USA > Nebraska > Richardson County > History of Richardson County, Nebraska : its people, industries and institutions > Part 60
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A LEGEND OF TABLE ROCK.
How a Maddening Lover Overthrew an Empire.
( The following romantic legend, directly relating to Table Rock, was published in the Atchison ( Kansas ) Daily Champion in 1877, and republished in Boston's Immigration Guide in 1878.)
Many centuries ago-in fact, long anterior to the conquest of Mexico
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by Cortez-the Aztecs inhabited the valley of the Nemaha and adjacent coun- try. They were a happy and prosperous people and were far advanced in civilization. It is not known when they first took possession of the valley, but the traditions preserved by the Pawnee Indians (who are descendants of the Aztecs,. as is well known to every student of history) would seem to indicate to the pioneers of that fertile part of Nebraska that they planted their standard long centuries before the occurrence of the romantic incident which we are about to relate.
We have said the Aztecs were far advanced in civilization. The state- ment will appear more plausible when we say that they were unexcelled in the arts and sciences. Their architecture was grand and marvelous. Tower- ing castles of granite and lordly palaces of marble dotted city and plain. Except that these piles were on a larger scale, we have no doubt (judging from ruins that have been exhumed in various places) that they somewhat resemble the Alhambra in architectural design.
The Aztecs were doubtless attracted to this valley by the richness of its soil. They tilled this soil and such was its exceeding fertility that in time they became as we have described them.
It was a religious custom of the Aztecs to sacrifice a beautiful and chaste maiden every year to their idol. This was done by burning her on a high granite altar or table, after bleeding her to death. It was believed by the people that if they failed in this duty, that the idol would be so incensed as to destroy them. In accordance with this custom, a maiden was, once upon a time, chosen by lot, and duly sacrificed upon the high altar. The maiden thus sacrificed had a lover-a nobleman and one of the most astute of Aztec statesmen. At the time of the sacrifice he was in a distant part of the empire. attending to weighty state affairs, and not until his return did he learn who had been sacrificed. And then his sorrow was pitiful to behold. He cried aloud and tore his hair in a perfect frenzy of grief. But, finally, he became calm and apparently reconciled. He went out, with a melancholy face, it is true, but he made no demonstration of grief. However, he was not the same man after this. He took no part in state affairs, and was seldom seen at court, where he had formerly been a favorite. He sought the companion- ship of the peasantry, with whom he was always found in close consultation.
REBELLION.
One day the news was brought to the Emperor that the peasantry, headed by Pueblo, the melancholy nobleman. had arisen in insurrection. When his
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imperial majesty heard this, he ordered his generals to go forth and seize the rebels, and bring them before him when he would condemn them to death. The generals went forth, but returned empty-handed. They repre- sented that the rebels were organized into a great army, which could not be put down in a day. Then the Emperor called together a mighty army, and. putting himself at the head of the same, sallied forth to meet the rebels. The opposing armies met just outside the walls of the capitol (the capitol stood where Pawnee City now stands) and before the battle commenced the Emperor sent a truce, and asked parley with Pueblo, which was granted. Pueblo met the Emperor half-way between the two armies. The Emperor was the first to speak. "Oh! Pueblo, formerly my most devoted servant, why hast thy rebelled against thy sovereign ? Speak." "Oh, sire," answered Pueblo, "thou hast asked why I have rebelled against thee, and it is fit that I should answer thee. I rebel against thee because thou hast sacrificed the light of my eyes, the joy of my soul, the maiden whom I loved, to the idol. Oh, sire. I have sworn to destroy every city, hamlet, and hut in this beautiful valley and leave but one single relic of its present grandeur. Oh, sire, I have spoken." After this parley Pueblo and the Emperor returned to their places at the head of their respective armies.
We shall not attempt to describe the battle, for it differed little from other battles of that age. It was fierce and the slaughter on both sides ter- rible, but at last Pueblo's army was compelled to flee. After the defeat of Pueblo's army the Emperor offered amnesty to all rebels who would lay down their arms and return to peaceful pursuits. And nearly all of Pueblo's army accepted the offer. This was almost a deathblow to Pueblo, for he was com- pelled to flee the country. But he did not give up in despair; after a short exile he returned and sowed the sceds of another insurrection. Before long he raised another army, but again he was defeated. This time he was taken prisoner by the Emperor's army, and, along with his bravest generals, con- (lemned to death. They were publicly executed near the sacrificial altar.
THE SEQUEL.
This altar is what is now known as Table Rock. Then it was supported by two massive stone columns and was some twenty feet high. Now it has fallen, one of its columns having given away after a service of so many cen- turies. This altar was the only structure sacred to Pueblo. On it his beloved had died, and by it he had sworn that it should last longer than the Aztec monarchy. He swore by the blood of his beloved that had stained the altar
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that it should last long after every vestige of the former greatness of the. Aztecs had been swept away from the valley. Before his execution he ex- horted his followers to remember his oath. He exhorted them to kill the followers of the Emperor, and sack and burn the cities and villages. After the death of Pueblo a sort of guerrilla warfare was commenced against the government by small bands of desperate men. Cities were suddenly sur- prised, and then were sacked and burned. These depredations increased to such an alarming extent that many people were panic-stricken and fled the country. They drove the enemy out of the valley toward the southwest.
After the conquest the rebels finished the work of demolition they had commenced. Castles, palaces, and huts alike were town down and the debris buried in deep trenches. After this the people became nomadic and worth- less. Having been reared as warriors they had no taste for civil pursuits. They lodged in tents and fed on wild game, which was, as it is now, abundant in the valley. They never tried to improve their condition. On the contrary they became worse and worse, until they finally degenerated into the savage Pawnee of the present day. A copper plate covered with ancient hieroglyphics was recently found in the fallen column of Table Rock, which Prof. Pierre Vulierre, of the Paris University, has succeeded in translating, and kindly furnished Professor Pangburn with a translation. This tablet is now in the possession of C. Foote, passenger conductor of the Atchison & Nebraska railroad, and from it we have been enabled to gather some of the facts set forth in the foregoing narrative.
A visit to Table Rock will repay anyone, but more particularly the lover of romantic history. None can look upon the time-worn altar and not medi- tate upon the great devotion of Pueblo. No one can think of Pueblo and not wish there were such lovers nowadays.
REMINISCENCES OF SOME SEVERE WINTERS.
By Mrs. J. R. Wilhite.
In April, 1855, I, with my parents, Jesse Crook and wife, moved to what was then the neighborhood of old Archer, located about two miles north of Falls City in the southwest quarter of section No. 36. of township No. 2, north, of range No. 16, of Ohio township. It was not until that fall that, an attempt was made to start a townsite, which they called Archer, consisting of a little hotel of logs, three or four log houses, a postoffice and store, which
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grew to larger proportions later. There were only a few families there at that time, mostly French, and a few Indians.
From St. Stephens, in the northeast corner of the county, down to Archer, the country was a vast unbroken prairie and anything but a bright future greeted ns on our arrival. The sufferings and trials of some of the settlers that year are pitiful to relate. The country being new, and having little to do with, our existence that winter depended a great deal on the killing of game, and some parched corn we had saved up. No vegetables had yet been raised, and those wanting meat were forced to go to Missouri, a distance of fifteen miles. The unfortunate ones who were not blessed with a team or horse were forced to struggle through the long, trying winter, as best they could, with the kind of assistance their neighbors were able to give. Thanks- giving time and from then to April, the ground was never free from snow. This winter was particularly a hard one, and we had nothing to do with, and the hard sleet and crusted snow made it almost impossible for travel. The cattle could not stand on it and we depended almost exclusively on the oxen for motive power at that time.
My father, Jesse Crook, in company with another man, named Samuel Howard, started out for Andrew county, Missouri, with their team to get supplies of meat and groceries. They killed hogs, dressed them and threw them in the wagon like logs of wood, and started home. They had just crossed the Missouri river at St. Stephens, when they were overtaken by a blizzard and could not see their way. My father started out on a horse to try to break a road for the team as the blizzard by this time was worse than ever. Mr. Howard abandoned the team and started out on foot alone. He got as far as the mouth of the Muddy, when he was so nearly frozen he gave up to die. Just then he heard a dog bark and the tinkle of a bell and he knew that an Indian camp must be close at hand, as the Indians always kept bells on their ponies. With a little renewed energy he struggled across the frozen river, and was taken in by the Indians. His boots were frozen on his feet. They cared for him that night, giving him food and shelter, but his feet were badly frozen and he was laid up all the winter suffering with them. The next day, having failed to return home, his friends and neighbors started out in search of him. The team and wagon were found and they learned from a man named Hughbank that a white man was taken by the Indian camp. So he was found and taken in by his friend. Jesse Crook, and cared for that winter.
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FATHER'S HEROISM SAVES FAMILY.
A family, by the name of Dodson, residing near Salem, lived for three weeks that winter on little besides parched corn. They were among the un- fortunate ones, having no horses, and the heavy snows had almost completely blockaded them from any outside help. Realizing that starvation was inev- itable, the father started on foot from Salem and struggled his way clear through to Missouri for meat and carried a ham of meat that distance on his shoulder. He was nearly dead when he again reached home, but his heroic effort was the only thing that saved his little family from actual starvation.
Another incident that I now recall to mind was that of John Hoitt and wife, who resided in a little claim shanty on what was later known as the John R. Smith farm near Falls City. The neighbors had not noticed smoke coming from the chimney of their little home for three days and fearing some- thing was wrong went to the rescue. They were found in bed, nearly frozen to death, and had had nothing to eat for the three days and no fuel in the house. They were carried from the house to that of a neighbor, where, with kind assistance, they were able to survive the winter.
Another memorable incident that happened during the year 1856 and remembered by many of the early pioneers, was that of Mr. Lones and his son. Some time in the early part of November, 1856, Mr. Lones and his son, Cirus, started out from their home near Mound City, Missouri, with a sleigh loaded with their household effects. Their intention was to locate on a claim on the Nemaha in this county, just west of what we know as Pearson's Point, a little east of the present Falls City. They had intended to stop over night with his son-in-law, Charles Robertson, who then lived one-half mile east of what is now known as the Pearson cemetery, east of Falls City. It was after nightfall when they reached the place and found to their disappointment that the son-in-law had moved away. A terrific blizzard was upon them, and being already fatigued and cold from their long, tiresome trip, it was useless to try to proceed any further. Of course the cabin was cold, there was no fuel or stove and nothing to eat. Unable to fight for existence, they were found so badly frozen in the morning that they both died from the effects, the father dying one week later, while the son survived a little longer. They were the first white people to die in the neighborhood, and they were buried near Pearson's Point. This was the beginning of what we now know as Pearson's Point cemetery.
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DIED WITHIN SIGHIT OF HELP.
Another sad experience during the winter of 1855 was that of Martin Rutherford. The snow was very deep, and it was bitterly cold, and he had started back home, as he lived near Barada, on horseback. Finding the road could not be traveled by his horse he got off and tried to walk. The ice and snow soon became too much for him. Weak with the cold and the plodding through the snow, he crawled on his hands and knees, perceiving a little house nearby. By a great effort he finally managed to reach the door of the cabin, but died before anything could be done for him.
The winter of the early sixties brought forth many renewed hardships. Cattle froze in their sheds and food was scarce. Many days we trapped game for food, by stacking the corn in ricks to tempt the quails and prairie chickens. The snow was so deep the women could not think of doing any work out of doors without high top boots. Having no place to store the winter's supply of meat, the hogs were stood up on their hind feet by the chimney on the outside of the house, and whenever we needed meat, we would take an axe and chop off as large a piece as we wanted, just as we would chop a piece of wood. My brother, W. H. Crook, then a small boy, had a number of calves, whose horns and ears were frozen off, and to keep them alive he put them in the cellar and cared for them all winter.
Many times during the winter of 1863 and 1864, the children would climb out of the upstairs windows and play in the snow, as it had drifted as high as the top of the house.
People in this day of modern advancement and the conveniences we now have, little realize the hardships endured by the pioneers of this county, and it is those who have gone through all these struggles who can fully appreciate the comforts of a warm and comfortable home.
JOIIN BROWN'S LAST VISIT TO RICHARDSON COUNTY.
L. B. Prouty, who had the honor of presiding as postmaster at Elmore, a bygone postal station, located near the present site of Strausville and per- haps forgotten by most of our people, had this to say of the last visit of John Brown:
"I saw and conversed with John Brown, of Ossowattomie, the last time he went through Richardson county, which was but a short time before the Harper's Ferry episode. His companions said that the old man was losing his mind, but that they intended to stick to him to the last, which they did."
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The first school along the Muddy in this county was taught by Charles Cornell at his house.
Jacob Koffman was the first settler to locate in Liberty precinct, and he came in 1855.
LARGE TREE.
One of the largest trees grown in the county was on a farm six miles west of Salem. The farm at one time was owned by George Marsh. It was a cottonwood and measured twenty-seven. feet in circumference. During the World's Fair, the owner, Mr. Marsh, was offered seventy-five dollars for it, delivered at the railroad at Dawson, by the World's Fair commissioners, but owing to the fact that Mr. Marsh was not possessed of any means of moving . the tree the offer was declined.
WHY NEBRASKANS ARE CALLED "BUG-EATERS."
There are many versions for the cause of the application of this un- pleasant "cognomen," which all agree originated in territorial days and lin- gered until the state assumed respectful size in point of population and wealth. The one, however, which seems most plausible came about, it is said, from the visit of an Easterner who arrived here during the ravages of the "grasshopper period," and who, on his return, upon being asked as to conditions in the territory made reply substantially as follows :
"Oh, everything is gone up out there. The grasshoppers have eaten the grain up. the potato bugs ate the 'taters up, and now the inhabitants are eating the bugs to keep alive." This statement got to the newspapers of the time and. like now, they made much of it and the name of bug-eaters.
FIRST NEWSPAPER IN FALLS CITY.
L. B. Prouty, who arrived in the county in 1857, was the publisher for a time of the Broad .A.ve, the first newspaper issued from an office in Falls City. He was later postmaster at Elmore Station, near Verdon in this county.
EARLY SETTLERS IN RICHARDSON COUNTY.
David T. Brinegar came to the state in 1855 and took up a homestead near the present town of Salem. Mr. Brinegar was a public-spirited man and served the county on the board of supervisors and was the first treasurer of the county fair, which was held for many years annually at Salem.
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Joshua G. Babcock, a pioneer of the west end of the county, settled there in 1857. In the year 1863 there was much political rivalry near the town of Table Rock and he was present on one occasion when trouble arose from a faction of so-called Copperheads and Republicans. It is said his personal interference prevented the shooting of one Burke, of the Copperhead faction.
A. C. Craig, long known as one of the leading farmers near Humboldt. settled there in 1859.
THE GRASSHOPPER PERIOD.
The memory of the grasshopper visitation calls to mind a page of his- tory filled with gloom and, looking backward from this distance, it seems like a nightmare, but its actual presence was realistic enough to those here at the time, and filled the land with foreboding. The hoppers which caused the trouble were not the common green or yellow kind so numerous and apparently harmless in these days, but were the Rocky mountain grasshop- pers, with slender bodies, light grey wings and enormous appetites. Their home was far to the west on the high plains and foothills of the mountains; there they lived, fed and raised their young. In the dry years when food was scarce at home they assembled and flew away in great swarms to the . South and East. They migrated for hundreds of miles, ofttimes traveling at night, if it was moonlight and the weather warm. In those journeys they were known to alight and after a feed and rest might resume their trip on the following day.
Between the years from 1857 to 1875 some part of the state had a visit from these unwelcome guests. Nearly a dozen of such visits are recorded in the time mentioned, but the really great invasion and the one that cast a blight on this county, came about the 20th of July, 1874. There were untold millions of them coming in great clouds which darkened the sun and the vibrations of their wings made a sound resembling the roar of an approach- ing storm, followed by the deep "hush" as they descended to earth to devour the growing crops. Incredible as it may seem to ns, it is said that on alight- ing in the fields of corn they filled the rows between the corn to a depth of from five inches to a foot. The corn crop disappeared as if by magic in a single day. Where there had been green fields at break of day, giving prom- ise of a bounteous crop, there were but stumps at nightfall covered with hungry hoppers. They gnawed holes in carpets and ruined whatever they touched. They followed the smaller vegetation into the earth and devoured the roots. It was thought when the pests had gorged themselves they would
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leave, but not so, they burrowed into the earth and filled the holes with eggs to hatch later and cause more trouble. The farmer stood helpless and awed by the strange phenomena, which he was so powerless to combat. It amount- ed to a deluge ; it was like, in effect, to the devastation spread by the tornado, as the blight of a drought, no force could stay its movement.
The condition of the settlers became acute and many were faced with actual starvation and those who could, were glad to make their escape from the country. In such forced departure much land was either abandoned or sold for almost nothing. Those who stayed the winter through saw dark days with little hope ahead for the coming year, because of the uncertainty made known to them by the fact that the soil was impregnated with eggs which would bring forth another crop of hoppers.
The year 1875 was one long to be remembered in Richardson county. It is known as the "grasshopper year." In the month of May of that year, the pests hatched out, and settled down on the standing grain of all sorts and made a clean sweep of it. Coming as it did, it was particularly unfortunate from the fact that the county, like many other sections, had not fully recov- ered from the after effects of the war and had made but very little material progress during that period. The loss of the farmer's crops, then in growing condition, spelled ruin to many of the farmers. By the middle of the second day they had performed their mission leaving the fields as bare as a desert.
When the scourge was at its worst the country became aroused to such a pitch that a mass meeting was held at the court house to devise ways and means to combat the further evil that would come from the young hoppers. The meeting took place on June 5th and was called to order at three o'clock in the afternoon by C. C. Smith. Rev. D. F. Rodabaugh was present and made a speech urging the necessity for getting new seed immediately to replant the devastated fields. He was followed by other speakers, among whom was .August Schoenheit, who presented a motion providing for a com- mittee who should address the county board of commissioners, with a view to induce them to suspend the collection of taxes for six months. The com- mittee was composed of August Schoenheit, Edwin S. Towle and Joseph Meyers. After the resolutions were adopted, a committee, composed of Edwin S. Towle, A. L. Rich, Joseph Meyers, C. C. Smith and Warren Hutch- ins was appointed with instructions to get into correspondence with the state and national authorities in an effort to get relief. . \ copy of the reso- lutions adopted was sent to the governor at Lincoln.
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CATHOLIC CHURCH TAKES ACTION.
On the day following, June 6th, the members of the Catholic Church throughout the county held a mass meeting in this city to take action on the matter and get a general report of the condition in the county. Such a state of destitution existed universally, that a resolution was adopted sending Rev. J. A. Hayes East in an endeavor to raise supplies.
A committee on correspondence composed of L. A. Ryan, James F. Casey and John F. King, of Falls City, and Patrick and James Murphy, of Barada precinct, was appointed. The condition was such as to warrant the adoption of the following resolution : "That we appeal to the charity of all persons, irrespective of creed or nationality, for any assistance that they may be pleased to contribute to relieve the suffering in Richardson county." In accordance with the instructions of the meeting, Reverend Hayes departed for the East on July 9th.
A special meeting of the county commissioners was called on July 9 for the purpose of considering the best method of providing relief for the farmers of the county. On this occasion speeches were made by George Faulkner, William R. Cain, C. C. Smith, W. P. Page, Judge Dundy and others. Judge Dundy pointed out that in his belief the commissioners were without authority to remit or suspend the collections of taxes as had been proposed, and urged that relief might have to come from some other source, if the same were to be done legally. Accordingly, subscriptions were taken up. Mr. Faulkner gave three steers; Mr. Rickards, fifty dollars; Joseph Meyers, mortgages on an eighty-acre tract, and Judge Dundy offered eighty acres of land and money, if the same were needed.
While every effort was employed to obtain relief, hoth locally and from the outside, those affected were improvising every means possible to combat the plague and save the fields from further ravages. Districts were set off in sections of the county and every available man volunteered his services to give assistance. Many methods were devised, but the most effective seemed to be the use of kerosene. The liquid was placed in large shallow tin tanks, which were pulled either by horses or by men through the fields and soon became filled with the hoppers. The kerosene seemed most effective in kill- ing the pests, from the fact that almost instantly upon coming in contact with it death ensued. But in spite of all heroic measures brought to bear, the situ- ation attained its worst in the almost complete ruin of the growing crops. Their departure, however, was as sudden and unexpected as their coming.
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