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Plattsmouth Chautauqua
Rhylander Park June 27-July 1, 2003
Great Plains Chautauqua visited Plattsmouth The historic Missouri River town of Plattsmouth was The regional 2003 Chautauqua reprised the theme “From Sea to Shining Sea,” focusing on the period 1790-1850, when America expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With the emphasis on America’s continent-wide growth, the Nebraska Humanities Council (NHC) prepared Nebraskans for the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and its larger themes of westward exploration and encounter with native peoples. Among the historical characters featured in the 2003 Chautauqua are William Clark, York and Sacagawea of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Others are Dolley Madison, Tecumseh and John Jacob Astor. Chautauqua scholars portrayed these figures in historical garb. Jeffrey E. Smith, who teaches American history at Lindenwood College in St. Louis, portrays Clark, the mapmaker, co-leader and chronicler of the Corps of Discovery journey in 1804-1806. Charles Everett Pace, who teaches anthropology and American studies at Centre College in Danville, Ken., portrays York, Clark’s man servant and the first black man to cross the continent of North America. Selene Phillips, a Ph.D candidate in American studies at Purdue University, portrays Sacagawea, a Shoshone Indian who was the only woman in the Expedition. Kris Runberg Smith, a history instructor at both Webster University in St. Louis, portrays Dolley Madison, the First Lady for 16 years and the most important woman in American social circles for 50 years. Jerome Kills Small, who teaches at the University of South Dakota, portrays Tecumseh, the Shawnee leader who worked for an independent Indian territory. Jerome Tweton, professor of history emeritus of the University of North Dakota and author of several books on American history, portrays John Jacob Astor, who at the time of his death in 1848 was the richest man in America. Founded in 1855, Plattsmouth is situated on seven hills at the confluence of the Missouri and Platte rivers. The town of 7,000 residents has 45 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Plattsmouth, which hosted the Great Plains Chautauqua in 1993, is planning a variety of events surrounding this summer’s weeklong visit. Among the planned special events are a tour of the town’s Victorian homes, a trapper’s breakfast, a quilt show, a tour of author Bess Streeter Aldrich’s house and assorted musical acts. The Great Plains Chautauqua Society Inc., a consortium of state partners of the National Endowment for the Humanities in Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and North Dakota, has brought the best of the humanities to people of the Great Plains in scholar-in-residence programs for more than two decades. In 1790, less than four million Americans lived in 13 states, most east of the Allegheny Mountains, although some 100,000 Americans had already moved to what would become Kentucky and Tennessee. Nearly one-fifth were black Americans, and less than 60,000 of these 760,000 were free. Only Massachusetts of the original 13 states reported no slaves in the first U.S. Census. There is no way of knowing for certain how many American Indians made up the sovereign nations living among the Americans in the states or beyond the Alleghenies in the area that would eventually become the lower 48 states in the Union. The most conservative estimate of Indian population at the beginning of European colonization of what would become the United States in the early 1600s is about one million. The population had declined by at least four million in the first 100 years following “discovery” (the pre-Columbian estimate of native population is as high as 15 million). For more details, visit the Great Plains Chautauqua website. For historical perspective on the circuit chautauqua of the 20th century, visit the Library of Congress website.
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Children dance during a workshop at Great Plains Chautuauqua. Plattsmouth Chautauqua Schedule Thursday, June 26
Jerome Kills Small as Tecumseh
Monday, June 30
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Those who visit Plattsmouth for the first time are impressed with its wonderfully historical appearance and friendly, congenial atmosphere. Plattsmouth's downtown physical appearance is one of its strongest assets. There are more than 45 downtown buildings on the National Register of Historical Places. When the town was founded in 1855, the Missouri River's proximity to the east end of Main Street brought many expensive and stately homes to the downtown area by those who used the river for trade and travel. Many of these beautiful homes are still inhabited today and are included in this year's Victorian homes tour on Sunday of Chautauquau. Schilling Wildlife Management Area, located at the east end of Main Streeet, is managed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The confluence of the Platte and Missouri rivers is located here and it played an important role in Lewis and Clark's journey up the Missouri River. Many of the Corps of Discovery journals contained descriptive details about the confluence when the expedition came through here in 1804. Directional signs guide visitors to the confluence site on Schilling. A stop at the Cass County Historical Soceity Museum, 646 Main St., is well worth the effort. Permanent displays tell the county's history since 1854, the year it opened for settlement. two special exhibits, "Plants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" and "History of Chautauqua in Cass County," are on display. The society also oversees the Cook Log Cabin and Burlington Northern Caboose on the east end of Main Street and Rock Bluff School ,south of Plattsmouth. A special children's workshop is planned at the historic school on Monday of Chautauqua. The blue-and-white Chautauqua tent will be erected in Rhylander Park, on 28 acres in the southeast downtown area. More than 50 species of trees, flower beds, a gazebo, a pavilion, base ball and soccer fields and a cedar train station in honor of the community's railroad heritage completes the park's landscape features. Memorial Park, Garfield Park, Indian Springs Pond and Twin Rivers Aquatic Center also offer leisure opportunities for the entire family. The community takes great pride in the Plattsmouth Public Library at Fourth Street and Avenue A. A Carnegie library founded in 1916, it rivals larger libraries with it book circulation, videocassettes, computer technology and adult and children's reading programs. Even though many of Plattsmouth's residents work outside the community, generations of its citizens continue to live in a community approaching 7,000 inhabitants. An active industrial development committee works with city officials in a strong business climate. Cass County is the third fastest growing and third wealthiest county in the state.
Many area residents have wonderful memories of the 1993 Great Plains Chautauqua
and the 1994 Plattsmouth Chautauqua. Many generous monetary contributions,
in-kind donations and dozens of volunteers have helped to make the 2003
Great Plains Chautauqua a success. |
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By Margo Prentiss, Cass County Museum Curator Cass County is one of the earliest settled counties in Nebraska. It was named for General Lewis Cass of Michigan (1782-1866), an American statesman and patriot who took an active part in the fight over the Kansas-Nebraska bill. Cass was the Democratic nominee for president in 1848. The county was approved by the Territorial Legislature March 7, 1855. Bounded on the north by the Platte River and the east by the Missouri River, the county measures about 50 miles east to west and 30 miles north to south and currently has a population of almost 25,000. The story begins June 2, 1739, when Pierre and Paul Mallet reached the mouth of a river they called the "Platte" and followed the river upstream for 70 miles. This became the first expedition by white men on Nebraska soil. On July 20, 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark and their expedition camped in what is now Cass County at the foot of a high bluff along the banks of the Missouri River. Their journal for that day records, "We passed, at about three miles distance, a small willow island to the north of a creek on the south, about 25 yards wide by the French called L'eau qui Pieure or the 'Weeping Water.'" From there they passed along the eastern boundary of Cass County arriving at the mouth of the Platte River on Saturday evening July 21, during a rain storm. Stephen Long's expedition also passed through the county. It reached the mouth of the Platte on Sept. 7, 1819, after coming up the Missouri in the "Western Engineer," the first steamboat to navigate the upper Missouri. Long announced the land was "almost wholly unfit for cutivation" and destined "to be the abode of perpetual desolation." The last major explorer to stop at the mouth of the Platte was John C. Fremont in 1842. His expedition camped one night on the bluff which is still known as "Fremont's Point," southeast of what is now Plattsmouth. In 1848, Libeas T. Coon established a ferry across the Missouri River for the convenience of the Mormons who were moving westward toward Utah. A trail known as the Ox-Bow Trail became established a long the south bank of the Platte. The gold seekers of 1848 also passed along that trail. No settlements were made below the Platte or along the Missouri for some years. The government protected the Otoes and Pawnees in the ownership and possession of land south of the Platte and did not allow anyone without a permit from the secretary of war to remain there. The first permit was granted to Samuel Martin, who had been living on the east bank of the Missouri, to establish a trading post near the Platte and Missouri rivers. In the spring of 1853, Martin, assisted by James O'Neil and J.L. Sharp, brought logs across the Missouri River on the ice and erected the "Old Barracks" for a trading house and, later, a smaller one for a council house. By Treaty with the Omahas and Otoes in March 1854, a proclamation by President Pierce opened the lands bordering on the Missouri for settlement. There was a rush for the best claims along the river, and it was estimated that 150 men penciled their names upon claim stakes within the present limits of Cass County, before the legal organization of the territory. On Oct. 26, 1854, the Plattsmouth Town Company was formed and the city was mapped out by surveyor O.W. Tyson. Plattsmouth was officially incorporated and designated by the Territorial Legislature as the county seat. Cass County was one of the first counties to jump into the Civil War with a company of Union soldiers. Company A of the First Nebraska volunteers was organized there and included many men who were later prominent in political and professional life. The Burlington and Missouri Railroad was established in Cass County in 1869 with headquarters located in Plattsmouth. The first locomotive, "The American Eagle," was brought to Plattsmouth by boat. The CB&Q Railroad built a railroad bridge over the Missouri River in 1879 and linked the B&M and CB&Q lines. In 1881 and 1882, the Missouri Pacific Railroad extended its line across Cass County from south to north and in 1890 the Rock Island Railroad crossed the county. Numerous towns were incorporated during the early days of settlement, though many have since become "ghost towns." Cass County is one of the largest counties in the state and is comprised of 15 towns: Alvo: Established in 1888 as a stop on the Rock Island route and named after the stationmaster's daughter. Avoca: Incorporated in 1857, the name is probably derived from Thomas Moore's poem "Sweet Vale of Avoca," extolling a river in Ireland. Cedar Creek: Platted in 1854 and named for a nearby creek with cedar trees growing along its banks. Eagle: Established in 1869 and originally named Sunlight. The name was changed to Eagle in 1887 after an eagle was shot in the area. Elmwood: Founded in 1868 and named by David McCaig, first postmaster, for a grove of elm trees. The first town site was located on Stove Creek about 2 1/2 miles northeast of the present site. Home of Bess Streeter Aldrich. Greenwood: Established in 1869 and named for Silas Greenwood, a trapper and hunter who was the first resident of the town. Louisville: Platted in 1867. Some sources say the town was named for Louisville, Ky.; others say it was named for a Mr. Louis who operated a grist mill. Manley: Established in 1883 and originally named Summit. There is a controversy over the name. Three different ranchmen called Manley lived in the vicinity and each thought the town was named after him. Murdock: Established in 1890 and named for a Mr. Murdock, a member of the town site company for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Murray: Established in 1884 as Fairview. The name was changed to honor the Rev. George L. Murray, pastor of the United Presbyterian Church. Nehawka: Settled in 1855 by Samuel Kirkpatrick who built a sawmill on Weeping Water Creek. The town was named by Isaac Pollard who, while on a trip to Washinton, D.C., thumbed through a book of Indian names and chose Nehawka. Plattsmouth: Established as a ferrying point on the Missouri River in 1852 by Samuel Martin. The name comes from its location at the confluence of the Platte and Missouri rivers. South Bend: Established in 1856 and named for its geographical location on the south bend of the Platte River. Union: Settlement began in 1857 and the town was platted in 1887. The name reflects the favoring of the Union during the Civil War. Weeping Water:
Established
in 1857 and named for the creek called by the French "L'eau qui Pieure"
or "the water that weeps."
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host for this year’s Great Plains Chautauqua from June 27 to July 1.
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Phone 402-474-2131 or e-mail nhc@nebraskahumanities.org. |
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