USA > Nebraska > Seward County > General history of Seward County, Nebraska > Part 13
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Those named as pioneer settlers that served in the Union army during the war of the rebellion are Charles L. Lyon, Bayard Wickersham, and George W. Anderson.
H PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
The early settlement in this precinct was largely German and began when Louis Librock settled on section 28, Con- rad Grotz and Deidrich Grant on section 32 in 1866. Fritz Ropke and William Leppe settled on section 30, Jacob In- drana on section 20, Diedrich Wilkens on section 26, Con- rad Rohrkasto on section 32 in 1868. Jacob Thomas and John C. Thomas settled on section 18, John Westerhof and C. C. Davis on section 8, and Charles Ruckstashel on sec- tion 20 in '69. Deitrich Brant, Andrew Shultz, William Luber, Gillman Garland, B. W. Walker settled in '68. John
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
Ohlwiler, Joseph Loose, J. D. Luft and Henry Petrie were 1869 homesteaders. John Q. Ohlwiler and Benjamin Walk- er settled on adjoining homesteads and adopted a novel plan for complying with the requirements of the homestead law by building a house on tho line, one half on one claim and half on the other, so they could live together and each sleep and reside on his own homestead. Hon. Henrich Beckman settled on section 12 in 1870. Served in the state legislature in 1889. Carl G. A. Koch settled on section 24 in 1870, and Charles Richenbaugh located on a homestead the same year. One of the last homesteads was taken in 1872 on sec- tion 24 by Ernest Seick .. Herman Goecke bought a quarter of section 12, homesteaded land, and settled upon it, and Henry Seick bought and settled upon a quarter of section II, rail road land, in 1872.
John Q. Ohlwiler was a Union soldier in the war of the rebellion.
I PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
Settlement in this precinct began in the sixties. It has no valley lands except the Middle creek valley which is narrow. Deidrich Dankers settled on section 26, Hon. George W. Fuller, James Iler, Abram Courtright, Steven Brown and John A. Raymer settled in 1869. Andrew Shultz took a homestead on section 14, and Syrenus Vanandel on section 12 in 1870. Thomas Best and Ezra J. Newton were 1872 homesteaders. John H. Merrill was an 1880 settler upon rail road land.
Hon. George W. Fuller was a Union soldier in the war of the rebellion. Some years after settling upon his home- stead he moved to Seward where he engaged in the manu- facture of brick and the brick laying trade. Served one term as"mayor of the city, two terms in the state legislature and one term in the state senate.
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
J PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
1
This precinct seems to have caught the greatest early settlement of any other precinct in the county, due largely to the fine bottom lands and timber along the North Blue river which flows entirely through the precinct. Daniel Morgan and three sons, William, Thomas and Lewis pre- empted government land in section 26 in 1858. Job Reyn- olds settled on section 10, Thomas L. Rogers on section 22, Samuel Long and C. J. Niehardt on section 15 in 1863. Samuel Brown settled on section 35, Josephus Brown on section 26, William Hageman on section 10, G. V. Hage- man, Berry Davis, and John Grabil on section 14, Peter Grabil on section 22, Henry Palmer on section 14 and G. W. Lazenby on section 26 in 1866. Matthew Hackworth on section 14, Henry Michaels on section 24, Joseph Michaels on section 12, John H. Atwood on section 32, Harold Cham- bers and Walter Chambers on section 2 in 1868. Willis G. Hazelwood settled on section 30, William Brockaw on sec- tion 14, and James Miller on section 20 in 1869. Frank Morton was an 1870 homesteader. Isaac D. Neihardt and William Alschweede homsteaded in 1871. Harper Miller settled in 1872, P. P. Hershberger in 1876 and B. W. Houdersheldt in 1868.
Isaac D. Neihardt was a Union soldier in the war of the rebellion. Was three times promoted, reaching the rank of major. Served two terms in the late seventies as Seward county's sheriff, was justice of the peace in Seward eight years and served several terms as police judge.
K PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
Settlement in this precinct began by the opening of a ranch on Walnut creek by William J. Thompson in 1864. Lemuel L. Allison settled on section 32, G. N. Perkins and Albert Norin on section 18 in 1869. James Hilleny, Wm.
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
Bivens, William Silence, Andrew Snider, Andrew Perkins, Ira Silence and Abram Winsor settled in the spring of 1869. A. C. Miller, C. C. Tunecliff, John Floren and K. B. A. Bonnam settled on section 20, William Wilson and widowed mother, George Pervis and James Roberson on section 18 Peter Johnson, Martin Madison and Ed. Jensen on section 32, Levi Graul, Charles Lyon, Al. Williams, and Allen Cross on section 8 in 1870. Clyne Rhodes, J. Ciscoe, William Livesley, and Jasen Williams were 1870 settlers. Wm. G. Keene purchased and settled on the Wm. J. Thompson ranch farm on Walnut creek in 1871, George Hoover settling on the same section the same year. James M. Smiley came in 1872, Henry S. Wise, and Nicholas Wullenweber in 1873. E. N. Wingfield purchased and settled on the widow Wil- son homestead in 1873.
Those of the above who served in the Union army dur- ing the war of the rebellion were Levi Graul, K. B. A. Bon- nam, Andrew Perkins and George Hoover.
L PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
Settlement began in this precinct in 1862 when John Leonard made a home here on his return trip from the west where he had been with a load of freight. About eighteen months later, in the fall of 1863 John E. Fouse made the second settlement. Mr. Leonard and Mr. Fouse both built and managed a ranch, the former on the east side of Beaver creek and the latter on the west side and each one about the same distance from the ford of that stream, or Beaver Cross- ing. Roland Reed was the third settler in the precinct, com- ing in 1866 and purchasing the John Leonard ranch which he conducted until 1869 when he entered a homestead on the west half of the south-west quarter of section 34, John D. Salnave settling on the east half of the same quarter the same year. Thomas J. Foster settled upon the east half
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
of the south-east quarter of section 22, John A. Knerr settled on section 14, Benaja Brown on section 14, Norman Casler on section 22, Samuel McManagel on section 30, William McManagel on section 28, Peter Peterson on section 28, in 1869. Those settling in -L- precinct in 1870 were: John Rumsey on the south-east quarter, John H. Waterman on the north-east quarter, Gilbert and Josiah White on the north-west quarter of section 34; Harvey Winchel on section 18, E. R. Johnson section 12, Paul Peterson section 20, Ab- ner Ross and George F. Hurlbert section 8, Martin Hanson section 28, Henry Cross section 12, Jessie Small and James Hayward on section 28, John Todd and John Hesser on the north-east quarter, William Shuck and Thomas Starkey on the south-east quarter, John Burket on the south-west quar- ter and Charles Emerson on the north-west quarter of section 24, John Wheeler and William H. Walker on section 2, Mr. Stonecypher, Frank Horton, Minyard Foster and mother, Sarah Foster on the north half of section 26, Evans Reed the south-west quarter snd Elam Rumsey the south-east quarter of section 26, Lewis Bazinge, John Palmer and John Hodges on section 14, John Phelps, John Logan, Elijah W. Gleason, Thomas May and John Bray on section 30, Daniel Smith settled on school land in section 36, Paton Dillon on the north-east quarter, Gussie Dillon on the west half of the south-east quarter, Norman Casler the south-west quarter and Moses Eaton the north-west quarter of section 22. Those 1870 homesteaders whose section numbers we have failed to obtain are Willian W. Cross, Ray Cross, Lewis Castle, Henry Jett and'Oren D. Culver. D. P. Sherwood on section 32, and Dr. Rufus D. Harvey on section 8 in 1871. Ira McCollister homesteaded in 1872. Charles Le- zott settled on rail road land on section 27 in 1873, William Bouton settled on the south-west quarler of section 35 in 1873. This farm was purchased is 1876 by Richard Jones
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
who still resides upon it. Eph. Ausmer purchased the John Rumsey homestead on the south-east quarter of section 34 in 1874. Other 1870 settlers in - L- precinct were: Robert Walker, John Kennet, Benjamin Jenkins, Ransom Walker, Patrick Galiger, Laurence Deidle, T. J. Clark, Daniel Brown, Hon. Adam Seed, W. P. Ostrander and Frank E. Pierce. Hugh Seed and Andrew J. Seed settled on section 29, rail road land, in 1872.
There was a large percentage of Union soldiers in the list of pioneer settlers of -L- precinct, as follows: Thomas J. Foster, John Burket, Charles Emerson, John A. Knerr, Henry Cross, William H. Walker, Ben. Brown, Ransom Walker, George F. Hurlburt, Moses Eaton, Paton Dillon, Norman Casler, John Phelps, John H. Waterman, Elam Rumsey, John Rumsey, Ephram Osmer, Richard Jones, Walter P. Ostrander, Minnyard Foster, Henry Jett, Dr. Rufus D. Harvey, Oren D. Culver, Elijah W. Gleason, Lewis Castle, Frank P. Perry, Benjamin Jenkins, Orlando I. Casler and Evans Reed.
M PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
Daniel Millspaw was the first settler in this precinct, hav- ing opened a ranch on the east half of the north-west quarter of section 2 in 1864. Columbus D. Clark and father, G. Clark, and Phillip Michael settled on section 12 in 1868, Isaiah Michael and John Leonard on section 14 in 1868; Han- ley Jackson homesteaded the north half of the north-east quarter of section 12, Ross Nichols the south-east quarter of section 2, and John W. McCaulley the north-east quarter of section 10 in 1869. The 1870 homesteaders were: William Rumsey on the east half and John Osborn on the west half of the north-east quarter of section 2, Lafayette Millspaw on the south half of the north-east quarter of section 12, Jack. C. McClellan on the west half of the north-west quarter of
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
section 2, Joshua VanDervort settled on the east half of the north-west quarter, Horace P King on the west half of the south-west quarter of section 14; John Maurer on the east half, Mrs. Richardson and two sons on the west half of the north-west quarter, Andrew J. Seavey on the north half of the south-east quarter, J. L. S. Jackson on the south half of the south-east quarter and the south half of the south-west quar- ter, Norman Hill on the north half of the south-west quarter of section 10: Mitchel M. Campion, George Foltz, Benjamin Hunkins, Fredrick Brauer, and David Haney on section 8; W. W. Konkright, Wilham Reed, and D. O. Whitmore on section 20; Rachel T. Littler on section 22; Philip Weinand on section 18; S. O. Curtis, W. T. Wiley, T. C. Deming, R. D. Lull and E. S. Duncan on section 30; Fred. Zastrow, and Fred Kramer on section 32; Edward Warner and Chas. Warner on section 34. Other 1870 settler of -M- precinct: Thomas Kleckner, Jacob Sable sr., Joseph Lanning and two sons, Noah and Edward, John P. Martin and W. S. Beebe who removed and settled in -J- precinct in 1871. Hiram Hunkins was an 1869 homesteader; Martin Campion bought a farm and settled in 1871. John Kraser and John Weible were 1878 settlers on rail road land.
Union soldiers in the war of the rebellion who became pioneer settlers in - M- precinct: W. W. Konkright, Mitchel Campion, Martin Campion, Charles Warner, Hiram Hun- kins, William Rumsey, J. L. S. Jackson, A. J. Seavey, E.S. Dunkin, Philip Weinand, William Reed, D. O. Whitman. Thomas Kleckner. John W. McCaulley was a soldier in the Mexican war.
N PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
This precinct had an early settlement. Jessie R. John- son settled on section 35, and David Barton on section 26 in 1863. Samuel Englehaupt settled on section 22 in 1865.
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
Martin Wambold, David Croy and Edward Walklin on sec- tion 32 in 1868; Thomas A. Healey homesteaded on section 10, George Foster on section 6, W. W. Pierce on section 18, Joseph Blackburn and Peter Ogilvie on section 4 in 1869; Hon. Silas S. Atwood was an 1867 settler; Chris. Lezenby and H. A. Brisbin were 1869 settlers. Later homesteaders, coming in 1870 and 1871: Hon. Robert C. Rhea, Hon. J. J. Endicott, William Lemmon, Stephen C. Tremper, on section 8, Jacob B. Courtright settled in the eastern part of the precinct in 1874; Irvin Stall settled on Walnut creek, near the old freight route in 1873; Andrew Jackson home- steaded the west half of the south-west quarter of section 6 and John Geis in the same section in 1870.
Those of the early settlers of - N- precinct who served in the Union army during the war of the rebellion: Thomas A. Healey, Silas S. Atwood, George Foster, W. W. Pierce, Joseph Blackburn, and Stephen C. Tremper. Hon. Robert C. Rhea served four years in the United States regular army after the war, from 1867 to 1870.
( PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
This precinct was favorably located for early settlement, being traversed by both the steam wagon road and the freight route. Thomas West and wife with five sons and one daughter were the first settlers in the precinct and per- haps the first in the county, coming in the spring of 1860 with an emigrant train on its way across the plains to the mountains they were so well pleased with the West Blue valley that they abandoned the enterprise of crossing the plains any farther and settled down to make a new home on the then wild prairies of Nebraska. As this family undoubt- edly experienced more of the real hardships and fearful difi- culties of life remote from civilization among savage Indians than any others of Seward county's settlers, we quote the
168
HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
following from I. M. K. Johnson's letter published in Cox's history in regard to them: "They had many hardships to endure in 1861; their log cabin, together with about all their worldly goods except a few cattle were burned by the In- dians, supposed to be Omahas disguised as Sioux. This was in the fall and the family suffered great hardships dur- ing the coming winter. The Indians were very troublesome and stole much of uncle Tommy's crops of that year. With the exception of the families of Oren Johnson and James West (later settlers) who lived near, there was no settlement nearer than Victor Vifquiain, near the forks of the Blue and Morgans on the North Blue. Their place of trade was Ne- braska City, eighty-two miles distant." Settlement along the west Blue began in 1864 and homesteaders in -O- pre- cinct were locating from that date till along in the early sev- enties. James West, a brother of Thomas West, and Oren Johnson were 1860 settlers on section 32; J. L. Davison set- tled on a homestead where the city of Milford is now located in 1864 and S. R. Douglas on section 12 the same year; Daved Barton and Jessie R. Johnson were 1864 settlers; W. J. Clark, Samuel J. Englehaupt, Rev. L. Oliver and Izrael M. K. Johnson settled in the vicinity of West Mills in 1865. The 1866 settlers were: Andrew Rouse, just south of Milford, William Reed, S. G. Merriam and son George, Merriam at Milford, Abram Courtright, Alexander Frisby, Chas. Smith, settled east of the Blue, Lewis D. Laun, Joseph Stockham, Henry Wortendyke, Henry Brown, and David Tift, came in the summer of 1866; William H. Smiley, Lee Smiley, Ira Gallup, S. S. Atwood and John Atwood settled just west of Milford in 1866 and were the founders of "Doby Town," previously mentioned in this work; S. S. Atwood relocated later in - N- precinct; Jacob A. Wilsey and Morris R. Wilsey were 1868 homesteaders; later homestead settlers during the sixties were, Alonzo Clark, George Campbell, Jacob Camp-
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
bell and Louis Welch; Jacob H. Culver, Dr. J. H. Wood- ward, D. C. McKillip and Dr. Band were settlers in Milford in the late sixties; J. J. Ainsworth and two sons, William and John and J. D. Stump were 1870 homsteaders.
The early settled precincts show the smaller percentage of soldier homesteaders, due to the fact that settlement in a large degree was made during the war and settlement was started in -O- precinct before the war. Soldier settlers so far as we have been able to learn, in this precinct were: D. C. McKillip, J. H. Culver, Thomas Healey, Dr. J. H. Woodward.
P PRECINCT PIONEER SETTLERS.
The 1860 freight route passes through this precinct and the immense agricultaral advantages of the sections along its path invited early settlement. Victor Vifquain settled in 1862; at the old freight route bridge, the first bridge in the county, was an excellent opening for a ranch and A. J. Wall- ingford took advantage of the opportunity and started one there in 1862; a little later in the same year Mr. Bingman and James Johnson made settlement; Hon. Thomas Graham and Philip I. Hooker settled in 1866; John J. Briggs settled on section 28 in 1868; Thomas H. Bishop homesteaded on section 10 in 1873; Elisha Kinney bought A. J. Walling- ford's homestead and settled upon it in 1872; Captain J. S. Dillenbeck was an 1878 settler; Philp J. Stolz settled in 1874.
Of those named as early settlers, Thomas H. Bishop and Captain J. S. Dillenbeck and Victor Vifquain were union soldiers in the war of the rebellion, the latter being a Ne- braska volunteer and the only representative of Seward county in that grand throng of patriots that rallied to the defense of the nation and left the emblem of freedom un- tarnished by the foul air of deception floating above four million boundmen set free and over a united country. Col.
: 170
HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
. Vifquain had the distinct honor of having been the first man to mount the fortifications at Fort Blakely, one of the de- fence of Mobile, for which he received due recognition and promotion.
Rail Road Land and Late Pioneer Settlers.
Following the homestead pioneers was a later class. of pioneers, a majority of whom came to take advantage of the liberal offers the B. & M. rail road company was making of its raw, or wild prairie land to homeseekers. This land, comprising every odd numbered section or half of the soil in Seward county, was placed upon the market early in the seventies at a low rate. And sales were made under guar- antee to the purchasers by the railroad company that in con- sideration of a certain amount of improvement in preparing the land for the production of crops a fair discount would be made upon its price. In addition to this, liberal terms of payments were given the purchasers, affording an opportun- ity to make the required improvements in advance of pay- ments, this together with the reduction in price bringing the improvements into double account by the advantage to the purchaser of making his payments from a share of the crops.
It may seem strange that the B. & M. rail road company would practicially pay purchasers of its land for making im- provements upon it, but there was an object of interest to the company in having the thousands of acres of wild land in its possession transformed into productive farms. It had extended its road into a wild area and obligated itself to op- perate it, and while the company needed a portion of the value of the land it needed the business that only a more - improved agricultural country could give. In fact, the open- ing of farms throughout Seward county in those early times was more to the interest of the pioneer B. & M. rail road company than to any other class of individuals aside from
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
the settlers themselves.
Consdering all of the several advantages together as a whole the purchas of rail road land was about as advantagi- ous as the homestead priviliges. Added to the liberal con- ditions upon which settlers could purchase homes, the home- steaders had acted as advance guards and opened up and prepared the way for them. Markets had been established and general foundations lain for future prosperity by the open- ing of farms and other industries. But fully two-thirds of the low priced, easy to purchas, rail road land was taken by the homestead settlers, many of whom purchased rail roadl land on sections adjoining their homesteads, in tracts of from eighty acres to a whole section and the rail road sec- tions in Seward county were soon off of the market having been sold and transformed into cultivated farms. However there were many homes made exclusively upon rail road land, but had the rail road company withheld sales of its land from settlers who owned land and sold it only to those wishing to make homes upon it, Seward county would have at least a third more population than it has at this time.
We have not been able to obtain the names of but a lim- ited number of the later settlers, a majority of whom were purchasers of rail road land. Among them we find the fol- lowing named - B- precinct settlers: C. M. Gordon, settled in 1875, Rev. Christian Beck, in 1877, Calvin S. Wright, in 1879, Fredrick Rurup, in 1887, and Harvey Moler in 1888. Christian Schaal was an 1880 settler in -C- precinct, John M. Merrill in - I- precinct the same year, Osceola A. Shaw 1885; P. P. Hershberger settled in -J- prebinct in 1876, B. W. Houdersheldt in 1878, Albert Procknow in 'SI and Jacob Webber in '84; E. N. Wingfield settled in -K- precinct in 1874, later came Beech Downs, Jerome Aldrich, Jacob Geis, John Evans, and Irvin Stall; late settlers in -L- precinct: Charles Lezotte, Burt Arthur, Thomas Wilson, David Rol-
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
and, Forest Roland, Tillis Roland, J. S. Stonecypher, John Boicourt, James Miller, Peter Johnson, Fred. Tepner, Carl Imig, R. B. Richmond, Richard Jones, Jas. M. Smiley, John W. Smith, E. L. Blanchard, John Cooper and Patrick Smith. In -M- precinct John Kraser settled on section 19 and John Weible on section 17 in 1878, Fred. Rodeman, Mike Ro- gowsky, and Jacob Sable sr., were 1880 settlers, Daniel Blanchard bought and settled on the Ed. Warner homestead in 1885, W. A. Wilsey settled on section II, rail road land in 1884 and Wm. H. Mygatt bought a farm of homesteaded land on section 2 the same year. In -O- precinct Willam W. Miller settled on section 9 in 1874, John Stanfer settled on section 5 in 1878, Valentine Springer in 1877, Fred. Pet- schek in the same year and Chas. H. Adams in 1883.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE MIRAGE.
We feel that a history of any portion of the western plains would be incomplete without some mention of this strange phenomenon, and again we feel our inability to do justice in a pen picture of its grandure as it appeared to many Seward county pioneers. We remember away back in the remote past that our good old mother frequently mentioned the great "seven wonders of the world" and we supposed, and believe she did also, that the equal of any one of them would never be known. If we remember right they consisted of the rain- bow, the ocean tide, Niagara Falls, the mammoth cave, the pyramids of Egypt, the natural bridge in Virginia and the aurora borealis or "northern lights." But the western plains with their greatest natural "wonder" had not then been known and considered. In looking upon the scenes of one of those mirages a person is viewing the grandest panorama of the world, as its appearance is only periodical and while it may be visible one day it may not be seen again in the same locality for weeks or months, depending upon the con- dition of the atmosphere. The impression made upon the mind of one who beholds this mystery is that the earth bas sank, leaving a great valley between two hills. Standing up- on the brink of one of these imaginary hills a person may look across and see well known cities upon the opposite hill which are from twenty to forty or more miles distant while the valley is seemingly not more than two miles wide. This is a direct forward and slightly upward view of the spectacu- lar appearance and is generally the first curiosity which at- tracts attention, but a glance down through the valley the second and not by any means the least amazing prodigy is plainly apparant. Farm dwelling houses, barns, teams
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HISTORY OF SEWARD COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
working in the fields and traveling upon the roads may be plainly seen throughout the entire valley.
We resided on the Evans Reed homestead in -L- pre- cinct during the year of 1876, one half mile west and one and one-half miles north of Beaver Crossing, which might be supposed to be in proximity to the West Blue valley, but while the place was on high ground, there was no view from it of any part of the valley therefore it was in no way ac- countable for the misterious appearing pictures which ap- peared occasionally throughout the landscape covering that area. Between that place and the city of Friend, eleven miles distant, Exeter twenty miles and Fairmont twenty- seven miles distant, is an ordinary tract of Nebraska land surface. There are no valleys except the West Blue not over one-half to three-quarters of a mile wide at any point, and every one of the three cities is located upon low and level ground, but notwithstanding these facts, we have stood in the dooryard of that homestead several times in the early part of the day at various times and viewed all of those cities and recognized their well known elevators, railway depots, and business houses as plainly as though not more than two miles distant, and at the same time saw well known farm houses, barns, fields, and traveled roads throughout the im- maginary valley which was rounded out from the two given points like some of the great canons or basins of the rocky mountain regions. These things that we witnessed in those early times are fast vanishing from the memory of those who beheld their grandure. While it is possible that they may still appear from the same points of view at about the old time intervales, it is probable that they are among the wild west scenes that have disappeared as a result of the changed condition of the country which is now covered with obstruct- ions to such views with growths of timber where it was in pioneer days one great, boundless prairie.
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