USA > Nebraska > York County > York County, Nebraska and its people : together with a condensed history of the state, Vol. I > Part 4
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 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
25
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
is doubtful whether the mind could imagine a section better supplied with rivers, creeks, and rivulets, giving an abundance of mill power and other water privileges." There is still another Blue River that rises in Adams County, and comes down through Clay and Thayer counties and passes out of the state in Jefferson County, and, in Kansas, finally unites with the Big Blue.
There are yet many other rivers which have not been gone into with any detail of treatment. Among these are the Bow rivers in northeastern Nebraska, mainly in Cedar County. Salt Creek, named from the number of saline springs that drain into it, and which circles abont the city of Lincoln; Weeping Water, in Cass County; the Wahoo, in Saunders County : Elk Creek, in Dakota County ; and South and West Iowa Creeks, in Dixon County.
THE CLIMATE OF NEBRASKA
By George A. Loveland, Meteorologist, U. S. Weather Bureau
The principal elements of climate are temperature, humidity, rainfall, sunshine, wind, and storm. For Nebraska, they are as follows:
Temperature. The average temperature of this state decreases From east to west and south to north. The mean is 51º in the southeast, 50° in the southwest, 48° in the northeast, and about 45° in the northwest. The highest temperature on record, 115°, was in 1918, and the lowest, 47° below zero, in 1899. From 1876 to 1918, a period of forty-two years, the average temperature of the state was 48.6°.
January, the coldest month, has a mean temperature of 28.1°, being 25° in the southeast and about 20° in the north. February and December are slightly warmer. July is the warmest month, although the hottest days of the year may occur in June, July, August, or September. August is slightly below July and thereafter the decline in temperature is gradual. Summer evenings usually are cool compared with mid- day.
Frosts. The growing season (free from frosts) is about 160 days in the south- eastern counties and 130 days in the northwest. Spring approaches the state from the southeast and fall and winter enter from the northwest.
Light frosts sometimes occur throughout May and in early June in the north- western counties. The last killing frost of spring in the eastern counties is usually in late April or early in May. It is from May 10th to 15th in the northern and western parts of the state.
Humidity. The relative humidity averages about 70 per cent in Nebraska. It is highest in mornings and lowest in the early afternoon. It is higher in winter than in summer. The western counties have a lower humidity than the eastern counties. There is a close relation between the relative humidity and the amount of precipitation.
Rainfall. The average rainfall for the state between 1876 and 1918 was 23.64 inches. The eastern counties have more precipitation than the western counties. There is a gradual decrease in amount from east to west. The annual rainfall for different parts of the state the past forty-two years is as follows:
Southeastern part 29.87 inches.
Northeastern part 27.43 inches.
Central part 24.49 inches.
26
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
Southwestern part 23.03 inches.
Northwestern part 19.11 inches.
Western part 12.72 inches.
The records show some thuetuation in the amount of rainfall by periods of years, but no definite and reliable statement can be made regarding the distribution of these periods and their probable occurrence in the future.
The rainfall occurs principally in the spring and summer months. The wet season, May to July, inclusive, has 16 per cent of the annual rainfall. The heaviest and most evenly distributed rainfall comes in June and decreases to January, which has less than one-sixth that of June. The June rainfall is over 5 inches in the southeastern counties, and less than 3 inches in the west. The driest period of the year, so far as the effects of precipitation and evaporation on crops is concerned, is apt to be in July and August.
The annual monthly rainfall for the state from 1876 to 1918, which shows the heaviest precipitation during the growing season. is as follows :
January .52 inches
February
.42 inches
March 1.11 inches
April 2.41 inches
May
3.63 inches
June
3.81 inches July
3.43 inches August
2.81 inches
September
2.13 inches
October 1.57 inches
November
.68 inches
December 74 inches
The dry season comes from November to February with 11 per cent of the annual amount of moisture. Most of the precipitation of these months is snow, which averages 28 inches, making 21% inches of water. The average amount of snow increases from November to January and February.
Sunshine. The state, as a whole, has a comparatively large amount of sunshine. The cloudiness is greatest in the eastern and southeastern counties and comes in association with rain and snow.
Winds. The average wind velocity, though not exactly known, is about 9 miles per hour for the state. It averages highest in the western counties and lowest in the southeast. March and April are the windiest months, with averages of 10.6 and 11.5 miles per hour. July and August, the calmest, average 7.4 and 2.7 miles per hour. The highest velocities of record have occurred in thunder storms. The maximum has been about 80 miles per hour.
The prevailing wind direction is from the north and northwest from October to May : from the south and southeast in May, June, and July ; and from the south from Angust to September.
Storms. Cyclones are the movements of air over large areas which bring to Nebraska the rainfall, change in cloudiness, and temperature and sometimes develop
27
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
storm conditions, especially in the southeastern part. Tornadoes coming also in association with the cyclones are not very common. Far the largest amount of damage done in the state was during the year of the well-known Omaha tornado.
Destructive hail storms are of record. The effect is over small areas.
Healthful Climate. Viewed as a whole, the climate of the state may be regarded as healthful beyond the average. Under the wide range of conditions in elevation, between altitudes of the 840 feet and 5,340 feet, and because of the range in tem- perature, sunshine, humidity, cloudiness and precipitation, one may select a place in the state to suit the required conditions as may relate to healthfulness.
NEBRASKA'S GAME RESOURCES
By Robert H. Wolcott, Head of Department of Zoology, The University of Nebraska, and Frank H. Shoemaker, of the Nebraska Conservation and Soil Survey, The University of Nebraska
GAME
To the red men who roamed these plains and prairies before the advent of the whites, the territory which is now Nebraska formed part of a veritable happy hunt- ing ground. To them the numerous herds of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope which dotted the open country in all directions, or which sought the protection of the fringes of timber along the streams, together with the vast numbers of water fowl which frequented both the streams and prairie lakes and sloughs, formed very nearly an all-sufficient resource. The flesh of this game provided them with meat, the hides both clothed them and furnished them with shelter, and many articles were made from fur, feathers, horns, or other parts, which meant to them luxury in personal adornment, in the pomp of tribal ceremonials, and even in the performance of religious worship.
The presence of these same animals was the attraction which brought the first white settlers to this region, these being the trappers, who came to themselves collect furs, and the traders, whose object was to barter various manufactured articles for the skins and furs of the Indians. These were followed by the gold-seekers whose wagon-trains wound wearily across the plains toward the Eldorado in the West, oblivious to the potential agricultural wealth of the country they traversed, but keenly appreciative of the opportunities which the abundance of game presented. Gradually permanent settlements were established, and many a pioneer of the great army that was to follow, once the fertility of the soil had become generally known, found in the game a means of maintenance in time of hunger and destitution.
The abundance of game and ease of procuring it led to thoughtless waste. The commercial value of buffalo hides tempted the cupidity of men who engaged in the slaughter of these animals by thousands, stripping the carcass of its hide and leaving it to rot on the ground ; the skins were so numerous in the east a half-century ago that the buffalo robe became an indispensable adjunct of a sleigh ride. The herds of wild animals were rapidly exterminated and immense numbers of cattle took their place on "the range"; more recently the open range has in its turn disappeared and the barbed wire fenees of farms and ranches today extend elear across this state.
But long after the larger game mammals had been destroyed, countless numbers
28
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
of game birds traversed our territory twice a year in their migrations and many made their homes here and reared their young. Nebraska became the mecca for the sportsmen of the middle west, and even attracted many from the far east. Market hunting became a profitable employment and a considerable number of men engaged in it not only in Nebraska but in neighboring states. The supply of feathered game seemed limitless and no voice was effectively raised against the slaughter. which went on ceaselessly from British America to the Gulf with hardly an intermission even in the breeding season. Game laws were placed among the statutes of Nebraska as far back as 1860, but for a long time thereafter were rarely enforced. In 1900. Congress passed the Lacey Act. which was aimed to check the trathe in game, and began a nation wide campaign in favor of game conservation. The Nebraska Legislature of 1901 enacted admirable laws, including provisions for the appointment of a force of wardens, and since that time a strong public opinion has been developed in this state in favor of their strict enforcement.
In many parts of the country, however, particularly in the South, public senti- ment was not aroused and the wasteful slaughter continued. Song birds, not in any sense game, and of too great value as enemies of insect pests to be killed for food, were being destroyed in these states, often in large numbers. The "pump-gun" and the automatic added greatly to the effectiveness of the individual hunter and with the increase of the number of hunters due to increasing population, the efforts of the states in which an enlightened public sentiment did exist and in which well devised game laws were being successfully enforced, were insufficient to cheek the rapid diminution in the numbers of our migratory game birds, which threatened their complete extinction in a future not far distant. At this juncture the national government again interposed and the passage of the migratory bird law, the pro- visions of which have been more recently incorporated into a treaty with Great Britain, has laid the foundation for nation wide and uniform restriction of the shooting of game with a view of conserving this resource that future generations may share in its utilization.
No argument is needed to show that the continued presence of the vast herds of large game mammals was incompatible with the settlement of our state and the development of its agricultural resources. But the existence of an abundant game bird population is not inconsistent with the highest degree of cultivation of the soil and the maximum utilization of all our natural resources. No sane man wouldl place the welfare of wild animals before the interests of human society, but on the other hand no wise man would negleet to utilize to its fullest extent the natural wealth of the region in which he lived or subscribe to a spendthrift policy which would result in the waste by his generation of resources which might be both enjoyed in moderation by himself and transmitted unimpaired to his children and to his children's children.
MAMMALS*
Former Nebraska game mammals, now extinct, impounded, or protected through- out the year.
The Elk was formerly found abundantly in all parts of the state, but disappeared
* Many of the statements here given are taken from "A Preliminary Review of the Mam- mals of Nebraska," by Prof. M. H. Swenk, published conjointly by the University and the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, September, 1908.
29
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
in the early '80%. A fine herd is now maintained on the game reservation east of Valentine, and there are a few more in captivity in the parks of Omaha and Lincoln.
The Plains White-tailed Deer was formerly common in all the wooded valleys of the state, but settlement of the country has caused its gradual extermination, until at the present time it is found only in the northwest corner, in the wildest canyons of the Pine Ridge country, and in very limited numbers. Though protected by the game laws throughout the year, this animal is marked for total extinction within our borders, as has been the case with the white-tailed deer in many sections east of Nebraska.
The Black-tailed Deer was the common deer of early Nebraska, found alike in woodland, plains, prairie and sandhill regions, but it has now almost wholly disap- peared. One small band of about twenty-five animals still existed in the sandhills of the Dismal River region about ten years ago, and at that time was being given all the protection possible by the ranchers of the vicinity ; the recent history of this herd is not known.
The Pronghorn Antelope was originally found over the entire area of the state. but is now heard from only as small bands are reported from time to time in the extreme western part of Nebraska, most of them perhaps having crossed our boundary from Wyoming or Colorado. There are, however, stationary bands in Sionx County, nearly due west of Alliance, and in Garden County, near Crescent Lake. A young one was observed near Sidney in 1918.
The Bad Lands Mountain Sheep was found in small numbers on Court House Rock, in Scotts Bluff County, until the late '70s, and one animal of this species was noted as far east as Birdwood Creek, near North Platte.
The American Bison, or Buffalo, was formerly present in enormous numbers in all parts of Nebraska. The last of the wild animals were killed in the early '80s. A small herd is impounded in the game reservation near Valentine and is in a thriving condition. This animal affords the most prominent example of the waste of a natural game resource. It existed previous to the middle of the last century to the number of many millions, scattered over the whole of the plains region. Killed in gradually increasing numbers up to the '60s, it was systematically exterminated in the '70s and early '80s. Only the hides were utilized, and of these on the average only one-half were saved ; most of the meat was wasted. Though the animals were of an inoffensive disposition, and the ealves were easily domesticated, no attempts seem to have been made to bring the species under domestication till after its destruction was practically complete.
The Black Bear was formerly found in Nebraska, principally in the northern part, but never commonly, as it is a forest animal.
The Plains Grizzly Bear is said to have occurred in the extreme northwest corner of the state in early days, but no definite records exist.
WILD LIFE RESOURCES
This group of natural assets receives too little attention. The only policy for several years, if it can be called snch, has been to destroy the wild life withont regard to consequence. The time has come, however, when wanton destruction should cease that progress may be made along lines determined by technical knowledge.
The destruction of certain kinds of wild life means waste which cannot be
30
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
replaced with domesticated forms. There are in Nebraska a number of animals which serve continually and successfully and which the people destroy without regard to their usefulness. They are the animals which keep down inseets, mice, gophers, and rats. Most of the song birds, the quail, several of the hawks, the owls, toads, bats, and some of the snakes assist in maintaining a condition necessary for agri- cultural development. Among the wild life resources, aside from the animals which maintain the biological balance, are grasses, forest, fruit, fish, game, and for- bearing animals.
WILD GRASS RESOURCES
. By Raymond J. Pool. Professor of Botany, The University of Nebraska
When white men first saw the area now included in the state of Nebraska, the landscape was dominated by a vast, rolling stretch of native grassland, whereas today much of the state, and particularly the eastern part, is farmed and it is difficult to find a piece of prairie in the agricultural sections large enough to give one a fair idea of the original conditions. Large areas of prairie occur, however, in the central and western counties.
Prairie a Resource. Wherever the prairie sod is broken and the soil cultivated for a few years, the wild native grasses and other native plants disappear. Those which remain are to be found only along the fences and the roadsides. We would not deplore this destruction of the original prairie vegetation because of the important agricultural pursuits which have been developed by the pioneers and their descend ants. But the high price of meat directs the thoughts of a larger proportion of our people than ever before to the question of meat production and to the circum- stances immediately surrounding the live stock industry.
Enormous supplies of essential food products are being produced by the herds of live stock which thrive upon the native forage of the remaining grazing land, but days of the open range are past and the stock raising industries are rapidly becoming more highly specialized as is farming in general.
Much of the natural grazing land of western Nebraska has come into the hands of large operators, who face the problems of efficient ranch management. This brings them to a consideration of native and introduced pasture plants and the best methods of handling the same. Much of the grazing country is covered by the finest natural forage, yet considerable areas of it go to waste every summer, while some also is abused and destroyed by over-grazing. Most of the natural grazing land is in the Sandhill Region which is admirably adapted by nature for cattle raising.
Many Grasses in Nebraska. The natural forage problem is largely one of native grasses and how to utilize them. Some lands of central and western Nebraska are peculiarly rich in the number and value of grasses and other forage plants. including many species of sedges, which resemble true grasses so closely that few people dis- tinguish them from the grasses.
Nutritious Grasses. The two most nutritious grasses of the whole list are Butfalo Grass and Blue Grama Grass. These are widespread and abundant on the hard land of the central and western counties where they form a dense sod. The Sand Grama is quite common on sandy soil throughout the Sandhill Region. The above grasses are not only fine for summer forage, but they may also afford winter pasture. I have seen hundreds of acres covered with a fine stand of these grasses that
31
HISTORY OF NEBRASKA
were not being pastured at all, a condition which should not obtain where the price of meat is so high.
The Buffalo and Grama grasses are low, densely growing forms quite different from the tall prairie grasses which once dominated eastern Nebraska, and which prevail at the present time in the sandhills. 'There are about 125 species of grasses growing in the sandhills, among which the following are prominent: Little Blue Stem, Turkeyfoot Grass. Indian Millet, Sheep Fescue, Poverty Grass, Redfield's Grass, Blow-out Grass, Sand Grass, Prairie Grass, Low Blow-out Grass, and Triple Awn Grass.
FOREST RESOURCES
By G. E. Condra, Director Conservation and Soil Survey
Nebraska has more forest, native and planted, than is generally supposed. The natural forest occurs along streams, on rough lands bordering valleys, and on the rough uplands of the western and northwestern counties. The distribution is scat- tered and there are no exclusively forested areas.
Broad-leaf Trees. The principal trees of valley bottoms are willows, cottonwoods, elms, hackberry, boxelder, and green ash.
Willows are represented by a number of species, of which the sandbar, black, almond-leaf, and glossy forms are the most common.
Cottonwoods are widely distributed. The broad-leaf form has the greatest range ; the lance-leaf form is in some of the canyons of Pine Ridge and Wildcat Ridge, and the western or narrow-leaf cottonwood is reported in Banner County.
Elms are represented principally by the white elm and the red elm, but the cork elm has limited distribution.
Hackberry occurs on most of the alluvial lands of the state in association with elins, cottonwoods, and other broad-leaf species.
The boxelder is one of the principal stream-side trees of the state. It is quite plentiful in most of the bottom land forest, and leads in numbers at many places.
Green and red ash are common in many valleys in association with boxelder and other trees, but the white ash is restricted to the lowlands of the eastern counties.
The soft maple grows on the lowlands of counties bordering or near the Missouri, and the hard maple is found in some planted groves.
The sycamore is represented on the alluvial lands of the Missouri and its tribu- taries from Omaha southward. There are only a few trees.
The honey locust and the Kentucky coffee tree are found in the natural forest along the Missonri and the lower course of the Niobrara, and the former occurs also in the lower part of the Republican Valley.
The buckeye is in the extreme southeast corner of the state.
The blufflands of the eastern counties support oaks, basswood, hickories, and a few other trees.
The oaks are represented principally by the red oak and the bur oak, the latter having wide range on the rough valley sides of the eastern, southern, and northern parts of the state. Some of the best stands are in the Niobrara and its tributaries, as at Wood Lake, Long Pine, and Valentine. This tree is in practically pure stands at some of these places. The black oak, scarlet oak, white oak, swamp white oak,
32
ILISTORY OF NEBRASKA
chestnut oak, and the black jack oak have been identified in the southeastern corner of the state.
Hiekories are represented by four species, but the shellbark and bitternut are most common. They occur on the flood plains and rough lands bordering valleys of the southeastern counties.
Mountain maple, black birch, and a few representatives of quaking aspen occur in the canyons of Pine Ridge.
The paper birel grows on some of the steep slopes of the Niobrara Valley, the best stands being about ten miles east of Valentine.
Pines and Cedars. Pines occur at a number of places in the western part of the state. Growing among the pines are red cedar and a few junipers. Most pines occur in the Pine Ridge, Willeat Ridge, North Platte and Lodge Pole areas, occupying about 500 square miles. The trees are at their best on Pine Ridge, being 12 to 24 inches in diameter and 40 feet or more high. The trees are quite free from disease and the timber is of good quality. Pines are also found in good stands along the Niobrara, as in Schlagle Canyon south of Valentine, north of Ainsworth, and in Long Pine Canyon. The broad-leaf species of the east and the pines and cedars from the west meet along the Niobrara.
Forest Reserves. The federal government has experimented with tree planting near Halsey, and shown conclusively that certain species can be grown on the sand- hills of Nebraska. Many ranchmen, profiting by this experience, have beautified their places and grown large wind breaks for protection. The Reserve now has several hundred acres of very good pine forest which can be seen from the Burlington trains as they pass through the Middle Loup Valley above Halsey.
WILD FRUITS
By G. E. Condra, Director Conservation and Soil Survey
The wild fruits of most importance in Nebraska are gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, eurrants, grapes, chokecherries, and the sand cherry, plum, buffalo berry, crab apple, elderberry, and pawpaw.
The Common Gooseberry is on most of the bottom lands of the eastern and southeastern parts of the state where there is forest. It comes into fruitage early in the year and the fruit is eagerly songht by many people from the country and towns. The western wild gooseberry is found principally in the northwestern counties. The red raspberry and the black raspberry are found on the slope lands of the timber belts. They give a limited amount of food. The wild currant is quite plentiful at places in the canyons of the Pine Ridge and Niobrara areas. It also oceurs in the ravines bordering the North Platte.
Wild Grapes of two kinds occur in the state, being found in practically every county with timber. They are the early wild grape and the summer grape. The fruit of these has considerable value, especially along the Missouri and in the French- man and Niobrara valleys.
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.