Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-11-17
NEBRASKA STATE
OF LOST TOWNS
More Than 300 Have Oisap-
peared From View.
MISSOURI RIVER ONE CAUSE,
Shifting Of Treacherous Channel
Doomed Many, WhiIe Others Sue
cumbed to Changes In Railroad
Routes, Political Juggling In Lesis-
Iature and Squaw Marriages.

| Nebraska is the state of lost towns.
Since the time Of its settlement, sixty
! Years ago, more than 800 of them have
; disa ppeared.
| Some went into the nav of the
shifting Missouri river. Others were
the victims Of hard luck Of one kind
and another. The shifting of county
seats brought doom on some OF them.
Not a few were left stranded when
the railroads they expected decided to
take other routes.
Perhaps the history Of Archer is as
in Interesting us that Of any OF these
almost forgotten communities. The
first territorial legislature, which met
in 1866, made Archer the seat Of Rich
ardson county. Among it's earliest SET
tiers was a party Of French. They
married Indian squaws and reared nu-
merous families.
Couldn't Leave Reservation.
Curiously enough it was this TACT
that wiped Archer off the map. When
the government put into effect the
reservation method Of dealing with
the Indians it found itself confronted
with the problem arising out OF the
presence Of so many French halt
breeds. AS a solution of it the COM
m]ssioners decided to set aside spe-
cial reservation in Richardson county
for these families.
When the survey was made 1t was
found that the town Of Archer was
included in the reservation. The army
post was abandoned. the capital was
located elsewhere. the railroads pass
ed it by. it dwindled into mere ham,
let, and the university closed Its doors.
Its prosperity lasted seven years. and,
although Archer men sought to have
the government change its lines, they
were unsuccessful. and within a few
months there was nothing left Of the
town.
Fort Calhoun, the site of the Lewis
and Clark treaty with the Indians in
1904 was in the early sixties town
of about 1900 persons. due. in
part. to the proximity to the military
post. 1t was then the county seat OF
Washington county and strong con-
tender for choice as the capital when
the whites decided that they would
not live in a reservation town or re-
tain it as county seat
Legislators Change Location.
Fontenellc. another Washington
county town, now hamlet. had COL
lege once. did much trading with the
Indians and freighters and was the
county seat of Dodge county. The
politicians changed the county lines at
q legislative session when Fontenelle
wasn't looking and threw it into Wash
ington county, which caused it to be
oyershadowed and speedily killed.
Bellevue and Florence, both located
near Omaha. the one south and the
other north along the Missouri. were
each at one time much larger than
Omaha. Florence once had 5000 peo-
pie: now it has less than 600. 1t was
the winter quarters Of great num-
Der Of Mormons, who camped there
while on their way to Utah in the late
forties and early fifties. Later it was
the westernmost point Of heavy immi
grafton.
For time it was doubtful whether
Omaha or Florence would win in the
race between the two cities. but when
the scales turned in favor Of Omaha
by favor of the Union Pacific railroad
Florence became almost a deserted vii.