The Conservative. 9
can be said iii favor of our courts of the
present day. No doubt their style of
justice was rude and rough at times , but
it served to keep the men thoughtful of
one another and made it possible for
them to do their work in security.
The advertisements tell a great deal
about the time and the difficulties which
the settlers had to overcome. There was
not a great deal of money in use on the
frontier , and it was often impossible for
the most honest to pay their debts in
cash.
The advertisers are not the merchants
of Omaha , for there were none. Most
of those who patronized the columns
were residents of the neighboring town
of Oonncil Bluffs ; but there were others
whose business was conducted in far-off
Salt Lake Oity. Distance did not sig
nify much in those days.
, As time passed , the Arrow chronicled
, a great change in the face of the land
I , upon which the town was to be ; every-
t\ \ where was the hxim and bustle of
growth , the noise of axes and hammers ,
and the grateful sight of rude houses
rising for the shelter of the constantly
increasing number of settlers. Things
were happening very fast , and in every
line was an echo of the feverish note of
hurry that pervaded the entire frontier.
It is not pleasant to relate that the
adventurous Arrow was born out of
time ; but in the twelfth and last issue ,
which bears date November 10 , 1854 ,
there appears this pathetic appeal :
Let those who are in arrears for sub
scriptions pay up like men of under
standing and independence ; and those
who are not subscribers come up at once
and get the good will of the printer.
In those brief lines the pioneer news
paper of Nebraska sung its own requiem.
Omaha now has three great daily news
papers , each printing several daily
editions of many thousands of copies.
They are justly counted among the
worthy enterprises of the vigorous Gate
Oity of the Northwest ; but it is doubt
ful if the mind of any one of these
modern editors is fired with as strong a
courage as that which upheld the
doughty pioneers. The latter wei e not
always sure of their English , as may be
seen from the quotations given above
and it is doubtful whether there was a
dictionary upon Nebraska soil in those
days. They were at least sure of them
selves , which was much better. Wil
liam R. Lighten , in New York Post.
THE CHOUTEAU PAPERS.
There is in St. Louis a collection of
documents , the existence of which is
known to many more students of early
historical matters than have ever been
privileged to gain access to them. These
are the records of the Ohouteaus , a
family who were in the fur trade in the
West many years before this territory
was ceded by France to the United
States. They had trading'posts every
whore to and through the Rooky monn-
aius , up and down the Arkansas , Platte
and Missouri rivers , and were contin
ually in this business , first as individuals
and later as the American Fur Company ,
from the time of the revolution onward.
They made treaties with Indian tribes ,
made and unmade settlements , and had
n their employ at one time or another ,
most of the famous pioneers and front-
ersmeu of the West. The records of all
hese transactions form a mass of his
torical originals not surpassed in value
by those of the Hudson Bay Company.
This collection is in the hands of the
present head of the family , Mr. Pierre
Ohouteau ; upon whom THE CONSERVA
TIVE has for some time urged the desir
ability of placing these priceless docu
ments where they will be accessible to
the many curious investigators who
would bo glad to consult them. Inas
much as the greater part of the opera-
ions covered by them took place within
what was then Nebraska , it has not
seemed that feelings of modesty need
bar the Nebraska Historical Society
from petitioning for the greater part of
them ; but if each state could secure
such as referred to operations within its
present limits , Nebraska would still fall
heir to a very respectable share.
THE CONSERVATIVE is very happy to
make public the assurance which has
just been received from Mr. Ohouteau ,
that , "the Nebraska Historical Society
will have in some form or another all
the papers and objects of interest to it
locally which I now have ; " and feels
that this news will likewise be a source
of gratification to every member of the
society.
Mr. Ohonteau speaks further , in an
interesting letter , of the reasons which
make him jealous of the custody of his
documents and reluctant to part with
them. He objects with reason to ex
posing them to the "vicissitudes" to
which individual collectors and precari
ously endowed societies are liable.
"I speak feelingly on this subject , "
he says , "as it has been my good fortune
to rescue two collections from loss ; the
first had been stolen and sold as junk ,
and was baled to be sent to the paper
mills , when by accident I learned that
there were some old papers that might
interest me in a junk shop. Among
those rescued were commissions from
Madison , Monroe and Adams regarding
treaties to be made with the Indians
etc. * * * This outrage was made
possible by the carelessness of the
descendants of one of the founders of
our city. * * * My second am
most valuable collection was obtained
from one of the descendants of Gov. De
Lasns. In this collection but few of the
documents relative to the evacuation o :
St. Louis by the Spaniards are missing. '
Having these object lessons before
him , Mr. Ohouteau naturally wishes to
see that his own papers are "beyond the
> ewer of any society or individual to
ese or sell. " He therefore has con
ceived the plan of making the various
state societies custodians of such papers
as are of most immediate interest to them.
'I am led to believe that this course
would be the safest , as at any time the
whole collection could be brought to
gether , and if through carelessness or cu-
) idity it was thought proper care was not
jeing bestowed on them , they could be
recalled. "
In the face of this praiseworthy solio-
tnde for objects of such public value ,
; he Nebraska society can reflect with
complacency on its fire-proof building
and the liberal provisions made for it
by legislatures of all political com-
plexions.
DANGER OF DOMESTIC IMPERIALISM
William B. Hornblower says he fears
'domestic imperialism , which I suppose
will be conceded to be of vastly more
moment to us and to our posterity than
colonial imperialism. " Senator Hanna
believes that "there is only one imperial
ist in the United States. He is Dick
Croker , Mr. Bryan's chief adviser. "
Mr. Oroker may not be the only im
perialist in the United States , but he is
the greatest one. He holds no office ,
but he designates the men who are to
hold offices. He has no official authority
over the taxpayers of New York , and
yet through the influence which he en
joys as the head of a local organization
he extorts directly or indirectly a
princely revenue from the property-
owueis of the greatest city in the coun
try. He was in comparatively needy
circumstances when Tammany elected
Van Wyck as mayor a few years ago.
Since then he has been able to maintain
an interest in fat contracts and to pile
up rapidly in that and in other ways a
fortune so large as to enable him to set
up a large racing stable and take it to
England , to indulge there in "the sport
of kings. "
Croker Never So Powerful.
Never was Oroker's record so bad erse
so familiar to the public as now , and
never before did he occupy the com
manding position in the democratic
party he does now. His sway has been
undisputed in the city and it has recent
ly extended over the state of New York.
Now for the first time he had become
a figure of national consequence and
importance. The statement that Oroker
had made fabulously large bets on
Bryan's election whether the bets are
genuine or a sham has won for him in
spite of his record , the admiration and
respect of Mr. Bryan. The latter ,
hurriedly abandoning his dates in the
West , is about to rush to New York to
put himself under Mr. Oroker's orders ,
and cooperate with him and his support
ers in an attempt to carry that state.
It is well understood that if Oroker
does carry New York for Bryan and-