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About The Falls City tribune. (Falls City, Neb.) 1904-191? | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1909)
Reminiscences of a Wayfarer —ass—»—ii—a—-i 1-■- — i — i nuwMmr-«Mn,iinii Some of the Importanl Events of the Pioneer Days of Richardson County and Southeast Nebraska, as remembered by the writer, who has spent fifty one years here MOW A TOW N l'OOK \ HATH. In a previous paper of this series, I said I would relate how tile town at tlie tails ri\ aled Falls Fity, and what came of the enterprise. The Hamilton brothers and their a s sue in t e Sackett. were young men, na tives of Ohio, and full of energy and the enthusiasm of youth, but wholly unacquainted with the west, and especially the di mafic conditions in Nebraska They associated the water tall in the Nemaha with the idea they had ol what such a power would be worth in their old state, and without hesitation concluded that it was the very place to found t lie Iuture maim tacturing town of the country. Tin* surroundings were certainly pretty to look at, and the con ditions appeared favorable to the success of the schemes con jured up iu the minds ol those boys, but who, before the sum mer waned, were to learn, like all the children in the family of man, that there is a great lie out in the world and things are not always what they seem to be. They naturally argued that there being an abundance of water in the river flowing over abed of solid rock, and then pitching straight down between five and six feet, a permanent foundation was thus furnished for mills or other establish inents for manufacturing pur poses that could be built with safety, to utilize the water pow er thus afforded. The loree of the water itself, augmented by that of the fall mentioned, which increases at every point of de scent, directly as to the mass and inversely as to the square ol the distance, according to mathematicians, thus gath ering force as it goes, would yield power, (which they said ’•vas going to waste every mo ment) sufficient to turn all the wheels of maniifai ture in south ern Nebraska. I don't think they put it quite that way, but whether they did or not, the im plication is the same, and may go at that. It is said the rush ing torrent of Niagara at its foot cannot be cut with an axe, so tremendous is the force with which it descends. This, and much more of the same kind and to the same pur pose, was talked every time 1 went to the falls till late in duly when hnt I get ahead of my story I'.ariy m .nine we concluded to hold a Fourth of .July ceLe brat ion. and our friends at the lulls heard of it and determined to have one too. 1’hev strove to outdo us at every point and in everything. They seemed to think that their salvation as a rival town depended on taking every trick in a game they were playing in their imagination, apparently unconscious of the fact that Falls City never looked upon Nemaha Falls so called, as a rival in any sense. There was no shade in town, no grove, nor tree, nor any ob ject that would cast a shadow of sufficient extent to cover twenty people. So we made one on the court house square, by setting posts in the ground with poles across upon which we put boughs of trees cut in the Nemaha timber and hauled up for tin- purpose. In that way we made an arbor shady and snug, under which a com pany of three or four hundred strong could sit and escape the glare of a tierce duly sun blaz iDg above them. A beet, as they c a 1 I ed a slaughtered specimen of the bo vine tribe, was provided to be roasted for the refection of the people, and other provisions were made for the entertain ment and comfort of the crowd j that was expected to attend, but where it was to come from was a mystery tome. It turned out however, that there were mure people in the country than I thought for. They came from the valley of the Muchly, from ( its mouth down towards h’ulo. : to as far upas where Stella is now located: and from tlu* Ne malm from the Korney farm to up about Salem; and from Pony and Walnut creeks to far out in Kansas; and when they were .ill assembled we had between three and lour hundred people. The idea of a celebration of oar natal dav out in that waste andjwililc-rm ss, was a new and carious one to me. I did not know then, as I have come to learn since, how much of the spirit of the till of July every i American citizen carries deep 'down in his heart of hearts, wherever he yoes on land or sea, any where around the ylobe. A boy and a bunch of tin-crack jersmakea llh <d July, typify [iny the boys and the* muskets that have* won all the fields that has e made this nation invincible in arms and ylorious in history. There were some special feat ures attached to the function | that day that were new, to me at least, and highly interesting. A band of Indians in full native costume, were secured to per form their traditional war dance under the auspices of their chief headman, I’o to ko mah. Hi- was a line specimen of physical man hood, tall, well made, and as straight up from the ground as the sturdy oak that tow* rs above the surrounding forest and embellished with the native1 and natural dignity peculiar to his race, that would have clone honor to Mr, Turveydrop him self. Another and quite an un expected one iji that bran new community, was a kind of mixed band of music under the leader ship of Jim Dye evervoldresi dent about Ih'ownville, Nemaha City, and hereabouts will re member Jim consisting of five or six persons and as many horns and fiddles, who played all the staple patriotic tunes, and then some, and furnished tin* music for the dance at night in Jesse Crook's new hotel build ing on the Kicbardson County Bank corner, then inclosed and nearing completion. ItH'V enlivened the scene greatly and added to the general festivity in a way possible only through the instrumentality of music, that wizard of the soul, the soother of the sorrowful, parent of poetry and religion, the charm of which has lingered on earth since tile dawn of the eternal morning when the stnr> sang together the “To Deum" of the spheres, in glad acclaim of creation finished. And now a word about the people who came that day to help us celebrate the annual re currence of the day dear to all Americans. They are before me now as l saw them then, brave men and women, some of whom had crossed wide rivers and wider states, to come to this new and virgin land to subdue the wilderness, to work hard and live harder, to build com fortable homes for themselves and families, to open farms, to rear churches and school houses, and scatter the germs of the beautiful in tlieir homes and by the wayside, and to worship Clod as their fathers had done before them, in the old lands of their birth. They came in all shapes in the matter of transportation. Soin on horseback, some in wagons drawn by horses, and some by a single horse, and I remember one family, consisting of pater 1 familias, his wife a nd t w « daughters, in a wagon drawn b\ ,i yoke of cattle with a strap ping young fellow on foot, driv | ing them. The old people were seated 01 1 chairs smoking their pipes, ant I seemed to enjoy themselves while the girls were smart©net up with new calico frocks ant ribbons in profu - i on, wit! I bunches ol elderberries stuck ii i their hair as especiai ornaments, I 1 I The costumes oi the peoplt j were just us grotesque and var i ied as their means of transpor tation, Nobod v seemed to have mi anything new, except the I dresses of the younger temale I of the party and they were, in | must part, of calico. No two men had coats, vests or pnntu loons, of tlie same cut. fashion or material, anti all appeared 11» have been in service a long time, nor were there any two hats of the same fashion or any fashion. Nevertheless t h e i r meeting with each other, and their families, were of file most hearty and friendly character. Nobody a ppeared at a disadvan tage, hut all .seemed on a foot ing of exact equality. There were no rich people among them to exact attention for that reason, nor were there any pour trash to be looked down upon and snubbed, on that account. It was essentially a democratic meeting in which each man and Ids family was greeted and treated with the same consider ation and respect that was ac cord e 1 to all. In that assembly I saw but without being conscious of the fact at the time the perfect realization of what is meant when we say in this country, that every person under the aegis ol the constitution, stands on exact equality before the law. with the difference that these people stood upon exact equality before the conventions of society, which is neither ex pressed or implied, when that other maxim is used in judicial decisions, acts of legislation or in high sounding phrase of blattant politicians. I came to know this after many years of study and observation, and par ticularly after careful consider ation of the policy of fiur gov eminent in the dispositi in of its public lands, ftvery man who attended that celebration was the owner or claimant under tin* pre emption act of 1*41, of a quarter section of land and no one of them turned ana mure nor could he. and that accounted tor me equality l mentioned, The speculator had no chance to ply his trade till the govern ment had parted with the title, and then he began with the careless and improvident and the country has become what it is. Whoever will examine the legislation 6f congress provid ing for the disposition of the public domain, will find that it has uniformily been its policx to parcel out the land to actual settlers That was good .so far, but it did not, nor ever has, gone far enough. It should have retained the legal title in the government during the life of the claimant, or have pro hibited its sale during that per iod. Some such notion was in the minds of the men who passed the law of 1M1. for it prescribed an oath to be taken by the pre emptor to the effect that lie was entering the land for himself and for his own uses, which im plied that he wanted it for a home. There were other things specified in the oath not neces sary to mention here. This is something of degres sion, the subject of which, may lie r. smned at another time, when leisure and inclination are favorable for the purpose. It Is sufficient for the matter in hand, that we executed the common intention and celebrat ed in the usual way. Some one read the old declaration of in dependence. and I made them a sophmorie speech in which I i have little doubt, a great deal spread eagle nonsense abound ed.but it was a bo\ A effort deli v er >1 in perfect recognition of tin solemn occasion, anti wheth er well or ill performed, did its office and that was enough. The | Indian war dance followed, and then the public dinner consist jing mostly of beef and bread: but the interesting part, to me, ! was to watch the Indians take ! refreshment. Did any ol flu* (readers of the Tribune ever see an Indian—I mean a regular blanket Indian, fresh and wild from the plains eat'r Well, if they have not, they have missed something. A native Indian anti they are all alike, as l know from actual observation, any where from the Missouri to the western sea never eats but one thing at a time, (live him meat and, bread, and he will eat the meat first and then perform the same office with the bread. They never eat these two arti cles of food at the same time. It was a new and very amusing experience to me, and 1 watched the ’process with close alien tion. I noticed another peculiarly j about them. They were wholly! indifferent as to quality, but | pertinaciously particular as to I quantity. They wanted enough | and it made no kind of differ mice from what part of the' bullock their rations came. A 1 steak from behind the horns | was quite as acceptable as one from the hindquarter, provided there was enough of it. 1 have, seen some white men, accused of being civilized, who were at-1 Aided with the same peculiari ty in manners pertaining to a| different order of things, and in a different state of societv. ft was thf brute in both that claimed attention, in either case. Everything went off in a peacable and orderly manner. There was no rioting, drunken jness or boisterous behavior. That ornament of our advanced Christian civilization- the sa loon had not made it- advent into Falls City at that early 'day, which, more than anything else, accounts for the good con duct of the people on that oc casion. i ( >ur friends at the falls had their celebration also, a n d Judge Dundy made a speech for litem, and in that particular, outshown ours on the hills, In 'all other particulars ours was the best and pleased the people most. There have not been any more celebrations at the falls, and for the reason following, b urnt throe weeks afterwards there came upon the country one of those sudden rain storms, to which the people of this region are familiar, and within twelve hours thereafter the whole Ne maha valley, from bluff to bluff, had become an inland sea I have seen many floods in the Nemaha since, but I have never seen one that 1 thought equalled that, though that is probably a mere notion, for nature, like men, is essentially a creature of habit, and what it does once it is likely to do again, and many times again. In that case the settlers were all driven out, many of them running narrow risks of drowning along with their families. Much of their live stock was drowned, and all their improvements destroyed. Hut what of our rival town at the falls? When the Hood had subsided the town was found to have gone-with it, and tin* fu- : ture manufacturing center of 1 the country had ceased to exist. Most of the people in the val ley came to Falls City, and never went back. I will relate something further concerning them at another time. The Tlainiltons (came with others, j staid about town until they got money from the east to take them home, and I never saw | them again. In time the elder i Stuinbo foreclosed his mortgag on the town site, bought the land at sheriff's sale, along witl the ghost of the departed vii Inge, and the story of the oik 1 boasted municipality of the fn lure, was closed forever. ^ MmI * m Enft kdJ a. o tL —__\ y t- ~ Zr>~ 1 \r7 < .*u-a5 .a I 4 * 95<55S^ m ^ ^ ^ o ^ \A r^Suioz*- b: uj K\ UJ U - < 5 H? U !id 2C 1/0 Or CO cS O oo . . I C. H. flARlON | AUCTIONEER, _________________ , . ^ | Sales conducted in X. | scientific and busi f, nesslike manner .... «H ... III. --.I. ■ . ' ' " ' ■« 1 ' — ~ I c. 11. MARION I Fails City, Nebraska : *> <$• »*♦•***••••♦♦•*•***** r alls City's Trade Center SJ’RING Stocks are now practically complete. Ready-Made Garments are coming in daily. We are showing the largest and most complete assort ment we have ever displayed anil have never been in so favorable a position as to values. With a confidence born of a full understanding that we own our merchandise at a cost below that of most merchants in towns like Falls City and smaller villages, we invite you to become, it you are not already, one of our regular patrons. You have long ago learned that we handle nothing but high grade goods and stand back of everything we sell. Ladles'Tailored Suits 50 Suits are now on display in our up-stairs department. These suits come from manufacturers who have the best facilities for knowing the latest in styles and who cater to and manufacture for the popular trade. At from $12.50 to $30 are Suits in all the desirable shades. The models and cloths have never been more attractive. wa^TcnhlidMrifnT Spring Jackets You will fund a full showing in all sizes, in black, navy, tan and fancy cloths, Hengaline and taffeta silks, short and long lengths. Some very new effects. Prices, from $2 to $20 Women's Raincoats Entirely new cloths and new designs in these convenient and dressy garments. We can recommend in every way the line of Silk Coats we are now handling. They are cemented throughout and are water proof so far as these garments can be made. New Dress Skirts There has been some delay in getting our Dress Skirts. A large shipment has just come in. Our dressmaker is back in the department. We make alterations on nearly all garments without cost to you. Come in—in a few minutes we can furnish you with a fine Spring Outfit, and that at a real saving as compared with employing a dressmaker. ___ 1 I Dress Goods and Suitings Spring Suitings are most attractive. Most of them fancy in weave but of one color, The variety of shade is the most extensive that can be produced. Many of them new this season. At 75c. $1 and 51.25 we are displaying on our counters many handsome cloths. All of these are ex clusive with us and most of them we have only one or two patterns. Silks—Plain and Fancy Silks promise to occupy the front rank in wear this season. Foulards, fancy taffetas, Messalines, Rajahs and pongees all are in favor. We are prepared to furnish you with a very choice showing of all these.