USA > Nebraska > Dodge County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 7
USA > Nebraska > Washington County > History of Dodge and Washington Counties, Nebraska, and their people, Volume I > Part 7
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
Wherever we go we find upon the plains a similar commingling of eastern and western species. Every mile one advances westward brings to view plants not hitherto seen while at the same time there is left behind some familiar species.
Nebraska affords one of the finest illustrations of the commingling of contiguous floras to be found anywhere in America. Not a few of the species in the southern half of the state have come up from the plains of the southwest, some even coming from Texas and New Mexico. Others again appear to have migrated from the great northern plains of the Dakotas while here again there are endemic species as the buffalo grasses, Redfield's grass, false buffalo grass and many more.
Through the untiring efforts of the members of the botanical seminar of the University of Nebraska, there are now known fully 3,300 species representing every branch and nearly every class of the vegetable kingdom.
There are sixty-four species of native trees in the state. There is, however, no place in the state where all of these species grow together.
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
No county contains sixty-four kinds of native trees. Thus there are nineteen species of trees in the northwestern quarter of the state, twenty- seven in the northeastern, fifteen in the southwestern and fifty in the southeastern. .
A close study of the distribution of the trees shows that nearly all have probably migrated to the plains from the east. They have in some cases done more than get a little foothold in the extreme southeastern counties to which they have come from the heavy forests of Missouri. A few have doubtless crossed the Missouri River from western Iowa, although this number is evidently small. Nearly all have come up from the Missouri bottoms and spread from the southeastern corner of the state west and northwest. Possibly a few may have come up the Blue River from Kansas, but these must eventually be traced to the Missouri River bottoms at the mouth of the Kansas River.
The trees and shrubs which are found only in the western part of the state unquestionably came from the Rocky Mountains and have spread eastward to their present limits. Only one of these. the buffalo berry, has spread itself over the entire state. There is a probability that a fur- ther examination of the bluffs of the Niobrara, Platte, and Republican rivers will show several more of the Rocky Mountain plants, which have come down with the river currents. It is singular that so few of the western trees and shrubs have come down the streams, especially as pre- vailing winds are also from the westerly parts toward the east. It would naturally be supposed that it would be easier for western trees to come down stream with the wind, than for the elms, ashes, plums, etc., to have gone up the streams against the prevailing winds.
TREES OF NEBRASKA
Among the more important trees found growing in Nebraska soil are the following :
Yellow or Bull Pine, Red Cedar, Black Cottonwood, Rydberg's Cot- tonwood, Cottonwood, Basswood, White Elm, Red Elm, Hackberry, Plane Tree, Mountain Maple, Silver Maple, Box Elder or Ash Leaved Maple, Butternut, Blackwalnut, Shellbark Hickory, Big Hickory Nut, Bitter Hickory, White Oak, Burr Oak, Red Oak, Ironwood, Canoe Birch, Choke Cherry, Wild Black Cherry, Wild Plum, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Honey Locust. White Ash, Red Ash, Green Ash.
GRASSES FOUND IN NEBRASKA
Many plants are commonly called grasses which are not grasses at all. Many people speak of clover and alfalfa as grasses because they are made into hay for stock just as many of the real grasses are. So, too, many of our weeds are called grasses, as rib-grass, knot-grass, etc., when they are not at all related to the proper grasses. On the other hand many true grasses are commonly kept separate from them under the impres- sion they are a very different plant. Thus many people do not think of common field corn as a grass and yet it is in every way a true grass, although a very large one. So, too, wheat, oats, rye, barley, are really grasses, although we rarely hear them spoken of as such.
A grass is a plant with narrow elongated leaves which are in two ranks upon the jointed, usually hollow, stem. The leaves end below in open sheathes which wrap around the stem for a greater or less dis- tance. The flowers are chaffy and are never colored or conspicuous ;
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
they are often in loose heads (panicles as in blue grass and oats) or in spikes (as in timothy and wheat). Some live for but a single season (annuals), while others live for many years (perennials).
In the whole world there are about 3,500 species of grass and of this vast number 154 have been recorded as growing wild or under com- mon cultivation in Nebraska. Probably there is no place in the state in which there are not from fifty to seventy-five kinds of grasses and in some places doubtless there are more than 100.
It is unnecessary to take up all the grasses of Nebraska, but the fol- lowing wild and cultivated species should be known :
Maize or Indian corn, of which there are these-the Dent type, the Flint type, the Pop-Corn type, the Soft Corn type, the Sweet Corn type.
NEBRASKA SHEEP
The Big Blue Stem, the Switch grass, Barnyard grass, Green Fox Tail, Millet or Hungarian grass, Yellow Fox Tail, Indian Rice, Wild Ribbon, Muhlenberg's grass, Timothy, Red Top, Oats, corn grass, Blue Grama, Black Grana, Tall Grama, Buffalo grass, Reed grass, Salt grass, Orchard grass, Kentucky Blue grass, Wheat grass, Rye, Wheat, Barley, Wild Rue.
Other forage plants are Red Clover, White Clover, Alfalfa and the native Sedges.
WILD FLOWERS OF NEBRASKA
More than 300 beautiful wild flowers are found growing in Nebraska soil, but not all in any one locality. The more important of these wild flowers which were indeed beautiful to behold by the eye of the first pioneers of the state are as follows :
The Lilies, Orchids, Buttercups, Water Lilies, Poppies, Capers, Vio- lets, Mallows, Cactuses, Mentzelias, Evening Primroses, the Roses, Lupines, Prairie Clovers, Morning Glories, Gilias, Pentstemons, Ver- benas, Sunflowers, Asters, Golden Rods.
GOVERNORS OF NEBRASKA
From the date of organization of Nebraska as a state until the present time the governors have been as follows:
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
David Butler, 1867 to 1870-impeached and succeeded by W. H. James (secretary of state) until the inauguration of Governor Furnas, he from 1873-75.
Silas Garber, 1875-79.
Ezra P. Savage, 1901-03.
Albinus Nance, 1879-83.
John H. Mickey, 1903-07.
James W. Dawes, 1883-87.
George L. Sheldon, 1907-09.
John M. Thayer, 1887-91.
Ashton C. Shallenberger, 1909-11.
James E. Boyd, 1891-93.
Chester H. Aldrich, 1911-13.
Lorenzo Crounse, 1893-95.
John H. Morehead, 1913-17.
Silas A. Holcomb, 1895-99.
Keith Neville, 1917-19.
William A. Poynter, 1889-1901.
Samuel R. McKelvie, 1919-21.
ABSTRACT OF COUNTIES
The following is a list of counties, together with their population, name of county seat and area :
County
Popula-
County
Popula-
Name Seat Area
tion
Name
Seat
Area tion
Adams, Hastings. . . 567
29,000
Gosper, Elwood. 464
4,938
Antelope, Neligh. 872 14,003
Grant, Hyannis 726
1,097
Arthur, Arthur .. 810 1,200
Greeley, Greeley .. 571 8,047
Banner, Harrisburg ..
752
14,044
Hall, Grand Island. . 528
20,361
Blaine, Brewster .... 811
1,672
Boone, Albion .. 692
13,145
Box Butte, Alliance .. 1,076
6,131
Boyd, Butte
535
8,826
Holt, O'Neill. . .2,393
15,545
Buffalo, Kearney .. ..
954
21,906
Hooker, Mullen. 722
981
Burt, Tekamah. . 475
12,726
10,783
Butler, David City .. 583
15,403
Jefferson, Fairbury. . 578
16,852
Cass, Plattsmouth ... 538
19,786
Johnson, Tecumseh. . 374
10,187
Cedar, Harrington ... 735
15,191
Kearney, Minden. . 516
9,106
Chase, Imperial. . 899
3,631
Keith, Ogallala ... . . . 1,068 Keya Paha, Springview 775
3,452
Cheyenne, Sidney ... 1,194
4,551
Kimball, Kimball. . . . 958
1,942
Knox, Center. 1,114
18,358
Lancaster, Lincoln ... 853
73,793
Cuming, West Point. 577
13,782
Lincoln, North Platte.2,536
15,684
Custer, Broken Bow.2,588
25,668
Logan, Gandy
573
1,521
Dakota, Dakota City. 253
6,564
Loup, Taylor 576
2,188
Dawes, Chadron. .1,402
8,254
Deuel, Chappell.
439
1,786
McPherson, Tryon .. 864
1,270
Merrick, Central City 462
10,379
Dixon, Ponca.
472
11,477
Morrill, Bridgeport. . 1,417
4,584
Dodge, Fremont ..
531
22,145
Douglas, Omaha ..
331 168,546
+ Dundy, Benkleman .. .
927
4,098
Nuckolls, Nelson ....
579
13,019
Fillmore, Geneva ....
576
14,674
Otoe, Nebraska City.
606
19,323
Franklin, Bloomington
578
10,303
Pawnee, Pawnee City Perkins, Grant.
886
2,570
Furnas, Beaver City.
721
12,083
Phelps, Holdridge ...
538
10,451
Gage, Beatrice. 862
30,325
Pierce, Pierce. 577
10,122
Garden, Oshkosh.
1,652
2,538
Platte, Columbus. 673
19,006
Garfield, Burwell. 575
3,417
Polk, Osceola. 430
10,521
Hamilton, Aurora ... 538
13,459
Harlan, Alma. .. 574
9,578
Hayes, Hayes Center 732
3,011
Brown, Ainsworth. . 1,235
6,083
Howard, St. Paul. 561
3,692
Cherry, Valentine ... 5,979
10,414
Clay, Clay Center. . . 579
15,729
Colfax, Schuyler ....
405
11,610
Madison, Madison. 576
19,101
Dawson, Lexington. . 985
15,961
Nance, Fullerton. 446
8,926
Nemaha, Auburn. 389
431
10,582
Frontier, Stockville. .
975
8,572
13,095
Hitchcock, Trenton. . 724 5,415
Charles H. Dietrich, 1901.
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
County
Popula-
County
Popula-
Name
Seat
Area
tion
Name
Seat
Area
tion
Red Willow, McCook 720
11,056
Stanton, Stanton. . .
431
7,542
Richardson, Falls City 545
17,444
Thayer, Hebron. . .
516 14,775
Rock, Bassett
1,004
3,627
Thomas, Thedford .. .
716 1,191
Saline, Wilber.
573
17,866
Thurston, Pender ....
387
8,704
Sarpy, Papillion
239
9,274
Valley, Ord ..
570
9,480
Saunders, Wahoo.
756
21,179
Washington, Blair ...
380
12,738
Scotts Bluff, Gering. 723
8,355
Wayne, Wayne. . ..
450
10,397
Seward, Seward ..
574
15,895
Webster, Red Cloud.
578
12,008
Sheridan, Rushville. . 2,469
7,328
Wheeler, Bartlett ..
578
2,292
Sherman, Loup City. 573
8,278
York, York.
575
18,721
Sioux, Harrison. . . 2,055
5,599
LAST ROMANTIC BUFFALO HUNT
In a collection of reminiscences published on Nebraska history by the Nebraska Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1916 the author of this volume takes the liberty to quote the story of the "Last Romantic Buffalo Hunt on the Plains of Nebraska," by John L. Webster, of Omaha :
In the autumn of 1872 a group of men, some of whom were then prominent in Nebraska history, Judge Elmer S. Dundy and a Col. Wat- son B. Smith, and one who afterward achieved national fame as an American explorer, Lieut, Frederick Schwatka, and another who has since become known throughout Europe and America as a picturesque char- acter and showman, Col. William F. Cody, participated in what proved to be the last romantic buffalo hunt upon the western plains of the State of Nebraska.
Elmer S. Dundy was a pioneer who had come to Nebraska in 1857. He had been a member of the Territorial Legislature for two successive terms ; he was appointed a Territorial judge in 1863 and became the first United States district judge after the admission of the state into the Union. Col. Watson B. Smith at that time held the office of clerk of the United States District and Circuit courts for the District of Nebraska. Some years afterward he met a tragic death by being shot (accidentally or by assassination) in the corridors of the Federal Building in the City of Omaha. Colonel Smith was a loveable man of the highest unim- peachable integrity and a most efficient public officer. There was also among the number James Neville, who at that time held the office of United States attorney and who afterward became a judge of the Dis- trict Court of Douglas County. He added zest, vim and spirit by reason of some personal peculiarities to be mentioned later on.
These men with the writer of this sketch were anxious to have the experience and the enjoyment of the stimulating excitement of partici- pating in a buffalo hunt before those native wild animals of the plains should become entirely extinct. To them it was to be a romantic inci- dent in their lives and long to be remembered as an event of pioneer days. They enjoyed the luxury of a Pullman car from Omaha to North Platte, which at that time was little more than a railway station and a division point upon the Union Pacific and where was also located a mili- tary post occupied by a battalion of United States cavalry.
Lieut. Frederick Schwatka, a regular army officer and an American explorer, at one time commanded an Arctic expedition in search of Doctor Franklin, and who had command of an extended exploring expedition of
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
the Yukon River. At another time he commanded an expedition into the northernmost regions of Alaska in the interest of the New York Times. He also became a writer and the author of three quite well-known books: "Along Alaska's Great River," "Nimrod in the North" and "Children of the Cold."
At the time of which we are speaking Lieutenant Schwatka was sta- tioned at the military post at North Platte. He furnished us with the necessary army horses and equipment for the hunting expedition and he himself went along in command of a squad of cavalry which acted as an escort to protect us if need be when we should get into the frontier regions where the Indians were at times still engaged in the quest of game and sometimes in unfriendly raids.
William F. Cody, familiarly known as "Buffalo Bill" who already achieved a reputation as a guide and hunter and who has since won a world reputation as a showman, went along with us as courier and chief hunter. He went on similar expeditions into the wilder regions of Wyoming with Gen. Phil Sheridan, the Grand Duke Alexis and others quite equally celebrated.
This Omaha group of amateur buffalo hunters led by Buffalo Bill and escorted by Lieutenant Schwatka and his squad of cavalry rode on the afternoon of the first day from North Platte to Fort McPherson and there camped for the night with the bare earth and a blanket for a bed and a small army tent for shelter and cover.
On the next morning after a rude army breakfast, eaten while we sat about on the ground and without the luxury of a bath or change of wear- ing apparel, this cavalcade renewed its journey in a southwesterly direction, expecting ultimately to reach the valley of the Republican. We consumed the entire day in traveling over what seemed almost a bar- ren waste of undulating prairie except where here and there it was broken bv higher upland and now and then crossed by a ravine and occa- sionallv by a small stream of running water along the banks of which might be found a small growth of timber. The visible area of the land- scape was so great that it seemed boundless-an immense wilderness of space and the altitude added to the invigorating and stimulating effect of the atmosphere.
We amateurs were constantly in anticipation of seeing either wild ani- mals or Indians that might add to the spirit and zest of the expedition. There were no habitations, no fields, no farms. There was the vast expanse of plain in front of us ascending gradually westward toward the mountains with the blue sky and sunshine overhead. I do not recollect of seeing more than one little cabin or one little pioneer ranch during that whole day's ride. I do know as the afternoon wore on those of us who were amateur horsemen were pleased to take our turns as oppor- tunity afforded of riding in the army wagon which carried our supplies and leading our horses.
When the shades of night of the second day had come we had seen many antelope and now and then heard the cry of coyote and the prairie wolf but we had not seen any sign of buffalo, but we did receive infor- mation from some cattlemen or plain wanderers that there was a band of roving Indians in that vicinity which created within us a feeling of some anxiety-not so much for our personal safety as that our horses might be stolen and we left in these remote regions without the necessary facilities for traveling homeward.
Our camp was made for the night upon a spot of low ground near the bank of a small creek which was bordered by hills on either side and
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
sheltered by a small grove of timber near at hand. The surrounding hills would cut off the sight of the evening camp-fires and the timber would obscure the ascending columns of smoke as they spread into space through the branches of the trees.
The horses were picketed near the camp around the commissary wagon and Lieutenant Schwatka placed the cavalrymen on sentinel duty. The night was spent with some restlessness and sleep was somewhat disturbed in anticipation of a possible danger and.I believe that all of us rather anxiously awaited the coming of the morning with the eastern sunlight that we might be restored to that feeling of security that would come with freedom of action and the opportunity for "preparedness." When morning did come we had the pleasure of greeting each other with pleasant smiles and a feeling of happy contentment. We had not been molested by the Indians and our military sentinels had not seen them.
On the afternoon of the third day of our march into the wilderness we reached the farther margin of a high upland of the rim of a plain where we had an opportunity of looking down over a large area of bot- tom land covered by vegetation and where there appeared to be signs of water. From this point of vantage we discovered a small herd of browsing buffalo but so far away from us as to be beyond rifle range. These animals were apparently so far away from civilization or human habitation of any kind that their animal instinct gave them a feeling of safety and security. We well knew that these animals could scent the approach of men and horses even when beyond the line of vision. We must study the currents of the air and plan our maneuvers with the utmost caution if we expected to be able to approach within any reason- able distance without being first discovered by them.
We entrusted ourselves to the guidance of Buffalo Bill, whose experi- ence added to his good judgment, and so skillfully did he conduct our maneuvers around the hills and up and down ravines that within an hour we were within a reasonable distance of the wild animals before they discovered us and then the chase began. It was a part of the plan that we should surround them, but we were prudently cautioned by Mr. Cody that a buffalo could run faster for a short distance than our horses. Therefore we must keep far enough away so that if the buffalo should come toward any of us we could immediately turn and flee in the oppo- site direction as fast as our horses could carry us.
I must stop for a moment to relate a romantic incident which made this buffalo chase especially picturesque and amusing. Judge Neville had been in the habit of wearing in Omaha a high silk hat and a full- dress coat (in common parlance a spiketail). He started out on this expedition wearing this suit of clothes and without any change of gar- ments to wear on the hunt. So it came about that when this group of amateur buffalo huntsmen went riding pell-mell over the prairies after the buffalo and likewise when pursued by them in turn, Judge Neville set astride his running warhorse wearing his high silk hat and the long flaps of his spike-tailed coat floating out behind him on the breeze as if waving a farewell adieu to all his companions. He presented a picture against the horizon that does not have its parallel in all pioneer history.
It was entirely impossible for us inexperienced buffialo hunters while riding galloping horses across the plains to fire our rifles with any degree of accuracy. Suffice it to say we did not succeed in shooting any buffalo and I don't now even know that we tried to do so. We were too much taken up with the excitement of the chase and of being chased in turn. At one time we were the pursuers and at another time we were being
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
pursued, but the excitement was so intense that there was no limit to our enjoyment and enthusiasm.
Buffalo Bill furnished us the unusual and soul-stirring amusement of that afternoon. He took it upon himself individually to lasso the largest bull buffalo of the herd while the rest of us did but little more than to direct the course of the flight of these wild animals or perhaps more correctly expressed-to keep out of their way. It did not take Buffalo Bill very long to lasso the large bull buffalo, as his fleet blooded horse circled around the startled wild animal. When evening came we left the lassoed buffalo out on the plains solitary and alone, lariated to a stake driven into the ground so firmly that we felt quite sure that he could not escape. It is my impression that we captured a young buffalo out of the small herd which we placed in a corral found in that vicinity.
BUFFALO
On the following morning we went out upon the plains to get the lassoed buffalo and found that in his efforts to break away he had broken one of his legs. We were confronted with a question whether we should let the animal loose upon the prairies in his crippled condition or whether it would be a more merciful thing to shoot him and put him out of his pain and suffering. Buffalo Bill solved the vexatious problem by con- cluding to lead the crippled animal over to the ranchman's house and there he obtained such instruments as he could, including a butcher knife, a hand-saw and a bar of iron. He amputated the limb of the buffalo above the point of the break in the bone and seared it over with a hot iron to close the artery and prevent the animal from bleeding to death. The surgical operation thus rudely performed upon this big, robust wild animal of the prairies, seemed to be quite well and success- fully performed. The buffalo was then left in the ranchman's corral with the understanding that the animal should be well cared for, watered and fed.
We were now quite away from civilization and near the Colorado border line and notwithstanding our subsequent riding over the hills
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DODGE AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES
and uplands during the following day we did not discover another buf- falo and those which had gotten away from us on the preceding day could not be found. During that day we turned northward and I can remember that about noon we came to a cattleman's ranch, where for the first time since our start on the journey, we sat down to a wooden table in a log cabin for our noonday meal. During the afternoon we traveled northward as rapidly as our horses could carry us, but night came on when we were twenty miles or more southwest of Fort McPherson, and we found it again necessary to go into camp for the night, sleeping in the little army tents which we carried along with us in the commissary wagon.
Colonel Cody had on this journey been riding his own private horse- a beautiful animal capable of great speed. I can remember quite well that Mr. Cody said that he never slept out at night when within twenty miles of his own home. He declined to go into camp with us but turned his horse to the northward and gave him the full rein and started off at a rapid gallop over the plains, expecting to reach his home before the hour of midnight. It seemed to us that it would be a dreary, lonesome and perilous ride over the solitude of that waste of country without roads, without lights, without signboard or guides, but Buffalo Bill said he knew the direction from the stars and that he would trust his good horse to safely carry him over depressions and ravines notwithstanding the darkness of the night. So on he sped northward toward his home.
On the next day we amateur buffalo hunters rode on to Fort McPher- son and thence to North Platte, where we returned our army horses to the military post with a debt of gratitude to Lieutenant Schwatka, who at all times had been generous, courteous and polite to us as well as an interesting social companion. 12
So ended the last romantic and rather unsuccessful buffalo hunt over the western plains of the State of Nebraska-a region then desolate, arid, barren and almost totally uninhabited, but today a wealthy and productive part of our state.
The story of the buffalo hunt in and of itself is not an incident of much importance but it furnishes the material for a most remarkable contrast of development within the period of a generation. The wild buffalo has gone. The aboriginal red man of the plains has disappeared, the white man with the new civilization has stepped into their places. It all seems to have been a part of Nature's great plan. Out of the desola- tion of the past there has come the new life with the new civilization just as new worlds and their satellites have been created out of the dust of dead worlds.
There was a glory of the wilderness but it has gone. There was a mystery that haunted all those barren plains but that too has gone. Now there are fields and houses and schools and groves of forest trees and villages and towns all prosperous under the same warm sunshine as of a generation ago when the buffalo grazed on the meadow lands and the aboriginal Indians hunted over the plains.
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