Sep 27, 2018 - Sale 2486

Sale 2486 - Lot 334

Unsold
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(NEBRASKA.) Morton, J. Sterling. Letter recalling the early settlement of Nebraska. Typed Letter Signed on Department of Agriculture letterhead to John Q. Goss of Bellevue, NE. 5 pages on 5 sheets, 10 x 8 inches, short separations at folds, minor dampstaining; annotated in another hand in 1920 "Read before the Douglas County Pioneers at their regular meeting . . . by Geo. A. Wilcox." Washington, 19 November 1895

Additional Details

Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902) was serving as Secretary of Agriculture when he wrote this firsthand reminiscence of the pioneer days in Nebraska, starting with his arrival in Bellevue in 1854. He describes the town's printing press, lists the inhabitants from that first winter including George Hollister ("subsequently killed by Dr. Chas. A. Henry over a claim boundary fight"), describes his log cabin "lined with buffalo robes, which I purchased at $2 apiece from the Omaha Indians"; and explains how Bellevue lost out to Omaha as the territorial capital.