USA > Nebraska > Platte County > Past and present of Platte County, Nebraska : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 19
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A few miles farther east occurred the massacre of the Campbell family. The whole valley was wild with horror and Columbus became a harbor of refuge. The rush was intensified by an isolated case of massacre previous to this date, which occurred on the Loup River, near the Pawnee reservation.
The beginning of the trouble at this time was when a band of Pawnees attacked Mrs. Pat Murray and a number of hands who
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were making hay for the Government along Lost Creek. The story already has been told in another part of this work, and will not be repeated here; but while the alarm was spreading in the West like prairie flames before the wind, a sudden shock was given in advance of all real danger, perhaps by a statement quietly made by a freighter, who had been resting his ox teams a few days in the angle between the Platte and Loup rivers. About noon one day, this freighter stated that in looking after his oxen down in the thicket, he suddenly came upon a band of forty Sioux concealed in a thicket and armed with the best of weapons; that, having been long and widely acquainted with the Sioux tribes, and knowing these to be of that people from their general features and their dress, he addressed them in their language, gave them his name and place and occupation, and was at once known by some of the party; that they then, upon his promise of secrecy, and leaving the place and pushing out of the way, revealed to him their plot of cleaning out the whole Platte Valley, that these forty men were only spies sent forward by 500 braves encamped up the river, to make observations and report the best points of attack ; that, after promising secrecy, the thing looked to him so horrible that he felt bound to let us know, so that we could prepare for the emer- gency. Thus, reporting to a few who were at the time working at the little mill over there, and also to Mr. Barnum, he pushed on up the road. This rumor went that afternoon up and down the valley by telegraph, and by runners on swift ponies; also to the German and Irish settlements on Shell Creek. A few of the bolder class made a cautious reconnoissance up and down the rivers that afternoon, and for several days following, but found no decided traces of the lurking foe. The stampede from Wood River began to cross the Loup and pour down the valley into and much of it onward through Columbus. The whole country was wild with alarm. The settlers came pouring in that evening. But next day it was a sight strange and painful indeed; for hither came nearly every living being and thing-men, women and children, with food and bed; cattle and horses-pell-mell, crowding into the little village and filling every square yard of space in the buildings and in the gardens and streets. That day an organi- zation of Home Guards was effected, with captain, lieutenants, cor- porals and all. Sentinels were posted at night, and patrols were sent abroad through the day. And so, for ten dreadful days and nights Columbus-that is, the old town-with Mrs. Baker's hotel as head- quarters, was garrisoned and guarded-a promiscuous mass of men and brutes huddled together within a little stockade of fenceposts,
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set edge to edge in a trench. The belief in a present actual raid of the reds was not strong or general, but in such case of danger, so appalling in its nature, however uncertain in its degree, apprehension is fearful and suspense dreadful. During the day it was quite endur- able, for no approach of the foe could be without due notice, and even a strong force would be received with telling effect. But when the evening shadows fell, anxiety marked every face, and even stout hearted men acknowledged their solicitude.
"Below Columbus, very few left their premises, for that point was quite an outpost of defense, where Mr. Lo and his braves would be welcomed, should they come 'with bloody hands to hospitable graves.' Many, however, sent their wives and children down the val- ley to Fremont, Elkhorn and Omaha, the men remaining to guard their huts by day, and dream at night of scalping knives, etc.
"The spring of 1864 marked a new era in the history of the plains and introduced a new feature in our frontier warfare. To protect the surveys then being made for the proposed line of the Union Pacific Railroad, the Government established a line of military posts all the way to the mountains. By presents and a wholesale free pass on freight cars, the company made fast friends of the Pawnee tribe, and an order was issued by the Government, at the request of the com- pany, for recruiting a company of Pawnee scouts to operate along the line, in concert with and auxiliary to the regular troops. The honor of commanding this new force was given to Frank North, one of the earliest settlers of Columbus. With the title of major, he selected his subordinates-captain, lieutenant and others-from the hardy young men of Columbus, his trusted associates, giving some of the lower offices to the Pawnees. Together they made a formidable force and became a terror to the hostile tribes."
The Home Guard which was organized consisted of J. S. Taylor, captain; E. W. Arnold, first lieutenant; J. A. Baker, second lieuten- ant; J. B. Beebe, orderly sergeant. J. L. Martin, later of Merrick County, dubbed the military stockade at Grand Island "Fort Sauer Kraut," that at Columbus "Sock-it-to 'Em," and at Elkhorn, "Fort Skedaddle."
THE CIVIL WAR
The patriotic devotion of Nebraskans to the cause of the Union during the dark days of 1861 to 1865 forms a most interesting section of this work, as it does of the military history of all loyal states and territories.
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A casual glance at the statistics furnished by the war department might create the impression among those not posted in the matter that Nebraska was remiss in doing its duty to the country in the hour of peril. The number of troops furnished, it is true, was small. The fact must, however, be borne in mind that the territory, at the outbreak of the Civil war, although embracing a vast amount of country within its limits, was decidedly poor in population, there being, according to the census of 1860, but 28,841 white inhabitants to occupy its 125,994 square miles of area. Of this small handful of people, there entered into military operations during the progress of the war, 3,307 men-about one-ninth of the entire population. Considering its resources therefore, it will be seen that Nebraska gave not only reasonably, but generously.
The spirit of loyalty to the Union which characterized the people of Nebraska was intense. The stormy days of the border troubles had strengthened them in their adherence to the spirit of the Consti- tution. In the exposition of this feeling, a few quotations may not be out of place.
On the 14th of November, 1860, after the canvass of the returns announced Lincoln's election to the presidency, the Omaha Repub- lican spoke editorially as follows anent the rapidly complicating political issues of the day :
"In the election of Lincoln, the republicans have performed a conscientious duty ; they have achieved a brilliant triumph in the suc- cess of a noble principle, and now we await with considerable interest the result. Previous to the late elections, southern politicians made frequent and bitter threats of secession in case of Lincoln's election. Will they do it now? Speaking for ourselves, we must candidly say that we feel but little apprehension of such a result. The present is not the only time that the fanatical spirit of the South has broken out in open threats of secession and nullification; and it is our belief that the present state of agitation will end in equally as harmless a manner as those which have arisen before. * *
"To South Carolina we look for the inauguration of this move- ment, if it occurs; and she falters, hesitates and appears frightened at the peril of her position. The leading secessionists urge that immediate action must be taken; that the people must not wait for an overt act on the part of Mr. Lincoln. And yet South Carolina trembles while she gazes into the yawning abyss which stands ready to receive her at the first decisive step: she dare not brave the peril to which this movement would subject her.
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"It is an easy matter to dissolve this Union on paper and in windy resolutions, but practically as South Carolina learned in Calhoun's time, great and insurmountable obstacles stand in the way."
Again, January 2, 1861, the Republican said: "On the 4th of March, Mr. Lincoln will be inaugurated. Then the people will be at ease; public confidence will return; treason will be promptly rebuked; the Constitution respected; the laws enforced and the Union preserved. The only anxiety felt by the people is for the few remain- ing months of Buchanan's term."
The bill for the abolition of slavery in the territory was passed by the Legislature on the 10th of December, 1860. Three weeks later it was returned to that body unsigned by Governor Black, accompanied by an elaborate veto message setting forth his views of the constitutionality of the slave traffic. It is but justice to state, however, in this connection, that the governor, although an advocate of slavery, did not indorse secession, and his death two years later, while gallantly leading a brigade of troops to battle, gave ample evidence of his loyalty to the Union.
In commenting upon Governor Black's message, the Hon. T. W. Tipton, of Nemaha County, then a member of the council, made the following remarks: "In my humble opinion, this veto message is a most remarkable production-remarkable on account of the pertinac- ity with which His Excellency follows up this question of human freedom with ponderous documents, earnest protests and unavailing entreaties. In its component parts, it is equally remarkable, whether you consider it a system of dove-tailed fallacies, special pleadings or sublimated foolishness. If His Excellency had a mint of gold with which to bribe this Legislature, and we possessed all the logical acumen and captivating eloquence of our race; were we willing to receive the one and exert the other, we could neither give dignity to this document nor force to its conclusions. The honest hearts of our constituents would consign us for our efforts, to everlasting political infamy."
Messrs. Strickland, Goss and Belden also spoke spiritedly and at length on the bill, which, notwithstanding the gubernatorial veto, was passed, the council voting 10 to 3 and the House 33 to 2, in its favor.
The news of the fall of Fort Sumter evoked intense enthusiasm and an unbounded spirit of loyalty throughout the territory. In Omaha the stars and stripes were hoisted upon the territorial capitol, the postoffice, hook and ladder building and many stores and private dwellings. Business was for a time neglected; the situation was
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earnestly discussed and public gatherings held. Immediate steps were taken to lend all possible aid to the general government, and the formation of two companies of infantry, one of dragoons and a squad of artillery was commenced in the city.
The first material evidence of the inauguration of war was seen on the 23d of April, when two companies of United States troops arrived in Omaha from Fort Kearney, en route to Leavenworth and the front. They encamped at the steamboat landing for a day, awaiting the arrival of a transport. Meanwhile, local preparations went hurriedly on. The infantry and dragoon companies drilled nightly and were in a short time enabled to report their ranks filled.
Governor Black appointed George F. Kennedy, of Florence, acting brigadier general of the First Brigade of Nebraska troops pending the organization and enrollment. On the 18th day of May Gov. Alvin Saunders, who had just succeeded to the executive chair, issued a proclamation calling for the immediate raising and equip- ment of a regiment of infantry, that being the quota assigned to the territory under the first call for troops.
PROCLAMATION
Whereas, the President of the United States has issued his procla- mation, calling into the service of the United States an additional volunteer force of infantry and cavalry, to serve three years unless sooner discharged; and the secretary of war having assigned one regiment to the Territory of Nebraska: Now, therefore, I, Alvin Saunders, governor of the Territory of Nebraska, do issue this procla- mation, and hereby call upon the militia of the territory immediately to form, in the different counties, volunteer companies, with a view of entering the service of the United States under the aforesaid call. Companes, when formed, will proceed to elect a captain and two lieutenants. The number of men required in each company will be made known as soon as the instructions are received from the War Department, but it is supposed now that it will not be less than sev- enty-eight men. As soon as a company has formed and has elected its officers, the captain will report the same to the adjutant general's office. Efforts are being made to trample the stars and stripes-the emblem of our liberties-in the dust. Traitors are in the land, busily engaged in trying to overthrow the Government of the United States, and information has been received that these same traitors are endeav- oring to incite an invasion of our frontier by a savage foe. In view Vol. I -13
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of these facts, I invoke the aid of every lover of his country and his home to come promptly forward to sustain and protect the same.
Done at Omaha, this 18th day of May, 1861. By the Governor, ALVIN SAUNDERS. A. S. PADDOCK, Secretary of Nebraska.
This appeal was responded to somewhat slowly, the obstacle being that the territory was without means of defraying the expense of keeping the men in readiness until the entire regiment was mustered into service. Under the provisions then in force, the state or territory was obliged to stand the expense of maintenance until the regiments were ready to be turned over to the general Government. To obviate this difficulty, Governor Saunders requested of the War Department that the several companies might be turned over as fast as recruited, thus relieving the territory of the extra cost.
PLATTE COUNTY IN THE WAR
In 1860 Platte County was sparsely settled and Columbus was the only trading point within its borders worthy of mention. The census showed there were less than eight hundred people in the whole county and, owing to the Civil war and restless Indian tribes, the increase in population was of no great consequence during the next five years. It was, therefore, not possible for Columbus or Platte County to figure in the great conflict between the states, to the extent that any special notice was taken of the few of her valiant sons, who took up arms to fight down rebellion and maintain the integrity of the Union. Telegraphic communication with the outside world had not been established when the war broke out and mail service was by pony express. So that, reports of the rapid advance of events in the controversy between the National Government and the recalcitrant states below Mason & Dixon's line, filtered into the settlement on the plains some little time after they had culminated in results fatal to the preservation of national peace.
As a matter of course, the people of Platte County were loyal friends of the Union. Many of them left monarchial countries to become citizens of the republic and enjoy free institutions. They were stanch supporters of the Government.
It is practically impossible to determine, even from the adjutant- general of the state's report, the names of all from Platte County
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who served in the War of the Rebellion, few as they were. The mustering officer, in most instances, noted the name and place of nativity of the recruit and failed to make note of his place of resi- dence. Another reason for the difficulty in making a complete list is that a number of men went from Platte County into the service and were not collectively identified with any one regiment or com- pany, so that their names have been lost among organizations of the various states. However, through the kindness of James H. Galley, one of the few surviving members of the Second Nebraska Cavalry, the names of practically all the men who enlisted in the Second Ne- braska Cavalry, from Platte County, have been supplied for this chapter. The Second was the only distinctive Nebraska organization in which Platte County finds a place in the history of the Civil war. The names, as given by Mr. Galley, follow.
SECOND NEBRASKA CAVALRY
Companies B and D
W. A. McAllister, George Lawrence, Company B; Edward A. Gerrard, Company D.
Company K
Henry Brown, J. H. Galley, John Hashberger, J. M. Hash- berger, James Hudson, Luke Johnson, Philip Lowe, L. H. North, William Penn, Albert J. Skinner, James L. Skinner, Daniel W. Kitchen, Valentine H. Thomas, John Will, John Zeigler.
WILLIAM BURGESS AND THE PAWNEE RESERVATION
Under the Grant administration a strong and practical peace policy was inaugurated in favor of the Indians, and the different agencies were grouped and assigned to several religious denomina- tions, in order to get their co-operation in the work of advancement for the race. The Pawnees came under the Society of Friends, who had the selecting of agents and other appointees, subject to confirma- tion by the Government. Thus it came to pass that from among some score of applicants considered by the Baltimore Friends meeting, William Burgess was chosen as agent for the Pawnees (four allied bands), with agency headquarters at Genoa, Nance County, Nebraska,
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or what was then known as the Pawnee reservation, a tract 15 by 30 miles in size, and intersected by the Loup River its entire length from west to east. The removal with his family from the peaceful environment of the old home in Pennsylvania to the then western wilds, there to take up the burden of official fatherhood over a semi-savage people, occurred in January, 1873. This was an event- ful year in Indian affairs. The "advent of the Quakers" was con- fronted with open hatred and hostility by certain elements, political and otherwise, among the surrounding settlements, all of which tended to instill the Indians with prejudice and restlessness. There was evidence of concerted action upon the part of the whites to drive the Indians out in order to get their lands. The Indians went, eventu- ally, but not at the bidding of their white neighbors of Platte County, but from causes that few of the whites in their arrogance even sus- pected. The Pawnees looked upon the encroaching settlements as an intolerable oppression, and, true Bedouins of the plains that they were. they became restless from their own initiative. To get away from their fatherland, where they were rapidly being cooped up like captives (the expression of one of their leaders), became their pas- sionate longing. "To the Southland! To the Washita!" became their exultant cry. Two of the younger leader's-Big Spotted Horse and Running Chief-openly declared their independence of government and of everything that oppressed them; and against the strongest protests and threats of punishment from Agent Burgess they broke away with a following of 300, late in the summer, and headed for the Fort Sill region, across a country where every wandering tribe was their lifelong enemy, without commissariat, passport, escort, or right of way; and glory redounds to their names among the Pawnee people. In this same year, from far off California came news of the Modocs holding the United States troops at bay in the lava beds. This added to the general confusion. At the Pawnee agency it might have been appropriately called an uprising of the whites. The Pawnees were never hostile to any constituted authority. Agent Burgess soon found himself supported by stanch friends among the leading chiefs as well as among the whites. He overcame all obstacles through this trying period by his never failing courage and tact. Next came the grasshoppers in countless hordes to devastate and scourge. It was late in the season of this first summer of Agent Burgess' charge that the Pawnees met with a disastrous defeat in a battle with the allied bands of Sioux, Cheyennes and Arapahoes out in the region of the Republican River. In this unequal contest about sixty Pawnee
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women and girls were massacred by their hereditary foes of the North. Thus many things conspired to augment the disaffection the Pawnees showed for their old haunts in Nebraska. In a grand council of all the chiefs and representative men, called by Agent Burgess, they voiced a unanimous protest against remaining in the North, and by impassioned speech and gesture declared their desire to join the tribes of the Southland-"To the Wichitas!" In the fall of 1874, under orders from Washington, Agent Burgess, accompanied by his son Harry E., made a tour of inspection through the Indian Territory preparatory to the removal of the Pawnee tribe the following year. A big caravan of Indians had started ahead of the agent and arrived at the Washita, in Southwestern Indian Territory, early in 1875. A council was held and subsequently the Pawnees became established on their new lands between the Cimarron and Arkansas (now Pawnee, Okla.), their present home. As a souvenir of this eventful journey, Mr. Burgess, the son, preserves a map of that section, made by his father in the camps of that then southern wilderness.
Resigning from the Indian work in the late summer of 1877, Mr. Burgess removed with his family to Columbus, Neb. Having been in the newspaper business at different periods of his life-editing the Wyoming Republican, at Tunkhannock, Pa., before the war, and later the Intelligencer at Belvidere, N. J., he now resumed the voca- tion and published the Columbus Gazette and later the Genoa Leader. Again, in 1882, he made a change of residence, this time going to Southern California. He located at National City, San Diego County, where he founded the Record. At this place he was also police judge and was secretary of the county board of education. Subsequently he resided in San Francisco, where he continued in editorial work. He contributed to a number of publications of the country. He was a member of Lincoln Post, G. A. R., of San Fran- cisco. IIe was also a member of the Odd Fellows and had been an active Good Templar in his younger days. In 1897, accompanied by his wife, Mr. Burgess returned to Pennsylvania, where he made his home up to August, 1905. During that period he had a class in phonography for a time at the Carlisle Indian School, he having made a lifelong study of shorthand. Among his literary friends was the poet Whittier, with whom he had been a co-worker in the great anti- slavery movement, and like this great and good friend, whom he revered, Mr. Burgess, too, was ever ready with voice or pen to lend aid toward the betterment of humanity. In the latter part of 1905 he went to Chicago to make his home with his daughter and two sons
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there. He was ever optimistic, and although in his eighty-third year, was possessed of remarkable energy, both mental and physical. He attended the Chicago Friends' meeting and after their custom was wont to break the silence upon occasion by a few well chosen words in testimony to the Light within, and the mind power of resignation to Nature's law and the supreme will of the Over Ruling Father. In November of the same year he succumbed to a sudden attack of intestinal trouble, and without great or prolonged suffering passed from this earthly life to his eternal reward. His mind remained keen and active to the very end. His was an exemplary life. He fought the good fight. He kept the good faith of the illustrious Fox and Penn. He shrank from no duty that lay before him, and ever kept the abiding faith in "the Divinity that shapes our end." At his death he was survived by six children and an only sister, his senior, Mrs. Mary Longshore, of Philadelpiha.
In politics, Mr. Burgess was a stanch republican, but he ever maintained a conservative attitude, whether as editor or public speaker. He was moderate in all things. He knew no bias of class or race distinctions. His creed was to do right. He had charity for all and ever held out a helping hand to each humble toiler he met upon life's way. As the "father" (A-ti-us) of the Indian people, Agent Burgess was loved and revered by them. He ruled with a kindness and gentle firmness more potent than military regime. He was a man without fear and never carried firearms throughout his western career.
His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth L. Burgess, daughter of Abram and Rhoda Longshore, was born in the year 1825, at Middletown, Bucks County, Pa., and died at Carlisle, Pa., August 30, 1900. Hers was a varied career. As a girl on the family homestead she was the strong support of her parents in their home industries. Educated in the best local schools, she became a teacher, in which vocation she con- tinued after her marriage in 1846, and assisted her husband in the management of the Greenwood Seminary at Millville, Columbia County, Pa., whither they journeyed partly by stage and packet boat to Northumberland, en route, and thence by private conveyance to their destination. One sister, Anna M. Longshore-Potts, M. D., of San Diego, Cal., is the sole survivor of a large family of brothers and sisters. When her husband was appointed United States Indian agent for the Pawnees in Nebraska, Mrs. Burgess became superin- tendent of the manual labor school at Genoa, then a Government institution on the Pawnee reservation. After the removal of the tribe to the Indian Territory (1875), she continued her educational
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