History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 7

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 1011

USA > Nebraska > Hall County > History of Hall County, Nebraska > Part 7

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

When we were outside in the street I said, "Well, Fred, did I talk too loud?"

Fred answered, "I won't say another word, but you keep that overcoat." Since that day I always wear a brown overcoat with a black velvet collar. I next sent telegrams to Mr. Clark that free transportation of all relief goods sent to us had been granted by Mr. Gould.

I remained a week in New York City and next went to Chicago where I had easy work in obtaining free transportation from the Chicago & Northwestern, the Chicago, Burl- ington & Quincy, and also the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific.

Thus ended my mission, which had been successful beyond my expectations. It was the best I ever was able to do in all my life, as far as benefits for the destitute are con- cerned.

Digitized by Google

CHAPTER III

INDIAN OCCUPATION AND LEGENDS

EARLY REDMEN OCCUPANTS - THE PAWNEES - TREATIES OF AMITY - THE DECAY OF THE PAWNEES - THE SIOUX - THE OUTBREAK OF 1864 - MAJOR FRANK NORTH AND THE PAW- NEE SCOUTS -LOCAL INDIAN HISTORY - TWO BOYS PINNED TOGETHER BY ARROWS - THE CAMPBELL RAID - RECOLLECTIONS BY FRED STOLLEY - FIRST RECOLLECTIONS - TOOK OUR DINNER - THE SIOUX - INDIAN BOYS' SPORTS - PUPPY DOG SOUP - WHITE MAN'S TREAT- MENT OF THE REDMAN - "NEZARREZARRIES" - AN INDIAN LOVE STORY - A TRUE RED FRIEND - FORT O. K. - FORT INDEPENDENCE - GOETTSCHE-FRAUEN MASSACRE - INDIANS JOURNEYING TO THE "HUNT" - AN INDIAN DANCE - BUFFALO HUNT - THE ENDURANCE OF A PAPOOSE - MIRAGES - INDIAN HORSETHIEVES - DEPENDING ON THE GUN FOR FOOD - THE ANTELOPE - FEATHERED GAME - THE INDIAN PIPE

The land was ours, this glorious land, With all its wealth of wood and streams: Our warriors strong of heart and hand, Our daughters beautiful as dreams. When wearied at the thirsty noon We knelt us where the spring gushed up. We take our Father's blessed boon - Unlike the white-man's poisoned cup. WHITTIER :- The Indian Tale.

EARLY REDMEN INHABITANTS

Of course, the first actual settlers of Hall County were the Redmen. Father Jacques Marquette was the first of the white explorers to mention Nebraska Indians, and his account implied hair breadth escapes and dramatic scenes. Father Marquette's description of the Missouri River country is interesting to us, detailed as approaching the mouth of the great western tributary of the Father of Waters, which they were traversing: "We heard a great gushing and bubbling of waters, and soon beheld some islands of floating trees coming down from the mouth of the Peki- tanoni (the Missouri) with such rapidity that we could not trust ourselves to go near it. The waters of this river are so muddy that we could not drink it. It so discolors the Mis- sissippi as to make the navigation of it dan- gerous. This river comes from the northwest

and on its banks are situated a great number of Indian villages."

In a most interesting chart of that expedi- tion, now in the archives of Montreal, Mar- quette located in what is now Kansas and Nebraska the following Indian villages : The Ouemessoureit (Missouri), the Kenza (Kan- sas), the Ouchage (Osage), the Paneassa (Pawnee), and the Maha (Omaha). His information was so surprisingly correct that French explorers found these very tribes in relatively the same positions as indicated in that chart, nearly 200 years later.

Previous to the advent of the white man in the country between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains there were close to forty or fifty tribes, with their division of territory, some friendly to each other and some hostile. The principal tribes making their homes in Nebraska were those referred to by the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804. Lewis and Clark found Pawnees, Missouris, and Otoes in possession of the Platte, the Poncas near the mouth of the Niobrara and the Omahas in the northeastern part of the state, around what is now Sioux City. The Pawnees were then the dominant tribe of the westren prairie, the

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

others mentioned being treated as wards and The four tribes soon after the visit of Lewis dependents. It is with the Pawnees that the ' and Clark in 1804 formed a confederation history of what is now Hall County, so far and became practically one tribe. as its Indian occupation and legend, is mainly concerned.

THE PAWNEES

The Pawnees were probably the largest and most powerful Indian nation that lived in Nebraska previous to the advent of the white man. Lewis and Clark on visiting the Platte Valley, found them living on the south side of the Platte River, forty-five miles above its mouth.

The original home of the Pawnees is re- puted to have been somewhere in the lower Red River Valley in Louisiana, where they formed the chief tribe of the important Caddoan stock. At an early date some of those tribes migrated northward, the Arikari moving by way of the Missouri and even pen- etrating as far north as North Dakota. The Skidi (Wolves) somewhat later halted at the Platte, and were there overtaken by the Pawnees proper.

The Pawnees called themselves Skinik- sihks or "men par excellence." The popular name for them and one in most vogue is Wold People.

From an early day the. Pawnees were di- vided in four branches: First, the Shani, or Grand Pawnees, with their villages on the south bank of the Platte, opposite the present Grand Island; second, the Kitkehaki, or Re- publican Pawnees, so named from their having lived on the Republican River (Republican branch of the Kansas River) in northern Kansas, from whence they emigrated to join the principal band on the Platte; the third was the Skidi, or Loup (Wolf), Pawnees, some- times called the Pawnee Loups, who resided on the Loup fork of the Platte River, nearly a hundred miles from the main branch of the tribe. The Pitahauerat, or Noisy, Pawnees also at one time lived on the Platte. The fourth band formerly lived far south of Nebraska, but in their wars with their enemies they had been so often defeated that they had been compelled to move northward to be at peace.

When settled around the Platte, the Pawnees lived in well built log houses covered with turf and earth, preferring these to the movable tepee, which was only used when the bands were on an extended hunt. They de- pended largely on agriculture, the raising of corn and pumpkins, even more than on the buffalo hunt, so they never outgrew the seden- tary and agricultural habits peculiar to tribes from the south.

Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike's expedition, when on its way to the mountains in 1806, en- countered the Republican Pawnees in northern Kansas. This was shortly before they moved northward to join their brothers in the Platte and Loup valleys. Lieutenant Pike and Lieutenant Wilkinson held a grand council with the chiefs of that nation on the 29th of September, described in the following interest- ing language :

The council wes held at the Pawnee .Re- public village (near the present site of Scan- dia, in Republic County) and was attended by 400 warriors. When the parties had as- sembled for their council, Lieutenant Pike found that the Pawnees had unfurled a Span- ish flag at the door of the chief, one which had lately been presented by that government, through the hands of Lieutenant. Malgoras. To the request of Lieutenant Pike that the flag should be delivered to him, and one of the United States hoisted in its place, they at first made no response: but, upon his re- peating his demand, with the emphatic dec- laration that they must choose between Amer- icans and Spaniards, and that it was impossi- ble for the nation to have two fathers, they decided to put themselves, for the time at least, under American protection. An old man ac- cordingly rose, went to the door, took down the Spanish flag and laid it at the feet of Lieutenant Pike, and in its stead elevated the Stars and Stripes.

TREATIES OF AMITY

Treaties of amity were entered into by government agents with leading tribes along the established routes of travel. The Pawnees made such a treaty that was ratified as early

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

Digitized by Google

Photos 1, 2, by Melvin R. Gilmore, Bethany, Nebraska; 4, by U. G. Cornell, Lincoln, Nebraska; 5, A. E. Sheldon, Lincoln, Nebraska. 1. Pawnee earth lodge circular in form, supported by a circle of heavy upright pillars, the wall formed of upright, slightly inclined poles covered with earth; the roof, dome-shaped, with an opening at the apex for ventilation and light. At the left of the engraving is a summer or temporary lodge. In the foreground is seen the frame- work of a sweat lodge. 2. West side of interior of Pawnee earth lodge. Fireplace in center, the smoke from which is directed by a skin or blanket, supported on the windward side of the roof by three sticks. In the background is seen the family altar made of sod, near which stands the sacred drum; above the altar generally hung the sacred bundle. The beds are arranged about the wall. 3. Omaha

earth lodge. This particular lodge existed some years ago twelve miles north of Omaha. 4. Santee Sioux tepee. 5. Rear view of Winnebago bark lodge.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN HOUSE ARCHITECTURE AMONG THE PLAINS THINKS

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

as January 5, 1812. In 1819, the war depart- ment sent out the expedition of Major Long, to which reference has heretofore been made. This expedition crossed just below Council Bluffs on June 10th and struck out boldly across the "Indian country." Major Long had his instructions to see that the treaties were strictly lived up to by redskin and white man alike. In 1815 the Maha (Omahas) had formed such a treaty, and in 1817 the Otoes. As he advanced westward, Major Long made it a point to visit the Pawnee villages, and accounts that after he crossed the Elkhorn he trailed along the north bank of the Platte till the confluence of the Loup was reached. At sunset, June 10th, the expedition went into camp at a small creek about eleven miles dis- tant from the village of the Grand Pawnees. Major Long's account most interestingly de- tails that :

On the following morning, having arranged the party according to rank, and given the necessary instructions for the preservation of order, we proceeded forward, and in a short time came in sight of the first of the Pawnee villages. The trail on which we had travelled since leaving the Missouri had the appearance of being more and more frequented as we ap- proached the Pawnee towns: and here, in- stead of a single footway, it consisted of more than twenty parallel paths, of similar size and appearance: at a few miles distant from the village, we met a party of eight or ten squaws, with hoes and other implements of agriculture, on their way to the corn plantations. They were accompanied by one young Indian, but in what capacity - whether as assistant, pro- tector or taskmaster, we were not informed. After a ride of about three hours we arrived before the village and dispatched a messenger to inform the chief of our approach.

Answer was returned that he was engaged with his chiefs and warriors at a medicine feast, and could not, therefore, come out and meet us. We were soon surrounded by a crowd of women and children, who gazed at us with some expressions of astonishment : but as no one appeared to welcome us to the village, arrangements were made for sending on the horses and baggage to a suitable place for encampment while Major Long with sev- eral gentlemen who wished to accompany him, entered the village. The party after groping about for some time and traversing a con- siderable part of the village, arrived at the

lodge of the principal chief. Here we were again informed that Tarrarecawaho, with all the principal men of the village, was engaged in a medicine feast. Notwithstanding his ab- sence, some mats were. spread for us upon the ground in the back part of the lodge. Upon them we sat down, and, after waiting some

From a photograph in the Coffin collection, in the Museum of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

PIT-A-LE-SHAR-U (MAN CHIEF) Head chief of the Pawnees

time, were presented with a large wooden dish of hominy or boiled corn. In this was a single spoon or the horn of a buffalo, large enough to hold a pint, which, being used al- ternately by each of the party, soon emptied the dish of its contents.

After this strange reception and feast the expedition visited in turn the villages of the Republican and Loup (Wolf) Pawnees, lying a few miles apart, an hour's ride above the village of the Pawnee Grand.

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

Major Long commented upon the thrift of these villages. For miles up and down the river large droves of horses were grazing, fields of maize and patches of tomatoes, pumpkins, and squashes were seen in many places and added much to the apparent wealth of the community. All this was before mis- fortune overtook the nation. The Long ex- pedition spent the night of June 12 on the banks of the river within a stone's throw of the Loup village. So far as established, this was the first organized party of white men to slumber on the banks of the beautiful Loup.

THE DECAY OF THE PAWNEES

A story of the decay and some of the tra- ditions of the Pawnees have been collected by H. W. Foght and included in his book, The Trail of the Loup, in which he brings to a close the history of the Pawnees as follows:

The Pawnee nation formerly numbered about 25,000 souls and in the day of its prime was the terror alike of trapper and trader and bands from other tribes which by chance ven- tured too far into the hunting grounds of these fierce fighting foes. But calamity was at hand. In 1831, a terrible smallpox epidemic carried off several thousand of their number, leaving the nation in a pitiable condition. Their agent, John Dougherty, in making his report to the government, says: "Their misery defies all description. I am fully persuaded that one- half of the whole number will be carried off by this frightful distemper. They told me that not one under thirty years of age escaped, it having been that length of time since it visited them before. They were dying so fast, and taken down at once in such large numbers that they had ceased to bury their dead, whose bodies were to be seen in every direction - lying in the river, lodged on the sandbanks, in the weeds around the villages and in their corn caches.

On the 9th of October, 1834, a treaty was made between the Pawnees and the United States government whereby the former agreed to vacate all their lands south of the Platte. All the plague stricken southern villages were abandoned and the miserable remnant of a once proud tribe reassembled on the Loup and westward along the Platte.

But scarcely had the enfeebled nation had time to set up their tepees and break soil in their new home, when the Sioux, made bold by their heriditary foes' apparent weakness,

swept down the North Loup and the Cedar and began a war of extermination. Villages and fields were abandoned to the revengeful foe and safety sought in flight. The Pawnee found every man's hand against him. Even the government was indifferent and did little to check the depredations of the Sioux. To make matters still worse, other enemies on the south, the Cheyennes and the Arapahoes, in- fested the Pawnees' old Kansas hunting grounds, eager to strike the final blow. But this was not to come by the hand of red men. In 1849, gold seekers on their way to Cali- fornia brought the cholera to the Pawnee camps. Again several thousand died and the handful of survivors, reduced to beggary, be- sought the government for protection, which was granted. By the treaty of September 4, 1857, they ceded all their original territory ex- cept a strip 30 miles long by 15 wide upon the lower Loup River. This was the old Nance County Reservation, whence they were finally removed to their present abode in Oklahoma. During the Indian troubles of 1862-65 the Pawnees furnished scouts to the government and proved a valuable aid against the crafty Sioux. The latter, however, reaped sweet re- venge after the war closed. . The Pawnees were never safe if they ventured away from the reservation. Red Cloud's bands might at any moment sweep down upon them to kill and plunder. As if the loss of their hunting grounds were not enough to fill the cup of troubles, the grasshoppers in 1872 devoured their corn crop. This meant starvation. Con- gressional appropriation through land sales kept them alive till 1874, when, as stated above, the Pawnees set their faces southward, forever to leave the Loup and the Platte.

The story of their rapid decay is read in the following figures: In 1835, according to the missionaries Dunbar and Allis, they num- bered 10,000. In 1840 disease and war had reduced them to 7,500. In 1849 cholera had reduced them to 5,000. Later official reports give 4,686 in 1856; 3,416 in 1861; 2,376 in 1874; 1,400 in 1876; 824 in 1889; 629 in 1901.

Thus passed the Pawnees, the Wolf People of the North, while their arch enemy, the Sioux, still roamed the plains.

THE SIOUX

The Sioux tribes were not essentially a part of the region out of which Hall County developed, but in their conflicts with Pawnees and in their excusions through this region in later years, became enough a part of the Indian history of this country that some short

Digitized by Google

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

historical treatment of this nation should not bitter war lasted until 1869, when they were be omitted.

- --------

The Sioux belonged to one of the most widely extended and important Indian fami- lies of North America. In the very earliest days of the advent of white men they appear to have held sway on the Atlantic seaboard, around the Virginias and Carolinas. They later abandoned their sedentary and agricul- tural tendencies and roamed to the banks of the Ohio. From their own traditions it is accounted that the Sioux parted company with the Winnebagoes at some point on the Ohio, probably near the mouth of the Wabash, and crossed northwesterly through Illinois, and took possession of the headwaters of the Mississippi. In the meantime other tribes of that great family reached the Mississippi until they came to the Missouri, there dividing, some of them going southward to Arkansas. The portion called the "Omahas" ascended the Missouri and made their home in eastern Nebraska. The Poncas and Iowas are also usually classed as belonging to this Sioux family, as well as the Otoes, Peorias, and Missouris, first mentioned by Father Mar- quette in 1673. But the Sioux were the most important of the Siouan stock. The Sioux called themselves Dakotah, Nakotah, or La- kotah, according to their respective dialects, a name signifying "allies." But from the early French designation of "Nadaousioux" a short- ening brought it down to the modern "Sioux." This warlike nation early relinquished seden- tary habits and became roaming buffalo hunt- ers. For many years the Niobrara river in Ne- braska formed the line of demarkation be- tween the Sioux and Pawnees. In 1837, the Sioux sold to the government all their claims to lands east of the Mississippi; in 1851, re- linquished the greater part of Minnesota and Dakota. In 1857, they expressed dissatisfac- tion with the handling of their treaty relations by the government by a massacre of white settlers at Spirit Lake, Iowa, and in 1862 their chieftain, Little Crow, led a warfare upon the outlying settlements in Minnesota, and took advantage of the government's embarass- ments consequent upon the Civil War. This

driven out of Minnesota by General Sibley. While Little Crow and his bands escaped to Canada, Red Cloud and his cohorts came to Nebraska where they started a long struggle.

The valley of the Platte was then the thor- oughfare to California. Plainsmen dared not cross in small companies and the pioneers were forced to arm to the teeth. The trail from the Missouri to the Rockies then became marked with bleaching bones, burnt wagons, and rotting harness.

THE OUTBREAK OF 1864

The story of how the outbreak of 1864 af- fected the little pioneer colonies of Hall County is narrated in minute detail later in this chapter by members of the original colo- nies of Hall County and their early neighbors. The first outbreak of that war occurred at Plum Creek in Dawson County on the 17th day of August, 1864. At a point where steep bluffs and wood covered canyons afforded ex- cellent concealment to the foe, the Indians . planned their ambuscade. There they fell upon an unsuspecting wagon train and killed the entire party of eleven. The failure of the Indians to cut the telegraphic communica- tion eastward enabled a general alarm to be given in time to prevent a general massacre, long planned. Settlers and ranchmen received a timely warning that enabled them to reach points of refuge and protect themselves during the weeks of panic and confusion that fol- lowed. For almost five years the war inter- mittently dragged on, numerous pitched battles between the government regulars and the Sioux ensuing. The last and decisive fight took place at Summit Springs, Sunday, July 11, 1869. This battle, though occurring outside of Hall County, brought a peace and safety to the settlers of Hall County that entitles us to digress long enough to give a short account of the struggle between the Sioux, under the command of their vile chief, Tall Bull, and the several companies of the troops of General Carr of Fort McPherson, and Major Frank North's band of 300 Pawnee scouts and fighters. William F. Cody, better known as

Digitized by

Google

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

"Buffalo Bill," acted as the guide to the white protectors :

July 5, Cody and six Pawnee scouts dis- covered the Sioux in the sandhills south of the Platte, whither they had retreated in haste upon hearing of the pursuit. When the attack was made the Sioux broke up into small bands and escaped under cover of darkness. Three days later, however, 600 Sioux were discov- ered in the act of fording the river and a

From a photograph owned by Mr. A. E. Sheldon. MARPIYA LUTA (RED CLOUD) Chief of the Ogallala Sioux, at the age of seventy years

sharp fight ensued. The Indians suffered heavy loss, among others the famous chief, Tall Bull, falling a victim to Cody's unerring aim. On the following Sunday, General Carr, who had followed the main trail, overtook the reunited bands at Summit Springs. The Sioux held their ground and a day-break battle ensued. It was short but decisive. Many soldiers and Pawnee scouts were slain, and at least 700 of the Sioux, including many chiefs and sub chiefs. The handful who es- caped the carnage sought safety in headlong flight. Considerable booty was made, Herds of ponies, the entire camp outfit and 300 squaws fell into the victor's hands. This battle practically ended the war. The Indians' power of resistence was broken and while a

few depredations were committed after this time, they were limited to the stealing and running off of stock in the border settlements.

A treaty made that year remained in force unbroken until the invasion of the Black Hills by miners, which brought on an outburst which Nebraska escaped. The main event of that outbreak of 1876-77 was the Custer mas- sacre in the Little Big Horn country. There was but little Sioux history from then on that would affect the Platte Valley.

MAJOR FRANK NORTH AND THE PAWNEE SCOUTS

The pioneers of Hall County in common with all of the pioneers of central Nebraska owed a great debt of gratitude to the Pawnee scouts and their gallant white leader, Major Frank North. In 1856 when Frank North came to Nebraska, a young boy, he mingled fearlessly with the Indians along the Missouri in the region of Omaha, and learned their mode of warfare, their language, which he came to speak as fluently as his mother tongue, and won their confidence. In 1861 he took a position as clerk and interpreter at the Pawnee reservation, and by 1863 he became a daring scout. When the work of building the Union Pacific progressed westward the fierce Arapahoes, Cheyennes, and Sioux were attacking the laborers, until it seemed deadly peril to venture outside the camps.

The story of Major North's work can be most accurately accepted as it was rarrated by his niece, Mrs. Sarah Clapp, in Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences :1

It was useless to call on the regular troops for help as the government needed them all to hold in check the armies of Lee and John- ston. A clipping from the Washington Sun- day Herald on this subject states that "a happy thought occured to Mr. Oakes Ames," the main spirit of the work [of building the Union Pacific]. He sent a trusty agent to hunt up Frank North, who was then twenty- four years old. "What can be done to protect our working parties, Mr. North?" said Mr. Ames. "I have an idea," Mr. North an- swered. "If the authorities at Washington

1 Issued in 1916 by The Nebraska Society of The Daughters of the American Revolution.

Digitized by

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 7

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co. Number of Pages: 1011

Author: Buechler, A. F. (August F.), 1869- editor
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western Pub. and Engraving Co.
Number of Pages: 1011