Hall County NEGenWeb
Reminiscences & Narratives of Pioneers
DETAILS OF THE ANDERSON-SMITH MASSACRE
Scenes Presented Shortly After
BY MR. AND MRS. JOHN THOMSSEN

[Return to the Index]

Transcribed from
the ©1920 "History of Hall County," by Buechler, Barr, and Stough

Mrs. John Thomssen, who was the one single young lady who came to the present Hall County with the first settlers, relating briefly her experiences states that on account of the threatened starvation of the colony, she left the settlement in September, two months after the location, for Omaha, and on March 5, 1858, went to Council Bluffs for two years. In 1860 she was there married to John Thomssen. In the spring of 1860 they returned to the settlement and left for Fort Keany shortly afterward, remained at Fort Kearny three months and then returned to Hall County, residing her ever since. Most of this traveling was done by ox-team, excepting the trip on the return from Fort Kearny which was done by stage, "Pap" Lamb being the stage driver.

John Thomssen, Sr., had the following to say for an historical edition of The Independent in 1907:

"Fort Kearney was at that time our market for corn and produce. We had to cross the Platte River near Fort Kearny, which was no small job with a loaded wagon. One day Charles Boehl, Henry Thomssen, and I started out for Fort Kearny with corn. We had ox teams and traveling was slow. We got as far as the site of the present Wood River where lived two families by the name of Smith and Andrews. There was some snow on the ground and Smith and Andrews had been hauling wood on sleds from the creek. Just as we drew near Mr. Smith came up from the creek with his empty sled, at full gallop, gesticulating to the women folks as he drew near. We were soon at the scene. When we arrived everybody was crying. We at once learned what had happened. The Indians had killed Andrews and his two sons and also the Smith boy. Mr. Smith had escaped. We made a hurried trip down to the creek, which was only a little distance from the house. The first thing that we saw was the sled loaded with wood. But he horses were gone. The harness was cut to pieces and scattered about. A little distance from the sled lay Mr. Andrews, dead. An arrow had struck him from the side under the arm and had nearly gone through him. He was lying under a bank wee he had probably fone for shelter. We next found the axe. It was covered with blood. We found the Andrews boys nearby. They were both dead. One of the boys was lying with his face downward, with a club across his neck, but no arrow was to be seen. Evidently he had been knocked down with the club and then murdered with the axe. The other boy was shot with an arrow throught e wrist and then brained with the axe. Both of the boys' faces and clothes were covered with blood. We hunted for some time to find the Smith boy but hardly dared to go farther into the woods for fear of being attacked by the Indians ourselves. The boy was found by other parties next day. He had also been shot and clubbed to death. We hurriedly alarmed what neighbors we could, got together eighteen men, and started in pursuit of the Indians. They had gone west up Wood River. During the next night there came another snow storm which obliterated all tracks and we returned home."

(Transcriber's note: This story appears to be about the Andrews and Smith families. The "Anderson" name is probably a typing error in the original book.)