The legislature authorized the using of $50,000 in bonds, to be invested in seed, grain, etc., which, though badly managed, gave many farmers seed to make a new commencement, who could never have procured it without this help, and thus our people were carried safely through a long and severe winter, and through another seed time; and in calmly looking over these trying times, even skeptics and doubters were forced to admit that It may not be my way, it may not be thy way, And yet, In His own way, The Lord will provide. OUR FOURTH YEAR'S FARMING was a success. Though many plowed, planted and sowed in
doubt and fear, though there were some partial failures in
small grain, yet, as a whole, when the harvests were all
gathered, it was pronounced good, very good! Some localities
were visited by the locust, yet their stay was short, and
damage light. But from about the first of June to the middle
of September they were flying over our heads daily in
clouds, going north. 8 Late in the year 1874 Brevet Brigadier General Nathan A. M. Dudley, then in command of the garrison at Fort McPherson, as major of the Third Cavalry, investigated conditions in that part of the state, for the department of war. He estimated the population of Red Wil- |
The last year's valuation of property is on a lower basis, which accounts for the apparent decrease in taxable property. I come now to a subject I would gladly
pass over in silence, for connected with this is so much
that is not laden with "pleasaut memories." But history, to
be true, must drop no facts which are vital. The people make
the facts. The historian only records them. So, if I relate
unpleasant facts blame those who made them. In looking over
this subject, I am led to believe that the strife, envyings
and bitter feelings which have grown up in this connection
would never have been but for the interference of
adventurers and speculators, not citizens of this state. low county at 800, while the local estimate was 1,000. General Dudley reported that though the local agents were conscientious in their reports of the destitution, they were not accurate. Nebraska State Historical Society, Collections, XVII, 40; Watkins, History of Nebraska, III, 325. 9 This was a regular session; the special session of 1873 did not convene until March 27. |
The judges of election were W. M. Hinman, L. H. Lawton and E. S. Hill. A sumptuous dinner was prepared at Indianola, detaining a large number of voters until about four o'clock in the afternoon; yet it is supposed that no votes were lost to that place in consequence, nor to any of the candidates favoring it, and the result of the election was a majority of from three to seven for Indianola and its candidates. The whole number of votes cast was sixty-three. In the canvass of votes for clerk, all, or nearly all, cast for Mr. Starbuck, were for clerk of district court, while those cast for Mr. Brothwell were for county clerk. No such elective office being known by our statute as clerk of district court, the canvassers took these to mean county clerk, and by this construction Mr. Starbuck had a majority, and so was declared elected county clerk. The Red Willow party claimed that there were men voting who had never before been known as citizens of the county--even the postmaster and justice of the peace at Melrose, in Harlan county, and his clerk in a mercantile house there, voting, gave just cause for complaint, and it was decided to contest the election, on the ground that a number of votes greater than the majority had been cast for Indianola and its candidates, by men not citizens of the county under the law. Consequently a suit was brought before Justice Colvin of Arapahoe, contesting the election. The case was a long and tedious one, lasting several days, and a large number of witnesses summoned. After a full hearing of the case and arguments on both sides, Justice Colvin sums up his finding as follows: Therefore, It is on this first day of August, A. D. 1873, considered and found by me that the said D. E. Brothwell, having received a majority of all the legal votes cast for county clerk in Red Willow county, Nebraska, at an election held in said county on the 27th day of May, 1873, was duly elected clerk of Red Willow county according to law. Also, That A. S. Boyer, John Longnecker and Jas. H. Pricket, having received a majority of all the legal votes cast for county commissioners of Red Willow county, Nebraska, at said election, were duly elected county commissioners of Red Willow county, according to law. Also, That J. F. Black, having received a majority of all the legal votes cut for sheriff of Red Willow county, Nebraska, was duly elected sheriff of said county, according to law. Also, That E. S. Hill having received a majority of all the legal votes cast for probate judge of Red Willow county, Nebraska, at said election was duly elected probate judge of Red Willow county, Nebraska according to law. Also, That section sixteen (16), town three (3), range twenty-eight (28) west of the sixth principal meridian, having received a majority of all the legal votes cast for county seat of Red Willow county, Nebraska, at said election was duly located as the county seat of Red 'Willow County, Nebraska, according to law.  GEO.
W. COLVIN,Justice
of the Peace, in and for Furnas county, Neb. |
Following this decision the officers named proceeded to qualify according to law. A proclamation was made by the commissioners declaring section 16 the county seat, and a writ of attachment issued by Justice John G. Eaton for the possession of the county seal and records. This writ was executed by Sheriff Black, and the books and seal obtained. Then came a contest between officers--each set claiming to be the legal officers and each claiming the possession of the books and seal on legal papers--and for several days the books were some like the English charter of Connecticut, hidden during this contest. An appeal was taken from the decision of Justice Colvin to the district court, and it being the opinion of attorneys that this act left Indianola officers in possession of the offices until the case was decided, therefore the Red Willow officers delivered up the books and seal, and ceased to perform the functions of office. Thus at present writing the case stands on this appeal it not having reached the calendar or docket of the court having jurisdiction.10 The first post office in the county was
established at Red Willow, and Royal Buck was appointed
postmaster in April, 1872. In the same month Congress
declared the road from McPherson to Red Willow a post road;
but no service was placed on it until July 1, 1873--W. D.
Wildman, contractor, with North Platte as the terminus,
instead of McPherson.11 By act of Congress
approved March 3, 1873, the road from Alma, Harlan county,
to Red Willow was declared a post road, and the first mail
which reached us by a regular contractor was on this route,
on the 7th of May, 1873. 10 In 1876 the district court decided in favor of Indianola. At an election held August 2, 1891, the county seat was moved to McCook but a dispute over the vote of Coleman precinct was kept in the courts until 1896, so that the removal did not take place until that year. 11 May 14, 1872, "from Cottonwood Springs, via Stockville, to Red Willow." U. S. Statutes at Large, XVII, 110. |
with Dr. Bennet and N. S. West, postmasters, supplied from Beaver City and Wilsonville. The former office has been discontinued. About the same time another office was established farther up the Beaver called Danbury, Geo. N. Gilbert, postmaster, supplied from Red Willow. The first mail bag was made of scraped buffalo hide and locked with a string of the same material. During the summer of 1874 a mail route was established up the Beaver to Cedar Bluffs, in Kansas. During the same year a route was established from Red Willow to Valley Grange and Dr. C. R. Baker appointed postmaster at the latter place. In the winter of 1875 a route was established from Buffalo Station on the K. P. railroad to Red Willow, and in March, 1876, another route was established from Red Willow via Carrico to North Platte, on the U. P. railroad. These two routes give a direct north and south line between the two great thoroughfares. Indianola has had four--A. J. Shaw, P.
H. Allison, G. S. Bishop and O. H. Cobb; Valley Grange
two--C. R. Baker and H. L. Randall; Danbury also two--G. N.
Gilbert (deceased) and W. S. Stilgebaur; Red Willow and
Lebanon still retain first appointees. The first session of district court for
Red Willow county was held at Indianola, on the 28th and
29th days of April, 1875, Judge Gaslin presiding. A very
short docket and soon disposed of. The grand jury found no
bills of indictment and the judge, in discharging the jury,
said he was not aware that during the four years the county
has been organized any criminal cases arising in the county
have been tried elsewhere, and the fact that no persons are
held on bail and the grand jury find no bills is a high
testimonial in favor of the moral character of this people.
It is proper to add in connection that only two fines for
violation of law have been adjudged and collected in the
county, one for $10 and the other for $15. So far very little has been done by way
of manufacturing. Mr. Hinman's steam mill, while it
remained, turned out all the rough lumber used in Red Willow
and Hitchcock counties, and it was a great convenience and
help to our people in their first settlement and
building. |
small business in the way of cheese making, and his testimony of the value of milk from cows fed on our prairie grasses is most favorable. On the 20th of May last Messrs. Leeland & Brown purchased of W. D. Wildman the northeast quarter of section 17, town 3, range 28 west--a part of the original Red Willow town site--for milling purposes. A part of the fixtures are already on the ground, and a saw and grist mill will be put in operation soon, the Red Willow furnishing abundance of water power. so far have proved very successful, being raised with the
trifling expense of herding, as neither hay or grain are
needed to any great extent. Seldom has a newly settled country been
so blessed in regard to health. It has been what physicians
sometimes call "painfully healthy." No prevailing disease of
a serious nature has ever visited us, and persons coming
among us in feeble health soon become robust and strong. A German by the name of Schribel, one
of the first settlers on Driftwood, left his home in the
winter of 1874 for a trapping campaign on the headwaters of
the Frenchman. In June, following, his skeleton remains.
gun, and other equipments were found near Culbertson, where
he had perished in some of the severe storms that marked
that winter. |
POSTSCRIPT.--In September, 1876, the remains of Mr. Long were found in his wagon among the sandhills on the headwaters of the Republican, in Dundy county. Nothing but the bones were left and a broken skull told the tale of a brutal murder. The first organization of school
districts in the county was in December, 1873, Red Willow
and Indianola, both organized on the same day as number one
and two. Up to January 1, 1876, thirteen districts have been
organized. Very little of permanency in church
organization has as yet been reached. The Christian
denomination made a small organization at Red Willow in
1873. Another has since been made on the Beaver. In 1875 a
Congregational church was organized at Indianola, also one
at Valley Grange, and the preliminary steps have been taken
for organizing the Centenial Congregational church at Red
Willow. A few months since a Methodist Episcopal church was
organized at Indianola. The United Brethren has also a small
class at Red Willow. A union Bible class and prayer meeting
was organized at Red Willow in the summer of 1872, and early
in the summer of 1873 a regular Sabbath school was organized
at the house of Royal Buck, with Mr. Wm. Overacker as
superintendent and Mr. G. B. Nettleton of Valley Grange as
assistant. The exercises were continued at the same place
during the summer, and on Christmas eve a beautiful
Christmas tree was prepared and over 800 persons received
fruit from it. Late in the summer a school was organized at
Valley Grange, and in September a picnic by the Red Willow
and Valley Grange schools at the latter place was a very
pleasant entertainment. Schools have since been organized at
Indianola and on the Beaver. Like all new countries, commercial
transactions have been on a small scale and attended by some
changes and failures. The first stock of goods brought to
the county was by Mr. T. P. Thomas, late in the summer of
1872; but finding his cattle business a much better
investment, he soon discontinued his mercantile
transactions. John Byfield also opened a small stock on his
homestead adjoining Red Willow town site, in the summer of
1872, where he continued to carry on a small business until
last spring, when becoming embarrassed he disposed of |
his stock of goods to O. H. Cobb and suddenly left the state. Mr. Cobb removed the goods to Indianola, where he is still carrying on a small trade. In 1873 W. S. Fitch opened a small store at Valley Grange, which he still continues to carry on. Mr. John Kelly has also a small store at the same place. A small stock of goods has been kept at Lebanon, on the Beaver, by Mr. B. F. Bradbury, and at Indianola, Allison & Wood opened a fair stock of goods in 1873, which promised some permanence for a time, but in a little over a year, like a lamp without oil, it went out. In the summer of 1874 Drs. Shaw & Martin from Crete opened a drug store at Indianola, which they soon disposed of, and both returned to Crete in the fall. The store passed through several hands and is now owned by G. S. Bishop. The only permanent success attained by any dealer in the county thus far is by Mr. J. R. Myers, who is doing an extensive and paying business at Indianola. The legal profession is represented by
Maj. R. H. Criswell, G. S. Bishop, and I. J. Starbuck, all
at Indianola; the medical, by Dr. J. S. Shaw, at Indianola,
and Drs. C. R. Baker and H. L. Randall at Valley Grange; the
clerical, by Theo. Stewig and G. W. McElroy, both of the
Christian denomination. The county officers have been as
follows: In 1873, May election, W. H. Berger, W. S.
Fitch and B. F. Bradbury, commissioners; G. A. Hunter,
sheriff; E. S. Hill, probate judge; I. J. Starbuck, county
clerk; J. E. Berger, treasurer; P. T. Francis, surveyor;
Edward Lyon, county superintendent. In the drawing for terms
of commissioners Berger drew for two years, Fitch one, and
Bradbury the fraction of year. |
existence as a county, I would say, I have endeavored to collect all facts which are important as history or as springs from which may yet flow streams of important events and resuits vast in the times which are to be. As a whole we have no reason to be ashamed of our record. Indeed we have much of which we can approve, much that is mere planting for a future harvest, and in the coming year let us remember that it is ours to plant, which, if we do wisely and well, there is an all wise ruler above us who doeth all things well and He will Surely give us the increase. A settlement was made near the mouth of
the Driftwood late in the summer of 1872 by Dr. C. R. Baker,
John Stone and family and two Germans by the names of
Schribel and Dietz. About the same time Mr. G. N. Gilbert
and Mr. West made settlement on the Beaver at Danbury, soon
followed by Mr. Solomon Boyer and sons, whose families came
the following spring--1875. The settlement at Lebanon was in
the spring of 1874, by Mr. B. F. Bradbury, Mr. West and
others. Occurred on the 14th of October, 1873,
at Valley Grange. A very strong wind from the south,
amounting to almost a gale, |
was blowing, and a fire broke out on the Beaver and came across the divide like a tempest. Fire breaks were no barriers, and hayricks and sheds were swept away in a moment. The house of G. B. Nettleton was burned with all its contents, the inmates barely escaped with their lives. During the years of 1872-3 the citizens
on the Beaver received mail at Red Willow, "taking turns" in
coming for it once in two weeks. In the spring of 1873, a
Mr. West, living or camping near Danbury, started over after
the mail on foot, carrying his carbine. After he had reached
the summit between the Republican and the Beaver, he came
upon a buffalo cow with a young calf. The cow ran off, and
he went up to the calf, spoke to it, patted it on the back
and started on, and to his surprise the calf followed him.
Traveling on a mile or more, he looked back and saw a large
herd of buffaloes following him. They came within a hundred
yards and halted. West turned and fired on them two or three
times, killing one or two, when they again charged on him.
He took to his heels and coming to the head of a draw, where
there was a sort of cavern washed out by the water, he
dodged in and the enraged buffaloes passed by him. After
going a short distance and missing the object of their
pursuit, they came back and, as he says, passed around him
three times without discovering his hiding place and then
left. In a short time he ventured out, slipped down the
cañon and made his way to Red Willow in safety. The following reminiscences of pioneer
life in Red Willow county contributed by Mr. Page T.
Francis, a substantial early settler, was published in the
Red Willow County Gazette of August 10, 1911. The
contribution is a valuable illumination of Mr. Buck's
history. It was procured through Mr. John F. Cordeal, the
indefatigable student of the history of southwestern
Nebraska: I was born February 12, 1843, in the
town of Leeds in the state of Maine. In May, 1861, I
enlisted in the Third Maine regiment, Company A, and was
discharged in December, 1862, for wounds received at the
battle of Fair Oaks, Virginia, in McClellan's Penisular
campaign; and, by the way, I have got the bullet yet in my
hip. I reënlisted in 1863 and served until |
 |
 |
 |
 |