The Omaha Illustrated Bee
NUMBER 332.
Entered Second Class at Omaha Fostoffice Published "Weekly by The Bee Publishing Co. Subscription, $2.50 Per Year.
JANUARY 7, 1906.
Omaha Old Timers in Reminiscent Mood Recall Early Experiences
Some Echoes of the New Year's Reception of Pioneers of the Gate City at the Omaha Club with Photos of Some Well Known Men and Women Taken by a Staff Artist
J
1
THERE was nothing perfunctory in the meeting of the old
settlers and their descendants of Omaha and Douglas county
at the Omaha club on New Year's day. The reception ten
dered the pioneers of the Gate City and surrounding towns
of the county elicited more genuine Interest than any meeting held
here for many a year. More local history was crowded into the three
hours the old timers mingled together than ever was reviewed in
the same length of time since the incorporation of the common
wealth. Aside from the significance of the gathering from the
historian's standpoint, the reception was a memorable occasion for
those who attended. Many who started the struggles of life together
there In the rooms of the club. It was at first suggested that the
old timer should spend the New Year day by calling around at
each other's homes; but, after consideration, it was thought that
a' common gathering place would be more congenial for the old
settlers, who are not quite as nimble in getting around we were forty
or fifty years ago," continued the doctor.
Dr. Miller's name being so closely identified with the city's
growth and history, It was suggested that he tell a few of the
early-day reminiscences recalled by the memorable occasion of last
Monday.
"Let me see I hardly know where to begin; there is much
in the little town half a century ago, but who were since separated that might be said, so many twice-told tales, that I am afraid we name of Henry M. Judson as proprietor of what was known years
by the exigencies of fat and fortune, gathered together once more had better take a week off and w
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rite a book. But you said you
wanted only a page here and
there from memory's sketch
book, didn't you?" added the
doctor.
"That is the idea," re
sponded the visitor, who was
trying to picture in his own
mind the Omaha of fifty years
ago.
Dr. Miller said his meeting
with J. P. McPherson, now of
Greenwood, on New Year's
day, brought back fond recol
lections of the old steamboat
and ferry days of Omaha. Mc
pherson operated the first ferry
across the river here.
"As I grasped McPherson's
hand and looked la to his eye
munltf. I knew the elder Bouvler well and the sou told me Inst
Monday he remembered me well, although he was but a loy
ift the days I speak of." said the Judge. He added: "My meet
ing with Bouvler brought to mlud one occasion particularly.
During 1SC0, wheu I was district attorney and Judge Wakeley wus dis
trict Judge, our menus of arauscmcut were limited. A coterie of court
attaches arranged to give a dance at Tucker's home, on the bottoms,
near le Soto. There were Judge Wakeley, his clerk, Roger T. Bealj
the assistant. E. A. Allen; the county officers, myself, wife and
4-months-old child and others In the merry party. We all went down
in a large sled. At first we were In a dilemma in the matter of music,
but Sheriff MeXcely came to rescue by saying he hnd a prisoner, being
ago as the Herndon house, which I helped to build. Our meeting hol(j on a nuirrtPr charge and who was an excellent fiddler. The sheriff;
then recalled the old Hamilton house, Vhich was located on Douglas brought his prisoner with the fiddle nud wo danced until after mid-
street, and which became our general dance hall. The name or tne
Hamilton house became a classic in the social life of the then small
town. That was let me see that was in the latter '50s and
early '60s.
One of the Builders Not There
river. We had a trying time with sandbars, watching the Indiana
at night time and cutting timbers on the islands along the way so
as to keep up steam. At Fort Pierre I saw 6,000 Sioux Indians In
their original and grand estate, and I don't think I have ever since
saw a more impressive sight. Mrs. Miller and I were gone six weeks.
And, as I remarked, all of this was Cashed back as if by mental
photography when I met Wagonmaster Chambers last Monday.
"I must tell you of meeting Howard T. U. Judson, son of Henry
M. Judson, who was one of the original hotel men of the city. When
the younger Judson met me at the Omaha club he pulled out of
his pocket a card and handed it to me to see. The card bore the
night. The murderer entered into the enjoyment as much as the others
did. He spent the rest of the winter in Jail and broke out in the spring
time and was never heard of afterward.
Juries Were Queer Even Then.
"And, of course, there were other faces which brought back the
Omaha of other days. The presence of N. P. Dodge, sr., and wife
of Council Bluffs made me think of the absence of one member cf
that family, the eminent soldier and engineer of the Union Pacific
railroad, Grenvllle M. Dodge, whose picture you see on that wall in
the group with General Grant and others. For thirty years Gren
vllle M. Dodge had much to do with the upbuilding of this trans
Mississippi country.
"And then for the afterthought as I left the gaily decorated
clubroom and glanced over the electric-lighted city, teeming with
monuments of man's genius and endeavor, all in mighty contrast
with the bumble beginnings of the years recalled
REDMOND, . JAMES STEPHEN SON,
EVANS, COLONEL. E. D. PRATT.
last Monday as a happy family and glanced down the vistas of the
half-forgotten years.
The meeting was in every respect a representative one, albeit
many of the old settlers have passed to their rewards, while others
have established themselves in places far remote from the scenes of
their earlier activity. The surprise was that so many who ' had
passed the three-score and four-score marks in the cycle of life
were able to respond to the invitations sent out and assembled to
recall the days of steamboats and the arrival of the first railroad
train.
Omaha's growth during the last half century has been such as
to make the reminiscences of last Monday of peculiar value. Many
of those at the reception could recall with vivid accuracy the early
struggles with the Indians, the thrill which went through every
heart when the first steam locomotive blazed the way for the far
sighted pathfinders and the luxuries and comforts which followed
with advancing civilization.
Before the reception at the club was proposed it was suggested
that the old timers have a real old-time New Year celebration,
such, as might have been in vogue in the days when the homes
were clustered together as in a hamlet and the ties which bound
the citizens were equally as close. But such a scheme was soon
deemed impracticable, as the old settlers are not as nimble in
I imagined I
could see a
steamer coming
up the river as it
did in the olden
days, when the
arrival of a pack
et boat from the
south was the oc
casion for a gath
ering at the land
ing. We had no
railroads' then, so
the occasional ar
rival of a boat
was of as much
Interest to us
then as the ap
pearance of a clr-
7
9
."5
by the meetings
In the
rooms. As I
walked away
from the
Omaha club
New Year's day
I remembered
having hunted
for deer and
Other game on
the very site
where the club
now stands,
and in fancy
could hear the
wolves howling
as I walked
along Twen-
T. MOUNT, D.
C. BUTTItEN. THOMAS AJ CREIQII AND DR. a 8. WOOD.
u JWiP'WHH'l t in j 'J ! i i iiuiny mi; i i iiinuw iwww
cus parade is to the small boys of today," stated Dr. Miller. "The
arrival of two boati 'the same day was the signal for a general
Jollification. Usuall the steamer's whistles would blow as the craft
came near, and the aptain would proudly be at his station on the
getting around today as when Samuel Burns made forty New Year Quarter deck. Frequently the captains would tender us the use of
calls la bis sleigh la on day, many, many years ago. So the happy the boat for an evening for a dance, on which occasions the belles
and beaux would gather from
Omaha and Council Bluffs and
make merry. ' Those occasions
were considered social luxuries.
We were all neighborly then
and lived as one large family,
being far removed from con
tact with other communities.
Then the steamboat and ferry
days passed away with the ad
vent of the railroad lines.
With Wagonmaster
Chambers
"When I mingled further
with the gathering at the
Omaha club and came across
my old friend Chambers
let's see, what's his first namet
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"When I returned home and begnn to tliink over the days of 'Auld
Lnng Syne' In my more leisure moments and In a more qnlet way t
thought of nn amusing incident which occurred during my official ser
vice wltli Judge Wakeley, with whom I had an interesting chat at the
reception. This circumstance happened at Tonca, where a man was on
trial for assaulting with Intent to kill. The hearing of the case took
tip a whole day. Judge Wakeley instructed the Jury in a deliberate
and enreful manner, after which the twelve good men and true retired
and spent the entire night going over tho ense. It was thought there
would be a hung Jury, but when daylight came too foreman announced
the Jurymen wished to see the Judge. The Judge having arrived, the
foremnn nnnounced that he and associates bad been at loggerhends all
club- ni8ht over the question of whether the prisoner had pleaded guilty.
" 'And what do you suppose we were trying this case nil any ror it
the prisoner pleaded guilty?' responded Judge Wakeley, with Borne
slight show of Impatience. The Jury returned and soon brought in a
verdict of guilty." '
"Can you recall tho first dny you spent In Omaha?" was asked of
the Judge after be told of the pig headed Jury and the murderer who
fiddled for the elite down at Tucker's.
"I was thinking of that very dny when I met Tom Swift at the
Omaha club last Monday. The boat on which I came to Omnhn landed
at what was known in those days as the 'Lone Tree landing,' a plnce
at the foot of what is now Burt street and so-called on account of a
lonely Cottonwood tree, which nodded in the wind as if welcoming tho
newcomers to the town. Just ask any of the old-timers about the 'Ione
Tree landing,' " responded the Judge.
The Judge explained that his meeting with Mr. Swift Inst Monday
was the first for many years and that Swift was the man who hauled
r
WTXiJAM DAUa P. I PHRRINB. HARRT GrLMORE, CATTATK It H. PAT.M15R.
Idea of meeting together on the community of interest plan was.
devised and most successfully carried out. The only qualification
needed at the old settle-s' reception was "are you an old settler
or a descendant of one and in good standing?" Hand graspejd hand
and hearts beat lightly in a most delightful manner. Many declared
they felt years younger after leaving the Ouiuhu club.
Reminiscent Recollections Numerous
During the festivities one old settler would come across the man
who drove him from the st( ;mer at the Lone Tree landing to a
boarding place, nearly fifty years ago. Another would recall to an
old friend his first ride in a street car in Omaha, the car in question
having been drawn by a mule along Farnam street, from Fifteenth
to Ninth street 8. Some recalled the first real New Year's celebration
in Omaha, the one held by Governor and Mrs. Cuming at the exec
utive mansion, then at Nluteenth and Dodge streets. Henry A.
Kosters, who will be 89 years of age on Washington's birthday
anniversary, next month, said he remembered meeting Dr. Miller
on the streets of Syracuse, N. Y., during 1855, when the doctor
told Mr. Kosters about Omaha and induced him to come out and
grow up according to Horace Greely's method. Mr. Kosters did
come, and started in by painting a house for A. J. Hanscom at
Fourteenth and Douglas streets, the first house painted here by the
venerable painter. One of the pioneers told of the first shipment
of anthracite coal to Omaha. The consignment came by steamer
and sold for $50 per ton.
And so it went until the hour for retiring came, all too quickly.
Dr. Miller's Memories
"As I mingled with the old timers at the Omaha club on New
Year's day, visions of the early days in Omaha passed through
memory's halls like a mighty panorama," remarked Dr. George L.
Miller as he sat in bis easy chair the ofher afternoon and closed his
Well, never mind
I Just like to
call him Wagon
master Chambers
as I said, when
I met Wagon
master Chambers
one of the most
impressive chap
ters of my early
life in Omaha
was instantly re
called to mind.
Shall I tell you
of the early asso
ciations cluster
ing around the
name of Cham
bers?"
A nod of assent was the signal for the doctor to proceed.
"While Wagonmaster Chambers did not figure to any great
extent in this experience of mine, yet such was his personal charac
teristics that his name became one to conjure with when recalling
old times. Chambers was wagonmaster under Captain P. T.
Turnley when the captain brought four boat loads of troops up
the river from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Pierre under orders of
Geneal Harney, who wanted the troops concentrated at Fort Pierre,
where a meeting was held with the Sioux Indians. The boats tied
up at the Council Bluffs landing, fourteen miles down the river,
and the (aptain hurried up alone to Omaha and sought my two
room cottage. Some of the soldiers had been stricken with cholera
and the captain needed a surgeon. He was directed to me. That
was in June, 1855. I agreed to Join Captain Turnley. so I made
eyes In a reminiscent mood. "Scenes and memories of the bygone the trip, Mrs. Miller accompanying me on the perilous Journey. In
days vens conjured one by one by the sight of a face here and those days navigation above Sioux City .was little thought of on the
tieth street to Farnam.
"Say! I knew I nearly forgot
to tell you something: A man
whose name I cannot now recall,
but I remember he was manager
of the Pacific hotel at Council
Bluffs, came to me and asked if
I remembered the meal he served
me at the Pacific hotel flfty-ona
years aso. I told him I remem
bered the occasion, as that was tha
first meal I ate in this western
land."
. Judges in Those
Pioneer Days
Judge Doane declared the old
settlers' reception one of the most
enjoyable functions he has attended for many years.
"There were people tbere I had not met for twenty years;
some I had hardly remembered by name, while others brought
back to my mind fond recollections of the pioneer days." Judge
Doane came to Omaha by boat, arriving here on April 21, 1857.
On the boat with the Judge was Judge Wakeley, who came from St.
Louis, while Mr. Doane embarked at a nearer point up the river. Judge
Wakeley was
V - V r;-r r.Zjvl the Pioneer
Judge at the re
ception, having
been appointed
b y President
Pierce in 1807.
Judge Doane
was dUtrlct at
torney of the
Third Judicial
district during
Judge Wake
ley's term on the
bench In the
very early daf s.
Both attended
tha reception
7:-
-- y.:
. COLONEL J. H. PRATT. CHARLES TURNER, H. A. KOSTERS, a D. BOTJVXEB.
blm from the "Lone Tree landing" to a boarding place nearly fifty years
ago. Mr. Swift recalled the circumstance.
What Did Croft Charge Wakeley?
At the reception Judge Wakeley also met the mnn who transported
him from the boat to the Douglas . house at Thirteenth and Harney
streets the same day Judge Doane arrived.
"It was Major Croft, who was at the boat landing with bis wagons
when I landed. The major announced in the terms in vogue then that
he would carry passengers and luggage to all parts of the city, which
then had from 1,500 to 2,000 people," stated Judge Wakeley when talk
ing of the pleasant time be had at the old settlers' reception.
"Tell the gentleman what the major charged you for his services; I
think he overcharged you," interposed Mrs. Wakeley, Jokingly.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't tell stories out of school. I guess be charged
he prevailing rates at that time," responded the Judge, which makes it
likely that history may nevei know Just what Major Croft charged for
hauling Judge Wakeley from the Lone Tree landing to the Douglas
bouse on April 21, 1857, unless the Judge changes his mind and tsUs
the historian.
Major Croft, who carries bis ninety years lightly, was one of tha
central figures at the reception. He was as busy as Chief Salter at a
large fire, telling his old friends bow young he was feeling and recall
ing the days oi other years which cam back with a bumn.
MRS. BYRON REED. MRS. ALFRED SORENSON, MRS. irETH, MRS. DEWEy.
and recalled between themselves
and others many of the old-time
experiences and incidents charac
teristic of early Omaha.
For some time Judge Wakeley
lived at De Soto, then the county
seat of Washington county, but
now a cornfield, while Judge Doane
lived not far away, near Calhoun.
The presence of S. D. Bouvler at
the reception and his chat with
Judge Doane awakened old mem
orles in the mind of the Judge.
"Mr. Bouvler and I talked of the
days when De Soto was the social
and commercial center of that com-
, ... - - f i .
'ft
y;.
1 It ri
t. :,.
.
VKB. ETENETER, SCBAK ABTMAK, MART a FRENZER. MRS. FRED IAN(a