USA > Nebraska > Nebraska history and record of pioneer days, Vol I > Part 3
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
Nebraska Constitutional Conventions. Volume XI of publications, three volumes, VI, VII, VII, second series; volumes VI and VII, Or- ficial Report of the Debates and Proceedings of the Constitutional Convention of 1871, Editor, Addison E. Sheldon; ; volume VII, report of the debates of the convention of 1871 concluded; The Journals of the Convention of 1875; A History of the Attempt to Form a State Organization in 1860, of the Abortive Constitutional Convention of 1864, of the Formation and Adoption of the Constitution of 1866, and of the Origin of the Conventions of 1871 and 1875. Editor, Albert Watkins. Volume VI, 1906, 552 pp .; VII, 1907, 628; VIII, 1913, 676; 8vo. clo., per, volume, $1.50.
(Second series, vol. IX, designed to be volume IV of the Consti- tutional Conventions, was combined with volume VIII.)
Second series, vol. X, 1907. 8 vo. clo., 422 pp., $1.50. Editor, C. S. Paine ..
The Mormon Settlements in the Missouri Valley; The Great Rail- road Migration into Northern Nebraska; Nebraska Politics and Ne- braska Railroads; Territorial Pioneer Days; Campaigning Against Crazy Horse; Personal Recollections of Early Days in Decatur, Ne- braska; History of the Lincoln Salt Basin; Early Days at the Salt Basin; Judicial Grafts; My Very First Visit to the Pawnee Village in 1855; Early Days on the Little Blue; Early Annals of Nebraska City; Biographies; Railroad Taxation in Nebraska; The Work of the Union Pacific in Nebraska; Early Dreams of Coal in Nebraska; Unveiling of the Thayer Monument, Wyuka Cemetery; Proceedings of the Ne- braska State Historical Society-annual meetings of 1901 to 1908, inclusive; Museum catalogue; Newspapers received by the Society, January 1, 1908; legislative acts affecting the Society; constitution and by-laws; publications of the Society.
Collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Vol. XVI, 1911, 8 vo. clo., 296 pp., $2.00. Editor, Albert Watkins.
Dedication of the Astorian Monument at Bellevue; Early Days in and About Bellevue; Kansas-Nebraska Boundary Line; Nebraska and Minnesota Territorial Boundary; Territorial Evolu- tion of Nebraska; Reminiscences of the Indian Fight at Ash Hollow, 1855; The Battle Ground of Ash Hollow; The Last Battle of the Pawnee with the Sioux; The Indian Ghost Dance; Some Side Lights on the Character of Sitting Bull; The Early Settle- ments of the Platte Valley; The First Catholic Bishop in Nebras- ka; Birth of Lincoln, Nebraska; English Settlement in Palmyra; History of Fort Kearney; Missionary Life Among the Pawnee. Vol. XVII, 1913, 8vo. clo., 382 pp., $2.00. Editor, Albert Watkins.
The Work of the Historical Society; Historical Sketch of Southwestern Nebraska; Nebraska, Mother of States; Nebraska Territorial Acquisition; Addresses by James Mooney-Life - Among the Indian Tribes of the Plains-The Indian Woman- Systematic Nebraska Ethnologic Investigation; A Tragedy of the Oregon Trail; The Oregon Recruit Expedition; Influence of Over- land Travel on the Early Settlement of Nebraska; Incidents of the Early Settlement of Nuckolls County; First Steamboat Trial Trip up the Missouri; Origin of Olatha, Nebraska; The Semi- Precious Stones of Webster, Nuckolls and Franklin Counties, Ne-
braska; Historical Sketch of Cheyenne County, Nebraska; Organi- zation of the Counties of Kearney, Franklin, Harlan and Phelps; Annual Address of Jobn Lee Webster, President, 1913; Adven- tures of the Plains, 1865-67; An Indian Raid of 1867; How Shall the Indian Be treated Historically; Importance of the Study of Local History; History; The Pathfinders, the Historic Background of Western Civilization; An Interesting Historical Document; Memorabilia-Gen. G. M. Dodge; A Study in the Ethnobotany of the Omaha Indians; Some Native Nebraska Plants With Their Uses by the Dakota.
Publications of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Vol. XVIII, 1917, 8 vo. clo., 448 pp., $2.00. Editor, Albert Watkins.
In Memoriam-Clarence Sumner Paine; Proceedings of the Society, 1908-1916; Biography-James B. Kitchen, Jefferson H. Broady, Lorenzo Crounse; Historical Papers; Acknowledging God in Constitutions, Nebraska Reminiscences, The Rural Carrier, of 1849, Eastern Nebraska as an Archeological Field, Trailing Texas Long-horn Cattle Through Nebraska; Special Historical Papers- Neapolis, Near-Capital, Controversy in the Senate Over the Admis- sion of Nebraska, How Nebraska Was Brought Into the Union.
Pamphlets.
Outline of Nebraska History, 1910, 8 vo paper, 45 pp. Editor
Albert Watkins.
This publication of the Society comprises a comprehensive bibli- ography of Nebraska history and a "Summary of Nebraska History" condensed within 22 pages. Its price is fifty cents, but it may be .procured free of charge by the Society's sustaining members and public libraries of the state.
NEBRASKA LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU BULLETINS No. 1. Origin and Purpose of Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau. Addison E. Sheldon. July 20, 1912. 6 pp.
No. 2. Preliminary Report Nebraska Employers' Liability and Work- men's Compensation Commission. Dec. 20, 1912. 48 pp. 10c No. 3. Legislative Procedure in the Forty-eight States. Addison E. Sheldon and Myrtle Keegan. Jan. 1, 1914. 28 pp. (out of print.)
No. 4. Reform in Legislative Procedure and Budget in Nebraska. (Report of joint legislative committee to Nebraska Legisla- ture of 1915.) May 15, 1914. 47 pp. (Out of print.)
No. 5. Nebraska Municipalities. Addison E. Sheldon and William E. Hannan. June 1, 1914. 74 pp. 15c.
No. 6. Bank Deposit Guaranty in Nebraska. Z. Clark Dickinson. Nov. 1, 1914. 38 pp. 26 portraits. 15c.
No. 7. The Direct Primary in Nebraska. Niels Henriksen Debel. Nov. 1, 1914. 112 pp. 25 portraits. 3 diagrams. 20c.
No. 8. Local and Nebraska History in Nebraska Public Schools. C. N. Anderson. Oct. 1, 1915. 15 pp. 2 portraits. 10c.
No. 9. State Supported Library Activities in the United States. Edna D. Bullock. Oct. 30, 1915. 58 pp. 4 illustrations. 15c.
No. 10. The Torrens Land Transfer Act of Nebraska. Thorne A. Browne. June 10, 1916. 60 pp. 6 illustrations. 15c.
No. 11. Legislative Procedure. Myrtle Keegan Mason (Revision of bulletin No. 3. In manuscript. Will be published about June 1, 1918.)
Report on the Archives of the State of Nebraska. Addison E. Sheldon, 1912. Reprinted from the annual report of the American Historical Association for 1910, pages 365-420. 15c.
The Legislative Reference Bureau as a Factor in State Development. Address by Addison E. Sheldon before National Association of Conservation Commissioners at Washington, D. C. Nov. 17, 1913. 7 pp. (Out of print.)
Subject Index of Senate and House Bills, 34th session Nebraska legis- lature, 1915. Edna D. Bullock. March 1, 1915. 126 pp. 15c.
Subject Index of Senate and House Bills, 35th session Nebraska legis- lature, 1917. Edna D. Bullock. March 1, 1917. 120 pp. 15c.
Standardization and Revision of Bills for the Nebraska Legislature, with statistical table showing progress in other states toward standard bill forms and revision. Dec. 28, 1915. 11 pp. (Mimeu graphed.) 10c.
BOOKS.
Semicentennial History of Nebraska. Addison E. Sheldon. 1904, 376 pp .; illustrations, 194; portraits, 934. (Out of print.)
Poems and Sketches of Nebraska. Addison E. Sheldon. 1906. 200 pp. 64 illustrations. $1.00.
History and Stories of Nebraska. Addison E. Sheldon, 1913. 150 illustrations and maps. $1.00.
306 pp.
Nebraska Blue Book and Historical Register. 1915. Addison E. Shel- don and Reference Bureau staff. Jan. 1, 1915. 981 pp. Illus- trated: Legislative portraits, 135; diagrams, maps, etc. (Out of print.)
Records of Fort Atkinson. The first fort and first settlement in the Nebraska region. From the manuscript record of the Sixth Infan- try and Rifle regiment, U. S. A., for the years 1817-1833, with 11% illustrations. 6 volumes quarto. Addison E. Sheldon, editor. May 1, 1916. (Typewritten.)
NEBRASKA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES BULLETINS.
Vol. VIII. No. 4. Museums and the People. Erwin H. Barbour. 12 pp. 5 illustrations. 10c.
Vol. IX. No. 1. The Nebraska Aborigines as they Appeared in the Eighteenth Century. Michael A. Shine. 23 pp. 12 illustrations. 15c. No. 3. Folk-Song of Nebraska and the Central West. Louise Pound. 89 pp. 4 illustrations. 20c.
8
Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
THE SOURCES OF NEBRASKA PEOPLE
No part of Nebraska history is more vital than that which tells the origins of her people. The great nations of the world have been composite unions of many strains of blood, temper and talent. Ne- braska is such a commonwealth. All the great nations have given her their sons and daughters. The perfect union of all these elements is still in process. But no student of history can doubt that upon these high and fertile plains, in the dry air of cloudless days, the elements of a future splendid race of men and women are being braided to- gether.
The diagram below was prepared by Myrtle Keegan Mason, of the Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau. It is a picture of Nebraska's present population elements derived from the figures of the U. S. Census of 1910. It is drawn exactly to scale and shows at a glance the relative strength of each element in our, population. Very important is the column showing the persons with one parent of foreign birth-for these are the children of marriages between the newcomers to America and the native born. Into the solid block of native born of native parents will be merged the great mass of our people in the next fifty years. The lively imagination of the Irish, the sturdy strength of the English, the canny shrewdness of the Scotch, the mystic ardor of the Welsh, the tireless industry of the German, the fervid energy of the Slav, the open-minded eagerness of
the Scandinavian, with seasoning of French wit, Greek and Italian artistic mobility and even a dash of the North American Indian's stoic serenity. This is the Nebraska people of the future.
Summary of native and foreign stocks in Nebraska population:
Native white, native parents, in Nebraska, 642,075, 53.8 per cent of total population.
Foreign born, native born of foreign parents and native born of mixed parentage, 539,015, 45.2 per cent of population.
Indian, Asiatic, African, 11,124, 1.0 per cent of population.
Foreign stock in Nebraska (Includes foreign born, native born of foreign parents. native born of mixed marriage)
Total
Percentage of Foreign Population
Percentage of Total Population
Germany
201,713
37.5
16.9
Great Britain and Canada, (except French Canadians)
101,596
18.9
8.5
Scandinavia
98,745
18.3
8.2
Austria and Hungary (chiefly Bohemians) ..
64,952
12.1
5.4
Russia (chiefly Germans, coming from man colonies in Russia) (speaking French, German and
Ger-
24,885
4.6
2.1
Switzerland Italian)
6,367
1.2
.5
France (including Canadian French). Italy
5,178
.9
.4
4,840
.9
.4
Greece
3,514
.7
3
ELEMENTS IN NEBRASKA POPULATION TOTAL 1,193,214
FOREIGN BORN WHITE 176,662
NATIVE WHITE FOREIGN PARENTS - 234,670
NATIVE WHITE, ONE PARENT FOREIGN BORN-127,683
NATIVE WHITE NATIVE PARENTS 642,075
GERMANY
GERMANY
GERMANY
SWEDEN.
DENMARK
NORWAY
SWEDEN
DENMARK
NORWAY
ENGLAND
IRELAND
CANADA
SCOTLAND-
IRELAND
ENGLAND
CANADA
SCOTLAND
WAT
AUSTRIA
HUNGARY
AUSTRIA
SWEDEN
DENMARK
MUNGASS NORWAY
ITALY
GREECE
ALL OTHERS
FRANCE SWITZERLAND
FRANCE
ALL OTHERS
ALL OTHERS
(U.S. CENSUS 1910)
NEGRO -INDIAN-JAPANESE- CHINESE-ETC. 1.124
RUSSIA
RUSSIA
SWITZERLAND
AUSTRIA
SCOTTAND I WALES
ENGLAND
IRELAND
CANADA
.
of THE STATE OF
SP
NEBRASKA AND RECORD OF
HISTORY PIONEER DAYS
NEBRASKA HISTORY AND RECORD OF PIONEER DAYS
Published Monthly by the Nebraska State Historical Society
Editor, ADDISON E. SHELDON Associate Editors The Staffs of the Nebraska State Historical Society and Legislative Reference Bureau
Subscription $2.00 Per Year
" All sustaining members of the Nebraska State Historical Society receive Nebraska History without further payment.
q Entered as second class mail matter, under act of July 16, 1894, at Lincoln, Nebraska, April 2, 1918.
VOLUME I.
MARCH, 1918
NUMBER 2
SERGEANT ANDERSON, OF FUNSTON
Sergeant Clyde Anderson, of the headquarters company of the 355th infantry, at Camp Funston, has rendered a gracious and important service to Nebraska soldiers and to the State Historical Society by naming about fifty group photographs of soldiers taken either in Ne- braska or at camp. Many of these groups are most interesting pic- tures of Nebraska's part in the world war. They will be mounted with other war photographic collections and will be eagerly studied in future years.
FRANK ROSEWATER'S "GOLDEN AGE"
In the first half century of Nebraska history the name of Edward Rosewater will always have a prominent place. From his brother, Frank, of New York City, the Historical Society has received a gift of his new book, The Coming Golden Age, with the inscription upon the fly leaf, "A Tribute to the faith which converted the Great Ameri- can Desert into a garden land." The book is the work of an idealist having for its chief thesis an ingenious device for the peaceful over- throw of capitalism by the use of what the author calls "Sell money."
HISTORY AND PATRIOTISM-
It is well recognized now that the most adequate method of teach- ing patriotism to the youth is through the study of the history of their own country. American history is filled with the material to inspire a patriotism of the highest type. There are so many splendid examples of faith, fearlessness and sacrifice in the story of our country that when these are properly presented to children they cannot fail to re- spond. The war is proving that we need a more thorough and rapid Americanization of our various elements to be ready for a great crisis. Of the many legitimate methods for achieving this result none will be found more effective than the true teaching of American history in our common schools. This should be taught the child in the English language. It should not exalt war as the sole form of patriotism.
STUDY OF NEBRASKA HISTORY IN NEBRASKA SCHOOLS-
It is an important suggestion which comes from Mr. N. P. Dodge, Jr., regarding the pioneer stories and inspiring incidents of this com- monwealth and their use in the schools. Five years ago the editor pub- lished the first volume designed to meet this need in Nebraska schools in his book, "History and Stories of Nebraska." Each year since then has seen a wider use of Nebraska history study in our schools. The suggestion that each county ought to make use of the best historical material connected with the history of that county is a good one. Where a well written county history exists, such as the one of Ante- lope county by A. J. Leach, of Buffalo county by S. C. Bassett, or Dakota county by M. M. Warner,-a copy of it should be in every school district library. Some of the county histories published have been chieflly planned to get money for biographical and business "write-ups." It is to be hoped that each county in Nebraska may soon achieve the honor of a patriotic county history written by a competent person, long resident of the county, with the purpose of preserving the record of the early years in a truthful and inspiring form.
WHO STARTED THE WAR?
Winning the war is the immediate question. To that all the gifts, and virtues and resources of the American nation are dedicated hence- forward until the end. But neither the nation nor the people can have justly in mind why we are in the war and what must be done when it ends unless there is a full understanding of its origin. Two years ago the editor read carefully through all the documents published by the different European countries giving their version of how the war started. He reached a very clear opinion on the case at that time. Within the last six months he has again gone over all the old and new evidence offered. The opinion is clearer and stronger. There is need of a brief pamphlet in popular language to summarize this evidence and the conclusion which it irresistibly indicates, viz: that it was planned and pushed upon the world by the Imperial Gov- ernment at Berlin. In book form there is the volume, "The Evidence in the Case," by Beck. But we have seen no brief, effective pamphlet.
PRESENT DAY NEBRASKA HISTORY-
The history of Nebraska today centers about the World War. Twenty thousand Nebraskans are already in uniform. Before the war ends there may be a hundred thousand. All the home life is concentrated upon the issue. All that we think or say or do is colored by the war cloud. The history of Nebraska at the present time is the history of Nebraska's part in the great war. The people of twenty years from now or, a hundred years from now will wish to know the true story of these present months more than anything else. It is the purpose of the State Historical Society to gather from every source the records which shall tell this story. Among them are the pictures of Nebraska soldiers in camup and at the front, the letters written home by men in the service, the newspapers and books and songs written by Nebraskans during these stirring times, the account of the organiza- tion of Nebraska for the production of food, the raising of money, the creation of popular sentiment to sustain the government. For each of these kinds of historical material the society has a purpose and a plan. To house them all in a noble Historical Memorial Building, for the instruction and inspiration of Nebraska through all future time, is part of that plan.
BURT COUNTY HISTORY --
The Burt County Herald of March 22, 1918, has a beautiful illus- tration of the courthouse just completed, also a description of a memorial tablet placed on the courthouse by Niles R. Folsom, the only survivor of the little band of immigrants who came from Attica, New York, and settled in Burt county in the fall of 1854. This tab- let records that the new courthouse stands on the site of the old blockhouse built in 1855. An attack by Indians on the settlement at Fontenelle, in the summer of 1855, led to the organization of a militia company at Tekamah soon after, of which Benjamin R. Folsom was chosen captain and his son, Niles R. Folsom, orderly sergeant. It was decided to erect a fort or blockhouse of logs, forty feet square and two stories high. After roll call and drill each morning, the men were detailed for work, some to cut logs in the timber east of Teka- mah, others to transport the logs to the site where they were hewn and the building was erected. This blockhouse was later fitted up as a hotel. Judge Eleazer Wakeley held the first term of court in Burt county just sixty-one years ago, in a hall on the second floor of this building.
HISTORICAL SOCIETY FIELD WORK
For many years the Historical Society has wished to make a tho :- ough historical survey of the older settled parts of the state. From time to time expeditions have been made by members of the office staff to the more important historical localities and valuable results have been secured. What has been most needed is a systematic sur- vey which would secure important historical material from the homes and the memories of the early settlers; the collection of early docu- ments, weapons, tools and implements for the Historical library and museum; the photographing and filming of historical sites and per- sons, and the making of a record which would serve as a guide to all the important historical material in each county.
Mr. Frank A. Harrison has been secured to begin such a survey in the southeastern section of the state during the present summer. Frank was "raised" there. He knows the names of all the dogs on the farms of Pawnee and Richardson during the early years. He knows the boyhood tricks and escapades of all the politicians whose careers began in that section. He knows whose girl they courted and whether she married the "other fellow" or not. He knows where the log schoolhouses and crossroads stores used to stand. He knows and loves the memories of those early years when we were all poor and
ยท
2
Nebraska History and Record of Pioneer Days
barefooted, and neighborly. He will endeavor to visit every old set- tler and every keeper of historical documents and historical articles in that part of Nebraska. He is fully authorized to receive applica- tions for membership in the Historical Society and to transact any other historical business for the success of his work.
THE FORT KEARNY FLAGSTAFF.
The historic flagstaff of Fort Kearny, pictured above, is in the Historical Society museum where it has been for many years. Colonel W. O. Dungan, of Minden, owner of the farm upon which the site of Fort Kearny is situated, writes the following to the editor regarding the history of this flagstaff:
The best information I can gather from Major Talbot and Sergeant Holland is, the flagstaff was shipped down the Mississippi River and up the Missouri to Leavenworth and there hauled by ox team to the fort in the forties, right after the Mexican war. They thought it was 65 or 70 feet high. The flag could be seen for a distance of 20 miles arcund. It was in the ground about 12 feet and must have broken off just above the water's edge, and what you have there is a lower end. There was another red cedar staff. I thought that was the origina' flagstaff until we raised one at one of our reunions, and we found the one you have. 1 sent that with a section of the pontoon bridge with our Kearney county exhibits to the state fair and then turned it over to the Historical Society.
NEBRASKA AND THE MEXICAN WAR
When the Mexican war began, in 1846, there was no Nebraska; but the vast plain extending from the divide between the streams which flow directly into the Missouri River and those which flow into the Platte, on the north, to the divide between the Kansas and Arkansas rivers on the south, and from the Missouri River on the east to the Rocky Mountains on the west, was called "the Nebraska country"-be- cause Nebraska was the first or Indian name of the principal river of that region. It is now called the Platte.
At this time the Nebraska country was yet a part of a still greater territory which, by an act of congress passed in 1834, was set apart as "Indian country," from which white settlers were interdicted. But in the meantime this country had become well known and important to white people on account of the extensive travel through It to Ore- gon and California. Emigration to Oregon was encouraged by the federal government on account of the rivalry between American and British interests for its possession.
So as early as 1841 the secretary of war recommended the con- struction of a chain of military posts "from the Council Bluffs to the mouth of the Columbia," for the protection of the emigrants. By 1844 the emigration to Oregon had become so important and had so dis- tinctly established the lower and permanent trail, via the Platte River,
that the secretary of war, in his report for that year, not only recom- mended an appropriation "for erecting military posts from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains," but also the organization of the Ne- braska country into a territory; and in 1845 President Polk recom- mended the establishing of posts along what had now become "the usual route" and that an adequate force of mounted riflemen be . raised to garrison them.
Accordingly, on May 19, 1846, the congress made the appropria- tion; and on March 31, 1847, a call was made on the state of Missouri for a regiment of mounted volunteers, a part of which was to be ue- tached to establish the posts along the Oregon Trail. But the whole regiment was sent to Mexico. A battalion of similar troops, styled Missouri Mounted Volunteers, was then organized, and after a sharp contest Dr. Ludlow E. Powell was elected to command the battalion by the men of the organization. The command, comprising five com- panies, with 452 men and 25 officers, arrived at Fort Leavenworth early in August, 1847. On September 5 it started for Table Creek, arriving there September 15. It was too late in the season to proceed at once to Grand Island where the new fort was to be established; so upwards of sixty log cabins were built at Table Creek in which the soldiers were housed until spring. On May 13, 1848, most of the original command-375 men and 18 officers-resumed the march to Grand Island, where it arrived June 1 and proceeded forthwith to establish New Fort Kearny.
The first military post of Nebraska was established in 1819. It was situated on the Council Bluff of Lewis and Clark and was called Fort Atkinson. (Fort Leavenworth was substituted for it in 1827.) Fort Atkinson was established for the double purpose of protecting American traders from hostile Indians and the encroachments of British traders. By 1836 it was thought that a post was necessary farther up the river than Leavenworth, and accordingly the congress passed an act authorizing its construction. In 1838 Colonel Stephen W. Kearny decided that Table Creek was the proper place for the new fort, but the specific site for it was not selected until May 23, 1846. The blockhouse, the first building, was erected in June. At that time Colonel Kearny thought that Table Creek would be the main start- ing point on the Missouri River for Oregon emigration; but it was soon decided that the location was too far north, and it was aban- doned in a few months after it was actually occupied. The site was chosen for wintering Colonel Powell's command on its way to estab- lish the new Fort Kearny because the blockhouse and two or three other rather unimportant buildings might be useful. The place began to be called Nebraska City in 1852.
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.