THE BEE: OMAHA, SUNDAY," JUNE 19, 1921.
S Z
V.
if
)
Early Day Settlers
Quarreled Much Over
) . Location of Capital
Nebraska Was Regarded as
to Turbulent Kansas Territorial Government
Carried on Largely by "Carpetbagger" Offi- -cials
History of State's Indian Tribes.
(Continue1 from Tt Two.)
unique in respect both to population
ana disorder, throughout its terri
torial period, six years and a half,
there was continuous violent revolu
tion over the slavery question. There
was no slavery question in Nebraska,
,f but the Platte river caused sectional
1 strife for 20 years, about 12 of them
J in the commonly unsteady territorial
period.
During this time there was fierce
quarreling between the North Platte
and the South Platte over the loca-
tion of the capital. It was allayed
in the main by a provision in the
constitution of 1875 which made it
nearly impossible to take the capita!
away from Lincoln.
There was the original tierce fight
over the capital question in the first
legislative assembly, then the break
. up of the fourth assembly in 1857,
aptly called the Florence fiasco; in
1859 the formidable undertaking of
Ut South Platte section to secede
" "and become annexed to Kansas; next
the removal of Governor Butler by
impeachment in 1871, followed by
the anarchical prorogation proceed
ings in the legislature 1872 be
tween the Lincoln cabal and the
Chronically hostile Omaha faction.
The ' repeal of the criminal and
civil codes by the third legislative as
sembly in 1857 was not sectional or
.otherwise partisan, but the wanton,
elfii
tl
lfish trick of a cunning pettifogger
he council, and the defeat, by
bribery, of the will of two-thirds of
the members of the same assembly,
expressed in the passage of a bill to
remove the capital from Omaha to a
blueprint place on Salt creek, some
where between the sites now occu
pied by Waverly and Greenwood,
manifested a positive sense of irre
sponsibility which, I believe, "was not
matched in the territorial period of
Iowa or Missouri.
Fight for Capital.
The Daily Missouri Republican,
then a powerful whig and pro-slavery
newspaper, complimented the
steady-going virtue of Nebraska in
contrast to the chronic revolutionary
turmoil in Kaijsas. The first session
of the territorial assembly of Ne
braska adjourned sine die March 16,
1855: the members of the first assem
bly of Kansas were elected MarchJ
30, 1855. The Kansas assembly lo
cated the capital of the territory by
an act passed August 5, 1855. The
capitol of the Territory of Ne
braska was begun about that time.
During the short territorial period of
Kansas its shifty insurgency changed
the capital from Leavenworth,
which was designated as the tem
porary capital by the organic act,
to the Shawnee Mission, thence to
Pawnee, thence to Lecompton and
then;,' repeatedly to Lawrence, not
withstanding that Lecompton was
recognized by the federal govern-
The Indians
Before the white man came, the
. Indians who lived in what is now
the state of' Nebraska, vere of
seven tribes and three different
stocks and they spoke six different
languages.
The Dakota had that part of what
is now Nebraska, which lies north
of the Platte river and west of a line
running in a southwesterly direction
)i and crossing the river at the fork.
The Ponca country lay along .the
Missouri tiver on the north side of
the Niobrara river, partly in what
' is now Nebraska and partly in what
' is now South Dakota.
The Omaha country stretched
from the Missouri river west to the
sand hiils. between the Niobrara riv
er and the Platte.
The country of the united Oto
and Missouri tribes lay along the
Missouri river between the Platte
and the Big Nemaha rivers.
The Pawnee country was west of
the Omaha and Oto, extending from
' the Niobrara south across the sand
hills, the Loup river, the Platte and
the Republican to the Solomon river
- in Kansas. The southwest part of
the present Nebraska was then a part
of the country of the Cheyenne and
i i 1 tAM.tli0r
f rapanuc, who n;i ,.
The Pawnee, Ponca, Omaha and
y Oto and Missouri all lived in fixed
sf 'ft 1 A.. . tUm .(r.-inie ia'hrf
VlliagCS BlUUg l"V- on ...... a,
thev could have wood and water and
could plant their crops in the fertile
soil of, the valleys. Their houses
were of commodious size, built of
. timber framework covered with
-.earth. .
""The traditions of the Dakota,
Ponca, Omaha and Oto indicate
that they migrated from the east
into this country not more than a
few centuries ago: but the traditions
of the Pawnee indicate that they had
occupied for many centuries the
same country they were holding
when white men first saw them.
The Pawnee.
The Pawnee confederacy, compris
ing four bands or tribes, ceded all
their country to the United States
the part south of the Platte river
in 1833, and in 1857 all their re
maining lands save, a reservation
which now comprises all of Nance
county except a tier of six town
ships on the extreme west.
In accordance with an agreement
made in 1874, this 'reservation was
sold during the six years trom leo
to 1884 for $876,148.74. About the
year 1835 their total number was
estimated at 10,000 to 12,000; but,
owing mainly to disease and losses
in war with theft- relentless enemies,
the Dakota, there were only" 2,026
left for removal from Nebraska.
They gradually removed from
their ancestral home on the Loup
eastward nearer the white settle
ments for protection from the Sioux.
In 1859 they were moved from their
two villages situated southeast of
Fremont, to their reservation; but
Nf soon the advancing white settlers
wanted that also, so in the years
1R73 1874. 1875, they were removed
to their present reservation, in Okla
homa. - Omaha Indians.
At the time white men first knew
the Omaha Indians their regular, or
favorite, place of residence had been
vidua tht limit oi ih& icservatioq
"Steady-Going" Compared
ment as the capital and a capitol was
built there with a federal appropria
tion. The .third, fourth and fifth
territorial assemblies adjourned from
Lecompton to Lawrence, and the
laws enacted at the de facto capital
were recognized as valid.
For four of the six years during
which Lecompton was the legal capi
tal Lawrence might more properly
have been regarded as the actual
capital. On the other hand, during
the entire territorial period in Ne
braska, 12 years, Omaha was the
Only capital, and there was only one
attempt to hold a session of the leg
islative assembly elsewhere, and that
was abortive.
"Carpetbaggers."
Owing, in part, at least, to Ne
braska's sparse population at the out
set its territorial officers were nearly
all carpetbaggers. Neither of the
territorial governors was a resident
of the territory at the time of his
appointment, all of the territorial
judges but one were imported from
distant states, the first delegate to
congress was a citizen of Missouri
and not even a resident of Nebraska,
and at least nine members of the first
territorial assembly came from
Iowa and returned to reside there
after the session ended.
While settlers were precluded
from Nebraska because all the lands
were held to belong to Indians at
the time of the territorial organiza
tion, in Kansas strenuous coloniza
tion from the far east on the one
hand and principally from contigu
ous Missouri on the other began im
mediately on the passage of the or
ganic act and was pressed with
great vigor. So that while 2,833
votes were cast in Kansas at the
election of a delegate to congress n
November 29, 1854, only 800 votes
were cast at the election in Nebraska
for the same purpose on December
12. 1854. (
According to the United States
census of 1860. the population of
Kansas was 107.206; of Nebraska.
28,841; in 1870. Kansas. 364,399, Ne
braska, 122,933; in 1880. Kansas.
996,096, Nebraska, 452,402: in 1890.
656; in 1900, Kansas, 1,470,495, Ne-
656: in 1900, Kansas, 1.470,495; Ne
braska. 1,066,300; in 1910. Kansas,
1.690,949, Nebraska, 1,192.214: in
1920. Kansas, 1,769,257, Nebraska,
1,295,502.
So the Nebraska tortoise is catch
ing up with the at first swift Kansas
hare. The gain in Kansas for the
first decade was 239.9 per cent, in
Nebraska 326.5 per cent; for the sec
ond decade, Kansas 173.4, Nebraska
2o7.8; for the third decade; Kansas
43.4. Nebraska 134.9; for the fourth
decade 1890 to 1900, drouth period
Kansas 3, ' Nebraska 34; for the
fifth decade, Kansas 15, Nebraska
11.8; for the sixth decade 1910 to
1920 Kansas 4.6, Nebraska 8.7.
of Nebraska
assigned to them when they ceded
the rest of their lands to the United
States in March, 1854. In 1804 the
Lewis and Glark expedition found
that their village was situated on
Omaha creek about three miles from
;ts mouth, at a point now within Da
kota county. In about 1840, they
were driven by the Dakota from
their old home, and they then set
tled temporarily on the Elkhorn
river, 50 miles to the south. In 1845
for the same reason, they moved
still farther south and east, settling
on the Papillion river, five miles
west of Bellevue, where they re
mained until they were removed in
llllllllllll'il,l,illl.lillllllllillMli!ll'liltltlllilili,liill'l';tilllit'iiltwllltlillllll''llllllllll''ll'lltl''l''l''''l''lllt"i"ll'l
GEORGE L. FISHER
Architect
1604-10 City National Bank Building
OMAHA, NEBRASKA
Telephone Douglas 8755
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WHEAT sA " v EVERY II
For Your Picnic or Outing
take along one of those new Half
Cans of Iten's Graham Crackers
containing about 6 lbs. net of the finest,
tastiest crackers ypu ever ate; and the Half
Can keeps them fresh and fine until used.
Your grocer has the new Half Can of Iten's
Grahams or 'can get it for you quickly.
Half Cans cost 50c each but are returnable at that price or you
may exchange the empty for a full Half Can, paying only for the
crackers therein.
Handy convenient always ready.
Iten's Grahams ThB. w whTw.y Iten's Grahams
, ' . . HCG2
May, 1855, to their reservation,
where they still remain.
Terrors of Smallpox.
Lewis and Clark were informed
that in the year 1800 the Omaha
were reduced, mamlv by smallpox
from about 3.500 to 300. and that in
1894 they numbered 600; but these
estimates are guesses and may not
be correct. In 1836 they had m
creased to 1.400; in 1910 there were
1.276: June 30, 1919, 1,3821,072 of
full blood; 824 acres of the reserva
tion were the unallotted.
The Oto and Missouri Indians
who united many years ago, lived on
the south bank of the Platte river,
njear the site occupied by the town
of Vutan, in Saunders county. This
place is named lor latan, a noted
chief of the tribe who lived in the
first half of the 19th century. In
1833 they ceded to the United States
all their claim or right to land lying
between the Little Nemaha - and
Great Nemaha rivers, and on March
15, 1854, they ceded all the remauv
der of their territory west of the M is
souri river. In part payment for
this cession the Indians received the
tract 25 miles long and 10 miles
wide, intersected by . the Big Blue
river and about 50 -miles southward
from the nearest boundary of the
territory which they conceded they
had the right to sell. The reserva
tion extended two miles into Kansas.
In 1835 these Indians were removed
from their old village to a new home,
also oj the Platte, about seven
miles, in, a direct line southwest
from Bellevue, and a like distance
above the mouth of the Platte river.
There they had a village on each
side of the river, but in 1848 the
savage Sioux forced them to abandon
it and their principal farm on the
north side. -
After that they lived in various
places on the lower Platte, and for
a time on the Missouri river, a little
below Nebraska City, until they
vere removed to their reservation on
the Blue, in July, 1855. Nearly
three-fourths of this reservation
120.000 acres was sold by authori
ty of an act of congress, passed Au
gust 15, 1876, and the remainder was
sold under the act passed March
3, 1881. The price paid for the
land, an average of $5.77 an acre,
amounting to $941,267.13, was :n
vested bv the United States govern
ment for the benefit of the tribe. A
part of it was expended for a new
. . f 4 1 It Irt T
reservation oi uy.iio.iu acres in In
dian territory.
Like their kinsmen, the Omaha,
and the Oto and Missouri, and their
alien neighbors, the Pawnee, the
Ponca were continuously harassed
Do Your Car
a Favor
and Give it a
Real Treat
Have it fixed
right by men
who know how.
Franklin Parts and
Service Rendered
s
E. R. Gavitt
3924 Farnam
Around the Corntr
on Fortieth
by the Dakota, their neighbors on
the north and west, and they were
in constant fear of attack, It was
partly on account of these troubles
with, the Dakota that in 1877, the
Ponca, numbering 717, were removed
to a reservation in Indian Territory
where they still live.
Homesick Indians.
In 1879 65 of these homesick In
dians ran away from their new
home and came back to their old one
in Nebraska, and by 1882, 210 had re
turned. After a great deal of trouble
had been made about it, they were
allowed to slay. In 1836 their num
ber was about 800; in 1919, 642
only 266 of full-blood in Oklahoma
and 338 under the Yankton school.
The forced removal of the Ponca
was .very cruel; yet, largely because
they had always been very friendly
to their white neighbors, the govern
ment of the United States at last
gave them liberal rewards in land
and money. None of these domestic
ttibles Omaha, Oto, Pawnee and
Ponca ever made war upon the
white people; but all of them, and
the Pawnee worst of all, were ad
dicted to stealing, and in following
this habit they often killed their
white victims.
In 1836 a reservation of 400 sec
tions, situated on the south side of I
Koad lo . Mi , j if
Good Things - i ji
To Eat TOT ' B PV M
. fit - , I wcmt$M$
the Great Nemaha, was assigned to
the Sauk and I' ox of the Missouri
river, and a band of the Iowa. About
one-fourth of this land is in the
southeast corner of Nebraska and
the rest of if in Kansas. About four
years later these Indians began
leisurely to move to the reservation.
By 1842. s79 Iowa and 417 Saiik
and Fox had settled there. .In 1916
there were 303 Iowa and S Sauk
and Fox enrolled at the agency in
Germantown; 33 of these lived in
Nebraska, nearly all in Richardson
county; June 30. 1919, there were
335 Iowa and 89 Sauk and Fox, un
Whites Seize Lands
The Winpebago, who also lived in
Minnesota at the time of the Sioux
uprising, were sent to Crow Creek
for the same reason for which the
Santee were removed there; but the
accusation against them was false.
The real reason was that the white
people wanted their fine Minnesota
lands. They, too, refused to stay,
and soon squatted on a part of the
reservation of the Omaha, their
friendly kinsmen. In 1869 a strip of
the north side of the Omaha reser
vation was bought for their perma
nent home. They then numbered
T
cipal ones; if not the principal, is that because of his 20 years' experience
in running restaurants in Omaha Mr. Beatty knows what Omahans like to
eat. He knows that the way to a man's heart is to give him the food he
likes to eat, without making a big dent in his pocketbook.
The first thing one notices upon entering one of the Beatty Cafeterias
is the spotless cleanliness and the thorough ventilation.
Then, as one passes to the serving tables,"' the great variety of dain
tily prepared, energy building foods, displayed so you can make your
choice of the dishes you desire, permits one to get just what they desire to
eat. Here are displayed full-cooked meals, if such are desired, cold
meats and dishes in abundance, delicious salads and desserts, fruits
and pastries.
It looks good and the looks are not deceiving.
There's an amazingly stimulating and refreshing effect in a steam
ing cup of Bea,tty coffee. ' . '
Then, having served yourself, without a lot of fuss and bother, when
one steps up to the cashier it seems impossible that such a delicious meal
could be served for the modest sum you are charged.
THE HENSHAW, 1509 Farnam
HARMONY, 1509 Harney
BEATTY'S, 1805 Farnam
UNEEDA, 115 North 16th
der the Kickapoo school, in Kansas
as their lands have all been allotted.
The Santee were living in Minne
sota at the time of the great Sioux
war on settlers there in 1862. They
were accused of taking part in it and
"were consequently removed to Crow
C reek, in Dakota, in 1863. In April,
1866, they were again removed to a
small reservation on the south side
of the Niobrara river, now in Knox
county. There were 1,350 of them
then; Tune 30, 1919, there were 1,152,
under the Yankton school. Having
all received their lands in severalty.
their agency has been discontinued
1,900; June 30, 1919, there were
1,068, and 728 acres of their reser
vation were unallotted.
In 1830 the strip of land about 10
miles wide, bounded on the east by
the Missouri river, on the north by
the Little Nemaha, and on the south
by the Great Nemaha, containing
143,647.33 acres, wasvset aside for
the use of half-breeds of the Omaha,.
Iowa, Oto, Yankton and Santee
Sioux. These half-hreeds were re
quired to pay the Oto who owned
this land $3,000 about 2 cents an
acre for it. In 1859 this land was
HE natural way to eat is to make a pleasure of it. It is getting so
that folks in the offices downtown in Omaha don't say, "Let's go
an' eat." They are acquiring a habit of saying instead, "Let's go
to Beatty's." And instead of "There's a reason," the folks who
go there know there are reasons and lots of them. One of the prin
divided among these Indians, 589 in
number. Hie land has all been ac
quired by white people.
By the treaty of April 2, 18o8. the
Dakota Indians, who had roamed for
a very long time over the country
now contained in North Dakota and
South Dakota, and often hunted on
the Platte and Republican rivers,
were limited to a' reservation bound
ed on the north by the 4oth parallel
of latitude, which is not far north
of ' the boundary between the two
Dakotas; on the cast by the Mis
souri river, down to the mouth of
the Niobrara; its southern boundary
extended along the Niobrara and
Keyapaha rivers, to the 43d parallel,
and along that parallel to the 104th
meridian, which was the western
boundary of the reservation and also
of South Dakota. The people of
Nebraska protested against the per
mission which the treaty gave the
hostile Indians to trespass on their
state; and on the 26th of September,
1876, another agreement was made
by which the Dakota gave up for
ever all right to come into Nebraska.
J he Sioux were the most populous
Indian family, except the Aleon-
quians, north of Mexico. They num
bered 40.NI0, the AlROnqiuans, 90,-
00050,000 of whom lived in the
United States and 40,000 in Canada.
The Dakota numbered 28.780 in
mm Eat in the one most coave
r tha aama excallant lai
1904, most of them on reservations
in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Mon
tana. According to the report of
the commissioner of Indian affairs
for 191, there were then about 35.
000. of whom 20,000 were in South
Dakota. They were a family of con
querors and superior . physically,
mentally and morally to any other
western tribe.
Only the Omaha and Winnebago,
2,448, are now reported as distinct
Indian residents of Nebraf.ka.
By the treaty of February 18, 1861,
the Southern or Arkansas, Cheyenne
and Arapaho ceded all their country
to the United States, except the
small temporary reservation in Colo
rado, which they ceded October 14,
18o8.
Two yean later a reservation in
Indian Territory was assigned to
them. The country they ceded ex
tended westward from the Pawnee
country to the North Platte, whose
course at first is northward, and
from the same river on the north
as far southward as the Arkansas.
Tt now forms a part of the states of
Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, nd
Kansas. In 1865 there were 3,300
Arapahoe 1,800 at the Wyoming
agency and 1,500 at the upper Ar
kansas agency. ..
Agitation in Missouri in the 1st
(Turn to Paa Four.)
