ASTORIAN MONUMENT, BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA Mrs. Eliza L. Chaffee, a pioneer of Bellevue, stands at the left of the monument COLLECTIONS OF THE Nebraska State Historical Edited by ALBERT WATKINS Historian of the Society LINCOLN, NEBRASKA The Nebraska State Historical Society 1911 VOLUME XVI EDITOR'S PREFACE This volume is a departure from the plan of former publications of the Society in two important respects. Heretofore the minutes of the business transactions have been incorporated with papers upon historical subjects in the same book, while here the policy of printing the two classes of matter in separate volumes has been inaugurated. The second departure appears in the greatly improved mechanical quality of the publication which is equal to the best of its class. The presentation of the program of the Astorian Centennial Celebration at Bellevue is a slight deviation from the new plan, but the addresses printed here are in the main of a historical character. The less formal matter and the business proceedings of the Society will be published separately. Much of the data of the contributed articles in this volume is based upon recollections of personal experiences of the writers. While a large part of the most valuable historical material comes from such sources, yet, obviously, it needs careful checking by reliable standards, such as public records and other accepted data. Accordingly the editor has aimed to supply this need in frequent foot notes, supplementary as well as critical. Some of these articles have required radical re-formation. Our earliest history is still subject to correction and amplification through data which doubtless await discovery, when financial means are afforded, in libraries at Washington, St. Louis, and other only less promising places. ALBERT WATKINS. 409170 |