8 'Cbe Conservative.
I K
A UINIQUB OUD MAP.
From rVKSSHHASK A C'3'ffV to thols'oith 1'ork of the Little JS'wnuha G ) miles ; up the Little NomuliaM 5 B
to Jkowiu-ll Cr.'ek 7 in. ; JJrownell Creek to LiUUs Nomaha 4 m.- ' ; from Little NemaJia to tlio head 21 irt. , timber S
Antl v/nJL'r within one-liif : ! mik ; licart of Little Nomaha ' to Salt Crick 11 m. ; Salt Crock to Eafat Fork of 3Jig W
JJluo 17 in. ; ami vat-r oni'-fpnrth mile North7 m. ; fiom Suit Crock ; from East Fork of IJig JJluo to a
of timlift17 . timber and water witliin ono-fonrtli mil south nt
jtrove in. ; - any point ; to hotul of Bijf Ulne fiver
.V. ) m t ijnod camping it , any poin ; to 1'latto rivur 17 n ; watftrnt 0-m ; to Ft. Kearney 39 milcq Total ' "
"We feel great pleasure in being able
to reproduce herewith a contemporan
eous map of the routes across the plains ,
as they were traveled previous to the
advent of railroads. This map first ap
peared in the Nebraska News ( of
Nebraska City , N. T. ) of March 3d ,
I860. It was printed without comment ,
the nearest reading matter being the
following paragraph , itself characteristic
of the times : " ) f Our friend Harry ,
at the Morton House , has a supply of
most excellent Porter. All lovers of
that beverage will bear this ill ruind. "
Thereafter the map was a weekly
feature until the 12th of May of
the same year , when the town was
burned up and the printing office
with it.
The map itself needs no explanation.
There are Kansas and Nebraska , reach
ing from the Missouri river to the
Rockies ; there is the Hannibal & St.
Jo. Railroad , the one outlet to the
"States ; " there are the eight river
towns and the eight principal routes to
Gold Regions on Cherry Greek. All
the routes shown converge at Fort
Kearney ; there were other roads oc
casionally traveled , as for instance the
Smoky Hill route , known at that time
as the Starvation Route , from a horrible
occurrence in 1859 , despite which the
Leaveuworth papers attempted again to
boom it in the spring of 1860 , as we see
by some notices in their contemporaries.
There are other details not shown.
Shinu's Ferry , by means of which
Omaha travelers effected an early cross
ing to the south side of the Platte , does
not appear ; neither does a route adver
tised in March , I860 , which ran south
west from Nebraska City to a junction
with the Leavenworth road , passing
through Tecnmseh and Beatrice , and
crossing the Nernaha at an extinct town
called Warralltou , which was even a
postoffice for a time. Still the map
conveys at a glance a full idea of how
all but a small fraction of the immense
plains traffic was transported , and we
submit it as a curious and valuable
document to those who are interested in
: hese matters.
Its publication was a bid for patronage
for the Nebraska City line. Gold hav
ing been reportedin October , 1858 , to
exist iii the neighborhood of Pike's
Peak , the spring of ' 59 witnessed an
incredible rush of emigrants to the
mining country. Where this stream of
men crossed the Missouri river , there as
a rule they purchased supplies for the
remainder of their journey , as "well as
for their operations when they should
reach their goal. The money thus ex
pended in the river towns inaugurated
an era of unheard-of prosperity ; and as
a repetition of the story was looked for
with the opening of travel in I860 , all
these towns took steps to secure the great
est possible amount of it for themselves.
"Other points" says The News of
April 7th , "have already flooded the
Eastern country with circulars , hand
bills , posters , papers , &c. , &o. Leaven-
worth , St. Joseph and Omaha have done
it , and they are now reaping the ad
vantages of it. Ought not something ,
on a larger and more liberal scale , yet
to be done by our citizens ? "
Literature was therefore industriously
circulated in the older settlements , ad
vising all hands to take the route
described in the following , which was
meant for travelers originating east of
Detroit ' 'If take the
: you come by cars ,
Michigan Central Railroad to Chicago ,
then the O. B. & Q. to Qnincy , on the
Mississippi , then the H. & St. Jo. to St.
Joseph , on the Missouri , then the Rail
road Packets to Nebraska City , then the
great Central route to the mines , over
as fine n road as you ever traveled in
your lives. "
The experience of the preceding year
had , however , demonstrated that there
were two sides to this immigration mat
ter , and while the papers urged people
to come through Nebraska City in one
paragraph , they were making reserva
tions in the next. A few quotations
"TT
will make plain the mixed state of mind
of the editors in the spring of I860.
'We fear the same insane rush to the
mines has actually commenced that was
witnessed last March and April. Already
teams are crowding daily through the
streets. " % < If that mad rush to the
mines is again witnessed this month
( March ) that was seen twelve months
ago , two months hence will witness it
swelling and surging back upon this
City , cursing and swearing , breathing
threatenings and slaughters and hang
ings for the Editors of Nebraska City.
We hate a fool * * * " "It all de
pends upon the character of those
emigrating. If the shiftless , lazy , lousy ,
scurvy , profane , insane and idiotic herd
of rapscallions , nincompoops and
ninnies , make their way up the Platte
* * * we think the gold product
will be small. "
But this is a digression. As to maps ,
it must not be supposed that Nebraska
City was alone in the field with this
class of solicitation. The map which
we reproduce , it must be admitted , is
fairly accurate , whereas many of those
gotten out by rival towns were distorted
and mutilated , with evident design to
hinder Nebraska City's threatening
supremacy. A certain railroad map ,
issued in the interests of St. Jo. es
pecially aroused the indignation of both
the local papers ; it not only showed the
lower town as being on the same level
as Pike's Peak , and much the most
direct route thither , but ignored the ex
istence of Nebraska City altogether.
This latter policy , it may be mentioned ,
has not wholly been abandoned by rail
road managements to this day.
Other forms of misrepresentation were
practiced by rival settlements to a scan
dalous degree , and these things , con
stantly coming to light , kept the editors
always irritated and quarrelsome.
There was a "Guide to the Gold-fields , "
published by E. D. Webster , Omaha , on
which they poured out their bitterest
and most scornful sarcasms. They
