publications

Way Back in ’67

“Children Barefoot in January,” the headline read. No, it’s not a news account of l990’s mild

weather (at least so far). This tale of an unusually mellow winter, and its surprising

economic results, comes from “way back in ’67” –l867, that is.



“‘The weather we are having. . .’ said Dr. L. J. Abbott, one of the oldest inhabitants of this

part of Nebraska, ‘reminds me of the fall and winter of eighteen sixty-seven. That season was

a remarkable one. There was no snow to speak of until March, and all winter, the weather

was warm and comfortable. I remember seeing children playing barefooted in a sand-ridge

on Christmas day.’



“‘In those days there was a lawyer living in Fremont who was of a speculative turn of mind,

and he took a contract in the fall to furnish the Union Pacific company a thousand cords of

wood. He didn’t have any money, but he bought some timber land over across the Elkhorn on

time, and started a store here, buying the goods in Omaha on credit, and paid the

woodchoppers in goods out of the store.’



“‘In ordinary seasons his scheme would have worked, but the winter of l867-68 was against

him. There was no bridge across the Elkhorn and his intention was to cross the river on the

ice. But the Elkhorn didn’t freeze over solid enough to cross teams, and when he finally

managed to make a crossing over the river the early spring rains had come and the low

bottoms east of town became simply impassable.’



“‘His cordwood was on the other side of the Elkhorn, the $4 or $5 a cord he was to get for it

was in the hands of the railroad company, and the inability of the lawyer to make the two

connect caused his financial ruin. He soon afterward left this part of the country.'”



 



— Fremont Tri-Weekly, l892

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Other Publications

The Bachelors’ Protective Union of Kearney

When the Bachelors' Protective Union gave a gala reception for two of its newly married, former members and their brides in March of 1890, the social club for young, ...

U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890s Nebraska

The U.S. Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890. It took over the weather service that had been established in the office of the Chief ...

Canning the Way to Victory

During American participation in World War I the U.S. Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, launched a massive campaign to persuade Americans to ...

The Shoemaker’s Ashes

"Edward Kuehl, one of the most peculiar characters that ever lived in Omaha, or anywhere else, was found dead in his bed last night in the back room of his place of ...

Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger Foreward

Red Dog, an Oglala Lakota who lived at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1876-77 (Nebraska State Historical Society RG2955.ph).   In the summer of 1876, following the ...

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979), a native Nebraskan, produced some of Hollywood's most important and controversial films. He helped found 20th Century Fox ...

The Burlington’s Profitable Pork Special

Nebraska railroads were much concerned with developing an adequate economy in the areas they served. The Burlington, for example, had a long history of caring for the ...

Bungalow Filling Stations

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The Bull Fight

This is the perfect time of year for a visit to the old fishin' hole. But a group of fisherfolk from Plainview discovered that this bucolic pastime sometimes has ...

Buffalo Soldiers West

African-American soldiers on the western frontier are the focus of an exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. Buffalo Soldiers West, on loan from the Colorado ...

Protection for Buffalo

The extermination of the buffalo on the Plains occurred largely between 1870 and 1885. The Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln on February 1, 1874, editorialized in vain ...

Buffalo Hunting

In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...
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