USA > Nebraska > History of Nebraska > Part 21
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TAXABLE PROPERTY .- The following statement will show the amount and valuation of the taxable property in the County for 1879: Number of acres of land, 284,143; average value per acre, $3.10; value of town lots, $82,198.00; money invested in mer- chandise, $67,260; money used in manufactures, $6,948; number of horses, 4,248, value, $120,005; mules and asses, 494, value, $15, 628; neat cattle, 5,006, value, $41,880; sheep, 558, value, $624.00; swine, 12,752, value, $12,432; vehicles, 1,765, value, $27,550; money and credits, $15,182; mortgages, $17,272; stocks, $330.00; furniture, $18,788; libraries, $1,276; property not enumerated, $94,111; railroads, $297,188; total, $1,700,704.10.
LAND .- The Burlington & Missouri River R. R. Company owns 5,000 acres of land in this County, for which they ask from $4.00 to $8.00 an acre. The Government land is all taken.
POPULATION .- The following is the population of the County, in 1879, by precincts: Logan, 339; Edgar, 830; Fairfield, 722; Spring Ranche, 419; Glenville, 428; Lone Tree, 348; Marshall, 379; Sheridan, 330; Sutton, 1,391; Lewis, 411; Lynn, 474; Scott, 447; Leiscester, 440; Harvard, 1,176; Lincoln, 516; School Creek, 723; total population of the County, 9,373-males, 5,112; females, 4,261. In 1875 the population of the County was 4,183, and in 1878 it was 7,012, showing an increase in the last year of 2,361.
SUTTON,
The County Seat, is situated in the Valley of School Creek, on the B. & M. Railroad, in the northeastern part of the County. Its present population is 800, having doubled in size in the last three years. It has a bank and two weekly newspapers-the Globe, an old established paper, and the Mirror. The Court House is a commodious two-story building, and the school house is an elegant and convenient structure, costing $4,000. The Congregationalists
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built the first Church in the County here, in 1875, at a cost of $1,500; the Methodists followed next with a brick house of worship, costing $2,000. Several denominations are now represented.
Sutton is a beautiful town. A tract of twelve acres has been laid off as a public park, through which School Creek makes a horse-shoe bend, its banks being heavily timbered with rock elms.
HARVARD,
Located on the line of the B. & M. R. R., thirteen miles west of Sutton, was incorporated in 1873, and at present has 650 inhabitants. Two weekly newspapers are published here, the Sentinel and Phoenix. In 1873, a $4,000 school house was erected. It has several hotels, Churches, elevators, brick and lumber yards, and business houses representing almost every line of trade. The surrounding country is well settled up by thrifty, prosperous farmers, the German element predominating.
EDGAR,
Is a very promising town of 550 inhabitants, located on the St. Joe & Denver City Railroad, in the southeastern part of the County. It was incorporated on the 15th of March, 1875, and is improving very rapidly. It is well situated for business, being the shipping point for a large, well-settled agricultural country.
FAIRFIELD,
On the St. Joe & Denver Railroad, several miles west of Edgar, is an enterprising town of about 350 inhabitants. It has excellent school and Church advantages, and a weekly newspaper-the News -to advance its interests. It commands the shipping trade of the southwestern portion of the County.
CHEYENNE COUNTY.
Cheyenne County is located on the extreme western border of the State, bounded on the north by Sioux County, east by un- organized territory and Keith County, south by Colorado and west by Wyoming. It was organized in 1867, and contains about 7,224 square miles, or 4,623,360 acres.
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Water power is unlimited. The principal stream is the North Fork of the Platte River, which enters at the northwest corner and flows southeasterly through the County, leaving it in the south- eastern portion. Its main tributaries are Blue River and Rush, Cold Water, Pumpkinseed, Red Willow, Wild and Kiowa Creeks. Lodge Pole Creek, a tributary of the South Platte, which flows from west to east almost entirely across the southern portion of the County, and through whose valley the Union Pacific Railroad extends, is the most important stream. It has a large number of tributaries, the largest being Dry Creek, which waters the south- western portion of the County.
The majority of the streams and many of the canyons are well timbered.
Cheyenne County lies in the great grazing belt of Nebraska, and its territory is almost exclusively devoted to the rearing and fattening of stock, agriculture receiving only a very limited share of attention, being confined to the valley of Lodge Pole Creek, along the line of the railroad, and small patches about the ranches.
Outside of Sidney the inhabitants of the County number less than 300, and these are all engaged in the cattle business, with the exception of the few permanently located at the shipping stations on the railroad.
The surface of the country consists of vast rolling prairies, gulches and canyons, which furnish an abundance of the richest grasses in the world for pasturage. The buffalo grass, the most common variety here, cures on the ground, retaining all its wonder- fully nutritious elements, and upon which cattle live and thrive the year 'round. The timbered canyons afford excellent shelter for the stock during the winter months, and in most cases none other is provided.
There is a large amount of government land in this County. Good crops can be raised in the valleys.
The crop reports for 1879 show the number of acres under cultivation in the County to be 17,3262: Rye, forty acres, 753 bushels; spring wheat, 7,740} acres, 116,480 bushels; corn, 3,784 acres, 145,820 bushels; barley, 778 acres, 23,161 bushels; oats, 2,513 acres, 100,982 bushels; sorghum, eleven acres, 1,491 gallons.
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There is but one school district in the County and one school house; children of school age, 219-males, 117, females, 102.
The amount and valuation of taxable property in the County returned for 1879, was as follows; Number of acres of land, 3,539, average value per acre, $1.00; value of town lots, $58,275; money invested in merchandise, $31,300; number of horses, 1,166, value, $23,320; mules, 147, valne, $5,880; neat cattle, 57,679, value, $461,- 432; sheep, 331, value, $331; swine, eighty-eight, value, $176; vehicles, 193, value, $3,860; moneys and credits, $19,510; mort- gages, $12,572; furniture, $4,717; libraries, $375; property not enumerated, $20,753; railroad, $1,015,868; telegraph, $8,840; total, $1,670,748.
The County is divided into six voting precincts, the popula- tion of each in 1879 being as follows: Sidney, 935; Big Spring, twenty-two; Lodge Pole, seventy; Court House, eighty-seven; Potter, fifty-two; Antelope, fifty-two.
Total population of the County, 1,218-males, 788, females, 430. In 1875 the County had a population of only 457; increase in four years, 761.
SIDNEY,
The County Seat, is located on the north bank of Lodge Pole Creek, and on the Union Pacific Railroad, 414 miles west of Omaha. It is a lively, business place of 950 inhabitants, and has attained considerable importance as a point of outfitting and departure for the Black Hills' gold fields. Fine Concord coaches, carrying mails and express leave daily, and land passengers at Deadwood, 267 miles distant, in about fifty hours. It has two newspapers-the Plaindealer and Telegraph, an $1,800 school house, two excellent hotels, large outfitting and forwarding houses and other necessary auxilaries to the Black Hills trade. One firm of freighters shipped two and a half million pounds of goods to the Hills in one year. The roads from Sidney to the Hills are first-class, and lined with ranches and stopping places, Fort Robinson being on the route.
The stations on the U. P., in this County, are Big Springs, Barton, Chappel, Lodge Pole, Colton, Brownson, Potter, Bennett, Antelopeville, Adams, Bushnell and Pine Bluffs.
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CHASE COUNTY.
Chase County, located on the southwestern border of the State, was established in 1873. It is bounded on the north by Keith, east by Hayes, south by Dundy, and west by the State of Colorado, and contains 936 square miles, or 599,040 acres.
It is watered by Whiteman's Fork, Stinking Water and other tributary streams of the Republican River.
The County is yet unorganized and very sparsely settled, cattle raising being the chief pursuit of the inhabitants. There are no towns in the County, and no reports have been made of population or taxable property.
CUSTER COUNTY.
Custer County was established by an Act of the Legislature, approved February 17, 1877. It is located in the central part of the State, bounded on the north by unorganized territory, east by Valley and Sherman, south by Buffalo and Dawson, and west by Lincoln County and unorganized territory, containing 2,592 square miles, or 1,658,880 acres.
The Middle Loup River and its branches, water the northeast- ern portion of the County. Clear and Mud Creeks water the cen- tral, and the South Loup and branches, the southeastern portion of the County. The Loups are good mill streams, and furnish a moderate supply of timber.
The surface of the country consists largely of high, rolling prairie, about ten per cent. being bluff and five per cent. valley. Very little is done in the way of agriculture as yet, although the soil is generally well adapted to the growth of small grain. Stock raising-for which the country affords every advantage-is the leading industry.
The County was organized in the spring of 1877, by Commis- sioners appointed by the Governor for that purpose.
The taxable property in the County reported for 1879, was as follows: Number of acres of land, 1,308, average value per acre, 18
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$1.50; money used in manufactures, $250; number of horses, 835, valuc $14,395; number of mules twenty, value, $536; number of neat cattle, 23,900, value $150,231; number of sheep, 4,161, value $4,161; number of swine, 183, value $218.25; number of vehicles, 171, value, $3,401; moneys and credits $425; mortgages $685; furniture $1,958; property not enumerated, $2,723.50; total, $180,- 746.25.
In 1879 there were two school districts, two school houses, and sixty-one children of school age in the County.
The population of the County in 1879, was 696, of whom 415 were males, and 281 females.
There is plenty of Government land in this County, suitable either for stock raising or farming.
CUSTER,
The County Seat, is located on the South Loup River, about twen- ty-eight miles north of the town of Plum Creek, on the Union Pa- cific Railroad. It is the supply depot for the numerous cattle ranches in the vicinity, and at certain seasons of the year is a very busy place.
TUCKERVILLE, GEORGETOWN, DOUGLAS GROVE, NEW HELENA, and LENA are Postoffices in the County.
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DOUGLAS COUTNY.
Douglas County was created in the fall of 1854, by proclama- tion of Acting Governor Cuming, and the boundaries were re-de- fined by an Act of the first Territorial Legislature, approved March 2, 1855. By an Act approved February 7, 1857, Sarpy County was formed out of the southern part of Douglas County, and the boundaries of the latter fixed as they exist at present. It is located on the middle-eastern border of the State, and is bounded on the north by Washington and Dodge Counties, east by the Missouri River, south by Sarpy County, and west by the Platte River, which separates it from Saunders County, and contains about 321 square miles, or 195,440 acres, at an average elevation of 1,000 feet above the sea level.
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WATER COURSES .- The Missouri River washes the eastern and the Platte River the western border of the County. The Elkhorn River, the principal interior stream, flows from north to south through the western portion of the County, affording some excel- lent mill privileges. A cut-off from the Platte, some five or six miles long, unites with the Elkhorn in the southwestern part of the County. Rawhide Creek is a beautiful stream emptying into the Elkhorn in the northwestern part of this County. Big Papil- lion Creek, a fine stream with numerous branches, furnishing sufficient water power for light manufacturing purposes, rises in Washington County, and flows in a general southeasterly direction through the eastern portion of this County. Little, or West Pa- pillion Creek, draining the central portion of the County, and East Papillion Creek, draining the eastern tier of townships, are tribu- taries of the Big Papillion, and flow in the same general direction. Mill Creek is a small stream in the northeastern part of the Coun- ty, emptying into the Missouri, at Florence.
CHARACTER OF THE LAND .- The second bottoms or table lands of the Missouri are generally from one to two miles wide, and rise in gentle undulations from the low flood plains toward the bluffs, which are usually low and rounded from the northeast corner of the County down to Omaha, below which they are quite steep and broken, and the bottoms narrower. From the bluffs of the Mis- souri westward to the Papillions, the uplands are considerably rolling, with long sloping knolls, but nowhere, scarcely, is the sur- face so broken as to prevent plowing. The three Papillion Creeks, running from north to south, and from two to four miles apart, the first one about five miles west of the Missouri, have beautiful val- leys, with a great deal of rich, level bottom land. The central portion of the County consists principally of gently undulating prairie, while the western portion is taken up with the wide, levelbottoms of the Elkhorn and Platte Rivers, a tract of country reaching from the northern to the southern boundary, and from six to twelve miles wide, comprising some of the finest and most desirable agricultural lands in the State. A coast-like range of bluffs, rising from seventy- five to one hundred feet above the bottoms, extend along the east bank of the Elkhorn, from the heights of which a magnificent view of the beautiful level valley country can be had as far as eye can reach.
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The soil is a very deep, rich alluvial in the valleys, and on the uplands it is a rich, black vegetable mould, ranging from eighteen inches to two feet in depth. Wheat, rye, barley, oats, flax, corn, etc., are profitably grown, and Irish and sweet potatoes, melons and garden vegetables of all kinds are raised to perfection, both as re- gards to quality and quantity.
The number of acres under cultivation in the County in 1878 was 44,150. Of the principal crops planted 7,425 acres were in wheat, the average yield being fourteen bushels per acre; rye, 745 acres, average seventeen bushels; oats 6,596 acres, average thirty- three bushels; barley 1,445 acres, average twenty-one bushels; corn 25,709 acres, average forty bushels; and potatoes 560 acres, yield- ing from 100 to 250 bushels per acre. Grasses are abundant and nutritious. Immense quantities of hay are annually put up on the meadows of the Papillions and their tributaries, and on the prairie, which always finds a ready market at Omaha.
FOREST AND FRUIT TREES .-- Formerly there were a number of fine groves of hardwood in the eastern portion of the County and along the bottoms of the Missouri, not much of which, however, is now left standing; but there is considerable natural timber yet along the Platte, Elkhorn and the Papillion, and where the original groves were cut off fine young timber is springing up. The arti- ficial timber is well grown, and in proportion to the number of farms opened out, it will compare favorably as to quantity with any County in the State.
There are thrifty orchards in the County that have been in bearing for some years past, and each year an increased quantity of fruit trees are planted, promising at an early day an abundance of the choicest fruits. Wild plums, grapes, gooseberries, and rasp- berries are plentiful along the streams.
HISTORY .- Lewis and Clarke's famous expedition up the Missouri camped on the Omaha Plateau, as appears from their Journal, on the 27th of July, 1804. At that time the ever-shifting channel of the Missouri ran close up to the high bank at the foot of Farnam street, covering the level bottoms which, until within a year or two, reach out a half mile or more from the bank, and upon which have been erected the Union Pacific Company's machine shops, the smelting works, railroad tracks, warehouses,
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a large distillery, extensive lumber and coal yards, and various other business establishments.
The next white person to visit this locality appears to have been a man named T. B. Roye, who established an Indian trading post with the Otoes, on the plateau where Omaha now stands, in 1825.
The first attempt at permanent settlement by the whites, within the present boundaries of the County, was made by the Mormons, in 1845. Several thousand of these people, driven from Nauvoo, Illinois, crossed the Missouri from Iowa, during the years 1845 and 1846, and made a settlement on the banks of the river six miles north of Omaha, which was called "Winter Quar- ters," the name of the place being afterwards changed to Florence. Here they broke up and cultivated a large tract of land, long afterwards known as " the old Mormon field," which yielded them a bountiful crop of sod corn, potatoes and vegetables, and timber being plentiful, substantial log houses were built, and their pros- pects for the future looked encouraging. Their numbers were con- stantly increased by new arrivals, and before many months had elapsed, "Winter Quarters " was considerable of a town.
The Indians, however, objecting to the Mormons cutting their timber, the Indian Agent ordered them to quit the reservation, which they did, in 1847, by recrossing the Missouri and settling in the bluffs on the Iowa side, where they established the town of Kanesville, named in honor of a Mormon Elder named Kane, the name of the town being changed, in 1853, to Council Bluffs.
Early in the Spring of 1847, before abandoning Winter Quarters, the Mormons fitted out an expedition, consisting of one hundred and eight wagons, with from four to six men to each wagon, which was sent West under the leadership of Brigham Young, to look up a favorable location for the permanent settlement of the main party. This expedition arrived at the top of the hill overlooking the now famous Salt Lake City, on the 24th day of July of the same year, and on the 28th the ground for the Temple was selected and a city two miles square laid off. A number of this pioneer party, after planting crops, returned and took back their families the same year.
The largest emigration of Mormons that left Kanesville was
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in the year 1853, but they continued to emigrate in large bodies for several years later, some with cattle trains, others with hand carts. The cattle trains were made up principally of cows, which were worked as oxen, thus doing the double service of pulling the loads and supplying the emigrants with milk on the way. The hand-cart trains consisted of small carts loaded with provisions, clothing, bedding, &c., which were pushed or pulled along by the men and women, none but the smaller children, or sick, riding,
To William D. Brown, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, it is generally conceded, belongs the honor of being the first white settler to stake a claim on the plateau now occupied by the City of Omaha. Mr. Brown was one of the many who started for the gold fields of Cali- fornia in 1849 and 1850, and stopping on his way at Council Bluffs, then called Kanesville, he established a ferry across the Missouri for the accommodation of the large California and Oregon emigra- tion of that day. In 1852 he equipped a flat boat for this purpose, which received the name of the " Lone Tree Ferry," from a solitary tree that stood at the landing of the boat on the west bank of the river, just east of where the Union Pacific machine shops now stand.
In the Spring of 1853, Mr. Brown staked off a claim which embraced most of the original town site of Omaha, and on the 23d day of July of the same year, a new ferry company was organized, taking in Mr. Brown as a member, under the title of "The Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company," whose object was to increase the ferrying facilities and to establish a town on the west side of the river.
The new Company consisted of Dr. Enos Lowe, President; William D. Brown, Tootle & Jackson, S. S. Bayliss, Joseph H. D. Street, Henn & Williams, Samuel R. Curtis, Tanner & Downs, and others.
A substantial steam ferry boat, named the "General Marion," was purchased by Dr. Lowe in Cincinnati, Ohio, which arrived at Conneil Bluffs in September, and commenced running regularly as a ferry boat across the river from that point, in May, 1854.
Months before this, however, and before the passage of the organic act opening up Nebraska for settlement, crowds of hungry land speculators and sharpers had congregated in and around
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Council Bluffs anxiously waiting when they could pounce upon the choice sites bordering on the river, especially in the vicinity of the contemplated town, and notwithstanding the Indians had forbidden the whites from settling on their lands, a number of men crossed the river on the ice in January and February, 1854, and staked off claims along the river within the present limits of the County. But as soon as the ferry boat commenced running, an immense rush was made for the west side of the river, and in a month or two a large portion of the County was staked out in claims, but not one in ten of these claims was ever settled upon or improved by the claimant, who held the lands merely for speculative purposes.
Immediately after the passage of the bill admitting Nebraska as a Territory, May 23, 1854, the Ferry Company proceeded to lay out their contemplated town. The beautiful plateau upon which Omaha now stands was selected for the town site, and Mr. A. D. Jones, assisted by C. H. Downes, surveyed the same, which occupied the greater part of June and July. Omaha was the name given to the new town by the Company, at the suggestion, it is said, of Jesse Lowe, now dead.
The city was laid out in 320 blocks, each being 264 feet square; the streets 100 feet wide, except Capitol avenne, which was made 120 feet wide, but which was given no alley in the blocks on each side of it. The lots were staked out sixty-six by 132 feet, with the exception of business lots which were made only twenty-two feet wide. Three squares were reserved-Capitol Square, 600 feet; Jefferson Square, 264 by 280 feet, and Washington Square 264 feet square. A park of seven blocks, bounded by Eighth and Ninth, and Jackson and Davenport streets, was laid out, but was after- wards given up to business purposes.
In 1856 another town company was organized under the title of " The Omaha Town Company," which included in its members most of the members of the "Ferry Company." This Company secured lands lying contiguous to Omaha, which they laid ont, as additions to the city, the survey being known as " Scriptown."
The first house in Omaha was commenced sometime in Jan- uary or February, 1854, by Mr. Tom Allen for the Ferry Com- pany. It was a large log house, and was used when finished, as a hotel, store, and for the accommodation of the public in general.
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It stood in Jackson street, opposite Twelfth, and was known by the high-sounding name of St. Nicholas, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. P. Snowden were its first tenants.
The second house in the city was built by M. C. Gaylord, a carpenter, about the first of July, 1854. It was made of pine floor- ing, and stood on the hill near the present site of Creighton Col- lege. In this house Mrs. Gaylord gave birth to a son in Novem- ber following, which was the first child born in the city. Mr. Gaylord who was siek at the time, died shortly after the birth of his son, and his was the first death among the settlers. He was buried on the ridge a short distance from the house, and in June, 1877, while excavating for the Creighton College, his remains were taken up and re-buried.
The "Big 6," was the name given to the third house on the town site, which was built by William Clancy, in the forepart of July. It was a large shanty, built of Cottonwood boards, banked on the outside with sod, and stood on the north side of Chicago street, between thirteenth and fourteenth. Mr. Clancy opened here a general assortment of merchandise suitable to the times and place, and the "Big 6" soon became a very popular re- sort.
William P. Snowden, in the fall, built a log house on the west side of Tenth street, between Howard and Jackson. This was the fourth house erected on the town site, and upon its com- pletion, a grand "house-warming " sociable was given by Mr. and Mrs. Snowden, which was attended by all the settlers, and many from Council Bluff's.
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