Lincoln City (part 9 of 19)

Dealer In Fancy Horses

Turns out the Most Stylish Single or Double Rigs in the West. The Prices are made so Reasonable that it is cheaper to hire of Skinner than to keep a Rig of your own.

Source changes here: from Lincoln, the Capital City and Lancaster County, Nebraska;, by Sawyer, Andrew J, published 1916; 163,135 words in this source stream.

A Prefatory Remark

The history of a community is, in many respects, particularly the pioneer history, a story founded upon tradition. It is a well known fact that the records of the days of long ago have not been properly preserved. In the beginning of Nebraska history, as recorded by white men. and also that of Lancaster County, settlements were miles apart. This was a country of long distances, without the telegraph and telephone to shorten the leagues. The pioneers traveled in the saddle, upon wagons or on foot and thought nothing of it. It is after one gains a luxury that he thinks it indispensable. The motive of the Easterners in coming to this trackless prairie was purely an economic one. The exodus to the Great West occurred when living conditions became undesirable or unprofitable in the East.

The men who have attempted the task of preparing a history of the city of I.iiicoln and I^ancaster County, Nebraska, have endeavored conscientiously to perfonu the work and to secure facts which are creditable to the present generation and which should be recorded for the benefit of the generations yet to come. The biographical volume should be especially interesting in future decades to those whose ancestors have made history in the past. The teachings of the fathers and pride in their achievements have been mighty factors in the world's advancement. The pioneers who builded states were not the products of chance, but came from strong and vigorous ancestry.

That, in this history, much has been omitted which should have been preserved is probable ; that some statements have not been suf^cientlv extended is likely ; and that some generally accepted facts may not accord with individual experience and preconceived notions is possible ; but the men who have prepared the work have done the best they could with the means of knowledge at hand.

History is not like mathematics, an exact science. Witnesses in court who see the same things rarely see them from the same angle or testify alike as to the exact facts. Much of history, as stated before, is tradition, tales passing from mouth to mouth, from sire to son, from generation to generation, and the truth never gains in the transmission of these tales. We accept as fact a great deal of history which doubtless never occurred ; much that in the light of the larger experience of our time we know cannot be true, but we take it with allowance and glean from it what good we can. The public and written records are reliable so far as they go, but are more often defective or incomplete. The recollections of actors in past events are of value as history, but their credibility nuist be taken with regard to the accuracy of their observation and memory, the soundness of their judgment and their reliability to relate the facts unbiased by preconceived notions or personal interest.

No one person was delegated by law or nature to be supreme in the collection of historical facts. It is a labor of the people and not of an individual; nor is any one individual or society qualified to a superior extent to perform such a work. The shop-keeper, the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, the physician, the capitalist and the layman, all, have their bit to add. Careful procedure and intelligent work are the main requisites, notwithstanding the moss-covered ideas which have existed in regard to the writing of history.

From all available sources the historians have sought to gather the facts for this work. The development of Lancaster County covers one-half of a century; the greater part of it has been accomplished in the last twenty-five years, but in the brief space of time which this history covers, the early settlers who have made history have nearly all gone. Many of the pioneers moved on to newer scenes when population, as they felt, began to crowd them. They were not content to be other than pioneers. The most of the first generation of settlers upon the wild prairie are dead. They were too busy making a living to leave much record of their doings. We hope that the record of this county and city will prove, on completion, all that its projectors have promised and that its subscribers will appreciate the work which has been accomplished. All our judgment of our fellow men and of their work may follow the old adage : "Be to their faults a little blind ; be to their virtues very kind."

Chapter Iv

THE FIRST BOARD EARLY MEETINGS - TAX LEVY - LOT DONATIONS - OFFER TO BURLINGTON - TERRITORIAL BRIDGE - MORE LOT DONATIONS - PRICE OF LOTS - STATE

Chapter Xxi

PERCENTAGE OF ILLITERACY LINCOLN'S NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS - OTHER SCHOOLS - THE FIGHT FOR EXTENSION OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY - COTNER UNIVERSITY AND BETHANY, BY J. Z. BRISCOE 217

Chapter

Lancaster County is situated in the southeastern part of the State of Nebraska, approximately fifty miles west of the Missouri River and about half way between the i'latte River and the north boundary line of Kansas. Meridians of longitude 96° 40' west and latitude 40° 50' north intersect near Lincoln, which is located near the center of the county. The county is bounded on the north by Saunders County, on the east by Cass and Otoe counties, on the south by Gage, and on the wgst by Saline and Seward counties.

The surface of Lancaster County varies from gently rolling to rough and hilly. While the county lies wholly within the boundary of the Kansan drift, the glacial material is more pronounced in determining the surface configurations in the west half of the area, where glacial action and subser[uent erosion have developed a broken topography. It is quite noticeable that the most irregular surface is found on the south sides of the streams flowing east. An exception is found in the case of the main channel of Salt Creek northeast of Lincoln, where the higher hills are on the north. The lowest point in the county is found where Salt Creek passes into Cass County, where the elevation is about eleven hundred feet above sea level. From this point the surface rises north, west, and south finally reaching an altitude of 1,500 feet in the southwestern part of the county along the divide between the Salt Creek basin and the valley of the Big Blue River. The general elevation of the county is about twelve hundred feet above tide.

beginning in the southwest part of the county, at a point 1,500 feet high, there opens out toward the north and northeast an elliptical basin, with an average depth of probably two hundred feet. This basin makes a broad curve near Lincoln, turns to the northeast, and leaves the county a few miles east of Waverly. It is traversed throughout by Salt Creek and its tributaries, the most important of which are Rock Creek, Little Salt Creek, Oak Creek, Middle Creek, Haines Branch, Antelope Creek, Stevens Creek, and Dead ]\Ians Run. Near Roca the main channel of Salt Creek divides into the south and west forks A part of the drainage in the southern part of the county finds its way into Big Blue and -Memaha rivers, but the greater part is carried by Salt Creek into the Platte River.

The population of the county is practically all white and mostly native born, though a large percentage of the people, particularly in the rural communities, is of foreign extraction. The early settlers came to this country from Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and from various eastern states. The first settlement was made in 1856 on Salt Creek, about fifteen miles south of where Lincoln now stands. The county was organized in 1859, and the state capital was removed from Omaha to Lincoln in 1867.

The rural population is grouped roughly into settlenients representing various nationalities. In the southern part of the county are the Germans, in the southeastern part the Hollanders, in the northeastern part the Swedes, and in the northwestern part the Irish. Except in the rough country around the headwaters of some of the western tributaries of Salt Creek, the rural population is fairly dense.

Lincoln, the most important city and the best immediate market in the county, is situated near the center of Salt Creek basin, and is one of the most important railroad centers in the state. There are a number of small towns in the county. These are composed generally of farmers who have collected together for church and educational advantages. These small places also serve as shipping points for the farmers. Crete, a town of three or four thousand inhabitants, is located only a short distance across the west boundary line of the county and affords a limited market for the farmers in the southwest section of the area.

The transportation facilities are excellent. The Burlington, the Union Pacific, the Rock Island, the Missouri Pacific, and the Northwestern railroad companies operate lines through the county and place it in direct connection with Omaha, Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, and other large cities.

Climate

Lancaster County is situated wholly within the rain belt of the Mississippi Valley and has a moderately humid climate. The normal annual temperature is 50° Fahrenheit, the normal monthly temperature ranging from 22° in January to 76° in July. The average annual rainfall is about twenty-seven inches, most of which occurs during the growing season, from March to October.

While this area possesses a mild climate for about eight months in the year and a rainfall well distributed throughout the season of plant growth, still it is subject to those occasional extremes of temperature that may be expected to pass over the upper Mississippi Valley, especially the western part, once in every five or ten years. The winters sometimes become so severe that the less hardy perennials are frozen, while, on the other hand, the crops may fail now and then from drought, accompanied by hot, dry southwesterly winds. The years 1894 and 1901 were noted for continued and destructive droughts. During July and August of these years the soil became greatly heated, being more than 72° at a depth of thirty-six inches below the surface. While these years were most destructive of crops, it frequently happens that some part of the growing season has insufficient rainfall. The corn crop may be injured during the early summer, or the wheat, and especially the oat crop, may be cut short by prolonged dry periods during the spring, as in 1906. In any case the damaging effects of

Agriculture

The first settlers came to this part of the state in 1856, when the area within the present limits of the county was all virgin prairie. They were molested by the Indians until 1864, when the Government succeeded in confining the latter to their respective reservations.

The first settlement was small and quite isolated, but in 1859 the overland trail from the East to the West was changed from Ashland to a more direct route through this territory. The colony was thus brought into more prominence, and the population increased rapidly.

It was not thought at first that spring wheat would be profitable or that winter wheat would stand the climate in this latitude, consequently only corn and flax were grown prior to 1870. Corn was and has since remained the principal crop in the county. Flax was found to be quite a remunerative crop on virgin soil, but when the land became older the yields were small, and finally, in the early '80s, the land became so infested with noxious weeds that the cultivation of this crop in any cjuantity was abandoned.

In 1870 an agricultural society was organized "for the development of agriculture along all lines suited to this latitude" and for the development of mechanic arts. It was about this time that the farmers began to test the possibility of wheat production. The first variety tested was known as "tea" wheat, so called from having been found in a package of tea imported from China. This was grown for several years as a spring wheat, but was finally superseded by another called "grass" wheat. This "grass" wheat was grown for a number of years also as a spring wheat, but about 1S88 the farmers by accident discovered that this could ce grown as winter wheat, and from that date the growing of winter wheat gained some importance. The production of winter wheat in this area, however, received its greatest impetus when the state experiment station demonstrated the value of certain varieties from Russia and Turkey. From 1890 to 1898 hemp was grown in the bottom lands along Salt Creek, its discontinuance being due to a change of ownership of the lands on which it was grown.

- The only serious difficulties the farmers of this area have encountered were the grassho]iper pest in 1874 and the droughts that occurred in 1894 and 1901.

The implements used in the early agriculture were those for breaking and pulverizing the sod. Then came the check-row corn planter, the gang plow, the disk harrow, and other modern implements suited to the agriculture of the area, the lister being introduced in the latter '80s. This implement plows the land and plants the corn in one operation, and its labor-saving merits at once recommended it to the farmers, especially to those who were tenants and desired to farm very extensively. Not only among the tenants, but also among those farmers who own the land, has the use of the lister become quite general. Recently, however, the more progressive landowners have begun to doubt the efficiency of the lister on the soils of this county, recognizing that while it may save much labor it frequently causes a shortage in crop yields and is always prejudicial to the maintenance of productiveness, thus decreasing the intrinsic value of their lands. All the implements used are such as are suited to general agriculture. There is little or no intensive farming done and only a very limited number of stock raised, the principal products being corn, wheat and oats.

Corn, oats, emmer (sometimes incorrectly called spelt) and sugar beets are planted in April and May, a period during which a relatively large proportion of the rainfall is likely to occur. This rainfall coming when the land is without vegetation is usually attended with serious washing, especially on rolling fields where a series of trenches has been made by the lister tn planting the corn crop. Indeed, all the soils in the area except that found in the bottoms are very susceptible to erosion, and during the season of planting care should be taken to put the soil in a condition to hold the utmost amount of moisture. This is important both for future plant growth anil for protecting the soil.

The crops are harvested from July to October. Those harvested in July are likely to sutler some damage from heavy rains, while those harvested in October and November are not generally in danger from too much moisture.

General grain farming has always absorbed the interest of the farmer in this county. Corn is the most important crop and, uiUil recent years, when the experiment station made an effort to introduce some diversification in the farm practice of the state, corn was practically the only money crop grown. Corn and wheat are now both put on the market, but oats are not considered in the present economy except for home consumption. Nearly all the grain is sold from the farm, only a very limited number of hogs and cattle being fed for market. There is a large acreage in wild grass, the amount of land devoted to this kind of forage ranking next to that seeded to oats. The acreages in alfalfa and clover are about equal. The millets are grown to some extent. Sugar beets, macaroni wheat, and emmer are comparatively new crops in this area. Sugar beets and emmer are worthy of extended cultivation.

While practically all the staple crops of the area are grown on every farm regardless of soil type, the fanners, nevertheless, recognize that the soils in the eastern half of the county are richer and better adapted to corn and wheat than the soils in the western half, where the glacial drift affects both the topography and soil composition. In the western half of the county as a general rule the lands are in wild grasses, while little or no land is in virgin sod in the eastern half, except in close proximity to some of the streams. The heavy soil in the east half of the county is well suited to clover and alfalfa, as well as to the cultivated grasses.

Perhaps the necessity of crop rotation receives the least attention of any factor entering into the economy of farm practice in this area. The present system of cropping follows corn with oats, and oats with wheat when any rotation at all is practiced, but on many farms corn follows corn for years in succession. When a change is made oats are sown in the spring on "stalk" land, and the oat stubble is plowed in the fall for the succeeding winter-wheat crop. Clover and alfalfa fields are seldom seen in the area, hence no rotation looking to the maintenance of soil fertility is practiced in general. The barnyard manure is frequently wasted, notwithstanding the soil is often in serious need of it.

The soils and the climatic and market conditions in this area suggest certain specific methods of farm practice which no farmer in the county can aflFord to ignore. The soils have such physical qualities that moisture enters slowdy and escapes by evaporation very rapidly during the hot summer months. The farmers in general do not plow the land deeply, and hence limit the amount of moisture the soil can hold. The surface is generally quite rolling, sometimes hilly, and requires deep plowing and in certain places terracing to prevent erosion ; but the general lule is to put the corn crop in with the lister, and by so doing reduce the surface of these rolling fields to a series of ditches, while the space between the rows is rarely broken deeper than the tooth of the cultivator runs. By this method of listing the surface soil is rapidly decreasing in depth because of erosion. The nature of the soil and the climatic conditions make it imperative that every effort should be made to conserve moisture, yet the methods of soil management allow great quantities of the annual precipitation to escape by evaporation. By listing the land about 25 per cent more surface is exposed to the sun's rays than would be exposed should this surface remain level; moreover, the use of the lister precludes the possibility of surface mulching, which is of extreme importance in the early spring, when the seed is germinating and when a few days of drought may greatly reduce the stand.

Most of the labor is performed by the farmer and his family. Some of the' farmers employ one or two hired men, but the price of labor is high, owing to the demand for laborers in the city and on the railroads. Farmers say they can ali'ord to pay as much as $25 a month the year round for good men, but there seems to be no supply at this rate.

According to the census of 1900, of 555.520 acres of land in this county about 92 per cent is in farms and about 80 per cent of the entire area is improved. According to the same authority not more than 39 per cent of the farms are operated by the owners. The tenant system is thus seen to play an important part in the agricultural practice of this area.

By reason of the location near the principal city of the state, the land in the county brings a high price. Land is generally worth more in the east than in the west half of the area owing to the differences in agricultural value. The prices range from $50 to $150 an acre. The prevailing practice of letting the farms to tenants, who can have only a temporary interest in the land, is said to be rapidly reducing the value of the farms. There is a serious need for a definite agreement between the landlord and the tenant by which the tenant could be assured of remaining on the farm for a definite number of years and thus be able to plan his operations for some years ahead. This agreement should secure to the landlord a certain method of farm practice by his tenant, through which the productiveness of the soil would be maintained or increased.

At present leguminous crops are grown only to a very limited extent, while the character of the soil throughout the county is such as to make their use imperative. The conditions in the area suggest the importance of an increased interest in dairying and in the production of live stock. The productivity of the soils should be carefully maintained by the use of farm manure, which at present is frequently allowed to go to waste. The use of the lister, except where land has first been plowed, should be abandoned. Plowing should always be done with a view of conserving the rainfall and preventing soil erosion. The present rotation on many of the farms should be changed. Wheat should follow corn, and oats should follow wheat, in order to get larger yields of each crop. In every system of farming the rotation should include some leguminous crop, and on every

There arc four distinct superficial geological formations in Lancaster County, and each gives rise to a distinct type of soil. In the order of their areal extent these formations are the loess of the Middle Pleistocene period, the Kansan drift belonging to the early Pleistocene period, the most recent alluvium occupying the lower levels along the streams, and the Dakota formation, a ferruginous sandstone outcropping around the base of some of the steeper slopes.

The Kansan drift underlies the surface of the county generally and has a marked influence on the soils. This material is being gradually uncovered by erosion, and in the west half of the county the soil type derived from it covers a large percentage of the area. In the east half this glacial material is deeply co\ered and comes to the surface only occasionally, being found in ravines and in the vicinity of some of the larger streams. The loessial material appears at one time to have covered the surface of the whole county, but the agencies of erosion have removed the greater part of it from the surface in the western part of the county, where at present it is found capping knolls, skirting the bases of slopes, and occupying the crests of stream divides. The great body of the loess is found in the east half of the area, where, though eroded badly, the stratum is seldom cut through to the glacial material below. The loessial deposit and the Kansan drift merge into each other and sometimes make it difficult to define the boundaries of the resulting soil types.

The Dakota formation is found in the deeper ravines and in places where the overlying formations have been removed by erosion. Here is exposed almost pure gray sand, which is usually cemented on the immediate surface by ferruginous material, while below this the sand is in a semi-consolidated condition and is easily broken down between the thumb and finger. This material comes to the surface over a limited area and affects only a small percentage of the soils.

The recent alluvium is found along the streams throughout the county and gives rise to one of the most important soil types in the area. In areal extent it ranks next to the Kansan drift.

All the soils of the area have a brown to dark brown color, and are generally productive, the least valuable being that derived from the Dakota sandstone. The upland soils contain a comparatively large amount of humus at present, but this element is rapidly decreasing, owing to general grain farming and the limited use of farm manures.

As stated the surface material of this area has been classified into four distinct types of soil. In the order of their extent these are: the Marshal silt loam, Marshall loam, Wabash silt loam and the Lancaster fine sandy loam. The first two belong to the Marshall series of soils, so widely developed in this and other middle and northwestern states. The Wabash silt loam belongs to the Wabash series of soils, which have a large development in the ^lississippi and Missouri bottoms.

The Marshall soils are derived from transported loessial and drift material ; the Lancaster fine sandy loam has been formed in place from the weathering of

Marshall Silt Loam

The Marshall silt loam is the most important soil type in the area. The soil is variable in depth, ranging usually from ten to fifteen and fometimes having a depth of 20 inches, depending upon the topographic position. The more shallow places are found where the land has been under cultivation for several years and erosion has removed much of the surface soil to lower levels. Where the surface has remained unbroken and covered with vegetation, the soil is quite as deep on the slopes as on the more level areas. The color of the soil varies, but is prevailingly brown to dark brown, the shade depending on the quantity of organic matter present. The color gradually becomes lighter the longer the soil is cultivated without the addition of farm manures. This soil is composed largely of silt, with varying amounts of clay and very fine sand. In its original state the particles are so arranged, being influenced by the content of humus, lime, and soluble salts, as to give the soil, when plowed, a rather open and porous structure. By reason of this structure the type is easily cultivated and may be kept in good tilth at comparatively small cost. Only when plowed too wet does this soil puddle. Where this takes place it may require the process of weathering for a whole year to regain a proper physical condition.

The subsoil of the Marshall silt loam may be discussed in two divisions. Immediately beneath the soil is a dark-brown stratum, varying from eight to fifteen inches in thickness, which carries a percentage of clay sufficient to give the te.xture of a heavy silty clay. Below this heavy material the subsoil becomes relatively light in texture and has a yellow color. Throughout the deeper subsoil small lime concretions are much in evidence, and sections exposed in excavations reveal vertical fissures and numerous small holes through which plant roots have grown. The deeper subsoil of this type is thus seen to be quite porofls and comparatively dry, and has been affected very little by weathering. The whole geological body from which this type is derived is proverbially dry and all wells sunk in it must penetrate the light sandy stratum below before water is reached.

The Marshall silt loam is derived from the weathering of the loess. During the process of weathering some of the finer particles, such as the fine silt and clay, have been carried in suspension from the surface and deposited at lower levels, and thus the surface soil has become gradually lighter. This type carries small quantities of soluble salts near the base of slopes and at other points where water accumulates and where capillarity and evaporation combine to concentrate these salts.

The greater part of this type is located in the east half of the county, where it is the dominant soil. There is quite an important area in the southern and southwestern parts of the survey, and at various other points there are small patches and narrow strips around the base of slopes and along the interstream divides.

The surface of the type is gently to heavily rolling. In the extreme southern part of the county there are several square miles that are nearly level. This is along the main divide between the Big Blue River \'alley and the Salt Creek basin.

There are other level areas at various places in the Salt Creek basin, but with these exceptions all the type has sufficient relief for excellent drainage.

There is a phase of the Marshall silt loam developed in ravines and on some of the slopes where the soil is quite shallow, having been eroded away. The heavy subsoil comes near the surface and causes trouble in the preparation of the seed bed and the subsequent cultivation of the crops. The farmers find that when the surrounding soil is in prime condition for plowing these heavy spots are too wet, and if plowed at stich times they puddle and remain out of condition all the growing season. On the other hand, when these heavy spots are in good condition for plowing, the surrounding soil is much too dry. These heavy spots are called "gumbo spots" by the farmers. Their low productiveness is thotight to be due to the presence of alkali salts, but chemical analysis shows no appreciable excess. The lack of humus, therefore, and the poor physical condition appear to be mainly for the poor crop yields obtained. Deep plowing, subsoiling, and heavy manuring will eventually ameliorate these conditions. It would be a good practice for the farmers to place straw on these heavy spots and allow it to rot down and then plow it under deeply.

The native vegetation peculiar to the Marshall silt loam includes the usual grasses of the prairie, together with various herbaceous plants, many of which belong to the family Leguminosre. Under cultivation this type is productive for corn and wheat. It is the great upland corn soil of the Mississippi Valley. It i.s also well adapted to sugar beets and other root crops. In growing these deeprooted annuals subsoiling will be found necessary m the preparation of the seed bed, in order to secure the most satisfactory yields. This soil is also well suited to the production of alfalfa, clover, and many of the tame grasses, such as timothy, orchard, brome, blue, fescue, and other species that thrive on a medium heavy soil. Oats and emmer do well when arranged in rotation with corn, wheat, and clover.

The crops grown at present are corn, wheat, and oats, the most important of which is corn. The yield of corn may vary from 15 to 50 bushels, depending on the season and methods of farming. A general average would be about 30 bushels per acre. Wheat yields from 10 to 35 bushels, with a general average of about 12 bushels per acre. Oats run about the same as wheat. The relative low yield of the latter is due in part to sowing in the spring when there is very likely to be a few weeks of drought, which cuts the crop short or sometimes even destroys it. Clover and alfalfa make fair yields, and the grasses do well.

The Marshall silt loam is capable, under proper management, of holding a very large supply of water, and the annual precipitation is generally sufficient for crop production. Yet it frequently happens that the crops are cut short by drought, although the annual rainfall has been ample. An examination of the topographic and mechanica-1 features of this soil reveals some of the causes of crop failure and indicates why the yields on this type, as at present managed, are not as large as would be expected from a study of this soil in other areas. First, the surface is rolling to hilly and rain water soon finds its way into the streams. Second, the subsoil carries a heavy stratum just beneath the soil which retards or prevents the percolation of the rain water to the lower subsoil. Third, the soil is of such color that it absorbs heat readily and the moisture is lost very rapidly by evaporation. The latter tendency is very much accelerated by the hot, dry winds from the southwest that frequently come just after a rain and rapidly induce the inadequate supply of moisture retained by the soil. The crops thus need rain every few days during the growing season to prevent injury from drought. The usual practice is to plow shallow, say a depth of two or three inches, or else to put the corn crop in with the lister and not plow the land at all but reduce the fields to a series of ridges and ditches, thus exposing more surface to evaporation and increasing the tendency to erosion, as well as quickening the drainage of the surface water to the lowlands.

Li view of these conditions it is of more than ordinary importance that special care be taken to catch and retain as much of the rainfall as possible in the subsoil for use of the crops during the period of dryness. Deeper plowing, in some cases subsoiling, during the fall season, followed in the early spring and as often during the summer as practicable by surface mulching, will be fotmd to better the moisture conditions materially. This surface mulching is very important in the ]M-oduction of wheat. The wheat fields should be thoroughly harrowed early in the spring, provided the plants have stood out well in the fall, and this should be repeated as often as necessary, the condition of the plants permitting, to keep a crust from forming. The land intended for oats should be fall plowed and disked early in the spring as long as possible before the crop is put in. After the crop is planted and before it comes up the land may be mulched again if moisture conditions warrant it.

rcrha])s the best rotation for this type of soil in this area is that suggested by Hunt for similar soils in this latitude; namely, corn two years, wheat one year, and clover and timothy three years. It is thought that such a rotation wotild minimize the losses due to the "cornstalk disease" in cattle grazed in the stalk fields.

The Marshall loam is second in area of the upland soils. The texture of the surface soil is loamy. Material of all grades from clay to gravel and pebbles enters into its composition. Lime concretions are usually plentiful and huge bowlders are of frequent occurrence. The soil is generally open in structure, but like the Marshall silt loam, it has a heavy substratum that must be broken up before the best physical conditions can be secured. The color of the soil is usually brown to dark brown or with occasionally an area that is dark reddish brown, and in general the longer a field is cultivated the lighter the color of the soil becomes. In depth it ranges from ten to fifteen inches, with a general average of abotit twelve inches, though in local areas the surface is washed so badly that nearly all the soil has been removed. The composition of the subsoil is generally quite variable. Sometimes it is a mass of sand and gravel ; again it may be composed of heavy bowlder clay. The color of the subsoil is generally yellow to reddish yellow and gray. This type, on the whole, because of its more open structure of subsoil, has a relatively lower water holding capacity than the Marshall silt loam.

Many fields must be cleared of stones before machinery can be used. A large percentage of the type, however, is clear of rocks of objectionable size and can be farmed with comparative ease.

The greater part of this type is found in the west half of the county and it is typically developed around the headwaters of Salt Creek and its principal triliutaries. It generally occupies the high rolling lands south of these streams and the areas generally slope to the north. A notable exception to this rule is found east and north of Raymond, where the slope is to the south, agreeing with the direction of the drainage channels. This soil is nearly always found on the lower slopes, and occupies a position between the crests of the divides and the bottom lands along the streams. There is a large development of the type southwest of Lincoln, in the neighborhood of Sprague, Denton and Berks. There is another large area north and east of Raymond. Other but smaller areas are scattered here and there over the county, following lines of greatest erosive action.

The surface of this type is heavily rolling to rough and hilly, and is so badly dissected in places, notably south of Sprague, Denton and near Raymond, as to render it worthless except for pasture and meadow. The drainage is very good.

The Marshall loam is derived from the weathering of glacial material belonging to the Kansan epoch. The surface ten to twelve inches has been changed through weathering to a material of lighter composition than the substratum. The color has been changed by oxidation and plant growth from a buff to a darkbrown color. This drift material is quite old, as shown by the weathered condition of the glacial bowlders found in it. These bowlders are fragments of granite, gneiss, trap, and Sioux quartzite. All but the last named are in an advanced stage of weathering, many of the granite bowlders now falling to pieces.

The native vegetation of the Marshall loam consists almost entirely of grasses and herbaceous plants. There appear to be more leguminous plants on this than on any other soil in the area. Among the more important may be mentioned the wild licorice (Glycyrrhha lepidata),^ the beggar tick (Mibainia illiiioiensis), the partridge pea or wild senna (Cassia chaiiurcrista), the white thimble weed (Psoralea argophylla), the wild indigo (Baptisia bractata), and Parascla delea. There are more than 30 species of leguminous plants growing wild in this area and perhaps two-thirds of them are indigenous to this type of soil.

The Marshall loam produces good yields of corn, wheat, and oats, but in all probability it is better adapted to the production of oats, emmer, and some of the durum wheats. The soil is generally too light and droughty for the best yields of winter wheat. A large percentage of this type would be more remunerative if seeded to alfalfa and clover and stock raising introduced to take place of grain farming. A large proportion of it will never be valuable for general agricultural purposes. The average yield of corn is about twenty bushels and of wheat about ten bushels per acre. The yields frequently run very low, owinopartly to climatic and partly to cultural conditions.

Shallow plowing and listing are generally practiced on this type. These methods increase erosion and limit the amount of water in the soil reservoir, and 1 Identified by Dr. Charles E. Bessey.

the crop yields are affected accordingly. The lister is especially out of place on this soil, since the surface washes hadly even under the best methods of soil management. The farmers who own this land are beginning to realize this and are using the lister less than formerly. These rolling lands when cultivated at all should be plowed deeply, so that the heavy rains, instead of running off the surface, may soak down into the subsoil. All the draws should be left to grass o\'er and, where the liability to erosion is very great, terracing would be advisable to direct the suri:)lus waters into the grassy draws. Much of this land should be left in permanent meadows or plowed up and put in alfalfa.

This type of soil is of less intrinsic value and brings a lower price in the market than the Marshall silt loam. It ranges in price from about twenty-five dollars to fifty dollars an acre, depending on location and improvements.

The texture of the soil of the Wabash silt loam varies considerably. In some places where the Marshall loam is the adjacent type it is rather sandy, and again where deposition has occurred from comparatively still water the proportion of clay is greater. The soil is stratified, and silty, clayey, and sandy layers are found to occur alternately. It contains much organic matter, which renders its structure open and porous, except where clayey material predominates. It is generally dark brown to black in color, with here and there a gray phase, due sometimes to the presence of alkali. The surface soil is very deep, ranging from fifteen to forty inches, with a general average of about twenty inches. It is generally easy to cultivate, the worst trouble being the rapidity with which weeds and grasses grow.

The Wabash silt loam forms the bottoms along the principal streams, occurring in areas from a few rods to more than two miles in width. The surface is generally level, but some depressed areas are found along Salt Creek. There are some small island-like areas of Marshall silt loam rising above the lowlands northeast of Lincoln. These mesalike elevations a]ipear to have been caused by the shifting of the stream channel and by the general wearing down of Salt Creek basin ; areas better protected liy vegetation or position with relation to currents have resisted leveling by erosion.

The whole of this type has a general slope of perhaps ten feet to the mile except that found along Rock Creek, where the slope is not so great. This rapid fall has caused both Salt Creek and its tributaries to cut their channels several feet below the surrounding bottom land, which when the streams are normal lies from ten to twenty feet or more above the water level. Nevertheless the streams tend to wind in their courses and loops, oxbows, and abandoned channels are of frequent occurrence.

Salt Creek and its tributaries drain not only most of the area of Lancaster County, but a vast area outside of the county to the west and northwest. All of this drainage, except that carried by Rock Creek, enters the main channel of Salt Creek near the City of Lincoln. Here sometimes the water accumulates in such floods that all the bottom land is submerged, as, for instance, during the year (1906), and boats take the place of vehicles. During these freshets much farm and some city property is destroyed. There appears to be no prac- ticable way of controlling these flood waters, though in some cases diking might be found worth while. With the exception of the floods most of this soil is very well drained, and much of it is under cultivation. There are some flat areas near Lincoln and, generally, where the larger tributaries enter Salt Creek that require tiling and in some cases open ditches. The drainage of these areas is feasible, since the stream channels are all deep enough to allow a sufficient fall in the drains.

The Wabash silt loam is alluvial in origin and is -composed of the wash from the surrounding soil types. Little or no weathering is required to make this soil productive, since it is not only composed of the most available plant-food materials of the upland soils, but it receives a new and fresh supply of these at every flood. This type carries a small amount of alkali. The native vegetation consists of various lowland grasses, herbaceous plants, and trees. The most important trees are the willow, box elder, walnut, ash, and cottonwood. The trees usually are found near the streams.

The Wabash silt loam is the best corn and wheat soil in the county. Its water table is generally less than lo feet below the surface, and capillarity works very advantageously in bringmg the moisture within the zone of root action. Barring the liability to floods, this soil is well adapted to the production of sugar beets, clover, alfalfa, and the tame grasses, though alfalfa should not be expected to do well where the water table is less than five or six feet from the surface. Corn is not so likely to be damaged by floods if planted early, and wheat should be seeded early enough in the fall to give it a good start and hasten its maturity in the spring. The crops grown are corn and wheat. The former yields from thirty to sixty bushels, with a general average of about forty bushels per acre. Wheat will generally produce from twenty to forty bushels, with an average of about twenty-five bushels per acre.

There is perhaps less necessity for care in the conservation of moisture in the cultivation of this soil than with any other type in the county, but even in this rich alluvium moderately deep plowing and surface mulching are necessary for the best results. The various weeds and grasses grow with great rapidity, and frequent mulching not only conserves moisture, but serves to destroy germinating weeds and grasses. These troublesome weeds must be dealt with each year, since the seeds are brought down by the floods and scattered over the farms, and the highest yields of corn and other cultivated crops can be secured only at the expense of much labor. Though this soil is subject to annual inundation, its crop value is so great in favorable seasons that its market price is always high, generally ranging from fifty to one hundred dollars an acre.

Lancaster Fine Sandy Loam

This type is the least extensive found in the county. The soil is quite sandy, being composed of medium to fine sand with a slight admixture of silt blown over it from the surrounding heavier types. The structure is open and porous. The soil is generally of a dark brown cQlor, from ten to fifteen inches deep, with a general average of about twelve inches, and is very easily cultivated. The subsoil is composed of medium to fine sand or sandy loam of a yellow to gray color. At a depth of about twenty-five inches there is sometimes found a stratum of rather

The Lancaster fine sandy loam is found in various parts of the northern half of the county. A small area skirts the bluffs along Salt Creek south of Lincoln, another larger area occurs two or three miles north of the city, and at several other points in the northeastern part of the county are found small patches of this sandy material. The surface of this type is rolling and sometimes quite precipitous. It is always well drained.

The Lancaster fine sandy loam is derived for the most part from weathered sandstone of the Dakota group. This material outcrops in some of the deeper ravines where the overlying formations have been removed from the surface. There is one place just north of Lincoln where the sandy material appears to have been an outwash from the glacier, but with this doubtful exception there can be no mistake concerning the origin of the type. The sandstone, when found in the ledge, has a brown to gray color and is only loosely consolidated, breakingdown easily between the thumb and finger. After it has been weathered for some time the color changes to a reddish-brown and there results a ferruginous sandy soil.

The limited extent of the type in this area and its occurrence in spots and patches make it difficult to determine its relative crop value. It is, however, much below that of any of the other types for general crops. Where favorably located it would be well to grow early vegetables on it, because its sandy, loose nature makes it more suitable to truck than to general farm crops.

Mechanical Analyses Of Lancaster Fine Sandy Loam Alkali

The farmers of this area frequently find in their fields local spots and patches of heavy gray to dark-gray material that gives them much trouble in the culti- \ation of their crops. These local areas are called "gumbo," and are caused by the subsoil coming to the surface in badly eroded places. The cause of these spots is lack of humus and poor physical condition, but there is a popular notion that their refractory nature is due to an excess of soluble salts or alkali. In order to substantiate or disprove this theory, some of the worst places were sampled and chemical analyses made to determine the salt content.

These analyses did not show enough water soluble salts to justify a comjilete chemical analysis, slightly more than one-half of i per cent magnesium oxide, the salt which is thought to cause the trouble in these upland soils. .So small a quantity is not enough to injure crops or markedly to affect the physical condition of the soil. These spots are generally found in the Marshall silt loam and the Marshall loam, and in the latter type they may sometimes carry an excess of salts, but the probability is that no serious trouble has ever ari.sen from this

While little or no alkali is found in the upland soils, there is a considerable quantity in the Wabash silt loam, mainly compounds of sodium, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. The most prominent alkali areas in this bottom-land soil are found near the junction of Little Salt, Oak, Middle, and Haines creeks with the main channel of Salt Creek. These areas are at once recognized either by the white mcrustations of alkali or the otherwise- barren surface, or by the well-known salt grass that thrives in soils saturated with alkaline solutions. These areas are generally low and too wet for cultivation.

As stated, these alkali spots occur wherever the large tributaries enter Salt Creek. It is notable that the tributaries mentioned are fed by waters that either leach out of or pass over the largest area of the glacial drift in the western and northern parts of the county. It is quite probable, therefore, that most of these soluble salts have come from the leachings from this ground-up glacial drift.

A small percentage of the Wabash silt loam is abandoned because of the alkali, and these small areas are outlined and designated as "salt flats" on the soil map, because the conditions did not justify the preparation of a separate alkali map. As elsewhere explained, the conditions of the streams make drainage in these bottom lands quite feasible, and drainage will in all probability reclaim these flats from their alkali condition.

Summary

Lancaster County its situated in the southeastern part of the state. The surface is rolling to rough and hilly, with a general elevation of 1,200 feet above sea level. The general slope is to the northeast, and the drainage is efl'ected through Salt Creek and its tributaries.

The area has a moderately humid climate, but is subject occasionally to severe droughts. It has excellent railroad facilities, and good markets are within easy reach of all parts of the county.

The agriculture of the area dates from 1856 and has almost always been along the line of general grain farming. Stock is raised only in a very limited way, and most of the grain is sold from the farm. There is serious need of a mi.xed husbandry in which leguminous crops are grown and special attention directed to stock raising, especially hogs, and to dairying.

The principal crops grown are corn, wheat, and oats, and these have been the most important since about 1888, prior to which date flax constituted a principal crop. The tenant system is an important factor in the farm practice in this area, and this, together with a too general use of the lister, has caused the productiveness of farm lands to deteriorate.

There are four types of soil found in this area. The Marshall silt loam and the Marshall loam represent the Marshall series, and the Wabash silt loam the Wabash series. The Lancaster fine sandy loam is associated with the Marshall series, but is not yet referred to any series.

The Marshall silt loam is well adapted to corn, wheat, oats, sugar beets, alfalfa, clover, and the grasses, while the Marshall loam is a heavier soil and is probably better suited to the production of durum wheats, oats, alfalfa, and some of the wild grasses. The Wabash silt loam is a very good corn and wheat soil, but is subject to annual inundations. The Lancaster fine sandy loam is too limited in extent to permit of a very detailed study, but where favorably situated will produce early truck better than any other type in the county. In the cultivation of the Marshall soils the conservation of moisture is a prime requisite to successful agriculture. In the Marshall soils there occurs a phase here and there known as "gumbo" that gives trouble in cultivating the farms, but by deep plowing and applying coarse manures these heavy spots can be made to disappear.

The adaptation of the Marshall silt loam to the production of sugar beets justifies a more extended interest in the beet-sugar industry in this county. More alfalfa should be grown, and a definite rotation of crops should supersede the present method of planting the same fields to corn for years in succession. Finally, the use of the lister should be largely abandoned, and the plowing of the land should be insisted upon by every land owner in the area.

Chapter Ii The Prey Family

The first permanent white settler in what is now the County of Lancaster was John D Prey. Mr. Prey was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 4th of December, 1798- during the first days of his life much of his time was spent in Ireland. He was the son of John and Martha (Little) Prey. Before coming to the shores of America John D. Prey was wedded to Miss Margaret Gibson, born near Belfast, Ireland, of Scottish parents. After 1/2 months upon the Atlantic Ocean Mr. and Mrs. Prey first touched the American continent at St. Johns, New Brunswick, and from there proceeded to the City of Boston, there living for quite a time. Then they located near Syracuse, New York, where they stayed for several years. In 1843 the Prey family emigrated to Wisconsin, their last stopping point before coming to Nebraska. It was in the spring of 1856 that John D. Prey and his son, John W., sta-ted for the Nebraska Territory, to investigate the country and incidentally look for claims. They had been attracted by the stories told of the new country and were anxious to find a spot where they could locate permanently and there rear the family of children. On the day of Tune 15, 1856, they reached a site on Salt Creek, approximately three miles from the present City of Lincoln; they went up this river until they reached a point which is now between the towns of Roca and Sprague and there took up claims for themselves, also three other sons. On July 26, 1856, the remainder of the Prey family joined them. Their first effort was to construct rude log cabins and to settle themselves before the hard winter came upon them; this they soon accomplished. A supply of provisions had been hauled from Nebraska City and by the time the first snow came in December they were well fixed and had nothing to fear. The spring came in good time and the Preys immediately put in their crops: very little corn was raised this year, but by 1838 they had a large crop planted. ^Mr. and Mrs. Prey lived on their farm until the former's death on September 17, 1873; Mrs. Prey followed him in the month of January, 1880. Both are buried in the Centreville Cemetery. :Mr. and Mrs. Prey were the parents of twelve children, namely: Gilbert G., August i.?, 1822: Jane, May 14, 1S24; Thomas R., February 13, 1826; John W., May 11, 1828; William L., October 10, 1830; Margaret, February 14, 1833; Mary Elizabeth, January ^o, 1835; James, June 11. 1838; Julia Ann, March 11, 1840; David Ely, June 5, 1842 ; Rebecca, November 19, 1845 : and George W., September t8, 1849.

Other Settlements

It has been said, and written, that while en route to the salt basins and across the country from Plattsmouth the Preys met three men, named Whitmore, Cardwell and Thorpe, who were returning from Salt Creek where they had staked out claims with which they intended to speculate; they were from Plattsmouth. They probably belonged to that notorious class of men which followed the frontier for personal gain and which included speculators, claim- jumpers, squatters and land-grabbers. Their ilk became numerous in the vicinity of Salt Creek, but in time, when the number of honest and purposeful settlers increased, their faces disappeared. There had been no surveying accomplished in this part of the country at that time, nor was there a land office until 1857, when one was established at Nebraska City. Then a portion of Lancaster County was surveyed.

Shortly after the Prey family had settled ; to be exact, in the next year, other settlers began to come to the valley of the Salt Creek and open up claims. The names of J. L. Davidson, W. W. Dunham, James Eatherton, Jeremiah B. Garrett, I. C. Bristol, Solomon Kirke, William Arnold, Ogden Clegg, the Bogue brothers. Weeks, Haskins, and Palmer were familiar among these early comers. In 1S57, also, settlements were made along the upper Salt, in the vicinity of Hickman ana Saltillo ; this was, however, at the time a part of old Clay County, which county was not eradicated until 1864.

John Dee was an early settler on lower Salt Creek, near the present site of the town of Waverly. In a history of the county published in 1889 it is claimed that Dee disputed the honor of being the first white settler with John D. Prey, but this question must be decided in favor of the latter, as Dee did not come until 1857. In November, 1857, Dee was joined by Daniel Harrington, James Cardwell and Abraham Beals; and in the spring of 1858 James Moran. John P. and L. J. Loder and Michael Shea appeared in the locality.

In the autumn of 1857 A. J. Wallingford and his brother, Richard, located on Salt Creek between what are now the sites of Lincoln and Saltillo. Also, in the same year, William Shirley, Joseph Brown and Mr. Bottsford located on Stevens Creek in the eastern part of the county. They were joined shortly by the following: L D. Main, C. F. Retzlaff, John Lemp, Aaron Wood, and others. In the same year Festus Reed, Jeremiah Showalter and Joel Mason settled north of the Wallingford claim and John Cadman, John Hilton and several others located near Saltillo. In 1859 Robert Farmer, J. J. Forest and Joseph Gilmore located in the Camp Creek settlement to the north. Silas Pratt, the Crawford family, Mrs. White and her son, C. C. \\'hite, and John Moore located on Oak Creek, twelve miles northwest of Lincoln, in the early '60s and were joined soon after by John Tullis. Other settlers were : L. N. Haskin, George A. Mayer, W. E. Keys, E. G. Keys, J. S. Gregory, John Michael, M. Spay, J. A. Snyder, E. Warnes, W. A. Cadman, W. E. Stewart, Oren Snyder, Solomon Kirk and Dr. Wesley Queen. Many others who are not mentioned in this connection were early settlers, but as their advent has to do directly with the early settlement of Lincoln and the other towns, their story is reserved for the chapters treating the same.

The first white child born in Lancaster County was F. Morton Donovan, the son of W. T. Donovan, on March 12, 1859. The child was born at Stevens Creek, where the family had gone to escape the threatened Indian troubles. On

In the late fall of 1861 the" first frame building in the county was begun and was finished the following spring. Richard Wallingford was the owner and the carpentering was done by W. W. Cox. The doors were constructed of black walnut.

Indian Disturbances

The early settlers in the territory now comprised in Lancaster County had the opportunity to become well acquainted with the Nebraska red men, namely the Pawnees, Otoes and Omahas. Other tribes, such as the Sioux, were not common as far south as this country. The presence of the Indians here caused many aj^prehensions upon the part of the settlers, but very seldom did anything occur which bordered upon the serious.

Among the pioneers who came in the spring of 1857 was a man named Davis, a bachelor. He resented the sudden appearance of two redskins in his cabin one morning and shot one of them dead. The other members of the white community, fearing a reprisal, took their few belongings and fled to Weeping Water. They soon returned and found that no damage had been done by the Indians except the robbery of a few homes. During the same time a hundred men at Nebraska City formed an organization to quell the supposed Indian uprising. The expedition resulted in the capture of one Pawnee Indian, but he escaped that night from his three guards, one of whom was John W. Prey.

In 1859 several bands of Cheyenne and Arapahoes came to the salt basins. A group of them stopped at the home of John W. Prey one day, when no one was there except Mrs. Prey and two of the children, sixteen-year-old David and thirteen-year-old Rebecca. The Indians announced their intention of taking the little girl with them, whereupon she fled to a wheat field nearby to hide. The Indians found her, however, and made off. Mrs. Prey had in the meantime sent David after some men who were working down the creek and then, unwilling that her daughter should be taken by the Indians, accompanied them until the men who had been summoned caught up with them. The white men compelled the Indians to release the little girl.

In 1858 while a Government treaty was in progress a large number of Pawnees were encamped in the vicinity of the salt basin, close to the Donovan cabin. Captain Donovan and his family were always on their guard and had to share their food with the Indians. The captain forcibly ejected some Indians from his cabin one day and they became angry, threatening to massacre the whole outfit. It happened that the second chief in command was a friend of Donovan, having been allowed many privileges, and he assured the other Indians that Donovan was a Government agent and could call down the soldiers upon them at will, thus averting the trouble. Mrs. Donovan, at another time, knocked a redskin sprawling with a chair, but the appearance of the men prevented any further disturbance. After these scares Donovan decided to move to Stevens Creek, where he stayed until 1 86 1, then returned and located at Yankee Hill.

Early in the year 1859 the Olathe settlement were threatened by the Pawnees. Some of them stole a deer from the home of Jeremiah B. Garrett, who, in return, organized a band of men and started after the thieves. After traveling about three miles Garrett, Solomon Kirk and William Arnold discovered a group of Indians in the very act of skinning the deer which they had stolen. The white men fired upon them, Arnold wounding his man, but Garrett's bullet found the heart of one of the redskins. In return Garrett received an arrow between his ril)s, which he extracted himself. The Indians immediately left the neighborhood.

Shortly afterwards some Pawnees found the cabin owned by James Bogus and Mr. Beals empty and broke in, and carried away clothing and food. The two men returned and found that they had been robbed, whereupon they summoned several men, among them a brother of Bogus, Joel Mason, A. J. Wallingford, Ed Hilton, W. W. Dunham, William Arnold. Bob Palmer, Mr. Sophir. They waited at the Sophir cabin, which stood on Salt Creek, east of the asylum, near Crabb's mill, for the Pawnees who had encamped near the present site of the penitentiary. In the morning the redskins came into view and Joel Mason advanced towards them for a parley. The Indians treated him with contempt and forced him back to the cabin. He gave the signal and his companions opened fire, killing three of the Pawnees and wounding five. The dead Indians were buried in Yankee Hill Precinct and the skull of one of them was preserved for a long time by Judge Cadman.

During the Indian scare of 1864, when the Sioux were on the war path on the Big Blue River, nearly all the Lancaster settlement left. Several of the more courageous stayed until they learned something definite about the movements of the Sioux. Not hearing anything after a few days they mounted horses and proceeded westward to find out for themselves. The party consisted of W. T. Donovan, John S. Gregory, E. W. Warnes, Richard Wallingford, James Morgan, liohn P. Loder, Aaron Wood and one other. They came in sight of the Blue River before they caught even a glimpse of an Indian and then they were introduced to a few rather suddently. The first intimation of the redskins' presence was the appearance of a sole warrior upon a hill in their rear. Immediately the Lancaster men began to retreat, but there appeared several hundred more Indians, mounted, across their path. Death seemed very near to the little band of white men and they resolved to cut their way through at any price. Hardly had they arrived at this decision than one of the Indians waved a white flag and rode toward them. The Indians were Pawnees, not Sioux, and the white men were treated as friends. These Indians were themselves on the hunt for their enemy tribesmen, the Sioux.

Numerous other minor conflicts with the Indians might be told, conflicts largely caused by the instinctive thievery of the Indian and his natural inquisitiveness. Nothing else of sanguinary nature, however, has been recorded as happening within what is now Lancaster County.

There were two methods only by which a settler could obtain land from the Government within the limits of the State of Nebraska. The first way was by the pre-emption act of September 4, 1841, and the second was by way of the homestead act of May 20, 1862.

The pre-emption act provided that "Every person being the head of a family, or a widow, or single man over the age of twenty-one years, and being a citizen of the United States, or having filed a declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws" was entitled to enter at the land office i6o acres of unappropriated government land by complying with all the requirements of the act. It was decided that a single unmarried woman, not the head of a family, but able to meet the requirements of the pre-emption laws, had the right to claim its benefits.

An individual desiring to obtain land under the provisions of the pre-emption act, had first to make settlement in person on the tract by laying the foundations of a house or doing some work with a view of making the same his home. Where the land was "oiYered" the party had to file with the district land oftice his declaratory statement as to the fact of his settlement within thirty days from the date of said settlement, and within one year from that date, had to make final proof of his actual residence upon, and cultivation of the tract, and secure the same by paying cash, or filing warrants duly assigned to the preemptor.

Where the land had been surveyed but not ofl'ered at public sale, the claimant had to file within three months from date of settlement and make proof and payment within eighteen months from the time of filing the declaratory statement, that is, within twenty-one months from the date of settlement.

Should the settler in either of the aforesaid cases die before establishing his claim within the period limited by law, the title could be perfected by his heirs making the requisite proof and paying for the land. The entry in this case had to be in the name of the heirs of the deceased settler and the patent was issued accordingly.

The right to the land commenced from the date of settlement and the party making the first settlement upon a tract of public land was entitled to the right of preemjjting the same, provided he subsequently complied with all the requirements of the law.

When a person had filed his declaratory statement for one tract of land, it was not lawful for the same person, at any future period, to file a second declaratory statement for another tract, unless the first filing was invalid in consequence of the land applied for not being subject to preemption, or by determination of the land against him in case of contest, or from any similar cause which would have prevented him from consummating a preemption under his declaratory statement.

A person having filed on a tract of land and afterwards relinquishing the same to the government, thereby forfeited his right to file again for another tract. A party ow-ning 320 acres of land anywhere in the United States could not exercise the right of preemption.

Each qualified preemptor was entitled to 160 acres of either minimum or double minimum lands subject to preemption by paying the government price, $1.25 per acre for the former class, and $2.50 per acre for the latter class.

Final proof and payment could not be made until the party had actually resided upon the land for a period of at least six months, and made the necessary

The second method of obtaining title to public lands within the state of Nebraska was by the Homestead Act of May 20, 1862. By this act "Any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed a declaration of intention to become such, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government, or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall be entitled to enter one quarter section, or a less quantity of the unappropriated public lands."

Within the limits of the LTnion Pacific Railroad Land Grant the price of government land was $2.50 per acre, and the amount allowed for a homestead was restricted to eighty acres. Exception, however, was made in the case of a soldier who had served at least ninety days in the War of the Rebellion and who had been honorably discharged; he was entitled to 160 acres of land at $2.50, but in all other respects had to comply with the requirements of the Homestead Act.

To obtain a homestead, the party was required, in connection with his application, to file an affidavit that "he is the head of a family, or over the age of twentyone years, and a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to become such : that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation : that said application is made for his own exclusive benefit and not directly or indirectly for the benefit or use of any other person or persons whomsoever." This affidavit had to be made before the register or receiver of the land office or before the clerk of the court of the county in which the party was an actual resident. When made before the county clerk it had to receive his official seal.

No certificate could be given, or patent issued until the expiration of five years from the date of said entry, and if at the expiration of said time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry, or if he was dead, his widow, or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee, or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee in case of her death, had to prove by two creditable witnesses, that he, she or they had resided upon and cultivated the same for five years immediately succeeding the date of filing the affidavit, and had to make affidavit that no part of the said land had been alienated, and tliat he had borne true allegiance to the government of the United States, that he or she if at that time a citizen of the United States, should be entitled to a patent as in other cases provided by law. In case of the death of both parents leaving minor children, the land could be sold for cash for the benefit of such heirs and the purchaser received a title from the United States.

Lands entered under the Homestead Act were exeinpt from taxes and liability for debts contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor.

When a homestead settler had failed to commence his residence upon the land so as to enable him to make a continuous residence of five years within the period (seven years) limited by law, he was permitted, upon filing an affidavit showing sufficient reasons for his neglect, to date his residence at the time he actually commenced such habitancy, and was required to live on the land five years from said date, provided no adverse claim was attached to said land, and his affidavit was supported by the testimony of disinterested witnesses.

Lie the case of a death of a homestead settler, who left a widow and children, should the widow again marry and continue her residence and cultivation upon the land entered in the name of her first husband, she was permitted to make final prooi as the widow of the deceased settler, and the patent was issued in the name of his heirs.

When a widow or single woman had made a homestead entry and thereafter married a person who had made a similar entry on another tract, it was ruled that the parties might select which tract they would retain for permanent residence, and would be permitted to enter and pay for the other tract on making proof of residence and cultivation up to the date of marriage. They could continue to hold both tracts as homesteads.

If a homestead settler did not wish to remain five years on his land the law permitted him to pay for it with cash or warrants, upon making proof of settlement and cultivation from the date of entry to the time of payment. Tliis proof had to be the affidavit of the party, corroborated by the testimony of two creditable witnesses. The sale of a homestead claim by one settler to another before completion of title was not recognized by the general land office, and not only vested no title or equities in the purchaser but would be prima facie evidence of abandonment and give cause for the cancellation of the claim.

The law allowed but one homestead privilege. A settler relinquishing or abandoning his claim could not thereafter make a second homestead entry. A person having made settlement on a surveyed tract and having filed his preemption declaration thereof, might change his filing into a homestead, provided no adverse claim was attached to the land.

There was another class of homesteads designated as adjoining farm homesteads. The law permitted the applicant in these cases, owning and residing on ai. original farm, to enter other land lying contiguous thereto, which should not with such original farm exceed in the aggregate i6o acres. Thus, for example, a party owning and residing upon eighty acres might enter eighty acres additional of $1.25, or forty acres of $2.50 land, if vacant land could be found contiguous to his farm. In such cases the settler had to describe in his affidavit the tract he owned and lived upon. Actual residence upon the tract entered as an adjoining farm was not required, but bona fide improvement and cultivation of it had to be shown for five years.

The right to a tract entered under the Homestead Law commenced from the date of entry in the district land office, and not from date of personal settlement upon the land as in the case of a preemption claim. When an individual had made a mistake in the description of the land he desired to enter as a homestead and wished to amend his application he was allowed to do so upon making affidavit, sustained by the testimony of two disinterested witnesses, setting forth the facts and proving that he resided and had valuable improvements upon the tract he first intended and then desired to enter.

In making final proof the homestead party had to appear in person at the land office and there make the affidavit required of him. When from physical disability, distance or other good cause, the witnesses of said party could not attend in person at the land office, their testimony in support of the claim could be taken where they resided, before an officer authorized to administer oaths. This testimony had to be tiled in the land office. At the time of making final proof the homestead party had to be a citizen of the United States. A declaration to become such was not sufficient.

A homestead settler had to make the tract entered his actual residence and home. A temporary occupancy of a few days during each six months would not entitle him to the benefits of the Homestead Act ; and a change of residence or an abandonment of his claim for six months at any time before the expiration of the five years was sufficient cause for the cancellation of his entry.

A settler might relinquish his homestead to the United States by surrendering his duplicate, with his relinciuishment endorsed thereon, or if the duplicate had been lost, the fact should be stated in the relinquishment duly signed and acknowledged.

Where application was made for the cancellation of a homestead on the ground of abandonment, the complainant had to file his affidavit with the local land ofticers, setting forth the facts on which his allegations were founded, describing the tract and giving the name of the settler and the date of his entry. The officers would then set apart a day for a hearing, giving all parties interested due notice of the time and place of the trial. The testimony of two witnesses was required to establish the abandonment of a homestead entry. The expenses incident to such contest had to be defrayed by the contestant.

In case of contest or relinquishment another entry could not be made until the cancellation was ordered by the conmiissioner of the general land office, and the fact that a party instituted proceedings and paid the expenses incident to a contest, gave him no prior right to the tract in question, which was open to entry to the first qualified applicant.

A party who had made final proof, or commuted his homestead, or relinquished the same, was not thereby disqualified from exercising the right of preemption, nor was a person excluded from the benefits of the Homestead Law because he had theretofore availed himself of the right of preemption. The law allowed a homestead settler six months from the date of his entry in which to erect his house and commence his actual residence upon the land. The fees to be paid at the district land office were as follows: final declaratory statement. $2.00; making homestead entry, $14.00; final homestead proof, $4.00. In making payment with land warrants the following fee had to be paid: forty acre warrant, $1.00; eighty acre warrant, $2.00; hundred and twenty acre warrant, $3.00; hundred and si.xty acre warrant. $4.00. These warrants could be used in payment of $2.50 lands by paying in addition to the warrant $1.25 per acre.

There is no definite information as to who took up the first preemption claim in Lancaster County, but the supposition is that John D. Prey and sons were the ones ; it is established that they were the first to take claims for permanent settlement. This was in 1856.

The first homestead in the county entered under the law of 1862 was by Captain Donovan, on January 2, 1863. He took a location just east of the present site of the state hospital.

"The early summer of 1862 found me residing in eastern Michigan, possessed of a comfortable bank account, with the ambition for adventure usual to adolescent youth and a government commission as United States mail agent, a position which enabled me to pass free over the mail routes of the United States, including stage lines. .About this time a relative who had passed by the salt basins on his return from California called upon us and advised me to take advantage of my opportunities and visit them, which 1 immediately proceeded to do.

"The only railroad line then in operation west of the Mississippi was the Hannibal & St. Joe through northern Missouri and I took that route. The road was then in possession of the Missouri 'rebs,' their pickets guarding most of the stations, but the United States mails were permitted to pass freely, and although I wore the livery of Uncle Sam I was not molested.

"r>om St. Joseph to Plattsmouth I went by stage. At this point public transportation was at an end, and I hiretl a horse to ride the rest of the way. From Weeping Water to the basin I followed an Indian trail over the 'divide,' then an absolutely unsettled waste of rolling prairie - not a settler from Weeping Water until at Stevens Creek William Shirley had a ranch, a log cabin of two rooms.

"The older settlers know what an Indian trail is, but as I think some of the later ones do not, I will describe it to you. When the roving bands of Indians pass from place to place they pile the coverings of the wigwams and their camp utensils upon their ponies' back and they fasten the tent poles to each side of the loaded pony, the ends dragging along on the ground behind. They often pile 150 to 200 pounds on the pony, and sometimes a squaw or papoose on top of that. Another scjuaw leads the pony and after forty or fifty have passed along in Indian file the sod is worn away so that it looks very much like a good wagon road. But ponies can pass where wagons cannot, so many a tenderfoot has found out to his sorrow.

"I reached the present site of Lincoln toward evening of a warm day in September. No one lived there or had ever lived there previous to that date. Herds of beautiful antelope gamboled over its surface during the day and coyotes and wolves held possession during the night. Mr. Donovan resided at the town (on paper) of Chester about eight miles south. He did not remove to Lincoln until 1867. About a mile west on Middle Creek the smoke was rising from a camp of Otoe Indians and down in the neck of Oak Creek, where West Lincoln now stands, was a camp of about 100 Pawnee wigwams. I rode over and that night slept upon my blanket by the side of one of them, and the next morning went over to the salt basin. The tread of civilization had not then marred its surface. It was smooth and level as any waxen floor. It was covered with an incrustation of salt about a quarter of an inch deep, white as the driven snow, while the water of the springs was as salt as brine could be. I had seen the basin for the first time, in its most favorable aspect, and was naturally quite enthusiastic over its prospects. A roofless and floorless log cabin stood upon the margin, built the year before by J. Sterling Morton, who had gone out from Nebraska City and 'preempted' the basin ; but it was deserted and desolate.

"I immediately retraced my steps to Weeping Water, and there bought ox teams and wagons, and hired men, and went to work in earnest for the con- struction of salt works, which the following year I had in operation and of the capacity of about two tons a day. The salt found ready sale to the freighters from Denver and the mountain regions beyond, at two to three cents a pound. Until the railroads reached the Missouri River and brought eastern salt into competition, it was quite profitable work. My first residence was a dug-out, that is, an excavation dug into the l)ank of a hill, or rather the creek bank, with a big Cottonwood timber for a ridge pole, covered with poles then topped with hay and soil. At the rear was a log fireplace. The front was of sod. Rather crude was all this, but yet quite comfortable.

"The County of Lancaster was organized in the spring of 1863 and I had the honor of being chairman of the first board of county commissioners. An attempt had been made to organize the year before, but it had fallen through because there could not be found available men enough in the county to hold the necessary oftices. In the spring of 1864 the Lancaster Colony located at Lincoln, composed of the families of J. M. Young, Dawson, McKesson, Merrill, Giles, Harris, Lavender, Warnes, Humerick, Hudson and one or two others whose names I do not just now recall. They staked out the town and called it Lancaster and soon afterward had the county seat established there. The first postoffice in the county was established in 1863 and was named Gregory's Basin. I was appointed postmaster with a yearly salary of $3.CX). I was also allowed $12 per year for carrying the mail weekly from Saltillo, then in Clay County."

Lancaster Township: Joel Mason, 160 acres; Abraham Beales, 560 acres; Robert Bogges, 160 acres; Jnlius Cardwell, 160 acres; Gerusha Fonts, 160 acres; Erastus Partridge, 120 acres; Richard Wallingford, 320 acres; Jonathan Ball, 240 acres ; James Couthard, 160 acres ; Henry Simmons, 160 acres ; Robinson, 400 acres ; Lew Cochran and Chipman, 1400 acres ; J. M. Young, 280 acres ; Bartlett', 160 acres ; E. H. Eaton, 480 acres ; J. W. Seymour, 320 acres.

Lancaster Township, 1865: Robert Bogges, 160 acres; Julius Cardwell, 160 acres; E. S. Reed, 80 acres; Jacob Uawson, 160 acres; W. R. Field, 40 acres; Editha Dawson, 160 acres ; Wesley Queen, 120 acres ; these are in addition to those mentioned in 1864.

The new ones listed in Stephens Creek, as it was then spelled, in 1865, were: Barnhardt Storms, 160 acres; Sam Twist, 40 acres; Owen Marshall, 40 acres; W. Jon£s, 120 acres; L. G. Todd, 160 acres; Dennis Dowd, 80 acres; Joseph Humes, 40 acres; Robert McClaskey, 120 acres; John Dee, 80 acres; James Moran, 320 acres; Robert E. Farmer, 160 acres; Daniel Harrington, 160 acres.

The tax payers in the Town of Lancaster in 1866 were: J. M. Young, Jacob Dawson, Beasley, J. M. McKesson, Nancy A. McKesson, E. H. Hardenberg, J. G. Miller, G. Morrill, Calvin Crawford, Charles Crawford, Milton Langdon,

Countv Elections

The first move for the organization of Lancaster County occurred in the fall of 1859, when a public meeting was held under the "Great Elm" which stood on the east bank of Salt Creek, near what is now the northwest corner of the Burlington depot grounds in Lincoln. Festus Reed was elected chairman. Mr. Reed made a speech to the people assembled, extolling the future greatness of the state and county. A. J. Wallingford, Joseph J. Forest and \V. T. Donovan were appointed a commission to select a location for a county seat and they chose the jiresent site of Lincoln, which was accordingly laid out, in 1864, and given the name of Lancaster. In 1863 a part of Clay County, which county had been eliminated, was added to Lancaster, giving the latter the area it now has. 864 square miles. Lancaster County is thirty-six miles in length and twenty-four in width.

This division of Clay County between Lancaster and Gage counties was largely the work of Mr. John Cadman, a noted pioneer of this territory. Cadman and John S. Gregory were both members of the territorial legislature in the winter of 1S64, and it was the former's idea to partition Clay County between Lancaster and Gage. Gregory, although at first oppose^ to the scheme, finally advocated it. The two, unable to plan exactly how the partition was to be effected, sought the counsel of T. M. Marquett who then represented the city in the so-called council. His management of the affair was very satisfactory. Cadman was working for the location of the county seat of Lancaster at Yankee Hill, near the present state hospital, and which he had staked off into a town. Elder Young platted the town of Lancaster in the summer of 1864 and he also wished to have the county seat for his town. John S. Gregory had persuaded the legislature to appropriate $500.00 for a bridge over Salt Creek in Lancaster County, with a view of having it located at Lancaster. Tlie commissioners who were appointed to view the ground for the purpose of selecting the jM-ojier place for the bridge were equally attracted by Cadman's and Young's arguments, so, not being able to favor one side above the other, simply divided the money between the two. Thus, with the aid of local subscriptions, a bridge was built across Salt Creek at each place. Lancaster had the benefit of th> salt basin and Yankee Hill was located on the freight road from the Missouri Ri\-er.

In old Clay County the settlers had established what they thought would be a county seat at Olathe and when Cadman managed to have the county al)olished they naturally became enemies of his and planned revenge in some way. Their opportunity came in the county seat election of the summer of 1864 in the W. W. Cox house just south of the great basin ; when the votes were counted Lancaster had won and was officially declared the county seat. Mr. Cox, in his article on "The Beginning of Lincoln and Lancaster County" upon another page of this volume narrates rather humorously the county seat fight as he saw it.

One of the first elections upon record as having been held in what is now Lancaster County was that of October 10, 1850. which election had been ordered by the commissioners of Cass County, to which the unorganized county west was attached for election and judicial purposes. This election was held at the house of William Shirley on Stevens Creek. A. J. ^^'a!lingford, J. J. Forest and W. T. Donovan were chosen county commissioners ; Richard A\'allingford was elected county treasurer; L. J. Loder, county clerk; and John P. Loder, county recorder.

On October 9, 1S60 a general election occurred, being held at the house of W. T. Donovan for Lancaster County. Twenty-three votes were cast. The following names were inscribed on the official poll list : Jeremiah Showalter, Richard Wallingford, J. D. Main, C. F. Retzlafl:', Jonathan Ball, Hiram Allen, Benjamin Eaves, Festus Reed, Daniel Harrington, James Coultard, Benjamin Hemple, William Shirley, James Moran, J. J. Forest, E. L. Reed, Michael Shea, L. J. Loder, John Dee, A. J. Wallingford, Aaron Wood, Lucius West, J. P. Loder and W. T. Donovan. For delegate to Congress J. Sterling Morton received 11 votes and Samuel G. Dailey 12. For councilman, equivalent to a state senator, T. M. Marquett received 13 votes and W. R. Davis 2. For joint or float councilman Samuel H. Ebert received 15 votes and Mr. Cozad i. For representative William Gilmore had 16 votes; Louden Mullen, 15; W. R. Davis, 16; William Reed, 16; E. W. Barnum, 12; and J. N. Wise, 6. For county officers the following were chosen: commissioner for one year, J. J. Forest; for two years, A. J. Wallingford; for three years, W. T. Donovan; treasurer, Richard Wallingford; clerk, J. P. Loder. There was no candidate for sheriff, prosecuting attorney or coroner. Festus Reed and Richard Wallingford were elected justices of the peace and C. F. Retzlafl' and James Coultard constables.

On October 8, 1861 the county election was held at the home of James Moran and fourteen votes only were cast. Several new names appeared upon the poll list, such as E. Galvin, E. L. Barrett. T. G. Maxwell and Michael McDonald. J. T. Forest was elected county commissioner; Festus Reed, probate judge; L. J. Loder, sheriff' ; J. P. Loder, clerk; C. L. Barrett, assessor; T. G. Maxwell and J. Moran, justices of the peace; and Jonathan Ball and C. F. Retzlafl. constables.

At the election of October 14, 1862 the division of the county into two precincts was disregarded. Fourteen votes were cast by the following : Messrs. Cox, Mason, Foster. Calkin, Chatterton, Blunt, Wallingford, Ball, Chambers, Loder, Maxwell, \'an Benthusen, Donovan and Coultard. T. M. Marquett received 12 votes for councilman for the district. George L. Seybolt received 10 and T- E- Doom 3 votes for joint councilman. Five other Cass County men received votes for representative and T. G. Maxwell received 13 for the same

In 1863 the county election was held on October 13th. Fifty-five votes were cast in Lancaster County. J. S. Gregory, William Shirley and P. S. Schamp were elected commissioners; Milton Langdon was made clerk; Richard Wallingford, treasurer; Joseph Chambers, sheriff; J. J. Forest, surveyor; Dr. John Crim, coroner; J. D. Main, probate judge. J. S. Gregory was elected to the state legislature for the representative district to which Lancaster belonged and John Cadman. who li\ed in the part of the county then belonging to Clay County, was elected for Clay, Johnson and Gage counties. He was responsible for the obliteration of Clay County and the division of the territory between Lancaster and Gage.

At the territorial election of October 11, 1864, John Cadman was elected to the house of representatives for Lancaster County and William Imlay for the representative district composed of Lancaster, Seward and Saline counties. Richard Wallingford was elected county commissioner; P. S. Schamp, surveyor; and Milton Langdon, prosecuting attorney.

At the general election of October 10, 1865, 125 votes were polled. August Kountz for territorial treasurer, John Gillespie for auditor, received 100 votes each, while S. G. Goodman and John Seaton, their opponents, received 6 votes each. John Cadman was again elected representative for Lancaster County and Joel Mason for the district composed of Lancaster, Seward and Saimders counties. The county officers elected were: Milton Langdon, clerk; Luke Lavender, probate judge; S. S. Snyder, county commissioner; William Guy, treasurer; W. Ingram, coroner; J. S. Gregory, prosecuting attorney; P. S. Schamp, surveyor.

On June 2. 1866, an election was held under the state constitution, prepared by the territorial legislature of 1865-6, at which 165 votes were cast in Lancaster County. Davitl Butler received 112 and J. Sterling Morton received 53 votes for the office of governor : there were 95 votes for the constitution and 53 against it. John Cadman was elected senator to the state legislature, which was the first, and met July 4th. James Queen of Lancaster was elected representative from Lancaster, Seward and Saunders counties. His opponent, J. L. Davison, of Seward, contested the election of Queen and the contest was pending when the legislature adjourned after an eight days" session. Ezra Tullis was elected representative from the county.