedi- ment they were gradually transformed into bogs and marshes. Isolated portions would first become dry land. After the first low islands appeared, they gradually increased in size and numbers until dry land conditions prevailed. The ponds and sloughs, some of which are almost lakes, still in existenee, are probably the last remains of these great lakes. The rising of the land continuing, the rivers began to cut new channels through the middle of the old lake beds. This drained the marshes and formed the bottom lands, as the rivers of that period cov- ered the whole of the present flood plains from bluff to bluff. It was then, when the bluffs were new and plastie, that they were first sculptured by rains into their present unique forms. The Mis- souri, during the closing centuries of the Loess epoch, must have been from five to thirty miles in breadth. The Platte, Niobrara and Republican Riv- ers covered their respective flood plains in the same way. In the smaller streams of the State, those that originated within or near the Loess deposits, such as the Elkhorn, Loup, Bow, Blue and Nema- has, we see the same general form of flood plains as on the larger rivers, and no doubt their waters were also covered with water during this period.

It was during the Loess epoch in the history of the continent that man made his first appearance. Stone arrow heads and other human relics have been discovered in undisturbed loess deposits. Animal life also flourished in this epoch. The remains of rabbits, gophers, otters, beavers, squirrels, deer, elk and buffalo are frequently discovered. The remains of elephants and mastodons are also abund- ant. According to the most reasonable estimates, the Loess epoch covered a period of 19,200 years

before it was merged into the Terrace epoch. When the rivers covered the whole of the existing bottoms, and had the old Loess lake bed for a flood plain, the land still lay far below its present level, and was in the transition stage between the Loess and Terrace epochs. When the elevation became a little greater, and the drainage better, and the volume of water less, it eut a new channel amid its old bed, which now constitutes its flood plain. This formed the first terrace and inaugurated this epoch. Here the land and the river must have stood for ages. Again there was an upward movement, the drainage be- came still better, the volume of water lessened and another channel formed. Thus terrace after ter- race formed, each representing a stage of quict in the upward movement of the land.

In the foregoing pages the reader has had a rapid sketch of the several geological eras that elapsed before Nebraska was considered by an all- wise Creator inhabitable for man. A subject which should fill volumes is merely glanced at in order to round out the sketch of Nebraska's history. The student who would read the story of the rocks will find the records accessible, and he will find it, in- deed, a most interesting branch of study.

Nebraska is one of the largest States of the Union. It contains an area of 76,895 square miles. or 49,212,000 acres. The extreme length of the State is 413 miles, and the extreme width, 208. The general surface of the State has been compared to a recently drained lake bed. The greater part of the State is a platean, with an average elevation of 2,312 feet above the level of the sea. Along the south line of the State, the elevation of the eastern half averages 1,200 feet; the western half 2,672 feet. Along the northern line of the State the elevation of the eastern half is 1,353 feet; the western half 3,525. West from Omaha the ascent is at the rate of five and one-half feet to the mile for 100 miles. The second hundred miles increases the ascent to seven feet; the third hundred. seven and a half feet to the mile; and the fourth hundred to ten and a half feet to the mile. The ascent on the last fifty miles at the west end of the State is eighteen feet to the mile. " To gain a clear conception of Nebraska topography," writes Prof. Sannuel Aughey, in his

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

treatise on the Physical and Natural Features of Nebraska, " one must cross the valleys and divides nearly at right angles. In doing this it will be ob- served that the most rolling lands generally border the valleys or bottoms. Advancing, the rolling and sometimes brokeu character gradually disappears, when the divide is reached which separates the last from the next drainage system. Here the land swells out into a gently undulating plain that varies extremely in extent. The extent of such a divide may be limited to a half-mile, or may extend for thirty or more miles. These swells or long tongues of undulating lands are found on the divides betweeu nearly all the rivers of the State. Occasionally, be- tween the lesser streams, a single low bluff, a few hundred feet wide, and only slightly raised above the general level, marks the divide. Among the most conspicuous of these divides are the beautiful uplands between the Republican and the Platte, be- tween the Platte and the Blue Rivers, and between the forks of the Blue Rivers. Between the Blues and the Nemahas and between the forks of the latter similar divides exist. North of the l'latte, con- spicuous for their beauty, are the divides between the forks of the Elkhorn and the headwaters, and between the forks of the Logan, and between the Elkhorn and the Loups. In fact, they are met with between most of the streams of the State. Some of these high uplands have great numbers of shallow, basin-shaped depressions, whose soil and grasses greatly resemble those of the bottom lands. They are evidently the remains of lakes that until recently occupied their sites. Indeed, some of them still retain this character. being filled with water the whole year round, varying from one to ten feet in depth. Between these last and swamps and bogs every kind of transition form is found. Fillmore, Clay, York, Hamilton, Franklin, Phillips and Wayne Counties have a notable number of these old lake heds.

Nothing is more surprising than the amazing number of valley or bottom lauds. They must be numbered by the thousand. Take the Republican as an example. On an average a tributary valley comes into the bottom from the north side every two miles. Now, as this river flows for 200 miles

through the State, it would give 100 for this section alone. Counting, however, the streams that come in from the south side, and those flowing into its larger tributaries, this number should be multiplied by four, giving 400 valleys, great and small, for this region alone. Now, add to these valleys those that are tributary to the Platte, the Blues, the Nemahas, the Elkhorns, the Logan, the Bows, the Missouri, between its larger tributaries, the Niobrara and the Loups, and it will increase the number to thousands. It is true that many of them are narrow, ranging from one-fourth to a mile in width, but still they are valleys, with living or extinct stream beds in the middle or towards one side of them, and having all the physical features of the larger river bottoms. As already intimated there are a few minor valleys among the smaller tributaries of the Upper Elk- horns, Bazile, Loups, Niobrara and Republican, in the stream beds of which water no longer flows; but, as will be shown further on, many of them are regaining-and all of them will in time-their former supply of water. Thus can be seen why, over the larger part of Nebraska, the settler can have his choice between bottom and upland. The great body of these bottom lands, though composed of the richest moll and modified alluvium and loess mater- ials, are perfectly dry. It is true that swamps are occasionally met with, but they occur at long inter- vals and are the exception.

There are no large lakes in Nebraska, but there are, however, a large number of small bodies of water, the largest one, northwest of Dakota City. being about five miles in length. Water beneath the surface is abundant, and is reached at depths ranging from twelve to 125 feet. Up to the present writing artesian water has been reached in but two localities, although a number of deep wells have been bored in various parts of the State. At Omaha an artesian well 750 feet deep furnishes a fine supply of good water. At Lincoln another well 1.050 feet deep furnishes a constant flow of saline and mineral water. At the present writing (January, 1890) a company is sinking a deep well at Hastings, in the hopes of discovering coal, salt, natural gas, oil, or artesian water, At a depth of 250 feet a thick deposit of yellow ochre was reached. At a depth of

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

945 feet a heavy deposit of salt was discovered. The operations at Hastings are still in progress, it being the intention to hore to a depth of 4.000 feet if possible.

The rivers of Nebraska are numerous, and are distinguished for their width. shallowness, and the rapid flow of their currents. The Missouri River is a deep stream with a rapid current, navigable for barge boats for many hundred miles north of Omaha. It performed a vast service to the State in the days before the advent of the railroads, as it was the highway of travel and traffic for all coming to the Territory. Next to the Missouri comes the Platte River, one of the most erratic streams in the country. It flows through the entire length of the State from west to east, dividing it into two unequal portions. Its length from its source in the Rocky Mountains to its confluence with the Missouri River is about 1,200 miles. In some places the Platte is nearly a mile wide, and in other places it separates into five or more separate channels. In some portions of the year the river is almost entirely dry ; not because the supply of water is undiminished, but because the water disappears in the sandy bed of the stream, from whence it is drained (according to the theory of Prof. Aughey) to the Republican River.

The Republican River, next in importance m Nebraska to the Platte, has its source in Colorado. In general characteristics the Republican is very similar to its big sister, the Platte, in that it is shal- low, sandy and has a rapid current. Of an entirely different character is the Niobrara River. From its source in Wyoming to its mouth, the Niobrara is 460 miles long. For a distance of 189 miles it flows, a deep and rapid stream, through a canon, the walls of which are high and steep. After emerging from the canon the Niobrara more nearly resembles the Platte, its bed being broad and sandy, and full of quicksands.

The Elkhorn River is one of the most beautiful and picturesque streams in the State. It rises in the northwestern part of the State in a region dotted by a large number of small, fresh-water lakes. From its source to its mouth the main river is about 250 miles in length, and for the most part of this distance it is a rapid, clear and deep stream. It

empties into the Platte in Sarpy County, and for a large part of its course flows over a rock bottom. One of the principal tributaries of the Elkhorn is the Logan River, which has its source in Cedar County. Of the several branches of the Logan it is difficult to tell which is the longest, or which deserves the distinction of being the principal stream. They all originate in bogs or old filled-up lake beds. The general direction of these Logan Rivers is southeast until Burt County is reached, after which it is south until it unites with the Elkhorn in Dodge County.

The Nemaha Rivers consist of the main stream, the North Branch and the Little Nemaha. The North Branch runs in a southeasterly direction diagonally through Johnson and Richardson Coun- ties until it unites with the main river in the latter county. Its length is about sixty miles, and in- creases regularly in size from its source to its month, by the addition of numerous tributaries. The main Nemaha has its source in Pawnee County, takes a southerly direction into Kansas, then turns northeast into Richardson County, and then flows a little southeast until it empties into the Missouri, in the southeast portion of the State. Its length is but sixty miles, but it receives so many compara- tively large tributaries that its magnitude at the end of its course is much greater than many longer rivers. The bottom lands are broad, beautifully ter- raced, and the bordering bluff's are beautifully round- ed off. The Little Nemaha is a smaller edition of the Big Nemaha, and has also numerous tributaries.

The Blue Rivers are among the most important as well as among the best known in the South Platte portion of the State. The Big Blue is 132 miles in length, and drains eight of the richest. most fertile counties of the State. The Middle Fork rises in Hamilton County, and unites with the North Blue at Seward. It is about sixty miles in length. The West Fork unites with the Big Blue in Saline County. All of the Blue Rivers are remarkable for the amount of water they carry off, and the great beauty of the bottom lands through which they pass. Still another Blue River rises in Adams County, and passes ont of the State in Jefferson County, and finally, in Kansas, unites with the Big Blue. It

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

is a handsome stream, and in addition to numerous small streams is furnished with large supplies of water by the numerous springs which line its banks.

Other important systems of water courses are the Loup Rivers, in the northern half of the State. The Middle Loup River rises within fifty miles of the north line of the State and flows a distance of about 250 miles before emptying into the Platte near Columbus. The North Loup rises within forty-five miles of the north line of the State, is 150 miles long and empties into the Middle Loup in the east- ern part of Howard County. The South Loup rises near the western boundary of Custer County and empties into the Middle Loup in the southwest- ern part of Howard County.

There are numerous smaller rivers and streams in Nebraska not enumerated in the foregoing pages. Among the most important of these are the Bow Rivers, in Northeastern Nebraska, the Weeping Water, in Cass County, Salt Creek, in Lancaster County, the Wahoo, in Saunders County, Elk Creek. mn Dakota County, and South aud West Iowa Creeks, in Dixon County. All possess more or less the characteristics of Nebraska streams. A study of a complete topographical map of Nebraska demon- strates the fact that the State is plentifully supplied with streams of pure running water. Every county in the State has a bountiful supply of water, a fact which sufficiently accounts for the magnitude of its agricultural interests.

Geological research has demonstrated the fact that at one time Nebraska was heavily timbered with a varied forest vegetation. But the operations of time have caused the disappearance of the beau- tiful forests, until now Nebraska is a prairie State, the forest area comprising but a comparatively small portion of the State. Seventy-one species of trees and ninety-one species of shrubs exist in their native state to-day. Among the trees are the lin- wood, maple, locusts, wild cherry, ash of four species, four species of elms, walnuts, hickories, twelve species and varieties of oaks, many species of willows, four of cottonwood, and a number of pines and cedars. The native wild fruits known to exist are the plum, cherry, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, currants, gooseberry and others. Wal- nuts, hickory and hazel nuts are common.

Previous to the advent of the white man, Ne- braska was a paradise for wild animals. Count- less herds of buffalo roamed the plains, and elk and deer were abundant. But the buffalo has become entirely extinct, while the elk and deer have almost entirely disappeared. Altogether, eighty-two species of mammals are native to Nebraska. The bird fauna is much more remarkably developed, there being not less than 249 distinct species. Of fishes, only thirty-four species have been recognized. Of the insects, nearly 9,000 different species are known to exist, the injurious species being few, and not unusually destructive.

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

1142799 CHAPTER VI.

THE EXPLORATION OF NEBRASKA-EARLY VISITORS-GOVERNMENT EXPEDITIONS-VALUABLE EXTRACT BY JUDGE SAVAGE-NEBRASKA AS A TERRITORY- FIRST OFFICIALS-DEATH OF GOV. BURT-FORMATION INTO COUNTIES-EARLY LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS-POPULATION IN 1855-THE "FLORENCE SECES-

SION"-THE SLAVERY QUESTION CONSIDERED-THE TERRITORY IN 1861-NUMER-

OUS ACTS AND MEASURES OF INTEREST-ANXIETY TO BECOME A STATE.

About me round I saw Hill, dale and shady woods, and sunny plains, And liquid lapse of murm'ring streams .- Milton.

EBRASKA was visited many times by various ex- peditions and individuals during the time that inter- vened between the cession of Louisiana to the United States and the formal erec- tion of the Territory in 1854. Lewis and Clarke headed a government ex- pedition in 1804-45, and made a thorough exploration of the Missouri River. They spent some days on Nebraska soil, at the mouth of the Platte and in the vicinity of Omaha and Bellevue. Their journal con- tains many references to the Indian tribes inhabiting this region, which will be found in the chapter of this work devoted to the Indian history of the Territory. In 1805 Manuel Lisa, a member of the Missouri Fur Company, visited Nebraska, making an ex- tended tour of the northern part of the State along the Missouri, cultivating the friendship of the na- tives and making arrangements for the establish- ment of trading expeditions. In 1808 an expe- tlition sent out by the Missouri Fur Company, under the command of Major Henry. visited the same country. In 1811 a party of men belonging to

IIunt's expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River, on their return from the Pacific, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and descended the Platte River to its mouth. In the following year, three men named Stewart, McClellen and Crooks made a simi- lar trip on their way from the Pacific coast to New York.

In 1819 the War Department of the United States fitted out an expedition and placed it under the command of Maj. S. A. Long, of the regular army. The principal object of the expedition was to prepare a topographical description of the conn- try west of the Missouri River. Maj. Long and his party reached the mouth of the Big Nemaha early in September, 1819, and the mouth of the Platte the I5th of that month. Near the mouth of the Platte was found a trading post named Fort Lisa. A short distance from this fort, the expedition went into winter quarters. During the winter the adjacent country was examined and many friendly confer- ences held with the Indian tribes in the vicinity. On June 6, 1820, the expedition started up the Platte Valley. The excursion to the headwaters of the Platte lasted until the latter part of July. In the year 1835, Col. Henry Dodge, of the United States army, traced the Platte River from its month to its source, in a search for data for a topographical description of the country. In 1842 John C. Fre-

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.

mont made his first exploration of Nebraska. His exploration was confined largely to the South Platte country, and was much more elaborate than any pre- viously undertaken. He made a similar exploration in the following year.

An extract from an interesting and valuable article read before the Nebraska State Historical Society on January 14, 1890, by Judge James W. Savage, is worthy of mention in this portion of the present volume. The extract is as follows :

"In the sixth volume of his collections of manuscript documents relating to America, by M. Pierre Margey, the distinguished historical investi- gator of France, is given a brief synopsis of an account of a visit in the year 1739 to the territory now included in the State of Nebraska, which seems worthy of a translation or paraphrase, and a place in the records of the historical society of our State. It is entitled ' The Journey of the Mallet Brothers with Six Other Frenchmen from the River of the Panimahas in the Missouri Country to Santa Fe.' To comprehend the full significance of the expedi- tion it will be useful to recall to our minds the jealousies, the rivalries, the contests, the treacheries, the massacres, the assassinations, the crimes of all sorts which the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed as the result of the discoveries by Colum- bus.

·· Spain, reasonably secure in her possession of the country west of the deserts beyond the Missis- sippi which the valor and prowess of Cortez had given her, laid claim also by virtue of the revela- tions of the Genoese navigator to the whole of Florida, under which attractive name was compre- hended the entire region from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the gulf to the north pole. France, grudging the glory and the wealth with which the new world had adorned the crown of Charles the Fifth, entrusted to Verrazzaao the task of finding the opulent kingdom of Cathay, and as a result of his discoveries laid claim to the same extensive country. The hostility thus begun lasted for more than two centuries.

.. The French complained with indignation that the Spaniards thought that the new world was created expressly for them, and that no other man living

had a right to move or breathe therein. The bitter- ness engendered by these rival interests led to the atrocities of Menendez and Gourgues, the butcheries of Fort Caroline and St. Augustine, at the narrative of which the blood still runs cold. That the slaughter was committed in the name of the founder of the religion of peace, adds darker shadows to the sombre stories of those days. One mild and gentle apostle addressed the king in these words: . It is lawful that your majesty, like a good shepherd appointed by the hand of the Eternal Father, should tend and lead out your sheep, since the Holy Spirit has shown spreading pastures whereon are feeding lost sheep which have been snatched away by the dragon, the demon. These pastures are the new world, wherein is comprised Florida, now in possession of the demon, and he makes himself adored and revealed. This is the land of promise possessed by idolaters. the Amorite, the Amalekite, Moabite, Canaanite. This is the land promised by the Eternal Father to the faithful, since we are commanded by God in the holy scriptures to take it from them, being idolaters, and by reason of their idolatry and sin to put them to the knife, leaving no living thing except maidens and children, their cities robbed and sacked, their walls and houses levelled to the earth.'

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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