Nebraska advertiser., 1857-04-09

F0STINE1IE DeDGE ca. III IT,
March 9th. 1857.

March 8th, 1857.
Sometime hi August 1854, a Colony was
formed in Quiary, Illinois, entitled the Ne
braska C0lOnizatie Company having for their
avOwsd Object the setfIsmans Of some favored
portion Of Nebraska, where they could erect
and make hones Tor themselves and their fam
lies, start a village, open farms, and advance
the prosperity Of those with whom they might
be associated in the settlement Of the Tern.
toE-Pecuuiary profit and self aggrmdtze-
msut were Of eOuuzst the principal proeItvifes
of the leaders. About The middle Of The fol-
loving m anth, tie pioneers of the Colony en-
tered the Territory on q tour Of observation
and to make a selection of such a location as
they saw fit.
The Company or Colony were guided BY a
Constitution and Bylaws drawn up with but
little true knOwlsdge Of fife o. the f~rontieE"
and, Of course. u many respects visionsry.
The country then was, comparatively speak
ing, uEhabiled. Iistuie, along the Missouri
rver the residents Of Iowa and upper Missouri
had staked and b,azed their claims, and a
few houses had been erected, and occasionally
romping children aud busy wives and mOthers
gave evidence that a bona hde settler had
pitched his tents and united his interest with
that of the newly opened Territory. After
some days spent ia examining the inland por-
ton Of the Territory. they selected the present
site Of FontensIIe, (na1ned after the chief Of
the Omaha Indians at that time-) Alter tax
ing proper measures TO secure the claim made
IN the mama Of the Company or Colony. the
pioneers mostly returned to Illinois to report
their proceedings to the c~oIonists.
In May of the oIIowingyear-1s55-sone
fourteen families. with their household goods,
and some twenty-five men came On and
settled. A tjw1 site had been laid out and
the Company. Numbering some so s~tockhold-
: ers, prOceededt to divide the lands, lots. &c,
by lot Member as their names wera csIIed,
selected then lots, claims, and timber. until
each had selaeted eighteen lots in the town;
Qhe Remainder, about 800, were r~eserEei for
a future DIVISION
Since that time, the population has been
continually added to BY fresh arrivals, and
with but the Indian troubles in the summer
Of 1856, originating in the murder Of two o.
our citizens By the Sioux Indiark, 10 retard
the settlement, no inland town has progressed
more rapldiythan FOntenelIe. The inhabi-
Ill iE-N EENt~-raM AA. "a
tants here and around here are mostly farm
ers, who have brought With them those habits
of industry and pleasant social feeling which
charactsrizas the Etern States.
Fontenelle-nowcoutain a p~opulrtion o
about 3Oo--is situated about % miles ives
and Is miles north of Omaha City, upon tn,
Elk Horn river. The scenery surrOundiu4
g the beautiful and elevated town site IS unsur
8 passed in the Territory. Far away to TIL
westward extends the great Platte valley dot
a ted with groves Of fne timber upon its island
and bordtts, whilst away from the north ar,
tie nOthwestward comes the meandering Ell
Homriyer. skiTted with groves Of oak, elm
walnut, and cotton wood, and extending dow
Of to the southwark until 1t empties itself N to
al Platte river. Upon the cas-, the broad levt
e. and fertile prairie extends until it reaches th
e broken lands which skirt the Missouri river
is The yalIiss of the Elk Horn and Platte, bu
a more particularly the former, not only in PoiH
ed of beauty but fertility cannot be surpassed b
er any upon which the sun shines, and yet onl
et a portion of it is claimed; indeed good, ricE
E. and beautiful claims can still be made with
ut but a few miles from this thnyirg town.
There are many, very mlay lovely m
beautiful portions Of Nebraska / have foan
he during my csniping expeditions in the earle
ou history Of our Territory, both south and nortl
lie of the Platte, vet none in my humble estinl
On ton where natures God seems to have a
th temptedka more closer approximation to th
liz ideal stenery IN the eastern Ilnds than th
as vaIlies 0f the Elk Horn and Platte rivers.
!. P. w. q!