Washington County, Nebraska - The whole text, 1876 (part 1 of 2)

July, 1876

First Settlement in 1819. - Lewis and Clarke's Pow-Wow with THE Indians. - Organization of the Territory and County. - List oe County Officials - Newspapers. - The Big Storm.

The first white settlement made in Nebra^ikti was at a point now included within tlie boundaries of Washington county, on which the town of Fort Calhoun is located. It was here, also, that the first council was ever held by the whites with the Indians of the then unexplored northwest - a vast region of country extending from the lied river of the South to the British possessions, and from the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean.

In 1803 was consuniated what is known as the Louisiana purchase, M'hich included the i^resent state of Nebraska, and the attention of the United States government was directed towards exploring and improving the newly acquired territory. Accordingly, in the summer of 1803, an expedition was planned by President Jefferson, for the purpose of discovering the course and sources of the Missouri, and the most convenient water communication thence to the Pacific. His private secretary, Capt. Merriweather Lewis, and Capt. William Clarke, both officers in the army, were detailed to undertake this enterprise. These two officers met at St. Louis in the month of December, intending to pass the winter at La Charrette, the highest settlement on the Missouri, but the Spanish commandant of the province, not having received official notification of the transfer of the province to the United States, refused to allow them to pass through. The party, therefore, encamped on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, which formed the eastern boundary of the Spanish possessions, opposite the mouth of the Missouri. Thejiarty was composed of nine young Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, who had volunteered their services, ;two French voygeurs, an interpreter and hunter, and a colored servant belonging to Capt. Clai'ke ; all but the latter being enlisted as privates to serve during the expedition, three of their number being appointed sergeants. I)i addition^a corporal, six soldiers, and nine voyageurs, accompanied the expedition as far as the INIandan nation in order to assist in carrj'ing the stores or repelling an Indian assault. The stores consisted of a great variety of clothing, tools, gunlock flints, powder and ball. To these were added fourteen bales and one box of goods designed as Indian presents, and consisting of richly laced coats, medals, flags, knives, tomahawks, beads, looking glasses, colored handkerchiefs, paint, etc. The party had three boats, one being a keel boat, tifty-A'^'e feet long, drawing three feet of water, and carrying one large square ?ail, and twenty-two oars. A deck of ten feet in the bow and stern fornicd a forecastle and cabin, while the middle was covered by lockers which could be raised so as to form breastMorks in case of attack. The two other boats were open, one carrying six and the other seven oars. Two horses were at the same time to be led along the banks of the river for the purpose of bringing home game, or hunting, in case of scarcity.

Thus accoutered, the party started on its toilsone journey up the Missouri Monday, May 14th, 1804, and reached the mouth of the Platte July 21, encamping the next day " ten miles from the Platte, Intending to make the requisite^ observations, and to send for the neighboring tribes for the purpose of making known tne recent change in the government, and the wish of the United States to cultivate their friendship." July 27th the expedition proceeded up the river, and on the 30th reached the place where the council was to be held, having passed Boyer creek the day before. The country and the council are described as follows, in Lewis and Clarke's official report, for a copy of which I am indebted to Byron Reed, of Omaha:

" The land here consists of a plain, above the high water level, the soil of Avhich is fertile and covered with a grass from live to eight feet high, interspersed with copses of large plums and a currant like those of the United States. It also furnishes two species of honeysuckle, one growing to a kind of a shrub, common about Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and the other not so high. The flowers grow in clusters, are short and of a light pink color. The leaves, too, are distinct, and do not surround the stem as do those of the United States. Back of this plain is a M'oody ridge about seventy feet above it, at the end of which we termed our camp. This ridge separates the lower from a higher prairie of a good quality, with grass of ten or twenty inches in height, and extending back about a mile to another elevation of eighty or ninety feet, beyond which is one continuous plain. Near our camp we enjoy from the blutFs a most beautiful view of the river and the adjoining country. At a distance varying from four to ten miles, and of a height between seventy and three hundred feet, two parallel ranges of high land alTord a passage to the Missouri, which enriches the low grounds between them. In its winding course it nourishes the willow islands, the scattered Cottonwood, elm, sycamore, lynn, and ash ; and the groves are interspersed with hickory, walnut, cofieenut, and oal?. The hunters supplied us with deer, turkeys, geese and beaver. Catfish are abundant in the river, and we have also seen a buffalo-fish. One of onr men brought in yesterday an animal called by the Pawnees, ehocantoosh, and by the French, blairvau, or badger.

"We waited with much anxiety the return of our messenger to tha Ottoes. Our apprehensions were at last relieved by the arrival of a party of about fourteen Ottoe and Missouri Indians, who came at sunset on the second of August, accompanied by a Frenchuiun Mho resided among them and interpreted for us. Captains Lewis and Clarke went out to meet them and told them that we would hold a council in tlie morning. In the meantime we sent them some roasted meats, pork, flour and meal in return for which they made us a present of watermelons.

" The next morning, the Indians, with their six chiefs were all assembled under an awning formed with the mainsail, in the presence of all of our party, paraded for the occasion. A speech was then made announcing to them the change in the government, our promises of protection, and advice- as to their future conduct. All the six chiefs replied to our speech, each in his turn according to rank. They expressed their joy at the change in the government, their hopes that we would recommend them to their great father ^the president) that they might obtain trade and necessaries. They wanted arms as well for hunting as for defence and asked our mediation between them and the Mahas (Omahas) with whom they are now at war. We promised to do so and wished some of them to accompany us to that nation which they declined, for fear of being killed by them. We then proceeded to distribute our presents. The grand chief of the nation not being of the party we sent him a flag, a medal and some ornaments for clothing. To the six chiefs who were present we gave a medal of the second grade to one Ottoe chief and a Missouri chief and a medal of the third grade to two inferior chiefs of each nation, the customary mode of recognizing a chief being to place a medal around his neck, which is considered among |his tribe a proof of his consideration abroad. Each of these medals was accompanied by a present of paint,garters and cloth ornaments of dress, and to this we added a cannister of powder, a bottle of whisky and a few presents to the whole, which appeared to make them perfectly satisfied. The air gun, too, was fired and astonished them greatly. The absent grand chief was an Ottoe named Wahrushhah which, in English, degenerates into Liltle Thief. The two principal chieftans present were Shongolong©, or Big Horse and Wethea, or Hospitality ; also Shosqusean, or White Horse, an Ottoe. The incidents just related induced us to give to this place the name of Councilbluff. The situation of it is exceedingly favorable for a fort and trading factory, as the soil is well calculated for bricks and there is an abundance of wood in the neighborhood, and the air being pure and healthy. It is also central to the chief resorts of the Indians, being one day's journey to the Ottoes; one and a half to the great Pawnees ; two days from the Mahas ; two and a quarter from the Pawnee Loups village ; convenient to the hunting grounds of the Sioux, and twenty-five days journey to Sante Fe. The ceremonies of the council being concluded, we set sail in the afternoon and encamped at the distance of five miles on the south side, where we found the musquitos very troublesome." And, to tell the truth, they are very troublesomo in that vicinity to this day, at certain seasons of the year.

Though the early settlers of Council Bluflfs, Iowa, have endeavored to make it appear that their town is located upon the site of this olden time conference, the fact is established beyond all question that they were in error and that the site of the present town of Fort Calhoun, is the exact locality. At this point the government established Fort Atkinson - afterwards called Fort Calhoun - in 1819, and abiindoned it some ten or a dozen years later. In response to a letter of inquiry on this subject from Mr. N. Ramsey, secretary of the Historical society of St. Louis, under date of December 9, 1867, the late Father De Smet wrote : " During the years 1838 and 1839, I resided opposite what is now called the city of Omaha. In 1839 I stood on the bluff on which the old fort was built in 1819 ; some rubbish and remains of the old Foot were then visible, and some remaining roots of asparagus were still growing in the old garden. Fort Atkinson was located where now stands the town of Fort Calhoun, Nebraska Territory, about sixteen niiles in a straight line above the city of Omaha, and forty miles by river. The mouth of the Boyer now enqjties into the Missouri riv^er, some twelve miles (straight line) above Omaha : in 1839 the same river emptied into the Missouri river about five miles above the old military post. Mr. Cabanne's trading post was six miles, by land, below Fort Atkinson, and twenty-five miles by river ; Mr. Cabanne's trading post was ten miles, by land, above where now stands Omaha City. Manual Lisa had a trading post one mile above Cabanne's. I met Captains Joseph and John La Barge, and proposed the question of the former site of Fort Atkinson, in order to test the accuracy of my memory, and they confirmed it in every particular."

On the 30th of May, 1854, the organic act, opening Kansas and Nebraska for settlement, was passed by Congress. Francis Burt of Soutn Carolina was appointed Governor of Nebraska, but was taken sick while on his way to the new territory and died soon after his arrival, at the old Mission House at Bellevue on the ISth day of October, 1853. By the death of Governor Burt, the Secretary of the Territory, Thos. B. Cuming, became acting Governor, and his first oflicial action was certain proclamations: One ordering a census of the Territory upon which to base an apportionment; another fixing the time of holding the election, aud conveuing the legislature; aud one dividing the Territory into counties and fixing boundaries to the same. By the terms of the latter Washington county was bounded as follows : Commencing at a point on the Missouri river one mile north or Omaha city ; thence due west to the dividing ridge between the Elkhorn and the Missouri river; thence northwestwardly twenty miles to the Elkhorn river ; thence eastwardly to a point on the Missouri river two miles above Fort Calhoun ; thence southerly along said river to the place of beginning.

The Territory was divided by Gov. Cuming into four election districts with voting places distributed as folows : Bellvue, Omaha, Fontenelle, and Fort Calhoun. Dr. M. H. Clark and Col. Wm. Kline laid out the Fontenelle or Western district, which extended from the big Papillion to Fort Kearney, or, in fact, to the Rocky Mountains. There is a tradition in the western part of the county to the efl^ect that, in order to swell the list of voters, these enterprising individuals included in their census re- turns a lot of names copied from the trees at the ci'osshig of the Elkhorn, where they had been carved by California and Mormon emigrants, but this may be a base slander.

The counties were not named by the Clavernor, but were christeaei by the first legislature, which niet at Omaha in the winter of lSo4-5,. aad consisted of eight Gouucilmen - four from each side of the Platte - and thirteen Representatives, Washington county sending, as Councilman, James G. Mitchell, and as Representatives, Auselum Arnold, and A. J. Smith. February 22, 1855, an act was passed declaring that "a county shall be organized to be called Washington, and shall be bounded as follows : Commencing at a point on the Missouri river, two miles north of Florence, or Winter Quartei's, thence north following the meauderiags of said river to a point in a direct line, twenty-four miles from the place of beginning, thence west to the dividing I'idge between the Elkhorn aud Missouri rivers, or to the eastern boundary line of Dodge county, thence south along said line twenty-four miles, thence east to the place of beginning." Fort Calhoun was designated as the county seat, and the following were appointed county officers, by the Governor : Stephen Cass, Probate Judge; Thomas Allen, SherifT; Geo, W. Nevelle, Clerk; George Martin, Treasurer; Z. Jackson, Register, and Thos. Wilson, Surveyor. Since that date the following named have been elected to the various positions designated:

CouNciLMEN - Wm. Clancy, 1856; G. E. Scott, and Geo. W. Doaue (now of Omaha), floater, 1858; John A. Unthank, 1860; E. A, Allen and Frank AVelch, of Burt, floater, 1862; John D. Neighley, of Cuming, floater, 1866.

Representatives - Wm. Connor, ElishaP. Stout, and James S. Stewart, 1856; P. C. Sullivan, R. H. Peterson, and James S. Stewart, 1857: P. G. Cooper, L. M. Kline, and Charles Davis, 1858; James S. Stewart, and John S. Bowen, 1859; Silas Mead, and Henry W. De Pugh, 1860; E. A. Allen, and John S. Bowen, 1801; L. R. Fletcher, and Dean C. Slader, 1862. [The session of the legislature for the winter of 1862-3 was dispensed with by act of congress, and the money, equal to the expense of the session applied to war purposes.] John Evans (now of Omaha), aud H. J. Rohwer, 1863; H. M. Hitchcock, and Xevin McCandlish, 1S6-1; E. H. Clark, and Charles Eisley, 1865; A. S. Warrick, and Dr. L. J. Abbott.Territorial, and John A. Unthank, and Dean C. Slader, State Representatives, 1866 - there being two sets elected on account of a State constitution having been drafted; W. H. B. Stout (now contractor for the erection of the State's prison), and Christian Rathmanu, 1808; Elam Clark, and H. C. Riordan,1870; Henry Spriek, 1872 - a new apportionment having given the county but one member of the House - E. S. Gaylord, 187-1.

CoMMissioXEBs - David Franklin, A. Pliinney, and John West, 1S56; J. B. Wiekwire, 1857; E. Allen, 1858; E. B. Hamilton, 1859; John Parks, 1860; John Evans, and James S. Stewart (the latter to fill Mr. Parks' unexpired term), 1861; Silas Masters, 1862; Jacob Carter, 1863; Jas. S. Stewart, re-elected 1864; John A. Unthank (appointed to fill the unexpired term of Silas Masters, resigned), 1865; W. B. Beals, 1866; Alonzo Perkins, 1867; Thos. Frazier, 1868; Watson Tyson, 1869; Wm. R. Hamilton, and David Couchman (the latter to fill the unexpired term of Thos. Frazier, deceased), 1870; David Couchman, reelected 1871; Watson Tyson, re-elected 1872; Wm. R. Hamilton, re-eletced 1873; H. J. Rohwer, 1874; Charles Selleck, 1875,

County Clerks - E. Mather, 1857; Abram Castetter, 1861; re-elected every election from that time to 18S9, when Peter R. Benner was elected and re-elected in 1871 and 1873; E. C Jackson, 1875.

County Treasurers - George Stevens, 1857, Lewis Tucker, 1858; E. N. Grennell, 1859; re-elected each election until 1863, when Alex Reed was elected, and he was continued in office until 1875, when J. H. Hungate, the present incumbent and the then Mayor of Blair, was elected.

Superintendents OF Schools - Eli Bacon, 1857; D. McLacklin, 1858; Charles G. Bisbee, 1869; re-elected in 1871; Charles Cross, 1873; re elected in 1875.

In the vote upon the constitution, submitted in 1871, Washington county cast 94 for and 419 votes against thesection, submitted separatelj^ granting women the right of suffrage, and 194 for to 319 against the compulsory education clause, also submitted separately, while she rejected the eonstitution itself by a majority of 97 votes. At the special election held in 1868, on the proposition to aid the construction of the Sioux City and Pacific railroad by voting county bonds to the amount of $75,000, to be paid only so fast as a tax of one mill on the dollar would pay it, the vote stood 347 for to 153 against the issuance of the bonds.

The following nanued have occupied the position of Deputy C<iunty Clerk, an office conferred by appointment: lloger T. Beal, D. McDonald Peter R. Benner, E. B. Hamilton, John S. Bowen, Harry M. Bowen. and Cara Clark, the present incumbent. Treasurer Hungate's deputy, is also a lady - Miss Edna Reed.

At the first election held in the county, in 185-5, there were 70 votes polled. At the last general election - that of 1875 - there were 1,180 ballots cast. The first census returns showed a population of 207; that of last year, 6,286, there being 314 births in the county in 1875. The following has been the annual levy since 1859:

The assessed valuation of property for this year was $1,551,756, with $75,000 exemption on account of the planting of trees, the exemption being at the rate of the tax, and on fifty dollars for each acre of fruit trees on one hundred dollars valuation for each acre of forest trees, for the terra of five years after the trees were planted. This was one of the wisest acts ever performed by any legislature, and the result will be that in the course of a few years Nebraska will be a well timbered state. The law is generally appreciated and acted upon by the people, Sheridan precinct alone receiving an exemption for 1875 of ?>23,- 000 on account of tree planting, while Grant and Lincoln was each benefitted about §10,000.

The first newspaper published in the county was the DeSota Bugle, established at DeSoto in 1856 by Isaac Parrish ; the second was the DeSoto Pilot, established in 1857 by Merrick & Maguire ; the third the Washington county Sun, established in 1858 by Potter C. Sullivan, and the fourth was the DeSoto Enquirer, established in 1858 by Z. Jackson. Then there was a lull in the newspaper publishing business, until 1869, when the Register was established at Blair, by B. F. Hilton & Son. In 1870 the publication of the Blair Times was undertaken by a company consisting of C. B. Herman, John S. Bowen, J. H. Post, V. G. Lantry, H. P. Dexter, Jesse

T. Davis, Abram Castetter, Alex. Reed, W. H. B. 8tout, and W. W. Wilson. In a few months it passed into the hands of V. G. Lantry, and W. H. B. Stout, then into the hands of the former, who sold it to John A. McMurphy. now editor and proprietor of the Plattsmouth Herald. Mr. McMurphy conducted the paper for a year or two, and then sold it back to Mr. Lantry, who sold it last spring to Judge John S. Bowen, by whom it is now managed in a very able manner. Two years ago J. Y. Lambert, editor and proj^rietor of the Pilot, published at Tekamah, Burt county, moved that paper to Blair, and there published it until about a year ago, when it was purchased by (^eorge Sultherland. It is now edited by L. F. Hilton, formerly of the Begister, and is one of the spiciest, most enterpi'ising weeklies in the State.

The winters of 1856-7 found the settlers of Washington county little prepared for its hardships. The winteis of 1855-6 had been remarkably pleasant and mild, and it was supposed by the few white residents of the county at that time that that was a fair sample of the Nebraska winters. The houses were generally of a temporary character, many of them having been built the summer previous of new cottouwood lumber, which material makes beautiful " open work" after a few days exposure to the sun, rendering a building cool and airy for suuimer use, but not so pleasant for winter. Little or no shelter had been prepared for stock, and as there was a dearth of feed, cattle were allowed to wander here and there through the small patches of breaking, finding an occasional stray stalk of sod corn with whicii to astonish their stomachs. No one was provided with wood for more than a few days' use. Provisions were very scarce, and money scarcer. Such was the condition of things when the sun went down on the evening of the 30th of November, 1856. A light snow was falling, and had been for an hour, but the air was mild and pleasant, with a light wind. During the night the wind increased to a territic gale ; the weather grew intensely cold, and the air was filled with the driving snow, which was forced into the houses through a thousand and one crevices, covering beds, chairs, tables, stoves, etc., with a cold mantle of white. The day dragged by. with the wind surging and roaring and the air so thick with cutting, blinding snow that one could not see a house five feet distant; thus rendering it impossible for the stock to be fed, as a man could not find his way back to the house after leaving it. Several made the attempt, and perished in consequence, their bones being found when the snow melted the next spring, in some instances, within a short distance of their homes. Night settled upon us cold and dreary, and another day of suffering dawned and passed without the least prospect ot relief. A second night and third day passed by, during which the wind seemed to have lost none of its fury, while the snow appeared to come from some inexhaustable source, whirling, eddying and driving, ])iling and drifting in the houses to a depth of two or three feet. As the evening of the third day came on, the anxious settlers were rejoiced to find that the storm was gradually losing its force. Another miserable night passed, and the fourth day dawned. The wind had gone down, and the sun rose bright and clear upon a brilliant, glistening, dazzling sea of snow, streching away as far as the vision extended, covering the ground to a depth of three or four feet on the level, while in the ravines it was drifted in places to the depth of twenty feet. The writer remembers distinctly of finding snow in a sheltered nook, the next June. The storm having subsided the settlers turned out to take care of their stock. In many places stables were built down in ravines, and were so completely covered with snow that some time elapsed before they could be found and the horses they sheltered - and very effectually too - dug out. Great difficulty was also experienced in gathering together the roaming cattle, and many perished in the storm.

In the summer of 1859 occurred what has since passed into the realms of history as the " Pawnee ^rar." Fontenelle was no longer the frontier settlement. Thirty miles to the northwest, on the Elkhorn, the town of West Point had been located, and six miles beyond, that of DeWitt. Ten miles southward, on the Platte, Fremont had been staked out two summers previous, while farther to the westward, along'the Platte, were the new towns of North Bend and Columbus. The Pawnee Indians then occupied two villages about twelve miles directly south of Fontenelle, and on the south side of the Platte. They had behaved themselves very well, considering, their depredations having consisted mainly in robbing hen roosts and picking up little odds and ends of personal effects belonging to the whites, and the settlers had concluded there was no danger whatever to be apprehended from them, but in this they were doomed to disappointment.

In the latter part of June, 1859, the entire tribe of Pawnees - braves, squaws, pappooses and dogs - left their villages and marched across the low land intervening between the Platte and the Elkhorn rivers, and <?amp on the Elkhorn on the western side of that stream just across from Fontanelle. Here they remained a day or two; after which short delay, they proceeded up the Elkhorn, without crossing it, pursuing a northwesterly direction. They said they were going up the river on a grand buffalo hunt, and would be gone several " moons," On the day after they left their first camp on the Elkhorn, half a dozen "bucks" crossed the river at a point about a dozen miles above Fontenelle, and attacked an old bachelor by the name of Uriah Thomas, who was living alone in a Itttle log hut some distance from any other house. The Indians took his pocketbook, containing $136, a package of valuable papers, including several land warrants, drank up all his whisky (the unkindest cut of all) and then drove off a fine yoke of oxen, after first having taken the precaution to lock Mr. Thomas up in his shanty. After the Indians had been gone for some time, Thomas set about effecting his release, which he accomplished with but little difficulty, and then cautiously proceeded to

Fontenelle and gave the alarm. Of course, the wildest excitement prevailed. A company of a dozen men or so was immediately organized, and an advance was made upon the Thomas mansion, after a careful reeonoitering by scouts. No Indians were discovered, and the j:>arty concealed themselves in and about the hut, and waited patiently for several hours ; but no Indians making their appearance, the whites returned to Fontenelle. Two days afterwards, the people living at West Point and DeWitt (the settlements spoken of as being farther up the Elkhorn),came down to Fontenelle in a body, and reported that as the Pawnees moved up the river, on the western side of it, marauding bands had crossed over to the eastern side, and had burned the dwellings of the settlers, ripped up their feather beds, scattered the contents, and used the ticks for blankets ; tore to pieces clocks for the puri:)oseof getting the brass wheels to hang in their eai's and drove off all kinds of stock.

This was a fine state of affairs. Thirty men, armed with rifles, shotguns, muskets, and revolvers, started tor West Point the next morning in wagons, reaching that settlement about the middle of the afternoon. They saw no Indians that day, and after deliberating over the matter, concluded to return to Fontenelle the next da3^ As they were on the i^oint of startiuiT, a scout came in with the information that he had seen a small body of Indians crossing the river a mile or so distant. Arrangemeuts were instantly made to capture the party. A i^ortion of the white men took position in one room of a double log house, while the rest of the party kept themselves out of sight. The jjeople of the house were instructed to admit the Indians into the unoccupied room of the house, and after they were all in the room, the outside door was to be securely fastened, thea the middle door between the rooms was to be opened; the white men were to rush from the room in which they were concealed into that occcupied by the Indians, and then their capture would be a very easy matter - as they thought. It was a very neat little plan, and looked well, but there was one objection to it - it didn't pan out worth a cent. The Indians, eleven in number, approached the house; they were invited to walk in, which invitation was accepted, as it was evidently their intention to walk in whether thejj^ were invited or not; the outside door to the room was closed and fastened; the signal was given; the door betw'eeu the two rooms was opened; the w'hite men rushed with a yell into the room which was occupied b^* the Indians, and - captured the whole posse ? Not much. The greasy-skinned, slippery devils shed their blankets, dived down among the legs of the white men, slipped out like so many eels, burst open the door and were out of the room like a flash, and all the white men had to show for their stratagem was the lodgement of a slug in the wrist or one of their own number - ^Ir. James PI. Peters - which was brought about by the accidental discharge of a gun during tho melee in the room. The Indians were followed out of the house by the whites who blazed away at them as they ran toward the river. Two or three of the Indians were killed and one wounded; one was captured, having been bronght down " on the wing " by a shot which should have been better aimed.

The whites then hastily got their wagons together, put the wounded Indian in one of them, and started back to Fontenelle, being very anxious to vacate that particular section of the country before the Indians who had made their escape from the house should reach the Pawnee camps, and tell the tribe of the fracas. The whites " stood not upon the order of their going, but went at once, rattling over the level prairje road at a deucedly rapid pace. They had not proceeded far before the wounded Indian gave evidence of being dead. He was closely examined by those in the wagon, who agreed unanimously that he was defunct - that he would never again smash up a brass clock for the purpose of getting the wheels to hang in his ears, nor rip up a feather bed in order to get a substitute for a blanket. He was a goner, and as it would not pay to haul dead Indians, the wagon was driven to the bank of the Elkhorn, near which the road ran, the corpse was jDicked up and pitched into the river. As soon as the supposed -to-be-dead Indian struck the water, he dived down and swam under water for the opposite bauk, and it was then discovered that he had been playing " possum," and that he was better than a dozen dead men yet. But even an Indian cannot stay under water all the time; he must come up to bi'eath, and when that red rascal's head broke the surface of the stream, as he came up to get a whiff of air, a load of buckshot was deposited in the back portion of his cranium by a white man who never could appreciate a practical joke, and had but a poor opinion of jokers, whether white, black, or red. The buckshot was evidently too heavy a load for the Indian to carry conveniently, for he never reached the other side of the river alive.

It did not take many days for the news with regard to the killing of the Indians at West Point to be carried to every part of the Terriory, and the entire country was in a blaze of excitement. It was generally thought that the Pawnees would at once declare war against the whites, and the outlying settlements were supposed to be in danger of immediate extermination. Governor Black issued orders to the few militia companies then organized, to hold themselves in readiness to move at a moment's notice, and muskets were shipped to the different settlements, with orders for the immediate organization of other companies. The settlers along the Elkhorn river flocked to Fontenelle, which village was turned into a military camp. The growing crops were neglected, and suffered much damage thei'eby. Pickets were thrown out during the day, and a cordon of sentinels surrounded the place at night. All the ammunition was collected together, and pewter teapots, teaspoons, etc., were moulded into bullets. Blunderbusses which had done good service in patriot hands during the revolutionary war, and which had not been loaded nor cleaned since, were dragged forth and furbished up. Old sabres which bad figured prominently on "muster days" celebrated by the forefathers of their present owners, were produced, and measures adopted for the pur pose of inducing thena to leave their scabbards, from which they had not been drawn for years. It was reported every day for a week that ten thousand Indians were approaching the town fully attired in the traid- tional war paint and feathers, and in consequence of these cheerful stories the people were constantly kept in a pleasant state of exciting suspense. At night each bush or shrub would be transformed into a stealthily approaching redskin.

A week of this sort of life drifted by, and no attack had been made. By this time a force of about two hundred men had gathered in and about Fontenelle, and it was then resolved by the officials of the Territory that it would be a fine stroke of policy to cross the Elkhorn, follow the trail of of the Indians until they were overtaken, and then and there attack them and administer a lesson which they would not soon forget. A sufficient number of wagons were provided, with the necessary camp equipage and a large amount of provisions (several barrels of whisky being included in the latter), and on the 5th day of July the force moved across the river, and went into camp on Maple creek, a few miles from Fontenelle. Gov. Black accompanied the expedition, of which he was the commanderin-chief, though the battalion was under the direct command of Col. - since ]N[ajor General - Thayer, which gentleman had served in the Mexican difficulty, and was conseqnently supposed, by a credulous public, to be thoroughly conversant with the art of war. At this time I cannot remember the names of all the officers of the various companies, but of that from Fontenelle Wm. Kline was Gaptain, James A. Bell, First Lieutenant, and Wm. Flack, Second. Capt. Hazen commanded the Fremont company, J. J. Turton the one from North Bend, and Peter Reed that organized in Richland precinct. Capt. Bob Howard commanded the Omaha gun squad, and Lieut. Robinson 50 U. S. dragoons. The late General Samuel R. Curtis also accompanied the expedition, but took no active part in its management, although he, no doubt, rendered much service in the way of practical suggestions. I shall never forget the appearance that military organization presented when on the march. We had amounted force of about sixty men, and the remainder of the two hundred rode in wagons. When every thing was in readiness for breaking camp in the morning, Col. Thayer would take position and give the order: "At ten-t-i-o-n, bat-tali-o-n ! For-w-a-r-d, m-a-r-c-h I" the last word of command being pi'onounced in an indiscribable squeal, about two tones higher than W^atchel's " high C."

Our mounted force always rode at the head of the columns, preceded by a few scouts, a considerable distance in advance. The sun beat down upon us with terrible force, and the sandy stretches of country over which we passed, at intervals, threw out an immense amount of heat. Our horses were very poor and weak, and the excessive heat together with the heavy loads, soon began to tell on them, and consequently the progress made was very slow indeed. We had no roads, as the country had not yet been surveyed, and no settlements had been made. AVe struck the trail of the Indians and followed it steadily, over hills, through valleys, and across streams, which last named were always mirey. Here we would generally be delayed somewhat, as a bridge of some description was required before we could get the wagons across. A force would be set to work to cut brush, while another would mow down the heavy slough grass. The brush would be thrown into the stream, the grass piled on the brush, and then if the banks were very steep, the horses would be unhitched from the wagons, which would be let down by ropes, and then drawn up the opposite bank by the teams which had been previously taken across. Notwithstanding the many difliculties to be encountered, we usually traveled as far in one day as the Indians we were pursuing would march in three, it being an easy matter to locate the places where they had camped each night, these encampments being about seven miles apart. The utmost precaution against surprise was observed when, at the close of a long tedious day, a convenient spot for a camp would be selected, the wagons coralled, and the animals turned out to graze. At an early hour in the night, sentinels would be posted all around the camp, and relieved every two hours. After about a week's travel, during which we had not seen a human being, excepting those of our own party, we came one evening upon a single Indian lodge. We knew that we could not be very far behind the Indians, as the last few camps we had passed gave un mistakable signs of having been but receiitly vacated, and when this lodge was discovered, it was surrounded at once, and found to be occupied by " Jim Dick." an under chief among the Omahas, who told us that the Pawnees had been joined by the Omaha and Ponca tribes, and that with this increase of their numbers, there were at least 5,000 Indians in the party we were in pursuit of, and that they would encamp that night about seven or eight miles farther on, having occupied the camp at which we found Jim Dick's lodge, the night previous, heliavinglaid over one day's tramp on account of his squaw being sick. This somewhat startling news called forth a hurried cousultution. Five thousand Indians could utterly annihilate our force of two hundred undisciplined and poorly armed men, provided the Indians were disposed to fight. Jim Dick told us that the Omahas would not join the Pawnees as they wished to remain at peace with the whites, but it was impossible to say what the Poneas would do. It was finally determined to go forward. The Omaha and his squaw were compelled to go with us under guard, in order to prevent the news of our approach being conveyed to the Indians, in camp.

It was nearly night when we came upoa the lodge, and we proceeded but a mile or so before going into camp. Arrangements were made tostart out as silently as possible, at three o'clock the next morning. After supper had been disposed of, the cooking utensils and camp equppage were re-loaded, and every thing made ready for a start as soon as the signal should be given. The arms were put in as good condition as possible; bullets were moulded, and each man was instructed with regard to his duties. It was a misty moon-Jight night. The camp was near the banks of the Eikhorn. whose waters, rising in the far off Black Hills, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, rippled past with a monotonous sound. Occasionally the sharp cry of the coyote would be heard, as he wandered forth on a marauding expedition, or the hoot of the owl would break suddenly ou the night air. The sentinels paced up and down through the tall grass, watching with vigilant eye and prepared to give notice at the earliest approach pf danger. The tired animals nipped the rich grass, which abounded in the greatest profusion, keeping close to the wagons, as they always do when away from the settlements, evidently being taught by instinct that their safety depends upon keeping close to their masters. Orders were given for the fires to be extinguished at an early hour, and the men gathered about the wagons in little groups, and talked in low tones of what the coming day would bring forth. There was but little sleeping among us that night, but few jokes, and no boisterous laughter. It will be seen at a glance that the situation was not particularly exhilarating nor inspiring. We were a hundred miles or so out on the plains, shut off from all chance of reinforcement. We were in pursuit of, and expected to attack the Pawnee tribe, numbering 3,500 in all, and this tribe we found on coming up with it, to be reinforced by nearly as many more, t-o that if they were all " on the fight," there would be at least 2,000 braves for us to attack, and we were then within a few miles of that body of Indians who were quietly encamped and resting in blissful ignorance of our proximity.

At 3 o'clock in the morning the camp was aroused, and in a very short time we were on the move. Orders were issued in a low tone as we passed rapidly along. The trail ran near the river bottom, on the tableland adjoining, and we met with no obstacles whatever until daylight, when we came to a small stream which ran out from the bluffs and into the river. The scouts approached this stream carefully, for it was thought the Indian camp could iiot be far away. The creek was skirted with timber, which shielded our approach; and when the stream was reached the Indian camp was seen on the opposite side, near where it ran into the river. A large extent of ground was covered by the lodges, and here and there Indians were to be seen gliding about, entirely unconscious of our approach. In a very few moments, however, we were discovered, and the camp vanished like magic, and in an incredibly short space of time the wide river bottom-stretching out before us was swarming with redskins, some mounted, some on foot, but all striving, shouting and yellinoto make their escape. They leveled their lodges to the ground, but did not attempt to take them away; they thought only to save themselves. TLe Omahas did not run, neither did they strike their tents, but remained in them knowing that they had no reason to fear the whites. Our mounted force crossed the stream at once and followed up the flying Indians but some time was lost in getting the wagons across the mirey stream. Finally the entire force, wagons and all, were safely landed on the western side of the creek, and moved up the river at once. The tall slouch o-ra-s through which we passed concealed a good many of the weaker ones among the Indians, who, finding themselves unable to keep up with the others, had dropped down in the rank grass, hoping to be passed by. On either side of us could be heard the cries and yells of papooses, who had been thrown away by the frightened squaws, in their endeavors to "travel light." Small dogs, pet badgers, wolves, and " sich," had also been left by their masters to shirk for themseh^es, and they added their voices to the noise and contusion. It was a lively time. The sun had just risen, and was tipping the tops of the hills and the trees along the river with golden splendor. In a very short time notan Indian was to be seen, where but half an hour before hundreds and thousands had swarmed. They had taken shelter among the willows on the river bank, and in the breaks along the bluffs on either side of it.

But they did not escape us. An under chief of the Pawnees, a fat old codger, who was trying to get away on foot, was overtaken by a horseman who shot at him and missed him, but just as he had secured a better aim for a second attempt, the Indian threw up his hands and surrendered. He was told to call his tribe together for a parley immediately, or he would be murdered in cold blood, The Indian was very glad of this chance for saving his life, and he at once set up a series of terrific yells, in answer to which one redskin would show himself at this place, another at that, and then after an interchange of yells and calls, the Indians gradually approached our i>risoner, who explained to them that a parley with the " Chemokee man " was of the utmost importance at that particular juncture.

By this time our scattered forces had collected together; the wagons were correlled; a line of battle formed, with the six-pound brass piece in front of it, and the horsemen on the flanks. When the Indians, who were lurking about, discovered the full strength, or weakness rather, of the force they had been running from, they left their hiding places and approached us quite readily. They were ordered to keep a respectful distance in front, and only the chiefs were allowed to eome to the wagotis. The Indian force constantly received additions to its numbers, and before an hour had passed, we were confronted by about 2,000 redskins. The Pawnee chiefs were told that they could have their choice - give up the braves who had been engaged in the robbing and burning about West Point (for it was foimd that but a small party had been engaged in those depredaiions); pay the expenses of the expedition out of certain moneys due them from the government, or - fight us. One of the chiefs, a black, scowling fellow, with a sort of sheep thief look about him, wanted to fight us. He said that he had two hundred and fifty braves, and he knew he could clean us out, but the older and wiser heads of the tribe had been to Washington - that moral city of which we are all so proud; - they had held big pow-wows with the Great Father; they had gained a somewhat correct idea ot the numbers of the whites, and of the power and majesty of the nation which we, with our single brass gun represented; and last but not least, those old coveys had a very distinct recollection of that exploit of Gen. Harney at Ash Hollow, and they begged of that bloodthirsty, belligerent young devil to "abate the ardor of his wrath," 'i for," said they - said those old sages, " if you do kill off this pusillanimous looking crowd of palefaces, you have not gained anything, for the Great Father at Washington will soon hear of it and he will send out more soldiers than

It was finally arranged, after several hours had been occupied in the discussion of the matter, that the terms proposed by us would be acceded to, and then began a hunt for the Indians who had been raising Cain back in the settlements. By the middle of the afternoon we had seven young fellows tied behind one of our wagons, and we were moving off toward a suitable place to encamp for the night. Each of the head chiefs had attached his ''sign manuel " to a portentious looking document which set forth in the most grandiloquent terms the fact that the individuals whose crosses were thereunto attached, regretted exceedingly the depredations which had been committed by certain unruly and headstrong young men of the Pawnee tribe of Indians, and that they, the undersigned, authorized the keeping back from certain moneys due the tribe from the government, a suflficient amount to defray the expenses of the expedition, and the signers further agreed that they would make no effort to release the seven young men who had been turned over to our tender mercies, no matter what we chose to do with them.

When the young Indians were given up to us, a squaw belonging to one of them, insisted on being allowred to go with her brave, and when this request was denied, she screamed and cried, tore the hair out of her head by great handfulls, threw her arms around the young fellow's neck, and gave way to the most violent grief. 8he was dragged away from him with difficulty, and we then proceeded on our way, traveling but a few miles before going into camp. One of the prisoners seemed to be suffering a great deal from some cause, and upon one of our doctors making an examination, it was found he had been shot through the body, and that the wound was mortifying. He was one of the party of eleven who had been shut up in the room at West "oint, and as he ran off, after getting away from the house, he had been shot by one of the whites, hut was not so seriously injured but that he was able to reach the Pawnee camp, but since that time his wound had been getting more and more painful, each cay. The (doctor said he would not live to reach the settlements, and he was therefore set free and told to go back to his tribe. He was found the next morning a short distance from camp, dead.

We enjoyed a happy, easy time the afternoon and niglitafter the conference with the Indians, naturally supposing that all danger was now past, and that we could return home at once. It was arranged that we should proceed up the Elkhorn a few miles further, then travel in asoutherly direction until we struck the head of Beaver Creek, and then follow down that stream to its intersection with the Loup Fork, follow the Loup until we came to the Platte, and then keep along the Platte until we reached the settlements. We had a beautiful camp that night. Huge Cottonwood, walnut and elm trees spread their branches over our heads. A noisy little stream rippled at our feet, and the ground was covered with a rich green carpet of nature's weaving. Our minds were free from care or the apprehension of danger for the first time for many days, and we thoroughly enjoyed our pleasant surroundings. In due time, a supper of black coffee, fat bacon , molasses, and a certain kind of hot bread,, peculiar to the plains, was prepared and eaten with a relish. The bread referred to was made of dough, composed of flour, water, salt aud soda, mixed up tough and then dropped into a frying pan half full of hot grease. It requires the stomach of an ostrich, or a very healthy man, to digest it, and it would kill the oldest man in America in three weeks time if he should eat it and follow sedentary pursuits. As it requires a considerable amount of fat to cook bread in this way, it is looked upon as rather a rare treat, something as "duff" is aboard ship. The usual way of preparing bread on the plains is to mix up batter and make " slap-jacks." It is expected that after a man has beeen on the plains for a week, he will be able to "flop" aslap-jack over in a frying pan, when one side is done,without the aid of a knife, and when he has been out a month, he is supposed to be able to take hold of the frying pan handle, thjow the half-done slap-jack over a covered wagon, run around to the other side with his frying pan, and catch the descending mass, dough side down. The old hands allow a beginner just a month in which to acquire this accomplishment, and if he is unable to go through with it without doubliDg tbe slap-jack up in the pan when he catches it, at the end of that time, he is considered a discouraging failure.

As I said before, we were happy. As the sun sank to rest, and the twinkling stars came out one by one, aud the moon rose bright and clear, our camp presented a beautiful picture. A chain of sentinels surrounded it, but they were not so anxious or watchful as they necessarily were when upon guard previous to our coming up with the Indians. The song and jest passed around, and the hours slipped pleasantly by until it was time to " turn in." Then blankets were spread under the wagons, and as the moon looked down upon us, lighting up the scene with a mellow haze, we dropped off to sleep with the music of the rippling of waters aud the chirp of a thousands of crickets, hidden in the grass, sounding in our ears.

We were roused up at early hour the next morning, and in a short time our cavalcade was on the move. After marching a few miles we reached a high point of ground, from which a magnificent and pictui'- esque scene burst upon the view. Far off to the noithwest we could trace the windings of the Elkhorn by the timber upon its banks, while here and there could be seen small streams which found their way from, the highlands across thebroad river bottoms. At our feet was seen the Indian camp, now a scene of active commotion, for they had just discovered our approach, aud were rapidly gathering their herds of ponies from the neighboring hills. It was a mutual surprise. We supposed the In dians would remain the night previous at the place where the pow wow was held, and they probably thought we had turned back that morning, intending to go home by the route we had come.

We were in for it now. We wanted to go in a direction which would bring us very near the Indian camp, and if they were disposed to tight us, we would gain nothing by turning aside now. It wa^ decided 'hat we should get everything ready to repel an attack, move along as though the Indians were not there, and trust to fate for the rest Our six prisoners were tied together and then fastened by a rope to one of the wagons, behind which they walked quietly along, surrounded by a mounted guard. We did not go through the camp, but passed along one side of it, A few squaws and pappooses came out to see us as we moved along, but the Indians generally remained about their tents. Among the squaws who had come out from the camp, was the one before spoken of as having torn her hair and exhibited such great grief at being separated from her brave the day before, and when the wagon behind which the prisoners were tied, come up, this squaw rushed among them and gave her Indian a knife, with which he stabbed himself in the breast, and fell heavily to the ground. Of course the wagon stopped at once, and the attention of the guards was taken up with the wounded Indian, whom they suppssed to be bleeding internally, as but little blood was to be seen about the wounds, although a reddish looking matter, similar to blood in appearance, oozed from each corner of his mouth. As the guards were doing what they could to assist the Indian who had stabbed himself, his treacherous squaw secured the knife and cut the ropes which bound the prisoners together, and away they sprang like a flash, all the guards but one running after them, firing upon them as they ran. Mean while, the wounded Indian had stretched out, his eyes sunk into his head, and he gave every indication of being dead, while that squaw of his hung over him, indulging in wild expressions of grief. When she saw that the guards were some distance from the wagon, she gave her buck the signal, and he jumped to his feet as agile as a cat, and started to run. But he did not go far. One guard had remained to keep an eye on the corpse, and when that corpse attempted to run away, contrary to the customs and habits of corpses generally, the guard drew up his rifle and called, "halt!" The Indian halted, and it was then found that the wound which he had inflcted upon himself was only skin-deep, and that he had red ochre in his mouth, by means of which he had created the impression that blood was oozing from between his lips. He was immediately recaptured, tied behind the wagon, and the procession moved on.

We proceeded about a mile, took up position on a high hill, and then stopped for a consultation. The guards who pursued the escaped prisoners had returned to the command, and reported that they had either killed or wounded all the prisoners except the one which had been recaptured. This was well enough, but in the exciten.ent of the chase they had popped over an Omaha, (down among whose tents the prisoners ran), and had also killed an Omaha pony. The indications just at that time were that we had cut out more work for ourselves than we could get through with conveaiently. It was reasonable to suppose that the Pawnees had been thorougly roused by the occurrences of the last half hour, and if the Puncas and Omahas would join them, it was quite probable that they would " go back" on the agreement of the previous da3^ The Omahas had acted very fairly thus far, utterly refusing to have anything to do with trouble iuto which tne Pawnees had brought themselves, as they considered it "none of their funeral," but it was a difficult matter to decide what they would do now, since one of their braves had been wounded and a pony killed. We were on a high hill, about a mile from the Indian camp, with no chance to get wood or water, and it would be a very easy matter for us to be surrounded and starved to death. The prospects was somewhat gloomy and discouraging.

While we were deliberating over the matter, we saw a procession of Indians leave the Onialia camp and approach us, " with stately step and slow," which procession proved to be composed of fifty of the wise heads among the Omahas. They marched in single file without a sound being heard, and as they slowly' approached us, we could see that their minds were filled with serious thoughts. They were decorated in a peculiar manner, their costumes indicating that they were prepared for either war or peace, as circumstances might seem to dictate.

But they didn't fight us. our cheek and our extraordinary conversational powers saved us for the second time. We reasoned with those chiefs; we talked as we had never talked before. We portrayed in brilliant and glowing colors the evils which would result to the redskins generally In case the Oiuahas and the Poncas joined with the Pawnees in declaring war against us. We dwelt especially upon the immense resources possessed by the whites; of their great facilites for the carrying on of a prolonged and bloody warfare. We deprecated the accidental shooting of the Omaha, promising to hang the man who had fired the unfortunate shot. We made mention of the fact that the Omahas had been at peace with us ever since the first settlement of the Territory'. We had regular details made to talk to those old chaps who had one side of their villainous looking countenances painted red and the other black, and as soon as one detail of men would be exhausted, another took their place, and we outwinded them. Their desire for war gradually cooled, (nothingcould withstand the avalanche of talk which we hurled at their devoted heads,) and they finally agreed that if we would leave medicines for the wounded Indians, and pay for the pony we had killed, they would let us ofl". To this condition we assented cheerfully, and as the Poncas had signified their intention to do as the Omahas decided to do in the matter, the Pawnees concluded that they would not fight us alone. We left a horse for the Indian whose pony had been killed, and we were allowed to move on. We did not camp very early that night. Every mile that we traveled, put that much distance between us and the Indians, and we were seized with a desire to make that as great as possible before stopping for the night. We were not all afraid toencamp in their immediate vicinity, bat it occurred to us that perhaps in view of all the facts it would be better if we were some distance from the Indian camp that night. We thought they would like it better.

Soon after leaving the scene of our conference, we struck Beaver Creek, and followed along its course. We traveled late that night, and did not go into camp until near midnight. Keeping along Beaver Creek» we came iu due time to its intersection with the Loup Fork, at the Mormon settlement of Genoa, before spoken of. Here we were cordially received by the Mormons, who looked upon us as a band of brave and noble men who had sacrificed home and home comforts for the nonce, going forth with our lives in our hands to do battle in defense of the unprotected settlements, and shield them from the devastating to rcli of the savage.

Leaving the Mormon camp - in a manner becoming a band of heroes - \\»e journeyed down the Loup Fork, and reached the German town of Columbus that night, at which place we went into camp. We also indulged in a high old time - we felt tliat the Indians were now safe from any murderous designs which we may have harbored against them, and we rejoiced to know it. We left one company of our command at Columbus, it having been organized there, and after leaving that village, our force decreased very rapidly. We were formally disbanded at Columbus, the different companies being allowed to return to the various settlements from whence they came by the nearest and most practicable routes. We were told that each company commander would receive the pay due his company, and that the members of the company would be paid by him. It was supposed that the government would enforce the contract we had made with the Indians, keep back enough funds to pay the expenses of the expedition, and that we would receive the money which was due us. But the Government recoiled on us, paid the the Indians all that was due them, and we were left to whistle for our pay. We are whistling yet.

Murders A.Nd Murder Trials

There have been fewer men killed within the boundaries of Washington county since its settlement than one would naturally expect under the circumstrnces. In 1858 a man named Blackwood, living near De 8oto, was arrested on account of a difficulty he had had with a man named Lamb, in which he cut the latter with an axe. He was committed to jail to await trial before the District Court of the Territory, bat broke jail, went to his house, and there barricaded himself. He shot at Harvey Estes, who happened to be jassing by, whereupon a warrant was issued for his arrest and placed in the hands of Wm. Frazier, Deputy Sheriff, who, in endeavoring to serve it, shot Blackwood. Frazier was tried and acquitted on the ground that the killing was justifiable homicide.

In 1859 Henry Seevers, while under the influence of liquor, stabbed an Englishman by the name of Bovee, in a saloon at De Soto, with a butcher knife, killing him. Seevers was arrested and bound over to the next term of court, but the grand jury failed to find an indictment against him and he was released.

In 1861 Hiram Frazier, a boy thirteen years old, shot a German who had said the boy stole a whip, the German dying within a few hours from the effects of the wound. The boy was sentenced to be hung, but the Governor commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life. Young Frazier served three years in the jail at Omaha, when he was pardoned out. The family went west after his release and settled on the Republican, where it is repoited they were all massacred by Indians.

In the winter of 1869-70, oneMcAuley, a clerk at the Quimby House, was killed by John Jones, head cook at the hotel. McAuley was running away fr-ni Jones, when the latter threw a butcher's cleaver at him, the weapon passing between McAuley's arm and body, severing the miiu artery of the arm. The wounded man ran some distance into a saloon where he bled to death before the startled occupants of the establishment knew what was the matter with him. Jones was tried in June, 1870, before Judge Crounse, now Representative in congress, when the jury dis- agreed, standing eleven to one. After they had been discharged it was found that the one juryman, who had stood out alone, was insane, and he was at once removed to the asylum at Lincoln. At the second trial, Jones was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. He was-: ably defended by Col. James W. Savage, now Judge of the Third district, and John Carrigan, Esq., of Blair, E. F. Gray, Esq., of Fremont, being the prosecuting attorney for the district at that time.

February 8th, 1875, Phillip Kleinburg, in company with a neighbor, Herman Brandert, left his home on the Brainard farm, a mile north of Fontenelle, to haul wheat toNickerson station, three miles distant on the Elkhorn Valley railroad. Returning three hours later, about noon, he found his wife, whom he had left in the morning well and hearty, lying in the snow a few feet north of the house, with three terrible gashes in her throat. The ground where her head had evidently been lying when the wounds were inflicted, was covered with blood, and the body was then partially cold, indicating ing that death had ensued at least half an hour before. He ran over to his nearest neighbor, Mr. ('hristy Achilles, informed him of the horrible discovery, aud Mr. Achilles at once went to Fontenelle and summoned help. Tracks in the freshly fallen snow were traced from the body to the house of Chris Hamming, half a mile to the east, and corresponding tracks - apparently made with buffalo overshoes - were discovered leading from Hamming's house, to that of Kleinburg, and a pair of buffalo overshoes on the soles of which were snow and ice, were found in Hamming's house. Willard Randall, a young man nineteen years of age, had occupied this house alone for several days, and he was arrested on suspicion of being the murderer. He was tried at Blair, before Judge Samuel Maxwell, in November, 1875, District Attorney Connell, prosecuting, and Col. Savage, of Omaha, and John Carrigan, Esq., of Blair, defending. The jurj' disagreed and a change of venue to Douglas county was obtained. In March, 1876, the case was tried before Judge Griffey, of the Sixth district - Judge Savage being incapacirated by reason of his former connection with the case - and a verdict of murder in the second degree returned by the jury. The prisoner was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and is now serving out his term. In the second trial Mr. Connell was assisted by John C. Cowin, of Omaha, and Mr. Carrigan secured the services of Charles H. Brown, of Omaha, as assistant counsel for the defense.

Last May Henry King, a German, was killed by Minor Milton, under the following circumstances: There had been some feeling of unfriendliness existing between Milton and two Swedes, named respectively John Christian and Jans Jenson, on the one side, and Henry and Edward King on the other. The parties all lived in the same neighborhood, some two miles south of Blair, and were in Blair the day of the killing, attending court. The King brothers left town in the evening in their wagon to go home, and a short time afterwards Milton, Christian, and Jensen left in the wag^n of the latter. It was not proven that tliey knew the Kings were ahead of them, but it was shown that after getting a few miles out they came within sight of the Kings and at once whipped up their horses in pursuit. The Kings gave rein to their horses, and finally drove into a farm house, about seven miles southwest of Blair, for protection. Milton's team was close behind them. The Kings jumped out of their wagon and started to run. Henry King was pursued by Milton, who struck him over the head with a heavy club, breaking his skull, and knocking him senseless to the ground. Edward King was also knocked down by either Milton or Christian, while Jensen held the team. Henry King died from the effect of his injuries, but his brother recovered. The assaulting party were arrested, Milton found guilty of murder in the first degree, at a special term of court, held by Judge Savage in the latter part of May, and was sentenced to be hung September 22d, 1876. Christian was tried and acquitted, and a noils was entered by the State in the case of Jensen. John Carrigan, assisted by his law partner. L. W. Osborn , conducted the defense, and appealed the case of Milton to the Supreme Court, which does not meet until the second Monday in Septe nber. District Attorney W. J. Connell conducted the prosecution.

In 1864 was organized the Northern Nebraska Air Line Railroad Company, but nothing was done in the way of constructing a road. In 1867, the company was re-organized, consisting of John S. Bowen, John A. Unihank, Dean C. Slader, Jessie T. Davis and T. P. Kennard, the object being to build a railroad from I^eSoto to Fremont. A land grant of seventy-five sections of land was donated the company by the State, iu aid of the enterprise, and a temporary line was built from DeSoto to the present site of Blair. In 1868, the comi^any disposed of its franchise to John I. Blair and associates, who, the following year, completed the Sioux City & Pacific road from the Missouri immediately east of Blair to Fremont, there forming a junction with the Union Pacific and Elkhorn Valley roads. A year or two afterwards the De Soto branch, or " plug " as it was called in derision, was taken up, having never been operated. Considerable bad feeling was gotten up among the residents of the county in consequence of this abandonment of the original design to make De Soto the eastern terminus of the road, in Washington County, but that soon passed off. County aid to the amount of $75,000 was voted the Sioux City & Pacific road, in 1869. This road has been successfully operated ever since its completion. Mr. Scott Bryan is agent for the company at Blair.

Evidently satisfied with the result of aiding in the construction of railroads, the people of the county, in 1870, voted in favor of issuing bonds to the amount of $12-5,000 in favor of the Omaha & Northwestern, and in 1872, this line was completed as far as Herman, along the eastern line of the county. This summer it is being built to Tekamah, the county seat of Burt County, and will eventually be pushed many miles farther to the Northwest. Mr. Charles Willard is the company's agent at Blair.

The Elkhorn Valley road does not run through Washington county, but is built in the valley of the Elkhorn river, on the west side of that stream, from Fremont to Wisner, affording railroad transportation to the western portion of the county, the river being bridged.

Time was when Rockport, situated on the Missouri River, about a dozen miles above Omaha, was one of the best known and most flourishing little towns in Nebraska. It was first settled in 1657, Wm. H. Russell, still a prominent citizen of the county, and President of the Old Settlers Association, now residing near De Soto, being one of its founders. J. P. Burkett, Hawley Bros., David and Stephen Neal, and Dr. Lewis were also among the early settlers of Rockport. David Neal still lives there. Mr. Burkett lives at Yankton, and was at one time agent for the Yankton Sioux.

Rockport boasted at one time, a fine, large hotel building, but for some reason it was never furnished, and was finally moved down to Florence. It was built by the Town Company. A splendid body of hardwood timber surrounded the town, and extensive stone quarries were opened and .successfully worked, in the vicinity. But the timber was cut down by the Union Pacific railroad company, v/ho also bought the quarries, I believe, and as there was no agricultural country surrounding the town near enough to be tributary to it, the settlement to a considerable extent, rapidly dwindled away after the stone and timber interest passed out of the hands of private parties, until now its glory is a thing entirely of the old en time, having passed into the keeping of tradition. Its lumber and shingle mills, which did a flourishing business, have been removed, and silence aud solitude now reign where once were beautiful homes and the busy hum of industry. In the long ago, the heavy timber and deep ravines surrounding the settlement, afforded excellenc facilities for the hanging of horse thieves, which facilities were frequently utilized, until finally an extensive and enterprising band of lawless horsefanciers who made tlieir headquarters near De Soto, were effectually broken up. It is a significant fact that the countj'^ lost a number of its most prominent and enterprising citizens in consequence of the disorganization of this band of horse thieves.

Foet Calhoun

The town site of Fort Calhoun was claimed early in the summer of 1854, by John Goss, Senior; who lived and owned a farm just opposite on the Iowa side of the Missouri river, and was soon after donated by him, (except two shares, one for himself and one for his son John Goss, Jr.,) to a company consisting of Cas^ady & Test, Addison Cochran and H. C. Purple, of Council Bluffs, and Mark W. Izard, Governor of the Territory, Andrew J. Poppleton and Hadley D. Johnson, prospective residents of Omaha.

This company built a cabin upon the site of the old Fort, near the magazine, (which was a solid stone structure; 10x12 feet in size, and with walls two feet thick.) had the boundaries of the townsurveyed and a plat drawn, and divided among themselves. About this time, Maj. Ansel Arnold, (father of Rriee Arnold, the present sheriff of Washington county,) took a claim one quarter of a mile south, and moved his family from whei*e the present town of Florence now is - which was then in Washington county - on to it, bringing with him, a Mr. George W. Nevell and family, who were engaged by the Town Company to occupy their cabin and hold the claim. In January of that year, the boundaries of the county were by act of the Legislature, then in session, changed, and the County Seat Iccated at Fort Calhoun, and the county fully organized by the appointment of Stephen Cass, Probate Judge ; George W. Nevell, Recorder, and Thos. J. Allen, Sheriff. The county was included in the First Judicial District of the Territory, over which Chief Justice Fenner Furgeson was appointed to preside.

In March 1855, Mr. E. H. Olark, now a resident of Blair, was employed by the Town Company to survey off the town into lots and blocks, and plat the same, which he did, and had one hundred lithographs printed, which were divided up by the company, and sent to their friends to advertt. e the town, as was customary in those days.

In June 1355, the first court was opened in the county in the claim cabin of the Town Company. It was presided over by the Hon. Fenner Furgeson, with Maj. J. W. Paddock, now of Omaha, as clerk, Gen. E. Estabrook, U. S. Prosecuting Attorney, and Thos. J. Allen, sheriflT. The attorneys present were E. Estabrook, Andrew J. Poppleton, E. H. Clark, and J. McNeal Latham. The first case tried was that of Elias Wilcox vs. James M. Taggart, for claim jumping. The case was prosecuted b\' E. H. Clark, and defended by J. McNeal Latham, and was decided in favor of the plaintiff. It was for the land afterwards jire-empted and now owned by Wicox, being a valuable piece of timber five miles west of Fort Calhoun.

During this spring, several came into the neigliborliood. At this time the settlement consisted of Auselam Arnold and family, Geo. W. Nevell and family, Wm. Connor and family, Stephen Cass and family, Orrin Rhodes and family, Tliomas J. Allen and family, James Craig and family, Je se Estlock and family, Wm. Moore and family, James M. Taggart, E. H. Clark and several single men who have since left the country and not now remembered. There was onwed at this time in the entire precinct, only seven yoke of cattle and one span of horses, and in breaking prairie the settlers had to double teams, and consequently got but little breaking done that season.

In June of the year 1855 for the consideration of one-ninth interest in the town, E.H. Clark contracted with the proprietors to put up a building on the town site for a hotel ; said building to he 24x48 feet, two stories high, and with an ell of the same dimensions ; the structure to be of hewn logs and put up in good style. The contract was in writing, and as soon as the building Avas completed, each member of the company was to deed Mr. Clark by quit-claim his proportion of the lots to be taken indiscriminately from all parts of the town. He immediately, with six men, commenced the work of getting out the timber, boarding in the meantime with Major Arnold's family, and laboring under many disadvantages, both for want of skilled laborers and teams. The men were newly arrived from Virginia, none of whom had ever done manual labor, but were out of money and must do something; so had imposed themselves upon Mr. Clark as men from a timbered country, and used to such work, and as hands were not readily obtained in those days, he had to submit, paying them two dollars each per day and boarding them. For teams he hired a yoke of oxen from the settlers as thej' could spare them from their own work. What lumber was necessary for the building had to be obtained from Omaha (where a mill had been started) at $60 per thousand, and hauled a circuitous route by the old Mormon trail a distance of eighteen miles. As an additional incident to his trials, one morning at breakfast Mr. Clark was told by Mrs. Arnold that the last mouthful in the house was on the table. Maj. Arnold, who was absent for supplies, had been expected home the night before, but as he had not come, it was supposed that he could not get any team to come with. This proved to le the fact, and Mr. Clark procured two yoke of oxen and started at once for

Omaha for provisions, thinking he could bring back a load of lumber as soon as to make the trip without, which proved to be a sad mistake, for never having driven oxen before, he met with many mishaps, and by the hardest work, traveling all night through rain and mud, only reached sight of home at sunrise next morning, when the oxen ran away, upsetting the lumber and scattering the groceries all over the prairies, so that little was recovered but some bacon and a barrel of flonr. He found the family standing outside the house anxiously looking for his return, having had nothing to eat since the morning before, and who expecting him early in the evening, had hopefully watched the entire night through, his men having taken care of themselves by going off to the neighbors and leaving Mrs. Arnold and her then small children entirely helpless.

About the 10th of August the claim cabin of the town company having been vacated, one Charles T. Davis, in a very unostentatious manner moved in, and filed a claim on the town site and served a written notice upon Mr. Clark to quit tresspassing upon the claim. The latter notified the company of his action, and kept on drawing material on the ground for his building, and after three days Davis sued him for tresspass, fixing his damages at $100, for which he aftei*wards obtained judgment, and Clark paid it. Mr. C'ark then notified the company that he should sell his material and leave unless they took steps to put the title out of controversy, Thej' returned word for him to go on with the work and they would guarantee the title. A day or so after, while engaged with all the neighbors iu raising the building, a number of the comjiany, with some friends, ten or twelve in all, came up and wanted Clark to join them in removing Davis forcibly from the claim, which he declined to do. While parlying over the matter a man was seen going at full speed on horseback from the claim cabin towards DeSoto, and, as it was already known that the settlement at DeSoto was to back Davis in his attempt to hold the Calhoun town site (DeSoto being a rival), Clark told the company that the sooner they eot over there the better, if they were going, for Davis would soon have help from DeSoto. They thought not, and still insisted that all the settlers around Calhoun were interested, and should go and assist. The talk was continued until dinner time, and then the party went off to dinner, and when returning, saw three wagon loads of armed men coming from DeSoto and going into the house with Davis. It was then thought by the representatives of the company useless to attack them, but they proposed that the entire party should go so as to show as strong a force as possible in order to scare Davis off, and that if he would not go, they would come up again with a stronger forc^ when he was not expecting it, and put him off the claim. To this the settlers agreed, and all marched over to the house, and were drawn up in line in front of the door, which was closed. Col. Addison Cochran as spokesman knocked at the door, which was answered by Davis from within, demanding what they wanted. Cochran told him that he knew that claim belonged to the town company, and that they wanted him to peaceably leave it, and that if he did not, they should put him off by force. Davis' attorney - Potter C. Sullivan - replied, claiming some legal ground for Davis' action, and it was agreed that he should come outside and talk the matter over with Cockron. While they were talking, the door was opened, and some one from tlie inside said he would like to " put a bullet through Thompson," - one of the party outside - whereupon some words passed when Thompson and the man making the remark, each drew their revolvers and fired at the same time, but neither shot took effect. The line was drawn up about twenty-five feet from the door, and as soon as these shots were fired, a dozen guns were seen pointing from the cabin, and shot after shot was fired upon Cochran and his retreating party, three of which shots took effect, one through the heart of John Goss, sr., killing him instantly ; one through the arm of H. C. Purple, in the shoulders, so shattering it that it was two or three 3' ears before he recovered, and only after seven surgical operations had been performed by the most skilled surgeons of Chicago. Both of these parties were proprietors in the town site. The third shot took effect in the thigh of the Mr. Thompson who had the words with the man inside, but it was only a flesh wound, however, from which he soon recovered. When Mr. Goss fell, Mr. Clark was still standing before the door, and his escaj e was miraculous, as bullets whistled on every side. He immediately ran to Mr. Goss' assistance, and while holding his head, a number of shots were fired at him, and after laying him down and going in search of his son, who returned to the body with him, the occupants of the house kept firing at them, but with no effect, tliough not over fifty feet distant. The escape of the two men can only be accounted for by the excited condition of those who held the guns. The body of Goss was put in a wagon and conveyed to his home in Iowa, and there buried. This sad affair was a terrible blow to the little community, and none knew what would happen next, as it was feared such feelings were aroused that many more would be killed, by being waylaid or otherwise.

The night after this affray, Davis sent his attorney, Sullivan, to Omaha to compromise the matter, he doubtless fearing another attack. The town, company agreed with Sullivan to arbitrate the right to the town site, and that all hostilities on both sides and all work on the site should be suspended until after "tii^'aftfti; the arbitration, which was to be by disinterested parties chosen, one from Bellvue, one from Nebraska City, and one from Glenwood. The time fixed was a month from that date, and when the time came the arbitrators could not be got together and, in fact, never did meet. Tlius the matter rested until November, when Davis, who all the time had not felt safe, made a sale, or pretended sale, to Major Anselum Arnold, Thomas J. Allen, Jesse Esttock, and Jame^ M. Taggart, and they with Casady and Test, John Goss, Mrs. Goss, widow of John Goss, Sr., formed a new town company, taking Mr. Clark in as an equal proprietor providing he should go on and complete his hotel building according to the original contract, which he did, and in March, 1856, gave Col. George Stevens, then in the Douglas House at Omaha, a one-half interest in the building on condition he would move into it and open a ho-

During this spring the town had assumed very considerable proportions. Buildings sprang up on every hand, among which was a grocery store, by W. H. Jacoby, which building still stands; a blacksmith shop, two saloons, and a number of dwellings. Among others those of N. Runyon, A. P. Allen, (both of whom still live in the town) and E. H. CJark. The latter's house was burned down on the morning of the 1st day of January, 1860, when the thermometer stood at 30° below zero - the coldest day ever witnessed since the State was settled. Through the spring and summer of 1856 dozens were coming to the town every day, the hotels and private houses were crowded continually and many had to go away for want of temporary accommodations. Alonzo Perkins and Perkins Allen came with a saw mill and put it up under the bluff, close to the old fort grounds, Lewis McBride and Frank Fithion built a large and commodious store and filled it with a fine stock of general merchandise. Mr. Clark built a law office, in which Geo. W. Nevell - who the fall before had been appointed postmaster - opened a postolHce with glass boxes, and all the paraphanalia of a first-class office. A four horse coach was put on the road between Omaha and Fort Calhoun by the Western Stage Company, and a rushing business was done in all branches of trade - particularly in town lots and land claims, the former ranging in price from one to five hund'-ed dollars, according to location. A Court House was built by the subscription of the citizens, on one of the public squares. 16x20 in size, and in which the Hon. E. Wakely, now of Omaha, first presided" as Judge, with Geo. W. Doane, also of Omaha, at present, as prosecuting attorney, Roger T. Beal clerk, and Orrin Rhodes sheriff, the bar present consisting of Kline & Clark and Clark Irvine, of this county, and A. J. Poppleton, E. Estabrook, and Jonas_Seely, of Omaha. Claim jumping was common and many conflicts ensued therefrom - in some cases murder. In April one Isaiah Peterson jumped the claim of a Mr. Coon, having built a house in an out of the way place, where it was not known until he was occupying it. Mr. Coon went to see him and was there found dead soon afterwards with a bullet through his heart. Peterson claimed that he killed Coon in self defense, which was not believed. Nothing further is known however, about it. Peterson was arrested and indicted but made his escape before Le had atrial as there was no place to confine him but in the Court House. Coon was buried on the spot where he was shot, and it was said by parties from the east when they went back home, that the country was so healthy that we had to kill a man to start a graveyard, Mr. Coon being the first man buried in the county. The claim is now the fine farm of Hans J. Rohwer, who purchased it of Geo. W. Homan, sr., now of Omaha, and he of the Coon heirs.

A claim club was organized at Fort Calhoun as well as in all other settlements, and on one occasion, soon after the killing of Coon, a stranger "squatted" on the claim of a member of the club, built ashanty, and was occupying the same when the club went in force and arrested him, brought him into Calhoun and by the exhibition of a rope, extorted from him a promise to leave the country, which promise he fulfilled to the letter. In this peculiar line Fort Calhoun became somewhat noted, for soon after that another party was taken, on suspicion of being a hard character, to the Missouri river, crossed over to the Iowa side in a boat, and advised never to return, and has not since been seen in that vicinity. About the same time two horses were stolen from near Rockport by two men named Rowen and Brady who were captured and for safe keeping put in the jail at Omaha but before their trial were taken out by masked men, some of whom belonged at Calhoun, and hung to a tree, one of them the man named Brady, requesting that the rope be passed between his jaws instead of around his neck, which was done. Four of the parties implicated in this affair were arrested and imprisoned in Omaha, and after two ineffectual attempts to convict them were discharged. And very recently a prominent citizen received an anonymous letter giving him five days to leave the town or suffer the consequences. He went.

Dnring the summer of 1856 preaching was had in the town once a month by the Rev. Mr. Collins, a Methodist minister located at Omaha. Services were held in the Court House, as was also the school and meetings of all kinds. A Sabbath school was started with eight or ten children of all ages and sizes and as many adults, with E. H. Clark as Superintendent the first year, after which Dr. J. P. Andrew was elected Supertendent and, with the exception of one year, (when a Mr. Davis served) he has held the position ever since, being re-elected each year by the unanimous vote of the school, aiid through his prompt attendance and effl ciency, it is now one of the most flourishing Sabbath schools in the county. A day school was also started, with Miss Lucy Graham as teacher. Col. Geo. Stevens, P. N. Stilts, and E, H. Clark were elected a school committee, under the school law of the Territory.

During this season, the influx of immigration was so great and improvement so rapid that it would be impossible to give anything like a detailed account of all, but the most important enterprises to the town were the steam saw mill of Perkins & Allen, heretofore mentioned and the commencement of the steam grist mill, which was completed and put in operation in 185S by Z. Vanier& Bro., and in 1861, passed into the hands of Elam Clark and Samuel Hale by virtue of a mortgage held by tnem. Samuel Hale, a year or so after sold his interest to Taylor Bradley, of La Porte, Indiana, and he a few years after sold to Elam Clark who thus became the sole proprietor, and he still owns and runs the mill. An incident, perhaps worth relating here, occurred in connection with this mill property. The Messrs. Vanier finding that they could not jmy offthe mortgage on the mill, conceived the idea that if they could get the machinery out of the county they could hold it, and that being the valuable part of the mill, they made the attempt by getting a large force to help them, and procuring teams from Omaha to assist, commencing one Saturday after 9 o'clock at night. They so far succeeded as to get the machinery all out and mostly on the road, some of it having got as far as