History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time, Part 3

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120

USA > Nebraska > Gage County > History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time > Part 3

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On February 13, 1803, Ross, a senator from the state of Pennsylvania, introduced a reso- lution in the United States senate directing the government to seize the port of New Orleans. It was seconded by Gouverneur Morris, of Revolutionary fame, then repre- senting the state of New York in the senate. It was announced that volunteers from the Mississippi valley were ready at a word to carry this resolution into effect if sanctioned by congress. But the President, the able and prudent Jefferson, restrained this movement as dangerous to the peace of the country, and, preferring to achieve results by diplomacy rather than arms, he set before himself the task of acquiring the lower Mississippi basin by peaceful rather than by violent means. He first aimed to prevent if possible the cession of Louisiana to France and to exact from Spain recognition of the right of the United States to the unrestricted navigation of the

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Mississippi. As an alternative, in case of failure, he proposed to form an immediate al- liance with Great Britain. Writing to Robert Livingston, our minister in France, the Presi- dent says :

There is on the globe one single spot the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy, - the day that France takes posses- sion of New Orleans fixes the sentence which is to restrain her forever within her low-water mark. It seals the union of two nations who in conjunction can maintain exclusive posses- sion of the ocean. From that moment we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.

This threat had been most effectively dan- gled by our minister to France before the eyes of the First Consul and from the moment of receiving these instructions Mr. Livingston was able to speak in a tone that arrested Na- poleon's attention, and aroused in him a sense of a new power beyond the seas. A year had gone by since the secret treaty of Ildefonso had come to the knowledge of our government, and Mr. Livingston had apparently made but little progress. In the spring of 1803, at Jef- ferson's instance, James Monroe was dis- patched to France as special envoy and min- ister extraordinary to assist him in adjusting the irritating questions with respect to Louis- iana and the Mississippi - questions which had sprung so suddenly into prominence and which were hourly becoming more menacing to the peaceful relations between France and the United States. Even yet the instructions to both ministers did not contemplate the ac- quirement of the whole of the territory of Louisiana. The most that was hoped for ap- parently was free navigation of that river for American commerce. To secure this, how- ever, it was proposed that we purchase New Orleans and the Floridas from France, under the erroneous assumption that she had ac- quired the latter from Spain ; and, by proper treaty stipulations, secure to both nations the right to free transportation. Not knowing the full terms of the treaty of Ildefonso, Mr. Jefferson instinctively felt that whatever they were they deeply concerned the United States, and he considered the moment had come to

settle forever every question of policy or ter- ritory which might in the future occasion dis- sension with France. With clearer vision than any man of his day, Jefferson foresaw the tremendous advantages of removing every obstacle to the expansion of our country be- yond the Mississippi. Guided by an instinc- tive prevision, he purposed to seize the mo- ment to acquire control of that great stream and secure forever an unobstructed passage to the gulf. Failing to achieve this result by peaceful means, he determined to accomplish it by force, and when Monroe set out for France he carried instructions to demand the cession of New Orleans and the Floridas to the United States, and consequently the es- tablishment of the Mississippi as a boundary between the United States and Louisiana. Mr. Livingston had already apprised Napoleon that such a demand would be made and the First Consul had considered it of sufficient weight to detain the armed expedition which was about to sail for Louisiana.

But the rapid march of events was working more powerfully in the interests of the Amer- ican republic than any influence the govern- ment itself was able to exert. At almost the very moment the existence of the treaty of Ildefonso became known, came the porten- tous threat of war with England; and Na- poleon feared that because of her superior naval power and the defenseless position of Louisiana, England was bound to deprive France of that province and yet further aug- ment her power and prestige in the western hemisphere. There were other considerations which impelled the consular government of France to hearken favorably to the represen- tations of Mr. Livingston. On the retroces- sion of the great province to Spain, and while the terms of the treaty were still a secret, in order to be in a position to defend Louisiana from a convenient base against aggression from whatsoever source, Napoleon had dispatched an army, under General LeClerc, to San Do- mingo in 1802. This was partly for the pur- pose of crushing the negro rebellion then at its height in that island and partly to have an army within striking distance of Louisiana.

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

But LeClerc was defeated by Toussaint l'Ou- verture, and his army had been so decimated by war and disease that it had become inef- fective as a military force. Besides these con- siderations, the increasing expense and diffi- culty of maintaining the power of France in Louisiana became every day more apparent to Napoleon and his advisers, while like a nightinare the haunting threat of Jefferson of an English alliance loomed before his vision.

By a strategic diplomatie movement as dis- tinctive of his genius as any on the field of battle, the First Consul determined to defeat the arch enemy of France in its aggressive policy and at the same time with bands of steel bind to France the rising young republic of North America, whose ultimate destiny he foresaw was to dominate the western hemis- phere.

The existence of the treaty of Ildefonso became known to Livingston in 1802, and in November of that year, learning that Na- poleon had planned to send an expedition under General Victor to take possession of Louisiana, on behalf of the United States he submitted a definite offer to purchase New Orleans and the Floridas, leaving to France all the great territory lying west of the Mississippi. The reticence of both Napoleon and his chief minister of state, Talleyrand, with respect to the representations of our gov- ernment, and the secrecy with which the terms of the treaty was guarded, led our minister to suspect designs against the United States it- self. He warned Jefferson of his fears and advised the prompt strengthening of the mili- tary forces of the country in the lower basin of the Mississippi. A winter had passed without action on Livingston's offer of pur- chase, but Napoleon still delayed taking possession of Louisiana. Spring approached. Mr. Monroe was known to be on the high seas, hastening to the assistance of Livingston. His arrival was momentarily expected. But Na- poleon, having reached a final conclusion, acted with the celerity that characterized all his movements. Returning to his palace at St. Cloud from the religious services on Easter

Sunday, April 10, 1803, he called into consul- tation Decrés and Marbois, two of his most trusted advisers, and asked their opinion on the subject of the province of Louisiana. In the discussion which followed, he said :

I know the full value of Louisiana and have been most desirous of repairing the in- juries to their country of the French nego- tiators of 1763. It has been restored to us by a few lines of a treaty. Now we face the danger of losing it. No doubt the English will seize it as one of their first acts of war. Already they have twenty ships of the line in the Gulf of Mexico. Its conquest will be easy. There is not a moment to lose in plac- ing it beyond their reach. They have succes- sively taken from France the Canadas, Cape Breton, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and the richest portions of Asia. They shall not have Louisiana. While nothing can compensate us for its loss, it may be disposed of in such man- ner as ultimately to redound to our advan- tage.

The patriotic Decrés eloquently opposed the proposal. "France," he said, "needed colonies. and what colony could be more desirable than Louisiana? The navigation to the Indies by doubling the Cape of Good Hope had changed the course of European trade and ruined Venice and Genoa." And then, with pro- phetic vision, he asked, "What will be its direc- tion if at the Isthmus of Panama a simple canal should be opened to connect one ocean with the other?" "The revolution which navi- gation will then experience" he declared, "will be still more considerable and the circumnavi- gation of the globe will become easier than the long voyages that are now made in going to and from India. Louisiana will then be on the new route and it will be acknowledged that this possession is of inestimable value. There does not exist on the globe a single port, a single city susceptible of becom- ing as important as New Orleans."

Marbois admitted the gravity of the situ- ation but supported the view of Napoleon. No conclusion was arrived at, but at daybreak the following morning Marbois was summoned to read the dispatches from the French min- ister at London. These indicated that war was imminent and rapidly approaching. After con-

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

sidering the purport of this intelligence, turn- ing to Marbois, Napoleon said :

I renounce Louisiana. It is not alone New Orleans that we will cede, but the whole col- ony, without reservation. I know its value and I abandon it with the greatest regret. But to obstinately endeavor to retain it would be the height of folly. I direct you to negotiate this matter at once with the envoy of the United States. Do not wait for the arrival of Mr. Monroe. Have an interview this very day with Mr. Livingston. I shall require a great deal of money for the approaching war, but will be moderate. I want fifty million francs for Louisiana.

Pending the arrival of Mr. Monroe, Living- ston, despairing of success and weary of delay,

territory of Louisiana was at the disposal of his government. In the negotiations which en- sued, the demand of Napoleon's ministers for one hundred million francs as a consideration for Louisiana, was gradually reduced till an agreement was reached, and on April 30, 1803, a treaty was signed by our ministers on be- half of the United States of America, and by Francis Barbe Marbois, the financial minister of France, on the part of that country, by which, in consideration of the payment of fifteen million dollars, the equivalent of eighty million francs, the territory of Louisiana passed to the republic of the United States. The consummation of the treaty was accom-

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Meriwether Remiss

on April 12th admonished Talleyrand that when Monroe arrived, he intended to advise his government to abandon the negotiations and seize New Orleans by force. On that very day came Mr. Monroe, and on the 13th day of April, while at dinner with a company of friends, the two ministers observed Marbois walking in the embassy garden. On being in- vited to enter, he stated that he had important information to communicate, but would delay doing so until he could see the representatives of the United States alone. Mr. Livingston sought him out at the first opportunity and was startled upon being informed that the entire

panied by no illusions on the part of the sig- natory parties. On the contrary they were fully aware of its import and tremendous im- portance. When it had been signed, Living- ston, rising from the consultation table, said : "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our lives. From this day the United States takes their place amongst the powers of the first rank ; England loses all her exclusive influence in the affairs of America." And Napoleon, showing his full appreciation of the importance of the event, exclaimed : "This accession of territory forever strengthens the power of the United States. I have just given

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride."

The patriotic and far-seeing Jefferson lost not a moment's time in securing the rati- fication of this treaty. As soon as it was re- ceived on this side of the Atlantic, he issued a call for a special session of congress. That body assembled on the 17th day of October, 1803, and within a month the treaty was rati- fied and authority conferred upon the Presi- dent to take immediate possession of the newly acquired territory. To enable him to do so, he was empowered to employ the army and navy of the United States, and, if in his opin- ion necessary, he was authorized also to en- roll the militia of the several states to the number of eighty thousand men, to enforce and secure our country's right to the ceded territory.

But no opposition was encountered to the surrender of the possession of the great pur- chase. France herself, on December 17, 1803, first procured its surrender from Spain, and on Tuesday, the 25th day of December, three days thereafter, Governor W. C. C. Claiborne, of Mississippi territory, having been com- missioned by the President to assume the pro- visional government of Louisiana, appeared at the gate of New Orleans, escorted by Gen- eral Wilkinson, with a small detachment of state militia. The party was greeted by a salute of twenty-one guns from the forts, and entering the city it drew up on the square known as the Place d'Arms. The ceremonies attending the formal presentation of Clai- borne's credentials as a commissioner of the United States to accept the surrender of the city of New Orleans and the territory of Louisiana, were soon over. The keys of the city were delivered to him, and Lauscat, the French governor, addressing the people from the portico of the cabildo, in French, con- gratulated them upon their accession to lib- erty and absolved them from further allegiance to the sovereign.s of France. Claiborne thien spoke in English, assuring all present that their rights would be preserved as citizens of the republic of the United States. The fleur de lys, emblem of France, was then slowly

lowered, as the stars and stripes, the banner of freedom, slowly arose to catch in the sunshine the freshening breeze from over the waters of the Mississippi. When the flags were both half way, the one descending the other ascend- ing, a gun was fired, and at the signal the can- non on the vessels in the harbor and the bat- teries of the forts fired a salute, while amidst the cheers of the few Americans present, the territory of Louisiana passed forever into the possession of the United States.

It was a tremendous accession to the terri- tory of the young republic. The very figures that attempt to convey to the mind some idea of its superficial area are themselves impres- sive. It more than doubled the previous land area of the United States. In round numbers it exceeded 883,000 square miles. Out of it, in addition to the present state of Louisiana, there have been carved Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, North and South Dakota, two-thirds of Minnesota, one-third of Colorado, and three-fourths of Wyoming. At the time of its accession to the United States its known population did not exceed five thousand souls, nearly one-half of whom were slaves. In 1810 the first fed- eral census showed a population of twenty thousand, of whom one-half were still negro slaves. If taken to-day, -a census of the same territory would closely approach twenty million, all free men.

Considered as a whole, little was really known of the vast territory of Louisiana at the time of its purchase by Jefferson. Al- though one hundred and twenty years had elapsed since that memorable 9th of April, 1682, when Robert Cavalier de La Salle from a lonely eminence on the delta of the Mississipi had proclaimed the sovereignity of the King of France over his discoveries, no vigorous, persistent effort had been made to explore the vast territory, either by France or by Spain during the two score and five years she had been mistress of Louisiana. Few settlements had been established and aside from the "Chain of Forts" extending in an irregular line from the St. Lawrence to the

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Mississippi and on to the bay of Biloxi, Louisiana was an unknown land, except pos- sibly to the fur traders, hunters, trappers, wood rangers, and the indefatigable French priests, who appear to have visited nearly every portion of the territory.

But the sagacious and energetic Jefferson had matured a plan for exploring the Mis- souri river country, the least known portion of the territory, almost before congress had ratified the treaty under which possession was acquired. In May, 1804, he started the far- famed Lewis and Clark expedition up the Mis- souri, charged with the duty of exploring that great river from its mouth to its source and then on to the Pacific ocean. The report

which these explorers, after an absence of two years, were able to make of the resources of the country through which they had jour- neyed, of its lofty mountain chains and plateaus, of its wide, rolling prairies, its for- ests of valuable timber, its wildernesses, rivers, native inhabitants, and its wild life of forest and plain, served to confirm the vague ideas of the times concerning the new terri- tory as a possession of the United States.

Time, through a thousand channels, has vin- dicated the wisdom of Jefferson and his min- isters in securing at a critical period in our country's history, by the arts of peaceful di- plomacy, this great accession of territory to our beloved country.

1804-1904

LEWIS & CLARK

Bowlder at Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, commemorating the first council with the Indians on Nebraska soil

CHAPTER III

NEBRASKA UP TO 1866

EARLY EXPLORERS IN NEBRASKA - CORONADO - MALLET BROTHERS - LEWIS AND CLARK - KANSAS-NEBRASKA BILL - TERRITORY OPENED FOR SETTLEMENT - AREA - BOUN-

DARIES - ORGANIZATION - CENSUS - DEATH OF GOVERNOR BURT - GOV- ERNOR CUMING - THE FIRST LEGISLATURE - STATEHOOD

The Virgin of the wilderness, She sits upon her hills alone ; Loose sprigs of cedar in her hair, A vine-wreath round her zone, - As grey-eyed Pallas pure and free, Expectant of the things to be. - O. C. DAKE.

That portion of the "Great Purchase" which comprises the state of Nebraska was scarcely known to white men prior to the expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804-1806. Doubtless it had been traversed, in part at least, by French- Canadian trappers, traders, and couriers du bois, as well as by French missionaries who followed the Indian trails to the remotest re- gions of all New France. But these left no records of their travels and adventures of which history can take notice. Just when the earliest visits of white men to Nebraska occur- red may never be known.

In recent years efforts have been made by writers on the history of our state to connect the expedition of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, in 1540, with Nebraska. It is claimed that this expedition not only crossed the southern boundary of the state somewhere between the eastern boundary of Gage county and points much further west, but also that it actually penetrated the state as far north as the Platte river. The most convincing evidence assigned in support of this contention is that the chroniclers of the expedition, as well as its leader, used descrip- tive terms, in relation to the soil, vegetation, landscape, and other phenomena observed by

them, which might be applicable to southeast- ern Nebraska, and that Coronado himself de- clares that Quivera "where I have reached it is in the 40th degree." To say the most for such evidence it only indicates in a general way the route of the expedition. It is offset by consid- erations which are entitled to great weight, even in the face of Coronado's declaration. Coronado came to the New World in the train of Mendoza, viceroy of Mexico, in 1535, and had been assigned by his patron to the gov- ernorship of Neuva Galicia, a northern prov- ince of the conquered country. Like all am- bitious Spainards of that particular day, his imagination had been fired by the wonderful success of Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, and Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. The fabulous wealth of these vanquished nations had gone to enrich their masters to an extent of which no Spainard had ever before so much as dreamed. Coronado, listening to the tales concerning the far away "Seven City of Ci- bola," whose wealth was said to rival the riches of Montezuma and the Incas of Peru, resolved to imitate the exploits of Cortez and Pizzaro by undertaking the conquest of these fabled cities of the plain. Obtaining leave from the viceroy, and assembling an army of three hundred Spanish soldiers and a band of warlike Mexican Indians and equipping them for conquest, he started from the capital of his province on the 23d day of February, 1540, animated solely by the hope of plunder. For two years this marauding, predatory ex-

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

pedition wandered abont over the barren wastes of New Mexico and possibly eastern Arizona, reddening their trail with the blood of the simple natives and committing heinous crimes against their chastity and virtue. The "Seven Cities of Cibola" dwindled to a few isolated Zuni villages, while the search for gold, always gold, proved an evanescent dream. Finally it was found that the riches lay far away to the east in the land of the Quivera. Here, the Spaniards were told, were large cities

From photograph owned by E. E. Blackman, vice president Quivera Historical Society.

QUIVERA MONUMENT Near Junction City, Kansas

with unmeasured treasures of gold and vast herds of buffalo and other game. The rapa- cious leader gave willing ear to these tales, which no doubt were meant to involve his ex- pedition in ruin, and, turning eastward, he traversed the plains of central Kansas as far as the neighborhood of Junction City, where, recently, enthusiastic Coronadists have erected a costly monument intended to commemorate the discovery of Quivera, a name apparently

used to designate a tribe of Indians in that section of country.

Whether Coronado came as far north as Nebraska will never be known. His declara- tion that he found Quivera within the 40th degree means but little. He was not engaged in exploring the country and could not have been greatly concerned about such things as degrees of latitude. Besides it is a well set- tled fact that in the sixteenth century a com- mon error of about two degrees runs through all Spanish computations as respects the fix- ing of degrees of latitude. If correct in the assumption that he did actually cross the for- tieth parallel of latitude, then Coronado was the first white man to set foot on Nebraska soil, and Nebraska was known to the Cau- casian race within a generation after the death of Columbus and more than eighty years be- fore the landing of the Mayflower at Plym- cuth Rock.

It may be recorded that the first authentic account of the visit of white men to Nebraska is found in the journals of the brothers Pierre and Paul Mallet which fell into the hands of Jean Baptiste Lemoyne, siuer de Bienville, the founder of New Orleans and for many years the French-Canadian governor of the province of Louisiana. In attempting to reach Santa Fe by way of the Mississippi these explorers, with a party of French-Canadians, in 1739 passed up the Missouri, its chief tributary, and appear to have spent the winter at the mouth of the Niobrara. In the spring of 1740 they descended the Missouri to the Platte and, following the latter stream about seventy miles, struck across the plains to Santa Fe, thus traversing a considerable portion of what is now the state of Nebraska.

Whatever may be said concerning those who may have preceded them, it is true beyond cavil that the existence of what is now Nebraska was first brought strongly to public attention by the expedition of Lewis and Clark. These explorers, pad- dling up the swift and dangerous current of the Missouri river, were compelled to tie their crude vessels to objects along the river banks at night and to proceed only by daylight.

HISTORY OF GAGE COUNTY, NEBRASKA

They camped indifferently on either side of the stream. July 15, 1804, their journal shows they first camped on Nebraska soil, at the month of the Little Nemaha river, near the present town of Nemaha, and on the way out their last encampment in Nebraska was made September 7, 1804, at a point a few miles below the northeast corner of the state. On their return trip the explorers floated past the northeast corner of the state, on Sunday, the 31st day of August, 1806, and passed the southeast corner on the 11th of the following September - a total of five hundred and fifty- six miles, channel measurement. Several points in Nebraska where the explorers pitched camp have been identified from the minute and accurate description supplied by the record of their movenients along the course of the Missouri.

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History of Gage County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religious, and civic development from the early days to the present time, Part 3

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849- Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company Number of Pages: 1120

Author: Dobbs, Hugh Jackson, 1849-
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Publishing and Engraving Company
Number of Pages: 1120