USA > Nebraska > Collection of Nebraska pioneer reminiscences > Part 26
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MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN
Erected in Antelope Park, Lincoln, Nebraska, by Deborah Avery Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, in memory of Mary M. A. Stevens, First Regent of the Chapter (1896-1898). Dedicated, June 17, 1914. Cost $300
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that time was little more than a railway station at a division point upon the Union Pacific, and where was also located a mili- tary post occupied by a battalion of United States cavalry.
Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, a regular army officer and American explorer, at one time commanded an arctic expedition in search of traces of the remains of Dr. Franklin. At another time he was in command of an exploring expedition of the Yu- kon river. At another time he commanded an expedition into the northernmost regions of Alaska in the interest of the New York Times. He also became a writer and the author of three quite well known books: Along Alaska's Great River, Nimrod in the North, and Children of the Cold.
At the time of which we are speaking Lieutenant Schwatka was stationed at the military post at North Platte. He fur- nished us with the necessary army horses and equipment for the hunting expedition, and he himself went along in command of a squad of cavalry which acted as an escort to protect us if need be when we should get into the frontier regions where the In- dians were at times still engaged in the quest of game and some- times in unfriendly raids.
William F. Cody, familiarly known as "Buffalo Bill," who had already achieved a reputation as a guide and hunter and who has since won a world reputation as a showman, went along with us as courier and chief hunter. He went on similar expedi- tions into the wilder regions of Wyoming with General Phil Sheridan, the Grand Duke Alexis, and others quite equally cele- brated.
This Omaha group of amateur buffalo hunters, led by Buffalo Bill and escorted by Lieutenant Schwatka and his squad of cav- alry, rode on the afternoon of the first day from North Platte to Fort McPherson and there camped for the night with the bare earth and a blanket for a bed and a small army tent for shelter and cover.
On the next morning after a rude army breakfast, eaten while we sat about upon the ground, and without the luxury of a bath or a change of wearing apparel, this cavalcade renewed its jour- ney in a southwesterly direction expecting ultimately to reach the valley of the Republican. We consumed the entire day in traveling over what seemed almost a barren waste of undulating prairie, except where here and there it was broken by a higher
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upland and now and then crossed by a ravine and occasionally by a small stream of running water, along the banks of which might be found a small growth of timber. The visible area of the landscape was so great that it seemed boundless - an im- mense wilderness of space, and the altitude added to the invig- orating and stimulating effect of the atmosphere.
We amateurs were constantly in anticipation of seeing either wild animals or Indians that might add to the spirit and zest of the expedition. There were no habitations, no fields, no farms. There was the vast expanse of plain in front of us ascending gradually westward toward the mountains with the blue sky and sunshine overhead. I do not recollect of seeing more than one little cabin or one little pioneer ranch during that whole day's ride. I do know that as the afternoon wore on those of us who were amateur horsemen were pleased to take our turns as the opportunity offered of riding in the army wagon which carried our supplies, and leading our horses.
When the shades of night of the second day had come we had seen many antelope and now and then heard the cry of the coyote and the wolf but we had not seen any sign of buffalo, but we did receive information from some cattlemen or plain wan- derers that there was a band of roving Indians in that vicinity which created in us a feeling of some anxiety - not so much for our personal safety as that our horses might be stolen and we be left in these remote regions without the necessary facili- ties for traveling homeward.
Our camp for the night was made upon a spot of low ground near the bank of a small creek which was bordered by hills on either side and sheltered by a small grove of timber near at hand. The surrounding hills would cut off the sight of the evening camp fires, and the timber would obscure the ascending columns of smoke as they spread into space through the branches of the trees.
The horses were picketed near the camp around the commis- sary wagon and Lieutenant Schwatka placed the cavalrymen upon sentinel duty. The night was spent with some restlessness and sleep was somewhat disturbed in anticipation of a possible danger, and I believe that all of us rather anxiously awaited the coming of the morning with the eastern sunlight that we might be restored to that feeling of security that would come
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with freedom of action and the opportunity for "preparedness." When morning did come we had the pleasure of greeting each other with pleasant smiles and a feeling of happy contentment. We had not been molested by the Indians and our military sen- tinels had not seen them.
On the afternoon of the third day of our march into the wil- derness we reached the farther margin of a high upland of the rim of a plain, where we had an opportunity of looking down over a large area of bottomland covered by vegetation and where there appeared to be signs of water. From this point of van- tage we discovered a small herd of browsing buffalo but so far away from us as to be beyond rifle range. These animals were apparently so far away from civilization or human habitation of any kind that their animal instinct gave them a feeling of safety and security.
We well knew that these animals could scent the approach of men and horses even when beyond the line of vision. We must study the currents of the air and plan our maneuvers with the utmost caution if we expected to be able to approach within any reasonable distance without being first discovered by them.
We intrusted ourselves to the guidance of Buffalo Bill, whose experience added to his good judgment, and so skilfully did he conduct our maneuvers around the hills and up and down ra- vines that within an hour we were within a reasonable distance of these wild animals before they discovered us, and then the chase began. It was a part of the plan that we should surround them but we were prudently cautioned by Mr. Cody that a buffalo could run faster for a short distance than our horses. Therefore we must keep far enough away so that if the buffalo should turn toward any of us we could immediately turn and flee in the opposite direction as fast as our horses could carry us.
I must stop for a moment to recite a romantic incident which made this buffalo chase especially picturesque and amusing. Judge Neville had been in the habit of wearing in Omaha a high silk hat and a full dress coat (in common parlance a spiketail). He started out on this expedition wearing this suit of clothes and without any change of garments to wear on the hunt. So it came about that when this group of amateur buffalo huntsmen went riding pell-mell over the prairies after the buffalo, and like- wise when pursued by them in turn, Judge Neville sat astride
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his running war-horse wearing his high silk hat and the long flaps of his spiketail coat floating out behind him on the breeze as if waving a farewell adieu to all his companions. He pre- sented a picture against the horizon that does not have its par- allel in all pioneer history.
It was entirely impossible for us inexperienced buffalo hunters while riding galloping horses across the plains to fire our rifles with any degree of accuracy. Suffice it to say we did not suc- ceed in shooting any buffalo and I don't now even know that we tried to do so. We were too much taken up with the excite- ment of the chase and of being chased in turn. At one time we were the pursuers and at another time we were being pur- sued, but the excitement was so intense that there was no limit to our enjoyment or enthusiasm.
Buffalo Bill furnished us the unusual and soul-stirring amusement of that afternoon. He took it upon himself individ- ually to lasso the largest bull buffalo of the herd while the rest of us did but little more than to direct the course of the flight of these wild animals, or perhaps, more correctly expressed - to keep out of their way. It did not take Buffalo Bill very long to lasso the large bull buffalo as his fleet blooded horse circled around the startled wild animal. When evening came we left the lassoed buffalo out on the plains solitary and alone, lariated to a stake driven into the ground so firmly that we felt quite sure he could not escape. It is my impression that we captured a young buffalo out of the small herd, which we placed in a corral found in that vicinity.
On the following morning we went out upon the plains to get the lassoed buffalo and found that in his efforts to break away he had broken one of his legs. We were confronted with the question whether we should let the animal loose upon the prai- ries in his crippled condition or whether it would be a more merciful thing to shoot him and put him out of his pain and suf- fering. Buffalo Bill solved the vexatious problem by concluding to lead the crippled animal over to the ranchman's house and there he obtained such instruments as he could, including a butcher knife, a hand-saw, and a bar of iron. He amputated the limb of the buffalo above the point of the break in the bone and seared it over with a hot iron to close the artery and pre- vent the animal from bleeding to death. The surgical operation
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thus rudely performed upon this big, robust wild animal of the prairie seemed to be quite well and successfully performed. The buffalo was then left in the ranchman's corral with the under- standing that he would see it was well fed and watered.
We were now quite a way from civilization and near the Colorado border line, and notwithstanding our subsequent rid- ing over the hills and uplands during the following day we did not discover any other buffalo and those which had gotten away from us on the preceding day could not be found. During that day we turned northward, and I can remember that about noon we came to a cattleman's ranch where for the first time since our start on the journey we sat down to a wooden table in a log cabin for our noonday meal. During the afternoon we traveled northward as rapidly as our horses could carry us but night came on when we were twenty miles or more southwest of Fort McPherson and we found it again necessary to go into camp for the night, sleeping in the little army tents which we carried along with us in the commissary wagon.
Colonel Cody on this journey had been riding his own private horse - a beautiful animal, capable of great speed. I can re- member quite well that Mr. Cody said that he never slept out at night when within twenty miles of his own home. He declined to go into camp with us but turned his horse to the northward and gave him the full rein and started off at a rapid gallop over the plains, expecting to reach his home before the hour of mid- night. It seemed to us that it would be a desolate, dreary, lone- some and perilous ride over the solitude of that waste of country, without roads, without lights, without sign boards or guides, but Buffalo Bill said he knew the direction from the stars and that he would trust his good horse to safely carry him over depres- sions and ravines notwithstanding the darkness of the night. So on he sped northward toward his home.
On the next day we amateur buffalo hunters rode on to Fort McPherson and thence to North Platte where we returned our army horses to the military post with a debt of gratitude to Lieutenant Schwatka, who at all times had been generous, cour- teous, and polite to us, as well as an interesting social companion.
So ended the last romantic and rather unsuccessful buffalo hunt over the western plains of the state of Nebraska - a region
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then desolate, arid, barren, and almost totally uninhabited, but today a wealthy and productive part of our state.
The story of the buffalo hunt in and of itself is not an inci- dent of much importance but it furnishes the material for a most remarkable contrast of development within a period of a generation. The wild buffalo has gone. The aboriginal red man of the plains has disappeared. The white man with the new civilization has stepped into their places. It all seems to have been a part of Nature's great plan. Out of the desolation of the past there has come the new life with the new civilization, just as new worlds and their satellites have been created out of the dust of dead worlds.
There was a glory of the wilderness but it has gone. There was a mystery that haunted all those barren plains but that too has gone. Now there are fields and houses and schools and groves of forest trees and villages and towns, all prosperous under the same warm sunshine as of a generation ago when the buffalo grazed on the meadow lands and the aboriginal Indians hunted over the plains.
MRS. CHARLES H. AULL Twelfth State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. 1915-1916
OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE NEBRASKA SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
BY MRS. CHARLES H. AULL, State Regent
The National Society of the Daughters of the American Rev- olution was organized in Washington, District of Columbia, October 11, 1890, and incorporated under the laws of Congress, June 8, 1891. Its charter membership numbered 818. Its de- clared object was:
"To perpetuate the memory of the spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence by the acquisition and protection of historical spots, and the erection of monu- ments; by the encouragement of historical research in relation to the Revolution and the publication of its results; by the pres- ervation of documents and relics, and of the records of the in- dividual services of revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion of celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries.
"To carry out the injunction of Washington in his farewell address to the American people, 'to promote, as an object of pri- mary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowl- edge,' thus developing an enlightened public opinion, and afford- ing to young and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest capacity for performing the duties of American citizens.
"To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of Ameri- can freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty."
Although there were previously some "members at large" in Nebraska, no chapter had been organized until the formation of Deborah Avery chapter in 1896. At present (1916) there are thirty-three chapters with a membership of fifteen hundred, and a well organized state society actively engaged in historical, edu- cational, and patriotic work. Each chapter pays to the state society a per capita tax of twenty-five cents. A conference is held annually to plan the state work and promote the purposes of the national society.
Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer of Omaha was appointed by the national society as organizing regent for Nebraska, June 7, 1894.
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She was reappointed in February, 1895, and again in February, 1896.
No chapters were formed until in 1896, when Mary M. A. Stevens of Lincoln was admitted to membership in the national society, January 8, and was made organizing regent by Mrs. Philip Hichborn, vice-president general in charge of organiza- tion. Under the direction of Miss Stevens, Deborah Avery chapter was formed May 15, 1896, and chartered June 17 fol- lowing.
In May, 1896, Mrs. Laura B. Pound of Lincoln was appointed state regent to succeed Mrs. Palmer and the real work of organ- ization was begun.
Omaha chapter was formed June 29, 1896, and approved by the national society October 1, 1896. In December, 1896, Mrs. Elizabeth C. Langworthy was appointed organizing regent at Seward but a chapter was not completed there until nine years later. In February, 1897, Mary M. A. Stevens of Deborah Avery chapter and Mrs. Henry L. Jaynes of Omaha chapter were delegates to the continental congress at Washington. Miss Stevens nominated Mrs. Pound for state regent and Mrs. Jaynes nominated Mrs. John M. Thurston of Omaha for vice-president general from Nebraska. Their election followed. Mrs. Thurston died March 14, 1898, and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Angie Thurston Newman of Lincoln was elected at the following congress to succeed her. No new chapters were perfected in 1897 but Min- nie Shedd Cline of Minden and Mrs. Sarah G. Bates of Valen- tine were appointed organizing regents.
Mrs. Frances Avery Haggard of Lincoln was elected state re- gent by the' continental congress in February, 1898. She de- voted her energies to raising money and supplies for the relief work undertaken by the Daughters during the Spanish-Ameri- can war. At the close of her first term Mrs. Haggard declined a renomination.
The third state regent was Mrs. Elizabeth Towle of Omaha, who was first elected in 1899 and reelected in 1900. Miss Anna Day of Beatrice was appointed organizing regent by Mrs. Towle.
In 1901 Mrs. Laura B. Pound was again elected state regent and served two terms. The national society having made pro- vision for state vice-regents, Mrs. Mildred L. Allee of Omaha was elected to that office. Mrs. Annie Strickland Steele was ap-
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA SOCIETY
pointed organizing regent at Fairbury, Mrs. Janet K. Hollen- beck at Fremont, and Mrs. Olive A. Haldeman at Ord. In her last report as state regent Mrs. Pound recorded two new chap- ters, Quivira chapter at Fairbury, organized December 3, 1902, and Lewis-Clark chapter at Fremont, January 17, 1903, with chapters at Beatrice and Ord in process of formation. Quivira chapter was chartered February 3, 1903, and Lewis-Clark chap- ter was chartered February 13, 1903.
The first state conference was called by Mrs. Pound in Octo- ber, 1902, and was held in Lincoln at the home of the late Mrs. Addison S. Tibbetts. This conference was called to nominate a state regent and plan for observing the centennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. This event was celebrated August 3, 1904, the anniversary of the council of Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri Indians. On this date a Nebraska boulder was dedicated at Fort Calhoun with appropriate exercises, par- ticipated in by the Sons of the American Revolution and the Nebraska State Historical Society. This was the first historical event commemorated by the Daughters in Nebraska.
Mrs. Mildred L. Allee of Omaha was nominated for state re- gent at the conference in 1902, and Mrs. Emma Kellogg of Lin- coln for vice-regent. These nominations were approved at the continental congress in 1903 and both nominees were elected, and reëlected in 1904.
Coronado chapter at Ord was organized January 25, 1904, and Elizabeth Montague chapter at Beatrice June 17, 1904. The former was chartered September 30, 1904, and the latter June 21, 1905.
On October 20, 1903, the second annual state conference was held in Omaha. Mrs. Charles Warren Fairbanks, president gen- eral of the national society, was the guest of honor and delivered an address upon the subject, "The Mission of the Daughters of the American Revolution."
The third annual state conference assembled in Lincoln, Octo- ber 19, 1904, for a two days' session. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Lang- worthy of Seward was chosen for state regent and Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck of Fremont was the choice of the conference for vice- regent. Both were elected, and both were renominated at the fourth state conference held at Fairbury in October, 1905.
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Mrs. Langworthy organized the Margaret Holmes chapter at Seward April 10, 1905, and Nikumi chapter at Blair, February 23, 1906.
Lincoln entertained the fifth annual state conference October 29-30, 1906, Mrs. Donald McLean, president general, being the guest of honor. At this conference a state organization was perfected and by-laws adopted providing that nominations for state regent and vice-regent should be made by the state board of management and submitted to the continental congress for election. Other officers for the state organization were to be elected at the annual conference. This system was followed until 1910, when the by-laws of the national society were changed to permit each state organization to elect its own regent and vice-regent.
Mrs. Charles B. Letton of Quivira chapter, Fairbury, was nominated for state regent and Mrs. Janet K. Hollenbeck for vice-regent at the meeting of the board of management in the spring of 1907, and were elected at the national congress imme- diately following. Mrs. Letton was reelected in 1908 and Mrs. S. D. Barkalow of Omaha was elected vice-regent.
The sixth annual state conference was held in Omaha October 22-23, 1907. Mrs. Letton appointed three organizing regents, one at Aurora, where no chapter has yet been formed; Mrs. Arthur E. Allyn at Hastings, and Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton at Kearney. On May 16, 1908, she organized the Fort Kearney chapter at Kearney, which was chartered October 27, 1908, with Mrs. Norton as its first regent.
Mrs. Richard C. Hoyt presented the following resolution to the sixth annual conference and moved its adoption, the motion being seconded by Mrs. Henrietta M. Rees:
"Therefore, be it resolved that the D. A. R. of Nebraska co- operate with the State Historical Society in taking some steps toward marking the old Oregon trail in Nebraska and that a committee be appointed to act in unison with the Historical Society."
The resolution was adopted. Members of the Omaha chapter who were interested in this matter at the time, say that the idea was suggested by Dr. George L. Miller of Omaha, then president of the State Historical Society. In accordance with the fore- going resolution Mrs. Letton, state regent, appointed the follow-
MONUMENT LOCATED IN BEMIS PARK, OMAHA, ON THE CALIFORNIA TRAIL OR MILITARY ROAD Erected by Omaha Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
MONUMENT IN RIVERSIDE PARK, OMAHA, MARKING THE INITIAL POINT OF THE CALI- FORNIA TRAIL Erected by Omaha Chapter, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution
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HISTORY OF NEBRASKA SOCIETY
ing committee : Mrs. John J. Stubbs, Omaha; Mrs. George H. Brash, Beatrice; and Mrs. Stephen B. Pound, Lincoln.
The seventh annual conference was held at Fremont October 29-30, 1908. At this conference Mrs. Letton urged that plans be made for marking the Oregon trail across Nebraska, and called upon Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton who had been appointed chairman of the Oregon trail committee to present the subject to the conference.
In April, 1909, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward of Lincoln was elected state regent and Mrs. S. D. Barkalow of Omaha was reelected vice-regent. In 1910 Mrs. Ward was reelected state regent with Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton as vice-regent.
The eighth state conference was held at Beatrice October 28-29, 1909. At this conference it was voted to present two mar- ble pedestals to Memorial Continental Hall. It was resolved to vigorously prosecute the efforts to secure an appropriation from the legislature for the marking of the Oregon trail. Mrs. Charles B. Letton, during her last term as state regent, had endeavored to have the legislature of 1909 appropriate money for marking this trail, but no action was taken by that body until the session of 1911, when, through the efforts of Mrs. Oreal S. Ward, who had been elected state regent, $2,000 was appropriated "for the pur- pose of assisting in the procuring of suitable monuments to mark the Oregon trail in the state of Nebraska." This money was to be expended under the direction of a commission composed of "the state surveyor of Nebraska, the state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution in the state of Nebraska, and the secre- tary of the Nebraska State Historical Society." This act was approved April 7, 1911. On April 10th following, the above- named commissioners met and organized as the "Oregon Trail Memorial Commission," with Robert Harvey president, Mrs. Oreal S. Ward vice-president, and Clarence S. Paine secretary- treasurer.
During Mrs. Ward's term as state regent she organized four chapters, St. Leger Cowley chapter, Lincoln, December 3, 1909; Niobrara chapter, Hastings, October 12, 1910; Otoe chapter, Ne- braska City, February 15, 1911; Major Isaac Sadler chapter, Omaha, March 1, 1911.
The ninth annual state conference was held in Seward, Octo-
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ber 19-20, 1910, and Mrs. Charles Oliver Norton of Kearney was elected state regent, and Mrs. Warren Perry of Fairbury vice- regent. They were reelected at the tenth state conference, held at Kearney, October 23-25, 1911. The following eleven chapters were organized during Mrs. Norton's administration :
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