Valentine,
one of the most substantial cities in the northwestern part of the state. Center of the cattle industry.
There
are few towns along the northern border of Nebraska which have experienced a more substantial growth
during the past few years than Valentine, the county seat of Cherry County.
This
little city is the seat of government of a territory greater in extent than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined and it is the business center of a region destined by nature to be the greatest stock raising district in the world. A district where a bountiful providence has provided an inexhaustible supply of the most nutritious grasses upon
which stock may feed all the year round and wax fat with only a modicum of care upon the part of the owners.
When
the Elkhorn railroad was extended towards the northwestern part of the state in1883, the town of Valentine was established as the terminus of the road. It was located upon a level stretch of prairie lying between the Niobrara River on the east and south and the beautiful Minnechadusa on the north. Away to the west stretch the miles and miles of sand hills which were then regarded as almost worthless, but which have since come to be recognized as the best crazing land in the world.
Beyond
the Minnechadusa
on the north, extending to the state line is an elevated stretch of country commonly known as the "table".
This is a rich agricultural district and heavy crops of a diversified nature
are grown there.
In
the early days of its history Valentine was about the toughest spot on
the map. Cowboys and border ruffians of every description flocked to the new town and many of the wild and wholly tales of life on the border had their origin in the everyday life of Valentine. It was a common amusement for the toughs who had acquired a cargo of "red licker" to see how close to an unoffending citizen they could shoot
without killing him and nightly brawls in the numerous saloons made urgent
business after nightfall, a thing to be deferred until the next day.
The
south line of the Rosebud Indian reservation was but seven miles north of Valentine and the 6,000 Sioux living there favored the new town with their presence more frequently than was absolutely necessary to the peace of mind of the inhabitants.
In addition to these disturbing elements an army post had been established four miles east of the town site in 1880, and when the cowboys, Indians and soldiers took possession of the town the inhabitants simply found it convenient to have business elsewhere for the time being.
Notwithstanding
these conditions the village was most prosperous. It was the shipping point for the entire
north-west. No other railroad topped that section and the amount of business passing through Valentine was very great.
Wooden buildings were erected with a rush and the population increased until the residents of the town numbered nearly 1,000.
An Indian freight depot was established for the receipt of the enormous quantities of supplies destined for the thousands of Indians quartered on the Rosebud reservation and hundreds of carloads of freight were handled at the depot each year.
The
freight receipts were augmented by the heavy shipments of supplies to Fort Niobrara and the increasing number of settlers in the adjacent country swelled the business of the thriving town to substantial proportions.
In
1885, the railroad was extended to Chadron and the population of Valentine
dwindled at once. Many of the buildings of the town were taken down and shipped to Chadron and Valentine was left with a population of about 500.
In
1883, fire destroyed almost the entire business portion of the town, but this
proved to be a blessing in disguise and from the ashes arose a new town much better in every respect than the
old.
The
demand for building material led to the discovery that building stone of an excellent quality was to be found on every land with little effort. The cliffs and hills along the Minnechadusa and Niobrarawere found to contain limestone in large quantities and of
superior quality. The stone is soft when first exposed to the air and is readily dressed with a common handsaw, but exposed to the air the,action of the atmosphere hardens it until it becomes building stone of excellent quality.
This
limestone was the first used in the Methodist Church, and the success attending this effort to use native
material was at once followed by its use in store buildings and business blocks.
There
is but one manufacturing industry in Valentine, a flour mill. S. F. Gillman of Davenport, Ia. discovered that it was possible to develop a large amount of power from the waters of the Minnechadusa and he erected a 300 barrel mill at a cost of $40,000. This mill runs night and day, with 100-horse power, drawing its supply of wheat from the surrounding country.
To
obtain this power the waters of the Minnechadusa were dammed, the deep ravine through which the sparkling waters of the creek meandered, forming the bed of a beautiful little lake, which has taken the rippling Indian name of the Creek. The water of this creek and lake is as clear as crystal and chemical analysts has shown that it is without any impurities whatever. The
lake supplies all the Ice for the Elkhorn system over 400 cars of glittering
congelation having been taken out last winter by the railroad and shipped to Omaha, Lincoln, Fremont,Deadwood,
Camper and many other many other points along the line.
The
development of the water power in the Minnechadusa led to the investigation of the flow of the Niobrarariver and a survey of
the stream were made by Prof. Stout of the University
Nebraska. He located a point on land owned by former State Senator Charles F. Cornell, where the erection of a dam could provide 10,000 horse-powers for a ten-hour day, at a cost of $20 per
horse-power for development.
The construction of such a dam would create a
lake five miles long. No canal would be required, thus differing from other points where power has teen developed, and obviating the difficulty encountered from clogging bysand and other causes.
The
only public building in Valentine is the brick school house, erected in 1887,
at a cost of $12,000. This is a handsome two-story structure with six rooms. It is equipped with all the modern improvements in school architecture and to the pride of the town.
Bonds
were voted at the election held early in
the current month for the erection of a county Court house at Valentine. But after it developed that
the bonds had been carried by a substantial majority. It was discovered that there was a serious defect in the preliminary proceedings,which invalidated their issue and the whole thing
will have to be done over again.
Since
the establishment of the town and the designation of Valentine as the county seat, the county offices have been quartered in a two-story frame building,which stands on the main street, at the north side of the town. This building is a relic of ante-bellun day shaving seen many years of service as a government storehouse in Wisconsin, during the days when Jeff Davis, afterwards, the president of the
confederate states of
Americas an officer in
the United States army and quarter-master at
an Army post in Wisconsin. . The frame works of the building is formed of huge timbers, hewn with a broad-ax, and are as hard as when first placed in position.
In
addition to the business which would naturally come to Valentine from the
settlers and ranchers in the surrounding country, there is large volume of business arising
from the fact that the Indian
freight depot for the Rosebud reservation is
located in the town and that the supplier designed for the garrison stationed at Fort Niobrara are all handled at Valentine.
The
handling of the Indian supplies and the business arising from Fort Niobrara will be treated more at length in subsequent articles.