Buffalo County, Nebraska - Chapter 25: Pioneer Merchandising in Central Nebraska Location at Lowell in 18/2, 1916

Of Goods Sold In Two Years

(Note - This article, prepared by Joel Hull, of Minden, Kearney County, Nebraska, was read at the 1909 celebration of the Fort Kearney National Park Association, June 23-26, and is given place in this history as it truthfully and forcefully presents the experience of such pioneer merchants in Buffalo County as L. D. George and I. D. LaBarre at Gibbon ; Oliver Brothers at Wood River Centre (now Shelton) ; R. R. Greer and James O'Kane at Kearney. - Editor.)

Pioneer Merchandising In Central Nebr.Vska

Merchandising in the pioneer days of Kearney County was a calling requirmg great care and alertness to fill the demands made by the torrents of immigrants rushing in to take homesteads, pre-emption and timber-culture claims and to buy railroad lands.

From the present conditions in 1909 of these lands, all fenced, ornamented with rows or groves of beautiful, thrifty trees, owned and occupied by prosperous farmers residing in finely appointed roomy residences of architectural beauty of design, surrounded by shapely, well-designed buildings for the comfort of thrifty domestic animals, one would think that such a rush of immigration would soon be over, and all these lands, of their present beauty and the value of $100 per acre, would be quickly taken. Incredible as it may seem to the present observers of the comfort, profit and happiness now in evidence in this Eldorado, such was not the fact.

In the year 1872, by reason of the location and mapping of the route of the line of railroad by the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, there came a few venturesome spirits into this territory named Kearney County to the number of thirty-one voters, mostly single men, not one of whom had an inkling of an idea of the value of the lands herein embraced for agricultural purposes, nor of their value for homes and fortunes. These thirty-one voters had made the requisite motions for the county organization of this territory under the name given it by the Legislature, of Kearney County, and after filing their petition with the acting governor and their holding an election of a set of county officers, it was by the acting governor (William H. James who was also secretary of state) proclaimed to be a legally organized county, dating from the 20th day of June, 1872.

None of those thirty-one voters had at that date looked at any lands embraced within the limits of the boundaries of the new country south of the line of the sand hills running parallel with the Platte River. Nearly every one laid claims upon even numljcred sections east and northeast of Lowell, its county seat, and a few claims on sections west of Fort Kearney Military Reservation adjacent to Kearnev City, now commonly known as Doby Town. Not a claim of any kind had been made to any land south of the line of sand hills, and not a building of any kind was erected in the county but those in and about Lowell and Doby Town, except a composite sod and board shanty near the southwest corner of the county, named "Walker's Ranch" located upon the trail from Lowell to Republican City.

Your orator came upon the scene as just portrayed on the 30th day of June, 1872, on the tenth day of the legal existence of the county, and found the thirtyone voters who had performed the ceremonies of its organization, and besides these thirty-one there were seven women (three of whom were widows) and nine children, making a total population of forty-seven souls. He carefully looked over the prospectus ; took into consideration that the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company w^as then building its road at the rate of about a mile a day, and that the great Republican Valley and the Frenchman and Red Willow and numerous other tributaries had been widely advertised in the East as far as Ohio, and that emigrants were then moving in caravans toward those named locations, which were represented as having rich valleys, the streams abounding with choice fish and pure water and whose banks were lined with large timber of various sorts ; and that the route of travel was already changing to the old California trail ; and that reasonably there would be a demand for their supplies from their nearest railroad station which would evidently be Lowell for a few years.

You have already clearly concluded that it would be nothing less than folly to commence merchandising with a list of customers numbering forty-seven souls, at a time when there were already two merchants, Thomas W. Vallentine and Albion A. Andrews. But there existed the outlook for the traffic with the Republican Valley settlers and I at once seized the opportunity. On the first day of July I bought the Andrews' stock of goods, and on the third day of July the Burlington & Missouri River arrived at Lowell, set ofif to the side of the track an old box car for a depot. On the fourth I ordered a fresh stock of supplies and the story of pioneer selling of goods commenced. I arranged with Lincoln. Omaha, Council Blufi's and St. Joseph dealers to supply me with goods, and with the Capital Mills at Lincoln to supply flour and meal. Before August ist my sales averaged over $100 per day, and the demand was so great that in September, from Chicago, I laid in a stock of $33,000 worth of goods in eleven different departments, all bought on credit, having at times barely enough to pay the freight bills, and my trade increased to sales averaging from two hundred to

I was a very busy man with se\'en clerks, but not too busy to observe that this immense traffic had been also discovered by others so that in 1873 Lowell had seven general merchandise stores, two drug stores, seven saloons, three hotels, three boarding houses, two doctors, four lawyers. "Old Bill Gaslin" was one of them.

There was a "hot time in the town tonight'' every day and night, Sundays included. ]\Ioney was easy and gamblers plenty. You must not mistake in thinking the merchants had an easy time. Many present remember the panic of 1873 and all have heard something of it. \Miile the panic did not affect this new West in a serious degree, yet in some respects it was felt. In my trade I had occasion to handle commercial paper such as drafts, checks, etc., and at one time I had in my hands three drafts of $500 each drawn by eastern national banks upon their New York depositories all protested for want of fmids, confusing my cash arrangements for the instant to such an extent chat I had to ask the First National Bank of Lincoln to deposit to my credit, by telegraph, in First National Bank of Chicago, $1,000 to make good deficiencies on overdrafts arising from protested drafts just mentioned. \\'hile the panic was raging in the East making bankrupts by the thousands, the West was not seriously concerned.

In 1873 appeared a distemper among horses called "epizootic," which was a panic breeder over these plains. During a period of about two months only a few dozen teams of horses appeared in the lively market of Lowell, succeeding a year or more of the daily arrival of from fifty to one hundred teams from the settlements of the Republican, Solomon, the Smoky and their tributaries. Their horses in considerable numbers died and all were disabled that did not die. To such straits were they reduced that hundreds of teams of oxen were hastily caught up from herds and yoked and driven to market for supplies. Some of those wild steers never had their yokes taken oft' after starting until they returned home. They were thus enabled to haul about half loads or a little more. While it was hard on the settler it was harder on the merchants. The gamblers and saloonkeepers were horror stricken and left temporarily for greener pastures. Half the merchants failed or closed and the remainder did some tall hopping to make ends meet.

I had several experiences new to me during my two years' merchandising at Lowell. Lowell market had attracted the attention of trappers, many of whom along the upper tributaries of the streams to the southwest, west and northwest of Lowell came here to market their pelts and to lay in supplies. During the furnishing of my share of the customers I heard numerous complaints of the unfair dealing they were receiving at the hands of local dealers. I made it my business to investigate the facts and in so doing actually learned the names of the different pelts and watched the manner of inspection of the grades of the different kinds of furs. A load of pelts came in one day and was by the dift'erent dealers inspected and quoted, that is, bids were made for the load amounting to about six hundred dollars. I closely watched their proceedings and found what I believed to be a "ring" - that is a secret agreement among them that the load should be bought by one of them and after the hunters left divided. Just then I stepped in and over-bid the gang, lirst by going through the form of inspection and then making my figures $50 above the best bid so far made. I got the load and suppHed their outfit, and was the cause of better prices and a better name for Lowell. I had never handled nor owned a fur pelt before but kept on buying, all of the other dealers wondering what market I was going to find for my furs. One day a gentleman from Buffalo stepped into my store inquiring who had a stock of furs. I showed him mine, made him a price, he bought the lot amounting to over twenty-three hundred dollars, at a profit to me of near two hundred and fifty dollars. It was my first and last venture in furs. I never again bought a pelt.

Other hunters in Kansas were busy in another line of profit. In the winter of 1873 large herds of bufifalo appeared and the hunters turned out for a carnival of fun and a bushel of money. Thousands of buffalo were slain, the hams cut out with the skin on them and a load sent to Lowell. It was a new deal, none of the dealers would touch them at any price. I bid 3^4 cents per pound for the load, and upon a further contract to take other loads, I got it. The other loads came also until I had accumulated over four tons of ham. A notice of the fact in a Chicago daily that I could supply large or small orders brought me customers from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois arid Iowa for one, two, three or four hams at 10 to 12^4 cents a pound, by express C. O. D. and all were closed out at a profit.

In 1874 came a German settler who through agents in Europe contracted for the purchase of railroad lands in Frontier County south of Plum Creek, now called Lexington. He came to Lowell and brought his wealth in the shape of a draft of a Prussian bank upon a New York bank for $1,730 in gold. There was a bank at Lowell at that time but the bank nor any merchant in Lowell dare invest. They had never seen such a thing. He came to me and with the aid of my smattering knowledge of German, and the assistance of the "Mohawk Dutchman" I mastered the meaning of the document, and as the premium on gold was then declining, the day before having been quoted at 8 cents premium, I offered to take the paper at 6 per cent premium, give him all the goods he wanted to buy on it and $600 in cash, the balance on demand at any time after two weeks from date. He was rejoiced, took out about $300 trade and the cash I had on hand. I sent the draft to the First National Bank of Chicago which refused to credit any specific amount but forwarded it to New York where it arrived on a day when gold was quoted at 16 per cent premium. My bank account was credited within a week of the date I had taken it for the face plus 16 per cent premium thus clearing 10 per cent on $1,730 besides my profits on the goods sold him. In about four weeks he again appeared, loaded up two wagons with farm implements, food and supplies and took the balance due him in cash, a happy man and came again and again.

I soon learned the kinds of guns mostly used by hunters and made it a point to keep a good supply of ammunition of all kinds used. I also made it a point to have on hand also a large supply of strychnine used largely by hunters. At one time received a supply from the manufacturer of 180 ounces in dram bottles ; and steel traps by the dozen of the size mostly in demand by the trappers. I tried to make it an object for settlers, hunters, trappers and all others to come to the metropolis.

When I came to Lowell there was no Kearney Junction. It had just been platted but not a building of any kind on the plat. Along in the fall the square house used by pre-emptors of section 2, town 8, range 16, was moved upon the street named \\'yoming Avenue, now called Central Avenue. In a few days a board shanty was erected for a saloon, those were the first buildings in what is now known as Kearney City.

At the date of my arrival there was no such place as Hastings, but in 1873 the St. Joe & Denver Railroad changed its name and its terminal to St. Joe & Grand Island Railroad, and at its crossing of the Burlington & Missouri, a little town was started and named Hastings. Only an eighty acres was platted at first. The United States Land Office was moved in the spring of 1874 from Lowell to Bloomington. In September, 1874, a new bridge (across the Platte River) was erected at Kearney Junction and a few months later a bridge was completed at North Platte. Lowell was doomed. Your orator saw it. Hastings. Kearney Junction. North Platte. Grand Island were all bidders for the wonderful trade that Lowell had enjoyed in full sway for two years, and I withdrew to my farm and the founding of a new town to become the county seat of this finest county in the state. Kearney County lost its City of Lowell but gained by the founding of a new and larger and better City of Minden.

Bufifalo County won the trade at the expense of a new bridge which it built at its own cost and has kept in repair for thirty-five years - whether a profitable (leal will be explained by "Bob Greer" who took charge of the customers when I quit.

But 1874 is also an historical year in the fact that in that year and the two succeeding years the locvists came and played havoc with the crops of those new struggling settlers, which plague was finally ended by a fortunate ]May, 1877, rain, sleet and snow storm, closing with a freeze that utterly destroyed the '"hoppers."

Recounting my first advent to this county I now find not one of those thirtyone organizers remaining, but find myself to be the oldest remaining settler of the county. All those who were here when I came are dead or moved away except two old ladies who were here prior to my advent, ^Nlrs. Talbot and Mrs. Paul Peterson.

Upon recapitulation of my merchandising venture July '72 to July '74 I found that I had sold $1,300,000 worth of goods; that my ledger balance showed that I had made a clear profit of $13,000, or just 10 per cent on my sales ; dividing that, one-half to my father who was my partner, and li\'ing expenses of my family for two years, I had enough to erect buildings on my homestead, buy teams and implements and support my family during the grasshopper plague and be just even when the locusts quit.