I was just reading the Rootsweb Weekly Newsletter, and thought I would share this with this list. It is from the July 16, 2003 issue of the Red Cloud Chief Newspaper in Red Cloud, Nebraska. This paper has a column called Down Thru The Years where they go back to old newspapers and print items from them. This came from an old newspaper in Red Cloud called The Commercial Advertiser and is dated 1928. "George P Cather Sr Recalls Early Days George P Cather happened to mention the fact that it had been just 50 years since he left his home in Frederick County, Virginia and was married in Frederick, Maryland to Miss Frances A Smith. Starting north that day, June 26, 1873, the "honeymooners" spent several days in Washington, DC, visiting the capitol buildings. They spent some time in Brooklyn and New York City, and on the Fourth of July, 1873, heard "Boss Tweed" speak in "the wigwam" as the party headquarters were then called, and on Sunday heard Henry Ward Beecher preach in the old Plymouth Church. At Hartford, Vermont, they visited several relatives, among them a cousin who was renting from the Beecher's and living in the old home where Daniel Webster was raised, and in Oxford, New Hampshire they made their last visit to Mrs Cather's father, who passed away before either of them had the privilege of again visiting the east. They soon started west, visiting relatives in Illinois and Iowa, where they had planned to locate, but being advised by an uncle that cheaper land was then to be found in Nebraska, they continued westward and landed in Hastings on September 21, 1873. After spending several days with Isaac Hummell in what is now known as Batin, having been driven over many pieces of land and having found their first three or four selections taken before they could reach the land office, they finally found themselves located on SW1/4 2-T-3-12 in Webster County. They, with a pile of lumber intended for the roof of their future home, a dugout on the west side of the draw, their trunks and boxes, and a man who had been hired to do the digging necessary for the establishment of the home, were left alone on the open prairie, and went to sleep under their new white bedding, with only the stars above and the thick waving prairie grass on all sides. In the middle of the first night the party was awakened by the much dreaded roar of the prairie fire. Hurriedly building another fire they had all their goods moved over to the uninviting black stubble before the big fire roared by. Morning found them with an abundance of accumulated smoke and grime, but with a very short supply of water, so Mr Cather took two pails and walked two miles across the burnt waste to the home of Isaac Crowley to borrow some water. This was the beginning and the welcome of the Cathers in 1873 and marked the beginning of emigration from Frederick County, Virginia to Webster County, Nebraska, for within a very few years more Cathers had arrived, also the Rameys, Larricks, Lockharts, Crabills, Wilsons, Wisecarvers, Markers and Paynes, and later several other families. Mr Cather, though he passed the eighty first milestone last March, is hale and hearty for one of his advanced years, He is still proud to call the old place in Webster County his home, and when here spends many hours walking over the original acres, upon which time had made many changes and doubtless owes beneficial effects of the exercise acquired in this manner, and in going from home to home among the many friends he has acquired during the years he has lived in what he considers one of the most favored spots in the land."