City's first water works, part B: Sewer

Civil War Veterans at attention in McCook. Tom Bales is third from right.

We have looked at how McCook got first water service to its citizens.

But producing water is just one half of what it takes to make a Waterworks. It also takes a sewage system to make the system work. In 1882, before backhoes, and other mechanized digging machines, the work of creating ditches for water and sewer lines was all done by hand -- difficult, back breaking, hard work. As an example of the men who did this work, we are retelling the story of Thomas Bales, one of the men responsible for creating the ditches for the miles of McCook's early water and sewer lines.

Thomas Bales, and his wife, Delcina (Bates) Bales were among McCook's earliest settlers, arriving in this vicinity in 1879, three years before McCook became a town. A native of Indiana, Tom was a Civil War Veteran and fought in several important battles, including Shiloh, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and Stone River, where he was wounded. With a new wife, Tom arrived in SW Nebraska to make claim to a plot of land, as part of his Veterans' bonus. For some time the couple lived in a cave dug into the bank of a stream (a dugout) in the east part of McCook.

A dugout like Tom and Delcina's first home in Red Willow County.

Tom was born Thomas Beals, but a mistake in his Army records had incorrectly identified him as Thomas Bales, and to avoid more unnecessary red tape, Tom declined to make the correction, so ever after Tom and his descendents have been known as Bales.

Early on Tom Bales went to work for the new city of McCook, sometimes as a regular employee, sometimes as a contract worker for the city. Though he walked with a severe limp, the result of his Civil War wound, that did not stop him from working as a ditch digger for the city. He was "strong as an ox" and took part in laying most of McCook's early water lines. As his two older boys, Earl and Clarence matured they joined their father in making McCook's water system a reality.

Over the years Tom Bales became The authority in knowing the location of all of McCook's early water lines. When there was trouble, and old water lines needed to be identified and dug up, Tom Bales was the man whom the city fathers called. Tom was a character, and quite a showman. When he was called to find a waterline he would arrive with his shovel, and with great flourish, line up on one or another land mark, circle the area a few times, tap the ground with his shovel, and only then begin to dig. Invariably, seeming to call on his remarkable memory, he would locate the water line in question. It was only when Tom was an old man that he revealed his secret -- From the very beginning, whenever Tom Bales was commissioned to lay a water line he recorded the event and the location of the water line in a well used notebook, complete with the number of paces from which that water line was located from two or more existing land marks.

So, whenever he was called in to locate an old water line Tom had merely to look up the location in his notebook prior to his arrival onto the scene. All the sightings and tapping with his shovel were merely pretenses, to build a bit of suspense into the drama.

Before Old Tom died his heirs tried to persuade him to sell the valuable notebook to the city for a considerable sum of money. Tom would have none of it. He felt that the city should have the notebook in their archives and gave them the notebook. In return a grateful City Water Dept. rewarded Tom with a check -- for $15.

Tom had lived his adult life in East McCook, which in the early days was known as a pretty rough part of town -- really like another community, where many of the residents were related to each other by marriage. The heart of East McCook was Koetter's Store, and the East McCook Community Center (formerly a church) next door. Here people gathered for song fests, and storytelling -- and all activities that were free. It was no doubt here that Tom Bales first began to speak, and he learned that he liked to talk -- and argue, which eventually led him to partake in one of the great loves of his life.

In the early days, before TV, or movies, or air conditioning, or even radio, some of the popular activities on a summer's Sunday afternoon, were orations and debates in City Park (now known as Norris Park). Families would bring picnic lunches to the park and stay the afternoon listening to speakers, or an occasional band concert.

Very often they listened to debates between some of the intellectuals and politicians of the area.

Tom Bales was certainly an unlikely debater. He was from East McCook. He had little formal schooling, and he made his living as a ditch digger.

People probably dismissed him as a serious debater. That was a mistake. Deriving most of his book learning from his set of the Encyclopedia, "Book of Knowledge," he proved to be a formidable debater, not hesitating to challenge opponents from all walks of life.

What is more, he allowed his opponent to pick the side of the question that they preferred -- pro or con. Since these challenges were normally picked a week in advance, Mr. Bales would use the week to do research and study up on the debate topic -- for instance, "Should the United States engage in the construction of the Panama Canal? -- Pro or Con?"

Usually Bales would win the debate, as determined by a consensus of the judges present. Then frequently he would offer to debate his adversary the next week on the same topic, but they would switch sides. Usually, Tom Bales prevailed again, arguing against the stand that he had taken in the original debate. He savored these wins.

The Civil War remained the most important event in the life of that generation who had lived through the event, especially for the Veterans who had served in the war.

Over the years the distinctions blurred, between rich and poor Veterans, officers and enlisted men, even those who fought for the North (which was most of the McCook Veterans) and those who had fought for the South (in McCook, notably James Jamison). Veterans of the Civil War became a close knit "Band of Brothers".

Tom Bales took great pride in his status as a veteran of the Civil War, and his membership in the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic). He was ever proud to take his place on the speaker's stand with other Civil War Veterans, at the Indianola Old Settlers' Picnic, and Fourth of July Celebrations in McCook.

In the Special Gazette Edition of McCook's 50th year, in 1932, Tom Bales is singled out as one of the last three living Civil War Veterans in Red Willow County.

Tom and Delcina Bales never had a lot of money, but they considered themselves rich because of their own family and their extended family in East McCook. They had eleven children of their own, and many of their children had large families as well. Those family members retained the strong bonds that had been so important to them in the early, trying times.

In the year 2000, McCook had a memorable celebration. The schools celebrated an All-Class Reunion, and many families hosted reunions in the city. That year the descendents of Tom and Delcina had a reunion of their own. Over 600 of the Bales Clan congregated in McCook, in what was believed to be the largest reunion of one family ever assembled in our city.

Cousins came from all over the United States to renew relationships, and to get acquainted with younger members of the family. The Bales Family Reunion completely took over Barnett Park, for one giant picnic, with games, contests, and conversation -- lots of conversation, with stories of Tom and Delcina and the hard times, and the good times of the Bales family's over 100 years in McCook.

At times the conversations took on the tone of a discussion, and sometimes the discussions approached the flavor of an old time debate. Old Tom would have loved it.

Source: Faces of McCook, Sehnert; McCook's First 100 Years, Gene O. Morris.