The trail of the Loup; being a history of the Loup River region . n which all else hinged was,shall the upper colony become predominant in the countys politics or shallit be the lower? This naturally involved the matter of county seat loca-tion. The notice of election was strangely enough silent upon this matter;indeed some members of the North Loup colony aver to this day that thereexisted a tacit understanding to the effect that the county seat questionshould be left open till the first regular fall election. However this mayhave been, some misunderstanding ensued; many of the North Loupers
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The trail of the Loup; being a history of the Loup River region . n which all else hinged was,shall the upper colony become predominant in the countys politics or shallit be the lower? This naturally involved the matter of county seat loca-tion. The notice of election was strangely enough silent upon this matter;indeed some members of the North Loup colony aver to this day that thereexisted a tacit understanding to the effect that the county seat questionshould be left open till the first regular fall election. However this mayhave been, some misunderstanding ensued; many of the North Loupers 102 THE TKAIL, OF THE LOUP neglected to vote on the question and departed early for their severalhomes, not learning till too late that the matter was, being settled then andthere. Some people have even hinted that our sturdy fathers from theupper colony worked the North Loupers by letting these vote first, andthen later in the day when the coast was clear a.nd a majority assured, castan almost solid vote for the location of the county seat on Section 21, town-. Old Precinct Map of Valley County. ship 19, its present location. Thus the day was won and the prize wasgained for the time being, at least, for the upper colony. But right hereoriginated a struggle between the two halves of the county for the finaldisposition of this plum. Let no one for a moment think that this firstdefeat discouraged North Loup. This was only the first chapter in aninteresting struggle which it took several years to terminate. Thebridge incident told below formed its climax and virtually closed the ORGAisflZATION OF VALLEY COUNTY—EARLY POLITICS 103 matter. The March election, aside from this contest was very satisfactoryto all concerned and resulted in the electon of John Case, D. C. Baileyand L. C. Jacobs, Commissioners; W. D. Long, clerk; E. D. McKenney,treasurer; Oscar Babcock, judge; H. A. Babcock, sheriff; Thomas Mc-Dowell, surveyor; and Charles Badger, superintendent of schools. On page 22, o