USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume I > Part 9
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
63
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
to know what I was doing with his staves. Of course it was a short story to explain the situation and we agreed to divide the lot and each stand half the loss. But just at this point, a brilliant idea struck Crimm. Ile said, "Say Gregory, what a pretty case this would be for a lawsuit. Here is Squire Eveland, who has spent a whole lot of money for books and blanks and has been a justice of the peace for more than six months without a single case. What do you say to a lawsuit ?"
So it was arranged with Crimm that he should rush down to the saloon, sue out a writ of replevin, and the constable should take the property, and we would give the Squire something to judicially decide. In due time the trial was had, Crimm introduced his bill of sale, proved payment, and delivery to himself by Church, on the day of his departure, and demanded judgment. Whereupon the Squire announced that the plaintiff had a clear case and as his mind was already made up upon that point, he did not care to hear any evidence from the defendant. Of course defendant insisted that it was not lawful to render a judgment without both sides being heard, and demanded the right to produce his evidence. "Oh, go ahead," said the Squire, "if you insist upon it, but it will do you no good, for I have already formed my opinion of the case." We followed Crimm's presenta- tion exactly, and then pleaded that, as we were in possession of the property, in addition had as good a right as the plaintiff, the plaintiff could not take it away from us without showing some superior right. The Squire, who had been so sure of his opinion, was evidently in a quandary and advised us to try and settle the case between ourselves, to which we each "angrily" objected, and asked him what a justice court was for, if folks could agree without it. Finally, three days were taken in which to announce a decision, at which time about all the men of the settlement were present to hear the result. Court was called to order and the Squire said. "Gentlemen, I have given the case my best consideration and the more I have studied it the more difficult it seems to arrive at any conclusion as to which of you rightfully own these staves. I think you should agree to divide them." And announced that this was the only judgment he would enter. To this we each protested, but consented to confer each with the other to see if we could compromise. After a short time we filed back into court and announced that if the Squire would remit his costs and treat the boys who had come to attend his court, we would settle the case between ourselves, to all of which he gladly consented. I don't know how much whiskey was left in that keg, but doubt there being any ; for the saloon business closed from that day.
Will Pemberton was another of the characters of Salt Basin. He was the youngest of the colony and had many good traits of character which I admired, but he was quick-tempered and impulsive. I don't suppose he was any more truthful than the ordinary denizens of the colony, but to be called a liar was to him a deadly insult. One day he came over to my place upon his horse, at its fastest run. His face was pale and his eyes were green, and he was trembling with excitement. He said, "Greg, I want to know if I can depend upon you as my friend in trouble?" I answered that he could up to the last hair. Ile then asked me if there was any law in Nebraska against killing birds. I told him there was not. He said he was awful glad to know it, for he had just killed Jim Bird over at the Basin. Said Jim had called him a liar and he had shot him through
64
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
the head, was awful sorry now that he had done so, but it couldn't be helped, said it broke him all up, and that he couldn't think what to do. He wanted me to think for him, and advise him; said he would light out and leave the country, or would stay and face the music, or any other thing I might advise. I told him it was bad business, and that before I could give him any reliable advice 1 would go over and see if he was not mistaken about Bird being dead. To this he said his revolver never failed to plant a bullet where he aimed it and he saw Bird fall with his shot. I mounted my horse and rode over and the first man ] saw was this same Jim Bird, busy cutting wood at the front door of his log cabin. His rifle leaned against the door-jamb and as he caught sight of me he called; said he wanted me to see what that coyote Pemberton had done. A hole was through his hat and a red streak on his head where the bullet grazed, and which had temporarily prostrated Jim, and had buried itself in the house logs. "Now," he said, "if Pemberton don't quit the country there will be a funeral tomorrow, for I will shoot him on sight." Well, I got down from my horse and made Bird sit down with me and I argued the case with him in all its bearings, told him what Pemberton thought of it, and finally Bird agreed that if Pemberton would come to him, and pass to him his pistols, as evidence of good faith, and beg his pardon for his rashness, and promise to keep the peace, Bird would let the matter drop. To all these Pemberton gladly complied, and again peace and good will hovered over Salt Basin.
John Cadman was another leading light in ancient history. He was a politician of the foxy kind. He always took a prominent part in every social or political move, both for notoriety and as a source of revenue.
He was ready on all occasions to make an impromptu speech, but always wanted about two weeks' time in advance to prepare it, otherwise he was all at sea. On one occasion I remember he was called upon, but being unprepared, declined. As the audience insisted, a good, strong escort on each arin walked hint upon the platform "willy nilly," so John started in, "My friends and fellow citizens, it affords me great pleasure to-to-to come together again." The applause that greeted this announcement about closed the remarks of the hon- orable gentleman, and John took a seat. Cadman died several years ago in California.
LITIGATION OVER THIE SALT LANDS
On September 12, 1859, Mr. John W. Prey, having military land warrants in his possession, located on land which included many of the salt springs. The location was in sections 21 and 22, township 10 north, range 6 east. These war- rants were given to Mr. Prey by J. Sterling Morton, acting as agent for eastern capitalists. There ensued a great amount of litigation and the mix-up was finally tried before the Supreme Court of the United States. An interesting account of this trouble in regard to the lands was written by Mr. John H. Ames and presented to the Nebraska Historical Society in 1905. For many reasons it is well to quote this narrative in its entirety. It is intelligible and correct in sub- stance.
65
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
TIIE LINCOLN SALT BASIN
By John H. Ames
The Saline Springs in Lincoln were, in early days, supposed to be caused by large deposits of salt in their vicinity, and because of conditions of manufacture and transportation then prevailing here and elsewhere, they were regarded as very valuable. It is well known that these considerations were the principal and determining factor that induced the location of a seat of government at this place in the summer of 1867, by commissioners appointed by the legislature and vested with authority to select a site therefor.
In the early winter of 1869-70 the writer prepared a series of articles under the title of "A History of Lincoln" which were printed in a weekly newspaper then published at Lincoln and called the Nebraska Statesman. They met with so much popular favor that in the following summer the State Journal Company reproduced them in a pamphlet edition of several thousand copies. In the latter form they were distributed by both public officials and private individuals through- out the United States. But notwithstanding that provocation, public lethargy, due, perhaps, to exhaustion consequent upon the then recently ended Civil war, was so profound, and the public mind was so preoccupied and perplexed with the problems of reconstruction following that conflict, that the country remained at peace. Previously thereto Mr. Augustus F. Harvey, then a prominent citizen, and formerly editor and proprietor of the Statesman, and who, as a surveyor and civil engineer, had made the first survey and plat of the townsite of Lincoln, had published a pamphlet entitled "Nebraska As It Is," from which my own publica- tion reproduced the following :
"In Lancaster County, averaging forty-five miles from and west of the Missouri River, lies a great salt basin. Within an area of twelve by twenty-five miles, through which Salt Creek runs in a northeasterly direction, are found in- numerable springs of salt water, containing 28.8 per cent of salt by weight, the product itself containing ninety-five to ninety-seven parts of chloride of sodium (pure salt) and three to five parts of chlorides and sulphates of magnesium. calcium, lime, etc.
"There is no question of the vast wealth which will some day be derived from this region. The absence of fuel for the purpose of manufacture is more than compensated for by the excessive dryness of the atmosphere and the con- sequent rapidity of evaporation. From the first of April to the middle of Novem- ber scarcely a day passes without a warm, dry wind. During the months of June, July, August and September the winds are almost constant."
(Mr. Harvey afterwards demonstrated by actual experiment that the average evaporation during the months last named is at the rate of ten inches of saturated brine in sixty hours, ten inches of fresh water in seventy-two hours.)
"The salt made by boiling or washing the deposits around the spring crystallizes like the finest table salt. That from solar evaporation, or over slow artificial heat, forms large crystals from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch, and is more translucent and snowy than the Syracuse or Kanawha salt.
"The location of the salt region is an evidence of that wisdom and goodness of the Creator which men are slow to acknowledge, but upon which all human Vol. 1-5
66
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
welfare must rest. It is a curious fact that, as far as we know, all the principal deposits of this one absolute necessity to the preservation of animal life are situated about equal distances apart, and with an apparent forethought of the commercial relations of the territory between them. This will be apparent when one marks upon the map the New York, Michigan, Virginia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Texas, Nebraska, Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona salt regions, and notes the nearly uniform spaces between them."
As well to corroborate this testimony as to forestall an inference that might otherwise be drawn therefrom, that so much heat and drought might prove an obstruction to successful agriculture, the "history" supplemented the quotation from Mr. Harvey by the following commentary :
"Usually during a large portion of the summer but little rain falls in any part of the state, such droughts, however, seldom occurring until after the grain crops are fully developed and beyond the reach of any injury therefrom, the deep and porous soil having a singular power of retaining the moisture received by it in the earlier portion of the season. For this reason vegetation is found to thrive, unaffected by drought, long after the surface of the ground has become so excessively dry that the water on the surfaces of streams or in other exposed situations becomes almost the only considerable source from which the atmosphere is supplied with the aqueous vapor necessary to prevent nocturnal chills." As Mr. Ilarvey observes in his pamphlet, the atmosphere is so excessively dry that "dead animals upon the prairies do not rot ; they dry up." This accounts for the previous mentioned rapidity of solar evaporation.
From these and other equally trustworthy data, including indications obtained by lessees of the state by the sinking of a well near the springs to a depth of 340 feet, it was thought to be sufficiently proved that brine of at least 60°, or 20 per cent strength, could be produced in inexhaustible quantities from a thousand wells to be sunk within the surrounding basin, comprising some three hundred square miles and constituting a much larger and more productive terri- tory than could be found elsewhere in the United States. Taking all these matters into consideration and dividing the results to which they pointed by four, so as to eliminate every supposable error of fact or of calculation, it was ascertained, by mathematical demonstration, that the value of the annual output from each of the thousand anticipated wells would be approximately a half million dollars, or five hundred million in all. And the product, upon the assurance of Mr. Harvey was represented to be 97 per cent pure common salt, fit for table use without rectification.
The foregoing shows what can be done by a vivid and vigorous imagination with a little rain water and a moderate quantity of chloride of sodium slightly adulterated with alkaline salts. Upon a fly-leaf of the pamphlet was printed the following certificate :
"Lincoln, Nebraska, June 22, 1870.
"We, the undersigned officers and commissioners of public buildings of the State of Nebraska, do hereby certify that we have carefully examined the proof sheets of the following pamphlet, and that we are thoroughly satisfied that the same is a true, correct, and impartial history of the town of Lincoln, and of the several public enterprises and matters therein discussed.
"John Gillespie, Auditor.
David Butler, Governor.
"Thomas P. Kennard, Secretary of State."
67
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
The governor and auditor have gone to their final reward, but the secretary of state is still living in Lincoln and has never recanted. The practice of supplying the delinquencies of judicial tribunals by irregular methods has never been adopted in Nebraska.
I have always regretted that these matters were never brought to the attention of Col. Berian Sellers, as certainly would have been done if the writer had enjoyed the personal acquaintance of his celebrated biographer, Mark Twain. The evidence already cited is, however, by no means all or the most weighty of which the case is susceptible. There is more and better at hand and easily producible, to which attention will be invited in the course of the following narrative.
It has been a policy of the United States ever since the formation of the Government, and one which is evidenced by a series of congressional enactments beginning with the year 1796, to reserve saline springs and deposits upon the public lands from sale or private entry, and to preserve them for the benefit of all the people of the several states formed or to be formed out of the territory in which they are found. In consonance with this policy, an act of Congress of April 19. 1864, authorizing the formation of a state government and providing for the admittance of Nebraska into the Union, contained the following section : "Sec. Il. And be it further enacted. That all salt springs within the said state, not exceeding twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining, or as contiguous as may be to each, shall be granted to said state for its use, the said land to be selected by the governor thereof, within one year after the admission of the state, and when so selected to be used or disposed of on such terms, conditions, and regulations as the legislature shall direct; provided, that no salt springs or lands, the right whereof is now vested in any individual or individuals, or which hereafter shall be confirmed or adjudged to any individual or individuals, shall, by this act, be granted to said state."
Pursuant to this statute the first governor of the state, the Honorable David Butler, selected twelve salt springs lying within the great salt basin, the largest of them being the one now under discussion. Prior to that time the public lands of the Territory of Nebraska had been surveyed and platted under the authority of an act of Congress, July 22, 1854, and these springs had been noted upon the field books, but the notes had not been transferred to the plats prepared and returned for the use of the land department in making sales of the public domain. It was thought, also, that there were ambiguities in certain previous acts of Congress, the nature of which it is unnecessary and would be tedious to explain here, by reason of which the Nebraska springs had unwittingly been excepted from the rule, which, as above stated, Congress had, from the first, intended to apply to all such properties.
In 1856 Mr. John Prey had removed to this territory from Wisconsin and with his sons, Thomas, William L., and John W., had settled upon public lands lying in what is now Lancaster County. Afterward William L. obtained employ- ment from the late J. Sterling Morton at the residence of the latter, near Nebraska City in Otoe County. The regulations offering the lands for sale at the United States land office at the latter-named place made no reservation for the protection of settlers. The elder Prey had sold his farm in Wisconsin, but had not yet been paid the purchase price, and was therefore without means to secure the possessions of himself and his sons. In this emergency he, as well as some
68
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
of his neighbors, similarly situated, applied to Mr. Morton for assistance. Morton, as agent for certain eastern parties, had in his possession a consider- able number of military bounty land warrants, issued under authority of an act of Congress approved September 28, 1850, and which were selling at some dis- count and were exchangeable at their face for public lands at their minimum price. His instructions were to sell them either for cash or to permit them to be located, relying upon the good faith of the locators to secure their payment upon the land as soon as title therefor should be obtained, Morton being responsible to his principal for the consummation of the transaction in good faith. The Preys, besides asking for warrants for the purpose mentioned, which he seems to have furnished without hesitancy, besought him to furnish additional warrants to cover what has been called the Great Salt Spring, representing to him that it was rich with salt which at a day not far distant would be very valuable. He had never seen the land itself, or the surveys or plats in the land office, or talked about them with any United States official, and was skeptical about its containing salt deposits of any considerable value. On the contrary he believed it to be alkaline land unfit for agriculture or any other useful purpose and so expressed himself. No one, however, seemed to doubt that it was lawfully subject to entry and sale, and the subject was not discussed or so much as mentioned. With a great deal of reluctance and after much importunity, he finally consented to furnish a part of the warrants asked for, provided the locations should be made in the name of William L. Prey, in whom he had the uttermost confidence and upon whom he mainly relied to carry out the arrangement usual in such cases. But for some unknown reason, probably because of the mistake or inadvertence of the register of the land office, the location was made in the name of John W. Prey. These entries were made on the 12th day of September, 1859. In July, 1868, John W. Prey executed a deed purporting to convey to Morton an undivided one-third of the lands mentioned in the certificate of location, and on the same day similar deeds were made to Andrew Hopkins and Charles A. Manners. Patents were issued by the land department and transmitted to the local office, for delivery to Prey, but the secretary of the interior, upon being informed that the land contained valuable saline deposits, arrested them before delivery, and after having caused an investigation to be made, directed their return to Wash- ington and cancellation, which was done in the year 1862.
The only question affecting the validity of the location or of the patents was whether the springs had been reserved from sale, or "private entry" as it was called. That the land was valueless for agriculture was apparent to all, and no attempt at their actual occupancy by Prey or his grantees was made until after the lapse of more than ten years from their location. The Nebraska Legislature met in regular session on the 7th day of January, 1869, and the governor's message read on the next day submitted the following matters for their consideration :
"Although comparatively little has been accomplished in the actual production of salt, that little has settled beyond question, if indeed further proof was needed, that we have, within sight of this hall, a rich and apparently inexhaustible supply of pure and easily manufactured article. It will be directly and indirectly a source of wealth to the state, whose great value no one can fully estimate.
"Prompted by a sense of the importance of the early development of this interest, I gave to Mr. A. C. Tichenor a lease, conditioned upon the approval of
69
LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY
the Legislature, of one section of the salt lands belonging to the state. One-half of his interest in the lease was, by Mr. Tichenor, assigned to the Nebraska Salt Company of Chicago. This company, from want of means or some unknown reason, has failed to fulfill the obligations undertaken in their purchase. So far has it failed that the local demand for salt has not been supplied, and it has been unable at times to supply even a single bushel for home consumption. It is credibly represented that this company has refused to pay the debts which it has contracted among our citizens. While such is the state of things with this company, experienced men declare their readiness to invest in these works any required sums, if the opportunity is presented them.
"The original lessee, in assuming and meeting the liabilities of the company. has a considerable amount invested in buildings and other works adapted to the prosecution of successful manufacture. He, as managing agent for the company, has been faithful, though he has failed to receive the support which it is the duty of the company to render. He could not by any action of the state be made to suffer. But the public interest is at too great an extent involved in the speedy and full development of the productive capacity of these salt springs to allow them to lie in the hands of those who, from lack of energy or means, shall fail to work them to their full extent. Though the government should not take possession of the works built by Mr. Tichenor, without making full compensation, the general assembly should at least take such action as will soon result in securing the manufacture of salt to the greatest possible extent."
The legislative response to this urgent appeal was an act, approved February 15, 1869, by which the lease mentioned in the message was declared to be void and of "no effect in law," and the governor was "authorized and directed" to enter into a new lease for the same lands with Anson C. Tichenor and Jesse T. Green, covenanting for the construction of certain manufacturing works, to the aggregate cost of one hundred thousand dollars, the commencement of the manufacture of salt within ninety days from the date of the instrument, and the payment to the state of two cents per bushel upon the gross output, and providing for a forfeiture of the lease for failure to make the required improve- ments or for failure to prosecute the business for so long a period as six months at any one time. The act also authorized the governor to lease any other of the saline lands to any other competent persons upon substantially the same terms, but requiring a greater or lesser expenditure for improvements, as he should see fit. On the same day the session was finally adjourned and on the same day also a lease with Tichenor and Green, as contemplated by the act, was formerly executed, and the lessees went into possession thereunder and proceeded with the erection of vats and pumping apparatus for the purposes of manufacturing salt by means of solar evaporation of the surface brine. It is shown by the official report of the state treasurer, James Sweet, under the date of January 12, 1871, that the total revenues derived from royalties for the manufacture of salt were, up to that time, $53.93, indicating a total production of 2,6961/2 bushels. It does not appear that the state ever subsequently received any income from that source.
The governor convened the legislature in special session on the 17th day of January, 1870. and submitted to them a message reciting the objects to accomplish which they had been called together, and contained the following paragraphs :
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.