Conservative *
THE FIRST FORT KEARNEY.
Whou writers on early western history
speak of old Fort Kearney , it is usually
quite safe to assume that the post they
have in mind is the one so long main
tained at the head of Grand Island , on
the south side of the Platte , which was
a landmark to so many thousand travel
ers over the plains in the freighting
days ; hut there was a time when this
was New Fort Kearney , and the Old Fort
Kearney of those days was at Nebraska
City. There are people who have heard
something to this effect , who are still
not quite clear as to the facts in the
case. THE CONSERVATIVE , in its issue of
February 2 , 1899 , gave all the documents
on file in the War department office at
Washington bearing on this establish
ment , and these are , and mustalways be ,
the bulk of the authoritative history of
it.
The following is meant as a synopsis
of these documents , giving the foots
obtained from them arranged consecu
tively. The confessions of ignorance
which the writer is compelled to make
at too many points in the narrative , are
meant , not so much as apologies , but
rather to suggest to readers interesting
lines for investigation ; and possibly to
incite some well-informed person to give
him the information which he lacks.
The Act of 1836.
The germ of the military post at this
point is found in an act of congress of
July 2 , 1886 , providing for the opening
of a military road between some point
on the Upper Mississippi and another on
Red river. There was at this time no
government post on the Missouri river
higher than Fort Leavenworth. One
had been established , in June , 1821 , at or
near the sites of the Council Bluff of
Lewis and Clark and the Engineer
Cantonment of Major Long ; this was
called first Fort Atkinson , -after General
Henry Atkinson , who had encamped
there in the summer of 1819 , and after
wards Fort Calhoun , after Monroe's
secretary of war , then in office ; but the
troops were removed , in June , 1827 , tea
a point below , which was christened
Cantonment Leavenworth in honor of
their late commander , Col. Henry
Leavenworth.
The Road.
As to this military road ; the Red
river , which was its destination , will
have been , out of the dozen or more
Red rivers wliich confuse the reader of
early travels , the one which empties into
the Mississippi at a point a short distance
above Baton Rouge ; it was , by an
agreement made in 1819 , considered the
southern boundary of the Louisiana
purchase , between the 94th and 100th
meridians , and was therefore the
Spanish frontier and'a source of anxiety
from the beginning until the Mexican
war put an end to that class of questions.
Its true course was not fully known in
1880 ; Major Long had demonstrated
( unwillingly ) in 1820 that it did not , as
had been supposed , rise in the neighbor
hood of Santa Fe , but its actual source
was a mystery until the year 1852. The
objective point of the proposed military
road is therefore easily explained ; but I
do not understand the other end of it.
This was to be "some point upon the
right bank of the Mississippi , between
the mouth of the St. Peter's ( Minnesota )
and the mouth of the Des Moines river. "
This would not have connected with
any settlement or line of travel that I
am acquainted with. There was no
travel across Iowa for upwards of twenty
years after this time. The old French
traders' route through Wisconsin to
Prairie du Ohien had long been disused.
People reached points on the Missouri
by going down the Ohio river to St.
Louis by steamboat. The further
stipulation of the act "that the said
road shall pass west of the state of
Missouri and of the territory of Arkan
sas" is another it would
puzzle , as re
quire the road to form something like a
right angle.
The Commission.
I have no reason to think that any
portion of this highway was ever built ,
but $100,000 was appropriated for the
purpose , and one may believe that it was
all expended in some way. S. W.
Kearney and Nathan Boone , colonel and
captain respectively , at that time , of the
First Dragoons , were appointed "com
missioners ; " I do not know their duties
as such , only that they included "exam
ining the country near the Missouri
river for the purpose of selecting a site
for the advance military post. " Their
explorations to this end brought them to
Nebraska City , and on their reaching
Fort Leavenworth , in April , 1888 , they
made a report , under date of the 25th ,
recommending for the new post "an
eminence near the mouth of Table
Creek. "
It is probable that the two Table
Creeks had at this time but one month.
That was the condition in 1854 , the south
creek running northward close under the
bench , where the distillery buildings
afterwards stood , to join the other. Its
present mouth was contrived some years
later by William E. Hill , to drain the
marshy tract that resulted , and improve
the health of the community. The
"eminence" was the same that we climb
in coming up Main street.
The Location.
The commissioners say that they have
examined all the country above , and
that there is no other point this side the
Platte that will answer ; Fonfon's
trading post at Bellevue has some good
points , but they intimate that 120 miles
from Fort Leavenworth is quite far
enough to venture men among the
"mass" of warlike and powerful Indians
that inhabit the country. Nebraska
City also suits them admirably. There
is "a very gradual and beautiful ascent
immediately above the mouth of the
creek , which in about 450 yards reaches
to an open level sufficient for any build
ings , besides what may be necessary for
the drill of any number of infantry or
dragoons. " This open level was the
ground from the Morton House to the
Sixth street school , and the drill-ground
was the lower plateau to the south-east ,
the present Missouri Pacific yards ; long
used for circuses.
Other advantages that struck them
were convenient firewood ; stone ; build
ing timber across the river ; a "delight
ful" view ; the best place for a ferry to
be found on the Missouri river ; fine
prairies around , to make corn and hay
upon ; and a beautiful , fertile bottom for
gardens. The only objection they see is
that the place is five or six miles below
where the Missouri state line strikes the
river ; a fact in regard to the early sur
veys that has not come to my notice
elsewhere. The reason for this being
considered an objection must be that
their road was obliged to keep west of
Missouri.
They "cannot omit this opportunity"
to urge in the same report the immediate
making of the military road from Fort
Leavenworth south , to at least the top
of the hill across the Kansas ; the
Wokarusa Butte , probably. This was a
distinct project from the wild-goose road
of the 188G bill. It was a present need
for the protection of the Santa Fe
caravans , which , going out the south
side of the Kansas from Indepen
dence , often had need of government
troops from the fort as an escort. A
few years before this , Major Riley ,
going out on such an errand , was obliged
to cross the Missouri twice because he
could not get across the Kansas.
The Times.
What was this county like in the year
1888 ? It was the great small-pox year
among the Indians ; the first sale of
land on the site of Kansas City was
made ; the Pawnees celebrated then ? lost
human sacrifice ; the Mormon troubles
at Far West occurred ; Fremont was
doing his first surveying , with Nicollet ,
on the Upper Mississippi ; the great Jim
Beckwourth hod left the Crows for the
Oheyennes ; George Catlin was among
the Seminoles ; Carson and Bridger were
young men , hunting and trapping ;
Wyeth had just given up in Oregon , and
the first missionaries were experiment
ing in that remote wilderness.
As to our commissioners , the senior
was the later general , Stephen W. Kear
ney , of great prominence in the Mexican
war and throughout the early history of
the south-west ; Captain Nathan Boone
was a son of "old" Nathan , who was
Daniel Boono's son. He was born in Ken-
. . /
ft