Before
1844, the territory now known as Otoe
County, was be said to have been mainly
in the possession
of
the Pawnees, the Otoes, and the Omaha
tribes of Indians.
It
was also known that traders to whom
might properly be applied the title of itinerant, were among them
some
years earlier than this, crossing from Iowa, and ascending the river from
St. Louis, then the great trading
post of the Northwest.
It is certain,
however, that no regular settlement had been made in Nebraska, below
Bellevue, in Sarpy
County, than a station of the American Fur Company, and
under charge of Colonel Peter A. Sarpy;
before the establishment of Old
Fort Kearney, in the year mentioned, that of 1844.
There seems to be some
question as to just when the establishment of this fort, and its definite
location,
was decided upon: One of the witnesses stating that as early as
1841, the spot was selected by Colonel
Steven W. Kearney , while another says that it was not chosen until about two years
prior to its occupancy,
in 1846.
On April
22, of that year, Company G, Second United States
Dragoons, under command of Captain
Allen, arrived and proceeded to
establish a military post on the present site of Nebraska City. Another
account says that work was commenced under the direction of Captain
Woodbury, of the United
States Engineering Corps. In any event a block
house was at once erected, near what was afterward
the middle of Fifth,
between Main and Otoe streets, and a log house built near where the Morton
house
(now the Seymour) afterwards stood, being intended for, and occupied
as officer's quarters.
A hospital was also built; subsequently used as a
residence by William R. Craig, near the present corner
of Fourth and Main
streets.
War having been declared between the United States and Mexico,
early in the year in which this
occurred, the regular forces were ordered
to New Mexico, soon after the improvements mentioned had
been complete,
the post remaining practically untenanted by the military until 1847; the
buildings during
the interim being in charge of William Ridgeway English,
now, or recently, of Glenwood, Iowa, as military storekeeper.
In the fall of 1847, five companies of
United States troops arrived at Fort Kearney , raised in
Missouri, for service in New Mexico, and
ordered to winter at the unoccupied post. This command was
in charge of
Colonel L. W. Powell, the companies being directly commanded by Captain
Andrew W.
Lambeth of St. Louis; Captain David McCaustion of St. Charles;
Captain Robert W. Stewart, (afterwards Governor of Missouri); Captain W.
H. Roders of Savannah, Missouri, and Captain, afterwards General,
Craig of
St. Joseph.
Temporary houses were erected for the officers of the
battalion, most of them being situated near the
present intersection of
California and Fourth streets, the barracks for the troops being located
south of
Main street and near Sixth. The command remained at Fort Kearney
for just about one year, doing
little more than to prevent encroachment
upon the Indian preserves, themselves, it is said, making frequent
raids
of a mild character on Fremont County, Iowa, and Atchison County, Mo.,
where balls and fandangoes, enlivened by the presence of the many Mormon
ladies then living in these counties, were the order of the
day.
In the fall of 1848, the military post was abandoned, and the garrison
moved to what was afterwards known
as New Fort Kearney, on the Platte
River, and in the south central portion of the State, the Government
property being left in charge of a Mr. Hardin, superseded a year later by
Col. John Boulware, Col. Hiram
P. Downs being placed in charge in 1850,
and retaining control until the Government withdrew all claims to
the site
upon which the fort was built. Col. Hiram P. Downs afterwards assisted in
raising the "Nebraska
regiment" in 1861, and was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier General, in August of that year, removing
shortly after the war
to Montana Territory.
Regarding the location of the fort, Dr. Frederick Renner, in a lecture
delivered in February, 1866, says:
"As Gen. Kearney never owned a lot in
Nebraska City, never speculated in wild lands, ferry
charters, credit
fonciers or cotton, it is but fair to presume that the natural advantages
of our present
town site from a commercial and strategical point of view
alone induced him to erect a fort at this
place."
However this may be, it is certain that the American Fur Company, soon
after the location of the military
post, made this one of their stations
and continued it until the United States extinguished the Indian
title.
Nothing of especial interest in the history of what is now Otoe County
occurred from 1848 until 1852,
when John B. Boulware, son of Col. John
Boulware, built a ferry house, and the first permanent habitation
in the
county, on the river bank at the foot of Commercial street, opposite the
site of the old Planters' House.
In the spring of 1853, Col. Boulware's
claim, afterwards the Kearney division of Nebraska City, was staked
off as
a squatter's claim.
Hiram P. Downs also claimed two quarter sections
adjoining, the claim being surveyed by Charles W.
Pierce in the fall of
the same year, running the north line from the river, nearly along north
Table Creek
to what was afterwards Tenth street, the west line along Tenth
street, and the south line south of the present Kansas street.
The claim
of John B. Boulware extended from the south line of the last mentioned
claim to south Table
Creek, and from Col. Boulware's land upon the east,
nearly to the west line of what is now Hail & Co.'s
addition. Pierce
also surveyed a quarter section for one Fawkes, of whom nothing further,
or of importance,
is known.
The Boulwares deserve especial mention as strong and adventurous
pioneers, the raw material of a State,
who came with the first, and, with
a single exception, remained in the land of their adoption until death.
Next to Col. Peter A. Sarpy, whose trading post was at the Bellevue
steamboat landing, Col. John
Boulware is believed to be the first white
man who attempted a settlement in the river valley above the
north line of
the State of Missouri. He went up the river and established himself at old
Fort Calhoun in
1826, and after many years of the experiences of a life
forward of the frontier, moved into Platte County,
Mo. In 1846 he
established a government ferry at Fort Kearney. Was given charge of the
government
building in 1849, still continuing, however, until his death,
to run the ferry, no longer a government concern,
but at one time
exceedingly profitable, as the new territory began to settle, and the vast
tide of immigration
set in towards the western country.
He died January 3,
1864, leaving the reputation of having been a man of strong common sense,
warm in his affections, bitter but not implacable in his hates.
It may be said that it was largely through his instrumentality
that the Platte Valley Bank did not close its
doors during the panic of
1857.
The oldest son of Col. John Boulware, known as John B., remained at
Nebraska City until civilization
became too apparent for a natural
frontiersman, when he moved still further west, being last heard from
in
Corinne, Utah.
George W. Boulware, born in Platte County, Mo., was raised
in Nebraska City, assumed charge of the
ferry upon his father's death,
carrying the mails between the city of his residence and Sydney, Iowa. At
one time a man of large property, he died poor. Daring and reckless,
strongly impulsive, yet full
of charity for others, he passed away from
earth leaving many very warm friends, October 20, 1881.