-- http://www.nde.state.ne.us/SS/cty/hooker.html

People living in Hooker County in 1887 didn't have to debate over a county seat. This is because there was only one town in the whole county - - Mullen, making it a very suitable choice. Early businesses in Mullen were as follows: a bank with a capital of $6,000; a saloon licensed in 1900; a newspaper in 1895 (the present Hooker County Tribune); two general stores; two saloons; two livery stables; and approximately a dozen residences. The surrounding country was largely settled by ranchers and, since there were no fences, cattle grazed all over the country. Supplies were freighted out to the ranches from Mullen by four and six-horse freight wagons.

Mullen was incorporated as a village in January 1907. It had a small population as compared to today. However, Mullen still serves a large and prosperous ranching area.

-- Reigle, Doris. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/hooker/mullen/mullen.htm

-- Hooker Co. Historical Society. "History of Hooker County Nebraska." Vol. 1. Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1989.

Hooker County, located in the heart of the Nebraska Sandhills, is one of the state's newer counties, having been created in 1880 from unorganized territory lying to the west of Thomas County.

Hooker County was named in honor of General Joseph Hooker, a noted Civil War General. Several other Nebraska counties were named for Civil War Generals also. Hooker County is great ranching country and an important part of the significant Sandhills cattle country. It also contains some of the finest Sandhills scenery to be found anywhere.

Hooker County measures 24 miles from north to south and 30 miles from east to west. It was created under an act of the legislature approved on March 29, 1889. The first board of commissioners meeting was held April 13, 1889, when the county was divided into three districts. The special commissioners were L.S. Trefren and F.J. Brannan; George Mary was later elected as county clerk.

Understandably, the population of Hooker County has never been large. The following is a table of populations by year:

-- Donahue, Pat. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- http://www.quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/31/31091.html

The Fourth of July has always been an occasion of fun and relaxation for all of the people of Mullen. Even back in the day when Mullen was merely a rugged little Sandhills frontier town, people from miles around used to make plans to spend the day of the Fourth in Mullen. Here is a list of events that might have happened on the Fourth of July in Mullen.

*The Mullen Town Band led the parade to start off the big celebration on this day - July 4, 1900. The band has always been an important part of the town's history. The following were at one time members of the Mullen Band in the early 1900's: C. Barneby, J. Kudrna, J. Kudrna, J. Motl, E. Lowe, R. Welton, C. Campbell, B. McBride, A.G. Humphrey, E.L. Barkemeyer, H. McIntyre, F. Hewitt, and B. Pierce. A large crowd was always on hand to watch the band march by and to see the horseback riders. The horses were decorated in red, white, and blue streamers. The band stopped in front of the bowery constructed especially for the big celebration. The program was ready to commence.

*C. Barneby stepped up to the podium and recited the Declaration of Independence. Then J. Evans from Thedford, the guest speaker, gave a presentation. The program was completed with the group singing "America the Beautiful" and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

*Next up was the ball game. The men chose sides and prepared for the game. A large crowd was on hand at the field located on the lot now occupied by the Commercial Hotel. B. Boyer pitched and J. Le La Cheur was the catcher. They used a homemade baseball and bat and didn't have baseball gloves. The game ended with only one casualty: J. Le La Cheur caught a foul ball on the nose.

*Then it was time for dinner. Everyone grabbed their basket lunches and sought shade in a relatively treeless community - quite an accomplishment! The local merchants furnished all the lemonade you could drink, which went great with fried chicken and bread and butter sandwiches.

*After dinner they had all kinds of races. A collection is taken from the spectators to provide prizes for the winners. Everyone watched the fat-man's race, the three-legged race, the sack race, the women's slipper-kick, and the kids' penny scramble. The afternoon is completed with horse races and bronc riding. The men enjoyed making bets on their favorite horses and riders.

*Five o'clock is the allotted time for the big attraction of the day, the balloon ascension. Mr. Sorenson, the owner, built a fire to fill the balloon with hot air. Eight to ten men helped hold the balloon on the ground with huge ropes. The men let go, and the large canvas sphere soared into the sky. When the balloon reached a height of several hundred feet, Mr. Sorenson and his pet monkey parachuted to the ground, earning "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd.

*After supper there was time to rest and prepare for the big finale, the old-time dance. The pavillion was an open air floor located on main street and the music consisted of a piano, a fiddle, and a guitar. After the dance, everyone headed home to rest up after another successful Fourth of July in Mullen.

-- Johnson, Pat. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- http://www.oldfashionedclipart.com/clip.htm

The Blizzard of 1913 began on Friday, March 13, 1913 - a very "unlucky" day indeed! On March 12, there was a misting rain and snow from the southeast. Friday morning the area awoke to be greeted by snow and wind. Since there were no telephones or radios, there were no storm warnings. Consequently, many ranchers were caught unprepared. The snow settled on the cattle, in their noses and mouths, suffocating them. In several cases, snow drifted over fences, providing the cattle a way out of the enclosures. The blinded animals thus drove themselves into lakes and drowned.

On a ranch north of Big Creek, the snow seeped and drifted right into a calving shed where several calves had been put. The snow smothered the calves - inside the shed. Ranchers venturing out to the barn tied one end of a ball of twine at the house, taking the rest with them; they didn't want to get lost between the house and the barn. The blizzard ended Sunday, March 15, but it was weeks before anyone could get to town.

Meanwhile, in Mullen, the blizzard was just as fierce. It arrived at about the same time, and the snow packed just as badly. J. Motl made several attempts to get to his drug store before he was successful. On his first attempt, the snow packed in his nose and eyes so badly that he turned back. Tying a handkerchief over his face, he tried again, but this time was even worse. He got as far as the railroad tracks, and the snow was so dense he couldn't see which way to go. Mr. Motl waited there a good five minutes before he could go on. According to Mr. Motl, the cold wasn't extreme but the snow was so fine and dry that it seeped and packed worse than any he can remember. There was no train for a week and mail piled up.

Most of the people who went through the Blizzard of 1913 agree that it was worse than the one of 1949!

-- Reynolds, Novella, et al. "The Mullen Roundup" n.p., n.d.

-- Hooker Co. Historical Society. "History of Hooker County Nebraska." Vol.1. Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1989.

One of the greatest natural enemies of the early pioneers was prairie fires. In the days before modern means of communication, a fire would assume tremendous proportions before a fighting force could be mustered.

One of the worst fires to inundate the Sandhills region was in the fall of 1892. This fire started on the northwest border of the Sandhills and spread into Custer County over 150 miles away. R. and G. Manning were at the Monahan Ranch northwest of Whitman when they noticed a smoky haze in the northwest. They thought it was probably a fire in the Black Hills and thought nothing of it. Suddenly the fire swept down over the hills and on them. As they hurried to the house, R. Manning got trapped in the blaze. G. Manning was sure that he had perished in the fire, but he was miraculously saved by jumping down into the water of an open well. He survived with only a few singed hairs.

In November 1894 a prairie fire swept the Virginia settlement community. E. Le La Cheur and J. Bliss perished in the blaze. J. Le La Cheur was miraculously saved by being dragged to safety by a frightened team of horses.

In the Sandhills of Nebraska, people have learned over the years to constantly keep an eye on the weather!

-- Rector, Charles, and Ridenour, Donna. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

In the old north section of Mullen's Cedarview Cemetery, you can find a grave carrying the description "Effie A. - Daughter of L.H. and G.G. Brown - Died February 8, 1900." She was 17 years, 3 months, and 29 days old, a pretty Whitman lass shot to death by her husband. Here's the tragic story of her death.

In early February 1900, Jim Robinson strode into the saloon in Whitman and asked the bartender for a quart of whiskey. He downed the liquor in a short time and announced to the crowd that he was going to go to the hotel and kill his wife. Everyone was to stay inside the saloon, or Effie would not be the only one killed. These orders were obeyed, and Jim rode down to the hotel.

He went upstairs to the room he and his young wife had shared for about one year. (He worked north of Whitman and came into town occasionally to spend time with her.) E. Carpenter was in the room with Effie; both were sewing. Effie's husband, jealousy-crazed, went into the room, shot Effie, then shot himself. With the irony of fate, Effie died and her husband got well.

Effie, a pretty young girl, loved to dance and ride horseback. She had many admirers. There was some scandal about her and a man who lived near Hyannis and one of Mullen's Romeos. Jim had evidently heard the rumors.

The jury was lenient and gave him only three years, perhaps believing he was justified in his anger. After serving about half his term, he was paroled to his father-in-law.

He worked around the country until he shot another man. Robinson was convicted this time of first-degree murder and got ninety-nine years. He served most of the sentence and was finally paroled. He went to California where he died. This ends the tale of Effie Brown's strange and tragic murder.

-- Reynolds, Novella. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- http://www.oldfashionedclipart.com/clip.htm

The Dismal River gave up a secret Friday, February 22, 1918 - a secret which for two years had hidden much of the evidence that would explain Anna Hora's failure to return to her home.

Anna Hora was 18 years old, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. V. Hora. The family resided south of Thedford for a number of years. She left Sunday evening, February 6, 1916, to return to the home of folks with whom she was staying while teaching school. This necessitated crossing the river, and she was never again seen alive.

Two years later, the body of the missing girl was found in the Dismal by F. Magnuson, a rancher. The girl's clothing, in good condition, was molded to her body. Her corset strings held despite the ravage of the waters. Her head and one arm, broken off, were carried away by the current. Identification was made by her clothing. The entire torso was completely turned to stone, but other parts of the body were of a porous, stony substance.

It is thought that when she disappeared, the body was dragged down by an undercurrent and quickly covered by sand. Breaking up of ice floes or some other disturbance is believed to have dislodged it and permitted the current to carry it up on the sandbar. It is still considered to be one of the county's most tragic and unusual stories.

-- Reynolds, Novella. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- http://www.oldfashionedclipart.com/clip.htm

Hecla was once a trading center in Hooker County, located ten miles west of Mullen. The town had a post office, depot, school house, pool, a couple of houses, and a general store. Hecla was never intended to be a large town but was designed to fill the needs of the sparcely-settled area. In the horse and buggy days people didn't travel any further than necessary to do their trading. Ten miles both ways to Mullen and Whitman was quite a hike! Consequently, Hecla flourished as a trade center for early ranchers and homesteaders. The town had always been a big cattle shipping point.

The Hecla census was never recorded as being over 11 people. However, survey teams and cattle round-up crews sometimes increased the population by three times. However, after World War I, Hecla and her past glory began to fade rapidly, until the tiny little town nestled in the Sandhills of Nebraska basically evaporated into thin air. But there will always be fond and interesting memories of Hecla, Nebraska.

-- Reynolds, Novella, et al. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- Hooker Co. Historical Society. "History of Hooker County Nebraska." Vol.1. Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1989.

The story of Dr. D. A. "Doc" Walker and his trying but fascinating career as a physician for the tiny cow town of Mullen dates back to late one afternoon on May 5, 1905.

Doc Walker was investigating an advertisement he had seen requesting the services of a doctor. The train had just pulled into the Sandhills station and a tall slender man stepped down. The only passenger, he was dressed in a dark blue suit. He carried a parasol and the mark of his trade, a medicine case.

With one look at the measly town, Doc Walker began to plan a return trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, his hometown. He was homesick and had seen enough of this desolate cow country. Fate, however, had other plans.

That first night, while residing at the Evergreen Hotel, Doc Walker was called upon to care for a man sick with fever. After that, he changed his mind about leaving. This town desperately needed his services.

This was the beginning of over 50 years of outstanding, dedicated service for the people of Mullen and its surrounding country.

The doctor's patients were scattered far and wide, and the only means of communication was a horse and buggy and a faint Sandhills trail. It wasn't difficult to get lost in the vast stretches of this region, and many times the doctor's very life was credited to owning a brass-cased compass. He carried this for over 50 years. Many trips would take him out of town for two or three days and he would hire a special guide to help him find his way.

The services he rendered were varied. He delivered babies in all kinds of weather. Many times he was called upon with a blizzard raging outside. He was asked to perform risky surgery under the most crude frontier conditions. He used kitchens for his surgery rooms and Koloil lamps for his only light. One of the most serious problems was the flu epidemic in 1917-18. Dr. Walker worked day and night without rest to bring aid to hundreds of suffering people.

In 1907 D. A. Walker married Ona Stephenson, the daughter of the local livery stable owner. They made the trip to Alliance by train and returned the next day. The happy couple were met at the station by the town band and were given a twenty-five pound keg of candy as a wedding present.

Many doctors may have served their community for over 50 years, but few have served under such dangerous and difficult circumstances as Dr. David A. Walker.

-- Boyer, Viola. "The Mullen Roundup." n.p., n.d.

-- Walker, LeRoy E. "History of Hooker County." Vol.1. Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1989.