48

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CROFUTT’S NEW OVERLAND TOURIST

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chased, but only a small portion is under
cultivation.

Passing on, 4 miles brings us to

Josselyn—a side-track station, named
after the paymaster of the road, a much
more important person to the employes
than the station, as trains do not always
stop here, but roll on five miles further to

Wtum Creek—the county seat of
Dawson county. It contains a population
of about 500, has a fine, brick court-house,
two churches, a school-house, several ho-
tels, four stores, a bridge across the Platte,
t» the south, and a weekly newspuper—the
Pioneer. The town was named after an
old stage station and military camp, situ-
ated on the south side of the river, on Plum
Cre: k, a small stream which heads in very
rugged bluffs southwest of the old station,
and empties its waters into the Platte—
opposite Plum Creek station on the rail—
road.

This old station was the nearest point on
the “old emigrant road” to the Republi-
can River, the heart of the great Indian
rendezvous, and their supposed secure
stronghold, being but about 18 miles away.
Around the old Plum Creek station many,
of the most fearful massacres which oc-
curred during the earliest emigration were
perpetrated by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and
Arapahoe Indians. The bluffs here come
very close to the river, affording the savages
an excellent opportunity for surprising a
train, and, being very abrupt and cut up
with gulches and canyons, affording them

—hiding-places, from which they swooped
down upon the luckless emigrant, often
massacrng the larger portion of the
party. :

Returning to the railroad, 7 8-10 miles
brings us to

Coyote—an unimportant station.

Here the bottoms are very wide, having
increased in width for many miles.

in early days, all along the river, for a
distance of 50 miles, the islands and low-
lands were covered with cottonwood tim-
ber, but since the completion of the rail-
road, the principal portion has been con-
sumed for use by the settlers. Where, in
1860, were huge cottonwoods, now are
wheat-fields, or young cottonwoods and
willows. We are now in a section of
country where la'ge quantities of hay are
put up annually for shipment,

Passing on*6 miles, we reach

Cozad—About one-fourth mile be
fore reaching this station, on the right, we

Ne ee

cross the 100th meridian, marked by asign,
which reads, in large letters “100th Me-
ridian.”

This place was named by a gentleman
from the East, who purchased 40,000 acres
of land from the railroad company here,
and laid outa town. It has not been a
“huge success” as a speculation, so far,
but by a thorough system of irrigation
could be made very produciive. There are
a few gocd buildings at and near the sta-
tion, and some herds of cattle and she p
rangenear by; in fact, this section of coun-
try is more adapted to stock-raising than
it is for agricultural purposes.

The high bluffs to the south and west—
our road hereruns nearly nortu—looming
up in the distance, are on the south side
of the Platte River, 25 miles distant.

From Cozad, it is five miles to

Willow Islamd-—-population 100—
named from an island in the Platte River,
near by, the second in size in that river.
For some distance before reaching this
station, large herds of cattle and sheep can
be seen, parvicularly on the opposite side
of the river, where can also be seen some
of the old adobe ranches of the days when
the “overland stage” was the fastest
method of crossing these plains.

We are now beyond the agricultural sec-
tion, and are entering the great grazing re-
gion of the West.

For some years after the completion of
the rond the traveler could see, near this
place, and in fact for many miles beyond
North Platte, some of the old log houses of
the early settlers, with their sides p erced
with joop-holes and walled up with turf,
the roofs being covered with the same ma-
terial, which reminds one of the savage
against whom these precautions ‘were
taken. In fact, from here up the river, the
traveler will doubtless observe many of
the rude forts along the roadside as well as
at the stations. The deserted ranches to be
met with along the ‘old emigrant road,”
on the south side of the river, are fortified
inthe same manner. ‘The fort was gener-
ally built of logs, covered on top and
walled on the side in the manner described.
They are pierced with loop-holes on all
sides; and afforded a safe protection against
the Indians. They generally stood about
fifty yards from the dwelling, from which
an underground passage led to the fort.
When attacked, the settlers would retreat
to their fortification where they would
fight it out; and until the Indians got “ed-