41
The Conservative *
AN ANCIENT PAMPHLET.
As a matter of curiosity and interest
to many of our readers , wo give below
a reproduction of part of the first Ne
braska City book. This was a pam
phlet published by Thomas Morton &
Co. in 1858 , for the purpose of boom
ing the now town on the Missouri ,
just beginning to feel a future as a
shipping point for the Great West :
Sketches of Nebraska City.
A peculiar interest attaches itself
to the West ! That interest has not
abated but rather increased since the
first bold Pioneer struck out from the
Old to form a New Troy , and kissed
the crested waves of the Aegean and
hailed the blue sky of Italy with that
enthusiasm which now characterizes
the Western Emigrant , journeying
from the States on the Atlantic sea
board to the Territories of the Great
West. And any information concern
ing this much desired and goodly land
possesses at all times more than ordi
nary interest. We offer then no apol
ogy in presenting to the public a
brief account of the settlement and
improvements upon one specific point ,
when intelligence of all is so desir
able ; and if any apology were neces
sary for presenting this short sketch
of NEBRASKA CITY we should
avail ourselves of the very laudable ,
and to us , sufficient excuse a desire
to preserve a printed record of what
Nebraka City is in the year 1858 as
well as to let its claims and advan
tages be known ,
Its Location.
Nebraska Oity , comprising within
its present corporate limits what was
formerly Nebraska , Kearney , and
South Nebraska Cities , is the County
Seat of Otoe County , and situated
about the center of its eastern border
on the Missouri river 785 miles
above St. Louis by water and 500 by
land. Its distance from the Kansas
line is 48 miles and 6 miles from the
Missouri line. It is nearly on the
same parallel with New York Oity
and with the great bend to the North
of the Platte river , at which point the
various Emigrant and Government
trains converge , from Kansas , Mis
souri , Iowa , on the route up the
Valley of the Platte to the different
Government Forts on the frontier.
From Nebraska City on the Missouri
is the nearest and mosf direct route to
Forts Kearney , Laramie , and Bridg-
er. It covers the ground upon which
old Fort Kearney was situated. Out
and westward from the Oity leads the
famous "Ridge road" to Utah and
California , deeply trodden and still
bearing marks of the thousand weary
footsteps wending their way for the
land
"whoro the moor and the moun
tain
Are sparkling with treasure no Ian-
gnage hath told ,
Where the wave of the river and the
spray of the fountain
Arc bright with the glitter'of gen
uine gold. "
Hero Gen. Lane crossed with his
troops to relieve the ' ' martyrs of Kan
sas ; " and here has again been located
a Military Depot , showing that
Government has always recognized it
as an important point for its military
operations. The Oity lies upon an ele
vated Plateau or Table Land , situate
between North and South Table
Creeks , both of which empty into the
Missouri river. South Nebraska is
situate farther back upon the same
beautiful and elevated Plateau ; Kear
ney is located upon the south side of
South Table creek ; still other towns
are laid out upon the West and North ,
named respectively , Belmont , and
Greggsport.
We may here remark for the benefit
of those unacquainted with the regu
lations at Land Offices , and consequently
quently are unable to account for so
many towns being laid out so near
each' other , that Government re
quires every place claimed to bo en
tered as a Town Site shall have a
Municipal government , and allows of
no one entry to consist of over three
hundred and twenty acres.
Original Proprietors of Nebraska City.
Nebraska Oity proper was laid out
by Gen. H. P. Downs , S. F. Nuok-
ells , Esq. , and Judge A. A. Bradford ,
in the summer of 1854. Previous to
March , 1854 , the laud in this vicinity
was claimed by the Otoe Indians , but
by a treaty with Government they
were subject to settlement in June of
said year. In the same year Kearney was
laid out by John Boulware and John
MoMeohan. Judge O. F. Holly. J. B.
Bonlware.andothers laid off South Ne
braska Oity in 1855. These are all ener
getic men and good exemplars of
western thrift and enterprise.
Appearance of the City from the River.
From the River the place appears at
good advantage. Presenting the form
of an half Amphitheatre and gradual
ly rising back to the level of [ the
prairie , the scene though changing in
some particulars , offers the same gen
eral outline and shows equally ad
vantageous from different points.
Back are the magnificent prairies , not
wearying the eye by an endless un
broken monotony , but relieving the
scene by gentle undulations and easy
elevations covered in the "merrio
month of May" with a thousand va
riegated flowers
" which not nice art
9
In beds and curious knots , but Na-
turo boon
Poured forth profuse on hill , and
dale , and plain. "
Opposite are thousands of acres of
rich and fertile bottom lands , heavily
timbered ; and still back of them the
picturesque and gorgeous "bluffs"
which indicate the termini of the
western prairies of Iowa. As one
steps from the wharf and reaches the
summit of the Plateau and receives
the health invigorating breezes from
the prairies and inhales an atmo
sphere highly charged with electricity ,
he feels a new life within him , and
adds renewed strength to his physi
cal system. It quickens the pulse
and sends the warm current of life
dancing along its veins and arteries.
This is a characteristic of Nebraska
climate , owing , as we believe , to
its highly electrical nature , and indicating -
dicating , we might add , without
doubt the existence of minerals tone
no inconsiderable extent. The health I i
of Nebraska Oity is unsurpassed , we
believe , by any place of its size in the
Union. It is free from those "chills"
and "fevers" so incident to the set
tlement of new countries and which
proved the great terror to the early
settlers of MichiganIllinois , Indiana ,
and indeed of most of the Western
States.
Dr. Bowen , who has practiced one
season in Kansas and two in Nebraska ,
says : "To all three of the first ques
tions , which a man contemplating re
moval into a new country , ought to
ask , we can give an unhesitating fa
vorable response. What is the health ,
water and soil ? In regard to the two
first , we claim decided superiority
over most of the West ; and in respect
to the last , an equality. ' ' And the
doctor adds : ' ' Being in constant com
munication with Kansas Territory , I
am unable to account for the severer
grade and more inveterate character
of sickness iu that Territory ; possess
ing such a similarity of soil , climate ,
and topographical features to Nebras
ka ; only by attributing it to poorer
water and the depressing emotions in
duced by the outrages committed
there. ' '
The testimony of other practicing
physicians would , we presume , be
similar as to the healthiness of the
place. Indeed we know not" where a
healthier climate and more fertile
soil than the Valley of the Platte
possesses can be found.
Stores , Business-Houses , Etc.
There is at present in the place
about twenty-five stores , divided , into
the departments of Dry Goods , Gro
ceries , Hardware , Boots and Shoes ,
&o. , &c. They are kept mostly by
energetic young men possessing both
the will and determination to carve
out for themselves fortunes and gain