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While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Days of Yore
Early History of Brown County, Nebraska
History has been defined as a
"systematic written account of events." In
presenting this sketch of some of the leading
events of Brown County, Nebraska, I have
endeavored to abide by that definition, though
material of a reminiscent or narrative
character may occasionally be included.
Another writer has said,
"History is not made by documents, but by
human beings." The material I have collected
and arranged for this sketch was, in the main,
given to me by the early residents of this
county. To them I shall always feel indebted
for their assistance in compiling the facts
which make up our county history. It is all
inscribed in never-fading pictures on the
memory tablets of our pioneers, those brave
men and woman who endured the hardships of
life in a new country that it might become a
place of civilization. It this sketch serves
to call to mind the efforts of these pioneers
to found homes and to bring law and order to
an uncharted wilderness, it will have served
its purpose. To those who came in later years,
I trust it may bring a slight understanding of
what it means to be a pioneer.
Let us try to imagine what this portion of
Nebraska was like before the coming of the
white settlers. A great expanse of prairie,
slightly rolling, spread out on every side as
far as the eye could reach, most of it covered
with a rich growth of grass. Some varieties of
this grass were tall with stiff, straight
stems, some of low growth with delicate,
curling blades. Here and there were running
streams which were hidden in canyons or
ravines where trees and shrubs were found, but
until the edge of the canyon was reached the
entire country appeared to be "a sea of
grass," which stretched ever on and on toward
the setting sun.
Over these vast plains wandered great herds of
buffalo. In the spring and summer seasons they
lived farther south, but came to this section
for fall and winter grazing. The short
grasses, dried by the burning summer suns,
kept their flavor and nourishing qualities,
thus furnishing excellent winter feed for
these magnificent animals ( giving the name
"buffalo grass"). The herds found water and
shelter from winter storms in the canyons and
the rough land near them.
Other wild animals were here in greater or
less numbers-deer, antelope, coyotes, wolves,
bears, prairie dogs, rabbits, prairie
chickens, grouse, ducks, geese and a few
fur-bearing animals. All found suitable homes
in the trackless wilderness.
The region was ideal for hunting grounds, and
long before the white men came to use it for
that purpose, it was visited by roving bands
of Indians. In the remote past there may have
been resident tribes but earliest records show
it was claimed by the Oglala and Brule tribes
of the Sioux nation who held all of what is
now northwest Nebraska, as far east as Long
Pine canyon. These two tribes, with their
allies, the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, fought
other Nebraska Indians who lived in the
eastern and southern sections of our state, to
prevent them from hunting on these choice
grounds. (It is believed that one of the last
of these battles occurred about one and a half
miles north of Long Pine, as battle scarred
trees, human bones and broken fire arms were
found there by early settlers.
It will probably never be definitely known
just who the first white men were who saw the
land now included in Brown county. After the
settlements along the Atlantic coast became
well established, several nations of Europe
sent exploring expeditions into the middle
west. Some were searching for gold and other
precious treasure, some wished to claim the
land for their governments, and others were
led only by the love of adventure.
Lillian L. Jones
