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On their lush Nebraska half-section of sod and forest, the JOHN TAYLOR family excavated ample space for a temporary domicile, and persisted several months in a dugout house. The 38-year-old blacksmith planned a more substantial dwelling for his family, along with assembling shelters for their domestic livestock and crops which would be harvested later. A colt was born, and a mare was lost in their first few weeks. Utilizing his available horses and receiving some assistance from his brother, JOHN removed rocks and trees, plowed, and planted to create productive farmland of the virgin Nebraska prairie. Occasionally, arrowheads were uncovered around the Pawnee county area when the black topsoil was tilled, providing evidence of an Indian tribe's former presence. Soon the TAYLOR family moved their household furnishings into a brand-new first-owner bungalow, a log cabin which they themselves had constructed out of nearby timber, and they started growing a fruit orchard. JOHN hitched a double-handled slip scraper onto a curved iron clevis of the doubletree linking a pair of singletrees hooked to four harness-traces made of riveted leather. Then he headed his gouging-rig toward a slough several rods east of the house. With the horse-drawn scoop carving the slope, he dug away load after load and deposited the soil across a crease slanting down to lower ground. Eventually, he successfully moved enough dirt to form an earthen barrier capable of arresting water flow into Taylor's Branch of the Nemaha River. As snow and rain falling from stormy Nebraska skies provided sufficient backwater, a pond emerged behind the dam, affording thirsty farm animals an available source of nature's vital liquid. |
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