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 47

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 47

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

the Independent, until 1908, when it was con- solidated with the Loup Valley Queen, which was edited by Ray Barnard.

THE CALLAWAY COURIER

The Callaway Courier, a newspaper that for a number of years was one of the leading papers of Custer county, was established in 1888, and was, as the records show, the out- growth of a local town-fight between some of the citizens of Callaway and J. Woods Smith. The publication of the Courier was presided over by George B. Mair, who bore the reputa- tion of being one of the best editorial writers in the county. In 1910 Mr. Mair was elected clerk of the district court of the county and disposed of his interests in the Courier, which was later consolidated with the Queen.

While Callaway for a time supported three newspapers, it now has but one, which is owned and published by Professor W. A. Rosene, with J. C. Nailer as editor.

BERWYN

For a few months, in 1890-91. the village of Berkyn sported a newspaper, called the Berwyn Times. It was published by Dr. Nick- erson, and died a natural death, after a short and not overly brilliant career.

SARGENT

The Loup V'alley Eagle was the first publi- cation to herald the rise and growth of the village of Sargent. It was established by E. P. Savage, owner of the townsite, and was edited by C. D. Kelly. The Eagle was suc- ceeded by the Sargent Times, owned by F. M. Currie and edited by J. E. McCray. The paper was discontinued in 1894, and the material sold to The Grip. of Alliance. From that time until 1897. Sargent was without a newspaper. In the latter year J. C. 1 .. Wisely started the Commoner, afterward changing the name of the paper to the Sargent Era. In 1900 C. S. Osborne established the Sargent Leader. In the course of a few months he sold it to How- ard Savage, who shortly afterward sold it to A. 11. Barks, who, after a short time disposed of the paper. It has changed ownership several

times in the past few years, but is being pub- lished at the present writing by Guy Liver- more. a native son of the vicinity, and it is fairly prosperous.

WEST UNION

West Union for a number of years enjoyed the luxury of a newspaper. which was known as the West Union Gusette. Among the edi- tors of this paper we recall Ham Kautzman, Jud Woods, and W. H. Predmore. The Gazette was suspended during the drouth period in the '90s and since that time West Union has been newspaperless.

In 1893 W. H. Predmore and E. M. Webb started the Custer County Citizen, which was run during the campaign, in opposition to some of the Populist candidates. After a few weeks Mr. Webb returned to his claim near Calla- way, and Mr. Predmore continued the paper for some time. He then leased it to Mrs. Louise Raymond, who ran it for a short time, in con- nection with the job-printing business. Charles A. Cook succeeded Mrs. Raymond, and contin- ued the paper for some months longer, when it was discontinued, in 1894. For a time Rev. George Bailey, pastor of the Presbyterian church from 1893 to 1899, published a church paper in connection with his work, as also did Rev. Mr. Epley, pastor of the United Brethren church. The Populist, a paper started in op- position to fusion, was published in Broken Bow from September 1, 1900. to February. 1901, by James Stockham and J. G. Painter.

COMSTOCK

One of the later villages established in Cus- ter county has been favored with a newspaper since soon after its birth. The Inder was pub- lished by Harold Cooley. This paper passed to the ownership of Elmer E .. Wimmer, who continued to publish it until the month of July, 1918, when he was called from his labors by death. Mr. Wimmer was one of the honorable and worthy citizens of Custer county, of which he had been a resident for more than thirty years.

OCONTO

Oconto's newspaper career has been some-

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

what varied, but for several years it has main- tained a good weekly paper, called the Regis- ter, which is now published by F. M. Bryner.

S. D. BUTCHER, HISTORIAN

Custer county owes to Mr. and Mrs. S. D. Butcher more than it can ever pay. They have been valuable pioneers. With incessant toil they gathered historical data for the last two score years, and they have assembled the larg-

of western history - a history that would treat generally the middle west and especially cen- tral Nebraska.

On June 1, 1886, he made the first picture for his book, and by 1892 he had made 1,500 pictures and had written that many biogra- phies. The intention was to reproduce these old sod houses and dugouts with a short bio- graphical sketch under each picture, making a picture album of early days in Custer county,

S. D. BUTCHER AND FAMILY

est aggregation of pictures of Custer county scenes and Custer county pioneers ever com- piled, perhaps, by any county. This history of the county is deeply indebted to Mr. Butcher's collection, not only for illustrations but also for much of the historical data it contains. Names, dates, and events have been culled pro- fusely from the Butcher compilation. These names and dates could have been obtained from no other source. Back in the carly '80s Mr. Butcher began his work, with the intention. then, of becoming a publisher and an illustrator

on the largest scale that had ever been at- tempted by any county. The dronth period stopped the enterprise for several years. On the morning of March 12, 1899, a fire de- stroyed Mr. Butcher's home and its contents, including the biographical manuscript of the proposed history, thus making it impossible ever to replace the sketches of the early pio- neers, as many had left the country. Fortu- nately the negatives were stored in boxes, in an out-building, and were saved. In a few weeks after the fire Mr. Butcher commenced

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taking orders for his Pioneer History of Cus- ter County, with short sketches of early days in Nebraska, and in eighteen months he had completed this work, of 400 pages. He sold one thousand books.

A STATE CONTRIBUTION

A June issue of the Nebraska State Journal in 1916 devotes an entire page to the historical pictures Mr. Butcher had contributed to the historical collection of Nebraska, and from the accompanying context the following is an ex- cerpt :

"A picture gallery of Nebraska frontier life ! The old sod houses, dugouts. log cabins, and shacks: the 'family gathering. - the whole family as we knew it in the frontier days, - father, mother. the babies, the faithful old horses, the little bunch of cattle. the pigs, the poultry, and, not least, the family dog. The familiar farm and ranch operations in the old style - breaking prairie with a yoke of oxen. threshing the first wheat crop with the old horse-power machine, planting sod corn with a one-hand 'Punch' planter. The old frontier gatherings -the 'big feed' at the sod house when the friends from a dozen claims gathered to eat at a long table : where the children romped together, and the 'old folks' ( who were generally young) looked out into the future and cheered each other with the prospects. The other neighborhood gatherings - the Sunday school picnic, the frontier wedding, the round- up on the cattle range, the circle hunt, thie Farmers' Alliance, and that most tender and never-to-be-forgotten incident of frontier childhood - the 'last day' of district school.

"There are three thousand two hundred of these pictures in one collection. It is called the 'Butcher collection." It is the work of Mr. and Mrs. Butcher, who settled in Custer county in 1882, and combined homesteading with pho- tography for the next twenty years, traveling part of the time in a photographic wagon over the vast and thinly settled region of northwest Nebraska, taking pictures of the people and places just as they found them. A history of Custer county grew out of these travels and

these thousands of negatives, slowly accumu- lated through the years.

"The legislature of 1913 appropriated $600 for the purchase of the Butcher collection for the Nebraska legislative reference bureau and the Nebraska history work of the state uni- versity. During the past winter the collection has been carefully gone over, with the assist- ance of Mr. Butcher, classified, catalogued, and prints made from a large part of the negatives.

"These pictures tell the story of life in wes- tern Nebraska thirty years ago more effectively than any other descriptive matter. The almost infinite variety of sod-house architecture and farm-yard arrangement is in them set forth. The clothing, the furniture, the hopes, the pur- poses, of these pioneers are eloquently told in the family groups and neighborhood gather- ings. The way in which the Nebraska frontier built its houses, planted its crops, dug its wells, gathered its harvest, went to school, received religion, played its games, and gathered for social and civic purposes. finds expression in these negatives, where the sunlight and silver nitrate have fixed for all future time the shad- ows of the people and the events whose origi- nals are fast fading from sight and memory.

"What would not the American workl give to-day for such a collection of New England life from the year 1620? What would not some of the older people of to-day give for the pioneer pictures of New York, Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, and Wisconsin? Long before the end of the present century this collection will be held beyond price and its material used over and over in publications upon western art, lit- erature, and history.

"Most of the negatives are six by eight inches in size, taken with an old-fashioned camera which looked like a six-pounder brass cannon. and required special genius and pains to secure results. Their preservation through all the vicissitudes of frontier life. fires, wash- outs, movings, cyclones, seems providential.

"Mrs. Butcher, to whose faithful services as a frontier wife, mother, and photographic helper. is due a large part of the honor for preservation of this collection, passed away.

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December 29, 1915. Her husband, after some years of absence, is once more back in Custer county, in the field of local history."

Aside from photography, Mr. Butcher has been a prolific writer of descriptive articles. On a few very rare occasions the poetical streak in his nature has broken ont and got beyond control. One such an occasion was when, aft- er proving up on his homestead, he left his old shanty by addressing to it the following senti- ment :

FAREWELL, HOMESTEAD SHANTY (By S. D. Butcher)

Farewell to the homestead shanty ; I have my final proof ;

The cattle will hook down the walls, And someone will haul off the roof.

Farewell to my sheet-iron stove That, stands in the corner, all cold ;

The good things all baked in the oven In language can never be told.

Farewell to the crackerbox cupboard, With gunny-sack hung for a door ; Farewell to my store of good things That I shall never want any more.

Farewell to the little pine bedstead. "Tis on thee I slumbered and slept :

Farewell to the dreams that I dreamt. While the fleas all over me crept.

Farewell to the down-holstered chair.

With the bottom sagg'd down to the ground ; Farewell to the socks, shirts and breeches That fill it again to the round.

Farewell to the nice little, table, Under which I have oft put my feet.

Then chose from the bounty of good things The substantial things to eat.

Farewell to the sour dough pancakes That none but myself could endure :

If they did not taste good to a stranger They were sure the dyspepsia to cure.

Farewell to the tea and the crackers ; Farewell to the water and soap;

Farewell to the sorghum and buckwheat : Farewell to the lallacadope.

ELMER E. DOWSE

Elmer E. Dowse was born in Custer county.

a genuine Custer county product, and lives near Comstock, this county, at the present day. This prose article, written by Mr. Dowse, was read at one of the old settlers' picnics several years ago and was awarded a prize for merit and historical valne :

A PICTURE OF EARLY DAYS

"Imagine yourself standing with me. about the middle of July, on one of the bluffs which commands a view for several miles up. and down the Middle Loup valley. There is pre- sented to us a panorama of singular and varied beauty. Dark green fields of corn alternate with fields of rapidly ripening wheat and oats. The Middle Loup, winding like a serpent up the valley, until finally hidden by a bend in the hills, its banks lined with willows in a manner so truly artistic as to challenge the possibility of reproduction, and dotted here and there with exquisite little islands, completes an unsurpassable picture of peace and beauty.

"Let us close our eyes and drift backward over a space of time covering thirty-three years. We open our eyes and -O wondrous change! Where are those prosperous farm dwellings, those magnificent fields and that little village resting at the foot of a bluff sev- eral miles up the river? The stream flows on with the same majesty, the grandeur of the valley is undiminished, but now all we see is a long, level sea of waving grass. Here and there herds of deer and antelope are feeding and several miles to the north a long line of elk wind their way to the stream of water. Apparently the wild animals and the Indians have full and free possession. But what is that we see at a distance of about two miles? The upward curling smoke which has attracted our attention, indicates that a human habitation is near. We conclude that it cannot be Indians, because of the absence of the typical tepec. although the willow poles scattered ahout in various places show that the tepee was much in evidence before the last prairie fire. A walk of forty minutes brings us to the place from which the smoke is eminating. It is the abode of Henry Snell, one of Custer county's first settlers, and merits a brief description. It is

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY. NEBRASKA

simply a dugout close to the bank of a swamp. and is about nine feet long. three feet wide. and six feet deep. In one corner is a fireplace and in another a hole in the top of the roof serves as a door. Sumptuous wall decorations and gorgeous carpets are conspicuous only by their absence. The roof is on a level with the ground and all is well arranged to afford con- cealment from the Indians, who are known to be in large numbers a little farther north- west. Henry Snell, the lord of this castle. is a well proportioned man, six feet in height, with a pleasant, kindly countenance, and about thirty years of age. He has been a school- teacher and possesses intelligence and refine- ment to an unusual degree.

"The first white settler of Custer county was my father, L. R. Dowse. He came up to Douglas Grove in August of 1873, put up hay and selected a homestead. Returning to Loup City. he came back, bringing his wife and children. They occupied the dwelling place of Henry Snell, which I have just described, until my father, with Henry's help, had time to construct a house of cottonwood slabs. Soon Frank Ohme. B. D. Allen, W. H. Comstock. and others came up with their families, and Douglas Grove began to be a settlement of considerable size.

"At this time Custer county was truly a hunter's paradise. Elk, deer. and antelope could be found in abundance almost anywhere. Grandpa Wagner, one of the first to come to Douglas Grove, might well be called the 'Leather Stocking of the Middle Loup.' He was endowed with a magnificent physique. marvelous physical strength and endurance, a cool head, clear eye. and steady hands. Pas- sionately fond of hunting and trapping, he found here abundant opportunities to exercise his skill. Many men have won fame and re- nown whose exploits did not equal his.

"During the first few years. when the ray- ages of the grasshoppers threatened to cause a famine in the little settlement, Grandpa's un- erring rifle kept his own family and many other families in meat. Many long winter evenings I have sat for hours and listened to his tales, made doubly entrancing by his quaint, original

manner of relating them. When he was unable to bring his game home with him, the empty cartridge placed on the body of the carcasses served to keep away the hungry coyotes. But his stories of long tramps. of being caught in blinding blizzards, and battling home against wind and driving snow - these stories were told me when quite young and my recollection of most of them is rather indistinct. One simple little incident, however, which I remember with considerable distinctness, will serve as an il- lustration.

"It is an afternoon in February; the patches of bare ground visible in many places give promises of returning spring. Grandpa is sit- ting at the door of my father's house, which gives an excellent view of deer, led by an im- mense buck, coming down the eastern hills and toward the river. Waiting until the buck, which is a good distance ahead. has covered about half the distance to the river, he procures his long-barreled rifle and crosses the stream. When he reaches the other side, he perceives that in order to get within range he must keep to the north of the buck, on account of a slight wind which is blowing from the south. By taking advantage of a slight rise in the inter- vening ground and creeping a couple of hun- dred yards. then following a little draw south- ward for a short distance. he can come within easy rifle shot.

"Accustomed as he is to stalking deer. this is for him an easy task. The buck feeds quietly for the most part, waiting for the rest of the herd to come up. and pausing occasionally to raise his lofty antlers and sniff the air for evi- dences of possible enemy. In a half-hour Grandpa has gained the coveted position. As he raises himself slightly, to draw a careful bead, some intimation of danger seems to strike this king of the prairies, and, raising his noble head, with his sensitive nostrils quivering. he starts to bound away. There's a puff of smoke and a sharp report which seems only to in- crease the deer's momentum. It seems that for once the oldhunter's steady hand has failed him. But the buck covers less than a hundred yards when he stumbles and falls. Another trophy has been added to Grandpa's long list.

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"Another time he was not so successful, though through no fault of his. For some rea- son, instead of using his own trusty rifle, he borrowed a gun of a man named Ross and set out toward the head of a little creek commonly known as Spring creek. Coming up over a large bluff, he saw below him, and in easy range, twenty-four elk feeding on the tender grass near the edge of the creek. What must have been his chagrin when his gun refused to do its work! After snapping it repeatedly he was obliged to return empty-handed, leaving the elk stamping and snorting on the creek below.

"An Irishman living on Victoria creek should be mentioned in connection with hunt- ing in the early days, on account of his unique method of pursuing the game. He had a large, gray horse which was somewhat of a runner and was accustomed to chase the elk in vain attempts to run them down. Once he chased a large herd up into the head of a canyon. Here the elk found it impossible to scale the steep sides and collected in a bunch, stamping and snorting. The Irishman, in great glee, think- ing that now he would have the laugh on his neighbors, who had watched his former at- tempts with so much amusement, dismounted and began to take pot-shots at the elk. When he began his fusillade, the elk began again to make frantic attempts to scale the sides. At every shot is seemed that an elk rolled back. But when this son of Ireland thought that he must have most of them killed, those which had escaped his furious bombardment got to- gether and, making a precipitate rush down the canyon, almost overturned him and his horse. When he went to see the extent of the carnage he had wrought, nothing but torn and beaten earth greeted his astonished gaze. His bullets had all flown wild and the elk which he had seen falling were merely submitting to the laws of gravitation and not to his marksman- ship.

"In the summer of 1876 occurred the mas- sacre of Custer and his little band, and a gen- eral condition of unrest prevailed among the Indians in Montana and the Black Hills. This state of affairs created much uneasiness among the settlers, because they knew that there was

nothing to prevent the warriors from swoop- ing down the Middle Loup, if they should hap- pen to get started in that direction. Indian massacres on the Republican also added to their alarm. As a means of providing against such a possibility, a company, known as the 'Custer County Rangers,' was formed and W. H. Com- stock was elected captain. A fort about forty feet square was constructed of sod and logs. But these precautionary measures, although wise enough, were entirely unnecessary, as the Indians never came, and Douglas Grove was never seriously endangered by the red skins.

"One could write almost indefinitely upon the early incidents of this settlement alone. Many quaint and peculiar, as well as good and noble, characters of that time and place, have not been mentioned, but are worthy of a full description and history. But people of Custer county, as you view with pride your excellent educational facilities, the wonderful industrial development of the county, and the general peace and prosperity, remember that it is large- ly due to the daring and industry of pioneers such as I have mentioned. Let us pause oc- casionally in the scramble and rush to attend our daily duties and pleasure, to glance back to that period in Custer county's history when all was as it had been for hundreds of years and nothing was in abundance except that pro- vided by the kindly hand of God and nature. Then let us regard with a greater degree of respect and admiration those noble men and women who, dedicating their lives to the county's welfare, in spite of perils and hard- ships, kept on with unwavering perseverance.

"As I let my thoughts turn backward Through the misty haze of years. Filled with joys and fraught with fears; To those early days so hopeful.

As I think of the hopes and efforts Of those pioneers so bold.

Of the deer and elk and Indians. Of strange adventures never told :

Emotions strangely impressive Come stealing over me, And my tho'ts I cannot utter. Nor can I pen such reverie."

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

MRS. M. B. A. MARTIN

Mrs. M. B. A. Martin was an old-time Custer resident who came to Broken Bow from Creston, Jowa. She was an intelligent. well educated lady, and after the death of her hus- band she devoted several years to teaching here in the county. She was a talented writer and possessed a keen imagination which readily lent itself to romance and poetry. The most notable of her rhymed productions was an In- dian romance and tragedy woven about the "Broken Bow" for which the town is supposed to have been named. It is written in the metre and style of Longfellow's "Hiawatha." As a work of imagination, the story, plot, romance. and descriptions are more remarkable than the language.

THE BROKEN BOW (By Mrs. M. B. A. Martin )

Slow the moon rose o'er the valley. The valley of the Big Sioux river, Shining down upon the wigwams ; They, the red men of the Sioux tribe. They had camped to hold a council With the chief of the Dakotas. Known among them as War Eagle. For the scalp hung from his girdle : He had slain among the cañons, To the southward, to the westward. He had fought and butchered many ; But his brother, Navasota. Had been slain among the cañons : He fell fighting the Paducahs For the fair lands of Nebraska.

Each tribe claimed the elk and bison. Claimed the deer among the cedars, That roamed among the tallest cedars. Fed upon the grass that grew there. The Paducahis gained the battle, Drove the Sioux from off the valley. Far beyond the Niobrara, To the valley of the Big Sioux. Where dwelt the tribe of the Dakotas. Dwelt the Indian maid, Winneta, The daughter of brave Navasota. In the council Eagle Feather Sat and smoked beside his father. Sat and smoked the pipe among them. Listened to the great War Eagle.

As he planned the coming marriage Of the Indian maid. Winneta. To his son, the Eagle Feather.

Was not her mother of the Sioux tribe Rich in wealth of lands and ponies. When the father of Winneta Claimed her for his Indian bride? And the union of the two tribes Made them richer, made them stronger. Now the union of Winneta To my son, the Eagle Feather. Will more united make the friendship Of the Sioux and the Dakotas.

Then they called the Indian maiden, Told her bid the Eagle Feather To do some daring deed of prowess To prove his great love for Winneta - He shall do Winneta's bidding. With her eyes downcast and thoughtful. With her voice so clear and mournful. Spoke she then to Eagle Feather : "Go to the land of the Nebraskas. Far beyond the Niobrara. Where the Sioux and the Dakotas Hunted, fished, and roamed the prairies. The deep canons far beyond them.

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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 47

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