Comstock Township (part 1 of 2)

Comstock Township

The village of Comstock, the youngest town in Custer county, is located on the east bank of the Middle Loup river, on the Aurora and Sargent extension of the B. & M. Railroad. The town was located and surveyed in 1899. A store building was moved over from Wescott, bv W. H. Comstock. and located on the

Stone began buying stock, with H. H. Wheeler as agent, followed in December by Mr. Parks, both building stock 3'ards. In October a general hardware and implement store was opened. The postoffice opened for business November 19th, with S. T. Stevens as postmaster. The hotel was completed and opened to the public in November, but was soon found too small for the proper accommodation of the traveling public. A feed and sale stable was in operation in December. Walter Hammond opened a barber shop in December, and Albert Apperson commenced the draying business at the same time. In Januarv, 1900, M.

I. Fried opened with a line of implements. Elias Cleveland finished his dwelling and moved into it in February. J. F. Westcott, contractor and builder, moved into town in February, but did not complete his dwelling until the following Alay. F. H. Kernohan had his brick store and residence read)' for occupancy in May. In September J. W. Com- stock opened a harness store and repair shop. In December Wescott & Gibbons moved their general merchandise store from the west side of the river and began business in Comstock. In January, 1901, Frank Hammond began business in a new blacksmith and wagon repair shop. R. R. Bangs moved into the hotel in January. C. N. McWorthy built his house for a residence, millinery and dressmaking store in February. In March the ^Modern Woodmen commenced the erection of a twostory building, the ground floor to be used as a drug store, bank, and meat market, and the upper floor for a public hall. A commodious schoolhouse was built in the fall of 1900. The first child born in the village of Comstock was Helen Apperson, February 23, 1900. Concerning the town to-day, E. F. Skolil makes the following resume :

Comstock is a thriving, growing and up-todate town on the .\urora and Sargent branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railroad, located in the Middle Loup valley on the east side of Custer county and about at the center of the state of Nebraska. It is an all-around good and prosperous little town of over five hundred inhabitants. It contains three churches, Congregational, Methodist, and Latter-Day Saints, three good and prospering general merchandise stores - ^Ves^ott Gibbons & Bragg, the leading store, established in 1886; F. C. Dworak, established in 1900; J. C. Kiker. established 1917. Two good banks - the Citizens State Bank, the leading bank, established in 1906; and the Farmers' & ?klerchants' State Bank, established in 1909. The banking resources of this little town are over $600,000. which tends to show that it is a prosperous and growing town, as it is only about eighteen years old. Comstock can well boast of the two most modem, up-to-date bank buildings in the county. Two good lumber j'ards - - Dierks Lumber & Coal Company, starting in business about the time the town was platted, and S. A. Foster and Company, in 1911. Two good hardware stores, and furniture store in conjunction with one of them - -J. T. Arthur, established in 1907, succeeding S. T. Stevens - and C. E. Brandt, established in 1914, succeeding R. R Bangs, who conducted a hardware and furniture store for over ten years previously. One blacksmith shop, one of the most up-to-date and neatest drug stores in the county, owned by E. C. Gibbons and operated by J. D. Rockhold since 1912. One harness shop, established with the town by J. \\'. Comstock and still owned by him and operated by his son, A. L. Comstock. Two good implement stores, two automobile garages, one livery barn, one butcher shop, one barber shop, one pump and general-repair shop, one of the largest and best flouring mills in that part of the state, (owned and operated by C. F. EUer), one farmers' live-stock shipping association, two live-stock dealers, one hotel, one of the best and most up-to-date restaurants in th's sec- tion, under the name of Woodman Cafe, owned by W. E. Gibbons, E. F. Skolil and Aley Shafer, established in 1918 in the Woodman Fraternal building. One modern movingpicture theater, established in 1912 by Charles D. Bragg and E. C. Gibbons, along with an electric plant from which the people of Ccmstock are deriving much good and comfort, as the service is as good as in large cities. One grain elevator, owned by W. T. Barstow almost since the town originated. One printing office where the Comstock Kck's is edited and published and which deserves a great deal of credit for the prosperity and advancement of this town. One large and modern opera house, in the Woodmen Fraternal building, which was built in 1917, and contains also a large banquet hall and two large stores on the main floor.

In Comstock there are the following lodges : Knights of Pythias. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Modern Woodmen of America. One doctor, four cream stations, one city hall one telephone exchange (which has been under the good management of E. B Wait since

1917 and is all rebuilt and giving good service), four coal yards, one good public school, with eleven grades. Comstock has some fine residences, a growing park, and the best sidewalks in the state.

Following are the members of the town board in 1918: E. F. Skolil (chairman), John F. Westcott, Ed. B. Wait, J. C. Kiker, and S. T. Stevens. Comstock has had four successful Chautauquas and many elaborate Fourth of July celebrations. Chautauquas and lecture courses have been maintained for many years.

One of the most enterprising towns of Custer county is Callaway, located on the South Loup river, in the midst of a valley that is beautiful and fertile enough for an Eden. The town is on the Kearney branch of the Union Pacific Railroad.

The following record of the early settlement and growth of the town was written by George B. Mair several years ago and is reliably authentic.

organization of the town have removed to other parts. The birth of Callaway, in the minds of the citizens of to-day, is apparently in the dim, distant past - a dust-covered tradition, and as an introduction to the historj' of Callaway a brief account of the settlement of the territory contiguous may not be out of place.

"Probably the first settler to locate in the South Loup valley between the present towns of Callaway and Arnold was Frederick Schreyer, who came in June, 1875, with a large family, and located a claim about four miles above Callaway. Mr. Schreyer soon found himself in trouble with the cowboys, who attempted to drive him away. He was a shining mark for practical jokes at the hands of the cowboys, and accepted in dead earnest everything they did to torment him. When they attempted to stampede a herd of cattle over the roof of his dugout, or destroyed his watermelon patch, and such other innocent diversions, Mr. Schreyer positively refused to see the point of the joke.

"The next settler to arrive in the valley was David E. Sprouse, who located two miles northwest of the present town of Callaway. In October of the same year came Ira Graves and George T. Ricker, in search of land, the former filing on a homestead and timber claim, adjoining the future town, and the latter locating a mile north of the Sprouse claim. Charles C. Kingsbury and Mark Schneringer came about the same time. In 1880 came N. M. Morgan, M. N. Deems, H. B. Schneringer, Noah Welch, Norman Brendle, Gabriel Payton. Ira McCnnncll. the ^^'llipples, and perhaps others.

1880, which was given the euphonious name of "Letup," with Ira Graves as postmaster. On petition of Ira Graves and Clara P. Graves the name of the office was changed to Delight in September of the same year. Mark Deems was installed as mail carrier, his route being from Custer to Arnold, and from Olax ( now Oconto) and Lexington to Delight, all of these offices being supplied from Plum Creek. "The county was organized into townships in 1883, and the territory embracing the entire southwestern part of the county was named Delight township, by N. M. Morgan, the first supervisor. Out of the origial township the towns of Grant, Elim. and Wayne have since been formed, leaving the township of Delight with seventyeight square miles. At the time of the settlement here, there was no other settlement between the Platte valley and \'ictoria creek. During the few years that followed, newcomers arrived almost weekly, imtil there was quite a community. In 1885 Mr. Graves induced John !Moran. a merchant of Olax. to build a store on his farm, which stood on the northeast corner of the property now owned by John Frederick. The question as to who is entitled to the credit of founding the town of Callaway has been often disputed, and will be perhaps never fully determined to the satisfaction of all. but from what we can learn, J. Woods Smith is fully entitled to whatever honor the distinction confers, as it was in his brain that the scheme originated which materialized in the laying out of the town a few months later.

Omaha, in the fall of 1885. While reading the morning paper, he chanced to come across an item stating that the Omaha & Republican Valley Railroad was going to survey a line up the South Loup river the next spring, to intersect with another road, which was to be surveyed up \^'ood River valley from Kearney. Mr. Smith went to a map which was hanging on the wall, and at once made up his mind that the point where these two roads came together would be an ideal place for a town. With his usual decision, Mr. Smith had a town laid out and thickly pojjulated - in his mind - within five minutes. He immediately communicated the scheme to Hon. A. B. Chard, a personal friend, and the two started for Custur county to look over the situation. They foimd the location even more promising than they had anticipated, and made partial arrangements for the purchase of the Graves farm for a townsite, intending to return early in the spring to complete the deal. When spring came, Mr. Chard had other business and Mr. Smith proceeded alone. Upon his return to Delight he was unable to close the deal with Mr. Graves, and he succeeded in making an arrangement whereby the claims of Albert and M. H. Deems, comprising the east half of section 11, township 15. range 23, were secured for a townsite. the Deemes taking shares in the syndicate in payment for their land. Mr. Smith also purchased of C. W. Gray the northwest quarter of section 11, on his own account, which is the land upon which the railroad addition to Callaway was afterward platted. E. B. Needham, capitalist from St. Paul, Nebraska, also took an interest in the townsite company, and the work of platting was commenced at once.

Tow.V Christened

"The town was named in honor of S. R. Callaway, then general manager of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the streets were named after the general ofificers of that road and the members of the townsite company. The first to erect a building in the new town was Dr. L. Michael. The second building was erected by Harry E. O'Neill, for his brokerage business.

which theretofore had been conducted on his claim half a mile west of town. The next building was a store by Albert Deems. Then John Moran moved his general store down from the corner of Mr. Graves' farm, Baker & Yates put up a store and put in a stock of groceries, Smith Brothers put up the operahouse building and put in a stock of hardware. These were followed in quick succession by W. B. Maze, hardware ; Smith & Needham, lumber and coal ; Maze & Burbank, flour and feed ; Rogers & Johnson, the Bank of Callaway ; Theron E. Webb, drug store ; C. W. Root, drug store, moved from Arnold ; Holway & Schneringer. livery ; L. Palmer, feed stable; Lewis & Holman, meat market; ^L L. Savage, furniture store ; Clark & Owens, real estate, loans, anil insurance ; B. L. Brisbane, real estate; C. C. Hayes, James Suhr, blacksmiths ; Alex ilallert, G. A. James, restaurants ; P. Wymore, John Calligan, McConnell & King, Tidey & Smea, carpenters; F. A. Clarke & Company, general store, moved from Arnold ; ]\L H. Deems, Hotel Excelsior, operated by A. L. Mathews ; J. C. Naylor, lawyer; George H. Lafleur, barber shop. On August 19th appeared the first issue of the Callazi'ay Standard, which was published and edited by Charles A. Sherwood, a first-class printer imported by the townsite syndicate. On Sunday, August 8th, a small hurricane swept down the valley and partially wrecked most of the buildings that were in the course of construction, among them being the opera house. Dean's hotel, and the Baker & Yates building, but the damages were soon repaired and work progressed rapidly.

"The new town boomed all summer. J. \\'oods Smith, its founder and promoter, was well known all over the state. He also had the knack of getting himself interviewed in the Omaha papers every time he visited that city, and the result was that Callaway was soon the best advertised town in Nebraska. ^^'hile to the ordinary individual Callaway appeared destined to become a prosperous village, in the Utopian vision of J. Woods Smith

" During the summer of 1886 the Omaha Bee said : 'Callaway is six weeks old, with fifty houses ; a hotel, seventy by fifty-six feet ; an opera house, forty-eight by sixty feet; and a population of 200 inhabitants. Its representation in business houses is excellent, though at present it is in need of a watchmaker and jeweler and a harness man. A first-class outfit for a newspaper, to be called the Callau'ay Standard, together with an editor, have already been shipped, and the first sheet of the new journal will appear next week. It will be followed by the issue of a rival paper one week later. The crops in the vicinity are said to be the finest in the state, and Mr. Smith says that he has never seen finer corn than they are now cutting down on the site upon which the town is built.

A New Townsite

"The survey of the railroad was completed that summer and the grading done. The grade is still there, from Pleasanton to Callaway, but no iron has ever been laid on it. The Wood river line was graded soon afterward, but it was not until four years later that the road was finished from Kearney to Callaway. This scheme materialized in the formation, of the New Callaway Townsite & Improvement Company, with C. W. H. Luebbert, president ; N. M. Morgan, vice-president ; Harry E. O'Neill, secretary; Ira Graves, treasurer; John Reese, solicitor. The land was purchased of Ira Graves, the site of New Callaway platted, and inducements oft'ered to old-town business men to move up. as it was expected that the New Callaway promoters had influence enough to secure the depot. The inducements, however, did not draw any of the old-town people away, except Harry O'Neill. Upon the organization of Callaway the postoffice had been moved from Mr. Graves' farm to town, and the name changed from Delight to Callaway. Harry O'Neill was postmaster when he moved up to the new town, but he had to leave the postoffice behind.

A Town Fight Is On

at night with shotguns, to prevent the postoffice from being stolen. A newspaper plant was purchased by the New Callaway Syndicate, and on June 29, 1887, the A^ezv Callatvay Courier was born in a frame building which was then located near the present residence of John Frederick, with M. C. Miller as editor. Then commenced one of the biggest townsite fights in the history of central Nebraska. The new town was derisively christened 'Podunk' by the old-town people, and the new Callawayites were termed 'Mudhens.' The failure of the Wood river line to be built that fall, put somewhat of a damper on the New Callaway project. The few residents of the town, who had been induced to locate with the understanding that it was to have the railroad depot at once, became discouraged and moved away. In October, 1887, when the writer first arrived on the scene from Chicago, to assume charge of the Nc2v Callazi^ay Courier, he found the two rival towns lying on their arms awaiting developments. Every business enterprise in New Callaway had gone away except the Courier, but it was doing a flourishing business. It was published in the frame building later occupied as a photograph gallery by Isaac Bryner. It was then located on the comer of Pearl street and Third avenue. New Callaway. On the corner diagonally across the street, was a gopher hole, and the two other corners were occupied by a bullfrog and another gopher. The Courier had a big circulation, and was well filled with advertisements from merchants of Broken Bow, Cozad, Lexington, and Arnold ; but it had none from Callaway, as that would have been considered high treason by the old-town people, and would have been sufficient reason for a boycott against the ofifender. The Courier, however, did a flourishing business, and became famous all over this part of the state, as the paper that was published in the town that had no other business.

Foduxk News Items

"We acknowledge a pleasant visit one day this week from a black dog with one ear partly chewed off. Call again. You will always find our latch string out.

"The stake which marks the site of the First National Bank, at the corner of Hayfield square, was knocked over by a bay cow on Wednesday. It ought to be repaired at once.

"One of our most respectable and highly esteemed coyotes was villainously assaulted by Graves' dog while out taking a walk Monday. Such rowdyism is a disgrace to Podunk.

"Three strange jack rabbits were in town all day Thursday, looking around our streets. Their business was not ascertained, but it is supposed they were locating a railroad depot.

"Intense excitement was caused in our city Tuesday by the appearance of a man coming toward town from the east. Business was entirely suspended and the whole town turned out to see him, but he turned south at the corner of Smith's cornfield and escaped.

"Our friend McConnell says he is not much of a believer in signs, but he believes animals often know what is going to happen in the future. The other evening as he was going home wondering whether the railroad depot would be located at Callaway or Podunk, a big bullfrog jumped out of Wiggle creek and said 'Podunk! Podunk! Podunk!' On the strength of the tip Mr. ^McConnell has invested in several corner lots.

"During the winter of 1887 the weather was very cold, and as coal had to be hauled from Cozad, there was sometimes a dearth of fuel. The office building was made of boards that were mostly knot holes, and unplastered, consequently not over warm, and the paper was not infrequently 'run off' when the temperature on the outside was below zero, and not much higher inside. It was frequently the duty of the editor to sally forth after dark, into a handy cornfield, with a two-bushel sack, to rustle enough fuel for the ne.xt day. One day a man whose field had been visited pretty often, came into the office and wanted to know how much it would cost to have a notice put in the paper. He said somebody was stealing his corn and he thought a piece in the paper would scare them off. We made a deal to publish a warning against the offender for a dollar and a half, and no more corn was stolen from that field during the remainder of the winter. This shows the power of advertising.

More Improvement

"During 1888 M. L. Savage built the present postoffice building. The Seven \'alleys Bank building was also built the same year, as was a new store, by F. A. Clark & Company. The S'even Valleys Bank had been established the year previously, by J. Woods Smith and others. The Union Bank was established in 1888 by J. Woods Smith, J. E. Decker, and J. H. Decker. The spring of 1889 came, and still no railroad. The town was at a standstill. The New Callaway project was practically dead and the Xcii' Callaway Courier moved to the old town and became the Callaway Courier. George B. Mair, the editor and publisher, was appointed postmaster, purchased the postoffice building and added another room, which has since been used as a printing office. R. E. Brega came to town during this year and established himself in the law business. Railroad rumors were rife and the Kearney & Black Hills Railroad Company was organized.

"The magnificent water power afforded by the South Loup river had commended itself to the business men of Callaway, and many meetings were held to talk up the project of erecting a flouring mill, to be operated by water power. These meetings resulted in the formation of the Callaway Milling & ]Manufacturing Company, which was composed of most of the business men. In the fall of 1889 work was commenced on the dam across the Loup river, and the wheels of an up-to-date, modern roller mill began to move in the spring of 1890. A proposition to vote $8,600 bonds for the purpose of assisting the Kearney & Black Hills Railroad to build from Kearney to Callaway, was submitted to the township and carried almost unanimously.

sand dollars. A number of business enterprises located in the new town, and liberal inducements were held out to the old town to move up in a body. It was supposed that the location of the depot would cause everj-thing to rush to the Railroad addition at once, but such was not the case. Many of the old-town people were interested in old-town real estate, and if the town moved to the new addition it would become practically worthless. It was evident to a disinterested onlooker that the railroad addition was bound to win in the end, at once, and on the 7th day of October, 1890, the first regular passenger train pulled into Callaway. The depot was located neither in the old town nor the new. but half way between, on the farm of J. Woods Smith, which was purchased by the Callaway Improvement Company, on. which to lay out a new town of Callaway, now known as the Railroad addition. Engineers of the railroad company laid out the town on a grand scale, large enough for a city of the first class, and some very good buildings were put up, among them being the Grand Pacific hotel, at a cost of over ten thoubut the old-town people made a bitter fight, J. Woods Smith, being interested in the new town, moved his opera-house building over and also established a store there, in what was known as the Improvement building. Vangreen Brothers moved up to the new town. A new drug store was established, with Dr. F. J. Greer as manager ; Dierks Brothers and the Gilcrost Lumber Company put in yards ; a brick 3-ard was established ; and a large twostory building, known as the Grand Army building, was erected for store and lodge purposes. The newcomers who were attracted to

Moving Day At Night

"Being satisfied that there was but one way for the contest to end. and wishing to bring it to a close as soon as possible, the postofifice was moved to the new town at midnight, by G^^orge B. Mair, without previous notice. The following morning, when the people of the old town found out what had happened, their wrath knew no bounds and all sorts of threats were indulged. The Courier was moved to the new town at the same time. So incensed were master general. In a few months the department reinstated the postmaster, but the location of the office was fixed in the old town, whither it had been taken by the inspector at the time of his visit. Soon after this the entire old town capitulated and moved up to the new town, followed by the postoffice sorge months later.

"The year 1891 was a season of big crops, and the new town enjoyed quite a boom. Money was plentiful and the business men had a fine trade. Many new buildings were erected, among them being two large grain elevators. The town was full of traveling men and strangers, and the townsite syndicate had suc- they, that the peoi)le of the old town refused to mail their letters at the .postoffice, but sent them to the neighboring offices to be mailed. .\t the arrival of every mail they sent a messenger up to the postoffice with a sack, who collected all the mail for the old town business men and carried it down to tlie Bank of Callaway, where it was redistributed. In the meantime they were procuring signatures to a petition and protest, wliich was forwarded to the postoffice department and which brought a postoffice ins]x-ctor to investigate. The inspector concluded that the postmaster had acted without due authority in moving the office, and his resignation was asked for. The postmaster declined to resign, and he was removed and a temporary postmaster appointed by the inspector, pending the final decision of the postceeded in interesting a number of eastern capitalists in the town. Arrangements had been made for a big excursion at some future date, but in the meantime poor crops and partial failures followed, culminating in the drought period of 1894 and 1895. which drove away half the population of the county, and in which Callaway dwindled down from a hustling town of 600 people to a dead village of a little over 200. The people became almost panic-stricken, and a cry went out for help that was res]ionded to from ocean to ocean_ with a generosity that has never been equaled. Grain, food, and goods of all kinds came into the country by the carloads, from almost every state in the Union, and serious sufifering was prevented. The railroads, which have been said to have no souls, disproved the assertion at this time, and they gladly offered free transportation for solicitors and supplies during all that trying period. Since then this locality has enjoyed fair crops. On the night of March 15, 1901. the principal business block was completely destroyed, entailing a loss of about fifty thousand dollars. This has resulted in the passage of a fire-limits ordinance by the village board, and preparations are already being made to rebuild the burned district with fine modern brick buildings."

The following firms, and* business and professional men lived in Callaway prior to 1900 but were not mentioned in the foregoing article by George B. Mair :

. Drugs: \\\ J. Bean, E. R. Vining, Charles Root ; F. J. Drum, well machinery ; A. Pearson, photographer ; attorneys : John Reese, J. C. Naylor, and James Yates ; hardware : Bennet Maze and Charles Whaley ; David Hopkins, grocery and confectionery ; Walter Wood, furniture, Charles Gaines, manager ; Holway & Schneringer, first livery man ; W. G. Garlock established a brick yard and made brick.

The following are Callaway business enterprises since 1900 not mentioned before : \\'. I. Harrow, bakery ; J. E. Felker. jewelry; M. F. ^'erry and Emma \'an Eman. milliners ; K. C. Kim, photographer; Farmers State Bank (John Frederick, Sr., president, and John Frederick, Jr., vice-president) ; live-stock dealers, John Frederick ; Farmers Shipping Association ; Farmers Elevator Company, William Reader, manager : Callaway Elevator Company, D. F. Burker, manager ; Kearney & Black Hills Railroad. E. I\I. Wellman, agent ; Higbee & Keyes, hardware ; Charles Curtis & Company, hardware ; Frank Hagin, restaurant ; Claude Pierce, restaurant ; M. C. Schneringer, undertaker ; general merchants: Campbell & Tidd. Helton Roberts Company, \'angreen Brothers, W. L. Grimes: drugs: Robert Weiland, Walter Wright : variety store, Clara \'angreen ; postmaster, John Moran ; barbers : Lewis Brothers, Dan Pearson, Tobe \'angreen ; physicians : J.

Callaway has a first-class water and electriclight system ; telephone exchange ; four good church buildings (Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, L'nited Evangelical, and Catholic) ; an up-to-date high-school building, of which W. A. Rosin is superintendent ; four large, brick garages, as good as there is in the county. The Ford garage has a floor space of 12,500 square feet. They are represented by Walter Brittan, Charles Carothers, Henry Ridder,'and Sherrel & Lowe Brothers. Real estate: ^Ic- Grew & Brabham, J. D. Troyer, George H. LaFleur, H. H. Andrews, L C. Shupp. R. E. Brega, lawyer, real estate, and insurance. The Callazcay Queen, Thomas Roberts, A. W. Rosin, James C. Naylor, owners, and James C. Naylor editor.

The population of Callaway is about 900. The Callaway Milling Company has one of the best flouring mills in the state, operated with electricity.

The city of Broken Bow is located in township 17, range 20, in the center of the county, near the head of the Muddy, a creek that runs through the town. The city enjoys the advantage of fine schools and has seven churches, in whi:h religious services are maintained. It has had no saloons for years. Business is good and the population is gradually increasing. Broken Bow is the county seat of Custer county. It is known far and near on account of the oddity of its name. The name was suggested by a chain of circumstances, rather than romance.

The Broken' Bow

In 1880 Wilson Hewitt, who was a homesteader near where the city is now located, on request of the few settlers in the vicinity, petitioned the government for a postoffice at his place and sent in a name he thought was appropriate. The postoffice department approved the application for an office, but rejected the name, as a similar name had been granted on another petition. Two or three other names were sent in, but were rejected for the same reason. Mr. Hewitt was a blacksmith and a hunter, and while out hunting one day he found, on an old Indian camping ground, a broken bow and arrow, which he carried home with him. He put them in a box in his shop, with some old irons, and thought nothing more about them. Some time afterward he received notice that the third name he had sent to Washington had been rejected, and, going to the box after a piece of iron, he picked up the

Air. Hewitt prized the broken bow as a relic and intended to keep it as a souvenir of the town's christening, but one day the hired girl was cleaning up around the yard and put the bow into the fire, with other rubbish. It was discovered, however, in time to save a fragment of it. The part saved is now in possession of E. R. Purcell, editor of the Custer County Chief, and is highly valued.

broken bow, and the name, "Broken Bow," came to his mind quickly. He determined to send it in as the name for his postoffice, satisfied that there was no other place of the same name in the state. He consulted his wife, and she being willing, the name was sent in and was accepted by the department. Just how the Indian bow came to be broken and left on the old camp ground, is only a matter of conjecture. i\Iany stories have been invented to account for it, and one old settler, Mrs. M. A. B. Martin, has written an Indian legend concerning it, which is rojiroduccd on another page. Nothing whatever concerning the for-

June, 1882, by Jess Gandy. The postoffice, which was then kept by C. D. Pelham, who had a small stock of goods half a mile from the townsite, was moved to the new city, and hence Mr. Pelham enjoys the distinction of being the first merchant of Broken Bow, as well as its first postmaster. Wilson Hewitt had been elected county clerk the ])revious fall, and near the proposed townsite had built a sod house, which he occupied as his oftice. The county treasurer. C. T. Crawford, and the county superintendent, D. M. Amsberry, occasionally held forth in the same building, in the discharge of their respective official duties.

Soon after the townsite was laid out, the townsite promoters provided temporary frame buildings for the county officers. County Clerk Hewitt and County Judge J. S. Benjamin occupied a room on the west side of the public square, and the county treasurer and the county superintendent a building on the east side. This arrangement was continued until the fall of 1884, when the county built a frame building large enough to accommodate all four of the offices. The question of relocating the county seat was an issue during the summer and fall, and in this Broken Bow defeated Westerville, its rival. The county seat had been located previously near the South Loup, but the site had never been occupied, as the county records were always kept at the homes of the several county officers. The victory inspired courage, and many important battles have since been fought and won b}' a combined effort of the citizens. One of the first houses built was a sod building, by R. H. Miller, on the corner where the Broken Bow State Bank now stands. This was used for the family residence and also for a printing office. Mr. Miller established the first newspaper of the town, the Custer County Republican. The first issue of the Republican was June 29, 1882. The paper is still published in the city, and not only claims the distinction of being the first newspaper published at Broken Bow, but of being the oldest paper in the county. The present editor and publisher follows at the end of a long procession of former owners.

The Town Grows

During- the summer of 1882 the following families located in the new town and engaged in business : Jess, James P., and A. W. Gandy, J. S. Kirkpatrick, C. W. West, J. H. Fleming, T. E. Wheeler & Company, G. W. Trefren, C. T. Crawford, C. D. Pelham, J L. Oxford, and R. H. Miller. J. P. Gandy built a log house in which he kept a few goods and accommodated the traveling public with meals and lodging until a hotel was erected. J. H. Fleming built the first hotel, on the corner now occupied by the Grand Central. As the lumber and all building- material had to be freighted from Kearney by teams, it was a tedious task to build. By August Mr. Fleming had the Broken Bow hotel, a two-story structure, nearly completed to accommodate the public, and guests frequently had to put up with scanty fare, owing to lack of teams with which to freight the necessary provisions,- but as Mrs. Fleming was a most excellent cook she made the best of what she had, and all were satisfied.

Twenty-Five Miles For Butter

Frequently a team would be sent twenty-five miles to purchase butter, and would return with only a few pounds. J. H. West was the proprietor of the first drug store, and G. W. Trefren established a law office, being followed soon by J. S. Kirkpatrick, who was afterward a member of the Nebraska supreme-court commission. Mrs. T. E. Wheeler & Company put in the first stock of general merchandise, in October, 1882. Mrs. Wheeler had come from Aurora in August and contracted with the townsite company to build a store room in consideration of bringing in a stock of goods. She freighted the goods from Grand Island, by way of Loup City and Westerville. That winter Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler lived in the back part of the store room, with only a carpet for a partition. C. T. Crawford built and occupied his house as a residence, restaurant, and treasurer's office, the same fall. J. L. Oxford, one of the county commissioners, built the first feed barn, just east of the present site of the Grand Central hotel, near where ]\Ir. Lee's barn now stands. Jess Gandy put in the first butcher shop that summer, and bought his first beef from Judge Benjamin, who Hved on a homestead adjoining the town on the north. The first school was taught by !Mrs. M. E. Lewis, in a sod house.

The Town Still Grows

With the spring of 1883 the population had more than trebled. Frank Crable added a lumber yard, a much-needed branch of business. H. G. Rogers, a silent partner of T. E. Wheeler & Company, located here, bringing with him an additional stock of dry goods, valued at $10,000. He built a new store building in

The first church was built by the Methodists, in 1883. It was the first bri:k building in town. During this year the townsite was enlarged by additions made by J. P. and A. \V. Gandy, and the sale of town lots to prospective residents became brisk. The students of Blackstone were increased by two that winter, James Ledwich, who engaged in the law and real-estate business, and who later became one of the prominent men of the county, and C. J. Elliott, who came from Illinois, returning to which to accommodate his goods, and Mrs. T. E. ^^'heeler & Company added a line of hardware. -Miss Litta Mengle put in a stock of millinery and associated with her Miss Laura Morrison as dressmaker. Marcus Reyner added the second drug store, and' in October of the same" year L. H. Jewett established the Custer County Bank, which was the first bank in town, with S. H. Burnham. of Lincoln, as president, and ^Ir. Jewett as cashier. Silas A. Holcomb, subsequently governor of the state and at present a member of the state board of control, located in the town that season and engaged in the practice of law. S. C. Beebe, publisher of the Custer Cotiifty Leader, moved his paper from \\"esterville to Broken Bow in the spring of 1883. and continued to that state after a few years. Up to this time the town had been without a practising physician. The only one in the vicinity was Dr. R. C. Talbot, who lived on a homestead some eight miles away, and who protested against practicing medicine. Dr. Wyman Hull appeared on the scene and Dr. Talbot proposed to him that if he would lo;ate in town he v.ould turn over all his practice to him. The inducement was sufficient, and Dr. Hull at once secured a sod house that J. P. Gandy had built, and moved his family to Broken Bow. The Doctor did not prove a drawing card as a physician, and soon fitted up rooms in his house and engaged in the hotel business. As rains were quite frequent in the early days, his guests were frequently disturbed in their slumbers by the roof leaking. To remedy this annoyance the Doctor covered the house with a heavy coating of cement, which gave his hostelry the name of "The Marble Top." Mrs. Hull and daughter were fine cooks and good entertainers, while the Doctor was a happy hustler for business. They soon built up one of the best paying businesses in the town and the Marble Top became a celebrated name.

In 1884 the population of Broken Bow largely increased, and the demand for both residence and business houses caused a number of buildings to be built. L. Lavender and W. D. Garlock, brickmakers, put in two yards and manufactured enough brick to supply the demand. The Commercial hotel was built that season, by J. P. Gandy and A. W. Gandy. D. M. Amsberry and G. W. Runyon built the three brick store rooms on the north side of the public square. A brick schoolhouse, in the southeastern part of town, and two dwelling houses, by Isaac Merchant and Steve Chaple, were built in the fall, and the frame buildings put up were numerous. With the influx of 1884 came Judge H. M. Sullivan, who has ever since been a leading citizen and closely identified with the development of the town, the county, and the state. A. R. Humphrey, who was subsequently commissioner of public lands and buildings, located here in 1884.

This season County Treasurer Talbot and County Superintendent Amsberry moved their families to town and each put up a residence. Among the new enterprises started in 1884 the principal were : Holland & McDonald, hardware and implements ; the Broken Boiv Tunes, by Trefren and ]\Ieseraull ; Kloman & .\rnold, bank; Moore & Wright, real estate.

In 1886 the town received another substantial boost, by the arrival of R. O. Phillips, president of the Lincoln Townsite Company. He bouglit a half-section of land adjoining the town on the north, at big figures, and it resulted in corner lots going sky high. This was soon followed by the B. & M. Railroad surveyors up the Muddy valley, who included Broken Bow in their line of survey. Not only townsite speculators and business men rushed in to secure desirable town property, but within' a few months homesteaders had filed on all the desirable farming land in the vicinity. Among those who preceded the locomotive, or came soon after its arrival in that year, were : Freisheimer & Haeberle, druggists; S. B. Thompson and House, and B. S. Lilly, real estate agents ; C. B. Hayes, boots and shoes ; J. C. Bowen, grocer; Hans Dierks, lumber; Bogue & Sherwood, lumber ; the Chicago Lumber Company; W, H. Cline, general merchandise ; W. J. Woods, furniture ; Wilde & Squires, hardware; S. B. Frost, restaurant; S. A. Barstow, contractor and builder ; Eklwards & Emil, blacksmiths and wagonmakers ; C. A. Thum, clothing; J. H. Inman, agent for the Lincoln Townsite Company. The railroad addition was surveyed and put on the market and a number of new buildings erected or commenced on the new addition, including a number of residences as well as business buildings. On the old townsite was built the Pacific hotel and Graham Brothers' store, which have since become the Grand Central hotel, one of the best equipped and best conducted hostelries in central Nebraska.

The B. & M. Railroad let no time go to waste after the survey was made. On August 26, 1886, the road was completed to Broken Bow and the first locomotive made its appearance in Custer county's rapidly growing capital. C. E. Wilkinson, of Lincoln, was the first station agent and telegraph operator, and afterward served as mayor of the city. In the latter part of this year O. P. Perley, a capitalist of Maine, located here and invested a large sum of money in the Custer County Bank. On the 15th of February, 1886, it was organized as the First National Bank, with S'. H. Burnham, president ; L. H. Jewett, cashier, and O. P. Perley, assistant cashier. The following year the Central Nebraska Bank was established, with O. J. Collman, president, and J. H. Inman, cashier. The North Side Opera House block, the Inman hotel, the bank building, and a number of smaller buildings for both business and residence purposes, were erected on the Lincoln Townsite Company's addition. Also in 1887, G. W. Frey built the large flouramong which we may mention the Union block (by Taylor Flick, H. Walton, and M. Reyner), the Realty block, the Inman and Globe hotels, Walton's and Blackman's barns, Morrison & Candy's and W. C. Luce's feed mills, the Baptist. United Brethren, Presbyterian. Catholic, Christian, and Episcopal i.-luirclies. the court house, two brick schoolhouses, the postofifice. and the I. O. O. F. building. The waterworks plant was put in under the supervision of C. A. Weeks, by a local company. The Bank of Commerce was

Big Buildings Go Up

In this year were established the additional business enterprises of T. j\I. & J. W. Salisbury, dry goods ; Thompson, Wilson & Drake, dry goods ; Ryerson & Leslie, books and stationery ; H. Walton, drugs ; and the Custer County block was built by R. C. Talbot. G. W. Trefren, and D. M. Amsberry ; also an opera house by Trefren and Hewitt. The growth of the city continued gradually until 1894, many substantial buildings being erected.

In 1888 the town had outgrown the rank of a village, and it was organized as a city of the .second class. The first officers were : O. P. Perley. mayor: B. S. Lilly. J. L. Cobb. S. A. liarstow, Hans Dierks. councilmen ; E. P. Campbell, city clerk: H. Al. Sullivan, city attorney. In 1894, owing to a severe drouth and a financial panic, the population of the city decreased fully one-third, and several of the business houses suspended in the year following;. The number included Kloman &

Arnold's bank, the Central Nebraska National Bank, Barstow's planing mill, William H. Cline, D. S. Lohr, Graham Brothers, and many others. Since 1895 the population has been gradually increasing, and several business tirms have been added. The population in 1890 had reached over 1,600, and in 1894 it was estimated at 1,800. In 1895 the number did not exceed 1,100. The census of 1900 gives the population as 1,375. The census of 1910 boosts the population to 2,200, while the population to-day will probably reach 3,000.

In 1910 the' p o p u 1 a tion reached 2,260 according to the government census. The business interests have kept pace with the population and to-day it is the largest trade center between Allia n c e and Grand Island.

Modern

new high-school building was erected, at a cost of $40,000. Building materials were cheap and an exceedingly fine building was erected at a remarkably low cost. In the same year a two-story, brick city hall was erected, on South Tenth avenue. It is the most commodious town hall west of Grand Island. It has basement, jail, with ground-floor apartments for the fire-fighting apparatus. In the upper story is the council chamber and an auditorium with chairs for seating about 500 people.

On the corner of Broadway and Tenth avenue the Baptist congregation erected a $15,000 brick church, with basement and all modern fixtures. (See description in Chapter XI.)

Three more good buildings went up in 1915. The Security State Bank built a white-tile building on the northwest corner of the square and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows built the Lyric theatre, with a fine lodge room, and offices over head. The front of the building is of white, tile-faced brick.

The third building to go up in 1915 was the Carnegie public library, a neat, tile-roofed building, costing over $10,000. The odd design of this building makes it very noticeable. Both the I. O. G. T. building and the library

Good, Pure Water

In the spring of 1888 a group of the citizens, seeing the need of an a d equate water supply, and almost forced to take such action on account of the p r o h i bitive rate for fire insurance, undertook the task of organizing a stock company and building a waterworks system. The articles of incorporation are dated March 28, 1888, the capital stock was $50,000, and the names of the incorporators are : S. J. Lonergan, O. J. Collman, D. M. Amsberry, A. W. Gandy, Marcus Reyner, John Reese, S. A. Holcomb, L. H. Jewett, James Holland, Wilson Hewitt, G. N. Rawson, and George W. Sturdevant.

After prospecting along the railroad, a location in block 3, F. Reyner's addition, in the southeastern part of the city, was selected for the pumping station, being the only place where a sufficient flow of water was found. In the latter part of the year 1903 the city purchased the waterworks system from Frank H. Young, who had become the owner of the controlling- interest in the stock and who had been managing the plant most of the time since it was constructed.

In 1916 the old pumping station, which had supplied water for the city continuously for twenty-eight years, was abandoned and a new plant constructed, to do both the street lighting and pumping. The plant is located on Eighth avenue, on the south side of the railroad right of way. Here an abundant flow of water was secured at a depth of about 160 feet. Two wells were sunk, eight inches in diameter,

Broken Bow To Date

At the present time the city has a fine park, three large, brick school buildings, seven church buildings, city hall, court house, library, four banks, six grocery stores, four drygoods stores, four hardware stores, three meat markets, five garages, three lumber companies, two novelty stores, three millinery stores, one men's-furnishing store, three jewelry stores, three drug stores, one book store, two grain elevators, two furniture stores, three hotels, three restaurants, and numerous other business places of miscellaneous nature.

and from the top of each, when disconnected, there flows a good stream of pure water. The equipment for pumping consists of two electrically driven centrifugal pumps, each a complete imit, and either one of sufficient capacity to meet the present demand for water.

The storage is provided by a concrete reservoir, on the hill south of town, holding about 160,000 gallons and affording a pressure of sixty pounds in the business part of town. The mains have been extended until the city now owns about six miles of cast-iron mains, all in good condition, and supplying about 530 consumers. The city has been most fortunate in the abundance and purity of its water supply, not a single case of disease ever having been traced to this source.

The Public Service Club

The following were the charter members : J. S. Molyncux, George Ayers, E. P. ^Valter, Carl P. Jeffords. J. G. \'anCott, C. L. Mullins, Alpha Morgan. J, C. Lomax. L. D. George, A. E. Anderson. E. R. Purcell, C. A. Currie, George A. Kiffin, Emery F. Bush, J. G. Leon-

The object of the organization is to bring together men of unquestioned character and intelligence who are desirous of promoting the welfare and prosperity of the city of Broken Bow and the vicinity. Its aim is to secure the co-operation of the people in the community representing the agricultural, real estate, banking, commercial, manufacturing, professional, and educational interests. It is not to supersede or antagonize any existing business or social org a n i z ation, but, by consultation and united eflfort, to work together for the common good, to aid and encourage experiments for more productive farminti": to secure location of factories and other enterprises ; to promote commercial progress and disseminate valuable commercial and economic information ; to buy, sell, lease, and sub-lease real estate ; to increase social activity, confidence, and harmony among all our people mutually engaged in useful occupation ; and finally to use all legitimate means to protect and foster the business and social welfare of the members of this corporation.

In the Masonic Temple building the club has fitted up elegantly furnished rooms, which make luxuriant a])artments and accommodate every social feature for which the club exists.

At the present time the following constitute the corps of officers and the personnel of the diiiferent committees. The names of the different committees indicate the extent and character of work carried on b\- the club.

War Board - N. T. Gadd, Frank Kelly, A. R. Humphrey, J. S. Molyneux, J. G. VanCott, A. E. Anderson, E. R. Purcell, C. S. Tooley, M. S. Eddy, N. D. Ford, A. Morgan, E. P. Walter, and L. D. George.

established a store in his sod house, in 1882. The village was laid out in 1883, and a large building was erected by S. E. Edwards, the same being occupied by Blum Brothers, as a general store. In 1884 Ben Hardin established a general store, and William Ray launched out in the blacksmith business; R. E. Probert opened a hardware store, C. L. Long a drug store, and S. Leland & Sons erected a large water-power flouring mill. In 1877 a postoffice had been established at the Arnold & Ritchie ranch, three-quarters of a

District No. 28, including the village of Comstock, was the first to be organized by Superintendent Amshcrry in the early part of the year 1882, and Mrs. Ida Strop was installed as teacher. Her school was made up of ten or twelve pupils, varying in age from five to twelve years. For some time the school did not grow very fast, and not until 1907 or 1908 was any attempt made at organizing a high school. From 1911 to the present time a good eleven-grade school has been maintained. There are six teachers, with 155 pupils. The present building was erected in 1905 and with furniture, grounds, and fixtures represents an investment of $10,000.

One of the later villages established in Custer county has been favored with a newspaper since soon after its birth. The Index was published by Harold Cooley. This paper passed to the ownership of Elmer E.'Wimmer. who continued to publish it until the month of July, 1918, when he was called from his labors by death. 'Mr. Wimmer was one of the honorable and worthy citizens of Custer county, of which he had been a resident for more than thirty years.

S. D. Butcher, Historian

Custer county owes to Mr. and Mrs. S. D. Butcher more than it can ever pay. They have been valuable pioneers. With incessant toil they gathered historical data for the last two score years, and they have assembled the largof western history - a history that would treat generally the middle west and especially central Nebraska.

On June 1, 1886, he made the first picture for his book, and by 1892 he had made 1,500 pictures and had written that many biographies. The intention was to reproduce these old sod houses and dugouts with a short biographical sketch under each picture, making a picture album of early days in Custer county.

est aggregation of pictures of Custer county scenes and Custer county pioneers ever compiled, perhaps, by any county. This history of the county is deeply indebted to Mr. liutcher's collection, not only for illustrations but also for much of the historical data it contains. Names, dates, and events have been culled profusely from the Butcher compilation. These names and dates could have been obtained from no other source. liack in the early "SOs ^Ir. Butcher began his work, with the intention, then, of becoming a publisher and an illustrator on the largest scale that had ever been attempted by any county. The drouth period stopped the enterprise for several years. On the morning of March 12, 189*3, a fire destroyed ]\Ir. Butcher's home and its contents, including the biographical manuscri])t of the proposed history, thus making it impossible ever to replace the sketches of the early pioneers, as many had left the country. Fortunately the negatives were stored in bo.xes, in an out-building, and were saved. In a few weeks after the fire Mr. Butcher commenced taking orders for his Pioneer History of Custer County, with short sketches of early days in Nebraska, and in eighteen months he had completed this work, of 400 pages. He sold one thousand books.

A State Contribution'

A June issue of the Xebraska State Journal in 1916 devotes an entire page to the historical pictures Air. Butcher had contributed to the historical collection of Nebraska, and from the accompanying context tlie following is an excerpt :

"A picture gallery of Nebraska frontier life! The old sod houses, dugouts, log cabins, and shacks : the 'family gathering." - the whole family as we knew it in the frontier days. - father, mother, the babies, the faithful old horses, the little bunch of cattle, the pigs, the poultn,-, and, not least, the family dog. The familiar farm and ranch operations in the old style - breaking prairie with a yoke of oxen, threshing the first wheat crop with the old horse-power machine, planting sod corn with a one-hand "Punch" planter. The old frontier gatherings - the "big feed' at the sod house when the friends from a dozen claims gathered to eat at a long table; where the children romped together, and the "old folks" ( who were generally young) looked out into the future and cheered each other with the prospects. The other neighborhood gatherings - the Sunday school picnic, the frontier wedding, the roundup on the cattle range, the circle hunt, the Farmers' Alliance, and that most tender and never-to-be-forgotten incident of frontier childhood - the "last day' of district school.

"There are three thousand two hundred of these pictures in one collection. It is called the 'Butcher collection." It is the work of Mr. and Mrs. Butcher, who settled in Custer county in 1882. anil combined homesteading with photography for the next twenty years, traveling part of the lime in a photographic wagon over the vast and thinly settled region of northwest Nebraska, taking pictures of the people and places just as they found them. A history of Custer countv grew out of these travels and

"'The legislature of 1913 appropriated $600 for the purchase of the Butcher collection for the Nebraska legislative reference bureau and the Nebraska history work of the state university. rXiring the past winter the collection has been carefully gone over, with the assistance of Mr. Butcher, classified, catalogued, and prints made from a large part of the negatives.

"These pictures tell the story of life in western Nebraska thirty years ago more effectively than any other descriptive matter. The almost infinite variety of sod-house architecture and farm-yard arrangement is in them set forth. The clothing, the furniture, the hopes, the purposes, of these pioneers are eloquently told in the family groups and neighborhood gatherings. The way in which the Nebraska frontier built its houses, planted its crops, dug its wells, gathered its harvest, went to school, received religion, played its games, and gathered for social and civic purposes, finds expression in these negatives, where the sunlight and silver nitrate have fixed for all future time the shadows of the people and the events whose originals are fast fading from sight and memory.

"What would not the American world give to-day for such a collection of New England life from the year 1620? What would not some of the older people of to-day give for the pioneer pictures of New York. Ohio. Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin? Long before the end of the present century this collection will be held beyond price and its material used over and over in publications upon western art. literature, and history.

"Most of the negatives are six by eight inches in size, taken with an old-fashioned camera which looked like a six-pounder brass cannon, and required special genius and pains to secure results. Their preservation through all the vicissitudes of frontier life, fires, washouts, niovings. cyclones, seems providential.

"Mrs. Butcher, to whose faithful serv'ices as a frontier wife, mother, and photographic helper, is due a large part of 'the honor for preservation of this collection, passed away

Aside from photography, Mr. Butcher has been a prolific writer of descriptive articles. On a few very rare occasions the poetical streak in his nature has broken out and got beyond control. One such an occasion was when, after proving up on his homestead, he left his old shanty by addressing to it the following sentiment : a genuine Custer county product, and lives near Comstock, this county, at the present day. This prose article, written by Mr. Dowse, was read at one of the old settlers' picnics several years ago and was awarded a prize for merit and historical value :

"Imagine yourself standing with me, about the middle of July, on one of the bluffs which commands a view for several miles up and down the Middle Loup valley. There is presented to us a panorama of singular and varied beauty. Dark green fields of corn alternate with fields of rapidly ripening wheat and oats. The ^Middle Loup, wii^ding like a serpent up the valley, until finally hidden by a bend in the hills, its banks lined with willows- in a manner so truly artistic as to challenge the possibility of reproduction, and dotted here and there with exquisite little islands, completes an unsurpassable picture of peace and beauty.

"Let us close our eyes and drift backward over a space of time covering thirty-three years. We open our eyes and - O wondrous change ! Where are those prosperous farm dwellings, those magnificent fields and that little village resting at the foot of a bluff' several miles up the river? The stream flows on with the same majesty, the grandeur of the valley is undiminished, but now all we see is a long, level sea of waving grass. Here and there herds of deer and antelope are feeding and several miles to the north a long line of elk wind their way to the stream of water. Apparently the wild animals and the Indians have full and free possession. But what is that we see at a distance of about two miles? The upward curling smoke which has attracted our attention, indicates that a human .habitation is near. We conclude that it cannot be Indians, because of the absence of the typical tepee, although the willow poles scattered about in various places show that the tepee was much in evidence before the last prairie fire. A walk of forty minutes brings us to the place from which the smoke is eminating. It is the abode of Henry Snell, one of Custer county's first settlers, and merits a brief description. It is simply a dugout close to the bank of a swamp, and is about nine feet long, three feet wide, and six feet deep. In one corner is a fireplace and in another a hole in the top of the roof serves as a door. Sumptuous wall decorations and gorgeous carpets are conspicuous only by their absence. The roof is on a level with the ground and all is well arranged to afford concealment from the Indians, who are known to be in large numbers a little farther northwest. Henry Snell. the lord of this castle, is a well proportioned man, six feet in height. with a pleasant, kindly countenance, and about thirty years of age. He has been a schoolteacher and possesses intelligence and refinement to an unusual degree.

"The first white settler of Custer county was my father, L. R. Dowse. He came up to Douglas Grove in August of 1873. put up hay and selected a homestead. Returning to Loup Citv, he came back, bringing his wife and cliildren. They occupied the dwelling place of Henry Snell. which I have just described, until my father, with Henry's help, had time to construct a house of cottonwood slabs. Soon Frank Ohme. E. D. Allen. \V. H. Comstock. and others came up with their fannlies. and Douglas Grove began to be a settlement of considerable size.

"At this time Custer county was truly a hunter's paradise. Elk. deer, and antelope could be found in abundance almost anywhere. Grandpa Wagner, one of the first to come to Douglas Grove, might well be called the "Leather Stocking of the Middle Loup.' He was endowed with a magnificent physique, marvelous physical strength and endurance, a cool head, clear eye. and steady hands. Passionately fond of hunting and trapping, he found here abundant opportunities to exercise his skill. Many men have won fame and renown whose exploits did not equal his.

"During the first few years, when the ravages of the grasshoppers threatened to cause a famine in the little settlement. Grandpa's unerring rifle kept his own family and many other families in meat. Many long winter evenings I have sat for hours and listened to his tales, made doubly entrancing by his quaint, original manner of relating them. When he was unable to bring his game home with him, the empty cartridge placed on the body of the carcasses served to keep away the hungry coyotes. But his stories of long tramps, of being caught in blinding blizzards, and battling home against wind and driving snow - these stories were told me when quite young and my recollection of most of them is rather indistinct. One simple little incident, however, which I remember with considerable distinctness, will serve as an illustration.

"It is an afternoon in February; the patches of bare ground visible in many places give promises of returning spring. Grandpa is sitting at the door of my father's house, which gives an excellent view of deer, led by an immense buck, coming down the eastern hills and toward the river. Waiting until the buck, which is a good distance ahead, has covered about half the distance to the river, he procures his long-barreled rifle and crosses the stream. When he reaches the other side, he perceives that in order to get within range he must keep to the north of the buck, on account of a slight wind which is blowing from the south. By taking advantage of a slight rise in the intervening ground and creeping a coui)le of hundred yards, then following a little draw southward for a short distance, he can come within easy rifle shot.

"Accustomed as he is to stalking deer, this is for him an easy task. The buck feeds quietly for the most part, waiting for the rest of the herd to come up, and pausing occasionally to raise his lofty antlers and sniff the air for evidences of possible enemy. In a half-hour Grandpa has gained the coveted position. As he raises himself slightly, to draw a careful bead, some intimation of danger seems to strike this king of the prairies, and, raising his noble head, with his sensitive nostrils quivering, he starts to bound away. There's a pufT of smoke and a sharp report which seems only to increase the deer's momentum. It seems that for once the old hunter's steady hand has failed him. r>ut the buck covers less than a hundred yards when he stumbles and falls. Another trophy has been added to Grandpa's long list.

"Another time he was not so successful, though through no fault of his. For some reason, instead of using his own trusty rifle, he borrowed a gun of a man namt-d Ross and set out toward the head of a little creek commonly known as Spring creek. Coming up over a large blufif, he saw below him, and in easy range, twenty-four elk feeding on the tender grass near the edge of the creek. What must have been his chagrin when his gun refused to do its work ! After snapping it repeatedly he was obliged to return empty-handed, leaving the elk stamping and snorting on the creek below.

"An Irishman living on \'ictoria creek should be mentioned in connection with hunting in the early days, on account of his unique method of pursuing the game. He had a large, gray horse which was somewhat of a runner and was accustomed to chase the elk in vain attempts to run them down. Once he chased a large herd up into the head of a canyon. Here the elk found it impossible to scale the steep sides and collected in a bunch, stamping and snorting. The Irishman, in great glee, thinking that now he would have the laugh on his neighbors, who had watched his former attempts with so much amusement, dismounted and began to take pot-shots at the elk. When he began his fusillade, the elk began again to make frantic attempts to scale the sides. .At every shot is seemed that an elk rolled back. But when this son of Ireland thought that he must have most of them killed, those which had escaped his furious bombardment got together and, making a precipitate rush down the canyon, almost overturned him and his horse. When he went to see the extent of the carnage he had wrought, nothing but torn and beaten earth greeted his astonished gaze. His bullets had all flown wild and the elk which he had seen falling were merely submitting to the laws of gravitation and not to his marksmanship.

the summer of 1876 occurred the massacre of Custer and his little band, and a general condition of unrest prevailed among the Indians in Montana and the Black Hills. This state of affairs created much uneasiness among the settlers, because thev knew that there was nothing to prevent the warriors from swooping down the Middle Loup, if they should happen to get started in that direction. Indian massacres on the Republican also added to their alarm. As a means of providing against such a possibility, a company, known as the 'Custer County Rangers.' was formed and W. H. Comstock was elected captain. A fort about forty feet square was constructed of sod and logs. But these precautionary measures, although wise enough, were entirely unnecessary, as the Indians never came, and Douglas Grove was never seriously endangered by the red skins. "One could write almost indefinitely upon the early incidents of this settlement alone. Many quaint and peculiar, as well as good and noble, characters of that time and place, have not been mentioned, but are worthy of a full description and history. But people of Custer county, as you view with pride your excellent educational facilities, the wonderful industrial development of the county, and the general peace and prosperity, remember that it is largely due to the daring and industry of pioneers such as I have mentioned. Let us pause occasionally in the scramble and rush to attend our daily duties and pleasure, to glance back to that period in Custer county's history when all was as it had been for hundreds of years and nothing was in abundance except that provided by the kindly hand of God and nature. Then let us regard with a greater degree of respect and admiration those noble men and women who. dedicating their lives to the county's welfare, in spite of perils and hardships, kept on with unwavering perseverance.

Mrs. M. B. A. -Martix

Mrs. M. B. A. Martin was an old-time Custer resident who came to Broken Bow from Creston. Iowa. Slie was an intelligent, well educated lady, and after the death of her husband she devoted several years to teaching here in the county. She was a talented writer and possessed a keen imagination which readily lent itself to romance and poetry. The most notable of her rhymed productions was an Indian romauL-e and tragedy woven about the "Broken Bow" for which the town is supposed to have been named. It is written in the metre and style of Longfellow's "Hiawatha." As a work of imagination, the story, plot, romance, and descriptions are more remarkable than the language.

The Broken Bow

Slow the moon rose o"er the valley. The valley of the Big Sioux river. Shining down ui>on the wigwams ; They, die red men of the Sioux tribe, They had camped to hold a council With the chief of the Dakotas, Known among them as War Eagle, For the scalp hung from his girdle : He had slain among the canons. To the southward, to the westward. He had fought and butchered many ; But his brother, Navasota. Had been slain among the canons ; He fell fighting the Paducahs For the fair lands of Nebraska.

Each tribe claimed the elk and bison, Claimed the deer among the cedars. That roamed among the tallest cedars, Fed upon the grass that grew there. The Paducahs gained the battle. Drove the Sioux from ofif the valley. Far beyond the Niobrara, To the valley of the Big Sioux, Where dwelt the tribe of the Dakotas, Dwelt the Indian maid, Winneta, The daughter of brave Navasota. In the council Eagle Feather Sat and smoked beside his father. Sat and smoked the pipe among them. Listened to the great War Eagle.

Then they called the Indian maiden. Told her bid the Eagle Feather To do some daring deed of prowess To prove his great love for Winneta - He shall do Winneta's bidding. With her eyes downcast and thoughtful. With her voice so clear and mournful. Spoke she then to Eagle Feather: "Go to the land of the Xebraskas, Far beyond the Niobrara, Where the Sioux and the Dakotas Hunted, fished, and roamed the prairies. The deep canons far beyond them.

To the eastward flows the North Lou]i. To the southward flows the South Louji. Where the foes of my dead father Dwell and hunt among the canons. Kill the bulYalo by hundreds. Kill the dark friends of Winneta, Killed the brave chief, Navasota, Will you go and bring a token From the spot where sleeps my father? Bring his bow and bring his quiver. Bring his quiver full of arrows. That the Paducahs may not use them To slay more friends of poor Winneta : Ere another moon grows darkened You may return and wed \\'inneta."

StopiJed at night beneath the cedars. Made a fire of withered branches. Slept beside the campfire soundly. Slept until the wild liirds called him.

Called him to pursue his journey By their sweet songs in the morning. Welcoming the pleasant sunrise. Southward, westward. Eagle Feather Hurried on to do the bidding - Of the dark-eyed Indian maiden. For five days the Eagle Feather Journeyed on toward the South Loup, Slept at night beside the streamlet ; Tired, weary, on the last night ]\Iade his fire beside the Muddy ; Laid him down to rest and slumber, Heeding not the howling coyote Warning him of coming danger, Warning him his foes were near him : Slept and dreamed of home and kindred.

Dreamed he saw the dark-eyed maiden Coming down the path to meet him. Coming down to greet her lover. To receive the bow and quiver : Dreamed he on till almost sunrise. When the war whoop echoed wildly Through the canons on the prairies, Echoed up and down the Muddy. Waked he then among their yelling. For his foes had found him sleeping. Then they scalped the Eagle Feather, For thev numbered near a hundred : Forced him then to tell his errand. Then they took his bow and quiver. Took his bow and broke it rudely, Threw it down to warn the Sioux tribe That they'd slain their Eagle Feather.

"In the spirit land FU meet him. Meet him and my brave old father : In the hunting grounds of the red men. Happy land of the Great Spirit. Will commune with Eagle Feather In the land beyond the sunset." Years have passed and left the traces

Years swept by, the pale-faced settlers On the prairies of Nebraska. On the swiftly flowing South Loup. Built their cabins on the North Loup, 'Hunted on the Niobrara. Built their cabins on the Aluddy. Near the place where Eagle Feather, The young chief of the Dakotas, Met his fate by the Paducahs. Came the pale-face, walking slowly. Thinking of the growing city They were building on the Muddy. For many men had come together. Brought their wives and children with them, To populate fair Custer county.

And the people of the Muddy Now must name this fair young city. For a new name searched they often. Oft rejected, half discouraged. While out walking on the Muddy Came he where the bow lay broken; Pondered he of how it came there. All alone beside the Muddy. Pondered he, this pale-faced Hewitt, As he homeward walked more quickly, "I have found a bow that's broken." Said he to his fair wife waiting, "An Indian bow that has been broken And left beside the Muddy river. Let us name our city for it.

Name our city Broken Bow ; Sent the name, it was accepted. Never was a name just like it. Never one half so romantic. Full of wonder came each stranger. "Such a strange name for a city." Said each stranger when they heard it. Broken Bow, in Custer county. Built beside the !\Iuddy river. Near beside those wondrous canons Where the Indian tribes had waged war. Where the coyote warned the red chief. While he dreamed of dark Winneta: Where he suffered death by torture. Left to us his Broken Bow.

A. J. .McArtlnir was born in Hocking county, Ohio. May 6. 1862. He was educated in the pubHc schools of Ohio, in the high school at ^laryville. ^Missouri, and in the Northwestern Normal at Stanberr\', Missouri. He graduated from the Missouri Aledical College, St. Louis, Misouri. in Marcli. 1891. He located first at Maryville, but moved later to Westerville, Nebraska. He practiced there and at Weissert for many years - till bad health forced him to discontinue.

Dr. McArthur came to Broken Bow in August, 1916, in order to put his children in the high school. Aside from the practice of medicine, he has given considerable attention to literature, and he has been a contributor to eastern magazines. A few years ago he was party to a joint debate with a Catholic priest, in the columns of the Jl'orld-Hcrald. which attracted state wide attention. For the last few years he has been a regular contributor to the Truth Seeker, of New York.

When the war first began there appeared in that publication a series of articles of unusual literary ability, signed "George Sibel." They were powerfully pro-German, but so skillfully prepared that their object was not at once apparent. As soon as the United States had declared war Dr. McArthur wrote an article for the Truth Seeker calling attention to the character of these articles. This brought a replv, and he finally charged Mr. Sibel openly with not being a loyal citizen, reviewed the articles as they appeared, and quoted his previous work to such purpose, that the articles soon ceased to appear.

Prize Article

During the early part of 190.'') the Custer Couuty Chief offered a prize for the best Custer county article in which the advantages and resources of the county should be exploited. F. M. Currie. .Mjiha Morgan, and George Mair were selected as awarding judges, and by their decision the following article, written by Dr. A. J. Mc.Xrthur. was given first place.

"J. Proctor Knott once humorously stated that the city of Duluth is exactly in the center of the universe, and for proof adduced the fact that the horizon came down to meet the earth at exactly the same distance, in all directions. This is equally true of Custer county, but it is further true that Custer county is the center of the most central state in the Union, which, in its turn, is the most central country in the first continent on the globe. To the unsophisticated eastern tenderfoot, who, in a lifetime, never ventures beyond the purlieus of his township, central Nebraska is only a barren, windy waste, scorned by the flocks of cranes and geese as they hasten over, and peopled only by rattlesnakes and skulking coyotes.

'Happy is the country that has no history,' for it means peace and prosperity. What a sight it would be to one of these men. who every morning of his life has taken his little basket and gone out to feed his dozen shoats. if he could visit an average Custer countv farm, to see the farmer hitch a stout team to a big wagon, scoop in fifty bushels of corn and drive into the feed yard with the morning rations of a quarter-acre of hogs. Then to realize that this is only the commencement of the morning chores - that there are more hogs and perhaps hundreds of cattle still to be fed. When he looks at the alfalfa meadow, dotted with scores of stacks, looking in the distance like the tented bivouac of an army, he will remember how, for years, he has carefully fed old Dobbin a little timothy sprinkled with water to guard against the heaves, and pitied "those who dwelt in desert places."

"The name of Custer county and the name of her metropolis. Broken Bow. conjure visions of clashing interest and border strife, but the strife has long since ceased. The Indian, in token of defeat, has cast down his broken bow and passed on to the west, and where once roamed the majestic herds of buft'alo are now found the matchless herds of fine cattle.

"We have often womlered if the residents of Custer county ever think upon her stupenduous [lossibilities or speculate uiJon her future. W'e have an empire within our borders. Custer county contains more than one and one-half millions acres of land. Larger than some of the states, larger than some of the monarchies of antiquity, the history of whose people and their deeds of valor is now taught in our public schools. Indefinitely larger, if measured by the lavish ensemblage of natural resources of this, 'The Great American Desert.'

"Many farmers can remember with what misgivings they first ventured into Custer county, twenty-five years ago ! Timidly, tentatively, looking back, but dreading the derision that awaited them there, they found the Eldorado of their dreams: soil which, 'tickled with a hoe, laughed with a bounteous harvest," and which, after a quarter of a century of cultivation, is the same soil still. Expecting to find man wandering, insane from thirst, they found a water course every ten miles, a climate that gave new life and strength, cool nights that snatched the languor from the most wearied limbs, and - and fleas. Some turned back, of course. Nature would furnish the grist, but Nature would not grind it, so they went back to their wives' folks' to gather hickory-nuts and persimmons.

"And now Custer county is about to realize her hopes, to stand free from the calumny of her traducers. When it takes half a train to haul a man's stock to market, he is past the place where you can argue with him about his prosperity or raise the ghost of his long-forgotten doubts as to his country. Long misunderstood and reviled, farmers are coming to understand that Custer county is mighty, but benign, if her moods and peculiarities are respected. She has shown her contempt for long-haired prophets and rain-makers, and has settled down to certain crops, equal to any produced in the Mississippi valley.

"The great activity in real estate and the rapid advance in value of land, shows that farmers are beginning to appreciate the country, but Custer county land is still ridiculously cheap. Eastern men who come here are made suspicious by the mean prices that farmers put on their land. We simply have not the nerve or the sense to ask for it what it is worth. Realestate men are growing rich buying from the unwary and in a few days selling again, often for nearly double the purchase price. Think how rapidly the country is developing, all because of a better understanding of the climate and soil. Only a few years ago it was commonly believed that winter wheat could not be grown here. Now it is a staple crop and the yield equal to that of the northern wheat belt. How long since every farmer believed that the native grass was the only forage or pasture that would grow here ? Now there are numbers of grasses that only need a start to thrive here and outyield the native grass five to one. In annual grasses we have never in any other country seen such profusion of varieties or such rank growth.

"A few years ago farmers were raising little patches of alfalfa in their gardens, indiliferent, without confidence, saving a little seed to sow the next year. Now it is the staff of the country, ranking right with corn in all around utility. The yield of alfalfa is almost past belief. One acre will feed twenty hogs through the entire summer, and it defies the frost till late in the fall. If mowed and carefully saved, an acre of alfalfa will make from eight to twelve tons of hay. Brome grass is proving itself to be a close second, with the added advantage that it may be pastured at any time with impunity.

"With the coming of these things is come the honey bee. With ordinary care bees increase very rapidly and produce honey in plenty, and of fine quality. They care nothing for wire fences and will garner from your neighbor's fields as well as from your own - and will go a long way to do it. In a short time this country will outclass all others in bee culture, and the production of honey.

"Nearly all kinds of fruits are now grown here, not only 'successfully.' but with profit. A 'lick and a promise' will not grow corn, nor will it grow fruit trees. Neither do fruit trees, especially when young, make good pastures for cows. But the right varieties, properly planted and properly cared for, will produce fruit of any kind, ^^'ho thought of strawberries some years ago? Now farmers raise them by the bushel.

knowing the climate and soil, and a reasonable care of the crop. It would not be fair to omit the most important crop of all - the babies. For no other crop is the soil so productive. Families of ten or a dozen are found on every section, and upon no other crop does the future greatness of this county so much depend.

"Nothing else so completes a man's satisfaction with Custer county, as a visit to the home of his ho\'hoocl. There will come the homesickness - the longing to go back - 'back to Grigsby's Station, back where we used to be so happy and so pore.' He will go and come again, entirely disillusioned of the sylvan and elysian memories that he has cherished, and wondering how people there manage to make a living. They don't. The New England states are dotted with hundreds of deserted farms, so worthless and so numerous that they are becoming a huge problem to be solved by the people of these states.

"Great as Custer county has come to be, she is still in tlic early morning of her life, a toddling infant just quitting the threshold of her nursery for a life of strenuous endeavor and great achievement. With the accumulated wealth of ages in her soil, a matchless climate, skies as blue as Italy's, stars as bright as any that ever looked down upon ancient Egypt, peopled by men an<l women whose restless energy- would not brook the sterile parsimony of other lands, she is like the block of fine marble that only awaits the hand of the sculptor to release the angel imprisoned within."

George B. M.Mr

George 15. Mair, descriptive writer, editor, and poet, deserves a prominent place in the literary aimals of this western county. He was a resident of long years in the Cal'.awav district, where he made a newspaper record that might well be envied by most any quill pusher. .V few years ago he was elected clerk of the district court, and from that time he made his home in the county seat until the fall of 1917, when he removed with his family to Oakland, California, where he now resides.

Harry B. Iszard is entitled to be styled one of the literary persons of Custer county. He lias been a resident of the county for the last fourteen years and during that time has been a very prolific writer. The story and news pages of the Custer County Chief attest the versatility of his pencil and the fascinat'on of his style.

Mr. Iszard began as a newspaper nrm on the Leadville Democrat-Herald, under the tutorage of the locally famous "Cad" Davis. Later he worked on the Denver papers, where his writings attracted both notice and comment throughout the mountain state. His Denver work was responsible for a staff position on one of the Omaha papers, where he did two or three years' work. Aside from newspaper work he has been a contributor to magazines, and in the field of short stories has distinguished himself to the extent of putting a Custer county name into the list of literary producers. From his desk in the Chief office the local county stories come forth with a pungent flavor that makes them remarkably readable. Harry, as he is familiarly called by his friends, has the faculty of infusing into an otherwise dry article a rich vein of subtle humor. He tells his story differently and contrasts his style in such a way that both are called unique.

A year or so ago he ran in the Chief a series of attractive articles which he styled "Tabulated Knocks" and which attracted the attention of state writers and newspaper men.

In the articles entitled "Tabulated Knocks" he introduces the different members of the "Hammer-Fan Family." Ea:h member of the family figures, in his or her respective comic role, to the hilarity and delight of the reader.

Scene : Either of the picture theatres. Time : Any old night between eight and ten o'clock. ( Miss Hammer-Fan and Bosom Friend approach the box-office window. )

Miss H. F. ( frantically pawing her purse for small coins) - "Wait a minute, Beulah. this is my treat - that is, it will be if I can ever find those two dimes. ( Still pawing. ) What on earth has become of them ? ( )h, here they are under this sample of silk. ( Produces two dimes and pushes them in at the window. The two girls enter the theatre and block up the aisle while surveying the house.) \\'e've missed the first of this reel and our regular seats are occupied, as usual. It would be an act of common courtesy for them to keep our seats all the time, considering the amount of money we spend in the house every week."

Bosom Friend (indicating seats I - "Let's sit here and maybe we can keep on our hats. (As they seat themselves there is a 'sharp canine yelp and the bosom friend screams.) -Mercy! What was that?"

kicked a dog, that's all. They come in here and chase themselves all over the place. It"s a wonder the house wouldn't furnish pillows for them to sleep on. ( Two school boys enter, drop into seats back of them and commence making comments.) Now we'll have some music."

First boy - "Do cats wear hats?" Bosom Friend (resignedly) - "Oh. we might as well ; they'll give us no peace until wedo." ( Takes her hat off. i

Miss TI. F. - "Dunno. but I'm sure I saw it in Omaha three months ago. We never get anything until late here. Honest to goodness, they ran some stuff this month that I saw in Chicago nearly two years ago. Oh. there's the name : "The Pink Puppy.' Yep. it's the same thing I saw in Omaha."

Miss H. F. - "Well, it's wrong, anyway: jioppies are red, at least so I have always understood. Now wat:h this hateful old thing what he is doing. He's jealous of the young hotel clerk and in order to put him in bad with the plumber's daughter, he steals an artificial rtower from - liingo ! To be sure, the film would have to part just at the critical moment. Now we can sit back and twiddle our thumbs for five or ten minutes while they are gluing it together. That's the trouble up here, everything is so ancient that it drops to pieces almost before they can get it on the machine. Say. kid. you should have seen the 'Tango Tangle' : they had it in Oand Island last week. Kerry Worrigan does the leading part and he's just the sweetest thing - "

Bosom Friend (with a sniff) - "Looks like it when the University people have been on their knees for years begging him to come over to them."

Miss H. F. - "Nothing doing. The Linseed outfit would have tlropped him long ago if he hadn't been tied to them by an iron-clad contract. ( Spitefully ) I wish I hadn't paid your way in here."

Miss H. F. (as the photoplay is resumed) - "They've got it fixed - and it's about time. Maybe the chorus back of us will now take a rest. See those two big rummys down there with their heads together. Wonder how they expect us to see anything? Must think we belong to the X-ray family. Look, here is where the hotel clerk pushes him off of the cliff into the water. Zowie. what a splash. I'll bet those people who do the water stunts have colds in their heads all the time. I met a moving picture actor in Denver last year and he told me that the managers made them do all sorts of horrible things and some of the men in his company almost drank themselves to death, in order to keep up their courage. One actor had a bottle of booze behind a rock and when he went to get a drink there was a rattlesnake coiled up. The poor fellow thought he was seeing things and ran screeching to camp and they had to put him in a hospital. ( Suddenly sto])s and sniffs the air.) I smell somebody's feet. ( .\ young man sitting next to the girls turns a jiainful red and tries to ]nish himself through the wall. ) Don't you, Beulah ?"

First boy (nudging his friend) - "Put on your shoes. Chink, you're attracting the attention of the nobility. Gee. it's fortunate I took my annual bath this morning."

Miss H. F. (getting up) - "Oh. come on, let's go to the other side. I'm going to speak to my father and see if this sort of thing can't be stop]ied." ( Both start for the other side of the house. )

Mrs. G. W. Dewey

]\Irs. G. W. Dewey, who with her husband resides in the fertile valley of the ]\Iiddle Loup, near Gates, is one of Custer county's literary women. Both she and her husband have been pioneers and actively identified with the growth and development of the county.

Airs. Dewey has been one of the prominent teachers of the county, and probably her teaching extends over a longer period than that of any other person now teaching in Custer county. Public-spirited, she has been in the fore and front of all edu;ational mov.ements and has always been a welcome and interesting contributor to all public-school programs. So prominent has been her participation in county school affairs that her services are still secured for county institutes, summer schools, and educational conventions held in the county.

Her rich imagination, combined with the genius of expression, has enabled her to produce several poems which have received favorable notice and some of which are entitled to be enrolled as classics. S'pecial reference is made to her poem entitled "The Blizzard." which is not only vividly descriptive but also presents a style dramatically weird and fascinating.