Newport, Nebraska: Hay Town

The Gilg family's hay shipping heritage

In the pioneer days of Nebraska, many villages formed and (with luck)  flourished. Many of the little prairie towns had distinct personalities. Farm towns were centers where farmers bought and sold. Cow towns developed along the railroads, as shipping centers for the cattle of the Great Plains. And hay towns were shipping centers for Nebraska's great natural resource, the wild hay of the prairies.

Newport, Nebraska was established by the railroad as a hay town in the early 1880s. Located in the heart of northern Nebraska's hay country, Newport became the largest hay-shipping center in the world within a few years, a distinction noted in various books of the period:

... [A] little northwestern town, Newport, ships more hay than is marketed from any one other point in the world. (Source: The Strategy of Great Railroads (p. 206) by Frank Hamilton Spearman. Published by C. Scribner's Sons, 1904)

As an example of the quality of the lands, Rock County actually ships more hay to market via The North-Western Line from the town of Newport than is shipped to market from any other one point anywhere in the world... (Source: The Open Door to Independence: Making Money From the Soil (p. 129), by Thomas E Hill. Published by Hill Standard Book Co., 1915)

Nebraska is the first State in the Union in the production of prairie hay and grass. The largest hay-shipping station in the world is within her borders — Newport, Rock County. (Source: The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (p. 25), published by Encyclopedia Americana Corp., 1919.

When prairie hay was marketed, it was tightly packed and tied into square bales that stacked nicely in a boxcar or warehouse. Hay shipping offices weighed the hay and coordinated the supply with the demand. The photo at right, provided by Bob and Elaine Gilg of Newport, NE, shows horse-drawn hay trailers ("hay racks") of baled hay waiting for the train in Newport.

The Gilg family operated a hay shipping business and later, a lumber yard in Newport for over 80 years. Joseph Gilg, hay shipper, is mentioned by Keith Terry in his book Nebraska's Cowboy Trail, A User's Guide (p.67) The hay business was purchased by Mr. Gilg in 1915, a time when Newport was busy with hay nearly every day of the year.

The image below shows the office of Newport Lumber (in earlier days, the hay shipping office) when it was sold at auction several years ago. Elaine wrote that the office interior remains today much the same as it appears in the vintage photos at the end of this article.

Hay was a vital commodity because hay-eating animals -- horses, mules, and oxen -- performed much of the nation's work and provided much of the transportation until automobiles and tractors came into widespread use. The marketing of hay was an important industry, and investors studied the hay market much as they might watch the price of crude oil today.

The vast meadows between O'Neill and Bassett, Nebraska, were (and still are!) some of the most productive grasslands in the world. Today, much of the hay is used and sold locally for cattle on area ranches. Some hay is still shipped to distant buyers, but it is transported by trucks. The railroad line that served Newport has been closed since my childhood.

The Gilg hay office in Newport, Nebraska

Thanks for sharing these images, Bob and Elaine. I should add that the photos were of particular interest to me because I grew up in Rock County, Nebraska, where Newport is located. Elaine is a cousin's cousin to me, through the Davis family. My great-aunt Goldie Clark Davis and Elaine's uncle Paul Davis (of Ainsworth, Nebraska) were husband and wife.

Related articles in the Prairie Bluestem archives:
Before Cars, The Importance of Hay
Reports of Prairie Fires and Wolves
The Hayfield
Remembering Pony Lake School

Credit: Map of Newport's location from Wikipedia.

Respite from Rain

Wet spring weather

From the shelter of the carport, looking south across our lawn.

(Check out this nearly identical photo, from a rainy day in Nov. 2007.)

I can barely distinguish one rainy day of this month from another; the days of wetness have merged into one big puddle. However, I think today was our third day in a row without significant rainfall. It's been nice to see some sunshine.

The photo above was taken on a day that I do remember -- last Friday, when several severe thunderstorms passed through our area. We had a long day of many weather warnings, but we suffered no tornadoes or notable wind damage. Rainfall of over three inches was reported in some parts of the county for the day.

Dennis got home late on Friday afternoon from the elementary school where he works. We had a tornado watch at the time the students should have been going home. The buses weren't allowed to go to the schools until the weather cleared up a little.

Cadiz --pronounced "Kay-deez" -- is a small town about 20 miles west of Hopkinsville. One of the girls at work told me about the high water there, following a downpour late on Friday night. Her boyfriend has a law enforcement job in Cadiz. Around midnight, he sent her a text message: the rescue squad was trying to get some cattle out of the river, and they had their vehicles stuck in a muddy pasture. "Only in Cadiz," he noted wryly.

The farmers are hoping for a spell of dryer weather so they can plant crops and mow hay. Today, I saw someone unloading flats of tobacco plants from a truck. I guess he's going to "mud them in", as I have done with tomato plants in the garden some years.

Ah, yes, the garden. I haven't been in my garden at all yet. Well, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are looking a little rainy, so maybe Sunday afternoon.

Let me be clear. I'm reporting, not complaining about, the amount of rain we've had in the past few months. This part of Kentucky gets the majority of its annual rainfall in the winter and spring. We had a dry spring in 2007, and it was the precursor of a long summer of horrible, desperate drought. I'd much rather have a wet spring than a dry one.

A long low shaft of evening sunshine illuminates

the Bradford Square Mall in Hopkinsville, KY

after several days of rain last week.

Happy Mother's Day!

To My Mom, Gennie, and all of the other Moms out there.

This is Keely. I'm interrupting my mother's regularly scheduled blog for a very important holiday announcement. On behalf of daughters and sons everywhere, I am here to tell all the moms out there that we love you very much and that one day just isn't enough to thank you for everything you do for us. Especially to my mom, I love you enormously. Thank you for being my mom.

Thank you for teaching me that I am smart enough and strong enough to do things myself. Thank you for teaching me that I can do things even though I'm scared, and that being scared doesn't make me weak. Thank you for being there to listen to me and talk to me.

Thank you for making sure that I knew how to cook and do my own laundry when I went to college. Thank you for teaching me how to have fun in life, like cheating poorly at board games. Thank you for being patient with me, even when I drove you up a wall. Thank you for accepting Taurus and my other friends and Isaac's friends and making them feel like a part of our family.

Thank you for all of the meals you've cooked, the comfort when I was sick, and for picking me up all the times I've gotten stuck. Thank you for always being there and being my Mommy.

Wild Turkey Sightings

Wild turkeys reestablished in Christian County, KY

Wild turkeys in northeastern Christian County

I saw a little flock of wild turkeys a few weeks ago in northeastern Christian County (KY). They weren't frightened enough to fly away. Instead they trotted down the road in front of my car for at least two hundred yards and then ran across the field to a little creek which they followed into the woods.  Every now and then, I could see their heads bobbing along through the tall grass.

Several days later, in the southeastern corner of the county, I surprised another little flock of turkeys on a remote rural road. It was a startling experience for me, too. The turkeys immediately took flight, rising into the air right in front of my car with a great flapping of wings. They didn't fly high -- they were hardly ten feet above the ground -- but they flew fast.

My third turkey sighting of the spring came about a week later. I was driving up the lane to our house, As I reached the top of the hill, where the woods end and the field begins, I saw a turkey with his feathers all spread out -- a tom, I assume. Three other turkeys were with him, and I assume they were females.  They all flew into the woods as soon as they saw me.  That is the second time I've seen turkeys near our house.

According to the Kentucky National Wild Turkey Federation website, a flock of 62 wild turkeys was released in Christian County in 1978. Thirty years later, they seem to be well-established -- at least, in some rural areas that I travel.

Still, the turkeys aren't as plentiful as they once were. In Perrin's history of Christian County, KY, he mentions the stories an old timer told of "enormous flocks of wild turkeys" in the area around Lafayette, in southwestern Christian County.

And in Muhlenberg County, Christian County's neighbor on the northeast, the big birds were so numerous that they were considered pests. People said that a corn crop was in danger of being eaten by turkeys from the day it was planted until the day it was harvested.

In 1845, an effort was made to kill as many turkeys and squirrels as possible within a 60-day-period. It was apparently quite successful; according to the old story, the farmers were able to raise good corn crops for many years thereafter. (Source: A History of Muhlenberg County (p. 100) by Otto Arthur Rothert. Published by J.P. Morton, 1913.)

I've heard some of our farmer neighbors talk about the quantity of grain that the turkeys consume in the fields. I am sure that it can be a problem. From my viewpoint as an interested observer, though, I'm glad the turkeys are back.

Related posts:
A Big Flock of Wild Turkeys
Wild Turkey Breaks Bus Window
Grass, Water, and Trees

Cousin Alta's Quilts

(And some other examples of quilting and needlework)

I drove over to visit my Cousin Alta one day this week. She lives in Tennessee about 100 miles southwest of here. We had a pleasant afternoon of talking about family history and life in general. Alta and my mother, Doris Sees Hill, were first cousins. Alta's mother, Elva Sees Hix, and my grandfather, Harry Sees, were brother and sister.

We started talking about and looking at quilts when Alta's friend came by to return some quilting books. She brought along a pinwheel(?) quilt and an unfinished quilt top that she wanted to show Alta.

The fabrics of the quilt top are vivid turquoise, pink, and purple prints. Alta's friend laughed about her daughter who said, "Mom, that's just not you!" when she saw the colors.

After her friend left, we looked at some quilts Alta has made. I photographed them so the Prairie Bluestem readers can enjoy them too. However, the photos don't do the quilts justice because they don't show enough of the detail.

Alta made many of the blocks for her embroidered quilts when she and her husband went camping. The quilt in the photo at right is edged with eyelet lace.

Two more of Alta's embroidered quilts:

• White blocks, set together with blue -- sorry, this photo is a little fuzzy.
• Roses, embroidered on white blocks, with matching shams and throw pillow

We spread the quilts on Alta's bed, one on top of the other. Alta said she would leave them stretched out there for a few days to let their fibers relax. It's not good for them to be rolled up all the time.

The quilt at left is a friendship quilt that includes blocks made by relatives. Alta showed me this one to give me an example of how I might set together some quilt blocks that my Grandma Nora gave me.

When Alta and her husband first moved to the little village where she lives, she wanted to make a friendship quilt, but she didn't know anyone who could or would make a quilt block. She didn't realize how many quilters lived around there and how friendly they were! The quilt at right is the result.

Alta showed me three Log Cabin quilts that she has made.

• A diagonally striped quilt with matching shams and a coordinating pillow
• A diamond-patterned Log Cabin quilt -- notice the mini-blocks in the border.
• A diagonally striped Christmas quilt made of Christmas fabrics

I think Alta told me that she made the quilt in the photo at left for a quilting class she taught. The same fabrics are used throughout, but combined differently in each block.

As I was labeling these photographs and getting them ready to post, I wrote that this quilt has a pinwheel pattern, but now I'm wondering if they are windmills instead.

The quilt at right is a Fourth of July quilt. Each star is made of a different, star-patterned fabric. The back of the quilt is a star-patterned Christmas fabric, so it can be reversed for the winter holidays.

After she had quilted for a while, Alta realized that she had a big collection of quilt blocks that she had made as experiments, trying out different patterns and fabrics. She fitted them together and made a sampler quilt. A good name for it would be "The Joy of Quilting."

Alta's mother (my great-aunt Elva) was a quilter, too. Alta has a wedding ring quilt that her mother made. Also, Alta has framed a nice piece of embroidery done by her mother. Alta learned to hand quilt so she could finish some of the quilt tops her mother left her.

When Alta was a little girl, the Omaha World Herald published a quilt block every week, for the ladies to trace onto fabric and embroider. Alta used the World Herald patterns to make her first quilt when she was about ten years old - a Wild West quilt (photo at left).

Every embroidered block features a historic Western character, such as John Brown, Calamity Jane, and Sitting Bull. Alta's mother machine-quilted it for her after she had all the blocks set together.

Another interesting old quilt was given to Alta by a neighbor lady in Nebraska. This neighbor lady was single all her life and known for being grouchy. However, Alta was kind to her and became her friend. When Alta and her husband moved to Tennessee, the lady wrote to her every day for many years.

The quilt was handmade by the neighbor lady. It has an unusual Sunbonnet pattern, partly appliqued and partly embroidered. Alta says she has never seen the pattern in any other quilt.

Alta's current project is a baby quilt (photo at right). She traced the animal pictures from a coloring book and embroidered them.

These photographs don't represent all the quilts that Alta has made. She can't even remember how many quilts she has made and given away.

Related posts:
Friendship Quilt
A Beautiful Handmade Quilt
Crazy Quilt
Old Quilts Need Special Care
Cover Stories Worth Preserving