dertaken by the Society; at least resolutions should be recorded in the Society's files. It was also stated by the Secretary that the officers of the Society, Mr. Barrett, Mr. Sheldon, and Mr. Blackman, were present, ready to make reports of their work for the year. The report in this abbreviated form was accepted.
   Mr. Blackman announced that his report would be incorporated in a written form as usual with the Secretary as a part of his report.
   The President then called for committee reports.
   Mr. Harvey, the chairman of the committee on sites, sent a letter to the Secretary stating that, owing to sickness, his report was not ready, and asking the favor of making it in a written form later.
   The next order of business was the annual election of officers. Mr. Geo. L. Miller was nominated for reelection as President, and on motion of Mr. S. L. Geisthardt the Secretary was instructed to cast the unanimous ballot of the Society in his favor, which was done. Mr. Miller thanked the Society for the honor, and called for nominations for first Vice-President. Mr. Harvey was renominated for first Vice-President, and on motion the Secretary cast the unanimous ballot of the Society in his favor. Mr. Sawyer nominated Prof. Geo. E. Howard for reelection as second Vice-President. Mrs. Knotts nominated L. D. Stilson, who declined; she then presented the name of J. E. North, of Columbus. Professor Howard then withdrew his name, and on motion Mr. North was unanimously elected second Vice-President.
   Mr. C. S. Paine and H. W. Caldwell were nominated for the Secretaryship. While the ballot was being taken a list of proxies was presented, and their votes asked to be counted. The question was raised whether proxies could be voted in the Society. It was noted that no instance had ever occurred in the Society to afford a precedent. The President ruled that the vote of proxies might be counted, and an appeal was taken from his decision. After discussion by several members of the Society pro and con on the issue a standing vote

was taken, and the decision of the chair was not sustained. The President then announced that the Society had voted against the use of proxies and that vote would stand as a precedent, and the ballot of the Society, proper under the constitution, would now be counted. The tellers announced 20 votes for Mr. Paine and 17 votes for Mr. Caldwell. Then, on motion, Mr. Paine was declared elected by the full vote of the Society.
   Mr. S. L. Geisthardt was unanimously reelected Treasurer.
   Mr. Sheldon called attention to the pending amendment changing the time of meeting from the second to the third Tuesday of January. After some discussion the whole matter was laid on the table.
   The committee to draft resolutions on the death of Mr. Rosewater was announced as Mr. Sheldon, Mr. Gilder, and Mr. Sawyer. On motion the names of Mr. Woolworth, Mr. Kountze, and Mr. Kitchen, of Omaha, were added.
   The Society then adjourned. H. W. CALDWELL, Secretary.

   Meeting called to order by President George L. Miller. Present, Dr. George L. Miller, James E. North, Chancellor E. B. Andrews, Robert Harvey, Prof. H. W. Caldwell, and C. S. Paine. Reading of the minutes of the last meeting of the old board was dispensed with.

   The President announced the appointment of the standing committees for the ensuing year as follows:

   LIBRARY. - Miss Charlotte Templeton, Miss Edith Tobitt, Chancellor W. P. Aylsworth.
   MUSEUM. - Elmer E. Blackman, Melvin R. Gilmore, Robert Gilder.

   OBITUARIES. - Jay Amos Barrett, A. J. Sawyer, Capt. H. E. Palmer.
   PROGRAM. - The Secretary, the President, Prof. H. W. Caldwell.
   PUBLICATION. - The Secretary, A. E. Sheldon, Robert Harvey.

   The report of the Secretary was then presented, and action upon it suspended, while the board listened to the report of the Director of Field Work, Mr. A. E. Sheldon. This report was ordered accepted, and placed on file.
   The report and recommendations of the Secretary were then taken up seriatim.
   Chancellor Andrews moved to approve the apportionment of salaries as outlined by the Secretary, with the addition of an appropriation of $600 for a newspaper clerk, and assistant in the legislative reference department. Carried. The salary roll as finally approved standing as follows:

   Chancellor Andrews moved the appointment of a committee of three to investigate the matter of salaries, and ascertain whether or not any reduction could be made from the amounts recommended by the Secretary. Carried.
   The President appointed as such committee Chancellor Andrews, Professor Caldwell, and the Secretary.
   On motion of Chancellor Andrews the apportionment of the funds for the ensuing year as submitted by the Secretary was approved.

   The report of Mr. Robert Harvey, chairman of the special committee on marking historical sites, was presented and accepted.
   Motion of Chancellor Andrews to appropriate $100 for the use of the committee on historic sites. Carried.
   Professor Caldwell moved that $50 be appropriated to pay S. A. Gardiner, balance due on a collection turned over to the Society in 1904. Carried.
   On motion of Chancellor Andrews the Secretary was authorized to dispose of the printing material owned by the Society, proceeds to be turned into the treasury.
   Mr. H. H. Wilson appeared before the board to discuss the resolution adopted by the Society at the last annual meeting with reference to the purchase of the Furnas collection of Nebraska woods, which resolution had been referred to the board of directors for action. A resolution was offered by Chancellor Andrews as follows: "Resolved, that Professor Wilson has the approval of the board of directors of the Nebraska State Historical Society, in the project for introducing a bill in the legislature to acquire the Furnas collection of Nebraska woods, for the use of the Nebraska State Historical Society." Adopted.
   Motion was made by Professor Caldwell to appoint a committee of three to take into account and report on the value of the Furnas collection of woods. Carried. The President appointed Messrs. Caldwell, Harvey, and Geisthardt as such committee.
   On motion of Chancellor Andrews the proposition of the Director of Field Work to secure the restoration "To the state and to its original purposes of block 29 in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, originally known as State Historical Society Block," and to secure an appropriation of $25,000 for the beginning of the foundation for the wing of a building thereon, was approved.
   The report of the Treasurer being presented was ordered approved and placed on file.

    The bill of the Treasurer for salary and expense, 1906, was approved and a warrant ordered drawn.
   On motion of Professor Caldwell the President was requested to invite Gen. A. W. Greeley to deliver an address in Lincoln under the auspices of the Nebraska State Historical Society at some date during the latter part of February or the first part of March.
   On motion of the Secretary the meeting adjourned.
   Approved April 9, 1907. C. S. PAINE,   
Secretary.

To the Officers and Members of the Nebraska State Historical Society:
   I hereby respectfully submit my report as Treasurer for the year ending January 16, 1907.
   I am to be charged with the following receipts:

   I submit herewith bank book duly balanced and vouchers and check to the order of the Society for the balance on hand.
   Beginning with July 5, 1906, I have kept a record of all receipts issued on stubs from which the receipts were detached, numbered consecutively. Prior to that time there was no regular system of giving or issuing receipts.
   Dated this 16th day of January, 1907.

   Accepted, approved, and ordered placed on file by the Board of Directors, February 1, 1907.

To the Executive Board, Nebraska State Historical Society:
   We find a brief catalogue of the museum ready for the printer and recommend that it be published in connection with the report of the Archeologist. This report has been published in the Agricultural report without expense to the

Nebraska State Historical Society heretofore and we recommend that it hereafter be published by the Society.
   We wish to express our approval of your action in setting apart $250 for field expenses for this department.
   We believe that the services of a stenographer are necessary, not only to prepare the letters, but to assist in preparing manuscript and elaborating notes which are to be used in the literary work in hand; an average of one hour a day will accomplish the necessary work.
   It is impossible to properly preserve the specimens and interest the public unless the dust and dirt be kept out of the whole building; we recommend that this matter be arranged for in some manner so that less of the time of Mr. Blackman be taken for that work and more of his time be devoted to field exploration and arrangement of the specimens in the cases.
   The matter of popular lectures throughout the state should have more attention. There is nothing which will better advertise the work and bring the people into closer touch with the Society. To that end we recommend that funds be set aside for the purchase of a stereopticon lantern and equipment, and that lantern slides of the important specimens be made, giving full credit as to ownership or authorship, and thus carry the museum to the people who can not come to the Museum.
   We feel justified in asking your honorable body to apportion a fair share of the legislative appropriation to this department of the work. The share we are asking for is scarcely one-fifth, and we believe if the members of the Society were to decide the matter they would justify you in expending at least one-fourth on this department. We have confidence that you will see that a just proportion is expended here. We believe that you will not let this important part of the work be handicapped for lack of funds.

February 1, 1907.

To the Board of Directors of the Nebraska State Historical Society:
   Soon after the appointment of the library committee of the State Historical Society a meeting was held in the Society's rooms. After a thorough inspection of the library it was decided that the one great need was a librarian. There is much valuable material on the shelves, but it is not in such form as to be available. The records are inadequate. While a, great deal has been done in the past few months in arranging the books on the shelves there is still much to do. There should be a new accession record, a shelf list from which an inventory can be taken, and a catalogue which will make the contents of the library of easy access. There is doubtless much material duplicated which should be sorted out and listed for exchange. Continuations and sets may be incomplete. But little can be done until a complete catalogue is made.
   Now this work of organizing the library may be done in two ways. A temporary librarian may be employed for several months who will plan the work, get it well started, and train some person to carry it on, the person trained to be some one with the natural ability and such knowledge of office work as will fit her to carry a great deal of the work of the Society, the correspondence, etc. In this way some one would be employed who, by her previous experience, could be an assistant to the Secretary and by her training under the library organizer would have the knowledge of library methods necessary to carry on the work of the library.
   An organizer could doubtless be obtained for $75 a month. The future librarian should be employed at the same time to assist in the work and to learn how to carry it on herself.
   By the other plan a graduate of a library school could be employed as permanent librarian. Such a person could reorganize the library and gradually assume much of the other work to be done. Under this plan a person of good education

can be found, doubtless a college graduate as well as a graduate of a library school, who would have, by reason of her professional training, a broad outlook. Handling the books through every process of accessioning, classifying, and cataloguing she would acquire a knowledge of the books themselves very valuable in future reference work. Such a librarian could, we think, be found who would be willing to start in at $600 a year.
   At any rate, adopt which plan you will, there should be some person whose first duty is to the library, who will make this collection of the value that it should be to the community and to the whole state, a person who will watch the book catalogues for desirable purchases, who will build up the library systematically along its special lines, who will keep up a live mailing list of good exchanges, who will take care of these accessions intelligently when they come and make them available to the public at large.
   It is very desirable to get the library into good shape now before it is any larger. Every year makes the task more difficult and more expensive.
   It seems to us that in the apportionment of funds there should be a definite sum, however small, set aside for the library outside the salary of the person in charge, who, as she would do other work for the Society, could be put on the general salary list. Unless there is such a sum, we fear that the money will all be absorbed by the other activities of the Society. The library committee will gladly serve as an advisory board in the book purchases, although they believe that it is more important just now to get into good order the books already in the library than to add more.
   These suggestions are respectfully Submitted by your library committee.

February 1, 1907.

To the Board of Directors of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska:
   SIRS - As chairman of the committee on landmarks I am not able to report much that is tangible in the way of marking locations having a local or general history sufficient to be perpetuated by an expenditure of time and money on the part of the Society.
   The fiftieth anniversary of the council held by Gen. John M. Thayer for the territory with the Pawnee Indians occurred on the 25th day of May, 1905.
   The event was celebrated by General Thayer in person pointing out the location, and the erection of a granite monument about 3 1/2 feet high to mark the site, on the farm of Robert McLean in S. 21 T. 16 N., R. 8 E. On the monument is inscribed "Pawnee Council, May 25, 1855."
   In the early part of November last I visited the site of old Ft. McPherson on the south bank of the Platte river in T. 12 N., R. 28 W., Lincoln county, near Maxwell on the Union Pacific R. R.
   The row of cottonwood trees planted in front of the officers' quarters is still standing and in fine growing condition, and the old street in front is now the county road, although it does not conform to the section line.
   Cottonwood Springs, situated in a bend of Cottonwood canyon, a short distance east of the fort, was famous in the days of overland travel. It is now smothered or choked up by the sloughing off and washing down of the clay bank of the canyon. The large cottonwood tree which shaded the spring, I was told, was ordered cut down, during the occupation of the fort, by order of Colonel (General) Emery, to prevent the soldiers lounging around the spring.
   The old flagstaff was of red cedar and stood in the center of the parade ground. It was the initial point of the survey 

of the original boundary lines of the military reserve. This was of special interest to me, for around it is clustered the recollections of my first experience in government surveying in 1869 when I assisted in the original survey of the boundary lines of the reserve.
   The interest in the "locus" of the old flagstaff has been increased by reason of the disputes and contests before the department at Washington and in the courts over the conditions of the survey of the reserve into sections in 1897, one of the points of the dispute being the "locus" of the flagstaff, which it was claimed was not found by the surveyor.
   The whole matter in dispute was of such importance that the government was induced to send a special examiner of surveys to investigate, who spent considerable time in his search. From verbal statements of the examiner, Mr. N. B. Sweitzer, corroborated by eye witnesses, I am satisfied the original site of the staff in 1869 was found by Mr. Sweitzer.
   In the middle of a field I found a marble monument, 6 inches square and extending about 8 inches above round, erected by Mr. Sweitzer to mark the site of the flagstaff. There was no inscription on top, and I did not see any on the sides, although I did not clear away the grass for a close examination.
   To obtain further information I wrote to Mr. Sweitzer requesting particular data. On the 10th inst. I received from him an answer to my request, which I make a part of this report and mark as exhibit A.
   The parade ground was part of a magnificent field of corn, the owner claiming a yield of fifty bushels per acre.
   During the latter part of November I visited Wauneta, Chase county, and was informed that the last great battle fought by the Pawnee and Sioux Indians took place in a canyon tributary to Frenchman creek in Hayes county. Wherever the battle was fought I suggest that its location be authentically settled and commemorated. Also the battle fought between the United States forces under command of General Harney and the Sioux Indians on the Blue Water,

more generally known as the battle of Ash Hollow in Keith county.
   I also suggest the proper marking of the grave of Black Bird, chief of the Omaha Indians, which I am informed has been definitely located.
   With members of the committee there has been discussed the matter of marking the intersection of the Overland trails, military roads, and the old Mormon trail, with the section lines, and in a few instances the matter has been discussed with the residents of counties through which the trails passed, with the object of obtaining the cooperation of the people of the several counties in the way of looking up the old landmarks and bearing a large portion of the expense of placing suitable markers at convenient and important locations along the different lines of travel.

MY DEAR HARVEY - I received your letter of the 10th inst. last night.
   In regard to the old flagstaff, it is so long ago and I have been on so many other pieces of work so similar that I have nearly forgotten the details in regard to it.
   The "locus" of the old flagstaff was the origin of the adjacent surveys, and hence important. The position of mile post No. 1 was plain, and hence the south boundary could be started from that, but in all of these cases the origin is very important.
   I ran several lines from the exterior, focusing on this origin, and they gave me locations which of course were comparatively near to where the corner should be. I then asked for information from all the old people who had seen the flagstaff in its old position. Mr. Murray, an old friend and soldier of General Carr's and father, showed me very close to where he remembered it to have stood, but was somewhat misled by the position of the old gravel walk. Mrs. Murray's

memory in regard to its position was a great help to me. I thou commenced digging, beginning with my exterior locations and converging on the center. After several days' effort I finally found the hole from which the flagstaff had been taken, which could be plainly seen by the disturbed condition of the earth. Upon digging down six or seven feet and finding considerable brick or pieces of chimney made of cement, I finally found the foundation, consisting of four squared cedar logs mortised together, forming a central hole which was square for the purpose of stepping the flagstaff. Placing a vertical rod in the center of this hole I filled it with the debris taken out, and at the center produced at the ground surface I placed a large white marble shaft given me by the custodian of the near cemetery.
   You are in error in regard to there being no inscription, as I carved it in myself with letters one-half inch deep, and the same was finished up by my assistants, Albert G. Hammer, of Chicago, Illinois, and my brother, Lieut. Charles McG. Sweitzer.
   This old post was particularly interesting to me, for this was the place where my father, General Sweitzer, took Grand Duke Alexis of Russia on that famous buffalo hunt he having charge of the cavalry escort; and where Buffalo Bill first made his bow to notoriety, being introduced by Ned Buntline of dime novel fame. Cody taking him out of the fort a few miles dressed a la Sioux, and Buntline, just from the East, with silk hat and broadcloth, took Cody seriously; hence his rise to fame and finance. A Bill Nye would have seen the funny side of it, but would never have seen the Wild West show.
   My first report describing the corner is in Washington, and I write the above from memory, but you will find it substantially correct.

© 2000, 2001 Pam Rietsch, T&C Miller