USA > Nebraska > Sherman County > Loup City > The trail of the Loup; being a history of the Loup River region > Part 10
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But such prosaic records fail to tell the story by half. The excite- ment, the fear lest their efforts might be frustrated by a too early return of the sheriff. lent a zest to the commissioner's proceedings which none but the chief actors themselves can ever fully appreciate. As soon as the above resolution was adopted the commissioner proceeded to issue the bonds, when it ap- peared that no one present could tell just how such documents ought to be formu- ated, and to make the matter worse there was not a solitary law book nor a single copy of the Nebraska Statutes at hand! At his dire extremity D. C. Bailey was dispatched post haste to Grand Island to procure the necessary information. This of course meant a long adjournment, and meanwhile the injunction might appear ! But patience, Providence has decreed that Ord must win! Do you remember, good reader, bow upon a certain night in January of '78 Washington's army lay entangled in Dr. Charles Badger: Firat Superintendent of Valley County Schools. miry roads between the Delaware and the Assinpink, hemmed in by the exul- tant Cornwallis, when all but the commander-in-chief had despaired of safety, that suddenly the elements came to the patriots' succor, freezing the roads and providing an avenue for escape? So now these same elements came to our fathers' rescue. Heavy rains in the eastern part of the state made travel difficult and delayed the sheriff's return from West Point, where a misguided judge had granted him the dreaded injunc- tion. Westward rains were delayed just long enough to allow Mr. Bailey to return from the "Island" with his precious law dryshod. Then indeed did the sluices of Heaven open up! And every creek and gully go on a rampage, flooding the lowlands far and wide. But neither flood nor storm could stop our stalwart minion of the law. Homeward he strug-
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gled through rain and mire, much delayed though not disheartened. Yet it was to avail him nothing. At eight o'clock sharp on the morning set for
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Remains of the First Frame House in Valley County. This Structure was Erected by Orson S. Haskell on His Claim North-East of Ord, in the Summer of 1872.
the adjourned meeting the crudely formulated bonds were produced and sold to John Means, who, as the sole bidder, was also given the contract to build the bridge. At just five minutes past eight o'clock the meeting adjourned. Ten minutes later the baffled sheriff drew rein in front of Mr. Bancroft's residence, but-too late! It must have been a dramatic spec- tacle indeed to have seen the sheriff lashing his foaming and nigh spent horses up hill and down hill, across creeks and canyons, on the south bank
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of the river, cursing his luck, but hoping against hope to be in time; while Means, the bond-owner and contractor, on the opposite bank, was leisurely
Emily C. Bancroft and William A. Hobson.
To settle a much-disputed question among o'd-timers as to who was the first couple mar- ried in Valley county the writer offers the following, taken from the county records: Nels Anderson (age 29 and Johanna Mortensen (age 22), married by Elder Oscar Babcock, July 6, 1873; Wm. A Hobson (age 27 and Emily C. Bancroft (age 17), married by Elder I. A. Bristol, August 10, 1873. The dispute originated is the fact that Mr. Anderson neglected to take out a license to marry.
cantering away toward Central City, the important documents snugly hidden in his waistcoat pocket!
Such then was the "deed" by which the bridge was secured and the
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county seat question finally disposed of. But to get the bridge built and paid for was, as it will appear, not so easy. The specifications called for a pile and plank structure 831 feet long; for this the contractor was to get $12.00 per running foot, cr $9972.00. Work was soon under way on the bridge-pilings, a levy of two mills was ordered on all property to pay the interest on the bonds, and everything seemed in fair way to success, when Mr. Means found himself unable to handle the bonds and turn them into cash. Work on the bridge was consequently discontinued and the bonds were turned over to the county board. July 13, '75, the commissioners determined to make a second attempt at bund sale and this time they were successful. Under a new contract. entered into Sept. 8, 75, Mr. Means agreed to build the bridge at the rate of $9.00 per running foot and have the structure completed by October 20th of the same year. This contract was faithfully executed and final settlement was made Nov. 29, 1875. The cash cost was $7479.00, which the county settled with warrants amounting to $9719.30, placing their face value at 70 per cent. The bridge which in our day would have seemed a very crude affair, answered its purpose very well and was for many a year the chief connecting link in the traffic be- tween the two sides of the North Loup.
Before closing this chapter on odds and ends it may be of some inter- est to know how the county procured its first iron safe-the one now to be seen in the county clerk's office at Ord. In time as valuable documents began to accumulate on the commissioners' hands, it became a serious question to know what to do with them. By 1875, some sort of a depository had become absolutely necessary, and it was unanimously decided to pur- chase a "safe." The board had no ready money. not even enough to pay the freight, as the appended agreement will show and warrants were not held in much favor, so the safe became an expensive one. It was purchased through one Chas. L. Wundt, representing a Cincinnati house, and was to cost $1000.00 and freight, the latter to be prepaid by the selling firm. Furthermore, the warrants given in payment were to run "till the B. and M. railroad taxes could be collected" and at this particular time that was a vexing question with the board. The safe laid down in Grand Island cost just $1058.27 plus the freight charges form that place to Ord. When eventually paid it represented an outlay of fully $1200.00. The same safe could today easily be purchased for one-sixth of that amount. Here are the agreements in the original, just as they appear on the record :
Agreement, E. L. Wundt v -. Co. Comm's. Valley County, Nebraska, Apl. 6th. 1875.
To the Hon. The Board of County Commissioners of Valley County. Neb. Gents.
I hereby agree and bond myself to pay the freight on the safe this day ordered from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Grand Island. Nebraska, and take warrants for same at their actual cash value.
CHAS. L. WUNDT.
"July 13, 1875 .- Warrants 74 to 75 issued to Chas L. Wundt for safe and freight on same, as per contract of Apl. 6th-75-One Thousand and Fifty-eight and 27-100 Dollars."
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The Memorable Year 1873
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CHAPTER VIII.
In the heaven's. in the cloud's, oh! I see
Many spots many dark. many red; In the heavens, oh! I see Many clouds. -Uncas' Chant.
T HE Battle of Summit Springs in July, 1869, practically put an end to the Sioux War and soon thereafter a treaty was signed, which remained unbroken till the invasion of the Black Hills by miners, consequent upon the discovery of gold, led to the desperate war in 1876-'77, which culminated with the Custer Massacre, But for years after the peace-signing the Sioux made free use of the hunting grounds in the North Platte country. They would sally forth from the agencies along the South Dakota border and hunt up and down the Nebraska river courses. Occasionally war parties stole away from their agencies. Breaking through the sand hills, they would trail the courses of the Cedar and North Loup, suddenly to fall up on their ancient foes, the Pawnees, on the Nance county reservation.
On such marauding expeditions it was not unusual for the Indians to run off outlying settlers' cattle and horses and make life as a whole unsafe.
The Loup Valley settlements were repeatedly harried and for a while it looked as though these incursions would put an entire stop to the influx of the settlers. Then the government came to the rescue and built Fort Hartsuff, after which time there was no further danger. The first real
trouble occurred in the month of March, 1873, when a band of Pine Ridge Sioux fell unon the Post settlement north of Turtle Creek and ran off much valuable stock. This affair culminated in the burlesque of an Indian hunt usually known as "the Battle of Sioux Creek." Right here might the history of many of our valient fathers have ended had the Indians been as cager for scalps as they were for good saddle horses. As a matter of fact the settlers organized a party to hunt the thieves down, and to recover if possible, the stolen property. But so inadequately were the members of this party equipped and so unskilled were the majority of them in Indian warfare that the great wonder is that a single man returned to tell the story. Indeed the foolhardy pursuers could readily have been led into an ambush and all massacred had the Indians been so disposed.
The battle as here reviewed is from Peter Mortensen's article in "The
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Ord Democrat" of March 2, 1894, and is here given almost verbatim. Speaking of the Turtle Creek settlement, Mr. Mortensen says:
"The young blood of the Posts, who had been asking for a real tight with the red men, did not have to wait long. One morning in the latter days of March, '73 a fine mare and her yearling colt were missing from the corral. The footmarks of Indian ponies were noticed around the stables and their trail with those of the stolen horse and cult were plain, leading ยท southward toward the hills and up the Turtle Creek Valley. All the set- tlers were notified and requested to respond at once for the purpose of over- taking the red rascals, to recover the stolen horses and such other booty as they might have in their possession and to teach them such a lesson as would forever prevent them from again stealing any horses from the white settlers. To this call responded, as quickly as possible, "Happy Jack" a trapper, Indian scout and regular frontiersman, who the previous fall had moved his camp from near the chalk hills in Greeley county to the canyon bearing his name, near Mr. Goodenow's farm ; also A. G. Post and his son Frank, John Case, Doctor McKenney, Frank Curtis, the three Post boys, David, Charles and Calvin, Falle Moller and Chris. Frey (the latter two re- turning home after the first day and before the battle the following morn- ing) and the writer, who received the news while plowing on his farm with with his ox team. The oxen were immediately liberated from their yoke and on the back of a borrowed horse, without a saddle, a borrowed gun and a belt with a shot bag containing 27 rounds of cartridges, he hastened to meet his companions, who had been preparing sufficient provisions to last the company several days. The company were all on horseback with the exception, I think, of Mr. Case and A. G. Post, who rode in a spring wag- on containing the provisions, camping utensils and blankets. It was esti- mated from the trail that the Indians were about twelve in number. There were eleven of us when we started out with "Happy Jack" as our leader, who it was reported had single-handed defeated as large a band as the one we were about to annihilate. And there were the younger Posts. Their blood was just more than boiling with enthusiasm enough in each to fight the band single-handed. We were armed "to the teeth." Frey brought his old musket, loaded to the muzzle with large buck-shot enough to kill several of the red bucks if they had been conveniently arranged. He had forgotten to bring any extra ammunition. Moller brought his double bar- reled shot gun, also heavily loaded. The writer brought a borrowed Spring- field needle-gun and 27 rounds of cartridges, but on account of some defect in his eyesight and inexperience in handling such a dangerous weapon, might as well have brought a willow club. Even "Happy Jack" did not carry a breech-loader, but a double-barreled gun, one barrel of which was used for shot and the other for ball. Mr. Curtis and Frank Post, I think, both carried Spencer carbines, which experience had proven were sure to overshoot their marks from ten feet to ten rods, according to distance. The rest of the company were armed with muzzle-leading guns and muskets of more or less improved patterns. With such arms no wonder we were cer-
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5
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It.
The Battle of Sioux Creek in Five Acts: (1) The Valiant Settlers in Pursuit of the Thieving Sioux; (2) In Camp at Night; (3) Sudden Approach of Indians; (4) Homeward Bound with the Red Skins in Hot Pursuit; (5) Safe, but utterly Exhausted. (Copied from a Watercolor Drawing Made by an English Artist in July, 1878, and now in the Possession of Hon. Peter Mortensen.
THE TRAIL OF THE LOUP
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tain of victory against a foe, who, as we found out later, were armed with nothing but Winchester repeating rifles!
"After receiving our instructions from "Happy Jack" we left Uncle Billy at home to protect the two ladies, Mrs. Post and Mrs. McKenney, and the remaining horses, about ten in number. Jack was as sure in following a trail of Indians as a blood hound is in following a nigger trail in the South, and with him in front, Messrs. Case and Post behind in a buggy with our provisions, we started in hot pursuit after the offenders of the Common Law and of the Statutes of Nebraska. A few miles up the north branch of Turtle Creek the trail divided, the largest body of the Indians crossing the creek toward the south, while a trail of two or three Indians and the stol- en mare and colt continued on up the creek. This appeared to be in our favor. The prospect now was that we would have to fight but two or three instead of a dozen. That it would have been very convenient for those In- dians who had left the trail to have followed us up and in one of the deep draws which we occasionally had to cross to have massacred us all did not enter our minds, and probably not theirs, for as it will appear later they were not planning for human blood but to steal more horses. Occasional- ly along the trail which we continued to follow we noticed pieces of red cloth, which "Happy Jack" explained to us was to warn us not to follow them, as they would fight us if we came too close. The trail continued to lead up to the head of Turtle Creek, over the divide to Sionx Creek in Loup county and down that creek to the North Loup Valley. When we reached the valley it was sundown and we decided to go into camp on Sioux Creek in a cottonwood grove with plenty of water and dry wood. After par- taking of a hearty meal of fried bacon, bread, dried venison and coffee some of us, sore and tired, tried to sleep on the damp ground while others were scattered around our camp to guard us against sudden surprise. But even those who were permitted to sleep were but little benefited. The howl of a coyote or wolf in the still air or the neighing of the horses tied in the brush would startle us or call us to arms by the guard.
"Before sunrise we had finished our breakfast, broken camp and were again in the saddle, following the trail up the Loup Valley. We had not travelled more than an hour, probably 8 or 10 miles, when we heard fierce yelling behind us. We were startled to say the least. Our enthusiasm went down into our knees and made them shake. The blood rushed to our heads and made us dizzy. There they were within 80 or 100 rods of us. eight, ten or twelve, more or less. On their little Indian ponies, they looked like giants and with their flowing red blankets and feathered hats like knights of the Dark Ages. It would have been a grand sight had we been in a mood to appreciate it, but we were not. Where was Calvin and Frank Post? Where was our hero and leader "Happy Jack?" There he stood his pony between him and the Indians, and as pale as a corpse. I offered him the service of my needle gun and my 27 rounds but he declined and advised us not to shoot. "If you don't shoot at them they will go on and not molest us, " he said, but they did.
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"Soon one of the warriors was seen to leap from his horse and delib- erately take aim at us with his Winchester over his pony's back and the ball went whiz-z over our head. Soon he was followed by others and the balls went whiz-z! whiz-z! whiz-z! Our horses became excited. They had caught our enthusiasm and began to run, not towards the Indians but in an opposite direction towards the river. The balls kent a whizzing, and some were seen to strike on the ground near us. A few times we would change front and send a volley after the red skins, who would mount their ponies, circle around a minute and then again commence to fire at us. During our retreat Charles Post and the Doctor, I think, were riding in the hind end of the buggy facing the Indians and keeping up a constant firing, even after the stock of the Doctor's rifle had caught in the buggy wheel and broken its stock. How long our retreat lasted or what distance it cov-
A Hand-to-Hand Encounter.
pred I have no distinct recollection. We might have covered a mile or two when we reached a high bank near the river. Here I handed my gun to Frank Post and made myself useful holding the boys' horses while they opened fire on the Indians at a rather long range, and I fear to little effect. When I turned my gun over to Mr. Post I had but 7 rounds left, and as I had not fired once I must have lost the other 20 in the excitement. The Indians soon got tired of being targets for us to shoot at and took up the trail after their companions where we had left it and no doubt soon over- took them and over their camp fire had a good laugh over the panic they had caused and the trick they had played us.
"On our way home a valuable mule belonging to A. G. Post and hitch- ed to the buggy died some distance west from where Burwell is now lo-
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cated. Whether the cause was from a wound received during the fight, a sudden attack of colic or from excitement. opinions have very largely dif- fered, and the facts have never been established. We reached home before night where Uncle Billie and the ladies, with tears in their eyes told us of the trick the red rascals had played on us. That portion of the Indians whose trail we had left on Turtle Creek, and who we supposed had left the local- ity post haste, had hid themselves in the hills and after we had passed they very cooly and deliberately returned and before the eyes of Mr. Post and the ladies, who were powerless to offer any resistance, drove off the rest of their horses, nine or ten in number.
"I don't mean to infer that "Happy Jack" was a coward. While his actions were, to say the least, very strange, his superior knowledge of In- dians and Indian warfare may have shown him the folly of forcing a fight in which the settlers certainly appeared at a disadvantage against their better trained and better armed opponents, and thus saved our lives, if not our reputations as Indian fighters.
"Thus ended the first conflict in the North Loup Valley between the pioneers and the savages, but it was not the last, as may be noted later on. The direct loss to owners was indeed a heavy one, as it represented many years of hard earnings. Estimated in dollars and cents it could not have been less than $1,500, but the indirect loss in retarding immigration and the development of the Valley was many times greater."
In every way considered, this first experience with the Indians was a disastrous one, and satisfied even the most daring among the settlers that they were no match for the well-armed, hard-riding Sioux, who had been trained by the great Red Cloud. This was indeed a serious matter. Ac- cordingly a council was called, and after careful consideration Messrs. John Case and A. G. Post were delegated to report the raid to the Com- mandant of the Department of the Platte, stationed at Fort Omaha, and pe- tition the government for protection. As an immediate result the War De- partment, ever mindful of the welfare of the frontier settlements, ordered Captain Mix with a company of cavalry to make a scouting expedition up the valley. The soldiers spent a part of April, 1873, on the Loup; and then stirted on a return trip to Grand Island to report conditions as they found them here. The company made the return by way of the Middle Loup, having crossed the divide somewhere up in Loup or Cherry county. Just as they reached the site of present day Loup City in Sherman county, the terrible storm of April 13. of which more will be said hereafter, burst with sudden fury on the devoted heads of the troopers. So terrible was the blinding blast of the blizzard that the hardy men had to abandon their horses and mules in some plum brush, under a high bank of what is to this day called Dead Horse Run, to seek shelter in the little store building of Frank Ingram, one of the two houses which then comprised Loup City. For three long days the sixty soldiers comprising the company were im- prisoned here by the storm and when finally released it was to find their mounts, to the number of fifty, dead along the creek bottom. This meant
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a march on foot through the snowdrifted hills to Cotesfield in Howard county, where the soldiers arrived after much suffering, cursing the set- tlers for causing them to leave their comfortable quarters in Fort Omaha to which they returned as soon as means of transportation could be se- cured.
In May of the same year a second command under Captain Munson came into the Valley and went into camp at "Happy Jack's Gulch." "While this," says Mr. Mortensen, "to some extent allayed the fears of
D. C. Bailey's First Home.
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the community, it did not disperse them. The Pawnee tribe was at that time on their reservation in what is now known as Nance county. The Sioux tribe had full sway over the northwestern part of the state. Be- tween these two hostile tribes a continual warfare was kept up and the trail between their reservations lay close to the North Loup Valley. Occasion- ally a raid would prove unsuccessful and the raiders would run out of pro- visions. And provisions they must have, either by begging or stealing, as best suited their purpose, from the poor settlers. An effort was made to get the soldiers to erect temporary quarters and remain in the Valley over winter, but the comforts and social privileges of Fort Omaha were too much for the settlers to overcome, and the effort failed.
"The return of the soldiers to Omaha in the fall of '73 again brought fears and uneasiness to the settlers. Hunters and others would circulate reports that bands of Indians had been seen in this or that part of the county, and settlers in a neighborhood would often gather with their fam- ilies in some of the largest and strongest houses, from which scouting par- ties would be sent out in different directions, scouring the country in search of Indians and Indian trails. In some localities earth works were erected, behind which the settlers could gather with their families, in case of Indian outbreak." One of these fortifications was built near the pres- ent school house in District No. 6, Springdale Township. Traces of an- other may yet be seen at an elevation in the meadow-lands of the old Ash Post farm, owned by Jorgen Moller. This was the fort erected by the Post boys.
Mrs. Emma Haskell, wife of O. S. Haskell, the founder of Ord, nar- rates the following graphic incident in one of these Indian scares-indeed the very first one, which resulted from the Sioux Creek fight. "Every prairie schooner that came," says she, "was hailed with delight for it meant more neighbors. The Baileys arrived in the summer of '72 and lived at Springdale in the Harter house while building their own. Dear Auntie Bailey ! How good she was to me! I shall always love her for it. Here we all gathered at the time the Indians ran off the horses on the south side of the river-and what a scene it was! It requires an abler pen than mine to do it justice.
"A few days before this a number of families had gone up the river to look for land. I do not recall the names of any except two families by the name of Chubbuck. I think the others all left. There was a sick woman with them. Her husband stopped with her at our house that she might rest, and I remember that they were people well advanced in life. It was he who afterwards told us the Indians were coming. He had seen Unele Bailey up the river, who did not forget us. In the afternoon we saw a team coming at an unusual rate and wondered what was the trouble. It took him only a minute to say in excited tones, 'the Indians are murdering the women and children and burning the houses. See the smoke. I am sent here by Mr. Bailey to tell you to go to his house. Get up!' He whipped his horses until they fairly ran, while the sick woman, sitting
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