TIIE OMAHA DAILY BEE: SUNDAY, MAY 13, 1906.
Ja
mes G. Dahlman, Newly-Elecled Democratic Mayor of Omaha
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AMES C. DAHLMAN, the new
mayor of (imuhn, is a man of the
pele and of the plains. He U
a munliipnilzi-d product of the
cow country, th far reaches and
the limitless rky. Chapter of his Ufa
might ha"e been lifted out of the page of
"The V'--;rlun" or Alfred Henry Lewis'
"Wolfvllle'' stories.
As a frontier sheriff tales are told nf
rahlman that leave no doubt of hi po--session
of that first quality that still re
peals to men with m.irvelous force- p-
aonal bravery. He Is a mnn's man, strop ;
In the democratic belief exti-rnllnK to li
, . dlvlduals the widist ran?e of conduct con.
fcpatlble with social comfort; having nt cvr,
decision, force of character and "square"
In his dealings; not lacking In sympathy
with the quirks and foibles of the m iscu
Une mind; generous, open-handed and ,f
""congenial disposition withal a friend ti
be depended upon and a foe able to protect
himself In any emergency.
Since the firing nrin has Ixen the symbfl
of combat, man to man, dwellers of t:.e
earth have admired him who knew how
to use his hardware dexterously and with,
dispatch. It used to be the same when the
word and the battle-axe were the weapon!
Of the fray. Doubtless It vni likewise In
the era of the stone club. The ruder the
civilisation the more Intense the admira
tion. Wherever necessity has made it In
cumhent to safety and the charm of a
peaceful existence to be able to point your
gun at your adversary first, the gentleman
the quickest about it has been a leading
citizen. And no one has placed it of record
that he got the drop on Jim Dahlman.
Thirty years ago In Nebraska the equip
ment here described was vastly more im
portant than It is now. The fashion of
carrying guns is now extinct in the Ante
lope state.
Loner a Resident of the State.
Jim Dahlman came to Nebraska In 1878.
It has been a long while since he has ho4
a holster belt strapped around his person
as a, daily habit, nut in the days when
It was meet and the style Mr. Dahlman
carried about the goods. That he was
able to take care of himself in a highly
satisfactory degree then Is no reflection
upon him today, when conditions hava
changed. Rather It is a point attesting
to his reliance and ability of hand and
brain. If he was able to assure his future
in those days he has had a tolerably easy
task In the later periods.
"From cowboy to mayor of Omaha" Is
the way the head writer would put It. The
transition has been gradual and according
to the laws of evolution. Mr. Dahlman
had the reputation of being a very good
cow-puncher and when be hung up the
rope and moved into town he proved a
good citlxen of group sociology. So good
In fact that he became sheriff of his com
munity and mayor of two of the three Ne
braska towns in which he has resided.
Politics as a 8lde Issue.
Politics for years has been an avocation
with Jim Duhlman. He has always been
linked up with the democrats. For years
he has been a member of the democratlo
national committee and a warm personal
friend of William Jennings Bryan. So
good did ,Mr, Bryan feel about Mr. Daht
man's election that he sent a cablegram
of congratulations all the way from Asia,
to prove It. When Bryan made his whirl
wind campaigns by rail throughout the
United States Jim Dahlman was along as
manager and adviser on the most memora
ble trips. For more than a decade when
ever there was anything doing In Ne
braska domocracy Mr. Dahlman has done
a percentage In arranging it and he Is fully
as well known through the state as he Is
In Omaha,
ion of a frontiersman.
Mr. Dahlman Is 4 years old. He was
born in Texas and his father was a pioneer
of the southwest. The vicissitudes of a
raw country were to him common routine.
Ilia father went to DeWItt county, Texas,
when a young man, went Into the stock
raising business and became a large ranch
man and storekeeper. Jim Dahlman was
the 'oldest of three boys and four girls.
About the first things he did after he
learned to walk was to learn to ride a
horse and herd cattle. When he was not
doing this he attended a little school at
Torktown. For a few years, as a youth,
he stayed on the family ranch and then
pulled out for himself and roamed about
Texas for a while.
He struck Nebraska In March, 1878. He
was looking for Fort Sheridan. No one of
whom he Inquired seemed to know any
- thing about the location of such a place.
He had a companion named Bennett Erwln
and the two crossed the river on the Ice.
The two started .to canvass Omaha to find
directions how to get to Fort Sheridan.
They finally encountered Fred Evans, an
old freighter, who knew the way. They
went as far as Sidney, on the Union Pa
cific, and then traveled 200 miles by stage
to the Red Cloud agency. A billiard was
met between Sidney and Fort Robinson
and three or four days lost In picking up
the trail. When they got Into Fort Sheri
dan Dahlman and Erwln had fl each.
There were four ranches In the vicinity.
The Texans got Jobs on that of E. S.
Newman punching cows at the regulation
wage, J30 a month. Dahlman stuck by this
ranch several years and developed Into
foreman of the cattle gang. This was the
cornerstone of his career and he has not
dropped back since. It was not very long
before he filled his first seml-publlc office.
This was the( position of brand Inspector
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of the Wyoming Cattle um. '.. ' j
brand inspector meant being relent- of all
the controversies over stolen, mixed and
questionable cattle and executive officer In
enforcing the rules and regulations of the
business. In the crude state of society
then existing the position was one calling
for Infinite tact and nerve. The territory
covered eastern Wyoming and western Ne.
braska. Headquarters were at Valentine
as long as Valentine was the terminus of
the Northwestern railway. Later, when
the road built to Chadron, Dahlman, as
brand inspector, moved along with It. At
Chadron he went Into the government sup
ply contracting and meat business.
Great Fur Business in British JMorth
(Copyright, 1904, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
mUnMTnM Yf v in Rneclal Car.
E respondence of The Bee.) I had
I a chat Inst nlcht with one of the
3 chief fur buyers of the North
American continent. The wild
lands reaching from here to the Arctic
ocean and from Alaska to Hudson bay
supply the most and best furs of the world.
The Hudson Bay company has been en
gaged In the business for 200 years, and
it has sent out millions upon millions of
skins to the markets of London. It had
until a generation ago a monopoly of the
trade. By its charters from. King Charles
It controlled the whole country and gov
erned It as It pleased. Then Canada bought
Its political rights to British North America
and now fur trading Is free to all.
This town of Edmonton, which lies
over 300 miles due north of the
United States boudary, la the center of the
new fur trade. It has eight firms which
buy skins, and their purchases aggregate
hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
One of the most Important of the traders
Is the Hudson Bay company, which haa
recently erected a department store here,
and Its chief competitor is Rsvlllon Frerea,
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A FUR DEPOT ON TUB GREAT SLAVE
JAMES C. DAHLMAN.
it was along in 1SS4 that Dahlman be
came a resident of Chadron and he grew
prominent in the affairs of the settlement.
He was elected to the council notwith
standing the fact he was a democrat In
a republican camp. In 18S6 the people of
Dawes co'unty elected him sheriff so good
an opinion did they have of his character
and ability with the shooting iron. His
administration could not have had serious
flaws, for he was re-elected twice, although
the county hnd a normal republican
majority of 700 votes. His own majority
at his first election was fifty-five, but
later it was about 300 twice.
During these six years as sheriff Dahl
the great Paris furriers, who have estab
lishments also in New York and London,
and who supply skins and furs to every
market of the world.
Mlllloas la Fars.
The Revlllons are nt competitors of the
Hudson Bay company. They have been en
gaged in wholesale and retail fur trading
for 175 years, and they are now carrying
on their business with a capital of 70,000,000
francs, or about $14,000,000. They have al
ready established posts all over the north
west and they are gradually building up a
line of stations throughout the lands which
the Hudson Bay people have always con
sidered their own. They have a central
station here at Edmonton, another at 'rlnce
Albert and a third In Labrador, with 200
or 300 branch posts in active operation.
They are buying furs all along the Mac
kensle river, up and down the shores of the
Arctic ocean, along Hudson bay and In
different parts of Labrador, and they are,
I am told, getting a fair share of the best
skins of the continent.
In addition to this they have, with the
opening up of the wheat belt, established a
great wholesale and retail department store
here and are doing business with the new
it-
LA JUL
man loomed up In the publlo eye as a
sheriff, who came pretty close to being
the real thing In that line. He placet!
his repute for coolness, nerve, daring and
quick gun play above Impeachment. He
arrested desperate criminals with about
the same certitude and calmness as a
harvesting machine mows down oats. His
career as a peace officer Includes such
Incidents as leaping in between men with
knives drawn prepared to cut out each
other's vitals; of taking desperadoes at
the point of their own weapons when he
bad overlooked bringing his own along;
of compelling riotous and murderous
"drunks" to surrender simply by the ex-
settlers. They are In fact the Marshall
Field company of the northwest and by far
the largest wholesale dealers outside of
Winnipeg.
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Merchandlslas; la the New Canada.
1 The head of the fur establishment and
the department store is a young French
man, Mr. Revlllon. He Is only about 26
years of age, but he haa already built up
this business and has the sole charge of
it. It was while dining with him the other
night that we talked about the fur trade
and the wonderful growth going on here.
Said he:
"I came to Edmonton from New Tork
about four years ago. I had had some ex
perience In our fur houses in Germany and
England before I went to the United Etatce,
and the life In New York suited me. When
I was told to go to Edmonton I rather ob
jected, but now I like It and expect to stay
here and build up this trade. It seems to
me thst Edmonton Is one of the best bunl
nesa places on the North American conti
nent. We started In here as fur traders, but
our wholesale and'retall merchandising has
so grown that It Is eight or nine times as
big as our business In furs. We are selling
goods as fast as we can get them. We im
port them by the car load and they go out
as rapidly as they come in. We have sold
several car loads of American cotton within
the past few months and have now on hand
car loads of hardware and general supplies.
There are altos-ether about seven hundred
retail stores In this Immediate territory snd
nearly all of them have sprung up in the
last five years The settlers who are coming
In have plenty of money..' They want the
best goods and are not backward In buy
ing." Canada's Knr Trsilc.
During our conversation I asked Mr. Re
vlllon to tell me how fur trading is carried
On in this part of the world. He replied:
"Nearly all the furs sold are brought in by
the Indians and we buy or trade direct with
them. We know the goods they mont
prlre and ship them In wagons to Atha
basca I-andlng. where they go by the dif
ferent waterways to our various posts. The
Indiana bring the skins to the posts and
exchange them for the goods. It Is all a
matter nf barter. No money pasi.es and
each fur in valued at so many skins. The
standard of valu used to be a beaver, every
fur being worth so roan v beavrs. Trls
value was created by the Hudson Bay com
pany and It is said that they sometimes
got extravagant prices for their goods
through the Ignorance nf the Indians. Ac
cording to nne story the trader would take
a musket and stand It on end and then re
quire a pile of furs high ennugh to reach
the top of the gun In payment for It. In
that way a thousand dollars' worth of bea
ver skins might be gotten for a 110 gun.
That kind of trading has all passed away
and the Indians now get a fair value fur
their furs. The skin which now forms the
nil to worta from RUN oeata, aoeordlaf
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erclse of the eye, . voice and will power;
of preventing lynchlngs when it was ex
ceedingly unprofitable to do so, and so
ou. '
Dahlman is not a large man. He Is
sllfeht in build and delicate of feature.
In those days he was wiry and strong,
however, and his voice then as now could
carry an extremely solemn warning In a
normal tone. His eyes, dark and luminous,
are usually of frUndly and engaging
to the distance of the trading post from Ed
monton,1 the rate Increasing on account of
the freight."
Haw the Indians Sell Fare.
"But does the savage understand the
value of his furs?"
"Yes, Indeed, and he understands how to
get It. He Is not an easy man to deal with,
and must be handled in his own peculiar
way. Some of our traders visit the Indian
camps carrying boxes of goods with them.
At such times they never mention trading
upon their arrival. The white trader tells
his Indian friends that be has come out to
make a friendly call. He asks after the
health of the tribe and of each man's wlfu
and family. He smokes with them and
talks about the weather and other things
for hours and hours. Indeed, a night often
passes before any business is mentioned.
The next day the trader may ask one of the
Indians If his luck. has been good and if he
says yes It is a sUn that he has furs and
Is willing to trade. If he anys no the
white man goes on smoking. After a time
the Indian may thaw out and pull a mink
akin from Inside his coat and ak the
triuiT what he will give for it. If the
price is right he. will sell it, but If not he
will bring forth no more skins and the
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I THE) DAHLMAN FAMTLT HOlm
.MRS. DAHLMAN AND TTIEJ GIRLS.
aspect, but. those who have seen him
confronting a stiff proposition say they can
blaze like a brace of portholes at the
gates of the Inferno.
At the close of his third term as sheriff
Dahlman was elected mayor of Chadron.
He was nominated for a second term by
acclamation by a mass meeting of demo
crats and republicans after a financial
showing had been made of his first admin
istration. It followed that he was re-
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American
business dealings are ended for that visit.
If he is satisfied he may pull out another
mink, gradually giving up all he has for
sale. He has to be treated diplomatically j
he Is sensitive and suspicious and It takes
skill to handle him.
Money la Far Trad las;
"Do the Indians make much money la
that way?"
"Yes; I have known braves who ' made
t:,000 or $3,000 a year. The average Indian
does well, however. If he nets $300 or $100.
But much or little, It is all the same. These
Indians do not kno-, how to keep money.
They never consider the future. They
barter their furs for goods as soon as they
have them, and they eat up their supplies
as fast an they can. They buy the moat
extravagant things. I know an Indian, for
Instance, who received $1,900 for some furs.
The first thing he did was to send to Que
bec for a piano, which coat him, all told,
$1.0u0 before it was delivered. He -did not
know how to play It, and after a few days
he tore it apart to see how it worked.
"When an Indian-receives the value of
his furs he always divides with his friends
and family. He brings his connections to
gether and they eat until they . have con-
(Continued on Page Seven.)
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TORT GOOD UOFB, A FUR-TKADlNa STATION OU TWA
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chosen. He retired In ISO and was deputy
state oil inspector 'under the state admin
istration In 1895 and IS.. Later he was a
secretary of the State Board of Transporta
tion two years. He went to Lincoln In
1897, but moved to Omaha in 189S and has
since resided here.
HIsTB In Party's Councils.
The weight Mr. Dahlman has had In the
party councils of his. state is Bhown by the
fact that he has been national committee-
man from Nebraska from 1896 to 1000 and
is now serving in such capacity. From 1900
to 1004 he was a member of the national
executive committee of his party. He was
delegate to the democratlo national con
vention of 1892 and was one of the delega
tion that escorted Bryan to Chicago In
1S06. He was chosen chairman of the atata
committee in ISM, and In 1900 had charge
of Bryan's train touring the east.
Mr. Dahlman was married at Union, la
in 1884, to Miss Abbott, a native of Maine,
with whom he became acquainted while
she was visiting at Pine Ridge Agency.
Two daughters complete his family, Ruth,
aged 20 years, a graduate of Montlcella
seminary at Godfrey, 111., and Dorothy,
who la T .years old. Their home Is at 2901
Hickory street, where Mr. Dahlman owns
an attractive and comfortable cottage.
Mr. Dahlman was one of the delegates ta
ttle Transinlsslssippl congress at Omaha la
189S and assisted In taking the action thai
culminated in the Omaha exposition. Ha
has been In the live stock commission busi
ness In South Omaha tor eight years and
is now assistant manager of the National
Live Stock Commission company, a large
concern of Its kind. For several years ha
was president and general manager of tha
American Live Stock Commission company
of South Omaha.
Mayor-fleet Dahlman is a warm admirer
Of President Roosevelt and when the latter
was Inaugurated formed one of the cowboy
detachment In the procession.
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