Nebraska Territory

“ From early in January, 1854, until late in May, Douglas's Nebraska bill held the attention of Congress and of the entire country. At first the measure simply assumed that the Missouri Compromise had been superseded by the Act of 1850. Later the bill was amended in such a way as to repeal distinctly that time-honored act. At first the plan was to organize Nebraska as a single Territory extending from Texas to Canada. Later it was proposed to organize separate Territories, one west of Missouri under the name of Kansas, the other west of Iowa under the name of Nebraska. ”

“ To-day "the moving millions, both in this country and Europe, are making earnest inquiry for Nebraska." 50,000 new inhabitants came to it in 1880. The close of the late war brought many ex-soldiers and their families here to claim land privileges near Omaha, and from "the four quarters of the globe the swelling thousands have come to settle with those that made their way thither. From Maine and Texas, and from every territory of the Rocky Mountains, they came." "The rank and file, the bone and muscle, were men who came to stay, who counted the cost, who measured the sacrifice." ”

“ When Nebraska was first organized as a territory, a party of people in Quincy, Illinois, conceived the idea of starting a city in the new territory and thus making their fortune. They accordingly sent out a party of men to select a site.
These men reached Omaha in 1854. There they met Logan Fontenelle, chief of the Omahas, who held the land along the Platte and Elkhorn rivers. ”

“ Many who had migrated to Pike's Peak in 1859, stopped in Nebraska on their return eastward; and settlement was stimulated by the national Homestead Act of 1862 (one of the first patents granted thereunder, on the 1st of January 1863, was for a claim near Beatrice, Nebraska) , and by the building and land-sales of the Union Pacific and Burlington railways following 1863. Thus in 1861 there were probably 30,000 inhabitants in the Territory, and 3300 men were sent into the field for the Union army in the Civil War. ”

“ The leading idea and fundamental principle of the Kansas-Nebraska act, as expressed in the law itself, was to leave the actual settlers and bona fide inhabitants of each territory "perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the constitution of the United States." ”

“ In other words, it was held that although Congress had, in 1854, created the territory of Nebraska, with the provision that when the lands within it were surveyed, sections 16 and 36 in each township should be reserved for school purposes, it meant by the act of 1862 to grant a right of way to the railroad company through lands which should thereafter be found to be those sections. ”

“ He had taken, prior to the admission of the state, the oath required by law in entering upon the duties of the offices he had filled, and sworn to support the constitution of the United States and the provisions of the organic act under which the territory of Nebraska was created. For over 30 years prior to his election as governor he has enjoyed all the rights, privileges, and immunities of a citizen of the United States, and of the territory and state, as being in law, as he was in fact, such citizen. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Kansas–Nebraska bill.—In January, 1854, Senator Douglas, of Illinois, reported a bill to organize the territory of Nebraska, afterwards divided into Kansas and Nebraska, with a provision for the abrogation of the Missouri Compromise. The citizens of the territories, if they wished slavery, could “vote it up;” if not, they could “vote it down.” The bill was advocated by the Democratic party, which, being, in the ascendency in both Houses, carried the measure without difficulty. The Free-Soil party and the Anti-Slavery Whigs contested the movement at every step. ”

“ Douglas, of Illinois, who had been an unsuccessful candidate for the Presidential nomination in the preceding year, took the occasion presented by a bill for organizing a new Western Territory, Nebraska (which included the two now existing States [Pg 190] of Nebraska and of Kansas) , to propose a repeal of the old “Missouri Compromise,” to which I have more than once alluded. By this measure—a “Federalist,” not a Democratic measure—adopted in 1820, it was provided that slavery should never be carried into any Territory north of the fixed line of 36° 30 ́ north latitude. ”

“ But this court has held in many cases that, whatever be the limitations upon the power of a territorial government, they cease to have any operative force, except as voluntarily adopted after such territory has become a state of the Union. Upon the admission of a state it becomes entitled to and possesses all the rights of dominion and sovereignty which belonged to the original states, and, in the language of the act of 1867 admitting the state of Nebraska, it stands 'upon an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatsoever.' Escanaba & L. M. Transp. ”

“ There are many disadvantages and positive grievances entailed by the territorial form of government, in that, in the acquisition of new territory by the United States, the consideration of congress must inevitably be given to the remodeling and improvement of the whole system. The noble principle enunciated in the Kansas-Nebraska Act is a step in advance, and may be regarded as an evidence of the encouragement that is in the future in this respect. ”

“ The spring of 1857 was a time of promise for the Nebraska settlers. Timely rains had fallen. The few little fields of wheat and corn promised good harvests. Elk, deer, antelope, grouse, and wild turkey were abundant. Buffaloes came close to their settlement and they were fortunate enough to get many hides and much meat. The Sioux had fought a great battle with the whites at Ash Hollow and been badly beaten and wanted nothing so much as peace. Fifty thousand dollars had been voted by Congress to build a capitol at Omaha, and fifty thousand more to build roads through the Territory. ”

“ A courthouse was built in Blair, the present county-seat of Washington county, in 1889, at a cost of $50,000.
Note—In the early days every new town, and they were all new, was ambitious to become the county-seat and many of them hopefully sought the honor of becoming the capital of the territory. Washington county had its full share of aspiring towns and most of them really got beyond the paper stage. There were De Soto, Fort Calhoun, Rockport, Cuming City, and last but not least—Fontenelle, then in Washington county, now a "deserted village" in Dodge county. ”

“ Before the advent of the railroad, when all provisions had to be freighted, one poor meal cost from one to two dollars.
North Platte is now nicely built up with good homes and business houses, and rapidly improving in every way. The United States Land office of the western district embraces the government land of Cheyenne, Keith, Lincoln, a part of Dawson, Frontier, Gosper, and Custer counties and all unorganized territory. All I can see of the surrounding country is very level and is used for grazing land, as stock raising is the principal occupation of the people. ”

“ The territory being so spotted with sand hills was the great hindrance to a body of people settling down as the colony had expected to, all together as one settlement. One cannot tell, to look over it, just where the sandy spots are, as it is all covered with grass. They are only a slight raise in the ground and are all sizes, from one to many acres. ”

“ The Legislature shall by law determine the number of members to be elected and divide the state into legislative districts. In the creation of such districts, any county that contains population sufficient to entitle it to two or more members of the Legislature shall be divided into separate and distinct legislative districts, as nearly equal in population as may be and composed of contiguous and compact territory. One member of the Legislature shall be elected from each such district. ”

“ A colony, known as the "Ex-Soldiers' Colony," was formed in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1883. It accepted members from everywhere, and now April 24, '84, shows a roll of over two hundred members, many of whom have gone to the location, forty miles north-east of North Platte, in unorganized territory, and near the Loup river. Six hundred and forty acres were platted into a town site in spring of '84, and named Logan, in honor of Gen. John A. Logan. Quite a number are already occupying their town lots, and building permanent homes, and most of the land within reach has been claimed by the colonists. ”

“ It is a far cry from the ox team to the automobile. [252]
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES By Mrs. Thyrza Reavis Roy
In March, 1865, my husband, George Roy, and I started from our home in Avon, Illinois, to Nebraska territory. The railroad extended to St. Joseph, Missouri. There they told us we would have to take a steamboat up the Missouri river to Rulo, forty miles from St. Joseph. We took passage on a small steamboat, but the ice was breaking up and the boat ran only four miles up the river. ”

“ 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 [88] 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. ”

“ Originating, or at least being first successfully put into operation, in Nebraska in 1872 through the instrumentality of J. Sterling Morton, then president of the state Board of Agriculture, it received the official sanction of the state by the proclamation of Governor R. W. Furnas in 1874 and by the enactment in 1885 of a law establishing it as a legal holiday in Nebraska. The movement spread rapidly throughout the United States until with hardly an exception every state and territory celebrates such a day either as a legal or a school holiday. ”

“ At that time Clay county was unorganized territory, and the B. & M. railroad was being extended from Lincoln west.
September 11, 1871, Governor James issued a proclamation for the election of officers and the organization of Clay county fixing the date, October 14, 1871. The election was held at the home of Alexander Campbell, two miles east of Harvard, and fifty-four votes were cast. Sutton was chosen as the county-seat. F. M. Brown was elected county clerk; A. K. Marsh, P.O. Norman, and A. A. Corey were elected county commissioners. ”

“ And be it further enacted, that every free white male inhabitant above the age of twenty-one years who shall be an actual resident of said territory, and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within the said territory ”

“ Like the Pike's Peak diggings, and the placers of the Colorado Valley, and the Carson and Virginia City camps, these called for and received a new territorial establishment.
In 1860 the territories of Washington and Nebraska had met along a common boundary at the top of the Rocky Mountains. Before Washington was divided in 1863, Nebraska had changed its shape under the pressure of a small but active population north of its seat of government. The centres of population in Nebraska north of the Platte River represented chiefly overflows from Iowa and Minnesota. ”

“ Thus we see the plain, unmistakable spirit of that early age towards slavery was hostility to the principle, and toleration only by necessity. But now it is to be transformed into a sacred right: Nebraska brings it forth, places it on the high road to extension and perpetuity, and with a pat on its back says to it: 'Go, and God speed you.' Henceforth it is to be the chief jewel of the nation, the very figure head of the ship of state. Little by little, but steadily as man's march to the grave, we have been giving the old for the new faith. ”

“ Political interest in the Territorial period centred mainly in a fight for the capital, waged between the towns of the Missouri river front, Bellevue, Brownville, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, Omaha and Florence, those of the North Platte interior, and of the South Platte. This struggle engendered extraordinary bitterness, since success might mean continued life, and defeat prompt demise, to competing towns. As population increased the question of the capital was complicated by the question of statehood. ”

“ I was called as far north as Broken Bow in the Loup valley, fifty miles, east to Elm Creek, Buffalo county, twenty miles, west to Brady Island, Lincoln county, thirty-five miles, and south to the Republican river. Most of the time there were no roads or bridges. The valley of the Platte in Dawson county is now the garden spot of the state. As stated before the settlement of 1872 was on the extreme edge of the frontier. Now we have no frontier. It is progressive civilization from coast to coast. ”