Omaha daily bee., 1916-12-06
More About Logan FontenelIe.


Newberg, Ore, Nov. 25.-To the
Editor of The Bee; In last week s
issue of that excellent paper, the Blair
Enterprise. was printed an article
relative to Logan Fontenelle of a be-
lifting character and purporting to
be based upon the records of the
Nebraska Historical society. 1t says
he was the son of a French trader and
an Omaha woman; that he never was
a chief; that he signed his name with
a mark; that he was killed while
picking blackberries, and that he never
was a hero"
My father, James A. Bell, was one
of a committee of about a half dozen
members of a company organized in
Quincy ILL.,, in 1854, for the purpose
of locating a colony in the then Terri
tory of Nebraska They crossed the
sparsely settled state Of Iowa in a
wagon and went to Bellevue, where
the Omahas were then located and
had conference with Logan Fonte-
nellie, then chief of the Omahas. He
went with the party on their trip out
into the country, which resulted IN
their locating the town on the Elk
horn river which they named in his
honor and named a stream which ran
into the Elkhorn above the site of the
new town Logan-also in honor of
the head of the Omaha Indians.
The exploring party returned to
Quincy full of praise of the character
of Logan Fontenelle as they had
learned it during a week or ten days
in his company, One incident of this
experience was feast which he gave
the party at Bellevue. The following
HA httn I'M
party out west and signs of the pres
ence of Sioux were discovered on
Beaver creek (if | am not mistaken
as to the name), a stream which runs
into the Loup fork of the Platte about
where the town Of Genoa is now To-
Gated. Fontenelle told his companions
to make their escape while he would
mislead the party Of Sioux and delay
them somewhat, confident that with
his swift horse he also could escape
after allowing the other Indians time
to get away. Fontenelles plan sue
ceeded in respect to the escape of the
others of his party, but he was killed
after he had killed several Sioux.
The story drifted back to Quincy
and one of the members Of the party
that had made the trip to Nebraska
the year previous wrote poem, set
ting out the facts in the case, which
was printed in the Quincy Wing.
was little fellow them, but l remem-
Der distinctly the printing of this story
of the death Of Logan Fontenelle and
of the high praise my father gave
Fontenelle. l do not know just what
would. in the mind of the person who
furnished the records" referred to in
the Historical society archives, consti-
tute an act of heroism If this deed Of
Logan Fontenelle does not fill the bill
completely and overfiowing.
The body Of Fontenelle was recov-
cred and taken back to Bellevue,
where the ceremony of burial was of
the most impressive character as de-
scribed in a history of Sarpy county
published many years ago by Stephen
D. Bangs. 1t is long time since l
read it, but l remember one incident
was of white woman turning upon
Stephen Decatur in great wrath be-
cause he, who lacked whole lot OF
being a churchman, read over the
grave the burial service of the Epis-
copal church, She considered it a
Dissertation for him to read it.
The records" referred to, it ap-
pears, say that Fontenelle was not a
scion of a noble family of France
The Fontenelle family has been dis
tinguished in France for many, many
years, and the father of Logan and
Henry Fontenelle belonged to that
The selection of the name Fonte-