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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1909)
Harlan County the - si ' ' ; .--- ,r .'ij ll- .. . ... I i "i i i REBIDENCX OF E C SMITH T WAk th buffalo and mIler (ur-brlng anlmala that led both th Indian and tha whlta man to Harlan county. Bcfor tha coming of th homaataadar and (or long afterward th an- tlr county waa ooverad with graaaea and forage planta In no other locality on tha waatarn praliiea wara tha buffalo ao nu mrou aa In what la now Harlan county. Hera waa avcry natural advantaga. Har waa tha richest of wild graaaea and many streams of clear, swift-running water. No country tha Indian found In all hie wan derings suited him and waa made for htm Ilka this. Not only ware the buffalo abundant, but also all tha fur-bearing anl-' mals and wild game common to tha plains. The little beavar led discoverers from the 8t. Lawrence to the Mississippi and from the Mississippi to the Rockies. It la an Industry that haa led to the pathflndlng of half tha world. It may astonish most readers to be told that on the American side of the line tha volume of the fur trade la the largest ever known In the United, Staten-greater than In tha ffays when the buffalo and beaver had the whole oountry as a stamping ground. More money goes to the trappers today for skunk and muskrat and fox than waa aver made out of beaver, aea otter and th rare fur. The demand for tkunkskin la so much greater than the supply that men in tha weat era running akunk farms, and for th akin receive th same price aa used to be paid for th beaver, all the way from 2 to 3. A sli ver foxskln brings from 1260 to 1680. Fashion is as capricious aa tha wind. Trade doesn't creau fashion; It la fashion that create trad. In 1871 twenty-one g gfy wolves were poisoned In one night at Mark Coad's bomeatead in Harlan county.' Th cattleman was next to Inhabit Har- lan eounty after tha trapper and fur- trader. Though bia herds might and did roam over great tract, of country, hi. actual land poaseaalon. might amount to mr 1 v.. , , ?7.m.?rl Mt,0"-fcTna. fur!?!, rr,A'P ?' ful aye on th stock, driving them to water eouraea in dry weather and pulling them out of the mud In th wet season. Much of Nf during the summer was delightful, Tha sklea ware blue, tha work easy. The larder low, but an exciting chase after the Inquisitive antelope brought recreation and a change of diet from th perpetual bacon and beans. The early cowboy of Harlan county became almost aa resourceful as an Indian, fearleaa, open-hearted, loan of body, quick of mind, self-reliant and faith ful, a good fighter, and yet often tender a. a woman. His morals were generally good, for his visits to tha settlement were rar. and even than ha waa not aa th dim novel would lead on to believe, tha bold, bad man, ready to shoot on eight. His virtues were of th manly, positive sort, and his vices of tha aama open char acter. Tha first explorer of Harlan eounty wMh view of making a permanent eettle ment, cam from tha eastern part of th state n August. 1870. As lata as Ufi Buck's party of United States surveyors were at tacked by tha Indians In this county and all killed. Whenever the huntera returned to the eastern settlement their praise of tha fertility and grandeur ot Hie Republi can valley created a strung denire on the part of many who proposed going west to make thla their future home. A stockade wag built two miles west nf Orleans, and about fifteen people remained here during th winter of U70 and UT1. The winter of in and 1S7I was very severe. The flrat storm cs,ma on the 18th of November, and the bad weather continued until the latter part of February. One band of cattle of Pictures Showing- Features t.' v TOWN BOLT BT GOTEBNMKVT FOR FMFLOTF3 AT THTE RIVIR PORTlTj Or THE TUN! .WttlCki HVKB TkLRQUQU JUM MOUNTAIN ia ttxa BACaOKuiiaa ' k" ' ' '. 1 ""'''"''""' '" '' ' ' ,7 X r X '"r - - J -i ' - AND CHARLES BLODORN. ORLEANS. I t.'- '. ' riMlr ' I .-' t FARM OF E. 7B0 were reduced to 125, and out of a herd of t, In tha eastern part of the county but 460 survived tha bad storm. At that time, however, buffalo, wild .turkey and other wild game were plentiful and the timber that skirted the stream furnished abundance of fuel, so there waa no danger of actual etarvation or of perishing from the cold. Wild animals suffering from lack of food penetrated Into the settle- ment. and w.r aslly killed. .v. On June I, 1871. an election Was held at "'"XW,N1mr officers and locating a county seat Forty- two votee were cast for eounty aeat, thirty. seven for Alma and five for Napoleon. Th tint meeting of the county commissioners wa hel1 t th borne of N. P. Cook. Tha ,llst unty business transacted by the commissioners was while seated on a log. I1rlan county has been no exception to th r-t ot tto" "ut0 ta lu ufUoulUM ..'' -u:::Y::::::::;-:-;:h:.. tnm- SJvr.- a V...A v' 1-5 HIGH SCHOOL, - -v ' - - s i.. - 4'. , ' J 1 . ' W"K Glistening i . V GEHRINO. ORLEANS. NEB. locating tha county seat In early days. For many years ther was a bitter feeling over thla question, and much needlesa atrife waa engendered and energy expended. Alma finally designated aa the permanent county aeat and It Is one of tha good towna of tn Republican valley. In the matter f publl Improvements the county haa w1th ot,her" 'V1)' RepU!I!Can At a" "T Prt tn ,h"tory bridge-were built when moat needed acrosa the principal creek, and the Republican river. Tha courthouse at Alma 1, a good ,ubgtantlaI ,tructure and fully ade- ouate for the needs of the county, Harlan county has 823.000 acrea In farma. cf which 190,000 are under cultivation. Like most other counties in thla part of the state its principal producta are wheat, corn. beef and pork. A large part of the corn crop, however. Is marketed In the form 0f ft stock. Last year the farmers sold and shipped out of the county 486,000 .'. " 'r?.' :"c: !- ORLEANS. of Gunnison Tunnel Createst Irrigation Enterprise Ever Undertaken j . : ; ; ; . t 7-7; ,7. it.:7,:. A- ., 'X. v- v ;- : - , r: ;:.:-M6irK'A:.i; " .:. :,v -R ti V Vt 7! the cwaiia Sunday bees jult Gem of 5 u u ORLEANS ROLLER MILLS bushels of corn and 15.000 bushels of wheat, but this is but a small part of their In come, aa compared to the large amount of beef and pork shipped out. Laat year tha farmers of Harlan county fattened, sold and shipped out 20,400 head of beef cattle, 40,800 fat hogs, 600 horses and 3,000 mutton sheep. But few counties In the state of Its else have a record like this, for It must be remembered that this county la but twenty four miles square, yet its property valuation amounts to $20,000,000. Tha present population of tha county is 12,000. Its railroad facilities are among the best in the Republican valley. It haa eighty-five miles of railroad, with nln live, progressive, thrifty railroad stations. Besides thla tha county has about 600 miles of public highway, with eleven free rural delivery routes scattered over the eounty. Nearly 400 miles of then highways are covered, each day by tha rural carrier. As a dairy county it ranks among the best In th Republican valley and second to but few of the entire state. The farm era are adapting modern methods and tak ing more interest In thla Induatry aa the years roll by. Last year these farmers kept 7.S30 cows on their farms and had In use over 400 hand separators. These farm ers sold and shipped out of the county last year 77,000 pounds of butter and 93,000 gallons of cream. The reason for this county making such rapid progress in the dairy industry comes largely from its be ing a natural alfalfa country. There are but few counttea In tha atate that can com pare with It In thla product. At the cloae of 1908 the farmers of this county had 14,321 acres seeded to alfalfa, which was bring ing them a better profit than any other crop produced on the farm. It I. hard for tha people to realls the fact, but the poul try Industry ranks among one of th largest Industries, not only of Nebraska, but of the entire natton. Last year Harlan county sold and shipped out 223,700 dosen of eggs and I76.O00 pounds of dressed poul try. Soma counties In the state produce mora winter wheat than Harlan, but few counties of its sis produce as large an acreage of corn. In 1908 the farmer of thla county had 106, M0 acres of corn and 64,800 acres of wheat. '." 1 ' cmw ttkts as a. Ttra.Ts, cacsm fa 11, 1909. v the Fertile Republican Valley) X i il X! FARM OF H. ELMERS, , ORLEANS. NEB. Th Cudahy silica mine, located close to Orleans, promises to be one of the big Industries of th county. A three mile raU- road track haa been built to tha mine and preparations are oeing maae to worn nou an extensive scale. This product 1. used for so many purposes that as a commodity, it I. almost unlimited. It has every appear- ance of returning a good income to its wners. and - of being much benefU to Orleans and the entire county. Harlan county has many rioh farms, with excellent farm ' buildings and improved breeds of stock. It has thrifty towns, with prosperous mercnanta ana moaorn uujmms facilities, but its public achoola are it pride. Every cltlxen of the county seems to take a great growing lntereat in both th district and th city schools. At th present time ther are eighty-one school dietricta In the county, with eighty-two aohool buildings, nearly all of which are in IS FREE METHODIST av. : . .:. ,. - '. , . - . t. mi ii.i . mi i.iiIii.i :r'X47l'X? & , v V CUT All T B!UJCA MINE3 NEAR ORLEANS. W IIHJP II ! HHtlH '.)' :- .--4 excellent repair. Around these school build- ,nCT uj An th ,chool grounds there were , M planted In 1908. 80 per cent ot , welLv M A. . , . . . ... ona J chi VpT.dedW.1 ry. IT " "' cr. twenty of whom are mala teachers, There are six high achoola, that compar favorably with anything in the state. For wagea to teaohera $36,713 was paid out. P. P. Bentley la eervlng hla fifth term as county superintendent of schools and ha has started a movement that means much iw uj uuki tha conaolldatlon of tha precinct or town- snip scnooia. Mnjs memoo. u in june oral tia In Ohio and Indiana and la prov- Ing entirely practical. In ths spring of 1371. a colony of men from Wyoming wandered down the Repub- ucan valley in search of a suitable place ) i, t COLLEGE, ORLEANS v's! - .t-v;. J A ' 7 v V. 1 Y --- ' IS-,' f l e- . J , -.-4.? r-5 g' . Xm iV ... - -4- is. Vvri4-- i fawn PflRTAU f' THE GREAT OUNNIBON TUNNEL. WHICH SDNI rO TWENTT.TWft' Mll.ES THROUGH TH13 MOUNTAIN 4'H K imiMlT slS&S I TWO A3JD, A HALF MILES UICUii.K' TliAJi yua RTVK.X to locate. After careful Investigation these pioneers cam to where Alma is now located and th beauty of tha river seen and th natural advantages at this sit stayed their steps and tha atakea of settlement were driven here. At thla timet although early In tha spring, the grass was green, th weaaher pleasant, and wild turkey, buffalo, deer, antelope and other gam was abun dant. Th townatt of Alma was selected In the spring of 1871 by Mark Coad, N. P. Cook and others, and waa) called Alma in honor of a young daughter of N. T. Cook. Soon after tha aettlement of Alma a post office waa established, with J. H, Painter as postmaster. The first sermon preaohed her waa July 4. 187L In Foatec's grove, by Rev. John Whiting. When th eounty aeat was removed to Melrose from Alma, Alma was put entirely out of business. In 1875 Frank Shaffer moved a little hone from hie homestead near by. which waa th first building in tha town after Its resurrection. Th aecood building la Alma, was Ouyefs Sr hotel, built In U7S. Th only build is at Alma, In th spring of 1879 war time very small houses, a store, tha small, onewntory building with on little room, uaed. aa a court house and a sod blacksmith shop. On th 11th day of April, 187. a new, paper waa established by Borden & Llv lnpston, and called tbe Alma Standard. This paper did more than anything els to at tract attention to Alma aa a favorable point for th building up of a town. Early in th apiing of that year emigration turned its course toward th republican valley, and Alma began life anew and made quit a growth. In th winter ot 1871 and 1880, tha Burlington railroad reached. Alma, which added much to its growth. Thus cam Alma from tbe unturned pralrla sod In tha Pc of about thirty years to a city ot happy, contented, yet rigorous and aggra. .v peoDla. ll?VJT, Th laat herd of buffalo to pasrtrr on the present townslt of Alma waa In August, 1878, and were chased by J. C. Mitchell and George Cove, who succeeded In killing ona of th animals. Th herd numbered thlrtr-flve. Th laat large gam seen In th vicinity of Alma was a deer, which waa killed by Thomas Neff. on mil louth of AW m 1883- Xb, w,hed n& pounds. 0rlean, jted on fh north aide ot th Republican river. Situated aa it Is on th crest of a sloping wave-like terrace, and extending towards th river, down the slops a more pleasant location could not hava been found. It is not very tar from th center of the county and haa a lo cation that for business pursuits Is ex. celled by no town in th Republican valley in Its natural adaptability. It Is situated opposite tha point where th Sappa creek enters the river on th other side. There for the broad and fertile valleys of th , Bappa. and Beaver are natural tributaries to this town. On tha weat and northwest la th Republican valley Itself. Again south of tha river is but a short distance to th fertll Prairie Dog valley. Thla gives Orleans a farming territory sufficient to maintain a thrifty city, to say nothing of Its natural advantages for manufacturing. Th Burlington railroad runa through th southern part of Orleans. Its depot, grain levators and flouring mill are only about one-quarter of a mil from th business portion of tha city. Th flrat settlement ta th ooutrty waa In tha vicinity of Orleans. Tha Old atookad built by 7. A. Bleyon and his as sociates In tha fall of 1870 was located not vary far from where th Orleans depot now stands. In December, 187L Warren M. Fletcher, a young man, entered a home stead wher Orleans now stands. Fletcher sold hi claim in 1872 to D. M. Smith, noted townslte locator for th Burlington, and tha town of Orleans was at one laid out and platted. Tha first sermon (Continued on Fag Thr4
