SHORT DESCRIPTION OFBOXBUTTE COUNTY WHY ALLIANCE
Telling a Few Things About the Organization and Growth
of the Leading County in Western Nebraska, and
What Is Being Done at This Time.
Box Butte County Map and Description
BOX BUTTE COUNTY
The first settlement In Box Butte
county was made by John S Hughes
in 1879. on the Ntdbrftnl river, in
section 0, township 28. range 67.
Prior to that time, however, there
had been a number of cattle ran. -lies
In. ifi.it iliiii" fln it,-., iii. nl; till- first
one Deing si ;t in is t ! oy uu ugaiai-
a Cattle Company, and by Paxton A:
Otter. None of the land embraced
n inese randies was ever nan men
to any one connected with either ot
the ranches and upon the advent or
the settlers into what js now Hox
iiutte county, tne nerns ana me mov
able personal property belonging to
the cattle companies were trans
ferred farther west. Between the
years 1879 and 1884 this county was
just one large cattle range, and in
1Vv" and 1886 settlers poured in and
nearly every quarter section of
available land was taken.
In November, 1886, a petition was
presented to the county commission
ers of Dawes county praying that
townships 24. 25, 26, 27 and 28. In
ranges 47. 48, 49. 50, 51 and 52, be
separated from Dawes county and or
ganized Into another county, to be
called Box Butte county. The pray
er of the petition was granted, and
A S. Reed, .lames Barry and L C.
DeCoudress were appointed com
missioners. At the first election
held the. above named men were
elected county commissioners; Geo.
W. Clark, county clerk: Fred Shon
quist, sheriff; Eli Gerber, treasurer;
C. A. Barney, surveyor; Nathan F.
Siiiipson, county superintendent;
Janes H. Danskin. county attorney;
A. L. Field, county judge; and Dr.
Joiin Blood, coroner. The first meet
ing of the county commissioners was
held March 23, 1887. At the date of
organization of the county the pop
ulation of the county was approxi
mately 5,(100. The boundaries of the
county have never been changed
sir'-e the date of Its organization.
In 1880 what is known as the Ban
handle of Nebraska, being that por
tion of the stan- which extends west
on the north of Colorado, was em
braced In two counties, Sioux and
Cheyenne. Sioux county, in the early
i '80s, was subdivided Into three coun
ties, one of which retained the orig
inal name, the balance of the terri
tory being divided Into Dawes nnd
Sheridan counties, Box Butte being
subsequently carved out of Dawes,
as heretofore stated. The county
derives its name from a large grass
covered butte located in the north
east part of the county and which
towers about 150 feet above the sur
rounding territory, and Which, on ac
count of Its peculiar shape, has al
ways been called "Box Butte." Who
first gave It this name is not known,
as it has been called that ever since
Buffalo Bill hunted the buffalo on the
plains surrounding the butte.
The county is destitute of lakes of
any size or Importance, except Bron
cho lake, which covers nearly, a sec
tion of land and lies about two miles
west of Alliance. The Niobrara riv
er just touches the northwest cor
ner of the county. Snake creek
winds a serpentine course through
the southern part of the county. A
good deal of water flows down' this
stream In the spring.
The county is one vast plateau, in
area 30x36 miles, with Its surface
, gently undulating. About 95 per
C98I of the land in this county Is
perfectly level, nnd water is obtained
only from wells that furnish an
abundance of water at an average
depth of 50 feet.
The soil is principally a black,
sandy ioum, rich in phosphates. The
I average altitude being over 4,000
feet, the nights are alwuys cool. Tak
ing one year with another there are
! at least 300 days of sunshine in each
year.
In no county in the state Is there
; a greater per cent cf its total area
adapted to agriculture than in this
county.
i There has never been a year since
, the arrival of the first settlers in
; which the farmers have failed to
raise a fair crop of potatoes, and la
favorable years the yield has been
enormous. Box Butte county pota
toes have established a reputation
for excellence that extends over sev
eral states.
Where any attention has been paid
to raising small fruits, plums and
cherries, the cTfi .t expended Iihs
been abundantly rewarded.
A MOd, COliMnodious brick house,
for the accommodation of the poor,
is located about six miles northwest
Of Alliance on a farm of 320 acres
belonging to the county. It has no
inmates.
Moving the Box Butte County Court
House to Alliance
This Illustration graphically por
trays the moving of the county court
house from llemingford to Alliance.
This feat of engineering was success
fully accomplished In 1901. After U
attempt was made to move the large
building overland, a distance Ot
miles, the railroad company, through
its efficient employes, succeeded in
hauling It to this city without dam
age and in a short time The "house
of Justice" is 40x50 feet In size, two
full stories, with a heavy truss roof,
constructed with a heavy pine frame
retching ten tons. On the road
1 there were two cuts to pass through,
and an effort was made to get the
building high enough on four 40.000
, capacity trucks to clear the banks.
The building was thus "In the clear."
and with several loaded flat cars to
balance the engine. No. 185. with W.
! A. Meyers at the throttle, moved
slowly to Its destination, CO miles
BWay, Once the court house reach
ed Alliance, the building soon rested
: on Its present Bite and today the
story of its strange adventure can
only be verified in the minds of the
astounded hearers by a photographic
representation of the real facts.
Picture of prominent Alliance real e state dealer and pumpkin weighing
120 pounds raise d near Alliance
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B.T. W
BOX BUTTE COUNTY. NEBRASKA
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l B 1 ' X H. . ' J ' 'SB SI I 1 1 SU 4 L I St
SHOULD CELEBRA TE
The City will be Twenty-five Years Old February 28, 1913,
Rapid Advancement and Wonderful Prosperity Should
be Fittingly Celebrated on that Date.
Scenes of Alliance During Its Growth
THE BIRTH OF ALLIANCE AND
CI A I ' T r IT ITfi UlflTADU
. nn i vr i i o ntoivni
Alliance Is situated ;!!0 miles north
west of Lincoln ami 2.)H miles north
east of Denver, and is the headquar
ters of one of the longeBt, If not the
longest, railroad divisions in the
1'nited States. It is on the Hillings
line of the Murllngton. and Is the
Junction of the Denver and Cucrn
Bey lines.
The appelation "Metropolis of!
Western Nebraska" Is Indeed titling
to our city. Only twenty five year
of age, It is the most important
town of its si.e in the west. It has
installed municipal electric light and
power plant, city water, city sewer,
and cluster street lights, like the
picture shown on this page, arc !
Mini installed. Its city of-1
flc lals are men of esteem and busi
ness ability and its city affairs are. j
managed in a businesslike manner.
No other town In this section of the j
west lias made as rapid a grow th as
has the city of Alliance. A ftiw
years more of prosperity and good
crops w ill place Alliance and Box j
Butte county in the front ranks.
The first Intimation that a town,
was to be built on the present site
of Alliance was in June, 1S87, when
the Lincoln Land Company, who are
closely associated with the B. & M.
railroad company, purchased all of
section :!6, township 25, range 47, and
platted a townslte. The reason for
the selection of this particular local
ity was because of the proximity of
the large ranching and farming In
dustries and also to establish a div
ision point for the Burlington road,
where a round house, machine and
repair shops could be established.
The advent of the neiw mecoa was
widely promulgated by the land com
pany, and on February 28, 1888. a
public Bale of lots took place, which
netted the company in Die neighbor
hood of $50,000. The future metrop
olis of western Nebraska was then
launched, buildings sprang up In rap
id succession, settlers swarmed in,
and In eight weeks Alliance was a
flourishing village of over seven
hundred inhabitants. It was a won
derful transformation scene. Build
ings were moved from other locali
ties) and the spirit of enterprise was
remarkable K a degree beyond con
ception. On March 28, 18K the board of
county commissioners met and In
corporated the village of Alliance,
naming Nelson Fletrh?r, Aquilla
Trlptett, r M sands, Qtlo Ketclsen
an 1 W. O. Simonson as trustees; K.
M. I' vore, attorney and clerk; ami
JacLb Stutsman, marshal.
In 18M the population of Alliance
had rea hed a point when it could
be ad van i d to a city or the second
class, and this was consumated Ap
ril 8 or that rear. f. w. smith was
elected mayor; b r. No! man, clerk ;
It M. llamptjii, treasurer: F. Cot
ton, City engineer; James H. H. Hew
itt, attorn, ; John Saner, marshal
and street commissioner; Thomas
Beck, J. u. Sexton, Oeorge L. Miiii
ken, R. B. Hamilton, councilman
In 1890 the population cf the vil
lage of Alliance numbered nearly
!t00 people, and six years later had
Increased iutnt rieaily to SjpO. it
was ji tapid stride for this fair young
city, but the incoming tide of home
seekers had by no means abated. On
ward it marched until today Alliance
can boast of 6..100 population, and a
city In structural appearance second
to none in the slate.
Its Importance as a stock feeding
point is known everywhere, having
stock yards of I2f. car loads capacity
tne largest bed w een Lincoln nnd
Billings.
A thoroughly equipped fire depart
mout second to none In the state
attends to the protection or all prop
erty iroui destruction.
The Alliance Land District, which
comprises the counties or Sheridan,
Dawes, sioux, Boa Bntte, Deut I,
Cheyenne and Scotts Bluff, has Its
seat, or United States land Office, in
Alliance, and Is still transacting a
large amount of business
A splendid and adequate water
system Is one of the proud features
of our city's Institutions. It was In
stalled at a cost of $18,000, but sinc e
that time many Improvements have
laken place by extending the water
mains nearly two miles, em-tlng a
large power house, constructing rive
immense wells and equipping same
with the most modern pumps that
could be purchased, so that at this
time the water system Is worth ful
ly $80,000. The water Is elevated
Into a stand-pipe to a height of 110
feet, which gives It sufficient force
to throw a stream a great distance,
thus furnishing ample fire protec
tion. A year and two years previous,
however, to the construed ion or our
water system, two devasting rires
visited our growing young city. The
first occurred on August 7, I8l2,
which completely laid bare the south
Bide of Wyoming avenue, destroying
an entire business block, nnd entail
lng a loss of $25,000. The se ond
rire occurred January II, 189:1, when
a greater loss was sustained, the
hist business blocks In the it then
going up In flames. The loss from
this fire was estimated at $60,000,
and at least twenty-five business
houses and dwellings were consumed
in this conflagration.
Alliance Is a division point on the
Burlington & Missouri River rail
road, which maintains a large round
house and machine shops, and which
gives employment to a great num
ber or workmen. The pay roll for
these shops and the trainmen and
ofriee ron e s exceeds $ti(i,000 a month,
which is a very Important factor to
the city's welfare.
Summary
Alliance has three public school
buildings, including high school; St.
Agnes Catholic AcndMny; a number
of rirst-class hotels; water works and
electric light systems owned by the
city; modern sewer system; tele
phone system with rural lines cor
erlna. surrounding country; creamery
whhh manufactured 42,96 pounds
of butter In 1911; several wholesale
houses; two newspapers: two na
tional banks, with capital and sur
plus of $2110,000 and deposits or more
than a million dollars; a passenger
depot, one of the Mnest in the state,
costing $80,000; eight church build
ings, Catholic, Presbyterian, Method
ist Kplscopal, mited Presbyterian,
Fpise opal. Baptist, German Congre
gational, Christian, and German
Brangellcal Lutheran; there are al
so several other Church societies hav
ing regular services. Inc luding Chris
tian Scientist, Seventh Day dv.-nt-1st,
African M. F. ; forty fraternal
lodges and labor societies and ser
eral social clubs; Box Butte County
Fair Association with grounds and
buildings valued at $10,000; large
stock yards; several miles of cement
walks; about 140 cetneiit street
crossings; United Stntes land office
for western Nebraska. The Alliance
post orrtce receipts ror the vear end
ing Dec. SI, 1011, were $14,448 The
1911 school census gave a population
or 1,011 c hildren or school age, indi
cating a total population of 5,056.
The altitude or Alliance Is 3,4I feet.
It seems but fitting that the twen-ty-rirth
anniversary or tne birth of
Alliance- should be celebrated with
appropriate ceremonies.
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MOVING COURT HO USE TO ALLI AN'CE
HIGH SCHOOL
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ST. AGNES ACADEMY