Grant and John Carrier were the first men to run barber shops, the called "fashionable barbers," soon followed by J. H. Surles and Charles M. Rouse.

Pratt and Ferris, well known as the "P F" were the early freighters, doing an extensive business in Cheyenne county and the Black Hills, while G. W. Dudley advertised "Dear's Stage Line to the Black Hills." The main

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

stage line was run by Stevenson and the Dears line was not long in operation.

Half a dozen hotels and as many restaurants were built and operated to accommodate the rush of travelers, the best known being the Lockwood House, the Germania, the Gilt Edge, the Southern, the Delmonico, the Miners, the American and H. M. McFadden's, not one of which is in business today, having passed with the transient life of that day. All the men who operated them have gone but Mr. McFadden who still maintains his home in Sidney though retired from business. It should be stated that H. M. McFadden advertised in a way that stood out like an island in a tempestuous sea. "No gambling tables connected with this house."

In April, 1876, the only resident lawyers in Sidney were George W. Heist and George R Ballou, though by the spring of 1877 V. Bierbower, A. M. Stevenson, Guy Barnum, Jr., and Tom Kane were also established in law practice.

Mail Route

In 1876, the United States established a mail mute between Sidney, Nebraska, and Greeley, Colorado. Sidney Probst was the driver from 1876 to 1878, and his many experiences of those early days are interesting and instructive, telling of the life of the vanguard of civilization. Probst died a few years ago in Colorado. This route did not compare in peril with that to the north on the Black Hills' route, for that line ran through hostile Indian country, and the stages were lined with steel foi the protection of the passengers.