USA > Nebraska > Buffalo County > Buffalo County, Nebraska, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 30
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THE KEARNEY BOOM
By Miss Lena Briggs-Student at State Normal School
The Kearney Canal was started in 1882 by local pioneers of Kearney and carried forward to the extent of a cost of $67,000, which amount was about all they could raise. In 1885 the stock of the Kearney Canal and Water Supply Com- pany was taken over by George W. Frank of Corning, Ia. (who owned extensive real estate interests in and adjacent to Kearney), in consideration of his com- pleting the canal for water power and irrigation purposes. The canal was finished and water turned into the ditch in the spring of 1886. The canal developed a fall of 62 feet at its lower terminus within the city limits of Kearney, where were planned extensive manufacturing properties to utilize the water power. Mr. Frank during the years 1886-87 negotiated with various persons and companies having in mind the erection here of extensive factories among whom were officers of the Burlington Railroad who came to Kearney, examined the situation and about completed negotiations for a half interest in all of the Frank property, including the canal and electric light plant that was operated by the water power and also including 2,000 acres of land within the city limits.
Through some inadvertent actions on the part of Mr. Frank the negotiations were abruptly terminated, the railroad officials withdrew and immediately estab- lished the large Burlington shops at Havelock, near Lincoln. The purpose of the negotiations had been the establishing of those shops at Kearney and the construction of a line to Holdrege, thus putting Kearney on the main line of the Burlington from Omaha to Denver. To further the plans for a sale of a part of the Frank interests and the inducing of large amounts of capital to come to Kearney for investment, Mr. Frank arranged with J. L. Keck to come to Kearney and erect the original Midway Hotel, for which a considerable subsidy was raised and donated to Mr. Keck.
Other plans having failed to secure capital to develop the water power and the Kearney situation generally in the summer of 1888 H. D. Watson, of Green-
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field, Mass., met with Mr. Frank at Kearney and closed an option to purchase one-half of the Frank interests and which were incorporated into a company known as the G. W. Frank Improvement Company, which company took over the title to all the Frank real estate holdings, the Kearney Canal, and the electric plant.
About this time the Kearney men purchased the South Platte Land Company, which embraced the real estate holdings of the Burlington Railroad, about eight hundred acres of land immediately south and west of the Town of Kearney, and incorporated as the Kearney Land and Investment Company in order to take title to that property.
The company immediately subdivided and platted into city lots different portions of the property and offered those lots for sale at auction. This created a public interest in Kearney and aided in the development of the Kearney boom.
As soon as Mr. Watson had secured the option to purchase the half interest in the Frank properties he went to New England and brought to Kearney during the following ninety days three train loads of manufacturers and investors who, while in Kearney, became so impressed with the value of the water power and the opportunity to develop extensive manufacturing interests that they furnished the money to pay the Franks for the half interest in the properties and invested what was commonly estimated, at the time, a total sum of $1,250,000. Various persons in the company were interested in cotton manufacturing in New England and on the suggestion of Mr. Watson were induced to organize a company and erect the Kearney cotton mills. These men demanded of the citizens of Kearney a subsidy, cash and real estate of the estimated value of $250,000, which amount was raised by popular subscription and donation within the period of ninety days. At that date Kearney had an estimated population of five thousand (Dr. J. L. Bennett says the population at this time was over ten thousand) and this subsidy represented an average donation of $50 from each person then living in Kearney.
During these months various other enterprises were launched, each one of which demanded and received a subsidy or donation to secure its location at this place, among which were a paper mill, woolen mill, oatmeal mill, plow factory, canning factory, cracker factory, pressed brick works, and machine shops. The exploitation of these various industries caused a furore of excitement accom- panied by a rapid enhancement in the value of real estate in and adjacent to the city.
The cotton mill was constructed at a cost of nearly four hundred thousand dollars for building and equipment and was operated nine years. With the exception of the cotton mill none of the subsidised factories operated for a longer time than a few months.
The West Kearney Improvement Company owned and planned for the development of one square mile of ground adjoining the cotton mill location.
The Midway Land Company owned and developed a section of ground called "East Lawn," where is now located the Kearney Military Academy.
During the boom days various improvements were made, such as the con- struction of the city waterworks, city gas plant, system of sewerage, city hall, opera house block, and the electric street railway. The collapse of the boom
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came in a single day and was caused by a personal quarrel between Mr. Frank and Mr. Watson.
As an indication of the great enhancement in market value of building lots in Kearney during the boom period mention is made as follows: Two lots on the corner of Second Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street that had been purchased by Mr. Frank for his niece at $300 in the year 1886 were purchased by Mr. Frank of that niece for $125,000. (The boom collapsed, the lots were never paid for and the niece still owns them.) Four acres, at present a part of the State Nor- mal campus, the same a part of an original purchase by Mr. Frank at $2.40 an acre in the 'zos, was sold to John J. Bartlett in January, 1885, for $2,400, and sold by Mr. Bartlett to H. D. Watson in the fall of 1888 for $19,200, and by Mr. Watson subdivided into forty-five lots, each 25 by 140 feet, and sold by hin, as lots, between December, 1888, and March, 1889, for $29,200. The purchasers of these lots were almost entirely Kearney citizens who had known the history of that particular tract, among whom were George Downing and Dr. J. L. Ben- nett.
(The latter purchased eight lots where now stands the north wing of the State Normal Building, and he planted the trees which stand near this wing. Doctor Bennett traded all except two of the lots, having purchased all for $600 a piece ; these two he sold for $133 and after deducting taxes had left about $100. These lots were purchased by a Swede woman, who engaged in the raising of Belgian hares. Later the lots were purchased from her for the present use-the State Normal School.)
Business Jots in the city advanced from $40 a front foot to $400.
One real estate agent's commissions alone during the boom period often amounted to $1,000 a day.
Doctor Bennett purchased the last twenty-two lots of the West Kearney Improvement Company without seeing them or knowing anything about them. In two weeks he sold them at an advance of $500. This company offered to give a lot to every one who would build a house worth at least a specified amount and an Omaha architect drew plans for one of these houses, but it was never built. On this tract was a station and park with a fountain. Now no traces. of them are left.
The lot where now stands the Midway Loan and Trust Company Building was bought and resold at an advance of $12,000.
THE KEARNEY CANAL
W. J. Scoutt
The necessity for irrigation in the Platte Valley very early appealed to the early settlers, and the feasibility of such a project was known as early as 1873. On a "Bird's-Eye View" of Kearney Junction, published in 1873, the line of the proposed Kearney Canal is shown. W. W. Patterson is probably the person that first discussed the matter.
An attempt to organize a company and construct a canal as early as 1875 was defeated by the fact that certain of the land owners across whose land the canal
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would pass refused to either donate or sell a right-of-way for the ditch. This resulted in the first irrigation law of Nebraska being enacted by the Legislature of 1877, of which the Hon. E. C. Calkins was a member of the Senate, and who caused the introduction of a bill to constitute canals for irrigation or power pur- poses, works of internal improvement, and conferring on them the rights of Eminent Domain.
(Senator E. C. Calkins drew the Act of 1877, authorizing construction of canals for irrigation and power purposes and making them works of internal improvements .- J. N. Dryden.)
At a meeting of the Kearney Board of Trade in April, 1881, committees were appointed to secure data covering the cost of such a canal and to submit plans for the organization of a company to do the work.
A preliminary survey was made by one Simon Murphy, who estimated the cost at twenty-one thousand, four hundred and forty-eight dollars. . But it was found that when the canal was constructed and enlarged the cost exceeded the sum of four hundred thousand dollars.
A company, known as The Kearney Canal and Water Supply Co., was organ- ized with a capital stock of $100,000, of which 60 per cent was subscribed, and the subscribers, all of whom were the early settlers and not very well-to-do, very largely exhausted their resources in prosecuting the work.
In April, 1882, at an election held, the City of Kearney voted bonds to the amount of $30,000 to aid in the construction of the canal, which were to be sold and the proceeds given to the Canal Company in stated amounts as the work progressed.
The first president of the company was Nathan Campbell, and F. G. Keens was secretary. The other directors were: F. J. Switz, E. C. Calkins, R. L. Downing, J. H. Roe, H. Fred Wiley, Geo. R. Sherwood and S. L. Savidge.
During the summer of 1882 plans were perfected, final surveys made by John D. Buckley, and on September 6, 1882, contracts were let to Thomas Price for the actual construction of the ditch. Under this contract work was begun in September, 1882, and that date established the priority rights of the Kearney Canal (the oldest in the state on the Platte) to take water from the Platte River for irrigation and water power purposes.
The first and second miles of the ditch, from the headgates, were completed in the fall of 1882 and tested that December. Much other work was done during the fall and winter, and thirteen miles of the ditch were completed and water turned in during the summer of 1883.
The heavy fills across Deep and Mud creeks and at Kearney Lake were not completed until 1885, during the summer of which year the ownership of the canal passed from the original stockholders to Geo. W. Frank, who was then largely interested in lands in and adjacent to Kearney. To this time the original stockholders, officers and directors of the company were practically unchanged.
Mr. Frank undertook the completion of the canal and expended large sums of money in the work, the cost of which had so largely exceeded the estimates of the engineers. This work was done and water turned into the canal in the winter of 1886. A power house was erected, water wheels installed in the fall of 1886, and electric generators added and electric current transmitted for light
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and power purposes in the summer of 1887. The work of completing the canal by Mr. Frank was in the hands of J. T. O'Brian, civil and hydraulic engineer.
As originally constructed the canal is sixteen miles long, and of an average size, 4 feet deep and 25 feet wide. The fall utilized at the power house is 56 fect.
In 1894 more water being required for power purposes, the canal was enlarged to an average of 9 feet deep and 35 feet wide, which gave it a carrying capacity of approximately 5,500 horse power. To aid in this work the City of Kearney again voted bonds in the sum of $60,000, all of which sum was expended for enlarging and improving the canal.
In addition to furnishing water for irrigation and power house uses, the canal furnished water for power at the cotton mills for nearly ten years. At those mills exceeding 500 horse power was employed.
The title of the Kearney Canal in 1908 passed to The Kearney Water & Electric Powers Co., since which time it has been materially improved. More land has been irrigated from it than theretofore, and at the power house a more extended use is made of the water for power purposes. During the year 1915 new water wheels of 1,350 horse power capacity were installed, with new elec- trical generating machinery, and concrete and steel bulkheads and sluice boxes.
The height of fall at the power house is the greatest of any water power development in the state, and the present water wheels and generator the largest water-wheel generating unit in Nebraska, and the canal capacity is now being developed for the purpose of generating and transmitting electri al energy to the country districts and surrounding villages.
THE OREGON TRAIL MONUMENT
In the year 1909 Fort Kearney Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolu- tion undertook the erection of a monument, at Kearney, marking the Oregon Trail. Largely by subscriptions from patriotic individuals a sufficient amount was soon secured and an appropriate monument, of Barre granite, was pur- chased. The inscription on the monument reads as follows: "The first stone erected in Nebraska to mark the Old Oregon Trail. 1811-1869.
"Dedicated by Fort Kearney Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Kearney, Neb., February 14, 1910"
The location of the monument is in the park adjacent to the station of the Union Pacific Railroad, the park bordering on Central Avenue. The location is one of the most conspicuous and sightly in the city.
Of the beginning of the Oregon Trail, across what is now Nebraska, history seems to disclose that Robert Stuart and four companions (members of the Astor Expedition to Oregon in the year 1910) started from Oregon on a return journey to St. Louis; the party spent a portion of the winter of 1810-11, on the banks of the Platte River in the vicinity of Scotts Bluffs (of the present Nebraska) and in March, 1911, Stuart and his companions, on foot, journeyed down the Platte River on the north side, thus marking the beginning of the longest trail across our continent.
There be those who hold to the idea that the Oregon Trail across Nebraska
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was confined to what might be termed a single pair of wagon tracks-one single definite trail-and that to appropriately mark the trail a monument must be placed just where those wagon tracks ran.
Emigrants over the trail to Oregon and California traveled with ox teams, averaged about fifteen miles per day, and grazed their oxen and other live stock beside the trail.
The editor holds to the idea that from east to west, across what is now Nebraska, from and including the Platte River Valley to the Kansas line, ran trails entitled to be called, the Oregon-Overland Trail. That in the Valley of the Platte in Buffalo County it is not in strict accord with the facts to drive a stake or erect a monument and say, "Right on this spot (between the river and the bluffs) ran the tracks of the Oregon Trail and nowhere else to the north or south." The whole valley, in the days when the Oregon Trail flourished, was a trail, marked with deep, well defined wagon tracks. The erection of a monu- ment to the Oregon Trail has two purposes: One in memory of, a marker of the event; a milestone in its history. The other, educational. To reach and educate the people in this matter, we must, as far as practical, bring such monu- ments to the people, where the people can see, read and remember the legend there recorded. To place such monuments in inaccessible places or where few people see them is largely a waste of expense and of patriotic effort.
DEDICATION CEREMONIES, JUNE 9, 1910
(Note-The following account of the unveiling ceremonies is from the Kearney Daily Hub, M. A. Brown editor.)
With fitting solemnity the Old Oregon Trail Monument, the first commem- oration of its kind in the State of Nebraska, erected by the Fort Kearney chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was unveiled Thursday afternoon. Large crowds of visitors and residents of Kearney gathered about the Union Pacific Park to witness the ceremonies accompanying the unveiling exercises. Visitors high in the councils of the Daughters of the American Revolution and in state political realms took part in the dedication of this monument to the future generations of Nebraska, of Americans, of all who hold dear the memory of the pioneers of civilization, who endured hardships of war, privation, the dangers of the desert, all that a greater people than they might live in the Golden West.
The governor's party arrived early in the forenoon and were entertained at 12 o'clock luncheon at the beautiful suburban home in East Lawn of Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Tabor. John L. Webster, president of the Nebraska State Historical Society, accompanied the party.
A luncheon consisting of six courses was served. The decorations were in the national colors, red, white and blue, and the place cards were tiny photo- graphic views of the Oregon Trail Monument, which will be treasured by the guests as souvenirs of the dinner and of the unveiling of the monument, which followed immediately after the luncheon.
From an upper balcony of the house floated the Stars and Stripes, the governor's flag, so called by the family because it has waved over the heads of six governors who have been entertained beneath its folds.
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The following were the guests at the luncheon: Governor and Mrs. Ashton C. Shallenberger, Hon. John L. Webster, Hon. S. C. Bassett, Mayor and Mrs. John W. Patterson, Judge and Mrs. W. D. Oldham, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, state regent D. A. R., Mrs. Andrew K. Gault, vice president general N. S. D. A. R., Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton, regent Fort Kearney Chapter, D. A. R., Mr. and Mrs. E. W. Tabor and Misses Isabel and Agnes Tabor.
Following the dinner the party returned to the city in automobiles and were met at the Hub Hall by the Norris Brown Guards, Company A, N. N. G., with Capt. H. N. Jones commanding, the Kearney Concert Band playing "Hail to the Chief."
The procession was immediately formed by Maj. Walter C. Sammons, marshal of the day, and proceeded west on Twenty-second Street, south on Cen- tral Avenue, thence west on Twentieth Street to the Union Pacific Park.
A grand stand had been erected in the park just west of the monument and was occupied by the governor's party, Hon. John L. Webster and the other speakers of the day, Mrs. Ward, Mrs. Gault, and the officers and members of Fort Kearney Chapter D. A. R. South of the monument Company A and the Kearney Concert Band was placed, also a large delegation of soldiers of the Civil war.
Invocation by Rev. R. P. Hammons, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, opened the exercises, followed by the Lord's prayer in which the audience joined.
In the pause that followed the draperies about the monument were lifted by invisible wires and the monument stood revealed to the thoughtful crowd. As the flag hung suspended in the air, drooping in graceful folds of red, white and blue, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, Nebraska State Regent D. A. R., stepped forward and while men stood with uncovered heads in silent reverence of the emblem of national unity and honor in these words she paid tribute to the flag :
"I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands; one nation-indivisible-with liberty and justice for all."
Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton then, with a brief, fitting explanation of the value of such a monument, not so much to us but to generations to come, presented the monument to the City of Kearney. Mayor John W. Patterson responded to the presentation speech, congratulating the Fort Kearney Chapter of the D. A. R. on their successful efforts to commemorate the Old Oregon Trail and accepting in the name of the city this token of patriotic zeal toward the perpetua- tion of memories of earlier days.
A summary of Mrs. Norton's speech follows :
"Monuments are enduring links, which bind one generation to another. We of today do not need monuments to remind us of the romance and tragedy of the history of the Old Oregon Trail, for there are still among us, men who have traveled the dreary stretches of this road, who can tell us the story of their privations and sufferings, of their escapes from their savage foe, of the famine and thirst which they endured and of how after many years, they have seen the full fruition of their hopes, and the realization of their wonderful dream, of the building of an empire in the great West which stretches out from the Missouri to the Columbia.
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"But our children, our children's children will need these monuments, 'Lest they forget.'
"The Daughters of Fort Kearney Chapter, D. A. R. are very proud of erect- ing the first stone in Nebraska to mark the Old Oregon Trail, and they are grate- ful to those who assisted in making this monument a reality and we feel that in placing it under the care and protection of the City of Kearney, that its perma- nency is assured for untold generations.
"More than sixty years ago the Old Oregon Trail ran close to where we now stand, but the hammer's stroke that drove the golden spike that on that memorable day in 1869 united the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific rail- ways just west of Ogden, proved the death knell of the old road, and drove the freighters and stage drivers from their peculiar avocation and made it a memory only.
"Now, Mayor Patterson, we ask you to accept this trust for the City of Kearney from the Fort Kearney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution."
Following the unveiling services the procession formed again and marched to the opera house, where the speakers on this occasion were heard by the audience which filled the house, the aisles and the halls.
PROGRAM AT OPERA HOUSE
Dr. A. O. Thomas, president of the State Normal School, was chairman of the program at the opera house. He read the following telegram from Adj .- Gen. John C. Hartigan :
"Regret my inability to be present Thursday. Congratulations on beginning of a great work."
A letter from Mrs. Nettie Collins Gates, president of the Nebraska State Society, National Society Daughters of 1812 was read. The letter, which was addressed to Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton, follows :
"Civic pride and loyal patriotic sentiment are inherent in our American women. To them belong much of the honor of perpetuating historic spots and creating reverence for the same.
"Kindly convey to your Kearney Chapter, D. A. R., my heartiest congratula- tions at the unveiling of the first stone to mark the Old Oregon Trail in Nebraska."
In introducing the speakers and before the program began Doctor Thomas expressed his appreciation of the Daughters of the American Revolution as an order to promote and perpetuate interest in historic things.
An instrumental duet opened the program. Misses Norma Gordon and Susie Scott were at the piano. They played "The Poet and Peasant," by Suppe, and were applauded heartily by the audience.
A short introduction was accorded Dr. Wm. A. Clark, of the Normal School, and he began the speech-making of the afternoon. In part Professor Clark said :
"The life of a nation is organic. It is developed along certain lines by specific organs. The functions of its life, however, are subdivided. There is the judicial,
PUBLIC LIBRARY, KEARNEY
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(Photo by S. D. Butcher and Son)
UNVEILING THE "OREGON TRAIL" MONUMENT AT KEARNEY, JUNE 9, 1910 On platform, left to right: Mrs. A. C. Shallenberger, Gov. A. C. Shallenberger, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, Mrs. Andrew K. Gault, Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton, HIon. John W. Patterson, Hon. John Lee Webster, Rev. R. P. Hammons, Mr. Edwin B. Finch, flag rope in hand.
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legislative and executive. But there are certain adventitious orders not included in the general classification. These orders lend life to the nation, either by anticipating the future or preserving the past or present by means of education. The Daughters of the American Revolution performs all these functions. I am proud of what has been done in Kearney; of what the Fort Kearney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have done. .
"It is said that Americans are losing their hero-worship. I believe as Carlyle did that hero-worship is essential and that the nation that does not have it is degraded.
"We appreciate the efforts of the pioneers and of this organization in per- petuating the memory of those efforts, which has been so effectually done through the leadership of Mrs. Norton."
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