Franklin County, Nebraska

For Another Day

Since my computer has been in the shop for updates for the past two weeks and I have nothing prepared for the next two weeks, I will run this wonderful interview with E. S. Hill of Indianola done May 12, 1903. I found this in a large thick book called Compendium of History of Nebraska, Reminiscence and Biography that is owned by Marilyn Chisholm.

Part I

“I come from Tabor, Fremont County, Iowa in company with G. A. Hunter, William Wygent, Mr. Wygent’s son Day, L. B. Korns and Henry Madison. We left in the spring of 1872, and according to the best of my recollection, we arrived at the mouth of Red Willow Creek on the last day of April 1872. I think that is the date. We crossed the Missouri River at Nebraska City, and came by way of Lincoln. Lincoln was a very small place at that time. We also came through Crete and York, both of which were new towns then. Then we came on up to old Fort Kearney on the Platte, and so on up to the old Plum Creek ranch. There we struck across the divide, and struck the Republican at the mouth of Turkey Creek, where Arapahoe now is. We passed very few teams on the road.

“There was a log cabin or two at Arapahoe. Captain Murphy of Plattsmouth, and George and William Colvin were there. William Colvin had a small log shack with a few goods in it in the grocery line. From there we came on to Burton’s Bend on Elk Creek, where we found Ben Burton. He was occupying a log shanty, I think. He was following trapping and hunting. He came on with us a part of the way to where Cambridge now is. There was no visible wagon tracks we could follow after leaving Arapahoe. At Cambridge we found a fellow by the name of Mike Foley, who had a brush shanty on the east side of the creek. It was late in the afternoon when we arrived there. We had to build a bridge across the creek to get our wagons over. On the west side of the creek we met Mr. Foley coming down the Medicine with a saddle of elk on his horse. He met us very kindly, and told us of a good place to camp for the night and divide his meat with us.

“From there we came on, following up the river without any wagon tracks to guide us at all. We saw plenty of game along the stream—elk and deer—but we didn’t get any. Mr. Korns went out and tried to get an elk, but did not make it out. We followed the river up Dry Creek, just west of the village of Bartley. We did not see anyone until we arrived there the next morning. We camped at this place overnight. We found over on the east bank a stake driven into the ground, with a shingle or a piece of cracker box nailed to it, marked ‘Billingsville.’ We looked over the ground, and were very well pleased with the land and the location, and we thought that some day there would be a town there. We learned afterward that this stake had been driven by one of a party of government surveyors. The next morning we met John S. King coming down the river on his horse with his gun. He had been to the mouth of the Willow. He was the earliest settler in Red Willow County. He had a shanty near where the Pat Mckillip ranch now is. He tried to induce us to go back with him, promised to show us the best land there was on the river, but we had stated for Red Willow Creek and didn’t like to turn back. So he concluded to go on with us. He turned around and returned with us to Red Willow Creek, when we arrived that same night. We crossed Coon Creek near where the bridge now is, south of Indianola. We got stalled in the creek, and pulled through only after several hours of hard work. We went on to the mouth of the Willow and camped. Mr. King was with us all this time.

The next morning when we woke up we saw a little smoke just up the creek from our camp, and concluded we had stuck a camp of Indians. We sent out scouts to investigate, and they came back and reported that Charley Moran, a government scout and wagon master from Fort McPherson, was in camp there. They had come over from the fort to hold a pow-wow with Whistler, chief, I think, of the Sioux Indians, who had agreed to meet them at this point to have a talk. We camped there about three days with these men, and the next day we crossed the river-waded across- and Moran shot a very fine deer, which we brought to camp and divided among all hands.

“From there we went up the river five or six miles to look at the country, and then came back to the Willow and resumed our old camp. We looked around for a while, and finally concluded to make settlements on claims. We were in the Lowell Land District, but the office was not open until the 12th of August, following this.

“I stayed here with a fellow by the name of Charles Sanders. We camped on the present town site of Indianola. We were really the only inhabitants of this county that summer. Mr. Hunter and Mr. Korn returned a short time to Fremont County, IA. I was waiting, before going home, to file on my claim at Lowell, NE, which I did on the 12th day of August 1872, and from there I went back to Iowa and returned in September with my wife and child. We had a very hard winter, and had a hard time to get along that winter. We went through a great many privations to hold the country. Before going back to Lowell I met D. N. Smith on the ground where Indianola now stands. He was the B. and M. Land agent in the country, locating land for the Lincoln Land Company, and being an old acquaintance of mine, wanted to know what I was here for. I told him I came out to have a good time, and liked the country so well I thought I would take a claim, and had concluded to wait until I could file on the land. He made arrangements with me to come back and talk matters over. He said he wanted to locate a point here that would be as nearly centrally located in Red Willow County as possible, and in his conversation said that he had a good show here to get the county seat when the county was organized.

“The next summer—the summer of 1873—Washington Hinman, Leslie Lawton and myself were appointed by Governor Furnas as commissioners to call an election for the purpose of locating the county seat. The election was held on the 23rd day of May 1873, in an old log house, near the mouth of the Willow. At that election I. J. Starbuck was elected county clerk, George A Hunter as sheriff, my self as county judge, B. B. Duckworth as treasurer, Lyons county superintendent, and William Berger, William S. Fitch and B. F. Bradberry as county commissioners. The first meeting of the county commissioners was held in a tent, which I occupied on the town site of Indianola. After this election I went to North Platte to prove up on my homestead. I located on Section 7, Township 3, Range 27 west, part of the town site of Indianola. The town site also included a part of Section 18, located by Mr. Hunter.

“The same fall the Lincoln Land Company built a frame building for a hotel. It stood where A. Lord’s hardware store now is. They also built another frame building sixteen by twenty-four feet directly south of where Lord’s building now stands, which the company loaned the use of to the county for a courthouse, until other arrangements could be made. They also built another building of the same size on the northeast corner of block 39, for a store building, which was rented to parties by the name of Allison & Woods, of Kearney, and occupied as the first store in Red Willow County.

“The first term of court in this county was held in this court house by me. I think the first case was a case arising out of a dispute over a load of buffalo meat, or something of that sort. Another early case was one that arose over an assault and battery.”

Why is the King of Hearts the only one that hasn’t a moustache? James Cabell

Rena Donovan, For Another Day.

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