Lincoln City (part 3 of 19)

At the county election of 1883 the officers elected were: R. B. Graham, Treasurer; J. H. McClay, Clerk; E. R. Sizer, Clerk of District Court; S. M. Melick^ Sheriff; C. M. Parker, Judge ; W. E, G. Caldwell, Commissioner; J. P. Walton, Surveyor; H. S. Bowers, Superintendent of Public Instruction; N. J. Beachley^ Coroner; Levi Snell, Senate, to fill vacancy. S. B. Pound was elected to a third term from this county, as a Judge of the Second Judicial District.

At the State and legislative election of 1884 the whole number of votes cast in the county was f),401. Dawes, (Republican,) for Governor, received 4,012; Morton (Democrat) 2,180, and J. G. Miller, of Lancaster, (Prohibition,) 209. C. C. Burr and Alba Smith were elected Senators, and S. W. Burnham, Wm. B. Brandt, H. J. Liesveldt, A. W. Field, and J. B. Wright, to the House. Commissioner, H. C. Reller. Allen W. Field, of the Lancaster delegation, was, on taking his seat, elected Speaker of the House.

At the county election of 1885 the following officers were chosen: Treasurer, Jacob Roche; Clerk, O. C. Bell; Sheriff, S. M. Melick; Judge, CM. Parker; Register of Deeds, J. H. McClay; Surveyor, J. P. Walton; Coroner, E. T. Roberts; Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frank D. McCluskey; Commissioner, Alba Brown. C. H. Gere was re-elected a Regent of the university, and Amasa Cobb was re-elected to the supreme bench.

At the State election of 1886 the whole number of votes cast was 6,834, of which John M. Thayer (Republican) received for Governor, 3,985; James E. North (Democrat) 1,424, and H. W. Hardy, 6f Lancaster, (Prohibition,) 925. R. E. Moore and S. W. Burnham were elected to the Senate, and J. L. Caldwell, J. Shamp, I. M. Raymond, J. Dickinson, H. J. Liesveldt, and G. W. Eggleston, to the House. Commissioner, H. J. Shaberg.

At the county election of 1887, the following officers were chosen: Treasurer, Jacob Roche; Clerk, O. C. Bell; Sheriff, S. M. Melick; Judge, W. E. Stewart: Register of Deeds, John D. Knight; Commissioner, Thos. Dickson; Superintendent Public Instruction, Frank D. McCluskey; Surveyor, J. P. Walton; Clerk or District Court, E. R. Sizer. Allen W. Field, of Lancaster, was elected a .Judge of the second judicial district.

At the State election held on November 6, 1888, 9,962 votes were cast, of which Thayer, (Republican,) for Governor, received 5,440 ; McShane (Democrat) 3,610, and Bigelow (Prohibition) 811. At that election, Connell (Republican) was elected to Congress for the First Congressional District, receiving 5,355 votes, to 3,821 for ]Morton, (Democrat,) and 795 for Graham, (Prohibition.) For the State- Senate, Raymond and Beardsley were elected, while for the House^ Messrs. Hall, Caldwell, Dickinson, Severin, and McBride, were the successful candidates, all being Republicans.

Chapter Yii

The Salt Basins - Great Expectations of the Eaely Settlers and Residents OF Lincoln - An Interesting Calculation of the Wealth- Producing Power of the Wells - The Attempts Made to Realize These Expectations.

The first settlers in Lancaster connty were attracted here by the fame of the Salt Basin, which in that early day had extended as far east as Plattsmouth and Nebraska City. The early settlers near the basins made many fanciful pictures of the wealth to be obtained from these same basins, and pictnred to themselves a great city built near bv, whose great source of wealth should be the working of the "salt wells." And it is safe to presume that one reason why the State capital was located at Lincoln (or Lancaster) ^vas the fact that salt was one of the products of Lancaster connty, and that the Commissioners believed that the manufacture of salt would, in the future, prove the foundation of a great business, which would attract capital to the little hamlet on the prairie. It is, however, certain that the early residents of Lincoln set great store by the basins, and that for years every intelligent man predicted wonderful results from the making of salt.

As proof of this it is here pertinent to quote from a little pamphlet of thirty pages, a history of Lincoln, the authorship of which is to be laid at the door of Hon. John H. Ames, and which was published by the ^^ State Journal Power Press Print" in 1870, a few of the fan- <?ies and figures current in those days. Mr. Ames says :

"In the following remarks an effort will be made to furnish a knowledge of the facts and circumstances, established by experience, upon which it may be safe to base a final judgment. So far as known, no similar effort has previously been made; and while care will be taken that any information that may be contained herein shall be authentic, yet it must of necessity be less full and complete than may be desirable, or than it might be made if there had been any thorough and detailed official investigation and report thereon.

The Salt Basins

who are engaged in the business of making salt by solar evaporation, and in sinking the well for the purpose of testing the strength and value of the brine to be obtained beneath the surface at this place, any information derived from which sources may be relied upon as being entirely authentic and trustworthy."

After referring somewhat fully to a pamphlet published in 1869, by Augustus F. Harvey, entitled "Nebraska as it is," in which a description of the salt basius is given, and a prediction of the great undeveloped wealth which they represent is made, Mr. Ames continues :

"Previous to the time that the above passages were written, nothing like an extensive manufacture of salt at this place had been attempted. Some parties, however, had evaporated considerable quantities of the surface brine, both by means of solar and artificial heat, and the product obtained had been carefully analyzed by eminent chemists in New York City and other places, and the result, as declared by them, was as above stated. [Twenty-eight and eight tenths per cent of salt by weight; the product containing ninety-five to ninety-seven jiarts of pure salt, and three to five parts of chlorides and sulphates of magnesium, calcium, lime, etc. - Ed.] But it is thought that the statement of Mr. Harvey in regard to the strength of the surface brine, although no doubt intentionally correct, is, nevertheless, inaccurate.

" During the summer months, and when a considerable interval of time has elapsed, characterized by an absence of rain and the prevalence of the warm, dry winds which he mentions, the constant evaporation from the surface of the wide, shallow basins or pools of salt water often suffices to reduce the brine contained therein to the strength of 28.8 per cent; and in fact, when such a state of the atmosphere has prevailed for a long time, the recession of water from the edges of the basin not unfrequently leaves thereon an incrustation, from a half an inch to an inch in thickness, of almost pure salt; but the brine, as it oozes from the soil, has not been found to exceed fifteen per cent in strength. It has been found that the rapidity of evaporation at Syracuse, and other Eastern springs, is in the proportion of two in the summer and one in the winter. Owing to the absence of heavy falls of snow, and the considerable prevalence of dry winds at the place during the winter months, it is believed that the proportional evaporation durine: this time will be greater.

"Earlv in the .summer of 1869, Messrs. Calm and Evans, havingleased 640 acres of hind from the State Government for that purpose, commenced Avork preparatory to sinking a well in the immediate vicinity of one of these salt springs, and at a distance of about one and one-half miles from the market square of the city; and having erected a derrick and })rocured an engine and the necessary machinery they proceeded early in the autumn to effect this purpose, keeping an accurate record of the rock and other formations through which they penetrated. By means of this record, with the aid of such knowledge as is obtainable of the ledges exposed in different localities, an approximate and reasonably definite conclusion may be formed as to the location of the center of the basin."

"The ground near the wells is usually divided off into blocks, or squares, of several rods, between which are spaces or streets of convenient width, a map of the whole resembling the plat of a town. Across the squares, in one direction, are constructed vats or troughs,, sixteen feet in width, and about eight inches in depth, in which the brine is exposed to atmospheric action Covers, sixteen feet square, and adjusted with grooves or rollers, are provided, with which to prevent the brine from being diluted by falling rain. For the purpose of calculation, these covers may be taken to represent the number and size of the vats, and accordingly this is the size meant wherever the word vat is hereinafter used.

"As shown by the result of Mr. Harvey's experiment, six inches in depth of saturated or 33^ per cent brine, that being the usual amount exposed in one of the vats, would, under ordinary circumstances, evaporate in thirty-six hours; or twice that quantity would be evaporated every three days, leaving as a product 144,45(> cubic inches, or over 68.36 bushels of salt. This process repeated seven times every three weeks for twenty-one weeks, during the summer months, would result in the manufacture of 3,349.64 bushels, and repeated seven times every six weeks for thirty of the remaining thirtyone weeks in the year, would produce 2,392.60 bushels, which, added to the former, would make a total amount of 5,742.24 bushels, or 1,148.43 barrels of salt annually from one vat. Multiply this number by 1,0(HJ, the usual number of vats supplied from one well, and from the product subtract one-fifth of itself, as an allowance for the difference in the amounts of salt contained in saturated brine and brine of eighty degrees strength, and from the balance subtract onetwenty-fifth of itself, as an allowance for the smaller quantity of the Aveaker brine evaporated within the same time, (as a calculation sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes,) and the entire amount of salt which may be manufactured annually from one well Nvill be seen to be 882,001.6 barrels.

" Supposing, what is not at all probable, that the brine should prove to be possessed of only sixty degrees strength, the rapidity of evaporation being the same, we will subtract from this amount one-fourth of itself, as an allowance for the difference in the product between «C|uaL quantities of the two brines, and from the balance subtract onetwenty-sixth of itself, as an allowance for the smaller quantity of the weaker brine evaporated within the same time, and it shows a result of 636,058.84 barrels annually. Change the supposition so that the strength of the brine will remain at eighty degrees, and the rapidity of evaporation will be reduced one-half, and we have only to divide the first product obtained by two, which leaves us an annual yield of 441,000.80 barrels. Uniting these contingencies, that is, supposing the strength of the brine not to exceed sixty degrees, and the rapidity of evaporation to be only one-half as great as it has been demonstrated to be by experiment, we will divide the second result by two, and there will be shown an annual product of 318,029.42 barrels. Making a deduction of one-fourth from each result obtained, as an allowance for loss of time consequent upon injuries to or breakage of machinery, and bad weather, and there will be left, in the order named, as follows:

"While the railways now being constructed and those projected will give us direct connection with the Eastern markets, and enable us to compete with Eastern salt manufactories upon their own ground, it is certain that we shall be called upon to supply all the vast territory lying between the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains, so that $3 per barrel may be considered as an extremely low estimate lor tiie minimum price at the wells. The cost of empty barrels furnished at the wells, clue allowance being made for transportation, it is estimated cannot exceed forty-iive cents each j to this we will add ten cents per bushel as the cost of manufacture, and deducting the whole from $3, it leaves 82.45 as the net value of a barrel of salt at the manufactory. This calculation exhibits the net value of the three annual yields, as above supposed, in their order, as follows :

"The foregoing statement, in which every allowance is made for which any reason can be imagined, compares very favorably with any that can be made concerning the Eastern manufactories. The brine obtained from the wells in the Syracuse group varies in strength from sixty-four to seventy-four degrees, the average strength from them all being sixty-eight degrees. The brine obtained from the wells in the Saline group varies in strength from thirty-two to sixty-six degrees, the average strength from all being fifty-nine degrees. The average annual product of the wells at Saginaw is 72,000 barrels, while the rapidity of evaporation, as proved by experiment, is from two to three times as great here as at any of the places mentioned. * * * * It is certain, then, that unless the old maxim, 'figures won't lie,' can be successfully controverted, that the people of Lincoln have a valuable interest in the salt basin, vested and indefeasible, except by .some unusual providential di.spen.sation."

These quotations from Mr. Ames's work are given simply to show how highly the people of the early days valued the salt works, and what "great expectations" they had of the wealth to be secured from them. The complete history of the operations at the .salt basins from the earliest times has been gleaned from Mr. J. P. Hebard, who had, at one time, considerable interest in the work. INIere mention of the salt basins lias been made frequently in the past pages, but the subject has been deemed of sufficient importance to justify an entire chapter.

On the third day of May, 1854, the Kansas and Nebraska Act was passed, organizing and then creating the political bodies known as the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. Soon afterward Congress, on the 22d of July, 1854, passed an act providing for the appointment of a Surveyor General for Nebraska, Kansas, and New Mexico, which provided in general terms that the President should have authority to survey the public lands of this then Territory, and should have the further authority, in course of time, to sell the same under the usual land restrictions affecting sales of public lands. The preceeding section of that act of July 22, 1854, said that "The President shall have no authority to sell the salt or saline lands within such Territory."

Salt springs, not exceeding twelve in number, were granted and passed to the State of Nebraska, by the act of February 9, 1867, when the State was admitted to the Union.

In October, 1857, these lands were surveyed and certified by the Surveyor General as being saline lands, and subsequently, in 1859, parties located land warrants on some of the saline lands, which, after the issuing of patents and finding them to be on saline lands, were afterward canceled.

As the county settled up, homesteaders came from miles around and camped out near the Salt Basin and evaporated brine to make their supply of salt for the year.

There have been several salt companies formed. On March 1, 1855, was incorporated the "Nebraska Salt Manufacturing Company," for the purpose of manufacturing salt from the salt springs near Salt creek, Nebraska.

On March, 16, 1853, was incorporated a company known as the "Saline Manufacturing Company," to establish salt works at or near the salt springs.

A third company was incorporated January 26, 1856, as the "Salt Spring Company," for carrying on the business at the salt springs discovered by Thomas Thompson and others, lying west of Cass county, Nebraska,

In 1861, W. W. Cox, now a resident of Seward county, and Darwin Peckham, of Lincoln, took possession of one of the log cabins, and commenced making salt. It was very scarce during war times,. and was high in price, and of necessity many came to scrape salt.

They came from all the settled portions of Kansas, Missouri, and as far east as Central Iowa. If the weather was perfectly dry, they could get plenty of the salt, M'hich could be scraped up where the brine had evaporated and left a crust of salt, but a few minutes of rain would turn it all into brine again. Some would arrive from a long distance just in time to see a shower clear off all the salt.

Small furnaces were built and sheet iron pans used for boiling salt, many of the farmers bringing their sorghum pans for this purpose. In dry time some would scrape up the dry salt, and accumulate a large supply, which found a ready sale to those unfortunate enough to reach there in wet weather.

Various other parties manufactured salt here in a primitive way, till the time of the formation of the State Government, in 1867. The creeks were then lined with scattering patches of timber, from M'hich fire wood was secured for boiling purposes.

On February 15, 1869, the lease was declared void by the Legislature, and the Governor was authorized to make a new lease to Anson C Tichenor and Jesse T. Green, of the saline land which included the Salt Basin, for the period of twenty years.

A few iron kettles had been set in stone work, and salt made by boiling down the brine, being pumped from the basin by a windmill. In December, 1869, Horace Smith, of Springfield, Massachusetts, of the well-known firm of Smith & Wesson, being on a visit to relatives at Nebraska City, took a ride across the country to see the new town of Lincoln. Meeting Tichenor and Green at the hotel, the subject of manufacturing salt was naturally the principal theme in which he became interested, and before leaving town, made arrangements for the purchase of Tichenor's interest, and one-half of Green's, giving him a three-fourths interest in the lease.

On his return home, he stopped at Chicago, ordered an engine and pump, and several carloads of lumber for vats to evaporate brine, all to be shipped to East Nebraska City, that being the nearest railroad point, and from there all was hauled by wagon to Ijincoln, in the spring of 1870. The engine was put on the shore near the basin, with a pump to bring the brine from the basin near by, and force the same into a large tank. From here it was distributed to the vats as needed.

The brine, as it ran from the basin when the tide was in - as it has a tide twice a day, regular in its hours, commencing at about 3 or 4 P.M., and reaching the largest quantity at about 6 p.m., and the same in the morning - would generally be about 35° to 40° by salometer, and on a warm day brine standing in the basin would register as high as 65° and 70°. Dykes were thrown up to confine the brine as it came up through the ground, and a canal conducted it to a small reservoir, where it was allowed to settle before being pumped into the tank. In the warm days of summer the evaporating w^as very fast. From a vat about 14x28 feet, in less than two weeks of evaporation about three thousand pounds of salt were taken. The vats were all supplied with covers, on wheels so that they could be run over the vats in case of storm. The brine from this basin is different from that of many manufactories, in that it requires nothing put in to purify it.

The salt from evaporation formed in cubes of different sizes, and grasses were put in the brine a most beautiful cluster of crystals would be obtained in a few days' time. This salt, for general use, required to be ground in a salt mill. The kettles were also used, but scarcity of fuel worked against this mode ; but salt thus made was fine as the dairy salt usually found for sale, and for dairy use was said to have no superior, as was the case with the coarser salt for curing meat.

The summer of 1870 was thus spent, Avhen Mr. Smith sent his nephew, Mr. J. P. Hebard, to Lincoln to look after his interest and act with Mr. Green in developing the business. A large quantity of salt was made, finding a ready market for its utmost capacity of vats and boilers ; and Mr. Smith visiting Lincoln that year, was so much -encouraged by the results of the summer's work that on his return home he investigated the different modes of making salt, and spent a large sum in perfecting and trying a new process for manufacturing, in which all the heat was utilized, making a great difference in the expense of fuel, which was a large item where all the wood had to be .shipped in.

Plans were made and partially completed for investing a large sum, in 1871, in improvements, vats, reservoirs, etc., for the making of salt on a large scale.

Mention was made of a party having located warrants on these saline lands, the patents for which the Government canceled, after finding them to be located contrary to law. One of the parties interested, J. Sterling Morton, attempted to gain possession of the buildings during the temporary absence of the lessees. Failing in this, suit was commenced in the district court against Horace Smith, J. T. Green, and the State of Nebraska, as defendants, to decide the question of title. Mr. Smith learning of this, and fearing a long litigation over the case, and uncertainty as to whether the State could maintain title to the land leased, and not wishing to invest capital under such uncertainties, decided to abandon the enterprise.

During the season of 1871, as all improvements were stopped, the works were run by iVIr. (jreeu at his own expense, netting a good return for the season's work.

In the October term of the District Court this ease was tried, resulting in maintaining the State's title; but as Mr. Smith had given the matter up, and made other arrangements in matters of business, he transferred his interest to J. P. Hebard, who, on Mr. Green's refusing to take an interest in the summer's work, started the manufactory on his own account, and after accumulating quite a supply of salt in the bins, noticed that it suddenly commenced disappearing in large quantities. A friend of his in the dray business gave him some pointers, from which he soon found who was reaping the rewards of his labor, and M-here it was disposed of, and that the hauling was all done in the night time or early dawn.

Having learned, one Sunday evening, that another raid would be made in the morning, before daylight, he made it a point to be on hand. Before daylight, Monday morning, the teams were heard approaching from town, and on their arrival, one wagon backed up to the opening in the bin. Mr. Green accompanied them as the party interested in the results not of his own labor, and took his position in the wagon to shovel forward as thrown in at the end of the wagon bed. The owner of the salt appearing at this stage of the proceeding-;, the German teamster, who was shoveling out the salt, upon being informed of the kind of business he was engaged in, em])hasized with a few flourishes of a good-sized ax-handle, and not understanding P'nglish perfectly, thought his life was tiireatened, and commenced hallooing: "1 don't want to be kilt! I don't want to be kilt!" and stopped work. Mr. Green, finding no salt coming out, came into the l)uilding to find out what detained it, and meeting the owner, he was informed that his stealings were known, and had a few other facts called to his attention. He did not adopt the latest rules in such engagements, but started in on general principles to whip the owner, and being nuu-li larucr than his opponent, he came down on the upper side. Having a long beard, the under man ran his fingers through the beard, and taking a twist on this, soon brought the belh'gerent to his terms, and Mr. Green returned to town with empty wagons. Suit was commenced for the full amount of the salt taken, judgment given, and the salt paid for.

A transfer of the former interest of Horace Smith was made to E. E. Brown and J. T. Green, and subsequently a company of Eastern capitalists was formed to develop the salt interest, and the State made an appropriation for sinking an artesian well, which was sunk to the depth of 2,465 feet. Aside from determining the different formations, this well did not result in any practical good.

The brine's having a regular tide twice a day would indicate that the supply from which it comes is not directly underneath. The brine oozes up through the muck on the basin, and if not confined by dykes, runs off into Salt creek. Where the basin is covered with brine when the tide is in, during the middle of the day it will be dry enough to walk over, and often a thin layer of salt will cover parts of the ground.

In the earlier history of Lincoln a well was sunk several hundred feet deep, on the east side of Oak, near, if not in, what is now known as West Lincoln. This was finally abandoned, as, like the artesian well in the postoffice square, no brine of sufficient strength was found that would answer for manufacturing purposes. On the banks of Salt creek may be found numerous small springs from which salt water flows, and it is probable that the material from which to make several hundred barrels of good salt per day, in good weather, all runs to waste. The water is fine for bathing purposes, and possesses medicinal (pialities. As to the best means of utilizing this brine, there are different opinions, but no one has as yet solved the problem, and the question will remain for future determination.

Chapter Viii

The one great epoch in the history of Lincoln, the one event Avhich, more than any other, gave the city its start, from which it has grown, by reason of its commercial advantages and the push and enterprise of its citizens, to its present size and importance among Western cities, the turning point in its career, so to speak, was the location of the State capital here, in 1867. And the incidents attending the location of the seat of government form one of the most interesting chapters in the history of the State of Nebraska.

In 1854, when the Territory of Nebraska was created, Francis Burt, of South Carolina, was appointed Territorial Governor by President Pierce. On the 7th of October of that year the new Governor arrived. Although ill at the time, he took the oath of office on the 16th, only to die on the 18th. Governor Burt, by the organic act, and the appointment of the President, was clothed with almost absolute power in the location of the Territorial capital ; and although he was Governor but two days, he gave expression to sentiments and preferences that led the people to believe that had he lived Bellevue would have been the Territorial capital. After the death of Governor Burt, the Secretary of Nebraska, T. B. Cuming, became acting Governor, and soon after taking the oath of office, located the seat of Government at Omaha.

At that place the first Territorial Legislature met on Tuesday, January 16, 1855. Omaha continued to be the capital until the admission of Nebraska as a State, Avhen the change was made to Lincoln, not, however, without much Avrangling and a hard fight. Not that many attempts were not made to remove the capital to Bellevue, Nebraska City, Florence, and other places, for in many sessions of the Territorial I^egislature "capital removal " was a cause of much bitterness - a bone of contention. The root of the whole trouble was a pretended enumeration of the inhabitants of the Territory in 1854, on which the representation in the first Legislature was based, that Legislature having the endorsing of Governor Cuming's location of the capital. The North Platte fellows got away with those from the South Platte, and hence carried their point. In LS57 an attempt was made to " remove," and again in 1858, when the exciting events which were just beginning in the East and South attracted the attention of the legislators from their local bickerings. In a sketch, "The Capital Question in Nebraska, and the Location of the Seat of Government at I^incoln," by Hon. Charles H. Gere, read before the State Historical Society, January 12, 1886, he gives the incidents of these times very fully, and from that sketch the account of the capital troubles during the year 1867 is purloined:

" But the Avar came to an end, and when the last Territorial Legislature of 1867 met, the old question of unfair apportionment came to the front again. The population of the South Platte section had increased until it w'as about double that of the counties north of the troublesome stream. But the superior tactics of the Douglas county leaders held its representation down to such an extent that it had but seven of the thirteen Councilmen, and twenty-one of the thirty-seven Representatives. Two threads of policy had intertwisted to make the resistance to a reapportionment based upon actual population, sufficiently strong to overcome the justice supposed to be latent in the minds of statesmen.

"The first was the fear entertained by Douglas county of the reopening of the capital agitation. The North Platte was now about a unit in favor of Omaha as against a southern competitor. The second was a political consideration. A reapportionment meant a cutting down of the representation from Otoe as well as Douglas county, both Democratic strongholds. These counties, with the assistance of some lesser constituencies on the north of the Platte, which sent Democratic delegations, were able to hold a very even balance in the Legislature against the Pepiiblicaus, though the latter had an unquestionable majority in the Territory. Now that Statehood was imminent, and there were two United States Senators to be elected by a State Legislature, soon to be called, in case President Johnson should not succeed in his plan of defeating our admission under the enabling act of 1864, it was of immense importance to stave off a reapportion- ment. Hence for capital reasons the Republicans from the North Platte and the Democrats from the South Platte worked in harmony with the Douglas county members in preserving a basis of representation in its original injustice. The usual bill for a new apportionment had been introduced, and passed the Senate, and came to the House, but the four votes from Otoe county being solid against it, it was sleeping the sleep of the just. In tlie Speaker's chair was William F. Chapin, of Cass, an exjiert parliamentarian, cool, determined, watchful, and untiring. The session was drawing to a close, and it was Saturday ; the term expired at twelve o'clock, midnight, on the following Monday, and, as usual, the results of pretty much all the toil and perspiration of the forty days depended upon a ready and rapid dispatch of business during the remaining hours of the session.

"There was something sinister in the air. It was whispered about that morning that the reapportioimient bill had at last a majority, in case Deweese, of Richardson, who was absent on leave, should put in an appearance. A vote or two had been brought over from some of the northern districts remote from Omaha, and anxious for Republican domination. ' Fun ' was therefore expected. It came very soon after the roll was called on the opening of the session. The credentials of D. ]M. Rolfe, of Otoe, who had not been in attendance during the session, but who was an anti-reapportionist, were called up, and it was moved that they be reported to a special committee. The ayes and nays were demanded. Pending roll call, it was moved that a call of the house be ordered. The call was ordered, and the doors closed. All the members answered to their names but Deweese, of Richardson, and Dorsey, of AA'ashington. Then the other side made a motion that further proceedings under the call be dispensed Math. The ayes and nays were demanded, and there were seventeen ayes and sixteen nays. Speaker Chapin announced that he voted *no,' and tiiat being a tie, the motion was lost. An appeal was taken from the decision of the chair, and the vote resulted in another tie, and the appeal was declared lost. The rule is that an affirmative proi)osition cannot be carried by a tie vote, but that all questions are decided in the negative. The usual form of putting the question is: 'Shall the decision of the chair stand as the judgment of the house?' The negative would be that it should not so stand. J>ut in that case a decision of the chair is reversed by less than a majority of the members voting.

Removal Of The Capital

which is, of course, absurd. It was a deadlock. The result was a curious demonstration of the absurdity of manipulating a proposition by the use of misleading formulas, so that the negative side of a question may appear in the affirmative.

"The hours passed, but 'no thoroughfare' was written on the faces of the reapportionists. They said that until they had some assurance that a reapportionment bill Mould be passed before the adjournment, they would prevent the transaction of any more business. Secretly they expected Deweese, who was rumored to be well enough to attend, and they waited for his appearance, but he did not come. The Doorkeeper and Sergeant-at-Arms had orders to let no man out, and when noontide passed and the shadows lengthened, the members sent out for refreshments and lunched at their desks. The night came. Some of the refreshments had been of a very partisan character, and there was blood on the horizon. Many became hilarious, and the loi)by was exceedingly noisy. From hilarity to pugnacity is but a short step. Arms and munitions of war were smuggled in during the evening by the outside friends of both sides, and it was pretty confidently whispered that the conclusion was to be tried by force of revolvers.

"A little after ten o'clock p. M., Augustus F. Harvey, of Otoe, rose, and moved that Speaker Chapin be deposed, and that Dr. Abbott, of Washington, be elected to fill the vacancy. He then put the question to a viva' voce vote, and declared the motion adopted and Dr. Abbott elected Speaker of the House. The stalwart form of Mv. Parmalee, the fighting man of the faction, immediately lifted itself from a desk near by, and advanced, wdth Dr. Abbott, toward the chair, backed up by Harvey and a procession of his friends. As he placed his foot upon the first step of the dias, Speaker Chapin suddenly unlimbered a Colt's Navy, duly cocked, and warned him briefly to the effect that the Pythagorean proposition that two bodies could not occupy the same space at the same time was a rule of the House, and would be enforced by the combined armament at the command of the proper presiding officers. Daniel paused upon the brink of fate, and hesitated upon his next step. To hesitate was to be lost. The speaker announced that in accordance Avith the rules of the House in cases of great disorder, he declared the House adjourned until nine o'clock Monday morning, and sprang for the door. The Omaha lobby had promised faithfully, when the crisis came, to guard that door, and permit no rebel from the South Platte to escape. The first man to reach the door was said to be Kelley, of Platte, who had joined the forces of the reapportionists, and it is a tradition that he leaped over the legislative stove to get there in time. The door was burst open, and before the volunteer guard could recover its equilibrium, the seceders had escaped, and Avere out of the buildings scattering to the four quarters of the globe. But they had a rendezvous agreed upon in a secret place, and in half an hour they were safely entrenched, and on guard against any Sergeant-at-Arms and posse that might be dispatched to return them to durance vile.

"The Abbott House immediately organized, admitted Rolfe, of Otoe, to full membership, and proceeded to clear the docket of accumulated bills. Members of the lobby trooped in and voted the names of the absent, and everything proceeded in an unanimous way that must have astonished the walls of the chamber, if they had ears and memory. About dawn, however, the situation began to lose it& roseate hue, and an adjournment was had till Monday morning. Before that time arrived the hopelessness of the situation dawned on both factions. They perceived that nothing whatever would come of the deadlock. Neither party had a quorum. Deweese, of Richardson, could not be brought in to vote for reapportionment, and by common consent a peace was concluded, and Monday was spent in an amicable settlement of the arrearages of routine business."

These incidents, however, created a great sensation all over the State^ and made sectional and partisan feeling run high. The adjournment took place on February 18th, and two days later, on the 20th, the State Legislature, (chosen at the same election at which the State constitution had been adopted under the enabling act, held June 2, 1866,) was called together by Governor Saunders, to accept or reject the "fundamental condition" insisted on by Congress as a condition precedent to the admission of the State. The condition was that the word "white" in the constitution theretofore passed by the Legislature and ratified by the people, should not be construed as debarring from franchise any citizen of Nebraska on account of race or color. On the 21st day of February, 1867, the second day of the session, the bill accepting these conditions passed, and was signed by Governor Butler, who had taken his seat that day. On the first of March Presi- dent Johnson issued the proclamation declaring Nebraska a State, the State officers were sworn in, and Governor Butler began to prepare his call for a special session of the Legislature to put the machinery of the State in motion.

Quoting Hon. C. H. Gere again: "It was insisted upon by the leaders of the Eepublican party in the south and west, that a reapportionment of members of the Legislature should be one of the objects of legislation enumerated in the call. This was opposed by many Republicans in Douglas and other northern counties. It was also asked, this time by Democrats as well as Republicans, from Otoe as well as from Cass and Richardson and the southAvestern counties that a clause should be inserted making the location of the seat of government of the State one of the objects of the special session. The Governor was averse to commencing his administration Avith a capital wrangle, but thought it would be good policy to make use of the suggestion, for the purpose of securing a reapportionment without a repetition of the bitter struggle of the winter. He therefore o])ened negotiations with the Douglas county delegation to the coming Legislature, and promised them that he would leave out the capital question, provided they would pledge themselves to sustain a reapportionment. They flatly refused. They claimed that the Legislature could not constitutionally reapportion the representation until after the next census, and as for capital removal, they were not brought up in the woods to be scared by an owl. The Otoe delegation had, however, changed its base. The Senators had been elected and seated, and political considerations had lost their force Avith the democrats of that county. They wanted the capital removed south of the Platte, and they promised if the Governor Avould ' put that in ' they Avould march right up and vote for apportionment.

" His Excellency had gone too far to retreat, and when his call was issued it embraced both capital removal and reapportionment, he having consulted a distinguished constitution constructor, Judge Jamison, of Chicago, on the latter point, and obtained an elaborate opinion that it was" not only in the power of the Legislature, but its bounden duty, under the constitution, to reapportion the representation at its first session.

tei" a few days spent in reconnoitering, a solid majority in both houses seemed likely to agree upon a scheme for capital location. Mr. Harvey, who had led the assault upon reapportionment at the late session of the Territorial Legislature, was an active leader of his late antagonists for relocation. Party affiliations were ruptured all along the line, and the new lines were formed on a sectional basis. The bill was prepared with deliberation, much caucusing being required before it would satisfy the various elements in the movement, and it was introduced in both houses on the 4th of June. It was entitled, 'An act to provide for the location of the seat of government of the State of Nebraska, and for the erection of public buildings thereat.' It named the Governor, David Butler; the Secretary of State, Thomas P. Kennard, and the Auditor, John Gillespie, Commissioners, who should select, on or before July 15th, (a date changed by a subsequent bill to September 1, 1867,) from lands belonging to the State, lying within the counties of Seward, the south half of the counties of Saunders and Butler, and that portion of Lancaster county lying north of the south line of township nine, a suitable site of not less than 640 acres lying in one body, for a town ; to have the same surveyed and named ' Lincoln ;' and declared the same the permanent seat of government of the State.

"The bill directed the Commissioners, after the site had been surveyed, to offer the lots in each alternate block for sale to the highest bidder, after tiiirty days' advertisement, and after having appraised the same; but that no lot should be sold for less than the appraised value. The first sale should be held for five successive days at Lincoln, on the site, after which sale should be opened for the same duration, first at Nebraska City, and next at Omaha. If a sufficient number of lots should not by this time be disposed of to defray the expenses of the .selection and survey, and to erect a building as prescribed in the bill, further sales might be advertised and held in Plattsmouth and Brownville. All moneys derived from these sales, which should be for cash, should be deposited in the State Treasury, and there held by the Treasurer as a State building fund. From the proceeds of these sales the Commissioners should proceed to advertise for plans and contracts, and cause to be erected a building suitable for executive offices and the accommodation of the two Houses of the Legislature, that might be a part of a larger building to be completed in the future, the cost

"Those voting for it were: Jesse T. Davis, of Washington; James E. Doom and Lawson Sheldon, of Cass; Oscar Holden, of Johnson; Thos. J. Majors, of Nemaha; William A. Presson, of Richardson; and Mills S. Reeves and W. W. Wardell, of Otoe. - Eight.

"The noes were: Harlan Baird, of Dakota; Isaac S. Hascall and J. N. H. Patrick, of Douglas; E. H. Rogers, of Dodge, and Frank K. Freeman, of Lincoln. - Five.

"The House passed the bill two days later, under suspension of the rules, forwarding it to its third reading. As in the Senate, so in the House, the opponents of the bill resorted to strategy for stamped i nothe friends of the measure, and offered numerous amendments to locate the capital, or the university, or the Agricultural College, at Nebraska City, or in the boundaries of Cass or Nemaha counties. But all amendments were steadily voted down by a solid phalanx. The gentlemen in the House, voting 'aye' on its final passage, were: David M. Anderson, John B. Bennett, William M. Hicklin, Aug. F. Harvey, and George W. Sproat, of Otoe; J. R. Butler, of Pawnee; John Cadman, of Lancaster ; E. L. Clark, of Seward ; W. F. Chapin, D. Cole, A. B. Fuller, and Isaac Wiles, of Cass; Geo. Crowe, AYilliam Dailey, Louis Waldter, and C. F. Hay ward, of Nemaha; J. M. Deweese, Gustavus Duerfeldt, T. J. Collins, and J. T. Haile, of Richardson ; Henry Morton, of Dixon ; Dean C. Slade, and John A. Unthank, of Washington ; Oliver Townsend, of Gage, and George P. Tucker, of Johnson, - Twenty-five.

"The noes were: O. W. Baltzley, of Dakota; Henry Beebe, of Dodge; George N. Crawford and A. W. Trumble, of Sarpy ; Geo. W. Frost, Joel T. Griffin, Martin Dunham, J. M. Woolworth, and Dan S. Parmalee, of Douglas, and John A. Wallichs, of Platte. - Ten."

Early in the capital fight the Omaha newspapers made great sport of the removal scheme, and the departure of the Commissioners to hunt up a location was the cause of much merriment among them. It was not until the Commissioners had announced the location of the new capital that the newspapers woke up to the real situation, and then there was lively music in the air. Every little technicality that could be seized upon was used to defeat the scheme, but of course all efforts in that direction failed.

Wliilc the heated contest over the bill was in progress, every rnse, stratagem, and dodge, the Xorth Platte party, and particnlarly the Dontjlas delegation, conld devise, was employed to compass the defeat of the bill. It so happened that the Otoe delegation were Democrats, and Senator Mills S. Reeves, of Nebraska City, had been a bitter rebel, who had disliked the name of Lincoln more than he conld that of Satan. The name of the proposed new town, as the removal bill was at first drawn, was "Capital City," Knowing the intense prejudice of Senator Reeves, Senator J. H. N. Patrick, of Omaha, rose in his place, and moved that the bill be amended by striking out the name ''Capital City," and substituting that of "Lincoln."

The South Platte men caught the spirit of the performance, and at once adopted the amendment. The bill was passed Avith the name of the illustrious Lincoln in it, and so the new capital became Lincoln. Thus Nebraska's capital bears the name it does as the result of an attempted sharp trick, designed to defeat the removal bill, and not owing to the admiration of the first State Legislature for the great war President.

During the fight the greatest bitterness was displayed on the part of the anti-removalists, and a great many amusing incidents are related of the men and times. During the great fight in the last Territorial Legislature, when pandemonium reigned supreme, and shotguns and revolvers played the most significant part in the Legislative proceedings, Jim Creighton (as he was called then) heard the noise of the contention at one of its fiercest parts, from below in the office of Auditor Gillespie. Rushing out with uncovered head, and flaming eye and cheek, he sought for some weapon of attack. An old mop stick belonging to Father Reals was found by the irate Creighton, and seizing this, he hurried to the door of the chamber, exclaiming, " I'll clean tearing the rag from the mop, in order to make of it a more murderous weapon. But before "Jim " got to the door, the South Platte ])eople, led by the Speaker, with oun in hand, burst open the door of the chamber and escaped. Their numbers were too large for the valorous Creighton, and he dropped his mopstick and disappeared. Creighton undoubtedly had plenty of nerve, but nerve has a peculiar faculty of disappearing under the finger nails on certain occasions, and this was undoubtedly one of those occasions.

During the time the Commissioners were out on their tour of inspection, trying to decide where the capital should be located, they came to Ashland, and it is just as well to remark right here that Ashland lost the site of the capital because of the mosquitoes. There were a number of men with the party besides the Commissioners, and upon stopping at Ashland over night, the whole party was lodged in the upper story of a building, the windows guiltless of glass or blinds; that is, all of the party except Governor Butler. He was considered the big chief of the party, and was lodged in a lower room, in a bed surrounded carefully and completely with mosquito netting. The Governor slept soundly and refreshingly, but the other Commissioners and their friends spent a night of wild, uncontrollable emotion and vigorous action, trying as best they could to protect themselves against the little pests, whose musical wings and insatiable appetites kept the unfortunate ones awake. Morning dawned, and the weary ones, among whom was a preacher, together with the one whose sleep had been as peaceful and restful as that of a child whose innocence and youth bring it sweet dreams and quiet slumbers, departed to view the other landscapes. As the little village of Ashland faded into the mist across the prairie, the preacher broke the silence by exclaiming : " Well, there may be one man who will vote for Ashland, but if Governor Butler has any help in his vote, it will surprise me." The mosquitoes had fixed the business so far as Ashland Avas concerned. It may be that a few of those winged songsters yet linger around the old-time scenes of this classic (to Nebraska) town, but they can never do the harm their ancestors accomplished in the days of '67.

When the Commissioners had -'- swung around the circle," and had seen all the sites which aspired to become the seat of government of the new State, they returned by way of Yankee Hill, the site of John Cadman and the Nebraska City schemers. The Yankee Hill people had a banquet prepared, with all the delicacies of the season of 1867, on Salt creek. The feast was spread on a long table, which fairly groaned

M-ith the fine eookins: of the Yankee Hill ladies. What astonished one Commissioner most was that the ladies had in some way supplied ice cream, doubtless the first ever seen in Lancaster county. How it was gotten out in the wild region of the Salt Basin, the officials never knew. Mrs. Cadman and her sister had managed the preparation of the feast, and when the Commissioners came over to Lancaster, the place which had beaten Yankee Hill for the county seat in 1864, and located the capital there, those ladies could hardly forgive them. They declined to recognize the Commissioners for six months or more, and they finally informed one of the officials that they did not see how he failed to be captured by such a feast as they had enjoyed at Yankee Hill. Mr. Cadman himself felt pretty sore over the success of Lancaster, but soon got over it, and became a business man in the new capital, and still so continues, in company with his son, on North Tenth street, between P and Q, though not a resident of the city himself. The business, that of hardware, is conducted by Mr, W. A. Cadman, the son.

The South Platte country never could have agreed on Yankee Hill, M'hich was Nebraska City's site. Lancaster was taken as a compromise, to avoid a split in the section which had carried the removal bill, and was then trying to consummate the transaction. The compromise site was successful, being supported by Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, and Ashland, and now is three times as large as all of them combined.

But through all the discouragements, the worry, the difficulties, and the trials, the Commission persisted, and finally the capitol was located where it now stands.

The incidents attending the removal of the capitol are also interesting. The people of Omaha seemed to be determined to prevent the taking away of the Government effects, and hence it Avas deemed better to send the State library and other capitol belongings away by night, so as to avoid any op]iosition. Accordingly Auditor Gillespie secured a contract from Mr. J. T. Beach, of Lincoln, for moving the goods. Mr. Beach had arrived in the town in the spring of 1868, and the removal was made in the early winter, probably about the middle of December. Mr. Beach is now nearly fifty years of age, the fourth of October, 1889, completing the first half century of his existence, and he remembers the occurrences of those days very distinctly. Mr.

Beach was boru in Brown county, Ohio, October 4, 1839, where 1 lived until he was ten years old. At that time his parents moved to Indiana, where he lived with them for a number of years. la 1861 he enlisted in the army, in the Tenth Indiana Infantry, and served three years. So that when Mr. Beach came to Nebraska, in 1868, he had had a recent training that well fitted him for the work Avhich he undertook to do.

Securing the services of a Mr. Carr, yet a resident of Lincoln, to help him, Mr. Beach started with a two-horse team, and Mr. Carr with four horses, to move the capitol to Lincoln. They crossed the Platte at Ashland, the drifting ice making the crossing very difficult and dangerous. Along with these two men was Luke Cropsey, a son of A. J. Cropsey, who rendered valuable assistance during the trip. The trip occupied nearly a day and a half, for on the second morning, (Saturday,) at 11 o'clock, the party, with the tw^o covered wagons, drove into Omaha, and put up at the old checkered barn, one of the early landmarks of the "city by the Big Muddy." In the afternoon Mr. Beach went to the State House, and had a conference with Mr. Gillespie, who strictly enjoined upon him secrecy as to his mission to Omaha, and made arrangements for loading the furniture. After night-fall of Sunday the library, furniture, desks, and everything else that was wanted at the new capitol, were loaded in the two covered wagons, ready for the return trip. At 4 o'clock Monday morning the start for Lincoln was made, and miles of ground had been covered before the people of Omaha awoke. Mr. Beach and his assistants came by the way of Plattsmouth. When that hamlet was reached the snow was coming down fiercely and heavily, and a stop was made until morning, as it was considered too dangerous to cross the river in the condition in which the ferry then was. About ten o'clock in the morning the ferry was repaired, and the party crossed the river with much inconvenience and considerable danger. The journey was continued until night-fall, through a blinding snow storm. As night approached Stove creek was several miles distant, and the only shelter visible was the dugout of a settler on the open prairie. Going to the door of this cabin Mr. Beach asked for shelter for the night for himself and two companions, and a place to shield their teams from the elements. The settler refused, on the ground of want of accommodations ; but our travelers were not thus to be refused, and upon' pressing their need were allowed to shelter their horses by a hay stack, and bunk themselves upon the floor of the cabin. The night passed, and Avhen the morning came ]Mr. Beach informed his host that the party was without money, told him what their errand was, and offered to paMn two watches as security for the payment of the amount due for the night's lodging and breakfast. This the old settler refused, and the teamsters departed for Lincoln, which place they reached on Wednesday night, promising to send the pay for their lodging as soon as they reached Lincoln, which promise they kept. Five days the journey occupied, and when it was finished the whole of the State library and other needed capitol appliances were safely lodged within the walls of the building.

The cost of transfering this property was over $100. Mr. Beach took $60 in money with him and a check of $40 on a Lincoln bank. AVhen the money was exhausted, in Omaha, Mr. Beach tried to cash the check, but the Omaha banks proposed to charge him a ruinous discount, and had it not been for the kindly assistance of Mr. Gillespie, who cashed the check free of charge, a row would have resulted. Mr. Carr avers that he has never been paid in full for the services of himself and his four-horse team while engaged in this enterprise, and as no one seems to dispute his claim, it is probable that some one, possibly the city of Lincoln, owes him more than a simple debt of gratitude. But the whole affair was conducted in a most satisfactory manner, and the capitol was in reality lost to Omaha.

At that time the people of Omaha were not very well pleased with the course events were taking, which the following incident will illustrate, and will also serve to show how carefully the work of removal was done. A few days after the library had disappeared across the prairie, John R. ISIeredith, of Omaha, dropped into Auditor Gillespie's office in the afternoon, and, noticing the empty shelves, inquired where the library had gone.

Meredith left, and soon (xen. S. A. Strickland stormed into the Auditor's office, with about the same interrogatories, which were answered in about the same manner.

All this bluster and blow did not disturb Gillespie, who quietly asked how the General's purpose was to be accomplished. Gen- Strickland then said that the library belonged to the Territory of" Nebraska, and as Omaha was the capital of the Territory, the library belonged to Omaha, and that he would get an order from the Secretary of the Interior for its replacement in Omaha. Mr. Gillespie smiled, and merely asked that when Gen. Strickland received the letter he might be allowed a chance to read it, which the General readily acceded to. jNIatters quieted down, and remained so for some weeks, when one day Mr. Gillespie asked Gen. Strickland if he had heard from Washington yet. The General unwillingly admitted that he Jiad, and that the reply was unfavorable to Omaha's claims. This «nded the skirmishing and kicking. The capital was removed, and «ince then no attempt of alarming proportions has been made to haye ihe capital location changed.

Chapter Ix

The Difficulties Experienced in Building the New Capitol - How Omaha Opposition Delayed the Work - The Final Success and Meeting of the First Legislature in Lincoln.

The days of the capital removal, capital location, and capitol building, were full of stirring events, times of intense interest to the people then and now, when serious situations, which demanded prompt, energetic, and clear headed action, were often met with. During these times, Hon. John Gillesi)ie, State Auditor, and one of the Commissioners to locate the capital, played an important part, and to him the authors of this history are indebted for the following, which was contributed entire by him :

The act authorizing the capitol location appointed the Governor,, Secretary, and Auditor, Commissioners to seek a location, within the boundaries of Lancaster, Saunders, Butler, Seward, and the north half of Saline county, to be located upon State Lands, of not less than 640 acres in one tract, and to lay out and plat the same in lots, blocks, streets, and alleys, and make proper reservations for the several State institutions; when the same was completed to advertise the lots for sale at public auction to the highest bidder, and when the sales amounted to the aggregate of $50,000, then in that event to advertise for plans and specifications for a capitol building, and let the contract for building the same. The Legislature did not appropriate a dollar from the Treasury to carry out the provisions of the act, but all incidental expenses, as well as the completion of a capitol building, depended upon receipts from the sale of lots. The Commissioners well understood that the success of the enterprise depended upon a most favorable selection for the future capital of the State. Otherwise a most stupendous failure, that would result in ignominy to the movers, especially the Commissioners having it in charge, would follow. After the passage of the act, and before the Commissioners entered upon their work, difficulties multiplied, owing to the opposition of the North Platte people, and especially from the citizens of ( )maha.

Building The New Capitol

The citizens of that city were particularly opposed to the capital's removal from their midst, and commenced an opposition to prevent the carrying out of the enterprise. The Commissioners had to enter into a bond of $60,000 each for the faithful performance of duty. They did not hope or expect that Omaha citizens would sign their bonds and had to look to other localities. Nebraska City was in full sympathy with the removal of the capital from Omaha to the South Platte country, and her best citizens volunteered as bondsmen for the Commissioners, an offer which was most duly accepted and appreciated.

But there arose another difficulty : the bonds had to be approved by one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and to be deposited with the State Treasurer, Mr. August Kountze, of Omaha. Previous to filing the bonds, a Mr. James E. Doom, a member from Cass county, (who voted for the capital removal,) reported to the Omaha newspapers that the time prescribed by law for filing the bonds of the Commissioners had expired. So the Omaha Repuhlican came out with a "double header," stating that the capital-removal enterprise had failed, by virtue of the Commissioners not having filed their bonds in time, as prescribed by law, and therefore could not give good title to the lands. The writer hereof had started that morning by steamboat to Nebraska City, to have the bonds approved by Hon. O. P. INIason, Chief Justice, preparatory to filing them. News had reached that city of the announcement made in the Omaha papers. In consultation with the Chief Justice, he said there was nothing in the statement, nor had the time prescribed elapsed. The bonds Avere returned to Omaha. Governor Butler and Secretary Kennard, accompanied by C. H. Gere and Col. C. S. Chase, repaired to the First National Bank of that city, and tendered the bonds to the State Treasurer for filing. Mr. Kountze said to them that he would not file the bonds, as they were not valid, the time for filing by law having passed; but he would place them in the vault. The pi'oposition was satisfactory to the other two Commissioners, and they left.

The writer lived in Omaha at that time, and had to meet the abuse and denunciations of her citizens, who openly charged the capital removers as "land-grabbers" and enemies of Omaha. Several of her leading citizens tried by every means in their power to have me not file the bonds, and let the act become " null and void." One, now high up in authority in this State, spent several hours with me at my office.

in the old capitol at Omaha, trying to persuade me not to file the bonds, and have the law become void, claiming that if carried out it would ''disrupt the party." The interview was finally cut short by my informing him that "I was into it, and would see it through." The Commissioners, after looking the field over which was designated by the act, selected the site where the city now stands. This conclusion was arrived at by a careful examination of a State map and the general topography of the country. They concluded that in the future, when railroads were built south of the Platte, this point would be easily reached and accessible from any direction. And a further consideration, at that time deemed important, was the great salt deposits near by, considered valuable.

But in this selection no one, except the few homesteaders on the town site, was pleased. The citizens of Nebraska City wanted the capital located at Yankee Hill, on the line of the "steam-wagon road " west to the mountains. Plattsmouth wanted the capital at Ashland, her citizens offering to guarantee $50,000 worth of lots in case we located at Ashland. Brownville wanted the capital located at Camden, on the Blue river, as they had a railroad survey west by way of Camden and Fort Kearney. The Commissioners were beset by the friends of their favorite localities, all of which had their land "syndicates" formed; but the location made was upon neutral grounds, and one which proved the wisest selection, as the other interested localities compromised upon this one, which could not have been effected at any other point.

After having the town site surveyed and platted, the Commissioners appointed a day for the sale of lots at auttion, to take place upon the grounds. Thereupon arose another serious difficulty, that seemed to threaten the defeat of the whole enterprise. The act required the Commissioners to deposit the money received from the sale of lots with the State Treasurer, to be designated, separate from any other fund, as the ^' State Building Fund," and all expenses for incidentals, buildings, etc., to be i)aid out by the Treasurer, upon the order of the Auditor, the same as other State funds. The writer was informed by a leadingattorney of Omaha that some of the leading citizens of that city had requested him to conmience suit by enjoining the Commissioners, and attaching the money in the hands of the State Treasurer as soon as deposited witii him, and thereby tie up the same, and by years of litiga- tion prevent the commencement of the capitol building. He informed me his fee Avas considered too large, and he was not employed, but that such action would be taken as soon as the money resulting from the sale of lots was duly deposited by the Commissioners Avith the State Treasurer. The Commissioners, after considering the possibility of such action by the enemies of the capital removal, thereby defeating the act of the Legislature authorizing the removal of the capital, called a meeting of the citizens signing their bonds, to be held at Nebraska City just previous to the day of the first sale of lots, and laid the situation before them. They advised us to proceed with the sale of lots, and prepared a written request, asking us not to deposit the proceeds of the lot sales with the State Treasurer, but to use the money in carrying out the })rovisions of the law, paying for the erection of a capital, and report to the coming Legislature our actions in full.

The sale of lots came off, and was reasonably successful ; so much so that the Commissioners felt authorized to proceed to advertise for plans and specifications, and to let the contract for the building. The funds were kept in hiding, where no injunction or attachment could find them. I was often asked by certain parties of Omaha why the money for the sale of Lincoln lots was not placed with the State Treasurer, as the law directed. When pressed, one of the citizens said they wanted to enjoin the funds in the hands of the Treasurer from being paid out, and thus keep us from building the capitol at Lincoln, I informed the party that the funds would be turned over to the State Treasurer the next day to pay his bill for advertising. The bills of the Republican and Herald for advertising lot sales, for plans and specifications, and for letting the contract, had been handed in. I deposited with the Treasurer a sum sufiicient to pay their bills, and if they wished to enjoin payment, all right. The orders of payment were given, the money paid out, the Treasurer receipting for the same, and acknowledged the authority of the Board by paying the money out on the order of the Auditor of State.

The first sale of lots took place in the fall of 1867. The following Legislature convened the first of January, 1869; hence the necessity of getting the capitol building under contract at as early a day as possible, having the summer of 1868 to complete the same. As there were no railroads, lumber had to be hauled from a point six miles east of Nebraska City, on the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph railroad. Stono quarries had to be found somewhere for building- material. The Commissioners advertised for plans in the Omaha, Plattsmouth, and Nebraska City papers. The time drawing near, we found that the Omaha architects would pay no attention to our advertisement, and the result would be no plans offered, so we sent a copy of our ''ad" to the Chicago Tribune, which caught the eye of a fifth -rate architect, ]\lr. James Morris, who could obtain no work in that city, and he hastily prepared a plan and presented the same on the day set. It being the only plan presented, the Commissioners were more than pleased to adopt it. The plan contemplated a central building, with wings to be attached afterward, which, if added, would have made a symmetrical building, but Avithout the wings not very imposing. Consequently, in after years the Commissioners had to bear the brunt of many jeers on their architectural choice for a capital building.

^ye advertised for letting the contract, and as in the former case, but one bid was offered, that one by Mr. Joseph A^ard, of Chicago, which was also accepted. He commenced at once, and had the excavation made and part of the foundation laid in the fall of 1867, intending in the spring of 18G8 to push the work as fast as possible, and have the building completed in time for the Governor to announce by proclamation the completion of the capitol, and that the next Legislature would convene tliereat on the first Thursday of January, 1869.

A stone quarry of blue limestone was found twelve miles south on Salt creek, and the contractor instructed to use the same ; but after using it on the east side of the building, on the first story, it became shelly, and this quarry had to be al)andoned. A man was sent out on horseback, who prospected a number of days all the streams in the vicinity for out-cropping stone without success, but finally visited Beatrice and reported a magnesia limestone in abundance, and easily dressed, which would harden by exposure. This stone was adopted, and all the teams that could be hired put on the road for Beatrice, (fifty miles,) to keep the work moving. This worked well for a short time, until we were notified by the contractor that the bridge over Salt creek iiad become dangerous, and that the owners of teams would not risk crossing, and that the County Commissioners refused to repair the bridge. This required our presence to get the Commissioners to repair the l)ridge; all of which, with bad roads and the interminable sloughs iind nuid-li(»U's, made the getting of stone from Beati'ice, and the lumber from Iowa, slow, difficult, and expensive, and the summer rapidly passing away. The Commissioners were fully impressed that in case of failure to complete the capitol in time for the convening of the Legislature the coming January, the session would have to be held at Omaha, and the strong probabilities Mere that Lincoln would never see a session held there, which no doubt would have been true. The contractor was constantly being urged to employ all the mechanics that could be worked to advantage, and consequently he had stone-cutters and carpenters sent out from Chicago. About the 1st of June, 1868, I received a letter at Omaha from the contractor, that he had thrown up the job, and all work had stopped, on account of a difficulty with the architect; that a number of his stone-cutters had left for Chicago; and to come down and make settlement with him. This was a terrible crisis, and visions of a most glorious failure of the whole enterprise loomed up most too prominent for a calm view of the situation ; but something had to be done, and done quickly. Unfortunately neither of the other two Commissioners were at Omaha at the time, the Governor being at his home at Pawnee, and the Secretary at his home at De Soto, I sent a messenger from Omaha, by steam-boat, to Nebraska City, with an order to the "Elephant Stable" for a pony to carry a message to the Governor explaining the situation, and asking him to meet me at Lincoln the next day without fail. I took stage next morning for Bluffs, to take train for East Nebraska City, intending to take stage from that point to Lincoln, but owing to the stage sticking in the mud half-way between the two cities, I saw the train pull out, leaving several other passengers with myself behind. I returned to Omaha by the next stage, hired a livery team, and started for Lincoln via the rope ferry across the Platte river near Ashland, being delayed two hours in finding the ferryman. When I arrived at liincoln, about 11 A.M. the next day, I found the citizens much disheartened, and fearful that the work on the building would not be reneAved. I soon set their minds at rest on that point. Dunbar & Bailey, who owned the only livery stable in the city, and had the contract to deliver the stone, had drawn off all their teams, a number of the mechanics had left, and the prospect was blue enough. I waited all next day and the following day till noon for the arrival of the Governor. He did not put in an appearance. I called in James

Sweet, State Treasurer, wlio had just arrived from Nebraska City,, to be present when I should sumuion the architect and contractor^, and hear their differences, previously having refused to hear either one until the arrival of the Governor. I requested ]\Ir. Morris^ (architect,) to bring with him the plans and specifications, and meet me at my room in the Cadman House at 1 p.m. He repaired to the shop on the capitol grounds, and was in the act of taking the plans from the contractor's desk, when the contractor came in and kicked him out of the shop. Both being English, the backs of both were "high" when they reached my room. I first heard the architect, then the contractor. The lie passed frequently between them; but in pcttinir at the facts I found the difference arose about the material to go into the interior walls of the building. The contractor claimed that it should be sandstone, as that material was at hand, and its use Avould enable him to proceed with the work. The architect claimed that the walls should be brick. I asked j\Ir. Sweet to turn to the specification, which said tlie walls should be brick, "if brick could be had, otherwise stone." I said I would settle that point, and as there were no brick here, nor none being made, instructed the contractor to put up the walls with stone. The architect objected, and said I Avas only one of the Commissioners. I told him that icas law, and the other two would confirm the decision, I explained to both that if they did not propose to each do his duty, and push the work to completion, we would remove both, I was satisfied that the architect wished the contractor to leave, so he could become contractor as well. Both shook hands, and each promised to do his best to complete the building in time for the coming session. I instructed Dunbar ct Bailey to hire all the teams they could get in the country, and rush the stone from Beatrice, and on my return to Omaha employed twelve stonecutters and sent them by wagon 'post haste for Lincoln, and work was resumed with considerable energy.

About two weeks afterward ]Mr. Ward, contractor, came into my office at Omaha with a Mr. Sweet, on his way to Chicago to buy doors^ sash, glass, hardware, etc. He had an estimate for $2,600, of which 'SI, 000 was to go to Mr. Sweet for money advanced to pay his men Ijefore leaving. It was then about four o'clock p.m. \\c had no inone/j on hand, Init I dare not tell him so, or else there would have Ijeen a "cyclone" at hand. J asked him where he was stoppings

He said at the "Planters," and that they would leave the next morning on the 4 a. m. train. I told him I would see him that evening at the hotel. Where the twenty-six hundred dollars was to come from, I did not know. After "bluing" over the situation for a short time, I went to the office of W. J. Hahn, County Treasurer, and asked if he had on hand any "State sinking funds" to be turned over. His reply was that he had. I told him I wanted $2,600, and as our next sale of lots took place the next week, I would turn that amount into the State Treasury at Lincoln and bring back the Treasurer's receipt. He gave me his check for $2,600 on the First National Bank of Omaha, and I started oif to get it cashed before closing, but found I was too late. I explained the situation to Mr. Aug. Kountze. He said it was contrary to custom, but he opened the vault and paid me the money, which was carried to Mr. Ward, and delivered in a manner that conveyed the impression that the enterprise should not fail for want of funds. Thus this difficulty was bridged over, and the receipt of the Treasurer was forwarded Mr. Hahn the following week for the money deposited.

The next crisis to be met was more serious, and not so easily passed over. Our last sale of lots was to be in September, 1868. Hoping thereby to realize enough to complete and pay for the building, we had requested Sweet & Brock, l)ankers at Lincoln, to advance to the contractor money as he needed it, before the sale of lots took place, and also requested the contractor to put off paying for material until after the sale, hoping that Ave would not be pressed for funds. But in this we were disappointed. I received a letter from Nelson C. Brock that their bank had advanced $2,000 to the contractor, and calling for the return of the same at once; also by the same mail a letter from the contractor sayiug that he would discharge all the stone-cutters and laborers the coming Saturday, and would require $2,000 to pay them off. Unfortunately the other two Commissioners were not at the capital, and this eiuergency had to be met. I started for Nebraska City, and called upon James Thorn, County Treasurer, and found he had on hand sinking funds sufficient to meet the emergencies, and willingly offered to turn it over and take the Treasurer's receipt for the same. Thus this last difficulty was bridged over.

funds. Mr. Thorn, with others, was called upon for a report of the collections and deposits. This circumstance was brought to light and he was asked to explain. He referred the explanation to myself. I went before the committee, of Avhicli General Victor Yifquain was chairman, and stated the circumstance that a crisis had arrived in the completion of the capitol ; that no funds were on hand, and the "sinking fund" was used for six weeks to help out the "building fund." If such had not been done the capitol building would never have been finished, and Lincoln would not have been here to-day. The committee reported that no censure attached to any one.

After the election of 1868 and the Governor's proclamation had been issued announcing the completion of the capitol, and that the session of the Legislature of January following would convene at Lincoln, Hon. C. B. Taylor, Senator-elect from Douglas county, asked me if it was true, as set forth in the Governor's message, that the capitol was completed, and if there were any hotel accommodations at Lincoln. Being answered in the affirmative, he said they would "go down and adjourn the Legislature to Omaha, where they could have accommodations." On the first day of January, 1869, I opened the Auditor's office in the new capitol. On the day before convening, the Omaha and other delegations arrived in Lincoln, in a blinding snow storm, by private conveyances. I met Taylor at the Atwood House at dinner. He said he had been looking out to see the new capitol, but had failed to see it. I told him it was on account of the snow storm, but we had a capitol ready. He remarked that I had informed him correctly about the hotel accommodations, and if on presentation the capitol building looked as well, he would have no fault to find. After dinner I piloted him, Tom Majors, and other members, across the prairie to the capitol building. When we entered, the plasterers were finishing up in the lower halls. Taylor reminded me of the Governor's message issued some time previous, saying "the capitol was finished." Majors and others at once expressed their pleasure and surprise at seeing such a building. Taylor, after looking into the Senate Ghamber, asked to see the Representative Hall. \\'hen he had seen liicse halls, with their new carpets, new chairs, and bright furniture, he was much impressed with the success which the Gommissioners had achieved, and then and tliere promised that the Douglas delegation would make no fight on the capitol.

On organization of the Senate, C. B. Taylor was elected President. Next day he came into my office and drafted a bill ap]n'opriating $16,000 to grade and fence the capitol grounds and finish the dome of the capitol. A few days after he drafted a bill to continue the Commissioners for two years longer, to sell the unsold lots and blocks and build the State University, Agricultural College, and Insane As}^- lum. Both bills became laws.

After the meeting of the first Legislature confidence was established, and lots in Lincoln brought better prices at auction. There were no difficulties in the way to build the other institutions. A\'hen the next two years had passed the Commissioners reported the university and asylum completed, paid for, and over 300 lots unsold.

One of the most interesting documents of the early clays is the report to the Legislature of 1869 of the Commissioners appointed to locate the State capital. As far as known, there is only one of these reports in existence to-day, it being a document of fifty pages, bearing the imprint of "St. A. D. Balcombe, State Printer, Omaha, Neb.," and also bearing the legend, "Published by Authority." Through the kindness of Hon, John Gillespie the authors of this book are enabled to reproduce those parts of the report that are of especial interest, together with a synopsis of the other contents of the pamphlet. The document is as follows :

"In pursuance of the requirements of the act of the Legislature entitled, 'An Act to provide for the location of the Seat of Government of the State of Nebraska, and for the erection of public buildings thereat,' approved June 14, 1867, the Commissioners thereby appointed assembled at Nebraska City upon Thursday, June 18, 1867, and prepared for a personal examination of the district, viz.: 'The county of Seward, tiie south half of the counties of Saunders and Butler, and that portion of the county of Lancaster lying north of the south line of township nine,' within which a selection was to be made for the contemplated seat of the State Government.

"Having provided an outfit, and emj)loyiiig Mr. Aug. F. Harvey as surveyor, to ascertain the lines of the proposed sites, we left Nebraska City on the afternoon of the 18th day of July, and arrived at Lancaster, in Lancaster county, on the evening of the 19th. The

Locating The Capital

20th and 22d were occupied in a full examination of the town sites of Saline City, or ^Yankee Hill/ as it is more familiarly known, and Lancaster, the adjacent lands on both sides of Salt creek, and the stone quarries from two to eight miles south of the village.

On the twenty-third of July the Commissioners went down the valley of Salt creek, examining on the way a very beautiful and level plateau about six miles from Lancaster, and near Stevens creek, on the east side of Salt. Another site on the west side of Salt, on an elevated table near Rock creek, was shown us by parties living in the neighborhood, and who guided us on an examining trip around its lines.

"The 23d Avas spent in reviewing the townsite proposed on the high land west of and adjacent to the village of Ashland, in the southeast corner of Saunders county. The surface of this site declined gently to the north and east, sufficiently for thorough drainage, and is of such evenness that but little expense will ever be involved for grading. From any part of it a widely extended panorama is spread, embracing, as it rises, many square miles in the valley of the Platte and Salt creek. Timber is abundant, and inexhaustible quarries of fine rock outcrop along the bluffs near the mouth of Salt creek and along the Platte, within one to four and five miles from the town. Salt creek aifords excellent water power for manufacturing purposes in Ashland. The distance of the site is about thirtyfive miles from Plattsmouth, near the efflux of Salt creek to the Platte.

" On the 25th we went northwesterly along the old California trail through Saunders county, covering the Wahoo river near its head, and arriving at nightfall at the residence of J. D. Brown, in Butler county. L^pon this route Ave observed no situation of commandingadvantages.

"Leaving Mr. Brown's on the 26th, Ave looked over the flat prairie betAveen the heads of Oak creek and the eastern tributaries of the Blue, in towns thirteen and fourteen north, range tliree and four east, in Butler county. Here is a wide tract of unbroken plain, upon Avhich Ave droA^e for six hours without seeing a depression in the surface at either hand. We struck the Blue in toAvn fi)urteen north, range tAVO east, passing down that stream. After a drive that day, (including some diA^ersions from the direct route to examine points

Avhlch looked well at a distance,) of over seventy-five miles, we arrived at Seward Center, in the fork of Plum creek and the Blue, and opposite the mouth of Lincoln creek. All of the proposed site here could be seen at a glance. It lies on a high table between the streams named, is level, is surrounded by fertile valleys, adjacent to timber, stone, and first-class water power, and is remarkable for healthiness of situation.

"The advantages, indeed, are possessed in an equal degree by Milford, six to eight miles below Seward, and by Camden, in the fork of the Blue and West Blue, excej^t that the last-named site was in a lower elevation. We remained in Milford over night, and on the 27th turned eastward, and arrived at Saline City in the evening.

"On the 29th we made a more thorough examination of 'Yankee Hill' and Lancaster, and their surroundings. At the last-named point the favorable impressions received at first sight, on the 19th, were confirmed. AVe found it gently undulating, its principal elevation being near the center of the proposed new site, the village already established being in the midst of a thrifty and considerable agricultural population, rich timber and water-power available within short distances, the center of the great saline region within two miles; and, in addition to all other claims, the especial advantage Avas that the location was at the center of a circle of about 110 miles in diameter, along or near the circumference of which are the Kansas State line, directly south, and the important towns of Pawnee City, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, Omaha, Fremont, and Columbus.

"The State lands which we observed in our tour were mainly away from considerable bodies of timber or important water courses, and did not possess, to all appearances, any particular advantages, nor was the title of them so far vested in the State at that time (the report ot the selection of lands by the Governor, under the acts of Congress admitting the State to the Union, not having then been certified or approved at Washington) as to Avarrant us in making a selection where there was a possibility that the title might fail, or in waiting until, by confirmation at Washington, the title had been secured.

"Under these circumstances we entertained the proposition of the people residing in the vicinity of Lancaster, offering to convey to the State in fee simple the west half of the west half of section 25, the east half and the southwest quarter of section 26, which, with the north- west quarter of section 26, (the last-named quarter being saline land,) all in town 10, range 6 east, the whole embracing 800 acres, and upon which it was proposed to erect the new town. In addition, the Trustees of the Lancaster Seminary Association proposed to convey to the State, for an addition to the site named in the foregoing proposition, the town site of Lancaster, reserving certain lots therein, which had been disposed of in whole or in part, to the purchasers thereof, and the owners of said lots reserved agreeing to a resurvey of the town site as an addition to Lincoln, and the acceptance of lots according to the new survey in lieu of those acquired from the Seminary Company and surrendered by them.

"James Sweet, Esq., was appointed conveyancer to the Commissioners, and after his report upon the sufficiency of the titles proposed to be made to the State, (which report will be found in the appendix hereto, marked 'A,') and a careful consideration of all the circumstances of the condition of the State lands, the advantages of the situation, its central position, and the value of its surroundings over a district of over twelve thousand square miles of rich agricultural country, it was determined to accept the proposition made by the owners of the land, if upon a ballot the Commissioners should docidr upon a location at this point.

" In the afternoon of the 29th of July we assembled in the house of W. T. Donovan, of Lancaster, and after a comparison of notes and the discussion of advantages of the many points examined, proceeded to ballot for a choice.

"On the first ballot Lancaster received two votes and Ashland one. On the second vote Lancaster received the unanimous vote of the Commissioners.

"Having performed the business of the location of the seat of government, the Commissioners returned to Omaha, leaving ^Mr. Harvey at Lancaster to do the surveying necessary to locate the depressions and elevations on the town site, preliminary to his furnishing a design for laying off the blocks, streets, and reservations, and making a plat thereof. He completed that labor on the 12th of August, when he notified the Commissioners, and they again assembled at Lancaster, on the 13th dav of Auoust. On the 14th the CommissioJiers formally

"To Whom it May Concern: Know ye, that on this the 14th day of August, A. P. 18(57, by virtue of authority in us vested, and in accordance with an act to provide for tlie location of the seat of government of the State of Nebraska, and for the erection of public buildings thereat, approved June 14,1867, we, the undersigned Commissioners, on this the 14th day of August, a. n. 1867, have by actual vi«w selected the following described lands belonging to the State, viz.:

"S. E. i of section 23; the W. A of the N.W. i, N.W. j and the W. i of the S.W. 4, of section 25, the W. A of section 25, of township No. 10 north, of range No. 6 east of the 6th principal meridian, and have located the seat of government of the State of Nebraska upon said described lands as a town to be known as Lincoln.

'Further, that we have, upon the day above mentioned, designated within said location the reservation for the Capitol Building, State University, and Agriculti;ral College, parks, and other reservations contemplated in the aforesaid act, which will be properly designated upon a plat and filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

"On the following day Messrs. A. F. Harvey and A. B. Smith, engineers, with a corps of assistants, who were sworn to perform faithful service, commenced the survey of the town. The design is calculated for the making of a beautiful town. The streets are one hundred and one hundred and twenty -five feet wide, and calculated to be improved on all except O and Ninth streets, and the other business streets around the Market Square and Court House Square, with a street park outside of the curb line; as for instance, on the one hundred foot streets, pavements of twelve feet wnde and park or double row of trees, with grass })lot between, twelve feet Mide outside the pavements; and on the one hundred and twenty-five foot streets the pavement and park to be each fifteen feet wide. This will leave a roadway of fiftytwo feet on the streets one hundred feet wide, and sixty feet wide on the wide streets, while on the business streets a ninety foot roadway will be ample room for all demands of trade.

"Reservations of nearly twelve acres each were made for the State House, State ITniversity, and city Park, these being at about equal distance from each other.

county, for a City Hall and market space, for a State Historical Library Association, and several other squares, in proper location, for Public Schools."

The Commissioners have also marked upon the book of record of lots, reservations of three lots each for the following religious denominations, viz :

These reservations were made with the understanding with the parties makino: the selection on behalf of the several denominations, that the Legislature would require of them a condition that the pr(jperty should only be used for religious purposes, and that sometime would be fixed within which suitable houses of worship, costing some reasonable minimum amount, should be erected.