History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 9

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

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HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

killed off and gone, and their ashes are strewn over the hills of the land, the wild flowers are growing on their mournful graves and weeping bitter tears for the unspeakable in- justices so frequently done them at the hands of the white man, - may we not pause and consider the other side? Shame be on the white men who contended there was no room left for the Indians to live in peace in this great country of ours.

"NEZARREZARRIES"

We had one very wise and dear friend among the Pawnees, whose name was "Nezarrezarries." He was a Kidkahah, by far the most intelligent Indian we ever knew. Through him father made a dictionary of the Indian language, so you see it was quite easy for us to converse with Indians in an intelligent way. Nezarrezarries had two squaws, was quite rich in horses and tents, and was the most popular Indian of the whole tribe (which meant four sub-tribes) - the Kidkahahs, Cavees, Pittihauvittys, and lost Scitties, which last term by the way is also the name for wolf or coyote, and the symbol for the greatest liar in the world. the Scittie Indian was marked for being the most skillful horsethief of the Pawnee tribes towards their most bitter enemies, the Southern Sioux. This popular Nezarrezarries was very freely spoken of as being selected as the first big chief in command, but he was handicapped by having only two squaws when three and .

no less were required by custom and law, and so many horses.

AN INDIAN LOVE STORY

Now we come to a love story. One early morning a very beautiful, graceful, sharp featured, fine looking Indian girl, with body finely formed, tall and quite slender, possibly 23 or 24 years of age, strayed into our place for a few moments, and then got up and started towards the Indian camps on Wood River. At the same time our esteemed friend came along from camp toward our place, I think for another visit, or he might have known of this girl's presence that early morn-

ing, or it might have been agreed upon that they should meet in the open field, for at least that was their meeting place. It was a very cold morning, the wind blew out of the north with biting cold, but when the two met, he grabbed her by the hand and it started a struggle, each pulling this way and that, as if she wanted to pull away from him, and at last she settled down peaceably and friendly toward him and eventually he succeeded in covering her and also himself over their heads, with his buffalo robe, and talked to her for more than an hour without moving an inch. I watched closely during all of this time. For I did not know whether to count them friend at that time, but it finally proved to be all right. They finally separated, he came to our place and she went home to the camp. What must I do after he arrived at our place but satisfy my curiosity by asking him what had happened over yonder with that beautiful Indian girl, and he answered quickly and straight from the shoulder, "that is now my third squaw, a heap good squaw," and that was all there was to it. He acted very un- concerned about it, as if this was final and I never found out more about it, but I do know that from then on this girl acted as his squaw.

A TRUE RED FRIEND

I think it was in the coming year, in the late fall, that Nezarrezarries came riding along onto father's place one day and explained to him that he was in bad need of a rifle for hunting buffalo to get a buffalo robe, and my father without asking any questions whatso- ever, handed the Indian his very fine Spencer repeating rifle of 7 shots, caliber 50, and one of our buffalo robes, not quite the best, and also 6 or 7 No. 4 double spring beaver traps. He thanked father for them and left. I think it must have been in the latter part of Novem- ber, one fine day, when in came our friend, re- turning rifle, traps, and instead of the old robe handing father a fine brand new one in its place. He never advanced to the leadership of his people. Once more this noble Indian paid us a visit but this time, sick and afflicted with a loathsome disease, "an inheritance of

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HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

the white man." The Indians had moved in the meantime to Indian Territory and he came all that long way to consult father in regard to his deplorable condition. Of course we could do nothing for him though he stayed a day or two with us, and one morning, after breakfast, with tears in his eyes he stretched, for the last time, his hand to his esteemed pale faced friends and bid us all good-bye and that is the last we ever saw of him. Another interest- ing previous visit of that Indian friend I al- most overlooked was when a blizzard was rag- ing over the country. He was sitting with father philosophizing over important ques- tions, great drops of sweat were rolling down his fine featured face, his eyes sparkled with deep hidden fire, as he started out to discuss the white man v. Indian national question. "The white man's greed drives the Indian mad; he envies even the ground we walk on, he would if he could, express us into the skies where there is nothing but useless space, or push us off into the ocean, until he knows he has destroyed us, and he would rejoice much over it, and after he has fulfilled his wishes, then I would wish the pale face God speed when they turn loose on themselves."

FORT O. K.

In the early 60's, I was still a very small boy when my father and Joachim Buenz, a brother of John Buenz of Grand Island, hauled the cotton wood logs from the heavy timber grow- ing along Wood River at that time for build- ing a fortification against possible attack of hostile Indians. There was no trouble pending at that time, but it came soon after that when the southern Sioux went on the warpath against the white men all along the line, and when trouble had started the so-called Fort "O. K." was erected for the protection of the white men, but for some reasons the Indians never made any raids on us. It might have been spy work on the part of the Indians that saved our hides, as they probably knew better because we were well fortified, at least they never came near us.

One morning my father was out on an antelope hunt north of our place and he came he made his temporary headquarters.

back in a hurry. He had seen a large band of hostile Indians going over the same ground where Grand Island now stands. He reported it as soon as possible to the captain in com- mand of the U. S. soldiers stationed at Fort O. K. In short order the captain and a squad of 10 or 12 regulars were swinging themselves into the saddles of their fine horses, and in company with father went in pursuit of this band of Indians. They soon found their trail and followed them in a northwesterly direction up to the mouth of Oak Creek, at Dannebrog, but they caught up with them, and lost the Indians as they disappeared to the westward.

FORT INDEPENDENCE

One fort was erected on my father's place, named Fort Independence. This was built with the help of my Uncle William Hagge and Fred Moeller. The dimensions were 20 x 28 feet, about 71% feet high, with port holes to all sides and banked up heavily with tough prairie sod and dirt, making it fire-proof against burning arrows, which the Indians used to great advantage. An underground horse stable, with the capacity of 24 horses, was added, and the port holes in the fort proper overlooked the horse stable so it was well covered by our guns. One day after the Indian trouble had taken hold all over the country, General Curtis made our fort a pleasant visit and inspected it. After look- ing it over thoroughly he advised us that we had done a fine job of providing protection and need fear nothing, as we were safe against the attacks of Indians, if we would be careful and not permit them to rush onto us unexpect- edly. That was a very common practice of the Indians, as they would come on horse back like birds on wings and be onto you before you knew it, and might get advantage of you in this way. By always having the place guarded, day and night, we would be safe. He added that he would give us, and also the other fort, a cannon, a 5-pounder, to defend our- selves against possible attacks by the Red- skins. He left at once for Fort O. K. where

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HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

GOETTSCH-FRAUEN MASSACRE

Jumping along to 1867 or 1868, in the latter part of November, a foot of snow covered the bleak prairies. One afternoon my father sent me on horseback to the very small town of Grand Island to get his mail. At that time only a few houses had been built in the village. Mr Schuller, our postmaster, had moved to town, to the place where the Schuff (Ameri- can) hotel and restuarant now stands, and the O. K. store had been moved to the present location of the Koehler Hotel, and when I stepped into the post office, Mr. Eggert Goettsch called to me and said: "Fred, come here with me to the outside of the street," and pointing his finger northeast toward the St. Paul road, where not a house stood in all that space, added, "do you see that wagon load of cart-wood coming along?" I answered "yes sir." "Well" he said, "on that load of wood lies your playmate Chris Geottsch dead. He got killed by Indians the other day, out on the Loup River, also Henry Frauen got killed at the same time, they are both frozen hard as a rock. Do you care to see them once more? If so you must wait here until they are here and it will not take very long." I answered, "No sir, I am scared stiff now. I don't care to see them. I want to go home as soon as possible." A boy of only 10 or 11 years old, I was really afraid. I looked once more with tears in my eyes toward my best playmate, shuddering at the idea that he had been massa- cred by those awful Indians. I got onto my horse in a double quick hurry and hustled home to tell my parents the terrible news. Chris and Henry had been out on a hunt for large game, in company with my uncle John Vieregg, an old hunter and trapper, and Hans Kling- enberg, another old hunter. 'They had been having very poor luck on the trip, due to bad weather, and before starting home had made a hurried side trip over the ice to the other side of the Loup, on Oak Creek, to cut a few wagon reach poles, taking their rifles with them. Upon arriving on the other side of the river, Mr. Klingenberg had noticed ahead of them a cloud of dust and snow thrown up in the air and mentioned it to my uncle.

My uncle had not observed it, but Mr. Kling- enberg insisted that somebody had been shoot- ing there, from seeing a bullet mark in the snow, but my uncle observed. "Who could shoot at us here, a heavy north wind blowing, and we can hear nothing." When another dust cloud and snow shot up in the air, Kling- enberg again said, "Do you see it this time," and my uncle answered, "Yes, but who could shoot at us," and they still went on their way to get the poles. Upon returning to camp they found both boys had been killed, Chris with a load of buckshot in his breast, evi- dently poured out from his own gun, and Henry with a rifle bullet through his temple, appearing also to have met death from his own rifle. Both horses had been stolen and all of the bed clothes and guns were missing. The Indians had mixed molasses and coffee together and evidently had taken a big meal before starting on their get-a-way. Left out there some 30 miles in the wilderness, with a foot of snow on the ground, nothing re- mained for the men to do but to hoof it back to the fort. This gruesome murder happened near the present Dannebrog, on the south side of the Loup River, opposite from the west point of the big island in the river east of the bridge at the mouth of Oak Creek.

INDIANS JOURNEYING TO THE "HUNT"

Every fall great numbers of Pawnees, in bands of thousands, came up from their reser- vation, swarmed over the country everywhere as they jouneyed through to the hunting grounds further up, west and south towards the Blue and Republican rivers. The Indians generally divided into two great camps going out on their fall hunts, one part going up on the Loup and the other part going up on the Platte bottoms. On their journey they would signal to each other with gigantic prairie fires. The Indians following the Platte would set fire to the large islands, and the Indians fol- lowing the Loup would set fire to the endless prairies, and in the evening you could see the red crimson light thrown on the clouds on the heavenly screens, reflecting back to earth in blood red, and sometimes it would look so

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HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

fiery in the heavens one would think the world would come to an end. This burning off country had two objects, one to signal the other bands, and the other for driving the deer, in particular, closer together so as to make it easier to hunt them. Many deer were captured by the Indians on the islands in the Platte River bottoms, where the Indians formed a circle around the burning island, and the deer were driven by the fire toward them getting in such close range they could be brought down with bows and arrows. A favorite method of preparing deer ribs for a meal was to cut the ribs in four by four inch squares and then use a sharp stick to hold the deer rib over a live coal bed, and indeed that prepared a royal dish. After securing a supply of buffalo meat and robes for winter use, the Indians would find camping places along the Platte Islands, and particularly along Wood River, in the hardest winter months.

AN INDIAN DANCE

One time my father and I met a large band of Pawnees coming from the hunt, when we were at a point south of Bonson's ranch, 12 miles up the Platte, on one of the big islands. We had already secured two deer on our hunt and these Indians told us about a "heap a big fight" they had encountered with the Sioux Indians and showed us a brand new bleeding scalp, taken only a few days ago. The scalp dangled from a long pole, hanging by the braid and the raw scalp hanging down- ward. The Indians found a favorite camp- ing place in south of the Bunk place in a thicket. My sisters, Annie and Lioneret, my brothers Bill and Emil, Minnie Roeser and my- self were a group of children much given to making frequent visits on a camp-fire evening to these camps. We delighted in watching their dances and pow wows in honor of some instant greatness, or a war dance or a dance for the great doctor, or in honor of great game. I shall try to describe this latter dance. The drums were beating continuously, but very irregularly in time. These drums were made out of empty nail kegs, stretched over with a

raw buffalo or elk hide. A tent was occupied by the most noted and famous personalities. Seated in a half-circle in an almost open tent, but little shelter was offered from the side where the actors were seated, with a nice bright fire burning in the center of the tent. The common herd of Indians stood outside in bunches in half circles and placed the smaller folks on the inside, with grown people arranged on the outside, according to sizes. This offered all of them a good view of the performers. This dance was in honor of the large game. The patriarch was decorated with elk and deer skins, another one with a buffalo robe and tail of a buffalo hanging on behind, making as nearly as possible an imita- tion of a buffalo. One was made up as a beaver, another had muskrat skins, one as a scittie (wolf) and one Indian carried a coyote, one a fox pelt on his arms. It seemed as if each of the four tribes had its own favorite game and fur bearing animals to whom it de- lighted to give honor in these celebrations. Now the dance commences. The drums beat everlastingly and dipper curbises with seeds in them were shaken as hard as possible, also in regular time, all of the performers would sing in a hum drum manner, but regular In- dian songs, which I cannot give here. The dancers were decorated with their favorite game hides and paint on their faces, sometimes red and sometimes black being used. With the hides hanging on them right and left, and in a very stooped posture, they begin tramping and stamping the ground up and down in a half circle in front of the fire. One of their main acts is to take a snapping bite at fur on their arms every so often and this is kept up for an hour or so. On the soft fine afternoons and evenings of February the dancing season came in great favour and lasted till spring time set in, and during all this time drum beats could be heard. Then they would break camp and go off to their reservation, and spend the summer doing a little gardening and farming, raising some navy beans and some corn.

BUFFALO HUNTS

One afternoon we saw a buffalo grazing

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southwest of the August Becker place, close to the present Midway and Sand Krog roads, in the southwest quarter of that section. My father went after him with his heavy muzzle loading rifle.' He worked up the slough, came up to the buffalo at 150 yards and shot him, but he hit the animal too high, and this in- furiated the buffalo. With tail up, and horns in the ground, pawing the dirt, the animal turned around lively in a circle, tramping and tearing the sod up in great shape. This obliged father to shoot seven times before his game fell dead. The buffalo was divided up among neighbors.

In 1865 or 1866 my father went on an ante- lope hunt, taking me with him. I had to stay with the wagon on Prairie Creek, about where the old Kinkel place is, but at that time still a howling wilderness. Along toward evening, as I was expecting father back at any moment and consequently watching the surrounding country very closely, I saw a large black liv- ing object moving very fast over a small hill about a mile and a half away. Then came father in plain view, galloping toward me. He asked me if I had seen that buffalo and I said I did. He then explained that he had crippled him pretty badly and we would get him in the morning. We went home and were off at 4 o'clock the next morning on a genuine buffalo hunt. We soon found the tracks and followed the animal by tracking him through the sand- hills, northwest of St. Libory into the Loup River high bluffs. In a high patch of slough grass the animal had laid down, and his stubby horns and some of his very long hairy head was all we could see. Father took a fine aim behind the shoulder, one-third from below up and a sharp crack of his old trusted rifle brought this old monarch of the western plains dead to the ground. One remarkable thing about the buffalo was his strong smell. This was the last buffalo steak we secured for our home. I remember one evening Hank Martin coming in with a heavy load of buffalo meat from the west, with the wind blowing gently, carrying the scents of the bloody meat across the country. This started a large pack of grey wolves to howling. Hank was coming along

the military road on Wood River about a mile off, but to listen to music of this kind was qiute grewsome and made the hair stand straight on end.

The buffalo was both a ferocious and large animal. Father poisoned one that measured after he was skinned 9 feet from tip of nose to tip of tail, and so heavy it took a good strong man to lift it onto a horse, and he was almost white, evidently an old fellow.

THE ENDURANCE OF A PAPOOSE

Two squaws visited us one day, one of them carrying a papoose probably two months old. After eating a lunch with us, the squaw picked up the papoose, hanging the little tot over her shoulders, walked out into a storm of zero weather. The papoose started to bawl, some- thing remarkable, but the mother paid very little attention to the youngster and when she got out into an open field, where the cold bit- ing wind was blowing at a high gale, the little one still cried, and the mother got mad and talked sassy for awhile. She unpacked the baby and it developed that it had not a stitch of clothing on. The mother rearranged the lynx skin next to the craille board and placed the little one back to the far side, then placed a double blanket over the papoose, wrapt a girth around it, starting at the feet, and covered it until only the little face showed and it then seemed to be satisfied with its condition, and the mother proceeded on her journey at a dog trot.

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MIRAGES

A word about the wonderful miroiches of early days that were with us every winter and springtime, of which we see nothing today. The reasons for this phenomenon? One of them is, we have not any longer the unbroken endless smooth prairie, but that is all now a memory and the landscape is broken with groves and farm houses. Those miroiches of early days appeared only when the air was full of vapors, charged highly with moisture at sunrise in the morning. With white frost on the ground, you could see towards Alda and Wood River station and south of it. From our place great pictures were thrown on the heav-

HISTORY OF HALL COUNTY NEBRASKA

enly screens, magnified to a wonderful size. enough, three or four days later the report For instance, a crow would look as large as a came that Nick and Henry Bonson's herd of horses on one of the Platte islands had been visited by these red skinned scoundrels and five of the best horses had been stolen. Nick Bonson himself, took up the dashing Indian chase. On horseback, rifle in hand, he dashed for twelve miles up the Platte River, across the country, south down through the state of Kansas and on into Indian Territory, and finally recaptured his horses from the bandits and returned home safe with his stolen property. buffalo, the houses up west, as large as gigantic castles, the timber along Wood River seven or eight miles off hung up against the horizon in monstrous sizes and it was so clear to the eye that it was a pleasure to look at. One morning at sunrise father called us out to see the Loup River with its graceful bands, its heavy timber along its banks hanging upside down on the low horizon in a dark grayish picture, a magnificent sight for the lover of nature. Then again at noon and afternoon in particular, if you could be on an endless stretch of burned prairie you could see a mile DEPENDING ON THE GUN FOR FOOD or even two or three off, great lakes of water, the exact image of a great sheet of water. Thirsty people have followed these lakes of water, and never could find them. ·

SOME INDIAN HORSETHIEVES

I remember one afternoon, George Thav- anet, father and I were out on a deer hunt along Wood River. I was with the wagon in a thicket, when along came 20 Indians with war paint on them, walking on foot, dressed in light gray blankets, armed with navy re- volvers, and yelling the most hideous, infam- ous, horrifying war whoops that I ever heard. It lifted me almost off of my feet to say the least. I left the wagon for another thicket and large weeds, and from there I peeped out and watched very closely this suspicious band of Indians. Later, we heard they belonged to the Scitties and were on a horse-thieving ex- pedition, headed for the southern Sioux coun- try to steal horses. Mr. Thavanet and father killed a five foot deer that afternoon. Some years later five very suspicious Indians strayed onto our place one afternoon carrying halters and lasso ropes made out of horse tail hair, and large revolvers on their bodies. They looked into our horse stable. Father opined that those fellows were nothing less than horsethieves. Father made me lock our barn as a warning to them and demanded of them in not very uncertain tones, "you, THE ANTELOPE pocketshee," meaning "you get" and the pre- The finest of all large game has been the diction of my father came true to a dot. Sure antelope. Early in the spring time when grasse

Father's old muzzle loading rifle, 16 balls to the pound, sharp pointed bullets, with a trajectory 6 inches for every 50 yards distance when shot, and kicking like a mule, but with a very fine target, was a great game getter. We depended altogether on this trusted old rifle for our meat supply for the year around. For the winter it meant buffalo meat and for the summer it meant antelope meat. It required six hind quarters and three saddles of buffalo for the winter use. For summer we needed from 10 to 15 antelope. The buffalo quarters hung on the north side of our log house, and in the morning for breakfast mother would use an axe to cut a round steak of frozen hams. I think of it yet today, how nice and sweet those juicy nourishing round steaks tasted to us, nothing now like it. For a va- riety, we occasionally had deer, brought in through the winter season. We hunted them usually after a fresh snow, on Wood River and in the wild thickets of swamp willows along the Platte Islands. This meant the very hardest kind of hunting, yet very fas- cinating. This brush hunting was mostly done with shotguns and buckshot. It meant quick, hard shots and very often only a glimpse was caught of the prey. I killed my quota, 30 deer and antelope and 24 coyotes to my credit, the latter generally shot with high power rifles.

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History of Hall County, Nebraska, Part 9

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