They made some reports on the acreage and the probable cost of building the canal unit by unit, and the prospect of settlers taking the water, and paying for it. Back in Rutland, Vermon, was F. C. Colburn, an old family friend, and a substantial financial character. He agreed to raise the money to build the ditch, up to four hundred thousand dollars ultimately, which was the estimate made by the engineers headed bv Wes. Kittell. Colburn succeeded in rais-

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

ing sixty thousand dollars from friends and among relatives and estates held in trust. William H. Wright was joined in the west by John A. Orr and Thos. M. Howard, under the name of Wright, Orr & Howard. Orr took up the work of attending the commissary, which was northeast of the present Scottsbluff a short distance.

We can almost call Mr. Orr the first merchant of the town of Scottsbluff, but his store was outside the present city limits, and was closed out before the town came into existence.

The Postoffice

In this commissary there was a postoffice, called Wright, and John A. Orr was the postmaster during its entire career. Reports were not as regularly attended as is now required, but the winding up of the affairs of this office was made by turning over the supplies, and everything was in good order, as those who know Mr. Orr, naturally would expect.

Many amusing and other incidents occurred at and in connection with this store. Once a fellow was enroute from Sidney with a load of merchandise. On the tableland north of Bayard, he broke an axle. He got off the wagon, looked ruefully at the broken part and said : "Now, what do you think of that? Here I am fourteen miles from nowhere, with a broken axle and not a bit of baling wire to mend it." In those days the baling wire that came around baled hay, was used for almost universal repair work, a broken hamestrap, tug, or other parts of the harness, or double trees, neckyoke, tongue and some parts of the wagons, but just how it could be used to mend a broken axle, was left to the imagination.