Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-08-24
URHRaSKA NOTES.

Of this place, near the confluence of
Sknll creek with the Platte river are
the crumbling ruins of an ancient
Town. the houses of which must have
been circular in form, as the remains
are similar in appearance to the com
mon circus ring, though not gener-
ally quite as large. By digging
here, some fragments, pieces of pot
terr, pebbles, beads, sharp stone ar
rows, lance points, etc, are found.
The doorways IN each case are plain
ly marked, aud were evidently COW
cred entrances or projecting hall
ways. The streets and Fairgrounds
are beaten deep into the earth, and
the streets wind around irregularly
through the town, so there was no
street here that could properly have
been called straight" In the cen
tral portion of the town is large
rock, having a smooth depression in
its upper surface, and which must
have been brought from distance,
as there are no similar rocks in the
vicinity. This rock was the corn
grinder or Getty Mills" over which
many a woman may have tuned her
melancholy song, years ago. Moth
ing more is known of the inhabi-
tants of this place than may be in
ferred from the above named re-
mains and Pawnee legends. Not
withstanding the obliterating effects
of the perpetually recurring autumn
fires and spring rains, the buffalo
''mallows," bleaching bones, and
their ancient trails remain on the
prairies and hillsides throughout this
region. Thirty years ago this por-
ton of the great Platte Valley was
lonely, silent, grass-covered hills,
valleys and plains, with unbrOken
solitude save the whistling winds,
the buffalo tramp, or the twang of
the red mans bow-string--no white
man dwelt here; but now, Butler
county alone has about five thousand
live, intelligent, prosperous and hap
py people, a majority of whom are
from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio
and Illinois.
The Platte river flows entirely
across the north side of Butler Co.,
receiving Wilson, Deer, Bone and
Skull creeks, which rise about the
middle of the county, near the
sources of the Big Blue and Little
Blue rivers and Oak creek, which
flow south and east into the Repub-
lican and Missouri rivers, altogether
giving this county vast area of
wonderfully rich valley agricultural
lands, the productiveness of which
may be inferred from the fact that
Schuyler alone, last year, there were
shipped eight hundred and seventy
eight car loads of wheat, corn, oats
and other farm products, both east
and west, over the. Union Pacific
railroad.
Natural forests are not very ex-
tensiye. here, but there are over 20
900 acres of forest trees being sue
cessfully cultivated in the county,
including black walnut, ash, maple,
cotton wood and box-elder, making
plenty of fuel in fou1 or FIVE years
from planting the seed. Good Usage
|, orange hedge fences can be grown
here within about four years, and
the settlers are fencing in this way
very rapidly throughout this Great
Plains country, and they unanimous
'ly claim that they could make
farms here much easier and cheaper
even if they had to buy lumber for
fencing, than in a timber country,
where so many stumps and stones
are to be removed before cultivating.
The wheat harvest is past, with a
large yield, and graino of good quail
ty. The corn and other crop pros
poets are very promising, and the
people are generally much enc6ur-
aged. Land may be bought in But
Ter county of the Union Pacific r.
r. Co. at from 50 to Sc per acre, on
long credit, giving the purchaser
ample time to make the money to
pay for the farm from its products.
The Lake Shore & Michigan South
ern, Chicago, Burlington g. Quincy,
and Union Pacific railroads form the
best -route-to- this portion of the
great Platte Valley, because the
shortest, and from Chicago the c.,
b. g. Q and U. P. make special
greatly reduced rates of both fares
and freights. EXAMINER.