Fhe Omaha Sunday Bee
PART liL
HALF-TOM SECFJQI!
Advert Is la
THE OMAHA DEE
Best West
PAOS8 1 TO
COLONISTS WHO HAVE SEEN WONDERS OF HALF-CENTURY
VOL. XXXVI-XO. 52. OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JUNE 1, 1907. SINGLE COfY FIVE CENTS. '
'Simple Story of Some Sturdy People Who Made Their Selection on the Virgin Prairie of Nebraska and There Built Hoses and Aided in Bringing Civilization Into the Wilderness
y "V HAND ISLAND, Neb.. June 15. (Special.) Tie fiftieth o-
ff niversary of the original settlement ty white men oT this
Tp vicinity 'will be celebrated on Jtly 4. preparations for' the
. same being sow well under way. On the evening of July
S, 1 f 67. a colony comprised mostly of Germans struck
camp btre. On July 4 they set out stakes and derided that this was
tie place they would lay out a town sit, which was to be tie future
capital of tie United States. Eight of the men and women wbowr
in that colony half a century ago are still aiiT and well. Ttey will be
tie honored figures of tie occasion. They are Fred Kedd. the
venerable newrpaper man, William Storey. Mr. and Mrs, Henry
Joehnck, Mrs. John Tbomssen, Mr. William A. Hagge, Kay Ewoldt,
and Christian Menck. Messrs. Hedde and Menck. iDdeed, were in
the Tery advance guard, accomjanied ty a surveyor and several
ether Americans who remained only a few year.
A little over fifty years ago a prominent banking firm of Daven
port, Washington and other Important towns of the east, Chnbb
Brothers 41 Barrows, conceived the idf that seme day a railroad
would run up the valley of tie Platte and cross the continent; that
thereafter the capital of the nation would have to move, and that It
would naturally be centrally located and since Nebraska would be
the hub of the universe, it would be located in the Plane valley.
The town that was most promising would get it. The thing to do. In
their minds, was to locate a town, build it up and own a good deal
cf land around it! Thus a company was organized to coionire a sec
tion In central Nebraska- R. C. Barnard. Fred Hedde, William,
Stolley. tie others here mentioned and in all over twenty German
and five Americans thus came to this section. The company that
was to support the settlers until thty oculd grow crops failed during
the first winter, and the colony was on half rations for three weeks
ontll, under the leadership of Mr. Hedde, new supplies could .he
secured from Omaha by ox team and over swollen streams.
All cf the old colonists took up land, half of which was to go.
mder the terms to the company of bankers and some congressmen
wt-re said to have been Indirectly Interested. Town lots were also
distributed, by lot, and the timber land on tie island In the Platte
was apportioned. After a severe storm In tie early part of the
winter. In which one of tie present survivors nearly lost his life
Mr. Joehnck and In which hi6 comrade was overcome, and per
ished, the first winter was a mild and pleasant one; and tie settlers,
side from the half rations mentioned, experienced no trouble. In
15$ Mr. Stolley, who had participated In the organization of the
first settlement, led a second expedition to tie settlement and the
umbers were largely increased.
Hardy Holsteiners in Colony
Davenport, la., from whence tie colony to this county came, was
In those years regarded as the Mecca in America of the Schleswig
Holstelner. In tie -first colony that left tie Iowa city tier were
twenty-five German men, five German married women, one young
unmarried woman the present Mrs. Tiomsren and on child. Of
Americans there were five. Of the Germans all but five were from
Schleswig-Hoistein, the others from Prussia and other provinces.
All of the Americans soon left, none remaining longer than a few
years. Some few of tie Germans left, but only to emigrate further
west. The majority, however, remained and they were soon to
undergo a test of their staying qualities.
In tie first place, tie company which sent them out and was to
provision them until such time as they could take care of them
selves, failed during the first winter of the colony's presence I
Nebraska. It made good in the matter of tie provisions for tie first
winter, though through the faithlessness of some emlsaries sent to
ecu re supplies, the colony was compelled to go on tall rations for
aoiut weeks, nntil, through the determination of Fred Hedde and his
leadership, provisions were brought out Just as the last had been
consumed on tie half-diet, They were then In a new country, with
nothing to fall back upon. The arrival of a second colony, howerer.
In 158. lessened the danger and made It more easy, and they fared
fairly "well until tie succeeding year every house but one or two
were destroyed by the fir set by tie roving ranch mploye. It was
aid at that time that this was a man In the employ of a present
eltlsen of Omaha, who had large Interest some miles west of here,
and had men engaged to look after tie same from time to time.
Upon Lis return to Omaha, and, it must be emphasised, without tie
knowledge of his employer, he set fire to the abundant dry grass
north of the Tillage, tie wind being from ttat direction, and declared
that those damned Dutch had no rights In this country anyway. He
believed that he was protecting his ranch owner-employer, though
tie latter' holding were forty or fifty mile west of here. The man
was not a permanent settlor, tut only came out with some fellow
employe once or twice a year to ro over tie range. Such is tie
recollection of one cf tie old settlers, who, however, oaly remember
til story a hearsay at that time. Lamentably a fart it was. how
ever, that most of the settler at the time lost the provisions of an
entire winter, znoch clothing and netrljr everything excepting their
bedding.
Defense Against the Indians
Three year intervened without aay great calamity when tie war
cf the rebellion broke out. The troop at Fort Kearny, which had
afforded protection by their very presence within fifty miles, were
called to the front, The oScer remaining la charge is said to have
spiked the grins, being a outhm sympathiser and to have left the
settler even without tie possible protection of going thither in case
of necessity. But they had fietrmlnation and resolved when the
report of massacres came nearer to fortify themselves. The -old
"O. K. store," established early in the sixties or 1st in the fifti.
was made into a fort. Gun were secured, almost as great in variety
a in nwmber. The number cf settler had increase br til time and
were scattered farther west than the old '"town site." the first
"Washiagton-to-b," and William Stolley erected another fort on his
original claim, for these mile or so west of the O. K. store. This
he called "Fort Independence," and relate that the firrt emblem
cf tie Union, tie Stars and Stripes, floated from tils fort. It pro
vided protection for some thirty to forty persons and had an o
deigrocnd bam for tie horse. The settlers with this were deter
mined to remain and give the red-skins battle were they to attempt
to molest tiers. In the meantime all settlers who had gone farther
west were causing the dust to rise cn tie old trail on their way back
to Omaha. This was but natural, since they were more scattered,
nor had the protection of eves a poorly and hurriedly constructed
log-house fort. Many of or settlers urged them to go no farther
but to stay here. Jois the lo'-al settlement and be nearer to tilr
claims, but they would net :top for a moment. The war finally waa
passed, a cannon in the meantime having been left to the settlers,
the eomir.anding officers sending It, commending th settlers for
their bravery, and through the recommecdation of tie War depart
ment, the piece was finally donated to Hall county and is now kept
as a relic f oldea times. A fit place for its mounting will b mad
- the wheels and other wood work having long since decayed. Th
settler, how ever, wer never molested, the Indian probably having
respect for the preparations made and an exaggerated idea as t
what these preparations and arm really were.
Massacres of Those Days
In more remote section of what at present comprises Hall coanty
there was one massacre. Joseph P. Smith and one Anderson, hi
son-in-law wers living near, where the Tillage of W ood River now
stand. Smith, Anderson, tie latter two son and a grandchild
went to tie river to cut some logs. Anderson who took a load ct
Jog home In the morning retnrned to find Smith, the two sons and
fraud child to have been massacred br the Eloux Indian. The body
ttf the old man. Smith, had several arrow in it and tis hoy taa
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EEXRT JOEHNCK.
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MHa. HEXBT JOEHXCK. SR. CHiUSTlAJf E. MENCK. tm.T.Tif x. HAGG
suEvrvxca members of hall cotrxTT's pioneer colony.
cat rrwoLDX.
been struck down with an axe, evidence that tie Sioux war club had
a-so been used, being in hand.
Another incident that is related is that of tie massacre of two
young men n tie Loup river. One of tiem. Christian Goetteche.
was one of tie first to attend school in Hall county. They were with
some older men on the Loup hunting. While Us older men were
away from tie camp, down the river, a war party of Indian came
along and when the older men returned, both hoys Frauen and
Goettsche, lay dead in pools of their own blood. Two Martin boys
were chased by several Indians and as they were riding on one
horse, were shot at and pinned together with an Indian' arrow.
The escaped, however, and both survived. These were the sons of
N. Martin, the first settler south of the river in what is now known
as Martin township, tie same being nsmed after the pioneer. All ct
these unfavorable and threatening- incidents, however, caused no
Ti-nic among the colonist nearer tie original settlement whose mala
troubles with the Indian were their beggary and thieving.
Trials of Many Kinds
The settlers had become farily prosperous again a prosperity
went in those days when, after tie war. tie Ion dreamed building
cf a railroad up tie Platte valley was begnm But It wa not an
unmixed blessing; for tie contractor came and took all tie timber
for ties over tieir protest. Finally their counsel in Omaha advised
them to have the contractor, tie wood chopper and timber de
spoilers, put under arrest. The sheriff swore in a large number of
deputies. The men were arrested, but orders soon came that they
must be released, a they had given surety for their appearance
their foremen or bosses had signed their bonds. And tie wood chop
ping wa continued, the best being taken for railroad tie and th
rest for cord wood. This caused one or two to leave. The rest
"stood pat." Late in tie sixties the town site was moved a mil
north of tie original settlement, to tie railroad. The farms In
creased in value, however, until the next untoward tiing came on
the grasshopper plague which lasted for some year. On writer
relate that they practically destroyed everything in one year and
partially destroyed the crop in svral other year, even eating
onions ut of tie ground. A representative was sent to Washington
to secure aid Mr. William Stolley and he finally secured an ap
propriation of $150,00 for tie state tirough tie efforts of Senator
Hitchcock and Congressman Crounse and ex-President Garfield
then a member of tis committee conoeTed and cpon calling' upoa
Mr. Gould, owner of tie Union Pacific In New York, secured free
transportation for all relief roods.
Those who went through those years, and there are many In
Nebraska, relate with unanimity that at times the grasshopper wer
so thick in tieir flight that tie sun was clouded. One season, when it
was too late for replanting and all vegetation had reached Quite an
advanced stage, everything was eaten, tie completeness of tie forag
is illustrated by a local writer who at that time was in tie observing
age of boyhood. William Tnomssen, the ex-representative from this
county, and ex-county treasurer, son of tie one woman who came
out with tie 1657 colonists as a single woman, accompanying a rela
tive and his wife, relstes tie following:
Grasshoppers were regular and unwelcomed visitors in early days.
It is not ncesstry for me to rejeat here tist there were immense
swarms of them and it took days for them to pass over in rapid
flight and that all crops were destroyed by tiem, etc., as this has
been told very frequently and repeatedly by others. One observa
tion that I made one time with grasshoppers was very interesting.
For relating this incident I have not just squarely been called a liar,
but somebody would nearly always give me to understand that I
was getting slightly away from tie truth, nevertheless I shall repeat
it onoe more just as it occurred. Mother had Quit a garden patch
vry year. In the garden there was among tier vegetables a patch
of onions. Now it did not take long for the grasshoppers to clean
tp the cabbage, etc. They also tackled the onions. They first ale
the green stems and then kept on eating further down into th
ground till they were on tie ground, and nothing bnt the tips of
their wing was visible as they stood on head and ate downward.
A many a could crowd into the hole would crowd in and there
peaceably feast on onion. 'When the grasshopper left there waa
nothing left of the onions but the holes in tie around where only a
few days before were the onion. They h,3 left tiem, tie hoies,
smooth and undisturbed.
Commerce Before the Ballroad Came
Before the advent cf the Tnion Paei.-.e, whc all cf tie travel
through the country was by prairie-schooner, tie Grand Island set
tlement fared well in tie matter f dis-posing of their crop. Of this
feature. Fred Hedde. the founder of The Indepenjs.t. wrote in 1EJ8:
"In the fall of lill the first rumor tame from tSs west about
gold being discovered at Pike' Peak, the Colorado wonntain. not
far aoutiwest of the present city of Denver. They wire in th be
ginning not credited, but In spit of this doubt in th next spring
Quit a number of gold seekers started along th F'att vally for
the nw Eldsrado, the embryo of Denver and of Je state of Colo
rado, and though many of them returned In the fall disappointed and
sai, tie stream of emigration not only to Colorado, bnt also to th
other gold countries of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho. Utah and the
Pacific coast, yearly Increased, so that for seven or eight years hua
dred of parties, some of tiem with a number cf wagon and teams
passed dally and camped on the Platte near out settlement, The
gold field and the march cf Tike's Peaker,' a they war called,
had no attraction for our pioneers, who did not suffer with tis
gold fever. But this continually moving mas f gold hunter was
of great advantage to tiem. Our settlement wa nearly the last
place w here tie traveler could bny anything, and in consegimo oar
settlers had a splendid opportunity to dispose f their hay, corn,
oats, garden vegetables and some provision at high price. From
f 1.00 to $1.50 for a bushel of grain waa an ordinary pries, and at
extraordinary occasions th price went considerably higher. Soma
contract of sereral thousand bu6iel were taken by the settler from
the commanding officer of Fort Kearny, to be delivered there at
$2.04. about half tie pries the government used to pay for th com
which had been delivered there from St, Joseph, Mo. Th Grand
Island settlers had no largw field yet and their crop were compara
tively small, but these small crops paid better than large crops now
and gave tie settlers an excellent start, which put them la food
condition, as they generally were as saving as industrious."
Survivors of the Pioneer Colony
Of ths first colonists who still remain residents of Hall county.
Fred Hedde 1 probably tie dean. He ha reached th eighty-ninth
year. His ha been a most active life. He was a prominent attorney
in Kiel, and it is stated that in the Kiel Turn hall tier ar lo
ture of tie venerable gentlemen a he mads an ad fires In the in
terests of liberty and freedom In that country. "Let Fred Hedde gw
to Kiel today." said a German recently who has been la tie German
metropolis within th decade, aad he would be taken np and down
tie street in the greatest of honor."
Christian Menck, ha alway been a farmer In hi active year.
He is a younger man but for the last fifteen year ha Veen taking
life more easy. In a comfortable residence in this city, stSL hewrrer,
retaining hi homestead. Mr. Menck wa married in Omaha ta ltil
and their wedding trip wa ts Grand Island a la prairie scho onset
and ox team. Th stats room of the Pullman was not dreamed of
In that day.
Cay Ewoldt also still retained tie old homestead, a TaJtu.il tarn
(Coatinned n Page Fonr.)
Neighbors and Friends for Last Fifty Years Meet for Reminiscent Half Day
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GROUP OF THE EARLT SETTLEPJj OF CAES COUNTY TAKEN AT A REUNION AT THE M'MAKKN HOME AT PLATT5MOLTU ON MAY 22 107