USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 2
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CHAPTER XXXVII
ELM CREEK TOWNSHIP-EARLY SETTLERS-ELM CREEK STATION AND EATING IIOUSE -COLD TEA SOLD EMIGRANTS AS "WET GOODS"-CORD WOOD SOLD AT SHERIFF SALE AT EIGHT CENTS PER CORD-ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 9- LIST OF POSTMASTERS; PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS-THE FIRST NEWSPAPER- INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE-CHURCHES-BANKS-LODGES-FIRST CHURCII SERVICE A FUNERAL OCCASION-ODESSA TOWNSHIP-FIRST SETTLERS-REMINIS- CENCES-GRANT TOWNSHIP-REMINISCENCES . 270
CHAPTER XXXVIII
LOUP AND RUSCO TOWNSHIPS-NAMES OF EARLY SETTLERS-PETER'S BRIDGE-BUF- FALO IN PLEASANT VALLEY IN 1874-THE VILLAGE OF PLEASANTON-A IO-GRADE HIGH SCHOOL-BUFFALO COUNTY TELEPHONE COMPANY-FARMERS GRAIN COM- PANY-TIIE PLEASANTON STATE BANK-THE FARMERS STATE BANK-COMMER- CIAL CLUB-CHURCHES-FRATERNAL AND BENEFICIAL LODGES. 282
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CHAPTER XXXIX
ARMADA TOWNSHIP AND MILLER-LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS-WM. CRAVEN STARTS IN BUSINESS IN A SOD HOUSE WITH A CAPITAL OF SO-POSTOFFICE ESTABLISHED IN ABOUT 1884, NAMED ARMADA-VILLAGE OF MILLER INCORPORATED IN 1890 -NAMES OF VILLAGE TRUSTEES-NAMES OF POSTMASTERS-NAMES OF PHYSI- CIANS-THE FIRST NEWSPAPER-THE MILLER INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE COM- PANY-BANKS, SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, LODGES-W. C. T. U. ESTABLISH A LIBRARY 287 AND REST ROOM
CHAPTER XL
. SCOTT AND SARTORIA TOWNSHIPS-LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS-REMINISCENCES BY JOHN SWENSON -- JEF HOOLEY SIIOOTS AN ELK-HOOLEY, A PROFESSIONAL IFUNTER-SWENSON'S RIDGLING PONY-"YES, STRANGER, FOR HUMANITY SAKE"-FIRST SETTLERS-FOUR DAYS' LABOR TO GET A SACK OF FLOUR-CHILDREN QUARREL OVER WHO SHALL HAVE A FLOUR SACK FOR A GARMENT-TEAM LOST IN QUICKSAND HOLE IN LOUP RIVER-A DUCKING IN AN AIR-HOLE-A COW, A LAMB AND A PIG-COTTONWOOD TIMBER ON THE SOUTH LOUP -293
CHAPTER XLI
FIRST SETTLERS IN CEDAR TOWNSHIP-MRS. JOIIN DAVIS LOSES HIER LIFE IN THE MEMORABLE STORM OF APRIL, 1873-GRASSHOPPER RAID IN 1874-ORGANIZA- TION OF SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 20-MRS. E. W. CARPENTER FIRST TEACHER- BUILT A SOD SCHOOLHOUSE IN 1875-FIRST PRECINCT ELECTION HIELD IN 1874; THE ELEVEN VOTES CAST COST THE COUNTY $14, AND WERE WELL WORTH THE MONEY-MAJORS POSTOFFICE ESTABLISHED IN 1879; NAMED IN HONOR OF COL. THOMAS J. MAJORS-E. W. CARPENTER NAMED POSTMASTER AND SERVED TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS-UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHI ORGANIZED IN 1882 WITH FIVE CHARTER MEMBERS
.300
CHAPTER XLII
FIRST FLOURING MILL; ERECTED IN 1873-FIRST MILL IN STATE WEST OF HALL COUNTY-SETTLERS CAME IOO MILES TO MILL. ... .305
CHAPTER XLIII
ORGANIZATION OF TELEPHONE COMPANIES IN BUFFALO COUNTY-THE FARMERS' TELEPHONE COMPANY-BUFFALO COUNTY TELEPHONE COMPANY-UNION VAL- LEY TELEPHONE COMPANY-THE FAIRVIEW TELEPHONE COMPANY-THE MILLER INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE COMPANY 307
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CHAPTER XLIV
EFFORTS TO VOTE COUNTY BONDS AS AID TO RAILROADS-EFFORTS NOT SUCCESSFUL- VOTING COUNTY BONDS FOR COURTHOUSE AND PLATTE RIVER BRIDGES-A PROTEST AGAINST VOTING RAILROAD BONDS SIGNED BY 294 TAXPAYERS-A SUBSCRIPTION LIST IN CIRCULATION IN 1888 TO RAISE FUNDS TO ASSIST IN CARRYING AN ELEC- TION OF BONDS AS AID TO A PROPOSED RAILROAD. 310
CHAPTER XLV
COWBOY TROUBLES IN BUFFALO COUNTY- GREAT IJERDS OF TEXAN CATTLE-ATTOR- NEY F. G. HAMER OFFERS TO WHIP THE WHOLE CROWD-THE KEARNEY GUARDS -THE KILLING OF MILTON COLLINS-CAPTURE OF JORDON P. SMITH-THE PRE- LIMINARY TRIAL-FIRST TRIAL OF JORDON P. SMITH-APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF VENUE-EDITORIAL FROM KEARNEY JUNCTION TIMES-OFFICERS OF THE COURT-LIST OF JURORS-VERDICT OF THE JURY-SENTENCE OF THE COURT- SECOND TRIAL OF SMITH-SUMMARY OF TESTIMONY-ACCOUNT OF THE TRIAL BY JUDGE E. F. GRAY-EXPENSE TO THE COUNTY OF THE TRIAL-EDITOR M'NEW, OF THE SHELTON CLIPPER, WRITES OF COWBOY TROUBLES AT KEARNEY-MURDER OF AN UNARMED BOY BY THE CITY MARSHAL OF KEARNEY-MARSHAL "SCARED TO DEATH"-CITIZENS OF KEARNEY UPHOLD THE MARSHAL. 314
CHAPTER XLVI
RESOURCES OF BUFFALO COUNTY-FERTILITY OF SOIL-GROWING OF FRUITS-CROP PRODUCTION-IMPORTANCE OF ALFALFA-VALUE OF PROPERTY BY DECADES- TAXES PAID BY DECADES-TOTAL TAXES PAID TO DATE-NUMBER OF FARMS- . VALUE OF CROPS-VALUE OF LIVE STOCK-POPULATION OF COUNTY BY DECADES 325
CHAPTER XLVII
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE RECORDS IN BUFFALO COUNTY-RECORDS DATING FROM THE YEAR 1849-RECORDS KEPT AT FORT KEARNEY, KEARNEY, RAVENNA, ELM CREEK AND WATERTOWN-A CONTINUOUS RECORD KEPT BY ERASTUS SMITH AND MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY FROM 1878 TO DATE, 1915-HIGHEST TEM- PERATURE; LOWEST TEMPERATURE; AVERAGE TEMPERATURE-AVERAGE DATE OF KILLING FROSTS IN SPRING AND AUTUMN. 320
CHAPTER XLVIII
ORGANIZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN BUFFALO COUNTY IN 1871-GEORGE II. SILVERNAIL PRESERVES RECORD IN HIS DIARY-NOMINATE A FULL COUNTY TICKET-A SPIRITED ELECTION-150 VOTES POLLED-PATRICK WALSH ON AN INDEPENDENT TICKET ELECTED PROBATE JUDGE. 334
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CHAPTER XLIX
MY FIRST STATE CONVENTION IN 1876-ELECTED DELEGATE AT COUNTY CONVEN- TION-INTRODUCED TO FREE PASS SYSTEM-JUDGE N. H. HEMIUP CANDIDATE FOR ATTORNEY-GENERAL-GENERAL ROBERTS AND THE "TROJAN HORSE"-T. J. MAJORS NOMINATED FOR CONTINGENT CONGRESSMAN-BITTER FIGHT BY RAIL- ROADS TO CONTROL CONVENTION-CONVENTION IN SESSION FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY-EDWARD ROSEWATER ATTACKED AND KICKED DOWN HOTEL STAIRS- LIST OF BUFFALO COUNTY DELEGATES. .337
CHAPTER L
POLITICAL PARTIES IN BUFFALO COUNTY. .341
CHAPTER LI
THE ANTI-MONOPOLY MOVEMENT IN NEBRASKA AND IN BUFFALO COUNTY. ... .346
CHAPTER LII
CAPITAL RELOCATION-COUNTY OPTION THE CAMPAIGN ISSUE-CAPITAL REMOVAL- ISTS DRAFT A BILL-THE CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, ON THE PART OF LIQUOR INTERESTS, INDORSES SUCH A MEASURE-LIQUOR INTERESTS USE CAPITAL RELO- CATION BILL AS A CLUB TO DEFEAT COUNTY OPTION-BUFFALO COUNTY CITIZENS A THOUSAND STRONG. PETITION IN FAVOR OF THE PASSAGE OF THE BILL- ANALYSIS OF THE VOTE ON CAPITAL RELOCATION AND COUNTY OPTION- LETTER OF E. P. COURTRIGHT-LETTER OF W. L. HAND- OFFICIAL ACTION OF BUFFALO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. 349
CHAPTER LIII
LIST OF PERSONS HOLDING OFFICIAL POSITIONS-MEMBERS OF TERRITORIAL LEGIS- LATURE REPRESENTING BUFFALO COUNTY-MEMBERS OF STATE LEGISLATURE REPRESENTING BUFFALO COUNTY-MEMBERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION -JUDGES OF DISTRICT COURT-DISTRICT ATTORNEYS-COUNTY ATTORNEYS- COUNTY CLERKS-COUNTY TREASURERS-COUNTY SHERIFFS-COUNTY SUPERIN- TENDENTS-COUNTY JUDGES-CLERKS OF DISTRICT COURT-REGISTER OF DEEDS- COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND SUPERVISORS. 355
CHAPTER LIV
DEFALCATION OF JAMES VAN SICKLE, COUNTY TREASURER-H. C. M'NEW IN SHEL- TON CLIPPER-INTEREST ON PUBLIC FUNDS DEEMED THE LEGITIMATE OFFICE
CONTENTS
INCOME OF A COUNTY TREASURER-UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY EVADES PAYMENT OF COUNTY TAXES-IIOMESTEADERS COMPELLED TO PAY TAXES ON LANDS BEFORE MAKING FINAL PROOF-COUNTY MONEY BUILDS BRIDGES AND FURNISHIES STAGE-LINE EQUIPMENT FOR STAGE LINE FROM KEARNEY TO BLACK IIILLS- COUNTY TREASURER JAMES VAN SICKLE TAKES A IIUNTING TRIP- METHOD OF CONDUCTING COUNTY BUSINESS-MONEY HIRED OF AN OMAHA BANK TO MAKE SETTLEMENT WITH COUNTY BOARD-REMOVAL OF TREASURER VAN SICKLE FROM OFFICE-AN EMPLOYE OF THE UNION PACIFIC COMPANY INSTALLED AS DEPUTY COUNTY TREASURER-EX-COUNTY TREASURER JAMES VAN SICKLE EARNS A PRECARIOUS LIVING BY IIUNTING AND TRAPPING. 362
CHAPTER LV
PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY-GRANGES ORGANIZED IN NEBRASKA IN EARLY '70S- ENGAGE IN MANUFACTURE OF FARM IMPLEMENTS-NOXIOUS WEED SEED IN GRAIN SHIPPED DROUTH SUFFERERS-GRANGES ORGANIZED IN BUFFALO COUNTY IN 1875-LOCATION OF GRANGES AND THOSE ACTIVE IN THE MOVEMENT-POLI- TICS DISRUPTS THE GRANGE-THE GRANGE MOVEMENT IN BUFFALO COUNTY IN 1912-15-TWENTY-ONE GRANGES ORGANIZED, WITH 687 CHARTER MEMBERS- GRANGE MEMBERSHIP 1,000 IN COUNTY IN 1915-LIST OF GRANGES-NUMBER OF MEMBERS-NAMES OF MASTER AND SECRETARY. 365
CHAPTER LVI
ERIE FARMER'S CLUB ORGANIZED IN 1874-LIST OF CHARTER MEMBERS-SOME OF THE SUBJECTS DISCUSSED-BUFFALO COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY-FIRST ORGANIZATION IN 1875 AND A FAIR HELD AT KEARNEY-RE-ORGANIZED IN 188I AND LOCATED AT SIIELTON-BUILDINGS ERECTED AND THREE FAIRS HELD-FAIR MOVED TO KEARNEY IN 1884-SEVERAL SUCCESSFUL FAIRS HELD-RE-ORGANIZED IN 1913 368
CHAPTER LVII
MURDER AND BURNING OF MITCHIELL AND KETCHUM-THE MOST DASTARDLY DEED COMMITTED IN THIE IIISTORY OF THIE STATE-CATTLE MEN CONTROLLING BY THREATS AND INTIMIDATION LARGE SECTIONS OF GOVERNMENT LANDS-I. P. OLIVE ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST CATTLE-RANCH MEN IN THE STATE-STEVENS ( BOB OLIVE) ATTACKS MITCHELL AND KETCHUM-STEVENS IS MORTALLY WOUNDED-MITCHELL AND KETCHUM FLEE TO MERRICK COUNTY-ARRESTED IN ITOWARD COUNTY-CONFINED IN BUFFALO COUNTY JAIL-THE PRISONERS DELIVERED TO SHERIFF GILLIAN OF KEITH COUNTY-SHERIFF GILLIAN DELIVERS THE PRISONERS TO I. P. OLIVE-HANGING, SHOOTING AND BURNING OF MITCHELL AND KETCHUM BY I. P. OLIVE AND HIS GANG OF COWBOYS-REMAINS OF THE MURDERED AND BURNED MEN BROUGHT TO KEARNEY AND EXPOSED TO PUBLIC
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CONTENTS
VIEW-ARREST OF OLIVE AND HIS CONFEDERATES-TRIAL AT HASTINGS BEFORE DISTRICT JUDGE WILLIAM GASLIN-COMPANY OF STATE MILITIA IN ATTENDANCE DURING THE TRIAL-OLIVE AND FISHER CONVICTED AND SENTENCED FOR LIFE TO THE STATE PENITENTIARY-A DECISION OF TIIE STATE SUPREME COURT TURNS THE CONVICTED MEN LOOSE AND RENDERS IT NOT POSSIBLE TO TRY THEM FOR THIE CRIME BEFORE ANY DISTRICT JUDGE IN THE STATE-OLIVE SLAIN AT THE HANDS OF AN AVENGING RELATIVE OF ONE OF THE MURDERED MEN. 373
CHAPTER LVIII
LAST HUNT OF THE PAWNEES IN 1873-THE TRIBE NUMBERED 2,400-700 MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WENT ON THE HUNT-TOOK 800 EXTRA PONIES TO PACK HOME THE MEAT-HUNTED ON THE SOUTH OF TIIE PLATTE, ON PRAIRIE DOG, BEAVER AND FRENCHMAN-KILLED LARGE NUMBERS OF BUFFALO-ATTACKED BY THE SIOUX AND 156 PAWNEES KILLED-LOST ALL OF DRIED MEAT AND MOST OF THEIR PONIES-FIFTY OF THE SIOUX WERE KILLED THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT FINED THE SIOUX $10,000 AND GAVE THE MONEY TO THE PAWNEES. 383
CHAPTER LIX
INTRODUCTION OF ALFALFA INTO NEBRASKA AND BUFFALO COUNTY-REPORT BY DR. C. E. BESSEY-REPORT BY PROF. C. L. INGERSOLL-REPORT BY C. Y. SMITH- ALFALFA PALACE ON STATE FAIR GROUNDS-EXPERIENCE OF C. H. BALLENGER, J. H. NEAD, H. W. M'FADDEN, MARTIN SLATTERY, H. D. WATSON, PAT O'SHEA, . ROBERT OLIVER, MICHAEL MOUSEL, JOHN S. MARSH, DR. JOHN E. SMITH, THOMAS M. DAVIS, CAPT. J. H. FREAS, J. H. GISHWILLER, JAMES O'KANE, A. B. CLARK, B. A. ROBBERTS, W. S. DELANO, J. C. MITCHELL-STATISTICS. 389
History of Buffalo County
CHAPTER I
BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME-NAMES OF INDIAN TRIBES INHABITING NEBRASKA TERRITORY-BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PAWNEE INDIANS-FAITHFUL TO THEIR TREATY OBLIGATIONS-REMOVAL TO INDIAN TERRITORY IN 1876-ASSIGNED LANDS IN SEVERALTY IN 1892-A PATHETIC INCIDENT-IN 1915 THE PAWNEE MAKING GOOD, BECOMING USEFUL CITIZENS.
BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME
Before the white man came this land we call "Nebraska" was claimed by several tribes of Indians. The boundaries of their lands were not defined by metes and bounds, clearly outlined and made matters of record, as are the coun- ties of the state. In the eighteenth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, for the years 1896-97, J. W. Powell, director, is given an outline map of Nebraska, giving the names of the principal tribes of Indians, the location of their lands in the state and the dates when each tribe ceded such lands to the general Government. Herewith is a brief summary from said report, giving the names of the tribes and the location of their lands. The State of Nebraska is approximately two hundred miles from north to south and four hundred from east to west. Speaking in a general way, not to be understood as being exact, let us draw a line across a map of Nebraska commencing at the mouth of the Niobrara River, thence south about sixty miles, thence southeast to a point east of the City of Columbus, thence south to the Kansas State line. East of this line to the Missouri River and north of the Platte River the lands thus embraced were those claimed by the Omaha Indians and tribes friendly to and living within the territory described. East of this line to the Missouri River and south of the Platte River, the lands thus embraced were those of the Oto and Missouri tribes.
Next let us draw a line north and south across the state, passing through the forks of the Platte River-North Platte. The territory thus embraced between these two lines, the central portion of the state, both north and south of the Platte River, were lands belonging to the confederated tribes of Pawnee Indians, viz .: Grand Pawnee, Pawnee Loup, Pawnee Republicans and Pawnee Tappaye.
West of the Pawnees and south of the Platte the lands were claimed by the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes. West of the Pawnees and north of the Platte Vol. I -1
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
were the lands of the Sioux, and in the northern part those of the Sioux, North- ern Cheyennes and Arapaho.
It will be seen that Buffalo County is located in what was Pawnee territory, without question the greatest hunting ground on the American continent for wild game, such as buffalo, elk, deer and antelope. The Pawnee lands south of the Platte were ceded to the general Government October 9, 1833. The Fort Kear- ney Military Reservation, north of the Platte, was ceded to the general Govern- ment August 6, 1848, and the remaining lands of the Pawnees, north of the Platte, were ceded September 24, 1857.
How long the Pawnee Indians had inhabited the valleys of the Platte and Loup rivers in what we now call Nebraska is not definitely known, and doubt- less never will be, but history seems to disclose that they were living here more than three centuries before the white man came to dispossess them, about the ycar 1860.
The following brief history of the Pawnec, whose lands we, the people of Buffalo County, Nebraska, now occupy and enjoy, is taken as an extract (kindly furnished by United States Senator George W. Norris) from the "Handbook of American Indians," Bulletin No. 30, Bureau of American Ethnology :
"Pawnee. A confederacy belonging to the Caddoan family. The name is probably derived from Pariki, a horn, a term used to designate the peculiar manner of dressing the scalp-lock, by which the hair was stiffened with paint and fat, and made to stand erect and curved like a horn. This marked feature of the Pawnee gave currency to the name and its application to cognate tribes. The people called themselves Chahiksichahiks, 'men of men.'
"In the general northeastwardly movement of the Caddoan tribes the Pawnee seem to have brought up the rear. Their migration was not in a compact body, but in groups, whose slow progress covered long periods of time. The Pawnee tribe finally established themselves in the Valley of the Platte River, Nebraska, which territory their traditions say was acquired by conquest, but the people who were driven out are not named. It is not improbable that in making their way northeast the Pawnee may have encountered one or more waves of the southward movements of Shoshonean and Athapascan tribes. When the Siouan tribes entered the Platte Valley they found the Pawnee there. The geographic arrangement always observed by the four leading Pawnee tribes may give a hint of the order of their northeastward movement, or of their grouping in their traditionary southwestern home.
"The Skidi place was to the northwest, and they were spoken of as belonging to the upper villages. The Pitahauerat villages were always downstream; those of the Chaui, in the middle, or between the Pitahauerat and the Kitkehahki, the villages of the last named being always upstream. How long the Pawnee resided in the Platte Valley is unknown, but their stay was long enough to give new terms to 'west' and 'east ;' that is, words equivalent to 'up' or 'down' that east- wardly flowing stream.
"The earliest mention of a Pawnee is that of the so-called 'Turk' (q. v.), who, by his tales concerning the riches of Quivira (q. v.), allured and finally led Coronado, in 1541, from New Mexico over the plains as far as Kansas, where some Pawnee (see Harahey) visited him. The permanent villages of the tribes
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
lay to the north of Quivira, a name given to the Wichita territory. It is doubtful if the Apane or the Quipana mentioned in the narrative of De Soto's expedition in 1541 were the Pawnee, as the latter dwelt to the northwest of the Spaniard's line of travel. Nor is it likely that the early French explorers visited the Pawnee villages, although they heard of them, and their locality was indicated by Tonti, La Harpe and others. French traders, however, were established among the tribes before the middle of the eighteenth century.
"How the term Pani (q. v.) or Pawnee, as applied to Indian slaves, came into use is not definitely known. It was a practice among the French and English in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to obtain from friendly tribes their captives taken in war and to sell them as slaves to white settlers. By ordinance of April 13, 1709, the enslavement of negroes and Pawnee was recognized in Canada (Shea's Charlevoix, v. 224, 1871). The Pawnce do not seem to have suffered especially from this traffic, which, though lucrative, had to be abandoned on account of animosities it engendered. The white settlers of New Mexico became familiar with the Pawnee early in the seventeenth century through the latter's raids for procuring horses, and for more than two centuries the Spanish authorities of that territory sought to bring about peaceful relations with them, with only partial success.
"As the Pawnee lay in a country remote from the region contested by the Spaniards and French in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these Indians escaped for a time the influences that proved so fatal to their congeners, but ever-increasing contact with the white race, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, introduced new diseases and brought great reduction in population, together with loss in tribal power. When the Pawnee territory, through the Louisiana Purchase, passed under the control of the United States, the Indians came in close touch with the trading center at St. Louis. At that time their territory lay between the Niobrara River on the north and Prairie Dog Creek on the south, and was bounded on the west by the country of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, and on the east by that of the Omaha, on the north of the Platte River, and on the south of the Platte by the lands of the Oto and Kansa tribes. The trail to the southwest, and later across the continent, ran partly through Pawnee land, and the increasing travel and the settlement of the country brought about many changes. Through all the vicissitudes of the nineteenth century the Pawnee never made war on the United States. On the contrary, they gave many evi- dences of forbearance under severe provocation by waiting, under their treaty agreement, for the Government to right their wrongs, while Pawnee scouts faithfully and courageously served in the United States army during Indian hostilities.
"The history of the Pawnee has been that conimon to reservation life-the gradual abandonment of ancient customs and the relinquishment of homes before the pressure of white immigration.
* By treaty of Table Creek, Neb., September 24, 1857, all lands north of the Platte River were assigned to the Government except a strip on the Loup River, thirty miles east and west and fifteen miles north and south, where their reservation was established. This tract was ceded in 1876, when
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
the tribes were removed to Oklahoma, where they now live. In 1892 they took their lands in severalty and became citizens of the United States. *
"In 1702 the Pawnee were estimated by Iberville at two thousand families. In 1838 they numbered about ten thousand souls, according to an estimate of houses by Missionaries Dunbar and Allis, and the estimate is substantially con- firmed by other authorities of the same period, one putting the number as high as twelve thousand five hundred. The opening of a principal emigrant trail directly through the country in the '40s introduced disease and dissipation, and left the people less able to defend themselves against the continuous attacks of their enemies, the Sioux.
"In 1848 they were officially reported to have lost one-fourth of their number by cholera, leaving only 4,500. In 1856 they had increased to 4,686, but five years later were reported at 3,416. They lost heavily by removal to Indian Territory in 1873-75, and in 1879 numbered only 1,140. They have continued to dwindle each year until there are now (1906) but 649 surviving."
What a sad history the foregoing is of a people who for centuries possessed and successfully defended this land in Central Nebraska which we now possess and enjoy! What a sad history of a people of whom it is written that they faithfully observed their treaty agreements with the United States and loyally and courageously fought in the armies of the United States against its enemies !
It is related that after the removal of the Pawnee to the Indian Territory in 1876 (much against their wish, many being brutally compelled to go by the soldiers assigned to their removal) that some of the number became so home- sick that in the dead of winter they stole away from the reservation and jour- neyed back to Nebraska in order to once more visit the land of their fathers, to visit their former homes and the places where their dead were buried-and what did they find? Their former homes, the burial places of their dead, were plowed fields, the home of the white man. There was no place they could go and be welcome. They were, as it might be said, a stench in the nostrils of the white man, and the soldiers of our Government, armed with guns and bayonets, forced them to return to the reservation assigned them.
And thus it was that we, the white men, came and possessed this land.
In the year 1915, H. A. Lee, an early settler and long-time resident of Buffalo County, now residing in Oklahoma, writes that the Pawnee are making good; tilling their farms, establishing homes, making useful citizens.
GENERAL HENRY B. CARRINGTON IN COMMAND AT FORT KEARNEY, 1865-66
The original location of the Union Pacific Railroad provided for the road to cross the Platte at Fort Kearney, thence west up the south side of the river. General Carrington, then in command at Fort Kearney, made a survey for a bridge across the Platte at that point, reported unfavorably, and the plan of building a bridge was abandoned.
CHAPTER II
FORT KEARNEY-DATE WHEN ESTABLISHED-BOUNDARIES OF MILITARY RESERVA- TION-BLEW THE BUGLE-REFERENCE -- IIISTORY OF FORT KEARNEY BY ALBERT WATKINS, HISTORIAN OF STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY-SERGEANT MICHAEL COADY-A SOLDIER OF THE MEXICAN AND CIVIL WARS-SERVED AS CLERK OF BUFFALO COUNTY-CHARTER MEMBER OF FIRST I. O. O. F. LODGE INSTITUTED IN TIIE COUNTY-CHARTER MEMBER OF FIRST MASONIC LODGE INSTITUTED IN THE COUNTY.
FORT KEARNEY
(Note-In Volume No. 16 of the published collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society, for the year 1911, may be found a very complete history of Fort Kearney compiled from public documents and written by Albert Watkins, historian of the State Historical Society.)
As a protection to the thousands of emigrants traveling the Oregon and Overland trails from the early '30s to the completion of the Union Pacific Rail- road in 1869, Fort Kearney was established in May, 1848, and garrisoned with United States troops until its abandonment in the year 1871. That portion of the military reservation on the north side of the Platte River and in part within the boundaries of Buffalo County was ceded to the general Government in 1848 and its boundaries described as follows :
"Commencing on the south side of the Platte River, five miles west of post 'Fort Childs' (later named Fort Kcarney), thence due north to the crest of the bluffs north of said Platte River; thence east and along the crest of saids bluffs to the termination of Grand Island, supposed to be about sixty miles distant ; thence south to the southern shore of said Platte River; and thence west and along the southern shore of said Platte River to the place of beginning.
"A plat of this tract is inserted in the treaty."
The reservation on which the fort was located was ten miles square, lying on both sides of the Platte River, and over this reservation a strict military discipline was maintained. While cmigrants were permitted to travel the trails crossing the reservation and to visit the fort, no one was permitted to make an overnight camp on this reservation. To this there was one exception-to encour- age the raising of crops, more especially gardens, small tracts of land were leased to individuals who were permitted to reside upon such leased tracts. The tracts thus leased were located on islands of the Platte, principally an island known as Fort Farm Island. Also on this island some farming, such as growing corn, was done under the supervision of the military authorities at the fort. Also on
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HISTORY OF BUFFALO COUNTY
this island a considerable area was fenced for pasture for horses belonging to the garrison.
It is understood that the reason for including in the military reservation the tract above noted-some sixty miles in length and embracing, as it did, the Wood River Valley in Buffalo County-was that on this tract, which included the "thousand" islands of the Platte, there was much timber needed and used by the military authorities.
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