A Starting Place for A

Wonderful Life

from

Pre-Historical

Blair, Nebraska

and

Fish Creek History

-

Along the Missouri River

down to

the

Nebraska Kansas

State Line

by

Owen Picton

November 2023

Under construction

Please click Under-Lined items to select:

One of the purposes of this web page is to list the different long ago historical sites from Blair, Nebraska to the area of the Nebraska Kansas State line along the Missouri River. I live at Blair, Nebraska and was born near the Nebraska and Kansas state line at Falls City, Nebraska. Additionally I suggest that an additional sign be placed at the entrance to Blair, Nebraska behind the trees of the current Blair sign before Hy-way 30 crosses Fish Creek. Place the the new sign on unused vacant ground by Hy way 30 and near Fish Creek in an area where pictures are shown further down on this page. The sign would contain information from the "Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804 Notes" of August 04, 1804 that are on the University of Nebraska website at: https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-08-04. Lewis sailed the Missouri River with a Sextant just as one would sail the ocean. Clark has two write-up's for each days camp site. The first are his notes and the second is his write-up for the book that was published. Notice how Clark describes the land, the vegetation, the animals and birds. Other members of the Expedition also have notes. Some of the things to consider for the sign containing Lewis and Clark Expedition notes are listed further down on this web page. Also consider that Clark had a slave named York who camped here with Clark. This was a time of SLAVERY at Blair, Nebraska. Suggest that this is the place for a sign explaining "The Lewis and Clark Expedition" Have the sign where one can pull off the road to read the sign. (There is unused land for such a parking place.)

Blair started in the area where Fish Creek enters the Missouri River. Fish Creek was reported to have been named by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 for a creek that the Indians called Fish Creek (only in there native language). Fish Creek is referred too in the "Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804 Notes" on August 04, 1804 as written by Sargent Floyd as Fish Creek Council or Pond. The Lewis and Clark Expedition Notes of August 04, 1804 are on the University of Nebraska website at: https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-08-04 . On this date August 04, 1804, they camped at the L.S. by a Beaver house near what is now about Blair, Nebraska. To locate other different day locations that they camped at, just do a search on the camp date on the Lewis and Clark website you wish to research.

Things to consider when quoting from the notes for a sign. The sentence where Sargent Floyd referred to Fish Creek is now in the area where Blair, Nebraska is located. What Clark had to say for August 4, 1804, The ponds Clark referrers to must be water sources that flow to Fish Creek. Clark had let Moses B Reed go back and get his knife the night before and he had not returned by this evening. Notice how everyone spelled words. Lewis made some comments. They were always taking GPS locations. Near Blair they passed a place called "the hat" after the name of an Indian who had died there.

They camped the next day at a locations that is now the Washington and Burt County lines on August 05, 1804 https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-08-05

They decided that Moses B Reed had deserted and sent four men back to take Reed, Dead or alive on August 06, 1804 https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-08-06

The deserter, Moses B Reed was offered the choice of being executed or returned to camp. He choose to returned to camp, had a trial, he confessed and sentence to run the Gantlet four times (believed punishment of running between two lines of men who are trying to whip you with many lashings). The Indians felt sad for him and felt the sentence was too harsh. This was on August 18, 1804 https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-08-18

Entrance into Blair, Nebraska, with Hy way 30 on the left, then crossing Fish Creek

Coming off Blair bridge over Missouri River from Iowa

View of area behind trees

Railroad track on left, road on right and Fish Creek beyond

after coming off bridge over Missouri River

Another view of area behind trees looking back

after coming off bridge over Missouri River

Fish Creek

in Nebraska

after coming off bridge over Missouri River

Fish Creek

in Nebraska

after coming off bridge over Missouri River

Buffalo Wallows

(Ponds)

Sargent Floyd (a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - died a few days latter) on August 4, 1804 referred to ponds when he was near Fish Creek or what is now Blair. I think they were really Buffalo Wallows created by buffalo maybe a half million years ago or more. I have been told that there were buffalo wallows all over the state of Nebraska in pioneer times but we do not recognize them today. The buffalo would stand on the low water places where there hoofs would dig into the lake bottom and make it hard. Then the hair and skin oils from there hid would get worked into the bottom of the lake making a water tight bottom. These hard bottoms have had there water tight seal broken up by farming and in this case when the railroad cut through the bottoms. I wonder if there were small villages here next to these ponds sometimes over the last few thousand years?

Carter Valley

The first families where Blair, Nebraska is now located, had the last name of Carter. They were three brothers with families and there parents. The Carters homestead and the area was called Carter Valley, or Carter Hallow or sometimes Carterville. The name changed to Blair Nebraska when the railroad came.

The railroad selected this area as the best place to cross the Missouri River and go through the large river bluffs West. The railroad was partly owned and managed by a man name John I Blair. He purchased the land, sold off lots and named the area Blair Nebraska. This information on Carter Valley came from the book "If These Bricks Could Talk" by Donna Henton.

Washinton County, Nebraska

Creation

I suggest an additional sign also be put up related to Washington County creation. Blair, Nebraska is in Washington County. The following information came from the Washinton County Museum:

Washington County was named after our first President? Washington County was established by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature on his birthday - February 22, 1855. The following law was made: "... a county shall be organized to be called Washington, and shall be bounded as follows: Commencing at a point on the Missouri River, two miles north of Florence, or Winter Quarters, thence north following the meanderings of said river to a point in a direct line, twenty four miles from the place of beginning, thence west to the dividing ridge between the Elkhorn and Missouri Rivers, or to the eastern boundary line of Dodge county, thence south along said line twenty four miles, thence east to the place of beginning."

Slavery

in

Washington County, Nebraska

York the slave at Blair, Nebraska. Clark had a slave named York that he took with him on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is said that York did not want to go on the Expedition because he had just gotten married. The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped on the Missouri River at what become the Blair Nebraska location on August 04, 1804 with Clark's slave York also camping there. Before that on July 30, 1804 slave York and the Expedition had camped at a spot that became known as Council Bluff on the Missouri River and is now known as Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska. Sargent Floyd also refers to Fish Creek Council or Pond on the Missouri River at the August 04,1804 location.

York asked for his freedom at the end of the Lewis and Clark Expedition but was denied. York's wife was owned as a slave by another man in another town. York then ask Clark if he could move to that town and send Clark the money he would earn each month. York was again denied this. Clark gave York his freedom ten years after the Expedition ended. York died of cholera in 1832.

Places believed to have had slaves in Washington County, Nebraska are the Lewis and Clark Expedition with a slave named York, the Mormon Summer Quarters at De Soto, Nebraska area because the Mormon Winter Quarters had slaves, and finally Fort Atkinson had a black mountain man named James Beckwourth (1800-1866) pass through who was formerly a slave. Also Fort Lisa, Cabanne's Trading Post and Engineer Cantonment are believed to have had slaves stop and pass through on the Missouri River..

The Louisiana Purchase was made on April 30, 1803 from Napoleon of France by the United States of America and included a 60,000 non-native population which half were slaves.

Go to this website about some stories about Slavery in Nebraska.

More Nebraska Enslavement History

I have heard but do not know for sure, that it is more likely, that River Towns along the Missouri River were for slavery.

The Railroad

and

Railroad Bridge

The railroad and Blair Railroad Bridge over the Missouri River at Blair has been here since 1883, The Blair Railroad Bridge was rebuilt in 1923 and finished in January 1924. The Blair Bride was closed only 17 hours during the rebuild construction. So the Bride is a 100 years old or more. There are even pictures of steamboats traveling under the bridge in the late 1800's. The dirt upgrade on either side of the river to the bridge in1883 must have been constructed manually with a horse pulling a slip or dirt scoop guided by a man walking behind because bulldozers did not exist in 1883. This broke up the Buffalo pond Wallows so that the ponds would not hold water.

The Pacific Railorad Act of 1862 during the Civil War caused the start of the building of the railroads across Nebraska. Building of the railroad at Blair had a track West from California Junction to the Missouri River and from the river to Fremont, Nebraska (connecting with the Union Pacific.). This was completed in early 1869. Train cars would cross on barges except during the winter when the water would freeze. Train cars would cross the Missouri River in winter on temporary pilings over temporary train track which would last until about March when a spring flooding would wash the tract out. This was how it was until the bridge was built in 1883.

The Omaha bridge was built in 1872 but was not allowed to carry passengers. .Council Bluffs charged a very high passenger fee. Omaha had a law against anyone entering Nebraska from Iowa by train. The U.S. Supreme Court order of October 1875 forced the railroad to transfer freight and passengers between Iowa and Nebraska. This Supreme Court ruling increased traffic through Omaha and slowed the amount of traffic through Blair.

An Act of Congress on June 27, 1882 authorized construction of a bridge over the Missouri River at Blair, Nebraska .

Historical Missouri River Activity

from

Blair, Nebraska to the Mouth of the Platte River and then Down to the Nebraska - Kansas State Line Which is the Fortieth Parallel of Latitude

My connection to the Biddle family in this area. My Grandmother's maiden last name was Martha Biddle and her father was Henry Biddle. Joseph Biddle ( my ancestor) was a Great Uncle to the below three Biddle brothers Nicholas Biddle, Major Thomas Biddle and Major John Biddle and also an Uncle to Ann Biddle whose husband was General James Wilkinson. My branch of the Biddle family is the poor branch. All are discussed in some of the following paragraphs.

Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861 and Nebraska became a state on March 1, 1867. The state line could not have existed before these dates. The United States purchased the Territory of Louisiana on April 30, 1803. The following is a sequential list of some of the historical places along the Missouri River mostly on the Nebraska side from the town of Blair, Nebraska, down to a little passed the Nebraska and Kansas state line.

Year 1803 - Louisiana Purchase

City of New Orleans was founded in 1727. On 1760 the British conquered Canada. On November 3, 1762 France ceded the Territory of Louisiana to the King of Spain. On September 3, 1783 a Peace Treaty (Treaty of Paris) was signed between the British and the United States giving rights to the United States of all land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from a line from the great lakes to the 31st parallel to the Atlantic ocean, then South to the Southern border of Georgia. On October 1, 1800 the King of Spain ceded the Territory of Louisiana back to Napoleon of France.

The United States purchased the Territory of Louisiana on April 30, 1803 from Napoleon of France and called it the "Louisiana Purchase". The Louisiana Purchase extended from the West bank of the Mississippi River to parts of land along the Pacific Coast. It included land that would make up many states and parts of other states. It doubled the size of the United States. The City of New Orleans, the Rocky Mountains, the entire valley of the Missouri River, the entire states of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and others were included in this purchase. It included a 60,000 non-native population which half were slaves.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 delt with laws dealing with slavery on lands purchased on the Louisiana Purchased.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped on August 04, 1804 along Fish Creek (an area now part of the town Blair Nebraska) and also upstream from a place they named Council Bluffs (an area where Fort Atkinson was built and now part of the town Fort Calhoun). Fort Atkinson was closed by the Army in the 1827. The Lewis and Clark Expedition had a journal written and the editor was Nicholas Biddle who had Major Thomas Biddle and Major John Biddle shown below as brothers. Nicholas Biddle (8 Jan 1786-) (at age 18 went to Paris, France to work on the financial details for Louisiana Purchase negotiations with Napoleon. Nicholas Biddle was editor of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Journals, Head of the Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia) (Became one of the riches person in the United States, said why should I run for president because I already have more power than the President of the United States)

Lewis sailed the Missouri River with a Sextant just as one would sail the ocean. Lewis recorded his GPS coordinates each day. Clark has two write-up's for each day. The first are his notes and the second is his write-up for the book that was published ( Lewis and Clark Expedition ). You can put in other dates by going to the web site above. July 10, 1804 brings up the a write-up for the day they arrived at what is now the Nebraska - Kansas state line. Other members of the Expedition also have notes.

On August 20, 1804 - only death of Expedition https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-08-20 Sargent Floyd died. Sargent Floyd was the only member of the Expedition to die. He died at what is now near Sioux City, Iowa from what is believed was appendicitis.

Missouri River Also known as: Oumessourit River, and Peki-tan-oui

The French word Oumessourit (pronounced "oo-meh-soo-ree") was used by the French fur traders in the 1700's when referring to the native peoples who lived along the Missouri River.

The name Peki-tan-oui was first used on some early French maps for the name of the Missouri River and, later, Oumessourit; Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet reached the mouth of the Missouri in 1673. The Missouri River was known to them as Peki-tan-oui.

The Missouri River was nicknamed the “Big Mu ddy” because, of the large amount of dirt and mud it carried.

The Missouri River was originally three times as wide from Yankton, South Dakaota to the mouth of the river on the Mississippi River. The US Army Corps of Engineers narrowed, straighten and deepened the river to a third of its original size. This allowed the river to carry more barge traffic.

Steamboat Bertrand sank April 1, 1865 on the Missouri River in Nebraska at De Soto Bend near the town of De Soto, Nebraska. You can now view some of the cargo of the Steamboat Bertrand at the National Wild Life Refuge located a few miles from where it sank.

Summer Quarters In 1846 and 1847 the Mormons needed a place to grow food for there travel West. They selected farm ground North of Fort Atkinson up to the town of De Soto and also used some of the ground Fort Atkinson used for farming plus reused bricks originally made and used at Fort Atkinson. The Mormons called this place there Summer Quarters and it extended all the way up to what was the Fort Calhoun Atomic Power Plant (now closed) and a community now called De Soto, Nebraska. The Mormons had slaves at their Winter Quarters so they must have had slaves at the Summer Quarters to help work the fields to grow food.

On July 30, 1804 https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-07-30 , the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped in Washington County, Nebraska, near the present town of Fort Calhoun, about fifteen miles north of Omaha. This location they named Council Bluff was held a council with the Indians in the area of the town Fort Calhoun, Nebraska and where Fort Atkinson was located. These bluffs became known as the Council Bluff by mutual agreement between Lewis, Clark and the Indian chiefs. Years later a town was named Council Bluff on the Iowa side of the river opposite Omaha.

Camp Missouri

Colonel Henry Atkinson came up the Missouri River in 1819 with an army force of 1120 solders and established a camp called Camp Missouri at what was called Council Bluffs. The camp was moved the next year to higher ground and renamed Fort Atkinson at what is now Fort Atkinson at Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska. The Indians said this spot was about a 25 days journey from Santa Fa.

Fort Atkinson First United States Army post West of the Missouri River. The fort was built in 1819 and abandon in 1827 on land that is now part of Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. Fort Atkinson was established where the Lewis and Clark Expedition met with the Indians in 1804. They called the place council Bluffs which is not to be confused with the place 20 miles South called Council Bluffs Iowa. Major Thomas Biddle (21 Nov 1790-29 Aug 1831)(War of 1812) (paymaster at Fort Atkinson in Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska)(died in a dual defending the honor of his brother Nicholas Biddle on Bloody Island in the middle of the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri. A Brother was Major John Biddle who was at Engineer Cantonment discussed further below.

A Black mountain man James Beckwourth (1800-1866) was formerly an enslaved man who visited Fort Atkinson.

Narrow Gauge Railroad. I have heard that there was a narrow gauge railroad that ran from Fort Calhoun to Fort Lisa hauling wood. The wood was sold to the steamboats to power the steam engines. I heard this story but do not know if it is true about a narrow gauge railroad.

Fort Calhoun, Nebraska - J. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War ordered an Expedition lying West of the Allegheny and East of the Rocky Mountains by going up the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains for the Years 1819, 1820 under the Command of Maj. S. H. Long. The expedition went up the Missouri River and setup a winter camp called "Engineer Cantonment" at a place a few miles South of a town we now call Fort Calhoun, Nebraska (town named after J. C. Calhoun, Secretary of War).

"Engineer Cantonment" was a place a few miles South of a town we now called Fort Calhoun, Nebraska and on a River Road currently along the Missouri River North of Omaha, Nebraska. It is now located on the West side of the road and on the East side of the road is a clear open view of the fields without trees. This was part of Long's Expedition (also called the Yellowstone Expedition) up the Missouri River) (they travailed on the first steamboat to go up the Missouri called "Western Engineer" (go to that website and page down to the article on Western Engineer). Long's Expedition spent the winter of 1819 - 1820 at the winter camp called "Engineer Cantonment". A Major John Biddle (2 Mar 1792-25 Aug 1859)(was in the War of 1812) He was the Official Journalist of Long's Expedition up the Missouri River but left Long's Expedition during the winter of 1819 because of a disagreement with Long. Engineer Cantonment may have had slaves pass through.

Fort Lisa was located about a mile South of "Engineer Cantonment" on the River Road currently along the Missouri River North of Omaha, Nebraska. It is on the East side of the River Road in the brush down a steep hill to the level ground (near a T intersection). Near the edge of an open field along the River Road but nothing exists now. On the West side is a brush area that was a pond as i understand. During the winter of 2022 and 2023 there was a very big fire that jumped the Missouri River from Iowa and burned up some old dead Cotton wood trees. This was on the East side of the road between Fort Lisa and Engineer Cantonment. Fort Lisa may have had slaves pass through. Manuel Lisa was a fur trader who built a number of Forts on the Missouri River including this one. Another write up of Manual Lisa.

Manual Lisa had a difficult relationship with General James Wilkinson (then Governor of the Louisiana Territory obtaining permits to build these forts. General James Wilkinson (1757-1828) (served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812)(Organized the Pike Wilkinson Expedition to explore the South and Western part of the Louisiana Purchase). General James Wilkinson was married to Ann Biddle who was a niece of my ancestor Joseph Biddle. The War of 1812 caused the British to have some of the Indians to be against the United States. This caused Manual Lisa to close his Forts upstream and bring his employees downstream and build this Fort Lisa. He also had to convince the Indians to be for the United States.

The Search for Fort Lisa in the Vicinity of Omaha, Nebraska - As of April, 2019

Antoine Barada born in 1807 at St. Mary's, Iowa, (located across the Missouri River from Nemaha County, Nebraska). Parents were Michel Barada, a French-American fur trapper and interpreter, and Ta-ing-the-hae, also known as "Laughing Buffalo", a full-blood Omaha Indian and sister to the chief. His grandfather, Antoine Barada, Sr. (1739–1782), was born in Gascony, France, and one of the first settlers of St. Louis, Missouri.

Antoine was kidnapped in 1813 by the Lakota Sioux while the family lived near Fort Lisa (Nebraska). His father Michel Barada paid a ransom of two ponies and then six months later he was returned. After this his father sent the boy to live with an aunt in St. Louis. Then at the age of nine, Antoine joined an Indian hunting party on the Plains.

There are many legends about Antoine such as he went West and became a Mountain Man and Fur trader. He had an appointment to West Point Military Academy but never attended (this can be proved). He was the strongest man in the world. He founded the town of Barada, Nebraska. He provided transportation across the Missouri River for Blacks on the Underground Railroad. The difference between Antoine Barada and other people of Legends is that he was a real person and most of the Legends are true.

For more on Antoine Barada, go further down to the information on the town of Barada, Nebraska.

Cabanne's Trading Post Located 10 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska, six miles south of Fort Atkinson, and 2 miles south of Fort Lisa on a River Road (on the East side) currently along the Missouri River North of Omaha, Nebraska. On the edge of an open field along the River Road but nothing exists now. Cabanne's Trading Post may have had slaves pass through. Cabanne's Trading Post History

Winter Quarters (1846 to 1848) on the Mormon Trial in North Omaha, Nebraska. This was a stop off rest area for the Mormons on there travail West. Church of Latter Day Saints had enslaved people at Winter Quarters from 1846 to 1848.

List of slaves at Winter Quarters in North Omaha, Nebraska

Jacob Bankhead (18??–1848), at Winter Quarters is the first recorded death of a slave in Nebraska.

Hark Lay Wales (1825–1881), slave at Winter Quarters

Green Flake (1828-1903), slave at Winter Quarters

Henry Brown (18??–18??), slave at Winter Quarters

Jane Manning James (1813–1908), slave at Winter Quarters

Fort Omaha, Nebraska is located in North Omaha. Another Fort Omaha write up. Was an Indian era United States Army Fort This is were the Standing Bear Trial was held. I attended Naval Reserve meetings there in about 1960.

The great Bicycle Race in about 1895 from Fort Omaha to Chicago. The first problem was they had to use the railroad bridge to cross the Missouri River. Then there was no paved roads. The roads that did exist were little more than dirt paths. If you asked what the road was like 6 miles ahead, the answer was that most people had never been that far from home. They did not know what was ahead. I read about this great Bicycle Race a long time ago and can not now find the source, but this is what I remember.

Standing Bear Trial was held at Fort Omaha, Nebraska and part of the Ponca Indians of Nebraska Trail of Tears Story. The trail was basically if Chief Standing Bear was a human being and on May 12, 1879 he was ruled to be a Human Being.

Japanese incendiary balloon bomb. Japan dropped an incendiary balloon bomb on Omaha during WWII for a total of about seven onto Nebraska. As I recall there was a monument were it fell and I remember seeing it on about 30th street near the Radial Hy way. Japan made these incendiary balloon bombs out of paper during World War II to drop on the United States. Over a six month period, they launched about 9,300 bombs in Japan into the jet stream. I think that less than 300 hundred reached the United States main land. As I understand it, every once in a while, someone finds one of these bombs in the United States.

Omaha, Nebraska historical pictures and a little about the underground railroad at Falls City, Nebraska.

Partial list below of slaves at Omaha, Nebraska

(1855-1857) Enslaved man, owned by Mark W. Izard in Omaha

Partial list of people who had been slaves and also lived Omaha, Nebraska at one time

Sallie Sylvester (1812-1920), Omaha—Oldest person in Omaha when she died at 108
S.J. “July” Miles (1849-1941), Omaha—Oldest surviving African American Civil War veteran in Nebraska when he died
Robert Ball Anderson (1843-1930) of Box Butte County—Largest Black land holder in Nebraska when he died
Anderson Bell (1838-1903) of Omaha—
Richard “General” Curry (1831-1885) of Omaha—Local political leader
George W. Mattingly (1841-1924) of Butler County—
Josiah “Professor” Waddle (1849-1939) of Omaha—Local musician and band leader
Lewis Washington (1800-1898) of Omaha—Abolitionist speaker and local political activist
John Flanagan (1791-1905) of Omaha—Oldest person in Nebraska he she died at 114
Phillip King (1822-1888) of Omaha—
Thomas Brown (1829-1923) of Omaha—
Edwin Overall (1835-1901) of Omaha—Local Civil Rights advocate and government worker
Frank Walker (1813-1915) of Omaha—Local real estate holder
William R. Gamble (c.1850-1910)—Local community leader
Cyrus D. Bell (1848-1925)—Local lawyer and political leader
Archie Richmond (1838-1893)—Longtime print machine operator at the Omaha Bee
Lizzie Robinson (1860-1945) of Omaha—Congregation starter for the Church of God in Christ
Ophelia Clenlans (c1841-1907) of Omaha—Local political activist and community leader
Joseph E. Payne (1861-1936) of Omaha—
John Taylor (1847-1912) of Omaha—Said to be the “only slave” in Omaha when he died
George Conway (1847-1939) of Omaha—Served Ulysses S. Grant after enslavement

Council Bluffs, Iowa - Directly across the Missouri River, East from Omaha, Nebraska. Council Bluffs, Iowa was known first as Traders Point, then Kanesville, Iowa until 1852 when the name was changed to the final name of Council Bluffs. Abraham Lincoln visited Council Bluffs on August 12, 1859 and spoke during this visit.

Fontenelle's Post first known as Pilcher's Post, and the site of the later city of Bellevue, Nebraska.. Fontenelle's Post was built in 1822 in Nebraska Territory by Joshua Pitcher. Bellevue is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Nebraska.

The Platte River of Nebraska empty's into the Missouri River between Omaha and Nebraska City. The Platte River is a flat, sandy, shallow and wide river that runs the entire length of Nebraska (from the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri river).

The adventurer, writer and explorer Henry Morton Stanley (born in Wales, of 'Dr. Livingston I presume' time frame and found the source of the Nile River of Egypt) explored the Platte River from Colorado to its mouth on the Missouri River in about 1865 and wrote about it. Henry Stanley built a home made boat to travel down the Platte River and he had many mishaps. Henry Stanley did this right after he deserted the US Navy during the American Civil War. He joined the American Civil War by joining the Confederate Army, was captured, became a prisoner of war, was offered the chance to join the US Army, joined the US Army, deserted the US Army, joined the US Navy and then deserted the US Navy.

The Missouri River town of Plattsmouth, Nebraska is near where the Platte River enters the Missouri River. Plattsmouth was first known as "The Barracks" when it was a trading post in 1854. The name was later changed because it was near the mouth of the Platte River.

Tabor, Iowa is located on the Iowa side of the Missouri River between Omaha and Nebraska City. Around the time of the Civil War this was part of the Underground Railroad where John Brown would hid slaves to aid in there escape across Iowa.

The Iowa Underground Railroad as I understand it, ran from Tabor, Iowa near the Missouri River across the center of Iowa to the Mississippi River and then on to Chicago, Illinois. I think the Quakers may have built Quakers Meeting Houses (churches) along this path. This resulted in having some members that would assist in running parts of the Underground Railroad. I do not know the names of anyone or if there were any members that did this. Could this be why there is a Quaker church at Marshalltown, Marshall County, Iowa where my daughter-in-laws grandfather Robert Ben Bishop (1918-2012) is buried at the Quaker cemetery called, Marietta Cemetery, Marshall County, IA? His wife Dorothy G (Foote) Bishop is buried there also.

Nebraska City, Nebraska (former site of the first Fort Kearny and is about 40 miles South of Omaha, Nebraska on the Missouri River. It was one of the places that people started West from, for California and the state of Washington before there was a railroad. The US Census before the Civil War listed slaves at that town.

Slave Auction in Nebraska City, Nebraska on December 5, 1860, the Otoe County sheriff auctioned off two slaves called “Uncle Hercules” and Martha or “Aunt Dinah” in front of the county courthouse in Nebraska City, Nebraska. The sheriff did this even if there was a law against it, The slaves were owned by Judge Holly, who owed money on some payments on a credit and the sheriff seized his property. After the auctioned, the slaves were taken to Missouri to continue their slavery.

A trail was made from the first Fort Kearny (now Nebraska City) to the second Fort Kearny which is now Kearney, Nebraska. They took a compass and determined the direction they would take on the compass. They took a horse or mule and a plow and plowed a line using the compass path between the two forts. This path was taken and became a road which is now Highway 2 that goes through Lincoln.

Partial list of slaves at Nebraska City, Nebraska

(1854-18??) Enslaved people, names and number unknown, owned by Charles F. Hally
(1855) Enslaved man, owned by Charles A. Goshen
(1858) Hercules, male owned by Judge Charles Holly
(1858) Martha or Dinah, female owned by Judge Charles Holly
(1858) Enslaved female, name and gender unknown, owned by Robert Kirkham
(1860) Shade (?), male owned by Stephen Nuckolls
(1860) Shack Grayson, male owned by Stephen Nuckolls
(1860) Eliza Grayson (1840-????), female owned by Stephen Nuckolls
(1860) Celia, female owned by Stephen Nuckolls
(1860) Enslaved man owned by Stephen Nuckolls
(1860) Enslaved person, name unknown, owned by Alexander Majors

Peru, Nebraska was first attempted to be settled in 1853 but the US Army would not allow it because of an Indian treaty. Settlers founded the town in 1857. A school called the Mount Vernon Academy stated in1861. This school became the states first Normal School in 1867 and would eventually become Peru State College.

The Honey Creek Coal Mine developed in1906 and was located 4 miles South West of Peru, Nebraska. It was the largest coal mine in Nebraska. The coal mine seam runs maybe a little over a 100 yards from the Missouri River.

Brownville, Nebraska was founded in 1854. Year 1857 at the Nebraska House Hotel in Brownville, Nebraska, there was a shootout between former slaves and kidnappers. Three Black people had escaped from Platte County, Missouri, and made it to the Nebraska House Hotel. One former slave was shot and jailed.but after a speedy trial he was found not guilty of shooting the kidnappers, and sent back to enslavement in Missouri. The other two slaves escaped.

Brownville has a celebration over every Memorial weekend .I saw the towns cannon one Memorial weekend. They said the town acquired the cannon during the Civil War for protection.

St Deroin and Indian Cave are both located in Nemaha County, Nebraska. St Deroin is at the North end of the entrance to Indian Cave State Park. St Deroin is now a ghost town which had been a River Town located at the bottom of a bluff along the Missouri River. Indian Cave is an overhanging sandstone rock that goes back into the bluff at Indian Cave State Park. Dirt was filled in over this sandstone rock overhang. A disagreement had occurred between the land owner and the State of Nebraska, when the park was being purchased. I remember how it looked before and after. Removing this 5 to 10 feet layer of dirt would restore Indian Cave to its former glory (I wish). I used to visit Indian Cave before it was a park and one would come into the area from the South along the Missouri River.

Before Indian Cave was a park, I remember a small cave South about 50 to a 100 yards of the sandstone rock overhang. This cave was about 3 to 4 feet in diameter and went about 10 to 15 feet into the sandstone. I do not know if this cave exists now.

Some say St Deroin existed as a trading post when the Lewis and Clark Expedition past through.

Barada, Nebraska community is located in the beautiful hills of Richardson County, Nebraska along the bluffs and valleys of the Missouri River. The Barada community is now 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Falls City, Nebraska. No state line existed before Kansas and Nebraska were states. I have some Great Grandparents (Zimmermann) buried at St Peters Lutheran Church Cemetery near Barada.

Barada was founded by Antoine Barada. Also refer back to information on Fort Lisa for more information on Antoine Barada.

Antoine Barada married Marcellite Vient, a French woman from St. Louis. In 1856 they moved to Nebraska to settle on the Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation in Richardson County which become part of the state of Nebraska in 1867. He was half-Omaha Indian where the Barada Community is now in Richardson County, Nebraska, which made him eligible for a land patent from the US government. He started a trading post on the reservation, which became the town of Barada where he and his wife lived. It is said that more than once, Antoine provided transportation across the Missouri River for Blacks on the Underground Railroad.

Antonine Barada (1807-1885) was called the “Lifeguard of the Missouri”, he helped save slaves from drowning by carrying them across the Missouri River near Barada, Nebraska.

Rulo, Nebraska is on the Missouri River and just a few miles from the Kansas and Nebraska State Line. Rulo was once said to be "The front door of Richardson County". Note, before Kansas and Nebraska were states no state line existed. Rulo was a river town and was a stopping point for steamboat traffic. River towns were often considered to be a place of a lot of fights, drunkenness and not a very safe place. The town is on part of a cluster of hills. There were a number of oil wells in Richardson County, Kansas.

My family connection: There is a road running South out of Rulo that splits. The road splitting to the left goes to White Cloud, Kansas. The road splitting right goes around part of a bluff (was a coal mine in this bluff at one time), then turns left, South across the Nemaha River into Kansas. This road South into Kansas is where there is a farm a few miles into Kansas along this road where my Great Grand Parents Henry Biddle (Page 38 and # 116) lived, with my Grand Parents and my Dad (the maiden name of my Grandmother was Martha Biddle Page 39 and # 218 ). The farm is still in the family after about 150 years. Joseph Biddle (Page 24 and # 1 in book) was the Great Great Grandfather of Henry Biddle. Across the road to the South from this farm lived my Great Grandfathers brother and sister to the East across another road along with there families. My ancestor Henry Biddle was born in Pennsylvania, married in Iowa, traveled to California, owned a mill near Sacramento, California, had the mill in California destroyed by a flood, and moved to this farm in Kansas in the early part of the 1870's were he lived for the rest of his life. There is a family story that he had a disagreement with one of his brothers, he got on a ship and sailed the world before he was married. My Aunt said he had such papers from sailing the world in his things when he died. The farms where the Biddle families lived in Kansas were maybe 5 to 15 miles away from where the Pony Express traveled at this time frame. Some believe that Jesse James and his gang traveled this area also. Martha Biddle had a Biddle first cousin (daughter of her fathers brother to the South) who lived across the road, married the son of General Sherman of Civil War fame. My Grandmother would take me along to Hiawatha, Kansas with her when she went and visited her first cousin Mrs. Sherman. My Grandmother Martha Biddle had a married last name of Picton and went by the nickname of Mattie.

There was a Coal Mine in Richardson County, Nebraska not far from the Missouri River - To go to the coal mine area take a road running South out of Rulo that splits. The road splitting right goes around part of a bluff that had a coal mine. The road continues on then turns left, South across the Nemaha River into Kansas. My Dad has been in the tunnel for the coal mine a long time ago. Authorities felt it was too dangerous, set off explosives and destroyed the tunnel. One sometimes can find a seam of coal when drilling a well. People have found small seams of coal in the areas around the towns of Falls City, Humboldt and Rulo in Richardson County. It is reported that coal can be found all along the Missouri River up to South Dakota, including Washington County but not in commercial quantities..

Oil Wells in Richardson County, Nebraska were first found in 1939.

The Big Nemaha River is near the Kansas - Nebraska State Line on the Nebraska side and running parallel to the state line. There are tall river bluffs in this area. A person on top of one of these bluffs can see three states Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. The Lewis and Clark Expedition claimed that they could see Indian Burial Mounds on the hills from the top of these bluffs. Travel about 10 miles West upstream is the town of Falls City which was founded at what was once the Nemaha River Falls.

On July 11, 1804, https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-07-11 Where they explored the mouth of the Nemaha River and a sentence says there is a Yellow Clay (Sand Stone) Cliff. The Yellow Clay (Sand Stone) Cliff is the place where Clark says he carved his name and date (his name and date are not known to exist today).

The Underground Railroad - Year 1857 to 1861 - Falls City, Nebraska

This was before Kansas and Nebraska were states so no state line existed. The Underground Railroad was a term used for smuggling slaves in "Bleeding Kansas" from 1857 to 1861. It was a trail (marked with rock piles known as Lane's chimneys) built by Gereral James H. Lane and called Lane's Road. Lane's Road followed several paths with one passing through Padonia, now in Kansas to Falls City, now in Nebraska (10 miles West of the Missouri River) and North to Nebraska City, Nebraska. Another path passing through Albany, Kansas to Salem, Nebraska then North. Lane's Road ran from Lawrence, Kansas through Padonia, Brown County, Kansas, then near or over Pony Creek, then through the Falls City underground railroad in Richardson County, Nebraska to Nebraska City. From Nebraska City, I think it ran to Tabor, Iowa and from Tabor, Iowa near the Missouri River across the center of Iowa to the Mississippi River and then on to Chicago, Illinois.

The name of the street that the highway takes through Falls City is now called Lane Street. In some write ups, it states that James Lane lived at Falls City, Nebraska part of the time that the underground railroad activity was going on.

1870's Falls City, Nebraska

I would as a boy growing up in Falls City would hear tales of Jesse James and his gang from other boys when the gang traveled the Falls City area. I wish I had paid attention to the tales but now sadly I do not remember a single story.

"Bleeding Kansas" was a dangerous place. John Brown (1800-1859) personally used this Underground Railroad to smuggle slaves to freedom by taking them through the Brown County area to Falls City, Nebraska (Slavery in Nebraska) where John Brown hid slaves on the Underground Railroad (one then would go through Padonia to get to Falls City and North to Nebraska City, Nebraska). John Brown sparked the American Civil War by his actions in other parts of the United States and was hung for this. He is considered by some to be a heroic martyr and one of the more important people in American history because he give his life for freedom of the slaves by actions which he intentionally took to free the slaves. Others consider John Brown a terrorist.

A song about John Brown called "John Brown's Body" with words:

John Brown's body lies a moldering in his grave,

Nebraska Civil War Fighting and Battle of Padonia

This was written up in a Kansas History Book and is now online. During the Civil War, 150 Confederate Troops crossed the Missouri River at Rulo, Nebraska. This was before Kansas and Nebraska were states so no state line existed. The 150 Confederate Troops divided near FAlls City, Nebraska. Half went to Salem, Nebraska and sacked Salem. Then escaped back to Missouri.

The other half went South to Padonia, Kansas. Where the Battle of Padonia occurred. Someone signaled the people at Padonia that the Confederate Troops were coming. The Confederate Troops were unaware this, stopped at a Padonia farm, took it over and butchered a hog to eat. The people of Padonia surrounded the farm and forced the Confederate Troops to surrender. They took the guns and horses of Confederate Troops which made them mad. Then marched them to the Missouri River and forced the Confederate Troops to swim back to Missouri.

Five Point School, District 86 in Richardson County, Nebraska, USA was my country school which I attended. It was located a few miles (maybe 12 miles) South West of Falls City, Nebraska and about a half mile from the Kansas and Nebraska State Line. This is where, I (Owen Picton) went to county school with my cousin Donald Schmidt. He was in about the 7th or 8th grade and I was in kindergarten or 1st grade. His sister Marjorie Jean had already graduated from this school and my 2 sister had not started, yet. The school was on a dirt road and about a mile and a half from my house and two miles from Donald's. The school had no electricity or phone. The school had 2 outhouses out back (one for boys and one for girls). The teacher had a hand bell to call us when recess was over. Water came from a well out front with a pump which was pumped by hand into a bucket and taken into an enclosed breezeway of the school. A ladle was placed into the bucket. Everyone brought there own cup from home. Mine and I think the others were a metal measuring cup. Every day we all had to bring lunch from home, made by our Mothers. The floors were polished once in a while by putting down green or red saw dust which had been soaked in something like kerosine or oil. All the students would slide on this to polish the floor. The floors were polished before school programs and the students would decorate the school. These school programs were open and attended by everyone in the school district. It was like a big party. They had such games as bobbing for apples. These were held around Halloween, Christmas and in the spring with maybe a special one in the summer because the whole community had such a good time. Sometimes the School District Superintendent for the county would present free health films for the whole community. The School District Superintendent had to bring his own electric generator. All these school programs were a social thing for the community.

Our school library was a wooden box filled with books which would be past from school house to school house. Each year our art work and special projects would be sent to the county fair to be judged against the other schools. The school had playground equipment such as a swing, slide, merry go round and a big yard with trees plus enough open space to play baseball. One of our games was "Andy Andy Over" which we throw a ball over the school roof and if we caught the ball, we would run around the building and tag someone on the other side. This went on until no one was left on the other side. One day a small plane flew over the school and we all ran out to see the plane. This was during the 2nd World War. For our school war effort, we would collect such things as milk weed pads and card board for the US government. The teacher would take all of us children and drive around the country side, finding and picking milk weed pads. I think the fibber was used in lift boat jackets. Our school won an American flag for our effort.

The school also had a barn for students to put there horses in if they rode them to school. Which was right next to the poison ivy patch. Donald would ride his horse to school. One day, Donald came to school with his leg all cut up because something had scared his horse and the horse had run up next to the barbwire fence and cut his leg. The only thing the teacher could do was to send Donald back home (two miles) because the school had no phone, farms near by had no phones and the teacher could not leave the students alone. At that time, Donald's parents and my parents did have a hand ring phones on a party line but no electricity at home.

Donald had at least one other student in his grade. He was Johnny Joe Thompson and he died about 40 years ago.

My Grandfather owned the farm that Donald lived on. After my Grandfather died, my Grandmother was forced to sell the farm. So Donald's parents bought a farm in Nebraska on the Nebraska Kansas state line. This was where Donald's parents lived when Donald joined the Naval Reserve. After Donald went active in the Navy, he received a draft notice from the Kansas Draft board. Donald had a Kansas address because they lived on the state line. Donald sent the Kansas Draft board a letter saying he did not live in Kansas, never had lived in Kansas and that he was on active duty in the Navy.

Nebraska and Kansas State Line. Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861 and Nebraska became a state on March 1, 1867. The state line could not have existed before these dates.

Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas - Nebraska Act of 1854. The Kansas-Nebraska Act divided the Kansas and Nebraska Territory. The Nebraska Territorial Capital was at Omaha, Nebraska. The State Line is at the Fortieth Parallel of Latitude

On July 10, 1804, https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1804-07-10 brings up a write up for the day on which the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at what is now the Nebraska - Kansas state line. Near that location on the Missouri River on July 10, 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped and held a court martial for a soldier sleeping on sentry duty and sentenced him to one hundred lashes on his bare back at four different times starting in the evening for four evenings. How punishment has changed. You can put in other dates on which they camped by going to the web site above and put in that date.

Indian Burial Platform - My Dad said when he was young, he was hauling grain on the state line road by horse and wagon to an elevator at Rulo, Nebraska. There was a platform held up by poles where he said the Indians placed their dead. He said he was on the State Line road which divided Kansas and Nebraska. He said he was just South of the Preston, Nebraska area by a ranch on the Nebraska side whose owners were part Indian. The poles and Indian Burial Platform were on the Nebraska side of the state line. Preston is about half way between Falls City and Rulo.

Could the Coronado Exploration have in 1541 come to the Missouri River on the Nebraska Kansas State Line searching for the mythical Land of Quivira? The Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska book - published in 1882 could have described such a situation.

'Hail and Wind Storm'

https://nutritionalgeography.faculty.ucdavis.edu/exploration-accounts/coronado-expedition/ Chapter 20, p. 40

Here is a description of such a 'Hail and Wind Storm' in 1541 by Coronado which could just as easily have happen today: 'One evening, there came up a terrible storm of wind and hail, which left in the camp hailstones so large as porringers and even larger. They fell thick as rain-drops, and in some spots the ground was covered with them to the depth of eight or ten inches. The storm caused, says one, many tears, weakness and vows. The horses broke their reins, some were even blown down the banks of the ravine, the tents were torn, and every dish in camp broken.' In this case, our environment has not changed much in almost 500 years.

Could the Nebraska Kansas State Line be located where Coronado visited in 1541 searching for the Land of Quivera? The description of the vegetation and land match, but no one knows where it was? The Kansas Nebraska State Line is on the fortieth parallel of latitude. Coronado used a sextant and sailed the prairies to what he says was the fortieth parallel of latitude. At another place in Coronado's writeup, he said that he stood on a high hill top and looked down on a very very very great river (Maybe this was looking down from a high bluff on the Missouri River near White Cloud, and where our Nebraska Kansas State Line starts). Each person pushes for there own favored location for the Land of Quivera. This search for such a mythical land has been the inspiration for a number of movies and comic books.

Hiawatha, Kansas was one of the stops of the Underground Railroad just before the stops for Padonia, Kansas and Falls City, Nebraska. Hiawatha was the first town in the United States to celebrate with a Hiawatha Halloween Parade and give out treats such as cookies.

My Mother lived a little bit South of the Nebraska and Kansas State Line when she was a child. Across the toad was a school which people would camp at over night when traveling. She said that people were afraid of going on into Hiawatha on Halloween and stay across the road in the school yard. My Aunt Clarabell Picton was Queen of one of the early Hiawatha Halloween parades one year.

Ioway Indian Reservation - is located along the Missouri River and on both sides of the Kansas and Nebraska State Lines. The Ioway headquarters is West of White Cloud, Kansas. The Ioway people were relocated to Northeastern Kansas in 1936. The reservation was defined in a treaty of 1861. Realize that Kansas became a state on January 29, 1861 and Nebraska became a state on March 1, 1867.

Chief White Cloud (1840-1940) - was the Chief of the "Sac and Fox" and " Ioway" Indian Tribe reservations at White Cloud, Kansas.

Ioway Tribal National Park - is part of the Ioway Indian Reservation . It is along the Missouri River and in both the states of Kansas and Nebraska, It is a new park with a planned opening to the public with permission in 2025. The park is considered a Biologically Unique Landscape.

White Cloud, Kansas is a Missouri River town which is 11 miles South East of Rulo, Nebraska. Troy, Kansas is 18 miles South of White Cloud, Kansas. The White Cloud Indian Reservation, Brown County, Kansas is near White Cloud, Kansas and is along the Missouri River touching the Kansas and Nebraska State Line.

Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at Troy, Kansas, at the Court House on December 1, 1859. Troy, Kansas is located about 27 to 29 miles South East of Rulo, Nebraska. . John Brown (1800-1859) was executed the next day on December 2, 1859, at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This was before Kansas and Nebraska were states so no state line existed.

Battle of the Spurs (Kansas) - Year 1859

The Battle of the Spurs confrontation took place about 7 miles South of Hiawatha, Brown County, now in Kansas, (half way between Hiawatha and Horton, Kansas) in the winter on January 31, 1859. Also this battle was about 25 miles South of what is now Falls City, Nebraska. Abolitionist John Brown, together with three other men, was escorting a group of escaped men and women slaves from Missouri for a total of about 21 people. As they were about to cross Straight Creek, and saw a posse of men ahead of them. John Brown with his group of slaves rode across Straight Creek directly at the posse who allowed them to pass without the posse raising a rifle or firing a shot.

The Pike Wilkinson Expedition was organized by General James Wilkinson. General James Wilkinson was married to Ann Biddle who was a niece of my ancestor Joseph Biddle. This was before Kansas and Nebraska were states so no state line existed. General James Wilkinson ordered Zebulon Pike and a party of twenty-two men to seek the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers which was part of the Louisiana Purchase. (This is why Pike was able to give his name to Pikes Peak). This included his son Lt. James Biddle Wilkinson, They first went West from the Missouri River, and met with the Pawnee Indians on the Republican River near what is now Beatrice, Nebraska. Then they went West to seek the headwaters of the Arkansas and Red rivers. In December of 1806, Lt. James Biddle Wilkinson took a party of 5 men to explore the lower part of the Arkansas River. Zebulon Pike continued on seeking the source of the Red River. Zebulon Pike and his party of men were then captured by the Spanish in February 1807. The Spanish took them as prisoners to Santa Fa and then returned them to the United States. Lt. James Biddle Wilkinson with his party continued on and returned to St Louis and was never captured. Lt. James Biddle Wilkinson would then die in the war of 1812 in a battle with the British at Mobile, Alabama.

'Hail and Wind Storm'

Coronado Exploration in the year 1541 searching for the "Land of Quivera". The Coronado Expedition was formed by a group of financial backers for the purposes of originally finding a trade route to East Asia for expensive items (get rich quick), but ended up trying to find the "Land of Quivera". How objectives can change! The expedition of 2,500 men and several thousand head of cattle was made up of three groups: Europeans, West Africans (who were mostly slaves and servants), and American Indians. Story of Estevanico ("Little Stephen"; c. 1500–1539) a slave. They encountered many experiences. Here is a description of a 'Hail and Wind Storm' in the year 1541 by Coronado in his search for the "Land of Quivera". This could just as easily have happen today. One had to survive the weather to live to have freedom. This bad weather hail storm event most likely happen in our three state Underground Railroad area of Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri:

"One evening, there came up a terrible storm of wind and hail, which left in the camp hailstones so large as porringers and even larger. They fell thick as rain-drops, and in some spots the ground was covered with them to the depth of eight or ten inches. The storm caused, says one, many tears, weakness and vows. The horses broke their reins, some were even blown down the banks of the ravine, the tents were torn, and every dish in camp broken." In this case, our environment has not changed much in almost 500 years. Is it possible that such a storm could be a once in 500 year storm?

Could the Falls City, Richardson County, Nebraska and Hiawatha, Brown County, Kansas areas be where Coronado arrived at when searching for the land of Quivera? Where did Coronado visited in 1541 searching for the Land of Quivera? The description of the vegetation and land match Nebraska and Kansas state line, but no one knows where it was? This mythical land is reported to be the land of milk and honey with streets paved with gold but Coronado could not find it. The Kansas Nebraska state line is on the fortieth parallel of latitude. Coronado used a sextant and sailed the prairies as one would sail a ship across the ocean to what he says was the fortieth parallel of latitude (now part of our Nebraska Kansas state line GPS coordinates). The Indians that lived on the Nebraska Kansas state line were Pawnee Indians and wore a headdresses similar to a Turkish headdress. That is the type of headdress Coronado said he saw when he was at the Nebraska and Kansas state line. At another place in Coronado's write up, he said that he stood on a high hill top and looked down on a very very very great river (Maybe this was looking down from a high bluff on the Missouri River near White Cloud, Kansas and where our Nebraska Kansas state line starts). Each person pushes for there own favored location for the Land of Quivera. This search for such a mythical land has been the inspiration to everyone. Maybe these three state line areas are in the Land of Quivera.

Stephen the Moor

Believed an African

Year 1536 - Stephen the Moor

Stephen (Estevanico) the Moor and three other individuals arrived in Mexico City half naked and were only 4 men out of 400 men to survive. Eight years earlier they were a group of 400 men who had landed in Florida. They had travailed from Florida to Mexico City. They were the first to discovered the Mississippi River, traveled up to parts of Kansas and Colorado and all the way down to Mexico City. I wonder how near he came to Nebraska if he was in Kansas and Colorado.

Nebraska Droughts A thirty eight year drought was in the 1200's. A twenty six year drought ended in 1564. A twelve year drought ended in 1895. There have been many shorter and longer droughts in Nebraska. The twenty six year drought ending in 1564 was not too far after the time that Columbus discovered America. Some say that the Indians have a memory of this and say that they had to go North up the Missouri River to survive. I do not know if this is true. I have heard said that this caused problems with other Indian Tribes already in the area North up the Missouri River and caused them to become much more defensive. These droughts have been proved by looking at the tree rings.

Locust Plague of 1874 and also called the Grasshopper Plague of 1874. This species was the Rocky Mountain Locust which ranged in all the mid Western states including Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. The Rocky Mountain Locust species became extinct in 1902 for no known reason and only exists in museums to compare against. I have no Locust Plague stories past down to me.

Nebraska in 1877 passed a Grasshopper Act, requiring every able-bodied man between the ages of 16 and 60 to work at least two days eliminating locusts at hatching time or face a $10 fine.

Controlling the waters of the Missouri River. The Missouri River was a slow moving, wide, shallow river carrying a lot of mud. The river had a lot of bends and oxbows. It was not a barrier to people going West and having to cross the river. The dangerous sandy and deep spots were known. The safe, shallow and hard clay spots were known. One could fill a glass jar with muddy water and come back to it a few hours later after the mud had settled out and drink it. It had a lot of snags which would sink steamboats. It would sometimes freeze hard enough down by what is now the Kansas and Nebraska state line to carry cars and be used for ice skating.

Now in the winter, from Yankton, South Dakota on down, it never freezes very hard and is usually flowing with chunks of ice. The US government started trying to control the river to prevent flooding after WW2. The last big flood I remember was in the spring of 1952 before they started building dams. I was in high school and they left all the boys out of school to fill sand bags on the levee they were trying to save. The US Army Corps of Engineers even paid us and we saved the levee. I saw the river flooding at that time and it was a fast moving, black, angry moving, mean looking river with a lot of logs.

The US Army Corps of Engineers decided to build dams on the Missouri River, starting just a few miles above Yankton, South Dakota and the dam wold run from the South Dakota side to the Nebraska side. All the dams would be upstream from this point, have a large lake behind each dam and have a hydroelectric plant as part of each dam.

From Yankton, South Dakota downstream, they would make the Missouri River navigable to barges. They would remove the oxbows, straighten the river, narrow the river to about a third of its original width and let the river cut a deeper channel for barges. This made the river flow much deeper, narrower and faster.

The Interstate Highway System - Along the Missouri River

President Dwight D Eisenhower decided to build an Interstate Highway System in the United States after WW2. Our local question was where to build the Interstate Highway and along which side of the Missouri River in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. Well, Nebraska and Kansas did not have the political power of Iowa and Missouri. Nebraska and Kansas lost and the Interstate Highway was built on the Iowa and Missouri side of the Missouri River.

The Future - Could this be possible? - A Nebraska River and Canal Solar Panel System

Cover parts of the Missouri River, Platte River and irrigation canals in Nebraska with solar panels. Do this to prevent water evaporation, save water, provide shade to prevent weeds in canals, cool water and provided renewable energy. This would make Nebraska a world leader in water management and providing renewable energy. California is studying such an idea. Nebraska may have more such resources in our available rivers and canals than any other state. Ask the federal government for help in such an area.

My Ancestors are part of the

Most Important Family in America

Most Inportant Family in America - This is my Biddle family. All of the Biddle line had an Uncle (Samuel Wardwell 1643-Sept. 22,1692) who was hung at Salem as a Witch. My part of the Biddle line includes my ancestor Arney Biddle who gave his life at the Battle of Brandywine in the American Revolution. Joseph Biddle was the father of Arney Biddle. Joseph Biddle was an Uncle to Ann Biddle the husband of General James Wilkinson, Governor of the Louisiana Purchase Territory. Joseph Biddle was also the Great Uncle of three Biddle brothers (Nicholas Biddle, Major Thomas Biddle and Major John Biddle). Nicholas Biddle was the editor of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Journals book. Major Thomas Biddle was the payroll master at Ft. Atkinson at Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska. Major John Biddle was the Journalist for the Long's Expedition that spent the winter of 1819 in Washington County along the Missouri River a few miles South of Ft Calhoun, Nebraska.

This deals with Biddle brothers, sisters and cousins and the major roles many played in making them the most important Family in America during the Revolution, Westward Expansion and a little bit that some played here.

Captain Charles Biddle is the father of the three Biddle above brothers: Nicholas Biddle, Major Thomas Biddle and Major John Biddle. Captain Charles Biddle hid Aaron Burr after his duel and death of Alexander Hamilton.

Owen Picton

451 16th Street, #116

Blair, Nebraska 68008

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Last Modified November 2023

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