Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-07-30

/ the population from 1900 to a deserted VII
lage. Many towns we're wiped out because
Of change Of county seats. and many more
were abandoned because railroads decided
to take other routes than the old stage
trail
NebrnsLa's Lost Towns.
| The first territorial legislature met
in 1855 at Archer, the county seat Of
Richardson county. The earliest settlers
there were mostly intermarried with
squaws who raised large families. Later,
when the government put into effect the
reservation method Of caring for the In
dams, it set aside a domain in Richardson
[ county and Archer was left on a reserva-
ton. Its army post was abandoned, the
state buildings left unoccupied, railroads
passed it by. and soon its white population
moved to other localities.
A large number of the lost towns of
Nebraska were located along the great
overland routes The old Mormon tran fol-
lowed the Platte rivers windings. There
was the California trail, the line blazed
by the miners who took part In the Pike
Peak gold rush, and the trails followed by
the freighters and pony express riders. All
! OF these converging at Fort Kearny, mid
way across the state; beyond that was the
hostile Indian country, and safety lay in
travelling in numbers. When the Union
Pacific railroad came through II killed
freighting on the plains. practically every
one of the trail towns disappeared within
a few months except Fort Kearny, and
even that had dropped the Fort and be-
came just plain Kearny, but it is a town
to be proud of, just the same.
When Pard went to the Rocky Mountains
in 1870 he had to cross the Missouri at
Omaha on a ferTyboat and Omaha was
just getting fairly on the map. while Den
yer had only 400 people. Our beautiful
Spokane and Tacoma were not even
| started, Seattle was only lumber camp,
and Minneapolis yet to be built. Pretty
much everything was wilderness north and
south Of the single line of railroad across
the continent where there are now eight
transcontinental roads, and the vast
growth and commercial interests of eight
newly constituted states.
Condition of the Streets.
There was no street paving and the soil
around about Omaha is of that adobe ma
ture that when wet will hold all that any
one can give II, whether 1t is a foot, a
rubber or a wagon wheel. 1 was convinced
that there was greater affinity between
molecules of Omaha mud than any other
crosswalks and a novice in navigation in
that river town could get into trouble
in a hurry. One Of my own experiences
was a ludicrous one. 1t had rained furi-
ously for two or three hours but the sun
followed. with a clear sky. 1 did not yet
know the mud was such a mortal enemy to
pedestrians, and l sailed happily out quite
smartly dressed. and was halted at the
very first crossing. The first thing
knew l was standing as firmly rooted to
/ the spot as If 1 had grown there. l wig
| gled and wriggled and twisted until one
foot was loose. only to find the other one
| In the mud twice as deep. pulled my feet
from my rubbers and hoped to get back
onto firm ground. but alas was hopelessly
stranded until kind Providence sent a
strong deliverer to pry me out. 1t looked
to me IL I covered the most of a five
| foot sidewalk, for the mud would not drop
off my boots, but simply multiplied itself
| with my every effort to escape until Il
was cut off. 1 went home tired out, warm
and ruffled, but had learned my lesson.
/, perhaps ought to have known better,
for had often watched from our windows
at the Grand Central hotel the struggles of
horses and vehicles to- get through the
principal streets. where they were fire.
| quently held for hours in the adobe clutch
There were no water works in the town
except a few private tanks where water
was pumped from wells. There was a
great deal of talk about water works that
winter, but they did not know how to
utilize the Missouri river with its 20 per
cent of mud, and there was no other avail
able source. There must be more water, or
better water, in Phillipsburg, Mont, for
/ W FaCaiVad a
people were living on water and "Stra-
horns Resources" the title they gave
Pard's latest booklet on Montana.
Crows Make the Air Black.
The crows were so thick in Omaha that
the ground would often be black with
them and their incessant caw-caw was a
torture to the nerves. When a flock of
them would light upon a roof their claws
would rattle like hailstones and one often
wished them to emigrate TO other lands,
and wondered what they found so attract
i've in that locality. You could not stone
them, for there were no stones in or
around Omaha. In fact Nebraska is won
derfully free from stones everywhere. A
country doctor is never afraid of striking a
rock as he drives TO his patient in the
black hours Of the night but there are
times when he may drop into a mudhole
from which he may not swim out.
One of the gayest times Omaha ever
had was when ex-President Grant was
there in 10 There was a big parade, with
many bands, and a reception in the old
customs house, where everybody held him
by the hand for one brief second. After
1 our turn We got off in a corner with Gen
eral Crook and some OF his lieutenants to
watch the crowd.
Only a few weeks before we had come
| from Cheyenne on the same train with
General Fremont and General Crook had
met him at the train to pay all possible
Difference to the aging pathfinder Of the
western territories. We did not ourselves
realize at that time what an important
factor he was in the settlement Of this
great western land, but in subsequent
travels We found his early monuments
marking important places and epochs that
are now enclosed in our nations history.
and his name honored as that of Lewis
and Clark, who did so much for the de-
velopment OF Oregon and Washington. Gen
eral Crook was loud in the praises Of the
pathfinder.
Romance of General Crook.
There was an interesting episode in the
lives Of General and Mrs. Crook that had
never been given much publicity, but IL
. WAS imnOrfanf 10 than Ts A. -