Buffalo County, Nebraska - Chapter 22, 1916

Business

Lumber, hardware, household goods, farming implements and food supplies could only be purchased in Omaha, as there were nO' stocks of such goods at a nearer point. A number of the colonists made out bills of needed supplies and chose one of their number to make the trip and purchase the articles. The colonists had brought their funds in New York exchange which would require the one presenting the same to be identified, and as one of their number had an acquaintance residing in Council Bluffs, a lawyer, who could identify him, he was chosen to make the trip.

The railroad fare from Gibbon to Omaha was $14.75, 7 cents per mile. The party arrived at Omaha about 6 P. M., crossed to Council Bluffs to find his acquaintance attending court at some point in Iowa and not expected home for some days. The next morning found the colonist on the banks of the Missouri ready to cross at first opportunity, but the wind blew at such a furious rate that it was not possible for the boat to make the crossing. All day long the colonist remained, without a bite to eat, awaiting a favorable opportunity to cross.

Several attempts were made without success ; on one occasion the ferry boat barely escaped being swamped on one of the piers of the railroad bridge then in process of construction. With the going down of the sun, the wind abated, but the colonist reached the Nebraska side after business hours. Early the next morning a call was made on a lumber dealer, but when the case was stated he replied that he could not take drafts where the party was not known or could not be identified.

A visit was then made to the store of Milton Rogers, a dealer in hardware, stoves and agricultural implements, and the situation explained to Mr. Rogers, who without a moment's hesitation replied, in substance : "We have all heard of your colony in Buffalo County and we want you to stay and help settle the state, and I am more than willing to aid you in any manner possible. I will take your drafts in payment for such of my goods as you desire, will find a lumber dealer who will take your drafts for lumber, and I will endorse your drafts at the bank for the balance so that you may take the remainder home in currency."

never been forgotten. The business of ]\Ir. Rogers was established in 1855, and more than half a century later was being conducted under the name of Alilton Rogers Sons.

The articles purchased comprised two car loads^cars being much smaller than at present, ten tons the limit of capacity - and had a wide range from lumber to build several small houses to stoves, furniture, crockery, breaking plows, spades, well buckets, rope, picket pins, pork by the barrel and molasses by the 5-gallon keg. The railroad company made one concession, making the same rate on the shipment as for emigrant movables.

On this trip an option was secured on a yoke of oxen at $250. This seemed like and was a large price if not an extravagant one, but teams of oxen were scarce, and a better yoke of oxen never looked through ox-bows than these. They were large, young, well broken and active.

Later the purchase was concluded through Milton Rogers and the oxen shipped to Gibbon. The first use made of the team was to draw a load of lumber out to a claim across Wood River ; when in mid-stream the yoke broke and it was necessary to send to Omaha for another before use could be made of the team. These oxen, a wagon, and a breaking plow were owned by three homesteaders.

Opening Up For Business

Immediately after the taking of the homesteads, Aaron Ward engaged in the lumber business and L. D. George and I. D. La Barre each arranged to engage in the mercantile business. The business venture of Mr. George was on a much more extensive scale than that of Mr. La Barre; T. Q. George, a brother of L. D., came later, the firm being L. D. and T. Q. George and Co. I. D. La Barre at once secured a considerable line of goods and opened for business in a box car on the siding, until such time as his first place of business was in readiness ; this store building of Mr. La Barre's was the first building completed in the Village of Gibbon, and the first building to receive a coat of paint; it is, at this date (1915) the first building to the west of the Babcock Opera House, on Main Street. It is recalled that when the prices which the colonists had paid for the two carloads of goods - before mentioned - became known, it occasioned much irritation as between the merchants and their customers. For instance, the price paid at Omaha for a 12-inch breaking plow was $21 ; for a stove, $20; a well bucket, 75 cents; while the prices for like articles at Gibbon were: a 12-inch breaking plow, $32; a stove, $30; well bucket, $1.50. It will be seen that on such standard articles the margin of profit was certainly large enough to warrant success in the business, and yet those merchants, in the end, did not make any marked success of the business, for the reason credit was universal and when a debtor was a homesteader whose whole source of income was from crops raised on his claim, it stands to reason that merchants' losses were lar^e Avhere credit was extended to such a class of customers.

It is a matter of astonishment, at this date, to recall some of the methods of transacting; business which prevailed in the early days of which this history treats. It was a common occurrence for a homesteader to agree to pay 2, 3 and at times 4 per cent a month interest on borrowed money. It was a common business transaction for a homesteader, without means, to purchase on time a full line of agricultural implements, their value aggregating- several hundreds of dollars, and often not even paying in advance the freight charges on the same, and in case of crop failure, payment had to be extended, and often the machinery was worn out before paid for, and at times it was never paid for. Such business conditions and transactions, can only be accounted for on the theory that the unbounded faith and optimism as to the country and its future development, which caused people without means and experience to come here and engage in agriculture in a countr}^ in which nothing was known as to capabilities for support of an agricultural population, included not only the homesteader himself but all classes engaged in business as well.

Just across the Platte River south of Gibbon was the Village of Lowell, and one of the early merchants at that point was Joel Hull. At a reunion held at Fort Kearney, many years later, by Mr. Hull read a paper entitled, "Pioneer Merchandising in Central Nebraska." It presents so true and complete a history of merchandising in Buffalo County in those days that as a matter of historic interest it is here given place.