NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
The Gift of
William Deering
and
lyraan J« Gage
Ellton, Fliuto. Oinuha.
TUE II IG II SCHOOL, OMAHA.
NEBRASKA,
ITS ADVANTAGES, RESOURCES,
AND DRAWBACKS.
ILLUSTBATED.
BY EDWIN A. CURLEY,
SPECIAL COMMISSIONER FROM " THE FIELD " TO THE EMIGRANT
FIELDS OF NORTH AMERICA.
NEW YOEK:
THE AMERICAN AND FOREIGN PUBLICATION COMPANY,
137, EIGHTH STREET.
THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY,
NASSAU STREET.
1875.
l^All rights reserved.~\
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, in
Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington,
by Edwin A. Curley,
CHISWICK PRESS I PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS,
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. Emigration ........ 1
II. American Immigration ; its Past, Present, and Future . 23
III. The Geography of Nebraska ; How to Get There . . 40
IV. The City of Omaha ...... 53
V. Statistical . . . . . . . .74
VI. Statistical ........ 80
VII. Climatic Considerations ...... 100
VIII. The Surface Geology of Nebraska. (By Prof. S.
Aughey, Ph.D.) ...... 114
IX. The same (continued) ...... 126
X. On the Platte and the Elkhorn ..... 140
XI. On the Elkhorn and the Logan . . . .160
XII. The Missouri to the Niobrara . . . . .170
XIII. On the Platte and the Loup ..... 177
XIV. The History of Nebraska. (By Oscar A. Mullon, Esq.) 187
XV. On the Weeping Water and the Neniabas . . . 200
XVI. Otoe County. (By Dr. John H. Blue) . . . 208
XVII. Up the Salt River ....... 223
XVIII. Some Regions of the Blues ..... 234
XIX. On the Headwaters of the Blues .... 245
XX. South Central Nebraska ...... 254
XXI. South Central Nebraska (continued) .... 265
XXII. The Hateful Locust 277
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
XXIIL Forty-three thousand square miles .... 300
XXIV, The Wild Fruits of Nebraska. (By Prof. S.
Aughey, Ph.D.) 316
XXV. Timber and Fuel 336
XXVI. Fences . 350
XXVII. Pástoral Marvels ...... 361
XXVIII. Pastoral Marvels (continued) .... 378
XXIX. Associate and Co-operative Colonization . . . 395
XXX. Land 410
Notes on Changes in Steamship Lines . . . 430
Index ........ 431
LIST OF MAPS.
Map
I. Key Map of Nebraska
II. North-Eastern Nebraska
III. South-Eastern Nebraska
IV. Geological Map
V. South Central Nebraska
VI. North Central Nebraska
VII. South-Western Nebraska
VIII. Western Nebraska
Page
facing I
. 2 pages, following 32
.2 „ 48
. 3 „ 128
. 2 „ 192
. 3 „ 288
. 2 „ 304
. 2 „ 368
LIST OF PLATES.
Plate Page
I. The High School, Omaha .... facing title
II. Panorama of Omaha . . 3 pages, following 64
III. View in Omaha from the Union Pacific Railway facing 56
IV. Post Office and Creighton Block, Omaha . . ,, 62
V. Part of Nebraska City from the Upland . . „ 208
VI. Panorama of Fairmont . . . . • 242
VII. View of Plum Creek . . . . . 274
VIII. View of North Platte . . . . . 306
IX. View of Sidney . . . . . . „ 312
X. Wild Fruits of Nebraska. (1, 2. Prunus Americana;
3, 4. Prunus Chicasa ; 5. Prunus Pumilla.) 2 pages
following . . , . . . . 317
XI. Wild Fruits of Nebraska. (1. Prunus Pumilla ; 2. Fragaria
Virginiana . . . . . . facing . 324
XII. Wild Fruits of Nebraska. Shepherdia Argentia (the Buffalo
Berry) ...... facing 330
PREFACE.
HIS is the hour of heterogeneous handbooks, crude con¬
coctions of petty local oflScials who have studied no stand¬
ards, and cannot correctly compare with other lands
that which they unwisely attempt to describe ; it is the
time of trashy travels, consisting of the tittle-tattle of the
train, the table, and the tap, illustrated with old maps and borrowed
engravings, and made to sell ; it is the period of pamphlets on the pre¬
tensions of Paraguay, the productions of Patagonia, the potable refuse
of Pachino, and the ponderous ores of Panicocoli—pamphlets with a
purpose, and most generously given away ; but, nevertheless, this age
of artful avarice and adroit accumulation, this era of eager enterprise and
electric energy, is better than the best before it : if it has freely given its
gold to the few, it has also done much for the moiling many ; it highly
appreciates painstaking, persevering, and intelligent and useful work,
which it well requites ; or, if it may not mete the full measure of mani¬
fold merits from its own magnificent means, it sometimes anticipates the
judgment of future generations, and by a patent process, first applied in
this epoch, it draws a series of bills which will be duly honoured by
posterity.
London, Aug. 1875.
\
N E B R A s
CHAPTER 1.
EMIGEATION.
Its immense social and political power.—Milk and lioney.—Robbers
and pirates.—Trojans and Romans.—^Dido and the Quakers.—Philology.
—Migration an imperative necessity.—Happiness the one test.—A king
on the safety valve.—Colonial Commerce.—France and Canada.—A sub¬
stantial increase.—No better than we should be.—Reprehensible com¬
binations.—Malthus.—Lancashire operatives.—^Public opinion.—Ameri¬
can influence.—Curious calculations.—Teutonic tribute.—Subjects and
cattle.—The luxury of the poor.—Lean kine and fat.—A medicine for
militarism.—Germany cannot restrain emigration, and is now haggling
in the man-market.—An autocrat anxious.—" The coon comes down."—
National depletions.—Folly in France.—Spanish Americans not true emi¬
grants.—Bad laws and bad customs as a labour and money question.—
Coal and iron.—What is, not what ought to be, the rule for the emigrant.
—Political pickles.—Mocha at a discount.—^Dear laws.—How to mea¬
sure money and men.—Freedom.—Intelligent emigration a certain cure
for real grievances.
N the following pages, I shall treat of the
advantages, resources, and drawbacks of
Nebraska, principally with reference to the
one great topic of enaigration, to some of
the general aspects of which I have devoted this first
introductory chapter.
B
SVAKSTCH, I'LL '
z'
2
NEBRASKA.
E-migration is, and ever has been, a tremendous
though comparatively silent force, giving birth to
nations,, and shaping their destinies. History is full
of wars, and the various tyrannical acts and conspira¬
cies which have generally done duty in the place of
statesmanship; but he who has never thought of the
subject in that light before, will, on taking a compre¬
hensive survey, be perfectly astonished to find how
much of the military and political history of the world
has been made or marred by the slowly acting force of
emigration.
When the eleven remaining sons of Israel found that
they had a friend at court, they emigrated to Egypt, and
when " there arose a king that knew not Joseph," their
children took the earliest opportunity of re-emigrating
to " a land flowing with milk and honey." The Greeks
were a barbaric race of emigrants, like our own ances¬
tors, to a great extent of the robber and pirate varieties.
They became civilised, and sent forth organized colo¬
nies, the history of whose beginnings may still be
studied for instructive examples. They destroyed Troy,
and, in a distant land, Rome arose, ultimately to de¬
stroy them. Carthage, the great rival , of Rome, was an
offshoot of Tyre, and its founder is said to have ob¬
tained of the natives the site of the city by an artifice,
afterwards adopted with variations and improvements
by some of the Quakers in Pennsylvania. Ear back in
the past, beyond the authentic history of many peoples,
the new science of philology takes us, and shows us the
kinship, the former oneness of distant peoples, and con¬
sequently that in the progress of the world they have
been sundered by emigration.
EMIGRATION.
3
Reason and analogy teach us that emigration is a
matter of necessity. The young man must leave his
father's house ; there is not always a suitable opening
in the same village, and he must go to another, or per¬
haps to a distant county. Migrations, to a greater or
less distance, are the rule rather than the exception of
life in the United Kingdom; and between migration
and emigration there is no essential difference in prin¬
ciple. In either case, the question to be solved before
making a move is whether, all things considered, we are
likely to obtain for ourselves, and those dependent upon
us, any real advantages, any solid happiness, or any
decrease of evils beyond what we might expect if re¬
maining in the house, hamlet, city, county, or kingdom
in which we were born.
Two hundred and fifty years ago emigration began to
take from England considerable numbers of persons of
various classes, whose condition, under the wise laws of
our ancestors, made them more or less dangerous to the
then existing order of things. In a few years it had
gained a great impetus. The king seems to have
measured his power in some degree by the number of
subjects within reach of his arm, and therefore to have
stopped some of the emigrants by force. This was like
sitting on the safety-valve to be able to utilize the
greater amount of steam. One of the men thus retained
in the kingdom against his will, became chief of the
revolution which followed, and he was afterwards more
than monarch of the realm. It is impossible to say
how few or how many of those who were most violent
opponents of the acts of the king would have gone to
4
NEBRASKA.
America had they been free to do so, but it is quite
possible that the nature of the resistance would have
been materially modified ; and that, instead of the
intensity of pássion which prevailed, we should have
had a slower, surer, and more thoughtful resistance.
This would not have thwarted the king as quickly as
the revolution beheaded him, nor would it have put a
still more powerful despot of a different character in his
place. The revolution took about fifty years to establish
any substantial good for the people of England, and
one may fairly hold the opinion that the rights of the
people, as well as the blood and treasure of the nation
and the head of the king, would have been far safer if
the attractions of New England had been allowed to
prevail over a large number of those who became leaders
of the revolution.
Notwithstanding the numerous checks that coloniza¬
tion received from natural and artificial causes, the
pobtical and social influence of the emigration of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries can hardly be
over-estimated. The year 1776 found the revolting
American colonies with a population of about three
millions, wholly the result, directly or indirectly, of
emigration. The population of England at that time
was about seven millions. The emigration had been
mostly from the middle classes, with a sprinkling of
labourers taken over by their masters, or carried over
by speculators, and sold into a sort of slavery, and of
mechanics who had managed to save a little store for
their dangerous and rather expensive voyage. From
the fact, among others not so much to their credit, that
they knew and appreciated at something like their just
EMIGRATION.
5
value many of the rights to which they were entitled,
and which were ignored or persistently refused, many
of these people would have been sources of serious
danger to the government of them times if they had re¬
mained at home. The amount of that danger is not to
be measured by their number, but by their character,
and by the influence which they would have been likely
to exert over their fellow-subjects.
When they left England their places were filled by
others whose position was in consequence materially
improved, and who, feeling this improvement, were
much less discontented subjects than they otherwise
would have been. Commerce with the colonies brought
wealth to the manufacturers and merchants, and in¬
directly to the landowners and the farmers ; and as
employers had, in a measure, to bid against the great
attractions of the colonies, the material condition of all
classes but the very lowest was decidedly improved by
that emigration upon which many influential persons
looked with the greatest disfavour.
It is difficult to imagines the extent of the difference
in the condition of the lower, middle, and working
classes which would have been produced if the ranks
of the shopkeepers, mechanics, and labourers had con¬
stantly become more and more overstocked by the
competition of these emigrants and their descendants.
Under wise laws there might have been room for four
times the population, but wise laws are very difficult to
obtain even now, and in those circumstances they would
have been most unlikely with the aid of revolution, and
utterly impossible without it.
Turning to the condition of France at the present
6
NEBRASKA..
time, we may obtain some erade idea of the probable
results of a permanent non-emigration policy in Eng¬
land. That country was wealthier, and in many re¬
spects more favoured than this; it was also far more
advanced in the arts and sciences. England's supe¬
riority, partly the result of her insular position, was
almost entirely confined to the sea. But this supe¬
riority of England at sea was a check upon French
emigration, and, about the middle of the eighteenth
century, the conquest of the great French colony of
Canada, by a British imperial and colonial army,
virtually destroyed it. In that country, in the mean¬
time, as the population increased, the working classes
were more and more at the mercy of those above them,
and the share of the fruits of their labour which they
obtained became less and less. They could only
manage to exist fii'om hand to mouth, and combination
for better pay would have been very generally un¬
successful, even if there had been no terribly repressive
laws to insure abject submission. Their misery passed
the limit of endurance, and everybody knows that the
great French revolution was the result, and that the
vibrations of that terrible political earthquake have not
yet ceased to shake the earth.
It is easy to point to many shortcomings of the people
as well as of the rulers of France, and to imagine that
these were prime causes of the revolution ; but a more
careful scrutiny will show that the facts were otherwise.
Power is blind, stupid, and self-seeking in aU other
countries as weU as there, and the majority of any
people which feels the iron heel of oppression is both
EMIGRATION.
7
deceitful and impatient. That the faults essentially
French, to which it is fashionable to attribute the revo¬
lution in that country, are really non-existent, can be
plainly seen by comparison with the French Canadians,
who undoubtedly possess all of the essentials of the
French character. They and their brethren in the
United States are about a million and a half in number,
and the descendants of less than ten thousand original
emigrants. They have felt little oppression, and they are
a people as patient and as contented with them generally
humble circumstances as any other population under like
conditions on the face of the earth. Nor can it be attri¬
buted to the inherent vices of Koman Catholicism, or
its injurious eifects on the French character, for this
religion has had freer scope among the Canadians than
among the people of France. No one who carefuUy
examines and compares the whole circumstances can
doubt that a large and constant stream of emigration
from France would infallibly have ameliorated the con¬
dition of the humbler classes, enabling them to cope in
a regular manner with the power of those above them,
and that it would thus have been a force sufficient
to have changed for the better the whole history of
France for the last hundred years, possibly preventing
the revolution, and at any rate depriving it of many of
its horrors, and benefiting in a general way the blind
oppressors quite as much as the people oppressed.
It is no doubt very gratifying to that self-love which
we are apt to miscall patriotism to attribute to the
English race and nation very special capacities for
progress and self-government, but our self-glorification
8
NEBRASKA.
in these respects can only proceed from ignorance of
the comparative disadvantages under which our neigh¬
bours have laboured, or from something still worse. If
we examine our political history without prejudice, we
shall find that our kings have seldom been very brilliant
specimens of humanity. Our nobles have not often
been gifted with remarkable political foresight, and
the wisdom of our squirearchy and the self-denial of
our bishops and beneficed clergy have never been so
great as to become proverbial among the nations of
the earth.
Until very recent times these have been our gover¬
nors ; they have resisted aU improvements which inter¬
fered with their pet privileges, and they have never
yielded while there was a chance of standing out with
success. Even with all the strength which our vast
emigration has lent to the rights of the poorer classes,
the rulers have frequently resisted change till we were
upon the brink of a civil war. Xor can we maintain
that the middle classes, which are now the foundations
of power, are in any respect more unselfish and politi¬
cally wise than those above them, except in so far as
contact and conflict with the lower classes have taught
them greater respect. They have never conceded to
the lower orders any substantial advantage which the
latter were not in a position to exact as the price of
service or co-operation; and indeed it would be no
more reasonable to expect it than to expect that indi¬
vidual masters who are making heavy profits should
hasten to divide them with their employés without pres¬
sure or hope of any reward beyond the great social and
EMIGRATION.
9
political advantage that unselfishness would confer upon
the community at large. In fact we see among them
organizations in restraint of liberty and justice, and
combinations to monopolize profits or other advantages,
which, considering the position and circumstances of the
members, are far more reprehensible than any trades
union of the labouring classes.
It is thus very evident that in England, as elsewhere,
without emigration the blind selfishness of power would
have overreached itself in all directions, and have crushed
the lower orders till it prepared a terrible catastrophe
for the nation. The working men could not rigidly and
universally apply among themselves the doctrines of
Malthus, of which they knew nothing ; from wholesale
infanticide they would ever shrink with horror, and re¬
volution, or these impossibles, would have been the only
alternatives to starvation or slavery.
The greatest 'example of that unselfish regard for the
right, which is the foundation of true political wisdom,
that we can boast of, was that afforded by the poor
operatives of Lancashire, in the earnest sympathy and
moral support which they accorded to the American
people in their death-struggle with slavery ; and,
broadly speaking, it will be found that, numerous errors
of ignorance or misapprehension notwithstanding, a
true political instinct resides with the working masses
of the people; the amelioration of whose condition by all
reasonable means is as definite and real an advantage to
their superiors as it is to themselves.
It. is mainly through the silent working of emigration
that commerce has recently attained such enormous
10 NEBRASKA.
proportions, and that public opinion is gradually be¬
coming stronger than armies, and more powerful than
governments. The commerce of the existing colonial
dependencies of the European States is very great, and
these colonies exercise a very definite influence on the
public opinion of the world through their connection
with the parent States. But the American Union was
so recently a wilderness, that its forty millions of people
may, without a very great stretch of imagination, be
considered as a nation of emigrants, whose public
opinion is brought into most intimate contact with all
civilized nations, and is universally felt. Germany has
no colonies of her own, but in every hamlet of that
country are relatives and friends of citizens of the great
republic, who are frequently receiving thence letters and
papers from happy and prosperous emigrants. Through
the various influences thus created the action of the
most powerful and stubborn government of Europe is
more sensibly affected than by any other external
agency, if we except only the warlike array of some of
its neighbours. For Germany, emigration is not less
important than for England, and in the end it is not
unlikely to mould the government to the popular will
without the aid of a revolution. Notwithstanding their
friendly attitude to the United States, German rulers
fear and dislike emigration for many reasons. Its action
on the people remaining at home is by no means alto¬
gether approved-; from an economical point of view
they consider it a great loss to the country, and worst
of all, it takes no inconsiderable portion of the grist
from the mill of the army.
EMIGKATION.
11
Dr. Engel, Director of the Prussian Statistical Bureau,
has considered the subject of emigration from the point
of view of political economy. He assumes that on the
average a man is worth to the country as much as he
will cost to produce. He does not tell us how much
Germany lost on this score in packing off the King of
Hanover, and in her numerous emigrant princelings, but
he deals at once with the manual labourer, whose life
he divides into three periods ; fifteen years of unpro¬
ductive youth, fifty years of labour, and the balance of
life a period of unproductive senility. Whether or not
the child in his first period lives at the expense of his
parents, there must be means for his maintenance and
education, which means are the result of labour. The
productive period (1) should repay the expenses in¬
curred by parents or others in the juvenile period ; (2)
should satisfy the daily wants and maintain the produc¬
tive power of the individual ; (3) should produce a sur¬
plus fund for sustenance during the aged period. Thus
the cost of bringing up and educating a man constitutes
a specific value which benefits that country which the
adult individual makes the field of his exertions. Dr.
Engel computes the cost of producing a manual labourer
in Germany, at an average for both sexes, of forty
thalers a year for five years, fifty thalers a year for five
years more, and sixty thalers a year for the third term
of five years, with which he completes the period of un¬
productive youth. He thus arrives at a total cost, and
therefore, according to his theory, a total average value
of seven hundred and fifty thalers for the manual
labourers of Germany, considered as working animals,
12
NEBRASKA.
and this sum of about one hundred and twelve pounds
ten shillings sterling he reckons as the correct measure
of the country's loss by the departure of an emigrant,
irrespective of the amount of money or goods which he
takes to the new field of his labours. According to
Engels theory, this sum increased by the extra per¬
centage of the cost of sound males above the general
average of the sexes would also measure the value of
any such emigrants as food for gunpowder. Taking the
figures of Dr. Engel as our basis, and adding one hun¬
dred and twenty-five thalers as the minimum amount
representing the cost of the passage, goods, and clothing
of each emigrant, and the money taken by him,^ we find
on reference to American statistics that the total German
emigration to the United States is a tribute worth in
Germany about three hundred and fifty millions sterling.
The annual average of this tribute for the four years
immediately preceding the Franco-German war was
very nearly sixteen millions sterling, and it bids fair to
reach tweiity-five millions in a very few years.
Dr. Engel's book gives expression and definite shape
to an idea fixed in the Prussian of&cial mind, an idea
which has long influenced the acts of the Government,
and which is now being pushed further than ever before.
It is even said that Prince Bismarck had formed the
intention of increasing year by year the restrictive
action of the government until emigration should prac¬
tically cease ; but, bold as the German government may
1 This sum of one hundred thalers, exclusive of passage, is based on
statistics obtained with great care by the Commissioners of Immigration
at New York.
EMIGRATION.
13
be, it is not likely tbat it will venture to carry out its
theories to any such dangerous extreme.
Notwithstanding the very high authority of Dr.
Engel, and any conclusions to which a government so
astute as that of Germany may have arrived, it is not
too much to say that this theory is utterly fallacious,
and that very little unbiassed consideration is needed to
demonstrate the fact.
The theory assumes, in the first place, that German
subjects, like German cattle, come -into the world in
obedience to a definite law of supply and demand,
that each German is born because he is in some degree
wanted, not merely by his parents, but in an economical
sense by the nation at large. The actual facts are very
diiferent. The child is born to gratify the natural
desires of his parents, or else he is, so to speak, an
accident of life, which they lack either the inclination,
knowledge, power, or resolution to prevent. Once in
the world, the affection or duty of his parents induces
them to make very substantial sacrifices for the purpose
of giving him such advantages as they can command,
and from his birth to his manhood, questions of profit
or loss to themselves, or of State economy, have no
more to do with the matter than the law or other cir¬
cumstances compel. Children are, in fact, the one great
luxury of the poor, which the State can neither regulate
nor prohibit.
Under these circumstances the actual supply of will¬
ing hands is very much in excess of the home demand
for reasonably rewarded labour, and notwithstanding
whatever it may have originally cost, this excess, if re-
14
NEBRASKA.
tained at home, would be an element of trouble, ex¬
pense, and positive danger. The economical value of
the subjects of a government depends quite as much
upon quality as upon number, and any surplus of popu¬
lation deteriorates the rest much more than any benefit
its retention can possibly confer. It is as if a farmer
with sufficient pasture and forage for a hundred head of
cattle should insist upon keeping a stock of a hundred
and twenty, in which case the six score will be found to
be worth less in the market than four score bred under
proper conditions. Owing in some degree to State
interference with the liberty of the subject, and to
various other causes which tend to restrict emigration
from Germany, its amount is probably somewhat less
than what might fairly be considered the increase of
surplus population. If so, the total amount of emigra¬
tion is on economical as well as other grounds an
advantage to the State.
It is true that every man who escapes military ser\ice
by emigration renders it more irksome to those that re¬
main, and that the influence of the republican ideas im¬
bibed by the emigrants is so strong upon the people at
home, as to give some concern to the government, but
these are evils which a semi-constitutional militarism
must perforce endure, or risk others still worse ; they
are evils which the Majority of thinkers will look upon
as having the nature of medicines ; a species of blessing
in disagreeable guise.
Just as this work is going to the press, the telegraph
teUs us that the various ministerial departments in
Berlin are engaged in making inquiries in order to re-
EMIGRATION.
15
move as much as possible the causes leading to emigra¬
tion. The plan under consideration is to enable the
peasants to become landed proprietors, by the division
into small allotments of certain State domains, and by
thus ameliorating the condition of the people of the
agricultural districts to counteract the inducements said
to be held out by agents in the pay of Transatlantic
governments.^ This is undoubtedly the truth, if not
the whole truth, and the bare consideration of such a
democratic measure for such a purpose is a very strik¬
ing illustration of the political and social influence of
emigration.
Emigration conflicts very Strongly with the mihtary
spirit. By raising the price of wages, and making a
large and eflective army a very expensive machine, it
has done much to place England in a reserved attitude
in respect to foreign politics, and its tendency will be
found the same everywhere else.
The vast extent of the undeveloped resources of
Russia might well tax the energies of her government,
and of a much larger population than the empire at
present possesses. But recently the government has
become concerned—alarmed would perhaps be the better
word—at the steady, settled, persistent emigration of
a comparatively well-to-do and very worthy body of
1 It seems to be thought convenient to speak of the efforts of paid
agents as the chief causes of emigration, but as a matter of fact the para¬
mount influence is that of successful emigrants, through private letters and
pecuniary assistance to friends left in the fatherland. Agents could have
very little influence, and that of the most transient character, were they
not able to appeal to very substantial facts.
16
NEBRASKA.
people—the Mnenonites, a religious sect, objecting to
military service. These people, after explorations of
large portions of the United States by trusted members,
have commenced settlements in Nebraska, and other
parts of the far West, and there was no telling how
many of the Russian people would eventually follow
the example of these successful pioneers. It is now
stated, on what appears to be good authority, that a
ukase has been issued giving this sect a special exemp¬
tion from military service, in hopes of thus checking the
movement. In Russia this exemption, as everywhere
on the Continent, is an important boon; it gives the
Mnenonites a great advantage over their fellows,
makes them a farmer and peasant aristocracy, in fact,
and tends greatly to augment their numbers at the
cost, from the point of view of the government, of a very
considerable mischief. How else but by emigration
could a body of the people, comparatively so insignifi¬
cant, have so influenced a government like that of
Russia ?
Yet depletion through emigration difiers essentially
in an economical as well as in a humanitarian point of
view, from depletion by war or by an epidemic. A
hundred thousand emigrants leave an over-populated
country, and by so doing confer a benefit on the people
remaining. But, if from a hundred thousand like people
those who are suitable are selected and made the victims
of war, the financial loss of the country is great, definite,
and tangible, for the strong only are taken and the weak
remain a more or less direct burden to the State. An
epidemic takes both the strong and the weak, but it
EMIGRATION.
17
often breaks down many whom it does not destroy, and
it has a tendency to derange trade and to demoralize the
whole population. Imagine emigration from the British
Isles to cease next year, and the cholera to take its
place. Long before such a vast number of people were
taken away, the nation would be in a terrible panic, a
large proportion of its labour would cease, and every¬
thing would be out of joint.
In France, at the present time, the number of births
is artificially limited to such an extent that notwith¬
standing the very nominal amount of emigration there
has been no very considerable increase of population
for many years, no surplus of a character which need
agitate the mind of a true economist or of a genuine
statesman at the head of affairs; and therefore those
who have suffered death, mutilation, incarceration, or
banishment in the recent war and troubles of France
are the greater loss to the country. Since the German
war, and the terrible persecutions of the lower classes
of the principal cities, partially as a revenge for the less
fiightful excesses of the Commune, the population of the
provinces remaining to France has, according to the best
authorities, sensibly decreased.
This is not the time or place to enter into a review
of the doctrines of Malthus, but if there were a mode¬
rate annual surplus of population in France, and a
corresponding and constant stream of emigration, the
chances of good government would be far greater.
Constant communications from abroad would create a
moderate and wholesome agitation, geographies and
histories would be more or less studied, books of travel
c
18
NEBRASKA.
would be sometimes read, and foreign correspondence
would occasionally find its way into the most unpretend¬
ing of newspapers. Tbe stagnation of the peasants'
minds would gradually diminish; they would be less
and less like their own sheep, the defenceless victims of
the policy of others ; cowps-d^état and revolutions alike
would have less chances of success, and it might be
hoped that they would eventually cease. But while the
French government has continued the state of siege in
a large part of the country, it has been officially doing
all it could to discourage those who had begun to look
to emigration as a means of relief. Comment on. such
infatuation is quite unnecessary.
If emigration means the removal of inhabitants from
one state or country to another for permanent residence,
then Spain, with all her colonies, has had very few
emigrants. Her possessions in America were military
conquests, and the subject races were much more
numerous than the conquerors. The object of the mili¬
tary and other adventurers who went out was to en¬
rich themselves by plundering and enslaving others.
Each hoped to return after a longer or shorter period
to enjoy himself in his native land on the spoils of the
heathen whom the Pope had delivered into the hands
of true Spaniards, according to their interpretation of
his bulls, as lawful subjects of conquest, slavery, and
all species of violence. Whatever there was of per¬
manent residence or of legitimate labour, was looked
upon as the misfortune of the unlucky. In addition
to the millions of more or less civilized nations brought
into subjection, large numbers of negroes were imported.
EMIGRATION.
19
and slavery existed ever3rwliere. Spain derived im¬
mense pecuniary resources from her colonies, but the
numerous adventurers'returning enriched by injustice,
could not but demoralize still further a country
whose virtues were already overshadowed by vices.
Had her people gone forth true emigrants to conquer
the forces of nature rather than their fellow-men, even
though, as among the English and French colonies,
many wrongs were committed, they would have had
a great influence for good upon the parent state, and
very possibly Spain might have held her own among
the first nations of the world.
A very interesting part of this great question of
emigration is that which has to do with unequal,
unjust, or inexpedient legislation. There is no nation
which has not by such means banished labour and
capital, for which there would otherwise have been
ample room. Even the United States have in this
manner from time to time driven out many millions of
capital and with it a large aggregate of labour. Eng¬
lish instances are numerous and will readily suggest
themselves to our readers. Many English laws at pre¬
sent existing tend to crowd the people off the island,
and it is not too much to say that if by a stroke of the
pen, the laws, customs, and habits of the people could
be modified in accordance with the dictates of sound
economy, there would at once be room in the country
for a population at least one-fourth greater, to live
more comfortably than we do at present. The customs
of a people have the force of laws in these respects, and
monetary and trade combinations have also a wide-
20
NEBRASKA.
spread influence. The figures of the extra tribute that
the British and foreign public recently paid to the coal
and iron men are more astonishing than the French
indemnity to Prussia, and there arose in consequence of
this great advance in prices, a great activity in these
trades abroad. They found that it would pay to build
ocean steamers in America, and the profits of the coal
and iron trades there, attracted such vast aggregations
of capital as have already most seriously afiected the
English market, by rendering the Americans in a great
measure independent of it. The American iron furnaces
and rolling mills are far more than adequate to the pro¬
bable consumption of the country for the present, and
if the duties on pig and railroad iron and steel were
abolished to-morrow, they could pay wages and profits
decidedly higher than those now ruling in England, and
yet successfully compete with the English ironmaster in
the American market. These formidable rivals are far
more the result of the recent enormous prices in Eng¬
land than that of the American protective tariflf. The
amount of capital and labour eventually banished fix)m
the country will be far greater than the extra profits
which were obtained, and the loss will justly faU very
heavily on these two particular trades. Many individuals
will have made fortunes, but these trades, as a whole,
will have discounted a substantial part of their brilliant
future at a great disadvantage.
But in considering the economical gain or loss by
emigration from a particular country, with its wise or
unwise laws or customs, and its trade combinations
more or less proper or pernicious, we cannot say that
because, but for these things there would be room for
EMIGRATION.
21
ten, fifteen, or twenty per cent, more, therefore there is
no surplus whose emigration would be advantageous to
the state ; we must deal with the realities of the present,
and make no attempt to discount a future which is now
intangible, and which would very likely be rendered im¬
possible by the very fact of the adventitious surplus of
population remaining in the country. In fact, if our
manufacturers of political pickles colour them a copperas
green, it is generally because the majority of the con¬
sumers are more fond of that verdant tint than they are
fearful of poison ; and such is the force of acquired taste
and habit, that I very much fear, that if our govern¬
ment grocers should turn too suddenly honest and seU
us real Mocha in full weight, most of us would inconti¬
nently purchase the adulterant to mix with it, and then
insist that with four ounces of chicory to the pound we
had some ten per cent, better than sixteen ounces of
genuine coffee. Every unwise law, custom, or combina¬
tion is an economical question of itself, to be measured
as such exactly by the amount to which it tends to
restrict the capacity of a country for supporting a
population in comfort. Measured in this way, it will
be found that more than one law has cost the United
Kingdom a larger sum than the present capital of the
national debt. It is possible that if statesmen would
look at political and social legislation more from this
pounds, shillings, and pence point of view, it would
prove of great advantage to the country.
The comparative surplus or deficiency of accumulated
capital in any two or more countries is usually to be
measured, not by its aggregate or its per capita amount,
but by the normal rates of interest which severally
22
NEBRASKA.
obtain under like conditions of security; and the surplus
or deficiency of population is to be measured, not by
numbers or density, but by the comparative advantages
or disadvantages under which the people live, the pro¬
portionate amounts of their labour-capital being duly
considered. In such cases, whatever the effect upon
special classes, it is to the advantage of each state con¬
sidered as a whole, that freedom of trade and locomotion
should be as perfect as possible, and that an equilibrium
should be eventually established.
Landlords, manufacturers, merchants, farmers, trades¬
men, mechanics, operatives, labourers, all classes and
conditions of men in the United Kingdom have their
pet grievances, for which neither class obtains very much
sympathy of a practical character from the others ; but
let any class thoroughly acquaint itself with terrestrial
conditions otherwhere; let it become possessed of the
positive knowledge that its members would be better
off, aU things considered, in any other country on the
globe ; let them act upon this knowledge, as sensible
men wiU,—in other words, let them begin to emigrate ac¬
cordingly, and nothing is more absolutely certain than
that the grievance wiU be redressed in one way or
another. The facts and considerations thus shortly
adduced point to a conclusion which an exhaustive
examination of the subject wiU render inevitable. The
discreet emigrant not merely follows the dictates of an
enlightened self-interest,—^he is the benefactor of his
class; and, judging by the results of his actions, he is,
as a rule, a greater patriot by far than the man who
dies in the wars of his country.
CHAPTER II.
4.MEEICAN IMMIGEATION.
American immigration, its past, present and future.—Organized and
atomic immigration.—White coolies.—Terrible mortality.—Twenty per
cent, slain.—Enormous improvements.—Statistics.—^Perils vanish.—
Safety of steamers.—^Unpreventible accidents well-nigh impossible.—Im¬
positions upon immigrants.—" Tall " tallying.—Commissioners of emi¬
gration.—Enormous numbers of immigrants.—Injustice.—^Tremendous
total of labour values.—North and south of England, Europe and America.
—Further improvements expected.
HE more or less carefully organized emi¬
gration wHcli founded the American co¬
lonies gradually gave place to that of
detached individuals and families ; and
during the whole of the last century, the arrival at an
American port of two or three hundred persons in a
body was an event, of great and very general interest.
A large proportion of the immigrants were very poor
people, who could not pay in advance for their pas¬
sage; and in order to meet the obligations thereby in¬
curred, they were sold into temporary servitude after
their arrival. The shipowners derived very heavy
profits from the traffic, which resembled in many re-
24
NEBRASKA.
spects the much-decried coolie trade of the present day.
If the parents were too old to work, or if they died on
the voyage, their children had to serve so much the
longer to make up the difference. Young women were
bartered to their future husbands for skins, furs, to¬
bacco, and other articles of merchandise. Runaways
when caught had to serve a week for each day, or six
months for each month of their absence. If the master
did not wish to keep his servant, he could seU him for
the unexpired term of his servitude. Families were
thus often separated for ever, and many children never
learned when their terms had expired. The American
Government intervened in 1819, and thereafter we hear
no more of the traffic.
The perils of the voyage, which arose principally from
overcrowding, bad ventilation, and insufficient or im¬
proper food, were by no means inconsiderable. If fore¬
known, they would have deterred any but the stoutest
hearts, or those who had reason to prefer lingering
torture and very probable death to their then miserable
condition. The first cabin of a packet a hundred years
ago was scarcely more comfortable, and certainly not so
well ventilated or so healthy as the steerage of a steamer
of the present day; and as late as 1819, the lower deck
of an emigrant vessel was little better than that of a
slaver. Ten per cent, of mortality was not extraordi¬
nary, twenty per cent, was far too frequent, and there
were cases in which one-third of the whole number
perished. Even in very recent times, the death-rate
has been more terrible than that of battles. Of 98,105
Irish emigrants shipped to Canada in the summer of
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
25
1817, 5,293 died at sea, 8,072 at Gros Isle (quarantine)
and Quebec, and about 7,000 in and above Montreal,—
making a total of 20,365, besides those who afterwards
perished in consequence of disease contracted on ship¬
board, and whose numbers will never be known. The
estimate of American immigrant mortality in that year
from the same preventible causes is 20,000, and it is
probably far below the mark. Eecently the steerage
accommodation of sailing vessels has been vastly im¬
proved, and the mortality is proportionately less ; but
the greatest of aU advantages to the emigrant is the
substitution of steamers for the vast bulk of the traffic.
The general impression of the present perils of the
deep is quite a mistaken one. We have by no means
arrived at perfection in our precautions against ship¬
wreck and lamentable accidents at sea ; but the actual
death-rate from aU causes is really very small in the
steamers that ply across the Atlantic.
In 1868, out of over 180,000 passengers, during 451
voyages by steam, 200 died from all causes, and allow¬
ing twelve days as the average time spent on board,
this is at the rate of 38y% per 1,000 per annum ; while
from among 31,953 passengers in sailing vessels, the
deaths were 393, or at the rate of 148 per 1,000,
allowing one month as the average length of passage
and detention on board.
In 1869, out of 229,290 passengers, during 504 trans¬
atlantic voyages by steam, 210 died, or 1 in 1091, which
is at about the rate of 27^ per 1,000 per annum; and
of 28,333 passengers in sailing vessels 138 died, or at
the rate of 59 per 1,000 per annum.
26
NEBRASKA.
In 1870, out of 194,088 passengers, during 484
voyages by steam, there were 155 deaths, or 1 in 1,234,
which is at the rate of 243^0 1,000 per annum;
and of 18,124 in 156 sailing vessels, 110 died, or 1 in
171, which is at the rate of about 70 per 1,000 per
annum.
In the year 1871, out of 213,698 passengers during
574 voyages by steam, there were 196 deaths; which is
at the rate of about 27^ per 1,000 per annum; and
out of 14,96§ passengers by sailing vessels, there were
85 deaths, which is at the rate of about 68 per 1,000
per annum. I have not the data for similar calculations
for 1872 at hand ; but in 1873, out of 274,889 steerage
passengers in 626 steamers, 197 died, or about 7 in
10,000, which is at the rate of about 21^ per 1,000 per
annum, while of 18,367 in 96 sailing vessels, 286 died,
or 155 in 10,000, which is at the rate of about 180 per
1,000 per annum. In the latter year, small-pox carried
off 274 from sailing vessels. This great mortality was
undoubtedly due to imperfect hospital arrangements.
The average in steamers for the five years is at the
rate of 28 deaths per 1,000, and in sailing vessels at the
rate of 105 ; moreover, the rate in the sailing vessels is
very fluctuating, in the last year being three times
greater than in the second, and in the second year even
having the proportions of a terrible epidemic. In the
steamers, on the contrary, there is in each year, save
one, a very decided decrease on the year preceding, and
tiie heaviest rate is considerably below the average of
many cities, while the last, which is the lightest rate, is
below the healthy average of London. These statistics
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
27
relate exclusively to steerage passengers in vessels
arriving at New York. The heavy mortality on sailing
vessels is not necessarily the case, and I have no doubt
that bodies of emigrants chartering the whole passen¬
ger space of a sailing ship, under proper specific ar¬
rangements as to food, ventilation, &c., would be as
free from disease as upon the best steamers of equal ton¬
nage crossing the Atlantic. Even then the superiority of
the steamships will be immense. The number crossing
the Atlantic is so large, the precautions which should be
taken on the voyage are now so well known, and the
size and strength and power of the vessels are so great as
to give practical control over the elements, so that it is
becoming well-nigh impossible for a serious unpreven-
tible accident to occur in the course of a voyage, and
the accidents of a preventible nature are constantly
diminishing, from the greater experience of the ofiS.cers,
from the care used in selecting them, and from many
other causes.
The amount of suffering on the part of others that we
can endure before we take measures to remove it is
sometimes very wonderful. The abuses of the local
immigration laws in America before 1819 were as
numerous as they were grave in character, and they
were quite notorious; but a very considerable propor¬
tion of weU-to-do citizens were more or less interested
in their continuance, and the mass of the people were
very apathetic over matters whose important influence
on their own. interests they did not understand. But in
1817 they were roused from their apathy. No fewer
than 22,240 persons arrived in that year, and two ship-
28
NEBRASKA
loads of them were sold into the slave State of Dela¬
ware. These people were very probably no worse off in
their servitude than large numbers of the immigrant
servants in the Northern States, but yet these trans¬
actions showed in a newer and stronger light the essen¬
tial resemblances between white immigrant servitude
and negro slavery; and they caused a very painful
sensation all over the country. Congress took hold of
the matter ; representatives of the Southern States were
very active in behalf of the immigrants; and, finally,
after a very fall discussion, in March, 1819, a very
strict Act, limiting the number of passengers in propor¬
tion to the size of the vessels, and providing for their
proper treatment, received the signature of the President,
and became the law of the land.
This vastly improved the condition of immigrants;
but there were numerous loop-holes still, and the pas¬
sengers were to an enormous extent the prey of ship¬
owners and brokers, and every class of harpies that
knew how to take advantage of their ignorance and
necessities. The greater their number, the more elabo¬
rate and extensive were the systems of fraud practised
upon them, and organized robbery by force was re¬
sorted to as unscrupulously as the numerous means of
hidden fraud : the chief instruments of the viUany being
in almost all cases immigrants of the same nationality
and class as that upon which they preyed. I have
before me a vast mass of evidence of these frauds,
extortions, robberies, and inhumanities ; but one or two
instances will suffice to illustrate the case.
A witness before a legislative committee of investiga-
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
29
tien in 1847 says : "I was in a boarding-house (specially
for emigrants) in Cherry Street. A man came up to
settle his bill, which the landlord made out at $18.
' Why,' said the man, ' did you not agree to board me
for M. a meal, and Zd. for a bed ? ' ' Yes,' said the land¬
lord, 'and that makes just 75 cents (about 3s. 4c?.) per
day. You have been here just eight days, and that
makes just $18.' " ($18 were then a little more than
£4.) The landlord had possession of the man's lug¬
gage, and there was nothing for it but submission, or an
amount of delay, expense, and trouble worse than the
extortion itself. The local laws made the shipowners,
or others who gave bonds on their behalf, responsible
that the immigrants should not within a certain time
become a public charge. But in these laws there were
no efficient provisions for the protection of the immi¬
grants, and the shippers and their bondsmen soon found
that they could establish private almshouses, or let out
the destitute by contract, for one-half or one-third of
the cost in a public almshouse. Such means were
therefore extensively adopted, and these establishments
became abominable dens of corruption, privation, and
disease. A man named O'Connor, with his wife and
three children, arrived at New York, and, having con¬
tracted a fever on board the vessel, was detained until
his money was exhausted, and the bondsmen were
applied to for relief. Recovering sooner than the other
members of his family, he set out for St. Louis, where
his father was comfortably settled, and, securing the
necessary funds, returned with the fond expectation
of accompanying his wife and children to their new
30
NEBEASKA.
home. He found, however, on reaching New York that
his wife was dead, and that the shippers or their bonds¬
men had sent his children to Liverpool as the cheapest
way of disposing of them. One of them died on the
passage, and when they arrived at Liverpool, where they
had neither relatives nor friends, all trace of the two
others was lost ; and the most diligent and careful search
failed to give the slightest indication of their fate.
These frauds, extortions, and horrors led to the
formation in 1847 of the Board of Commissioners of
Emigration of the State of New York, consisting of
thirteen members, nine appointed by the Governor and
Senate of the State, and four ex officio—viz., the mayors
of Brooklyn and New York, and the presidents of the
German and Irish Societies. Their duties are to pro¬
tect all emigrants landing at the port, and to care and
provide for the helpless among them. They have a
landing dépôt at the southern extremity of the city,
and an emigrant hospital and refuge at Ward's Island,
in the river a little to the east of the city, where the
sick and destitute may receive shelter, food, and
medical attendance for five years after arrival if neces¬
sary. After that time, if any remain or become a
public charge, they are cared for by the ordinary alms¬
house authorities. At quarantine, six miles below the
city, every emigrant vessel is boarded by an officer of
the Commission, who makes a report of the number of
passengers, the deaths (if any), makes inquiries into their
general treatment and condition, and receives any com¬
plaints. The officer comes up with the vessel, and
takes care that the passengers are not approached by
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
31
any unauthorized person from the shore. After exami¬
nation of their luggage by the officers of the customs,
the emigrants are transferred to the landing dépôt,
where their names and aU necessary particulars are
taken down. The names of such as have money, letters,
or friends awaiting them are called out. There are
clerks to write for them in any civilized tongue, a post-
office for letters, a telegraph for more urgent despatches.
The three trunk lines of railway that terminate at New
York have offices in the dépôt; a certain number of
brokers is admitted under stringent regulations ; a
restaurant supplies plain food at moderate prices; a
physician is in constant attendance for the sick. To
those in search of employment it is supplied through
the Labour Bureau of the establishment ; those desiring
to proceed at once to their final destination are sent to
the railway or steamboat ; others wishing to remain in
the city are referred to boarding houses, where the
charges are regulated under special licence, and which
are kept under the constant and rigid supervision of
the Commission.
The grounds of the Commission on Ward's Island
comprise over 100 acres, on which are erected exten¬
sive and well-appointed hospitals and refuge buildings,
an asylum for the insane, chapels, a school house, and
workshops of various descriptions, in all about forty
separate edifices, at an average cost of about £5,000
each. The figures which show the operations of the
Commission will compare not unfavourably with the
statistics of some of the European States. I append
some of the most interesting items :
32
NEBRASKA.
Number of emigrants that have arrived at the port
of New York and come under the charge of the Com¬
mission since its organization, from 1847 to 1872 in¬
clusive, 5,033,392 ; number of same provided and cared
for out of the emigrant fund for a longer or shorter
period in the course of the five years first subsequent
to their arrival, up to 1872 inclusive, 1,465,579; num¬
ber treated and cared for in the institutions of the
Commission, 398,643 ; number supplied temporarily
with food, lodging, and money relief in the city of New
York, 449,275; number provided with employment
through the Labour Bureau, 349,936 ; number for¬
warded to destination or returned to Europe at their
own request, 53,083 ; number relieved and provided
for in various institutions of the State at the expense of
the Commission, 214,642.
The organization and circumstances of the Commis¬
sion have been such that it has almost entirely escaped
the corruption so notorious in New York, and the
protection and help it affords to the emigrants are so
thorough and efficient as to leave very little to be
desired, excepting that they should be entirely free of
cost, like the admirable arrangements lately adopted in
Boston and Philadelphia.
If the care of the immigrant is purely a police regu¬
lation, as the New York Commissioners assert, and if,
as is indisputable, the persons from whom he is to be
protected are the permanent subjects of the local
authority, then the local authority should bear the
expense of that protection. It is not competent for
New York to say to all comers, " My people will rob
f
WM^ií'A
yankton
MtSSOo
/ fílYER
NORTH EASTERN
note:
UNITED
STATES
SURVEYS
/i'ílí/híi vs
sioux city
TIu! s ou ill Sí/Ul¿/Y\
lire each arte mile
or 64-0 íze.res.
Co Ulf Sea/'s
yo r k
SarqMuZ
BUaJTs
Post Routes
beqinuuuf » " end
The figures on the routes
llenóle the numbers oP
iruiils per H-eek
Special hfiul Supply
Mail Mrssfnnt'f m
topography.
land surveys.
civil divisions
mail servi ces
oe^ ne ele/J lo
J"eh. J87'>.
J^or more (letaileil
e.cplanalions see
Rook paife 1'1-S. e tc.
A TOAtMSHlP enlaryed .<icale
with s-ee/fcms nurnberee/ ami
.'u/lu/iviole/i to 40 acres as
i/i i/orernmeiil sun-eys.
onawa
city
iüi-iiiMi Y IV
2 ' ^renocù[_^
RANCIS WEST . ]
PAWNEE RESERVATION
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
33
you if I do not protect you ; you must therefore pay
me ten shillings a-piece, and I wiU do what I can for
you." The funds of the Commission are derived from
a tax paid by the shipowners, and computed in the
fares of all immigrants passing through the state to
Nebraska and the far West, as well as of those who
make their homes in New York. In the long run this
tax brings decidedly more out of the pocket of the
immigrant than if it were paid directly by himself; it
is, in the vast majority of cases, simply and purely a
tax upon persons in transitu. A very large proportion
of the immigrants, also, pass in succession through the
several states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois. Each of these states has the same right to
tax them as New York, and the same right to compel
them aU to pass through the hands of a local commis¬
sion ; and if each of these states has the right to tax
the immigrant or to restrain his natural liberty in
transitu., then it is necessarily the judge of its own
taxation, by which it may denude him of all he pos¬
sesses, and it may restrain his liberty indefinitely for
being unwilling or unable to comply with its regula¬
tions. The very nature of the tax and the restraint
is an arrogation of sovereign power over persons who
are only subject, and that temporarily, to the reason¬
able and necessary health and police regulations of the
locality. In practice, no civilized nation arrogates to
itself such a right over persons and things merely pass¬
ing through it. Stanley's expedition in search of
Livingstone, and some others that I have read of, were
D
34
NEBRASKA..
subject to such taxes; but the usages of Africa are
scarcely to be quoted in favour of New York. By no
possibility can local subordinate governments have any
such right. For a long period the state of New Jersey
taxed all persons passing through the state, and col¬
lected the plunder through the railway company. As
the state was on the main line of travel between the
north and the south, the amount of the booty at 4s. 2d.
a head was immense, and it went far to provide for all
the state expenses; but when in course of time this
snug little arrangement came before the courts, it was
found untenable, and the people of the state of New
Jersey have now to support their own local govern¬
ment; and it is quite certain that, if some of the
interior states should follow the example of New York
and levy contributions from the immigrants, the general
Government would promptly interfere and put a stop to
the whole practice.
The number of immigrants that arrived at New York
from 1847 to 1873 inclusive, and who came under the
enlightened despotism of the New York Commissioners,
was 5,493,195. About three-fourths of these are
adults, and their ratio of increase after settlement in
the country is of course very much greater than that of
a native population comprising the average proportion
of children. Without going into any minute calcula¬
tion, we may safely assume that this immigration repre¬
sents a population of between eight and nine million
souls added to the natural increase of the country—a
population considerably greater than the aggregate
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
35
of the three Scandinavian kingdoms of Norway,
Sweden, and Denmark, and about equal to that of Scot¬
land and Ireland, or of HoUand and Belgium taken
together.
Many of the immigrants are in very comfortable cir¬
cumstances, and, after researches conducted with great
care, the New York Commissioners estimate the average
value of personal property brought by them at up¬
wards of £30 per head, making a total of upwards of
£159,750,000 ; and yet this is a mere bagatelle com¬
pared with the labour value of the immigrants them¬
selves. This the Commissioners estimate at an average of
about £225 for each person, or a total of £1,198,125,000.
If we add to this the personal property, we shall find
that the grand total of immigrant wealth which has been
under the authority of the Nnw York Commissioners
since 1847 is £1,357,875,000, being nearly seven times
as much as the great Franco-Prussian indemnity, and
almost twice as much as our English debt. The sum of
£1,198,125,000 wiU not appear extravagant as the mea¬
sure of the labour wealth of this immigrant population
when we consider that this labour value is a species of
capital, for which there is almost unlimited demand in
the country, and that in each case it is the aggregate
result to the individual, his children, his employers and
tradesmen, and the country, of the whole active term of
his life from the date of his arrival. It is shown in the
wealth of the country as ordinarily computed only so far
as it is year by year converted into real estate or per¬
sonal effects, and less than half of it has yet been so
36
NEBRASKA.
converted ; the calculation therefore supposes that only
about £500,000,000 has been already added to the
ordinary wealth of the country by these 8,000,000 or
9,000,000 of people ; and as the total population is a
little over 40,000,000, while the aggregate real and per¬
sonal wealth of the country is about £7,000,000,000,
the figures given cannot be very much in favour of this
enormous and very useful immigrant population.
The value in round numbers of American imports for
five years ending 1872 was £530,500,000 sterling, and
that of the exports £480,650,000, and the labour value
of the immigrants, including their personal effects, and
adopting the estimates per man of the New York Com¬
missioners of Immigration, was £481,660,000.
The average emigration from the United States is less
than five per cent, of the immigration. Making every
allowance for this, and considering that the import and
export trades are given in total values, and not in net
profits, it wiU be seen at once that the immigrant trade
of the United States, being, as far as these figures go,
entirely in the nature of an addition to the wealth of the
country, is immensely more important than aU the other
foreign trade put together. I have not the figures for
an accurate estimate before me, but I very much doubt
whether the whole international commerce of Europe
adds so much to the permanent wealth of the several
coimtries as immigration adds to that of the United
States. The American census shows the valuation of
the country to have been £1,470,000,000 in 1850,
£2,489,000,000 in 1860, and £6,193,000,000 in 1870,
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION.
37
the population being 23,200,000, 31,400,000, and
38,600,000. Even these tremendous strides in popula¬
tion and wealth, in the face of a great war, cease to be
very surprising when we consider how much of both is
due to immigration, and how much of the computed
wealth results from the opening up of wild lands and
bringing them for the first time into the account in the
shape of farms, homesteads, towns, and newly-founded
cities. Immigration is, indeed, a tremendous force in
America, and the gain resulting therefrom, though
capable of expression in figures, is far beyond our
powers of perfect comprehension. It is, as we have
seen, a gain to Europe also ; but how much greater
would be the gain here could we devise such wise social
and political improvements as, with perfect free trade
in labour, and perfect knowledge among the people
of the advantages offered abroad, would make the
majority of those who would otherwise emigrate wisely
prefer the motherland to the advantages to be found
elsewhere.
At the present day there is less time, trouble, and
danger involved in a poor man's crossing the Atlantic
than there was in the early part of the present century
in migrating from one of the southern counties of Eng¬
land to one of those in the north, and we may reasonably
expect stiU further developments in the direction of
facile locomotion in the immediate future.
As an instance in point it may be weU to mention
here that I was recently informed by Mr. Blackfann, the
gentleman in the Post-office Department at Washington
38
NEBRASKA.
who has charge of international postal arrangements,
that some efforts were being made to establish a new
postal route from Europe to America by way of St.
John's, Newfoundland, from which point mails and such
passengers as wished to do so would go forward by land,
excepting only a short break between Newfoundland
and the mainland. This would reduce the ocean voyage
to a matter of five days, and, supposing the railway
arrangements to be equal to those between New York
and Chicago, it would save from two to three days be¬
tween Liverpool and New York, and quite three days
between Liverpool and Nebraska or other parts of the
far "West ; also shortening the time for the Anglo-
Japanese, Chinese, and Australasian mails. Newfound¬
land, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, New England,
the Grand Trunk, and the Great Western Railways of
Canada, the Dominion generally, and aU the great West,
would be vastly benefited by the establishment of such
facilities of communication with Europe, and there
should be earnest and thorough co-operation to obtain
them. The interest of the United Kingdom in this
matter is not small, and the object ought certainly to
be attained at a date not far distant, notwithstanding
the difficulties arising at present from the absence of
freights to and from St. John's. The facilities for em¬
barking from Ireland are also capable of much improve-
nlent, both on the score of time and of extra expense ;
and this is a matter in which, for many reasons, the in¬
fluence, and if necessary the purse, of the Government
should be used with promptitude and decision. The
AMERICAN IMMIGRATION. 39
feasibility of such improvements as I have mentioned is
obvious, and I have no doubt that the major part of
them will be accomplished in a very few years with the
additional incentives given by the vastly increased cor¬
respondence, immigration, and general passenger traffic,
which, notwithstanding any temporary checks, will as¬
suredly distinguish the last quarter of the present
century.
CHAPTER III.
THE GEOGEAPHY GE NEBKASKA.—HOW TO GET
THERE.
Its extent and position.—^The tidal wave of emigration.—^Billowy
prairieS; table lands^ valleys, bluflfe.—Fantastic forms.—Elevation and
slopes.—Its rivers and peculiarities of drainage.—Steam-ship lines and
fares.—The author's experience with Allan, Cunard, National, Guion, and
Anchor lines.—Plate-polishing extraordinary.—Second cabin.—^Inter¬
mediate.—Steerage.—Boutes from Seaboard : New York Central, Erie,
Pennsylvania Central, Baltimore and Ohio.—From Boston, Quebec,
Norfolk.—^Fares: First class. Second, Third.—Local rates.—Luggage.
—Meals.—Pulhnan cars.—^Examples of "through" expenses.
SEBRASKA comprises 75,995 square miles,
% or 48,636,800 acres, or about 3,000 square
J miles more than England, Wales, and Den-
« mark together. It is between the parallels
of 40° and 43°, and the meridians of 95° and 104° west
of Greenwich. Geographically, it is not far from the
centre of that part of North America which may pro¬
perly be called temperate in climate. The most populous
and progressive states of the American Union are chiefly
between the same parallels, and Nebraska is in the direct
line of the great tidal wave of emigration which some
THE GEOGRAPHY OF NEBRASKA.
41
people are disposed to think will rebound from the
eastern summits of the Eocky Mountains, giving this
state the greater floodtide of prosperity from its being
the most westward state to feel the full force of the
current, and the first to benefit by the rebound. In
shape it is nearly a parallelogram, its north-east comer
rounded off by the Missouri and the Niobrara, while it is
robbed of about 7,500 square miles by a jutting comer
of Colorado in the south-west. Its greatest length from
east to west is 412 miles, and its greatest width north
and south is 208 miles. It is bounded on the east
by the Missouri Eiver, which separates it from Iowa
and from the State of Missouri, on the south by
Kansas and Colorado, on the west by Colorado and
Wyoming, and on the north by Dacota, with the mid-
channel of the Keya-Paha, Niobrara, and Missouri
Eivers as a line of demarcation between them eastward,
from a point nearly midway between the 99th and
the 100th meridian. The surface consists mostly of
billowy prairies, gentle and somewhat monotonous
undulations, with a gradually increased elevation to
the westward. There are also extensive table-lands,
and valleys which appear to the eye almost perfectly
flat. There is, however, little monotony of form along
the Missouri, which is here bordered by lofty bluffs cut
through by numerous streams; and there are parts of
the interior decidedly broken in character, and others
bordered by bluffs which assume architectural forms
and strange fantastical shapes.
Omaha is about 1,000 feet above sea-level, and the
western boundary of the state, where it is crossed by
42
NEBRASKA.
the Union Pacific Railway, after a course of 473 miles
in the state, is over 5,000 feet high, yet the incline in
the valley of the Platte is so gradual that the railway
does not encounter a single difficulty—not a tunnel, not
a fill, or a trestle-work, or even a side-cutting of any
importance is to be found in the whole of this distance
up the slope of the Rocky Mountains, whose eastern
summits are to be found a little west of the state line,
and of which a great spur, called the Black Hills,
comes within about twenty miles of the state line on
the north.
Its longest river, the Platte, is some 1,100 or 1,200
miles long. It flows in a wild, erratic course through
the mountains, but within the bounds of this state it is
a wide, shallow, sandy stream, containing numerous
islands, and as it flows from west to east, dividing the
state into two nearly equal parts. The northern por¬
tion of the state is watered principally by the White
and Niobrara Rivers, direct tributaries of the Missouri,
and the Loup and Elkhorn tributaries of the Platte, and
the southern portion by the Namaha, Big Blue, and
Republican. The rivers in south-eastern Nebraska cut
very deep narrow channels, which they seldom over¬
flow, while the Platte and the Republican and their
branches, sometimes to the third remove, are shallow
broad streams, with wide, level valleys, generally termi¬
nated on either side by steep slopes or decided bluffs,
beyond which the upland generally stretches off in
smooth tables or in gentle undulations. The southern
water-shed of the Platte is at the most but a very few
miles from its brink, while it drains the country 120
THE GEOGEAPHY OF NEBRASKA.
43
miles north of its principal southern curve. It has thus
some resemblance to an immense ditch on a side hill,
catching all of the water that falls on the left, and
leaving all that falls on the right to be gathered by
other ditches further down the great incline.
Some of the most important of the many routes to
Nebraska speak for themselves, in the advertising pages
which form a useful addition to this work.
I give below an alphabetical list of the established
steam-ship lines between English and American ports,
with rates for saloon passage current as this book goes
to press. These rates vary much with the accommoda¬
tion, the amount of competition, and the reputation of
the several lines.
Allan Line.—^From Liverpool and Londonderry to Quebec or Port¬
land, Thursdays, cabin fares, ¿615 to ¿619 19s.
Allan Line.—From Liverpool and Queenstown to Halifax, Baltimore,
and Norfolk, fortnightly, cabin fares, ¿613 to ¿618 18s.
Amebican Line.—^From Liverpool and Queenstown to Philadelphia,
Wednesdays, cabin fares, ¿612 12s. to ¿618 l8s.
Anchob Line.—From Glasgow and Londonderry to New York, tri¬
weekly.
cunabd Line.—^From Liverpool and Queenstown to New York and
Boston, semi-weekly, cabin fares, ¿615 15s. to ¿627 6s.
Dominion Line.—From Liverpool and Belfast to Boston and New
Orleans, weekly.
Gbeat Westeen Line.—From Bristol to New York, fortnightly.
Gvion Line.—^From Liverpool and Queenstown to New York, Wed¬
nesdays, cabin fares, ¿615 to ¿622 Is.
Hambukg-Ameeican Line.—From Southampton to New York,
weekly.
Inman Line.—^From Liverpool and Queenstown to New York, semi-
weekly, cabin fares, ¿610 10s. to ¿615 15s.
National Line.—^From Liverpool and Queenstown to New York,
Wednesdays; to Boston and New York, fortnightly, cabin fares, ¿610 10s.
44
NEBRASKA.
to ¿Ê17 17s. From London to New York, fortnightly, cabin fares,
£10 10s. to £17 17s.
North German Lloyd's.—From Southampton to New York, Tues¬
days, cabin fares, ¿623 ; to Baltimore, fortnightly, cabin fares, ¿618.
South Wales Line.—From Cardiff to New York, fortnightly.
State Line.—From Glasgow and Belfast to New York, weekly.
White Star Line.—From Liverpool and Queenstown to New York,
Thursdays, cabin fares, ¿615 15s. to ¿622 Is.
There is also a line to New Orleans, and another to
Galveston, which are said to afford with their river or
rail connections northward to Nebraska cheap transpor¬
tation for passengers and freight. The rates of fare
quoted above are the winter rates now prevailing. In
the summer they have never been as low as £10 10s. ;
but low rates are likely to prevail with most lines in the
future, and it is not probable that any will raise their
highest rate above £27 6s. I have sailed by the Allan
line to Quebec, and found the accommodation and the
table excellent; also by the Cun£ird line, between New
York and Liverpool, and I was perfectly satisfied; by
the same line, between Liverpool and Boston, I found
the steamer smaller, less comfortable, and slower, and
the accommodation less perfect. With large, fast, per¬
fectly appointed steamers Boston would in many cases
be a preferable port to that of New York. I have also
found the National and Guion lines very comfortable.
The vessels were slower than some others, but they were
substantial and, in my judgment, well officered and
carefully handled. My experience of the Anchor line
was far from satisfactory. The fare charged, at the
moment of departure, and when I was comparatively
helpless, was $12 50c. gold, or £2 10s. above the terms
THE GEOGRAPHY OF NEBRASKA
45
that had been freely conceded with a full knowledge of
all my requirements, and the conduct of the passenger
clerk at New York was arbitrary and insolent. This
conduct was doubtless more or less due to the fact that
I had run short of funds, but I had given security to . at
least three times the amount of fare, and I had no
reason to consider myself under any special obligation.
And I have observed that we can best judge of our
safety in the hands of most men by their conduct to
those whom they suppose to be in their power. I had
no reason to complain of the conduct towards me of
any of those employed on the ship, but I deemed the
arrangements in general just a little too " canny," and
among other things my attention was drawn to a
peculiar method of cleansing plates. A steward spat on
a napkin, and rubbed the plates with it till they were
sufficiently glossy and bright, when they were placed
upon the table for immediate use ! I would fain hope
that this method of cleansing is confined to a minority
of shoe-blacks, and to that particular steward, although
it must be confessed that the process is expeditious and
convenient. It is but fair to say that the firm have
apologized to me, but they have not offered to return
me the |12 50c., nor have they given me any substan¬
tial proofs that others are unlikely to be treated unfairly
at the hands of their subordinates in the future. I have
as yet had no personal experience of any other trans¬
atlantic lines, but some of them have a long-established
reputation, and there is sufficient competition to induce
in general an earnest effort after all substantial improve¬
ments.
46
NEBRASKA.
The Cunard line carry in some of their vessels a
second cabin class at £18, and the North German
Lloyd's a similar class for £13.
The Allan, American, Anchor, Guion, and Great
Western lines are the only ones at present carrying
intermediate passengers. For this class the AUan Hne
charges from £7 7s. to £9 9s. to Quebec; the American,
£6 6s. to Philadelphia; the Guion, £6 6s. to New
York; and the Great Western, £8 15s. ßd. to New
York. These figures cover the highest and lowest rates
for a term of years past.
The steerage rates for five years to the breaking up
of the Liverpool Steamship Conference in May, 1874,
were £6 6s. per adult, and fi:om May to December,
1874, they were £3. At present there is a lively
competition going on between the leading lines.
As a general rule the steamship lines have arrange¬
ments with railway companies in America, by which
they book passengers of all classes through to points
of competition with other lines àt the same rate of fare
as at the port of landing; thus, one landing only at
New York books to Quebec, to Boston, and Phila¬
delphia, at the same price as to New York; the Allan
line, to those ports at the same price as to Quebec;
the American line to the other ports at the same price
as to Philadelphia, &c.
THE GEOGEAPHT OF NEBRASKA.
47
ROUTES EEGM THE SEAJBOAED.i
The choice of routes from the Atlantic seaport cities to Omaha ....
will be determined usually by considerations of economy of time, or of
opportunities afforded to visit particular points by the way. The difference
in fares by the numerous lines is inconsiderable. For ordinary purposes
the railway maps will furnish sufficient indications as to the course
of -the principal lines. There are, however, various combinations in
running arrangements between a number of the companies which en¬
able the traveller to vary his course and visit many points of interest
without incurring greater expense than by taking a direct through route.
The following list includes the main routes connecting with the Pacific
Railway from Atlantic ports, and shows also the time and distance between
principal points. It is to be understood, of course, that " through" draw¬
ing-room and sleeping cars are provided on these lines.
I. FROM NEW YORK.
" New Yobk Centbal " Route.
By "North Shore" {of Lahe Erie.)
Stations.
Time
(from
New York.)
Honrs.
Distance
(from
New York.)
Miles.
By " South Shore" {of Lahe Erie»)
Stations.
Time
(from
New York.)
Honrs.
5
14
16i
28
37
Distance
(from
New York.)
Miles.
142
370
439
735
979
Thence to Omaha, as in preced¬
ing colunm.
Albany 5 142 Albany
Suspension Bridge 17 446 Rochester
(Niagara Falls) Buffalo
Detroit 26i 676 Toledo
Chicago 36i 960 Chicago
Omaha or Platts-
mouth—
Clinton,
Viâi Rock Island 60 1460
Burlington
Passengers who prefer it may take Steamer from New York to Albany,
by the Hudson River. Time, 9 hours. The season of navigation is from
June 1 to October 10.
1 From a handbook by Mr. W. C. Thompson, European Agent of the
Union and Central Pacific Railways. Those who have ever been lost in the
intricate mazes of a Bradshaw, or of an American guide, will appreciate
this concise information.
48
NEBRASKA.
St. Louis.—Passengers bj this route may take St. Louis in their course,
and reach Omaha without loss of time. Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago
are the points at which lines diverge for St. Louis.
" Erie "
Route.
By " North Shore."
By " Atlantic and Great Western."
Time
(from
Stations. New York.)
Honrs.
Distance
(from
New York.)
Miles.
Stations.
Time
(from
New York.)
Honrs.
Distance
(from
New York.)
Miles.
Suspension Bridge
Salamanca
14a
413
(Niagara Falls) 18
443
Cincinnati^
32i
861
Detroit 274:
673
St. Louis
464-
1201
Chicago 37i
957
Omaha
7H
1680
Omaha or Platts-
Viâ Kansas City.
mouth—
r Clinton
Viâ< Rock Island >61
LBurlington J
1457
^ A direct route from Cincinnati to Omaha is by Indianapolis, Bloom-
ington, Peoria, and Burlington, without change of cars—time, 35i hours;
distance, 798 miles.
" Pennsylvania Central " Route.
Stations.
Via Chicago.
Time
(from
New York.)
Hours.
Distance
(&om
New York.)
MUes.
90
444
913
Philadelphia 34-
Pittsburg 18
Chicago 37
Omaha orPlatts-
mouth—
rClinton
Viâ< Rocklsland V 60i 1413
LBurlington J
Via St. Louis.
Stations.
Philadelphia
Pittsburg
Columbus
Indianapolis
St. Louis
Omaha
Time
(from
New York.)
Honrs.
31:
16
25
34
45
70
Via Kansas City.
Distance
(from
New York.)
Miles.
90
444
637
825
1064
1543
II. FROM PHILADELPHIA.
The lines to Omaha from Philadelphia are the "Pennsylvania Central,'*
as above ; or the " Baltimore and Ohio," as next below, Baltimore being
reached in 3^ hours, distance 98 miles.
SOUTH EASTERN
ífct/!»/TV'
ÖMAHA
V [ / ' I
• '\^À
ELLEVUE
i2$üt^
NOTE
UNITED
STATES
SURVEYS
Bou/uhrüs
Coiuity Scdty
YORK
». P ■ —r
ihr srmiU sifum r.
(/re each anr /rule
(1/-1/4() (irres.
mnvUhB'
l'est lù'fîtes
htuntmituí ^ end
The Ttijtii.cs ra the roules
(le/ieh: the /ii/ruhers ut
mails per h eck
Sperúü Mail Siippty
ViiU Messenoei- 21—
Ütuoh
TOPOGRAPHY.
LAND SURVEYS.
CIVIL DIVISIONS
MAIL SERV I CES
/'('//'( rte el la
/'eh. 1875.
For a/ere eh'huied
r..rpla//ahon>' see
Book pape 11 fí. etr
LINCOLN
fet/yer CnMstruf
astport
"-^fn Tr
\ZHWi
Ç\ -SoUarva
- yjl / Tranm
'hBrarujfv
*hjetp6 City
xAouaiUi
Hook*
Crubdirthartl
DayerijHfr
'^Fairburv
Cami
OTOE RESERVAX-JON
Cftai^auy
AWia
Alhinn
Centre'
MnuAd
THE GEOGRAPHY OF NEBRASKA.
49
III. FROM BALTIMORE.
"Baltimore and Ohio" Route.
Via St. Louis.
Via
Chicago.
Time
Distance
Time
Distance
(from
(from
(from
(from
Stations.
Baltimore).
Baltimore).
Stations.
Baltimore).
Baltimore).
Hours.
Miles.
Hours.
Miles.
Washington
u
40
Washington
H
40
Parkershurg
384
Bellaire
ISi
376
Cincinnati^
23i
589
Newark
I7i
480
St. Louis
38
929
Chicago Junction 21
568
Omaha
63
1408
Chicago
34
839
(via Kansas City).
Omaha—
IV. FROM BOSTON.
The lines from Boston to the
"West lead through New York or
Albany, by several railways, form¬
ing connections with the various
through routes above named.
Through connections are also made
by way of Montreal. The time
from Boston to New York is 7
hours ; distance, 236 miles. Boston
to Albany, 6i hours ; distance, 201
miles. Boston to Montreal, 15
hours ; distance, 342 miles.
Y. FROM QUEBEC.
" Grand Trunk " Route.
Stations.
Time
(from
Quebec).
Hours.
Distance
(from
Quebec).
Miles.
Montreal
II
172
Toronto
27
505
Detroit
39
763
Chicago
49
1047
Omaha—
r Clinton
Yia^ Rocklsland 172^
1547
Burlington
1 A direct route to Omaha from Cincinnati is by Indianapolis, Bloom-
ington, Peoria, and Burlington, without change of cars—^time 35-|. hours ;
distance, 798 miles.
E
50
NEBEASKA.
VI. FEOM NOEFOLK.
"Chesapeake and Ohio" Eoute.
Via St. Louis.
Via Chicago.
Time
Distance
Time
Distance
(from
(from
(from
(from
N orfolk).
Norfolk).
Stations. Norfolk).
Norfolk).
Honrs.
Miles.
Honrs.
Miles.
Eichmond 4i
104
Eichmond 4a
104
Covington 16
309
Covington 16
309
(delay of 11 hours).
(delay of 11 hours).
Huntington 26a
525
Huntington 26a
525
Cincinnati 39
675
Take steamer to
St. Louis 58a
1015
Cincinnati 39
675
(via Kansas City).
Indianapolis 43i
790
Omaha 78i
1494
(via Kankakee).
Chicago 51
929
( Clinton
Via-< Eock Island
V Burlington
Omaha 74A
1429
" Chattanooga" Eoute.
Stations.
Time
(from
Norfolk).
Honrs.
Distance
(from
Norfolk).
Miles.
Bristol
fco
o
408
Chattanooga
33
650
Nashville
40a
801
Cairo
49a
973
St. Louis
62a
1139
Omaha
87a
1618
(via Kansas City.)
EATES OF FAEE TO OMAHA OE PLATTSMOUTH,
NEBEASKA.
1st Class.
1875.
1875.
1874.
1873.
From New York to Omaha ¿£6 16
9
$38-00
$39-50
$39-50
„ Montreal
»
6 12
3
36-75
38-20
38-55
„ Boston
»
7 9
3
41-85
41-50
41-50
„ Philadelphia
}>
6 9
7
36-00
37-50
37-50
„ Baltimore
6 6
0
35-00
36-50
36-50
THE GEOGBAPHY OF NEBRASKA.
51
2nd Class.
1875.
1875. 1874.
1873.
Erom New York to Omaha
£5
12 6
$31-25 $33-25
$33-55
„ Montreal
99
5
8 0
30-00 32-00
32-30
„ Boston
99
6
6 11
35-25 37-85
38-15
„ Philadelphia
99
5
6 0
29-45 31-45
31-75
„ Baltimore
99
5
4 9
29-10 31-10
31-40
3rd Class.
From New York to Omaha or Plattsmouth
$23-50 ,£4 4 8
„ Montreal
99
99
25-50
•
4 11 10
„ Boston
99
99
24-50
4 8 3
„ Baltimore
99
99
21-50 ;
3 17 5
„ Philadelphia
99
99
21-80
3 18 8
Emigrant rates from Atlantic ports to Chicago fell as low as $5, or
18s, bd. ; but the above rates to Nebraska have been maintained for two
or three years.
The local rates for 377 miles west of Omaha are
five cents per mile, and first-class only, and the fare to
any point may be arrived at very closely by consulting
the maps in this book. The through fares fi'om seaboard
points to points west of Omaha, may be arrived at by
adding local rates to those above given. There is at
present no advantage in booking from England through
to point of destination.
Luggage is allowed to saloon passengers by the
steamship companies at the rate of twenty cubic feet per
adult, and ten cubic feet each for steerage passengers.
Excess is charged at Is. 6d. per cubic foot; 100 lbs.
luggage are allowed on American railways, and excess
is charged at about fifteen per cent, of the railway fare
per 100 lbs.
Meals in the railway dining rooms cost fifty cents
to 75 cents each (Is. lOd. to 2s. 8c?.), and seats and
double berths in PuUman's drawing-room and sleeping
52
NEBRASKA.
cars, New York and other ports to Omaha, cost $8, or
£1 8s. 9d. each, and are allowed to first-class passengers
only.
In these calculations gold has been estimated as at a
premium of fifteen per cent., and exchange at the true
par, when it takes $5*5665 of American currency to
equal a sovereign. The average rate for a year past has
been somewhere about $5 40 cents to the pound sterling.
From the data now given, it will be seen that, allow¬
ing eight meals between New York and Omaha at a
cost of 19s. 5d.j first-class fare £6 16s. 9d., and £10 10s.
for saloon passage, the lowest first-class rate from
Liverpool to Nebraska is about £18 6s. 2d., or with
Pullman accommodation about £19 14s. Id. ; or taking
medium rate of £17 17s. Liverpool to New York, rail¬
way fare £6 16s. 9d. as before, four days stopping off at
New York, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Chicago, or other
points, at a cost of |5 per day (£3 12s.), and meals as
before 19s. 6d., it wUl cost £29 5s. 2d. With steerage
fare at £3, emigrant class by railway from Baltimore at
£3 17s. bd. and a hamper of provisions at S2 (7s. 2d.)
it will cost £7 4s. 7d. For anything between or above
these figures the reader will find no difficulty in com¬
bining the rates for himself. If he lingers by the way
stopping at the best hotels it wiU cost him 10s. 10¿í. to
18s. per day without extras, or he can stop at more
common houses, often getting very nice accommodation,
at 7s. 2d. per day, or he can hunt up mechanics' board¬
ing houses and stop at the rate of 18s. and upwards per
week.
CHAPTER lY.
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
Natives of Nebraska.—The softer sex.—The war.—The railways.—
Geographical position.—Diagram of population.—Douglas county lands.—
Paniq^^f '73.—Prospects.—Flattering appellations.—View of Omaha.—
—Groves.—Army head-quarters.—Manufactures in operation'.—^Eaüway
shops.—Smèlting.—^Linseed oil.—^Breweries.—Distillery.—Pork packing,
—Carriages, machinery, &c.—^Brick.—Eemarkable casts in sand of a
primitive forest.—Manufactures suggested.—Newspapers.—Public schools.
—^Free tuition at a cost of 100 dollars a year.—View of High School.—
View of Post Office.—rNed Creighton, the Omaha millionnaire.—The port
of Omaha v. Dudley port.—The post-office.—The hotels.—The Pacific
railway bridge.—Importations from the east.—A car load.—^Exports west.
■»—The wholesale trade.—Price fists of various commodities.
ATI YE adults are scarce in Nebraska;
it was unlawful to be born there before
May 23, 1854, when the territory was
first opened for settlement. In 1870 there
were, in round numbers, 18,000 natives, 74,000 native
Americans, and 31,000 persons of foreign birth in the
State. The present number of natives is estimated at
some 60,000. It increases on the other population in
a geometrical ratio, and will soon preponderate, not¬
withstanding the immense immigration. But it will
54
NEBRASKA.
long remain under the rule of the foreigner, for the
first will only arrive at man's estate in 1876. The
softer sex was not well represented in the earlier
years of the territory ; tiU Omaha had become a con¬
siderable town, a respectable lady-like woman was
almost as rare in its streets as in some rich, newly-dis¬
covered gold diggings of Australia or California.
Omaha was originally " staked out" in 1854. It was
the capital of the territory, and building lots rapidly
went up without any substantial basis, to be knocked
down again to almost nothing by the financial crisis of
1857. Immigration almost ceased, and was not re¬
sumed till after the close of the war. The population
of the city in 1865 had scarcely reached 4,500 souls;
but in the building of the Union Pacific Railway very
large sums were necessarily disbursed at this initial
point, which gave a great impetus to the growth of the
city. It has now three main lines of railway communi¬
cation with Chicago, a bridge over the Missouri, the
Union Pacific stretching westward a thousand miles to
meet the Central Pacific, the Burlington and Missouri
in Nebraska, a North-Western railroad commenced, a
North and South line within eight miles on the east
bank of the Missouri, connecting it with Sioux city on
the north, and the whole valley of the lower Missouri
on the south; and, lastly, steamboat communication
through the Missouri with the whole Mississippi valley.
Its population in 1870 was 16,000, and it is now about
20,000. Its geographical position is a commanding
one, and the railways are rapidly increasing the extent
and value of the regions that pay it tribute.
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
55
In the diagram, fig. 1, the left-hand curve shows
the population of Douglas county (including Omaha)
from 1854 to 1874, and my estimate of its increase to
1880; while the right-hand curve shows the population
of Omaha to 1870, and my estimate to 1880. The
vertical scale represents the populations by thousands
as indicated by figures in the margins, and the hori¬
zontal scale the years from 1854 to 1880, as indicated at
the top and bottom. The little circles indicate fixed
points, and other parts of the curves are mostly derived
from complicated data.
It will be observed that Douglas county, outside of
Omaha, has very slowly increased in population since
% /
•ÎC' Í
J
/
/
'7f
e\
V
-1
}-i
Vi
r
J
''
f
'
1
Í-
€
{i
/
\
J
/
f
•.4
oo
f
/
/
/
t
k
?
«
J
iá
%
/,
1SS4-
1860 ises is>o ie*f-
OOP
mo
The population of Douglas county, Nebraska, and of its county seat, O maha, from 1854.
1860. This is owing principally to the fact that nearly
all of the land is held by speculators, and is allowed to
lie waste. It is generally held in small lots of 160
acres and upwards, and very much of it at moderate
prices; but there is no co-operation or association
56
NEBRASKA.
among the owners, by which they can advertise to the
public the advantages that their lands afford, and as a
necessary consequence, the land buyers almost univer¬
sally go further west, to the well-advertised lands of
the railway companies. Thus the great agricultural
resources of the county remain undeveloped, and this
must be a serious drawback upon the prosperity of
Omaha. The financial panic of 1873, and the monetary
stringency since, by preventing the opening-up of new
routes, and by checking manufactures, has also already
had much influence. When the rich lands of Douglas
county, and of the other eastern counties of Nebraska
more directly tributary to Omaha, become the property
of actual farmers, as they must do at no distant day ;
when communications are opened up with the regions
on the Niobrara, and those of the North Platte country
intervening; and the enterprise is well developed of
manufacturing in Nebraska those articles which would
be more profitably made there than they can be trans¬
ported from points further eastward ; Omaha will gain
a fresh impetus, which, if her citizens are wise, will
rapidly send the population up to 50,000, 60,000, and
75,000 souls. But in the present dearth of enterprise
it is impossible to foretell precisely the beginning of
these things ; and I have given them little considera¬
tion in estimating the population at 25,000 in 1880.
Of the people of Omaha, those of the sterner sex
have received the appellations of Omahawks and Oma-
hogs, from their playful, imaginative, and somewhat
disparaging neighbours, and that of Omahosses from
too familiar friends ; while the dear ladies are Omahens
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
57
or Omahussies, according to one's point of view, and
the supposed character of- the individuals spoken of.
Neither of these appellations is altogether appropriate
to sweet, blushing eighteen, and it would seem that
here the inventive genius of America is at fault.
The opposite plate is a view of a portion of Omaha,
from a photograph by Savage, a well-known western
artist. The site is a fine one. The business portion of
the city is on a level plateau ; one of the " terraces " of
the Missouri, and the residences of the wealthy and the
well-to-do are principally on the declivities or the brow
of the bluffs beyond, and they overlook a vast extent of
beautifiil country, with the Missouri river in the near
distance. Shade trees abound, and many pretty views
may be obtained in the city and its neighbourhood.
There are many groves near Omaha where, a few
years ago, there was nothing but the bare prairie. The
largest comprises some fifty acres, and was bare prairie
in 1856. Some rows of trees there, the earliest planted,
will average more than a foot in diameter, and sixty
feet high, by my own observation. These were cotton-
wood cuttings. In numerous unploughed hollows there
are dense young natural forests of many acres, which
have sprung up since the desolating fire& have been kept
out by the settlement of the country ; and the landscape
now presents a striking resemblance to the more rolling
parts of Devonshire.
In Omaha are the head-quarters of the military de¬
partment of the Platte, which extends nearly a thousand
miles westward, and from two to four hundred miles
north and south. The troops and military stores for
58
NEBRASKA.
this immense region are distributed from this initial
point ; but the expenditure is on so small a scale, in pro¬
portion to the extent of territory, that it does not tend
very largely to the aggrandisement of Omaha. In
1874 the quarter-master's department furnished trans¬
portation for 1,568 officers and men, and nearly
27,500,000 pounds of stores, and its account with the
Union Pacific Eailway, including the Omaha Bridge,
was a little over $400,000. Its total disbursements
were about $1,150,000, and those of the paymaster's
department $1,450,000.
Omaha has already entered in the race as a manufac¬
turing town. The machine, foundry, smith, car, and
paint shops of the Union Pacific Railway here, cover
some thirty acres of ground, and give employment to
a large number of men. The Omaha Smelting Works
refined in 1874, in round numbers, 7,000 tons of base
bullion, and smelted 2,000 tons of ore, producing gold
and silver to the value of $1,350,000, and 6,500 tons of
lead, worth 800,000. The Linseed-Oil Works are con¬
siderable in themselves, and important in their ten¬
dency to promote agricultural interests. They produced
in 1874 about 1,000 tons of oilcake, worth $30 per ton,
and 80,000 gallons of oil, worth $80,000. They have
been in operation two years, and commenced by loan¬
ing flax seed to the farmers, and contracting for the
produce. The enterprise is a growing and profitable
one, and the farmers have found it to their advantage.
But they do not utilize the fibre, a very large amount
of valuable material, which goes to waste. There is
room for the employment of a large amount of capital
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
59
in the profitable manipulation of flax, both here and in
other parts of Nebraska. There is one large flouring
mill, and one biscuit manufactory. There are seven
breweries, and the aggregate product for 1874 of the
three largest was about 14,000 barrels. The Wülow
Springs Distillery is also a large consumer of grain.
The pork-packing business has been commenced by
three firms, the largest of which packed 13,500 hogs in
1873. Swine are a profitable crop in Nebraska, and there
is no good reason why pork-packing, and the curing of
ham and bacon, should not be a very large and profit¬
able trade. There are two soap factories, and many
minor establishments in which are manufactured various
articles of every-day use. Carriages, "buggies," and
waggons, agricultural implements, elevators, machinery,
and steam engines, are manufactured on a more or less
considerable scale.
The manufacture of brick is carried on in proportion
to the growth of the city. In visiting one of the brick¬
fields I came across some interesting fossils, fragile
mementoes of a pine forest of a former age. They
consisted of fine sand, preserving the grain and general
appearance of the wood which it represented, and held
in place only by the brick earth around them. There
were trunks, roots, knots, and fruit. They were
exceedingly delicate, crumbling to the touch; but I
brought away some small specimens, which hardened
somewhat on exposure to the air.
Most of the industries that I have named are capable
of very considerable extension. The transportation of
agricultural implements, for instance, in which there is
60
NEBRASKA.
an enormous trade, is more costly than the freightage
of the raw material of which they are made. Carriages
and waggons are very bulky, and, as a rule, they can
be best manufactured within a moderate distance of the
market. The various forms of cured pork and beef are
more convenient of transportation than the live animals,
and in skilled hands there might well be a large exten¬
sion of this trade. Soap should be manufactured in
Nebraska more cheaply than further east, and the
business must be largely extended to meet the demand
in the State. Distilled liquors will better bear trans¬
portation than the grain from which they are manu¬
factured. "High wines" can be sent from Omaha to New
York for $14 a ton, and this is so much less than the
freight on the grain from which these articles are made,
that an English firm, manufacturing in Omaha or some
other town on the Missouri, could produce an excellent
article, and yet undersell in the home market any firm
manufacturing in England.
The new manufactures for which there has seemed
to me to be an immediate opening are : (1) flax fibre
into bales for further manipulation in the east, and into
ropes, twine, sacks, &c. ; (2) paper from straw, espe¬
cially a sort of straw board, much used in the construc¬
tion of temporary buildings; (3) glass, for which a
large proportion of the material might be obtained on
the spot ; (4) starch from maize, wheat, &c. ; (5) canned
and preserved fruits, and vegetables and potted meats ;
(6) flannels, blankets, coarse woollens, cheap carpets,
&c. ; (7) various manufactures of leather and skins.
There are three daily newspapers, seven weeklies,
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
61
and three monthlies, with eight printing offices and
four bookbinderies in Omaha, all that I have seen pre¬
senting a very decent appearance, and some of them
being valuable property ; but how so many flourish in
a place so young and comparatively so small is quite a
mystery to me. A fourth daily was started in the
interval of my visits of 1873 and 1874, but it suc¬
cumbed to the November blasts of the latter year.
The public school expenditure of Omaha is curious
and interesting to an Englishman, in all the details of
its extravagance, but I can give only a few of its more
salient features. Like other young towns of the west,
its children and youths bear but a small proportion to
the adult population. Between the ages of five and
twenty-one inclusive, they were 3,724 in 1873—an in¬
crease on 1870 of 48 per cent. A total of 2,525 were
attending schools, public or private ; 147 below the age
of thirteen, and 1,152 of that age or upwards, were not
attending any school. The average daily attendance in
public schools is 1,290, and whole number of seats
1,586. The school buildings and grounds to accommo¬
date this number of pupils are worth $406,800, the
salaries of teachers are $29,987, and the whole ordinary
expenditure, exclusive of interest, was $48,336, or
about £7 55. per pupil of the average number attend¬
ing. But the city is in debt for a part of its school
property, and it pays 10 per cent, interest. Reckoning
interest on the whole property at this rate, which is low
for Omaha, we shall find that each pupil costs the town
between £13 and £14 per annum. This is for pupils of
all ages, but the interest on the value of the Central and
62
NEBRASKA.
High School and grounds is about $30,000 a year, and
their yearly expenses are about $20,000, while the total
average attendance is exactly 500, at a cost, therefore,
of $100 each per year, or $10 each per month of the
school session. Omaha is justly proud of her free
schools ; but I cannot imagine an English town with a
like number of children coveting the same distinction.
In extenuation of this extravagance it may be said,
however, that the cost per caput will rapidly diminish
with the increase of children in the town, and that the
revenue from the vast area of school lands in the State,
and from other sources independent of direct taxation,
is rapidly increasing, and thus diminishing the burden ; •
while the reputation of having such superior schools
serves to attract, far more than school taxes deter,
people from taking up their abode in Omaha.
The plate facing the title-page of this book, from a
photograph by Eaton, a local artist of repute, is an
accurate representation of the High School, a finely-pro¬
portioned and beautiful structure, 176 feet long, and
80 feet wide. The spire rises 185 feet from the ground.
The High School bill of intellectual fare comprises a
German-English preparatory course of one year, a Latin-
English ditto of two years, a classical course of four
years (Latin, Greek, higher Mathematics, Natural
Sciences, English Composition, Ehetoric, Logic, Litera¬
ture, Political and Social Economy, Mental and Moral
Philosophy and the Ethics of Government, Chemistry,
Physics, Physiology, Zoology, Botany, Geology, Mine¬
ralogy, Astronomy, History of Civilization, International
Law); a Latin-English or a German-English course of
Eatun, l'huto, Oinalux,
TU Ii rOST-OFFJCE AND ClUilGIITON BLOCK, OMAHA.
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
63
four years, very similar to the classical course, lan¬
guages excepted ; an English course of four years,
almost equally ambitious; and a select course, which is
very much at the option of students and parents. This,
like the bill of fare of an American hotel, comprises too
many dishes; it is extremely difficult for the diner to
choose wisely, and he or she runs great risk of destroy¬
ing the power of mental digestion. The fact that it is
entirely free adds somewhat to the danger. There is
very properly no distinction of race or colour, and the
irrepressible darkey is to be found in all grades.
Opposite is a view of Omaha Post-office and Creigh-
ton Block. The latter is a neat row of brick buildings,
named after a very noted character of frontier life. In
the old days of the California gold-fever he was a
freighter across the plains and mountains. He was
chief constructor of the telegraph which links San Fran¬
cisco with the Mississippi valley and the east. He be¬
came also a great stock grower, generally, if not always,
making the manager of a herd a partner with himself in
the enterprise. He was said to be very liberal, and he
was by far the most prosperous and prominent man in
the State ; but with the rapid accumulation of his capital
he increased the number and complexity of his business
undertakings, till he broke down, and recently died of
paralysis, the sure conqueror of any man who persists
in doing the mental work of half a dozen.
Omaha is a port, and in the heart of a great conti¬
nent, as it is, it derives a somewhat greater advantage
from this fact than Dudley Port does from its name and
central position on the tight little island of England. I
64
NEBRASKA.
have heard of commercials, new to the mysteries of the
road, being hoaxed into running down to Dudley Port
on Saturday eve to spend a pleasant Sunday on the
sands of the sea-shore. The victim arrives in a great
state of happy expectation, to find the sea a mirage of
the imagination, and the sea breezes an atmosphere of
soot, which, if transported to other localities, might be
dexterously served out with a ladle, as a species of
soup. This soup being about the best thing the place
afibrds to eat, drink, or inhale, and there being no
trains or facilities for getting away till Monday, the
victim of the hoax becomes pretty thoroughly im¬
pressed with the importance of geographical knowledge.
Omaha has the shore of the Missouri in the foreground,
sometimes a trifle muddy withal, and if sands are
wanted, there are any number of miles of them oh the
Platte, while the " prairie zephyrs " are as lusty and
health-giving as the breezes of the sea, although it must
be confessed that they lack the pleasant briny flavour.
But the city derives more practical advantages from
being a port ; it has the privilege of importing goods in
bond by rail or river from all parts of the world, with¬
out paying tribute to the cities of the sea-board. It is
also the seat of a United States District Court, and the
fine building popularly known as the Post-office is
intended also for a Customs and a Court House. It is
of fine freestone, and is the costliest and most substan¬
tial building in the city. In 1874 the City Post-office
dehvered 546,483 letters, 59,189 post-cards, and 256,750
newspapers, its collections being considerably less,
and its total receipts, including money orders, were
Sl,054,705-83.
í
I
/
I
THE RESIDENCE OF AUCÜ6TU6 H0UNT2E . tSq.
THE CITY OF OMAHA. 65
The grand Central Hotel is a fine brick structure,
132 feet square, five storeys high, with lofty, commodious
rooms, and it is first-class in its management and ap¬
pointments. The Omahosses " are very proud of it.
There are several other prominent hotels, and a larger
number than I should care to enumerate of the average
"Western type.
The Pacific railway bridge over the Missouri at
Omaha, an end view of which serves to illuminate the
cover of this book, is an imposing structure, but it is
also extremely light and graceful in its appearance. Its
length is about half a mile, its spans are some 250 feet
each, and they rest on massive iron columns 8 feet in
diameter, filled with concrete. These rise nearly 90
feet from the water, and consequently, notwithstanding
their huge circumference, they look rather slender than
otherwise. The freight which passed over this bridge
from the east, consigned to Omaha in 1874, con¬
sisted of—
Car loads.
Car loads.
Timber boards, &c.. . .
2,217
Oil 154
Coal
2,061
Salt 170
"Wood, <fec
815
Lime, &c 178
Flour, grain, and produce .
514
Horses, mules, &c. . . . 126
Agricultural implements.
General merchandise, gro¬
machines, &c.
472
ceries, furniture, &c.. . 2,246
Pig-iron, hardware, &c.
372'
———
Coke
200
Total. . . 9,525
This total is nearly 100,000 tons.
As a general rule, a car-load in America consists of
20,000 pounds, or 70 barrels of salt, 70 of lime, 100 of
flour, 60 of whisky, 200 sacks of flour, 6 cords of hard
F
66
NEBRASKA.
wood, 7 of soft wood, 15 to 20 head of cattle, 50 to 60 head
of hogs, 80 to 100 head of sheep, 9,000 feet of solid boards,
17,000 feet of siding, 13,000 feet of flooring, 40,000
shingles, one-half less of hard lumber, one-quarter less
of green lumber, one-tenth less of joists, scantling, and
all other larger timber, 340 bushels of wheat, 360 of
corn, 580 of oats, 400 of barley, 360 of flax seed, 360
of apples, 430 of Irish potatoes, 1,000 of bran. Some
railroads, however, allow much heavier loads, and
charge them as 20,000 lbs., as a matter of special favour
to some of their customers.
Nebraska is not as yet a large exporter of farm pro¬
ducts. The immigrant population is non-producing the
first year, and is so large as to consume the principal
part of the farmer's surplus. Of the exports, wheat and
live stock generally go eastward, and a variety of other
products westward, to the ever-increasing markets in
the vast mineral regions of the mountains.
The following is a statement of the products of Ne¬
braska forwarded west from Omaha during the years of
1872 and 1873:—
Kinds of freight, 1872.
Kinds of freight, 1873.
Total Ih.
Total Ih.
Com .
Oats .
Other grain .
Vegetables .
Hay . . .
Flour. . .
Hogs (live) .
Hogs (dressed)
Butter and eggs
Miscellaneous
"Whiskey. .
6,247,730 Com . .
2,674,260 Oats .
2,256,284 Other grain
494,890 Vegetables
170,730 Hay . .
. 7,095,970
. 4,864,320
. 2,088,140
. 992,620
, 1,425,600 Flour
. 1,310,800 Hogs (live) .
886,140 Hogs (dressed)
142,150 Butter and eggs
. 1,486,720
. 474,000
. 1,426,250
. 1,395,300 Miscellaneous
. 556,280 Whiskey. .
. 177,990
. 1,055,990
. 888,700
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
67
The total like products of the State shipped westward
from the towns on the Union Pacific Railway in 1873
was 172,959,900 lbs.
The wholesale trade of Omaha is very considerable,
and a list of the prices of some leading articles will be
useful to the intending emigrant. That which follows
is believed to represent very fairly the prices in
Omaha of the articles named therein for the months of
October, November, and December, 1874. Many of
the names that distinguish grades will be iminteUigible
to Englishmen ; but taken in connection with the gra¬
dation of prices attached, they wiU give him some idea
of comparative prices in England and the far West.
The prices are in dollars and cents, at per yard, pound,
&c., as in England. I shall deal further with the prices
of farmers' produce in another place. 2^ cents may be
considered equal to a penny, or 27 cents to a shilling.
Cotton Goods (Unbleaclied).
Cents.
Cents.
Ballon & Son 36 in.
•lOi
Agwam F., per yard
•8i
Boott E . . . .
•10
Portsmouth A . .
Gold Medal 36 in. .
•11
Atlantic A . . .
. -ll—Hi
Darol Mills . .
•16
„ H . . .
. -lOi—-11
Green G. ...
•81
Wachusetts .
. -lOi—-11
Pepperell 9-4 . .
. •BO—•32i
Pepperell 0 . . .
•9
„ 10-4 . .
. -35—BVi
P. . .
•10
Stripes.
Dwight 2. . . .
•11
American. . . .
•lU—122-
Star S . . . .
. • •IH
Amoskeag . . .
z z
. ^14—•IS
(Bleached).
Awning Stripes .
. •22|^-25
New York Mills. .
•18
Lewiston A . . .
•17i
Wamsutta . . .
•13
Hamilton....
. •lO—-17
Lonsdale ....
•IBi
Omega ....
Fruit of Loom . .
•17
Pittsfield ....
•8i
68
NEBRASKA.
Prints.
Cents,
Albany ....
•5
Albion ....
•9i
Amoskeag
• -74—94
American.
. -9—-94:
Allen's ....
1
05
x
00
ft
•
„ Pinks . .
.10
Ancona Fancy .
. -Si—*9a
Manchester . . .
. *8x—*9i
Merrimack .
. *9-*9A
,, Shirtings
•8A
Bichmonds .
. •8i-*9A
„ E . .
•10
Sprague's . . .
•8a
Simpson's mourning
•9
,, black. .
*9
Wamsutta . .
•7
Gingfams.
Hartford ....
*lli
Lancaster . .
•11
Men's Wellington Boots.
French kip . .
|4-50—4*91
African kip (long legs) 4*33—4*50
Thick boots. . .
. 2-75—3*25
Heavy boots, kip back. 3*25—3*35
Choice kip boots .
. 3*50—4*00
All hand-made calf
. 4*75—5*55
Calf boots (hand-sided) 4*33—4*91
Calf and B calf boots
. 3*25—3*75
Brogans heavy . .
. 1*25—2*00
„ plows. .
. 1*25-2*00
,, buckle plows 1*75—2*50
Side Spbinq.
Fine-pegged Creole . 1*75—2*00
Custom calf Creole . 2*75—2*90
Fine cable-sewed Scotch 2*40—2*60
Women's Balmorals.
Custom calf pegged $2*00—2*10
Calf pegged. . . . 1*85—1*87
Bluff and splitt. . .1*25—1*70
Polkas Frenth kip . 1*75—1*80
Goat Pohsh . . . 2*00—2*75
Glove kid sewed Polish 2*25—2*35
Misses' goat, grain, calf,
and buff Polish . . 1*00—1*75
Children's buff silver tip
half-Balmorals . . 0*70—0*90
Children's calf do. do.. 1*00—1*25
Infant's goat, kid, and
morocco polish . . 0*20—0*62
Infant's choice P, L,
ankle ties. . . . 0*55—0*60
Boys' thick boots . . 2*00—2'75
Youths' do. do. copper
tips 1*25—2*25
Eubber boots, shoes.
&c., subject to a dis¬
count of 7 and 4 per
cent.
Men's over-sandals
•85-
—*90
Ladies' „
1
0
co
•
-*65
Misses' „
*50
Men's „ self-
acting
*95
Ladies' „ self-
acting. ....
•75
Men's long top rubber
boots
5*00
Men's long knee do. .
4-00
Men's buckle arctics .
1*90
Women's „
1*40
Misses' „
1*20
Children's „
•75
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
69
99
99
99
Haedwabe.
Nails.
10c?. to 60c?. per keg
8<?.
6c?.
4c?.
3c?.
3c?. fine blue
Clinch nails, per 100 lbs,
6c?. finishing nails, per
100 lbs
Ibon and Steel.
Burden's horse shoes,
per keg ....
Horse nails, North¬
western, per lb. . .
Iron, common bar . .
,, round and square
„ horse shoe bar .
„ hoop and light
band....
Cast steel, American .
,, English.
Bhster steel, American
„ ^ English .
German steel, plow and
spring ....
Norway nail rods, Ben-
zone
Implements, per doz.
Scythes — H. Holt's
Harvest King, net
Champion . . .
Heald's Eureka. .
„ red . . .
Kowland's, No. 2,
black shovels D H
10
4-35
4-60
515
5-90
7-10
5-85
5-85
7-20
•25—-30
•4
•5
•7
•6
•20
•25
•21
•23
•12
•13
12^00
12*00
10-00
9-00
12*00
Kowland's, No. 2,
polished do. . . |il3'00
Kowland's, No. 2,
black spades do.. 12*00
Kowland's, No. 2,
polished do. . . 13*00
Moore's " spring
point" L. H.
shovels . . . 13*50
Axes — Lippencott's
Western Crown . 13*00
Bo., bevelled . . 13*50
Coffee mills—No. 3,
iron box, net. . 5*25
Bo., No. 25, Union
iron .... 11*00
Bo., No. 30, do.
Britannia . . . 13*00
Hammers—^Hammond's
A.E.No.2 . . 9 00
Bo., No. 4 . . . 10-50
Engineers', No. 1 . 10*50
Bo., No. 2 . . . 13*50
Bo., No. 3 . . . 14*50
Hatchets—Morris'. . 8*00
Bo., claw. No. 1 . 7*50
Bo., No. 2 . . . 8*50
Grain, per bushel.
Wheat, choice milling. *75—*85
„ No. 2 . . . *65—*75
„ No. 3 . . . *60—*70
Corn *40—*60
Oats in bulk ... *40
Potatoes 1*00
Buckwheat .... *80
Bran, per ton . . . 15*00
Live Stock, per lb.
Native shipping steers. *4
70
NEBRASKA.
Native butcher's stock
Hogs, on foot . . .
Sheep, per Ih. . . ,
Calves, per Ih., gross .
Poultry.
Turkeys, per Ih. . .
Chickens
Fruits, &c.
Apples, new, per hrl. .
Figs, drums, per Ih, .
Raisins, layers, per
box, new.
Dried currants, Zante,
ilgw • • • • ■
Dried apples, eastern .
Dried raspberries . .
Dried pitted cherries .
Peaches, pared, new .
Peaches, unpared, new,
halves.
Turkish prunes, new .
Oysters, 2 lb. cans,
per doz. .
Pears . .
Strawberries
Peaches .
Com . . .
Greengages.
Egg plums .
Tomatoes .
Pineapple .
•3è
■H
•3i—-Si
•4i-—-5
•16
.35_-40
$3-^-50
•15
3-60
'7i—'S
•10—-14
•38—-40
•32—-40
•22—-27
•10—124.
•12i—•Id
3-75—4-50
4-80—5-25
4.50—4-80
5.00—5-75
5-00-6-00
6-00—6-75.
6-00-6-75
300-3^75
5.00—5-75
Fish.
Mackerel, in kits . . 1-35—1-65
„ half barrels 8-50—10-00
5-25
„ in kegs . . 1-60
Herrings
White fish, kits
White fish, in
barrels
•20-1-40
half
. 6-00-7-00
Peovtsigns, per lb.
Mess pork, per hrl.
Hams, plain, per lb.
Hams, sugar cured
Bacon, clear sides .
Shoulders .
Dried beef, plain .
Daisy Products.
Cheese, per lb. .
Choice table butter
Choice firkin, summer
packed ....
Good firkin....
Eggs,repacked,per doz.
,, shippers' count,
per doz
Sugar.
Cut loaf.
Granulated
Standard A
C. . .
Yellow .
Biscuit.
Soda.
Butter
Boston
Sugar
Picnic
Coffee.
O. G. Java.
Costa Rica .
Rio, choice .
Rio, common
$17-15
-16i
-14
•IH
-6i
•16
•14—-16
-22—-30
-12—-20
-10—-17
-12—^22
•10
-12±
•lU—^12
-11—-IH
4-
-10±-
■101-
-10±
-5
-5
-10
•10
•31—.34
•22—^24
•23—-24
-20
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
71
lÍilCE» Cents.
Carolina -Qi
Rangoon .... *8—'8-|-
OiLS, per gallon.
Carbon *17
Linseed, raw ... *85
Linseed, boiled... *90
Lard, No. 1 . . . *95
Extra ^1*00
Benzine *25
West Va. lubricating oil *35—"40
Eish oil *85
Turpentine .... *60—*90
Paints, per lb.
White lead, strictly
pure "ll
Do. fancy brands . . *9^
White zinc, pure French "14
Do. pure American . *12
Red lead, pure Ameri¬
can *12
Putty in bladders . ^4*50—5*00
Lime, per brl. . . . 1'75—2'25
Cement, Utica . . . 3*25
,, Louisville. . 3*50
Plaster, Grand Rapids 4*00
„ Cardiff. . . 3*75
Hair, per bale 40 lbs.. 2*25
Ltjmbeb, at per M.
[An M is 1000 square feet
without regard to thickness in thin
stuff, and on the basis of 1 inch
thickness in other cases.]
Joists, studding and sills.
20 ft. and under
$21*00
Over 20 ft., each addi¬
tional foot length .
•50
Fencing, No. 1
22-00
„ No. 2 . .
20*00
1st common boards
25-00
2nd do
20-00
" A " stock boards, 10
and 12 in. .
45-00
" B " do., do. .
35-00
" C " do., do. . . .
30-00
" D " do., do. .
25-00
1st clear, 1, li, li.
and 2 in
65-00
2nd do., do. ...
55-00
3rd do., do
45-00
Flooring, clear.
45-00
' „ 1st common.
40-00
„ 3rd do. .
25-00
,, narrow, clear
45*00
1st clear ceiling i in. .
35-00
2nd do. i in. .
32-50
1st do. in. .
30-00
2nd do. in. .
27-50
1st clear siding . .
26-00
2nd do.
24-00
1st common siding
20-00
2nd do.
18-00
" A " shingles, per M.
4-25
Extra No. 1 shingles .
3-00
Common No. 1 shingles
2*00
Lath per 1,500
3-50
D and H Pickets, per 100
3-50
0 G batten, per lineal
foot .....
H
Discount on car loads.
Good table cutlery is dear, and families emigrating should not part
72
NEBEASKA.
with what they have, with the intention of replacing it. Crockery and
china ware of all grades is extremely dear in proportion to English prices,
and any of this which can be conveniently and safely packed with clothing
or otherwise should be taken out by the emigrant, even at the risk of
some excess weight to be paid for.
To the emigrant, married or intending to marry, who
has been accustomed to a comfortable home, and who is
determined to have the like sooner or later in the new
land of his adoption, the prices of furniture are an im¬
portant consideration, more so, in fact, than anything
else—excepting only such matters as I shall deal with
at much greater length than in a mere list of prices
current. Messrs. Dewey and Stone, of Omaha, are the
largest furniture dealers in the State. I have taken the
trouble to examine their stock with care, and they are
my authority for the following prices, while the com¬
ments are the results of my own observation :—
Common Furniture. Wholesale. Bétail.
$ £ S. $ £ S. d»
Common chairs, per doz. . . . 6*50 or 1 3 5 7'00 or 1 5 2
„ walnut tables, each . . 3*50 ,, 0 12 8 4-00 „ 0 14 5
„ ,, wash-stands, each . 2*50 „ 0 9 0 3'00 ,, 0 10 10
3-drawer walnut wash-stands, each . 5-00 „ 0 18 0 6*00 „117
Bedsteads, hard maple . . . 3'00 „ 0 10 10 3*50 „ 0 12 8
„ walnut carved tops . . 9'00 „ 1 12 5 10*00* „ 1 16 0
Common walnut bureaus or chest of
drawers with mirror attached . 13*00 „ 2 6 10 14*00 „ 2 10 4
Common mattresses (maize husks) . 3*00 „ 0 10 10 3*50 „ 0 12 8
„ meat safes or refrigerators . 5*00 „ 0 18 0 6*00 „117
Writing desks 15*00 „ 2 14 0 16*00 „ 2 17 6
Chairs are in every variety of style known to the
London trade, excepting only the iron chair-bedsteads,
and iron-framed easy chairs; and, in my judgment, the
prices of the finer qualities fairly correspond with the
more common. In some cases they are, however, far
THE CITY OF OMAHA.
73
cheaper in proportion. The styles for washstands,
chests of drawers, tables with drawers, desks, &c>, are
more French than English, and I must confess that
they are better in consequence. Instead of a hard, un¬
gainly knob, drawers, in almost all articles requiring
them, have carved ornaments of fruit or leaves, or some
ornamental design which does.not project too far beyond
the general outline, and which affords a neatly con¬
cealed recess for the fingers. Iron bedsteads are very
little used ; those of wood are very much under London
prices for like articles, the carved walnut bedstead at
£1 165., for instance, being in what the London dealers
would call the Parisian style—the bed low, and partially
enclosed by the sides of the bedstead, the foot-board
high and solid, and the head-board higher still, and
more or less ornamented with carving. Drawers are
dovetailed and very accurately fitted by machinery,
and other cabinet work very largely in the same man¬
ner ; and to this fact, and the comparatively low price
of the raw material, are to be attributed, in a great
measure, the favourable prices at which furniture may
be bought of this firm, and, as I suppose, generally of
dealers in other parts of the State, with reasonable
differences, according to freight, size of town, and ex¬
tent of trade.
CHAPTER V.
STATISTICAL.
Vox populi.—^The westward movement of population.—Happiness has
gone with the current.—^Marvellous increase.—Symmetrical law of move¬
ment,—History in a diagram.—^Massachusetts.—New York.—^Pennsyl¬
vania.—Ohio.—Indiana.—Illinois.—Iowa.—Nebraska.—Cause of the
check in Illinois.—Cause of the increase in Iowa.—The latter greater
than it appears, and stiU more so in Nebraska.
HILE popular tendencies are by no means
always right, they are seldom long con¬
tinued without a strong foundation in in¬
stinct, reason, or experience. The tide of
life that flows to the emigrant fields of North Ame¬
rica is no new thing, nor is it without causes of the
most substantial character. Some politicians and the-
orizers, whose uninformed wishes have engendered their,
belief, have looked on that tide in the course of the last
eighty years, and confidently predicted its cessation or
even a strong reflux, to commence at no distant day ;
but decade after decade has come and gone while it has
continued to flow with accumulating force.
STATISTICAL.
75
There are abundant statistics to show that in general
the happiness, by which I mean the comfort, wealth,
and enlightenment of the individuals who have followed
that current, has been enormously increased thereby,
and this is strong presumptive evidence that like
advantages from like means may be obtained by others
in the future ; but it is not my purpose to deal with
that question here. I shall assume the wisdom of the
movement which is populating the West, and deal with
some of the more prominent effects, the consideration
of which will throw a strong light on the probable
future of Nebraska.
There are none so ignorant as not to know some¬
thing of the marvellous increase of the population of
the north-western States of America, — from about
3,000,000 in 1840 to 5,000,000 in 1850, to 9,000,000
in 1860, and to 12,964,702 in 1870. Commencing far
back of these dates, the westward movement of Ame¬
rican population has obeyed a symmetrical law, going
at the average rate of about 200 miles in each decade;
and in each period of ten years, it has, on the average,
more than quadrupled the population of the regions
passed over by the crest of the wave. Chicago has
attracted universal attention ; and there is abroad
a very general idea, that no other State ever has in¬
creased, or ever will do so, as rapidly as Illinois, the
fortunate possessor of this Queen City of the Great
Lakes. But, as a matter of fact, this impression is far
from accurate. The absolute and the comparative
increase in density of population, of the several States
on, the shortest line from Boston to Nebraska, during
76
NEBRASKA.
a period of eighty years, is diagraphically shown in
fig. 2.
llñO
WC
1ÔOO
1810
18W
Ft^. Z
1890
IMC
ISSO
iseo
mo
3jDC
tâC
iSO
no
160
1ÓC
no
iso
IZO
uo
iOC
X
eo
■jc
60
M
W
ISO
no
i60
too
Í40
130
140
40O
80
70
60
SO
40
+ s
Jlü-
i
'4
~Ú
5^
?
SC
^\tz
7^
i
\h.
;î-
¡Í
30
llúlll
30
zo
ih
Ithlll:
M
S
i'.
32
tâCO 1810 18W fsao /&40
1SÓO
leUiO
1870
This diagram combines in a few square inches the
results of much investigation ; and a very few moments'
examination of it will convey to most persons clearer
and more perfect ideas than the laboured perusal of
STATISTICAL.
77
Statistical tables,—it is, in fact, a simple and a very
accurate history of the progress in population of the
several States named thereon. The vertical scale indi¬
cates the average population per square mile, and the
horizontal scale, the efflux of time. The population of
Massachusetts was nearly 50 per square mile in 1790,
and it has increased to about 200 at the present time, the
curve of increase being rapid, and on the whole very
regular. To find very accurately the density of the
population in any one year, it is only necessary to
follow the vertical line corresponding to that year in
the diagram, to the point where it is crossed by the
curved line, and the horizontal line nearest above or
below that point will indicate the population per square
mile. New York commenced with a population of
per square mile in 1790, and increased to 93J in 1870,
having gained in proportionate density very consider¬
ably upon Massachusetts, while it has overtaken early
in the race and passed far ahead of Pennsylvania. The
latter State, commencing with nearly 9J per square
mile, is passed in the, race by New York before the
end of the second decade, and between 1830 and 1850,
has a neck-and-neck race with upstart Ohio, which she
surpasses in 1870 by something less than 10. Ohio
increases most rapidly tiU after 1840, when there is a
comparative falling-off to 1860, and an improvement
thereafter. The general features of increase in Indiana,
Illinois, and Iowa are also well shown in this diagram ;
but the comparatively early progress of Ohio and these
more western States is better seen in fig. 3, which is on
a larger vertical scale.
78
KEBEASKA.
20
% ^
20
15
-fií'
; J
:iL
< 2
1 Û L
-?-■
W7-
¡li
l-a
ill!
1D
Ü7»'-
;a_
■if
N'î7.
■M-
gl:
M I
Í
15
K>
Each space of the vertical scale represents a population of one to a square mile,
and each space of the horizontal scale one year of time, and the heavy lines
decades. But these intervals of time are consecutive only in respect of each State
when considered separately. The Ohio curve is from 1800 to 1820, and the
increase from 1*13 to 14'56; the Indiana curve overlaps this, and is from 1810 to
1830, and the increase from *77 to 10*12. The Blinois curve is through a period
of 30 years instead of 20, and is from *22 to 8*58, or from 1820 to 1840 j it is from
1 to 8*58. The Iowa curve is from *78 to 12*26 in 20 years, and the Nebraska
curve (partly estimated) is from *377 to 7*1 in 20 years. A more perfect diagra-
phic comparison would be obtained by carefully estimating the time at which each
had a population of one per square, mUe, and calculating the curves from those
dates for periods of 20 years. But such a diagram, even if explained at great
length, would involve unnecessary controversy, as the people in each State would
discover or fancy that they discovered special reasons why the estimated curve was
more or less unfair to their own commonwealth.
Ohio is the first State on our route westward, which
has not in practical efiect an Atlantic sea-port; it is
also the first which is not included in the census of 1790 ;
it increased its population about five-fold from 1800 to
1810, and about thirteen-fold from 1800 to 1820. At
first sight of the figures, one might infer that Indiana
did even better from 1810 to 1830; but a glance at the
diagram will show that Ohio, commencing from a
higher standpoint, has the better reckoning of the two ;
while in no decade has Illinois tripled its population, if
we except only the period before it attained the dignity
of one inhabitant to a square mile. But the wave,
which had slackened somewhat in passing over the
STATISTICAL.
79
prairie State of Illinois, gathered fresh strength as it
crossed the Mississippi ; and Iowa shows in consequence
an increase, corresponding almost exactly with that of
Ohio, and far surpassing the intermediate States. When
we come to Nebraska, we find its history so short, that
we have not the means of perfect comparison, but we
have sufficient data to prove that the force of the west¬
ward current is by no means expended. The chief
cause of the diminished force of the wave, as it passed
over Illinois, is to be found in the matter of transporta¬
tion, the shortcomings of which in those days more
than counterbalanced any advantages which this State
possessed in its rich and easily-subdued prairies.
From 1840 to 1860, there was an enormous advance in
facilities of transportation, by steamboats on the rivers
and lakes, and by raü on the land. Iowa had the
benefit of this, as well as that of fine prairie-land, and
these two causes have had much to do with her rapid
increase,—an increase which is even greater in propor¬
tion than it seems; for it must be remembered that
the base of operations, so to speak, is in the east, and
the main line of development is from east to west, and
Iowa is much wider in this direction than any of the
more eastward States with which I have compared her.
This consideration applies with still greater force as we
cross the Missouri and come to the State of Nebraska,
whose average measurement is nearly a third more in
this direction than Iowa, more than twice as much as
Illinois, and nearly three times as much as Indiana.
CHAPTER VI.
STATISTICAL.
Relation of wealth to population.—Population diagrams.—Massachu¬
setts, figs. 4 to 12.—^Nebraska and Massachusetts, figs. 13 to 17.—
New York, ditto, figs. 18 to 23.—Pennsylvania, figs. 24 to 28.—Ohio,
figs. 29 to 33.—Population of Nebraska by comparison, 6,800,000, in
1941, and its wealth nearly ¿£1,050,000,000.—Indiana, figs. 34 to 36.—
Illinois, figs. 37 and 38.—Population of Nebraska by comparison, ^
3,430,000, in 1911, and wealth about ¿£505,000,000.—Iowa, figs. 39
and 40.—Population of Nebraska by comparison, 1,648,000 in 1895.—
Plain causes for such growth.—^No paradise for all comers.—Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Feejee, and New Guinea.—India, China,
Japan, and home.—^Amount of taxation no argument against what has
been achieved in the face of it.—A hydra-headeJ dragon.—^What will
we do with it ?—^What has been done in despite of it.—Taxation a strong
argument for the West.^—^But not so extraordinary a dragon after aU.—
A free breakfast-table.—A free homestead.—Wild land as an invest¬
ment.—State and local debt, aggregate and per caput.—^National debt.—
Grand aggregate per head.—New Zealand a favoured field of emigration.—
Its comparative debt.—^Fig. 41.—Its comparative population.—The popu¬
lation of Nebraska in 1870, classified according to race, nationality, &c.—
The population in 1874 by counties.—Comparative areas of Nebraska and
other States and countries.
HE increase in material wealth in the
northern and western States of America,
even in times of financial depression, and
during the period of civil war, has far out¬
stripped the increase of population, and there are the
STATISTICAL.
81
most substantial grounds for believing that it will long
continue to do so ; but it bears certain important relations
to the latter, by which it is greatly accelerated. Where
population increases rapidly by the accession of new
comers from abroad, land increases in value while we
eat, drink, and sleep ; the industrious farmer of very
small means, in an average case, may fairly expect to live
in solid comfort, without labour, in his declining years ;
and it is possible for the poor man who has received a
homestead of 160 acres, a free gift from the govern¬
ment, to awake some fine morning an opulent citizen of
a new emporium of commerce. I therefore desire more
thoroughly to familiarize the reader with the progress
of the several States dealt with in the foregoing chapter,
and thereby to assist him to a more perfect understand¬
ing of what may reasonably be expected m the typical
field of emigration which forms the main subject of this
volume.
In the population diagrams to which I shaU now
allude the number of small squares in each figure indi¬
cates the population per square mile at the several
periods indicated. Figures 4 to 12 inclusive show the
density of the population of Massachusetts in the nine
successive decennial periods from 1790 to 1870. At
the first census the figures were 49*56, or, omitting
fractions, 7 times 7, a perfect square. In 25 years,
1815, by estimate they were 64, or the square of 8;
the square of 9, 17 years after, in 1832; in 10 years
more, the square of 10; in 1849, or 7 years more, 121,
or the square of 11 ; (omitted in the diagrams because no
census intervenes;) 12 square in 1856; 13 square in
G
82
NEBRASKA.
Fuj 4-
Massachusetts and NehrasTca,
n
>0
.
8
'0
1ä73
4y
J.
J6
•
F a. 5.
m
le
84
Ifi
Of
».
im ;
Tn/TÊ 14
.r-i
2i
\
3<
>0
.
1664
Fig. 6.
fiS\
IF
m
IS
7
S3
M
fi
z.
Fig. 10.
"c.^ n
I8|
5Ç
.
1866
J. cy- / -
1832. i
8:
10
m
■ 0
7.
n'
Fi^.d.
X^.l/
S3¿.
le
Í4(|
mz
6!
K>
\^i
T
71
m.
di
•»
■7.
FÍ01€.
0
U
í
W
Wí
%
m
m
7-
1
" i
T-i
w.
1
fit
10
Fig IS.
Fig. 14-
Fig.
—n
«
i
Vá
z-
di
•Si
V-i
1
i
üi
1-
'ê
Î7
■Si
r-
\í.
1
o"
'O
1
Di
ü
•
l£
7
3.
M
A
S
S
•
i J
fe
Á
1-i
H.
.
N
l
3.
18
6
O
•
l
i.
77
7.
■fc
•s
/
M
STATISTICAL.
83
1864; and 196, or 14 square, in 1873. These figures
show a growth which would be considered extremely
rapid anywhere out of the United States. Figure 13
consists of 196 squares, and corresponds to the density
of population in Massachusetts in 1873, while the black
dot within it fairly represents the comparative density
of population in Nebraska in 1860, which was as 1 to 520.
In 1870, as seen in fig. 14, Nebraska had grown to the
proportion of 1 to 121, and in 1874 (fig. 15) to that of
3-to 196. Dealing as well as I can with quantities, none
of which must be considered as absolutely fixed, I have
estimated that in 1880 this proportion will have become
as 1 and a small fraction to 28. I believe this is a
moderate estimate ; it certainly falls very far short of
the anticipations of the people of that State, but whether
too modest or too liberal, it certainly leaves abundance
of room for Nebraska to grow. Fig. 17 is a synopsis
of the four last, and fig. 18 shows New York in four
decades, 1790 to 1820, as compared with our common
measure, the Massachusetts of 1873, the large square
representing the latter, and the four shaded diagrams
within it representing New York. It will be observed
that in 1790 the population of New York was almost
exactly the same as I have estimated for Nebraska in
1880.
Figs. 19 to 23 inclusive represent New York at each
decade, from 1830 to 1870. As indicated by the
dotted lines, figs. 22 and 23, the population was 100
per square mile in 1873. Should Nebraska attain my
estimated result in 1880, and thenceforward grow at
the average rate that New York has done, its popula-
84
NEBRASKA.
New YorTc and NebrasJca
Yig.n.
NEBRASKA.
Fig 18-
NEW YORK.
FzgW
Fig 21.
F^.23
tion will be 7,600,000 in 1973. But no man who
understands the laws of Western growth can believe
for a moment that in the first few decades Nebraska is
going to settle down to the much slower rate of growth
of New York; nor is it easy to point to a time in the
future, when the rate which has been attained by the
latter shall not be exceeded by the former.
Figs. 24 to 28 compare Pennsylvania with Massachu¬
setts in the same manner as has been already described
of New York; and I have placed a copy of fig. 17 along
side to extend the comparison.
STATISTICAL.
85
Pig. 24:
PENNSYLVANIA.
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Nebraska,
Pennsylvania.
Fig.ZP^
1838
Fig 27.
Pig.17.
NEBRASKA.
I860
Fig ZS
Ohio.
Fig 30.
Fig.2d.
OHIO.
t
j 1848
1
1
(B-i
lo
1
Pig 32
:I867
<
36
0
Fig 31.
I
J5
0
'
F:V.33.
1074
1
1
70
j
1
1
i
1
1
1
1
!
1
1
....i—
86
NEBRASKA.
Figs. 29 to 33 deal in the same manner with Ohio.
Nebraska in 1867 (see fig. 40) had a like population to
that of Ohio in 1800. If it should grow from that
point with the same average rate attained by the latter
State, its population will be 6,800,000 in 1941. The
value of its real and personal estate was $69,277,000
in 1870, against |9,131,000 in 1860; and in 1941 it
would be $5,690,600,000, or nearly a thousand million
guineas.
Indiana, Illinois, and Nehra^Tca.
INDIANA.
Kg 25
Fi^. 36.
11870
1
8(
0
h
M
0
Mg 37.
ILLINOIS.
Kg.17.
NEBRASKA.
18
iO
18:
0
i
w
le
14
II
SO
i
i
:I872
|{
17:
)
,
Figs. 34, 35, and 36 afford similar comparisons for
the State of Indiana; and figs. 37 and 38 for the State of
STATISTICAL.
87
Illinois. The diagram for Illinois in 1830, 20 years
after her first census, is almost exactly identical with
that of Nebraska in 1874, at the end of 14 years. If
the latter State should but equal in her future progress
the average rate of the former, it will of course take
40 years, or till 1914, for it to attain a density of
population equal to that of Illinois in 1870. It will
then aggregate about 3,430,000 people, and its wealth,
if it also corresponds, will amount to $2,980,000,000,
or about five hundred million guineas, of which, as a
general rule, the older settlers and their families will
have the lion's share, in proportion to their numbers.
Iowa and Nebraska,
Fig 39.
IOWA.
i
i
i
<8
2
^18
0
m
i
185
0
É
i
f
i
18'
0
164
0
18
r
i
i
i
i
^18«
a
Fig.n.
NEBRASKA.
18
iO
16
»1
i
16
>4-
Ii
60
f
i
We now come to the State of Iowa, the most im¬
portant for our consideration, and whose actual and
relative density of population in 1840, 1850, 1860,
and 1870 is compared in the same manner in fig. 39,
while fig. 40 is constructed on the same principle as
figs. 2 and 3. In this figure the vertical scale is
divided to tenths, and its total height indicates a
population of 3^ to a square mile, which was the popu¬
lation of Iowa in 1850.
88
NEBRASKA.
The population of Nebraska per square mile, as given
in this curve, is calculated {a) from actual enumeration
of the people made in 1855, 1856, 1860, 1870, and
1874; and (5) intermediate points are estimated partly
from the popular vote in elections from 1855 to 1874
inclusive, partly from the above-named enumerations,
and partly from some minor considerations. From
Fvg 40
3-5 1840 1845 1850
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ^ Ja
-l-H
1 1
--1-^
—i—
att
-r
:/i
Í5
^-H
M
T
dit
J
=i^
'
h-i-i-
1 !■ i 1
1 1
K-U
I-.-I—
H—'
—1—
1—1
1 1
i 1
—H-
—1—
1
t
-I-
tí
—1—
h-M
f—+—
h-1—
1—
1—
k-
r
f-
' t
L'
-i
—1—
h-^
H
1
l—
r—~
—
—
—
—t-H
r-^
H
H
-
r
1—i-j
-4
—'
—'
O
7
..
-4:
ti
-0
1^-
4-
1864 1860 1865 1870 1874-
1857 to 1865 exclusive the increase was slow, partly in
consequence of the civil war, and in some degree from
other causes. I have no like data for the earliest years
of Iowa, nor could there in any case be a perfect com¬
parison, for owing to the occurrence of the civil war in
one of the periods, the two would be incommensurable.
But I have the general curve of population of Iowa,
with fixed points at 1840 and 1850, and it is not neces¬
sary to a correct judgment that I should recognize
STATISTICAL.
89
minor irregularities between intervals actually taken
for comparison. From *78 to 3*00 the curve for Iowa
increased in a little less than 9 years, or nearly 385
per cent., and that of Nebraska from *72 to 3*00 in
about 8 years, or nearly 428 per cent.; or Iowa from
1 to 3 in about 7J years, and Nebraska in about 6|
years. This comparison of the only precisely similar
periods for which there are data is rather favourable to
Nebraska on the face of it, and immensely so if we add
a third for the greater width of the latter State from
east to west in the general direction of settlement.
Now assuming, as we may fairly do, the same average
rate of increase as Iowa has attained, this will give the
State a population of 1,648,000 in 1895, which is the
standard of Illinois in 1856; and 16 years more, to
1911, at the Illinois rate, would bring it up to 3,430,000,
with the same average density as the latter State in
1870, which, again, was equal to that of New York in
1833.
Such has been the past and such is the probable
future of some American States. The main causes
which have produced such immense results are by no
means occult ; they are, and must of necessity be plain,
evident, and of the most substantial character ; but the
effects, taken either alone or in comparison with what
has been elsewhere accomplished, form one of the most
marvellous chapters of history.
It by no means follows from these considerations
that States like Nebraska are a paradise for all comers ;
on the contrary, there are persons and classes of per¬
sons who would do better in the dominion of Canada, in
90
NEBRASKA.
Australia, or New Zealand, in the newly-annexed
islands of Feejee, or in the proposed colony among the
man-eaters of New Guinea. Others would do better in
India, China, or Japan, at least so think some Ameri¬
cans, for the irrepressible Yankee is found in these
countries, and of course a far larger number would do
best to stay at home.
But it is no solid argument against emigration to the
Western States of America, to say that the people are
heavily taxed. This consideration is, however, often
adduced, and I will quote it in the form in which I have
seen it best stated.
" . . . . The United States settler pays about as
follows :—
" The farmer in the United States is taxed for
trousers he wears 60 per cent.; flannel shirt, 65 per
cent. ; vest, 60 per cent. ; on the cloth for an over¬
coat, 60 per cent. ; for the buttons, 40 ; braid, 60 ;
lining, 60; padding, 150; boots, 35; coal, 60; 150 per
cent, on the stove-pipe; stove, 55; 40 per cent, on the
«
saucepan. His dinner plate is taxed 45 per cent. ; his
knife and fork, 35 per cent. His hat is taxed 70 per
cent.; cigar, 150 per cent.; horse-shoe nails are taxed
67 per cent.; plough, 45 per cent.; chains, 100 per
cent. ; and harness, 35 per cent. His pocket-hand¬
kerchief, 35 per cent. ; shawls for his wife and daughter,
200 per cent. ; silk dress for Sunday and holiday, 60
per cent. ; woollen dress, 100 per cent. ; wife and
daughter's hats, 40 per cent. ; stockings for his family,
75 per cent.; female boots, 35 per cent.; ribbon bow
for heck, 60 per cent. ; umbrella, 60 per cent. ; rice,
STATISTICAL.
91
82; soap, 70 per cent.; candles, 40 per cent.; paint,
25 per cent. ; starch, 50 per cent. ; needles, 25 per
cent.; thread, 73 per cent.; steel pen, 70 per cent.;
pins, 35 per cent.; books, 25 per cent. His fowling-
piece is taxed 35 per cent.; window curtains, 80 per
cent. ; window shades, 35 per cent. ; window glass, 55
per cent.; wall paper, S2 per cent.; wash basin, 40
per cent. ; sheeting, 55 per cent. ; blanket, 540 per
cent. ! ! His bedstead is taxed 20 per cent. ; if sick,
and needs quinine, it is taxed 45 per cent., besides the
glass phial in which he buys it. His axe is taxed 45
per cent.; hammer, 50 per cent.; watering-pot for
garden, 35 per cent. ; pocket-knife, 50 per cent. ; scythe,
50 per cent.; screws, 150 percent.; garden and farm
implements, 45 per cent. ; dinner-can, 35 per cent. ;
well-bucket, 60 per cent.; hand-saw, 75 percent.; and
his produce is carried to market on steel rails taxed at
3,000 dollars a mile, and which he must pay for in ex¬
orbitant freight. The iron car in which his crop is con¬
veyed is taxed 40 per cent., and the locomotive which
draws it all, and which draws so much unnecessary
profits from his crop, is taxed 45 per cent."
" The United States settler, additionally, has to pay
a State tax, which each State collects for State pur¬
poses."
Now if I were a thick and thin advocate of emigra¬
tion to the Western States, I should not criticize this
array of figures too closely, but I should rather search
for means of making the list still more imposing.
Pointing then to the data that I have given in this
chapter, I would say, " This most marvellous growth.
92
líEBRASKA.
especially in recent years, and particularly in Nebraska,
has been achieved in the face of such tremendous taxa¬
tion as I have shown. The emigrants, whether Ameri¬
cans or Canadians, English, Irish, or Scotch, or belong¬
ing to the continent of Europe, were free to choose.
Were they all demented, and running like the herd of
possessed swine into the sea? were they gods, searching
impossibilities, that they went into such unpromising
fields, and accomplished so much? or were they merely
ordinary men, using fair average judgment in seeking
a field which was, notwithstanding this tremendous
taxation, a most promising one ? And if these be but
common men, and yet their achievements so great
under imposts that would grind the inhabitants of most
countries into the dust, how wonderful must we consider
the natural advantages of the land of their adoption !
Truly none other can compare with it ; and when they
get rid of the exorbitant taxes, which they can do in
time ; when they have paid the heavy war debt, as they
are rapidly doing; when these 35, 40 and 50, 60, 75
and 80,100, 150 to 540 per cents, are left to fructify in
their possession, instead of being applied to the uses of
the government, what a rapid growth of population,
what a vast accumulation of riches may we not then
expect."
Thus the argument from taxation appears to me to
bear on the contrary side to that which is intended by
its authors; and it is a very strong argument. Taxa¬
tion is undoubtedly heavy, and its incidences are very
badly adjusted, so that it is far more burdensome than
necessity requires; but it is in the hands of the people
STATISTICAL.
9a
themselves, to modify as they deem reasonable. It is
becoming better adjusted, and its amount per caput
rapidly reduced, ergo^ the prosperity which has been so
great, in spite of the load, may be expected to be much
greater when the burden is reduced to a minimum, both
in its incidence and its amount.
But it is only fair to say that taxation is not so far-
reaching and so burdensome as some people might
suppose, and that therefore we must not expect miracles
to result from a judicious remission. The breakfast table
is a home production ; it could not be made so cheaply
abroad. The cloth, plate, and cutlery are undoubtedly
taxed, but what is of far greater importance, the tea,
coffee, and edibles are freq, and I have some faint im¬
pression that this is a sort of freedom that John Bright
has advocated, and can scarcely be said to have yet
obtained, in good old England. Local taxation is some¬
times light and sometimes heavy; but the homestead
settler is exempt from it for five years, and may be, if
he choose, for seven. It is assessed on unproductive
wild land in private hands, as well as upon that which,
being cultivated, returns an income ; and, if anything,
its average rate is heavier in proportion to value on the
former, but it is not sufficient to prevent people from
buying largely, with the expectation of making taxes,
interest, and profit out of the appreciation of the land
in value without cultivation.
In 1870 the State debt of Nebraska, floating and
funded, was $247,300 ; the aggregate debt of the
several counties, $1,769,564; and the aggregate of the
several towns, $72,400, making a total indebtedness of
94
NEBRASKA.
$2,089,264. The State taxation was $262,505, and the
aggregate of State, county, and town taxation was
$1,027,327. The population was then 122,993, and the
average amount of the debt was $16*98, or £3 Is. Id.
per head, and the average burden of the taxation $8*35,
or £1 10s. per head. The national indebtedness and
taxes are partly per caput burdens, and partly in propor¬
tion to wealth. It is impossible to find the proportion
between these two items, so as to estimate exactly the
proportion of it which must be borne by Nebraska.
But if we divide it, half according to wealth, and half
according to population, and then reduce it to an aver¬
age per head in Nebraska, the debt as it stood in 1870
will average about $61*21 in currency, or about
£10 3s. 3(i., and the taxation $9*80, or £1 15s. 4c?.
This makes a total public debt, national. State, and
local, of $78*19, or £13 4s. 4(¿. per head, and a total
taxation of $18*15, or £3 5s. 4c?. per head. The total
average debt will be $9*11, or about £1 12s. 10í¿. more,
if divided according to wealth, or it will be less by that
amount, if divided strictly according to population.
Space will not permit me to compare this with the
public burdens of England or the continent. My latest
returns of the public debt of New Zealand make it
£13,369,736, and the population in 1874 was a trifle
under 300,000, which gives an average of £44 6s. 10c?.
per head, or rather more than 3 J times that of Nebraska
in 1870, since which time the latter has very materially
decreased, the burden of the United States' debt having
been very much diminished by liquidation, and by in¬
crease of population, and the local debts having in-
STATISTICAL.
95
creased very slightly, while the population has more
than doubled.
New Zealand is a very prosperous colony, one of the
most favoured fields of emigration, and I would be far
from detracting from its mèrits. It has spent and is
spending milhons of pounds on immigration, and good,
suitable immigrants are so valuable in any new country
that I am far from saying this is an injudicious invest¬
ment. The colony has been much patronized by the
peers and the press, the church and the government,
and it will reflect credit upon its patrons by becoming
a great, prosperous, and free commonwealth; but the
result thus far in population as compared with Ne¬
braska is shown in fig. 41. The density of population
in the latter at the end of 20 years from settlement
is to that of the former at the end of 34 years as 300
to 282.
New Zealand and Nehraslca.
4-1
3 5
30
2 5
eo
IS
lO
5
0
96
NEBRASKA.
Comparative Areas.
Fig 42
44-
HI"-]
4
! 1 11441-
.
NEBRASKA
100
ITALY
14F5
FRANCE
186 1
-j-
!
j
t
II II
1 1 1
ENGLAND
610
HOLLAND
BELGIUM .
fj 0
Í4.t
1
—J—
UNITED KINGDOr
ISd 3
-iw
s
>ACHUS
10Z
FS
DENMARK
-
1
-[■
-■
-
-
NEW YORK
PENNSYLVANIA
60S
OHIO
62 6
INDIANA
49d
ILLINOIS
ns
618
-rr
S-T-T-r-r
IOWA
IZÓ
1 M M 1 1 M
i
The space occupied by the diagram figure 42 is divided into small squares
assumed as units. Nebraska, in the top left-hand corner, is supposed to occupy
100 of these squares (10 x 10), and the comparative areas of the coimtries and
states named are approximately shown diagraphicaUy, and more accurately by
figures under the name of each State. There is clearly elbow room enough in
Nebraska.
Nebraska.—The population in 1870, dmsified according to raccy
nationality, ^c.
Total population . ' .
. 122,993
Foreign-born ....
30,748
Bomin theUnited States
Natives having foreign
White ....
. 91,376
fathers
48,277
Coloured
782
Ditto having foreign mo¬
Indian citizens , .
87
thers
46,392
Ditto having foreign fa¬
Total American.
. 92,245
ther or mother . . .
50,017
STATISTICAL.
97
Native, having foreign
Saxony
203
father and mother .
44,652
Würtemberg
338
Germany—not specified
1,744
Foreign, where born :—
Africa—white .
3
Total Germans .
10,954
Asia—white
15
„ coloured
1
England—white .
3,602
Atlantic Islands
15
,, coloured
1
Australasia ....
31
Ireland
4,999
Austria
290
Scotland ....
792
Belgium ....
15
Wales
220
Bohemia ....
1,770
Great Britain — not
British America :—
specified ....
2
Canada—white
2,336
„ coloured.
2
Total ....
9,616
New Brunswick
74
Newfoundland .
5
Holland
180
Nova Scotia
183
Hungary ...
73
Not specified—white .
34
Italy
44
„ coloured
1
Mexico—white.
9
„ coloured .
2
Total
2,655
Norway
506
Poland
57
Foreign, where born :—
Bussia
.27
China
2
Sandwich Islands .
2
Denmark ....
1,129 ■
South America .
5
Europe—^not specified.
27
Spain
3
France
340
Sweden
2,352
Switzerland ....
593
Baden
579
Turkey
1
Bavaria
394
West Indies—white .
11
Brunswick ....
19
At sea
16
Hamburg ....
52
4
Hanover ....
586
American born :— •
Hessen
258
Nebraska ....
18,630
Mecklenburg .
257
Not stated ....
20
Nassau
5
Alabama ....
63
Oldenburg ....
196
Arkansas ....
85
Prussia—not specified.
6,323
California ....
112
H
98 NEBKASKA..
Connecticut,
. . 699
Ohio
10,729
Delaware
. . 60
Oregon
14
Florida .
. . 10
Pennsylvania .
6,991
Georgia .
. . 15
B/hode Island .
150
Illinois .
. . 9,655
South Carolina .
81
Indiana .
. . 6,040
Tennessee ....
852
Iowa ....
. . 7,611
Texas
65
Kansas .
. . 498
Vermont
1,050
Kentucky .
. . 1,873
Virginia and West Vir¬
Louisiana
. . 86
ginia
2,036
Maine .
. . 906
Wisconsin . . . .
3,756
Maryland .
. . 649
Arizona
1
Massachusetts .
. . 1,277
Colorado
90
Michigan
. . 1,842
Dakota
26
Minnesota .
. . 346
District of Columbia .
78
Mississippi .
. . 135
Idaho
11
Missouri . .
. . 7,650
Indian Territory .
189
Nevada .
. . 8
Montana . . . .
22
New Hampshire
. . 419
New Mexico
7
New Jersey.
. . 633
Utah
154
New York .
. . 9,216
Washington Territory.
2
North Carohna.
. . 341
Wyoming . . . .
40
Censáis
returns of NehrasJca for 1874 hy counties.
Adams ....
. . 2,694
Dakota
2,759
Antelope
. . 1,387
Dawson
800t
Boone ....
. . 798
Dixon
3,842
Buffalo ....
. . 2,106
Dodge
6,893
Burt . . . .
. . 3,866
Douglas
22,670
Butler . . . .
. . 4,027
Dundy *
—
CaSs
. . 10,397
Fillmore
4,380
Cedar . . . .
. . 1,817
Franklin
1,821
Chase*. . . .
—
Frontier
128
Cheyenne .
. . 449
Furnas
1,342
Clay . . . .
. . 3,622
Gage
5,290
Colfax . . . .
. . 3,458
Greeley
209
Cuming . . .
3,644
Gosper
loot
*
No returns.
t Estimated.
STATISTICAL.
99
Hall
. 3,842
Red Willow
545
Hamilton .
. 8,186
Richardson....
15,00011
Harlan ....
. 1,847
Saline
7,718
Hitchcock *
—
Sarpy
3,164
Howard ....
. 1,339
Saunders ....
8,754
Holt* ....
—
Seward
7,429
Jefferson f .
. 3,375
Sherman ....
460
Johnson
. 4,644
Stanton
1,135
Kearney
327
Thayer
1,781
Keith ....
95
Valley ..'...
264
Knoxi ....
. 1,133
Washington
5,304
Lancaster .
. 14,308
Wayne
272
Lincoln § . . .
. 2,555
Webster ....
2,250
Madison
. 3,335
York
4,593
Merrick
. 3,092
Unorganized Territory
—
Nemaha
. 8,205
Indian Reservation
—
Nuckolls
942
Otoe ....
. 12,382
Totals
228,407
Pawnee....
. 5,057
Estimated for 1874 as per
Phelps ....
101
note (^) . . . .
1,600
Pierce ....
557
Platte ....
. 3,944
Total for 1874 .
230,007
Polk ....
. 2,764
* No returns.
t Called Jones county
in 1860.
í Formerly L'Eau Qui Court.
§ Formerly Shorter.
II Estimated.
\
(^) This total does not include any unorganized territory or residents
on Indian Keservations, nor the counties of Hitchcock, Chase, and Dundy.
1,600 as the population of these counties and territory would be a low
estimate.
CHAPTER YIL
CLIMATIC CONSIDEKATIONS.
Range of temperature.—Table A, monthly mean temperatures, 1863-70.
Authorities for table.—Meagre returns.—^Examples of great range.—
Tenuity and dryness of atmosphere versus heat and cold.—Cool summer
nights and oomparatively mild winter days.—Examples,—Table B, tem¬
perature and agriculture,—Table C, rainfall.—Averages not suflScient
for the farmer.—Table D, the time of rainfall agriculturally considered.
—Six months' rain in Nebraska nearly equal to a whole year's rain in
London,—Yet the climate of the former is dry,—^Why.—American De¬
partment of Agriculture. Tahle E, temperature and rainfall,—Tahle F,
United States Signal Service.—Table G, prevalent winds.—Fauna and
Flora.—^Rainfall marvellously adapted to wants.—Average moisture.—
Sunsets and auroras.—" Swapping" climates,—Conclusion very favourable,
—A suggestion to the State.
YERY Englishman will be prepared for
the fact that the extremes of heat and cold
are greater in Nebraska than at home»
The range of temperature is, as far as I
have been able to ascertain it, somewhere about 115°
Fahrenheit; but in some places, and some years, it
certainly exceeds that amount. Judging from reasons
that I cannot here detail, I believe that the range is
CLIMATE.
101
decidedly less in the western half of the State than in
the eastern portion ; but I have not sufficient data to
enable me to assert this as a positive fact.
Temperatuee.—Tahle A, showing the Monthly Mean Temperature at
certain Stations in Nebraska.
1863.
Elkhorn City .
Bellevne . . .
Richland . . .
Fontenelle . .
1866.
Elkhorn City .
Bellevne . . .
Glendale . . .
1868.
Dakota City . .
Omaha Mission
Elkhorn City
De Soto . .
Glendale . .
Nebraska City
Omaha City .
Bellevne . .
FonteneUe .
1869.
Dakota City. ,
Omaha Mission
Elkhorn City
De Soto . .
Beliehne . .
Glendale . .
Nebraska City
Pern . . .
Fontenelle .
Decatnr . .
1870.
Omaha Agency .
Blair ....
De Soto . . .
Bellevne . . .
Nebraska City .
Liincoln . . ,
Newcastle . .
1863
1866
1868
1869
1870
Averages
I
Average of five years
January.
February.
March.
April.
1
May,
1 June.
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
1
1
December.
28-6
23-5
35-2
53-8
63-8
72-6
31-0
26-3
37 0
52-3
63-0
67-50 71-10
...
65-'6
42"-5
35'-'7
25-4
...
...
67-89
... -
...
...
...
...
...
72-5
...
36-6
32-9
ISA
19-8
25-8
294
50-9
61-3
68-7
78-4
72-2
58-2
54-1
30-7
23-7
21-3
24-8
29-7
51-8
60-7
68-3
79-0
73-2
59-6
48-2
43-6
26-9
22-8
29-4
51-6
60-2
68-0
71-8
72-3
57-3
53-1
38 8
23-3
10-8
22-2
40-4
44-3
64-6
48-7
34-1
20-7
14-8
25-3
42 0
45-9
65-5
72-"7
83-'5
...
50-3
36-5
24-0
11-7
24-5
42-7
44-2
64-6
71-2
81-4
69-5
56-9
50-6
34-2
20-5
11-15
23-3
41-7
44-5
65-1
72-2
82-0
68-8
54-5
49-3
33-3
19-9
11-1
24 0
43 9
45-5
65-0
72-0
83-7
69-6
57-3
49-7
33-9
19-4
,. ,
83-2
73-0
63-6
53-5
38-1
23-2
...
• • <
,,
37-3
21-8
45-3
47-3
65-0
74-6
85-2
70-0
59-1
52-5
37-1
22-5
...
...
...
...
71-8
57-7
52-2
...
...
23-9
27 0
31-6
45-5
63-8
65-7
73-3
74-8
27-6
27-5
37-7
49-2
66-0
67-1
72-0
75-9
6Ö-'6
47-1
32-'9
28-5
24-9
27-7
32-0
47-3
60-8
671
72-0
73-7
61-5
43-0
32-6
25-8
24-7
26-8
31-3
46-2
59-9
65-8
71.3
73-6
60-4
42-7
31-5 '24-7
26-3
30-6
34-8
50 3
62-3
69-6
74-1
75-9
61-5
45-3
35-2
28-4
23-4
27-5
32-6
50-2
60-6
68-7
73-3
75-2
62-0
42-1
...
28-6
31-7
40-8
53-3
60-8
70-0
...
45 0
34-8
27-7
28-0
30-3
33-3
69-5
...
47-5
6Ï-3
67-6
62-2
63-1
...
...
32-6
47-3
61-7
67-0
72-0
...
...
...
...
...
22-8
32-6
27-8
51-8
65-7
74-6
80-0
69-4
67-3
54-1
44-7
27-I
200
29-4
30-6
...
19-5
28-7
27-7
52-9
65-0
74-0
69-3
63-6
5Ö-'8
4Ï-'3
24-7
24T
32-5
32-5
54-4
67-5
74-2
82-i
69-9
66-3
53-7
42-9
28-1
23-5
31-3
32-4
55-7
67-8
74-8
79-3
70-4
65-9
53-4
42-0
26-1
...
...
34-2
51-7
• • •
...
...
...
...
...
...
65-6
72-9
79-8
69-7
62-7
...
...
...
29-8
24-9
36-1
53-1
63-4
!
67-69 71-8
72-5
65-6
39-6
39-3
21-9
20-6
24-5
29-5
51-4
60-7
68-3
78-4
72-6
58-4
51-8
40-7
24-6
120
24-1
42-7
45-3
65-0
72-5
83-2
70-5
58-2
50-9
35-6
21-5
25-9
28-6
27-5
48-5
61-9
67-8
71-3
74-9
61-9
44-3
33-4
27-0
21-8
30-9
31-0
53-3
66-3
74-1
80-3
69-7
65-2
53-0
42-7
26-5
22-02
26-6
33-36
50-32
63-46
70-08 77-0
1
72-04
61-86
47-92
38-36
24-3
' This is s monthly average of the retnms given in this table only.
102
NEBRASKA.
I have compiled Table A from returns made to the
Smithsonian Institute at Washington, and scattered in
different parts of as many large volumes as there are
years in the table. The collation, computation, and
arrangement of this table has therefore involved much
more labour than the results would at first sight seem
to warrant ; but I have thought it very desirable that
my readers should have before them some of the more
essential data on which my calculations are based. It
will be seen that the returns for 1863 are extremely
meagre and incomplete, and that all the stations are in
the eastern portion of the State. The coldest month
recorded in the table is January, 1868, when the aver¬
age of the thermometer is stated at 12°, and the hottest,
July of the same year, when it was 83° 2'. In that year
the thermometer recorded at
Glendale . . Dec. llth, —30°. July 20th, 106°. Kange, 136o.
Omaha Mission Jan. 29th, —12°. „ 105°. „ 117°.
De Soto ... „ —19°. „ 104°. „ 123°.
Elkhorn ... „ —15°. „ 102°. „ 117°.
These great extremes should, of course, be men¬
tioned: they are not to be often expected, but they
should be provided against as possible occurrences,
excepting perhaps, that at Glendale, which I suppose
could scarcely be matched in the extreme northern
part of the State. The average elevation of the eastern
counties above sea level is between 1,100 and 1,200
feet, and this very gradually increases to nearly a mile
at the western border of the State. Even an elevation
of 1,100 feet very sensibly diminishes the density of
the atmosphere, and its consequent power to give off or
CLIMATE.
103
absorb beat; and from tbis cause alone, tbe sensible
ejffect of extreme temperature must be decidedly less
tban at or near tbe sea level. Tbe general dryness of
tbe atmosphere also bas a very strong effect in tbe
same direction, in tbe first place, because it makes tbe
air a more imperfect conductor, and, in tbe second
place, it operates to cool us in summer, by inducing a
more profuse and a more rapidly evaporated perspira¬
tion, wbicb may be quite insensible even wben tbe
amount is so great tbat in a dank climate it would roll
off tbe surface in great and rapidly accumulating drops.
And botb tbe tenuity due to elevation, and tbe dryness
of tbe atmosphere combine in another way to amelio¬
rate tbe effect of extremes. Tbe daily range of tem¬
perature is much greater tban we should otherwise
expect to find it, and tbis gives more comfortable
summer nights, and causes tbe winter minima to occur
in hours wbicb tbe majority of mankind can afford to
■enjoy in their beds.
Temperatube.—Table B. Averages from Table A.
Year.
Six principal Agricultural Months.
t Mean,
Six
Months.
Mean for each Season.
I
Yearly
Mean.
Apr.
May.
June.
July.
Aug.
Sept.
Spr.
Sum.
Aut.
Win.
1863
531
63-4
67-69
71-8
72-5
65-6
65-68
50-87
70-66
48-17
25-53
48-81
1866
51-4
60-7
68-3
78-4
72-6
58-4
64-97
47-20
73-10
50-30
23-23
48-46
1868
45-3
65-0
72-5
83-2
70-5
58-2
65-78
51-00
75-40
48-23
19-20
48-46
1869
48-5
61-9
67-8
71-3
74-9
61-9
64-38
45-97
71-33
46-53
27-17
47-75
1870
63-3
66-3
74-1
80-3
69-7
65-2
68-15
50-20
74-70
52-30
26-40
50-72
Average )
5 years)
50-32
63-46
70-08
77-0
72-04
61-86
65-792
49-048
73-038
49-106
24-31
48-84
On January lOtb, 1873, tbe thermometer fell to 11°
below zero at Omaha, but in tbe course of tbe day it
rose to 15° above zero; on tbe ITtbitwas 13° below
zero, and rose to 9° above ; on tbe 29tb it was 11°
104
NEBRASKA.
below zero, and rose to 17° above; on the 31st it was
7° below, and rose to 26° above. Now these maxima
of temperature are by no means uncomfortable to a
well-clad person under a clear sky, in a dry and some¬
what tenuous atmosphere. It is, however, fair to say
that there was one colder night—that of the 28th—on
which the thermometer fell to 20° below zero, and it
rose but 14° in the course of the day. The mean tem¬
perature of the month was 16° 9', and the range 66°.
On the two hottest days of July of that year the ther¬
mometer registered 94°, but the minima were 65° in the
one case, and 71° in the other. In August there was
one day on which it reached 91°, and another 98°; and
the minimum on the night of this hottest day of the
year was 73°. These minima are temperatures at which
one can sleep in perfect comfort, and with proper venti¬
lation it is not difficult to obtain the full advantage of
the comparatively cool nights.
Table C, dealing with the question of rainfall, is
compiled from the same sources as Table A, and it is
even more important to the agriculturist. Averages
are well enough in their place, but in this case it is
very desirable to know the extremes from whicti they
are derived. One year, for instance, might be so dry
that scarcely anything would grow, and the next so wet
that almost everything would be destroyed, both years
equally disastrous to the farmer, and yet the average
rainfall of the two years would probably be just about
the quantity he would like. It must be confessed that
these returns are also very meagre, but they are cer¬
tainly very good as far as they go.
CLIMATE. 105
Rainfall.—Table C, showing ike Monthly Mean amount at certain
stations in Nebraska.
^ Jannary.
1 February.
March.
April.
May.
a>
d
S
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
' _
December.
1863.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In.
In,
Bellevne
0-75
0-56
0-50
0-75
3-88
2-84
2-25
1-75
1-0
1-65
2-90
Elkhorn City
0-90
...
Fontenelle
...
...
...
...
2*70
0-50
2-35
2-85
1866.
Bellevne
2-05
0-40
0-66
1-37 !1-91
5-27
1-52
1-46
5-90
0-34
1-33
1-51
Glendale
0-66
2-30
3-19
1-85
5-93
2-80
3-22
5-65
1-15
1-60
1868.
Dakota City
0-70
0-50
Omaha Mission ....
0-80
0-60
1-32
1-0
2-25
2-0
1-70
1-36
1-50
Elkhom City
...
0-35
...
...
De Soto
0-70
0-79
2-74
3-16
4^3
3-39
2-45
3-27
0-82
1^8
2-Ö
Glendale ....
0-85
1-15
2-75
3-60
8-20
5-0
3-0
6-30
2-35
1-90
1-90
2-10
Bellevne
1-90
2-60
7-20
1-40
1-90
2-20
1-30
0-50
6-40
Nebraska City . . .
...
. • >
5-40
6-47
2-10
2-58.
Fontenelle
...
1-60
Omaha City
...
...
...
...
1-81
1869.
Dakota City
0-55
Omaha Mission ....
013
1-65
0-30
2-90
2-'6
4-75
4-27
4'06
7-83
i-ib
ibb
2-36
Elkhorn City
...
De Soto
o'eo
1-48
0-28
1-64
3-29
7-Ï3
8-60
6-25
9-74
0-80
1-Ï3
4-26
Bellevne ....
0-90
2-0
...
1-70
4-50
4-80
5-60
11-20
4-60
0-40
1-40
2-20
Glendale
1-30
2-45
0-60
2-45
6-55
9-05
7-50
8-0
5-20
0-75
Nebraska City . . .
115
2-60
1-65
3-05
4-50
8-88
6-05
0-53
2-65
3-28
Pern ... ....
0-43
1-05
...
Fontenelle
9-40
2-50
Decatnr
...
0-63
1-Ö9
3-24
4-23
1870.
Omaha Agency ....
2-50
0-00
1-95
1-0
7-68
0-72
2-34
1-53
4-46
0-77
0-10
0-53
Blair
...
De Sotó
0-35
0-03
1-36
0-()2
4-95
0-89
2-39
6'79
0-88
0-Ö7
0-Ï3
Nebraska City ....
1-74
0-0
2-15
2-0
2-80
1-0
2-63
4-10
710
2-55
0-20
0-17
Bellevne
0-40
0-0
1-0
2-70
5-80
2-10
2-0
3-60
6-60^
2-32
0-00
0-10
Lincoln
...
2-0
Newcastle
...
...
0-Ö
0-Ö
11-50
...
...
...
Averages.'
1863
0-75
0-73
0-50
0-75
3-88
2-84
2-25
2-70
1-75
0-75
2-00
3-37
1866
205
0-53
2-48
2-28
1-88
5-60
2-16
2-34
5-78
0-17
1-24
1-58
1868
0-76
0-68
2-18
2-69
7-70
3-79
2-52
4-01
2-61
2-30
1-41
2-73
1869
0-72
1-87
0-57
2-14
4-01
6-92
6-60
7-38
6-68
0-72
1-72
2-78
1870
1-25
0-01 3-63
1
0-63
5-31
1-18
2-32
3-80
7-29
1-63
0-09
0-23
Average of five years . .
1-106
0-764 1-872
Í
QO
4-556
4-066 3-170
i
4-046
4-822
1-114
1-29212-138
' This is a monthly average of the returns given in this table only.
Table D is calculated from Table C, and it gives in
very concise form the principal features which are of
importance to the agriculturist. By this it appears
that the total rainfall of 1863 as given was 22*27
106
NEBRASKA.
inches, or about 1*73 inches less than the average for
London, and a trifle more than half the rainfall of
Nebraska as given for 1869. A glance back to Table C
will show, however, that we must not put great reliance
upon the returns for 1863. But taking them as they
are, the rainfall for the six most important agricultural
months, 14T7 inches, would, if well distributed, be
abundant in the neighbourhood of London, and with
good deep tillage, enabling the sod to absorb a fair
share of the rain, it would be sufficient in Nebraska,
which, from temperature and other causes, needs more
rain than is necessary in Middlesex.
Rainfall.—Table D. Averages from Table C.
Year.
Six principal Agricultural Months.
Total, j
Six j
Months. '
Seasons.
Yearly
Total.
Apr.
May.
June.
July.
Aug.
Sep.
Spr.
Sum.
Aut.
Win.
1863
0-75
3-88
2-84
2-25
2-70
1-75
14-17
5-13
7-79
4-50
4-85
22-27
1866
2-28
1-88
5-60
2-16
2-34
5-78
20-04
6-44
10-10
7-19
4-16
27-89
1868
2-69
7-70
3-79
2-52
4-01
2-61
23-22
12-47
10-32
6-32
4-17
33-28
1869
214
4-01
6-92
6-60
7-38
6-68
33-73 ¡
6-66
20-90
9-12
4-37
41-05
1870
0-63
6-31
1-18
2-32
3-80
7-29
20-53
9-57
7-30
9-01
1-49
27-37
Average )
5 years f
1-678
4-556
4-066
3-170
4-046
4-822
22-338
8-054
1
11-282
7-228
3-808
30-372
But according to Table D, the yearly average rain¬
fall in Nebraska is one-fourth more than that of
London ; and of this amount about three-fourths falls
in the months from April to September inclusive, when
it is most wanted, and it includes all the summer, and
the warmest portions of the spring and autumn. In
these six months, according to the table, the rainfall is
only 1-| inches less than that of the whole year in
London, where the climate is far from dry, how then
can Nebraska have a very dry climate with all this ex¬
cess of rainfall ?
CLIMATE.
107
The rain in Nebraska generally falls upon ground
which has been compacting itself for ages, and from
which it runs off very freely. There are few trees to
obstruct with their roots the water in its course to the
ravines, and to check evaporation by the density of
their foliage. Even the check which would otherwise
be afforded by the beaten-down stalks and dried leaves
of the prairie grass is removed by prairie fires. The
winds blow from over vast regions of dry land ; they
have free course on the prairie, and consequently the
circumstances are extremely favourable for rapid
evaporation. Fortunately, also, the great range of
temperature is extremely favourable for precipitation,
and the man who tills deeply may store an abundance
of water in the soil. As such tillage becomes general,
and orchards and groves and forest trees are planted,
the evaporation from the soil will be more gradual
and yet much greater in aggregate amount, the fr-ee
course of the winds will be materially checked, the
atmosphere will be more humid, and the range of tem¬
perature less, but probably not so much less as to pre¬
vent an increase of rainfall.
I have before me a compilation from the Reports of
the Department of Agriculture at Washington of the
rainfall of Nebraska for nine years. This makes the
mean annual fall 29 inches, the mean for April 2*78,
May 4*04, June 3*96, July 3*58, August 2*98, Sep¬
tember 3*31—a total for these six agricultural months
of 20*65 inches. The other months are January 1*01,
February 1*75, December 1*37—a total of 4*13 inches
for the winter months; and March 1*45, October 1*33,
108
NEBRASKA.
November 1*44—a total of 4*22 inches for these months
of spring and autumn. This approximates pretty
closely the results from Table C.
Tempeeatuee and Rainfall.—Table E.
Temperature.
d
0
CO
cS
01
oq
Winter ,
Spring .
Summer.
FaU . .
Winter .
Spring .
Summer.
Fall . .
Winter .
Spring .
Summer.
FaU . .
Winter .
Spring .
Summer.
FaU . .
CÔ
U
ÇL,
8
h
g í
Si
p 9-t
U e3
<D S
8.^
<V O
M «
2 PH
es s
0) ^
19-99
47-03
72-78
49-75
20-15
39-20
74-31
52-57
20-85
51-53
75-13
47-00
21-81
47-75
72-44
45-10'
47 -53
46-67
48-84
47-42
Eain and
Snow.
o
tí
m
.tí
11-45
35-55
27-20
39-00
o ^
CS O
d ö
•3®
û3 'ö
IS
29-35
31-51
37-85
47-35
Temperature.
u
1870-{
i
l
(
187M
1872-{
i
1873-{
cS
U
<o
8
d'
H .
a ?
en
a
cS 0
O C
m
S
Winter .
22-14
Spring .
46-17
Summer.
70-00
FaU . .
47-64
Winter .
22-28
Spring .
49-52
Summer.
71-97
Fall . .
42-94
Winter ,
22-81
Spring .
37-80
Summer.
74-42
FaU . .
47-71
Winter .
17-75
Spring .
46-92
Summer.
76-22
FaU . .
48-79
d
O
5^
eStl
d U
câ 0
Bain and
Snow.
o
d
m
0)
pd
's •
2 ^
CS o
d Ö
•3®
«-g
en jjf
S ®
|s
46-61 22-00 32-10
46-82 18-00 32-25
45=69
47-58
12-80
31-85
10-06 49-45
Average for eight years :—Mean temperature, 47° 14'; snow, 22 in. ; rain and
melted snow, 36-40 in. Average per month for the year 1873—4-12 in.
Table E " gives an abstract of observations of the
temperature, rainfall, and snow for eight years, ending
December 31st, 1873, for the eastern part of Cass co.
Nebraska; with instruments elevated 112 feet above
low water of the Missouri River. Observations differ
in different localities, the temperature in low grounds
and valleys where there is little or no wind being
several degrees lower than on adjoining high lands.
The reflection and radiation from streets and buildings
CLIMATE.
109
in towns and cities often cause a like variation from the
adjoining country. Our heaviest showers and rainfalls
often pass over narrow belts, giving one locality
several inches, while at but a short distance no rain
falls. Hence it is only by comparison of observations
in all parts of the State that a general average can be
obtained.
" The meteorological year commences with December
first, and counts December, January, and February as
winter months ; March, April, and May as spring
months ; June, July, and August as summer months ;
and September, October, and November as fall months."
—From A. L. Childs^ Esq.^ of Plattsmouth.
Temperature and Eaineall.—Table F. Omaha. From Report of
United States Signal Service.
3
0)
o S
1
!
OJ
U
0
O 3
Mean
emperat
4) c8
§1
« i
3 I
.g
^ i
Mean
emperat
c3
§ s*
pâ g
CM
tí
H
h
«
H
1872. October .
550
3-89
1873. April.
44-2
49
3-83
November
30-6
0-87
May . .
590
49
5-59
December
190
0*11
June .
74-4
42
5*86
1873. January .
16-9
60
0-64
July . .
75-7
43
4*27
February.
26-9
68
0-02
August .
77-1
45
1-60
March
38-2
75
0*44
September
60*6
61
1*86
Mean temperature for the year, 47° 96'; total rainfall, 28*98 in.;
rainfall April to September inclusive, 23*01 in.
The elaborate reports of the United States Signal
Service also give the mean temperature at Omaha for
1874 at 50° 5', being 2° above 1873, mean of spring
48° 3', of summer 76° 8', highest monthly mean in
110
nebraska.
July 80°, lowest in January 22° 3', highest thermo¬
meter 105°, on July 25th and August 10th; lowest
9° below zero, on January 24th ; greatest monthly range
of temperature 67°, in November; greatest daily range
41°, on January 3rd.
The total rainfall for the year (including melted
snow), 25*73 inches, being less than that of 1873;
number of rainy days, 69; number of snowy days, 28.
On two of these days both rain and snow fell. During
the three spring months there were twenty-three days
in which rain or snow feU, producing 4*74 inches;
during the summer inonths, twenty-seven days, giving
9'55 inches. The last snow of spring was on April
20th; the first snow of winter on October 30th.
The prevalent winds were from the north in winter,
and from the south in summer, having an average velo¬
city of nine miles an hour, the maximum velocity being
forty-eight miles, on May 9th.
There were an average number of storms during the
year, but there were no severe ones ; the snowstorm of
April 19th and 20th might be considered the most
prominent. It was an extensive storm which moved
up from the Gulf of Mexico, and turned north-eastward
and over the lakes, and passed into the Atlantic Ocean
on the 22nd, producing strong winds and heavy raius.
The next in importance is the rain storm of June 14th,
when over two inches of rain fell from 11*35 p.m. of the
13th until 3 a.m. of the 14th.
It should be noted that the instruments of the United
States Signal Service at Omaha have a roof exposure
26*4 feet above ground, and therefore, according to
CLIMATE.
Ill
well - known principles, the rain gauge will record
materially less than the rainfall at the surface.
The Wind.—TahU Gr. Statement showing how many times the wind
was observed blowing from the eight cardinal points of the compass
during each month and season of the year ending September ZOth,
1873 ; the observations taken at Omaha, by the United States Signal
Service, at 7 a.m., 2 p.m., and ^ p.m. daily.
Direction
of Wind.
1872.
1873.
Spring.
Summer.
Autumn.
Winter.
October.
November.
December.
January.
February.
March.
April.
S
June.
July.
August.
September.
N.
13
4
22
29
17
24
27
17
16
15
9
20
68
40
37
68
N.W.
9
31
13
19
21
16
28
13
3
7
6
9
57
16
49
54
W.
6
12
9
2
3
3
5
0
2
2
2
3
8
6
21
13
S.W.
4
6
12
5
8
8
3
6
7
5
9
3
17
21
13
25
s.
23
13
11
11
10
19
5
8
25
28
21
24
32
74
60
32
S.E.
14
19
1
3
9
8
10
11
14
21
23
12
29
58
35
13
E.
4
2
0
3
1
2
5
7
0
1
3
4
14
4
10
4
N.E.
0
1
2
3
1
0
2
12
1
8
4
3
14
13
4
6
Calm
20
12
23
18
14
13
5
19
22
6
16
12 i
37
44
44
55
Blank
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
Oscar A. Mullon, Esq., an English journalist settled
in Nebraska, in forwarding some statistics, says: "The
following record is from Cass county, south of the
Platte River, and immediately west of the Missouri,
and it is true of the whole south-eastern portion of
Nebraska. In considering the figures and dates, how¬
ever, one must remember that ameliorating influences
are rapidly and continuously at work in Nebraska.
Settlement modifies climate. The planting of forest
trees and orchards, and the general cultivation of the
soil, brings an increased rainfall in the prairie regions,
and trees check the winds, which are now and again
112
NEBRASKA.
Iboisterous. Taking a period of eight years—1866 to
1873—in Cass county, the prairie grass began to show
green from about the middle of March to about April
10th; the same grass, to support cattle, from about
the middle of April to about May 10th; willows were
green before the end of April or in the beginning of
May; wild plums ripe during August; wild cherries
ripe early in July ; violets in bloom in April ; and apples
in bloom from May 1st to the 28th. Birds appeared
in these years in the following order : The robin from
the middle to the end of March, wrens and catbirds the
close of April and the beginning of May, and bobolinks
and swallows from the beginning of May to about the
middle of the month.
" The rainfall is maivellously adapted to meet the re¬
quirements of vegetation. It is worth noting that two-
thirds of the entire quantity falls during the agricultural
months of April, May, June, July, August, and Sep¬
tember, and that, therefore, there is abundant moisture
for the growth of all crops."
The average moisture of the atmosphere is given as
less than one-half of that necessary to produce rain,
dew, or snow. The natural drainage is excellent, far
superior to that of England; the winds, like those on
our coasts, are sometimes too boisterous ; but they afford
efficient ventilation, and the general conditions are
very favourable to health ; the winter is too cold, the
summer is too hot, but neither is unbearable, while the
bright skies, not unfrequently illuminated with beau¬
tiful sunsets and glorious auroras, contrast favourably
with the dull, dank, dingy weather which is but too
CLIMATE.
113
common here. One soon gets to like it, and if able to
get " well fixed," few English emigrants would care to
" swap," on the score of health, comfort, or pleasure,
the new climate for the old one. Grazing is profitable
everywhere, and agriculture without irrigation, cer¬
tainly to the 100th meridian, and how much farther
westward I am not prepared to say in the absence of
accurate meteorological data.
In closing this chapter I would venture to suggest
to the authorities of the State, to the University, to the
landed corporations, to the agricultural societies, and
to private individuals, that a thorough knowledge of
the rainfall in each county is of immense importance
to every interest in the State, that therefore the statis¬
tics already obtained should be carefully collected,
collated, and arranged for convenient reference, and
that rain-gauges with suitable directions for use should
be freely placed in the hands of proper persons through¬
out the State. A well-organized system of rain obser¬
vations would really cost very little, and they would
have a prompt and tangible influence on the prosperity
of the State.
CHAPTER YIII.
THE SUEFACE GEOLOGY OF HEBEASKA.
By Prof. Samuel Aughey, Ph. D.
Divisions represented.—Cause of fertile soil.—^The Drift.—Seldom
exposed.—Where found.—^\^ariable in character.—Drift soils often very
fertile.—Agates, cornelians, jaspers, &c.—The Lacustrine Deposits
most remarkable, most valuable.—Immense thickness everywhere alike.
—Composition.—Five analyses.—One of the best soils in the world.—
Inexhaustible.—Fine natm-al drainage.—A paradise for fruits.—The
Hile.—The Loëss of the Ehine.—^Pomological fairs.—Physical proper¬
ties.—Bluffs.—Permanent forms.—Eoad beds.—Easy to work.—WeUs.
Dug huts.—Why so stable.—Hothing grand.—Much very beautiful.—
Origin of the Lacustrine Deposits.—Glacial ages.—Submergence
and emergence.—Old forest beds.—Extinct animals.—^Wiping out.—
Yast sea.—Muddy streams.—Great lakes.—Melting glaciers.—Yast
volumes of flowing water.—Animal hfe.
HE geology of Nebraska is more varied
than the casual observer would sus¬
pect. Four of the general subdivisions
of geological history are represented
by the underlying rocks of the State. These ^ are,
commencing at the south-eastern part of the State :
the upper carboniferous, permian, cretaceous, and
the sueface geology of nebraska. 115
miocene and pliocene tertiary deposits. The reader
is referred to the geological map accompanying this
article for the boundaries of these formations.
The purpose of this chapter being to present the
prominent features of the surface geology of the
State, a description of the older rocks must be
omitted, except in the case of the miocene and
pliocene deposits, where they become bared of
nearly all other material in the " bad lands " on
the extreme western rim of the State, and the
sand hills of the Loup and the Niobrara. The soil of
Nebraska owes its great fertility to three principal
deposits, namely, the drift, the lacustrine or loess,
and alluvium. The poorer portions are caused by
sand hills and the " bad lands," these last being
only found in the extreme north-western portion of
the State. These deposits will be considered in the
order mentioned.
The Drift.
The drift ever3rwhere underlies the lacustrine de¬
posits, except in those rare cases where it was
removed by denudation prior to the deposition of
this latter material. It is only occasionally exposed
at the surface, and then it not unfrequently is so
mingled with lacustrine materials, alluvium, and
organic matter as to escape the attention of any
one save a practical geologist. It nowhere comes
to the surface over wide areas. In the northern
part of the State it is occasionally met with in the
southern part of Dixon county. It is also found
116
NEBEASKA.
in Cedar, Knox, Pierce, and the northern part of
Wayne county. In a few localities in the centre
of Cedar county, semicircular rows of dirt, pebbles,
and stones even yet extend across wide ravines in
the form of terminal moraines of glaciers, the marks
of which unnumbered centuries have not been able
to efface. South of the Platte the drift creeps to
the surface on some of the hill sides of Lancaster,
Saline, Gage, and Jefferson counties. The geological
map will show where, in general, it may be looked
for. Wherever in the State the drift is found, as
in most other regions, it varies a great deal in
character, but here, as already intimated, it has been
so modified by subsequent lacustrine agencies, as
generally to be susceptible of high cultivation.
Where it is purest, it is composed of boulders, a
few of which are of, large size, pebbles, gravel, sand,
and alumina. The pebbles and boulders are gene¬
rally composed of primary rocks, such as quartz,
granite, greenstone, syenite, gneiss, porphyry, &c:
Occasionally nothing indicatès the presence of the
drift save large boulders, the other materials being
covered over and mingled with lacustrine deposits
and organic matter. Such soils are exceedingly
fertile and valuable. In the rare instances where
all the matter, except the coarser drift, has been
removed by water agencies, numbers of agates, cor¬
nelians, jaspers, sardonyx, onyx, opals, petrified
wood, &c. are found. The scratchings on the top
of the rocks along the Platte and other rivers, at
least where I have been able to examine them, in-
the surface geology of nebraska. 117
dicate that the general movement of the ice during
glacial times was from fifteen to eighteen degrees
east of south.
The Lacustrine Deposits.
One of the most remarkable deposits, and most
valuable for agricultural purposes, in the world, pre¬
vails over more than three-fourths of the surface of
Nebraska. It is known as the lacustrine or loess de¬
posit. Sometimes, too, it has been called the blufi*
formation, because of the peculiar configuration it
gives to the uplands bordering the flood plains of the
rivers. It ranges in thickness from 5 to 150 feet.
In some places in Dakota county it is even 200 feet
thick. It is perfectly homogeneous throughout, and of
uniform colour, however thick the deposit, or how far
apart the specimens have been taken. I have com¬
pared many specimens, taken 300 miles apart, and from
the top and bottom of the deposits, and no difference
could be detected by the eye or by chemical analysis.
Over 80 per cent, of this formation is very finely
comminuted silica. So fine, indeed, are the particles
of silica that its true character can alone be detected
by analysis or under a powerful microscope. About
10 per cent, is composed of the carbonates and phos¬
phates of lime. So abundant is this material in this
deposit that it has spontaneously crystallized or formed
concretions from the size of á shot to that of a walnut,
and these are found wherever this soil is turned over
or in excavations. When first exposed these concre¬
tions are soft enough to be rubbed fine between the
118
NEBRASKA.
fingers, but they gradually harden by exposure to the
atmosphere. This deposit also contains small amounts
of alkaline matter, iron, and alumina. For the pur¬
pose of showing the chemical properties and the homo¬
geneous character of the lacustrine deposits I have made
five new analyses of this soil. No. 1 is from Douglas
county near Omaha, No. 2 from the bluffs near Kearney,
No. 3 is from the Loup, No. 4 from Sutton, and No. 5
from the Kepublican Valley, near Orleans, in Harlan
county.
No. 1,
No. 2.
No. 3.
No. 4.
No. 5.
Insoluble (siliceous) matter .
81-28
81-32
81-35
81-30
81-32
Ferric oxide
3-86
3-87
3-83
3-85
3-86
Alumina....
•75
•75
•74
•73
•74
Lime, carbonate
6-07
6-06
6^03
6-05
6-09
„ phosphate
3-58
3-59
3-58
3-57
3-59
Magnesia, carbonate .
1-29
1-28
1-31
1-31
1-29
Potassa ....
•27
•29
•35
•34
•33
Soda ....
•15
•16
•14
•16
•16
Organic matter
1-07
1-06
1-05
1^06
1-06
Moisture....
1-09
1-08
1-09
1^08
1-09
Loss in analysis
•59
•54
•53
•55
•47
Total
100-00
100-00
100-00
100-00
100-00
As would be expected from such elements, these de¬
posits form one of the best soils in the world. In fact,
it can never be exhausted until every hill and valley
which compose it is entirely worn away. Owing to¬
its remarkably finely comminuted silica, of which the
bulk of the deposit consists, it possesses natural drain¬
age in the highest degree. However great the floods
in which it falls the water soon percolates through this
soil, which iñ its lowest depths retains it like a huge
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 119
sponge. When droughts come the moisture comes up
from below by capiUary attraction, supplying nearly
all the needs of vegetation in the driest seasons. This
is the reason why over all the region where these
deposits prevail the natural vegetation and cultivated
crops are rarely dried out or drowned out.
These deposits are a paradise for fruits, especially
the apple, plum, grape, and all the small fruits of the
temperate zones. They luxuriate in soils like this,
which has perfect natural drainage and is composed of
such materials. The most important of the few known
deposits like this are the wonderful ever-fertile valley of
the Nile ; and the celebrated Loess of the Ehine, the
latter of which supplies Europe with its finest wines
and grapes. The results of experience demonstrate that
this lacustrine deposit will excel in the same manner.
Nebraska, although so young in years, has taken the
prizes over all other States in the pomological fairs at
Bichmond and Boston.
The physical properties of these lacustrine deposits
are also worthy of note. Wherever they prevail the
bluffs that border the flood plains of the rivers are some¬
times exceedingly precipitous, and sometimes gently
rounded off. They retain the same forms from year to
year without apparent change, affected neither by rain
nor frost. The sod, for all purposes of architecture,
even for the most massive structures, is as secure as
any in the world. It makes the best of road beds.
Generally about twelve hours after the heaviest rains
the roads are perfectly dry, often appearing, after
being travelled a few days, like a vast floor prepared
120
NEBRASKA.
by the highest art of man. And yet the soil is the
easiest to turn over by the spade or by the plough.
No pick or mattock is ever used or thought of for
excavating. Nevertheless, it remains so unchanged
by the elements, that wells need be walled only to a
point above the water line ; and on the remainder
the spade marks will be visible for years. Indeed, I
have noticed spade marks on almost perpendicular
road-cuts years after they were first made, where
ordinary soils would have fallen away to a gentle
slope. Some of the settlers who come with little
means take advantage of this peculiarity of the ground,
and cut out of the hill sides with a spade a shelter for
themselves and their stock. So dry and so warm are
these " dug huts," that they furnish the cheapest and
most comfortable temporary shelters for the poor emi¬
grants who are crowding into this land of promise. So
firmly, too, does this material stand, after excavations
are made in it, that underground passages without
end could be constructed without meeting any ob¬
stacles, and without requiring any protection from
walls and timber.
This peculiarity of the lacustrine deposits is chiefly
owing to the fact that the carbonate of lime has
entered into slight chemical combination with the
finely comminuted silica. The carbonic acid in rain¬
water dissolves the carbonate of lime, which then
readily unites with silica, but not to such an extent as
to destroy its porosity. Though the particles of silica
are generally microscopically minute they have largely
preserved their angular structure. There is not su^-
the surface geology of nebraska. 121
cient clayey matter present to prevent water from per¬
colating through it as perfectly as through sand, though
not by any means so rapidly. Owing to this same pecu¬
liarity ponds and stagnant water are rare within the
limits of this deposit. Where they do exist on shght
depressions on the level plain, it is found that an
exceptionally large quantity of clayey matter has been
accumulated in the soil on the bottom.
While there is nothing absolutely grand in the
scenery where the lacustrine deposits prevail, there
are many landscapes of wonderful beauty. This is
especially the case along the bluffs of the principal
streams, and in northern Nebraska the bluffs some¬
times rise several hundred feet in height. At other
places they round off, and melt into a gently rolling
plain beyond. But they constantly vary, and follow¬
ing them you in vain look for a picture like the one
just passed. Everywhere there are numerous rounded
I
tips or strangely precipitous sides, which present views
of impressive beauty as they form bold curves and
stretch away in the distance.
Origin of the Lacustrine Deposits.
During the pliocene tertiary age, the temperature
of this region was steadily falling. A huge glacier at
length began to creep southward from the polar regions,
and in the course of ages covered the whole West, down
to at least the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude. It
was during this period that the glacial scratches and
other markings so familiar to the geologist were made
all over the north temperate zone. By some changes
122
NEBRASKA
of level and of climate, not yet clearly understood, the
glaciers began gradually to wane and finally to d.isap-
pear. This whole region became so much depressed
that the greater part of it was entirely submerged. As
the land emerged from the waters it gradually became
covered with a forest bed. This old forest bed is often
struck in digging wells in many parts of the West. It
is often so found in the glacial drift as to separate it
into two portions. It is composed of black soil, and
often contains partially decayed and partially petrified
timber. Over this old and now buried forest bed, the
extinct elephant and mastodon roamed, in company
with a reindeer and musk-ox. But the glaciers again
advanced and covered this entire region, "wiping out"
the forest beds that had covered the land. This was
followed by a still greater subsidence of the land
towards the north, when the glaciers began to wane a
second time. According to Professor Newbury, who
has profoundly studied this subject, nearly all the region
north of the Ohio, and westward beyond the Missouri,
was covered with water to a point at least five hundred
feet above the level of Lake Erie. The depression was
greatest towards the north, so that in the east the
Alleghanies and their dependent foot hills, and a wide
area of low country towards the south and west, formed
a shore line to the interior sea of the period, a sea which
was often covered with floating icebergs.
It was during the later centuries of this era that the
lacustrine deposits of Nebraska were formed. The
continent had slowly risen, so that a great part of Iowa
had become dry land. All that was left of this vast
THE SUKFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 123
sea was the western portion of Iowa, the greater part
of Nebraska, and various lakes along the Missouri in
the States through which it flows down to the Gulf.
The Platte and the Missouri have always been among
the muddiest streams in the world. If we ascend the
Missouri and examine the character of the deposits
through which it passes, we cannot be surprised at its
character. These deposits being of tertiary and creta¬
ceous ages are the most friable in the world. The ter¬
tiary is largely siliceous, and the cretaceous is both
siliceous and calcareous. In fact, in many places the
Missouri and its tributaries flow directly over and
thro,ugh the chalk beds of the cretaceous deposits.
From these beds the lacustrine deposits obtained their
large per-centage of the phosphates and carbonates of
lime.
Flowing through such deposits for more than a
thousand miles, the Missouri and its tributaries have
been gathering for vast ages that peculiar mud which
filled up their ancient lakes and distinguishes them from
most other streams. Being anciently, as now, very rapid
streams, as soon as they emptied themselves into these
vast lakes, and their waters became quiet, the sediment
held suspended was dropped to the bottom. While this
process was going on, the last of the glaciers had not
retreated further than the headwaters of the Platte,
the Missouri, and the Yellowstone. The accumulated
force of these mighty rivers was then aided by the
erosive action of ice, and therefore must have been
vastly more rapid than anything of the kind with which
we are now acquainted.
124
NEBEASKA.
After these great lakes were filled with sediment
(Missouri mud), they existed for a longer or shorter
time as marshes, or bogs, until the rivers began to cut
new channels through the. old lake bed. This drained
the marshes, formed the bottom lands, and caused the
deepening of the stream beds tributary to the Missouri.
It is clear to me, though opposed to the views of some
able geologists, that the Missouri river at one time
covered the whole space now called the flood plain, or
bottom lands, from bluff to bluff. Hence the river, at
the close of the lacustrine age, must have been from
five to twelve miles in breadth, forming a stream which
for size and majesty rivalled the Amazon. The Platte,
the Niobrara, and the Republican covered their respec¬
tive valleys, or bottom lands, in the same manner. The
rapidly melting glacial accumulations of many ages at
their sources, the vast floods of water caused by the
moist climate and heavy rains, and the present form of
the river bottoms of Nebraska, are some of the causes
which, in my opinion, would operate to produce such
vast volumes of flowing water.
Our space only permits us to allude to the animal
life of the lacustrine age. In its earlier portions it was
much colder than the present climate of the same region.
A small portion of the skeleton of a musk-ox has been
found, and many remains of mastodons and mammoths,
whose last vigorous life expired in high northern
regions. In the upper portion of this formation are also
found remains of species which are identical with those
now living in the same localities. Among these are
buffalo, deer, gophers, rabbits, and beavers. The fresh
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 125
water and land shells are such as are still generally to
be found on the land and in the water. Among these
are helices, succineas, planorbi, physas, unias, ana-
donta, &c.
CHAPTER IX.
THE SUEFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBEASKA.
{Continued).
Alluvium.—Broad bottom lands,—Terraces dry.—An ideal section
of the Platte Valley.—Tremendous action of water.—Distribution of
soils.—Grasses.—Analyses of bottom lands.—How differing from the
lacustrine.—Depth of alluvium.—Swamps of a past age.—The Sand
Hills.—^VTiere found.—Vegetation.—Causes.—Old lakelets.—The Bad
Lands.—^VTiere found.—Curious remains. — Fantastic forms.—Fossil
monkeys.—Euminating hogs.—Alkali Lands.—Limited areas in half
the counties.—How renovated.—Fuel from Surface Deposits.—
Probable coal.—Plenty of peat.—^Water Eesources.—Water in and
beneath thç lacustrine underground currents.—Increase of rainfall.—
Proofs.—Eecent Timber.—Logs in the peat.—Eemains of forests on
the plains.—Once extensive.—Beauty and wealth.
Alluvium.
HE valleys, or flood plains, of the rivers
and creeks of Nebraska, are a prominent
feature of its surface geology. AU the
rivers in the interior — such as the
Platte, the Republican, the Niobrara, the Elkhorn, the
Blues, the Nemahas, and their tributaries—have broad
bottoms, in the centre or on one side of which the
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA.
127
streams have their
beds. These broad
bottoms, as we have
already seen, repre¬
sent the ancient river
beds towards the close
of the lacustrine age.
It required ages to
drain this mighty an¬
cient lake bed ; and
when the present
rivers were first out¬
lined, the greater part
of it was yet a vast
swamp, or bog. But
gradually, as the con¬
tinent rose to a higTier
level, the rivers cut
deeper and deeper,
filling the whole flood
plain from bluff to
bluff. Not until the
drainage of this re¬
gion was completed,
and the continent had
reached nearly its pre¬
sent level, was the
volume of water so
much diminished that
the rivers contracted
their currents and cut
new beds somewhere
QJ
: Tí
c
0$
128
NEBKASKA.
through the present bottoms. The accompanying cross-
section of the Platte will give an idea of the present
appearance of these river bottoms.
The terraces which are so constantly seen evidently
mark certain stages of elevation when the drainage of
this region to its present form was in progress. A
terrace was a dry bottom when all the rest of the valley
was yet a river bed. As typical of all the river bottoms,
let us look at the formation of the Platte Valley. Its
general direction is from west to east, and it is a great
highway.from the rnountains to the Missouri. This
valley is over five hundred miles long, and from three
to fifteen miles wide. All the materials that once filled
up this trough, from the top of the highest hills on
each side, have been, since the present rivers were aut-
lined, towards the close of the lacustrine age, trans¬
ported to the Missouri and the Gulf. Here, then, are
several thousand miles in area of surface entirely re¬
moved by the agency of waters And when we bring
into our estimate all the river bottoms of Nebraska, and
the tributaries of these rivers, and reflect that all these
valleys were formed in the same way, within compara¬
tively modern geological times, the forces which water
agencies brought into play almost appall the mind by
their very immensity. So well are these bottom lands
distributed, that the emigrant can, in almost every
county, choose between them and uplands for their
future homes. Not unfrequently is the choice made of
portions of each, on the supposition that the bottom
lands are best adapted for the growth of large crops of
the grasses. But all the years of experience in culti¬
vating uplands and bottoms, leave the question of the
œn
22
me
ß A fi
t
/'ï:
Unuiviùfûtoii;'^''
. 4i 4. • • ■ ^
' '^•^\ fe i. * Î-. V * *• '^^ • * " . ♦ . > -Î
Pm.t J^q ti "^.ß
ajüí-
r ;* ,•- •
^ hakt
9
«SVí/íytíj } akr
N
' • ■" -f .f.
The Topo^'aT3:y irom Section iVla.^^
BY —
EDWIN A.CURLEY.
mió.
Tluy SvcHcLce Cex^giy of N.y^pori^ of
ótat&TWt c¿etermzr06c¿/.
* ikA
GEOLOGY OF UNDERLYING ROCKS
yVêt^terru Souncioay of they l^per Cai
BouncLartts of FerrrvCany
CrctacccLis
fEcLéterry EownEccrj" of TertCajy
Totedam/
SURFACE CEOLOGY.
Sccndy^ Jtefftcry mjth in/xn^ ScmfiJ)i.
EoLCLtetrtn^
s^. dht/f anfi la/^uMriri^
»•>••»*••• 7- -, -,
JLaJceZetô
EloodplouLriAS or hottom lomjfio.
*í'"'í"V'l *
v--
"0$
I C!l •-.„ij
h2
i4j'
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 129
superiority of the one over the other undecided. The
seasons, as well as the location, have much to do with
this question. Some bottom lands are high and dry,
while others are lower, and contain so much alumina,
that in wet seasons they are difficult to work. On such
lands, too, a wet spring interferes somewhat with early
planting and sowing. All the uplands, too, which have
a lacustrine origin seem to produce cultivated grass as
luxuriantly as the richest bottoms,, especially where
there is deep cultivation on old breaking. Again, most
of the bottom alluvial lands are so mingled with lacus¬
trine materials, and their drainage is so good, that the
cereal grains and fruits are as productive on them as
on the high lands. The bottom lands are, however, the
richest in'organic matter. The following analyses of
these soils will give a better idea of their chemical and
physical character. The samples were taken from what
are believed to be average soils. The first is from the
Elkhorn, the second from the Platte, and the third from
the Kepublican Kiver bottom :—
No. 1.
No. 2.
No. 3.
Insoluble (siliceous) matter
6307
6370
6301
Ferric oxide ......
2-85
225
2^40
Alumina ......
8-41
7-76
8^36
Lime, carbonate .....
7-08
7-99
8^01
Lime, phosphate .....
•90
•85
•99
Magnesia, carbonate ....
1-41
1^45
1-39
Potash .......
•50
•54
•61
Soda .......
•49
•52
•54
Sulphuric acid . . ...
•79
•70
•71
Organic matter .....
1400
1345
1301
Loss in analysis .....
•50
•79
•97
Total ......
100^00
10000
lOO^OO
K
130
nebraska.
From these analyses it appears that, chemically, al¬
luvium differs from the lacustrine deposits principally
in having more organic matter and alumina, and less
silica. The depth of the alluvium varies greatly.
Occasionally, sand and drift materials predominate in
the river bottoms, especially in the subsoil. Sometimes
the alluvium is of unknown depth, and again in a few
feet the drift and sand, of the subsoil is struck. This
is especially the case where the valleys are worn away
down to the drift, and have not again subsequently
been filled up, though such instances are not often met
with. There must have been a time, of longer or
shorter duration, when the bottoms were in the condi¬
tion of swamps and bogs ; and during this period the
greater part of that organic matter accumulated in the
surface soil which is a distinguishing feature of these
lands. In fact, there are isolated localities where that
condition has been perpetuated to the present time,—
as, for example, the bogs that are yet met with at the
head waters of the Elkhorn and the Logan. Along
these rivers and their tributaries all the intermediate
stages from perfectly dry bottom to a bog can yet be
found. So much has the volume of water been lessened
in all the rivers of Nebraska through the influence of
geological causes, that there are few places where now,
even in flood time, they overflow their banks.
The Sand Hills.
It is in the western portion of Nebraska where the
sand hills, which are so often mentioned, are found.
South of the Platte they run parallel with the river,
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA.
131
and are from one to six miles in breadth. North of the
Platte, along the upper portion of the Loup rivers and
some of their tributaries, and on the Niobrara, they
cover much larger areas. Sometimes they are com¬
paratively barren, but generally there are, in the regions
covered by them, many spots of high fertility. The
great body of these hills is also covered by a more or
less sparse vegetation, some of which is composed of
nutritious grasses ; so that this region is by no means
the utterly barren desert which it has sometimes been
represented to be. They are, however, composed al¬
most entirely of sand, pebbles, and gravel, of varying
degrees of fineness. The sand always predominates.
Occasionally it is more or less modified by the presence
of other materials, such as lime, potash, soda, alumina,
and organic matter. These hills are in some places
stationary, and so covered by vegetation, that their
true character would not be suspected until they were
closely examined. In other places, again, especially on
the Upper Loup and the Niobrara, they are so loosely
compacted that the wind is ever changing their form,
and turning them into all kinds of fantastic shapes.
Some scientists have sought to account for these hills
by the theory that the winds in the course of ages
have blown the sand from the bars on the rivers.
There are many difficulties in the way of this theory.
East of Columbus no sand hills are found, and in many
places portions of the hills are partly composed of
large pebbles and stones that could not have been
moved by the 'winds. The probabilities are that south
of the Platte these sand hills show the track of the
132
nebraska.
current in the old lake that produced the lacustrine
deposits. It is well known that fine sediment is de¬
posited in still waters, but coarse materials, such as
sand and pebbles, in the borders and in the tracks of
currents. As the whole country rises towards the
west, the water here may have been very rapid, and the
land in process of drying up when it was yet deep at
lower levels. Both causes—the currents and the winds
—may have co-operated to produce these deposits.
The sand-hiUs on the Loup and the Niobrara derived
the bulk of their materials from pliocene tertiary
deposits. This old lake was probably perpetuated here
down through lacustrine times to the borders of our
era. Even yet lakelets are numerous over portions of
this region, some of which are alkaline and others fresh¬
water. The latter can easily be distinguished fi^om the
former, at sight, by the thick vegetation growing around
their margins, of which the former scarcely have a
trace. This sand hill region has never been thoroughly
explored, nor its deposits properly investigated, and
many problems here yet remain for the solution of the
geologist.
The Bad Lands.
In the extreme western part of the State, between
Spoon Hill Creek and the Niobrara River, there is a
remarkable region, extending down from the White
Earth River in Dakota Territory. The surface deposits
here are miocene tertiary. This region is known as
the Bad Lands, Mauvaises Terres, or in the Dakota
language Ma-kaó-si-tcha, which means a difficult country
THE SUEE ACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 133
to travel, because, while the surface is broken, there is
little if any good water, wood, or game. Here are some
of ihe most curious remains in the world, and the
geologist never tires of investigating them. The almost
vertical sections of white rock have been chiselled by
water agencies into unique forms. Indeed, as viewed
from a distance, they remind the explorer of one of
those old cities which only exhibit their ruins as
reminders of their ancient greatness. Among these
grandest desolations the weird, wild old stories of
witchery appear plausible and possible. It is in the
deepest canons, at the foot of the stair-like projections,
that the earliest of those wonderful fossil treasures are
found which have done so much to revolutionize our
notions of the life of tertiary times. Here are found
remains of rhinoceri, some with horns and some with¬
out, titanotheriums, and hyopotami, which were river
horses much like the hippopotami of modern times.
Higher up in the deposits are found countless numbers
of turtles mingled with the remains of land animals.
Among these are the wonderful oreontidae, which
Leidy calls ruminating hogs, because their cutting
teeth and canines and their feet are like those of the
swine family, while their molars were patterned after
those of the deer, and the upper portions of the head
much like that of the camels.
Several species of fossil monkeys have also been
found in these sediments. The vast numbers of these
animals were kept within proper bounds by gigantic
carnivorous animals, such as sabre-toothed tigers, hyae-
nodons, wolves, &c. Though this region is unattractive
134
nebraska.
to the utilitarian, I doubt whether any portion of
Nebraska will be of so much benefit to mankind, simply
because here we have outlined so marvellously the old
life of miocene times, and it must ever be a stimulus to
geological studies. A State that contains within its
borders such a wealth of fossil treasures ought to give
in the future illustrious disciples to science.
Alkali Lands.
In some portions of the State there are limited areas,
not confined to any one geological formation, where the
so-called alkali spots exist. One half of the counties
of the State do not have any such lands, and often
there are only a few in a township or county. Where
they have been examined they are found to vary a
great deal in chemical properties. Generally, how¬
ever, the alkah is largely composed of soda compounds,
with an occasional excess of lime, magnesia, or potash.
Many of these alkali lands have originated from an
accumulation of water in low places where there is an
excess of alumina in the soil or subsoil. The escape
of the water by evaporation has left the saline matter
behind, where by chemical changes the chlorine has
separated from the sodium, forming in this way soda
compounds. These alkali spots are frequently reno¬
vated, the first steps for which are drainage and deep
cultivation. The next step is the consumption of the
excess of alkali, which can be eifected by wheat crops
in wet seasons. In wet seasons such deeply cultivated
alkali lands often produce splendid crops of grain.
Wheat is a great consumer of the alkalies, which being
the surface geology of nebraska. 135
partly removed in this way, and the remaining excess
mingled with the deeply cultivated soil, in many in¬
stances, renders it in a few years capable of being
used for the other ordinary crops of Nebraska. Treated
in this way these alkali lands often become the most
valuable portions of the farm.
Fuel from the Surface Deposits.
Owing to a want of thorough geological investiga¬
tion, it is not yet ascertained how much dependence
can be placed on the coal supplies of the carboniferous,
cretaceous, and tertiary deposits, in each of which thin
beds have been found, and worked to a limited extent.
There are probably thick workable coal beds at greater
depths than have yet been reached, but they remain to
be explored and developed. There is, however, no
question about the deposits of peat in Nebraska. On
the Blue rivers, the Elkhorn, the Logan, and on Elk
Creek, in Dakota county, and on other streams, there
are deposits of peat, which if worked, and the material
properly prepared, would supply the State with fuel
for a hundred years, and perhaps for a much longer
period. These peat beds, where I have examined them,
have been formed in lakelets which have been in process
of filling and drying up by the accumulation of vege¬
table matter. Many of these are now so far advanced
as to form bogs, through the midst of which a stream
of water is coursing its way. Others have no visible
outlet,- but retain the water poured into them during
the spring and the June rains, during the remainder of
the year, and thus supply the conditions necessary for
136
nebraska.
the peculiar vegetation of such formations. Sometimes,
too, such depressions in the surface seem to be supplied
with water from ever-flowing springs. The beginnings
of these peat beds date back at least to the close of the
lacustrine age, so that suflicient time has elapsed for
the accumulation of great quantities of this material.
As yet none of these beds hâve been worked. This is
owing-in some places to the cheapness of wood fuel,
and in others to the fact that coal from abroad is easily to
be procured. But such treasures cannot remain unused
for ever. Eventually this peat must be utilized, and if
it is cheaply furnished, as it can be, the State will be
supplied for a long time from its own territory with all
the fuel needed.
Water Resources of Nebraska.
Nebraska, taken as a whole, is remarkably well
supplied with water. The general map of the State,
published in this book, shows numberless streamlets
flowing into the larger creeks and rivers. Many can¬
not well be represented. In fact, there are large
portions of the State where running water can be
found on almost every quarter section of land. Where
such resources of water do not exist it can easily be
obtained by digging or boring to a certain depth. In
the lacustrine deposits water is frequently found at a
depth of from fifteen to forty-five feet. If this proves
a failure water can be found beneath them in the drift,
or where this has been removed, on the underlying
rocks. At the bottom of the lacustrine deposits there is
generally a stratum of sand or gravel which is a great
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 137
reservoir of water, and from which it flows in unlimited
quantities. In some of the counties west of the Big
Blue River, and occasionally east of it, where the lacus¬
trine deposits are of very great depth, water is not
found until this strata of sand and gravel is struck, at
a depth of from sixty to one hundred and twenty feet.
In a few instances the underlying rocks had to be
penetrated to secure permanent water. This under¬
lying bed of sand and gravel is probably drift, and exists
at some depth, as before remarked, over the greater
part of the State. But as the country descends towards
the south, it seems to drain the waters of the Platte into
the Republican, and is therefore a source of water
supply over all the country south of the former river,
wherever its bed cuts, or passes over the drift, as it
does in many places in the western part of the State.
Often this underljdng bed of sand and gravel lies on
clay or rock, and in such places water is so abundant
as to form a subterranean current. It is found by
chemical analysis that the water of the State is above
the average in purity, the most common foreign in¬
gredient being the carbonate of lime.
An interesting meteorological fact, having an im¬
portant bearing on geological causes, is the increase of
rainfall all over the State as civilization extends west¬
ward. As early as the summer of 1865 I examined
the region at the headwaters of the Logan, Elkhorn,
and Bow Rivers, where I found many ancient creek
bottoms with stream beds all grown over with a thick
sod of grass and weeds, and where the water had not
flowed for ages. But year after year these old streams
138
nebraska.
are beginning to run again, and to furnish a constant
current of water. Many springs of water, too, are
bursting out along bluffs where nothing of the kind
was ever known before. These and many other facts
which could be given, leave no room to doubt, how¬
ever we may account for it, that the atmosphere is
becoming more moist or the rainfall is increasing, or
both, all over this region.
Timber in Modern Geological Times.
One of the curious problems connected with the
surface geology of the State, is the question of the
geologically modern decadence of timber growth. In
investigating the peat beds at the head waters of some
of our rivers and creeks, I have found great numbers
of logs buried in them in such positions as to preclude
the supposition that they could have been floated there
during flood times. They evidently grew on the shores
or banks, and after falling into the bogs they have been
for many ages preserved by the well-known antiseptic
properties of the peaty waters. No trees are now grow¬
ing within fifteen or twenty miles of the beds to which
I allude. Along the Niobrara, roots of pine trees are
abundant more than fifty miles east of the present
forests of this timber, showing that at no very remote
period they must have flourished almost down to its
mouth. There are many other facts that demonstrate
that in geologically recent times far more extensive
forests prevailed all over Nebraska, than those which
now occupy the ground. But what caused their de-
THE SURFACE GEOLOGY OF NEBRASKA. 139
struction we cannot determine with certainty, and our
space does not permit us to speculate.
Man is now an efficient agent for the production of
geological changes. Here in Nebraska, as he from
year to year again increases forest growths by repres¬
sing prairie fires, and by planting trees by the million,
the climate, now so fine, will be still further ame¬
liorated; and when once there are groves of timber on
every section or quarter section of land in the State,
an approach will be made to the best physical con¬
ditions of tertiary times. The people of this new State
have a wonderful inheritance of beauty and wealth in
their fine climate and their rich lands, and they cannot
be so recreant to their duties as citizens, as to fail
to lend a helping hand to the processes of nature, for
the development, impróvement, and utilization of the
material wealth of Nebraska.
[The reader should carefully note the difference between the vertical
and the horizontal scale in the sketch, fig, 43, p. 127. If the latter
scale were equal to the former in exact accordance with nature the length
of the view would be about forty feet, while its width or height remained
as at present. The bottom itself is in fact a vast plain of such width that
the bluffs are often lost to view, from the mere facts of their distance and
of the rotundity of the earth.]
CHAPTER X.
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHOEN.
Arrangement of itinerary.—Divisions of the maps.—Key map and county
index.—Mail coaches.—Township and section lines.—Acknowledgments.
—Things omitted.—What may be done.—The geological map.—-
Douglas and Sarpy Counties.—Bluff portions.—Interior.—Valley.
—Drainage.—Prices of land.—Speculators.—" Hard in the mouth."—
Best bargains.—Staples.—Dodge County.—Lacustrine deposit.—^Rail¬
way land.—^Fremont.—Agricultural machinery.—Race course, Tatter-
sail's.—Horse trade.—Credit system.—Bad in a bad year.—Commend¬
able forbearance. — Old settlers.—Tradesmen.—Saunders County.—
Toll-bridge.—A common mistake.—A " sweet" thing for the tollman.—
The land.—The crops.—The Platte Valley.—The wells.—Prices of land.—
The great railways.—" City of Wauhoo."—" Central Hotel."—Grroves.
—Hedges.—Heat.—The Elkhorn.—The Fenian Chief.—Cumming
County.—^West Point.—A settler's experience.—Wisner.—Stanton
County.—A widow farmer.—" Craig City."—An interesting experi¬
ment.—Why a failure?—Standing to win.—Fine land.—^Fiery fur¬
nace.—Impassable ravine.—Kind friends.—A storm on the prairie.—
Wind blisters.
In the description commencing with this chapter of the numerous*
counties of Nebraska, I have made a compromise between a strictly
methodical arrangement and the actual order in which I have gathered
my information. For binding in proper form, and for more convenient,
reference, my general map is divided mechanically into six parts, North-
Eastern and South-Eastern, South Central and North Central, South¬
western, and Western Nebraska, and the descriptions generally follow the
same order, but while Douglas and Sarpy counties belong to the mechanical
division which I have termed South-Eastern Nebraska, geographically.
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHORN. 141
commerciallj, and in the order of my investigations, they range more
properly with the North-Eastern division,in connection with which I have
described them. There are considerable advantages in such occasional
departures from mechanical method, and I think that I have provided
against the disadvantages by a key map and county index, which will
enable the reader intelligently to follow the description with less difficulty
than otherwise. I commend these maps to the careful attention of my
readers. By turning frequently from the text to the maps, general and
geological, accurate ideas may be obtained of the rail and post roads, the
rivers, creeks, and very small streams, the upland and valleys, and in most
cases the general character of the soil. On most of the roads laid down
here in red, the mail is transported in stage coaches or other conveyances,
which also carry passengers and goods.
There are other roads, called county roads, which are not indicated on
these maps, and besides these, the townships and section lines, which are
printed in blue, are, generally speaking, legal roads. Most of these in
the more settled localities are actually more or less travelled, but some of
them cross streams and ravines which have not yet been bridged, and
which are impassable for vehicles. The railroads are mail routes. After
these, the post roads shown in these maps are the main lines of communi¬
cation throughout Nebraska, and this is the first attempt to delineate them
for the benefit of the general public. I am indebted in the first place to
the Postmaster-General at Washington for my ability to accomplish this
result with substantial accuracy, and in the second place to Mr. W. L.
Nicholson, topographer of the department, who has corrected the infor¬
mation to the latest possible date. I must also acknowledge like obliga¬
tions to the Secretary of War and to officers of the Department of the
Platte. The United States Army have made many reconnoissances and
surveys, the results of which have been placed at my disposal, and kindly
corrected for me to date by Capt. W. S. Stanton, of the Staff of General
Old, commanding the department. As far as the surveys of the United
States Land Office have been carried out, that department has mapped
the country with great accuracy and minuteness of detail, and I am much
indebted to the Land Commissioner at Washington, and to the United
States Surveyor-General for the State, for many courtesies ; the detail
tracings of the recent survey of the Northern boundary, which were
kindly made for me by order of the Land Commissioner, have been of
especial value, as although they make but little show on my maps, they
have enabled me to make important corrections of errors in respect of the
142
NEBRASKA.
topography of a region comparatively unknown. But the potent aid of
all these authorities was quite insufficient to insure accuracy in many
essential respects. There was great difficulty in finding the precise
location of many places which the postal authorities had been unable or
had deemed it unnecessary for their purposes to fix with exactness, and
which had sprung into existence since the explorations of the army, and
the surveys of the Land Department. In surmounting this difficulty, I
was much indebted to the Land Departments of the Union Pacific
and the Burlington and Missouri Biver Bailways, for very accurate maps
of those portions of the State traversed by these important lines. I also
communicated with the proper authorities in every county in the State,
and I have to acknowledge numerous courteous replies, making important
corrections in the data previously to hand. Many names of " paper"
towns and non-existent places had been placed on previous maps, and
then servilely copied from one map publisher by another, and numerous
proposed railroads, whose only titles to delineation were " buggy recon-
noissances " by impecunious speculators for some fraction of the proposed
distance, and charters, which cost little more than mere paper, had like¬
wise found a place. In some cases a few scattered trees or a fringe of
timber along a stream has been magnified on a map into a forest large
enough to cover an English county. I have considered any railway
station or any post-office worthy of note in my map, whether it stood in
an important town or alone on the prairie, and I have remorselessly
expunged all other names of towns and villages, past, present, and
prospective. Some places have two names, one as a railway station,
another as a post-office, and I have given both names if space permitted,
otherwise I have given the railway name in preference. In other cases,
the postal name is always given. The locations will generally be found
correct to a quarter of a mile ; when this is not the case it is because it
was impossible for me to obtain such precise information in time for this
publication. I have omitted all proposed roads, in process of construction
or otherwise. In some two or three cases, this may be an omission of
some moment, as the roads are likely to be completed, but I have not the
details of precise location even in these cases, and I fear that any attempt
to delineate them would be more or less misleading. I may, however,
from fuller information as to location, condition, and prospects, see fit to
add some of them in a future edition. I have omitted from the maps the
imaginary forests, and with them, as I am aware, some not inconsiderable
tracts of valuable timber, the precise extent and location of which have
THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHORN. 143
not yet been defined by explorers with sufficient precision, and a like
remark will apply to some other omissions.
The St. Joseph and Denver City Bailway has been completed to
Hastings, whence its traffic runs on the Burlington and Missouri River
Railway to Kearney Junction, and it is extremely doubtful whether the
proposed line between Hastings and Kearney Junction will ever be con¬
structed. It, however, appears as actually complete on some of the
more recent maps., and as those of the Post-Office Department cannot be
excepted from this error, it may be well to vindicate beforehand my
character for accuracy by mentioning it here. Between my maps and
recognized authorities will be found other discrepancies, which are the
result of my own personal knowledge of the actual facts, or of other
sufficient evidence to justify the change.
Using these maps, it will not be difficult for a stranger to travel alone
in a waggon or on horseback in any of the surveyed portions of Ne¬
braska. In connection with the explanations of the United States land
laws, to be given in another place, they wiU also enable him to examine
without other aid any " section or quarter section " [640 or 160 acres
surveyed] of land in the State. The geological map is the first attempt
to show with any approach to precision and detail, the character of the
soil and surface of Nebraska ; it is the result of much exploration and
study by its able, most trustworthy, and painstaking author, who has
supplemented his own observations by those of many other persons in
various other parts of the State. Strictly speaking, there has been no
geological survey of any considerable portion of Nebraska, a work which
from its important bearing on the natural resources of the young com¬
monwealth, should be undertaken at once and prosecuted to a conclusion
with vigour. In the meantime, however, this map may be taken as
being substantially accurate as far as it goes. It will not be without
interest to the general reader, and the intelligent agriculturist who
intends making a new home in this new country will find its indications
of very great value.
KOM Omaha the Union Pacific Railway
climbs the steep bluflf of the Missouri
River, 186 feet, in a course of four miles,
and six miles more find it again well
down in the valley at Gilmore, whence it seeks the
144
NEBEASKA
valley of the Platte, passing through the south-eastern
and south-western portions of Douglas county, and the
northern part of Sarpy. The bluff portions of these
counties are decidedly hilly, the interior is undulating,
but a large part of both counties consists of valley
land on the Platte or the Elkhorn, so nearly level that
it is difficult for the eye to detect the slightest inclina¬
tion. The drainage is excellent, with some unim¬
portant exceptions, and the soil " highland or lowland,
far or near," is generally rich, productive, and almost
all of it susceptible of easy tillage.
The good unimproved upland is held at an average
of about ten dollars (£1 I65.) an,acre. Much of that
which is in the hands of eastern speculators can be
bought wholly on long credit, if the buyer makes suffi¬
cient improvements to afford adequate security, or if
improvements do not enter into the contract it may be
bought for one-third, one-fourth, or one-fifth cash, and
the balance in yearly instalments with interest at 10
\
per cent, on the unpaid balances. The residents say
that these speculators are generally "hard in the
mouth," and one can get little or no abatement for cash
down, but to most of the people in Nebraska money
is worth more than 10 per cent, interest, and when
land is bought of them one can get a very substantial
reduction for cash. As a general rule the cheaper cash
bargains are small improved farms of from 80 to 160
acres, whose owners are anxious to realize and to try
their fortunes further west, on cheaper land, and with
a greater command of money for stock, implements,
and improvements. Some very good stock is raised in
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHORN. 145
these counties, and this industry might with advantage
be very largely extended. Wheat and maize are the
principal crops, but flax is receiving a considerable
amount of attention, which is likely to be much in¬
creased as the advantages of its cultivation become
understood and appreciated.
Dodge County is in the second tier of counties west
of the Missouri ; it is entirely north of the Platte, and
it contains about 450 square miles, of which I should
say that one-fourth to one-third is bottom land on the
banks of the Platte and the Elkhorn, and Maple and
Logan Creeks. This is generally very rich, deep, and
productive ; but there are occasional patches that are
too sandy. The bluffs, the rolling prairie, and the
table land, so far as my observation and inquiries ex¬
tend, consist of lacustrine deposit, rich in all the
elements of vegetation. There are no Government
lands now remaining ; those of the Union Pacific
Railway were in 1874 about 35,000 acres, at $5 to $10
per acre ; and there are very considerable quantities in
the hands of private parties for sale at corresponding
prices.
Fremont, the capital of Dodge County, is a thriving
place of some 2,000 inhabitants, forty-six miles west of
Omaha on the Union Pacific Railroad, at its junction
with the Sioux City and Pacific and the Fremont and
Elkhorn Valley Railroads. It is a considerable grain
market, its shipments of wheat having amounted to
1,640 car-loads, or 600,000 bushels, in 1873. The
amount of agricultural machinery exposed for sale, and
the brisk trade in it, would astonish anyone who did
L
146
NEBRASKA.
not take into careful consideration the wants of a very
large back country of new settlers. There is a large
profit to the sellers of these machines, but to the buyers
it is still greater. A "Marsh harvester," for instance,
with one team, a driver, and two binders sitting under
the protection of a canopy on the machine, will dispose
of eight acres of wheat per day, the price of which is $2
per acre ; at which rate it does not take long to earn
Í215 and pay for the machine. It is not at all un¬
common for a settler to buy a harvester as soon as he
can afibrd the cash or obtain the credit, and to earn
enough in harvesting for his poorer neighbours in the
first season to pay for his machine, getting his own work
entirely clear. There is, however, a limit to the success
of this sort of speculation, and the last ones in it in any
locality are generally more or less deceived in their
expectation of making the price of their implements
out of other people's grain instead of their own. Fre¬
mont has a fair ground, a one-mile racecourse, and half
a dozen or more incipient Tatter sails. The trade in
horses, on the occasion of my last visit, was even more
brisk than that in expensive implements. The dealers
bought principally in the adjoining States to the east¬
ward. The horses cost them, all told, about $175 to
$200 per pair, and were very quickly turned over at an
advance of some 40 per cent., most of the sales being
on a note of hand at four or six months, at 12 per
cent, interest with one endorser, and with a " chattel "
mortgage to two or three times the value as collateral
security. The dealers get these notes discounted, to
turn into more horses to be sold in the same way ; and
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHOKN. 147
thus a very lively trade, buying for cash and selling on
credit, may be done with a very small capital. In
many cases, in Nebraska, last year, this buying on
credit resulted in serious loss or disaster to the debtor.
The season was a dry one, and those who had merely
skimmed the surface soil with their ploughs, had
deficient crops ; while the heavy crops in England and
otherwhere brought down the prices. When the inevit¬
able pay day came round, many had to meet it by very
substantial sacrifices ; and the mortgaged chattels of
many others were sold at very low prices ; but, on the
whole, a most commendable degree of forbearance was
shown by dealers and tradesmen, who were themselves
placed in positions of difficulty by the shortcomings of
the debtors whom they obliged in this manner. For
many reasons, the old settlers are generally much
better farmers than the new ones : their crops were
comparatively less affected by the drought ; and I
think that few of them were really inconvenienced by
the dry season, the grasshoppers, and the very low
prices of produce. Tradesmen were more seriously
affected, for their crop of greenbacks depends on the
prosperity of all.
I celebrated the 4th of July, 1874, the great American
anniversary, by a drive of some thirty-six miles in
Saunders County, which is separated from Dodge
County by the broad stream of the Platte. The toll-
bridge across the river at this point cost |50,000.
Judging frorn what I have seen of bridges on similar
streams, the depth to a secure foundation, and the cost of
timber and labour, I should roughly estimate that a safer
148
NEBRASKA.
and better bridge might be built for half the money.
A portion of the bridge was swept away in the breaking
up of the ice last spring, and has been replaced by a
temporary structure, at a cost of $4,000, to be swept
away next spring in its turn. I understand that the
yearly tolls amount to some $7,000 to $8,000 ; but of
course they do not, under the circumstances, contribute
to lighten the burdens of the taxpayers. The toll for
a team is twenty-five cents each way, and it is inno¬
cently supposed to be paid principally by the inhabitants
of the adjoining county, who are almost the only persons
to use the bridge : but the fact is, that the tolls operate
as a check on the profits of trade in Fremont to much
more than their aggregate amount. Some such mistakes
as this matter of bridges and tolls are common to al¬
most all vigorous young self-governing communities ;
and while we should never overlook them among the
pros and cons of settlement in a particular locality, we
should be very careful that we do not attach to them
an undeserved importance. There is a wooded island
of several hundred acres at the bridge crossing, on
which the tollman sustains a population of some 200
swine. The land belongs to others and costs him no¬
thing, the river herds them for nothing ; a trifie in the
way of slops and Indian corn prevents their going alto¬
gether wild. In the spring and summer they live
almost entirely on the roots and other wild food that
they find in the forest, and in the autumn they fatten
on the mast. But this is such a nice thing for the toll¬
man, that he is in some danger of multiplying his swine
beyond the limits of their food supply. The land that
ON THE PI/ATTE AND THE ELKHORN. 149
I passed over in Saunders County consists principally
of gently undulating upland, with" some wide, rich
valleys. The crops seemed to me in just about the
same condition as in Sarpy, Douglas, and Dodge. The
spring had been backward. Barley and wheat were
ripening ; the straw was short, but the ears generally
were well filled; and I judged that the farmers were
safe for an average crop. Oats, also, looked weU.
Indian corn was not yet injured ; but any further con¬
tinuance of the dry weather was certain to shorten the
crop. The upland of the three counties is similar in its
essential characteristics ; but as the slopes are generally
very slight in this county, while they are often quite
steep in those, we shall find that this has a greater
average depth of vegetable mould. The valleys that I
saw in Saunders are but more copiously watered speci¬
mens of upland soil, richer in vegetable mould than
the upland of true lacustrine, and in some cases lying
too nearly level for good drainage. Underneath, at a
depth of 15 feet, to 30 feet, or upwards, is a quicksand,
with good and never-fading water.
The valley of the Platte, in Saunders, Sarpy, and
Dodge, is on another geological stratum, and contains
a large amount of sand not to be found in the upland.
It is very light and very rich, and produces excellent
crops of maize, but it does not equal the upland for
wheat, barley, and oats. The wells in use here are
tubes driven into the ground tdl they penetrate the
quicksand, and the water is of course drawn by means
of a pump attached to the top of the tube. On the
uplands the wells are generally bored, and lined with
150
NEBRASKA.
wooden tubes ; each has a single metallic bucket, of
about four and a half or five inches diameter, and two
to four in length. It is lowered by means of a crank
and pulley ; a self-acting valve in the bottom admits
the water. When it is drawn up the bucket comes to
rest on a little peg, which opens the valve and pours
out the water. The whole contrivance is simple, effec¬
tive, and cheap. Valley land in Saunders is worth $10
per acre ; very superior upland may be bought for $8 ;
and there is some rough upland in the extreme western
part of the county that may be bought for $3, or less.
The principal part of Saunders is within the twenty-
mile limits of the Union Pacific Railway, and the
Burlington and Missouri River Railway touches it
at Ashland in the south-east, whence the county
seat has recently been removed to Wauhoo, near
the centre of the county. This " City of Wauhoo " is
a model of American enterprise. A few months ago
it was merely 640 acres of wild prairie. This was
" staked out " into streets and town lots by the owners,
and half of the lots were offered to the county, on con¬
dition of the removal of the county seat to this central
point. The generous gift having been accepted, the
donors are of course considerably richer than before.
A village of about a dozen shops had already been
started on land adjoining, and the new " Town Com¬
pany " have given eligible lots to such of the villagers
as would move to the new site ; but they have been
careful neither to sell nor to give away any lots near the
older village—a policy which, by changing the business
centre, will effectually stop, for a time at least, the
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHORN. 151
growth of the old village. I dined at noon at the
" Central Hotel," a temporary structure of light lumber
and " building paper." Altogether the house contained
some two dozen persons, which was probably rather
better than a fourth of the population of this new city
of the prairie ; but the county is comparatively populous.
All the Government land, and much of that formerly
belonging to the railway or to private individuals, is
now occupied; and it is not unlikely that Wauhoo may
become a market of some local importance.
My ride of the morning was extremely pleasant ; the
landscape was charming in its quiet beauty, and the
south wind in our faces was neither too hot nor too
cold for perfect comfort. But on my return in the
afternoon this wind carried along with us a quantity of
impalpable dust, whUe it scarcely tempered the fierce
heat of the sun, and in consequence my personal dis¬
comfort detracted considerably from the apparent beauty
of the landscape. I saw a large number of groves of
young trees, in which I should judge that 10 per cent,
were dead or likely to die, while the rest were thrifty
and growing rapidly. The prevailing hedge was Osage
orange, but not one was perfect, and in many cases not
half the requisite number of plants to make a good
hedge were in healthy condition. Careless planting and
subsequent neglect may account for nearly or quite all
of these untoward results ; but the fact remains that, as
dealt with in Saunders County, and indeed in a very
large part of Nebraska, the Osage hedge is a failure.
There were quite a number of willow hedges, most of
which were perfect ; and the only one of cottonwood
152
NEBRASKA.
that I saw had very few defects. Osage orange is, I
think, the best hedge for Missouri and Kansas, and will
probably do well in Nebraska in the hands of a careful
farmer, but bitter willows will probably bear off the
palm, and after these will come box-elder and cotton
wood.
The thermometer registered 99^^° in Fremont in the
shade; on Sunday, July 5th, 100°; and 99° on the 6th.
While I was writing my weekly letter to the " Field " it
varied between 86° and 99°. The latter point is rather
too high for hard work, even in the dry atmosphere of
Nebraska; but I find that 98°, with a good breeze and
perfect quiescence, is quite compatible with comfort. It
is fortunate that in summer there is almost always a
breeze in Nebraska; but the niceties of summer venti¬
lation seldom enter into the plan of a habitation, and it
is not always easy to be sheltered from the sun and to
have the benefit of the breeze at the same time.
On July 6, 1874,1 left Fremont for a visit to Stanton
and Gumming Counties, in the famous Elkhorn Valley.
The Elkhorn is a tributary of the Platte. Its general
course is about 200 miles, and in its windings it is pro¬
bably nearly double that length. It is an important
artery in the drainage system of the vast lacustrine
region of the West, and through its railroad, now com¬
pleted for fifty miles or upwards to Wisner, in Gumming
County, and which will doubtless eventually tap the
timber regions of the Niobrara, some 250 miles from its
starting point, it is destined to become a very consi¬
derable artery of commerce. On the train I met the
once notorious General O'Neil, who led that great
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHOKN. 153
Fenian invasion of Canada which ended so suddenly in
a most inglorious fizzle. O'Neil is a fine, handsome,
and very gentlemanly fellow of about thirty-five, and he
is now engaged in the laudable endeavour to draw some
of his countrymen from the temptations and poverty of
Eastern cities to the purer life and the eventual comfort
and plenty of homestead settlers in the far West. An
Irish colony under his auspices is expected to settle in
Holt County, far up towards the sources of the Elkhorn.
This is a long distance beyond the present terminus of
the railroad ; but the project is not without very con¬
siderable advantages. If the colony should be favour¬
ably started, the first settlers for three or four years
will be able to sell their surplus produce to new comerá,
and they will need but little transportation till the rail¬
way completes its inevitable course up the river. They
will have a sufficiency of timber for building and fuel,
and gn the whole there is every reason to believe that
their settlement will be a substantial success. O'Neil
goes into the matter with true Irish enthusiasm, dwell¬
ing upon the fertility of the soil and the numerous
advantages of the project; and I have no doubt that
he is perfectly sincere in the belief that the Celtic
colony, with " The O'Neil" for its chieftain, will be an
earthly paradise for all.
Westpoint, the capital of Cumming County, is a very
pleasantly situated, beautiful place, on the Elkhorn
Kiver. It is one of the old towns " of Nebraska; and
in addition to the natural fringe and small parks of
timber on the Elkhorn, it has many thrifty groves and
hedges, and it shows to admirable advantage what the
154
NEBRASKA
hand of intelligent man can do, under favourable con¬
ditions, for the landscape of Nebraska in a very few
years. It is well worth seeing, if only on this account.
Mr. Joseph E. Spencer, who is settled in this county,
says that he came, September 1st, 1867, with a
team and some $300 in money. He commenced work
on his homestead, a raw quarter section of land, with¬
out even a bush growing upon it. He had no farm
machinery, except one stirring plough and a one-
horse " corn plough." During the intervening seven
years he has got up a comfortable hewed log-house 14
by 20 feet, with a frame addition 10 by 20. He has
a good granary 20 by 22, and ample farm machinery;
and has under cultivation 90 acres of plough land with
10 acres of forest trees of sizes and varieties such as
Cottonwood, oak, ash, soft maple, black walnut, &c.
Some of the cotton woods are 20 to 25 feet high, grown
since he came here ; he has also purchased 31 acçes of
timber land which furnishes him with fuel, cord-wood,
saw logs, &c., in abundance. He has 100 fruit trees
in thriving condition, some of which are bearing. He
has grown as much as 60 bushels of corn per acre, 40
to 50 bushels of oats, and 20 to 30 bushels of wheat ;
and he holds that the entire farm—with team, stock,
crops, &c.—is worth to-day (1874) $4,000. He has
found the climate in this locality e xcellent for health ;
and the soil as good for all kinds of crops (especially
wheat, Nebraska's staple) as can be found elsewhere.
He is not by any means sorry that he has made this
part of the beautiful Elkhorn Valley his permanent
home, and he would advise emigrants who contemplate
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHORN. 155
coming West to make straight tracks for the Elkhorn
Valley.
We stopped for the night at Wisner, the temporary
terminus of the railway ; and the next day, with a two-
horse trap and driver, and a land surveyor and agent
familiar with the country, we drove into Stanton County.
For a dozen miles or more our route lay along the
beautiful timber-skirted river to the little village which
does duty as a county seat. Farmsteads were quite
numerous, some of them substantial and tidy, and
showing, by their artificial groves and otherwise, the
marks of five or six years' occupancy. The soil is a
very rich light sandy loam; and the wheat, oats, and
barley were looking well. One German widow, with a
cosy, well-situated farmstead, had 80 acres of good
wheat, and 16 of maize. She was in pursuit of harvest
hands, whom she expected to pay $2*50 per day and
board; but she counted herself for one in the field,
binding, as she said, with the best man among them.
Her first wheat field was 16 acres, from which she sold
about 500 bushels ; but last year a large part of her
crop was destroyed by an overflow of the river. The
German settlers are apt to work early and late, the
women toiling with the men in the fields as much as
possible ; and they thrive accordingly. After breathing
our horses at the village, we crossed the river, and fol¬
lowed a devious course, principally along the banks of
the Union Creek, to the south-western township of the
county, where we stopped for the night at Craig City,
a village of the future, at present consisting of a
farmhouse, a little cabin, and a number of good farm
156
NEBKASKA.
buildings. On this and an adjoining section were two
fine fields of maize of about 320 acres. There were also
about 100 swine, and a still larger number of very fair
cattle. The whole township of thirty-six square miles
is the property of a shrewd speculator in Ohio, and it
was interesting to me as an almost unique attempt to
combine a large farm with cattle breeding in enclosed
grounds. Several years ago the proprietor set out
thirty-six miles of hedge surrounding the township, and
divided it into four equal parts. He employed a head
farmer and assistants, as they would be called here,
broke up parts of two sections, and made the necessary
improvements for starting a good farm and a good herd
of cattle, which he intended to increase as circumstances
allowed. When his hedges should become good fences
he intended to fill the township with cattle, to be képt
without the trouble of herding. Some of these would
be his own, and others kept for outsiders at a price.
He expected the normal increase in the value of land
to afford him a fair speculative profit, which this unique
arrangement of his would vastly increase. But, unfor¬
tunately, he lived too far away for any active superin¬
tendence, and his first farm-bailiff was far from being
the thorough-going man that he should have been.
His hedge plant, the Osage orange, was also an unfor¬
tunate choice; it needs in Nebraska deeper setting and
more careful attention than it gets, and it is therefore
almost universally a failure. His hedge throve just
sufficiently to encourage him, and in the end it
amounted to little or nothing. His farm and his
nursery of fruit-trees did much better; but it was
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHORN.
157
managed at some disadvantage, and the profits cannot
have been very large. On the whole, the experiment
was a decided failure. Judging from observation, I
should say that under like circumstances, a willow, a
box elder, or a cottonwood hedge would have thriven,
in which case the owner would have reaped an enor¬
mous profit from his investment, if his cattle business
were managed with reasonable discretion and judgment.
«
The land has appreciated in value in the meantime,
and this will probably redeem the failure, and give the
owner a fair profit. The peculiar circumstances of this
western country are such, that shrewd speculators can
often make up their books to win something in any
event, while if they lose the race they lose nothing but
the fine chance they had of making a fortuné. It is
now proposed to divide Craig township into small farms
for a colony of Bohemians, who will have the 6,000
fi*uit trees as an extra inducement, and also building
lots in the " city " at a small price, the whole of which
is to be expended in a fine brick school-house for their
especial benefit. A good mill site will become the pro¬
perty of a competent miller for nothing; and, as the
land is a deep, rich, well-watered lacustrine, it is to be
hoped that this colony will soon become an accom¬
plished fact.
We had sujîered considerably from the heat on our
outward trip, but it was as a drop in the bucket to the
woe that befel us on our return the next day. To see
the country thoroughly we took another route, intend¬
ing to reach a certain house at mid-day, and, after rest
and refreshment there, to drive on to Wisner in the cool
158
NEBRASKA.
shades of evening. We drove across the prairie without
a vestige of human existence around us for many miles ;
the soil was table land or rolling prairie, with some
small bottoms, almost every acre rich and lying nicely,
but the vegetation was suffering for lack of rain. As
the morning advanced the hot wind from the south in¬
creased in puffs and blasts as from some fiery furnace.
By twelve o'clock our very moderately-driven horses
were panting with open mouths, and scarcely able to
proceed at a walk ; but they would drink very little of
the hot water from the creeks, which was all we had for
them or for ourselves. At half-past twelve we were by
the side of an impassable ravine, three-quarters of a mile
from our haven of rest ; we plodded our weary way
along this ravine in search of a crossing for miles, and
finally got around and around it, and to our much-needed
refuge, at three o'clock. Here we found kind friends,
an Irish family of the middle class, who hospitably
entertained us, and as evening approached sent us on
our way in the best possible condition that the circum¬
stances allowed. A storm came up, and cooled the air.
Miles away to the west of us the rain could be seen
falling in slanting streaks, plainly under the influence
of a wind from the north ; miles away to the east of us
it could be seen falling with a reverse inclination, the
wind being there from the south. As we proceeded,
the storm moved around us, and partly with us ; we
seemed to be in a neutral protected spot, while the
distant lightning flashed with dazzhng brilliancy, and
sometimes simultaneously from many points, and lit up
the sharp, rugged outlines of the moving mountainous
ON THE PLATTE AND THE ELKHOEN. 159
clouds with a fiery splendour but seldom witnessed in
any climate.
We arrived at our destination in safety; but my wife,
though thoroughly protected from the sun, was so
badly burned by the mid-day wind, that the blisters
only disappeared at the end of a fortnight, leaving their
stamp behind them. It was said to be the hottest day
in the memory of the oldest inhabitant ; and it was our
misfortune to have felt, as few have need to do, its
unmitigated effects. We had no thermometer, but we
afterwards learned that it registered on this day at
Fremont 106° in the shade.
CHAPTER XI.
ON THE ELKHOEN AND THE LOGAN.
" Blackbird County."—The Winnebagoes.—The Omahas.—^Medi¬
cine men and measles.—A cheap refrigerator.—^My trip to the tribe-
land.—^Lovely landscapes.—The Logan.—A brook-built Aqueduct.—
Natural paddocks.—^Prices.—The tin-kettle triumphant.—The results.—
Madison County.—Description.—A settler's experience.—Antelope
County.—An old settler.—A four-year-old.—^Wayne County.—Its
advantages and deficiencies.—^Pierce County.
WO and one-third townships, nearly
55,000 acres of Gumming County, and
the whole of what is sometimes known
as Black Bird County, but which is
strictly speaking lio county at all, are owned by the
Omaha and the Winnebago Indians. The latter tribe
numbers 2,322 persons (1874), and their reservation
north of the Omahas consists of 109,800 acres of
rich prairie adapted either to grazing or tillage. They
are quiet, peaceable people, wearing citizens' clothing,
electing chiefs annually, and preserving order by
means of an Indian police. They cultivated 1,630
acres in 1874, harvesting 6,150 bushels of wheat,
12,000 bushels of maize, 700 bushels of oats, 1,000
ON THE ELKHORN AND THE LOGAN. 161
bushels of potatoes, and 500 bushels of beans. They
have three day schools with an attendance of 147
pupils, nearly all boys. The Omahas number 951, and
their reservation comprises 192,867 acres, of which
49,762 acres have been appraised for sale. They are
peaceable, well-disposed, and nearly self-sustaining, the
only government aid afforded them being $2 per caput
annuity, and $10,000 per annum for schools and em¬
ployés. They harvested in 1874 over 3,000 bushels of
wheat and nearly 35,000 bushels of maize, besides
large quantities of beans and of potatoes and other
vegetables. They own 700 horses, 175 head of cattle,
and 200 hogs. In the course of the year they sawed
200,000 feet of timber, and built seven frame and eight
log houses. The average daily attendance of their
children in the schools was 104; 105, mostly children,
can read English, and ten apprentices have obtained a
very good knowledge of carpentering, and have built
and finished several houses without government aid.
The decrease in the numbers of the tribe was 50
between the enumerations of 1873 and 1874, and of
the 76 deaths reported (less than the actual number)
67 were children, many of the deaths being caused by
the combined influences of the measles and the Indian
doctors.
The united reservations of these two tribes are 18
miles wide from north to south, and about 32 in
greatest width due east and west, and the frontage on
the Missouri is upwards of 30 miles.
Wisner is only about half-a-dozen miles from the
nearest corner of the Omaha reservation, which I
M
162
NEBEASKA.
determined to visit on July 9tli, notwithstanding my
rather warm experience of the 7th and 8th.
Warned by experience I improvised an excellent re¬
frigerator, which was simply a large tin pail filled with
ice, and well wrapped in blankets in such wise that I
could gain ready access to the contents with very httle
unwrapping or exposure of the surface to the air. We
travelled north-eastward over a fine undulating country
till we reached the reservation, when we turned north¬
ward over rich valleys, pleasant slopes, and fine tables,
till we sighted the limits of the 50,000 acres or so
which are offered for sale. We sometimes turned out of
our course to examine survey marks, to get a more per¬
fect idea of the extent of a long irregular stretch of
table land, or to avoid a doubtful crossing of some
meandering stream almost concealed in the tall thick
grass of the natural meadows. The landscape was
exceedingly beautiful in all respects but one, it wanted
patches and fringes of timber to render it perfect.
After making our highest northing, we turned east¬
ward to the Logan. This stream is some 80 miles long
in its general course, and its windings probably make
up a matter of 120 to 150 miles. From the accom¬
panying map of North-eastern Nebraska the reader can
form an opinion as accurate as my own in this respect.
Where I saw it, it was in an impassable trench some
15 feet deep to the water's edge, and cut with pre¬
cipitous banks in a black soil, composed as I should
say, very largely of peat which had decayed in conse¬
quence of drainage and exposure to the air. The
bottom all along the river was very wide, and was
ON THE ELKHORN AND THE LOGAN.
163
generally proved to be sufficiently well drained by tbe
presence of tbe "Devil's sboe-string" in full bloom, and
of other tell-tale plants. Occasionally along the margin
of a choked tributary would be found a piece of
swamp more or less miry. We crossed one tributary
which had built for itself for a long distance an aque¬
duct considerably above the level of the bottom land.
The work was not, however, complete ; it termi¬
nated in a miniature terrace over which the water
issued, and lost itself in a swamp, which would doubt¬
less have been quite extensive but for trituration into
the low channel of the Logan. A natural mound of
fine land many acres in extent in the midst of the
valley affords an excellent site for a mansion, from
which one might enjoy a very extended prospect, and
it would be so far removed fi:om the nearest swamp
that I do not thiuk there would be any reason to fear
malaria. I saw not in the whole long day's explora¬
tion a single acre incapable of profitable tillage, the
swampy places even being capable of most easy drain¬
age, while of all the swelling lacustrine slopes not one
was too steep for the plough. But this domain struck
me as most admirably adapted for grazing purposes.
It would easily carry 20,000 head of cattle and horses,
and even more with quite moderate improvements.
What makes it the better is its division into several
natural paddocks by winding streams which cattle
would not generally cross. Comparatively a very
small amount of fencing would be needed to complete
the inclosures. The average prices of the whole of this
tract are less than three dollars an acre, and even at these
164
NEBKASKA.
low prices, from special circumstances which I cannot
here detail, it seems like a drug upon the market. The
day was pleasant, and at no time too warm for my com¬
fort, and but for the fact that the partner of my joys and
sorrows was hors de combat in a darkened room of the
hotel, I should have most thoroughly enjoyed it. My
refrigerator turned out admirably, and I can confidently
recommend the same experiment to other travellers :
we had plenty of ice for ourselves, we treated our horses
in moderation to the same luxury, and we had some
remaining when we arrived at the hotel well along in
the evening hours. The result of my explorations and
inquiries in Gumming^ and Stanton Counties is emi¬
nently favourable to their agricultural capacity. The
northern parts are mostly made up of the bottoms of
the Elkhorn and its tributaries, and these bottoms are
very wide. The south-western portions of Gumming
and the southern half of Stanton are made up chiefly
of narrow bottoms and -rolling uplands, much of both
kinds being of choice quality. The Elkhorn and some
of its tributaries are fringed with timber, there are
some springs, and water may be obtained by digging
in the bottoms some 20 or 25 feet, and from 30 to 65
feet in the uplands.
Madison County is the next west of Stanton, its
^ Strictly speaking, no part of the Omaha reservation can he considered
a part of Gumming County, the local law notwithstanding, for the laws of
the United States alone have force on Indian reservations. But when in
due course the Indian title is extinguished the local statute will take effect,
and in the meantime it is in general convenient to follow the accepted
nomenclature.
ON THE ELKHORN AND THE LOGAN. 165
nortliern portion is mostly made up of the bottom
lands of the Elkhorn and its tributaries, and the
balance of narrow bottoms and gently rolling prairies.
The uplands are mostly lacustrine, and the bottoms of
sandy alluvium, which contains a good proportion of
carbonates and phosphate, and produces excellent
wheat. After some years of the usual exhaustive
cultivation, these elements will have to be restored.
The bluffs are lacustrine, with occasionally the drift
exposed.
The county is timbered along the Elkhorn and some
of its tributaries, and there are occasional springs.
Water is obtained in bottoms at from 20 to 25 feet,
and on the uplands at from 30 to 65 feet deep. On the
Elkhorn is a mUl with four run of buhrs, and a circular
saw-mill. The capital and chief town is Norfolk, on
the north fork of the Elkhorn, it enjoys a fine situa¬
tion nearly in the centre of north-eastern Nebraska, and
it is the centre of half-a-dozen postal routes.
Mr. Wm. F. Trine owns a farm near Madison, in
Madison County. He came from Iowa to Nebraska six
years ago, at the age of forty-five^with his wife and four
children. He had been farming rented land for a
quarter of a century, and found it did not pay. When
he started for Nebraska, he owned a team, a waggon,
one cow, and a few household goods, and, on the top of
all, there was some debt. He has now an excellent
farm, well cultivated, and is on a cash basis. The
land is his own, and he has on it a house which cost
$200, and stabling for his live stock, which numbers
five horses and eight neat cattle, beside hogs. The
166
NEBEASKA.
grass is abundant and of good quality for feed and hay,
and the average yield of wheat is 17 bushels per acre.
Mr. Trine has planted extensively, and he recommends
all settlers to follow his example, and in his opinion
an acre of Cottonwood, of five years' growth, will
furnish fuel for one stove without injury to the grove.
Mr. Trine recommends new-comers to build for them¬
selves a frame-house, costing $150 to $200, while
stabling sufficient for a few head of cattle can be built
at the cost of the labour, with a few dollars for material.
Mr. Trine also commends stock-raising and tree-
planting.
î^orth-west ward of Madison is Antelope County.
The Elkhorn flows in a south-eastwardly course
through its centre, and its bottom is from three to
four miles wide, its tributaries in this county also
having wide bottoms. The uplands are very gently
rolling, and made up mostly of lacustrine and drift
material. There is a considerable quantity of timber,
principally cottonwood, black walnut, and elm. There
are occasional springs, and well water is found at a
depth of from 20 to 50 feet.
In November, 1868, Mr. Crandall Hopkins migrated
from Wisconsin and settled upon a homestead of 160
acres in the Elkhorn Valley in Antelope County, at
that time his nearest neighbours being at a distance
of twenty miles. His entire property consisted of
six horses, three waggons, a colt, a few household
utensils, and $600 in cash. The first year all his
money was expended in building, in maintaining his
family, and in purchasing farm implements ; and also
ON THE ELKHORN AND THE LOGAN.
167
most of what he and his two sons earned in hauling
timber for a mill, which was then being erected at
Norfolk, thirty miles away from his homestead. The
next breaking season he kept a team constantly em¬
ployed on the land ; and when returns began to
come in from the sale of his produce, every dollar not
needed for family wants was invested in land or cattle.
In addition to his homestead of 160 acres, Mr. Hop¬
kins now owns 480 acres which he has purchased at
the following prices :—80 acres for |100, 160 acres for
$1,000, 80 acres for $500, and 160 acres for $1,344;
and he has paid for the whole except the last-named
160, the final payment on which is not yet due. He
has 200 acres under cultivation ; a good frame house,
one and a half storeys high, a framed barn two storeys
high, 40 acres of pasture under fence, six horses, seven
colts, 80 head of cattle, and all necessary farming
implements. During the year 1873 and the first eight
months of 1874 he sold beef cattle to the amount
of $4,000 and slaughtered 40 hogs. His crops have
not been invariably good, but he has never had a
better average in the States east where he has farmed
than in Nebraska. His best crop of wheat was 25
bushels per acre over 40 acres ; and his best crop of
corn 60 bushels per acre. Mr. Hopkins feeds all his
grain to stock except wheat, and when wheat is low
in the market he grinds that in his portable mill, and
also uses it as feed. In this way he finds grain to
pay best.
Mr. Samuel P. Morgan is also a settler in Antelope
County on the rolling prairie. He took up a home-
168
NEBKASKA.
stead of 160 acres in June, 1870, at that time having
no team, no farming tools, and not money enough to
furnish his small log cabin. The first two years he
worked out to maintain his fanuly ; but within that
time he was also able to save money enough for the
purchase of a yoke of steers and a cow. In September,
1874, he was out of debt, had 40 acres of land under
cultivation, possessed a good yoke of oxen, two cows,
a waggon, two ploughs, and general farming imple¬
ments. In the year 1873 his wheat threshed 29 bushels
to the acre.
Wayne County is north of Stanton, and it is one of
the most beautiful regions in the State. It is watered
principally by the Logan and its tributaries, and the
western part of the county near the head-waters of the
streams consists in a great measure of nearly level
upland, sharply broken by deep ravines. Timber and
fuel are the chief deficiencies of the county, but the
people are now getting coal from the mine four miles
north by west of Ponca, at about |3*50 per ton. This
coal is a lignite, and is said to be nearly as good as
that of Wyoming. There is some cottonwood on
the Logan. There are occasional springs, and well
water is to be found at from 20 to 40 feet depth.
I suspect that when public attention is turned in that
direction, the peat beds of the Logan will afford the
cheapest fuel, unless in the meantime the artificial
groves obtain a fair start, and begin to require thinning
out. I know of no land superior to that which I have
seen in the Logan Valley, of which in this county the
bottoms are sometimes four miles wide.
ON THE ELKHORN AND THE LOGAN. 169
Pierce County is between Wayne and Antelope,
with Madison on the south. Its lands with few excep¬
tions are either level or gently undulating. It is
watered chiefly by the north fork of the Elkhorn, with
a width of three to five miles of bottom, and with wide
reaches of alluvial on its tributaries. The uplands are
lacustrine, with occasional drift. There is a very small
amount of timber along the river, which flows on a
sandy bed, and is from 10 to 25 yards wide. The
water is good, springs are not numerous ; well water
can be obtained at a depth of 20 to 25 feet. There
are some water powers available. The county is as
yet but very sparsely populated.
CHAPTER XII.
THE MISSOUEI TO THE NIOBKAEA.
Washington County.—Buet County.—^River, lake.—The bluffs.—
" The Mysterious Rocks."—Dakota County.—Soil, water.—^Railways.—
Dixon County.—Lignite. — Five interesting confessions. — Cedak
County.—Streams, soil, timber, and wild fruit.—^Mr. C. C. Van, a suc¬
cessful man.—Knox County.—United States Land Office.—The Santee
Sioux.—The Poncas.—The Sioux.—Indian troubles.
ASHINGTON County has the Missouri
River on the east, and the Elkhorn on
the west ; it is immediately north of Doug¬
las County, and it has the same general
characteristics. - Its capital, Blair, is a railway junc¬
tion, and a busy and enterprising little town. Burt
County is also on the Missouri, north of Washington
and east of Cumming. The beautiful valley of the
Logan extends through all of its western townships;
the rest of the county is chiefly rolling, or somewhat
hilly and broken ; it is well watered, and the lacustrine
soil yields a good return for the toil of the farmer.
Burt County is watered in the western townships by
the Logan, and in the east the Missouri bottom is
sometimes upwards of half-a-dozen miles in width.
THE MISSOURI TO THE NIOBRARA.
171
Near Jekamali, the capital, is one of those lakes of which
there are many in Iowa, and few in Nebraska, and that
shows an ancient position of the Missouri channel which
is now removed half-a-dozen miles away. Below this
point the bluffs are lacustrine, and very rugged, com¬
posed chiefly of lacustrine with a base of drift gravel ;
but here the sandstones begin to appear, and they be¬
come very conspicuous in the Omaha reservation about
eight miles above Decatur. On the perpendicular walls
of these bluffs the aborigines of former ages have
carved in hieroglyphics rude records of their history,
which remind one of the more elaborate rock-writings
of Arabia. These markings are in such inaccessible
positions as would tend to show that great changes
have occurred in these chalk-coloured sandstone bluffs
since they were made, and that they are therefore com¬
paratively ancient. They are called by the Indians the
Medicine, or Mysterious Kocks. The population of
Burt County was 2,844 in 1870, and 3,866 in 1874.
Next northward of Burt County are the Indian
Reservations, which I have already described at some
length, and still ïiorth of these in the rounded north¬
eastern corner of the State is Dakota County, some
portions of which are level and others broken. The
bottoms are wide and the soil choice alluvium. The
upland is generally lacustrine, and excepting two
townships there is very little sand. The principal
streams are the Omadi, Pigeon, and Elm Creeks, which
run in alluvial beds and are muddy when the water is
high, but they áre generally clear. There are living
springs in great numbers. Excellent water is obtained
172
NEBRASKA.
in the Missouri bottom at the level of the river, but
one has generally to go much deeper in the lacustrine.
The western terminus of the Iowa division of the
Illinois Central Eailway is on the Missouri east of this
county, as is also the south-western terminus of the
Sioux City and St. Paul Railways. The river will
probably be bridged, and then this little county is not
unlikely to obtain very considerable importance.
Dixon County consists of lacustrine uplands, with
sometimes a little drift, and of alluvial bottoms, and
the .surface of the upland varies from gently undu¬
lating to rolling and considerably broken. The
valley of the Logan is as usual very wide, and its
bluffs are generally gently sloping. A bed of lignite
said to be 30 inches thick and of very good quality is
now being worked near Ponca, the county seat, and if
this should turn out equal to the claims that are made
for it, it will very largely benefit this county and the
contiguous parts of the State.
Mr. Martin Lockwood, of South Creek, Dixon
County, says :—" It is not strange to me that people
possessed of health and energy should prosper in a
country which has soil equal to any in the northern
States at least, producing all kinds of grain in abun¬
dance, and having an excellent range for stock. The
valleys are much the richest ; but the uplands do well
with manure, as we proved the last season. Wheat in
some seasons has yielded 42 bushels to the acre, corn
75, oats 60, barley 40 to 50; and an average 3deld is
about two-thirds of these figures."
Mr. Wm. S. Cowie and family settled in Dixon County
THE MISSOUKI TO THE NIOBRARA.
173
in 1870 witli absolutely nothing. Since that time he
has bought and lost a pair of horses ; but he has now
a fine pair of horses and outfit, 12 head of cattle, about
25 hogs, 60 acres of land under cultivation, farming
implements, some young timber planted, and is out of
debt with his present crop on hand. Mr. Henry Allen
came the same year with a pair of horses, a waggon,
and a small amount of other property. He has now
about 60 acres of land under cultivation, some young
timber planted ; and his property is worth about
$1,200. Mr. Wm. H. Pomeroy and John Green settled
here in the Fall of 1870 in rather impecunious circum¬
stances ; but by dint of economy and industry have
made themselves a home, are constantly accumu¬
lating, and will soon be independent. All of these
gentlemen are settled at South Creek, in Dixon County.
Mr. Wm. H. Füley and family, with his father, settled
in Dixon County, about seven years ago. They had
one span of horses ; and landed in Nebraska with a cash
capital of $5T5. After encountering great privations
and difficulties they have accumulated nearly $3,000
worth of property besides improvements, having about
150 acres of land, fenced and under cultivation.
Cedar is a good county, notwithstanding that more
or less drift, a deposit of gravel, pebbles, and sand
comes to the súrface in more than half of the town¬
ships comprised within it. In the southern part there
is exceedingly fine land, nearly as level as a house-
floor, and yet well drained in consequence of the
peculiar nature of the lacustrine soil. The principal
streams are the East, Middle, and West Bow, and
174
NEBRASKA.
Beaver Creek. The water runs over gravel and is
very pure. There are numerous springs. In the
Missouri bottoms, elm, bass, hackberry, box, elder, soft
maple, ash, hickory, black walnut, coffee-tree, red
cedar, and red and white willow, are to be found, and
wild grapes and plums grow luxuriantly on the banks
of all the creeks.
Mr. 0. C. Yan has a very fine farm of 2,000 acres in the
valley of Bow Creek, near St. James, in Cedar County,
North Platte, Nebraska. He is fifty-eight years of
age, has a family of four children, and entered Nebraska
three years ago from De Moines, Iowa. Before settling
in Nebraska, Mr. Yah had farmed but little, though he
had had a farm twenty-eight years, and understood the
theory. He has 120 head of cattle, 20,000 forest and
fruit trees set out on his land, 700 acres under fence,
and 500 in cultivation, and his farm is worth $20,000.
He finds the rainfall sufficient for his crops, which-
include all kinds of grain. The lands are fertile ; and
the cost of breaking the prairie is $2*50 per acre,
when labour is hired, and $1*50 per acre the second
ploughing. Wheat averages 20 bushels per acre. Mr.
Yan shelters his stock during the winter, though he
has wintered them without taking that care. He con¬
siders that to herd stock is cheaper than to fence the
land. Mr. Yan is an example of what a farmer in
Nebraska may accomplish who starts with a capital
of $5,000 or £1,000. A farm of 2,000 acres is too
much for the capital, and a section, or 640 acres, would
be sufficient. But with a section one half might be
put in cultivation, and other half retained for stock.
THE MISSOUEI TO THE NIOBEARA.
175
and the whole operation would be profitable. It is to
be hoped that this gentleman's sons will know how to
follow their father's example, and be worthy members
of the vanguard of Nebraska.
Knox is a large, and, as I believe, a fine county
on the Missouri and the Niobrara, and its county
seat, Niobrara, is at the junction of these rivers. It is
the seat of the United States Land Office for Northern
Nebraska, which has been removed here this year from
Dakota City, where it is to be presumed that its use¬
fulness had begun to wane. The Santee Sioux, 791 in
number, are located in this county on the Missouri
Eiver, on a reservation of 115,200 acres, of which the
Indian Department reports one-fourth as adapted to
tillage, and nearly all of the rest suitable for grazing.
These Indians wear citizens' dress and are the most
civilized of all the Sioux. Last year was very un¬
fortunate for them, but nevertheless the agent reports
a steady improvement on the part of the tribe. They
hold their lands by allotment in severalty, an improve¬
ment recently introduced, and which is likely to be
very beneficial. The Ponca Indians, numbering 730,
have a reservation of 96,000 acres across the Niobrara
opposite this county in Dakota territory. They are
an inoffensive, agriculturally disposed people, speaking
the same language as the Omahas, and at the desire of
both tribes it is now proposed to remove them to the
reservation of the latter, giving that of the Poncas
to the Sioux ; of this latter tribe there are several
branches more or less inclined to civilization settled on
reservations in Dakota, some of them near the Nebraska
176
NEBRASKA.
border. There is, however, no danger of their giving
trouble. But as a whole the Sioux tribe, numbering
some 53,000 souls, is very wild, and but for the pre¬
sence of the military would be exceedingly dangerous.
They have a reservation in south-western Dakota, larger
than one-half of Nebraska, and they wander over this
and wide regions in Montana, Dakota, Wyoming, and
north-western Nebraska, occasionally making a raid
on the inoffensive Poncas, whose lands they claim for
themselves.' In 1873-4 there was great danger of a
Sioux war, which 'would have operated as a serious
check upon the counties contiguous to their haunts,
but the prompt and judicious display of a moderate
militg-ry force was sufficient to cow them, while Uncle
Sam's rations also acted most efficiently to check their
military spirit. They are being somewhat rapidly col¬
lected at agencies where they will be tamed, and where
they will dwindle to insignificance.
CHAPTER XIII.
ON THE PLATTE AND THE LOUP.
Colfax Cotjnty.—Schuyler.—Platte County.—Columbus.—^Ne-
braskan barber-ism vßrsws country curacies.—Shaving by wholesale.—The
bottom land,—^Wbat was it ?—Shell Creek.—Terraces.—^Upland.—Rail-
' V
way lands.—Polk and Butler Counties.—The bridge.—The grass.
— " Ranching."—Melons.—Soil characteristics. — The " Devil's shoe¬
string" and rosin weed.—Alkaline lands.—A lacustrine table.—^Wells.—
Streams.—Cultivation.—Railway lands.—Boone County.—Pawnee Re¬
servation.—The tribe.—Merrick County.
ETURNING now to the valley of the
Platte and the line of the Union Pacific
Railway, we find Colfax County, the next
westward of Dodge, and Schuyler its
capital, a neat little town embowered in ybung and
thriving trees which indicate a settlement of several
years' standing, and already dispense a cool and refresh¬
ing shade. I visited Schuyler, but did not drive out in
this county. Platte County comes next westward, and
Columbus, its county seat, is near its south-eastern
border. Driving out north-westward from this point
across Shell Creek, and well up into the upland por¬
tions of the county, then sweeping southward nearly to
N
178
NEBRASKA.
Colfax County and back to Columbus, I was able to
get a good general idea of both counties.
Columbus is a thriving business centre, and it boasts
the oldest bridge on the Platte. I should jiidge that
a moderate importation of country barbers might do
well in Nebraska, particularly if they could wield
spades as well as scissors and razors, and cultivate fine
vegetable gardens in the intervals of tonsorial idleness.
I paid here, for a rough-and-ready clipping of my hair,
35 cents, or Is. 4í¿., in a rough-and-ready shop, to a
rough-and-ready barber, who clearly had no lack
of customers. I estimated that I engaged his valuable
time not exceeding five minutes, at which rate two
hours' work per day for six days in the week would
give him an income of £449 4s. per year, and make
him the envy of our country lawyers and doctors, to
say nothing of the poor curates. This tonsorial pro¬
fessor's charges were not especially extravagant; but
as far as I could learn, 35 cents for hair-cutting, and
15 cents for a shave, is the rule in Nebraska, not
exceeded in the most perfectly appointed establish¬
ment in Omaha, nor diminished in the roughest apology
for a shop in a small market town. But shaving
tickets are cheaper in wholesale quantities, being |1*50
per dozen, from which it is easy to see that, if one had
leisure to take twelve consecutive shaves in twelve
consecutive hours, he would be 30 cents, or what the
" professors " consider the same thing, two clean
shaves the richer at the end of the well-spent day.
Unfortunately, I could not avail myself of this method
of getting rich, because in this line, like Sir Wilfrid
ON THE PLATTE AND THE LOUP.
179
Lawson in another, I am a total abstainer as a
matter of principle.
The Loup River joins the Platte near Columbus, and
the bottom land north of the latter river is very
materially widened for many miles in consequence.
Much of this bottom is a most excellent sandy loam,
but in some of it there is an excess of alkaline matter,
and there are also large quantities that are too sandy.
On the whole, I think that very fair to excellent land
predominates, but one cannot take a farm hap-hazard
in the bottom with any safety, as he might do on some
of the table-lands. Strange as it may appear, these
differences in the quality of this soil are owing almost
entirely to winds. I think that the whole bottom
nearly as far eastward as the Loup Valley extends was
once a wide expanse of nearly level sand. This was
blown about by the winds, it accumulated in hillocks,
and finally became massed to a great extent in ridges
of hills on a comparatively small area of the original
plain of pliocene sand. That which was left afforded
a better hold for vegetation ; humus gradually col¬
lected, and checked the too great porosity of the soil ;
and as a result of rains and overflows, the very great
excess of saline and alkaline matters was mostly carried
away, portions of it remaining however in slight depres¬
sions and near the top of the clayey stratum, which is
sometimes laid bare, and is often, but not always, found
within a few feet of the surface. Thus it happens
that, besides the sand hills proper, there are three
main varieties of soil in the bottoms, occurring
very irregularly ; the dark, rich, sandy soil, the light-
180
NEBRASKA.
coloured, coarser, poor sandy soil, generally slightly
elevated above the other, and the clayey alkaline
soil, generally slightly depressed. A matter of a few
inches of elevation will often determine for good or
bad the quality of the soil; there will be patches of
a thousand acres or more almost precisely uniform ;
and, again, there will be single acres in which the
total variation from a level is less than a couple of
feet, and where one wiU find more than one patch of
each of these varieties. In Platte and Colfax Counties
there is an abrupt bluff some 50 feet high, beyond
which for one to three nfiles or more is a fine table
land, or a gently undulating prairie, in reality a terrace
indicating an ancient level of the water ; then comes
a considerable depression, forming the valley of Shell
Creek, which runs for many miles nearly parallel to
the Platte. This valley is exceedingly rich and beau¬
tiful. Beyond it the bluff rises again to a total height
of from 100 to 130 fe^t above the Platte Bottom, when it
stretches off far to the northward in gentle undulations
and fine tables of the wonderful lacustrine deposit.
This remarkable formation of the upland in two im¬
mense terraces is not to be found on the Platte east of
Shell Creek. [See Fig. 43, p'. 127.] There is room for
choice in the upland ; while all that 1 have seen is
very good, some portions • are richer than others, and
some portions offer greater advantages in position*, in¬
clination, &c. There is a prosperous colony of Welsh
farmers on Shell Creek. In the northern part of
Platte County there is a considerable amount of good
upland belonging to the Government still open for all
ON THE PLATTE AND THE LOUP.
181
comers. This is generally some twenty miles or more
from the railway, but some of those who obtain free
farms thereon will find themselves in a few years on
the line of some other railroad. One from Sioux City
in the north-east, in continuation of the Sioux City and
St. Paul's, will make Columbus its objective point, and
eventually there will be one towards the north-west.
The Union Pacific Kailway has 120,000 acres in the
county, at prices ranging from $3 to $8. It has also
60,000 in Colfax, at $3 to $10.
On July 11th, 1874, I drove out from Columbus
into Polk and Butler Counties, south of the Platte. I
first had to cross the Loup by a ferry, the bridge
having been carried away by the spring floods. From
the ferry a drive of about a mile, with a small ridge of
sand hills to the left of us, a very sandy road beneath
us, and generally very thick, tall, strong grass to the
right of us, brought us to the Platte Bridge, of which
the main structure is nearly 1,700 feet long. Crossing
this we were on a long, narrow, sandy island, mostly
covered with strong, heavy grass, but with patches of
young willows and other woods. Another mile brought
us to a bridge some 400 feet in length, with the main
Platte Bottom at the further end, stretching off for a
width of about four miles. By far the largest portion
of this bottom bears a strong, thick grass, which shows
no signs of being injuriously affected by the present
dry season. All such land, if not subject to overflow,
is excellent of its kind. It stands equally well exces¬
sive rain or drought, and the strength of the native
vegetation proves the richness of the soil. This is
182
NEBEASKA.
ordinarily called by the settlers a deep rich black sand
or sandy loam. It is in reality a yellowish-grey sand,
intermixed with so much humus and other dark, matter
that the general colour is nearly black. It is ex¬
tremely porous, light, and quick, and makes the best
possible soil for sweet potatoes and water melons.
Very much of it would probably be found too porous,
if subjected for several years to the amount of rainfall
that we have in some portions of England. My land¬
lord at Columbus was a ranch man in the old times
before the advent of the railway, when the overland
trade was freighted through in waggons. His ranch
was in this bottom. The first year he cured 40 tons of
hay^ and sold it at retail to the freighters at $20 per
ton. The second year he raised maize at a cost under
25 cents, and sold at $2*50. He also had a melon patch.
He says the vines were planted in a rod square, and he
estimates that they covered the ground for some twelve
feet around. This would give about five square rods.
Return freighters and gold diggers were lavish of
money, and he sold some of his melons fi-om this patch
at half-a-dollar a piece. The yield was enormous, and
his sales amounted to upwards of £12. This seems
almost incredible ; but water melons are like cucumbers
in this respect, that flowers and fruit grow together,
and those that are plucked are replaced by others, till
a very large number is sometimes produced by a single
fruitful vine. Whether the distant vista of the past
has lent enchantment to my landlord's view of his
ancient melon patch, or whether he states but the sober
reality I cannot say, but I can testify that he has
ON THE PLATTE AND THE LOUP.
183
prospered, and that his hotel flourishes like Jonah's
gourd or his own melon patch. A portion of the
bottom land consists almost exclusively of the yel¬
lowish-grey sand, without the humus. It is somewhat
coarser in texture, more porous, suffers quickly from
drought, and it is undesirable for farms while excellent
land can be had at present prices. Some patches of
the bottom are alkaline, and they are generally con¬
sidered undesirable. These may be known by the
short, wiry, salt grass, by the baking of the soil, and
by several other characteristics.
The most striking characteristics of the various soils
show at a glance at this season of the year. The
"Devil's shoe-string" is in bloom, and shows a dry soil
generally rich in humus. The rosin weed is in its
glory, and shows a soil rich in lime compounds.
Where both are abundant the soil is very rich, well
drained, and not easily exhausted. But these and
most of the other numerous signs of the quality of the
soil, though less striking at other seasons of the year,
are quite plain to the observant eye, and it is not
really difficult to judge of wild land at any time when
its native vegetation can be seen. I think that in the
Platte Bottom the alkaline land, little liked at present,
wiU prove to be very good in the long run. I saw but
little of it in my drive, but I crossed in aU a width of
nearly a mile that I considered too sandy. The Platte
Bottom terminates in the south in a sharp bluflf, beyond
which, for a width of ten miles or more, stretches a
magnificent table-land of high prairie, the soil (lacus-
crine deposit) blackened with the decayed vegetation
184
NEBRASKA.
of intervening ages. I took a circuit of some twenty
miles on this plateau without crossing a stream, or
even a considerable depression from the general level.
The rain gradually sinks where it falls, or a portion of
it flows gently to slight depressions and sinks there,
pervading the whole immense deposit with moisture,
and filling the first stratum of sand, 100 feet to 130
feet below, with living water. Wells must be sunk
through the lacustrine into the sand, and stock must
be watered therefrom. This is the chief drawback;
and I noticed that several of the settlers had already
overcome the difficulty by the erection of windmill
pumps. There are but slight differences in the
quality of land on this plateau ; all of it is fine, and,
with good deep ploughing, any of it will stand the
severest drought. The absence of streams is as much
a characteristic of lacustrine tables as of deserts on the
one hand, or swamps on the other. But the same for¬
mation, where, owing to currents and eddies in the
ancient lake, it has been deposited in ridges, hiUs, and
gentle undulations, has numerous streams, a portion of
the water running off the surface before it can be
absorbed. Cultivation so increases the absorbing
qualities of the soil that many ravines which contain
water for a portion of the year will become dry with
the advent of the plough on the lacustrine slopes that
feed them; while others, that are sometimes torrents
and sometimes little standing pools, will maintain a
permanent flow, but slightly affected by rain or
drought.
Boone County is north-westward of Platte and south
ON THE PLATTE AND THE LOUP.
185
of Antelope. Shell Creek waters its north-eastern
townships. Beaver Creek flows diagonally through its
centre, and Cedar Creek waters the extreme south¬
west. The bottoms of these streams, as far as my
information extends, are from half-a-mile to two miles
wide and fine alluvial lands, while in the upland the
lacustrine is the prevailing type, and this in portions is
considerably broken.
The Pawnee reservation, of 283,200 acres, is between
Boone and Merrick Counties, and west of Platte. It
has some timber, is well watered by the Loup and a
number of fine streams its tributaries, and is excellent
both for grazing and tillage. 48,424 acres have been
appraised to be sold in trust for the Pawnees. This
tribe, which but recently roamed over vast regions of
the American continent, and was noted both for its
numbers and prowess, now numbers 1,788 souls, as
peaceable and inoffensive as dirty, lazy vagabonds and
vagrants can well be supposed to be. Wandering
parties of them pitch their tents about Columbus and
other towns, and live principally by begging, gathering
the refuse of slaughtered cattle and other waste of the
whites, by dressing skins, and by the labour of their
squaws at the washing tub and in other domestic
drudgery. When the railway was first built they were
far more powerful than at present, but I am informed
that they never interfered with the track or the trains,
but they seem to have obtained a sort of customary
right to travel on the freight trains free of charge, and
they avail themselves somewhat liberally of this privi¬
lege, thus taking excursions for a hundred miles or
186
NEBRASKA..
more in either direction along the line. They are not
allowed on the passenger trains, and the traveller
seldom sees any of them unless he stops off at some
place where a wandering party has pitched its tents.
These are probably below the average specimens of
their tribe, for nearly 1,700 acres were cultivated by
them on their reservation last year, their labours un¬
fortunately meeting with a poor reward from the com¬
bined effects of drought, grasshoppers, and Colorado
beetles. I understand that the whole tribe has now
removed to the Indian territory.
Merrick County [See Map, South Central Nebraska]
lies almost entirely between the Platte and the Loup,
and consists very largely of bottom land such as I have
already described, that on the Loup being on the whole
exceptionally fine. Intervening between these two flood
plains is undulating sandy prairie, fair to excellent
in quality, with Prairie Creek running eastwardly
through the middle. There are also ridges of sand
hills covered with nutritious grasses, and there is some
of that lacustrine upland which is the predominant
type of the prairies of Nebraska. I shall now change
the subject, and give in the next chapter a short his¬
torical sketch which has been prepared for me by an
English journalist who is now settled in the State.
CHAPTER XIY.
THE HISTOEY OF NEBEASKA.
By Oscae, a. Mullon.
Part of the Louisiana purchase.—Indian tribes.—Boundaries.—The
traders.—Colonel Sarpy.—Californian emigration.—The Mormons.—Free
soil and slavery.—Former extent of Nebraska.—The first áettlers.—^New
metes and bounds.—The progress of settlement.—Two pioneers.—" The
knights of the golden " sands.—Civil war and Indian troubles.—The
Union Pacific Eailway.—The Burlington and Missouri Eiver Eaüway.—
An industrial revolution.—Political history.—The capital.—A constitu¬
tional convention.—The questions of the day.
EBRASKA is included in the enormous
tract of territory which fell to the United
States by what is known as the Louisiana
purchase, and for a number of years it was
a portion of the north-western territory. The traces of
its early history are not numerous. The present State
of Nebraska was occupied by several tribes of Indians.
During the period the white man has known the country,
the Sioux—of which tribe there are several branches—
have been the most numerous. The next tribe in
numbers and consideration were the Pawnees. These
were, and are, the hereditary enemies of the Sioux, but
188
NEBEASKA.
their power during this time had been waning before
that of their enemies ; and in 1854, when the first per¬
manent settlements were made in Nebraska, the Paw¬
nees did not number more than 6,000 all told, of whom
about 1,000 were warriors. The Otoes—another well-
known tribe—at this time only numbered about 1,000
individuals. There were also, as now, the Omahas, and
some other unimportant tribes, allies of the Sioux, and
remnants of once-powerful peoples, reduced by disease,
privation, and internecine warfare.
Practically, when the white came to know them, the
Sioux dominated thé territory ; but they resided chiefly
north of the Platte River, and in the western parts of
the State. The south-eastern portion of the State south
of the Platte was occupied by the Otoes. The Pawnees
were west of them ; and there were continual disputes
between the two as to the line of boundary. The tribes
overlapped, the Otoes going as far west as the Blue,
and the Pawnees coming east of the Salt Creek. The
principal village of the Pawnees was at the junction of
the Salt Creek with the Platte River, at about the place
where Ashland now stands.
The first inroads on the Indian sovereignty were
made, of course, by the traders, who dealt with the
Indians for their furs, &c. The first settlement in the
region was made at Belle Vue, which is on the Missouri,
between Omaha and the Platte River. This was one of
the American Pur Company's trading posts ; and at its
head was Colonel Peter A. Sarpy, a member of a French
family, well known on the frontier, and himself distin¬
guished for his enterprise, sagacity, and courage. Like
THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
189
the majority of the traders, Colonel Sarpy dwelt at
peace with the Indians. In the frontier sense of the
word, he was a white man himself—as white as Cooper's
hero ; and he was always chivalrous enough to defend
the Indians by word and deed. The final fall of the
Indians seems to have begun with the overland emi¬
gration to California in 1849. The bands of emigrants
crossed the Missouri Eiver at Old Fort Kearney
(Nebraska City), at Plattsmouth, at Belle Yue, and at
Council Bluflfs. They travelled over the plains in
waggons drawn by horses and mules, and there were
among them perhaps T,000 men to a woman. The
contact of these passing trains of gold-seekers was as a
plague to the Indians, introducing diseases among them
which maxie havoc in the savage ranks.
The Californian emigration passed over the country,
and left little trace of its flow. There were ranches for
the sale of supplies at Belle Yue, Council Blufis, and
Plattsmouth; and from thence to Fort Kearney, the
emigrants had to depend on the stores they carried in
their waggons, and on their guns, the larger game being
plentiful on the prairies, though when on the march—
and not on a regular hunt—the supply of game from
hunting is somewhat precarious.
The Mormons made a large trail across the State in
their march to Salt Lake. They endured hardships, of
course, but their movements were more systematic and
better ordered than those of the irregular forces who
moved upon the gold mines of California; and their
paths across the prairies are still distinctly marked by
the vegetation. Tall sunflowers frequently shade them
190
NEBRASKA.
in the summer time, and form a portion of the Ne-
braskan archaeological record.
The moral contest—diversified by resorts to the
carnal weapon—between the slave and free-soil parties,
which resulted in the passing of the Kansas and Ne¬
braska Act, began the settlement of Nebraska. The
organic Act of Congress, which constituted Nebraska a
territory, and opened the public lands to settlement,
was approved on May 30, 1854. The territory of
Nebraska covered an enormous region. Its area com¬
prised 351,558 square miles. Its northern boundary
was the British-American line ; its southern boundary
the 40th parallel of latitude ; its western, the summits
of the Kocky Mountains; and, practically, its eastern
boundary was the Missouri River, the Red River of the
north and a meridian line connecting the two. From
this time Nebraska was under a territorial government—
with the ordinary incidents of such a condition—the
Organic Act providing that when the territory came to
be admitted as a state or states, " the said territory, or
any portion of the same, shall be received into the
Union, with or without slavery, as their constitution
may prescribe at the time of their admission." This
provision was a necessary concession to the then pre¬
dominant sentiment in Congress. Nebraska was to be
a slave state, if the people willed ; a free state, if such
was the ruling of the people. The geographical position
of the territory had, however, settled that question.
The country was, and is, altogether in the westward
line of migration from the Free States. The farmers of
Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa were the settlers
THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
191
in Nebraska—the builders who laid the foundations of
the State. In the southern counties, close to the Mis¬
souri, a large element of southern blood was introduced ;
but this element was never strong enough to be a power
in society. From the beginning, therefore, slavery was
a dead issue in Nebraska, though in the earlier days
there were some few persons held to slavery m the
territory ; and there is one instance of the sale of two
slaves under legal process. There was no chance what¬
ever of the experiences of " bleeding Kansas " being re¬
peated in Nebraska. The sentiment of freedom was
overpowering, such pro-slavery feeling as existed not
being of sufficient strength to present even the remotest
point of danger.
But Nebraska did not long continue to embrace the
wide territory first given to it. New territories were
carved out of its domain by acts of Congress. In 1861
Colorado and Dakota were constituted, the first obtaining
•
16,035 square miles from Nebraska, and the second
228,907 square miles ; but in the same year Nebraska
obtained 15,378 square miles from Utah and Washington
territories and on the south-west slope of the Kocky
Mountains, north of the 41st parallel, and east of the
110th meridian west from Greenwich. In 1863, how¬
ever, Nebraska was further curtailed of its dimensions.
The territory of Idaho was formed, taking 45,999 square
miles from Nebraska. The result was Nebraska as
now limited, taking away from Nebraska the whole of
the mountain district, and leaving the land an homo¬
geneous prairie state, whose wealth will be founded upon
its agricultural and grazing interests. It is better as
192
NEBRASKA.
it is. The country is compact, one in interest, and
therefore readily governed.
From the date of the organization of the territory
the settlement of Nebraska has proceeded until now.
The tract of bluff land immediately west of the Missouri
was first occupied for about ten miles inland. The earliest
settlers encountered the usual hardships of frontier life.
They really passed beyond civilization when they crossed
the Missouri. They were in a land where the Indians
ruled. They had to build their houses, cultivate their
farms, and contest for supremacy with the Indians.
But there were among those earliest settlers men of
mark—men of intellect, who would have made a place
for themselves in any community in the world. The
infant settlements took tone from these men. Espe¬
cially they seemed to know how to deal with the
Indians ; and the policy of peace and conciliation
which prevailed effectually prevented any Indian
troubles. In the country where the first settlements
were made there is a large body of timber ; and for
many years it was feared, that out upon the prairies
where the timber did not naturally grow, successful
farming would be impossible.
There was gradual steady growth along the river.
Towns were founded and flourished ; and the land
brought under cultivation made fertile farms. A few
pioneers pushed out forty, fifty, or sixty miles fi-om
the Missouri, but their difficulties in making things
comfortable about them were generally very great.
I met one of these pioneers sixty miles from the
Missouri. His house was built of lumber that he had
SOUTH CENTRAL
l^aihvavs
ßi^n/ula/ir.s
Ccuithy Seal s
YORK
t'ost Hrulrs
beififunttij >' ■
f/u fiaueee Of I the reales
(/i f¡ele lite /auahers ef
ffuiiJs ffcr u reA- '* —
Special Mail Supply
Mail Messeaper uL
RESERVATtOK
UNITED
STATES
SURVEYS
lia bfaalt sifiidfTs
are each (ViC ffiiie
(^f t/M' (lereb.
/ or tuore (iciaiiea
i \ rp/a/mli( 7/y see
fíeo/e píf i/e 1/5. rh
UplcVfuh
JuAjson.
m
THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
193
carted all that distance from the river. His means
were small ; he could not go into the stock business
and let his produce transport itself; there was little for
it but to work and wait. After the exhaustion of their
original supplies the food of such persons was Indian
com and pork, or the products of the chase, till the
land was sufficiently subdued for wheat and other
crops. My friend waited to good purpose. The rail¬
way came, and he attained a very comfortable fortune
with which, in the restless spirit proverbially belonging
to the pioneer, he departed to fight with fate in other
regions. Another pioneer, now a prominent lawyer,
declares that in those early days he ate so much " coon"
that he never approaches any timber without feeling an
almost irresistible inclination to "scratch" up a tree.
The next stage in Nebraska's progress, however, dates
from the rush to Cherry Creek—better known as the
Pike's Peak expeditions of 1859 and 1860. Cherry
Creek is within a few miles of what is now Denver
City. Gold had been discovered there, and in the
neighbouring gulches ; and the whole country—east
and north and south—was moved to dig for it. This
second pilgrimage for gold was terrible, earnes
mad. All kinds and conditions of men were d.
into it. The road to the holy land of gold again
through Nebraska. The men of the south-east found
their best starting point at St. Joseph, in Missouri.
Another stream of migration struck Nebraska at
Brownville, another at Nebraska City, and yet an¬
other at Omaha. The St. Joseph and Brownville con¬
tingents met in the Little Blue Valley. Thoçe who
0
194
NEBRASKA.
started from Nebraska City traversed the prairie to
the Big Blue Eiver, crossing it at the place where
the city of Crete now stands, and thence they turned
towards the Platte River. The pilgrims by way of
Omaha all traversed the Platte Valley on its northern
bank. The first objective point was Fort Kearney.
There all the streams converged, and thence flowed
on together in the valley of the Platte, turning south
to their destination at about meridian 105 west of
Greenwich. This gold-seeking movement bruited
abroad the fame of Nebraska as an agricultural coun¬
try. Some of the voyageurs stopped by the way, and
opened up farms. Some others, whose expectations
came to nothing in the gold country, returned in a
style of rough comfort as good as that in which they
went out, but many came back in most pitiful plight,
having endured hunger, nakedness, and many dangers
by the way, and having been nearly devoured by the
mosquitoes in the under-brush on the islands of the
Platte, where they had hidden in the daytime, travel¬
ling by night through fear of Indians not altogether
friendly. Others, who took the back track and "busted,"
settled in the Platte YaUey, the valley of the Big Blue,
and the valley of the Little Blue ; and their success
attracted still others, who joined with them in pos¬
sessing the land. This was a substantial gain to the
country. The territory, which had hitherto been merely
traversed by nomads, was settled by residents ; and it
now remained only to establish the railroad system in
order to give to Nebraska its latest development.
In the meantime, however, progress was retarded.
THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
195
The civil war broke out ; and, simultaneously there¬
with, Indian troubles. Nebraska raised two regiments.
One did good service against the Confederacy ; the.
other effectually disposed of the Indians who had har¬
assed the frontier.
In the year 1862, Congress passed the first of the
Pacific Kailroad Acts ; and in 1863 the Union Pacific
Railroad Company was organized. The ground was
broken in December, 1863, and the first contract
for work was entered into early in 1864. It was
prosecuted vigorously ; and in May, 1869, the Union
Pacific from Omaha and the Central Pacific from San
Francisco were united at Ogden in Utah. The Bur¬
lington and Missouri River Railroad Company, whose
line of road ran from Burlington, on the Mississippi,
across Iowa to the Missouri, had also at this time an
interest in Nebraska by virtue of an Act of Congress,
passed in 1864, enabling the company to extend its
line from Plattsmouth, on. the Missouri River, to a
junction with the Union Pacific at or near the 100th
meridian. The company transferred its rights to a
company organized under the laws of Nebraska; and
the construction of the road was commenced in 1869,
and finaRy completed to its junction with the Union
Pacific at Fort Kearney, a distance of nearly 200 miles,
in the year 1872. This is the main line of the Bur¬
lington and Missouri ; but in addition the company has
a branch nearly twenty miles long, connecting with
Omaha; and another, about thirty miles long, from
Crete to Beatrice. These are the most important rail¬
ways in Nebraska, and they have performed a large
196
NEBRASKA.
part in promoting the development of the country.
They have each a large land grant conferred on them
to aid in constructing their roads; and it is a vital
point in their policy to sell these lands to settlers, so
as to build up a permanent local traffic for themselves
in their capacity as carriers.
Other railways of more or less importance have also
sprung into existence, and in January, 1875, there were
upwards of 1,100 miles in the State. By such means a
comparatively new country may experience changes
in social and industrial matters analogous to those
which make the history of older nations. The
social and industrial revolution resulting from steam
travel in Europe and in the Eastern States of America,
has been felt in Nebraska. In the ante-railroad
days the carriers of the plains were known as
freighters. The river towns were their depots. There
the freighters obtained their merchandise, provisions of
all kinds, and dry goods, which they conveyed slowly
across the prairie in waggons to the frontier posts, and
to the settlements in the mining regions among the
mountains. The trade was a lucrative one to the river
towns and settlements, and to the freighters. Weeks
were expended in the journeys, the freighters being
slow but sure. There were regular stopping places on
the way—inns of a rude sort, known as ranches,
which, being planted at convenient places, have in
many cases formed the centre around which settle¬
ments have gathered. The men who kept them were,
in the majority of instances, rough denizens of the
frontier, who kept themselves in readiness to hold their
THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
197
own against all comers. They were mostly in a state
of deadly hostility with the Indians, whose attacks on
the ranche were not infrequent, though usually it was
the Indian who was shorn. The Indians were not so
hostile to the freighters as to the ranchers. The
trading trains were not often molested; whether the
cause was that they were too well guarded, or that the
Indians profited by the freighters. Possibly both
causes combined ; but this was the experience of many
fi^eighters in their dealings with the Indians. With the
railroads all this industry has passed away,—even as
the stage-coach in England. The adventures of the
men who were engaged in it have become a tradition—
a tradition whose distant limit is twenty years. T wenty
years, however, is a large space in the history of a new
country.
Turning, now, to the political history of the State,
we find that early in 1866 the legislature of the terri¬
tory devised a constitution which was duly ratified by
the people ; and on July 4th in that year the legis¬
lature elected under the constitution met at Omaha.
On July 28th Congress passed a bill for the admission
of Nebraska as a State, but the President refused to
sign it. In 1867, in January, Congress passed a
similar bill, and again it was vetoed by the President,
as was alleged because the bill contained provisions
different from those in the Enabling Act ; because the
proceedings, in forming the constitution, were alleged
to be irregular; and because the President held the
population of the territory not large enough to form a
State. Congress this time, however, defeated the
198
NEBRASKA.
President, passing the bill over his veto by 30 to 9
in the Senate, and 120 to 44 in the House. It was
provided that the Act should not become of force,
"except upon the fundamental condition that, within
the State of Nebraska there shall be no denial of the
elective franchise, or of any other right to any person
by reason of race or colour, except Indians not taxed ;
and upon the further fundamental condition that the
legislature of the said State, by a solemn public act,
shall declare the assent of the said State to the said
fundamental" condition." This ratification was made by
the legislature of Nebraska on February 20th, 1867,
and the fact was proclaimed by the President of the
United States on March 1st, 1867. Since that time
Nebraska has been a state, being represented in Con¬
gress by two senators and one member of the House.
Immediately upon the State becoming " sovereign," it
was decided to re-locate the capital, anjd commissioners
were appointed to fix the place. These commissioners
in October, 1867, selected Lancaster, then a small ham¬
let in Lancaster County; and their choice was ratified
by the legislature in the following winter, the new
capital being named Lincoln, in honour of President
Lincoln. By decision of the legislature, an election of
delegates was held in May, 1871, to frame a new con¬
stitution for the State. This convention met on J une 5th,
and continued its session until August 19th. A con¬
stitution was framed which was submitted to a popular
vote on September 19th, and rejected by 7,986 votes
against 8,627. It is considered, however, that a new
constitution is needed, and a constituent convention to
THE HISTORY OF NEBRASKA.
199
that end is to meet in the course of 1875. The new-
provisions of organic law to be devised may tend largely
to promote the general welfare, but there are no vital
questions of policy to be solved, no subject or discor¬
dant races to guard against, no political passions to ap¬
pease, and no hungry or discontented masses to satisfy.
Where the County Court house shall be built, and
whether certain projected improvements shall be aided
by local taxation, are two of the most exciting matters of
local interest arising in the various parts of the State, and
such questions as the permanent location of the capital,
and whether the State government shall have the right
to incur debts beyond the income of the year, are among
the most exciting matters to engage the attention of
constitutional conventions and State legislatures of
Nebraska.
CHAPTER XV.
ON THE WEEPING WATEE AND THE NEMAHAS.
Cass County.—Plattsmouth.—The railway.—^Building stone.—
Timber.—Orchards.—Crops.—Local manufactures.—A prize crop.—
Lands.—^Nemaha County.—The httle Nemaha.—^BrownviUe.—Some
statistics.—Timber, stone, and coal.—Peru.—^Richabdson County.—
Timber.—Stone.—Water-powers.—Assessments.—^Pawnee County.—
Land.—Water.—Stone.—Assessments.—Johnson County.
LATTSMOÜTH, the capital of Cass County,
is on the main line of the Burlington and
Missouri River Railway, about two miles
south of the mouth of the Platte, and on.
the Missouri River, which is not yet spanned here by a
bridge ; an efficient steam ferry serving the present pur¬
poses of the railway and of the public. The bluffs are
here upwards of a hundred feet high, and the town is
rather picturesquely situated among the hills and slopes,
with a considerable sprinkling of young woodland around
it. The office of the United States Surveyor General
for the State of Nebraska is here, and here are also
general offices and machine shops of the railway com¬
pany. There are eight churches for as many religious
denominations, one high and four ward schools, two
ON THE WEEPING WATER AND THE NEMAHAS. 201
weekly papers, a considerable number of thriving busi¬
ness establishments, and a manufactory of agricultural
implements for the State Grange of the Patrons of
Husbandry, a very important society of farmers,
to which I shall have further occasion to allude in
another place. From Piattsmouth the railway fol¬
lows the south bank of the Platte to Omaha Junc¬
tion, where it is joined by the Omaha and South¬
western, a branch of this railway, whence it still
follows the Platte to Ashland in the south-eastern
extremity of Saunders County. For the chief part of
this distance it is under a lofty bluff where nume¬
rous outcroppings of sand and limestone are seen;
some of this is excellent as building stone, and Cass
County affords enough to supply, if it could be con¬
veniently transported, the wants of a wide region
of country. There are likewise abrupt bluffs along
the Missouri, and generally on the river borders the
surface is rough and the ravines deep and numerous,
and frequently more or less wooded. There is, in fact,
a considerable amount of native timber, and this being
one of the oldest counties in the State, cultivated groves
of a very thrifty and promisiug appearance are becom¬
ing numerous. There is good brick clay in unlimited
quantities, and kaolin and good mineral pigments are
said to be found in some localities. The interior of
the country is rolling or gently undulating, and the
soil almost everywhere is one of nearly inexhaustible
fertility. Orchards have been very successful, and, as
a consequence, the new-comers in the county are very
generally planting fruit trees. A dozen or more
202
NEBRASKA.
varieties of grapes have also been successfully tried,
and the enthusiastic cultivators maintain that the cli¬
mate preserves them from mildew and rot. All of the
cereals, potatoes, sweet potatoes, melons, tomatoes, and
table vegetables yield abundantly. The people here,
as elsewhere in Nebraska, are very much disposed to
give such substantial aid to local manufactures as their
means will allow ; there are quite a large number of
water powers, and consequently good openings for
flouring mills, tanneries, and factories of the various
kinds which are dependent on the wants of an agricul¬
tural population. The State Board of Agriculture of
Nebraska in 1873 gave the premium of |50 for the best
yield of maize in the State to Mr. M. M. Nelson of
this county, whose exhibit as duly attested was as
follows :—
The crop was raised on 35 acres of ground first
broken up in 1871.
Crops, Dr. Crops, Cr.
Ploughing at $1*25 per acre, $43*75 Yield, 3202i bushels or 91i
Plauting ,, 0*45 „ 15*75 bushels per acre.
Cultivating ,, 1*80 „ 63*00 Weight, 63 lbs. per bushel ;
Harvesting ,, 1*25 „ 43*75 cost per bushel, about 5
cents.
Total . . 4*75 166*25
The value of the land is not given. The variety of
maize is known as " Mahogany."
The county is well watered. The Weeping Water is
the principal stream; it drains about one-third of the
area, while numerous minor creeks flow into the Platte
and the Missouri to the north of it.
There are 415,296 acres of arable land, of which
ON THE WEEPING WATER AND THE NEMAHAS. 203
about 150,000 are in cultivated farms. The Burling¬
ton and Missouri Kiver Kailway Company has many
thousand acres of land for sale in the western part of
the county, and there are large aggregate amounts of
wild land held in lots of 160 acres and upwards by
private persons on terms of sale similar to those
already mentioned in respect of the counties of Douglas
and Sarpy.
I reserve Otoe County, which is next south of Cass,
for a more lengthened description in a separate
chapter.
Nemaha County, south of Otoe, has the same species
of broken land on the Missouri as is to be found in
the other river counties. Its principal stream is the
Little Nemaha, which runs south-eastwardly through
the centre of the county, and after furnishing water-
power for five flouring mills, empties into the Missouri
near Aspinwall, a thriving, weU-situated little market
town. Brownville, the county seat and principal town,
is on the Missouri River, in a picturesque location
among the hills. There are excellent schools and five
churches. Half-a-dozen railroads, projected or com¬
menced, will centre in or pass through Brownville if
and when they are, ever built. It is certain to have
railroad facilities at a date not far distant, but for the
present its only shipping facilities are either on the
Missouri or across it. The people are anxious to
establish such manufactures on a moderate scale as are
adapted to the wants of a community which is mainly
agricultural. Near this town are the "Furnas Nur¬
series," owned by ex-Governor R. W. Furnas and
204
NEBRASKA.
Sons, long established and now somewhat noted in the
State. This being one of the old counties of Nebraska,
is already noted for its fruit, which is good, cheap, and
abundant. Last year good sound peaches were sold in
BrownviUe for 25 cents or lid. per bushel. In
1874 there were 247,348 acres of land assessed for
taxes in the county, the valuation being at an average
of $5-87 per acre ; 4,538 horses at $47*45 ; 366 mules
and asses at $54; 11,850 neat cattle at $13*34 ; 1,271
sheep at $1*50; 17,765 swine at $2*16, and the total
assessed valuation was $2,759,981, but the real value
is much greater, and is difficult to estimate with any
approach to precision in a new State like Nebraska.
Wild land, for instance, is reaUy held at from $6 to $10
per acre, and improved farms from $20 to $60, while
by the assessment the average of the whole is under
$6. About 30,000 acres are under cultivation. The
crops raised in the county are maize, winter and
spring wheat, oats, winter rye, barley, buckwheat,
sweet and Irish potatoes, clover, timothy, Hun¬
garian and prairie grasses, sorghum, broomcorn, flax,
and tobacco. The average yield of each per acre is
winter wheat, 10 bushels; spring wheat, 14; corn, 40;
oats, 45; rye, 15; barley, 45; buckwheat, 38; Irish
potatoes, 150; clover and timothy, IJ tons per acre;
Hungarian, 2 tons. The rainfall is about 33 inches.
There is a considerable amount of native timber, and
many groves have been planted, but as yet scarcely to
a sufficient extent. Good building lime and sandstone
are quarried, and there are some tantalizing seams of
coal, but none has yet been found of a decidedly pro-
ON THE WEEPING WATER AND THE NEMAHAS. 205
fitable character. Peru, a place of some 600 to 800
inhabitants, is prettily situated in the northern part of
the county and is the seat of an important institution,
the State Normal or Training School for Teachers.
Richardson County is south of Nemaha, with the
Missouri River on the east ; it has a railroad traversing
it from north-east to south-west, and another almost
upon its southern boundary in Kansas, and its market
facilities are therefore very fair. The great thickness
of the lacustrine deposit, and the numerous layers
of sand and limestone through which the rivers and
brooks have cut their deep channels, give this county
more than the average ruggedness, while it also has
much more than the average of native timber. Good
sandstone and limestone are plentiful, but generally
thoroughly covered with the thick lacustrine, except¬
ing in the steep bluffs of the rivers, and the soil
is therefore almost all of it entirely free from stones
and easily tilled ; it is also extremely fertile. On
the Great Nemaha River are eight flouring-mills,
and three saw-mills and two flouring-mills on the
Muddy, while it is said that there are large num¬
bers of good water-powers still unoccupied. The
people are disposed to offer special inducements for
the starting of such home manufactures as are most
adapted to their requirements. There were in
1874, 317,561 acres of land assessed for taxes at an
average of |5*27 per acre; 6,963 horses at $40*44 ;
398 mules and asses at $48*10; 17,967 neat cattle at
$11*12; 2,002 sheep at $1*00; 26,717 swine at $1*55;
and the total assessed valuation of the county was
206
NEBRASKA.
$3,114,724. The actual prices of land are about the
same as in Nemaha County, which this very greatly
resembles.
Pawnee County is west of Eichardson, with which it
is equally fertile, and to the eye it seems even more
desirable for agricultural purposes. Its surface is
more rolling or undulating, with more gentle slopes ;
it is well watered by the Nemahas and their
tributaries, and there are water-powers on the prin¬
cipal streams. Building stone is very abundant along
the streams and in the hill-sides ; and in this county is
the eastern outcropping of a very fine, soft, tenacious,
cream-coloured limestone, which will repay transporta¬
tion for very considerable distances if facilities there¬
for should ever become abundant. In the alluvial
formations water is reached near the water level of the
streams, and on the upland by penetrating the basis
rocks to the clay beds which act as reservoirs, and
yield an abundant supply of excellent water generally
at a moderate depth. When Professor Hayden, of the
United States Geological Survey, visited the county in
1867, the land was already entirely in the hands of
actual settlers or of speculators. There were 244,896
acres assessed in 1874 at an average of $3*88 per acre.
There were 2,733 horses, assessed value $40-98 each;
110 mules and asses, at $49*73; 6,304 neat cattle, at
$14*82; 1,206 sheep, at $0*98; 6,781 swine, at $1*71;
and the total valuation of the county was $1,383,261.
Johnson County, north of Pawnee and west of Ne¬
maha, is chiefly watered by the Great Nemaha Eiver,
which running diagonally through its centre affords
ON THE WEEPING WATER AND THE NEMAHAS. 207
several water-powers, three of which are already occu¬
pied by flouring mills. The surface is undulating, and the
soil very fertile. Clays and sand for building purposes
are suflâciently abundant, but good stone or stone of
any quality is less often found. On the high divides
on either side of the Nemaha and its branches, there
is every evidence of great fertility, but as compared
with its neighbours, Kichardson, Nemaha, Pawnee, and
Otoe, there are much wider expanses without living
water and without natural timber. Coal has been
found, as in the adjoining counties, and is mined to
some extent, but the beds yet discovered have raised
high expectations, without producing very prcrfitable
results. Tecumseh, the capital, is a thriving little
market town near the centre of the county on the
Atchinson and Nebraska Railway, which is the artery
of commerce for the county.
CHAPTER XVL
OTOE COUNTY.
By Dr. Jokn" H. Blue.
The name,—Gold fever.—Old forts.—Nebraska City.—Religious and
educational advantages.—^Plough factories.—Flouring mills.—Other in¬
dustries.—Railroads.—Agriculture.—Land.—Settlers with moderate
means.—Shallenherger.—Enyart.—Improved' farms.—Surface and soil.
—Springs and streams.—Coal.—Timber.—^Fruits.—Horticultural prizes.
—A big apple.—^Prominent horticulturists.—^Artificial groves.—^Rain¬
fall.—The river floods.—Timber belts.—Farmers in Otoe.—Herd law.—
Easy cultivation.—The natural meadows.—Meat.—Climate.—Bayard
Taylor.
[Dr. Blue is an experienced journalist, who has long resided in this
county, and I can judge the substantial accuracy of his facts from two
visits of my own to the county, from my acquaintance with people therein,
and from many independent circumstances, as well as from my knowledge
of this gentleman's trustworthy character. Many of the facts presented by
Dr. Blue will apply with almost equal force to the other southern counties
on the Missouri, as the reader will easily perceive ; and although there is
some repetition of facts which I have personally given elsewhere, I con¬
sider that in this case, as in others, I have derived very material help
from the literary assistance that I have been able to obtain.—^E. A. C.]
HIS part of the State deserves a separate
chapter, because it is the mother of coun¬
ties on the south side of the Platte River,
and because it contains Nebraska City,
which is only second in importance and in natural
endowments to Omaha, the largest town in Nebraska.
PART OF NEBRASKA CITY FROM THE UPLAND.
OTOE COUNTY.
209
The county is named after the Otoe Indians, who,
in the beginning of the century, held all the surround¬
ing territory as the " happy hunting ground" on which
the buflfalo, the elk, the deer, and the antelope pas¬
tured, and were the wild herds of the wild men who
claimed them as their natural inheritance; and these
wild animals multiplied and lived here, summer and
winter, on the bounties of Providence, and increased as
the Indians did, till finally the white race, in the tidal
wave of civilization, crossed the Missouri River west
ward, and extinguished the Indian title, when the
Otoes sank into insignificance on a small reservation,
and their wild herds were wantonly slaughtered, or
driven further towards the setting sun.
When the gold excitement broke out in California,
this became the natural route for the overland adven¬
turers ; and the Government, which always aids enter¬
prise and protects its citizens, moved a company of
soldiers to this point, and established old Fort Kear¬
ney. As soon as the Indian title was purchased, the
Government forces were transferred two hundred miles
west on the Platte River ; and a town was laid off here
in 1854, and named Nebraska City.
It is a remarkable fact that the Government has
always selected judiciously the gateways to immigra¬
tion ; and that the old fort sites have generally grown
into important towns, as Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis,
Rock Island, Omaha, and Nebraska City; and where
the drum of the camp was beaten, there commerce and
civilization raise great and prosperous cities; which
is perhaps only the instinct of our army engineers
p
210
NEBRASKA.
following the instinctive engineering of the Indians
and the buffaloes into the richest fastnesses of an
unexplored continent.
Nebraska City is only twenty years old, but it has a
population of seven or eight thousand mhabitant», and
all the civilization and solidity of the older towns.
There are three large brick school-houses—one of
them costing more than $30,000—^where all children
are taught free alike the elements of a thorough
education, and those who choose are carried into the
higher branches, and even prepared for the university,
without a cent of expense to the parents ; for the State
has been granted a double portion—one eighteenth
part of the public domain—for free schools, and these
lands are only sold by the State when they become
valuable, and the interest set aside for ever for public
instruction. Besides these common schools, Nebraska
City has an admirably discipliaed college for young
men under the charge of the Episcopal church, with
the Rev. Dr. MacNamara as president ; and two female
seminaries—all permanent bricked edifices—one under
the management of the Episcopal church, and the
other under the control of the Benedictine Sisters,
where young ladies have always been as safe as at
home, and thoroughly educated.
In religious matters the immigrant has a pretty
wide choice, for there are thirteen church buildings,
and as many denominations moving on harmoniously
together.
Aside from an abundance of stores and mechanical
shops, Nebraska City sees the importance of manu-
OTOE COUNTY.
211
facturing indispensable articles, so as to save tbe
money at home and foster industrial families. So we
have two large plough factories—one of them substan¬
tially built of brick at a cost of some $20,000. Both
are run by steam power; and they turned out last
year between 4,000 and 5,000 of the best ploughs
known in the market. There is also a steam flouring
mill that grinds 100,000 bushels of wheat a year;
the flour is of the finest quality, and commands the
highest price in the New York market, where much of
it goes. The owners commenced here some six years
ago with modest means, and have steadily progressed
till their estabhshment is filled with the most perfect
machinery, and is worth some $25,000, all paid for
out of their legitimate earnings. The flour which is
designed for home and western consumption is all put
up in hundred-pound sacks, but that which goes east is
packed in barrels that they manufacture in an adjoin¬
ing cooper-shop. Half a dozen more steam flouring
mills could do equally as well, for this establishment
cannot grind more than a tenth part of the wheat crop
grown in Otoe County
There are also two iron foundries in Nebraska City
for making machine castings ; and a soap factory,
which has been growing into importance year after
year, now competing with the best in the Missouri
Valley. We may also reckon among the profitable
industries two carriage factories and two breweries,
which employ a number of hands.
The judicious use of capital in manufacturing has
always been found the surest way to wealth, in all the
212
NEBRASKA.
flourishing towns of the West ; and there is little danger
of over-competition where the country is filling up so
fast, and requiring so many articles of utility ; and the
manufacture of starch from our abundant com and
potato fields, of woollen goods from our healthy
sheep pastures, of paper from our straw piles and
unemployed flax fibre ; of linseed oil from fields that
yield twenty-five bushels of flax seed to the acre, of
leather where we have so many hides and need so
many shoes and sets of harness, and of a dozen other
leading industries, only await men of means and expe¬
rience to come among us. Capital should flow West,
where the channels are free and unobstructed, and
where the profits most rapidly accumulate.
We have two railroads leading to Nebraska City, on
the east side of the Missouri Kiver,—one the Burlington
and Missouri River, coming from Chicago, and the
other the Kansas City, St. Joe and Council Bluffs, com¬
ing from St. Louis. And on the west side of the river
the Midland Pacific runs through the centre of Otoe
County westward to Lincoln, the capital of the State,
and to Seward in the interior, and is destined at an
early day to join with the Union Pacific on the way to
California. It is now in connection with two other
railroads at Lincoln ; and is running a southern con¬
tinuation from Nebraska City viâ Brownville, down to
the Hannibal and St. Joe Bridge, over the Missouri
River, which will, it is thought, necessitate the compet¬
ing line to Chicago—the Burlington and Missouri River
—to build a bridge at Nebraska City, and extend
another line south-west, hence to Beatrice, so as to hold
OTOE COUNTY.
213
the trade of the South Platte country. Along the
Midland Pacific in Otoe County brisk littíe towns are
springing up, such as Syracuse and Palmyra.
But the essential interest of Otoe County is agricul¬
tural; and though there is a population of some seven
thousand in the county outside of Nebraska City, yet
not more than a fourth part is improved,—but it awaits
more hands and more capital to develop the soil.
Otoe County is 18 miles wide by 36 miles long, running
west from the Missouri Kiver ; and unimproved farms
can be purchased at from eight to ten dollars an acre,
now mostly held by speculators who bought them to
sell again. *
These lands have been overlooked by immigrants,
simply because the railroads have more loudly adver¬
tised their wild lands away off in the interior of the
State ; and persons go there, a hundred or two miles
westward, and pay the same price that they would pay
for these lands, surrounded by all the comforts of
thriving neighbours and advanced civilization.
The West needs more men of moderate means and
ready resources. The policy heretofore in Nebraska
has been to invite the poor of all nations to our rich
domain with the popular song,—
" Uncle Sam is rich enough
To give us all a farm ; "
and in this way people who would never make any¬
thing at home have been sent here as to a new El
Dorado, without the capacity or the inclination to work,
and without the means of opening farms when they
have acquired them as homesteads.
214
NEBRASKA.
Still there are many notable examples of men coming
here poor, and growing rich by persevering industry.
As an instance, Joseph Shallenberger, who was acci¬
dentally killed two years ago by a falling log, worked
his way to Otoe County some years after it began to
settle, and took a homestead some miles from this city,
without a dollar. He raised corn and cattle and hogs,
and established a reputation in his neighbourhood as one
of our honest and useful citizens ; and though his end
was untimely, his estate is now probated, after all en¬
cumbrances are lifted, at |40,000.
Hon. Logan Enyart also came here out of the Con¬
federate service in 1865, without a doUar,—a plain Mis¬
souri farmer, who had staked his all on the "lost cause."
But he went to work on the bold prairie with a cheer¬
ful heart and a strong hand ; and he now owns a square
mile of choice land seven miles from Nebraska City,
aU surrounded by an Osage orange hedge fence, and
the large farm in the highest state of improvement,
well stocked with cattle and agricultural machinery,
and all paid for; and the loyal men of Otoe County
have twice in succession elected him as their representa¬
tive in the Legislature.
But immigrants who do not want to begin a new
place, and have moderate means—say from $5,000 to
$10,000—can always find pioneer men among us—often
several adjoiuing farmers—^who want to sell out and
move further West; and these partially improved farms
can often be bought at very nearly the price of raw
lands, thus affording the farmer the best return for the
money.
OTOE COUNTY.
215
The surface of Otoe County is beautifully undu¬
lating, and thes oU that of an ancient lake bed, so that
the deep porous deposit is seldom too wet or too dry for
agricultural purposes. And all the land is almost
equally good in quality if not always equally well
situated. Never-failing springs and streams of water
are pretty equally distributed ; and wells of inexhaus¬
tible supply can be dug or bored at a depth of from
forty to sixty feet, and run continually by the wind¬
mills which are now becoming very common on all the
large farms.
Coal is sold here by the car load at $6 a ton as it
comes from the adjoining States of Iowa, Missouri, and
Kansas; and there are many indications of coal at
various places in Otoe County; but as yet Nebraska
is too new to have thorough geological surveys to
demonstrate its mineral resources.
Timber grows on such a soil with .surprising vigour ;
and we have measured cottonwood trees twelve years
old, that gave a girth of more than five feet in circum¬
ference at the stump, and were forty or fifty feet in
height. Walnut, maple, honey locust, hickory, ash, and
oak, grow nearly as fast ; and the American, Austrian,
and Scotch pines, and native cedars flourish wherever
they are properly planted.
But the great boast of Otoe County is its fruits—
apples, peaches, plums, pears, and grapes, as well as all
the minor fruits. Tins county contributed most of the
stock which gave the "Nebraska State Horticultural
Society " the first premium in 1871 in the American
Pomological Society at Richmond, Virginia, where
216
NEBRASKA.
twenty-six states contended for the prize; and again
in Boston, Mass., in 1873 for the best State collection
of apples. And Hon. J. H. Masters, of Nebraska City,
took the premium again last year at Philadelphia.
When Major Pearman exhibited the year previously
some Otoe County apples at the St. Joe, Mass., fair, he
was humorously accused of varnishing them, so polished
and plump was the appearance ; and the growth of all
vegetable productions in this region of country shows
the highest health and vigour.
And in this connection, it may be well to record in
the interest of fruit culture, that the largest apple ever
exhibited in the United States and probably in the
world, was grown by Perry and Walker in the neigh¬
bourhood of Nebraska City, and shown at our State fair
some years ago. This apple weighed twenty-nine and
a half ounces; and the then governor, David Butler,
took it to the agricultural department in Washington
City, and the commissioner of the department informed
him that it was the largest by three ounces, of any
apple which had ever been forwarded there. The soil
and climate of Nebraska develop both vegetable and
animal life in the greatest perfection ; and it is probable
that the blujff formation along the Missouri River
counties will always excel in fruits. The choice pro¬
ductions of the temperate zone luxuriate here in a
perfect natural drainage and a wonderful soil. One
other like it is well known to agriculturists, and that is
the celebrated loess formation of the River Rhine which
supplies Europe with the choicest fruits and wines.
Hon. J. Sterling Morton has an orchard of forty acres.
OTOE COUNTY.
217
and Chief Justice Mason the largest orchard in the
State, some 12,000 fruit trees, and 3,000 evergreens.
Among the other famous fruit raisers around Nebraska
City may be mentioned Joseph Sand, A. Donahoo, W.
J. Armstrong, Harmon, and Mrs. Gilmore.
The Mnenonites of Russia who lately immigrated
to this State were very solicitous to learn whether tree-
culture was a success on our prairies, both because they
appreciated the value of timber, and because, as great
wheat raisers in the Crimea, whence they came, they
had found that wheat would not thrive on a soil uncon¬
genial to forest trees. Persons who visit this part of
Nebraska in the green of the year must admire the
artificial groves that gladden the eye on the far-oif
prairie eminences, as evidence of human habitation and
exuberant soil; and there is great attention paid by
most of our new settlers to planting trees enough for
their immediate comfort, and the prospective use of the
farms. But nowhere have the people been suiSâciently
indoctrinated into the real requirements of political
economy which must shape the future prosperity of the
great West.
Observations made for the last ten years at Fort
Kearney, on the Platte River, nearly two hundred miles
to the west of us, show a rainfall of twenty-five inches
annually, the greater part of which is in the spring
and summer months, when it is most needed for the
growing crops—a larger rainfall than prevails in the
great agricultural region of western New York, about
Rochester, in the same season of the year; and the
Smithsonian rain-gauge in this neighbourhood gives
218
NEBRASKA,
as equally favourable a report. But there is so little
ploughed land in the state that perhaps eight-tenths of
this water runs off the surface immediately, as is evi¬
denced by the May and June rise in the Platte, the
Blue, the Republican, and other streams which swell
the Missouri River in the summer months. This Mis¬
souri flood was formerly thought to be the melted
snow in the mountains, but is now known to be the
abundant rains from the prairie water-sheds. And
then much of the remaining moisture which would per¬
meate the close, unbroken surface in time, is carried off
by the unobstructed western and southern winds, to
fall on the upper Missouri and other distant lands.
Good calculators estimate that one-sixth of every
farm should be grown to timber; and yet the United
States statistics show only one-twentieth part of Kansas
and Nebraska as growing up in forest. Trees essen¬
tially modify the climate by breaking the force of the
winds and staying the moisture of the surface, so that
their shade in summer and their shield in winter are
instinctively sought both by men and animals. Can
any sensible person beheve that the hot winds of last
summer, which did more to blast the harvest than
either drought or grasshoppers, could have blown all
the way from Kansas through green-timber belts and
the cool shade of artificial forests ? The older river
counties answer the question ; for we have had good
crops in proportion to the tree protection. And our
most successful fruit growers in Otoe County find it
more necessary to plant timber belts on the south than
on the north side of the orchards ; nor have they any
OTOE COUNTY.
219
doubt that when the due proportion of timber is once
standing guard over the homesteads of Nebraska, they
wiU find the summer tempered like the planted portion
of France; and the sheep and cattle will eat green
grass all winter in the woods and pastures.
Almost every farmer in Otoe County, as his means
permit, is surrounding his premises with Osage orange
or honey-locust hedges, both of which thrive well in
this latitude ; and there are hundreds of miles now
newly hedged, and in a few more years the older por¬
tion of the State will all present live fences and green
lanes to the admiring eye,—rivalling " merrie England "
and its buckthorn hedges. And the buckthorn thrives
remarkably well in Nebraska.
Our herd law is an immense saving of capital, to be
employed in useful investments, for the fence system of
the older states is a ruinous expenditure for nothing.
An excellent authority calculates that the first cost of
the fences in New York is |141,000,000 ; and another
estimated the fence tax of Pennsylvania at $10,000,000
a year. At these rates the fences of the United States
cost more than $1,200,000,000 ; and the annual repairs
and renewals every ten years may be put down at 20
per cent, a year, or $240,000,000—a fence tax which
is several times as great as all the local and govern¬
mental taxes of which the people complain—and all
of which we ignore in Nebraska. We have learned a
better way, and adopted the system of central Europe,
combining common sense, cheapness, taste, equal rights,
and good husbandry.
On the virgin prairie the first sod is broken up with
220
NEBRASKA.
a two-horse team, and all the other operations are pro-
portionably economical and easy. To persons who have
been used to the stones and hard pan, and roots and
worm fences of other States, the farming " out of doors"
in Nebraska—that is, without any enclosures—is as
light and happy work, comparatively, as it is for play-
children to make dirt-pies. It costs very little in pro¬
portion, to improve a new farm in this way ; and the
thousands of dollars spent in some States in fencing
against neighbours' stock, are here spent in agricultural
machinery, and in bringing the place to perfection in a
few years.
But the great inherent wealth of the State is the
broad natural meadow, on which the wild game revelled
till the white immigrants drove them away. These
prairie pastures rival the steppes of Asia, and the
pampas of South America, in their adaptation to the
fattening of cattle, and even without corn or barns,
those homesteaders who have depended on stock
raising, are but little affected, for the grass is good and
the supply of hay not much diminished ; and the cattle
often winter like the wild animals all winter long, on
these upland plains where little or no snow falls.
The demand for meat is steadily increasing in the east
as population increases in the cities and manufacturing
districts ; and the largest part of the extra supply must
come from the prairies between the Missouri River and
the Rocky Mountain slope. Texas can only furnish a
limited supply of " broad horns" or native cattle, of
which Otoe County fattens a large number annually.
But they are never equal in market value to the heavy
OTOE COUNTY.
221
blooded cattle raised on our northern plains. Our
farmers realize more money by raising stock and
manufacturing their grain into beef and pork than in
any other way.
The climate of Otoe County may be more change¬
able than pent-up mountain regions ; but the average
temperature is several degrees warmer here in the
winter months than in New York. The isothermal
line runs 300 miles further north, carrying the mild
southern current that much further up, on the west side
of the Missouri River, than at Chicago ; and the annual
temperature here is about that of Virginia and Mary¬
land. Our summers are some two months longer be¬
tween frosts than in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
It may be difficult for eastern people to realize that
our proximity to the Rocky Mountains, and the absence
of great water basins, like the northern lakes, give us
ten degrees of heat, yet such is the fact.
This part of the country is very healthy ; and chills
and fever and other miasmatic diseases are almost en¬
tirely unknown, owing to the well-drained and airy
prairies. Persons coming here with liver complaints,
asthma, and dyspepsia, and most other chronic mala¬
dies, generally recover their health without any other
medicine than the pure elements, air, water, and food.
And finally, we cannot better end this chapter than
by quoting the corroborating testimony of an eminent
and impartial traveller. Bayard Taylor, who is known
and admired both in the Old and in the New World.
On entering this South Platte region, he pronounced it
" a warm counterpart of the French lowlands, lacking
222
NEBRASKA^
only the grace given by centuries of human habitation,"
and he adds further along, " The country is one of the
most beautiful I ever looked upon, but nature has given
the smoothness and finish which elsewhere come from
long cultivation."
CHAPTER XVII.
UP THE SALT EIVEE.
Lancaster County.—Lincoln.—^Emigrant Home.—Capital,—Insane
Asylum. — Penitentiary. — University. — Agricultural College, — Salt
springs.—^Eailway land.—Surface.—Soil.—Lacustrine deposit. —Analysis
of five samples.—Ditto surface soils on lacustrine.—Saeinb County.—
Mr. Hatclifie.—Demand for labourers.—Want of means.—Moderate
capital.—^Borrowing.—Lands.—The delights of the imagination.—An
illustration, fig. 44.
FIRST visited Lincoln, in Lancaster
County, the capital of Nebraska, when
it was a six-year-old, and a decidedly
nice, neat-looking town I found it. It
boasts of a population of about 7,000, and it bas a
number of edifices witb some pretensions to architec¬
tural beauty. Three railroads have stations here ; and
one, the Burlington and Missouri (in popular parlance
the " B. and M."), has a building called " The Emi¬
grants' Home," where rooms and conveniences for
cooking, washing, &c., are supplied free of charge for
such limited time as the circumstances will permit,
while the occupants are looking for homes and employ-
224
NEBRASKA
ment. The people who use this building are of course
expected to rough it; for no railway company, how¬
ever opulent, would find it politic or profitable to pro¬
vide luxurious quarters under such circumstances.
The Capitol building is a laboured and not altogether
unsuccessful attempt, by an English architect, to pro¬
duce in enduring stone something decidedly more
ugly than the National Gallery in Trafalgar-square.
The Insane Asylum is a fine large stone building in
the Italian style. It is intended, as the public purse can
afford, and as the public exigencies require them, to add
other structures that will harmonize with this. The
State Penitentiary looked to me like a rather " big job,"
or as if the authorities were providing a fine place for
repentance for a very considerable proportion of the
future denizens of the State. But injudicious invest¬
ments like this are sure to occur in every new common¬
wealth, and I do not suppose that Nebraska has any
more than her share of them. The State University,
with which is connected or affiliated an agricultural
college, is a roomy brick structure, capable of afford¬
ing educational facilities to a far larger number of
students than there are as yet prepared to receive in¬
struction within its walls. The Agricultural College,
like those of other States, is largely endowed by the
United States Government ; and it is to be hoped that
the institution will be conducted in a manner effec¬
tually to benefit the predominant industry of Nebraska.
Two or three miles fi'om Lincoln there are a number
of salt springs, producing an extensive marsh, ineffec¬
tually drained into the Platte by Salt Creek. A very
UP THE SALT RIVER.
225
considerable amount of salt is manufactured here by
solar evaporation. Larger and more perfect works,
utilizing all of the water, and perhaps tapping the sub¬
terraneous supply by means of an artesian well, would,
if judiciously handled, be both very profitable and
of great public advantage. There is, I believe, no
other known source of supply available within 300
miles, and salt is an article in the cost of which
transportation must necessarily be a very important
element.
The Burlington and Missouri River Railway Com¬
pany still have for sale many thousand acres of fine
land in this county at prices ranging from |4 to $20
per acre—the latter price being for very superior lands
extremely well located ; and the terms generally ten
years' credit at six per cent, interest, with an allowance,
by way of discount, to the actual settler who occupies
his land and brings a certain proportion under cultiva¬
tion within a reasonable time. There is also much
land for sale that is in the hands of private persons, the
prices being in general regulated by those of the rail¬
road lands adjoining.
This county of Lancaster consists chiefly of very
pleasing gentle slopes and undulations of upland, with a
soil deep, rich, and easily cultivated. Underlying the
lacustrine deposit is drift, consisting chiefly of coarse
sand and gravel. This comes near the surface a little
west of Lincoln, indicating that at one time this was at
or near the shore of the great Missouri lake. At the
same time much of the country north, west, and south
was also submerged; for over nearly all of Nebraska
Q
226
NEBRASKA.
we find this peculiar deposit, the sediment of a great
lake or series of lakes fed by numerous rapid and
muddy streams. In some places the deposit is up¬
wards of 200 feet thick ; and wherever found, whether
the specimens are taken from the top, bottom, or
middle of the stratum, they are almost exactly alike in
appearance, and when analyzed they are found to be
unadulterated Missouri mud, practically identical in
composition. Over 80 per cent, of the deposit is silica,
so finely comminuted that it can only be detecte4
under the microscope. About 10 per cent, is made
up of carbonates and phosphates of lime, and there
is a small quantity of iron and alumina. The car¬
bonates and phosphates of hme are so abundant
that they frequently spontaneously crystallize, and
lumps of all sizes up to that of a walnut can be
seen in river banks, in excavations, and in turning up
the soil. For much information on this interesting
and important matter I am indebted to Mr. Samuel
Aughey, Professor of Geology and Chemistry in the
State University, a gentleman of much unassuming
ability, with whom I had the pleasure of travelling in
several counties.
I append a table comprising Professor Aughey's
analyses—(1) of Missouri mud deposited at a high stage
of the water, (2) lacustrine deposit from Dakota County,
(3) ditto from Douglas County, (4) ditto from Nebraská
City, and (5) ditto from Brownvüle, Nemaha County.
For several other valuable analyses of Nebraskan soils,
see Professor Aughey's article on the Surface Geology
of the State, pages 118 and 129.
UP THE SALT RIVEB.
227
Lacüstrine Deposit.
Analysis.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Missouri
Dakota
Douglas
Nebraska
Nemaba
mud.
Co.
Co.
City.
Co.
Insoluble (siliceous) matter
82-01
82-10
82-08
82-11
82-09
Ferric oxide ....
3-10
3-85
3-86
3-85
3-84
Alumina
1-90
-75
-75
■76
-77
Carbonate of lime
7-01
6-09
6-07
6-06
6-08
Phosphate of lime .
3-01
3-56
3-58
3-60
3-61
Carbonate of magnesium .
1-10
1-30
1-29
1-31
1-31
Organic matter
1-20
1-07
1-06
1-05
1-08
Moisture .....
1-08
1-09
1-07
1-07
Loss in analysis
•67
-20
-22
-19
, -15
100-00
100-00
100-00
100-00
100-00
The silica is so very finely comminuted as to be most
commonly taken for clay. People who live on this de¬
posit assert that wherever it reacnes the surface,
whether thrown from a cellar or the depths of a well, it
is, without the addition of vegetable mould, at once
capable of bearing a good crop of wheat. I append
analyses of surface soil on the lacustrine. The first is
from near Lincoln ; the second from near Omaha ; the
third fi'om Beatrice, Gage County; the fourth from
Plattsmouth, Cass County.
Surface Soil.
Analysis.
No. 1.
No. 2.
No. 3.
No. 4.
Insoluble (siliceous) matter
Ferric oxide ......
Alumina
Carbonate of lime
Phosphate of lime
Carbonate of magnesium ....
Vitriols
Sulphate of sodium
Organic matter
Loss in analysis
63-07
2-79
7-06
7-09
-75
1-97
-85
1-00
14-01
1-41
62-00
2-10
10-03
8-01
-77
1-01
-80
-00
14-50
•78
64-07
2-19
6-90
7-99
-70
1-79
•79
-00
14-38
1-20
62-11
2-90
8-01
8-11
1-08
■17
-87
-00
14-57
1-18
100-00
100-00
100-00
100-00
These soils have great power of under-drainage, and
228
NEBRASKA.
yet they are in no danger of leaching. The moisture
is retained in the subsoil, to be given out by capillary
attraction in very considerable quantities in time of
drought, and thus sustain the verdure of plant life.
The fibrous roots of grasses and small plants will pene¬
trate this friable porous formation to a great depth (I
have distinctly traced grass roots to a depth of 5 feet
in a newly-dug pit without coming to the ends of the
fibres), and yet there is in it a peculiar power of resis¬
tance against time and the elements. Large quantities
of excellent building stone have been found in the
south-eastern part of the county.
Saline County is the next south-westward of Lan¬
caster. Its principal town—Crete—is a railway junc¬
tion, and when I first saw it, was a thrmng infant of
three years. Its soil is very rich and fertile, consist¬
ing as far as .my observation goes of alluvial timber-
fringed bottoms and gently undulating lacustrine up¬
lands similar to those of Lancaster County. I have
met many English people in Nebraska. I drove out
as usual in the neighbourhood of Crete to prosecute
my inquiries and to see the country, and among others
I visited Mr. Elvin Hatcliffe, late an agricultural
labourer, and for nineteen years employed as such by
Mr. William Richardson, of Ashby Puerorum, near
Horncastle. He came here in June, 1871, with a wife
and seven children, of whom two were boys, twelve or
thirteen and nineteen respectively. He had about
£10 when he came. Although he availed himself of
the privileges of the emigrant home, his money neces¬
sarily went very rapidly. His wife helped to eke out
UP THE SALT RIVER.
229
their resources by taking in washing. Mr. Hatcliffe
soon obtained work on the raüroad near Lincoln at
.75 per day (about 6s.), and. afterwards at Crete for
'50. He had constant work through the winter. His
eldest son also found employment, and was able to do
a man's work. Hatcliife attracted the notice of Colonel
Doane, superintendent of the railway, who then em¬
ployed him as a working farm-bailiff, giving him $46
per month, a house to live in, and some privileges,
such as milk, potatoes, and fuel, and he had held this
situation to the time of my visit. When I saw him
he was ploughing for wheat a field of 160 acres, which
had been broken from the raw prairie the previous
season, at an expense of |2*50 per acre. This, with 160
acres more yet unbroken, was purchased on ten years'
time from the railway company by Mr. Hatcliffe, at $14
per acre, all superior land and well situated. So far
the accounts figure up as follows :—
First payment on 320 acres of land at $14 per acre (interest
only) at 6 per cent, in advance ..... $268"80
Breaking 160 acres at $2'50 . . . . . , 400 00
1 mare, 1 cow and calf, 4 pigs, about ..... 175*00
Household furniture, &c., about ..... 100*00
Total $943*80
or about £175. Of this the eldest son (most unfortu¬
nately drowned last summer) paid for the mare and
half of the advance on the land. With health and fair
average crops, Mr. H. will be able to support his family,
to pay for his land within the stipulated time, to hedge
and otherwise properly improve it, and to accumulate
230
NEBRASKA.
and provide suitable accommodation for horses and
cattle in due proportion to his acreage. He is there¬
fore on the road to a competence, and he may fairly
expect to attain it within a reasonable time. But his
is by no means an average case ; and I could not advise
any man with a family to leave steady employment at
reasonable English wages and to come here without
money or friends or guaranteed employment. If employ¬
ment be first obtained there is likely to be no difficulty,
but otherwise without money in hand there is danger of
great privation, or of being compelled to subsist for a
considerable time on the public or private charity of
strangers. A very large proportion of the people of
all new states like Nebraska are new beginners with
very limited means, and the demand for labourers at
daily, weekly, or monthly wages is limited by the state
of the finances.
These circumstances, however, make the new State
so much the better for the man who comes with ade¬
quate capital. Not one farmer in thirty, probably not
one in sixty, has sufficient capital in the first five years
of his residence in Nebraska to buy horses, cattle, and
implements, in due proportion to the size of his farm.
He imperfectly cultivates a portion of it, and the re¬
mainder continues to be covered with the wüd grasses
which necessarily waste away unconsumed. Yet such
men succeed in due time ; they succeed, although the
want of adequate capital makes a far larger percentage
of difference than it does in England. Whether an
English farmer sells his wheat in autumn or holds it
till spring, the difference in price will be but a moderate
UP THE SALT RIVEK.
231
percentage; but in a new country, its price in the
spring is often likely to be 30, 40, or 50 per cent,
more than in the autumn. A wealthy English farmer
settled in Nebraska is in the habit of loaning his spare
cash to such of his neighbours as can give good interest
and ample security. The fortunate possessor of a farm
without cost, a " homesteader," called upon him for
money with which to build a granary. The price of
wheat was 70c. per bushel, and he hoped, by holding
it tni spring, to get a dollar, or 43 per cent, more ; but
he could not hold it without a granary, and to get one
he must sell his wheat and render the granary un¬
necessary for that season. Had our friend been able
to accommodate him, even at a high rate of interest,
there was a fair probability that the difference in the
price of the one crop would have paid the debt, while
the granary would have remained for use for many
years. But the homestead settler can rarely give ade¬
quate security for substantial assistance, and the con¬
sequence is that, having an inadequate capital to begin
with, a man must labour under very serious disadvan¬
tages for the five years necessary to perfect his title to
the land, and render him a person of some little sub¬
stance. He will then, when no longer in such absolute
need of it, be able to obtain a reasonable amount of
credit.
Railway and private lands, of which there is a very
large amount for sale in this county, range at nearly
or about the same prices as in Lancaster. There is
a touch of Spanish magniloquence in the Western
character with, as must be admitted, something more
232
NEBRASKA.
than a Spaniard's reasons for flights of the imagination.
Some of the towns that I have mentioned were pro¬
bably cities in the vocabularies, as they certainly were
in the lively fancies of their founders, before the first
sod was turned or they were even staked out." Such
incongruities between names and present facts strike
the stranger everjrwhere. There is, for instance, nothing
so low as an inn or a tavern in all Nebraska. I have
heard of one or two "Boarding houses," kept by
widows, and I presume that there are many more, but
the humblest houses of entertainment for weary travel¬
lers that I have seen were always dignified with the
name of " Hotel." On one of my trips over the Bur¬
lington and Missouri River Railroad the engine was
stopped to slake its thirst at one of those water-tanks
which the useful wind bountifully supplies with water
on all the railways of the far West. It was in Saline
County on the high prairie, where the eye could scarcely
detect in all the expanse before it the slightest varia¬
tion from the perfect level of a placid sea. The future
great city of this plain bore the unassuming and plea¬
sant name of Friend ville, suggestive of cosy comfort in
quiet drab coal-scuttle bonnets and broad-brimmed
hats. There were four or five cottage-like framed build¬
ings erected, and there appeared no reason to doubt
that the place would in due time justify its compara¬
tively unassuming title of " villeJ^ But its " hotel," a
neat-looking framed cottage painted white, attracted
my attention ; I made a hasty sketch of it while the
train waited, and I now present this to my readers as
fairly representing one of the t5q)es of the far West.
UP THE SALT RIVER.
233
The Central Hotel " was six months old at the
time of my sketch. The front part of the building
was first erected, consisting, as I should suppose, for I
had no time for detailed inquiries, of one room on the
ground floor and two bed-rooms in the attic. The
landlord had evidently prospered; as a witness we
have the recent addition to the rear of the building.
Probably his wife or wife and daughter perform the
duties of host, hostess, cook, waiters, and other ser¬
vants, while he attends to his duties as a landed pro¬
prietor. If the place should prosper, anything like
Fairmont for instance, in less than another year the
" Central Hotel " would probably be enlarged to
several times its present capacity, the new building
and its inexpensive furniture all or nearly all paid for
out of the profits of this.
Eig. 44.—The beginning of a Nebraska town. Sketch taken at EriendviUe, on the
Burlington and Missouri River Railway.
CHAPTER XVIII.
SOME EEGIOKS OF THE BLUES.
Gage County.^—Beatrice.—Surface.—Soil.—Limestone.—Cement.
—Native lumber.—^Non-residents.—A. canny Scotchman.—The Otoes.—
A rule of morals.—Right on the average.—But might be better,—To uti¬
lize Otoes.—Jefferson County.—Fairbury.—Fillmore County.—
Drainage.—Deep ploughing.—Statistics.—^Fairmont.—Its growth and
trade.—^View of Fairmont.
ROM Crete, which is in the beautiful valley
of the Big Blue River, a wooded stream,
which drains about 5,000 square miles
of land in this State, and runs south-
eastwardly into Kansas, I followed this valley by rail
to Beatrice, in Gage County, a very thriving little town,
founded by hardy pioneers long before there was a
railway in the State, when supplies had to be hauled
by teams sixty miles or more from landings on the Mis¬
souri Rivèr.
The surface of the country along the valleys and on
the high uplands is nearly level, the border line
between them uneven and broken, but very little of it
too much so for the plough. The soil, as described by
a local authority, is "a rich, dark, vegetable mould.
SOME REGIONS OF THE BLUES. 235
intermixed with sand, and strongly impregnated with
lime. It is irom !§ ft. to 3 ft. deep, and it rests upon
a porous subsoil of yellow clay or marl, which has the
property of holding water like a spongé, and hence
enables vegetation to resist alike an exhausting drought
or excessive rains. Of course more sand enters into
the composition of the bottom lands, but with this
slight difference the soil of the uplands is the same."
My own observation will bear this out as a fair, unex-
aggerated statement, which, however, gives neither
extreme. There are probably some upland soils much
less than 18 in. in depth, and undoubtedly there are
bottom lands in the county four, five, and six feet
in depth of soil. The "yellow clay" mentioned is
an error, not in fact, but in name. The material
in question is the siliceous deposit of which several
analyses have been given in preceding pages.
In the banks of the Blue in this coiinty is found a
very superior quality of magnesian limestone, suitable
for building purposes, and in quantities practically
inexhaustible. Hydraulic limestone, also of very
superior quality, is likewise found, and cement works
for utilizing it have been established. Native lumber
from the hard woods on the banks of.the Blue and its
tributaries sells at $20 to $30 per 1,000 ft., and wood
for fuel at $4 to $5 per cord of 128 ft. There is no
longer any government land to be had in the county.
The Burhngton and Missouri River Railway Company
has some 80,000 acres at $4 to $8 per acre, and the
Midland Pacific about 10,000. The herd law pre¬
vails at present, as almost everywhere in Nebraska,
236
NEBRASKA.
but people are growing hedges, and the time will soon
come when it wiU be no longer necessary.
It is a misfortune in this, as in many other counties
of the State, that a large proportion of the land is held
by non-resident owners who do not improve it. They
bought at private entry, as it is called, in times when
it was possible to do so, from the government at |1*25
per acre ; and they simply hold on, paying the taxes in
the meantime, till the progress of settlement all around
them shall make the land marketable at a very profit¬
able figure, say five to ten dollars an acre. This has
been in many cases a very profitable sort of speculation,
but many persons have gone into it to such an extent
as to make themselves " land poor," as it is termed.
They own so much wild land that in times of depression
they can scarcely pay the taxes thereon, and scarcely
obtain relief by sales unless at a considerable sacrifice.
Still, these men are of great service to some of the
settlers. Occasionally a shrewd man of considerable
means will buy 80 acres of land in the midst of large
tracts held in this way or by a railway company. He
will cultivate all his own land, while the wild land
about him affords abundant hay and pasturage for a
large number of cattle. A man can thus have for
some important practical purposes one square mile of
land, or even ten for that matter, and only pay the
price of 80 acres. I have met with a canny Scotchman
of Australian experience who had started on this plan,
thus far with decided success. His own land consisted
of 80 acres on a fine stream. This was partly under
cultivation. He had about 150 head of cattle, princi-
SOME REGIONS OF THE BLUES.
237
pally cows, and he was rapidly increasing his stock.
His hay was chiefly cut, and his lowing herds were
depastured on the unoccupied, though privately owned,
land about him. He said there were no such chances
for a comparatively poor man to get on in Australia.
But almost every settler is so greedy for land as to
obtain more than he can stock or take care of, and
therefore there are very few able to avail themselves of
all the advantages to be obtained by not buying " specu¬
lators' land." The recent panic has brought a consider¬
able amount of this land into market at reasonable
prices, and a man of means can in many cases buy it
for cash to great advantage ; but unless in special cir¬
cumstances I cannot advise anyone to buy merely to
hold for a rise in price, for returns both larger and
safer can be obtained for judicious investments on
mortgage.
The Confederated Indian tribes of Otoes and Missou-
rias, now dwindled to 453 souls, have a reservation of
162,854 acres of land, mostly in the southern part of
this county, and which is excellent both for tillage and"
grazing. The streams are fringed with timber, which
is, however, rapidly disappearing, as throughout the ex¬
treme West there is scarcely the shghtest moral senti¬
ment among the white settlers against appropriating
for personal use any of the natural productions of wild,
unoccupied land "in reasonable quantities," as for
example, stone for a well, a rude cottage, or an inclosure,
wood or timber for like purposes or for fuel, hay or
pasturage for cattle, &c. The limit in public senti¬
ment seems to be that one must not be too greedy and
238
NEBRASKA.
appropriate more than he needs in the immediate future,
nor must he appropriate anything for sale of which
there is a scanty supply, limits which are, however,
sometimes transgressed. But when the land is in the
actual or partial occupancy of a settler, either as a home¬
stead or a pre-emption claim or as purchased property,
or even when it is being improved as the "timber
claim " of a person not settled thereon, the rights and
wishes of the owner are generally scrupulously re¬
spected. At any rate in such cases the sentiment of
the community is entirely in his favour. .It follows
that no one not actually settled upon or either improving
or about to improve some portion of his holding can
practically become owner of native timber, meadow, or
pasturage. And although this rule grates harshly
against some of our notions of the inviolable rights of
property, it is under the circumstances on the whole
a very sound one, beneficial not merely to the poor
struggling settlers-, but also to the non-resident- owners
of land upon whose legal rights the trespasses are
committed, for these non-residents hope to make their
profits on their investments through the gradual appre¬
ciation of the land in value ; a hope, the realization of
which largely depends on the prosperity of the first
settlers, which in its turn very largely depends upon the
ability of these people to obtain in the beginning of
their contest with nature, without too much labour or
expense, rude shelter, fuel, and other necessaries of
existence. In a given locality one half of the land is
owned by a railway company, and there are two or
three acres of wood to a square mile. Generally speak-
SOME REGIONS OF THE BLUES.
239
ing, in such a case settlement would proceed for the
first two years at least twenty-five per cent, faster if
the wood on the railway land were fi^ee to all than if it
were absolutely conserved ; and this greatly enhanced
rapidity of settlement would add to the value of the
railway land far more than the trifling value of the
wood thereon. As carriers, also, and very probably
after two or three years as carriers of fuel, the railway
company would of course greatly benefit, but I am
now speaking of them only in their capacity as land
owners, and it follows that what is true for them in this
respect is true on the average for other owners. The
Otoes are land owners, practically non-improvers and
non-resident ; about half of their lands are now for sale
and most of the rest will probably soon follow. Their
selling value is being enhanced by the neighbourhood
of the very persons who,are now rapidly stripping it
of its timber," and I have therefore but a moderate
amount of sympathy for the woes of the Indian agent
who laments these depredations, and suggests to the
Indian Department the costly experiment of making
some very decided efibrts to restrain them.
Yet it would be well if such regulations could be
introduced as would prevent waste. I have never
heard of a railway company trying to impose any re¬
strictions, but I would suggest to them, to Indian agents
on reservations about to be sold, and to others in like
circumstances, the idea of parcelling out what little
timber they have to neighbouring. settlers in small
measured lots, making the distribution as wide as
possible, and one of its conditions that each allottee
240
NEBRASKA.
should plough an effectual fire-break in front of his
allotment, and conserve and protect for the owners of
the land aU young trees under a certain girth. The
effecttial fire-break would involve little trouble to the
allottee, and the limits of forest growth would thereby
be largely extended; his exclusive right to all the
larger trees would be more valuable to him than the
common privilege at present exercised, and if it could
be fairly carried out such an arrangement would in
many cases be alike beneficial to all parties concerned.
The Otoes are unable to utilize any very consider¬
able proportion of their land, and 77,174 acres are now
to be sold in trust for their use. They should be per¬
mitted or induced to sell all and remove otherwhere, or
to sell all but an 80-acre allotment for each family, and
the money should be expended in part in providing
them decent habitations, and in part distributed to
each family in proportion to the work performed on
their several allotments, while the education of the
children should be compulsory. Each child on grow¬
ing up to decent and tolerably civilized man or
womanhood should have a portion, till by this means
the trust fund became exhausted and the Indians were
merged among the people as citizens, not wards of the
State. They are now what is termed partially civilized, a
low lot of vagabonds like the Pawnees, and the Indian
Department has commenced with them with encouraging
results a policy which looks a little in the direction that
I have indicated, but which lacks that thoroughness
without which there can be no complete success.
Under the new policy the agent says :—
SOME REGIONS OF THE BLUES. 241
" The greatest difficulty experienced is to give them enough work to
do with the limited means at my command applicable for the purpose.
Not the half wanting work can be employed, nor furnished tools to work
with, a circumstance greatly to be regretted. The popular idea that an
Indian will not work is erroneous, when they see its importance and they
have an individual interest in doing so, apart from the common interests
of the tribe."
In this idea the agent is quite right. The Indians
are amenable under more or less pressure of circum¬
stances to the same considerations which influence
other varieties of the genus homo, and there would be
no substantial amount of difficulty under the paternal
despotism which a guardian is entitled to exercise over
his wards, in carrying out such a compulsory system
of labour and education among Indians receiving the
bounty of the government, as would make the majority
of the rising generation useful to themselves and the
community.
Jefferson County is the next west of Gage and south
of Saline. There is in it a considerable amount of up¬
land so nearly flat that few, if any, streams are found
upon it, but this is in almost all cases sufficiently
porous to effectually absorb the rainfall in a reasonably
short time. This soil is fertile and well adapted for
wheat, while for stock purposes the lack of living water
may be compensated by windmills. The Little Blue
River runs diagonally through this county, and is fol¬
lowed in its course by the St. Joseph and Denver City
Railway, on which is Fair bury, an active, thriving
market town, and the capital of the county. On the
Little Blue and its tributaries there are fine bottom
lands and beautiful slopes and undulations. Dark rust-
R
242
NEBRASKA.
coloured sand-stone sometimes forms quite precipitous
ravines along the Little Blue. It is of little economical
value, but a valuable limestone is found in the north¬
western part of the county, and in Thayer County,
which adjoins it on the west, and has beautiful lands
on the Little Blue and the Big Sandy.
Fillmore County is west of Saline, and almost
entirely on the high prairie. School Creek and the
West Blue flow through its two north-western town¬
ships, and the head waters of Turkey Creek flowing
nearly on the range line between townships 6 and
7, the centre line of the county, drain portions of
half-a-dozen townships ; but with these exceptions,
there is scarcely any living water in the county. Yet
the natural advantages of this county are by no means
to be despised. Its soil is lacustrine, and where this
is too nearly level for the rain to run off the surface
and form streams, there is still, generally speaking,
perfect drainage by slow percolation, the portion which
cannot be permanently held in suspension in this fine
compacted siliceous powder by capillary force gradually
finding its way to the first substratum far below. If,
in some cases, percolation is somewhat too slow for the
heavier falls of rain, deep ploughing will remedy the
evil; if sometimes the surface is liable to be parched
through lack of rain, deep ploughing will enable the
rootlets of plants to seek for moisture where the ^un
and dry winds can scarcely search it out. Fillmore is
one of the newer counties of Nebraska, and it is
rapidly increasing in population and importance. On
its assessment rolls in 1873 there were 1,418 horses.
Eaton, Photo. Omaha,
PANORAMA OF FAIRMONT.
IN TWO PARTS—THE POINT A IS COMMON TO BOTH, BEING SHOWN AT THE RIGHT OF THE UPPER VIEW AND AT THE LEIT OF THE LOWER ONE.
SOME KEGIONS OF THE BLUES.
243
118 mules and asses, 1,965 neat cattle, 62 sheep, 1,749
swine, 660 waggons. In 1874 there were 1,681 horses,
an increase of nearly 20 per cent. ; 156 mules, an
increase of over 30 per cent.; 2,331 neat cattle, an
increase of nearly 20 per cent.; 171 sheep, an increase
of 175 per cent.; 2,819 swine, an increase of over
60 per cent.; 796 waggons, an increase of over 20
per cent. Like most others of the newer counties
of the State, it suffered last year a severe check from
the ravages of the grasshoppers, from which, however,
it will be one of the first to recover.
Fairmont, on the Burlington and Missouri River
Railway in the north central part of the county, is the
principal market. It was " staked out " in October,
1871, at the same time that Chicago was being reduced
to ashes. In 1872 about 40 car-loads, or 800,000 lbs.
of grain, were shipped thence by Messrs. Porter and
Mayfield, pioneer merchants of the place. The first
school-house was built in 1873, at a co^t of $5,000,
or about £900. The portion of the grain crop of 1873
shipped was about 6,000,000 lbs. In this summer
were sold fifteen "Marsh Harvesters," a reaping-
machine which carries the binders, protected from the
sun by a canopy. In their comfortable protected seats
two men will do the work of four men following a
reaper. In the summer of 1874, 120 " Marsh Har¬
vesters " were sold here, an increase of 800 per cent.,
and decidedly indicative of rapid progress among the
people. 770 tons of lumber, and 620 tons of agri¬
cultural implements, besides 200 tons of threshing-
machines, were received here from May 1st to August
244
NEBRASKA.
11th, 1874, and a total freightage of 4,720,000 lbs. A
plot of ground has been laid out, and planted with
trees for the uses of a public park, and the prosperity
of the place has been sufficient to tempt a holder of
contiguous land to lay out seventy acres wdth corre¬
sponding streets, &c., and which is called Keith's Addi¬
tion. An " addition " involves the registration of a
map, showing the streets, avenues, and public squares,
if any, with the exact location and number of every
building lot. The streets, &c., must be given to the
public, and, generally speaking, the taxes on the lots
reserved for building purposes will be very much more
in the aggregate than those of the whole tract of land
before it is plotted. It follows that there must be
some substantial reason for hoping to sell building
lots for good prices, or else the laying out of town
plots, or of additions thereto, is exceedingly unwise on
the part of the landowner.
Fairmont may fairly be considered a typical infant
town of the plain, and it is, therefore, worthy of being
represented in the accompanying plate, which is a
panorama of the town in two parts. It is what may
be called a feather-edge view, and it accurately repre¬
sents the appearance that the town will present when
it comes fairly in sight as the traveller is crossing the
high prairie.
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE HEADWATEES OF THE BLUES.
York County.—Soil.—Surface.—Prices of land.—Seward County.
—Saunders County.—Ashland.—Soil and surface.—Mr. Stoking's
experience.—A splendid return.—Why sheep-husbandry is not more
followed.—Assessments.—Butler County.— Surface.—Grasshoppers.
—Brought.— Soil.—Windmills,—A " Homesteader."—Hail.—Beep
ploughing.—Lands.—Polk County.—Comparisons.—Clay County.—
Statistics.—Profitable wheat.—A blacksmith-farmer.
ORK is a fine county, consisting chiefly of
lacustrine upland, with perhaps a little
drift in some places. It is mostly watered
by the West Blue, Beaver Creek, and
the Middle Blue and their tributaries, on which it has
some very fine bottom land. Some of the upland
consists of tables, much of it is gently undulating, and
a small portion is rather too much broken with ravines
There would not be any difficulty in finding, at fair
prices, any reasonable number of desirable improved
or unimproved farms in this county. York, the capital,
is very well situated on Beaver Creek, in the centre
of the county, and it will eventually become a con-
246
NEBEASKA.
siderable local market. It is hoped that the Midland
Pacific Railway will be completed to this point in the
bourse of 1875. The Burlington and Missouri River
and Union Pacific Railways have lands for sale in this
county, and the prices range from |5 per acre upwards.
Seward County is the next east of York and north
of Saline, and it bears a strong general resemblance to
the former, having, however, rather more bottom land.
It is watered by the three main branches of the Big
Blue, two of which unite near Seward, the county
seat, a thriving market town, which was the western
terminus of the Midland Pacific Railway at the time
of my visit. The Burlington and Missouri River
Railway is the great landowner, and there is an
abundance of good land for sale slightly improved
or otherwise.
Saunders County is north-eastward of Seward, and
north of Lancaster. Its chief market, which was
until recently its capital, is Ashland, a very neat and
thriving town, well situated on the Burlington and
Missouri River Railway near the mouth of Salt Creek.
Good building stone is found in the vicinity, and the
surrounding country is rich and fertile, mostly con¬
sisting of undulating upland. The western part of
the county is, to a very considerable extent, cut up by
ravines ; and although it consists of the rich lacustrine,
it is scarcely so well adapted for tillage as. for sheep
husbandry. The most considerable flockmaster at
present is Mr. Moses Stoking, who is settled near
Wauhoo, and through a mutual acquaintance, has given
me the following statement :—
ON THE HEADWATERS OF THE BLUES.
247
Wauhoo, Saunders Co, Nov. 5th, 1874.
First.—I will present the statement for 1873 of Mr. P. T. Myers, an
experienced Flockmaster of Gage Co Mr. Myers keeps 1,000
sheep.
Dr. Fhck Statement, 1872 to 1873.
To 100 tons of hay at $3 00 per ton for putting up,
$300 ; 500 bushels of sheaf oats, $100 ; shepherding for eight
months, $150 ; wages of one man for four months, $100 ; wages
of one man for one month, $30 ; washing, shearing, and packing
wool, $200 ; salt, $35 ; shedding for winter, $50 ; losses at two
per cent., $70 ; total expenses ...... $1,035
Cr.
By 4,500 lbs. of wool at 40 cents per lb., $1,800 ; 400
lambs, at $2*50, $1,000 ; total income .... $2,800
Total expenses as above ..... $1,035
To nett profit to balance ..... 1,765
2,800.
It will be observed that Mr. Myers has allowed liberal prices for the
hay and oats when produced on the farm where fed ; also for the labour
of feeding and herding, and for washing, shearing, and packing wool the
allowance is more than liberal. My own statement, including the time
from July, 1872, to July, 1873, is lost, and my memory does not enable
me to reproduce it in fuU. We sheared in 1872 1,440 sheep, and in
1873, 1,664 head, which clipped over 11,900 lbs. of wool sold in Ash¬
land for 24 cents per lb. The losses in sheep were 2 per cent. The
total expense for the year, $1,064, being 64 cents per head.
The following statement includes time from July, 1873, to July, 1874,
and covers the longest foddering season which has occurred in the State
during my experience :—
248
NEBRASKA.
Flock Statement, July, 1873, to 1874.
Dr.
1,664 sheep at $3'00 . ^4,992'00
160 tons of hay at ^1*50 240'00
1,500 bushels corn at 50
cents 750*00
6 months' labour and
board, feeding . . 138*00
12 his. salt at $3*00 . 36*00
59 sheep lost at $2*00. 118*00
Shearing 1,652 sheep at
10 cents .... 165*20
Burlaps and twine . . 24*17
Hauling to depot and
shipping ....
6 months' labour and
board herding.
25*00
108*00
,596*37
304 muttons sold . .
351 lambs raised .
11,600 lbs. wool at 30
cents. .....
Amount to balance capi¬
tal and cost . . .
Gr.
$918*75
702-00
3,480*00
1,495*62
,596*37
The above comes pretty near proving the truthfulness of a remark
made to me in Michigan, by a farmer of that State while getting my
flock ; said he : " Sheep are the only things I ever knew from which a
farmer can get his capital back each year, and still have his sheep left."
When we consider that Nebraska is admirably adapted to sheep raising,
that water is sweet and plentiful, that the grasses are varied, rich, and
abundant, and that the climate is one of the most congenial in the world
for wool growing, that sheep even when kept in large flocks have ever
continued healthy; is it not strange that so few of her citizens
have as yet embarked in the business of wool growing ?... "WTiat field
of enterprise offers stronger inducements to capital and labour ?
Truly yours,
M. Stoking.
Mr. Stoking's allowance of $1*50 per ton for curing
his hay is a low one, but with good machinery, heavy
grass, and favourable circumstances, it could be done
for that figure. His sheep were evidently well bought,
and their yield decidedly more than the average for
ON THE HEADWATERS OF THE BLUES. 249
sheep held at that price, although the prices which he
obtained for his wool are low. The answer to the
question with which he concludes is to be found in the
fact (a) that comparatively few of the people have
much idea of the advantages of sheep raising ; (b) that
of these few there are fewer still who have confidence
that they could successfully buy and manage a con¬
siderable flock; (c) and of these a still smaller number
have the means not committed in other directions be¬
fore the superior advantages of sheep husbandry were
known to them.
The average assessment valuation of land in Saunders
in 1874 was $4*51; there were 3,986 horses valued at
$49*77 ; 417 mules and asses at $63*90 ; 8,634 neat cattle
at $17*35; 1,643 sheep (about the number of Mr.
Stoking's flock) at $1*62; 12,972 swine at $1*15.
Butler County is west and north of Seward, and it
is best reached from Columbus or Schuyler on the
opposite side of the Platte. It comprises a wide
bottom on the Platte, generally bounded by a steep
bluff, a high, almost perfectly level, table land without
running water, some undulating and some more or less
broken prairie. On the occasion of my only visit
to this county I saw that the grasshoppers in the
bottom in considerable numbers were commencing
their ravages, but when I had mounted to the upland
I found that the devouring Caloptenus Spretus had not
put in an appearance there, but the surface was dry and
the grass and the crops were suffering from drought.
At Summit two or three " stores " and other buildings,
some agricultural implements exposed on the grass for
250
NEBRASKA.
sale, and a few homesteaders collected, indicated the first
beginnings of a business centre. Sweeping gradually
westward, I drove over the high prairie till I came to
the first undulations which indicated the water-shed of
the Big Blue, and I then returned on the line dividing
the counties of Polk and Butler. I saw one pond
nearly dry, on the leeward side of which I should not
care to live in summer, although there were no streams.
This was the only place where I perceived any indica¬
tions of water standing too long on the soil; but
doubtless there may be other small ponds in slight
depressions at least during the wettest part of the
year. However, I should think it likely that this one
would disappear altogether if the land sloping gently
towards it should be tilled, as this would considerably
increase the absorbing powers of the soil. The dark
colour of the vegetable humus, as we should naturally
expect, is found to penetrate deeper than is generally
the case on sloping lands of the same lacustrine.
Everything bore evidence of a deep rich soil. I saw
several windmiU pumps, which are of course the only
really convenient means of watering stock, and driving
to one of these I found a homesteader of three years'
standing who was evidently getting things "pretty
well fixed " around him. His maize was in very good
condition, and his wheat, though late, appeared likely
to produce a good crop. On his farm there was not
the slightest indication of that drought of which the
people generally had begun seriously to complain. He
told me the secret of the difference was deep ploughing,
which enabled the roots of his maize and wheat to find
ON THE HEADWATERS OF THE BLUES. 251
sufficient moisture, while that of his neighbours was
being parched with the surface soil. The late¬
ness of his wheat was owing to the fact that he had
been visited by one of those hailstorms of a severe but
an extremely local character, which sometimes " occur
in the West.^ His wheat was as he said all cut to pieces,
but it had stooled out again and was going to make
him a fair crop. But for his deep ploughing it would
have commenced to wither about the time it should
have been in bloom. The Union Pacific Railway has
still a very considerable amount of land in Butler and
Polk, but it is being rapidly sold off. Slightly im¬
proved homesteads of 160 acres sell at from $500 to
$800 ; present occupant conveying no title, but merely
leaving it to be entered by the buyer, who must obtain
his title from the Government by pre-emption or five
years' residence.
The county consists of 372,480 acres, and unimproved
land sells at from $4 to $8 per acre. One entire
township, 36 square miles, on the head waters of Plum
Creek, is held by non-residents who are said to be
willing to sell on moderate terms.
Polk County is more sandy near the Platte, and it
has a greater amount of land descending towards the
Blue, but it bears such a general likeness to Butler
County that a separate description seems scarcely
necessary. The prices of land in this county, quality
for quality, differ little from those of Butler.
1 This was the only instance of damage by hail that I met with in al
of my wanderings in Nebraska.
252
NEBRASKA.
The counties of Nebraska thus far described com¬
prise somewhat less than two-sevenths of the area, and
rather more than six-sevenths of the population, accord¬
ing to the census of 1874. Their average population
is therefore about nine persons per square mile, and
that of the rest of Nebraska, taken as a whole, is six
persons to ten square miles.
In its general features Clay County is very similar
to Fillmore, which adjoins it on the east. It contains
nearly 370,000 acres of land, of which very little is in
any way unfit for tillage. The prices of wild land
vary from $3 to |8 per acre. The population of the
county was fifty-four in 1870, and 3,622 in 1874.
Its assessment rolls increased fi-om 1873 to 1874, in
the number of horses, from 816 to 1,331 ; mules from
111 to 128; neat cattle from 918 to 1,683; swine from
677 to 1,644; and in waggons and carriages from 423
to 617.
Mr. E. W. Grinell, residing two and a half miles
from Harvard, in this county, made the following
statement of his wheat of 1873. He had homesteaded
160 acres of land, and cultivated wheat on 100 acres.
His figures are :—
Breaking 100 acres at $2, $200; second breaking at $1'50,
$150 ; sowing, $30 ; seed wheat, 150 bushels, $150 ; cutting
and stacking at $2*50 per • acre, $250 ; threshing 4i cents
per bushel, $99 ; hauling 2± miles to market at 75 cents per
load, $41*25; total ..... $920*25
The yield from this 100 acres was 2,200 bushels of
wheat, which he sold at 92 cents per bushel . . . $2,024*00
Profit ....... $1,103*75
Placing the value of his land, which was a free gift
ON THE HEADWATERS OF THE BLUES.
253
from tlie government, at $8 per acre, the price at which
the railway land adjoining his farm is held, and the
profits of the one crop are seen to be 38 per cent, more
than the gross value of the land on which it was
grown, and it comes within |93 of sufficient to buy a
quarter section, or 160 acres. I have not learned the
result of his crop of 1874; but it could, under no cir¬
cumstances, have been so profitable, because wheat has
been much lower; but he would probably plough but
once for his second crop, which makes a very material
difference in the expense.
In the spring of 1872, Mr. A. H. Myers, a black¬
smith, settled in the vicinity of Harvard, in Clay
County, and obtained 160 acres on the rolling prairie.
He had a wife and several children, and some stock
and trade implements, but very little money. He kept
his anvil ringing for some time in Harvard ; and then
built his smithy on his land, and cultivated his farm.
In the spring of 1874 he had to employ two men to
meet the demand for his work on the part of his neigh¬
bours; but at the same time he planted 70 acres of his
land with wheat, 15 with oats, 64 with corn, and 2 with
potatoes. In addition to these crops, Mr. Myers has
an orchard in good shape, a nursery in which there are
15,000 soft maples raised from the seed, and 600 rods
of hedge row, made up of Osage orange and grey willow.
Mr, Myers, in American phrase, is "well fixed;" and
what he has done thousands of others may do on the
fertile lands of this State.
CHAPTER XX.
SOUTH OENTEAL NEBEASKA.
Adams County.—Sand, drift, and lacustrine.—Market and true values
of broken land.—Bottom lands, malarious diseases, and running water.—
How to buy.—Snowstorms sometimes dangerous if there are no sufficient
landmarks.—Statistics.—^Nuckolls County.—Eailways.—Grasshoppers.
—Local market on the Eepublican checked for the present.—The best
remedies.—Statistics of Nuckolls.—Webster County.—Statistics.—
Franklin County.—An experience.—Statistics.—Harlan County.—
Its progress.—Furnas County.—100® west and irrigation?—Progress.—
Gosper and Phelps.—Kearney County.—A distinction.—Percolation
and lakelets.—Fort Kearney.—A proposed national speculation.—^An
alternative suggestion.—Mr. Sydenham's experience.
DAMS County differs very materially from
Clay. Being at the head of the Little
Blue River, and of a creek running into
the Big Blue, it is broken by numerous
ravines. It has, however, some fine lacustrine up¬
lands, and on the Little Blue, from twelve to fifteen
miles from the railway, I saw some bottom lands that
can scarcely be surpassed. A considerable portion
of the county is too sandy, and the " drift," a coarse
gravelly deposit, crops out in some places. There is,
however, an abundance of good upland or bottom to be
SOUTH CENTEAL NEBRASKA.
255
obtained in the county. Western Americans have a
great objection to land that is a little broken by ravines.
If a plough cannot be run in every direction over a
field of 160 acres, its value in the market is very con¬
siderably diminished, unless the obstruction is a living
stream. Now, I do not think it should make any very
substantial difference whether the farm can be cul-
tivated in one field, or whether in ploughing we must
divide it into two or three irregular plots; and I am
inclined to think that one or two deep ravines are an
advantage in a farm rather than otherwise, for they
will afford much shelter for stock ; and if the sides are
too steep for general tillage, they may, with great
advantage, be planted with timber. In such a case I
should look to the acreage lost to the plough, figure its
value for timber, and the value of the ravine bottom
as a stock shelter or for meadow, and then strike a
balance. I think that in purchasing it will thus be
found that there is often a difference of from ten to
twenty per cent, in favour of buying a farm that is a
little cut up by ravines. But it may be so much cut
up as to be fit only for a grazing farm ; in which case,
of course, no one who wishes arable land would have
it at any price.
People are also, in my judgment, much too fond of
obtaining bottom lands. A sod of eighteen inches to
two feet in depth, such as can often, and indeed very
generally, be found in the upland, is deep and rich
enough for all practical purposes. The soil of a bottom
SÍK feet deep is and will be very little, if anything,
better, till we get the knack of setting it up edgewise
256
NEBRASKA.
and cultivating both sides. And if any malarious
diseases are possible in a county, they are sure to come
in the bottom lands, and especially on the banks of the
wooded streams, just where the settlers are most fond
of placing their houses. Neither is running water a
very important consideration on a farm. One can
seldom have it just where he wants it, and at any rate
he must almost always have a well for family purposes.
Now if, in buying a farm of 160 acres, he calculates
the cost of a well, and adds to this two-thirds of the
difference charged him for running water, he will find
that it will generally give him a windmill pump, which
will not only water his stock, but will draw all the
water for family use, and it will also be just in the
right place. By adding a little more to the price, he
will find that he can make his windmill a general
motive power to cut hay, straw, or maize stalks; to
crush oats, to grind maize, and to do many other little,
but yet quite important things, which wül be otherwise
neglected.
Thus, to buy land to the best possible advantage for
our purposes, it is necessary to know the foibles of the
people among whom we propose to dwell, and also the
prices which desirable improvements of various sorts,
qualities, and degrees are likely to cost us.
I passed in this county a cabin, whence a feeble old
man issued in a storm, in 1872, to attend to his stock,
and became bewildered and lost, and never returned
alive. Everybody should have landmarks about his
place. A row of young trees between the stock yard
and the cabin would probably have saved this man's life ;
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
257
a row of sticks or boards on the side of the path, a
deeply-ploughed furrow, or a clothes-line attached from
the house to the corner of the yard, would almost cer¬
tainly have done so. Considering the extreme care¬
lessness of people, the great neglect of landmarks, and
the fact that when blinded by driving snow one is very
likely to lose his presence of mind at the same time
that he loses his way, it is very surprising that so few
disasters occur.
The population of Adams County was nineteen in
.1870, and in 1874 it had increased to 2,694. From
1873 to 1874 the number of horses assessed had in¬
creased from 382 to 886; mules from 45 to 116;
neat cattle from 587 to 1,316; and swine from 349
to 879, a rapidity of growth which augurs well for
the future.
NuckoUs is a fine county, the northern half watered
by the Little Blue and its tributaries, and the southern
half by the Republican, a magnificent stream with very
fine wide bottom lands, and which is fed by numerous
small branches and streamlets which have cut deep
channels through the soft lacustrine. The St. Joseph
and Denver City Railway crosses diagonally the north¬
eastern township of the county, and for the present,
therefore, its facilities for shipping produce or receiving
merchandise are decidedly superior to those of the
other counties in this valley. But with their rapid
rate of growth these counties have necessarily had good
local markets, and unless through a check in the tide of
immigration they would scarcely need to ship any con¬
siderable portion of their produce until the inevitable
s
258
NEBRASKA.
railway runs up the valley and into Colorado. Unfor¬
tunately the ravages of the grasshoppers in 1874 will
have given this check, and the immigration of 1875 or
even that of 1876 can scarcely be expected to be suffi¬
cient to consume the surplus produced by the older
settlers. This check is in the nature of a panic, to a
large extent without rhyme or reason, but. it can
neither be ignored nor can it be at once argued away.
Under these circumstances it is to be hoped that the
present settlers will have turned their attention as much
as possible to articles which will bear transportation
across the " divide " to the Union Pacific Railway.
Wool, cattle, and dairy products would bear this ex¬
pense very well, but only a few will have the means to
embark in these branches of farming industry. There
will have been some difficulty even in turning their
attention to pork, the poor man's stock, to such an
extent as would be necessary to consume their surplus
of maize and wheat of a moderately good year. Un¬
less in a year of comparative scarcity and high prices,
wheat will pay better as food for swine than it will if
transported by waggon for very long distances to a
market. Pound for pound it goes much further than
maize, it can be produced on suitable land at a cost
of 40 cents per bushel or less under favourable circum¬
stances, and it would be safer and therefore better for
a man who fed aU of his surplus to swine to raise both
maize and wheat instead of trusting entirelytotheformer.
If the farmers of the Republican Valley could manage
through their "Grange" organizations• or otherwise to
pack their own pork and to cure their own ham and bacon
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
259
in the best manner for shipment, I am confident that
every bushel of wheat properly fed to swine would net
them close upon a dollar. Nuckolls County had eight
inhabitants in 1870, and 942 in 1874, and in 1873 and
1874 respectively it had of horses, 257 and 406;
of mules, 44 and 52; of neat cattle, 901 and 1,203;
and of swine 383 and 930.
Webster County is the next west of Nuckolls and
south of Adams. The northern tier of townships is
mostly drained by the head waters of the Little Blue,
and the other three-fourths of the county by numerous
small feeders of the Kepublican. It is a very fine
county, but more broken than Nuckolls or Franklin.
Its population was 16 in 1870, and 2,250 in 1874. In
1873 and 1874 respectively it had 647 and 828 horses;
73 and 131 mules; 684 and 1,661 neat cattle; 387 and
1,226 swine, and waggons and carriages increased fi*om
250 to 394.
Franklin is next , west of Webster and south of
Kearney County, and consists of similar land to the
former. Its population numbered 26 in 1870,. and
1,821 in 1874. Its horses increased last year to 570
from 340 the year before, its mules to 84 from 67, its
neat cattle to 1,045 from 658, its swine to 1,644 from
677, and its carriages and waggons to 617 fi'om 423,
while the number of sheep declined fi-om 50 to 37.
Mr. M. S. Endlong settled on the edge of Franklin
County, bordering on Kearney County, in March, 1872.
When he arrived on his homestead with his two sons,
he had four horses, but only eleven dollars in money.
At the beginning of 1874 he found himself with
260
NEBRASKA.
enough to live on and with 100 acres of land under
cultivation, an orchard in which there were 500 young
apple trees, 100 pear trees, and 100 cherry trees; and
a vineyard in which there were 500 grape vines. In the
spring of 1874 it was his intention to plant out 200
more apple trees, 200 peach trees, and 500 vines.
Mr. Budlong's farm is on the open prairie ; and he is
an example of what an energetic man with small means
may accomplish on the prairie.
Harlan County contains rather more valley land
than Franklin, but it is in many respects a counterpart
of the last. Here, however, the nearest part of the
main Republican VaUey is less than 40 miles from
Plum Creek on the Union Pacific Railway, where the
Platte is well bridged. Harlan was without inhabi¬
tants in 1870, and it had 1,847 in 1874. On its assess¬
ment rolls in 1873 and 1874 respectively there were
352 and 644 horses, 68 and 103 mules, 943 and 1,213
neat cattle, 187 and 476 swine.
Furnas County is one-fourth larger than either of
the six last described ; it has a very large proportionate
amount of fine bottom land, the upland consisting still
of lacustrine. The hundredth meridian west from
Greenwich passes through the county. Some years
ago the 99th meridian was given as the western limit
of the profitable growth of cereals without irrigation.
More recently the balance of opinion has seemed to
favour the meridian of 100 as the limit, and some
settlers indisposed to believe in imaginary lines, have
pushed far westward of this boundary. That for the pre¬
sent there is a western limit is certain, but our data for
SOUTH CENTKAL NEBRASKA.
261
fixing it are almost entirely wanting. When it is found,
however, it will be very irregular, curving westward
here and eastward there, as isothermal lines curve north¬
ward and southward. Some people have asserted that
this limit is farther westward in the Kepublican Valley
than in that of the Platte, but so far as I know, the
data are quite insufficient to determine this point. Kain-
fall observations are far from difficult, and it is much
to be wished that they might be quickly extended very
thoroughly over the western portions of the State. In
Furnas County the main Eepublican Valley approaches
nearer to that of the Platte than anywhere else in
its course. This county was without inhabitants in
1870 ; it had 1,342 in 1874, and 536 horses as against
337 in 1873 ; 50 mules as against 37 ; 1,220 neat cattle
as against 535; 363 swine as against 96; 278 carriages
and waggons as against 153.
Gosper County is decidedly smaller than any other
in this part of Nebraska. It is north of Furnas, and
its north-eastern corner is on the Platte. It is mostly
lacustrine upland, but it contains a sandy strip on the
north and a little of the Platte Valley. There was no
assessment in 1873 or 1874. In the latter year the
population was estimated at 100.
Phelps is the next county eastward. It comprises a
strip of the Platte Valley in the north, a sandy strip,
and a wide lacustrine table with scarcely any running
water. Its population in 1874 was 101.
Kearney County is south of the Platte, and between
Phelps and Adams, and as untravelled Englishmen
with a pardonable yet regrettable want of strict geogra-
262
NEBRASKA.
phical accuracy sometimes confound the city of Penn¬
sylvania with the State of Brotherly Love, and the
District of Washington with the Territory of Columbia,
to prevent a more unfortunate error it may be well to
mention here that Kearney County and Kearney City
are places totally distinct, on opposite sides of the
river, and differing as yet very much in superficial ex¬
tent, notwithstanding recent additions to the latter,
and a new bridge across the Platte. The northern
part of the county consists of bottom land somewhat
sandy, then a sand-hill region, and next the usual
lacustrine upland. Small portions are drained by the
head waters of the Little Blue, and by feeders of the
Republican. A large proportion is very nearly level
and drains by percolation to the strata below, while in
the south-west are numerous hollows in which lake¬
lets are formed.^ The population of the county was 58
in 1870, and 327 in 1874.
In this county was Fort Kearney after its removal
from Nebraska City. But it has served its purpose, the
troops are now far away and the reservation will pro¬
bably soon be sold, unless Congress should in its sove¬
reign wisdom remove the capital from Washington to
this place, and inaugurate a national speculation inbuild-
^ Shown approximately on the geological map, but omitted in the
general map, because I was unable to obtain such accurate surveys and
observations as would fix their precise locations and extent. They are
more or less periodical in their character. There are some other lakelets
in the surveyed portions of the State which are omitted from the general
map for the same reasons, but their approximate location and extent will
be found on the geological map.
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
263
ing lots. It has been calculated that by so doing they can
sell out the marble palaces of Washington at a price
which will enable them to build better ones here. But
I fear that they wiU have but little faith in so profit¬
able an ending of such an enterprise, and I can scarcely
hope that they will embark in it, especially as there
seems to me to be a much better site among the mag¬
nificent scenery of the Yellowstone National Park,
where there is plenty of stone, where the geysers may
be used for the concoction of hot drinks and the
Yellowstone Lake for cold, and where the Devil's
Cauldron and many other suggestive curiosities are
ready to hand.
Mr. M. H. Sydenham is an Englishman, and was
resident in London until he was eighteen years old. At
that age he passed over the Atlantic to America; and,
after various adventures in the States, he became a
fi'eighter in the employ of the general Government, in
the then territory of Nebraska. The freighters were
employed in carrying stores and provisions from the
towns on the Missouri River to the military forts on the
plains, and on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. In
the year 1856, Mr. Sydenham and his party were return¬
ing from Fort Laramie, in what is now Wyoming terri¬
tory, to Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas. The winter that
year came unusually early, and was terribly severe.
The party found it necessary to shelter themselves and
mules in a cañón ; and next morning they discovered
that the snow had drifted thickly upon them, and that
further progress was impossible. The situation was
one of extreme peril ; and they must have died in the
264
NEBRASKA.
cañón liad not a party of Sioux, who were out hunting
come upon them. They joined the Sioux camp, hunted
with the Indians for a week, and then started on a
journey to Fort Kearney, sixteen miles, and it was
sixteen days before they covered the distance. Mr.
Sydenham then concluded that he had had enough of
freighting, and he resolved that his home should be in
the neighbourhood of the fort, on the one perfect spot
in the most beautiful valley on which his eyes had ever
rested. He has lived there nearly eighteen years,
and has seen the fort reduced in importance from a
considerable military centre necessary to keep the
Indians in check, to a mere sergeant's post, until now
when the old frontier fort, surrounded by thriving
settlements, is no longer needed, and is being dis¬
mantled altogether. Mr. Sydenham has a hearty—
some people say a too enthusiastic—faith in the future
of Nebraska in general, and in particular of the region
where he has made his home. He has proved the
capacity of the soil to bear in profusion all the fruits,
grains, and vegetables of the temperate zone; and as
an owner of land he is looking hopefully to the time
when this will be the richest agricultural State in the
American Union.
CHAPTER XXI.
SOUTH CENTEAL NEBEASKA (continued).
Hamilton and Hall.—The Platte bridge.—The islands.—A huge
drift and its probable causes.—Fig. 45.—The upland.—Locusts.—From
Hall to Howabd.—The Loup bottom.—Stone and timber.—Clay.—
St. Paul.—Caloptenus the all-devouring.—Impecunious new-comers.—
Variety of crops.—The story of Manuel.—Land.—Sheeman County.—
Buffalo County.—Dawson County.—Plum Creek.—The Johnson
House.—A good plan.—Another, sometimes a better.—The Platte
bridge.—The growth and importance of South Central Nebraska.
A MILTON County is directly south of
Merrick, and entirely south of the Platte.
It is best reached from Grand Island, on
the Union Pacific, or from Harvard,
on the Burlington and Missouri River, Railway. I
approached the cöunty from Grand Island, and thereby
obtained a good idea of a large portion of Hall as well
as of Hamilton. Grand Island is an important station,
and a county seat, near the north bank of the Platte.
It derives its name from an island in the Platte some
sixty miles long by five or six broad at the widest
point. The river is crossed here by a series of nine
bridges from island to island. Some of the islands are
entirely covered with wood, others are more or less so ;
the soil is generally too sandy, but there is a great
266
NEBRASKA.
quantity of very heavy, luxuriant grass, and there are
said to be tracts that are excellent for tillage. In the
bottom south of the Platte, as far as I examined it
from this point, a soil too sandy is the rule. There is
no bluff dividing the bottom from the upland, as is
generally the case ; but instead there is a succession of
gentle undulations, rising one above another for a mile
or more in width, and terminating in a lacustrine table¬
land 100 feet above the level of the river. This long
undulating incline has generally a poor, very sandy
soil. It is, in my opinion, formed (as shown in fig.
45) of drifted sand, swept from almost the entire width
Fig. 45. A, lacustrine deposit. B, sandbank. C, Platte River. D, sand or
sand and gravel. Vertical scale, 1 in. to 100 ft. Horizontal scale, ^ in. to 1 mile.
To form an approximately correct idea of the features condensed into this sketch
the reader should imagine its length extended to 20 feet while its width remains as
at present. This wUl give the proper breadth to the river, and show the sand¬
bank B as a gentle incline some two or three miles in width.
of the Platte bottom while the main channel was some
miles further north, and lodged against the south
bluffs till they are entirely concealed, as an ordinary
wall may be hidden by a snow drift. It is not im¬
possible that, while the deep wide vaUey was being cut
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
267
by the current, there was a swift channel here in which
sand and heavier materials were deposited, while the
fine lacustrine mud sank to the bottom in the stiller
water to the right ; or the effect may have been pro¬
duced by a combination of these two causes. This is
a matter of interest which might be determined by
taking a little trouble in excavating on the border line
between the two deposits. Their imperceptible blend¬
ing well down in the ground would prove deposition
by water, while a decided line of demarcation would
clearly establish the agency of the wind. The forces
of the air that would carry these millions on millions
of tons of heavy matter for many miles, and pile them
from one to one hundred feet in depth over a vast
region, are as marvellous in their results as they are
simple in the mode of their unwearied operation.
The upland of Hamilton, which comprises almost the
whole county, is the usual rich lacustrine, sometimes
spreading out into extensive tables, sometimes gently
undulating, and sometimes broken by the deep ravines
which form some of the head waters of the north,
middle, and west forks of the Blue River, which drains
almost all of south-eastern Nebraska.
Wheat and barley were being rapidly harvested, and
there was, as I had anticipated, just about an average
crop. The total yield would be large, from the in¬
creased acreage which was sown. Oats were generally
light. Root crops had suffered severely from the
drought. Locusts had descended in clouds in many
places, injuring the oats and stripping the Indian corn
of every green leaf.
268
NEBRASKA.
The Platte Valley, from Grand Island, in Hall
County, to St. Paul, the capital of Howard, is 27^ miles
in width, the first three of which are on the Platte
bottom, and mostly of very excellent quality. A rich
low upland then prevails for about half-a-dozen nfiles
in width, in the middle of which, in a fine little valley
of its own, is Prairie Creek, a tributary stream some
eighty miles long, following a general course nearly
parallel with the Platte. Next comes a region of sand¬
hills some ten or twelve miles wide. A very considerable
interval has elapsed since these hüls were shifting
sand, and they are now thickly covered with grass.
Between them are rich valleys, of from ten acres to a
thousand, of rich tillable land. The Loup bottom is a
light rich sandy loam, substantially .like that of the
Platte, but with slighter variations in quality. What
with the North, South, and Middle Forks of the Loup,
and their branches, this county of Howard has much
«
fine bottom land. Good limestone crops out in the
east bluff of the North Fork, and on Cedar Creek
there is still a considerable quantity of the valuable
timber from which it is named. The high upland is
lacustrine, and the slopes are, to a very great extent,
the same; but the presence of a clay stratum is fre¬
quently indicated. When the lacustrine deposit is well
filled with water, it drips slowly, like a sponge. When
clay, immediately beneath it, crops out of the side
hills, the surplus water oozes out at the upper edge of
this stratum in many places, which from the excep¬
tional moisture are tinged with a more vivid green,
and thus denote with accuracy the presence and posi-
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
269
tien of the less permeable stratum. St. Paul contained,
at the time of my visit, but fifteen or twenty houses ;
but it is a convenient centre for a large section, and it
will eventually become a considerable market town.
It already boasts its newspaper, which can have but a
slim patronage at present, even if every farmer in the
county is a subscriber.
I had seen the grasshoppers very thick in some
places before reaching Grand Island, and I had found
some fields of maize nearly destroyed by them. But it
was in Howard County that I was first brought face to
face with this scourge in all its terrible reality. While
I was at St. Paul's, a glance towards the sun would
show them in clouds like the Milky Way on a very
bright starlight night. As I left they commenced to
alight in considerable numbers. Before I had got half¬
way to Dannebrog, eleven miles distant, I saw fields of
Indian corn perfectly alive with them. The male
flowers at the top of the plants, the rich green foliage,
even the stalks, were so covered with them as to be
weighed down from their usual graceful form. The
colour of the fields was completely changed; there
were literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bushels
of the all-devouring insects per acre, and all of the
leaves in a field would not more than suffice for a
single meal. A little further I saw bare stalks, the
foliage being already devoured, and the grasshoppers
either gone or on the point of departure ; but the
strangest sight of all was in the village of Dannebrog.
Heretofore we had found the pests mostly confined to
the succulent fields of maize, but now they were every-
270
NEBRASKA..
where; they impeded the progress of the horses, ánd
they covered everything, green or dry. As we alighted
at the hotel it seemed impossible for a kitten to put its
foot down in the dusty road without stepping upon
them. One's footprints were as transient as if made in
water; the insects were displaced for a single second,
and in the next they or their fellows were there as
before. An army of locusts is indeed a mighty de¬
stroyer, and man seems quite powerless before it. Many
homestead settlers are very poor, and their crop of
maize is their chief dependence ; if this is destroyed,
they must subsist wholly or partially upon charity till
they are able to raise another crop. In some parts of
Iowa and Minnesota, the sufferings in 1873 from this
cause were severe, and I very much feared that there
would be much distress among the poorer new-comers
in portions of Nebraska. The poor man beyond all
others should be careful to have several crops in due
proportion, that he may not be brought to starvation by
the failure or destruction of either. No one plague or
pest would then be likely to ruin him, and, like his
richer neighbour, he could in a measure depend for his
success on the average of a number of years.
I have learned of but one instance in the State in
which the immigrant locusts were successfully fought.
In this case they were permanently driven away by
smoke. In another instance one swarm was smoked
away, but the work of destruction was completed by
another that came in a few hours afterwards. One man
fired a small field of oats to the windward of a large
field of maize that was covered with grasshoppers.
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
271
They fell to the ground ; but reviving when the smoke
was gone, they utterly destroyed the maize before they
departed. This man evidently did too much of a good
thing. The moderate smoke produced by the burning
of two or three swaths of the oats was more likely to
have driven away the pests than the overpowering
smother produced by burning over the whole of a half-
green field.
Mr. B. F. Manuel, who has a farm in the valley of
the Loup River, a little south of St. Paul, in Howard
County, is fifty years old, and his family consists of a
wife and four boys, the oldest fourteen years of age, and
the youngest an infant of six months. Mr. Manuel
himself was born where the cold gray weather of
farthest "down east"—the State of Maine—makes men
hardy, sharp, and " cute." He is an experienced
farmer, having farmed successively in Maine,. New
York, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. Early in 1872 he
sold out in Missouri, and started with teams—^his family
in a waggon—for the virgin prairie of Nebraska in the
way that farmers travel when they are pushing West
in search of a new home. The white-tüted "prairie
schooner " is the home of the family for weeks. The
household gods are piled in and around it, and per¬
haps there are sufficient of these to fill a second
waggon. In coops slung beneath the vehicles are the
denizens of the poultry yard ; and perhaps in addition,
one or two slips of pigs of the Berkshire or the Poland
China breed. The cattle are driven by the side of
the waggons, picking up their living as they go. These
" prairie schooners " are drawn by horses or oxen ;
272
NEBRASKA.
they are provisioned in part for the journey, and the
balance of the necessary food is purchased at the
country stores, or at the farm houses on the way. By
sun-down the land hunters are camped under the trees
by the side of a creek. The cattle are lariated, the
camp-fire is lighted, and the evening meal of coffee,
biscuit, and pork spread out. It may be that a chance-
shot has added game to the bill of fare; but most
likely not, as the party are not out on a hunt, and do
not turn out of their course to search for game. After
supper it is time to turn in, the women and children on
mattresses in the waggon, the men on shakedowns or
whatever else is handy under the waggons. In the
pleasant spring or Fall weather this "flitting" is an
agreeable interlude in life ; and in this manner Mr.
Manuel made his way to Howard County, Nebraska,
north of the Platte River, and opened out a farm on
government land, having put himself up a house. He
commenced breaking the prairie towards the close of
March, and planted corn and potatoes on the sod, both
crops realizing well. This first year, Mr. Manuel broke
35 acres, and in October he gave this land a second
ploughing. The following spring he broke an additional
65 acres, which he planted in corn, obtaining from
this perfectly new land 15 bushels per acre. The
older ground was planted with potatoes which yielded
over 200 bushels per acre ; oats which returned 50
bushels per acre ; and corn which averaged 35 bushels
per acre. In 1874 Mr. Manuel would have been in a
good position, if the agricultural year had not been un¬
favourable, but as it is he purposes to stick to the
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
273
State, and likes it better than the others he has resided
in. His live stock consists of four horses, three cows,
and thirty-five hogs, and he regards stock-raising as
a profitable avocation. Mr. Manuel considers that a
comfortable little house for a family can be erected for
about |300, but that a man whose means are limited
need not spend so much.
In the county of Howard there are 576 sections of
land, containing 368,640 acres, of which the Union Pa¬
cific Railroad owns 88,000, the Burlington and Missouri
River Railroad 92,000, and the remaining 180,640
belong to settlers and the Government. Much of the
Government land has been taken, but the railroad land
is for sale at from $3 to $6 per acre. There were no
inhabitants in 1870, but in 1874 the population was
1,339.
Sherman County is west of Howard. The valley
lands on the main tributaries of the Loup are very
similar to those in Howard. The uplands are gently
rolling in the eastern part of the county and broken
in the west. The population in 1874 was 400, from
which it follows that most of the government land was
still open to homestead and pre-emption claims. The
Burlington and Missouri River Railway Company owns
nearly half of the land in the county.
From Grand Island to Kearney Junction, the capital
of Buffalo County, is about 45 miles. Here the St.
Joseph and Denver and the Burlington and Missouri
Railways connect with the Union Pacific, and this is
likely to become a town of very considerable import¬
ance. The soil of the Platte bottom differs here and
T
274
NEBRASKA.
to the westward very considerably from that at Grand
Island and to the eastward. It is more gravelly and
less sandy, and is so compacted and held together—
principally, as I judge, by carbonates of lime and soda
—that the wind raises no more dust than it would from
a stiff clay soil. Under proper cultivation it will
probably bear excellent crops, although, on the whole,
alkaline constituents are rather predominant. Across
the river the soil of the bottom land is very sandy, and
beyond it there is, as usual, a good lacustrine upland.
Half-a-dozen miles to the northward is Wood Kiver,
with a fine bottom, and good lacustrine prairies on
either side, and a dozen miles further the well-known
parallel valley of the South Loup.
The population of this county was 193 in 187(^, and
2,106 in 1874.
Dawson, a large county lying immediately west of
Buffalo, contains as yet but few settlements, the greater
part, both of the government and the railroad land,
being still vacant. The Platte Valley here widens into
an almost perfectly level plain about fifteen miles across.
The upland is broken by numerous deep ravines ; but it
is of very good quality, and it affords excellent grazing
for cattle, which will here find subsistence both winter
and summer, while the ravines and canons wiU afford
fair shelter from storms. I stopped at Plum Creek, the
county seat, 230 miles west of Omaha, where a con¬
siderable and thriving settlement has lately been made
by emigrants from Pennsylvania. The character, even¬
ness, and strength of the grass, and the uniform smooth¬
ness and firmness of the unworked roads, would appear
Eaton, I'hoto. Otwiha.
VIEW OF PLUM CPEEK.
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
275
to indicate better average bottom land than further to
the eastward.
The accompanying engraving will convey a very
correct idea of the appearance of this town last winter ;
but the place is growing rapidly, and a faithful repre¬
sentation of last year will not give a correct idea of
this as far, at least, as buildings are concerned, and pro¬
bably not even in -the matter of shade trees. The
sensible proprietor of the " Johnson House," the hotel
at which I stopped, had set out some trees of consi¬
derable size, closely pruned. These were all doing well,
and would begin to cast a grateful shade in another
year. If every settler to whom it is possible would
follow this example to a very limited extent, he would
find in it a very great advantage over the ordinary
practice of planting seed or cuttings, or very young
trees, which are, indeed, the proper things to produce a
grove or a forest; but rapidly growing as they may be,
are much too slow for the purpose of affording quickly
a shade in front of a dwelling. Where suitable trees
are to be had, and a settler arrives in the autumn, I
would advise an improvement on the plan of Mr.
Johnson. Let the trees be selected before the ground
is frozen, and let trenches be ploughed or dug around
them at a reasonable distance, cutting off, perhaps,
many of the longer roots, but leaving by far the larger
portion intact. This trench should be covered with
loose hay or grass, and holes to receive the trees should
be prepared before-hand. Now when the ground is
well frozen in the winter, it will be easy to transplant
these trees with their native soil, and the tops being cut
276
NEBBASKA.
off at a proper height, and perhaps some of the longer
branches, they will thrive and afford shade during the
first summer. The town site of Plum Creek was first
opened for settlers in June, 1873, and before 1874 was
ended it could boast of a brick "Episcopal" church—
a stone and brick Court-house; a bridge across the
Platte, and an " old-estabhshed " newspaper. A Platte
bridge is of immense utility to a town on the Union
Pacific Kailway, as it nearly doubles the extent of
country from which the settlers are likely to come for
supplies.
That portion of the State which I have called South
Central Nebraska, and which has mostly been described
in this chapter, and the one immediately preceding, is
nearly aU practically new to settlement. It comprises
seventeen counties and nearly 12,000 square miles of
land; and while its population was but 2,221 in 1870
or 185 persons to 1,000 square miles, it had increased
to 29,871 in 1874, or 249 persons per square mile, a
total increase of 803 per cent., and an average of 201
per cent, per annum.
I shall now change the subject once more, and deal
in the next chapter with the ravaging locusts, whose
exploits in the far West have produced a profound im¬
pression in America, and have been deemed worthy to
form the subject of telegraphic despatches from young
America to old Mother England, and the phlegmatic
fatherland of Germany.
(joWestYoimgMa.n;,GoWest. Ettra. IiiHucements
toïnùgraiïbsfor tJiisSeasouOnly. Hurry up ^rry up,
CHAPTER XXIL
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
Fig. 46.—The Red-legged Grasshopper.—The Caloptenus Spretus
hateful, not despised.—Their different powers and habits accounted for.
—Their periodical irruptions.—Their food.—Contesting for toddy.—Sod.
corn.—Crops destroyed in 1874.—Public aid necessary in the new coun¬
ties.—UncaUed-for alarm.—Indiscriminate charity.—Abundant means.
—The real sufferers.—The last wills of the Calopteni.—Their children
turn from the flesh-pots of Egypt.—When new swarms may be expected.
—Rank heresy.—^What turkeys can earn.—Caloptenous feasts.—The
locusts in Utah.—The Mormons victorious.—The pioneer and (fig. 47) a
plan for smoking out.—Another precaution (fig. 48) to protect an old
field.—The eggs and the young.—^Parasites.—Winter.—^Wet weather.
—Prairie fires.—Birds.—Swine, &c.—Ploughing in.—^Rolling down.—
Roasting alive.—Old turkeys and young ones.—Sweeping off.—How ac¬
complished (fig. 49.)—Ditches.—Conclusions.
HE figure which heads this chapter,
and which is after a sketch in " Harper's
Weekly " by Thomas Nast, the well-
known American caricaturist, well illus¬
trates a phase of American feeling that has recently
278
NEBRASKA.
been strongly prevalent in the older States, and which,
though founded in fact, has been exaggerated to a
degree in some measure corresponding to the distor¬
tion of proportions by which the skilful caricaturist has
made an insect of insignificant size, sufficiently large to
bear on his back with ease a wild Indian decked with
war paint, and thirsting for the blood of the pale-faces.
I have dealt with the Indians, as I have found them, in
several parts of the State, all peaceable and submissive ;
and although the Sioux, wild and war-like, will yet
claim my attention, I have no hesitation in saying
that there is no practical danger of Indian troubles in
any part of Nebraska as yet open for settlement.
The savage for this clever sketch was, doubtless,
imported from the western part of the Indian territory,
whence some wild tribes were giving trouble to South¬
eastern Colorado and South-western Kansas during last
year. They were in no measure a menace to Nebraska,
and they have now been efiectually disposed of, so that
the regions contiguous to their former haunts will
have little reason to fear them in the future. But the
grasshopper is a direct and tangible evil in this State
and others, and it is well to consider how far his hated
presence detracts from the otherwise enormous advan¬
tages that Nebraska offers to farmers, and some other
classes of the people of older communities.
There is a species of grasshopper always present in
Nebraska—the red-legged locust, or Caloptmus femur
rubrum. These insects live, produce their offspring,
and die on the great plains, as they do in every State to
the Atlantic. They are generally but little regarded.
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
279
although in favourable seasons they sometimes become
so numerous as to be a serious tax on the settler whose
fields are surrounded by the extensive prairies which
serve them as breeding grounds, and from which they
attack his crops, as being more luxurious food than the
wild grass to which they are accustomed. It is no
very uncommon thing to see a field of wheat with very
few full ears on the margins, on account of the ravages
of these insects. In several instances, I have roughly
computed that the amount destroyed by them was quite
equal to the whole yield for a rod in width all around
the field. This is equal to ten per cent, of a square
ten-acre field, or five per cent, of one of forty acres;
while it would be twenty per cent, of a field of two and
a-half acres ; and for a moderate-sized garden it would
mean total destruction to all vegetables that these
locusts prefer to the grass from which they obtain their
popular name. These insects do not collect in large
swarms, and as they have not sufficient power of wing
to sustain themselves in the air, they do not often travel
very far from the place of their birth.
The Caloptenus spretus^ or hateful locust, is first cousin
to that above described, and which he very much re¬
sembles ; but he is far more formidable, from great
powers of wing, and from the association of numbers.
The Caloptenus spretus is often called the Rocky Moun¬
tain locust, jfrom the fact that its chief breeding grounds
are on the high plains of the mountains, where the
climate is generally dry and eminently favourable. If
birds of the same species were acclimatized,—some at
the sea level, and where food was not far to seek ; and
280
NEBRASKA.
others on a plateau a mile or more in height, where food
was scanty, those having the least power of wing would
soon succumb in the latter case; and if the race were
able to maintain existence, a new variety would be
established, which would be especially distinguished
from others by its power of wing. Far more rapidly
would this change appear in an insect race whose
fecundity, although the individuals exist but a single
summer, is many-fold greater than that of any birds.
I think, therefore, that these two species of locust were
originally identical ; but however this may be, the
mountain species have a power of wing which, in the
less tenuous atmosphere of the plains, enables them to
sustain themselves in the air for many hours ; and they
have the migratory habits which I suppose would
naturally result from the frequent failure of food in
their native homes.
Perhaps once in seven or eight years on an average,
the circumstances of mountain climate will be favour¬
able to the early production of an extraordinary number
of these insects, which consequently devour nearly
every green thing by the time they are fully fledged,
and which, to sustain existence, must then take wing to
the lower regions of the plains. Their visits generally
correspond with times of drought, which make in the
atmosphere of the plains the nearest approach to that of
the mountain plateaus ; and it may be that this circum¬
stance leads them further and further down from the
mountains, even when they have not consumed all the food
around them. Whether, like the bees, they have regular
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
281
rulers or not, when vast numbers of any species of insect
are flying long distances in the direction of the wind,
they will become massed in swarms, unless some special
causes prevent ; and thus come the mountain locusts on
the frontier fields of the plains. Here they taste the
luxuries of civilization ; they find the succulent maize in
fields, which they readily distinguish from the untilled
prairie by the colour of very dark green. It is said
that they will devour anything and everything, from a
blade of grass or a stack of old hay to a horse and trap ;
but there can be no doubt that the large majority of the
more experienced of these predatory mountaineers prefer
the succulent maize to everything else. When especially
hungry, they will strip the trees of their foliage, and
even devour the bark from the young twigs ; they will
gnaw through textile fabrics, and I have seen them
eagerly contesting for the refuse lemon of a whisky
toddy; but this is an exceptional development of bad
habits, and when respectably educated they will gene¬
rally take wing, if the weather permits, soon after they
have made a good meal of the maize. Their habit of
selecting the Indian corn, or other food, fi*om its colour
while they are high in the air, helps to aggregate them
in masses denser and more dense, till a forty-acre field is
scarcely suificient to afford them a meal, the more espe¬
cially in regions where not one acre in a hundred has
yet been brought under subjection to the plough.
Stripping thus rapidly the few scattered fields, they are
indeed formidable to the new settler who has planted
nothing but a few acres of maize, and who has nothing
282
NEBRASKA.
in store for the future. It happens that new beginners,
for the first year on the prairie, seldom have any crop
worth speaking of in the ground, maize only excepted.
This is planted in the newly-turned sod, and is called
" sod corn." If the season is fortunately wet, it will
give a very good crop, even with this slovenly culti¬
vation ; but otherwise, it will produce little, and in a
dry season next to nothing, because the roots cannot
penetrate sufiâciently far to find nourishment and
moisture.
The aggregate value of the crops destroyed in Ne¬
braska last year by the visitation of mountain locusts
was comparatively small, because it was, more than any¬
thing else, the sod corn of the new counties that was
devoured, and which in such a dry season could not
have averaged five bushels of the most inferior quality
per acre, even if there had been no grasshoppers to bear
the blame of total failure. Large numbers of settlers,
who had taken up homesteads with insufiâcient means,
and who depended upon luck and a wet season for their
subsistence, must have suffered severely, or have re¬
ceived public charity, in any event. People in such
plight hope that their crops will be tolerably good
against the plainest evidence of their senses ; and when
the grasshopper devours the few sickly, struggling plants,
they are very apt to say, and even to think, that it is
this insect alone which has come between them and a
bountiful board. Settlers of two or three years' stand¬
ing also suffered severely. Maize was still their chief
crop, and on their older fields those who ploughed deeply
would have had .a fair yield. This was all swept away,.
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
283
and their losses, measured in bushels, were perhaps five
to ten times greater than those of their new neighbours ;
but they generally had some wheat and other crops al¬
most, or perhaps entirely, unharmed, and in most cases
they could bear their losses without public aid. To the
well-established farmers in those older counties of the
State that were visited by the scourge, the loss was no
greater than that often experienced in England from an
exceptionally bad season, often not so great.
But as in the newer counties the necessity for public
aid was most evident, it was discussed everywhere in
the numerous journals of the State with manifold reite¬
ration, and an indefinite number of the worst cases were
adduced, not unfrequently much embellished, and copied
from one paper into another, and discussed in public
meetings, till people had worked themselves into no¬
thing less than a panic ; and the few journalists or other
persons who expressed plain, common-sense views
were considered most hard-hearted and cruel. Aid and
relief societies were rapidly organized. It was impos¬
sible that, under such circumstances, they should be
both efficient and economical ; and the assistance, given
with the best intentions, was distributed with very little
discrimination. As there had been no end of public
declamation, to the effect that there is no degradation in
receiving assistance after such a calamity, almost every
greedy, grasping, and dishonest person who could make
any excuse, however lame, asked for aid ; and it is
scarcely necessary to say that many good, honest, and
fairly well-to-do people, came at last to look upon this
as a fair means of recouping their losses, and applied
284
NEBRASKA.
for and obtained very substantial assistance. Worst of
all, popularity-seeking individuals, who wished to obtain
some public oifi.ce, thrust themselves forward, and often
succeeded in being appointed on relief committees—
people who not merely distributed without discrimina¬
tion, but who sometimes went much out of their way to
persuade people that they were proper persons to apply
for and obtain a share of the gifts that the public had so
bountifully provided. I could give some very amusing
illustrations ; but space will scarcely permit me to do
so. To obtain means for a charity so large and indis¬
criminate, it was necessary to seek far and near ; and
able men made speeches on the Stock Exchanges of New
York, Philadelphia, and other cities, and there was no
part of the country that was not laid under tribute to
the locust-ravaged counties of Nebraska.
Excepting a few solitary cases here and there, where
a poor, proud settler struggled on without help, the
persons most to be commiserated for the " grasshopper
raid " were the tradespeople, particularly in the newer
counties. Business they had none, or next to none;
not necessarily because the people could not buy, but
often because their customers were so well supplied
with wearing apparel, boots, shoes, groceries, provi¬
sions, every necessary, and many luxuries of life, free
of cost, by the bounty of a liberal public. This was the
case up to December, 1874, and I have reason to believe
that it continued throughout the winter.
The grasshoppers flew south and south-eastward;
some of them deposited their eggs in Nebraska, but
most of them left their unwelcome bequests to Kansas,
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
285
Missouri, and more southern latitudes. None of these
regions are healthy for these insects. They and their
eggs are infested with destructive parasites. Compared
with the number deposited, few of the eggs hatched
out in 1875; but in some parts of Missouri and Kansas
they were sufficiently numerous to devour almost every¬
thing before them. From some strange instinct or
reason, those that became full-fledged took wing and
flew northwardly, towards the more congenial climes
inhabited by their progenitors. In the middle of June
clouds of them were thus flying over the eastern portions
of Nebraska.^
At this time of writing, it is impossible to say whether
the aggregate damage in Nebraska in 1875 will be large
1 Omaha, Neb., June 14.
Gbasshoppebs.—Grasshoppers in immense swarms have appeared at
Plattsmouth, Neb., and are destroying everything before them. They
are moving northward. Numerous clouds of them made their appearance
flying northward over this place about 11 a.m. to-day, but none have
alighted.
Omaha, Neb., June 15,
The Gbasshoppers.—The ravages of the grasshoppers thus far have
been confined to a few counties in Nebraska, although myriads of them
are flying over the State, coming from Kansas and Missouri and going
north-westerly. The crop prospects were never finer, but grave appre¬
hensions are felt lest the grasshoppers should alight.
Omaha, Neb., June 16.
The Aemy op Geasshoppees.—Grasshoppers in still greater numbers
than ever before have been flying at a great height in a north-west direc¬
tion throughout this State to-day. The damage thus far is comparatively
small, and it is only in occasional localities that any damage is done. The
market gardens around here have suflered extensively.
Telegrams from New Yorh Journal of Commerce.
286
NEBRASKA.
or not but on tbe plains and eastward tbey have never
been known to breed extensively to the second genera^
tion. Of those that reach the mountains, it is not pro¬
bable that many will produce any healthy offspring ;
and consequently the danger for the future lies chiefly
in the increase from the scattered few that did not
swarm out of the mountains in 1874. But this increase
will be very rapid, and in six to twelve years, on the
recurrence of another dry season, another visitation
may be expected.
It may be, doubtless it is, rank heresy to say it ; but
I am strongly of opinion that the common red-legged
grasshopper does decidedly more damage in Nebraska
than his mountain cousin ; but his work goes on year
by year* He takes here a httle and there a little, and
few complain. The difference seems much like that
between an insidious customs duty which raises an
enormous revenue, and which touches us all deeply,
1 Just as this chapter is going to the press reports are to hand to July
1st, from which it appears that the swarms were most immense, flying
very high in the air, but that comparatively few alighted in Nebraska, and
that consequently, although individuals, and even some districts, suffered
severely, the crops, which would have been heavy but for this visitation,
still promised five per cent, above the average, while the acreage tilled was
twenty per cent, over last year. The eastern wing of the army ahghted in
Minnesota, where it was committing great ravages, and I suppose that
the main army first alighted in the wilds of Dakota. The sparse settle¬
ments in the Canadian province of Manitoba were almost certain to be
completely ravaged. Though the winds, on which is their chief depend¬
ence, should he unfavourable to their reaching the best breeding grounds
in the mountain plains, it is to be feared that the locusts will hatch out
next spring in large numbers in Dakota and the central wastes of British
America.
THE, HATEFUL LOCUST.
287
thougli we scarcely seem to know it; and one of those
forced loans which are not uncommon in some countries,
and which, at the cost of a world-wide commotion, pro¬
duce for their authors a comparatively small amount
of plunder.
And yet it would be far from difficult to keep down
the native locusts. Their most voracious enemies are a
very excellent investment independently of their im¬
mense insectivorous capacity. A young, half-fledged
turkey will easily devour half-a-pint of locusts in a day
if he can only get them. And half-a-pint of locusts
one-fourth of an inch in length, represents a half bushel
of mature grasshoppers, eách one inch long, and four
times larger than these young ones in three dimensions.
It is not to be supposed that they will often do this, for
it is not often that they will be able to get so large a
number of so small a size. But it is safe to say, that if
a frontier farmer has twenty or thirty early young
turkeys, they will each earn for him and the community,
on the average, something like the value of two bushels
of wheat in the first six months of their existence.
The more they are able to work thus for his benefit,
the fatter they grow, and the more fit for the table.
The Indians eat grasshoppers in very crude condition,
and they may be very good; but I never fancied
shrimps or blackbeetles, periwinkles, or snails, with the
insignia of their rank in life upon them ; and I have no
curiosity to partake of the caloptenous feasts of Ameri¬
can aborigines ; but from my own practical experience,
I am prepared to say that there are few articles of food
more pleasant to the palate, and more agreeable to the
288
NEBRASKA.
stomach of a hearty man, than a skilfully prepared
meal of grasshoppers after they have been ground up
and remanufactured in the crop and gizzard of a
turkey.
But although a plentiful stock of turkeys and other
fowls, kept year after year, would save the new settlers
more than the mountain locusts will ever destroy, they
can make no perceptible impression on a swarm of these
insects sufficiently numerous to devour a field of green
maize in a few hours. It is not the amount, but the
concentration of destructive capacity which makes the
mountain locusts so terrible, and which seems to para¬
lyze the energies of the victims of his rapacity. But
the supremacy of these destroyers has been contested
in other regions, and I see no reason why it should not
also be done in Nebraska.
The Caloptenus spretus came upon the Mormons in
Utah when they had no surplus stores, either of their
own or of other benevolent communities, to fall back
upon. With no possible help, the one problem for
them was to drive out the destroyer, or for the people
to perish of famine. So they fought the grasshopper
with the courage of despair, and -they fought success¬
fully. Men, women, and little children flocked to the
fields of corn, and by unremitting and organized effort,
repeatedly drove the pests off to the uncultivated
wastes. They took long ropes, and each holding an
end, they dragged them over the wheatfields so as to
give the grasshoppers no rest. They also built smoul¬
dering fires, and smoked them out. They drove the
young grasshoppers by millions into the streams, and
/
\
THE HATEFUL LOCUST. 289
while helpless there, they gathered them by the bushel
and buried them. Principally by these means they
saved the greater portion of their crops, and although
their breeding grounds were close at hand, and the
pests came again and again, year after year, the Mor¬
mons were eventually conquerors in each campaign.
The Mormon fields, irrigated as they are, are much
smaller than those of Nebraskan farmers, and they give
greater advantages for concentrated efibrt ; but on the
other hand the broad acres of Nebraska ofier much
greater facifities for " smoking out," a process that may
be applied there to any extent, and almost without
labour.
Fig. 47. Part of a field. A, a border of grass two rods wide, with a couple of
furrows ploughed at its outer edge, and surrounding the field; B B', &c., strips of
breaking, two rods wide, in which the maize is planted ; C C, &c., strips of grass,
of the same width, left between the ploughing—these strips are crossed by a couple
of furrows at intervals of four rods.
The pioneer farmer has often had but little practice
in his art ; he generally lays his plans for good seasons,
and not for bad ones; and he very seldom lays his
u
290
NEBRASKA.
account against the possible advent of the mountain
locusts. He has, perhaps, a homestead of 160 aeres,
the whole of which he intends to subdue to his uses in
five or six years ; but of which he cannot get a crop in
more than ten acres for the first year. The rest of his
land is waste, and it is of no consequence to him if, so
to speak, his ten-acre field covers twenty acres of
ground, tinder these circumstances, it would be per¬
fectly convenient for him to plough his field in bars or
strips, as shown in fig. 47.
This arrangement of a field of maize' involves very
little extra labour; and I am confident that it would
enable the settler to defy the greatest swarms of
calopteni that ever vexed the soul of a pioneer. The
two furrows outside of all are sufiicient to enable him
to prevent the grass from being burned over with the
contiguous prairie. In the border A, and in the strips
C, C,^ C^, &c., there will be a sufficient quantity of
old dry grass to make a smouldering fire at any time
when he is likely to be visited by migratory locusts,
and the cross ploughings, every four rods, will enable
him to keep the fire under the most perfect control. If
the migratory locusts put in an appearance, he will fire
a few patches of grass on the windward side, and
prevent the vast body of them from alighting in his
field at all ; and if considerable numbers have alighted
before he has observed them, he will start fire after fire
till he has smoked them from his field to the untilled
prairie, or into the air again. His chief danger will be
in making too much smoke and stupefying rather than
driving those that have alighted. Even if swarm after
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
291
swarm, for many days, should pass over the place, a
judicious promptitude and economy in firing would
probably prevent any considerable loss. He should
give himself up to attend to his field till the danger be
passed, and he should remember that a little trouble
will prevent their alighting, while, once at work, it
might take much to drive them away. Many ways of
keeping up his fires without burning over-much grass,
will readily suggest themselves ; the important thing is
to have facilities for starting and controlling fires at
discretion at the outset. If, as is very unlikely, there
should be a threatened " grasshopper raid " while there
is so much green grass that a fire would not spread, he
will at once take his mowing machine, if he has one, or
his scythe if he has not, and cut some of the grass,
which will probably be sufficiently dry before the un¬
welcome guests arrive. If no grasshoppers should put
in an appearance, he should repeat the precaution year
by year, until he has occasion to make some other use
of the grassy strips, C, C\ C^, &c. If the second or third
year he wishes to raise wheat, oats, or barley, in the
strips B, B\ B^, &c., he wiU reduce the dimensions .of
the grassy strips C, C^, &c., by three or four feet on each
side, and plant a row of maize to act as a fire break,
because he might possibly wish to fire the grass at a
time when it would more or less endanger the wheat if
they adjoined each other.
Another precaution which I would suggest to new¬
comers is, to depend, under no circumstances whatever,
upon sod corn for their food. The crop involves too
much risk, independently of grasshoppers. Rather have
292
NEBRASKA.
the peculiar system of double ploughing, elsewhere de¬
scribed, and put in a little patch of every good thing
that the time, the season, and the climate will permit.
If, after enough has been done in this way to insure
against ordinary vicissitudes the necessary food for the
year, the settler chooses to employ the more rapid pro¬
cess of ordinary breaking to bring a further portion of
his land under subjection ; and if on some of this he
should plant sod corn, there might be some advantage
in it, and there would be no reason to accuse himself of
improvidence in trusting to one crop, and that a crop
which necessarily maintains a most doubtful struggle
for existence.
Fig. 48 represents a very efficient means of protec¬
tion against grasshoppers, which may be used with little
trouble in an old field ; A being a strip separated from
the rest of the surrounding prairie by a two-furrow fire
break, and B, C, D, &c., being a number of different
crops sown or planted in successive strips or bands.
Any convenient refuse that will add to the capacity for
making a smother should be thrown upon A, as oppor¬
tunity serves ; and if the field is a very large one, heaps
of rubbish should be left at several points betw;een the
centre and circumference, even though they occupy a
few rods of space, and be some slight inconvenience to
the ploughman. Not only will the strip A and the
heaps of refuse at different points afford much protec¬
tion to the whole field, but the several crops thereon
will help to protect each other. If the locusts are as
late in their coming as they were last year in most cases
in Nebraska, the wheat, oats, or barley stubble may be
THE HATEFUL LOCUST. 293
fired to protect the maize ; or, if they come early, and
the strip of grass. A, with the rubbish heaps, be not
enough when fired to prevent their alighting or to drive
them away, a few swaths, cut from the most suitable
crops, may be sufficiently dry to produce an abundant
smother and protect the field before the former means
Fig. 48. Part of a field. A, native grass ; B, a strip of maize, potatoes, or any-
other crop or crops that will act as an efficient fire break throughout the summer ;
C and D, wheat, oats, barley, &c. ; B' D', &c. successive repetitions of B, 0, and
D, The several strips go completely around the field.
are altogether exhausted. Precautions such as these
are not expensive, and they are very reasonable modes of
insurance ; but their necessity will decrease rapidly with
the increase of population, and of the cultivated foods
which the mountain locusts unfortunately select in pre-
294
NEBRASKA.
ference to the grasses that generally lie waste, and in
feeding on which they would not often cause any con¬
siderable annoyance to the settlers. Orchards and nur¬
series should be especially protected.^
Though the chief danger from the hateful locusts is
when they are swarming down from the mountains,
there is to those regions where they arrive late in the
summer, or in the early autumn, and where they deposit
their eggs, no little danger from their offspring. Each-
female is the possible mother of some hundreds, from
which it follows as a matter of very simple figuring that
if for a few generations each laid the maximum number
of eggs, and each egg became a full-grown grasshopper,
they would soon cover the ground to a greater depth
than the lacustrine deposit, while the lower strata would
be compressed into a compact mass, and the rivers would
spread out over the flood plains, and then over the
bluffs, from the immense flow of grasshopper blood.
But, fortunately, few of the eggs come to any good ;
parasites are deposited with them, and destroy great
numbers ; many are hatched out in autumn, to meet
untimely death from the rigour of winter ; wet weather
causes many others to decay ; others are burned in the
prairie fires ; and the small percentage that hatch out
in* the spring, in spite of these and many other dangers,
^ It is reported that the orchards and nurseries of Governor Furnas
and Sons (of which an advertisement appears at the end of this volume)
have this year suffered to the extent of ^25,000. This, however, is pro¬
bably a mistake, as according to Mormon experience in Utah the trees
injured in one year are likely to be thriving the next.
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
295
become very largely the prey of the birds, the swine,
and other insecticides.
It is not, however, for the settler in any locality
where the Caloptenus spretus has deposited its eggs, to
trust entirely to natural causes for their complete or
sufficient destruction ; nor should he permit himself to
think for a moment that if the following season should
be favourable to their vitality, he would be utterly
Gl
Fig, 49. A and B are two stout boards or a board and a joist some twenty feet
in length, fastened together with screw bolts and nuts which may be obtained in
the hardware shops. Firmly held between the two is a large quantity of straw.
Two boards, C and C, are attached behind, each by two bolts or hinges, so that it
will play freely sidewise but will not move upwards and downwards. Two old
296
NEBRASKA.
packing-cases or other boxes, D and D', on the outer ends of these boards, serve to
hold turf or earth and balance the implement, so that it will constantly retain a
position nearly upright. A rope or chain E, with two loops e and e', is attached in
front. If the horses are attached to the loop e, as they drag the implement forward
it will assume the position shown by full lines in the sketch, or if they are attached
to the loop it will assume the position shown by the dotted lines. Instead of the
counterbalances, D and D', and the rope E, a swivel tongue may be used, but the
mode described wül be found more convenient in practice. To clear out the young
grasshoppers from a given field commence on the windward side, and with the
horses attached at e drag the implement along the edge of the fielà, and the pests
WÜ1 try to get out of the way by hopping to the left. If the horses are then turned
to go in the reverse direction while they are attached at the position of the im¬
plement wül also be reversed, so that in trying to get out of the way they will stiU
jump in the same direction. It wül not take long to go over a ten-acre field in this
manner. If there is not sufficient dry grass to receive them properly as they leave
the field the old-straw heap should be laid under tribute in advance, and a bed pre-
•pared some rods in width which wül readily take fire ; then after the brush a match
wül effectually finish the work and dispose of the pests at once and for ever. The
implement being light will have but little wear and will probably last as long as it
is likely to be wanted ; but if this should not be the case, by unscrewing the bolts
it may be conveniently refilled with straw. A Cottonwood pole with some brush¬
wood attached would answer the same purpose as this brush if dragged diagonally
in the same manner, and in some cases it would be much more convenient, although
it would be more likely to damage a tender crop. Other means of driving the
unfledged grasshoppers, and which are perhaps better adapted to their own special
circumstances, will suggest themselves to the ingenious, who wUl find among the
essential conditions of such work, (a) that for speed it must be done by horse power,
(6) to be effective it must be worked from the windward if there is any considerable
breeze, (c) the line of draught must be at right angles to the direction in which the
insects are to be driven, and {d) the implement must always have its windward end
well forward of the other.
powerless to cope with the evil. The fields where they
have deposited their eggs should be carefully noted, and
these should be ploughed deeply in the autumn, and
fires should be kept out of the. unbroken prairie. If
they hatch out in a wheat field in the spring, rolling
will kill a great many, without seriously injuring the
wheat ; if they appear in the prairie, they may be placed
between two fires and roasted alive. Every turkey of
the preceding season should, if possible, be kept over ;
and every hen should have an early brood. Each of
the old turkeys will destroy of the larvae or pupae in a
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
297
single day enough to have made bushels of grasshoppers
when full grown ; and, as already indicated, the young
broods will give a good account of themselves. If these
measures have been unavailable or neglected, and a field
is full of young locusts, as soon as these are able to hop
briskly about, they may be swept ofi* the field by a
horse-power broom or brush, as sketched in fig. 49, and
which is so simple in construction that any farmer can
make it for himself at very little cost.
I have no doubt whatever that if really energetic and
thorough measures, something in the nature of those
described, had been taken in .Kansas and Missouri in
the autumn of 1874 and the spring, of 1875, not only
would the people there have saved their own crops from
the young locusts, but Nebraska also would have been
saved from any cause of alarm in the return grasshopper
flight of the summer.
It should be noted that in many cases ditches, wet or
dry, are the cheapest and most eflective means of
fencing. Particularly is this likely to be very fre¬
quently the case on a lacustrine soil, where the sides of
the ditch may be nearly or quite perpendicular with
safety. Now a field surrounded by such a ditch, of
moderate width, is practically safe from invasion by un¬
fledged grasshoppers ; and if any considerable number
should be bred within the field, they may be driven into
the ditch, and there eflectuaUy destroyed.
To state in few words the chief conclusions to which
1 have arrived, 1 think that the people of Nebraska lose
more from the Caloptenus femur rubrum^ and other
prairie insects, than from the much dreaded Caloptenus
298
NEBKASKA.
spretus. By rearing turkeys and otker fowls, and by
preserving and sheltering wild birds, they can keep
down the former ; so that the gain thus effected will more
than compensate the losses by the latter. The full-fledged
Caloptenus spretus will select one crop in preference to
another ; and the settler who has a reasonable variety of
crops cannot lose his whole year's labour by their
ravages. The farmer who has suflâcient means to live
through bad years, and to take the average of a series,
as in England, would find his occupation profitable in
Nebraska, even if without taking any precautions he
raised those crops only which are most liable to destruc¬
tion ; and the danger of the total loss of any crop will
decrease with the increase of farming operations.
Beasonably sufiâcient precautions may be taken at
very little cost of money or labour. The eggs and the
young, seldom escape destruction by natural causes ; but
man can, and should, supplement these agencies by others
of his own contrivance, which may be used, if necessary,
to make the work practically complete—a work which
is the more easy from that very compactness of the
swarms, which causes such perfect devastation. Nebraska
may now fairly expect immunity from visits of the
Caloptenus spretus for from six to a dozen years ; but
some precautions are so inexpensive, and they are likely
to be so effectual, that I would advise that they should
be taken, as I would advise a man, when he can do so
at a moderate cost, to insure his house, although it may
be said of almost any one residence, that it is by no
means likely to be destroyed by fire. Immigration, not
only of those who have too little means to make it
THE HATEFUL LOCUST.
299
judicious, but of the classes most likely to succeed well in
Nebraska, is checked by anything like the recent " grass¬
hopper raids," because these people cannot generally
understand the whole situation and the natural rise in
the market value of land is also checked, while its in¬
trinsic value is appreciably enhanced, by the prospect
of immunity for a considerable number of years, and of
more than average profits in consequence; from which
it follows that there are some special advantages in
anticipating the inevitable reaction from a condition
which is in the nature of an unreasonable panic.
1 Omaha.—Specials [special telegrams] from all sections of the State
report the crops generally in a very flattering condition. The copious
rains the past week did very slight damage to some, hut the balance are
placed beyond the fear of drouth. Farmers wül hegin harvesting next
week. Grasshoppers have about disappeared. — Telegram, Boston
Journal {daily^, July 8iÄ, 1875.
It appears that the increase of crops in Nebraska this year from acreage
and yield, notwithstanding serious local losses and a very general danger
now happily past, will far more than recoup all the deficiencies of 1874.
The heavier crops wiU also correspond, with very material advances in the
price of wheat, the advance in English prices telling heavily in far-off
Nebraska, because there is no proportionate advance in cost of trans¬
portation.
CHAPTER XXIII.
FOETY-THKEE THOUSAND SQUAEE MILES.
Noeth Centeal Nebeaska.—Greeley County.—Its population and
lands. — Stock and flock masters. — Transportation prospects.—Valley
County.—Soil and surface.—Military post.—Population and prospects.—
Paddock County.—^Holt County.—Timber.—Eailway prospects.— Settle¬
ments.—Unorganized territory.—South-Westeen Nebeaska.—The
Sioux.—Tillage.—Grazing.—^Buffaloes.—Indian hunts.—Thefts.—Lin¬
coln County.—Hay.—North Platte.—The Plate.—Irrigation and-stock-
raising.—Markets.—Windmills for irrigation.—Westeen Nebeaska.—
Scenery.—Castles, pyramids, and ruined cities.—Strange animal forms.—
The Eocky Mountains.—The Black HiUs.—A map illustration.—The
gold-seekers, the Sioux, and the Government.—The Brûlé Sioux.—The
OgaUaUas.—A hig offer.—A thousand pities.—Civilization and Sidney.—
The Plate.—An excuse.—Statistics.
comprising upwards of 21,000 square miles, watered
by the Niobrara, the Upper Elkhorn, the Upper Loups
and their tributaries. A little more than half of this
region has been surveyed by the government, and in
the south-eastern extremity are the two organized
counties of Valley and Greeley, coniprising each about
FOETY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 301
575 square miles, and in the north-east the nominal
counties of Holt and Paddock, whose organization is as
yet incomplete. Some 12,000 square miles have been
surveyed by the government, but of this probably less
than 250 square miles were even nominally occupied
by settlers before the spring of 1875.
Greeley County is north of Howard. Its bottom
lands are generally fine, resembling those of the latter
(described in chapter xxi.), and I understand that the
uplands are mostly lacustrine, there being, however,
some tracts of sand and drift. The population of the
county was 209 in May, 1874. Nearly half of the land
belongs to the Burlington and Missouri River Railway
Company, but there is a very large amount of good
government land still open for settlement. Some stock
and flock masters »might do very well in this county.
There is likely to be a somewhat rapid immigration,
which will afibrd a home market for maize and wheat,
but such products will not well bear transportation to
the railway, and in this respect the same remarks apply
to this county that I have made in respect of those of the
Repubfican Valley. We can scarcely expect a railway
in this neighbourhood as soon as in the valley of the
Republican, yet its advent is likely to be a question of
a few years at most, and the homestead settler who
accepts the gift of 160 acres of fine land in Greeley
may reasonably expect that it will have a substantial
value by the time that his title is perfected.
Valley County is to the westward of Greeley and
north of Sherman, to both of which it bears a very
considerable resemblance, having however a larger
302
NEBRASKA.
extent of its upland surface covered with the Pleiocene
sands, and scarcely adapted for tillage. The valleys
of its principal streams are said to be very fine. A
military post is established near Ord as a safeguard
against possible depredations of the Sioux. The post
affords a small market, and is in this way a considerable
benefit to the settlers, while its presence indicates that
the North Loup possesses some advantages in the com¬
mand of contiguous territory. The population of the
county was 264 in May, 1874. The remarks which
I have made in respect of homesteads, railway lands,
and other matters in Greeley County will apply
equally well in Valley, with the above-mentioned quali¬
fications.
Paddock County comprises less than a fourth of
what was formerly called Holt ; its land is mainly com¬
posed of drift, lacustrine, and alluvium, two of which
are generally commingled. Troy, which is hkely to be
its future capital, enjoys a fine site, and has a good
country around it ; money and men are what it lacks
for the present.
The part of Holt County west of Paddock differs
little from the latter, while the southern portion is
nearly level, the bottom lands being very wide, and
but slightly depressed below the surrounding country.
It is said that the land is very fine, and there is tim¬
ber enough for present uses, while it exists in con¬
siderable quantities in the northern parts of these
counties, and further up the Niobrara there is pine
and other valuable timber in such quantities as to be
made a very material element in the calculation of the
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 303
prospects of a railway. For its success it would have
to depend (a), upon County subsidies; (¿), upon the
rapid extension of settlements; (c), upon the lumber
trade from the Niobrara. Three principal railway
routes are planned, one connecting with the Iowa
division of the Illinois Central Kailway at Sioux City,
crossing the Missouri near this point, and thence
taking a general course almost due west to the pine re¬
gions of the Niobrara. Another road, along the Elkhorn
Valley, is already constructed to Wisner in Cumming
County, and the route is known to be a fine natural
road bed along a very rich valley; this line is likely
to be soonest constructed. In anticipation of this
probable event settlements are being somewhat rapidly
extended up the Elkhorn Valley. It is to be hoped
that the immigration will be sufficiently rapid to create
a home market for produce until the advent of the
railway, which it will in that case very much accelerate.
The third line, the Omaha and North Western, is
intermediate between these two, and is ambitious of
cutting away the ground from the first by means of a
branch fine. It commences at Omaha, and has been
constructed for 40 miles. Two out of thèse three fines
will be required, and in a few years at farthest will pay
good dividends on the money invested. The rapid
settlement of the Platte Valley and of south-eastern
Nebraska has been mainly due to railway facilities,
which the next great advance in construction will
doubtless extend to the northern half of the State with
the like beneficial results.
There is fine agricultural land capable of cultivation
304
NEBRASKA.
without irrigation in unorganized portions of North
Central Nebraska, but its chief use in the immediate
future will be as affording vast ranges for cattle and
sheep. The Sioux Indians, the southern boundary of
whose reservation is the border line of Dakota, claim
the right to hunt over a region vaguely defined as
north of the North Platte River, and which practically
includes the major part of this wide district, and the
predatory proclivities of this tribe have been one
reason that these lands have not as yet been extensively
occupied with lowing kine, and bleating sheep. But
the limit of perfect safety has been largely extended
in the course of the past year, and in a year or two
more it will probably comprise nearly the whole region
south of the Niobrara.
South-western Nebraska comprises the sparsely-
settled counties on or near the head-waters of the Re¬
publican, and the two large ones of Lincoln and Keith
on the Platte. I think that one or two of these upper
Republican counties are adapted to produce cereals
without irrigation, while Dundy and Chase on the
border of Colorado certainly are not so adapted at
present. But all of these counties are extremely well
adapted for grazing, and there are numerous suitable
locations in which persons with a capital of £1,000 or
more'can attain fair competencies in a few years. In
all of these counties, and in fact many miles to the
eastward, sheep and cattle will winter themselves as a
general rule without hay, but it should nevertheless be
always provided against contingencies. This region is
one of the most noted grazing-grounds of the buffalo.
i
È-prinQ s
BY
EDV^in a.curlEÍ
NOTE
M» • M •
i 'oíUt try Seat S
YORK
Post ItiHites
heqimiinti
UNITED
STATES
SURVEYS
1
-
. ^
t
--
í1
J, en/i
The tin are s on ihr roiUes
denote the nn/nl>ers oP
mails per n ee/r 3
Spei ¿ai Mait Supply
Mail Messenaei m
Jhr snudL si/iiures
are earJi one mile
or tj'i-0 acres.
TOPOGRAPHY,
LAND SURVEYS.
CIVIL DIVISIONS
MAIL SE RV I CES
cof rectcrl to
Ceb. JS75.
For more detail cd
e.r/da/uitions see
Portc^ fxafe Iho. etc.
XLI xl XXXTK xxxmxxxvnsxxvi xxxv xxxiy XX Oil xxxn xxxi xíx xxkf xxvlflxxvh xx\'i
A TOlVt/SHtP entan/ed seaF
nilti sections numbered and
sntidii'ided to4t? ¿tores as
in i/orernment surieys.
m
32
2a
33
;í0
£7.
Í t
m
II j]2
ft-
m
1
m
m
MILES.
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 305
and a number of Indian tribes with distant reservations
have had the privilege of sending here large hunting
parties in the proper season, a privilege which has been
far from an unmixed good, as notwithstanding such
precautions as were taken by the government, bands
from tribes inimical to each other would sometimes
come in collision. The concession, which is now being
generally withdrawn, would in any event be valueless
in a very few years, because the buffalo are fast dis¬
appearing. Indians are rather too apt to mistake
cattle for buffaloes, but no danger to stockmen iieed
arise from this fact when the hunting expeditions are
so far from their reservations, as proper persons may be
detailed to accompany them, and they may be kept
sufficiently well together to enable the government to
bring home any considerable theft to the band which
commits it, and for which in that case the whole tribe
is held responsible, and has to pay by deductions from
the allowances of the government.
Lincoln County, immediately west of Dawson, com¬
prises 1,655,880 acres, watered by the two branches of
the Platte, which unite in this county. Thousands of
tons of hay are annually cut from the native meadows
here to supply the United States military posts further
west on the hne of the Union Pacific Railway. North
Platte, the county seat, is between the two rivers about
half a mile above the sea level, and it contains about
800 inhabitants, principally mechanics employed by the
railway in the extensive shops which are located here,
and by tradespeople and their families. The accom¬
panying plate will give the reader a fair idea of this
X
306
NEBRASKA.
place, whicli has the making of a large and thriving
town. Grazing, winter and summer, is extensively
carried on ; but scarcely any attention has as yet been
paid to the cultivation of the soil, which, till very
recently, was believed to be too dry for successful
tillage without irrigation. But even if irrigation is
necessary, much of the valley land, which is very rich, is
so situated that the extra cost would be comparatively
small, and the local markets and those further west
would take at very profitable prices all of the vegetables
and cereals that could be raised in the county for many
years. Unfortunately, the enormous profits of grazing
have very much discouraged irrigation. Most of those
with capital enough to make it a certain success have
cattle or sheep " on the brain," and cannot rest till
they are the owners of lowing herds or bleating flocks.
This business has thus far required very little know¬
ledge of any kind ; but successful irrigation requires
some idea of engineering as well as of ditching, and a
good knowledge of farming—it goes beyond the depth
•
of nine-tenths of those who have succeeded in making
money enough to start a cattle ranche. The mineral
regions of the mountains are more than a thousand
miles wide. In these the demand for vegetable pro¬
ducts far exceeds the local supply, and it is constantly
increasing. I hold that in all places near the railway
where irrigation can be cheaply introduced on a good
soil, it will return as large profits as are to be obtained
from stock raising,and with even greater regularity,
if the operations are conducted on a reasonably large
scale. I hold that cereals will undoubtedly succeed in
Eaton, Photo. Omaha.
VIEW OF NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA.
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 307
Nebraska as far west as Lincoln County without irriga¬
tion, but this will certainly prove the most profitable
mode of cultivating root crops for a distance of 150
miles eastward of North Platte. In the Platte bottom
lands never-failing supplies of water may be always
obtained by driving a tube a few feet into the ground,
and thus wind-mill pumps, as successfully applied in
many places, may be very cheaply used to irrigate in
the aggregate a vast tract of country in the valleys of
the North and South Platte and their tributaries, from
their junction westward, and also as far to the eastward
as may be considered desirable. On such tracts the
occupant of 80 or 160 acres of government land may be
entirely independent of ditch companies. When by
these or other means of irrigation these rich valleys be¬
come cultivated fields, there will be a railway up the
North Platte, and that up the South Platte from
Julesbury having been completed, there will be a very
wide extent of populous territory tributary to this
town.
Western Nebraska consists of the one large county
of Cheyenne, and a large tract of unsurveyed territory
north of it. It is well adapted for grazing, but suc¬
cessful tillage can only be introduced to any con¬
siderable extent with the aid of irrigation, for which,
however, there are many facilities. Of wild and curious
scenery, beautiful in the grandeur of its desolation,
there is more in this region than in any other part of
Nebraska, although both beauty and grandeur are to
be found lower down the Niobrara and on the Missouri.
Bluffs assume in never-ending variety a huge fantastic
308
NEBRASKA.
mimicry of the work of human hands, Gothic castle's,
cathedrals, and immense city walls of elaborate tracery,
while in other places there are huge truncated cones
and pyramids, sometimes surrounded with others of
many sizes, partially detached, and forming altogether
a seemingly intelligent design, wonderful in its regu¬
larity, and yet of a most varied and intricate character.
Here also are grave-yards of untold ages, containing
vast accumulations of the strange animal forms that
have inhabited earth, air, and water. The western
boundary is nearly a mile in elevation on the slope
of the Rocky Mountains, whose crest at Sherman is
about eighty miles further westward by rail. . Some
twenty-five miles beyond the northern boundary, are
the foot hills of an eastern spur of the Rocky Moun¬
tains, which bears the name of the Black Hills of
Dakota, and has the reputation of possessirig immense
wealth of gold in the alluvial deposits of its many
streams.
These Black Hills are well timbered ; their geological
formation, so far as known, is favourable for deposits
of coal and iron, gold, silver, and copper, but they are
within a reservation belonging to the Sioux. They
were comparatively a terra incognita till last year,
when a' military expedition, designed principally to
overawe the Sioux, who were inclined to be trouble¬
some, spent a long period in exploring them, and
glowing descriptions found their way into the press.
Since that time quite a considerable number of expe¬
ditions of gold-seekers have been formed. The first
few were warned or driven off either by the soldiers
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 309
or the Indians, but the combined allurements of gold
and adventure have proved too strong for the opposing
forces, and there are now parties prospecting and
mining in the Black Hills undisturbed. Indeed, it is
Fig. 50. South-western portion of the Black Hills of Dakota. Bounded on the
south by Nebraska and on the west by Wyoming. This is from the latest map
previous to General Custer's expedition of last year. His maps and reports were
not published at the date of my latest advices from Washington.
said that one organization consists of 2,000 men, but
so far as I know this statement is not authenticated.
If, however, there are even 500 placer miners in one
combination determined to stay in the Black Hills until
driven out by force, they cannot be seriously molested
by the Indians, and they are not likely to be interfered
with by the government. To send a small force against
310
NEBRASKA.
them would only cause bloodshed, and to send an over¬
whelming one would entail a heavy expense, and in
either case there would be great loss of popularity, for
there is a widely pervading idea at the west that the
country was made for men and not for red-skinned
" varmints." The government does not stand on its
dignity at such cost. The Indians will therefore be
told that the great father at Washington is very sorry
that some of his white children are so naughty, as he
always is when his red children are unruly and dis¬
obedient; but he has often forgiven his red children
when they have done wrong, and in this case he is
disposed to be merciful to his naughty white children,
more particularly as although they are disobeying him,
what they are doing can only harm his Indian children
very little, and that he will take care that they shall
have more beef and blankets in consequence, so that
they shall be better off than if their naughty white
brothers had never disobeyed him and gone to the
Black Hills. The Indians wdl yield to this logic, as
indeed they must, and if the placer mines of the Black
Hdls are really rich enough to offer continued tempta¬
tion to gold hunters in considerable numbers they will
surely be worked.
There are two bands or tribes of Sioux which, although
their reservations are considered to lie wholly in Da¬
kota, have, nevertheless, their agencies recently located
by the Indian department within the northern border of
Western Nebraska, as shown on the map. The Brûlé
Sioux, under a chief named Spotted-Tail, number
about 3,640 males and 3,360 females, a total of 7,000.
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 311
There are 30 white employés at the agency, which is
■called indifferently Whetstone or Spotted-Tail, after the
■chief, and 170 other whites, including soldiers. There
is one Indian that can read, and three wear citizen's
dress, no half-breeds are reported, and no schools, or
churches, or teachers, or missionaries, and no Indians
are reported as killed by whites, or whites by Indians,
nor are any crimes reported ; and they are said by the
a,gent to have behaved well under circumstances of very
considerable temptation to very different conduct. The
" Red Cloud" agency is further westward. The Indians
gathered there have been disposed to be troublesome,
and they even thought of waging open war, but their
chief, after sending messengers through the Powder
River and Big Horn country (in Wyoming), became
convinced that there was not sufficient game to last
through a war, and they therefore resolved on a policy
of friendliness to the government on which they were
necessarily dependent for a large proportion of their
food. There are reported at this agency 9,809 Ogallal-
las, Minneconjous and Sans Arc Sioux, 1,202 Northern
Cheyennes, and 1,092 Northern Arapahoes, a total of
12,113 ; and 3 Indians are reported as killed by hostile
Indians, 21 by soldiers, and 1 by citizens, while 7 whites
are reported as killed by the Indians.
A Sioux deputation have recently been to Wash¬
ington, and they have doubtless seen enough on their
journey to thoroughly confirm their present peaceful
intentions. While they were there the government
offered them $25,000 to relinquish the right to hunt
in Western and North Gential Nebraska, but the offer
312
NEBRASKA.
was declined, principally, as I believe, because it was to
be paid in cattle and stores, rather than cash.^ Con¬
sidering the vast extent of the territory in question it
cannot be said that the sum is a large one, and if its
amount is a true measure of the anxiety of the govern¬
ment on account of possible collisions between the
Indians and the whites, or of probable thefts of .horses
and stock by the former while on pretended hunting
expeditions, it would seem that for the future the
danger in these directions is likely to be very small.
In fact, free rations are demoralizing these Indians as
they would' any population of ignorant whites, and
henceforth we may look to their following rapidly in
the recent footsteps of their hereditary enemies the
1 " The noble Ked Man seems to be a very suspicious, not to say
sceptical and unbelieving bird. He doubts the honesty of the agent and
contractor, be imputes untruthfulness to so good a man as Commissioner
Smith, and be even carries bis distrustfulness to the extent of insisting
upon having the cash in band, when the Government oflPers him $25,000
to relinquish bis right to bunt in Nebraska, instead of having it sent ta
him in the shape of presents purchased for him by the philanthropists
who, according to President Grant, know what he wants better than he
does himself. We fear the noble Red Man will prove too much for his
benefactors. His benefactors offer him $25,000 to give up hunt¬
ing in Nebraska. There being upwards of 50,000 Sioux Indians, this
would give them in the neighbourhood of half a dollar apiece. And yet
he asks for time to consider this munificent ofier. He was told that if
he did not decide at once the money would lapse back into the Treasury,
but in his present uncivilized condition he failed to comprehend what a
calamity it would be to have anything lapse back into the Treasury, and
still declined to sign the agreement. It is hardly possible, though, that
the department will allow this amount of money to lapse back. There's
nothing the department has such a horror of. Lapse back? Never."—
New Torh Tribune, June 3, 1875.
f
Vv(.Ni.K ÛUJÇK
Eaton, I'hoto. Omaha
VIEW OF SIDNEY, NEBRASKA, FROM THE BLUFF.
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 313
Pawnees. It is a thousand pities that this should be
the. too probable future, when a just and kind, but firm
and strong discipline would be far more economical,
while it would preserve these Indians, or rather their
children, for really useful work. There is no race on
the earth that deserves extermination, and certainly
not any in America, where there is room and to spare
for all classes and conditions of men to work out a
destiny of progressive usefulness.
Keturning now to the railway and civilization we
have little further to note. The most considerable
settlement or town in this part of Nebraska is Sidney,
the capital of Cheyenne County, of which the plate
facing this page is an excellent view. There are some
soldiers stationed here, and a military road has recently
been opened to the Indian agencies of which I have
been speaking. This will be a matter of very con¬
siderable advantage to Sidney, as this town becomes in
consequence the shipping point for large quantities of
supplies, both for Indians and soldiers. If the gold
fever continues this will also tend much to the
aggrandisement of this town, which is probably better
situated for shipping to that region than Cheyenne in
Wyoming Territory, its only probable competitor in
the immediate future.
The parts of Nebraska which I have included in
this chapter comprise some 43,000 square miles of land.
In other chapters I deal at considerable length with
the grazing interests, which must for a long time be
paramount here, and this and other utilitarian consider¬
ations must be my excuse for such summary treat-
314
NEBRASKA.
ment of regions so vast, and wHcli, almost without
inhabitants as they are, have many points of decided
interest which, could I follow them out, would serve
to relieve the dullness of a book designed for usefulness
rather than pleasure. But still, bearing in mind my
primary object, I have to ask the kind and patient
reader to swallow a few more statistics.
The census of 1870 gives the population of the
then organized portion of this immense region as 1,284,
of which Cheyenne County is credited with 1,032,
while it had but 449 in 1874, thus indicating that they
were mainly people whose occupation here was of a
transient character. There were no returns of flocks
and herds or of farm productions, although these are
embraced within the scope of the census, and given for
other parts of Nebraska. The population of unorganized
North-west Territory in the State^ was given as 52. In
1874 the population was 4,245 by the incomplete State
census, there being no returns made from Holt, Hitch¬
cock, Dundy, Chase, and unorganized territory, in which
there are some hundreds and possibly a thousand
people ; making no allowance for this nor for the tran¬
sient character of the major part of the population of
1870, the increase in four years is 217 per cent. In
1873 the assessment rolls showed 672 horses, 20,978
neat cattle, 263 swine, 100 mules and asses, 1966
sheep, 222 waggons and carriages; and in 1874,
1,033 horses, 28,736 cattle, 444 swine, 150 mules and
^ North of latitude 40° and west of longitude 103°, also between longi
tude 101° 30' and 103°, and latitude 40° and "42°.
FORTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE MILES. 315
asses, 1,592 sheep, .438 waggons and carriages; the
difference in one year was an increase, rejecting
fractions, of 54 per cent, in horses, 37 per cent, in
cattle, 69 per cent, in swine, 50 per cent, in mules and
asses, and 91 per cent, in waggons and carriages, while
there was a decrease of 19 per cent, in sheep. This
average increase is extremely rapid, yet the population
being a small percentage per square mile, it reduces
enormously the increase per square mile of Nebraska
taken as a whole. The other parts of Nebraska com¬
prise from 32,000 to 33,000 square miles, not far from
the area of Indiana, and they have been settled by a
progression westward as Indiana was settled in a pro¬
gression of population towards the State of Illinois.
Now this eastern portion of Nebraska had a population
in 1874 of from 6'9 to 7 per square mile. If the reader
will refer to the diagram, page 78, and roughly
mark thereon the population curve for this region, he
will see that its increase between like points is far
more rapid than that of Indiana or any other State
there represented. Those specially interested might
also draw a curve for Indiana and Illinois combined,
and see how far it falls below that of Nebraska as
given, an operation which will also give some slight
conception of the difference between the labour of pre¬
paring correctly and that of correctly reading a dia-
graphic comparison.
CHAPTER XXIY.
¡THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
By Peof. S. Aughen, Ph. D.
Plums.—Prunus Americana.—Its appearance, habits, abundance, and
qualities, with illustrations.—P. Chicasa.—Illustrations.—Hybrids.—^A
late variety.—Cultivation.—Stock for grafting peaches, plums, and apri¬
cots.—Hardiness.—The Curculio.—P. Pumila, or sand-hill cherry.—Illus¬
tration.—P. Pennsylvanica.—^P. Virginica.—Steawbereies.—Fragaria
vesca.—Dehcious and abundant.—^F. Virginiana.—Illustration.—Rasp¬
berries.—RubusOccidentalis.—R. Trifloms.—R. Strigosus.—R.Villosus.
—Hawthorns.—Crataegus tomentosa.—C. Malis.—June BerrieS:—
Amelanchier Canadensis.—A. Alinifolia.—Wild Currants and Goose¬
berries. —Ribes HirteUum. — R. Rotimdifolium. — R. Lacustre. — R •
Cynosbati.—R. Floridum.—Grapes.—Vitis aestivalis.—V. Cordifoha.—
Re-classification and hybrids.—Wine.—The Mulberry.—The Buffalo
Berry. — Shepherdia Argentia.—Plate. —The Elderberry. — The
Papaw.—Asimina triloba.—Nuts. — Juglans nigra.—Carya Alba.—
Corylus Americanus.—General Botany.—2,034 species.—149 Grasses.
—Buchloe Dactyloides.—Andropogon furcatus.—A. Scoparius.—Sorghum
nutans.—The composite and pulse families.—Trees.—Ferns, mosses, and
lichens.
ILD fruits are a prominent feature of
Nebraska. They luxuriate in its rich soil
and almost semi-tropical summers. Among
the wild fruits of this State the plum
family is a remarkable example of how nature herself
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
317
sometimes ameliorates and improves her original pro¬
ductions.
There are three type species of plums in the State,
namely, Prunus Americana^ P. chicasa^ and P.pumila. Of
these there is an almost endless number of varieties.
In a plum thicket in Dakota County, covering only a
few acres, I counted, while in fruit, nineteen varieties of
Prunus Americana and P. cJiicasa^ varying in size from
a fourth to an inch and a quarter in diameter, and in
colour from almost white and salmon, to many shades
of yellow, tinged with green and red, and from a light,
dark, and scarlet red, to purple tinged with different
shades of yellow. Such instances are frequent over
most portions of the State, the plums being common
in almost every county, especially along the water
courses, and bordering the belts of timber. These
plum groves in spring time present a vast sea of
flowers, whose fragrance is wafted for miles, and
whose beauty attracts every eye. The varieties of
the Prunus Americana have oval or obovate leaves
(broader at the tip than where the stem is attached),
with saw-toothed or doubly saw-toothed edges and
very full of veins. The fruit is globular or oval, and
ranges from a haff-inch to an inch and a quarter in
diameter, the latter being an exceptionally large size.
The colour is all shades of yellow, with some red and
crimson. Its juice is pleasant, but its skin is tough
a;nd acerb ; and its stone is sharp edged or margined.
The shrub varies in height from six to twenty-five
feet. The fruit ripens in August and the first half of
September. These are the prevailing characters, but
E. Bailey delin,
WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
(1 and 2) Vrimus Americana, (3 and 4) Prunus Chicasa, (5) Prunus Pumilla.
318
NEBRASKA.
they vary greatly, some of the varieties producing fruit
which is a great improvement in size and taste on the
type species, while others again have deteriorated.
Nearly all the varieties part readily from the stone.
Figures 1 and 2 of the double plate, between pages
316 and 317, are delineations from nature.
Still more subject to change is the Prunus chicasa^
which grows from four to twelve feet in height, some¬
times thorny, and always with long, narrow, almost
lance-shaped, acute leaves, whose edges are set with
very fine teeth. The fruit is globular, of all shades
of red, and from half an inch to an inch or more
in diameter, of pleasant (some varieties, of delicious)
flavour, thin skinned, and containing an almost round
and entirely marginless stone. Figure 3, same plate,
is an exceptionally large variety plucked by myself
in Dixon County from a shrub only four feet high.
Figure 4 is a common variety from a shrub five feet
high in Dakota County. Most of the varieties of this
plum do not part readily from the stone. The fruit
ripens the latter part of July and in August. Fig. 1
of plate facing page 322 is also a common form.^
I have found many forms that cannot be readily
classed with either of these species, but seem to be
a cross between the two. In fact these plums often
hybridize. This is not strange where both species
often grow together in such compact thickets that it
is difficult to penetrate them. When the pollen of
the one is carried to the pistils of the other species
^ On this plate read Prunm chicasa for Primus Americana.
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
319
the young plants that come from the seeds must
exhibit some characters which are common to both.
One variety of the Prunus Americana^ that grows
from six to ten feet in height, and has greenish white
fruit, occasionally tinged with yellow, rarely ripens its
fruit. I have seen its fruit hard and green towards
the end of October ; but when plucked, even then, and
stowed away in an empty room, it readily ripens, like
pears when similarly treated. Occasionally a tree is
found producing a little round red plum, slightly larger
than a morella cherry, which bears double fruit.
Delicious as some of these wild plums are, their size
and flavour are much improved by cultivation and
pruning. It is easy to produce an early and fruitful
grove of these plums from the seed. A tree grown in
my former grounds in Dakota City yielded thirty-nine
blossoms the second year from the seed, and seven
hundred and ninety the third year. It is also found
that these wild plums are 'magnificent stock on which
to graft the peach, other varieties of plums, and the
apricot. Their great hardiness, the readiness with
which they unite with the old cultivated plums, makes
them invaluable to those who raise such fruits.
Alas! there is one drawback to this picture. The
everlasting enemy of the plum, the curculio,^ is also
present. The young fruit sets each year by the mil¬
lion, but some of the finest groves are sometimes for
years in succession prevented by this cause from bearing
^ Gonotmchelus nenuphar, commonly spoken of as the " plum weevil.""
~E. A. C.
320
NEBRASKA.
much fruit. Yet so great is the vitality of the plum
family in this State that some varieties will succeed even
in despite of the curculio. One such grove I found years
ago along the bluffs south-west of Dakota City. The
trees were laden with fruit even when all the other
groves in the neighbourhood were almost entirely shorn
of their treasures. The foliage indicated a hybrid be¬
tween the two species under consideration, at least it
possessed some characteristics that belonged to these
two separately, along with others of its own. The
fruit was large for wild plums, the skin tough, though
comparatively thin, and could readily be pared. The
flesh was hard and acid until it was fully ripe, when it
became juicy and melting. I have no doubt varieties
of this kind could be selected from these ample stores
of nature which would be of incalculable value to the
horticulturist.
The dwarf or sand-hill cherry, so famous on our
western plains, is really botanically a dwarf plum,
Prunus pumila — and therefore we speak of it last.
The stem is smooth, depressed, trailing or semi-erect,
from eight to twenty-four inches high. The leaves are
obovate lanceolate, tapering to the base, sometimes a
little toothed towards the apex, and pale underneath ;
the flowers numerous, two to four in a cluster. The
fruit varies greatly, but is generally about half an inch
long and three-eighths broad, ovoid, dark purple, brown
purple, brown, reddish, or nearly black, generally sweet,
sometimes delicious and occasionally almost insipid. It
is enormously productive. Figure 5, double plate, is a
specimen of this fruit, natural size, taken from a shrub
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
321
thirteen inches high from the root, and found south of
Lowell. The shrub has a spreading habit, forming
dense masses, sometimes covering from thirty to sixty
square feet of ground, but usually the tufts are not
more than from fifteen to twenty-five feet in area. It
suckers abundantly from the roots, and propagates in
this way as well as by seeds. It is found over the
greater part of the western half of the State, and
while it is not excluded from the richest soil if dry,
it seems to be partial to sandy localities, rich in alka¬
line earths. As this plum is nearly related to some
of our cultivated varieties of cherries, and the stamens
and pistils of the flowers are large in both, it will
require no great skill to produce a cross between them.
And as Fuller has remarked (" Small Fruit Culturist"),
a cross between the dwarf plum and a Bigarreau or
MoreUa variety, retaining the dwarf habit, vigour, and
productiveness of the former, with the flavour of the
latter, would be an acquisition of incalculable value,
and would completely revolutionize cherry culture.
However this may be, the best varieties of the dwarf
cherry are valuable as they come from the hand of
nature. Many an explorer and traveller in the un¬
settled regions has been refreshed by them, and the
day is not distant when this fruit will, as it deserves
to, have a place in the gardens of all the people.
Three species of wild cherries grow in various parts
of the States. The wild red cherry. Prunus Pennsyl-
vanica^ grows sometimes to the dimensions of a small
tree. Its leaves are oblong, lanceolate, pointed, mar¬
gins finely saw-toothed, green on both sides, flowers
Y
322
nebraska.
on long stems, and the fruit of a light red colour, sour,
very small and of little merit. The wild black cherry,
Prunus seritina^ is valuable only for its wood, which is
close grained, reddish or brownish, and highly esteemed
by the cabinet maker for the fine polish of which it is
capable. The lance oblong, smooth leaves are taper
pointed, glandular and saw-toothed. The flowers are
produced in long clusters {racemes) ; its fruit is reddish
or purplish black, ripening in autumn. Though the
fruit is not sought after by human beings, it is eagerly
devoured by birds. The bark is a remarkable tonic.
I have only noticed the tree in the south-eastern part
of the State.
The choke cherry, Prunus Virginica^ is a tall shrub
with greyish bark, oval, oblong, or obovate and ab¬
ruptly pointed thin leaves, very slender, sharp saw-
toothed, and from two to three inches long. The
flowers are in a short close cluster. The fruit ripens
in summer, and is of a dark red colour, and very astrin¬
gent to the taste, but rather agreeable.
Strawberries.
Two species and one variety of strawberries, with
endless modifications, are common all over Eastern
Nebraska. They flourish on the sides of the blufls,
and at the edge of timber belts, from which they creep
far out on the prairies. Perhaps the commonest
strawberry is Fragaria vesca^ which has produced the
Alpine, Wood, Perpetual, and many other varieties.
Here it is mostly slender, with thin dull leaves,
strongly marked by the veins, calyx open or reflexed
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA. 323
after flowering ; and fruit inclined to be conical or
elongated, much like the so-called lady flnger, and
fully as large and high scented. The runners often
creep several feet. This strawberry varies so much
that I have often been unable to distinguish it
from the Fragaria Virginiana^ except by one character,
its seeds .{ahenes) are always superficial, and seem to
stick out of the berry. So abundant is this fruit in
some seasons that the ground in its favourite retreats
seems absolutely red with it. Once when making
a survey of some timber lands in Dakota County, on a
sultry July day, and almost exhausted by the heat and
from thirst, I unexpectedly came to a patch of these
berries in an opening in the woods. Never before was
I so grateful for fruit, and fruit that was delicious
enough to adorn the finest tables in Christendom. As
already intimated, this species is the most variable of
all the strawberries. It is found all over Europe and
in all the high and on many of the low lands of North
America. Its tendency to become everbearing, so
strikingly exemplified elsewhere, is also characteristic
of it in many places in Nebraska. I have noticed
localities where it produced a succession of ripe berries
for two months.
The other species common to this State is Fragaria
Virginiana. It is the original of the American scarlet
and innumerable other varieties. It can be distin¬
guished from the former by the seeds [ahenes) being
sunk in the flesh of the berry. Its runners are seldom
over a foot long. Its flowers however are staminate,
that is, its male and female organs are on different
324
nebeaska.
plants. There is an insensible gradation between this
species and the variety lUinoiensis of Gray, which is
coarser and larger, and the hairs which are scattered
over it, especially on the flower stock, are rougher.
The strawberries of Nebraska need to be thoroughly
examined. Certainly where there is such a tendency
shown to varieties and improvement, some of the most
promising, under the skilful treatment of the gardener,
would become permanent additions to our list of
desirable small fruits. Fig. 2, on the plate facing this
page, is a sample of this species copied from nature.
Easpbereies
are represented in Nebraska by three species. A black
raspberry, a variety of Ruhus occidentalism is common in
every county. It is a profuse bearer, and the fruit is
nearly a third larger than the American blackcap.
It is most abundant along streams and in woodlands
and their borders. Where it is cultivated the canes
make a much stronger growth than in their native
wilds, though even there some varieties seem equal to
any produced in gardens. A dwarf raspberry, Ruhus
trifloruSm and the wild red, Ruhus strigosusm were sent to
me in flower during the past season from the western
part of the State, previous to which I was not aware
that they existed within our borders. They have not
yet been found in the eastern part of the State.
Blackberries.
Of these only one species has yet been found in the
State. This is the high blackberry, Ruhus villosus.
It is rather abundant along some of the streams and
1.
HiíiL
E. Bailey delin.
WILD FDUITS OF NEBRASKA.
(1) Prumis Americana. (2) Fragaria Virginiana (,\ Common Wild
Strawbeuuv.
the wild feuits of nebraska. 325
timber belts in the south-eastern part of the State.
Wherever this wild variety is transplanted into gardens
and cultivated, it bears large quantities of delicious
fruit.
Hawthorns.
Though unimportant as fruits the hawthorns should
not be overlooked by the amateur horticulturist. The
blackthorn, Cratœgus tormentosa^ and its variety malis^
are most abundant. It is a shrub or small tree from six
to twenty-five feet in height. The leaves are oval,
abrupt at the base, margins sharply saw-toothed or cut
into many small lobes, and downy beneath, especially
when young. The flowers are compacted into clusters
{corymbs) of from six to thirty flowerlets in a bunch.
The fruit is scarlet or orange, from two-thirds to three-
fourths of an inch long and rather pleasant to the
taste. The fruit of the variety malis is dull red and
more insipid. Though not esteemed by man, the fruit
is eagerly sought after by prairie chickens and quail.
I have seen hundreds of these wild fowl at one time
feasting on this fi'uit, which they seemed to prefer in
its season to all other food.
The June Berry.
This fruit is abundant in some portions of Nebraska.
It is a small tree or shrub, from ten to thirty-five feet
in height. There are apparently three or four species,
but they run so much into each other, that botanists as
yet treat them as one species with many varieties. It.
is known as Amelanchier Canadensis. The variety
most common here is Alinifolia.^ with roundish, blunt
326
nebraska.
leaves, which are toothed towards the summit. The
flowers which are white are produced in long loose
clusters {racemes). Berry purplish, sweet, and gene¬
rally deliciously-flavoured. This berry has always
been a favorité with the Indians. They dry and mix
it with pemican (jpreserved meats)., to which it gives a
delicious flavour. Nothing is supposed to give more
daintiness to an Indian feast than June berries boiled
in the broth of fat meat. Children of every age equal
the Indians in their admiration and enjoyment of June
berries. It would "pay" [to cultivate them for " the
little ones" alone.
Wild Currants and Gooseberries.
There are four species of gooseberries growing wild
in the State. One of these, a " Smooth Wild Goose¬
berry " {Ribes hirtellum)., has smooth stems, short thorns,
or none, and smooth, small, purple, and sweet berries.
It is not very abundant. Another " Smooth Wild
Gooseberry " {R. rotundifolium)., in its many varieties,
is met with constantly, especially in the timber and
along our streams, and is a most abundant bearer.
The leaves are nearly smooth, roundish, three to five
lobed and truncate at the base; stems slender and
from one to three flowered. It grows from two to four
feet high, the stems having whitish bark. One variety
of this species bears a berry, long, large, and green.
Another variety, which grows from three to four feet
high, sets its canes thickly, and they are covered with
slim thorns of a brownish, purplish colour. The fruit is
as large as a Houghton, sometimes larger, somewhat
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
327
veined, and of a clear, glossy, transparent colour, oval
or round, and sometimes slightly flattened at the ends,
and with a rich vinous flavour. I have found a few
specimens three-fourths of an inch in diameter when
ripe, and never observed them to be affected with mil¬
dew. So abundant are they that the Indians often pick
many bushels per day for weeks in succession and
carry them to the various markets. They bear trans¬
portation well. Many citizens are now well supplied
with these berries from stocks transplanted from the
woods into their own grounds. I have myself planted
the Houghton in a row alongside of this wild variety,
and the latter proved superior in productiveness and
hardiness to the former. The Swamp Gooseberry {B.
lacustre)^ whose young stems are clothed with bristly
prickles, and small weak thorns, and whose leaves are
heart-shaped, and from three to five parted, and the lobes
cut, and whose fruit is bristly, small, and disagreeable,
is unimportant. Even birds generally give it a wide
berth. The "Wild Gooseberry" (i?, cynoshati)^ with
pubescent leaves, slender peduncles and spines, and a
large berry armed with long bur-hke prickles, is no
better than the last. In a few localities it is quite
abundant.
Two species of wild currants abound. The " Wild
Black Currant" {B, floridum) is remarkable for its
large flowers. The leaves are from five to seven-
lobed, doubly saw-toothed, and generally sprinkled with
resinous dots, slightly heart shaped, and the racemes are
downy, drooping; the fruit is round-ovoid, black and
smooth, and in smell and flavour much like the black
328
nebraska.
currant of the gardens. The Buflfalo or Missouri cur¬
rant also abounds in many places. It is remarkable
for the spicy fragrance of its yellow blossoms, and is
often cultivated for ornament. Its fruit is of little or
no value.
Grapes.
Two species of grapes, with a great number of hybrids
and varieties, abound in Nebraska. It is hard to realize
without seeing it, with what luxuriance the vine grows
in this State. Some of the timber belts are almost im¬
passable from the number and length of the vines, which
form a network from tree to tree. Straggling vines
are sometimes found far out on the prairies. Where
deprived of any other support they creep along the
ground and over weeds and grass. The Summer
Grape {Vitis œstivalis) can generally be recognized by
the downy character of its young leaves, which are
smooth when old. They are simple, rounded, heart-
shaped, and often variously lobed. The panicles are
compound, long, and slender. The berries are small,
from one-third to one-fourth of an inch in diameter ;
colour black with a bloom, ripe in September and
October. The Frost Grape (F. cordifolia) has thin
leaves, heart shaped, sharp pointed, sharply and coarsely
toothed, and sometimes obscurely three-lobed. The
bunch is compound, large, and loose. The berries are
small, about one-fourth of an inch broad, and blue or
black with a bloom, very acerb, and ripening after frost.
Very late in autumn, when dead ripe, these grapes
become comparatively sweet. As already intimated
there are many forms that cannot well be classified
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
329
with either of these species. Some appear to be hybrids,
and some approach one or the other more closely, but
varying much from them. In the opinion of some of
our best botanists a thorough re-examination and a new
classification of these wild grapes is needed. There is
as much difierence in flavour and quality as there is in
form. Future investigation and culture will no doubt
produce from these wild gi'apes varieties that will be
eminently worthy of cultivation. Their superior hardi¬
ness, the ease with which they can be grown, their
early bearing, and the comparatively fine flavour of
Fig. 51. A variety of the Vitis Mstivalis or Summer Grape,
many of them, entitle them to more attention than
they have yet received. Figure 9, Plate YII. is a
bunch of wild grapes from a variety of the Summer
Grape (F. œstivalis). It approaches the Clinton grape
in form and size.
A great deal of wine has been manufactured from
these grapes in some portions of the State. The wine
has a fine body, is rather dark, and in a year or two
is much like the Oporto in flavour and colour. It is
330
nebraska.
sometimes shipped to other States to mix with wines
manufactured from cultivated grapes to give them
body and colour.
The Mulberry.
Along the bluffs of the Missouri and some of its tri¬
butaries the Eed Mulberry {Morus rubra) abounds.
Sometimes it is a mere shrub, and sometimes it reaches
the dimensions of a small tree. Though called the
red mulberry, its fruit in Nebraska is as often of a
blackish colour, as red or brown. Its sweetish black¬
berry-like fruit is eagerly sought after by many of the
settlers, and seems to be one of the special delights of
prairie chickens, quail, wild turkeys, and other birds.
At least I have often found them feasting on this fruit.
This tree or shrub is easily cultivated, and is often
transplanted for ornament and for its fruit into culti¬
vated grounds.
The Buffalo Berry.
The Buffalo Berry {Shepherdia argéntea) is - found on
the banks of the Missouri, the Niobrara, the Platte, the
Republican rivers, and many of their tributaries.
Though not yet seen in cultivation it deserves a place
in every fruit garden. It varies from the habit of a
shrub to that of a small tree. The leaves are oblong,
silvery white, the branches rusty white, and sometimes
quite thorny, with numerous thorn-like limbs. The
flowers are small, yellow, dioecious, the sterile ones
with a four-parted calyx, and eight stamens. The
fertile flowers have a calyx, shaped like an urn, which
encloses the ovary, that becomes the berry-hke fruit.
E. Eailcy delin.
WILD FDUITS OF NE BF ASK A.
Shtpherdia Arg enlia (The Bh iweo Byr,n\
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
331
The fruit is roundish, varying in colour from a dull
red to a scarlet, slightly, but only slightly acid, and until
quite ripe, somewhat astringent, though agreeable. It
is an enormous bearer, the fruit being produced in very
compact masses in the arils of the branches. The fruit
ripens in early autumn, and if left undisturbed hangs
until winter. The plant is very hardy, and can be
grown in any good soil. The only drawback to the cul¬
tivation of this fruit is that it is dioecious, and one of
each sex must be planted to obtain fruit, though if
many be planted in a row or a cluster, one staminate
or male tree will be enough to fertilize seven or eight
pistillate plants. It is one of the easiest of all fruits
to propagate. After the berries are gathered and the
seeds removed from the pulp they can be planted at
once or kept in sand until spring. They ought to be
sowed in drills and covered about two inches deep.
At one year old they should be transplanted into ordi¬
nary [nursery rows, about four feet apart. In three
years from the seed they will bloom, when they can be
examined, and labels attached to the staminate plants,
after which, for convenience sake, each kind had better
be placed in a row by itself.
Wherever this berry becomes known it is at once
a favourite, and being so hardy and easily propagated
it soon could supply the settler with an abundance of
delicious berries. Among the purposes for which it is
used is the manufacture of jelly, of which it produces
an article that for richness of flavour is surpassed by no
other fruit. The plate facing page 330 shows a branch
with fruit.
332
nebraska.
The Elderberry.
Many of the emigrants from the eastern States are
glad to find an old favourite, the Elderberry, Samhucus
Canadensis^ among the wild fruits of Nebraska. Though
the shrub which produces this berry has a rather rank
smell, especially when bruised, and its fruit is seldom
eaten in a raw state, yet the berries are really so
delicious, when prepared with skill, that wherever
they abound they are eagerly gathered, and dried for
future use, or manufactured at once into various kinds
of jellies or sauce. A good article of wine is frequently
made from them. The stems are half woody, from
five to ten feet high ; leaves pennate ; leaflets from
seven to eleven, oblong, the lower often three parted ;
the flowers are small and white, in compound clusters
or cyones ; fruit, black purple. It grows abundantly
all over eastern Nebraska.
The Pap aw.
The Papaw, Asimina triloba^ is one of the four North
American representatives of a large tropical family,
which is generally aromatic. Over three hundred
species grow in the two tropical hemispheres. Its
yellow fruit is from two to three inches long, is
pulpy, with many flat seeds, fragrant, and ripe in
October. The tree is from ten to twenty feet high.
The leaves are thin, obovate, lanceolate, and pointed.
The flowers are duU purple ; the petals are veiny,
round-ovate, and the outer ones from three to four
times as long as the calyx. The flowers appear with
the leaves, and sometimes precede them. It is only
the wild fkuits of nebraska. 333
found in the south-eastern part of the State, and though
of no practical value, botanically it is of much in¬
terest.
Nuts.
Though nuts are not always classed with fruits it
seems proper in this place to mention the few that
abound in Nebraska. First in the list is the nut of
the noble Black Walnut, Juglans nigra. A few years
ago this tree was abundant over eastern Nebraska.
So valuable, however, is the wood, and so high the
price it brings in market, that in many places where
great numbers formerly existed it is becoming quite
rare. Fortunately, this tree is so hardy and is so
easily grown from the seed, that great numbers are
started in the artificial groves that are planted all over
the settled portions of the State. The nuts are almost
as much of a favourite with adults as with children ;
and wherever the trees remain they should be care¬
fully preserved to supply the means for future groves,
and for the intrinsic value of their fruit.
In a few places along the Missouri the Shell-bark
Hickory, Carya alba., abounds. Though not in suf¬
ficient quantities to supply the markets with hickory
nuts, it is worthy of cultivation for its timber, which
is valuable for many purposes besides fuel. When
once grown, groves of hickory will also supply an
almost unfailing harvest of nuts.
The Hazel Nut, Corylus Americanus., is widely distri¬
buted over the State. It grows here from four to seven
feet high. The nuts have been as much of a favourite
with the Indians as they are now with the children
of the white settlers.
334
nebraska.
The General Botany of Nebraska.
The wild fruits are themselves a proof of the richness
of the flora of this State. The writer has collected two
thousand and thirty-four species of native plants, of
which sixteen hundred and seventy-one are flowering,
and the balance non-flowering species. The charac¬
teristic flora of the State is its grasses and sedges, both
of which cover the land wherever timber does not
monopolize the ground. One hundred and forty-nine
species of wild grasses, many of them of the richest
character, supply food in almost unlimited quantities to
herds of cattle and sheep, in winter and summer, as
they did to countless thousands of buflalo, deer, elk,
and antelope before the advent of the white man.
Some of the grasses, like the buflalo grass, Buchloe
dactyloides^ cures naturally on the stock, and thus
supplies food for winter use without cutting. As the
buflalo grass disappears before advancing civilization,
species even more valuable (like Andropogon furcatus^
A. scoparius^ and Sorghum nutans) take its place. Un¬
like the buflalo grass, these grow so high that they can
readily be mowed and stacked for winter use. The
latter. Sorghum nutans^ growing from three to five feet
high, is especially a noble grass, and eminently worthy
of cultivation. It is easily recognized by its terminal
panicle of brownish spikelets, which is strikingly like
the cultivated sorghum, and like the latter it contains a
large amount of saccharine matter in its juices. There
are also one hundred and fifty species of sedges growing
in the State, on many of which the cattle will browse in
THE WILD FRUITS OF NEBRASKA.
335
an emergency, though they do not compare with the
grasses in real value.
The composite family is represented by two hundred
and forty-four species and variefies ; and the pulse
family, to which the bean and pea belong, by one
hundred and nine different forms. One of these, the
Wild Ground Plum {Astragalus caryocarpus) of the
early travellers across the plains, is no mean substi¬
tute for peas when prepared in the same way. Its
beautiful violet-purple flowers, in a short raceme, ap¬
pearing in early spring, alone entitles it to cultivation.
It is a prolific bearer of ovoid globular fruit, which
has been often used for the table in the absence of the
cultivated pea.
There are at least fifty species of native forest trees
growing in the State, the largest families being the oaks
and the willows, of each of which there are eleven
species and one variety. There are also four species
of elm, three of maple, one walnut, and four hickories,
and a hackeberry and a honey locust. The evergreens
are represented by three species of cedar, namely, the
White Cedar, Cupressus tliyoides^ the common Juniper,
Juniperus communis^ and the Red Cedar, C. Virginiani^
by one pine, Pinus ponderosa^ and two spruces, Ahies
Englemanni^ and A. Douglasii.
But the botany of no region is complete without an
examination into its fiowerless plants. Among these
in Nebraska there are thirty-five species of ferns ; one
hundred and thirty-four species of mosses ; twenty-five
species of hepaticsB ; sixty-two species of lichens ; and
ninety-one species of fresh-water algae.
CHAPTER XXY.
TIMBEE AND FUEL.
Prairie and forest.—Cultivated trees.—Profits of tree culture not easily
ascertained.—Some estimates.—Fabulous wealth in Spain.—¿622,000
from an acre.—But timber will pay.—Best localities.—Cottonwood.—How
to plant a hill.—Views of a local authority.—" Timbee Culture Act."—
160 acres given if 40 are cultivated.—No taxes for thirteen years.—
Eich or poor alike.—Official Construction.—Maiden foresters.—What
work must be done.—Death of donee.—Homestead settlers.—Title.—
Suggestions.—Fuel.—Maize a cheap fuel.— "Corn-cobs."—Straw.—
Present resources.
N few instances is there any room for choice
between a heavily wooded and a prairie
country, for the advantages of the latter
are most decidedly predominant ; yet
few things add so much to the value of a prairie farm
as a moderate acreage of timber. Timber is much
more in request in a new country than in an old one,
and it has often to be brought into a new prairie State
from a long distance, at great expense of carriage.
Pine lumber, for instance, may be sent from Canada to
England at a cheaper average freightage than that at
which it can be imported into Western Nebraska from
TIMBER AND FUEL.
337
the great pineries of the United States. Yet experi¬
ment has abundantly proved that a great variety of
trees, excellent for timber, grow with very exceptional
rapidity when cultivated in the rich soil of the prairie
States. I have seen many trees of from one to ten
years' growth whose dimensions I would scarcely dare
present, from a fear that my readers would only believe
their own eyesight in cases which would appear to them
so very extraordinary. But all sensible people will
believe me when I say that in cultivating trees one can
insure any desirable form—an enormous advantage in
itself; and that if he has a soil sufficiently rich in the
proper ingredients, and by suitable tillage keeps it in a
condition for the rootlets to take up these ingredients
to the best advantage, he can be certain of a growth
far surpassing in rapidity that obtained under the
ordinary hard conditions of nature.
I find it impossible to give perfectly trustworthy Dr.
and Cr. accounts showing the exact cost and value of
an acre of timber of any kind when properly planted
and taken care of in suitable soil. The same amount
and quality of timber, for example, will be worth
double as much in one locality as in another a very
short distance off, the question of proximity to the
railway being of vital importance in such a case ; and,
even when this point has been well considered, in com¬
mencing the cultivation of timber one must weigh
probabilities for a dozen years ahead at least. In the
numerous estimates before me, I think that these con¬
siderations have been very much neglected ; one gives
$728, or above £130, as the value of an acre of properly
z-
338
NEBRASKA.
cultivated cottonwood at. the end of fifteen years, and
another makes its value |902 at the end of twelve
years. One gentleman says that pine and larch, as
demonstrated in his grounds, attain the height of thirty
feet to thirty-five feet in twelve years. He would plant
three feet apart, placing pines at intervals of twelve feet,
and filling the other spaces with larches. This would
be a proportion of one pine to fifteen larches, and would
give 4,840 trees to the acre. He would cut out all of
the larches in the course of thirty years, leaving the
pines. He estimates that he would have on one
acre :— ,
In 7 years 2,400 larches, worth 5 cents, each, for grape stakes $120
,, 7 years more 1,200 larches, to make 4,000 fence posts, at 25
cents each ........ 1,000
,, 7 years more 600 larches, worth $3 each .... 1,800
,, 9 years more, 300 larches, worth $20 each . . . 6,000
Total for the larches .... $89,000
leaving on the ground 300 pines, worth at that time $20
each, or $30 each in ten years more, or $50 each at the
end of fifty years from time of planting.
This gentleman evidently counts upon all his trees
being perfect, and upon the very thickly planted ones
growing as rapidly as they do under the most favour¬
able circumstances, as well as upon the permanence of
present values. 1 have seen many vigorous stalks of
wheat from one seed ; its yield was, of course, enormous.
Now if I took this as a fair sample kernel of wheat,
estimated the number of kernels sown upon an acre,
and their aggregate produce by that of this one, my
estimate would be considered by some men a trifie
TIMBER AND FUEL.
339
extravagant; and if with such an estimated yield I
calculated on present prices, I should certainly be a fit
subject for an insane asylum.
Another Dr. and Cr. estimate is before me, in which
the net profit on 160 acres of timber cultivated for
twelve years is put down at about £22,000. Of this
kind, vague, indefinite, and extravagant, are all the
data that I have been able to obtain on the subject of
timber cultivation. I have, however, seen enough of
timber planting to know that there is an enormous
difference, both in quantity and quality, between culti¬
vated and native timber ; and I can safely say that in
suitable localities a moderately large acreage of timber
will pay better than any other crop—apples, grapes,
and other fruit, only excepted.
Generally speaking, the localities in Nebraska best
adapted for timber are, {a) all bottom lands in the
eastern half of the State ; ip) ravines, upland hollows,
and basins in the eastern half of the State, and all
bottoms very near the level of permanent water in the
western half ; (c) uplands generally in the eastern half,
and bottom lands generally in the western half of the
State. But no hard and fast line can -be drawn, and the
highest uplands near the Missouri will be found well
adapted, while many bottom lands in the far western
portions of the State will scarcely grow timber at present,
without irrigation of the young trees until their roots
are able to strike into the ground to the limits of per¬
manent moisture.
With very little care cottonwood will grow almost
anywhere if fires are only kept away. I have seen it
340
NEBRASKA.
in the most unpromising situations in the sand hills,
where, owing to the sterility or shifting character of the
surface, there was not a sufficiency of vegetation to
maintain the prairie fire, which is its most deadly enemy,
and it may well be argued from the presence of trees
under such circumstances that were it not for the fires
that sweep across the plains, all of the eastern and
much of the western portion of Nebraska would be
covered with timber. But hardy as is the cotton-
wood it will well repay a reasonable amount of care
and attention bestowed in its cultivation. I have seen
groves where ten per cent, of the young trees were dead
for lack of moisture, and it stands to reason that their
growth must be slow if they are planted on the crests
of hills and the land is left in that condition which will
help it best to throw off the rain rather than to absorb
and retain it.
When it is desired to grow a plantation on the crest
of an elevation or on a steep declivity it is important
that the ground should receive more than usual care in
its preparation, and that it should be left as much as
possible in ridges so disposed as to prevent washing
and induce the rain to soak into the ground, while the
trees themselves should be deeply set in soil well
broken to a corresponding depth. This observation is
of course intended to apply only to lacustrine sods and
such others as are capable of draining themselves by
filtration. Hedge-rows and single rows of trees on
boundary lines should also be ploughed and tilled with
the same object of preventing washing, and of inducing
the moisture to penetrate in abundance to the roots of
TIMBER AND FUEL.
341
the plants. If settlers will think of this they will have
no difficulty in growing with a thriftiness and rapidity
which wül well repay their care, a great variety of trees
in almost any situation in nearly the whole eastern half
of Nebraska, and also in much of the western half of the
State.
The following extract from the " Nebraska Farmer,"
a journal published at Lincoln, with some modifications
already indicated, will shortly express on some other
important points, and it will at the same time serve as
a good sample of that agricultural journalism in the Far
West which will have a large part in the instruction and
consequent prosperity of the too-often unskilled farmers
who settle therein.
In planting trees regard must be bad to the end to be served, as well
as to other considerations. Timber is needed for protection, for fuel, for
the modification of chmate, and for lumber in the not very distant future.
There are kinds of timber that serve other valuable purposes. The hick¬
ory, the black walnut, and .the chestnut are not unworthy of cultivation for
their fruit.
The maple and box élder are not only splendid shade trees, but they
furnish the most delicious sugar.
The Cottonwood is desirable on account of its rapid growth, in which
respect it excels the silver maple and box elder. The oak, hickory,
black walnut, box elder, hackberry, and several other species afford
excellent fuel. The black walnut, locust, and elm make good fence posts,
and we presume that the people will continue to use fence-posts, notwith¬
standing the herd laws.
It may be regarded, by some people, as a long look into the future to
say that timber should now be planted for building purposes. But what
is the next generation to do if this generation strip the forests of their
grand growths for lumber, and do nothing at all to replace them with
something that will make lumber when it is grown, and if the treeless
prairies be not utilized for the same purpose ?
For some kinds of timber the cottonwood answers a good purpose, and
342
NEBRASKA.
it has the advantage of rapid growth. A fifteen year old cotton wood is
often fit for the sawmill.
The black walnut is a most valuable tree for prairie culture. In the
first place, its long tap root goes down so far after its food that the dry
seasons will afiect it less than many other trees. Then, again, its bark
is not an agreeable morsel to the gopher below ground, nor to any
animal above ground, and it escapes the teeth of aU rodents and aU her¬
bivorous animals.
The black walnut will always be in demand for lumber, and we believe
that farmers ought to engage more largely in its culture. At present
they plant a single row where they ought to plant acres.
If you will cultivate the black walnut, select good, clean land, which has
been cultivated and is mellow. Plow furrows four feet apart, and as straight
as you can. Drop the seed two feet apart in the furrow. Do this in the
fall. When the lot is planted cover with a harrow. This is the cheapest
plan, and there is probably no better. The nut must have the benefit of
the winter frosts. Why plant so close?—Because this is Nature's own
plan.
The ground must be shaded to have any kind of timber do its best ;
and the bodies of the trees must be shaded to do their best. Trees
planted close together do not put out so many lateral branches, but shoot
upward, making a longer upright growth, and producing cleaner and
straighter bodies. After two or three years they wiU furnish poles, nnd
when they acquire age they are fine, clean, straight timber.
It will be seen that the black walnut is one of the easiest trees to start.
It is not more trouble to plant than an equal field of potatoes—perhaps
not as much ; for some people will persist in cutting their potatoes before
planting.
The hickory, oak, and chestnut require full planting also, and ought to
be more largely cultivated.
The soft maple ripens its seed early in June, and it should be gathered
and immediately planted in a protected situation. It wiU make a fine
growth the same season. But the bleak prairie winds are hard on the
tender twigs, twisting off the first leaves and killing the trees before they
have attained more than two or three inches of growth. Gathered in the
fall or early spring, and replanted, they do well.
Our answer to our correspondent is :
First—^For immediate shade and protection pui'poses, plant the cotton-
wood of one year's growth.
TIMBER AND FUEL. 343
Secondly—For future use, for fuel and lumber, plant hickory, white
oak, black walnut, white ash, maple, etc.
Thirdly—For road-side fences plant the Osage orange, and the willow ;
but if you plant the willow use stakes four or six feet long, and set them
deep, say two feet deep, as early in the spring as you can. The only
objection we know of to the willow is its sprawling habit of growth.
A very large portion of Nebraska suitable for the
purpose is still open to entries under the " Timber
Culture Act," which gives under most liberal conditions
160 acres, or one-fourth of any government section of
untimbered land, to a person who will cultivate timber
on one-fourth of the land so given him. The perfect
title is not given for eight years, and the settler need
not apply for it till near the end of five years more, and
during this time the gift is. not hable for any debts or
taxes.
It is not necessary for the donee to reside upon the
land, nor is there any hmitation as to his wealth or
condition, or his having already had the benefit of
either or both the homestead and pre-emption laws of
the United States.
Under this law further advantages are also given to
homestead settlers.
The application of the law is entrusted firstly to the
United States Land Office at Washington, and secondly
through it to the registers and receivers of the Land
Office in the various regions more or less open for
settlement.
These officers of the Government will supply applicants
with forms and every information necessary for a full
compliance, both with the letter of the law, and the simple
344
NEBE ASK A.
regulations under which it is carried out by the Govern¬
ment.
To a plain man the official construction of a law is-
often of more importance than the text of the law itself,
and I therefore give the official construction of this law
and the regulations made in accordance therewith.
The privilege of entry under this act is confined to persons of either sex,
who are heads of families, or over twenty-one years of age, and who are
citizens of the United States, or have declared their intention to become
such ;
The affidavit required on making an entry under this act may be made
before you, or either of you, or before some officer authorfeed to administer
oaths in your district, who is required by law to use an official seal ;
Not more than one quarter of any one section can be entered under this
act;
The privilege of making more than one entry thereunder is confined to
such parties as shall enter, in each and every instance, a fractional sub¬
division of less than 40 acres, and that the aggregate area of such entries
shall not exceed 160 acres ;
The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, &c., is, in all cases
initiated under the first section of this act, one-fourth of the land embraced
in the entry;
One-fourth part of the area required to be devoted to timber must be
broken within one year from date of entry ; one-fourth part more within
two years from date of entry; and the remaining one-half within three
years from date of entry ;
One-fourth part of the area required to be devoted to timber must be
planted within two years from date of entry ; one-fourth part more within
three years from date of entry; and the remaining one-half within four
years from date of entry;
The trees are required to be not more than twelve feet apart each way,
and the same are required to be protected, cultivated, and kept in a
healthy growing condition for eight years next succeeding the date of
entry ;
If, at the expiration of the said eight years, or at any time within five
years thereafter, the person making the entry, or, if he or she be dead, his
or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove by two credible witnesses
TIMBER AND FUEL.
345
the fact of such planting, cultivation, <fec., of the said timber for not less
than the said period of eight years, he, she, or they shall receive a patent
for the land embraced in said entry ;
In case of the death of a person who, having entered a quarter section,
has complied with the provisions of this act for the period of three years—
that is to say, who has broken ten acres the first year, ten acres the second
year, and twenty acres the third year; and who has planted ten acres with
timber the second year, and twenty acres the third year ; and who has
planted ten acres with timber the second year, and ten acres the third
year—then, and in that case, his or her heirs or legal representatives shall
he permitted, at their option, to continue to comply with the provisions of
this act during the unexpired portion of the eight years, and thereupon
receive a patent for said quarter section ; or, on making proper proof of
the compliance of the deceased settler with the requirements of the act for
the said period of three years, they shall receive, without delay, a patent
for forty acres of said quarter section, upon the condition that they relin¬
quish to the United States all claim to the remainder of the land embraced
in such entry ;
If at any time after, not less than one year from the date of entry under
the first section of this act, and prior to the issue of a patent therefor, the
claimant shall fail to do the breaking and planting required by «this act, or
any part thereof, or shall fail to cultivate, protect, and keep in good con¬
dition such timber, then, and in that event, such land shall become liable
to a contest, in the manner provided in homestead cases ; and upon due
proof of such failure, the entry shall be cancelled, and the land become
again subject to entry by some other duly qualified person under this act,
or by the first legal applicant under the homestead laws ;
Each and every homestead settler, at any time after the end of the third
year of his or her residence, who, in addition to the settlement and im¬
provements required by the homestead laws, shall have had under cultiva¬
tion for two years one acre of timber (the trees thereon being not more
than twelve feet apart each way, and in a good thrifty condition) for each
and every sixteen acres of said homestead, shall, upon due proof of such
fact by two credible witnesses, receive his or her patent for said home¬
stead ;
No land acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event be¬
come liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the
issuing of final certificate therefor ;
The fees for all entries under this act shall be ten dollars, and the
346
NEBRASKA.
commission of registers and receivers on all entries (irrespective of area)
shall be four dollars (two dollars to each) at the date of entry, and a like
sum at the date of final proof ;
No distinction is made as to area or the amount of fee and commissions
between minimum^ and double-minimum lands ; a party may enter 160
acres of either, on payment of the prescribed fee and commissions ;
The fifth section of the act entitled An act in addition to an act to
punish crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," ap¬
proved March 3, 1857, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affida¬
vits required or authorized by this act ;
That persons who may have already made entries imder the timber-
culture act of March 3, 1873, of which this is amendatory, shall be per¬
mitted to continue and complete the same in the manner and imder the
conditions prescribed by this act.
Registers and receivers are further instructed that application shall be
made in a prescribed Form A.
That they must require such entry, whether the same shall comprise
160 acres (more or less), or 80 acres, to be confined to the N.E. i, the
N.W. i, the S.E. i, or the S.W. ^ of a given section ; or, in other words,
to a technical quarter section, or a technical half-quarter section, as the
case may be, of prairie lands naturally devoid of timber
If he shall have made one or more such previous entries, they must
require him to exhibit to them his duplicate receipts, or patents there¬
for
When they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for is
properly subject to such entry, they will require the affidavit. Form B, and
on payment of the fee and first commissions, the Receiver will issue their
receipts therefor
When final proof is offered, under the provisions of the fourth section of
this act, upon homestead entries, they will require the affidavit. Form C,
and the proof, Form D, both of which must show that the homestead
settler has resided upon his tract for not less than three years. There¬
after, on payment of the final homestead commissions, they will issue a
^ Minimum lands are those that may be pre-empted at the price of
^1*25 per acre. Douhle-minimum lands are those, generally within ten
miles of a United States land grant railway, which may be pre-empted for
^2'50 per acre.
TIMBER AND FUEL.
347
final certificate, Form E, and a final receipt. Entries of this class will
take current numbers in the regular final homestead series.
In all cases of entry, or homestead proof, under the provisions of this
act, it will be required that the character of the trees planted shall come
within the scope and meaning of the term "timber." Shrubbery and
fruit-trees cannot be accepted as meeting the requirements of the act.^
Very many persons are availing themselves of the
privileges accorded under this most liberal act. To
such of my readers as choose to avail themselves of its
advantages, I would recommend that, if they can find
means to do so, (a) instead of planting the trees twelve
feet apart, they should plant them in accordance with
the suggestions of the "Nebraska Farmer." (¿>) If
they cannot afford to do this, they should plant them
in rows, twelve feet apart, with one tree in every four
feet in each row, and that for some years the interme¬
diate space between the rows should be cultivated in
some suitable crops. (c) That if the ground be
uneven, and especially if there be any danger of its
being too dry, they should, instead of straight rows,
adopt curvilinear ones, conforming to the configuration
or elevation of the ground, taking care, however, that
at no part of the curves should the trees be more than
twelve feet apart, and adopting reasonable precautions
to retain on the latid as much as possible of the rain
that falls upon it.
Cottonwoods planted four feet apart each way, will
bear much thinning for fuel at the end of two years
growth, and this process may be continued without
1 The omissions marked thus
interest to the settler.
are office details of no special
348
NEBRASKA.
interruption for eight or ten years, till at the end of
that time the trees stand twelve feet apart. Three
years time, at all events, should provide any prudent
settler with abundance of fuel, and with small poles
for temporary fencing, if necessary, but in the mean
time some substitute for wood must generally be
found. Within reasonable distance of the railways, this
is not difficult, as the railway companies have an
interest in transporting it at a very low price, to
encourage settlement, and when one brings a load of
grain even fifteen or twenty miles to market, it will
cost him fittle in wear and tear and trouble to take
back half a load of coal.
There is a sentimental objection to using Indian corn
as fuel, but it makes a hot and lasting fire, and it can
certainly be produced almost anywhere in this region
at an average net expense of less than 3^c?. per bushel
in the ear (two bushels in the ear making one of shelled
corn). It needs no preparation for the fire, and I think
that, at any considerable distance from the railway,
with one exception, most settlers will find it for four
or five years their most economical fuel. I do not
know that any suitable person has made exhaustive
experiments on its comparative value as fuel; but I
am decidedly of the opinion that it would be cheaper
on many farmsteads in Nebraska than coal and coke
have recently been in London. " Corn-cobs" are the
exception alluded to. Farmers who shell their maize
before marketing it, and those feeding it to cattle, will
find in the cobs, free of cost, a fuel very tolerable in
any but the severest weather, when it would have to
TIMBER AND FUEL.
349
be supplemented or superseded by something more
substantial—unless, indeed, one had a stove specially
adapted for its consumption, an adaptation by no
means difficult, as it requires merely an unusually
large fire chamber, with such efficient control of the
draught as will prevent too rapid consumption.
Straw is now being successfully applied as fuel for
steam-engines. It is treated as worthless on the
prairie, but it will probably be utilized in this manner
to a considerable extent. Whether it can* be utilized
as a family fuel, is a question well worth the considera¬
tion of inventive Americans. But whatever the answer
to this question, I have no doubt whatever, that the butts
of maize stalks, which are invariably wasted, could be
used for this purpose. In the meantime, however, the
fuels practically available are wood, coal, and maize.
CHAPTER XXVI.
ÍENCfeS.
Little by little.—"Worm fences.—Post and rail.—" Corduroy."—Board
fences.—Wire fences.—Hedges.—Hedge plants.—Pences may be dis¬
pensed with in Nebraska.—But they are desirable.—Sod fence.—^How to
make it cheaply.—Estimate.—Its advantages.—Cultivation of the denuded
ground.—An example in detail.—It gives efficient cultivation of crops in
the first year.—Variety also, and consequently safe returns.
R AC TIC ALLY, not one in twenty of the
new settlers on a virgin prairie soil has
the means of enclosing his whole farm,
nor has he considered the cost in money
and labour that will eventually be required for that
purpose. He generally fences by little and little, in
the same way that he subdues the soil, and his fences
are often of the oddest as well as the rudest possible
description. The actual ^labour and expense of dealing
with his farm in this way is two or three times greater
than a sufficient outlay would have been at first, and
he often suffers much from the depredation of his own
or other people'^ stock; but, as he starts without
adequate capital, he must necessarily bear these evils
as best he can.
FENCES.
351
In a well-wooded new country the cheapest of all
fences is the worm or zigzag rail fence. The rails,
being cut along the Hne of the fence, require no trans¬
portation; they require no naihng, hole-digging, &c.—
nothing but simple piling with overlapping ends, and a
couple of stakes to support the topmost rail, or rider,
as it is called. Fourteen rails will make a rod of very
good fence, and under favourable circumstances these
can be cut and placed in position for about one shilling,
making the cost for a field of 160 acres about £32.
But the rails are very bulky, and if they have to be
carried any great distance it adds very much to the
labour, so that a farmer with plenty of woodland
gradually finds his Vorm fences more and more ex¬
pensive as his clearings increase in size, and his supply
of timber becomes more and more distant fi'om the
place where it is wanted as a fence.
Indiana is a well-wooded and comparatively a new
State, but the cost of first-class worm fences there is
now on the average at least six times the above
estimate of Is. per rod.
The worm fence is very unsightly, and as cultivation
progresses it becomes in the end more expensive than
others of neater appearance. But it still predominates
in most of the States, and even in the prairie State of
Illinois it comprises 43 per cent, of the whole. " Post-
and-rail " fence, another very prominent variety, requires
more labour and less timber than the worm fence, and
it is practically less expensive in most of the older
States. I have seen " post-and-pole " or " corduroy "
fence to a considerable extent in prairie regions. The
352
NEBRASKA.
poles are taken from young plantations of a few years*
growth, cut to the required length, and flattened at the
ends for nailing. One end of a panel goes outside of
one post, and the other end goes inside the next, so
that the poles of the several panels do not interfere
with each other.
Board fences appear destined to contest the final
supremacy in all places free from surface stones, with
the hedges which are now becoming prominent in some
of the prairie States. Mud walls, Sf ft. to 4 ft. high,
are used in some places for fences, and dry ditches in
some other cases.
Wire fences of five strands, 8 in. asunder, on posts
8 ft. apart, with a stay midway, are sometimes used,
and the present low price of iron will probably make
them increasingly popular. Besides these, there are
some ingenious patent fences used to a very limited
extent, and other very inferior makeshifts which I
need not describe.
The Osage orange is the popular hedge plant, and
it forms a large percentage of the field inclosures in
several of the Western States. Locust, bitter willows,
Cottonwood, box elders, and many other plants have
been used in Nebraska, and as far as my observations
go the willows have proved the most uniformly suc¬
cessful. The one great disadvantage of the hedge lies
in the fact that it is useless for some years, during
which time it needs protection for itself. But it is
very important in its probable modifying effect upon
the climate of the prairie States. In due time it
not merely protects a particular field from the wind
FENCES.
353
to a great extent, but tbe frequent recurrence of
the hedge in its path will cause such friction as mate¬
rially to abate the force of the general current. It is
next in importance to the cultivation of timber. The
latter should be planted in belts, transverse to the pre¬
vailing direction of the wind, in every prairie State, at
frequent intervals. This is a matter of so much im¬
portance that it should be an affair of the State Govern¬
ment. A gale from the Arctic regions has little impe¬
diment in its rapid course from north to south, while
the general direction of the mountains and valleys
rather favours it than otherwise. Its force could be
effectually broken by these narrow evergreen belts, and
very rapid variations in the temperature would then be
of comparatively rare occurrence. It also makes a vast
difference in the actual figures of the two extremes, if
the Arctic current and the hot wind from the opposite
direction have been so impeded as to travel but ten
miles an hour instead, of thirty or forty.
In many parts of Nebraska no farm fences are
used, there being a herd law under which all cattle
must be properly guarded at the expense of their owner.
Wherever a similar system has been tried, it seems to
be regarded with general and growing satisfaction, and
there is a strong tendency to such a system in some of
the older States. Capital is thus relieved from unpro¬
fitable investment, labour is much diminished, and the
new settler especially is enabled to devote his attention
more e:î^clusively to the directly productive labours of
his farm. Yet as the land becomes more generally
cultivated some inclosures become more and more
A A
354
NEBRASKA.
desirable, and almost every thrifty settler obtains them
with more or less promptitude.
Board fences, wire fences, or compounds of the two,
may be made efficiently at a cost of from $1*10 to |1*65
(4s. to 6s.) per rod, and when they have served the purpose
of protecting a growing hedge in one place, they may be
made equally efficient elsewhere at less than half of the
original cost. But as a temporary fence I am decidedly
in favour of sod, which may be made almost without
cost. The modus operandi is very simple. 1. Set off a
land say twenty feet wide all round the field. 2. Fix
the revolving coulters of three or four ploughs three
feet apart on a cross beam mounted on short runners
or shoes, and let the coulters project from three
to four inches below the level of the shoes. If the
ground is a little uneven the coulters should pro¬
ject further than otherwise. The beam should be
weighted sufficiently to drive the coulters into the
ground and run the implement on the shoes, while
by pressing on a pair of handles it may be easily
tilted over backwards so far that the coulters will be
thrown out of the ground. This rude machine being
drawn across the land set out will mark or cut the
turf at intervals of three feet, and by pressing on the
handles and throwing out the coulters as the margin of
the land is reached, it may be very readily turned
round. 3. A wide breaking plough should be used,
a 15-inch one will probably be the best, and with
this a furrow slice 3 in. thick should be thrown into
the centre of the land, and another furrow slice
from the opposite side should be thrown on the top of
FENCES.
355
the first. This makes the foundation of the fence
15 in. wide and 9 in. high without any hand
labour. The rest of the land is ploughed into nine
furrow slices, gradually diminishing from the full
width of the plough to seven or eight inches for the
outside ones. From the previous cross-cutting with
the coulter implement, these furrow slices fall in
rectangular blocks, each 3 ft. long and convenient
for handling. 4. Two men with manure forks throw
the oblong blocks of turf on top of the foundation
already laid. The outer row of turfs lies but 8 ft. liin.
from the base of the wall; this has to be thrown
5 ft. high, but it is conveniently only about half as
heavy as the turfs first moved. The result is a turf
wall 5 ft. 1 in. high, 1 ft. 3 in. wide at the bottom, and
Sin. wide at the top, a wall which will turn either
cattle or sheep unless there is a decided temptation for
them to break over. Turfs placed in this position will
decay very slowly. I would recommend that all or
nearly all of those placed by hand should be right side
up, as this wiU help to prevent washing and will allow
more or less vegetation from the sides.
Estimate for sod fence as above described to inclose one square mile.
10 acres of sod cutting with coulter implement at $1 . . $10"00
] 0 acres breaking at $3 . . . . . . .30*00
Piling turfs yards per lineal rod, at 6 cents per yard, or
1,280 rods at 15 cents ....... 192*00
Total cost about ¿642, or .... ^232*00
This is 21.L cents or M. per lineal rod, or Is. 6c?. per acre for the
whole inclosure. Practically 4 rods for roadway would generally be
p,llowed at each corner, making a deduction of 16 rods.
356
NEBRASKA.
This fence has the important advantage over most
others of being an efficient wind break, and where there
is little or no shelter it would well pay for itself in this
capacity. If one has the proper implements, or several
combining can afford them, the fence may be made
more efficient against cattle by ploughing a ditch, say
a foot wide and the same depth, on the side whence the
danger is likely to arise, and at such a distance that
cattle cannot tear down the sods with their horns with¬
out standing with their fore feet in the ditch, a position
which they are very unlikely to assume for that purpose.
The ground which has thus been stripped of its turf
for making the fence should be well ploughed, a hedge
planted one side, and a row of trees the other. The
ordinary method is to break a strip of ground for a
row of trees or for a hedge, and then after letting it he
over one year to rot the sod, to set out the plants the
next year, but when the sod is used for a fence this is
not necessary • a clear year may often be saved, and this
is very frequently if not generally worth much more
than the whole cost of the sod wall.
Let us suppose that four men have each taken 160
acres of land in a given square mile, and that they
combine to fence it with sod into forty-acre fields, for
this purpose making in common the rude sod-cutter as
described, and buying any other special tool that
may be necessary to their common end, also doubling
up their teams and working alternately for each other
when desirable. The amount of fencing required will
be 800 rods for each, costing them in time and labour as
already estimated $170 each. The four inner fields
FENCES.
357
will contain 960 rods of fencing, and they will inclose
of land ploughed to obtain the sod 4 acres 87 rods.
A 15-in.^ furrow slice may be turned towards the
centre of each field, and this may be rolled inwards a
second time, adding about 200 square rods to the sur¬
face denuded of sward at a further cost of $3*75. This
gives us 5f acres, which may be thoroughly pulverized
and put into wheat—less ^ne-third of an acre, the
space occupied by rows of hedging at right angles each
bisecting the 160 acres—at a cost including seed of $5
per acre.
The outer lots are then dealt with. The ploughed
ground within them is a little more than 13J acres,
to which 3f acres are added at a cost of $11*25,
by a wide double furrow as already described. The
main division lines of hedging only are carried through
these fields this season, occupying one-third of an acre.
We have here, therefore, 16fj^ acres available for crops.
But as a herd law prevails, and these fences are only
intended for shelter for the future, and to save our¬
selves from the trouble of herding our own stock, we
can as well have a crop outside the fields as within
them. The outside strip is equal to all within the
four middle fields, and with the double furrow around
^ I do not recommend 15-in. breaking ploughs unless for work like
this, although even 18-in. ones are not uncommon. Xeither would I
recommend putting a wheat crop into a thin poor soil stripped of its
sward. But where the black soil is 15 in. deep and upwards, this
will make little difference with its capabilities till in the course of time
the chief virtues of the decaying sod shall have been washed back into
the soil whence it was taken.
358
NEBRASKA.
it will give US 5f acres. This strip is 11 ft. 10 J in.
wide. After thoroughly preparing this soil we plant
it with a hedge row 2 ft. from the fence, and on the
permanent boundary of the field ; a row of maize 4 ft.
from this ; then another row of maize at the same dis¬
tance, and lastly a row of one-year-old cottonwood
plants or cuttings ft. from the outer row of maize.
This has a margin of 5^ in. of pulverized soil, and
also the benefit of the double furrow shce, from
which it will derive advantages both in the way of
shade and moisture, as also protection fi-om any pos¬
sible harm within twelve inches of the ground from a
prairie fire, but from this latter contingency it should
receive a further protection by the ploughing of a
furrow at the distance of a couple of rods, any inter¬
vening dry grass being burned at a suitable time.
It will be seen that two rows of maize are equal to
a width of eight feet, and although they are hkely to
ear out decidedly better than they would do in the
middle of a large field, they may be taken as equal to
half a rod in width, or four acres in all. And the strips
within the fields if planted entirely in maize will be fully
equal to a rod in width in an average field. This will
make the practical effect-overrun materially the actual
measurement.
Besides the ground occupied by hedges and trees,
we have thus in the inner fields 5^ acres ploughed, in
the outer fields 16^ acres, and four acres outside, or
altogether 26^ acres. It has cost
Sod fences, with breaking, &e. ...... $680"00
200 rods breaking inner fields ...... 3'75
FENCES.
359
600 „ „ outer ....... fll'25
200 „ „ outside of all . . . . . 3*75
1 fire-break furrow 4 miles ...... 2*00
Ploughing, thoroughly preparing, and planting 2S^ acres, in¬
cluding seed, Cottonwood cuttings, bitter willow cuttings,
&c., at ^5 per acre ....... 148'75
Total cost ...... $844'50
Returns same year.
10 acres wheat and barley, 20 bushels per acre, worth 75 cents
standing |150."00
2 acres oats net in same manner ...... IS'OO
4 „ potatoes and other roots exclusive of further labour, net
in same manner, 100 marketable bushels per acre, at 25 cents lOO'OO
10 acres maize net in same manner ..... IGO'OO
i acre garden vegetables for home use .... —
$428-00
Amount necessary to balance outlay ..... 416-00
$844-00
No account is here taken of the small potatoes and roots, the garden
vegetables, &c. The maize is supposed to yield 40 bushels to the acre,
worth for home feeding 40 cents per bushel standing ; as the maize will
practically overrun to about 12 acres, the net value for a good season
with thorough cultivation might perhaps be put at $200. No account is
taken of the maize stalks, which are valuable fodder. No estimate is
made of the expense of gates, or of carrying the fences across ravines and
running streams, which wiU vary widely with circumstances.
The net cost in his own labour to each individual
for 800 rods of sod fencing, and for one year's start
on miles of hedging and 1 mile of cottonwood
trees is $104*12J. There will have been the further
advantage of having been able to distribute his labour
to a greater extent than otherwise in things imme¬
diately profitable, such as cultivating his maize and
360
NEBRASKA.
vegetables, harvesting, &c., and by the variety of crops
he will have been able to insure against want, even
should the year have proved a very bad one, while
with sod corn he would have run great risks with¬
out improving the value of his holding to anything
like the same extent. Nor will he have been precluded
in this case from breaking any possible amount of
prairie either himself or by hired assistance, and dis¬
posing it by the side of his crops so as to be a safe¬
guard against the ravages of prairie insects.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the plan may be
advantageously modified in many ways to meet varying
circuiñstances, as for instance, some would have reason
to prefer one large, and several quite small inclosures,
one or more perhaps with much heavier walls, some
would turn their horses and cattle loose in one or more
of the fields the first year, taking care that the hedge
rows were the other side of the fence, while others
would tether at first, and still others combine with
neighbours in herding.
CHAPTER XXYIL
PASTOKAL MAKVELS.
A snow-storm.—A journey on the Umon Pacific.—The " caboose."—
The Platte Valley.—Prairie grouse.—A possible hatteau.—A peninsula.—
30,000 cattle.—Messrs. Keith and Barton of North Platte.—Their ex¬
penditure* and profits on cattle and sheep.—Ogallalla.—Roughing it.—
A ride,—Antelope.—A knowing horse.—Grazing in the snow.—Kinds
of kine and conditions- of cattle.—" Tail hold a good hold."—3,000 in¬
spected.—^Up in the clouds.—Mr. T. Lonergan's estimates.—-Why such
profits are possible.—Will they last ?—From Ogallalla to Laramie.—
An omen verified.—Sheep in Western Nebraska.—^Wyoming experi¬
ence.—Messrs. Clarke and Co.—Mr. M. E. Post.—<£500 in hand.—
£400 for a start.—£1,000.—Risks.
N December 5tb, 1873, I arrived in Omaha,
Nebraska, in the midst of a snow-storm;
and wishing to investigate things under
the most unfavourable circumstances, and
to give my reports from something more than mere
hearsay evidence, I determined to seize this opportunity
of seeing for myself how the cattle of the Western
plains fare in a snow-storm, when they are obhged to
find for themselves their food, and whatever shelter
they obtain.
Having made my arrangements, I started Westward on
362
NEBEASKA.
the 8th, stopped over at Grand Island at night, and the
next day continued my journey in the " caboose " of a
freight train, for the more leisurely inspection of the
country. An American freight train carries men enough
to handle it at the several stations; and the caboose
answers both as a look-out or guard's van, and as a
snuggery for those of the men whose presence is not
constantly required elsewhere. On the Union Pacific
the freight is supposed to travel about ten miles an
hour, a rate of speed that gives ample opportunity for
observing the general features of the country through
which the train passes. The day's journey was con¬
tinued through the immense valley of the Platte, almost
a dead level from four to twenty miles on each side of
us, low bluffs in the distance sometimes indicating the
verge of the upland on either side. Some of the trees
along the banks of the smaller streams which occasion¬
ally relieve the monotony of the scene, were covered
with prairie grouse. As practically there is no close
season, and with these birds the dread of the sportsman
is often less strong than their constitutional objections
to taking cold in the feet, a tolerable shot, suitably pro¬
vided, might on this occasion have had a day's sport, or
rather a batteau, among them, which would seem quite
fabulous to those not fiilly understanding the sporting
advantages of a Western snow-storm.
I reached North Platte at nightfaU, 291 miles west¬
ward from Omaha. The North and the South Platte
effect a junction near this station, inclosing between
them a narrow peninsula, which on a line northward of
Julesburg, Colorado, nearly 100 miles further west, is
PASTORAL MARVELS.
363
less than 30 miles wide. This peninsula, thickly covered
with nutritious grasses, is admirably adapted for herding
cattle. There were at this time upwards of 30,000 head
of cattle on the peninsula, owned by several firms, that
unite in guarding the western extremity, the two wide
streams being considered sufficient barriers against the
straying of the cattle from any other part of the
range.
Mr. E. C. Keith, of North Platte, informed me that
he commenced stock raising in the autumn of 1867 with
five American cows ; next autumn put in about 200
American cows. In '69 bought 1,000 head Texas cows,
two years old to six ; had American bulls only, all very
fair ones. In '70 a partner joined him, and they put in
1,000 more Texas cattle ; in December, '72, they bought
720 head of Texas steers, cows, two-year-olds, and year¬
lings, an average lot; also another lot of 250; in '73
bought 30 Americans and 200 Texans; has now about
200 bulls; in '70 bought a Canadian thoroughbred
shorthorn. The total cost from '67 to '73 inclusive wa&
under $50,000, besides expense of ranches, herding, &c. ;
ranches have cost, interest and all, less than $1,000.
Had old railway ties for the hauling and old telegraph
poles very cheap, otherwise they would have cost over
$2,000. With 200 head employed no extra labour.
Had several employés about him, and got a little extra
labour out of them in attending to the herd. When he
obtained the first 1,000 Texas cows had one extra man,,
and another with the second 1,000. Employed the
second man because one would not stay at the ranch
alone. The men cost $30 to $50 per month, besides
364
NEBRASKA.
board. He could not give off-band any very close
figures for this expense, as his partner kept the books.
He has sold on their feet about 1,000 head, which brought him
net about $33,000
He has butchered 1,000 head, mostly cows, which stood him iu
net over ......... 30,000
Total
Deduct cost of cattle, ranches, &c.
. $63,000
. 51,000
A balance of . . . ... $12,000
is left for interest and general expenses. This is scarcely sufficient for
these purposes, but it leaves nearly the whole of the present stock as pro¬
fit on the undertaking.
He estimates the numbers and value of the stock he was then holding.
1,400 improved calves, at $12 ...... $16,800
1,200 yearhngs, at 18 .
800 two-year-olds, at 25 .
300 three-year-olds, at 30 .
200 bulls, at 50 .
1,300 cows, at 25 .
Total value of stock
21,600.
20,000
9,000
10,000
32,500
$109,900
Messrs. Keith and Barton were employing only one
herdsman exclusively for their cattle. I met this man in
the caboose next day, and, so far as the circumstances
were famihar to him, he corroborated substantially
Mr. Keith's statement. He estimated the present value
of the herd at $18 the head all round, which would make
$93,600. Making every allowance, it is very evident
that Messrs. Keith and Barton's cattle business has been
enormously profitable. Circumstances were, however,
extremely favourable to them ; and a man starting in
the business now cannot expect that with the same care
and attention he "vyill be equally successful.
PASTORAL MARVELS.
365
Messrs. Keith and Barton's experience with sheep ha&
been exceptional. They first obtained 200 in 1870, at
$1*25 each, of which they butchered fifty, reahzing in the
local market, of which they then had a practical mono¬
poly, within a few dollars of the cost of the whole flock.
In '71 they bought 1,300 at $1*25, of which they sold
500 at $3'50, or a total of $1,650, the whole flock
having cost $1,625. This gave a profit of $25 and 80O
sheep into the bargain. They have butchered and sold
to the value of about $700, and wool has brought them
about $1,500. They have now about 1,000 sheep. The
destruction of a ranch cost them $300 to $400, for which
they expect compensation from the government ; the scab
was in the flock, and did not receive sufficient attention
in time ; lambs ,came in mid-winter and perished. But
for these circumstances the flock should have now num¬
bered about 2,000. As it is, they stand at a very hand¬
some profit ; but had the sheep cost them a really
substantial amount, they would undoubtedly have been
out of pocket through the investment. They purchased
four thoroughbred Leicester rams in 1872 at $50 each^
and a few fine merinos.
Wednesday, December 9, I left North Platte in the
caboose of the freight train for Ogallalla, about fifty miles
distant. The weather being still severe, the cattle were
mostly among the hills ; but I saw some hundreds, per¬
haps a thousand, grazing in the snow on the open plain.
OgaUalla, the destined seat of Keith County, then con¬
tained about half a dozen buildings. It could boast of
two eating-houses, but no lodgings or hotels. I patro¬
nized each eating establishment in turn, and for lodging I
366
NEBRASKA.
gladly accepted the hospitality of two bachelor brothers,
who divided between them the offices of Judge of Pro¬
bate for the county, Postmaster for the district, and
general storekeeper for the drovers. They also owned
two or three hundred head of cattle, and did a httle in
the butchering line. I slept on the boards in the sky
attic, while three others in a row enjoyed their slumbers
beside me; and several more were accommodated on the
counters and tables in the shpp below, a hot fire enabling
them to do without the blankets which were necessary
in the colder climate above. After having inspected the
Lonergans' sheds, " shoot," and slaughtering estabhsh-
ment, I started in the morning with the Judge, Tom
Lonergan, on a tour of inspection among the grazing
herds. Por the first half-hour our way was through a
gently undulating meadow, covered about two and a-half
inches deep in snow ; and, as it was very cold, we saw
no cattle at all. Esppng a herd of antelope in the dis¬
tance, we rode rapidly towards them, only to see them
metamorphosed into horses belonging to the ranch
where we hoped to obtain our dinner. We determined
to earn the hospitality we expected by driving them
homeward. My horse evidently understood this sort of
business, and thoroughly enjoyed it, turning to the
right or left as occasion required, and putting on the
speed whenever I loosened the reins. He evidently
thought it was extremely bad management to allow the
drove to get any considerable distance ahead. However,
I had other business in view. We soon came to a region
of small hills and narrow ravines, where the cattle were
grazing. Throwing the snow out of their way by a
PASTORAL MARVELS.
367
movement of the lips, they bit oíF the short dry grass,
and devoured it with very evident rehsh. Long-horned
scrawny Texans were there, which, having made their
long journey this year, were thin and seemingly in a
bad condition to stand the rigours of a severe winter.
I was told, however, that many of these would be fatter
in the spring. Other Texans that had spent one winter
here were, as such cattle go, in prime condition. All
the calves were by American sires, and were much
superior in style and appearance to their naothers, al¬
though some few of the latter were Americans or cross
breeds. Taken altogether, the condition of the animals
was a good growing one, and although none of them
would merit the term "fat," as it is understood and
applied in England, they fully satisfied my expec¬
tations, and convinced me that winter grazing, even
in the snow, is not necessarily another name for slow
starvation.
Our reception at the ranch was as hospitable as we
could have wished. After a bountiful repast, a little
rest, and some time spent in inspecting the premises, we
remounted and started on our return; and I had the
pleasure of leading a horse by means of a contrivance
which, however common in some places, was altogether
novel to my own experience. The halter of the jled
horse was securely fastened to the switch of the tail of
the one on which I was mounted, and he was obhged to
follow without any trouble to myself. Herdsmen will
lead in this manner an indefinite number of horses ; and
I understand that there is no danger of seriously elon¬
gating or otherwise harming the tail of the foremost
368
NEBRASKA.
animal. If a cow or a bullock is mired so that it is very-
difficult to bring the animal to terra firma^ the herdsman
firmly attaches its tail to one end of a lariat, or rope,,
the other end of which is fastened to the tail of a horse,
which is then mounted and urged forward. The horse,
finding himself fast, pulls his utmost, and the beast is
generally dragged out in a twinkhng.
The afternoon was milder than the morning, and the
cattle were grazing in the open plain. In the course of
the day's journey I saw about 3,000 head, being, as
indicated by their brands, the intermingled stock of five
difierent firms ; and I thoroughly satisfied myself that
winter grazing, even with snow on the ground, is a
practical, substantial, and important fact. As we
journeyed towards Ogallalla the sun approached the
horizon, and the sky and numerous clouds assumed
colours of strange and wonderful beauty. The " azure "
vault itself was of all possible shades of light green, and
also of clear light blue ; some of the clouds were solid
masses of the deepest indigo, while a few were black,
some were purple, and others faintly tinged with crimson
and gold. Two days before I had witnessed cloud
effects almost equally fine. There is no monotony in
the glorious dawns or the beautiful sunsets which are
the rule on these elevated plains, and which go far to
relieve the tameness of the landscape ; but they are
almost as little regarded by the people as an English
landscape, with its trees and hedges, and fields and
varied scenery in miniature, is esteemed by the average
peasant. These things are far more to the English
farmer than he knows himself, or, knowing, is willing
PASTOKAL MARVELS.
369
to admit. They are so much to ^~*m, in fact, that, if
I could see nothing really beautiful on the plains, I
should most decidedly tell him to stay away, knowing
full well that, whatever his gains, he would be one of
the most discontented of mortals till he could get
back to Old England again. But I must now come
down from the clouds, and deal with things of solid
substance.
Mr. T. Lonergan, of Ogallalla, who has driven cattle
from Texas, and is practically acquainted with the
subject, furnished me with the details from which I
take the following figures :—^
Estimate for a herd of 5,000 Texan cattle to he bought there early in
April, and driven to the Platte Valley.
1,000 head of beeves (bullocks four-year-olds and upwards at
$12 each) ........ $12,000
1,000 head of three-year-old bullocks at $8"50 . . . 8,500
1,000 head of two-year-old bullocks at $6 . . . , 6,000
1,000 head of yearlings at $3*25 ..... 3,250
1,000 cows at $7*50 ....... 7,500
Expenses—twenty-five horses bought in Texas and returned for
herding at $40 each ....... 1,000
First cost of 100 horses bought in Texas and afterwards resold . 4,000
"Wages of two foremen at $150 per month each for four months 1,200
"Wages of twenty-six drovers with food at $170 each . . 4,420
Eight months' herding on the range, with the extra expenses of
branding, &c., at the rate of $1 per head per year . . 3,334
Fifty bulls, fair to very fine grades, costing an average of $50
each .......... 2,500
Interest at 10 per cent, for one year on $53,704 . . . 5,371
$59,075
^ Prices are lower now than when this estimate was made, but relative
proportions remain very much the same.
B B
370
NEBRASKA.
Keturns of 100 horses sold at ^30 each, a loss of 25 per cent. . $3,000
Amount of investment at end of one year .... 56,075
Herding six months, to October 1st . . . . . 2>500
Interest, half-year, at 10 per cent. ..... 2,803
$61,378
Oct., 1875 : Net returns for sale of 2,000 beeves at an average
of $20 each . . . . . •. . . $40,000
Net capital account ....... . $21,378
Stock inventory in October, 1875, after sales are completed :
1,000 old cows, 500 ditto, three-year-old past, 200 ditto two-year-olds,
total, 1,700 ; 500 three-year-old bullocks, 500 ditto two-year-olds, 1,350
calves, 50 bulls, 300 two-year-old heifers—^total cattle, 4,400 head.
Horses, saddles, waggons, &c., enough for use.
Oct., 1875. Capital account brought down . . $21,378
1876. Expenses, one year .... 5,000
„ One year's interest at 10 per cent. . 2,838
yy yy
.$29,216
Sales account, 500 bullocks, four-year-
olds, at $25 . . $12,500
„ ,, ,, „ 200 old cows at $22*50 . 4,500
17,000
Balance on capital account Oct., 1876 . $12,216
Inventory, October, 1876 ;
1,500 old cows, 300 ditto three-year-olds, 500 three-year-
old bullocks, 75 bulls, 1,350 yearhngs, 1,500 calves—^total,
5,225 head.
Expenses to October, 1877 ..... 5,000
Interest at 10 per cent. ..... 1,721
18,927
Sales : 500 beeves at $25 . $12,500
100 cows at $22*50 . 2,250
$14,750
Balance on capital account, October, 1877 . . $4,177
PASTORAL MARVELS.
371
Inventory, October, 1877.
1,800 old cows, valued at ^15
400 two-year-olds, valued at ^12*50
275 two-year-old heifers
675 two-year-old bullocks
75 bulls, at $50
1,500 yearlings, at
4,850 calves
M
o
o
ai
ns
a>
'S
cS
s-
O
Deduct outstanding capital account ....
Balance to profit, exclusive of 10 per cent, interest ,
$27,000
5,000
3,300
8,300
3,750
12,000
9,000
$68,350
4,177
,173
Thus, according to this estimate, one invests about
£11,050, and in the course of three and a half years
withdraws all but about £800, receiving in the mean¬
time 10 per cent, interest, and at the end of the time
finding his stock, exclusive of horses, waggons, saddles,
fixtures, &c., worth £11,550.
The cost of ranches has not been specially allowed
for in this estimate, but the allowance for' herding, &c.,
may be made to cover it. I should prefer, however, to
allow £500 to pay for implements and for materials for
the ranches, in the building of which I would follow the
usual course of employing the spare time of the herds¬
men. I should allow more in the beginning for bulls,
for this, if managed with judgment, is the most profit¬
able part of the outlay. Most of the stock in the final
inventory are of a grade very much superior to the
Texans, and the prices are not unreasonable. Mr. L
says that the selling prices put down are sufficiently
low to provide for all losses and contingencies, pro¬
vided always that the business is faithfully managed
372
NEBRASKA.
by competent persons. Making every allowancé for
enthusiasm, the figures are perfectly astounding till we
come to investigate thoroughly the very exceptional
circumstances from which we obtain them. The cattle
are produced where there are neither land, fences, nor
food to be paid for ; and they are sold in competition
with other cattle, which are profitably raised where
land and fences are very important considerations, and
winter food the most important of all. There are com¬
paratively few men of means whose engagements will
permit them to enter into the business of cattle raising
on a scale suificiently large to obtain the greatest ad¬
vantages therefrom, and who by inclination, experience^
and practical judgment, are thoroughly fitted for the
pursuit. To cover the great plains of the far West with
lowing herds will, therefore, be a work of time ; the
demand for beef is both enormous and continually in¬
creasing, consequently very high profits will continue
for many years to come. But, though profits will
continue very high for a long time, they cannot be
• expected to remain at the present figures. There are
now many locations so favourable that the herds
thereon will require but little watching ; these will be
fully occupied in the course of a few years, and then
the newer comers, having neither mountains nor rivers
to keep their cattle within bounds, will be obliged to
herd them with more and more care and greater ex¬
pense, till it will be found cheaper to fence off the
several ranges than to employ a sufficient number of
herdsmen.
From Ogallalla I proceeded to Laramie City, in the
PASTORAL MARVELS.
373
neiglibouring territory of Wyoming. As evening ap-
proacbed, and I neared my destination on tbe great
mountain plain, I saw bovering over one of tbe snow¬
capped peaks a ricbly coloured cloud, so curious in form,
and witbal so perfect, tbat it migbt well bave been con¬
sidered a miraculous omen in tbe superstitious days of
old. It was a most accurate representation of a long
waving ostricb plume, in varying tints of crimson and
purple and gold. Had it represented a properly pre¬
pared quill of a goose, I migbt possibly bave taken it to
myself as an omen of future fame. As it was, I could
only call tbe attention of my fellow-passengers, and gaze
on it witb pleasure and wonder till it faded away. I
was totally unable to conceive tbe destiny in store for
me ; but in a few days I became without effort a mibtary
bero, witb tbe rank of colonel, and my fame was soon
somewhat widely extended. Whether this bad anything
to do witb tbe ostricb plume in tbe heavens, I leave for
reasonable readers to determine.
I saw no large'flocks of sheep in Western Nebraska;
indeed, I do not think there are any ; for tbe most
ebgible locations on tbe immediate line of tbe railway
were already occupied witb cattle before their intro¬
duction, and tbe flockmasters naturally went further
westward into Wyoming ; but, a short distance from
tbe railway, there are numerous fine locations for
ranches as yet unoccupied, and shepherding is destined
to become an important industry in this part of tbe
State ; and I therefore give some estimates and state¬
ments which, though founded on Wyoming experience,
are fairly applicable here.
374
NEBRASKA.
Messrs. Clarke and Co., about eighteen miles from
Laramie City, have the most complete estabhshment
that I have seen.
Cl.arTce and Co.'s Estimate.
Improvement, plant, <fee., about ...... $4,350
300 tons of bay (quantity cured in two seasons), 1872 and
1873 650
May, 1872, bought 140 merino sheep, of which eighteen were
full-grOwn rams and three were ram lambs ; average net cost
$15 each ; for the lot ...... . 2,100
August, 1872, bought 2,000 native ewes at $3 . . . 6,000
$13,100
Returns—Shearing of 1873, 9,200 lb. wool net ; 29c. per
pound ....... $2,668
,, Value of twenty-five pure blood merino ram lambs
at $25 each ...... 1,125
„ 1,515 lambs at an average of $3 eách . . . 4,545
$8,338
The winter of 1872 was mild, and no hay was used,
nor was any used in 1873-4; but severe experience has
taught that it must be kept in readiness. The data
before me are imperfect, and it is impossible to fix
accurately Messrs. Clarke's yearly percentage of profit
therefrom ; but it is evidently very large, and both
capital and labour accounts decrease in proportion,
while the quality and clip of wool and the quality of
sheep materially improve. Messrs. Clarke and Co. say,
that if they were to commence again with their present
experience, they would start m the spring, and would
reduce the cost of permanent improvements one-half
by planning the sheds and buildings differently, and
omitting nearly all of the fencing.
PASTORAL MARVELS.
375
Better facilities for procuring fencing poles have
been among the chief inducements for the flockmaster
to go further, instead of stopping off in 'Nebraska;
and, in practice, these are found somewhat doubtful
advantages.
Mr. M. E. Post, of Cheyenne, has gone into Mexican
sheep. Their mutton is said to be excellent, but their
wool is very inferior. They are very superior breeders,
excellent mothers, and go in very large herds. Mr. Post
is crossing them with merinoes. He says a herd of
3,200 Mexicans can be handled together by one man,
excepting lambing and shearing time. In lambing time
four men are necessary for an average of about three
weeks, and in shearing time eight men for about two
weeks. His herd in 1873 sheared about 31b. of wool
each, net value 25 cents per pound. The lambs merino
cross will shear first year 3 lb. each, and of better
quality ; and second year 4 lb. to 5 lb.
3,200 Mexican sheep at ^2. . . , . , . $6,400
Corrals and hay, first year ....... 1,500
Merino bucks, $50 .per 100 ewes, say 2,000 ewes . . . 1,000
$8,900
Expenses, labour, and incidentals ...... $1,000
Loss, 2 per cent ........ 128
,128
Returns : 9,600 lb. wool at 25c. ...... $2,400
Increase-from 2,000 ewes, 1,800 lambs at $2-25 . . . 4,050
),450
Deduct expenses 1,128
Net profits
Or 60 per cent.
$5,322
376
NEBRASKA.
Five hundred pounds in hand when he arrived in the
territory would, if judiciously handled, enable a man to
start with 500 native ewes, perhaps more, with ponies,
a waggon, a mowing machine and rake, and a few
household necessaries. He would build the ranch house,
corral, and stables himself, without any considerable
money outlay. He would have to hire help m shearing
time, paying' 8 cents (4(i.) a fleece, unless he were him¬
self an expert with the shears. He would have to
retain in hand some £50 for contingent expenses. His
wool, sold probably eight to ten months after he buys
the sheep, would bring him from £80 to £90, enough
to provide contingent expenses for the next year—and
the increase, about 350 lambs, worth £200, would be
his clear profit. The next year the wool would probably
bring him from £60 to £75 over and above his expenses.
The increase, about 425 lambs, would be worth £225,
making his profit £300. This year he could sell 175
wethers, and add at least 200 native ewes, with a few
thoroughbreds and a proper proportion of bucks, to his
flock. He would then have about 875 ewes, 225 ewe
lambs, and 225 lamb wethers ; or, including the bucks,
upwards of 1,350 sheep. The wool would bring hiTn
from £150 to £200 over his expenses, and the increase,
600 to 650 lambs, would be worth about £375, making
his profit £525 to £575 for the year. His establishment
would now be worth at least £1,300 ; and, if his sheep
were superior in quality, and his improvements the
result of much well-directed labour, they might very
probably bring £2,000. From this time he would have
to hire assistance, unless he were a married man and his
PASTORAL MARVELS.
377
boys were old enough to herd ; but his gains would be
exceedingly rapid, and he might reasonably expect to
retire with a very large fortune before the business
became overcrowded and unprofitable.
One might commence with 400 ewes; but, as the
expenses would be almost exactly the same, the start
would be much slower. £1^000 would, of course, start
in much better shape with 1,000 ewes, than £500 with
500 ewes. If hay and proper shelter are provided, the
risks of the business are very limited indeed. Foot rot
is unknown, and it is said that scab, once eradicated,
never returns into the flock unless new and diseased
importations are introduced. In fact, these dry, ele¬
vated regions are the natural habitat of the sheep, and
their normal condition here is one of vigorous health.
CHAPTEE XXVIII.
PASTORAL MARVELS {continued).
The same gentlemen in 1873-4.—Mr. Post.—The Mexican and the
merino-Mexican herders.—"Paupers."—Sheep account.—A word of
warning.—A hitter experience.—Trying again.—Sargent and Hômer's
estimates.—Horse breeding.—Mr. T. A. Kent's statements and esti¬
mates.—Conclusions.—Mule breeding.—An estimate.—A Golconda of
riches.—Land speculation.—^Land dealing and stock and flock raising.—
Five years' estimate for a sheep farm of 5,760 acres.—Conclusion.
ACH of the gentlemen who favoured me
with statements in 1873 informed me the
next year that the results of the year's
operations had been very good ; but I
received details from but one,. Mr. M. E. Post, who
has a herd of Mexican sheep. The actual figures as
to number of his herd, expenses, &c., are somewhat
different from the estimate; but the result is rather
more than the anticipated 60 per cent, profit. I visited
his ranch, some twelve miles out from Cheyenne. I
found it well situated, and the flock a thriving and very
promising one. The Mexican sheep are imdoubtedly
much superior to the merinoes as mothers, and they are
better travellers, and more capable of taking care of
PASTOKAL MAKVELS.
379
themselves on the plains. Their wool is small in
quantity and coarse in fibre ; but the majority of the
first cross with merino rams in Mr. Post's flock shows
an enormous advance in this respect upon the original
herd, and I think that careful management might de¬
velop a new strain, combining the good points both of
the Mexican and the merino. Undoubtedly the Mexican
came originally of merino parentage, and in the course
of many generations it has developed some new and
useful qualities, while in many other respects it has lost
the useful qualities of its ancestors. It is not far from
the merino in size, and it is said to make a much better
quality of mutton. Mr. Post has Mexican herders, who
have a great knack with the lasso. There are a certain
number of " pauper " lambs. Instead of bringing these
up by hand, ewes which have lost their lambs are
caught with the lasso, and compelled to suckle them.
After awhile the foster-mother adopts the " pauper "
with goodwill, and the trouble of catching may be
dispensed with.
I subjoin the statement of
Mr, M. E. Post's Sheejo Account, Dec. 1, 1873, to Aug. 1, 1874.
Stock Account. Db.
Dec. 1. 1,650 wethers at $2
1,550 ewes at $2*50
$3,800-00
3,875-00
465-00
366-75
600-00
1,000-00
22 merino bucks
Feb. 27. 203 wethers bought
Horses, waggon, tools, <fec
Value of improvements cost
$9,606-75
Expense account, including shearing,
lambing, marketing, wool labour,
provisions, &c., Dec. 1 to Aug. 1 . $1,441-81
380
NEBRASKA.
40 tons hay at ^8 . . . . 320-00
85 sheep lost during the winter, at
|2-50 212-50
1,974-31
Ebturns.
1,800 fat wethers sold at ^2-50.
Wool sold .....
85 sheep kelts at ^1*25 .
Stock Account
Aug., 1874. 1,515 ewes on hand, at $2-50
1,200 lambs improved, at $3 .
22 bucks . . . . ,
Horses, waggon, tools, &c.
Value of ranch improvements
Cn.
$4,500-00
3,300-00
-106-25
757-50
3,600-00
465-00
600-00
1,000-00
$11,581-06
$7,906-25
9,422-50
$17,328-75
Profits to balance ..... $5,747*69
{Of the 85 sheep lost during the winter 70 head were killed by acci¬
dent, which could have been avoided.]
The total outlay is $11,581*06, and the total profit
$5,777*69, which is just about 50 per cent, on the
outlay. But the returns began coming in long before
the whole outlay was incurred, and there wa^ not
Í10,000 out of pocket at any one time, while the ave¬
rage outlay was certainly less than $8,000 ; therefore,
by any reasonable calculation, the profit has been be¬
tween 60 and 70 per cent.
But it is not always and everywhere, regardless of
circumstances, that such profits are realized in sheep
PASTOEAL MAKVELS.
381
farming in this territory ; in fact, it is only very re-^
cently that people have acquired that experience
which with care and attention will insure success. I
subjoin in full the• statement of Mr. T. W. Sargent, of
the firm of Sargent and Homer, two young gentlemen
from Boston.
" I arrived at Laramie City in August, 1871, and
immediately set to work building corrals, &c. I was
informed by residents of the place and parties interested
in stock that no sheds or hay were needed, and, not¬
withstanding their advice, I purchased fifty tons of hay,-
which was distant from my ranch ten miles. My
sheep, 2,100 in number, were to arrive by cars the 1st
of September. I erected a comfortable log house for
myself and men, a stable for horses, and corral 240 ft.
square; these comprised all my buildings. My sheep
arrived all right from Iowa, with a loss of only 10 or
lOf per cent. About October 13 snow commenced to
fall, and it continued to snow for four days without in¬
termission; it then commenced to blow, and cleared
the plains partially, but of course filled the ravines and
valleys. I was fi:'ightened at the violence of the storm,
and resolved to put up sheds. I sent two teams to the
timber, and they had great difficulty in procuring poles,,
owing to the depths of snow which fell in the foot hills
and could not blow away. This first storm was soon
followed by others, and I found it impossible to get
into the timber at all. I shovelled out my corral by
day to have it refilled by the wind at night. I tried tO'
save hay for my sheep, and found that also impossible.
I could not haul over half a ton with six powerful
382
NEBRASKA.
horses. My sheep then commenced to die; actually
starving to death, and I had no means of saving them.
We had storms every two or three days till the middle
of April. I lost during the winter all of my sheep. I
was thoroughly disgusted with the business and the
country, and made up my mind to give it up, but finally
concluded to try again. I then purchased a fine ranch,
which would cut 200 tons of hay, and I bought 1,000
ewes, and built a corral, with good sheds. I also
purchased Cotswold rams, and saved an increase of 60
per cent. The first spring the sheep sheared 4^ lb.
per head, and the wool brought 30 cents per lb. I
figure the expense of buildings on a ranch as follows :
Corral for 2,000 sheep, with sheds ..... $1,000
Fencing 160 acres hay land ...... 1,000
DweUing-house. ........ 250
Stahle .......... 150
Teams, <fec., to put up hay, including waggons , . . 600
Mowing machine, rake, forks, &c. ..... 300
Total . . . . ■ . . . $3,300
" The expense for running a ranch as follows :
Herder, at $40 per month ....... $480
Fuel, grain, '&c. . . . . . . . . 150
Putting up hay, $4 per ton ...... 400
Food and incidentals ....... 700
Shearing sheep (extra) ....... 200
Total $1,930
Cost of 2,000 sheep at $3. . . . . . . $6,000
Permanent improvements, implements, <fcc., as above . . $3,300
Total ....... $9,300
PASTORAL MARVELS. 383
Eetürns.
Wool, 9,000 lb. at 30c. ....... $2,700
Lambs, 1,200 at $1 . . 1,200
Total $3,900
Expenses, as above ...... $1,930
Add interest, at 6 per cent., on $9,300 . . 558
2,488
First year's profit $1,412
" This $1,412 is the profit of the first year. From
this time I have, of course, the 1,200 lambs to work on.
They will shear 4 lb. per head, or 4,800 lb. The year
following my lambs bring forth increase, and any
mathematician can see clearly, by computing and com¬
pounding, that 60 per cent, on His original investment
can be realized yearly. I consider that at the end of
the first year the increase are really worth as much per
head as the old sheep, and my experience has been that
60 per cent, of the increase are ewes."
Horse breeding on a large scale would undoubtedly
be very profitable on the plains—in fact, I think that,
if the breeders were skilful, there could scarcely be a
more profitable business in Nebraska. Indeed, but a
very few years since the wild horses divided possession
with the bufialoes, and afforded some exciting sport for
Indians and hunters.
I visited the stud stables of Mr. T. A. Kent, of
Cheyenne. He had twenty stallions, which cost him
on an average $691*60 each. Some of them were very
fair for speed, but they were chosen more especially for
other qualities. Mr. Kent is breeding from California
384
NEBRASKA.
mares, called bronchos. These are small, tough,
spirited animals, too light for the general market, and
consequently very cheap. Mr. K.'s stallions weigh
1,2251b. to 1,6401b. each, and he expects that the first
cross will be very nearly the average size of American
horses, which is considerably less than that of those
bred in England. After size, docility and strength are
Mr. K.'s next requirements, and he has both in an
eminent degree in his stud. He proposes to change his
stallions every second year for a better class, and, by
intermingling the blood of trotters, runners, and draught
stock with that of his bronchos, to obtain a strain of
animals suitable for the general market and much above
the average in quahty. His mares cost'him |28'50
each, and he considers his yearling colts worth $25,
and two-year-olds $50 each, after which the size and
style of the animal will make the price. He reckons
the increase 75 to 80 per cent, per year from fiill-grown
mares, and after the fourth year 25 per cent, of the
herd. At the commencement of the season each
stallion is corralled Avith about forty mares every night
for a week or more; he soon establishes his authority
over his numerous family, and he may then be trusted
to take care of it himself. He keeps the whole troop
well together, and does not allow it to approach
another. If he is " spoiling for a fight " with another
patriarch of the plains, he stops his wives at a safe
distance, and then steps out alone and challenges the
enemy. If discomfited, he generally retreats in good
order; if victorious, he looks out sharply for a stray
wife of his enemy,.and if he finds one he unceremoni-
PASTORAL MARVELS.
385
ously drives her into his own harem. As a rule, he
will not allow any geldings in his troop. In the au¬
tumn the stallions are taken away, after which time
the mares must be regularly herded. I deduce the
following estimate from Mr. Kent's figures:
Estimate for horse breeding
Ranches and stables.
800 mares at ^28*50
20 stallions at $691*60
Herding
Keeping 20 stallions
Interest 10 per cent, on an average investment of $40,000
Rirst
year
$3,000
22,800
12,830
2,500
1,870
4,000
's total .... $47,000
$46,000
3,130
1,870
5,000
Second year's total .... $56,000
The increase [600 or more of yearling colts] is now estimated to he
worth $15,000.
Third year. Capital account ...... $56,000
Herding ....... 4,000
Keeping stallions ... . . 6,000
Interest........ 6,000
Second year. Capital account
Herding
Keeping stallions .
Interest at 10 per cent.
. $68,000
. $30,000
. 15,000
. $45,000
Or rather more than the original investment, exclusive of subsequent
care and interest.
Third year's total
The increase is now estimated :
600 two-year-olds . . . .
600 yearhngs . . . . .
Total
The fourth year the young stock may be estimated
c c
386
NEBRASKA.
as worth somewhere about |90,000, and from this time
one can both sell young geldings to advantage, and
rapidly improve the quahty of his stock by breeding
the young mares to a better, class of stalhons. Mr.
Kent could not give me accurate figures for loss and
depreciation of old stock and the increased cost of the
better class of stalhons which he intends to introduce ;
but, whatever these may be, there is evidently a profit
of 25 per cent, or upwards to be made by horse breed¬
ing on the plains of Wyoming and Colorado. Breeding
for the general market does not require any very great
amount of special knowledge or skill ; and there is one
advantage in this business in the fact that, if it is toler¬
ably well understood, a very large amount of capital
may be invested, and kept well in hand. One cannot
personally handle with advantage one-half as much
capital in cattle or one-fifth as much in sheep. Some
think it more desirable to begin with a class of mares
worth about |100 each, which, with stallions and
other things to correspond, would require £40,000
for handling 800 mares. Quite a large number of stock¬
men handle 10,000 cattle and upwards, and there would
be no insuperable difiâculty in dealing with that number
of horses, representing a capital of half a million ster¬
ling. It would not pay to engage in horse breeding
here in a small way, unless in connection with other
business ; but this.can be done in those parts of Nebraska
where the labour of the mares may be utilized, and thus
made to far more than compensate the extra trouble and
expense of caring for them. I had the pleasure of meet¬
ing Mr. Kent again last year, and was assured that the
PASTORAL MARVELS.
387
result of his operations thus far had fully answered
his expectations.
From the data that I have collected, it is much
easier to strike the average in mule breeding than in
rearing horses. I think that the following may be
rehed upon as a very moderate estimate of the profits
to be expected:
Db,. Mule Account (First Year).
To 200 brood mares, at ^100 ...... ^20,000
To three jacks, at ^1,000 ...... 3,000
To loss and depreciation ....... 3,000
To care and feed (one year) ...... 2,500
To interest (one year on $23,000 capital, and half year on
$5,500 expenses, at 10 per cent.) ..... 2,575
Total debit first year ..... $31,075
Second Year.
To first year's total ........ $31,075
To loss and depreciation . ... . . . . 3,000
To care and feed ........ 2,750
To interest account ........ 3,395
Total debit second year ..... $40,220
Third Year.
To second year's total ....... $40,220
To care and feed ........ 3,000
To loss and depreciation ....... 3,000
To interest account ........ 4,322
Total debit third year ..... $50,542
Fourth Year.
To third year's total .... . $50,542
To loss and depreciation .... . 3,000
To care and feed .... . . 3,000
To interest account .... . . 5,354
Total debit fourth year . ... $61,896
388
NEBRASKA.
Ck. Fourth year.
By sales 80 pairs three-year-olds, at $300 per pair . . $24,000
Balance debit ..... $37,896
Fifth Year.
Total debit fifth year
By sales as above
Balance debit .
To fourth year's balance
To loss and depreciation
To care and feed
To interest account
To fifth year's balance
To loss, expenses, &c.
To interest account
By sales as above
Sixth Year.
. $37,896
. 3,000
. 3,000
. 4,090
. $47,986
$24,000
. $23,986
. $23,986
6,000
. 2,699
32,685
$24,000
Balance debit ..... $8,685
The sixth year leaves the capital account less than
$9,000, the expenses for the next and subsequent years,
including interest at 10 per cent., $7169, the gross in¬
come at $24,000, and the net income at $16,831, or
£3,060 per year. This is by no means a bad position
to arrive at by six years' labour, attention, and self-
denial.
To be on the safe side, I have made the items for
loss and depreciation much heavier than Western
gentlemen make them, and those for feed and care at
from 25 to 33§ per cent, higher. They reckon two
PASTORAL MARVELS.
389
men to care for 100 mares. In the autumn the mules
are separated from the mares, and an old white mare
with a bell on her neck is put among them. She at
once becomes their leader, and, the more venerable
and war-worn her appearance, the greater becomes
their attachment. The mules of all ages are kept to¬
gether, and it costs no more to handle them than so
many cattle, while they will thrive on coarser food,
and under greater exposure. The mares have a httle
grain in winter ; the mules do not get it. Jacks are
estimated to cost |500 to |1,000, according to size,
breed, and qualities, but I have put them at $1,000 ;
and, while breeders allow one jack to 100 mares. Western
breeders have estimated three for 200, differences which
would tend very much to improve the quality of the
produce. They estimate two-year-olds to sell at $75 to
$100 each, and three-year-olds to average $300 per
pair, unbroken, with a ready sale at the ranch or stock
farm. I have not felt justified in altering these figures
notwithstanding the provision made in my estimate for
a superior quality of animal. Any one of an enthusi¬
astic turn of mind, who prefers the local figures to
mine, may work out from the above particulars an
estimate for himself, and see to' what a Golconda of
riches it will lead him.
There are many suitable localities in Nebraska
where one may buy in a solid block from one to nine
square miles of land, and some few in which he may,
if he choose, obtain a whole township of thirty-six
square miles, or even a larger quantity, and for farm¬
ing or stock-raising purposes on a large scale there are
390
NEBRASKA.
manifest advantages in having the land lie thus well
together. Yery large numbers of people have bought
land in Nebraska, to let it remain waste, expecting
their profit only from that appreciation of the land
which is consequent upon the settlement of the neigh¬
bourhood. Many people have also bought large flocks
and herds, and placed them on the free land, beyond
the agricultural settlements ; but no one with adequate
means and facilities seems to have attempted a combi¬
nation of these two things, with the exception only óf
the one instance in Stanton County, which I have
mentioned. In that case, land speculation was the
primary object, and grazing was quite incidental. The
available funds were therefore almost exclusively
devoted to obtaining an immense tract of land, the
preparations for grazing were both insufficient and
totally mismanaged, and neither cattle nor sheep were
practically introduced.
For such a business, the conditions combining the
highest maxima of security and profit cannot be abso¬
lutely laid down, but it is safe to say that the business
of the stock or flockmaster will have the precedence in
any well-considered plan of this kind. I have made
the following calculations with great care, and I have
every confidence that the results may be trusted as a
fair average of what could be done under present cir¬
cumstances, and with good management of details.
The following is an estimate for a sheep farm of 9
square miles, or 5,760 acres, in the eastern half of
Nebraska, to be of good agricultural quality, and to
cost $3 per acre :—
PASTORAL MARVELS.
391
Land .......
. $17,280-00
3,840 rods fencing, at 16 cents
614-40
Small well-finished sod house .
1,200-00
Sheds and corrals .....
1,500-00
Farm wages, implements, <fec. .
800-00
6 horses, with saddle and harness
800-00
2 herding ponies .....
90-00
2 shepherd dogs .....
60-00
3,000 ewes, at $3 . , .
. 9,000-00
40 rams, at $50 .....
. 2,000-00
40 thoroughbred ewes, at $20
800-00
3 men, wages and hoard at <£80 per year each
. 1,400-00
Miscellaneous .....
. 1,000-00
Total expenditure, first year
. $36,544-40
Mill Bloods—their Increase and Values for
Five Years.
Year.
Rams.
Ewes.
R. Lambs.
E. Lambs.
Total value
First . .
40
...$2,000-00
40
... $800
16 .
.. $320
16 .
. $160
$3,280-00
Second .
56
... 2,600-00
56
... 1,040
23 .
.. 460
22 .
. 220
4,320-00
Third. ,
79
... 3,772-50
78
... 1,450
31 .
.. 620
32 .
. 320
6,162-50
Fourth .
HO
... 5,122-50
110
... 2,040
44 .
.. 880
44 .
. 440
8,482-50
Fifth . .
154
... 7,160-00
154
... 2,860
62 .
. 1,420
62 .
. 620
11,880-00
In this table the yearling rams are valued at ^37*50 each, and the
yearling ewes at $15 each.
The old rams and ewes would probably he sold off and young ones
bought from time to time at higher prices. But as the rams to go with
the full-blooded ewes would, of course, be the best in the whole lot, and in
their best condition, the herd would improve on a falling market quite
suflSciently to make up these differences. I have not thought it worth
while to add the value of the wool, which in this case may he thrown in to
provide for inferior contingencies. I have estimated hut 80 per cent,
increase on the ewes, a very small estimate for animals of this class, which
should have very great care and attention. Supposing an average
increase of one lamb reared from every ewe, at the end of five years the
herd would consist of 202 rams, 101 ram lambs, and the same number of
ewes and ewe lambs of a total value of $17,170.
392
NEBRASKA.
Common and Graded Sheep—their Increase and Value for Five Years.
Y ear.
Ewes.
Wethers.
Lambs.
Total.
Sales.
First . . .
3,000
2,400
5,400
Second . .
4,200
1,200
3,260
8,860
Third . . .
.5,880
2,880
4,704
14,464
5,232 wethers and lambs.
Fourth . .
8,232
—
6,585
14,817
4,817 ewes and lambs.
Fifth . . .
10,000
8,000
18,000
8,000 ,, ,,
1st
year.
2nd
3rd
5?
4th
JJ
5th
55
55
|2,700
5,265
10,632
15,696
13,848
12,042-50
18,000
12,000
Sales.
9,000 lbs. wool at 30 cents. .
17,550 ,, „ ,, ,,
35,440 ,, ,, ,, ,, .
5,232 wethers and wether lambs, at
46,160 lbs. wool at 30 cents. .
4,817 ewe cuUs and wether lambs, ^2-50
60,000 lbs. wool at 30 cents
4,000 ewe cuUs and 4,000 wether lambs, at
,183-50
The average value of the flocks is computed to cost ^3 the first year ;
the second year it is supposed to be improved to $3-25 by the addition of
80 per cent, of half-blood yearlings ; and to $4 in the third, by the further
addition of half and three-quarter bloods ; to $5 in the fourth year ; and
$6 the fifth year, from stiU finer additions. At the end of this year the
lowest grade are three-quarters blood, and the highest fifteen-sixteenths ;
and many of these are far superior to an average thoroughbred. I have
estimated the chp of wool to increase pro rata with the value of the sheep,
from 3 to 6 lbs. unwashed, and the price to remain at 30 cents ; but, as a
matter of fact, the clip should be heavier than this, and the price of the
wool should be considerably more, unless a large general increase of pro¬
duction should cause the market to fall in proportion to the improvement
of these fleeces in quality.
I estimate the expenses :
2nd year. 5 men $2,000 miscellaneous $1,500 . . total
3rd „ 8 „ 3,200 „ 2,250. . „
4th „ 12 „ 4,800 „ 3,200. . „
5th „ 12 „ 4,800 „ 3,200. . „
$3,500
5,450
8,000
8,000
Total
$24,950
PASTORAL MARVELS.
393
A very large proportion of these expenses would go to the improvement
of the estate, in fencing it first with sod, and afterwards with hedges ; in
providing houses, barns, sheds, <fec. ; and in cultivating such portions as
circumstances would permit. The land should be capable of carrying,
with moderate improvements, 20,000 sheep ; and therefore it would not
be at all necessary to cull the flocks as closely as I have calculated.
Recapitulation.
Land, ivith fair ordinary appreciation, and including all
fences, hedges, buildings, and other improvements, ivith
horses and implements, at $10 per acre . . . $57,600'50
Thoroughbred sheep ....... 11,880
Three-quarter bloods and upwards, 10,000 at $6 . . 60,000
Sales 90,183-50
Deduct cost and first year's outlay . . $36,644-40
Subsequent expenses .... 24,950
$219,663-50
$61,594-40
Total profit in five years on an investment of $36,644-40,
or about <£6,600 ....... $158,069*10
This at present currency rates is about £27,450 12s. 9d.,
or upwards of 40 per cent, per annum compound
interest. Commencing with 4,500 common sheep and
120 thoroughbreds, the percentage of profit might be
very sensibly increased if the capital and skill of the
owner were adequate to the work. It is to be ob¬
served, however, that a very large proportion of the
estimated profit is the result of skill in breeding, a skill
which in inclosed fields and with well-matched flocks of
moderate size, may be exercised to better advantage
than upon the open plains.
To state in detail the causes which have rendered
possible these pastoral marvels would take another
394
NEBRASKA.
volume; but it may be said here that Australia was
far advanced in its pastoral supremacy while Nebraska
still remained a terra incognita. It is but yesterday, as
it were, that this region has become a great highway of
nations, and that the commerce of Occident and Orient
has climbed to and fro over the mountains of America
and flowed through the Golden Gate of the northern
Pacific ; and it would be more marvellous still if, with
all of the work which is on their hands in other places,
even the vigorous energy of the Americans were able,
within the short time during which the various districts
have been practically open for occupancy, to com¬
prehend, and to take full advantage of, all of the
splendid opportunities aflbrded by the vast plains of
Nebraska.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ASSOCIATE AND CO-OPEKATIVE COLONIZATION.
Ancient Colonies.—-Religious and secular co-operation in early American
settlements.—Wide-spread co-operation in the West.—^Englishmen.—
Co-operation in steamship and railway fares and freights.—And in land
buying.—Isolation a very common mistake.—Home sickness and reflux
emigration.—Buying boards, timber, supplies, ¿ic.—Machinery and
thorough-bred stock.—Fig. 51, a plan of co-operation, WindmiU pmnps.
—Reapers, &c.—Turns by auction.—Drawbacks in farming on a small
scale.—^Another plan, .Fig. 52.—A colony pioneer.—Household effects.
—Irrigation in the western parts of Nebraska.*—Co-operative plans should
be simple.—Advantages of the Press.—^Religion and education.—School
districts.—Borrowing babies as an educational investment.—How to
organize.—Final considerations.
HE ancient colonies of the world were, to
a large extent, co-operative, and they
afford us a variety of very fair models
of what an enlightened self-interest will
enable an association to accomplish. Both religious
and secular co-operation entered largely into .the
settlement of New England and of many of the older
States. In the Western States purely secular co-ope¬
ration has been largely followed, the original co-opera¬
tors being generally a small band of workers, each with
396
NEBRASKA.
a little capital. As soon as success has attended the
enterprise, the original co-operators have become a
close moneyed corporation, or, more frequently, they
have divided the spoil, and the community which has
been started and organized through their enterprise has
thenceforth gone on with the usual machinery of an
older settlement. In other cases a man of considerable
capital has associated himself with a band of workers,
and the result has been very much the same. It will
be found on examination that a very large proportion
of new towns and new settlements, perhaps the vast
majority of those in the new States, have been started
by one or the other of these three methods ; but the
fact is soon lost sight of, and the vast number of enter¬
prises of a strictly co-operative character in the United
States is never suspected by the tourist or the careless
investigator. Indeed, few of the settlers suspect it
themselves—they have not heard it called by that
name ; they came after it was in full swing as a close
corporation, or after it had fulfilled its purpose and
come to an end, and they had never thought of it. - If
there be a lion's share of profit in any settlement, the
original co-operators are pretty sure to get it, and in
fact they deserve it for their enterprise and forethought.
I have found Englishmen in these "town companies,"
and other like organizations, but not in proportion
either to their wealth, their intelligence, or their num¬
bers. Leaving their native land as so many detached
atoms, it generally takes a considerable time to enable
them to coalesce with others to mutual advantage.
Yet in the matter of colonization the least amount of
ASSOCIATE AND CO-OPERATIVE COLONIZATION. 397
co-operation possible is generally better than none at
all. If it is limited to the question of transportation,
there will be a very sensible advantage obtained by
half-a-dozen families in the ocean voyage from England,
and almost certainly a greater one on the railways;
while even a less number of persons would be sure to
reap .some benefit in one or both of these cases. To an
English farmer the precise price paid for his land, when
the fee simple is a matter of shillings or at most one of
two or three pounds, is not a thing of the first import¬
ance ; he will naturally think that the permanent im¬
provements, the stock and plant, are matters which
require more careful attention. Still a saving in this-
respect is well worth having, and it can certainly be
effected when half-a-dozen buyers are acting together.
The success of any half-dozen families settled near
each other would have much more influence tending
to the emigration of some of their acquaintances than
half-a-dozen separate examples of such success would
do. It would be perfectly legitimate for them to make
the most of this influence when dealing with a large
landed corporation, and the claim would certainly be
recognized by one or another. Co-operation to this
extent involves no sacrifice of any portion of one's
individuality which he would not, as a general rule^ be
far better off without. One may, indeed, prefer to go
to a certain locality of which he has heard; another
may have an equally strong predilection for some other
favoured spot ; but these are in general foolish fancies,
if not sufficiently founded in reason to exert an in¬
fluence on the majority of a party; and in such a case
398
NEBRASKA.
the presence of companions will often save a man from
a serious blunder. When several buyers are together,
they can undoubtedly find means of examining more
land than any of their number could do alone. They
will in this respect also receive far greater attention
and consideration from land sellers ; consequently they
will each have a better opportunity of making a good
selection. There is a strong feeling of individuality in
most Englishmen, which makes them more or less
desirous of being quite isolated from former associa¬
tions when making a new start in life. This tendency
is often very decided in the case of emigrants ; it is
generally a mistaken one, and it is especially so if there
are women and children involved, for there öomes a
time of inevitable home sickness, when a man, and
much more a woman, would sacrifice a dozen such
crotchets for the sight of an old familiar face. When
friends or old acquaintances are within calling distance,
home sickness is reduced to a minimum, and is, indeed,
a very light matter, though the new life be a rough
one, if only there is plenty to do at present, and rea¬
sonable hope for the future. The number of emigrants
who return to England as their permanent home, with¬
out having made any substantial effort to establish
themselves in comfort abroad, is considerable ; and this
class of reflux emigration may be set down almost
entirely to the 'unconfessed sentimental malady of home
sickness, rather than to any very remarkable infirmity
of purpose. While a majority of emigrants possessed
of substantial means do undoubtedly go with the idea
that isolation is desirable, I am very confident that
ASSOCIATE AND CO-OPERATIVE COLONIZATION. 399
nearly all would prefer companionship to isolation, if
they acted from careful consideration of the advantages
and disadvantages of each, even if there were no such
preponderating consideration as that of co-operation.
If a few settlers co-operate in the matters of their
transportation and the purchase of their land, they will
scarcely think of terminating the association at this
point. .The heavier materials which they will want on
their farms—such as boards, timber, hme, and many
other things—will come to them so much less in price
by the " car load " of 20,000 lb., that they will certainly
arrange to have them in this manner. To this point
their co-operation will have involved no complicated
question of organization or of trusting each other, or
of the body trusting one of their number. With the
same sort of very limited co-operation, they will gene¬
rally be able to obtain very considerable concessions in
the prices of supplies, implements, &c., in the local
markets. I think that the saving to be thus effected
might safely be put down at an average of 10 per cent,
on the whole capital expended, exclusive of that in¬
vested in cattle, horses, and sheep—a heavy item, in
which the amount of advantage, if any, is very inde¬
finite. To men of small capital especially this is a
matter of very great importance, for the saving of £50
in £500 is practically an addition of £55 to one's capi¬
tal—an addition which cannot but be acceptable while
one is partially living off capital till he can obtain
crops from his land.
But if one of their number can be trusted to act as
a pioneer in the first place, and afterwards as agent for
400
NEBRASKA.
the others—or if they can alternately trust each other
in various capacities—if one can be sent on occasion to
Omaha or Chicago, or to whatever, considering disr
tances, facilities of transportation, &c., will be the
lowest market for them—they may be able to save 20
to 25 per cent, on their general outlay, and from 10 to
30 per cent, on cattle, horses, and sheep, if they pur¬
chase these in the same way.
More important still to men of small means are the
advantages of co-operation as applied in the purchase
and use of machinery, and of thorough-bred stock,
which would be beyond the means of any one of the
individuals acting together. A windmill pump, for
example, may be at a point common to four rectangular
farms, as in the diagram, fig. 51.
The windmill pump will save (a) the digging or
boring of three wells, (5) the daily labour of drawing
water for four households ; (c) it will water the stock,.
{d) and the gardens if desirable ; {e) it will afibrd orna¬
mental pools or fountains at a small expense; (/) it
may be made to thrash and to perform other labour of
several kinds more cheaply than horse power ; (^) and, if
upland farms without running water have been chosen,
the différence in the cost of the land is likely to be
as much as the cost and wear and tear of the wind¬
mill and all its accessories. It is obvious that, if the
farms were also divided into right-angled triangles,
as shown by the dotted lines, the. windmill would serve
for eight farms and as many households. A further
considerable advantage arises from the houses being
near together in this manner. The turf taken from the
CO-OPERATIVE COLONIZATION.
401
grounds may be more conveniently utilized to build such
sod walls behind them as shall be sufficiently strong
and lofty to make very good wind-breaks, at the same
time that they shall not shut out too much of the
prospect. The wall of each will help to protect all of
c"
B
Eig. 51. A, windmill pump
in a circular yard ; B, roads
usual width of four rods ; C,
barns on each farm ; D, houses
in the midst of grounds; E,
sufficiently large for kitchen gar¬
den, house, orchard or nursery ;
F, walk through ornamental
grounds m front of each house.
his neighbours. Farm windmills are coming into very
extensive use in the Western States, and they vary in
price from |100, or even less, to several thousands,
according to capacity, make, &c. A small farmer just
beginning is not likely to have full employment in the
season for a mower, a reaper, a tedder, a horse-power
rake, and many other very useful machines, which he
might not be able to hire of any of his neighbours
precisely when wanted; but half-a-dozen men of very
moderate means might very well manage many such
matters between them. If their capital would allow
them but a single reaper, they might work it by day¬
light, moonlight, and lamplight, if necessary, through¬
out the harvest, taking the night work and the day
D D
402
NEBRASKA.
work by shifts or turns ; and it would probably be
found in the heat of harvest that the night work was
the more desirable. A reaper is a machine in the use
of which half-a-dozen farmers might find it difficult to
agree as to who should be first served. The fairest
way to settle such questions would be by auction, , the
premiums bidden being in kind, and going into the
common purse, or being divided proportionately among
the joint owners. A little calculation will show that,
if each should bid for his turn what it would be really
worth to himself, those who wait wiU receive from the
common stock an exact equivalent for the delay. If
one is too anxious to have his wheat cut at a certain
time, that is so much the better for the others ; while,
if the majority should combine against one, he could, by
bidding high, insure their paying him a higher com¬
pensation than his actual loss. They would all, there¬
fore, be in a much better position than if compelled to
have their reaping done by an outsider, who would cer¬
tainly charge a high price, and serve them at his own
convenience. Among the most serious drawbacks to
western farming on a small scale are, (a) the want of
first-class implements, (b) dependence upon others for
the hire of machinery with attendants, (c) the necessity
of having machinery for which one has but very partial
employment; and these are aU difficulties easily re¬
medied by co-operation on a very limited scale.
If half-a-dozen families about to emigrate to the West,
either from England or fi'om the older States of the
Union, can trust one person of their number to go in
advance and make arrangements for them, the expense,
CO-OPERATIVE COLONIZATION.
403
when divided between them, will be a bagatelle com¬
pared with the results to be looked for ; and it would
seem that the plan should commend itself to every un¬
prejudiced mind. Much expense can be saved which
it would be otherwise impossible to avoid, and the com-
Fig. 52. A plan modified
from fig. 51. The substantial
differences are (1 ) larger grounds,
(2) the bams brought near the
windmill for greater convenience
of performing fai*m labour by
wind power. This arrangement
is also suitable for eight families.
If a number of settlers are buying
decidedly large farms near to¬
gether, one of the many feasible
modifications of these plans wül
often be desirable. Many settlers
isolate themselves too much at
the first start, and afterwards go
to the opposite extreme of re¬
moving to a town or village at too great a distance from their farms.
fort of all may be secured, when there would otherwise
be a considerable amount of inevitable hardship. Even,
if the colonists were going in a body, it is doubtful
whether the direct and indirect loss in respect of fares
freight, hotels, &c., would not be greater than the whole
expense attending the arrangement that I have recom¬
mended. For example,^ it is certain that the half-
dozen families going together could obtain some con¬
cession in first-class steamship fares; they might
obtain some concession for the whole distance by rail ;
but a pioneer would be a poor diplomatist indeed if,
after having travelled over the whole ground, he could
not obtain for them some additional advantages in these
respects. In the matter of luggage the steamships
404
NEBRASKA.
allow twenty cubic feet, which may not exceed half a
ton in weight ; and the railways concede 100 lb. Sup¬
posing that each wished to take twenty cubic feet of
luggage, and that this weighed 350 lb., the excess
luggage from an eastern port would be a very material
item; but an agent, acting in advance for the colony,
could arrange probably for it all to go free; whereas,
if a single family, or even a colony, were all going out
in the first instance, they would naturally restrict
themselves almost entirely to ordinary luggage, and
household goods, of a character to be of great value to
them in their new homes, would be sacrificed for a frac¬
tion of their value. But, having fixed upon the locality
of the settlement, not only could the pioneer arrange
for extra luggage in this way, but for the freightage by
the carload of any further amount of goods that they
might wish to take over. The American Government
allows to each emigrant person or family over £100
value {|500 gold) of dutiable household effects and
implements of trade, already used and not intended
for sale, free of the customs; and this law is very
liberally construed. Now for families accustomed to
good carpets, bedding, china, books, and many other
things which, even if not much dearer in America than
at home, they would find it necessary to pay for at a
much higher rate than that at which they had sacrificed
like articles when leaving, this privilege of taking a
hundred pounds' worth of household effects may be con¬
sidered worth from £50 to £100 if used to the best
advantage ; and this saving or profit will alone pay the
expenses involved in a preliminary journey by one of
CO-OPERATIVE COLONIZATION.
405
their number. It would be worth £50 or more to the
family having £50 worth of such effects to sell here
and to replace there; it will be worth £100 to the
family requiring to replace there that value of such
effects sold here. This is a very moderate estimate.
Freight for a carload of 10 tons by weight or measure¬
ment of such effects could probably be obtained from
New York to Omaha by special rate for |140. From
the railway station to the selected home, freight should
cost, nothing in cash out of pocket, because our farmers
must have cattle and horses, and they would be their
own freighters; but, if the car only carried five tons
instead of ten, the freight would be precisely the same.
From this cause it might well happen that a nice piano
or other bulky article pf considerable value could go
without any extra cost beyond the trifle of ocean freight.
There have been instances in which a family of emi¬
grants have chartered a freight car in the East, stored
their effects in one end, and lived in the other, till they
arrived at their destination. As these cars are covered
structures, much larger than English luggage vans,
such arrangements might be made far from uncomfort¬
able ; but I am not aware whether the railway com¬
panies would now make concessions of this nature.
The pioneer could, and should also in most cases,
hunt up good and inexpensive places for the party to
break the journey at some points of interest; thus
lessening the fatigues, and increasing the interest of the
journey at a very moderate expense.
Nebraska has a market westward to the mountains
and mines as well as eastward to the older States and
406
NEBRASKA.
to Europe, and for supplying the westward markets the
most convenient and profitable locations to be obtained
are clearly to be found in those western divisions of
the State where irrigation is necessary, and in which
co-operation, although not indispensable, is especially
desirable to those who can only begin with a mode¬
rate capital. As already mentioned, a windmill
pump is a convenient appliance for irrigation in the
bottom lands of the Platte. This might be the result
of the combined efforts of several persons with con¬
tiguous land on some modification of the plans shown in
figs. 51 and 52, such as could be adapted to the slope of
the ground and other circumstances. There is much
misconception on the question of irrigation, which is
supposed to be a much more difficult and expensive
process than is really the fact. Yery few of those whn
have succeeded in it so well in California, Colorado,,
and Utah, had any previous knowledge of it, and
English farmers would, on the average, succeed better
than they. The watering is done by ditches, in whick
the general rule for draining is simply reversed, and
the water led along the highest land instead of the
channels being cut in the lowest ground. Xatural
drainage into small channels at a low level corresponds
with the natural soakage from high-level channels
through similar soil. After the main ditch is dug and
the ground is laid off for the chief laterals, there is no
difficulty in applying this principle in aU of the details of
irrigation—details which, in such a case, the pioneer of
the party will thoroughly understand, from having
previously taken the trouble to examine them tho¬
roughly in practical operation.
CO-OPERATIVE COLONIZATION.
407
The general plan of co-operation should be as simple
as possible, and there should be no attempt made to in¬
clude in it things in which practical agreement in the
future would be almost a matter of course, or would not
be a question of very considerable importance. Intend¬
ing emigrants should not fail to lay due stress upon the
advantages of the post and the press. There is no rea¬
son in the world why one should not hear, if he chooses,
the most eloquent sermons of the dignitaries of the
Church in the most distant wilds in America, or why
another should not be gratified in like manner with
the eloquence of a Newman Hall, a Spurgeon, or other
noted character whose religious opinions accord with
his own. The same is true in politics, and in almost
everything that is capable of being represented by the
art of the printer ; and in many of these respects a soli¬
tary family in America or Australia, subscribing for a
few English papers, can enjoy far more substantial ad¬
vantages than communities of one or two hundred
families were able to obtain with the greatest effort
within the memory of men now living. Of course, half-
a-dozen families, occasionally exchanging their papers
and the ideas engendered thereby, are still better off,
even if they cannot agree in the support of a church or
a chapel, or are quite unable to afford either. This
is true when the emigrants go to a region entirely un¬
settled; but the vast majority, even of co-operators
selecting their locations from purely business con¬
siderations, will find a church or chapel, or both,
within a reasonable driving distance, and, if there is
any railway land or other property in the neighbour-
408
NEBRASKA.
hood not belonging to the Government, they will find
somebody who must afford them very substantial assist¬
ance in matters of education, and who will be very
likely to do so in matters of religion.
In Nebraska the settlers in a neighbourhood can
constitute a school district, receive the Government
endowment, the proceeds of the state tax, build a
schoolhouse for themselves as a ten years' charge on all
the property in the district, engage a teacher, and prac¬
tically conduct the school if there are a dozen children
of school age in the district; and ambitious neigh¬
bourhoods, not able to wait the course of nature or of
settlement, borrow one or more of the desirable young¬
sters from obliging acquaintances, and thus make up
the legal quota.
The method of organization which I would suggest
is for any one with sufficient resources, who thinks of
emigrating, to speak of it to such of his acquaintances
as might be likely to go, and to induce these, although,
perhaps, not going themselves, to mention it to others.
The number of actual emigrants from everj- con¬
siderable agricultural district in England or in the
old States of the Union is sufficient to render it pro¬
bable that the mere talking over a reasonable scheme
in this manner would eventuate in the formation of a
small company of persons who could act together ; or
the matter might be broached by advertisement or
otherwise in a local paper. Possibly such a movement
might commence nearly at the same time in two, three,
or more neighbouring market districts, and those in¬
terested in the one might hear of the others. In
CO-OPEKATIVE COLONIZATION.
409
such a case an interchange of views would be desirable,
and it might result in one association of two or three
dozen members instead of three or four of half-a-dozen
each. If each had a different object and destination,
they might very probably act together to advantage to
a certain point, as for instance Omaha or Lincoln, from
which each party would diverge to its destination.
There is one great practical advantage of such co¬
operation as I have advocated, which I have yet to
name, and with which I will close the subject. A
man under the influence of pique, a bad harvest, a
sudden loss, or other insufficient cause, may suddenly
determine to emigrate, and such a person is very likely
to " go it blind." But, if co-operation is intended, this
is a decided check to sudden and foolish impulses ; it
involves discussion, deliberation, and some exercise of
common sense. Co-operators will, therefore, be likely
to have solid reasons for emigrating ; they will know
more about the various emigrant fields in general, and
the one of their choice in particular, than most other
emigrants will know, and these reasons alone will add
a very good percentage to the success which could
fairly have been expected as the result of individual
effort.
CHAPTER XXX.
LAND !
Goveenment Seeveys.—Base line of 40® north latitude and 6th
Principal Meridian.— Standard Parallels and Guide Meridians.—Town¬
ships of 6 miles square.—Sections of 640 acres.—Each readily dis¬
tinguished from aU others.—And all directions and distances readily
known.—Examples.—Simplicity of deeds.—Travelling by survey marks.
—Landholders.—Abstract of Pre-emption Law.—Of Citizens' Homestead
Law.—Of Law of Commutation.—^Minute information to be obtained at
the Government Land OflSces.—And in many instances further informa¬
tion from the Bailway Land OflSces.—Practical experience as to accuracy of
information.—" Asking" prices of private holders.—^Railway prices more
definite.—Terms of the Union Pacific Railway Company.—Terms of the
Burlington and Missouri R-iver R-ailway Company.—^Drawbacks and
allowances of both companies.—Over-buying the great danger.—Two
estimates for buying, handling, and rapidly improving 80 acres.—Price
of wheat.—Credit.—School lands, how bought or leased.—Capital neces¬
sary for 4 to 8 co-operating families.—For a man and wife or a single
man.—¿£50 and a situation.—The State Board of Emigration.—Men
without money.—Domestic servants.—Combinmg pleasure and profit.—
A woman pioneer.—A suggestion for capitalists.
HE government land in the United States
is surveyed according to a rectangular
system, first used by the American Go¬
vernment. In Nebraska the "base line,"
as it is called, is the parallel of 40® north latitude,
the southern boundary of the State, and this line is
LAND !
411
the foundation of all north and south measurements
in the State. A line is surveyed at right angles to this
called the " Sixth Principal Meridian" (seen on the
maps of north and south-eastern Nebraska, and this is
the foundation of all measurements east and west.
At intervals of 24 miles from the base line north¬
ward " standard parallels " are prolonged from the
sixth principal meridian eastward and westward
through the State or to the limits of the surveys,
while at intervals of 48 miles, as measured on the
base line eastward, or as measured on the base line
and the standard parallels westward from the sixth
principal meridian, " guide meridians " are projected
northward through the State. The oblong tracts thus
set out are by " subdivided township lines " at inter¬
vals of six miles, which gives 32 townships to each.
The township lines do not form perfect squares, for,
being true meridians, the north and south ones very
slightly converge. The townships are subdivided at
intervals of one mile, and this gives 36 "sections " to a
township. The north and south "section lines" are
not true meridians, they are all parallel to the eastern
boundary of the township ; consequently the western
tier of sections in a township consists of imperfect
squares, containing each some small fraction less than
640 acres, the error being largest in the north-western
section of the northern tier of townships in each divi¬
sion. The section lines are also marked at intervals
of one half mile, and this gives quarter sections of
160 acres, any error or deficiency being thrown on
the western tier of quarter sections in the townships ;
412
NEBRASKA.
and if, as sometimes happens, there is any error on the
north and south lines, it is thrown into the northern
tier of quarter sections in the township.
Townships are the units of the system, and they
are designated by Arabic figures, on the sixth prin¬
cipal, or on the guide meridians, counting from the base
line, and the "ranges" or rows in which they are
situated are shown in Roman numerals on the base
line or the standard parallels counting eastward
or westward from the sixth principal meridian.
Thus the township in which is situated the north¬
western extremity of the Otoe Reservation (see
map of south-eastern Nebraska following page 64) is
known from the figure due west of it on the
sixth principal meridian as township 2, a designation
which is also the numerical name of the 56 other
townships in the State which are due east or west of
this one. Referring to the base line, we find that
this township is in the fourth row counting eastward
from the sixth principal meridian, and we further
distinguish it as in Range lY. East. By the same
rule Omaha is in Township 15, Range XIII. East,
and 78 miles northward, and, omitting corrections, 54
miles eastward on the survey lines would take us from
the centre of the former township to that of the latter.
Therefore -f- 54^— the air-line distance between
these points, which is a fraction under 95 miles. If
the south-western township of Saunders County (same
map) were owned by one man, and I were buying it of
him, it would be named, bounded, and fully described
in the deed simply as Township 13, Range Y. East,
land!
413
and from this description, without consulting a map,
would be known within a small fraction both its air¬
line distance and its direction from any surveyed por¬
tion of the State which could be named. The 36
sections in a township are distinguished by Arabic
numerals as explained on the maps. The section com¬
prising the south-western extremity of Polk County
(same map) is or was owned by the Union Pacific
Kailway Company, and could be bought in a solid
block ; in which case it would be fully named, bounded,
and described as Section 31, Township 13, Kange lY.
West; and this description will, without the aid of
a map, give very closely its air-line distance from
any section which could be named in the State. The
parts of sections are known as the northern or the
southern, the eastern or the western half, or the
north-east, north-west, south-east or south-west
quarter, and the quarter sections are subdivided in
the same way. In abbreviated form S.E. N.E.
Sec. 21, T. 30, E. XI. W. designates a certain lot
as comprising 40 acres, distinguishes it from any
other possible tract in the State, and gives its distance
and direction from any other that can be named in
the same way.
This system is at once simple, comprehensive, and
accurate, and the marks left by the surveyors at the
intersections of the several classes of lines are corre¬
spondingly easy to understand. Having inspected
some of these under the guidance of a resident who can
both explain them and give him some hints as to the
possible modifications with which he may meet, the land
414
NEBRASKA.
hunter, the sportsman, the angler, or the tourist, is in a
position to find his way alone either with or without
roads in any surveyed portion of Nebraska.
The land hunter will find at the United States Land
Offices copies of the original surveys and notes as to
the quality and description of land in each township
and section, or he may obtain copies of any of these
for a reasonable payment in person or by post. He
will also learn here without difficulty whether any
particular tract (or tracts) has been disposed of in any
of the ways provided by law.
In districts containing original grants of lands to
railways these will be found to comprise the odd-num¬
bered sections in the several townships, which, as will
be seen by reference to the numbered plan of a town¬
ship shown and explained on the maps, produces a
perfect check-board arrangement, and must necessarily
give a fair average of the land both in quality and
distance from the line of railway. Previous to bring¬
ing them into market, the railway companies cause all
of their lands to be re-examined by persons who are, or
are supposed to be, competent judges of land, and on
the detailed classifications and reports of these persons
quarter section by quarter section, or even by smaller
quantities, the prices asked for the lands are based.
In such cases mistakes there must be to some limited ex¬
tent, and also circumstances in which opinions of real
or comparative value will differ ; but I have examined
in detail many hundred square miles of railway land
in several of the Western States, and I have com¬
pared the results of my own observations with these
land!
415
reports, without in a single instance finding any reason
to believe that there was any misrepresentation or in¬
tentional inaccuracy. In fact, as these classifications
and reports are made primarily for the guidance of the
railway company and its officers, dishonesty would be
almost inevitably both difficult and unprofitable. The
railway companies also prepare for the use of their
officers very elaborate detail maps of their lands and
those contiguous to them, and I have always found
these extremely accurate.
A vast amount of trouble and expense may be saved
by making reasonable use of the information to be ob¬
tained from these sources ; but, when one has selected a
piece of land as likely to suit him, it is desirable that
he should visit the tract in question, and judge it and
its neighbourhood by a personal inspection, which will
give him a more perfect comprehension of the facts
than he could derive from the documents and maps of
the government or the railways. Private holders of
land, in small quantities particularly, are too apt to
vary their " asking price " with the state of the weather
or of their stomachs, with the humours of the hour or
/
the supposed eagerness of a particular customer, and it
is therefore necessary for each buyer to look out for
himself and make the best bargain that he can. But
large dealers like the principal railway companies can
not have one price for A, another for B, and still a
third for C, nor. can they change their prices for par¬
ticular tracts arbitrarily, and without rhyme or reason.
They make better terms for colonies than for a single
small purchaser, but these differences are within de-
416
NEBRASKA.
fined limits and in accordance with a settled policy.
But, of course, the prices of one railway company may
be higher or lower in proportion than those of another,
or it may make an error in valuation, and put a whole
class of lands higher or lower as compared with others
than the circumstances will fairly warrant, although,
even in these respects, the knowledge of their land
ofS-cers stands them in such good stead, that they will
scarcely make any of the glaring mistakes which are
common with private holders.
The government of the United States is still the
great landholder in Nebraska, and through the Home¬
stead "Pre-emption" and Timber Culture laws its trans¬
actions in land far outnumber all others. Next come
the two leading railway companies, The Union Pacific,
with a land grant of about 4,250,000 acres in Nebraska,
and the Burlington and Missouri River with nearly
2,500,000 acres, the lands of the former company ex¬
tending entirely across the State from east to west in a
belt forty miles wide, and those of the latter company
being all within the eastern half of the State. Both are
selling very rapidly. Intermediate between these two
railways in the amount of its lands, and next to them
in its sales, comes the State government in its capacity
as educational trustee, with a school grant of about
2,700,000 acres, besides Agricultural College and other
grants to a very large amount. Next come some other
railways, some of the copper-coloured wards of the
government, and some large private holders, and lastly
small holders, principally settlers on homesteads and
pre-emptions.
land!
417
The reader may obtain a clear idea of the modus
operandi of obtaining government lands from the fol-
Abstracts of Leading Provisions of United States Homesteads
Every head of a family, or widow, or single man or woman, over
twenty-one years of age, being a citizen, or having filed a declaration of
intention to become a citizen, can pre-empt 160 acres of any American
government lands, with the exception of some limited special reservations.
The first act necessary is settlement, or the commencement of some work
or improvement upon the land, and the pre-emption right dates from the
first improvement or occupation of the land. Upon surveyed land a pre-
emptor must, within three months of settlement, go or send to the land
ofl&ce in that district, pay $2, make a " filing " or written declaratio n
of intention to pre-empt, and within thirty months from filing the land
must be paid for. If within ten miles of a land grant railroad, the price is
$2-50 per acre, outside of that distance $r'25 per acre. Ho one can pay
for land under the pre-emption law until the claimant and family (if he
has one) has actually resided upon the land for six months, and he must
not be the owner of 320 acres of land within the United States (exclusive
of pre-emption claim). Ho person can make a settlement or improve¬
ments on land for another, which will hold for pre-emption. Ho one can
hire another to live upon the land for six months in such a way to answer
the requirements of the law that the pre-emptor shall have resided on the
tract. One land warrant or Agricultural College scrip in same manner
can be laid on a quarter section (160 acres) in pre-empting ; but, if the
land is $2*50 per acre, the extra $1"25 per acre must be paid in cash.
Soldiers have no rights in pre-emption beyond any other person. Heirs
may complete the pre-emption in their own names.
Any person qualified as for pre-emption can acquire by occupation, and
the payment of commission and fees ($18'00 to $26*00), 160 acres of land
held at $1*25 per acre, or 80 acres of land within ten miles of a railroad,
and held at $2*25 per acre. Every homestead settler, except soldiers,
must in person go to the land office to make the filing, unless he is actually
and Pre-emption Laws.
Pre-emption.
Citizens' Homesteads.
e e
418
NEBRASKA.
living on the land, and then it is allowahle to make the filing before the
clerk of the county within which the land is attached. The right to land
under homestead law dates from fihng (not from settlement as under pre¬
emption), and then the claimant is allowed six months, within which time
he must take possession of the land hy occupation and improvement. Not
sooner than five, nor later than seven, years after entry, the settler must go
to the land oflSce and prove by two witnesses that he has resided upon and
cultivated the land for five years immediately succeeding the time of filing,
and thereupon he or she is entitled to a patent. Absence from a home¬
stead for more than six months at any one time during the five years
works a forfeiture of all right to the land, if proven to the satisfaction of
the United States' Register. Neither pre-emption nor homestead claims
are liable for debts or taxes incurred previous to completion of title.
In case of death before title is perfected, either hy pre-emption or
homesteading, the rights of the deceased descend to the widow or heirs,
or, in case of infant children only, it may he sold for their benefit, even
though the five years he not expired.
The cultivation of a certain amount of timber, [as mentioned, page 345,[f
will diminish the necessary term for perfecting title to three years.
One may take a homestead and a timber claim, or a pre-emption and a
timber claim at the same time ; but a homestead and a pre-emption claim
cannot run together, because both require actual residence.
An honourably discharged soldier of the United States, or his widow or
his minor children, through a guardian, may homestead 160 acres, although
within ten miles of a land grant railway ; and the soldier's actual or
enlisted service in the army will he counted as equal to a like period of
residence on the land.
The fact that a person has had the benefit of the Pre-emption Act does
not in any case interfere with his right to homestead. The fact that a
person has had the benefit of the Homestead Act does not prevent him from
pre-empting, hut no one can leave his or her own land in the same state
or territory to take the benefit of the Pre-emption Act. No person can
pre-empt more than once. No person can homestead more than once. No
person can make a second entry to a homestead unless the first was illegal.
Commuting a Homnstead.
Homestead settlers may pay for their land in cash or warrants at the
Government price, ^1*25 or |2-50,upon making proof of actual residence
and cultivation for a period of not less than six months from the date of
LAND !
419
entry to the time of payment, but this does not interfere with the right to
pre-empt.
Refer also to the Timber Culture Act, page 344,
The Union Pacific Pail way Company sell their lands
for cash, at 10 per cent, discount on the published
price, or at the published price for them land grant
bonds at par. In and immediately after the panic of
1873, these bonds were very low, and there was a great
advantage in buying them to apply in this manner, but
the company has attained a strong financial position,
and the sales of land bid fair to extinguish these bonds
in a few years, leaving an immense estate still in stock.
I do not presume, therefore, that there can now be any
great advantage in applying the mortgage bonds instead
of cash in payment. Their lands are also sold on five
years' credit at 6 per cent, per annum interest, and
without discount or drawback of any kind.
To colonists and actual settlers only, this company
grants a credit of ten years, at 6 per cent, interest.
Example of 80 acres at $5 :
Principal. Interest. Total.
Cash payment, down
Payment in one year
Payment in two years
Payment in three years
Payment in four years
Payment in five years
Payment in six years
S $
40-00 —
— 21-60
40-00
21-00
61-60
59-20
56-80
54-40
52-00
49-60
47-20
44-80
42-40
5
Payment in seven years
Payment in eight years
Payment in nine years .
Payment in ten years .
40-00 21-60
40-00 19-20
40-00 16-80
40-00 14-40
40-00 12-00
40-00 9-60
40-00 7-20
40-00 4-80
40-00 2-40
420
NEBRASKA.
The Burlington and Missouri River Railway Com¬
pany sell their lands for cash down at 30 per cent, dis¬
count on the long-credit prices, or for a third cash
down, a third in one year, and the balance in two
years, at 20 per cent, discount, 10 per cent, per annum
interest being charged on the deferred payments.
Most purchasers, however, buy at the gross price on
long-credit prices at 6 per cent, interest in advance,
according to the following example :—
80 acres at $5 per acre {bought March 1, 1874)—^400.
Date of Payment.
Interest.
Principal.
Total.
March, 1,1874 (date of contract)
$24-00
$24-00
1875
24-00
24-00
„ 1876
24-00
24-00
1877
24-00
24-00
„ 1878 ' „
20-57
$57-14
77-71
1879
17-14
57-14
74-28
„ 1880
13-71
57-14
70-86
1881
10-20
57-15
67-45
„ 1882
6-86
57-14
64-04
1883 „
3-43
57-14
60-57
„ 1884
—
57-15
57-15
Total payments .
$168-00
$400-00
$568-00
For permanent buildings erected within two years
to the value of one-fourth of the land, as in the above
example flOO, or for cultivation of one-fourth of the
land within two years, and continued till the end of
four years from date of contract, they allow a premium
of 10 per cent, of the whole value of the land. In the
above example this would be $40, and it would be
land!
421
applied in reduction of the first instalment of the
principal (due in 1878), which thereby becomes |17*14,
instead of |57-14.
If the purchaser erects permanent buildings as above
mentioned, and also cultivates one-fourth of the land, a
premium of 20 per cent, is allowed. In, the above
example this would be |80, and would be applied {a) to
extinguish the first payment of principal which is due
in 1878, and {b) it reduces the second payment of
principal due in 1879 from |57-14 to |34-28.
Both of these companies allow the railway fares in
whole or in part of the land purchasers who have
first purchased " land-exploring tickets," and in part
those of their families in reduction of the purchase
money, on conditions which may be learned on applica¬
tion, in person or by letter. The valuations of the
lands of these two companies being quite independent
of each other, it is impossible to say, fi'om a mere state¬
ment of prices, discounts, premiums, credits, and interest
charges, which offers the best prices when all special
inducements are allowed for, and the whole matter is
estimated on a cash basis ; but the terms of both are
fair, reasonable, and profitable to the buyer who pur¬
chases with discretion and judgment. It will often be
the case that railway land, even at |10 an acre on long
credit, is cheaper to a poor man than free government
land twenty miles away. The great danger is that
purchasers will be tempted by the easy terms to buy
much more than they can cultivate, and thus make
themselves "lapd poor."
The average prosperity of the settlers in Nebraska is
422
NEBRASKA.
undoubtedly great, but it is indisputably true that they
hold on the average more than twice as much land as is
good for them. Many a man who has bought railway
land has made more out of the first crop of wheat than
enough to pay for all labour and expenses of the crop,
including breaking the raw prairie the year before and
the full cost of the land it was taken from ; but (and
here comes the rub) few men have bought so sparingly,
that they could get all of their land promptly into
cultivation and make it pay for itself. It will be very
useful to contrast in parallel columns two ways of
getting a raw prairie farm rapidly into profitable work¬
ing order. They are for farms of like size and value, viz.
80 acres at $5 per acre, on the long-credit terms of the
Union Pacific Railway. Yery slight modifications will
adapt them to the terms of the Bmdington and Missouri
River Railway. The capital required in each case is
estimated from the date at which the land is selected
and the settler ready to make the first payment.
Estimate A.
Estimate B.
1st Year.
May 1st.—Instalment on
Feb. 1st. — Instalment on
land ^40*00
Dug out or sod hut, with
cooking stove and rude
furniture . . . . 100*00
land
$40-00
Well . . . .
Three horses. .
Two cows
. 50-00 j
. 375-00 j
. 100-00 1
. 25-00
. 100-00
. 60-00
Dug out or sod hut, with
cooking stove and rude
furniture ....
100-00
50-00
375-00
100-00
25-00
100-00
40-00
30-00
Subsoil Breaking Plough . 50 00
Harrow 30*00
Swine, poultry, &c.
Waggon .
Harness .
WeU ....
Three horses . .
Two cows . .
Swine, poultry, &c.
Waggon . .
Harness .
Plough
land!
423
'Cultivator ^ 30'00
Minor implements . . 30*00
Incidentals . . . . 30*00
Household expenses, Feb.
1st to Aug. 1st, at
^15 per month . . 105*00
Seed, wheat, barley, oats,
maize, potatoes, <fcc. . 27*00
Hired implements and
labour before harvest. 50*00
Harvesting 22 acres of
wheat, barley, and
oats, with two men
and a hired " Marsh
Harvester "... 44*00
Threshing same , . . 12*80
Total expenditure about
.£230, or . . . |1258*80
Work not immediately pro¬
ductive done up to
August .... nil
«Cash returns, commencing,
if necessary, in Au¬
gust :—
400 bushels wheat and
barley .... ^320*00
40 bushels oats . . . 12*00
Vegetables .... 50*00
Maize sold directly or fed
to swine or cattle
bought after harvest,
and afterwards sold,
18 acres, 720 bushels 288*00
$670*00
The subsoil breaking plough used
in this case is made to cut, in the
Incidentals .... $50*00
Minor implements . . 30*00
Household expenses, 1 year,
at $15 per month . 180*00
30 acres breaking hired 75*00
Hired work on sod fences 30*00
Expenses in autumn on
good sod house, plas¬
tered, and with cellar
adjoining hut, and
rudely furnished . . 150*00
Total expenses first year $1375*00
Other work done :-^0 acres of
breaking by self ; late, garden plant¬
ed, producing sufiicient quantity of
vegetables for home use ; sod corn,
probably producing some fodder and
maize enough for the horses, cattle,
poultry, and swine; 160 rods of
sod fence built, inclosing 10 acres
home field ; very heavy sod wall
around cattle yard ; thatched sheds
for cattle, horses, implements, &c, ;
good sod house in autumn ; planted
2,560 cotton-wood trees, some black
walnuts, and some maple seed.
Cash returns nil
2nd Year.
Last year's expenses
brought forward . $1375*00
Interest on land . . . 21*60
Cultivator, harrow, and
double plough bought 110*00
40 bushels seed . , . 44*00
Seed, oats, maize, and
vegetables . , . . 10*00
424
NEBKASKA.
ordinary way of a breaking plough,
a furrow slice of sod somewhat
narrower than usual, and lay it flat
with its forward share, while the
share following cuts four inches
depth of the under soil, lifts it, and
lays it flat upon the sod so turned.
For this purpose the shape of the
following" share is somewhat pe¬
culiar, and the furrow slices, except¬
ing the first, which cannot be, must
be cut a little narrower than the full
width of the plough shares. At least
three good horses will be required to
drag this plough, which should not
exceed ten inches in width. The
subsoil turned up is fibrous and
tough, and must be well torn to
pieces with a harrow ; after which it
is 'fit for any cereal crop, potatoes,
and some other vegetables. The
subsoil breaking plough will save
one year's time in getting the
ground fairly prepared for crops.
The ^670 of returns will allow
for interest on land, $21'60;
family expenses, 1 year, $180 ;
sod house in autumn, as in esti-^
mate B, $150 ; and nearly $420
for implements, seeds, and hired
labour ; so that, at the end of the
sepond year, this man, beginning
with two-thirds as mucli capital, is
likely to surpass the other.
Household expenses till
August—3 months . 45*00
Hired work before har¬
vest—drilling wheat,
planting maize, and
incidentals.... 75*00
Hiring two men and
Marsh harvester to
help cut and bind 42
acres of wheat, oats,
and barley.... 84*00
Threshing 800 bushels
wheat and barley . . 48*00
Threshing 80 bush, oats 3*20
Incidentals .... 50*00
Total expenditure about
£340, or . . . $1865*80
Other work—3i miles of
hedging planted.
Cash returns—
800 hushels wheat and
barley .... $640*00
40 bushels oats . . . 12*00
Vegetables .... 50*00
Maize 1,200 bushels . 480*00
Total returns . . $1182*00
Out of this must come next in¬
stalment on land with interest, and
the family expenses till after'next
harvest; hut the surplus is a very
substantial one, to invest in stock,
implements, and improvements.
In both of these cases it is supposed that the settlers
are ready for operations when they pay the first instal-
land!
425
ment on the land ; also that they are men with equally
expensive families. Some items of expense might be
materially reduced with rigid economy, or if the fami¬
lies were small. The cows should yield more butter
than would be needed by the families ; and, if they had
the strength and skill to manage it, A.'s wife the first
year, or B.'s the second year could make anywhere from
$25 to $100 on turkeys and poultry, besides increasing
the yield of her husband's crops through the destruc¬
tion of insects.
I have given the price of wheat at 80 cents per
bushel, very much above the average of last year, but
below the average of a long term of yealrs. The prices
of produce may often thwart the purposes of a nice
calculation, for they depend in a great measure on dis¬
tant markets rather than the amount of crop and the
local demand. The harvest of 1874 being extremely
abundant in England, exportation was almost stopped.
When prices are very high in England, the main por¬
tion of the rise, if of a comparatively permanent cha¬
racter, may be realized in the prices on the plains of the
Far West, because the cost of handling and transporta¬
tion rises but -slightly in proportion. Thus profits
fluctuate between wide margins, which it is necessary
for the settler to consider and allow for.
In the estimates A and B, I have assumed that
no credit is taken for anything but the laúd; credit
for implements and for supplies, to a limited extent,
could be obtained if necessary ; but this is a resource
that it is desirable to hold in reserve, and to use as
sparingly as possible.
426
NEBRASKA.
School lands may be obtained on lease or on long
credit, and estimates for settlers upon these wiU not
differ materially from those given. In this case, how¬
ever, the settler must be, to a greater extent, his own
judge of price and quality. Inquiries should be made
by letter or otherwise of the county clerks in the
various counties. Address " County Clerk,"
County, " Neb. U.S.A.," giving also, before the county
name, that of the county seat, which may be learned
from the map. Good bargains in homestead and pre¬
emption claims may also be obtained by those who
have the ready cash, and other lands also for cash
or on time of speculative holders. The great danger
in almost any case is that of buying too much land;
and next to this that of running into debt for imple¬
ments which, however desirable to own, one had better
hire, at high prices, for his limited wants, until he can
better afford to purchase. The intending settler
should examine into the possibilities in this respect of
the neighbourhood selected before purchasing. In
such matters the co-operation of several settlers is
eminently desirable, and it would probably be easy for
the new settler to make exchange arrangements with
his neighbours.
Any one who will take the trouble to estimate from
the data given will see that the homestead settler really
wants nearly as much ready money as he who buys
railway or other land upon long credit, always provid¬
ing that the latter does not buy too much.
A co-operating body of settlers, four to eight families
in number, with £100, or say $500 each clear, on
land!
427
arrival at their destination, could succeed without
serious hardship or difficulty. So also could an un¬
married man, or a man and wife with the same amount.
In this case it would be desirable to commence with
forty acres, unless one were settling on a free home¬
stead. Money would need to be used with great
economy and judgment, and exchange arrangements
made with neighbours for labour, if possible—a matter
which could best be accomplished in the moderately
well-settled parts of the State. If, in this case, the wife
could tear herself away from the arms of her husband
for the first year, and go out to service, success would
be assured.
The man with £50 clear to start with, who could
obtain employment as a labourer the first year, his
wife in the meantime taking service, could also succeed
if not encumbered with children too young to work for
their food and lodging. He should write to " The
Secretary, State Board of Emigration, Omaha, Neb.
U.S.A.," for information, send testimonials, and try to
obtain a situation through him, or in the older counties,
through some of the local agents of the Board, whose
names would be supplied to him by the secretary.
This gentleman, G. L. Brown, Esq., has published a
very useful pamphlet upon the State, and which may be
obtained gratis on application by letter or otherwise.
The situation should be positively obtained before start¬
ing. The land to be purchased should be bought
more at leisure, but in time to get a substantial portion
of it broken by contract the first year, the emigrant in
the meantime retaining his situation.
428
NEBRASKA.
Many men have gone to Nebraska without ten
dollars clear, and have succeeded well; but in such
cases they obtained situations before starting, or there
was at the time an active demand for labour of the
kind which they could sell, or they were extremely
fortunate. In times when railway construction was
being pushed with great energy, good labourers found
no difficulty in getting employment at rates enabling
them to save money at the same time that they were
preparing, at little expense, homesteads for themselves.
There were also many opportunities for mechanics, and
a considerable number for good clerks and men of
business capacity. Now neither clerks, mechanics, nor
railway labourers are wanted in any considerable num¬
bers. There has been a large influx of poor settlers
who have hoped to eke out their living by day labour,
while they were acquiring titles to homesteads, and the
number of farmers able to hire has not increased in like
proportion ; and it would be manifestly unwise to trust
the chances of such a resource. Employment in farm
labour, at monthly wages, may be obtained in the older
counties; but it requires hunting up at the cost of
much time and trouble, and it is not worth while for
the man without resources to attempt it. £50 or
|270 is therefore about the minimum amount of capital
with which, at present, a labouring man should seek
the plains of Nebraska, and even in this case he should
secure employment beforehand.
There is one exception. A domestic servant used to
shifting entirely for herself may arrive at Omaha,
Lincoln, or any other considerable town in Nebraska
land!
429
with but $5 in her pocket, and feel certain of finding
good and profitable employment before her funds are
exhausted. Unfortunately there is no proper organi¬
zation of a servants' home and a labour exchange ; con¬
sequently, those not entirely self-reliant should not go
to Nebraska.
I have met with some instances in which a shrewd
domestic servant has taken a few days' leave of absence,
and made a homestead claim; then, returniDg to her
mistress, she has remained in service till the six
months during which she could be legally absent from
her holding had nearly expired. Then, having got a
shanty or hut erected by contract for a small sum, and
having obtained another leave of absence, she has gone
to her holding, shown herself to the neighbours, remained
a night or two in her hut, or, perhaps, a week, possibly
contracted for a few acres of breaking, and then re¬
turned again to service in better physical and mental
health for her excursion. Persevering in this course
for five years, she obtains 160 acres of government land
free, or, when her savings have sufilciently accumulated,
she may take up her permanent residence on her land.
Strange as it may seem, a self-reliant woman may
obtain a farm in Nebraska without hardship, while a
man, equally poor, must endure great privation to
obtain it, and very probably fail in the attempt. I
know no reason why a married woman, shifting for
herself, should not be entitled to acquire a homestead ;
and, in desperate cases, I would most decidedly advise
that the wife should be the pioneer rather than the
husband.
430
NEBRASKA.
Small partially improved holdings upon long credit
and near together, with implements loaned to the
settlers upon fair terms by a superintendent or
manager of the " Colony Estate," would benefit alike
the poor emigrant and the capitalist, and they would
give a new and extraordinary impetus to the progress
of settlement in Nebraska.
But in the absence of such arrangements the agricul¬
turist may go there with a very small capital and
excellent prospects, while the man who could farm two
hundred acres or more with profit at home may have
every confidence that he will become wealthy on the
western plains, and attain there a position of which he
could have no reasonable hope in the close competition
of Old England.
Note.—The slow process of the map-engraver, especially as I have applied it to triplicate
detail plates, has detained this book in the press much longer than the period originally estimated,
and the delay has been much increased by the reception in the meantime of new maps from the
American Postal Department, and new matter from many local sources which has involved a
mass of corrections on the copper.
There have been very material modifications in the Steam-ship Service since pages 43 to 46 were
printed. The Allan Line no longer runs to Norfolk ; its Cabin fares are £15 15s. to £18 18s.,
and those of the Cunard Line from £15 15s. to £26. The Dominion Line runs to Quebec and
Montreal in the summer, and to Boston for Canada in the winter. The Cabin fares of the Guion
Line are £12 12s. £22 Is., and Intermediate, £8 8s. The Inman Line Cabin fares are £15 I5s. to
£21 Is. The South Wales Line is discontinued. The White Star Line has chartered, with
right of purchase, three of its best steamers to the " Occidental," a new line on the Pacific. The
Guion line has made a similar disposition of some of its slow boats, and its newest vessels are almost
equal in speed to any steamers afioat. The " Liverpool Conference " has been reorganized, and
in consequence steerage fares are now £5 5s., the Guion and National Lines excepted, on which
the rate is £5.
The Transatlantic passenger should consider (1) the SAFETY, (2) Comfort, (3) the Speed of
the vessel, and the line by which he intends to travel.
E. A. C.
August, 1875.
INDEX TO COUNTIES
AND CHIEF PLACES IN NEBKASKA MENTIONED IN
THE FOEEGOING PAGES.
Maps.
page
I, Key Map ....... facing 1
II. North-Eastern Nebraska. .... following 48
III. Soutb-Eastern Nebraska. .... ,, 64
lY- Geological Map ...... ,, 128
V. South-Central Nebraska . . . . „ 192
YI. North-Central Nebraska .... „ 288
YII. South-Western Nebraska .... ,, 304
YIII. Western Nebraska ..... ,, 368
Note.—The Eoman numerals prefixed to the names of the Counties
refer to the Maps as above given.
Counties.
page
page
v.
Adams
. . . 254-7
v.
Clay
. . . 252-3
ii.
Antelope
. . . 166-8
ii.
Colfax .
. . . 177
n.
Boone
. . . 184-5
ii.
Gumming .
. 152-5, 160
v.
Buffalo .
. . . 273-4
ii.
Dakota
. 171-2,381
ii.
Burt < .
. . . 170-1
v.
Dawson
. . . 274-6
iii.
Butler .
181-4, 249-51
ii.
Dixon .
. . . 172-3
iii.
Cass
. . . 200-3
ii.
Dodge .
. . . 145-9
ii.
Cedar .
. . . 173-5
m.
Douglas
. . . 143-5
vin.
Cheyenne .
307-8, 312-13
m.
Fillmore
. . , 242-5
432
NEBRASKA.
V. Franklin
vn. Frontier
V. Furnas . ,
iiT. Gage .
V. Gosper .
VI. Greeley
v. HaU .
V. Hamilton
V. Harlan .
vn. Hitclieock
V. Howard
m. Jefferson
m. Johnson
V. Kearney
vn. Keith .
n. Knox
in. Lancaster
vn. Lincoln.
n. Madison
V. Merrick
in. Nemaha
V. Nuckolls
III. Otoe
PAGE
259-60
. 30-45
. 260-1
284-41
. 261
. 300-1
. 268
. 265-7
. 260
. 304-5
265-73
. 241-2
. 206-7
. 261-4
. 365
. 175-6
. 223-8
. 305-7
. 164-6
. 186
. 203-5
. 257-9
203, 208-222
m. Pawnee 206
V. Phelps 261
II. Pierce 169
II. Platte .... 177-181
in. Polk .... 181-4, 252
vn. Red Willow
in. Richardson .
in. Saline
in. Scarpy .
m. Saunders 147-152
m. Seward .
V. Sherman
n. Stanton .
in. Thayer
VI. Valley . ., .
II. Washington
n. Wayne .
V. Webster
in. York
PAGE
304-5
205-6
228-234
143-5
246-249
. 246
. 273
155-9
. 242
300-2
. 170
. 168
, 259
245-6
Nominal or Unorganized
Counties.
n. Blackbird . . . . 160
vn. Chase 304-5
vn. Dundy 304-5
VI. Holt . . 153, 301, 302-3
VI. Paddock . . 301,302
Indian Reservations.
n. Omaha .
in. Otoe
V. Pawnee .
n. Winnebago .
160-4
237-241
185-6
160-4
II.
Santee 175
index.
433
Towns, Villages, etc.
PAGE
PAGE
Aspinwall .
Nebraska City 189, 193, 209-213
North Platte .
. 305-7, 362-5
Beatrice
... 234
Belle Yue .
... 188
Ogallalla .
. . . 365-372
Blair ....
... 170
Omaha . 41, 47-52, 53-73, 143,
Brownsville
. . 193, 203
194, 197, 285, 299, 361, 405
Columbus . . ,.
131, 177-181
Peru
.... 205
" Craig City" .
. . . 155-7
Plattsmouth
47-52, 189, 195,
Crete ....
228-9, 234
200, 201
Plum Creek .
. . 260,274-6
Dakota City .
... 319
•
Schuyler .
.... 177
Fairmont .
. . . 243-5
Seward
.... 246
Fort Kearney (Old)
. . 189, 217
Sidney .
. 312-313
Fremont
. 145-6, 152
Friendville.
232-3
Tekamah .
.... 171
Gilmore
... 143
Wanhoo .
. . . 150-1
Grand Island .
265-6, 268-9,
"West Point .
.... 153-4
273, 362
Wisner
. 152, 155, 161
Kearney Junction.
. . 273-4
. 245-6
York . . .
Lincoln . . .
. . 223-5
the end.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
THE QUEEN,
THE LADY'S NEWSPAPER,
This nv^wspaper is the great organ of the ladies of the upper classes in Great Britain.
The latest Paris and other fashions are given every week, together with patterns and descrip¬
tions of the Newest work, illustrated in the best style of art.
The following list will show the chief features of the paper :—
Leaders on Interesting and
Current Topics.
The Exchange.
Dramatic Critiques.
Paris and other Fashions.
Gleanings from New Books.
The Boudoir.
The Housekeeper.
Gazette des Dames.
The Opera, Concerts, &c.
Society in Paris.
Work of all kinds.
Plants and Flowers.
Recipes of all kinds.
New Music.
Natural History.
Court News.
Pastimes.
New Books.
Literary and Artistic
Gossip.
THE QUEEN is also the great medium through which tradesmen and others bring their
announcements prominently before the upper ten thousand. These advertisements comprise,
among other subjects—dress and fashion, country wants, governesses, schools, books, furniture;
pastimes, domestic wants, music, toilet requisites, servants, &c.
In addition to the above, THE QUEEN presents a monthly coloured fashion sheet and
monthly coloured work pattern, a monthly cut-paper pattern, and illustrations (coloured and
plain) of all new fancy work, domestic inventions, fashions, &c.
Price ; stamped (¡\d. ; yearly subscription, paid in advance, 28s. ; half yearly, i4f. ; quarterly, js.
Subscriptions in the United States (including postage, 2d. per number):—One Year, $9*50; Half
Year, $4*75 ; or $2"5o per Quarter. Payable in advance in currency or its sterling equivalent, by Inter¬
national Money Order, which may be obtained at any American Money Order Post Office, made i)ayable
at Somerset House, London, England, to Horace Cox, and crossed. Union, Bank qf London.
Specimen copy post free for six stamps.
Published every Saturday by HORACE COX, 346, Strand, London.
THE FIELD,
THE FARMj THE GARDEN,
THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S NEWSPAPER.
This paper is devoted entirely to the interests of country gentlemen, and, next to the
Times, is the largest and most influential paper in Great Britain. The subjects (which are
treated in th^ fullest manner by the first writers of the day) comprise—
Shooting.
Cricket.
Veterinary.
Farm.
Pastimes,
'ee-keeping.
Acclimatisation.
Fishing.
Racing.
Wüd Sports.
Garden.
Whist.
Poultry.
Pisciculture.
Hunting.
Y achting.
Stables.
Country House.
Chess.
Pigeons.
Travel.
Coursing.
Rowing.
Kennel.
Athletic Sports.
Croquet.
Driving.
Natural History.
Bicycling.
Golf.
All the subjects are, where thought advisable, carefully illustrated in the highest style of art.
THE FIELD, being the established medium for advertisements of the following matters .
among others, they give to it an additional utility and interest for the coimtry gentleman, the
sportsman, and naturalist :—
Shooting, Fishing, and Hunting Quarters.
Estates and Farms for Sale or to Let.
Poultry and Pigeons.
Gamekeepers, Bailiffs, Gardeners, and other servants.
Yachts for Sale and to Let.
Horses and Carriages for Sale.
Dogs, Stud Horses, Stud Dogs, Farm Implements, Farm Seeds, Garden Seeds, New Books,
Hotels, Housekeeping, and Miscellaneous Articles.
Price 6d.\ stamped, (i^d.\ yearly subscription, paid in advance, aSr.; half yearly, 14?.; quarterly, ^s. ;
specimen copy, by post, 6if. _ _
Subscriptions in the United States (including postage, 2d. per number):—One Year, $9*50 ; Half
Year, $475 : or $2 50 per Quarter. Payable in advance in currency or its sterling equivalent, by Inter¬
national Money Order, which may be obtained at any American Money Order Post Office, made payable
at Somerset House, London, England, to Horace Cox,^and crossed, Union Bank qf London.
Published every Saturday. HORACE COX, 346, Strand, London.
Nebraska State AdvertiseV.
THE GRAPHIC:
AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN
LONDON.
The Graphic is acknowledged to he the
BEST ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD.
It contains engravings by the best artists of the day of
The Current Events,
Portraits of Eminent Persons,
Copies of Celebrated Paintings and Works of Art,
Original Drawings.
The literary contributions comprise articles on the current topics at home and abroad.
Reviews of Books, Music, the Drama, Fashion, and works by popular authors.
New tales have already appeared in the pages of The Graphic written by
Mrs. Oliphant, Wilkie Collins, Capt. West,
Charles Reade, Victor Hugo, George Macdonald,
Arthur Locker, W. S. Gilber,t, and others.
Anthony Trollope, Katherine Saunders,
THE GRAPHICnfN AMERICA,
FOR ^lO,
Paid in advance. The Graphicincluding the extra Christmas
number, will be sent, éost free, for
ONE YEAR.
Payment may be made in currency direct, or by means of a Post Office Order, which
can be obtained at any American Money Order Office, and made payable to E. J. Mansfield,
190, Strand, London.
THE FARMER,
A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF
THE FARM, THE GARDEN, THE FOREST, FIELD, AND FIRESIDE.
First Series Established in 1843.
Price, posted to any part of the United States, ^7.00 per Year, gxpro rata for
shorter periods, Paid in Advance (in Currency or by International Money
Order, to be obtained at the nearest Post Office, and made Payable to
J. Grant, Fleet Street, London, E.G.)
The Farmer is Published every Monday afternoon in time for the Mails.
SPECIMEN NUMBERS, 15 c.
THE FARMER makes it a special point to secure early all news of a directly Agricultural character,
such as Papers read and Reports of Discussions at Chambers of Agriculture, Farmers' Clubs, and at Meetings
of Agricultural Societies. The department of The Breeder is conducted with vigour, and illustrated with
Portraits of celebrated Animals when occasion requires. A section is devoted to Foreign Breeds of Stock
adapted to this country, or for crossing with our native Breeds. The rapidly extending interests of Agricul¬
tural Engineers and Implement Makers require at the hands of those conducting such a paper as The
Farmer, due consideration and attention. Reports on these are fairly and fully given ; and all the most
recent Implements and Machines, together with Improvements made on others, are described and illustrated.
Prominence is devoted to the subject of Veterinary Science. Eminently practical writers enrich this depart¬
ment with their contributions. Special and early descriptions of important Exhibitions of Stock and of
Implernents and Machines are given. Reviews of Books interesting to Country Gentlemen and Farmers are
published, and Original Correspondence of a directly practical character is carefully cultivated. The other
departments of The Farmkr—Arbomculture, Horticulture, the Dairy and Poultry Yard, and that portion
devoted to the Domestic Economy of the Country House—are written by competent authors, and are fully
illustrated with Engravings.
A Special Market Supplement, containing full Reports of all the principal
Grain and Cattle Markets throughout the Country up to the latest hour of going
to press, is issued weekly, free of cost to Subscribers!
London : SALISBURY SQUARE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
An important connection of
THE GREAT BDRLINGTOH ROUTE
Across the American Continent to San Francisco,
Australia, India, China, and Japan, is the
BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER
RAILROAD, IN NEBRASKA.
This road has two eastern termini on the Missouri River, PlattS-
mouth and Omaha, where close connections are made with trains
of all roads from Chicago, St. Louis, and the East. Its western
terminus is at Kearney Junction, where connection is made with
the Union Pacific Railroad.
This road is finely constructed, and every effort is made to secure
the comfort and safety of passengers.
Running through the most fertile and interesting part of the State
of Nebraska, it affords the traveller and home-seeker an opportunity
of viewing the Valley of the Platte, the Valley of Salt Creek, in which
Lincoln, the capital of the State, is situated, and the great prairie and
grain-growing country between the Big Blue River and Kearney
Junction.
Through tickets to Lincoln, Nebraska, and to other points on this
road, can be obtained at any of the principal railroad ticket-offices
in America.
W. IRVING,
Gen. Pass. Agent.
THE BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER
RAILROAD COMPANY
OFFERS FOR SALE ON LIBERAL TERMS
MILLIONS OF ACRES OF BEST FARMING LANDS
In the rich agricultural States of Iowa and Nebraska, in the
central belt of the United States, where the tide of settlement has
flowed with strongest force since the opening up of the " Great
West," and where the climate is temperate and healthful.
In Iowa, the lands are located on each side of the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy Railroad (which railroad is a part of
the well-known Burlington through route, connecting with railroads
east at Chicago, and with- the Burlington and Missouri River Rail¬
road, in Nebraska, on the Missouri River), and in the southern and
most fertile portion of the Sta^e.
See next page.
Nebraska State Advertiser,
BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER RAttROAD.
(Continued^
In Nebraska the Company owns Millions of Acres south
and north of the Platte River. These lands are in the Garden of
Nebraska, extending from the Missouri River to about the looth
meridian, beyond which, according to United States' surveys, the
country is rather pastoral than agricultural. Among the B. & M.
lands are government lands, open to homestead, pre-emption, and
timber claims. There are abundant water resources, the chief rivers
south of the Platte being the Big, Little, and West Blues, the
Nemahas, Weeping Water, and the Republican; and, north of the
Platte, the Elkhorn Rivers, the two Loup Rivers, and many other
streams.
All the productions of the temperate zones grow luxuriantly in
Southern Iowa and Eastern Nebraska, as Indian corn, wheat, oats,
barley, rye, sorghum (the African sugar cane), flax and roots; and
there are large facilities for stock breeding.
Capitalists and Farmers will find these lands offer excellent
opportunities for enterprise. The capitalist can obtain a desirable
landed estate on easy terms, and may settle thereon tenant farmers—
"giving them opportunities to acquire the fee simple of their farms on
valuation—whose improvements will rapidly increase the value of the
land. Men who are now paying heavy rents as tenant farmers, out
of . the profits of produce, can secure good homes and farms in the
Second Illinois of America. Therefore buy while land is cheap
and plentiful
In Iowa and Nebraska capital maybe profitably-employed
in public works and in manufactures. Iowa has obtained a fair start
in manufactures, and Nebraska is following in her wake ; wool, flax,
and hemp can be produced in Nebraska in large quantities ; there
are numerous water-powers on the rivers; coal can be obtained
at $4 to $8 per ton ; and* railroad facilities are ample.
The lands are cheap in Nebraska, ranging from $3 to f 10 per
acre, with some exceptions above and below these prices. These
prices are at ten years' credit, only interest at 6 per cent being paid
for four years, and then the principal by annual instalments. For
cash, large discounts are allowed ; and generous premiums for
improvements. In both Iowa and Nebraska settlers will find markets
for produce, schools, colleges, churches, and society.
Write for' full descriptive circulars (which will be mailed free to
any part of the world) to
A. E. TOUZALIN, Land Commissioner,
Burlington, Iowa, for Iowa lands, or
Lincoln, Nebraska,Nebraska lands.
Circulars and information can also be obtained by writing to, or
applying at, the Cotnpany's branch office,
16, South Castle Street, Liverpool, England.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
a. j. CROPSEY, President. j. C. LEONARD. Cashier.
j. W. HARTLEY, Vice-President E. A. MORGAN, Teller.
UNCASTER COUNTY BANK,
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA,
TRANSACTS A GENERAL BANKING BUSINESS,
Solicits Collections and Accounts.,
Interest Paid on Time Deposits as at other Banks.
Stockholders Individually Liable.
DIRECTORS :
A. J. Cropsey. Gurdon Leonard.
J. W. Hartley. Bowers H. Leonard.
This Bank will act as the Agent for Capitalists in effecting large or small
Loans, on first-class Mortgages, for a term of one to ten years, at the prevailing
local rates of interest, which are usually more than double the rates obtained
in England on the same class of securities. Every care will be taken in
inspecting and valuing the property taken, which will in all cases- be worth at
least double the amount loaned, and held under a sound title, and, in so far as
it consists in buildings, will be adequately insured.
The collections of interest will be made and remitted in full at the current
bank rates of exchange.
These Loans, Principal and Interest, may be guaranteed by the Bank, by
special agreement, for a Commission of one per cent, per annum on the
Principal. Thus, if a Mortgage be effected at ten per cent., and guaranteed
by the bank, the lender will receive nine per cent, clear.
Refer to
H. B. Claflin, Esq., New York.
E. T. Tifft, Esq., New York.
Tifft, Griswold, & Co., New York.
J. M. Hentz & Co., New York.
T. R. Butler, Esq., Pres. R.-R., New York.
Importers' and Traders' National Bank, New York.
Union National Bank, Chicago, Illinois.
Merchants' Nationaî. Bank, St. Louis, Mo.
State Bank, Nebraska, Omaha.
Nebraska State Advertiser,
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
of lincoln (Capital of the State),'Ñ'K^^ASiK.A.
Has an ample Capital. Will make safe loans, bearing large but legal rate
of interest, secured by real estate, for European and Eastern Capitalists.
Solicits correspondence in regard to same.
Refer to—
Alliance Bank, London;
National Park Bank, New York ;
A. E. Touzalin, CoMR. B. & M. Land Department, Lincoln, Neb.
MOSES STOCKING,
PIONEER, FARMER, AND STOCK RAISER.
Breeder of Durham Cattle, American Merino Sheep,
and Berkshire Pigs.
WAHOO, SAUNDERS CO., NEBRASKA.
J. H. McMURTRY, JOHN S. GREGORY,
Notary Public. E. M. GREGORY (Special)
McMURTRY & GREGORY,
DEALERS IN REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE AGENTS.
Prompt attention to Collections ; Abstracts of Titles furnished ; Stocks of Merchandise
Exchanged for Lands and City Property; Money Loaned; Taxes Paid
for Non-reúdents Without-Charge ; Correspondence Solicited.
NEBRASKA CENTRAL AGENCY
OF THE
Phœnix Insurance Co. Assets, $ 2,000,000
Saint Joseph ... ,, 650,000
North America... ,, 3,500,000
London and Globe . ,, 26,000,000
Niagara 1,225,000
Underwriters . . . Assets, $2,335,000
Security ,, 3,450,000
Clay „ 375.000
Equitable .... ,, 750,000
city property.
Wild Lands made a specialty. Land exchanged for Merchandise.
cheap farms.
Office—No. i, South Eleventh Street,
References:
[^ancaster County Bank, ) ^ X\J Xa X^ .
Merchants* Bank, V
State Nat. Bank. )
Nebraska State Advertiser.
Officers and Directors.
H. Kountze, President.
A. Kountze, Vice-President.
H. W. Yates, Cashier.
A. J. poppleton, Attorney.
J. A. Creighton.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK,
This Institution, as a Private and National Bank, has been established
nineteen years. Its relations with every part of the State enable it to
facilitate the business of all those who settle, or make investments in
Nebraska.
If desired, the Bank will act as agent for Capitalists who wish to loan
money on Real Estate Mortgages.
FRE2MAN k CHAPIN,
LUMBER, DOORS, SASHES, BLINDS, MOULDINGS,
BUILDING PAPER, PAINTS,
Cedar Posts, Lime, Plastering Hair, Stucco, Cement,
Eave Spouting, Wood Conductors,
&c., &c.
Dealers in
FAIRMONT, FILLMORE CO., NEB.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
CHEAPEST POWER FOR THE PRAIRIE.
HALLADAY WINDMILL,
THE HALLADAY is the first reliable self-regulating Wind¬
mill introduced to the public, and it has
stood the test of over twenty years in all
the States.
It is the only Mill generally adopted
by all Railroads of the Country, and is
extensively used by Farmers for Grinding,
Shelling Corn, Pumping Water, &c.
It is also used to elevate water for
supplying Houses, Barns, Fountains, and
for irrigating.
Our Farm Pumping Mills and Pumps
will elevate water from any depth that
may be required, and, with proper tank¬
age, will supply from 200 to 1,000 head of cattle, according to size of
Mill and depth of well. They can be arranged by a simple device to
stop when tank is filled with water, and start again when any portion
of the water is drawn out, thereby preventing waste of water, un¬
necessary wear of Mill, and securing a supply of water at all times.
We make all sizes of Power Mills, from sixteen feet to sixty feet
in diameter. The largest wheel has forty-five horse power in working
wind, and is only designed to drive Mill Machinery. We have
several of this size in operation, driving three run of burrs, and all
other necessary machinery, which are making as fine flour as Water
Mills. They are controlled by the most sensitive and powerful
combination, " Ball Governor and Hydraulic Press," which act
instantly, and keep the sails adjusted at the proper angle to the
wind to secure nearly uniform power.
Catalogue and Price List sent on application to
U. S. WIND ENGINE AND PUMP COMPANY,
BATAVIA, ILLINOIS,
Or A. L. STRANG, State Agent, Omaha, Nebraska.
Correspondence Solicited.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
THE CHICAGO k NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY
Embraces under one management the Great Trunk Railway Lines of the West and
Northwest, and, with its numerous branches and connections, forms the
Shortest and Quickest Route between CHICAGO and all points in Illinois,
Wisconsin, Northern Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska,
CALIFORNIA, and the Western Territories.
San Francisco Omaha Dubuque Marquette Menasha
Sacramento Council Bluffs La Crosse L'Anse Stevens Point
Ogden ' Yankton Pra. du Chien Ishpeming Oshkosh
Salt Lake City Sioux City Winona Negaunee Madison
Cheyenne Minneapolis St. Paul Escanaba Milwaukee
Denver Cedar Rapids Duluth Green Bay
Are all on the line of this Great Road, or are reached by this Route with less
changes of cars than by any other.
On the arrival of the trains from the East or South, the trains of the Chicago and North¬
western Railway
LEAVE CHICAGO AS FOLLOWS:
For Council Bluffs, Omaha, and Cali¬
fornia. Two through trains daily, with
Pullman Palace Drawing-Room and Sleep¬
ing Cars, through to Council Bluffs.
For St. Paul and Minneapolis. Two
through trains daily, with Pullman Palace
Cars attached on both trains.
For Green Bay and Lake Superior. Two
trains daily, with Pullman Palace Cars at¬
tached, and running through to Marquette.
For Milwaukee. Four through trains daily.
Pullman Cars on the night trains.
For Winona and points in Minnesota.
One through train daily.
For Dubuque viâ Freeport. Two through
trains daily, with Pullman Cars on night
train.
For Dubuque and La Crosse, viâ Clin¬
ton. Two through trains daily, with
Pullman Cars on night train.
For - Sioux City and Yankton. Two
trains daily. Pullman Cars to Missouri
Valley Junction.
For Lake Geneva. Four trains daily.
For Rockford, Kenosha, Sterling,
Jandsville, and other points, you can
have from two to ten trains daily.
PULLMAN PALACE SLEEPING CARS run over all the lines of the Chicago and
NorthwesternRailway Company, between Chicago and Omaha, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque,
Freeport, Milwaukee, St. Paul, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, and Marquette.
They connect at Omaha with
THROUGH SLEEPING CARS FOR SAN FRANCISCO.
This great corporation now operates over two thousand {2,000) miles of its own road, and has
" running arrangements " over nearly eight hundred miles of road owned by other companies.
Taking Chicago as its starting point, the various lines owned by this Company radiate north,
northwest, and west, like the fingers on the human hand. With one line it reaches Milwaukee,
Fond du Lac, Green Bay, and Marquette. With another it nms through Madison
(the capital of Wisconsin), Elroy, and to St. Paul and Minneapolis. Another of its lines
stretches far across Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and terminates in Central Dakota. Still
another runs from Chicago, through Elgin and Rockford to Freeport, and with connections
there for Galena,' Dubuque, &c. Still another line of this corporation runs northwardly through
J anes ville, FoRt Atkinson, Watertown, to Fond du Lac, and beyond. However, the
greatest arid most important of the roads of this Company is their Omaha and California Line,
or, as it is called, "The Trans-Continental Route." This is the pioneer line between
Chicago and the Pacific Coast, and was the first to connect with the great Pacific roads,
and form -the Overland Route. This line is the shortest rail line between Chicago and
Omaha ; the track is of the best steel rail, and is well ballasted, and as free from dust as a road,
can be made ; the bridges are strong and durable, and all the appointments are first-class in
every respect. The trains that run over this line are made up of elegant new Pullman Palace
Drawing-Room and Sleeping Coaches, âui/i expressly for this line, luxurious, well-lighted and
well-veqtilated Day Coaches, and pleasant lounging and smoking cars—all built by this Company
in their own shops. The cars are all equipped with the celebrated Miller Safety Platform, and
Patent Buffers and Couplings, Westinghouse Safety Air Brakes, and every other appliance that
has been devised for the safety of passenger trains. All trains are run by telegraph. In a word,
this great California Line has the best and smoothest track, and the most elegant and com¬
fortable equipment of any road in the West, and.has. no competitor in the country. It is
eminently the favourite route with Chicagoans travelling west, and is acknowledged by the
travelling public to be the popular line for all points in Western Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming,
Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Nevadfc, California, and the Pacific Slope.
All Ticket Agents sell Tickets by this route.
MARVIN HUGHITT, W. H. STENNETT.
Gen, Suft., Chicago. Gen, Pass, A¿t., Chicago.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
THE LAND GRANT
OF THE
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
COMPANY,
Consisting of the alternate square miles in a
Belt^ 40 miles in width and more than
4
1,000 miles in lengthy
Comprises 12,000,000 acres
of choice Farming, Grazing, and Mineral Lands.
4,250,000 acres,
ON THE LINE OF THE ROAD IN THE STATE OF NEBRASKA,
Are offered for sale at prices ranging from ^2 i^s. 6d.) to $10 (;¿^i 17^-. 6d)
per acre, on a credit of ten years, at 6 per cent, interest, with a deduc¬
tion of 10 per cent, for cash in full at the time of purchase.
These lands are located on or near the 41st degree
of north latitude, the latitude of Northern Spain and
Italy, in the great central belt of population, com¬
merce, and wealth.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
THE LAND GRANT OF THE
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY.
{Continued^
They include the Great Valley of the Platte, and the Valleys of
the Elkhorn, Maple, and Shell Creeks, Wood River, and the Big Blue.
Diversified with hill and dale, meadow and upland, and intersected
by numerous streams of pure running water, they constitute a body
of land unsurpassed in fertility of soil, smoothness of surface, and ease
of tillage, by any tract of equal extent in the world.
The climate is temperate and healthful, the atmosphere dry and
bracing, and the scenery picturesque and inviting.
All the productions of the temperate zone are grown in profusion.
Stock raising in all its branches is followed with great profit and
success.
The Pacific Railroad, stretching through these lands into the great
mining regions on the West, and connecting with the seaboard cities
on the East, furnishes market facilities unequalled.
These lands afford equal advantages to the small farmer to acquire*
a means of permanent support in a home of his own, and to the man
of larger capital to cultivate his thousand acres with corresponding
results, and offer special inducements for the location of colonies.
For full particulars, maps, circulars, &c., address
O. F. Davis,
Land Commissioner^
U. P. R. R. Co.,
Omaha,
Nebraska.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
THE AMERICAN OVERLAND ROUTE.
Union Pacific äf CentralPacfic Railway Line.
(VIÂ OMAHA.)
The American Overland Route, organized on the
completion of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific
Railways in i86g, is now the direct thoroughfare be¬
tween Europe and Asia and Australasia.
The American Overland Route comprises the
Steamship Lines of the Atlantic Ocean between
Europe and Atlantic seaports in the United States
and Canada; the various Railway Lines from New
York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Quebec,
converging at Omaha, there connecting with the
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways to San
Francisco; and the Steamship Lines of the Pacific
Ocean to the Sandwich Islands, Fiji Islands, Austra¬
lia, New Zealand, Japan, China, and India.
The American Overland Route is traversed on the
Atlantic Ocean by nineteen Steamship Lines, afford¬
ing, from the United Kingdom, twenty departures
every week to United States and Canadian Ports; on
the . American Continent by Daily Express Trains to
San Francisco; and on the Pacific Ocean by a
monthly line of steamers to the Sandwich Islands,
Fiji Islands, New Zealand, and Australia, and by a
fortnightly line to Japan, China, and India.
The traveller from Europe, whose destination is
China, Japan, or Australasia, will naturally consider,
in deciding upon choice of routes, the questions of
cost of passages, the time to be occupied, the degree
of comfort and safety, and the nature of the sights
and scenery by the way.
Nebraska State Advertiser.
Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railway Line.
(Continued^)
The advantages may be summed up iñ the general statements :—
1. That the rates by the American Overland Route, first class
passage, between London, Liverpool, and other points, and Yokohama,
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, &c., are con¬
siderably lower than by the Suez route.
2. That the time of passage is from one to twenty-five days less
than by the Suez route.
3. That the comfort and safety of this route is incomparably
superior, it being considered that the Atlantic steamers and those of
the Pacific, connecting with the route, are the finest and largest in the
.world ; and that American railway travelling is well known to be
pre-eminently comfortable and safe, the Pacific Railway being provided
with all the various improvements and new appliances of American
origin which latterly have begun to be adopted on English and
Continental Railways.
4. That the sights and scenes of the 3,000 miles' journey across
the American Continent are of the surpassing interest that naturally
attaches to the achievements of a population of 44,000,000 in develop¬
ing the resources of most fertile and delightful regions of vast extent,
and to the picturesque and varied scenery of the plains and mountains
of the western half of the Continent. It adds not a little to the at¬
tractiveness of the route for travellers to China and Japan, that it is
continuously, in the temperate zone, varying little throughout its
course from the parallel of Paris.
Travellers to the Pacific should avoid the delays of double
transfer viâ Panama, by taking the Union and Central Pacific
Railway Line, viâ Omaha, 226 miles, the shortest all-rail route ;
running through Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada,
and California, with connections to all Western States and terri¬
tories ; crossing five mountain ranges (the highest point being
8,242 feet above high water), it affords an unbroken panorama of
the grandest and most interesting scenery on the Continent.
Pullman and Silver Palace Cars, with the finest day coaches
in the world, are run on all Express Trains.
GREAT REDUCTIONS
Have been made in First, Second, and Third Class Fares by this
route.
Through Tickets are issued at Offices of the Line in San
Francisco, Omaha, New York (287, Broadway), London (22,
Moorgate Street), and by all Railway and Steamship Lines.
T. H. GOODMAN, T. L. KIMBALL,
General Passenger and Ticket Agent, Central General Passenger and Ticket Agent, Union
Pacific Railway. Pacific Railway.
A. N. TOWNE, S. H. H. CLARK,
General Superintendent, Central Pacific Railways General Superintendent, Union Pacific Railway
San Francisco, California, Omaha, Nebraska. '
Nebvaskd Stute ^av&mser.
IVe recommend to all Persons^ seeking Homes in
Nebraska and all Far IVest Points in the United
States of America, to take the
CHICAGO, BURLINGTON k (¡UINCY RAILROAD,
FROM CHICAGO WEST.
It is acknowledged by the Press and the Travelling Public to be one of
the best managed and best appointed Roads in America.
Passengers by this Route have Two Express Trains daily, by which
they can reach Nebraska City, Lincoln, or Omaha, and all Far West
points.
It is thoroughly equipped with Westinghouse's Patent Air Brakes and
Miller's Patent Safety Platforms ; without these no Railroad is really safe.
It has i2-wheeled Passenger Coaches, built in the shops of the
Company, the timber being thoroughly inspected, the workmanship perfect,
and the beauty and safety of the Coaches unequalled.
It is the only Line running Pullman's i6-wheeled Sleeping Cars,
largest size made, which for ease and comfort are unsurpassed.
This is also the only Line running Pullman's Hotel and Dining Cars.
In fact we cheerfully jecommend this Road to the Travelling Public.
Passengers will find Tickets at all Offices in the East for all Points
West, and at all Offices in the West for all Points East.
San Francisco passengers claim it as
THE FAVOURITE ROUTE
from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic.
Try it on your trip West, you wilt find it as herein stated.
Any further information you may desire as regards Rates, Maps of
the Road, or Books on Land Matters, you can receive free of charge, by
addressing the
General Passenger Agent of the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad,
Chicago, Illinois.
The New York Tribune.
"The Leading American Newspaper."
THE PAPER FOR BUSINESS MEN, FARMERS, FAMI¬
LIES, AND ALL THE PEOPLE.
1. It publishes all the news.
2. It is candid and independent in all things.
3. Its moral tone is unexceptionable, nothing appearing in its pages
unsuited for the most refined and cultured family circle.
4. It has the best and freshest correspondence, poems, stories; in short,
the cream of the current literature of the day.
5. Its agricultural department is the fullest, most thorough, practical,
and useful of any paper, giving its readers in each number as much or more
than the higher priced monthlies.
6. Its market reports are the standard of dealers and producers through¬
out the country for promptness, accuracy, and reliability.
7. Its aggregate circulation is larger than that of any other four-cent
morning paper in New York.
8. Its circulation, regarding character as well as number of subscribers, is
better than that of any paper in the country.
9. It is growing more vigorously, and increasing in circulation more
rapidly than any of its rivals.
TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE.
(Postage free to the Subscriber.)
Daily (by mail;, i year $1000
Semi-Weekly, i year 3.00
Five copiee, i year 12.50
Ten copies (and one extra), i year. 25.00
Weekly, i year $ 2.00
Five copies, i year 7.50
Ten copies, i year 12.50
Twenty copies, i year 22.00
Thirty copies, i year 30.00
Each person procuring a club of ten or more subscribers is entitled to one extra
Weekly, and of fifty or more to a Semi-Weekly.
To clergymen. The Weekly Tribune will be sent one year for $1.50. The Semi-
Weekly for $2.50, and The Daily for $9.
Specimen copies of either edition of The Tribune, and circulars giving full
details of the contents of the great series of Tribune Extras, sent free to any address in
the United States.
All remittances at sender's risk, unless by draft on New York, postal order, or iiv
registered letter. Address átmply
THE TRIBUNE, New York.
T EC DE
NEW YORK OBSERVER,
A LAEGE DOUBLE WEEKLY EELIGIOUS AND SEOULAE
FAMILY
NEWSFAFEÜ,
ESTABLISHED IN 1823.
The?New York Observer is published to disseminate useful information, and to promote that which
is good and true among all.
WILL LAkST!
Error may flourish for a short season ; but the test of time will expose its weakness and rottenness.
THE NEW YORK OBSERVER
Was originally established on the solid principles of Bible truth ; and, after laboring steadily and unfalteringly
forßfty-threeyears, it rejoices to see. sound, truthful principles growing and spreading throughout this whole
country and the wide world. In addition to the religious news of all the churches and from all the world, it
contains volumes of useful and entertaining matter that can be had in no other shape, suitable for the various
members of a family—the whole combined forming, what we believe to be,
THE BEST FAMILY NEWSPAPER,
Suitable to be laid on the parlor table, and proper to be read at all times by every member of the household ;
containing no line that can injure. The influence of such a weekly visitor is good, and only good.
Let those who want good, sound, sensible, truthful reading, sub.scribe for it, and let them induce others to
do the same. We send no Premiums, no Pictures, no Chromos. We will send you the
NEW YORK OBSERVER, one year, postpaid, for $3.15,
And we will allow you to retain ûue dollar as commission for every iiesv subscriber that you will send us with
the money.
DO ALL THE' GOOD YOU CAN.
Samples Copies free.
S- I. FRIME & CO.,
37 Park Row, New York.
A WEEKLY JOURNAL OF SIXTEEN PAGES, DEVOTED TO
PRACTICAL NATURAL HISTORY, FISH CULTURE, PROTECTION OF
GAME. PRESERVATION OF FORESTS, YACHTING, BOATING, and
.A.11 Oirt-Door Hecreation and Study.
Special attention paid to Reports of RIFLE PRACTICE at Creedmoor and elsewliere.
It Is the only Journal in this Country that fully supplies the wants and meets the necessities of the
GENTLEMAN SPORTSMAN.
TERMIS, S5.00 A.
Send for a Specimen Copy.
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY,
Post Ofice Box, 2832. 17 CHATHAM STREET (City Hall Square), NEW YORK.
NOW FOR THE GREAT CENTENNIAL!
THE HARVEST IS GOOD!
PROSPERITY ABOUNDS!
TIMES ARE EASY!
AND NOW IS THE TIME TO SUBSCRIBE FOR
o o E, E ' s
RURAL UEW-YORKER,
THE GREAT ILLUSTRATED
Agricultural and Family W^eekly.
This Famous Farm and Fireside Favorite will celebrate the National Centennial by making
a better paper than ever, and furnishing its 53 Numbers for 1876 (each worth the price of
a yearly copy), postage free, for $2.65 —and in clubs of ten or more for only $2.15 ! This
makes it the Cheapest Weekly of its Class on the Continent, as it has long been the Best
and Most Popular—in fact, the
STANDARD IN ITS SPHERE.
Moore's Rural has for the past Quarter of a Century been not oidy the Standard
Authority on all bi-anches of Agriculture, Horticulture and Domestic Affairs, but a Choice,
Pure and Unexceptionable Family Paper. Its Founder and Conducting Editor has had
over thirty years' expeiience as an Agricultural Journalist, and his Associates possess rare
ability and practical and scientific knowledge. The Rural is adapted to the whole country;
it not only circulates largely in the East, but THROUGHOUT THE WEST, where it has
thousands of subscribers and many able contributors and correspondents. It comprises over
a dozen distinct departments—Practical, Scientific and Literary, besides News, the Markets,
&c.,—all carefully and ably edited, thus giving a greater variety of useful information and
miscellaneous matter, interspersed with illustrations, than any other American Journal.
Indeed it is
THE PEOPLE'S PAPER I
And certainly the best one extant for the Farmer, the Horticulturist and Florist,
the Stock Grower, the Dairyman and the Housewife, With " Excelstor,'''' for
its glorious motto, and '■^Progress and Improvement," its laudable objects, the "Old
Rural " purposes to manifest more enterjjrise and spirit during the ensuing year than ever
before, and hence prove itself in both style and contents worthy a largely-increased
National circulation. That it is the
BEST RURAL AND FAMILY WEEKLY,
Has long been acknowledged, and that it merits a Million of Subscribers is now conceded.
Those who know the Rural will subscribe for 1876 without urging, and all others are
invited to send for and examine specimens, which are mailed free.
form;, SXYLF, XFRMS, Arc.
Moore's Rural New-Yorker contains Sixteen Quarto Pa^es weekly, finely and
ptofusely illustrated and neatly printed. Only I2.65 per year, $2.15 in clubs of ten or
more, postage paid. Now is the Time to Subscribe and Form Clubs. Great inducements
to Club Agents. Specimens, Premium Lists, &c., sent free.
Address
MOORFS RURAL NEW-YORKER,
78 Duaiie St., New York.
Michigan Central
AND
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAYS,
VIA NIAG-AHA FALLS,
BETWEEN CHICAGO, BUFFALO AND SUSPENSION BRIDGE, FORMING
THE MOST RELIABLE AND EXPEDITIOUS ROUTE BETWEEN
THE EASTERN AND WESTERN STATES, AND A LINK
IN THE GREAT CHAIN OF RAILWAYS STRETCH¬
ING ACROSS THE AMERICAN CONTINENT
FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC.
The equipment as regards the elegance and comfort of its DAY and
NIGHT COACHES is unsurpassed, and every precaution is taken against
possible accident by the use of the
Westinghouse Air-Brake & Miller Coupling & Platform,
Which are attached to all coaches running over this line.
The only line running Palace Sleeping, Drawing-Room, and Hotel
Coaches between Chicago, New York and Boston without change over the
Niagara River Suspension Bridge, from which a magnificent view of the Falls
of Niagara can be had in the distance.
At Suspension Bridge (Niagara Falls) and Buffalo direct connections are
made with all through trains on the New York Central and Hudson River
and Erie Railways for all point East ; and at Chicago with trains on all
roads diverging from that City for all points in the West, Northwest and
Southwest.
BAGGAGE CHECKED THROUGH TO DESTINATION.
Passengers purchasing tickets by this route are allowed to stop off and
resume their journey at pleasure, affording them an opportunity of witness¬
ing the greatest natural wonder of the world,
THE FALLS AND SCENERY OF NIAGARA.
Ask for tickets by Michigan Central and Great Western Railway, reading
via Niagara Falls and Detroit, which can be had at all principal railroad
and steamboat offices in the United States and Canada.
NEW YORK OFFICE, BOSTON OFFICE, CHICAGO OFFICE,
349 Broadway. 201 Washington St. 67 Clark St,