Omaha daily bee., 1909-07-04

Ono man who, between 1853 and 1856, trav-
eled as a ~steamboater from st. Louis to
the head Of navigation at Fort Benton,
Mont, was Charles Seltz, and from a Mis-
souri, river steamboat he unloaded at De
Soto in 1857 the six barrels Of whisky, which
constituted his main stock of goods in the
first store he established at that place.
That the territory which now comprises
the county Of Washington, for a long
period, wal a favorite resident place Of
Indians, is plain to the srchaeologist,
There is little tradition or authentic facts
to back up the statement of the historian,
other than the evidence that lies in the
traces of the old earth works, mounds, bits
Of pottery, implements of warfare, with
here and there ancient burial places. BY
the treaty OF october 9, 1882, the Pawnees
sold all their land south OF the Platte and
agreed to remain north of the Platte and
west OF the Loup river. They did not move
to their reservation until 1853. In 1854 the
number of Pawnees was estimated at 1000.
Many Indian graves rave been found, par
ticularly In the vicinity of Calhoun and old
De Soto. Early in the sixties, on the high
hill back Of the town site of old De Soto,
on one Fourth of July, when a party Of
patriots were digging a hole for the cree
ton of q flag pole, a skeleton OF an In
dian chief was found; also a skeleton of a
horse on which the skeleton was astride.
Fred Bugeon, now a merchant of Blair,
was an eye witness TO this discovery.
In building up Nebraska In the early
days, many towns had mushroom growth,
to melt away soon after birth, while others
which came into existence after decades,
have not yet reached the pinnacle of great
ness. Washington county has had many
disappointments in establishing and devel-
oping towns and cities. with brightest
prospects. Fontanelle formed it's exist
ence. Early in 1854 a company was organ
lied at Quincy, ILL.,, to establish a city In
were selected to visit this county and Sc
lect a site. The party reached Kanesville,
or Council Bluffs, Ia, and crossed over to
the Omaha side early in August. Omaha
then had not half a dozen houses. There
they met Logan F~ontanelle, then chief
Of the Omaha Indians, and one known ia
be friendly to white settlers. BY Fonta-
nellie the party was directed to the place
that has since been famous in state his
tory as the town of Fontanelle. This loca-
ton so pleased them that without further
exploration they paid the chief 500 for the
right TO claim and locate twenty square
miles OF land. and the party returned to
Quincy and gave a glowing report. The
territorial council Incorporated the city OF
Fontanelle March IA, 1855.
The height Of Fontanelle's greatness was
reached the first few years OF its life. I,
was the first capital of Dodge county. and
in 1856 came within one vote Of becoming
the territorial capital, and It has often
been limited that only for the fact thai
one member OF the territorial council who
cast his vote for Omaha, and thereby en-.
riched himself to the extent Of sixty Omaha
town lots, Fontanelle would have been the
city Of territorial government, and perhaps
today would have been one of the bis
cities of the state.
: 1t is plain that the early settlers OF
Fontanelle were enterprising and alert &c
=, everything that would assist the building
I up OF their town, but lacked dlsmally ir
l the diplomatic, wire pulling qualities neces
sary to sway legislative bodies, ana wer,