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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1903)
Florence Shakes Off Slumber Pictures from Photos by a Staff Artist p " ' ' ' I i -, I I, OLE EST ANP NEWEST BRICK BUILDING3 IN FLORENCB. i .S5KS f1.'.1." L.1 .... " V - '.. .- ,1 ONE OP THE FLOHENCE LANDMARKS. POSTOFFICE AT FLORENCE. t i ! 1 "V H - r L c3 ! N' 1 i,? .St? MODEKM MEET1NQ UOUSE AT FLOHENCE. MAIN STREET, FLORENCE, LOOKING NORTH. I tory that part of the Imperial I atat rt MiilifaalfA AintirnMd wlthla the corporate limits of the town of Florence has responded to the quickening touch of commercialism and Immigration, and In this case as with the proverb It Is bcllovcd that "the third time Is the charm," for conditions in and .round Florence promise more for perma nent good than ever before, although It Is tmprolmblo thut the town will ever see gtilu the tide of Immigration which caine to It the first time. Florence was then unknown, but the )rfl.Hju!i river In lis course to the smi hud no better crowning than that which was to be found under the bluffs where the town was later started, and the rolUng hills, with the two creeks which flowed between them, gave the Ideal camping place, wood and water In abundance, with excellent pasturage for flocks nnd herds. Tho first to appreciate the natural advantages of the site were the Mormons, then on their ray to "the promised land." The Mor ptons had been driven from the places vhere they had hoied to remain. From phlo they had gone to Missouri, from Mis souri back to Illinois, and then to Iowa, ver pressing to the shores of the Ureat Salt lako, where civilization was to spring magically almost while all of that country between Mormondom and the Missouri liver was a wilderness. It was in the fall of 1S48 that Brlgham Young and other Mor mon leaders, among them father of the Junior senator from Utah, decided that they should proceed across the waters of the Big Muddy to the land of promise. They started from Kancsvllle and came to tho crossing on the river at what is now Florence. They crossed to the Ne braska aide of the river and then occupied what was denominated by them "Winter Quurters," by which the town wus known us long as It had existence. While calling the place "Winter Quurters," It was the Intention of the leaders of the Mormon movement to muke the stopping pluce west of the liver a permanent station on the route followed by their converts from the older portions of the United States to Utah, and with this Idea in view a num ber of permanent buildings were erected, while tho larger part of the first Inhab itants lived In hastily constructed shelters or In tents, uf which there were a number owned by the party. For a year the town was inhabited by these Mormons, but the United States, then as now, jealous of Its prerogative, took exceptions to the en trance of the Mormons into Indian countryhad the first resident preacher. During Without specific authority. Complaint wus made by some of the Inhabitants of west ern Iowa and some of the other western states to the general government, with the result that the Mormons were ordered to leave the territory of Nebraska and to break up their town on the western bank of the rver. This order was followed by immediate desertion of the spot. The first of the Mormons to reach Utah left by the time the United States wus ready to eject them, while those who were not prepared to make the western trip moved across the river and took up their residence In Council Bluffs, from which they afterward out fitted themselves for the Utah trip. A number of those who recrossed the river remained In Iowa, where their descendants now form a considerable part of the popu . latlon and maintain the organisation of the "Reorganised Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," while a number later came across the river again and set tled in the neighborhood of Florence, so that when the second attempt was made to colonize the land they were among the first colonists, and the Mormon ctjurch was, probably, the first to be erected In the town. With, the rresbyterlans they the year and a half of the Mormon settle ment these devoted people laid plans for a large city. It was currently reported at that time and since repeated that there were at least 6,000 people In the town. A sawmill was constructed in which the native timber was prepared for houses and other necessary articles of lumber. Tne Mormons left In 1849 and the town was deserted from that time until Septem ber 22, 1864, when the Florence Town com pany was organized. This company had for Its manager J. C. Mitchell, who went to the new town to live. The other incorpor ators of the company were J. B. Stuts man and U. R. Tegram. The latter ran a general store at Council Bluffs and made the town Bite company a side issue, the active operation of the company being In the hands of Mitchell, who upon that date advertised for the first time the sale of town lots In the new town of Florence. This advertisement was carried In the Omaha Arrow, and the week following its first Insertion J. W. Pattison, the" editor of the Arrow, made a trip to the new town site. Writing; In his issue of September Z9, the editor said: (Continued on Page Fifteen.) j