Omaha daily bee., 1910-06-24

Of this region: The people of the United
States have reached their inland western
frontier, and the banks of the Missouri
river are the shores at the termination Of
g vast ocean. desert over one thousand
miles in width, which it. Is proposed to
travel, If at all, with caravans Of camels,
and which interposes a final barrier to
the establishment of large communities
agricultural, commercial, or even pastoral.
For fifty years after the Louisiana Pur-
chase but little progress was made, so that
in 1854, when Nebraska was admitted as
a territory, although its boundaries in
cluded the present state and all of the
Dakotas and part Of Montana, Wyoming
and Colorado its white population was
less than 1000.
Among the first settlers were many
SPECTATORS politicians, and professional
men, but few farmers. Territorial war
rants at 30 cents on the dollar land scrip
at 40 cents per acre, and town lots were
the early mediums of exchange. Many
state banks were chartered with almost I'M
limited powers of issue, but the panic of
1856 and 1857 destroyed these banks and
made worthless the city lots, so that
these pioneers early learned the important
lesson that the real value of this new
rather than in legislation or speculation
From that time forward the land came into
active demand, and to this day 1t has
been the source Of all our growth and
progress"
Tribute to Pioneers.
Mr.. Wattles recited many incidents of
the early days and paid tribute to A. N.
Yost, Henry T. Clarke, General John NJ.
Thayer. j. Sterling Morton, George L.
Miller, Alex Majors, Governors Rich
RrdSon, Cunning, Furnas and Saunders;
William A. Paxton, Eleaxer Wakeley, Ed
ward Creighton, Augustus Kountze, men
ton Of whose names evoked cheers, and he
closed in these words:
These, with hundreds Of others, who
came in an early day to this new land
to wrest It from savage life and turn 1t to
the uses Of civilization, have all played
their part in one OF the greatest trans
formations that has ever been accom-
plished in any country in all history, a
| transformation which has changed a bar
ren, uninhsbited desert into rich gar
den; that has increased the wealth OF this
state in period Of fifty years to the in
! cOmprehensible sum OF s3,OOO,OO0 COOS that
has established business enterprises here
Fortunate, indeed is he who has lived
] has LIFE amid the stirring scenes of the
building Of a state surrounded by the in
spring influences Of progress and life
which cannot be found in the older coun-
tr!es Of the world"
! Historical Address by Albert watkins
The address OF Albert Watkins OF Lin
! coin was historical in character, intensely
Interesting and filled with the results Of
wide research, lie covered the whole field
OF territorial and state history, and con,
GLIDING said;
! We celebrate at Bellevue because this
place, as our monument Tecites, may falrl!
be called the first permanent settlement
in Nebraska.
! Not far this side or the other side OF
1880 the American Fur company became
firmly established at Bellevue and, abou
] the Same time the Indian agency was
moved he from Fort Atkinson, whicf
was abanuonsd as a military post IN 1897
These were the two great factors that e.
tablished Bellevue and Peter ~ Sarpy
who came up from ST. Louis perhaps a.
early at 1873 as a representative OF th'
company, was the connecting link between
the squatter and the settled or civilized
period OF the territory
The loss Of the same factors which gavl
Bellevue life commercially destroyed 10
soon after the organization of the terri
tory In 1884 the Otoe and Missouri and III
Omaha Indian tribes were removed {,
their reservations. The agency followes