'Cactus clump of chaos' and other news stories from old

Susan Doak

Southwest Nebraska Genealogy Society

There's one thing about old newspapers that always gets a chuckle out of me, the fact that they didn't need an editorial page because every article of interest had an editorial comment concerning the facts. Readers never had to guess where the newspapers stood on an issue at hand!

From the Lincoln County Tribune, published in North Platte on Jan. 9, 1886, comes the following front page observation under STATE NEWS: "McCook is gaining an unenviable reputation as a resort of gamblers, thieves and thugs."

The McCook Tribune, May 28, 1897 front page article: "Saturday night last the house of ill fame on West Railroad Street was the scene of an ugly scrap between Lovell Clyde and an attaché known by the name George Reynolds, in which the latter was badly used up, almost losing an ear in the fight. No arrests were made strange as it may seem."

"An exchange has it that Hastings is falling into disfavor with the gentlemanly (?) commercial tourist, because the Mayor of that city has closed up the gambling dens and bawdy houses, and compelled the gin shops to close on Sundays. Naturally, however, the city continues to grow more and more in favorable repute with its citizens. The genteel knight of the grip has nothing to fear from the Mayor of this city (McCook) in the direction of the enforcement of our ordinances against gambling and the social evil. None whatever." - McCook Tribune, Aug. 12, 1886, front page.

The next two articles came from the front page of the McCook Tribune September 11, 1903: "Some unknown person, Sunday night, stole a horse from the Hatfield ranch, and has since evaded detection and capture. Even thieves and robbers are having too much prosperity."

"The statutes of 1903, page 883, section 3593 states: The open season for prairie chickens, sage chickens and grouse shall begin October 1st and end November 30th. Those who have been openly hunting for weeks past will do well to observe the law. The "snipe" story won't go."

In a response to the editor of the Curtis Enterprise in the December 21, 1894 issue of the McCook Tribune, the front page comment falls under the headline: McCook Has No Grudge. "The Curtis Enterprise apropos of the Red Willow county-seat removal case, assumes to state that McCook has a grudge against her sister town (Indianola), the present county-seat. No siree. McCook is too generous and manly to entertain a grudge. She simply seeks the county-seat."

"Culbertson is Saved" reads the headline from the McCook Tribune, Feb. 21, 1896: "We understand that Mayor Kelley, Prof. Tom Wilkinson and Marshal Jordan organized a lodge of the A.P.A. at Culbertson, Tuesday evening of this week. So that consecrated cactus clump of chaos at the mouth of the classic Frenchman may now be considered safe from our fire-eating Catholic friends in that burg and vicinity. Let us pray."

While most of these articles are self-explanatory, I might need to clarify the A.P.A. Founded in Clinton, Iowa in 1887, the American Protective Association claimed to be in existence to protect the United States from having its government overtaken by those of the Roman Catholic religion. The society was also anti-immigrant. Mostly a mid-west organization, the founders claimed a membership of over 2 million before it lost favor around 1900, disappearing by 1911.

Merry Christmas to all. If you need research help contact us at www.swngs.org. Our next meeting will be in January, 2016.