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.
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I C. H. flARlON |
AUCTIONEER,
_________________
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| 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.
