Here You Have My Story

`

Here You Have My Story

Eyewitness Accounts of the Nineteenth-Century Central Plains

Edited and with an introduction by Richard E. Jensen

400 pages
3 tables

Paperback

January 2010

978-0-8032-2660-9

$30.00 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

January 2010

978-0-8032-2687-6

$30.00 Add to Cart

About the Book

Here You Have My Story vividly describes life on the early Plains in the words of those who came to settle in the rugged region. Originally published by the Nebraska State Historical Society between 1885 and 1919, these stories provide surprisingly accurate recollections of events and life on the Great Plains, with a focus on Nebraska. Many are filled with interactions with Native Americans, from Samuel Allis’s experiences as a missionary to the Pawnees, to Henry Fontenelle’s history of the Omaha Indians, to an account of the Powder River Expedition. Early freighters and cattle drovers share their personal experiences, including the dangers and difficulties of travel, and Nebraska’s state-builders describe the early days of Omaha and the construction of the first state capitol building in Lincoln.
 
Here You Have My Story, edited by Richard E. Jensen, brings to life the struggles and triumphs of early Plains settlement and a time when Nebraska was young.
 

Author Bio

Richard E. Jensen is the editor of several books, including Happy as a Big Sunflower: Adventures in the West, 1876–1880 (available in a Bison Books edition); Voices of the American West, Volume 1: The Indian Interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 1903–1919 (Nebraska 2005); and Voices of the American West, Volume 2: The Settler and Soldier Interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 1903–1919 (Nebraska 2005).

Praise

"From this chorus of voices emerges a portrait of Nebraska as the land of constant novelty and adventure. . . . The language of these narratives, straightforward yet often elegantly and humorously phrased, is as great a historical resource as their descriptive detail."—Nina Murray, Nebraska Life

"[Here You Have My Story] showcases people who exhibit power, integrity, and perseverance—just the sort of folks a state can be proud to claim as pioneers."—Suzzanne Kelley, Kansas History

"[Here You Have My Story] provides an important and fascinating entrance to our nation's past. It is genuinely a rewarding read."—J. Justin Castro, Chronicles of Oklahoma

"Jensen's selection of historical documents brilliantly captures the world of the nineteenth-century Central Plains as American settlers saw it."—Adam R. Hodge, Great Plains Quarterly

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Indian Country

Reminiscences of a Teacher among the Nebraska Indians, 1843<EN>1885

      Mrs. Elvira Gaston Platt

Forty Years among the Indians and on the Eastern Borders of Nebraska

      Rev. Samuel Allis

History of the Omaha Indians

      Henry Fontenelle

At Bellevue in the Thirties

      Mrs. E. Anderson

2. Military Campaigns and Army Life

My Very First Visit to the Pawnee Village in 1855

      John M. Thayer

The Pawnee War of 1859

      John M. Thayer

The Pawnee Indian War, 1859

      Capt. R. W. Hazen

The Massacre at Oak Grove Ranch

      Capt. Edward B. Murphy

History of the Powder River Indian Expedition of 1865

      H. E. Palmer

3. Overland Freighting on the Plains

Along the Overland Trail in Nebraska in 1852

      Gilbert L. Cole

Freighting on the Plains

      James Green

Overland Freighting from Nebraska City

      Deforest P. Rolfe

Freighting Across the Plains in 1856, a Personal Experience

      Moses H. Sydenham

4. White Settlement

Part of the Making of a Great State

      John A. MacMurphy

Nebraska in the Fifties

      David M. Johnson

Recollections of Omaha, 1855<EN>61

      C. Irvine

Reminiscences of Early Days in Nebraska

      William W. Cox

Early Days at the Salt Basin

      John S. Gregory

History of the First State Capitol

      Thomas Malloy

Personal Recollections of Early Days in Decatur, Nebraska

      Capt. S. T. Leaming

Early Days on the Little Blue

      J. H. Lemmon

Adventures on the Plains, 1865<EN>67

      Dennis Farrell

Reminiscences of the Crusade in Nebraska

      Mrs. Harriet W. Leighton

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Also of Interest