About the middle of January, 1875, the residents of Lincoln were greatly
startled at seeing a man, shoeless and coatless, mounted on a horse
without saddle or bridle, coming down Eleventh street at full speed, and
crying at the top of his voice, "Mutiny at the pen!" The man proved to
be a guard from the penitentiary heralding the news of this outbreak and
calling for help. The prisoners had taken advantage of the absence of
Warden Woodhurst, overpowered Deputy Warden C. J. Nobes, bound and
gagged the guard. The leader, Quinn Bohanan, disrobed the deputy warden,
exchanged his own for the clothing and hat of the deputy, and produced
the effect of a beard with charcoal. This disguise was all so complete
that the guards did not detect the ruse when the prisoners were marched
through the yards, supposed to be in charge of the deputy. When on the
inside of the prison they used the warden's family as hostages and took
possession of the arsenal, and were soon in command of the situation.
The man on horseback had spread the news through the city in a very
short time and soon hundreds of men with all kinds of guns had left
their places of business and gone to the penitentiary, which they
surrounded, holding the prisoners within the walls.
The governor wired for a detail from the regulars, stationed at Fort
Omaha, and with all possible haste they were rushed to the scene. They
were soon in charge of the situation, and negotiations were begun for a
restoration of normal conditions, which result was attained in three
days' time.
During all this time Warden Woodhurst was on the outside of the walls
and his brave little wife, with their two small children, were on the
inside. Mrs. Woodhurst used all the diplomacy at her command to save her
own life and that of the two children. She and the children had served
as shields to the prisoners, protecting them from the bullets of the
soldiers on the firing line around the penitentiary.
The incident closed without loss of life to citizen or prisoner, but has
left a lasting impression on the minds of those who were present.
LINCOLN IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES
BY (MRS. O. C.) MINNIE DEETTE POLLEY BELL
In the spring of 1874 my father, Hiram Polley, came from Ohio to
Lincoln, I being a young lady of nineteen years. To say that the new
country with its vast prairies, so different from our beautiful timber
country, produced homesickness, would be putting it mildly. My parents
went on to a farm near what is now the town of Raymond, I remaining in
Lincoln with an aunt, Mrs. Watie E. Gosper. My father built the barn as
soon as possible and this was used for the house until after the crops
were put in, then work was begun on the house that they might have it
before cold weather.
The first trouble that came was the devastating plague of grasshoppers
which swept over this section of the country in the years 1874 and 1875.
Not long after this a new trouble was upon us. The day dawned bright and
fair, became hotter and more still, until presently in the distance
there could be seen the effects of a slight breeze; this however was
only the advance of a terrible windstorm. When the hurricane had passed,
the barn, which only a few months before had served as the house, was in
ruins. Undaunted, my father set about to rebuild the barn, which still
remains on the farm; the farm, however, is now owned by other parties.
In the winter of 1875 there was quite a fall of snow, and one of the
funny sights was a man driving down O street with a horse hitched to a
rocking chair. Everything that could be used for a sleigh was pressed
into service. This was a strange sight to me, having come from Ohio
where we had from three to four months of sleighing with beautiful
sleighs and all that goes to make up a merry time.
During this winter many were using corn for fuel and great quantities
were piled on the ground, which of course made rats very plentiful--so
much so that when walking on the streets at dusk one would almost have
to kick them out of the way or wait for them to pass.
In the course of time a young man appeared upon the scene, and on
December 10, 1874, I was married to Ortha C. Bell. We were married in
the house which now stands at the northeast corner of Twelfth and M
streets, then the home of my aunt, Mrs. Gosper. Four children were born
to us: the first, a daughter, dying in infancy; the second, Jennie
Bell-Ringer, of Lincoln; the third, a son, Ray Hiram Bell, dying at the
age of three; and the fourth, a daughter, Hazel Bell-Smith. Two
grandchildren have come to brighten our lives, DeEtte Bell Smith and
Edmund Burke Smith. Our home at 931 D street, which we built in 1886, is
still occupied by us.
A PIONEER BABY SHOW
BY (MRS. FRANK I.) JENNIE BELL-RINGER
I am a Nebraska product, having been born in the city of Lincoln, just
across the street from the state university, on R street, between
Eleventh and Twelfth.
When yet very young my proud mother entered me in an old-fashioned baby
show which was held in the old opera house, known as "The Hallo Opera
House." This show was not conducted as the "Better Babies" contest of
today is conducted, but rather along the line of a game of chance. The
judges went around and talked and played with the various babies. The
baby that made the best impression on the judges, or perhaps, more
correctly speaking, the baby that was on its good behavior, was the one
that made the best impression on the judges.
To make a long story short, I evidently, at that tender age, knew when
to put on my company manners, and when the prizes were awarded, I held
the lucky number and rode away in a handsome baby buggy, the first
prize.
The second prize was awarded to John Dean Ringer, second son of Mr. and
Mrs. Bradford Ringer. The third prize was given to Harry Hardenburg; and
an impromptu fourth prize was awarded to a colored baby.
The day I was married my newly acquired brother, in bestowing good
wishes upon me, said there was only one fault he had to find with me,
and upon inquiry as to what that might be, he answered, "You took the
first prize away from me at the baby show."
[Illustration: BOULDER AT FORT CALHOUN
Commemorating the Council of Lewis and Clark with the Otoe and Missouri
Indians, August 3, 1804. Erected by the Daughters of the American
Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Nebraska State
Historical Society]
MARKING THE SITE OF THE LEWIS AND CLARK COUNCIL AT FORT CALHOUN
BY MRS. LAURA B. POUND
Looking backward for thirteen years, it is difficult for me to realize
that at the beginning of my fourth term as state regent, in 1902, there
were as yet only two chapters of the Daughters of the American
Revolution in Nebraska. From 1894 to 1902 there had been three other
state regents besides myself; and it was surely through no lack of
diligence or patriotism that the organization grew so slowly. Mrs. S. C.
Langworthy had been appointed organizing regent at Seward in 1896; Mrs.
J. A. Cline at Minden, and Mrs. Sarah G. Bates at Long Pine in 1897; and
Miss Anna Day at Beatrice in 1899. The total membership in the state
probably did not exceed two hundred and fifty, and these, with the
exception of the regents already named, belonged to the Deborah Avery
and the Omaha chapters.
In 1899, Mrs. Eliza Towle reported to the president general and the
national board of management that the Omaha chapter had decided to place
a monument at Fort Calhoun--undoubtedly at the suggestion of Mrs.
Harriet S. MacMurphy, who was much interested in the early history of
that place.
As the hundredth anniversary of the acquisition of the Louisiana
territory approached, and interest began to center around the expedition
of Lewis and Clark, it was found that the only point touched in Nebraska
by these explorers which could be positively identified was old Council
Bluff, near Fort Calhoun; and here the Omaha chapter had decided to
erect a monument. At a meeting of the Omaha chapter in 1901, the state
regent directed the attention of the members to this fact, and it was
voted to enlarge the scope of the undertaking, to make the marking of
the site a state affair, and to ask the coˆperation of the Sons of the
American Revolution and of the State Historical Society. This action was
ratified at the first conference of the Daughters of the American
Revolution held in Nebraska, the meeting having been called especially
for that purpose, in October, 1902. A committee in conjunction with the
Sons of the American Revolution asked the state legislature of 1903 for
a sum of five thousand dollars to buy the site of Fort Atkinson and to
erect a suitable monument, under the auspices of the Sons and the
Daughters of the American Revolution, the monument to be erected
according to plans and specifications furnished by the two societies.
Disappointed by the failure of the legislature to make the desired
appropriation but in no way discouraged, the Daughters of the American
Revolution at the second state conference, held in October, 1903, voted
to observe the anniversary of the first official council held by Lewis
and Clark with the Indians in the Louisiana territory, and to
commemorate the event by placing a Nebraska boulder upon the site. As
chairman of the committee, it fell to my lot to raise the money and to
find the boulder; and it is with pleasure that I record the ease with
which the first part of my duty was accomplished. The Deborah Avery
chapter gave seventy-five dollars, the Omaha chapter one hundred, and
the two new chapters organized in 1902, Quivira of Fairbury and
Lewis-Clark of Fremont, raised the sum to two hundred, each promising
more if it was needed.
To find a Nebraska boulder was more difficult; and it was still more
difficult to find a firm in Nebraska willing to undertake to raise it
from its native bed and to carve upon it the insignia of the D. A. R.,
with a suitable inscription. Finally a boulder of Sioux Falls granite
was found in the Marsden farm, north of Lincoln, and it was given to the
society by the owner, who remarked that he was "glad to be rid of it."
Its dimensions were 7-1/2x8-1/3x3-1/2 feet. Its weight was between seven
and eight tons. The firm of Kimball Brothers of Lincoln took the
contract for its removal and inscription. Through the assistance of Mr.
A. E. Sheldon of the State Historical Society, the Burlington and
Missouri railroad generously transported it to Fort Calhoun, where its
placing was looked after by Mr. J. H. Daniels of the Sons of the
American Revolution. As the project had drifted away from the original
intention, and had become a memorial to commemorate an event rather than
to mark a spot, the boulder was placed on the public school grounds at
Fort Calhoun. At last, almost five years from the time of the broaching
of the project, the wish of the society was accomplished.
The following condenses an account of the unveiling of the boulder, and
the program, from the report of Miss Anna Tribell Adams of the Omaha
chapter for the _American Monthly_ of January, 1905:
"On August 3, 1904, the village of Fort Calhoun, fifteen miles above
Omaha on the Missouri river, was the scene of the unveiling of a boulder
commemorating the first peace council between the United States
government and the chiefs of the Otoe and Missouri Indian tribes. The
town as well as the school grounds were brave with bunting and flags.
Everyone wore with a small flag the souvenir button on which was a
picture of the boulder with a suitable inscription. As a matter of
history it is a pleasure to record that the button was designed by Mrs.
Elsie De Cou Troup of the Omaha chapter. One worn by one of the speakers
is in the collection of the Deborah Avery chapter in the rooms of the
State Historical Society at Lincoln.
"Among those present were Brigadier General Theodore Wint, representing
the United States government, Governor J. H. Mickey, Adjutant General
and Mrs. J. H. Culver, Mr. J. A. Barrett and Mr. A. E. Sheldon of the
State Historical Society, Senator J. H. Millard, ex-Governor J. E. Boyd,
and others.
"The Thirtieth Infantry band from Fort Calhoun opened the program. Then
came a brief reproduction, in pageant-manner, by the Knights of
Ak-Sar-Ben of Omaha, of the Council of 1804, enacting the Lewis and
Clark treaty. Mr. Edward Rosewater of the Omaha _Bee_ extended the
welcome of the day, and brought to the attention of the audience the
presence of Mr. Antoine Cabney, the first white child born in Nebraska,
whose birthplace, in 1827, was near the site of Fort Calhoun. The state
regent, Mrs. Abraham Allee, introduced Governor Mickey, who spoke
briefly. He was followed by J. A. Barrett of the State Historical
Society, who gave an account of the Lewis and Clark Council. Honorable
W. F. Gurley of Omaha then delivered the address of the day. At the
conclusion of the formal program the boulder was unveiled. In the
presentation speech by Mrs. S. B. Pound of Lincoln, the boulder was
committed formally, in the name of the Sons and the Daughters of the
American Revolution and of the State Historical Society, to the care of
the citizens of Fort Calhoun."
EARLY HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY
BY MAJOR LESTER WALKER
(Late captain Fifth U. S. Cavalry and brevet major U. S. Army)
It is supposed that the first white men who visited Lincoln county were
the Mallet brothers, who passed this way to Santa Fe in 1739. Pierre and
Auguste Chouteau were sent out from St. Louis to explore the
northwestern country in 1762. In 1780 another expedition was sent to
explore the country between the Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains.
After the expedition of Lewis and Clark, which followed up the Missouri
river, the first government expedition was made in 1819, under Major
Stephen H. Long, who traveled up the north side of the Platte and
crossed just above the forks of the two rivers, then going up the valley
between the two streams to the site of the present town of North Platte.
Titian Peale, the naturalist of Philadelphia, was with this expedition
and the Peale family living at North Platte, are relatives of his. In
1835, Col. Henry Dodge visited this section of the country in the
government employ to treat with the Arikara Indians.
In 1843, Col. John C. Fremont, making his expedition up the Platte,
celebrated the Fourth of July of that year, in what is now Lincoln
county. During the year 1844 travel up the Platte river became quite
heavy and the first building in the county was erected by a Frenchman
(name unknown) near the present residence of Mrs. Burke at Fort
McPherson, and was used as a trading ranch, but was abandoned in 1848.
In 1852, a man by the name of Brady settled on the south side of the
island now known as Brady Island. Brady is supposed to have been killed
some time during the following year by the Indians.
In 1858, the first permanent settlement in the county was made at
Cottonwood Springs and the first building was erected in the fall of the
year by Boyer & Roubidoux. I. P. Boyer had charge of this ranch. In the
same year another trading ranch was built at O'Fallon's Bluffs on the
south side of the river. In 1859 Dick Darling erected the second
building at Cottonwood Springs. This building was purchased by Charles
McDonald for a store, and he stocked it with general merchandise. In
1860, Mr. McDonald brought his wife from Omaha, she being the first
white woman to settle in Lincoln county. Mrs. McDonald lived here about
three years before another white woman settled at Cottonwood Springs.
Mr. McDonald is now living at North Platte, engaged in the banking
business. Mrs. McDonald died in December, 1898, and is buried at North
Platte.
In the spring of 1860, J. A. Morrow built a ranch about twelve miles
west from Cottonwood, to accommodate the great rush to California. To
give some idea of the extent of the freight and emigrant business along
this route, it was no uncommon thing to count from seven hundred to one
thousand wagons passing in one day.
During the year 1861, the Creighton telegraph line was completed through
the county. In June, 1861, the first white child was born. His name is
W. H. McDonald, son of Chas. McDonald, now of North Platte, Nebraska.
In the spring of 1860, W. M. Hinman removed from Port Laramie to
Cottonwood Springs, and opened up a farm, trading with the emigrants and
Indians. In November, 1863, Fort McPherson was established by the
government at this settlement of Cottonwood Springs. This military post
was first commanded by Major George M. O'Brien.
Fort McPherson was established none too soon, for it was in the
following year, 1864, that the war with the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians
commenced. This war continued for over five years and many emigrants and
soldiers were killed.
What is now known as Lincoln county, was first organized as a county
under the territorial government of Nebraska in 1860. Cottonwood Springs
was made the county-seat. The following officers were elected: County
commissioners--I. P. Boyer, J. C. Gilman and J. A. Morrow;
judge--Charles McDonald; treasurer--W. M. Hinman. Instead of calling the
county Lincoln, it was named "Shorter." Nothing, however, was done under
this organization. Judge McDonald qualified and the only business was
the marriage ceremony.
On September 3, 1866, a meeting was held and arrangements made to
reorganize Shorter county under the name of Lincoln county. Under the
reorganization, the following officers were elected: J. C. Gilman, W. M.
Hinman, and J. A. Morrow were elected county commissioners; S. D.
Fitchie, county judge; Wilton Baker, sheriff; and Charles McDonald,
clerk. The county seat was at Cottonwood Springs. W. M. Hinman built a
sawmill near Cottonwood Springs and did a large business. The Union
Pacific railroad was then being constructed through this county and the
caÒons south of the Platte abounded with cedar timber, furnishing an
abundance of material.
During November, 1866, the Union Pacific railroad was completed to North
Platte and a town was laid out by the railroad company. The plat of the
town was filed with the clerk of the county on January 31, 1867; a
military post was established, and a garrison of soldiers was stationed
here.
In 1867 the Union Pacific railroad began the erection of shops and
roundhouse, North Platte having been designated as a division station.
During the year 1867, a freight train was wrecked by the Indians.
Several of the trainmen were killed and the train plundered and burned.
In September, 1867, the Indian chiefs were all called to assemble at
North Platte, where they were met by the commissioners appointed by the
government to treat with them. These commissioners were General Sherman,
General Harney, and John P. Sanborne, and a treaty of peace was entered
into. During the stay of these commissioners, they were well entertained
by the citizens of North Platte. The county-seat was moved from
Cottonwood Springs to North Platte at an election held October 8, 1867.
A total of twenty-one votes were cast. The officers elected were B. I.
Hinman, representative; W. M. Hinman, county judge; Charles McDonald,
clerk; O. O. Austin, sheriff; Hugh Morgan, treasurer, and A. J. Miller,
county commissioner. There was no courthouse, and the records were kept
at the home of W. M. Hinman, who had moved from his farm to North
Platte. The first county warrant was issued in 1867. The first term of
district court was held at North Platte in 1867, Judge Gantt then being
the circuit judge for the entire state. July 1, 1867, the first levy on
the Union Pacific railroad in Lincoln county was made on an assessed
valuation of $49,000.00.
During this year, there was an Indian scare and settlers throughout the
county thronged to the military parks at McPherson and North Platte,
taking refuge in the railroad roundhouse at the latter place.
The first money collected from fines was that paid into the county
treasury on February 1, 1868, by R. C. Daugherty, a justice of the
peace, who fined a man $21.50 for stealing an overcoat.
The first school in the county was taught at North Platte during the
summer of 1868. Theodore Clark was the first teacher. The next term of
school began November 30, 1868, and was taught by Mary Hubbard, now Mrs.
P. J. Gilman.
The first Sunday school in the county was at North Platte, and was
founded by Mrs. Keith, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Cogswell, and Mrs. Kramph.
There were only three children in attendance.
During the year 1868, troubles with the Indians were on the increase. On
one occasion, "Dutch" Frank, running an engine and coming round a curve
with his train, saw a large body of Indians on each side of the road,
while a number were crowded on the track. Knowing it would be certain
death to stop, he increased the speed of his train and went through
them, killing quite a number.
In May, 1869, the Fifth U. S. Cavalry arrived at Fort McPherson under
General Carr. Eight companies were left here and four companies went to
Sidney and Cheyenne. The government was surveying this county at that
time and the troops were used to protect the surveyors. Large bands of
Indians had left the reservation and were killing settlers and stealing
horses. During the summer of 1869 the order from General Auger,
commanding the department, was to clear the country of Indians between
the Union Pacific and the Kansas Pacific. I was an officer of the Fifth
U. S. Cavalry and was in command of the post at North Platte in 1869 and
1870, and was in all the Indian campaigns until I resigned in 1878.
The first bank in North Platte was started in 1875 by Walker Brothers
and was later sold to Charles McDonald.
GRAY EAGLE, PAWNEE CHIEF
BY MILLARD S. BINNEY
It is not often that one sees a real Indian chief on the streets of
Fullerton, but such happened in June, 1913, when the city was visited by
David Gillingham, as he is known in the English tongue, or Gray Eagle,
as his people call him, chief of the Pawnees.
Gray Eagle is the son of White Eagle, whom the early inhabitants of
Nance county will remember as chief of the Pawnees at the time the
county was owned by that tribe.
Gray Eagle was born about three miles this side of Genoa, in 1861. He
spent his boyhood in the county and when white men began to build at the
place that is now Genoa, he attended school there. When he was fourteen
years of age he accompanied his tribe to its new home at Pawnee City,
Oklahoma, where he has since resided. The trip overland was made mostly
on horseback, and the memories of it are very interesting as interpreted
to us by Chief Gray Eagle, and John Williamson, of Genoa, one of the few
white men to make this long journey with the red men. Gray Eagle made
one trip back here in 1879, visiting the spot that is now
Fullerton--then only a few rude shacks.
Uppermost in Gray Eagle's mind had always been the desire to return and
see what changes civilization had brought. In 1913 he was sent to St.
Louis as a delegate to the Baptist convention, after which he decided to
visit the old scenes. From St. Louis he went to Chicago and from that
city he came to Genoa.
"I have always wanted to see if I could locate the exact spot of my
birth," said Gray Eagle, in perfect English, as he talked to us on this
last visit, "and I have been successful in my undertaking. I found it
last week, three miles this side of Genoa. I was born in a little, round
mud-house, and although the house is long since gone, I discovered the
circular mound that had been its foundation. I stood upon the very spot
where I was born, and as I looked out over the slopes and valleys that
had once been ours; at the corn and wheat growing upon the ground that
had once been our hunting grounds; at the quietly flowing streams that
we had used so often for watering places in the days so long gone by; my
heart was very sad. Yet I've found that spot and am satisfied. I can now
go back to the South and feel that my greatest desire has been granted."
When asked if the Indians of today followed many of the customs of their
ancestors, he answered that they did not. Occasionally the older
Indians, in memory of the days of their supremacy, dressed themselves to
correspond and acted as in other days, but the younger generation knows
nothing of those things and is as the white man. In Oklahoma they go to
school, later engage in farming or enter business. "Civilization has
done much for them," said Gray Eagle. "They are hard workers and have
ambitions to accomplish great things and be better citizens. Only we old
Indians, who remember the strenuous times of the early days, have the
wild blood in our veins. The younger ones have never even seen a
buffalo."