WHEREVER in the history of our country a handful of American citizens have settled down to set up for themselves civil government their first and chief aim has been to become a loyal part of the general commonwealth. During, the winter of 1872-'73 our colonists on the North Loup took active steps towards such an organization. The state legislature had already, March 1, 1871, provided for the organization of a congressional county to comprise townships 17, 18, 19, and 20 North, Ranges 13, 14, 15 and 16 west--this was Valley county. Governor Robert W. Furnas was petitioned to take the necessary steps for further organization, and accordingly he issued a proclamation ordering an election to be held at the residence of George Larkin on the 18th day of March, 1873. This was a memorable day in the history of Valley county. It meant much more than an election usually means. Upon this day was settled for good and always the question of county seat location.

     George Larkin's residence was a small dug-out, built in a hillside just north of the present flag station Olean, and was thus a sort of half way point between the upper and lower settlements. On the day set the entire countryside, counting some 50 odd voters, assembled bright and early. Heman A. Babcock, George Larkin and Ash G. Post were appointed judges and A. L. Clark and H. Collins clerks of election. As the day progressed a spirited though, upon the whole, friendly contest developed. All said, the great question upon which all else hinged was, shall the upper colony become predominant in the county's politics or shall it be the lower? This naturally involved the matter of county seat location. The notice of election was strangely enough silent upon this matter; indeed some members of the North Loup colony aver to this day that there existed a tacit understanding to the effect that the county seat question should be left open till the first regular fall election. However this may have been, some misunderstanding ensued; many of the North Loupers (102)  neglected to vote on the question and departed early for their several homes, not learning till too late that the matter was being settled then and there. Some people have even hinted that our sturdy fathers from the upper colony "worked" the North Loupers by letting these vote first, and then later in the day when the coast was clear and a majority assured, cast an almost solid vote for the location of the county seat on Section 21, township 19, its present location. Thus the

day was won and the prize was gained for the time being, at least, for the upper colony. But right here originated a struggle between the two halves of the county for the final disposition of this plum. Let no one for a moment think that this first defeat discouraged North Loup. This was only the first chapter in an interesting struggle which it took several years to terminate. "The bridge incident" told below formed its climax and virtually closed the (103) matter. The March election, aside from this contest was very satisfactory to all concerned and resulted in the election of John Case, A. C. Bailey and L. C. Jacobs, Commissioners; W. D. Long, clerk; E. D. McKenney, treasurer; Oscar Babcock, judge; H. A. Babcock, sheriff; Thomas McDowell, surveyor; and Charles Badger, superintendent of schools.

     On page 22, of "Miscellaneous Records No. I," now preserved in the archives of the county, the following interesting resolution appears:

     RESOLVED, That the Co. Clerk shall make the following resolution a part of the Co. Commissioners records:

To-Wit: Whereas, the legal voters of Valley Co., Neb., did by a large majority, at the election held March, 18, 1873, for the organization of said county, declare the county seat of said County of Valley to be located on Section Twenty-one (21) Town Nineteen (19), Range Fourteen (14); and whereas, the Secretary of State did send a certificate of said location to the Co. Clerk of said Valley County, Neb., and whereas, the Statutes of Nebraska make it necessary for said certificate to be placed on record in the Book of Miscellaneous Record; and whereas, the County of Valley has had no Book of Miscellaneous Record up to this date. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Co. Commissioners of said county, that they do hereby order the county clerk to place said certificate of location on record immediately after said book comes to hand of said Co. Clerk of said Co. of Valley, together with this resolution.

July 16th, '74. R. W. Bancroft, Chm.,
Com's. Present. L. C. Jacobs, John Case, Members Attest: W. D. Long, Clerk.

    Here follows the "Certificate of Location" mentioned in above resolution, with date of record, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc., exactly as given in the orginal.

     CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION: Dept. Secy. of state, Lincoln Neb. Apl. 21st 1873.

This is to certify that at an election held in the County Co. of Valley and State of Nebraska on the 18th day of March I873, the legal electors therein by a clear majority of their Votes declared that Sec. Twenty-one (21) Town nineteen (19) range fourteen (14), shall bee the County Seat of Said County of Valley.

(SEAL) John J. Gaskon, Secy. of State.

Recorded July 17th 1874. W. D. Long, Co. Clerk.
A. T. Stacy, Dep'ty.

     It will be noticed that the above commissioner's resolution was made by a new board elected at the first regular fall election, the name of R. W. Bancroft appearing here in place of that of D. C. Bailey, and that for more than a year no record had been kept of the certificate of election. We must not from this get the impression though that the first board did not do its work well. Far from it, they took hold of their duties with creditable energy and considering what they had to work with, did remarkably well. To give the reader some appreciation of early county affairs some of the first meetings of the board are here introduced. Before the erection of a court house these meetings were "held around" at the most convenient place. The matter of taxation came before the commissioners at their first meeting, the minutes of which read as follows:

June 23, '73. Present L. C. Jacobs, Ch'm., John Case, and D. C. Bailey. Attest E. D. McKenney, Co. Clerk.

First assessors appointed--Geo. B. Rood for south side and O. S. Haskell for north side. Horses $5.00-$70.00--Oxen $25.00--$70.00 per yoke

     (104) This in brief tells the story of the first steps taken to defray the expenses of the new county government. The following list gives in full the first ten warrants paid with the money thus collected:

        The minutes of February 23, 1874, are rather amusing. As will appear later in our story the settlers found it "desirable and expedient'' to organize a Militia company for protection against the Indians. Of this company O. S. Haskell was elected captain and M. B. Goodenow lieutenant. It further appears that there developed considerable feeling over the matter of guns furnished by the government. Some of the, "boys" brought their grievances before the county commissioners who made the following rulings:

     Resolved: That O. S. Haskell be ordered to restore to Wm. Hobson the govt. gun and ammunition and accoutrements that he has taken from said Hobson, and now in possession of said Haskell.

     Resolved: That M. B. Goodenow be ordered to restore to Mr. Wood the govt. gun issued to said Wood, together with ammunition belonging thereto; also that said Goodenow be
ordered to deliver the govt. gun that D. A. Post left in his care, to C. C. Post or his order.

     Resolved: That the needle-gun taken from Wm. Cronk and given to Herbert Thurston shall remain in possession of said Thurston subject to the order of the Co. Comm's.,

     We read too how early blizzards raging unchecked across the virgin prairie, and river torrents unspanned by bridges on occasion kept the county fathers from their regular board meeting. Of this the following minutes are illustrative:

     County Clerk's Office, Valley Co., Neb., Apl. 21st, 1874.

     The County Commissioners met at the office of the Co. Clerk. When meeting was adjourned for want of a quorum caused by a heavy snowstorm. Present R. W. Bancroft:
Attest, W. D. Long, Clerk
County Clerk's Office, Valley Co. Neb, Dec. 7, 1874.

     No session of the County Commissioners held by reason of the North Loup being in an uncrossable condition. Attest, W. D. Long, Clerk.

     Now to revert to the county seat controversy hinted at in the first part of this chapter. The North Loup party though defeated in the first test of strength did not lose courage, and hoped against hope sooner or later to be able to wrest the county seat from the upper settlements. The matter which ultimately settled the sorry affair was the so-called "bridge incident." The story of this matter is in brief as follows: Settlements were rapidly springing up on both sides of the river and the demands for a river bridge were becoming imperative. For many months of the year it was (105) impossible to cross from one side to the other. Now in case a bridge was to be built, the all important question would be where to build it. The strongest settlement on the north side of the river was the Springdale settlement immediately across from the Dane Creek settlement. Both these settlements, and indeed all the people in the upper half of the county, would favor a bridge

as near as practical to the newly voted county seat. North Loup naturally enough advocated some point on the river near their own settlement; or, for sake of compromise, a location midway between the upper and lower settlements.

     As affairs stood in the summer of 1874, two of the county commissioners, Case and Bancroft, not alone favored building the bridge, but were determined to see it built where it was needed the most--and that with them meant near the new county seat, Ord. The third member was Jacobs of North Loup, who would build the bridge at his home town or riot at all. If the people should vote to issue bonds for a bridge the building of the same would be in the hands oil the commissioners, and this would under present conditions mean a victory for Ord. 

     It came to a test, and an election to vote bonds was called for August 25, 1874. When the vote was counted the bond issue was found to have carried by a good majority. Even yet the North Loupers did not lose hope. There was some question as to the legality of the election, just what it was the author has never been able to ascertain. At any rate the contesting faction sent the sheriff, who was a North Loup man, all the way overland to West Point, to apply to the District Court for an injunction to stop the issuing of the bond. Time was now precious. A commissioners' meeting must be held, the bonds must be issued and sold, all in a legal manner and before the injunction could be returned and served. We may rest assured that the up-river men did not let the grass grow under their feet! A purchaser for the bonds was already 

at Grandpa Daniel Cooley Bailey at the Age of 85 hand in the person of John Means, the Grand Island contractor and bridge-builder. The required three days' notice was given and the Board of County Commissioners met bright and early on September the 9th, (106) 1874, at the residence of Chairman Bancroft--that is, all with the exception of Mr. Jacobs, who flatly refused to have anything to do with the proceedings.

     The meeting although hurriedly called, was nevertheless held in absolute conformity with the law, as the clerk's minutes show. They read:

Commissioners' meeting, Sept. 9th, '74

     "The Co. Clerk being ordered by the Comm's., brought forth the abstract of votes cast at an election held in and for said Valley county, Neb., on the 25th day of August, 1874, wherein the proposition of issuing the bonds of said County to build a bridge across the North Loup river was duly submitted to the qualified voters of said county, and upon examination of the same it was found that said proposition had carried in the affirmative. Whereupon the commissioners resolved to issue the said bonds and let the construction of said bridge to private parties."

     But such prosaic records fail to tell the story by half. The excitement, the fear lest their efforts might be frustrated by a too early return of the sheriff, lent a zest to the commissioner's proceedings which none but the chief actors themselves can ever fully appreciate. As soon as the above resolution was adopted the commissioner proceeded to issue the bonds, when it appeared that no one present could tell just how such documents ought to be formulated, and to make the matter worse there was not a solitary law book nor a single copy of the Nebraska Statutes at hand! At his dire extremity D. C. Bailey was dispatched post haste to Grand Island to procure the necessary information. This of course meant a long adjournment, and meanwhile the injunction might appear! But patience, Providence has decreed that Ord must win! Do you remember, good reader, how upon a certain night in January of '78 Washington's army lay entangled in miry roads between

the Delaware and the Assinpink, hemmed in by the, exultant Cornwallis, when all but the commander-in-chief had despaired of safety, that suddenly the elements came to the patriots' succor, freezing the roads and providing an avenue for escape? So now these same elements came to our fathers' rescue. Heavy rains in the eastern part of the state made travel difficult and delayed the sheriff's return from West Point, where a misguided judge had granted him the dreaded injunction. Westward rains were delayed just long enough to allow Mr. Bailey to return from the "Island" with his precious law dryshod. Then indeed did the sluices of Heaven open up! And every creek and gully go on a rampage, flooding the lowlands far and wide. But neither flood nor storm could stop our stalwart minion of the law. Homeward he struggled  (107) through rain and mire, much delayed though not disheartened. Yet it was to avail him nothing. At eight o'clock sharp on the morning set for the adjourned meeting the

crudely formulated bonds were produced and sold to John Means, who, as the sole bidder, was also given the contract to build the bridge. At just five minutes past eight o'clock the meeting adjourned. Ten minutes later the baffled sheriff drew rein in front of Mr. Bancroft's residence, but-too late! It must have been a dramatic spectacle indeed to have seen the sheriff lashing his foaming and nigh spent horses up hill and down hill, across creeks and canyons, on the south bank  (108) of the river, cursing his luck, but hoping against hope to be in time; while Means, the bond-owner and contractor, on the opposite bank, was leisurely cantering away toward 

Central City, the important documents snugly hidden in his waistcoat pocket! Such then was the "deed" by which the bridge was secured and the (109) county seat question finally disposed of. But to get the bridge built and paid for was, as it will appear, not so easy. The specifications called for a pile and plank structure 831 feet long; for this the contractor was to get $12.00 per running foot, or $9972.00. Work was soon under way on the bridge-pilings, a levy of two mills was ordered on all property to pay the interest on the bonds, and everything seemed in fair way to success, when Mr. Means found himself unable to handle the bonds and turn them into cash. Work on the bridge was consequently discontinued and the bonds were turned over to the county board. July 13, '75, the commissioners determined to make a second attempt at bond sale and this time they were successful. Under a new contract, entered into Sept. 8, '75, Mr. Means agreed to build the bridge at the rate of $9.00 per running foot and have the structure completed by October 20th,of the same year. This contract was faithfully executed and final settlement was made Nov. 29, I875. The cash cost was $7479.00, which the county settled with warrants amounting to $9719.30, placing their face value at 70 per cent. The bridge which in our day would have seemed a very crude affair, answered its purpose very well and was for many a year the chief connecting link in the traffic between the two sides of the North Loup.

     Before closing this chapter on odds and ends it may be of some interest to know how the county procured its first iron safe--the one now to be seen in the county clerk's office at Ord. In time as valuable documents began to accumulate on the commissioners' hands, it became a serious question to know what to do with them. By 1875, some sort of a depository had become absolutely necessary, and it was unanimously decided to purchase a "safe." The board had no ready money, not even enough to pay the freight, as the appended agreement will show and warrants were not held in much favor, so the safe became an expensive one. It was purchased through one Chas. L. Wundt , representing a Cincinnati house, and was to cost $1000.00 and freight, the latter to be prepaid by the selling firm. Furthermore, the warrants given in payment were to run "till the B. and M. railroad taxes could be collected" and at this Particular time that was a vexing question with the board. The safe laid down in Grand Island cost just $1058.27 plus the freight charges form that place to Ord. When eventually paid it represented an outlay of fully $1200.00. The same safe could today easily be purchased for one-sixth of that amount. Here are the agreements in the original, just as they appear on the record:

     Agreement, E. L. Wundt vs. Co. Comm's. Valley County, Nebraska, Apl. 6th, 1875.

To the Hon. The Board of County Commissioners of Valley County. Neb. Gents.

I hereby agree and bond myself to pay the freight eight on the safe this day ordered from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Grand Island, Nebraska, and take warrants for same at their actual Cash
value. CHAS. L. WUNDT.

     "July 13, 1875.--Warrants 74 to 75 issued to Chas L. Wundt for safe and freight on same, as per contract of Apl. 6th--75--One Thousand and Fifty-eight and 27-100 Dollars."

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