Maple creek. In 1874 or 1875 we were visited by grasshoppers. I had
never formed an idea of anything so disastrous. When the "hoppers" were
flying the air was full of them. As one looked up, they seemed like a
severe snow storm. It must have been like one of the plagues of Egypt.
They were so bad one day that the passenger train on the Union Pacific
was stalled here. I went to see the train and the odor from the crushed
insects was nauseating. I think the train was kept here for three hours.
The engine was besmeared with them. It was a very wonderful sight. The
rails and ground were covered with the pests. They came into the houses
and one lady went into her parlor one day and found her lace curtains on
the floor, almost entirely eaten. Mrs. George Turner said that she came
home from town one day when the "hoppers" were flying and they were so
thick that the horses could not find the barn. Mrs. Turner's son had a
field of corn. W. R. Wilson offered him fifty dollars for it. When he
began to husk it, there was no corn there. A hired man of Mrs. Turner's
threw his vest on the ground. When he had finished his work and picked
up the vest it was completely riddled by the grasshoppers. I heard one
man say that he was out riding with his wife and they stopped by a field
of wheat where the "hoppers" were working and they could hear their
mandibles working on the wheat. When they flew it sounded like a train
of cars in motion. Horses would not face them unless compelled. One year
I had an eighty acre field of corn which was being cultivated. The men
came in and said the "hoppers" were taking the corn. They did not stay
long, but when they left no one would have known that there had ever
been any corn in that field. My brother from California came in 1876. On
the way to the farm a thunder storm came up and we stopped at a friend's
until it was over. My brother said, "I would not go through the
experience again for $10,000, and I would not lose the experience for
the same amount." The "hoppers" came before the storm and were thick on
the ground. It was a wonderful experience. In those days we cut our
small grain with "headers." The grain head was cut and fell into boxes
on wagons. After dinner one day, the men went out to find the
grasshoppers in full possession. A coat which had been left hanging was
completely destroyed. Gardens and field crops were their delight. They
would eat an onion entirely out of the hard outer skin. I had a thirty
acre field of oats which looked fine on Saturday. We could not harvest
it then and on Monday it looked like an inverted whisk broom. Some of
the "hoppers" were three inches long. The backs were between brown and
slate color and underneath was white. I think we received visits from
them for five years.
EARLY DAYS IN FREMONT
BY MRS. THERON NYE
From the year 1856 until the beginning of the civil war in 1861 the
early settlers of Nebraska experienced nearly all of the ills and
hardships incidental to a pioneer life. Fifty years have passed since
then and to one having lived through those trying days--or to a stranger
who merely listens to the almost incredulous tales of a past
generation--there arises a question as to why any sane person or persons
should desire to leave a land of comparative comfort and plenty for one
of deprivation and possible starvation.
The early settlers of Fremont were for the most part young people from
the eastern states, full of ambition and hope. There is in the youthful
heart a spirit of energy, of doing and daring in order to realize, if
possible, dreams of a perhaps glorious future in which may be won honor
and fame and wealth. Then again the forces of nature are never at rest
and man, being a part of the great whole, must inevitably keep in step
with the universal law. A few lines written for a paper several years
ago give the first impression of the landscape which greeted the eyes of
a stranger on entering the valley of the Elkhorn river in 1858, April
26:
"This is the picture as I see it plainly in retrospect--a country, and
it was all a country, with a smooth, level, gray surface which appeared
to go on toward the west forever and forever. On the north were the
bluffs of the Elkhorn river, but the great Elkhorn Valley was a part of
an unknown world. South of the little townsite of Fremont the Platte
river moved sluggishly along to meet and be swallowed up in the great
Missouri. Ten or twelve log cabins broke the monotony of the treeless
expanse that stretched far away, apparently to a leaden sky. My heart
sank within me as I thought but did not say, 'How can I ever live in a
place like this?'" And yet the writer of the above lines has lived in
Fremont for forty-seven years.
The histories of the world are chiefly men's histories. They are
stories of governments, of religions, of wars, and only in exceptional
instances has woman appeared to hold any important place in the affairs
of nations. From the earliest settlement of the colonies in the new
world until the present time, women have not only borne with bravery and
fortitude the greater trials of the pioneer life, but from their
peculiar organization and temperament suffered more from the small
annoyances than their stronger companions of the other sex. The
experiences of the home and family life of the early settlers of the
great West have never entered into the annals of history nor can a
truthful story be told without them, but thus far no doubt the apparent
neglect has been due to woman herself, who until quite recently has felt
that she was a small factor in the world's affairs.
In the beginning of the new life in Fremont women had their first
introduction to the log cabin which was to be their home for many years.
It was not as comfortable as it looks picturesque and romantic printed
on paper. It was a story and a half high, sixteen by twenty feet in
size. The logs were hewn on two sides, but the work performed by the
volunteer carpenters of that time was not altogether satisfactory,
consequently the logs did not fit closely but the open spaces between
were filled with a sort of mortar that had a faculty of gradually
dropping off as it dried, leaving the original holes and openings
through which the winter winds whistled and Nebraska breezes blew the
dirt.
The houses were made of cottonwood logs and finished with cottonwood
lumber. The shingles warped so the roof somewhat resembled a sieve. The
rain dripped through it in summer and snow sifted through it in winter.
The floors were made of wide rough boards, the planing and polishing
given by the broom, the old-fashioned mop, and the scrubbing brush. The
boards warped and shrunk so that the edges turned up, making wide cracks
in the floor through which many small articles dropped down into a large
hole in the ground miscalled a cellar. It was hardly possible to keep
from freezing in these houses in winter. Snow sifted through the roof,
covering beds and floors. The piercing winds blew through every crack
and crevice. Green cottonwood was the only fuel obtainable and that
would sizzle and fry in the stove while water froze standing under the
stove. This is no fairy tale.
The summers were not much more pleasant. It must be remembered that
there were no trees in Fremont, nothing that afforded the least
protection from the hot rays of a Nebraska sun. Mosquitoes and flies
were in abundance, and door screens were unknown at that time. The
cotton netting nailed over windows and hung over and around the beds was
a slight protection from the pests, although as the doors must
necessarily be opened more or less no remedy could be devised that would
make any perceptible improvement. To submit was the rule and the law in
those days, but many, many times it was done under protest.
The first floor was divided or partitioned off, by the use of quilts or
blankets, into a kitchen, bedroom, and pantry. The chamber, or what
might be called attic, was also partitioned in the same way, giving as
many rooms as it would hold beds. The main articles of food for the
first two years consisted of potatoes, corn meal, and bacon. The meal
was made from a variety of corn raised by the Indians and called Pawnee
corn. It was very soft, white, and palatable. Wheat flour was not very
plentiful the first year. Bacon was the only available meat.
Occasionally a piece of buffalo meat was obtained, but it being very
hard to masticate only served to make a slight change in the gravy,
which was otherwise made with lard and flour browned together in an iron
frying pan, adding boiling water until it was of the right consistency,
salt and pepper to suit the taste. This mixture was used for potatoes
and bread of all kinds. Lard was a necessity. Biscuits were made of
flour, using a little corn meal for shortening and saleratus for
raising. Much of the corn was ground in an ordinary coffee mill or in
some instances rubbed on a large grater or over a tin pan with a
perforated bottom, made so by driving nails through it. The nearest
flouring mill was at Fort Calhoun, over forty miles away, which was then
a three days' journey, taking more time than a trip to California at the
present day. Nothing, however, could be substituted for butter. The lack
of meat, sugar, eggs and fruit, tea and coffee, was borne patiently, but
wheat flour and corn meal bread with its everlasting lard gravy
accompaniment was more than human nature could bear, yet most of the
people waxed strong and flourished on bread and grease. Oh, where are
the students of scientific research and domestic economy? There were
possibly three or four cows in the settlement, and if there was ever an
aristocracy in Fremont, it was represented by the owners of said cows.
In 1858 a little sorghum was raised. "Hope springs eternal in the human
breast." Men, women, and children helped to prepare the stalks when at
the right stage for crushing, which was done with a very primitive
home-made machine. The juice obtained was boiled down to syrup, but
alas, the dreams of a surfeit of sweetness vanished into thin air, for
the result of all the toil and trouble expended was a production so
nauseous that it could not be used even for vinegar.
Wild plums and grapes grew in profusion on the banks of the rivers.
There was much more enjoyment in gathering the fruit than in eating or
cooking it. The plums were bitter and sour, the grapes were sour and
mostly seeds, and sugar was not plentiful.
The climate was the finest in the world for throat and lung troubles,
but on the breaking up of the soil malaria made its appearance and many
of the inhabitants suffered from ague and fever. Quinine was the only
remedy. There were neither physicians nor trained nurses here, but all
were neighbors and friends, always ready to help each other when the
occasion required.
In 1856, the year in which Fremont was born, the Pawnee Indians were
living four miles south across the Platte river on the bluffs in
Saunders county. They numbered about four thousand and were a constant
source of annoyance and fear. In winter they easily crossed the river on
the ice and in summer the water most of the time was so low they could
swim and wade over, consequently there were few days in the year that
they did not visit Fremont by the hundred. Weeks and months passed
before women and children became accustomed to them and they could never
feel quite sure that they were harmless. Stealing was their forte. Eyes
sharp and keen were ever on the alert when they were present, yet when
they left almost invariably some little article would be missed. They
owned buffalo robes and blankets for which the settlers exchanged
clothing which they did not need, jewelry, beads, and ornaments, with a
little silver coin intermixed. The blankets and robes were utilized for
bedding and many were the shivering forms they served to protect from
the icy cold of the Nebraska winters. In 1859 the government moved them
to another home on the Loup river and in 1876 they were removed to
Indian territory.
Snakes of many kinds abounded, but rattlesnakes were the most numerous.
They appeared to have a taste for domestic life, as many were found in
houses and cellars. A little four-year-old boy one sunny summer day ran
out of the house bare-footed, and stepping on the threshold outside the
door felt something soft and cold to his feet. An exclamation of
surprise caused a member of the household to hasten to the door just in
time to see a young rattlesnake gliding swiftly away. In several
instances they were found snugly ensconced under pillows, on lounges,
and very frequently were they found in cellars.
For more than two years there was no way of receiving or sending mail
only as one or another would make a trip to Omaha, which was usually
once a week. In 1859 a stage line was put on between Omaha and Fort
Kearny. No one can tell with what thankfulness and rejoicing each and
every improvement in the condition and surroundings was greeted by the
settlers. Dating from the discovery of gold in Colorado the pioneer was
no more an object of pity or sympathy. Those who had planted their
stakes and made their claims along the old military and California trail
were independent. Many of the emigrants became discouraged and turned
their faces homeward before getting a glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. On
their way home they sold loads of provisions for a song. The same fall
the fertile soil of the Platte Valley, after two years of cultivation,
responded to the demand of civilization. There was a market west for
every bushel of grain and every pound of vegetables grown. So at least
the patient and persevering ones received their reward.
The sources of amusement were few, and yet all enjoyed the strange new
life. A pleasant ride over the level prairie dotted with wild flowers,
in any sort of vehicle drawn by a pair of oxen, was as enjoyable to the
young people then as a drive over the country would now be in the finest
turnout that Fremont possesses. A dance in a room twelve by sixteen feet
in a log cabin, to the music of the Arkansas Traveler played on one
violin, was "just delightful." A trip to Omaha once or twice a year was
a rare event in the woman's life particularly. Three days were taken,
two to drive in and out, and one to do a little trading (not shopping)
and look around to view the sights. A span of horses, a lumber wagon
with a spring seat in front high up in the air, was the conveyance.
Women always wore sunbonnets on these occasions to keep their complexion
fair.
Several times in the earlier years the Mormons passed through here with
long trains of emigrants journeying to the promised land, and a sorry
lot they were, for the most of them were footsore and weary, as they all
walked. The train was made up of emigrant covered wagons drawn by oxen,
and hand carts drawn by cows, men and women, and dogs. It was a sight
never to be forgotten.
This is merely a short description of some of the trials and sufferings
endured by the majority of the early settlers of this state. Many of the
actors in the drama have passed away, a few only now remaining, and soon
the stories of their lives will be to the coming generation like
forgotten dreams.
PIONEER WOMEN OF OMAHA
BY MRS. CHARLES H. FISETTE
Very few of those now living in Omaha can have any realization of the
privations, not to say hardships, that were endured by the pioneer women
who came here at an early date. A few claim shanties were scattered at
distant intervals over this beautiful plateau, and were eagerly taken by
those who were fortunate enough to secure them. There was seldom more
than one room in them, so that no servants could be kept, even if there
were any to be had. Many an amusing scene could have been witnessed if
the friends who had been left behind could have peeped in at the door
and have seen the attempts made at cooking by those who never had cooked
before.
A description of one of the homes might be of interest. A friend of ours
owned a claim shanty that stood on the hill west of what is now
Saunders, or Twenty-fourth street, and he very kindly offered it to us,
saying he would have it plastered and fixed up. We, of course, accepted
it at once and as soon as possible it was made ready and we moved into
it late one evening, very happy to have a home. The house consisted of
upstairs, downstairs, and a cellar, the upstairs being just high enough
for one to stand erect in the center of the room, provided one was not
very tall. The stairs were nothing but a ladder, home-made at that, in
one corner of the room, held in place by a trunk. It was some time
before I succeeded in going up and down gracefully. I happened to be
upstairs when our first caller came and in my effort to get down quickly
caught my feet in one of the rungs of the ladder and landed on the
aforementioned trunk so suddenly that it brought everyone in the room to
their feet. It took away all the formality of an introduction.
Mr. and Mrs. Hanscom lived half a mile north of the cottage just
described, and had what seemed to others a house that was almost
palatial. It contained three rooms, besides a kitchen, and had many
comforts that few had in those days, including a cradle, which held a
rosy-cheeked, curly-headed baby girl, who has long since grown to
womanhood and had babies of her own. Another home, standing where
Creighton College now stands, was built by a nephew of the late Rev.
Reuben Gaylord, but was afterwards occupied by Mr. and Mrs. W. N. Byers,
who have for many years resided in Colorado. The Gaylords moved from
there to a new home at Eleventh and Jackson streets. Their family
consisted of three children: Mrs. S. C. Brewster, of Irvington, who is
still living at the age of 77 years; a son, Ralph Gaylord; and an
adopted daughter, Georgia, who has since died.
[Illustration: MRS. CHARLOTTE F. PALMER
First State Regent, Nebraska Society, Daughters of the American
Revolution. 1894-1895]
A one story house built just in the rear of Tootle and Mauls' store on
Farnam, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth streets, was kept as a
boarding house by Kentucky Wood and his wife. It was considered a
high-toned boarding house, although the partitions were made of
unbleached cloth and the floor of the dining room was covered with
sawdust. Judges Lockwood and Bradley, two of our territorial judges,
boarded there and a dinner was given in their honor by the landlord. The
invited guests included Governor and Mrs. Cuming, Colonel and Mrs. C. B.
Smith, and Dr. Geo. L. Miller. That was the first dinner party ever
given in Omaha. Governor and Mrs. Cuming then boarded at the Douglas
house, Thirteenth and Harney streets, and their rooms were often filled
with the elite of this young and growing city. Mrs. Cuming was very
popular in the little gatherings which were frequently held. She was the
leading light and was always ready and willing to assist in any good
work. Wherever there was sickness she was sure to be found. Mrs. Thomas
Davis was another who was always doing little acts of kindness. She was
the mother of the late Mrs. Herman Kountze, who, at that time, was the
only white little girl in Omaha. Still another who never turned anyone
away from her door who needed help was Mrs. E. Estabrook.
Mrs. A. D. Jones, our first postmaster's wife, lived at that time at
what was called Park Wild, in a one story log and frame house, which was
afterwards occupied by General G. M. Dodge, the distinguished soldier,
so well and widely known to the whole country as the chief engineer of
the Union Pacific railroad. Among others who were here were Mrs. Edwin
Patrick and Mrs. Allen Root, also Mrs. T. G. Goodwill, who lived in the
Kentucky Wood house that I have already mentioned. She afterwards built
the brick house that still stands near the northwest corner of
Davenport street, facing south. It is an old landmark near Fifteenth
street.
One of the most prominent women of that day was Mrs. John M. Thayer,
whose home at that time was said to have been the first civilized
appearing home. It was plastered, clapboarded, and shingled. The entire
community envied Mrs. Thayer her somewhat imposing residence. It was in
very strong contrast, however, with the beautiful brick house which
General Thayer afterwards built and occupied for several years, on the
northeast corner of Sixteenth and Davenport streets.
Mrs. Samuel Rogers, Mrs. William Snowden, Mrs. Thomas O'Conner, Mrs. O.
B. Selden, Mrs. Hadley Johnson, and Mrs. Harrison Johnson were among the
first women who lived in Omaha. Mrs. A. J. Poppleton may be classed
among the number, although at that time she was living in Council
Bluffs, then called Kanesville, where she was one of the leading young
ladies.
The first hotel in Omaha, a log house, eighteen by twenty feet, one
story high, was named the St. Nicholas. It was first occupied by the
family of Wm. P. Snowden, and stood on the corner of Twelfth and Jackson
streets in 1855. The Douglas house, a two story frame building, was
erected at the southwest corner of Thirteenth and Harney streets. The
rear part was made of cottonwood slabs, and in the winter time it was
said to have been very cold. It was the leading hotel and all the
high-toned people stopped there. The Tremont house, between Thirteenth
and Fourteenth streets, was built in 1856, and opened by Wm. F. Sweezy
and Aaron Root. Mr. Sweezy is still living in Omaha. The Farnham,
between Thirteenth and Fourteenth on Harney, was built in 1858. The
famous Herndon house was built in 1856 by Dr. Geo. L. Miller and Lyman
Richardson. The Hamilton, a brick building, was erected in 1856 by C. W.
Hamilton, C. B. Smith, and H. M. Judson. The proprietors bought their
furniture in St. Louis and brought it to Omaha by steamboat. The upper
part of the house was one large bedroom with beds ranged against the
walls. About once a week the furniture was all removed from this room
and it was temporarily converted into a ballroom.
A PIONEER FAMILY
BY EDITH ERMA PURVIANCE
Dr. Wm. Washington Wiley, with his wife, Gertrude Miranda Wiley, and
their children, came to Nebraska July 6, 1857, and lived at Saratoga
(now in Omaha) a year and a half. They came from Ohio in covered wagons,
driving their cows along. It took two months to make the trip.
They caught up with a company of Mormon emigrants when they reached Iowa
City, Iowa, three or four hundred of whom camped along about five miles
ahead of the Wiley family. They stopped at Florence a few weeks to buy
provisions and teams to carry them across the plains to Utah. These
Mormons had two-wheeled carts. These carts were provision carts drawn by
both men and women.