Collection of Nebraska Pioneer ReminiscencesDaughters of the American Revolution. Nebraska
History
Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences
Daughters of the American Revolution. Nebraska
Frontier and pioneer life -- Nebraska; Nebraska -- History
Disappointed by the failure of the legislature to make the desired
appropriation but in no way discouraged, the Daughters of the American
Revolution at the second state conference, held in October, 1903, voted
to observe the anniversary of the first official council held by Lewis
and Clark with the Indians in the Louisiana territory, and to
commemorate the event by placing a Nebraska boulder upon the site. As
chairman of the committee, it fell to my lot to raise the money and to
find the boulder; and it is with pleasure that I record the ease with
which the first part of my duty was accomplished. The Deborah Avery
chapter gave seventy-five dollars, the Omaha chapter one hundred, and
the two new chapters organized in 1902, Quivira of Fairbury and
Lewis-Clark of Fremont, raised the sum to two hundred, each promising
more if it was needed.
To find a Nebraska boulder was more difficult; and it was still more
difficult to find a firm in Nebraska willing to undertake to raise it
from its native bed and to carve upon it the insignia of the D. A. R.,
with a suitable inscription. Finally a boulder of Sioux Falls granite
was found in the Marsden farm, north of Lincoln, and it was given to the
society by the owner, who remarked that he was "glad to be rid of it."
Its dimensions were 7-1/2x8-1/3x3-1/2 feet. Its weight was between seven
and eight tons. The firm of Kimball Brothers of Lincoln took the
contract for its removal and inscription. Through the assistance of Mr.
A. E. Sheldon of the State Historical Society, the Burlington and
Missouri railroad generously transported it to Fort Calhoun, where its
placing was looked after by Mr. J. H. Daniels of the Sons of the
American Revolution. As the project had drifted away from the original
intention, and had become a memorial to commemorate an event rather than
to mark a spot, the boulder was placed on the public school grounds at
Fort Calhoun. At last, almost five years from the time of the broaching
of the project, the wish of the society was accomplished.
The following condenses an account of the unveiling of the boulder, and
the program, from the report of Miss Anna Tribell Adams of the Omaha
chapter for the _American Monthly_ of January, 1905:
"On August 3, 1904, the village of Fort Calhoun, fifteen miles above
Omaha on the Missouri river, was the scene of the unveiling of a boulder
commemorating the first peace council between the United States
government and the chiefs of the Otoe and Missouri Indian tribes. The
town as well as the school grounds were brave with bunting and flags.
Everyone wore with a small flag the souvenir button on which was a
picture of the boulder with a suitable inscription. As a matter of
history it is a pleasure to record that the button was designed by Mrs.
Elsie De Cou Troup of the Omaha chapter. One worn by one of the speakers
is in the collection of the Deborah Avery chapter in the rooms of the
State Historical Society at Lincoln.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account