LOUP COUNTY was settled in 1874. The first settlers to trail the Loup beyond the Garfield county settlement and squat within the confines of Loup county were Rodney P. Alger, John R. Goff, D. L. Bowen, B. J. Harvey, A. M. Gurnsey and Wm. Burns with their families. A few months later, when work on Fort Hartsuff was begun, a number of additional families became temporary dwellers within the limits of the territory.

     In the spring of 1875 an Indian scare seized the outlying farmsteads; the growing crops were abandoned and the whole community assembled in the little, well-known park on R. P. Alger's farm, and there erected temporary abodes. For greater security a stockade was erected and dubbed "Fort Rodney," in honor of Rodney P. Alger. The Indians, however, did not appear and shortly all the staunch-hearted among the settlers returned to their abandoned homes; a few timid ones only left the country for good.

     Fort Hartsuff was soon afterwards completed and the colony freed from any further Indian experiences.

     In the summer of 1876 and the following spring the colony was further increased by the arrival of the Rushos, T. W. Williams, D. A. Gard and G. C. Snyder, all with their families. These arrivals settled near where Kent and Taylor are now located.

     During the winter of 1876-'77 A. M. Gurnsey succeeded in getting a special postoffice established. Mr. Gurnsey was appointed postmaster and the office named Kent For a time the mail was carried by volunteers who took turn about making the trip down to The Forks and back.

     Grand Island, one hundred miles to the south, was in those days the nearest railroad connection. Thither did the settlers have to go for most of their necessaries of life. During the first few years of scant crops it was a common thing for the settlers to cart ox-loads of cedar posts all the way (174) to York and Butler counties--a round trip of fully 800 miles--to exchange the same for flour, groceries and other necessaries of life. Ten days to three weeks were counted necessary to make the trip; and during all this time the hardy freighter was subject to the discomforts and hardships occasioned by the uncertainty of weather conditions--

swollen and unfordable streams, sudden storms, and the like. "During the summer of '77," says David Gard, "we were all so busy breaking prairie and putting in crops, that no one had time to make a trip to the nearest grist mill, which was then fifty miles down the valley. For a while we accordingly ground our corn and wheat on hand coffee-mills."

     The first school district was organized in 1876 under the jurisdiction of Valley county, where Rev. Oscar Babcock was at that time county superintendent. The district, which was designated as No. 9, was very large, containing (175)  more than thirty square miles. A sod house with dirt roof and stamped clay floor was erected on section 36, T. 21, R. 18. Rose Harvey was the first teacher employed to teach here, and her first term was only three months long.

     The first general store in the county was opened by A. Kitzmiller at Kent in 1880. He was obliged to haul all of his merchandise from St. Paul, which point the Union Pacific Railroad had now reached.

     Time passed and other families were added to the list already mentioned. There were A. S. Moon, David McCord, Thomas Croughwell, William A. Clark, Jacob and Wesley Strohl, William Forbes, Henry Copp, John Burlingham, William Thomas, B. S. Sawyer, George Spangler, John Abbott, George Craven, Charles Copper, John Wheeler, George Abbott, Calvin L. Copp, Stephen Roblyer, Wesley Rains, H. Dunbar. Mrs. Phoebe Glover, and many others.

     Loup county was at this time a part of the unorganized territory. As the population continued to increase it became expedient to organize the county. This was accomplished in the spring of 1883. The temporary county seat was placed at Kent with David Gard as temporary clerk. The first election was held May 3d of that year and resulted as follows: Clerk, F. H. Sawyer; Treasurer, Joseph Rusho; Judge, B. J. Harvey; Sheriff, Arthur C. Alger; Surveyor, A. J. Roblyer; Superintendent, A. S. Moon; Commissioners, G. W. Strohl, N. E. Fay and H. L. Reniff.

     Next came the inevitable strife for the location of the permanent county seat. Kent lay too far east to be considered in the race. But Taylor, Almeria, and Clark's Point were all eager to land the plum. None of these places had been platted, but that mattered but little in those days. Locate the county seat and the town would spring up! Taylor lay very close to the center of population and was a logical claimant. Almeria became a dangerous rival because Kent might be expected to throw her support to a town as far away as possible from her own zone of influence. For Taylor once the county seat would mean death to ambitious little Kent. So it came about that the election was very close. Indeed Taylor won out by just two votes majority over Almeria.

     Taylor was staked off on a farm belonging to and adjoining the homestead of Joseph Rusho. The original site contained 32 blocks, of which No. 13 was set aside as a public square.

     The first store opened was that of Otto Witte, who carried a stock of groceries and drugs. This was very early in 1884. In a short time two additional stores opened. George Cleveland put in groceries and hardware and E. H. Snow, dry goods, boots and shoes. But these ventures were not to be permanent accessions to the town; they soon tired and left for more promising fields. The first permanent business house to become established at Taylor was that of Wheeler & Scott, which is still doing business under the name of George F. Scott. Half a decade later Taylor boasted five general stores, two banks, two hotels, two livery stables, two newspapers and many other business places. Many of these were built on the expectancy (176) of getting an extension of the B. & M. which had reached Burwell in 1887. But, alas! Taylor was doomed to bitter disappointment and is to this day an inland town.

     The dry years were hard on Loup county and her towns. Almeria, where G. W. Strohl and Fred Hoellworth had opened

a general store, managed to hold her own and live through the crisis. Kent by degrees dwindled down till in 1905 there is nothing left but the postoffice, and this (177) too will no doubt soon be discontinued. Taylor saw her banks close their doors for lack of business, and some of her business houses removed, stock, buildings and all. But here, as elsewhere, the tide turned in time, and today the town is slowly rallying from the staggering blow. A new bank has just opened its doors to business and the stores are all doing a thriving business. Geo. Scott and Rusho Bros. are carrying large stocks of general merchandise, George P. Emig has a first-class drugstore, Joseph Rusho a complete line of hardware. J. G. Wirsig is proprietor of the Loup County News and a thriving implement business. Joseph Kriegel has built up an excellent business in harness, saddles and trunks. The Taylor Clarion, the oldest newspaper in the County, is edited by E. Andrews. Everything considered, Taylor business men have cause to feel encouraged. The territory from which they draw their trade is rapidly developing, and with the increase in population which is sure to come the town is bound to grow. Taylor has from the beginning been handicapped because it is an inland town. Several times it has looked as though the B. & M. would extend to it, but it has always ended in disappointment. First, when the Burlington built to Burwell in 1887, Taylor expected to get the line. Then when the same system extended up through Custer county the town became hopeful again. But this extension crossed the southwest corner of the county, passing south of Taylor and missing Almeria just four miles. Even now the situation is not hopeless. Two years ago a survey was made from Burwell up through the valley and Taylor may yet get a connecting line between the Garfield and Custer county branches.

     Loup county is in many respects a remarkable county. It is chiefly a grazing district, well adapted for the raising of cattle, horses and sheep. But at least forty per cent is made up of good tillable lands. The value of the county live stock is 

estimated at $500,000. This will increase rapidly hereafter. Alfalfa, bromegrass, and English bluegrass are even now on the point of revolutionizing the cattle industry. When such remarkable grasses shall have had time to clothe the sand-hills with their mantle of green, these decried sections will become a source of untold wealth to the county; indeed they will be the making of a great and prosperous county. It is surprising how well fruit trees grow in the county. Some of the apple orchards in the valley and on the higher benches to the south can scarcely be excelled by any in the state. It is an eye-opener to the Easterner to see such orchards as are grown by L. F. Ruppel and others in this county. Since the passage of the Kinkaid homestead law, every section of land in the county has been snapped up and land is steadily increasing (178) in value. To have land holdings in Loup county is now to be fortunate.

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*From the Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, Lincoln, Nebr., 1902

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