USA > Nebraska > Dixon County > History of Dixon County, Nebraska > Part 7
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Such are samples of the numerous stories of injustice which were told of the C. C. & B. H. Company. It is said that hundreds were kept out of their earnings. in fact were never paid, and that not the slightest effort was made by the company to meet its obligations or to relieve the distress of the defrauded workmen. There were in that company two or three honorable men. but they were in the minority and to them these criticisms do not refer.
In September an application was made to Judge Dillon of the United States Court to place the road in the hands of a receiver. The application was denied. but the Judge stated that if the company failed to proceed in good faith and without delay in the construction of the road. a receiver would be appointed.
The existence ot the company continued longer than any one expected. It struggled. lied and swindled its way along
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
through the fall, winter and spring and finally in May, 1878, was placed in the hands of Judge Love, of Des Moines, Iowa, as receiver. It was said the company was then indebted for work done on the road to the amount of $75.000 and that not a dollar of it was ever paid.
From that time forward there was nothing done on the road even to keep it in repair. The worthless cottonwood ties crumbled with old age and rottenness and the rails degenerated into two parallel streaks of rust. The little train trundled up and down between Ponca and Cov- ington every day, on time or off, it mattered little, as it generally carried neither passengers nor freight. It was a worthless fraud and had been from the start.
Finally to the joy of everybody, it was. in October, 1879. sold by order of the United States Court to the corporation now known as the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha R. R. Company and in a few months a great change for the better took place. The track was widened to standard guage, new ties and rails replaced the wretched cottonwood sticks and worthless strap iron and the bridges and road bed were reconstructed. From a roaring and costly farce the road soon became and has since continued one of the best in the state. The ancient habit of running slow (acquired during the days of the C. C. & B. H., when, it was said, the solitary passenger could hold long conversations with farmers plowing in neighboring fields and only ceased when the plow beat the train,) no longer wears time and patience.
As to the $87.000, action was commenced against the county in the United States Circuit Court in 1878 and was afterwards appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States and there in 1884 was finally decided in favor of the county. Thus freed from claims and out of debt the county could joyfully admit the truth of the maxim that "all is well that ends well."
In this effort to extort from Dixon county $87.000 for three miles of pocket railroad. it was believed that some of the leading business men of Sioux City had much to do, and had played a part as shameless as that of Shylock in his resolve to cut out the heart of Antonio. Whether the be- lief was well founded or not, it created a distrust of that city which still continues and will require years to remove.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE GROWTH OF THE COUNTY CONTINUED THE SOUTH HALF OF THE COUNTY COMMENCES SETTLING UP --- MARTINSBURG STARTED IN 1872 -- BLIZZARDS AND LOSS OF LIFE IN 1872 -GRASSHOPPERS IN 1874, 1875 AND 1876 -THE BLACK HILLS EXCITEMENT OF 1875 AND THE C. C. & B. H. R. R. THE INCREASE IN SIZE AND BUSINESS OF PONCA, MAR- TINSBURG AND NEW CASTLE - THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1877 FIRST STEPS TOWARD AN AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY TERRIBLE PRAIRIE FIRES IN MARCH 1879.
During the years in which the C. C. & B. H. R. R. Co. troubles, briefly related in the last chapter, were foremost in the minds of citizens, the county was gradually increasing in wealth and population. There were occasional short crops, especially during the grasshopper years of 1874 and 1875, but otherwise the general prosperity of the county was . all that could be expected.
Before 1869 the southern half of the county had been almost entirely unsettled, and in a very large proportion of the balance of the county, there was much vacant land. In '69, '70 and '71, the region of country now known as Wakefield, Logan, Emerson, Concord. Springbank and Daily townships, began to grow in citizens and improve- ments.
The first white settlers of Wakefield and Logan town- ships came there in 1869. As the years went by their num- bers were slowly added to. Springbank had previously but a handful of settlers, but in that year and afterwards had many. To Daily in '70 and '71 came a large number; and Clark had its first resident in 1871. Galena, which had already had a few residents, made rapid increase in 1870 and following years. The same may also be said of Silver Creek. Hooker, lonia, Otter Creek and Ponca townships. Emerson, Wakefield and Logan did not for several years grow as
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
rapidly as the other townships we have named. Though having excellent land and presenting unusual attractions, the lack of markets and railroad facilities kept them in the background in a great measure until ISSI when the Norfolk branch of the St. Paul railroad was built through them.
The healthy increase in population from and after 1870 is seen by figures. In the summer of 1870 the number was 1.345, and in 1875, 2,886, a gain of over 20 per cent each year. New farms and improvements were more and more seen as time went on and occasionally a new post office, mill or small center of trade would be started.
Martinsburg, a pleasant and prosperous village in Galena township was founded by Jonathan Martin in 1872. It is situated at the junction of South and Daily Creeks and near the center of the county, and being surrounded by a wide area of rich farming land, and having an excellent water power it was thought it would develop into a successful rival of Ponca for county seat honors. In 1873 a grist mill was built by Mr. Martin which was soon after destroyed by a freshet and was the next year rebuilt. Other branches of of business were also soon after started, a store, hotel, black- smith shop, etc., and several dwelling houses. Afterwards in 1875, an effort was made to remove the county seat to Martinsburg, and at the election held. October 12. of that year to decide the question, that town came within about a dozen votes of winning the prize. A second unsuccessful attempt to remove the county seat to that place was made a few years later. It will so continue to result until Martins- burg is connected with other places by railroad, when it will probably become one of the most important towns in the county.
During the interval of 1870 and 1875 the growth of Ponca village was small, although it was the principal trading point for a large extent of country and did a good business. But it lacked railroad facilities and hence conld not expect to be a desirable market town. When the narrow gauge railroad project was started. Ponca as well as a large part of the county were strongly in favor of it. It came as has been seen, but it was of little benefit until it fell into better hands several years afterwards.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
Dixon county and especially in the southern half of it where there were no hills and timber to give protection, was noted in an early day for its tremendous prairie fires in the spring and summer and for its blizzards in the winter. In the northern part where the country was rougher and the grass less luxuriant, fires were generally kept under control. But in the southern valleys and great stretches of unbroken and nearly level land covered by a dense growth of dry and inflammable grass, with neither trees or hills to ward off the wind, a fire once started swept everything before it with irresistable power. In later years it has been different. Groves and plowed fields subdue the fury of fire and wind and settlers with ordinary care can feel secure.
As to blizzards, they were worse in the unprotected level lands of the southern part of the county. A blizzard swept the county February 12. 1872, and was especially terrible in the Logan valley. On the morning of that day. Joseph Bolsom (who lived in the southeast corner of what is known as Concord township and who came there in 1871) went with G. W. Packer of Logan to Graves' grove on South Creek, two miles away, to get wood. The day was clear and no hint was given of a coming storm. They went to the grove. each with a team and sled, and had loaded up and started for home, Bolsom in advance, when the blizzard struck them. It was impossible to see the road or each other and each had to guess his way through the storm as best he could. Paeker went through to Hind's house in Logan all right. arriving there late in the afternoon. He felt no anxiety for Bolsom whom he supposed had also made a safe trip home. The next morning the air was again clear and still. and Packer saw Bolsom's team standing in the valley half a mile away, no one near them. Packer hastened down to see what the trouble was and found Bolsom lying on the ground near the sled, nearly covered by snow and frozen stiff. It was supposed that he had been wandering around nearly all night before finally succumbing to the storm. During the same blizzard, old man "Austin" as he was called. who since 1869 had lived near the Taft post office a few miles from Logan, went about six miles to get wood on the Winnebago reservation, and was lost in the storm and perished.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
One day in February of the next winter, Henry Harden, who lived near the Bolsom place went with his sleigh and horses to see a neighbor. Spaulding, who lived a mile distant. He was accompanied by his grandson, a boy twelve years old. While at Spaulding's place a blizzard came up and Harden and his grandson made a start for home. Neither was ever again seen alive and Harden was never seen at all. Two days after, the sleigh was found and in it the boy frozen to death. The horses had there become de- tached from the sleigh, and as their tracks showed, they went with the storm and in the direction of the reservation. There they were found afterwards. Mr. Harden was never found.
The first death in the county of a white man by freezing was that of Daniel Donlin and occurred February 13, 1866. He had been to Sioux City and on his return was caught by a blizzard and perished within a mile of home. He lived in Galena, a short distance from where Martinsburg now is, removing there in 1856 from lowa.
Snch are among the blizzard experiences of the early settlers and probably are the worst. Lives were not often lost though there were many narrow escapes.
As the prosperous years went by, settlers hardly ever thought of the grasshopper raid of 1857 or reflected that the 'hoppers were liable to come again. From this forgetful- ness they were awakened one day in the summer of 1873. by the arrival of a small cloud of them from the northwest which came down upon the fields and gardens. They re- mained but a short time and did little damage. They gave notice, however, that they still continued on earth and as was afterwards seen were the trivial advance guard of an innumerable host the year after.
In the east, the destructive western grasshopper is hardly known, but here their appearance heralds annihilation to every growing crop. The abiding home of these raiders is on the high, dry plateaus of New Mexico and Arizona and the foot hills of the Rocky Mountains. There they multiply with astonishing rapidity and become to numerous to sub- sist, and then like bees. they swarm and migrate to other countries. They go with the wind, flying until hunger brings them down, and then woe to the field they alight on.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
From their home in the mountains they do not all go at one time nor to one place. They become widely separated after starting, but in almost any case, whether the grand army or some principal detachment, they are as the sands of the sea, myriads of millions. Coming in the distance they look like a light cloud rapidly riding on the wind, and under the blazing noon day sun they glitter like snow flakes, extend- ing from near the ground to the height of half a mile. When they drop down to feed, every green thing is covered in a minute and they sweep everything eatable before them.
Such was the visitation which Nebraska received from them in the summer of 1874. It was a calamity none could foresee or avoid.
They came in countless myriads, sometimes in such dense clouds as to obscure the sun. The morning of the day they came, the fields promised a great harvest of corn, wheat and vegetables. At noon the hoppers had come in force, the air was full of them, and every stalk of corn and wheat, every tree, every species of vegetation even to the grass was black with them, and when night came nearly every growing crop had been destroyed. Therefore there was nothing of im- portance raised that year.
Suffering. of course, ensued, and many, fearing a recur- rence of the scourge, sold their farms for whatever they could get and left the country. Those who thus made haste to leave, have without doubt often regretted their action. The 'hoppers came again the next year, (1875) but in less force and in 1876 a few scattering ones only. That was the last of them. Since then scarce one has been seen in Dixon county
In the spring of 1875, several matters of importance to the county diverted attention from the bad results of the grasshopper raid of the year before. One was the conven- tion to amend the state constitution, and on April 6, S. H. Coats was elected county delegate. Another matter of still greater interest, was the recent discovery of gold in the Black Hills and the rush which then commenced of thou- sands of adventurers to that country.
On April 16, the first Black Hills party (the Andrews Com- pany, organized at Sioux City and containing seventy-eight men and fifteen wagons) passed through the county on their
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
way, camping at Ponca their first night out. This was the last town they would see on their trip. This first company was soon followed by many others. It was a long. tedious journey to the "Hills" in those days and accompanied with much danger. There were no railroads to convey them and no towns on the route to receive them or furnish supplies. The usual time of making a trip was about forty days. It- was through a wild country, much of it desert, that the dreary forty days' journey had to be taken. Many became sick and some died on the route from hardship and exposure. and a few were killed by the Indians, who, regarding the Black Hills as sacred Indian ground, did all in their power to drive back or destroy those who were invading it. Being on the main travelled route to the "Hills." was the cause of the invention of the Black Hills Railroad scheme through Dixon county.
After the grasshopper raids were over. the greatest dam- age being in 1874. and the loss in '75 and '76 not to exceed 5 per cent. the county quickly recovered its usual courage.
The county thus far in its life had been ably conducted by those in charge of its affairs. In the selection of county officers, citizens had looked more to the fitness of the candi- dates for office than to the political party they belonged to. Hence. from the first, some favorites were democrats and others were republicans and if an incumbent was compe- tent. faithful and popular, he generally hold the office as long as he wished, whatever his polities, or even if he had no polities at all.
The non-partisan course thus adopted was one which was judicious. It really matters little as to party in selecting a. county officer. If he does his work faithfully and is guided by fairness and honesty. nothing more can reasonably be asked.
During the first few years of the county, the democratic party was much the strongest. although since then that rule has been reversed, vet the proportion of democrats elected to county office was no greater. considering their number, than that of the republicans. As the county became older, party lines were more strictly observed. yet always. even to this time, the ability and personal popularity of a nominee for county office. is more regarded than his politics.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
In 1875 the board of commissioners had submitted to them the proposition of the C. C. & B. H. R. R. Co. to build their road into the county if $87,000 in bonds were donated, and the election to decide the question resulted in favor of it. The history of this swindle we have given. Suffice it here to say, the road was pushed along by its managers, and entered Ponca in September, 1876, with cheek and assurance, and with an extended hand for the $87,000.
Being narrow guage, its arrival did not help the county as much as had been expected. Really, aside from the name of having a railroad, it was practically of little value. It was as cheap to carry passengers or produce to Sioux City by wagon as it was by rail.
In Ponca several hundred village lots were donated to the Railroad Company and a right of way granted through the town. A depot and a few other buildings were erected, and people kept up as good courage as could be expected with an $87,000 debt staring them in the face.
The coming of the road did not increase the value of or demand for real estate in Ponca or in the county to any great extent. During the fall of '76 a few residences were built and occasionally a business house. However, al- though the business of the place did not increase much, it was certainly as good as before the road was built. The lo- cation of Ponca gave it as in the past, the patronage of a great number of settlers. Aside from the tooting of the whistle of the little railroad train the town moved along much as usual.
Among other improvements in 1876. if it be called an improvement, Ponca was incorporated, and henceforth a board of trustees looked after its streets and sidewalks and controlled its affairs. Ponca had years before been incor- porated, but the annual election of village officers had been neglected and finally given up.
In the spring of 1877, Ponca had three general stores, two hardware and two drug stores, one bank, two hotels, a grist mill, harness shop, market, furniture store, lumber yard, grain dealers, insurance and real estate agents, two physi- cians. five attorneys, etc. The population of the place was claimed to be at that time, about eight hundred.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
In the summer and fall, work was slowly going forward on the railroad grade between Ponca and New Castle and from the latter place to the center of Cedar connty.
In June. 1877, a cheese factory was started near Ponca by Heydon and Wilbur and run two months. The factory closed August 23, having made in two months 2,000 pounds of cheese. This was one of the first cheese factory experiments in the county.
In the same year Stough and Mikesell built a large brick store on the corner of East and Third streets, two stories high, twenty-eight feet wide, and extending back on East street, eighty feet. This was the first brick business house in Ponca.
The question of having township organization in Dixon county was discussed in the summer and fall, and at the election held November 6, 1877, was voted on. Two hundred and forty-three votes were cast in favor of and two hundred and forty-two votes against it. thus carrying the proposition by a majority of one. It came to nothing, however, forin the January following, the supreme court of the state decided the township organization law inoperative and void.
In 1877. the attention of some of the farmers was turned to the profit of wool growing. In October. Joseph Morton shipped 2,720 pounds of wool to market, and received a good price for it. This was not a great thing. but was a starter.
Martinsburg and New Castle were active in 1877. At Martinsburg. Wright and Lockwood's store and Duren's mill did a large business and a cheese factory and other buildings were contemplated. At New Castle the expected C. C. & B. H. R. R. kept things booming.
At noon. November 15, 1877. the county was shaken by an earthquake, the worst this country had experienced for many years, and for about a minute everything seemed to be on the move. Houses shook and swung, windows and doors clattered. trees and chimneys tottered and wood piles rumbled their logs, and for the time being all nature trem- bled with rage. The performance was soon over. how- ever, and but little harm occurred except to a few broken win- dows. At John H. Armstrong's farm in South Creek valley. and Rey. Hutchinson's place in Daily the shock was quite severe.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
In the same month of the earthquake, though perhaps not occasioned by it, Ponca started its first brass band, the members being Prof. Davis, Guy Wilbur, Lovel Jones, Fred Burroughs, John Stough, Jr., Fred Powers, J. A. Mikesell and J. B. Barnes.
The fuel question was always an important one in Dixon county, and particularly in the southern part where timber was scarce. Hence the announcement in the fall of 1877 that an eighty acre bed of excellent peat had been discov- ered near Park Hill. (Logan township), excited general at- tention for a short time. But excitement in this country, whether over coal or peat, are not lasting, people having come to the wise conclusion that there is more warmth in the imagination of the finder of coal or peat than there is in the article found.
On January 1, 1878, the railroad grading was reported to have been completed and bridge piles driven from Ponca to seventeen miles beyond New Castle. Aside from criticizing the railroad and its officers. a more useful subject of thought began to occupy attention. An agricultural society for Dixon county had been favorably thought of for several years by the farmers, and especially that winter. This agi- tation in favor of an agricultural society resulted the next spring in a mass meeting held. (April 19, 1878) in Ponca, when the preliminary steps toward such a society were taken. A committee was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws. and report proceedings at an adjourned meet- ing, May 4. This was done and the constitution and by-laws were accepted. S. I. Hart of South Creek was elected presi- dent of the society: L. T. Hill, of Ionia, vice-president; W. W. Atkinson, of Daily Branch, treasurer, and J. U. LaFol- lette, of Ponca, secretary. Several other meetings were held in the summer but that was substantially all that was done that year in behalf of Dixon county's agricultural so- ciety.
At the annual school meeting in Ponca, April 1, 1878, it was voted to build a new school house to cost $3,000. The house was built by Leech and Todd and was completed in September. A large amount of building was done in 1878 throughout the county. Crops had been good the year be- fore and the present prospects were in every way promising.
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HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
As on nearly every previous 4th of July since 1865, that day was duly honored this year. Celebrations were held at Ponca, New Castle and Martinsburg, and patriotism was shown in speeches, music, sociable picnic dinners, dancing and horse racing, winding up with grand displays of fire works in the evening.
Among other improvements, Rev. W. H. Clark built the Silver Ridge Seminary (in Silver Creek township) and opened it for school in July. It was a large building and commodi- ously arranged for scholars. It was continued several years but was finally given up, not being sufficiently patronized to make it successful.
The year closed with full granaries and corn cribs and good prices for produce of all kinds. Wheat had yielded from twenty to thirty bushels to the acre.
In the latter part of March, 1879, terrible prairie fires of- enrred and great losses ensued in consequence. On March 18. a fire commencing near Daily Branch, was the prelude to a devastating conflagration which swept over the central part of the county the next day. Under the influence of a hurricane, the fire was irresistable in its course of destruc- tion, jumping roads and creeks with ease and could not be checked by any ordinary fire guards.
About noon David Holmes while fighting fire about half a mile from Martinsburg, was surrounded and fatally burned. He was taken to the hotel at Martinsburg. Drs. Hassen and Rowe were called, yet so shockingly was he burned that he died the next day. Mr. Holmes' farm near Martinsburg was swept of everything combustible. except his house. His stable, hay, horses, etc .. were burned, the value of which was about $700.
The houses of Jud Holmes, Wm. Holmes. D. M. Nelan and Geo. Mattison were also burned and all their contents. Manly Wyman, Geo. Castle and W. C. Smith, lost everything from their farms but the houses.
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