USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 10
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SHOES.HATS &CAPS SALE & RETA
FARNAM STREET, OMAHA, IN THE '60>
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niture of the different rooms, which consisted of two folds of plain calico, the one green and the other red, which we took to be symbolic of jealousy and war- which monsters, we fear, will make their appearance before right is enthroned and peace established."
It must be remembered that the Palladium was published at Bellevue, which town had been an aspirant for the honor of being the first seat of government. The editor's criticisms regarding the size of the building and his caustic remarks about "jealousy and war" were no doubt inspired by the general disappointment that reigned there. Possibly he had in mind the idea that the enthronement of right and the establishment of peace could be brought about only by removing the legislative session to Bellevue. And this brings us to the subject of
LOCATING THE CAPITAL
Although the question of locating the seat of government was of vital interest to the whole territory, it was one of the living issues in the early history of Douglas County. The act creating the Territory of Nebraska made it the duty of the governor to select the place where the first session of the Legislature should assemble-or, in other words, to designate the temporary capital of the territory. During the eleven days' residence of Governor Burt in the territory he was the guest of Rev. William Hamilton, then the head of the Presbyterian Mission at Bellevue. Although in poor health, he was almost daily besieged by delegations from Plattsmouth, Omaha, Florence, Nebraska City, and perhaps some other prospective towns, importuning him to locate the seat of government at "our town.". Previous to his death on October 18, 1854, he expressed no choice in his official capacity, though Mr. Hamilton afterward stated that it was his belief the governor favored Bellevue.
When Secretary Thomas B. Cuming assumed the duties of acting governor, the rival towns found in him a man younger, stronger and not so easily worried as Governor Burt. He listened with calmness to the claims of every delegation and then settled the question by issuing his proclamation in favor of Omalia. C. H. Gere, in a paper read before the Nebraska State Historical Society on January 12, 1886, says :
"By what pathways the acting governor was led to pitch the imperial tent upon the plateau of Omaha, it is not our province to inquire. If the statesmen of Kanesville, later Council Bluffs, had a hand in the matter, that city soon had reason to mourn that the nest of the new commonwealth was lined with plumage from her own breast. From its very cradle her infant despoiled her of her commercial prestige, and now scoffs at her maternal ancestor every time she glances across the dreary bottom that separates the waxing from the waning metropolis."
After all, the selection of Omaha was a logical solution of the problem. At that time the few settlements in Nebraska were nearly all along the Missouri River. In dividing the ceded lands into eight counties, four were north of the Platte River and four south, and Omaha was about as near centrally located as any point in the settled portions of the territory. But the four counties north of the Platte were given one more councilman and two more representatives than the four counties south of that stream, which occasioned some discontent
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among the people of the southern counties. Certificates of election were issued by the acting governor to those elected to membership in the Legislature, but several persons from the southern counties presented themselves and demanded admission, on the grounds that the apportionment was unequal and that the southern district was entitled to a larger representation than the counties north of the Platte. In the contest for seats the friends of Omaha, under the leader- ship of Mr. Poppleton, argued that the governor's certificates of election were conclusive, and that no one without such evidence of election was entitled to a seat in the Legislature. This view was upheld and thus Omaha won the first battle.
On January 25, 1854, Mr. Latham, of Cass County, introduced a bill (House Bill No. 8) to locate the seat of government. Blanks for town and county were left in the bill and on second reading efforts were made to fill such blanks. After Plattsmouth and Brownsville had failed, Mr. Poppleton moved to refer the bill to a select committee of three, with instructions to decide what names should fill the blanks, but the motion was laid on the table. The tabling of his motion forced Mr. Poppleton into the open and he then moved to insert Omaha and Douglas County, but the motion was lost by one vote. Mr. Latham then made a second effort to have Plattsmouth inserted, which was lost by a tie vote. Meantime Mr. Poppleton had been doing some missionary work among the members and now renewed his motion to insert Omaha. This time it was carried by a vote of thirteen to twelve. As thus amended, the bill passed its third reading on the 26th. The next day it was passed in the council by a vote of seven to six and was signed by Governor Cuming on the last day of the month.
At the second session, which convened in December, 1855, no agitation of the capital question came before the Legislature, every one apparently being content for the capital to remain at Omaha. But when the third session met on January 5, 1857. it was not long until the question of removing the seat of government became the all-absorbing topic of legislation. Several new counties had been formed and while the council still consisted of thirteen members, the House had been increased to thirty-five. In the council Douglas County was represented by Leavitt L. Bowen (president), Dr. George L. Miller, Samuel E. Rogers and Alonzo F. Salisbury. The Douglas County delegation in the House was composed of George Armstrong, Joseph Dyson, John Finney, Andrew J. Hanscom, Charles T. Holloway, Richard Kimball, Harrison Johnson, William F. Moore, Michael Murphy, Jonas G. Seely, Jolin A. Steinberger and Silas A. Strickland.
Immediately after the House was organized by the election of Isaac L. Gibbs, speaker, and O. F. Lake, chief clerk, Jacob Safford, joint representative from the district composed of Cass, Dodge and Otoe counties, introduced a resolution "that a select committee of three be appointed to take into consideration the expediency of relocating the seat of government of Nebraska Territory, with instructions to report at their earliest convenience, by bill or otherwise."
The committee, consisting of Mr. Safford, Kirkpatrick, of Cass, and Clancy, of Washington, was appointed on the 6th, the second day of the session, and on the morning of the 8th presented their report, in which they said: "Your committee are loth to say what influences are universally believed to have been brought to bear in inducing the present location. It is, perhaps, sufficient for
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them to say that the people of the territory are by no means satisfied with the location or with the means by which it was located, and still less with the means by which it has been kept there."
After this gentle intimation that Governor Cuming had been influenced by unworthy motives in locating the capital at Omaha, the committee went on to state that the growth of population justified the belief that the seat of govern- ment should be removed to some point "a suitable distance from the Missouri River ;" that Omaha was not in the center of population ; that the $50,000 appro- priated by Congress for the erection of a capitol building had been expended "in such a manner as to enhance the interests of Omaha City;" that those having control of the capitol appropriations had done everything possible to create the impression that Omaha was to become the permanent seat of govern- ment, and concluded the report by introducing a bill "for the relocation of the seat of government of the Territory of Nebraska," the place selected being the Town of Douglas, in Lancaster County.
The report was adopted and on the 10th the bill passed the council. In the House a determined opposition, led by Mr. Hanscom, developed and dilatory motions of all kinds were made to delay action on the measure. On the 15th the final vote was taken and the bill passed by a vote of twenty-three to twelve.
Mark W. Izard, who had been appointed marshal on the organization of the territory, had been appointed governor and assumed the duties of the office on February 20, 1855. On January 19, 1857, he returned the capitol removal bill to the Legislature with his veto, and giving as his reasons therefor: First. That the removal had not been made an issue before the people in any county when the members of the Legislature were elected, and that it was his opinion the bill had been passed contrary to the interests of the people or without any instructions from them. Second. That for many years the principal settlements would be along the Missouri River. Third. That the location of Omaha was readily accessible, not only from the territory, but also from the country east. Fourth. That the capitol building would be completed during the year, without the cost of a single dollar to the people of the territory. Fifth, That the Town of Douglas did not contain even a sod shanty and that it was remote from the center of the territory. Sixth. Under the organic act the appropriation for the erection of a capitol building was made in evident recognition of the fact that the seat of government should remain there during the existence of the territory.
The council passed the bill over the governor's veto by a vote of nine to four, but in the House it failed by one vote to secure the requisite two-thirds majority. After several futile attempts to secure its passage, Mr. Kirkpatrick, on February 5, 1857, moved to postpone indefinitely any further action and the capital was permitted to remain in Omaha for at least another year.
The following autumn Governor Izard resigned his office and returned to his former home in Arkansas. Following his resignation Thomas B. Cuming, the territorial secretary, again became acting governor on October 25, 1857. When the fourth session of the Legislature met on December 8, 1857, Mr. Cuming, in his message, congratulated the members that they met for the fourth time "at the place first chosen for the territorial capital, and in the spacious and imposing edifice nearly completed under the appropriation by the general government and through the public spirit of the City of Omaha."
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On January 2, 1858, Mr. Abbe, of Otoe County, notified the House that he would soon introduce a bill providing for the removal of the capital. His bill was read for the first time on the 6th and was a signal for the friends of Omaha to rally to that city's support. In this concerted action the friends of the removal bill saw, or pretended to see, imminent danger to themselves should they undertake the passage of the bill in Omaha. They therefore con- cocted a scheme to adjourn to Florence, six miles up the river. In the council Dr. George L. Miller was president and when the motion to adjourn to Florence was made he refused to entertain it. Reeves, of Otoe County, put the question and declared it carried. Eight councilmen retired from the chamber, but the others remained and voted to meet the next day in Omaha as usual.
In the House a more stormy scene occurred. When the messenger from the council arrived to notify the House of the vote to adjourn to Florence, the House was in committee of the whole, with Dr. W. R. Thrall, of Douglas County, in the chair. Mr. Poppleton raised the point of order that the House, in its official capacity, was not in session, and under the rules could not receive a message from the council. Speaker Decker then undertook to force Doctor Thrall from the chair, but was prevented from doing so by the interference of Mr. Murphy and Mr. Paddock, two of the members from Douglas County. The evidence taken by the investigating committee afterward appointed, showed that Mr. Hanscom also took a hand in the proceedings and "rolled the speaker under the table."
On the morning of the 8th the House met as usual, with Speaker Decker in the chair. Immediately after prayer by the chaplain, Mr. Donelan, of Cass County, moved that "the House do now adjourn to meet at Florence at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning." The inotion was seconded by Mr. Cooper, put by the speaker in a hurried manner, declared carried, and he, with twenty-one members, walked out. Those who remained behind then elected J. Sterling Morton speaker pro tem and the thirteen members voted to continue the sessions of the House in Omaha.
On the 9th the members who had voted to adjourn to Florence made a demand on Acting Governor Cuming for the journals and documents belonging to the two branches of the Legislature. The demand, which was in the form of a resolution, was presented to Mr. Cuming by a committee composed of Messrs. Reeves, Hail and Taggart, and elicited the following reply :
"EXECUTIVE OFFICE, NEBRASKA TERRITORY
"Omaha, January 9, 1958.
"Messrs. Reeves, Hail and Taggart,
"Gentlemen :- I have received from you a communication purporting to be a 'Resolution of the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Nebraska.'
"The General Assembly of the territory is now in session according to law at Omaha City, the seat of government, where the executive office is required to be kept, and where the public documents and records must be preserved. The communication furnished by you is not from that body, but was sent from
A VIEW OF WEST OMAHA ABOUT 1877
LOAK OFFICE.
Courtesy of Garvin Brothers
EARLY VIEW OF THE EAST SIDE OF THIRTEENTH STREET FROM FARNAM TO DOUGLAS, OMAHA
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the Town of Florence, to which place a portion of the members of each House have adjourned.
"My convictions, under the law and facts, are clear-that no act of such recusant members can be legal. Under the circumstances any communication from them as a legislative body will not require the official attention from this department.
"Respectfully,
"T. B. CUMING, "Acting Governor."
This was the condition of affairs when William A. Richardson, the newly appointed governor, arrived at Omaha and succeeded Mr. Cuming. On January II, 1858, the Florence Legislature appointed a committee of three-Bowen, Campbell and Donelan-to call upon Governor Richardson and present a resolu- tion setting forth that the members who had adjourned to Florence were forced to do so "by the turbulent acts of a minority of their own body, aided by the violence of an unrestrained mob at Omaha," and requesting the governor to communicate with the Legislature at that place. Governor Richardson replied in a letter, rebuking the seceding members for their unwarranted action and promising "the fullest and most ample protection" to all members of the Legis- lature, while engaged in the discharge of their official duties. But the Florence Legislature refused to return to Omaha and continued its sessions until the expiration of the forty days' limit, when both' Legislatures adjourned.
The struggle for the removal of the capital went on, year after year, until Nebraska was admitted as a state in 1867. The first State Legislature appointed Governor David Butler, Secretary of State Thomas P. Kennard and Auditor John Gillespie as commissioners to relocate the seat of government. It is a coinci- dence that the site selected by these commissioners is the same as that suggested in the bill of 1857, to wit: "the Town of Douglas, in Lancaster County." Douglas was defeated for the presidency by Abraham Lincoln in 1860. It is said that the Legislature of 1867 was about to adopt the name of "Central City" for the new capital, when Mr. Poppleton, although not a member, sug- gested that, as Mr. Lincoln had supplanted Mr. Douglas in the thoughts and admiration of the American people, it would be a fitting recognition of his great services to the country to confer his name upon the new seat of govern- ment. The Legislature accepted the suggestion and named the capital "Lincoln." The first session of the Legislature held there began on January 7, 1869.
.A few, politicians in and around Omaha were disgruntled over the removal of the capital to Lincoln, but upon the whole neither the city nor Douglas County has suffered by the removal. In fact, many of the citizens were glad to know that the turmoil that had existed for a dozen years was finally ended. They turned their attention to commercial and industrial development, and so well have they succeeded that Omaha is universally recognized as the metropolis of the Missouri Valley-the Gateway to the Northwest.
ORGANIZING THẺ COUNTY
When Douglas County was first created the following officers were appointed by Acting Governor Cuming: William Scott, probate judge: Lyman Richard-
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son, register of deeds; Taylor G. Goodwill, treasurer; P. G. Peterson, sheriff. These gentlemen held office until the first regular election on October 8, 1856, when Jesse Lowe, Thomas Davis and James H. McArdle were elected county commissioners; Thomas O'Connor, register of deeds; Samuel Moffatt, treas- urer; Cameron Reeves, sheriff. A complete list of the county officials since that time will be found in another chapter.
SUBDIVISIONS
Section 5, Article X, of the Constitution of 1875, provides that "The Legis- lature shall provide by general law for township organization, under which any county may organize whenever a majority of the legal voters of such county voting at any general election shall so determine; and in any county that shall have adopted a township organization the question of continuing the same may be submitted to a vote of the electors of such county at a general election in the manner that shall be provided by law."
Under the provisions of this section, and the laws in accordance therewith, quite a number of the counties in the state have adopted township organization, but Douglas has never availed herself of that privilege. Outside of the City of Omaha, the county is divided into the following precincts: Benson, Chicago, Clontarf, Douglas, Dundee, East Omaha, Elkhorn, Florence Jefferson, McCardle, Millard, Platte Valley, Union and Waterloo. Benson and Florence are cities of the second class, and Clontarf is a small precinct wholly within the corporate limits of the City of Omaha.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS
When Douglas County was first established it included the present County of Sarpy, in which is the Town of Bellevue. The first settlement within the limits of Douglas County was therefore the one that grew up about the Bellevne trading post. The oldest settlement within the boundaries as they are at present was no doubt the trading post of Roye (or Royce), where the City of Omaha now stands. It was of short duration and little of its history can be learned.
The first settlement that assumed any considerable proportions was at the Mormon Winter Quarters, where the Town of Florence is now situated. After the Mormons evacuated their quarters there and went to Salt Lake, Utah, what is now Douglas County was inhabited only by the Indian and the wolf for several years. There is no record of a white man dwelling within its borders from 1847 to about 1852 or the spring of 1853, when the first settlement was made at Omaha, an account of which is given in the next chapter. About the same time James C. Mitchell visited the site of the old Mormon settlement and later in the year laid out the Town of Florence.
In the following chapters of this work will be found many interesting par- ticulars relating to Douglas County, its schools, railroads, industries, courts. etc.
CHAPTER VIII
THE BEGINNING OF OMAHA
EARLY DAYS AROUND OMAHA-BROWN'S LONE TREE FERRY-FERRY AND TOWN COM-
PANY-FIRST CLAIMS LOCATED-CELEBRATING THE EVENT-THE FIRST BUILDINGS-LIST OF PIONEERS-FIRST THINGS-THE CLAIM CLUB AND ITS WORK-FIRST LAND ENTRIES-EARLY DAY JUSTICE-WHIPPING HORSE THIEVES -HANGING OF DALEY AND BRADEN-LYNCHING OF BOUVE-WARNING GAM- BLERS-THEN AND NOW.
To Omaha belongs the distinction of being the first permanent settlement made by white men within the present confines of Douglas County. After the Mormons were ordered by the United States authorities to vacate their settle- ment at Florence in 1847, the western bank of the Missouri River remained a "wild and devious solitude" for some five years. In 1849, when hundreds of emigrants from the East were crossing the plains to the newly discovered gold fields in California, the steamboat El Paso was engaged for several weeks in ferrying the goldseekers across the Missouri, a short distance below the plateau on which the City of Omaha now stands. One day William P. Wilcox, clerk of the El Paso, accompanied by Charles M. Conoyer, a boy about eight years old, walked up to the plateau and some writers credit these two persons with being the first ever to set foot upon the site of the city. At that time, and for several years afterward, the lands on the west side of the river belonged to the Indians and had not been opened to settlement. In anticipation of a treaty, a number of land-sharks, speculators and prospective actual settlers began con- gregating at Council Bluffs, then a city of 2,000 population, in the fall of 1852. The number was increased in the spring of 1853, but still no treaty had been negotiated with the Indians for the cession of their lands.
BROWN'S LONE TREE FERRY
On June 3, 1853, William D. Brown, who had been operating a ferry a short distance up the river, made an investigation of the banks of the river opposite Omaha, with a view of establishing a ferry at that point. He foresaw that as soon as the lands west of the river were thrown open to settlement there would be a rush on the part of those gathered at Council Bluffs, and that a ferry would quickly become a paying institution. Along the east bank there was a wide slough ; in the middle of the stream was a sandbar, and the west bank was marshy. Mr. Brown found landing places where he could dodge all these obstacles and soon had his ferry in operation. He called it the "Lone Tree
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Ferry." When asked how he came to select that name he replied that there were several isolated trees on either side of the river any one of which might be designated as the "Lone Tree," and it made no difference to him which one might be selected.
Later in the month of June, 1853, several residents of Council Bluffs con- ceived the idea of uniting with Mr. Brown in the formation of a ferry and town company. On the 25th Dr. Enos Lowe, Jesse Williams, Joseph H. D. Street and William D. Brown, members of the company, accompanied by Jesse Lowe, crossed over to the Nebraska side to look at the "lay of the land." They returned to Council Bluffs and reported that a good town site could be located on the plateau, and on July 23, 1853, Dr. Enos Lowe was delegated to go to St. Louis and purchase a steam ferry boat. He found a suitable boat at Alton, Illinois, brought it around to Council Bluffs, where he arrived in September, and christened it the Marion. It was used until the spring of 1855, when high water threw it upon the east bank and it was never again put in commission. This was the first steam ferry on the Upper Missouri River.
Other members of the town and ferry company were: James Jackson, Milton Tootle, Samuel S. Bayliss, Bernhardt Henn, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, and the firms of Tanner & Downs and Street & Redfield, all of Council Bluffs.
FIRST CLAIMS LOCATED
It has been claimed by some that William D. Brown, the proprietor of the Lone Tree Ferry, was the first man to locate a claim upon the site of the City of Omaha, but this claim is not well substantiated. The following account of the first attempt to locate claims on the west side of the Missouri, opposite Council Bluffs, is taken from "Andreas' History of Nebraska."
"A. D. Jones had frequently expressed his determination to settle in Nebraska long before an opportunity was offered to carry out his intention. He was a surveyor by profession and, when running lines on the Iowa side of the river, made observations as to the most desirable location for a claim, and in his own mind had selected that one of which he should endeavor to possess himself when occasion offered. The claim was subsequently selected as contemplated and in time became the property of Herman Kountze and S. E. Rogers. Among those with whom he canvassed the prospects and conferred in reference to the estab- lishment of claims was William Knight, a decided character of the day, and others.
"In November, 1853, a party of gentlemen from Council Bluffs visited the landing of the ferry boat Marion, under a promise that the steamer would convey them to the Nebraska shore. A claim meeting was held, pending negotia- tions with the managers of the boat, in which William Knight occupied a prominent position and unbosomed himself of his views at every available period, the liveliest and most animated discussions occurring between Jones and Knight. The officers of the steam ferry failed to respond to the wishes of the anticipating claimants. The latter returned to their homes, with remarks from some that they would go to the upper ferry the next morning, cross in a canoe and come down and make claims on and in the vicinity of the plateau, now Omaha.
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