The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1871-08-31
Leiter from Nebraska.

NORTH PLATTE, NEB., Aug. 9, 1871.
DEAR MAC-Haying arrived here about three
weeks ago and succeeded in locating myself. /
have concluded to write and give you some
idea OF where am and what Hammer of country
this is; The town of North Platte is 29O miles
from Omaha and is the county seat of Lincoln
county IT is very beautifully located on n
slghtIy elevated plateau between the North
and South Platte rivers, and is being rapidly
built up with neat and tasty dwellings and sub
many valuable and important advantages. and
has population of about 500 which is rapidly
clothing, jewelry, hardware, drug, book, furnis
ture and grocery stores. There is one newspa-
per published here, the Lincoln County Ad-
| yertiser" Churches and free schools are being
| built and supported with great liberality. The
! Union Pacific Rail Road Company have extern
! siye shops here, a roundhouse, blacksmith, ma
| chine and repair shops, and hotel the latter
! costing $4,000 The valley between the two
| rivers at this point is about four and q half
miles wide, and every foot of it is susceptible of
the highest degree of cultivation. Good water
| can be had by digging from fifteen to twenty
| feet, and by taking the water out of either of
| the rivers, an irrigatng canal that would sup
! ntively little cost This has been and will al
Ways Ways & e0nTTnue to be an i'm mimPGrtant SHIPPING
| and extensive cattle yards and shutes have
| The town of North Platte is and viii continue
! the most important point in Western Nebras-
| ka 1t is l.4s5 miles east of Sacramento. Its
| elevation above the sea is g;I69 feet.
Lincoln county is the largest and promises to
! become one of the wealthiest, if not the health
leSt county IN Nebraska Its exceedingly well
adapted to stock raising: There arc many other
| hourisiing towns on the line of u. Z. X. r.,
among whicG is the town of Grand Island, the
county seat of Hall county, which takes its
name from Grand Island in the Platte river.
1t is 80 miles west of the Missouri river and is
the point of the junction of the Midland Pacific
Railroad from Nebraska City via. Lincoln. the
capital of the State. This road is now under
contract and the cars will be running into the
| town by the last of this beginning of next
| year, Grand Island has population of nearly
| l,0pt which is constantly being augmented by
emigration.
| The seasons in this country are not subjected
| to very great extremes of heat cold. The
summers are usually very warm, but the win
! ters are said to be exceedingly mild, and wag-
ons are used exclusively for hauling, sleds be-
| ing unknown here. Spring opens early. All
small grains are sown in March, ana corn is
/ their living on the ranges from the middle of
April until the first of Decembe and the phrase
| .spring poor" for cattle is almost unknown in
| this region.
The old fear of lack of rain in the ''Great
American Desert has been utterly exploded.
whether or not it is true, the Indians say,
| that the white man brings rains, or whether or
not the running of the railroad trains across
| the continent has broken up old electrical and
climatic influences, certain it is that there has
| been an abundance of rain, and good distri-
| button OF it as TO time, in this country during
| the past four years, or since permanent settle
ment On any scale has been commenced.
| Nebraska Is almost exclusively prairie State
and has no dense forests great bodies of tim
Der uiring the toll of lifetime to remove
order TO open up farm. r
Yours, &c., r. L. GEORGE,