The original townsite of Oak grew up around a gristmill constructed here in 1882. By 1883 the village had a druggist, physician, blacksmith, and milliner. Oak was platted in April 1884. In 1888 all businesses but the mill moved two miles west to the present site of Oak after the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad was completed to that point. The White Oak Roller Mills continued to operate until the 1940s, and the buildings were razed in 1977.
]]>From April through October 1870 Company C of the second U.S. Cavalry garrisoned a temporary military post, Camp Bingham, located northeast of here on the Little Blue River, to protect nearby settlements from Indians.
On May 15 Sergeant Patrick J. Leonard and Privates Heath Canfield, Michael Himmelsbach, Thomas Hubbard, and George W. Thompson were sent to search for lost horses on Spring Creek. Near this spot on May 17 the five soldiers were attacked by about fifty Indians. After a two-hour skirmish in which Hubbard was wounded and the cavalrymen's horses killed, the Indians withdrew.
When a report of the skirmish reached Secretary of War William W. Belknap, he ordered Medals of Honor presented to Leonard, Canfield, Himmelsbach, Hubbard, and Thompson. More Medals of Honor were won in this brief engagement than in any other incident in Nebraska's military history.
]]>Sixteen-year-old Laura Roper, Mrs. Lucinda Eubanks, and children, Isabelle 3, and William 6 months, were captured by Indians at "The Narrows," Little Blue River, on Aug. 7, 1864. Laura and Isabelle were released to the Army at Hackberry Creek, KS, in Sept., 1864. Lucinda and baby, brutally treated by the Indians, were finally released near Fort Laramie, WY in May, 1865. This marker is dedicated to the memory of Laura Roper, the Eubanks, and pioneers of the Little Blue Valley.
]]>During the Civil War many regular troops were withdrawn from Plains military posts to fight in the east. The Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho, seizing this opportunity, attempted to drive white settlers from their land.
Beginning on August 7, 1864, the Indians made concerted attacks on stage stations and ranches along the Oregon Trail, hitting nearly every settlement for 400 miles from Julesburg to Big Sandy. Travel ceased for two months.
The most severe attacks were along the upper Little Blue River where about 100 people were killed. Several died at Oak Grove but others escaped and Pawnee Ranch was successfully defended. At "the Narrows" the Eubanks families were attacked and seven killed. Mrs. Eubanks, two children and Miss Laura Roper were taken prisoner and held captive for months. Teamsters were killed, wagon trains burned and ranches were smashed or burned. Settlers fled east to Beatrice and Marysville or northwest to Fort Kearny on the Platte for protection.
Troops and local militia companies attacked and drove back the Indians in the battle of the Little Blue on August 17, 1864. Major raids ceased but skirmishes continued through the fall.
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