Dakota County, Nebraska - Chapter 7, 1893

The first wheat raised in the county was in 1856. A. H. Baker sowed one acre of this jcrrain on weed land, east of his present farm and south of wliere D. C. Dib- .ble now liv^es, in section 30. He did not thresh it, but it was estimated to have yielded twenty bushels, which constituted the entire wheat crop of Dakota county for tliat year. What a contrast to the crop of 1874, with 113,150 bushels, threshed by D. Y. Hileman, Henry Shull, Theodore Haase, Dutton Lane, James Mitchell, Asa Rath bun, Jos. A. Jackson and S. Guetzer.

Prizes and Medals. - At the second national Corn Palace in Sioux City, Iowa, September 24th to October 6, 1888. Dakota county was awarded first premium on corn, and second on fruit, and also second on best general exhibit. Then again, at the third Corn Palace at the ('i)R\ PAL\CK OF 1889. Same place from September 28rd to October 5th, 1889, it won first prize on '-l)est i^eiieral exhibit of corn, grasses, grass seeds, vegetables and fruit,'' 3300; second prize on "best separate exhibit of corn," 325; the first prize of 350 on fruit was <livided between Dakota county and Monona county, Iowa, Dakota Co. also took prizes at the first Corn PaUice, wliioh opened October 3rd and closed October 8th, and at the PaUice for 1890, (Sept. 5th to Oet. 4Hi,) and 18^.1

The county commissioners in session September 11, 1890, appropriated ^250 tu defray the expenses of collecting the county exhibits for the Corn Palace of that year.

orary diploma for her exhibit of corn, selected and forwarded by a committee, of which A. T. Haase was chairman. The following letter was sent to Dakota county: The Golden Book of Memorial Diplomas of tub Uni- j VERSAL Exposition, of 1889, Pkesident, M. J. Berkin, 15 St. Sulfide Street, Paris. ) giii - The administration of tlie Golden Book of the Universal Expc'Sition has dedicated to you a memorial dii)loiDa of the Universal Expo; of 1889. , ,

In conferring on you this diploma, imperishable symbol of the 1; you have imposed on yourself, we wish tn perpetuate tlie memory of the legitimate rewards earned by your products in the immense inten.atiunal concourse in which all the nations of the universe have taken piirt Please accept with the assurance of my most distinguished consideraiion.

The Dakota county agricultural society was oi-ganized at Dakota City, N.T., March 11, 1805, with David Boals, president, and Thos. L. (ii-iffey secretary. At t'ueir third meeting, !!J^ April 22nd, J. H. 3^ Williams was chosen CORN palace of 16'Ji. as chairman a)id T.

L. Griffey secretary, wlien tlie followino- officers were elected for the ensuing year: Alfred Elani, president; Barnabas Bates, vice president; Win. Adair, secretary; John Smith, sr., treasurer; Win. Ilogan, J. H. Willii.'us, James Stott, Henry Ream, Simon Dewitt and Teter Myers, directors; C 1). Martin and Wm. H. James, corresponding secretaries. This was the first agricultural society of any kind oro;aniz;ed in Dakota county. Among its meml)ers not l)efore mentioned were: C. F. Eckhart, John Naffziger, Samuel Whitehorn and James Maloney.

The Mehidian Cheese Maker's Association of Dakota County. - Was organized at the residence of Leonard Bates, June 1, 1875, electing the following officers for the ensuing year: George Boals, president; C. II. Brown, vice president; John Joyce, secretary; Henry Wood, treasurer and salesman. The factory was located on Bates^" i. rm and did a thriving business, but the price of butter advanced and the cheese enterprise; was finally abandoned.

The first clieese manufactured in the county, however, was by Jesse F. Warner, on the farm now owned l)y George Leamer, in 1858, where a large quantity of cheese was made.

Farmers Club. - This society was organized in 1886 and held a great "Farmers' Institute" in a grove near Homer, July 30, 1887. Its principal members were Pius Neff, D. C. Dibble, G. W. Wilkinson, Sam A. Combs, JNelson Cowles, Will C. Dibble, Dennis Armour, Thos. L. Griffey, Wm. Armour, Asa Rathbun, Wm. Holsworth, Thns. Ashford, Capt. C. O'Connor, Wm. Nixon, C. B. Bliven, A. T. Haase, J. O. Fisher, Wm. Taylor, Harlon Baird, J. F. Warner and Henry Ream.

Bridges and Roads - Dakota county has expended thousands of dollars in the construction of bridges and grading roads, tlie county commissioners having purchased a road grader in 1880, and today the public

The lirsf public thoroughfare established through the county was the old Platte river and Kunningwater military road, surveyed by Col, Sites, employed l)y the government in 1858, from Omaha via Dakota City to the mouth of the Niobrara river, (then called Runningwater. The road entered the county fi'om the south at the identical point on the line of the "Winnebago Reservation wheie James Biggs kept an Indian trading post. This old road is still visible at places and can yet be seen as it winds up Pilgrim Hill, on the old Col. Warner place, two miles enst of Homer. The first good -bridge built in the county was on this road across Omaha creek nenr Omadi.

An act of the Tei'ritoriid legislature was approved June 22, 1867, appointing John F. DeBorde, Peter Myers and Mai-teu Stuefer as a board t>f commissioners to locate a public road from Covington to West Point in Cuming county. An act was also approved Febi'uary 18, 1867, appointing James Clark, John Boler and Patrick Twohig as a board of coiiMuissioners to establisli a road from Jack>on to intei'sect h road leading from Ponca to West Point.

On August 27, 1885, the county commissiimers let a contract to Macritchie & JN'ichols, of Chicago, for draining the '-swamj)" which was caused bv Elk and Pigeon creeks being damned up by beavers. It cost ^10,846.50, ;ind was a gi-eat benefit to the county, increasing the value of bind in the vicinity from ^1.25 to ^20 per acre. Theic were 46,952 yards of e.^rth lemoved.

Railkoads-- At a special election held in Dakota county, March 25, 1872, to vote on ^65,000 bonds for iSorthern Nebraska & Central Dakota i-ailr^ad company, there were 375 vot'^s "for" and 186 "against" bonds. The company failed to luiild any load and re leased payment of tlie bonds Jaiiuai'y 7. LSS8.

A special election was held February 10, 1873, to vote on ^73,000 bonds for the St. Paul & Nebraska railroad company, at which time there were 289 "for" and 187 '-against'' bonds. The proposition was defeated.

On December 27, 1875, a special election Mas held to vote 195,000 bonds for the Covington, Colnmbns Sz Black Hills railroad company. There were cast at this election 486 votes "for" and 94 "against" bonds. Preparations were at once made for bnilding the road and on the 24th, day of June 1876, at 9:30 a. m , Judge Hubbard drove the first spike on this road, which wfis also the iirst ever driven on any railroad in Dakota county and on the 29th, the first engine brought to the county, ''Dakota No. 1," was crossed over the river at Sioux City. The road was soon completed through the county from Covington via Dakota City and Jackson, a distance of twenty-two and a quarter miles and bonds were issued to the railroad company. It was a narrow guage, being three feet and six inches wide. This company also did considerable grading on the Omaha brancri to Emerson, but did not complete the load. Tlie Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroad company havin^. purchased the Covington, Columbus & Black Hills railroad, changed it to a standard guage in 1880 and built the road through the county to Emerson via Hubbard, and nov/ has over forty miles of railroad in tlio county valued at ^190,000.

A first-class steel railroad bridge was built across the Missouri river between South Sioux Citv and Sioux City in 1888, at a cost of $2,000,000. "' This railroad and bridge property has passed into the control of the Chicago & Northwestern system.

In 1889 the Sioux City tt Ogden Short Line company graded a railroad bed through the county fron> South Sioux City, passing north of Dakota City, tlience to Jackson and up the valley of Elk Creek, and a winter In-idge was completed and engine No. 374: crossed over to Covington January 27, 1890.

A nuinher of railroad surveys have been made through the southern part of the county t)y different companies by way of Homer, but as yet no railroad has been constructed, altliough the route from Dakota City up the (^inalia creek valley to the Logan river is one of the best to be found in this section.

The first projected railroad in the county was the Sioux City 6z Columbus, organized in 1867. The first survey was made in 1868 and was surveyed by Wilgosci, surveyor, James Stott, J, F. Warner, William Adair, C. F. Bayha, Gideon Warner and John G. Ogden. The route they surveyed is the exact location of the railroad now built to Emerson. It was intensely cold weather ^iud a great snow storm overtook the party, freezing some ^)f them badly but not seriously. J. F. Warner was sent to Washincrton to ejet a "restoration of the Union Pacine land grant" to npply on this road, but congress failed to do this and the Sioux City & Columbus road was not built.