Early Settlement in Buffalo County
First Movement through the
county
1811 First fur trappers traveled
through along the Platte.
1836 First wagon train to Oregon
1846 First Mormon wagon train
1848 Ft Kearny opened.
A corner of the Military Reservation was on the north side of the
Platte River in what is now Buffalo Co.
First Settlement in the county
1850 No census records for
what is now Nebraska - Indian territory then
May have been white people living
in what is now Buffalo County but there is no record.
People came through on the Mormon
Trail; if they liked it they stayed or came back; squatted
1854 Nebraska Territory was created
Buffalo County created by
Nebraska Territorial Legislature
Hall Co took care of its business until 1870
1857 All land in Buffalo
County except that corner of the Ft. Kearny Military Reservation
were considered Indian land
1858 Wood River Center Joseph Johnson
James Boyd came to Buffalo
County to the Boyd Ranch
How long had the ranch been there? Unknown by Bassett
1859 Nutters traveled from Philadelphia to Utah.
1860 Census Buffalo County
Nebraska Center only address in
Buffalo County
29 residences and 12 unoccupied places = 114 people
1860 Olivers came from
England
Spent winter in a
log cabin along the Wood; may have been a deserted cabin
Homestead Act
1862, May 20 Homestead Act
passed (year after Civil War began)
Claim 160 acres (1/4
section)
Live on and cultivate the
land for 5 years
US citizen who was head
of a family or single over 21
Immigrants could file if
they filed Intention of Citizenship
Land office for filing on
Buffalo Co. land was in Grand Island, never Kearney
1870 and 1872 Amendments to Homestead Act (related to
military service)
Serve at least 90 days in Army or
Navy during Civil War
Get 160 acres on alternate sections within railroad 20-mile
limit of alternating sections.
Others could only claim 80 acres within the railroad limits
Had 6 months in which to start living and cultivating the land
Soldiers could have an Agent file for them, others had to go to
the land office in person
Soldiers filing fee $18.00; citizens filing fee $14.00
5-year residence on the land had to be verified by 2 witnesses
[in newspaper] + $4.00 fee
Had 2 years after 5-year period was up to make proof
Or
After 6 months the claimant could
buy the land
$2.50/acre within the
railroad limit
$1.25 beyond the limit
Time requirement for ex-military:
Deduct time served (or
enlistment period if wounded) from the 5 years
Must put in at least one
year
1909 Enlarged Homestead Act
Claim 320 acres (1/2 section)
targeted dry-land farming
1916 Stock-Raising Homestead Act
Claim 640 acres (whole section)
For ranching
1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act
Ended homesteading in all states
except Alaska
1986 Homesteading ended in Alaska
[A Federal program that actually stopped spending!!]
Only about 40% of those making an initial claim completed the
requirements
1.6 million homesteads were granted = 10% of US public land
Continue the Settlement Timeline
1862 Nutters returned from
Utah and settled 2 miles east of Wood River Center (in Hall County).
Purchased Squatters rights to the place
Aug. 1864 Nutters fled from threat of Indian attack
1869 returned and
settled east of Gibbon
1863 Joseph Owens came to the county, married Sarah Oliver
1866 Construction of Union Pacific Railroad through Buffalo
County
Buda Station
Elm Creek Station
1867 Buffalo County surveyed and open to settlement
Dec. First land
filed upon James Boyd, Boyd Ranch
1867 Tax list
Only two families were here in 1860 for census & on 1867 tax roll
1. James Boyd & family
2. Henry Dugdale & family
18 tax payers in the county
James Boyd value $6,830 & Joseph Boyd value $600
Henry Dugdale value $940
Ed Oliver value $335
Sarah Oliver value $540
3 were gone by payment deadline in1868
1868 21 taxpayers
1869 20 taxpayers
1870 Reorganization of Buffalo County; first County Board
38 taxpayers
2
filings for land
1871 Gibbon Homestead Colony
First settlers in
Kearney Junction
165 land filings
Gibbon Homestead people
1878 Next big jump in filings due to opening up of military
reservation
Settlement Pattern as Seen in First
Filings by Township
(Name of Township; year of first filing;
number of filings that year)
Harrison
1879 7 |
Sartoria
1878 2 |
Loup
1874 8 |
Beaver
1873 2 |
Garfield
1874 5 |
Cherry
1876 1 |
Armada
1873 5 |
Scott
1873 2 |
Rusco
1873 1 |
Cedar
1873 12 |
Schneider
1874 4 |
Gardner
1874 7 |
Logan
1878 2 |
Grant
1872 4 |
Divide
1872 6 |
Thornton
1873 8 |
Valley
1871 2 |
Sharon
1871 22 |
Elm Creek
1871 4 |
Odessa
1871 2 |
Riverdale
- 1871 17 |
Center
1871 25 |
Gibbon
1867 1 |
Shelton
1870 2 |
1867 Gibbon 1 filing (James Boyd)
1870 Shelton 2 filings
1871 Gibbon Homestead Colony people file on their claims
First filings in Platte River
valley row of townships & around Gibbon & Shelton
Filings also by squatters who
feared losing their land John Nutter, for example
1873 filings indicate settlement up through the center of the county
Last land to be settled claimed was
north of Miller in Harrison & Sartoria townships
And Also: Reviving an Old Cheer
Following a Veterans Day
Parade in November 1892:
Kearney Daily Hub Nov. 7, 1892
|