Nebraska advertiser., 1868-05-14
Richardson County.

the State of Nebraska. Il is about eigh-
teen by thirty miles square. Its watered
by the Great Nemaha and It's tributaries,
and Is bounded on the east by the MIS-
souri, river. The south branch of the
Great Nemaha enters the county six
miles north of the south line, and the
north branch enters the county on the
north line near the northwest corner f;
from thence they run together a short
distance south of the centre of the county
where they unite, and from thence take
an e~asterly course through the county to
the Missouri river. The Muddy creek
runs through the county ten miles west
of and nearly parallel with the Missouri
river, and emptles into the Great Ne
maha. These streams have branches on
either side which reach nearly every
portion of the county, so that there is nc
considerable section Of country not sup
piled by living water. There is good
timber on all these streams, sufficient for
the present and prospective wants of the
county. Wafer power, where improved,
is sufficient for an immense amount of
machinery. The best and the thickest
vein of coal in the State has been found
in this county, near the south-ea corner.
The most reliable information we have
upon the subject states it as about twenty.
two inches thick. Many affirm that
somebody measured & vein of four feet
thick. This some body we could not find
in Rulo, where be was said to live,
though many had heard of HIM, aud
thought it was a certain blacksmith on
the corner, This blacksmith had heard
that there was such a vein, but never
measured il. There is no doubt of the
existance of the coal in abundance.
Rulo and Arago, on the Missouri
river, are large, thriving. business towns,
and are the entrepO,s fer all the ship
ping TO and from the county. Falls City,
the county seat, situated midway between
the Nemaha and the Muddy, a little
south and east of the centre of The county,
and Salem al the confluence of the two
branches of the Nemaha, and at one time
the county seat of the county, are the
only interior towns CT much importance.
This county commenced its first settle
ments near fifteen years ago. The lar
ger portions of her lands are owned BY
actual settlers, and were entered, pre-
empted or taken as homesteads before
the great speculation in western lands
swept its baneful hand over the State of
Nebraska.
Corn, wheat, hogs and cattle are the
principle productions for export. Many
of the farmers have adopted the policy
of feeding their corn to cattle and hogs,
and find that their corn in that way pays
them more to The busIel than they can
realize by sale to the grain buyers. The
county now contains a population of
about eight thousand, three-fourths of
whom are living by farming. School
houses are frequent, and a coed degree
of interest is manifested in educational
matters. The Methodist, Christian and
Presbyterian societies have stated preach
ing at various points throughout the
county, consequently we fluid the people
moral, intelligent and refined.
The Rulo Register, a weekly newspa-
per, is printed at Rulo, and the Southern
Nebraskian is a good and reliable paper
printed at Arago. There is also a Ger
man paper printed at Arago, which ali
of our German readers and citizens
would do we'll to subscribe for. These
are the only papers printed in the county,
and from the copies we saw in the faml.
lies where we had occasion TO call, we
should Judge that they receive a liberal
support.
Richardson county is one of the best
in the State for agricultural, manufac-
turing and commercial purposes. Good
unimprOved land may still be had at from
three to eight dollars per acre, we'll To-
Gated 10 water, timber and settlements.
Improved farms are occasionally offered
nj moderate urices.