DESCRIBES HER NEW HOME.
Here is also another letter written by Mrs. Bloomer in May, 1855, giving a further description of her home in the west and of its surroundings:
“Council Bluffs, May, 1855.
“My dear Mrs. Vaughan:
“From my far-distant home among the bluffs of the Missouri I send you greeting. We have now been here four weeks, and for two weeks I have been installed as housekeeper in my own house. The business of housekeeping, as you well know, is not new to me; but it is a long time since I have confined myself to that business alone, and it seems a little strange after the many and various duties devolving upon me for the last six or seven years to be relieved of the greater part of them and to settle down in this strange place with nothing to care for save my house and garden.
“Far from the place of my nativity, far from the spot where since childhood all the years of my life have been spent, save one, far from dearly loved kindred and highly cherished friends, far from all the noble spirits with whom I have long labored in the cause of humanity, far from all I have ever best known and loved save him who is my companion in life’s journey, I have commenced life as it were anew. Here, surrounded by lovely flower-decked prairies and nestled down among the hills that overlook the Missouri and the vast plains of Nebraska beyond, we have chosen our future home and shall do what we may by our aid and influence for the upbuilding and prosperity of this infant city.
“Do not imagine us in a wild and uncultivated country, deprived of the comforts of life, and of the enjoyments and advantages of refined society, for it is not so. Neither are we surrounded by hordes of savage Indians and in danger of falling victims to the tomahawk and scalping-knife, as some people in the east imagine. * * * We do not consider ourselves as far out of the world as we are set down by those who realize nothing of the immense emigration into the mighty West, or of the energy and ‘goaheadativeness’ of the people who come hither. We see some Indians occasionally, it is true, but they are only visitors from Nebraska, they do not belong to this state. A party of Pawnees some two weeks ago pitched their tent on the summit of a high bluff near our house where they remained until last Sunday, when they struck their tent, packed it and all other movables on the back of a mule and then took up their line of march to the westward, the men riding on horseback while the ‘squaws’ went on foot. The mule was led by a squaw. Two squaws had papooses on their backs, and another carried a dog in the same manner. I had frequent visits from some of them while they remained here, and on leaving they called to bid us good-bye, in tolerably fair English. There is something interesting to me in these children of nature and I almost regretted their departure.
“The Indians who come here are perfectly harmless and no one pays any attention to them. They come and go at their pleasure. We shall see little of them hereafter, as the government has just paid off its indebtedness to the Omahas and they were then removed to the new quarters assigned them about a hundred miles to the northward, in Nebraska. They were all collected at Omaha City, and from thence started on their journey accompanied by the Indian agent who is to pay them twenty thousand dollars in cash when they reach their destination. The tribe now numbers but eight hundred and five, counting men, women and children, and has but two hundred men capable of bearing arms. Ten years ago they numbered sixteen hundred. Their parting from their old home and the graves of their fathers is said by those who witnessed it to have been exceedingly interesting and pathetic. The women and the aged men wept, and the stout-hearted warriors could ill conceal their emotion of tenderness and affection.
“People are now flocking in here in considerable numbers, either to settle or to make investments in real estate, in the hope and expectation of realizing a fortune by the rise in the value of property. We have dally stages from the east and south, and they generally come loaded inside and out to the extent of their capacity. The land-office is crowded both by settlers and speculators eager to enter the choicest lands remaining unsold. The land directly adjoining the town, and for some five or six miles back, is all taken, and one cannot buy a farm at Uncle Sam’s prices within that distance of the city. Good land can be obtained at second hand for from five dollars to ten dollars per acre.
“By the laws of the state, women can own and hold property, both real and personal, and I am happy to know that many women are availing themselves of these provisions by securing to themselves a share of its broad acres. I do wish that more women would become owners of the soil, and I am especially anxious that you, Mrs. Vaughan, and those women who labored so untiringly with you in the cause of humanity, should come in for a share. I know that such women do not usually carry long purses, and are not very well rewarded for their wearing toil, yet with land at $1.25 per acre it does seem as though they ought to be able to secure at least eighty acres. One woman who is supporting herself by typesetting in your state has secured an interest in this vicinity, and she is now hoarding her wages that she may add a few acres more to those she has already. A few years hence, these lands will be valuable and the owners will realize something from their sale, if they do not wish to retain them.
“This city is the western terminus of railroads to be located across this state, and it is ardently hoped and expected that ere many years the shrill whistle of the iron horse will be heard among the bluffs of the Missouri. There are two newspapers published here and both are well sustained, I am told. There are two church edifices nearly completed, Methodist and Congregational. Each has a settled pastor and services are held regularly on Sundays. The people who settle here are mostly from the east, and are nearly all Americans; consequently we have an intelligent, well-ordered community. Omaha, the capital of Nebraska, is situated directly opposite, on the western bank of the Missouri, and in full view of this city. It now contains about four hundred inhabitants.
“A. B.”
The personal reminiscences of Mrs. Bloomer given above show very fully that, in removing to Council Bluffs, she did not give up any of her wonted zeal in behalf of those reforms to which so much of her life had been devoted. She continued to write for the Lily so long as its publication was kept up, and the productions of her pen frequently appeared in the columns of the city papers, and of other papers in the state and throughout the Union.