USA > Nebraska > Nebraska history and record of pioneer days, Vol I > Part 19
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GEORGE A. HUNT, PIONEER AND LEGISLATOR
George Artist Hunt died at his home in Crete on July 6, 1919. Mr. Hunt was born in Chili, Ohio, November 28, 1846, while his father, Jacob S. Hunt, was in service in the Mexican war. He was also captain of Company G, Fifth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. The Hunt family came to Nebraska in December, 1862, and settled in Saline county on the Blue River below Wilber. Captain Hunt was the first probate judge of Saline county, elected in 1867. and a member of the House of Represen- tatives of the third legislature-which met in regular session in 1869-from the tenth district comprising the counties of Saline, Lincoln and Kearney.
George A. Hunt was employed at the Comstock or Oak Grove ranch, on the Little Blue River, when it was attacked by Indians on August 7, 1864. He was wounded in the thigh by a rifle ball. On October 18, 1862, he enlisted at Bellevue, as a private, in Com- pany D, Second Regiment, Nebraska Cavalry Volunteers, and was discharged on September 18, 1863.
Mr. Hunt freighted across the plains with an ox team and carried mail on horseback between Camden and Swan City, Ne- braska, in the early '60s. He married Mary A. Bickle of Crete, April 5, 1868; in 1875 moved to Wilber, engaging in a general mer- chandise business continuously for nineteen years. In 1890 he moved to Crete, where he lived until his death. Mrs. Hunt died in 1901, and in 1907 Mr. Hunt was married to Mrs. Mary Sampson. He was a commissioner of Saline county from 1862-1883 and from 1909 to 1915, and a member of the House of Representatives of the 27th and 28th legislatures-of 1917 and 1919.
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NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Lincoln, Nebraska
HISTORY PIONEER DAYS
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received two letters, from which the following extracts are taken:
Feb. 12, 1919 .- This Society is pleased to acknowledge receipt of publications of your society.
These documents call to mind many incidents still fresh in my memory. Some of the older characters I knew in a way, and others more than passingly; one being Governor Furnas when he published the Nebraska Advertiser with "Limpy" Jim Fisher as his foreman, printer, manager, editor, collector and boss generally, when the gov- ernor was off "fighten." I knew his sons Will and George quite well. Dora Hacker was also a remembered attache of the Advertiser. I bought part of the Advertiser material- surplusage-and moved it to Augusta, I The old A this state, nas" brus] added-all of those o] you desire charge did of J. Amos May 7 of the hist as a verita age to the dent of you against the ness. Besi homa entit Col. Fred lead the lo sas back to superior-( ing at Wolf base of sup He not on] became at Indian reg quah, Pryo is, of cour: here in 18 to enlist lo.
In 188 Washingto of North A stocks nor System Powell rer Columbia 1 have carrie to gather . viving Indi of continu( of each wo An im just been Paul Radi Boas at Cc that the fi duced to tv Indian European rich and fı of verbs a suffixes, w. in the mid Dr. Ra which the of formati archeologi: maximum implies ve eight disti the assum dence, eith Asia, that languages, the differe after the s Four I white man quian, (re Kiowan. relationshi other word stocks whi together in
John F in 1867, CE Spotlight s original cla
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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
THE FORT ATKINSON CENTENNIAL
Six Thousand People Celebrate the Founding of the First Fort and White Settlement in Nebraska, October 11.
Colonel B. W. Atkinson, Grandson of the Founder, and Colonel G. L. Townsend, of the Sixth Infantry --- Omaha Indians, U. S. Soldiers from Fort Omaha, Pioneers of Washington and Douglas Counties, Patriotic Societies, Join in Observation of the Day.
ENGINEFR
Sec. 2173 Col. B. W. Atkinson in foreground Background panoramic painting used in pageant of found- ing of Fort Atkinson at centennial celebration.
Saturday, October 11, about six thousand people assembled on the historic plateau, sixteen miles north of Omaha where now stands the village of Fort Calhoun. In the assembly were: U. S. 20th In- fantry band, Fort Crook; Blair Military Band; Balloon Corps, U. S. army, Fort Omaha; Omaha Chapter Daughters of American Revolu- tion; Isaac Sadler Chapter Daughters of 1812; Soldiers of Civil War, Spanish War and World War; Uniform Rank Modern Wood- men of America; Washington county pioneers; Douglas county pio- neers; delegation of Omaha Indians (some of them in automobiles); board of governors Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben; school children; citizens of Washington, Douglas and other counties of Nebraska and Iowa.
Col. F. A. Grant, U. S. army, was marshal of the day. In the parade which marched about the town were floats representing the old-time ox team, the prairie schooner, the Indian pony and travois, the soldiers and Missouri river trappers of 1819, the pioneers of Washington county, and the soldiers of the World War.
The park at Fort Calhoun is at the foot of the hill where stood the signal station of Fort Atkinson a century ago. Here the exer- cises of the day were held, with the following program:
Music by Band.
President Everett Buckingham waived the honor of introduc- ing the speakers in favor of Secretary Sheldon of the State Historical Society.
"The Historical Significance of the Celebration," Albert Wat- kins,
"The Sixth Infantry Regiment, U. S. Army," Col. G. L. Town- send.
"The Founders of Fort Atkinson," Col. B. W. Atkinson.
"Tho Grand Army of the Republic and Our Western Frontier," Captain C. E. Adams.
"Tho Pioneers of Nebraska," Mrs. Philip Potter.
"Tho Sons of tlic American Revolution," Dr. B. F. Bailey, Basket picnic dinner.
At three o'clock the pageant, "Landing of tho United States Army and Greeting by Omaha Indians," under direction of Curator E. E. Blackman of the State Historical Society. This was given in the open air with a large background, twelve feet high by sixty feet in length, painted by Charles Plein, showing the keel boats, the steamboat Western Engineer and the river front along the Council Bluffs a century ago.
At five o'clock the U. S. balloon corps staged the balloon ascension from the hillside near the park. A gentle breeze from the southwest carried the balloon over the plateau where stood old Fort Atkinson, above the military burying ground, above the site of the first cantonment built by the soldiers in 1819 on the Mis- souri River bottom and the rich fields where so much successful Nebraska farming was done in those early years. An aeroplane whirled in the sky at the same time. What contrasts between tho early frontier post on the border of the western wilderness and the rich farms and flourishing cities of today!
The Lewis and Clark Marker.
On August 3, 1904, the first centennial celebration was held on the Council Bluffs plateau at Fort Calhoun. A glacial stone was placed on the high school grounds by the Nebraska D. A. R., S. A. R., and State Historical Society. The site was not well chosen and part of the program of the Fort Atkinson centennial was the removal of the boulder to a better site in the park.
Reunion of Pioneers.
The pioneers of Washington and Douglas counties held their annual reunion. Dancing on the platform in the grovo was a mag- net for the young people during the afternoon and evening.
Tho Fort Calhoun Committee.
The Fort Calhoun members of the celebration committee de- serve warm recognition for the splendid teamwork done to make
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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
received two letters, from which the following extracts are taken:
Feb. 12, 1919 .- This Society is pleased to acknowledge receipt of publications of your society.
These documents call to mind many incidents still fresh in my memory. Some of the older characters I knew in a way, and others more than passingly; one being Governor Furnas when he published the Nebraska Advertiser with "Limpy" Jim Fisher as his foreman, \ printer, manager, editor, collector and boss generally, when the gov- ernor was off "fighten." I knew his sons Will and George quite well. Dora Hacker was also a remembered attache of the Advertiser. I bought part of the Advertiser material-surplusage-and moved it to Augusta, I The old Al this state, nas" brus] added-all of those ol you desire charge did of J. Amos May 7 of the hist as a verita age to the dent of you against the ness. Besi homa entit Col. Fred : lead the lo sas back to superior-( ing at Wolf base of sup He not on] became at Indian reg quah, Pryo is, of cours here in 18 to enlist lo;
In 188 Washingto of North A stocks nor System Powell rex Columbia 1 have carrie to gather 1 viving Indi of continu( of each wo An im just been Paul Radi Boas at Cc that the fi duced to tv Indian European rich and ft of verbs a suffixes, wi in the mid Dr. Ra which the of formati archeologis maximum implies ve eight disti the assum dence, eith Asia, that languages, the differe after the s Four I white man quian, (re Kiowan. relationshi other word stocks whi together in
John F in 1867, CE Spotlight s original cla
2
Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
THE FORT ATKINSON CENTENNIAL
Six Thousand People Celebrate the Founding of the First Fort and White Settlement in Nebraska, October, 11.
Colonel B. W. Atkinson, Grandson of the Founder, and Colonel G. L. Townsend, of the Sixth Infantry --- Omaha Indians, U. S. Soldiers from Fort Omaha, Pioneers of Washington and Douglas Counties; Patriotic Societies, Join in Observation of the Day.
ENGINEER
Sec, 2 173 Col. B. W. Atkinson in foreground Background panoramic painting used in pageant of found- ing of Fort Atkinson at centennial celebration.
Saturday, October 11, about six thousand people assembled on the historic plateau, sixteen miles north of Omaha where now stands the village of Fort Calhoun. In the assembly were: U. S. 20th In- fantry band, Fort Crook; Blair Military Band; Balloon Corps, U. S. army, Fort Omaha; Omaha Chapter Daughters of American Revolu- tion; Isaac Sadler Chapter Daughters of 1812; Soldiers of Civil War, Spanish War and World War; Uniform Rank Modern Wood- men of America; Washington county pioneers; Douglas county pio- neers; delegation of Omaha Indians (some of them in automobiles); board of governors Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben; school children; citizeus of Washington, Douglas and other counties of Nebraska and Iowa.
Col. F. A. Grant, U. S. army, was marshal of the day. In the parade which marched about the town were floats representing the old-time ox team, the prairie schooner, the Indian pony and travois, the soldiers and Missouri river trappers of 1819, the pioneers of Washington county, and the soldiers of the World War.
The park at Fort Calhoun is at the foot of the hill where stood the signal station of Fort Atkinson a century ago. Here the exer- cises of the day were held, with the following program:
Music by Band.
President Everett Buckingham waived the houor of introduc- Ing the speakers in favor of Secretary Sheldon of the State Historical Soclety.
"The Historical Significance of the Celebration," Albert Wat- kIns.
"The Sixth Infantry Regiment, U. S. Army," Col. G. L. Town- send.
"The Founders of Fort Atkinson," Col. B. W. Atkinson.
"The Grand Army of the Republic and Our Western Frontier," Captain C. E. Adamıs.
"The Pioneers of Nebraska," Mrs. Philip Potter.
"The Sons of the American Revolution," Dr. B. F. Bailey. Basket picnic dinner.
At three o'clock the pageant, "Landing of the United States Army and Greeting by Omaha Indians," under direction of Curator E. E. Blackman of the State Historical Society. This was given in the open air with a large background, twelve feet high by sixty feet in length, painted by Charles Plein, showing the keel boats, the steamboat Western Engineer aud the river front along the Council Bluffs a century ago.
At five o'clock the U. S. balloon corps staged the balloon ascension from the hillside near the park. A gentle breeze from the southwest carried the balloon over the plateau where stood old Fort Atkinson, above the military burying ground, above the site of the first cantonment built by the soldiers in 1819 on the Mis- souri River bottom and the rich fields where so much successful Nebraska farming was done in those early years. An aeroplane whirled in the sky at the same time, What contrasts between the early frontier post on the border of the western wilderness and the rich farms and flourishing cities of today!
Tho Lewis and Clark Marker.
On August 3. 1904, the first centennial celebration was held on the Council Bluffs plateau at Fort Calhoun. A glacial stone was placed on the high school grounds by the Nebraska D. A. R., S. A. R., and State Historical Society. The site was not well chosen and part of the program of the Fort Atkinson centennial was the removal of the boulder to a better site in the park.
Reunion of Pioneers.
The pioneers of Washington and Douglas counties held their annual reunion. Dancing on the platform in the grovo was a mag- net for tho young people during the afternoon and evening.
The Fort Calhoun Committee.
The Fort Calhoun members of the celebration committee de- serve warm recognition for the splendid teamwork done to make
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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
received two letters, from which the following extracts are taken:
Feb. 12, 1919 .- This Society is pleased to acknowledge receipt of publications of your society.
These documents call to mind many incidents still fresh in my memory. Some of the older characters I knew in a way, and others more than passingly; one being Governor Furnas when he published the Nebraska Advertiser with "Limpy" Jim Fisher as his foreman, printer, manager, editor, collector and boss generally, when the gov- ernor was off "fighten." I knew his sons Will and George quite well. Dora Hacker was also a remembered attache of the Advertiser. I bought part of the Advertiser material-surplusage-and moved it to Augusta, I The old A this state, nas" brus. added-all of those o you desire charge did of J. Amos May 7 of the hist as a verita age to the dent of you against the ness. Besi homa entit Col. Fred lead the lo sas back to superior-( ing at Wolf base of sur He not on became at Indian reg quah, Pryo is, of cour! here in 18 to enlist lo
In 188 Washingto of North A stocks nor System Powell rel Columbia have carrie to gather viving Ind of continue of each wo An im just been Paul Radi Boas at Co that the fi duced to ty Indian European rich and f1 of verbs & suffixes, w in the mid Dr. Ra which the of formati archeologi: maximum implies ve eight disti the assum dence, eith Asia, that languages, the differe after the s Four I white man quian, (re Kiowan. relationslıi other word stocks whi together ir
John F in 1867, Cf Spotlight s original cl:
3
Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
their part of the centennial celebration a success. They include, on the general committee, J. D. Vaughan, H. J. Livingston, F. J. Wolf, Rev. A. E. Hutchinson, Fred H. Frahm.
On the local committees:
Local Committee-Rev. A. S. Hutcheson, Frank Adams, H. J. Livingston, Henry Rohwer, Fred H. Frahm.
Concessions-H. J. Livingston, Otto Kruse, Wm. Sievers, Dr. E. S. B. Geesaman, V. A. Boggs.
Entertainment-Claus H. Jipp, Merlin Wagers, Roy Slader.
Parade-Frank Wolff, J. Howard Beales, H. L. Morse, G. V. Beadle, Mrs. D. (W. Marr, Mrs. J. W. Trisler.
Finance-Henry Rohwer, Win. Sievers, Otto Kruse, Ernest Rix, W. P. Cook, A. W. Krambeck, Walter Goll
Grounds-Rev. A. S. Hutcheson, J. D. Vaughan, Ira Dixon, H. J. Livingston, Richard Sievers, Chas. Snuffin, Claus Mehrens, Ira Wagers.
Program-Mrs. Elsie Rix Cook, Miss Mary Enyart, Mrs. A. S Hutcheson.
Publicity-Frank Adams, Fred H. Frahm. D. C. Van Deusen.
Transportation-D. W. Marr, Merlin Wagers.
The total amount of money raised in Washington county was $1,500; besides this $200 was donated by Everett Buckingham, $100 by Randall Brown and $10 by Dr. Harold Gifford, all of Omaha. In time and service much more was given by the military commanders at Forts Crook and Omaha and the men and women of all classes who cannot be named here.
COUNTY MEMORIAL BUILDINGS
Saunders county has organized a memorial and historical asso- ciation one of whose purposes is the erection of a suitable memorial for the soldiers and sailors of that county in the World War. Dele- gates from every part of the county were present at the organ- ization meeting. It is proposed to make this a permanent historical building with the names of all Saunders county soldiers upon its walls. The State Historical Society will be glad to see such a memorial building in every county of the state.
See E 173 Landing at Fort Atkinson Pageant. Foreground, a group of Omaha Indians and Soldiers in Uniform of old Regular Army. Background, pageant picture.
TATKINSON
USA
1819 FiCALHOUN INEBRI
Fort Atkinson Centennial Medal
Struck to commemorate cel- ebration October 11, 1919. (Designed by H. J. Livingston.)
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Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
received two letters, from which the following extracts are taken:
Feb. 12, 1919 .- This Society is pleased to acknowledge receipt of publications of your society.
These documents call to mind many incidents still fresh in my memory. Some of the older characters I knew in a way, and others more than passingly; one being Governor Furnas when he published the Nebraska Advertiser with "Limpy" Jim Fisher as his foreman, printer, manager, editor, collector and boss generally, when the gov- ernor was off "figliten." I knew his sons Will and George quite well. Dora Hacker was also a remembered attache of the Advertiser. I bought part of the Advertiser material surplusage and moved it to Augusta, I The old A this state, nas" brus] added-all of those o you desire charge did of J. Amos May 7 of the hist as a verita age to the dent of you against the ness. Besi homa entil Col. Fred lead the lo sas back to superior-( ing at Wolf base of sur He not on became at Indian reg quah, Pryo is, of cour: here in 18 to enlist lo
In 188 Washingto of North A stocks nor System Powell reI Columbia have carrie to gather viving Ind of continu( of each wo An im just been Paul Radi Boas at Co that the fi duced to ty Indian European rich and fi of verbs a suffixes, w in the mid Dr. Ra which the of formati archeologi: maximum implies ve eight disti the assum dence, eith Asia, that languages, the differe after the s Four I white man quian, (re Kiowan. relationshi other word stocks whi together ir
John F in 1867, cr Spotlight s original cl:
Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
WHY FORT ATKINSON WAS ESTABLISHED
By Albert Watkins.
In my address at the centennial celebration of the event, "on October 11, I uudertook to answer that question comprehensively-" to show that the post was established on account of international complications which had an intimate relation to the titanic struggle of England with France and Spain during more than two hullured years, the American phase of which began to culminate in the con- quest by England of the vast French domain called Canada in 1762; that the other English colonies conquered independence and then got rid of France and Spain by acquiring from France what is called the Louisiana Purchase, iu. 1803, and Florida from Spain in 1819-21. Rightfully, Louisiana belonged to Spain, for the great Napoleon had acquired it ouly in trust in 1800.
Thus the United States finished what England had left undone. -- did just as England would have done if she had not lost her; colonies by the revolution. " About the time that Spain lost Florida, Mexico, by achieving independence, gained all the rest of her terri- tory in North America.
Even after the war of 1812, between England and the United "States, British fur traders continued to trespass upon our territory, and her powerful organizations, the Mackinaw : Company, the. North- west. Company of Montreal, and the Hudson Bay Company, con- trolled the business along our entire northern border (which then extended not. farther west than the Rocky Mountains), and. they skilfully induced the Indians to aid them in the aggression. .. Imme- diately after the peace of 1815, Monroe, then secretary of war, rec- ommended that a military post be established at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. In 1816 Monroe was clected president, and in 1817 John C. Calhoun, his secretary of war, undertook the great enterprise of establishing a chain of posts along the entire northern border, to guard against the hostility of the Indians who, he de- clared, were "open to the influence of a foreign power." An act of Congress passed April 29, 1816, prohibited persons not citizens from going into territory held by Indians'within the United States without passports, and the issue of licenses to such persons to trade with Indians within, the United States. The posts were needed to enforce this act.
In his annual message to Congress on November 16, 1818, President Monroe explained the status as follows:
With a view. to the security of our inland frontiers, it has been thought expedient to establish .strong, posts at the mouth of the Yellow Stone River and at the Mandan village on the Missouri, and at the mouth of St. Peters on the Mississippi, at no great distance from our northern boundaries. It can hardly " be : presumed while such posts are maintained in the rear of the Indian tribes that they will venture to attack our peaceable inhabitants. . A: strong; hope is . entertained that this measure will likewise be productive of much good to the tribes themselves, especially in promoting :the great object of their.civilization.
Instead, there was intermittent warfare between whites and Indians "in all the wide border" in question up to the beginning of the sixties, and from that time, almost. continuous war, with many massacres, until by about 1879 all the tribes had been forced onto circumscribed reservations, where their remnants still remain.
. "In his annual message of December 7, 1819, the president-re- ported that
The troops intended to occupy a station at the mouth of the St. Peters, on the Mississippi, have established themselves .there, and those who were ordered to the mouth of the Yellow Stone, on the Missouri, have ascended that river to -the Council Bluff, where :they will remain .until the next spring, when they will proceed to the place of their destination.
Distance continued to "enchant the president's expectations touching the Indians. ""I have the satisfaction' to state," he con- tinues, "that this measure has been executed in amity with the In- dian tribes, and that it promises to produce, in regard to them, all the advantages which were contemplated by it.". In'less than four years-the spring of 1823-there was a bloody. clash between Amer- ican traders and the chronically hostile Blackfeet, and also with the Arikari.
There had always been jealous opposition in the East to ex- pansion in the West-against the acquisition of Louisiana, for ex- ample; but in this case it was most strenuous - the Southwest The scandals attending the Yellowstone Expedition, which was sent up the Missouri In 1819 to establish the proposed posts, so strength- ened this opposition that it was able to force the abandonment of the principal part of the enterprise and confine it to maintenance of; but one post, at Council Bluff, far below the two sites at first projected. "On December 29, less than a month after the presi- dent's announcement that the original plan would be carried out, the secretary of war, iu answer to an inquisitorial letter from the chairman of the House committee on military affairs, said that "to
guard against the hostility of Indians," who were "open to the in- fluence of a foreign power," measures had been taken "to establish strong posts at the Council Bluffs and the Mandan village on the Missouri . ; . "" "In the meantime the secretary, and presumably . the president also, had discovered that
:.. The position at the Council Bluff is a very important one, and the post will consequently be rendered strong. . . .. It is at the poiut on the Missouri which approaches the nearest. to the post at the mouth of the St. Peters, with which, in the event of hostilities, it may cooperate. ..
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