History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 18

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Nebraska > Custer County > History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time > Part 18

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

IT KILLED THE TOAD

Uncle Swain Finch, as he was familiarly called by those who knew him in his pioneer days, was one of the unique characters of the early times. Things seemed to happen at his place. He and his family have furnished the details of some very interesting stories. Some of the boys tell this one on him.

A funny incident happened at one time while they were "keeping batch" for a short time at the new ranch they were opening up. One morning the cook had an extra fine brew of coffee, and all showed their appreciation of it by drinking more than usual. Uncle Swain had passed his cup the third or fourth time. when he observed something white in the coffee pot. He remarked :

"Say. Jim, where did you get the egg to clear yer coffee with this morning ?"

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"Didn't have any egg." grumbled Jim, who appeared to be a little out of sorts and not in a talkative mood.

"What's the use of yer lyin about it. Jim; I seed it when you was pourin' out that last cup of coffee."

"You didn't, nuther," snapped Jim.

The Finch boys had as a guest a stylish friend from Iowa, and he was called upon to examine the coffee-pot to settle the dispute between Uncle Swain and the cook. The young man poured the grounds out in the yard and made a critical examination. He gave a sort of convulsive gasp, turned deathly pale, placed his hand near the region of his stomach, and disappeared around the house The antics of the young fellow caused the others to push their unfinished cups aside. Uncle Swain alone excepted -and to make an investigation of the contents of the coffee pot. Among the grounds they discovered a large, warty toad, swollen to three times his natural sizc. The old fellow had evidently climbed up between the logs of the cabin and fallen into the coffee-pot, which sat close to the wall and had no lid.

DAN GOT THE LOGS

Along in the '80s and early '90s. when crop failures were the regular order, it was a com- mon thing for homesteaders to prove up on their claims, mortgage them for the high dollar and then pack their belongings and start for wife's people back in God's country, as they used to call it. The settler was not decently out of sight before the neighbors would swarm in on that ranch and proceed to gather up all wood and posts, lumber, etc., that could be found. They generally pulled the roof off the sod house to get the planks or the cedar poles, as the case might be, which had been supporting the roof sod. In this connection an amusing incident occurred in the sand hills up at the head of Ortello valley. There were two characters in that community whom the old settlers would recognize if they are merely called Tom Doe and Daniel Blank. Tom had rather a shady reputation - he had been a lawyer and several other things which Dan

said were fully as bad. These men did not get along well. When they met in the road the conversation was generally not printable. Tom got into debt as deeply as possible and also became involved in several shady trans- actions. When he heard rumors of a warrant for his arrest he abandoned his claim. Un- fortunately he had been so busy during the day that he didn't get ready to leave until af- ter dark.

A day or so later old Dan, riding past, ob- served that the place was abandoned and made up his mind that he would even up the scores as far as possible that night. He left his team and wagon some little distance from Tom's house and went on foot to see how the land lay. He had not yet reached the house when he heard the rattle of an approaching wagon and two men drove up to the house and immediately climbed up on the roof and began to shovel off the clay and sod. Old Dan kept out of sight until the roof was cleared and the planks and poles pulled off and thrown on to the ground ready for load- ing into the wagon, then he jumped out of his hiding place, let out a howl that would have raised the dead and wanted to know what in blankety, blankety, blank was going on? The men sprang into their wagons and whipped their horses away at a gallop. When they were well out of hearing old Dan loaded up the poles and planks and hauled them home.

INDIAN SCARES

Captain W. H. Comstock is responsible for this one:

"In the spring of 1875 a man by the name of Eberlin, with his wife and a companion by the name of Hancock, started on a hunting trip up the Middle Loup river. When about eight miles above our settlement their atten- tion was called to the peculiar antics of a horseman on the east side of the river. He was riding at a furious pace, coatless and hat- less, with his long hair streaming in the wind behind him as he flew along. The hunting party was badly frightened and immediately started back to the settlement, arriving there with their team covered with foam. As soon

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as they were able to tell a rational story, they reported that they had seen Indians on the east side of the river. Every settler was at once notified, a council held, and a decision reached to proceed at once to make prepara- tions for the protection of the settlement against an attack from the red men. Volun- teers were called for to go to Fort Hartsuff and notify Captain Munson, the commander. and ask him to send two or three regiments of soldiers down. D. B. Allen offered to per- form this duty, while four or five others vol- unteered to go up the river to investigate the story told by the hunters. All were instruct- ed to ride all night and report at eight o'clock the next morning. It was laughable to see Ben Allen as he started for the fort, and a photograph of him taken at that time would be a most valuable contribution to this history. His dress suit consisted of an old pair of blue overalls, with a heavy fringe around the bot- tom, he was barefooted, and had on no other clothing except a striped shirt and an old straw hat. He was mounted, bareback, upon an old horse belonging to Mr. Higgins. About eight o'clock the next morning the people met to consult and to hear the report of the scouts when they should return. Soon a solitary horseman was seen coming from the direction of the river, and four or five others from the north.

"The single horseman proved to be the val- iant Ben, and before he was fairly within speaking distance he shouted: 'It's all right, General Munson said if we were killed by In- dians to let him know and he would come over and give them h -! ' The other party now rode into camp and reported that they were unable to discover any Indians, but they had found out that the horseman who had fright- ened the hunters was a half-crazy fellow who lived on the east side of the river. The news was a great relief to the settlers, but they nevertheless decided to build a fort where all could congregate in case of any sudden attack from the savages. It was afterward named Fort Disappointment, for the reason that no Indians ever appeared.

THE GRASSHOPPER A BURDEN

The Scripture says that "the grasshopper shall be a burden," and its prophecy came true in Custer county. The following experi- ence of Swain Finch will illustrate the fulfil- ment.

In the spring of 1870 the boys planted about sixty acres of sod corn, which was just begin- ning to make fine roasting ears, when one af- ternoon they discerned what appeared to be a prairie fire, a dense cloud of smoke arising in the northwest. They wondered at a prairie fire at that time of the year, when the grass was green. They watched it intently as it came nearer and nearer, until it obscured the sun and darkened the air like an eclipse. When it had come within a hundred yards of them they heard a continuous cracking and snapping sound, which increased to a perfect roar as it approached them, when they discovered to their horror that a cloud of grasshoppers was upon them. The insects alighted, and in a few seconds every green thing in sight was literally covered and hidden with a seething, crawling mass, several inches in depth. The beautiful field of corn melted down as if each leaf was a spray of hoar frost in the rays of the noonday sun. Uncle Swain was dumb- founded for a moment, but when he saw that corn fading he came to his senses, cut a large willow brush and went after those grasshop- pers with a vengeance. He proceeded down a corn row, threshing to right and left, killing his thousands with every sweep, and mowing a swath of death in his track. When he had gone about a hundred yards he stopped to get his breath and discovered to his extreme dis- gust that there were as many grasshoppers behind him as there were ahead. This dis- heartened him and he gave it up as a hopeless task. The hoppers ate up everything in the shape of grain and garden stuff on the place, leaving it as brown and bare as if it had been swept by fire. They would settle on a post the thickness of a man's arm, and in a few seconds it would appear to be as big as a log. When the hoppers left it it would look as if it had been scraped with a knife, every vestige

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of bark and fiber being eaten off. Aunt Sarah and her sister-in-law had a fine patch of cab- bages which they thought to save by covering the plants with hay ; but the hay served only as a convenient shade for the hoppers, who crawled under it and dined off the juicy cab- bage heads at their leisure. They then laid the hay around the patch and burned it, think- ing to smoke the pests away, but to no avail. When they left that cabbage patch nothing remained but a few bare stalks, eaten almost to the ground.

A LAND QUARREL

In all new countries in which men are homesteading there are bound to be quarrels over homesteads, lines, and entries. This county has been no exception. Hundreds of incidents, like or similar to the one follow- ing could be recited, but they are a minor part of actual history, and have still less to do with county development.

One George Hartley located in section 23, township 18, range 23, in the summer of 1880, although he had not made a filing on the claim. He rented it to one Sipes and went away to work on the railroad. In the summer Hartley came back and wanted possession of the land. Sipes refused to vacate until his crop was harvested, but he allowed Hartley to go ahead and make such improvements as he saw fit. During the summer and fall the two men had a number of quarrels, and when it came time to gather the corn, Sipes refused to gather Hartley's share. This resulted in a violent quarrel, and in the encounter that fol- lowed Hartley attacked Sipes with a knife and cut him so badly that his liver was exposed. Hartley left the county, thinking that he had killed Sipes, but the latter recovered, followed Hartley, but up to date has never heard a word as to his whereabouts.

GRASSHOPPERS CHEWED TOBACCO

Captain Comstock takes the floor to tell this one :

"At Loup City we became acquainted with B. D. Allen and Sherman Wagner. We all started in April, 1874, and drove to Douglas

Grove, where we selected our homesteads and commenced to improve them, but just as the ears of corn began to form, the grasshoppers appeared, and in a few hours completely ate up every green thing. In the edge of a draw U'ncle Dave had some tobacco plants which were very choice, and he anticipated the pleas- ure of smoking the weed of his own raising the coming winter. But, alas! his hopes were blasted. He covered the plants with anything he could get, but the festive hoppers ate holes in the covering and chewed Uncle Dave's to- bacco as long as it lasted.

"The settlers were left entirely destitute, not having produced a thing for the support of themselves and their families during the winter. The government at this time had troops stationed at a point about nine miles above Ord, the county seat of Valley county, and it had been decided to erect more commo- cious quarters for the soldiers. There was plenty of sand and gravel, and work was com- menced on the garrison. The walls were con- structed of red cedar, of which there was an abundance in the canyons not far distant. A saw mill was put in operation and teams were hired to haul the logs and lumber, as well as all other material needed in constructing the fort. The settlers flocked in from all direc- tions and were given employment by the gov- ernment. Allen and myself and Caswell went over. Allen got a job working in the mill, while Caswell and I hauled gravel from the pit and assisted on the walls of the building."

THE SENATOR WAS NOT HANDSOME

A good story is told at the expense of Sen- ator Frank M. Currie, who is not noted for his chesterfieldian appearance. During Cur- rie's candidacy for state senator, Uncle Swain Finch was very energetic in his support of the senator, although he had never met him. La- ter, after the election was over, both met on the street and a friend introduced them. Currie was profuse in his thanks for the work that Uncle Swain had done for him. "Yes I voted for you," responded Swain, "but if I had known that you were so d-n homely I wouldn't have done it." They were the best

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of friends from that time until the death of Uncle Swain.

BURLIN AND KELLENBARGER 11AVE SOME EXPERIENCE

Concerning early days when all goods had to be freighted from railroad towns in the eastern part of the state, the late Bradford Burlin wrote an account of a trip he made to the eastern part of the state in the year 1883. On this trip he fell in with Joe Kellenbarger from whom this manuscript was obtained and who vouches for its authenticity. This is the way Burlin tells it :

"Do any of these latter-day saints have any idea what a trip to the railroad meant in the early days, especially if one got caught in a storm? Now let me give you newcomers a correct account of one of these trips and if you should think that this picture is in any way overdrawn, just ask Mr. Joe Kellenbar- ger, who was there with me. In the latter part of July, 1883, I lived near New Helena. On the 11th of July a destructive hail storm destroyed sixty-five acres of corn, also the last vestige of our garden and all other crops. Be- ing nearly out of supplies at the time, I con- cluded to start for the railroad for a few months' supply. And here the troubles of that trip began ; my wife declared I was never go- ing to the road again unless I washed my feet and put on socks. So I went down and waded in the creek for a while and came in and called for the socks but she had already made the discovery that I was short on socks to the ex- tent that 1 lacked just one pair of having any, but she also made the discovery that she had one pair of those then, up-to-date, stockings, in red, white and blue rings or stripes, and looked like barber poles. She said they were so long she couldn't quite touch the bottom of them when she stood up in them, but when I came back they would need washing, and that would shrink them up so they would be right for her. So I donned the stockings and start- ed. It rained almost continually until I got back. I went to our old home at Silver Creek. forty-four miles below Grand Island, and when I came back, left the railroad at Chapman and

hit the trail eight miles further north. Here I fell in with another fellow who was not much more pleasantly situated than 1. It was Joe Kellenbarger. He was trying to get back to Dale with lumber with which to make some show of building on his claim. As we were both going to practically the same place, we soon became quite chummy and between show- ers cussed and discussed matters in general, but a storm was on and it was slow traveling.

"One day Joe said that if we could only make it to Gregory's that day, that Gregory had a roof that did not leak and we would have one night without being drowned. So we pushed our teams all day and got there just before sundown. There were six or sev- en covered wagons in the yard and a raft of women and children around the house, so we figured that a dry bed was out of the question. We said we would water our teams and drive out on the prairie and camp. While we were watering the teams, a young lady, of perhaps eighteen or twenty, came down to the well to scrape acquaintance and she told us they were a colony from Missouri, twenty-nine of them. They were most all relatives to the Gregorys except two that sat out on a log. who were two old maids that had come along to look for land, but she thought they were looking for a man about as much as they were for land. All of the men had gone out in the hills hunt- ing to kill some elk or deer, for they were out of meat.

A RACE THROUGH THE STORM

"We drove about one hundred rods and camped on a side hill. There was a storm brewing in the north but as that could not be helped, we fed and staked our horses. We spread Joe's tent cloth over the wagon-pole, took off our coats and boots and crawled under and got a nice sleep until about twelve o'clock, when the worst thunder, lightning, and rain storm that I ever experienced came up. First we were drowned from the under side, then the wind blew the tent cloth away and we were drowned from the upper side, and there we were without coats, boots, or hats. We ran for the house. Joe had on just plain Ne-

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braska, three-for-a-quarter socks. The mud began to stick to our feet, making our socks so heavy that every time we took a step they would slip down a few inches. Joe's being short, he had not gone but a few rods until he got clear of them entirely, and in every flash of lightning I could see him going down the road, running like a jack rabbit ; sometimes he was up in the air and sometimes on the ground. Those long zebras of mine went to playing the same trick and pulled off until there was about a yard hanging to each foot, loaded with mud. They kept flopping in front of me. I could not run around them nor jump over them, nor get away from them. I had to stop there in the rain and climb on those rings and get out at the top. Then there was another jack rabbit show down the road, but I made time and caught up with Joe just as he got to the door. He did not wait to knock but pushed the door open and went in stumbling, and was in the middle of the room before he could stop.

SOMETHING OF A "MIX-UP"

"Now talk about the thunder and lightning, here is where they both had to take a back seat. We found that all the men and boys had come in from hunting and had made their colony bed on the floor. The bed was just as big as the floor and when they all got to bed it was just full and Joe was treading around right in the middle of it. The men were hollowing, 'Who is there?' and 'What is wanted?' and the two old maids that were way over in one corner were piping out 'Man in the house. There's a man in the house.' We finally succeeded in getting them all quiet except two or three of the children whom Joe had been walking on. I called for a light so we could see something, then away went the old maids again. They said there was not going to be any light. It was a pretty mess and with strange men in the house they didn't want a light. They added that if that was the kind of carryings-on they had out west they would go straight back to Missouri. But some one got a light and I started to apologize for Joe's getting into the bed with his muddy feet,

but they said never mind apologies, they were glad we came in and they wanted to talk with us about Nebraska.

"We stayed an hour or more, until the worst of the storm was over, and told them plenty about Nebraska. Don't remember whether any of it was true or not. They insisted on our staying all night, but we said we would go back to the wagons and see if any of our horses were dead or loose, but might come back and stay until daylight. We started out. it was still raining some, and we got into that cold mud and Joe got into some cactus, so both said, 'Let's go back and stay until morn- ing.' Joe said there was one or two of those fellows that he did not like the looks of, and believed they would just as soon go through a fellow's pockets as not, but those two old maids were mighty nice people. He said, 'We will go back and lay down, if we can find room, and you go to sleep for a while and I will keep one eye open, then I will wake you up and I will take a nap.' We went back in and the boss of the colony hustled them around until they got a little room in one corner and told us we could get over there and lie down. The boss asked if we were all right and we said we were, so he said: 'Some one turn out the light,' and away went the old maids again. They said the light was not going to be put out. It was had enough with strange men in the bed, and to put the light out would be worse. They talked some more about going back to Missouri. But they fixed the matters up among themselves and, I believe, turned the light partly out. The last 1 remembered. Joe was telling me something about going to sleep with one eye open, and then waking me up, but I went to sleep with both eyes shut and the next thing I woke and it was broad day- light. I looked over at Joe and if I ever saw a man that I thought was dead it was he ; and for a minute or two if ever any fellow wished he was in Custer county and had stayed in Custer county it was I.

NEARLY RUINED HIS EYE

"Just then Joe gave a little snore and I saw that he 'was not dead but sleeping.' He had

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one eye open all the same and that was twisted around in the socket so that it was looking at right angles with his nose and was pointing straight over to that corner where the old maids were. Then the other side of the sit- uation presented itself to me and I got to laughing, and the more I tried to stop the more I couldn't stop. Finally Joe woke up and wanted to know what the matter was and seemed to be quite grouchy. He said if we could not behave ourselves we had better leave and not wake the whole house up, so we

crawled out. Joe very quietly and I as much so as I could. I couldn't keep from looking at Joe and every time I looked at him I had to laugh. Finally he said, 'What is the matter with you, man, are you drunk or going crazy ?' I said, 'Why, man, don't you know that one of your eyes is cross-legged?' He said it didn't feel altogether right and guessed he must have strained it keeping watch last night. We kept a sharp lookout for our socks on the way back to the wagons but the water had carried them away and we never found them."

CHAPTER VII

HARD WINTERS AND HARD TIMES

THE BLACK WINTER OF 1880-81 -A TOUGH TIME IN 1880 - HEAVY LOSSES - AS THINGS LOOKED TO BISHOP - ACCIDENTS AND TRAGEDIES - NO CHRISTMAS PRESENTS - AN EARLY BLIZZARD - DOWN TWICE BUT NOT OUT - FROZEN TO DEATH IN POWELL CANYON - THE BLIZZARD OF 1888 - A HARD TIMES CHRISTMAS - CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENTS IN THE VARIOUS CHURCHES IN BROKEN BOW - FILLED UP ON CHRISTMAS - THE GLOVERS WEATHI- ER NINETY-FOUR - DIDN'T CARRY OFF THE MORTGAGE - FOURTH OF JULY HAILSTORM - DRY NINETY-FOUR - HE WON OUT - HAD TO BE HELPED - POOR BUT HAP- PV - A HOME-GROWN CYCLONE - WORST BLIZZARD IN THIRTY YEARS - SHEEP PERISH IN TRANSIT

During the early years of any country hard winters and hard times are twin born. No way by which they can be divorced has been invented by any genius yet born. Hard win- ters, when people are ill-prepared, insure hard- ships and privations. The brave pioneers of Custer county weathered their share of storms and endured their proper quota of hard times.

The first houses were poorly constructed. fuel was exceedingly scarce. warm clothing was not over-abundant, the heating plant was often the kitchen stove, the country was open. without groves or wind brakes, and under these conditions weather that could hardly be reckoned as cold under present conditions, was considered then very severe and oppres- sive. Feed was scarce, stock unsheltered, or. at best, poorly sheltered. and all these things combined to entail hardships which none but the brave could endure and conquer.

Hats off in the presence of those men and women who stemmed the tide of early winters. who met, without grumbling or complaining. the conditions of early days, lived to enjoy the steam-heated, plastered house. and who ride through the winters of the present time wrapped in flannels and furs and snugly en- sconced in a stove-warmed auto, into which the northern blasts can bring no discomforts.

It serves them right. Their pioneering years have earned all the comforts the present day can bring them.

In presenting this chapter on hard winters and hard times the stories of old settlers have been compiled. The people who endured the storms and years tell their own stories.

THE BLACK WINTER OF 1880-1

The winter of 1880-81 will never be forgot- ten by those engaged in the cattle business in Custer county. Men who in the beginning of that winter were wealthy. found themselves bankrupt in the spring.

Early in the winter a rain began falling. The grass became thoroughly saturated : then it suddenly turned cold, and every stalk. spear and blade of grass at once became an icicle - all matted together in one sheet of solid ice. Immediately following this came a heavy snow, from ten to twelve inches deep, which was again followed by another rain, and this in turn by another sudden cold wave, the result of which was to cover the surface of the snow with a thick, strong crust.

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History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 18

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180