Hall County, Nebraska - Chapter 2: Settlement of Hall County, 1920 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 2: Settlement of Hall County

Naming and Settling the County - Fred Hedde's Narrative - The Origin of the Idea - The Colony Starts in 1857 - Nebraska's Few Inhabitants - The Platte Valley, Fremont, and Columbus - Grand Island Settlement - The Colony on Half Rations - The First Winter - A Second Colony - The Failure of the Davenport Company - "Pike's Peakers" - Extensions of Settlement - Wood River's First Settlers - Mormon Way Station - Indian Scare of 1864 - The Grasshopper Years - When the Union Pacific Came - Grand Island City - Returning Prosperity - The Remaining Pioneers - An Early Hall County Bridal Couple, by Christian Menck - 1857-1869 - The Dream of Future National Capital, by William Stolley - Organizing the Colony of 1857 - Terms of Expedition - Personnel of Colony - The Advance Party - Decide to Build - Second Colony - Market for Corn - Davenport Company Fails - Some of the First Things - Hunting in 1860 - Interruption of a Prayer - Garrisons Called Away - First Massacre by Indians - -Panicky Feeling Results - "Fort Independence" - The Settlement Protected - Some Pawnees Treacherous - Discover Enemy in Time - Goettsche-Frauen Massacre - Government Makes Survey - Contractors Take Timber - The Grasshopper Scourge - Ask Congress for Help - Appears before Garfield - Calls on Magnate (Jay Gould)

Hall County is the name given to one of the fairest political divisions of Nebraska. Though Judge Augustus Hall was a member of the territorial supreme court and chief justice of the same in 1858 and 1859 when the legal steps were taken and carried out that formed this county, the name "Hall" is attributed in the early lore of local history to have been taken from the surname of a man named Hall, who was an early partner of WilHam M. Spiker in business here and who afterwards lived in Colorado.

In 1857, when the spring sun rose over the prairie there was not a white man within tlie present boundaries of Hall County. During that year a little band of thirty-five people arrived and located in the great solitude. A year later the legislature gave to the locality a name and a local government.

The story of the settlement and the struggles of the first pioneers cannot be told by those of the succeeding generation with anything approaching the accuracy, detail, or realism that has been employed by several of that little band of thirty-five who, fortunately for the succeeding generations of Hall County citizens and Nebraskans in general, preserved that wonderful story during their lifetime. Therefore, this chapter on the settlement of Hall County and its first colony will be given to our readers in the words of three of the leading spirits of that colony, Frederick Hedde, Christian Menck, and William Stolley.

Xarratr'E Of Frederick Hedde

would have to run along the Platte River Valley, with branch roads to join the main road a distance west of the Missouri, started the idea among some gentlemen in Davenport, Iowa, to form a settlement and lay out a city in the then new territory of Nebraska, at a point in this valley where it was hoped that junction of the three roads would take place. A company was formed to furnish the financial means for the existence of the settlers in the uninhabited wilds of Nebraska, and for making improvements in the intended city, and a party of thirty-five persons were engaged for the formation of the settlement under the main leadership of the civil engineer, R. C. Barnard. Mr. Barnard and four others were native Americans, all others Germans, mostly from the Schleswig-Holstein territory, who had been a few years in the United States. Quite a number of the latter had been in the military service in Germany, some during war time. In Davenport this expedition was considered as a fool-hardy undertaking, as the middle of Nebraska was entirely without any inhabitants except Indians, who were considered very dangerous. But our prospective settlers did not allow themselves to be scared out of their plans. Five of them even took their wives along with them, and a young girl was also enterprising enough to accompany her brother and sisterin-law.

The Colony Starts In 1857

In the spring of 1857, as soon as there was grass enough for the teams, the future settlers of Grand Island started from Davenport. A surveying party started a few days in advance of the main party under the lead of Surveyor Barnard. This party consisted of his four American friends, the narrator, Fred Hedde, and Christian Menck, the latter two being the only participants of this expedition who yet live in the city of Grand Island. This party traveled with a four-mule team. The other large party followed in four wagons drawn by several yoke of oxen each, under the lead of William Stolley, who brought the same as far as Omaha. From here he returned to Davenport, and Fred Hedde then led this party from Omaha to the place in the interior of Nebraska, which afterwards was selected for this settlement, the surveying party being about a day's travel ahead.

Nebraska was at that time a very new territory with perhaps 20,000 inhabitants, mostly settled along the Missouri River. Omaha, which was reached June 18, was at that time about three years old and had a population of about 2,000, although they claimed a good many more. It had a lively rival in Florence, originally a Mormon settlement, a town of about 1,000 inhabitants. Each boasted of becoming the great city 'and of annihilating the other. But when seven years later the Union Pacific railroad was located at Omaha, many of the Florence establishments were moved to Omaha, and others collapsed, a very little village remaining there, while Omaha grew to the great city it is today.

The Platte Valley, Fremont, And Columbus

A few settlers had at the time gone into the Platte Valley, and had crossed the Loup River which empties into the Platte about 85 miles west of Omaha. About every four or five miles, a house was found, some with canvas roofs or otherwise unfinished. But generally a great city was attached to the house, adorned with a big name, painted on a sign that was fastened to a tree. The only two young embryos of future cities were Fremont and Columbus, each consisting of about a dozen block houses. All the other imaginary cities of those days have never come into existence.

At Columbus, also a Gennan settlement, the settlers tried to persuade our pioneers to stay and settle with them, but the latter all preferred to go farther. As at this place the Loup River could not be forded and there was here neither bridge nor ferr}', they crossed the river about ten miles above this point, where there was a sufficiently good ford and a Mormon settlement.

From here they went about 65 miles farther west until they struck Wood River, and about ten miles from the point where this little river emptied into the old narrow north channel of the Platte River, opposite the large island in the Platte called Grand Island, the new settlement was located July 4th, 1857.

Grand Island Settlement

The Island was formed by a very narrow channel branching oS from the main Platte about fifty miles above, and joining the main river again about ten miles below the new settlement. This little branch was fringed with a narrow strip of Cottonwood trees, furnishing logs for buildings and firewood. On account of its timber, at other places in the valley very scarce, the name of this island was already well known, and gave the settlement the name of Grand Island settlement and the later city the name of Grand Island.

Our pioneers then went to work putting up some log houses near the present dwelling houses of the Menck and Stuhr farms, a little east and south of the present city, so near together that they could protect each other in case of trouble with the Indians. And they broke as much land as the late season would allow. Our surveyor succeeded in laying out a town, which covered the southern portion of our present city of Grand Island but never advanced beyond the character of a paper town, because the Davenport company which had started the enterprise, and which was bound to make improvements in the new town, in consequence of the crisis of 1857 broke up, about a year later, and consequently abandoned their scheme.

The Colony On Half Rations

Before this happened another danger threatened the new settlement with speedy dissolution. Two loads of provisions had been hauled out by hired teamsters to the place of the new settlement, accompanying the pioneers, and they were sent back to Omaha, where a large amount of provisions belonging to the company was deposited, to bring out two more loads. But they never came back, and when we had no more hope of their returning, and the provisions began to be scarce, something had to be done. Fred Hedde, who had charge of the distribution of the provisions, saw there was not a sufficient amount left to keep the settlers fully provided; and since Mr. Barnard, the main agent, made no adequate arrangements, took it upon himself to send some of the settlers to Omaha with their ox teams. Such a trip, over 300 miles going and returning, took at least from seventeen to eighteen days and there was not enough of provisions left here if everyone, as before, received as much as he wanted. Mr. Hedde presented the situation to the men, proposing that only half rations be issued in the future, in which case the rations would last about twenty days. They all agreed with the exception of Barnard and his few friends, who wanted whatever they liked. But they were made to obey. Thus the pioneers patiently stood nearly three weeks of hunger without being starved; and when at the end of this trying time the men with their loads of good things arrived there was great rejoicing, because there was once more plenty and the settlement had been saved.

The First Winter

With renewed vigor all preparations for the coming winter were then made. In November a heavy snow storm set in quite suddenly while two men, a stranger who stayed with our settlers and one of the latter, Henry Joehnck, had gone out to Prairie Creek on a hunt. They could not find their way back to the settlement, and when they were discovered by the men who had started for their rescue, the strange man was already dead, while Joehnck's life was saved with difficulty.

After this storm the weather throughout the winter was exceedingly mild, a kind of continual Indian summer, and very favorable for the winter work of the pioneers, who were sufficiently protected in their houses. Though they lived sixty-five miles from the last traces of civilization and never saw any travelers excepting once in the late summer of 1857, when a party of Californians returned along

A Second Colony

At the end of the next spring, 1858, an accession came, a second colony, from Davenport, all Germans. They joined the Grand Island settlement and later others came from other parts of the United States and from Germany directly to this settlement. The settlers spread out, each taking up his own farm, and going over from the main land of the valley to the big Island. This is the reason that the neighborhood of the present city of Grand Island, for five miles down and six or seven miles up Wood River, and nearly the whole island is settled almost exclusively by hard-working German farmers, nearly all of whom are well-to-do, and some of whom are rich, owning from 1,000 to 2,000 acres of land and from 100 to 300 head of cattle, though all of them, with great perseverance, , had from time to time to withstand hard years.

the; failure op the davenport company The first misfortune came over the settlement when, in the winter of '57-58, the Davenport Company, in consequences of the crisis of 1857, broke up. Then, of course, no more provisions were furnished and all hope for improving the town site was gone. That, however, did not discourage our settlers. A large number of the younger ones found employment at good wages at Fort Kearny, about forty miles up the river and situated on the other side of the Platte. The others attended to their fields and new breaking. Late in the fall of 1858 another misfortune befell the settlement. Traveling teamsters set fire to the prairie while the grass was long and dry, and the houses of the settlers were not well protected against such occurrences. Seven of the new houses were consumed, but even that did not dampen their courage. New houses were built and hopes sustained for the better times which they saw coming. And they came.

from the west about gold being discovered at Pike's Peak, the Colorado mountain not far southwest of the present city of Denver. At first the reports were not credited, but in spite of this doubt in the next spring quite a number of gold-seekers started along the Platte Valley for the new Eldorado, the embryo of Denver and the state of Colorado, and though many of them returned in the fall, disappointed and sad, the stream of emigration, not only to Colorado but also to the other gold countries of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and the Pacific coast, yearly increased, so that for seven or eight years hundreds of parties, some of them with a number of wagons and teams, passed daily and camped on the Platte near our settlement. These gold fields and the march of the "Pike's Peakers" as they were called, had no attraction for our pioneers, who did not suffer with the gold fever. But this continuous moving mass of gold hunters was of great advantage to them. Our settlement was nearly the last place where the travelers could buy anything, and in consequence the pioneers had a splendid opportunity to dispose of their hay, corn, oats, garden vegetables, and some provisions at high prices. From $1.00 to $1.50 for a bushel of grain was an ordinary price, and upon extraordinary occasions the price went considerably higher. Some contracts of several thousand bushels were taken by the settlers from the commanding officers of .Fort Kearny, to be delivered there at $2.04, about half the price the government had previously paid for their corn which had to be delivered to them from St. Joseph, Missouri. The Grand Island settlers had no large fields as yet, and their crops were small crops, paid better than large crops now, and gave the settlers an excellent start, putting them in good condition as they were generally saving as well as industrious.

extensions of settlement During these years the Grand Island settlement extended to the east and west, almost exclusively Germans from the northern part of Germany joining it, and all were busy in spring, summer, and fall in their fields. They also, until large stores were established here, had to make one or two trips yearly to Omaha to buy and transport hither, with their teams, the necessary provisions, and they had, in winter, to go frequently to Ft. Kearny for the delivery of the contracted grain. Since at Kearny the broad and somewhat dangerous Platte had to be crossed these trips were sometimes very disagreeable, but, going in companies, the men helped and cheered each other, and when the weather was good they really enjoyed it.

WOOD river's first settlers In the course of time the country settled up somewhat more rapidly. There were some settlers between Columbus on the Loup and Grand Island, and people had also settled west of Grand Island along Wood River, a little stream which for a long distance runs almost parallel with the Platte. The first settlers on Wood River, in the neighborhood of the present village and station of Wood River, were the two brothers, Pat and Alex Moore, who were soon joined by their brother-in-law, O'Brien. The Moores were Americanized Irishmen, and after some years a large number of Irish people settled around them. They were good, hard-working men, who got along well, and with whom our Grand Island pioneers lived on terms of friendship. Between them and the Grand Island settlement a number of Americans took claims. Most of these, however, left again.

Mormon Way Station

Beyond this Irish settlement, not far from it, there was also for some years, a Mormon colony, a way station for the Mormon emigrants, who sometimes with wagons and teams and drawn by the travelers themselves, marched on their tiresome road to Salt Lake. These people were full of fanaticism, admonishing us to go with them if we wanted to be saved from worldly and eternal destruction, which we could not avoid here. This they believed because their prophet had said so. But no one followed them.

Indian Scare Op 1864

through our- settlement many a time to fight the Pawnee Indians, who lived nearly one hundred miles east of us in the Platte Valley, opposite Fremont; and though these Sioux had so far always behaved peaceably, they had during the Civil War become unruly, stirred up by the rebels. Roving bands committed some murders in the Wood River country and south of the Platte River, where some white people had settled. But they never troubled the Grand Island settlement, probably thinking it too strong.

At the end of the spring of 1864 there became current a rumor that the Sioux would come down in force and clean out the whole Platte Valley, and the people had their imagination worked up to such an extent that nearly all Wood River people in long processions marched, with all they could carry with them, through our settlement down below Columbus and some did not stop before they reached Council Bluffs. No Indians appeared and when the fugitives came back their cornfields were full of weeds and their crops lost. Only a few remained at that time on Wood River.

The Grand Island settlers gathered mostly at the O. K. Store, centrally situated in the settlement, erected there some fortifications, ready to defend themselves, and stayed there a few days. But they soon returned to their farms, attending to their work and losing nothing. The scare blew over as a wind storm without doing great damage, and peace reigned apparently. But soon a more dangerous enemy appeared.

The Grasshopper Years

Some time later swarms of grasshoppers came, something never yet seen by our settlers. They went from south to north, alighted here awaiting a favorable wind. When they left they had destroyed a good portion of the crops and what they had not eaten was liable to spoil. Such an attack was worse than an Indian attack as there was no defense possible against it. These numberless swarms, which when in motion high in the air looked like a kind of snow storm, wandered noii;h and east, up to Minnesota and beyond the Mississippi

River. They troubled this country more or less for a number of years, but have during the last twenty years not put in an appearance. They came from the Rocky Mountains and probably emigrated from there when especially favorable circumstances caused an overproduction of their tribes. During these grasshopper times the farmers suffered considerable losses. But their often-tried courage did not fail them. Most of them could already stand a loss.

When Thb Union Pacific Came

Since 1862, when the first larger store was erected southeast of the present city by Henry A. Koenig and Fred Wiebe, which was followed in 1864 by the opening of Fred Hedde's store five miles further west, on his farm, and by Jim Jackson's Wood River store, the old custom of making trips to Omaha for buying provisions ceased, and by and by regular trade was established right here. All these stores were kept right on the old emigrant road to catch the emigrant trade, no city as yet existing.

But in 1864 the construction of the Union Pacific railroad commenced and when it reached our settlement in 1866 a small town was laid out by the railroad company, receiving the old name of Grand Island, and covering a considerable portion of the old abandoned town. Now the solitude was gone, and the old relations were more or less changed.

Grand Island City

A number of settlers moved into the new town, the stores went away from the former emigrant road. The farther the railroad extended the more the old travel disappeared on this road until it finally stopped entirely and the old profitable trade with the gold hunters was entirely gone. But the farms in the meantime were enlarged, the acres were broadened, and large crops at smaller prices replaced the old high prices of small crops.

The city grew, but slowly only, until 1869 when the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads were finished. This great event started a large emigration into Nebraska from all parts of the United States, of which Grand

Island and its neighborhood received its due share. Until then most all of the newcomers had settled in the Platte Valley, but from 1869 on they went north from Grand Island to and beyond Prairie Creek and Loup Fork and began to fill the valleys of the Loup. Grand Island was for a number of years the center of trade for this whole country and grew fast. It was then the shipping point for their produce, sending it to east and west, and supplied them with all the goods necessary for their settlements. Grand Island's trade reached out for more than a hundred miles.

The trouble with the grasshoppers which had commenced in the 'sixties continued during the first years after 1870, but then disappeared fully. And city and country had a continual, healthy growth until 1892, when the wild wave of free trade struck and reduced the city in population, depressed business, and ruined many firms totally. In addition to this misfortune there came, in 1894, that unfortunate year of drouth.

All Nebraska, with few exceptions of favored localities, suffered from an unusual drouth, which deprived most of the farmers of our neighborhood of their crops. Most of our farmers were, however, in such good financial condition that they could stand it without material injury, and the business men of Grand Island felt the injury perhaps keener than the farming community. However, the following years of bountiful crops, especially the last two, made amends for the shortcomings of that bad year of 1894.

Returning Prosperity

Since that time the farmers had to build new additions to their cribs and store rooms, and the good prices have made them so independent that large amounts of mortgages have been paid ofT, though great quantities of grain are still in the hands of the farmers. The city has also felt the effect of the goo.d times which began after the -fall election of 1896 and have made prosperity return. All business has revived, vacant houses are inhabited again, the people have regained courage and have taken in hand the work of improving the business prospects and favoring the growth of the city.

The Remaining Pioneers

Of the original pioneers who came here over forty years ago not many yet remain in our city and county. Barnard and his friends lived here only a few years. The German pioneers had better staying qualities, but now

Nearly all of the men and women who came here in the beginning were poor in a financial point of view. But they were rich in courage, energy, perseverance, industry, honesty, and frugality. They acquired a competence and laid the foundation of a prosperous city and county.

and then a number of them left for other parts of the country and a goodly number of them have died. At present there live, in the city of Grand Island, only Fred Hedde and Christian Menck, a retired farmer, and in the county of Hall there are still living, on their farms, Wm. Stolley, Wm. A. Hagge, Kai Ewoldt, Marx Stelk (who passed away between the writing and first publication of this sketch), Hy. Joehnck, Sr., and two ladies, Mrs. Joehnck, wife of Hy. Joehnck, Sr., and Mrs. Anna Thomssen, wife of John Thomssen, Sr.^ In Howard County, near Dannebrog, lives Joach. Doll. That is all.

Couple

When in the year of 1857, on the 4th of July, we located here, with thirty men, six women and one child, we had seventeen yoke of oxen (five teams) and one team of mules. The latter was purchased by the company which provisioned the colony for the purpose of transporting supplies for us from Omaha. Mr. Barnard was the engineer and chief of the company and Mr. Hedde the leader of the Germans in the colony.

1 The above paragraph the reader will note refers to 1907. In 1919 the only surviving members of the colony are Hy Joehnck, Sr., Wm. A. Hagge, and Mrs. Anna Thomssen.

After we were here a week or ten days we began to wonder why Mr. Barnard did not send the team back to Omaha for the supphes. Mr. Hedde, therefore, and the writer, went to Mr. Barnard to take up the matter with him. Mr. Barnard was of the opinion that the mule team was not good enough and had appointed the man who had come out with him to bring a load of provisions out. When Mr. Hedde inquired what security he had for the man - that he would return - Mr. Barnard was of the opinion that he was a gentleman. Mr. Hedde was not satisfied, however, with this and thereupon four men were sent with an ox team to get provisions from Omaha. When our four men arrived at Omaha they ran across the man who had promised to bring out the provisions, walking on the streets. He excused himself by saying that his horse was taken sick.

In the settlement all provisions were brought out of the wagons, in the meantime, in order to make inventory of what there was left and to gauge the use of them accordingly. It was estimated that at least fourteen days would be required before our team could return. Rations were reduced to one-third of one pound of flour per day for each person or we would have suffered from hunger the first four weeks of our settlement here. Mr. Hedde, thus, from the beginning, came to be the adviser of the settlement.

We thereupon began to cultivate the land and to prepare for permanent occupancy by building houses on the four adjacent comers of forty-acre tracts about a mile southeast of the business center of the present city of Grand Island, the purpose being to be close together, in the event the Indians should become troublesome.

When, in September, our team was again sent to Omaha to secure provisions for the winter and when the party going with it arrived in Omaha there were no provisions for us, and the money which the company had deposited in the Omaha bank for the use of the colony had been used by Mr. Barnard, our captain, and his four colleagues. Mr. Hedde, who was one of our party, had intended, after loading the wagon with provisions, to go to Davenport to spend the winter there. But when we found that there were no provisions for us Mr. Hedde hurried to Davenport for the purpose of reporting the condition of the settlers. He did so and urged that the company as speedily as possible send some money to Omaha or he would have to return immediately in order to secure other means to prevent hunger and sufifering. Finally the company sent a man with money to Omaha with instructions to buy provisions, but in the meantime another month passed by. When finally the wagon had been loaded and when it reached Columbus the river was full of floating ice, and the ferry boat had, furthermore, been washed down the river. The team was driven to Genoa, where there was also a ford, but here the same trouble presented itself. In the meantime the settlers fortunately sent another team east, as far as Columbus. A small boat, which had been made here, was taken along in order to get provisions across the river - for the conditions of the river could be gauged here - and, the other team returning from Genoa, provisions were finally brought across. When the provisions finally arrived it was the 24th day of January, 1858, five months after the start had been made.

During this winter there were many snow storms and the Indians in the winter began the practice of hanging around the settlement. They wanted our provisions, saying that we were on their land and owed it to them. We had, however, no serious trouble.

It was about the beginning of July that Mr. Hedde returned from Davenport and, later, Mr. Stolley, Henry Vieregg, August Schernekau, now of Astoria, Oregon, John Hann, later John Vieregg and Fred Moeller. Mr. Stolley returned after two weeks to Davenport. In the early part of September Mr. Schemekau and the writer went to Omaha to bring Mrs. Hedde and my wife-to-be to the settlement. Mr. Hedde was sick and could not undertake the trip. Mrs. Hedde took the stage to Grand Island. Mrs. Menck and I were united in wedlock at Omaha and for our wedding trip went to Grand Island - per ox team. But we always look back to the happy days, notwithstanding their hardships, with pleasure.

About the middle of January, 1859, we had the first fire. It was a big fire in those days and we refer to it still as a big fire because it destroyed several houses - all but one of the immediate settlement. Several others, in the course of construction, were also destroyed. My own household was almost entirely destroyed. We saved only enough bedding for one bed. We had provisions for the entire winter and clothing for several years. It all went. The fire was incendiary in origin. The vagabond who set the prairie afire above us did it, as he boasted, because the "damned Dutch had no right to establish a settlement here." The incendiary's name was Tottel, or Tailes. Our captain, Mr. Barnard, went to Fort Kearny to see if he could not do something for those who had been burned out but the colonel of the fort said he could only give fourteen days' rations. And we had to get along as best we could with this help.

In the summer of 1859, 1,500 Sioux passed through our settlement, but they were friendly to us. As a matter of course we had quite a large number of Indians about us every winter, in those early years.

In 1862 Mr. Schernekau enlisted in the war of the rebellion, so that even this frontier settlement, doing the battle of reclamation of the wilderness, furnished a member of the Nebraska volunteers. He was a member of the first Nebraska regiment and was wounded in battle.

In 1864, when the Indian trouble took place on the south side and above Fort Kearny, we built a fort, in order to be more safe. It was for many years used as the O. K. store. Our American colonists and neighbors, believing Indian troubles to be sure, left for the east. Later a militia company sent us a cannon - the one which is now in the charge of the county authorities and which, for several years, stood in the old court house square. In 1866, the Union Pacific was built to

Grand Island and in the same year the first houses in what is now Grand Island city were built. We lost one of our oldest settlers through accident in this year. His name was John Hamann. He was run down by a locomotive - in just what way the engineer did not himself remember, but it was in connection with a fractious team of horses.

On July 14, 1869, our little house was struck by lightning and brought with it our first great sorrow. I was compelled to carry our little child, a boy of six years, lifeless from the home and my wife was rendered unconscious, but, fortunately, soon recovered.

For thirty-three years we remained on the original farm and still retain "the old homestead" though, of course, it was not a homestead under what is commonly known now as the homestead law but the taking up by purchase of government land. For the past seventeen years we have taken life more easily and have lived in the city, watching, with appreciation, its gradual development, and improvement.

The Dream Of Future National Capital

It was in the winter of 1856 and '57 when A. H. Barrows of the banking house of Chubb Bros, and Barrows of Davenport, Iowa, a branch house of the banking house of Chubb Brothers and Barrows of Washington, D. C, called on me, to participate in tlie location of a settlement somewhere in the central portion of Nebraska in the Platte Valley.

gress would back and support this enterprise, with the expectation that sooner or later a railroad must be built up the valley of the Platte River, crossing the continent, and that eventually the national capital would have to be moved from Washington City to a centrally located point.

The object of these speculators was to locate a town as near the central part of the continent as possible, there to secure a large tract of land, and attempt, in the course of time, to have the national capital located in that place.

They contemplated sending a surveyor and four or five persons to locate and start a town in the then unsurveyed country, as the government sun^ey did not extend in those early days west of Columbus on the Loup River, and the country on the north side of the Platte River had but recently been ceded by the Pawnee Indians to the government of the United States, while the Sioux Indians claimed to be the owners of all of the land on the south side of the Platte River, including all the lands along the Blue and Republican rivers.

While I declined to become a partner in the town company, I agreed to participate personally in making the settlement, and considering the dangers the first settlers would be subjected to on account of the hostile Indians I proposed that in addition to those four or five persons a body of able-bodied young men, numbering from twenty.to thirty, be engaged by the company to afiford sufficient strength for self-protection in case of Indian attacks.

The proposition was accepted by the company. The town company, as far as known, consisted of A. H. Barrows, W. H. F. Gurley, and B. B. Woodward.

By a territorial law, then considered constitutional by the people but which proved to be unconstitutional afterwards, every settler was entitled to claim and hold three hundred and twenty acres of land.

Terms Of Expedition

The conditions under which the pioneer settlers of Grand Island settlement were engaged by the town company was, that parties were to claim and hold three hundred and twenty acres of land each, wherever the company surveyor would direct them, that the town company was to furnish all the funds for the final purchase of the land, and that in consideration of this the settlers should deed half of the land claimed by them to the town company, while the other half of the land claimed by them, that is, one hundred and sixty acres each, should remain the property of the settlers, and besides this the settlers were to get ten town lots each, in the town to be located. Parties who had not the means were to be provided with provisions for the first twelve months by the town company, but were to reimburse the town company as soon as circumstances would permit.

These are the main features of the original arrangement as between the town company and the pioneer settlers of Hall County. The following persons participated in the enterprise as actual settlers :

Personnel Of Colony

Matthias Gries, of Prussia. Fred Landmann, of Mecklenberg, Germany. Herman Vasold, of Thuringen, Germany. Theo. Nagel, of Waldeck, Germany. Christian Andersen, wife and child 4 years old, of Schleswig, Germany.

Thus the parties participating in the first settlement of Hall County, when the entire country west from Columbus on the Loup River to California was uninhabited by whites, the garrisons at forts and the Mormons excepted, consisted of: five Americans, twentyfive German men, five married women, one single woman, and one child four years old - thirty-seven persons in all.

The Advance Party

The surveyors' party, consisting of R. C. Barnard and the other four Americans, Fred Hedde, Christian Henck, with a company mule team left Davenport, Iowa, a few days ahead of the main party. Wm. A. Hagge and Theo. Nagel were detailed to proceed by the river to St. Louis, to purchase a supply of provisions, firearms, ammunition, blacksmith tools, etc., and have it shipped up the iMissouri River to Omaha in time for the arrival of the main party there.

On the 28th day of May, 1857, five heavily loaded wagons drawn by sixteen yokes of work oxen, the remainder of the colonists named, left Davenport in my charge. After a pleasant trip across the state of Iowa our train arrived in Omaha on the 18th day of June, 1857.

From here the expedition proceeded westward on June 19th, headed by this surveyor, Barnard, since I was compelled on account of business to return to Davenport.

Henry Egge, who kept the daily account says, in the diary: "Our train passed Fremont June 23d, which town at that time had ten log houses; arrived at Columbus, which had eighteen log houses, on June 26th ; crossed the Loup River June 27th at Genoa about twenty miles up stream from Columbus, and on July 2nd Wood River was reached, over the wild prairies of the valley, where the pioneer train of Hall County made the first wagon trail."

Decide To Build

A meeting of all settlers was then called and it was resolved that four log houses would be first built, each 14x23 feet and the inside divided by two partitions, thus making two rooms of approximately 14x12 feet each and an entrance large enough to answer the purpose of a door.

At the same time the breaking up of the prairie had to be attended to without delay, as the season was already far advanced. Only about 50 acres were broken the first season, all told.

On July 12th the work began in earnest; some chopped logs, others hauled them to the place of building, still others prepared wood for the burning of charcoal to start the blacksmith shop. In the meantime a train was dispatched to Omaha on the 23rd of July to get a new supply of provisions. On Saturday, August 15th, some of the new settlers could already move into their new houses, and on 27th of August all four houses were occupied.

These houses were built on the south half of the northwest quarter of section 14, town 11, range 9, now part of the farm owned by Chris. Menck, one of the pioneer settlers. In the meantime another town had been located about seven miles west of ours, which was called Mendotte, by David Crocker, Wm. Potts, and Wm. Painter, but this town was abandoned soon after and the townsite was occupied* by David Crocker who afterwards sold his claim to Fred Zoaas and then moved to Santa Clara County, Cahfornia.

On Monday, September 21, 1857, four teams were dispatched again to Omaha after provisions and clothing, which were shipped, the provisions from St. Louis and the clothing from Davenport, Iowa. Fred Hedde returned to Davenport, Iowa, and brought a long list of clothing of which the settlers were urgently in need. The town company was not obliged to furnish the clothing needed, since their contract only called for provisions. I took the matter in hand and went to Mr. Barrows, who was sick at his house. I presented the matter in a forcible way and told Mr. Barrows that I certainly should advise those in. need of clothing to abandon the settlement unless the clothing and bedding needed was furnished. Mr. Barrows was a very kind hearted man. After he had listened to my pleading he said: "Stolley, hand me that check book." He gave me a check for $500 and remarked : "There is the money, the boys need the clothing, the Germans are honest people." And our pioneer settlers were enabled to remain in the settlement.

Second Colony

who participated in the year 1857, because they had a much harder and more tedious journey and they had none of the advantages the first company had in the Town Company furnishing them provisions in the first year.

The first Pawnee Indians visited our settlement in November, 1858, but on the 27th day of August, 1859, about 1,500 of them passed through the settlement committing some depredations by stealing green corn and taking and digging potatoes, but they were otherwise friendly.^ from Davenport, Iowa, with a train of ten teams, bringing in addition about 20 persons, 20 yoke of oxen, besides milch cows and a number of young stock; and thus matters began to look brighter in our young settlement.

The pioneer settlers in the year 1857 had a soft snap crossing the state of Iowa compared with those following them the next year. I had no trouble keeping our train together, and it was a harmonious lot when we reached Grand Island on the 5th day of July, 1858.

I will say this much for those who joined our settlers in our Grand Island settlement in the year of 1858, that everj^one of them is entitled to as much credit as any one of those and Henry -Schoel was consumed by fire and hardly anything saved. A meeting of all settlers was called and the sufiferers were cared for as best could be done. A year later, Tuesday, January 18, 1859, a great calamity befell our young settlement. Three men from Florence, near Omaha, on their way home from the newly discovered gold fields in Colorado, recklessly set fire to the cinder dry prairie, one of them remarking, "I am going to burn the God d - d Dutch settlement," and they came very near destroying every house so far built.

1 Mr. Menck says 1500 Sioux and Mr. Stolley says 1500 Pawnee came tlirough in summer of 1859. Whether they spoke of the same Indians or there were two the editors have not ascertained.

The principal sufferers were Wm. Christian Menck, Mart Stelk, Frederick Aatje, Hans Wrage, Matthias Gries, Rudolph Matthiesen, and myself. The good people of Omaha, so it is said, made up a purse for the sufferers, but the party who was to deliver this help to us kept it for himself, and has never been heard of since.' Verily these were trying times for the pioneer settlers of Hall County.

At the time this took place I was back in Davenport trying to wind up my affairs there so as to move my family out to Nebraska. I lost all and everything I had in the world but the suit of clothes I had on my back.

In 1859 I took my family, consisting of wife, two year old boy, and a newly born daughter, out to Grand Island to stay. The settlers planted their newly broken land to corn and the crops amounted to over two thousand bushels.

Market For Corn

When I arrived in the settlement to stay for good, I advised that we try to sell and deliver our corn to the government for the troops stationed at Ft. Kearny.

Colonel May, then in command at Ft. Kearny, proved to be a strictly honest man and also a warm friend to us settlers. I had no trouble at all to interest him, and through his instrumentality I made a contract for the delivery of 2,000 bushels of corn, more or less, at $2. per bushel, 1,200 bushels of it to be delivered as shelled com at Ft. Kearny and 800 bushels to be delivered at Braks camp in the ear, where the government cattle herd was kept. This co-called "Braks camp" was about twelve miles down the river, hence only about 28 miles distant from our settlement, and on Grand Island itself ; thus not requiring the hauling of corn across the several channels of the Platte River.

Heretofore the com had been freighted from Fort Leavenworth at an expense of $3.50 to $4.00 per bushel, and Colonel May had many difficulties to overcome before he finally succeeded in obtaining a permit from the war department to contract for the settlers' com at almost half the price the government had to pay before.

Many of our settlers found remunerative employment at Ft. Kearny at times when their presence at home was not needed. Besides this trade with the emigrants to the newly discovered gold mines in Colorado, to California and the new territories of New Mexico, Montana, and Oregon, became quite profitable to the settlers.

For a number of years we settlers had an excellent market for our produce at home as well as the 40-mile distant Ft. Kearny. A good sized cabbage sold frequently for fifty cents and a fair-sized watermelon at $L0O. Gold and silver coin was the only medium in trade.

Large trains of prairie schooners passed almost every day up and down the Platte Valley, and frequently lame cattle and young calves could be bought at extremely low prices by the settlers, which in a few weeks were all right again. Thus the Grand Island settlement prospered and soon became one of the best in the state notwithstanding the very severe drawbacks we had been subjected to.

Davenport Company Fails

While the actual and bonafide settlers were doing well in our settlement, it was the very reverse with those who expected to make a paying speculation out of it. It soon became apparent that it would be quite awhile yet before the seat of the government of the United States would be removed to the original town of Grand Island, containing an area 1,440 acres, the southwest corner of which is to be found on my old pioneer farm.

The terrible financial crisis of 1857 swept away many a banking house throughout the country, and among them was the banking house of Chubb Bros, and Barrows, of Washington City, Boston, and Davenport. Difficulties arose between the Town Company and the settlers, and the result was that the Town Company soon gave up the idea of carrying on the speculation farther after they had invested $6,000.00, all lost to them, and A. H.

A. H. Barrows, so I have been advised, died in Philadelphia in a poor house. W. H. Gurley died soon after him in Davenport, Iowa, and also B. B. Woodward died in Davenport many years ago. R. C. Barnard, Lorens Barnard, Joshua Smith, David P. Morgan, and Wm. Seymour, left the settlement soon and I cannot say what has become of them. Of all the German settlers who participated in the settlement in the year 1857 the following parties are still alive : Fred Hedde, Wm. A. Hagge, Henry Joehnck and wife. Christian Menck, Kai Ewoldt, Wm. Stehr, Fritz Landmann, Herman Vasold, the four year old child, Line Andresen and myself. Plence, twelve of the original thirty still reside in or near Grand Island, except Wm. Stehr who lives in Iowa, Herman Vasold who lives in Saginaw, Michigan,^ and Line Andresen, who is married and lives near Omaha, Nebraska.

Of the pioneer settlers now dead Fred Vatje and Fred Doll committed suicide, Vatje taking strychnine and Doll shooting himself. J. Hamann was thrown by the upsetting of his wagon on the tracks of the Union Pacific -railroad and the cars passed over him, killing him. All the rest have died a natural death. The first child bom in Hall County was Nellie Stehr, daughter of William Stehr, on March 3, 1858.

In the spring of 1858 a lot of Mormons settled on Wood River and opened up quite a number of farms, and the first newspaper ever published in this county was published by them. It was printed weekly and named The Banner and was edited by Joseph E. Johnson.

some; of the first things In the spring of 1863 the Mormon colony removed to Salt Lake City and with it The Banner, but this paper was republished in that city by the same Mr. Johnson under the name of The Mountain Eagle.

judge, Fred Hedde; county clerk, Theo. Nagel; county commissioners, Hans Wrage, James Vieregg, Henry Egge; justices of the peace, William Stolley and R. C. Barnard; sheriff, Herman Vasold; treasurer. Christian Andresen; assessor, Frederick Doll; constables, Christian Menck and Matthias Gries.

But when a case was brought to trial before William Stolley, justice of the peace, viz: Lorens Barnard, killing, by shooting, one of the horses of John Vieregg, the case was appealed and carried into the Omaha courts, and there it was decided that our county organization was illegal, and the consequence was that we got along without law and courts much better and at less expense for years. Later on the legislature of the state legalized the first named officers. Great times we had in those early days.

The first weekly stage was put on the road from Omaha to Fort Kearney on October 1, 1858. It changed to a tri-weekly in 1860, and became a daily mail in 1864.

Hunting In 1860

In the month of October, 1860, Christian Andresen, two others and myself, ventured with one ox team and one horse team for the first time to cross over into the Loup River country on a hunting expedition. After marketing our produce at Ft. Kearny we recrossed the Platte River and went up Wood River for a distance of about 12 miles. Here we stopped for the night. We noticed that a prairie fire was raging over towards the Loup River, and after going into camp, and after the sun had disappeared, I noticed something passing over a ridge towards the Loup on the other side of Wood River. We concluded it must be a bunch of buffaloes coming from the Loup. Three of our party took our rifles and crossed Wood River to meet our meat as we supposed. We found a well beaten buffalo path which only strengthened our sup- position that buffaloes were coming that way. So we took our position under a steep hill over which the buffalo path was leading. Meanwhile it had become quite dark and we had squatted down on our knees, our rifles all ready for action, expecting every moment for the buffaloes to appear over the abrupt hill before us, and ready to send our rifle balls crashing through their bodies - and they came! I could see plainly their silhouettes appearing as they came into sight not over thirty yards away over the top of the hill, but I saw that they had the sharp figures of horse ears and nothing similar to the heads and forms of buffaloes, so I whispered to my friends, "For God's sake don't shoot - they are horses - and no buffaloes." As soon as the approaching game reached the top of the hill I called a loud halt, and said, "Who are you ?" at the same time ready to pull the trigger of my rifle. Instantaneous came an answer in plain English "Good friends." That ended our buffalo hunt that evening. They proved to be two trappers who had come from Des Moines, Iowa, to hunt and trap in the coming winter up and down the Loup River. They had not been careful with their camp fire and while they were out setting their traps for beaver and otter the rising wind set the prairie grass on fire, and nearly everything they had was destroyed, provisions to last them three months, ammunition and all, even their guns but one. Their wagon was and only the rear part of it was left on which they were riding now to reach the nearest settlement. Of course, we helped them all we could. I bought all their lead and gave them something they could eat, and we all went to sleep, glad that we had been spared to kill people who were in distress, and they were glad they got hot coffee and everything needed for them to get on the way home.

Well, that fire their carelessness had started crossed Wood River and burned 400 tons of hay in stacks, on the north side of the Platte River, opposite Ft. Kearny, belonging to the government. The next day we crossed over to the Loup River and had a week of hunting. We killed five buffaloes and loaded our teams with choice meat. I also got quite a number of grey wolf pelts and beaver skins, and what was more we captured a fine Indian pony, which we found running wild in the Loup bottom. The pony came visiting our horses and one of our party who was pretty good at throwing the lasso, managed to throw the noose over the head of the animal. We valued the pony at $80 and Chris Andresen bought the pony, paying each of us $20 in cash.

Interruption Op A Prayer

On our way home on a very cold and stormy day, we reached the dug-out of Henry Peck, a Mormon, who was living with his wife and a lot of children, all boys, in a cave 12x20 feet, which was located about where the town of Wood River is now. Henry Peck was the first storekeeper in Hall County, and was very anxious to sell us his goods, which he had in the rear of his cave^ We asked to stay all night with these people, and our request was cheerfully granted, and Mrs. Peck made herself busy at once to make supper for us. Meanwhile Henry showed us his grand stock of merchandise, consisting principally of calico, sheeting, two pairs of cheap blankets, pins, needles, buttons, and other trinkets.

When supper was ready we were invited to sit up to the table, which we did. The cave or dugout was about seven or eight feet deep from the level of the ground. A long heavy Cottonwood log had been placed lengthwise over the cave, and willow brush and slough grass covered with a layer of mother earth constituted the roof, which rose not much above the level of the prairie. When we were about to help ourselves to the supper, our host, the cave dweller, gave us to understand that he was to offer prayer first. So with forks and knives in hand we obeyed orders. Henry Peck proved himself then and there to be very devout, and we were enduring an exceedingly long winded "prayer." There seemed to be no end to it, and at last I could hardly hold my eyes open owing to having been out all day in a cold wind, and now the sultry, impure air in that dug-out, without any ventilation, had its effect on me.

rank our friend Peck held in the church) once more thanked his heavenly Father for the blessings of the day, when a crash of the roof above us startled us all. Presently dirt began to fall right on our table, and much quicker than I can describe what happened, piles of dirt came down, and then four legs of an ox were dangling right over our table. And while the poor ox let go an unearthly sound, plainly expressing his fright, our praying Mormon friend lifted his fist toward that ox in distress, and stamping one foot, said "God damn you" where his meek "Amen" should have been.

During the first years we had no trouble with the Indians, the Pawnees, the Sioux, Cheyennes, Kiowas, or Arapahoes, altho the Pawnees were continually at war with the last named tribes, and raids by either party were often made, when they would pass our settlement with their booty and trophies, the latter in shape of bloody scalps tied to long poles, and singing as they passed their monotonous song of victory or defeat as the case might be.

So little we feared them, until trouble began, that we did not stop the work of hauling hay in the month of September, 1869, when a nmning fight took place between the Pawnees and the Sioux on the island opposite our farm, although we heard distinctly every shot fired, and saw the Pawnees retreating down the river pursued by the Sioux. But this feeling of safety did not last long. When the rebellion broke out and the first shot had been fired at Ft. Sumter, all troops stationed on the frontiers were ordered east. Nearly all the officers then at Ft. Kearny were southerners, and hostile to the northern cause.

A Lieutenant Tyler, left with a small command at Ft. Kearny, immediately after the departure of the greater portion of the garrison spiked all the cannon there, twenty in number, claiming that he feared a surprise from Missouri rebels, and then resigned his

I was well acquainted with a number of the officers at Ft. Kearny and had warm friends among them, and they urgently advised us before they left that we had to abandon our settlement as the Indians surely would clear the territory of Nebraska from all white men as soon as the troops were withdrawn. While heretofore all Indian depredations had been committed up the valley of the Platte River toward the Rocky Mountains we were now to have our share of it in this county.

First Massacrb By Indians

Nearer and nearer to us serious depredations were committed by the savages. It was on February- 5, 1862, that we were startled by the first massacre of whites by Indians in Hall County. Joseph P. Smith and Andresen, his son-in-law, farmers on Wood River, living about twelve miles west of Grand Island, went out after some building logs to the north channel of the Platte River, about two miles south of their claims (farms) accompanied by two of his sons, William, 11 years of age, and Charles, 9, and his grandchild Alex Andresen, about 14 years of age. Andresen, who took a load of logs home in the morning, returned to the woods where he had left his father-in-law Smith and the above named boys and two teams, the property of Smith, about 9 a. m., and found all of them brutally massacred by a band of Sioux Indians. The old man Smith had several arrows in his body and was lying on the ice with his face down, holding each of his boys by one hand. His son William was still alive when found. He was shot with an arrow and one of his cheeks was cut open from the mouth up to the ear. He soon bled to death after being carried home. The other son, Charles, had his skull mashed in and his neck broken, probably with a war club. Young Andresen was found some distance oft in the woods with his skull broken. The four horses were taken away by the Indians.

The settlers throughout the county, upon being advised of the massacre, were in the saddle at once and went in search of the murderers, and Jesse Eldridge with seven other settlers on Wood River captured 17 Sioux, all armed with bows and arrows. These Indians were captured about 18 miles east of Ft. Kearny in the dry channel of the Platte where they hovered under the bank of the channel, evidently trying to hide from pursuers.

The military authorities at Ft. Kearny with Captain Johnson in command requested that the Indians captured by the settlers be turned over to them, which was acceded to, and after some time had elapsed the Indians were released. Captain Johnson remarking, that he would rather see twenty farmers killed than one Indian, for fear that Ft. Kearny would be attacked by the Sioux. However, it was proven that the parties captured were not the guilty ones in the massacre of the Smith family.

Two girls, nieces of Mr. Campbell, respectively 17 and 19 years of age, and also two little twin boys four years old were carried away captives by the brutes. At the same time a German by the name of Henry Dose was killed near the Campbell place. The Indians robbed the house of all they wished to, killed some stock and got away without being overtaken.

Months afterwards the government bought the two little girls and two little boys from the Indians, paying them a ransom of $4,000 in money, so it was reported at that time, and in addition had to release a Sioux squaw and papoose captured by Ed Arnold's company of Pawnee scouts at Elm Creek the same season.

Panicky Feeling Results

In August and September, 1864, all sorts of rumors about hostile Indians were afloat. It was reported that they were coming in a great force to take Ft. Kearny and devastate all settlements below. Many feared that even Omaha was not safe. The very soldiers stationed at Ft. Kearny surely were not able to protect themselves, let alone settlers and settlements. So it was that soon the wildest panic prevailed.

From far up the Platte Valley to Columbus the settlers, with very few exceptions, left their homes, and even east of Columbus many people were fleeing for dear life. It was reported that even the drygoods clerks in Omaha handled the muskets, and were out on picket, and it was said that our governor sent his family across the Big Muddy into Council Bluffs on account of the imminent danger of an Indian attack on the good city of Omaha.

At Grand Island for a distance of twenty miles the main traveled road along the Platte River was covered with fugitives on the 13th and 14th of August, 1864. In vain I urged a number of them to stop and take matters coolly. Heavy loaded wagons with household goods and provisions, bedding, etc., droves of cattle and horses, cats and dogs, people on foot and horseback hurried along in great confusion. The rising dust clouds everywhere along the road gave evidence of the fearful panic that prevailed. It was truly a most pitiable sight to see those people leaving their homes, their ripening com and vegetable crops, we may say "their all."

But the settlement of Grand Island was not deserted. The people of our settlement resolved to give Mr. Indian a warm reception should he venture to attack us.

Two years previous, in the year 1862, I began to build my own fort. This fortified log house I built about 150 yards south of my farm house. It was 24x24 in size, provided with 25 port holes, had a well inside ; all that was needed to complete this place of comparative safety, was to put on a proper roof.

When the above mentioned panic set in I had my pick and call among the settlers to join me, and thus I soon had my fort well manned by those who were likely to fill their places in case of an Indian attack. We were 35 persons in our fort, women and children included, and we soon had the fort completely finished, by adding an underground stable for

This was the first nucleus of defense organized to repel an Indian attack in the Grand Island settlement. A small United States flag had been purposely made for us by a lady friend, Henrietta Axalsen, in Davenport, Iowa, which I tied to a pole and raised it over our fort - which we called "Fort Independence." This was the first star spangled banner that ever floated the air in Hall County. We have kept the little old flag in remembrance of the times gone by, never to return.

We had sufficient firearms to fire 72 shots without reloading, about 50 pounds of powder, and other suitable ammunition in proper proportion, besides an ample supply of provision.

A proper organization was effected and cartridges to fit each and every gun were prepared in quantity. So our little party of men, women, and children were cared for comparatively well. But the fortification here described aff'orded protection to only a small portion of the then already numerous settlers ; therefore, it was resolved to fortify the O. K. store kept by Henry A. Koenig and Fred Wiebe, about a mile and a quarter due south of us. William Thavenet engineered the work and later on was also employed by the officers at Ft. Kearny to engineer similar work there. Dr. A. Thorspecken was chosen as captain. The combined force at this place soon erected a formidable breastworks of sod which surrounded the buildings. The breastworks were provided on each corner with a tower built from green cottonwood logs, and these towers projected out far enough to shoot any party who would venture to crawl under the cover of the breastworks from outside. Sixty-eight men and about 100 women and children gathered into this fortification as a place of refuge and comparative safety.

The Settlement Protected

furnished, for which the freight had to be paid by the settlers. Everj- day squads of men on horseback were sent out in all directions to reconnoiter the countr)^ and at different places piles of straw and brush were prepared to serve as alarm fires in case of an approach of hostile Indians, to warn those absent.

veteran cavalry, carrying with them one sixpounder cannon. The general's inspection of both fortifications resulted in his highly praising the settlers of our settlement for the efficient measures adopted by them for their self-preser\'ation. He left the cannon with us, remarking that it ought to be left with us for all time to come, as 'an acknowledgment of the pluck exhibited while all the rest of the settlers in the upper Platte Valley for hundreds of miles had abandoned the country. General Curtis considering the Grand Island settlement safe pushed on the same day of his arrival to reinforce the garrison at Ft. Kearny.

Here I will remark that after various and repeated trials in later years I was at last successful in having the cannon left with us, turned over to me by the proper authorities in Washington, D. C, and that I in turn have turned it over to the county authorities of Hall County, which fact is a matter of record. And thus the suggestion of General Curtis has been complied with.

It is but proper and due to Squire Lamb, as he used to be called, that he be remembered and his name mentioned when the Indian troubles of those days are referred to. Mr. Lamb was the frontier stagedriver of the Platte Valley. He and his son Henry and three other men who kept the overland stage station on Wood River about eight miles west of Grand Island did not abandon their station but kept a sharp lookout for the danger signals to join the fortified forces of our settlement in case of need.

Some Pawnees Treacherous

Although we were on good terms with the Pawnee Indians, they camping near the settlement and trading with us, all of them could not be trusted, as the incident which I shall relate will bear witness. I have found good and noble individuals among them and mean and treacherous devils. In this respect they tally about even with us whites.

In the month of October, 1866, John Vieregg and I had trapped and hunted for about four weeks on the Loup between what is now called McKines Blufif and the junction of the river with the north fork near St. Paul.

It was principally beaver we were after, and occasionally we picked up other game, mostly antelope. Toward the end of the month we moved down the river to a point somewhere opposite where Dannebrog is now located on Oak Creek, where we went into camp early toward evening. While fixing the camp and preparing our supper two Indians joined us and we gave them their supper, coffee and pancakes, or flapjacks, as we used to call them. These two Indians told me that they were Scidies, meaning wolf, a branch tribe of the Pawnees, and that they were out on a scouting expedition to locate hostile Sioux and their allies, should they infest the Loup country. These Indians seemed to be very friendly and invited us to cross the Loup and told us that there were lots of deer and elk (Baa) on Oak Creek. That this statement was true I knew, because I had observed coming down the river a large bunch of elks numbering about eighty, and I was anxious to get a nice fat elk for winter meat before we started for home, which we contemplated doing very soon. But my partner, John Vieregg, did not favor the scheme, he did not want to cross the river and the ox team we had was his, hence I was depending on his good will. Up to that time I had killed in all seven antelope, which had been taken home by Charles Petersen, who had been with us until recently. The Indians told us that they had some furs they would trade us, and that they would call on us the next day at 9 o'clock, that is, when the sun would have risen to a certain height on the horizon. I being anxious to get the "elk" went with the Indians to see them across the river so as to ascertain the feasibility of crossing with our team on account of the quicksand and water condition of the river. In watching the Indians crossing the stream diagonally I noticed that the water was hardly knee deep and their walking was steady, hence the quicksand not dangerous. When in the middle of the river, one of them stopped for a moment, and cried out : "kaki-heap a water kaki," meaning to say to me there was no deep water and that our crossing the stream would be done with safety. When I returned to our camp I was so much encouraged that I could see, in my imagination, a big fine elk laying stretched out in our wagon when going home. The next thing in order was the setting of our traps. While John Vieregg went on the river setting his traps, I went down the river toward the junction of the Loup. It was nearly pitch dark when John and T got back into camp, and I was ready to preach quite a sermon to John to induce him to cross the river after that "elk." Before I proceed to relate what happened, I must describe our camp somewhat

We camped on one of those ravines and sand ridges which often stretch from one bed of the river to the next, and which are often deep enough, if the winds do not blow them away to somewhere else, to give temporary protection.

Discovkr Enemy In Time

Li one of these ravines, or rather on the north side of one of them, our camping place was located. With a spade I had dug out in the side of the abrupt ravine a seat to sit on. Thus my back was protected with solid ground. Right in front of me was our campfire - and a fine one we had that evening 1 John Vieregg was sitting on a turned-up bucket, on the left of the camp fire. Toward the river stood our wagon and trapping trophies, and on the outside of the wagon near our campfire leaned our rifles and shotguns handy for us to get and ready loaded for immediate use.

It was a pitch dark night, no wind was stirring, and right behind our wagon in the lower part of the ravine and stretching toward the Loup River was slough grass almost as long as a short grown person. Such were the conditons when John and I were sitting near our blazing campfire, and I was at it in the most eloquent way at my command to convince John of the easy task of crossing that infernal river so as to get that "elk" I had in my head. This was about 10 o'clock p. m. when, while I paused talking to John for a moment, my attention was attracted by a very slight noise, which caused me to look in the direction it seemed to be; and I noticed at once by the glare of our blazing campfire the moving and the bending of the tall grass in two places close together, not more than twenty yards from our wagon. Without saying a word I jumped past the campfire to the wagon, grabbed a long range double barrel shotgun loaded with goose shot 00, and in the twinkle of an eye had that gun to my shoulder aiming to send the shot so as to hit the animal that most certainly crawled in the slough grass, when up jumped our good friends, the two Pawnees. One of them was holding a short shot gun in his uplifted left hand and the other one a bow and a lot of arrows. At this critical moment John Vieregg interfered, crying, "Don't shoot, don't shoot," and he came forward hindering me from making those two devils real good Indians by dispatching them. We disarmed them and they had to take seats near the fire, while John and I laid down under our wagon, on and under buffalo robes, with all our guns on hand. I did not sleep that night but kept my eyes on our "friends" till morning when we let them go. But this was the last night we were out trapping that season. We made a good catch of beaver that night but went home the next day - and thus closed that year's fall hunt.

Goettsche-Frauen Massacre

This little episode was followed by another nearly a year later on the same spot, wherein John Vieregg, Hans Klingenberg, and two young boys. Christian Goettsche and Christian Frauen, participated, and wherein the final outcome developed into a sad and bloody tragedy.

Considering the fact that those two Indians had engaged with us to meet us again the next day and instead crawled up to our campfire in the dark of a dark night with ready arms in hand, I think we ought to have killed them then and there, and I regret yet that I did not kill them.

It was in the beginning of January, 1868, when the four parties named, Vieregg, Klingenberg, and the boys, Goettsche, 15 years old, and Christian Frauen, who had but recently arrived from Germany, 16 years old, went out for a hunt on the Loup River. They were after elk and deer, but found game scarce. In fact they did not see any fresh signs of them. After a few days of fruitless hunting they had concluded to return home (this was on January 6, 1868) after the men, Vieregg and Klingenberg, had secured two young oak trees for wagon tongues, which were to be had on Oak Creek. The Loup was frozen over solidly and in places snow covered the ice. A heavy gale was blowing from the northwest when the two men left their camp with their rifles and an ax, leaving the two boys, each with a double barrel shotgun, in charge of team and camp. When the men had about reached the middle of the river Hans Klingenberg thought that a rifle ball struck the ice near him and he told Vieregg about it. But as they had heard no gun report the men paid no further attention and went on their way. But Klingenberg presently noticed that, as it appeared to him, another rifle ball was whizzing by and he again spoke about it, but since there was no gunshot report heard, the men went on and got their young oaks, then returned to camp. When they reached camp a ghastly sight presented itself to them. Both boys lay dead in a pool of blood. Christian Frauen had a gimshot from the side through his head and Christian Goettsche, a pupil of our school, had a gunshot through the breast. The horses, buffalo robes, blankets, and both shotguns were missing and in the sand about the camp were the moccasin tracks of the red skins. Whether they had been Sioux or Pawnee is not known.

Government Makes Survey

The government survey of public lands took place in Hall County in the months of July and August, 1866, and soon after I pre-empted the first 160 acres of land in Hall County, Jacob Wittig was No. 2, who pre-empted the next 160 acres of land adjoining mine on the southwest. I always lived, and live today on the identical pioneer claim, as near as our surveyor's survey agreed with the final government survey.

The first school taught in Hall County was in 1862 about one mile south of the court house on the pioneer claim of Theo. Nagel, who was our first school teacher, and the number of pupils was six.

Game was abundant during all the years previous to the building of the Union Pacific railroad. Buffalo, elk, and antelope were to be found in herds. Grey wolves, prairie wolves, red and grey foxes, wild cats and badgers were numerous, while deer, jackrabbits (hare), and cottontails, as well as

The abundance of game was a great convenience and help to the early settlers, and regularly every fall, mostly in the months of October and November, we went out on buffalo hunts and trapping tours for beaver, otters, and minks were to be found along all streams. Wild geese, ducks, and other water fowl swarmed the country in spring and autumn.

Large numbers of wolves were poisoned with strychnine and trapped with steel traps every winter and the skins sold at from 75 cents to $3.00 a piece. I killed 75 wolves about my house the first winter. The best of buffalo robes could be bought from the Indians from $2.50 to $3. Buffalo robes were our principal bedding for years.

With the gradual decrease of wolves, foxes, jackrabbits, prairie chickens, grouse and quail increased very rapidly, but wild turkeys soon disappeared entirely around about Grand Island.

The winter of 1863 and 1864 was extraordinarily severe. Snow covered the ground from the middle of November, 1863, to March, 1864. A great deal of our corn crop was now covered all winter. Many cattle perished and several parties lost limbs; one man froze to death.

Contractors Take Timber

By this time we had two saw mills on Wood River. In 1863 the first windmill was built in our settlement, and several other windmills were built later on, but when in 1866 the Union Pacific railroad was built the timber land on the island in the Platte River was fraudulently withheld from market, a horde of irresponsible contractors were turned loose at the timber land in the Platte Valley. These men were not respecters of law and order, but cut and slashed down all timber thick enough to make ties for the railroad. The squatter claims of timber land, which had

After nearly all timber had been thus taken, of course we had no more use for saw mills. After the devastation of the natural timber numerous groves were planted by the settlers, and they are now dotting the once bleak prairie in every direction.

I planted the first artificial grove of 6,000 trees in Hall County in the spring of 1860 on the west half of the northeast quarter of section 29, town 11, north of range 9, consisting of Cottonwood, black locust, ash, and black walnut.

The Grasshopper Scourge

Great suiifering and destitution prevailed all over the grasshopper-stricken districts, grasshoppers visiting us from 1865 to 1873, worse at some times than others, and two aid societies were organized in the state of Nebraska, to care for the destitute sufferers. The one, and the most effective aid society was The State Grange Relief Committee, which had its office at Lincoln. The other was called the State Aid Society, and it had its headquarters in Omaha. I was for the time being chairman of The State Grange Relief Committee, being the overseer of the State Grange of the state of Nebraska, while General Ord,^ in command of the military department of the Platte, was the chairman of the State Aid Society.

Thus it devolved upon me to confer with General Ord, to arrange with him so that the aid we could render would be distributed properly and systematically. Our committee had over $20,000.00 in bank at Lincoln, and daily more coming from all over the Union. Large quantities of relief goods were shipped to us from the eastern states, and the freight charges we had to pay to the railroad companies for transportation were considerable. Therefore I requested of S. H. H. Clark, the general manager of the U. P. R. R. Co. at Omaha, to grant us free transportation on all relief goods sent us over this 'line. Mr. Clark refused, flatfooted, to do so, but said he: "I will make you a reduction of two-fifths of full rates."

Thus the matter stood when I called at military headquarters in Omaha to see General Ord, the chairman of the State Aid Society. I was received anything but cordially. The general told me to be brief - he was very much occupied.

Well, I was brief, and very few words were sufficient to inform the general of what I was driving at, but what I told him was enough to interest him so that he told me that I was his man.

After we had talked the matter over thoroughly, General Ord said: "I want you to get ready and go to Washington. We must have an appropriation from Congress, and you are the very man who is likely to get it, the way you present matters to me." He insisted that I should go, and to be short about it. Upon General Ord's request our relief committee agreed that I should try my hand at it. I at once prepared myself as best I could for my mission. First of all, I gathered statistics all over the stricken district in the state as to the amount of destitution preyailing. This was comparatively easy for me to do through our excellent organization throughout the state, having subordinate granges in all counties.

Ask Congress For Help

When I had reports from all quarters I carefully compiled them and when ready to start east from Omaha, I once more called on Mr. Clark, asking him for a letter of introduction to Jay Gould, at the time the owner of the Union Pacific. Mr. Clark only laughed at me, when I told him that I was going to Washington first, and next to New York to get what he refused to grant us. He told me, "You will not get anything; neither in Washington from Congress, nor from Mr. Gould. Mr. Gould will simply tell you to see me about it, and that it is my business to decide in the matter of transportation." I answered Mr. Clark to the effect that all Mr. Gould could say was yes or no, but I would try it anyway.

I got a very nice letter from Mr. Clark, introducing me to Mr. Gould, and was off for Washington. I must say that I was not very hopeful myself that I would accomplish much, but I was into it and I resolved to do my level best to come out all right. I carried letters of introduction to several senators. Lorenzo Crounse was our representative and Mr. Hitchcock, the father of the editor and proprietor of the World-Herald of Omaha, was our senator, and besides he was an old friend of mine.

Appears Before Garfield

I worked my way to Washington as best I, knew how. I introduced myself to Carl Schurz, at that time senator from the state of Missouri, and I had the satisfaction in a few days to be requested to appear before Mr. Garfield, later president, who was- at that time chairman of the committee on ways and means. When I entered Mr. Garfield's committee room he told me to take a seat. I sat down. Mr. Garfield looked me up and down for quite a while and never said another word. I do not know how long he was just looking at me, but I do know that I got angry about it and that I resolved to pay him back with his own coin, and I commenced also to stare at him, keeping my eyes fixed at one of his eyes without changing for a moment. He could not stand that very long and flinched, looking for a moment somewhere else, and then he commenced to talk and he said: "I understand, Mr. Stolley, that you are from Nebraska, and ask for an appropriation from Congress for the grasshopper suflFerers of your state."

"Certainly, I prepared myself fully before I left home," handing him my paper. "Here is a tabulated statement of statistics, which I gathered through the medium of our State Grange organization, which will explain everything to you."

For over half an hour Mr. Garfield did not look at me at all after I had handed him my statistics, but continued figuring. When at last he looked at me again, it was with different eyes and he said: "Mr. Stolley, you will not get $500,000.00, but I shall recommend that an appropriation of $150,000.00 be made for the grasshopper sufferers, and I hope this will be done very soon."

Within eight days I sent telegrams to Omaha and Lincoln that $150,000.00 had been appropriated by Congress. Next I went to New York city to try my good luck with Mr. Gould. At that time I had a brother living in New York city and to him I went to stay while there. My brother was rather surprised when I told him of my mission in Washington and the success I had had, and when I told him that I would now try to get free transportation for all relief goods, from Mr. Gould, he thought it was about time to give me some good advice and the following is about what he said: "Well, brother William, let me tell you, when you speak to Jay Gould, you must not talk as loud as you are in the habit of doing. It does not take well at all. You must control your voice, and not talk too loud. And another thing I want to tell you, you are not dressed well enough, you should wear better clothes when you go to speak to such men as Mr. Gould."

"Well then," I said, "if I am to watch the tone of my voice when I talk in matters of this kind, then surely I am a goner. I will let my heart talk and not pay any attention to whether I talk otherwise; as to my shabby clothes, you are probably correct, and you can let me have the very best overcoat you have and I will put it on and it will cover the short- comings of the rest of the garments I wear, but I will tell you this right now, that overcoat I will keep, because I will be in need of it when I get to Chicago. Another thing, Fred, I want you to be with me when I see Mr. Gould and when I talk with him."

CALLS ON magnate; So the same day toward evening I and brother Fred went to the office of Jay Gould on 5th Avenue and Broadway, in a basement. When we entered Mr. Gould was walking the floors and dictating to three telegraph operators and he told us without asking us to take a seat that he would be at our service in a moment. He left us standing at the door. Presently he wheeled around in the middle of the room and said, "What do you wish?" Then I stepped forward toward him, trying to present my letter from Mr. Clark, but Mr. Gould said, never mind that letter, tell me first, what do you want of me. I said : "Mr. Gould, I am here from Nebraska. I have been in Washington and there secured an appropriation from Congress for the grasshopper sufTerers in Nebraska. Now I am here to ask if you will grant us free transportation of all relief goods which are sent to us over your railroad. I do not expect that you will grant this out of benevolence or Christianity; no sir, but you will grant it because it is your interest to do so. You, Mr. Gould, have millions of acres of land in our state which you want to sell; you have sold quite a lot of that land already, and the parties to whom you sold your land and who have made but part payment to you, are the very parties who are destitute now, because the grasshoppers destroyed their crops, and unless we are enabled to provide for them and they can raise another crop, they will be compelled to leave the state of Nebraska, and they will go back east and herald it all over the east that Nebraska is the damnedest country under the sun."

When I had stopped talking, Mr. Gould said : "You shall have all the free transportation you are asking for," and he picked up one of his cards and wrote on the back of it: "Mr. Sidney Dillon, N. 20 Nassau St. Mr. Stolley shall have all the free transportation he is asking for." Then Mr. Gould handed me the card, I thanked him in behalf of the destitute of Nebraska, and we left his office.

Fred answered, "I won't say another word, but you keep that overcoat." Since that day I always wear a brown overcoat with a black velvet collar. I next sent telegrams to Mr. Clark that free transportation of all relief goods sent to us had been granted by Mr. Gould.

I remained a week in New York City and next went to Chicago where I had easy work in obtaining free transportation from the Chicago & Northwestern, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and also the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific.

Thus ended my mission, which had been successful beyond my expectations. It was the best I ever was able to do in all my life, as far as benefits for the destitute are concerned.

Chapter Hi Indian Occupation And Legends

Early Redmen Occupants - Thb Pawnees - Treaties oe Amity - The Decay of the Pawnees - The Sioux - The Outbreak oe 1864 - Major Frank North and the Pawnee Scouts -=- Local Indian History - Two Boys Pinned Together by Arrows - The Campbell Raid - Recollections by Fred Stolley - First Recollections - Took Our Dinner - The Sioux - Indian Boys' Sports - Puppy Dog Soup - White Man's Treatment OF the Redman - "Nezarrezarries" - An Indian Love Story - A True Red Friend - Fort O. K. - Fort Independence - Goettsche-Frauen Massacre - Indians Journeying to the "Hunt" - An Indian Dance - Buffalo Hunt - The Endurance of a Papoose - Mirages - Indian Horsethteves - Depending on the Gun for Food - The Antelope - Feathered Game - The Indian Pipe

The land icas ours, this glorious land, With all its zvealth of wood and streams: Our warriors strong of heart and hand. Our daughters beautiful as dreams. When wearied at the thirsty noon We knelt us where the spring gushed up. Wc take our Father's blessed boon - Unlike the white-man's poisoned cup.

Early Redmen Inhabitants

Of course, the first actual settlers of Hall County were the Redmen. Father Jacques Marquette was the first of the white explorers to mention Nebraska Indians, and his account implied hair breadth escapes and dramatic scenes. Father Marquette?s description of the Missouri River country is interesting to us, detailed as approaching the mouth of the great western tributary of the Father of Waters, which they were traversing: "We heard a great gushing and bubbling of waters, and soon beheld some islands of floating trees coming down from the mouth of the Pekitanoni (the Missouri) with such rapidity that we could not trust ourselves to go near it. The waters of this river are so muddy that we could not drink it. It so discolors the Mississippi as to make the navigation of it dangerous. This river comes from the northwest

In a most interesting chart of that expedition, now in the archives of Montreal, Marquette located in what is now Kansas and Nebraska the following Indian villages : The Ouemessoureit (Missouri), the Kenza (Kansas), the Ouchage (Osage), the Paneassa (Pawnee), and the Maha (Omaha). His information was so surprisingly correct that French explorers found these very tribes in relatively the same positions as indicated in that chart, nearly 200 years later.

Previous to the advent of the white man in the countr}' between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains there were close to forty or fifty tribes, with their division of territory, some friendly to each other and some hostile. The principal tribes making their homes in Nebraska were those referred to by the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804. Lewis and Clark found Pawnees, Missouris, and Otoes in possession of the Platte, the Poncas near the mouth of the Niobrara and the Omahas in the northeastern part of the state, around what is now Sioux City. The Pawnees were then the dominant tribe of the westren prairie, the others mentioned being treated as wards and dependents. It is with the Pawnees that the history of what is now Hall County, so far as its Indian occupation and legend, is mainly concerned.

The Pawnees

The Pawnees were probably the largest and most powerful Indian nation that lived in Nebraska previous to the advent of the white man. Lewis and Clark on visiting the Platte Valley, found them living on the south side of the Platte River, forty-five miles above its mouth.

The original home of the Pawnees is reputed to have been somewhere in the lower Red River Valley in Louisiana, where they formed the chief tribe of the important Caddoan stock'. At an early date some of those tribes migrated northward, the Arikari moving by way of the Missouri and even penetrating as far north as North Dakota. The Skidi (Wolves) somewhat later halted at the Platte, and were there overtaken by the Pawnees proper.