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About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1907)
authentic 1400 to 1000 Complete (Copyrighted 1930. All rights reserved.) By courtesy ol Editors and Publishers of Morton's HiMtuy, the Publishers Newspaper Union of Lincoln, Nebraska. Is permitted Its reproduction In papers ot thslr Itsna CHAPTER II CONTINUED (5) On the 15th of April, 1847, the oldest daughter, Virginia, married Frederick Berthold, who died In St. Louis in 1868. She was married a second time to Armand Peugnet. Mrs. Peugnet is still living (1904) In St. Louis. John B. Sarpy's only son, John R. Sarpy, who was born December 27, 1838, died whllo yet a young man. John B. Sar py died April 1, 1857, in his sixtieth year. Thomas L. Sarpy, another brother, was a clerk In the service of the American Fur Company when he met a yiolent death, January 19, 1832, In an explosion at the post of the Ogallala Indians. About 1823 Peter A. Sarpy came to Nebraska as a clerk for tho American Fur Company under John P. Cabanne, and In 1824 suc ceeded him as manager of the post at Bellovuo. Shortly after, ho estab lished a post on the Iowa side of tho Missouri river which he called Trad ers' Point; this was used for the ac commodation of the whites, whllo Bellevue catered chiefly to tho Indian trade. On account of tho encroach ments of the river, Traders Point was abandoned In 1853 and a new location established at St. Mary, four miles down tho river. In 1853 Colonel Sar py established flat-boat ferries across the Elkhorn river near where Elkhorn City was afterwards located, and on tho Loup Fork near the present slto of Columbus. He was a man of pe culiar temperament, kind at heart, but In the pursuit of his business enter prises he spared no one. Ho was small and wiry In build, possessing great physical endurance. He loved the freedom of the West and was in timately associated with the Indians, being honored with the title of "white chief" by the Omahas. He married, according to Indian custom, Nl-co-ml, a woman of the Iowas, to whom ho was greatly attached, and whom he as' greatly feared. Ni-co-mi had been the wife pf Dr. John Gale, ,who had deserted her and their child. In 1854 Mr. Sarpy was a member of the Old Town company which laid out the town of Bellevue, and in company with Stephen Decatur and others he laid out the 'town of Decatur, where he had maintained a trading post. In 1862 he moved to Plattsmouth, where he died January 4, 1865. Sarpy coun ty was named In his honor. Mr. Allls gives the following sketch of Mr. Sarpy's characteristics: "Ho possessed some excellent qual ities and traits of character; although sometimes rough and uncouth, was 'a high-toned gentleman who exerted a great Influence among the whites as well as the Indians. He was particu larly generous to white men of dis tinction and wealth, also to the In dians when it paid well, but exacted every penny of his hired men and others who earned their living by la bor. Still he was generous to the needy. He was active and persever ing in the transaction of the various kinds of business, employed consid erable capital in Indian and other trade, but was often wronged by his clerks, which vexed him, as ho was very excitable. For a business man with a large capital he was rather a poor financier. Toward the latter part of his life he became addicted to Intemperance, a habit of seven-tenths of the Indian traders. During my ac quaintance, of thirty years with him he was always kind to me and would accommodate me in every way he could. He was all that could bo wished for a man of tho world, except the habit of intemperance. He was extremely fond of fast horses and al ways kept a plenty. Ho was also fond of good dogs and always had a num ber. During the last few years of his life he suffered much; had, several severe attacks, and at last died in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. His relatives lived in St. Louis, and 'his remains . were taken there for final interment. It waB said that he loft a property of $75,000, most of which was In St. Louis. He had one brother, John B., who died before him,1 and who was a member of tho American Fur Com- pany." Mr. S. D. Bangs further sketches Sarpy as follows: "In April, 1855, Col. Peter A. Sarpy was keeping a store at St. Mary, Iowa, then a station on tho stage route from St. Joe to Council Bluff. As my des tination was Bellevue, Nebraska, I stopped here and alighted from tho stage with Colonel Gilmore, a friend of Sarpy, who received us with a cor dial and affectionate greeting. We were invited to tho store, where re freshments were Borved, and I had a good opportunity to observe the ec centricities of our worthy host. He was about fifty-five years' of age, rather below the medium height, black hair, dark complexion, well knit and compact frame, and a heavy beard that had scorned a razor's touch for many a year. His manner was commanding, his address fluent, and in the presence of the opposite sex, polished and refined." Tho St. Louis relatives of Colonel Sarpy deny that ho left any consid erable estate. He provided, however, for the payment of an annuity of $200 to Ni-co-mi, his Indian wife, which amount was paid regularly until her death. CHAPTER III. Early Travel and Transportation River Navigation Overland Stage Pony ExpressFirst Railroad and Telegraph. Travel and transportation, whoso Impetus Is tho desire for the exchange of Ideas, personal impressions, and material goods, have always been tho prime factors of civilization; and where travel and trade havn hnnn freest, civilization has there reached us nighost plane. Thero Is as yet but scant knowledge of Indian or prehis toric routes of travel in Nebraska, and tho subject is in the main, a future field for students. Ono class of In vestigators insist that, on their longer journeys, Indians traveled by a sort of Instinct and Irregularly, and not by fixed or definite routes. Mr. Edward A. Killlan in a discussion of tho sub ject quotes T. S. Huffakor, of Council Grove, Kansas, "who came to tho frontier In 1846, as a missionary and teacher," as follows: "When I first came umong tho In dians, now more than half, a century ago, there wore at that time no well defined trails between tho locations of the different tribes, but between the several bands of the same tribe, there were plain, beaten trails. Each band had a village of its own, and they continually visited each other. Tho different tribes would change their location perpetually, and never remain In one location lone enoueh to mark any well-deflnqd trails, in go ing from tribe to tribe." Mr. Killlan argues that the conclu sions to be drawn from the' above statements are: "That there were no permanent trails over the plains in prehistoric times, as shown by the facts and con ditions set forth herein, and there is neither evidence nor tradition for such an assumption. Thero probably were prehistoric routes, sometimes several mUes In width, but no trails, roads. or paths as understood by the use of these words at the present day. In a timbered or mountainous country, the case was different, and prehistoric trans existed." In a discussion of this subject in the same journal Mr. A. T. Richard son quotes Gen. G. M. Dodge, who became very familiar with the plains country during the construction of the Union Pacific railroad: "All over our continent there were permanent Indian trails; especially was this the case west of the Mis souri river. There were regular trails from village to village, to well-known crossings of streams, up the valleys of great streams, over the lowest and most practicable divides, passing through tho country where water could be obtained, and in the moun tains tho Indian trails were alwavs woll-denped through all the practicable passes. I traveled a great deal with tho Indians myself at one time, and when they started for any given point they always took a well-established trail, unless they divided off for hunt ing, fishing, or something of that Jcind; and in my own reconnaissances in the West, and in my engineering parties, when wo found Indian trails that led In the right direction for our Burveys. we always followed them up and ex amined them, and always found that they took us to the best fords of streams, to tho most practical cross ings of divides, to the lowest passes In the mountains; and they were of great benefit to us, especially .where we had no maps of the country, be cause we could lay them down and work from them as well-defined fea tures of the country." Mr. Richardson also quotes the ob servation of Parkman, the historian, Rums Sago, and John C. Fremont as to the existence of distinct Pawnee trails on the Nebraska plains. The notations of the first surveyors of Ne braska show fragmentary Indian trails and roads of pioneer white men, be cause some of them marked their routes with regularity, while others did not. It will require the laborious work of special students to trace these Indian routes of travel, which un doubtedly existed well-defined and of various lengths, from tho local trails radiating from tho moro or less per manent villages to those of an extent of several hundred miles, such as tho well-known Pawnee routes from tho habitat of that tribe along and north of the Platte valley to tho hunting grounds of tho Republican river coun try and oven to tho rivers farther south. When Major Long arrived at tho Pawneo villages on tho Loup rlvpr ho noted that tho trace on which ho had traveled from tho Missouri had the appearance of being moro fre quented as ho approached the Pawneo towns, and here, instead of a slnglo pathway, It consisted of moro than twenty parallel paths, of- similar size and appearance. Again ho observes that tho path leading to the Pawneo villages runs In a direction a little south of west from tho Cantonment (Long's winter quarters), and loads across a tract of high and barren prairie for tho first ton miles. At this distance It crosses tho Papllllon, or Butterfly creek. Charles Augustus Murray, In his ac count of his residence with tho Paw neo Indians In 1835, describes tho In dian mode of travel In masses: "They move in throe parallel bod ies; tho left wing consisting of part of tho Grand Pawnees and the Tap ages; the center of the remaining Grand Pawnees; nnd tho right of the Republicans. . . All thoso bodies move In 'Indian file,' though of course, In the mingled mass of men, women, children, and pack-horses It was not very rogularly observed; novortho less, on arriving nt tho halting-place, tho party to which I belonged In variably camped at tho eastern ex tremity of the village, tho groat chief in tho center nnd tho Republicans tTapagos), on tho western .sldo; and this arrangement was kept so well that after I had been a few dayB with them I could generally find our lodge In a new encampment with very lit tlo 'trouble, although tho village con sisted of about 600 of them, all nearly similar In appearance" Murray recounts a roinarkablo feat of traveling by an individual Indian. His party started from Ft. Leavon worth to tho Pawneo villages with a party of Pawnees who had gono on ahead: "A runner had, been sent forward to request the chiefs to mako a short halt in order to give our party time to come up. This Indian had walked at the head of tho party as guide dur ing the whble day's Journey, which occupied nearly 24 hours. When wo halted, Sa-nl-tsa-rish wont up to him and spoke a fow words, upon which, without rest ol food, ho tightened tho bolt around his middle and set off at a run, which ho must havo main tained upwards of 20 miles. Ho had to traverse tho same ground coming back, and thus he must havo gono over 100 miles of ground without food or rest In 24 hourB. . . We found the Indian regulations for traveling very fatiguing, namely starting at 4 a.m., with nothing to oat, and travel ing till one, when wo halted for breakfast and dinner, at ono time . . and on tho 20th (July, 1835) wo trav eled from half, past threo In tho morn ing till half past eight in the evening. . . A war party leaves only tho trail of the horses, or, of course, if It be a foot party, the still lighter tracks of their own feet; but when they aro on their summer hunt or migrating from ono region to another, they tako their squaws and children with them, and this trail can always be distin guished from the former by two par allel tracks about three and a half feet apart not unlike those of a light pair of wheels; these are made by tho points of the long curved poles on which their lodges arp stretched, the thickest or butt ends of which aro. fastened to each side of the pack saddle, while tho points trail behind the horse; in crossing rough or boggy places this Is often found tho most Inconvenient part of an Indian camp equipage." Mr. Murray- makes an interesting observation as to' the quantity of game on the prairies of northeastern Kan sas over which he was traveling: "No game had been seen or killed (since starting from Ft. Leavenworth) and evory 'hour's experience fended to convince me of the exaggerated statements with which many western travelers havo misled the civilized world in regard to tho game of these prairies. I had now been traveling five days through them, and with the exception of a fow grouso and tho fawn I shot, had not seen anything eatable, either bird or quadruped." Whether or not the famous Santa Fe trail was established or used by Indians in tho general sense Indicated by tho name,, before it was surveyed under authority of tho federal govern ment, not long after 1820, Is a mooted question. Tho first wagon train over this trail started from Westport, Mo., Its initial point, In 1828. This road was established for communication between the Missouri river and the settlements of New Mexico. Tho Oregon trail was tho most not able route of Its kind in tho country. It may be called fairly a social Insti tution, for like other social Institu tions It was not mado but grew, and its growth was simply tho result of human movement along linos of least resistance. By 1843 It had become a woll-deflned route for trade and other traffic between a grecft base. St. Louis, and a great objective point, tho mouth of tho Columbia river. Tho general line of this trail had been UBed by the Indiuns, though In a piece meal fashion, from time Immemorial. It was left to tho true emigrants and travelers, tho whites, to develop It Into a continuous route. While St. LouIb was th'o real southern terminus of tho route, the overland trail began at Franklin, Mo., two hundred and five miles above tho mouth of tho Missouri river. In tho course of ten years Independence, situated near tho mouth of tho Kansas, had superseded Franklin as tho initial point of tho land route, and in a few years the river had carried away tho Indopond once landing, so that Westport, now within tho boundary of Kansas City, becamo the starting point. It is true that the first traffic by way of Frank lin and Independence, which began about 1820, was with Santa Fo, and It lsf not possible to say when travel over the eastern end of tho Oregon trail began. In July, 1819, Long's party .noted that Franklin, "at present Increasing moro rapidly fban any other town on tho Missouri, had been commenced but two years and a half before tho time of our journey." This Indicates a considerable trade with Santa Fo and Missouri posts, and also its recent growth. Long's Journalist uttered a prophecy aB to tho fato of Franklin which was to bo verified in a very realistic manner, for tho town was swept away not many years after. Tho chronicler said: "Tho bed of tho river near tho shoro has been heretofore obstructed by sandbars which prevented largo boats from ap proaching tho town; whether this evil will increaso or diminish it is not pos sible to detormlrio, such Is tho want of stability In everything belonging to tho channel of tho Missouri. It la oven doubtful whethor tho site of Franklin will not at some future day bo occupied by tho river which at this tImo.8oom8 to be encroaching' on its banks." Hunt's Astorian expedition (1811), as wo havo soon, did not follow tho eastern lino of tho trail, but ascended tho Missouri river to tho Arlkara vil lages. But It did follow tho trail from tho junction of Port Nouf river with tho Snake. Thero appears to bo no authentic account of tho passago of this rbuto by whlto men beforo Hunt. and to his party bolongs tho credit; oi naving discovered nnd established it. Certain writers inclino to belittle Hunt's ability and achlovomont, but ho should havo tho credit of reaching tho Columbia from tho point where ho struck tho Wind River or Bighorn mountains, near tho present Jackson's Hole, by original investigation and ex perimental exploration of n very diffi cult character. Thero was absolutely no pathway to tho Columbia rivor, ant1 tho Indians at tho hoad-waters of the Snako rlvor woro ignorant of any way to reach It. On their return Stuari and Crooks followod tho gonoral course of the Oregon trail to Grand Island, Nebraska, with tho oxcoptior of a detour In southeastern Idaho. Bonnovlllo certainly, and Wyoth prob ably, passed over tho cut-off from In dopendonco td Grand Island In 1832. and, as far as Is known, Bonneville's was the first wagon train ovor this end .of tho trail. Theso appear to be the first authenticated journoys by the cut-off. A fairly accurato Itinerary of tho trail has been made from notos of Fremont and othor travolers aB follows: From Indopendenco for the distance of 41 miles It Is Identical with tho Santa Fo trail; to tho Kan sas river, 81 miles; to the Big Blue river, 174 miles; to tho Little Blue, 242 miles.; head of tho Little Bluo, 296 miles; Platte river, 316 miles; lower ford of South Platte liver, 433 miles; upper ford of South Plntte, 493 miles; Chimney Rock, 571 miles; Scotts Bluff, 616 miles. Adding the distance from tho northwost bound-' ary of Nebraska to Fort Vancouver, the termlnuB, yields a total of 2,020 miles. Tho trail crossed tho present Nebraska lino at or vory near the point of tho Intersection of tho 97th meridian, and about four miles west of tho southeast corner of Jefferson county. It left tho Little Bluo at a bend boyond this point, but roached it again Just beyond Hebron. It left tho stream finally at a point near Le roy, and reached tho Platto river about twenty miles, below tho western or upper end of Grand Island. Proceed ing along the south bank of the Platto, it crossed tho south fork about sixty miles from tho junction, and touched tho north fork at Ash creok, twenty miles beyond tho south fork crossing. In 1820 Maj. S. H. Long crossed tho Platto from tho north sldo. There was evidently no fixed or woll-known ford at that time, for this noted ox plorqr Informs us that ho was led to tho fording placo of tho north fork through animal instinct: "Wo had halted hero, (at the con fluence of tho forks) and woro mak ing preparations to oxamino the north fork with a view of crossing It, when we saw two elk plungo into tho river a littlo above us on the same side. Perceiving it was thoir design to cross tho rivor we watched them until they arrived on tho other sldo which they did without swimming. We ac cordingly choso tho same placo they had taken, and putting a part of our baggage In a skin canoo, wadod across, leading our horses, and arrived safoly on tho othor side." Major Long crossed tho neck be tween tho two forks diagonally and forded tho south fork at or near tho placo of tho subsequent lower ford. Travol by emigrants acroBB tho plains by tho great trail to California and Oregon, chiefly to tho latter, sot In appreciably In 1844. Francis Parkman, who left St. Louis In the spring of 1846, on a tour of curiosity and amusement to tho Rocky mountains, found "tho old legitimate trail of tho Oregon emigrants" at tho Junction of tho St. JoBoph trail, and in that year both Parkman and Bryant found a heavy travel of emigrants to Oregon and California over tho trail. Tho latter roports that his party met Ave men between tho lower and upper ford of tho Platto, going eastward, who had counted 470 west-bound emi grant wagons In coming from Ft. Lar amie; and they were "about equally divided between California and Ore gon." Beforo tho high tide of traffic to tho California gold fields sot In, In 1849, there woro two principal places whore tho largo gonoral travol to Ore gon and California crossed the Platto, known as tho lower ford and tho up per ford. Irving, In his Adventures of Captain Bonnovlllo, pays more at tention to literary form than to exact narrative and statement of facts, much to the present historian's re gret. Wo loam from him only that Bonnovlllo traveled two days from tho junction to his crossing of tho south fork, and nlno miles from that cross ing to the north fork. No mention is mado of a lower ford, and his crosB-lng-place was probably somo distance oast of the later common upper ford. Wo are told that when he arrived at tho forks, "finding it Impossible from quicksands and othor dangerous im pediments to cross tho river in this neighborhood, he kopt up along the south fork for two days merely seek ing a safo fording placo." Fremont on his outward trip, in 1842, mado this record: "I halted about forty milos from the Junction. . . . Our .encampment was within a few miles of tho placo where the road crossed to tho north fork." Joel Palmer of Indiana, who started with a party from Independence, Me., May 6, 1845, returning in 1846, makes the following explicit statement: "The lower crossing of tho Platte river is five or six miles above the forks and whoro tho high ground com mencos between tho two streams. There is a trail which turns over the bluff to tho left; we, however, took tho right and crossed tho river. The south fork is at this place about one fourth milo wldo and from one to threo feet deop, with a Bandy bottom, which mado tho fording so heavy that wo wero compelled to double teamB." Nineteen miles from tho forks, "the road botweon tho two forks strikes acroBS tho rldgo toward the north fork, Directly across, the distance loos not oxceed four miles; but the oad runs obltquoly and reaches the lorth fork nlno miles from our laBt lamp" tho placo of leaving the south ork. "At Ash Hollow tho trail which ollows the east side of the south fork U' tho Platto from whore we crossed t connects with this trail." Palmer's Itinerary has this record: "From low er to upper crossing of south fork, "orty-flve ' miles." Edwin Bryant, who traveled by the Oregon trail from Iiidopondenco to the Pacific coast In 1846, crossed the 3011th fork thirty-five miles west of tlio junction, according to his moas, uromont, but he states that "tho dis tance from tho south 'to tho north fork of tho Platto by tho emigrant , trail Is about twenty-two milo3, with out water." which would place tho upper ford approximately whero Pal mor and Stansbury found It. Howard Stansbury, a captain of U. S. topographical engineers, wan or dered, April 11, 1849, to lead an ex pedition to Groat Salt Lake for tho purposo of survoylng tho lake and ex ploring tho valley. .Mb description and measurements of tho route aro mado with a clearness and precision characteristic of tho trained engineer. Ho Btnrted from Ft. Leavenworth on tho 31st of May. He notes that a "Boston company's train," which trav eled in advanco of his party, crossed tho South Platto twonty miles above tho forks; but ho "preferred to follow still further tho main road," crossing sixty-six miles above tho lower ford or seventy-two miles abovo the forks. Ho says specifically: "This Is tho upper ford .and easily crossed in low stages of the rlvor, width, 700 yards." By his measurement It was olghtoen and a half miles from tho crossing to tho north fork at Ash Hollow. On his roturn trip In October, 1850, ho notes that at' Ash Hollow "the road leaves for tho south fork, and thd rldgo Is 'crossed by sovoral tracks; ono leads to tho Junction of tho two forks, ours to tho upper crossing or tho south fork." Ho tinus tne uib- tnnco tho same as in tho outgoing trin. so that this part of tho trail seems to havo been well-defined and permnnont nt that time. William 'Kelly, an Englisn traveler, who passed up tho trail ln 1849, croBsod tho Platto at tho uppor ford. Ho describes tho route botweon tho two forks of tho rl "r as follows: "About half way between the forks wo got upon tho summit of the hills that divide, whore driving became rather a nerve-testing operation; tho only practicable path being along a rldgo with a declivity amounting to a precipice on each sldo, and so narrow that it did not admit of a man's walk ing alongside to lay hold of tho lead ers In case of need; but this vory circumstance, I bollovo, contributed to our safety, as tho sagacity of the mule convinced him that thero was no al ternative but to go on cautiously. Not a volco was heard for a couple of miles, evory mind being occupied witn, n Rr.nnn.tlon of lmnendlng danger, for in some places tho trail was so odgo- like that oven somo or the norseraeu alit, under tho lnfluenco of giddi ness." Tho descent Into Ash Hollow was precipitous. In undertaking It all but tho wheel-span of mules wero taken off, tho wheels woro locked, and the men undertook to steady the progioss of tho wagon by holding It back with a rope. Tho ropo broke, and the wagon slid or fell upon the mules, killing ono and injuring tho othtor, Stansbury found tho distance from Ft Leavenworth to tho meeting of the St Joseph and Independence road about forty-six miles. He seems to have left tho Littlo Blue at the usual point, near the proseilt Loroy, Adams county, whoro tho trail cut across to Thirty-two Mile creek, seven and a half miles; thonco to tho Platto rivev, twolvo mllos; and to Ft Kearney, ser enteen miles. Ho tolls ua that he struck tho Platto In a broad valley and that, "this road has since (Juno 18, 1849) been abandoned for ono on tho left, moro direct to Ft. Kearney." Joel Palmer in his itinerary gives the following distances on the Oregon trail: