At that time land was very cheap and could be bought for from two to five dollars per acre. The same land is now being held at two hundred dollars per acre. Labor was scarce, with the exception of that which could be obtained from the Indians. There were a large number of Indians in that part of the country, and the settlers often hired the squaws to shuck corn and cut firewood. Mrs. Wilkinson has often told of the Indians coming to her door and demanding corn meal or beef. They always wanted beef and would not accept pork. They would come at night, look in at the windows, and call for firewater, tobacco, and provisions. Their visits were so frequent that Mrs. Wilkinson soon mastered much of their language and was able to talk to them in their own tongue. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson first settled about twenty-five miles from Omaha on the old military road. During the early days of their life there, Mrs. Wilkinson made large quantities of butter for regular customers in Omaha. They often arose at three o'clock, hitched up the lumber wagon, and started for town, there to dispose of her butter and eggs and return with a supply of provisions. As a rule the winters were extremely severe and Mrs. Wilkinson has often told of the terrible snow storms which would fill the chimneys so full of snow it would be impossible to start a fire, and she would have to bundle the children up in the bedclothes and take them to the nearest house to keep from freezing. During their second year in Nebraska they went farther west and located at "Timberville," which is now known as Ames. There they kept a "ranch house" and often one hundred teams arrived at one time to remain over night. They would turn their wagons into an immense corral, build their camp fires, and rest their stock. These were the "freighters" of the early days, and generally got their own meals. During their residence at Elk City, two more children were born, Nettie and Will. They continued to live on the farm until the year 1887, when they moved to Blair, Nebraska, there to rest in their old age. Mr. Wilkinson died July 18, 1912. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Lucy Wilkinson, a son, Wm. W. Wilkinson, and two daughters, Mrs. J. Fred Smith and Mrs. Herman Shields. Mrs. George B. Dyball, another daughter, died May 13, 1914. NIKUMI BY MRS. HARRIET S. MACMURPHY He glanced from the letter in his hand to the Indian woman sitting in the door of the skin tipi, and the papoose on the ground beside her, then down the river, his eyes moving on, like the waters, and seeing some vision of his brain, far distant. After a time his gaze came back and rested upon the woman and her babe again. "If I could take the child," he murmured.