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As of qu?il had left l?armée, Vifquain turned over to Nebraska and took share with the public life of the small colony which s?était formed in the County of Saltworks. Its principal concern was d?aider people with s?installer in the area. But, in 1866, always prompt with s?enflammer for the causes qu?il found right, Victor Vifquain was mixed with the activists with the Fenian movement, in their fight for l?indépendance of l?Irlande. These Irish freedom fighters sought to recruit in the United States an army whose leaders, d?origine Irish, would be d?ancians officers of l?armée of l?Union. Those had l?expérience of the civil war and were capable to effectively lead troops to the combat.
James Stephen ((1824-1901) was born in Kilkenny (Irl.). He took part in a first insurrection in 1848, where he was wounded. Taken refuge in France, it bound with the radicals and turned over to Ireland in 1856, to found there, with l?argent (400$) received of the United States, a new revolutionary movement, l?I.R.B. (Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood), called later l?Irish Republican Brotherhood. One of its partisans founded in the United States a new branch of the movement, which will take the name of "Fenians") was the large organizer of this army. He indicated Gustave Cluseret to lead the revolutionists in Ireland. He was to be their commander as a head. Cluseret accepted l?offre under conditions, among which the choice of its executive officer, Octave Louis Fariola, a Belgo-Italian young person, who had been useful with distinction as a colonel of the Genius in l?armée federal.
Cluseret (had been born in Suresnes, in France, June 13, 1823. It was allowed with St-Cyr in 1841 and accepted the Legion d?Honnor to have helped to repress l?insurrection of June 1848. Congédié with l?avènement of Louis Napoleon, it was quickly reinstated in its functions. It was useful thereafter in Algeria and the Crimea, before resigning in 1858. Cluseret ordered the French legion of Garibaldi and was wounded with the head office of Capoue. Arrived in January 1862 at the United States, it accepted a commission of colonel and became aide-de-camp of the General George B McClellan. It joined then the Frémont General and ordered a brigade with the battle of Keys Cross-country race. Promoted general sergeant on October 14, 1862, it was shut down in January 1863 (not specified loads). Cluseret resigned on March 2, 1863. Following L?année, one found it in New York, weekly editor d?un supporting the candidature of McClellan against Lincoln for the presidential elections of 1864) n?avait any confidence in the plan of Stephen, but it jumped on l?occasion to obtain a passage to return to France. Fariola accepted without reserve the projects of Stephen and swallowed its history of 50 000 men ready to raise themselves in Ireland. Cluseret wanted to also train a staff foreign d?officiers, nonIrish c?est-with-statement, to carry out l?armée of the Republic d?Irlande. Among them, a former general sergeant of l?armée federal d?origine Belgian: Victor Vifquain.
It was expressly stipulated that, since neither Cluseret, neither Fariola, neither Vifquain n?étaient Irish, nor Fenians, they would be held with l?écart of the conspiracy itself and they would be mandés in Ireland before qu?un government "de facto" are not established and maintained an army in shift for a reasonable time, as a proof qu?il had the support of the population. They could then bring their "regular" assistance as soldiers d?une armed.
From the very start, the chances of success became very mean. A certain "General" Millen, successor of Stephen in Ireland, was in talks with the English authorities in order to ruin the plans of Stephen, considered to be too dangerous and premature for two reasons:
- the Irishmen did not n?étaient ready to revolt in mass, l?armée d?occupation, whose majority of the soldiers were d?origine Irish, seemed to be faithful to the British crown;
- the tension, which had been lives previously, made place with a feeling of relaxation, whose l?annuel "speech from the throne" was made l?écho by announcing that the legislation d?exception, installation to subdue inclinations of revolt of the Irish population, n?était more necessary.
Fariola left for l?Europe as of November 14, 1866. As for Stephen, it held in December a council with the soldiers qu?il had engaged. It says to them that the revolution was to be given to later for lack of financial means. Only, a seventh of the sum considered it necessary to finance the revolt could have been joined together.
Following this consent, Irish officers reflect in doubt l?integrity of Stephen, although the colonel Thomas J Kelly, uncontested leader of these soldiers and former head of l?état-major de Stephen, allotted his attitude to the cowardice rather qu?à a d?integrity lack.
Stephen was isolated after violent discussions at the time d?une meeting of the military and civil leaders of the Irish revolutionists of New York. L?affaire was submitted at the Irish committee, which asked that the project of the revolutionists be continued.
Repudiated by Fenians American, Stephen, whose dreams d?indépendance of l?Irlande s?écroulaient, s?embarqua for France and went to Paris qu?il did not leave more. It was replaced by Kelly, man much more dangerous and without scruples, which had expressed its determination d?assassiner the leaders opposed to his movement, in case d?échec of this one. Colonel Kelly then sent the officers who had been recruited towards l?Irlande, l?Angleterre and France.
January 12, 1867, Kelly, Cluseret and Vifquain left for France. They arrived to Paris the 25 of the same month and were joined by Fariola. Paris, Fariola and Cluseret left for London and Kelly followed a few days there later.
In February and March, the revolt was finally launched. D?abord in Dublin where it failed, then in the other parts of the country. South of the country only, because in Ulster nothing similar n?avait envisaged. Nothing occurred either in the County Connach because apparently of l?absence of Vifquain. The men of this County, to which one had promised a French General, learned that Fariola was in Cork and refused to raise s?ils n?étaient not carried out by this officer. The revolt was a total rout for Fenians. Those, poorly equipped and very few, were to attack d?abord the police stations to get weapons, but in front of resistance qu?ils met a little everywhere and support of the Irish soldiers of l?armée English misses it, who were turned over against them, they dispersed quickly. Kelly was imprisoned but s?échappa. Of the three "French", only Fariola was stopped. Imprisoned in London, it was released with the promise d?aider the English authorities to capture Kelly, but Kelly was never caught up with.
Cluseret, taken refuge in France and sought by the English authorities, was arrested and imprisoned. It was finally authorized to leave France after having been able to prove qu?il s?était makes naturalize American.
Victor Vifquain, without money, had to call upon l?aide material of l?ambassador of the United States, Henry Shelton Sanford, to be able to leave Belgium, where it had returned, and to turn over to Nebraska.
Vifquain, without any doubt scalded by the risks of the life of mercenary, was devoted consequently to the political life and l?essor economic of Nebraska and the County of Saltworks, which had passed from 29 inhabitants, before the war, to 850.
The disorders with the Indians n?avaient not ceased the shortly after the American Civil War, although the area of Big Blue was relatively saved by the confrontations, sometimes bloody, who took place further in l?Ouest. The inhabitants of the Counties of Saltworks and Seward thus held a meeting in Camden, August 31, 1867. It resulted creation d?une company from it from militia, with Victor Vifquain as captain. The participants in the meeting recommended that similar companies are formed in the other Counties with Vifquain as commander of all these organizations. The adopted resolutions as pointed out as, the four last years, the Indians of the plains had carried out ceaseless raids in their neighbors, and qu?il was up to each man of s?armer and not to let pass any Indian on his grounds.
In 1868, Vifquain was the democratic candidate at the post of secretary d?Etat of Nebraska, but it was beaten with the elections by the republican candidate. This same year, the council of the county of Saltworks had been established, and the first school district organized on grounds contiguous to the property of Vifquain. Victor was named estimator for l?achat grounds intended for construction d?écoles, but l?evaluation qu?il had established was rejected by the office of the police chiefs of the county, his cost of realization being too high. D?autres estimators were named.
January 4, 1869, Victor was named land-surveyor of the County of Saltworks and was responsible for the layout of l?une of the roads to be built in the county. These roads were intended to replace the Indian tracks, which were adapted little to circulation. Their principal characteristic was to summarize itself with three ruts in the meadow: one in the medium, traced by the shoes of the horses of the Indians going d?un camping to l?autre, two others, made by the poles of the tipis attached to the horses and which trailed by ground on each side. Such tracks ran along each bank of Big Blue.
Vifquain, always faithful to the Democrats, was a heat in favour of president Andrew Johnson and d?"Impeachment observed with great interest its combat against the procedure "of which it made l?objet in front of the Senate. When the news of its payment arrived, Vifquain hoisted the flag of the United States on the roof of its house.
It chooses on February 22, 1870, anniversary day of the birth of Washington, to make appear a call to the inhabitants of Nebraska in favour of cuban l?insurrection. It compared possible l?intervention from the United States with it with Cuba, opposite with the international laws, similar l?intervention of Lafayette and of French during the war d?indépendance.
A elle seule, la sympathie envers les révolutionnaires cubains ne suffit pas, écrit-il. S?y limiter encourage seulement l?Espagne à mater cette révolte. L?achat de Cuba à l?Espagne n?est pas une solution non plus. Cet achat ne pourrait que changer le propriétaire des chaînes qui lient les Cubains. Il ne faut pas attendre non plus l?intervention d?une autre puissance européenne, qui réduirait à néant la politique des Etats-Unis envers Cuba. Il y rappelle aussi la tyrannie espagnole subie par son ancienne patrie, la Belgique, et les ravages de l?inquisition, et termine en demandant aux habitants du Nebraska d?interpeller leurs représentants au Congrès, afin qu?ils soutiennent l?intervention des Etats-Unis aux côtés des révolutionnaires indépendantistes.
En 1871, Victor fut élu représentant du Comté de Saline à la convention constitutionnelle de l?Etat, et prit une part importante dans les discussions, exprimant souvent des opinions bien tranchées sur les questions publiques. Pendant cette convention, il introduisit une résolution visant à ce "qu?il ne soit attribué aucune rétribution aux membres de la convention absents ou en congé, ou pendant les ajournements". Cette résolution lança un débat houleux dans l?assemblée. plusieurs de ses membres estimèrent injuste de n?attribuer aucune rémunération aux membres qui, pendant les ajournements, devaient loger en ville, en raison de l?éloignement de leurs domiciles, et qu?il ne fallait appliquer la résolution qu?aux personnes absentes des débats. Après de longues discussions, l?assemblée se sépara sans avoir pris de décision sur ce point.
Vifquain était aussi engagé dans ce qu?il considérait comme son ?uvre la plus importante : essayer d?établir une colonie belge au Nebraska. En 1873, il parcourut notamment la Republican Valley avec un groupe de "Frenchmen". Ils choisirent Chase County, près de Frenchmen Fork, un endroit abrité avec beaucoup d?arbres, de l?eau et de la bonne terre.
Les années 1870 furent aussi les années du grand développement agricole dans l?Ouest. Des sociétés regroupant les fermiers se créèrent un peu partout. Dans le Comté de Saline, une "County Agricultural Society" fut organisée. Presque chaque année se déroulaient des rencontres, de grands pique-niques, que nous appellerions aujourd?hui "foires agricoles". Leur objectif était de propager l?agriculture, l?horticulture et les techniques agricoles. Ces fêtes avaient lieu près de la ville de Crete. Il y eut notamment de ces rencontres en 1873, 1874, 1875 et 1877 et, en 1875, Victor Vifquain prononça le discours inaugural.
Durant les années qui suivirent la guerre, les éditeurs de journaux étaient en majorité les leaders politiques de leurs partis. Plus d?une controverse sur la politique nationale et locale se développa par l?entremise des éditoriaux que les journaux publiaient chaque jour. Victor, leader démocrate du Comté de Saline, utilisa ce moyen pour s?opposer aux républicains, en 1872, lors de la réélection de Grant pour son deuxième mandat. La lutte fut chaude dans la ville de Crete entre Vifquain et Little, le leader républicain qui y possédait un journal, le Saline County Post. Vifquain y gagna le surnom de "Frothy French fool" (Français idiot et écumant), donné par ses ennemis politiques.
Vifquain tint aussi à posséder son journal. Il racheta d?abord, en collaboration avec un certain E.S. Abbott, un journal de Crete, le Saline County Democrat. En 1879, il fonda le State Democrat à Lincoln, et ce journal devint bientôt l?un des plus connus dans l?Ouest en tant qu?organe du parti démocrate. Vifquain attira l?attention par ses prises de position sans concession sur bien des questions d?ordre public. C?était un défenseur acharné des lois anti-trust et, sous sa conduite, les forces anti-monopoles de l?Etat firent valoir leurs arguments.
Le journal parut juste à temps pour prendre part à la campagne électorale de 1880. Les bureaux se trouvaient au second étage d?un immeuble situé au coin de South Side et de Q Street, entre les onzième et douzième rues. Victor Vifquain écrivait les éditoriaux et un autre journaliste rassemblait les nou-velles locales. Quatre typographes, un contremaître et un apprenti faisaient le reste du travail. En raison de la virulence des éditoriaux de Vifquain, le journal attira un large lectorat. Ses prises de position extrêmes en faisaient un partisan acharné des Démocrates. Il se battait durement et prenait à coeur toute défaite, comme celle aux élections présidentielles de 1880 qui virent la victoire du candidat républicain Garfield.
A cette époque, Victor avait une réputation peu enviable parmi les typographes en raison de son écriture quasi illisible. Les éditoriaux étaient rédigés à la main, les machines à écrire n?étant pas encore disponibles dans les salles de rédaction. Les typographes les plus expérimentés se débrouillaient passablement, mais les nouveaux avaient autant de mal à déchiffrer les éditoriaux de Vifquain qu?à lire la facture d?un blanchisseur chinois. Les typographes qui passaient par le Nebraska rapportaient autant d?histoires sur les coquilles qu?ils avaient faites en travaillant sur les articles de Vifquain qu?il y en avait eu, une génération plus tôt, sur les papiers d?Horace Greeley, le célèbre patron du New York Tribune. Vifquain était surtout spécialisé dans les affaires économiques, et sa compétence était reconnue en la matière.
Vifquain, en dehors de ses activités de journaliste, continua à s?occuper du développement de sa région. C?est ainsi qu?il fut délégué, en juin 1881, à la convention inter-états, qui se tint à Council Bluff, Iowa, consacrée à la mise en valeur du fleuve Missouri, et qu?il participa, en octobre de la même année, à une autre convention à Saint-Louis, sur le développement du fleuve Mississippi.
Après avoir dirigé le State Democrat (Le journal fut vendu pendant l?été 1886 à un certain J.C. Calhoun. Il fut de nouveau vendu deux ou trois ans plus tard à Messieurs Bushnell, Fairbrother et Cox, qui le rebaptisèrent The Call. Pendant quelque temps, Vifquain en remit la gestion à Albert Watkins, de Sioux City, attiré à Lincoln par son université. Ils travaillèrent ensemble au journal jusqu?aux élections présidentielles de 1884, où la victoire du Démocrate Cleveland leur ouvrit à tous deux d?autres horizons. Albert Watkins fut nommé percepteur des postes à Lincoln et Victor Vifquain fut proposé à une nomination d?agent consulaire