 |
Introduction:
Wherefore
and How
For
about forty years the author or compiler of this little book has been a
more or less regular contributor to the columns of the Daily Nonpareil,
at Council Bluffs, Iowa. During that period, — especially the latter
part, — his writings have been chiefly reminis- cences of early clays
at and near that city, where he resided in his boyhood and early
manhood for twenty-one years — 1853 to 1874.
In September, 1915, he attended and read a reminiscent paper before a
gathering of "pioneers" and "early settlers" of Southwestern Iowa. The
conversations that ensued indicated the existence of much discrepancy
in memory among those in attendance and suggested the preparation of
this work.
Entering upon the necessary research the writer soon discovered that
not only was his memory defective, but that, in some instances, it
presented things that never existed, — mere figments of imagination. He
found, also, that others were afflicted in the same manner; that some
who had essayed the task of "history writers" had become, so to speak,
"makers of history" by introducing into their works as real some of
those imaginary things, and by setting down as facts mere inferences,
deductions and assumptions.
Thereupon he resolved that nothing should be stated as a fact in this
work that might not be authenticated b}^ either conclusive or very
convincing evidence, and in the preparation of this booklet he has been
controlled and guided by that resolution.
While it has not been possible to secure absolutely conclusive
testimony in support of each and every incident herein recorded, and
some inferences, deductions and assumptions have been unavoidable, he
has endeavored to present only such of these as may be corroborated or
sustained by reasonably strong circumstantial evidence, and where
introduced they are distinctly set down for what they are. Where
matters are stated as facts, they are facts.
Instead of simply stating the facts in his own language and referring
in footnotes to the authorities from whence they have been gleaned, as
per the custom of professional historians, the writer has incorporated
and quoted the original sources; in other words, he has allowed the
authorities to tell their own stories, and has merely pointed out to
those who may wish to pursue the matter what the authorities are and
where they may be found. It is his belief that this course will prove
more satisfactory to the general reader, to whom the source of many
quotations and citations made are absolutely unattainable. Some of the
matters quoted have never before been published in any form, and the
records containing them are not conveniently accessible to the general
publi,.
It is not the purpose of this work to present a commercial and personal
history of early days at Council Bluffs, its scope being restricted to
substantially the period between the coming of the Pottawattamie
Indians to Southwestern Iowa and the general exodus of the Latter Day
Saints from the locality — that is between 1835 and 1853, though for
the completion of some subjects events as late as 1857 are necessarily
incorporated.
For assistance rendered and information furnished the writer
acknowledges obligation to Rev. Henry De Long, Hon. H. H. Field, Hon.
Spencer Smith, Ephraim Huntington, City Engineer, E. E. Spetman,
William H. Campbell, Theodore Guittar, James N. Casady, and W. S.
Cooper, of Council Bluffs; Hon. Frank Shinn, of Carson; General Hiram
Martin Chittenden, of Seattle, Washington; Rev. G. J. Garraghan, of the
University of St. Louis; Anthon H. Lund, Latter Day Saints Historian,
A. Wm. Lund and Andrew Jensen, Assistant Historians, and Edgar S.
Hills, of Salt Lake City; Benjamin F. Shambaugh, Superintendent, and
Jacob Van der Zee, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City; Edgar
R. Harlan, Curator, Historical Department of Iowa, Des Moines; Albert
Watkins, Historian, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln ; Rev.
Michael Shine, Plattsmouth, Nebraska; officials of the War Department,
Post Office Department, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C.
If the work shall serve in any degree to preserve the truth of history,
that shall be the compiler's reward; for such errors, defects or
imperfections as may appear, the responsibility in his.
Charles H. Babbitt
Washington, D. C, October 21, 1916.
|
|
|
|
