aging the field produce. The pioneers at length became aroused and a brief but bloody battle ensued between the inhabitants and the Texan herders. Several hundred cattle were butchered which effectually put a stop to their visits. In 1871 a great prairie fire swept across the county, and though the loss did not exceed $20,000, it laid waste the entire property of the settlers. Butler county has especially good means of transportation. There are three railroads, which cover 134.27 miles in the county.

     L. C. REN is of Scotch-Irish parentage. He was born near Seymore, Indiana on the thirtieth of May, 1854, and came to Nebraska in 1883. His education was received in the public schools of Indiana. He held the position of County Supervisor during the building of the court house, and from 1897 to 1901 was County Sheriff. He is now Chief of the David City police and is a member of the Populist party. He married Rosa J. Lorenz in 1884 and has four children.

     CHARLES D. CASPER, the editor and publisher of The Butler County Press, enlisted in the regular army and served in South Dakota as a private in the Twenty-second Infantry. At the close of the war he went to Ohio and came to Nebraska in 1873. He started the first newspaper in Butler county at Savannah, the old county seat, and moved the paper to David City when the county seat was changed to that place. He was born in Red Lion, Delaware, December 10, 1845. He attended school in an old log building until he was sixteen years old. In 1880 he was married to Nancy M. Brownsett and they have

three daughters. Mr. Casper is a member of the Democratic party and has represented Butler County in the State Legislature.

      RAY M. HARRIS was born at Ligoneen, Indiana, on the ninth of September, 1873. His father, James E. Harris, is a minister and ex-Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska. Mr. Harris is a lawyer by profession and is now Attorney for Butler County. He was married to Carrie A. Quade, January 15, 1903. He was graduated from Nebraska State University in the class of 1897, and from the law department of the same institution in 1900. He filled the position of Principal of the Wahoo High School during the years of 1897 and 1898. He is a member of the Democratic party.

      M. J. BOUSE is a native of Bohemia, and his parents, Frank and Katherine Bouse, never came to America. The time of his birth was October 24, 1867 and at the age of thirteen he came to America. He moved to Nebraska in 1886. He is serving as Clerk of Butler County for the second term, and his politics are Democratic. In 1891 he was married to Mamie H. Zerzan, and they have one child. He is a tailor by occupation.

      C. M. SKILES was born July 7, 1866 at Fort Madison, Iowa, from which place he came to Nebraska in 1884. His parents were Alexander and Margaret Skiles. He is now serving his third term as Judge of Butler County. He took his A. B. degree at the State University in 1892 and received LL. B. in 1895. In 1904 he was married to Anna W. Swarr. Politically he is a Democrat.

      JOSEPH C. HRUSHKA obtained his education at the Decorah Institute, of Decorah, Iowa, and at the Lincoln Normal, being a teacher by profession. He taught a country school at Spillville, Iowa for three years, and for five years in Butler County, Nebraska. During four years he was principal of the schools at Abie and Linwood. He was born January 6, 1876 in Bohemia, Austria, and came to Iowa when six months old. He removed to Nebraska in 1896 and in 1897 was married to Caroline L. Dvorak, by whom he has four children. He resides at David City and is serving his second term as County Superintendent. He is a member of the Republican party.

      LEWIS SPELTS was a soldier in the Civil War and served from January 1862 to February, 1865. He was married January 30, 1870 to Miss Lizzie Woods and they have a family of nine children, five boys and four girls. He is a grain and stock dealer and owns several elevators. His parents, Joseph and Sarah Spelts, were living in Green County, Indiana, at the time of his birth on December 29, 1844. At the age of thirteen he moved to Illinois and in 1879 came ot (sic) Nebraska. He is now Mayor of David City and was elected on the Republican ticket.

     The men who made up the famous Lewis and Clarke expedition were the first white men to explore Cass County. The first actual settlement was a trading-post which was set up in 1853. By a proclamation of President Pierce in 1854, Cass County, along with other lands along the Missouri was opened up for pre-emption. Claim owners were not required to improve the property and the greater part of the settlers' abodes were merely dug-outs in the sides of the bluffs. Club law, or rather mob law, constituted the supreme authority from June 1854 to September 1855. Even six years after the organization of the county, three horse-thieves from the Iowa side of the river were hanged by this same mob force. In 1855 Cass County was organized. It has an area of 632 square miles and its population is 21,330. The soil is a light loam, varying from 1 1/2 foot to 20 feet in depth, with a clay subsoil. Land sells for $25 to $75 per acre. Blue, gray and white limestone is quarried extensively here and red sand-stone is found in many places along the Platte. The blue limestone is such good quality that it can sustain a pressure of 44,000 pounds to the square inch. Cass County has ten flouring and grist mills in operation, and sixteen brick yards. There are many natural groves in the county owing to its excellent water system. These groves consist of cottonwood, hickory, oak, cedar, maple and locust trees. It is also a profitable fruit region and apples, peaches, and many kinds of grapes are grown. Over one hundred varieties of grasses are found here. The first school was a singing school in 1855, which was conducted in a little log house just west of Plattsmouth. There are now 7,598