22 The Condition of the Western Farmer. [300 



the " first bottom m of the Platte. During the first year or 

 so the struggle to get established was very severe, and had 

 it not been for the supplies of provisions forwarded by the 

 original town company, the attempt at colonization might 

 have been a failure. But in the fall of 1859 the colonists 

 obtained a contract for supplying the government at Fort 

 Kearney, some forty miles distant, with two thousand bushels 

 of corn at $2 a bushel, and this helped the colony in great 

 measure to become self-supporting. Besides this, many of 

 the settlers were able, in the intervals of their activity, to 

 obtain employment at the fort, thus adding to their incomes. 

 About this time, trade with the emigrants to the gold mines 

 in Colorado and other western territories became very profit- 

 able for the settlers; a good cabbage4iead would bring as 

 high as fifty cents, and a watermelon a dollar. In addition 

 the emigrants would often have lame cattle and young calves 

 which they were very glad to sell to the settlers at low prices ; 

 and as such stock could very easily be brought back into 

 good condition, the profit in the transaction was great. 



During 1858 a number of Mormon farms had been opened 

 along Wood river at a distance of ten or twelve miles from 

 the original settlement; but these unwelcome residents soon 

 concluded to move further west and join the remainder of 

 their brethren in Utah. The part of the county south of 

 the Platte received its first settlers in 1860, when a family 

 by the name of Martin started a cattle-ranch there, but the 

 greater danger 2 from the Indians kept settlers away and 

 greatly retarded the development of this region. In the 

 northern part of the county new-comers slowly but steadily 

 appeared during the following years and settled down to 

 farming. In 1860 there were 116 residents in the county. 

 But colonization soon received quite a serious setback from 

 the withdrawal of almost all the United States troops in 



1 See p. 21 above. 



2 At this time the Sioux claimed all the western part of Nebraska 

 south of the Platte as their hunting grounds and were very vigilant 

 in avenging all intrusion, whether by other redskins or by whites. 



