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THE
Kansas Historical Quarterly
KIRKE MECHEM, Editor
JAMES C. MALIN, Associate Editor
NYLE H. MILLER, Managing Editor
Volume X 1941
(Kansas Historical Collections)
VOL. XXVII
Published by
The Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka, Kansas
19-1043
Contents of Volume X
Number 1 — February, 1941
PAGE
FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS COUNTIES, 1854-1864, G. Raymond Gaeddert, 3 THE FOURTH OF JULY IN EARLY KANSAS, 1854-1857 Cora Dolbee, 34
THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Auditor, Executive and Nominating Committees; Annual Address of the President, BEGINNINGS OF THE KANSAS JUDICIARY, T. M. Lillard; Election of Officers ; List of Directors of the Society,
Kirke Mechem, Secretary, 79
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 102
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 105
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES. . . 108
Number 2— May, 1941
PAQB
LETTERS OF HUGH M. MOORE, 1856-1860 115
FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS COUNTIES (Continued), 1865-1871,
G. Raymond Gaeddert, 124
WALT WHITMAN IN KANSAS Robert R. Hubach, 150
DEVELOPMENT OF COMMON AND EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY LAW IN KANSAS,
Domenico Gagliardo, 155
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY:
Compiled by Helen M. McFarland, Librarian, 175
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 203
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 212
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 219
(iii)
Number 3— August, 1941
PAGE
BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT PRODUCTION IN THE UPPER KANSAS AND LOWER SMOKY HILL RIVER VALLEYS; A Study in Adaptation to Geo- graphical Environment James C. Malin, 227
THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT, June to December, 1857 ; Pioneer of John- son County Edited by Martha B. Caldwell, 260
FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS COUNTIES (Continued), 1871-1879,
G. Raymond Gaeddert, 299
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 324
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 331
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . , . 333
Number 4 — November, 1941
PAGE
KANSAS HISTORICAL MARKERS 339
LETTERS ON THE WAR IN KANSAS IN 1856 Edited by V. E. Gibbens, 369
FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS COUNTIES (Concluded), 1879-1886,
G. Raymond Gaeddert, 380
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 413
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 419
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 427
ERRATA IN VOLUME X 430
INDEX TO VOLUME X 431
(iv)
THE
Kansas Historical Quarterly
Volume X Number 1
February, 1941
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
w. c. AUSTIN, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1941
18-7171
Contributors
G. RAYMOND GAEDDERT is curator of newspapers of the Kansas State His- torical Society.
CORA DOLBEE is a member of the Department of English at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
T. M. LILLARD, Topeka attorney, was president of the Kansas State Histori- cal Society for the year 1939-1940.
First Newspapers in Kansas Counties
1854-1864 G. RAYMOND GAEDDERT
THIS article is designed to establish proof of the first newspaper in each of the one hundred and five counties in the state and give a few salient points about it. Before it can be decided which paper to list as first it is necessary to consider the question: When is a newspaper entitled the honor to be called first in a county? In answering, several factors must be considered which have to do with the terms editor, printer, publisher, and with the service and patron- age of the paper. The meaning of the words editor and printer are generally understood. For our purpose an editor is one who edits the paper and writes editorials; a printer is one who works at the business of printing. The third term, however, is not as commonly understood. The words print and publish are often confused. A book may be printed without being published. It is published only when it is offered for sale or put into general circulation. It is there- fore apparent that a newspaper publisher is one who offers his paper for sale or puts it into general circulation.
In considering the question of priority, however, it is also im- portant to know what community or county the paper was designed to serve and where its patronage was. In many cases, at least, the paper could not have existed any length of time without patronage from its community.
For the purpose of this article, therefore, if a newspaper was the first published in a county, or in territory later included in the county, though it may have been printed elsewhere, it is considered the first newspaper in the county. This is because it was the first paper to serve the community. It gathered its news locally and distributed the finished product to its patrons. Certainly such a paper should not be disqualified because the material was printed elsewhere. Whenever the information is available it will be stated where the paper was printed. In most cases the newspapers failed to give this information, although they usually told where the paper was pub- lished. That is another reason it would be hazardous in this article to base priority on the place of printing. The information simply is not available.
This study deals chiefly with the first newspaper in each of the Kansas counties and is not concerned with the pre-territory mission
(3)
4 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
presses. A brief discussion of them will be found in Douglas C. Mc- Murtrie's article entitled, "Pioneer Printing of Kansas," published in volume one of The Kansas Historical Quarterly.1
Reference is made frequently to a number of well-known second- ary sources on Kansas history, such as A. T. Andreas, History of the State of Kansas; First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture to the Legislature of the State of Kansas, for the Years 1877-8; Daniel W. Wilder, The Annals of Kansas. To avoid mo- notony of repetition, these citations are abbreviated to Andreas, First Biennial Report, and Wilder.
The presentation of counties follows the chronological order in which their newspapers appeared. This is preferable to the alpha- betical arrangement because it will help the reader to follow the advance of the westward movement of the newspaper press, which in most cases corresponded with the movement of population. A map showing Kansas counties and the dates of their first newspapers will appear with another installment of this article in a later issue of the Quarterly.
LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, September 15, 1854.
The Kansas Weekly Herald was the pioneer newspaper and its press the pioneer newspaper press in Kansas territory. One hundred and eight days after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act, which organized this territory, William J. Osborn and William H. Adams published the first issue of the Herald. It was Democratic and Proslavery in sentiment. During its life the paper changed hands several times. The most influential men governing its destiny no doubt were William H. Adams and Lucien J. Eastin. The latter became editor of the paper when William J. Osborn severed his re- lationship with it, announced in the Herald, October 20, 1854. Mr. Eastin had formerly been editor of the St. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette before he came to Leavenworth.
The beginning of the Herald was unique even in Kansas history. A most fitting and picturesque description of its inception was given by Capt. Henry King, one-time editor of the State Record, the Commonwealth and the Capital. In his annual message delivered before the Editorial and Publishers' Association of Kansas, Leaven- worth, June 13, 1877, he spoke in these words:
The first Kansas newspaper fluttered out from among the scrub oaks and
1. McMurtrie, Douglas C., "Pioneer Printing of Kansas," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. I, pp. 3-8.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 5
hazel brush of what was to be the future metropolis of the State. It- was some- thing of an anachronism, that first paper west of the Missouri. How a printing press chanced to be in such a place at such a time, we have never been told. I suppose that human nature needed it, and so it was sent here as a sort of special providence, for somehow what human nature needs the God of human nature always provides. At any rate, it was the first of our things. It came in even before our sins. The town-site folks found it here when they were staking off lots and tossing coppers for choice of building spots. It- was under an elm tree, down by the river, and the Indian summer sunshine gave a touch of gold to the printed sheets, and the absurd tympan swaying to and fro there in the open air. There was not a house within thirty miles, not so much as a cow-path for a street, not a field of plowed land, near or far in all Kansas. . . . The first Kansas Governor had been commissioned on the 29th of June ; the first pioneer party of thirty persons from Boston had reached the Wakarusa on the 1st of August. But here was a printing press in the very van of affairs, standing upon the yet untrodden weeds, and canopied by the leaves and the sky, waiting to catch and record the earliest whispers of history in this new land of promise ; and on the 15th of September the first number of the Leaven- worth Herald went out in search of patronage. . . .2
The Herald forged ahead in ardent expectations of the future and three months later, December 15, told its own story, exultingly, in these words:
Three months have now elapsed since the Herald was first issued, and from that time to the present it has been constantly increasing in circulation. It may now be considered on a permanent basis. It was commenced under dis- advantageous circumstances, without a house to print in or even a subscription list. The first No. was set up under the shade of a large elm tree. The materials were then moved into the house we now occupy, which was the first building put up in Leavenworth. It is the pioneer press in the Territory. It was the first and only paper published in the Territory for about two months. It has acquired a character and celebrity all over the Union, of which any one might feel proud. . . . We have had to forego many of the pleasures and luxuries of life, and submit for a while to the camp life, living and printing out of doors, writing editorials on a shingle, and sleeping on the ground. But now we are comfortably situated, in a good house, with plenty to live on, a respectable sanctum, where our friends may visit us, and find us at home. . . .
While it is generally conceded that the type for the first issue was set up under the elm tree, it has been questioned whether the first issue was printed there or in the new building. The evidence is not convincing. In the first issue the Herald wrote: "Our publication office has been removed from the Elm Tree on the Levee to our new building on the corner of Levee and Broadway." 3 What the editor meant by this statement is not clear, for the publication office is not
2. The Kansas Editors' Annual for 1877, . . . (Topeka, 1877), pp. 9, 10.
3. .Kansas Weekly Herald, September 15, 1854.
6 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
necessarily the same as the printing office. Moreover, on December 8, 1854, the Herald, in introducing a poem written as a tribute to the elm tree, wrote: "To the Elm Tree, at Leavenworth, under the shade of which, the first number of the Herald was issued." The poem of twenty stanzas, written by "Dique," contained these lines :
Thy arms were kindly spread above
The Kansas Herald press, No stronger evidence of love
Could move a human breast. And from beneath thy shade was sent
To every distant clime The sheet that first from Kansas went
To tell the march of time.
Whether the poem is based on fact or fiction is impossible to de- termine. Very likely it was written by Eastin, who was not con- nected with the Herald until October 20, 1854.
The editors of the Herald capitalized on the unique picturesque- ness of that office under the elm. In the issue of May 10, 1856, Col. Lucien J. Eastin, its fiery Southern editor, announced that the Herald had ''just been presented with a beautiful and life-like Daguerreotype picture of the Elm Tree, as it stands with the build- ings adjoining, taken by Mr. J. W. Hutchison." From time to time the editor also faithfully published various tributes to the elm, al- though most of it, wrote Herbert Flint, was "atrocious 'poetry.' " 4
The Kansas Weekly Herald survived until 1861. The Union List5 of American newspapers shows that the Library of Congress has scattering issues of this paper as late as August 3, 1861. The Society has only one issue of this paper in 1860, none in 1861, a broken file of 1859, but a good file of the earlier period.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
Kansas Pioneer, Lawrence, October 18, 1854, first
issue published in the county. The Kansas Herald oj Freedom, Lawrence, January 3,
1855, first issue printed in the county.
The Kansas Pioneer published at Lawrence, October 18, 1854, although printed at Medina, Ohio, must be regarded as the first newspaper in Douglas county, according to the definition controll- ing this article. John Speer, editor of the Medina (Ohio) Gazette,
4. Flint, Herbert, "Journalism in Territorial Kansas," v. I, p. 28. This is a master's thesis written in 1916. Copies of this monograph are in the Watson library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, and the Kansas State Historical Society.
5. Gregory, Winifred (editor), American Newspapers, 1821-19S6, A Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada (New York, 1937), p. 208.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 7
was the editor and publisher. The first issue of The Kansas Herald of Freedom, published by George W. Brown, dated October 21, 1854, but printed September 20, 1854, preceded the Kansas Pioneer, but it must be disqualified in this race for priority because it was not published within the present confines of Douglas county.
What were the factors that qualified the Kansas Pioneer for the first paper in the county and disqualified the Herald of Freedom? John Speer came to Kansas territory in the summer of 1854 to find a place to establish a newspaper. He went as far west as Tecumseh in search of a location, but was refused all privileges there by the Proslavery town proprietor, when he discovered that Speer's paper would fight the institution of slavery in Kansas. Whereupon Speer returned to the present site of Lawrence, late in September, 1854. There he wrote the editorials which later were published in the Kansas Pioneer.6 He arranged to have the material printed at the office of the Kansas City (Mo.) Enterprise, but when Judge Story, its proprietor, discovered Speer's attitude toward slav- ery, he refused to fulfill the agreement. The Leavenworth Herald accorded him the same treatment, whereupon Speer returned to Medina, Ohio, issued the first number there, and hurried it back to Lawrence for distribution.7 Although the author has been unable to verify this statement by contemporaneous reports in the Kansas Weekly Herald, the only Kansas newspaper published at the time, Speer's most bitter rival, George W. Brown, published the following statement in the Herald of Freedom March 14, 1857, confirming the essential points related above. It reads:
Mr. John Speer, who published the Medina Gazette, at Medina, Ohio, came to Kansas in the fall to start a newspaper. He was here in September and wrote editorials which he published in the "Kansas Pioneer," issued from his office in Ohio, and dated Lawrence, October 18, 1854. This paper was brought to Lawrence and distributed.
On arriving again in the Territory, Mr. Speer found the Kickapoo Pioneer under way, and for that reason concluded to change the name to Kansas Tribune, which was issued at Lawrence on the 10th of January, 1855. It ap- peared under the editorial care of J. & J. L. Speer.
George W. Brown, on the other hand, gathered the news for the first number of the Herald of Freedom in the East, wrote and arranged the material there, printed some 20,000 copies of the first is-
6. This paper should not be confused with the Kickapoo Pioneer, also announced as Kan- fas Pioneer, published by Messrs. Sexton & Hazzard at Kickapoo. It was the second paper printed in the territory; announced in the Leavenworth Herald, November 17, 1854.
7. Flint, Herbert, op. cit., v. I, p. 41 ; Andreas, History of Kansas, p. 328 ; Speer, John, "Papers," in "Patriotism and Education in the Methodist Church," and "Douglas," MSS. in Kansas State Historical Society.
8 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sue at Conneautville, Pa., and distributed them through his agents lo- cated in the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.8 The Kansas Weekly Herald, in announcing it in the issue of No- vember 10, 1854, wrote: This "paper bears a falsehood upon its face, in dating its publication at Wakarusa." Years later, Brown wrote Mrs. Walker, his divorced wife (the letter was dated at Rockford, 111., January 14, 1893), that in the fall of 1854 he had expected to get to Kansas in time to get out the second number "not to exceed the 1st of November. Instead I did not reach Kan. City until about the 14th of November."9 The writer has no in- formation that Brown ever was in Kansas territory before this time. The fact that John Speer was in the present confines of Douglas county in the fall of 1854, gathering information, arrang- ing it for publication, distributing his first issue in the county, en- titles the Kansas Pioneer to first place in the county.
The first paper printed in Douglas county, however, was the second issue of the Herald oj Freedom, although the question of priority is somewhat complicated. Three prospective Free-State newspaper plants had decided to establish offices in Lawrence. The third rival, besides Brown and Speer, was the firm of Robert Gas- ton Elliott and Josiah Miller of the Kansas Free State. The first issues of these three papers printed in Lawrence appeared within a week of each other. John Speer lost out in the race because he could not find a printer, his own press and type having been stranded at Boonville, Mo., since late November or early December, 1854. Elliott and Miller finally agreed to print his paper, but it was obvious that they would print theirs first. The Miller family cherished a tradi- tion that the work on the first issue of the Kansas Free State, dated January 3, 1855, was rushed with particular haste in order that the paper might be distributed on the third, the wedding anniversary of the Josiah Millers. It is reported that Mrs. Miller sat up all night on the eve of her anniversary while the paper was successfully made up in time to be distributed the next day.10 George W. Brown, writing in March, 1857, states that the Kansas Free State was issued on January 10, a week later than it was dated, and that the Kan- sas Tribune appeared on the same day. In the same article he states that the second number of the Herald of Freedom made its appear-
8. Herald of Freedom, Wakarusa, October 21, 1854. Brown was not consistent in hia figures. Sometimes he said he published 21,000 copies of the first issue, at other times it was 20,000.
9. Brown, George W., "Papers," Kansas State Historical Society. This is a copy of an original letter.
10. Flint, Herbert, op. cit., v. I, pp. 50, 51.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 9
ance on January 3, 1855, though dated the 6th.11 Contemporaneous newspaper reports substantiate Brown's claim in behalf of his own paper. January 20, 1855, the following appeared in the New York
Daily Tribune:
Correspondence of the N. Y. Tribune. Lawrence, Kansas Territory, January 5, 1855.
We have already three printing establishments, and early next week three newspapers will be sent out to greet the country far and near. One is to be called The Kansas Herald of Freedom; the second number was published this week in this city; . . . The Kansas Free State is edited by Messrs. Miller and Elliott. Mr. Miller is a native of South Carolina— Mr. Elliott was formerly a resident of Indiana. And The Kansas Tribune, edited by Mr. John Speer. . . .
The Tribune and Free State have not yet made their appearance, but they will be out on the first of next week. . . .
In the "Webb Scrap Books," volume II, pages 148 and 149, is an unidentified newspaper clipping with additional information sup- porting Brown's contention. It reads:
Lawrence, K. T., Jan. 4. Messrs. Editors: —
The Herald of Freedom issued the first newspaper, printed in Lawrence, last evening. It is a beautiful and an interesting sheet — . . . The first number of the Free State will be issued the fore part of next- week from this place by Messrs. Miller and Elliott. The Kansas Pioneer will be issued from the same office soon after, the Messrs. Speer having had their press and materials left at Glasgow, on the Missouri river, by the failure of the last boat of the season to get up to Kansas, Mo. . . . E. D. L.
The Kansas State Historical Society has a complete file of the Herald of Freedom, an incomplete file of the first year of the Kan- sas Free State, including volume one, number one, but only scatter- ing issues of the Kansas Tribune.
ATCHISON COUNTY Squatter Sovereign, Atchison, February 3, 1855.
The Squatter Sovereign is undoubtedly the first newspaper in this county. Since the Society has a good file of it, including volume one, number one, there is no question about the date of the first issue. It was a town company paper, edited and published by Robert S. Kelley and Dr. John H. Stringfellow, both prominent Proslavery men. The office was located in a "little building fashioned from cottonwood logs . . . borne on the shoulders of Mr. Kelley." It was "situated on the river bank overlooking George Million's Ferry landing," which later became the resident property of Col.
11. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence. March 14, 1857.
10 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
John A. Martin, editor of the Champion.12 The Atchison Town Company, September 21, 1854, had voted $400 to Kelley and Stringfellow to establish the office. Some time in March or April, 1857, Kelley and Stringfellow sold the paper to a company com- posed of S. C. Pomeroy, Robert McBratney and Franklin G. Adams, who converted it into a Free-State paper. On September 12, 1857, the Herald of Freedom wrote: "We observe that the entire in- terest in the Squatter Sovereign has passed into the hands of Gen. S. C. Pomeroy." Soon after, O. F. Short began serving as editor. February 11, 1858, Pomeroy and Short sold to John A. Martin for $2,000.13 Martin remained editor and publisher of the paper until October, 1889, when he sold out to Philip Krohn. Martin changed the name of the paper several times, publishing it as the Freedom's Champion, the Weekly Champion and the Weekly Champion and Press.
Herbert Flint characterized the Squatter Sovereign as "the real red-blooded, murder-seeking, Abolitionist-hanging, murder-condon- ing, bloodthirsty Proslavery paper of all Kansas journalism," which soon "made its voice heard even above the shrieking din of all the other Proslavery papers of the Territory combined." 14 Feeling of great intensity often found expression in this paper. In the issue of March 22, 1856, the Herald of Freedom quoted the Squatter Sovereign as saying: "If we for a moment thought that a drop of Yankee blood ran through our veins, we should let it out, even though our life were sacrificed in so doing."
SHAWNEE COUNTY Kansas Freeman, July 4, 1855.
Edward C. K. Garvey of Milwaukee, Wis., was the editor and publisher of this paper. The first issue, wrote Andreas, was "printed on the open prairie." 15 The Society has a letter from George W. Brown dated October 19, 1901, stating that he "made up the forms for the first paper printed in Topeka, the Kansas Freeman" stopping there while on his way to attend the first session of the "Bogus Legis- lature," convening at Pawnee, July 2, 1855. The Herald of Freedom, July 14, 1855, announced the birth of the Kansas Freeman in these words:
12. Andreas, op. cit., p. 378.
13. See contract of O. F. Short and John A. Martin, dated February 11, 1858, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
14. Flint, Herbert, op. cit.t v. I, p. 140.
15. Andreas, op. cit., p. 540. This statement has been questioned.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 11
The first number of the Kansas Freeman, published at Topeka, by E. C. K. Garvey & Co., has made its appearance in the shape of a half sheet, with an apology, stating that- their large press had not arrived, and no intelligence could be received from it. It is possible that our Missouri neighbors took the initiative and consigned it to the watery element ere it commenced its mission in Kansas. That it was forwarded is evidenced from the arrival of several of the smaller parts of the press which were in boxes.
The Society has only three issues of the weekly Kansas Freeman, dated November 14, 1855 (Vol. 1, No. 6), January 9 and February 9, 1856. It was customary to run the date of the advertisements' first publication as long as it was carried. It has been observed that the oldest advertisements listed in the issue of November 14, 1855, were dated July 4, 1855, which supports the contention of the First Biennial Report and Andreas that it was the date of the first issue of the Kansas Freeman. It also goes to prove that the paper was not published regularly.
During the time of the Topeka Constitutional Convention Garvey also issued a daily Kansas Freeman, which published the proceedings of the convention. The Society has fourteen issues of this paper, including volume one, number one.
The Kansas Freeman had an interesting history. The Topeka Town Association had been on the lookout for some time for a news- paperman who would publicize their speculative interests through the press. They were happily surprised, therefore, according to F. W. Giles,16 when on the afternoon of June 5, 1855, E. C. K. Garvey from Milwaukee, Wis., accompanied by the ubiquitous George W. Brown, entered Topeka and proposed to some members of the town association his intentions to transfer "his family, his fortune, his political and business influence, his stores of merchandise and his extensive law library immediately to some point in the newly-erected Territory of Kansas." He qualified this announce- ment "with the expression of decided preference for Topeka, pro- vided a satisfactory consideration was offered." And like a skillful salesman, Garvey "followed this last broadside discharge upon the bewildered Topekans with a casual remark that he had at that very hour a powerful steam press in transit up the Missouri river!" With these words he departed, to await their decision the next day. It seems that Garvey was the better salesman, for on that evening in the little log cabin — council chamber of the Topeka association — the following resolutions were adopted:
16. Giles, F. W., Thirty Years in Topeka^ a Historical Sketch (George W. Crane & Co., Publishers, Topeka, 1886), pp. 144-146.
12 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Resolved, That we will and hereby do donate to E. C. K. Garvey, Esq., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, city interests Nos. 57, 58 and 59, and that any rule of the association inconsistent with our action in the premises be and hereby is suspended, so far as it may apply to our action in the present case, provided that Esq. Garvey establish a good and respectable weekly newspaper, without unnecessary delay, in Topeka, and reside or exercise his influence and identify his interests with us, agreeably to suggestions made by him before the associa- tion to-day.
Resolved, That F. W. Giles, Amos G. Adams and Dr. S. E. Martin be a committee to present the foregoing resolutions to E. C. K. Garvey. 17
Before the contract was closed, however, Garvey had asked that he be furnished in addition to the three city interests, "lots 11 and 12, in block 57, constituting what are now lots Nos. 146, 148, 150, 152, 154 and 156 Kansas avenue"; also, that "the association should erect for him thereon a publishing house 18 x 24 feet and two stories high, for the sum of $400, payable by 200 copies of the forthcoming news- paper for one year." The association consented to the conditions except that "for the lots named it was to reserve from the lots of the city interests given to Mr. Garvey other lots of like value and with the further condition that the paper should advocate 'Free Kansas.' " 18
A committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions and raise funds for the publishing house. When the building was finished, however, it refused to hold the almost "endless variety of mer- chandise" and household furniture that Garvey had brought with him. For a period of weeks the grounds of Kansas avenue south of Fifth street were literally "strewn with furniture, beds, bedding, books, carpets, clothing, medicines, boots, and numerous other com- modities, half hidden by the tall grass." After the publishing house was enlarged it was styled the "Garvey House," and soon helped serve other functions. The post office was kept there and for a time it constituted the town's political and commercial center, besides being the publishing house and hotel.
DONIPHAN COUNTY Kansas Constitutionalist, Doniphan, May, 1856.
Like so many of the early Kansas newspapers, the Constitutional- ist is almost completely buried in the dust of the turbulent past. It was started by Thomas J. Key, a member of the Lecompton Consti- tutional Convention, to promote the Proslavery cause. The time of its establishment is obscure and the exact date is still unknown.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
GAEDDEET: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 13
The First Biennial Report and Andreas listed it for 1856, Flint failed to mention it, McMurtrie came closest when he gave May 3 as the date of the first issue.19 Contemporaneous newspapers and correspondence have made it possible to determine the approximate time when the paper was established. On May 3 the Kansas Weekly Herald wrote :
Kansas Constitutionalist is the title of a paper to be issued in a week or two at Doniphan, K. T., by Thomas J. Key, late of Tuscumbia, Alabama. It was the intention of the editor to have commenced this paper at Lecompton, but hearing a paper was about to be started there in advance of his, he de- termined then on going to Doniphan. . . . The editor has conducted for several years one of the best papers (Tuscumbia Enquirer) in the state of Alabama. . . .
On May 5, 1856, John W. Forman, of Doniphan, wrote John A. Halderman that "Thos. J. Key, late of Tuscumbia, Ala., will issue next week the first No. of the Kansas Constitutionalist at this place. It will be the same size of the Leavenworth Herald & we are taking measures to give it a very large circulation." 20 On May 24 the Herald wrote again :
Kansas Constitutionalist, — The first number of this paper is before us. It is edited and published by T. J. Key at Doniphan, K. T. It is a large size, neatly printed, and its editorials evince a high order of talent. We welcome the Constitutionalist as an able auxiliary to the Pro-slavery cause. It is a sound, reliable Journal and deserves an extensive patronage.
The Society has one issue of this paper, dated January 7, 1857, listed as volume one, number thirty. Many of the oldest adver- tisements in it date back to May 14, 1856. It is possible that this was the date of the first issue. It agrees with the contemporaneous reports. Had the paper been issued regularly, the first number should have appeared the middle of June, unless the above issue was numbered incorrectly.
BOURBON COUNTY Southern Kansas, Fort Scott, July, 1856.
The year of the establishment of this paper has been in doubt until this writing, and the exact date of the first issue is still un- known. Andreas, the First Biennial Report and Wilder gave the time as 1855 and August, 1855.21 T. F. Robley, in his History of
19. First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture . . . 1877-1878, p. 184; Andreas, op. cit., p. 475; Herbert Flint, op. cit., pp. 513, 515-517; McMurtrie, loc. cit., p. 13.
20. Halderman, John A., "Papers," letter of John W. Forman to John A. Halderman, May 5, 1856, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
21. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1074; First Biennial Report, p. 119; Wilder, Daniel W., Annals of Kansas (1886), p. 784.
14 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Bourbon County,22 wrote : "The Fort Scott Town Company fell heir to the press and material of the 'Southern Kansan,' which was started and two numbers issued by Kline, who went to war, and got killed in 1856." Herbert Flint, having read Robley, questioned the year of publication and gave the time as August, 1855, or August, 1856. McMurtrie copied him.23 The answer to this question and those relating to the editor and the name of the paper were found in the Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, July 26, 1856. The notice reads as follows:
We have received the first number of the Southern Kansas, published at Fort Scott, and edited by A. P. Hickey, Esq. Its typographical appearance is excellent, and its articles display much ability. The Southern Kansas is a pro-slavery sheet, and will no doubt prove a valuable coadjutor in the advocacy of our great cause— SLAVERY IN KANSAS.
This would seem to establish the point that the first issue of the Southern Kansas was published in July, 1856, and not August, 1855. The Society has no copy of this paper.
Andreas wrote that the editor of Southern Kansas was one Kelley. Robley left the impression it was one Kline. The Leavenworth Herald informs us that it was A. P. Hickey.
The secondary writers also disagreed on the name of the paper. Some called it Southern Kansas, others Southern Kansan. Again the writer is disposed to accept the statement of the contemporaneous newspaper report on this question, the statements of the secondary writers to the contrary notwithstanding, and has listed it, Southern Kansas.
WYANDOTTE COUNTY
The Wyandott City Register, May 2, 1857.
On May 9, 1857, the Kansas Herald of Freedom announced the establishment of the Register as follows:
New Paper. The Wyandott Register, Mark W. Delahay, proprietor, has made its appearance, and is to be published weekly after the 16th of May. It is a Free State paper, and is located at an important point in the Territory. The editor was the former publisher of the Territorial Register, which is baiting cat-fish at Leavenworth City.
On the same day the Kansas City (Mo.) Enterprise also announced that a new paper had been established at Wyandotte called the Wyandott City Register, and quoted from it. Andreas merely wrote that the first number appeared in May, but added that it "was
22. Robley, T. F., History of Bourbon County, Kansas, to the Close of 1865 (1895), p. 92.
23. Flint, Herbert, op. cit., pp. 600, 601 ; McMurtrie, loc. cit., p. 12.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 15
issued in a tent on the corner of Nebraska avenue and Third street." 24 The Society has only one complete issue of the Register, dated July 25, 1857, and listed as volume one, number ten. Since the paper was not published regularly, the date of the first issue cannot be obtained by tracing it back to the first number. The issue of July 25, however, gives the clue to the date of the first issue through its advertisements, the oldest of which bear the date of May 2, 1857. The author has accepted this fact, interpreted in the light of contemporaneous newspaper accounts, as proof that the first number of the Wyandott City Register was published May 2, 1857.
The Quindaro Chindowan, established May 13, 1857, was the sec- ond paper in the county. It missed being first by less than two weeks. It was the "third paper in Territorial Kansas acquired by the Emigrant Aid Company to further its plans," according to Her- bert Flint.25 Charles Robinson, agent of the Aid Company, was its chief adviser; although the paper was edited and published by J. M. Walden and Edmund Babb. The Society has a good file of this paper, including volume one, number one.
LYON COUNTY The Kanzas News, Emporia, June 6, 1857.
The Kanzas News was one of the pioneer papers of Kansas terri- tory, and according to Andreas, it was "twelve years in advance of any other paper in Emporia," and was established when there were "but three unfinished buildings" in town.26 Preston B. Plumb was the editor and proprietor of the News, at least in name. Years later, George W. Brown wrote F. G. Adams, then secretary of the His- torical Society, that the "press, type and fixtures [of the News] were bought on my credit, and charged to me in account, by the Cincinnati Type Foundry, though long after he paid for it." He also wrote that "G. W. Brown, G. W. Deitzler, Columbus Homsby and Lyman Allen each subscribed for 300 copies of the Emporia News, 1,200 copies in all, and paid quarterly in advance for the same . . ." 27 These men, including Plumb, were the incorporators of the Emporia Town Company.28
24. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1234. The First Biennial Report, p. 460, called the first paper the Citizen, but is mistaken, for the Register later changed to the Citizen.
25. Flint, Herbert, op. cit., v. II, p. 434.
26. Andreas, op. cit., p. 849.
27. Brown, George W., "Papers." See letter of Brown to F. G. Adams, dated Rockford. 111., October 8, 1887, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
28. Kansas Territorial Laws, 1857, p. 304.
16 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Plumb was a political philosopher. In the salutation to the pub- lic, printed in the first issue, he wrote that he did not "intend to promulgate any particular creed" which he designed " advocating." He preferred to remain "free to act independently," according to his own "convictions of right and duty." He would "admit of no middle ground between right and wrong — no compromise with evil"; nor would he act with any party that did not have " 'Universal Freedom' inscribed on its banner. — The struggle now going on between Free- dom and Slavery is a death one; one or the other must succumb. The agitation of this question will not and should not stop until every bondsman is made free, or until every poor man (white or black) is made a slave." Believing this, he would never cease the warfare with slavery. " 'The Truth loses nothing by agitation/ " he continued, "therefore we shall agitate." In his opinion, public lands should be made free to actual settlers. He concluded the salutation with the following statement: "Having neither personal popularity or money, our paper must stand on its own merits ex- clusively. All we ask of the public is a fair hearing. With these few remarks we submit our sheet to the public."
A year later, July 31, 1858, with the commencement of the second volume of the News, Plumb added the name of Jacob Stotler to the firm, and substituted the letter "s" for "z" in Kansas. He still contended, however, that his paper was independent in politics. "If it has advocated the views of any party, either in whole or in part, it was because the objects and principles of that party, for the time being, were in accordance with those of the proprietor. We never have advocated," Plumb asserted, "and we never intend to advocate the views, or labor to promote the success of any party, farther than we believe will be in accordance with what is right, and in harmony with the public good." And he went further:
We do not even hold it to be a duty or merit to be consistent with ourselves. We hold, as we think every free man should, the opinions of to-day subject to the review and consideration of to-morrow, so far, at least, as political action is concerned. . . . Temporary combinations of our fellow citizens for the accomplishment of certain political ends, are always necessary and proper; but permanent- political parties always become corrupt, and are turned into engines of evil.
He admitted, however, that as parties were then organized, he would "support the principles of what is known as the Republican party, and labor zealously for their success."
With the issue of January 22, 1859, Plumb severed his connection with the Kansas News and the establishment passed into the hands
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 17
of Jacob Stotler, who continued with the paper for many years. The News retained its name until December 26, 1889, when it be- came The Weekly News-Democrat. Under this name it sold out to C. V. Eskridge of the Emporia Republican, May 1, 1890, and ceased its separate existence. The Society has a good file of The Kanzas News, including volume one, number one.
FRANKLIN COUNTY Kansas Leader, Centropolis, June, 1857.
The First Biennial Report and Andreas agree that this paper was established "in the fall of 1856," whereas, Flint and McMurtrie gave the date of establishment as June 13, 1857.29 The latter are more nearly correct, for thus wrote the Herald of Freedom, June 20, 1857:
The first and second numbers of the Kansas Leader, published weekly at Centropolis, Kansas T., by Austin and Beardsley are on our table. It is a neatly printed paper, with the motto "Fearless and Free," indicating that it fights on its own hook. We rather like the paper, as it gives evidence of its not being the slave of a junto, and will no doubt do much towards helping re- lieve the country from its present political thraldom. Success to the Leader.
Flint wrote that the Leader was "Independent free-state in politics." This would fit in with George W. Brown's appraisal of it. According to the First Biennial Report and Andreas, it was sold to the Min- neola Town Company the following year, moved to Minneola, and was named by General Lane the Minneola Statesman.30 The Society has no issue of this paper.
Centropolis is located about six miles north and four west of Ot- tawa, on 8-Mile creek. In 1855 Perry Fuller established a store, the first settlement on this townsite. Soon a very large business de- veloped, its aggregate sales at one time amounted to $50,000 a year. February 20, 1857, the Centropolis Town Company was incorpo- rated, with Perry Fuller, Cyrus K. Holliday and J. K. Goodin among its prominent members. Like the Minneola project, it was a speculative venture. The plan was to make Centropolis not only the county seat but the capital of the territory and state. It is re- ported that at one time lots sold for $500 each, which years later could have been bought at ten cents.31 Centropolis failed to achieve its goal, although some of the speculators may have made a little
29. First Biennial Report, p. 222; Andreas, op. cit., p. 614; Flint, op. cit., v. II p. 597: McMurtrie, loc. cit., p. 13.
30. Ibid.
31. Andreas, op. cit., p. 614; Kansas Territorial Laws, 1857, p. 285.
2—7171
18 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
pocket money. The name of the town ceased to be listed in the United States Official Postal Guide after July, 1929.32
COFFEY COUNTY Ottumwa Journal, August 29, 1857.
Jonathan Lyman was the editor of the Ottumwa Journal, the first paper published in Coffey county. Ottumwa is located near the Neosho river about eight miles from Burlington, the county seat. Definite information as to the date of the first issue of this paper was found in the Kanzas News, Emporia, of September 12, 1857. The statement announcing the publication reads:
The Ottumwa Journal is the title of a new paper which has just been started at Ottumwa, about 25 miles below Emporia, on the Neosho. The first num- ber, bearing the date of August 29, is before us. . . . It is strongly Free State in politics. . . .
On September 12, 1857, the Herald of Freedom extended its wel- come to the Journal and quoted from the first issue as follows:
We have the skeleton of an office, which awaits the hide to cover it. Our present office consists of a tenement 18 by 20, made of logs, which affords a shelter for an entire printing establishment, and the entire family of the printer, consisting of ten persons! Our first issue thus comes forth, and our next one will come out, "wind and weather" permitting, as soon as we can get it out!
The secondary authorities, Andreas, Flint and McMurtrie, were mis- taken in the date of the first issue of the Journal. It was August 29, and not September, or September 15, 1857, as they listed it.33
How long the paper operated is not known, although the secondary authorities are agreed that only a few issues were published. They disagree, however, as to what happened to the press after it dis- continued. Flint wrote that it was removed to Burlington in Oc- tober, 1857, where it was used to publish the Burlington Free Press.34 Andreas contended that "the press on which this paper [Ottumwa Journal] was printed was removed to Linn county by Mr. Lyman in 1860." 35 The author has not been able to verify either of the above statements. The Society has no issue of the Burlington Free Press, nor of the Linn County Herald, the paper founded by Jona- than Lyman at Mound City in April, 1859, nor of the Ottumwa Journal.
32. The United States Official Postal Guides of July, 1930, 1931 and 1932 no longer listed Centropolis among the Kansas post offices.
33. Andreas, op. cit., p. 660; Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 610; McMurtrie, loc. cit., p. 14. The First Biennial Report, p. 157, failed to mention the Journal.
34. Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 610.
35. Andreas, op. cit., p. 660.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 19
MIAMI COUNTY Southern Kansas Herald, Osawatomie, last week of November, 1857.
The Southern Kansas Herald apparently was the first newspaper published in this county. Charles E. Griffith was the editor and publisher. The paper was Free-State in politics and made its ap- pearance about the last week in November, 1857.
There was a newspaper press in Osawatomie as early as the spring of 1856, but it has not been established that it ever published a paper. John Everett, in a letter to his father dated Osawatomie, April 28, 1856, wrote: "Osawatomie may now boast of a printing press. It was in Kansas [City] a week ago, and probably is now in town." 36 According to Herbert Flint the press was owned by Oscar V. Dayton and Alexander Gardner, of New York, who were planning to publish the Osawatomie Times.57 Like so many other frontier projects, the Times, it seems, was never published. On June 9, 1856, the Lawrence correspondent of the New York Daily Tribune, reporting on the sacking of Osawatomie June 6, wrote that Proslavery men had destroyed a printing office at Osawatomie, "a new establishment, the unoffending types having never yet expressed a sentiment in the proscribed cause of Freedom." 38 The corre- spondent was in error about the destruction of the office and press. John Everett, who had read the statements published in Eastern papers, wrote, June 27, 1856: "Our printing office was not destroyed as reported I see in the Eastern papers. It was buried in the ground and they could not find it." 39 Moreover, James Hughes of Osa- watomie, who on June 7, reported the news of the sacking of Osa- watomie to Gov. Wilson Shannon, did not mention the destruction of the office and press.40 The fact remains, therefore, that all the available evidence indicates that the Osawatomie Times was never published.
Andreas and the First Biennial Report were mistaken on the time of the first issue of the Herald. Andreas wrote it was established "near the beginning of the year 1857," the First Biennial Report wrote: "In the latter part of 1856 or the beginning of 1857, the Southern Kansas Herald was established at Osawatomie, by Charles
36. "Letters of John and Sarah Everett, 1854-1864," Kansas Historical Quarterly. v VIII, p. 31.
37. Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 610.
38. New York Daily Tribune, June 17, 1856, p. 6, col. 3. Similar reports also appeared in other out-of-state papers. See Webb, Thomas H., "Scrap Books," v. XIII, p. 103.
39. "Letters of John and Sarah Everett, 1854-1864," loc. cit.. v. VIII, p. 33. See also l?lint, op. cit., v. II, p. 610.
40. Webb, Thomas H., "Scrap Books," v. XIII, p. 123.
20 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
E. Griffiths." Herbert Flint and McMurtrie gave the time as No- vember, 1857.41 The statements of Flint and McMurtrie are sub- stantiated by contemporaneous newspaper accounts. December 12, the Kanzas New'S of Emporia announced the Herald as follows: "A new paper called the Southern Kansas Herald has been started at Osawatomie within a few weeks past. . . ." The Herald of Free- dom, December 19, 1857, wrote:
We notice on our table, among our list of exchanges, the "Southern Kansas Herald," published weekly at Osawatomie, by Chas. E. Griffith, Esq., editor and publisher. The second number is before us. The paper has six columns to a page, is printed on new type, and compares favorably in mechanical ap- pearance with any other paper in the Territory. . . .
This information points to the conclusion that the first issue of the Herald was published either during the last week of November or the first week in December, 1857. The editor was Charles Griffith, not Griffiths as reported in the First Biennial Report.
The Society has two issues of this paper, one of September, 1864, with the date and number clipped, the other of April 7, 1865, listed as volume seven, number twenty.
MARSHALL COUNTY Palmetto Kansan, Marysville, December 9 (?), 1857.
This paper was established by Proslavery men, with J. E. Clardy as editor and publisher. The date of publication given by Andreas and the First Biennial Report was December 18, 1857. Flint and McMurtrie gave November, 1857.42 On November 12, 1857, the National Democrat of Lecompton stated: "We have seen the pro- spectus of a new paper, the Palmetto Kansan, to be published at Marysville." On November 28, the Kanzas News of Emporia said: "A new Pro-slavery paper called the Palmetto Kanzan has been established at Marysville in Marshall county, . . . It is printed on the materials of the defunct Lecompton Union. The publisher is a Mr. Clardy, formerly connected with the Union." The White Cloud Kansas Chief of December 3, 1857, stated:
We have received a Prospectus of a paper, the first number of which is to be issued on Saturday, the 9th inst., at Palmetto, (recently Marysville,) Marshall County, Kansas, to be called the "Palmetto Kansan." . . . It is to be "strictly conservative and constitutional, independent in all things, neutral in nothing." . . . Address J. E. Clardy, Palmetto, Marysville P. O., K. T.
41. Andreas, op. cit., p. 887; First Biennial Report, p. 315; Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 610; McMurtrie, loc. cit., p. 14.
42. Andreas, op. cit., p. 919 ; First Biennial Report, p. 301 ; Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 609 ; McMurtrie, loc. cit., p. 14.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 21
While no definite statement can be made as to the date of the first issue, the writer is inclined to believe that the Kanzas News based its statement on the information gathered from the prospectus of the first issue, whereas the White Cloud Chief, located near Marys- ville, had more specific information as to the date when the first issue was to appear.
The office, according to Andreas and the First Biennial Report, was owned by the "Palmetto Town Company composed of F. J. Marshall, James S. Magill and others." Magill no doubt was a member of the Palmetto company, but Marshall was a promoter of its rival, the Marysville Town Company, and his name has not been found connected with the Palmetto Town Company. The Society has no copy of this paper.
JEFFERSON COUNTY Grasshopper, Grasshopper Falls, June 5, 1858.
This is undoubtedly the first newspaper published in Jefferson county. The first issue appeared June 5, 1858. J. A. Cody was listed as editor and proprietor, and S. Ward Smith, publisher. Smith probably was the printer. According to Andreas, Mrs. Cody "did most of the editorial work." 43
J. A. Cody was "an uncle of the famous scout, Buffalo Bill," 44 whose given name was William Frederick Cody. Isaac Cody, the father of William, also had a brother, Elijah, in Weston, Mo., whose sympathies, it is believed, were Proslavery. Soon after Kansas territory was organized Isaac registered a claim of 160 acres in Salt creek valley where he established a home. The story is told that one day as he and young William approached Rively's trading post they noticed a crowd gathering and stopped to listen. It was a Pro- slavery group, expounding the cause of slavery. Some men soon clamored for a speech from Isaac. Reluctantly yielding to the re- quest, he spoke boldly in defiance of slavery, when Charles Dunn, an employee of Elijah Cody, plunged a bowie-knife into his back.45 Isaac, although it is believed by members of his family that he later died from the wound, soon regained enough strength to leave Salt creek valley, where his life was in danger, and fled to Grasshopper Falls. Later he went to Ohio and Iowa and used his oratory to win colonists for Kansas, especially for Grasshopper Falls, where he was
43. Andreas, op. cit., p. 507.
44. Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 529; Topeka Daily Capital, October 7, 1927.
45. Walsh, R. J., The Making of Buffalo Bill (Bobbs- Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1928), pp. 32-41.
22 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
operating a sawmill. If the above story is true it is possible that Isaac brought his brother, J. A. Cody, to Grasshopper Falls to help the Free-State cause with the press. William E. Connelley, former secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society, contended, how- ever, that Isaac Cody "moved about from place to place here in Kansas and had no influence on the Free-State cause, took no part in it, was not stabbed as has been stated and was never mistreated in any way by border ruffians." 46 At the present writing the author is unable to introduce new evidence on the point in question.
The First Biennial Report and Andreas agree that the first issue of the Grasshopper was published in May, 1858. Herbert Flint wrote, however, that it appeared in June, 1859.47 Since the Society has the first issue of this paper, dated June 5, 1858, the question of time is settled. It is a four-page, five-column paper. Under "Pro- spectus," the editor wrote:
It is our design in publishing this paper to advocate the great principles of truth and religion, in government and human action. In doing this we shall be under the necessity of exposing falsehood, combating error, and subduing prejudices, as all these things unhappily exist, and stand in the way of truth. . . .
While at the same time we are disposed to yield to the South, all her con- stitutional rights, we solemnly protest against six millions of people controlling the action of seventeen millions — or, in other words, we are opposed to the South's dictation to the North. It is a sound political axiom that the ma- jority shall rule.
The town of Grasshopper Falls, which derived its name from the falls in the Grasshopper, now Delaware, river, later changed its name to Valley Falls. The Grasshopper soon changed its name to Jeffer- son Crescent. The Society has numbers one, three, six and eight of the Grasshopper and Jefferson Crescent.
GEARY COUNTY Junction City Sentinel, August, 1858.
This paper, first in the county, was established by the Junction City Town Company, officers of which were J. R. McClure, Robert Wilson and P. Z. Taylor. B. H. Keyser was editor of the Sentinel and George W. Kingsbury printed the first issue. The First Biennial Report, Andreas and D. W. Wilder were mistaken in the date of the first issue. The First Biennial Report and Andreas wrote that the first number was issued in June, 1858, whereas Wilder gave Decem-
46. Ibid., footnote, p. 38.
47. First Biennial Report, p. 244 ; Andreas, op. cit., p. 507 ; Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 529.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 23
her 28, 1858.48 On July 17, 1858, the Herald of Freedom published a letter, written July 10, by P. Z. Taylor of Junction City, which stated that "the Sentinel will be out in a few days." On August 28, the Herald wrote that it had received the first number of the Sentinel published at Junction City. The first issue of this paper, therefore, was published either the second or third week of August, 1858.
Years later, George W. Kingsbury, a printer, wrote that Robert Wilson, president of the Junction City Town Company, had sent him to the town "to get out the first number of the Junction City Sen- tinel." Some shrewd dealer in junk, he wrote, "had sold the com- pany a ready-made second-hand printing outfit which was minus a number of essential features." There was "no platen, no roller — and nothing to print with." The company was aware of this and had sent to St. Louis for the needed parts, but no one knew when they would arrive. The editor, Keyser, had prepared his "Salutatory" and was anxious to see it in type. Kingsbury explained how he and a claim holder from near Ogden, named Lincoln, a typesetter, de- vised a "proof press by using the cylinder of an old engine with a blanket wrapped around it." With the help of this improvised press the salutatory was put in print and the first type-printed errors, west of Topeka, were revealed to the editor, among them the word "infernal." Kingsbury wrote that after gazing "long and earnestly at the printed slip," the editor came to him, his little finger pointing at one word of the proof, and said "that he intended that word to be supernal and the printer has set it 'infernal.' " Kingsbury admitted that "he didn't know there was such a word as supernal." 49
The Herald of Freedom described the mechanical appearance of the Sentinel as "very good," but regretted that the editor had "at- tached himself to the Democracy." It was his contention that "the true position of our Kansas newspapers is independent, until we are a State." He felt that no "conservative man" could "identify him- self with the 'Democratic' party, as organized in the past," and con- cluded that by its act the Sentinel had very much abridged its "field of usefulness."
48. First Biennial Report, p. 175; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1008; Wilder, op. cit., p. 245.
49. Geo. W. Kingsbury to Geo. W. Martin, March 17, 1913.— Kansas State Historical Society.
24 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
JACKSON COUNTY The Cricket, Holton, 1858 or 1859.
The Jackson County News, Holton, July, 1867, first newspaper printed in this county.
The Cricket represents a "curious effort" in Kansas newspaper history. The secondary authorities agree on two things: That it was the first newspaper published in Calhoun, now Jackson county, and that it was written in pen and ink and embellished with cartoons or drawings done with colored pencils. In most everything else said about it, however, they disagree. Andreas and the First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue as the "fall of 1858"; Flint wrote it was founded about "July or August, 1858"; Elizabeth N. Barr, author of Business Directory and History of Jackson County,50 merely listed the year, 1858; Martha M. Beck, who wrote an article published in the sixtieth anniversary edition of the Holton Recorder, March 14, 1935, said that the Cricket appeared in 1859. The sec- ondary authorities also disagree on the name of its editor. Andreas gave his name as Thomas G. Watters ; Mrs. Beck and the First Bi- ennial Report wrote it was Thomas G. Walters ; Herbert Flint had it Thomas G. Waters; Miss Barr wrote Thomas W. Watters. Most authorities agreed that the Cricket was published weekly for about two months, when it folded up. Herbert Flint wrote, however, that it lasted but a few issues. The First Biennial Report stated that the author "illustrated political events with colored pencils," but Flint wrote the paper was "non-political, apparently."
The Society has no copy of this paper nor has the writer been able to find any reference to it in the contemporaneous newspapers.
The Jackson County News, Holton, was the county's first regular newspaper. A. W. Moore published the first issue in July, 1867, ac- cording to the Topeka Weekly Leader of July 18, 1867, and not in October, as recorded by Andreas and the First Biennial Report. The News was a seven-column paper, Republican in politics. The So- ciety's first issue of this paper is April 11, 1872 (Vol. V, No. 36).
JOHNSON COUNTY Johnson County Standard, Olathe, March, 1859.
The Standard has been overlooked by the secondary authorities. They held that the Olathe Herald was the first paper in the county. The First Biennial Report wrote: "The first newspaper published in
50. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1342; First Biennial Report, p. 238; Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 602; Barr, E. N., Business Directory and History of Jackson County (1907), p. 24.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 25
the county was the Olathe Herald, established September 8, 1859, by John M. Giffen and A. Smith Devinney." 51 It also reported that "on the night of September 6, 1861, the office was completely de- stroyed by Quantrill." Herbert Flint wrote that the Herald was "founded August or September, 1859, by A. S. Devenny and John M. Giffin," and "was destroyed by Quantrill in 1863," linking it with the raid on Lawrence.52 Andreas wrote:
"The Olathe Herald was the first paper published in Johnson County. The first issue appeared August 29, 1859. In politics it was democratic. . . . Quantrill paid the office a visit September 6, 1862, after which John M. Giffin, its editor and proprietor, gathered up its debris and sold it for $306; original cost having been $3,500." 53
The facts in the case, proved by contemporaneous newspaper re- ports, are that the Johnson County Standard antedated the Herald at least five months. The Emporia News, September 24, 1859, wrote that the Olathe Herald "is the title of a new paper just started at Olathe, Johnson County, Kansas." This places the first issue of the Herald sometime in September, 1859. On the second of April, 1859, the Herald of Freedom announced the Johnson County Standard in these words:
The first and second numbers of a new weekly journal, with the name of "Johnson County Standard," published at Olathe, Kansas, by Barker & Eddy, have found their way to our table. The mechanical execution of the paper is good. It is designed as a local newspaper, and the editors seem to labor to make it such, by looking after local interests. It is independent in politics, and shows a determination on the part of the editors to maintain the right and oppose the wrong. We cheerfully extend to it the hand of fellowship, and welcome its conductors, with pleasure, to a place among the editorial fraternity of the independent press of Kansas.
This information definitely places the Standard ahead of the Herald. The Society has no copy of this paper.
A further correction should be made as to the date of Quantrill's raid on Olathe and the Herald office. The Leavenworth Daily Con- servative of Tuesday morning, September 9, 1862, reported on the raid as follows: "About one o'clock Sunday morning Quantrile, with two hundred and thirty men, dashed into and took possession of Olathe, the county seat of Johnson county. . . . The printing offices of the Mirror and the Herald were entered and their contents demolished." That places the date of the raid early Sunday morning, September 7, 1862.
51. First Biennial Report, p. 256.
52. Flint, op. cit., v. II, p. 609.
53. Andreas, op. cit., p. 630.
26 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LINN COUNTY Linn County Herald, Mound City, April 1 (?), 1859.
Jonathan Lyman, formerly publisher of the Ottumwa Journal, was editor and publisher of this paper. The First Biennial Report and Andreas agree that -the Linn County Herald was the first news- paper established in this county, that it began publication on April 1, 1859, that it was edited and published by Jonathan Lyman, and that it continued one year when the name was changed to the Mound City Report.54 Contemporaneous newspaper reports, in the main, substantiate the above statements. On April 9, 1859, the Kansas News, Emporia, wrote:
We are in receipt of the Linn County Herald, a new paper published at Mound City, Linn county, Kansas, by Jonathan Lyman — formerly publisher of the Ottumwa Journal. The Herald is Republican in politics. . . .
The Society has no issue of this paper.
MONTANA COUNTY
Cherry Creek Pioneer, K. T., April 23, 1859. Rocky Mountain News, Cherry Creek, K. T., April 23, 1859.
These papers are inserted here to remind Kansas readers that its territory once included Colorado to the Continental Divide. John L. Merrick, editor and publisher of the Pioneer, and William N. Byers & Company, editors and publishers of the News, were competing for priority. D. W. Working, in "Some Forgotten Pioneer Newspapers," published in The Colorado Magazine, told the story in these words :
Everybody knows that the Rocky Mountain News was the pioneer news- paper of the Rocky Mountain region now known as Colorado. Comparatively few know that the proprietors of the News were not the first to set up a print- ing-press in the pioneer community at the mouth of Cherry Creek ; that honor belongs to John L. Merrick, who published the first and only issue of the Cherry Creek Pioneer on the day the first number of the News was given to the public. Even yet it is not certain that the first copy of the Pioneer was not actually off the press nearly half an hour before the News made its ap- pearance. However, the question of priority of publication is not here at issue. . . ,55
Years ago, George W. Weed, a roller boy for the single issue of the Cherry Creek Pioneer, told George A. Root of the Kansas State His- torical Society that the birth of the Pioneer preceded the Rocky Mountain News a few hours, and that but one issue of the Pioneer
54. First Biennial Report, p. 285; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1108.
55. Working, D. W., "Some Forgotten Pioneer Newspapers," The Colorado Magazine (State Historical Society of Colorado, Denver, 1927), v. IV, No. 3, p. 93.
GAEDDERT: FIKST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 27
was gotten out.56 These facts give the Pioneer priority by a few hours. However, Lawrence W. Marshall in "Early Denver History as Told by Contemporary Newspaper Advertisements," also pub- lished in The Colorado Magazine, wrote that the News came out first. His statement reads:
William N. Byers had reached the settlements but two days previously, worked feverishly with his partners to set up the press they had brought out across the plains and managed to get off the first issue of the Rocky Mountain News, a matter of minutes before the initial publication of the Cherry creek Pioneer appeared.57
The reports therefore are conflicting and definite proof is lacking, except the testimony of George W. Weed given many years later. Both papers, however, appeared on the same day.
Cherry Creek was located in what was then known as Montana county, K. T., on Cherry creek, now Arapahoe county, Colorado.
The first issue of the News contains a report of a convention held at Auraria, April 15, 1859, where delegates from Fountain City, Eldorado and El Paso, Arapahoe, Auraria and Denver City decided upon a constitutional convention to be held at Denver City, June 1, 1859, to frame a constitution for a new state to be known as Jeffer- son, limited by the following boundaries:
... Its northern boundary commencing at 102d meridian of west longi- tude from Greenwich, Eng., with the 43d parallel of north latitude, and run- ning west on the said parallel to its intersection with the 110th meridian of west longitude, thence south to the 37th parallel of north latitude, thence east on that parallel to the 102d meridian, and thence north to the beginning. . . .
The Society has a copy of volume one, number one, of the Rocky Mountain News, but none of the Pioneer.
RILEY COUNTY Kansas Express, Manhattan, May 21, 1859.
This paper was established by Charles F. De Vivaldi, an Italian Republican refugee. The First Biennial Report wrote that the first issue was published in Riley county on the first Wednesday in May, 1859.58 The author is inclined to believe, however, that the first issue was published May 21, 1859. This statement is based on in- formation found in Thomas C. Wells' letter to his father written May 14, 1859, on circumstantial evidence found in the Kansas Ex-
56. Root, George A., "A Sketch of George W. Weed." — MS. in Kansas State Historical Society.
57. Marshall, Lawrence W., "Early Denver History as Told by Contemporary Newspaper Advertisements," The Colorado Magazine, September, 1931, v. VIII, No. 5, p. 161.
58. First Biennial Report, p. 392.
28 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
press of August 20, 1859, and on contemporaneous newspaper reports. On May 14, 1859, Wells wrote: "We are expecting to receive the first copy of the 'Manhattan Express' every day now." 59 The first issue of the Express in the Society's files is dated August 20, 1859, and listed as volume one, number seven. In this issue the oldest ad- vertisements are dated May 21, 1859, which might indicate that it was the date of the first issue of the Express, for, as has been said, it was customary to date the advertisements the day the paper was published. Moreover, the Herald of Freedom of May 28, 1859, an- nounced the birth of the Express and added :
The Kansas Express, edited and published by Chas. De Vivaldi, of Man- hattan, Kansas, commenced publication last week. Its editor is a good writer, and seems to possess the tact and energy requisite for success in a newspaper enterprise. He is a Republican, but we should judge, conservative in his senti- ments. Mr. De Vivaldi is an Italian, and of course well informed on the Italian question. . . .
On July 30, 1859, the Kansas News of Emporia wrote: "We have received the second number of the Kansas Express, published at Manhattan, Riley Co. It presents a handsome appearance, and will be published regularly hereafter."
From these sources it seems reasonable to assume that in the be- ginning the paper was issued irregularly, that the first issue had not been published by May 14, that it appeared the week prior to Satur- day, May 28, 1859, and that in all probability it was issued Satur- day, May 21, 1859.
Andreas wrote that "the first number of this paper was printed at Wyandotte," and that "the press and appurtenances of the office came by steamer on the Kansas River soon after." 60 The statement in the Herald of Freedom, quoted above, does not necessarily contra- dict Andreas' contention, for all it said is that the Express was "edited and published by Chas. De Vivaldi of Manhattan." It does not say where the paper was printed.
The Express was published under different names. ' The first issue was called the Kansas Express; beginning with the eleventh issue it was called the Manhattan Express; September 22, 1860, the name was changed to the Western Kansas Express; and on October 5, 1861, it was changed back to the Manhattan Express. The Society lacks the first six issues, also numbers 8, 9 and 10 of volume one.
59. Wells, Thomas C., "Letters of a Kansas Pioneer, 1855-1860," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. V, p. 399.
60. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1307.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 29
CHASE COUNTY Kansas Press, Cottonwood Falls, May 30, 1859.
The Society has volume one, number one, of this paper, which car- ries the date given above. S. N. Wood was the editor and publisher. In the salutatory the editor remarked :
Politically, in Kansas, we shall be Free State ; having spent almost five years in the Free State party we feel like fighting the good fight out. . . .
In National politics, our sympathies and influence will be with the party of Freedom, and against the party of Slavery, without regard to name. Our paper will be conservative in character — opposed to radicalism — and will, in a legal way only, seek to remedy the evils of society.
In the issue of August 15, Wood criticised the Wyandotte convention for disfranchising whole counties, thought there was too much legis- lation in the constitution, but conceded that it would be "to the in- terest of the territory to become a state. . . ." He would, therefore, "vote for, and advocate the adoption of the Wyandotte Constitution."
The last issue published at Cottonwood Falls appeared August 29, 1859. It was volume one, number thirteen. Wood removed the paper to Council Grove and explained his sudden departure in the first issue published there. His reasons appear in the section on Morris county, next following.
MORRIS COUNTY The Kansas Press, Council Grove, September 26, 1859.
It is the consensus of opinion that the Press was the first paper published in Morris county. It was started by S. N. Wood at Cot- tonwood Falls, Chase county, and the first thirteen issues were pub- lished there. Wood abruptly left Cottonwood Falls for reasons ex- plained in the first issue at Council Grove.
We decided very suddenly to remove our Press to Council Grove. . . . Our reasons are soon told. We come to Cottonwood Falls last spring, believing that a town would spring up at the Falls, and in a few months we should have business all around us; but instead, one-half of our town site was jumped by a person who dog-in-the-manger-like, would do nothing himself, or allow any- one else. Persons came to the Falls to build Mills, but the land was in dispute and they left disgusted. Others proposed establishing Stores, but our town site being in dispute, they would not venture; and thus scores of men, as well as business was driven from us. We were paying out $25 per week to keep up our paper, and from Cottonwood Falls were receiving no support because there was nothing there. COUNCIL GROVE, on the other hand, is a busi- ness place ; doing a larger business than any other town in Southern or Western
30 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Kansas. . . . The people there wanted a paper, offered us inducements which we believe it our duty, as well as interest, to accept.
Wood listed the first issue published at Council Grove volume one, number fourteen, and continued in that way. The Society has an incomplete file of the Council Grove Press.
BROWN COUNTY Brown County Union, Hiawatha, May, 1861.
The First Biennial Report and Andreas agree that the Brown County Union was the first paper in this county, and that it "was established by Dr. P. G. Parker, in the spring of 1861." 61 The White Cloud Chief has helped to establish the approximate date of the first issue. On May 16, 1861, it informed its readers that a paper was shortly "to be started at Hiawatha, by a gentleman named Parker. The material of the late Troy Dispatch has been purchased and re- moved to Hiawatha for that purpose." On May 30 the Chief wrote again, saying: "We have received the first number of the Brown County Union, published at Hiawatha, by P. Gould Parker. It says it shall support Lincoln's Administration." This indicates that the Union made its appearance sometime during the last two weeks of May, 1861. The secondary authorities referred to above wrote that this paper had a hard struggle for existence, that in the winter fol- lowing its establishment the office was destroyed by fire, and that no effort had been made to revive it. The Society has no issue of this paper.
WABAUNSEE COUNTY
The Wabaunsee Patriot, September 7, 1861.
H. M. Selden and E. J. Lines, a member of the Beecher Bible and Rifle Company, were agents of this paper. The name of the editor was omitted, but Lines' name was also listed as local editor.
The Patriot seems to have escaped the notice of Andreas, the First Biennial Report, Herbert Flint, Wilder, and even the Alma Signal. On August 27, 1892, this paper, under the caption, "Newspaper His- tory," stated:
The Wabaunsee County Herald was the name of the first newspaper pub- lished in Wabaunsee County— April 1st, 1869. A. Sellers and Geo. W. Bertram, editors and proprietors. . . .
The Signal was mistaken, for the Patriot preceded the Herald almost seven years and seven months.
61. First Biennial Report, p. 125; Andreas, op. cit., p. 715.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 31
In the salutation the editor wrote that they were embarking on a new enterprise, little expecting at first "to realize an income com- mensurate with" their expense in publishing the paper, but "looking forward to the time when the encouragement extended will be fully adequate, and sufficient to warrant" the permanent establishment of the same.
The Society has the first seven issues of this paper, possibly the only numbers that were published.
OSAGE COUNTY Osage County Chronicle, Burlingame, September 26, 1863.
This paper was claimed as first in the county by the First Biennial Report and Andreas. They gave the date of the first issue as Sep- tember 26, 1863. 62 The first contemporaneous reference to the Osage County Chronicle found by the writer appeared in the Emporia News, August 15, 1863, which said: "M. M. Murdock is about to start a new paper at Burlingame, in this State. He has purchased the Americus Sentinel material." On October 8, 1863, the Fort Scott Union Monitor announced the appearance of the first issue in these words: "The Osage Chronicle is the title of a neat and spicy little sheet published at Burlingame, Osage county, Kansas, by our old friend Murdock." The earliest issue of this paper in the Society's file is dated October 17, 1868, listed as volume six, number one, which is too late to help determine the date of the first issue. The author has accepted the date given by the secondary authorities as at least approximately correct.
The editor, Marshall M. Murdock, often called "Marsh," was born in the Pierpont settlement, now West Virginia. His grand- father had engaged in rebellion against the British government about the time of the American Revolution, and came to America a politi- cal refugee. Marshall's father, Thomas, grew up in Virginia in a settlement of slaveholders and developed a strong abhorrence for the institution. He left Virginia and settled in Ironton, Ohio, where Marshall began his apprenticeship in the printer's trade. The strug- gle for a Free Kansas brought the family to this territory. Marshall was employed in one of the Lawrence printing offices when Quantrill raided the town and escaped the raiders by concealing himself in a well. In 1863 he married Victoria Mayberry of Douglas county, purchased the Americus Sentinel press, and moved to Burlingame where he started the Chronicle. In 1872 he removed his printing
62. First Biennial Report, p. 350; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1534.
32 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
office to Wichita and founded the Eagle, one of the pioneer papers of Sedgwick county.
NEMAHA COUNTY
Nemaha Courier, Seneca, November 14, 1863. Andreas and the First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue of the Nemaha Courier as November 14, 1863, and support the contention that it was the first newspaper in this county.63 The White Cloud Chief of November 19, 1863, announced the appearance of the first issue as follows :
We have received the first number of the Nemaha Courier published at Seneca, by John P. Cone, formerly of the Sumner Gazette, but more recently of the Marys ville Union.
In 1869 the Nemaha Courier changed its name to the Nemaha Kan- sas Courier, and in 1871 it changed to the Seneca Courier. The paper was Republican in politics. The earliest issue the Society has of this paper is dated October 21, 1869, listed as volume six, number forty- four. The regular file, however, does not start until December 3, 1875.
ALLEN COUNTY
Humboldt Herald, November 25 (?), 1864.
The date of the first issue of the Herald is still uncertain, although Andreas, Wilder, and the First Biennial Report all gave it as No- vember 16, 1864.64 The contemporaneous newspapers in this case, as in so many others, failed to give full information. The Leavenworth Daily Conservative of November 3, 1864, wrote: "The Herald is the name of a paper started at Humboldt, by J. H, Young of Law- rence." From this statement it is impossible to know whether this paper had actually made its appearance or was being established. The Kansas Patriot, Burlington, December 10, 1864, was more defi- nite. It wrote :
We have received No. 1, Vol. 1, of the Humboldt Herald, a paper just commenced at Humboldt, Allen Co.; Bond & Young, Proprietors — Joseph Bond, Editor. It is a six-column sheet, and presents a fair typographical ap- pearance. In politics it is Republican and anti-Fraud. We like the ring of the editorials. They are able, outspoken, sound and correct in sentiment. We heartily welcome this valuable accession to the newspaporial fraternity of the Neosho Valley. Terms, $2.00 per annum.
The earliest number in the Society's meager file of this paper is dated February 3, 1865, and listed as volume one, number nine. If the
63. Andreas, op. cit., p. 946 ; First Biennial Report, p. 335.
64. Andreas, op. cit., p. 672 ; Wilder, op. cit. (1875), p. 392 ; First Biennial Report, p. 95.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 33
Herald was issued regularly once a week, the first issue should have appeared December 8, 1864. However, the first advertisements in the issue of February 3 were dated November 25, 1864. The author is inclined to believe that the first number of the Herald appeared on the date of the oldest advertisements.
Joseph Bond and John H. Young were the publishers, Joseph Bond was editor and John R. Goodin local editor. On March 18, 1926, the Humboldt Union stated that the "Herald was started with John R. Goodin, a young lawyer, later district judge and in 1874 congress- man from this district, who came to Humboldt from Kenton, Ohio, to be its editor. . . . The Herald with Major Joseph Bond as financial supporter, struggled about a year and discontinued." The Union placed the emphasis on its honored citizen.
(To Be Continued in the May Quarterly)
3—7171
The Fourth of July in Early Kansas
1854-1857 CORA DOLBEE
THE Fourth of July was a day of peculiar significance to early Kansas. Following the organization of the territory in 1854, Kansas, in both cause and name, became almost as suggestive of American independence as was the anniversary of the nation's birth. Not only in the territory but in the United States at large citizens were annually mindful of the cause to be settled there. Either they hoped in their Fourth of July observances for Kansas' early sharing in their own type of statehood ; or they refrained from all celebration of their own blessings out of sympathy for the young territory's uncertain fate. During the first years orators in the North waxed warm over her rights to freedom; and in the South toastmasters greeted her as already secured to slavery. Later, when the question of national union superseded the territorial issue of political self- determinism, Kansas' seven-year struggle for freedom proved but a prologue that had prepared the American mind for the Civil War.*
1854
Freedom's secret would'st thou know? Right thou feelest rashly do.
— R. W. Emerson.
Following the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, May 30, 1854, the wave of protest that rolled across the North spent its first force upon the Fourth of July, 1854. People everywhere were indignant. In word and act and symbol they demonstrated their feeling gener- ally. Over a signature of three stars (***) one writer recommended devoting the day to the formation of an anti-Nebraska organization, the sole object of which should be resistance to the extension of slave territory.1 At Lawrenceville, Pa., from fifteen hundred to two thou- sand persons, assembled in an orchard, actually took such a pledge. At the end of a three-hour oration by David Wilmot the audience resolved to vote for no one except "a tried and well known friend of Freedom, who had a heart and a conscience, legs of his own to stand on, and a backbone to resist" the Nebraska outrage.2
*This is the second of three articles entitled "The Fourth of July in Early Kansas." Part I appeared in The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. VIII, pp. 115-139. Part III will appear later.
1. New York Daily Tribune, June 6, 1854.
2. Ibid., July 10, 1854.
(34)
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 35
From Ontario, Ind., came the proposal to hoist the American flag at half mast, draped in black, and under it make "the firm, de- termined, unutterable resolve to battle manfully for Freedom." 3 In Providence, R. I., the common council directed that the bells of the churches be tolled "one hour in the morning, one hour at noon, and one hour at sundown, on account of the passage of the Nebraska bill and the recent proceedings under the Fugitive Slave act." 4 At Painesville, Ohio, a committee of sixteen, that being the number of the nominally free states, proclaimed their determined opposition to the enemies of liberty.5 Henry Ward Beecher was the orator.6
In New York City where the common council appropriated $3,800 for fire-works, powder, band music, and bell chiming,7 Horace Greeley reminded his readers that the Revolutionary contest was still in progress when he wrote: "Alas that we could not all, on an occasion as fit as this, unite in tracing out the essential principles of our fathers' Revolutionary struggle, the fundamental ideas which led . . . to the magnificent destiny we have inherited." 8 At Pierre- pont the citizens resolved "that the bells be tolled and crepe be worn on the left arm" and that the people "concert measures to drive the dark spirit of Slavery back to the infernal regions from whence it came." 9 In Warsaw the bells were tolled "for one hour in solemn and sad remembrance of the spirit of freedom" 10 The citizens then " gave this banner to the breeze: No more Slave Territory! No more Slave States!! No more Slavery!!!"
Chicago also observed the Fourth as a day of mourning, public sentiment against Douglas being so extreme that he canceled his proposed visit to the city.11 Other Western communities also condemned the Nebraska iniquity. One was at Decorah, Iowa. Another was at St. Anthony, Minnesota territory, where the people felt the principle of the bill exposed them also to incursions of slavery, and they urged the formation of a "Holy League of Free- dom." 12
3. Ibid., June 30, 1854.
4. Ibid., June 6, 1854 ; Daily Commonwealth, Boston, June 7, 8, 1854.
5. New York Daily Tribune, June 13, 1854.
6. Ibid., June 15, 1854.
7. Ibid., June 26, 1854.
8. Ibid., July 1, 1854.
9. Ibid., June 28, 1854.
10. Ibid., July 14, 1854.
11. "Webb Scrap Books," v. I, p. 27, reprint from the New York Courier. In library of Kansas State Historical Society.
12. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1854.
36 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In Massachusetts Antislavery feeling and concern for the newly opened West colored most Independence day events.13 Boston con- sidered humiliation and fasting with minute guns on the Common and the tolling of bells;14 but when the day came, people marked it, "not with humiliation for the past," but with joyful hope for the actual equality of men.15 Said the orator, the Rev. A. L. Stone, be- fore the city authorities: "Our sons and daughters must settle these new territories; there must be no laggards in the race for freedom; we must admit no more slave states." 16 At Salem, Anson Burlin- game answered his own question, "Can we remove the evil?" by quoting Col. James Miller at Lundy's Lane, " 'We can try.' " 17 Worcester would have every true son of America sign the Declara- tion anew.18 North Woburn erected a new liberty pole and in- augurated it at 6 a. m.19 In Pepperell the people burned effigies of President Pierce and Judge E. G. Loring.20 Montague burned four effigies and had a mock slave hunt.21 William Lloyd Garrison, the Abolitionist, won decided approbation at Framingham for burning Judge Loring's decision and the Fugitive Slave act itself, but his consigning of the Constitution to a similar fate met with disgust, indignation, and some hisses.22 In the same meeting Henry David Thoreau took the people of Massachusetts ironically to task for their too manifest concern over Kansas and Nebraska.
I had thought that the house was on fire, and not* the prairie; . . . though several of the citizens of Massachusetts are now in prison for attempting to rescue a slave from her own clutches, not one . . . expressed regret for it. ... It was only the disposition of some wild lands a thousand miles off which appeared to concern them. . . . There is not one slave in Ne- braska; there are perhaps a million slaves in Massachusetts. . . . What should concern Massachusetts is not the Nebraska bill nor the Fugitive Slave bill, but her own slaveholding and servility.23
While Massachusetts was smarting a little from reproach of her own countryman, and the rest of the North was trying to evince its sympathy for the Kansas-Nebraska cause, the South was hastening on the burial day of its own peculiar institution. Sen. Robert
13. The Daily Transcript, Worcester, Mass., July 6, 1854.
14. Daily Commonwealth, Boston, June 7, 8, 1854.
15. Ibid., July 4, 5, 1854.
16. Ibid., April 22, July 6, 1854.
17. Ibid., July 5, 22, 1854.
18. The Daily Transcript, Worcester, Mass., July 4, 1854.
19. Daily Commonwealth, Boston, July 12, 1854.
20. Ibid., July 7, 1854.
21. The National Era, Washington, D. C., August 24, 1854.
22. Daily Commonwealth, Boston, June 30, July 5, 1854.
23. New York Daily Tribune, August 2, 1854.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 37
Toombs of Georgia announced a sale of 130 negroes for July 4.24 E. Marston of Columbus, Ga., wrote Horace Greeley, July 3: "You anti-Nebraska men seem to think that you'll kill the Fourth of July dead by not celebrating it in Rhode Island ; but we intend to keep it up here." 25 Toasts at the Southern celebrations in 1854 seemed "excessively stupid" to the Northern press.26 A correspondent of the Boston Commonwealth, therefore, recommended for Southern use the sentiment, "The Fourth 'of July — The feast of Freedom, prepared by slaves,'"27 At Plattsburg, Mo., a large meeting of citizens in the courthouse, July 3, resolved "to countervail the machinations of the Northern Abolitionists in Kansas." 28
In the much discussed, newly organized territories themselves several happenings marked the arrival or passing of July 4, 1854. Only three of the events, however, were in the nature of social cele- brations, and two of those were in what is now Nebraska. The one in Kansas, moreover, was under the auspices of the anti-Abolition- ists of Missouri. Only the plans for it survive.
Announced as a general territorial convention at Salt creek valley, near the trading post of Mr. Kivaly,29 the gathering was to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence and an address by Charles Grover.30 An ample public dinner would follow. Although the preliminary meeting at Whitehead's on June 24 had referred to the people as "settlers of Kansas Territory," the resolutions they adopted were Southern in spirit, favoring squatter sovereignty and refusing protection to any Abolitionist settler,31 and the persons in- vited were "citizens of Missouri generally." Afterward one Mis- souri editor wrote, "The Fourth appears to have been celebrated with much spirit in all directions," 32 but he did not mention specifi- cally the Salt creek valley observance. Business as well as politics and pleasure no doubt marked the day, for the books of the Doni- phan county commissioners show that entry number 18 for a claim
24. A copy of the advertisement of the sale appeared in an editorial in the Daily Com- monwealth, Boston, July 14, 1854, and gave the number as between 90 and 100. See, also, New York Daily Tribune, July 11, 1854.
25. New York Daily Tribune, July 11, 1854.
26. Daily Commonwealth, Boston, July 19, 1854.
27. Ibid., July 3, 4, 1854.
28. Kansas Historical Collections, v. XV, p. 382.
29. Different records spell this name variously, as Kivally and Rively (probably M. Pierce Rively).
30. The Democratic Platform, Liberty, Mo., June 22, July 20, 1854 ; Industrial Luminary, Parkville, Mo., June 27, 1854, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. I, p. 42; also New York Daily Tribune, July 4, 1854.
31. The Democratic Platform, July 20, 1854. Andreas, A. T., History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), pp. 472, 473, says that on June 24 they formed the "Squatter Sov- ereign Association."
32. The Democratic Platform, July 27, 1854.
38 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
near Whitehead bears the date of July 4, the claimant, Andrew J. Branson, having begun his residence there March 28, 1854.33 July 4, 1854, was also the day on which Sen. David R. Atchison and a few of his Platte county friends chose the site of Atchison and dedicated the new town.34
For a second time on a Fourth Wm. H. Goode, who was at Shawnee mission in 1843, rode into Kansas [City, Mo.] on horse- back and crossed to the Kansas side in a skiff, this year to visit the Wyandots. Kansas [City] was "now a thriving town driving a heavy trade with the plains." At the Wyandot settlement the visitor was satisfied to find the Rev. John M. Chivington, regularly appointed missionary, in possession of the Methodist mission farm. He, therefore, had no leisure to speculate upon the seemingly ominous coincidence of his arriving twice successively in Kansas City "on the day consecrated to freedom, in connection with the struggle for freedom then commencing in that region." 35
Jotham Meeker, who had been in Kansas for every Fourth of July since 1834,36 set out in his wagon July 3, 1854, for Westport, in company with J. Miller. He encamped on the prairie for the night of July 3 and arrived at his son-in-law's on July 4, to visit his daughters and his grandchildren.37
On this same Fourth of July eve a much larger expedition of the military encamped on Grasshopper creek, Kansas territory, en route from Fort Leavenworth to New Mexico. Under command of Col. Thos. F. Fauntleroy the party consisted ;of "regimental head- quarters, the band, and companies B and D 1st Dragoons," with 79 civilians employed as teamsters, drovers, and overseers to care for the "400 upwards public horses" of the quartermaster department.38 For so large an expedition both the soldiers and band must have made some due recognition of the Independence day to dawn on the morrow, but both Colonel Fauntleroy and Sgt. P. G. Lowe were too concerned over their extensive charge and their inadequate pro- vision for its care to note the patriotic significance of the day.
33. Andreas, op. cit., pp. 472, 473.
34. Ibid., pp. 369, 370. On July 20, 1854, Dr. J. H. Stringfellow and other friends agreed upon the same site.
35. Goode, Wm. H., Outposts of Zion (Poe and Hitchcock, Cincinnati, 1864), pp. 248, 249.
36. Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. VIII, pp. 122-138.
37. Meeker, Jotham, "Journal," v. Ill, p. 144, entries of July 3, 4, 1854, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
38. Headquarters of the Army, v. 178, pp. 21, 22; Books of Various Departments, 1817- 1861, v. 153, pp. 29, 42: General Order No. 3, Headquarters of the Army, April 7, 1854, and Special Orders Nos. 27 and 51, Department of the West, April 18 and June 20, 1854. Thos. F. Fauntleroy, letter, Grasshopper creek, Indian territory, July 3, 1854, Adjutant Gen- eral's Office, Document File 119-F-1854. Notes supplied by P. M. Hamer, National Archives, Washington, D. C.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 39
Sergeant Lowe enumerated besides the troops, many officers, some families, a huge supply train, and "600 extra horses led on strings of about forty horses each." 39
Nebraska territory had more conventional Independence day ob- servances. At Belleview a delightful repast at Mr. Robinson's marked the first Fourth kept in the new settlement.40 Native and cultivated products of Nebraska constituted the meal; among them were fresh meat, new potatoes, peas, various kinds of garden sauce, wild gooseberries and raspberries, with a "good cup of coffee" and "plenty of pure ice-water." Toasts followed the food.41
On the site of what is now Omaha a party of lowans celebrated the Fourth with a bountiful picnic.42 They requisitioned a wagon to convey their supplies to and from the ferry. The wagon also served as speaker's stand for the program. Two blacksmith's anvils were used to fire the salute. Just as H. D. Johnson had begun his oration, Indians appeared and broke up the gathering, lunch baskets and anvils being piled into the wagon and the audience fleeing to- ward the ferry.
1855
In Freedom's glorious cause we band,
Nor care to ask where man was born, . . .
— W. L. G 43
By July 4, 1855, the attitude of the nation toward the Kansas- Nebraska question had become largely political. Expressions of sympathy in the North were no doubt sincere, but to make their utterances efficacious, writers and speakers found it expedient to look to the polls. To the editors of the New York Tribune the ques- tion confronting the Union was a fortunate trial of its virtues. Should the unmeasured territories of the plains be peopled by repre- sentatives of Freedom or of Slavery? "We hope and pray . . . that every citizen who hears the Declaration of Independence read this day, . . . will . . . resolve that the Fourth of July of 1856 shall find the policy of the Nation restored to the immortal principles with which it set out on the Fourth of July, 1776." 44
39. Lowe, Percival G., Five Years a Dragoon (Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., Kansas City, Mo., 1906), p. 158.
40. New York Daily Tribune, August 30, 1854.
41. Dick, Everett, The Sod House Frontier (Appleton-Century, N. Y., 1937), p. 75, Foot- note 20.
42. Wakeley, Arthur C., Omaha: The Gate City and Douglas County. Nebraska (S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1917), v. I, pp. 77, 78.
43. The Liberator, Boston, July 6, 1855, "Human Brotherhood," by William Lloyd Gar- rison.
44. New York Daily Tribune, July 4, 1855.
40 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
New York called for a Republican state convention, D. R. An- thony being the signer from Monroe county.45 In the interior of the state friends of Freedom and Temperance united to celebrate the national holiday "with unwonted spirit." At Ogdensburgh they planned to dig the grave of alcohol and to consecrate the altar of Freedom anew.46 In a political address at Bedford, Mass., ex-Gov. Edward Kent of Maine asserted his determination to devote his power and means to the cause of human freedom, to redress the enormous wrong to the North, and to offer himself, if necessary, as a victim.47 R. W. Landis, in a speech at Paterson, N. J., "char- acterized the recent Proslavery outrages as they deserved, and gave that antique order, the Doughfaces, such a drubbing as they will not soon forget." 48 At Cincinnati, Ohio, the Rev. C. B. Boynton, author of A Journey Through Kansas; With Sketches of Nebraska,*9 drew editorial condemnation upon himself for a two-hour Independence day defense of the Protestant crusade against the Catholics and In- fidels, too frankly a plank of the Know-Nothing platform.50 In Painesville, Ohio, Horace Mann used liberty as "his mighty theme" for the Fourth of July oration. The local Telegraph wrote that "he quietly thrust his Ithuriel spear through those philosophers who measure a man's right to the liberties and privileges of manhood . . . by the length of his heel-bones, the depression of his nose, the kink of his hair, and the color of his rete mucosum." 51
Already in 1855, the South was divided in its keeping of the day. At Berea, Ky., "J. S. D." wrote of "a Liberty celebration of the Fourth in a slave state." In an address to a large collation of peo- ple Cassius M. Clay "for two hours set forth in bold relief and with telling power the disastrous influence of Slavery . . . and the responsibilities ... of freemen." 52 Farther South, however, in Georgia, a convention was called for July 4 at Milledgeville to nominate a candidate for governor; the preliminary meeting at Co- lumbus in June was, irrespective of party, to form a Southern party "in consideration of the spirit of Abolitionism prevalent at the North." 53
45. Wilder, D. W., Annals of Kansas (T. Dwight Thacher, Kansas Publishing House, Topeka, 1886), entry for July 4, 1855, p. 66.
46. New York Daily Tribune, June 23, 1855.
47. Ibid., July 9, 1855.
48. Ibid., July 6, 1855.
49. This was the second book written on Kansas territory. It was published December 27, 1854.
50. Type of the Times, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 14, 1855.
51. New York Daily Tribune, July 20, 1855.
52. Ibid., July 17, 1855.
53. Ibid., June 7, 1855.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 41
Many events within Kansas territory itself marked July 4, 1855. A legislature, in name, was in session at Pawnee from July 2 to July 6. The first newspaper in Topeka, a weekly, appeared July 4. In Lawrence John Speer instituted a daily that survived for one week.54 Eight different communities made public recognition of the day. Three had conventional Fourth-of-July celebrations with reading of the Declaration of Independence, patriotic music, oration, public dinner, and toasts. One used the day for a Sabbath school festival. Another had a ball and barbecue. One tried to banish the demon liquor forever from its midst, and another found solace in its use.
The legislature was an anomaly. Two sets of candidates claimed to have won seats at the territorial polls. The Proslavery candidates who had been elected in March and whose election had been de- clared invalid were now in session. They had usurped the places of legitimate representatives chosen by the citizens of Kansas ter- ritory in a subsequent election when the governor had set aside the March election for alleged fraud by Missourians at the ballot boxes.55 On July 4 five ousted members, bearing certificates of elec- tion from the governor, appeared in protest: John Hutchinson, Erastus D. Ladd, Philip P. Fowler, Augustus Wattles, and William Jessee.56 S. D. Houston also spoke in their behalf. John Hutchin- son made lengthy opposition to the majority report of the commit- tee on credentials.57 At the March election he had received 253 votes; his competitor, 800, but 600 were cast by persons from with- out the territory. At the second election the speaker had polled " al- most the unanimous vote"; on certificate of that election, he now claimed his seat. Though his plea was futile, his speech ended with a glowing appeal for the principle of popular sovereignty; a gov- ernment that would allow invasion upon the ballot box, he said, was not a republican government. W. G. Mathias, Proslavery chairman of the committee on credentials, declared the recognized legislators would make this Fourth of July illustrious by asserting their independence of the authority usurped by the governor. "As
54. Wilder, op. cit. (1875), p. 52. A case of cholera reported in Pawnee, July 4, was one reason given for the removal of the legislature from Pawnee, July 6. — Cf. Kansas Historical Collections, v. VII, p. 365.
55. Phillips, W. A., Conquest of Kansas by Missouri and Her Allies (Phillips, Sampson & Co., Boston, 1856), p. 100. The Proslavery candidates contended that the Kansas -Nebraska bill did not empower the governor to call a special election for alleged fraud. They were about to expel M. F. Conwav, Free-Stater, elected in March to the senate, when he resigned. When S. D. Houston, of the house, found himself the only Free-State man remaining among the invaders, he too resigned.
56. Wilder, op. cit. (1875), p. 52.
57. The Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, July 14, 1855 ; Kansas Free State, Law- rence, July 16, 1859.
42 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
long as we live," he said, "this never shall be a Free State." 58 The Kansas legislature, wrote an Ohio paper thereafter, "seems to be little else than an organized mob for the benefit of Missouri slave- holders, whether residing in the State or Territory . . . and yet President Pierce is as silent as an idiot in regard to the matter." 59 The Worcester (Mass.) Transcript declared the "infamy is without a parallel. . . . It is a 'casus' for a civil war"; yet it believed the North would submit.60
When the people of Lawrence first proposed to celebrate this Fourth of July, 1855, in gala way, George W. Brown wrote in an editorial, "About Face," that they were already "an enslaved people, perfectly subjugated." Rather than celebrate he thought they had better "re-adopt the principles of the declaration of independence and . . . extend those principles over Kansas at the sacrifice of 'our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.' " 61 The next week when his paper carried notice of the committee's plans and cordially invited all persons to attend the picnic dinner and exercises, he urged the people to come, armed in defense, to give the expedition from Missouri, rumored as on the way, a warm reception. "Our motto is: If we cannot have an honorable peace, let us have an honorable war."62 Seven days later he wrote, under the caption "Independence":
Independence ! If thy name belong to us, let us wear it honorably ; . . . And if Kansas is today the political focus of our country, what is expected of us ... at such a post? 63
The celebration itself, however, stirred even editorial enthusiasm.64 "A year ago and Lawrence was not." Now, on the morning of the Fourth, her streets looked like those of a thronged city. "Con- gratulatory musketry" announced the dawn. Visitors who had be- gun to arrive the night before gathered in "knots" along Massachu- setts street. Families came in from their claims near by. Delaware and Shawnee Indians drove in in wagon loads. The Topeka band rode down by night to be at the levee for the parade at nine o'clock. Franklin sent its representatives in a large covered wagon, from the top of which floated the national flag, with the figures '76 among the Stars and Stripes. The Blue Mound and Wakarusa neighbor-
58. Kansas Free State, July 16, 1855, speech quoted in an editorial.
59. Type of the Times, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 28, 1855.
60. The Daily Transcript, Worcester, Mass., July 28, 1855.
61. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, June 16, 1855.
62. Ibid., June 23, 1855.
63. Ibid., June 30, 1855.
64. Ibid., July 7, 14, 28, 1855.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 43
hoods formed a procession of their own, consisting of men and women equestrians in double column, seven double wagons driven by seven two-horse teams, and three large ox-wagons fastened to- gether and drawn by eleven yoke of oxen. The grouping of the oxen demonstrated the proverb, "In Union is strength." The wagons were all crowded with seats, chairs, and people who waved aloft flags and colored handkerchiefs. Branches of rose trees and flowers ornamented the horses and the carriages.
From the Governor Robinson home on Mt. Oread, Mrs. Robin- son watched the groups moving in from all directions.65 The gar- lands of leaves and flowers, she wrote, hid the roughness of the vehicles. Dress, distinctive of the place whence they had emigrated, characterized the different groups. Some were from the East; some, from the far West ; others were from Missouri.
An assembly of 1,500 to 2,000 participated in the festivities of the day. Two organized military companies in uniform led the procession through the chief city streets. At eleven o'clock near the Union Hotel the ladies of Lawrence presented a rich silk flag to the militia. As the procession moved toward the platform and seats in Clinton park, Indians ir^ fantastic array fell in line. A trio of them had posts of honor on the speaker's stand. The exercises con- sisted of music, prayer, reading of the Declaration of Independence, speeches, and oration. One of the speeches was an address by Wil- liam Hutchinson on "The Dignity of Labor." 66
In the oration Dr. Charles Robinson alluded to the peculiar cir- cumstances surrounding the settlers in this new and strange country. They had come there to plant anew the institutions of the United States ; but the citizens of Missouri were imposing laws, upon them to force slavery upon the territory.
It is for us to choose . . . what institutions shall bless or curse our beautiful Kansas. . . . Every pulsation in Kansas vibrates to the remotest artery of the body politic, and I seem to hear the millions of freemen and the millions of bondmen in our own land . . . saying to the people of Kansas: "Do your duty! "67
The audience cheered Dr. Robinson heartily. He had made "a most excellent oration, . . . adapted to the times." 68
65. Robinson, Sara T. D., Kansas: Its Interior and Exterior Life (Crosby, Nichols and Co., Boston, 1856), pp. 69, 70.
66. Hutchinson, Wm., "Sketches of Kansas Pioneer Experiences," Kansas Historical Col- lections, v. VII, p. 391.
67. Herald of Freedom, July 7, 1855, Fourth of July "Oration" of Charles Robinson.
68. Miller, J. C., "Diary," March 13-July 4, 1855, MSS. division, Kansas State His- torical Society. Entry for July 4, 1855.
44 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
When the audience called loudly for Indian speakers, Mr. Fish of the Shawnees and Mr. Pechalka of the Delawares responded amid "thunders of applause." 69 Chief Pechalka of the Delawares hoped that the settlers would make Kansas a free state, for he believed that "a set of men who would crush and enslave one class . . . would crush and enslave another if they had the power." 70 They were both glad to see the Northerners coming into the territory, "not with the hatchet and sounds of war," but with the "sweet fruits of peace and civilization." 71
Following the exercises the guests and the officers of the day marched between two lines of military and citizen soldiery to a sumptuous public dinner in the grove. Among the toasts and senti- ments pronounced afterward from the speaker's stand, those on territorial themes are of chief interest today.
Young Kansas — The rights of her citizens trodden down for a brief period, have but aroused her to an appreciation of freedom, and inspired her sons with a spirit and vigor which shall bid defiance to her enemies.
The Day We Celebrate — An epoch in the history of the world, which shall be commemorated as long as the spirit of freedom animates the heart of man.
Lawrence — Its course is onward, and its progress as the city of Kansas a fixed fact.
The Pioneers of Kansas — May they reap the rewards of their toil and priva- tions, by rearing a state which shall be an honor in the galaxy of the American confederacy.
Our Aboriginal Neighbors — . . . May we ever "smoke the pipe of peace" together.
The Laborers of Kansas — The basis of all we are or hope to be.
Of the volunteer toasts one was on the legislature and three were on the territory itself.
The Kansas Legislature — A body alien to our soil, elected by fraud: we are not responsible for their acts, and ask no favors at their hands.
Kansas — [1]. The home of our adoption. . . . [2]. An infant whose growth would astonish Barnum. [3]. Its prosperity and progress are dear to all the friends of freedom. May its fertile soil never be cursed with slavery.72
The day passed quickly, Mrs. Robinson said, but to strengthen more the bonds of social feeling, a party of one hundred or thereabouts gathered in the largest hall in town at night and enjoyed re- freshments of cake and ice cream together.73
69. Herald of Freedom, July 14, 1855.
70. Miller, J. D., "Diary," entry of July 4, 1855.
71. Robinson, Sara T. D., op. cit., p. 71.
72. Herald of Freedom, July 7, 1855.
73. Robinson, Sara T. D., op. cit., p. 71; Andreas, op. cit., p. 318, says there were two social parties at night, one at Union Hall and one at Lykins' Hall, and fireworks on Massa- chusetts street in the evening.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 45
Quiet and harmony had been the proud characteristics of the first Fourth of July in Lawrence. Although toward evening there was some evidence "a distillery could send its foul streams thitherward," the day closed without accident or harm.74 The Kansas Free State criticized the celebration for having a wholly Antislavery oration for a Union celebration of Antislavery and Proslavery participants.75 The Herald of Freedom replied that only two or three Proslavery persons could have been present, and it defended the oration for consistent sentiments upon popular sovereignty.76 Mrs. Robinson characterized her husband's talk as a collection of opinions of Southern men upon the relative value of free and slave labor, that made "a most perfect condemnation of the whole system from their own mouths." 77
One Northerner, Charles Stearns, all of whose anticipations in be- half of a free Kansas had been blasted, would not unite in the celebration of independence, which for the people of Kansas no longer existed; instead, he used the leisure the holiday afforded to call upon Northern fanatics and agitators to redouble their efforts in behalf of Antislavery truth.78
Two events marked the first Fourth of July in Topeka. E. C. K. Garvey and company began publishing the city's first newspaper, The Kansas Freeman, on this day. "The generality of the citizens" observed the holiday by wholesale destruction of the products of the distillery. Having a great antipathy to "whisky," its sale, its use, its existence, they met in the evening on the open prairie and went as a "committee of the whole," to demand of the one liquor dealer in town his entire stock. He would not give it up, but he would and did sell it to them at a stated price. They rolled out the barrels, knocked in the heads, and set fire to the fluid. It " 'went up,' not in a 'blaze of glory,' . . . but in an inglorious blaze of red, fiery rum" The newspaper commented thus :
Without one dissenting voice let the decree go forth from our midst that the demon intemperance shall be forever banished from among us, and . . . our city will ... be the place of wealth and influence in Kansas Territory — founded on a basis firm as the Hill of Hills, old "Bunker Hill," and free as
74. Herald of Freedom, July 14, 1855.
75. Type of the Times, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 28, 1855, criticized The Kansas Free State (July 9, 1855), saying "there seems to have been but one opinion among them on the Slavery question."
76. Herald of Freedom, July 28, 1855.
77. Robinson, Sara T. D., op. cit., p. 70.
78. The Liberator, Boston, Mass., July 27, 1855. In a letter dated July 9, published in The Kansas Free State, July 23, 1855, Stearns wrote that to celebrate without alluding to Anti- slavery was gross hypocrisy, yet to lug the theme in with Proslavery people participating was a breach of faith.
46 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the winds that; sweep our own beautiful prairies — using for our motto the words of the immortal Adams: "Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable." 79
Across the river in Indianola, Samuel J. Reader referred to the event as a " Whisky Riot." 80 Spending most of his holiday in hauling stone and walling up a well, he went in the late afternoon in a wagon to take a neighbor's dog home, shot at a wolf, and saw "Delawares & Potts at Frenchman's drunk." The Indians, return- ing from a hunt, had patronized the liquor dealer freely. The next day, Columbra, the dealer, told Reader that the crowd had spilled three-fourths of a barrel of whisky for him. "They damn rasks."
The Pennsylvania Emigrant Association at Washington, K. T., invited friends and neighbors to participate in formal ceremonies for the Fourth and to partake of a free dinner. "The morning . . . opened bright and lovely, and our widespread prairies seemed to smile with delight upon the first 'Independence day.' ':' A committee had procured a liberty pole and a flag. The program included music, prayer, reading of the Declaration of Independence, a speech by the president on principles of civil and religious liberty, and an oration by W. Y. Roberts, asserting the settlers' desire to govern themselves.
We, . . . the bona fide citizens of Kansas, wish no law of Congress to protect us from ourselves, nor do we wish the assistance of citizens of any other State or Territory, or the "fatherly care" of aid societies, or the force of revolvers or Sharps rifles to teach us the principles or practice of self- government — . . . the people of Kansas will establish a constitution, . . . and very soon shall this "bright particular star" of the west loom out upon our national banner, . . .81
Among the many toasts, both regular and volunteer, that followed the public dinner, provided by the Pennsylvania company, this one on the town itself seemed noteworthy: "Washington — May she be- come the capital of Kansas."
At three-year-old Fort Riley work was under way in all branches in erection of new quarters for the cavalry.82 Manhattan celebrated its first Fourth of July with a picnic. Chestina B. Allen, in her journal, referred also to "a dinner at Mrs. Dyer's, to which we were all invited."83 The day, she said, passed quietly. Reminiscing
79. Herald of Freedom, July 28, 1855, excerpts from The Kansas Freeman.
80. Reader, Samuel J., "Private Journal and Daybook," entries for July 4, 5, 1855, v. Ill, p. 62. — MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
81. Herald of Freedom, July 21, 1855.
82. Lowe, Percival G., "Recollections of Fort Riley," Kansas Historical Collections, v. VII, p. 102.
83. Allen, Mrs. Chestina B., "Sketches and Journal," entry of July 4, 1855.— MSS. divi- sion, Kansas State Historical Society.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 47
thirty-three years later, Isaac T. Goodnow recalled that on this 1855 anniversary his family had pumpkin pies though they had never had them so early since.84 On this day, too, on the town site of Manhattan the blue stem was so high that he could tie it over his head as he sat on his pony.
Council City, now Burlingame, held its first Independence day festival "in a lovely grove" on Dragoon river, but the seats, tables, and speaker's stand had to be inclosed and covered by green boughs.85 The attendance was about seventy-five. In addition to music, prayer, reading of Declaration of Independence, and oration, the program here had an original poem by M. C. Haven, and an original song, "Land of Priceless Liberty/' by Mrs. J. M. Winchell.86 The dinner, provided by mutual donation, was cold but abundant and excellent. "The toasts were drunk in cold water, not a drop of intoxicating liquor being allowed on the ground" Two of the toasts seemed particularly appropriate to the place and time :
Kansas Territory — Late the home of the red man . . . the land of our choice — may she soon add another to the proud constellation of our national banner.
"Council City" — A promising infant — may she soon be able to "go alone . . ."
No toast proposed Council City for the capital of Kansas, but the New York Tribune correspondent believed that the location of the community in what must be the center of the state would neces- sitate its being the permanent capital.87
At Leavenworth City the Sabbath school, composed of "juvenile pioneers" and their teachers, celebrated the day "in fine style." At ten o'clock a procession of children marched through the principal city streets to a grove, where addresses, songs, and a neat repast en- tertained the "scholars." An original song, "We Will Join the Cele- bration," by J. I. Moore, a lawyer of Leavenworth, proved a felici- tous strain for the occasion.88 "The little girls were neatly and taste- fully dressed in white — emblematic of purity — with a bright display of ribbons and wreaths." Their banners bore the inscription, "Our Country's Hope." Pleasure and hilarity characterized the proceed- ings of the day, "and the little 'Masters' and 'Misses' dispersed hav-
84. Goodnow, Isaac T., "Personal Reminiscences and Kansas Emigration, 1855," Kansas Historical Collections, v. IV, p. 251.
85. New York Daily Tribune, July 20, 1855 ; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1531.
86. Copy of this song, as written in 1855 by Mrs. Winchell, with music composed by Lillian Forrest in 1933, is now on file in the MSS. division of the Kansas State Historical Society. The music used in 1855 is not now known..
87. New York Daily Tribune, July 20, 1855.
88. The Kansas Territorial Register, Leavenworth, July 7, 1855.
48 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing drank 'to their heart's content/ of the golden cup of mirth." Their toasts, no doubt spoken by their elders, hoped for Kansas, the rigid maintenance of the doctrine of non-intervention; and as for Leavenworth, "her true destiny is a commercial compeer of Cincin- nati, St. Louis, Chicago and Buffalo."89 Another, on "Sabbath schools," asserted that law-abiding citizens were the only salvation of Kansas.
Delaware planned a "fine Ball and Barbecue" for its Fourth of July, 1855.90 In Atchison, "in absence of the customary facilities for a due commemoration," the editor of the Squatter Sovereign thought "a pleasant pastime . . . would be the hanging of abolitionists." 91 Proslavery in sympathy, he regarded the Northern attempts at organized free settlement as "oppressions sought to be imposed upon us." Subject to such "tyrannical and arbitrary rule," he could not contemplate the holiday with any emotion of pleasure. Later he reported that "On the Fourth there was no observable difference be- tween the Maine Law men and their opponents. Both were observed very busy in 'putting down liquor.' " 92
1856
From the bloody plains of Kansas,
From the Senate's guilty floor, From the smoking wreck of Lawrence,
From our Sumner's wounds and gore, Comes our country's dying call — Rise for Freedom! or we fall.
Speak! ye Orators of Freedom, Let your thunder shake these plains;
Write! ye Editors of Freedom,
Let your lightning rive their chains;
Up! ye Sons of Pilgrims, rise!
Strike ! for Freedom, or she dies !
— From "Song of Freedom."93
Unrest characterized the spirit of the American people at the ap- proach of July 4, 1856, and Kansas was the immediate occasion of the widespread concern. For two years the North and the South had been pouring their emigrants into the territory, each in hope of es- tablishing its favored form of government there. In each group were
89. Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, July 7, 1855.
90. Ibid., June 29, 1855.
91. Squatter Sovereign, Atchison, July 3, 1855, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. IV, p. 254.
92. Squatter Sovereign, August 14, 1855.
93. New York Daily Tribune, July 9, 1856, poem "The Song of Freedom" commemorating the eightieth year of the Republic.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 49
willing leaders and loyal followers who welcomed the publicity at- tendant upon the cause they represented. Many emigrants, however, more interested in the homes they were founding than in the political destiny of the region, found themselves, literally, victims of circum- stance. Caught on the chosen battlefield of the national issue, they not only had to bear indignities of local border strife but they also had to endure public sympathy and public censure. Kansans and the Kansas cause were now the common theme of the common tongue. The press pictured their hardships; editors dwelt on every new injustice; sympathetic friends gave personal letters publication; philanthropists and church societies tried to replace material losses with material gifts; and ever politicians brooded over — and talked of — the ultimate political fate.
The eightieth anniversary of American Independence, therefore, dawned amid circumstances of peculiar solemnity. "It is the crisis of our country's existence, the turning point in her history." 94 In- dorsement by the federal administration of Missourians' invasion of the Kansas ballot boxes and election of a Kansas legislature from their own number had at last stirred the nation. In the North orators and clergymen doubled their efforts in serious defense of freedom. In the South toastmasters and after-dinner speakers treated their views more lightly and briefly, but with feeling that was not all jest.
The North took political action at once. On June 20 the Cleveland convention of Free-State Kansas committees recommended the for- mation of a county committee of Free-State friends of Kansas on July 4.95 The New York State Kansas Committee invited all un- organized counties to call meetings at their courthouses on July 4 to appoint county Kansas committees to aid in the present territorial crisis and to appoint delegates to the adjourned convention to be held in Buffalo, July 9. "Prompt, energetic and concerted action can alone save our brethren in Kansas from starvation, persecution and destruction, and preserve to future generations the immense empire consecrated to Freedom by the Missouri Compromise."
Several counties responded to this call. Eastern towns in Wash- ington county, New York, and western towns in Rutland county, Vermont, held a mass meeting at Fair Haven and set efficient meas- ures "on foot to render substantial aid to Kansas." 96 Ellenville,
94. New York Daily Tribune, July 4, 1856.
95. Ibid., June 28, 1856.
96. Ibid., July 8, 1856.
4—7171
50 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ulster county, celebrated the day on the platform of "Free Speech, a Free Press, and Free Territory." 97 The Onondaga county mass meeting was called at Syracuse to "mingle their sympathies with their friends and brethren in Kansas who . . . will be com- pelled to sit mute and mourn in silence over their Independence lost." This group also asked for a large contribution for Kansas relief.98 Five days later, July 9, 1856, in Buffalo, the friends of Kansas, sent as delegates from the county gatherings of the Fourth, "chose a National Kansas Committee without the Territory, six- teen in number, one from each of the Free States, with supple- mentary working members from Illinois and Kansas." 99 This com- mittee was to act in concert with the Central Kansas Committee of thirteen, chosen July 4, 1856, by the Free-State citizens of Kansas themselves in convention at Topeka.100 In a Republican ratifica- tion of the nomination of John C. Fremont for President, held in Yonkers, July 11, George W. Curtis "asked if, when the merry Fourth of July bells were ringing, the people of the North did not hear the wails of their suffering-brethren in Kansas, and when every- thing betokened peace around them they did not feel that there was no peace." 101
At Paterson, N. J., July 4, A. Oakey Hall of New York, likened the present contest for freedom of a new colony in Kansas to the Revolutionary contest to free the American colonies.102 He re- viewed recent outrages in the territory, and he disapproved the President's being empowered to appoint commissioners to determine the fate of Kansas.
Massachusetts manifested much sympathy in the cause she had already generously furthered. As early as June 1, the Rev. Edward N. Kirk of Boston proposed keeping the Fourth of July as a day of national humiliation and prayer; "for," said he, "surely we shall feel more of shame and fear than of pride and hope at the next recurrence of that day." 103 Reported observances seem to have been of more secular nature than Mr. Kirk recommended. At Spring- field the friends of freedom and Fremont celebrated in spirited man- ner,104 although Charles Sumner declined their invitation to give the
97. Ibid., July 9, 1856.
98. "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIII, p. 227, unidentified clippings.
99. New York Daily Tribune, October 11, 1856, letter from Thaddeus Hyatt.
100. Twelve of these thirteen represented the twelve districts into which Kansas was divided; the thirteenth person was from Lawrence.
101. New York Daily Tribune, July 12, 1856.
102. Ibid., July 8, 1856.
103. Ibid., June 24, 1856, excerpt of a sermon delivered June 1, 1856.
104. Ibid., July 8, 1856.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 51
address. In Abington G. P. Lowery, private secretary of ex-Gov- ernor Reeder, addressed a political convention on the outrages to Free-State men in Kansas; John A. Andrew of Boston also spoke on the mischief of the Nebraska bill and asked for sympathy and ma- terial aid for Kansas.105 All friends of freedom here were invited to join the Plymouth county organization. Citizens of Easthampton abandoned their arrangements for a Fourth of July celebration and appropriated the money, raised for the occasion, to Kansas; the Kansas subscription there reached nearly $1,200.106 The North parish of Greenfield, after hearing its pastor, the Rev. Dr. Chandler, make an excellent address on Kansas affairs, contributed $23 "to aid the suffering free state emigrants in that territory." 107
In Vermont the impulses toward Kansas were all generous. The "Ladies of Burlington" held a Kansas levee on July 4, at which they sold food and flowers all day for the benefit of freedom in Kansas.108 They decorated their Union Hall with wreaths of ever- green and mottoes lettered in green cedar; beneath a large spread eagle was "Love thy neighbor," "Who is my neighbor?", "Aid for Kansas," and "Remember the widow and the fatherless." Ice- cream, strawberries, and more substantial viands were the foods offered. People flocked in from adjacent towns making the lively day a "never-to-be-forgotten Fourth." The sale netted between five and six hundred dollars, "a very handsome amount which will carry relief and encouragement to many a needy dwelling in Kan- sas." At Danby, when the Rev. Jason F. Walker, in his Fourth of July discourse, referred to Kansas and urged upon Vermonters their duty at the ballot box, the enthusiastic response from the thousand sunburnt faces was "a glorious augury for the cause of human Liberty." 109
Sen. William Bigler, speaking in Independence Square, Philadel- phia, on the Kansas question and the state of society in Kansas, asserted "the difficulties in Kansas were the inevitable consequences of the undue officiousness of outsiders. Fanatical abolitionists on the one hand and fire-eating Southerners on the other."110 But Pennsylvania had become skeptical of Fourth of July celebrations,
105. The Atlas, Boston, Mass., July 7, 1856, "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, p. 89.
106. Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, July 12, 1856, excerpt from Sprinefield (Mass ) Republican.
107. Springfield (Mass.) Republican, July 9, 1856, "Webb Scrap Books," v. X3V, p. 138.
108. The Free Press, Burlington, Vt., July 5, 1856; The Atlas, Boston Mass July 9 1856; Springfield (Mass.) Republican, July 9, 1856, in ibid., pp. 75, 138, and 139.
109. New York Daily Tribune, July 14, 1856.
110. Daily Pennsylvanian, Philadelphia, July 9, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, pp. 143, 144.
52 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
letting them collapse. The reason, wrote "W. H. F." to the New York Tribune, "may be ... that as a people we are not sincere. We have lied away our inheritance. When we wrote the Declara- tion ... we were not prostituted to Slavery." m At Clark- ville, Pa., when a clergyman tried to address a Fourth of July gathering of all parties, in "regular abolition, disunion harangue" and referred to the President as "a murderous villain," the audience simultaneously forced him to sit down.112
In Washington, D. C., where the report of the Kansas investigat- ing committee had just been published, revealing a state of things one hundred-fold worse than was expected, the day was a sad Fourth of July. "Instead of liberty," wrote "Daniel" of The Morn- ing Star, "slavery surrounds us. ... The Fourth of July, is it? ... On this very day our brethren are in prison in Kan- sas, for speaking and acting for freedom — not for violating any law of this land!"113
For a third time Painesville, Ohio, heard of the needs of Kan- sas on a Fourth of July. On this occasion Gov. Salmon P. Chase talked of the wrongs and the remedy.114 The wrongs to the new territory were greater than those to the young nation eighty years ago ; the effective remedy now, however, was not revolution, but the peaceful use of the ballot.
Two Wisconsin communities manifested their sympathy July 4. The neighborhood of Waupun, Dodge county, raised "over a thou- sand dollars" in response to an appeal for Kansas.115 The editor of The Sentinel, wrote: "The heart of the people beats warmly for Freedom everywhere." In Burlington, Racine county, a political gathering sympathized with "the Freemen of Kansas in their heroic struggle to maintain those rights of American citizens," established in 1776, by reversing the national flag as a signal of distress and by resolving to support through the candidates of the Republican party the "sacred rights of Humanity, . . . treacherously betrayed on the soil of Kansas by the Sham Democracy of Pierce, Douglas, Buchanan, & Co." 116
In Iowa the State Central Committee for the benefit of Free Kansas, July 4, 1856, issued a circular announcing the establishment
111. New York Daily Tribune, July 9, 1856.
112. Squatter Sovereign, Atchison, August 12, 1856.
113. Manchester (N. H.) Democrat, July 23, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 100-102.
114. New York Daily Tribune, July 10, 1856.
116. Fountain City Herald, Fond du Lac, Wis., July 15, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, p. 225.
116. Daily Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wis., July 16, 1856, in ibid., p. 236.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 53
of the Lane trail through Iowa and Nebraska, an overland route planned by James H. Lane and other territorial leaders for safer passage of Northern emigrants to Kansas.117 One of a party of emi- grants en route to Kansas that day entered in his diary in Keokuk county, "Today . . . men on their road to Kansas are com- pelled to carry arms for the preservation of their rights." 118 He was Richard J. Hinton, then himself carrying arms supplied through Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
All the Southern sentiment expressed on the Fourth of July, 1856, and now preserved, is in the form of toasts following conventional celebrations of the day. At Grahamville, S. C., the constitution of the United States was "The apple of discord"; the Union was "Nominal in form but dissolved in spirit"; and Kansas — "May her streams become rivers of blood and her forests charnel houses, be- fore her soil shall be contaminated and her atmosphere polluted by the free soil partisans of the North." 119
The toasts at Healing Springs, S. C., were not only politically Democratic but frankly anti-Republican.
Massachusetts — We have always beaten her in the debates on the Union. We have whipped her in Kansas, and we have caned her in the Senate Hall.
The Hon. P. S. Brooks — May the cause of Southern Brooks ever flourish over the growth of Northern Free Soil.
Gen. Atchison — Hoping that he may live to see Kansas a Slave State in the Union or out of the1 Union.
Kansas Strike while the iron is hot —
Strike with men and means; And let the Yankees see we've got The right to hold the reins.™
The Milwaukee Sentinel commented satirically upon the "sectional" character of these sentiments voiced by the "Sham Democracy" that called itself the only "national party." 121
At the Sandy Level Church in the Fairfield district, South Caro- lina, Kansas was "The lovely spot where the issue must be de- cided. May the South send an enlightened and intelligent emigra- tion thither." The Fairfield district gathering also toasted Preston S. Brooks as one of Carolina's "'distinguished representatives"; and Franklin Pierce, as "the fearless advocate of the Constitution." 122
117. Connelley, W. E.f "The Lane Trail," Kansas Historical Collections, v. XIII, pp. 268, 269; Pride, W. F., The History of Fort Riley (1926), p. 119.
118. Hinton, Richard J., "Journal," entry, July 4, 1856. — MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
119. The Atlas, Boston, Mass., July 18, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, p. 27.
120. Daily Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wis., July 26, 1856, in ibid., p. 130.
121. Ibid.
122. New York Daily Tribune, July 11, 1856.
54 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Charleston held a spirited celebration. The great struggle going on in the Western territory between slavery and Abolitionism was the theme of "noble" spokesmen. They alternated praise of Presi- dent Pierce and their congressmen with varied sentiments on Kan- sas and Kansans. Missouri, "Beset by hordes of Northern Aboli- tionists from without, and ingrates and traitors within," was "the Banner State of the South." South Carolina herself "Brooks no in- sult, and when one is offered . . . resents in a Sumnery man- ner." Atchison received gratitude for his faithfulness to the South and his kindness to Carolinians. Of the nine toasts on Kansas, these seemed to voice the general attitude :
Kansas — The Star in the West; it points the way to the salvation of the South.
Kansas — Clouds and darkness attend her dawn. May they not prefigure a brilliant meridian when, as a bright particular star, she enters the Southern constellation?
Kansas — It has risen like the ghost of Banquo, to sear the eyeballs of rampant fanaticism; but ere they clutch it, they must cross many Brooks whose Caney growth will resist them.
Kansas — The Marathon of Southern Institutions; when Slavery is extermi- nated there by Sharps rifles the South may prepare for the same kind of moral suasion for its abolition nearer home.123
The last sentiment alone, and it "by the Chair," seemed under- standing and prophetic.
Within Kansas territory itself the citizens awaited the arrival of July 4, 1856, with even greater concern than had the sympathetic nation. Topeka was the center of interest, for there, at noon, was to reassemble the Free-State legislature adjourned March 1. Or wasn't it to reassemble? Thereby hung the tale; therein lay the common anxiety.
New border warfare threatened.124 Proslavery men had arranged muster and review drills for Lecompton, Tecumseh, and Atchison on July 4.125 Rumor to the effect that James H. Lane was bringing in a large force from the north had agitated the Missouri border to try "to march 400 Missourians of baser sort to Topeka." 126 Lieuten- ant Mclntosh of Company E, First cavalry, intercepted this plan on July 4.127 Meantime, federal troops from Fort Riley and Fort
123. Ibid.; Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, August 2, 1856.
124. Clark, Edward, letter, Lawrence, June 21, 1856, to "Dear Gen'l [C. K. Holliday, To- peka]," in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society. Lawrence merchants offered to send a supply of flour to Topeka for use at the anniversary gathering, provided Topeka could get it safely there and could furnish water-tight storage.
125. New York Daily Tribune, July 2, 1856.
126. Daily Tribune, Detroit, Mich., July 15, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, p. 227.
127. The Atlas, Boston, Mass., July 24, 1856, in ibid., v. XV, p. 131.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 55
Leavenworth, under command of Col. E. V. Simmer, concentrated around Topeka, presumably to maintain "Law and Order" there. When Acting Governor Woodson had first conferred with Colonel Sumner about the proposed assembly of the legislature, the col- onel had advised the presence in Topeka of a justice of the peace and a marshal to join Major Sedgwick in drawing writs on all the members of the legislature the minute they assembled. Wood- son, however, asked Sumner to come with two troops. Accord- ingly he concentrated five companies and two pieces of artillery there on July 3.128
Preliminary to the legislative assembly the Free-State party met in convention in Topeka July 2-4, with headquarters in the new hotel.129 On July 2 the delegates met by districts; on July 3-4 they held a mass convention.130 Some 800 persons were in attend- ance, among them many members of the legislature. Only from the settlements near by, however, had people ventured to come in numbers. Fear of border depredation in their own communities had detained many at home.131
The Free-State legislators had come to Topeka resolved to hold their legislative meeting in spite of any Border-Ruffian interfer- ence.132 Many of them brought in arms privately, though they did not mean to appear with them unless necessary. Some laid double floors in wagon bottoms and packed weapons between; others hid them under loads of wood, hauled in "for sale." 133 Both the legislature and the assembled people, however, now resolved to offer no resistance to the government troops. Gov. Charles Robin- son, in prison near Lecompton, sent instructions to make no opposi- tion unless the troops wantonly fired on the legislature or the people ; and, if ordered to disperse, they should disperse.134
July 3 and 4 the mass convention carried on its business. It passed resolutions indorsing the state movement and the Topeka constitution. It elected the Kansas State Central Committee to determine, among other things, upon the management and control of
128. Shindler, Henry, "Manuscript of the History of Fort Leavenworth," pp. 251, 252.
129. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856.
130. The Kansas Tribune, Topeka, July 9, 1856; Chapman, J. Butler, letter to "Dear Will," written in Kansapolis, K. T., July 6, 1856. Typescript of letters from J. B. Chapman, printed in the Northern Indianian (July 31, 1856), supplied by George A. Nye of Warsaw, Ind., who owns the file.
131. New York Daily Tribune, July 10, 1856. In his Conquest of Kansas, p. 393, W. A. Phillips says there were fewer than 800 Free-State men, besides the legislators in Topeka.
132. New York Daily Tribune, July 12, 1856.
133. The Semi-Weekly Times, New York, July 22, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, p. 82.
134. New York Daily Tribune, July 10, 1856.
56 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the Free-State party. It memorialized congress to admit Kansas into the Union.135
On the afternoon of July 3 people learned that the military force about the town was itself to forbid the assembly of the legislature. Both branches of the legislature met on July 3 and resolved to as- semble in regular session, agreeable to adjournment, at noon on July 4 136 The business transacted here secretly, by authority of Acting Gov. John Curtis, was to be security for the perpetuation of their power lest they be prevented from meeting the next day.137
Topeka was full of people both indoors and out. To one young man it "look[ed] lively, animated with the tents of volunteers, the covered wagons and camp fires scattered all about, and the scores of horses picketed in every vacant space near them." 138 Holiday cele- bration began on the evening of July 3 when the "ladies of Topeka" presented a banner of white silk, lettered in blue, to a military com- pany of the city. The men wore uniforms of white pants, blue shirts, and Kossuth hats.
The morning of the Fourth broke cloudily, but fresh prairie breezes soon blew the clouds away.139 "Naturally a more beautiful, polit- ically a more important day, never rose in Kansas," wrote James Redpath.140 At sunrise the army artillery fired a cannon thirteen times in salute.141 Flags floated from every public building. "Franklin Pierce was found hung in effigy at the back of one of the outhouses." 142 Armed, determined men filled the streets.143 Martial music and gruff commands mingled with the tramp of drill and the roar of firearms. Half a dozen military companies paraded about. Women promenaded with little banners flying from their parasols.144 Ladies from Lawrence waved on the tops of their sunshades the United States flag embroidered for the occasion and trimmed in mourning.145
Gaiety and assumed indifference ill concealed the suppressed ex- citement with which people awaited the crucial noon hour. The convention, gathered around the hotel, however, continued the
135. The Kansas Tribune, Topeka, July 9, 1856.
136. Gihon, John H., Geary and Kansas (Chas. C. Rhodes, Philadelphia, 1857), pp. 45, 46 ; Phillips, op. cit., p. 396.
137. Chapman, J. B., letter to "Dear Will," Kansapolis, July 5, 1856.
138. New York Chronicle, July 26, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, p. 142.
139. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856.
140. Daily Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wis., July 17, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, p. 2.
141. New York Daily Times, in ibid., pp. 82, 83.
142. Semi-Weekly Tribune, New York, July 18, 1856, in ibid., p. 34.
143. Hartford Courant, July 23, 1856, in ibid., p. 93 ; Chapman, J. B., letter to "Will." July 5, 1856.
144. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856.
145. Ibid., July 30, 1856.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 57
semblance of business. About nine o'clock messengers from "the Northern States" arrived with word that "the people of the North were not prepared to stand by us in resisting the federal govern- ment." 146 At ten o'clock Marshal I. B. Donalson and Judge Rush Elmore, mistaking the assembly for the legislature, interrupted pro- ceedings to read proclamations of the President and the governor for dismissal.147 Learning their error, they retired in chagrin, the lanky, jean-clad figure of Donalson with "iron-grey whiskers and imbecile- looking eyes" 148 leading the way back to his Proslavery accomplices — S. D. Lecompte, Judge Sterling G. Cato, and Sec. Daniel Wood- son — now in the camp of Colonel Sumner. The convention mean- time resumed its business.
The day and the temperature advanced together. Toward twelve o'clock the thermometer stood at 100°. Crowds milled through the streets. The band played. Companies F and G of Topeka marched to the legislative hall where the ladies were now to present Com- pany G with a banner bearing the inscription, "Our lives for our rights."
Then word came that Colonel Sumner was approaching in full military array, with the battle flag flying.149 Beside him, at the head of the procession, was the military band; and close behind were three squadrons of dragoons and two loaded brass cannon," with their muzzles pointing down the street, the gunners at their stations, and the slow matches lighted and burning." The army surgeon had his case of instruments open, ready for use.150 A com- mittee from the convention at once waited upon Colonel Sumner to inquire whether he meant to disperse the convention or disband the local military companies. He replied that he would disperse only the legislature. Some one then gave three cheers for Colonel Sum- ner; James Redpath proposed three cheers for Governor Robinson; and some one else, three cheers for Liberty. Since the camp was only 200 yards out of town, the dragoons debouched rapidly into Kansas avenue, formed into position, and pressed upon the Topeka companies at once, the latter stepping out of rank only far enough
146. The Daily Transcript, Worcester, Mass., July 24, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 110, 111.
147. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856. The proclamations read were three: That of Pres. Franklin Pierce, February 11, 1856, for preservation of constituted authority in the territory of Kansas ; the second, the proclamation of Gov. Wilson Shannon, June 4, 1856 ; and the proclamation of Acting-Gov. Daniel Woodson, July 4, 1856. The Woodson proclamation is in the New York Daily Tribune, July 17, 1856.
148. Daily Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wis., July 17, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 2>j o.
149. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856.
IQ \6&* T.hell*£™-Weekly Times, New York, July 18, 1856, and Burlington Free Press, July 19, 1856, m Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 32, 33 and 50. Also, Phillips, op. cit., p. 402.
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not to be trampled on. The band played; the drummers drummed until the drumsticks nearly touched the noses of the advancing horses. One little boy beating the kettledrum, rattled it manfully without even turning to look at the dragoons.151 As Colonel Sum- ner dismounted and walked toward the legislative hall, Mrs. Gates, of Lawrence, said to him, "We have met to present a banner to one of these Topeka companies on the day of our would-be-independ- ence"; and he replied, 'Madame, I hope you will be independent." 152
When he entered the hall to dismiss the house, "the rooms were crowded by the citizens . . . and some ladies, ... to wit- ness the spectacle." To secure a quorum for roll call the sergeant- at-arms had to summon absentees. Then Colonel Sumner read his order for dismissal.
Gentlemen : I am called upon this day to perform the most painful duty of my whole life. Under the authority of the President's proclamation I am here to disperse this Legislature, and therefore inform you that you cannot meet. I, therefore, order you to disperse. God knows that I have no party feeling in this matter, and will hold none so long as I occupy my present position in Kansas. I have just returned from the Borders, where I have been sending home companies of Missourians, and now I am ordered here to disperse you. Such are my orders, and you must disperse. I now command you to disperse. I repeat that this is the most painful duty of my whole life.153
All contemporary reports of the occasion indicate that Colonel Sumner did his duty in a gentlemanly way. He and members of the house exchanged civilities. Judge Philip C. Schuyler asked whether they were to understand the legislature was "driven out at the point of the bayonet." Colonel Sumner replied, "I shall use all the forces in my command to carry out my orders." Then he left the hall, mounted his horse, and was about to ride away when some one reminded him that he had not dismissed the senate.
Entering the senate chamber, he found the members had not assembled; therefore, when he read the order for dispersion, the president, T. G. Thornton, informed him that since they had not convened they could not conform. Colonel Sumner replied that his orders were to prevent their meeting. Then Marshal Donalson brought more ignominy upon himself by threatening every member with arrest, should they try again to assemble. Ignoring this "out- rageous demand," several senators let Colonel Sumner know they would respect his order. J. H. Pillsbury said that since they were
161. Daily Tribune, Detroit, July 15, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, p. 227. A correspondent states that Sumner directed two cannon toward Constitution Hall and four toward the principal street.
152. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856.
153. Ibid.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 59
in no condition to resist United States troops, they would of course have to disperse.
As Colonel Sumner came down stairs, he recognized W. A. Phillips and nodded to him.
"Colonel," said Phillips, "you have robbed Oliver Cromwell of his laurels."
Sumner did not speak, but the expression of his eye clearly indicated what he thought.
He looked startled at first, then serious, angry, and agitated.
He ... saw at once the full enormity of the orders he had been com- pelled to obey. . . .15*
Outside some one cheered for Sumner to let him know the people did not hold him responsible for the order he had just executed. A new American flag, with an extra star in the corner but not in the Union, was hoisted over Constitution Hall.155 Three cheers were then given for the flag, three for the orphan star — Kansas coming into the Union — three for Fremont, followed by three groans for Pierce and the present government. The three groans for Pierce, wrote Dr. John H. Gihon, "fairly shook the building and startled the horses of the soldiers," 156 making them break out of line.
The crisis in an historically eventful day had passed. For Kan- sas and for the nation it was a unique Fourth of July. What was left of the holiday the people of Topeka now settled down to keep in a more traditional way. One reporter asserted Colonel Sumner was under orders to arrest any gathering of people assembled to celebrate the Fourth of July.157 This report must have been er- roneous, for he now proffered use of his cannon and gunners to make noise for a boisterous celebration.158 Some of the boys among the rallied Free-State volunteers "begged the officers, with tears in their eyes, to be led against the dragoons." 159 Many, in their excitement, insulted the soldiers, but no collision ensued. J. S. Emery, one of the men just returned that morning from a tour of the North, said in an address in the afternoon that no great emi- gration would come from the East at present; people were afraid to come. The North was blind to its own interest; it might raise money, but money without men would now be nearly useless to Kansas territory. At night a throng of men and women filled the
154. Daily Sentinel, Milwaukee, Wis., article by James Redpath, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 2, 3.
155. The Semi-Weekly Times, New York, private letter from Topeka, in ibid., p. 81.
156. Gihon, op. cit., pp. 46, 47. See, also, clipping from the Chicago Democratic Press, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 32, 33.
157. New York Daily Tribune, July 12, 1856, excerpt from Chicago Tribune.
158. Daily Tribune, Detroit, July 15, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, p. 227.
159. The Daily Transcript, Worcester, Mass., July 24, 1856, letter from J. H. M. in ibid., v. XV, pp. 110, 111.
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lower room of Constitution Hall to hear LeGrand B. Cushman, "the renowned vocalist and delineator," of Bloomington, K. T., who kept them "in a roar of laughter." 16°
While Topeka kept the day thus variously, some other com- munities in the territory held their own Fourth of July celebrations. Free-State groups, if near enough, were generally content to share in Topeka affairs; Lawrence willingly went there, arduous as was the twenty-eight mile trip in the heat of July, 1856. 161 Wabaunsee rather reluctantly gave up its first plans for the day when re- quested by Topeka to attend the convention, but at the last only two representatives were able to go, by saddle horses. The rest of the colony then on July 3 hastily and vigorously reconsidered its original plan for celebration. A sunrise salute from the Prairie Guard and display of the American flag ushered in the Fourth. At four o'clock the military escorted a procession of about one hundred to tables spread under an awning on the prairie. Eight women and fifteen children were in the gathering. There were no seats except the grass, but the tools were plentiful, consisting of tin plates, cups, and pans, with all the knives and forks in the company. The food, got up under great disadvantages by George Coe, Esq., consisted of roast and canned beef, cold tongue, baked Indian and rice puddings, pear and apple pies, three kinds of cake, and lemonade. Songs, numerous toasts, and an address by the president, C. B. Lines, constituted the program. At sundown the Prairie Guard fired another salute and then "the boys 'cut up' in a sort of general dance, after a fiddle played by one of the old settlers." 162 Manhattan had its own picnic.163 In Indianola Samuel J. Reader heard the cannon shots morning and noon. He looked through a glass at Topeka; he could see two flags; he realized the legislature was broken up. "No war. Pshaw! on it all." His regret, however, did not deter him from his private pleasures of swimming in the river, gathering berries and cucumbers and play- ing the fiddle. The next day he wrote, "les wars est passe" and noted, as native foods, potatoes, cucumbers, early cherries, and gooseberries.164
160. Kansas Tribune, Topeka, July 9, 1856.
161. The Daily Transcript, Worcester, Mass., July 24, 1856, letter from J. H. M. in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, pp. 110, 111.
162. Daily Palladium, New Haven, Conn., July 24, 1856, in ibid., p. 109. Also, C. B. Lines, "Scrap Book," pp. 84-86.
163. Allen, Mra. Chestina B., "Sketches and Journal," entry of July 4, 1856.
164. Reader, Samuel J., "Private Journal and Daybook," v. Ill, p. 86, entries of July 4, 5, 1856.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 61
At Lecompton observance began with a discharge of cannon to salute the rising sun; a procession, conventional exercises, a free barbecue, toasts, and sentiments filled the day, spent in a grove where "luxuriant foliage formed grateful protection against the warm beams of the meridian sun"; and at night in a hall in the Lecompton hotel "our beaux and belles engaged themselves to the fullest extent," 165
Allen county held a celebration just south of Cofachiqui where the twenty settlers mashed down the tall bluestem and seated themselves a la Indian to hear a young lady read the Declaration and Gen. William Barbee of Fort Scott deliver an oration. When the orator developed the drunken hiccoughs so badly that he could not talk, the people called for "Rice, and more Rice," mean- ing Cyrus R. Rice, Methodist missionary to the Indians. At this juncture Chief Townmaker with twenty-odd Osage braves rode up to "swap." For "flour, hoggie meat and bac" the braves all engaged in a war dance to the accompaniment of two tin whistles, a tam- bourine, and a long-handled gourd with pebbles in it, each dancer flourishing a tomahawk and scalp. When the white women be- came so frightened that they wanted to leave, the Indians ended the dance with war whoops. Then Townmaker proposed a smoke, for which he used his own tomahawk pipe, first taking a puff him- self, wiping the stem on his shirt, and then passing it around for every one else in the circle, Indian and white, to follow his example.166
To keep the nation's birthday in Anderson county Free-State settlers assembled under a large oak tree at the cabin of W. L. Frankenberger, about two miles east of Garnett, where C. E. Dewey read the Declaration; H. H. Williams, Capt. Samuel Anderson, and Judge James Y. Campbell delivered orations; and the women sang patriotic songs. Judge Campbell felt a settled gloom on every one. W. A. Johnson likened the people in this "new and wild country" to the Pilgrim Fathers and commended their "Christian fortitude" in trying to found a free commonwealth.167 At Osawatomie a fallen oak tree served for seats for a celebration on the open prairie. Indians of confederated tribes near by dressed in their best attire,
165. Richmond Whig, July 22, 1856, letter from Lecompton, K. T., in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, p. 87.
166. Rice, Cyrus R., "Experiences of a Pioneer Missionary," in Kansas Historical Col- lections, v. XIII, pp. 308, 309.
167. Johnson. W. A., History of Anderson County, Kansas (Kauffman & Her, Garnett Plaindealer, 1877), pp. 47, 48; Campbell, James Y., First History of Anderson County (Gar- nett Weekly Journal Print, 1876), p. 8 ; Johnson, H., A History of Anderson County, Kansas (Garnett Review Co., Garnett, 1986), pp. 4, 8.
62 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with as many as six silk handkerchiefs flowing from their shoulders, and came riding in on their ponies. The bountiful foods supplied by the settlers held their attention. No one had any whisky. A spring furnished cool water.168 In Leavenworth the children of the different Sabbath schools, with their teachers and other men and women of the city, met at Union Church to hear "a handsome and beautiful address, appropriate to the occasion," by Dr. S. A. Marshal.169 Delaware City marked the day for itself and the surrounding country with a barbecue, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, and speeches; "the beauty and chivalry, the gallant beaux, the old and the young . . . would do honor to older and more densely populated cities." 17°
Merriment and self-righteousness vied for eminence in the ob- servances at Kickapoo and Palermo. Kickapoo centered its events in Salt creek valley which on July 4, 1856, looked "like a paradise on earth," with its waving wheat, its magnificent corn, and its varie- gated wild flowers.171 In this naturally charming setting, the festivities were strangely militaristic. The Fourth regiment of Kan- sas militia paraded through the valley. Maj. M. P. Kivally, with his staff in uniform, the Kickapoo Rangers, and the Union Guards, led the march to the barbecue grounds in "real military style." The large assembly of men and women at the stand listened to formal exercises followed by presentation by the ladies of Kickapoo of a flag, of their own workmanship, to the Kickapoo Rangers. After the dinner, sentiments and patriotic toasts were read from each end of the long table. The day closed with a grand military ball at the American Hotel, where "beauty and chivalry of town and country were in attendance." Prefacing with opinion the story of the holiday in this law-ordered, prosperous squatter area, Leaven- worth editors lamented the fearful commotion now abroad in the land, the wild fanaticism prevailing in certain quarters, and the ap- peal of wily politicians to evil passions in men, but believed the nature of the American government would enable it to weather the crisis.172
The correspondent in Palermo was more blunt, attributing the absence of "broil and battle" in his portion of the territory to freedom from "the curse of any 'Aid Society' interference." The settlers had
168. "Miami County Clippings," v I, p. 3, in library division, Kansas State Historical Society. Once in the article Mr. Brown refers to the year of this celebration as 1855.
169. Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, Juy 12, 1856.
170. Ibid.
171. Ibid.
172. Ibid. For M. P. Kivally aee Footnote 29.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 63
come to this region with families, horses, cattle, and plows to im- prove the country and themselves. While arson and murder had run riot elsewhere, they had quietly engaged in industrial avocations and social quiet. Therefore, on July 4, they had been able to invite "the multitudes" from Doniphan, Whitehead, Wathena, and the intervening country to join with them in harmonious celebration of the birthday of the Republic. As a result the day was "an epoch in Palermo." A band from St. Joseph caused the hills to echo with soul-stirring strains. The Doniphan Blues made "the streets glitter with their polished bayonets and dizzy with their intricate revolu- tions." At ten o'clock the people congregated "in the shadows of some noble elms" for the conventional Independence day exercises. At noon they feasted in the spacious dining hall of the new hotel. Then they removed the cloth, drank toasts, and exchanged senti- ments joyously "until that witching hour that Vesperus woos Terp- sichore, when her votaries assembled in a large room above, and in the maze of dance and whirl of waltz they sped the night, as if by magic, into morning." 173
The Fourth of July, 1856, was over, but word of its occurrences in Kansas had yet to reach the nation. Colonel Sumner wrote, "I consider myself very fortunate in having accomplished my object without using an angry word or receiving one the slightest degree dis- respectful." 174 On July 5, when he passed through Lecompton en route to Leavenworth, he called on Governor Robinson at the prison camp. The Free-State men, he said, had injured their own cause by not dispersing at the reading of the governor's proclamation. Gov- ernor Robinson replied that had he been in Topeka they would not have dispersed until the colonel fired upon them.
On July 4, Mrs. Robinson had written ironically in her diary, "Was there ever such a glorious country as this, with petty tyrants made weak-headed by a little power?" Now, after the call of Colonel Sumner, her next entry was without irony: "Another scene in this dark and tragic drama of crushing out a free people has been en- acted. . . . The people of this mighty nation wear sackcloth and mourning. The star-spangled banner ... is draggled through the blood of those slain, at the bidding of a merciless administration, on Kansas plains." 175 In his Conquest of Kansas W. A. Phillips wrote that the territory was now politically prostrate. "But Kan-
173. The Republican, St. Louis, July 11, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, pp.
174. Shindler, Henry, "Manuscript of the History of Fort Leavenworth," p 253 letter from E. V. Sumner dated August 11, 1856, to adjutant general at Leavenworth.
175. Robinson, Sara T. D., op. cit,, pp. 309, 310.
64 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sas, though conquered by Missouri and her allies, is not yet sub- dued ... a liberty-loving people remain." 176
"For Freedom's battle once begun Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son Though baffled oft is ever won."
On the Fourth and the days immediately subsequent the letter- writers in Kansas began their slow and laborious long-hand task of informing the press and the people of the latest territorial happen- ings. They wrote from Topeka and they wrote from their home towns after their return from the convention. Most of them were Northerners whose correspondence both related and interpreted events. Some of them, attached to metropolitan dailies, sent short messages by telegraph via St. Louis, but the fuller accounts had to depend upon the mails for delivery. Through July and half of August, 1856, the story of the Fourth in Topeka was current in the American press. Letters were printed and reprinted, copied, clipped, quoted and cited, until signatures became almost as well known as the stories and opinions above them.
"Driven out at the point of the bayonet," m the stories read, or "dispersed at the peril of their lives." Thus had a "legislature of the people, legally and lawfully assembled," 178 yielded to Uncle Sam in his game of "playing smash"; 179 or, in the more expressive lan- guage of Stephen A. Douglas, they had "permitted themselves to be 'subdued.'"180 "Popular sovereignty! popular sovereignty!" ex- claimed one writer, "where is its realities, as promised by Douglas and Co.? " 181 Here, in the contested territory for its trial, had a United States marshal with proclamations of the President and two governors annulled "the proclamation of the people, dated July 4, 1776." 182 Four days later the same paper characterized these recent proclamations as "flummery and nonsense," and supposed the dignitaries who read them at the convention must have felt they had come on a fool's errand.183 On the day of dispersal W. A. Phillips in Topeka wrote the New York Tribune that Franklin Pierce had today done what had been done only thrice in history: Cromwell had forcibly dissolved the Long Parliament ; Napoleon with force of
176. Phillips, op. cit., pp. 407, 412.
177. New York Daily Tribune, July 10, 19, 1856.
178. The Courant, Hartford, July 23, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, p. 93.
179. The Daily Spy, Worcester, July 24, 1856, in ibid., p. 111.
180. The Daily Sentinel, Milwaukee, July 25, 1856, in ibid., p. 119.
181. The Republican, Peoria, July 18, 1856, in ibid., p. 22.
182. The Atlas, Boston, Mass., July 24, in ibid., p. 111.
183. Ibid., pp. 161, 152.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 65
arms had dispersed the National Assembly; now Pierce had em- ployed the national troops to drive from a legislative hall the rep- resentatives of a free people.184
One Proslavery eye-witness, using the signature "Raw," wrote from Leavenworth county, July 7, in defense of the use of govern- ment troops to thwart the "treasonable" attempt of the "bogus legis- lature" to reassemble. The local military companies which paraded the Topeka streets under pretext of celebrating the Fourth, he said, were really there secretly to enable this legislature to enact laws and establish a government of its own. The federal interference, he believed, had been completely successful, preventing even assembly with adjournment. The episode was but "the degrading result of the efforts of the Aid Society, and the 'Free-State movement.' " As for the delegates to the Topeka convention, they were all "abolition- ists." He admitted the general cheers in support of Governor Robinson and the groans for President Pierce and Governor Shan- non; but he added satirically that "Notwithstanding they groaned the President in the morning, still, they in the evening, passed a resolution ... to memorialize him." 185
Editors of Northern sympathy at once used the new outrage in their long-continued pleas to evoke aid for ruffian-ridden Kansas. The editor of the New York Times compared the dispersal by Pierce to the entry of Cromwell into the British Commons; but Cromwell was a usurper whereas "Our military dictation ... is per- petrated in a Republic, under forms of law and a written Constitu- tion, ... an admirable comment upon the 'true intent and meaning' of the Nebraska bill." 186 The New York Tribune feared that the high-handed acts of tyranny in Kansas, "each more flagi- tious" than the last, would in their rapid succession dull rather than waken the public sense ; and in comparing the last offense to its only parallel in American history — the Dorr movement in Rhode Island in 1842 — found the Free-State men of Kansas who sought to form a government where no valid government existed, less reprehensible than the Free-Suffrage Rhode Islanders who sought to supplant a legally recognized charter.187 The Detroit Advertiser asserted, in an article called "The Point of the Bayonet," that there was "no
184. New York Daily Tribune, July 19, 1856. W. A. Phillips was the Kansas corre- spondent at this time. Sara T. D. Robinson, op. cit., p. 310, in editions of 1856 refers to the author as "Mr. P." In the edition of 1899, p. 360, she gives the full name "W. A. Phillips." In all editions she quotes his Tribune article of July 19 entire.
185. The Republican, St. Louis, July 11, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XIV, p. 174.
186. The Semi-Weekly Times, New York, July 14, 1856, in ibid., p. 223.
187. New York Daily Tribune, July 10, 1856.
5—7171
66 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
point in geography harder to weather than that, especially for a Yankee people"; and that the American people, though slow to anger, were now indignant at the unprecedented course of govern- ment towards Kansas.188 The Janesville Gazette felt there was still much uncertainty as to the future of this unfortunate territory.189 The Kansas Bulletin also asserted that "The end is not yet." 19° The editors united in believing Colonel Sumner performed his revolting service with reluctance. The Bulletin quoted the New York Eve- ning Post, and expressed doubt that he would be allowed a fair trial.191 Another paper saw the characteristic cowardice of the ad- ministration in its endeavor to evade the odium of the Topeka affair by throwing the whole responsibility upon the military representa- tive.192 The Tribune believed Colonel Sumner had no alternative but retirement from the service.193 The colonel himself, meantime, spent a busy month of August, on leave in New York, corresponding with the War Department over its criticism of his conduct.194
In Kansas territory, meantime, as life settled back into the pre- Fourth routine, the people had detached holiday reminders of vary- ing worth. At Atchison all Proslavery sympathizers feasted jubi- lantly in triumph; at the head of their table was the "blood-red flag" with one lone star, the motto of "Southern Rights" on one side and "South Carolina" on the other — the same flag that first floated on the rifle pits of the Abolitionists and on the Free-State Hotel at Lawrence. They drank toasts to Kansas, which they would make a slave state or die in the attempt; to Atchison, which by the close of 1857 would be the capital of a Southern republic; to Disunion, which was the surest remedy for Southern wrongs; and to the Dis- tribution of Public Lands, one hundred and sixty acres of which they would assign to every Proslavery settler, and to every Aboli- tionist six feet by two.195 On July 5 near the hour and the place of Mrs. Robinson's diary entry about "sack-cloth and mourning . . . for a crushed people," three Proslavery men shot a Free-State man named Hudson, a Quaker, as, he was returning from the convention in Topeka to his home in Lecompton.196 Two days later Governor
188. Daily Advertiser, Detroit, July 12, 1856, in "Webb Scrap; Books," v. XIV, p. 200.
189. Janesville Gazette, July 19, 1858, in ibid., v. XV, p. 42.
190. Kansas Bulletin, Tecumseh, in ibid., v. XVI, p. 101.
191. Ibid.
192. Ibid., p. 55.
193. New York Daily Tribune, July 10, 1856.
194. Shindler, Henry, "Manuscript of the History of Fort Leavenworth," pp. 256-259, letters of E. V. Sumner to Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, August 11, 31, 1856.
195. Phillips, op. cit., p. 411.
196. New York Daily Tribune, July 18, 1856.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 67
Robinson, still a prisoner in the camp of the United States cavalry there, wrote Colonel Sumner a letter exonerating him for carrying out the orders of the commander-in-chief before the territorial legis- lature July 4.197 In Topeka, the scene of the momentous occurrence, The Kansas Tribune had space to print but brief remarks upon the proceedings.198 It carried someone's advertisement, though, for "a green silk crepe shawl," — lost at the celebration, and offered a liberal reward. The Garvey House politicians and pressmen began to speculate upon the political integrity of the lieutenant-governor.199 On July 12 Philip C. Schuyler remembered to note that there was "not the least intoxication visible" in Topeka on the Fourth.200 He also ventured that the Free-State question had now passed its most "critical crisis." On July 28, however, The Kansas Tribune, describing various robberies and attempted murders, asked the whereabouts of four valiant companies of dragoons that had been brought up in battle array before Constitution Hall on the Fourth of July. "Where are they? Echo answers, where? when they are called upon to disband a company of proslavery men" at the log fort of Coleman, on Bull creek.201 Other crises were too ob- viously still ahead. On a Missouri river steamboat on August 2 a Northern letter-writer learned of one — a new "Fourth," the fourth of August, now a crucial date in Kansas for all who, according to the provisions of the Toombs bill, wanted to qualify as voters on November 4 to help decide whether Kansas was to be a free or a slave state.202 Richard J. Hinton foresaw the outcome of that con- test when he wrote that "the long drawn patient watching of cen- turies, with all its hopes," would not, — could not be overthrown.203
1857
Though the hands that guide the nation,
Tighten every link and band — Freedom's spirit only slumbers,
And the time is near at hand.
— F. B. Gage.
National interest in independence for Kansas had spent its strength in 1856. In 1857 while the territory itself bided its time,
197. The Semi-Weekly Times, New York, July 25, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. XV, 126, 127. This letter has five other Free-State signatures: Geo. W. Smith, Gaius Jenkins,
n Brown, Jr., Harry H. Williams, and Geo. W. Deitzler.
198. The Kansas Tribune, Topeka, July 9, 1856.
199. New York Daily Tribune, July 17, 1856.
200. Ibid., July 30, 1856.
201. The Kansas Tribune, Topeka, July 28, 1856. Coleman was the murderer of Dow.
202. New York Daily Tribune, August 25, 1856.
203. Hinton, Richard, Jr., "Journal," entry for August 29, 1856.
68 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the solicitude of the nation slept. The New York Tribune, to be sure, recommended the use of the approaching Fourth of July by the friends of Freedom in the free states and territories "to renew their fealty to old principles, and trace out anew the old landmarks. The attempts ... to nationalize Slavery, and sectionalize Freedom . . . call loudly for a reassertion of the doctrines. . . . The claims of Freedom . . . should everywhere be ... held up in contrast with Slavery, its bitter antagonist." 204 The editorial evoked little response.
Only at Berea, Ky., does there seem to have been any Fourth of July consideration of Freedom in 1857 as it might affect Kansas. Here Cassius M. Clay "enchained the attention of the audience for 2% hours" by an address upon the practical superiorities of freedom over slavery. To show the tyranny of slavery, he cited the rule of the slave power in Kansas ; to prove the advantage of free labor over slave labor, he used figures of the United States census. As a final result of human progress he prophesied universal freedom to all men. At the end, he and his audience of 2,000-3,000, "Resolved, that the principles of 1776 are again in jeopardy and whether at- tacked by a foreign or home foe, will be again defended by all con- stitutional means to the death." 205 Down in South Carolina, how- ever, the militia, after toasting P. S. Brooks who "Though dead, yet liveth in the hearts of the sons of Carolina," and slavery which the "wants of society keep in existence" with negroes in the South and white slaves in the North, declared "the hemp crops of Kansas — ought to be applied in a domestic way, to hang Free-State agitators in the Territory." 206
In the territory itself in 1857, the Fourth of July had wide ob- servance. Twenty-two communities are known to have kept the day more or less formally. The territorial press recommended local festivals. Kindly recollections of times gone by, thought one editor, might not be without benefit to the people of Kansas.207 The roar of cannon, soul-stirring music, and an oration would "refresh and invigorate the inner man," said a second; or a good dinner, the dance, or any other convivial party would strengthen feelings of fellow- ship.208 Another liked to hear spoken words of gratitude to the old veterans to whom we owe our liberty.209 To him, moreover, "the
204. New York Daily Tribune, June 23, 1857.
206. Ibid., July 23, 1857.
206. The Wautoma (Wis.) Journal, July 25, 1857.
207. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, June 27, 1857.
208. Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, June 20, 1857.
209. Elwood Weekly Advertiser, July 9, 1857.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 69
bright and beautiful shades of Kansas" seemed especially suitable for social gatherings. With "unprejudiced hearts" the people should assemble to rejoice over the glorious change that had come over the territory within the last twelve months. "From a disturbed and almost ruined land," Kansas now seemed to them all prosperous and at peace.210 In that spirit the people of Kansas met on July 4, 1857, to enjoy themselves and their blessings.
Editors of the two newspapers in Lawrence urged the citizens all through June, 1857, .to arrange a formal celebration of the Fourth.211 They desisted, however, from making plans for the day itself, ap- parently because of a political rally at Clinton, eight miles to the southwest, that would use talent of Lawrence and no doubt draw on her citizenry for attendance. On July 3, however, the young people of Lawrence welcomed the approach of the Fourth by an anniversary ball at the Central House, which the elite of the town and of the country around attended.212 On the same evening other citizens collected at the Morrow House to talk politics and censure persons not choosing to see things as they did.213 On the evening of the Fourth itself a party dressed in fantastic costume paraded the streets, to the great mirth of the children and to the apparent satis- faction of themselves.214 Since their spirit assumed a harmless form, their activity won editorial approval ; not so the intemperance, which swept in on flood tide on the evening of July 3, threatening "the fair fame of Lawrence."
The celebration at Clinton was used to vindicate the Topeka con- stitution.215 T. Dwight Thacher, editor of the Lawrence Republican, who was himself the orator of the day, wrote colorfully of the oc- casion. He rode out in the morning with the Lawrence Cornet Band on board a four-horse wagon. Through the valley of the Wakarusa he enjoyed "the broad fertile meadows, with the waving grass . . . and fine fields of corn." Clinton he found "more ideal than actual." The events of the day included a procession of ox-teams, covered carriages, and horses, from the store to the adjoining grove, under escort of the Lawrence band; formal exercises; and a free dinner with toasts around long rustic tables beneath the shade of giant trees. Mr. Thacher praised the citizens of Clinton for their enter-
210. Ibid., July 2, 1857.
211. Lawrence Republican, June 4, 11, 1857 ; Herald of Freedom, Lawrence. June 27, July 4, 11, 1857.
212. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, July 4, 1857.
213. Ibid., July 11, 1857.
214. Ibid.
215. Ibid.
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prise and energy in getting up so spirited a celebration; and he congratulated the "Kansas ladies/' who with their babies formed half the audience of 1,500. To him the presence of the women and children was good indication of the present peace and prosperity of the community.216 One accident marred the day; "premature ex- plosion of a cannon blowed off an arm for the person loading, and severely injured him in his face." 217 Between sundown and nine o'clock the editor-orator and the band tramped wearily home by moonlight through the valley of the Wakarusa to the music of "Life on the Ocean Wave" and "Rory O'More." 218
Prairie City, consisting of a dozen houses, a two-story log hotel, a half-completed stone hotel, and a foundation for a church and a seminary, invited the surrounding country to join in a varied all- day observance of the Fourth. Between 500 and 600 people re- sponded. Among the visitors were the Lawrence "Stubbs," the Ottawa Rangers, the Centropolis Sunday school, in wagons deco- rated with flags and banners, and three newspaper men, Wm. A. Phillips of the New York Tribune, Norman Allen of the Lawrence Republican, and William Austin of the Centropolis Kanzas Leader.219 Early in the morning the Sabbath schools assembled at the large cloth tent, called the U. B. Church, marched to an arbor near the liberty pole with the Stars and Stripes floating on top, and listened to addresses "by three Reverends." 22° At noon all the people shared in the free dinner; people of Prairie City noted a shortage of table furniture and of some foods, but visitors called the repast bountiful. In the afternoon S. N. Wood delivered an oration on Kansas politics, and Wm. A. Phillips spoke briefly and appropriately. The evening brought out fireworks on Liberty hill. Later, one Mr. Winton opened his home to a happy company of "lads and lasses" for a dance. Both the Kanzas Leader and the Lawrence Republican felt the oration too political for the occasion; said the former, "We were celebrating the birthday of a Nation and not that of the Northern States." 221
Ohio City held a spirited Fourth of July celebration in 1857.222 Making the best of their limited resources, the settlers mounted old
216. Lawrence Republican, July 2, 9, 1857.
217. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, July 11, 1857.
218. Lawrence Republican, July 9, 1857.
219. Freemen's Champion, Prairie Oity, July 9, 1857.
220. Lawrence Republican, July 9, 1857.
221. Freemen's Champion, Prairie City, July 9, 1857.
222. Andreas, op. cit., p. 618; Lawrence Republican, July 16, 1857. The Republican editor lost the story of the celebration submitted to his paper.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 71
muskets for salute service, morning, noon, and night.223 A private letter from "Louis" to "Dearest Darling 'Birdie' " presents the full- est surviving account of the day.224 After the formal morning pro- gram of Declaration read by W. E. Kibbie and oration delivered by the Hon. Dean Andrews,225 "Louis," who was obviously an official of the Ohio City Company, took matters into his own hands. Learn- ing that the beautiful flag just presented to the Ohio City company had been made by the young ladies of the vicinity, he ordered that the dinner already prepared by the company hotel landlord "be made free to all present." The flag was then hoisted on a tall liberty pole where it floated in the constant Kansas breeze. As further compliment to the citizens and especially to the young women flag- makers, "Louis" then ordered "the House thrown open and music furnished till twelve o'clock and we all joined in and had a regular Kansas Dance, the first Ball ever given south of Lawrence in the Territory" "Louis's" delight in the "noble-hearted young men and women" present was equal to his pleasure in the celebration at which there was no drinking except of "cold water and Lemonade." 226
Anderson county observed the day patriotically in a grove north of Greeley. The settlers regarded the occasion, as "a season of re- freshment" where they rehearsed the hardships of 1776 and of their own days in the territory. The stream of emigration now flowing into Kansas from the North had heightened their hopes somewhat. The people generally engaged in songs and toasts; C. E. Dewey and J. Y. Campbell were among the speakers.227
The people of Burlingame had a "glorious time" on the Fourth. The gathering was in a wood. Philip C. Schuyler was president. James Rogers was the orator. A free dinner preceded the toasts arranged by A. J. Parish.228
The celebration farthest south in 1857 was that of the surveyors of the southern boundary of Kansas territory, encamped on the west bank of the Arkansas river near the thirty-seventh parallel. The military forces, under command of Lt. Col. Joseph E. Johnston,
223. Ottawa Republican, July 26, 1877, in "Franklin County Clippings, 1856-1890," v. I, pp. 39-59. — Kansas State Historical Society.
224. "Louis" to "Dearest Darling 'Birdie,' " letter dated Ohio City, K. T., July 7, 1857, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society. "Louis," who indicates earlier in the letter that he was an engineer in the employ of Whitman and Searl, Lawrence, was evidently Louis de Steiguer, C. E., who laid out both Ohio City and Prairie City. (C/. letter of L. de Steiguer, C. E., July 3, 1912, to R. H. Jenness, attached to correspondence of R. H. Jenness with Geo. W. Martin, May 9, through July 6, 1912.)
225. Andreas gives this title as the "Rev. Mr. Andrews."
226. "Louis" to "Birdie," letter dated Ohio City, K. T., July 7, 1857, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
227. Johnson, W. A., op. cit., pp. 70, 71.
228. Osage City Free Press, August 18, 1876, in "Osage County Clippings," v. I, p. 57.
72 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
fired a military salute of thirty-two guns from the howitzers at noon.229 "A grand Fourth of July dinner" followed, at which the observatory surveyors from camp one mile north shared honors with the military officers. Eugene Bandel wrote in his diary of a parade, "a horse race in the cavalry, a few extra tunes of the fifers and drummers, and a great deal of lonesomeness." The day he found beautiful, being clear and cool. The Arkansas, already high, was still rising. The army wagon beds served as boats to ferry the surveyors across.230 While encamped here the soldiers enjoyed fish in abundance from the swollen stream.
Various communities to the northeast also kept Independence day, 1857. Indianola had "A horse race. Sorrel beat gray." Samuel J. Reader, who told of it, spent his morning making four tenons and two mortises at his claim, and his afternoon hoeing his potatoes, washing in the creek, writing, and reading the last of Little Dorrit. "An awful time it was." 231
Tecumseh made the Fourth of July memorable by laying the cornerstone of the bridge across the Kaw river. It advertised the occasion "to be one of brotherhood and friendship, to manifest the influence of peace and prosperity, and our fellow citizens of all portions of the territory, and from all parts of the Union, are invited to meet together at Tecumseh, the 'Neutral Council Ground/ and have a glorious time." 232 Delegations from five Indian tribes were also invited. Masonic and Odd Fellow fraternities participated in the impressive ceremonies.233 Speakers for the occasion included L. J. Eastin, E. 0. Perrin, Walter Oakley, and Dr. Stringfellow. A public dinner and a ball in the evening, got up in "hilarious style," pro- vided lighter entertainment. To the Topeka editor the general sobriety of the occasion was gratifying.
Wilmington, a town not yet a yearling, at the junction of the Leavenworth and Westport branches of the Santa Fe road, saluted both the sunrise and the sunset with 31 guns. At ten o'clock the neighborhood, numbering more than 100, and its visitors formed a
229. Johnston, Joseph E., "Journal," edited by Nyle H. Miller, Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. I, pp. 115, 11&; Campbell, Hugh, "Journal," edited by Martha B. Caldwell, Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. VI, p. 354 ; Bandel, Eugene, Frontier Life in the Army, edited by Ralph Bieber (Arthur H. Clark Company, Glendale, Calif., 1932), v. II, pp. 156, 157. Miller located the military camp "slightly over five miles east of Chilocco, Okla., and Hugh Campbell wrote that the surveyor's camp was one mile north "to be nearer the parallel." The Bieber map, accompanying the Bandel diary, makes the line of survey and the parallel virtually identical at this point.
230. Bandel, Eugene, loc. cit.
231. Reader, Samuel J., "Private Journal and Daybook," v. Ill, p. 120, entry of July 4, 1857.
232. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, July 4, 1857 ; Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, July 4, 1857.
233. Kansas Tribune, Topeka, July 11, 1857.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 73
procession to a grove where they had arranged seats suitable for formal exercises. E. P. Ingersoll delivered the oration. The Wil- mington Quartette Club and the Gennania Glee Club of Havana City furnished "very fine" music. The collation, a "bountiful supply of nice things," was sufficient for 300 people. "The eatables," wrote J. E. D., "would have tempted an epicure." The toasts reflected general good feeling; the day "passed off very fine," strengthening the good will of adjoining neighborhoods for Wilmington.234
New and enterprising Burlington, which marked its age only in weeks, had an old-fashioned holiday in commemoration of "the day that made us free." Its youthful patriotism was at high tide. The committee on plans had expected but a scanty gathering. With the day, however, came squatters to the number of 300; from twenty miles they came. 0. E. Learnard was the president; Wm. B. Par- sons was the orator, speaking with "the polish of a scholar and the fervor of a patriot." A band of four members supplied music. The dinner at two o'clock was "in city order"; abundance and luxury were there and enough for all and to spare. Among the toasts was one by William Hutchinson of Lawrence, who spoke at length on "Kansas — The youngest and smartest child in Uncle Sam's family." At the merry dance in the evening youth and age were upon an equality. "Ladies" were "abundant." One of the most accom- plished dancers was a woman of French descent, a mother of thirteen children.235
Five-months-old Emporia planned its first public meeting for July 4, 1857. To disseminate good feeling and information it invited neighboring towns and communities to participate in addresses and a free dinner. Committees were to procure the necessary meat, with power to draw on the treasurer to pay for the same. Settlers were to bake and bring such provisions as suited their convenience. At the last, however, sickness in the neighborhood made public celebration inexpedient.236
Settlers who had been in El Dorado but three weeks drew on nature's storehouses for food for their Independence day feasting. One of them caught a buffalo fish in Walnut creek; another shot a wild turkey ; and a third brought in a deer. While the meats roasted,
234. Ibid., July 4, 1857; The Kamas News, Emporia, July 18, 1857.
235. Lawrence Republican, July 9, 1857 ; Andreas, op. cit., p. 654. In "Sketches of Kansas Pioneer Experience," Kansas Historical Collections, v. VII, p. 396, Wm. Hutchinson wrote of riding in from cross country 60 miles from his claim at Mapleton to Burlington, July 3, to take part in a celebration July 4, but he gave the year as 1858. Probably the trip was to the 1857 celebration.
236. The Kamas News, Emporia, June 6, 20, July 4, 1857; Andreas, op. cit., p. 846, wrote that the first public meeting at Emporia was the Fourth of July celebration, 1857.
74 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the settlers with their wagons in a circle to serve as a fort against possible Indian attack, listened to an address by Judge John A. Wakefield of Lawrence.237 In the center of the circle they kept "the stars and stripes erect."
Wabaunsee observed the national anniversary with a parade. Most of the wagons were drawn by oxen. Garlands hung from the yokes and horns. Snowy canopies decorated with floral and ever- green designs covered some of the wagons. A canopy of pink pleased the children especially. The most attractive "rig" received a prize.238
The observance in Wyandotte239 consisted of speaking and an unseasonal and extravagant assemblage of foods for free eating. George H. Hildt240 wrote of John DiehPs hearing Governor Walker241 and others speak. Every one received an invitation to the dinner, offering such luxuries as oysters, beef, ham, nuts, raisins, and ice cream. The affair "went off first rate," according to the report. Mr. Hildt, a Kansas pioneer from Canal Dover, Ohio, settling in Johnson county, himself "fixed up and went to Olathe" on the morning of the Fourth, and in the afternoon "went again after cattle" lost on the open range.
Other towns, bare fact of celebrations in which survives, were Delaware, and Moneka.242 Brownville had a pleasant gathering with speeches and singing by the Brownville musical association; among the themes for toasts there was a new one — "Taxation and Representation." 243 From Leroy someone wrote to a friend in Lawrence: "The 4th of July was here, and lots of other folks — had a good time generally." 244 Just beyond Manhattan, 300 people gathered at a picnic to renew old acquaintances and form new ones ; 245 a good dinner, speeches, sentiments, and song con- stituted the formal entertainment.
The gayest and most sophisticated keepings of the Fourth in Kansas territory in 1857 were, as in 1855 and 1856, to the north- east along the Missouri river, but the settings were in different
237. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1431.
238. Semi- Centennial Wabaunsee Congregational Church (Alma Enterprise Print., June 27, 28, 1907), pp. 6, 47.
239. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, July 4, 1857. Mere notice of a celebration appears in this paper.
240. Hildt, George H., "Diary," entry of July, 1857, in MSS. division, Kansas State Historical Society.
241. "Governor Walker" was evidently Gov. William Walker.
242. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, July 4, 1857.
243. Lawrence Republican, July 9, 1857.
244. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, August 1, 1857.
245. Allen, Mrs. Chestina B., "Sketches and Journal," entry of July 4, 1857.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 75
towns. White Cloud announced a lot sale for the day. River towns as far east as St. Louis and as far north as Council Bluffs responded enthusiastically.246 One boat on its downward trip sold 500 tickets. The town company chartered two boats, the Watossa and the Morning Star, to bring in the prospective and pleasure- seeking buyers.247 They engaged the St. Joseph brass band to pro- vide music for a "grand ball" at night on the Morning Star. They brought in a "baby-waker," a 24-pound "field-piece," to provide the necessary noise. As the size of the promised crowd increased, the committee on foods added to the beeves, sheep, pigs, and fowl held in readiness for cooking. They set their tables near a good spring of water. The St. Louis (Mo.) Republican said that the barbecue would be free, that "lots of champagne would be opened, and of course drank," and that "sport, profit, Fourth of July, and music" awaited the large party from St. Louis that would spend the week en route aboard the Morning Star.248 The St. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette believed there was "no question but what White Cloud is the point in the Territory above Leavenworth City." 249
On the afternoon of July 3 the Morning Star picked up the band and 200 passengers at St. Joseph ; more recruits boarded at Elwood, among them the senior editor of the Elwood Weekly Advertiser, who had received a free excursion ticket.250 Fifteen miles below White Cloud the boat "hauled up at a woodyard and lay by for the night." When music was called for, "gay lads led forth their bonnie lasses, and
"Tripped it lightly as we go, On the light fantastic toe."
White Cloud ushered in the Fourth by the firing of cannon. The Stars and Stripes were thrown to the breeze. People poured in from the adjacent country. About eight o'clock the report of cannon down the river announced the approach of the Morning Star. White Cloud answered with a national salute from the bluffs. The Watossa and a third boat, Emma, arrived with more visitors.251 "Other jubilistic and patriotic demonstrations" occurred on shore. To the Elwood editor White Cloud seemed "extensively laid out, but very thinly settled." Already a large concourse of people from far and
246. White Cloud Kansas Chief, June 18, July 2, 1857.
247. Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, June 27, 1857.
248. White Cloud Kansas Chief, July 2, 1857, quoting the St. Louis (Mo.) Republican of June 26, 1857.
249. Ibid.
250. Elwood Weekly Advertiser, July 9, 1857.
251. White Cloud Kansas Chief, July 9, 1857.
76 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
near thronged the streets. "The rapid tread and cheering shouts of the young/' he thought, "gave animation and vigor to the old." The weather was propitious. In the holiday air he sensed joy mingled with reverence for a great cause and the memory of great men.252
"Business before pleasure" was the motto of the town company for the day.253 For one and one-half hours they sold lots. Then a procession formed, and the band led the way to a grove below the sawmill where everyone partook of the barbecue of bread and meat — plenty of it, in old Kentucky style. In the "exercises of the lungs" that followed, James Craig, congressman-elect from the St. Joseph district, speaking in behalf of the town company, presented two shares of city stock to the Morning Star and one share to the Watossa; and Judge S. A. Williams of the territory gave an oration. Then the lot sale was resumed for an hour. At night two dances completed the program, one on the Morning Star, participated in by some of the townsfolk, and another in the room under the office of the Kansas Chief, where the dancers "exercised their agility to the music of the violin." The boats waited until morning to leave.
Sol Miller felt the company's expectations were realized. He estimated the attendance at 2,000. "The crowd presented a motley array of men, women, children, babies, Indians, and niggers," he wrote, "all full of patriotism, intent upon celebrating the Fourth, and getting their dinner." He did note considerable drunkenness and a number of fights. Otherwise "everything passed off finely. So mote it always be."
Doniphan began its celebration also on the eve of the Fourth with a dance.254 Banners and evergreens tastefully decorated the spa- cious rooms of the hotel for "the light-hearted and light-footed." The junior editor of the Weekly Advertiser, who was there, wrote gaily, ". . . Give us border towns forever. No hoops to ob- struct the progress of the waltz — always a hearty 'yes, sir' when you propose a dance." The next day, in a shaded rural retreat, B. O'Driscoll read the "immortal Declaration" and J. R. Boyd gave the oration. The barbecue tables groaned under the loads of sub- stantials and delicacies of the season. The editor was tempted "to ask the hand of some of the fair ones," but paying for paper and ink from St. Louis interfered too much with his paying for "pork and beans." All the celebrators at Doniphan, however, were not so
252. Elwood Weekly Advertiser, July 9, 1857.
253. White Cloud Kansas Chief, July 9, 1857.
254. Elwood Weekly Advertiser, July 9, 1857.
DOLBEE: JULY FOURTH IN EARLY KANSAS 77
light-hearted. A Free-State man named Mitchell took issue with the orator over his Southern views.255 "Boyd knocked Mitchell down. Mitchell challenged Boyd to a duel." The two were arrested and bound over to keep the peace. Meanwhile Col. James H. Lane and his men seized upon United States muskets and threatened Pro- slavery men, "declaring they could whip them with fists, clubs, muskets, pistols, bowie-knives, or anything else." All parties finally gave up arms, but Governor Walker was requested to issue a proc- lamation.
Brown county, just west of Doniphan county, kept its first Fourth of July in 1857 with a public gathering in the wood of John Poe 256 on Mulberry creek. W. C. Foster presided. Daniel Mc- Farland delivered the oration. Noah Hanson read the toasts. W. G. Sargent and others made appropriate speeches. Settlers to the num- ber of 200 to 300 were present.257
To chastise the Indians for their depredations on the overland routes the War Department had sent Col. E. V. Sumner to Fort Kearny and Maj. John Sedgwick along the Santa Fe trail, both en route to Fort Laramie. Although in setting out the two detach- ments had hoped to meet on July 4, the troops under Major Sedg- wick, in camp below Fort St. Vrain,258 were somewhat startled to have their anniversary salute of 32 guns answered by a boom of 32 guns down the river, recognized as from Colonel Sumner's com- mand, and found afterward to be 15 miles below. The next day Sedgwick's force moved down the river and the two commands established camps side by side.259
Two months later in Kansas territory P. B. Plumb, who had tried so hard for an Independence day gathering in Emporia to develop good will, wrote bitterly:
The Union is a glorious theme for buncombe Fourth of July orations and for Democratic Governors to befog and bewilder a people whom they have really come to bedevil and sink lower down into the hell of despotism. We in Kanzas know that the Union is to us a huge tyrant — that Federal officials are our worst and most baneful foes. . . . Ask of the men of Kanzas to
255. White Cloud Kansas Chief, July 9, 1857.
256. Harrington spells this name Powe; Andreas, Roe.
257. Ruley, A. N., History of Brown County (1930), p. 30 ; Harrington, Grant W., Annals of Brown County, Kansas (Harrington Printing Co., Hiawatha, 1903), p. 11; Andreas, op. cit., p. 711.
258. Lowe, op. cit., pp. 262, 263 ; Peck, Robert Morris, "Recollections of Early Times in Kansas Territory," Kansas Historical Collections, v. VIII, p. 493, wrote that Fort St. Vrain was in ruins.
Riding on the was with Major
— , , "Recollections of
Early Times in Kansas Territory," Kansas Historical Collections, v. VIII, p. 493.
78 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
love the Union. The remains of the Free State Hotel, and the ruins of our printing presses laugh you to scorn. ... Go ask the shades of Barber, Brown, Buffum, Hoyt and Hupps260 for an answer. Turn to the Fourth of July, 1856, and to the white prison tents that gleamed on the prairie that memorable summer, guarded by the troops of the Union, and you will receive your reply. "Love the Union?" Ask not us. ... Come not near us with your mockery.261
To Mr. Plumb and other Kansans of his ilk the Union as it now existed was but a libel on the name.
260. This is a misspelling of Hoppes.
261. The Kanzas News, Emporia, August 29, 1857.
The Annual Meeting
rTVHE sixty-fifth annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical •J- Society and board of directors was held in the rooms of the Society on October 15, 1940.
The annual meeting of the board of directors was called to order by the president, T. M. Lillard, at 10 a. m. First business was the reading of the annual report of the secretary.
SECRETARY'S REPORT, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 15, 1940
This annual meeting ends my tenth year as secretary of the Society, and in many respects it has been the busiest of the decade. In addition to routine work, the staff has devoted much time to the highway historical sign program, to the restoration of the North building at Old Shawnee Mission and to the building of a new caretaker's cottage on the First Capitol grounds. During the year there was a material increase in the number of persons using the resources of the Society, as well as in the organization of our various collections. The supervision of federal projects also requires continuous attention. Details of these activities will appear in the reports of the various departments.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Pres. T. M. Lillard reappointed Thomas Amory Lee, Robert C. Rankin and Chester Woodward to the executive committee, the members holding over be- ing Justice John S. Dawson and T. M. Lillard. The members of the com- mittee have been consulted on all matters of unusual importance, and I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to them for their encouragement and advice.
BUDGET REQUESTS
Appropriation requests for the next biennium were filed with the state budget director in September.
For the Historical Society two additional cataloguers were requested. In- creases of $500 a year were asked for the book and microfilm funds and $1,500 was requested for the purchase of new catalogue cases, a book truck and other equipment.
For Old Shawnee Mission: The mission has no fire protection, the only water coming from an adjoining golf course through a small pipe. Through lack of funds, the furnace in the East building has never been placed in work- ing condition. Grass and shrubbery should be planted on the grounds, and a power mower is needed. Since it is impossible for one caretaker to show the thousands of visitors through the buildings and keep up the property, much work has to be done by extra laborers. The contingent fund of $1,000 a year is inadequate and an increase of $1,000 a year was asked.
LIBRARY
During the year approximately 4,000 persons did research work in the library. Of these more than a thousand were helped in genealogical research, and more than 200 were served by mail from the loan file on Kansas subjects.
New sections were added to the Kansas catalogue, the general catalogue
(79)
80 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and the Library of Congress catalogue. This necessitated a reorganization of several hundred thousand cards.
The Society's clipping service is an outstanding feature of the library. It is widely used and copied. During the year several institutions sent repre- sentatives to study our methods. In this division about 350 clippings are mounted each month. They are classified and catalogued and then become a part of the permanent library. These clippings cover biographical material on prominent men and women of Kansas, including a classified section for artists, sculptors, musicians, authors and actors. They also include articles on the histories of counties and towns, as well as churches, organizations, schools, education, economics, crimes, railroads, science, Indians, wars in which Kan- sas has had a part, agriculture, oil industry, aviation, radio and motion pictures. These clippings now constitute quite a remarkable library in them- selves.
From our duplicate collection last year a large number of magazines were donated to Bethany College at Lindsborg, and many books and magazines were given to the Kansas Vocational School. A selection was also made from these duplicates to help with the work for the shut-ins, a WPA project supervised by the Topeka Public Library.
The library receives many gifts of genealogies, and of books by Kansas authors. The Kansas Daughters of the American Revolution have presented typed copies of historical and biographical material gathered by various chap- ters. From the Historical Records Survey have come 170 volumes of inven- tories of county and town archives, church archives, calendars of manuscript collections, census records from all the states, and check lists of imprints from several of the states.
The library is now cooperating with the American Library Association in a revision of the Union List of Serials. When completed this list will show all publications of a serial nature, such as magazines, publications of societies and reports of institutions, including foreign publications, and in what libraries they may be found. The files of the Society contain many valuable publica- tions which did not appear in the previous edition, some of which probably are not available anywhere else in the country.
PICTURE COLLECTION
During the year 483 pictures were classified, catalogued and added to the picture collection. Through the courtesy of Elsie Evans, librarian of the Leavenworth Public Library, the Society was able to purchase at small cost copies of 90 pictures of early Leavenworth and Fort Leavenworth which are of great interest. Mrs. Will R. Christian of Ulysses lent pictures of Ulysses and Mrs. Mildred C. Beason of Gove lent pictures of Sharon Springs and Wallace from which copies were made. The Topeka State Journal donated 120 pictures of individuals and Kansas scenes.
WORLD WAR POSTERS
A valuable addition to the Society's World War posters was a collection of 51 colored lithographs from Mrs. Bennett R. Wheeler. Most of these were printed in the United States.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 81
STATE ARCHIVES
Major accessions for the year were eight charter copybooks from the office of the Secretary of State and 3,025 booklets containing the statistical rolls for 1932 as returned by assessors to the State Board of Agriculture.
Work was continued on the loose-leaf catalogue of old townsites, discon- tinued post offices and railroad stations of Kansas. This list comprises 5,693 names and fills 26 volumes.
There are now 189 volumes listing state charters and amendments in this division, covering dates from 1863 to 1938. During the year 17,560 index cards were made from these records, raising the grand total to 189,685 cards. From the 28 volumes of amendments approximately 40,000 entries were made.
The work of indexing the 1860 census is nearing completion — this list num- bering close to 140,000 cards. Index slips for the 1875 census now number ap- proximately 21,800.
Requests come almost daily from welfare agencies for age verifications of persons seeking aid. 434 certifications were issued from this department dur- ing the year.
PRIVATE MANUSCRIPTS
Thirty-seven manuscript volumes and 581 individual manuscripts were re- ceived during the year in addition to two unorganized collections on which figures are not yet available.
Several hundred letters and documents were received from the estate of the late Harriet Parkerson, niece of Isaac T. Goodnow. The letters are mainly personal in character; the documents include records of Bluemont College and the Kansas State College of Agriculture.
About fifty items from the papers of Acting Territorial Gov. Daniel Wood- son were given by his granddaughter, Mrs. Nelle Woodson Curry.
A valuable collection of letters from the papers of Oscar E. Learnard was received from his son, Tracy Leamard, of San Jose, Calif. O. E. Learnard was a leader in the Free-State and Republican parties, a member of the territorial council, one of the founders of Burlington, an officer in the Union army and holder of several public offices in the state.
George J. Remsburg, Porterville, Calif., archaeologist and historian, who has written extensively on Kansas subjects, sent several hundred letters from his correspondence files.
Judge J. C. Ruppenthal, of Russell, through whose efforts many valuable historical records of Russell county have been preserved, presented his private docket of the 23d judicial district during his terms as judge, 1907-1919, 1923- 1930, 24 books in all.
One volume of typed copies of letters by James R. Mead to members of his family, 1859-1910, was given by his son, James L. Mead, Chicago. James R. Mead was a prominent early-day figure, famous hunter and trader and as- sociate of Jesse Chisholm.
The four letter-press books from the offices of Thomas Ewing, Jr., and the Leavenworth law firm of Sherman, Ewing & McCook, lent to the Society for copying by Thomas Ewing, New York, have been presented as gifts. The col- lection includes, also, miscellaneous letters and two volumes of financial records.
6—7171
82 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
NEWSPAPERS
During the year twenty reels of microfilms of old newspapers have been added to the Society's collections. These films represent about six years of daily and thirty-three years of weekly newspapers. The papers include the Kansas City (Mo.) Daily Journal of Commerce from December 17, 1858, to June 30, 1865, the Kansas City (Mo.) Enterprise from November 10, 1855, to October 3, 1857, the Weekly Western Journal of Commerce, Kansas City, Mo., from October 17, 1857, to June 23, 1866, the Oskaloosa Independent from July 11, 1860, to August 20, 1870, the Lawrence Republican from May 28, 1857, to November 13, 1862, the Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, from September 15, 1854, to December 26, 1857, the Integral Cooperator of Enterprise and parts of the American Nonconformist of Winfield. Most of these papers were microfilmed in cooperation with other libraries, which greatly reduced the cost to the Society.
It has been asked how we can continue to find space to store our news- paper collections. The microfilm suggests the answer. One reel of film may be said to approximate 850 newspaper pages, the equivalent of a two-months' volume of the Topeka State Journal of 1940. This means that one small Recordak film file with a capacity of 383 reels could hold all the Society's files of the Topeka Daily Capital from 1879 to December, 1940, plus our files of the Topeka State Journal from 1880 to 1895, a total of seventy-six years of daily newspapers.
In this department several WPA workers are listing all past changes in names of newspapers, editors, publishers and owners. About half the Kansas weekly newspapers have been completed.
Use of our newspapers increases each year. Researchers spend weeks and months here, compiling historical data. During the year 4,298 patrons were registered, coming from a dozen states. In this time they examined 25,390 bound newspaper volumes and 12,252 unbound issues.
The 1940 List of Kansas Newspapers and Periodicals was published in July. The List shows the issues of 745 newspapers and periodicals being received regularly for filing. Of these, 61 are dailies, 13 semiweeklies, 489 weeklies, 25 fortnightlies, one trimonthly, 17 semimonthlies, 76 monthlies, nine bimonthlies, 20 quarterlies, 28 occasionals, three semiannual and three annuals, coming from all the 105 Kansas counties. Of these 745 publications, 165 are listed republican, 45 democratic and 279 independent in politics; 94 are school or college, 29 religious, 19 fraternal, 17 local and 97 miscellaneous (including four Negro publications).
On January 1, 1940, the Society's collection contained 46,612 bound volumes of Kansas newspapers and more than 10,000 bound volumes of out-of-state newspapers.
Among the year's other accessions are the following: Helen Shirk of To- peka contributed a number of issues of her father's monthly publication, The School and Home, Abilene, also eight miscellaneous issues of Trench and Camp of Camp Doniphan, Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Mrs. Robert Merrick of Topeka donated seven issues of the Night Hawk, Washburn College; the Woman's Kansas Day Club gave a number of miscellaneous papers to the Society. Among the other donors the following should be mentioned : Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Barker of Kansas City, Mrs. Fenn Ward of Highland, L. H. Ruppenthal
THE ANNUAL MEETING 83
of McPherson, Harry Mangold of Hutchinson, Mrs. Loyal F. Payne of Man- hattan, Mary M. Smelzer of the Watson Library, Lawrence, Mrs. Vernon McArthur of Hutchinson, Mrs. W. G. Cooper of Blakeman, Everett G. Barber of Salina, Mrs. Merebah Clark of Terre Haute, Ind., Mrs. Hattie Wade Leisening of Sedalia, Mo., George Remsburg of Porterville, Calif., Mrs. Her- bert W. Geer, Jennie Small Owen, Paul Parrish, Ernest F. McNutt and Horace G. Black of Topeka.
MUSEUM
The attendance in the museum for the year was 31,112. Between April 9 and May 29, 2,159 students from 36 counties, representing over 100 schools, made class pilgrimages to view the exhibits.
There were 49 accessions. Among the most interesting was a printer's proof galley from the Oskaloosa Independent, in constant use for 79 years, donated by Mrs. F. H. Roberts through the Woman's Kansas Day Club. John J. McKnight, Bailey ville, donated a buggy in which his uncle, Dr. George C. McKnight, Hiawatha, had traveled 27,500 miles in the practice of his profession.
During the year a complete index of the Goss collection of birds was made.
SUBJECTS FOB RESEARCH
During the year the following have been subjects for serious research: Biography: John James Ingalls; Solomon Miller; Joseph E. Bristow; Charles R. Jennison; Theodore Roosevelt; Jesse James; Walt Whitman; John Brown in American literature; Joseph Ralph Burton. County and town history: Decatur county; Frankfort; early Baxter Springs and its development; Norton county; Hamilton county; the Rawlins county-seat fight; community of Mullinville; Kansas City. Education: Education in Russell county; common school education in Territorial Kansas; Cloud county schools; the University of Kansas; the schools of Ford county. Economics: Banking in Bourbon county; banking in Cherokee county; unemployment; the manufacturing of starch ; meat packing industry ; Kansas Gas and Electric Company ; comparison of hog prices at five different markets. General: Mennonites in McPherson, Reno and Harvey counties; public assistance in Dickinson county; party platforms in Kansas; Osage ceded lands; pioneer life in Kansas as revealed in fiction; organization and administration of Kansas troops in the Civil War; Kansas Grange, 1870-1890; Wilson's raid in Virginia; sectionalism and local color in the plains states; Coronado; Catholic church on the Kansas frontier; storm studies; migration of the Negro into early Kansas; settlements in northwest Kansas; Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad; campaign and patriotic songs; Kansas Day banquet speeches.
ACCESSIONS
July 1, 1939, to June 30, 1940
Library :
Books (volumes) 1,105
Pamphlets 3,225
Magazines (bound volumes) 169
Archives :
Separate manuscripts 3,025
Manuscript volumes none
Manuscript maps none
84 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Private manuscripts:
Separate manuscripts 581
Volumes 37
Printed maps, atlases and charts 83
Newspapers (bound volumes) 858
Pictures 483
Museum objects 49
TOTAL ACCESSIONS, JUNE 30, 1940
Books, pamphlets, bound newspapers and magazines 390,462
Separate manuscripts (archives) 1,073,009
Manuscript volumes (archives) 27,897
Manuscript maps (archives) 583
Printed maps, atlases and charts 11,354
Pictures 19,257
Museum objects 33,005
THE QUARTERLY
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is now in its ninth year, eight volumes already having been published. Much of the credit for the high standard the magazine has achieved among the state historical magazines of the countiy should go to Dr. James C. Malin, associate editor, who is professor of history at Kansas University. Doctor Malin 's criticisms of articles submitted is in- valuable. The Quarterly is widely quoted by the newspapers of the state and is used in many schools.
FEDERAL WORK PROJECTS
Thirteen to sixteen persons have been employed four days a week on the Society's unit of the state-wide WPA museum project. They are supervised by the staff, and mention of their work is made in departmental reports. Federal expenditures for the year from October 6, 1939, to October 7, 1940, were $12,579.27 for salaries. The Society's expenditures for the same period were approximately $230 for materials.
Much credit for work accomplished is due Robert Beine, WPA supervisor assigned to the Society. Mrs. Mary Parkman, head of the Professional and Service division of WPA, and Harold J. Henderson, supervisor of the His- torical Records and Imprints surveys, have cooperated in these projects.
Two state-wide work-relief projects have been sponsored by the Society.
The Kansas section of the American Imprints Inventory, sponsored since October 1, 1938, has examined over two million volumes in Kansas libraries. Of these, titles of 55,677 have been listed. An inventory was made of 4,057 volumes. The survey will soon be carried to twenty-three additional city and college libraries. On the basis of total holdings of all Kansas depositories it is estimated that the imprints inventory is approximately seventy-five percent complete. A Check List of Kansas Imprints was published in December, 1939. The project employs ten persons.
The Historical Records Survey sponsored since September 1, 1939, has issued nine inventories of county records. The Shawnee county inventory, now being mimeographed, is tenth of the series. The project is operating in seventy counties, and first listing of records has been completed in sixty-nine. One hundred twenty workers are employed on this survey.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 85
KANSAS HISTORICAL MARKERS
Six years ago a committee of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce headed by Fred Brinkerhoff, of Pittsburg, Roy Bailey, of Salina, and Samuel Wilson, of Topeka, met with the secretary of the Historical Society to discuss plans for marking historic sites on state highways. As a starter, the Historical Society compiled a list of 100 sites. From these fifty were selected for the first signs. Gov. Walter Huxman and the Highway Commission approved the project and one marker was constructed before the change in administrations. In July, 1940, Gov. Payne Ratner and D. J. Fair, director of the new Highway Com- mission, resumed the program, and it is now being energetically carried out.
Texts for the signs are written by the Historical Society after careful re- search. Frequently as many as a dozen drafts are made before final approval. Highway employees rout and burn these inscriptions in white pine signs, six to eight feet long by five or six feet deep. At the sites the markers are suspended from logs supported by upright posts placed in concrete. Warning signs — small ovals with the silhouette of a buffalo — are placed on highways a quarter of a mile on each side of the signs.
Twenty of the first fifty inscriptions have been turned over to the Highway Commission and fourteen markers have been completed. Half of these have been placed on the highways, each with special unveiling ceremonies.
Public response has been gratifying. Much credit should be given to Mr. Fair and his assistants. Their work includes selecting the marker sites, secur- ing easement papers when land is not already available, preparing location sketches for their construction divisions, and grading the sites for the markers.
OLD SHAWNEB METHODIST MISSION
Work on the restoration of the North building at the mission, made possible by the appropriation of $15,000 by the 1939 legislature, was begun last winter. The state architect, Roy W. Stookey, and his assistant, Charles Marshall, who drew up the plans and supervised the work, have taken a keen personal in- terest in this unique project. It was necessary to tear down the west end of the building and build a new foundation. The old brick, now nearly one hundred years old, was cleaned and relaid. All other exterior brick and stone have been repaired and pointed up. All beams and supports were reinforced and a new roof was laid. Much of the long two-story veranda had to be re- placed. The accumulated paints and varnishes of one hundred years were scraped off the interior floors and woodwork and the native oak and walnut were restored to their natural finish. Replacements of wood and hardware, where necessary, have matched the originals as closely as possible. Plastering has just been completed. From an architectural standpoint this is the most attractive of the three old brick buildings at the mission. When it is re- stored and the grounds are landscaped it will be a beautiful addition to the historic shrines of Kansas.
During the year minor repairs have been made on the other buildings. The large signs were repainted this fall. Last spring a wide border of native shrubbery was planted along the east and south property lines south of the road. Drought in recent years has killed much of the bluegrass to which the grounds were sown six years ago. Several acres were plowed up and reseeded this fall.
86 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The Society is indebted to the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society and to the state departments of the Colonial Dames, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Daughters of American Colonists and the Daughters of 1812 for their splendid cooperation at the mission. The number of visitors increases each year. Harry A. Hardy, caretaker at the mission, and his wife, Kate Hardy, deserve special mention for the excellent manner in which the buildings and grounds are maintained.
FIRST CAPITOL OF KANSAS
The legislature of 1939 appropriated $3,000 for a cottage for the caretaker at the First Capitol building on US-40 in the Fort Riley reservation. The state architect designed this cottage to conform with the old building, which was restored by the Union Pacific railway in 1927. For the past eight years the caretaker has been living in an unsightly box car which can now be re- moved. Minor repairs have been made on the capitol building and this fall the large signs on the highway were repainted. One of the new highway markers is to be placed on this site in the near future.
PIKE-PAWNEE MONUMENT
Repairs were made this fall on the fence and the flagpole at the Pike- Pawnee monument in Republic county. On September 20 a historical marker describing the events commemorated by the monument was dedicated at Scandia on US-36 eight miles south of the park.
A TEN-YEARS' SURVEY
As mentioned at the beginning of this report this annual meeting ends my tenth year as secretary. During that period a continuous effort has been made to organize, catalogue and repair the vast collections of the Society, so that they might be more useful, and to give them more frequent publication. A brief statement of some of the accomplishments of the decade will be of interest.
PUBLICATIONS
The Kansas Historical Collections, published biennially, were discontinued and the Quarterly was substituted, of which eight volumes have appeared. Nine newspaper lists, showing publications received, and several pamphlets have been issued. One book, The Annals of Shawnee Mission and the Indian Manual Labor School, was published last year. A general index to both The Kansas Historical Collections and The Kansas Historical Quarterly is being prepared.
NEWSPAPERS
New steel shelves costing $3,600 have been installed, for the first time per- mitting a systematic arrangement of newspapers and keeping them from deterioration. A record of every paper belonging to the Society was published in the Union List of Newspapers. Many valuable accessions were acquired, in- cluding 81 volumes of early Leavenworth papers, 90 issues of the Atchison Squatter Sovereign, and a large file of the Emporia Kansas News, 1857-1878. A microfilm projector and 1,829 feet of newspaper film are recent additions.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 87
ARCHIVES
Correspondence of Governors Reed, Woodring, Landon and Huxman was received, as well as large accessions from other state departments. An index of corporation charters consisting of 190,000 cards was made. Alphabetical list- ings of 168,000 persons in the census records of 1855, 1860 and 1875 were pre- pared. A record of 7,000 dead towns is nearing completion. Certificates of age, based on the census, were issued to 1,400 persons.
MUSEUM
More than 30,000 relics and pictures were cleaned, repaired and relabeled. The Billard airplane was acquired, perhaps the most interesting object in the museum.
LIBRARY
Of exceptional value are the following : A list of legislators from 1855-1939 ; an index of the Civil War roster; an index to early volumes of biographical clippings; a list of the Society's holdings for publication in the Union List of Serials; classification of 45,000 books and pamphlets in the library annex; filing of 500,000 Library of Congress cards; assisting in the preparation of the In- ventory of Kansas Imprints; classifying and cataloguing the Society's 20,000 pictures; and cleaning and mounting on muslin 12,000 maps and broadsides.
PRIVATE MANUSCRIPTS
Hundreds of valuable papers were cleaned and repaired by methods de- veloped at the Library of Congress and the whole department was reorganized. Among the accessions were: Seven truck loads of books and papers brought from the attic of the old post office when it was razed, probably the largest and most valuable single collection ever acquired by the Society; 25,000 papers of Charles S. Gleed; 12,000 items from the law department of the Union Pacific railroad through the courtesy of T. M. Lillard; 17,000 records of live- stock brands, 1855 to 1937, from the state planning board; papers and diaries of Isaac Goodnow; papers and diaries of Elam Bartholomew; Thomas Ewing letter books; Chas. Robinson papers from Hannah Oliver; Gov. John P. St. John letter books; and photostats of John Brown letters, and documents in the national archives.
SHAWNEE MISSION
Much has been done at Shawnee Mission. Work in the East building in- cludes installation of new supporting timbers, removal of partitions on second floor, restoration of the original flooring and installation of a club room. A frame garage was torn down and replaced by a brick garage and workshop. The West building was repaired, renovated and reroofed. Restoration of North building, with $15,000 appropriated by the legislature, has been men- tioned. The grounds were landscaped and replanted.
FIRST CAPITOL
The appropriation of $3,000 for a caretaker's cottage at the First Capitol has been mentioned.
THE STAFF OF THE SOCIETY
The various accomplishments noted in this report are due to the Society's splendid staff of employees. Visitors from all parts of the country almost invariably go out of their way to compliment the Society on the spirit of
88 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cooperation they find in every department. I gratefully acknowledge my in- debtedness to them. At this annual meeting special mention must be made of Mrs. Mary Embree, who began a leave of absence the first of September. Mrs. Embree joined the staff on February 1, 1911, as accountant and treasurer. During these thirty years she made an invaluable contribution to the upbuild- ing of the Society. She leaves with the sincere best wishes of every member of the staff. Respectfully submitted,
KIRKB MECHEM, Secretary.
At the conclusion of the reading of the secretary's report, T. A. McNeal moved that it be accepted. Motion was seconded by John S. Dawson.
Mr. Lillard then called for the report of the treasurer. In lieu of a report by Mrs. Mary Embree, absent on leave, the audit by the state accountant of the Society's funds was presented by Mrs. Lela Barnes.
AUDIT REPORT
AUGUST 11, 1939, TO AUGUST 31, 1940 MEMBERSHIP FEE FUND
Balance, August 11, 1939:
Cash $1,141.29
Treasury bonds (par value, $3,500) 3,441 .81
$4,583.10
Receipts :
Life memberships 210.00
Annual dues 116.00
Interest on bonds 146.25
Postage returned 434. 00
Postage received 1 .00
Total receipts 907.25
$5,490.35
Disbursements :
Travel expenses 262.86
Annual meeting 24 . 75
Postage 316.00
Dues and subscriptions 233.00
Shawnee Mission pageant 40 . 00
Supplies 36. 93
Drayage 17.50
Surety bonds 10.00
Flowers 9 . 53
Christmas gifts to janitors 8.50
Plaques 5 . 00
Safety deposit box 3.30
Extra typing 3.00
Notary commission 2 .00
Total disbursements 972 . 37
Balance, August 31, 1940:
Cash 1,076. 17
Treasury bonds (par value, $3,500) 3,441 .81
4,517.98
$5,490.35
THE ANNUAL MEETING 89
JONATHAN PECKER BEQUEST
Balance, August 11, 1939 $68.00
Treasury bonds 950.00
$1,018.00 Interest received :
Bond interest $27.78
Interest on bank balance .43
28.21
$1,046.21
Disbursements, books $18 . 21
Balance, August 31, 1940:
Cash 78.00
Treasury bonds 950.00
$1,046.21
JOHN BOOTH BEQUEST
Balance, August 11, 1939 $76.75
Treasury bonds 500.00
$576.75 Interest received :
Bond interest $13.88
Interest on bank balance .22
14.10
$590.85
Disbursements, books $77.50
Balance, August 31, 1940:
Cash 13 . 35
Treasury bonds 500.00
$590.85
THOMAS H. BOWLUS, DONATION
This donation is substantiated by a United States treasury bond in the amount of $1,000. Interest is credited to the membership fund.
On motion of Mrs. W. D. Philip, seconded by Mrs. Bennett R. Wheeler, the report was accepted.
The report of the executive committee on the audit by the state accountant of the funds of the Society was called for and read by the secretary.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 15, 1940. To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
The executive committee being directed under the bylaws to check the ac- counts of the treasurer, states that the state accountant has audited the funds of the State Historical Society, the First Capitol of Kansas and the Old Shawnee Mission from August 11, 1939, to August 31, 1940, and that they are hereby approved. THOMAS AMORY LEE, Chairman.
90 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Justice Dawson moved that the report be accepted; seconded by T. A. McNeal.
The report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society was read by the secretary :
NOMINATING COMMITTEE'S REPORT
OCTOBER 15, 1940. To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations submits the following report for officers of the Kansas State Historical Society :
For a one-year term: James C. Malin, Lawrence, president; Charles H. Browne, Horton, first vice-president; W. E. Stanley, Wichita, second vice- president.
For a two-year term: Kirke Mechem, Topeka, secretary; Mrs. Lela Barnes, Topeka, treasurer.
Respectfully submitted,
T. A. McNEAL, Chairman,
M. R. MCLEAN,
JOHN S. DAWSON,
MRS. A. M. HARVEY,
MRS. BENNETT R. WHEELER.
The report was referred to the afternoon meeting of the board.
There was an informal discussion of ways of interesting greater numbers of people in the work of the Society. This was followed by a short talk by John G. Ellenbecker, of Marysville, on the Oregon trail and the increasing need for Western pioneer history to be taught in the schools.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned until the annual meeting of the Society at 2 p. m.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
The annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society con- vened at 2 p. m. The members were called to order by the president, T. M. Lillard.
The annual address by Mr. Lillard follows:
THE ANNUAL MEETING 91
Address of the President BEGINNINGS OF THE KANSAS JUDICIARY
T. M. LlLLARD
OHORTLY after the acquisition of the Louisiana territory through O purchase from France in the year 1803, Congress enacted a law dividing it into two parts, the northern part which included Kansas being attached to the territory of Indiana for governmental pur- poses. Later, in 1812, a portion of the Louisiana territory, including Kansas, was reorganized under a territorial government known as the Missouri territory. After the admission of Missouri as a state in 1820, Kansas and the remainder of the former Missouri terri- tory, which was not included in the state of Missouri, was left with- out any territorial government. From 1820 until 1854 this section of the country was treated under federal laws simply as Indian land, practically the only statutes applicable thereto being those dealing with the Indian tribes. There was no organized local government, and certainly there were no courts or other judicial bodies function- ing in any part of this great expanse of prairie country.
It was into a land in this almost barbaric condition so far as laws and organized government were involved that the earliest settlers came as they journeyed out by steamboat and covered wagon to be- come citizens of the proposed new state of Kansas, following the enactment of the Kansas-Nebraska law in the spring of 1854. Under the terms of the enabling act passed by Congress, the governor, who was to be appointed by the President, was to call an election at which a legislative body would be chosen. The legislature so chosen would adopt a body of laws to govern the people in the territory and would establish the usual governmental agencies. Some months would necessarily elapse before the actual machinery of the terri- torial government could be set up, before a set of laws to govern the settlers could be enacted, and before courts could be established to administer these laws. During that interim the first Kansas set- tlers were dwelling in what was quite literally an almost lawless country.
Just when the three judges appointed by President Pierce — who were to serve in Kansas territory as district judges as well as supreme court judges — began to hold district courts is not at all clear. It is certain that they did not meet as a supreme court until July 30, 1855. A few justices of the peace appointed by Governor
92 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Reeder, shortly after he reached Kansas in the latter part of the year 1854, apparently constituted the only judicial officers actually functioning in the territory until well along in the year 1855.
In some sections of the territory, at least, these early settlers seemed able to proceed in homely fashion to provide themselves with the missing laws and the missing courts. In Connelley's Kan- sas and Kansans he quotes a set of resolutions promulgating some home-made laws adopted early in 1855 at a joint meeting of the "Wakarusa Association," a group of Slave-State advocates from Missouri, and the "Actual Settlers' Association," a group of Free- State advocates from New England. In these resolutions there were embodied a set of rules fixing the method for staking out, settle- ment on, proving up of land claims, and for disposing of disputes with reference to such claims.
This documentary record showing how these two rival or even hostile groups met amicably, as they did, out on the big ridge that separates the Kaw valley and the Wakarusa valley a few miles west of Lawrence and there created for themselves a body of laws to establish and protect their mutual rights in the things that were of most immediate concern to them is startling proof of the fact that they had found themselves practically in a state of nature, without benefit of any governmental agencies that were actually functioning.
The resolutions thus adopted provided for the following officers: One chief justice, one register, one marshal and one treasurer. I quote the following provisions establishing the judiciary:
The duty of the Chief Justice shall be to try and decide all disputes be- tween settlers in reference to claims or otherwise, and to try all criminals or persons guilty of the violation of the laws of the Territory. The said Chief Justice shall always take justice between man and man as his guide ; and upon the demand of either party shall summon a jury ... to try all disputes or violations of law. . . .
Further proof of the difficulties that surrounded the early settlers by reason of the uncertainty as to the laws that they must live under is found in the petition addressed to President Pierce by the territorial legislature in the summer of 1855, that Governor Reeder be removed from office. One of the recitals in that petition was that neither the governor nor the people knew what local laws were in force, as some of the justices of the peace were enforcing the code of laws from Pennsylvania, others the laws from Ohio, and still others the laws from Missouri.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 93
But as the year 1855 progressed the governmental machinery of the new territory was gradually set up and put to work, many difficulties and much bitterness being encountered as each step was taken.
The first Kansas territorial legislative assembly upon call of Gov- ernor Reeder convened on July 2, 1855, the meeting place chosen by the governor, to the great disgust of the members, being at Pawnee (now a part of the Fort Riley Military Reservation). Practically all of the members were Proslavery advocates who had come from Missouri, their election the previous March having been notoriously fraudulent. Desiring to hold their sessions as near as possible to the Missouri state line, immediately after organizing the first session at Pawnee, the legislators passed a resolution adjourn- ing to the Shawnee Methodist Mission, located in what was later to become Johnson county. There the legislature began the task of enacting a body of laws to govern the people of the territory.
Governor Reeder refused to sign the first statute enacted by the territorial legislature after it had adjourned to Shawnee mission, the particular statute involved being one to provide for a public ferry across the Missouri river at Kickapoo. The ground for the governor's objection was that the legislature had no right to ad- journ from Pawnee and hold its sessions at Shawnee mission, and that any laws enacted at that location were invalid.
President Franklin Pierce in June, 1854, had appointed as the three judges of the supreme court of the territory, Samuel Lecompte, of Maryland, chief justice, and Saunders W. Johnston, of Ohio, and Rush Elmore, of Alabama, as associate justices. Upon the request of the legislature, the United States district attorney arranged for the three territorial judges to assemble as a supreme court at Shaw- nee mission on July 30, 1855. He there presented to the judges a resolution of the legislature soliciting a decision of the supreme court as to the validity of the legislative session then being held at Shawnee mission, and of the statutes enacted by the legislature while assembled at that place. On the journal of the court it was noted that the court, having taken the communication under consideration, would rule upon it in view of the great importance of the matters involved, but that the ruling would not be made as a court, but simply as the individual views of the judges. Chief Justice Le- compte and Associate Justice Elmore thereupon, in an opinion that is printed in the appendix to the House Journal of the territorial leg- islature of 1855, upheld the validity of the legislative session at
94 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Shawnee mission and of the statutes there enacted. Mr. Justice Johnston in a short written opinion which has been preserved dis- sented vigorously on the ground that the members of the court had no right to render opinions except in cases regularly presented for hearing.
In this rather incongruous fashion, for the first time a supreme court of any character functioned in Kansas. The dissenting judge apparently had the better of the argument from a purely legal standpoint. However, as a practical matter, the territorial legisla- ture in reliance upon the informal ruling of the two judges, pro- ceeded forthwith to enact a general body of laws to govern the territory, something of which there was sore need.
While the judiciary alone is included in the scope of this paper, some passing reference must be made to the legislature which en- acted at Shawnee mission the general code of 1855. This legislative body was most cordially hated and distrusted by the Free-State settlers. It has ever since been contemptuously referred to as the "Bogus Legislature." The outrageous frauds perpetrated when its members were elected and the high-handed manner in which its members disregarded the authority of the executive, Governor Reeder, call for vigorous condemnation. The same may be said of the lengths to which the "Bogus Legislature" went in establishing and protecting slavery in the territory, and of the statutes fixing the qualifications of voters so as to practically disfranchise all Free- State advocates.
We think of Kansas as having always been non-slavery territory. However, it is doubtful if any state of the Union ever had a set of laws establishing and protecting within its limits the institution of human slavery with more emphatic vigor than is found in Chapter 151 of the Laws of 1855 as enacted by the territorial legislature of Kansas. Section 12 of this statute reads:
If any free person, by speaking or by writing, assert or maintain that per- sons have not the right to hold slaves in this territory, or shall introduce into this territory, print, publish, write, circulate or cause to be introduced into this territory, written, printed, published or circulated in this territory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slaves in this territory, such person shall be deemed guilty of felony, and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less than two years.
When a Free-State legislature finally came into power in Kan- sas, it was not satisfied with an immediate repeal of these laws,
THE ANNUAL MEETING 95
but ordered a public burning of the volume in which they were con- tained.
Aside from the laws dealing with slavery, the "Bogus Legislature" did, however, perform a very creditable job in promptly adopting a general body of statutory law. Under these statutes the courts be- gan to function, and continued to do so through the territorial period, with what may be termed fair success when we consider the turbulent conditions that prevailed.
Under the terms of the act of Congress creating the territory the three supreme court judges were also to function as judges of the district courts. On February 26, 1855, Governor Reeder had as- signed the three judges to district court service as follows: Chief Justice Lecompte to preside in the First district, sitting at Leaven- worth; Judge Elmore in the Second district, sitting at Tecumseh; and Judge Johnston in the Third district, sitting at Pawnee.
There were frequent changes in the territorial judges — new ap- pointees sometimes appearing with commissions from the President and claiming the positions over the vigorous protests of the former judges who had received no previous notice of their displacement.
Of the territorial judges Samuel D. Lecompte was the only one who appears to have left any great impression on the history of those times. One cannot read the record of his life and activities without being impressed with the fact that he was a man of great force of character. In addition to his judicial service, he presided over the Lecompton Constitutional Convention. He was bitterly charged with having through the powers of his judicial office given undue and unfair support to the Proslavery party.
The judge cannot be charged with ever having run to cover or to have shown any symptoms of cowardice. Born and raised in the slave-holding state of Maryland, he frankly and openly declared his belief in the blessings of slavery as an institution and his desire to use all lawful means to establish slavery in Kansas.
He resided at Leavenworth for many years after the close of the Civil War, joined the Republican party, and was elected probate judge of the county and served as a member of the legislature. In 1873 D. R. Anthony published a number of severely condemnatory articles in his newspaper, reviewing the activities of Judge Lecompte during the territorial period. Upon complaint of Judge Lecompte, Anthony was prosecuted for criminal libel, and after trial in the criminal court of Leavenworth county, was found guilty and fined $500. Lecompte in 1875 published a lengthy and highly rhetorical
96 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
article in the Troy Chief, defending in great detail his official con- duct. Judge Lecompte about this time declined with some bitter- ness a request to send his photograph to the Kansas State His- torical Society, intimating that he thought the request was made for the purpose of preserving his likeness as an enemy rather than as a friend of Kansas. The rather stormy career of Judge Lecompte as chief justice of the territorial court extended throughout the most trying territorial days, and did not terminate until March, 1859, when he was replaced through the appointment by President Bu- chanan by Honorable John Pettit of Indiana as chief justice of the court.
Honorable James McCahon, a prominent attorney of Leaven- worth, in 1870 collected and published in a small volume, known as McCahon's Reports, all available decisions of the supreme court of Kansas territory. The opinions included in this volume were all rendered in the years beginning with 1858, and unfortunately fail to throw any light upon the court through the more turbulent period from 1855 to 1858. A thumbing through of this small volume dis- closes the usual run of controversies over contracts, partnerships, land disputes, procedural questions, etc. It is interesting to note, however, that the general statutes enacted by the "Bogus Legisla- ture" were applied by the court and afforded a workable body of statutory law through the territorial period.
In McCahon's Reports, at page 185, is a record of the proceedings in the case of United States v. Lewis L. Weld had in the district court of Leavenworth county on April 18, 1860. The subject matter, as well as the decision in this case, were extremely interesting to me, and I will review them briefly. A negro slave named Peter Fisher had escaped to Kansas from Kentucky. The owners of the slave were two infant children named Hutchison, who had inherited the slave from their father, recently deceased. The guardian of the two children came to Kansas with an appropriate order from the Ken- tucky authorities issued under the fugitive slave law, and took the slave into his custody in Leavenworth county. While about to re- turn to Kentucky with him, defendant in the case, Lewis L. Weld, on January 24, 1859, as the indictment charged, did with force and arms, to-wit, with a club, knife, pistol, and other hurtful weapons, knowingly and willfully aid, abet and assist the said Peter Fisher, so owing service or labor as aforesaid, to escape. The fugitive slave law under which Weld was prosecuted made it a criminal offense for any one to aid and assist a fugitive slave in escaping when he had
THE ANNUAL MEETING 97
been taken into the custody of his owner, or the owner's "agent or attorney." Motion to quash the indictment of Weld having been filed, it was argued before Judge Pettit, and sustained; the ground of the ruling being that the guardian of the minor owners of the slave was not shown to have lawful custody of the slave, because he was neither the owner nor the "agent or attorney" of the owners, and for this reason the fugitive slave law had not been violated when Weld with the use of a club, knife, pistol, and other hurtful weapons aided the slave in escaping from the guardian of the infant owners.
It requires no stretch of the imagination to believe that if this case had been tried before Judge Lecompte, instead of Judge Pettit, the result would have been very different. Judge Pettit's opinion winds up with the following paragraph :
This opinion has been hastily written in the midst of turmoil, interruption and confusion — in the absence of a library to consult, and without time to correct or pay much attention to legal diction, but I am confident that, in its main features, it will stand the test of the most searching and rigid legal and judicial criticism.
If Judge Pettit had had "a library to consult," it is likely that he would have had considerable difficulty in finding any authority to sustain his conclusion that the relationship of a guardian to his infant ward is of lower order than that of agent or attorney.
However, the decision was undoubtedly popular. When we re- member that at the time the case was heard the Free-State people were definitely in the majority, we can get a pretty clear picture of the conditions referred to by Judge Pettit when he said in his opinion that the case was heard "in the midst of turmoil, interruption and confusion." A decision, even in Leavenworth in 1860 sending one of the Kansas Free-Staters to prison because he had prevented the re- turn of a slave from Kansas to Kentucky, would no doubt have re- sulted in a pitched battle in the courthouse.
The work of the territorial court ended upon the admission of Kansas into the Union as a state on January 29, 1861. The mem- bers of the supreme court elected to serve under the Wyandotte Constitution assembled in their first session on October 28, 1861. The court as then constituted, consisted of Thomas Ewing, Jr., chief justice, Samuel A. Kingman and Lawrence D. Bailey as associate justices. The first five district judges were McDowell, Lee, Safford, Thacher and Learnard, and David J. Brewer was judge of the criminal court of Leavenworth county. These first Kansas judges
7—7171
98 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
were all men of good character and ability. Many of them later made outstanding records.
Thomas Ewing, the first chief justice, served only about a year, resigning in October, 1862, to enter military service as colonel of the Eleventh Kansas regiment which he had recruited. Ewing was shortly thereafter advanced to the rank of brigadier general, and his record as a soldier was one of distinction. As commander of the army in the District of the Border, he issued the famous Order No. 11, the effect of which was practically to remove the civilian popula- tion from Kansas City and vicinity. After the war, Judge Ewing practiced law in Washington, D. C., and in New York City, and was at one time a member of congress from the state of Pennsyl- vania. He was a gallant soldier and an able lawyer.
Judge Kingman, a native of Massachusetts, served on the supreme court until 1876. An able and distinguished judge, he rendered a valuable service to his state through the learning, fairness and in- dustry with which he applied himself to the difficult legal problems that came before the court while the law of the new commonwealth was in a formative period. Prior to his service on the bench, Judge Kingman had been one of the leaders in the framing of the Wyan- dotte Constitution and is credited with being the father of the beneficent homestead provision in the Kansas constitution. In the later years of his life Judge Kingman served as secretary of the State Historical Society.
Judge Bailey, a native of New Hampshire, whose home, after he came to Kansas, was at Emporia, was a man of outstanding char- acter and ability. He served upon the court until January, 1869, when he was succeeded by the Hon. Daniel M. Valentine.
I will not take time to attempt a review of the work of the courts even in the early years of statehood. The opinions of the judges of the supreme court are preserved in the official reports of the court; and these opinions reflect also the work done by the district courts whose decisions came up for review. By these early judicial de- cisions the law of the new state was settled and determined in ad- mirable fashion.
The members of the Kansas judiciary who assumed their official duties in those historic days when the nation was just entering into the throes of Civil War did so with a full sense of their responsibili- ties. They had each had some part in the struggles of the territorial days from which Kansas finally emerged as a free state. When we review the difficulties that surrounded the birth of Kansas, we can
THE ANNUAL MEETING
99
better appreciate the significance of the inscription on the official seal of our state, "Ad Astra Per Aspera."
A talk by Paul Jones, chairman of the Kansas Coronado Cuarto Centennial Commission, on "Coronado and Quivira" followed the address of the president. Mr. Jones spoke interestingly of incidents in his research on the life of Coronado and the expedition of 1540- 1541 ; also of plans for the cuarto centennial celebration in Kansas.
The report of the committee on nominations for directors was then called for:
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORS
OCTOBER 15, 1940. To the Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations submits the following report and recom- mendations for directors of the Society for the term of three years ending October, 1943:
Austin, E. A., Topeka. Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland. Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M.,
Council Grove. Brock, R. F., Sharon Springs. Bumgardner, Edward, Lawrence. Correll, Charles M., Manhattan. Davis, W. W., Lawrence. Denious, Jess C., Dodge City. Fay, Mrs. Mamie Axline, Pratt. Frizell, E. E., Lamed. Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia. Hall, Mrs. Carrie A., Leavenworth. Hegler, Ben F., Wichita. Jones, Horace, Lyons. Lillard, T. M., Topeka. Lindsley, H. K., Wichita.
Means, Hugh, Lawrence. Morgan, Isaac B., Kansas City. Oliver, Hannah P., Lawrence. Owen, Mrs. Lena V. M., Lawrence. Patrick, Mrs. Mae C., Satanta. Payne, Mrs. L. F., Manhattan. Reed, Clyde M., Parsons. Riegle, Wilford, Emporia. Rupp, Mrs. W. E., Hillsboro. Schultz, Floyd B., Clay Center. Sloan, E. R., Topeka. Uhl, L. C., Jr., Smith Center. Van de Mark, M. V. B., Concordia. Wark, George H., Caney. Wheeler, Mrs. Bennett R., Topeka. Woolard, Sam F., Wichita. Wooster, Lorraine E., Salina.
Respectfully submitted,
T. A. McNEAL, Chairman,
M. R. MCLEAN,
JOHN S. DAWSON,
MRS. A. M. HARVEY,
MRS. BENNETT R. WHEELER.
On unanimous vote of the members of the Society the report of the committee was accepted and the members of the board were de- clared elected for the term ending October, 1943.
The reports of representatives of other societies were called for. Mrs. J. W. Quarrier, retiring president of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society, presented the report of that organization. The report of the Douglas County Historical Society was presented by Robert C. Rankin. The Rev. Angelus Lingenfelser, secretary of
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KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the Kansas Catholic Historical Society, presented the report of that society, and Charles M. Correll that of the Riley County Historical Society.
The president called upon the secretary to comment briefly on the Coronado expedition.
There being no further business the annual meeting of the Society adjourned.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The afternoon meeting of the board of directors was called to order by Mr. Lillard. He asked for a rereading of the report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society. On motion of Robert C. Rankin, seconded by Chas. M. Correll, the following were unanimously elected :
For a one-year term: James C. Malin, Lawrence, president; Charles H. Browne, Horton, first vice-president; W. E. Stanley, Wichita, second vice-president.
For a two-year term: Kirke Mechem, Topeka, secretary; Mrs. Lela Barnes, Topeka, treasurer.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned.
DIRECTORS OF THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AS OF
OCTOBER, 1940
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1941
Aitchison, R. T., Wichita. Baugher, Charles A., Ellis. Capper, Arthur, Topeka. Carson, F. L., Wichita. Chandler, C. Q., Wichita. Dawson, John S., Hill City. Doerr, Mrs. Laura P. V., Larned. Ellenbecker, John G., Marysville. Hobble, Frank A., Dodge City. Hogin, John C., Belleville. Huggins, Wm. L., Emporia. Hunt, Charles L., Concordia. Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville. Lilleston, W. F., Wichita. McLean, Milton R., Topeka. McNeal, T. A., Topeka. Malin, James C., Lawrence.
Moore, Russell, Wichita. Morehouse, George P., Topeka. Murdock, Victor, Wichita. Price, Ralph R., Manhattan. Raynesford, H. C., Ellis. Russell, W. J., Topeka. Smith, Wm. E., Wamego. Solander, Mrs. T. T., Osawatomie. Somers, John G., Newton. Stevens, Caroline F., Lawrence. Stewart, Donald, Independence. Thompson, W. F., Topeka. Van Tuyl, Mrs. Effie H., Leavenworth. Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton. White, William Allen, Emporia. Wilson, John H., Salina.
THE ANNUAL MEETING
101
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1942
Beeks, Charles E., Baldwin. Beezley, George F., Girard. Bonebrake, Fred B., Topeka. Bowlus, Thomas H., lola. Brinkerhoff, Fred W., Pittsburg. Browne, Charles H., Horton. Embree, Mrs. Mary, Topeka. Gray, John M., Kirwin. Hamilton, R. L., Beloit. Harger, Charles M., Abilene. Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka. Haucke, Frank, Council Grove. Kagey, Charles L., Wichita. Kinkel, John M., Topeka. Lee, Thomas Amory, Topeka. McFarland, Helen M., Topeka. Malone, James, Topeka.
Mechem, Kirke, Topeka. Morrison, T. F., Chanute. Norris, Mrs. George, Arkansas City. Philip, Mrs. W. D., Hays. Rankin, Robert C., Lawrence. Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell. Ryan, Ernest A., Topeka. Sayers, Wm. L,, Hill City. Schulte, Paul C., Leavenworth. Simons, W. C., Lawrence. Skinner, Alton H., Kansas City. Stanley, W. E., Wichita. Stone, Robert, Topeka. Trembly, W. B., Kansas City. Walker, B. P., Topeka. Woodring, Harry H., Lecompton.
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1943
Austin, E. A., Topeka. Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland. Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M.,
Council Grove. Brock, R. F., Sharon Springs. Bumgardner, Edward, Lawrence. Correll, Charles M., Manhattan. Davis, W. W., Lawrence. Denious, Jess C., Dodge City. Fay, Mrs. Mamie Axline, Pratt. Frizell, E. E., Lamed. Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia. Hall, Mrs. Carrie A., Leavenworth. Hegler, Ben F., Wichita. Jones, Horace, Lyons. Lillard, T. M., Topeka. Lindsley, H. K., Wichita.
Means, Hugh, Lawrence. Morgan, Isaac B., Kansas City. Oliver, Hannah P., Lawrence. Owen, Mrs. Lena V. M., Lawrence. Patrick, Mrs. Mae C., Satanta. Payne, Mrs. L. F., Manhattan. Reed, Clyde M., Parsons. Riegle, Wilford, Emporia. Rupp, Mrs. W. E., Hillsboro. Schultz, Floyd B., Clay Center. Sloan, E. R., Topeka. Uhl, L. C., Jr., Smith Center. Van de Mark, M. V. B., Concordia. Wark, George H., Caney. Wheeler, Mrs. Bennett R., Topeka. Woolard, Sam F., Wichita. Wooster, Lorraine E., Salina.
Bypaths of Kansas History
NEWS FROM MORMON GROVE
From the New York Daily Tribune, January 24, 1856.
Mormon Grove, Friday, January 11, 1856.
The road which leads from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Laramie, runs through the prairies to the back of Atchison and Doniphan, at a distance of some six or eight miles. Along this road the attention of the traveler is often arrested by the graves on the wayside. The frequent occurrence of these is sad evi- dence of many a painful story, long deferred perhaps, but sure and sorrowful, conveyed to the relatives of those who thus sleep beneath the prairie sod. The rumbling of the emigrant wagons or the Government train makes their resting-place a busy thoroughfare. A few of these graves have a fence around them, but most of them are marked only by the mound and broken sod. Some of them had been torn up, and the prairie wolf had made a banquet on the poor relics of mortality.
There is a road leading from Atchison into this military road. This is now the route for the Mormon emigration on its way to Salt Lake; and here, at the distance of some six or seven miles from Atchison, they have a starting station. I was on my way from Doniphan to Ocena, when I came in sight of Mormon Grove. It stands on high ground in the prairie, and is of young hick- ory trees, which can be seen at a great distance, their feathery outlines giving the scene a picturesque effect. I had no intention of stopping, but something in the appearance of the place arrested me. There was a large farm, some 160 acres, neatly fenced with sod. I had often seen sod fence before, but never had occasion to admire it, as the hogs and cattle always seemed to honor it "more in the breach than in the observance;" but this appeared to be con- structed on a more scientific plan, and is, I think, worthy of imitation in a prairie country. On the outside there is a ditch some three feet deep by four feet wide, sloping to a point at the bottom; from this the materials of the dyke have been taken. The sods from the surface form the face of the wall, which is only two-and-a-half feet high. The earth from the trench is thrown behind these and slopes away very gradually. When well built this will, I think, be very durable. The hogs and cattle are prevented from knocking it down by the trench, and cannot jump the trench for the wall. I was told that a man could put up from three to four rods of this fence per day.
There are one or two Mormons living at the Grove and its vicinity, but as I have stated, this is merely an outfitting station for the Salt Lake trains. Whether the polygamy feature of domestic bliss flourishes here, is a problem which my observation had not enabled me to solve. The people appear to be very quiet, and seem to possess some little intelligence. One elderly lady had quite a matronly and dignified appearance, and one girl was rather pretty — in fact, decidedly good-looking. For the first time in some weeks I have heard a "blessing" asked at table, and in the quaint and semi-religious conversation of my host I almost forgot the few peculiarities that startled me at Mormon Grove. [From Our Special Correspondent.]
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BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 103
BUFFALO BULLS ON SENTRY DUTY
From the Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, July 1, 1870.
The bulls selected for sentry duty take up their position on all the promi- nences of the divide, leaving unoccupied, as we discovered on the day referred to, and always afterwards, not a single point from which an approach- ing enemy may be commanded. The buffalo, widely different from the antelope, depends scarcely at all on his scent; but those great round eyes of his, glowing in their earnestness or anger, like balls of fiery asphaltum, possess a length of range, and an inevitability of keenness, scarcely surpassed by those of any quadruped running wild on our continent. Crouch and crawl where you may, you cannot enter the main herd without half a dozen pair of them successively, or at a time, focussing full upon you. Instant retreat of their owners follows; at first no faster than a majestic walk, but, if your pursuit be hot, with increasing graduations of speed up to the heavy cow gallop; and then comes the stampede of the late' quietly feeding herd, in a cloud of dust, and with a noise of thunder like a general engagement.
I have said it is impossible to get by the sentries : but there is an exception for the case of a hunter, who, disguised in a wolf or antelope skin, is willing to crawl slowly, dragging a rifle, for two or three miles; or the' still rarer case of one who, lying down completely out of sight in the grass, wriggles himself painfully along, like a snake, till he gets within range.
ANOTHER USE FOR A PRINTING OFFICE From the Wichita Vidette, November 24, 1870.
We have seen printing offices used for almost everything, but never knew of one being used for a jail until last night. On said night our office was made a place for the safe keeping of three prisoners. As the county is too poor to build a jail, and we are wealthy, we shall not present a bill for jail fees.
"AN ENJOYABLE TIME WAS HAD BY ALL" From the Kinsley Reporter, November 23, 1876.
The Lyceum, last night, was except the paper, a stupid affair. A part of the disputants stayed at home and the others didn't have anything to say; one of the singers had a cold, and consequently there was no music. The meetings will hereafter be held on Friday nights instead of Wednesdays.
DING, DONG, BELL From the Kirwin Chief, July 17, 1878.
Two hogs fell into the well on the Public Square Tuesday evening, but were recovered in the morning after a long-suffering community had listened to their melody all night.
104 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
No PLEASURE IN His WORK From The Republican, Fordham, Hodgeman county, July 9, 1879.
A. A. Lord says that going for buffalo chips with a pair of wild steers is not as much fun as one might think.
THE ARKANSAS RIVER RAN DRY IN 1879. From the Inland Tribune, Great Bend, September 27, 1879.
The Arkansas river is te totally dry ; not a drop of water in it ; it would make a splendid race course. The question is, what has become of the water? The Baptist brothers can't turn a wheel while this thing lasts.
A CHURCH WITHOUT A MORTGAGE From the Lane County Gazette, California, Kan., June 17, 1880.
The cheapest church in the United States was recently built in Kansas, at a cost of $10. Its walls and roof are of sod and the floor of earth. No mort-
NOT FERDINAND ! From the Sherman Center News, March 17, 1887.
One morning last week F. W. Flowerdew was out on his claim stepping off a portion to plow when he noticed a range steer about half a mile distant. He went on with the measurement, but presently heard something approach, turned and saw the steer coming at him at full speed, head down and about 20 yards away. Mr. Flowerdew was not armed and his only way to avoid being struck by the first charge was to dodge it, which he did. The steer turned and came again but with not so much force, and Flowerdew succeeded in getting hold of a horn and his right hand into his nostrils. Here the battle began between man and beast. To one it meant life or death, to the other it made no difference. For an arena they had 200 miles square of level plain in the center of which the sky dropped to the earth to form the boundary of the scene of action. No Caesar was there to crown the hero and no amphi- theater as in ye Roman grandeur, to applaud the victor. It was the best place Flowerdew could have got hold of the maddened brute and backward and forward they struggled. The steer was three years old and as Flowerdew is a tall and powerful man it made a good fight. For over a half an hour the struggle continued, all the while Flowerdew was working his way to the house where there was some 2x4 pieces of lumber. When he got hold of these he had a little better show, and commenced to pound the steer over the nose, which he stood and suffered, but the minute the pounding stopped his steer- ship charged, and had to be beaten off. After two or three pieces had been broken up the animal was so weak from loss of blood that he turned tail and left, with his nostrils torn almost out. Flowderdew is not hurt, only his feet which were trampled, and being sore in the body and muscles.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
A concise review of the origin and laying out of the Chisholm trail, written by George Rainey of Enid, Okla., appeared in the October, 1940, number of The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, published at Austin, Tex., by the Texas State Historical Society. This famous trail, laid out in 1865 by the Indian trader Jesse Chisholm, ran from Wichita to Anadarko in present Oklahoma, a distance of approxi- mately two hundred miles, and later was extended farther south to Fort Sill. Joseph McCoy's cattle trail, projected in 1867 from Abilene to the Red river, followed Chisholm's trail from Wichita to a place south of Kingfisher, Okla. This Texas cattle trail came to be known as the Chisholm trail even beyond the Red river, though most of its distance was an original route and not part of the true Chisholm trail.
On October 3, 1940, the story of Mrs. John Verhoeff, as told to Mildred Cass Beason, began in the Gave County Republican- Gazette, of Gove City. Mrs. Verhoeff' s grandfather came from Hol- land to Pella, Iowa, with Dominic Scholte in the late 1840's. Mrs. Verhoeff was born in Pella and lived there until her marriage. In 1879 she and her husband came to Kansas and settled near Grain- field. In January, 1880, a son was born, the first white boy, she 'believes, to be born in what is now Gove county. The pioneer reminiscences of Mrs. Geo. S. Tustin were also recorded by Mrs. Beason, the first installment appearing November 21. The Grinnell Record-Leader reprinted the articles.
Historical articles printed recently in the Kansas City (Mo.) Times include: "Cattle Rustlers Still Are Active — Livestock Men Declare a New War," November 1, 1940, and "Dodge City's First Bond Issue Gave a Novel Cowboy Twist to Financing," by Paul I. Wellman, December 24; "Funston's Life Was an Adventure Story in the American Tradition," by E. R. Schauffler, February 7, 1941.
Among Victor Murdock's historical feature articles appearing in the Wichita (Evening) Eagle during the past few months were: "Memories of Wichitans of Day [fifty years ago] Much Enlivened by a Host of Newcomers," November 2, 1940; "How Primeval Prairie Beckoned Pioneer Spirit to Frontier Adventure," November 7 ; "Looking Into Childhood Through the Vivid Pages of Dr. [Arthur E.] Hertzler's New Book [The Doctor and His Patients],1' Novem-
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106 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ber 9 ; contribution of Kansas to the world through Barber county's "Mine of Pure Gypsum," November 13 and 14; "Memories of Mr. Knight, Once Conductor on Line, Attica to Medicine Lodge," No- vember 18; "Of Candied Grasshoppers and of a Kansan's [Steve Balch's] Ability to Make Most of Misfortune," November 22; "Very Earliest of the Origins of the Chisholm Trail, First of the North- South Arteries in the Country Between This City and the Gulf," November 25; "When City of Wichita Gave Santa Fe Railroad Bulk of Cattle Shipment," November 26; "Memorial to Kansans, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Blood, at Arkansas Institution [John Brown University at Siloam Springs]," December 7; "Getting the Low- down on Buffalo Bone Prices When Market Here Boomed," Decem- ber 11; "Old Missouri Document Showing Sale of Slaves Brings Back Memories," December 18; "Prairie Stockade Corral That Changed in Aspect When It Happened to Rain," December 20; "First of Christmases Observed on Prairies Just Ninety Years Ago," December 24; "Most Colorful Party Ever Given in Wichita Not a Christmas Event [gathering of Indian tribes in fall of 1865]," De- cember 28; ". . . an Incident Out of the Past Which Presents the Perils of the Early Prairies [Indian battles after the Civil War] ," December 30; "One Prairie Business [Trade in Buffalo Bones] That Closed Financially in a Big Blaze of Glory," January 3, 1941; "First Scheduled Trips Into a Little Wichita Three Times a Week," Janu- ary 17 ; "Evidence Now Offered Is That Ton of Buffalo Bone Was Carried in a Wagon," February 3; "Prophet From Emporia Over Wichita's Cradle Foretold Town's Future," February 4; "Trio of Famous Women Who Were Responsible for a Notable Luncheon," the guests being Susan B. Anthony, Anna B. Shaw and Carrie Chap- man Catt, February 6; "Barter Under July Moon Westward of Wichita Put an End to a War [100 years ago between the Co- manches and Osages]," February 8; "Spotlight Was Seized by Wichita Nationally First Sixty Years Ago," February 21 ; "Some of the Air Pilots First to Fly in This City Recalled by Bert L. Jones," a few facts relating to the start of aviation in Wichita after the arrival of the first army Jenny, February 28.
The Clark County Clipper, of Ashland, is continuing its Clark County Historical Society notes started in July, 1939. Articles which have been printed since November 1, 1940, include the story of Sam Kyger, for whom Kyger creek was named, November 7; a history of the Englewood Methodist Church, which was organized in 1885, November 14; a history of the Methodist Church at
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 107
iMmneola, organized in December, 1886, November 21; "Fred Tainter," the story of a pioneer cattleman by the late M. W. Anshutz, November 28 ; a history of the Ashland Methodist Church, December 5 ; "A Brief Family History of Gamaliel Rogers as Com- piled by Tena Rogers-Schwoerke," contributed by Ida Bare, De- cember 12 ; "Merit Morton Cosby," by Ida Bare, in two installments, December 19 and 26. Editors of the Clark County Historical Society notes are Mrs. Jesse C. Harper, secretary of the society and Mrs. R. V. Shrewder, chairman of the historical committee.
An account of "Startling Changes In the Small Town Scene Since Sinclair Lewis Wrote of It . . . Kansas Communities Cited as Examples," appeared in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, November 7, 1940. Other articles of historical interest to Kansans include: "Tide of Civil War Carried Kansas Into Federal Union 80 Years Ago," January 29, 1941, and "Kansas Legend Is Hard to Down in Dispute Over the Flag Pledge," by Cecil Howes, February 8.
In observance of the fiftieth anniversary of the Bison Methodist Church, William Crotinger reviewed the history of Methodism in Rush county from the first religious service on May 18, 1873. His paper, which was read November 3, 1940, during the anniversary meetings, was published in the La Crosse Republican, November 14.
Nearly forty corporations, not including oil and railroad com- panies, have been chartered in Russell county during its history, J. C. Ruppenthal recalled in the Russell Record, November 14, 1940. One charter, which was issued June 15, 1871, before the county was organized, authorized the Russell County Live Stock Company to engage in buying, selling and herding livestock.
"A Pioneer Story of Early Days," by Mrs. Naoma Seymour- Prather, was printed in the Leon News, November 15, 1940. Mrs. Prather came to Kansas in 1883 from Iowa and remembers many incidents of pioneer life on the frontier.
Frankfort's First Presbyterian Church observed its seventieth an- niversary November 16, 1940, reported the Frankfort Daily Index of the same date in an article which included a brief history of the church from its organization.
A note on the first services for Methodists in Wilson and vicinity, prepared from original church records by the Rev. Joseph A. Mc- Clellan, was published in the Wilson World, November 20, 1940.
Kansas Historical Notes
This is Coronado year in Kansas. Spanish colors, yellow and red, on automobile license plates everywhere remind Kansas citizens and tourists of the journey to this area, four hundred years ago, of Fran- cisco Vasquez de Coronado and thirty picked horsemen. The party remained in Quivira (now Kansas) for a month during the summer of 1541, and it is the anniversary of this visit, the first made by white men, that Kansas is celebrating.
Gov. Payne H. Ratner in 1939 appointed a Kansas Coronado Cuarto Centennial Commission to plan for the observance. Paul Jones of Lyons, a Coronado historian, was named to head the com- mittee. Other members are: Roy Bailey, Salina; Robert K. Linds- ley, Wichita; Kirke Mechem, Topeka; Jess Denious, Dodge City; A. W. Relihan, Smith Center, and Mrs. R. H. Turner, Independence. The commission believes the celebration should be statewide, with all communities participating and benefiting. Every village, town and city has been encouraged to provide something of interest for tourists during the summer of 1941. An appropriation from the 1941 legislature enables the commission to print and distribute advertising folders and historical information on Kansas. Copies of these pub- lications may be secured by writing commission offices at Lyons. The Kansas State Highway Commission and the Industrial Develop- ment Commission have also printed attractive folders and maps tell- ing the story of Kansas to the nation. The State Historical Society is cooperating with these organizations and others at all times. The program to mark historic sites of Kansas along the state's major highways, planned several years ago and mentioned in previous issues of this magazine, is proceeding at a rapid pace. By summer fifty markers will have been erected. The State Chamber of Com- merce is assisting the Highway Commission and the Historical So- ciety with this work.
The Oregon trail marker, erected at St. Marys by the Department of Kansas, United Spanish War Veterans, was dedicated September 15, 1940. The monument, of Silverdale limestone, stands at the east edge of the city near US-40. Another of a series of historical markers being placed by the U. S. W. V. was the plaque for the Memorial building at Topeka to Spanish-American War veterans who offered their lives in Cuba in 1900 to eradicate yellow fever. Dedication ceremonies were held April 21, 1940.
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KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 109
An oil men's reunion was held in El Dorado September 26, 1940, to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the discovery of oil in the El Dorado field. As a highlight of the convention a marker was unveiled at the site of Stapleton No. 1, dedicated as the discovery well of the pool. J. B. McKay, of Wichita, was master of cere- monies. Principal addresses were made by William G. Skelly, of Tulsa, Okla., president of the Skelly Oil Company, and Herbert R. Straight, of Bartlesville, Okla., president of the Cities Service Oil Company. Mr. Straight presented the marker and easement to the Kansas State Historical Society through H. K. Lindsley, of Wichita, director and past president of the Society, who accepted for the state. The granite monument bears this inscription: "Site of Stapleton No. 1, Discovery Well of El Dorado Field October 5, 1915. Dedicated September 26, 1940."
On November 23, 1940, the Douglas County Historical Society met at Lawrence for its eighth annual meeting. Sen. Robert C. Rankin, the president, discussed the need for permanent housing of the so- ciety's collections and suggested that an annual display of historical materials be sponsored in order to encourage their preservation by private owners. W. L. Hastie, chairman of the committee to pre- serve records of rural cemeteries, reported on progress made during the year. Dr. Edward Bumgardner gave the principal address, his subject being "Abraham Lincoln and Kansas." The officers, all of whom were reflected, are: Sen. Robert C. Rankin, president; Miss Irma Spangler, first vice-president; John Akers, second vice-presi- dent; Miss Ida G. Lyons, secretary, and Walter H. Varnum, treas- urer. Dr. A. R. Kennedy was elected to a one-year term as director, and Miss Cora Dolbee, Mrs. George Barker, Otto Fischer, Elmer E. Brown and L. M. Walters were chosen directors for three-year terms.
The Shawnee County Early Settlers Association held its annual meeting at Topeka, December 5, 1940. Seventy-three members assembled to hear an address by T. A. McNeal, editor of the Topeka Daily Capital, and to elect the following officers to serve during the ensuing year: Oscar Swayze, president; Roy Boast, vice-president, and Florence Eckert, secretary-treasurer.
On December 11, 1940, at Pittsburg, the Crawford County His- torical Society held its first meeting since its formation in Septem- ber. The principal speaker, Kirke Mechem, secretary of the Kan- sas State Historical Society, reviewed the history of the state organi- zation and mentioned the work done by local groups in Kansas
110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
counties interested in studying and preserving Kansas history. Dr. Ralph H. Smith, president of the county society, presided. The re- port of the committee to nominate a board of directors was received, and the following directors were elected: for three-year terms, George F. Beezley of Girard, G. H. Dyer of McCune and J. T. Fowler of Arcadia; for two-year terms, H. W. Shideler of Girard, Mrs. L. H. Dunton of Arcadia and Mrs. J. U. Massey of Pittsburg; and for one-year terms, J. H. Tharp of Cherokee, Miss Ellen David- son of Mulberry and F. W. Brinkerhoff of Pittsburg.
The Chase County Historical Society issued its first book early in 1941 under the title Chase County Historical Sketches. It is Vol- ume I of what the association intends to be the first of a series of historical studies concerning the county. The preface was written by William Allen White, who said: "I suppose I had my origins in Chase county." He went on to explain that his mother taught school in Cottonwood Falls, and his father was a storekeeper there. ". . . So I was born into this world in Emporia, but it all started in Cotton- wood Falls." The book contains a variety of interesting and val- uable information about the county. Included among the contribu- tors were: Howel H. Jones, Henry Rogler, George A. Root, C. W. Hawkins, G. W. Starkey, Herman Allen, Mrs. Frank C. Mont- gomery, Helen Proeger Austin, Albert Rogler, Carrie Breese Chand- ler, Mrs. Annie S. Frey, Clara Brandley Hildebrand, Inez M. Brick- ell, Charles A. Sayre, John Madden, Mrs. Oscar Altemus, Laura J. Wells, Mrs. Frank Calvert, Harry McCandless, Mildred Mosier Burch, Col. Court Crouch, Lee M. Swope and F. W. Schneider. Of particular note is a list with drawings of 598 registered Chase county brands and earmarks. More than 300 of the book's 448 pages are devoted to biographical sketches of Chase county families. A map showing old trails and the county's rivers and creeks was featured. The book is indexed.
The Belleville Telescope absorbed the Republic Advertiser in January, 1941. The name and subscription list were purchased from R. R. Furse of Clay Center, Neb. This marks the twelfth consolida- tion of the Telescope with other Republic county papers over a period of 71 years. A. Q. Miller is publisher.
At the annual meeting of the Augusta Historical Society January 7, 1941, Miss Stella B. Haines was reflected president. Other officers include Mrs. W. W. Cron, vice-president, Mrs. Clyde Gibson, treas- urer, and Dr. Glenn T. Gough, secretary. At the meeting Mrs. K. L.
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 111
Grimes reviewed the book Coronado and Quivira by Paul Jones. The society is engaged in restoring the first log building erected in Augusta. This building, located in the third block on State street, housed a general store in the early days and the upper floor was used for the first school and for various other purposes as the town grew.
The annual meeting of the Lyon County Historical Society was held at the society's museum in the civic auditorium at Emporia, January 31, 1941. The following officers were elected: W. L. Hug- gins, president, H. A. Wayman, first vice-president, Geo. R. R. Pflaum, second vice-president, E. C. Ryan, secretary, J. S. Langley, treasurer; directors, Clarence Paine, Robert D. Lumley, Mrs. J. C. McKinney, Richard Langley, Alice Evans Snyder and Miss Margaret Lowe; historians, Mrs. Fanny Randolph Vickery, Miss Lucinda Jones, Mrs. Lulu Purdy Gilson. Two hundred seventy-nine per- sons attended the society's annual dinner program which was held at the Broadview Hotel the same evening. Dr. S. D. Mock, pro- fessor of history at the Kansas State Teachers College, spoke on the importance, purpose and work of a historical society.
A meeting of the Riley County Historical Society was held at the parish house of St. Paul's Episcopal Church February 1, 1941. Featured speaker was Jay M. Lee, of Kansas City, who recalled his early life in Manhattan and the life of his parents, the Rev. and Mrs. James Hervey Lee who came to Manhattan in 1866 from Ohio. The program followed a dinner at noon.
Several Wilson county residents met at the courthouse in Fre- donia, February 1, 1941, to encourage the formation of a Wilson County Historical Society. W. H. Edmundson presided. A com- mittee of five was appointed to act as a planning group. They are : J. T. Cooper, W. H. Edmundson and Mrs. Harry Smith of Fredonia, and 0. L. Hayes and Mrs. Frank Pingrey of Neodesha.
The Ness County News, of Ness City, February 6, 1941, an- nounced the regular meeting of the Ness County Historical Society to be held February 8. Mrs. Bess Barrows was scheduled to address the group on "Some Stamps and Their Stories."
An analysis and application of the cultural approach to history was the theme of the December, 1939, meeting of the American Historical Association held in Washington, D. C. A selection from the papers presented before the association was recently published
112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in a 359-page volume by the Columbia University Press, of New York, under the title The Cultural Approach to History. "Local Historical Studies and Population Problems," as discussed by Dr. James C. Malin, of the University of Kansas, appeared on pages 300-307. One of the points brought out from the study of Kansas census records is that population movements did not conform to the generalizations drawn from the Turner "frontier interpretation of American history, by which individuals are represented as fol- lowing successive frontiers, each new frontier being peopled by the last adjacent frontier." It is shown that "at the peak, direct migra- tion [from the state of birth] constituted 46 percent to 60 percent of the native migration . . . and direct migration from non- contiguous states accounted for approximately half of the native migration at the highest point of its flow." Another conclusion emphasizes the stability rather than mobility of the Kansas farm population since the World War and even during the decade of the depression; a conclusion that runs contrary to the popular con- ception of mass migration.
A Guide to Hillsboro Kansas, compiled by workers of the Writers' program of the Work Projects Administration in Kansas and spon- sored by the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce appeared early in 1941. The 91-page Guide relates the history of the Mennonite settlement in Marion county. It covers points of historical interest and gives up-to-date information concerning schools, churches, busi- ness establishments and life in general in Hillsboro. Biographical sketches and photographs of some of Hillsboro's prominent citizens, past and present, were included. The history of Fort Scott and its places of interest were discussed in A Guide to Fort Scott, Kansas, also compiled under the Writers' program. The sixteen-page booklet was sponsored by the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce and was issued in February, 1941. Herington history and points of interest were discussed in a small illustrated folder recently published by the Herington Chamber of Commerce, with editorial assistance from the Writers' program.
THE
Kansas Historical Quarterly
Volume X
Number 2
May, 1941
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
w. C. AUSTIN, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1941
18-8801
Contributors
Biographical mention of HUGH M. MOORE will be found on the opposite page.
G. RAYMOND GAEDDEKT is curator of newspapers at the Kansas State His- torical Society.
ROBERT R. HUBACH is an assistant instructor in the Department of English at Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
DOMENICO GAGLIARDO is professor of economics at the University of Kansas. Lawrence.
Letters of Hugh M. Moore, 1856-1860
I. INTRODUCTION
HUGH M. MOORE and his brother, J. Frank Moore, of Juniata county, Pennsylvania, settled in Topeka in 1857. The brothers formed a partnership with a Mr. Hill and engaged in the sale of real estate. The Topeka city directory, published in the Topeka Tribune, October 6, 1860, listed Hugh as a speculator. He was one of the pro- moters of the first bridge over the Kansas river at Topeka.
Although a Free-State adherent in principle, Moore apparently could not give whole-hearted support to the Republican party. He seemed unable to reconcile himself to prevailing party trends and yearned for the resurrection of the Whig party, the only one ''that ever breathed true national patriotism." For this reason his political views may be considered less biased than those of the average par- ticipant in the Kansas struggle.
In May, 1861, Moore enlisted in the Second Kansas Volunteer in- fantry and was mustered out October 31, 1861. His name again ap- pears as having enlisted in the Fourteenth Kansas Volunteer cavalry August 28, 1863, serving this time until June 25, 1865. After the war Moore probably left Topeka, for no other mention of him was found. This Hugh Moore is not to be confused with a Hugh M. Moore who was a resident of Leavenworth during the same years. The Leavenworth Moore was active in Democratic affairs and was a delegate to the Lecompton constitutional convention in 1857.
The following letters, except one by the brother, were written by Hugh M. Moore, of Topeka. Because of their interest to Kansans, Glenn D. Bradley of the University of Toledo, sent them to the Kan- sas State Historical Society for copying. The originals are in the possession of Moore relatives in New Bloomfield, Pa.
II. THE LETTERS
Nebraska City October 2nd 56 Dear uncle
I have never written to you since I left home I have now A moment of Leisure time & I will im Prove it By writing to you as I deem you one of my most cincere friends & I think I am not mis- taken. I think of you dayly but have neglected to write so I hope you will excuse for the Past I will Promice better for the future. Let this Suffice for A Pology well uncle to give you A short history of my western Life I must commence at the Beginning we came on
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116 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the cars to Iowa City then bought A Pair of Match gray 4 year old Horses for 250 A Light wagon for 40 dollars A pair of harness for 30 dollars making in all 320 dollars thus being ready to start we stole A dog & started in 4 days Reached Ft des moin City Stayed there 4 days saw Mr Lease & dr Gustine who gave me all the instruction they could we then started South west Canvassed all the vacant Land & found none to suit us So we stoped at Indianola warren co. 18 miles south of Fort des moines I then started to trade my team of [f] for Property I traded for 160 Akers of Land and have since been offered 6 dollars per Aker which would be 960 dollars thats what I got for my team. I then bought 80 akers of Land for 2.87 cts Per aker which I have refuse [d] 8 dollars per Aker for I bought A house & Lot in Indianola for 425 dollars and held it 4 days & Sold it for 700 dollars. I bought some 20 lots in different towns which is bringing me from 50 to 100 per cent I bought & Sold Several Horses & have done well on them. I have now A Pair of match Sorrel Horses that I have Refused 500 dollars for But I will keep them for my own use they are hard to beat I tell you.
I started for Kansas About 5 weeks ago with 4 as good men as my Self we Crossed the Missouri River at Council Bluffs & went through nebraska which is A beautiful Country but Rather Cold, it was with great difficulty we got through at the Kansas Line we met general Lane & his company of 400 men1 we camped with him that night he thought it was A great Risk to go through Alone so he gave us Each A Sharps Rifle & sent General Cutler with us to Escort us through to Lawrence we ha[d] not gone more than 10 miles when we was accosted by 10 georgians who came within A mile of us & fired but with out doing any hurt we returned the fire Killed one horse & shot A man in the Hip the ballance of the Ruffians Retreated at the Speed of the antelope So we went on our way Regoice after travelling some 15 miles we was again stopped by A party of 23 Missourians who sent A man to talk to us he en- vited us to give up our arms which we of Course Refused to do we Showed him all our arms & told him we would give them 10 minutes to disperse or we would shoot every damd one of them they got to gether & Left. So we had no more trouble, we landed at Lorrence [Lawrence] saw all the Ruins,2 went to Franklin3 Saw the Ruins there we then went to Leavenworth City & to Lecompton Saw
1. Lane's "Army of the North" reached the northern border of Kansas territory early in August. It opened what was known as the Iowa route. — Andreas, A. T., History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 141.
2. The first sacking of Lawrence occurred May 21, 1856.
3. Free-State men attacked Franklin August 12, 1856.
LETTERS OF HUGH M. MOORE 117
the Governor [Geary] had A chat with him he is A proslavery man we Likewise saw 15 hundred government troops all in uni- form we then went to Topeka City which is but small but it is the best Location for A City I ever saw Topeka is on the South bank of the Kansas River here we found Governor Robinson the free state Governor in Constitutional Hall. 4 miles south of this city is Websters Peak4 as beautiful a sight as I ever saw the bottom Covers some 4 Akers then running to a peak some 230 feet high on the shape of a sugar Loaf & what is more remarkable it is all covered with grass from 1 to 3 feet high & not A Stick of would About it
I bought an interest in topeka 2 weeks Ago for 300 dollars & re- fused 1,000 dollars this morning for it. if Kansas is A free state it will make me A fortune if not I wont Lose anything there is some 50 Lots in one share the Kansas Prarie is by far the best I ever saw the Prarie is gently Rolling with plenty of timber & A fine wattered Country there is Plenty of stone Principally Lime stone & grannet
I must now close, we are now on our way home to Iowa
Please write soon, give me all the news
Direct to Indianola, Warren Co. I own give my Love to all the friends
do write soon, yours in hast H. M. Moore
I see dave Lukens often but have not saw him for over A month he
is in Fort des moin George irvin is there too keeping hotell and
doing well
I occasionally see Miss Gustine who is at Fort des moines
Nothing more of importance
John & Bob why dont you write
[From J. Frank Moore to William Moore]
Topeka Kansas May 22 /57
Dear and most respected uncle
I received your kind letter yesterday I was much pleased to know that you had not forgot that you had two nephews in the great West I was much pleased to hear that you were all well
Hugh is not at home now He started to (Iowa) about three weeks ago. I have not heard from him since He is going to travel through part of Nebraska teritory before he returns he will proba- bly be away til the 20th of June we are in the land Agency Busi- ness in company with Mr. Hill of Penna we are doin a very good
4. Now called Burnett's mound. — See Topeka Daily Capital, August 14, 1927.
118 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
business charge five percent for selling matters are all quiet now in the teritory, but no telling how long they may remain so. the free state legislature meets here on the 9th of June and the Bogus governor says that he will have them Disbursed by bringing on his troops — now we want to see the lick he does it with we have got two 24 pounders besides three thousand Sharps rifles and we have got the boys that are ready to use them, so we think they had better not bother our legislature Speculation is raging in the free state towns while the pro-slavery towns are doing nothing in the way of improvement no person goes near them to buy property flower is selling here at $7.00 per hundred corn at $2.00 per bu potatoes $4.00 per bu. Pork from 18 to 20 cts per pound Oxen sell at $100 to 150 per yoke, horses from $150 to 300 a head. Indian Ponies 75 to 100
Boarding from five to seven per week the Spring has been very backward and cold it is at least six weeks later than usual for this country My pen is so bad I will come to close and write in a few days again I will send you some newspapers in this male
Give my love to all
Aunt in particular
Yours most affectionately
J. Frank Moore. Wm. Moore
there has been several of the Juniata Boys here this spring Latimer Wilson & Jim North of Patterson North has went home Wilson is in the teritory yet they bought property which has payed them well their property has ris fifty per cent since they bought Dave Myers is here now Sam Leonard was here but is gon to Iowa now one of the Shelenbargers was here he has gon to Nebraska excuse bad pen and hast A Mr. John Lytle after
best respects
Topeka Kansas Ty Sept 28th 1857
Dear uncle A Long time has Elapsed Since I wrote to you or heard from you only by A Line that was dropped to me by Cousin Harriet while she was paying you A visit
Well uncle I am at A Loss to know what to write that would in- terest you. the Kansas Stories I presume you hear every day though I may profisy something
LETTERS OF HUGH M. MOORE 119
Our election Comes of[f] the 5th of October Trouble is antisi- pated at that time by the most of the Free State men though I think we shall not be invaded any more the Free State men are all Regu- larly Organized in Military Companies throughout the Territory and there motto is Give me Free access to the ballot Box & its pro- tection or Give me Death.
this is the motto of the entire Free state Party and they mean it all.
We have 4 military Companies in Topeka Numbering 60 men Each well drilled and well armed Standing Ready to move when Called on
Business has been verry dull for the Last month the excitement had Kept out Emigration though we expect A heavy fall Emigration yet
I just Returned from A trip to the South part of the territory was gone 2 weeks Found A Beautiful Country Layed out one Town & found another Location that we will attend too this Fall I had 9 shakes with the Ague while Away one Chill every day after I took the first untill I got home I feel pretty well now though very weak
Frank has been Pining Away all Summer untill he started home he reached home safely & is Rather Better I Learn I hope he will take Care of him self & get well so he can Return in the Spring I am Rather Lonesome without him I hope you are all Enjoying good health & all the Comforts of Life
I must say that I am not Enjoying quite all the Comforts of Life for I have not had A Single meals victuals for the Last month that was fit for Pa Dog to eat it seems hard but we have to grin & bear the Damd yankies dont know how to do any thing Right
Well I suppose you will get tired Reading Before you get this far
Give my Love to all who may upon it call that will be few I can assure you
Write Soon & tell the Boys & girls to write often
Yours most Respectfully Uncle H. M. Moore.
120 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Topeka Kansas ty
Dec 8th 1857 Dr uncle
A Long time has Elapsed since I have had any Communication with you or your family though I occasionally heard from you By our folks at home the case of the decease of my Brother has been A great Bearing upon me and in fact all most more than I was able to stand we had been together all our Lives & Little did I think of his case being so desperate A one when he left topeka
although he had been ill for some time before he Left I thought A change of Climate would be beneficial to him though it Proved not to be so
I am only Sorry now that I did not go home with him & stay with him untill he died But I did not get the word untill it was too Late to get home & see him A Live I intended to go home this winter But find now that it is all most impossible the journey is A Long one & it is an Expensive one But that would not stop me my time is worth money & more than money at this preasant time
I am aspiring to something in the Course of time may Prove worth Considerable to me & that money wont buy
We are now Building A bridge Across the Kansas River the Con- tract is Let at 14,000 dollars & I have the Superintending & inspect- ing of all the work and material at A Salery of from 800 to 1,000 dollars5 I devote about one hour of my time every day to the work the Bridge will be Completed the 1st of May next
in Regard to the politics of Kansas the Free state men are carry- ing the day the Legislature meets tomorrow I think the great question that has so long agitated the Public mind is now settled & Kansas will come in A free state
the Fall has been verry Pleasant the thermomiter stands at 60 and at no time has the ground been frozen over one inch the cattle are still Living on the Praries & are in fine case you will Excuse Bad writing &c
Write soon for I am verry Lonesome tell the Boys to write give my Love to all
Yours most Respectfully Write soon uncle H. M. Moore
5. The Topeka Bridge Company was organized September 3, 1857, with the following officers: President — John Ritchie; Secretary — F. W. Giles; Directors — C. K. Holliday, H. M. Moore, F. L. Crane, S. E. Martin, J. F. Hill, W. W. Ross, H. B. Burgess, and S. T. Walkley. — Kansas Tribune, Topeka, September 5, 1857.
On March 13, 1858, the Tribune noted: "Our bridge is progressing steadily. The middle pier, on which the turn table is to be placed, is nearly completed, and as the frame work is all ready to be put together a very few days will make a great difference in the appearance of the work."
The bridge was opened for travel May 1, 1858, but a flood swept it away the following July. — Root, George A., "Ferries in Kansas," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. II, p. 369.
LETTERS OF HUGH M. MOORE 121
Topeka K T. January 9th 60 Wm Moore Esq
Newbloomfield Perry Co. Pa. Dear Uncle
Your very kind letter of Dec 28th came to hand this morning I was truly glad to hear from you but Sorry to hear of your tenacious views in Regard to politics. There must be a new era in the political world in Pa
1st you ask whether I have gone over to the Democracy I an- swer, no. I stand firm on the Stern principals Laid down by our forefathers Clay, Webster, & Adams &c
the Republican party of the present day in my opinion is Equally as corrupt as the Democratic party So I take but Little Stock in either party but Look forward to the time when the old national Whig party shall be Reserected the only party that ever Breathed true national patriotism
2nd you Refer to the Harper's Ferry insurection & May I under- stand by your Language that you approve of John Browns course in the invasion of Virginia. I hope not. I trust not While I am per- sonally acquainted with old John Brown & Caji [Kagi], Stevens, Coppy [Coppoc], & Cook. Knowing there Course in Kansas I of course am better able to judge of there motives than one who knew nothing of them Brown was a peculiar man & a blood thirsty villin he was the Cause of a great deal of Blood shead in Kansas he was a murderer & hanging was too good for him in my opinion He Mr Brown Boasted in Kansas that he had a deadly Enmity against all proslavery men & that he him self had killed 13 men in cool blood, was he the Leader of the Republican party or is that the class of men we Sons of Penna shall be led by
I answer for one, no, it is truly disgusting to me & as for the ad- ministration party I take no part at all in it, there must be a 3rd party organised for the union Loveing conservatives, for the honest part of the community who can Calmly look at both sides of the question dispassionately & who are not so likely to A Rive at hasty
conclusions and has the good of our common Country at hart
the North is allways harping about Slavery and adjutating the South, interfering with there Rights, and they in Return are Crying dissolution of the union & thus we are kept in a perfect uproar all the time
122 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
You in the states do not feel it as we do in Kansas our people have got tired of the question of Slavery That question has been happily settled in our Territory & to the satisfaction of the majority
Enough on that subject for the present
Our Legislature convened the 2nd at Lecompton but as yet have done but Little the House stands Rep 26 to Dem 13 Council or Senate 9 to 5 Dem A motion before the house to adjourn to Lawrence to hold the session was entertained & past both houses sent to the governor & was vetoed taken up again & past by a % majority so the Republicans went to Lawrence and the Democrats Remained at Lecompton there will be no good done in our Legislature this winter.
Our great hope now is to get in to the union this winter if we are not admitted this winter it will be a death blow to us Every effort is being made for a state organising with the Expectation of being admitted The President in his message never speaks of Kansas at all but treats us with silent Contempt My own opinion is that Congress will not admit us this winter & if that be the case we shall have to dance to the tune of old hundred for another year
There is nothing to pay on your Topeka Tribune I had to take a certain number of copies to keep the paper up so I had one copy sent to you it was not intended as an insult at all but the most kindly feeling but for fear of future difficulty I will have it discontinued
that all of importance
Write often & give me the news I am most happy to hear from you at all times & will answer punctually
Give my Love to all Respectfully
H. M. Moore
Topeka Kas Jan. 9th 60 Wm Moore Esq
Dr uncle
I suppose I have written Enough of politics So I will give you the general news
Times have been verry hard in deed there is but Little money in Circulation The Summer & fall has been verry fine indeed Crops have been verry fine & are yielding well corn is worth 20 cts po- tatoes 30 wheat 100 butter 20c pork 6 to 8 beef 5 to 7 cts
Horses are worth from $50 to 200 mules 300 dolls per pair those are about the prices current
LETTERS OF HUGH M. MOORE 123
the general health of the neighborhood has been verry good for the Last year.
I took a trip this last fall to the indian ty & Texas was away some 6 weeks had a verry pleasant time, past through the buffalo country saw millions of Buffalo and killed a great many Texas is a fine Country if I ever Leave this place I shall go to Texas or California but the probability is that I shall Live & die here
I expected to have been home before now, but on account of the hardness of the times I may not go East this winter you speak of not Receiving any letter from me this summer at all I wrote to you the same time I wrote to Wm Mcmeen but presume you did not get it I should be glad to Corrispond with you all the time, there is no harm in Exchanging views I presume you will be put too to Read this Letter for I have written it in ahurry You will Excuse it
you will please give my Love to all the friends
Respectfully
H. M. Moore P.S.
I am Single yet but dont know how soon I may adopt Southern blood in my family6
6. On May 5, 1860, the Topeka Tribune reported that Mr. Moore had commenced the erection of a first-class dwelling on Monroe street.
The work was again mentioned by the Tribune July 14 : "We have been anxiously looking for that immense quantity of stone and brick which has so long been accumulating at a point below Monroe, on Sixth Street, to come to some kind of a head. It belongs to Hugh Moore, Esq., and according to rumor is soon to be transformed into a large and costly residence. — Here's to the health of its mistress."
First Newspapers in Kansas Counties
(Continued) 1865-1871
G. RAYMOND GAEDDERT
ANDERSON COUNTY
Garnett Plaindealer , March, 1865.
THE Plaindealer probably made its appearance sometime during the last two weeks in March, 1865. This statement is based on newspaper reports found in the Leavenworth Daily Conservative and the Lawrence Kansas Daily Tribune of 1865. On April 5 the Conservative wrote: "Plaindealer is the name of a paper just started at Garnett, Anderson county, Kansas. The first number presents a creditable appearance." The following day the Tribune stated: "I. E. Olney, who last year published the Hampden Expositor, has taken his printing materials to Garnett, Anderson county, and has com- menced the publication of the Garnett Plaindealer." The Emporia News did not announce the Plaindealer until May 13. It wrote that the paper "commences under favorable auspices, with all the prestige and character of the Hampden Expositor. It is being published on the same type and edited by the same editor." Andreas, the First Biennial Report and the author of History of Anderson County all stated that the Plaindealer was established in January, 1865. * They may have had in mind the establishment of the newspaper plant rather than the date of the first publication.
I. E. Olney, who formerly published the Hampden Expositor, was editor and publisher of the Plaindealer until his death in the fall of 1866, after which Mrs. Olney carried on until 1870, when the office was purchased by Leslie J. Perry. The regular issues of the Society's file of this paper do not start until January 7, 1876.
SALINE COUNTY
The Salina Herald, February, 1867.
The year 1867 was eventful for Salina. In February B. J. F. Hanna gave the town and county its first newspaper, the Salina Herald, and in April the Union Pacific railroad reached the town.2
1. Andreas, A. T., History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 1327 ; First Bien- nial Report of the State Board of Agriculture to the Legislature of the State of Kansas, for the Year 1877-8 (Topeka, 1878), p. 99; Johnson, Wm. A., History of Anderson County (Gar- nett, 1877), p. 188.
2. Wilder, D. W., The Annals of Kansas (Topeka, 1875), p. 461, had the following entry for April 8: "The locomotive within five miles of Salina." For April 29 he wrote: "Trains run to Salina."
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GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 125
Andreas wrote that the Herald, "the oldest newspaper in the county, . . . was established at Salina in 1866." This statement may have been based on an account which appeared in the Herald March 16, 1878: "The oldest established newspaper is the Herald, which is now approaching its thirteenth year." If regularly issued this would mean the first number appeared in 1866. The Herald must be mistaken. The Society has an early issue dated December 18, 1869, listed as volume III, number 45. Retracing its issues, if regularly published, would make the first number February 13, 1867. The First Biennial Report gives this as the date of the first issue.3 Moreover, the Junction City Weekly Union of February 9, 1867, wrote: "We understand the Salina paper will come out this week. We are anxious to see that which has advanced beyond us westward." On February 23 the same paper wrote again: "The Salina Herald has failed to come to hand. We, however, have seen a copy. It is a sprightly sheet, full of interest and earnestly devoted to the 'ma- terial interest' of Saline county." In the same issue the Union quoted from the Salina Herald. On March 1, 1867, the Emporia News described the first issue of the Herald as follows :
We have received No. 1 of the Salina Herald, a new paper printed at the thriving town of Salina, Kansas. It is one of the best looking and ablest coun- try papers in the State, and if the first number is a specimen of what the paper is to be, it will be of great benefit to western Kansas. Mr. Hannahs is the editor and publisher. . . .
While the exact date is still unknown, it is likely that the first issue of the Herald appeared sometime during the second or third week in February, 1867.
A recent publication in a colorful but erroneous description as- serted that Hanna established the paper after the Union Pacific railroad reached the town. The statement reads:
It was a great day in Salina history [when the railroad reached Salina] and marked the beginning of a new era. Before long settlers began to arrive by rail and one of these newcomers, F. B. J. Hanna, brought type and a printing press and began to publish the Herald, Salina's first newspaper.4
It has already been pointed out that the railroad did not reach Salina until sometime in April, 1867. By this time the Herald office had published its paper for more than a month.
3. First Biennial Report, p. 408.
4. A Guide to Salina, Kansas, Federal Writers' Project (August, 1939), pp. 25, 26. The name is B. J. F. Hanna.
126 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY
Pottawatomie Gazette, Louisville, July 17, 1867.
The Pottawatomie Gazette, established ten years after the county was organized, is considered the first paper in the county.5 A. Sel- lers, Jr., and R. S. Hick were the editors and A. Sellers, Jr., the pro- prietor. After September 16, 1870, it became the Kansas Reporter. In the meantime the paper had changed owners and editors.
Under the caption "Our Position," the Gazette wrote that it "will be independently radical, supporting such measures as we believe it to be right, and condemning those that we deem to be wrong." It promised to chronicle local events and favored "universal suffrage in its broadest sense — the giving of the ballot to all alike, whether male or female, black or white," provided they met the usual qualifi- cations. On the question of reconstruction the Gazette wrote, July 17,1867:
It will sustain the present reconstruction policy of Congress, and such other measures as in its wisdom shall be deemed necessary for the protection of the loyal people of the South, whether black or white ; and we trust that Congress, through its commanders of departments, Johnson and Stanberry to the contrary notwithstanding, will hold a firm grip until the same respect is shown for law and order as in the northern States; until they relinquish their pastime amuse- ment of shooting negroes, and getting up New Orleans massacres, and Mobile and Memphis riots. . . .
The Society has a good file of the Pottawatomie Gazette, including Vol. I, No. 1.
CHEROKEE COUNTY
Baxter Springs Herald, October, 1867.
This paper may have made its appearance the first week in Oc- tober, 1867. On October 9, 1867, the Fort Scott Monitor announced the Herald in these words:
Baxter Springs Herald. — This is the title of a new six-column paper in Cherokee county. It is Republican in politics, and constitutes and appoints itself "the especial advocate, without fee or reward, of the claims of every good, honest settler upon the Cherokee Neutral Lands, to his home, and promise to do all in our power to secure his title for him." Henry T. Sumner is the editor, and B. R. Evans publisher. It is a neat and spicy sheet, and will materially benefit the settlers. Success to the enterprise.
The paper was suspended the following summer.8 The Society has only three issues of the Herald, the earliest dated February 8, 1868.
5. Andreas, op. cit., p. 976; First Biennial Report, p. 370.
6. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1162; First Biennial Report, p. 144.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 127
and listed as volume I, number 18. If issued regularly the date of the first number should have been October 12, 1867. However, by October 9 the Fort Scott Monitor had already received the first issue. A rival paper had been contemplated by P. A. Russell, formerly of the Paola Free Press. On August 14, 1867, the Monitor wrote: "A weekly journal is soon to be started in the above named county, by P. A. J. Russell, formerly of the Paola Free Press." In the next issue, however, the Monitor spoke of the failure of this project:
Mr. Russell says the arrangement between himself and D. C. Finn of Chero- kee county, relative to publishing a paper at Pleasant View, is "busted" — the latter failing to "come down with the stamps." Mr. Finn called on us yester- day, and said his part of the contract was for and in behalf [of] the Pleasant View Town Company. He thinks the Crawfordville people will try and secure Mr. RusselFs press.
This gave the Baxter Springs Herald undisputed claim as the first paper in the county.
ELLIS COUNTY Hays City Railway Advance, November 9, 1867.
Floyd B. Streeter, librarian at Fort Hays Kansas State College, who has a framed copy of the first issue of the Advance, the only known copy of this number in existence, wrote that the date of the first issue is November 9, 1867.7 The secondary authorities, except Wilder, were uncertain about it, listing merely the year. Wilder gave the date of the first issue as November 5, 1867.8 The Junction City Union announced the first issue on November 16. The an- nouncement read:
The Hays City Railway Advance is the name of a tri-weekly paper which has made its appearance at the terminus of the road, and published by Joseph Clark, W. H. Bisbee and Willis Emery, all of Leavenworth. The thing looks like a huge joke, considering all things. They advertise for a boy to learn the business and add "one from the country preferred, of course." They evidently mean that they want a young Cheyenne.
The paper expired the following year.9 The Society has one issue of the Advance, dated June 23, 1868, and listed as Vol. I, No. 66. At that time the paper appeared twice a week.
The Topeka State Journal, March 13, 1941, had an interesting article on the Railway Advance with quotations from the first issue. Among the statements made was one which needs further explana-
7. Streeter, Floyd B., to G. R. Gaeddert, May 2, 1941, Kansas State Historical Society.
8. Wilder, op. cit. (1886), p. 468 ; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1292 ; First Biennial Report, p. 209.
9. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1292 ; First Biennial Report, p. 209.
128 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tion, viz. : "Thus began the first newspaper in Kansas west of Junc- tion City." The writer of the article no doubt had forgotten about the Salina Herald which made its appearance sometime in February, 1867, making the Railway Advance the second paper west of Junc- tion City. Hays City, at the end of the Union Pacific, Eastern di- vision, was only three months old when the Advance appeared.
ELLSWORTH COUNTY Ellsworth Advocate, March, 1868.
The First Biennial Report stated that "In April, 1868, P. H. Hub- bell started the Ellsworth Advocate, which existed for six months." 10 Andreas, who gave quite a detailed account of the history of Ells- worth, made no mention of this paper. The Junction City Weekly Union on March 14, 1868, reported:
The Ellsworth Advocate is the name of a new weekly paper just started at Ellsworth, with Mr. P. H. Hubbell as publisher. The Advocate presents a fine appearance, and it is in every respect a "live journal." It is neutral in politics and its columns are devoted to morals, education, art, science, literature, and the general interests of the county and State it represents.
The First Biennial Report apparently was in error as to the month the Advocate appeared. While the exact date is still unknown, it is likely that the first issue appeared sometime during the first or sec- ond week in March, 1868. The Society has no copy of this paper.
NEOSHO COUNTY
Neosho Valley Eagle, Jacksonville, May 2, 1868.
This paper enjoyed the unusual reputation of having been claimed by three counties: Labette, Crawford and Neosho. It was published at Jacksonville, located where the counties joined. The corporation records show that the town was located on parts of sections 34 and 35, T. 30 S., R. 21 E., and on part of section 3, T. 31 S., R. 21 E. Sec- tion 34 is in Neosho county, 35 in Crawford county, and 3 in Labette county.11 The U. S. Register of 1871, however, located the postoffice of Jacksonville in Neosho county, and according to W. W. Graves, who has written a History of Neosho County Newspapers, the Eagle was published in that county.12 The Kansas Daily Tribune, Law- rence, May 7, 1868, announced the paper and substantiated Graves' statement. It reads :
10. First Biennial Report, p. 212.
11. "Corporation Records," v. I, pp. 425, 446, 447. — Kansas State Historical Society.
12 Graves, W. W., History of Neosho County Newspapers (St. Paul Journal, St. Paul, 1938), pp. 4, 5.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 129
The Neosho Valley Eagle is the title of a new weekly paper issued at Jack- sonville, Neosho county, the first number of which we have received. B. K. Land, Esq., is editor and proprietor.
The only known file of this paper is preserved in the vault of the Erie Record.
The history of this paper reveals many changes, typical of frontier newspapers. Graves, who has examined the issues of the Neosho Valley Eagle, wrote that "Land was one of those fighting editors who did not feel good unless he was shooting broadsides at the Osage Mission Journal, so much so that his paper contained almost no local news." 13 Land claimed that the citizens of Jacksonville had made guarantees which they neglected to keep. He brought suit against those who had failed him and moved the paper to Erie. He pub- lished the first issue of the Neosho Valley Eagle in Erie on October 24, 1868. He continued the paper until May 11, 1869, when he sold it to E. E. Kimball and C. G. Burton, a law firm. The Eagle con- tinued under the old name until May 25, 1869, when it was changed to the Neosho County Dispatch. On December 9, 1870, the Dis- patch passed into the hands of J. A. Trenchard who converted it into an anti-monopolist paper, with the cry of "down with Land Monop- olies and up with Settler's Rights." The paper continued to change hands and titles. In 1871, J. A. Wells published it as the Erie Ish- maelite. Wells sold it to J. H. Scott and H. T. Perry, who moved the plant to Osage Mission in 1871, and used it "in reviving the [Osage Mission] Journal which had been asleep for a month." 14
The town of Jacksonville is no longer on the map. It was over- taken by adversity in the midst of prosperity. Neighboring railroad towns played havoc with it, so that by 1883 Andreas could write that "today nothing remains to mark the site where it stood, except- ing a postoffice, in a lonely farmhouse." 15
LABETTB COUNTY The Oswego Register, May or June, 1868.
Three newspapers have contended for first place in this county: The Chetopa Advance, the Neosho Valley Eagle, Jacksonville, and the Oswego Register. Daniel W. Wilder, in the Annals of Kansas for February 18, 1880, referred to A. S. Corey as having "started the Chetopa Advance in 1867." 16 That he was mistaken is gathered
13. Ibid., p. 4.
14. Ibid., pp. 4, 5.
15. Andreas, op. cit., p. 842.
16. Wilder, op. cit. (1886), p. 866.
2—8801
130 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
from a statement found in the Emporia News, January 15, 1869, which reads: "We have received the first number of the Chetopa Advance, a very creditable looking six-column, Republican paper, just started at Chetopa, Labette county." This statement, substan- tiated by the First Biennial Report, eliminates the Advance as a contender.17
The First Biennial Report listed the Neosho Valley Eagle as the first paper in the county. Its statement reads: "The first newspaper published in Labette county was the Eagle, published at Jackson- ville in April, 1868, by B. K. Land."18 The Eagle ante-dated the Oswego Register, but in this case another factor must be considered, namely, the location of the place of publication. The Eagle of Jack- sonville was claimed by three counties because the town was located on parts of Neosho, Labette and Crawford counties. This question, considered in the article on Neosho county, was decided in favor of that county. The author accepted the statements of Graves and the Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, that the office of publication of the Eagle was in Neosho county, thus eliminating it for first place in Labette county.
The Oswego Register, therefore, is considered first in the county. The date of the first issue, however, remains undetermined. The secondary authorities agreed that the Register was established in 1868, and was the first newspaper published in Oswego, but failed to give the day or month of the first issue.19 A part of this informa- tion was found in a contemporaneous newspaper published in Frank- lin county. On June 11, 1868, the Western Home Journal, Ottawa, announced the Register in these words:
The Oswego Register is the name of a new paper that has come to us, pub- lished at Oswego, Labette county, Kansas, and edited by E. R. Trask. It is neatly gotten up, and no doubt will be liberally patronized in their flourishing county of Labette. The names of Grant and Colfax at its masthead, show that it is the right stripe. . . .
It is safe to say that the Oswego Register made its appearance either during the latter part of May or the first days in June, 1868. The Society has only four issues. The first is dated July 30, 1869, and listed as Vol. II, No. 3.
17. First Biennial Report, p. 263.
18. Ibid.
19. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1467 ; First Biennial Report, p. 263.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 131
GREENWOOD COUNTY The Eureka Herald, July 10, 1868.
The Herald was the first journalistic venture in the county, al- though secondary writers disagree on the date of the first issue. Andreas wrote that "Its first issue bears date August, 1866, and has the motto 'Be sure you're right — then go ahead.' ' The First Bien- nial Report stated that the first number "was issued July 4th, 1868." whereas Wilder's entry for July, 1868 is: "S. G. Mead starts the Eureka Herald" 20 George G. Wood, the present editor and pub- lisher of the Eureka Herald and owner of its early files including Vol. I, No. 1, writes that the first issue is dated July 10, 1868.21
The Fort Scott Weekly Monitor of July 22, 1868, announced the paper in these words : "New Paper — The Eureka Herald is the name of a new paper published at Eureka, Greenwood county, by S. G. Mead. It presents a neat appearance, and it gives us pleasure to place it on our exchange list."
The Society's regular file of the Herald does not start until Jan- uary 27, 1876, but it has three earlier issues, the first listed as Vol I, No. 16, and bearing the date October 30, 1868. The Society is now arranging to have film copies made of the Herald's early volumes.
WOODSON COUNTY Frontier Democrat, Neosho Falls, October, 1868.
This paper no doubt made its appearance in October, 1868, al- though the secondary authorities give the date as October, I860.22 This statement is based on the announcement of publication found in the Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, October 29, 1868. It reads as follows:
The Frontier Democrat is the title of a new paper published by I. B. Boyle, at Neosho Falls. It is intensely Democratic in politics, and makes a fierce on- slaught on the Republican state nominees, by giving copious extracts from one of our city contemporaries. The outside is printed at Chicago, and the inside at Neosho Falls.
The paper changed to the Neosho Falls Advertiser "about January, 1870," according to the Society's History of Kansas Newspapers,23
20. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1200; First Biennial Report, p. 228; Wilder, op. cit., p. 480.
21. Geo. G. Wood to G. R. Gaeddert, May 27, 1941, K. S. H. S.
22. Andreas, op. cit., p 1194; First Biennial Report, p. 451; History of Kansas News- papers (Topeka, 1916), p. 316.
23. History of Kaunas Neu-spapers, p. 316.
132 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and became the Woodson County Post in 1873. It is still published, but at Yates Center. Harry L. and Cranston M. Covert are the present editors and owners.
The Frontier Democrat was printed on a Washington press, ac- cording to Paul I. Wellman, feature writer of the Kansas City (Mo.) Star. His statement reads as follows:
The Washington press upon which it [the Neosho Falls Post] was first printed was originally brought to Leavenworth, Kan., for free state service in the John Brown days, taken to Lawrence for a similar purpose, and thence to Burlington when the Patriot was founded there. Afterwards it went to Le Roy, and finally to Neosho Falls, when I. B. Boyle founded the Frontier Democrat. The following year W. H. Sains purchased the Democrat and changed its name to the Neosho Falls Advertiser. It became the Woodson County Post subse- quently, and after the removal of the county seat was once more renamed the Neosho Falls Post by a new owner, Nathan Powell.24
The writer has not checked sufficiently on the statement regarding the historic Washington press mentioned above to be in a position to affirm or challenge it. It may be that its history is shrouded in mys- tery like that of the Meeker press. There must have been a number of Washington hand presses in Kansas at that time. They were manufactured by Robert Hoe and Company.25 The significance of the name lies in the make of press. It obtained its power from the straightening of a toggle joint, the knee-joint being pressed in.
The Society has no issues of the Frontier Democrat or of the Ad- vertiser, but it has a file of the Post beginning September 24, 1873.
WASHINGTON COUNTY The Western Observer, Washington, March 25, 1869.
"Be Just, and Fear Not," was the maxim of M. J. Kelley, editor of The Western Observer, Washington county's first newspaper. In the first number, dated March 25, 1869, he professed to be "a live, wide awake, Radical Republican," ever ready to battle "for liberty, freedom to all, regardless of race or color; and also, favoring uni- versal, or in other words, Female Suffrage."26 That he had the courage of his convictions is evidenced by the fact, that on at least one occasion he refused to publish "a communication from Water- ville," on account of its personalities. He warned that those sending him communications should please remember "that we will not pub-
24. Kansas City (Mo.) Star, October 17, 1937.
25. Mechem, Kirke, "The Mystery of the Meeker Press," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. IV, p. 70.
26. The Western Observer, Washington, March 25, 1869.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 133
lish abusive letters. . . . We do not propose to allow one or the other to be abused through these columns." 27
The Observer was a small, four-column, four-page, paper. Kelley wrote that it was started on a small scale "for one of the best reasons in the world — that is, we had not the money to make it larger." He hoped that the paper would be well received so that he might en- large it in the near future.
Commenting on the rapid growth in population, he wrote: Three years ago we passed through the western part of this and Republic county. In passing through Washington county we saw but four houses on the road, the entire length of the county. Now, passing over the same road, we see near one hundred neat little farms opened and appearance of plenty. In Republic county we did not see a house, and now on the same road we count upward of fifty. . . ,28
Andreas credited the Observer with having drawn to Washington "some of her most influential citizens." 29
Kelley also published other papers. On August 21, 1869, he started The Little Blue, at Jenkins Mills, Nebr., and October 19, 1870, he published the first issue of the Washington Kansas Daily Republican. The Society has a good file of these three papers including the first issue of each.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
Crawford County Times, Girard, April 16, 1869 (?). Girard Press, November 11 (?), 1869.
No positive statement can be made about the first paper in this county. Most secondary authorities regard the Crawford County Times as first, listing the date of the first and only issife as April 16, 1868, and April 16, 1869.30 This paper was published by John H. Scott, editor and publisher of the Osage Mission Journal and C. E. Cole of Girard. They moved the Journal office to Girard, published one issue there, then moved it back again because the object of its issue was thereby accomplished, namely, "the bringing of the Osage Mission people to time." 31 The Society has no copy of this paper, nor has the writer found sufficient evidence to prove that the paper
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid.
29. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1057.
30. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1121, and A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Crawford County, Kansas, by Home Authors (Chicago, 1905), p. 130, had it April 16, 1869; First Biennial Report, p. 169, and Blackmar, F. W., Kansas, v. I, p. 473, gave the date as April 16, 1868.
31. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1121.
134 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was ever published. In the Fort Scott Monitor of April 7, 1869, ap- peared the following statement:
Paper in Crawford County. — We received a call from Mr. Cole, of Girard, last week, who informs us that he contemplates, in connection with J. H. Scott, of the Mission Journal, starting a paper at Girard. They have not yet decided upon a name, although Mr. Cole says they may call it "The Tender," as it will be after Maj. Cox's Locomotive. . . .
If this statement foreshadowed the Times, it would indicate that the paper started in 1869 rather than 1868.
Years later this same C. E. Cole wrote an article published in the Wichita Daily Eagle, February 3, 1907, which leaves the question in confusion. He wrote it in answer to an article in an unnamed east- ern paper which he called "a very incorrect account of the early days in Girard and Crawford County." He said he was on the scene "in the stirring events of those days" and would give "some inside his- tory yet unpublished." Referring to the county-seat contest, he wrote :
At that time Crawfordsville, a little town then the seat of government, lay three miles to the eastward along the banks of Cow Creek. During the winter a court order was issued calling an election to be held the last of April, to de- cide which should be the county seat: Crawfordsville or Girard. In the con- test the latter town was chosen by a small majority.
He then proceeded to explain why Girard won the election: . . . I saw there was one thing lacking, and very much needed for our success, and that deficiency was a newspaper. Our rival had such a small sheet called the Crawfordsville Times. I made our wants known to Mr. Hull and others. The matter was left to me. In the meantime I had learned there was a second-hand Washington hand-press and a few fonts of type for sale or trade at the town o£ Osage Mission. I borrowed a horse and struck out for the coveted prize. In due time I arrived at my destination, and soon made a bar- gain with Mr. Oliver, the owner, for a half interest.
Two days later found us unloading and setting up our printing outfit in a modest board house, 12 x 16 feet, in the rear of Senet and Vickers's store. My partner, Mr. Oliver, took charge of the labor and mechanical end of the busi- ness, and your humble servant assumed the roll of editor and manager. Every- thing being in readiness on the 10th day of April, 1869, the Girard News, fresh from a Washington hand-press, went forth dressed in its spring garb of mechanical and editorial beauty to the waiting throng on the outside as the first paper published in Girard, and was considered by all a masterpiece of mechanical and editorial beauty; this five-column 12 x 16 sheet!
This article, although full of errors, raises the question whether Crawfordsville ever published a newspaper, and if so, when? On August 21, 1867, probably the first contemporaneous statement per- taining to a Crawfordsville paper appeared in the Fort Scott Mom-
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 135
tor. It stated that D. C. Finn of Cherokee county had been in Fort Scott and remarked that the Crawfordsville people "will try and secure Mr. Russell's press." 32 No information has been found, how- ever, to show whether they succeeded. On November 18, 1868, the Fort Scott Weekly Monitor again referred to a proposed newspaper. The statement reads: "Col. Daniels informs us that a Radical paper is soon to be started at Crawfordville." But again, apparently nothing came of it. The Pittsburg Daily Headlight, May 19, 1926, under the caption: "Old Cottonwood and Town Well Mark Place Where Crawfordsville Thrived," described one newspaper venture in this town as follows:
The late E. A. Wasser was a citizen of Crawfordsville for a time against his will. Mr. Eddy tells the story: [This has reference to William L. Eddy, a merchant there.]
"Wasser came to Crawfordsville with the intention of starting a paper. A fellow with him was to get the money from friends or relatives. The money seemed slow coming and Wasser's partner borrowed a pony from me to ride to some point over in Missouri. He wanted to hurry the funds along. Several weeks later nothing had been heard from him or the money. One day the pony was brought back to me more dead than alive. The fellow never appeared.
"Wasser stayed. He couldn't leave. One day Jones came to me and asked if I had any money to spare. He said that Wasser had a chance to go to Fort Scott and get into the newspaper business but that he had no money with which to pay his board bill and Dr. D. W. Grouse, with whom he boarded, wouldn't let him leave town without paying the bill. I advanced the money and Wasser got out of town." 33
Cole's memoiy apparently failed him on several major points. The election on the county-seat question was held in December, 1868, and not in April. Moreover, Cole refers to the Girard News "as the first paper published in Girard." There was a Crawford County News published at Girard but it did not make its appearance until August 6, 1875, published by T. P. Fulton and C. C. Covell. The Girard News was not established until December 13, 1878. Cole's statement therefore does not fit into the picture unless we overlook a number of important factors.
The Girard Press, established by W. H. Warner and E. A. Wasser, was the first paper to succeed the Times, and undoubtedly the first paper regularly published in the county. It made its appearance in November, 1869. The Fort Scott Monitor, November 24, 1869, wrote that it had received the first issue of the Press. The Society
32. The Russell press referred to is that bargained for by P. A. Russell and D. C. Finn of Cherokee county, spoken of in connection with the Cherokee county paper.
33. "Crawford County Clippings." v. III. p. 114. in library of Kansas State Historical Society. The Society does not have the Pittsburg Daily Headlight before May 14, 1928.
136 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in its Newspaper History has it that this paper was "a continuation of the Fort Scott Press, a Democratic paper published in the late '60s in Fort Scott." In 1869 Warner and Wasser moved it to Girard, changed the name to the Girard Press and established it "as an inde- pendent paper politically." The Society has several issues of the Press prior to May 28, 1874, when its regular file of this paper be- gins. The earliest is dated January 6, 1870, and is listed as Vol. I, No. 9, for Girard, and Vol. IV, No. 46, for Fort Scott and Girard, in- clusive.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Independence Pioneer, about September 11, 1869.
The first effort at journalism in this county was made by E. R. Trask in the publication of the Independence Pioneer. The paper was Republican in politics. The Fort Scott Monitor, September 29, 1869, announced its appearance as follows:
We are in receipt of number two, of the Independent Pioneer, published at Independence, Montgomery county. It is edited by E. R. Trask, who is also the editor of the Oswego Register, and the former is probably an offshoot of the latter paper. May they both meet with success.
According to Andreas, the Pioneer was printed at Oswego until March, 1870, after that in Independence "with David Steel as edi- tor."34 Several other papers followed closely in the wake of the Pioneer, the Westralia Vidette, started at Westralia, by McConnell and Mclntyre in the spring of 1870, and the Parker Record, by G. D. Baker, at Parker, June, 1870.35 The Society has no issues of the Vidette or Record, but it has two of the Pioneer. The first is dated November 13, 1869 (Vol. 1, No. 10), and the other, January 1, 1870. If published regularly the Pioneer should have made its appearance September 11, 1869. The First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue as September 4.36 The paper made its appearance, no doubt, sometime during the first two weeks of Sep- tember, 1869.
Independence, in 1869, was still very much in the pioneering stage, but it was a growing town. On January 1, 1870, the Pioneer wrote:
Independence is growing. Forty frame buildings have been erected in as many days. Since our saw mills have been turning out lumber, the work of building has went on right merrily, and substantial frame buildings have taken the place of booths, tents and hay houses, that a few weeks ago were scattered
34. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1567.
35. First Biennial Report, p. 326.
36. Ibid.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 137
promiscuously over our beautiful town site. Four months ago, the tall prairie grass waved where to-day are rows of buildings and the scenes of busy life. . . . Since the first of September last, more than one hundred families have settled in this place, and every day witnesses new arrivals. . . .
In the issue of November 13, 1869 (the inside of which bears the date of November 27), the editor told about an interesting incident that happened to a resident of Montgomery county the previous week. The story reads as follows:
In the night he [the resident] was awakened from his slumbers by the cries of his first-born, and upon feeling found that it was not in bed. He struck a light, and continued his search, but failed to find it in the house. Upon the suggestion of his wife, he looked out doors, and found it upon the ground, where it had fell, having rolled off the bed between the logs of the house. Since the above occurrence, the woman of the house says the old man must stay at home now and chink and daub the cracks of his house instead of fooling around about the county seat.
Those were the "good old" frontier days.
WILSON COUNTY The Wilson County Courier, Fredonia, January 20, 1870.
The secondary authorities agree that the Courier was the first newspaper in the county. John R. Jennings was the editor and pub- lisher. The paper was Republican in politics.37 On January 28, 1870, the Kansas Daily Commonwealth announced The Wilson County Courier as a new paper, and thereby confirmed the state- ments of the secondary authorities that it made its appearance in January, 1870. The Commonwealth referred to the Courier as pre- senting "a creditable appearance, barring its ill-proportioned length." It advised "Brother Jennings to cut off about four inches from the bottom."
The History of Kansas Newspapers contended that the Courier was first published at Le Roy by William J. Kent and William Hig- gins during the years 1866 to 1868, when it was suspended; that on October 30, 1869, the second Le Roy Courier was established by John R. Jennings, ''who used the old stereotyped heading of the first Courier, which he found in the town and appropriated to his use for economy's sake. This paper was continued until January, 1870, when it was discontinued and the office moved to Fredonia, where it passed into the hands of Messrs. Peffer and Wellman." 38 The Com-
37. Neodesha Citizen, March 3, 1871; Andreas, op. cit., p. 902; First Biennial Report p. 446.
38. History of Kansas Newspapers, p. 314.
138 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
monwealth, however, spoke of Mr. Jennings as editor of the first issue, subsequently it may have passed into the hands of Messrs. Peffer and Wellman, as the History said it did. The First Biennial Report stated that Jennings moved the material from Le Roy "where he had been using it in the publication of the Le Roy Pioneer" 39 The writer is not in a position to determine whether the Le Roy pa- per was known as the Pioneer or Courier. The Society does not have this paper nor The Wilson County Courier.
DICKINSON COUNTY The Western News, Detroit, January 20 or 21, 1870.
This was the first newspaper published in Dickinson county, An- dreas' statement to the contrary notwithstanding.40 The Society has a photostatic copy of volume one, number two, dated January 28, 1870. In several advertisements of this issue appeared the date "Jan. 20-tf." Since the paper was published every Friday, as listed in the masthead of the second issue, the first number should have made its appearance January 21, 1870, although the date on the ad- vertisements would place it on the 20th. The First Biennial Report stated that The Western News and the Abilene Chronicle both made their appearance in February, 1870.41 The Society has volume one, number two, of the Chronicle, dated March 3, 1870. If regularly issued this would place the first number on February 24, 1870, which is also the date given by Wilder.42 It follows, therefore, that The Western News was established about a month earlier than the Abi- lene Chronicle. In addition to the photostatic copy of The Western News, the Society also has the issues of February 11 and July 5, 1870.
The News was started by A. W. Robinson during the last county- seat fight in Dickinson county. The paper was full of the contest. Among the remarks noticed in the issues were the following: "COUNTY SEAT or BUST," "ABILENE is DEAD, will be BUR- IED next TUESDAY NIGHT." Shortly after the election, how- ever, it was the News that gave up the ghost.
39. First Biennial Report, p. 446.
40. Andreas, op. cit., p. 687, wrote that the Chronicle published at Abilene was first in the county.
41. First Biennial Report, p. 180.
42. Wilder, op. cit. (1886), p. 516.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 139
BUTLER COUNTY
Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, March, 1870.
Andreas and the First Biennial Report agree that the first number of the Times was dated March 4, 1870. The First Biennial Report regarded it as the first paper published in the county.43 The earliest contemporaneous information appears in the Emporia Netvs, January 21, 1870. It stated that "T. B. Murdock has returned, and says their printing establishment for Eldorado ought to be here this week, if it is not delayed on the route. The paper, we learn, will be called Walnut Valley Times." On February 11, the News reported again: "The printing material for the Walnut Valley Times passed through town, on Wednesday, en route to Eldorado. We will look for the new paper in about three weeks." On March 18, the same paper announced the new paper: "The second number of the Walnut Val- ley Times reached us yesterday. It is the liveliest and best printed paper in the country. Bent and Dan are a newspaper team." The News had reference to T. B. Murdock and one Danford as the editors and publishers. The first issue the Society has of this paper carries the date of July 1, 1870, listed as volume one, number eighteen. If it was issued regularly this would place the first number on March 4, 1870, which agrees with the date given by the secondary author- ities. The information points to the conclusion that the Walnut Valley Times appeared during the first or second week of March, 1870. The Times was published until April, 1918, although Murdock severed his connection with it in March, 1881.
CLOUD COUNTY Republican Valley Empire, Clyde, May 31, 1870.
This newspaper, now known as the Concordia Blade-Empire, was established by Henry Buckingham at Clyde, May 31, 1870. It was Republican in politics. Andreas and the First Biennial Report merely gave the year 1870, and regarded the Empire as the first newspaper published in Clyde.44 Years later Henry Buckingham wrote that it was "the first paper established in that region," but failed to qualify the word "region." 4r> Unless further information disproves the statements of the above authorities, the Republican Valley Empire must be regarded as the first newspaper in Cloud
43. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1434; First Biennial Report, p. 130.
44. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1017; First Biennial Report, p. 153.
45. Hollibaugh, Mrs. E. F., Biographical History of Cloud County, Kansas . . (1903), p. 170. The article was written July 12, 1894.
140 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
county. Twenty-three issues were published at Clyde, when the paper was moved to Concordia, which meanwhile had become the county seat. The Empire has been published there ever since, al- though under different names. The last issue published at Clyde was dated November 1, 1870, the first published at Concordia was dated December 24, 1870.
In the first issue, now in the files of the Society, the editor de- scribed the site of Clyde as "a beautiful one," located "on the great highway to points in the far west." Clyde was featured as a natural center of trade. It boasted three hotels, three stores, a drug and hardware store, two blacksmith shops, a tin shop, a fine steam saw and grist mill. A large kiln of brick was being put up. The town company offered to give "a lot 65 by 150 feet" to any person who would "put up a building worth $150." Into this thriving little town Buckingham brought his press and material. They were hauled from Manhattan by Messrs. E. Kennedy, E. Kline and Charles Davis. Buckingham placed the press in a log cabin built by the Heller brothers, a building about twenty feet square, the first erected in Clyde. It had been used as "a dwelling, post office, hotel, store and court house." 46
The editor of the Empire was a liberal Republican. In the edi- torial of the first issue he wrote:
We are in favor of: 1. Universal suffrage; 2. Universal education; 3. Uni- versal emancipation; 4. Universal temperance. We had seriously thought of adding universal salvation, but when we think of the rascally thieves in our State, who have stolen thousands "in the name of liberty," and not one of them has returned a dollar of "conscience money," (a custom which is getting popu- lar,) we do not think it would be doing justice to the rest of mankind to add the plank to our platform.
The Society has a good file of the Republican Valley-Empire from May 31, 1870 (Vol. 1, No. 1), to November 23, 1872, but lacks the issues from November, 1872, to January, 1876.
SEDGWICK COUNTY The Wichita Vidette, August 13, 1870.
On August 13, 1870, the Wichita Vidette unfurled its banner to the breeze. W. B. Hutchison and Fred A. Sowers were the editors and publishers. The paper was Republican in politics. Since the So- ciety has a file of the Vidette, including volume one, number one, there is no question about the date of its appearance, although An-
46. Ibid., pp. 169, 170.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 141
dreas and the Wichita Eagle gave the date of the first issue as Au- gust 15 and 18, 1870, respectively.47
The project for a Wichita paper was started by the Wichita town company. They offered Joe Clarke of Leavenworth, editor of the Leavenworth Daily Call, a bonus if he would start a newspaper. Clarke, who had a similar offer from Parsons, referred the proposi- tions to Fred A. Sowers, formerly his co-worker on the Daily Times. They reached an agreement by which Clarke would furnish the ma- terial and receive the bonus money. They selected Wichita and Sowers took charge of the office. "The material of the Vidette was hauled by one of Wm. Griffenstein's teams from Fort Hays. Mr. Wm. B. Hutchison, after the contract had been made between Messrs. Clarke and Sowers, was selected by Mr. Sowers and given a half interest in the office as publisher, he being a practical printer." Together they issued the Vidette for six months when Sowers sold out to Hutchison and returned to Leavenworth. In May, 1872, Hutchison sold the paper to one Rev. Perkins, who died in the fall of the same year. "The Vidette was then sold to parties in Welling- ton where it was taken and issued for a short time under the name of the Wellington Banner." 48
The word Vidette is French, but spelled Vedette. It has been de- fined as "an outpost, or picket," or rather "sentinel on horseback." The editors were conscious of the fact that they had changed the spelling of the word and asked the critics to be reasonable. They regarded their paper as "the sentinel or picket of journalism in Southwestern Kansas," and assumed the right to spell the word as they saw proper.49
The Vidette reflected the life and spirit of the time. Many farm- ers in Sedgwick county were contemplating planting cotton and hoped to harvest a bale to the acre. Red Turkey wheat was still unknown in Kansas, and farmers were experimenting with crops. The Texas cattle trade was in its glory. The Vidette reported that three thousand head of cattle had passed "over the trail on Friday morning. A large herd came in this morning." The paper also spoke of the great need of "a daily mail, every interest demands it; and as we have two stages running daily between this place and Emporia, it can be obtained if the proper efforts are made." 50 In another col- umn the editors recounted a highly successful fishing trip:
47. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1392, and the Wichita Sunday Eagle, July 28, 1940, gave the date as August 18, but the Eagle of May 6, 1875, gives it as August 15.
48. The Wichita Eagle, May 6, 1875.
49. The Wichita Vidette, August 13, 1870.
50. Ibid.
142 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Last week, we in company with J. C. Burke and Captain Payne, "went fishing" in the Little Arkansas about a mile and a quarter above town. We had Mr. Burke's net and fish-rack. This rack consists of narrow plank framed to- gether, and when a haul is made the fish is taken from the net and placed in the rack, which is floated after the net. We made five hauls and took out about 500 pounds of fish, the largest cat-fish weighing fifty-two pounds gross. We like fishing when we can do as well as we did this time. . . .51
In a later issue the editors admonished their patrons to trade at home, writing: "Those who are compelled to go to Emporia to pur- chase goods, will do well to examine our advertising columns before starting. They will find the names of some firms among them it will pay to call upon." 52
Among the firms advertising in the Vidette were the following: R. C. Hay wood & Co., wholesale and retail dealers in common, parlor and chamber furniture; Matsell & Hubbard, dealers in general mer- chandise, dry goods, groceries, hardware, tin ware, saddlery, &c.; J. B. Albaugh, wagon, carriage and blacksmith shop, and many others. The Society has twenty-two issues of the Vidette, including the first eighteen.
COWLEY COUNTY
Cowley County Censor, Winfield, August 13, 1870.
The First Biennial Report, Andreas and Wilder gave the date of the first issue of the Censor as August 13, 1870.53 The Cowley County Telegram, Winfield, of May 14. 1879, substantiated the above statement. This no doubt is correct, for the Emporia News, August 19, 1870, wrote:
The Cowley County Censor is the name of a paper published at Winfield, in this State, the first number of which appeared last week. It is a vivacious little sheet, and in every respect a credit to the lively town of Winfield.
A. J. Patrick was the editor and proprietor. The paper was Re- publican in politics. The First Biennial Report stated that the first two numbers were "struck off at Augusta, Butler county, the type having been set up at Winfield and sent in galleys to the former town." The Cowley County Telegram stated that the third number was printed at Winfield on the historic Meeker press,54 which is in- correct.55 The fact that the paper was published in Cowley county,
51. Ibid.
52. Ibid., September 1, 1870.
53. First Biennial Report, p. 163; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1590; Wilder, op. cit. (1886), p. 517.
54. Cowley County Telegram, Winfield, May 14, 1879.
55. For a detailed study of the history of the Meeker press, see, Kirke Mechem. "The Mystery of the Meeker Press," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. IV, pp. 61-73.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 143
although printed in Butler county, entitles it to first place in Cow- ley. The Telegram gave the following history of the Censor:
On the third day of June, 1871, L. J. Webb succeeded Patrick as its editor, and on the 5th of August following Webb and Doud bought out Patrick, and continued the publication of the paper until the 26th of the same month, when E. G. Nichols succeeded Doud, and the firm became Webb & Nichols. Janu- ary 6th 1872, Webb & Nichols sold to W. H. Kearns, and the Censor ceased to exist.56
The Society has no copy of this paper.
The Arkansas City Traveler should be mentioned as a very close second. It probably made its appearance the last week in August, 1870, for the Emporia News reported, September 2, 1870, that it had received the first number of the Traveler. The earliest number the Society has of this paper bears the date of January 26, 1876.
OTTAWA COUNTY The Solomon Valley Pioneer, Lindsey, September, 1870.
The first newspaper published in this county was The Solomon Valley Pioneer, which must have appeared about- the second week in September, 1870. Little is known about it except what can be gathered from secondary authorities and contemporaneous news- papers. Andreas failed to mention it, but the First Biennial Report wrote that it was the "first paper published in Ottawa county, was issued at Lindsey, in September, 1870, and continued until May, 1873." 57
On September 17, 1870, the Junction City Weekly Union described the first issue as follows:
We have received the first number of the Solomon Valley Pioneer, published at Lindsay, Ottawa county, "Westward the Star of Empire," &c. A handfull of people get together in this country, and the first thing they want is a newspaper, which is correct, provided they pay for it. But the people of the Solomon Valley are liberal, and we predict for the Pioneer a comfortable time.
Lindsey at one time was the county seat of Ottawa county, but lost it to Markley's Mill, now Minneapolis. At present it is all but extinct. A map based on the 1940 census gives its population as 15.
The Minneapolis Independent made its appearance October 25, 1870, and was a close second to the Pioneer. George MacKenzie was the editor and publisher. The Society has the first issue of the In- dependent but has no copy of The Solomon Valley Pioneer.
56. Cowley County Telegram, Winfield, May 14, 1879.
57. First Biennial Report, p. 357.
144 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
MARION COUNTY The Western News, Marion, September, 1870.
In 1875 The Marion County Record, of Marion Centre, published a history of the Marion county press. In it appeared the following statement :
In July or August, 1869, an organization was effected in Marion Centre, county-seat, for the purpose of securing a paper for the county. The organiza- tion consisted of the following named gentlemen: J. N. Rogers, J. H. Costello, A. E. Case, Levi Billings, W. H. Billings and A. A. Moore.
Arrangements were soon effected with A. W. Robinson to remove his office from Detroit, Dickinson county, to Marion Centre, which he did in the fall of 1869 ; receiving a small bonus and in September, 1869, the first paper in Marion county was born, and christened The Western News.
In 1871 the name of the paper was changed to The Western Giant and later it became The Marion County Record.58
According to contemporaneous newspapers the Record was mis- taken in the date of birth of The Western News. On September 23, 1870, the Emporia News announced the first issue as follows:
We have before us the first number of the Western News, printed at Marion Center, in Marion County. We hope this paper will prove a valuable aid to the development of that excellent county.
On September 21, 1870, the Daily Kansas State Record of Topeka wrote: "Mr. A. W. Robinson has removed his Western News to Marion Centre, Marion county." The First Biennial Report, no doubt, had taken its information from The Marion County Record, for it also gave the date of the first issue as September, 1869.59
The Western News was small enough to be designated a "Hand- kerchief Sheet/' and was printed on an inferior jobber. These early papers had their financial difficulties. As late as 1875 The Marion County Record, successor of The Western News and Giant, wrote: "If our employees were cannibals we'd feed 'em awhile on delinquent subscribers," This drew from the Southern Kansas Gazette, Au- gusta, the remark: "Ugh! tough eating." 60
The Society has no issues of The Western News nor of The West- ern Giant. Its first issue of The Marion County Record is of July 23, 1875, listed as Vol. IV, No. 35.
58. Marion County Record, Marion Centre, December 31, 1875.
59. First Biennial Report, p. 294; Andreas, op. cit,, p. 1257, w ne to Marion in September, 1869, and started the News.
60. Marion County Record, Marion Centre, December 31, 1875.
59. First Biennial Report, p. 294; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1257, wrote that A. W. Robinson came to Marion in September, 1869, and started the News.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 145
REPUBLIC COUNTY The Bell[e]ville Telescope, September 30, 1870.
The first issue of this paper made its appearance September 30, 1870, rather than September 20, as recorded in Andreas and the First Biennial Report.61 This assertion is based on information re- ceived from A. Q. Miller, present publisher of the Telescope. James C. Humphrey was the editor. Mark J. Kelley announced the first issue in his paper, the Kansas Washington Republican, Washington, October 6, 1870, as follows:
We have got a Telescope', that is to say when the mail came in from the West on Tuesday we received No. 1 Vol. 1 of the Bellville Telescope, published at Bellville, Republic county, by J. C. Humphrey. It is published on the same press and type with which we published the Western Observer in this city nearly two years ago and is the same size of the old Observer. From its columns we get a Telescopic view of Bellville and surrounding county. Its local columns are well filled with local matters, while in his editorials, Mr. Humphrey, displays rare ability. He is one of the best practical printers in Northern Kansas, and we hope to ere long see him sending forth from that remote region, a sheet equal in size to the Republican. We heartily wish Humphrey and his Telescope success.
On June 28, 1901, Humphrey sold his paper to A. J. Basye, and in his "Farewell" he wrote: "Thirty-one years ago the thirtieth day of the coming September we established the Telescope, and with but two short intervals have published it ever since."
J. C. Humphrey's newspaper maxim for the first years was, "Hew to the Line, Let the Chips Fall Where They May." By April 6, 1876, however, he had abandoned it. In the "Farewell" mentioned above, he wrote:
Of course we have made enemies, but we have no apologies to make, for when we gave any one a swat we generally got one in return; nor are we going to say that if we have made mistakes they were "mistakes of the head and not of the heart," for we have always endeavored to track head and heart in the same class. . . .
We have no sore spots to heal as a result of our newspaper career, and we know of no wounds we have inflicted that require special treatment at our hands, hence we step down and out with the kindest of feeling toward all.
The Telescope is still one of the prominent newspapers in Kansas.
At first Belleville was spelled with only two "e's" (Bellville) . The Society has several issues of the Telescope of the years 1870, 1871 and 1872, which omitted the middle "e." The issue of April 6, 1876,
61. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1033 ; First Biennial Report, p. 380.
3—8801
146 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
also in the Society's file, conforms to the present spelling. The So- ciety's continuous file of the Telescope starts April 6, 1876, except for a gap of twenty-five issues between October 12, 1876, and April 5, 1877.
ELK COUNTY
Elk Falls Examiner, before February 17, 1871.
The First Biennial Report stated that the Elk Falls Examiner was established by C. L. Goodrich in the fall of 1870. Andreas wrote that Goodrich began his publication "in the spring of 1872." 62 The Daily Kansas State Record, Topeka, September 13, 1870, stated: "A newspaper is being 'talked up' for Elk Falls, Howard county." On September 21 the same paper wrote again: ''Mr. Meade, of the Eureka Herald is to issue a new paper at Union Centre, Howard county." Nothing further was found in the contemporaneous papers, however, until February 17, 1871, when the Neodesha Citizen re- ported:
We are in receipt of the first number of the Elk Falls Examiner, a neatly gotten up paper of 24 columns, published at the young but promising town of Elk Falls, in Howard county, by C. L. Goodrich & Co. . . .
This would indicate that Andreas and the First Biennial Report were mistaken in the date of the first issue. The Society has no copy of the Examiner.
A close second to the Elk Falls Examiner was the Howard County Ledger, published at Longton. The first issue must have appeared between the dates of March 25 and April 24, 1871. Adrian Reynolds was the editor. Andreas claimed the Ledger as the "first newspaper printed in Howard county." He wrote that Reynolds began pub- lishing it "in the spring of 1871." 63 He was mistaken about the Examiner but correct in the time of the Ledger. The First Biennial Report wrote that the Ledger was established in September, 1870. 64 This statement is not substantiated by contemporaneous accounts. On February 18, 1871, the New Chicago Transcript wrote: "A. Reynolds, formerly of the Garnett Plaindealer, intends to start a paper at Longton, Howard county, soon." On March 25 the Tran- script wrote again: "A new paper, called the Ledger, is to be started at Longton, Howard county, by A. Reynolds who represented How- ard county in the last Legislature." On April 24, 1871, the Daily
62. First Biennial Report, p. 203; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1179.
63. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1173.
64. First Biennial Report, p. 203 ; History of Kansas Newspapers, p. 184, merely gave the year, 1870.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 147
Kansas State Record, Topeka, quoted the Ledger. While the exact date of the establishment of this newspaper remains undetermined, sufficient information has been found to discount Andreas' claim that it was the first newspaper printed in Howard, now Elk county. The credit goes to the Elk Falls Examiner. The Society has no copy of the Ledger.
MITCHELL COUNTY
Mitchell County Mirror, Beloit, April, 1871.
The first newspaper in Mitchell county was the Mitchell County Mirror. Its initial number appeared sometime during the first or second week in April, 1871. Andreas and the First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue as April 5, 1871.65 The Society has two issues of the Mirror, the earliest is dated May 17, 1871, and listed as volume one, number six. If regularly issued this would place the first number on April 12. The Republican Valley Empire of Concordia, on April 15, 1871, announced the first issue of the Mirror. The exact date of the first number, therefore, is still un- known. A. B. Cornell was the editor and publisher. The paper ap- peared irregularly. In 1879, the Beloit Gazette characterized it as "issued somewhat irregularly and 'semi-occasionally' for several months and then died from exhaustion." 66
The pioneer settlers of this county braved great hardships. In 1879 the Beloit Gazette gave a vivid description of the Indian troubles.
There was neither poetry nor romance in living in Mitchell county nine years ago, for many reasons; the noble red man was entirely too familiar, and showed neither the slightest hesitancy nor the smallest compunctions of conscience in incontinentally letting the life-blood out of every pale face he met, and many a true and worthy citizen sleeps beneath the sod of the prairie, cut off in the prime of life by the unerring bullet of the unseen, stealthy, treacherously savage foe.
Into this environment Cornell brought the Mirror. Here less than a year earlier, on May 9, 1870, the savage Cheyennes had killed W. P. Kenyon and Solomon Meisser, pioneer settlers of western Mitchell county, and in the same month, May 29, another band of Indians "drove off the largest part of the horses in that part of the county." 67
65. Andreas, op. tit., p. 1023; First Biennial Report, p. 321.
66. Beloit Gazette, December 27, 1879, Gazette Holliday Supplement.
67. Ibid.
148 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
SUMNER COUNTY Oxford Times, June 22, 1871.
The first paper in this county evidently was the Oxford Times, edited and published by W. H. Mugford and E. S. Hughes. The first issue is said to have appeared June 22, 1871. In 1883 John P. Edwards published a brief description of the Times in the Historical Atlas of Sumner County, Kansas, here quoted in part:
The first newspaper issued in Sumner county was the Oxford Times, the initial number of which appeared at Oxford, then a village of less than a dozen houses, on the 22nd day of June, 1871. The Times was a seven column folio and presented a very neat appearance. ... It was edited and published by W. H. Mugford and Em. S. Hughes, both excellent printers and writers. The material was a conglomeration of several of the first newspaper offices brought into the Territory of Kansas, among which were the heads of the Wyandotte Democrat and The Herald of Freedom. The Washington hand press belonging to the office had been thrown into the Mississippi river twice and as often re- covered, and again used in disseminating free state doctrines. It was after- wards captured by Gen. Price, in 1864 and used for a time in the interest of the rebellion. Finally it settled down at Pleasanton, in Linn county, where it rested until purchased by Mugford & Hughes about June 1, 1871. . . ,68
Andreas and the First Biennial Report wrote that the Times was started in June, 1871.69 The Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, of June 30, 1871, wrote that it had received the first number of the Oxford Times. It described it as a twenty-eight column sheet, "filled with select reading and local news." The Society has no copy of this paper but the Wellington City library has a good file.
CLAY COUNTY Clay County Independent, Clay Center, August 31 (?), 1871.
The First Biennial Report listed the Independent as the first paper in the county, and its statement appears correct.70 On February 18, 1871, the Republican Valley Empire, of Concordia, stated that it had received the prospectus of "a paper to be issued at Clay Center on or about March 23, to be called the Clay County Courier, by M. C. Davis. It is to be Republican in politics." On July 29 the same paper reported that for some reason the project of the Courier had miscarried. The same issue also stated that "a press and type have been shipped to Clay Center," and that "in a few weeks a paper will be issued." It was not until September 2, 1871, that the
68. Edwards, John P., Historical Atlas of Sumner County, Kansas (1883), p. 9.
69. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1507; First Biennial Report, p. 433.
70. First Biennial Report, p. 149.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 149
Republican Valley Empire announced "the first number of the Clay County Independent, published at Clay Center by Messrs. [E. P.] Huston & [David] Downer." The paper was independent in politics. The secondary authorities give the date of the first issue as August 20, 1871.71 The Clay Center Times, January 5, 1882, also stated: "Ten years have come and gone since the first paper of these files was published — Aug. 20th, 1871, E. P. Huston and David Downer, publishers. . . ." The Historical Society has one issue of this paper, dated October 12, 1871, listed as volume I, number 7. If issued regularly the first number should be dated August 31, 1871, rather than August 20, as reported by the secondary authorities. As the writer has no way of telling whether the paper was issued regularly, the date of the first issue remains undetermined.
71. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1314; First Biennial Report, p. 149.
(To Be Continued in the August Quarterly)
W
Walt Whitman in Kansas
ROBERT R. HUBACH
ALT WHITMAN, like John Greenleaf Whittier, was deeply interested in the Antislavery cause; his unbounded faith in democracy and freedom is evident in many pages of Leaves of Grass. As early as 1872, Whitman had contributed two poems, "The Mystic Trumpeter" and "Virginia — the West," the latter of which dealt with the Secession, to the first issue of The Kansas Magazine.1 In 1879, Whitman had accepted the invitation of Col. John W. Forney and the Old Settlers of Kansas committee to be present at the quarter- centennial celebration of the settlement of Kansas at Bismarck Grove, near Lawrence, on September 15 and 16 of that year. The gathering proved to be one of the largest political meetings in the history of the state up to that time; one newspaper correspondent estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 people were in attendance.2 Among the speakers were Edward Everett Hale, John Forney, S. N. Wood, George Julian, George A. Crawford, D. R. Anthony, ex-Gov. Charles Robinson, and Gov. John P. St. John of Kansas. One of the chief subjects of declamation, of course, was John Brown and the winning of Kansas for the forces of freedom after the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill.3
Whitman minutely describes his long trip West in Specimen Days.4" He left Philadelphia by train with Colonel Forney on September 10, 1879,5 staying with his brother and family in St. Louis on the night of September 12. A St. Louis reporter, inter- viewing the poet at this time, asked his purpose in going West:
"On your way to the Kansas celebration, are you not?"
"Yes, Col. Forney asked me to accompany him, and I embraced the op- portunity of briefly visiting my brother [Water Commissioner Thos. J. Whit- man] and his family here. Go to Kansas on conditions, however," and Mr. Whitman smiled quaintly.
1. The Kansas Magazine (The Kansas Magazine Publishing Co., Topeka, 1872), pp. 113, 114 and 219 (January-June, 1872).
2. Kansas City (Mo.) Mail, September 16, 1879.
3. For a full account of the old settlers' reunion, see Chas. S. Gleed (ed.), The Kansas Memorial, A Report of the Old Settlers' Meeting . . . Bismarck Grove, Kansas, Septem- ber 15th and 16th, 1879 (Ramsey, Millett & Hudson, Kansas City, Mo., 1880). The Kansas and Missouri newspapers also contain many informative notices.
4. Richard M. Bucke, Thomas B. Harned, and Horace L. Traubel (eds.), Complete Writ- ings of Walt Whitman (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and London, 1902), "Prose," v. I, pp. 252-254.
5. Rollo G. Silver, "Walt Whitman Interviews Himself," American Literature, v. X, p. 87 (March, 1938). This article contains Whitman's own account of his experiences in the West and his impressions of Denver.
(150)
HUBACH: WALT WHITMAN IN KANSAS 151
"And those conditions were?"
"I agreed to go, provided I was not asked to speak nor eat any public din- ners. I am only to show myself. I call myself a half paralytic, and yet I am not so feeble after all, nor so old as I look, for that matter. I was born in 1819. After the Kansas celebration, if I feel as well as now, I shall go out to Denver before I return to pay my brother a more extended visit."
"What do you expect to do in Kansas?"
"As I told you, I shall not make speeches or eat public dinners, but the people will have an opportunity to see this big, saucy red rooster, whom they might otherwise think would speak." 6
At Kansas City, which Whitman reached on the evening of September 13, a specially appointed committee of four men met him and Forney to accompany them by train to Lawrence.7 Both Whit- man and Forney resided in Lawrence at 1425 Tennessee street, the home of Judge John P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior under Lincoln and mayor of Lawrence at the time of their visit. The poet signed the Usher family autograph album on his first day at Lawrence:
Walt Whitman
visiting Kansas Sept. 14, 1879
Whitman sat on the speaker's platform during the first session of the old settlers' meeting. Charles Gleed, editor of The Kansas Memorial, erroneously attributed H. C. Work's "The Song of a Thousand Years/' sung by the Lamed quartet for the occasion, to Whitman ; 8 but the poet took no part in the program. Perhaps the best newspaper account of Whitman as he appeared at the time of the celebration was in the Topeka Daily Capital: Walt Whitman is a man well advanced in years and his snow-white hair and the long white beard which grows upon a large portion of his face give him a decidedly venerable appearance. He wore a gray traveling suit and his shirt-bosom was left open at the neck, something after the fashion of the Goddess of Liberty as shown on a fifty-cent piece. He walks with a cane, using considerable care, as he has not fully recovered from a paralytic stroke.9
On the second day of the reunion, Whitman had been erroneously billed to read a poem. Linton Usher, whom Whitman affectionately mentioned along with a brother, John Usher, Jr., in Specimen Days,10 and who is now living near Pomona, Kan., has told me that Whit- man suffered from the heat and was in poor health while in Law-
6. St. Louis (Mo.) Globe- Democrat, September 13, 1879.
7. Lawrence Daily Journal, September 14, 1879.
8. See p. 15.
9. Topeka Daily Capital, September 16, 1879.
10. Bucke, et al. (eds.), op. tit., p. 254.
152 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
rence.11 The poet did not attend the celebration on September 16, but rested at the Usher home, where he enjoyed hearing the mayor's sons tell of their experiences in the West. Mr. Linton Usher, who was only a boy in his teens when Whitman visited his father, says that Whitman was fascinated by his descriptions of ranch life in Texas, from which state the youth had just returned. He recalls that Whitman sat talking with friends in the west parlor and on the front porch of his father's house. The poet and Judge Usher doubt- less reminisced about Lincoln, during whose administration they were together in the Interior Department. Hon. T. Dwight Thacher, Lawrence publisher, who was /to have introduced Whitman at Bismarck Grove, was surprised to find him not present to read his poem; he excused Whitman's absence, however, on the grounds of the poet's poor health and his fatigues of travel.12 In Specimen Days, Whitman wrote that he visited the University of Kansas on Oread Hill and took pleasant drives around the city. He found Law- rence and Topeka, "large, bustling, half-rural handsome cities." 13 Before he left for Topeka, Whitman again signed the Usher auto- graph book:
Walt Whitman
accompanying Col. Forney as above Sept. 16, 79
Whitman spent September 17 in Topeka. He and Colonel Forney and party resided at the Tefft House, where, according to the Topeka Commonwealth, the poet passed most of his time conversing with men in the lobby.14 The same paper reported that he also visited the state house.15 Since he at one time was employed by the Interior Department and was interested in Indian affairs, Whitman accompanied a group of officials to see some Indian prisoners at To- peka, who refused to recognize any of the government men, but who extended their hands to the poet and greeted him with "How." 10 That evening Whitman was expected to be present at a lecture given by Colonel Forney on "Some of the Men of America I Have Known," but newspapers the next day did not report that he at- tended.
11. Colin O. Alexander has printed a post card which Whitman sent to John Usher, Jr., on January 14, 1880. See "A Note on Walt Whitman," American Literature, v. IX. pp. 242, 243 (May, 1937).
12. Gleed (ed.), op. cit., p. 153. See, also, Lawrence Tribune, September 17, 1879. 18. Bucke, et al. (eds.), op. cit., pp. 255, 256.
14. The Commonwealth, Topeka, September 18, 1879.
15. Ibid.
16. Emory Holloway, Whitman, An Interpretation in Narrative (Alfred A. Knopf, New York and London, 1926), p. 223.
HUBACH: WALT WHITMAN IN KANSAS 153
On September 18, Whitman and Colonel Forney were honor guests at a dinner at the Palace Hotel.17 Following the meal, the poet's party left for Denver.18
Before leaving Kansas, Whitman visited Atchison and Wallace. Linton Usher believes that poor health forced the poet to stop at the latter town. It was here at Wallace, an army post near the Colorado border, on September 19, that Whitman, inspired by the Kansas celebration and yet probably not physically able to write anything new, recollected and sent back to Lawrence a few ap- propriate lines from his early poem "Resurgemus," first printed in the New York Daily Tribune of June 21, 1850.19 Whitman later recast this youthful piece of work, lengthening the lines and calling it "Europe— the 72d and 73d Years of These States." 20 It is curious that the poet should have quoted the earlier, short-line version of the poem:
Not a grave of the murdered for Freedom
But grows seeds of a wider Freedom,
Which the winds carry afar and sow,
And the snows and the rains nourish.21
Whitman arrived in Denver by the Kansas Pacific railroad on September 20 and stayed in Colorado for four days. On his return east he visited his old friend, "E. L.," at Sterling, for the day and night of September 24, where, he said in a letter to Peter Doyle, "I had hard work to get away from him — he wanted me to stay all winter." 22 The Rice County Gazette, of Sterling, and the Sterling Weekly Bulletin both published short notices of his presence in the town. The former paper's article is the more adequate :
Walt Whitman, the poet, of Philadelphia, . . . visited Sterling on yester- day. . . . The old poet says that much as the grandeur of the mountains impressed him, the impression of the plains will remain longest with him. We hope Mr. Whitman will embody these impressions in some of his elegant poetry.23
Whitman returned by way of the Santa Fe railroad to Kansas City, and from there went back to St. Louis, where he spent almost three months with his brother.
The impression which the prairies made upon Whitman is remark -
17. Topeka Daily Blade, September 18, 1879.
18. The Commonwealth, Topeka, September 19, 1879.
19. Emory Holloway (ed.), The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (Double- day, Page, New York, 1921), v. I, p. 29.
20. Bucke, et al. (eds.), "Poetry," op. cit., v. II, p. 29.
21. Gleed (ed.), op. cit., p. 4.
22. Bucke, et al. (eds.), "Prose," op. cit., p. 270. For the letter to Peter Doyle, pee Bucke, op. cit., v. V, pp. 163-166.
23. Rice County Gazette, Sterling, September 25, 1879.
154 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
able. The Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas country were to Whitman, "America's Characteristic Landscape." He saw that in the Mis- sissippi valley region, more than even in the majestic Rocky Mountains, lay the future of American culture.24 In a short speech which he had planned to deliver at the Bismarck Grove meeting, he exhorted the people of Kansas to pattern their creative efforts after "that vast Something" peculiar to the "interminable and stately prairies." 25 Whitman repeated time and again in Leaves of Grass the fact that he saw in the West the coming fruition of what would someday be a truly American contribution to the arts — something uninfluenced by foreign conventions or models and as boundless and free as the plains themselves.28 Particularly in his poem "The Prairie States," written in 1880 after his trip to the West, did he look with prophetic vision to the Great Plains as they are today, and saw that to them the entire past had been working: A newer garden of creation, no primal solitude, Dense, joyous, modern, populous millions, cities and farms, With iron interlaced, composite, tied, many in one, By all the world contributed — freedom's and law's and thrift's society, The crown and teeming paradise, so far, of time's- accumulations, To justify the past.27
24. Bucke, et al. (eds.), op. cit., v. I, pp. 275-277.
25. Ibid., pp. 255, 256.
26. Newton Arvin, Whitman (Macmillan, New York, 1938), pp. 99-101, feels, however, that Whitman's joy in the apparent prosperity of the West and his immense optimism indi- cated a lack of consciousness on the poet's part of the American farmer's poverty-stricken condition at the time.
27. Bucke, et al. (eds.), "Poetry," op. cit., v. II, p. 177.
Development of Common and Employers' Liability Law in Kansas
DOMENICO GAGLIARDO
TWO fundamentally different systems of legal relationships re- garding liability for compensating industrial injuries prevail in Kansas: the common law and the modern system of workmen's compensation. The unmodified common law was the basis for settling all damage suits for only a few years, as statutory modifica- tions were soon introduced in the form of employers' liability laws. The workmen's compensation act of 1911 established a radically different set of principles and procedures, adoption of which was made optional. But in employment not covered by workmen's com- pensation, the common law alone, or the common law as modified by employers' liability acts, is still the basis for determining liability. Furthermore, in the occupations covered by the compensation law, employers electing to pay benefits as provided in that act may in some cases plead the common-law defenses against workers electing not to accept, but these defenses are not available to employers re- jecting the compensation law if their employees accept. Thus the common law, employers' liability acts and workmen's compensation are all integral parts of our labor code today. It is the object of this article to describe the development in Kansas of the common law and its modification by statutes.
THE COMMON LAW
The legal relationships between employer and employee in Kansas regarding compensation for injuries were at first determined by the common-law doctrines of reasonable care, assumption of risk, con- tributory negligence and coservice. 1
DUTIES OF THE EMPLOYER
According to the doctrine of reasonable care, it is the master's duty to exercise reasonable care and diligence in providing a safe place in which to work, safe machinery, tools and materials, suitable
1. Another rule limiting recovery was the general maxim that actio personalia cum per- sona moritur. That rule was abolished by the wrongful death statute of 1868, which gave personal representatives of fatally injured persons any right that the deceased might have had to sue for damages. — The General Statutes of the State of Kansas . . . 18fi8, ch. 80, sec. 422, Article XVIII of the Code of Civil Procedure. A supplemental act conferring the same right, under special circumstances, to oth-ir than personal representatives, was adopted in 1889.— Laws, Kansas, 1889, ch. 131, upheld in Berry v. K. C. Ft. S. & M. Rid. Co., 52 Kan. 759. Principles to guide in the assessment of damages were laid down by the supreme court. See Union Pacific Rly. Co. v. Milliken, 8 Kan. 647 ; A. T. & S. F. Rid. Co. v. Brown. Adm'r., 26 Kan. 443.
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and competent fellow workmen, and to warn of hidden or unusual dangers known to him but not to the servant. 2 For an injury re- sulting from failure or neglect to perform any part of this duty, the master is liable for damages, whether the failure or neglect is his own or that of one to whom the performance of this duty has been dele- gated. 3 But the master's negligence is never presumed ; it must be proved by the plaintiff.
ASSUMPTION OF RISK
The servant assumes all the ordinary risks and hazards incident to or attendant upon his employment; that is, all those risks and hazards which are purely fortuitous or open to common observation and are as fully known to him as to his master, or which he is, or may reasonably be expected to be, capable of knowing and measur- ing. 4 And even though it is the employer's duty to furnish a reason- ably safe workplace, machinery, tools and materials, yet if any of these are deficient or defective and the employee knows or should know of the deficiency or defect, and appreciates or should appre- ciate the consequent danger, and continues in the employment with- out any promise on the part of his employer that it will be remedied, or continues for more than a reasonable time with that promise, he is deemed as a matter of law to have assumed the risk of injury from such deficiency or defect. 5 Extraordinary risks are assumed only if known to and appreciated by the employee. 6
Two reasons are offered in justification of this doctrine: first that, knowing he will be exposed to these risks, the servant in effect con- tracts to bear them ; second that it best promotes the public interest by making injuries less liable to occur to the servant himself and to third persons. 7 Floyd R. Mechem says the real reason is that a loss must rest where it falls unless it can be attributed to the fault of
2. Allen v. Shell Petroleum Corp., 146 Kan. 67 ; West v. Packing Co., 86 Kan. 890. In a place where conditions and hazards are constantly changing as the work progresses, the haz- ards incident to the work are assumed by the worker. — McCoy v. A. T. & S. F. Rly. Co., 129 Kan. 781.
8. Dow v. Kansas Pacific Rly. Co., 8 Kan. 642 ; A. T. & S. F. Rid. Co. v. Moore, 29 Kan. 632, 646; Brice-Nash v. Barton Salt Co., 79 Kan. 110; Tuttle v. Detroit, etc. Rly., 122 U. S. 189.
4. Brown, Adm'r. v. A. T. & S. F. Rid. Co., 31 Kan. 1; Fritchman v. Chitwood Battery Co., 134 Kan. 727. "The maxim volenti non fit injuria is a terse expression of the individ- ualistic tendency of the common law, which, proceeding from the people and asserting their liberties, naturally regards the freedom of individual actions as the keystone of the whole structure."— Francis H. Bohlen, Studies in the Law of Torts (Bobbs- Merrill Co., Indianapolis, 1926), p. 441.
6. Morbach v. Mining Co., 53 Kan. 731; Tschreppel v. Missouri-Kan. -Texas Rid. Co., 134 Kan. 251.
6. A. T. & S. F. Rid. Co. v. Schroeder, 47 Kan. 315; Rly. Co. v. Johnson, 69 Kan. 721; Lively v. Railway Co., 115 Kan. 784; Monteith v. Litchenburger, 144 Kan. 70.
7. Dow v. Kansas Pacific Rly. Co., 8 Kan. 642.
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some one else, and the risks here concerned cannot be attributed to the fault of the master. 8
CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE
It is a general rule of the common law that where the plaintiff's negligence in conjunction with that of the defendant contributes to his injury, the plaintiff cannot recover. In Kansas, three degrees of negligence were at one time recognized: slight, ordinary and gross. Slight negligence did not bar recovery, 9 but ordinary negligence did, even though the worker's negligence was less than that of the em- ployer, unless of course the employer's was willful or wanton. 10 A worker who at the express command of the master incurs a danger not so inevitable or imminent that an ordinarily prudent man would refuse to incur it and is as a result injured, is not guilty of con- tributory negligence. n This "academic" classification of negligence into three degrees came to be ignored, and was definitely eliminated from the body of law by the supreme court in 1908, and the rule now is merely that there is negligence when "the care, diligence or skill demanded by the peculiar circumstances of the particular case" has not been exercised. 12 Kansas courts have consistently held that contributory negligence is an affirmative defense and must be pleaded and proved by the employer. Where no evidence is introduced on this point it is assumed as a matter of law that there was no con- tributory negligence. 13
COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE AND "THE LAST CLEAR CHANCE"
The doctrine of comparative negligence, which is, briefly, that where both employer and employee are guilty of negligence con- tributing to an employee's injury the worker may recover propor- tionate damages, provided his negligence is less than that of his employer, has never prevailed in Kansas aside from statutory enact- ment. 14 But the doctrine of the "last clear chance" is accepted.
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9. Union Pacific Rly. Co. v. Rollins, 5 Kan. 167; Sawyer v. Sauer, 10 Kan. 466, 472- Gibson v. Wyandotte, 20 Kan. 156 (1878) ; Union Pacific Rly. Co. v. Adams, 33 Kan. 429.
10. Union Pacific Rly. Co. v. Young, 19 Kan. 488. Justice Valentine said in this case- Ihere are we suppose a few exceptions where a person who has himself not exercised ordinary
care may recover, but these exceptions are very few." — p. 496.
11. St. Louis, etc., Rly. Co. v. Morris, 76 Kan. 836.
12. Railway Co. v. Walters, 78 Kan. 39, 41.
13. Kansas Pacific Rly. Co. v. Pointer, 14 Kan. 37, 50 ; Central Branch Union Pacific Rly Co. v. Walters, 24 Kan. 504.
14. Laws, Kansas, 1911, ch. 239, sec. 2; Kansas Pacific Rly. Co. v. Pointer, 14 Kan. 37; Railway Co. v. Walters, 78 Kan. 39. Rly. Co. v. Davis, 37 Kan. 743, does seem to lend countenance to the doctrine, but later cases positively repudiate it.
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According to this rule, the test of wrongful conduct is that if just at the very moment when an accident occurred or became inevitable only one party had power to prevent it and neglected to do so, then the legal responsibility was his alone. But if each had power to prevent it and each neglected to use that power, then neither can recover from the other. 15
FELLOW SERVANT
The widest common-law principle governing liability is that every person shall be liable to others only when he is at fault. The rule of respondeat superior, which holds that the master is vicariously liable to a stranger for the misconduct of his servants, i. e., railways to their passengers for the misconduct of their servants, is an exception to this wider principle. The suggestion that respondeat superior might be interpreted to make the master liable to one servant for injuries caused by the negligence of a fellow servant was first made in Eng- land in 1837 by counsel for plaintiff in Priestly v. Fowler, but was not accepted.16 In Murray v. South Carolina Railway Company, an American case decided in 1841, it was held that respondeat superior did not apply in cases of this kind, but the decision was divided, did not become well known, and did not settle the ques- tion.17 The question first received mature consideration in Farwell v. Boston and Wooster Railway Corporation, 1842.18 There it was decided that the rule did not apply ; and the fellow-servant rule, that employers are not liable for injuries caused by the negligence of fellow servants, was firmly established.
The fellow servant rule was introduced into Kansas by the su- preme court in 1871, in its first decision disposing of a damage suit arising out of an industrial accident to an employee. 19 Dow, a brakeman, was injured while coupling freight cars, allegedly because the conductor carelessly, negligently and unskillfully conducted the train, and he sued for damages. He alleged everything necessary to recover except that he carefully avoided alleging that the railroad was negligent in employing or retaining the conductor who caused the injury. An elaborate and able brief was prepared by the de- fense. The action was apparently brought for the mere purpose of getting the fellow-servant rule established in Kansas. The court
15. Dyerson v. Railroad Co., 74 Kan. 528. See, also, Himmelwright v. Baker, 82 Kan. 569, and Whately v. Chicago G. W. Rid. Co., 123 Kan. 187.
16. 3 M. & W. 1 (1837).
17. 1 McMull, L. S. Car. 385, 36 Am. Dec. 268 (1841).
18. 4 Mete. 49, 38 Am. Dec. 339.
19. Dow v. Kansas Pacific Rly. Co., 8 Kan. 642, following the Farwell case.
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specifically noted that more solicitude was entertained concerning the question involved and in the precedent to be established than concerning the case itself, and implied that the defense was respon- sible even for the presentation of the plaintiff's case.
In an exceedingly brief opinion, considering the importance of the question involved, the court held for the company. "It is probable," said the court, "that both authority and reason are with the de- fendant." Why so? Because it is the "policy of the law to make it to the interest of every servant or agent of the railroad company to see that every other servant or agent of the company is competent and trustworthy." Workers are in the best position to know who is incompetent and careless, and either they should inform the com- pany "of every act of any other employee showing a want of skill, care or competency," or quit. If an employee is willing to work with an incompetent or untrustworthy fellow worker without informing the company, "let him bear the consequences." And if he is willing thus to endanger the lives of other human beings, "he deserves punishment." This reasoning showed but little understanding on the court's part of modern industry and the position occupied in it by the worker.
For the negligence of a mere fellow servant the master is liable only if he employs the servant without due inquiry as to his fitness ; or employs him with notice of unfitness ; or, having notice of unfit- ness, continues him in his service ; or where the servant's unfitness is so gross and notorious that for the master not to know it constitutes negligence.20
"SUPERIOR SERVANT" RULE
Because in modern industry there are many grades of labor, it was inevitable that in applying the fellow-servant doctrine it would fre- quently be difficult to determine who are fellow servants. The su- perior-servant rule was developed as a solution of these difficulties. Two theories underlie the cases involving the rule. The first is that the doctrine of common employment is sometimes not applicable because the negligent servant was of a higher grade than the injured servant, the second that it does not apply because the negligent em- ployee was at the time performing some task which it was the master's absolute duty to perform with reasonable care. Consider- able confusion resulted.
That this confusion is reflected in the Kansas decisions is not sur- prising. As between co-employees, the Dow case seemed to establish
20. Railroad Company v. Doyle, 18 Kan. 58.
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that only higher officers were representative of a company and that the company was responsible only for the negligence of these higher officers, but that case did not clearly establish a foundation for the superior-servant doctrine. The distinction between superior and in- ferior servants was apparently made to lie in the fact that it is the duty of the former to hire and discharge the latter. 21 In later cases, however, the master's liability was clearly based upon the nondelega- bility of certain duties irrespective of the rank involved. The rule was stated clearly by Mr. Justice Valentine, in words quoted as authoritative in many states and by the U. S. supreme court, as follows :
And at common law, whenever the master delegates to any officer, servant, agent or employe, high or low, the performance of any of the duties above men- tioned, which really devolve upon the master himself, then such officer, servant, agent or employe stands in the place of the master and becomes a substitute for the master, a vice-principal, and the master is liable for his acts or his negli- gence to the same extent as though the master himself had performed the acts or was guilty of the negligence. 22
But the clearness of this principle was dimmed in subsequent de- cisions. In a case involving injury to an engineer caused by the negligence of a section foreman, the reasoning of the court is con- fused, but the conclusion was finally in line with previous deci- sions. 23 In 1898, in a case involving injury to a brakeman because of a conductor's negligence, the court held that the doctrine of com- mon employment was not applicable simply because the negligent servant was of a higher grade than the injured servant. 24 This de- cision was based directly on the United States supreme court deci- sion in the Ross case, 25 already branded as "extreme" by the Kansas court, 26 from which the United States supreme court had already receded 27 and which it expressly repudiated in 1899. 28 It was later cited as authority for other decisions. 29 The theory was soon repu- diated, however, and the court readopted the theory that the master's liability is based on the nondelegability of certain duties, irrespective of the rank involved. 30
21. But see Bridge Co. v. Miller, 71 Kan. 13, 26.
22. A. T. & S. F. Rid. Co. v. Moore, 29 Kan. 632, 644.
23. St. L. & S. F. Ely. Co. v. Weaver, 35 Kan. 412. See, also, Mo. Pac. Rly. Co. v. Peregoy, Adm'x., 36 Kan. 424.
24. Walker v. Gillett, 59 Kan. 214.
25. Chicago, M. & St. P. Rly. Co. v. Ross, 122 U. S. 377.
26. St. L. & S. F. Rly. Co. v. Weaver, 35 Kan. 412.
27. B. & O. Rid. Co. v. Baugh, 149 U. S. 368.
28. New England Rid. Co. v. Conroy, 175 U. S. 323.
29. Foundry Co. v. Secrist, 59 Kan. 778; Refining Co. v. Peterson, 8 K. A. 316; Mirick et al., v. Morton, 64 Pac. 609.
30. Bridge Co. v. Miller, 71 Kan. 13.
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It has been said that Kansas "is probably one of the states in which an employer is not absolved on the ground that the negligence of the vice-principal was committed in doing work usually done by a servant." 31 But that is not and has never been true. As early as 1905 it was held that "A foreman under whom workmen are em- ployed is a fellow servant with the workmen when engaged with them in accomplishing the common task or object."32 Four years later, two laborers were pushing a loaded truck which became stalled, and the foreman jerked one of the wheels. The sudden turning of the shafts which resulted injured a worker. The court ruled that this was the negligence of a fellow servant. 33 Again it was held that a city park superintendent driving a team and wagon was per- forming an act of a workman and that the city was not liable for his negligent driving. 34 Still later it was held that a foreman assisting others move a stove is a fellow servant.35
CONSOCIATION AND DEPARTMENTAL RULES
Kansas has also been cited as a state where the rule of association or consociation prevails. That rule limits application of the coserv- ice principle to those servants employed by the same master who are cooperating in the particular work being done, or who are in habitual association or in such relations that each can exercise some influence promotive of proper caution over the conduct of the others and in this way provide to some extent for their own security. Although discussed at different times by the court, this rule was not used as a basis upon which to rest decisions involving fellow servants. 36 Nor did the Kansas supreme court follow the "departmental" rule, which limits the doctrine of coservice to those servants working in the same general department. The rule in Kansas has always been that "all employees of the same master, engaged in the same general business, whose efforts tend to promote the same general purpose and accom- plish the same general end, are fellow servants."37 It was held, however, that if different departments are so far disconnected that each one may be regarded as a separate undertaking, then the rule
31. Labatt, C. B., Commentaries on the Law of Master and Servant . . . (Lawyers Cooperative Pub. Co., Rochester, N. Y., 1913), 2d ed., v. IV, p. 4364, citing Refining Co v. Peterson, 8 K. A. 316, 55 Pac. 673. See, also, Clark, Lindley D., The Law of the Employ- ment of Labor (The Macmillan Company, New York, N. Y., 1911), p. 162.
32. Crist v. Light Co., 72 Kan. 135, Syl. 3.
33. Lunn v. Morris, 81 Kan. 94. See, also, Henry v. Boiler Works, 87 Kan. 571, 574.
34. Nelson v. City of Salina, 123 Kan. 522 (1927).
35. Barnaby v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 132 Kan. 447.
36. See St. L. & S. F. Rly. Co. v. Weaver, 35 Kan. 412.
37. Bridge Co. v. Miller, 71 Kan. 13 ; Burroughs v. Michel, 142 Kan. 814.
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of coservice is not applicable. 38 Both the consociation and depart- mental rules are offshoots of one of the reasons advanced for the rule adopted in the Farwell case; namely, that fellow servants, be- cause of their association in employment, were so situated that each could observe and influence the conduct of others, could inform the master of any misconduct, incapacity or negligence of any other servant, and in these ways secure their own safety.
MODIFICATIONS OF THE COMMON-LAW RULES
Thus, under the common law, three elements are essential to the existence of actionable negligence on the part of the employer: (1) a duty on the employer's part to protect the worker from the injury he received, which implies knowledge of the danger and power to prevent harm, and realization that the employee did not or was not likely to realize the danger; (2) a failure of the employer to perform that duty; and (3) an injury caused by that failure. All three ele- ments must be proved by the injured worker, and the absence of any one of them bars recovery. The employer has the three powerful affirmative defenses of assumption or risk, contributory negligence, and coservice. That framework of law was too narrow and rigid for an expanding and changing economy and statutory changes became necessary. Modifications of the common-law rules in certain em- ployments began early in Kansas.
RAILROAD LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY
In 1870, railroads in the state were made liable "for all damages done to persons and property, when done in consequence of any neg- lect on the part of the railroad companies." 39 The language of the act is sufficiently vague to admit of almost any interpretation. Was it the legislature's intention to wipe out the contributory negligence and fellow-servant rules? The supreme court interpreted the law to mean that a railroad company would be liable for damages to an in- jured servant only when it was negligent "as a company," but not for the negligence of a fellow servant. 40 Nor did the act abolish the doctrine of contributory negligence. 41 According to these inter- pretations, the act made no change in the common-law liability of railroads to their workers, except that by confirming a right to dam- ages already existing put it on a firmer basis and in the class of
38. Bridge Co. v. Miller, 71 Kan. 13.
39. Laws, Kansas, 1870, ch. 93.
40. Kansas Pacific Rly. Co. v. Salmon, Adm'x., 11 Kan. 83, 91, 93.
41. K. C. Ft. S. & G. Rid. Co. v. McHenry, 24 Kan. 601.
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rights which, as a matter of public policy, may not be contracted away. 42
The exact purpose of this law was never clear to the Kansas su- preme court, for its wording was exceedingly general and therefore vague. 43 The chief justice believed that it was intended to abolish the doctrine of contributory negligence, which in his opinion would have made the act unconstitutional. 44 A study of its legislative his- tory reveals the interesting fact that the law was never intended as a labor law at all. It began its career as a bill "to compel railroads to fence their roads, or pay for stock injured," and was amended to make railroads liable for all damages, but without any idea that its purpose was thereby being changed. 45
RAILROAD FELLOW-SERVANT LAW OF 1874
A second attack on the common law was made in 1874, when every railroad company organized or doing business in the state was made liable for all damages done to any person, including its own em- ployees, in consequence of any negligence of its agents, or by any mismanagement of its engineers or other employees. 46 Although liability was stated in general terms, the act was intended to, and did, abolish the fellow-servant doctrine. When first enacted, the law was practically identical with the Iowa statute of 1862 on the same subject. 47 The Iowa supreme court had interpreted the law as applying only to those engaged in such work of operating railroads as is hazardous.48 Since this interpretation preceded the Kansas act, our supreme court followed the general rule applicable in such
42. Sewell v. Rly. Co., 78 Kan. 1, 16, 24.
43. Kansas Pacific Rly. Co. v. Salmon, Adm'x., 11 Kan. 83; St. Jos. & D. C. Rid. Co. v. Grover, 11 Kan. 302, 307 ; Sewell v. Rly. Co., 78 Kan. 1, 16, 21.
44. K. C. Ft. S. & G. Rid. Co. v. McHenry, 24 Kan. 501, 504.
45. Senate Bill No. 13, session of 1870; Senate Journal, p. 455; Kansas Daily Common- wealth, Topeka, March 3, 1870; Kansas State Record, Topeka, March 9, 1870.
46. Laws, Kansas, 1874, ch. 93, sec. 1, effective March 4, 1874; General Statutes, Kansas, 1876, ch. 84, sec. 29. It should be observed that the liability established was not merely to an injured employee, but to any one injured. Furthermore, there was no intention to make a distinction between agents and engineers and other employees, or between negligence and mis- management.—Missouri K. & T. Rid. Co. v. Kellerman, 39 Tex. Civ. App. 274 ; 87 S. W. 401.
47. Laws, Iowa, 1862, ch. 169, sec. 7. Upheld as constitutional in McAunich v. the M. & M. Rly. Co., 20 Iowa 338. The Kansas law was amended in 1903, to provide that notice of injury, stating time and place, must be given within ninety days after its occurrence. — Laws, Kansas, 1903, ch. 393. This time limit was extended to eight months in 1905, and for injured workers in hospitals or under charge of the company or unable to give notice because of in- juries, the time limit does not begin to run until after discharge from the hospital or from the care of the company. Such notice may be served upon any person designated by the railroad company, upon certain specified persons, or by leaving a copy at any of the company's depots, in the county in which the action is brought, with the ticket agent, or the person in charge. It need not state whether or not the worker intends to bring suit. — Laws, Kansas, 1905, ch. 341, sees. 1, 2. In 1907 it was provided that notice was unnecessary where an action was commenced within eight months after injury, or when the injured employee died within that time as a result of his injuries. — Laws, Kansas, 1907, ch. 281, sec. 1.
48. In Deppe v. The Chicago R. I. & P. Rid. Co., 38 Iowa 592, 595, it was held that unless limited to those engaged in the hazardous work of operating railroads, the act would be manifestly unconstitutional as class legislation.
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cases and adopted the Iowa interpretation as to its scope. 49 Fur- thermore, if an employee knew that a fellow servant was incom- petent or habitually negligent, and, without protest and without inducement on the company's part that a change would be made, continued to work with that servant, he assumed the risk of such negligence and could not recover despite the law. 50 Judges have generally interpreted such situations as being within the rule of as- sumption of risk, and the law did not specifically abrogate that rule. 51 Contributory negligence also barred recovery. 52 The act applied only to railroad corporations. Individuals, partnerships and firms having servants or employees engaged in hazardous work upon roads or trains of railroad corporations were not included. 53
The constitutionality of the act was duly challenged, and upheld almost without argument. 54 It was challenged again in 1885 on the grounds that railroads were deprived of property without due process of law, and denied the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the federal constitution. Again the Kansas supreme court upheld the act. 55 An appeal was then taken to the United States supreme court. 56
The company there contended that the law of 1874 imposed a lia- bility without any wrong or negligence on its part for injuries caused by the negligence or incompetency of a fellow servant, a liability which previously did not exist and in the enforcement of which property could be taken, and that therefore the law authorized the taking of property without due process. In answer, the federal supreme court pointed out that a state may prescribe the future lia- bilities of corporations organized under its laws unless its power in this respect is limited by the terms of its charters. The law was held merely to extend to employees the liability of railroad com- panies for damages suffered by passengers through the negligence or incompetence of its servants. If hardship or injustice exists in the one case it exists in the other, and relief lies with the legislature. Railroad operations involve sufficiently peculiar hazards to warrant
49. Union Trust Co. v. Thomason, 25 Kan. 1.
50. McQueen v. C. B. U. P. R. C., 30 Kan. 689; Jackson v. K. C. L. & S. K. Rid. Co., 31 Kan. 761 ; Kansas Pacific Rly. Co. v. Peavy, 29 Kan. 169 ; Railway Co. v. Green, 75 Kan. 504, 513.
51. Railway Co. v. Sledge, 68 Kan. 321 ; Brinkmeier v. Railway Co., 69 Kan. 738.
62. Union Pacific Rly. Co. v. Young, 19 Kan. 488. ". . . the plaintiff must have exercised ordinary care, and not have been guilty of ordinary negligence, or he cannot recover." — p. 496. See, also, Mo. Pac. Rly. Co. v. Mackey, 33 Kan. 298.
53. Beeson v. Busenbark, 44 Kan. 669.
54. Mo. Pac. Rly. Co. v. Haley, Adm'r., etc., 25 Kan. 35.
55. Mo. Pac. Rly. Co. v. Mackey, 33 Kan. 298.
56. Missouri Rly. Co. v. Mackey, 127 U. S. 205. Meanwhile the act had again been upheld by the Kansas court in A. T. & S. F. Rid. Co. v. Koehler, 37 Kan. 463.
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special legislation for the protection of employees and the public. The law was held not to violate either the due process or the equal protection clauses.
The question of constitutionality was again brought before the United States supreme court. The Kansas supreme court had ruled that a bridge carpenter injured while unloading timbers was covered by the act. 57 The railroad contended that bridge carpenters were not exposed to peculiar hazards incident to the use and operation of railroads, and that if they were included within the scope of the law of 1874, then the law violated the equal protection clause of the federal constitution. The United States supreme court insisted that although the worker concerned was a bridge carpenter by trade, yet when injured he was performing work which was directly connected with the operation of the railroad, and held against the company. 58 Thus the constitutionality of the law was definitely established.
An interesting situation arose in 1908 involving the fellow-servant act of 1874. A railroad and an express company had a contract whereby the express company assumed the risk of all costs and dam- ages for injury to its employees and agreed to hold the railroad com- pany harmless from them. The express company in turn contracted with its employees that neither the railroad nor the express company should under any circumstances be liable to them for damages for any injury received while at work on the railroad's trains. An ex- press messenger was killed in a railroad wreck and his widow sued the railroad company for damages on the ground of negligence.
The trial court held the contract binding as between the railroad company and the worker and gave judgment accordingly. The Kan- sas supreme court upheld the judgment, on the ground that although the railroad as a common carrier generally does not deal on an equal footing with its customers and consequently a contract waiving lia- bility will generally be regarded as having been secured by extortion, yet in the carriage of express matter a railroad company does not act as in ordinary cases, since the services performed are of a private and not of a public nature. Therefore the contract as between the two companies was considered valid ; and the express company could transfer this risk back to its employees as a part of the employment agreement.
Three justices dissented from this position. Shortly after the opinion was filed, Mr. Justice Greene, who had voted with the ma-
57. C. K. & W. Rid. Co. v. Pontius, 52 Kan. 264. A stonemason employed on a depot was held not covered. — Railway Co. v. Medaris, 60 Kan. 151.
58. Chicago, etc., Rid. Co. v. Pontius, 157 C7. S, 209.
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jority, died and was replaced by Mr. Justice Benson. On a rehear- ing of the case, Mr. Justice Benson voted with the three justices previously dissenting, and the judgment of the court was reversed with direction to enter judgment for the widow. The contract in question was declared void because the statute of 1870 making rail- roads liable for all damages to persons or property in consequence of any negligence on its part put the right to damages in the class of rights that cannot be contracted away, and because of the law of 1874 abrogated the fellow-servant rule.59 It was conceded by the court that at common law the contract would have been valid.
THE RAILROAD LIABILITY ACT OF 1911
In 1911 the Kansas legislature adopted what is a virtual copy of the federal employer's liability act.60 The object was to stop the practice by railroads of taking cases to the state or federal court depending upon which body of law was the more favorable to them.61 Railroads were made liable in damages for injury or death to workers resulting in whole or in part from the employer's negli- gence, or from insufficiency in the clearance of obstructions, strength of roadbed, tracks, machinery, equipment, lights, signals, rules and regulations, number of employees, or from any defect in any equip- ment due to the negligence of the employer. The employer was de- prived of the defense of contributory negligence, but the doctrine of comparative negligence was introduced and it was provided that damages should be reduced in proportion to the employee's negli- gence. However, in cases where violation by any railroad official or any of the road's employees of any federal or state railroad safety act contributes to the injury or death, the defenses of assumption of risk and contributory negligence are not available to the employer.62 Contracts, rules, regulations or any other devices designed to ex- empt railroads from the liability imposed by this law are void.63
69. Sewell v. Railway Co., 78 Kan. 16; Kansas Pacific Rly. Co. v. Peavy, 29 Kan. 169; Railway Co. v. Fronk, 74 Kan. 519. The railroad company carried this case to the United States supreme court, but it was dismissed with costs on motion of the railroad company's counsel.— 215 U. S. 612.
60. Laws, Kansas, 1911, ch. 239.
61. Topeka Daily Capital, February 25, 1911.
62. Defenbaugh v. Railroad Co., 102 Kan. 569. There have been very few Kansas acts prescribing detailed requirements for the safety of railroad employees. Frogs, switches and guardrails on tracks must be filled, blocked and guarded in a proper manner. — Laws, Kansas, 1909, ch. 188. Sheds must be erected over tracks used exclusively to build or repair railroad equipment at division points where shops are located, to protect all men permanently em- ployed.— Laws, Kansas, 1907, ch. 283. Detailed regulations are laid down regarding the con- struction of way cars or cabooses. — Revised Statutes, Kansas, 1923, sees. 66-220. Attempts to enact full-crew and train-limit bills failed. — House Journal. Kansas, 1913, H. B. 286 and 908.
63. The legislature made no attempt to fit the act into the scheme of laws already existing, but left that difficult task to the state supreme court. An analysis of the problem will be found in Fuller v. A. T. & S. F. Rly. Co., 124 Kan. 66. Other important cases in which the act was applied are: Palomino v. Railway Co., 91 Kan. 556; Hisle v. Railway Co., 91 Kan. 572 ; Rockhold v Railway Co., 97 Kan. 715 ; Harwood v. Railway Co., 101 Kan. 215 ; Defen- baugh v. Railroad Co., 102 Kan. 569.
GAGLIARDO : LIABILITY LAW IN KANSAS 167
The same rules of law control under both the state and federal acts.64 Since almost the entire railroad industry in Kansas is inter- state in character, the law applicable is practically all federal and will not be discussed here.
COAL MINING ACT OF 1883
A series of mine disasters led, in 1883, to the enactment of a law regulating the conduct of the coal mining industry.65 Miners and operators were consulted in drafting the bill, and there was no op- position.66 The act provided that a map or plan of every coal mine should be made, prescribed detailed regulations for safeguarding openings, workplaces, ventilation, escapement shafts and hoisting and signaling apparatus, established the office of mine inspector, and made compulsory the employment of an inside "mining boss" to oversee the ventilating apparatus, airways, traveling-ways, pumps and drainage, and to secure loose coal, slate and rock from falling upon the traveling-ways, and the appointment of a "competent per- son" to inspect gaseous mines. A right of action was allowed for any injury or death occasioned by violation of the law.
In construing the law in 1902, the state supreme court refused to hold that because it prescribed the appointment of a "fire-boss" and his duties, it therefore superseded the common-law duty of the mine operator to furnish a safe place in which to work, nor that it made the "fire-boss" a fellow servant of other mine workers. But it held on the contrary that the master was liable for the negligence of the "fire-boss" in failing to perform the duties imposed upon him by law.67 Again, in 1914, it was held that a mining company was liable for damages to a miner for an injury which resulted because a mule driver neglected to deliver props needed to support the roof.68
As interpreted by the southern department of the Kansas Court of Appeals in 1896, the law was held not to abolish the defenses of assumption of risk and contributory negligence.69 Later, however, it was held that these defenses were abolished. In 1908 the state supreme court held that "A miner, in performing the work assigned to him, although bound to exercise due care for his own safety, may assume, in the absence of notice to the contrary, that the owner and
64. Kasper v. Railway Co., Ill Kan. 267; Koshka v. Railroad Co., 114' Kan. 126.
65. Laws, Kansas, 1883, ch. 117.
66. Topeka Daily Capital, February 23 and 24, 1883.
67. Schmalstieg v. Coal Co., 65 Kan. 753; see, also, Cheek v. Rly. Co., 89 Kan. 247, 267. Relatively few cases have been brought under the mining act, and these for the most part not until after 1900.
68. LeRoy v. Rly. Co., 91 Kan. 548.
69. Cherokee & P. Coal & Mining Co. v. Britton, 3 K. A. 292 ; 45 Pac. 100.
168 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the overseer have performed their duty. . . ." 70 And later, that the law "in effect debars the defense of contributory negligence," that it "entirely shifts the risks of the employment from the laborer to the employer. Care for his own safety may impel a miner to watch for treacherous mine roofs, but he is not legally required to do so. . . ." 71 That the law abolished the defense of assumption of risk was definitely settled in 1913. 72
ROAD AND BRIDGE LAW
A road and bridge law of 1887 which gave to anyone who without contributory negligence on his part sustained damages by reason of defective bridges, culverts or highways a right to recover such dam- ages, under certain conditions, from a county or township, was de- signed for the benefit of travelers.73 Yet it was held to apply to workers as well as to travelers.74 A law enacted in 1931 made state and local public corporations except boards of education, fire or police departments, jointly and severally, liable with their motor operators or chauffeurs for damages caused by the latter's negligence while driving on highways in the course of their employment.75 That law was held to abrogate the fellow-servant rule.76
THE FACTORY ACT
In 1903 a factory act was passed which requires that elevators, hoisting shafts and well-holes be secured, that stairways be equipped with handrails and secured at the sides and ends, that certain doors open outward and be kept unlocked, requires fire escapes, and pro- vides for the guarding of dangerous machinery and appliances where practicable. A right of action for damages is given in case of injury, and in order to recover damages it is only necessary to prove in the first instance that the accident resulted from or was directly con- tributed to by the failure to provide the safeguards required by law.77
70. Barrett v. Dessy, 78 Kan. 642, Syl. 4.
71. Baisdrenghein v. Rly. Co., 91 Kan. 730.
72. Cheek v. Rly. Co., 89 Kan. 247, 267, 268, following the line of reasoning previously applied to the factory act, for which see below.
73. Laws, Kansas, 1887, ch. 237 ; General Statutes, Kansas, 1897, ch. 42, sec. 48.
74. Vickers v. Cloud County, 59 Kan. 86; Cloud County v. Vickers, 62 Kan. 25; Hoi- linger v. Dickinson County, 115 Kan. 92.
75. Laws, Kansas, 1931, ch. 80, sec. 23.
76. Cashin v. State Highway Comm., 136 Kan. 659, Mr. Justice Burch dissenting.
77. Laws, Kansas, 1903, ch. 356. None of its sections was borrowed from any other state, and this left the supreme court free to follow its own ideas in interpreting it. Two years later an act for the protection of building workers was passed. Any workman noticing dangerous or defective scaffolding, staging or other supporting appliances, elevator, derrick or hoist, or missing or improper safeguards on construction, repairing or painting jobs, may report the same to the state factory inspector, who is required to make an inspection and notify the proper person of any defects that should be remedied. The person in charge must then remove the danger, and failure or refusal to do so is made a misdemeanor punishable by a heavy fine. — Laws, Kansas, 1905, ch. 527.
GAGLIARDO: LIABILITY LAW IN KANSAS 169
Just what modifications this act made in the common law did not appear for some time. As early as 1906, the Kansas supreme court, following what it considered to be well-settled law, held that the factory act did not exclude the defense of contributory negligence.78 At that time the question of assumed risk was not involved, and so, although mentioned and discussed, was not decided. Some lower courts, however, proceeded on the theory that the common law of assumed risk was in no way affected.79
In 1907 the question of whether the factory act did or did not abolish assumption of risk was squarely before the supreme court.80 An exhaustive inquiry was made and great difference of judicial opinion noted. In the leading federal case holding that such acts do abolish the rule, Judge Taft had argued that since assumption of risk is a term of the employment contract, to allow it where a safety act exists is essentially to waive the benefits of the statute, and that considerations of public policy will not permit such a waiver to be given effect.81 The state supreme court had already accepted these general propositions,82 but it had never before had occasion to apply them. It now held that in Kansas assumption of risk could not be pleaded in cases involving a violation of the factory act.83
Three years after it had interpreted away the assumption of risk defense, the court again considered the question of contributory negligence. At that time the general rule was that factory acts did not abolish this defense, and in conformity with that rule the de- fense had previously been held available.84 But judicial opinion throughout the country was undergoing a change, though that had not as yet proceeded very far.85 The Kansas court was by this time satisfied of the injustice of the general principle, and aligned itself with the new trend by reversing itself and holding the defense no longer available.86 The court saw clearly the inadequacy of the common-law doctrines as applied to modern industry. These doc- trines, it said, "took their rise at a time when shoes were made at
78. Madison v. Clippinger, 74 Kan. 700.
79. Ibid.; also Manufacturing Co. v. Daniels, 72 Kan. 418.
80. Manufacturing Co. v. Bloom, 76 Kan. 127.
81. Narramnre v. Cleveland, C. C. & St. L. Ely. Co., 96 Fed. 298.
82. The first in Railway Co. v. Bancord, 66 Kan. 81; the second in Kansas Pacific Rlv Co. v. Peavey, 29 Kan. 170.
83. Manufacturing Co. v. Blocm, 76 Kan. 127.
84. Madison v. Clippinger, supra.
85. Labatt, op. cit., v. V, p. 5047.
.r™86' CasPar v- Lewin, 82 Kan. G04. Just three months before the court had remarked that The statute . . . fairly admits of a construction which would exclude contributory neg- ligence as a defense as well as assumed risk, but does not do so expressly, and the courts have presumed that such was not the intent and have permitted the commonlaw defense. "—Lewis v Salt Company, 82 Kan. 163, 167.
170 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the bench, the weaver had an apprentice or two, and the blacksmith a helper." 87 But "common experience everywhere, registered in tables of gruesome statistics, affords fresh demonstration every day of the inadequacy of the common-law doctrine of reasonable care to provide places and instrumentalities reasonably safe against fore- seeable occurrences to meet the situation of men, women and children who must manipulate, and must work in the midst of, the mechanical products of modern inventive genius." 88 The court held that "the factory act cuts squarely across the common-law doctrine of rea- sonable prudence and supplies that foresight in reference to the places, structures and appliances which it specifies." It further stated that "to submit to a jury the question of prudence and fore- sight where the law has been ignored [by the employer] would be to reopen a subject which the legislature has closed by a final de- cision." 89 It is interesting to note that the original bill contained a provision, eliminated by amendment, excusing an employer guilty of gross negligence if he could prove equal negligence on the part of the injured worker.90
The court went far in liberally interpreting the scope of the factory act, which was held to apply to any worker regardless of his rank or grade, to any duty of a worker, whether ordinary and general or exceptional and occasional, and to any accident caused by the ab- sence of a prescribed safeguard even though such accident could not have been anticipated with reasonable prudence by the employer. And the court went so far as to hold that if an injury is caused or directly contributed to by the absence of safeguards, then the plaintiff need not prove the practicability of such safeguards, but that the burden of proving safeguards impracticable is on the em- ployer.91 The act does not, however, add to the common-law rights of the father of a minor son to sue for the loss of services resulting
87. Caspar v. Lewin, 82 Kan. 631, 632. Three years later the court said: "The doctrines of assumption of risk and contributory negligence are not the creatures of any constitution or of any legislative enactment. They are court-made rules, invented to meet certain ideals of justice respecting certain social and economic conditions and relations. Should the conditions and relations be completely changed, and those ideals wholly fail of realization, the reason for the rules, which is the life of all rules of the common law, would then be wanting, and the court which would go on enforcing them would be a conscious minister of injustice and not of justice."— Burgin v. Railway Co., 90 Kan. 194, 198 (1913).
88. Caspar v. Lewin, 82 Kan. 624.
89. Ibid., p. 625.
90. Senate Bills, Kansas Legislature, 1903, Bill No. 4.
91. Caspar v. Lewin, 82 Kan. 604, overruling part of Henschell v. Rly. Co., 78 Kan. 411. To this two justices dissented, holding that the plaintiff would still have to prove safeguards practicable. See, also, Gambill v. Bowen, 82 Kan. 840, and Slater v. Rly. Co., 91 Kan. 226, 237. It has been held that an employee injured while at rest under the direction of the em- ployer is engaged in the performance of duty and included within the act. — Brick Co. v. Fisher, 79 Kan. 576. The court refused to limit the scope of the act by interpreting that section requiring belt shifters or safe mechanical contrivances for throwing on or off belts or pulleys as applying only to workmen engaged in shifting belts, but interpreted it to apply also to workers operating the machine. — Rank v. Packing Box Co., 92 Kan. 917.
GAGLIARDO: LIABILITY LAW IN KANSAS 171
from an injury by reason of a violation of the act. Only the minor can recover.92 Because the act is chiefly remedial in nature and in- tent, rather than penal, it is controlled by the two-year statute of limitation.93
The constitutionality of the factory act was upheld by the state supreme court in Caspar v. Lewin as a legitimate exercise of the state's police power. The remedy prescribed for its enforcement was held not obnoxious to either the state or the federal constitution. An appeal from this decision was taken to the federal supreme court, but it was dismissed without consideration, per stipulation of counsel.94 The constitutionality of the act was later passed upon and upheld by the United States supreme court. A superintendent of the Lawrence Paper Manufacturing Company, whose duty it was, among other things, to provide safeguards for the machinery, was crushed and killed by unguarded rolls. His widow sued for damages under the factory act. The main contention of the company was that the superintendent's control of safety details removed him from the class of employees protected by the factory act. But the Kansas supreme court ruled that the act was intended to protect all em- ployees regardless of employment, rank or grade.95 From this de- cision the company appealed. It contended that the interpretation put upon the act by the Kansas court was repugnant to the federal due process clause, because the superintendent's employment con- tract provided that he himself was to see to the safeguarding of the machinery. The United States supreme court held it strictly consti- tutional to impose an absolute duty to provide safeguards of which no employer may relieve himself by any form of contract.96 The company also contended that the law violated the equal protection clause of the federal constitution, because corporations can only carry out the duty of safeguarding machinery by contracting with agents and employees, while individual employers may perform this duty themselves. The supreme court pointed out the obscurity of this reasoning, and suggested that it rested upon a misconception, for the law imposed an absolute duty binding upon corporations and individuals alike.
92. Gibson v. Packing Box Co., 85 Kan. 346.
93. Slater v. Railway Co., 91 Kan. 226.
94. Lewin v. Caspar, 223 U. S. 736.
95. Smith v. Bowersock, 95 Kan. 96, following Caspar v. Lewin.
96. Bowersock v. Smith, 243 U. S. 29.
172
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
RECOVERIES
No investigation has ever been made of the amounts recovered by Kansas workers or their dependents under the common-law princi- ples of liability. The data are not available. No doubt only a few cases arose where the unmodified common law was applicable, for legislative modifications were made early in Kansas history. But the experience of other states suggests that the percentage of re- coveries and the amounts involved were probably not great. The common-law defenses of the employer were almost invulnerable. Nor has any study been made of the recoveries under the common law as modified by employer's liability acts. Here, too, it seems rea- sonable to infer that the experience of other states has been repeated in Kansas. The percentage of recoveries was certainly greater after employer's liability acts than before them.
Table I combines the recoveries in fatal cases investigated in three states prior to 1911. The percentage of fatal cases in which no com- pensation was received is high, amounting to almost a third of the total. In almost half of the cases the amount received did not ex- ceed $500. Compensation exceeding $1,000 was received in very few cases. In some of these, the figures were well above $5,000.
TABLE I. — Recoveries in 604 fatal cases under employers' liability laws in three
states prior to 1911*
|
AMOUNT RECEIVED. |
N. Y. |
Pa. |
Minn. |
Totals. |
Percent. |
|
No compensation |
93 |
80 |
14 |
196 |
32 5 |
|
Less than $100 |
23 |
113 |
7 |
143 |
23.7 |
|
$100 to $500 |
72 |
61 |
13 |
146 |
24 1 |
|
$500 to $1,000 |
16 |
41 |
6 |
63 |
10.4 |
|
Over $1,000 |
23 |
19 |
14 |
56 |
9 3 |
* 227 cases by the New York State Liability Commission; 323 cases from Pennsylvania by Crystal Eastman; and 54 cases from Minnesota. This material is taken from Rubinow, I. M., Social Insurance. . . . (Henry Holt & Co., New York, N. Y., 1913), pp. 93-95.
Some idea of the small number of recoveries in cases of nonfatal accident may be obtained from the following figures for Wisconsin.97
Percent
23.5 32.4
4.9 29.7
9.5
Received nothing from employer 72
Received amount of doctor bill only 99
Received amount of part of doctor bill only 15
Received something in addition to doctor bill 91
Received something but not doctor bills 29
97. Taken from James H. Boyd, Workmen's Compensation and Insurance (1912), v. I, p. 61.
GAGLIARDO: LIABILITY LAW IN KANSAS 173
The following figures on recoveries in Kansas are not adequate, but are offered for what they are worth. From 1871 to 1911, when Kansas enacted its first workmen's compensation law, there were fifty-nine suits settled by the state supreme court in which workers were awarded damages for injury. The average amount of compen- sation received was $4,320. This appears to be a higher average than is usually reported, and it is no doubt very much higher than the average recovered in all cases, including those settled out of court. For undoubtedly most accidents were either not settled for at all, or were settled for out of court; and it is usually the cases involving large sums that are carried to the state supreme court. The highest award was $15,000, which was paid by a railroad company to an in- dividual for the loss of both legs.98 The average compensation awarded for nineteen fatal accidents was $5,135, only slightly more than the average award for injury. This also appears to be larger than the amount usually reported. The largest amount received for a fatal accident was $10,000; the lowest, $500.
Supreme court records for the years 1871-1911 show that contested cases were seldom disposed of in less than three years after the acci- dent occurred. The average time was four years, both for injury and death. In many cases there was a delay of five, six and seven years. Three cases were in the courts for more than nine years, and one for more than ten years. Following is a distribution of sixty-six cases definitely disposed of by the state supreme court during the years 1871-1911, inclusive, on the basis of time involved.
Less than one year 0
One year but less than two 6
Two years but less than three 18
Three years but less than four 13
Four years but less than five 9
Five years but less than six 7
Six years but less than seven 7
Seven years but less than eight 1
Eight years but less than nine 1
Nine years but less than ten 3
Ten years and over 1
The doctrines of assumption of risk and contributory negligence account for almost all the failures to recover up to 1902. After the defenses of contributory negligence and assumption of risk were no longer available under the various acts designed to protect workers,
98. Dowell v. Railway Co., 83 Kan. 562. This is a striking example of the wide discrepancy that is often found in the amounts awarded for injuries by juries. In not a single case of death in Kansas, so far as the data available to the writer go, did the award exceed $10,000; and injuries more serious than the one sustained in this case, and under circumstances as bad or worse, were awarded much less. The next highest amount of compensation awarded for injuries was $12,000. — See Railway Co. v. Lloyd, 68 Kan. 369.
174 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
recoveries became more numerous. This probably helps to explain the willingness of many employers to adopt workmen's compensa- tion laws. Recoveries were based in about equal numbers on the grounds of failure of the employer to furnish safe tools or equipment, unsafe workplaces, and the negligent acts of an agent or vice- principal.
Recent Additions to the Library
Compiled by HELEN M. MCFARLAND, Librarian
IN ORDER that members of the Kansas State Historical Society and others interested in historical study may know the class of books we are receiving, a list is printed annually of the books ac- cessioned in our specialized fields.
These books come to us from three sources, purchase, gift and exchange, and fall into the following classes: Books by Kansans and about Kansas ; books on the West, including explorations, over- land journeys and personal narratives; genealogy, local history and out-of-state directories ; and books on the Indians of North America, United States history, biography and allied subjects which are clas- sified as general.
We receive regularly the publications of many historical societies by exchange, and subscribe to other historical and genealogical pub- lications which are needed in reference work.
The following is a partial list of books which were added to the library from October 1, 1939, to September 30, 1940. Government and state official publications and some books of a general nature are not included. The total number of books accessioned appeared in the report of the secretary in the February issue of the Quarterly.
KANSAS
ABILENE, FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Seventieth Anniversary: Historical, 1869-1939. Comp. by C. C. Wyandt. [Abilene, Shadinger Printing Com- pany, 1939.]
Air Mail Collector. Vol. 1, No. 1-Vol. 4, No. 11; November, 1928-September, 1932. Holton, The Gossip Printery, 1928-1932. 4 Vols.
ALLEN, PAUL, Kansas Mammals. Topeka, Kansas State Printing Plant, 1940. (Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, Studies in Education, Nine- teenth of the Series.)
ANDERSON, MRS. BERNICE (GOUDY), Indian Sleep Man Tales. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1940.
ARNOLD, OREN, and JOHN P. HALE, Hot Irons; Heraldry of the Range. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1940.
BEARDSLEE, MRS- ETTA (ALDRICH), Lebanon's Golden Jubilee: Fifty Years of Living in a Little Kansas Toivn, 1887-1937. [Lebanon, Lebanon Times'] n.d.
BEATTY, JEROME, Americans All Over. New York, The John Day Company [c!940L
BETZ, BERT READ, comp., Souvenir of the Betz-Diehl Reunion; a Brief of the Organization, Constitution and By-laws With a List of Officers, Members and Other Information. N. p., 1940.
(175)
176 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
BLACKMAR, FRANK WILSON, Justifiable Individualism. New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Company [c!922].
BLAIR, ED, Random Rhymes. Spring Hill, New Era Publishing Company [c!939J.
BROWNE, CHARLES HERBERT, A History of the 137th Infantry; an All-Kansas Regiment. Horton, The Headlight Printehop, 1940.
BURDICK, WILLIAM LIVESEY, The Bench and Bar of Other Lands. Brooklyn, N. Y., Metropolitan Law Book Company, Inc. [c!939L
CALLAWAY, ASA BERTON, With Packs and Rifles; a Story of the World War. Boston, Meador Publishing Company, 1939.
CHUBBIC, P. G., and H. R. CHUBBIC, comps. and pubs., A Directory of Mitchell County, Kansas. . . . Beloit, P. G. and H. R. Chubbic, 1907.
CLAY CENTER, FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Rededication, First Metho- dist Episcopal Church, Sunday, December 18, 1933, Clay Center, Kansas. No impr.
CLUGSTON, WILLIAM GEORGE, Rascals in Democracy. New York, Richard R. Smith, 1940.
CODY, WILLIAM FREDERICK, True Tales of the Plains. New York, Cupples and Leon Company, 1908.
COLIN, GALEN C., Battling Buckaroos. New York, Phoenix Press [c!940] .
COONS, MRS. MATTIE MAILS, Pioneer Days in Kansas; Dedicated to Father and Mother John and Martha Mails. Manhattan, 1939.
CUMMINGS, W. H., School Days at Rose, 1871-1938. No impr. Mimeographed.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, KANSAS, Proceedings of the Forty- Second Annual State Conference, Topeka, Kansas, March 18, 19, 20, 1940. No impr.
DILLON, JOHN A., Doc: Facts, Fables and Foibles. Boston, Richard G. Badger [c!926L
DONALD, JAY, Outlaws of the Border; A Complete and Authentic History of the Lives of Frank and Jesse James, the Younger Brothers, and Their Robber Companions, Including Quantrell and His Noted Guerillas. Chicago, Coburn & Newman Publishing Company, 1882.
EDSON, CHARLES LEROY, Dulcinea's Diary. Charleston, S. C., Southern Printing and Publishing Company, 1924.
, Lips of Almond Bloom; a Romance of Yankee Love. . . . Charles- ton, S. C., Southern Printing and Publishing Company, 1924.
, Prairie Fire, an Epic Poem in Flashes of Rhyme. . . . Charleston,
S. C., Southern Printing and Publishing Company, 1924.
, Rhymes & Circuses. Charleston, S. C., Southern Printing and Publish- ing Company, 1924.
, Whale Meat; a Shocking Portrayal of Our Tribal Belief in Free Food
From the North Pole. Charleston, S. C., Southern Printing and Publishing Company, 1924.
EDWARDS, A. D., Influence of Drought and Depression on a Rural Community; a Case Study in Haskell County, Kansas. Washington, D. C., 1939. (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Security Administration and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics . . . Social Research Report, No. VII.)
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 177
EDWARDS, JOHN BEACH, Early Days in Abilene. Printed in the Abilene Chroni- cle, 1896; Reprinted in the Abilene Daily Chronicle, 1938, With Added Ma- terial From the Papers of J. B. Edwards. [Abilene, 1940.]
EMERSON, CLARENCE 0., Homely Poems. [Topeka, The Hall Lithographing Company, 1940.]
FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT, KANSAS, Kansas; a Guide to the Sunflower State. Compiled and Written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Proj- ects Administration for the State of Kansas. New York, The Viking Press, 1939.
[FENN, ALVA LEON, comp.], "Napoleon and the Red Leg." [Hutchinson] c!939.
FIELD, WILLIAM D., Studies in Kansas Insects; a Treatise Descriptive of the More Common Species. Contents: A Manual of the Butterflies and Skip- pers of Kansas. Topeka, Kansas State Printing Plant, 1939. (University of Kansas, Department of Entomology, Bulletin, No. 12.)
FITZGERALD, MARY PAUL, SISTER, Beacon on the Plains. Leavenworth, The Saint Mary College, 1939.
FOLMER, HENRI, The Mallet Expedition of 1739 Through Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado to Santa Fe. (Reprinted From The Colorado Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 5, Sept., 1939.)
FREDERICK, JAMES VINCENT, Ben Holladay the Stagecoach King; a Chapter in the Development of Transcontinental Transportation. Glendale, The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1940.
FREEMASONS, ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED, HORTON LODGE No. 326, A 50-year History of Horton Lodge No. 326 A. F. & A. M. Norton, Kansas, 1890-1940. Compiled for the Golden Anniversary, February 19, 1940. [Horton, The Headlight Printshop, 1940.]
GAEDDERT, GUSTAVE RAYMOND, The Birth of Kansas. Topeka, Kansas State Printing Plant, 1940. (University of Kansas Publications; Social Science Studies, 1940, No. 1.)
GATES, FRANK CALEB, Annotated List of the Plants of Kansas: Ferns and Flower Plants, With Maps Showing Distribution of Species. Topeka, Kan- sas State Printing Plant, 1940. (Kansas State College, Department of Botany, Contribution, No. 391.)
GLEDHILL, ALFRED ERNEST, Among We Sens (Being Lancashire, England, Dialect, Meaning, "Among Ourselves"). Lamar, Colo., The Lamar Register Press, 1939.
GOENNER, W. G., comp., The History of Zenda. No impr.
GORDON, JONATHAN WESLEY, An Argument Designed to Show the Origin of the Troubles in Kansas, and the Remedy Therefor; Delivered in Masonic Hall, Indianapolis, September 29th, 1856. Indianapolis, Indiana State Journal Steam Press Print, 1856.
GRIFFIN, CHARLES ELDRIDGE, Four Years in Europe With Buffalo Bill, a De- scriptive Narrative of the Big American Show's Successful Tour . . Albia, Iowa, Stage Publishing Company, 1908.
HAMMOND, GEORGE PETER, Coronado's Seven Cities. Albuquerque, United States Coronado Exposition Commission, 1940.
HAMMOND, GEORGE PETER, and EDGAR F. GOAD, The Adventure of Don Francisco Vdsquez de Coronado. [Albuquerque, The University of New Mexico Press, c!938.]
5— S801
178 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
HARBORD, JAMES GUTHRIE, Address at Stratford Hall, May 7, 1939. No impr. — • , Address at the Graduation Exercises, V . S. Military Academy, June 10,
1932. No impr. , Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Monument at Hill 204,
Near Chateau-Thierry, France, Erected in Memory of the American Soldiers
Who Died in the Aisne-Marne Salient During the World War, October 7,
1937. No impr. , Again We Dream While Clouds Gather; Address Delivered in the
Civic Forum Series at the Town Hall, New York City, January 3, 1935.
No impr.
-, A Chief of Staff in the Theater of Operations; an Address . . . at
the Army War College, Washington, D. C ., April 6, 1939. No impr.
The Colonial Spirit in a Changing World; an Address to the New York
Society of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America . . . New York City, January 15, 1937. No impr. , The Decentralization of Relief . . . an Address Delivered at the
University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, April 17, 1940. No impr.
Electrical Knowledge and Its Future Relationship to Mass Communi-
cation; Address Before the Open Forum of the Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia, July 16, 1936. No impr.
-, Extra-Constitutional Government; an Address Before the Springfield
Chamber of Commerce, Springfield, Mass., April 8, 1929. No impr.
-, History in the Making and the Writing ; an Address Before the Mem-
bers of the Catholic Writers Guild of America, at De La Salle Institute . . . New York, January 28, 1938 . . . No impr. , Isolation as a Substitute for Preparedness; an Address Before the
Henrietta Wells Livermore School of Politics . . . New York, N. Y ., February 15, 1937. No impr.
, Memories of Three Great Generals of France, Foch, Joffre, Petain;
Address . . . to the Alumni Association of Wesleyan University, Bloom- ington, Illinois, June 6, 1933. No impr.
National Defense; a Radio Address to the Veterans of the Second
Division Association, A. E. F. . . . St. Louis, Missouri, July 20, 1940. No impr.
-, Personalities and Personal Relationships in the American Expedition-
ary Forces; Address at the Army War College, Washington, D. C., April 1933. Washington, D. C., United States Government Printing Office, 1933. -, Practical Democracy in New York City; an Address Delivered Over
Radio Station WEAF . . . September Eighth, Nineteen Hundred and Thirty. No impr.
, The Promise of Radio; an Address . . . World Radio Conference,
Sydney, N. S. W., April 5, 1938. No impr.
, Radio and the Americas; an Address Delivered Before the Eighth
American Scientific Congress, Washington, D. C., May 15, 1940. No impr. -, Radio as a Phase of Industrial Preparedness; an Address Before the
Army Ordnance Association . . . Washington, D. C., May 12, 1037. No impr.
, Radio as a Social Force; an Address Given Before . . . the New
York Junior League Club, December 1, 1936 . . . No impr.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 179
, Radio in Education; an Address Delivered on April 17, 1936, at the
University of Chattanooga . . . No impr.
-, Radio in the World War and the Organization of an American-Owned
Transoceanic Radio Service; an Address Before . . . the Harvard Busi- ness School, April 23, 1928. No impr.
, The Relative Position of the Individual Under Democratic and Total- itarian States; an Address Delivered at . . . the Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia, July 11, 1939. No impr.
, The Services of Supply From July, 1918, to May, 1919; Lecture . . .
at the Army War College . . . Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1930.
-, Some Observations Around the Pacific; a Series of Three Addresses,
Broadcast Over a National Broadcasting Company Network on August 30, September 6 and 13, 1938. No impr.
, The World War; Address Delivered at the Army War College . . .
on Certain Historical Phases of the World War . . . Washington, United States Government Printing Office, 1932.
, World Wireless; the Engineer's Place in Radio Communication; an
Address . . . Before Princeton University on November 12, 1925 . . . The Guild of Brackett Lectures [Princeton University], 1936. , The Years Between; an Address . . . Before the Union League
Club of Chicago, on November 10, 1938 . . . No impr. HARRIS, JOHN PETER, Busman's Holiday. [Hutehinson, 1939.] HARRISON, MARY BENNETT, Shining Windows. Los Angeles, Harrison and
Hathaway [c!925L HISTORICAL RECORDS SURVEY, KANSAS, American Imprints Inventory, No. 10;
Check List of Kansas Imprints, 1854-1876. Topeka, The WPA Historical
Records Survey Project, 1939. Mimeographed. , Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series II ; The
Federal Courts, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Historical Records Survey,
1938. Mimeographed.
-, Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series III ; The
Department of the Treasury, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Historical Rec- ords Survey, 1938. Mimeographed.
-, Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series V ; The
Department of Justice, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1939. Mimeographed.
, Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series VII; The
Department of the Navy, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1939. Mimeographed.
-, Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series VIII ; The
Department of the Interior, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Kansas Historical Records Survey Project, 1940. Mimeographed.
, Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series IX ; The
Department of Agriculture, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1939. Mimeographed.
-, Inventory of Federal Archives in the States . . . Series X; The
Department of Commerce, No. 15, Kansas. Topeka, The Kansas Historical Records Survey Project, 1940. Mimeographed.
180 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
, Inventory oj the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 11, Cherokee
County (Columbus). Topeka, The Kansas Historical Records Survey Proj- ect, 1940. Mimeographed.
-, Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 30, Franklin
County (Ottawa). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1939. Mimeo- graphed. , Inventory oj the County Archives oj Kansas . . . No. 33, Graham
County (Hill City). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, April, 1938. Typed. , Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 33, Graham
County (Hill City). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, December, 1938. Mimeographed.
• , Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 35, Gray
County (Cimarron). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1939. Mimeo- graphed.
, Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 37, Green- wood County (Eureka). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1938. Mimeographed.
, Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 46, Johnson
County (Olathe). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1937. Mimeo- graphed.
-, Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 63, Mont-
gomery County (Independence). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, January, 1938. Typed. , Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 63, Mont-
gomery County (Independence). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, September, 1938. Mimeographed.
, Inventory of the County Archives of Kansas . . . No. 88, Seward
County (Liberal). Topeka, The Historical Records Survey, 1938. Mimeo- graphed.
History of the Scott County Free Public Library, the First County Free Pub- lic Library in the State of Kansas, Created by Statute. December 1, 1939. Mimeographed.
HOWE, EDGAR WATSON, The Blessing of Business. Topeka, Crane and Com- pany, 1918.
HUMBOLDT, ST. PETER'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, Seventy-Fifth An- niversary . . . June 12, 1938. No impr.
HUNT, FRAZIER, The Long Trail From Texas; the Story of Ad Spaugh, Cattle- man. New York, Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1940.
JOHNSON, MRS. OSA (LEIGHTY), / Married Adventure; the Lives and Ad- ventures of Martin and Osa Johnson. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Com- pany [c!940].
KANSAS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, Superior Kansas; an Analysis. Topeka [1940]. Mimeographed.
KANSAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, Assessment of Real Estate in Kansas . . . [Topeka, 1940.1 (Publication, No. 99, July, 1940.) Mimeographed.
, Personal Property Taxation in Kansas; Part 2, The Collection Problem.
(Publication, No. 101, July, 1940.) Mimeographed.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 181
- , Personal Property Taxation in Kansas; Part 3, Motor Vehicles. (Publication, No. 102, July, 1940.) Mimeographed.
- , The Problem of Special (Fee) Funds in Kansas . . . Preliminary Report. (Publication, No. 98, March, 1940.) Mimeographed.
- , Regulation of State Travel Expenses . . . (Publication, No. 97, March, 1940.) Mimeographed.
- , A Survey of State Market Agencies; Legislation and Experience of Other States As a Basis For Consideration of a Possible Division of Markets in the Kansas State Board of Agriculture; Prepared for Committee on Agri- culture and Livestock. (Publication, No. 96, March, 1940.) Mimeographed.
Kansas Magazine, 1940. Manhattan, Kansas State College Press, c!940. Kansas Magazine Supplement, 1939. [Manhattan, Kansas State College Press]
c!939. KANSAS STATE PLANNING BOARD, Farm Real Estate Values in Kansas From
1933-1937, Inclusive. Topeka, 1940. Mimeographed.
- , Miscellaneous Political Subdivisions in Kansas, 1925-1937 , Inclusive. Topeka, December, 1939. Mimeographed.
- , Property Taxation in McPherson County, Kansas, 1925-1936. Topeka, Kansas State Planning Board, 1935.
KANSAS WRITERS' PROJECT, WPA, A Guide to Leavenworth, Kansas. Leaven-
worth, The Leavenworth Chronicle, 1940. KUHLMAN, CHARLES, Gen. George A. Custer; a Lost Trail and the Gall Saga
. . . Billings, Mont., The Author, 1940.
Little Kansas Magazine, 1940. [Manhattan] The Kansas Magazine, 1940. McCAusLAND, ELIZABETH, Changing New York. Photographs by Berenice
Abbott, Text by Elizabeth McCausland. New York, E. P. Button and
Company, Inc., 1939. McCoy, JOSEPH GEATING, Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade of the West
and Southwest. Edited by Ralph P. Bieber. Glendale, Calif., The Arthur
H. Clark Company, 1940. McDoNOUGH, MARIAN MC!NTYRE, Caravans to Santa Fe. Philadelphia, The
Penn Publishing Company [c!940]. McLiNTOCK, MINDA A., Daddy Damm's Kin-Folks ... St. Louis, Mo.
[c!915]. [MANLEY, CHARLES H., JR.], My Dear Bena [Being the Letters of a Sick
Grandfather, C. H. Manley, Jr., of Junction City, Kansas, to His Grand-
daughter, Robina Helen Cortelyou . . . 1938.] N. p. [1938]. MASON, WALT, Business Prose-Poems. Chicago, George Matthew Adams
MEACHAM, LUCY HELEN, and BLISS ISELY, Kansas, Our Own State. Wichita,
The McCormick-Mathers Publishing Company, c!939. MECHEM, KIRKE, John Brown ; a Play in Three Acts. Manhattan, The Kansas
Magazine [c!939]. MENNINGER, MRS. FLORA VESTAL (KNISELY), Days of My Life; Memories of a
Kansas Mother and Teacher. New York, Richard R. Smith, 1939. MENNINGER, WILLIAM CLAIRE, Handbook for Skippers. New York, Boy Scouts
of America [c!939]. MILLER, MRS. FLORENCE WOODBURY, Thoughts in Verse. N. p., 1923.
182 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Muster Roll and Equipment of the Expedition of Francisco Vazquez De Coro- nado, Now Translated Into English for the First Time. . . . Ann Arbor, The William L. Clements Library, 1939.
NEFF, FRANK AMANDUS, Steps in Economic Progress. Wichita, McGuin Pub- lishing Company, 1939.
NELSON, HARVEY F., An Economic History of Chanute, Kansas, Submitted to the Department of History and the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Kansas in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the De- gree of Master of Arts. August, 1939. Typed.
NEWMAN, JESSIE MONTGOMERY, Law on the Forced Loan of July 20, 1922, as Translated From the German. N. p. [c!926].
OGDEN, GEORGE WASHINGTON, There Were No Heroes; a Personal Record of a Alan's Beginning. New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1940.
OGLE, GEORGE A., AND COMPANY, pub., Standard Atlas of Dickinson County, Kansas. . . . Chicago, Geo. A. Ogle and Company, 1901.
OLDROYD, MRS. ALICE WILSON, It Was His Birthday. Decoration by Marjorie Howe Dixon. Chicago, The Bookfellows, 1924.
PAYTON, WILLIAM, The Last Man Over the Trail. [Kinsley, c!939.]
Folk's Kansas City (Wyandotte County, Kansas) City Directory, 1938. Kan- sas City, Mo., R. L. Polk and Company, c!938.
Folk's Topeka (Shawnee County, Kans.} City Directory, 1940, Including Shaw- nee County Taxpayers . . . Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk and Com- pany, c!940.
Folk's Wichita (Kansas) City Directory, 1939. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk and Company, c!939.
POTTER, JACK MYERS, Cattle Trails of the Old West. Edited and Compiled by Laura R. Krehbiel. Clayton, N. M., Laura R. Krehbiel [cl939L
QUAYLE, WILLIAM ALFRED, A Hero and Some Other Folk. 7th ed. Cincinnati, O., Jennings and Graham [c!900] .
RANDOLPH, VANCE, ed., An Ozark Anthology. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1940.
RICHARDS, RALPH, Yeter day-Today-Tomorrow. [Fort Scott, Joseph R. Rich- ards, Jr., and R. J. Richards, c!940.]
ROGLER, CHARLES C., Comeno; a Study of a Puerto Rican Town. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1940. (University of Kansas Publications; Social Science Studies, 1940, No. 2.)
RUNYON, DAMON, The Best of Damon Runyon. E. C. Bentley Selected These Stories; Nicolas Bentley drew the Pictures. [New York, Pocket Books, Inc., c!940.]
— , My Old Man. New York, Stackpole Sons [c!938, c!939]. — , My Wife Ethel. Philadelphia, David McKay Company [c!939, 1940].
SANBORN MAP COMPANY, Insurance Maps of Topeka, Kansas. New York, The Sanborn Map Company, c!913.
SHAFFER, MRS. SALLIE, Kansas; the State and Its Government. Boston, Allyn & Bacon [c!939].
SHANNON, FRED ALBERT, Critiques of Research in the Social Sciences: HI. An Appraisal of Walter Prescott Webb's The Great Plains; a Study in Institu- tions and Environment. New York, Social Science Research Council [1940].
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 183
SHELDON, CHARLES MONROE, All the World. New York, George H. Doran Company [c!918, c!919],
, The Heart of the World; a Story of Christian Socialism. New York,
Fleming H. Revell Company [c!905].
, Modern Pagans. New York, The Methodist Book Concern [c!917].
, Who Killed Joe's Baby? 3d ed. Chicago, Advance Publishing Com- pany, 1901.
SMITLEY, MRS. FRANCES, A Book of Poems. [Greenleaf, Sentinel Print] 1925.
SPEER, HOLLO CLAYTON, A Speer Pioneer Comes to Kansas; Sketching the Life of Austin G. Speer, Veteran Mexican War, Veteran Civil War, Co. G, 50th Regt. Ind. Inf. Vols., Diary of Trip to Kansas . . . Citizen of Wood- son Co., Kansas . . . Typed.
SQUIRE, LORENE, Wild fowling With a Camera. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Company [c!938].
STONE, ROBERT, Remarks at the Unveiling of the Munn Memorial [Dec. 5, 19391 . No impr.
STRICKLAND, FRANK P., JR., The Transactions of Kaw Lodge No. 272, A. F. & A. M. of Kansas City, Kansas. N. p. [1927].
SUTTON, GEORGE SYLVESTER, The Seventy Years, the First Presbyterian Church, Hiawatha, Kansas, April 10, 1870-April 10, 1940. [Hiawatha, Hiawatha World Print, 1940.]
SVOBIDA, LAWRENCE, An Empire of Dust. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1940.
SWEET, WILLIIAM WARREN, Religion on the American Frontier, 1883-1850. Vol. 8, The Congregationalists. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press [c!939].
THOMPSON, MRS. HARRIET (STERLING), and MRS. ALBERT THOMPSON, Long, Long Ago. Foundation of the Work of Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in the Southwest Kansas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. [Hutchinson, The Wholesaler Printing Company] 1939.
TINKCOM, HARRY MARLIN, John White Geary, Soldier-Statesman, 1819-1873. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1940.
TOPEKA BAR ASSOCIATION, Memorial for Thomas Francis Doran, Adopted by the Topeka Bar Association at Its Annual Meeting, February 10, 1940. No impr.
U. S. NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION, KANSAS, Milling in Kansas; Industrial Study, No. 1. January 1, 1940. Mimeographed.
VAN NICE, CHARLES RAY, Tact and the Teacher. Lawrence, Plainview Publica- tions [c!929].
, Teacher Teamwork With a Problem Public. Topeka, School Activities
Publishing Company, 1940.
WALSH, JAMES MARTYN, and ANNA KATHLEEN WALSH, Plain English Hand- book, New Edition; A Complete Guide to Correctness. Wichita, The Mc- Cormick-Mathers Company [c!939].
WARE, E. R., and LLOYD F. SMITH, Woodlands of Kansas. Topeka, Kansas State Printing Plant, 1939. (Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science, Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 285.)
WARE, EUGENE FITCH, The Rhymes of Ironquill. [15th ed.] New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1939.
184 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
WASHBUBN COLLEGE, TOPEKA, Catalogue of the Permanent Collection of Paint- ings, Prints, Drawings, and Sculptures and the Free Public Library Loan Collection of Casts in Mulvane Art Museum and Other Buildings, Wash- burn College. Comp. by Wallace S. Baldinger. Topeka, 1940.
WATERS, LAWRENCE LESLIE, Use Taxes and Their Legal and Economic Back- ground. Lawrence, University of Kansas, School of Business, 1940. (Kan~ sas Studies in Business, No. 19.)
WELLMAN, PAUL ISELIN, The Trampling Herd, the Story of the Cattle Range in America. New York, Carrick and Evans, Inc. [c!939].
WHITE, WILLIAM ALLEN, The Changing West; an Economic Theory About Our Golden Age. New York, the Macmillan Company, 1939.
WILLARD, JULIUS TERRASS, History of the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science. Manhattan, Kansas State College Press, 1940.
THE WITAN, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, Lady Lore; a Swingtime Handbook of Etiquette for Girls . . . Lawrence [The World Company], 1939.
WOODWARD, CHESTER, Lanterns Alight; Journeys to Far Places. Chicago, Nonnandie House, 1940.
THE WEST
BARROWS, JOHN R., Ubet. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1936.
BECHDOLT, FREDERICK RITCHIE, Giants of the Old West. New York, The Cen- tury Company [c!930].
BLEDSOE, ANTHONY JENNINGS, Indian Wars of the Northwest; A California Sketch. San Francisco, Bacon and Company, 1885.
BRILL, CHARLES J., Conquest of the Southern Plains: Uncensored Narrative of the Battle of the Washita and Cutter's Southern Campaign. Oklahoma City, Golden Saga Publishers, c!938.
BROWN, JAMES STEPHENS, Life of a Pioneer; Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown. Salt Lake City, George Q. Cannon & Sons Company, 1900.
BUDD, RALPH, Railway Routes Across the Rocky Mountains; Excerpt Transac- tions of the Newcomen Society, Vol. 18, 1937-1938.
CAIRO, JAMES, Prairie Farming in America, With Notes by the Way on Canada and the United States. London, Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1859.
CLARK, THOMAS DIONYSIUS, The Rampaging Frontier; Manners and Humors of Pioneer Days in the South and the Middle West. Indianapolis, The Bobbs-Merrill Company [c!939L
CURTISS, DANIEL S., Western Portraiture, and Emigrant's Guide : a Description of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa; With Remarks on Minnesota, and Other Territories. New York, J. H. Colton, 1852.
DAVIS, CLYDE BRION, The Arkansas. New York, Farrar & Rinehart, Inc. [c!940].
FERGUSSON, ERNA, Our Southwest. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1940.
FERRIS, WARREN ANGUS, Life in the Rocky Mountains; a Diary of Wanderings on the Sources of the Rivers Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado From Feb- ruary, 1830, to November, 1835. Edited ... by Paul C. Phillips. Den- ver, The Old West Publishing Company, 1940.
FISHER, JOHN STIRLING, A Builder of the West; the Life of General William Jackson Palmer. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1939.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 185
FOUGERA, MRS. KATHERINE (GIBSON), With Ouster's Cavalry, From the Mem- oirs of the Late Katherine Gibson, Widow of Captain Francis M. Gibson of the Seventh Cavalry, U. S. A. (Retired). Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1940.
GOODYKOONTZ, COLIN BRUMMIE, Home Missions on the American Frontier. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1939.
JACKSON, WILLIAM HENRY, Time Exposure; the Autobiography of William Henry Jackson. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons [c!940].
KELLY, CHARLES, and MAURICE L. HOWE, Miles Goodyear, First Citizen of Utah, Trapper, Trader and California Pioneer. Salt Lake City, Western Printing Company, 1937.
MCGLASHAN, CHARLES FAYETTE, History of the Donner Party; a Tragedy of the Sierra, With Foreword, Notes and a Bibliography by George H. Hinkle and Bliss McGlashan Hinkle. Stanford University, Calif., Stanford University Press [cl940L
McKENNEY, THOMAS LORRAINE, Sketches of a Tour to the Lakes, of the Char- acter and Customs of the Chippeway Indians, and of Incidents Connected With the Treaty of Fond Du Lac . . . Baltimore, Fielding Lucas, Junior, 1827.
MCREYNOLDS, ROBERT, Thirty Years on the Frontier. Colorado Springs, Colo., El Paso Publishing Company, 1906.
OTERO, MIGUEL ANTONIO, My Life on the Frontier, 1882-1897 ; Death Knell of a Territory and Birth of a State, Vol. 2. Albuquerque, The University of New Mexico Press, 1939.
RAINE, WILLIAM MACLEOD, Guns of the Frontier; the Story of How Law Came to the West. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1940.
RANKIN, M. WILSON, Reminiscences of Frontier Days; Including an Authentic Account of the Thornburg and Meeker Massacre. Denver, Smith-Brooks [c!938].
RICHARDSON, MARVIN M., The Whitman Mission, the Third Station on the Old Oregon Trail. Walla Walla, Wash., Whitman Publishing Company [c!940].
RISTER, CARL COKE, Border Captives; the Traffic in Prisoners by Southern Plains Indians, 1835-1875. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1940.
TIXIER, VICTOR, Travels on the Osage Prairies. Edited by John Francis Mc- Dermott, translated from the French by Albert J. Salvan. Norman, Uni- versity of Oklahoma Press, 1940.
TUCKER, MARY, Books of the Southwest, a General Bibliography. New York City, J. J. Augustin [19371.
VIVIAN, ARTHUR PENDARVES, Wanderings in the Western Land. 2d ed. London, Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1880.
WOESTEMEYER, INA FAYE, ed., The Westward Movement; a Book of Readings on Our Changing Frontiers. New York, D. Appleton-Century Company [c!939].
WOODWARD, MARY DODGE, The Checkered Years [Excerpts From the Diary of Mary Dodge Woodward Written While Living on a Bonanza Farm m Dakota Territory During the Years 1884 to 1889]. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1937.
186 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
GENEALOGY AND LOCAL HISTORY
ALLEN, WILLIAM CICERO, The Annals of Hay wood County, North Carolina; Historical, Sociological, Biographical, and Genealogical. N. p., 1935.
, History of Halifax County [North Carolina']. Boston, The Cornhill
Company [c!918L
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Proceedings at the Annual Meeting Held in Worcester, October 19, 1938. Worcester, Mass., The Society, 1939.
, Proceedings at the Semi-Annual Meeting Held in Boston, April 19, 1939.
Worcester, Mass., The Society, 1940.
AMERICAN CLAN GREGOR SOCIETY, Year Book Containing the Proceedings of the Twenty-ninth Annual Gathering. Richmond [Cressons, May and Company, c!939].
ANDERSON, JOSEPH, ed., The Town and City of Waterbury, Connecticut, From the Aboriginal Period to the Year Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-five. New Haven, The Price and Lee Company, 1896. 3 Vols.
ANDERSON, SARAH TRAVERS LEWIS (Scorr), Lewises, Meriwethers and Their Kin. . . . Richmond, Va., The Dietz Press, 1938.
ANDERSON, WILLIAM POPE, Anderson Family Records. [Cincinnati, W. F. Schaefer and Company] 1936.
, The Early Descendants of Wm. Overton and Elizabeth Waters of
Virginia, and Allied Families. [Cincinnati, O., 1938.]
BALDWIN, THOMAS WILLIAMS, Patten Genealogy; William Patten of Cambridge, 1635, and His Descendants. Boston, Thomas W. Baldwin, 1908.
BARLOW, GEORGE, comp. and ed., Family Genealogy Comprising the Ancestry and Descendants of Jonathan Barlow and Plain Rogers of Delaware County, N. Y. [Brooklyn, N. Y, 1891.]
BENT, CHARLES, ed., History of Whiteside County, Illinois, From Its First Settlement to the Present Time; With Numerous Biographical and Family Sketches. . . . Morrison, 111. [Clinton, la., L. P. Allen], 1877.
BIGELOW, WALTER J., History of Stowe, Vermont (From 1763 to 1934}. [Hart- ford] 1934.
BOSTONIAN SOCIETY, Proceedings of the Bostonian Society and Report of the Annual Meeting, January 16, 1940. Boston, The Society, 1940.
BOTSFORD, ELI HERBERT, ed., Botsford Family Genealogy; the Line of Joseph, 1.1. 12. Youngest Son of Elnathan, 1.1. Grandson of Henry, L Ten Genera- tions, 1639-1939. [Williamstown, Mass., The McClelland Press, n. d.] (Vol. 2, of Adventures in Ancestors . . .)
BOUCHER, JOHN N., Old and New Westmoreland. New York, The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918. 4 Vols.
BRAINTREE, MASS., TERCENTENARY COMMITTEE, A Brief History of the Town of Braintree, Prepared for the Observance of the Tercentenary Celebration of Its Founding, 1640-1940. [Boston, Press of Thomas Todd Company, c!940.]
BRENT, CHESTER HORTON, The Descendants of Hugh Brent, Immigrant to Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1642 . . . [Rutland, Vt,, The Tuttle Publish- ing Company, Inc., 1936.]
BROWN, ALEXANDER, The Cabells and Their Kin; a Memorial Volume of His- tory, Biography and Genealogy. Richmond, Garrett and Massie, Inc., 1939.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 187
BROWN, WILLIAM R., and MITCHELL Y. JACKSON, Minnesota Farmers' Diaries,
William R. Brown, 181,5-46; Mitchell Y. Jackson, 1852-63. Saint Paul, The
Minnesota Historical Society, 1939. BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Papers Read Before the Society and Other
Historical Papers. Vol. 8. Doylestown, Pa., The Bucks County Historical
Society, 1940. BURKE, SIR JOHN BERNARD, Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the
Landed Gentry, Including American Families With British Ancestry . . .
London, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., 1939. BURRELL, ABRAM BOGART, Reminiscences of George La Bar, the Centenarian of
Monroe County, Pa. . . . Philadelphia, Claxton, Remsen and Haffel-
finger, 1870. CARVER, CLIFFORD NICKELS, comp., The Carver Family of New England; Robert
Carver of Marshfield and His Descendants. Privately Printed. [Rutland,
The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc.] 1935. CHAPMAN, JACOB, and JAMES H. FITTS, Lane Genealogies, Vol. 1. William Lane
of Boston, Mass., 1648, Including the Records of Edmund J . Lane and James
P. Lane. Exeter, N. H., The News-Letter Press, 1891. CLEMENT, JOHN, Sketches of the First Emigrant Settlers in Newton Township,
Old Gloucester County, West New Jersey. Camden, N. J., Sinnickson Chew,
1877. COCHRANE, HARRY HAYMAN, History of Monmouth and Wales. East Winthrop
[Me.], farmer Company, 1894. 2 Vols. COCKE, WILLIAM RONALD, comp., Hanover County Chancery Wills and Notes;
a Compendium of Genealogical, Biographical and Historical Material as
Contained in Cases of the Chancery Suits of Hanover County, Virginia.
Columbia, Va., Cocke, III, 1940. COLE, CYRENUS, Iowa Through the Years. Iowa City, The State Historical
Society of Iowa, 1940. COPE, GILBERT, Genealogy of the Button Family of Pennsylvania . . . West
Chester, Pa., F. S. Hickman, 1871. COPELAND, WARREN TURNER, The Copeland Family, a Copeland Genealogy.
Rutland, Vt., The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc., 1937. CUDWORTH, ADDISON EDWARD, The History With Genealogical Sketches of
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188 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, Index of the Rolls of Honor (An- cestors' Index) in the Lineage Books of the National Society . . . Vols. 121-160. Washington, D. C., Press of Judd and Detweiler, Inc., 1940.
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, MARTHA WASHINGTON CHAPTER, New Kent County, Virginia. U. S. Census for 1810 and U. S. Census for 1850 and Abstracts of the Application Papers of Revo- lutionary War Pensioners. Vol. 1. [Washington, D. C.], 1938.
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DEVELIN, JOSEPH CHUBB, The O'Develins of Tyrone, the Story of an Irish Sept Now Represented by the Families of Devlin, Develin, Develyn, Develon and Devellen. Rutland, Vt., The Tuttle Publishing Company, Inc. [c!938].
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RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 189
Hartford, Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Connecticut and Society of the Founders of Norwich, 1938.
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HEINEMANN, CHARLES BRUNK, and GAIUS MARCUS BRUMBAUGH, "First Census" of Kentucky, 1790 . . . Washington, D. C., G. M. Brumbaugh, c!940.
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190 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive His- tory of the County . . . With a History and Description of Its Cities and Towns. Boston, C. F. Jewett and Company, 1879. 2 Vols.
HONEYMAN, ABRAHAM VAN DOREN, ed., History of Union County, New Jersey, 1664-1923. New York, Lewis Historical Publishing Company, Inc., 1923.
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JOHNSON, JACK T., Peter Anthony Dey. Iowa City, The State Historical So- ciety of Iowa, 1939. (Iowa Biographical Series.) JONES, ELIAS, History of Dorchester County, Maryland. Baltimore. Williams
and Wilkins Company Press, 1902. KENYON, HOWARD NATHANIEL, American Kenyons . . . Rutland, Vt., The
Tuttle Company, 1935. KING, JUNIE ESTELLE STEWART, comp., Wills, Administrations and Marriages,
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RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 191
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192 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
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RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 193
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6—8801
194 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
WIGHT, DANFORTH PHIPPS, The Wight Family; Memoir of Thomas Wight, of Dedham, Mass., With Genealogical Notices of His Descendants, From 1637 to 1840. Boston, T. R. Marvin, 1848.
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WOLFE, JOHN HAROLD, Jeffersonian Democracy in South Carolina. Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1940.
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WOODWARD, PERCY EMMONS, Some Descendants of Nathaniel Woodward, Mathematician. Newtonville, Mass., 1940.
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, SOUTH DAKOTA, WPA., South Dakota Place-Names; Part 1, State,
County and Town Names; Part 3, River and Creek Names. Vermillion, University of South Dakota, 1940. 2 Vols.
WRIGHT, WILLIAM HENRY, and GERTRUDE WRIGHT KETCHAM, History of the Wright Family Who Are Descendants of Samuel Wright (1722-1789) of Lenox, Mass., With Lineage Back to Thomas Wright (1610-1670) of Wethers- field, Conn. . . . and Showing a Direct Line to John Wright, Lord of Kelvedon Hall, Essex, England. Denver, Williamson-Haffner Company [cl913L
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DIRECTORIES
Abilene [Texas] City Directory, 1924. Dallas, John F. Worley Directory Com- pany, c!924.
Alexandria (Virginia') City Directory, 1924. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!924.
Ann Arbor City Directory, 1925. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Company, c!925.
Ashland [Wisconsin] City Directory, 1924. St. Paul, Minn., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Beatrice (Gage County, Nebr.) City Directory, 1937, Including Gage County Taxpayers. Omaha, R. L. Polk and Company, c!937.
Beaumont (Jefferson County, Tex.) City Directory, 1988-39, Including Neder- land and Port Neches. Houston, Tex., Morrison & Fourmy Directory Com- pany, c!939.
Benton Harbor and St. Joseph Directory, 1925. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Company, c!925.
Boulder (Boulder County, Colo.) City Directory, 1938, Including Longmont. Salt Lake City, Utah, R. L. Polk and Company, c!938.
Bridgeport City Directory, Including Stratford, Fairfield and Southport, 1924- New Haven, Conn., The Price & Lee Company, c!924.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 195
Bristol, Va.-Tenn., City Directory, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, Inc., c!925.
Brownwood [Texas] City Directory, 1923. Dallas, John F. Worley Directory Company, c!923.
Butte City Directory for the Year Commencing April, 1914- Helena, Mont. R. L. Polk and Company, c!914.
Charleston, South Carolina, City Directory, 1925-1926. Charleston, S. C., Southern Printing and Publishing Company [1926].
Charlottesville, Va., City Directory, Including a List of Albemarle County Farmers, 1924- Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!924.
Cincinnati Directory . . . 1927-28. Cincinnati, Ohio, The Williams Direc- tory Company, c!927.
Colorado Springs, Colorado, City Directory, Including Afanitou & Pikes Peak Region, 1909. Salt Lake City, Utah, R. L. Polk and Company, c!939.
Council Bluffs (Pottawattomie County, Iowa} City Directory, 1939. Omaha, Nebr., R. L. Polk and Company, c!939.
Dallas (Texas) City Directory, 1938. Dallas, Tex., John F. Worley Directory Company, c!938.
Denison (Grayson County, Texas} City Directory, 1938. Dallas, Tex., John F. Worley Directory Company, c!938.
Duluth Directory, 1925. Duluth, Minn., Duluth Directory Company, c!925.
Durham, N. C., City Directory, 1924. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!924.
El Paso City Directory, 1939. El Paso, Tex., Hudspeth Directory Company, C1939.
Elkhart [Ind.] City Directory, 1924. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Company, cl924.
Elmira, Elmira Heights, and Horseheads (New York} Directory for the Year Beginning June, 1924- Schenectady, N. Y., H. A. Manning Company, c!924.
Fayetteville, N. C., City Directory, 1924. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, Inc., c!924.
Florida State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1925. Jacksonville, Fla., R. L. Polk and Company, c!925.
Ft. Madison, la., City Directory, 1925-26. Chicago, 111., Leshnick Directory Company, c!925.
Goldsboro, N. C., City Directory, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, Inc., c!925.
Grand Junction (Mesa County, Colo.} City Directory, 1937, Including Mesa County. Salt Lake City, Utah, R. L. Polk and Company, c!937.
Greensboro (N. C.) City Directory, 1924. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, Inc., c!924.
Hattiesburg [Miss.] City Directory, 1923. Memphis, Tenn., R. L. Polk and Company, c!923.
Houston (Texas} City Directory, 1939. Houston, Tex., Morrison & Fourmy Directory Company, c!939.
Huntington City and County Directory, 1924. Detroit and Indianapolis, R. L. Polk and Company, c!92B»
196 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Independence (Jackson County, Mo.) City Directory, 1938. Kansas City, Mo., Gate City Directory Company, c!938.
Iowa State Gazetteer and Business Directory (With Latest Map of the State), 1918-1919. Des Moines, R. L. Polk and Company, c!918.
Jersey City, Hoboken and Bayonne Directories, 1922-23. New York City, R. L. Polk and Company, c!922.
Kalispell and White fish Cities; and Flathead and Lincoln Counties [Mont.'] Directory, 1922-23. Helena, Mont., R. L. Polk and Company, c!922.
Lewistown City and Fergus and Judith Basin Counties Directory, 1922-23. Helena, Mont., R. L. Polk and Company, c!922.
Lincoln (Lancaster County, Nebr.) City Directory, 1938, Including Burnham and West Lincoln. Omaha, Nebr., R. L. Polk and Company, c!938.
Logansport City and Cass County Directory, 1924- Indianapolis, Ind., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Lufkin [Tex.] City Directory, 1925. Dallas, John F. Worley Directory Com- pany, c!925.
Lynchburg, Va., City Directory, 1924. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, Inc., c!924.
Maiden [Mass.] Directory, 1925 . . . Boston, Mass., Sampson & Murdock Company, c!925.
Mankato City and Blue Earth County [Minn.] Directory . . . 1924-25. St. Paul, Minn., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Memphis (Shelby County, Term.) City Directory, 1938. [Memphis] R. L. Polk and Company, c!938.
Menomince [Mich.] City Directory, 1924- Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Mineral Wells [Tex.~\ Directory, 1924. St. Paul, Minn., R. L. Polk and Com- pany, c!924.
Minot City and Ward County Directory, 1924-1925. St. Paul, Minn., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Missoula City and Missoula County [Mont.] Directory, 1922-1923. Helena, Mont., R. L. Polk and Company, c!922.
Mobile City Directory, 1924. Birmingham, Ala., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Monrovia, Arcadia and Duarte [Calif.] Directory, 1925. Los Angeles, Calif., Los Angeles Directory Company, c!925.
Muskogee (Muskogee County, Okla.) City Directory, 1938, Including Muskogee County. Kansas City, Mo., R. L, Polk and Company, c!938.
Natchez [Miss.] City Directory, 1925. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Com- pany, c!925.
Nevada State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1907-1908. Salt Lake City, R. L. Polk and Company, 1907.
New Orleans (Orleans Parish, La.) City Directory, 1938. [New Orleans] R. L.
Polk and Company, c!938.
Newport News, Kecoughtan, Hampton, Phoebus and Old Point, Va., City Di- rectory, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!925. Norfolk and Portsmouth (Virginia) City Directory, Including South Norfolk, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!925.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 197
North Adams (Massachusetts) Directory, 1924. Schenectady, N. Y., H. A.
Manning Company, n. d. Oklahoma City (Oklahoma County, Okla.) Directory, 1939. Kansas City, Mo.,
R. L. Polk and Company, c!939. Omaha (Douglas County, Nebr.) City Directory, 1989, Including Carter Lake,
East Omaha and Sarpy County. Omaha, R. L. Polk and Company, c!939. Owosso City and Shiawassee County Directory, 1924- Detroit, Mich., R. L.
Polk and Company, c!924. Pan's and Lamar County [Tex.] Directory, 1924. Dallas, John F. Worley
Directory Company, c!924. Pawhuska City and Osage County Farmers Directory, 1925. Sioux City, Iowa,
R. L. Polk and Company, c!925.
Petersburg, Va., City Directory, 1924- Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, c!924. Folk's Real Estate Register and Directory of the United States and Canada.
5th ed., 1911-1912. Detroit, R. L. Polk and Company, c!911. Pueblo (Colorado] City Directory, 1939. Salt Lake City, Utah, R. L. Polk and
Company, c!939. Raleigh, N. C.} City Directory, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company,
Inc., c!925. Roanoke, Salem and Vintqn (Virginia) City Directory, 1925. Richmond, Va.,
Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!925. Rocky Mount, N. C., City Directory, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory
Company, Inc., c!925.
Saginaw Directory, 1925. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Company, c!925. St. Joseph (Missouri) City Directory, 1938-39, Including Buchanan County
Taxpayers. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk and Company, c!938. St. Louis (Missouri) City Directory, 1939. St. Louis, Mo., Polk-Gould Di- rectory Company, c!939. St. Paul (Ramsey County, Minn.) City Directory, 1938. St. Paul, Minn., R. L.
Polk and Company, c!938. Salt Lake City (Salt Lake County, Utah), 1938. Salt Lake City, Utah, R. L.
Polk and Company, c!938. San Angela City Directory, 1925. Dallas, John F. Worley Directory Company,
Inc., c!925. San Francisco City Directory, 1938. San Francisco, Calif., R. L. Polk and
Company, c!938. Sault Sainte Marie City Directory, 1924-1925. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and
Company, c!924. Schenectady and Scotia Directory, 1924. Schenectady, N. Y., H. A. Manning
Company, c!924. Sherman (Gray son County, Tex.) City Directory, 1938. Dallas, Tex., John F.
Worley Directory Company, c!938. Shreveport (Caddo Parish, La.), 1938. Dallas, Tex., R. L. Polk and Company,
c!938. Sioux Falls City Directory, 1924. Sioux City, Iowa, R. L. Polk and Company,
c!924. Springfield (Green County, Mo.) City Directory, 1938. Kansas City, Mo., R.
L. Polk and Company, c!938.
198 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Staunton, Va., City Directory, Including List of Augusta County Tax Payers, 1924. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!924.
Superior City Directory, 1925. Superior, Wis., R. L. Polk and Company, c!925.
Trinidad City and Las Animas County Directory, 1924-1925. Colorado Springs, Colo., R. L. Polk Directory Company, c!924.
Utica (Oneida County, New York) City Directory, 1924. Utica, N. Y., Utica Directory Publishing Company, c!924.
Vincennes [Ind.1 Directory, 1924. Indianapolis, Ind., R. L. Polk and Com- pany, c!924.
Waco (Texas) City Directory, 1938. Dallas, Tex., Morrison & Fourmy Di- rectory Company, c!938.
Wheeling City Directory, 1924. Wheeling, W. Va., R. L. Polk and Company, c!924.
Wichita Falls (Wichita County, Tex.) City Directory, 1939. Dallas, Tex., John F. Worley Directory Company, c!939.
Wilmington, N. C., City Directory, 1924- Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Com- pany, Inc., c!924.
Wilson, N. C., City Directory, 1925. Richmond, Va., Hill Directory Company, Inc., c!925.
Winona City and Winona County [Minn.} Directory, 1925. Winona, Minn., Winona Directory Company, c!925.
Yankton [South Dak.] City and County Directory, 1925, Including Cedar and Knox Counties, Nebr. Detroit, Mich., R. L. Polk and Company, c!925.
GENERAL
ABRAHAM LINCOLN ASSOCIATION, Papers Delivered Before the Members at Springfield, Illinois, on February 11, 12, 1989. Springfield, Abraham Lincoln Association, 1940.
ADAMS, JAMES TRUSLOW, ed., Dictionary of American History, Vols. 1-5. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
ALEXANDER, HARTLEY BURR, Sioux Indian Painting. Part 1, Paintings of the Sioux and Other Tribes of the Great Plains; Part 2, The Art of Amos Bad Heart Buffalo. Nice, France, C. Szwedzicki [c!938].
ALLEN, FREDERICK LEWIS, Since Yesterday; the Nineteen-Thirties in America, September 3, 1929-September 3, 1939. New York, Harper and Brothers [c!939].
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, Year Book, 1939. Philadelphia, The Ameri- can Philosophical Society, 1940.
ARNOLD, R. Ross, Indian Wars of Idaho. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1932.
BAKELESS, JOHN, . . . Daniel Boone. New York, William Morrow and Company, 1939.
BARBEE, DAVID R., and MILLEDGE L. BONHAM, JR., eds., The Montgomery Ad- dress of Stephen A. Douglas. (Reprinted from the Journal of Southern His~ tory, Vol. 5, No. 4, Nov., 1939.)
BEVERIDGE, ALBERT JEREMIAH, and DAVID RAN KIN BARBEE, An Excursion in Southern History Briefly Set Forth in the Correspondence Between Senator A. J. Beveridge and David Rankin Barbee . . . Richmond, Republished
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 199
by Langbourne M. Williams, 1928. [Ashville, N. C., Service Printing Com- pany, 1928.]
BOWEN, HOWARD, English Grants-in-aid ; a Study in the Finance of Local Gov- ernment. Iowa City, The University, 1939.
BRECKENRIDGE, JAMES MALCOLM, William Clark Breckenridge, Historical Re- search Writer and Bibliographer of Missouriana. St. Louis, The Author, 1932.
BRIMLOW, GEORGE FRANCIS, The Bannock Indian War of 1878. Caldwell, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1938.
BROOKS, PHILIP COOLIDGE, Diplomacy and the Borderlands; the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1939. (University of California Publications in History, Vol. 24.)
BURNS, EDWARD McNALL, James Madison, Philosopher of the Constitution. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1938.
CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, Year Book, 1940. Washing- ton, D. C., The Endowment, 1940.
CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, DIVISION OF INTERCOURSE AND EDUCATION, International Conciliation, Documents for the Year 1939. New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of Intercourse and Education, n. d.
CHILDS, ST. JULIEN RAVENEL, Malaria and Colonization in the Carolina Low Country, 1526-1696. Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins Press, 1940. (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Series 58, No. 1.)
CLARK, S. D., The Canadian Manufacturers' Association; a Study in Collective Bargaining and Political Pressure. Toronto, The University of Toronto Press, 1939. (University of Toronto Studies, History and Economics Series, Vol. 7.)
COLVERT, CLYDE C., The Public Junior College Curriculum, an Analysis. Uni- versity, La., Louisiana State University Press, 1939. (Louisiana State Uni- versity Studies, No. 38.)
Comacrib Directory of China, 1926. Combined Chinese-Foreign Commercial and Classified Directory of China and Hongkong, Including a Who's Who of Residents . . . Vol. 2. Shanghai, China, Commercial & Credit Informa- tion Bureau [1926].
CORRELL, ERNST, President Grant and the Mennonite Immigration From Russia. (Reprint From The Mennonite Quarterly Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, July, 1935.)
CRUCHET, RENE, France et Louisiana; Medecine et Litterature ; Montaigne et Montesquieu at Home. University, La., Louisiana State University Press, 1939. (Louisiana State University, Romance Language Series, No. 2.)
Cumulative Book Index; World List of Books in the English Language
January, 1938-December, 1939. New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1940.
Custom House Guide and United States Customs Tariff. Edition 1925 New York, Custom House Guide [c!925].
DALE, EDWARD EVERETT, and GASTON LITTON, Cherokee Cavaliers; Forty Years of Cherokee History as Told in the Correspondence of the Ridge-Watie- Boudinot Family. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1939.
200 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
DONNAN, ELIZABETH, Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America. Washington, D. C., Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1930- 1935. 4 Vols.
EDWARDS, EVERETT E., A Guide for Courses in the History of American Agri- culture. Washington, D. C., 1939. Mimeographed. (United States De- partment of Agriculture, Library, Bibliographical Contributions, No. 35.) FREMONT, MRS. JESSIE (BENTON), Souvenirs of My Time. Boston, D. Lothrop
and Company [c!887].
HANNA, A. J., A Bibliography of the Writings of Irving Bacheller. Winter Park, Fla., Rollins College [1939]. (Rollins College Bulletin, Vol. 35, No. 1, September, 1939.) HARPER, GEORGE W., ed., Antique Collector's Guide and Reference Handbook.
New York, George W. Harper, c!939.
HOEBEL, E. ADAMSON, The Political Organization and Law-Ways of the Co- manche Indians. Menasha, Wis., American Anthropological Association, 1940. (Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, No. 54.) HOWITT, EMANUEL, Selections From Letters Written During a Tour Through the United States, in the Summer and Autumn of 1819; Illustrative of the Character of the Native Indians . . . Nottingham, J. Dunn [1820]. IMLAH, ALBERT HENRY, Lord Ellenborough ; a Biography of Edward Law, Earl of Ellenborough, Governor-General of India. Cambridge, Harvard Uni- versity Press, 1939. (Harvard Historical Studies, Vol. 43.) IRWIN, LEONARD BERTRAM, Pacific Railways and Nationalism in the Canadian- American Northwest, 1845-1873 . . . Philadelphia, 1939. (Thesis, Ph. D., University of Pennsylvania, 1939.)
JOHNSON, RICHARD W., A Soldier's Reminiscences in Peace and War. Phila- delphia, J. B. Lippincott Company, 1886. JOYNER, FRED BUN YON, David Ames Wells, Champion of Free Trade. Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, The Torch Press [c!939]. KIDDER, A. V., The Excavations at Pecos in 1925. Santa Fe, N. M., 1926.
(Papers of the School of American Research, New Series Paper, No. 14.) KIRBY, THOMAS A., Chaucer's Troilus; a Study in Courtly Love. University, La., Louisiana State University Press, 1940. (Louisiana State University Studies, No. 39.) LA FARGE, OLIVER, As Long as the Grass Shall Grow. Photographs by Helen
M. Post. New York, Alliance Book Corporation [c!940].
LATHROP, ELISE L., Early American Inns and Taverns. New York, Tudor Pub- lishing Company, 1936.
MABRY, WILLIAM ALEXANDER, The Negro in North Carolina Politics Since Re- construction. Durham, N. C., Duke University Press, 1940. (Trinity Col- lege Historical Society, Historical Papers, Series 23.)
McMuRTRiE, DOUGLAS CRAWFORD, Some Facts Concerning the Invention of Printing, the Five-hundredth Anniversary of Which Will Be Celebrated Internationally in 1940. Chicago, Chicago Club of Printing House Crafts- men, 1939.
MADARIAGA, SALVADOR DE, Christopher Columbus; Being the Life of the Very Magnificent Lord Don Cristobal Colon. New York, The Macmillan Com- pany, 1940.
MANNING, WILLIAM RAY, ed., Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States; Inter-American Affairs, 1831-1860. Vol. XI. Spain. Documents 6033-5678.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 201
Vol. XII. Texas and Venezuela. Documents 5679-6174. Washington, D. C., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1939. (Publications of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of International Law, Washington.)
MEXICAN CENTRAL RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED, Annual Reports of the Board of Directors to the Stockholders for the Years Ending December 81, 1880- 1900.
MICHIGAN, CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1835, The Michigan Constitutional Conventions of 1835-86 ; Debates and Proceedings. Ann Arbor, The Univer- sity of Michigan Press, 1940.
MOSK, SANFORD A., A Railroad to Utopia. (Reprinted from The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, December, 1939.)
MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION, Annual Report, 1939. Mount Vernon [c!939] .
MULLER, SAMUEL, and others, Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives . . . New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1940.
National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Being the History of the United States. Vol. 27. New York, James T. White and Company, 1939.
NEW YORK, MUSEUM, Annual Report of the Trustees, 1989. New York, 1940.
PARSONS, ELSIE WORTHINGTON (CLEWS), Pueblo Indian Religion. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press [c!9391. 2 Vols.
Patterson's American Educational Directory, Vol. 87. Chicago, American Edu- cational Company, 1940.
PAXSON, FREDERIC LOGAN, American Democracy and the World War, Vol. 2; America at War, 1917-1918. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1939.
PRATT, HARRY EDWARD, Lincoln, 1 840-1846 ; Being the Day-by-Day Activities of Abraham Lincoln, From January 1, 1840, to December 81, 1846. Springfield, 111., The Abraham Lincoln Association [c!939].
ROBERTSON, COLIN, Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, September, 18 17, to September, 1822. Toronto, The Champlain Society, 1939.
ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION, [Annual Report} ... a Review for 1939, by Raymond B. Fosdick. New York, 1940.
SCHULTE, PAUL CLARENCE, The Catholic Heritage of Saint Louis: A History of the Old Cathedral Parish, St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis, Mo. [The Catholic Herald}, 1934.
SCRAMUZZA, VINCENT MARY, The Emperor Claudius. Cambridge, Harvard Uni- versity Press, 1940. (Harvard Historical Studies, Vol. 44.)
SHIPPEB, LESTER BURRELL, Canadian- American Relations, 1849-1874. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1939.
SINGLETON, ESTHER, ed., Historic Landmarks of America as Seen and Described by Famous Writers. New York, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1909.
SOUTHERN REGIONAL CONFERENCE AND LOUISIANA STATE CONFERENCE ON FAMILY RELATIONS, Proceedings of the First . . . February 24-25, 1939. Univer- sity, La., Louisiana State University, 1939.
STANDARD OIL COMPANY, Present Status of the Mexican Oil "Expropriations" 1940. New York, Standard Oil Company (N. J.), n. d.
STONG, PHILLIP DUFFIELD, Horses and Americans. New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1939.
202 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
TEXAS FOLK-LORE SOCIETY, In the Shadow of History. Austin, Texas Folk-Lore Society, 1939. (Publications of the Texas Folk-Lore Society, No. 15.)
THOMASON, JOHN WILLIAM, JR., Jeb Stuart. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934.
VAN LOON, HENDRIK WILLEM, and GRACE CASTAGNETTA, The Songs America Sings. New York, Simon and Schuster [cl939].
VERNON, ARTHUR, The History and Romance of the Horse. Boston, Waverly House [cl939].
WAGNER, GLENDOLIN DAMON, and WILLIAM A. ALLEN, Blankets and Moccasins, Plenty Coups and His People, the Crows. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1936.
WALLACE, WILLARD MOSHER, Sir Edwin Sandys and the First Parliament of James I. Philadelphia, 1940. (Thesis, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1940.)
WEBB, WILLIAM S., and others, Ricketts Site Revisited; Site 8, Montgomery County, Kentucky. Lexington, University of Kentucky, 1940. (Publications of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Vol. 4, No. 6.)
WEBB, WILLIAM S., and WILLIAM G. HAAG, Cypress Creek Villages, Sites 11 and 12, McLean County, Kentucky. Lexington, University of Kentucky, 1940. (Publications of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeologj', Vol. 4, No. 2.)
WHITE, LESLIE A., Pioneers in American Anthropology ; the Bandelier-M organ Letters, 1873-1883. Albuquerque, The University of New Mexico Press, 1940. 2 Vols.
Who's Who in America. Vol. 21, 1940-1941. Chicago, The A. N. Marquis Com- pany, 1940.
WISSLER, CLARK, Indian Cavalcade; or, Life on the Old-time Indian Reserva- tions. New York, Sheridan House [cl938L
, Indians of the United States; Four Centuries of Their History and Cul- ture. New York, Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1940.
World Almanac and Book of Facts for 1940. New York, The New York World- Telegram, c!940.
Bypaths of Kansas History
NEWS FROM FORT LEAVENWORTH From the Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis, June 15, 1853.
FORT LEAVENWORTH. — Below we give some items of interest- which we gathered at Fort Leavenworth, a few days since. We learn that Gen. Garland has been ordered to Santa Fe. He is daily expected up on the St. Paul, with about two hundred troops. He goes out to relieve Col. Sumner, in command at that post.
The court martial which has been in session at- Fort Leavenworth for several days past, has not closed its labors. They now have under consideration the charges preferred against Maj. How, while in New Mexico. A large number of officers from abroad are in attendance; among them we notice Brev. Lt. Colonel Bragg, of "a little more grape, Capt. Bragg," memory. Also, Gen. Clark, and others of high rank in the army.
The spectacle of the fine looking officers, with their shining epaulettes and glittering swords, reminded us of like scenes we had witnessed on the plains of Mexico, "in the days when we went fighting, a long time ago."
On the 28th a train with quartermaster and commissary stores, left for the new post on the Kansas river.
The Mail (Express) arrived at Fort Leavenworth on Tuesday last, from the new post [Fort Riley] at the mouth of Republican Fork, on the Kansas river. The place is reported to be in good health, and officers stationed there are busily employed in making preparations for putting up the necessary buildings, &c.
Major Chilton, with Company B, 1st Dragoons, left Fort Leavenworth on yesterday, en route for the new post to be established at the mouth of Walnut creek, on the Arkansas river — Fort Atkinson having been ordered to be broken up and abandoned, and Company D, 6th Infantry, now stationed there, to be removed and stationed at the post at the mouth of Walnut creek. — Weston Reporter.
ARMS FOR KANSAS
From the Kansas City (Mo.) Enterprise, October 25, 1856.
We noticed yesterday, at the freight depot of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, a new U. S. six pounder and seven boxes of U. S. muskets. They are consigned to T. B. Eldridge, at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, who is recruiting at that point for the "Free State Army" in Kansas. These are the kind of Agricultural Implements that the peaceable "Free State settlers are taking into Kansas." We have seen an account going the rounds of the papers, for the past few days, that there was recently stolen from Xenia, Ohio, a brass six pounder, and a lot of U. S. muskets. Wonder if these are the same? Gov. Geary will please take notice. — Burlington Gazette.
(203)
204 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
THIS ONE WASN'T ON THE INDIANS The Independent, Oskaloosa, September 3, 1864.
There was a big scare on the bottom on Monday afternoon and night. A report got out that 200 Pottawatomie Indians were at work burning, killing and scalping at a horrible rate; and some of the settlers began to flee before the supposed danger. Capt. McCain, and some of his neighbors started for the scene of devastation, leaving ever3'thing ready for a hast}' flight if necessary, to this place. As they went towards Rising Sun the story grew larger and larger, and there was a terrible scare. But arrived at the spot, the facts were about these. A couple of Indians had been in Rising Sun and two white men wanted to trade ponies wit-h them, but the Indians would not trade. The whites were drunk, and when the Indians left followed them some distance threatening to shoot them if they did not trade ; and while flourishing their revolvers about their heads, one of them went- off and shot the fellow who held it through the leg, the ball going through the saddle and into the horse upon which he sat. They then returned and reported that the Indians had fired upon them and done the mischief. Some Indians had been encamped near the place pre- viously which gave a show of plausibility to the big stories that grew out of this small affair. Whisky does a great deal of mischief, and might have led to something serious in this case, but for the accident which happened to the chaps in question.
HUNTING BUFFALO VIA THE UNION PACIFIC IN 1868
From Sheridan's Troopers on the Borders: A Winter Campaign on the Plains, by De B. Randolph Keim (Philadelphia, 1870), pp. 37-41.
The "end of the track" was one of those indefinite expressions in plains parlance, having reference to the terminus of the railroad, somewhere in the wilderness of waste, far to the westward. In times of active construction on the road the expression was particularly applicable, for the last traveler would find himself penetrating regions which his itinerary predecessor of but a few days before had never thought of and probably no white man before, except the surveying party, had ever visited. The "end of the track," therefore, meant precisely where the locomotive stopped running.
At eleven o'clock on the morning of the second of October, the train for the west arrived at Hays City. I was one of a party of about half a dozen persons who had been awaiting its arrival for two long and monotonous hours.
My fellow passengers altogether numbered about twenty persons. . . . The conductor of the train was a man of sense and good address. He had much experience in life on the plains and was the man for the position he held. He always had his rifle by his side and pistols, either about his waist, or where he could conveniently put his hands upon them. He was an excellent shot, and had several bullet scars as mementoes of early conflicts.
We had hardly proceeded fifteen miles on our journey when we came in sight of several large herds of buffaloes, each numbering not less than two
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 205
thousand animals. We were promised a "wonderful sight" of the beast by the conductor of the train. Indeed, so marvelous were his stories that he was listened to with evident incredulity.
As we increased the distance from the last settlement, buffaloes rapidly grew in numbers. Thirty miles on the way the country was literally overrun. The main herds lay on the northern side of the track and as far as the eye could reach, not less than a distance of ten to fifteen miles, the plain was perfectly black with them. The herds nearest the track, alarmed at the strange sounds issuing from the locomotive, set off at a rapid lope, heading towards the north, in turn setting in motion the herds before them. The huge animals raised such a dust that for some minutes it was impossible to see more than a long line of hind-quarters and elevated tails. A number of isolated smaller herds which had crossed to the south upon the approach of the train, invariably raised their heads, looked at us for an instant, and then with heads down and tails up galloped towards the track making extraordinary exertions to get across ahead of the locomotive. In trying this strategic feat one specimen found himself forcibly lifted into the air and thrown into the ditch, where he lay upon his back, his cloven feet flourishing madly.
Several animals had been shot from the cars out of this herd. The train now stopped to afford time to bring in a few "rumps." While this operation was going on, a party of six or eight of us started down the track to dispatch the buffalo, still kicking and bellowing with a mixture of suspense and rage, displaying certain serpentine and spasmodic motions of the dorsal column, which indicated an effort to get on his feet. When our party got within fifty yards a shot was fired at the animal which seemed to have a peculiarly vitalizing effect. At all events it called the buffalo to a sense of his ludicrous and unnatural position. With one desperate effort the old beast regained his feet. Several more shots were instantly fired, but none seemed to take effect. Instead of retreating the irate quadruped made for our party, coming at a "full jump," head down, tongue out, bleeding and frothing at the mouth, eyes flashing, and to cap the climax of his terrible exhibitions of infuriation, roared fearfully. As there was no time to lose, and to fire at him "head on" would be but a waste of ammunition, the party scattered in all directions. For my own part, I took occasion to make a few long and rapid strides across the track into the ditch on the other side. The rest of the party imitated this dexterous movement without many moments of reflection. Losing sight of us, the enraged animal, smarting under the blow he had received from the locomotive, and the tickling he had sustained from our rifles, wreaked his anger upon the opposite side of the embankment of the railroad by rending great furrows in the earth, stamping on the ground, raising a great dust, and making a terrible noise. It was very certain there was no time to waste. Should his lordship of the plains spy any of us he would doubtless renew the offensive. Raising up so as to get a partial sight of his carcass, not over thirty feet off, three of our party fired, the rest holding in reserve. Every ball seemed to take effect. Almost instantly the animal fell upon his knees. The rest then fired, when the animal rolled completely over. His tenacity of life was perfectly wonderful. By this time he must have had a dozen bullets in his body. Notwithstanding all this he struggled and swayed to and fro until he again brought himself to his feet. But all power to harm had fled. Plant-
206 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing himself firmly, moving his head to the right and left, his eye still full of fire, the noble beast looked even more defiant. From his nostrils ran streams of blood.
To put the animal out of misery was the first sense of recovery from our stampede. Repeated shots were fired into his body. Thug, thug, the bullets could be heard penetrating his thick hide. As each ball entered, a slight turn of the head and switch of the tail were the only external indications of the effect of the bullet. At length after having been literally "peppered" with lead, a sudden quiver passed over the animal's entire frame, he staggered and fell. One deep gasp, a convulsive motion of the jaws, one sudden flash of the eye, a quantity of dark clotted blood ejected from the nostrils, and the buffalo was dead.
Never before had I seen such an exhibition of tenacious rage and vitality. Had the animal been less injured by the locomotive, it would be difficult to say what would have been the result of his charge upon our party. It is a question, however, whether a buffalo would attack from the mere impulse of destruction. I have found the buffalo, compared with his remarkable physical strength, rather disposed to be timid. Several horsemen could ride into the midst of a herd of ten thousand with comparative safety, select their game and dispatch it; but when wounded the whole nature of the animal seems changed. He turns upon his pursuers, and death it is to him who ever ifalls into his power. Not satisfied with goring his victim until he is a mangled mass, he frequently plunges upon the remains until mashed into a perfect jelly. The vital spot in a buffalo is immediately under the shoulder, penetrating the heart or the lungs. On the forehead the bullet of the most powerful rifle has no effect whatever, the force being entirely expended on the immense mat or "mop" of hair, eight or ten inches in length, between the eyes.
After our somewhat exciting battle, taking a last look, and I must say I felt a pang of shame as I left the inanimate carcass a useless waste, we hastened back to the train which was ready to move on and had been, signaling us for some minutes.
For sixty miles the same great multitudes of buffaloes appeared in eight without signs of diminution in numbers. Beyond this, as we approached Sheri- dan station, the herds grew less in size and more isolated until they dis- appeared from view. I computed, during the entire day there were in sight from the train, not less than two hundred thousand animals of all ages.
At six o'clock in the afternoon we reached the end of steam travel on the Kansas Pacific railwa3'. The end of the track presented all the appearance of work very abruptly terminated. At the very extreme point was a plain wooden mile-post painted white, with the characters "405 to S. L.," 405 miles to the State Line, that is of Kansas, at Kansas City. The objective point of the road, contemplated in the law, is the Pacific ocean, with a branch to Denver. The Pacific is to be reached by a more southerly route passing through Albuquerque, N. Mex., Southern Arizona, into Southern California. The length of the road from its initial point will be over two thousand miles.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 207
THE VELOCIPEDE ARRIVES IN KANSAS From the Fort Scott Monitor, February 24, 1869.
Fort Scott, as usual, is ahead of the rest of the Kansas towns, by building the first velocipede in the state, if not west of the Mississippi river. Quite a number of our citizens have been to Scott avenue during the past week to see this stranger travel. A good many tried to ride it but failed. Our friend Bailey says he could easily "ride the wheelipede if the darned thing would only stand up." It was built by G. Endicott, and is similar to the two-wheeled ones used in the East. It will not be long before they will come into general use in Kansas, as our good natural roads seem to have been designed for the use of these wheeled bipeds.
WANTED FOR MARRIAGE
From the Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, July 1, 1870. WANTED.— Fifty young ladies to make husbands from fifty well-to-do bachelors residing in and about El Dorado. While our population is increasing very rapidly there is yet half the material here to further comply with the governor's request, if we only had the other half.
From the Wichita Vidette, September 9, 1870.
GIRLS ATTENTION ! — We are authorized to state that the first good, respect- able young lady who settles on Slate creek [Sumner county], will receive a present of a fine saddle horse, saddle and bridle, and a husband if she wants one. Here girls, is a chance for you. We will guarantee that the parties making the offer will carry out the part of his bargain in good faith, provided the young lady in question accepts the proposition.
PAY DAY FOR THE POTTAWATOMIES
From the Daily Kansas State Record, Topeka, October 30, 1870. [Note: The Indian agency building described in this article still stands at the east edge of St. Marys near US-40.]
The payment of the Pottawattamies, to which so many persons of both the white and colored "persuasion" have looked forward with anxious interest, has been in progress since Thursday, and yesterday the whole "arrangement" was "interviewed" by our reporter.
Indian payments are an old story in Kansas, and there are few, if any, of the old settlers of the state who have not at one time or another witnessed one. To a newcomer, however, the scene of one of these periodical "settle- ments" of the government with its interesting "wards" generally possesses the charm of novelty, and even a written description may be of interest to those whose misfortune it is to live outside the limits of this state, and who have never seen the Indian even in his naturalized and domesticated condition.
The scene at St. Mary's mission on Saturday, the 29th of October, 1870, was
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probably one of the most utterly forlorn, dismal and miserable spectacles which this "mundane sphere" has ever witnessed. It had been raining since Friday, as it only can rain in what some fool or other has called this "drouthy country," and the one long street of St. Mary's, which is as yet innocent of sidewalks, was a swamp, trodden into black, slimy stickiness and nastiness by the feet of men and horses.
The place of payment was the old government agency, near the Catholic mission buildings. The building is a one-story edifice, built of stone, and once made some pretensions to comfort and taste; it undoubtedly cost our benevo- lent Uncle Sam money enough to possess both, but the picket fence has been broken down, the fancy cornice is destitute of paint, and the premises generally bear an air of decay. The two low, dirty, smoky rooms were devoted to the business of payment. In one of them Mr. Williamson, of the Interior Depart- ment, the paymaster, had his station. The other was occupied by the pay- master's clerk; the interpreter, Joseph Napoleon Bourassa, and Lieut. Hippie, of the 3d artillery, in command of the guard of ten men from Ft. Riley; the rest of the space was occupied by white men, traders, and others, having de- mands against the Indians, and Agent Morris. Louis Vieux, familiarly called "Uncle Louis Vieux," stood in the doorway acting in the capacity of marshal, crier and sentry.
The method of payment is similar to that adopted in the army, and, indeed, the presence of the young lieutenant in his smart uniform, and of the "boys in blue" standing about, served to keep up the resemblance. The name of the person to be paid was read from the various rolls by various persons, till it finally reached Mr. Vieux, who sang it out from the door with a "long, loud and exceedingly bitter cry," and with fearful emphasis on the last syllable; after which the person called for, if present and sober, appeared and received his or her money. Generally some question arose about the administration of estates and other legal matters, which occasioned a dialogue in French, English and Pottawattamie, until everybody was satisfied. The party to be paid gen- erally "stuck out" the controversy without betraying the slightest interest as to its termination.
While this was going on, the "wards" male and female, stood, sat and lounged around in the partially inclosed mud-hole formerly the agency yard. The women squatted around the fence in the mud, with their shawls and blankets over their ears, and the pappooses submitted to the pitiless rain with Indian silence and fortitude, instead of manifesting their feelings by kicks and screams like white babies.
Among those in attendance was Maj. W. W. Ross, who has been for years more or less connected with the Pottawattamies in their business with the government. From him we learned that the sums paid to each person on the pay-roll was $688.43, in the aggregate about $500,000.
The amount paid to some families reaches, it is said, as high as $5,000. Of course much of this money passed immediately into the hands of traders and others having accounts against the Indians, but Maj . Ross gave it as his opinion that the Indians carried away more money for themselves than is generally believed. All present having unsettled accounts against the Pottawattamies gave them the credit of being faithful to their obligations. One gentleman, having $5,000 "out" among the tribe, said he had never in a single instance been refused payment.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 209
Getting tired of the rain and the mud, and the squaws and the ponies and the pappooses, our reporter left the tumble-down agency and went over to the mission proper, where he saw Father Ward, who is at the head of the institu- tion. The good Father, with the intelligence and politeness which everywhere characterizes the Jesuits, answered every inquiry, and gave some interesting particulars concerning the past history and future plans of the mission. Of these we may speak more fully at a future time. Unlike the Catholic mission- aries among the Osages, Father Ward expressed the belief that there is such a being as an adult Christian Indian. Many of the Pottawattamies he con- sidered excellent Catholics, devoted to their religious duties and exemplary in their conduct. The Indian youth, he said, were as capable of acquiring knowl- edge as white children, and many of them evinced remarkable capacity.
Leaving the gardens and neat buildings of the mission, which had an air of comfort even in this miserable weather, and going up the main street of the town was a trying process, and one rather calculated to try one's belief in Father Ward's hopeful view of things. Numerous Indians contrived to get possession of whisky, and were consequently miserably drunk. Unlike his white brother, the Indian never gets "happy." Whisky only makes him melancholy and "cursed," and if ever a pitiable object presented itself to human gaze, it was these "sons of nature," plunging and wallowing in the fathomless mire, cursing and swearing after a beastly fashion, known only to themselves. Some of them lost their recently acquired money in the mud, and in one instance a $100 bill was fished out of the middle of the street.
The town was full of traders in every description of merchandise, Topeka being liberally represented. The "gay gamboliers" were also present in force, and horsemen were on hand in readiness to make their pile on the con- templated Sunday races, but the rain had driven everybody except the Indians indoors, and spoiled the race course. At six o'clock p. m. on Saturday the prospects for sport in St. Mary's were dubious.
The ride home was accomplished in a dimly-lighted caboose attached to a freight train of interminable length, and the night was rendered cheerful by the incessant glare of lightning, and the sound of the falling sheets of rain. The walk from the Kansas Pacific depot was also enlivened by the plunge of two gentlemen, representing law and literature, into the pond at the end of the depot platform, and as they rose to the surface, there was heard a succes- sion of remarks, which were understood to invoke curses on the head of the man who invented Indian payments.
No CONTEMPT IN THIS HAYS COURT From the Junction City Union, August 31, 1872.
The Democratic (Hollidaysburg, Pa.) Standard gives an account of a court scene at Hays City, and requests us to corroborate the story. The incident oc- curred as related, and we would add, that the trial was by a jury of six men, before Chief Justice Dalton, of Hays City. The animal in dispute was a two and a half year old heifer, was white as chalk, and as fine an animal as ever ate grass on the plains of Kansas. Mr. Polly claimed that he purchased her when a young calf, and missed her from his herd about the first of March ; saw
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her about the middle of July and took her home; had brands on her and ear marks. These says Mr. Treat, who purchased her from a Missourian, were older than the first of March, and hence the necessity of bringing the animal to the court house for inspection. When the jury were requested to go out and examine these marks, they said it was too hot, and told the sheriff to bring "him" in. The sheriff obeyed — the animal the next moment stood in the middle of the room facing the jury — the crowd smiled — one gentleman de- sired to be next the door, and passed in too close proximity to the heifer's rear. She gave him a violent kick, at which the crowd roared. The sheriff gave the tail a twist, this was too much, and the heifer roared and pitched over chairs and benches, and the crowd made a hasty retreat towards the door and windows; the judge, jury, lawyers and suiters made a lunge for the rear windows and the animal in dispute was master of the situation. Fortunately she espied the door, and after demolishing several chairs and school desks, made her escape, and hurt no one.
But the richest scene that ever disgraced a Kansas court room, occurred be- fore the same justice last week. Jack Wright was shot and killed by one McClilland, and he was taken before Justice Dalton for a hearing. Tom Drum, in whose saloon the shooting took place, was the principal witness and was first called on the stand. He looked about the room at the crowd assembled, and remarked to the "court" that things looked d — d dry, and suggested that a little whisky would 'liven things up. His "honor" made no objection, and in a few minutes a decanter well filled with "benzine" was set upon the table just in front of the judge. The court, the witness, lawyers and prisoners drank "all round." As each witness was called to the stand, he would step to the table, pour out his whisky and nodding to the "court" the usual "how," drink — then hold up his right hand and after being sworn take his seat and give in his testimony.
The prisoner was committed in default $1,500 bail. That night the friends of the deceased visited the jail with the intention of shooting McClilland. The jail is a cellar under the court room. They commenced at random through the iron bars, and instead of killing McClilland, they shot and killed Poirr Donovan, a noted horse thief, who was in jail awaiting his trial. McClilland is now under guard at the post.
ANTELOPE AT KINSLEY From the Edwards County Leader, Kinsley, May 31, 1877.
Last Sunday our quiet town was thrown into a flurry of excitement by the visitation of a herd of antelope. They crossed the railroad track and came into town just west of the Honorable Taylor Flick's residence, and leisurely wended their way towards Coon creek. They would have remained with us and become domesticated had not the larger portion of our good citizens be- come so excited, and frightened them away by opening up a little 4th of July over their advent into town. One of our prominent M.D.'s became so excited that he chased them into the creek and came very near swimming that stream in hopes of catching one for a pet. The race between the antelope and the Dr. was nip and tuck, nip winning the race by jumping the stream.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 211
INDIANS ATTEND A CIRCUS AT LAWRENCE From The Western Home Journal, Lawrence, July 31, 1879.
The six Cheyenne warriors, Wild Hog, Old Man, Blacksmith, Left Hand, Run Fast, and Meheha, awaiting trial for their participation in the late Indian massacre [Dull Knife's raid of September, 1878, when forty Kansas settlers were killed], were taken to see the London circus yesterday. In some way they had heard of its coming and expressed a strong desire to see it. Messrs. Cooper, Bailey & Co., kindly extended the freedom of the exhibition to them and the officers who attended. It was the first thing of the kind they had seen, and t-hey appeared to enjoy it thoroughly. About half-past two o'clock they marched into the menagerie in single file, and were shown one wild animal after another. The herd of elephants puzzled them very much, but they looked quietly and gravely at them, expressing no thought by word or gesture. The Bengal tigers and the lions, as they jumped and snarled behind the iron bars brought a peculiar gleam to the eyes of the red men. They seemed to recognize a nature akin to their own. The American lion, the red deer, the brown bear, all drew forth signs from two of the braves, who pointed westward and indi- cated by their motions that they had met these animals before. The camels were carefully scanned and passed for the herd of ponies upon which they looked with an eye that appreciated the beauty of the tiny things.
Proceeding into the circus, they were seated by themselves, an officer at each end of them. The story of the cruel butcheries by the Cheyenne band was too fresh in the minds of the people to allow of their being seated without attracting attention. Every eye was soon turned upon t-hem, and many a mother grasped her child as she heard the words, "There are the Indians." Two women rushed out of the tent with a child in each arm, nor could they be in- duced to return. When the people learned that the sheriff and his deputies were with them quietness was restored. At first the Indians assumed a grave look as their eyes roamed over the sea of humanity about them; but, as act after act went- by, they gradually relaxed. Wild Hog said "heap" when any- thing especially pleased him, the others testifying their approval by grunts. When Frank Melville rode his splendid act they became excited, and seemed to appreciate the full performance. It was the same when Billy Button went flying about the ring upon his horse, they again expressed their delight. The four-horse act of Madame Cordona, and the champion act of Charles Fish caused them to look in astonishment.
When the clowns appeared they smiled approval of their antics, and when the lean clown flung the fat clown over the ring bank and then threw a colored boy upon him, Blacksmith laughed until he cried, while his companions shook their sides. Fans were given them and they kept up as vigorous a fanning as any lady. They were provided with lemonade, and each one got away with two glasses, and when the third was offered they simply pressed their abdomen and used the only English word they knew — "heap." They enjoyed the per- formance thoroughly, and seemed disappointed when it was over. They were taken back to the jail after the show was over.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
Articles of historical significance in recent issues of the Wichita Sunday Eagle include : "Landmark of Old West Wichita And Friends U. Is Being Razed/' November 24, 1940; "Early-Day Aerial Suc- cesses of Wrights Are Recorded in Pages of Wichita Eagle," Feb- ruary 2, 1941 ; "Development of Wichita Is Traced by 17 Historical Markers," and "Two Plucky Girls Started First Rural Route," March 2; "Garfield University Started on Borrowed $75 (began in 1887; remaining building now houses Friends University), April 27.
Reminiscences of pioneer days in Graham county by Mrs. Amanda Brown Gustafson, Mrs. Jim (Bessie) Baird and Mrs. Matt Findley were printed in the Hill City Times, November 28, 1940. Mrs. Gustafson was born in the county in 1881, Mrs. Baird emigrated with her family from Maryland in the late 1870's and Mrs. Findley came to Graham county with her parents from Osage county in 1878. On January 16, 1941, the Hill City Times published the pioneer reminiscences of F. D. De Shon (arranged by Mildred Cass Beason) , who came to Graham county in 1872.
The experiences of J. D. (Josh) Wheatcroft have been featured in a series of articles entitled "A True Story of How Life in the West Began for Me in 1880," which appeared in the Utica Star-Courier beginning with the issue of December 12, 1940. Mr. Wheatcroft came to Kansas from Iowa in a covered wagon with his family when he was thirteen years old. The final installment was printed Feb- ruary 6, 1941.
A series of articles concerning the history of the Independent Holiness Movement by the late A. M. Kiergan published in the old Banner, are being reprinted in The Church Advocate and Good Way, Fort Scott, beginning with the issue of December 12, 1940. This movement, of which Kiergan was one of the founders, started in the 1860's as an offshoot of Methodism in Missouri and Kansas.
Charles Arnold, 87 years old, reporter for 62 years on the lola Register, resigned in December, 1940. The Register of December 23, in reviewing his work, believed that he was perhaps the oldest newspaper reporter in point of service for one paper in the United States.
An account of an Indian battle which took place behind "Indian Rock" on Glenifer hill east of Salina in 1857 was published in the
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KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 213
Salina Journal, December 26, 1940. In this battle the savage Cheyennes, Arapahoes and Sioux were driven back by the Kaws, Delawares and Pottawatomies, and as an indirect result of this war the white settlement on the site of Salina was made possible. A marker commemorating the event was erected by the Saline County Historical Society in 1922.
The history of Grand Center Baptist Church was discussed by H. L. Tripp in the Waldo Advocate, December 30, 1940.
An autobiography of the Rev. Father Bononcini is being printed in installments in the St. Paul Journal, beginning January 2, 1941. Father Bononcini was a prominent pioneer priest in Kansas. He was a teacher in the Seminary in Topeka during its brief career, and built churches in Fort Scott, Scammon, Pittsburg, Girard, Weir City, Arcadia and other places.
Mrs. Julia Mills, one of the seven passengers on the first "pas- senger train" that pulled into Hutchinson on the night of June 30, 1872, related her experiences in a feature article in the Hutchinson News, January 5, 1941.
The Lyons Daily News of January 15, 1941, carried the story of the death of Mrs. Mickey (Frenchy) McCormick, 88, at Channing, Tex. Mrs. McCormick, once a Creole dance hall girl, was called by the cowboys of the West the "Belle of Old Tascosa." Native of Baton Rouge, La., she went to Dodge City, end of the railroad, in its hell-roaring days and then traveled by ox-cart to Old Tascosa about 1880.
Judge Houston Whiteside, co-founder and editor of the Hutchin- son News in 1872, died at the age of 93 in Hutchinson, January 23, 1941, according to the News of January 24. Judge Whiteside went to Hutchinson when the city was a year old and lived there all his life.
On January 26, 1941, the Joplin (Mo.) Globe issued a "1941 Progress Edition" of 112 pages featuring the industrial development of the tri-state area.
A Santa Fe edition of the Arkansas City Daily Traveler was is- sued January 28, 1941, in observance of the beginning of the sixty- second year of Santa Fe railroad service to Arkansas City.
Biographical information on C. N. James as compiled by Stella B. Haines, president of the Augusta Historical Society, was printed
214 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in the Augusta Daily Gazette, January 28, 1941. Mr. James was one of the founders of Augusta and named the town for his wife, Augusta James.
The reminiscences of Mrs. W. H. Sears were recorded in the Lawrence Daily Journal-World, February 15, 1941. Mrs. Sears came to Kansas with her parents in 1857 and was living in Law- rence during Quantrill's raid.
An account of the annual exodus of the River Brethren to the conference of this sect in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, published in the Philadelphia (Pa.) Press, April 26, 1903, was found in a family Bible by Sam D. Zook, of Abilene. The article was reprinted in the Abilene Daily Chronicle, February 18, 1941.
The old Chisholm trail from Wichita south to the Kansas- Oklahoma line was discussed by Dick Long in the Wichita (Eve- ning) Eagle, February 25, 1941, after an interview with Warren L. Matthews, of Wichita. Mr. Matthews spent years tracing the route, mile by mile, through Kansas. A map showing the trail and present- day towns was printed with the article.
The annual farm edition of the Atchison Daily Globe was issued February 25, 1941. Articles by Sen. Arthur Capper, Claude R. Wlckard, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture, and J. C. Mohler, secretary of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, were printed.
During the spring of 1941 many of the state's daily and weekly newspapers featured the special supplement, "Coronado Rides Again in Kansas," prepared as part of the advance publicity for Kansas' celebration of Coronado's visit four hundred years ago.
A special seventieth anniversary edition of the Chase County Leader, of Cottonwood Falls, was issued March 5, 1941. The first number was published March 4, 1871. A facsimile of the front page of the first issue was part of the anniversary number.
The following articles of special historical interest by Victor Mur- dock appeared in recent issues of the Wichita (Evening) Eagle: "Glimpse of This County at First Settlement Given in an Old Diary," March 5, .1941; "Last Big Buffalo Hunt as Recorded in Detail by A. S. Hendry of McPherson," March 6; "Wounded Buffalo Charges Added Real Excitement to the Last Big Hunt," March 7 ; "Veteran Buffalo Hunter Who Put Up Ten Dollars for the Chance of a Shot," March 8; "Romance Is Hidden Away in Many a Com- munity in Rural Regions Here," concerning the River Brethren,
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 215
March 10; "Graveyard on Prairies That Survived Community Carrying Name of Ivanhoe," March 11; "As Wichita Has Grown Traces of Topography Once Familiar Vanish," March 12; "Keeping Up the Cupboard Was a Point With Pioneers on Prairies and Be- yond," March 21 ; "Exodus of an Old Chieftain May Have Added Something to Wichita's Population," March 22; "Prices Which Ob- tained When Kansas Was Young Back Seventy Years Ago," March 26 ; "Today Ever Memorable in Wichita History Through Oklahoma Opening," April 22; "How Napoleon the Third Happens to Show Up Here in the Early Day Records," April 23; "Kindness of Chis- holm, First Wichita Settler, Toward Indians' Captives," April 24.
Included among the articles of historical interest in the "Clark County Historical Society Notes" in recent issues of The Clark County Clipper, of Ashland, were: "History of the Van Laningham Family," March 6, 1941; "The Shattucks in Massachusetts" (con- tributed by Ethel Luther Shattuck) , March 27 and April 3 ; "Coro- nado," April 10 and 17 ; "Lexington, Church, Town and Community" (contributed by Gertie Hughs and Lizzie Moore), April 24; "His- tory of Lexington Cemetery" and "Coronado in Clark County 400 Years Ago," May 1 ; "The Passing of the Apple Brand and the Half Circle P. Brand," by Lon Ford, May 8.
On March 7, 1941, "Your Scrapbook of Kansas Catholic History" began in the Eastern Kansas Register, printed at Denver, Colo. This historical sketch, in weekly installments, traces the beginning and development of Catholicism in Kansas.
An article by Edith M. Burt in the Alma Enterprise, March 14 and 21, 1941, tells of the old stone Congregational church located on Highway K-29 at Wabaunsee. In 1856, under the leadership of Col. C. B. Lines, the Beecher Bible and Rifle Company started to Kansas and settled in Wabaunsee in April. The stone church which now stands was completed in 1862.
Kansas-born Raymond Clapper, Washington columnist, was the subject of a feature article in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, March 18, 1941, headed "Serious Raymond Clapper Cares for Little Except His Column."
A letter from W. J. Baker of Yellow Springs, Ohio, whose father was at one time a resident of Pratt county, appeared in the Pratt Union, March 20, 1941, under the title "Early Kansas History." It related experiences of George Baker, the father, who went to Em- poria in the late 1850's.
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Some passages from the diary of Lewis H. Garrard who traveled the Santa Fe trail in 1846 and 1847 were discussed by Henry L. Carey, of Dodge City, in the Hutchinson News-Herald, March 23, 1941. The article described the building of old Fort Mann. The fort, of logs and adobe, was named for the wagonmaster who built it. Mr. Carey locates the post on the site of the J. P. McCollom ranch, three miles west of present Dodge City.
The story of how Col. John Ritchie shot and killed a United States marshal and was duly tried in a court of law and found guilty, then acquitted and released, appeared as a feature article by Jim Bell in the Topeka Daily Capital, March 23, 1941.
The Kansas City (Mo.) Star, March 23, 1941, printed recollec- tions of Mrs. Cora Skinner Ream in Smith county in the 1870's. She recalled foods common on pioneer tables and some of the substi- tutes used for delicacies.
Reminiscences of Mrs. Eliza Williams Johnson, who came to Kan- sas with her family in 1860 when she was ten years old, appeared in the Clay Center Times, March 27, 1941. Mrs. Johnson was one of the earliest pioneers in the vicinity of Industry.
The much-disputed boundary line between Kansas and Missouri in the 125-mile stretch along the shifting course of the Missouri river was discussed in a feature article in the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, March 28, 1941.
On April 3, 1941, the Atchison Daily Globe published the first of a series of reports to the Atchison planning board by Harland Bar- tholomew, city planner. It was devoted to the "historical and eco- nomic background of Atchison."
Articles describing the organization, functions and aims of the Lyon County Historical Society appeared in the Emporia Gazette, April 3, 7 and 11, 1941. The Lyon county chapter of the Kansas State Historical Society is in its fourth year and during that time has acquired and furnished a museum room in the new city audito- rium at Emporia. Plans are now in progress to enlarge the collection of relics and historical objects.
Historical articles by Paul I. Wellman in recent issues of the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, include: "Tall Tales of Early Day Patriot Misled Coronado on Kansas Plains," April 9, 1941, and "Henry Routt Twice Risked His Neck and Started Civil War in Missouri," April 17.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 217
A short article entitled "Why Kansas Is Called the Soldier State," by T. A. McNeal, appeared in the Topeka Daily Capital, April 10, 1941. Nearly half the counties of Kansas are named for soldiers. These were listed by Mr. McNeal.
On April 10, 1941, the Ulysses News issued its fiftieth anniversary edition. It contained forty-two pages of news, pictures and articles of historical interest pertaining to Ulysses and Grant county. Among the features was a reprint of part of the front page of the first issue of the Grant County Republican, now the Ulysses News, dated April 30, 1892.
"A Saga of Ye Olden Days," was the title of an article by Jim McKeever of McAllen, Tex., published serially in the Valley Falls Vindicator beginning April 16, 1941. Mr. McKeever pioneered in
Kansas.
Cawker City's library history was briefly sketched by Adele Jennings, city librarian, in the Cawker City Ledger, April 17, 1941. In 1874 sixteen men organized the Hesperian Western Literary club. Each paid $5 for the purchase of periodicals, books and newspapers. In 1877 the library had sixty books and the next year the member- ship fee was reduced to one dollar. In 1883 the women took charge and a building was erected. Today the Cawker City library, one of the oldest in the state, houses over 5,000 volumes.
The Marshall County News, of Marysville, April 17, 1941, carried the picture and history of the old Cottonwood ranch Pony Express station, just eighty years after the last rider of the Pony Express galloped away. It was written by John G. Ellenbecker, of Marys- ville. The old frame building is thought to be the first house built in Washington county.
An article on a cattle trail from Texas through present Douglass appeared in the Douglass Tribune, April 18, 1941.
The Hutchinson News-Herald issued a special edition April 20, 1941, celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the founding of Hutchinson. Several feature articles of historical interest by Whit- ley Austin and Stuart Awbrey of the News-Herald staff, including stories of the newspaper and salt industries, were printed in this issue. Also included are interesting old photographs and a facsimile of the first issue of Hutchinson's first newspaper, dated July 4, 1872.
On April 22, 1941, the Rocky Point school, Lincoln county, held a reunion. The Barnard Bee on May 1 gave a short history of the
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school, which started in the 1880's. Classes were first held in a dugout until the present frame building was erected in 1886.
The story of the ghost town of Ravanna is told in a feature article by Wayne Campbell in the Hutchinson Herald, April 23, 1941.
A history of the Yates Center News was included in an article announcing a change of management printed April 24, 1941. R. H. Trueblood, Jr., publisher of the paper since 1936, sold it to W. C. Coates, of Blue Rapids, former publisher of the Blue Rapids Times. The Yates Center News was established in 1877 and passed into the hands of R. H. Trueblood in 1885.
The first installment of the "Pioneer Reminiscences of Mrs. J. F. Blickenstaff," by Mildred Cass Beason, appeared in the Gove County Republican-Gazette, of Gove City, April 24, 1941. Mrs. Blicken- staff came to Quinter with her family as a young girl in 1886.
On April 27, 1941, the Leavenworth Times carried a feature story of the famous overland transportation company, Russell, Majors and Waddell. In 1855 the firm established headquarters in Leaven- worth, and until 1862, when it was sold to Ben Holladay, the com- pany operated thousands of oxen-pulled wagons over the Oregon trail, the California trail, the Salt Lake trail and one of the main branches of the Santa Fe trail.
The story of how Wellington became the county seat of Sumner county was told in the Wellington Daily News, April 29, 1941. The article related that Wellington changed the course of the Chisholm trail and detoured settlers and tradesmen to the town. The local boosters went south with their plows to where the trail crossed the state line and plowed a curving furrow over the prairie, swinging away from the rival town of Sumner City. When the furrow had passed through Wellington it curved back to the original trail at Clearwater. Guides at the state line told the herdsmen and team- sters to follow the furrow. Wellington became the county seat in 1872.
Kansas Historical Notes
Three more historic sites are to be acquired by the state under the provisions of acts passed by the 1941 Kansas legislature. Title to the properties will be vested in the state ; separate boards or associa- tions will manage them.
Senate bill No. 193 provides for the purchase of the site, restora- tion and repair of the old Iowa, Sauk and Fox mission building lo- cated about one and one-half miles east of Highland, Doniphan county. The Iowa, Sauk and Fox Indians of Missouri were removed by treaty to present Doniphan county in 1837. Samuel M. and Eliza Irvin, Presbyterian missionaries, accompanied them to establish a mission and school. In 1843 Irvin and William Hamilton, an asso- ciate, set up a press (the second in Kansas) to print school books and religious works in the Iowa language. A three-story stone and brick building of thirty-two rooms was completed in 1846. The state now plans to repair and reroof the remaining portion of this building. In addition, about fifteen acres of land will be set aside as a public park. An appropriation of $10,000 was allowed for the purchase of the property and the restoration of the building. Mrs. C. C. Webb, president of the Northeast Kansas Historical Society of Highland, is chairman of the seven-member board of trustees which is to manage the property.
House joint resolution No. 6 provides for the acceptance by the state of a sixty-acre tract of land in eastern Linn county which was the site of the Marais des Cygnes massacre, May 19, 1858. Charles Hamelton, who had been driven from Kansas territory by Free- State men, retaliated by invading Linn county with about thirty Missourians. Capturing eleven Free-State men he marched them to a ravine and lined them up before a firing squad. Five were killed, five were wounded and one escaped by feigning death. This mass killing inflamed the North and John Greenleaf Whittier paid tribute to the victims in one of his poems. The Pleasanton post of the Vet- erans of Foreign Wars recently purchased the site of the massacre and adjoining land, occupied for a time by John Brown, which will be deeded to the state. The legislature appropriated $1,000 to im- prove the property, henceforth to be known as the Marais des Cygnes Massacre Memorial Park. Management is vested in a board of trustees of five members.
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Senate bill No. 358 provides for the purchase and restoration of the ranch house built by G. H. Hollenberg on the old Oregon trail in 1857. Beginning in 1860 it was a station on the Pony Express which operated for eighteen months like a giant relay race between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast. The state will buy the house and seven and one-half acres of land, a little over a mile northeast of Hanover, Washington county. The remainder of the appropria- tion of $3,000 will be used for landscaping and for the restoration of the old ranch house, sometimes known as Cottonwood station. The Washington County Oregon Trail Memorial Association, of Han- over, will manage the property through Leo E. Dicker, its president.
Other Kansas Historical Markers have been located on the state's major highways in addition to those announced on page 416 of the November, 1940, Kansas Historical Quarterly. Titles of these, their location and date of placing are: Fort Zarah, in roadside park on US-50N, three miles east of Great Bend, Barton county, October 13, 1940; Last Indian Raid in Kansas, at the junction of US-36 and US-183 at the northern city limits of Oberlin, Decatur county, De- cember; Medicine Lodge Peace Treaties, in peace treaty grounds on US-160, about one mile east of Medicine Lodge, Barber county, De- cember 11 ; First Capitol of Kansas, in the First Capitol grounds on US-40, near Fort Riley, Geary county, about January 1, 1941; Paw- nee Rock, on US-50N at west city limits of Pawnee Rock, Barton county, March 16 ; Fort Lamed, on US-SON six miles west of Larned, Pawnee county, April 6; Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, on US-50 1,000 feet west of Gardner, Johnson county, April 24; Capital of Kansas, on US-75 one-fourth mile north of Topeka, Shawnee county, May 2; Atchison, on US-59 at southwestern city limits of Atchison, Atchison county, May 5; Marysville, on US-36 one mile east of Marysville, Marshall county, May 11; Kansas Indian Treaty, on US-81 near Elyria, McPherson county, May 14. More than fifty markers are expected to be in place by the end of summer.
The Oregon Trail Memorial Association, at its annual convention in Wyoming in August, 1940, authorized the organization of state councils or affiliates to the parent association. The Kansas council, called The American Pioneer Trails Association of Kansas, was or- ganized at Marysville, September 30, 1940. John G. Ellenbecker, of Marysville, who for years has been actively interested in the preser- vation of the trail's history, was elected president; W. R. Honnell, of Kansas City, vice-president; C. E. Hedrix, Marysville, secretary,
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 221
and Charles J. D. Koester, Marysville, treasurer. George A. Root, curator of archives of the Kansas State Historical Society, was named chairman of the committee on historic points in Kansas. Each of the 105 counties of the state is to have a representative on the committee to assist the council in its program of marking his- toric sites and old trails of Kansas. The 1941 annual convention of the Oregon Trail Memorial Association, founded in 1922 by Ezra Meeker, is to be held in Marysville in August, 1941. Dr. Howard R. Driggs, of New York City, is president of the association.
Native Sons and Native Daughters of Kansas held their annual dinner meeting in Topeka, January 28, 1941. Judge Homer Hoch, of the Kansas supreme court, was the principal speaker. "Our Kansas Birthright," was his subject. At the business meeting the following were elected officers of the two organizations for the en- suing year: Native Sons — Bert E. Mitchner, Hutchinson, president; Glenn Archer, Norton, vice-president; Richard Allen, Topeka, secre- tary; W. M. Richards, Emporia, treasurer. Native Daughters — Mrs. H. M. Richardson, Pratt, president; Mrs. Charles H. Benson, Topeka, vice-president; Mrs. George L. McClenny, Topeka, secre- tary ; Mrs. F. S. Hawes, Russell, treasurer.
The Washington County Oregon Trail Memorial Association was organized at Hanover, March 10, 1941. It succeeds the temporary organization known as the Washington County Historical Society formed at Hanover July 22, 1940. The new organization will man- age the historic Hollenberg ranch house soon to be acquired by the state. Officers of the association are: Leo E. Dicker, president; Dr. F. H. Rhoades, vice-president; Ed J. Flaherty, secretary; John Merk, Jr., treasurer. E. H. Miller, Dugald Spence and Fred Brock- meyer are members of the board of trustees.
The Dickinson County Historical Society held its spring meeting at Elmo, March 13, 1941. The origin of churches and schools, tales of the Wild West, stories of antelope, prairie fires and other sagas of the old days were told. The Rev. W. J. Becker gave a history of the Swiss people who settled on Turkey creek in 1860 and of the Ger- mans who came a few years later. The Rev. Ben Fadenrecht and the Rev. John Breeder gave synopses of the North German and South German Baptist churches which were organized in 1865. Jean Bonfield told of the organization of the St. Columba church in Elmo in 1872.
222 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A program and reception in honor of William W. Nixon, of Jewell, the first Kansan to hold the office of commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, was held at the Memorial building in Topeka, April 5, 1941. Martin L. Phillips, commander of Capitol Post No. 1, of the American Legion, was master of ceremonies and Al F. Williams was speaker of the evening. Mrs. Grace M. Wanner, secretary of the Kansas G. A. R. and president of the Woman's Re- lief Corps, had charge of arrangements.
Rex Singleton of Benedict was elected president of the Wilson County Historical Society at a meeting in Fredonia, April 5, 1941. Other officers are: Mrs. Vella Smith, Fredonia, vice-president; Mrs. Bernice Ludwick, Buffalo, secretary ; Mrs. C. 0. Pingrey, Neodesha, treasurer, and Mrs. W. H. Edmundson, Fredonia, historian. These officers and a representative from each township in Wilson county make up the board of directors. Township directors, elected May 3, are: W. W. Stover, Duck Creek; O. L. Hayes, Neodesha; Albert Stroud, Talleyrand; Charles H. Mitchell, Newark; Mrs. C. E. Hall, Fall River; John Perry, Pleasant Valley; Fred Dodd, Cedar; George Robertson, Verdigris; Mrs. Frank Cantrall, Center; Virginia Canty, Clifton; Gus Larson, Coif ax; M. T. Roney, Guilford; Frank Ridlon. Webster; W. H. Cranor, Chetopa, and Martin Youngstrom, Prairie. Featured on the May 3 program were papers by Mrs. C. 0. Pingrey, of Neodesha, on the founding of the First Presbyterian Church in Neodesha, February 12, 1871, and by Roy Caven on "Pioneer Settlers of Coyville." The latter was read by W. H. Edmundson.
On April 6, 1941, dedication ceremonies for a Chisholm trail marker were held in Wichita. The marker, erected by Calvin P. Titus Camp No. 5 and Auxiliary No. 33, United Spanish War Vet- erans, has been placed just west of the Douglas avenue bridge. Ac- cording to Warren L. Matthews, who traced the original trail through Kansas, the marker is near the northern terminal of the famous trading trail blazed by Jesse Chisholm to the vicinity of present Anadarko, Okla., in the 1860's. At the dedication W. H. Bradley was master of ceremonies, Judge Ross McCormick gave an address, Ezra E. Beard presented the marker, and City Manager Alfred Mac- Donald accepted for the city.
The fifteenth annual meeting of the Kansas History Teachers As- sociation was held at the Memorial building in Topeka, April 19, 1941. At the morning meeting three papers were read: "Recent- United States-Latin American Relations," by A. Bower Sagaser,
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 223
Kansas State College; "A Survey of College Students' Reading Habits in the Field of Current History," by S. D. Mock, Emporia State Teachers College; "Canada's War Effort," by Harold E. Con- rad, Ottawa University. In the afternoon a panel discussion was held on "The Status of History and the Social Studies in Kansas High Schools," based on a report by James C. Malm, Kansas Uni- versity, and Annabelle Pringle, Topeka High School. Jessica Smith, Wichita High School North, presented "The High School View," and J. D. Bright, Washburn College, "The College View." An open dis- cussion followed. At the business meeting it was decided to desig- nate the Memorial building as the permanent meeting place for the association, and the following officers were elected: Ernest Mahan, Pittsburg State Teachers College, president; Iden Reese, Kansas City Junior College, vice-president ; Delia A. Warden, Emporia State Teachers College, secretary-treasurer. Additional executive com- mittee members include: Robena Pringle, Topeka High School; Dr.
C. S. Boertman, Emporia State Teachers College; Raymond L. Welty, Fort Hays Kansas State College, and Bertram Maxwell, Washburn College.
Several Lane county citizens interested in preserving the history of the county and organizing a historical society met at the court- house in Dighton, on April 26, 1941. Mrs. William Charles was chairman of the meeting. The following officers were elected: Mrs.
D. G. Egbert, president; Mrs. W. A. Charles, vice-president; Mrs. Cathryn Mull, treasurer, and Mrs. W. V. Young, secretary.
The Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society met at the resi- dence of Mrs. George Fickle on April 28, 1941. The guest speaker was Miss Louisa P. Johnson who told of her great grandfather Alexander Majors of the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell.
Clark county's chapter of the Kansas State Historical Society has published an attractive 84-page booklet, entitled Notes on Early Clark County, Kansas. The publication contains the "Clark County Historical Society Notes" printed in The Clark County Clipper, of Ashland, from July, 1939, to August, 1940. Mrs. Dorothy Berryman Shrewder and Mrs. Melville Campbell Harper are editors of the booklet. This is the first of the proposed series of historical collec- tions for Clark county.
224 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The Kaw, the Heart of a Nation, by Floyd Benjamin Streeter, is the twelfth book to be published by Farrar and Rinehart in The Rivers of America series. The history of the Kansas river is the history of the state and its prairies. The trails of the hunters and trappers who came in the early days followed the banks of the Kaw and its tributaries. The same trails were used by traders and set- tlers and later by the railroads. Mr. Streeter tells of the days when the cattle industry was at its height and thousands of Texas long- horns were driven along the beef trails to Abilene and Dodge City, famous among the cow towns. Then the prairie was broken by the plow and fields were fenced and there began what was to become one of Kansas' greatest industries, the cultivation of wheat. Mr. Streeter relates the story of the Mennonites and the part they played in the agricultural development of the central part of the state.
The Longhorns (Little, Brown and Company) , by J. Frank Dobie, professor of English literature at the University of Texas, was pub- lished in March, 1941. The book is a history and a collection of tales and folklore of the longhorn breed which once ranged the plains of the Southwest. "The Texas longhorn made more history than any other breed of cattle the civilized world has known," wrote Dobie. "As an animal in the realm of natural history, he was the peer of bison or grizzly bear. As a social factor, his influence on men was extraordinary. . . . However supplanted or however disparaged by evolving standards and generations, he will remain the bedrock on which the history of the cow country of America is founded."
THE
Kansas Historical Quarterly
Volume X Number 3
August, 1941
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
W. C. AUSTIN. STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA J941
19-30
Contributors
JAMES C. MALIN is professor of history at the University of Kansas, Law- rence. He is also president of the Kansas State Historical Society and asso- ciate editor of The Kansas Historical Quarterly.
MARTHA B. CALDWELL is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.
G. RAYMOND GAEDDERT is curator of newspapers at the Kansas State His- torical Society.
Beginnings of Winter Wheat Production in the
Upper Kansas and Lower Smoky
Hill River Valleys
A Study in Adaptation to Geographical Environment1 JAMES C. MALIN
PRIOR to the opening of Kansas and Nebraska, the idea was prevalent that the geography and climate of the country west of Missouri and Iowa differed from the east, but with few exceptions there was little exact information and less understanding of the nature and extent of the variations of soil, or of rainfall, tempera- ture, wind, or other climatic characteristics, or appreciation of the distances involved. As a result a multitude of free and easy gen- eralizations were presented, based upon assumptions of similarity of conditions, but applying to points hundreds or even over a thousand miles apart, and soil and climatic factors fully as divergent. Be- cause artesian wells were found in southern New Mexico, some con- cluded that the water problem of any of the Great Plains territories might be solved by the same means.2 In some of the newspaper dis- cussion the assumption was made that the climate could be modified by tree planting, and a Kansas correspondent of The National Era, Washington, D. C., anticipated the timber- culture acts of twenty years later by recommending that congress give a quarter-section of land to any person who would plant trees.3
Few notable exceptions are found among these preliminary ob- servers. An unidentified writer in the Louisville (Ky.) Journal, March 15, 1856, divided the United States into five natural areas:
(1) from the Atlantic to the Mississippi river north of 33 parallel;
(2) from the Mississippi river to the Great Plains; (3) from the eastern edge of the Plains to the Sierra Nevada mountains ; (4) from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Pacific ocean; (5) south of the 33 parallel, the cotton area with supplementary crops of sugar and rice. The author maintained that the first and second were the na-
1. This is a part of a larger research project, "The Adaptation of Population and Agri- culture to Prairie -Plains Environment," for which the author has received financial assistance from the Social Science Research Council, New York, and from the Graduate Research Fund of the University of Kansas.
2. Kansas Free State, Lawrence, January 7, 1856, from the St. Louis (Mo.) Republican; New York Daily Tribune, October 22, 1856, from the New Orleans (La.) Picayune.
3. The National Era, Washington, D. C., April 23, 1857. For other discussions of trees and climate see the New York Daily Tribune, October 13, 1856, and "Trees" by "W. T.," in The Smoky Hill and Republican Union, Junction City, March 13, 1862. (The name of this newspaper was changed in the course of years to the Junction City Union, and hereafter in this article it is cited by the short title.)
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228 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tion's great cereal areas and the third the livestock area. This assign- ment was significant in limiting the cotton area by the 33 parallel and dedicating the country west of the Mississippi river, including Missouri, to grain and livestock, with the edge of the Plains as the dividing line between the two Western industries. The account of another observer traveling in the trans-Mississippi West, published in the Louisville (Ky.) Courier, July 22, 1856, also recognized even more explicitly these natural areas ; limited the cotton-sugar area to the Lower South and recognized the movement of settlement across the eastern line of Kansas and Nebraska as breaking the Indian frontier, and that after fifty years the pioneer was overcoming "the artificial barriers heaped up in his path." This timberless, tall-grass country west of Missouri was designated as the nation's producer of breadstuffs, while the short-grass, or buffalo grass, Plains would be the great grazing section. He argued explicitly that "no such country . . . exists in Europe, nor on the continent from the Atlantic seaboard to the Missouri frontier," and "to render these views clear we must seek the causes of this novel order of industry in the topography of the country, and in the laws which affect the climate, soil and vegetation." The gradual diminution of rainfall from Missouri westward was recognized as characteristic of the re- gion, and he attributed the dry climate to natural causes of conti- nental scope whereby the moisture-laden air mass moving northwest- ward from the Gulf of Mexico was driven eastward by the dry Pacific air mass moving across the Rocky Mountains, having de- posited its moisture in transit as snow and rain in the high altitudes of the mountain ranges. The driest belt lay in the High Plains just east of the Rocky Mountains, the rainfall increasing gradually east- ward as the dry Pacific air mass exerted a diminished influence on the northward drift of the moist Gulf air mass.
It was only after occupation of the country was actually under way that these more exceptional views became generally accepted and a clearer view of realities emerged and even then only slowly. The Lawrence Republican took the ground in 1857 that "to a large proportion of our farmers, this soil and climate are so different from what they have been accustomed to, that for some time they will be obliged to work comparatively in the dark." Appealing to those who could contribute information based upon experience in agricul- ture in Kansas, the editor emphasized the advantages to be derived from interchange of views.4 The particular object of inquiry was
4. Lawrence Republican, December 17, 1857.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 229
"the raising of fall or winter wheat" and the fact that "some . . . entertain [ed] doubts of this being a good wheat country. . . ." Richard Mendenhall, who had come to Kansas in 1846 as a Quaker missionary to the Indians, wrote from near Osawatomie:
My attention is at present particularly turned to the subject of Winter Wheat. I have labored assiduously to dispel the fears of the people, relative to the adaptation of our soil and climate to the culture of wheat — ... I have never known a failure in the wheat crop of Kansas, and I have never known a crop that was not a tolerably fair one. — Though I have never seen better corn anywhere than I have seen raised in Kansas, yet I consider wheat a surer crop than corn, for our winters are generally dry and moderate, so that wheat is not killed out by either freezing or drowning; and in the spring it comes to perfection before the drought sets in.5
This statement presented evidence that Mendenhall had acquired a reasonably clear idea of the relation of Kansas climate to crops; the danger to the fall-planted crops of winter-killing; the hot, dry summers, with the consequent importance of bringing crops to early maturity ahead of the severe summer weather. Winter wheat met this climatic formula better than corn, and he realized this basic fact, although many of his fellow farmers did not. He minimized the dangers to the winter wheat crop, but experience was to demon- strate that many years were to pass before the major hazards could be overcome. Furthermore, other factors than the single one of climate were to influence the cropping program of farmers in the relatively humid eastern part of Kansas. There were two possible points of view in dealing with the development of this new country ; one, the mere matter of newness and the problems attending the bringing of it into full production; the other, the matter of funda- mental difference in physical environment. MendenhalFs views fall into the latter category because he was not thinking of this as just another frontier like others farther east, but rather in terms of a different environment.
In the advance of the frontier westward from the seaboard to the Missouri river, corn had been the first food crop, but in combination with livestock and some small grains — wheat, buckwheat, oats, rye and barley. The settler on the Kansas frontier had come primarily from the corn regions of the middle East, and tended to follow the natural course — that of planting the accustomed staples until local conditions of climate, soil and marketing directed otherwise. In the northernmost parts of the United States, when wheat was planted
5. Letter dated December 20, 1857, in ibid., January 7, 1858, and reprinted in The Kanzas News, Emporia, January 23, 1858.
230 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the varieties were of the soft spring types until the eighteen sixties and seventies, when the hard spring varieties slowly took the lead in Minnesota and the Dakotas. In the more temperate middle region, both the soft spring and soft winter wheats were sown, and if winter wheat did not survive, spring wheat or some other spring crop might take its place, with the obvious advantage of two rather than only one trial for a crop on the same land.
The nearer to the frontier the more definitely were the agricul- tural practices of an extensive rather than an intensive character. The farmer was limited not only by the newness of the environment, but among other things, by insufficient capital to finance adequate equipment and tillage operations. The principal point, whatever the causes, is that near the frontier the system of agriculture was more than ordinarily inefficient and under these circumstances crop fail- ures were frequent, and not because of any fault of the soil, the climate or the crops.6 Partly as cause, and partly as effect of the uncertainty of crops, the farm population was highly unstable and as a local newspaper correspondent reported of his four-year-old community, "Like most new places, we have had many comers and goers." 7
Prior to the coming of white settlers to Kansas, the Shawnee Methodist Mission included winter wheat in its crop program, by the fall of 1839 sowing as much as one hundred acres, and increasing substantially its acreage as the years passed until in 1847 or 1848 as much as one hundred seventy-five acres were harvested.8 With the opening of Kansas to settlers, winter wheat was raised, but it was subordinate to the corn crop. Several factors entered into the con- tinued predominance of corn. It could be ground by simple grist mills into meal, made into grits or hominy, or fed to hogs and cattle for meat. Not only did the habits of the people favor corn in a pre- dominately subsistence economy, but absence of cheap water trans- portation on the scanty streams flowing out of the subhumid plains operated against the small grains, also the expense of costly flouring mills. Under these circumstances, surplus corn could be driven to
6. Junction City Union, December 3, 1870 : " 'A Kansas farmer recently got up in his sleep and plowed two acres of ground before he woke up — and then he stopped plowing.' We find the above joke going the rounds of the papers. It must be a drive at the scratching, which many of our Kansas farmers palm off for plowing."
7. Ibid., October 17, 1861, "Letter from Madura," fifteen miles northwest of Junction City. For a historical study of the instability of farm population see J. C. Malin, "The Turnover of Farm Population in Kansas," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. IV (November, 1935), pp. 339-372.
8. Martha Caldwell, Annals of Shawnee Methodist Mission, . . . (1939), p. 31. For the harvest of 1847 or 1848 see the Richard Mendenhall article, Lawrence Republican, January 7, 1858.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 231
market as livestock, or be disposed of in the concentrated form of corn whisky.9
The hazards of winter wheat production were more serious also than Mendenhall had been willing to admit in his winter wheat letter. Optimism and pessimism concerning its part in the Kansas crop program fluctuated with the vicissitudes of the seasons. As the Lawrence Republican put it August 27, 1857, "although wheat is, next to corn, the most important crop raised in our country (except- ing the grass crop), it is the most uncertain of all our staples. " The hazards enumerated were winter-killing, insects, rust, and rain dam- age to grain in the shock, but with a good yield and prices, the paper maintained that wheat was the most profitable crop Kansas could raise. The wheat crop just harvested when this was written in 1857 was the one planted during the civil war of 1856 and therefore there might be good reason to point out that the greatest hazard of all was probably inadequate and unseasonable preparation of the soil and seeding. Two years later, and after a favorable season, the same paper boasted of the excellent wheat prospects and of the large acreage sown in the fall of 1858, and rejoiced in its estimate that the cash drain of $100,000 for flour out of Kansas the preceding year would cease with the harvest of 1859. 10
The principal focus of this study is the upper Kansas river, the area where the several streams converge — the streams flowing out of the Great Plains — which form the main river called the Kansas. Going upstream, they are the Blue, the Republican, the Solomon, the Saline and the Smoky Hill. This country lies west of the first four tiers of counties, the up-river counties from east to west being Riley, Geary,11 Dickinson, and Saline. Their respective county seats and principal towns are Manhattan, Junction City, Abilene and Salina. In longitude these counties range from 96° 30' to 98° west, the transi- tional belt between the relatively humid prairie of eastern Kansas and the definitely subhumid edge of the Great Plains. The next four counties to the west are Ellsworth, Russell, Ellis and Trego, which lead up to the 100th meridian and the High Plains proper.
The first wheat reported planted in Geary county was two acres in 1856 on Humboldt creek. This statement is based upon reminis- cence rather than contemporary record and no identification was
9. "Letter From a Farmer," ibid., November 3, 1859, and editorial, December 15, 1859; "What Crops Shall We Raise?," ibid., April 5, 1860; "The Farming Interest," ibid., May 17, 1860; Doctor Buck, Jefferson county, before the Kansas State Agricultural Society, 1864, in Report of the State Board of Agriculture . . . 1873 (Topeka, 1874), pp. 31, 32.
10. Lawrence Republican, June 16, 1859.
11. The original name was Davis.
232 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
made whether it was winter or spring wheat. The man who planted the crop sold it before harvest, but the narrator said that "it was some years before the example set ... was followed to any extent." 12 In Dickinson county winter wheat was planted in 1858, but the planter did not harvest, a second man having bought the claim "with a few acres of wheat for $25. . . . The corn crop was good, but the winter wheat was very poor." The drought year of 1860 yielded no crop, "the harvesting of winter wheat was done with butcher knives, each man carrying a sack to put the heads in." 13 These examples are significant in illustrating the instability of frontier farm population and the resulting uncertainty of agricul- tural methods as well as the fact of early attempts at wheat pro- duction. These farmers did not remain long enough in one place to learn anything of the peculiarities of either soil or climate, and as certainly could contribute little accumulated knowledge to those who succeeded them.
The wheat crop failure of 1860 was particularly gloomy for the territory because, as a result of an extraordinarily heavy corn crop in 1859, an unusually large acreage of winter wheat was planted. If an ordinary harvest had been realized in 1860 it was said that it would not only have breaded the people of Kansas, but there would have been a surplus for market.14 Representing the Cottonwood and Neosho valleys, somewhat to the southeast of Junction City, the Emporia News, May 5, 1860, sought to explain the disaster of 1860, saying that —
The failure of the fall wheat is mainly owing, doubtless, to the excessive drouth . . . ; though some of the causes may be found in the manner and time of sowing. . . . [Although there was a diversity of opinion on the latter point there was] a determination to study more thoroughly than ever heretofore the relations of soil and climate, and from the experience of the past deduce those principles which, when properly applied, shall give comparative immunity to the wheat crop from the damaging effects of even such extraordi- nary drouths as that which is now upon us.
The failure [of] the present season has not diminished the faith of our best farmers — acquired by the favorable results of many previous years' experience — that Kansas is peculiarly adapted to the growth of wheat, of both fall and spring variety.
A few weeks later, the same paper, June 9, 1860, indicated ex- tensive preparations for fall wheat, saying that although seed would be scarce, some were sending to Missouri, Indiana and Illinois for it.
12. Junction City Union, August 16, 1873.
13. A. D. Blanchett, "History of Lyon's Creek," The Dickinson County Chronicle, Abilene, October 13, 1876. (The name of this newspaper was first the Abilene Chronicle, and hereafter in this article is cited by the short title, Abilene Chronicle.)
14. Lawrence Republican, May 17, 1860.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 233
We have not conversed with a single farmer in the Neosho or Cottonwood valleys who has not now, as firm as ever, the opinion that Kansas soil and climate are well adapted to the successful cultivation of the wheat crop, of both fall and spring variety. That there has been one failure in four years argues nothing. . . . We do not know certainly that the effects of the drouth could have been even partially provided against, but in common with some of our most intelligent farmers, we believe that it could. But suppose that it could not, and that once in five years there should be an almost total failure of the wheat crop. It is not more than is experienced in the Western states generally . . . and as yet there has been no failure of the corn, bean, potato and buckwheat crop. . . . Kansas soil and climate, though some- what akin to those of Iowa and Illinois, are yet radically different in many points, and of course much more so from states further east. These differences, perhaps, have not been sufficiently counted on heretofore; but hereafter the case will be different. Missouri soil and climate more nearly resembles that of Kansas, and we are informed . . . that the Missourians . . . raise bet- ter corn than the settlers from any other state. . . . If it be true, it is worthy of attention.
The oldest residents of Kansas were called upon to testify con- cerning the great drought of 1860, the general trend of responses being well represented by an interpreter who had been a resident for thirty-seven years, during which time he had not seen a drought like 1860. He admitted that about every five years there was only about half a crop, but that the Indians never failed to raise enough for their own consumption.15 In evidence that the failure of 1860 did not discourage further attempts in the Manhattan area, twenty times the acreage was reported for the harvest of 1861 and it was said that finer wheat had never been seen before. This prospect of a big wheat crop raised the issue of flour mills to grind the grain at home.16 The crop was good, and the planting of the fall of 1861 was large and was done under favorable weather conditions. Through the growing season the bright prospects were noted in the local papers, and the harvest reports were favorable for winter wheat, but not for spring wheat.17 The editor of the Union commented that "many people were doubtful of the success of fall wheat in this section of country, but . . . it is now plainly shown to be one of the best grain-producing regions in the entire West." He recommended emphatically the sowing of more winter and less spring wheat for the
15. Junction City Union, February 20, 1862, from the Leavenworth Conservative. The •tatement of the interpreter was not correct, however, as the records of St. Mary's mission show destitution among the Pottawatomies during the winter of 1854-1855. — "The Annals of St. Mary's Mission," The Dial, St. Marys, v. Ill, p. 153.
16. Western Kansas Express, Manhattan, April 20, 1861.
17. Junction City Union, November 21, 1861, April 17, May 29, July 3, 1862.
234 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
next harvest.18 The mill question was again an issue as the nearest mills were Manhattan and Council Grove, and one correspondent advocated turning the distillery into a mill because, "it is pretty well understood that, because of frequent droughts, corn is a doubt- ful crop; whereas winter wheat bids fair to do well." The proximity of Junction City to Fort Riley, an outfitting point for government posts in the West, as well as its relation to the Santa Fe and moun- tain trade would provide a large flour trade for a mill with a "large wheat producing country surrounding it." The editor pointed out that "it is already a well attested fact, that our section is unsurpassed in the quality and quantity of its winter wheat. While all other crops have failed, winter wheat has yielded abundantly, and to the satisfaction of all." 19
These discussions of the wheat problem brought out incidental ref- erences to the idea that the climate of that area was basically dif- ferent from the humid East. This matter was more formally dis- cussed by correspondent "W. T.," who urged farmers to subscribe for Eastern agricultural papers although they had no "special applica- tion to Kansas."
Our soil and climate are somewhat peculiar, and hence we must learn more from experience than from observation. Every farmer should consider himself an experimenter. He should endeavor to add something to the common stock of agricultural knowledge. He has a very fair opportunity of displaying all his skill in bringing out the resources of the soil. . . .
In this State, we have two things specially to guard against — drought and wind.
Our climate is a very dry one; the fact is undeniable — however we may ac- count for it. We probably shall not often suffer from this cause as we did a year ago, the past summer. We know, too, that the soil will endure without serious injury to the crops, such a drought as would nearly destroy vegetation in the Eastern States. — Still we may expect to suffer more or less from the want of rain. Hence it is wisdom, so far as we can, to adopt such a course of hus- bandry as will not be materially affected by drought. In this connection, the question arises, is deep or shallow plowing the most advantageous? And fur- ther, what kinds of grain will suffer the least from drought, and at what time it is advisable to plant the various kinds of grain that are cultivated? . . .
The winds of Kansas are too well known to need any description. Both man and beast need to be protected against them. . . . [With respect to fruit trees] we must allow them to grow very much as nature directs, . . . In this land of winds everything should carefully maintain a lowly condition.20
18. Ibid., May 29, 1862. The Kansas State Journal, Lawrence, recommended doubling the winter wheat acreage in the crop year 1862-1863. — Reprinted in Junction City Union, July 26, 1862.
19. Ibid., November 15, 1862, and "W. T.," ibid., November 29, 1862.
20. Ibid., February 13, 1862.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 235
The same text provided the editor of The Kansas Farmer with a justification for his existence:
We know that our soil and climate, the methods of culture and the crops raised, are so different from those of other states, that we need a special organ, a Kansas paper. . . .21
A farmer who had been in Kansas since 1856 had put it a little differently in saying "that the old routine of farming we learned in other states, often fails here, when some other course proves highly satisfactory." 22
The winter wheat crop of 1862-1863 suffered somewhat from a fall freeze, and from wind and drought during the spring and if the "rest- lessness" of the air continued for another week, it was predicted that "this section, . . . will be blowed away." The fears of a dis- astrous drought was "all a want of confidence engendered by the year of famine. It will rain in due season." 23 The rains did come just after the middle of April and continued well through the sum- mer when the local paper insisted that "it rains twice a day regu- larly." With the rains came damage from rust. Many men left for army service during the harvest season and hundreds of bushels of wheat were said to have been lost because of a lack of harvest labor during the heavy rains.24 This was one season when spring wheat did better than winter wheat, because it escaped more generally from the rust.25 The demand for flour mills resulted in three being pro- jected during the summer to serve the Riley-Dickinson county area, and thus by opening a market for the grain raised, larger crops would be encouraged. Late that fall the Junction City mill, com- pleted, was operated to capacity.26
The crop year 1863-1864 did open unfavorably with fall drought which affecte'd the eastern part of the state generally, leading into a severe winter, followed by a dry spring.27 In spite of all these haz- ards, however, the earlier wheat was said to have greatly recovered and the harvest was better than expected.28 After summarizing crop reports from various counties the Kansas Daily Tribune, July 15, 1864, declared "no one need further doubt that wheat can be raised
21. The Kansas Farmer, Lawrence, August, 1865, p. 120. J. S. Brown was the editor.
22. Ibid., p. 116.— A. B. W., Bachelder, July 12, 1865.
23. Emporia News, July 25, 1863; Junction City Union, April 11, 1863.
24. Ibid., July 25, August 22, 1863 ; Emporia News, July 25, 1863.
25. Junction City Union, August 1, 1863, in Humboldt creek news.
26. Ibid., July 4, August 22, September 5, November 28, 1863.
27. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 9, 1864, from The Kansas State Journal; Kansas State Journal, Lawrence, March 10, 3864; Kansas Daily Tribune, June 17, July 15, August 2, 9, 1864.
28. Ibid., June 24, July 15, August 9, 1864; The Kansas State Journal, Lawrence, July 28, 1864, exchanges from Emporia News, Baldwin City Observer; ibid., August 11, 1864, from White Cloud Chief.
236 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to advantage in Kansas," and August 12 recommended the crops in the order in which they should receive attention; wheat, corn, grass and hay. This view was probably influenced in part by the severe summer drought which ruined the corn crop to such a point that it was being cut for fodder by the second week in August, and prices quoted in Leavenworth which had reached four dollars per bushel for white potatoes, fifteen for sweet potatoes, and twenty dollars per ton for hay.29
The fall rains came early in September, breaking the prolonged summer drought, but ground was not prepared in season. Farmers were advised to plant all they could. The rains continued and by October 1 the wheat was said to be getting really good.30 The spring of 1865 was said to have been the wettest since 1858. Chinch bugs and grasshoppers were reported in western Kansas, but the ex- tent of damage cannot be determined from the limited newspaper files available for that year. Most crop reports from the lower Kan- sas valley indicated a large wheat crop.31
The fall of 1865 was "one of the best for sowing fall wheat" in the upper Kansas valley and a rise in price was predicted for the coming two years with a corresponding drop in corn after the 1865 crop. The neglect of wheat was attributed to the recent high price of corn with the result that for the next twenty months a large proportion of flour would have to be freighted from Leavenworth. In part, this view was dictated by the coming of the railroad to Junction City in the near future.32 Snow and mud were the fare for the winter months,33 and then came a brief dry period when fears were raised: In this connection we wish folks would stop to think how ridiculous it is to whine about drouth every time it goes a day longer than they think it ought to without rain. Let Kansas get over that old misfortune, by not keeping it alive forever. . . ,34
The rains came, however, and the winter wheat crop season closed with the refrain that the crop was magnificent.35 The weather record for the crop year 1866-1867 was largely a repetition of what had gone before, except that there was a severe grasshopper visitation in the fall of 1866 and further damage in the early summer of 1867. The wheat deteriorated during June when early in the month it was
29. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 12, 13, 1864.
30. Ibid., September 7, October 1, 1864; Junction City Union, October 1, 1864.
31. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, February 16, 24, March 2, 24, April 6, 1865; Junc- tion City Union, June 10, 1865 ; Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, June 8, 15, 22, July 13, 1865.
32. Junction City Union, August 26, 1865.
33. Ibid., December 16, 23, 1865, January 6, 13, 1866.
34. Ibid., April 28, 1866.
35. Ibid., May 26, June 30, 1866; Kansas Radical, Manhattan, July 14, 1866.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 237
reported that all the world is a frog pond, including "dry Kansas," and later that the floods were "more riotous than ever before." 36
After the floods came a late summer drought which injured the corn crop, and then the grasshoppers made their second annual raid from the air.37 The few western newspapers available had little to say about the prospects for the crop year 1867-1868. The general trend is indicated by the issue of whether winter-sown wheat would make a crop.38 Apparently a fair crop was harvested, because the comment was made in connection with the severe summer drought of 1868, world wide in scope, that fortunately the wheat and oats were out of the way before the dry weather. The failure of the corn crop was pictured as not being disastrous, however, because there was a large stock of old corn in the country, and early corn as far up the Kansas valley as St. Mary's mission promised a crop.39 An unusual corn exhibit, two stalks fourteen feet high with two and three ears respectively, was featured at Manhattan as doing "pretty well for an unusually dry season." 40
Not ordinarily farm-conscious, this lesson of the drought and the third annual air raid by grasshoppers appears to have moved Editor G. W. Martin, of the Junction City Union, to feature wheat articles during the fall of 1868.41 Wet winter months led to a prediction of abundant crops for 1869.42 Later Junction City launched a first class boom, which was primarily urban in its point of view, but the year saw an unusually heavy immigration of farm settlers. The farmer element in the Republican valley north of the river in Geary county followed up the Pottawatomie county meeting of the previous fall and warned Texas cattle drovers to keep out.43
The Union called upon farmers to report harvest yields in the summer of 1869, but the object seemed to be for boom purposes rather than for light upon agricultural improvement and adaptation. The acreage of winter wheat was reported as five times that of the previous year and yields were estimated at thirty to forty-five bushels per acre.44 Disastrous floods occurred in the watershed of
36. Ibid., September 8, 1866, February 2, 1867; Manhattan Independent, June 1, 15, 22, 29, August 3, 1867 ; Junction City Union, September 1, November 17, 1866, February 23, April 13, 1867.
37. The Manhattan Independent, September 7, 21, 1867.
38. Ibid., December 28, 1867, Lorenzo Westover letter.
39. Junction City Union, August 15, 1868, from the Lawrence Republican.
40. The Manhattan Independent, August 8, 1868.
41. Junction City Union, August 1, 22, September 26, 1868.
42. Ibid., January 2, 1869.
43. For Pottawatomie county meeting, see the Manhattan Independent, September 12, 1868; Geary (Davis) county meeting, Junction City Union, June 12, 1869.
44. Ibid., June 26, August 14, September 11, 1869.
238 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the whole area on June 25, just before harvest, and again in July, just after harvest.45 Serious damage resulted, but the papers were evasive regarding its extent.
The press reports on the crop year 1869-1870 are contradictory. First there was a debate over whether there was a dry winter, the Fort Riley weather station providing the Union with rainfall sum- maries which were used to prove that it was wet.46 However that may have been, the same paper had reported dust storms only the previous week:
A great deal of Kansas is not located w[h]ere it used to be. Some of it we have no doubt is located in South America, while some covers the British pos- sessions.
In another place in the same issue the editor said that in a dry spring like this, the farmer "must be up and doing . . . take time by the forelock . . . sow and plant early [and then] leave the arranging of the winds and waterworks to your Maker." 47
In May it was reported that "we have had weather during the past week which the oldest inhabitant could in no way explain, or prophesy the result." Wednesday the wind blew from the south, Thursday and Friday the hurricane continued from the north and as the paper went to press Saturday morning it still blew, mixed with a little rain. Later in the month the editor complained of "a certain class in this country that do little else than to croak from morning till night about 'droughty Kansas.' They prophesy a failure of crops whenever it is dry for a 'straight' week. . . . The continual whinings of these croakers has become ... a bore in the ears of the community. . . ." 48 At harvest time, still a little boom drunk, the editor insisted the prospect was promising and, although not so good as the year before, was better than anticipated. In one issue the winter wheat damage was attributed to the dry weather scare in the spring and in another to a late frost. Yields in Lyon's creek valley were reported as twenty to twenty-five bushels.49 Little credence probably can be given to specific figures, but the inference can be drawn that possibly the crop was only somewhat more than half that of the former year.50
The two counties to the west, Dickinson and Saline, received
June 26, July 3, 10, 24, 1869. February 26, 1870. February 19, 1870. May 7, 21, 1870. June 18, 25, 1870.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid.
50. The frontier counties suffered crop failures so serious that the legislature of 1871 ap- propriated $6,000 to provide spring seed wheat and corn. Distribution was made March 20 and 22, respectively, at Waterville and Ellsworth. — Ibid.. March 18. 1871.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTEK WHEAT 239
little news space in the Manhattan and Junction City press, but early in 1870 the Abilene Chronicle was established and a fairly complete file has been preserved. The earliest files of the Salina Herald are not available. In 1865 a Saline county subscriber chal- lenged the Union's intimation that crops could not be grown there and insisted that settlers had been there eight years, had never had less than two-thirds of a crop, and that it was as good a grain country as any in western Kansas. The specific products listed were corn, hay, butter, cheese. The next year, 1866, a correspondent re- ported that by the spring of 1865 all the timber land had been taken, after which prairie claims were occupied. It was a great stock coun- try, the article continued, the spring wheat yield was magnificent, thirty-three bushels, but there was not much acreage, and early corn was good.51
In the boom column of one of the first issues of the Abilene Chronicle the claim was made that, "In 35 years there has been but one general drouth — 1860 — and even that year the upland prairies produced as much as 15 bushels of winter wheat to the acre. The wheat crop never fails here, while all varieties of grain and vegeta- bles yield abundantly." In all probability this claim was an exag- geration of boomer enthusiasm. But by 1870 Abilene already had a flour mill.52 Most of the wheat produced, however, was shipped east, a large part at least, to the Shawnee mills at Topeka. A large quantity of the winter wheat crop harvested in 1870 was supposed to be still in the farmers' hands in January, 1871 ; some farmers were credited with shipping a car load at a time, and the local grain deal- ers were paying eighty cents per bushel. The Chronicle admonished farmers "to keep a good supply on hand for newcomers, who will flock into Dickinson county in the spring as thick as bees." 53 The local flour dealers advertised winter wheat flour, a distinction which was significant, not only for flour, but which was a mile post in the approaching ascendency of winter wheat production in the upper Kansas valley.54 In Junction City, a new flour mill opened for the 1870 season, the local paper taking up the cry of patronizing home industry; giving the farmer a home market, adding wealth and several families to the town, and keeping money at home.55
51. Ibid., July 8, 1865, May 19, August 18, 1866.
52. Abilene Chronicle, March 3, 1870.
53. Ibid., January 12, 1871.
54. Ibid., November 17, 1870, et seq. In 1866 Lorenzo Westover had pointed the price premium of winter over spring wheat. — Kansas Radical, Manhattan, September 8, 1866. This was just prior to the coming of the railroad to Junction City and Abilene, which was available by the time the wheat then being planted was ready for market.
55. Junction City Union, August 27, 1870.
240 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Heavy rains were reported for the fall of 1870 and accordingly the Union predicted a wet winter and a bountiful crop the next year: "Our mathematician is already at work on his rain tables. He thinks it will take less wear and tear of conscience than last spring. . . ." 56 In Riley county the prediction was that the winter wheat acreage would be doubled, while in Dickinson county it would be larger "than ever before, and from what we can learn, the agricul- tural resources of the county will develop faster during the year to come than for ten years past." 57 During January the heaviest snow in years was reported and although early April gave 95° weather, rains followed, "the wind blew so hard the houses became restless," in fact "Old Boreas has howled incessantly all the week," then came a freeze, but at the end of April the "crops are looking splendid, and everything is lovely. We haven't seen a croaker this season." 58
The fall and winter of 1871-1872 was dry and less winter wheat was sown in the upper Kansas valley counties than the previous year. The drought was reported as general over the Northern Hemi- sphere.59 There was a heavy loss from winter-killing, especially in wheat fields that were not well prepared and drilled.60 Spring wheat was reported fine, if only the chinch bugs would leave it alone. The final reports on the harvest, however, were not enthusiastic; the winter wheat was admitted to have been mostly killed, and the spring wheat "very fair." 61
There was no consistency in Kansas weather and as a bumper corn crop had been raised in 1872 accompanied by low prices a favor- able fall resulted in a great increase in the winter wheat acreage, Geary county reporting ten times that ever sown before.62 The harvest of 1873 was reported greater than in several years, but as prices were unsatisfactory the rising tide of farmer discontent led to organized attempts to maintain locally the St. Louis price plus the freight.63
The first and most important hazard to winter wheat production
56. Ibid., August 20, October 1, 1870.
57. Abilene Chronicle, September 1, from the Manhattan Standard; ibid., September 15, 1870.
58. Junction City Union, January 21, April 8, 15, 22, 29, 1871 ; Abilene Chronicle, March 9, 23, May 25, 1871; The Nationalist, Manhattan, April 14, 1871.
59. Abilene Chronicle, September 14, 1871; The Nationalist, Manhattan, October 13, November 10, 17. 1871.
60. Abilene Chronicle, April 11, 1872, from Neodesha Citizen; Wichita Eagle, April 26, 1872, several Kansas exchanges; The Nationalist, Manhattan, March 22, 1872.
61. Abilene Chronicle, July 11, 1872; report of A. Sheldon, Saline County Agricultural and Mechanical Society, Transactions of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture . . . 1872, p. 239.
62. Junction City Union, October 26, 1872; The Nationalist, Manhattan, September, 1872; Abilene Chronicle, September 19, 1872.
63. Junction City Union, July 12, August 16, 1873.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 241
was winter-killing, but it was recognized that several factors entered into this problem : the time of planting, soil tillage, method of plant- ing, relation of wind, and the time when moisture was necessary in order to insure a crop, as well as the variety of wheat grown. In the lower Kansas valley the harvest of 1857 was not satisfactory, the political difficulties of late 1856 being in part an excuse for not sow- ing in the proper season and for sowing in bad condition with the re- sult that as "the winter was so open, windy, and severely cold" the wheat winter-killed. Early planting for the fall of 1857 was urged as essential, insisting that nature sows at the proper season — when the grain of the ripened crop shatters from the head, sowing for the next season. It was stated that four-fifths of the farmers paid for habitual late sowing by a 20 percent to 50 percent loss on each crop.64 During the drought winter of 1859-1860 it was pointed out that the late-sown wheat fared worst.65 Again in 1863 in the upper Neosho valley winter wheat was extensive, some fields were reported completely killed and many others were badly injured. An experi- enced grower insisted that if the seed had been sown two weeks earlier and made a stronger early growth it would have been beyond danger.66 In the account of the dry fall of 1864 one commentator remarked that unless rain came before November it was useless to sow wheat.67 Two years later September was wet and farmers were urged to sow early because then "the root penetrates deep, and the luxuriant growth of tops spread protection, before the severity of winter approaches." The argument was advanced that "the soil of Kansas is especially adapted to the successful growth of winter wheat. (1) in the absence of clay it never 'heaves' to lift the roots asunder from the subsoil. (2) its chemical composition is adverse to the production of large straw." This was too broad and opti- mistic a generalization even for the Manhattan region and over the state soil differed widely. The same writer argued also another doubtful point, that whether early sown seed germinated or not "it undergoes the . . . process required by nature, whether rooted and growing before the ground closes by frost, or whether the grain lies in the ground till spring before it germinates." 68 Along the same line of argument the author advocated as an alternative that if wheat was not sown early, then it should not be sown until very
64. Lawrence Republican, August 20, 1857.
65. Ibid., January 23, 1860.
66. Emporia News, February 14, 1863.
67. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 10, 1864.
68. Lorenzo Westover in the Kansas Radical, Manhattan, September 8, 1866. He re- peated his argument the next year. — The Manhattan Independent, December 28, 1867.
2—30
242 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
late, December to February, thereby undergoing the wintering proc- ess without germinating until favorable spring growing weather.
As the years passed the issue of early planting continued. The Abilene Chronicle pointed out that many farmers did not plant until October, although early planting "is one of the most important points connected with growing winter wheat, and one that is also greatly overlooked." The reason urged was that only by sowing early could the wheat plant become well rooted and form top growth to protect the roots from freezing and from the sun.69
Closely allied were the problems associated with handling the soil and the method of planting and their relations to the wind. There was little specific discussion of plowing beyond the general insistence upon putting the soil in good condition and there was no mention of alternative types of plows. Harrowing and rolling entered the dis- cussions, but the most important issue was the method of sowing wheat, the drill being the focus of the farm implement problem. Not more than two crops out of three could be expected, according to one estimate, when seed was broadcast and harrowed in, the method prevailing in eastern Kansas in 1857, because "our winters are too open, cold and windy";
The best' way is to put the seed in deep with the seed drill ; and this will be found the least expensive way, when the wild sod has been exhausted and suf- ficient seed shall be sown to make it pay the expense of the seed drill. At first some half dozen farmers should unite in buying one for joint use. The drill leaves the ground in furrows, the wheat comes up in the furrows, and as the frosts of winter throw out the roots, the winds, rains, etc., level down the ridges, thus recovering and protecting it. Plowing in grain answers nearly the same purpose, and as but few grain drills have yet been brought to Kansas, our farmers will have to make use of the plow in their stead.
The same author warned against planting winter wheat on newly turned sod, "wide strips of sole-leather," if it was not sufficiently rotted for the harrow to break it up. Rather it would be better to leave it until the next season for spring crops.70
Some three years later, in another drill article the same paper argued that "the success of this crop depends, in a great measure, upon the manner in which it is put into the ground," but before sow- ing the ground should be plowed, and plowed deep. The depth to which the drill should plant the seed was at least two and a half inches. Thus far the procedure was not different from the earlier article, but now the use of a heavy roller was recommended:
69. Abilene Chronicle, October 3, 1872.
70. Lawrence Republican, August 20, 1857.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTEK WHEAT 243
This will pack the surface so as to prevent the rapid evaporation of the moisture from the soil. It will also prevent the wind from uncovering the roots and exposing them to the frosts of winter. If wheat thus put in fails to make a crop, it will be no fault of the farmer.71
The use of the roller as indicated was diametrically opposed to the objective indicated in the earlier article which emphasized that the drill formed furrows as resistance against wind, the blowing of the soil from the ridges covering rather than exposing the roots.
One of the relatively few comments upon plowing was elicited by the great drought of 1859-1860, when it was said that the big lesson of the wheat failure was the importance of better preparation of the ground. Two farms, lying side by side, were cited. On one deep plowing saved the crop from the total loss suffered in the other field. The author advocated plowing to a depth of six inches.72
The scarcity of drills resulted in continued resort to plowing-in wheat, and the severe winter of 1862-1863 seemed to confirm the wisdom of the practice as "that which was plowed in was alone se- cure." 73 Similar discussions were under way in the near-by Lyon County Farmers' Club, where one group broadcast wheat, advocating harrowing-in east and west to leave tooth marks or furrows cross- wise to the prevailing south and north winds, which would blow the dirt upon the roots, not away from them. The discussion leader of another group advocated the drill for planting wheat in Kansas, because the seed would be placed deeper in the soil. He thought that under proper management wheat yields which varied from twenty to forty bushels per acre could be leveled up to a thirty-five bushel average. Although it does seem contradictory, both discus- sion leaders advocated rolling. The first after the harrow and the latter after the drill, a practice which would compact the soil, but would smooth the surface rather than leave it furrowed against the wind.74
In 1864 the argument was made that in spite of the dry fall of 1863 when only about half of the seed germinated, the crop would have been doubled had the seed been drilled instead of sown broad- cast. The extra yield on ten acres alone would have paid for a drill, because, it was argued, the drill put the seed deep enough that dry spells did not affect it. Implement dealers were advised to bring in a lot of drills for fall use. Another argument for labor-saving
71. Ibid., September 13, 1860.
72. Ibid., May 17, 1860.
73. Junction City Union, December 6, 1862.
74. The Emporia News, June 13, 1863.
244 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
machinery was that "as the army is taking away so many of our farm hands, let us supplant their places by drills, labor-saving ma- chinery— especially just now with wheat drills." Boys and women could drive a drill ; a woman could raise wheat while her man fought. Six to ten farmers could club together to buy a drill, if necessary, or one buy the machine and drill for the neighbors ; "so let the cry be 'wheat, more wheat, and better wheat.' " 75 The editor of the Trib- une followed up this article with an editorial advocating the roller after the drill;
But put in with a drill, the seed is buried well down in the earth, out of the reach of birds, and out of the way of the wind; for as is well known to all old Kansans, in autumn we generally have severe winds.76
The statement was made in 1865 that drilling instead of sowing was being practiced in the vicinity of Junction City.77 A year later in the Manhattan area drills were sufficiently scarce to call forth comment that "it is a favorable omen to Kansas that Drills are being introduced," and farmers were advised to "drill in the grain deep. If the ground is loose, roll thoroughly." 78
Apparently the use of drills had not been extensive as far west as Junction City by 1868, because the editor of the Union wrote August 1 of overhearing a farmers' conversation relative to drills "and the necessity for their use in this country."
They both held that drills would render fall wheat a complete success. The time will shortly be here again for sowing fall wheat, and we would like to have farmers discuss this question in our columns. If they will be of advantage in increasing the certainty of the crop, and from all we can learn there is no doubt of it, steps should be taken to introduce them.79
It would seem that possibly the editor was insufficiently ac- quainted with his farming community except that a subscriber re- sponded to the invitation asserting that "there is no excuse whatever for not raising the most excellent quality of Fall wheat in Kansas." If the farmer could be sure of a snow cover during winter it would make no difference, he continued, but the drill "will hide his grain deep in the ground and free from the disturbing element [the Kansas wind]."
Let the grain drill be introduced; give it a thorough trial; let the result be
75. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 9, 1864, from the Kansas State Journal, Lawrence.
76. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 10, 1864.
77. Junction City Union, May 20, 1865.
78. Kansas Radical, Manhattan, September 8, 1866.
79. Junction City Union, August 1, 1868.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTEB WHEAT 245
made known, and in two or three years thereafter every farmer in Kansas will have one of these implements, . . .80
Following through along the same line late in September, the editor wrote :
We have said much recently on the subject of the Wheat Drill, with a view of inducing, if possible, their use the present season in putting in fall wheat. Those who know assure us that no part of America is better adapted for fall wheat than Kansas, if some pains be taken to provide against certain peculiari- ties of the climate. Wheat, drilled in, will remain where it is put and not be blown about by the storms of winter. . . .
In addition to this comment on blowing, the editor cited a report of the federal department of agriculture which stated that drilled wheat was not injured by freezing.81 In this editorial there was no direct admission that there had been little if any results from his agitation of the drill question, but there seems to be little reason to conclude otherwise. The files of the paper confirm this, as there was not a single drill advertisement published during the fall season, and not until the spring of 1871 did drills appear in advertisements of implement dealers and even then only incidentally.
There seemed to be no such thing as winning a decisive victory in securing the general adoption of new practices. Successful plowed-in wheat was reported in 1872 in Pottawatomie county, just east of Manhattan.82 The Abilene Chronicle printed a drill article the same spring repeating the old contention that —
It seems to be a well established fact that all fall wheat, put in the ground early last fall with a drill, is coming out all right this spring, while that sown late and harrowed in is pretty much a failure. This should teach farmers the necessity of using the drill.83
In view of the fact that only during the decade of the nineteen- twenties were exact experiments completed demonstrating the rela- tion between soil moisture and the prospect of a winter wheat crop, it is not at all remarkable that there was little explicit discussion of this problem during the decade of the eighteen-sixties. In ex- plaining the disastrous crop failure of 1860, however, an observer commented that "had the ground been full of water from copious winter rains, the crops would have matured in spite of the dry weather afterward." 84 Four years later in connection with the fall drought of 1864, the comment was made that unless there was rain
80. Ibid., August 22, 1868.
81. Ibid., September 26, 1868.
82. The Nationalist, Manhattan, March 22, 1872.
83. Abilene Chronicle, April 11, 1872, from the Neodesha Citizen.
84. Lawrence Republican, December 20, 1860.
246 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
before November it was useless to sow winter wheat.85 In connec- tion with the big crop of 1871 it was pointed out in April that there had been heavy rains in the fall, winter snows, and abundant showers in the spring which should insure a good harvest.86 The summer of 1874 was notorious for its drought but when comparisons were made between 1874 and 1860 declaring that it was worse than 1860 the editor of The Nationalist replied that although the summer months themselves were drier, to mid-June there had been abundant rain, while in 1860 the preceding winter had been dry.87
The insect hazard added to the uncertainty of crops, especially the chinch bugs in a late wet spring like 1864,88 and three successive grasshopper visitations during the summers of 1866, 1867 and 1868.89 These affected both winter and spring wheat, the other small grains and corn. A more consistent menace was wheat rust which struck frequently during wet summers.90 The repeated admonition to plant crops early was directed not only toward avoidance of the summer drought and heat, but also grasshoppers and rust damage.91
In this study the emphasis is upon winter wheat, but the fact should not be overlooked that spring wheat was raised in greater acreage during early years than winter wheat. As the limited sta- tistics collected for the early census periods did not distinguish be- tween the two types there is no way of knowing specifically the rela- tive amounts. As has been indicated when winter wheat failed to survive the winter, spring wheat was widely substituted.92 As late as 1870 the discussion leader of the State Farmers' Institute at Man- hattan recommended spring in preference to fall wheat.93 As time
85. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 10, 1864.
86. The Nationalist, Manhattan, April 14, 1871.
87. Ibid., August 14, 1874.
88. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, May 26, 1864 ; The Nationalist, Manhattan, April 26, 1872.
89. Junction City Union, September 1, 1866, August 15, 29, 1868, February 27, 1SG9; Manhattan Independent, September 7, 1867, August 8, 22, 1868.
90. Lawrence Republican, July 21, 1859; Junction City Union, July 18, August 1, 1863; Emporia News, June 13, July 25, 1863.
91. Lawrence Republican, July 21, 1859; Emporia News, June 13, 1863; The Kansas Farmer, Lawrence, October, 1865, p. 149; Junction City Union, February 27, 1869.
92. Lawrence Republican, January 23, December 27, 1860; Junction City Union, June 18, 1864, May 19, 1866.
The U. S. Census of 1870 was the first to list winter and spring wheat separately, but the statistics are of little value, beyond the general indication of larger production of the latter. The census takers began collecting data before the crop of 1870 was matured, there- fore, the production in bushels was for the crop harvested in 1869. Some of the returns were not made until after the harvest of 1870 was gathered and figures for 1870 were given. Be- cause of dissatisfaction in Geary county the first census returns were thrown out and a new enumeration began at the end of November, 1870. — Ninth Census of the United States, v. Ill, pp. 71-73. See, also, Junction City Union, November 26, 1870.
The federal census did not give crop acreages, only production, until 1880, but again no distinction was made between the spring and winter types, and there is no means of knowing which fall years' acreage found its way into the data, 1878 or 1879.
93. Western Home Journal, Lawrence, January 27, 1870.
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passed, however, farming methods improved and experience gradually shifted the trend to winter wheat which matured earlier and was therefore less subject to damage by drought, summer hot winds, chinch bugs, and grasshoppers.
Although some attention was given to varieties and their relative adaptability to soil and climate, they were not made an issue. Among the winter varieties named in the press were: Michigan White, Mediterranean Red, White Bluestem, Red Amber, Red Lan- caster, and Red or Little May, all soft winter wheats.94 Of these the May received the widest endorsement, but all were standard varie- ties in the Eastern states. Probably the other factors in wheat cul- ture were considered of more importance in determining success or failure of the wheat crop.
The resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Western farmer in the face of climatic hazards is one of the most remarkable features of the process of adaptation to prairie-plains environment. Injury to crops or even disaster only stimulated efforts at new experimenta- tion. Cotton was grown as far west as Geary county during the early sixties, and was listed in 1864 among the proven drought re- sistant crops.95 Tobacco took its turn in experimentation, but only for a short time.90 Gipsy rice corn was offered as a never failing crop, making a big yield and superior to buckwheat for bread.97 It did not make the success claimed and dropped out of crop plan- ning. Sweet sorghum was more successful and was an important crop because of the syrup made from it irrespective of its forage value for livestock. Planted almost from the beginning of occupa- tion of the territory it was listed during the disastrous season of 1864 as a proven resistant crop.98 Hungarian grass and millet received a following for tame hay.99 Although not grown in large quantity, buckwheat was one of the most important staple crops in the eastern counties, but was not widely raised in the upper Kansas. In drought years it became more conspicuous than otherwise, because after most all other crops had failed it could be planted in mid-summer and
94. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, September 19, 1857; Lawrence Republican December 27, 1860; Emporia News, June 13, 1863; Kansas Radical, Manhattan, September 8, 1866; Abilene Chronicle, October 3, 1872; The Nationalist, Manhattan, August 29, 1873; Doctor Buck, Jefferson county, before Kansas State Agricultural Society, 1864, Report of the State Board of Agriculture . . . 1873, pp. 81, 32.
95. Junction City Union, October 24, 1861 ; Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 2, 1864.
96. Junction City Union, December 19, 1861, February 20, 1862.
97. Ibid., February 13, 1862.
98. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 2, 13, 1864.
99. Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, June 1, 1865; Manhattan Independent, August 10 1867; Junction City Union, August 20, 1870.
248 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with a favorable late summer and fall still make a crop. Buckwheat planting was recommended in 1864 as late as the fourth week in August.100 Flax was tried in Geary county and recommended in 1862 for further experiment. The market agreement was urged particularly on the proposition that it could stand transportation costs, or still better, the linseed oil could be extracted as a home in- dustry.101 Under a subsistence era of farming the vegetable crops occupied an important role in operations and entered into planning calculations. White potatoes were a staple, the prospects of early and late plantings or varieties being reported almost as consistently as corn and wheat. Sweet potatoes were considered drought resist- ant.102 Fall turnips figured in late planting in any year, but con- spicuously when most early summer crops had failed.103
The relative merits of timbered bottom lands and treeless upland was a problem debated persistently from the opening of the territory. In part the timbered land tradition was just that, a tradition which had become an integral part of the cultural pattern of a people al- ways accustomed to humid environment. On the other hand, how- ever, there were current practical considerations which seemed to give the tradition the authority of necessity. As the rank and file of the pioneers were without money, the timber on the land could be utilized, without transportation and price except hard work, for most all the necessities of frontier existence: house, furniture, fuel, fence, implements. The upland farm meant the paying out of cash for most or all of these things, and transportation from their source to the place of use. But in this period the prairie-plains country had neither cash nor cheap transportation. Closely allied with these reasons and possibly a part of the process of rationalizing virtues out of necessities, the idea became firmly fixed that land that would not grow trees would not produce crops. From the first settlement of Kansas, the upland had its partisans but they were in the minor- ity. A conspicuous example or two may be used to illustrate the problem as seen by contemporaries:
We have said more than once, that those who come to Kansas and settle down upon prairie claims . . . will be in far better circumstances five years hence, than those . . . who settle upon timbered lands, or part- timber and part prairie, [and also they would escape the diseases associated with the low- lands] ... It is those only who have from one to two thousand dollars ready money to expend, who can settle upon prairie claims with the certainty
100. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 23, 1864.
101. Junction City Union, March 13, 1862 ; Manhattan Independent, June 29, 1867.
102. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, August 2, 1864.
103. Ibid., August 23, 1864.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 249
of immediate fortunes. Those without money, or with a very limited amount, must be content to get along a slower way, else settle on timber claims.
That there was no "grubbing" or "logging" to be done, was a telling argument; it was only necessary to plow the broad expanse of upland and plant the seed. Such timber as was essential could be bought of those who had it and needed cash. Substitutes were available for many timber uses, wire (smooth, not barbed until the 1870's) for an immediate fence with Osage orange hedge planted alongside to make a permanent live fence by the time the fence posts decayed. Wood for fuel could be bought, and often it was pointed out that coal was widely distributed throughout Kansas. Instead of streams and springs for water supply, wells could be had at less than fifty-foot depths in most places.104
It is one thing to demonstrate the problem on paper, but quite another to overcome custom and practical difficulties. As late as 1866 and as far west as Salina the predominant tradition still held sway, the commentator pointing out that by 1865 the timber claims were all taken and only then were prairie lands occupied:
Settlers taking prairie claims depend upon those who have timber claims and on ditching and on the Osage Orange for fencing, and the railroad to bring cheap lumber. Speaking of lumber, one of the greatest wants of the county is more saw mills. . . . The want of lumber keeps a great many from
In 1870 a successful Dickinson county farmer, James Bell, de- clared that "he would rather go out on the open prairie, without capital, and make a good farm, than to undertake to do so in a timber country." When he came to the county six years earlier his only capital had been a team.106 Another upland advocate insisted that "our uplands for farming purposes, are superior to bottom land," and enumerated health and fruit growing as advantages as well as field crops made certain by deep plowing to overcome ex- cesses of either rain or drought.107
To overcome the traditional handicaps of the upland, stone was used extensively for houses, barns and fences.108 Drive or tube wells,
104. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, April 11, 1857 ; Topeka Tribune, November 12, 1859 ; Junction City Union, January 1, 1870, "Farms on the Upland. . . . How to Make a Wire Fence."
105. Ibid., May 19, 1866, Saline county news.
106. Abilene Chronicle, May 12, 1870.
107. S. J. Willes, "Farms on the Upland. . . . How to Make a Wire Fence," in Junction City Union, January 1, 1870.
108. Ibid., November 14, 1868, August 28, 1869; Manhattan Independent, August 10, 1867.
250 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with pumps, met the water problem.109 Windmills as power for such wells were represented as providing the means of occupying the up- land ridges for both livestock and farming purposes. The success of the railroad windmill at Junction City was cited, estimates of the cost of a mill and well was set at $565, and concerning the Kansas wind the people were told that "if Kansas . . . does not utilize this wealth, it is entirely the fault of its own stupidity." no
Farmers planted their own fences with Osage Orange seed, bought plants already started by nurserymen, or engaged an Osage Orange hedge contractor who took the full responsibility.111 Wood con- tinued to serve as fuel although increasing scarcity led some to ad- vocate conservation, among other things, by using stone for buildings and fences,112 coal for fuel as well as systematic planting and pro- tection of new timber for future needs. The extensive army wood contracts for Fort Riley aroused the Union to protest that "if gov- ernment would spend one-half the money expended on these wood contracts in sinking a shaft for coal, it would prove profitable." Three years later, however, the editor switched to the other side of the fuel-timber question.113 A few used coal after the railroad pro- vided transportation, but coal burning did not become general until the late seventies.114 At Abilene, T. C. Henry, advocated the use of coal even if a farmer had timber for fuel, because the time neces- sary to cut wood could be more profitably employed in more efficient and extensive farming operations.115 This position is significant also as a recognition that subsistence farming was not adaptable to a high degree of efficiency in agriculture, especially in a subhumid region, and that a more specialized commercial agriculture was necessary.
The process of adaptation to environment through experimentation was necessarily slow, several factors outside the farm tended to con- fuse the problem, and many of the tools essential to possible adjust- ments yet awaited development : cheap windmills, barbed wire, till- age and harvesting implements, mechanical power, new crops from
109. For early tube or drive well advertisements and rivalries, see ibid., March 30, et seq. ; ibid., July 20, 1867, "Caution," also a rival advertisement.
110. Junction City Union, February 27, 1869.
111. Abilene Chronicle, March 3, April 21, May 19, 1870.
112. Junction City Union, May 20, 1865, December 12, 1868, January 2, February 6, 1869.
113. Ibid., July 22, 1865, December 12, 1868.
114. Abilene Chronicle, December 7, 1877. The Solomon news column reported "Coal is coming into very general use this winter." The editor of the Chronicle had been asking, during this winter, "Wood wanted on subscription." On December 7, he added, "We don't want 'kraut' on subscription."
115. Ibid., November 10, 1870.
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Asia and Africa and new varieties of the accepted staples. The close of the Civil War marked a turning point. In the absence of natural water transportation and of railroads, the requirements of Great Plains commerce and of army supply prior to that date had created a seller's market. Corn, hay and livestock dominated the scene at artificial prices. These were produced by a depleted man- power under the handicaps of a frontier stage of development, war- time scarcities and high prices. Stolen horses and Cherokee cattle were sold cheap and contributed to the stocking of many a Kansas farm. Corn was raised regardless of its adaptability to climate.
During the Civil War the Pacific railroad had been authorized, and the line, which Kansas hoped would become the main line, was opened to Lawrence late in 1864. The end of the war and the pros- pect of the coming of the railroad to the upper Kansas valley were momentous factors in the economic outlook of 1865. G. W. Martin, editor of the Junction City Union, reviewed the situation in edi- torials and related matter in his issue of August 26, 1865. The news item that seems to have inspired him to the first of these, "The Be- ginning of the End," was a post-office order that Santa Fe mail start from Lawrence, the head of the railroad, instead of Kansas City:
The moment the railroad passes Topeka westward, that moment will the great Santa Fe road play out. . . . The opening of the Smoky Hill Route, together with the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad westward, will bring this way a monopoly of all the freight and travel now going over the Platte and Santa Fe. . . .
On the line of this new route of travel is the richest agricultural and pastoral region of the continent. The beneficence of the Homestead Act, inducing settlers, will add to its natural advantages.
The second editorial was "Fall Wheat," favorable planting condi- tions and the prospects of the coming two years. "The recent high price of corn has given to the raising of that staple an impetus to the neglect of wheat," but the price of corn "most likely, will be low after the exhaustion of the present crop." He was predicting twenty-five cent corn. On the other hand, "wheat will command $2 at least," on account of the great emigration and the necessity of bringing flour from the Missouri river. Calculating the wheat yield at twenty-five bushels and corn at forty bushels per acre, he predicted that one acre of wheat would be worth five of corn.116
116. The Fort Riley price of corn in 1864 cannot be determined from materials available. The Leavenworth market price was quoted at the end of August at $1.20 while winter wheat was $2.00 to $2.25 and spring wheat $1.50. To the price of corn at the Missouri river must be added freight and handling charges by wagon train to Fort Riley or other interior army posts. The Emporia price of corn was $1.25. — Leavenworth Daily Conservative, August 31, September 27, 1864. The Fort Zarah (near Great Bend) contracts for 15,000 bushels of corn
252 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The third article was a success story reprinted from the Topeka Record. A woman with five children had settled thirty-five miles west of Junction City, near the mouth of the Solomon river in 1860. Her capital was $400, two yoke of oxen and a wagon, and in 1865 they owned 1,200 acres of land, 200 head of cattle, and had sold dur- ing the year 1,200 bushels of corn at $2.50 per bushel, twenty-two head of steers at $75 each, and 900 pounds of butter at seventy-five cents per pound. The article concluded "We think the story that western Kansas is a desert must be about 'played out.' n
The following year the ambitions of Junction City as a trading point were reviewed. Because of the controversy over the location of the railroad route to the westward, the coming of the railroad was expected to make the city a terminus for a longer period than towns usually enjoyed that distinction. As a permanent advantage, the railroad would make tributary all the country to the south in the direction of Council Grove and to the northwest, up the Republican valley and two wagon roads were laid out to exploit those advan- tages. On July 2 the Santa Fe mail did start from Junction City.117
During these years large numbers of native cattle and sheep were driven in from the east and Cherokee cattle from the south.118 The volume of these livestock movements prior to 1867 has been obscured by the exaggerated emphasis that has been given to the Texas cattle trade through Abilene and other Western points beginning in 1867. For years the farmers had been obliged to herd their growing crops against depredations of livestock. James Bell related in the spring of 1870 how he had herded his crops for the first four years near Abilene, 1864-1868, but by 1870 he had completed the enclosure of his whole farm of 240 acres with a post and board fence at a cost of $1,200.119 That was farming under adversity, but the Texas herds from 1867 to 1872 made the life of the unfenced farmer a burden. The business men of the towns who benefited from the Texas trade allied themselves with the cattle interests to the serious detriment of
were let at prices ranging from $4.00 to $4.93 delivered at the fort. — Junction City Union, Sep- tember 10, 1864. Bids for 35,000 bushels more were rejected at the same time because the prices were too high. Wheat raised in the upper valley would have had to stand freight to mill and back, plus handling costs.
In 1865, corn from the new crop was bought at $1.19 delivered at Fort Riley, — Ibid., November 4, 11, 1865. By the following summer the price had declined on the crop of 1865 so that July contracts were let in 1866 at 67 to 93 cents delivered at Fort Riley. — Ibid., July 7, 1866. November contracts were let at 86 and 88 cents. — Ibid.f November 24, 1866.
117. Ibid., April 28, June 30, 1866.
118. Spanish fever outbreak brought in by southern cattle. — Kansas Daily Tribune, Law- rence, August 24, 1864 ; Breaking up of Cherokee cattle theft activities. — Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, August 3, 17, 1865; Native cattle and sheep driven west and other data. — Junction City Union, April 22, June 3, November 18, December 16, 1865. An estimate was made that in 1863 some half million Eastern native cattle, mostly from Missouri, were driven over the overland route through northern Kansas for the Western territories.
119. Abilene Chronicle, May 12, 1870.
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the small farmer, and the trade thrived in defiance of the legislative enactments of 1867 and later.
Even before the completion of the Kansas Pacific railroad to Den- ver in September, 1870, the pendulum started to swing back to the small farmer. The railroad undertook an aggressive immigration campaign as a means of disposing of its land grant. The tide of settlers began to flow in increasing numbers in 1868 and by 1869 assumed the proportions of a boom. The Junction City Union launched a town building campaign in the approved sensational boom style with its issue of February 13, 1869, and continued the booster activities through the year on the subjects of immigration, cleaning up the hotel and vice rackets, promoting buildings, home industries, exploiting crop reports and freight volume, following the building of the Southern Branch through Council Grove to Emporia and the south line and promoting a railroad project up the Solomon. The first reduction in freight and passenger rates as a result of the com- pletion of the Southern Branch came in June, 1870.120
Two highly significant editorials appeared in the Junction City Union, September 11, 1869. The first analyzed the relation of land prices to cattle and cereal production, tracing the center of cattle production across the continent from the vicinity of the Philadelphia market to Kansas — cereals continuously displacing cattle, as soon as the price of land rose beyond the profit margin for cattle. He gave the cattle industry of the upper Kansas valley less than ten years of predominance on $25 per acre land before grain would take the ascendency.
The second editorial was directed "To Immigrants" and was de- signed to dispel doubts concerning water supply and markets for grain, two things which Martin admitted both amused and provoked him. With respect to water he pointed to inexhaustible supplies in wells thirty-five to fifty feet deep, costing $30 to $150 according to construction, and windmills costing $500 that pump water and cut feed for 500 cattle. The markets were for the most part at the farmer's door, surplus corn and hay could be shipped west, flour would be made at home as soon as mills were improved and three of every four pounds of butter consumed was shipped in. He used Clay Center, off the railroad, to illustrate what he meant by a mar- ket at home. In spite of a big crop, wheat was selling on the farms there at a higher price than at the Junction City market:
For five years to come, every man who cultivates a farm can safely calculate
120. Junction City Union, July 2, 1870.
254 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
on the fact that the new and neighboring settlers will gladly purchase his crop, and not even trouble him to hitch up his team.
The rising influence of the small farmer and stockman made itself evident as the years passed. In Pottawatomie county a meeting was held in September, 1868, to prevent the driving of Texas cattle through that region.121 Resolutions were adopted June 5, 1869, by the citizens of the Republican valley above Junction City citing the act of the legislature of 1867 against Texas cattle and warning that it would be enforced by the citizens of the valley.122 Some stock- men were on the other side of the question, however, one letter of protest being printed at the same time as the resolutions, the editor endorsing the letter. The argument was that farmers should buy up young Texas cattle and calves, winter them, which freed them from the Texas fever, and use them as foundation herds for crossing with Durham bulls. He minimized the Texas fever, insisting he had ar- rived at this conclusion from experience after first opposing admis- sion of Texas stock. The interest in cattle was emphasized soon after by the comment that investment within the year had tripled in Geary county.123 Other ground for opposition to Texas cattle was their poor quality, slow response to feed which made them ex- pensive and price discrimination against them when fat.124 In Dick- inson county, after a long campaign a compromise agreement was negotiated May 15, 1871, between the Farmers' Protective Associa- tion and citizens of Abilene by which a definite herding ground and a prescribed cattle trail was specified, and a fund was collected to pay damages that might occur. The association reserved the right to prohibit the trade altogether the following year.125 This alterna- tive was exercised, the circular to the Texas cattle trade being pub- lished in the Chronicle February 22, 1872.
Paralleling closely the campaign against Texas cattle was the campaign for the herd law; that instead of farmers fencing livestock out of their fields under the fence law of 1868, the stockmen must fence the animals in or herd them, becoming liable for all damage done to fields irrespective of fences. The herd law of 1871 was ap- plicable only to enumerated counties, of which Dickinson was one, but only upon a vote of the citizens. The herd law of 1872 vested
121. Manhattan Independent, September 12, 1868.
122. Junction City Union, June 12, 1869.
123. Ibid., July 24, 1869.
124. The Nationalist, Manhattan, June 9, 1871.
125. Abilene Chronicle, January 12, 19, 26, February 2, 1871, covers the preliminary campaign. A summary of the agreement was published in ibid., May 18, and the text, June 8, 1871.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 255
the power in the board of county commissioners. Saline and Dickin- son counties acted immediately, the provisions of the law becoming effective April 8 and 12 respectively.126 In Geary county the law was not called into operation until February 19, 1876. 127
A new standard of stabilization of the cattle industry resulted from the elimination of the Texas cattle and fencing of pastures. A few blooded cattle had been brought in prior to 1870, but under the new regime frequent notices appeared in the newspapers of such im- portations, mostly Shorthorns.128 Sheep had many followers also. A bumper corn crop in 1872, with ruinously low prices, not only stirred the farmers of Kansas to organized agitation and eventual revolt under the banner of the Grange, but gave emphasis to live- stock production on a larger scale, and to diversification in which winter wheat became the leading beneficiary. The Dickinson county fair of 1870, the first, offered among its various premiums, one for wheat, making no distinction between the spring and the winter varieties. The second and third fairs, however, gave separate recog- nition.129 Diversification became a panacea among the more ex- treme promoters and the growing of wool, flax, sorghum, hogs, beef and dairy cattle were coupled with woolen mills, flax machinery and oil mills, molasses and sugar factories, packing plants, and butter and cheese factories. It was said that "Our people must come down to first principles"; manufacture their own produce.130
These years of rapid change in the upper Kansas valley aroused anew an interpretative analysis of crops and prairie-plains environ- ment. In this connection the views of T. C. Henry, of Abilene, are of more than ordinary importance. Born in New York state, he had gone south after the war but gave up cotton planting and came to Kansas in 1867, going into the real estate business and local politics in Abilene and soon gained control of both. In 1870 at twenty-nine years of age he was a leading citizen and delivered the principal ad- dress at the first Dickinson county fair. In the course of his re- marks he described his ideal of a model farm, eighty to 160 acres selected "with the view to rearing stock" ; starting with young Texas cattle and improving them by breeding. They must be provided with shelter and feed, and if necessary dam a draw to provide water, growing "only so much grain as I needed for consumption upon my
126. Ibid., March 14, April 11, 1872.
127. The Salina Herald, February 26, 1876.
128. Junction City Union, October 7, 1871 ; Abilene Chronicle, July 11. 1872, January 2, 1873,
129. Ibid., September 22, 1870, September 28, 1871, August 1, 1872.
130. Ibid., January 16, 1873.
256 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
own farm" and if "I found myself with a surplus, I should retain it for provision against a possible scarcity in the future. I should sow winter wheat, but do so early and in season. . . ." He would sow rye and oats for stock feed to provide against a more or less complete corn failure once in every three or four years. He em- phasized especially the importance of deep plowing to conserve moisture and the hazard of planting corn after a dry winter and spring.
The most significant portion of the address was his views on adaptation to environment, a candid admission of the deficiencies of climate and a challenge to capitalize on the fact that Kansas is dif- ferent. He disavowed any attempt to present anything new, only to call —
a greater attention to the advantages that peculiarly belong to our section and locality, so that a system of agriculture — distinct and apart — as our necessities are distinct and apart, may be created, and which shall secure to our farmers a success commensurate with their unrivalled . . . opportunities.
There were on the globe three great rainless areas, the deserts of Sahara and Central Asia, a small region in South America, and the American Southwest, but Kansas lay in the transition belt between humid Leavenworth and arid Denver. He emphasized that —
This important fact necessarily creates a continuity of atmospherical con- ditions that compel our agricultural operations to conform to them if we would attain the highest success. I repeat, that we discover an arrangement of the laws of nature here, unlike those to a considerable extent that we have been accustomed to in the Eastern States — and I am persuaded that the methods and practices in farming that are suitable to those states, are in very many re- spects out of place and not adapted to the peculiarities of this locality and this climate. The sooner we recognize and acquaint ourselves with these differences and place ourselves in harmony with them, the sooner may we avail ourselves of the unequaled and exclusive opportunities our country affords. . . .
We must take it for granted that the average yearly rainfall here, is less than in the States we are most familiar with, and we must farm accordingly. It does not follow because we have this peculiarity that our advantages are in- ferior. What should we think of one accustomed to the swamps of Carolina, and coming here commence a clamor against the country because it is not adapted to raising rice. So of the man that is accustomed to the corn growing advantages of Illinois — what right has he to set up a standard of superiority, when as a wheat growing state it is scarcely to be considered in comparison with our own.
No, we have advantages as well as disadvantages, but I insist that while we avail ourselves of the one, we must remedy the other, and in so doing create our own Kansas farming. . . .
It behooves him [the farmer] then to study the nature, condition and quality of his lands; observe closely the great laws about him that have shaped the
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 257
local and climatic peculiarities of his geographical position, and by his knowl- edge, experience and judgment, be enabled to adapt the crop to the soil, or to prepare the soil for the crop. He must read and reflect, experiment and dis- cover new methods of overcoming the obstacles and hindrances that arise about him. In this great work we want for leaders men whose examples and precepts will excite the enthusiasm, and secure the confidence of their fellow laborers in this field of agriculture. . . .
As Henry was placing his greatest reliance at this time on live- stock and diversified agriculture, his views on livestock and environ- ment require emphasis. The disadvantages of the humid and forested East had imposed upon the pioneer the burden of clearing off the trees that light might penetrate to the earth and of digging ditches to drain off the water "in order that the earth may bring forth grass. . . . The best and greater part of many a brave- hearted man's life has been consumed before he could possess him- self of a meadow" comparable to the natural prairie pastures of Kansas. And the Eastern farmer found it necessary to incur the expense and labor of a continual "renewal of his grass field." Kan- sas did not have forests nor heavy rainfall, but in that Kansas was fortunate in his estimate, "let us admit these facts and turn our at- tention to our own exclusive advantages." These were "our dry, healthy winters, so admirably adapted to the comfort of our stock"; also "these prairies, abounding in an unnumbered variety of rich and nutritious grasses" and "if we can't raise corn as well, we can wheat, rye and oats better."
The culture and growth of grass insures a diversity of agricultural employ- ment and occupation that otherwise cannot exist. . . . Then the greatest means of fertilizing and recuperating the soil is withheld and instead of the beautiful system of rotating crops . . . the entire attention is directed to the simple cultivation of some one or two staples.131
The general interpretation of agriculture and environment which Henry presented became a permanent part of his thinking, but his livestock theme is in sharp contrast with his reputation only five years later as the wheat King of the Golden Belt. His views on livestock were more or less typical, however, of the time and circum- stances.
Another interpretation of "Kansas the stock state" set forth other aspects of disadvantages and advantages, pointing out that rapid railroad construction had made money easy but that was past and now, 1872, Kansas was getting down to bedrock.
Money is scarce, farm produce is low, taxes are high, debts are numerous,
131. Ibid., November 10, 1870.
3—30
258 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
mortgages are becoming due, and the wolf is unpleasantly near too many doors. What shape, then, shall our industries and economies take in order to make the most of our State and its resources? These resources are unbounded. There are no richer soils or sweeter skies than ours. But we are destitute of the adventitious advantages out of which many peoples suddenly and easily acquire wealth. We have no exhaustless mines of gold and silver, no lordly rivers upon whose broad, elastic backs the broods of commerce ride, no inland lakes and seas, no forests resounding to the strokes of the woodman's axe, and not even any present prospect of a great city, a commercial emporium, within our borders, where the more adventurous and speculative might gather for quick returns and hazardous ventures. We have our unsurpassed soil and climate, and that is all.
Now what shall we make of it? . . . We think we have answered our question in the heading of this article. We must raise stock. . . ,132
The extent of the author's ambition was to excel Kentucky, and like that state make such a reputation for excellence that people would come from all parts of the United States to buy, and like the Kentuckian, the Kansan would not need to hunt for customers ; they would hunt for him; "now then, all we want is the same STOCK SPIRIT, the same ambition to have the best ... in order to equal and finally excel them. . . ."
Reporting for the Saline County Agricultural and Mechanical So- ciety in 1872, the secretary, A. Sheldon, presented effectively the problem of settlers derived from different environments reeducating themselves in terms of Plains agriculture:
Our community is composed of farmers from all sections of the United States, and although educated to some theory in agriculture, and combined with large experience in practical farming in the sections from whence they come, owing to the difference in the chemical properties of soil, water and atmosphere, it has been and probably will be for some years to come, neces- sary to resort to experimental farming before perfect success is fully attained. We are improving steadily in acquiring knowledge of the best kinds of seed and the best mode of tillage in this section of the State. Much attention has been given to the planting of fruit and forest trees as well as the growing of the Osage orange. All of which, when properly cared for, thrive remarkably well.133
The year 1872 seems to close a period in the development of the upper Kansas valley, with soft winter wheat a proven crop, but only one of three leaders, the others being corn and cattle. The winter wheat boom and the fame of the "Golden Belt" lay in the future.
132. The Kansas Spirit, Lawrence, April 6, 1872.
133. Transactions of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture , . . 1812, p. 239.
MALIN: BEGINNINGS OF WINTER WHEAT 259
POSTSCRIPT
An attractive human-interest story, once in circulation, has a way of becoming an accepted tradition. That the story is contrary to all canons of reasonableness as well as to historical facts seems to make little difference once repetition has accomplished its acceptance. Already Kansas has acquired a number of winter-wheat legends, one of which has its focus in Dickinson county and is associated with the name of T. C. Henry of Abilene. Stuart Henry told the story, in praise of his elder brother, that he was inspired by the market leadership of the comparatively new Minnesota winter [sic] wheat and determined to save his Dickinson county from "impend- ing bankruptcy" by experimenting with winter wheat in Kansas. To avoid the ridicule of the "town cynics," he pledged his family to keep the secret of a five-acre field of winter wheat sown in the fall of 1870 on river bottom land. The wheat was a success and "it proved to be the epochal event for the Plains." Henry planted several hun- dred acres of valley land in the fall of 1871, according to the story, began to advertise "the news of his discovery," and was invited to speak before a convention where he was "nearly booed ... off his feet," because he had aroused the opposition of the stockmen and even the farming element feared his activities would react un- favorably against "sensible endeavor." 134
In the light of the historical narrative of the development of winter wheat growing in the upper Kansas valley, the Stuart Henry story breaks down of its own weight. Winter wheat had been raised on both bottom lands and uplands for years prior to T. C. Henry's activities which, according to his own story prepared for the Kansas State Historical Society in 1904,135 began in 1873, and he secured his seed from James Bell who had grown it on his farm adjoining Abilene on the south. The ridicule by Plains people of experimenta- tion, stressed by Stuart Henry, was conspicuously out of character and the numerous examples of recognition of fundamental differ- ences in environment and the necessity of making adaptations upon the basis of experiment amply demonstrate that author's fallacy.
Co.' Inc. fS]^'m^
Field," **• Kansas His-
The Diary of George H. Hildt
June to December, 1857
Pioneer of Johnson County
Edited by MARTHA B. CALDWELL
I. INTRODUCTION
H. HILDT, John Diehl and Charles Wood arrived in vJT Kansas territory from their home in Canal Dover, Ohio, about the first of June, 1857. After spending several days looking over the land and visiting friends who had preceded them, they selected ad- joining claims in southern Johnson county, naming their settlement Tuscarora.1 Other Ohio friends 2 took claims near them, and in the fall William C. Quantrill,3 who later became the notorious guerrilla leader, came up from Franklin county to join his schoolmates. Quantrill filed on a claim near Hildt's. The claims were a part of the Shawnee Indian lands opened for purchase and preemption on November 19, 1857.4 Two weeks later Hildt filed declarations of intention at the Lecompton land office for himself and several of his neighbors. About the first of January, 1858, he left for St. Louis, where he worked for a short time before returning to his home in Ohio. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in an Ohio regiment, and presumably did not again live in Kansas.5
Hildt's "chief object in Kansas," as he wrote in the journal, was "to keep a record of what I do & hear of others doing." This record,
1. The claims were located in T. 14, R. 23, in the northwest corner of Spring Hill town- ship. — E. F. Heisler and D. M. Smith, Atlas Map of Johnson County, Kansas (Wyandotte, 1874), p. 46. Hildt failed to record the legal description of his land in the diary. Probably it was the NW^ sec. 34.
2. John Bair, Alexander McCartney and his brother.
3. William Clarke Quantrill came to Kansas from- Canal Dover, Ohio, in March, 1857, with H. V. Beeson nnd Col. Henry (or Harry) Torrey. Beeson nnd Tnrrey r>urcha.=pd relinquishments on claims in the eastern part of Franklin county near the present village of Rantoul. Torrey also bought a relinquishment in Quantrill 's name (See Footnote 18). It was illegal of course for Quantrill, who was not quite twenty, to take a claim. Such irregularities, however, were common on the frontier. For further information on Quantrill's early life in Kansas see William K Connelley, Quantrill and the Border Wars (The Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1910), pp. 55-74, and a compilation of articles in The Kansas Historical Collections (1902), v. VII, pp. 212-229.
4. Wilder, Annals of Kansas (Topeka, 1886), p. 198.
5. Letters of Mrs. J. E. Hildt to Historical Society, June 14, 1938, and July 18, 1941. George H. Hildt was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1835. On April 20, 1861, he volunteered in Co. F, Sixteenth Ohio infantry, and four months later joined the Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer infantry. By November, 1862, he was lieutenant colonel. He served until September, 1864, and participated in several engagements, including the battle of Antietam, and the sieges of Vicksburg and Atlanta. After the war he returned to Dover, Ohio, and married Angeline Switzer in the early 1870's. Two sons were born the couple: John E., deceased, and Fred T., now of Tulsa, Okla. George H. died at his home in Dover in 1913. — Ibid., and Official Roster of the soldiers of the State of Ohio . . . , v. I (Akron, 1893), p. 334: v. Ill (Cincinnati, 1886), pp. 394, 395.
(260)
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 261
in diary form, covers the period from June to December, 1857. It was written in pencil in a small leather-bound volume, and was in- tended for his family and friends in Ohio. The diary provides an interesting day-by-day account of life on the Kansas frontier, and gives important sidelights on the politics of the time. It came into the possession of the Kansas State Historical Society through Mrs. J. E. Hildt, a daughter-in-law of the author. It is reproduced here without change except for an occasional word necessary to clarify the text.
II. THE DIARY
Shaw says Qwindare [Quindaro] 6 never will be much of a town the Delaware reservation running back about forty miles and no squatters allowed to settle yet on the land.7 Levenworth City 35 miles from Lawrence splendid road and Coach fare 3.00.
Camden a little town on the Missouri above Lexington with no Steamboat Landing, the channels of the river having changed since the town was located a usual occurence on this river where the channel is constantly changing at every rise of water. Gambling on board last night for money. One man lost 260 all the money he possessed and won by a professional black leg. He then offered to stake his note with the captain or check for security on a game of poker for 200 dollars, which was accepted. The game was played and won by the unfortunate loser and he rose from the table minus only 60 dollars instead of 460 had he lost.
One of these lottery jewelers on board yesterday picking up stray dimes. He had his prizes arranged on numbers on the table and by throwing dice the number which turned up took the prize answering to the number. He had the valueable prizes arranged on low and high numbers or all 3s or all sixes of something of that sort the numbers which turned up most frequent were from 20 to 30 and upon these numbers small prizes were arranged. 1.00 a throw at first and next 50 cts One luck[y] man thru forty four, and won a gold watch which the lottery man offered him $35 for. All other who engaged in the game appeared to lose some ten fifteen and 20 dollars and many from 2 to 5 dolls I invested 50 cts and drew a comb & brush worth about that amt John did the same and drew a blank. . . .
6. Quindaro was founded in 1856 as a Free-State gateway into Kansas territory. It is now extinct and its townsite is a part of present Kansas City, Kan.
7. The Delaware diminished reserve established by the treaty of 1854 was ten miles in width and extended forty miles west from the western boundary of the Wyandot lands.— A Compilation of All the Treaties Between the United States and the Indian Tribes (Wash- ington, 1873), pp. 340-345.
262 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Harris House 8
Westport [Mo.]
Judge McCowen.
Leavenworth City situated on the Missouri a very nice site for a town not any grading of any acct required to make it just as it should be John & I strolled out this morning saw 2 Surveyors Offices and one drug store just the place for a new business of almost any kind. The Hotel very much crowded so much so that five of [us] roomed together last night in three beds I had John of course for my bedfellow A meeting of the unterrified this afternoon [3 o'clock, June 6] and one of the free state men to night. Will be on hand and try and report proceedings Hotel fare two dollars a day or five dollars a week without Lodging Not quite as bad as I ex- pected fare from Leavenworth to Kansas City by Boat 2.00 The Hotel keeper seemed to have a preference for Ohio men or we should not have had a room. Mechanics of all descriptions appear to be on demand. The Ladies are here as well as in the states. At Kansas City [Mo.] went to the post Office first thing and meet two young girls of that place with hoops black silk Joseph and Nun bonnets Here have saw about a dozen ladies but some of them common dressed of course but the generality of them very fine looking women.
Democratic Meeting at Leavenworth City. Easton 9 about fifty present though seemed to be coming during the speech He was aware that another ticket was gotten up & he could call them noth- ing else but disorganizers as they did [not] act in accordance with the convention held at Lecompt[on] of which they were members 10 Had the D met openly and nominated their ticket [but?] they met in secret conclave and have had some half dozen tickets the ticket today may not be the one elected A mongrel ticket got [up] com- posed of free state men & other Democ &c related the anecdote of the boy &c eating the said party will eat until dead A voice in the crowd [said] dont say anything against free state men Maj Moore then made a speech in which he said not that the disorganizers in- tended to be such but that they had been misled and that he hoped
8. Mrs. Nellie McCoy Harris wrote of the Harris Hotel : "The fame of that incomparable inn, conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Jack Harris, . . . reached far and wide. To think of a village tavern with a large patronage, serving hot waffles, buck-wheat cakes, chicken pie, fried chicken, turkeys, broiled venison, prairie-chicken, buffalo steak, and such other toothsome viands! These were supplied at all times at the Harris Inn, good and plenty." — "Memories of Old Westport," by Mrs. Nellie McCoy Harris, in The Annals of Kansas City (Missouri Valley Historical Society, Kansas City, Mo., October, 1924), pp. 470, 471.
9. This may refer to Gen. Lucian J. Eastin as being the speaker.
10. On January 12, 1857, a Proslavery convention was held at Lecompton "when the Law and Order party rechristened itself," and was "henceforth to be known as the National De- mocracy of Kansas." — A. T. Andreas, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 156.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 263
that they would suffer themselves to be deceived no longer He was followed by Anderson [John Henderson] of the [Leavenworth] Jour- nal who denounced the whole mongrel ticket and every man on it- Looked upon them all as abolisionists and would as soon shoot an abolishoner down on the plain as a dog was very vindictive the meeting then adjourned.11 Sheriff Jones [of Douglas Co.] was there and the hard[est] countenance of any man I believe I ever saw he carried he was neatly dressed however and the phiz presented a strange contrast to his clothing From Leavenworth we came down to Wyandott Ci[ty] where Bill McMass 12 is at work and making as he says lots of money. Wyandot quite an embryo town.13 Houses cost a great deal of money and rents are very high. Several he pointed out to us which cost in the states about 100 rent here for from 30 to 50 dolls per month according to location.
Boarding 6.00 per week. He owned a share in the town and had sold a few lot[s] from it Leaving the rest at a very low figure
Leaving Wyandot we started to Quindaro and were overtaken by a storm which for violence exceeded anything I ever witnessed Trees fell in every direction dust blinded us and we were brought up standing by seeing a tree fall directly over our path rails rattled around us and we concluded to stop at the next house which proved to be an Indian one Old Mises Hicks 14 claimed to be proprietor a Wyandot Indian She conversed before us to an old Indian sqaw in her native tongue though she spoke English as well as any of us In the front room or the room in which we were was a pianer a calash top Baby wagon with springs and silver plated hubs pictures lounges and all of the best material She had horses cattle wagons a very nice garden and orchard. I think Marion Bear would not have ever thought of Indians if she had been there and I dont think that she would have thought her an Indian if she had not conversed in that tongue. That was the first apprehension I had of her Indian Blood.
After the storm we trudged on towards Quindaro carrying our
11. Political meetings were held throughout Leavenworth county prior to the election of delegates to the Lecompton constitutional convention. On June 6 a meeting was held at Leavenworth City. Two tickets were in the field, the Regular ticket whose candidates were chosen through a county convention, and the Independent ticket, formed by those who were dissatisfied with the work of the convention. This ticket included the names of a few Free- State men, hence it was called the mongrel ticket. Lucian J. Eastin and John Henderson were candidates on the Regular ticket.— The Kansas Weekly Herald, Leavenworth, June 6, 13, 20, 1857.
12. Possibly William McMath, a justice of the peace in Wyandotte. — Andreas, op. cit., p. 1231.
13. Wyandotte was founded early in 1857 on the site of a Wyandot Indian village. — Ibid.
14. Possibly the widow of Francis A. Hicks, a Wyandot chief, who died in 1855. — Ibid.. p. 1229.
264 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
carpet sacks and enjoying the cooling breeze after the refreshing shower. Quindaro laid out quite extensively and a great deal of money expended in grading the streets Quite a bluff bank in ascend- ing from the river though it contains rock which reduces the price of grading to the Co : a very rough site for a village though the Steam- boat Landing is said to be the best on the river We got a team here and started for Ola-the, the Shawnee Indian word for Beautiful John [Diehl] Charlie [Wood] & Myself and two gentlemen from Quindaro accompa[ny]ing us. We traveled some distance until we reached the prairie and just at the edge a fine cultivated Indian farm was before us Choteau's it is called and looked like an old Tus- carawas farm or one farmed by a neat farmer 15 My Ideas was set up at once. The prairie looked beautiful covered with flowers of all shades and colors and kept growing more and more beautiful until we reached Olathe. I think the town very appropriately named.
The laid out plat contains 320 acres of land and the houses I should think number about 20 altogether. John D is putting up one for $200 Houses of all kinds are contracting to be put up and I think that Olathe next spring will not be the little town which it is now. Saw the New Ham [p] shire girl next morning think her toler- able handsome and judging by the appearance of the table I should thinkJier a tolerable cook also two very essential points you know.
Bright and early on the 9th of June we started for Stanton 16 Charlie having bought a mule team and wagon here he took us down We called to see a few claims which were offered for sale on our way down Halted at noon at a shanty and bought % gall of milk and carried it over to the boys in a large tin pan. As the sun was hot we got under the wagon and all headed round to the milk pan and had a fine laugh over the thought of our Dover friends tak- ing a peep at us in that situation Our % gall of milk disappeared as well as some of our biscuits and snaps they did not taste a bit stale. We traveled on until within about six miles of stanton one mule gave signs of giving out and we took it more moderate and at last concluded to camp on the prairie about 4 miles from Stanton We unharnessed the mules and turned them out to graze while we took supper Our supper was the same as our dinner with the exception of the milk water supplied its place After supper we made our sleeping arrangements which consisted of removeing everything out
15. Probably Frederick Chouteau's farm in the northern part of Johnson county. — Heisler & Smith, op. cit., p. 45.
16. A town in the western part of Miami county.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 265
of the wagon and laying down two comforts on the bottom of the box which Charlie had brought from Quindaro Upon these we laid covering up with John['s] Blanket John D['s] shawl and another comfort We laid two and two with our feet together in the middle and 2 of us heading to the tail board and the other two the front We took nothing off but our hats & boots, but felt very comfortable with the exception of one thing and that was that whenever we looked up we saw stars, and at every side prairie and sky met our view We would have been much pleased to have had some of the Dover boys see us in that situation we must of looked quite cosy though we were packed very tight. We were afraid it would rain as it lightened in the south but did not come up our way. A heavy dew fell how- ever which saturated our blanket completely, though underneath we were as dry as a chip. I was awake at 12. 3. & heard John Bear calling to the mules at 5. when we all got up, harnessed up the mules and started for Stanton feeling quite refreshed after our first camp on the prairie. We reached there sometime after breakfast though we had none we made out of our carpet sacks. Saw Torry first going in and out of his cabin as if he was washing dishes and cleaning up He appeared quite glad to see us and had a great many questions to ask about the Furnace &c Beeson & Bill Q[uantrill] were out after the cattle, they are breaking prairie with three yoke, they all appeared glad to [see] us and were much pleased that we intended to stay with them until tomorrow. They live in a cabin about 14 ft square filled up with trunks meal bags bedding pots pans buckets guns tin ware side meat &c. For dinner we had pan cakes molasses, wild goose berries & side meat and it tasted right good I tell you Wild strawberries grow here in abundance we had quite a feast today minus the cream Beeson has a prairie claim I think about as good as any that I have seen Torry owns one of timber as a small portion of prairie 17 Bill Q[uantrill] ownfs] one entirely of timber.18 We remained all night here and slept all over the cabin the floor was covered with beds and sleepers. Left in the morning
17. Claims of Beeson and Torrey comprised the north % sec. 34, T. 17 S., R. 21 E.
18. Torrey also owned this claim bought in the name of Quantrill. It was the NE% sec. 21, T. 17 S., R. 21 E. "Kansas Volume 24," p. 157, filed in the General Land Office in Washington, showed sale of the quarter to William C. Quantrill on June 29, 1857. William Brindle, receiver, made out Receipt No. 325 to Quantrill on that date for $360 in full pay- ment for this quarter section of Kaskaskia, Peoria, Piankeshaw and Wea trust lands. On the same day Quantrill assigned the quarter to Harry Torrey. These transactions were recorded April 19, 1859, in Franklin county's "Deed Record A," p. 380. Less than a year after the purchase Torrey transferred 90 acres of the quarter in two parcels by warranty deeds to Joab Torrey and E. Hicks. Patent on the land was issued to Harry Torrey, October 1, 1858, on assignment (Franklin county, "Deed Record 55," p. 393). It was recorded July 7, 1887. — Information furnished by James C. Malin from records in Washington and in the Franklin county courthouse at Ottawa.
266 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
for Lawrence and passed through Palmyra and prairie City 19 at the latter we found a nice young man who offered to show us claims and John B[air] thought it just the thing. But on examination of our maps we found it about 45 miles from the Missouri and about 15 from Lawrence, and [we] would rather have claims down about Olathe where it is only from 16 to 20 miles from there to K[ansas] City Came into Lawrence about 4 O'clock looked around at the city until about 6 and drove out a mile to camp.
Slept in our wagon had not yet procured a tent and during the night we were aroused by quite a smart shower beating in upon us As John & I slept in the wagon we were the greatest sufferers Charlie & John slept under on the ground We were soon under upon the boys w[h]ere a council was hastily held and we concluded to decamp, and procure the nearest shelter I was safely lodged in a privy near at hand & the rest took themselves to a carr[i]age which stood near Again the old expression was what would our Dover friends say to see us in that situation Or what would Marion say to see John with his blue blanket pacing rather hurriedly to an old carriage for shelter. It did not rain as much as we expected how- ever and we were soon again at the wagon making vain attempts to sleep One of our mules which had been lame all through the trip from Olathe was so badly crippled that we could not go out of a walk We concluded to wait until after dinner on him and look round at Lawrence
Lawrence is not near as large a place as Leavenworth but has a much more pleasing site. Business of all kinds very brisk and a great many strangers in town inquiring and prying into everything. One Jewelry & Drug store looked as well as anything of the kind I have saw in the States Ladies appear on the streets in full dress Hoops flounces and nun bonnets appear to be the rage Every thing you ask the price of is ten cts — i e of small — those which you bye in the states for 5 and you cannot get a copper off your hands without giving it away 3 cts is the lowest coin they know in business
Charlie procured a tent here a thing which we very much needed as we had found sleeping in an open wagon in a thunderstorm was not very agreeable. We made as far as Wakarusa Creek and camped as our mule was getting worse. Here we put up our tent and felt again as if we had a home or at least a kind of a protection against the weather We all slept soundly and we intended to make an early start and reach Olathe before night but we found our mule
19. Free-State towns in the southern part of Douglas county. Palmyra is now the north- east part of Baldwin.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 267
so lame that we could not use him. We concluded however to hitch the other alone to the wagon and two of us walk at a time and in that way we possibly might reach Olathe. We got within 12 miles of it and camped at a little town called McCamish 20 This morning Sunday we made Olathe about 11 O'Clock pitched our tent and made ourselves comfortable — Quite a dull day nothing doing The shops all kept open however for loungers. We had supper to night cooked by our Quindaro cook Charlie and his slapjacks were very good under the circumstances as they were cooked in the smoke of a fire built on the ground as the wind was very high and would have been poor cooking in a stove in a house, let alone cooking out in the open air. The wind kept up high all night and this morning no better. Our tent went down — one of them — and we concluded not to put it up for we had two Charlie got one at Fish's Hotel This prairie country is noted for its high winds even the hottest day does not appear more than pleasant as gentle breezes blow continually.
Monday June 15. Election day in Kansas.21 Great excitement One Tennessean floored five men in about two minutes bowie knives & revolvers were drawn but were not used fighting swearing and rowing kept up until sundown or until the citizen of Missouri re- turned to Westport when no further disturbance was made I did not expect to see such a crowd in Kansas Scarcely a man could be seen who had no arms and they appeared to want to show them. One man I noticed looked as if he had no shirt on at least he had none as far as I could see yet he carried a large size Colts revolver strapped to his waist For supper we had excellent slapjacks very good fried shoulder tea sugar & thats all Perhaps you would all like to know what I call a slapjack. I can tell you very easily how they are made and if you want to try and see how they taste you here have the receipt. We make a batter of flour and water and at the first baking put in some soda cream tartar & salt. After the first baking we try and have from a pint to a quart of batter left which gets sour from one meal to another to this we add a little soda & flour & water and bake them in a pan similar to your small thin frying pan which does not belong to your stove. They are as light as a fether and with the addition of a little shoulder gravy for butter is thirty cts per pound, and sugar they suit my taste exactly. John Bear agreed to cook for us and he does it first rate takes as much pains to make it good as you could. Went this morning to see a claim belonging to Doct
20. In southwest Johnson county on the Santa Fe road, now extinct.
21. Election of delegates to the Lecompton constitutional convention.
268 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Barton 22 which he offered me for 250, 100 down and the residue in 2 months that kind of pay does not suit me exactly and further admonition is continually ringing in my ears "dont go in debt" There is a good cabin 10 x 12 a running stream of water a thing very desirable in this country, and the land lays very nicely from one point about the center you can view the entire farm
Charlie bought a yoke of oxen here of a man from Iowa and we moved out on to a claim which he had picked out I have taken one adjoining which has a beautiful lake upon [it] in which fish abound to some extent. The first night we had some bacon in our wagon and I suppose the wolves must have got the scent for soon after dark they howled around the tent at a great rate The[y] are the small prairie wolf and are perfectly harmless
To day June 19 Bill Welty made his appearance he 'came from Stanton the day before and remained all night at Olathe and come out to see us this morning He had the same opinion of Prairie City that we had that it was the nicest part of the Territory, the distance from market he appeared not to care a great deal about Our claims are about five miles from Olathe the intended county seat though a little Free State Town called Princeton 23 also is contending about three miles from here We are only about 1% miles from timber and on the adjoining ^4 section coal is found which resembles cannel i[n] its appearance We are having an acre broke apiece Charlie and myself and intend putting it out in corn and perhaps we may put out some turnips and buckwheat This afternoon Bill Welty John B[air] Charlie & J D[iehl] all went to Olathe leaving me in charge of the tent. Bill Welty went on to Leavenworth. John Bear re- mained in Olathe and Charlie and John D went to a saw mill about 12 miles with the ox team for lumber for our cabins We intend building 10 x 12 and board them straight up and down and put a shed roof upon them. We can buy timber from the Indians at 25 dolls per acre which will fence in perhaps the whole 14 section in the manner in which fences are put up here You would call it in Ohio a good for nothing post and rail but here it is quite a substantial fence. Posts are set in the ground about ten feet apart and two rails are nailed on to these at such a distance apart so that a mule
22. Dr. John T. Barton was formerly surgeon for the Shawnee Indians. He selected the Olathe town site and organized the "Olatbe Town Company." In 1857 he and Edwin S. Nash were partners in showing claims subject to preemption. Having purchased the field notes from the government surveyor of the Shawnee lands, they secured the description of the land selected by the Shawnees from their chiefs, and had the advantage of knowing the land sub- ject to preemption long before it was made known to the public. Dr. Barton was the first postmaster and the first mayor of Olathe. — Ed Blair, History of Johnson County, Kansas (Lawrence, 1915), pp. 86-89.
23. In Johnson county two miles southwest of Olathe, now extinct.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 269
cannot walk under or jump through Hogs are a nuisance and are shot whenever found running at large. On the adjoining claim to me a man from Washington Twp lives by name of [Anson] Berk- shire he has a large family of children. Almost too large for this country now when everything is so high. We get our washing done there at least took a shirt down yesterday and have not yet had it returned and cannot say what kind of washers they are. It was very cold here last Wednesday and I was very uneasy about the wheat crop. I walked all day with my overcoat on and did not feel un- comfortable and that kind of weather for Kansas in this month has never been known before I hope you fared better in the states. Charlie & John came back from the mill late last evening and only brought about % of a load all scantling enough however of them to build both cabins.
Sunday a very dull hot day a good deal of traveling on the road a great many going to Paoli when the land sale goes off this week 24 Sunday evening we all felt in the humor for singing and Old hun- dred Boylstin 0 for a thousand tongues to sing Alass and did my savior Bleed, &c went forth on the prairie w[h]ere no such sounds were ever before uttered. The ox goad and Haw Buck the braying of mules cattle bells &c are much more common We sang just as we felt and I need not tell that we all thought of home we all con- jecture where we would pass the time were we in Dover & how much rather we would be here with our present prospects than there loung- ing round with nothing to make us exert ourselves
Monday I planted my acre of corn in the sod sod corn it is called. We plant quite different than you did in the states. I planted mine with an ax in every third furrow by chopping in the sod at a suitable distance apart and putting in three or four grains of corn and stamp- ing it under with your foot or axe. It requires no further attention the first year as weeds do not bother you The Indians raise fifty or sixty Bu to the acre the way they farm and I have no doubt that 100 Bus can be very easily raised with proper care and attention We will plant about 2 or 3 acres in beans if we can get the seed, and I think they may do well John B [air] will plant 2 acres too in beans.
Tuesday helped Charlie W. plant his corn while he and a hired man went about four miles to Bull Creek for timber to build our cabins they found a very nice tree and paid ten dollars for it. It is a red oak about 4 feet across the stump and forty feet without a
24. Land sale at Paola took place June 24, 1857. — Wilder, Annals of Kansas, p. 170.
270 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
limb knot or woodpecker hole as sound as a dollar we can get enough stuff to build our two cabins and have enough to sell to pay for both cabins and hired help, so our cabins I think will not cost us a great deal.
Wednesday went over and helped cut down the tree and saw off the but[t] cut enough in that one cut to build % a cabin To day Charlie went to Quindaro & Kansas city to bye a stove and some provisions cabin utensils and [etc.?] Charlie & I and I think John Diehl will live together and see to our claims
Thursday afternoon was splitting some shakes for my cabin when who should make their appearance but John Bear & McCartney He was the last man I expected to see out here They had walked on in advance of their wagon & when it came up I was introduce [d] to his brother who was traveling with him hunting claims. They had been from home about 10 weeks and had been all through Indiana Illinois Iowa Nebraska & are now here and McCartney says that Nebraska is not near as well timbered as this Territory or he says there is not J/4 as much timber in it as there is here and the land and appearance of the country bears about the same proportion. His brother [Alexander] took a claim adjoining Charlie and myself and they commenced unpacking their goods and such a lot of stuff I have not seen for a long time Every old fashioned thing which you were forced to use at crooked run they had and all very serviceable here I assure you He had 2 yoke of cattle, wagon and one horse and Charlie's yoke of cattle and his span of mules are now in sight and make us feel as if we did live here sure. We [are] intending buying a cow yet and perhaps I may buy a yoke of cattle and then our live stock list will be complete. We took supper tonight together as we have done since and had coffee, brown bread bakers bread slapjacks molassess and meat Our slapjacks appeared to be as much of a rarity to them as their coffee did to us as we had none since we have been camping
Friday. Went to the timber today for more shakes for my cabin Took all the cattle and brought a big load Charlie had got back from Quindaro when [we] got back with the quite a lot of service- ables among which are a stove coffee sugar molass check shirts over- hauls, nails glass sash plates cups & saucers &c &c Our stove is a very nice No 3 with a very large baking oven for that size and cost us $8 with all the rigging belonging to it I think I [t] could not have been bought much cheaper of John Rex.
John Bear and McCartney are our cooks and McCartney baked
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 271
2 very nice loaves of bread in our new stove. We have named the lake on my claim Tuscarora lake and the town which our shanties will make when completed the same name "Tuscarora" We did think of naming it Dover for some time but finally agreed that Tus- carora would sound more romantic for the lake and the town of course should bear the same name. All together tonight until quite late giving accounts of our trips to each other and Charlie brought John B some letters and papers from Dover and one paper for me sent to Wyandot, came from Danny I suppose.
Saturday plowed some prairie to day for the McCartneys and run round our claims with the compass to find corners. Think seri- ously of laying out a town and making a blow but I think the time is not yet. To night we had one of the thunderstorms at least so much of one that it rained right through our tent and we were forced to get in to McCartneys wagon w[h]ere they slept to keep dry. It did not do a great deal of injury however as we kept our bedding dry my cabin will be finished in a day or two now and we will not be in such a fix again.
Sunday morning went down to "Tuscarora lake" to bathe and aroused a very large turtle who made into the lake with all possible speed. It is an excellent place to bathe being about five ft deep with a very smooth rock bottom and the water as clear as crystal, fish dart about in every direction We have not tried to catch any and I think they would not be good at any rate as it is too hot Sunfish appear to be much abundant. Charlie tried to lasso an Indian pony with one of his mules this morning as a drove of about twenty were teasing McCartneys horse but as everything was wet and the rope full of kinks he failed but gave them a fine race which we viewed from our tent with great satisfaction. Put on a check shirt to day and a pair of overhauls and tried to look as much like a Kansas man as possible. This afternoon wrote home along with Charlie John D McCartney & myself & John Bear all around one table I hope you will get the letter in due time for it is a long one. Sunday evening, sang hyms and Charlie gave us some Music on his guitar which he bought at Chicago
Monday rode about 25 miles after cattle they had strayed off in the night and were nowhere in the morning. Found them about four O'clock only about 2% miles from the camp or I must say "Tus- carora" Ploughed a few hours this evening and picketed the cattle so as to have an early start in the morning This morning started early and ploughed about an acre was quite tired
272 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Wednesday ploughed until noon after dinner helped Charlie with his cabin and at dinner there was nothing done except a few shakes split and to night the cabin is up and three sides closed and ready for roofing Kansas a fast state I can tell to morrow noon it will be finished and tomorrow night we will sleep in it. My cabin was finished last night with the exception of the floor & door they are lacking. There is one window [in] it and one door and we in- tend to make it the cook room in Charlie ['s] we intend to have our beds and McCartneys I suppose we will find some use for yet. To day I got a job of surveying I think a ten dollar job will go and do it on Friday morning only about 1% [miles?] from here. Mc- Cartney will go along with me he bought a cow and calf to night for 25 dollars a very nice young cow & the prettiest heifer calf you ever saw we will live now with butter & good milk slapjacks & molasses will go down slick Talking about eating I must tell you a good joke. One of our neighbors bought a sheep last Sunday of a drover and came to us and we told him [we would] take a quarter Next morning one of [them] came to tell us that the sheep had been stolen that the rope was there that it had been tied with but no sheep was to be found they hunted all that day and the next and found nothing A few days afterwards they found some bones and some wool and [the] result was that the wolves had taken it off. We had set our mouths mutton fashion and were very much disappointed and bacon was still our old stand bye
Thursday Rode all day after the cattle they had wandered off in the night inquired of every one I met but found none answering to that description
Friday morn started with McCartney to do my first job as sur- veyor in Kansas or I might say or anywhere else. We got along fine started about 7 0 clock and got through about 5 charged him 6.00 3.00 went into my pocket and the same amt to McCartney we heard of more jobs on our return and I think it likely I may make the old compass pay.
Saturday 4 of July fixed up and went to Olathe and in the after- noon went again after cattle as they had not yet been found
Sunday Rode after the cattle again and so did Charlie and Mc- Cartney's brother came home to night but had heard nothing of them I fear they are gone for good The McCartneys had two yoke and Charlie one.
Opened my trunk today and took notice to some little pieces of news papers stuck in the top of my trunk lid found some very good
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advice and instructions I need not ask who put them in. Charlie Wood is playing on his guitar and though the music is not very fine as he is only a beginer yet it has the same affect that music has any- where and everywhere.
Monday put some of the roof on Charlie's cabin and went to the timber and procured some poles for A McCartneys cabin. John D here when we returned had been at the celebration on the 4th at Wyandot and heard Gov Walker25 & some others speak The citi- zens got up a free dinner and all were invited, and John says it went off first rate ice cream oysters beef ham nuts raisins &c. Com- menced a letter to Mary to night will try & send it by John B hear that he is going home next week.
Tuesday finished Charlies cabin and put up our home spun bed steads and arrived at A McCartneys Thomas Mc[Cartney] put his up on the 4th of July, it is smaller than the rest only 8 x 12 Tried to plow with the horse and the mules but found it no go. the ground too dry and they did not work together well. Heard nothing of the oxen yet I think they have gone for good loss about $300 Charlie's about 75 the rest to McCartneys Our stove bakes very nicely Charlie made some soda biscuit to night which are excellent We decided to night to kill our calf and not raise it as we intended as it makes rather a large draw on our allowance of milk. Could support two cows reasonably well
Today 8th of July finished another cabin for A McCartney have now three in Tuscarora An Indian called to day and wanted to know what we called this town. Charlie took a man to Paola this morning who had two sons there wondered when I saw [him] w[h] ether father would come out here this fall or uncle Kuhn or Joe or any of the Dover people to see me.
Thursday helped McCartney to make a tongue for a plough, and in the after noon found some of our corners with the compass and laid out a patch to break about 5 acres. Found some very nice build- ing stone on about % of an acre of my claim They are not exactly flag stone but a kind of flat limestone not shalely however but very suitable for building they are used extensively at Lawrence and at Leavenworth they have our regular flinty limestone. Went survey- ing, for an Indiana man [H. H.] Wilcox set his open corner and run off some Indian land and found out that there was about 70 acres of very fine timber not taken up yet in the hands of Uncle Sam.
25. Robert J. Walker was territorial governor of Kansas from May 9 to November 16, 1857.
4—30
274 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Saturday layed out a land of prairie to break in partnership with McCartney across our claims near % of a mile long made eight rounds and went 2 miles for oxen and took them home.
Sunday wrote to father, took a bath in Tuscarora lake and put on a clean check shirt wore the last one one week For supper had stewed cherries dried apples slapjacks corn bread soda biscuits mo- lasses McCartney is going home tomorrow to bring out Phebe Bee- son 26 will be back in a few weeks at least 6.
Monday July 13 Went to Quindaro with Charlie J B & Mac for a mower, got in about 5 Oclock No mowers on hand sent with [McCartney] to St Louis Mac & John Left for Dover about an hour after we got in Bought part of a bill of Goods and went to bed about 11 0 clock but not to sleep our old cabin is altogether prefer- able to the hot suffocating air of a hotel room.
Tuesday July 14 Finished buying and started for home about 11 0 clock got as far as within 2 miles of the Sante fee Road We had some mackerel in our wagon and the cattle belonging to the Indians smelling the salt troubled us exceedingly so much so that we were forced to harness up and move off until within a half mile of the Sante fee We camped a second time
Wednesday July 15 Started at 3 0 clock for home very cool & pleasant driving & reached Olathe just as people were getting up. Got out to our claims at breakfast time. Helped A Mac to put a door on my cabin & wrote to Mary Slingluff.
Thursday July 16. Commenced mowing prairie hay before break- fast. A new thing for me but I learned to do it up as I thought brown before I quit. Put up all I cut about four Oclock. Could have mowed until noon and put it all up before night
There is such a hot dry wind sweeping over these prairies now that grass turns while you are cutting it Charlie went into Missouri with some posters we had struck at Quindaro for our cattle did [not] think he would be home until Saturday night A Mac & John D went to the timber for a tree for John['s] house leaving me alone. After I got through mowing I dug out the spring and fixed our three legged stools by driving in the feet more tightly We had made them out of green wood and the dry we[a]ther affected them so that when wanted for use they were frequently minus a leg. Had supper ready when the tired boys came home about 8 0 clock and soon went to bed.
26. Phoebe Beeson was the daughter of Harmon V. Beeson. The families of Beeson and Tprrey did not come to Kansas until August, 1857. For some reason Phoebe did not return with McCartney. Instead she came with her family and later married G. A. Colton. — Con- nelley, op. cit.} p. 64.
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Friday July 17. Boys went to the timber again to day taking the team with them and a strange looking team it was. Charlie had rode one of the mules and they put Elicks [Alexander McCartney's] large horse in his place which made a very odd looking rig I mowed some and when it got too hot put up a cupboard in my cabin to hold dishes and eatables. It is made out of shoe box has three apart- ments and a[n]swers the purpose admirably. I had quite an acci- dent happen to day or some thing might have been one A snipe came up to the cabin and was feeding round for some time and at last I resolved to shoot it and see how they tasted as I had heard of their eating very well. I loaded up one of Elick [V| pistols and fired at it. It was sitting near a wagon wheel and the ball instead of hitting the snipe as I intended hit the wagon tire and glanced and came back almost in a straight line hitting me in the stomach but with little or no force and fell at my feet very much flattened
Saturday July 18 Had some fried mutton for breakfast this morn- ing quite a treat made a good deal of gravy and the consequence was that the molasses was not touched. Went to work to day to make a patent horse rake running on wheels the rest of the boys were making hay ladders. We intend taking a load down to Quin- daro when we go for the Mower. Hay there is $1.50 a hundred, here and scarcely any grass to make it out of what it will be next spring is hard to tell.
Sunday July 19 Had a very good breakfast this morning warm soda biscuit & fried mutton & gravy. We only cook twice a day this hot weather breakfast & supper for dinner we take a piece For supper we will have mutton soup & dumplings.
Monday July 20 Started out this morning before breakfast to mow hay along with John D Charlie went over to an Indian to get him to hunt his cattle Elick made shakes for Johns cabin Mowed about a half acre to day and put up the hay in cocks. It made a great change in the looks of the prairie to see a dozen hay cocks sccattre over an acre and the grass very neatly cut & well dried.
Tuesday loaded up a load of hay and started with Charlie about 4 Oclock for Quindaro We had taken a great deal of pains to load it carefully and to keep it very nice and square and to boom it just right. Elick pronounced it when he finished to be a No 1 load of prairie hay. We got along with it very well until we got to Indian creek the worst crossing on the Santa fee road.27 It was then about
27. Indian creek crossing on the Santa Fe road was northeast of Olathe.
276 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
nine Oclock and very dark It was almost impossible to see the road The lead horse struck out of the main track in the direction of a light and we soon ascertained by the motion of the wagon that we were not in the track Charlie got off to reconnoitre and found the track without much difficulty. But in the attempt to get back into it the wheel on the lower side run into a rut and my humble self landed out on the dusty Sante fee very unceremoniously. I expected the hay to be on top of me but for a moment but I had landed so far out that four loads of hay could have scattered between myself and it. We had prepared ourselves for camping out and had our mess box well stored with provisions and one of the proprietors of the Olathe Hotel had brough[t] along some eggs to boil which we in- tended to cook that night You can imagine the scene which pre- sented itself when a light was struck and we viewed our situation by candle-light. There were the eggs all broken soda biscuit scattered in the dust tin plates, spoons molasses bottle broken and a jug which the Hotel man had brought for Molas or rather the pieces of a jug Our tent cloth coats blankets and boom pole were all under- neath The load had not scattered at all there it all lay just as it was loaded, except what was top then was now bottom. We gathered up the rem[n]ants of our supper and our eggs had stepped out and soda biscuits were very well peppe[re]d with dust the molassess bottle had cov[er]ed our plates and spoons had appropriated a part of Kansas soil for their own benefit and to sum it all up we had no appetite as the excitement of the upset had completely done away with everything of that kind. But if the view of the scattered lunch was pleasing the idea of having the wagon to right & the hay to re- load was infinitely more so. But what could we do in the night, it was as much as we could do to load hay to haul 20 miles over bad roads in the light of day, and as the case now stood we had no light not even a single star deigned to look out upon our forlorn and almost helpless condition. Our wagon was all right not a thing even twisted out of its place. We concluded to load up that night as much as possible in order not to obstruct the road any more than necessary and set to work in right good earnest to carry out our purposes. We had not worked long before we found that we could not accomplish much and as we were very well fatigued we lay down in the hay & slept until daylight.
Wednesday July 22 Commenced loading about at daylight and at sun up started off with the rem[n]ant of our provisions and I might say with a determination very well fixed in our minds never
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to attempt to haul hay on a dark night after nine Oclock. We made Kansas river about noon and stuck in the sand on the bank Charlie went across after oxen to pull us and while he was gone a team came along which with some persuasion were prevailed upon to hitch to us they drew the load out and I halloed to Charlie to come back. He came just in time to, witness upset No 2. It appeared to be a very easy matter to upset in a sand pile at least the teamster thought so when the wheels on the lower side sank in above the hub and the whole wagon turned up above the hay shortly afterward as quiet and as easy as a feather bed could have done After a survey of con- ditions for a second time we found we were worse off than at upset No 1 for this reason we were without a fork Our fork in reloading had worked loose in the handle and as we had stuck it in the hay near the boom in the centre of the load we could not get at it with- out moving the whole load. Our boom we could draw out with the horse by loosening both ends but the fork was not [to] come at all. We sent word with the teamster across for a fork and the oxen and went to work to load with our hands until they came The oxen came but no fork as the farmer had never owned one. We procured one at an Indian house a mile off and soon loaded up and crossed the river. Camped within a mile of Quindaro in the woods. Charlie went into town and heard Gov Robinson making a speech he was giving Gov Walker fits about the troops at Lawrence 28 &c he got the letters and papers which were there and I received the letters & papers dated July 12 which appeared to be the only one written since I left. I was very much surprised at this circumstance though after considering the matter thought it all right
Thursday July 23. Drove into town but could not sell our hay for what we considered it worth as it had settled almost one half in hauling 25 miles Drove over to Wyandot and sold it for thirteen dollars. MacCartney had not purchased a Reaper at St Louis and we could procure none here I walked over to Kansas City and found they had a few for sale but no seperate mowers all combined ma- chines The rope at the Ferry was cut and we could not cross with the team so we were forced to go home without accomplishing the object of our trip And another great reason was th[at] McCartney had the money or one hundred of our scant means though we reed a
28. The charter of Lawrence was amended in the winter of 1856-1857, but the city was never organized under this charter and was therefore without municipal regulations. Not recognizing the authority of the territorial government, the city applied to the Topeka legisla- ture but failed to get a charter. In July, 1857, the Lawrence citizens organized and formed a charter tor themselves independent of legislative action. Governor Walker considering this a treasonable act" of the "rebellious" citizens of Lawrence, declared the town under martial law and sent troops there.— Andreas, History of the State of Kansas, p. 326.
278 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
letter from him at Quindaro in which he stated that he would either bring it or send it in a few weeks. Your letter was eagerly read and your kind offer I am happy to say was anticipated My letter con- tained an order for an article which is most needed in Kansas and as McCartney had 40 of my money I could do nothing towards buying a horse, with the residue. I suppose as he started on a marriage trip he will need it all We will make out a bill of eatables which you may make out among hands as it may suit you best and send it along with Beesons good John B may help you some as he may know what we may need, to some extent.
Friday July 24 Got home safe about 5 Oclock found the boys anxiously waiting our arrival were much surprised that we did not sell our hay at Quindaro we were just one day behind in making the trip. We had intended to be on hand at the Free state meeting which went off July 23. Marcus J Parrotte 29 our candidate for Congress made a fine speech I was very sorry I missed it
Saturday July 25 Mowed until noon enough for a load of hay to take to Kansas City Monday in the afternoon fixed up the wagons
Sunday July 26 took a bath in Tuscarora and put on some beans to cook by the breakfast fire so that we could have pork & beans for supper and a piece of ham to take along to Kansas City.
Monday July 27 took the hay up which we made Saturday in the afternoon it rained so in the night that it did not dry until 2 Oclock Started a little before Sundown for Kansas City traveled as far as Olathe and camped
Tuesday July 28 Started early next morning and reached Kansas City about one Oclock Had our hay weighed at Westport Hay ladders wagon & all weighed 3180 A very fair load to haul 25 miles with our rats of mules and our poor rundown horse. Sold the hay that evening for $10 not a very fair profit to haul hay 25 [miles] & sell for 10. but to look at the subject in another way it is as much as ten made clear as we had to go to Kansas City for a mower and for some Goods for our neighbor Wilcox and the 10 for the hay added to the charges for back freight will make the trip pay and we have the mower beside
Wednesday July 29 Bought a reaper and mower this morning of Walker & Chick Browns Patent Buckmaster & Wise Maker, Alton Illinois Could get no single mowers Price 150 gave a hundred & ten dollars down and for the remaining 40 gave our note or Charles Wood & myself gave our notes and John D['s] watch for security.
29. Parrott, the Free-State candidate, was elected delegate to congress in October, 1857.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 279
They did not suppose our notes worth any thing but with the watch in their hands worth 115 to secure 40 & our notes they let us have it. We started about 3 Oclock & came out 3 miles or within about a mile of Westport when we missed Zack our dog & McCartney ['s] dog I took the horse and rode back while Charlie went on to West- port with the mules & load Found Zack takeing quite a comfortable snooze in the shade of a store box at the establishment where we bought our mower Went about 15 miles and camped.
Thursday July 30th Started early and got home the rest of the 10 miles before breakfast or before the boys cook breakfast about nine Oclock unloaded the reaper and commenced putting it up mowed a few rounds to see how it would work or to grease & oil up Think it may cut well We will give it a fair trial as it is a warranted machine Whittier 30 one of the proprietors of the olathe Hotel came down to our claim to night to tell us that our Cattle had been taken up at Little Santa fee.31 Charlie will start in the morning to see if the report be true I hope it may we can use them now to haul hay &c or even work them on the reaper I do not think the knife would choke.
Friday July 31 worked at our horse rake have invented a new patent which I think will work well can either use a tongue or shafts Should we be so fortunate as to see our Oxen at home to night we will use a tongue and work them Had a very refreshing shower to day revived the parched grass and helped the weak springs After supper Elick & I took one of Charlies mules and his horse and rode out to meet Charlie thinking as it was dark he might have some trouble with the oxen i e if he had them Had not ridden over a mile when we met him coming with but five of them. The man who had taken up these told him that a few days before he saw the reward notice he noticed that steer around with his cattle and that he had no doubt that he was still in the neighborhood and should they find him would bring him here. As they had offered 30 dollars reward for [them], Charlie paid him 25 for the five and brought them along. They looked very well have done nothing since they left but con- sult their own comfort would all make very good beef To insure their staying with us for some time at least we tied heavy blocks to their heads and [illegible] them well They lie down soon after and appeared to feel at home, but to our minds their travel to day added a great deal to their willingness [to] feel at home so quickly
30. J. B. Whittier, a relative of the poet, settled in Olathe in the summer of 1857. He and Jerry D. Conner opened the first hotel in the town. They became managers of the Avenue House when it was built in the fall of 1857. — Ed Blair, op. cit., pp. 87, 88.
31. A town on the Kansas- Missouri border, now extinct.
280 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Saturday August 1 Tried our mower to day it worked as well as a machine could in the hands of greenhorns. After oiling & tuning all round Charlie drove off and had not went more than a few feet until the machine choked as we thought it rubbed over the grass and the horses exerted them a great deal to take it along. After some examination we found that Charlie ['s] whip was the cause of all the difficulty as it had caught in the coggs and wound around until it had choked the wheels After much sport and joking about our green driver & finding the whip lash tarred well we started on. The ma- chine worked well could find no fault with it could mow just as we chose high or low without difficulty The only impediment here on the prairie are gopher hills little mounds on the prairie from 5 inches to 2 feet high some perpendicular others sloping gradual with from 5 to 10 ft base &c The large ones are not so troublesome as the small ones. The knife runs right into them as the wheels on either side are on level ground Sometimes the wheels strike them when this is the case the machine goes right on leaving the grass not as evenly cut as the rest but does not make us stop and go around them The machinery is very simple and easily managed, though the best and most simple of all machinery is liable to get out of gear Only cut about three tons as we intended to experiment and know what the machine would do. Our neighbor Wilcox wishes us to cut 20 tons for him and several at Olathe. I think we may find it profit- able employment until the grass is too much dried up to use for hay.
Sunday Aug 2 Wrote to Joe Deardorff, Bill Hodge & somebody else
Monday Aug 3 Worked our machine this morning until 2 Oclock then quit and went to the election voted for State officers Senator and representatives.32 Only 42 votes were polled We went with an ox team and hay ladders as our mules and horse needed rest and old Birk [Berkshire] & Meiser [Mosier] accompanied us. Old Birk not so gassy as usual but voted all right We voted for the Topeka con- stitution at the same time and seperate ballot boxes were kept for each The constitution box was an old cigar box with a hole cut in the lid to receve the ballots and on the end which was visible was the word "Opera" emblematic of the scenes which transpired last summer, I suppose. Conner of the Hotel asked me whether I had heard from John Bear and then told me that his house was going up and that the man was using very good lumber better than any house
32. Election of state officers under the Topeka constitution.
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which had been put up there yet. will not write until I hear from him.
Tuesday Aug 4th Charlie & John went to cut hay for Wilcox with the machine and Elick & I hauled a part of what we had cut and staked it up The patent rake did not work as well as we expected and it took up a great deal of time fixing it
Wednesday Aug 5 Kept on hauling and stacking until after dinner when we went over to the boys to rake up what hay the[y] had cut Took supper, at Wilcox's and eat some of a womans cook- ing Had a very good appetite and eat heartily.
Thursday hauled hay in the morning one load and went to Wilcox and hauled for him as there was an appearance of rain all the rest of the day
Friday Aug 7 finished our own hay and hauled for Wilcox until the rain prevented us took our suppers and came home to our cabin which turned rain admirably The hardest showers when the rain blew in every direction gave us no trouble.
Saturday Aug 8 still raining this morning and a very poor look- ing hay day Old Birk this morning unloaded a load of scantling on his claim near the road and intend [s] putting up a shop or provision store I regret to say that the first house put up in Tuscarora must be a shop of that kind instead of a stone hotel or a building of some size He is in partnership with a Dutchman who is to attend the shop Continued wet all day.
The old adage necessity is the mother of inventions was verified here to day, for my boot sole came off and I could procure none short of Quindaro and I was forced to make a last to mend it. which I did by taking some leather out of an old saddle flap which Mc- Cartney had brought along for that purpose and by the aid of 6 oz tacks I put it on quite neatly & securely, and the boots now which were worthless before will last until fall or until I can get a pair for the winter season.
Sunday Aug 9th Wrote home to day nothing but Journal I fear my letters are getting stale but then consider that to keep a record of what I do & hear of others doing has been my chief object in Kansas.
Monday 10 took Charlies mule over to Spring Hill 2 miles to be shod. An Indian had brought in some new potatoes which he asked 25 cts for or about a cent a piece and they were not very large at that. He had beans and corn for sale at very exhorbitant prices I should have liked a mess of potatoes but at a cent a piece I thought
282 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
it dear eating. Came back & took dinner at Wilcox's found Elick & John there they had been working oxen in the mower and the heat stopped them or stopped the oxen You may think [it] strange to hear that oxen will work in a machine but such is the fact. Mc- Cartney has one yoke of cattle seven years old which cannot well be beat as to work, they are not as large as many I have seen but are better broke than I supposed oxen ever could be. I can drive [them] any where with more ease than I could a span of horses indeed I fancy myself a No 1 ox driver My first impression was when oxen were named to work in the machine that the knife would choke but there is no difficulty on that ground with our machine the heat ap- pears to be the only obstacle Charlie started this morning for Quindaro with Walters our store keeper or Dutchman
Tuesday Aug 11. John & I worked the oxen in the machine to day Elick raked up hay with a horse rake John & I finished our patch and brought the machine along home. Cut a small patch in the eve- ning for ourselves.
Wednesday Aug 12 Charlie at home this morning I expected to receive three or four letters but not one came was much disap- pointed Says he sent a lot of Chindowans 33 to my friends hope you will get them
Had a job of surveying to do to day for Moiser Charlies coming made us late starting but we got off at last. Set his corner for him and as the day was windy could not work very fast I would [give] anything if that old compass had a telescope and tripod yet, and then I think it would be the very thing for this rolling prairie coun- try Elick raked the hay John & I had cut and Charlie came over & helped measure all the mowing we had done for Wilcox and found it to be 22 acres and at $3 per acre would be sixty six he offered us $45 and Charlie would not take it We will split the difference with him on the breaking prairie arrangement and nothing less Saw some of the Indians today some of them wanted hay cut I should like to cut for them to see what kind of board they get up and how they cook.
Thursday Aug 13 Charlie & I went to the timber to buy an acre or two from the Indians & cut hay for them to pay for it. Found none of them at home, the squaws were making hominy out of white corn it looked very nice, but they would not sell any. lent a load of poles to build a stable & wagon shed 20 feet square and cover
33. The Quindaro Chindowan, a Free-State paper published at Quindaro. It was first issued May 13, 1857.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 283
it with hay for the winter John & Elick cut hay all day with the machine
Friday Aug 14 Elick & I hauled in hay & John & Charlie worked the machine Saturday I started for Lawrence as it had rained some in the night and looked as if it would rain during the day for a horse rake the old fashioned revolving rake Charlie & John went to Santa fee to trade or try to exchange one yoke of oxen for a mule I ar- rived at Lawrence about 5 Oclock attended to my business pro- cured a rake & some papers and drove out of Walkers rebellious Lawrence about 7 miles and camped on Wakarusa Creek It was the first time that I camped on the open prairie alone. But I slept as sound as usual and did not wake up till sun up Harnessed up the mules and started for home
Sunday Aug 16 Got home about % Past 10 Oclock & found Elick making arrangements to start for Quindaro after letters If I do not receive any this time I will not soon again expect any The boys came home this evening from Santa Fee thoroughly drenched with rain as we had a very heavy shower in the afternoon They did not make a trade of any kind but brought along 14 dozens of oats [?] at 40 cts per dozen and a piece of dried beef The Missouri State fair commences on the 29 of September, Tuesday & lasts four days We think of going down.
Monday Aug 17 Still raining this morning and an idle day I think look anxious for Elick every minute It rained all day and nothing could be done Elick made his appearance about 12 O'clock to night with the letters & I received your letter dated Aug 10 with Dannys enclosed. A very quick trip. After reading our letters and telling each other the news we gave McCartney and his bride 3 cheers & a hearty welcome to our prairie home & went to bed in a much better humor than usual Hope the report is true Elick thinks it quite doubtful as he has written nothing to him to that effect. That only proves to my mind that the report is correct as young men are not apt to make many bosom friends in cases of this kind —
Tuesday Aug. 18. As soon as it was dry enough went to work and got up hay Wednesday worked in the morning and went to Olathe in the afternoon to attend a free state meeting Mr [ J. M.] Walden editor of the Chindowan was announced as speaker He disappointed us and did not come Towards evening we got together as many as possible and appointed delegates to attend the Convention at Grass-
284 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
hopper falls 34 Mr Ansen Birkshire our neighbor was president of the meeting & your humble servant was elected a delegate It is altogether impossible for me to think of going as we are just be- gining to make things move in the mowing time & should one of us go we might as well all go as we could not do much here as it takes 2 to mow & two to haul. The trip will take about a week perhaps get home Friday evening. I should like to go for I think that it will be the most important convention held in Kansas
Wednesday Aug 19th Elick & I put up hay the rest of the week
Sunday Aug 23 Charlie & I started for Quindaro about 5 O'clock after it had stopped raining Camped at Shawnee town and drove on next day No letters for me Charlie reed two or three. We were told of an emigrant aid [New England Emigrant Aid Co.] sawmill which could be had by any one who would put it up We went and looked at it on the levy found it too large for our use as it was a 40 horse power engine An engine to drive a sawmill on Bull creek would pay now as there is no sawmill within 15 miles of here or about that distance from Olathe. And it would keep us employed during the winter should we choose to remain here. Started from Quindaro about 5 Oclock Monday eve 24 & reached home about 12 feeling a little chilly the nights are sensibly colder than they were a few weeks ago
Tuesday Aug 25 Hauled hay
Wednesday Aug 26 heard of a stray horse in the neighborhood and as we needed such an article we concluded to take him up as a stray that is if we could catch him. So as soon as we could get our horse and mules rigged for the chase we started in the direction which had been pointed out to us. He was described as an old bay would work they supposed in among a drove of Indian horses which were escorted by a jet black stallion. After riding about 3 miles we came upon them & found them to be indian ponies with the exception of the old bay which they seemed to fight & drive off We all stopped in a ravine and made some preparations such as adjusting picket ropes used for larietts & tightening girths &c. Charlie & John had lariett ropes and while they were fixing up I rode in into the drove slowly so as not to fright them and found the old bay some distance from the rest as the stallion of the drove kept driving him out. He looked very nice and sleek alongside of our poor gaunt horse and mules and tossed his head disdainfully whenever I approached him
34. The Free-State convention met at Grasshopper Falls on August 26, 1857, to decide whether to participate in the general election called by Governor Walker for October 5. — Andreas, History of the State of Kansas, p. 162.
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By this time the boys rode up and we singled him out from the drove and drove him towards home & every now and then when an op- portunity would offer they would fling their larietts but to no pur- pose they would slide off of his sleek sides and fall on the grass After driving him a mile he broke back to the drove again and we concluded to try some other plan to capture him as the lariett we could do nothing with. We placed a slipnoose on the ground to catch one of his feet and I held the rope while the boys drove him up to it he jumped over it once but the second time he stepped in with his fore foot and I drew it quickly and he was ours He plunged forward three or four times and then stood perfectly quiet while we bridled and saddled him John D rode him home He had been ridden before as his back was sore with saddle marks We now hold him as a stray. Charlie started to night down to Beesons to get our money which McCartney had sent out.
Thursday 27. Hauled hay to day and kept thinking about Mac['s] wedding &c how it happened that he did not get married and all waiting for Charlies return to hear the news & correct report. Charlie got home about 12 Oclock to night
Friday 28 Charlie came to my bed this morning before I was up to tell me what kind of a trip he had had Found them all there every tad as Aunt Mary would say. Mrs Torry Augusta Redfield 35 and all the Beesons Their goods had not come on yet and they had nothing to do but to cook & eat. Girls all idle and a splendid chance to make a visit. Mrs Torrey Charlie says told Gusta not to eat so much pork or bacon or it would make her coarse & she looked up wonderingly & said "what shall I eat then" Before they are many months in Kansas bacon will supply the place of chicken I think. Beesons wanted Charlie to come down with the machine and cut some hay for him say 8 or ten tons I think it very likely we will go.
Saturday 29. Hauled hay to day & the boys commenced cutting a large patch about 20 acres cut all day we hauled one load in the evening to top out a stack
Sunday 30 Not very well to day a little head ache lots of Com- pany Pintel McKaig Forrest Goer Moser36 and a load of Quin- daro men stopped and took our letters
Monday 31 Finished cutting hay in the patch commenced Satur- day & we hauled in with two teams
35. Augusta Redfield was probably Mrs. Torrey's sister.
36. Possibly J. F. McKaig, J. C. Forrest, Jonathan Gore, and J. Mosier, all living in Johnson county in 1857. — Andreas, op. cit., pp. 625, 634.
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Tuesday Sept 1 Moser came this morning with his oxen and we hauled with 3 teams until noon & until night with two put up 2 large stacks
Wednesday 2 hauled hay with our team until noon and finished the patch John & I mowed after dinner in small patches and Elick fixed up stacks & Charlie went to the timber for post to fence around the stacks
Thursday 3rd John & I mowed some for the Dutchman & Elick baked bread & cooked beans &c made a shingle herse axe helves &c
Friday Sept 4 Hauled in our small patches until noon & helped the Dutchman in the afternoon
Saturday Sept 5 Finished hauling for the Dutchman by noon & went to the timber after dinner for posts & fire wood. Charlie got home to night from Missouri had started Thursday morning to trade his oxen for anything except oxen. Made a trade for a grey horse thinks he did very well. Brought some green corn & some wild plums & 25 bus of oats Will take his oxen down & bring the horse up next week Sunday got up late Charlie started for Quin- daro about noon. I started after dinner to go to McCamish to hunt Elick's ox as we had heard he was there or one answering to that description Found the oxe by he did not prove to be the one I was hunting. Came after dark tired and hungry & we had not a bit of flour in the house and only about 1 qt of cornmeal & some green corn made our suppers on mush & green corn, and must live on that until tomorrow night when Charlie will be on hand with flour &c.
Monday Sept 7 Dug post holes around the stacks along with John Elick baking bread & cleaning up the tent. At One Oclock we started for Princeton where [the] voters of Johnson Co were requested to meet to organize in companies for the protection of the ballot box 37 After hearing a few blood & thunder speeches an or- ganization was formed and Officers elected Bishop of Olathe John B knows him was elected Captain Elick First Sargent & John D Com- missary the other officers you would not know. The policy is not to go armed to the polls but to have them in the immediate neighbor- hood so that in case of necessity and that only, they are to be used to make nothing but a fair demand for our rights as citizens of Kansas, & have them we must in some way.
Tuesday Sept 8 Cut hay for the Dutchman Charlie started for
37. At the Free-State convention held at Topeka, July 15, 16, 1857, resolutions were passed authorizing James H. Lane to organize the people in the several districts to protect the ballot boxes at the coming election. — Ibid., p. 161.
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Missouri to deliver his cattle and bring his horse & some seed wheat & provisions
Wednesday Sept 9 Cut hay for ourselves until noon & after dinner hauled in a part of the Dutchman's We were visited to day by the most friendly indian Shawnee I have seen yet He gave us a great amount of information about his tribe about councils dances buffalo hunts &c His squaw had the ague and he gave her some blankets to lie on in the shade of the cabin while he yarned to us at dinner
T[h]ursday Sept 10 Cut hay for ourselves to day Tried to haul the remainder of hans but the wind was too high we could do noth- ing. We broke the cast iron point of the mower the one which divides the grass. It ran into a gopher hill and snapped off like a pipe stem. Unhitched and young america had it fixed before night to work better than before.
Friday Sept 11 Charlie & John cut hay until noon and Elick & I put in a row of posts around the stacks After dinner it rained and we did nothing of work line but wrote letters fixed up journals & harness &c
Saturday Sept 12 All went horseback to Princeton where we were requested to meet to train We entered Princeton abreast six of us (Moser & the Dutchman accompanying us) some on tall horses and others on mules blind bridles halters and ropes making a curious as well as pleasing appearance. The company is called the "Olathe Border Guards" After sending an order for arms and going through some movements we came home though not with out being gassed up by the fearful and shown blue lodge 38 flags which were stuck up around Olathe & Princeton as guide posts to Missourians coming into the territory. After we got home Charlie & John concluded to go to Beesons this week and I will start for Leavenworth on the 15 leaving Elick at home in charge of affairs this week According [ly] the ma- chine was taken apart and loaded in a wagon and every thing got ready to start tomorrow early
Sunday Sept 13. The boys left this morning leaving us alone to write letters &c. In the afternoon Elick & I rode over to McCamish & brought the ox home which I had found
Monday Sept 14 Elick & I went down to the timber for posts brought home a load about dark Called at Wilcox's & got our clothes She is such a nice woman so motherly in the care of our
38. Blue lodges were secret organizations of Proslavery men having for their purpose the extension of slavery into Kansas and other territory of the United States. — John H. Gihon, Geary and Kansas (Philadelphia, 1857), p. 30.
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clothes & give[s] us directions about cooking &c just as if she had some interest in our welfare.
Tuesday Sept 15 Started for Leavenworth on a black colt which we had caught expressly for the trip but 2 years old past and a very fine animal I did not know how he would stand the trip but from his make color & all I concluded that he could go as far as I should want to ride in a day. As I got in sight of the Kaw River it com- menced raining and rained or showered from that on until night. I crossed at Tolas [Toley's] ferry and stopped at his house & inquired the road and how far it was to the next house. I was 16 miles from Leavenworth & 7 miles to the next house It had cleared up some and I started on though the sun was not more than an hour high & the colt pretty well jaded I had [not] went far before another shower overtook [me] and I was forced to seek shelter in the woods I started on again & it still rained harder & harder and was getting quite dark I knew I had not traveled far and at any rate not more than half the distance to the next house. I had passed some indian houses at the edge of the timber & thought if it rained too much I would put for one of them which I was soon forced to do by a heavy gust of wind and rain coming directly in my face and my pony stopped and turned round to take it I however had no such inten- tion & put for an Indian house about % a mile off reached [there] thoroughly wet and enquired of the indian whether I could stay all night and he was almost too drunk to say yes, but he finally man- aged to get it out after a great many futile attempts The squaws went to work to get me up my supper and after supper made me a nice bed to sleep in with clean sheets & pillows. After drying my shirt & hanging up my coat & clothes I turned in & had just com- menced to snooze when I waked up and heard two other Indians outside more drunk than the Indian landlord & demanded an en- trance They came in loaded down with bottles jugs & flasks filled with whiskey. After taking a dram all around they commenced dry- ing themselves and then another dram & another offering me one every time and they drank & sung & cut up all night not letting me sleep one wink & every 15 minutes the Indian would come to my bed and say "Ugh sleep, have dram" and then to the others.
Wednesday September 16 In the morning the bottles were so plenty that I knocked one over and spilled the contents. I immedi- ately asked how much & paid 25 cts for the accident though he had told me repeatedly that it only cost him 15 cts. After breakfast I
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 289
found that my bill was 1.00 which added to the whiskey accident makes $1.25 for my night's lodging and not one wink of sleep.
I started off and reached the Fort about 9 O'clock and commenced search for Leut Hildt39 A company of Cavalry were on drill for inspection by Genl [William S.] Harney which was a pleasing sight to me to see their gaudy dress & equipments & their spirited horses, which they manage to turn so nicely with a six inch lever bit & spurs on each foot. Genl Harney is as grey as a rat and his white hair & whiskers contrast strangely with his military rig Found out at the Office that Lieut Hildt had left in the night for New Mexico and this company of cavalry which was being inspected was going to start for Utah this evening or tomorrow morning As John was not here I went over to Leavenworth City and bought myself a hat two woolen shirts note paper &c and started for home stopped at an old pennsylvanian's 8 miles out of Leavenworth.
Thursday Sept 17 My colt as pert as you please and I concluded to come home by Quindaro & Inquire for letters, going that way, only about 53 miles from home which I thought I would try to make to day. Reed your letter dated Sept 6 with your account of circum- stances. Reed no letter from John or Joe D took dinner here & started for home. Reached home about 8 Oclock pretty tired & hungry with my % a hundred miles ride in one day on a two year old colt These Indian ponies you cannot kill its no use trying
Friday Sept 18 did not do a great deal of work to day Sharpened some posts to drive in the ground & in the evening John D came back from Stanton accompanied by Bill Q[uantrill] and left Charlie there with the machine still cutting with a request that Elick or I should come down Saturday or Sunday eve and help work the machine
Saturday Sept 19. Bill Q[uantrill] Moser [J. Mosier] [H. H.] Wilcox [James] Alexander Reeves [G. G. Reaves?] & Elick & I rode up to Olathe in our Ox wagon to hear a speech from a Mr. Leggett.40 While we were there some little dissatisfaction arose about the nomi- nation for sheriff (Charles Osgood) Some expressed an opinion that they did not consider him a true free state man. After some little discussion it was referred to the central committee to consider upon The speaker of the day came in the evening but could not speak as
39. John McL. Hildt was breveted second lieutenant, Sixth infantry, July 1, 1856. Trans- ferred to Third infantry, February 18, 1857. Brevet lieutenant colonel, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the war. — Thomas H. S. Hamersly, Complete Army and Navy Register of the United States . . . (New York, 1888).
40. Probably James F. Legate who was living in De Soto, Johnson county, at that time. In 1858 he was appointed probate judge of the county. — U. S. Biographical Dictionary, Kansas (1879), pp. 716, 717.
5—30
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he had come on business exclusively. We came home cooked our suppers & after discussing politics went to bed
Sunday Sept 20 Bill Q[uantrill] and I started for Stanton about noon afoot and thought we might reach it by nine or ten oclock. When we got within 3 miles of Stanton we stopped and turned into a shanty and tried to sleep. But the night was cold and we concluded to go on though we could scarcely get along as we were very tired We stopped 1% miles from Stanton at a farm house & they gave us a bed on the floor which was very exceptable & we had not been in the house fifte[e]n minutes until it commenced raining and rained right on until ten Oclock next day.
Monday Sept 21 Started out in the rain for Beesons and reached there soon after breakfast They seem to accommodate themselves to the Kansas way of living and all appear lively & cheerful but Mrs Beeson she appeared somewhat down hearted though not a great deal Mrs Torrey will not live in their cabin more than three or four weeks, will move into town & keep hotel 41 All the Beesons have had the ague but Phebe & Gusta Redfield was sick with the fever when I was there. They need not tell me that they have selected as healthy a location as we have When I met Charlie he told me that he had the machine loaded and ready to start but the weather prevented After dinner we hitched up and Beeson hitched on his three yoke of cattle to help us up a slippery hill near his house after we got up we unhitched to make an early start, tomorrow
Tuesday Sept 22 After bying 16 melons at ten cts a piece we started for Tuscarora. This is one of the greatest countries for melons I ever saw. We met some young gents going to steal some the other evening and they took 2 yoke of cattle One of the sixteen that we bought was so large that we were forced to cut it outside our cabin. And if the rind was of such a material to stand frost we should trouble ourselves no longer about a protection from winters blasts.
Wednesday 23 Unloaded the machine & put it together & eat so many melons that I was sick on Thursday
Thursday 24 Rested to day & went to bed in the afternoon all on account of the big water melons.
Friday Sept 25 Started over to cut hay at Spring Hill for Mr Hovey 42 Came home in the evening found our council man Mr
41. "Colonel Torrey sold his land as soon as he could and bought a building in Paola where he kept a hotel as long as he lived." — Connelley, op. cit., p. 57.
42. James B. Hovey settled on Little Bull creek in March, 1857. He was the first post- master at Spring Hill. — Blair, History of Johnson County, Kansas, pp. 131-133, 135.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 291
E S Nash 43 and a lot of chaps who were on their way to Lawrence to procure arms for the "Olathe Border Guards" They intended to start at 3 Oclock with the Dutchmans team and take breakfast in Lawrence. Elick went along.
Saturday 26 Finished cutting at Spring Hill. John D helped me to day has been harrowing his wheat ground to sow next week.
Sunday 27. Doct [B. M.?] Jewett came here to day on his way to Northups to see if we could cut some hay for him next week We agreed to go and cut for him Monday Northup very sick & not ex- pected to live Was taken with the diarrhea and went through with the water cure treatment and that only which resulted in his hope- less weak condition the Doct has no hopes of his recovery.
Monday 28 Went to Jewetts with the machine & commenced cutting the machine all out of order & did not cut an acre to day. The doctor went to Northups to day and he found him dead
Tuesday 29 The machine did not work any better to day broke the reel and were forced to make another got it in order in the eve- ning Charlie went to Santa Fee to day for oats John D still putting in his wheat.
Wednesday 30 Finished cutting for Jewett to day did not cut quite six acres in all
Thursday Oct 1 raked up the hay & he paid me eleven dollars & 75 cents & I came home Charlie at home from Sa[n]ta Fee & John & Elick putting in his wheat Elick young Nash & Case & the Dutchman started for Lawrence for the Sharps Rifles which were promised them when they were their last week left about 12 Oclock & expect to be home tomorrow night.
Friday Oct 2 at Home to day as Charlie does not feel well enough to help me with the machine
Oct 3 Saturday Charlie no better and I started this afternoon for Dr Barton and found him coming on the road to Butler [?] As it rained I was very glad to meet him. He prescribed for him for bilious fever jalap quinine &c
Sunday Charlie not so well to day Oct 4. and the fever not yet broken A crowd at our cabin to all excitement about the election
Monday Oct 5th Election day44 John & Elick went over to Spring Hill to vote But could not do so on acct of the six months
43. Edwin S. Nash was elected to the territorial council from Olathe in the fall of 1857. —Ibid., p. 89.
44. Election of members to the territorial legislature and a delegate to congress. Gover- nor Walker promised a fair, free election.
292 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
residence 45 proscription as every man who offered to vote was chal- lenged. I went in the after noon to Olathe but did not offer my vote. About nine Oclock in this evening nine of us who had not been in the territory six months started for Lawrence to vote. Got up there about day light and voted as soon as the polls were opened The election was altogether different from those in the states Every one who came up to the polls voted and no questions were asked We reached home about 1 Oclock Tuesday night tired and sleepy
Wednesday Oct 7 Rested to day. Elick started for Quindaro and John went to the timber to get rails to fence in his 13 acres of wheat.
Thursday Oct 8 Tried to plow around the stacks with the young yoke of oxen but could not make them work. After the[y] had run l/2 nrile over the prairie with the plow at their heels, we unhitched them and quit Charlie well enough to be around
Friday Oct 9 Started out this morning on the hunt of some prairie chickens armed with a shot gun and thinking that I might find some on Johns wheat I started over about sun up when I got over I saw a flock fly up out of the range of my gun and after waiting for two hours for more game I came home without any and found the horses harnessed & ready to go to Olathe to cut hay for [Charles] Osgood. John Charlie & myself all started up We made a nice commence- ment on an eight acre patch and took our suppers at the Olathe hotel & slept at Nash's cabin our council man
Saturday Oct 10 got up at daylight and fed our teams and com- menced cutting finished at noon and moved the machine to Hend- ricks a proslavery man who has negroes where we will cut Monday if the weather is fine.
Sunday Oct 11 wrote home to Grandfather Addie Miller & father
Monday Oct 12 Went to mow at Hendricks along with John D Found Mrs Hendricks a very fine woman & a very good cook puts me in mind of Aunt Mary, commenced to mow on a very hard piece of ground very uneven and hard on the horses.
Tuesday 13 To night Smith of Olathe came and wakened us up to go to Oxford 14 miles from [here] to get or take by force a judge or clerk of the election up to Lecompton and have him make oath before Gov Walker to the returns or that 1626 votes were actually
45. An act establishing council and representative districts passed in February, 1857, made a six months' residence requirement for voters. — Laws of the Territory of Kansas, 1857, p. 68.
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polled at Oxford.46 A company of 25 men came down from Law- rence and were on their way and wished some one who knew some of them to go along and direct them to their houses. I had never been there neither had Elick & Charlie was not very well and one must stay with him so neither of us went Benj Dare 47 who knew of the judges & knew exactly where he lived volunteered to act as guide to the Company. The[y] were all armed with revolvers some of them 2 Had an excellent dinner to day at Hendricks Ham boiled chicken potatoes baked pumpkin corn bread biscuit sweet milk butter milk tomatoes cucumbers watermelons, molases, jellies &c pumpkin pie & watermelon for desert They have sold $40 worth of watermelons this year and a wagon load are now ripe and yet you people think that we have nothing of this kind apples are 75 cts at Kansas City I do not eat many melons as I am afraid of them but the whole family little and big (and the[y] have 5 small children) eat them, when they are thirsty for a drink & not one of them has been sick
Wednesday Oct 14 Finished at Hendricks to day & went to Lewis this evening a methodist preacher who is professor of a female seminary at Independence Mo a very jolly old soul 48 His claim joins Olathe on the North East
Thursday Oct 15 this morning very cold and blustery and the lard oil froze up so that we could not work without warming it & we concluded not to do it Benj Dare at home again the expedition did not accomplish much, they were expected and a large company were prepared for them Benj was taken up and questioned very closely but the[y] could make nothing out of him and they let him go. He made his way back to the party and they left with all pos- sible speed.
Friday Oct 16 Gov Walker went down to day report says to see
46. The election returns from the Oxford precinct, containing not over a dozen houses, showed that 1,628 Democratic votes had been polled. On October 19, Governor Walker and Secretary Stanton issued a proclamation throwing out the entire vote of the Oxford precinct. — Andreas, op. cit., p. 163.
Returns of the Oxford election held October 5 and 6, 1857, were deposited with the His- torical Society, November 1, 1906, by J. R. Burrow, secretary of state. Names of voters and their votes were recorded on lined paper fifteen inches wide. Ends of the pages have been pasted together and the entire roll measures forty-five feet. The official recapitulation shows 1,604 votes for Ransom and one for Parrott. R. Clarke, the forty-second voter, was the lone individual listed for Parrott. Election officials were: S. D. Barnett, G. D. Hand, clerks; James H. Nounnan, C. C. Catron, Batt Jones, judges.
47. Benjamin F. Dare was one of three commissioners appointed in Johnson county in 1857 to establish voting precincts and arrange for the election on the Lecompton constitution. In 1858 he bought the Avenue House in Olathe. While acting deputy postmaster in 1859 he rifled the mail, was found out and "left for parts unknown." — The Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, December 26, 1857 ; Blair, op. cit., p. 88.
48. Dr. W. H. Lewis conducted a school for young ladies in Independence, Mo., for a number of years. — W. S. Woodard, Annals of Methodism in Missouri (Columbia, Mo., 1893), p. 339.
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for himself whether the returns are correct or not 49 He is afraid of his head I suppose or he would wink at it and let it go Free state men are bound to have their rights at all hazards and he knows it. He found out that but 150 votes were legal and the others were fraudulent. Went to Lewis this afternoon and commenced cutting
Saturday Oct 17 Cut all day & raked it up We were at work in full view of Olathe and it presented quite a busy appearance car- penters at work teams drawing lumber lime kilns burning chil- dren playing and holloing the blacksmith's noisy hammer and the constant travel upon the Santa fee Road made us feel as if we were now w[h]ere somebody lived
Sunday Oct 18 Wrote to day to Bill Hodge It was cold & rained all day
Monday Oct 19 Elick and I went down to the timber after a load of rails.
Tuesday Oct 20 mowed at Lewis to day The weather cold and disagreeable the ground froze hard and quite a heavy white frost
Wednesday Oct 21 Today the scykle broke and we had it welded
Thursday Oct 22 the scykle broke again at the weld and we put in the other one which we had left at Jewetts
Friday Oct 23 finished to day at Lewis had mowed 20 acres under great disadvantages & made $40
Saturday Oct 24 Went to Olathe to day collected $16 from Hendricks for his mowing and brought home a long necked pumpkin on horseback 3 miles and a cantelope He has the largest pumpkins I ever saw and the greatest lot of them.
Sunday Oct 25 Cooked some of the pumpkin this morning for breakfast found it first rate
Monday Oct 26 Rainy all day & could do nothing out of doors finished a letter commenced yesterday
Tuesday Oct 27 Went to Olathe this morning and got some letters at the mail but none for me & heard nothing from John B —
Wednesday Oct 28 Started this morning for Quindaro & took one mule & expected to get a buggy at Leubenville[?] 3 miles East of Olathe as we had the promise of it yesterday. Were disappointed and had to come home, the last I will start on an uncertainty.
Thursday Oct 29 Rainy & cool with a prospect of a rainy day
Friday Oct 30 John D & Charlie started for Quindaro this
49. On October 12, Governor Walker and Secretary Stanton passed through Lawrence on their way to Oxford. — The Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, October 17, 1857. "They expressed their astonishment that so large a city which had polled 1,600 votes had escaped their notice since residing in Kansas."
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morning & intended getting a light wagon at Olathe. Found the wagon with the tire off & of course came home
Saturday Oct 31 John & Charlie started with our own team & wagon & will be there tonight. I bored some holes with a post augur It did not work as a post augur should, but still I made some head- way.
Sunday Nov 1 the prairie on fire all around us & no one but Elick & myself at home. Bill Q[uantrill] who has been with [us] for over a week left for Stanton this [morning] to get his clothes & Charlies guitar. It was a magnificent sight & had been I thought well repre- sented in paintings that I had seen. But there was some difference to look at the real thing itself coming towards 50 tons of hay worth $20 dolls a ton on the ground or $30 at Kansas City & the picture as we had taken the precaution to plow a few furrows away [from] the stacks we did not feel as uneasy as we otherwise should, but nevertheless the raging flame at every side excited us, & to night as I am writing the horison is light up at every side as if we were sur- rounded with furnaces and all of them were burning ore. We had been uneasy for some time about our large amount of hay at risk but now I shall sleep soundly as the prairie is burned all around them and in some directions for 10 miles beyond & they are safe
Monday Nov 2 All alone to day Elick gone to Missouri to hunt his cattle Bill Q[uantrill] to Stanton after a few things to take along on the [buffalo?] hunt & John & Charlie gone to Quindaro to buy goods provisions &c Fixed up the stacks some as the hay had blown off of some of the stacks & this evening Bill came along —
Tuesday Nov 3 Bill & I went down to the timber & made some rails made 56 with one ax & with wooden wedges & walked 4 miles there and back.
Wednesday Nov 4. Bill & I started this morning to haul the rails got a load on & broke the tongue & came home without the wagon. The boys at home to night with blankets Jewelry guns gloves calico &c.
Thursday Hauled up some rails to day with the mules
Friday Nov 6 Went to Spring Hill to collect a debt for mowing got the money & surveyed some for [David] Sprong & rode to Olathe to night bought 30 pds nails candles &c and came home tired
Saturday Windy & rainy all day long and could do nothing with- out exposure
Sunday Nov 8 The ground covered with snow this morning the first snow in Kansas has not melted a great deal yet at 5 Oclock in
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the afternoon Our cabins leak snow if they do turn rain and this morning my breeches were stiff with snow but very singular none of us have the least symptoms of cold & all enjoy ourselves bravely.
Monday Nov 9 Hauled rails to day from the timber & finished
Tuesday 10th Nailed them on with Elicks assistance
Wednesday 11 Rainy all day and enough to do to keep dry & warm.
Thursday 12 Snow again this morning with sleet & a cool air John D went to Olathe & Elick went over to Winthrop to sell his odd ox we had intended to beef him but we can get another larger one cheaper & a much better one for beef
Friday 13 Butchered to day and a cold ugly job it was Beef weighed about six hundred and very fat & tender.
Saturday peddled out what beef we did not wish to keep though the wagon came home with a part of one of the % we will have no trouble to get it off this weather
Sunday 15. Snow an inch deep this morning and we moved our stove into one of the other cabins as they were tighter and warmer.
Monday 16 cold & disagreeable
Tuesday 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 all cold & nothing could well be done Monday noon only four degrees above zero.
24 Tuesday cold & disagreeable
25 Wednesday weather pleasant and not cold
Thursday 26 a meeting of the Free state men to consider upon the constitution framed at Lecompton I had the honor to be chosen president of the meeting and of course I presided with honor to my- self and the meeting.
Friday 27 quite warm but damp
28 Saturday rainy all day the land open for preemption do not believe it yet.50 Hope it is so though.
Sunday 29 An editor called to see us to day & took our names & called us quite clever young fellows He was from Cincinnati and interested in the Herald of Freedom office, [at Lawrence]. He put down Tuscarora Lake as he said to give it publicity. I will send you a paper with the account in if published
Monday 30 A very pleasant day and we put up sod around two sides of our house making it much more comfortable to live in though it presents a very novel appearance to the beholder
Tuesday Dec 1 Started this morning for Lecompton via Lawrence
50. On November 19, 1857, the Shawnee Indian lands were thrown open for purchase and preemption. — Wilder, Annals of Kansas, p. 198.
CALDWELL: THE DIARY OF GEORGE H. HILDT 297
& Gardner a little Free State Town 3 miles from Tuscarora directly west It has now a good stone hotel 30 by 40 and a very good neigh- borhood surrounding it The citizens of Lawrence have shares in it & are figuring for good roads & a great many of them to center there Stopped at Lawrence over night
Wednesday 2 Started this morning for Lecompton got there about 12 Oclock Filed my intentions for all our boys and for my- self. Lecompton laid out in a hole on the river with a half moon bank intervening between the prairie and the town so that you can- not see the town until you are into it after partaking of a good dinner we returned to Lawrence in time to attend a free state meet- ing After the committee reported a series of resolutions read by "Jim Lane" Speeches were made by Lane Conway Davis Redpath Thatcher Bar Foster Vaughan "Miles Moore" Kob Phillips & Mc- Kay 51 After the reading of the 1st resolve of the resolution the noisy exclamation [s] of joy were so great that for ten minutes Lane could not proceed I have witnessed political meetings and heard applaudits but none so general and with so much of heart in them as the meeting at Lawrence of the down trodden and oppressed people of Kansas
Thursday 3rd started for home sent a [Lawrence] republican home with the proceedings of the meeting last night and sent one to A Patrick of the advocate
Friday 4th Made a stall to day for McCartneys horse
Saturday 5 Helped set a man off a claim to day over at Alex- anders 52
Sunday 6 had some beans to day for breakfast and past the time singing reading & writing
Monday 7 pulled down a cabin which had been put on Alexander claim
Tuesday 8 Hauled a load stone and fixed our cabin by lining it inside and stuffing the middle with hay
Wednesday 9 Went down to Sprongs & brought up my compass.
Thursday 10 Set a corner for Walters
Friday 11 Laid out twent[y] acre field and dug or helped dig 33 post holes
51. Martin Conway, Dr. Davis, of Leavenworth, James Redpath, T. Dwight Thacher, Wm. V. B. Barr, of Iowa Point, Charles Foster, of Osawatomie, Champion Vaughan, H. Miles Moore, Dr. K. Kob, of the Atchison Zeitung, William Phillips, and William McKay. — The Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, December 5, 1857.
62. James Alexander's claim was the SE*4 sec. 34, T. 14, R. 23. — Heisler & Smith, op. cit., p. 46.
298 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Saturday 12 Dug 106 post holes 3 of us and thought we were doing very well. Two of us Conner & myself are to build the fence around 20 acres for our passage to St Louis and back The weather has been very fine all week almost like may days. While you people of the states are bundled up in your furs and over coats we are out at work in our shirt sleeves
Sunday 13. I walked out over my farm and was pleased with [it] more than ever
Monday 14 dug 120 post holes to day with Conner
Tuesday 15 dug 100 holes to day
Wednesday 16 finished digging the holes and set over one hun- dred posts
Thursday 17 set some more posts and nailed on a few rails
Friday 18 set all the posts he had and carried the rails around
Saturday 19 nailed on the rails on one side and quit for the week
Sunday 20 Went over to Gardner to day 3 miles from here to church for the first time in Kansas. Heard a young man try to preach on the resurrection and an old man exhorted in a manner which pleased the outsider very much
Monday 21 Washed one pair of my drawers a woolen overshirt and a check shirt and some collars. Snow to day but nearly all off by noon
Tuesday 22 Worked at the fence
Wednesday 23 Worked at the fence
Thursday 24 Worked at the fence
Friday 25 Went into the timber and hauled a load of posts
Saturday 26 Hauled a load of poles for Conners cabin
T
First Newspapers in Kansas Counties
(Continued) 1871-1879
G. RAYMOND GAEDDEBT RUSSELL COUNTY
The Kansas Pioneer, Bunker Hill, November, 1871. The Western Kansas Plainsman, Russell, April 25, 1872.
HE first publication in Russell county was The Kansas Pioneer, a monthly real estate journal. It was published at Bunker Hill by Harbaugh, Corbett & Co., but printed at Abilene. Andreas wrote "it was an advertising sheet exclusively" and not entitled to any place in the history of the press.1 The Russell Record, July 13, 1876, however, called it a newspaper. The Abilene Chronicle an- nounced the first issue November 30, 1871: uThe Kansas Pioneer. — The above is the title of a spicy Real Estate paper just issued by Harbaugh, Corbett & Co., of Bunker Hill, Russell County. . . ." It quoted the Pioneer in a burst of propaganda as follows :
Rev. W. B. Christopher, President of Illinois Colony [which was to settle near Bunker Hill], says: "I am astonished at the depth and fertility of the soil of this portion of Kansas, and the salubrity of the climate. On the sod we have raised good corn, finest vegetables of all kinds, including common and sweet potatoes, and have now a beautiful growth of winter wheat. More rain has fallen during the summer than I have ever known, except in rainy seasons. — Myself suffering from a bronchial affection, have been wholly relieved. Although sleeping in the open air, and often wet with the penetrating rains, I have hardly coughed or sneezed since I came. Existence is no longer a load but a perpetual thrill of vitality." The air of Western Kansas is the true "Catarrh remedy," and "Consumptive's cure." — Kansas Pioneer.
Secondary authorities say the Pioneer was published only a few months.2 The Society has no copy in its files.
The first weekly newspaper in the county, The Western Kansas Plainsman, was started by A. B. Cornell at Russell in April, 1872. It was Republican in politics. The Kansas Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, announced the first issue April 30, 1872:
We have received the first number of the Plainsman, a very creditable six- column paper, hailing from Russell, Kansas, and bearing the name of A. B. Cornell at the mast-head. The editor closes his salutatory thus: "Personally
1. Andreas, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 1285.
2. Ibid.; First Biennial Report of the State Board of Agriculture . . . 1877-8, p. 403. They called it the Pioneer.
(299)
300 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
we are somewhat of an oddity, for a printer — for we neither smoke, chew or drink tanglefoot — but at cim-ing we are equal to the emergency, so don't tread on our corns. Our motto is — equal rights to all, tame submission to none."
The Ellsworth Reporter, May 2, 1872, in announcing the paper, stated: "Mr. Cornell, its publisher, has a deep pocket and consider- able personal pride, which is a security that the Plainsman will live." According to Andreas and the First Biennial Report, the first num- ber of the Plainsman appeared April 25, 1872.3 In October, 1876, it was sold to one Robinson, who removed it to Kirwin, Phillips county. The Society has two issues of the Plainsman, dated Sep- tember 4 and 11, 1875, listed as Vol. IV, Nos. 17 and 18.
A close rival of the Plainsman was The New Republic, published at Bunker Hill by John R. Rankin. On July 13, 1876, the Russell Record, successor to The New Republic, made the following state- ment about the two rival papers:
About the first of April, 1872, John R. Rankin landed at Bunker Hill, with a printing press and some material; and the first type setting in the county was done in the "Office" of the Buckeye House. Soon after, A. B. Cornell brought a printing office to Russell, and on the 25th of April, 1872, issued No. 1, Vol. 1, of the Western Kansas Plainsman. Mr. Rankin was delayed some- what in receiving sufficient amount of material, so that the first number of his paper, the New Republic, did not appear until the 9th of May, 1872. These two papers entered fully into the spirit of rivalry between the two towns [Russell and Bunker Hill] during the county seat contest of that year. . . .
On May 16, 1872, the Ellsworth Reporter announced The New Re- public as a new paper hailing from Bunker Hill. In the Society's collection is a good file of the Russell Record, commencing with the issue of July 13, 1876 ; but no copy of The New Republic,
HARVEY COUNTY The Sedgwick Gazette, January 19, 1872.
The authorities are mostly silent or in disagreement as to the first paper in this county. On June 1, 1883, Judge R. W. P. Muse wrote in the Arkansas Valley Democrat, Newton:
The first paper published in the county was the Sedgwick Gazette, which was started in Sedgwick City, January 19th, 1871, by P. T. Weeks, and after a few numbers had been issued, was purchased by Dr. T. S. Floyd, who con- tinued its publication, until it reached its 23d number when he sold his press and material to parties in Wichita, and discontinued its publication.
3. Andreas, op, cit,, p. 1285 ; First Biennial Report, p. 403.
GAEDDEKT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 301
In the article on Harvey county, Andreas confirmed Muse's state- ment except to state that Floyd published thirty-two instead of twenty -three numbers. However, in the article on Sedgwick county, Andreas wrote :
The Gazette, independent in politics, was published through a portion of the year 1871, by Yale Brothers. The material was then moved to Sedgwick City (then in Sedgwick county), where the Sedgwick City Gazette was pub- lished a short time.4
The statement in the First Biennial Report reads:
The Newton Kansan was the first newspaper published in Harvey county. Its publication was commenced at Newton, August 22, 1872, by H. C. Ash- baugh. ... It has always been strongly Republican.5
The same authority, reporting for Sedgwick county, stated:
The Gazette, (formerly Cottonwood Falls Independent,) was the next paper published at Wichita, but it was soon removed to Sedgwick City. It was sub- sequently purchased by D. G. Millison, and returned to Wichita. Its name was changed to the Beacon, and it is still published as a Democratic paper; Capt. White, editor.6
Since the Society has no copy of the Gazette it was difficult to de- termine the facts. Secondary authorities agreed that early in its history Sedgwick City had a newspaper called the Gazette. As to the time when it appeared they were either silent or gave January 19, 1871, as the date. A search in the newspapers unearthed a clue in the Chase County Leader of Cottonwood Falls, December 22, 1871, which reads: "The Wichita Tribune, after missing three issues, comes again. It is now owned by Weeks & Follett, A. W. Yale hav- ing withdrawn." The personnel of the papers helped to connect the Tribune with the Gazette. An examination of the files of the Wichita Tribune disclosed that the secondary authorities were mis- taken in the date of the first issue. It also showed that the Gazette was first published in Cottonwood Falls as the Central Kansas In- dex, then in Wichita as the Tribune and finally in Sedgwick City as the Sedgwick Gazette. On January 12, 1872, the Chase County Leader stated: "Again on the Wing. — The Wichita Tribune has moved to Sedgwick City." The Emporia News of the same date gave additional information: "The Sedgwick Gazette is the name of a new seven-column weekly to be published in Sedgwick." On Jan- uary 19 the News reported again: "The Wichita Tribune has moved to Sedgwick City. We hope the change will improve it." The next
4. Andreas, op. cit., pp. 782, 1392.
5. First Biennial Report, p. 234.
6. Ibid., p. 413.
302 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
week, January 26, the News supplied this missing information: "The Sedgwick Gazette, No. 1, has arrived. Mr. Weeks makes a good deal better paper than he did at Wichita, and one of the best in the Southwest."
In following up the history of the paper a number of subsequent changes was discovered. In the Emporia News of May 10, 1872, occurred the following statement: ''The Sedgwick Gazette has been moved to Newton, and is now the Harvey County Gazette" This statement was confirmed in the Neodesha Citizen of May 24. On July 12, 1872, the News again reported on the Gazette: "The Har- vey County Gazette has moved back to Sedgwick City, and is again the Sedgwick Gazette." It gave as a reason for this move that "Newton is 'dead, financially/ ' The following week, July 19, the Chase County Leader summed up the history of the Gazette in these words: "The Central Kansas Index, (formerly published at this place,) alias Wichita Tribune, alias Sedgwick City Gazette, alias Newton Gazette, has moved back to Sedgwick City and is again the Sedgwick City Gazette." The Wichita Eagle of May 6, 1875, and the Newton Kansan of January 4, 1877, both reported that T. S. Floyd in October, 1872, sold the Sedgwick City Gazette to D. G. Millison of Topeka and Fred A. Sowers of Wichita who removed it to Wichita and changed its name to the Wichita Beacon. The Ga- zette was a typical frontier paper in that it changed places with the changes in financial and political prospects of the frontier towns.
OSBORNE COUNTY
Osborne County Express, Arlington, February or March, 1872,
or Osborne City Times, February or March, 1872.
Z. T. Walrond, author of "Annals of Osborne County," published in the Osborne County Farmer, of Osborne, wrote that the first num- ber of the Osborne City Times was issued March 11, 1872, and that the Osborne County Express first saw daylight March 16, 1872. These papers were established during the county-seat fight in the interest of the two leading towns, Osborne and Arlington. The Times, Walrond wrote, was printed at the office of the Topeka Com- monwealth by an editorial committee consisting of J. A. Boring, H. D. Markley and A. N. Fritchey. He listed a number of business firms advertising in the Times, thereby indicating that he had before him copies of the paper. Of the Express, he said it was printed at Concordia, in the interest of Arlington. It was edited by Mark J.
GAEDDEBT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 303
Kelley and contained advertisements of business men at Concordia, Beloit and Wagonda.7 The Osborne County Farmer, March 13, 1879, published the second installment of an article by A. Saxey, entitled: "A Sketch of Osborne County From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Day." Referring to the county-seat election, Saxey wrote :
Both these towns issued a paper advocating their claims for the honor. Osborne City had her paper, the Osborne City Times, printed at Topeka, while Arlington had her printing office in the town of Concordia.
Andreas and the First Biennial Report did not mention the papers established in 1872. The first listed was the Osborne Weekly Times, started in January, 1873.8 That there was a paper established that year called the Osborne Weekly Times was announced in the Beloit Gazette, February 13, 1873:
The first issue of the Osborne Weekly Times, published at Osborne City, thirty-two miles west of us, made its appearance on last Saturday [February 8]. The new paper is edited and published by F. E. Jerome & Co. In appear- ance it is excellent; in size with the largest west of us; in taste in selected and editorial matter it ranks with the best of country papers, and in general "make up" it does honor to the live people of Osborne city and the county. . . . It is the frontier paper of the Northwest.
This no doubt was the second attempt to start the Times at Osborne. A contemporaneous newspaper report substantiates, in the main, the claims of Walrond and Saxey for the Osborne County Express. On February 3, 1872, the Republican Valley Empire, Concordia, re- ported :
Mark J. Kelley, Esq. of the late Clyde Watchman, passed through town on Tuesday last, on his way to Osborne City, where he will hereafter reside, and issue the Osborne City Herald, from new material. . . .
Apparently this failed to materialize, for on March 9, 1872, the same paper announced the appearance of the first issue of the Osborne County Express:
We have received the first number of the Osborne County Express, published at Arlington, by M. J. Kelley. It is a neat six-column sheet, and well filled with matter pertaining to the interest of that county. Mark knows how to get up a live paper, and from what we know of the people of Arlington, we are confident the Express will be liberally sustained; it certainly ought to be. We wish the frontier paper abundant success.
This places the first number of the Express during the last week of February or the first week in March, 1872. No contemporaneous
7. Osborne County Farmer, Osborne, September 9, 1880. The Farmer in a series of articles published the "Annals" by Walrond. Wagonda, also Waconda, was in Mitchell county, a dead town.
8. Andreas, op. cit.} p. 935 ; First Biennial Report, p. 353.
304 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
information has been found, however, about the Osborne City Times of 1872. Until the claims of Walrond and Saxey in behalf of the Times can either be successfully challenged or else substantiated, it is impossible to say which paper was first in the county. The So- ciety has no copies of these papers.
JEWELL COUNTY The Jewell City Weekly Clarion, March or April, 1872.
The Clarion has no rival for priority in the county. The First Bi- ennial Report gave the date of the first number as March 24, 1872 ; Andreas merely gave March, 1872.9 The Society has one copy dated August 30, 1872, listed as Vol. 1, No. 23. If regularly issued the Clarion should have appeared March 29. The Junction City Union announced it April 13, 1872:
We have received the first number of The Jewell City Weekly Clarion, pub- lished in Jewell City, Kansas. We have filed it away in our cabinet of typo- graphical curiosities.
The Kansas Daily Commonwealth, Topeka, did not publish the notice until April 21. The Clarion probably appeared during the last week of March or the first two weeks in April, 1872. W. P. Day was the editor and proprietor, assisted by W. D. Jenkins. It was Republican in politics.
The Clarion was a small four-column folio. It was published for a year, then changed to the Jewell County Diamond, and later to the Monitor.
RENO COUNTY
The Hutchinson News, July 4, 1872.
The first issue of the News was a souvenir edition "designed to attract settlers rather than to relate the happenings of the day for the local citizens who knew them by heart anyway," according to the Hutchinson News-Herald, commemorating the seventieth birth- day of Hutchinson. The first issue came out July 4, 1872, a four- page edition, numbering 5,000 copies. L. J. Perry was the publisher and Houston Whiteside the editor. Whiteside was too modest to let his name appear on the masthead, remaining incognito as "& Co." Perry also published the Western Spirit at Paola. It has been said that he cared so little about Hutchinson, the "Queen City of the Prairie," that he visited it but three times, "the first to find a partner to run the newspaper, the second to help print the first
9. First Biennial Report, p. 250; Andreas, op. cit., p. 971.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 305
issue and the third to hunt buffalo." 10 The paper was Republican in politics, supporting Grant.
The printing machine, a Washington hand press, "arrived June 27th on the first train to pull into town and was greeted by everyone of the 150 potential subscribers." n
The first issue was largely devoted to a description of the great Arkansas Valley, Reno county (its soil, climate and general possi- bilities), and Hutchinson. This town boasted "two baseball clubs, a dozen croquet clubs, a glee club and not a single whiskey shop." The editor thought it was better to start a town with a church and a school house than with a whisky saloon. The Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, July 18, 1872, described the first issue of the News in these words :
Number one of volume one of the Hutchinson News, is upon our table. It is a neat and sprightly paper, and finds its local items in Reno county, instead of foreign papers. It is for Grant and Wilson, and is brimful of life and spirit. The citizens of Reno county will help themselves by giving it a liberal support.
The Society has a facsimile of the first issue of the News repro- duced July 2, 1932. Its regular file does not start until February 17, 1876, although it has the issue of July 15, 1875.
BARTON COUNTY
Arkansas Valley, or Arkansas Valley Echo, Great Bend, July (?),1872.
Most authorities agree that the Arkansas Valley is the name of the first newspaper published in Barton county.12 However, an article written by a correspondent of the Topeka Commonwealth from Great Bend, published December 17, 1872, raises a question as to the name of the paper. The statement reads: "Our long- promised local paper, the Arkansas Valley Echo, is about to appear again. A press has been secured, set up, and ready for orders, and I think that the present week will find us with Echo No. 2." Ap- parently the statement refers to the same paper, the Arkansas Valley of Great Bend. On November 22, 1872, the Neodesha Weekly Citi- zen issued the following statement: "The material on which the Tioga Herald was printed is to be removed to Great Bend, Barton county, and a new paper started." Nothing more was found in the contemporaneous newspapers relating to the above statements.
10. Hutchinson News-Herald, April 20, 1941.
11. Ibid.
12. Andreas, op. cit., p. 767, gave the date as 1872 ; First Biennial Report, p. 115, failed to give the date.
&— 30
306 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In 1912 the Great Bend Tribune published a Biographical History of Barton County which contained an article on the county's news- papers. The section relating to the Arkansas Valley reads:
The first newspaper published in the county was The Arkansas Valley, edited by S. J. McFarren. There were but a few issues of this paper, the first edition being published in July, 1872. It was a seven-column paper. ... It was printed at the office of the Tribune in Lawrence, Kan., and was owned by T. L. Morris and others. The salutatory editorial in the paper consisted chiefly of an apology for publishing a newspaper in the heart of the Great American Desert. . . . The second number was issued in 1873. The outside was printed by A. N. Kellogg of St. Louis and was dated January 14, 1873, the inside — printed later — was dated January 27, 1873, and the advertisements were nearly all dated in April, 1873. . . .
The price of the paper was $2.00 per year and since it was published only twice a year, the paper cost the subscribers $1.00 a copy. . . ,13
The detailed description of the two issues make it appear that the author had copies of the newspaper before him when he wrote the article. If this could be established as a fact, most of the questions regarding the paper could be answered.
In 1873 the name of this paper was changed to the Barton County Progress. The Society has no copies of the Arkansas Valley or the
Progress.
McPnERSON COUNTY
McPherson Messenger, December 19, 1872.
Andreas gave the date of the first issue of the Messenger as November, 1872. First Biennial Report had it December 19, 1872.14 The date on the first issue is December 19, 1872, but in it was the following statement:
We date this issue for the week after it is issued in order to give us time to canvass some for advertisements and subscriptions. We do this in order to have as many of our subscribers commence with the first number as possible. We hope all who are interested in having a paper in McPherson county — and every person in the county should be — will come and subscribe, or send in their subscription at once.
The first issue, therefore, was published December 12, 1872, a week earlier than the listed date.
The editors and proprietors of this paper were A. W. and L. B. Yale. In politics they were Republican, although they considered themselves "more liberal in ... [their] views than some," say- ing: "We will always support man in preference to measures, and
13. Biographical History of Barton County, Kansas (Great Bend Tribune, 1912), p. 61.
14. Andreas, op. tit., p. 814; First Biennial Report, p. 308.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 307
will denounce corruption in any party wherever we see it." It was their aim "to make a good live local paper that . . . [would] exercise an influence in bringing settlers to this county," to help develop its resources.
The paper changed hands several times during the course of its existence. In August, 1873, A. W. Yale went into other business. This left L. B. Yale sole editor and proprietor. On August 21, 1873, the Messenger was closed out for debt and bought by the McPherson Publishing Company. On December 13, 1873, it came under the control of I. F. Clark and George W. McClintic, operating under the firm name of Clark and McClintic. Clark was chief editor.15 Just when the Messenger folded up is not known.
The Society has a broken file from December 19, 1872, listed as Vol. 1, No. 1, to December 27, 1873. The issues that should contain the information of the foreclosure are missing from the file.
SMITH COUNTY The Smith County Pioneer, Cedarville, December, 1872.
The exact date of the first number of the Pioneer is uncertain. Andreas and the First Biennial Report said it started in November, 1872. Apparently this is not true. On January 4, 1873, the Junction City Union announced the first issue:
We have received a copy of No. 1 of the Smith County Pioneer. We have heard of Smith county, but it is further out than we are acquainted. The Pioneer appreciates its calling, and goes in for local matters. Typographically it will barely pass, but then it is an awful ways out. May it grow with the country. It claims that Smith county has 2,500 of a population, and growls be- cause they have but one mail a week.
On January 9, 1873, the Beloit Gazette announced that it had re- ceived "the first and second numbers of the Smith County Pioneer, published at Cedarville. The paper improves as it grows older." On July 4, 1876, the Rev. W. M. Wellman, speaking on the "History of Smith County," said the Pioneer made its appearance in Decem- ber, 1872.16
The question of priority also requires mention. On November 28, 1872, the Beloit Gazette stated: "We are informed that a paper is about to be started at Smith Center, Smith county. We wish the enterprise success." No information has been found to show that the paper ever was established. On the contrary, in 1935, L. T. Reese, reporting on "Incidents of Early Days in Kansas," wrote that Levi
15. First Biennial Report, p. 308; McPherson Messenger, December 13, 1873.
16. The Smith County Pioneer, Smith Center, July 27, 1876, published the address.
308 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Morrill from Hiawatha "was the first advocate of a newspaper in Smith Center. He set up a little hand press, talked newspaper, had no name for one and never made an issue." 17 This may explain the report in the Gazette.
Andreas, the First Biennial Report, and the Pioneer of July 27, 1876, stated that W. D. Jenkins started the Pioneer, that it was edited successively by Jenkins, Lew Plummer and Mark J. Kelley and that the office was sold to Levi Morrill in 1873, who removed it to Smith Center.18 L. T. Reese, writing for the Smith Center Review, November 28, 1935, had a different story:
. . one Sandy Barren [the father of James Barren, prominent lawyer of Colorado Springs] . . . operated a print shop in a dugout near a break on the bank of the river or creek near Cedar where he had taken a homestead some two or three miles south of the Solomon river at the foot of the bluffs.
He published the first newspaper in Smith County. It was printed on a little disk hand press run by a crank like a corn sheller. This press was bought by one, Dr. D. Jenkins, a druggist of Kirwin and was transferred later to Will D. Jenkins who brought it to Smith Center and it has been known ever since as the Smith County Pioneer.
The contemporaneous newspapers quoted above failed to give the names of the editors and publishers.
On September 1, 1932, the Pioneer gave an interesting description of its inception:
It was in a partially completed log shanty in the shade of a cottonwood tree on the banks of the Solomon river that the first issue of The Smith County Pioneer — then known as the Kansas Pioneer — was printed at the government designated county seat of Cedarville in 1872. The material and equipment, extremely crude as compared to a modern printing office, was carted in by ox team from the nearest railroad point some two hundred miles distant. The sponsors for the publication were members of the Cedarville Townsite com- pany, hardy pioneers to whom visions of future greatness for the embryo city took the form of reality. John Johnson, Nod Morrison, Vol Bottomly and Jim Johnson were some of the men who entertained those visions. . . .
The reader will observe further contradictions in these quotations. The contemporaneous papers quoted above called the first issue Smith County Pioneer and not Kansas Pioneer. Contradictions as to type of building here are of minor consequence.
From the start the Pioneer was a Republican newspaper, fighting its battles vigorously and persistently. It is one of the few original county papers which still carries on. The Society has a good file of it commencing with the issue of January 7, 1876.
17. Smith County Review, Smith Center, December 5, 1935.
18. Andreas, op. cit., p. 909; First Biennial Report, p. 428; Pioneer, Smith Center, July 27, 1876.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 309
LINCOLN COUNTY The Lincoln County News, Lincoln Center, March 5, 1873.
The Society has the first issue of this paper. It bears date of March 5, 1873, and not 1872, as listed in the First Biennial Report. Andreas had the year correct but the day of the month as March 3.19 F. H. Barnhart was editor and publisher of the News. William C. Buzick joined him on the sixth number, operating under the firm name of Buzick & Barnhart, After an existence of a year and a half, the Neivs was leased to P. Barker, who changed the name to Lincoln County Patriot.
In the first issue of the News the editor wrote that it would be a "home paper, devoted to the interests of Lincoln county and the Saline valley." In politics it would support "the principles of the Republican party, endeavoring to treat all questions with candor, and its opponents with justice." It would not be an organ of "cliques or rings," but it would strive to "maintain an honorable and manly independence, exposing and condemning wrong, whether found in the camp of the enemy or the house of its friends."
Lincoln Center, later changed to Lincoln, had been made the county seat in the fall of 1872, about six months before the county had a newspaper. When the first issue of the News appeared the county had a population of about 500 voters and every voter oc- cupied 160 acres of the domain.
The Society has the first thirty-eight numbers of the News, prob- ably the only copies in existence, and one copy of the Lincoln County Patriot, dated July 15, 1875.
RICE COUNTY The Rice County Herald, Atlanta, May, 1873.
The exact date of the first issue of this paper is unknown. An- dreas wrote:
The Rice County Herald was started at Atlanta April 19, 1872, by a Mr. Frazier, and soon after it was sold to the Shinn Brothers. They sold it to Smith & Wallace, who soon after moved it to Peace, now Sterling. In 1875 it was moved to Hutchinson, Reno county.20
The First Biennial Report had practically the same information ex- cept that it gave only the year, 1872, as the beginning date.21 Charles R. Tuttle, in Centennial History of Kansas, published in
19. First Biennial Report, p. 280; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1421.
20. Andreas, op. cit.., p. 755.
21. First Biennial Report, p. 383.
310 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
1876, wrote that The Rice County Herald published at Peace was the only newspaper in the county.22 Only one contemporaneous newspaper account referring to the first issue of the Herald has been found. The Ellsworth Reporter, May 8, 1873, made this statement:
Rice county has a new paper, the Herald, which we hope will make a living. Rice needs the paper and the Herald is full of good tidings to its readers.
The Reporter failed to mention the place of publication, nor did it give the name of the editor and publisher. If the announcement has reference to the first appearance of The Rice County Herald in the county, which no doubt it does, then the secondary authorities are in error. The Society has no copy of this paper.
PAWNEE COUNTY The Larned Press, June 10, 1873.
This paper has been listed as first in the county. Andreas and the First Biennial Report stated that the Press was established by W. C. Tompkins in 1873, and was Republican in politics.23 A more de- tailed and descriptive statement of the first issue was written by Mrs. Isabell Worrell Ball, published November 17, 1899. It reads:
June 10th, 1873, Wm. C. Tompkins published the first issue of the Larned Press. It was a three-column folio, the size of its pages was seven by nine inches, republican in politics, and had for its motto: "Westward the Star of Empire takes its way." In his salutation the editor says: "It is the most westerly paper printed in the state, and is probably the most petite. But small as it is, it is larger than its income." Its subscribers numbered 00,000 — all dead heads. It was printed on a Washington hand press, and the type-setting was done mostly by the editor's two sons, Fred. M. and Willie F. Tompkins, aged eleven and twelve respectively.24
No newspaper announcement of the first number has been found. However, since Mrs. Ball quoted from the salutation, the date she gave, June 10, 1873, should be correct. The Society's file of this paper commences with the issue of October 20, 1876, listed as Vol. IV, No. 13.
22. Tuttle, Charles R., A New Centennial History of the State of Kansas . . . (Law- rence, 1876), p. 644.
23. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1351; First Biennial Report, p. 361. Andreas spelled Tompkins with an "h."
24. Larned Eagle Optic, November 17, 1899. The title of the article is, "History of Pawnee County."
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 311
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY Howard County Messenger, Boston, July or August, 1873.
Chautauqua county was not organized until 1875. The territory now included in Elk and Chautauqua counties was Howard county in 1874. Sedan, Boston and Peru, the three towns concerned in the following discussion, are reported having started newspapers before the change in organization.
The Howard County Messenger of Boston no doubt was the first newspaper published in territory now included in Chautauqua county. It was published for some time at Howard before its re- moval to Boston. In a story Early Days in "Old Boston" Thos. E. Thompson referred to the removal of the Messenger from Howard to Boston as having occurred in August, 1873. The paper had been taken over by A. B. Hicks and moved to Boston in consideration of a small bonus paid by the Boston people.25 On July 16, 1873, the Neosho County Journal, Osage Mission, reported the removal: "Boston, Howard county, is going to have a paper. The Howard City Messenger has been removed there." When the first issue was published in Boston is not known. However, on September 9, 1873, the Topeka Daily Blade quoted the Messenger.
Wide Awake was a second contender for priority in this county. Andreas and the First Biennial Report stated that the first issue was published at Sedan "in June, 1874, by Joseph Mount, a mute." It was short-lived, having run only a little over a year when it expired in September, 1875.26 Winnie Looby-Severns, in an address deliv- ered at Sedan January 30, 1928, said:
The first newspaper in Peru was established by its owner, a deaf and dumb man by the name of Mounts. He came with his little "hand organ" late in 1872. He called his paper The Wide Awake. His office was in his home, a small building or cabin. This structure was badly damaged by a storm, but he built over again. When the county seat was lost by Peru, he moved to Sedan. About this time Judge Moore and sons Elliott and Fletcher came to Peru. ... [Mount finally sold to Moore.] 27
The Society has one issue of this paper, dated July 10, 1875, and listed as Vol. I, No. 49. It is dated at Sedan, with Joseph Mount & Co. as publishers. If published regularly the first number should have appeared August 7, 1874. If allowance is made for removing the plant from Peru to Sedan, the first number probably was issued
25. Thompson, Thos. E., Early Days in "Old Boston" (September 26, 1924), p. 3. — Library of Kansas State Historical Society.
26. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1217 ; First Biennial Report, p. 134.
27. Looby-Severns, Winnie, Early History of Peru, Chautauqua County, Kansas, p. 11.
312 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in June or July, 1874, which would still disqualify it for first place in the county.
The Chautauqua Journal is a third contender for priority. D. W. Wilder's Annals of Kansas under date of December, 1873, reads: "Kelly and Turner issued the Chautauqua Journal in Sedan." This paper was first published at Elk Falls as the Elk Falls Journal and the removal to Sedan did not take place until 1875 or 1876. Febru- ary 12, 1875, the Wilson County Citizen still quoted the Elk Falls Journal. On this subject Andreas wrote:
The Chautauqua Journal was brought here from Elk Falls, where it had been established in 1873 by Ward & Pyle, who sold out in December of that year, to Kelly and Turner. After nearly three years, the removal to Sedan was made, where the firm continued the publication of the paper until January, 1879. [In another place Andreas wrote that the Elk Falls Journal was removed to Sedan in 1875.] 28
The Society does not have the first numbers of these three papers, and a search through contemporaneous newspapers has failed to re- veal announcements of their first publications. The information available, however, points to the conclusion that the Howard County Messenger of Boston was the first newspaper published in Chautau- qua county.
PHILLIPS COUNTY The Kirwin Chief, about August 2, 1873.
The Chief has been accepted as first in this county. W. D. Jenkins was the editor and proprietor. The First Biennial Report said the paper "was established in August, 1873, by W. D. Jenkins, under the direction of the Kirwin Town Company." Andreas wrote it was the "oldest paper in northwestern Kansas . . . established in August, 1872. . . ." 29 Andreas was mistaken in the year. The Society has an early issue of the Chief dated June 27, 1874, listed as Vol. I, No. 48. If published regularly the first number should have appeared August 2, 1873. The Junction City Union announced it August 16, 1873:
The Chief is the name of a creditable newspaper venture at Kirwin, Phillips county. W. D. Jenkins is the editor.
The Phillips County Post, of Phillipsburg, published a souvenir edition July 12, 1906, from which we quote the early history of the paper:
28. Andreas, op. cit., pp. 1217, 1219.
29. First Biennial Report, p. 365; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1514.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 313
The Kirwin Chief (the first paper in the county), was established in August, 1873, by W. D. Jenkins. He sold the paper to Capt. A. A. Thomas in the winter of 1874. In the fall of 1876, it was purchased by A. G. McBride and removed to Phillipsburg ; after six months it was again moved to Kirwin, and July 13, 1881, was sold to the Kirwin Chief Steam Printing Co., with Rev. G. W. Wood, as editor. Tom G. Nicklin took charge Nov. 30, '81, A. L. Topliff January 5, 1882, and T. J. Pickett July 20, 1882. . . .
The Society's regular file of the Chief starts June 8, 1876.
EDWARDS COUNTY Kinsley Reporter, September, 1873.
The First Biennial Report and Andreas agree that the Kinsley Reporter made its appearance September 16, 1873, that it started as a monthly publication, changed to a fortnightly or semiweekly, and in 1875, to a weekly publication.30 The Topeka Daily Blade announced the first issue of the Reporter October 6, 1873, saying: "The first number of the Kinsley Reporter, published at Peter city, by Mrs. C. C. McGinnis, has made its appearance." It failed to comment on the nature of the publication. In the issues of March 14 and 28, 1878, the Edwards County Leader, of Kinsley, published a history of the county in which the author, J. A. Walker, listed Mrs. A. L. McGinnis publisher of the Reporter. In part it reads:
In September, 1873, Mrs. A. L. McGinnis, sister to Mrs. W. F. Blanchard and F. C. Blanchard, issued the first number of the Kinsley Reporter, a spicey little newspaper which she continued to publish until it was merged into the Edwards County Leader, W. T. Bruer purchasing her press and type in January, 1877.
Andreas and the First Biennial Report failed to mention the editor and publisher, however the state census records of Kinsley township, Edwards county for 1875, listed A. L. McGinnis, female, age 42, printer, but did not mention C. C. McGinnis. With A. L. was listed M. V. McGinnis, female, age 16. It is possible and probable that Mrs. C. C. and A. L. McGinnis refer to the same person, one re- ferring to her initials, and the other, to her husband's.
The Society has four issues of the Reporter, the first bears the date of September 21, 1876, listed as Vol. Ill, No. 45.
30. First Biennial Report, p. 200 ; Andreas, op. cit.f p. 1367.
314 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
FORD COUNTY Dodge City Messenger, February 26, 1874.
The grasshopper scourge followed closely on the heels of the Mes- senger, and no doubt helped force its suspension in 1875. A. W. Moore was editor and publisher. In the salutatory he wrote:
Here we are. How do you like us? We dislike a long Salutatory with more words than sense — promising great things which cannot be fulfilled — (as is too often the case with editors in Kansas) — but we merely say that we are here, in Dodge City, Ford County, State of Kansas, for the purpose of publishing a newspaper, earning and receiving our "chuck," and doing what we can to- wards promoting the interests of said county. The Messenger is an Indepen- dent— or Neutral, paper — reserving the right, however, to criticise the actions of our public servants both in high and low places — to denounce public robbery and wholesale stealing — and speaking a good word for those who merit it. ...
In another place he told about the conditions in that western town: Dodge City, where we have cast anchor, contains a population of about three hundred souls. The city has gained an unenviable name, far and near — but now, instead of those terrible scenes that we read of, being re-enacted, quietude reigns supreme. The desperadoes have all taken their departure, leaving the peace-loving citizens in possession.
There are some sixteen business houses in the city — all of which are doing a very fair business, so far as we can learn. . . . The shops around are do- ing a good business — and the saloons are kept in good shape, and very orderly, by gentlemen who fully understand their business. . . .
A. W. Moore went to Dodge City from Holton, where in 1867 he had established the Jackson County News, a Republican seven- column paper.31 He removed his material to Dodge City to estab- lish the Messenger, a four-page, six-column paper. The Society has two issues, Vol. I, No. 1, dated February 26, 1874, and the issue of June 25, 1874.
RUSH COUNTY
The Walnut Valley Standard, Rush Center, December 24, 1874.
This was the first newspaper published and printed in Rush county. William P. Tomlinson, a Republican, was the editor and proprietor. The Society has two copies of The Walnut Valley Standard published in this decade. The first is dated December 24, 1874, but it carries no volume and number. It was printed on a single sheet with four columns to the page. The editor wrote:
This first assay at printing in Rush county which we think will be ap- preciated by all interested in the welfare of the county, is purely an individual
31. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1560; First Biennial Report, p. 238.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 315
enterprise involving not a cent of expense to the county. A large edition has been worked off which we present to all with the compliments of the season.
Doubtless the editor regarded this issue as Vol. I, No. 1, even though he failed to label it. Moreover, he wrote that it was the "first assay at printing in Rush county." There is no information to show that it had a rival for priority.
Apparently the paper was not published regularly, as the next issue in the Society's file is Vol. I, No. 26, dated December 13, 1876 — nearly two years after the first number was published. According to the First Biennial Report the Standard was removed to La Crosse in the spring of 1877, and then to Ellis, Ellis county. The Society also has two copies of the Standard published at Ellis.
Tomlinson was a native of Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1857 he was sent to Kansas by the New York Tribune as its correspondent, and in 1859 wrote a book on the territorial troubles, entitled, Kansas in Eighteen Fifty-eight. In the spring of 1871 he moved to Kansas, locating first at Council Grove, then at Rush Center. He was the first representative sent to the state legislature from Rush county. In later years he worked for the Topeka Commonwealth, was as- sociated with Charles K. Holliday in the publication of the Kansas Democrat, and later published a paper known as the Democrat. He died at Topeka June 13, 1901.32
ROOKS COUNTY The Stockton News, January 6, 1876.
The News was established at Stockton by J. W. Newell in Jan- uary, 1876. It was Republican in politics. Newell purchased the press and material of the Lincoln County Patriot, removed it to Stockton in November, 1875, and issued the first number January 6, 1876.33 The Society has Vol. I, No. 15, of the News, dated April 20, 1876. If published regularly the first number should be dated January 13, 1876. However, the Osborne County Farmer, of Os- borne, announced it January 14:
The Stockton News has made its appearance. It is a neat, well edited six column sheet, is a credit to Mr. Newell the publisher, and will be an honor to the people of Rooks county if they support it handsomely.
This indicates that the first issue may have appeared January 6, 1876.
32. La Crosse Chieftain, January 2, 1930.
33. Stockton News, July 19, 1882; Andreas, op. cit., p. 1611; Risely, Mrs. Jerry Burr, "The History of Rooks County, Kansas," p. 9. — MS. in library of the Kansas State Historical Society.
316 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The News continued publication until September 30, 1909. Dur- ing the period of May, 1881, to April, 1882, it was published at Plainville. With the issue of March 28, 1883, it changed its name to The Western News, having earlier dropped Stockton from its title. The Society has a good file of this paper.
NORTON COUNTY The Norton County Bee, Norton, January 1, 1877.
The grasshopper scourge of 1874, the panic of 1875, and the sub- sequent depression period, no doubt greatly retarded the westward march of the Kansas frontier newspaper men. In 1872-1873, thirteen new counties established newspapers, whereas during the next three years there were only three: Ford and Rush in 1874 (although the Dodge City Messenger came in before the grasshopper invasion), none in 1875, and one in 1876.
Andreas and the First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue of The Norton County Bee as January 1, 1877, listing Harmer and Baker as the proprietors. The First Biennial Report added Nat. L. Baker, editor.34 J. C. Swayze announced the initial number in the Topeka Daily Blade, January 10, 1877:
The Norton County Bee is a new newspaper published at Norton in this State, by Harmer & Hugill. It is exceedingly country in appearance, but we suppose that is accounted for by the fact that it is exceeding [ly] far out in the country. It claims to be "intensely local" also. It has a worm fence around each page, which leads us to infer that it is opposed to the herd law. May it have better luck than the Locomotive.
The Society has only one issue of the Bee, dated May 7, 1877, listed as Vol. I, No. 19, which places the first number January 1, 1877. However, it gave A. F. Harmer as editor and publisher. No doubt the initial number was published by Harmer & Hugill as an- nounced in the Blade. According to Andreas the office of the Bee was removed to Leota, Norton county, in November, 1877; after a few months it was returned to Norton, and soon discontinued.35
STAFFORD COUNTY The Stafford Citizen, November 30, 1877.
The first issue of the Citizen appeared November 30, 1877. It was printed at Sterling. Theo. L. Kerr was the editor and proprietor. Throughout its brief existence the editor boosted Pratt county. It lived and died before Stafford county was organized. With the
34. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1063 ; First Biennial Report, p. 344.
35. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1063.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 317
organization of the county in 1879, Stafford city was included in this county, and the Citizen was honored as Stafford county's first news- paper.
The editor did not commit himself politically. In "Our Bow" he wrote:
In general politics we do not propose to take much of a hand at present, but when occasion shall arise, we expect to be found on the side of honesty and good government. In local politics, the Citizen will use its best en- deavors to assist in the selection of honest, capable men to office and will then watch them to see that they do their duty faithfully.
But we consider it our chief mission at present to talk up the country and get it filled with settlers.
More interesting than "Our Bow" was "Our Adieu," which fol- lowed in Vol. I, No. 31, dated June 28, 1878. It reads, in part:
For thirty-one weeks we have been amusing ourselves at journalism; during which time we have acted in the capacity of editor, reporter, business manager, bookkeeper, compositor, proof-reader, pressman and devil; and must confess that it is a little the liveliest amusement we ever engaged in. On account of our limited financial resources we were obliged to do our printing at Sterling, which being thirty-three or four miles from our town of publication prevented us from making a flying visit to the beautiful little city we have had so much to say about, oftener than once in three or four weeks. During the last thirty- one weeks, however, our bump of imagination has increased to such an enormous size that we feel perfectly competent to write all the local news notwithstanding the many miles of prairie that hides from our view our country and people. . . .
Kerr had but two reasons for dropping the newspaper business. The most important was, he could not make it pay; the second, which he considered a direct consequence of the first, his declining health. He therefore sold his subscription list and good will to E. B. Cowgill of Rice county who promised to publish the Stafford news in his paper. The Society has all thirty-one issues of the Citizen.
BARBER COUNTY Barbour County Mail, Medicine Lodge, May 21, 1878.
The Society has an incomplete file of this paper, including Vol. I, No. 1, dated May 21, 1878.36 M. J. Cochran was the editor and pub- lisher. The paper was Republican in politics. In the "Salutatory" the editor wrote:
We will say that while we have political views of our own and those of a radical nature, we do not think the growth of the county would be in any way materially aided by their advocacy. The only politics needed, in our judg-
36. Andreas and the First Biennial Report gave the date of the first issue as May 20 and May 23, respectively. See Andreas, op. cit., p. 1523, and First Biennial Report, p. 110.
318 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ment, in a new county, is economy in county management, and the selection of pure, noble-minded and honest men to fill the places of trust and profit, keeping an eye single to the advancement and substantial development of your county.
Not many politicians would admit as much.
Cochran published the last issue of the Mail March 6, 1879. On the editorial page he wrote that his interest in, and management of the Mail ceased. In the first issue of the Medicine Lodge Cresset, published March 20, 1879, the editors and proprietors, J. W. McNeal and E. W. Iliff, wrote that they had purchased the Mail on the fol- lowing terms :
The terms on which we purchased the Mail were that we were to continue all paid up subscriptions until their time expires. Those who are in ar[r]ears we are to collect arrearages. . . .
The Cresset therefore replaced the Mail. The issue of May 22, 1879, announced IlifTs withdrawal and replacement by T. A. Mc- Neal, now of Topeka. The McNeals were brothers. The Cresset continued its publication until August 30, 1917, when it consolidated with The Barber County Index, of Medicine Lodge. Under this name the paper is still published. Cloyce M. and C. W. Hamilton are the present editors and publishers.
KINGMAN COUNTY Kingman Mercury, June 14, 1878.
Andreas was correct in saying: "The Mercury was the first news- paper published in Kingman county. It was established by J. C. Martin [formerly connected with the Chase County C our ant, of Cottonwood Falls], the first issue bearing date June 14, 1878." 37 The Society has a good file of the Mercury, including Vol. I, No. 1.
In the salutatory Martin wrote that he intended to devote his time to help make Kingman county "the equal of any in the State." He abhorred "long-winded salutatories and promises" never intended to be fulfilled, and closed with the quotation:
Here's freedom to him that would read,
Here's freedom to him that would write !
There's none ever feared that the truth should be heard
But they whom the truth would indict.
The Mercury started as a five-column folio. On June 13, 1879, Martin increased it to a seven-column, four-page paper. On August 19, 1880, the paper changed hands, Martin sold to A. E. Saxey, who
37. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1526.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 319
changed the name to the Kingman Blade. Saxey continued the Blade till December 23, 1880, when he disposed of his interests to P. J. Conklin, editor and publisher of the Kingman County Citizen, of Kingman, who discontinued the Blade.
GRAY COUNTY The Cimarron Pioneer, July 2, 1878.
The first journalistic venture in Foote, now Gray county, was the Cimarron Pioneer. The paper was edited and published by Joseph E. Morcombe, formerly a correspondent of the Kinsley Graphic, and printed by the Dodge City Times. The Optic gave the date of the first issue as July 2, 1878.38 On June 25, 1878, the Ford County Globe, of Dodge City, published a news item by "Dick" of Cimarron which told of the prospective newspaper venture:
We are to have a newspaper here soon, we understand. The first issue will come out Saturday, June 29. We wish it much success, and as we have an enterprising editor, we think it cannot be otherwise. We understand it is to be called The Pioneer.
On July 6, 1878, the Dodge City Times announced the first issue: The first number of the Cimarron Pioneer was issued last Tuesday [July 2] . It is edited and conducted by Jos. E. Morcombe, a young man of fine ability, and who gives promise of much usefulness. He is a fine writer and will adapt himself to the newspaper profession. The Pioneer is a credit to the growing town of Cimarron. We wish it unbounded success.
Three days later, July 9, the Globe announced the first issue:
The Cimarron Pioneer came to hand on Friday. Progress is to-day the touchstone of success and we feel that the publishing of the Pioneer is progres- sive enough for the most enthusiastic and consequently deserving of success. We welcome it to our table.
The Kinsley Graphic announced the Pioneer July 13:
The Cimarron Pioneer is the latest journalistic venture outside of Kinsley. Jos. E. Marcombe, late correspondent of the Graphic, editor. The Pioneer is indeed an oasis in the desert, and we wish it abundant success.39
According to the Dodge City Times the first issue of this paper ap- peared July 2. The Society has no copy of the Pioneer.
The New West, Cimarron, was the second newspaper in the county. It was first published March 22, 1879, and was printed at Larned. The Society has a good file of it.
38. The Optic, Cimarron, July 18, 1879.
39. The Optic spelled the editor's name, Morcomb. — See ibid.
320 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
PRATT COUNTY Pratt County Press, luka, August 15, 1878.
Andreas listed the Press as the first newspaper in Pratt county.40 It had no rival for priority. The first number no doubt appeared August 15, 1878. The earliest number in the Society's file is Vol. I, No. 3, dated August 29, 1878. If regularly issued the first number should be dated August 15. On August 22, the Weekly Bulletin, Sterling, announced the luka paper as follows:
We have received Vol. 1, No. 1, of the weekly Pratt County Press published at luka, by [J. B.] King and [M. C.] Davis. The Press is a handsomely printed, spicily edited seven column folio. The proprietors say they know how to get up a county paper, and from the contents of the initial number we judge their words to be no vain boast. . . .
The initial number was highly complimented by other Kansas papers. The Pawnee County Herald, of Larned, stated: "The paper is a very good looking seven column sheet, unusually well gotten up for a 'backwoods' paper." The Hutchinson Herald spoke of King and Davis as "both practical printers and experienced publishers. Their paper, the Press, is a credit to the locality." The Kansas City (Mo.) Daily Journal, said the Press was "exceptionally well gotten up. ... luka is sixty miles from a railroad station, but the pluck and energy displayed by Messrs. King and Davis is what makes success certain." The Daily Democrat, Pueblo, Colo., listed the paper as " 'independent' in politics." 41
HARPER COUNTY Anthony Journal, August 22, 1878.
Jasper S. Soule established the Journal in Anthony, August 22, 1878. It was the official and only paper in the county,42 started as a five-column folio. Before a year elapsed, however, another column had been added. Soule started the project to earn a living for himself and family. He proposed to make the Journal a "free, fear- less and independent'' publication. Anthony was selected because he regarded Harper "the 'banner' county of the 'Great Southwest,' " and the townsite attracted him. At the time of the first issue Anthony was four months old.
Soule had learned the printers' trade in the office of the Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, under the eagle eye of T. B. Murdock. It
40. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1268.
41. Pratt County Press, luka, September 5, 1878. The comments were given under the caption: "As Others See Us."
42. Anthony Journal, September 5, 1878.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 321
is of interest, therefore, to read what the master workman had to say about the product of his former apprentice. On August 30, 1878, Murdock wrote in the Times :
We have received the first number of the Anthony, Harper county Journal, J. S. Soule editor and proprietor. Jasper learned the printing trade in the Times office and we can therefore claim him as one of our boys. His paper is a neat and well filled sheet and is a credit to the publisher as well as to the county in which it is printed, and if the people of that county don't give the Journal a handsome support they deserve to be without a newspaper at all. We hope to see Jasper make a success of it in his new venture.
Soule sold the Journal to C. W. Greene April 26, 1879.43 The Society has a good file of the Journal, including Vol. I, No. 1.
HODGEMAN COUNTY Hodgeman Agitator, Hodgeman Center, March 1, 1879.
W. W. Wheeland was editor and publisher of the Agitator, the first newspaper in the county, published and printed at Hodgeman Cen- ter. Andreas wrote that Wheeland was both editor and county clerk.44 When the governor organized Hodgeman county, March 29, 1879, he appointed Wheeland a temporary county clerk. However, this was nearly five weeks after the paper was established.45
In the ' 'salutatory," Wheeland informed his constituents that his subsistence was wholly dependent upon the subscription list and if they wanted a paper they had better cooperate. He admitted hav- ing come to Hodgeman Center to help make it the county seat (in which he failed) . The paper was definitely political, the editor con- ceded that he was "an uncompromising Republican."
The Agitator was a neat five-column folio, and was favorably re- ceived by Kansas newspaper men.46 The editor of the Ford County Globe announced the first issue in frontier language:
Hodgeman county has a paper, not published on a buffalo chip, but a real, live newspaper, called the Agitator. We trust it will not wither and fade away from premature birth.47
The paper issued forty-five numbers, then discontinued. Andreas wrote: "The last number of the Agitator was issued January 10,
43. Ibid., May 2, 1879.
44. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1608.
45. Hodgeman Agitator, April 5, 1879.
46. Ibid., March 15, 1879.
47. Ford County Globe, Dodge City, March 4, 1879.
48. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1608.
7—30
322 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
1880, and with its demise, its editor went out of the office." 48 The Society has a good file of the paper.
Two other newspapers were established in the county during the year 1879: The Republican, Fordham, which appeared April 9, 1879, and the Buckner Independent. The Society's file of The Re- publican starts with Vol. I, No. 1, and of the Buckner Independent with Vol. I, No. 3, dated November 7, 1879.
TREGO COUNTY Wa-Keeney Weekly World, March 8, 1879.
The first newspaper established in this county was the Wa-Keeney Weekly World, with W. S. Tilton as editor and publisher. The first number appeared March 8, 1879. The Society's file starts with the second number, dated March 15, 1879. The World, started as a six- column paper, was enlarged to seven columns August 9, 1879, and was further enlarged to eight columns, October 29, 1881. It was folio in form, and Republican in politics. The Society has a good file of the Weekly World, changed March 21, 1885, to the Western Kansas World.
The paper was favorably received. The editor of the Smith County Kansas Pioneer, of Smith Centre, described it as "a neat, newsy little six-column paper, and bears the 'imprint' of marked ability." 49
The Society also has a good file of the Wa-Keeney Kansas Leader, the second paper established in this county. The first number was dated August 6, 1879, and was published by H. P. Stultz.
FINNEY COUNTY The Garden City Paper, April 3, 1879.
The Paper no doubt was the first newspaper published in the territory now Finney, then Sequoyah county. Kirk Himrod and Amos "Bonaparte" Balm were the editors and publishers. They made no political claim. The first number appeared April 3, 1879, as a lengthy five-column folio, thereafter it was published as a four- column, eight-page paper.
The salutatory was very brief, but pointed: "Here we are. Shake!" To which D. R. Anthony of the Leavenworth Times re- plied: "Dr. Brown suggests that his ague pills are good for anything
49. Wa-Keeney Weekly World, March 29, 1879. 60. Garden City Paper, April 24, 1879.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 323
of that kind." 50 The editor of The Weekly Bulletin, of Sterling, commented on this prospective newspaper venture:
Garden City is to have a newspaper. It will be a five column folio, Himrod and Bairn, both long legged printers, will be the publishers. Kirk Himrod, the senior member of the firm, is well known to the people of this section. Amos Bairn, better known as "Bonaparte," has been employed in the job department of the Bulletin for a long time. Both of the boys are first-class printers and we wish them success in their enterprise, but fear they will have to skirmish right briskly to make a living the first year or so.51
The Ford County Globe carried the following description of the first number:
Westward the newspaper takes its way. It seems that the first thing neces- sary to build up a new town or county is a newspaper. The newest and most suburban now on record is the Garden City Paper, published at Garden City, Sequoyah county, over a hundred miles west of Dodge. It is a very neat little five-column paper, very interesting to home-seekers, published by Himrod and Bairn. Himrod we know to be on the square in every respect. The paper is very ably and sensibly edited, and the people of Sequoyah should be proud of it.52
The editors of the Paper commented on the large size of their county, saying, if it were five miles wider it would be exactly the size of the state of Rhode Island. The dimensions of Sequoyah ex- tended 24 miles east and west and 36 miles north and south, com- prising 864 square miles. The Society has a complete file of this paper. Numbers two and three were not published because the publisher had to move and lacked the necessary paper.53
51. The Weekly Bulletin, Sterling, March 27, 1879.
52. Ford County Globe, Dodge City, April 8, 1879.
53. Garden City Paper, April 24, 1879.
(To Be Concluded in the November Quarterly)
Bypaths of Kansas History
STEAMBOATING ON THE MISSOURI IN 1842 From the Daily Missouri Republican, Saint Louis, May 28, 1842.
The steamer Edna, Capt. Martin, arrived here on Sunday evening, from Weston, Missouri river, having on board 931 sacks of wheat, 95 barrels of do, 48 hogsheads of tobacco, 169 coils of rope, 228 bales of hemp, 20 barrels hemp seed, &c. &c., and 28 deck and 36 cabin passengers.
The following memoranda may be interesting, as giving some idea of a trip 500 miles down the Missouri.
Weston is above Ft. Leavenworth, and, with the exception of the beginning of a settlement called latan, it is the westernmost town of the state. It con- tains at present about 400 inhabitants, and has been settled about three years, on public land never yet brought into market for sale. It is situated in the elbow of a bend of the river, on the north bank, between two rocky bluffs; has amongst others, several good looking frame buildings, and is probably as busy a place for its size, as any in the country. No soil can, in any part of the world, be richer than that of Platte county, in which it is situated. The county is well settled, and this whole country is settled up to the western line of the state, and even to the western line of Iowa territory north. Wheat, hemp, tobacco and corn thrive well here, and extensive preparations are mak- ing for a large crop of hemp next season, in all this section. The drought of the current year, which has continued the whole season, until last week, has materially retarded the growth of the wheat and hemp. Opposite Weston dwell the Kickapoo Indians, in a country as attractive as any yet settled by civilized man. Immediately above Weston, in the river, you observe bristling up almost a forest of snags, apparently obstructing steamboat navigation. Yet boats ascend nearly 2,000 miles above!
The boat left Weston, Tuesday, 17, 4 o'clock, P.M. Stopped at Fort Leavenworth, the most beautiful spot on the banks of the Missouri. It is protected from the encroachments of this turbulent river by a natural wall of limestone, and occupies an eminence visible for several miles on the west and east. There is but one company of soldiers there at present, under the com- mand of Capt. Swords.
Below the cantonment, observed upon the bank, several Indians of the Stockbridge tribe, originally from the western part of Massachusetts. They dwell just below the cantonment, on lands said to belong to the Delawares, and have the reputation of being a religious and orderly people. Their claims are now before a committee of congress.
Passed two "Mackinaw boats" loaded with peltries, followed by a canoe filled with half naked Indians from the mountains.
Wednesday, 18th. — Owing to the numberless snags and sandbars in the river, the boats do not deem it prudent to run in the night, therefore "hauled up" for the night at Independence, upper landing. During a powerful shower of rain which overtook us in the morning at Liberty, an Indian of the Pottawat- tamie tribe came on board, and broke down the front door of the social hall, shivering it to atoms. He was knocked down forthwith in return, and carried out on shore, stunned, but not killed. . . .
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BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 325
WHEN TABLES REALLY "GROANED"
From the Fort Scott Monitor, November 20, 1867, and Memoirs and Recollections of C. W. Goodlander of the Early Days of Fort Scott (Fort Scott, 1900), pp. 111-113.
The dance and supper given by the "Pioneers of '57," last Thursday eve- ning, was the gayest party held in Fort Scott for a long while. It was a re- union of the old advance guard of civilization and settlement, coupled with a general invitation to all who wished to join them in the festivities of the occasion, and was gotten up "on the spur of the moment," yet a very large and enthusiastic crowd assembled to enjoy the dance; and more than that, to partake of the boasted "game supper," which, to say the least, was a sumptuous one, out-rivaling, as their bill of fare shows, any first-class hotel on the continent. The supper was prepared at the Wilder House, under the supervision of Chas. Dimon, Esq., the proprietor, and was perfection itself. Most of the wild game was killed by a party of hunters composed principally of the settlers or pioneers of '57. The following is the bill of fare as "dished up" at the Wilder House :
PIONEER SUPPER.
Wilder House. Fort Scott, Kansas, Nov. 14, 1867.
BILL OF FARE. Twelve O'clock Supper.
SOUP.
Oyster. Colbert.
FISH.
Baked Black Bass. Broiled Red-horse.
RELIEVE.
Broiled Leg of Mutton, Caper sauce; Wild Turkey, Braised, with Oysters ; Ham, Champagne sauce; Broiled Prairie Chicken, Parsley sauce ; Rib of Antelope, a la Regeance ; Buffalo Tongue.
COLD ORNAMENTAL DISHES.
Chaudfroid of Faisant, a la Parisienne. Pattress de foie Gras, with jelly. Bastion of Rabbits, a la Shiloh. Bear Tongue, a la Carlotta. Boned Turkey, decorated with jelly. Boned Partridge, a la Pawnee. Brandt, ornamented with jelly. Sunfish au Beurre, de Montpelier.
326
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ENTRIES.
Rissoles of Jack Snipe, a la Pompadour. Fillet of Curlew, a la Rouenaise.
Civit of Venison, with Port wine. Fillet of Wild Goose, a la Marmaton. Fillet of Teal Duck, a la Drywood. Fillet of Plover, a la Prairie.
White Crane Salad, a 1'Osage. Woodcock Fricasee, a la Wolverine.
Noix of Fawn, a la Balltown.
Coon Chops, a la Marais des Cygnes.
Sweet-bread, a la Toulouse.
ROASTS.
Beef, Wild Turkey, Killdeer,
Buffalo, Saddle Venison, Gray Squirrel,
Gray Duck, Fox Squirrel, Sage Hen,
Goose, Wood Duck, Crane,
Mallard, Red-head Duck, Black Bear,
Brandt, Canvas-back Duck, Gray Duck,
Opossum, with Persimmon Jelly, Butter-ball Duck.
PASTRY.
Persimmon Pyramid, American Dessert, Mince Pie, Dewberry Jelly, Pumpkin Pie, Paw-Paw Pie,
Wild Fox Grapes, Black Walnuts, Hazel Nuts, Butter Nuts,
Cocoanut Pyramid, Cantelope rum sauce, Strawberry Ice Cream, Champagne Jelly, Pretzels, Horn of Plenty.
DESSERT.
Bush Cherries, Paw Paws, Pecans, Apples, Coffee.
WINE LIST.
Champagne.
Robinson & Co.'s Dry Verzenay. J. Sattler & Co.'s Green Seal Imperial, C. H. Haynes' Royal Rose. Van Fossen Bros.' Gold Seal.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 327
Linn & Stadden's Sillery Mouseaux. A. McDonald & Bro's. Monopale. J. S. Redfield & Co.'s Dry Sillery. Dr. J. H. Couch's Verzenay. Dr. B. F. Hepler's Cabinet. J. S. Redfield & Co.'s Imperial.
Claret.
Table, Medoc, Floirac, (D. Marie & Freres and Brandenburg, Freres), St. Julien, Chateau, Leoville, (first quality) Chateau Margux, Cha- teau Yquem, Chateau Lafitte, Chateau Griscoms.
California Wine.
Angelica, Los Angelos Vintage. California Port, Muscatel and Hock.
Kansas Wine. Southern Kansas Wine Co. Imperial, W. T. Campbell's Vintage. Sparkling Catawba, Spring River Vineyard. H. B. Hart's Seedling "Bergunday." Still Catawba, (very still, no noise).
Ale and Porter.
Hack's Imported (Leavenworth) Ale. Newberry's London Porter.
Another notable Kansas menu was prepared for the state legisla- ture in Topeka on January 22, 1872, when Grand Duke Alexis of Russia was honored with a banquet at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The duke, third surviving son of Alexander II, czar of Russia, was tour- ing the United States by special train. He went west from Omaha on a buffalo-hunting trip, and visited Denver before returning east over the Kansas Pacific (now the Union Pacific) via Topeka. The official party included: Vice Admiral Possiet, Lieutenants Karl Tudor and Stordegraff of the Russian Imperial navy ; W. T. Machin, chancellor of state; Count Olsenfieff; Bodisco, consul gen- eral of Russia to the United States, and — - Shuveloff, secre- tary of the legation. On the Plains the United States was repre- sented by Gen. P. H. Sheridan, Gen. George A. Ouster, Col. M. V. Sheridan, and Col. George A. Forsyth. After visiting the legislature, then in session, the duke returned to the hotel for the dinner. This is the "Bill of Fare" as printed in The Kansas Daily Commonwealth, January 23, 1872:
328 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
BILL OF FARE.
SOUP. Oyster, a la Possiet, Chicken, with Rice.
FISH.
Boiled White Fish, a la Maitre d'Hotel. BOILED.
Pressed Corned Beef, Leg of Mutton, Caper Sauce, Chicken, Egg Sauce, Ham, Pickled Pork, Tongue.
COLD.
Corn Beef, Pork, Chicken Salad, Ham, Lobster Salad, Calf's Tongue.
RELISHES.
Chow-chow, Pickled Lilly, Mixed Pickles, Cauliflower,
Gherkins, Club Sauce, Worcestershire Sauce,
Pickled Oysters, Celery, Cheese.
GAME.
Buffalo, Rabbit, Venison, Moose, Squirrel, Elk, Bear, Quail, Duck, Turkey, Prairie Chicken, Antelope.
ENTRIES.
Chicken Wings, Fricassed, Queen Fritters, a la Princess, Pigs Feet, Breaded, Scalloped Oysters, a la Stanton, Quail on Toast,
Rabbits, a la Chasseur, Tenderloin of Beef, a la Royal, Oyster Patties, a la Rhine, Macaroni, aux Graton,
Rice Croquettes, with Jelly, Prince Albert Pancakes, with Quince Jelly,
Platons [?] of Chicken Liver, a la Bonaparte, Haricot of Mutton, a la Bourgoise, Squirrel, Crumbled and Fried, Deviled Ham, a la Italienne.
ROAST.
Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Leg of Mutton,
Mallard Duck, a la Mateloite, Ribs of Beef, Chicken, Oyster Dressing, Buffalo, Brown Sauce,
Ham, Champagne Sauce, Antelope, Grape Jelly,
Elk, Currant Jelly.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 329
VEGETABLES.
Boiled Potatoes, Green Peas, String Beans,
Parsnips, Lima Beans, Tomatoes, Hominy,
Mashed Potatoes, Brown Potatoes, Cabbage,
Mashed Turnips, Succotash, Corn.
PASTRY AND PUDDING.
Plum Pie, Strawberry Pie, Mince Pie, Peach Pie,
Pound Cake Pudding, Cranberry Tarts, Fruit Cake, Ornamented, Cranberry Pie, Gold Cake, Jelly Roll, Pound Cake,
Iced and Ornamented,
Drop Kisses, Cocoanut Tops,
Rose Jelly Cake, Lady Fingers, Silver Cake,
Marble Cake, Leopard Cake.
DESSERT.
Vanilla Ice Cream, Almonds, Oranges, Pecans,
Apples, Wine Jelly, Crab Apple Jelly, Brandy Jelly,
Quince Jelly. French Coffee, Tea.
A JUNCTION CITY EDITOR LOOKS AT HAYS From the Junction City Union, July 8, 1871.
There is a row of saloons on the Kansas Pacific railway called Hays City. Having visited the place, we should call it the Sodom of the plains. Its history has been written, but never believed. We have remarked that its history has been written. In this we are mistaken. Only a faint glimmering of its wickedness has been put on record. The whole story of that town no man knoweth. Were the dead that sleep on the lonely hill behind the city to get up from their graves, they might be able to give reminiscences of the place, that would cause the hairs of the head to stand on end, and the blood to curdle in its natural channels. There are living witnesses, to whom we have listened, who can draw back the awful veil that hides them, and reveal to the understanding, acts of fiendish inhumanity too black to relate. It has been the rendezvous of thieves and robbers, of murderers and accomplished villains. The tale of its existence is a grand series of tragedies. But many of those desperadoes who have made Hays City a synonym of iniquity, and wreathed the laurels in its garland of infamy, lie buried near the spot where their diabolical crimes were committed. They have ceased to howl, and no more disturb their fellow men in the peaceful walks of life.
Its saloons, as we have observed, are among its chief attractions. On en- tering one, you are astonished at the warlike appearance of the place, as it looks more like an arsenal than a bar room. The adroitness with which the skilled barkeepers there handle their weapons is a marvel. When a noisy crowd enters, the keeper of the arsenal retreats gracefully behind his fortifica- tions, and "smiles blandly upon his baffled pursuers." He is surrounded with a halo of knives and pistols, and strikes an attitude of defiance among the
330 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
spigots. Immediately upon the least sign of hostile demonstrations, he dis- plays his skill as a marksman upon some unfortunate victim, and taking a piece of chalk in his hand, turns lithely to the french plate mirror at his back, and writes in large letters, "to be continued." This exhibition of trained dexterity wins for him the reputation of a "thorough-bred," and one not to be trifled with. Such scenes made up the daily routine of life there, in the days of Wild Bill, sometimes called William Severe, and they are yet frequently repeated in commemoration of the ancient chivalry of the city.
It was our fortune to be in this fortress of sin on the Fourth of July, and we believe its people, or the people that were in it, did more celebrating to the square inch, than in any one town in the country. To say that the town was distracted on that day, or rather on that night, would be using a very tame phrase: The ball opened at early candlelight, and kept rolling until the stars had sunk from the heavens. The boys in blue fought their battles in the streets of the town with all their ancient vigor and vehemence. They Iseemed to revel in riot and dissipation. The soiled doves joined in the drunken carnival, and gave to the scenes of violence rather a thrilling and terrible cast. Strange to say nobody was killed. This fact is almost miracu- lous, and will be deemed a mistake by old residenters.
Thus have we endeavored to give a brief sketch of Hays City by lamp light, though feeling that no pen can do it justice. On leaving it, we do not esteem it blasphemy to bid adieu in the following words addressed to the city of London, by Alexander Pope, one of the greatest of English poets—
"Dear, damn, distracted town, farewell 1 "
Among those who celebrated at this far-off city of the plains, was Lord Campbell, brother of the Marquis of Lome, who was recently married to the princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria. This illustrious young nobleman has been making a trip through the great West, and evidently enjoyed every- thing, especially hunting buffalo and celebrating the Fourth of July.
At the camp of the Sixth cavalry, about two miles from the city, on the classic banks of Big creek, everything glimmered like a sunbeam, and the fun and good times among the boys seemed to have no limit. Here it was our good fortune to meet Messrs. Ruggles, Keenan, and Hoffman, who were all as happy as a bundle of sun flowers. They welcomed us to their pavillion, which was well stored with the wherewithal to celebrate. String bands, brass bands, and bands that played on no instruments, either with strings, or of brass, gave spice and variety to the "day's doings." Towards the wee small hours, the vocalists, who were serenading, sang at a high pitch, for the benefit of those living in Hays City. The officer of the day interviewed them, not that he would deprive the youths of their innocent amusement, but because military discipline had certain regulations that could not be overlooked.
We had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Loring, who was formerly stationed at Fort Riley, and is now with the Sixth cavalry near Fort Hays.
WHEN GRASS GREW IN THE STREETS OF PARSONS From the Kansas State Record, Topeka, September 20, 1871. The prairie fire had to be fought in the streets of Parsons the other night.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
The history of the settlement along Coal creek, in southwestern Nemaha county, was reviewed by B. P. Redmond in a series of arti- cles beginning in the Seneca Courier-Tribune, April 14, 1941.
On May 8, 1941, the Russell Record and The Russell County News published special historical editions celebrating the annual "Prairiesta." The Record reprinted an account of the arrival of the Northwestern colony at "Fossil Station," now Russell city, in 1871, written by Russell Benjamin Pratt and first published in the Record, April 22, 1875. A feature, "Early Day History of Russell County," in the News, included sketches printed serially from March 20 to May 1. This feature was continued in the News of May 15, 22 and June 5.
The Garnett Review issued a twenty-four page, seventy-fifth anniversary edition, May 15, 1941. The newspaper, which has un- dergone many consolidations, was begun as the Plaindealer in 1865 by I. E. Olney. Histories of Garnett and its schools, newspapers, churches, lodges and civic organizations were published. Articles on Anderson county's oil industry and the founding of other towns in the county were also included.
Sketches of early pioneer days in Neosho and Labette counties by Mrs. J. T. Coles were printed in the Erie Record, May 16, 1941.
The twenty-second anniversary edition of The Plaindealer, Wichita labor newspaper, was issued May 23, 1941. Several historical arti- cles of interest to labor were featured.
Experiences of 93-year-old Mrs. Armilda Williams, who was once a slave in Missouri, were briefly discussed by Harold Coats in the Topeka Daily Capital, May 26, 1941.
An account of the first observance of Decoration Day in Bur- lingame in 1882 appeared in The Enterprise-Chronicle, May 29, 1941. Featured in the article were the names of the men of Osage county who died while serving with the Union army.
"Early History of Mound City," by the late E. 0. Morse, was printed in the Mound City Republic, May 29, 1941. This sketch was written in 1914 to commemorate the golden wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. E. O. Morse. Fifty years before, on October 18, 1864, when this Linn county couple were married in Dansville, N. Y.,
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332 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the Kansas militia was assembling in five border counties to resist Price's threatened invasion. At that time Morse was a captain in the Federal army.
The history of the Blue Rapids Presbyterian Church appeared in the Blue Rapids Times, May 29, 1941. The church was organized May 1, 1870. The Rev. Charles F. Mussey was the first minister of the church, with twenty -three charter members.
On June 18, 1941, the Marion Review issued a golden jubilee sup- plement dedicated to Father John M. Sklenar, who has served his church fifty years, spending thirty-eight years of this time in St. John Nepomucene Parish, in Pilsen. A biography of Father Skle- nar, by the Rev. Emil Kapaun, is also a history of the Catholic churches and school at Pilsen.
A 48-page "Southwest Resource Edition" of the Garden City Daily Telegram appeared June 18, 1941. The special issue con- tained much information concerning livestock, crops and the indus- trial resources of the Garden City area. The story of the Soule canal, a fantastic failure in the early days of irrigation in the vicin- ity, is told in connection with an account of the present-day achieve- ments of irrigation.
On June 26, 1941, the Riley Regent published an article "Looking Back Sixty-Two Years," by Chas. A. Southwick. It was recalled that the first newspaper published in what is now Riley, was the Riley Center News, dated January 19, 1879. Mr. Southwick stated that he wrote the article from memory and hoped old-timers who had additional information would respond. On July 3, an article entitled "Riley's First Newspapers," by Isaac Moon, was printed in the Regent. Moon stated he had in his possession a copy of number four of the first volume of the Riley Center News, dated February 28, 1879. He was editor of the Riley paper during part of 1880 and 1881.
Celebrating the anniversary of its first year of publication The Quivira Chieftain, of Lyons, issued a twenty-eight page historical edition on June 27, 1941. Mrs. Roy Kinzie's article on the history of Lyons was of special interest. News photographs of local people and events, a weekly feature of the Chieftain, were also included.
Kansas Historical Notes
The American Association for State and Local History was organ- ized in New York City December 27, 1940. Immediate plans of the association include the publication of a new edition of the Handbook of Historical Societies in the United States and Canada, also a number of bulletins on such subjects as the organization of a local historical society, how to plan such a society's program of activity, how to write a local history, how to restore and care for historic sites, and how to produce historical plays and pageants. The asso- ciation plans to act as a clearing house for such activities. All local historical societies and individuals interested in history and its preser- vation are invited to become members. Both individuals and insti- tutions are eligible to membership, and those who apply not later than October 8, 1941, will be listed as founding members. Appli- cations for membership should be addressed to David C. Duniway, secretary-treasurer, Box 6101, Washington, D. C. C. C. Crittenden, of Raleigh, N. C., is president of the association.
The program for marking the historic sites of Kansas on the state's major highways has continued during the summer. Titles, location and dates of placing other Kansas Historical Markers not previously announced in this section include: Mission Neosho, on US-59 in Christian church grounds at Shaw, Neosho county, June, 1941 ; Fort Scott, on US-69 at the north city limits of Fort Scott, Bourbon county, June; Kansas City, Kan., on US-24 nine miles west of Kansas City, Wyandotte county, June; Lincoln County Indian Raids, on K-18 about two miles east of Lincoln, Lincoln county, June 1; Geodetic Center of North America, on US-24 and US-281 one-fourth mile north of Osborne, Osborne county, June 5; El Quartelejo, on US-83 ten miles north of Scott City, Scott county, June 8; Battle of Hickory Point, in roadside area bordering US-59 one-fourth mile north of Dunavant, Jefferson county, June 22 ; Wa- conda, or Great Spirit Spring, on US-24 about three miles east of Cawker City, Mitchell county, June 22; The Chisholm Trail, on US-81 1% miles north of Wichita, Sedgwick county, June 25 ; Geo- graphic Center of the U. S., on US-36 one-third mile west of junction with US-281 (li/2 miles south of Lebanon), Smith county, June 29; Fort Hays, on US-40 at the east city limits of Hays, Ellis county, June 30; Indian Burial Pit, on US-40 four miles east of Salina, Saline county, July 4; Hollenberg Pony Express Station, on US-36
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334 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
one-half mile east of junction with K-15E (three miles south of Hanover), Washington county, July 13; Father Juan de Padilla and Quivira, on US-50N and US-77 one mile south of Herington, Dick- inson county, July 20; Civil War Battle, Drum Creek Treaty, on US-160 about one mile east of Independence, Montgomery county, July 23; Chouteau's Island, on US-50 one mile west of Lakin, Kearny county, July 26.
In 1939 A. E. Gledhill placed a stone marker on the homestead of Joseph Gledhill, in southeast Smith county, commemorating the settlement of Twelve Mile valley and the establishment in 1874 of the Twelve Mile post office in the home of Joseph Gledhill, who was a member of an Eastern colony which arrived in Kansas in 1871. The monument also marks the old Cawker City-Smith Center trail.
On the death of William L. Huggins May 23, 1941, Harry A. Way- man became president of the Lyon County Historical Society. Judge Huggins was a founder of the society and had served as presi- dent since its organization in 1937. Mr. Wayman held the office of vice-president during the same period.
Carl Florell recently discovered what is believed to be an Indian burial pit on his farm southwest of Courtland in Republic county, according to the Courtland Journal of May 29, 1941. Investigation of a "rocky ledge" revealed a smooth circular stone floor about eleven feet in diameter with a pit in the center. The skeletal re- mains which were found were old and powdered at touch.
It was announced in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, July 16, 1941, that an association has been formed to persuade congress to make a national park out of the Alexander Majors home and forty ad- joining acres, located at 8145 State Line Road, just outside Kansas City. Alexander Majors, a member of the famous freighting firm, Russell, Majors and Waddell, built the house in 1856.
Inventories of the archives of eleven counties of Kansas have been published by the Kansas Historical Records Survey since its incep- tion in Kansas in 1936. Counties completed to date are: Bourbon, Cherokee, Franklin, Graham, Gray, Greenwood, Johnson, Mont- gomery, Osage, Seward and Shawnee. All historical materials in the courthouses of these counties, including the unpublished official docu- ments and records, were sorted and inventoried as part of the nation- wide Inventory of the County Archives series. The historical back- ground of each county and a detailed statement of its organization and the functions of its agencies accompany the archival guides, all
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 335
neatly mimeographed and bound. The survey is carried on by the Division of Community Service Programs of the Work Projects Ad- ministration. Mary Parkman, of Topeka, is state director and Harold J. Henderson, Topeka, is state supervisor. The Kansas State Historical Society has sponsored the project since September 1, 1939.
On September 12, 1866, the University of Kansas opened its doors in Lawrence with three faculty members and forty-nine students in attendance. Not one of the students was ready for college work, and preparatory courses had to be arranged for all. In commemoration of the seventy-fifth birthday of the university, an illustrated 202- page history by Robert Taft, entitled Across the Years on Mount Oread, 1866-1941, was issued in the spring of 1941. The book, well edited and printed, consists of a series of historical sketches with pictures and photographs showing the growth of the school and its development into the state's foremost educational institution. The framers of the legislative act establishing the university cautiously provided for male and female branches. "The female branch may be taught exclusively by women, and buildings for that branch shall be entirely separate from the buildings of the male branch." From the beginning, however, at a time when coeducation was still in the experimental stage, all departments have been open to women as well as men.
Vanguards of the Frontier, by Everett Dick, was published in the spring of 1941 by the D. Appleton-Century Company, of New York. The book is a companion volume to the author's Sod-House Frontier. In Vanguards, Dick has re-created the life of the forerunner of the homemaker in the vast territory west of the Mississippi river. He sought to discover the manner of living, dress, food, entertainment, and mode of life in general of the vanguards of the frontier — the hunters and trappers, the Indian agents and mountain men, the soldiers and missionaries, prospectors and express riders, bullwhack- ers and lumberjacks, gamblers and bandits, ranchers and cattlemen. Theirs was a life of hardship and reckless adventure, romanticized in fiction, but in reality close to the savagery of the human and ani- mal inhabitants of the wilderness. This book offers adequate proof of a trapper's statement, quoted in the last chapter of the book: "It is easy to make a savage of a civilized man, but impossible to make a civilized man of a savage in one generation."
An objective and thorough study of The Kansas Industrial Court, an Experiment in Compulsory Arbitration, by Domenico Gagliardo
336 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of Kansas University, was recently published by the university's committee on social science studies. The Kansas Industrial Court was created during the first administration of Gov. Henry J. Allen in an attempt to settle the coal strike of 1919, and to prevent new strikes. In the 264-page book Gagliardo describes the creation of the court and analyzes the characters of the three men who had im- portant parts in the court controversy: Governor Allen; William L. Huggins, author of the industrial court law and one of the judges of the court, and Alexander McWhirter Howat, leader of the mine workers of Kansas who fought the court bitterly during its existence. The court gained nation-wide attention during the five years it func- tioned, and the law, wrote Gagliardo, "was one of the most inten- sively litigated pieces of American labor legislation prior to the national labor relations act." The court began as a noble experi- ment in the regulation of relations between workers, employers, and the public, but it failed, because of its political, economic and legal weaknesses.
THE
Kansas Historical Quarterly
Volume X Number 4
November, 1941
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
W. C. AUSTIN. STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1941
19-1043
Contributors
V. E. GIBBENS is instructor in English at Purdue University, La Fayette, Ind.
G. RAYMOND GAEDDERT is curator of newspapers at the Kansas State His- torical Society.
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5S
Kansas Historical Markers
UNTIL recent years it was the practice to erect historical markers on the sites where the events occurred. Frequently these places were inaccessible and usually the history consisted of a few words on a plaque or monument. It was assumed that only those already familiar with the facts would be interested. Today, how- ever, with thousands of tourists on the highways, history is being marked where those who ride may read. Inscriptions on roadside markers often tell of events that happened miles away, and the history of a region may be condensed in one text.
Kansas has recently erected fifty-six of these modern markers. The project was sponsored by the Kansas State Chamber of Com- merce when Roy Bailey of Salina was president. It got under way in 1934 at a meeting attended by Mr. Bailey, Fred Brinkerhoff of Pittsburg, Samuel Wilson of Topeka, W. E. Archer of Hiawatha, and Frank Haucke of Council Grove, representing the State Chamber, and Kirke Mechem, secretary of the Kansas State Historical Society. Details of construction were worked out with engineers of the State Highway Commission after a study of similar signs in other states. In 1938, towards the end of Gov. Walter Huxman's administration, one marker was built. In 1940 Gov. Payne Ratner authorized D. J. Fair, director of highways, to erect fifty as the beginning of a pro- gram which he hoped would continue until all important sites were marked.
These first fifty were chosen by the state committee from a list of one hundred prepared by the Historical Society. They are not offered as the principal historic sites in Kansas. A few of those selected were not marked because it was impossible to secure rights of way. Among the omissions are Shawnee Methodist Mission, Shawnee Baptist Mission, Leavenworth, Fort Leavenworth and Osawatomie. Many others will be noted. Kansas is so rich in history that several hundred markers could be placed. Continuation of the project rests with the governor and the Highway Commis- sion— and the state of the budget.
Inscriptions for the markers were written by Kirke Mechem, secre- tary of the Historical Society. Research was done by members of the staff. A vast and often contradictory collection of notes about each site was accumulated. Books, pamphlets, newspapers, govern-
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340 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ment documents, maps, clippings and manuscripts by the hundreds were consulted. Controversies over dates, locations, names and events had to be settled. First drafts usually ran to several hun- dred words, to be condensed to one hundred and fifty. Sometimes as many as twenty-five revisions were necessary. Although ac- curacy was the first essential it was recognized that the texts must be more than a list of dates and names. The ideal was a blending of epigram, fact and poetry, obviously unattainable. The result is a series of inscriptions, however, which it is hoped will suggest some- thing of the color and variety of the state's history.
For more than a year this Society has had the generous co- operation of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the Highway Commission, which is responsible for building, placing and maintain- ing the markers. Fred Brinkerhoff, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce committee, Roy Bailey, Samuel Wilson, D. J. Fair, state highway director, R. B. Wills, state highway engineer, Leslie E. Edmonds, superintendent of public relations, and Franklin Rose, landscape engineer, have taken a personal interest in the program. Mention should also be made of Nyle Miller, research director of the Historical Society, who checked statements of fact with the records.
The texts and locations of fifty-five of the markers follow. The fifty-sixth, the Geographic Center marker, appears as a picture.
THE INDIAN AND THE BUFFALO
THE BUFFALO WAS THE DEPARTMENT STORE OF THE PLAINS INDIAN. THE FLESH WAS FOOD, THE BLOOD WAS DRINK, SKINS FURNISHED WIGWAMS, ROBES MADE BLANKETS AND BEDS, DRESSED HIDES SUPPLIED MOCCASINS AND CLOTHING, HAIR WAS TWISTED INTO ROPES, RAWHIDE BOUND TOOLS TO HANDLES, GREEN HIDES MADE POTS FOR COOKING OVER BUFFALO-CHIP FIRES, HIDES FROM BULLS* NECKS MADE SHIELDS THAT WOULD
TURN ARROWS, RIBS WERE RUNNERS FOR DOG-DRAWN SLEDS, SMALL BONES WERE AWLS AND NEEDLES, FROM HOOVES CAME GLUE FOR FEATHERING ARROWS, FROM SINEWS CAME THREAD AND BOWSTRINGS, FROM HORNS CAME BOWS, CUPS AND SPOONS,
AND EVEN FROM GALL STONES A "MEDICINE" PAINT WAS MADE. WHEN THE MILLIONS OF BUFFALO THAT ROAMED THE PRAIRIES WERE EXTERMINATED THE PLAINS TRIBES WERE STARVED INTO SUBMISSION. A FEW SMALL HERDS SAVED THE BUFFALO FROM EXTINCTION AND THERE ARE NOW MORE THAN 22,000 IN NORTH AMERICAN GAME PRESERVES. A HERD MAY BE SEEN
JUST SOUTH OF GARDEN ClTY.
US-50S, at Garden City, Finney county.
INDIAN BURIAL PIT
SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS AGO, PERHAPS MORE THAN A THOU- SAND, THIS VALLEY WAS INHABITED BY MEN WHOSE AVERAGE
HEIGHT WAS PROBABLY WELL OVER SIX FEET. THESE WERE NOT THE INDIANS OF QUIVIRA, WHOSE "?-FOOT WARRIORS" CORONADO DESCRIBED IN 1541, BUT AN EVEN EARLIER PEOPLE. HERE THEY LIVED IN EARTH LODGES, TILLING THE SOIL, HUNT- ING AND FISHING, AND HERE THEY LEFT RECORDS OF UNUSUAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE. ONE MILE SOUTHEAST OF THIS MARKER IS A BURIAL PIT CONTAINING MORE THAN 140 SKELE- TAL REMAINS THAT DEMONSTRATE THE REMARKABLE SIZE AND STRENGTH OF THESE PREHISTORIC INDIANS. THE PIT WAS DISCOVERED IN 1936. IT HAS BEEN SCIENTIFICALLY EXCA- VATED, WITH THE SKELETONS STILL PRESERVED IN THE SAME FLEXED POSITIONS OF THEIR BURIAL CENTURIES AGO. AMONG THE OBJECTS FOUND IN THE PIT ARE PIECES OF POTTERY, A GRINDING STONE, PARCHED CORN AND BEANS. A STONE TOMA- HAWK, CEREMONIAL FLINT KNIVES, AND CLAM-SHELL BEADS AND EAR PENDANTS.
US-40, about four miles east of Salina, Saline county.
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WACONDA, OR GREAT SPIRIT SPRING
MANY MOONS AGO, so RUNS AN INDIAN LEGEND, WACONDA,
A BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS, FELL IN LOVE WITH A BRAVE OF AN- OTHER TRIBE. PREVENTED FROM MARRIAGE BY A BLOOD FEUD, THIS WARRIOR EMBROILED THE TRIBES IN BATTLE. DURING THE FIGHT AN ARROW STRUCK HIM AS HE STOOD ON THE BRINK OF A SPRING AND HE FELL MORTALLY WOUNDED INTO THE WATERS. WACONDA, GRIEF-STRICKEN, PLUNGED AFTER HIM. BELIEVING HER SOUL STILL LIVED IN THE DEPTHS, THE TRIBES FOR COUNTLESS AGES CARRIED THEIR SICK TO DRINK THE HEALING WATERS. HERE THEY CELEBRATED THEIR VIC- TORIES AND MOURNED THEIR LOSSES, NEVER NEGLECTING TO THROW INTO THE SPRING SOME TOKEN FOR THE GREAT SPIRIT. WACONDA SPRING, % MILE SOUTH OF THIS MARKER, is A
MINERAL POOL ABOUT FIFTY FEET IN DIAMETER, SET IN A CURIOUS LIMESTONE BASIN.
US-24, about three miles east of Cawker City, Mitchell county.
CORONADO AND QUIVIRA
EIGHTY YEARS BEFORE THE PILGRIMS LANDED AT PLYM- OUTH ROCK SPANISH EXPLORERS VISITED KANSAS. FRAN- CISCO VASQUEZ DE CORONADO, SEEKING GOLD IN NEW MEXICO,
WAS TOLD OF QuiVIRA BY AN INDIAN CALLED THE TURK.
HERE WERE "TREES HUNG WITH GOLDEN BELLS AND PEOPLE WHOSE POTS AND PANS WERE BEATEN GOLD." WlTH 30 PICKED
HORSEMEN AND A FRANCISCAN FRIAR NAMED JUAN DE PA-
DILLA, CORONADO MARCHED "NORTH BY THE NEEDLE" FROM A POINT IN TEXAS UNTIL HE REACHED KANSAS. HERE HE FOUND NO GOLD, BUT A COUNTRY HE DESCRIBED AS "THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN FOR PRODUCING ALL THE PRODUCTS OF SPAIN." THE TURK CONFESSED HE HAD DECEIVED THE SPAN- IARDS AND ONE NIGHT WAS STRANGLED. FOR 25 DAYS IN THE
SUMMER OF 1541 CORONADO REMAINED AMONG THE GRASS-HUT VILLAGES OF THE QuiVIRAN INDIANS, THEN RETURNED TO NEW MEXICO. PADILLA WENT WITH HIM, BUT THE FOLLOWING YEAR CAME BACK TO QuiVIRA AS A MISSIONARY. LATER HE WAS KILLED BY THE INDIANS, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR IN THE PRESENT UNITED STATES. NEAR THIS MARKER IS THE
SITE OF ONE OF THE LARGEST VILLAGES OF THE "KINGDOM OF
QUIVIRA."
US-50N, west of Lyons, Rice county.
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FATHER JUAN DE PADILLA AND QUIVIRA
IN 1540 FRANCISCO VASQUEZ DE CORONADO MARCHED NORTH FROM MEXICO WITH 300 SPANIARDS IN SEARCH OF THE "SEVEN GOLDEN CITIES OF CIBOLA." WITH THEM WERE SEV- ERAL PRIESTS, INCLUDING JUAN DE PADILLA, A FRANCISCAN
FRIAR. WHEN THE GOLDEN CITIES PROVED TO BE ONLY ADOBE PUEBLOS THE SPANIARDS WENT ON TO EXPLORE THE SOUTH- WEST AND PADILLA WAS AMONG THOSE WHO DISCOVERED THE GRAND CANYON. LATER HE MARCHED WITH A PARTY OF 30 PICKED HORSEMEN TO THE LAND OF QuiVIRA IN KANSAS. FOR 25 DAYS IN THE SUMMER OF 1541 CORONADO REMAINED AMONG THE GRASS-HUT VILLAGES OF THE QuiVIRAN INDIANS, THEN RETURNED TO NEW MEXICO. PADILLA WENT WITH HIM, BUT THE FOLLOWING YEAR CAME BACK AS A MISSIONARY. HERE HE WAS LATER KILLED BY THE INDIANS, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR IN WHAT IS NOW THE UNITED STATES. ALTHOUGH THE EXACT PLACE OF HIS DEATH IS UNKNOWN THERE IS A MONUMENT TO PADILLA IN ClTY PARK IN HERINGTON.
US-SON and US-77, one mile south of Herington, Dickinson county.
EL QUARTELEJO
IN SCOTT COUNTY STATE PARK THREE MILES NORTHWEST is EL QUARTELEJO, ONLY KNOWN INDIAN PUEBLO IN KANSAS. ABOUT 1650, IT is BELIEVED, TAGS INDIANS MIGRATED HERE TO ESCAPE SPANISH OPPRESSION. LATER THEY WERE PER- SUADED BY THE SPANISH GOVERNOR TO RETURN TO NEW MEX- ICO. IN 1706 JUAN URIBARRI FORMALLY TOOK POSSESSION OF THE VALLEY FOR SPAIN, CALLING IT SAN LuiS PROVINCE. SPANIARDS AND FRENCHMEN IN THE FRONTIER STRUGGLES OF THE 1700'S ALTERNATELY OCCUPIED THE OUTPOST. DRIFTING SOIL EVENTUALLY BURIED THE STRUCTURE AND NOT UNTIL 1898 WERE THE RUINS EXCAVATED, REVEALING A TYPICAL PUEBLO WITH TRACES OF AN IRRIGATION SYSTEM. TODAY THEY ARE AGAIN BURIED BUT THE SITE IS MARKED BY A MONUMENT.
NEAR HERE IN 1878 COL. WILLIAM H. LEWIS, COMMAND- ING TROOPS FROM FORT DODGE, WAS FATALLY WOUNDED IN A BATTLE WITH CHIEF DULL KNIFE AND HIS NORTHERN
CHEYENNES. LEWIS WAS THE LAST ARMY OFFICER KILLED BY
INDIANS IN KANSAS.
US-83, 10% miles north of Scott City, Scott county.
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PIKE-PAWNEE VILLAGE
IN 1806 ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE WITH TWENTY IN- FANTRYMEN CROSSED KANSAS ON AN EXPLORING EXPEDITION
WHICH ENDED IN THE DISCOVERY OF PlKE^S PEAK AND HIS CAPTURE AND IMPRISONMENT BY A SPANISH FORCE. ON SEP- TEMBER 29 AT A PAWNEE VILLAGE EIGHT MILES NORTH AND FOUR MILES WEST OF THIS SIGN (TWO MILES SOUTHWEST OF REPUBLIC), PIKE HELD A COUNCIL WITH THE PAWNEE NA- TION. A SPANISH FLAG, LEFT SHORTLY BEFORE BY AN EXPE- DITION FROM MEXICO, WAS FLYING IN THE VILLAGE. PlKE
TELLS IN HIS REPORT HOW HE PERSUADED THE CHIEFS TO RAISE AN AMERICAN FLAG IN ITS PLACE, THE FIRST RECORD OF THE FLYING OF THE FLAG IN PRESENT KANSAS. THE SITE OF THE VILLAGE, NOW OWNED BY THE STATE, IS MARKED BY A MONUMENT.
US-36, near Republican river bridge at Scandia, Republic county.
CHOUTEAU'S ISLAND
IN THE SPRING OF 1816 AUGUSTE P. CHOUTEAU'S HUNTING PARTY TRAVELING EAST WITH A WINTER'S CATCH OF FURS WAS ATTACKED NEAR THE ARKANSAS RIVER BY 200 PAWNEES. RE- TREATING TO AN ISLAND FIVE MILES SOUTHWEST OF THIS MARKER THE HUNTERS BEAT THEM OFF WITH THE LOSS OF ONLY ONE MAN. IN 1825 INCREASED TRAVEL ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL BROUGHT A GOVERNMENT SURVEY AND CHOUTEAU'S ISLAND WAS LISTED AS A TURNING OFF PLACE FOR THE DANGER- OUS "JORNADA" TO THE CIMARRON. FOR A TIME THE RIVER
HERE WAS THE MEXICAN BOUNDARY. WHEN MAJ. BENNETT
RlLEY AND FOUR COMPANIES OF INFANTRY, SERVING AS THE FIRST MILITARY ESCORT ON THE TRAIL, ARRIVED IN 1829 WITH A WEST-BOUND WAGON TRAIN THE TROOPS WENT INTO CAMP NEAR THE ISLAND. THEY SPENT THE SUMMER FIGHTING OFF INDIANS, LOSING SEVERAL MEN AND PART OF THEIR OXEN.
THE RETURN FROM SANTA FE OF THE CARAVAN WITH A MEXI- CAN ESCORT WAS CELEBRATED IN A COLORFUL EXCHANGE OF MILITARY INSPECTIONS.
US-50, one mile west of I/akin, Kearny county.
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OREGON AND SANTA FE TRAILS
AT THIS POINT US-50 IS IDENTICAL WITH THESE FAMOUS TRAILS WHICH FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER FOLLOWED THE SAME GENERAL ROUTE. NEAR HERE THEY BRANCHED, THE WORDS "ROAD TO OREGON" ON A ROUGH BOARD POINTING OUT THE NORTHERN FORK. So SIMPLE A SIGN, ONE WRITER OB- SERVED, NEVER BEFORE ANNOUNCED SO LONG A JOURNEY.
HERE A SECOND SIGN POINTED SOUTHWEST ALONG THE SANTA FE TRAIL. OF ITS 750 MILES, TWO-THIRDS LAY IN KANSAS. As EARLY AS 1821 PACK TRAINS HAZARDED THIS
ROUTE BETWEEN THE MISSOURI AND SPANISH FRONTIERS. BY
1825 IT HAD BECOME A COMMERCIAL WAGON ROAD. FROM 1840 TO 1870 THOUSANDS OF TRAVELERS PLODDED THE
2,000 TORTUOUS MILES OF THE OREGON TRAIL, RECORDING
WITH FEARFUL MONOTONY THE NEW GRAVES ALONG THE WAY. DOWN THE SANTA FE TRAIL WENT TROOPS BOUND FOR THE MEXICAN WAR OF 1846-1847. OVER THESE TWO ROADS, BRANCHING HERE INTO THE WILDERNESS, TRAVELED EXPLOR- ERS, TRADERS, MISSIONARIES, SOLDIERS, FORTY-NINERS AND EMIGRANTS, THE PIONEERS WHO BROUGHT CIVILIZATION TO THE WESTERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES.
US-50, one-fifth mile west of Gardner, Johnson county.
COUNCIL GROVE
IN 1825 GROWING TRAFFIC OVER THE SANTA FE TRAIL
BROUGHT A GOVERNMENT SURVEY AND RIGHT-OF-WAY TREATIES WITH CERTAIN INDIANS. COUNCIL GROVE TAKES ITS NAME FROM AN AGREEMENT MADE HERE THAT YEAR WITH THE OSAGE NATION. INDIANS FARTHER WEST CONTINUED THEIR ATTACKS ON WEAK OR UNWARY CARAVANS. A LARGE GROVE ON THE RIVER HERE BECAME THE RENDEZVOUS WHERE WAGON TRAINS BANDED TOGETHER FOR SAFE TRAVEL AND TO MAKE REPAIRS FROM THE LAST AVAILABLE TIMBER. FREMONT'S EXPEDITION OF 1845 AND DONIPHAN'S TROOPS BOUND FOR THE MEXICAN WAR IN 1846 CAMPED ON THE SITE. IN 1849 THE OVERLAND MAIL WAS ESTABLISHED, WITH SUPPLY HEADQUARTERS HERE,
FOLLOWED THE NEXT YEAR BY MONTHLY COACH SERVICE.
TRAVEL TO SANTA FE THROUGH COUNCIL GROVE ENDED IN 1866 WHEN THE UNION PACIFIC REACHED JUNCTION CITY.
THIS AREA BECAME A KAW INDIAN RESERVATION IN 1846.
WITH THE INDIANS CAME THE FIRST WHITE SETTLER WHO BUILT A TRADING POST. THE METHODIST CHURCH ESTAB- LISHED A MISSION AND SCHOOL HERE IN 1850. THE INDIANS IN 1872 SIGNED A TREATY FOR REMOVAL TO INDIAN TERRITORY, NOW OKLAHOMA. THERE ARE SEVERAL PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST IN AND NEAR THE TOWN.
US-50N, one-third mile east of Council Grove, Morris county.
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KANSAS INDIAN TREATY
IN 1825 PRESIDENT JAMES MONROE APPROVED A BILL PRO- VIDING FOR THE SURVEY OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL FROM MlS-
SOURI TO NEW MEXICO AND THE MAKING OF TREATIES TO IN- SURE FRIENDLY RELATIONS WITH INDIANS ALONG THE ROUTE. A MILE WEST OF THIS SIGN, ON DRY TURKEY CREEK, A MONU- MENT MARKS THE SITE OF A COUNCIL ON AUGUST 16, 1825,
BETWEEN U. S. COMMISSIONERS REEVES, SIBLEY AND MATHER, AND SON-JA-INGA AND FIFTEEN OTHER HEAD MEN OF THE KANSAS OR KAW NATION. NEGOTIATIONS WERE CON- DUCTED THROUGH "OLD BILL" WILLIAMS, A NOTED GUIDE AND
TRAPPER. FOR A CONSIDERATION OF $800 IN CASH AND MER- CHANDISE THE CHIEFS PROMISED THAT THE TRIBE WOULD NOT MOLEST TRAVELERS. EARLIER, AT COUNCIL GROVE, A SIMILAR TREATY WAS MADE WITH THE OSAGE INDIANS.
US-81, about five miles southeast of McPherson (near Elyria), McPherson county.
PAWNEE ROCK ONE-HALF MILE NORTHEAST is PAWNEE ROCK, A FAMOUS
LANDMARK ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL. As A LOOKOUT AND AM- BUSH, RISING FROM THE PRAIRIES WHERE MILLIONS OF BUF- FALO PROVIDED AN EASY LIVING FOR HOSTILE INDIANS, THE ROCK WAS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS POINTS ON THE CEN- TRAL PLAINS. PIKE, WEBB, GREGG, DONIPHAN AND OTHER
TRAVELERS MENTIONED IT IN THEIR JOURNALS. HERE 17- YEAR-OLD KIT CARSON, STANDING GUARD ONE NIGHT IN 1826,
SHOT HIS OWN MULE, MISTAKING IT FOR AN INDIAN. TRAP- PERS, SOLDIERS, GOLDSEEKERS, FREIGHTERS AND EMIGRANTS CARVED THEIR NAMES IN THE STONE. IN LATER YEARS RAIL- ROAD BUILDERS AND PIONEERS STRIPPED THE TOP OF THE ROCK AND GREATLY REDUCED ITS ELEVATION. IT IS NOW A STATE PARK. A ROAD LEADS TO A SHELTER HOUSE AND MONUMENT ON THE SUMMIT.
US-50N, west city limits of Pawnee Rock, Barton county.
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WAGON BED SPRINGS
TWO MILES SOUTHWEST WERE THE LOWER SPRINGS OF THE
ClMARRON, AN "OASIS" IN DRY WEATHER WHERE SHORTCUTS OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL CONVERGED TO CONTINUE UP THE RIVER. THE MOST POPULAR CUT-OFF TURNED SOUTHWEST FROM THE ARKANSAS RIVER IN PRESENT GRAY COUNTY. THE 60-MILE STRETCH BETWEEN THE TWO RIVERS, KNOWN AS THE "JORNADA/' WAS A PERILOUS ROUTE FOR MEN AND ANIMALS IN DRY SEASONS WHEN WAGON TRAINS OFTEN RAN OUT OF WATER. HERE ALSO FIERCE PLAINS INDIANS FREQUENTLY ATTACKED AND PLUNDERED THE CARAVANS. NEAR HERE IN 1831 THE NOTED WESTERN EXPLORER AND FUR TRADER JEDEDIAH SMITH, LOST FOUR DAYS WITHOUT WATER, WAS KILLED BY COMANCHES JUST AS HE REACHED THE RIVER.
LATE IN THE HISTORY OF THE TRAIL A WAGON BOX SET IN THE WATER GAVE THE SPRINGS THEIR NAME. LlTTLE REMAINS OF THIS FAMOUS CAMPING PLACE, BUT WHEEL RUTS OF THE OLD TRAIL MAY STILL BE SEEN IN NEAR-BY AREAS.
US-270, eleven miles south of Ulysses, Grant county.
MISSION NEOSHO
THE FIRST INDIAN MISSION AND SCHOOL IN PRESENT KAN- SAS WAS ESTABLISHED IN SEPTEMBER, 1824, ONE-THIRD MILE
WEST OF THIS MARKER. BENTON PlXLEY, THE MISSIONARY, FOLLOWED CHIEF WHITE HAIR AND HIS BAND OF GREAT OSAGES WHO HAD MIGRATED FROM MISSOURI ABOUT 1815. THE NEW "MISSION ON THE NEOSHO" WAS A BRANCH OF HARMONY MISSION, OPERATED IN MISSOURI BY PRESBYTERIAN AND ASSOCIATED DENOMINATIONS. SEVERAL OSAGE TRIBES LOCATED NEAR BY, AND SOME OF THE CHIEFS AND THE INDIAN AGENT WERE ANTAGONISTIC TO PlXLEY. INDIAN ROWDIES OFTEN DISTURBED RELIGIOUS MEETINGS AND THE SCHOOL
FAILED TO ATTRACT PUPILS. IN 1829 THE FIELD WAS ABAN- DONED.
IN 1844 A. B. CANVILLE ESTABLISHED A TRADING POST AMONG THE OSAGES A LITTLE SOUTHEAST OF THIS MARKER. HERE ON SEPTEMBER 29, 1865, THE OSAGES SIGNED A TREATY WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGREEING TO A REDUCTION
OF THEIR RESERVE IN KANSAS. A FEW YEARS LATER THEY WERE REMOVED TO OKLAHOMA.
US-59, on Christian church grounds at Shaw, Neosho county.
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SHAWNEE FRIENDS MISSION
IN 1825 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BEGAN MOVING EAST- ERN INDIANS TO NEW LANDS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. THIS SIGN IS ON A TRACT OF 2,500 SQUARE MILES ASSIGNED TO THE SHAWNEES. WITH THIS TRIBE CAME METHODIST, BAPTIST AND QUAKER MISSIONARIES. ONE MILE EAST AND A LITTLE NORTH THE QUAKERS ERECTED BUILDINGS IN 1836 AND OPENED A SCHOOL THE FOLLOWING YEAR. INDIAN STUDENTS, WHO LIVED AT THE MISSION, RECEIVED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLING, RE- LIGIOUS INSTRUCTION AND TRAINING IN AGRICULTURE AND DO- MESTIC ARTS. HIGHEST RECORDED ENROLLMENT WAS 76. IN
ITS LATE YEARS THE SCHOOL WAS ATTENDED MAINLY BY IN- DIAN ORPHANS. THE MISSION OPERATED ALMOST CONTIN- UOUSLY UNTIL 1869. A MARKER DESIGNATES THE SITE OF THE MAIN BUILDING WHICH WAS TORN DOWN IN 1917.
Junction K-10 and US-50, near Shawnee, Johnson county.
HIGHLAND PRESBYTERIAN MISSION
IOWA, SAUK AND Fox INDIANS OF MISSOURI WERE RE- MOVED BY TREATY TO PRESENT DONIPHAN COUNTY IN 1837. WITH THEM CAME SAMUEL M. AND ELIZA IRVIN, PRESBY- TERIAN MISSIONARIES, WHO ESTABLISHED A LOG-CABIN MIS- SION AND SCHOOL. IN 1843 IRVIN AND HIS ASSOCIATE, WIL- LIAM HAMILTON, SET UP A PRESS (THE SECOND IN KANSAS) TO PRINT SCHOOLBOOKS AND RELIGIOUS WORKS IN THE IOWA LANGUAGE. A THREE-STORY STONE AND BRICK BUILDING OF
32 ROOMS WAS COMPLETED IN 1846 ON A SITE ONE MILE EAST AND A LITTLE NORTH OF THIS SIGN. HERE INDIAN PUPILS RE- CEIVED ELEMENTARY SCHOOLING AND INSTRUCTION IN DOMES- TIC ARTS, MANUAL TRADES AND AGRICULTURE. REMAINS OF THE BUILDING MAY STILL BE SEEN. WlTH THE ORGANIZA- TION OF KANSAS AS A TERRITORY THE TRIBES WERE REMOVED
TO DIMINISHED RESERVES AND THE MISSION WAS FINALLY
CLOSED ABOUT 1863.
US-36, one-fourth mile east of Highland, Doniphan county.
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FORT SCOTT
THIS WESTERN OUTPOST, NAMED FOR GEN. WINFIELD SCOTT, WAS ESTABLISHED BY U. S. DRAGOONS IN 1842 ON LAND
RESERVED FOR NEW YORK INDIANS. IT WAS MIDWAY BE- TWEEN FORT LEAVENWORTH AND FORT GIBSON ON A MILI- TARY ROAD THAT EXTENDED FROM THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI
RIVER TO LOUISIANA. BY 1853 THE INDIAN FRONTIER HAD MOVED WEST AND TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN. TWO YEARS LATER THE BUILDINGS WERE AUCTIONED TO INCOMING SET- TLERS AND THE CITY OF FORT SCOTT GREW UP AROUND THEM. FROM 1855 TO 1860 THE TOWN WAS IN THE THICK OF THE TERRITORIAL STRUGGLE OVER SLAVERY AND IN 1858 IT WAS RAIDED BY MONTGOMERY AND HIS BAND OF JAYHAWKERS. DURING THE CIVIL WAR THE FORT WAS REESTABLISHED. IT
BECAME UNION HEADQUARTERS AND SUPPLY DEPOT FOR SOUTH- EAST KANSAS AND WAS UNDER CONSTANT THREAT OF ATTACK UNTIL 1865. SEVERAL OF THE OLD FORT BUILDINGS MAY STILL
BE SEEN ON THE PLAZA.
US-69, at north city limits of Fort Scott, Bourbon county.
OSAGE CATHOLIC MISSION
THIS MISSION WAS FOUNDED IN 1847 FOR OSAGE INDIANS LIVING ALONG THE NEOSHO AND VERDIGRIS RIVERS. A MAN- UAL LABOR SCHOOL FOR BOYS WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE JES- UITS AND A DEPARTMENT FOR GIRLS BY THE bISTERS OF Lo- RETTO. HIGHEST RECORDED ENROLLMENT WAS 239. IN 1848 THE FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SOUTHERN KANSAS WAS BUILT. DURING THE CIVIL WAR WHEN PROPERTY WAS LAID WASTE THROUGHOUT THE BORDER THE MISSION WAS ALWAYS SPARED AND SCHOOL WAS NEVER SUSPENDED. WHEN THE OSAGES MOVED TO INDIAN TERRITORY IN 1870 WHITE CHIL- DREN GRADUALLY REPLACED THE INDIANS. THE SCHOOL BE- CAME ST. FRANCIS INSTITUTION FOR BOYS AND ST. ANN'S ACADEMY FOR GIRLS. ST. FRANCIS CLOSED IN 1891 AND ST. ANN'S WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1895. NOTABLE IN SERVICE HERE WERE MOTHER BRIDGET HAYDEN AND FATHERS JOHN SCHOENMAKERS, JOHN BAX AND PAUL MARY PONZIGLIONE, THE LATTER AN ITALIAN NOBLEMAN. A TOWN, OSAGE MlS-
SION, ORGANIZED IN 1867, BECAME ST. PAUL IN 1895.
K-57, at east city limits of St. Paul, Neosho county.
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ST. MARYS
THIS CITY AND COLLEGE TAKE THEIR NAME FROM ST.
MARY'S CATHOLIC MISSION FOUNDED HERE BY THE JESUITS IN 1848 FOR THE POTTAWATOMIE INDIANS. THESE MISSION- ARIES, WHO HAD LIVED WITH THE TRIBE IN EASTERN KANSAS FROM 1838, ACCOMPANIED THE REMOVAL TO THIS AREA. A
MANUAL LABOR SCHOOL WAS OPERATED AT THE MISSION UNTIL
1871. FROM IT DEVELOPED ST. MARY'S COLLEGE, CHARTERED IN 1869. THE COLLEGE IN 1931 BECAME A JESUIT SEMINARY. A BOULDER ON THE CAMPUS MARKS THE SITE OF THE FIRST CATHEDRAL BETWEEN THE MISSOURI RIVER AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. BUILT OF LOGS, IN 1849, IT BECAME THE SEE OF BISHOP MIEGE, "BISHOP OF THE INDIANS." VICE PRESI- DENT CHARLES CURTIS, PART KAW INDIAN, WAS BAPTIZED IN THIS PARISH ON APRIL 15, 1860.
THE MISSION WAS AN IMPORTANT STOPPING POINT ON THE OREGON TRAIL. HERE ALSO WAS THE U. S. POTTAWATOMIE
AGENCY. THIS BUILDING STILL STANDS 600 FEET NORTH- WEST OF THIS MARKER.
US-24, at east city limits of
St. Marys, Pottawatomie county.
MARYSVILLE
A FEW MILES BELOW MARYSVILLE WAS THE FAMOUS FORD ON THE OREGON TRAIL KNOWN AS THE INDEPENDENCE, MOR- MON OR CALIFORNIA CROSSING. THERE THOUSANDS OF COV- ERED WAGONS WITH SETTLERS BOUND FOR OREGON, MORMONS
FOR UTAH AND GOLDSEEKERS FOR CALIFORNIA CROSSED THE BIG BLUE RIVER. IN 1849 A FERRY AND TRADING POST WAS ESTABLISHED AT THE FORD BY FRANK J. MARSHALL, DESPITE CONSTANT DANGER FROM INDIANS. TWO YEARS LATER THE MILITARY ROAD BETWEEN FORTS LiEAVENWORTH AND KEARNY CROSSED THE RIVER AT THE SITE OF PRESENT MARYSVILLE, ONE MILE WEST. MARSHALL BUILT ANOTHER FERRY AND FOR
YEARS HANDLED AN IMMENSE TRAFFIC. HE GAVE THE NAME
OF HIS WIFE, MARY, TO THE TOWN THAT DEVELOPED HERE AND HIS OWN NAME TO MARSHALL COUNTY OF WHICH IT IS COUNTY SEAT. IN 1860 MARYSVILLE BECAME A STATION ON THE PONY EXPRESS. FOR MOST OF THE 1860's IT WAS AN IMPORTANT STOPPING POINT FOR COACHES OF THE GREAT OVER- LAND STAGE LINE.
US-36, one mile east of Marysville, Marshall county.
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FORT RILEY
FREMONT'S EXPEDITION CAMPING HERE IN 1843 REPORTED GREAT NUMBERS OF ELK, ANTELOPE AND INDIANS WHERE THE REPUBLICAN AND SMOKY HILL RIVERS UNITE TO FORM THE KANSAS. IN 1853 FORT RILEY BECAME AN OUTPOST FOR THE
DEFENSE OF THE SANTA FE AND OREGON TRAILS. FOR YEARS
IT WAS AN ARMY HEADQUARTERS ON THE INDIAN FRONTIER. HERE IN 1866 THE FAMOUS TTH CAVALRY WAS ORGANIZED WITH LT. COL. GEORGE A. CUSTER SECOND IN COMMAND. IN 1884 GEN. PHILIP SHERIDAN RECOMMENDED THE PRESENT
TRAINING SCHOOL, THOUGH CLASSES WERE NOT HELD UNTIL
1893. THE CAVALRY SCHOOL is BELIEVED TO BE THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD.
THE ORIGINAL FORT WAS BUILT BY MAJ. E. A. OGDEN AND NAMED FOR GEN. BENNETT RlLEY. CAMP FUNSTON, NAMED FOR GEN. FREDERICK FUNSTON, WAS ESTABLISHED EAST OF THE FORT IN 1917. HERE MORE THAN 140,000 MEN WERE INDUCTED INTO WORLD WAR SERVICE. CONSTRUCTION OF THE SECOND CAMP FUNSTON BEGAN IN 1940.
US-40, east of Junction City, in Fort Riley military reservation.
ATCHISON
ON JULY 4, 1804, LEWIS AND CLARK, EXPLORING THE NEW LOUISIANA PURCHASE, CAMPED NEAR THIS SITE. FIFTY YEARS LATER THE TOWN WAS FOUNDED BY PROSLAVERY MEN AND NAMED FOR SEN. DAVID R. ATCHISON. THE SQUATTER SOV- EREIGN, ATCHISON'S FIRST NEWSPAPER, WAS AN EARLY ADVO- CATE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST ABOLITION. HERE PARDEE BUT-
LER, FREE-STATE PREACHER, WAS SET ADRIFT ON A RIVER RAFT AND ON HIS RETURN WAS TARRED AND FEATHERED. HERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN 1859 "AUDITIONED" HIS FAMOUS COOPER UNION ADDRESS — UN MENTIONED BY LOCAL NEWS- PAPERS.
DURING THE HEYDAY OF RIVER STEAMBOATING IN THE FIF- TIES ATCHISON BECAME AN OUTFITTING DEPOT FOR EMIGRANT
AND FREIGHTING TRAINS TO UTAH AND THE PACIFIC COAST.
IT WAS A BASE OF SUPPLIES FOR THE PlKE;S PEAK GOLD RUSH AND IN THE EARLY 1860JS WAS A STARTING POINT FOR THE PONY EXPRESS AND OVERLAND STAGE LINES. IN THIS PIO- NEER TRANSPORTATION CENTER THE SANTA FE RAILWAY WAS ORGANIZED IN 1860, MODESTLY NAMED THE ATCHISON & TOPEKA.
US-59, at southwestern city limits of Atchison, Atchison county.
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LAWRENCE
LAWRENCE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1854 BY THE EMIGRANT AID COMPANY, A NEW ENGLAND ORGANIZATION FORMED TO PREVENT THE NEW KANSAS TERRITORY FROM BECOMING A
SLAVE STATE. WHEN THE FIRST LEGISLATURE ENACTED THE SO-CALLED BOGUS LAWS WITH SEVERE PENALTIES FOR OPPOS- ING SLAVERY LAWRENCE WAS THE CENTER OF FREE-STATE RE- SISTANCE. FREE-STATE NEWSPAPERS HERE FURTHER ANTAG- ONIZED PROSLAVERY OFFICERS. LATE IN 1855 1,500 PRO- SLAVERY MEN GATHERED TO ATTACK THE TOWN. FREE-STATE MEN CAME TO ITS DEFENSE, AMONG THEM JOHN BROWN.
BLOODSHED WAS AVERTED BY A "PEACE TREATY." THE NEXT SPRING, HOWEVER, A "SHERIFF^ POSSE" OF SEVERAL HUNDRED MlSSOURIANS BURNED HOUSES, DESTROYED TWO NEWSPAPER PRESSES AND FIRED A CANNON INTO THE ELDRIDGE HOTEL ON
THE PRETEXT THAT IT WAS AN ABOLITION FORT.
DURING THE CIVIL WAR LAWRENCE WAS A HAVEN FOR RUNAWAY SLAVES AND WAS HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR UNION RAIDS INTO MISSOURI. ON AUGUST 21, 1863, QUANTRILL AND A BAND OF GUERRILLAS RAVAGED THE TOWN AND KILLED
NEARLY 150 MEN. MONUMENTS TO THESE VICTIMS AND OTHER HISTORICAL MARKERS MAY BE SEEN IN THE CITY.
LAWRENCE is THE HOME OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS AND
HASKELL INDIAN INSTITUTE.
US-24, three and one-half miles northeast of Lawrence, Douglas county.
FIRST CAPITOL OF KANSAS
THIS BUILDING WAS ERECTED IN 1855 IN THE NOW EXTINCT
TOWN OF PAWNEE FOR THE FIRST LEGISLATURE OF THE TERRI- TORY OF KANSAS. THE MEMBERS WERE MOSTLY MISSOURIANS, FRAUDULENTLY ELECTED IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE KANSAS A SLAVE STATE. THEY CAME IN WAGONS AND ON HORSEBACK, WELL ARMED, AND CAMPED OUT ON THE PRAIRIE. THE SES- SION LASTED FROM JULY 2 TO 6. THE MlSSOURIANS WERE
DETERMINED TO LEGISLATE NEARER HOME AND PASSED A BILL TO MOVE TO SHAWNEE METHODIST MISSION NEAR KANSAS CITY. GOVERNOR REEDER VETOED THE BILL, IT WAS PASSED OVER HIS VETO, AND THIS ENDED THE SESSION HERE. ALL OTHER ACTS, INCLUDING THE SO-CALLED BOGUS LAWS, WERE PASSED AT SHAWNEE MISSION. THIS BUILDING STOOD IN PAR- TIAL RUIN UNTIL ITS RESTORATION IN 1928 BY THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
US-40, east of Junction City, in the First Capitol grounds, Fort Riley military reservation.
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LECOMPTON— SLAVERY CAPITAL
THREE MILES NORTH is LECOMPTON, FAMOUS IN THE LATTER 1850'S AS HEADQUARTERS OF THE PfiOSLAVERY PARTY IN KANSAS. THE "BOGUS" LEGISLATURE OF 1855 MADE IT THE TERRITORIAL CAPITAL AND CONGRESS APPROPRIATED $50- 000 FOR A CAPITOL BUILDING WHICH WAS NEVER COMPLETED. LECOMPTON WAS SERVED BY STAGECOACH, STEAMBOAT AND FERRY. WlTH A LAND OFFICE AND OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES, IT PROSPERED UNTIL THE DOWNFALL OF THE SLAVE POWER IN KANSAS. Gov. CHARLES ROBINSON AND MANY FREE-STATE
LEADERS WERE IMPRISONED THERE DURING 1856-1857. STILL TO BE SEEN ARE THE LEGISLATIVE HALL IN WHICH THE LE- COMPTON CONSTITUTION WAS FRAMED IN 1857, AND THE ROWENA HOTEL, LONE SURVIVOR OF THE BOOM-DAY HOSTEL- RIES.
"FORT TlTUS," HOME OF PROSLAVERY LEADER HENRY TlTUS, ATTACKED AND BURNED BY FREE-STATE MEN IN 1856, WAS 2l/2 MILES NORTH OF THIS MARKER. THREE MILES NORTHEAST IS THE RESIDENCE BUILT BY ACTING GOV. FRED- ERICK STANTON IN 1857, NOW OWNED BY FORMER SECRETARY OF WAR HARRY H. WOODRING.
US-40, three miles south of Lecompton, Douglas county.
CAPITAL OF KANSAS
TOPEKA WAS FOUNDED IN 1854 AT THE SITE OF FERRY WHERE A BRANCH OF THE OREGON TRAIL CROSSED THE KANSAS RIVER AS EARLY AS 1842. ANTI-SLAVERY LEADERS FRAMED THE TOPEKA CONSTITUTION, 1855, IN THE FIRST AT- TEMPT TO ORGANIZE A STATE GOVERNMENT. THE NEXT YEAR THEIR LEGISLATURE WAS DISPERSED BY U. S. DRAGOONS UNDER ORDERS FROM PRESIDENT FRANKLIN PlERCE. [So PlERCE WAS OMITTED WHEN TOPEKA NAMED ITS STREETS AFTER THE PRESIDENTS.] IN THE LATE 1850's NEGROES BOUND NORTH ON THE "UNDERGROUND RAILWAY" WERE HIDDEN HERE BY JOHN BROWN IN A CABIN WHICH MAY STILL BE SEEN. TO- PEKA BECAME THE CAPITAL IN 1861 WHEN KANSAS WAS AD- MITTED TO THE UNION AND THE SLAVERY CONFLICT FLAMED INTO REBELLION.
AFTER THE WAR, IN 1868, THE SANTA FE RAILROAD, PRO- MOTED BY C. K. HOLLIDAY, A CITY FOUNDER, FIRST STARTED
BUILDING FROM TOPEKA. THIS WAS THE BIRTHPLACE, IN 1860, OF VICE PRESIDENT CHARLES CURTIS, PART KAW IN- DIAN, THE ONLY "NATIVE AMERICAN" TO REACH so HIGH AN
OFFICE.
US-75, one-fourth mile north of Topeka, Shawnee county. 23—1043
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ELWOOD
ELWOOD, FIRST CALLED ROSEPORT, WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1856. IN ITS HEYDAY SCORES OF RIVER STEAMBOATS UN- LOADED PASSENGERS AND FREIGHT AT ITS WHARVES AND EVERY 15 MINUTES FERRYBOATS CROSSED TO ITS MISSOURI RIVAL, ST. JOSEPH. DURING THE 1850's THOUSANDS OF EMIGRANTS
OUTFITTED HERE FOR OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. ON DECEM- BER 1, 1859, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SEEKING THE REPUBLICAN
NOMINATION, HERE FIRST SET FOOT IN KANSAS, AND SPOKE IN THE THREE-STORY GREAT WESTERN HOTEL. ELWOOD WAS THE FIRST KANSAS STATION ON THE PONY EXPRESS BE- TWEEN MISSOURI AND CALIFORNIA. CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST RAILROAD WEST OF THE MISSOURI RIVER BEGAN HERE IN 1859. ON APRIL 23, 1860, THE FIRST LOCOMOTIVE, "THE ALBANY," WAS FERRIED OVER AND PULLED UP THE BANK
BY HAND. ELWOOD'S AMBITIONS FOR GREATNESS WERE THWARTED, NOT BY ST. JOE, BUT BY THE RIVER WHICH UN- DERMINED THE BANKS AND WASHED MUCH OF THE OLD TOWN AWAY.
US-36, one-fifth mile east of Elwood, Doniphan county.
BATTLE OF BLACK JACK
THIS "BATTLE" WAS PART OF THE STRUGGLE TO MAKE KAN- SAS A FREE STATE. IN MAY, 1856, PROSLAVERY MEN DE- STROYED BUILDINGS AND NEWSPAPER PRESSES IN LAWRENCE,
FREE-STATE HEADQUARTERS. JOHN BROWN'S COMPANY THEN KILLED FIVE PROSLAVERY MEN ON PoTTAWATOMIE CREEK
NOT FAR FROM THIS SPOT. IN RETALIATION HENRY C. PATE
RAIDED NEAR-BY PALMYRA AND TOOK THREE PRISONERS. EARLY ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 2 BROWN ATTACKED PATE'S CAMP IN A GROVE OF BLACK JACK OAKS ABOUT % MILE SOUTH OF THIS SIGN. BOTH SIDES HAD SEVERAL WOUNDED AND NU- MEROUS DESERTIONS BEFORE PATE AND 28 MEN SURRENDERED,
BROWN CLAIMING HE HAD ONLY 15 MEN LEFT. As EVIDENCE OF CIVIL WAR THIS FIGHT RECEIVED MUCH PUBLICITY AND EXCITED BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTH.
US-50, three miles east of Baldwin, Douglas county.
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BATTLE OF HICKORY POINT
IN SEPTEMBER, 1856, A BAND OF PROSLAVERY MEN SACKED GRASSHOPPER FALLS (VALLEY FALLS) AND TERRORIZED THE
VICINITY. ON THE 13TH THE FREE-STATE LEADER JAMES H.
LANE WITH A SMALL COMPANY BESIEGED A PARTY OF RAIDERS IN LOG BUILDINGS AT HlCKORY POINT, ABOUT % MILE SOUTH- EAST OF THIS MARKER. UNABLE TO DISLODGE THEM, LANE SENT TO LAWRENCE FOR ARTILLERY AND REINFORCEMENTS. COL. JAMES A. HARVEY RESPONDED NEXT DAY ONLY TO FIND THAT LANE HAD RAISED THE SIEGE AND DEPARTED. "SACRA- MENTO," HISTORIC MEXICAN WAR CANNON, WAS FIRED INTO
THE BUILDINGS WITH LITTLE EFFECT, AND MEN PUSHING UP A
BURNING HAYRACK WERE SHOT IN THE LEGS. THE SKIRMISH ENDED IN AN ARMISTICE, CELEBRATED, IT IS SAID, OVER A CON- SIDERABLE QUANTITY OF WHISKY. CASUALTIES WERE ONE PROSLAVERY MAN KILLED AND FOUR WOUNDED, AND FIVE FREE-STATE MEN INJURED.
US-59, one-fourth mile north of Dtmavant, Jefferson county.
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
IN JUNE, 1804, LEWIS AND CLARK, EXPLORING THE LOUIS- IANA PURCHASE, CAMPED WHERE THE KANSAS RIVER EMPTIES INTO THE MISSOURI. FORTY YEARS LATER THE WYANDOT IN- DIANS WERE MOVED HERE FROM OHIO. THEIR TRIBAL BURIAL GROUND, HURON CEMETERY, MAY STILL BE SEEN IN THE HEART OF THE CITY. THE TOWN OF WYANDOTTE WAS LAID OUT ON THE INDIAN VILLAGE SITE IN 1857. HERE THE CONSTITUTION UNDER WHICH KANSAS ENTERED THE UNION WAS FRAMED IN 1859. THRIVING RIVER TRAFFIC SOON MADE WYANDOTTE AN IMPORTANT GATEWAY TO KANSAS. FROM HERE THE UNION PACIFIC IN 1863 STARTED BUILDING WEST ACROSS KANSAS.
ALSO WITHIN PRESENT KANSAS ClTY WAS QuiNDARO, A RIVAL OF WYANDOTTE, FOUNDED IN 1856 BY FREE-STATE MEN. IN THE SOUTH PART OF TOWN IS THE SITE OF THE VILLAGE OF "THE PROPHET," A SHAWNEE WHO LED THE INDIAN FORCES AT THE BATTLE OF TlPPECANOE. WYANDOTTE AND OTHER
TOWNS WERE MERGED INTO KANSAS ClTY, KANSAS, IN 1886.
US-24, nine miles west of Kansas City, Wyandotte county.
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MARAIS DES CYGNES MASSACRE
NOTHING IN THE STRUGGLE OVER SLAVERY IN KANSAS DID MORE TO INFLAME THE NATION THAN THE MASS KILLING
WHICH TOOK PLACE MAY 19, 1858, ABOUT FOUR MILES NORTH- EAST OF THIS MARKER. CHARLES HAMELTON, WHO HAD BEEN DRIVEN FROM THE TERRITORY BY FREE-STATE MEN, RETALI- ATED BY INVADING THE COUNTY WITH ABOUT 30 MlSSOURIANS. CAPTURING 11 FREE-STATE MEN HE MARCHED THEM TO A
RAVINE AND LINED THEM UP BEFORE A FIRING SQUAD. FlVE WERE KILLED, FIVE WERE WOUNDED AND ONE ESCAPED BY FEIGNING DEATH. THE SITE AND ADJOINING LAND, OCCUPIED FOR A TIME BY JOHN BROWN, ARE PRESERVED IN A STATE ME- MORIAL PARK. A MONUMENT BEARING LINES FROM WHIT- TIER'S TRIBUTE TO THE VICTIMS STANDS IN THE TRADING POST CEMETERY WEST OF HERE.
THE TOWN RECEIVED ITS NAME FROM AN INDIAN TRADING POST ESTABLISHED ABOUT 1834. A MONUMENT JUST EAST OF THE RIVER MARKS THE SITE. HERE, ALSO, IN JANUARY, 1859, JOHN BROWN DATED HIS FAMOUS "PARALLELS."
US-69, at north edge of Trading Post, Linn county.
FORT LARNED
THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT KANSAS POST ON THE
SANTA FE TRAIL. ESTABLISHED IN 1859 AND CALLED CAMP ALERT, IT WAS RENAMED IN HONOR OF COL. B. F. LARNED. SOLDIERS STATIONED HERE ESCORTED THE MAILS AND PA- TROLLED A REGION NOTORIOUS FOR INDIAN KILLINGS AND PLUNDERED WAGON TRAINS. THE FORT ITSELF WAS SEVERAL TIMES BESIEGED. GENERALS HANCOCK AND CuSTER STARTED FROM HERE IN 1867 ON THEIR UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN TO SUBDUE THE CHEYENNES AND SlOUX. IN THE MIDDLE 1860 *S
THE POST WAS AN AGENCY FOR THE COMANCHES, KlOWAS AND APACHES. TROOPS WERE WITHDRAWN IN 1878, AND IN 1882 THE RESERVATION WAS ORDERED SOLD TO SETTLERS. SEVERAL
OF THE STONE BUILDINGS ARE IN USE TODAY ON THE FORT
LARNED RANCH. THERE is A MARKER IN THE SMALL PARK
ON THE OLD PARADE GROUND, % MILE SOUTH OF THIS SIGN.
US-50N, six miles west of Lamed, Pawnee county.
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HOLLENBERG PONY EXPRESS STATION
BEGINNING IN 1860 THE PONY EXPRESS OPERATED LIKE A GIANT RELAY RACE BETWEEN THE MISSOURI RIVER AND THE PACIFIC COAST. ALONG THE OREGON TRAIL, THROUGH FORTS LARAMIE AND BRIDGER, AROUND THE GREAT SALT LAKE, RIDERS CARRIED THE MAIL THROUGH A WILDERNESS INFESTED WITH HOSTILE TRIBES. THEIR MOUNTS WERE INDIAN PONIES, NEARLY 500 ALTOGETHER, KEPT IN RELAY STATIONS EVERY 15 MILES. AT EACH STATION TWO MINUTES WAS ALLOWED FOR TRANSFERRING SADDLEBAGS TO A FRESH PONY. EVERY FEW STATIONS A NEW RIDER TOOK OVER. DAY AND NIGHT, SUMMER AND WINTER, OVER SUN-BAKED PLAINS AND ICY MOUNTAIN TRAILS, THE SCHEDULE WAS MAINTAINED. WHEN THE TRANS- CONTINENTAL TELEGRAPH LINE REPLACED THE EXPRESS, PONIES AND RIDERS HAD MADE THE REMARKABLE RECORD OF 18 MONTHS WITH ONLY ONE MAIL LOST. THE HOLLENBERG OR COTTONWOOD RANCH HOUSE FOUR MILES NORTH, BUILT IN 1857, IS BELIEVED TO BE THE ONLY ORIGINAL AND UNALTERED PONY EXPRESS STATION. IT is NOW OWNED BY THE STATE.
US-36, one-half mile east of junction with K-15E (near Hanover), Washington county.
CIVIL WAR BATTLE, DRUM CREEK TREATY
IN MAY, 1863, A MOUNTED PARTY OF ABOUT TWENTY CON- FEDERATES, NEARLY ALL COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, SET OUT
FROM MISSOURI TO RECRUIT TROOPS IN THE WEST. SEVERAL MILES EAST OF HERE THEY WERE CHALLENGED BY LOYAL OSAGE INDIANS. IN A RUNNING FIGHT TWO CONFEDERATES WERE KILLED AND THE OTHERS WERE SURROUNDED ON A GRAVEL BAR IN THE VERDIGRIS RIVER ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH OF THIS MARKER. IGNORING A FLAG OF SURRENDER, THE OSAGES SCALPED AND CUT THE HEADS OFF ALL BUT TWO OF THE PARTY. THESE, WOUNDED, HID UNDER THE RIVER
BANK AND ESCAPED.
AFTER THE WAR WHEN SETTLERS BEGAN STAKING CLAIMS ON THE OSAGE RESERVATION, CONGRESS AUTHORIZED REMOVAL
OF THE TRIBE TO PRESENT OKLAHOMA. IN 1870 A TREATY
WAS SIGNED IN A GROVE ON DRUM CREEK, THREE MILES SOUTHEAST. IRONICALLY, THE CHEAP LANDS TO WHICH THE OSAGES WERE REMOVED BECAME A GREAT OIL FIELD AND FOR A TIME THEY WERE THE WEALTHIEST PEOPLE PER CAPITA IN THE WORLD.
US-160, about one mile east of Independence, Montgomery county.
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BAXTER SPRINGS MASSACRE
ON OCTOBER 6, 1863, GEN. JAMES BLUNT AND ABOUT 100 MEN WERE MET NEAR BAXTER^ SPRINGS BY WlLLIAM QuAN- TRILL AND SEVERAL HUNDRED CONFEDERATES MASQUERADING AS UNION TROOPS. As BLUNT'S BAND WAS PREPARING A
MUSICAL SALUTE THE ENEMY FIRED. THIS SURPRISE ATTACK PREVENTED ORGANIZED RESISTANCE, AND THOUGH BLUNT ES- CAPED NINE-TENTHS OF HIS MEN WERE KILLED. THE RAIDERS ALSO ATTACKED LT. JAMES POND AND 95 MEN ENCAMPED AT
THE SPRINGS. THIS FORCE WAS LIKEWISE CAUGHT OFF GUARD BUT RESISTED UNTIL THE ENEMY RETIRED. THESE BATTLE SITES ARE IN PRESENT BAXTER SPRINGS. A NUMBER OF THE VICTIMS ARE BURIED IN THE NATIONAL CEMETERY ONE MILE WEST OF TOWN.
BAXTER SPRINGS WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1866 ON THE FORT LEAVEN WORTH -FORT GIBSON MILITARY ROAD. FOR SEVERAL YEARS IT WAS IMPORTANT AS A TRADING CENTER FOR TEXAS
CATTLE.
US-66, at Baxter Springs, Cherokee county.
BATTLE OF MINE CREEK
IN OCTOBER, 1864, A CONFEDERATE ARMY UNDER GEN. STERLING PRICE WAS DEFEATED NEAR KANSAS CITY. HE RE- TREATED SOUTH, CROSSED INTO KANSAS, AND CAMPED AT TRAD- ING POST. EARLY ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 25 UNION
TROOPS UNDER GENERALS PLEASONTON, BLUNT AND CURTIS FORCED HIM FROM THIS POSITION, AND A FEW HOURS LATER
THE BATTLE OF MINE CREEK WAS FOUGHT OVER THESE FIELDS. CONFEDERATE FORCES WERE THROWN INTO CONFU- SION AS THEY TRIED TO CROSS THE STEEP, SLIPPERY BANKS OF THE STREAM. IN THE CLOSE FIGHTING ON THE BOTTOMS HUN- DREDS OF REBEL SOLDIERS WERE CAPTURED, INCLUDING GEN- ERAL MARMADUKE, WHO WAS TAKEN BY A 20-YEAR-OLD PRIVATE. ALTHOUGH UNION FORCES MISSED A CHANCE TO DESTROY PRICE'S ARMY THE DEFEAT WAS DECISIVE ENOUGH TO END THE THREAT OF A REBEL INVASION OF KANSAS. ABOUT 25,000 MEN WERE ENGAGED, MORE THAN IN ANY OTHER KAN- SAS BATTLE.
US-69, about two miles south of Pleasanton, Linn county.
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FORT BARKER
ABOUT THREE MILES SOUTHWEST IS THE SITE OF FORT
ELLSWORTH, ESTABLISHED IN 1864. Two YEARS LATER IT WAS RENAMED FORT HARKER FOR MAJ. GEN. CHARLES G. HARKER AND IN 1867 WAS MOVED TO THE SITE OF PRESENT KANOPOLIS. WHEN THE UNION PACIFIC REACHED HERE IN 1867 THE FORT BECAME A STARTING POINT FOR STAGE LINES TO SANTA FE AND A FREIGHTING AND SUPPLY DEPOT FOR SOUTHERN AND WESTERN FORTS.
THIS REGION WAS IN THE HEART OF THE INDIAN COUNTRY. MARAUDING PLAINS TRIBES KEPT TROOPS FROM THE FORT AL- MOST CONSTANTLY IN THE FIELD. HERE GENERAL SHERIDAN PLANNED HIS WINTER CAMPAIGN OF 1868-1869 WHICH FI- NALLY SUBDUED THE SOUTHERN INDIANS. OTHER FAMOUS GENERALS, INCLUDING GRANT, SHERMAN, HANCOCK, MlLES AND CUSTER, VISITED OR WERE QUARTERED AT HARKER. SOL- DIERS WERE STATIONED AT THE FORT UNTIL 1873. SOME OF THE BUILDINGS ARE STILL USED IN KANOPOLIS.
US-40, one and one-half miles north of Kanopolis, Ellsworth county.
FORT ZARAH
IN 1825 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SURVEYED THE SANTA
FE TRAIL, GREAT TRADE ROUTE FROM WESTERN MISSOURI TO
SANTA FE. TREATIES WITH THE KANSAS AND OSAGE INDIANS
SAFEGUARDED THE EASTERN END OF THE ROAD BUT PLAINS
TRIBES CONTINUED TO MAKE RAIDS. FORT ZARAH, AT THIS POINT, WAS ONE OF A CHAIN OF FORTS BUILT ON THE TRAIL TO
PROTECT WAGON TRAINS AND GUARD SETTLERS. IT WAS ES- TABLISHED IN 1864 BY GEN. SAMUEL R. CURTIS AND NAMED FOR HIS SON, MAJ. H. ZARAH CURTIS, WHO HAD BEEN KILLED IN THE BAXTER SPRINGS MASSACRE OCTOBER 6, 1863. THE FORT WAS BUILT OF SANDSTONE QUARRIED IN NEAR-BY BLUFFS. FORT ZARAH WAS SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDED AGAINST AN AT- TACK BY 100 KIOWAS ON OCTOBER 2, 1868. IT WAS ABAN- DONED IN 1869.
US-SON, three miles east of Great Bend, Barton county.
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FORT DODGE
FORT DODGE WAS ESTABLISHED HERE IN 1864 BY MAJ. GEN. GRENVILLE M. DODGE. IT WAS A SUPPLY DEPOT AND BASE OF
OPERATIONS AGAINST WARRING PLAINS TRIBES. CUSTER,
SHERIDAN, MILES, HANCOCK, "WILD BILL" HICKOK AND "BUFFALO BILL" CODY ARE FIGURES IN ITS HISTORY. THE SITE WAS AN OLD CAMPING GROUND FOR WAGON TRAINS AT THE WESTERN JUNCTION OF THE "DRY" AND "WET" ROUTES OF THE SANTA FE TRAIL. THE FIRST BUILDINGS WERE OF SOD
AND ADOBE ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE TROOPS LIVED IN DUG- OUTS. SEVERAL OF THE STONE BUILDINGS ERECTED LATER ARE
IN USE TODAY. THE FORT WAS ABANDONED IN 1882 AND IS NOW A STATE SOLDIERS* HOME.
THE SPANISH EXPLORER, CORONADO, is BELIEVED TO HAVE
CROSSED THE ARKANSAS RIVER A FEW MILES EAST OF HERE IN
1541.
US-154, at State Soldiers' Home, four miles southeast of Dodge City, Ford county.
INDIAN TREATIES ON THE LITTLE ARKANSAS
IN 1865 HUNDREDS OF PLAINS INDIANS CAMPED ON THESE PRAIRIES TO TALK PEACE WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. AMONG THEM WERE CHIEFS BLACK KETTLE AND SEVEN BULLS (CHEYENNE), LITTLE RAVEN AND BIG MOUTH (ARAPAHOE) , RISING SUN AND HORSE'S BACK (COMANCHE) , POOR BEAR (APACHE) , SATANTA AND SATANK (KIOWA) . FED- ERAL COMMISSIONERS WITH GREAT PRESTIGE AMONG THE IN- DIANS WERE GENERAL HARNEY, COLONEL LEAVEN WORTH, KIT CARSON AND WM. BENT. THE WHITES WANTED PEACE, UN- MOLESTED TRAFFIC ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL AND LIMITATION
OF INDIAN TERRITORY. THE INDIANS DEMANDED UNRE- STRICTED HUNTING GROUNDS AND REPARATION FOR THE CmV- INGTON MASSACRE OF BLACK KETTLE'S BAND. TREATIES MADE HERE GAVE THE INDIANS RESERVATIONS SOUTH OF THE AR- KANSAS, EXCLUDED THEM NORTH TO THE PLATTE, AND PRO- CLAIMED PEACE. SEVERAL WHITE CAPTIVES WERE RELEASED, AMONG THEM A WOMAN AND FOUR CHILDREN FROM TEXAS. LATER BOTH SIDES CHARGED VIOLATIONS AND WARFARE CON- TINUED UNTIL THE MEDICINE LODGE TREATIES OF 1867. THERE is A MONUMENT ONE MILE WEST.
US-81, four miles north of Wichita, Sedgwick county.
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FORT HAYS
THIS NOTED FRONTIER POST WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1865 TO PROTECT MILITARY ROADS, GUARD THE MAILS, AND DEFEND CON- STRUCTION GANGS ON THE UNION PACIFIC, WHICH ARRIVED IN
1867. "BUFFALO BILL" CODY, SUPPLYING MEAT FOR RAIL- ROAD CREWS, RECEIVED HIS NICKNAME HERE. AT THIS POST HE WAS MADE CHIEF SCOUT OF THE 5TH CAVALRY AFTER A
RIDE OF 350 MILES IN 60 HOURS WITH MILITARY DISPATCHES. GENERALS MILES, SHERIDAN AND HANCOCK SERVED AT FORT
HAYS, AND FROM HERE GEN. GEORGE CUSTER LED HIS ?TH
CAVALRY AGAINST MARAUDING INDIANS. IN 1889 THE FORT WAS ABANDONED BUT THE STONE BLOCK AND GUARD HOUSES ARE STILL TO BE SEEN SOUTH OF TOWN.
HAYS CITY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1867. FREE-SPENDING SOLDIERS, FREIGHTERS AND RAILROAD WORKERS SOON BROUGHT DANCE HALLS, SALOONS AND GAMBLING HOUSES. A BRIEF CAREER AS THE MOST LAWLESS TOWN ON THE FRONTIER RE- SULTED IN 50 "BOOT HILL" BURIALS. FOR A TIME "WILD BILL" HICKOK SERVED AS TOWN MARSHAL.
US-40, at east city limits of Hays, Ellis county.
FORT WALLACE
BEFORE THE BUILDING OF THE UNION PACIFIC THE OLD DENVER ROAD CROSSED THESE PRAIRIES AND OVER IT PASSED SEVERAL OF THE FAMOUS FREIGHT AND STAGE LINES OF THE EARLY WEST. THE WILD PLAINS INDIAN BITTERLY FOUGHT THIS TRAFFIC THROUGH HIS HUNTING GROUNDS. FORT WAL- LACE, ESTABLISHED IN 1865 AS CAMP POND CREEK AND RE- NAMED IN 1866, WAS ONE OF FOUR MILITARY POSTS PROTECT- ING THE ROUTE. FROM 1865 TO 1878 IT WAS THE MOST AC- TIVE POST ON THE INDIAN FRONTIER. TROOPS WERE ALMOST CONSTANTLY IN THE FIELD AND THE FORT WAS SEVERAL TIMES BESIEGED. IN JUNE, 1867, 300 CHEYENNES UNDER CHIEF ROMAN NOSE RAIDED AN OVERLAND STATION NEAR BY AND AT- TACKED THE FORT, KILLING SEVERAL SOLDIERS. THE POST WAS ABOUT TWO MILES SOUTHEAST. IT WAS ABANDONED IN 1882 AND NOTHING NOW REMAINS OF THE STONE AND WOOD BUILDINGS WHERE ONCE AS MANY AS 500 MEN WERE STA- TIONED.
US-40, at Wallace,
Wallace county.
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THE CHISHOLM TRAIL
AT THE END OF THE ClVIL WAR WHEN MILLIONS OF LONG- HORNS WERE LEFT ON THE PLAINS OF TEXAS WITHOUT A MARKET THE UNION PACIFIC WAS BUILDING WEST ACROSS
KANSAS. JOSEPH McCoY, AN ILLINOIS STOCKMAN, BELIEVED
THESE CATTLE COULD BE HERDED OVER THE PRAIRIES FOR SHIP- MENT BY RAIL. HE BUILT YARDS AT ABILENE AND SENT AGENTS TO NOTIFY THE TEXAS CATTLEMEN. THE TRAIL HE SUGGESTED RAN FROM THE RED RIVER TO ABILENE BUT TOOK ITS NAME FROM JESSE CHISHOLM, INDIAN TRADER, WHOSE ROUTE LAY BETWEEN THE NORTH CANADIAN RIVER AND THIS VICINITY. IN 1867 THE FIRST DRIVES WERE MADE AND DUR- ING THE NEXT FIVE YEARS MORE THAN A MILLION HEAD MOVED NORTH PAST THIS PLACE. EVENTUALLY THE RAILROADS AND THE BARBED WIRE OF SETTLERS CLOSED THE LONG TRAILS. BUT THE COWBOYS OF THESE GREAT DRIVES, LIVING IN THE SADDLE FOR MORE THAN A MONTH, SWIMMING FLOODED RIVERS,
FIGHTING NIGHT STAMPEDES, HAVE BECOME THE HEROES OF
AN AMERICAN EPIC.
US-81, one and one-half miles north of Wichita, Sedgwick county.
ABILENE, END OF THE CHISHOLM TRAIL
AT THE END OF THE ClVIL WAR WHEN MILLIONS OF LONG- HORNS WERE LEFT ON THE PLAINS OF TEXAS WITHOUT A MARKET THE UNION PACIFIC WAS BUILDING WEST ACROSS
KANSAS. JOSEPH McCoY, AN ILLINOIS STOCKMAN, BELIEVED
THESE CATTLE COULD BE HERDED NORTH FOR SHIPMENT BY RAIL. HE BUILT YARDS AT ABILENE AND SENT AGENTS TO NOTIFY THE TEXAS CATTLEMEN. IN 1867 THE FIRST DRIVES WERE MADE AND DURING THE NEXT FIVE YEARS MORE THAN A MILLION HEAD WERE RECEIVED. ABILENE BECAME THE FIRST OF THE WILD CATTLE TOWNS WHERE GAMBLING PLACES, SA- LOONS AND DANCE HALLS COMPETED FOR THE COWBOYS* WAGES. GUN FIGHTS WERE FREQUENT AND SEVERAL PEACE OFFICERS RESIGNED. THE FIRST TO BRING ORDER WAS TOM SMITH WHO WITH BARE FISTS ENFORCED THE ORDINANCE AGAINST CARRY- ING FIREARMS. MORE FAMOUS WAS "WlLD BlLL" HlCKOK
WHO BECAME KNOWN AS THE DEADLIEST "TWO-GUN" MARSHAL ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER. THERE ARE SEVERAL HISTORICAL MARKERS IN THE CITY.
US-40, two and one-half miles west of Abilene, Dickinson county.
(362)
MEDICINE LODGE PEACE TREATIES
IN OCTOBER, 1867, KIOWA, COMANCHE, ARAPAHOE, APACHE AND CHEYENNE INDIANS SIGNED PEACE TREATIES WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 15,000 INDIANS CAMPED NEAR BY DURING THE COUNCIL, AMONG THEM THE FAMOUS CHIEFS SATANTA, LITTLE RAVEN, PAINTED LIPS (NO, NOT A SQUAW) AND BLACK KETTLE. 500 SOLDIERS ACTED AS ESCORT FOR THE U. S. COMMISSIONERS. INTEREST IN THIS COLORFUL SPEC- TACLE WAS SO WIDESPREAD THAT EASTERN PAPERS SENT COR- RESPONDENTS, AMONG THEM HENRY M. STANLEY, WHO LATER WAS TO FIND LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. WHILE THE TREATIES DID NOT BRING IMMEDIATE PEACE THEY MADE POSSIBLE THE RAILROADS AND EVENTUAL SETTLEMENT. THE SITE OF THE COUNCIL WAS AT THE CONFLUENCE OF MEDICINE RIVER AND ELM CREEK, A LITTLE SOUTHWEST OF MEDICINE LODGE. EVERY FIVE YEARS A TREATY PAGEANT is REENACTED IN THIS
AMPHITHEATER. IN MEDICINE LODGE THERE IS A COMMEM- ORATIVE MONUMENT ON THE HIGH SCHOOL GROUNDS.
US-160, on Peace Treaty grounds, one mile east of Medicine Lodge, Barber county.
LINCOLN COUNTY INDIAN RAIDS
THE DESPERATE STRUGGLE OF PLAINS INDIANS TO KEEP OUT WHITE SETTLERS WAS A SUCCESSION OF RAIDS AND MASSA- CRES. THERE WERE SEVERAL ATTACKS IN PRESENT LINCOLN COUNTY. IN 1864 CHEYENNES ON A FORAY THROUGH THE SALINE VALLEY TRAPPED FOUR BUFFALO HUNTERS AGAINST A ROCKY LEDGE A LITTLE SOUTH OF THIS MARKER AND KILLED
THEM AFTER A BITTER FIGHT. IN 1868 THREE WOMEN WHO
HAD BEEN CAPTURED AND MALTREATED BY MARAUDING INDIANS WERE FOUND SEVERAL DAYS LATER HALF-DEAD ON THE PRAIRIE. IN 1869 TEN PERSONS WERE MASSACRED AND TWO WOMEN WERE CAPTURED ON THE SALINE RIVER AND NORTHWEST OF HERE ON SPILLMAN CREEK. FEDERAL TROOPS LATER RESCUED ONE OF THE WOMEN IN COLORADO. A MONUMENT TO THE VICTIMS OF 1864 AND 1869 STANDS ON THE COURTHOUSE SQUARE IN LINCOLN.
K-18, two miles east of Lincoln, Lincoln county.
(363)
DODGE CITY, THE COWBOY CAPITAL
FOR TEN YEARS THIS WAS THE LARGEST CATTLE MARKET IN
THE WORLD AND FOR FIFTEEN IT WAS THE WILDEST TOWN ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER. ESTABLISHED WITH THE COMING OF THE SANTA FE IN 1872, DODGE CITY BECAME THE SHIP- PING CENTER OF THE SOUTHWEST. THE HUNTERS WHO EX- TERMINATED THE BUFFALO HERE MARKETED SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF HIDES AND MEAT. HUNDREDS OF WAGON TRAINS CARRIED SUPPLIES TO WESTERN TOWNS AND ARMY POSTS. BY 1875 MOST CATTLE TRAILS LED TO DODGE; IN 1884 TEXAS DROVERS ALONE BROUGHT 106 HERDS NUMBERING 300,-
000 HEAD. AS A RENDEZVOUS FOR HUNTERS, TRAPPERS, COW- BOYS, SOLDIERS, RAILROAD BUILDERS, BULLWHACKERS, INDIANS, SALOON KEEPERS, DANCE HALL GIRLS, THUGS AND GAMBLERS, THE TOWN BECAME NOTORIOUS FOR VICE AND VIOLENCE. Nu- MEROUS VICTIMS WERE BURIED ON BOOT HlLL. EVENTUALLY LAW WAS ENFORCED BY SUCH "TWO-GUN MARSHALS" AS BAT MASTERSON, WYATT EARP AND BILL TILGHMAN.
NEAR DODGE CITY ARE THE SITES OF OLD FORT MANN AND FORT ATKINSON. THE SANTA FE TRAIL WHICH THEY WERE ESTABLISHED TO PROTECT MAY STILL BE TRACED ON THE
NEAR-BY PRAIRIE.
US-50S, one mile west of Dodge City, Ford county.
LONE TREE MASSACRE
IN 1874 TWENTY-SEVEN PERSONS WERE MURDERED BY IN- DIANS ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER OF KANSAS. SEVERAL
TIMES DURING THE SUMMER WARRIORS BROKE AWAY FROM THE RESTRAINT OF THEIR RESERVATIONS IN INDIAN TERRITORY (PRESENT OKLAHOMA) AND MOVED NORTH KILLING AND
PLUNDERING. ON AUGUST 24 CHIEF MEDICINE WATER AND A BAND OF TWENTY-FIVE CHEYENNES AMBUSHED SIX MEN OF
A SURVEYING COMPANY ELEVEN MILES SOUTHWEST OF HERE. AFTER A RUNNING FIGHT OF THREE MILES THE OXEN DRAWING THE SURVEYORS' WAGON WERE SHOT. ALL THE MEN WERE KILLED AND THREE WERE SCALPED. TWO DAYS LATER THEIR BODIES WERE FOUND BY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PARTY AND WERE BURIED TEMPORARILY IN A COMMON GRAVE NEAR A SOLI- TARY COTTON WOOD FIVE MILES SOUTH OF THIS MARKER. FOR MANY YEARS THE "LONE TREE" WHICH GAVE ITS NAME TO
THIS MASSACRE WAS A FAMOUS LANDMARK ON THE PRAIRIE.
US-54, one and one-quarter miles west of Meade, Meade county.
(364)
RED TURKEY WHEAT
CHILDREN IN RUSSIA HAND-PICKED THE FIRST SEEDS OF THIS FAMOUS WINTER WHEAT FOR KANSAS. THEY BELONGED TO MENNONITE COLONIES PREPARING TO EMIGRATE FROM THE STEPPES TO THE AMERICAN PRAIRIES. A PEACE-LOVING SECT, ORIGINALLY FROM HOLLAND, THE MENNONITES HAD GONE TO THE CRIMEA FROM PRUSSIA IN 1790 WHEN CATHERINE THE GREAT OFFERED FREE LANDS, MILITARY EXEMPTION AND RE- LIGIOUS FREEDOM. HERE THEY PROSPERED UNTIL THESE PRIV- ILEGES WERE THREATENED IN 1871. THREE YEARS LATER THEY EMIGRATED TO KANSAS, WHERE THE SANTA FE RAILROAD
OFFERED THOUSANDS OF ACRES ON GOOD TERMS IN MARION, HARVEY, RENO AND MCPHERSON COUNTIES, AND WHERE THE LEGISLATURE PASSED A BILL EXEMPTING RELIGIOUS OBJECTORS FROM MILITARY SERVICE. WlTHIN A MONTH AFTER LANDING IN NEW YORK THE MENNONITES PLANTED THE RED-GOLD GRAINS THEIR CHILDREN HAD SELECTED. THE HARVEST WAS THE FIRST OF THE GREAT CROPS OF HARD TURKEY RED AND ITS DERIVATIVES THAT HAVE MADE KANSAS THE GRANARY OF THE NATION.
US-50S, one-half mile east of Walton, Harvey county.
LAST INDIAN RAID IN KANSAS
IN SEPTEMBER, 1878, A BAND OF HOMESICK NORTHERN CHEYENNES, CONSISTING OF 89 MEN, 112 WOMEN AND 134 CHILDREN, STOLE AWAY FROM THEIR OKLAHOMA RESERVATION UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CHIEF DULL KNIFE. ATTACKED BY SMALL TROOP DETACHMENTS AND COWBOYS THEY MOVED THROUGH KANSAS KILLING AND PLUNDERING. WESTERN COUNTIES WERE TERRORIZED, BUT FORT LEAVENWORTH DIS- COUNTED REPORTS AND DELAYED HELP. WEEKS LATER 149 OF THE INDIANS WERE CAPTURED IN NORTHERN NEBRASKA.
MOST OF THEM WERE AFTERWARD KILLED IN PRISON BREAKS
AND FEW WERE RETURNED TO OKLAHOMA. THEIR ESCAPE ACROSS THREE STATES PURSUED BY TROOPS FROM THREE MILI- TARY DEPARTMENTS WAS CONSIDERED A REMARKABLE FEAT. INNOCENT VICTIMS WERE FORTY KANSAS SETTLERS MURDERED ON THEIR FARMS. HERE IN DECATUR COUNTY NINETEEN WERE KILLED ON SAPPA CREEK. A MONUMENT STANDS IN THE CEMETERY ONE MILE EAST OF THIS MARKER.
Junction of US-36 and US-183, at northern city limits of Oberlin, Decatur county.
(365)
CALDWELL AND THE CHISHOLM TRAIL
A MILE SOUTHEAST OF THIS MARKER THE CHISHOLM TRAIL ENTERED KANSAS. IT TOOK ITS NAME FROM JESSE CHISHOLM,
INDIAN TRADER, WHOSE ROUTE LAY BETWEEN THE NORTH CANADIAN RIVER AND PRESENT WICHITA. IN 1867 IT WAS EX- TENDED FROM THE RED RIVER TO ABILENE WHEN THE BUILD- ING OF THE UNION PACIFIC GAVE TEXAS CATTLE AN EASTERN
MARKET. OVER THIS LONG TRAIL MORE THAN A MILLION HEAD WERE DRIVEN BEFORE THE SANTA FE BUILT SOUTH AND
BROUGHT THE DRIVES TO NEWTON, 1871, AND THE NEXT YEAR TO WICHITA. INCOMING SETTLERS IN KANSAS SOON FENCED OFF THE LAND AND BY 1876 DROVERS HAD ABANDONED THE TRAIL. IN 1880, HOWEVER, THE RAILROAD BUILT TO CALD- WELL, ONE MILE NORTH, AND DRIVES WERE RESUMED. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT TWO MILLION LONGHORNS WERE DRIVEN ACROSS THE PRAIRIE HERE ON A ROAD THAT IN MANY PLACES WAS A QUARTER OF A MILE WIDE AND AS BARE AS A MODERN HIGHWAY.
US-81, one mile south of Caldwell, Sumner county.
OLD RUNNYMEDE
TWO MILES NORTHEAST OF HERE, IN 1890, STOOD A TYPICAL
ENGLISH VILLAGE. CURVING DRIVEWAYS LED TO ENGLISH- STYLE HOUSES SET AMONG ROWS OF CLIPPED HEDGES. NEAR BY
WERE POLO GROUNDS, A STEEPLECHASE COURSE, A RACE TRACK, TENNIS COURTS AND A FOOTBALL FIELD. RED-COATED HUNTERS RODE TO HOUNDS ACROSS THE BUFFALO-GRASS PRAIRIE. FARMS AND ORCHARDS WERE MODELED AFTER ENGLISH ESTATES AND ON THE TOWNSITE A THREE-STORY HOTEL AND OTHER BUSI- NESSES WERE ESTABLISHED. THE PROMOTER OF ALL THIS BRITISH ACTIVITY WAS AN IRISHMAN WHO PERSUADED WEALTHY FAMILIES TO SEND SONS TO THE COLONY TO LEARN AMERICAN FARMING METHODS. IN PRACTICE RUNNYMEDE STRONGLY RESEMBLED A MODERN DUDE RANCH. ALTHOUGH AT
ONE TIME A HUNDRED YOUNG ENGLISHMEN LIVED IN THE SET- TLEMENT, A NUMBER OF WHOM OWNED ESTATES, IT WAS A FAILURE AS A COLONY. WHEN HARD TIMES CAME OLD RUNNY- MEDE COLLAPSED AND MOST OF ITS REMITTANCE MEN RE- TURNED TO ENGLAND. TODAY WHEAT FIELDS COVER THE TOWNSITE.
K-2, at Runnymede,
Harper county.
(366)
OPENING OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET
AT NOON ON SEPTEMBER 16, 1893, MORE THAN 100,000 PEOPLE LINED THE BORDERS OF THE CHEROKEE OUTLET LIS- TENING FOR THE PISTOL SHOTS THAT STARTED ONE OF THE
WORLD'S GREATEST RACES. THE PRIZE WAS 8,000,000 ACRES OF LAND : A QUARTER SECTION OR A TOWN LOT TO EVERY ELIGIBLE SETTLER WHO COULD STAKE A CLAIM. FOR WEEKS 50,000 HOMESEEKERS AND SPECULATORS FROM ALL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY HAD BEEN GATHERING TO MAKE THE RUN FROM THIS VICINITY. JOCKEYING FOR POSITION AS NOON APPROACHED WERE CITY CABS, BICYCLES, COVERED WAGONS, BUGGIES, OX TEAMS, INDIAN PONIES AND RACE HORSES. THOUSANDS PRE- PARED TO WALK AND OTHER THOUSANDS FILLED THE CARS OF SPECIAL RAILROAD TRAINS. WHEN THE PISTOLS WERE FIRED THE MAD RUSH BEGAN ALONG 400 MILES OF BORDER. BY NIGHTFALL THE OUTLET WHICH FOR CENTURIES HAD BEEN THE HOME OF THE INDIAN, THE COYOTE AND THE BUFFALO WAS A SETTLED LAND OF TOWNSITES AND HOMESTEADS.
US-77, three miles south of Arkansas City, Cowley county.
BOYHOOD HOME OF GENERAL FUNSTON
FREDERICK FUNSTON, FIVE FEET FOUR AND SLIGHTLY BUILT, WENT FROM THIS FARM TO A LIFE OF AMAZING ADVENTURE. YOUTHFUL EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS IN THIS COUNTRY WERE
FOLLOWED BY TWO YEARS IN THE ARCTIC FROM WHICH HE
RETURNED DOWN THE YUKON RIVER 1,500 MILES BY CANOE. AFTER VENTURES IN LATIN AMERICA HE SERVED 18 MONTHS WITH CUBAN INSURGENTS, FIGHTING IN 22 ENGAGEMENTS AND REACHING THE RANK OF LIEUTENANT COLONEL. INVALIDED HOME SHORTLY BEFORE THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, FUN- STON WAS MADE COLONEL OF THE 20TH KANSAS INFANTRY. IN 1901 HE PLANNED AND EXECUTED THE CAPTURE OF AGUI-
NALDO, COMMANDER OF THE FlLIPINO ARMY. HE RECEIVED A
CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR AND AT 35 WAS MADE A
BRIGADIER GENERAL IN THE REGULAR ARMY. IN 1914, DURING INTERVENTION IN MEXICO, HE COMMANDED VERA CRUZ AS MILITARY GOVERNOR AND WAS THAT YEAR MADE A MAJOR GEN- ERAL. HE DIED IN 1917. THIS WAS THE HOME OF HIS FATHER, EDWARD H. FUNSTON, A MEMBER OF CONGRESS, 1884-1894.
US-59, four and one-half miles north of lola, Allen county.
(367)
GEODETIC CENTER OF NORTH AMERICA
ON A RANCH 18 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THIS MARKER A BRONZE PLATE MARKS THE MOST IMPORTANT SPOT ON THIS CONTINENT TO SURVEYORS AND MAP MAKERS. ENGRAVED IN THE BRONZE IS A CROSS-MARK AND ON THE TINY POINT WHERE THE LINES CROSS DEPEND THE SURVEYS OF A SIXTH OF THE
WORLD'S SURFACE. THIS is THE GEODETIC CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES, THE "PRIMARY STATION" FOR ALL NORTH AMERICAN SURVEYS. IT WAS LOCATED IN 1901 BY THE U. S. COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY. LATER CANADA AND MEXICO ADOPTED THE POINT AND ITS SUPPORTING SYSTEM AS THE BASE FOR THEIR SURVEYS AND IT IS NOW KNOWN AS THE "NORTH AMERICAN DATUM." WHAT GREENWICH is TO THE LONGI- TUDE OF THE WORLD, THEREFORE, A KANSAS PASTURE IS TO THE LINES AND BOUNDARIES OF THIS CONTINENT. IT MUST NOT BE CONFUSED WITH THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF THE U. S. WHICH IS 42 MILES NORTH, IN SMITH COUNTY.
US-24 and US-281, one-fourth mile north of Osborne, Osborne county.
(368)
CO
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Letters on the War in Kansas in 1856
Edited by V. E. GIBBENS I. INTRODUCTION
/1pHREE letters of John Lawrie, who fought with the Free-State •1 men in the troubles in Kansas in 1856, were carefully copied by his brother Arthur in the latter's diary, and have just come to light. The letters, as will be observed, were written after John Lawrie had returned to Indiana in 1857.
Only a few facts are known of John's life. He was born in New York City on August 8, 1824, being one of a family of four boys and two girls born to Alexander Lawrie, Scottish immigrant, and Sarah Coombe Lawrie. Of the children the most noted was Alexander, Jr., a popular portrait and landscape painter in Philadelphia and New York during the 1860's and 1870's.1 The father was a merchant, but perhaps a none too successful one, for in 1852 he and his wife, ac- companied by their son Arthur and daughter Mary, settled on a farm near Chalmers in White county, Indiana.
By February, 1854, John had joined his parents, and probably re- mained with them until he left in 1856 for a ten months' sojourn in Kansas. Whether he made a return trip to Kansas is merely con- jectural.2
He served throughout the Civil War with the troops from In- diana— from April 23 to August 6, 1861, with the Tenth infantry regiment, Indiana volunteers, Company E, on a three-months' en- listment; and with Companies B and G, from September 19, 1861, to September 19, 1864, on a three-year enlistment.3 According to his application for admission to the Indiana State Soldiers' Home, he reenlisted in December, 1864, and served until May 15, 1865, company and regiment not being given.4 He held variously, as stated in the application, the ranks of private, corporal, and second lieutenant.
A nephew's diary, which on May 19 referred to his having re- turned from the army on the day before, establishes his presence on
1. Dictionary of American Biography (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1933), v. XI, p. 54.
2. See the last sentence in the first letter.
3. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana (Indianapolis, 18G6), v. IV, pp. 55, 158, and 166.
4. The adjutant general's Report, so far as I have been able to discover, does not mention this period of service. If not, it would appear that the report was at fault.
24—1043
(369)
370 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the White county farm until 1867. The diary closes then, however, and two diaries of a niece and his brother Arthur, kept respectively in 1876-1877 and 1897-1899, do not mention him. He must have remained in Indiana, however, as when he applied in November, 1899, for admission to the soldiers' home he wrote that he had re- sided in the state for nearly fifty years.
He was admitted to the home on June 16, 1900, and except for an interval of slightly more than eight months, spent the rest of his life there. He died on January 14, 1905, at the age of 80 years.
Since the main events related in the letters are already familiar (such as the dispersal of the legislature at Topeka on July 4, 1856, and the various battles mentioned) and books on this phase of Kan- sas history are numerous,5 it has not been deemed necessary to ex- plain them in footnotes.
II. THE LETTERS6
Wolf Mound Farm, White Co., Indiana
Apl. 16th, 1857 Dear Art,
After an absence of ten months I now find myself again at home, and surrounded by old associations, among which prominently stands my long-neglected correspondence with you. It was my hope on my way home that when I reached it I would find you with Bob and Lizzy7 and the little ones all living under the Lawrie roof- tree. But as I cannot talk to you face to face, I must talk to you through the mail, and tell you where I have been so long and what I have been about.
When I left home on the fifteenth of last June I had no intention of making a home in Kansas. I intended in case I could find any organization ready to take the field against the Missourians, to use my utmost endeavors to change the attitude of the Free-State set- tlers from a defensive to an offensive warfare. When I reached Leavenworth, I was unable to find any organization of Free-State men, and could only tell one when I met him by his hanging head and subdued tone of voice. While remaining in this place, the Star
5. J. N. Holloway, History of Kansas (Lafayette, Ind., 1868); Leverett W. Spring, Kansas: The Prelude to the War for the Union (Boston, 1885); and Sara T. L. Robinson, Kansas; Its Interior and Exterior Life (Boston, 1856), to name only a fi-w that have come to the attention of the writer of this introduction in his curiosity to check the account of the events related in the diary with historical accounts of the same happenings. [EDITOH'S NOTR: Lawrie was positive in statements concerning some things about which there is a great deal of controversy. His version, therefore, should not be fully evaluated until other contem- poraneous accounts are read.]
6. A few corrections have been made in spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing, but, in general, the attempt has been made to leave the text as it stood in the diary.
7. Brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Telfer.
GIBBENS: WAR IN KANSAS IN 1856 371
of the West landed at the levee having on board the Chicago boys as prisoners, and fifty men could have released them and put them in possession of their arms, but there were a certain "five-thousand Missourians" who lived somewhere not far off that would be most grievously provoked should a rescue be attempted, and consequently none was attempted.
Hearing that people held up their heads and spoke what they thought in Lawrence, I started for that point and soon found myself at home as far as a hatred of tyranny and a thirst for vengeance for the insult of the 21st of May was concerned. The people had con- cluded to try whether there was truth in the Border Ruffian asser- tion The Damned Yankees won't fight! There was quite a stir among the young men in the way of target-firing and drilling in order to prepare themselves for any emergency that might arise re- quiring them to contend with superior numbers, the only thing that thus far had held them back. I found that arms were really scarce. I expected to find plenty of improved fire-arms, and it was with the greatest difficulty I succeeded in getting an old condemned musket. I was looked upon with distrust by a great many persons in Law- rence, having the appearance of a spy in their eyes. It was com- plimentary, for my appearance seemed above my position to them; but it was very disagreeable. The only military company in town (the Stubbs) expected to attend the convention at Topeka on the second and third of July and the opening of the legislature on the Fourth, when it was expected they would be needed to defend the legislature against the Ruffians and troops of the U. S. I applied for admission into the company and was put off with rather evasive answers. I went up to Topeka, however, resolved to prove myself a true man when the trying time came. I found the people discuss- ing the propriety of defending the legislature against all who might attempt to disperse it. A few goddamned white-livered lawyers succeeded in getting through a resolution that it was the determina- tion of the Free-State men not to molest or hinder the U. S. troops. On the fourth of July at an hour before noon the troops charged into town and dispersed the legislature and retired again unmolested.
I went back to the place where I worked near Lawrence, and did nothing but damn and curse lawyers and professional politicians until the sixth of August, when it was decided by some of the boys in town to go down to a block house erected by a company of Georgian robbers in the lower part of the territory and whip the robbers and burn the block house. I succeeded in obtaining permission to ac-
372 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
company the Stubbs on this expedition. We all slept in one place that night so that we might be awakened at an early hour and depart unobserved. We marched from one o'clock in the morning until breakfast time when we camped on Coal creek, where we remained two hours awaiting the arrival of two wagons and our captain. We were here joined by the Waukarusa company and the Coal creek company, making our force some seventy strong. From this camp on we had a chance to ride over smooth going, and we only stopped long enough to bait the horses until we reached Bull creek right in the heart of the enemy's country, where we camped for the night some three hours after dark, having lost our guide about the middle of the afternoon. When the guard was appointed for the night, I had the honor of being selected for the post on extreme left of the camp for the first mounting. I was tired, sleepy and hungry, but I felt the importance of the trust placed in me and managed to keep awake without making much noise by biting my lips and tongue. Our camp had a deep ravine in the rear and a small ravine on each flank, and was kept perfectly dark and quiet. At about one in the morning of the eighth of August (my birthday) I heard the tramp of horses' feet in the direction we came from, apparently right in our trail. I knew that our guide was out and perhaps it might be him, but then again it might not. I began to get very wide awake indeed. Presently I caught a glimpse of two horsemen, which satis- fied me it was not the guide returning. I cocked my old musket and when they came within about a rod of me ordered them to halt, but instead of halting they clapped in their spurs and wheeled off to the right as fast as their horses would carry them. As quick as they wheeled I drew a bead on them and pulled, but the old musket didn't go, and before I could get ready again they had made some fifty yards when I let them have the buckshot and of course woke up the camp. Our captain inquired who had fired when I told him what had occurred, which I thought was discredited. In the morning I went out to see if I could find some proof in the shape of some of their arms which in their hurry they might have dropped, but only found a blood trail. When I was returning, I met four of our men who were putting out in the direction the two horsemen had taken in the night, and presently they returned with a saddled horse which had a couple of buckshot in him — one on the right side of his rump and the other on the inside of his off hind leg. My credit raised wonderfully when it was seen I really shot at something, and it rose still more when it was afterward discovered that the two men I had
GIBBENS: WAR IN KANSAS IN 1856 373
shot at were Capt. Cook of the Bull creek Ruffians and one of his scouts.
After the return of our guide we resumed our march in the direc- tion of the Georgian block house, yet some twenty-five miles dis- tant, and met with no incidents worthy of note until we reached the vicinity of the block house, where we were all rather anxious to see how the boys would behave under fire, many of them never having as yet heard singing lead. The night was rather dark, and the enemy showed no light and made no noise. Our captain (who by the way was an old man of wars man) reconnoitered the ground and concluded to lead us right on to the place and take it by assault as we had no artillery to storm the place with. The battalion was divided into two platoons, and the block house approached from toward its front and left so that in case we found it necessary to fire we could give them a destructive cross-fire. We went up as well as old veterans ever dared to go; and if there was any disorder at all whatever, it was occasioned by some of the boys rushing ahead too fast. The sound of our steady tramp! tramp! was too much for the garrison and they incontinently fled. We found about ten hundred pounds of bacon, some meal, several sacks of flour, a barrel of sugar, [and?] various articles recognized by many of our men as having been taken from Lawrence on the 21st of May, besides a number of letters written by Free-State men to their friends in the states which had been mailed in U. S. post offices, and probably had been ab- stracted in Missouri and forwarded to the Robbers of the Blue Lodge in order to give them whatever information they might possess of the prospects and conditions of their writers. After taking out all the provisions and military stores, we fired the block house and started home again by the light of it. On our return we had a most fatiguing time, but reached Lawrence without any incident occurring worthy of note.
I found all our people well. I shall remain here until the middle of June when I intend returning to Kansas.
Your affectionate brother John Lawrie
374 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Wolf Mound Farm, White Co., Indiana
April 19th, 1857 Dear Art,
According to promise I now resume my history of my adventures in Kansas.
On our return to Lawrence there was some degree of hesitation manifested in regard to making an attack upon another fortified band of robbers who were occupying a stronghold near Washington creek, called Fort Sanders [Saunders — named for J. P. Saunders]. The wiseheads succeeded in having a committee appointed and sent to wait on Major [John] Sedgwick of the U. S. army and represent to him the character and conduct of the Washington creek robbers and assassins. He told the committee they were mistaken in suppos- ing the colony at that place robbers and assassins, and advised them to make further inquiries into their real character, and if they did not prove to be well-meaning citizens, he would permit the Free- State men to drive them out.
As if we were not already satisfied as to their character, the noble and heroic Major [D. S.] Hoyt was sent out to learn more of them, and they most basely murdered him and disfigured him by pounding the fleshy parts off his face and then putting some chemical sub- stance upon [it] to remove whatever might still be left by which he might be recognized. (This was the last of the influence of the god- damned lawyers and professional politicians in Lawrence.) In order to carry the stronghold of these Ruffians artillery was necessary. We had none, but the enemy had one at Franklin, about four miles from Lawrence. It was taken at Sacramento by Col. [A. W.] Doniphan and is still known as Old Sacramento. One night about seventy-five of us took the road to Franklin and while on the road learned that Jim Lane was along and would plan the attack. Just before enter- ing the town ten of our men were detailed under Lieut. Earle to make a demonstration in front of the buildings occupied by the garrison in which they had the cannon, while the main body of our men ad- vanced upon their rear. The ruffians were summoned to surrender, but they wouldn't do it, so we replied to their fire in such an effec- tive way that we drove them all into the center building, which was impervious to bullets, being constructed of logs. From this position they gave us a pretty hot fire, killing one man named Sackett and wounding two others, Gunther and Brooks. I had a position with my old musket close to a porthole in the rear of the log house, and by aiming at one flash and firing immediately at the next so dis-
GIBBENS: WAR IN KANSAS IN 1856 375
concerted their aim that no more of our men were struck after my first charge of buckshot reached them. (While I was getting my aim, I got a tap on the side of my hat and made the discovery that a man cannot hear the lead sing that strikes him.) As our fire didn't seem to make much impression on them, a wagon was loaded with hay and run up to the building which was furthest to wind- ward (which happened to be the post office) and set fire to; when our boys commenced singing out "There she goes!" "There goes the roof!" "Stand off, boys, maybe there's powder in it!" By and by it began to work on the garrison, and they screamed out "Quarter! Quarter! Quarter!" I spoke out pretty loud, "They are calling for water" "No," said they, "Quarters! Quarters! for God's sake, give us Quarters!" We told them to march out and stack their arms and we would do so, which they did in double quick time, and then we upset the load of burning hay, and not even the wagon was burned, saying nothing of the buildings ! After gathering up their arms and getting Old Sacramento mounted, we started back to Lawrence and arrived there safely, but sorrowing for the loss of a brave Michigan boy named Sackett.
After taking this gun and before marching against Fort Sanders, it was necessary to run a lot of cannon balls for Sacramento. How do you suppose it was done where there was no means of melting cast-iron? I will tell you. A large chunk of wrought iron was sus- pended by a wire inside of the mould, and then the mould was filled up with type metal, made from type which had been thrown into the Kaw river by the Ruffians on the 21st of May!
When everything was ready, we started for the Free-State camp on Rock creek, where we found a large body of our men waiting for us under the command of Capt. [Samuel] Walker. Here we camped for the night, and the next day started for Washington creek to try our hands upon a famous stronghold defended by four hundred of the enemy. Jim Lane commanded in person. Capt. Walker had charge of our cavalry. Capt. Beckerton [Bickerton] had charge of the artillery, and Capt. Cutter commanded our company, which acted as light infantry. Old Sacramento was stationed about forty rods directly in front of the fort, and Capt. Walker's command was divided on the right and left of it, while we advanced directly upon it until we came within about one-hundred yards, when we halted and were ordered to lie down. Before a shot was fired, we received the order "Up, Stubbs! Double quick, forward march!" and the way we put in to it was a caution. We scaled their stockade, rushed
376 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
across their embanked breastwork and entered the fort in less time than I have been writing the account of the charge, and found that the enemy had acted on the old adage: —
Whosoever runs away
Will live to fight another day.
We followed on in the wake of the retreating Ruffians, charged through two deep ravines, and made the discovery that the enemy knew the country better than we did, at least that they knew more of their own whereabouts. We took a large quantity of arms at the fort besides considerable other plunder besides military stores, etc. Who should I see here but Bill Porter, busy loading a four-mule wagon with bacon, muskets, flour, powder, tents, etc., who exclaimed when he saw me: "Why, John Larry! who the hell would have tho't of seeing you here?"
After taking out all we wanted, we set fire to the fort and fell back upon our camp of the previous night on Rock creek, where, as soon as we had supper, we received intelligence that [H. T.] Titus' gang had threatened to burn Judge Wakefield's house, and off we started across the country to pay our respects to the famous Col. Titus, who lived within one mile and a quarter of Lecompton. After a long and fatiguing march we encamped not far from Capt. Walker's place, but not until we had the pleasure of an accidental meeting with Col. Titus' gang of mounted robbers, who left us in a hurry minus two of their horses, we having killed the rider of one and taken the rider of the other prisoner. We were joined about daybreak by a re- enforcement from Lawrence and started immediately for Titus' place, but the Chicago boys got the start of the Stubbs and had the fun all over before we came up. Titus had one man killed and one besides himself wounded. We took nineteen prisoners, Titus among the number, contrary to the wishes of a great many of the boys, but he begged so like a whipped puppy — so cringingly — that he was thought too goddamned mean, too despicable to notice sufficiently to kill him. One of his negroes, who was out at the stable during the fight, said, "Massa Titus wanted six abolitionists for breakfast! Yah! Yah! Gorra Massy! guess he get his belly full dis monin'l" With the exception of military stores Capt. Walker allowed nothing to be taken, but consigned the stronghold and its contents to the flames.
I forgot to state that the old gun Sacramento first spoke at this place in favor of the Free-State cause, and also circulated several copies of the Herald of Freedom amongst Titus' crowd. Titus said
GIBBENS : WAR IN KANSAS IN 1856 377
he had no idea we could hit the house at all at the distance the gun was placed, to say nothing of knocking the door and windows in with round shot and then filling the house with cannister. Capt. [Henry J.] Shombre of the Indiana company received a mortal wound in a charge he made upon the Ruffians' camp, which was about two-hundred yards north of the house. One or two others of our men received slight wounds ; Capt. Walker got a charge of buck- shot in his breast, but having on two or three woolen shirts they didn't penetrate the skin. During the fight it commenced raining, and fearing that our Sharps rifles would not be in fit trim for another fight until they were dried, Capt. Walker wouldn't allow us to march against Lecompton, as we desired him to do, and so we started back to Lawrence and arrived there safely without meeting with any ad- venture worthy of notice. . . .
Your affectionate brother
John Lawrie
Wolf Mound Farm, May llth, 1857 Dear Art & Bob :-
After an unaccountable delay I again resume my narrative. In my second letter I left off in recounting the affair at Titus' fort and the capture of that gentleman and eighteen of his associates. Noth- ing very remarkable came under my observation after this affair until Governor [Wilson] Shannon came to Lawrence accompanied by Major Sedgwick of the U. S. cavalry to make a treaty with the rebels in our camp. He agreed to deliver up to us what prisoners his party had and the twelve-pound howitzer which [Samuel] Pomeroy so cowardly delivered over to the Ruffians on the 21st of May, in ex- change for the prisoners we held, and agreed to make no more war upon us. Major Sedgwick agreed to see the treaty carried out, and accordingly we escorted the prisoners back to Lecompton and made the exchange. The boys were delighted to see Betsy again, i. e., the howitzer.
Soon after this Shannon resigned, and [Daniel] Woodson by vir- tue of his office became governor. He called out the Missourians, who came in great force. We were poorly off for powder, and our regiment was sent up to Topeka to escort the Plymouth company into Lawrence as they had a large supply and were not strong enough to force their way through. While we were on this duty, Ruffian [John W.] Reid with twelve-hundred men was playing such deviltry in the southern part of the territory that Jim Lane left
378 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Lawrence with two hundred and fifty men in order to find Reid and give him battle. He came up to him at Bull creek and drove in his outpost before dark. The next day after a little skirmishing be- tween the scouts Jim formed his line of battle and advanced upon the Ruffians, but they got so homesick they started off immediately for Missouri and never stopped until they reached home. When we returned from our duty, we found an order awaiting us to join Jim Lane immediately and bring along extra rations and ammunition, which we obeyed. We had not proceeded over five miles before we met a dispatch from Jim Lane stating that we should return as the enemy had fled at his approach, and as he was not prepared to pur- sue them he was on his return to Lawrence himself. After this we treed a party in Lecompton, but as they complied with our demand of an unconditional release of all the Free-State men held by them in Lecompton, we withdrew.
We had a great deal racing around the territory after the Ruffians, but somehow they were not to be caught, until on the 13th of Sep- tember Jim Lane treed two companies, Capt. Robinson's and Capt. [H. A.] Lowe's, at Hickory Point. They took refuge in the log buildings, and Jim sent us word to bring him Sacramento by the way of Topeka, which was the route he had taken in finding the Ruffians. In order that you may have an idea of the blunder Col. [J. A.] Harvey made as a military man, I will make a diagram of the dif- ferent localities.8
He had explicit orders to march by the way of Topeka, but in- stead of doing so he took us straight across the Delaware country to Hickory Point. When we got there, we were surprised in not finding Lane, but as we found the enemy we pitched in and made them surrender. The reason we missed Lane was that he had re- ceived [Gov. J. W.] Geary's proclamation and immediately with- drew his force and sent Harvey a countermand to his previous order by the route he had been ordered to come. After the battle we with- drew from Hickory Point about five miles and encamped at a place called Newell's Mills.9
This was the night of the 14th of September. On the night of the 12th we were up all night at Franklin on the lookout for the advance guard of Reid's new army; on the night of the 13th we were march- ing all night against Hickory Point, so that on the night of the 14th we were pretty well worn out.
8. A tracing of the map is also available. It is not reproduced here since the several places shown in the sketch were not all in their true positions in relation to each other.
9. Now Oskaloosa. — Andreas, A. T., History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 502.
GIBBENS: WAR IN KANSAS IN 1856 379
About midnight we supposed the Kickapoo rangers were about to attack us, and just as old Tom Bickerton was about letting them have the contents of Old Sacramento we made the discovery that we were nearly surrounded by U. S. troops. Harvey made himself scarce, and we did the only thing we could under the circumstances — surrendered — because Fremont was to be elected then, and we were willing to go to hell with our boxes full of cartridges rather than do anything that would have a tendency to defeat his election. I laid down at Capt. Cutter's order my rifle, knife, and revolver, and never have seen them since. Capt. [T. J.] Wood of the U. S. cavalry said he would be personally responsible for the arms. We were taken to the U. S. camp near Lecompton and then had a realizing sense of the importance of the U. S. army.
Boys, I will defer for the present an account of our prison life. I do not feel in the humor to write when I think of it. I can tell it by little snatches, but I am afraid I cannot do it justice with the pen. . . .
Your affectionate brother John Lawrie
First Newspapers in Kansas Counties
(Concluded)
1879-1886
G. RAYMOND GAEDDERT
MEADE COUNTY The Pearlette Call, April 15, 1879.
FRANK S. Sullivan asserted, and evidence supports him, that the Pearlette Call was the first newspaper published in Meade county.1 The first number was edited by A. Bennett, and published by Bennett and H. Lowry. After this issue it was A. Bennett, editor and sole proprietor. The paper was independent in politics.
The history of the name of the settlement, which also is linked with the paper, has a slightly sentimental touch. The colony that settled in Meade county in 1879 came from Muskingum county, Ohio. Shortly after they arrived one of their number, Pearl Atkin- son, died, "the fairest and brightest of our jewels." J. T. Copeland suggested the name Pearlette for the settlement, and perhaps since Pearl was the first to be called away from the colony the paper was christened the Pearlette Call.2
Under the title "Exchanges" the editor made his bow to the Kan- sas press. He wrote:
Brethren of the Kansas Press, greeting! We come to you cutting rather a sorry figure, we know. To be candid, we admit that you could say nothing too mean of our sheet; we could say amen to anything you might say.
But gentlemen, remember that the Call is printed in a county which had scarcely a settler six months ago : that we are over 30 miles from a town, and but two houses on the way: that all of our material came 1,400 miles, and for two months was kicked around, hither and yon: that every word of our sheet was set up at the case without being written ; that our office is not over 4x6: and — But why go on? we did the best we could; and perhaps some of you would have done no better.
In another place he wrote :
When we left Zanesville we thought we could get out the first issue of the Call in two weeks after our arrival in Meade County; but we found out dif- ferent after our arrival here. We found it took more time to build our house than we had any idea of; for before we left Ohio we knew of mite meetings building four sod houses in one evening, but some-how they can't be built so fast out here; because here we build by work, and there we built by wind.
1. Sullivan, Frank S., A History of Meade County (Crane & Company, Topeka, 1916), p. 68.
2. The Pearlette Call, April 15, 1879.
(380)
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 381
And after we got in our little house we found ourselves so cramped that things went very slow. Just think of a family of five living in a house 11 x 14!
Then, in addition, put in a printing office, stamp factory, stencil shop etc., and you will wonder how we work at all — as we often do.
The Call also reflected the life and mirth of the colony. In the first number the editor tells about the scarcity of coal and wood, which induced the resourceful settlers to resort to the use of buffalo chips for fuel. The editor in an interesting manner describes how the women became adapted to them:
It was comical to see how gingerly our wives handled these chips at first. They commenced by picking them up between two sticks, or with a poker. Soon they used a rag, and then a corner of their apron. Finally, growing hardened, a wash after handling them was sufficient. And now? Now it is out of the bread, into the chips and back again — and not even a dust of the hands !
The Call started as a two-column, twelve-page folio, to be pub- lished semimonthly. The second number, however, did not appear until May 15. The next seven issues appeared semimonthly, then there was a gap between September 1, 1879, and January 10, 1880, following this the Call appeared weekly until it apparently was dis- continued May 8, 1880.3 The Society has the first twenty numbers of this paper.
NESS COUNTY
The Ness County Pioneer, Clarinda, May 3-10, 1879.
As the name suggests, the Pioneer was undoubtedly the first news- paper published in Ness county. F. Shelden was the editor and pub- lisher. The Wa-Keeney Weekly World of 1879, published Ness county news items which told of the establishment of this paper. On March 29, 1879, the traveling correspondent of the World, wrote of Clarinda:
We also met Mr. Shelden. He expects to start a paper at this point some- time in the near future, if he receives enough subscribers to venture out on the sea of journalism.
On April 12 the same paper carried the following statement: "The printing office is under way. They are laying the basement walls. The building is to be 14x36 feet." On May 3 a statement in the same paper read: "We expect to have a newspaper here this week." The following week, May 10, the World stated: "The printing outfit has arrived, and our editor, with his new head, is busy spreading the ink." While the above statement issued from the press of the Wa- Keeney Weekly World, The Ness County Pioneer flung its banner
3. Ford County Globe, Dodge City, July 13, 1880.
382 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to the breeze. The front page carried the date of May 3 but the in- side had May 10. The first issue really served as numbers 1 and 2, for the next issue, dated May 17, was listed number 3.
In the Topeka Daily Capital of June 30, 1935, under title: "Things Historical Are Preserved in Ness County," appeared the following item:
Among the hundreds of things preserved of a historical nature is the com- plete bound volumes of the first newspaper, the Clarinda Walnut Valley Times, first published in 1879, down to the latest issues of the Ness County News, still in the hands of the family of the late J. K. Barnd, pioneer publisher. . . .
Andreas stated that the Clarinda Walnut Valley Times, published by N. C. Merrill, appeared October 1, 1879, and was removed to Ness City in January, 1880,4 where it became the Ness City Times. This statement agrees with contemporaneous newspaper reports. On October 6, 1879, The Ness County Pioneer announced the first num- ber of the Times:
The Walnut Valley Times, Vol. I, No. 1 is out. Mr. Merrill the editor says he was forced into his position. — Just so ! ! He wants to know "why he can't run a paper, even if he owns a townsite." We expect he can.
In the same issue the editor of the Pioneer wrote: "We move this week to Sidney. . . ."
The Pioneer was Republican in politics. Under the title, "To Our Reader," Shelden wrote: "We hope to make the Pioneer worthy of a place in the sod house, stone mansion, camp, or tent of every settler, a welcome visitor to all."
Clarinda, at the time of the first issue, boasted a fine general store, a plow factory, operating to full capacity and the Clarinda Hotel. A drug store, printing office and a general store were still under con- struction. "The Clarinda plow," it was said, "is taking the lead with all who have used it." 5
The Society has a good file of The Ness County Pioneer, including Vol. I, No. 1.
GRAHAM COUNTY
The Western Star, Hill City, May 15, 1879.
The Western Star no doubt was the first newspaper published in this county. The first number may have appeared May 15, 1879. The Society has Vol. 1, No. 2, dated May 22. It listed Thomas Beaumont and T. J. Garnett as editors and publishers. The Hill City Times, August 22, 1940, gave the date of the first issue of the
4. Andreas, A. T., History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 1524.
5. The Ness County Pioneer, May 3-10, 1879.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 383
Star as May 15, 1879, but said the paper was published by Beau- mont, Garnett and McGill. Andreas gave the date as May 15 and listed Beaumont and McGill as editors.6 However, the Norton County Advance, of Norton, May 22, 1879, announced the first issue as follows:
The Western Star, Graham county's new paper, Vol. 1, No. 1, and published at Hill City by [Thomas] Beaumont and [T. J.] Garnett, has reached our desk. It is a five-column folio, and contains a considerable amount of local news. Its advertising patronage is light, but we think that it will increase and that the paper will, therefore, live.
The Western Star of May 22, 1879, reflected the spirit and hap- penings of the county. In the "Local" column appeared the fol- lowing:
The Star twinkles for all Graham county. . . . A Buffalo was seen north west of town Monday last. . . . There are large numbers of antelope in this county yet. . . . There is not a saloon in Graham county, which speaks well does it not? . . . Graham county has a great number of bachelors, and you can hear them sing:
Bachelor's hall, I think it is best, Be drunk or be sober you can lie down and rest ; No wife to control you, no children to squawl, O, happy is the man that keeps bachelor's hall. . . . It is believed that there are 2,500 people in Graham county. . . . The emigration of the colored people from the Southern states still con- tinues, and will continue just as long as their rights are tampered with. We welcome them to our State and our county, and firmly believe that the emi- grants will be a source of untold wealth to our state.
The Society has an incomplete file of the Star including issues of May 22 and December 25, 1879, to June 10, 1880.
KEARNY COUNTY Lakin Eagle, May 20, 1879.
The Society has eighteen issues of the Eagle, including Vol. 1, No. 1. S. W. Taylor and R. H. Mitchell were the editors and proprietors. In the salutatory they wrote:
Our purpose in starting a newspaper at Lakin, is to furnish southwestern Kansas with a medium with which to advertise its vast undeveloped resources, and to direct the homeseeking immigrant to the most available points to en- gage in stock raising or agriculture.
Under the caption, "Does It Blow in Kansas?" the editors pro- duced a lengthy jest from which the following is quoted:
As a truth and no fabrication, Kansas is not a windy country. We have 6. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1061.
384 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
here during twelve months of the year an imperceptible circulation of air from the south, west, north and east, (varied to suit one's taste and incon- venience) that in other states as in Colorado, Illinois and Nebraska, might be called high wind, but here it is considered nothing but a gentle zephyr. In some states they have high winds but NEVER in Kansas.
A two gallon funnel turned flaring end windward and gimblet end down- ward will collect enough of Kansas zephyrs in seven hours to drill a hole in solid sand rock one hundred and eight feet deep. We never dig wells in Kansas. Condensed air does the work most successfully.
It is terrible windy just across the line in Colorado but it never or we might say seldom ever blows in Kansas.
The men here are all pigeon-toed and bow-legged. This is caused from an unceasing effort to stick the toes into the earth and trying to keep a strong foothold on terra firma. The gentlemen carry a pound of shot in each breaches leg to keep them (the gentlemen) right side up.
Mrs. Carrie E. Davies produced an article entitled, "Lakin in 1878," in which she wrote:
. . . Of course, every wide awake town must have a paper, so a Mr. Deal and a Mr. Taylor came as editors and started our first paper and named it the Lakin Eagle. I do not think that it was much more than twenty inches long, but we enjoyed it just the same . . .7
Mrs. Davies was mistaken in one of the editors. The Eagle was a four-column folio, independent in politics. It changed hands several times during its short period of existence. The last issue the Society has is dated October 10, 1879.
DECATUR COUNTY Oberlin Herald, June 12-19, 1879.
The Historical Society has Vol. 1, No. 1, of the Herald. It bears two dates. On the front page is June 12, 1879, and on the third page June 19. J. C. Humphrey and James N. Counter were the editors and publishers. In the salutatory they said their aim was to furnish the citizens with a live, local paper, conducted in their interests. Politically they would adhere "strictly to the true principles of Re- publicanism," but reserved the right to "expose any rottenness or shystering should such ever be discovered within its ranks." They were willing to "support the educational, agricultural, religious and temperance interests of the county."
In the first issue the editors explained that they had first shipped their printing material to another point in the county but when they heard of the rapid growth of Oberlin they concluded it was "no use
7. The article was published in a book on Kearny county entitled, Prairie Breeze, 19S1, p. 96 ff.
GAEDDEET: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 385
to 'kick against the pricks' " and located at Oberlin. Describing the growth of this town they wrote:
On a visit to this place in September last the town comprised two general stores (one frame and one sod), one log hotel, one log black-smith shop, one sod residence and one frame in course of erection. But to-day, after a lapse of only eight months, we can hardly realize that the change is real. . . .
The editors then quoted the Atchison Daily Champion of April 22, 1879, as follows:
Oberlin, the young city of the Kansas frontier, is a wonder. A few months ago — what was it? It was a beautiful strip of rich prairie, skirting the north bank of the Sappa, near the geographical centre of Decatur county — a county that was principally known from being the scene of one of the most bloody and devilish outrages recorded in the annals of frontier life. But three or four log and sod tenements then marked its present site, without churches, societies, mercantile pursuits, manufacturing industries, or many of the influences of civilization; but with a few intelligent and determined settlers, who came to cultivate the soil, found homes, build churches and school houses, and convert the country into a land of progress, promise and prosperity. In less than one year this has all been done. Churches, schools, stores, hotels, shops and dwellings line the streets. The buildings are of good size (many of them large and imposing) substantially constructed and handsomely finished. Enterprise, liberality and industry, stimulated by the rapid settlement of the country, have wrought, as it were, in a few days, the wonderful transformation of a prairie settlement into a town full of vigor, life and business, with a future of unusual promise and commercial prospects before it. ...
John A. Rodehaver, in 1873, pre-empted the section on which the town site of Oberlin was later located.
The file of the first year of the Herald is incomplete and some copies are badly mutilated; other than that the Society has a good collection. The Oberlin Herald is still published. E. R. Woodward is the present editor and E. W. Coldren and Woodward are the publishers.
RAWLINS COUNTY
Attwood Pioneer, October 23, 1879.
The first paper in this county, according to Andreas and other sources, was the Attwood Pioneer.8 A. S. Thorne was the editor and Edwin and A. L. Thorne the publishers. "In politics, morals, tem- perance and religion," the paper stated, "we expect to stand where the best interests of the people and the Bible stand."
In the salutatory the editor gave an interesting account of his life before he came to Atwood. It reads:
To all readers of the Pioneer we extend a cordial "How d'ye do"? Four
8. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1607.
25—1043
386 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
months ago we directed the Review, then being published in Millerstown, Butler county, Penn'a, to be closed, with a view to the removal of the office, presses and type to the new and flourishing State of Kansas. We had seen Kansas before, lived among her Indians, seen the scarcity of her timber and water, and experienced her drouth. We were among Kansas' first settlers, having landed at Atchison in November, 1857, and lived in Brown county until the fall of 1860; but, although absent so long, we had always had an abiding faith in Kansas. And since we came to the State again, we have not been disappointed. From Brown county which in 1857 was occupied by Indians and a few scattering settlers, we traveled westward (the course we had heard Empire takes its way) on and on and on, past railroads, highly cultivated farms, luxuriant orchards, acres on acres of cultivated forest trees, populous towns and cities, till, bewildered with distance, we had almost spanned the entire State. Our search for a home on public and unoccupied land brought us to Rawlins county, in the northern tier of counties, as the best unorganized county in the State, and Attwood, at the forks of the Beaver, as the most de- sirable and promising location in the county.
So here we are, family, presses, type and all. We have located our land, built our sod house, set up our presses, distributed our type, dusted our fonts, cleaned off our galleys, adjusted our forms, set our sticks and our "devils" have gone to work with combed hair and sleeves rolled up. . . .
Contemporary newspapers had words of praise for the Pioneer. On October 31, 1879, the Kansas Smith County Pioneer, Smith Centre, carried the following statement:
The first number of the Attwood Pioneer is on our table, published at Attwood, Rawlins County, away out on the very outskirts of civilization in Northwestern Kansas, by Messrs. Thorne & Sons. It is truly the Pioneer paper of Kansas, and we take pleasure in bearing testimony to the fact that it does honor to the name. The Pioneer is a neat, newsy, well printed, all at home, six column paper, and is chuck full of western items, spicy locals and well written, solid Republican editorials. The Pioneer has the PIONEER'S best wishes for its continued success and prosperity.
The editor spelled Atwood with two "t's" until May 12, 1880, when he changed to the present spelling of the word. The Society has a good file of the Pioneer, including Vol. I, No. 1.
GOVE COUNTY *
Grainfield Republican, January 28, 1880.
The Republican appears to have been the first newspaper pub- lished in Gove county. The Society has Vol. 1, No. 1, of this paper. A. J. R. Smith was the editor and publisher. In the salutatory he wrote :
The Republican will always be found as the earnest advocate of all those things that tend to develop the highest and best interests of the people, and the uncompromising foe of whatever tends to degradation and dishonor. No poor man struggling to gain an honest livelihood but will find a personal
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 387
friend in the Republican and no man in any station in life striving for the moral, social and financial improvement of the country but will find an ally to the full extent of its powers.
In his own way Smith described the founding of Grainfield by J. B. Beal of Abilene:
Last July after making his will, having his photograph taken and kissing his wife goodbye, he landed in the wilderness. The first thing he did was to kill an antelope and the next thing was to eat it. (Mr. B. by the way is a terrible eater.) Then he dug a hole in the ground and persuaded Mr. Dryer to help him pile rock around it and sticks on top of that, and the first thing they knew they had the finest Hotel between Salina and Denver at a cost of $10,000. So he tore up his will, burnt his photographs and sent for hia wife and gave her back her kisses. And that is how Grainfield started.
The real estate agents, Beal and Dryer, built the Occidental Hotel in the summer and fall of 1879. It had twenty-five rooms for guests, besides parlors and waiting rooms. Throughout its history the Re- publican carried a half -sheet front-page advertisement featuring the advantages of the hotel and advertising "for sale upwards of one million acres of the choicest lands belonging to the K. P. R. R. . . . in Gove, Sheridan, Wallace and Thomas counties."
One of the necessities of Grainfield, wrote the editor, was the erec- tion of a flouring mill: "At present all our flour is brought from Salina or farther east. We have in the immediate vicinity of Grain- field not less than three thousand acres of wheat and a mill here would receive the patronage of the people for forty miles north, east and south."
The type with which the Republican was printed was made at the Kansas City Type Foundry. The Society has a good file of this paper up to December 10, 1880, when it ceased coming. It was published occasionally until April, 1881, when it discontinued.9
LANE COUNTY Lane County Gazette, California, January 29, 1880.
W. H. Lee was the editor and proprietor of the Gazette. It started as a small two-column, six-by-nine-inch, four-page paper, but soon changed to a large, six-column folio. Although in the first issue the editor did not commit himself politically, he showed Republican leanings in later issues.
The original number carried but two advertisements, one by J. H. Pelham, "dealer in Groceries, Provisions and all the necessaries kept in a first class store," and that of the Gazette. The office was built by Frank Tingley.
». Buffalo Park Express, January 22 and April 9, 1881.
388 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The paper showed frontier characteristics. It spoke of a new school house that was being built — "a box house . . . 14 x 20 in size. When completed it will be used for Sabbath School, church services and all public meetings. This is a commendable enterprise and it is to be hoped that the people all over Lane county will follow the example as soon as possible." On the front page the editor told of the murder of John Bowers in Wichita county. The man accused of the act had been apprehended and taken into custody by the people of California, who had delivered him into the hands of the law in Trego county. The accused, however, had been allowed to depart in peace because "the governor, attorney general and other prominent officials" had decided "there was no law, either govern- ment, State or county, in this part of Kansas to punish murderers." The editor regretted the offense, but much more the fact that such criminals were permitted "to run at large without hindrance." While not in favor of mob rule, he asked whether it would not be well for the citizens to "adopt some plan of bringing criminals to sure and speedy justice?"
Lee published the last issue of the Gazette on March 23, 1882. He wrote:
The Gazette has been published regularly for a little over two 3'ears. Al- though the receipts have not at any time been more than sufficient to pay expenses (not counting labor), it has been kept up on the hope that there was a better time coming. As that time does not seem nearer now than when we first begun we have decided to suspend publication. This issue will therefore be the last.
The Society has a good file of the Gazette.
SHERIDAN COUNTY Sheridan County Tribune, Kenneth, June, 1880.
Secondary authorities agree that the Tribune was the first news- paper published in Sheridan county. They also agree, and in this they seem to be mistaken, that the first number appeared in 1879, rather than 1880. Andreas wrote: "The Sheridan County Tribune, at Kenneth, was established the 1st of July, 1879, George N. Palmer, editor and proprietor."10 Mrs. C. E. Toothaker of Hoxie wrote: "The first newspaper printed in the county was established there [Kenneth] in 1879. It was called the Sheridan County Tribune." n Contemporaneous newspaper accounts challenge the statements on the date. On June 3, 1880, the Buffalo Park Express carried the
10. Andreas, op. cit., p. 1520.
11. Manuscript on Sheridan county by Mrs. C. E. Toothaker, p. 5. — Library, Kansas State Historical Society.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 389
statement: "Our attention has been called to the first number of the Sheridan Co. Tribune a six column folio paper just started at Kenneth." On June 5, 1880, the Wa-Keeney Weekly World, under Sheridan county, announced: "This county has a newspaper, the Tribune published at Kenneth." Five days later The Norton County Advance, of Norton, published the following item:
The Sheridan County Tribune, published at Kenneth, by Geo. N. Palmer, is the latest received addition to the frontier press. It is a pretty, newsy, all home print, six column paper and apparently is deserving success.
The first issue of the Tribune in the Society's file is dated July 14, 1881, listed as Vol. II, No. 6. If regularly issued it would place the first number on June 9, 1880. The Society has a file of this paper from July 14, 1881, to August 3, 1882.
CHEYENNE COUNTY The Cheyenne News, Wano, October 2, 1880, and May, 1881.
This no doubt was the first newspaper published in Cheyenne county. It was first printed as a part of the Republican Citizen, Atwood. The first number appeared in this paper October 8, 1880. It was headed: "THE CHEYENNE NEWS. Vol. I. — No. 1. Wano, Kansas, October 2, 1880. By A. M. Brenaman." It was a two- column sheet, made up of local news and one advertisement, for "the only store in Cheyenne county, kept by A. M. Brenaman & Co." The editor of the Citizen said of it:
We give place in our paper this week to The Cheyenne NewSj which will be found interesting and newsy. We hope that the News may grow until it can be bodily removed to Cheyenne to grow up with that splendid county.
Five issues of the News appeared in the Citizen, dated as follows :
Vol. I, No. 1, dated October 2, 1880, appeared in Citizen, October 8, 1880.
Vol. I, No. 2, dated November 4, 1880, appeared in Citizen, November 5, 1880.
Vol. I, No. 3, dated November 11, 1880, appeared in Citizen, November 19, 1880.
Vol. I, No. 4, dated November 25, 1880, appeared in Citizen, November 26, 1880.
Vol. I, No. 5, dated January 14, 1881, appeared in Citizen, January 14, 1881.
In the fifth number appeared the following statement:
The Cheyenne News will not only be edited but published in Wano by May next. A printing press and printer are already engaged.
On May 6, 1881, the Citizen quoted from the Cheyenne County News, and on May 21 the Wa-Keeney Weekly World stated: "This county [Cheyenne] now has a newspaper, the Cheyenne News,
390 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
which is issued every two weeks." On July 10, 1885, the Cheyenne County Rustler, Wano, carried the following statement:
The first paper published in Cheyenne (but published in Atwood) was the Wano News, by A. M. Brenaman, who edited five issues. The next was one issue of the Echo. We now have the Bird City News and the Rustler,
On March 19, 1915, the Topeka Daily Capital carried an article on Cheyenne county in which it stated: "The first newspaper published in the county was the Wano News. It was printed at Atwood and passed away in its infancy."
The Society has only the five numbers published in the Atwood Republican Citizen.
COMANCHE COUNTY The Western Star, Coldwater, August 23, 1884.
According to available information the Star was the first news- paper in Comanche county. John G. Cash was the editor and John and William Cash the proprietors. The paper has been listed as independent in politics, but its sympathies were Democratic. In the Comanche Chieftain of Nescutunga, it had a close rival. The first issue of the Star appeared the last week or two in August, 1884. The first number of the Chieftain came out the second or third week in September. The earliest number of the Star in the Society's file is dated September 20, 1884, listed as Vol. I, No. 5. If published regularly the first issue should have appeared August 23, 1884.
The paper elicited favorable newspaper comment. On August 29, 1884, the Barber County Index of Medicine Lodge, announced: "The Western Star is the name of a newspaper now published at Coldwater, Comanche county. It is a creditable sheet; full of local news and will no doubt look after the interests of that county." The Hazelton Express, September 4, described it as ". . . a six column folio, very neatly gotten up and ably edited by Cash Bros." The same day Lea's Columbus Advocate stated:
At last the "long-felt want" has been supplied at Coldwater, Comanche county, Kas., in the way of a new paper, The Western Star, with Cash Bros, at the helm. It is a neat 5-column folio, and well filled with news and ad- vertising. Politically it is independent. Long may she live and shine to illuminate the entire country, so as to enable home-seekers in the far west to find their way through the dark and desolate country.
The Pleasanton Herald on September 5 said: "The paper gives Coldwater a boom, and is chuck full of reading matter." The Advocate probably was mistaken in the size of the Star for other papers spoke of six columns.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 391
In the issue of September 20, 1884, the Star had an interesting statement on Coldwater and its water supply:
Coldwater still booms, and has over fifty houses finished, all painted or the work contracted. One hundred and seven more houses are under way. The city now enjoys a public well and pump, the water being raised by wind- mill. This is the best well in Southern Kansas, and supplies water for over 500 people and over 1,000 head of cattle every day. The water is pure and good, and suitable to wash with. . . .
The Western Star is still published. Mrs. H. V., Ward H., and Merle T. Butcher are the present editors and publishers. The Society has a good file of this paper commencing with the issue of September 20, 1884.
CLARK COUNTY Clark County Clipper, Clark City, September 25, 1884.
This paper started with Vol. I, No. 2. The editors explained the irregularity in these words:
On account of the delay of our paper we could not get out an issue last week, although we had everything else ready. We leave one side just as it was, which will account for any mistakes in regard to time, etc. We will change the date of our first issue, subscriptions, advertising and all, to Sept. 25. . . .
The Clipper was Republican in politics, Robert C. Marquis and James E. Church were the editors and proprietors. Under the cap- tion "Our Bow," they wrote:
Believing that, in a new county, especially, harmony is of more impor- tance than the success of any political party, we shall, in local affairs, always aim to support the best man; but in State and National politics, we are Re- publicans. The columns of the Clipper, however, will be open for the dis- cussion of current topics, by any person, regardless of political proclivities.
In the first number the editors wrote that they were "greatly in- debted to Mr. Bennett of the Garden City Irrigator for valuable service rendered," but failed to explain what it included.
The name and place of publication changed with time. In the issue of October 2, 1884, appeared the statement: "Yesterday the name of our postoffice ceased to be Klaine, and quietly assumed the future name — Clark. . . . Hereafter the name of this postoffice will be Clark." By November 6, 1884 (Vol. I, No. 8) , the paper had moved to Ashland. In explanation of this change the editors wrote:
It will be observed that the place of publication of the Clipper has been changed from Clark City to Ashland. All in this vicinity are conversant with the circumstances connected with this move, but the facts are as yet, unknown to the outsiders. A few settlers feeling the need of a town in this county,
392 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
organized themselves into a town company and founded Clark City. The town was prosperous enough until a rival sprang up which had capital to back it. This rival was laid out at the crossing of the two great trails of southern Kansas, and nearer the center of population of the county. With these facts before us, we have cast our lot with the town of Ashland, believing it will make the leading town of this county. In this move we are not alone. When all the buildings are here that are now under contract to move, more than half of Clark City will be in Ashland. . . .
AsMand has since then remained the place of publication.
The Clipper was favorably received. On October 7, 1884, the Harper Graphic stated:
The Clark County Clipper is the latest. The "head" looks as if it was just coming up out of the prairie grass. Marquis & Church are the pilots and their first issue is a good one. They say the new town of Clark is booming, and we trust it will continue to prosper. Everyone here knows Robert and all his friends wish him success.
The paper changed hands several times. Starting as the Clark County Clipper it changed, March 2, 1911, to the Ashland Clipper. On December 27, 1917, it announced consolidation with the Ashland Record, but the new paper continued as the Ashland Clipper. On June 30, 1927, the Englewood Times was consolidated with the Clip- per and both publications were issued as The Clark County Clipper. The paper is still published under this name. Walter C. Ray and Son are the present editors and publishers.
The Society has a good file of the Clipper, including Vol. I, No. 2.
KIOWA COUNTY Greensburg Rustler, January 15, 1885.
The Rustler, according to available information, was the first newspaper published in this county. It was Democratic in politics. The Kinsley Graphic of Edwards county, just north of Kiowa county, announced the first number January 23, 1885 :
We have received Vol. I, No. 1, of the Greensburg Rustler, edited by J. N., Crawford. The paper is very neat typographically, brimful of "ads" and ex- cept that it swears a little in the poetical effusions, does credit to the bustling little town it represents.
On January 23, 1936, an article in the Greensburg News discussed some of the county's early newspapers and reported: "The Rustler is a Democratic paper edited by S. B. Sproule and claims to be the oldest paper in the county and established January 15, 1885." The first issue in the Society's file is dated April 15, 1886, listed as Vol. II. No. 14. If regularly issued it would place the first number on January 15, 1885.
GAEDDEBT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 393
On May 11, 1885, the Kansas City (Mo.) Journal published an article on Kiowa county, written by De Vera. It gave the following description of the Rustler, four months after its inception (already it had changed hands) :
The Greensburg Rustler is a hebdomadal six column folio, with a consider- able amount of excellently selected news matter on the outside, and a vast amount of brain work on the inside. It is published by Messrs. Bolton & Canfield, and is a very creditable publication. Mr. Bolton, being the county superintendent of public instruction, and also a member of one of the best law firms in the county, is consequently unable to give the Rustler the benefit of his eruditic mind to any great extent; consequently Canfield is left to look after about all the work, mental and physical. . . .
Two other papers, the Wellsford Register and the Democrat and Watchman, Dowell, were started in Kiowa county during this year. The Society has Vol. I, No. 3, of the Register, dated June 13, 1885, and Vol. I, No. 1, of the Democrat and Watchman, dated November 28, 1885.
THOMAS COUNTY
Thomas County Cat, Colby, March 12, 1885, first paper published in the county.
The Enterprise, Colby, March 19, 1885, first paper printed in the county.
The Thomas County Cat, of Colby, was the first paper published in Thomas county, but the first paper printed there was The Enter- prise, of Colby. E. P. Worcester and D. M. Dunn were the editors and proprietors of the Cat; Brown and Son published The Enter- prise. One account of Thomas county, published in 1887, says:
The first newspaper office was brought to the county by Brown & Son, in February, 1885. The office was located in J. R. Colby's house near the center of the county. They printed one issue of a paper called the Enterprise, on March 19. The second edition was never printed. Prospects looked too gloomy and the senior Brown being old and a little childish, gave as his rea- son for leaving the county that he was "afraid of the coyotes." The Enter- prise was the first paper printed in the county, although the first number of the Thomas County Cat bears date of March 12, 1885.12
On March 8, 1885, E. P. Worcester and family left Minneapolis for Thomas county. He had been foreman of the Minneapolis Mes- senger for more than a year. Prior to that he was publisher of two newspapers. D. M. and C. M. Dunn published the Messenger. The
12. A Brief Sketch of Thomas County, Kansas, and the City of Colby, the Past, Present and Future of the Prettiest County in Kansas (Thomas County Cat, Job Rooms, 1887), p. 49.
13. Minneapolis Messenger, March 12, 1885. The paper stated that the past week the Messenger, the Thomas County Cat, and the Solomon Valley Mirror had all been printed in the office of the Minneapolis Messenger.
394 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
first issue of the Cat, therefore, was printed in this office.13 When Worcester arrived in Thomas county he set up shop in H. W. Miller's sod house, near "Old Colby." His office consisted of:
. . . a Washington hand press, fifty pounds of brevier, forty pounds of small pica and several fonts of type that could not be used to advantage in any other office except on the extreme frontier. ... At that time there was no store near the center of the county, and the town of Colby "was a rumor and the improvements a stake." 14
Miller's sod house also served as a hotel and at night all available space was used for beds. Worcester therefore had to set up type during the day, and to prevent the wandering night prowler from pieing the type, he had to lock it in form every evening. The room was only 12 x 14 feet. Whenever the Cat was put to press, the only rack Worcester possessed had to be moved outside.
The first month the Cat subscription books at the Colby post office showed only fourteen subscribers, but by 1887, the list had increased to 1,300. 15 Jessie Kennedy wrote of the year 1885: "Those were hard times. Native fuel was used almost entirely, with a few rail- road ties that floated up the Solomon thrown in for seasoning." 16 On March 19, 1885, the editor of the Cat wrote: "We take almost everything on subscription, but one thing we cannot take — native fuel."
In the salutation the Cat said merely, "Here's yer Cat." The edi- tor wrote :
The Cat will purr for Thomas county, and what we deem the best in- terests of all her people. The Cat will be located at the new town site on the Dog. The Cat has velvet paws, but will not allow the fur to be stroked the wrong way. To all concerned it would be well to remember that a Cat has nine lives, and farther that a Cat is greatly attached to a place where located.
The paper elicited interesting comments. The Mankato Review stated :
. . . The Cat is yet rather small, six column folio, but if it catches plenty of rabbits may grow to large size. ... In politics it is Republican, and we think it plainly indicates that the party intends to maintain its supremacy in the state when it sends out young Thomas Cat missionaries to Republicanism the coyotes. . . . 17
The Logan Freeman said:
We imagine they are having a cat and dog time out in Thomas county, and the newspaper name is well chosen. But we should like to know on what part
14. A Brief Sketch of Thomas County . . . , pp. 49, 50.
15. Ibid., pp. 50, 61.
16. Colby Free Press-Tribune, October 4, 1939.
17. Thomas County Cat, Colby, April 9, 1885.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 395
of the dog the cat is located. A Thomas cat usually selects the part of a dog farthest from the bark to make a location, and we should judge from the solidity of the reading matter that this cat has not been lacking in judgment. We suppose if the fountain head is a cat, the issue must be kittens, and we hope it may increase until the fur flies all over that part of Kansas.18
The Society has a good file of the Cat from March 12, 1885, to February 5, 1891.
SCOTT COUNTY The Western Times, Scott Center, May 27, 1885.
The Western Times, a weekly publication, undoubtedly was the first newspaper published in Scott county. Mrs. M. E. De Geer & S. W. Case were the editors and proprietors, Charles L. Waite was the publisher. The Times was a continuation of The Crusader, a monthly temperance publication, established in Chicago in 1874, and published by Mrs. De Geer and her daughter.19 In January, 1885, Mrs. De Geer came to Kansas and temporarily established The Western Times at Garden City, "Devoted to Western Immi- gration, Temperance and Justice." Under title, "Wedded," in the issue of January 30, 1885, listed as Vol. XI, No. 2, the Times stated:
In the month of January, 1885, The Crusader and The Western Times joined hands and became one, henceforth to go forward together in the blending and extending of knowledge and principles calculated to educate and make the dependent masses happy, by becoming independent; for with- out self-reliant independence there can be no happiness.
The Crusader, after years of reformatory and educational work, on the part of its editors, was devoted to temperance, literature, justice and the best in- terests of humanity, and took its stand, not in the ranks alone of the grand crusade of 1874 against intemperance, but as a leader among the advance guards of God's own army. We were at that time denounced as fanatic, trying to do too much, and were besought by many overcautious friends of the cause, not to mix politics (advocate prohibition) and temperance and let woman suffrage alone altogether. But knowing we were right that temperance, justice and equality were cardinal virtues, and that the God of battles was with us in that right, we moved steadily onward, and at the expiration of ten years, rejoice in the advancing millions that are now in the same onward march. . . .
Mrs. De Geer, however, had interest in the Scott county ranch lands and soon directed her attention to the county northward. On May 13, 1885, the Times carried the notice: "Office of Western Times will be moved this week to De Geer ranch. We look for our post-office outfit every day." The following week, although still
18. Ibid.
19. American Newspaper Directory . . . (Geo. P. Rowell A Co., New York, 1877), p. 50.
396 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
dated Garden City, the Times already boosted Scott county. A "postal" in this issue remarked in a teasing manner: "Let us know when you have lots for sale in De Geer." The next number, May 27, 1885, was dated Scott Center.20 This issue explained that Scott Center was aso called because of it being located in the exact geo- graphical center of Scott county." The article went on to describe the town as "two months old and consists of one store building 30 x 40, one good sized hotel, one printing office and three dwellings. The town is situated on the highest point in the county yet excellent water is obtained at a depth of 45 feet." At the end of the article it said that The Western Times was printed by "Mrs. De Geer at the Center and is devoted to booming the county and publishing land office notices." Scott Center soon became Scott City. The change first appeared in the date line September 16, 1885.
The Western Times continued to be published at Scott City till September 16, 1886, when it was moved to Sharon Springs, Wallace county. The first issue published there was dated October 16, 1886. Mrs. De Geer severed her connection as editor and proprietor of the paper in October, 1885, when Kate B. Russell, daughter of Mrs. De Geer, and S. W. Case assumed control. The change appeared first in the masthead October 28, 1885. Mrs. De Geer remained for some time as corresponding editor. The Western Times is still published at Sharon Springs. Harry F. Lutz is the present editor and publisher. The Society has an incomplete file of this paper, commencing with the issue of January 30, 1885.
HAMILTON COUNTY The Syracuse Journal, June 12 (?), 1885.
The Syracuse Journal was the first newspaper published in Hamilton county. The Kearny County Advocate, Lakin, made this statement when it announced the first number of the Journal, June 13, 1885:
Vol. I, No. 1, of the Syracuse Journal, published by Lester & Armour, has been received. It is a very nice and newsty] sheet and is a credit to its pub- lishers. It is the first paper ever published in Hamilton county, and the names hoisted at its head guarantees success. May their labours be crowned with their highest ambitions.
In the earliest issue of the Society's file, dated July 17, 1885, listed
20. Oliver S. Lawson, in "History of Sc9tt County, Kansas" (August, 1936), p. 70 (MS. in library of Kansas State Historical Society), mistakenly dated the first issue of The Western Times, published at Scott City, as March, 1886. The Scott City News Chronicle, June 24, 1937, was more accurate in listing it as "the spring of 1885." History of Kansas Newspapers . . . 185% to 1916 (Topeka, 1916), p. 311, was also in error.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 397
as Vol. I, No. 6, the editors advertised that "The Syracuse Journal is the only newspaper published in Hamilton county." If the paper was issued regularly, the first number should have appeared June 12, 1885. One of the founders of the paper was H. N. Lester, who was also one of the original members of the Syracuse colony.21 Associated with him as publisher of the Journal was one Armour.
The Society has scattered issues of this paper for 1885, but a more complete file from 1886 on. The Syracuse Journal is the only paper in the county, begun in the early days, that has had a continuous history. At present Albert M. James is editor and publisher.
GRANT COUNTY Grant County Register, Ulysses, July 21, 1885.
Ulysses was less than a month old when the first number of the Register flung its banner to the breeze. A. Bennett was the editor and proprietor and Charles D. Majors the manager. It was an eight- page, five-column folio, independent in politics. The first number was printed at Lakin, because, to quote the publishers, "our press has not arrived." Under "Our Bow," Majors wrote:
Ulysses wanted a paper, we wanted a location, and finding Grant with greater natural advantages than any unorganized county in the state, and sure to become one of the foremost, we have cast our lot here. We may be a few days or weeks, or even months ahead of the times — in advance of the settlement — but we are willing to wait. . . . Six weeks ago hardly a claim was taken in Grant county. Now there are over 500 actual settlers and they still come in swarms, and all who come locate. If the rush continues there will not be a vacant piece of land in the county. . . .
The establishment of Ulysses, according to George Earp, one of the pioneer settlers of the county, was delayed by a Texas cattleman. He wrote: "We didn't start it [Ulysses] as soon as we expected, for a Texas cattleman was branding 18 or 20 thousand steers on the very spot we had picked out for the business center and we could not start our town till the Texas man moved away.22 Under the caption, "Ulysses," the Register in the first issued stated:
Everything is newness and bustle, but dispatch, haste, push is the motto. Where a month ago — where on the 7th of June six thousand head of cattle were rounded up on a gentle western slope near a beautiful lake, and not a habitation of any kind within 7 miles, and only one within 15 miles, there is now a bustling, prosperous young city, and all the country round is dotted with the "settlements" of locators.
Surely no such town ever before sprang up. The Arabian Nights have noth-
21. Syracuse Journal, March 29, 1940.
22. "Grant County Clippings," p. 11. — Library, Kansas State Historical Society.
398 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing like it. No such thing ever before happened in wonderful Kansas where towns spring up in a day, for here one month 16 townships with but one house — a cattle ranch — has a population of 500 souls the next month. . . .
At this time ten new stores were under contract, said the paper, and the cry all over Kansas was "Ulysses or bust."
As to Grant county, the editor wrote, it had not yet been "habili- tated." "You search on the present map for it in vain. But you will soon see it again. It was wiped out three years ago, but the next legislature will surely restore it." There was seldom a pessimist in those frontier counties, if we can trust the newspapers.
The Society has a good file of the Register from July 21, 1885, to February 22, 1890, when it was merged with the Ulysses Tribune, published by George W. Perry.
SEWARD COUNTY The Prairie Owl, Fargo Springs, August 27, 1885.
County authorities are agreed that The Prairie Owl, of Fargo Springs, was the first newspaper published in Seward county. The Seward County C our ant, Springfield, November 11, 1887, carried the statement:
The Prairie Owl, the first paper in the county, was recently moved from Fargo Springs to this county. The Owl has labored for the advancement of Seward county from its earliest settlement, and during the more prosperous days at Fargo Springs, it done noble work for the town, but when Springfield conquered in the fight, it quietly folded its wings and is now hooting for this city with as much earnestness as in the days agone.
What the author meant to say, no doubt, was that The Prairie Owl had recently moved "from Fargo Springs to this town."
The Liberal News, May 2, 1935, stated:
C. L. Calvert was editor of the first paper printed in Seward county. It was The Prairie Owl, the first issue of which appeared at Fargo Springs, October 8, 1885. After a stormy career of about three years, the paper was moved to Springfield where it ceased publication in 1888.
The earliest issue of this paper in the Society's file is dated Oc- tober 8, 1885, listed as Vol. I, No. 7. C. L. Calvert and Hays were the editors and A. B. Carr & Co. the publishers. The News leaves the impression that the first issue of The Prairie Owl published at Fargo Springs was dated October 8, 1885. If the paper was estab- lished at Fargo Springs, and there is no reason to question the as- sumption, and if it was issued regularly, the first number should have appeared August 27, 1885. In the first anniversary edition, August 26, 1886, the editor of the Owl wrote: "With our last issue
GAEDDEKT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 399
ended the first year of the existence of The Prairie Owl." He did not say whether or not all numbers had been published at Fargo Springs.
Fargo Springs, which at one time was a thriving city, is today extinct. Not even the name is left on the map. Springfield, its erstwhile rival, likewise is no longer. In early days, however, the rivalry between these towns was so marked that no business man "in one town dared even to solicit business from the other town and so closely were the lines drawn that members of the church would have been ostracized had they dared attend communion service in the rival town. So thoroughly were they organized that all the voters in the county friendly to Springfield would assemble in that town and camp out on the night before an important election and next morning march in a body, heavily armed, to Fargo Springs, which was for a long time the voting place for both towns. . . ." 23 The following amusing incident was related in the Dodge City Daily Globe, December 26, 1922:
The story is told of the night when word came to Fargo Springs that a bunch of men from Springfield were coming to clean up the town. The Fargo men, among whom were A. K. Stoufer and L. A. Etzlod, lay at the foot of the rise near the town all night guarding it from attack. Little did they dream at the time that the report had gone to Springfield to the effect that the Fargo citizens were planning a night attack there. And while the Fargo men lay at the foot of the raise on one side guarding from the Springfield men, on the other side of the raise all night long lay Springfield men on guard against Fargo. And neither suspected the presence of the other.
The Society has a good file of The Prairie Owl from October 8, 1885, to June 5, 1888, listed as Vol. Ill, No. 29. The first issue of the paper published at Springfield was dated October 6, 1887.
LOGAN COUNTY Oakley Opinion, October 12, 1885.
The Opinion, according to the records, was the first newspaper published in what is now Logan county. Originally the county was named after Gov. John P. St. John, but in 1887 the state legislature, by vote of 64 to 54, changed the name to Logan county, in honor of Gen. John A. Logan, the "Black Eagle of Illinois." In the first num- ber the editor, Edward Kleist, wrote that the Opinion was the "only paper published in St. John county," but expressed doubt that the new venture would bring him financial security :
With the merits, responsibilities, duties and privileges of a newspaper in
23. Kansas City (Mo.) Journal, October 18, 1911.
400 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
view, the proprietor, editor, business manager, compositor, printer, etc., all personified in one being, has taken it upon himself to launch this sheet upon the troubled and rather treacherous waters of newspaper enterprise.
Kleist was willing to take the chance, however, and promised his constituency that the paper would be published "in the interest of the public," that it would be "the slave of no man," but "the servant of all."
His fears were well founded. Less than four years later he was forced to suspend business. Under the caption, "Demise," July 20, 1889, he wrote:
With this number the Oakley Opinion, after almost four years of hard labor, is laid to rest. It is unnecessary for us to enlarge upon the combination of causes that induce us to take this important step, for they have but one general trend, that of making the Opinion a financial failure. The suspension of the Opinion is not due, however, to our lack of faith in the town or country; on the contrary, we believe that both are on the threshold of prosperity and development.
Edward Kleist's fate is the story of many other pioneer Kansas newspaper men. Years later while describing his early ventures, he wrote:
When a young man I drove across the country from McCook, Nebraska, to Grainfield, Kansas. I took the train there for Oakley (I believe the station was named Cleveland at that time). I arrived early in September, 1884 [1885?], and the next day met Judge Freeman and Mr. Hogue from Kansas City, of the Union Pacific Townsite Company, on Oakley's proposed townsite. There was only a depot, section house and water tank there then.
That evening I started for Kansas City, Mo., purchased a small printing outfit and hurried back to have my print shop built. . . . 24
The name of the townsite formerly was Cleveland, with Gilmore as post office, but owing to the fact that Kansas had another Cleve- land, in Kingman county, the town fathers decided to call it Oakley. The name was suggested by David D. Hoag, who laid out the town. In a letter to the editor of the Oakley Graphic, dated September 11, 1931, Hoag explained that he named the townsite in honor of his mother Eliza Oakley (Gardner) Hoag. The railroad company had called it Cleveland, but he had been able to secure the change in the name.25
The Society has a good file of the Opinion, including Vol. I, No. 1.
24. Oakley Graphic, September 9, 1932
25. Ibid., September 18, 1931.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 401
SHERMAN COUNTY The New* Tecumseh, Gandy, November 9, 1885.
It is generally conceded that The New Tecumseh, of Gandy, was the first newspaper published in Sherman county. The editors in the first number referred to it as the pioneer paper in the county. W. E. Bissell and Gird published the paper until the third number, when Saxon and Bissell assumed control. The paper was named after "Old Tecumseh," nickname of Gen. William Tecumseh Sher- man in whose honor the county was named. The publishers thought the name New Tecumseh appropriate and suggestive of the progress and rapid development the county had undergone. The idea of the name was suggested by D. M. Dunn, editor of the Thomas County Cat, of Colby.26
The paper was moved three times. First published at Gandy, it was transferred to Leonard in March, 1886. By August 20, 1886, the post office of Leonard changed to Itasca. In November, 1886, the paper was moved to Eustis and remained there until January, 1889, when it was moved to Goodland, where it suspended June 13, 1889. The paper changed to the Sherman County Democrat with the issue of April 7, 1887.
The Society has a good file, including Vol. I, No. 1.
WICHITA COUNTY Wichita Standard, Leoti City, November 19, 1885.
The Wichita Standard was established before Leoti had a post office. C. S. Triplett was the editor and publisher. The Standard's rival paper was the Coronado Star which first appeared December 31, 1885.27
The two towns were only three miles apart, and the bitter rivalry which culminated in a bloody county-seat fight in 1886-1887, had a mild beginning in the first issue. The editor of the Standard wrote :
We had intended to say nothing disparaging of the new town project in- tended as a rival to Leoti, nor of the parties having the matter in hand, be- ing liberal enough in our views to understand that they had a perfect right to build a new town if they wished to do so. . . . What we have to say is against the underhanded way in which the management is attempting to forward their prospects at the sacrifice of those of their neighbors, instead of on their own merits. . . .
26. The New Tecumseh, Gandy, November 9, 1885.
27. Topeka State Journal, May 19, 1923. The first issue of the Star in the Society's file is dated August 12, 1886, listed as Vol. I, No. 33.
26—1043
402 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Before the contest ended the newspaper editors of the rival towns had exchanged harsh words and seven prominent Leoti citizens had paid with their lives for the victory in the county-seat fight.28
The paper is still published at Leoti, although the name has been changed from Wichita Standard to Leoti Standard. Bryant Holmes is the present editor and publisher.
The Society has a good file of this paper, including Vol. I, No. 1.
HASKELL COUNTY The Ivanhoe Times, December 12, 1885.
The available records indicate that the Ivanhoe Times was the first newspaper published in what is now Haskell, then part of Finney county. George H. Apperson was the editor. The paper was Republican in politics. It was a four-page, seven-column folio. The Society's History of Kansas Newspapers (1916), p. 206, and the Sublette Monitor, June 12, 1930, mistakenly gave C. T. Hick- man as founder of the Times. His name does not appear in the masthead until May 22, 1886.
The Times may have been the organ of the Ivanhoe Town Com- pany, formed in June, 1885, which carried a two-column, full length advertisement in the paper.
The Sublette Monitor mentioned above very aptly said: "News- papers are the most fervent advocates of their territories. Some- times their enthusiasms exceed sound reasoning, but they keep tearing at the clouds and beckoning to the silver lining." This was especially characteristic of the frontier papers and the editor of the Times was no exception. In the salutation he wrote, among other things :
The Times believes in Kansas, and has implicit faith in the "New West." It believes there is no state in the Union that has such vast and unlimited resources, so fine natural advantages, so energetic, intelligent and enterprising people, and such great possibilities for the future. It believes furthermore, that Southwestern Kansas in particular, is a country of which the half has not been told, and that the historian of the future will have to record of this section a progress and development unparalleled in the history of the world. . . .
The Society has a good file of this paper from December 12, 1885, to November 18, 1892, when it was absorbed by the Santa Fe Monitor.
28. Wichita Standard, March 10, 1887.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 403
WALLACE COUNTY Wallace County Register, Wallace, January 2, 1886.
The Wallace County Register, of Wallace, no doubt was the first newspaper in Wallace county. The editor, S. L. Wilson, made the claim under the title, "Our Greeting," when he wrote:
In presenting you with this, the first number of the Register, the first paper published in Wallace county, we are highly gratified with the seemingly auspicious circumstances which have brought us into this relation. While there has been no "long felt want" of a newspaper at this place nevertheless there are many in this community who have resided here for years, who will doubt- less appreciate the establishment of this branch of business in their midst, and give it their hearty support. ... In politics we are Republican, but our intention is to publish a newspaper in the interest of Wallace county and for the advancement of her local affairs. . . .
In describing the territory to new settlers, he spoke of it as "a new and broader field, where the antelope has not yet ceased to graze and the track of the buffalo is scarcely washed out, in which there is opportunity for almost unlimited growth and development." The Union Pacific railroad crossed the center of the county from east to west, years before the county was reorganized.
Two business firms that have attracted national attention were advertising their merchandise in the first number of the Register. Peter Robidoux, a swarthy French Canadian, won fame through his general store and the manner in which he closed it. He also operated a saloon in which for twelve years the doors were never locked. Moreover, he was a land baron owning 32,000 acres by the end of the World War.29 In the memorable blizzard of 1886 when stock in the territory of the upper Smoky Hill river drifted more than fifty miles with the storm and perished along the fence of the Santa Fe railroad, it was said by men who were sent to skin the dead bodies that "one might walk from Garden City to the Colorado state line on the bodies of dead animals bearing the Robidoux brand, whose loss was estimated at more than 4,000 head." 30
The fame of Thomas Madigan is due largely to the fact that he was Robidoux's competitor. The second number of the Register had the following description of their stores:
There are two very large general stores in town, the one owned by Thomas Madigan and the other by Peter Robidoux. We use the word "general" in describing these places, in a very broad sense, as the reader will see by glancing over the advertisements of these establishments. These two gentlemen have
29. Thompson, W. FM "Peter Robidoux: A Real Kansas Pioneer," The Kansas His- torical Collections, v. XVII, pp. 289, 290; Colby Free Press-Tribune, July 22, 1936.
30. Thompson, W. F., loc. cit., p. 289.
404 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
been in business in Wallace for a number of years and there is scarcely any- thing called for that they do not keep and furnish. Their stocks are neces- sarily very large, worth many thousand dollars each, and are both kept in excellent condition. The business of each occupies three large rooms probably 24 by 60 or 80 feet, and well filled. Here you find goods that would never be called for or seen in an eastern store. "Ranch supplies" are a specialty with them. A "cow-boy's" hat was a curiosity to us. It is what would be known as a white hat, broad brim, crown medium height and made of very thick material, impervious to the rain, and ornamented with a band of leather that frequently costs nearly as much as the hat, and the whole worth sometimes ten or twelve dollars. "Mexican" spurs and saddles and saddle trimmings, bridles, girths, pistol and knife holsters, and a thousand other paraphernalia not seen in the east. All these are carried in stock in these stores.
Peter Robidoux's advertisement in the first number of the Register read:
PETER ROBIDOUX PIONEER STORE OF WALLACE, KANSAS. Dealer in General Merchandise, Dry Goods, Notions, Ready Made Clothing and Gents Furnishing Goods, Hats, Caps and Gloves. "The Celebrated" Selz Schwab & Go's Boots, Shoes and Rubber Goods. Full line of Groceries and Provisions of all kinds. Flour, Feed & Baled Hay. Stockmen & Ranchmans Supplies. Hardware, Tinware, Barb Wire & Nails. Crockery, Glassware & Lamps, Oils, Paints and Brushes. Harness, Saddles, Blankets & Horse Covers, Farming Implements and Wagons. Terms after January 1, '86, strictly cash. Will not be undersold and guarantees satisfaction. Give me a Call. Peter Robidoux.
His rival's advertisement read:
THOS. MADIGAN, WALLACE, KANSAS, Has in store the largest, best and most varied Stock of General Merchandise in Western Kansas, and sells goods as low as they can be bought anywhere west of the Missouri River. Try Him For Dry Goods, Prints, Muslins, Flannels, Linens, Yarns, Crash and Notions. For Hats, Caps, Boots and Shoes. For Groceries of all Kinds, especially Coffees, Teas, Sugars, Spices, Syrups and Vinegar. Canned Goods and Fish, Green and Dried Fruits, Soaps and confections. Headquarters for Cigars and Tobaccos. A full stock of Hardware, Stoves, and Tinware, also of Queensware and Woodenware, Flour, Corn Meal and Feed. Ranch supplies of every description at very low prices wholesale and retail. Buy of Thomas Madigan and Save Money ! Store south of the Railroad.
The Society has a good file of the Register, including Vol. I, No. 1.
MORTON COUNTY The Frisco Pioneer, January 6, 1886.
Two newspapers in Morton county competed for priority. The Frisco Pioneer, by Euphrates Boucher, appeared January 6, and the Richfield Leader, by D. L. Kretsinger, January 9, 1886. The Pioneer was Republican and the Leader Democratic in politics. Both papers
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 405
referred to their county as Kansas. Under the title, "Kansas County," the Leader stated:
We take it, that there is not a school boy in the land but what can tell you where Kansas county is, or at least where it ought to be, but owing to "an act" of a fool legislature last winter Kansas county was merged into, and made a part of Seward county. These veiy fellows are the chaps that we of Western Kansas are after this winter at the special session, and we propose to demand our rights, and restore the old lines as they were prior to '81. . . .
In the issue of February 24, 1886, the Pioneer had changed the head- line from Kansas to Morton county. The Leader made the change March 6.
In the introductory statement the editor of the Pioneer wrote : With this issue begins the initial number of the Pioneer. Just what suc- cess it will meet time will only tell. One thing is sure, it is a permanent in- stitution to begin with. It will be devoted to the building up of Frisco, particularly, and Kansas county generally, while the interest of the southwest, as well as the state will be looked after. Politically it will be Republican.
Under "Greeting" the editor of the Leader wrote :
Friends and fellow citizens of Richfield, Kansas county, the advent of the Leader is no blessing in disguise. Your active work, intelligence and enterprise demand the establishment and publication of a newspaper in your well chosen county center. Well do you know that newspapers are the beacon lights of a higher and better civilization through which rights are enforced, and wrongs redressed, and the moral and social world made better. Acting then upon your demands, not our whims. The Richfield Leader weighs anchor and sets sail in your midst, not with fear or trembling, but upon the broad flat form of justice, liberty, and equal rights, "with malice toward none but with charity for all," the Leader shall be essentially a newspaper, striving more to convey information to its readers, than to mould opinions or shape their convic- tions. . . .
Politically the Leader will be democratic straight from the shoulder and no foolishness.
The Society has good files of both papers.
STEVENS COUNTY The Hugo Herald, February 13, 1886.
The Hugo Herald was established in Seward county, but before the third number appeared, March 3, 1886, the legislature had changed part of Seward to Stevens county. Likewise Hugo was changed to Hugoton. The first seven issues were published in Hugo, but beginning with the eighth number, April 7, 1886, the name of the town had changed to Hugoton. The paper however retained the name Hugo Herald or Hugo Weekly Herald throughout its his-
406 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tory. Hugo was located at or near the geographical center of Stevens county and was the principal town. It was located in June, 1885, surveyed and platted in August, and by February, 1886, boasted a population of "about one hundred, . . . about twenty houses for business purposes and about the same number of resi- dences, with a prospect that before the falling of snow . . . the population will reach one thousand." 31
In the first number the editor, G. W. McClintick, late of Mc- Pherson, wrote : "We to-day greet the people of Hugo and Seward county with the first number of the first paper ever published in this part of Kansas." This statement, while not absolute proof, nevertheless indicates that the Hugo Herald was the first paper pub- lished in what is now Stevens county. In the same issue the editor boasted: "She [Hugo] has no rival competing for the same favors she asks and there is no prospect of any town being started in the near future that will be a rival." The only other towns listed on the map of Stevens in the Agricultural Report of 1885-1886 were Pearl City, Valparaiso and Dermot.32 However, in western Kan- sas, towns developed over night. The Woodsdale Times, published by George W. Reed & Co., the only other paper known to have been established in Stevens county in 1886, appeared October 15.
In politics the Herald claimed to be Democratic, in religion neu- tral, and in enterprise, "energetic and aggressive." In the first issue the editor wrote:
We have met with many discouragements in getting out this the first copy of the paper. We left home 7 weeks ago and expected to have issued a paper at least two weeks sooner than we have. The unexpected snow storms and blizzards not only delayed our operations, but delayed and inconvenienced everything else. Railroad travel was almost entirely suspended for over four weeks and the hand press that we shipped from Great Bend on Dec. 30th did not reach here for over six weeks. The delay has been a great inconvenience [to] us and has deranged nearly all of our plans. We hope in the future to be able to issue the paper regularly and on time.
The editor no doubt had reference to the memorable blizzard of 1886,
The Society has a good file of this paper from February 13, 1886, which includes Vol. I, No. 1, to September 5, 1889, when it suspended publication.
31. The Hugo Herald, February 13, 1886.
32. Fifth Biennial Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture . . . 1885-86 (Topeka, 1887), p. 546. McClintick spelled his name without the "k" in the McPherson Messenger, December 13, 1873.
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 407
STANTON COUNTY Veteran Sentinel, March 19, 1886.
Veteran was one of several western Kansas towns, including Coronado, established by "Winfield gentlemen." 33 The Veteran Sentinel, according to the records, was the first newspaper published in what is now Stanton, then part of Hamilton county. The earliest issue in the Society's file is dated April 16, 1886, listed as Vol. I, No. 5. If regularly issued the first number should have appeared March 19. Will C. Higgins was the editor and proprietor of this five-column, eight-page paper.
In May the name of Veteran changed to Johnson City, and the name of the paper to the Johnson City Sentinel.3* Stanton county, however, remained unorganized during the history of this paper. In 1887 Johnson City was made the county seat of Stanton county.
The Society has a good file of the Sentinel from April 16 to De- cember 10, 1886.
GREELEY COUNTY
Hector Echo, April 1, 1886.
The Echo no doubt was the first newspaper published in this county. In the initial number the editor asked the settlers of the county to subscribe "for the only paper in Greeley county." The Society has the first eighteen numbers of this paper, probably all that were published under this name. C. C. Thompson, a Repub- lican Prohibitionist, was the editor, and Thompson Brothers the publishers. In the first number the Echo stated that it had "a bonafide circulation of 400." Under the caption, "Shake," the Thompson brothers said they were publishing the Echo to make money, the larger the patronage the better paper they could produce. They promised to "fight a good fight for truth and morality; we will mind our own business and run the Echo. If you can meet us on these terms, here is the Elr3 of — Yours Truly, Thompson Brothers."
Greeley was the last county in the state to be organized. It came in July 9, 1888. Twenty-three counties had been organized during Gov. John A. Martin's administration, making a total of 106 or- ganized counties in Kansas. Garfield county was an "illegitimate child," organized in 1887. In 1892 the state instituted quo warranto proceedings against it to test the validity of the organization. The supreme court decided that it was illegally organized, having less
33. Veteran Sentinel, April 16, 1886.
34. Ibid., May 14, 1886 ; Johnson City Sentinel, May 28, 1886.
408 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
than 432 square miles of territory.35 It was therefore annexed to Finney county by the legislature of 1893.
There were at least three other papers started in this county in 1886. The Greeley County Gazette, Greeley Center, published its first number April 15, 1886. The Greeley Tribune, of Tribune, also appeared in April, 1886. The Society's file of this paper starts with the second number, dated April 24, 1886. The Greeley County News, Greeley Center, no doubt appeared in October, 1886. The Society's earliest issue of this paper is dated November 4, 1886, listed Vol. I, No. 3. The Society has good files of these papers.
SUMMARY OF FIRST NEWSPAPERS
Below is a list of first newspapers published in Kansas counties, as determined in this survey. If additional information comes to light changes may be necessary. Counties are listed in the order in which the newspapers appeared. The title of each paper is shown, together with the page where it is discussed in this volume. The map shows the year of publication of the first newspaper in each county, with a number indicating its chronological order among the counties of the state.
1. Leaven worth Co. — Kansas Weekly Herald, Leaven worth, September 15, 1854 [pp. 4-6].
2. Douglas Co. — Kansas Pioneer, Lawrence, October 18, 1854 [pp. 6-9].
3. Atchison Co. — Squatter Sovereign, Atchison, February 3, 1855 [pp. 9, 101.
4. Shawnee Co.— Kansas Freeman, Topeka, July 4, 1855 [pp. 10-12].
5. Doniphan Co. — Kansas Constitutionalist, Doniphan, May, 1856 [pp. 12, 13].
6. Bourbon Co.— Southern Kansas, Fort Scott, July, 1856 [pp. 13, 14].
7. Wyandotte Co.— The Wyandott City Register, May 2, 1857 [pp. 14, 15].
8. Lyon Co.— The Kanzas News, Emporia, June 6, 1857 [pp. 15-17].
9. Franklin Co. — Kansas Leader, Centropolis, June, 1857 [pp. 17, 18],
10. Coffey Co.— Ottumwa Journal, August 29, 1857 [p. 18].
11. Miami Co. — Southern Kansas Herald, Osawatomie, November, 1857 [pp. 19, 20].
12. Marshall Co.— Palmetto Kansan, Marysville, December 9 (?), 1857 [pp. 20, 21].
13. Jefferson Co.— Grasshopper, Grasshopper Falls, June 5, 1858 [pp. 21, 22].
14. Geary Co.— Junction City Sentinel, August, 1858 [pp. 22, 23].
15. Jackson Co.— The Cricket, Holton, 1858 or 1859 [p. 24].
16. Johnson Co.— Johnson County Standard, Olathe, March, 1859 [pp. 24, 25].
35. "Th» State of Kansas . . . v. The Board of Commissioners of Garfield County et al.f" 64 Kan. 372-374; Gill, Helen G., "The Establishment of Counties in Kansas," Kansas Historical Collections, v. VIII, p. 469.
GABDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 409
17. Linn Co— Linn County Herald, Mound City, April 1 (?), 1859 [p. 26]. Montana Co. (now Denver county, Colorado) — Cherry Creek Pioneer,
K. T., April 23, 1859, or Rocky Mountain News, Cherry Creek, K. T., April 23, 1859 [pp. 26, 27].
18. Riley Co.— .Kansas Express, Manhattan, May 21, 1859 [pp. 27, 28].
19. Chase Co.— Kansas Press, Cottonwood Falls, May 30, 1859 [p. 29].
20. Morris Co.— The Kansas Press, Council Grove, September 26, 1859 [pp. 29, 30].
21. Brown Co.— Brown County Union, Hiawatha, May, 1861 [p. 30].
22. Wabaunsee Co.— The Wabaunsee Patriot, September 7, 1861 [pp. 30, 31].
23. Osage Co. — Osage County Chronicle, Burlingame, September 26, 1863 [pp. 31, 32].
24. Nemaha Co.—Nemaha Courier, Seneca, November 14, 1863 [p. 32].
25. Allen Co.— Humboldt Herald, November 25 (?), 1864 [pp. 32, 33].
26. Anderson Co.— Garnett Plaindealer, March, 1865 [p. 124].
27. Saline Co.— The Salina Herald, February, 1867 [pp. 124, 125].
28. Pottawatomie Co. — Pottawatomie Gazette, Louisville, July 17, 1867 [p. 126].
29. Cherokee Co.— Baxter Springs Herald, October, 1867 [pp. 126, 127].
30. Ellis Co.— Hays City Railway Advance, November 9, 1867 [pp. 127, 128].
31. Ellsworth Co.— Ellsworth Advocate, March, 1868 [p. 128].
32. Neosho Co.— Neosho Valley Eagle, Jacksonville, May 2, 1868 [pp. 128, 129].
33. Labette Co.— The Oswego Register, May or June, 1868 [pp. 129, 130].
34. Greenwood Co.— The Eureka Herald, July 10, 1868 [p. 131].
35. Woodson Co.— Frontier Democrat, Neosho Falls, October, 1868 [pp. 131, 132].
36. Washington Co.— The Western Observer, Washington, March 25, 1869 [pp. 132,133].
37. Crawford Co.— Crawford County Times, Girard, April 16, 1869 (?) [pp. 133-136].
38. Montgomery Co.— Independence Pioneer, September 11 (?), 1869 [pp. 136, 137].
39. Wilson Co.— The Wilson County Courier, Fredonia, January 20, 1870 [pp. 137, 138].
40. Dickinson Co.— The Western News, Detroit, January 20 or 21, 1870 [P138].
41. Butler Co.— Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, March, 1870 [p. 139].
42. Cloud Co.— Republican Valley Empire, Clyde, May 31, 1870 [pp. 139, 140].
43. Sedgwick Co.— The Wichita Vidette, August 13, 1870 [pp. 140-142].
44. Cowley Co.—Cowley County Censor, Winfield, August 13, 1870 [pp. 142, 143].
45. Ottawa Co. — The Solomon Valley Pioneer, Lindsey, September, 1870 [p. 143].
46. Marion Co.— The Western News, Marion, September, 1870 [p. 144].
47. Republic Co.— The Bell[e]ville Telescope, September 30, 1870 [pp.145, 146].
48. Elk Co.— Elk Falls Examiner, before February 17, 1871 [pp. 146, 147].
49. Mitchell Co.— Mitchell County Mirror, Beloit, April, 1871 [p. 147].
410 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
50. Sumner Co.— Oxford Times, June 22, 1871 [p. 148].
51. Clay Co.— Clay County Independent, Clay Center, August 31 (?), 1871 [pp. 148, 149].
52. Russell Co.— The Kansas Pioneer, Bunker Hill, November, 1871 [pp. 299, 300].
53. Harvey Co.— The Sedgwick Gazette, January 19, 1872 [pp. 300-302].
54. Osborne Co. — Osborne County Express, Arlington, February or March, 1872, or Osborne City Times, February or March, 1872 [pp. 302-304].
55. Jewell Co.— The Jewell City Weekly Clarion, March or April, 1872 [p. 304].
56. Reno Co.— The Hutchinson News, July 4, 1872 [pp. 304, 305].
57. Barton Co. — Arkansas Valley, or Arkansas Valley Echo, Great Bend, July (?), 1872 [pp. 305, 306].
58. McPherson Co.— McPherson Messenger, December 19, 1872 [pp. 306, 307].
59. Smith Co.— The Smith County Pioneer, Cedarville, December, 1872 [pp. 307, 308].
60. Lincoln Co.— The Lincoln County News, Lincoln Center, March 5, 1873 [p. 309].
61. Rice Co.— The Rice County Herald, Atlanta, May, 1873 [pp. 309, 310].
62. Pawnee Co.— The Larned Press, June 10, 1873 [p. 310].
63. Chautauqua Co.— Howard County Messenger, Boston, July or August, 1873 [pp. 311, 312].
64. Phillips Co.— The Kirwin Chief, August 2 (?), 1873 [pp. 312, 313].
65. Edwards Co.— Kinsley Reporter, September, 1873 [p. 313].
66. Ford Co.— Dodge City Messenger, February 26, 1874 [p. 314].
67. Rush Co.— The Walnut Valley Standard, Rush Center, December 24, 1874 [pp. 314, 315].
68. Rooks Co.— The Stockton News, January 6, 1876 [pp. 315, 316].
69. Norton Co.— The Norton County Bee, Norton, January 1, 1877 [p. 316].
70. Stafford Co.— The Stafford Citizen, November 30, 1877 [pp. 316, 317].
71. Barber C-o.—Barbour County Mail, Medicine Lodge, May 21, 1878 [pp. 317, 318].
72. Kingman Co.— Kingman Mercury, June 14, 1878 [pp. 318, 319].
73. Gray Co.— The Cimarron Pioneer, July 2, 1878 [p. 319].
74. Pratt Co.— Pratt Comity Press, luka, August 15, 1878 [p. 320].
75. Harper Co.— Anthony Journal, August 22, 1878 [pp. 320, 321].
76. Hodgeman Co. — Hodgeman Agitator, Hodgeman Center, March 1, 1879 [pp. 321, 322].
77. Trego Co.— Wa-Keeney Weekly World, March 8, 1879 [p. 322].
78. Finney Co.— The Garden City Paper, April 3, 1879 [pp. 322, 323].
79. Meade Co.— The Pearlette Call, April 15, 1879 [pp. 380, 381].
80. Ness Co.— The Ness County Pioneer, Clarinda, May 3-10, 1879 [pp. 381, 382].
81. Graham Co.— The Western Star, Hill City, May 15, 1879 [pp. 382, 383].
82. Kearny Co.— Lakin Eagle, May 20, 1879 [pp. 383, 384].
83. Decatur Co.— Oberlin Herald, June 12-19, 1879 [pp. 384, 385].
84. Rawlins Co.— Attwood Pioneer, October 23, 1879 [pp. 385, 386].
85. Gove Co.— Grainfield Republican, January 28, 1880 [pp. 386, 387].
GAEDDERT: FIRST NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS 411
86. Lane Co. — Lane County Gazette, California, January 29, 1880 [pp. 387, 388].
87. Sheridan Co.— Sheridan County Tribune, Kenneth, June, 1880 [pp. 388, 389].
88. Cheyenne Co.— The Cheyenne News, Wano, October 2, 1880, and May, 1881 [pp. 389, 390].
89. Comanche Co.— The Western Star, Coldwater, August 23, 1884 [pp. 390, 391].
90. Clark Co.— Clark County Clipper, Clark City, September 25, 1884 [pp.391, 392].
91. Kiowa Co.— Greensburg Rustler, January 15, 1885 [pp. 392, 393].
92. Thomas Co.— Thomas County Cat, Colby, March 12, 1885 [pp. 393-395].
93. Scott Co.— The Western Times, Scott Center, May 27, 1885 [pp. 395, 396].
94. Hamilton Co.— The Syracuse Journal, June 12 (?), 1885 [pp. 396, 397].
95. Grant Co.— Grant County Renter, Ulysses, July 21, 1885 [pp. 397, 398].
96. Seward Co.— The Prairie Owl, Fargo Springs, August 27, 1885 [pp. 398, 399].
97. Logan Co.— Oakley Opinion, October 12, 1885 [pp. 399, 400].
98. Sherman Co.— The New Tecumseh, Gandy, November 9, 1885 [p. 401].
99. Wichita Co.— Wichita Standard, Leoti City, November 19, 1885 [pp. 401, 402].
100. Haskell Co.— The Ivanhoe Times, December 12, 1885 [p. 402].
101. Wallace Co.— Wallace County Register, Wallace, January 2, 1886 [pp. 403, 404].
102. Morton Co.— The Frisco Pioneer, January 6, 1886 [pp. 404, 405].
103. Stevens Co.— The Hugo Herald, February 13, 1886 [pp. 405, 406].
104. Stanton Co.— Veteran Sentinel, March 19, 1886 [p. 407].
105. Greeley Co.— Hector Echo, April 1, 1886 [pp. 407, 408].
412
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Bypaths of Kansas History
EMIGRANTS CROSSING KANSAS IN 1853
From the Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis, May 10, 1853.
The steamer Alton arrived from St. Joseph yesterday with a very light cargo. Her officers inform us that they were employed at that point three days in ferrying emigrants over the river. During which time they took over 7,563 head of cattle, 382 head of horses, and 212 wagons. The emigrants had nearly all started for the Plains on Friday last when the boats left St. Joseph. The Alton made a very quick run down — fifty-two hours was her running time from St. Joseph to this city.
A VALUABLE WALNUT TREE
From the Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, August 17, 1865.
We were shown some walnut boards of the very best quality we have ever seen, three feet wide. They came from a tree which measured eighteen feet in circumference. It was sawed at Zimmerman's mill on the railroad, ten miles east, and the lumber measured full five thousand feet. This lumber is cheap at fifty dollars per thousand, and at that rate the whole products of this tree would amount to two hundred and fifty dollars. That is the value of the lum- ber alone. How much cord-wood and veneering the balance of the tree will make has not been estimated. We call that a valuable tree.
STYLE NOTE FROM LINN COUNTY
From the Fort Scott Monitor, November 7, 1867.
Some fifty ladies in the vicinity of Trading Post, Linn county, have adopted short skirts, which fall about to the knee. Their nether extremities are en- cased in pants of the same material, many of them cut very like the unmen- tionables of the sterner sex, while some are gathered at the ankle in genuine turkish style.
IN 1870 THIS WAS NEWS!
From the Abilene Chronicle, November 10, 1870.
How SAMBO VOTED IN ABILENE. — There was but one darkey vote cast in Abilene, at the recent election, and the foolish "cuss" voted an unscratched democratic ticket. He did it under the plea that he had "promised Massa Kuney dis mornin' dat he vote de demycrat tick sure — and dat he mus' keep de promise." We admire the darkey's pluck in keeping his promise, but he's evidently "raw," and ought to see the inside of a school house for a term or two. This case demonstrates one fact pretty clearly, namely, that if a darkey votes a democratic ticket his vote counts as much as that of a white man vot- ing the same, or any other ticket! It's wonderful, but it's true.
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REAL LONG HORNS From the Ellsworth Reporter, December 21, 1871.
Last fall during the shipping season, three steers were found with horns of such enormous length that they could not get into a car, with a five-foot door, 'til after five inches was sawed off of each horn.
SURVEYING IN THE WILDS From the Seneca Weekly Courier, October 11, 1872.
Armstrong's surveying party, which left Centralia last summer, have finished their work, and are coming home. They had a good time. They saw lots of wild horses, some of which were very nice. A Leavenworth man offered $1,000 for one if it could be delivered there. The Indians gathered around them near the last, and gave them five "sleeps" to get through and leave, or off would come their scalps; and they showed them how it was done! But the sur- veyors succeeded in getting ten "sleeps," and by working late and early got done, and crossed the Arkansas river September 28. Part came home by rail, and some overland with teams.
CIRCUS TROUBLES
From the Junction City Union, August 16, 1873.
There was a big trouble at Hays the other day, caused by a locomotive trying to go into John Robinson's show without paying. The forward section of the train went too slow, and the second section too fast, the consequence was a collision, which waked up the largest and most varied collection of animals ever shown under fifteen tents, and gathered from all parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Billings county, to an unprecedented extent. Several cars were jammed up, and it looked at one time as if Robinson would have enough tiger steaks and monkey cutlets to last him all summer. The gorilla was heard to remark that he was mighty glad he had left off "showing," and gone to driving a team this season. Fortunately neither man nor beast was injured. The precise cause of the accident is not known. Some say one of the engineers had gazed too long at the "one-fifth of a mile" of serpents, but this is con- tradicted.
HOLDING COURT IN EARLY-DAY WICHITA From the Wichita City Eagle, April 6, 1876.
The first term of the district court began on the 13th day of June. It was held in the attic of a livery stable, nearly opposite the Empire House. Hon. W. R. Brown, of the 9th district, which included Sedgwick county, was the judge. The other officers present were W. N. Walker, sheriff, F. J. Fulton, county attorney, and C. S. Roe, deputy clerk. The attorneys of the Wichita bar present, besides Fulton, were Reuben Riggs, P. T. Weeks and H. C. Sluss. The attorneys from a distance present, were D. C. Hackett, Esq., of Emporia,
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 415
and W. P. Campbell, of El Dorado. The court room was provided with one chair which was occupied by his honor the judge. The table for the accom- modation of the lawyers consisted of two goods boxes set "end for end." The seats for the bar consisted of a two by six cottonwood scantling resting at each end on cracker boxes, and placed at a convenient distance from the table, and along which ranged the lawyers. Behind the boxes sat the judge in his solitary chair with his right heel resting gracefully over his left knee, his right elbow resting upon the arm of the chair, and his chin firmly planted in his right hand, and his left hand in his pants pocket. The seats for the by- standers consisted of the same material and pattern as that for the bar, and ranged around the wall. The trial docket consisted of a single sheet of fools- cap paper, and the bar docket and the journal of the same. The cases at issue were three: one a murder case, one a state case against . . . Alexander Jester, charged with an assault with intent to kill, and the other a divorce case. The divorce case was tried, witnesses examined and a decree for the plaintiff, which was the husband. It was developed on the trial that the de- fendant in her playful mood had kicked the plaintiff out of bed and com- pelled him to sleep on the floor, and as they lived in a dugout, this was ad- judged a sufficient "ground" to justify a divorce. The case of murder was taken, by change of venue, to Butler county. In the assault case the de- fendant interposed a motion to "squash" the information, which was done. It is a curious fact that no record of the proceedings of that court was made, and not even the scratch of a pen remains to tell the fact of the granting of that divorce.
Yoo, Hoo!
From the Garden City Paper, May 1, 1879.
The boys must be getting hard up for seeing girls when they will go two miles to an emigrant camp to see one, as some of the boys did here last Sunday.
PLAYING INDIAN
From the Dodge City Times, November 29, 1879.
The "Indian racket," once a favorite sport in Dodge City, was indulged in on Monday last. A party of three citizens leisurely took a ride over the hills in search of antelope, as it was stated to the young man who was to be made the victim of the joke. The antelope hunting party discussed the probability of Indian wars and redskins generally, and all at once ran across five persons dressed in Indian costumes and war paint, who gave the antelope hunters a chase for about two miles, until within a half a mile of town, the deception being uncovered by a proceeding most "fowl." A number of citizens had gathered on boot hill to witness the Indians drive in the antelope hunters, but the latter discovered the deception before they reached the city limits. This game has been played successfully many times before. The practice had been to give the "Indian racket" to a conceited or cheeky person, and subjecting him to this scare would take the "starch out of him." In his humiliation and feel- ings of disgrace the victim of the joke would take the first train out of Dodge. But the old practices in Dodge are fast fading away.
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A LAWYER'S COMPETITION From the Phillips County Herald, Phillipsburg, March 11, 1880.
Geo. W. Stinson was suddenly shut down on last week. He was arguing a point of law with much earnestness before Esq. McCormick when Mr. Lowe, the county clerk, rushed in in great haste, exclaiming : "Mack, your office is on fire." Stinson finished his sentence as he followed the court out at the door. Six years ago he says he was suddenly interrupted in his argument by a herd of buffalo rushing into town.
EXCITEMENT IN LOGAN From the Logan Enterprise, June 17, 1880.
On Monday a jack rabbit hailing from Iowa and going west to escape the drought, passed up Main street with all the dogs in town after him. He happened to pass by the place where city election was being held and in less than three shakes of a dead lamb's tail the judges and clerks of election and candidates for mayor had joined in the chase. It is needless to add that the jack made a better run than some of the candidates.
NEGROES IN GRAHAM COUNTY From the Seneca Weekly Courier, September 17, 1880.
A gentleman from out west named Gregory . . . tells some queer works by the negro colony in Graham county. There are 800 in the colony, and all are doing well. One negro has a cow with which he broke and improved twelve acres of prairie and cultivated eight acres of corn; his wife drives the cow and keeps the flies off. Another one spaded a four-foot hedge row around 160 acres of land.
A SHORT CROP From the Norton County People, Norton, September 23, 1880.
Peter Smoker, who resides one mile east of the Catholic church, near Almelo, has the right kind of grit for this country. His wheat being so short that it could not be cradled, he harvested three acres by cutting it with a butcher knife.
SOME SNOW! From The Buckner Independent, Jetmore, February 18, 1881.
One of Lillard Sanders' horses was drifted up against the roof of his stable, inside, on Monday last. The snow drifted in behind the animal and was packed down under its feet as fast as it came in, until the animal was jammed up against the roof. Lillard procured a shovel and worked faithfully until he rescued the horse.
BYPATHS OP KANSAS HISTORY 417
IT MUST HAVE BEEN BOOGIE-WOOGIE
From The Globe Live Stock Journal, Dodge City, February 23, 1886.
The buffalo that runs about town is accustomed to the music of the Cow- boy band ; it's Western in appearance and does not interfere with the peace and happiness of the buffalo, but there are some things that the buffalo won't stand, and among them is a strange lot of men blowing horns marching through the streets, headed by a drum major dressed in red trimmings and a woolly hat. Yesterday the buffalo observed the Simon Comedy Company's Hussar band parading the streets and took exceptions, and with head down and tail up charged that band. The music ceased with the first bellow of that wild animal, and the band done some excellent running. It was the worst broke up parade you ever saw. The buffalo took possession of the street, while the band roosted on fences, porches and small shanties.
SODA FOUNTAINS AND PEANUTS FIRST From the Ford County Republican, Dodge City, June 8, 1887.
The city council have shut off the soda fountains and peanut stands on Sunday, but the whisky joints go unmolested. There is a belief that this ac- tion was taken to relieve the police from watching the soda stands so they could give their exclusive attention to the joints. We can now look for some decisive action. The joints must go.
PIONEERING IN MORTON COUNTY From the Harper Sentinel, November 28, 1889.
November 15, 1889.
I am writing in my far western home, the one I love best. Let me describe it to you. It is what we call in Morton county a dug-out. Ours is dug four feet down, and has a frame part about five feet high on top of the ground. It is 12 x 20 inside, with a white-washed ceiling and a canvas partition. The door, a "shoot" as we call it out west, is in the east end. There is a whole window in the north side, a half window in the west, and a whole window and two half windows in the south. The last three are filled with house plants — they do splendidly in a dug-out. I have a canary bird to sing to me; a pet skunk, a dog and a cat. I was raised in the city; never saw a cow milked until I was past sixteen. It is hard work to come west to make a home. Few have the vim and back-bone to stay long enough to prove up their land under the homestead law. I don't want to brag, but we are going to try to be among the few. I'll tell you how we manage: There are four of us. My husband and two little boys (most too small to be of much use, but a great comfort) and myself comprise our family. This year everything was a failure in this county. Everybody left that could, but we have a few
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418 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cattle and enough corn stalks to keep them alive till grass cornea. I said "we must stick to the land, old boy, just as long as we can raise the rough- ness to winter on." Some mornings there would be fourteen wagons going east, but they are not all gone, for we are here yet. Last spring everything was fine; good prospects for plenty in the fall; but the hot winds came and the rain did not. Out of the eighty acres of spring crops we planted we got nothing but corn stalks, not an ear of corn or a kernel for the seed. We may be thankful for the stalks, as some did not. even get stalks. We are 47 miles from the railroad and the only way to get a living is to freight. It takes four days to go to the railroad and back with a load. My man has gone for a load now. While he is gone I take care of thirteen head of cattle, two pigs, one colt, and milk four cows, do my house work, make lace and crazy patch. This morning I sawed a new stove-pipe hole through the roof and put up a tin to run the pipe out through. The boys are at school. I sleep with a double-barreled shot-gun loaded in the closet and a revolver handy. I hear some one say, "Of course, she's afraid of those horrid cowboys." No, that is not what I'm afraid of; the cowboy is a gentleman; if you treat him as euch you will never have a better friend. It is the out-law that people fear "out west." The outlaw will dress much like the cowboy, and an inexperienced person will take him for one, but there is a vast difference. We are near the "Strip," or "No Man's Land," as it is called here. This "No Man's Land" is a place without government. Everyone does as he pleases, so of course it is the abode of criminals, who break out once in a while and make a raid through the country. Stealing mules was their last meanness. In this country a man's team is his living, and anyone stealing it takes the bread and butter out of his little children's mouths, making them as well as their parents suffer. We have a good span of mules and sometime I'm afraid they will come to steal them. If they should not find the mules they might try to carry us off. In that case, they would strike a Tartar, someone would get hurt. My nearest neighbor is one mile northeast. Our nearest town is Richfield. The people east are sending aid to Morton county, and it needs it bad. There are a great many people here that can't get away, and can't make a living here, for there is nothing to do. Fortunately we have not had to be helped yet, but I don't know how long we can keep up. It is hard work, hard work, I tell you, and little pay. We have already had a bitter touch of winter. It began by raining, and rained two weeks steady. Then the snow came and the wind with it, and for four days and nights kept snowing and blowing. We were literally snowed under. Through it all the stock had to be looked after and run under shelter. When they get out in a storm they drift with the wind, and get lost, often killed. Times are hard, but I am generous and when you come "out west" just stay awhile at our dug-out.
You shall have pancakes and meat grease for breakfast — maybe a little coffee. Light bread for dinner, and mush and milk for supper the year round, with occasionally a young jack-rabbit fried with some milk gravy. . . . P. E. T.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
The story of the Nelsons, a Swedish family which came to Linds- borg, McPherson county, in 1868, appeared in the McPherson Daily Republican, January 29, 1941. Mrs. T. J. Darrah, one of the Nel- son's seven children who made the trip from Sweden, furnished the material for the story.
"History of Kansas Wheat Development" was the title of an article on the introduction of hard Turkey wheat into Kansas by the Mennonites, printed in The Kansas Stockman, Topeka, April 1, 1941. The story was based on an article by Mary Jens in Food Facts.
A brief biographical sketch of Frank Fussman, now seventy-three years old, whose father settled on the present site of Humboldt in 1855, appeared in the Chanute Tribune, April 18, 1941. According to Mr. Fussman, the Newcomer, Schleicher, Sinner and Swanseker families were among the early settlers of Humboldt.
"Pioneer Days in Kansas" was the title of a column by Jessie Hill Rowland in the McPherson Daily Republican during May, 1941. Included in the sketches were the following: "Kansas" (in the days of Spanish exploration), May 6; "McPherson Settlers," May 7; "Buffalo Drank the Smoky River Dry," May 8; "Making a County Seat," May 9; "Pioneer Memories," as told by Mary Darrah, May 12, 13 ; "Some Incidents in the Life of a Pioneer Mother," by Edith Haight, May 23.
The following Kansas historical subjects were discussed by Victor Murdock in the Wichita (Evening) Eagle in recent months: "Word 'Cordelle' Is Gone But Steamboat Survives for Kansas on Its Seal," May 6, 1941; "Some Pioneer Wichitans Appeared to be Old Who Were Really Young," May 9; "Most Important Period for Future of Wichita Appeared Fifty Years Ago," May 12; "Construction of Cache Once a Familiar Device on the Prairie Frontier," May 13; "Old Book of Accounts Tells Story of Start of a University Here" (Garfield now Friends University), May 16; "Saw Mrs. Griffen- stein in Her Home in Oklahoma in Later Years of Her Life," May 20; "Double-Barreled Banquet on the Border of Kansas When It Was Next Mexico," May 24; "Early Land Investment in the Wichita Area Showed Rich Returns," June 2; "Start of Oil Era Here as Frank Rexford, Wichita, Has It Stored in Memory," June 3; "Way
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420 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
One Early Wichitan [Ola Martinson] Crowded Twenty Years of Activity Into His Life," June 10; "Life of Sally Toler Here and Contribution She Made to the Early Community," June 25; "To Pep Up Street Fair Wichita Found Feature in First Automobiles," June 27 ; "Introduced a Bullfight on 4th of July Program to Enter- tain Kansans" (review of Kirke Mechem's article in The Kansas Historical Quarterly of 1933 about Dodge City bull fight in 1884), June 6 ; "He Saw the Last Herd of Buffalo That Roamed Sedgwick County Prairies," June 30 ; "What Kansas Was Like and the Prices It Paid Eighty-Six Years Ago," July 10; "First Chinese in This Town, Yung Wing Was His Name, Shows Up as Capitalist," July 18; "Town For Vegetarians Which It Was Proposed to Locate Here in Kansas," July 23; "Power With Bow and Arrow Acquired by the Indians as Noted by the Pioneers," July 24; "Three Wichita Pic- tures Which Tell Vivid Story of the City's Ambition," July 25; "Pioneer Business Desk Used by Wm. Mathewson Is Preserved in Wichita," July 28; "When Father of Wichita Traveled the Plains With a Townsite in Mind," August 1 ; "Contrast in Tree-Growth in This Part of Kansas Between Early Day and This," August 11; "Early Experience Here of Recreational Parks Part of Local His- tory," August 15; "Kearny County Oil Strike Brings Up Notable Name Among Prairie Explorers" (Stephen Watts Kearny), August 19; "When Barnum Circus Came It Was Not Able to Show Jumbo in Full Action," August 22; "Store Called a Factory Among First on Frontier Was Run by Government," August 23 ; "Last Sight of Buffalo as Far East as Wellington Experience of H. L. Woods," August 30.
Articles on the schools, and group pictures of the children who at- tend district schools in McPherson county, were featured in the "28th Annual McPherson All-Schools Day" edition of the Mc- Pherson Daily Republican, May 10, 1941. "The Story of the Last Buffalo in County Revealed in Letter," by Mrs. C. M. Kindblade, several historical articles by Mrs. H. A. Rowland, and early pictures of the city of McPherson were also printed.
The great overland trails leading west across Kansas were dis- cussed by LeRoy T. Hand in the Leavenworth Times, May 11, 1941. Two maps illustrated the article.
The following articles appeared in the "Clark County Historical Notes" in recent issues of The Clark County Clipper, of Ashland: "Early Days in Kansas," a story of Lexington, by Lulu B. Stephens, May 15, 1941 ; "Boucher Family," by Lillie (Boucher) Owings, and
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 421
a poem 'The Fate of the Boucher Girls," written by Thos. O. Kirk in 1886, May 22; "History of Lexington Cemetery," May 29; "Mosquitoes Got Scalps in Last Indian Scare," by John R. Walden (from the Dodge City Daily Globe), May 29 and June 5; "Sixty Years of Clark County," by Dorothy Berryman Shrewder, June 5; an "Old Timer" story by Mrs. Leona Dougan, June 12; "Victim of an Indian Scare," by Mrs. Hattie Mayse, June 12 and 19. An index for volume one of Early Notes on Clark County was published in installments in the issues of June 12, 19, 26 and July 3.
During the summer of 1941 the Kansas City (Mo.) Star carried the following historical feature articles of interest to Kansans: "A Part of Kansas Has Been Under Flags of Five Different Countries," by Cecil Howes, May 17 ; " 'Admiral' Paul Jones Brings Coronado Back to Kansas," May 18; "A Distinguished Alumnus Returns to His College After Fifty Years" (James G. Harbord to Kansas State College commencement), by Milt Dean Hill, May 19; "Kansas Representative 20 Years, Phil Campbell Had the Glamour," June 6 ; "She Raised Her Boys To Be Soldiers— All Eleven of Them!" (Mrs. Margaret Penrod of Weir) , by Alvin McCoy, June 29 ; "U. S. Army Looks to Ft. Riley For Its Crack Cavalry Officers," July 10; "The Fullers of Leavenworth, A New Commandant Finds His Father's Name at Every Turn," by Henry Van Brunt, July 13; "Wheat Seed Brought From Ukraine Made Kansas Nation's Breadbasket," by Cecil Howes, August 1 ; "Eighty Years on the Same News Run of the Oldest Newspaper in Kansas" (the career of Frank H. Roberts), by Alvin S. McCoy, and "Ninety Years: A Vast Panorama Unfolds in One Man's Life," by Frank H. Roberts, August 17.
The dedication of "Buffalo Bill" park and monument in Leaven- worth May 25, 1941, climaxed the Leavenworth "Pioneer Days Festival." For more than one hundred years the tract of land at the top of Cody hill near the old Oregon and Salt Lake trail, which is now Cody Memorial Park, has looked down upon historic ground. An article entitled "Cody Hill and Salt Creek Valley Have 100- Year History," by LeRoy T. Hand in the Leavenworth Times, May 25, described some events which occurred near this site in the early days.
Several articles of Kansas historical interest appeared in recent months in the Kansas City (Mo.) Times: "University of Kansas for 75 Years Grew on Adversity and Uncertainty," by Theodore M. O'Leary, May 29, 1941; "The Oak, Lion Among Plants, Marks Notable Spots From Coast to Coast," by Margaret Whittemore,
422 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
June 5; ''Outstanding K. U. Feature Restored by the Reopening of Dyche Museum," by Theodore M. O'Leary, June 6 ; "Kansas Staged a Real Bull Fight at Dodge Fifty-seven Years Ago" (condensed from article by Kirke Mechem in The Kansas Historical Quarterly) , June 10; "Tragic Episode of Ouster's Command Recalled by Young Officer's Letter," by Elmo Scott Watson, July 16; "Two Decades in the Gazette Office With Emporia's William Allen White," by Lois Jacquith, July 25; "An Ambitious Kansas Experiment Recalled by Relics of Silkville," by Margaret Whittemore, August 21.
Flags of five countries were on display in Dodge City during the summer of 1941, as a feature of the Coronado Cuarto-Centennial celebration. An article in the Dodge City Daily Globe, June 2, ex- plained the significance of the flags under which a part of south- western Kansas has existed in the past four hundred years.
A story, "Civil War Vet Makes 66th Annual Trip to Grave," was printed in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, June 8, 1941. It concerned the annual pilgrimage of A. J. Ralston to the grave of his friend Louis C. Hart who came to Kansas with him from Illinois in 1867. The two were early settlers in Butler county and today Ralston is the only G. A. R. survivor in the county.
In celebration of "70 Years of Progress" the Chanute Tribune issued a thirty-six page anniversary edition, June 24, 1941. How the merger of New Chicago, Tioga and Alliance made possible the town of Chanute is told. Included also are articles of historical in- terest concerning schools, churches, newspapers, railroads, public utilities, aviation, farm bureau, oil industry, and defunct industries of Chanute and Neosho county. Members of the Tribune staff and others who contributed to the anniversary edition include: E. W. Johnson, John W. Berkebile, Dorothy P. Heilman, Vincent Lane, Fletcher McClary, H. G. Curl, Ross Cooper, Charles F. Jones, Lester Shepard, and Kathryn Nelson.
The story concerning the Dutch windmill which formerly stood on West Ninth street in Lawrence, as told by Mrs. C. F. Greenwood of Columbus, Wis., appeared in the Lawrence Daily Journal-World, June 28, 1941. The mill was built in 1854 by Andrew Palm, father of Mrs. Greenwood, and John Wilder and was a flourishing business institution for more than thirty years. In addition to the mill (operated by wind power — the eighty-foot wheel, bearing great canvas sails, making thirteen revolutions a minute), Palm and Wilder established the Wind Mill Agricultural Company where plows and other farm implements and utensils widely used through- out Kansas were manufactured.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 423
A special "Cuarto Centennial Entrada" supplement was issued by the Salina Journal, June 30, 1941. A number of articles on Coro- nado's journey into the Southwest 400 years ago by Maude Davis, Jessie Kennedy Snell, Kirke Mechem, and members of the Journal staff make up the forty-page edition.
The Advocate-Democrat, Marysville, under the title "Early Days in Marshall County," printed the field notes of Augustus Ford Harvey, government surveyor, in the issues of July 3, 10, 17 and August 7, 1941. In 1858 Harvey surveyed the territory now known as Washington and Republic counties.
"Pioneer Incidents," a series of reminiscences b\ R. B. Williams, were published in the Oswego Independent, July 18, August 8 and 22, 1941. Mr. Williams came to Kansas from Tennessee in 1873 and recalled many incidents of his childhood in Kentucky and Tennessee and of pioneer days in Kansas.
"Vivid Memories of Indian Scare Near Dodge Remain For Kan- san," a story of Burt Brown's experiences as a boy in the late 1870's and early 1880's, was a feature of the Wichita Sunday Eagle, July 20, 1941.
A historical sketch of the Lakin Methodist Church, by Mrs. Luella Stutzman, appeared in the Lakin Independent, July 25, 1941. The Rev. William V. Burns preached his first sermon there in April, 1886, and in June of that year the church was organized.
Both the Wichita Sunday Beacon and the Wichita Sunday Eagle issued special anniversary editions July 27, 1941. The Eagle com- memorated the sixty-ninth year of publication of the paper, and the Beacon the thirteenth anniversary under its present ownership. These special editions included information concerning the indus- trial development of southern Kansas in general and of Wichita in particular.
On July 31, 1941, the Tonganoxie Mirror recalled the days when the negro population of that vicinity celebrated Emancipation day, August 1, with picnicking and dancing. Pres. Abraham Lincoln is- sued the proclamation January 1, 1863, and the negroes in the South usually celebrated that day, but Kansas negroes for many years commemorated emancipation in midsummer.
An article by Edward Bumgardner on the Free-State men of Kan- sas who faced charges of treason in the territorial conflict was printed in the Lawrence Daily Journal-World, August 6, 1941. The
424 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
story was illustrated with a picture from a daguerreotype of seven of the men who were held in a prison camp twelve miles west of Lawrence.
The Cherokee county-seat fight was reviewed in the Columbus Daily Advocate, August 8, 1941. A special election in 1867, called to settle the question of permanent location of the county seat by popular vote, was the beginning of a controversy between Columbus, then known as Cherokee Center, and Baxter Springs which continued for several years.
A series of articles entitled "School Days in Old Wichita Vividly Portrayed," by Royse Aldrich, were published in The Democrat. Wichita, August 9 to September 6, 1941. Mr. Aldrich discussed the old Lincoln school, built in 1885 and recently replaced by a new building, and the Harry Street school.
The sixty-fifth anniversary edition of the Great Bend Tribune, August 12, 1941, featured brief sketches of Barton county residents who came in the 1870's. This forty-page issue also contained sev- eral articles on the history of Great Bend and Barton county, a list of twenty-four daily Kansas newspapers fifty-four years old or older, and a table entitled "Moisture in Great Bend Since 1875."
A "Pioneer and Progress Edition" of the Sedan Times-Star was issued August 14, 1941. Much history of Sedan's churches, schools, clubs and business organizations was chronicled in this eighty-page edition, as well as sketches of institutions and historical events in Elgin, Cedar Vale, Peru, Hewins, Chautauqua, Wauneta, Jonesburg and Niotaze. An interesting account of the county-seat fight be- tween Elk Falls and Boston was also published. The Sedan Times- Star traces its lineage back to the Chautauqua Journal founded in 1873, according to the article on Sedan's newspapers by Charles A. Dunn, publisher of the Times-Star from 1918 to 1938.
The story of Mission Neosho was reviewed in the St. Paul Journal, August 14, 1941. An article on the mission by T. F. Morrison, printed in the August, 1935, Kansas Historical Quarterly, was quoted in part.
Commemorating the seventieth year of the organization of Os- borne county, the Osborne County Farmer, of Osborne, issued a special sixteen-page anniversary edition August 14, 1941. Several pages were devoted to articles about the pioneer settlers of the county.
"Tecumseh Once a Boom Town," by Fred Bergmann, appeared in the Topeka Daily Capital, August 17, 1941. Mr. Bergmann
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 425
secured information for the story from a study of the Tecumseh newspapers of 1858.
"A Short History of Pottawatomie County," was featured in the Onaga Herald, August 21, 1941. Subheadings include "Water- Power Mills/' "Brewery in Pottawatomie County," "Ghost Rail- roads," "Indian Guide Post," and "Laclede."
The capture of a buffalo in Ross township, Osborne county, in the spring of 1874, was recalled by Mrs. Louise Cox-Evans in an article entitled "The Rounding Up of the Last Buffalo," in the Downs News, August 21, 1941. The story had previously been read by Mrs. Cox-Evans at the Downs picnic in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 27.
H. P. Tripp discussed the building of a bridge across Wolf creek at Grand Center in his "Memories of Early Days" column in the Luray Herald, August 21, 1941.
A historical sketch of the Friends Meeting House in Lawrence by Edward Bumgardner appeared in the Lawrence Daily Journal- World, August 23, 1941. The meeting house, built in 1872, has been razed and a new modern church is being constructed to take its place. The Kansas yearly meetings were held in this building con- tinuously for nearly a quarter of a century; in recent years, however, most of the meetings have been at Wichita. The yearly meetings drew hundreds of people from the Quaker communities in Kansas, as well as prominent individuals from other parts of the United States and from abroad.
Eighty-one years of the Santa Fe railroad were briefly reviewed in special feature sections of the Topeka Daily Capital, August 24, 1941, and the Topeka State Journal, August 25. The eighteen presi- dents of the railroad, from Cyrus K. Holliday to Edward J. Engel, were pictured in the Capital.
The sixtieth anniversary of the organization of St. John's Lutheran Church, south of Lincoln, was announced in the Lincoln Sentinel- Republican, August 28, 1941. Printed in the issue were an account of the anniversary services held August 24, and a brief history of the church and the names of its pastors.
A twenty-page special edition of the Wellington Daily News, September 1, 1941, marked the fortieth anniversary of the paper, first issued on Labor Day, 1901. The paper was founded by H. L. Woods and W. R. Stotler. Woods has remained editor of the News throughout this period and Stotler is now a member of the reportorial
426 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
staff of the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Review. Articles of historical interest include stories of the old opera house, the railroads, and Wellington before the debut of the Daily News, as well as "Items From the First Year's Edition of the Wellington Daily News/' and a list of the mayors of Wellington.
The discovery of oil in El Dorado and the organization and de- velopment of the El Dorado Refining Company were briefly de- scribed in an article in the El Dorado Times, September 3, 1941.
"Government Housing Began Back in 1859 For Benefit of the Kaw Indians," an article by Theda Felton related in the Topeka Daily Capital, September 7, 1941. Some of the houses built for the Indians near Council Grove still stand.
Souvenir editions of the Marion Review and Record were pub- lished as a part of the Coronado and old settlers' celebration held jn Marion, September 10, 11, 1941. A special edition of the Review, dated September 10 and 11, contained the following articles of historical interest : "Jack Costello, First Mayor of Marion Centre," and "Ehrlich's Old Mill Model For Painting," by Lucy Burkholder; "Memories of Old Chingawassa Railroad and Resort," by Al Nien- stedt; a portion of the historical address delivered by Judge John M. Williams July 4, 1876, and some reminiscences of Mrs. Frank Doster, ninety-four years old, who came to Marion Centre to join her husband in 1871. Mrs. Doster's story was continued in the regular September 10 issue of the Review which also carried a de- scription of the first Sunday school in Marion county, August 8, 1868, by Alex E. Case. The Marion Record of September 11, featured the following articles: "Presbyterian Church [in Marion] Seventy Years Old"; "The Boom Days of the 80's in the News Stories of Those Days"; "Some Miscellaneous 'First' Items Regard- ing Marion County History," and "The First Newspaper in County and How It Got Its Start."
A paper on "Old Indian Trails and Military Roads," given by Albert Stroud of Lafontaine at the Wilson County Historical Society meeting in Fredonia on September 6, 1941, was published September 12 in the Fredonia Daily Herald. At the same meeting Mrs. Edith S. Caughron of Neodesha gave a history of Little Bear, an Osage Indian chief well known to early settlers of Wilson county. Mrs. Eva Keys Stephens of Coyville gave additional information about Little Bear. A list of the charter members of the society was printed in the Neodesha Register, September 11.
Kansas Historical Notes
The annual convention of the American Pioneer Trails Associa- tion and the Oregon Trail Memorial Association opened in historic Marysville, August 11, 1941. Members of the group spent two days visiting places of historical interest in northeast Kansas. Oregon trail markers were dedicated near Bremen and near Bigelow. On August 12 the party was shown the collections of the Kansas State Historical Society at Topeka. Among the guests calling at the So- ciety were : Dr. Howard R. Driggs, president of the National Oregon Trail Association, Maj. Arthur W. Procter, secretary of the associa- tion, Martin S. Garretson, secretary of the American Bison Society, Lester C. Jennings, H. Wayne Driggs, and Florence W. Carroll, all of New York City; Madeline Schoenhof, Helen Young and Helen Voss, Harrison, N. Y. ; Dorothy Denz, East Norwalk, Conn. ; Walter Meacham, Portland, Ore.; Mrs. Clyde Porter, Jean Porter and Louisa P. Johnston, Kansas City, Mo. ; W. R. Honnell, Kansas City, Kan.; John G. Ellenbecker, Irene Ellenbecker and Joseph Ellen- becker, Marysville; William E. Smith, Wamego; Otto J. Wull- schleger and Mrs. Lawrence Griffee, Frankfort, and Fred A. Prell, Bremen. On August 13 the party began a commemorative trek over the Overland Stage route from Marysville through Nebraska to Denver, Colo., where the convention's business meetings were held. Stops were made at Hastings, old Fort Kearny, Gothenberg, and North Platte, Neb. ; Julesburg, Sterling and Latham, Colo. John G. Ellenbecker, of Marysville, arranged the Kansas tour for the asso- ciation. George A. Root, who has been a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society for over fifty years, accompanied the caravan. Mr. Root's father, the late Frank A. Root, became an express messenger on the Overland Stage Line between Atchison and Denver in January, 1863. From December, 1863, to October, 1864, he served as mail agent at Latham.
The early history of the Baptist church in Kansas was briefly re- viewed in the "Program of Dedication" issued for the opening of the new chapel of the Missionhill Baptist Church at Mission, Johnson county, on January 5, 1941. The present-day church is not far from the site of the first Baptist mission in present Kansas, established for the Shawnee Indians in the early 1830's.
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428 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A plaque dedicated to Helen Miller Gould, "The Angel of the Spanish-American War," was presented to the Kansas State His- torical Society by the United Spanish War Veterans, Department of Kansas, and the Ladies of the Auxiliary, at their annual meeting in Emporia, May 19, 1941. Phil Zimmerman, of Topeka, made the presentation speech, and William Allen White, of Emporia, accepted for the Society. The plaque has been placed in the Memorial build- ing, Topeka, near the entrance to the state headquarters of the United Spanish War Veterans.
Fifteen charter members were enrolled in an organization formed at Kansas City, July 14, 1941, to promote a national park on State Line between Eighty-first and Eighty-fifth streets, at the old home of Alexander W. Majors. The organization, sponsored by the Ameri- can Pioneer Trails Association, will be known as the Russell, Majors and Waddell Memorial Association. Officers are: Mrs. Clyde Porter, 821 W. Fifty-sixth street, president; W. R. Honnell, vice-president for Kansas; N. D. Jackson, vice-president for Missouri; Mrs. J. W. Quarrier, recording secretary; Louisa P. Johnston, great grand- daughter of Majors, corresponding secretary, and Alexander W. Graham, treasurer.
A Coronado pageant, sponsored by the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society, was presented at the stadium of the Shawnee- Mission High School in Johnson county, July 17, 1941. The pageant, in which 100 persons participated, was a feature of the Northeast Johnson County Summer Musical Festival. Included among the members of the historical society who served on the pageant com- mittee were: Mrs. C. A. Brooks, chairman, Mrs. A. V. Fuller, Mrs. G. A. Stobaugh, Mrs. O. W. Shepard, and Mrs. Ross B. Smith.
A memorial stone in Swensson park, Lindsborg, marking the place of organization of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Lutheran Augustana Synod in June, 1892, was dedicated August 13, 1941. The stone, bearing a bronze plaque, was erected last January on the site of the old parsonage of the Bethany church in which the society was organized. Mrs. Daniel Martin, national president of the or- ganization, was in charge of the short dedicatory service in the park, following a program at the Bethany church.
The Clark County Historical Society met August 16, 1941, at Ashland. W. H. Shattuck was elected president of the society to succeed Lois McCasland Martin. Other officers are: Ruth Clark
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 429
Mull, first vice-president; Lois McCasland Martin and William R. Nunemacher, honorary vice-presidents; Melville Campbell Harper, recording secretary; Villa Harvey Ihde, assistant recording secre- tary ; Lena Smith, corresponding secretary ; Sidney E. Grimes, treas- urer; Sherman G. Ihde, auditor; Mrs. Barth Gabbert, curator; Dor- othy Berryman Shrewder, historian.
Frank H. Roberts, ninety-year-old editor of the Oskaloosa Inde- pendent, was honored by the Topeka Press Club with a buffet luncheon at the Jayhawk Hotel August 26, 1941. Following the luncheon Mr. Roberts spoke on "Major J. K. Hudson, the Fighting Editor, Noblest Roman of Them All." J. W. Roberts, father of Frank, founded the Oskaloosa Independent in July, 1860, and for more than eighty-one years the family has continued to publish the paper.
Members of the Douglas County Old Settlers Association met at the First Methodist Church in Lawrence September 15, 1941. Dr. A. R. (Bert) Kennedy was elected president to succeed Mrs. Nellie Colman Bigsby who was named treasurer. Other officers are: Mrs. May Hoyt Seetin, vice-president; Elmer Brown, secretary; Dr. Ed- ward J. Bumgardner, necrologist. Dr. James C. Malin spoke on "The History of Agriculture in Douglas County." Doctor Bum- gardner gave the necrologist's report, the Rev. L. H. Griffith told of early days in the Lone Star neighborhood, and Sen. Robert C. Rankin discussed the raising of funds for a museum building.
Errata in Volume X
Page 4, line 12 from bottom, and page 6, line 19 from top, read "Lucian J. Eastin."
Page 10, line 12 from top, read "October, 1889, when he died and Philip Krohn became managing editor."
Page 24, line 18 from top, read "Miss Beck."
Page 27, line 15 from top, read "now Denver county, Colorado."
Page 39, line 5 from top, read "Bellevue."
Page 51, line 1, read "Lowrey."
Page 83, line 20 from top, read "Joseph L. Bristow."
Page 135, Footnote 33, bottom line, read "The Society has the Pittsburg Daily Headlight from July 5, 1887, to September 8, 1888; May 21, 1891, to March, 1909; May 14, 1928, to date."
Page 222, line 13 from top, read "Mr. W. H. Edmundson."
Page 223, line 10 from bottom, read "Miss Louisa P. Johnston."
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Index to Volume X
Abbott, Bernice
Abilene 101, 231, 239, 250, 254,
— beef trails to
— cattle town
— cattle yards built by J. G. McCoy at,
— First Presbyterian Church
— flour mill at
— historical marker for "Abilene, End of the Chisholm Trail," near
— Russell county paper published in. ...
Abilene Chronicle . . 138, 177, 214, 299,
Abilene, Early Days in
"Abilene, End of Chisholm Trail," text of historical marker entitled
Actual Settlers' Association, a Free -State group
Adams,
Adams, Amos G
Adams, Franklin G., part owner Squatter Sovereign
— secretary Historical Society
Aeronautics, Wichita
Agriculture, Kansas, early 229-
— methods of 242-
Ague, in Kansas territory
Aguinaldo, captured by Frederick Funs- ton
Air Mail Collector, Holton
Aitchison, R. T., Wichita
Akers, John
"Albany, The," first locomotive in Kan- sas
Albaugh, J. B., wagon and carriage shop
181 366 224 362 362 175 239
362 299 413 177
362
of
121 12
10 15 106 •259 -245 119
367 175 100 109
354 142
Aldrich, Royse 424
Alert, Camp 356
Alexander, Colin C 152
Alexander, James 289, 297
Alexis, Grand Duke, of Russia 327
Allen, Mrs. Chestina B 60, 74
— journal of, quoted 46
Allen, Gov. Henry J 336
Allen, Herman 110
Allen, Lyman, member Emporia Town
Company 15
Allen, Norman, of Lawrence Republican, 70
Allen, Paul 175
Allen, Richard, Topeka 221
Allen, William Cicero 186
Allen county, first newspaper in 32
— Fourth of July, 1856, in 61
— historical marker for "Boyhood Home
of General Funston" in 367
Alliance 422
Alma Enterprise 74, 215
Alma Signal, quoted 30
Altemus, Mrs. Oscar 110
Alton, steamboat 413
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester,
Mass 186
American Association for State and Local
History, note on organization of 333
American Bison Society 427
American Clan Gregor Society 186
American culture, future of 154
American Historical Association Ill
American Historical Society 186
American Hotel, Kickapoo, military ball
at 62
American Imprints Inventory, Kansas sec- tion, work of 84
American Legion 222
American Library Association, Historical Society cooperating with, in revision of
Union List of Serials 80
American Nonconformist, Winfield, mi- crofilm files in Historical Society 82
American Pioneer Trails Association 427
— of Kansas, organized at Marysville. . . 220
American Revolution 31
Americus Sentinel, M. M. Murdock pur- chased equipment of 31
Anadarko, Okla., Chisholm trail blazed
to vicinity of, by Jesse Chisholm 222
Anderson, Mrs. Bernice (Goudy) 175
Anderson, Joseph 186
Anderson, Capt. Samuel 61
Anderson, Sarah Travers Lewis (Scott), 186
Anderson, William Pope 186
Anderson county 61
— first newspaper in 124
—Fourth of July, 1856, in 61
1857 71
— historical articles on, mentioned 331
Anderson Family Records 61
Andreas, A. T., History of the State of
Kansas 4
Andrew, John A., Boston 51
Andrews, Rev. Mr. 71
Annals of Shawnee Mission and the In- dian Manual Labor School S6
Anshutz, M. W 107
Ansley family 188
Antelope 103
"Antelope at Kinsley" 210
Anthony, Daniel R 40, 150, 322
— prosecuted for libelous articles about
S. D. Lecompte 95
Anthony, Susan B 106
Anthony Journal, first newspaper in Har- per county 320, 321
Apperson, George H., editor Ivanhoe
Times 402
Arapahoe, K. T 27
Arapahoe Indians. See Indians, Arapahoe.
Arcadia HO, 213
Archaeological site, Republic county 344
— near Salina, description of 341
— Rice county 342
— Scott county 343
Archer, Glenn 221
Archer, W. E 339
Archives, Federal, in the states, inven- tories of 179
Arkansas City 101
— historical marker for "Cherokee Outlet"
near 367
Arkansas City Traveler 143
— Santa Fe edition issued by 213
Arkansas river. .. 71, 184, 203, 347, 360, 414 — Auguste P. Chouteau's hunting party
attacked near, 1816 344
—dry in 1879 104
— high water in 72
— once a boundary between Mexico and
the United States 344
— valley, description of 305
Arkansas Valley, Great B«nd 305, 306
Arkansas Valley Democrat, Newton 300
Arkansas Valley Echo, Great Bend 305
Arlington, Osborne County Express pub- lished in 302
Armour, , Hamihxpn county 397
Armour, Lester &, publishers of Syracuse
Journal 396
"Arms for Kansas" 203
(431)
432
GENERAL INDEX
Arnold, Charles, reporter on lola Regis- ter : 212
Arnold, Oren 175
Arvin, Newton 154
Ashbaugh, H. C 301
Ashland 99, 101, 428
— Clark County Clipper moved to 3'
— Methodist church 107
Ashland Clipper 392
Ashland Record 392
Atchison, Sen. David R 53
— and friends chose site of Atchison July
4, 1854 38
• — Atchison named for 851
Atchison 102, 220, 427
— founded by Proslavery men 351
— Fourth of July, 1855, in 48
1856 351
• — historical marker for Atchison at 351
— Lewis and Clark camped near, in 1804, 351 — named for Sen. David R. Atchison... 351 — outfitting point in 1850's and 1860's. . 351 — Proslavery activities at, July 4, 1856. . 54 — site for, chosen on July 4, 1854, by
Sen. David R. Atchison and others... 38 —starting point, for Overland Stage Line, 351
— Pony Express 351
"Atchison," text of historical marker en- titled 351
Atchison Champion 385
—John A. Martin, editor
— Philip Krohn, managing editor 10, 430
Atchison county 220
— first newspaper in 9
— historical marker for Atchison in 351
Atchison Globe 216
— annual farm edition of 214
Atchison Planning Board 216
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad.. 83 353, 3C5, 366, 403
— history featured in newspapers 425
— organized at Atchison, 1860 351
— Wichita gave bulk of cattle shipments
to, note on 106
Atchison Town Company, aided founding
of Squatter Sovereign 10
Atkinson, Pearl 380
Atlanta, Rice County Herald first news- paper in Rice county 309, 310
Atlas, Boston 51, 53, 54
Attica 106
Attwood Pioneer, first newspaper in Raw-
lins county 385, 386
Atwood, formerly spelled Attwood 386
—Republican Citizen 389, 390
— Wano's Cheyenne News, printed in, 389, 390
Augusta, C. N. James a founder of 214
— named for Mrs. Augusta James 214
— restoration of first log building in 111
Augusta Daily Gazette 214
Augusta Historical Society, officers of... 110
Auraria, K. T 27
Austin, Edwin A., Topeka 99, 101
Austin, Helen Proeger 110
Austin, Whitley, of Hutchinson News- Herald staff 217
Austin, William, of Centropolis Kansas
Leader 70
Austin & Beardsley, founders of Kansas
Leader, Centropolis 17
Automobiles, in Wichita street fair, note
on 420
Awbrey, Stuart, of Hutchinson News- Herald staff .. 217
Babb, Edmund, co-founder of Quindaro
Chindowan 15
Baby, unusual accident to 137
"Baby-waker," 24-pound field piece 75
Bailey, Lawrence D., associate justice... 97
—succeeded by D. M. Valentine 98
Bailey, Roy, Salina 85, 108, 339, 340
Baileyville 83
Bairn, Amos "Bonaparte" 322, 323
Bair, John 260, 265-271
273, 274, 280, 286, 294
Baird, Mrs. Jim (Bessie) 212
Baker, G. D 136
Baker, George, early settler in
Pratt county 215
Baker, Harmer and 310
Baker, Nat L 316
Baker, W. J., Yellow Springs, Ohio 215
Balch, Steve 106
Baldinger, Wallace S 184
Baldwin, Thomas Williams 186
Baldwin 101
— historical marker for "Battle of Black
Jack" near 354
Ball, Mrs. Isabel Worrell, statement of,
quoted 310
Band, Burlington, 1857 73
— Topeka, at Lawrence Fourth of July
celebration, 1855 42
Bandel, Eugene, diary of 72
Banking, Bourbon county 83
Banquet, on Kansas border, note on.... 419 Baptist church, German, North and
South 221
— Kansas, history of, note on 427
Barbee, Gen. William 61
Barber, Everett G., Salina, donor 83
Barber, Thomas W 78
Barber county 2:
— first newspaper in 317, 318
— gypsum mine, note on 106
— historical marker for "Medicine Lodge
Peace Treaties" in 363
Barber County Index, Medicine
Lodge 318, 390
Barbour County Mail, Medicine
Lodge 317, 818
Bare, Ida 107
Barker, Mrs. George J 109
Barker, P 309
Barker, Mr. and Mrs. R. L., Kansas
City, donors 82
Barker & Eddy, founders Johnson
County Standard 25
Barlow, George 186
Barlow, Jonathan, of Delaware county,
N. Y 186
Barnard Bee 217
Barnd, J. K 382
Barnes, Mrs. Lela, treasurer Historical
Society 88, 90, 100
Barnett, S. D 293
Barnhart, F. H 309
Barr, Elizabeth N., author of Business
Directory and History of Jackson
County 24
Barr, William V. B., of Iowa Point 297
Barren, James, of Colorado Springs 308
Barren, Sandy 308
Barrows, Miss Bess HI
Barrows, John R 184
Bartholomew, Elam, papers and diaries
cf , given Historical Society 87
Bartholomew, Harland, city planner 218
Bartlett, Joseph, of Newton, Mass li
Barton, Dr. John T 2<
Barton county 220
— first newspaper in o(
— historical marker, for Fort Zarah in ... 359
for Pawnee Rock in 346
— history, note on 424
Barton County Progress, Great Bend .... 306 Basye, A. J., Belleville Telescope pur- chased by 145
"Battle of Black Jack," text of historical
marker entitled 354
"Battle of Hickory Point," text of his- torical marker entitled 855
GENERAL INDEX
433
"Battle of Mine Creek," text of historical
marker entitled 358
Baugher, Charles A., Ellis 100
Bax, Father John 349
Baxter Springs 83, 424
—Civil War battle sites in 358
— established in 1866 358
— historical marker for Baxter Springs
massacre at 358
— Maj. H. Zarah Curtis killed in massa- cre at 359
— once a trading center for Texas cattle, 358 Baxter Springs Herald, first newspaper in
Cherokee county 126
"Baxter Springs Massacre," text of his- torical marker entitled 358
Beal, J. B., founder of Grainfield 387
Bear, Marion 263
Beard, Ezra E 222
Beardslee, Mrs. Etta (Aldrich) 175
Beardsley, Austin &, founders of Kansas
Leader, Centropolis 17
Beason, Mrs. Mildred Cass, Gove 80
105, 212, 218
Beatty, Jerome 175
Beaumont, Thomas, co -publisher of
Western Star, Hill City 382, 383
Bechdolt, Frederick Ritchie 184
Beck, Martha M., of Holton Recorder.. 24
Becker, Rev. W. J 221
Beecher, Henry Ward 35
Beecher Bible and Rifle Company. . . 30, 215
Beef, price of, 1860 122
Beeks, Charles E., Baldwin 101
Beeson, Harmon V 260, 265, 274, 290
Beeson, Mrs. Harmon V 290
Beeson, Phoebe 274
Beeson family 265, 274, 278
285, 287, 290
Beezley, George F., Girard 101, 110
"Beginnings of Winter Wheat Production in the Upper Kansas and Lower Smoky Hill Valleys," article by James C.
Malin 227-259
Beine, Robert F., WPA supervisor 84
Bell, James, Dickinson county 249, 259
Bell, Jim, reporter on Topeka Capital... 216
Belleville, originally spelled Bellville 145
Belleville Telescope 146
— absorbs Belleville Advertiser 110
— first newspaper in Republic county. . . . 145 — twelve Republic county papers consoli- dated with 110
Bellevue, Nebr., celebration, July 4, 1854, 39
Beloit 101, 303
— Mitchell County Mirror 147
Beloit Gazette 303, 307
— quoted 147
Bennett, , of Garden City Irrigator, 391
Bennett, A., owner Grant County
Register 397
— publisher Pearlette Call 380
Benson, Justice A. L 166
Benson. Mrs. Charles H., Topeka 221
Bent, Charles 186
Bent, William 360
Bentley, E. C 182
Bentley, Nicolas 182
Berea, Ky 68
Bersmann, Fred 424
Berkebile, John W 422
Berkshire, Anson 269, 280, 281, 284
Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland 99, 101
Bertram, George W., co-founder Wa-
baunsee County Herald 30
Bethanv College, Lindsborg 80
Betz, Bert Read 175
Betz-Diehl Reunion. Souvenir of the.... 175
Bickerton, Capt. Thomas 375, 379
Bieber, Ralph P., editor 72, 181
Big Blue river 350
Big creek, EHis county 330
28—1043
Big Mouth, Arapahoe chief 360
Bigelow, Walter J 186
Bigler, Sen. William, quoted 51
Bigsby, Mrs. Nellie Colman 429
Bill of fare. See Menu.
Billard, Phil, airplane of, in Historical
Society 87
Billings, Levi 144
Billings, W. H 144
Billingsley family 188
Bird City News 390
Bisbee, W. H., one of publishers of Hays
City Railway Advance 127
Bishop, , 286
Bismarck Grove, Lawrence.... 150, 152, 154 Bison, Methodist church, note on fiftieth
anniversary of 107
Bissell, W. E., co-publisher New
Tecumseh 401
Bixby family 188
Black, Horace G., Topeka, donor 83
"Black Jack, Battle of," text of histori- cal marker entitled 354
Black Kettle, Cheyenne chief 360, 363
Blackmar, Frank Wilson 133, 176
Blacksmith, Cheyenne Indian 211
Blair, Ed 176
Blakeman 83
Blanchard, F. C 313
Blanchard, Mrs. W. F 313
Bledsoe, Anthony Jennings 184
Blickenstaff, Mrs. J. F., note on pioneer
reminiscences of 218
Blizzard, of 1886 403
Blood, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard 106
Bloomington, K. T 60
Blue Lodges 287, 373
Blue Mound, Douglas county, partici- pated in Fourth of July celebration at
Lawrence, 1855 42
Blue Rapids, Presbyterian church, his- tory of, mentioned 332
Blue Rapids Times 218, 332
Blue river. See Big Blue river.
Bluemont College, Manhattan 81
Bluestem, on Manhattan townsite, taller
than man on pony 47
Blunt, Gen. James G 358
Boarding, Topeka, 1857, price of 118
Boast, Roy 109
Bodisco, , consul general of Russia
to the United States 327
Boertman, C. S 223
Bogus legislature. See Kansas legislature, 1855.
Bolton, , co-publisher Greensburg
Rustler 393
Bonaparte, Napoleon 65
Bond, Joseph, co-publisher and editor
Humboldt Herald 32, 33
Bonebrake, Fred B., Topeka 101
Bonfield, Jean 221
Bononcini, Rev. Father, former teacher in
seminary at Topeka 213
Boot Hill. See Hays City and Dodge
City. Booth, John, bequest fund to Historical
Society 39
Border Ruffians 55
Border troubles, 1856, letters by John
Lawrie on 369-379
Boring, J. A 302
Boston 424
— Howard County Messenger, first news- paper in Chautauqua county 811
Boston (Mass.) Daily Commonwealth, 35- 37
Bostonian Society 186
Botsford, Eli Herbert 186
Botsford, Elnathan 186
Botsford, Henry 186
Botsford, Joseph 186
Botsford Family Genealogy 186
434
GENERAL INDEX
Bottomly, Vol., Smith county 308
Boucher, Euphrates 404
Boucher, John N 186
Boucher family, note on 420
"Boucher Girls, The Fate of the," poem,
note on 421
Bourassa, Joseph Napoleon 208
Bourbon county 14
— banking in 83
— first newspaper in 13
— historical marker for Fort Scott in, 333, 349 — inventory of archives published, note
on 334
Bowers, John, Wichita county, mention
of murder of 388
Bowie knives 77
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola 101
— donation to Historical Society 89
Boyd, J. R 76, 77
"Boyhood Home of General Funston,"
text of historical marker entitled 367
Boyle, I. B., Frontier Democrat, Neosho
Falls, established by 131
Boynton, Rev. C. B 40
Bradley, Glenn D., of University of
Toledo 115
Bradley, W. H 222
Bragg, Lt. Col. , 203
Braintree, Mass., history of, noted 186
Branson, Andrew J., resident near White- head, Doniphan county, March 28,
1854 38
Brenaman, A. M 389, 390
Brenaman, A. M. & Co., Cheyenne county
store kept by 389
Brent, Chester Horton 186
Brent, Hugh, immigrant to Virginia.... 186 Brewer, David J., judge criminal court of
Leavenworth county 97
Brickell, Inez M 110
Bridge, Kansas river, Topeka 115
Tecumseh, corner stone laid, 1857, 72
Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M., Council
Grove 99, 101
Bright, J. D 223
Brill, Charles J 184
Brindle, William 265
Brinkerhoff, Fred W.. Pittsburg 85, 101
110, 339, 340
Bristow, Joseph L 83
British Commons 65
Broadview Hotel, Emporia Ill
Brock, R. F., Sharon Springs 99, 101
Brockmeyer, Fred 221
Breeder, Rev. John 221
Brooks, , 374
Brooks, Mrs. C. A 428
Brooks, Preston S., of South Carolina . . 53
54, 68
Brown, Alexander 186
Brown, Burt 423
Brown, Elmer E 109, 429
Brown, George W 10, 11, 15
— papers of, in Historical Society 8
— publisher Kansas Herald of Freedom, 7
— quoted 42
Brown, J. S., editor Kansas Farmer 235
Brown, James Stephens, autobiography,
note on 184
Brown, John 83, 132, 150
— a defender of Lawrence, 1855 352
— and company, massacre by, on Potta-
watomie creek 354
—attack on H. C. Pate's Proslavery
camp 354
— cabin at Topeka 353
— famous "Parallels" of, dated at Trad- ing Post 356
— killing attributed to 121
— photostats of letters from National
Archives now in Historical Society 87
— site of Linn county land occupied by. . 356
Brown, John, Jr 67
Brown, John, a play, by Kirke Mechem, 181 Brown, John, University, Siloam Springs,
Ark 106
Brown, William R 187, 414
Brown and Son, publishers The Enter- prise, Colby 393
Brown county 386
— first Fourth of July celebration, 1857, 77
— first newspaper in 80
Brown County Union, Hiawatha,
destroyed by fire 30
— first newspaper in Brown county 30
— founded from materials of old Troy
Dispatch 30
Browne, Charles Herbert, Horton, 90, 101, 176 — first vice-president Historical Society, 100
Brownville Musical Association 74
Bruer, W. T 313
Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus 189
Buchanan, Pres. James, appoints John
Pettit chief justice of Kansas 96
Buck, Dr. , Jefferson county 281
Buckingham, Henry, established Repub- lican Valley Empire, Clyde 139
Buckner Independent, Jetmore 322, 416
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, History of, 188 Bucks County Historical Society, Doyles-
town, Pa 187
Buckwheat 247, 248
Budd, Ralph 184
Buffalo 123, 346
— bone prices, note on 100
— bulls on sentry duty 103
— capture of, in Osborne county, note on, 425
— extermination of 364
—hunts 214
—incident in Dodge City, 1886 417
— large herds described 204
— last herd, in Sedgwick county, note on, 420
McPherson county, note on 420
— note on 419, 420
— silhouette of, used on highway signs. . 85
picture of facing 352
— "the department store of the Plains". . 341 "Buffalo, Hunting, via the Union Pacific,
in 1868" 204
"Buffalo, Indian and the," text of his- torical marker entitled 341
Buffalo Bill, Four Years in Europe
With 177
Buffalo chips 104
Buffalo hunting trip, of Grand Duke
Alexis 327
Buffalo Park Express 388
Buffum, [David C. ?] 78
Bull creek 269, 284
Bull creek, Douglas county... 372, 373, 378
— Colernan's log fort on 67
Bullitt, William Christian 193
Bumgardner, Dr. Edward, Lawrence, 99, 101
109, 423, 425, 429
Bunker Hill, early newspapers in.. 299, 300
Burch, Mildred Mosier 110
Burdick, William Livesey 176
Burgess, H. B., director Topeka Bridge
Company 110
Burke, J. C 142
Burke, Sir John Bernard 187
Burkholder, Lucy 426
Burlingame, Anson 86
Burlingame, first observance of Decora- tion Day in, mentioned 331
— formerly Council City 47
—Fourth of July, 1857, in 71
— Osage County Chronicle established in, 31
Burlingame Enterprise-Chronicle 331
Burlington 18
— Fourth of July, 1857, in 73
— Oscar E. Learnard a founder of 81
Burlington, Vt., ladies of, sell food and flowers to aid Kansas 61
GENERAL INDEX
435
Burlington, Wis., citizens sympathized
with free Kansas 52
Burlington & Missouri railroad, Kansas
City, Mo 203
Burlington Free Press 18
Burlington (Iowa) Gazette 203
Burlington Patriot 132
Burlington (Vt.) Free Press 51, 57
Burnett's peak, once called Webster's
peak 117
Burns, Rev. William V 423
Burrell, Abram Bogart 187
Burrow, Joseph R., secretary of state... 293
Burt, Edith M 215
Burton, C. G 129
Burton, Joseph Ralph 83
Butcher, Mrs. H. V 391
Butcher, Merle T 391
Butcher, Ward H 391
Butler, Pardee 351
Butler county 143
— first newspaper in 139
— last G. A. R. survivor in, note on. ... 422
Butter, price of, 1860 122
Butterflies and skippers of Kansas 177
Buzick, William C 309
Buzick & Barnhart 309
Byers, William N., & Co., founders
Rocky Mountain News 26, 27
"Bypaths of Kansas History", 102, 203-211 324-330, 413-418
Cabell County Annals and Families 193
Cabells and Their Kin 186
Cache, construction of, note on 419
Caird, James 184
Caldwell, Martha B 226
— edited "Diary of George H. Hildt", 260-298
Caldwell, cattle drives to 366
— historical marker for "Caldwell and
the Chisholm Trail" near 366
"Caldwell and the Chisholm Trail," text
of historical marker entitled 366
Calhoun county, now Jacks9n county 24
California, Elwood outfitting point for
emigrants to 354
California, Lane county 104, 388
— Lane County Gazette, first newspaper
in Lane county 387, 388
California crossing, Big Blue river 350
California trail 218
Callaway, Asa Berton 176
Calvert, C. L., co-editor of Prairie Owl, 398
Calvert, Mrs. Frank 110
Camden, Mo 261
Camp Alert. See Alert, Camp. Camp Doniphan. See Doniphan, Camp. Camp Funston. See Funston, Camp. Camp Pond Creek. See Pond Creek,
Camp.
Campaign songs 83
Campbell, Lord 330
Campbell, Hugh 72
Campbell, James Y 61, 71
Campbell, Phil 421
Campbell, W. P., El Dorado 415
Campbell, Wayne 218
Campbell Ancestors, Our 193
Canal Dover, Ohio 74, 260
Caney 99, 101
Canfield, , co-publisher Greensburg
Rustler 393
Cannon 57, 59-61, 68, 75
— at Lawrence 70
— directed at Constitution hall, Topeka, 58
— firrd July 4, 1856, at Topeka 56
— Old Sacramento 374-379
See, also, "Sacramento."
Canton, Conn., history 192
Cantrall, Mrs. Frank, of Wilson county. . 222
Canty, Virginia, of Wilson county 222
Canville, A. B., trading post among
Osages established by, 1844 347
Capital of Kansas 220
"Capital of Kansas," text of historical
marker entitled 353
Capitol, First. See Pawnee Capitol.
Capper, Sen. Arthur 100, 214
Carey, Henry L., Dodge City 216
Carr, A. B. & Co., publishers of Prairie
Owl 398
Carroll, Florence W 427
Carson, Christopher 346, 360
Carson, F. L., Wichita 100
Carver, Clifford Nickels 187
Carver, Robert, of Marshfield 187
Carver Family of New England 187
Case, 291
Case, A. E 144
Case, S. W., co-owner of Western Times,
Scott Center 395, 396
Cash, John G., editor, The Western Star,
Coldwater 390
Cash, William, part owner, The Western
Star, Coldwater 390
Cash brothers, of Comanche county .... 390
Catfish, fifty-two pounder 142
Catherine the Great 365
Catholic church, first in southern Kansas,
constructed, 1848 349
— history, Kansas, note on 215
— mission, Osage 349
Pottawatomie, St. Marys 350
— on the Kansas frontier 83
Catholic Historical Society, Kansas, Rev.
Angelus Lingenfelser secretary of. ... 100 Catholicism in Kansas, note on tracing
the history of 215
Cato, Sterling G 57
Catron, C. C 293
Catt, Carrie Chapman 106
Cattle 120
—Cherokee 251, 252
—from the East 252
— herding grounds for 254
— lost on open range 74
— owned by Peter Robidoux 403
— Shorthorns 255
— Spanish fever outbreak among, 1864, 252
— Texas 224, 254, 255
362, 366, 397, 414
drovers of 237
over trail into Wichita 141
trade 141, 252, 254
— Texas fever among 254
—to follow specified trail 254
Cattle brands 215
— Chase county 110
Cattle industry, upper Kansas valley... 253 Cattle Range in America, The Story of, 184
Cattle rustlers, mentioned 105
Cattle shipments, Wichita, note on 106
Cattle trail from Texas, through present
Douglass 217
Cattle Trails of the Old West 182
Caughron, Mrs. Edith S 426
Caven, Roy 222
Cawker City, historical marker for Wa-
conda spring near 333, 342
— library, note on history of 217
Cawker City -Smith Center trail, marker
for, note on 384
Cedar Vale, history, note on 424
Cedarville, Smith County Pioneer pub- lished in 307
Cedarville Townsite Company 308
Census, U. S., 1800, heads of families.. 193
1870, note on crop statistics in.... 246
Census records, Kansas 81, 87, 112
Central House, Lawrence, ball at 69
Central Kansas Committee 60
436
GENERAL INDEX
Central Kansas Index, Cottonwood
Falls 301, 302
Centropolis, Franklin county 17
— Kansas Leader 70
first newspaper in Franklin county, 17
— projected county seat and capital of
Kansas territory and state 17
Centropolis Sunday School 70
Centropolis Town Company, incorpora-
tors 17
— Perry Fuller's store on townsite of 17
Champion and Press, Atchison 10
Chandler, Rev. Dr. , of Greenfield,
Mass 51
Chandler, C. Q 100
Chandler, Carrie Breese 110
Chandler family 188
Chanute 101
—note on economic history of 182
Chanute Tribune 419
— anniversary edition, note on 422
Chapman, J. Butler 55, 56
Chapman, Jacob 187
Charles, Mrs. W. A 223
Charleston, S. C., Fourth of July, 1856, 54
Chase, Gov. Salmon P., of Ohio 52
Chase county 110
— first newspaper in 29
Chase County Courant, Cottonwood
Falls 318
Chase County Historical Sketches, first volume issued by Chase County His- torical Society 110
Chase County Historical Society, first
book issued by 110
Chase County Leader, Cottonwood
Falls 301, 302
— seventieth anniversary edition of 214
Chautauqua, history, note on 424
Chautauqua county, county-seat fight,
note on 424
— first newspaper in 811, 312
— organized in 1875 311
Chautauqua Journal, Sedan 312, 424
Cherokee 110
Cherokee Center, now Columbus 424
Cherokee county 127, 135
— banking in 83
— county-seat fight, note on 424
— first newspaper in 126
— historical marker for Baxter Springs
massacre in 358
— inventory of county archives, notes
on 180, 334
Cherokee Neutral Lands 126
Cherokee Outlet 418
— opened in 1893 367
"Cherokee Outlet, Opening of the," text
of historical marker entitled 367
Cherry Creek, K. T 26
— location of 27
Cherry Creek Pioneer, K. T., first news- paper in Montana county 26, 27
Chetopa 130, 222
Chetopa Advance 129, 130
Cheyenne county, first newspaper in.... 389
Cheyenne County News, Wano 389
Cheyene County Rustler, Wano,
mentioned 390
Cheyenne Indians. See Indians, Cheyenne. Cheyenne News, Wano, first newspaper
in Cheyenne county 389, 390
Chicago, observance of Fourth of July,
1854, in 85
Chicago Democratic Press 59
Chilocco, Okla 72
Chilton, Maj. Robert H 203
Chinese, first in Wichita, note on 420
Chingawassa, railroad and resort 426
Chisholm, Jesse, Indian trader 105, 222
862, 366
— James R. Mead an associate of 81
— kindness of, towards Indians' captives, 215
Chisholm trail 218
— dedication of marker at Wichita 222
— entered Kansas in Sumner county .... 366
— from Wichita south, note on 214
— historical marker for, note on 333
— origin of, note on 105, 106
— photograph of historical marker, near
Wichita facing 339
— ran from Wichita to Anadarko, Okla. 105
— took name from Jesse Chisholm 362
— traced through Kansas by Warren L.
Matthews, Wichita 214, 222
"Chisholm Trail, The," text of historical
marker entitled 362
"Chisholm Trail, Caldwell and the,"
text of historical marker entitled 366
Chittenden County, Vermont, History of, 192 Chivington, Rev. John M., missionary. . 38
Chivington massacre 360
Cholera, at Pawnee, 1855 41
Chouteau, Auguste P 344
Chouteau, Frederick, farm of 264
Chouteau's Island, historical marker for,
note on 334
"Chouteau's Island," text of historical
marker entitled 344
Christian, Mrs. Will R., Ulysses 80
Christmas, pioneer, note on 106
Christopher, Rev. W. B 299
Chubbic, H. R. 176
Chubbic, P. G 176
Church, James E., co-owner Clark
County Clipper, Clark City 391, 392
Church Advocate and Good Way, Fort
Scott 212
Cibola, seven golden cities of 343
Cimarron Pioneer, first newspaper in
Gray county 319
Cimarron river 344, 347
— lower springs of 347
Cincinnati, Society of the 192
Cincinnati Type Foundry 15
Circus, Indians attend, at Lawrence. ... 211
— Barnum, note on 420
—John Robinson's at Hays, 1873 414
— London, at Lawrence, 1879 211
Cities Service Oil Company 109
Civil War 34, 83, 98, 106
— carried Kansas into Federal Union 107
Civil War battle, Baxter Springs, 1863,
historical marker for 358
• — Mine creek, 1864, historical marker for, 358 — Montgomery county, between Osage
Indians and Confederates 857
historical marker for, note on 334
"Civil War Battle, Drum Creek Treaty,"
text of historical marker entitled 357
Civil War soldiers, Osage county,
mentioned 331
Clapper, Raymond, Washington
columnist 215
Clardy, J. E., founder Palmetto Kansan, 20
Clarinda, Clarinda Hotel 382
— description of 382
— Nests County Pioneer, first newspaper
in Ness county 381
— Walnut Valley Times 382
Clark, Gen. 203
Clark, Edward, Lawrence, letter to C,
K. Holliday cited 54
Clark, I. F 307
Clark, Joseph, one of publishers of Hays
City Railway Advance 127
Clark, Mrs. Merebah, Terre Haute, Ind.,
donor 83
Clark, Thomas Dionysius 184
Clark City, Clark County Clipper, first
newspaper in Clark county 391, 392
— formerly called Klaine 391
— rivalry with Ashland 392
Clark county 215
— first newspaper in 391, 392
— history, notes on 420, 421
GENERAL INDEX
437
Clark County Clipper, Ashland 106, 215
223, 420
— name changed to Ashland Clipper 392
— published at Clark City, first news- paper in Clark county 391, 392
"Clark County Historical Notes," list
of articles in 420, 421
Clark County Historical Society. . 106, 107
215, 428 Clarke, Joe, editor Leavenworth Daily
Call 141
Clarke, R 293
Clarkville, Pa., Fourth of July, 1856,
incident in 52
Clay, Cassius M 40, 68
Clay, Henry 121
Clay Center 99, 148, 253
— First Methodist Episcopal Church,
rededication 176
Clay Center Times 216
• — quoted 149
Clay county, first newspaper in 148
Clay County Courier, Clay Center 148
Clay County Independent, Clay Center,
first newspaper in Clay county.. 148, 149
Clearwater 218
Clement, John 187
Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Mich 182
Cleveland, named by railroad company, 400
—now called Oakley 400
Climate, Kansas, pioneer conceptions
of 227-229, 234, 235
Clinton, political rally at, 1857 69
Clinton Park, Lawrence 43
Cloud county, first newspaper in 139
—schools 83
Clugston. William George, author 176
Clyde, description of, 1870 140
— first newspaper in Cloud county
established at 139
Clyde Watchman 303
Coal, in Kansas 249, 250
Coal creek, Douglas county 372
Coal creek company, militiamen 372
Coal creek settlement, Nemaha county, 331
Coal mining act, 1883 167
Coates, W. C., former publisher Blue
Rapids Times 218
Coats, Harold, author 331
Cochran, M. J 317, 318
Cochrane, Harry Hayman 187
Cocke, William Ronald 187
Cody, Elijah, of Weston, Mo 21
Cody, Isaac, father of William F.
Cody 21, 22
Cody, J. A 22
— founder Grasshopper, Grasshopper
Falls 21
— uncle of the famous scout 21
Cody, Mrs. J. A 21
Cody, William Frederick 21, 360, 361
— made chief scout of Fifth U. S.
cavalry 361
Cody hill, Leavenworth, now Cody Me- morial Park 421
Coe, George 60
Cofachiqui, Fourth of July, 1856, at.. 61
Coffey county, first newspaper in 18
Coffeyville 100
Colby, J. R 393
Colby, Enterprise, first newspaper printed
in Thomas county 393
— Thomas County Cat, first newspaper
published in Thomas county. . . . 393-395
Coldren, E. W., publisher 385
Coldwater, description of, 1884 391
— Western Star, first newspaper in Co-
manche county 390, 391
Cole, C. E 134, 135
— early publisher 133
Cole, Cyrenus 187
Coleman, Franklin M., log fort of, on
Bull creek 67
— murderer of Dow 67
Coles, Mrs. J. T., author 331
Colfax, Schuyler 130
Colin, Galen C 176
Colonial Dames, Kansas 86
Colonial Wars, Society of, Maryland . . 192 Colorado, Portrait and Biographical
Record of the State of 192
Colorado Magazine, The, Denver. . . 26, 27
Colorado river 184
Colton, G. A 274
Columbia University Press, New York, 112
Columbra, , Frenchman, operated
saloon at Indianola 46
Columbus, formerly Cherokee Center.... 424
Columbus Advocate 390, 424
Comanche Chieftain, Nescutunga ....... 390
Comanche county, first newspaper in.. 390 Comanche Indians. See Indians,
Comanche.
Concordia 99, 101, 140, 303
Cone, John P., founder Nemaha Courier, 32 Congregational church records, Franklin,
Conn 188
Congregationalists, on frontier 183
Conklin, P. J 319
Connecticut Tercentenary celebration.... 191
Connelley, William E 22, 53, 92
Conner, Jerry D 279, 298
Connor, John 193
Connor, William 193
Conrad, Harold E., Ottawa University, 223 Constitution, Kansas, framed at Wyan-
dotte, 1859 355
Constitution hall, Topeka 67, 117
— cannon directed at 68
— LeGrand B. Cushman spoke in 60
Constitutional convention, projected at
Denver, 1859, to frame constitution for
new state of Jefferson 27
Continental divide, once western limit of
Kansas territory 26
Conway, Martin F 297
— resigned from 1855 legislature 41
Cook, 121
Cook, Capt. John E. [?] 373
Coon creek 210
Coons, Mrs. Mattie Mails 176
Cooper, J. T HI
Cooper, Ross 422
Cooper, Mrs. W. G., Blakeman, donor. . 83 Cooper, Bailey & Co., proprietors of
London circus 211
Cope, Gilbert 187
Copeland, J. T 380
Copeland, Warren Turner 187
Copeland Family, The 1'
Coppoc, Barclay 121
Cordelle, use of word, note on 419
Cordona, Madame, circus actress 211
Corey, Albert S 129
Corn, crops of, Kansas, 1864-1872.. 236-255
— Gipsy rice 247
— wheat subordinate to, in early Kansas, 230
Corn prices, 1857, Topeka 118
—1860 122
—1864 251
Cornell, A, B 147, 299, 300
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez de 83, 108
177, 215, 216, 342, 343, 360, 421, 423 Coronado, Muster Roll and Equipment
of the Expedition of . 182
Coronado, Wichita county, rivalry with
Leoti City 401, 402, 407
Coronado, and old settlers' celebration,
Marion, note on 426
Coronado and Quivira, by Paul Jones. . Ill "Coronado and Quivira," text of his- torical marker entitled 342
438
GENERAL INDEX
Coronado Cuarto -Centennial celebration,
Dodge City, note on 422
Coronado Cuarto -Centennial Commission,
Kansas 99, 108
Coronado pageant, sponsored by Shawnee
Mission Indian Historical Society 428
Coronado Star 401
Coronado's expedition 99, 100
— celebration of anniversary in Kansas, 108 — newspapers feature anniversary of.... 214
Coronado's Seven Cities 177
Cosby, Merit Morton 107
Costello, J. H 144
Costello, Jack, Marion Centre 426
Cotton, grown in Kansas, 1864 247
— Sedgwick county farmers contemplated
planting 141
Cottonwoood Falls 110, 214
Cottonwood Falls Independent 301
Cottonwood Ranch House, a Pony Ex- press station, note on history of. . 217, 357 — also known as Hollenberg Ranch.... 220
Cottonwood valley 232
Council Bluffs, Iowa 75
Council City, Fourth of July, 1855 47
Council Grove 30, 99, 101
253, 315, 346, 426 — ond of travel to Santa Fe through,
1866 345
— flour mill at 234
—location of historical marker for 345
— origin of name 345
"Council Grove," text of historical
marker entitled 345
Council Grove Press 30
Counter, James N., co-publisher of
Oberlin Herald 884
Courtland, Indian burial pit near, dis- covered 334
Covell, C. C 135
Covert, Cranston M., of Woodson
County Post 132
Covert, Harry L., of Woodson County
Post 132
Cowboys, Dodge City, note on 105
Cowgill, Elias B 317
Cowley county, first newspaper in 142
— historical marker for "Cherokee Out- let" in 367
Cowley County Censor, Winfield, first
newspaper in Cowley county 142
— some history of 143
Cowley County Telegram, Winfield, 142, 143
Cox-Evans, Mrs. Louise 425
Coyville 222, 426
Craig, James 76
Crane. Franklin L., director Topeka
Bridge Company 120
Crane, George W. & Co 11
Cranor, W. H., Chetopa 222
Crawford, George A 150
Crawford, J. N., editor Greensburg
Rustler 392
Crawford county 128, 130, 134
Crawford County Historical Society 109
— directors 110
Crawford County Times, Girard 133
Crawfprdsville, Crawford county 127
— reminders of townsite 135
— seat of government 134
Crawfordsville Times 134
Cricket, The, Holton, 1858 or 1859 24
Crimea 365
Criminal court, Leavenworth county,
David J. Brewer judge of 97
Crittenden, C. C 833
Cromwell, Oliver 59, 64, 65
Cron, Mrs. W. W 110
Crops, methods of planting 242-245
— prices in Kansas 122
1864 236
—statistics in 1870 U. S. census 246
Crotinger, William ................... 107
Crouch, Col. Court ................... 110
Grouse, Dr. D. W .................... 135
Crusader, Chicago, Western Times, Scott
Center, a continuation of ............ 395
Cudworth, Addison Edward ........... 187
Cummings, W. H ..................... 176
Cummins, George Wyckoff ............ 187
Curl, H. G .......................... 422
Currier, Harvey Lear ................ 187
Currier, Richard, of Massachusetts ..... 187
Curry, Mrs. Nelle Woodson, gives papers
of Daniel Woodson to the Historical
Society ........................... 81
Curtis, Vice-president Charles, baptized
in St. Mary's parish, 1860 .......... 350
— born in Topeka .................... 853
Curtis, George W .................... 50
Curtis, Maj. H. Zarah ................. 359
Curtis, John, acting governor .......... 56
Curtis, Gen. Samuel R ............ 358, 359
Curtiss, Daniel S ..................... 184
Cushman, LeGrand B., spoke in Consti-
tutional hall, Topeka ............... 60
Custer, Gen. George A ........ 181, 327, 351
856, 359-361, 422
Custer's southern campaign, note on ---- 184
Cutler, Gen. -- ................... 116
Cutter, Capt. -- ................... 379
D
Dallenbach, Karl M ................... 188
Ddllenbachs in America, The ........... 188
Dalton, -- , judge, Hays City... 209, 210
Dance, Burlington, 1857 ............... 73
—Ohio City, July 4. 1857 ............. 71
Danford, Addison [ f ] ................ 139
Daniels, Col. Percy [?] ............... 135
Daniels, Wylie Johnston ............... 187
Dare, Benjamin F .................... 293
Darrah, Mrs. T. J. ................... 419
Daughters of American Colonists, Kansas, 86
Daughters of 1812, Kansas ............ 86
Daughters of Founders and Patriots of
America ........................... 187
Daughters of the American Revolution,
Kansas ................... 16, 176, 188
— gifts to Historical Society ........... 80
Davidson, Eliza Noel Pintard .......... 192
Davidson, Miss Ellen, Mulberry ........ 110
Davidson, Harold Ansley ............. 188
Davidson, Victor ..................... 188
Davies, Mrs. Carrie E ................ 384
Daviess, Mrs. Maria T ............... 188
Dr. -- , Leavenworth ......... 297
Charles ...................... 140
Clyde Brion .................. 184
Harry Alexander .............. 188
Jefferson, Secretary of War ...... 66
Davis Davis Davis Davis Davis Davis M. C .................... 148, 320
Davis, Maude ....................... 423
Davis, W. W., Lawrence .......... 99, 101
Davis, William Watts Hart ............ 188
Dawson, John S., Hill City, 79, 90, 99, 101 Day, W. P .......................... 304
Dayton, Oscar V., New York .......... 19
Deal, Mr. -- , Ksarny county ....... 384
Deardorff, Joe ....................... 280
Decatur county .................. 83, 220
— Cheyenne raid, 1878 ................ 365
— first newspaper in .............. 384, 385
— historical marker for "Last Indian Raid in Kansas" in ................. 365
Declaration of Independence.... 37, 39, 41
43, 46, 47, 62, 76 Deer ................................ 73
De Geer, Mrs. M. E., co-owner of
Western Times, Scott Center ..... 395, 396 De Geer ranch, office of Western Times
moved to ......................... 395
Deitzler, George W ............... 15, 67
Delahay, Mark W .................... 14
GENERAL INDEX
439
Delaware City 74
— barbecue at 62
—Fourth of July, 1855 48
1856 62
Delaware Indians. See Indians, Delaware.
Delaware river 22
Democratic party 23, 121
• — meeting, Leavenworth City, 1857 262
Democratic Platform, Liberty, Mo 37
Democrats, remained in Lecompton, 1860, after Republican majority adjourned to
Lawrence 122
Denious, Jess C., Dodge City, 99, 101, 108
Denver, Colo 327, 427
Denver City, K. T 27
Denver road, Fort Wallace on 361
Denz, Dorothy 427
Dermot 406
De Shon, F. D., Graham county 212
Detroit 144
Detroit (Mich.) Daily Advertiser 65, 66
Detroit (Mich.) Daily Tribune.. 54, 58, 59
Develin, Joseph Chubb 188
"Development of Common and Employ- ers' Liability Law in Kansas," article
by Domenico Gagliardo 155-174
Devenney, A. Smith, co-founder of Olathe
Herald 25
De Vera, 393
De Vivaldi, Charles F., Kansas Express
founded by 27, 28
Dewey, C. E 61, 71
Dewey family 193
Dey, Peter Anthony 190
Dick, Everett 39
— note on book Vanguards of the
Frontier by 335
Dickinson county 144, 231, 235
238-240, 249, 254, 255, 259
— first newspaper in 138
— historical marker in, notes on, 334, 343, 362
— public assistance in 83
— Swiss people settled on Turkey creek
in 221
— winter wheat planted in, 1858 232
Dickinson County, Standard Atlas of . . . 182
Dickinson county fair, 1870 255
Dickinson County Historical Society,
spring meeting of 221
Diehl, John 74, 260, 264-266
268, 270, 271, 278-275 281-287, 289, 291, 292, 294-296
Dicker, Leo E 220, 221
Dighton 228
Dillenbeck, Andrew Luther 188
Dillon, John A 176
Dimon, Charles 325
Distillery, Lawrence, mentioned 45
District courts, Kansas, date of earliest
not known 91
— Wichita, description of the earliest, 414, 415
District of the Border 98
Dixon, Marjorie Howe 182
Dobie, J. Frank, professor English
literature, University of Texas 224
Dodd, Fred, of Wilson county 222
Dodge, Maj. Gen. Grenville M 360
Dodge City 99-101, 108, 213, 216
—"Boot Hill" of 364
— cattle market 364
— Coronado celebration held in 422
— description of 314
— early days in, note on 423
— end of Santa Fe railroad in its hell-
roaring days 213
famous among cow towns 224
— first bond issue, note on 105
— historical marker, for "Dodge City, the
Cowboy Capital" near 364
Fort Dodge near 360
— "Indian racket" favorite sport in 415
Dodge City, photograph of historical
marker for facing 852
— shipping center 364
— wildest town on the American frontier, 364
Dodge City Daily Globe 399, 421, 422
Dodge City Messenger, first newspaper in
Ford county 314
"Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital," text
of historical marker entitled 364
Dodge City Times 415
— printed Cimarron Pioneer 319
Doerr, Mrs. Laura P. V., Lamed 100
Dolbee, Miss Cora 2, 109
— "The Fourth of July in Early Kan- sas," article by 34- 78
Donaghey, George W 188
Donald, Jay 176
Donalson, Israel B., U. S. marshal.. 57, 58
Doniphan, Col. Alexander W 346, 374
— and troops, camped at Council Grove, 345
Doniphan 63, 102
—Fourth of July, 1857 76
Doniphan Blues, military company 63
Doniphan county 77, 219
— first newspaper in 12
— historical markers in, Elwood 354
Highland Presbyterian Mission.... 848
Donner party, history of, noted 185
Donovan, Pony, horse thief, killed 210
Doran, Thomas Francis, Memorial for. . 183 Dorchester County, Maryland, History
of 190
Dorr movement, in Rhode Island 66
Doster, Mrs. Frank, reminiscences of,
note on 426
Doud, W. E. [ ?] 143
Dougan, Mrs. Leona 421
Doughfaces 40
Douglas, Stephen A 52, 64
Douglas county. 7
— agricultural history, note on 429
— first newspaper in 6, 8
— historical marker, "Battle of Black
Jack" in 354
Lawrence in 352
Lecompton in 353
— Lone Star neighborhood, history, note
on 429
Douglas County Historical Society 99
— note on eighth annual meeting of 109
— officers of 109
Douglas County Old Settlers Association, 429
Douglass Tribune 217
Dowell, Democrat and Watchman 393
Downer, David 149
Downs News 425
Doyle, Peter 153
Dragoon river, 1855, Fourth of July cele- bration on banks of 47
Dragoons. See United States dragoons.
Drake, John, of Windsor, Conn 189
Driggs, H. Wayne 427
Driggs, Dr. Howard R 221, 427
Drought, 1860 233
Drum creek treaty, historical marker for,
note on 334
—with Osage Indians, 1870 357
"Drum Creek Treaty, Civil War Battle,"
text of historical marker entitled 357
Drummers 58
Dry Turkey creek, Indian treaty council
held on, 1825 346
Dryer, , of Grainfield 387
Dugout, Morton county, description of, 417 Dull Knife, Cheyenne chief. . . 211, 343, 365 Dunavant, historical marker for "Battle
of Hickory Point" near 333, 855
Duniway, David C 333
Dunn, C. M., co-publisher Minneapolis
Messenger 893
Dunn, Charles, plunged bowie knife in back of Isaac Cody 21
440
GENERAL INDEX
Dunn, Charles A 424
Dunn, D. M., co-owner Thomas County
Cat 393, 401
Dunn, Mrs. Emma Elisabeth (Teall) 188
Dunton, Mrs. L. H., Arcadia 110
Dust storms, 1869-1870 238
Dutton, Billy, circus performer 211
Dutton Family of Pennsylvania, Gene- alogy of 187
Dyer, G. H., McCune 110
E
Earle, Lt. 374
Earp, George, Grant county pioneer 397
Earp, Wyatt 364
Eastern Kansas Register, printed at
Denver 215
Easthampton, Mass., subscription for
Kansas raised by 51
Eastin, Lucian J 6, 72, 262
— co-founder Kansas Weekly Herald,
Leavenworth 4
Echo, Cheyenne county 390
Eckert, Florence 109
Eddy, , co-founder Johnson County
Standard, Olathe 25
Eddy, William L 135
Editorial and Publishers' Association of Kansas, met at Leavenworth in 1877 . . 4
Edmonds, Leslie E 340
Edmundson, W. H., Fredonia Ill, 222
Edson, Charles Leroy 176
Education, Russell county 83
Edwards, A. D 176
Edwards, John Beach 177
Edwards, John P., Historical Atlas of
Sumner County, quoted 148
Edwards county, first newspaper in 313
Edwards County Leader, Kinsley 313
Egbert, Mrs. D. G 223
Ehrlich's mill, Marion 426
Eight-Mile creek, Ottawa 17
El Dorado 103
— bachelors of, advertise for wives 207
— Fourth of July, 1857 73
— oil field, history, note on 426
— dedication of marker for 109
Eldorado, K. T 27
El Dorado Refining Company 426
El Dorado Times 426
Eldridge, T. B 203
Eldridge, William Henry 188
Eldridge Hotel, Lawrence 352
Election, Kansas, 1857 119, 267, 280
Elgin, history, note on 42*
Elk county, first newspaper in 146
Elk Falls 424
Elk Falls Examiner, first newspaper in
Elk county 146, 147
Elk Falls Journal 312
Ellenbecker, Irene 427
Ellenbecker, John G., Marysville 90
100, 427 — elected president American Pioneer
Trails Association of Kansas 220
— note on his history of old Cottonwood
Station, Washington county 21
Ellenbecker, Joseph 42
Elliott, Robert Gaston, co-founder Kan- sas Free State, Lawrence 8,
Ellis, F 18
Ellis 100, 31
Ellis county 81
— first newspaper in 12'
— historical marker for Fort Hays
in 333, 36
Ellsworth 23
Ellsworth Advocate, first newspaper in Ellsworth county 128
Ellsworth county 231
— first newspaper in 128
— historical marker for Fort Harker in. . 359
Ellsworth Reporter 300, 310, 414
Elm creek 363
Elm tree, Leavenworth, daguerreotype of,
mentioned 6
— poem 6
type for Kansas Weekly Herald set
up under shade of 5
Elmo, Dickinson county 221
—St. Columba Church in 221
Elmore, Judge Rush 57
— appointed to supreme court of Kansas
territory 93
—held court at Tecumseh 95
El Paso, K. T 27
El Quartelejo, historical marker for, note
on 333
text of 343
Elwood, established 1856 354
—first called Roseport 354
— first Kansas station on the Pony Ex- press route 354
Great Western Hotel 354
— historical marker for, near 354
— sale of lots at 75, 76
— text of historical marker entitled 354
Elwood Advertiser 68, 75, 76
Elyria, McPherson county 220
— historical marker for "Kansas Indian
Treaty" near 346
Emancipation day, celebration of, near
Tonganoxie, note on 423
Embree, Mrs. Mary, Topeka 101
— thirty years service with the Histori- cal Society 88
Emerson, Clarence 0 177
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, quoted '<
Emery, James S., Lawrence 59
Emery, Willis, of Leavenworth, one of publishers of Hays City Railway Ad- vance 127
Emigrant Aid Company. See New Eng- land Emigrant Aid Company.
Emigrant wagons 102
Emigrants, overland, 1853, note on 413
Emigration, 1857 119
Emma, Missouri river steamboat 75
Employer, duties of 155
"Employers' Liability Law in Kansas, Development of," article by Domenico
Gagliardo 155-174
Emporia 18, 20, 78, 99-101
106, 110, 142, 215, 221, 253
— Broadview Hotel 1
— civic auditorium Ill
— first newspaper in '•
— first public meeting at 73
—Fourth of July, 1857 73
— price of corn at, 1864 251
Emporia Gazette 2
— reminiscences of, note on 422
Emporia News 25, 139, 301, 302
—quoted 130, 142-144
Emporia Republican 17
Emporia State Teachers College 223
Emporia Town Company 15
Endicott, G., velocipede built by 207
Engle, Edward J 425
Englewood, Methodist church, date of
organization 106
Englewood Times 392
Enterprise, Colby, first newspaper printed
in Thomas county 393
Erie Ishmaelite, sold to J. H. Scott and
H. T. Perry 129
Erie Record 129
— historical articles published in,
mentioned 331
GENERAL INDEX
441
Eekridge, C. V., Emporia News pur- chased by 17
Etzlod, L. A 399
Eureka 131
Eureka Herald, first newspaper in Green- wood county 131
— early files to be filmed ll
Eustis, New Tecumseh moved to 401
Evans, B. R., publisher Baxter Springs
Herald 126
Evans, Elsie, librarian Leavenworth
Public Library 80
Evans, Lewis 189
Evans, Mrs. Louis Cox- 425
Everett, John, letter quoted :
Everett, Sarah 19
Ewing, Thomas, II, chief justice 97, 98
— colonel of Eleventh Kansas regiment, 98 — issued famous Order No. 11 .......... 98
— letter-press books of, given Historical
Society 81
Ewing, Thomas, III, New York 81
letter books of father, given His- torical Society 87
Factory act 168
— constitutionality of, upheld by supreme
court 171
Fadenrecht, Rev. Ben 221
Fair, D. J., state highway director 85
339, 340 Fargo Springs, extinct town of Seward
county 399
— Prairie Owl, first newspaper in Seward
county 398, 399
— rivalry with Springfield 399
Farmers' Institute, State, at Manhattan,
1870 246
Farmers' Protective Association 254
Fashions, Linn county, 1867 413
Fassett, Persis 193
Fassett family •.•;••• 193
"Father Juan de Padilla and Quivira,"
text of historical marker entitled 343
Fauntleroy, Col. Thomas F., expedition under, encamps on Grasshopper creek,
July 4, 1854 38
Fauquier County, Virginia, Wills, Admin- istrations and Marriages, 1759-1800.. 190
Fay, Mrs. Mamie Axline, Pratt 99, 101
Federal courts, Kansas 179
Federal Prison Industries, Inc., Leaven- worth 189
Federal Writers' Project, published Kan- sas; A Guide to the Sunflower State, 177
Fee funds, Kansas, the problem of 181
Felton, Theda 426
Fences 249, 252, 254, 255
Fenn, Alva Leon 177
Fergusson, Erna 184
Ferries. See Missouri river.
Ferris, Warren Angus 184
Fickle, Mrs. George 223
Field, Ruth Marie 188
Field, William D 177
Field family 188
Fifth Avenue Hotel, Topeka 327
Findley, Mrs. Matt, formerly of Osage
county 212
Finn, D. C., of Cherokee county.. 127, 135
Finney county, first newspaper in. . . 322, 323
— formerly called Sequoyah county 322
— Garfield county annexed to 408
— historical marker "The Indian and the
Buffalo" in 341
Firearms, for Kansas, 1856 203
— scarcity of, in Lawrence, 1856 371
"First Capitol of Kansas," text of his- torical marker entitled 352
"First Newspapers in Kansas Counties," article by G. R. Gaeddert ......... 3- 33
124-149, 299-323, 380-412 Fischer, Otto ........................ 109
Fish, Charles ........................ 211
Fish, Pascal, Shawnee Indian .......... 44
—hotel of .......................... 267
Fish ............................ 72, 73
Fish net ............................ 142
Fish rack, described .................. 142
Fisher, John Stirling ................. 184
Fisher, Peter, slave, escape of .......... 96
Fitts, James Hill ................ 187, 188
Fitzgerald, Sister Mary Paul ........... 177
Flag, South Carolina ................. 66
—United States. See United States, Flag. Flag pledge, mentioned ............... 107
Flaherty, Ed. J
Flax
221
248
Flick, Taylor, Larned ................ 210
Flint, Clarence Ellis .................. 188
Flint, Herbert, "Journalism in Territorial
Kansas," note on .................. 6
Flint, Robert ....................... 188
Flint family ......................... 188
Florell, Carl .......................... 334
Flour, at Topeka, 1857, $7 per hundred, 118 Flour mills, need of, in 1860's ..... 233-235
Flowerdew, F. W., fight with a range
steer .............................. 104
Floyd, Dr. T. S ................. 300, 302
Follett, Capt. Martin Dewey ........... 193
Follett family ....................... 193
Folmer, Henri, author of Mallet Expedi-
tion of 1739 Through Nebraska, Kan-
sas and Colorado to Santa Fe ........ 177
Folmsbee, Stanley John ............... 188
Fond du Lac, treaty of ................ 185
Food, at Harris Hotel, 1857 ........... 262
— bill of fare, banquet for Grand Duke
Alexis, Topeka, 1872 ........ 328, 329
-- on pioneer tables ................. 216
-- pioneer supper at Wilder House,
Fort Scott, 1867 ............ 325-327
Foote county, now Gray county ........ 319
Ford, Lon ........................... 215
Ford county ......................... 316
— first newspaper in .................. 314
— historical marker, "Dodge City, the
Cowboy Capital" in ........... 364
--- photograph of .......... facing 352
-- for Fort Dodge in ............... 360
Ford County Globe, Dodge City ....... 319
321, 323
Ford County Republican, Dodge City . . . 417 Ford county schools .................. 83
Fordham Republican, Hodgeman
county ....................... 104, 322
Forman, John W ..................... 13
Forney, Col. John W .............. 150-152
— and Walt Whitman, honor guests at dinner, Palace Hotel, Topeka ......... 153
— guest at Tefft House, Topeka ........ 152
— lecture by, mentioned ............... 152
Forrest, J. C ........................ 285
Forrest, Lillian, Jewell City ............ 47
Forsyth, Col. George A ................ 327
Fort Atkinson, 1853, ordered broken up
and abandoned .................... 203
— site of, near Dodge City ............ 364
Fort Bridger, Pony Express route
through ........................... 357
Fort Des Moines ................ 116, 117
Fort Dodge ......................... 343
— facts on .......................... 360
— text of historical marker for .......... 360
Fort Ellsworth, renamed Fort Harker... 359 Fort Gibson-Fort Leavenworth military
road ......................... 349, 358
Fort Harker, facts on ................ 359
— text of historical marker for ......... 359
442
GENERAL INDEX
Fort Hays 141
—facts on 361
— historical marker for, note on 333
text of 361
Fort Hays Kansas State College 127
Fort Kearny, Nebr 427
—Col. E. V. Sumner sent to 77
Fort Laramie 77
— Pony Express route through 357
— road from Fort Leavenworth, graves
alongside of 102
Fort Larned 220
— facts on 356
— text of historical marker for 356
Fort Larned ranch, contains old fort
buildings 356
Fort Leavenworth 38, 66, 289, 365
— early pictures of, purchased by His- torical Society 80
—1842 324
—1853 203
Fort Leaven worth -Fort Gibson military
road 349, 358
Fort Mann, building of, note on 216
— location of 216
— site of, near Dodge City 364
Fort Riley 53, 208, 220, 234
250, 251, 351, 421 — construction of cavalry quarters, 1855, 46
— corn prices, 1865-1866 252
— 1853 203
— facts on 351
— text of historical marker for 351
— troops from, at Topeka 54
— weather station at 238
Fort Riley Military Reservation 86, 93
— historical marker for Pawnee Capitol
on 352
Fort St. Vrain 77
Fort Saunders, attack on 874, 375
Fort Scott 135, 213, 349
— historical marker for, note on 333
— party by "Pioneers of '57" in 325
— text of historical marker for 349
—Wilder House 325
Fort Scott, A Guide to, compiled under
Writers' program, WPA 112
Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce 112
Fort Scott Monitor 126, 127, 131
134, 136, 207, 325, 413
Fort Scott Press 136
Fort Scott Town Company 114
Fort Scott Union Monitor 31
Fort Sill, Okla 82
Fort Titus 353
—capture of, 1856 876
Fort Wallace 153
— facts on 361
— text of historical marker for 361
Fort Zarah, contracts for corn at,
1864 251, 252
— facts on 359
— historical marker for 220
text of 359
Fossil Station, now Russell 331
Foster, Charles A., of Osawatomie 297
Foster, Reginald, of Ipswich 192
Foster, W. C 77
Foster Genealogy 192
Fougera, Mrs. Katherine (Gibson) 185
Fountain City, K. T 27
Fountain City Herald, Fond du Lac, Wis., 52 "Fourth of July in Early Kansas, 1854-
1857," article by Cora Dolbee 34- 78
Fowler, J. T., Arcadia 110
Fowler, Philip P., ousted member 1855
legislature 41
Fox Indians, removed to Kansas 219
Framingham, Massachusetts, History
of 193
Frankenberger, W. L 61
Frankfort 83
— First Presbyterian church, seventieth
anniversary noted 107
Frankfort Daily Index 107
Franklin 374, 378
—attacked by Free-State men, 1856 116
— citizens of, at Fourth of July celebra- tion, Lawrence, 1855 42
Franklin, Conn., Congregational church
records 188
Franklin, Ohio 190
Franklin, Virginia, Marriage Bonds of. . . 194
Franklin county 71, 130, 260
— first newspaper in 17
— inventory of archives published.. 180, 334
— records of 265
Frazier, 309
Frederick, James Vincent, author 177
Fredonia Ill, 222
Fredonia Daily Herald 426
Free- State
— army, in Kansas 203
— hotel, Lawrence 66, 78
— legislature, action regarding bogus
statutes of 1855 94, 95
— meeting, in Wyandotte county, July
23, 1857 278
Olathe, August 18, 1857 288
— movement 49, 51, 65, 119, 423
• — party 56
motto of 119
—settlers, celebrate Fourth of July, 1856, 61 Free-State convention, Grasshopper Falls,
August 26, 1857 284
Freedom's Champion, Atchison 10
Freeman, Judge 400
Freemasons, Ancient, Free and Accepted,
Horton Lodge No. 326 177
— Kaw Lodge No. 272, Kansas City 183
— Tecumseh, 1857 72
Freemen's Champion, Prairie City 70
Fremont, John C 59
— expedition of, camped at Council
Grove, 1845 345
camped near present Fort Riley,
1843 351
— nominated for president 50
Frey, Mrs. Annie S HO
Friends church, mission for Shawnee
Indians 348
Friends meeting house, Lawrence, note
on 425
Friends University 212
— history of, note on 419
Frisco Pioneer, first newspaper in Morton
county 404, 405
Fritchey, A. N 302
Frizell, E. E., Larned 99, 101
Frontier, theory of population move- ments on 112
Frontier Democrat, Neosho Falls, first
newspaper in Woodson county 131
— name changed to Neosho Falls Adver- tiser 131
Fuel 249
Fugitive Slave act, mentioned 36
— protest of proceedings under 35
Fuller, Mrs. A. V 428
Fuller, Perry, located store on Centropolis
townsite in 1855 17
Fuller family, Leavenworth 421
Fulton, F. J., Sedgwick county attorney, 414
Fulton, T. P 135
Funston, Edward H 367
Funston, Gen. Frederick, text of his- torical marker for 367
— Camp Funston namexi for 351
— military career of 367
— note on 105
Furse, R. R., Clay Center, Nebr 110
Fussman, Frank, biographical sketch,
note on 419
GENERAL INDEX
443
Gabbert, Mrs. Earth 429
Gaeddert, G. Raymond 127, 131
— author The Birth of Kansas 177
— curator of Historical Society news- papers 2, 114, 226, 338
— "First Newspapers in Kansas Coun- ties," article by 3-33, 124-149
299-323, 380-412
Gage, F. B 67
Gagliardo, Domenico, author of study on
the Kansas Industrial Court 335, 336
— "Development of Common and Em- ployers' Liability Law in Kansas,"
article by 155-174
— professor of economics, University of
Kansas 114
Gambling • • 261
Gandy, New Tecumseh, first paper in
Sherman county 401
Garden City 403
— historical marker "The Indian and the
Buffalo" at 341
— resources of, mentioned 332
Garden City Daily Telegram, mention of
resources edition issued by 332
Garden City Paper 415
— first newspaper in Finney county, 322, 323
Gardner, Alexander, of New York 19
Gardner 220, 297, 298
— historical marker for Oregon and Santa
Fe trails near 345
Garfield county, organized 1887 407
Garfield University 212
Garland, Gen. , ordered to Santa
Fe 203
Garnett, T. J., co-publisher of Western
Star, Hill City 382, 383
Garnett Plaindealer 146
— conflicting dates of establishment 124
— first newspaper in Anderson county... 124 Garnett Review, anniversary edition pub- lished by, mentioned 331
— began as Plaindealer 331
Garnett Review Co., Garnett 61
Garrard, Lewis H., traveled the Santa Fe
trail in 1846, 1847 216
Garretson, Martin S 427
Garrison, William Lloyd 36, 39
Garvey, Edward C. K., editor and pub- lisher Kansas Freeman, Topeka... 10, 11 — issued Topeka 's first newspaper on July
4, 1855 45
— Topeka Town Association grants lots
to 12
Garvey House, Topeka 12, 67
— used as post office and hotel 12
Gaston family 190
Gates, Mrs. , of Lawrence 58
Gates, Frank Caleb 177
Gay, Frank B 189
Geary, Gov. John W 117, 183, 203, 378
Geary county . . 220, 231, 240, 248, 254, 255
— first newspaper in 22
Geer, Mrs. Herbert, Topeka, donor 83
Genealogy and local history, books on,
added to Historical Society library, 186-194 "General Funston, Boyhood Home of,"
text of historical marker entitled 367
Geodetic center of North America, in Os-
borne county 368
— marker for, note on 333
text of 368
Geographic center of the United States,
in Smith county 368
— marker for, note on 333
photograph of facing 368
Georgia, Department of Archives and
History 189
Georgians 116
Georgia's Roster of the Revolution 189
Germania Glee Club, of Havana City. .. 78
Germans, Dickinson county 221
Gibbens, V. E 338
— edited "Letters on the War in Kansas
in 1856" 369-379
Gibson, Mrs. Clyde 110
Gibson, Capt. Francis M., of Seventh
cavalry 185
Giffen, John M., co-founder of Olathe
Herald 25
Gihon, Dr. John H 59
— author of Geaty and Kansas 56
Giles, Frye W 11. 12
— secretary Topeka Bridge Company 120
Gilmore 400
Gilroy, Marion 189
Gilson, Mrs. Lulu Purdy Ill
Gipson, Lawrence Henry 189
Gipsy rice corn 247
Girard HO, 134
Girard News 135
Girard Press, date of first issue a matter
of doubt 133
—established by W. H. Warner and
E. A. Wasser 135
Gird, , co -publisher of New
Tecumseh 401
Gledhill, A. E 334
Gledhill, Joseph 334
Gleed, Charles S 151-153
— editor The Kansas Memorial, A Report
of the Old Settlers' Meeting, 1879 150
— papers of, given Historical Society ... 87
Glenifer hill, near Salina 212
Globe Live Stock Journal, Dodge City.. 417
Gloucester county, N. J 187
Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia... 99, 101
Goenner, W. G 188
Goode, William H., at Shawnee mission
in 1843 38
Goodin, Joel K., member Centropolis
Town Company 17
Goodin, John R., local editor Humboldt
Herald 83
Goodlander, C. W., Memoirs and Recol- lections . . . of the Early Days of
Fort Scott, quoted 325-327
Goodnow, Isaac T 47, 81
— papers and diaries of, given Historical
Society 87
Goodrich, C. L., Elk Falls Examiner es- tablished by 146
Goodyear, Miles, first citizen of Utah,
note on 185
Goodykoontz, Colin Brummitt 185
Gordon, Jonathan Wesley 177
Gore, Jonathan 285
Goss ornithological collection 83
Gossip Printery, Holton 175
Gothenberg, Nebr 427
Gough, Dr. Glenn T HO
Gould, Helen Miller 428
Gourd, with pebbles inside, accompani- ment to Osage dance 61
Gove City 105, 218
Gove county, first newspaper in. ... 386, 387
— first white boy born in 105
Gove County Republican- Gazette, Gove
City 105, 218
Graham, Alexander W 428
Graham county 212
—first newspaper in 382, 3*
— inventory of archives published.. 180, 334
— note on pioneer days in 212
Grahamville, S. C., Fourth of July, 1856,
at 53
Grainfield 105, 400
— description of 387
— Occidental Hotel 387
Grainfield Republican, first newspaper in
Gove county 386, 387
Granby, Conn., history 192
444
GENERAL INDEX
Grand Army of the Republic, W. W. Nixon first Kansan to hold office as
commander-in-chief of 222
Grand Center 425
— Baptist Church, note on history of . . . 213
Grange 83, 255
Grant, Gen. Ulysses S 130, 359
Grant county 217
— first newspaper in 397, 398
— historical marker for Wagon Bed
springs in 347
Grant County Register, Ulysses, first
newspaper in Grant county 397, 398
Grant County Republican, Ulysses, first
issue of 217
Grass, Hungarian 247
Grasshopper, Grasshopper Falls, first
paper in Jefferson county 21
— name changed to Jefferson Crescent... 22
Grasshopper creek (or river) 22
— military expedition from Fort Leaven - worth to New Mexico, encamped on,
July 4, 1854 38
Grasshopper Falls 21, 22, 284
— derivation of name 22
— name changed to Valley Falls 22
— Proslavery raid on 355
Grasshoppers 236, 237
— candied, note on 106
Graves, W. W 128, 130
Graves, along side of Fort Leavenworth-
Fort Laramie road 102
Graveyard on prairie, at Ivanhoe 215
Gray, John M., Kirwin 101
Gray county, cut-off of Santa Fe trail in, 347
— first and second newspapers in 319
— formerly called Foote county 319
— inventory of archives published.. 180, 334
Great Bend 220, 406
— Arkansas Valley (Echo), first news- paper in 305
— historical marker for Fort Zarah near, 359
— history, note on 424
Great Bend Tribune, sixty-fifth anniver- sary edition of, note on 424
Great Plains 154
Great Salt Lake 357
Great Spirit spring. See Waconda.
Great Western Hotel, Elwood 354
Greater Kansas City Federal Business
Association 189
Greeley, Horace, quoted on subject of
freedom 35
Greeley, Fourth of July, 1857, observed
in grove north of 71
Greeley county, first newspaper in 407
— last county organized 407
Greeley County Gazette, Greeley Center, 408
Greeley County News, Greeley Center... 408
Greeley Tribune, Tribune 408
Greene, Justice Adrian L 165
Greene, C. W 321
Greenleaf Sentinel 183
Greensburg News 392
Greensburg Rustler, first newspaper in
Kiowa county 392, 393
Greenwich, England, longitude from, 27, 368
Greenwood, Mrs. C. F 422
Greenwood county, first newspaper in... 131
— inventory of archives published.. 180, 334
Gregg, Josiah 346
Gregor Clan, American Society of 186
Gregory, 416
Gregory, Mrs. Cora Garber 189
Griffee, Mrs. Lawrence 427
Griff enstein, William, material for Wich- ita Vidette hauled from Fort Hays by, 141
Griffenstein, Mrs. William [?] 419
Griffin, Charles Eldridge 177
Griffith, Charles E., founder of Southern
Kansas Herald, Osawatomie 19
Griffith, Rev. L. H 429
Grimes, Mrs. K. L Ill
Grimes, Sidney E 429
Grinnell Record-Leader 105
Griswold, Glenn E 189
Griswold Family, England- America 189
Grover, Charles 37
Guerrillas 176
Guilford 222
Guilford County, North Carolina, His- tory of 193
Gunther, 374
Gustafson, Mrs. Amanda Brown, born in
Graham county 212
Gustine, Dr. 116
Gustine, Miss 117
Gypsum, Barber county mine of, note on 106
Hackett, D. C., Emporia 414
Haight, Edith 419
Haines, Stella B., president Augusta His- torical Society 110, 213
Halderman, John A 13
Hale, Edward Everett 150
Hale, John P 175
Halifax County North Carolina, History
of 186
Hall, A. Oakley, of New York 50
Hall, Mrs. C. E., of Wilson county 222
Hall, Mrs. Carrie A., Leavenworth . . 99, 101 Hamelton, Charles A., driven from Kan- sas 219
— massacres Free-State settlers at Marais
des Cygnes 356
Hamer, P. M., of National Archives,
Washington, D. C 38
Hamilton, C. W 318
Hamilton, Cloyce M 318
Hamilton, R. L., Belpit 101
Hamilton, William, missionary 348
Hamilton county 83
— first newspaper in 83
— included part of present Stanton
county 407
Hammond, George Peter 177
Hampden Expositor, published by I. E.
Olney 124
Hancock, Gen. Winfield S 356, 359-361
Hand, G. D 293
Hand, Le Roy T 420, 421
Handbook of Historical Societies in the United States and Canada, new edition
planned 333
Hanna, B. J. F 125
—established Salina Herald 124
Hanover 221
— historical marker for "Hollenberg Pony
Express Station" near 334, 857
Hanover County, [Va. ] Chancery Wills
and Notes 187
Hanson, Noah 77
Harbaugh, Corbett & Co 299
Harbord, Gen. James Guthrie 421
— various addresses of 178, 179
Hardy, Harry A., caretaker Shawnee
Methodist Mission 86
Hardy, Mrs. Kate 86
Harger. Charles M., Abilene 101
Harker', Maj. Gen. Charles G 359
Harmer, A. F 316
Harmer & Baker 316
Harmer & Hugill 316
Harmony Mission, Mission Neosho a
branch of 347
Harned, Thomas B 150
Harney, Gen. William S 289, 360
Harper, Mrs. Jesse C. (Melville Camp- bell), secretary Clark County Historical
Society 107, 223, 429
GENERAL INDEX
445
Harper county, first newspaper in . . 320, 321 — historical marker for "Old Runny-
mede" in 366
Harper Graphic 392
Harper Sentinel 417
Harper's Ferry insurrection 121
Harrington, Grant W 77
Harrington Printing Company 77
Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Jack 262
Harris, John Peter 179
Harris, Mrs. Nellie McCoy 262
Harris Hotel, Westport, Mo 262
Harrison, Mary Bennett 179
Hart, Louis C 422
Hartford (Conn.) Courant 56
Harvey, Mrs. Alexander M 90, 99, 101
Harvey, Augustus Ford, surveyor, field
notes of, mentioned 423
Harvey, Col. James A 355, 378, 379
Harvey family 190
Harvey county 365
— first newspaper in 300
— historical marker for "Red Turkey
Wheat" in 365
— Newton Kansan, early newspaper in.. 301
Harvey County Gazette^ Newton 302
Hafkell county, a case study in, noted.. 176
— first newspaper in 402
— once part of Finney county 402
Haskell Indian Institute, Lawrence 352
Hastie, W. L 109
Hastings, Nebr 427
Hatfield, Abraham 189
Hatfield, Thomas 189
Hatfields of Westchester 189
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove 101, 339
Hauppage, Long Island, A History of . . 194
Havana City, Germania Glee Club 73
Haven, M. C 47
Haverhill Tercentenary Committee 189
Hawes, Mrs. F. S., Russell 221
Hawkins, C. W 110
Hay houses 136
Hayden, Mother Bridget 349
Hayes, O. L., of Wilson county... Ill, 222 Hays, , co-editor of Prairie Owl,
Fargo Springs 398
Hays City 101, 204
— at end of Union Pacific, Eastern
division 128
—"Boot Hill" of 361
— court scene, 1872 209
— description of, 1871 329, 330
— established 1867 361
— historical marker for Fort Hays
at 333, 361
Hays City Railway Advance, first news- paper in Ellis county 127
— second paper established west of
Junction City 128
Hayward, Elizabeth 190
Hay wood, R. C. & Co., early Wichita
furniture dealers 142
Haywood County, North Carolina, Annals
of 186
Hazard, Thomas Robinson 189
Hazard family, of Rhode Island 189
Hazelton Express 390
Hazzard, Sexton &, publishers of Kicka-
poo Pioneer 7
Healing Springs, S. C., Fourth of July,
1856, at 53
Hector Echo, first newspaper in Greeley
county 407
Hedrix, C. E., Marysville 220
Heeler, Ben F., Wichita 99, 101
Heifer, produced in court for crowd.... 210
Heilman, Dorothy P 422
Heinemann, Charles Brunk 189
Heller Bros., Clyde 140
Henderson, Harold J., supervisor of His- torical Records and Imprint
surveys 84, 335
Henderson, John, of Leavenworth
Journal 263
Hendricks, 294
Hendricks family 292, 293
Hendry, A. S., McPherson 214
Henry, Lurana (Cady) 188
Henry, Samuel, of Massachusetts 188
Henry, Stuart 259
Henry, Theodore C., Abilene. . 250, 255, 259
—speech of, 1870, quoted 255-257
Henry Genealogy 188
Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, cited and
quoted 6, 10, 11, 14, 17
18, 20, 23, 25, 28, 41, 43- 46
68-70, 72, 74, 148, 296, 376
— file in Historical Society 9
— published by George W. Brown 7
Herd law, campaign for 254, 255
Herington, historical marker for Father
Padilla near 334, 343
Herington Chamber of Commerce, folder
recently published by 112
Hertzler, Dr. Arthur E 105
Hesperian Western Literary club, Cawker
City 217
Hewins, history, note on 424
Heywood, William Sweetzer 189
Hiawatha 77, 83
— First Presbyterian Church 183
Hibner, Aldis Everard 189
Hick, R. S., co-editor of Pottawatomie
Gazette 126
Hickey, A. P., editor Southern Kansas, 14
Hickman, C. T., of Ivanhoe 402
Hickok, James Butler 360, 362
—marshal at Hays City 361
Hickory Point, Battle of 378, 379
— historical marker for, note on 333
text of 355
Hicks, A. B 311
Hicks, Mrs. [Francis A.], Wyandot
Indian 263
Hiffgins, Will C., owner of Veteran
Sentinel 407
Higgins, William, publisher 137
Higginson. Thomas Wentworth 53
Highland, Doniphan county 82, 219
— historical marker for Highland Presby- terian Mission near 848
Hildebrand, Clara Brandley 110
Hildt, Mrs. Angeline (Switzer) 260
Hildt, Fred T 260
Hildt, George H., biographical sketch.. 260
— diary of 74
published 260-298
Hildt, John E 260
Hi'dt, Mrs. John E 260, 261
Hildt, Lt. John McL 289
Hill, , partner of Hugh M. Moore,
in land agency business 117
Hill, J. F., director Topeka Bridge
Company 120
Hill, Milt Dean 421
Hill City 100, 101
— Western Star, first newspaper in
Graham county 382
Hill City Times 212, 382
Hillsboro 99
Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce 112
Hillsboro, Kansas, A Guide to, compiled
under Writers' program, WPA 112
Himrod, Kirk 322, 323
Hinkle, Bliss McGlashan 185
Hinkle, George H 185
Hinshaw, William Wade 189
Hinton, Richard J 53, 67
Hippie, Lt. , of Third artillery 208
446
GENERAL INDEX
Historic sites, acquired by Kansas legis- lature, 1941 219, 220
—list of markers placed 333, 334
Historical and Philosophical Society of
Ohio 190
Historical markers, Kansas 85
— list giving location of 333, 334
— summary of project, 1934-1941.. 339, 340
— texts and locations of 341-368
— texts for, written by Historical Society, 85 Historical Records Survey, inventories of
county records issued by 84
given to Kansas State Historical
Society 80
— number of workers on 84
History, 1856, letters describing events
of 369-379
Hixson family, of Tennessee 191
Hoag, David D., pioneer of Oakley 400
Hoag, Mrs. Eliza Oakley (Gardner),
Oakley named for 400
Hobble, Frank A., Dodge City 100
Hoch, Judge Homer 221
Hodge, Bill 280
Hodgeman Agitator, Hodgeman Center,
first newspaper in Hodgeman county.. 321
Hodgeman county 104
— first newspaper in 321
—organized in 1879 321
Hoffman, 330
Hog prices, comparison of 83
Hogin, John C., Belleville 100
Holladay, Ben, bought freighting outfit
of Russell, Majors & Waddell 218
Hollenberg, George H., ranch house of,
a Pony Express station on Oregon
trail 220, 221, 357
"Hollenberg Pony Express Station," his- torical marker for, note on 333
text of 357
Hollibaugh, Mrs. E. F., Biographical
History of Cloud County, Kansas,
cit^d 139, 140
Holliday, Charles K 315
Holliday, Cyrus K 54, 353, 425
— director Topeka Bridge Company.... 120 — member Centropolis Town Company.. 17 Hollidaysburg (Penn.) Democratic
Standard 209
Holloway, Emory 152, 153
Holmes, Bryant 402
Holtpn Recorder, sixtieth anniversary
edition mentioned 24
Home Missions on the American Frontier,
note on 185
Homestead law, Samuel A. Kingman
credited with being the father of 98
Homsby, Columbus, member Emporia
Town Company 15
Honeyman, Abraham Van Doren 190
Honnell, W. R., Kansas City, 220, 427, 428
Hoppes, 78
Horse, catching a stray 285
Horse racing, at Indianola, July 4, 1857, 72
Horses 251
— Indian 285
— Mitchell county, driven off by
Cheyennes 147
—prices of, 1860 122
Topeka, 1857 118
—wild 414
Horse's Back, Comanche chief 360
Horton 90, 101
Horton Headlight 176, 177
Houston, Samuel D 41
Hovey, James B 290
How, Mai. 203
Howard City Messenger 311
Howard county 146, 147
— included Elk and Chautauqua counties, 311 Howard County Ledger, Longton. . 146, 147
Howard County Messenger, Boston, first newspaper in confines of present Ghau-
tauqua county 311
Howat, Alexander McWhirter 336
Howe, Edgar Watson, author The Bless- ing of Business 180
Howe, Maurice L 185
Howes, Cecil 107, 421
Hoyt, Maj. David S 374
Hoyt, George H 78
Hubach, Robert H., assistant instructor in Department of English, Indiana
University, Bloomington, Ind 114
—"Walt Whitman in Kansas," article
by 150-154
Hubbell, P. H., Ellsworth Advocate es- tablished by 128
Hubbell Genealogy 188
Hudson, Mr. , shot by Proslavery
men 66
Hudson, Maj. Joseph K 429
Huggins, William L., Emporia 100, 111
334, 336
Hughes, Em. S., and W. G. Mugford, editors and publishers of Oxford
Times 148
Hughes, James, of Osawatomie 19
Hughs, Gertie 215
Hugill, Harmer & 316
Hugo, early history of 405
• — formerly in Seward county 406
— name changed to Hugoton 405
Hugo Herald, first newspaper in Stevens
county 405, 406
Huguenot Society of South Carolina 190
Hull, Mr. 134
Humboldt, Herald, first newspaper in
Allen county 32
— note on early settlers of 419
— St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran
Church 180
Humboldt creek 231
Humphrey, J. C., co-publisher of Ober-
lin Herald 384
— editor Belleville Telescope 145
Hungarian grass 247
Hunsicker, Clifton Swenk 190
Hunt, Charles L., Concordia 100
Hunt, Frazier 180
Hunters, disguised in wolf or antelope
skins, to approach buffalo herds 103
"Hunting Buffalo via the Union Pacific
in 1868" 204
Hupps, 78
Huron cemetery, Kansas City, Kan 355
Huston, E. P., and David Downer, found- ers of Clay County Independent, Clay
Center 149
Hutchinson, John, ousted member of 1855
legislature 41
Hutchinson, William, Lawrence 43, 73
Hutchinson 83, 213, 221
• — description of 305
— Rice County Herald moved to 309
• — seventieth anniversary of founding of,
note on 217
Hutchinson Herald 218, 320
Hutchinson News, first newspaper in
Reno county 304, 305
• — Judge Huston Whiteside editor and co- founder 213
Hutchinson News-Herald 216, 304
• — special edition celebrating seventieth
anniversary of founding of Hutchinson, 217 Hutchison, J. W., daguerreotype of Elm
tree, Leavenworth, taken by 6
Hutchison, W. B., co-founder Wichita
Vidette 140
—later full owner of Vidette 141
Huxman, Gov. Walter A 85, 87, 339
Hyatt, Thaddeus 50
GENERAL INDEX
447
latan 324
Ihde, Sherman G 429
Ihde, Villa Harvey 429
Iliff, E. W 318
Illinois colony, near Bunker Hill 299
Illinois State Historical Library 191
Independence 108
— description of, 1870 136
— historical marker for "Civil War Bat- tle, Drum Creek Treaty" near... 334, 857 Independence crossing, Big Blue river. . . 350 Independence Pioneer, first newspaper in
Montgomery county 136
Independence Square, Philadelphia 51
Independent Holiness Movement, note on
history of 212
Indian, attack, guarding against 74
— battle, on Glenifer hill, east of Salina,
1857, note on 212
— burial pit, Republic county, discovery
of 334
Saline county, historical marker for, 341
note on 333
— campaigns, Fort Riley organization
headquarters for 351
—chiefs, Dull Knife 343
— depredations, 1874 364
on overland routes 77
— home, description of 263
— lands, Shawnee 260
— missions, Baptist for Shawnees, note
on 427
Catholic, for Osages 349
for Pottawatomies 350
first in Kansas 347
Friends for Shawnees 348
Iowa, Sauk & Fox mission building, 219
Methodist, at Council Grove 345
for Wyandpts, Rev. John M.
Chivington in charge of farm of, 38
Presbyterian, for Iowa, Sauk and
Fox Indians 348
for Osages 347
— payments in Kansas 207
— ponies, Topeka prices, 1857 118
— prisoners, Topeka, Walt Whitman ac- companied group to see 152
— pueblo, Scott county, only known one
in Kansas 343
— raid in Kansas, last, marker for 220
— raids, Lincoln county, historical marker
for 333, 363
— rock, near Salina 212
— scare, near Oskaloosa 204
— skill with bow and arrow, note on.... 420 — trading post, in Linn county, 1830's. . 356
— trails, note on 426
— treaties, Medicine Lodge, 1867 363
Osage, 1865 347
— troubles 147
— war, Comanche and Osage, end of,
note on 106
"Indian and the Buffalo," text of his- torical marker entitled 341
"Indian Burial Pit," Saline county, text
of historical marker entitled 341
"Indian Raid, Last, in Kansas," text of
historical marker entitled 365
"Indian Treaties on the Little Arkansas,"
text of historical marker entitled 360
Indian Wars of the Northwest, note on. . 184 Indiana company, in Wakarusa War,
1856 377
Indiana Historical Society 187, 190, 193
Indiana regiments, Fiftieth infantry,
Co. G 183
Indiana University, Bloomington 114
Indianola 46, 116
—Fourth of July, 1856 60
1857 72
Indians 106
—Apache 356, 863
— Arapahoe 213, 360, 363
— at Lawrence, 1855, for Fourth of July
celebration 42, 43
— broke up Fourth of July celebration on
site of Omaha, Neb., 1854 89
—Cheyenne 213, 343, 356, 360, 863
attack on Fort Wallace, 1867 361
Black Kettle's band of 360
1878 raid by, the last in Kansas. . . 365
massacre, of Lincoln county buffalo
hunters, 1864 868
of surveyors, 1874, in Meade
county 864
Mitchell county settlers killed by,
1870 147
warriors, awaiting trial for partici- pation in Dull Knife raid 211
— Chippeway 185
—Comanche 347, 356, 360, 363
end of war between Osages and,
note on 106
— Confederated tribes at Fourth of July
celebration, 1856 61
—Delaware 42, 46, 213
reservation 261
— Iowa, Presbyterian mission for 348
removed to Kansas. 219
— Kansas 213, 359
government housing for, note on... 426
Methodist mission for, Council
Grove 845
reservation in Morris county 345
signed treaty to leave Morris county,
1872 345
treaty of 1825 220, 346
— Kiowa 356, 360, 363
attack on Fort Zarah, 1868 359
—Osage 359
Catholic mission for 349
Chief Townmaker 61
end of war between Comanches and,
note on 106
in Civil War battle with Confeder- ates in Montgomery county 357
moved to Indian territory,
1870 349, 357
Presbyterian mission for 847
trading post among, established
1844, by A. B. Canville 347
treaty, Council Grove, 1825... 345, 346
Drum creek, 1870 357
with United States, 1865 347
war dance of 61
White Hair chief of band of 347
— Pawnee, village of, in Republic county, 344
—Plains 347, 360, 361, 368
in vicinity of Fort Harker 859
Southern 185
— Pottawatomie 46, 204, 213
agency 207, 208
Catholic mission for, at St. Marys, 350
destitution among, 1854-1855 233
incident concerning a member of the
tribe 324
integrity of 208
United States agency for, St. Marys, 350
— Quiviran 341, 343
— Sauk and Fox, Presbyterian mission for, 348
removed to Kansas 219
— Shawnee, Dr. J. T. Barton surgeon for, 268
Friends mission for 348
lands, in Kansas 260, 348
missions established for 848
village site within present Kansas
City, Kan 355
— Sioux 213, 356
— Stockbridge, near Fort Leavenworth,
1842 324
— Wyandot 38
removed to Kansas, 1844 355
448
GENERAL INDEX
"Indians Attend a Circus at Lawrence". . 211
Industrial Luminary, Parkville, Mo 37
Industry, Clay county 216
Ingalls, John J •
Ingersoll, E. P 73
Inland Tribune, Great Bend 104
Insurance Maps of Topeka, Kansas 182
Integral Cooperator, Enterprise, microfilm
files in Historical Society 82
Inventory of the County Archives series,
notes on publication of 84, 334
lola 101
— historical marker for "Boyhood Home
of General Funston" near 367
lola Register, Charles Arnold reporter on, 212 Iowa Indians. See Indians, Iowa.
Iowa State Central Committee 52
Iowa State Historical Society 190, 191
Ironquill, Rhymes of 183
Irrigation, early Indian system of, men- tioned 343
Irvin, Eliza, Presbyterian missionary, 219, 348
Irvin, George 117
Irvin, Samuel M., Presbyterian mission-
arj; 219, 348
Irwin, Pa., seventy-fifth anniversary 190
Itasca, formerly Leonard 401
luka, Pratt County Press, first news- paper in Pratt county 320
Ivanhoe, graveyard for community of... 215 Ivanhoe Times, first newspaper in Has-
kell county 402
Ivanhoe Town Company 402
Jack rabbit, chase of, Logan, 1880 418
Jackson, Mitchell Y 187
Jackson, N. D 428
Jackson, William Henry, autobiography
noted 185
Jackson county, Elizabeth N. Barr's his- tory of, mentioned 24
— first newspaper in 24
Jackson County News, Holton 314
— first newspaper in Jackson county 24
Jacksonville, Neosho county, defunct
town 129
—Neosho Valley Eagle established in... 128 — townsite located in three counties.... 130
Jacquith, Lois 422
Jail, printing office of Wichita Vidette
used for 103
James, Albert M 397
James, Mrs. Augusta, town named for.. 214 James, C. N., one of founders of
Augusta 213, 214
James, Frank 176
James, Jesse 83, 176
Janesville (Wis.) Gazette 66
Jay County, Indiana, History of 191
Jayhawkers 349
Jefferson, boundaries of proposed state
of
27
Jefferson county, first newspaper in 21
— historical marker for "Battle of Hick- ory Point" in 855
note on 333
Jeffersonian Democracy in South Caro- lina 194
Jenkins, Dr. D 308
Jenkins, Gaius 67
Jenkins, W. D 304, 308, 312, 313
Jenness, R. H 71
Jennings, Adele, librarian Cawker City
library 217
Jennings, John R 138
— publisher Wilson County Courier, Fre-
donia 137
Jennings, Lester C 427
Jennison, Charles R 83
Jens, Mary 419
Jerome, F. E. & Co 303
Jessee, William, ousted member 1855
legislature 41
Jester, Alexander 415
Jesuits, in Kansas 349, 350
Jewell 222
Jewell City Weekly Clarion, first news- paper in Jewell county 304, 305
Jewell county, first newspaper in 304
Jewell County Diamond, Jewell City... 304
Jewell Monitor 304
Jewett, 294
Jewett, Dr. [B. M. ?].... 291
John Brown University, Siloam Springs,
Ark 106
Johnson, 126
Johnson, E. W 422
Johnson, Mrs. Eliza Williams, note on
reminiscences of 216
Johnson, H. D 39
Johnson, Jack T 190
Johnson, Jim, of Smith county 308
Johnson, John, of Smith county 308
Johnson, Martin 180
Johnson, Mrs. Osa (Leighty) 180
Johnson, William A 61, 71
— History of Anderson County published
by 124
Johnson City, formerly named Veteran. . 407
Johnson City Sentinel 407
Johnson county 74, 93, 220
— first newspaper in 24
— historical marker, Oregon and Santa Fe
trails in 845
Shawnee Friends Mission in 348
— inventory of county archives pub- lished 180, 834
— Spring Hill township 260
Johnson County Standard, Olathe, first
newspaper in Johnson county 24
— founded by Barker & Eddy 25
Johnston, Joseph E 71, 72
Johnston, Louisa P 223, 427, 428
Johnston, Saunders W 94
— appointed to supreme court of Kansas
territory 93
— held court at Pawnee 95
Jones, 135
Jones, Batt 293
Jones, Bert L 106
Jones, Charles F 422
Jones, Elias 190
Jones, Horace, Lyons 99, 101
Jones, Howel H 110
Jones, Miss Lucinda Ill
Jones, Paul Ill, 421
— chairman Kansas Coronado Cuarto
Centennial Commission 99, 108
Jones, Sheriff Samuel J 263
Jonesburg, history, note on 424
Joplin (Mo.) Globe, "1941 Progress Edi- tion," note on 213
"Jornada" 347
Judicial district, 23d, private docket of,
given Historical Society 81
"Judiciary, Kansas, Beginnings of the," address of T. A. Lillard before the
Historical Society 91
Julesburg, Colo 427
Julian, George W 150
Junction City 231, 234, 236, 237
244, 250, 252, 254
— ftour mill at 235, 239
— historical marker, for Fort Riley near, 351
Pawnee Capitol near 352
— Santa Fe mail starts from, July 2,
1866 252
— town building campaign, 1869 253
— Union Pacific railroad completed to,
1866 345
Junction City Sentinel, first newspaper in
Geary county 22
GENERAL INDEX
449
Junction City Town Company 23
Junction City Union 209, 304, 807
312, 329, 414
— quoted 125, 127, 128, 143
Juniata, Pa 118
Kagey, Charles L., Wichita 101
Kagi, John H 121
Kanopolis, historical marker for Fort
Harker near 359
—on site of Fort Harker 359
Kansapolis, Shawnee county 55, 56
Kansas territory, common school educa- tion in 83
— included present Colorado to the Con- tinental divide 26
— Supreme Court, began July 30, 1855, 91
Judges, appointed by President
Pierce 93
assignments, 1855 95
Kansas, books on, added to Historical
Society library 175-184
— called the soldier state 217
— census records 112
— counties named for soldiers in, note on, 217
— Court of Appeals 167
— federal courts 179
—first capitol of 220
— frontier, Catholic church on 83
— hard times in, 1860 122
— Historical Records Survey, various
publications of 84, 179, 334, 335
— imprints, check list of 179
— laws, 1855, provisions regarding
slavery 94
— Legislative Council 180
—Legislature, 1855 41, 352
contemptuously referred to as the
"bogus legislature" 94- 96
date of convening 93
1857 120
1860, convened at Lecompton and
adjourned to Lawrence 122
1911 166
1939, makes appropriation for re- storing north building of Shawnee
Methodist Mission 85
1941, historic sites purchased by... 219
Free-State 119
— migration of the negro into early 83
— milling in 183
— northwest, settlements in 83
— party platforms in 83
— pioneer days in, by Jessie Hill Row- land, note on 419
— pioneer life, in fiction 83
— regiments, Second Volunteer infantry. . 115
Fourth militia 62
Eleventh cavalry, Thomas Ewing,
Jr., colonel of 98
Fourteenth Volunteer cavalry 115
in Civil War, note on 83
— Secretary of State, gift of records to
Historical Society 81
— southern, industrial development of,
note on 423
— Southern toasts to, at Fourth of July, 1856, celebration at Charleston, S. C., 54
— Supreme Court 221
elected under Wyandotte Constitu- tion, date of first session 97
— troops in Civil War, organization and
administration of 83
— under five flags, note on 421, 422
— woodlands of, note on 183
Kansas Bulletin, Tecumseh, quoted 66
Kansas Catholic Historical Society, Rev.
Angelus Lingenfelser, secretary of 100
Kansas Chief, White Cloud 75- 77
29—1043
Kansas City, Greater, The Federal Gov- ernment in 189
Kansas City, Kan 83, 99, 101, 111, 220
270, 277, 278, 295
—directory 182
— historical marker for, note on 333
text of 355
— Junior College 223
— Wyandot Indian cemetery in 355
— Wyandotte and Quindaro in present
limits of 355
Kansas City, Mo 8, 262, 293
— a thriving village in 1843 38
Kansas City (Mq.) Enterprise... 7, 14, 203 — microfilm files in Historical Society... 82
Kansas City (Mo.) Journal 320, 393
— See, also, Kansas City (Mo.) Journal
of Commerce.
Kansas City (Mo.) Journal of Commerce, microfilm files in Historical Society, 82, 83
Kansas City (Mo.) Mail 150
Kansas City (Mo.) Star, 132, 215, 216, 421
— historical articles appearing in 107
Kansas City (Mo.) Times 216, 421
— historical articles appearing in 421
Kansas City Type Foundry, Kansas City,
Mo 387
Kansas Constitutionalist, Doniphan, first
newspaper in Doniphan county 12
— time of first issue in doubt 13
Kansas Coronado Cuarto Centennial Com- mission, members of 108
— Paul Jones chairman of 99
Kansas Daily Commonwealth, Topeka. See Topeka Daily Commonwealth.
Kansas Day, banquet speeches 83
Kansas Democrat, Topeka 315
Kansas Editors' Annual for 1877, cited, 5 Kansas Express, Manhattan, first news- paper in Riley county 27
Kansas Free State, Lawrence 41, 46
— file in Historical Society 9
Kansas Freeman, Topeka 46
— file in Historical Society 11
— first issue dated July 4, 1855 45
— first newspaper in Shawnee county 10
— Herald of Freedom's mention of 11
— history of its founding 11
— printed on the op<?n prairie 10
Kansas Gas and Electrical Company 83
Kansas Grange 83, 255
Kansas Herald of Freedom, Lawrence.
See Herald of Freedom.
Kansas high schools, social studies in. . 223 Kansas Historical Collections. . . 37, 43, 46 47, 53, 61, 73, 76, 86
Kansas historical markers 85
— lists giving location of 220, 333, 334
— photographs facing 339, 352, 368
— summary of the project, 1934-
1941 339, 340
— texts and locations of 341-368
— warning markers for approaches to, in- set facing 352
"Kansas Historical Notes". .108-112, 219-224 833-336, 427-429
Kansas Historical Quarterly. . . 4 19 34 38
72, 84, 120, 132, 220,' 424
— Dr. James C. Mai in associate editor. . 84
— index in preparation 86
Kansas Historical Records Survey, inven- tories of county archives published
by 84, 334
'Kansas History as Published in the
Press" 105-107, 212-218
331, 332, 419-426
Kansas History Teachers Association, fifteenth annual meeting held at To-
Peka 222
Kansas imprints, check list of, published, 84 "Kansas Indian Treaty," text for histor- ical marker entitled 346
450
GENERAL INDEX
Kansas Indians. See Indians, Kansas. Kansas Industrial Court, note on study
of 335, 336
Kansas Industrial Development Commis- sion 108, 180
Kansas Insects, Studies in 177
Kansas Leader, Centropolis, first news- paper in Franklin county 17
Kansas Magazine, Manhattan 181
Kansas Magazine, Topeka 150
Kansas Magazine Publishing Company,
Topeka 150
Kansas Mammals 175
Kansas -Missouri boundary line dispute,
note on 216
Kansas-Nebraska bill 4, 39, 51, 65, 150
— passed in 1854 91
— protest over passage of 34
Kansas News [Kanzas News], Emporia, 18 20, 21, 26, 28, 73, 78
— first newspaper in Lyon county 15
— newspaper file acquired by Historical
Society 86
Kansas Pacific railroad 153, 387
— Hays City on line of 329
— Topeka depot 209
— traveled by Grand Duke Alexis 327
Kansas Pioneer, Bunker Hill, first news- paper in Russell county 299
Kansas Pioneer, Cedarville 308
Kansas Pioneer, Kickapoo 7
Kansas Pioneer, Lawrence, first news- paper in Douglas county 6
— printed at Medina, Ohio 6
Kansas Press, Cottonwood Falls, first
newspaper in Chase county 29
— moved to Council Grove 29
Kansas Reporter, the Pottawatomie
Gazette changed to 126
Kansas river 28, 38, 117, 224, 234
— bridge at Topeka under construction,
1857 115, 120
— crossing of 277
— formed by Republican and Smoky Hill
uniting 351
— Toley's ferry on 288
— tributaries of 231
— valley 92
wheat production in 227-259
Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 126, 181
— First Biennial Report, cited 4
— gives Statistical Rolls to the Historical
Society 81
Kansas State Central Committee 55
Kansas State Chamber of Commerce ... 85 — assisting Highway Commission and His- torical Society in erecting historical
markers along Kansas highways 108
339, 340
Kansas State College, Manhattan... 81, 177
183, 223
— history, note on 184
Kansas State College Press, Manhattan, 184 Kansas State Highway Commission, 85, 108 — erection of Kansas historical markers
by 108, 339, 340
Kansas State Historical Society 6, 8
10, 13, 15, 22, 23, 26, 27, 35, 46 53, 71, 108, 127, 133, 221, 259, 427
— archives division 87
accessions to 81, 83, 84
age verification requests sent to... 81
catalogue cards made for 81
census index, 1860, 1875 81
dead towns, post offices and town- sites, growth of catalogue on 81
— audit report 88, 89
— biographical clippings indexed 87
— book fund asked 79
— books and papers, from old post office
given to 87
list of library accessions of 175-202
— budget requests 79
Kansas State Historical Society, census
records indexed ..................... 87
— Civil War roster index prepared by ... 87
— Clark county chapter of ............ 223
— clipping service of ................. 80
— Collections, index in preparation ...... 86
— cooperating in revision of Union List
of Serials ......................... 80
— corporation charters indexed by ...... 87
-- records cited ................... 128
— D. A. R. gifts of historical materials
to ............................... 80
— dead town list nearing completion.... 87
— directories added to library ...... 194, 198
— directors, board of ............... 99-101
— duplicate magazine disposal ......... 80
— El Dorado oil well marker and ease- ment given to ..................... 109
— executive committee report and appoint- ments ......................... 79, 89
— federal expenditures for ............. 84
—Federal Work Projects .............. 84
— genealogical research in .............. 79
— Goss ornithological collection indexed. . 83
— historic sites list compiled for State Highway Commission ............... 85
— historical marker texts written by .... 85
— Historical Records Survey gives inven- tories to .......................... 80
— History of Kansas Newspapers cited . . 131
135, 137, 138, 146
— imprints, Kansas, inventory of ....... 87
— John Booth bequest ................ 89
— Jonathan Pecker bequest ............. 89
— Judge J. C. R-uppenthal gives records
to
81
— Kansas catalogue in library of ....... 79
— Kansas newspapers, 1940 list published, 82
— Kansas Weekly Herald file in ........ 6
— letters of Oscar E. Learnard given to, 81 —library .................... 62, 80, 87
-- accessions ................... 83, 84
-- Library of Congress cards filed ---- 87
--- catalogue in .................. 80
-- recent additions to, compiled by
Helen M. McFarland ........ 175-202
-- research work in ................. 79
— Lyon County Chapter of ............ 216
— manuscripts ....................... 7
-- accessions ............... 81, 83, 84
-- private acquired by ............. 87
— maps and broadsides mounted ....... 87
— microfilm funds asked for ........... 79
-- projector added to newspaper sec-
tion ........................... 86
— museum, attendance ................ 83
-- class pilgrimages of 100 Kansas
schools made to ................. 83
-- gifts to . . . ..................... 83
-- relics and pictures ............... 87
-- WPA project for ................ 84
— newspaper division ............. 82, 83
-- files acquired by ................ 86
-- microfilm acquired by ............ 82
-- newspaper statistics, 1940 ......... 82
-- shelving installed ............... 86
— nominating committee, reports of, 90, 99
— officers, newly elected ............... 100
— papers of Daniel Woodson, acting gov- ernor, given to .................... 81
— Parkerson estate manuscripts given to, 81
— picture collection of ................ 80
— publications of .................... 86
— Samuel A. Kingman, secretary of.... 98
— secretary of state records given to... 81
— secretary's report ............... 79- 88
— Shawnee Methodist Mission, improve- ments at .......................... 87
— sixty-fifth annual meeting, 1940... 79-101
— staff complimented ............. 87, 88
— state board of agriculture statistical rolls given to ..................... 81
— Thomas H. Bowlus donation ......... 89
GENERAL INDEX
451
Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka
State Journal donates pictures to 80
— Union List of Serials 87
— work done by, on Kansas historical
marker project 339, 340
— work-relief projects sponsored by.... 84 — WPA project listing past changes of newspapers, editors, publishers and
owners 82
— World War poster collection given to,
by Mrs. Bennett R. Wheeler 80
Kansas State Planning Board '. . . 181
• — livestock brands given to Historical So- ciety by 87
Kansas State Printing Plant 177, 183
Kansas State Record, Topeka. See To- peka State Record. Kansas State Teachers College,
Emporia Ill, 175
Kansas Stockman, Topeka 419
Kansas Territorial Register, Leavenworth, 47 Kansas Tribune, Topeka. See Topeka Tribune.
Kansas Vocational School, Topeka 80
Kansas Washington Republican, quoted, 145
Kansas Writers' Project, WPA 181
Kapaun, Rev. Emil 332
Kaw Indians. See Indians, Kansas.
Kaw river. See Kansas river.
Kearns, W. H., purchased Cowley County
Censor, of Winfield 143
Kearny, Stephen Watts, note on 420
Kearny county, first newspaper in.. 383, 384 — historical marker for Chouteau's Island
in 334
— oil strike, note on 420
Kearny County Advocate, Lakin 396
Keenan, 330
Keim, De B. Randolph 204
Kelley, Mark J 145, 303, 308
— papers issued by 133
— Western Observer established by 132
Kelley, Robert 8., an editor of the
Squatter Sovereign 9, 10
Kellogg, A. N., of St. Louis 306
Kelly, 312
Kelly, Charles 185
Kennedy, Dr. A. R. (Bert) 109, 429
Kennedy, E 140
Kennedy, Jessie 394
Kenneth, Sheridan County Tribune, first
newspaper in Sheridan county 388, 389
Kent, Edward, ex-governor of Maine... 40
Kent, William J., publisher 137
Kentucky, "First Census," 1790 189
Kenyon, Howard Nathaniel 190
Kenyon, W. P., killed by Cheyenne In- dians 147
Kenyans, American 190
Kerr, Theo. L 316
Ketchum, Gertrude Wright 194
Kettledrum 58
Key, Thomas J 13
— Kansas Constitutionalist started by. . . 12 Keyser, B. W., editor Junction City
Sentinel 22, 23
Kibbie, W. E 71
Kickapoo, act to establish ferry at,
vetoed by Governor Reeder 93
— American Hotel, military ball at 62
Kickapoo Indians. See Indians,
Kickapoo. Kickapoo Pioneer, second paper printed
in Kansas territory 7
Kickapoo Rangers 62, 379
Kiergan, A. M 212
Kimball, E. E 129
Kindblade, Mrs. C. M 420
King, Capt. Henry, his story of start of
Kansas Weekly Herald 4, 5
King, J. B 320
King, Junie Estelle Stewart 190
Kingman, Samuel A., associate justice. .. 97
— secretary Historical Society 98
— tribute to 98
Kingman Blade 318
Kingman county, first newspaper in. ... 318
Kingman County Citizen, Kingman 319
Kingman Mercury, first newspaper in
Kingman county 318
Kingsbury, George .W., publisher Junc- tion City Sentinel 22
— statement of 23
Kinkel, John M., Topeka 101
Kinsley, antelope at 210
Kinsley Graphic 310, 392
Kinsley Lyceum 103
Kinsley Reporter 103
—first newspaper in Edwards county... 313
Kinzie, Mrs. Roy, author 332
Kiowa county, first newspaper in.. 392, 393 Kiowa Indians. See Indians, Kiowa.
Kirby, Richard Shelton 190
Kirk, Rev. Edward N., of Boston, Mass., 50
Kirk, Thomas 0 421
Kirwin 101
— hogs fall into well on public square. . 103
— Western Kansas Plainsman removed to , 300
Kirwin Chief 103
— first newspaper in Phillips county, 812, 313
Kirwin Chief Steam Printing Co 313
Kirwin Town Company 312
Kivaly (or Rively ?), Mr. ; trading
post of, in Salt creek valley 37
Klaine, name changed to Clark City 391
Kleist, Edward, description of early ven- tures of 400
— editor Oakley Opinion 399, 400
Kline, , mentioned as founder of
Southern Kansas, killed in 1856 14
Kline, E 140
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville 100
Knight, Mr. , once conductor on
line Attica to Medicine Lodge 106
Knight, Lucian Lamar 189
Knopf, Alfred A 152
Know-Nothing party 40
Kob, Dr. K. (Charles F.) 297
Koester, Charles J. D 221
Kossuth hats, worn by Topeka military
company 66
Krehbiel, Laura R- 182
Kretsinger, D. L 404
Krohn, Philip 10, 430
Kuhlman, Charles 181
Kyger, Sam, creek named for 106
Kyger creek 106
La Bar, George 187
Labette county 128, 180
— first newspaper in 129
— sketches of pioneer days in, mentioned, 331 — three newspapers vie for first place in, 129 Labor, and employers' liability law in
Kansas 155-174
— historical articles on, mentioned 331
Laclede, history, note on 425
La Crosse 315
La Crosse Republican 107
Ladd, Erastus D., ousted member 1855
legislature 41
• — quoted 9
Lakin, first issue of Grant County Regis- ter printed at 397
— historical marker for Chouteau's Island
near 334, 344
Lakin Eagle, first newspaper in Kearny
county 383, 884
Lakin Independent 423
Lakin Methodist Church, history, note on, 423
Lamar (Colo.) Register 177
Land, B. K., a fighting editor 129, 130
— Neosho Valley Eagle established by.. 129
452
GENERAL INDEX
Land, timber vs. prairie 248, 249
Land office, Lecompton 260
Landis, R. W 40
Landon, ex-Gov. Alfred M 87
Lands, Osage ceded 83
Lane, Edmund J 187
Lane, James H 17, 63, 54, 116, 286
297, 374, 375, 377, 378 — Army of the North, opened Iowa route
to Kansas 116
— his part in battle of Hickory Point.. 355
— United States muskets seized by 77
Lane, James P 187
Lane, Vincent 422
Lane, William, genealogy 188
Lane, William, of Boston 187
Lane county, first newspaper in 387
— historical society organized in 223
Lane County Gazette, California 104
— first newspaper in Lane county.. 387, 388
Lane Genealogies 188
Lane trail, established through Iowa to
Kansas 58
Langley, J. S Ill
Langley, Richard Ill
Larned, Col. B. F 356
Larned 99-101, 220
— historical marker for Fort Larned near, 356 — New West, newspaper, printed at.... 319 Larned Press, first newspaper in Pawnee
county 310
Larned quartet, at old settlers' celebra- tion, Bismarck Grove, Lawrence, 1879, 151
Larson, Gus, of Wilson county 222
"Last Indian Raid in Kansas," text of
historical marker entitled 365
Latham, Colo 427
Lawrence 9, 44
48, 58, 73, 74, 83, 90, 92, 99, 101 109, 116, 124, 132, 152, 261, 266, 283 291-293, 296, 297, 355, 371, 373-378
— ball at Central House 69
—band 69
— center of Free-State resistance... 352, 354
— charter of 277
— Clinton park 43
— daily newspaper of 1855 lasted a week, 41 — established in 1854, by the Emigrant
Aid Company 352
— First Methodist Church 429
— first newspaper in 8
— Fourth of July, 1855, celebrated 42
1856, celebrated jointly with
Topeka 60
1857, marred by accident 70
—Free-State Hotel 66
— Friends Meeting House 425
— historical marker for Lawrence, text of, 352
— John P. Usher mayor of 161
— legislature, 1860, adjourned from
Lecompton to 122
— merchants offer to send flour to Topeka
for use at anniversary gathering 54
— museum building planned for 429
— note on old Dutch windmill in 422
— Quantrill's raid on, 1863 25, 81, 352
— quarter- centennial celebration, 1879, at, 150
—raid on, 1856 352, 354
— ruins of, 1856 116
— Stubbs, military organization 70, 371
372, 375, 376
— Union Hotel 43
"Lawrence, Indians Attend a Circus at," 211
Lawrence Daily Journal 151
Lawrence Daily Journal-World 214, 422
423, 425
Lawrence Republican 69, 70, 78, 74
— microfilm files in Historical Society . . 82
Lawrence Tribune 124, 128, 129, 142
152, 305, 306, 413
Lawrence Tribune, first issue 8
— founded by John and Joseph Speer... 7 — fragmentary file in Historical Society . . 9
— quoted 131
Lawrie, Alexander 369
Lawrie, Alexander, Jr 369
Lawrie, Arthur 369, 370
Lawrie, John, biographical sketch 369
— "Letters on the War in Kansas in
1856" 369-379
Lawrie, Mary 369
Lawrie, Sarah Coombe 369
Learnard, Oscar E 72
— district judge 97
— letters of, gift to Historical Society.. 81
— personal data concerning 81
Learnard, Tracy, San Jose, Calif., gives papers of Oscar E. Learnard to His- torical Society 81
Lease, Mr. 116
Leavenworth, Col. Jesse H 360
Leavenworth 6, 62, 72, 75
81, 97, 115, 116, 127, 132, 236 261-263, 266, 268, 287-289, 370 — "Buffalo Bill" park and monument,
note on 421
— early pictures of, purchased by His- torical Society 80
—Fourth of July, 1855 47
1856 62
— guide to, note on 181
— headquarters of Russell, Majors &
Waddell 218
— "Pioneer Days Festival," note on 421
— political meeting at, 1857 262, 268
— price of corn at, 1864 251
—Public Library 80
— Union Church 62
Leavenworth Call, Joe Clarke, editor. . . 141
Leavenworth Chronicle 181
Leavenworth Conservative 25, 124
—quoted 32
Leavenworth county 65, 96
— criminal court, David J. Brewer judge
of 97
— first newspaper in 4
Leavenworth Herald 7, 13, 14, 48, 51
54, 62, 68, 72, 75 — comments on Herald of Freedom .... 8
—facts on 4- 6
— first newspaper in Leavenworth county, 4 —microfilm files of, in Historical Society, 82
Leavenworth Journal 263
Leavenworth Times 218, 322, 420, 421
Lebanon, Golden Jubilee, 1937 175
— historical marker for geographic center
of the U. S. near, note on 333
photograph of facing 368
Lebanon Times 175
Lecompte, Samuel D 57
— appointed chief justice of Kansas
territory '
— assigned to Leavenworth 95
— declined to send photograph to His- torical Society 96
— elected probate judge and a member of
the legislature 95
—libeled by D. R. Anthony 95
— presided over Lecompton Constitutional
Convention 95
— succeeded as chief justice, by John
Pettit 86
Lecompton 66, 101, 262, 292
296, 297, 376-379
— facts on 353
—Fourth of July, 1856 61
— Free -State prisoners at, 1856-
1857 .. 353, 379
— Gov. Charles Robinson in prison near, 55
— historical marker near 353
— land office 260
GENERAL INDEX
453
Lecompton, legislature, 1860, adjourned.. 122
— prison 63
— Proslavery activities at, July 4, 1856, 54
Lecompton Constitution 296
Lecompton Constitutional Convention. . . 115
• — presided over by Judge Lecompte 95
"Lecompton — Slavery Capital," text of
historical marker entitled 353
Lecompton Union, Palmetto Kansan
printed from materials of 20
Lee, Albert L., district judge 97
Lee, Rev. and Mrs. James Hervey Ill
Lee, Jay M., Kansas City Ill
Lee, Thomas Amory, Topeka 79, 101
— chairman executive committee Histori- cal Society 89
Lee, W. H., owner Lane County Gazette,
California 387, 388
Left Hand, Cheyenne Indian 211
Legate, James F 289
Legislature. See Kansas legislature. Leisening, Mrs. Hattie Wade, Sedalia,
Mo., donor 83
Lemonade 71
Leon News 107
Leonard, Sam 118
Leonard, name changed to Itasca 401
— New Tecumseh moved from Gandy to, 401
Leota, Norton county 316
Leoti City, rivalry with Coronado.. 401, 402 — Wichita Standard, first newspaper in
Wichita county 401, 402
Leoti Standard, formerly Wichita
Standard 401
LeRoy 137
—Fourth of July, 1857 74
— Washington press taken to 132
LeRoy Courier, established by John R.
Jennings 137
— moved to Fredonia 137
LeRoy Pioneer 138
Lester & Armour, publishers Syracuse
Journal 396
Lester, H. N., co-founder Syracuse
Journal 397
"Letters of Hugh M. Moore, 1856-
1860" 115-123
"Letters on the War in Kansas in 1856,"
by John Lawrie 369-379
Leubenville 294
Lewis, Jessymin Thurman 192
Lewis, Sinclair 107
Lewis, Dr. W. H 293, 294
Lewis, Col. William H., death of, in In- dian battle 343
Lewis and Clark expedition 351
— camped on site of Kansas City, Kan.,
1804 855
Lewis family 186
Lexington, Clark county, note on 420
— cemetery, note on 215, 421
Lexington, Kentucky, History of Pioneer, 193
Liberal News 398
Liberator, Boston 39, 45
Liberty hill, Prairie City 70
Libraries, Kansas, volumes examined and
listed, by American Imprints Inventory, 84 "Life on the Ocean Wave," old-time air, 70 Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association.. 190
Lillard, Thomas M 90, 99-101
— "Beginnings of the Kansas Judiciary,"
address 91- 99
— donor 87
— president Historical Society 2, 79
Lilleston, W. F 100
Lincoln, Pres. Abraham 109, 152, 423
—at Atchison, 1859 351
—at Elwood, 1859 354
Lincoln, formerly called Lincoln Center. . 309 — historical marker for "Lincoln County
Indian Raids" near 333, 363
— monument to victims of 1864 and 1869
raids, on courthouse square in 363
Lincoln county, first newspaper in 309
— historical marker for "Lincoln County
Indian Raids" in 333, 363
— Rocky Point school, reunion held at.. 217
— St. John's Lutheran Church, note on. . 425 "Lincoln County Indian Raids," text of
historical marker entitled 363
Lincoln County News, Lincoln Center,
first newspaper in Lincoln county 309
Lincoln County Patriot, Lincoln Center. . 309
— removed to Stockton 315
Lincoln Sentinel -Republican 425
Lindsborg, Bethany church 428
— Swensson park, memorial stone placed
in 428
Lindsey, once county-seat of Ottawa
county 143
Lindsley, H. K., Wichita 99, 101, 109
Lindsley, Robert K., Wichita 108
Lines, Col. C. B 60, 215
Lines, E. J., member Beecher Bible and
Rifle Company, local editor Wabaunsee
Patriot 30
Lingenfelser, Rev. Angelus, secretary
Kansas Catholic Historical Society, 99, 100
Linn county 148
• — first newspaper in 26
— historical marker, for "Marais des
Cygnes Massacre" in 856
— —for battle of Mine Creek in 358
Linn County Herald of Mound City, first
newspaper in Linn county 26
— founded by Jonathan Lyman 18
"Little Arkansas, Indian Treaties on,"
text of historical marker entitled 360
Little Arkansas river 142, 360
Little Bear, Osage chief 426
Little Blue, Jenkins Mills, Nebr., founded
by Mark J. Kelley 133
Little Kansas Magazine 181
Little Raven, Arapahoe chief 360, 363
Little Santa Fe, extinct town, 279, 283, 291 Livestock, brands, given Historical
Society 87
— movements of, prior to 1867 252
Locomotive, "The Albany," first in
Kansas 854
Logan, Gen. John A., Logan county
named for 399
Logan county, first newspaper in. . 399, 400
— originally St. John county 399
Logan Enterprise 416
Logan Freeman 394
Londonderry, Vt., history 187
"Lone Tree Massacre," Meade county,
text of historical marker entitled.... 364
Long, Dick 214
Longhorns. See Cattle, Texas.
Longhorns, The, by J. Frank Dobie 224
Longton, Howard County Ledger second
paper established in present Elk
county 146
Looby -Severns, Winnie 311
Lord, A. A., gathering buffalo chips 104
Loretto, Sisters of 349
Loring, Dr. , of Sixth U. S.
cavalry 330
Loring, Judge E. G., burned in effigy 36
Louisiana territory, acquisition of 91
— attached to Indiana for governmental
purposes 91
— portion reorganized under a territorial
government known as Missouri terri- tory 91
Louisville 126
Lowe, Mr. 416
Lowe, Capt. H. A 378
Lowe, Miss Margaret Ill
Lowe, Percival G 38, 39, 46, 77
— author of Five Years a Dragoon 39
Lowell, Mrs. Harriet (Davis) 190
Lowrey, G. P., private secretary of ex-
Gov. A. H. Reeder 51
454
GENERAL INDEX
Lowry, H., co-publisher of Pearlette
Call 380
Loyalists and Land Settlement in Nova
Scotia 189
Ludlow, Vermont, Record of Deaths in the
Town of 193
Ludwick, Mrs. Bernice, Buffalo 222
Lukens, Dave 117
Lumley, Robert D Ill
Luray Herald 425
Lutheran Augustana Synod, Woman's
Missionary Society 428
Lutheran church, Humboldt 180
Lutz, Harry F 396
Lykins hall, Lawrence 44
Lyman, Jonathan, Linn County Herald
established by 26
— Ottumwa Journal established by 18
Lyon county, first newspaper in 15
Lyon County Farmers' Club 243
Lyon County Historical Society, note on, 216
—officers elected Ill
Lyons, Miss Ida G 109
Lyons 99, 101
— archaeological site near 341
— historical marker for Coronado in 342
— history of, mentioned 3:
Lyon's creek, history of, cited 232
— valley of 238
Lyons Daily News 213
Lytle, John 118
M
McArthur, Mrs. Vernon, Hutchinson,
donor 83
McBratney, Robert, part owner Squatter
Sovereign 10
McBride, A. G 313
McCahon, James, Leavenworth 96
McCain, Capt. 204
McCamish, town of 267, 287
McCandless, Harry 110
McCartney, Alexander 260, 270-275
278, 279, 281-287, 289, 291-297
McCartney, Thomas 270-274
McCausland, Elizabeth 181
McClary, Fletcher 422
McClellan, Rev. Joseph A 107
McClilland, , attack on 210
McClintic (or McClintick), George W,
307, 406
McClure, James R 22
McCollom, J. P., Fort Mann site on farm
of, west of Dodge City 216
McConnell & Mclntire, founders of Wes-
tralia Vidette 136
McCormick, 416
McCormick, Mrs. Mickey (Frenchy),
death of 213
McCormick, Judge Ross 222
McCormick -Mathers Publishing Com- pany, Wichita 181, 183
McCowen, Judge 262
McCoy, Alvin 421
McCoy, Joseph Geating 181, 362
— trail from Abilene to the Red river,
followed Chisholm's trail 105
McCoy, William H 190
McCoy Family, Notes on the 190
McCune 110
McDaniel, Mrs. Ethel Hittle 190
McDermott, John Francis 185
MacDonald, Alfred, city manager, Wich- ita 222
McDonough, Marian Mclntyre 181
McDowell, William C., district judge. . . 97
McFarland, Daniel 77
McFarland, Helen M 101, 175
McFarren, S. J 306
McGill, T. H., of Graham county 383
McGinnis, A. L 313
McGinnis, Mrs. A. L 313
McGinnis, Mrs. C. C 313
McGinnis, M. V 313
McGlashan, Charles Fayette 185
McGuin Publishing Company, Wichita . . 182 Mclntire & McConnel, founders Westralia
Vidette 136
Mclntosh, Lt. , Company E, First
U. S. cavalry 54
McKaig, J. F 285
McKay, J. B., Wichita 109
McKay, William 297
McKeever, Jim, McAllen, Tex 217
McKenney, Thomas Lorraine 185
MacKenzie, George, editor and publisher
Minneapolis Independent 143
Mackinaw boats 324
McKinney, Mrs. J. C Ill
McKnight, Dr. George C., buggy of,
given Historical Society 83
McKnight, John J., Bailey ville, donor. . . 83
McLean, Milton R 90, 99, 100
McLintock, Minda A 181
McMath, William 263
McMeen, William 123
McMurtrie, Douglas C., article "Pioneer
Printing of Kansas," cited 4
McNeal, J. W 318
McNeal, Thomas A 90, 99
100, 109, 217, 318
McNutt, Ernest F., Topeka, donor 83
Macon County, Missouri, General His- tory of 189
McPherson, Mrs. Elizabeth Weir 190
McPherson 83
— history, note on 419
— settlers, note on 419
McPherson county 220, 365
— first newspaper in 306
— historical marker for "Kansas Indian
Treaty" in 346
— property taxation in 181
— schools, note on 420
McPherson Daily Republican 419, 420
McPherson Messenger, first newspaper in
McPherson county 306, 307
McPherson Publishing Company 307
McReynolds, Robert 185
MacWethy, Lou D 191
Madden, John 110
Madigan, Thomas 403, 404
— advertisement of store of 404
Magill, J. S., member Palmetto Town
Company 21
Mahan, Ernest 223
Mail, for Santa Fe 252
Mails, John 176
Mails, Martha 176
Majors, Alexander 218, 223
— home and grounds, effort to make na- tional park of 334, 428
Majors, Charles D., manager Grant
County Register 397
Malin, James C., American History pro- fessor, K. U 90, 112, 223, 265
— associate editor, Kansas Historical
Quarterly 84
— "Beginnings of Winter Wheat Produc- tion in the Upper Kansas and Lower Smoky Hill River Valleys," article .
by 227-259
— president Historical Society 100, 226
— speaker at old settlers' meeting 429
Malone, James 101
Manchester (N. H.) Democrat 53
Mangold, Harry, Hutchinson, donor. ... 83
Manhattan 28, 74, 83, 99-101
111, 231, 238, 237, 241, 244, 245 — bluestem on townsite taller than man
on pony 47
— flour mill at 234
—Fourth of July, 1855 46
1856 60
— St. Paul's Episcopal Church Ill
GENERAL INDEX
455
Manhattan Express, first issue said to
have been printed at Wyandotte 28
Mankato Review 394
Manley, Charles H., Jr 181
Mann, Horace 40
Manufacturing 83
— early, in Kansas, note on 422
Mapleton 73
Marais des Cygnes massacre, site ac- quired by state 219
— text of historical marker for 356
Marais des Cygnes Massacre Memorial
Park, appropriation for 219
Marion, history, notes on 426
— Presbyterian church, note on 426
Marion county 112, 365
— first newspaper in 144
— first Sunday school, note on 426
— history, notes on 426
— press, history of 144
Marion County Record, Marion Centre. . 144 Marion Record, souvenir edition of, note
on 426
Marion Review, Jubilee supplement issued
by, mentioned 332
— souvenir edition of, note on 426
Markers, Kansas Historical, lists giving
location of 220, 333, 334
summary of the project, 1934-1941,
339, 340
text and locations of 341-368
Market agencies, state 181
Markets, home 253
Markley, H. D 302
Markley's Mills, now Minneapolis 143
Marmaduke, Gen. John S 358
Marquis, Robert C., co-owner Clark
County Clipper 391, 392
Marriage, young ladies wanted for 207
Marshal, Dr. A. A., Leavenworth 62
Marshall, Charles, Topeka 85
Marshall, Frank J 850
— member Marysville Town Company. . . 21
Marshall, Lawrence W 27
Marshall county, first newspaper in 20
— historical marker for Marysville in... 350
— history, notes on 423
Marshall County News, Marysville 217
Marston, E., Columbus, Ga., letter of,
to Horace Greeley quoted 37
Martin, Capt. , of steamboat Edna, 324
Martin, Mrs. Daniel 428
Martin, George W 23, 71, 237, 251, 253
Martin, J. C 318
Martin, John A., editor Atchison Cham- pion 10
— governor 407
— purchaser of Squatter Sovereign 10
Martin, Lois McCasland 428, 429
Martin, Dr. Samuel E 12
— director Topeka Bridge Company 120
Martinson, Ola 420
Maryland, History of Western 192
Maryland Historical Society 191
Marysville . . 21, 90, 100, 200, 221, 350, 427
— Advocate- Democrat 423
— historical marker for 220
text of 350
— on Overland Stage route 350
— origin of name 350
— station on Pony Express route 350
Marysville Town Company, Frank J.
Marshall a promoter of 21
Mason, Walt 181
Masonic orders. See Freemasons. Massachusetts, Fourth of July, 1856, in, 50
Massey, Mrs. J. U., Pittsburg 110
Masterson, Bat 364
Mather, Thomas 346
Mathewson, William, desk of, note on. . . 420
Mathias, William G 41
Matsell & Hubbard, Wichita, early mer- chants 142
Matthews, Warren L 222
— Chisholm trail in Kansas traced by. . . 214
Maxwell, Bertram 223
Mayberry, Victoria, married M. M. Mur-
dock 31
Mayse, Mrs. Hattie 421
Meacham, Lucy Helen 181
Meacham, Walter 427
Mead, James L., Chicago 81
Mead, James R., trader, hunter, etc. ... 81 Mead, S. G., founder Eureka Herald,
131, 146 Meade, historical marker for "Lone Tree
Massacre" near 364
Meade county, colony from Muskingum
county, Ohio, in 380
— first newspaper in 880
— massacre of surveyors in, 1874 364
Means, Hugh, Lawrence 99, 101
Meat packing industry 83
Mechem, Floyd R 156
Mechem, Kirke 90, 100, 101, 108
132, 142, 339, 420, 422, 423 — author John Brown; a Play in Three
Acts 181
— secretary Historical Society, report
of 79- 88
— speaker at Crawford County Histori- cal Society meeting 109
Medicine Lodge 106, 363
— Barbour County Mail, first newspaper
in Barber county 317, 318
— historical marker for "Medicine Lodge
Peace Treaties" near 363
Medicine Lodge Cresset 818
Medicine Lodge peace treaties 220
— text of historical marker for 363
Medicine river 363
Medicine Water, Cheyenne Indian 364
Medina (Ohio) Gazette, edited by John
Speer 6, 7
Meeker, Jotham 38
— "Journal" of, quoted 38
Meeker and Thornburg massacre 185
Meeker press 142
— mystery of, mentioned 132
Meheha, Cheyenne Indian 211
Meisser, Solomon, killed by Cheyenne
Indians, 1870 147
Melville, Frank, circus actor 211
Memorial building, Topeka 222
—plaque dedicated, to Helen Miller
Gould, placed in 428
to Spanish-American War veterans
who died in Cuba fighting yellow
fever 108
Memorial Day, Burlingame, 1882, men- tioned 881
Memphis riots 126
Mendenhall, Richard, Quaker missionary,
229, 231 Menninger, Mrs. Flora Vestal Knisely... 181
Menninger, William Claire, author 181
Mennonite colonies, in Kansas 365
Mennonites 419
— in McPherson, Reno and Harvey coun- ties 83
— wheat grown by 224, 365
Menu, banquet for Grand Duke Alexis,
Topeka, 1872 328, 329
— pioneer supper, Wilder House, Fort
Scott, 1867 325-327
Mercer and Boyle Counties [Ky.], His- tory of 188
Meriwether family 186
Merk, John, Jr 221
Merrick, John L., founder Cherry Creek
Pioneer 26
Merrick, Mrs. Robert, Topeka, donor... 82
Merrill, N. C 382
Methodism 212
— Rush county, note on history of 107
— Wilson, and vicinity, note on 107
456
GENERAL INDEX
Methodist Episcopal church, Ashland... 107 — Bison, note on fiftieth anniversary of.. 107
—Clay Center 176
— Englewood, date of organization 106
— established mission and school for Kaw
Indians at Council Grove, 1850 345
— Minneola, date of organization... 106, 107
— Southwest Kansas Conference 183
Mexican War 183
— cannon "Sacramento," from, used in
battle of Hickory Point 355
— troops bound for, followed the Santa
Fe trail 345
Miami county, first newspaper in 19
Middlesex County Historical Society 191
Miege, Bishop 350
Miles, Gen. Nelson A 359-361
Military companies, in Topeka 119
Military escorts, on Santa Fe trail 344
Military roads, note on 426
— west from Atchison, Mormon route to
Salt Lake City 102
Militia, in Lawrence Fourth of July
parade, 1855 43
Mill, Ehrlich's, Marion 426
Miller, A. Q., publisher Belleville Tele- scope 110, 145
Miller, E. H 221
Miller, Mrs. Florence Woodbury 181
Miller, H. W., Thomas county 394
Miller, J., accompanies Jotham Meeker
on trip to Westport 38
Miller, J. C., diary of, in Historical So- ciety 43
Miller, Col. James 36
Miller, Josiah, co-founder Kansas Free
State 8, 9
Miller, Nyle H 340
— journal of Joseph E. Johnston edited
by 72
Miller, Solomon 88
— quoted 76
Millet 247
Milling in Kansas 183
Million, George, ferry landing of, at
Atchison 9
Millison, D. G 301, 302
Mills, Mrs. Julia, on first passenger train
into Hutchinson 213
Milwaukee (Wis.) Daily Sentinel 53
56, 57, 59
"Mine Creek, Battle of," text of his- torical marker entitled 358
Minneapolis Independent, date of first
issue 143
Minneapolis Messenger 393
Minneola, Methodist church, date of or- ganization 106, 107
Minneola Statesman, named by Gen.
James H. Lane 17
Minneola Town Company 17
Minnesota Historical Society 187
Mission, Missionhill Baptist Church.... 427 Mission Neosho, historical marker for,
note on 333
text of historical marker entitled.. 347
— history, note on 424
Missions, Home, on the American Fron- tier 185
Mississippi valley region 154
Missouri, admitted as a state in 1820... 91
Missouri Compromise 49
Missouri Republican, St. Louis.... 203, 324
Missouri river 9, 11, 74, 116
148, 184, 216, 220, 354 — act for ferry at Kickapoo vetoed by
Governor Reeder 93
— ferry, opposite Omaha, Nebr 89
— George Million's ferry at Atchison on, 9 — steamboating on, 1842 324
Missourians 116
— Kansas territorial election frauds com- mitted by, 1855 41
Mitchell, , Free-State man 77
Mitchell, Charles H., of Wilson county. . 222 Mitchell, R. H., co-proprietor of Lakin
Eagle 383
Mitchell county, first newspaper in 147
— historical marker for Waconda spring
in 342
note on 333
Mitchell County, Kansas, Directory of . . 176 Mitchell County Mirror, Beloit, first
newspaper in Mitchell county 147
Mitchner, Bert E., Hutchinson 221
Mobile riots 126
Mock, S. D., professor Kansas State
Teachers College, Emporia Ill, 223
Mohawk valley [N. Y.], first settlers... 191 Mohler, Jacob C., secretary Kansas State
Board of Agriculture 214
Mohler, Ludwig, Family of, in America. . 189
Moneka 74
Money, little in circulation in Kansas,
1860 122
Monitor Press and Printing Company,
Fort Scott 192
Monroe, Pres. James 346
Montana county, first newspaper in, 26, 27
Montgomery, Mrs. Frank C 110
Montgomery, James, and Jayhawkers
raid Fort Scott 349
Montgomery, M. W 191
Montgomery county 187
— first newspaper in 136
— historical marker for "Civil War Bat- tle, Drum Creek Treaty" in 334, 357
— inventory of county archives published,
180, 334 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, A
History of 190
Moon, Isaac 332
Moore, Judge 311
Moore, Maj. 262
Moore, A. A 144
Moore, Alonzo W., founder Jackson
County News, Holton 24
— note on 814
Moore, Bob 117
Moore, Elliott 311
Moore, Fletcher 311
Moore, H. Miles 297
Moore, Hugh M., biographical mention
of
115
— director Topeka Bridge Company 120
—letters of, 1856-1860 115-123
—settled in Topeka, 1857 115
Moore, J. Frank, Juniata county, Penn- sylvania 115
— death of 120
—letter to his uncle William Moore, 117, 118
Moore, J. I., Leavenworth lawyer 47
Moore, John 117
Moore, Lizzie 215
Moore, Russell, Wichita 100
Moore, William 117, 118
Morcombe, Joseph E 319
Morehouse, George P 100
Morgan, Isaac B., Kansas City 99, 101
Mormon crossing, Big Blue river 350
Mormon Grove, described 102
— outfitting station for Salt Lake trains, 102
Mormons 350
— emigration route, from Atchison to
Salt Lake 102
— living at Mormon Grove 102
Morning Star, Missouri river steamboat,
grand ball on 75, 76
Morrill, Levi 307
Morris, , agent of Pottawatomies. . 208
GENERAL INDEX
457
Morris, T. L 306
Morris county, first newspaper in 29
— historical marker for Council Grove in, 345
Morrison, Nod, Smith county 308
Morrison, Thomas F., Chanute 101, 424
Morrow House, Lawrence 69
Morse, E. O., author 331
Morton county, first newspaper in. . 404, 405
— pioneering in, description of 417
Mosier, J 280, 282, 285-287, 289
Mosquitoes 421
Mound City, history of, mentioned..... 331 — Linn County Herald, first newspaper in, 26
founded at 18
Mound City Report 26
Mound City Republic. 331
Mount, Joseph & Co 311
Mount Oread, Charles Robinson's home
on 43
— history, by Robert Taft, note on 335
— visited by Walt Whitman 152
Mugford, W. H., co-editor Oxford
Times 148
Mulberry 110
Mulberry creek, Brown county 77
Mules, price of, 1860 122
Mull, Mrs. Cathryn 223
Mull, Ruth Clark 429
Mullinville community 83
Munn memorial, Topeka, unveiling 183
Munro clan 191
Munroe, James Phinney 191
Murdock, Marshall M., founder Osage
County Chronicle 31
— founder Wichita Eagle 32
Murdock, Thomas 31
Murdock, Thomas Benton 139, 320, 321
Murdock, Victor 100
— list of articles by, in Wichita (Even- ing) Eagle... 105, 106, 214, 215, 419, 420
Muse, Judge R. W. P 300
Muskets 71
— seized by Col. James H. Lane 77
Muskingum county, Ohio, colony from,
settled in Meade county 380
Mussey, Rev. Charles F 332
Myers, Dave 118
N
Napoleon the Third, note on 215
Nash, Edwin S 268, 291
National Era, Washington, D. C 36
National Kansas Committee 50
National Oregon Trail Association 427
National Tribune, Washington, D. C 77
Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas,
officers of 221
Nebraska 365
Nebraska outrage 34
Nebraska territory, observance of July
4, 1854, in 39
Neff, Frank Amandus 182
Negligence, comparative 156
— contributory 156
Negroes, celebration of Emancipation day
by, note on 423
— Graham county, note on 416
— migration, into early Kansas 83
Nebraska 194
— sale of, announced by Sen. Robert
Toombs, of Georgia 37
Nelson, Harvey F 182
Nelson, Kathryn 422
Nelson family, pioneers of McPherson
county, note on 419
Nemaha county, Coal creek settlement,
history of, mentioned 831
— first newspaper in 32
Nemaha Courier, Seneca, first newspaper
in Nemaha county 32
Neodesha Ill, 222, 426
— First Presbyterian Church 222
Neodesha Citizen 137, 146, 302, 305
Neodesha Register 426
Neosho county 128, 130
— first newspaper in 128
— historical marker, for "Mission
Neosho" in 333, 347
Osage Mission in 349
— history, note on 422
— sketches of pioneer days in, mentioned, 331 Neosho County Dispatch, J. A. Trench -
ard becomes publisher 129
— Neosho Valley Eagle changed to 129
Neosho County Journal, Osage Mission, 311
Neosho Falls Advertiser 132
— formerly the Frontier Democrat 131
Neosho Falls Post 132
Neosho Mission. See Mission Neosho.
Neosho river 18, 349
—valley of 32, 232
winter wheat in, 1863 241
Neosho Valley Eagle, Erie 130
name changed to Neosho County
Dispatch 129
— Jacksonville, first newspaper in Neosho
county 128
Nescutunga, Comanche Chieftain 390
Ness City Times 382
Ness county, first newspaper in 381
Ness County Historical Society Ill
Ness County News, Ness City Ill
Ness County Pioneer, Clarinda, first
newspaper in Ness county 381
New Chicago 422
New Chicago Transcript 146
New England Emigrant Aid Company,
acquired Quindaro Chindowan 15
— founded Lawrence 352
—mill of 284
New Hampshire (Province), Probate
Records 191
New Hampshire Historical Society 193
New Haven, Inventors and Engineers of
Old 190
New Haven (Conn.) Daily Palladium. ... 60
New Jersey Historical Society 191
New Orleans massacres 126
New Republic, Bunker Hill 300
New Tecumseh, Gandy, first newspaper in
Sherman county 401
New West, Cimarron, second newspaper
in Gray county 319
New York Chronicle 56
New York Courier 35
New York Daily Times 56
New York Daily Tribune 19, 34-37, 39
40, 47-53, 55-59, 64-68, 70, 102, 153
— mention of Herald of Freedom 9
New York Genealogical and Biographical
Society 189, 191
New York Historical Society 191, 192
New York Post 66
New York Reformed Dutch Church,
marriages in 191
New York Semi-Weekly Times.. 55, 65, 67
New York Semi- Weekly Tribune 56
New York State Kansas Committee 49
Newcomer family, of Allen county 419
Newell, Clara L 191
Newell, J. W 315
Newell's Mills, now called Oskaloosa 378
Newman, Jessie Montgomery 182
News -Democrat, Emporia 17
Newsome, Albert Ray 191
Newspapers, at Leavenworth, acquired by
Historical Society 86
— first in Kansas counties, map showing
dates of 412
summary of 408-411
458
GENERAL INDEX
"Newspapers, First, in Kansas Counties," article by G. R. Gaeddert. . .3-33, 124-149 299-323, 380-412
Newton 100
— cattle drives to, began in 1871 366
Newton Gazette 302
Newton Kansan 302
— early newspaper in Harvey county.... 301
Nichols, E. G 143
Nichols, Nathan Round 191
Nichols, Thomas, of Rhode Island and
Vermont 191
Nichols Genealogy 191
Nicklin, Tom G 313
Nienstedt, Al 426
Night Hawk, Washburn College, Topeka, 82
Niotaze, history, note on 424
Nixon, William W., of Jewell, first Kan- san to hold the office of commander- in-chief of the Grand Army of the
Republic 222
Norris, Mrs. George, Arkansas City 101
North, Jim, of Patterson, Pa 118
North Canadian river 362, 366
North German Baptist Church, Dickinson
county 221
North Platte, Nebr 427
Northampton County, Pennsylvania.,
History of 188
Northeast Johnson County Summer
Musical Festival 428
Northeast Kansas Historical Society, of
Highland 219
Northern Indianian, Warsaw, Ind 65
Northrup, 291
Northwestern colony, Russell, mentioned, 331
Norton 100
Norton county 83
— first newspaper in 316
Norton County Advance, Norton... 383, 389 Norton County Bee, first newspaper in
Norton county 316
Norton County People, Norton 416
Norwich, Society of Founders of 189
Norwich Eighth Society, record of deaths
in 188
Nounnan, James H 293
Nova Scotia, Loyalists and Land Settle- ment in 189
Nunemacher, William R 429
Nye, George A., of Warsaw, Ind 55
Oakley, Walter 72
O&kley, formerly Cleveland 400
—in 1885 400
— origin of name 400
Oakley Opinion, first newspaper in Logan
county 399, 400
Oberlin 220
— description of, 1879 385
— historical marker for "Last Indian
Raid in Kansas" at 365
Oberlin Herald, first newspaper in De-
catur county 384, 385
Ocena 102
O'Daly, Edmund Emmet 191
O'Daly family 191
Odd Fellows, Independent Order of, Te-
cumseh, 1857 72
O'Develins of Tyrone 188
O'Driscoll, B 76
OgHen, Maj. E. A 351
Ogden, George Washington 182
Ogden Historical Society 193
Ohio City, Fourth of July, 1857, at 70
Ohio City company 71
Oil field, El Dorado, dedication of
marker for 109
Oil men's reunion, El Dorado, note on*. 109
Oklahoma 365
- -opening of, note on 215
Olathe 74, 264, 266-268
272, 274, 287, 289, 292-296
— Avenue House 293
— Quantrill's raid on, 1862 25
"Olathe Border Guards" 287 291
Olathe Herald 25
Olathe Hotel 276, 279, 292
Olathe Mirror 25
Olathe Town Company 268
Old Man, Cheyenne Indian 211
"Old R.unnyrrv-de," text of historical
marker entitled 866
"Old Sacramento," cannon 355, 374-379
Oldroyd, Mrs. Alice Wilson 182
O'Leary, Theodore M 421, 422
Oliver, Mr. 134
Oliver, Hannah P., Lawrence. . . 87, 99, 101
Olney, I. E 331
— founder of Garnett Plaindealer 124
Olney, Mrs. I. E 124
Olsenfieff, Count 327
Omaha, Nebr 327
— party of lowans celebrated Fourth of
July, 1854, on site of 39
Onaga Herald 425
Onondaga county, N. Y., mass meeting at Syracuse in sympathy with free
Kansas 50
Ontario, Ind., protest over Kansas -
Nebraska bill from 35
"Opening of the Cherokee Outlet," text
of historical marker entitled 367
Optic, The, Cimarron 319
Order No. 11, effect of 98
Oread. See Mount Oread.
Oregon, Elwood an outfitting point for
emigrants to 354
"Oregon and Santa Fe Trails," text of
historical marker entitled 345
Oregon trail 90, 185, 218
— branch, crossed Kansas river at Papan's
ferry 353
— ford on Blue river known as Independ- ence, Mormon or California crossing. . 350
— Fort Riley an outpost for 351
— historical marker for, in Johnson
county 345
— marker for, at St. Marys, erected by
United Spanish War Veterans 108
— markers, dedicated near Bremen and
Bigelow 427
— Pony Express followed 357
— ranch house of G. H. Hollenberg on,
to be purchased by the state 220
— St. Marys mission a stopping point on, 350
Oregon Trail Memorial Association 220
221, 427
Orleans County Historical Society, New- port, Vt 187
"Osage Catholic Mission," text of his- torical marker entitled 349
Osage ceded lands 83
Osage City Free Press 71
Osage county 71, 212
— Civil War soldiers, mentioned 331
— first newspaper in 31
— inventory of archives published, note
on 334
Osage County Chronicle, Burlingame,
first newspaper in Osage county 31
Osage Indians. See Indians, Osage.
O?age Mission (town) 134
— name changed to St. Paul, 1895 349
Osage Mission Journal, moved to Girard, 133
Osage orange 249, 250
Osage Prairies, Travels on the 185
Osawatomie 100, 229
—Fourth of July in, 1856 61
— sacking of 19
GENERAL INDEX
459
Osawatomie Times, plan to establish 19
Osborn, William J., co-founder Kansas
Weekly Herald 4
Osborne, historical marker for "Geodetic
Center of North America" near. . 333, 368
Osborne City Times 302-304
Osborne county, early history, note on.. 424
— early newspapers in 302-304
— geodetic center of North America in,
note on 333
historical marker for 368
— sketch of history of, published in Os- borne County Farmer, 1879 303
Osborne County Express, Arlington, 302, 303
Osborne County Farmer, Osborne 302
303, 315
— anniversary edition, note on 424
Osborne Weekly Times 303
Osgood, Charles 289, 292
Oskaloosa, formerly called Newell's Mills, 378
Oskaloosa Independent 204, 429
— microfilm files in Historical Society... 82 — printer's galley from, given Historical
Society 83
Oswego 136
Oswego Independent 423
Oswego Register, first newspaper in
Labette county 129, 130
— Trask, E. R., editor 136
Otero, Miguel Antonio 185
Ottawa 17
Ottawa county, first newspaper in 143
Ottawa rangers, military organization... 70
Ottawa Republican 71
Ottawa University 223
Ottumwa Journal 26
— first newspaper in Coffey county 18
Overland mail, supply headquarters at
Council Grove 345
Overland Stage Line 427
— Atchison a starting point on 351
— Marysville a stopping point on 350
Overton, William, of Virginia 186
Owen, Miss Jennie Small, Topeka, donor, 83 Owen, Mrs. Lena V. M., Lawrence, 99, 101
Owings, Lillie (Boucher) 420
Oxen, 1857, sell at $100 to $150 per
yoke 118
Oxford, Johnson county 292, 293
— election at, 1857 292, 293
Oxford Times, first newspaper in Sumner
county 148
Padilla, Father Juan de 342
— historical marker for, note on 334
"Padilla, Father Juan de and Quivira,"
text of historical marker entitled 343
Paine, Clarence Ill
Painesville (Ohio) Telegraph 40
Painted Lips, Indian chief 363
Palace Hotel, Topeka, Walt Whitman
and Col. John W. Forney honor guests
at dinner in 153
Palatines, early 191
Palermo 63
—Fourth of July, 1856 62
Palm, Andrew 422
Palmer, George N., publisher of Sheridan
County Tribune. Kenneth 388, 389
Palmer, Gen. William Jackson 184
Palmetto Kansan, Marysville, first paper
in Marshall county 20
Palmetto Town Company 21
Palmyra 266
— Proslavery raid on 354
Panhandle -Plain s Historical Review 191
Panhandle-Plains Historical Society 191
Paola 273
—land sale at, 1857 269
Paola Free Press 127
Papan's ferry, Topeka 853
Parish, A. J 71
Parker, George Frederick 191
Parker, Dr. P. Gould, Brown County
Union established by 80
Parker Record 136
Parkerson, Harriet, niece of Isaac T. Goodnow, papers from estate of, given
the Historical Society 81
Parkman, Mrs. Mary, head Professional
and Service division of WPA 84, 335
Parrish, Paul R., Topeka, donor 83
Parrott, Marcus J 278, 293
Parsons, William B 73
Parsons 99, 101, 141
—grass in streets of, 1871 330
Pate, Henry C 854
Paterson, N. J 50
Patrick, A 297
Patrick, A. J., editor and publisher
Cowley County Telegram 142
Patrick, Mrs. Mae C., Satanta 99, 101
Patten, William, Cambridge, Mass 186
Patten Genealogy, mentioned 186
Pawnee 10
— extinct town 352
— first territorial legislature, 1855, met
at 41, 93
Pawnee capitpl 41, 79, 89, 352
— appropriations for 86, 87
Pawnee county 220
— first newspaper in 310
— historical marker for Fort Larned in.. 356
Pawnee County Herald, Larned 320
Pawnee Indians. See Indians, Pawnee.
Pawnee Rock 220
— landmark on Santa Fe trail 346
"Pawnee Rock," text of historical marker
entitled 346
Payne, Capt. David L 142
Payne, Mrs. Loyal F 83, 99, 101
Payton, William 182
Peace, now called Sterling 309
— Rice County Herald moved to 809
Pearl City 406
Pearl ette, origin of name 380
Pearlette Call, first newspaper in Meade
county 380, 381
Pease, Theodore Calvin 191
Pechalka, Delaware Indian chief, quoted, 44
Peck, Robert Morris 77
Pecker, Jonathan, bequest fund to His- torical Society 89
Pelham, J. H., Lane county 387
Pennsylvania, Historical Society of 189
Pennsylvania Emigrant Association,
Washington, K. T 46
Penrod, Mrs. Margaret 421
Perkins, Rev. , Wichita Vidette pur- chased by 141
Perrin, E. 0 72
Perry, George W 398
Perry, H. T., and J. H. Scott, revive the
Osage Mission Journal 129
Perry, John, of Wilson county 222
Perry, Leslie J 124, 304
Peru 311
— first newspaper in 311
— history, note on 424
Peru, 111., centennial 192
Peter City 313
Pettit, Judge John 96, 97
Pflaum, George R. R Ill
Phflps, Noah Amherts 192
Philadelphia (Pa.) Daily Pennsylvanian, 51
Philadelphia (Pa.) Press 214
Philip, Mrs. W. D., Hays 89, 101
Phillips, Martin L., commander Capitol
Post No. 1, American Legion 222
Phillips, Paul C 184
Phillips, William A 41, 56, 57, 59
63-66, 70, 297
460
GENERAL INDEX
Phillips county, first newspaper in. . 312, 313
Phillips County Herald, Phillipsburg 416
Phillips County Post, Phillipsburg 312
Pickaway county, Ohio 190
Pickett, T. J 313
Pierce, Pres. Franklin 42, 52-54, 56
57, 69, 64, 65, 91-93, 353
— burned in effigy 36
Pierce, Frederick Clinton 192
Pierce family 188
Pierpont settlement, now West Virginia, 31 Pierrepont (?), observance of Fourth of
July, 1854, in 35
Pike, Zebulon M., in Kansas 344, 346
Pike-Pawnee monument, repairs made at, 86 "Pike-Pawnee Village," text of historical
marker entitled 344
Pike's Peak gold rush, Atchison a base
of supplies for 351
Pillsbury, J. H 58
Pilsen, history of the Catholics in,
mentioned 332
— St. John Nepomucene Parish 332
Pingrey, Mrs. C. O., Neodesha 222
Pingrey, Mrs. Frank, Neodesha Ill
Pintard, John 192
Pioneer life, Kansas, in fiction 83
"Pioneers of '57," Fort Scott 325
Pistols 77
Pittsburg 85, 101, 109, 110, 213
Pittsburg Daily Headlight 135, 430
Pixley, Benton 347
Plaindealer , Wichita, anniversary edition
of, mentioned 331
Plaindealer, forerunner of Garnett
Review 331
Plains, Conquest of the Southern, note
on 184
Plains, Great, climate of 227-229
Plains Indians. See Indians, Plains. Plains states, sectionalism and local color
in 83
Plainville 816
Plants of Kansas, publication concerning, 177
Platte county, Mo 324
— Sen. David R. Atchison and friends of,
chose site of Atchison, July 4, 1854. . . 38 Plattsburg, Mo., Proslavery meeting of
citizens in, 1854 87
Pleasant View Town Company 127
Pleasanton 148
— historical marker for battle of Mine
Creek near 358
Pleasanton Herald 390
Pleasonton, Gen. Alfred 358
Plumb, Preston B 78
— Kanzas News, Emporia, founded by, 15- 17
— m mber Emporia Town Company 15
— political views of 16
— quoted 77
Plummer, Lew 308
Plymouth company, in Wakarusa War,
1856 377
Poe, John, woods of, on Mulberry creek, 77 Political parties, Kansas, platforms of . . 83 Political subdivisions, Kansas, 1933-1937, 181
Polly, Mr. 209
Pomeroy, Samuel C 377
— part owner Squatter Sovereign 10
P0nd, Lt. James 358
Pond Creek, Camp, renamed Fort
Wallace 361
Ponies, Indian, Topeka prices, 1857 118
Pony Express 350
— Atchison a starting point for 351
— brief hi-tory of 357
— old Hollenberg ranch house a station
on 220
historical marker for 333, 357
note on history of 217
Pony Express, route, Elwood first Kan- sas station on 354
Ponziglione, Father Paul Mary 349
Poor Bear, Apache chief 360
Poore, Alfred 192
Poore, John 192
Popular sovereignty 64
Pork, price of, 1857 118
— —I860 122
Porter, Bill 376
Porter, Mrs. Clyde 427, 428
Porter, Jean 427
Possiet, Vice Admiral 327
Potatoes 248
— price of, 1857 118
1860 122
Pottawatomie county 237, 245, 254
— first newspaper in 126
— historical marker for St. Marys in. ... 350
— history, note on 425
Pottawatomie creek, massacre by John
Brown and company on 354
Pottawatomie Gazette, Louisville 126
Pottawatomie Indians. See Indians,
Pottawatomie.
"Pottawatomies, Pay Day for the". .207, 208
Potter, Jack Myers 182
Powell, Nathan 132
Prairie City 266, 268, 272
— description of 70
Prairie Farming in America 184
Prairie fire, mention of 295
—Parsons, 1871 330
Prairie grass, tall 136
Prairie Guard, Wabaunsee 60
Prairie land, vs. timber land 248, 249
Prairie Owl, Fargo Springs, first news- paper in Seward county 398, 399
Prairie wolves, banquet on corpses buried
along military road 102
Prairies, perils of early, note on 106
Pratt, Russell Benjamin, author 331
Pratt 99, 101, 221
Pratt county 215, 316
— first newspaper in 320
Pratt County Press, luka 320
Pratt Union 215
Prell, Fred A 427
Presbyterian church, Frankfort,
seventieth anniversary noted 107
— mission, for Iowa, Sauk and Fox
Indians 348
for Osage Indians, first in Kansas, 347
Presidential Election of 182% in North
Carolina 191
Press, printing, second in Kansas 348
—Washington hand, 132, 134, 148, 305, 394
Price, Ralph R 100
Price, Gen. Sterling 148
— defeated at battle of Mine creek 358
Prices, early-day, note on 215
Pride, W. F 53
Princeton 286, 287
—Free-State town 268
Pringle, Annabelle 223
Pringle, Robena 223
Procter, Maj. Arthur W 427
Property taxation, in McPherson county, 181
"Prophet, The," a Shawnee Indian 355
Proslavery camps, Douglas county,
1856 373-377
Proslavery convention, Lecompton, 1857, 262 Proslavery men, reported to have de- stroyed printing office at Osawatomie, 19 Protestant immigrants, South Carolina.. 192 Providence, R. I., reaction to passage of
Kansas-Nebraska bill in 35
PuHblo (Colo.) Daily Democrat 320
Pumpkin pies 47
Pyle, Ward & 312
GENERAL INDEX
461
Q
Quaker Genealogy, American, Encyclo- pedia of 189
Quakers. See Friends.
Quantrill, William Clarke .... 176, 260, 265
289, 290, 295
— raid, Baxter Springs, 1863 358
Lawrence, 1863 25, 31, 214, 352
Olathe, 1862 25
Quarrier, Mrs. J. W 99, 428
Quartelejo. See El Quartelejo.
Quayle, William Alfred 182
Quindaro 261, 263, 265, 270, 274-278
281-285, 289, 292, 294, 295
— description of 264
— founded in 1856 355
Quindaro Chindowan 283
— establishment of 15
Quinter 218
Quivira 198, 218
"Quivira, Coronado and," text of his- torical marker entitled 342
"Quivira, Father Juan de Padilla and,"
text of historical marker entitled 843
Quivira Chieftain, Lyons, historical edi- tion issued by, mentioned 332
Railroad fellow-servant law of 1874, 163, 164
Railroad liability act of 1911 196
Railroads, first west of Missouri river.. 354 — Indiana, history, note on publication
about 187
— liability for damages to persons or
property 162
Railway Routes Across the Rocky
Mountains 184
Raine, William McLeod 185
Rainey, George, Enid, Okla 105
Rainfall, in Great Plains region.... 227-229
—in Kansas, 1862-1872 235-246
Ralston, A. J 422
Ramsey, Millett & Hudson, Kansas City, 150
Randolph, Vance 182
Rankin, John R 300
Rankin, M. Wilson 185
Rankin, Sen. Robert C., of Lawrence, 79, 99
100, 101, 109, 429
Rann, William S 192
Ransom, 293
Ratner, Gbv. Payne H 85, 339
— Kansas Coronado Commission
appointed by 108
Ravanna, ghost town, note on 218
Rawlins county, county-seat fight 83
— first newspaper in 385, 386
Ray, Walter C. and son 392
Raynesford, H. C 100
Reader, Samuel J 46, 60, 72
Real estate in Kansas, assessment of 180
Ream, Mrs. Cora Skinner 216
Reaves, G. G 289
Red river 105, 362, 366
"Red Turkey Wheat," text of historical
marker entitled 865
Redfield, Augusta 285, 290
Redmond, B. P., author 331
Redpath, James 56, 57, 59, 297
Reed, Clyde M., Parsons 87, 99, 101
Reed, George W. & Co., published
Woodsdale Times 406
Reeder, Andrew H 51, 92-94, 352
— commissioned governor of Kansas .... 5
Reese, Iden, Kansas City Junior College, 223
Reese, L. T 307
Reeves, Benjamin H 346
Reid, John W 377, 378
Reid family 190
Relief, Kansas, contributions for 50
Religion on the American Frontier 183
Relihan, A. W., Smith Center 108
Remsburg, George J., Porterville, Calif.,
donor to Historical Society 81, 83
Reno county 365
— first newspaper in 304
Republic Advertiser, absorbed by Belle- ville Telescope 110
Republic county 86
— first newspaper in 145
— historical marker for "Pike-Pawnee
village" in 344
— surveying of, note on 423
Republican, Fordham 322
Republican Citizen, Atwood 389, 390
Republican party 16, 115, 121
Republican river 203, 231, 351
—valley of 254
Republican Valley Empire, Clyde, first
newspaper in Cloud county 139
— Concordia 147-149, 303
— moved from Clyde to Concordia 140
Revill, Janie 192
Rexford, Frank 419
Reynolds, Adrian, editor Howard County
Ledger 146
— formerly of Garnett Plaindealer 146
— represented Howard county in
legislature 146
Rhoades, Dr. F. H 221
Rhode Island, Dorr movement in 65
Rhodes, Charles C 66
Rice, Cyrus R., Methodist Indian
missionary 61
Rice county, archaeological site in 341
— first newspaper in 309, 310
— historical marker for Coronado in.... 342
Rice County Gazette, Sterling 153
Rice County Herald, Atlanta, first news- paper in Rice county 309, 310
Richards, Joseph R., Jr 182
Richards, Ralph 182
Richards, W. M., Emporia 221
Richardson, Mrs. H. M., Pratt 221
Richardson, Marvin M 185
Richfield 418
Richfield Leader 404, 405
Richmond (Va.) Whig 61
Ridlon, Frank, of Wilson county 222
Riegle, Wilford, Emporia 99, 101
Rifles, smuggled into Topeka, July 4,
1856 55
Riggs, Reuben 414
Riley, Gen. Bennett 344, 351
Riley, first newspaper published in 332
— history of, mentioned 332
Riley Center News, first newspaper pub- lished in 332
Riley county 231, 235, 240
— first newspaper in 27
Riley County Historical Society 100, 111
Riley Regent, history published in,
mentioned 332
Riots, Mobile and Memphis 126
Rising Sun, Comanche chief 360
Rising Sun, Jefferson county 204
Risk, assumption of 156
Risley, Edwin Hill 192
Risley Family History 192
Rister, Carl Coke 185
Ritchie, John, president Topeka Bridge
Company 120
— United States marshal shot and killed
by 216
Rively, M. P 62
— trading post of, in Salt creek
valley 21, 37
River Brethren, annual exodus to con- ference in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, note on 214
Road, Fort Leavenworth to Fort Lara- mie, graves along side of 102
462
GENERAL INDEX
Road and bridge law 168
Roberts, Frank H., article by, note on. . . 421
— career of, note on 421
— honored by Topeka Press Club 429
Roberts, Mrs. Frank H., donor 83
Roberts, John W 429
Roberts, William Y 46
Robertson, George, of Wilson county. ... 222 Robidoux, Peter, a Wallace county
merchant 403, 404
— advertisement of store of 404
Robinson, 300
Robinson, Capt. 378
Robinson, Mr. , of Bellevue, Nebr., 39
Robinson, Alonzo W., established first
newspaper in Dickinson county 138
— moved office from Detroit to Marion, 144
Robinson, Charles 57, 65, 117
150, 277, 353 — agent New England Emigrant Aid
company 15
— home oh Mount Oread 43
— in prison near Lecompton 55, 67
visited by Colonel Sumner 63
— papers of, given Historical Society 87
—quoted 43
Robinson, John, circus of, at Hays, 1873, 414 Robinson, Rowland, of Narragansett . . . 189 Robinson, Sara T. D. (Mrs. Charles), 43- 45
65, 66
— diary quoted 63
Robinson family, of Rhode Island 189
Robley, T. F., History of Bourbon
County, Kansas, cited 14
Rock creek, Douglas county 375, 376
Rocky Mountain News, Cherry Creek
(now Denver), K. T 26, 27
— copy of first issue in Historical Society, 27
Rocky Mountains 154
— note on book concerning life in 184
Rodehaver, John A., Decatur county. . . . 385
Roe, C. S 414
Rogers, Gamaliel, family history of, note
on 107
Rogers, J. N 144
Rogers, James 71
Rogers, Plain, of Delaware county, N. Y., 186
Rogers-Schwoerke, Tena 107
Rogler, Albert 110
Rogler, Charles C 182
Rogler, Henry 110
Roman Nose, Cheyenne chief 361
Roney, M. T., of Wilson county 222
Rooks county, first newspaper in.. 315, 316
Roosevelt, Theodore 83
Root, Frank A., employee of Overland
Stage Line 427
Root, George A 26, 27, 110, 120
— curator of Historical Society archives, 221 — long-time member Historical Society
staff 427
— named chairman of Oregon trail com- mittee on historic points in Kansas. . 221
"Rory O'More," old-time air 70
Rose, Franklin 340
Roseport, now Elwood 354
Ross, W. W., director Topeka Bridge
Company 120
— Pottawatomie agent 208
Routt, Henry 216
Rowena Hotel, Lecompton 353
Rowland, Jessie Hill, of McPherson, 419, 420 Rowley, Mass., tercentenary celebration, 192
Ruggles, 330
Ruley, A. N 77
Run Fast, Cheyenne Indian 211
"Runnymede, Old," text of historical
marker entitled 366
Runyon, Damon 182
Rupp, Mrs. W. E., Hillsboro 99, 101
Ruppenthal, Jacob C., of Russell.. 101, 107 — records given Historical Society 81
Ruppenthal, L. H., McPherson, donor, 82 Rural mail route, two girls start first. . 212 Rush Center, Walnut Valley Standard,
first newspaper in Rush county. . 314, 315
Rush county 316
— early religious service in 107
— first newspaper in 314, 315
Russell, Kate B 395
Russell, P. A., formerly of Paola Free
Press 127
— press of, mentioned 135
Russell, Will J 100
Russell, Majors & Waddell, famous over- land transportation company 218
223, 334 Russell, Majors and Waddell Memorial
Association 428
Russell, early newspapers of 299, 300
— Northwestern colony arrival at,
mentioned 331
Russell county 231
— corporations chartered in, note on 107
— county-seat fight in 300
— education in 83
• — first newspaper in 299
— records of, given Historical Society... 81
Russell County Live Stock Company 107
Russell County News, historical articles
published in, mentioned 331
Russell Record 107, 299, 300
—historical edition published by 331
Russian Imperial Navy, members of, with
Grand Duke Alexis 327
Rutland county, Vermont, Kansas aid
from 49
Ryan, E. C Ill
Ryan, Ernest A., Topeka 101
S
Sackett, , of Michigan 374, 375
"Sacramento," historic Mexican War can- non 355, 374-379
Safford, Jacob, district judge 97
Safford family 193
Sagaser, A. Bower, Manhattan 222
Sains, W. H 132
St. Ann's Academy for Girls 349
St. Francis Institution for Boys 349
St. John, Gov. John P 150, 399
— letter books of, given Historical Society, 87
St. John county, now Logan county 399
— origin of name 399
St. John's Lutheran Church, near Lincoln,
note on 425
St. Joseph, Mo 413
— across Missouri river from Elwood 354
— brass band 75
St. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette 75
St. Mary College, Leavenworth 177
St. Marys 208, 350
— Pottawatomie agency building at east
edge of 207
— text of historical marker in 350
St. Mary's Catholic Mission 237, 350
St. Mary's College, St. Marys 350
St. Paul, formerly called Osage Mission, 349 — historical marker for Osage Catholic
Mission at 349
St. Paul, Missouri river steamboat 203
St. Paul Journal 128, 129, 213, 424
Salina 83, 99-101, 108, 212, 231, 249
— historical marker, erected 1922, by Sa- line County Historical Society 213
for Indian burial pit near.... 333, 341
— Union Pacific railroad reached city in
1867 124
Salina, Kansas, Guide to, compiled by
Federal Writers' project 125
Salina Herald 128
— date of establishment 125
— first newspaper in Saline county 124
GENERAL INDEX
463
Salina Journal 213
— "Cuarto Centennial Entrada" supple- ment, note on 423
Saline county 231, 238, 255
— agriculture in, 1860's 239
— first newspaper in 124
— historical marker for Indian burial pit
in 341
note on 333
Saline County Agricultural and Mechan- ical Society 258
Saline County Historical Society 213
Saline river 231
— Indian massacre on, 1869 363
— valley of 309
Indian raids in 363
Saloons, Hays City, 1871 329, 330
Salt creek valley 21
— description 62
— general territorial convention held at,
1854 37
— history, note on 421
Salt Lake, Utah, route of Mormon emi- gration to 102
Salt Lake trail 218
Salt Lake trains, Mormon Grove out- fitting point for 102
Salvan, Albert J 185
Sanborn Map Company 182
Sanders, Lillard 416
Sandy Level Church, Fairfield district,
S. C 53
Sanford, Robert and Ann Adams 193
Santa Fe, Little, extinct town, 279, 283, 291
Santa Fe mail 252
Santa Fe railroad 213
Santa Fe road or trail 77, 216, 218
220, 274-276, 294, 344-347, 360
— Fort Riley an outpost on 351
— Forts Mann and Atkinson on 364
— government survey of, mentioned, 344, 346 — historical marker for, in Johnson
county 345
— Leavenworth and Westport branches of, 72
— military escort on, 1829 344
— surveyed in 1825 359
Santa Fe trade 234
Sappa creek, Decatur county 385
— massacre by Cheyenne Indians on, 1878, 365
Sargent, W. G 77
Satank, Kipwa chief 360
Satanta, Kiowa chief 360, 363
Satanta 99, ioi
Saxey, A., author 303
Saxey, A. E 318
Saxon, , co-publisher of New Te-
cumseh 401
Sayers, William L., Hill City 101
Sayre, Charles A 110
Scandia 86
— historical marker for "Pike -Pawnee
village" at 344
Scharf, John Thomas 192
Schauffler, E. R 105
Schleicher family, of Allen county 419
Schneider, F. W 110
Schoenhof, Madeline 427
Schoenmakers, Father John 349
Scholte, Dominic 105
School Activities Publishing Company,
Topeka 183
School and Home, Abilene 83
Schools, Cloud county 83
Schulte, Paul C., Leavenworth 101
Schultz, Floyd B., Clay Center 99, 101
Schuyler, Philip C 67, 71
— quoted 58
Scott, John H 134
— and H. T. Perry, revive the Osage
Mission Journal 129
— editor and publisher Osage Mission Journal . 133
Scott, Gen. Winfield 349
Scott Center, name changed to Scott
City 895
— Western Times, first newspaper in Scott
county 395, 396
Scott City, formerly Scott Center 395
— historical marker for El Quartelejo,
near 343
note on 333
Scott county, first newspaper in. ... 395, 396 — historical marker for El Quartelejo, in, 343
note on 333
Scott County Free Public Library 180
Scott County State Park, Indian pueblo
in 343
Searl, Whitman &, Lawrence 71
Sears, Mrs. W. H., note on reminiscences
of 214
Sedan 311
— first newspaper in 311
— history, note on 424
Sedan Times -Star, "Pioneer and Prog- ress Edition," note on 424
Sedgwick, Maj. John 55, 374, 377
Sedgwick City, formerly in Sedgwick
county 301
Sedgwick county 141
— first newspaper in , . . 140
— historical marker in, for Chisholm
trail 333, 362
photograph facing 339
for "Indian Treaties on the Little
Arkansas" 360
Sedgwick Gazette, first newspaper in Har- vey county 300-302
Seetin, Mrs. May Hoyt 429
Selden, H. M., member Beecher Bible and Rifle Company, agent of Wabaunsee
Patriot 30
Sellers, A., co-founder of Wabaunsee
County Herald 30
Sellers, A., Jr., editor Pottawatomie Ga- zette 126
Seneca Courier 414, 416
Seneca Courier-Tribune 331
Sequoyah county, dimensions of 323
— now called Finney county 822
Seven Bulls, Cheyenne chief 360
Severe, William 330
Seward county, first newspaper in . . 398, 399 — inventory of archives published, note
on 180, 334
— part of, changed to Stevens county . . . 405 Seward County Courant, Springfield. . . . 398 Sexton & Hazzard, publishers of Kicka-
poo Pioneer 7
Seymour-Prather, Mrs. Naoma 107
Shadinger Printing Company, Abilene... 175
Shaffer, Mrs. Sallie 182
Shannon, Fred Albert 182
Shannon, Gov. Wilson 19, 57, 65, 377
Sharon Springs 80, 99, 101
— Western Times 395
Sharps rifles 54, 116, 118, 377
Shattuck, Ethel Luther 215
Shattuck, W. H 428
Shattucks, in Massachusetts, note on 215
Shaw, 261
Shaw, Anna B 106
Shaw, historical marker for "Mission
Neosho" in 333, 347
Shawnee, historical marker for Shawnee
Friends Mission near 848
Shawnee county 220
— first newspaper in 10
— historical marker for "Capital of Kan- sas" in 853
— inventory of archives published, note
on 334
Shawnee County Early Settlers Associa- tion, annual meeting '. . . 109
"Shawnee Friends Mission," text for his- torical marker entitled 348
464
GENERAL INDEX
Shawnee Indians. See Indians, Shawnee.
Shawnee Methodist Mission 38, 89
93, 230, 352
— first territorial legislature adjourned to, 93
— Harry A. Hardy caretaker of 86
— improvements at 87
— no fire protection for 79
— restoration of North building 79, 85
Shawnee mills, Topeka 239
Shawnee Mission Indian Historical So- ciety 86, 223, 428
— Mrs. J. W. Quarrier retiring president, 99
Shawnee Town 284
Shearer, Charles Raymond 192
Shearer family 192
Sheep, from the East 252
Shelby County, Missouri, General History
of 189
Shelden, F 381
Sheldon, A., of Saline county 258
Sheldon, Charles Monroe, author 183
Shelenbarger, 118
Shepard, Lester 422
Shepard, Mrs. O. W 428
Sheridan, Col. M. V 327
Sheridan, Gen. Philip H 204, 327
351, 359-361
Sheridan county, first newspaper in, 388, 389 Sheridan County Tribune, Kenneth, first
newspaper in Sheridan county... 888, 389
Sherman, Gen. William T 359
— Sherman county named for 401
Sherman, Ewing & McCook, Leavenworth
law firm 81
Sherman Center News, Voltaire 104
Sherman county, first newspaper in 401
Sherman County Democrat, Goodland. .. 401
Shideler, H. W., Girard 110
Shindler, Henry, "Manuscript of the His- tory of Fort Leavenworth," cited 55
63, 66
Shinn, Mrs. Hattie (Wilson) 192
Shinn brothers 309
Shirk, Helen, Topeka, donor 82
Shombre, Capt. Henry J 377
Short, Oliver F., editor Squatter
Sovereign 10
Shrewder, Mrs. Dorothy Berryman, chair- man historical committee Clark County
Historical Society 107, 223, 421, 429
Shuveloff , , secretary of the Russian
legation 327
Sibley, George C 346
Sidney (town) 382
Silkville, note on 422
Silver, Rollo G 150
Silverdale limestone 108
Simmonds, Frank William 192
Simmonds, John and Susan 192
Simon Comedy Company, Hussar band of
Dodge City 417
Simons, W. C., Lawrence 101
Simonton family 191
Simsbury, Conn., history 192
Singleton, Rex, president Wilson County
Historical Society 222
Sinner family, of Allen county 419
Skelly, William G., Tulsa, Okla 109
Skinker, Samuel, and his descendants... 192
Skinker, Thomas Keith 192
Skinker, Alton H., Kansas City 101
Sklenar, Father John M 332
Slate creek, Sumner county 207
Slave, Mrs. Armilda Williams once a. ... 331
Slavery, Kansas attitude towards 122
— mentioned 16
Slaves 106
Slingluff, Mary 274
Sloan, E. R., Topeka 99, 101
Sluss, H. C 414
Smelzer, Mary M., of Watson library,
Lawrence, donor 83
Smith, A. J. R., publisher of Grainfield
Republican 386
Smith, George W 67
Smith, Mrs. Harry m
Smith, Jedediah 347
Smith, Jessica 223
Smith, Lena 429
Smith, Lloyd F 183
Smith, Mrs. Mellcene (Thurman) 192
Smith, Dr. Ralph H 110
Smith, Mrs. Ross B 428
Smith, S. Ward, publisher Grasshopper,
Grasshopper Falls 21
Smith, Tom, Abilene peace officer 362
Smith, Mrs. Vella, Fredonia 222
Smith, William E., Wamego 100, 427
Smith & Wallace 309
Smith Center 99, 108, 308
Smith Center-Cawker City trail, marker
for, note on 334
Smith county 216
— first newspaper in 307
— geographical center of the U. S. in,
marker for facing 368
note on 333
— Twelve Mile valley settlement, stone
marker commemorating, note on 334
Smith County Kansas Pioneer, Smith
Center 322, 386
Smith County Pioneer, Cedarville, first
newspaper in Smith county 307, 308
Smitley, Mrs. Frances 183
Smoker, Peter 416
Smoky Hill river 231, 351, 403
— valley, wheat production in 227-259
Smoky Hill route 251
Snell, Jessie Kennedy 423
Snow, 1870 240
— Hodgeman county, 1881 416
Snyder, Alice Evans Ill
Social Science Research Council 227
Society of the Cincinnati 192
Sod church, Lane county, cost $10 104
Sod fence, at Mormon Grove, description
of 102
Solander, Mrs. T. T., Osawatomie 100
Soldiers, nearly half of Kansas counties
named for 217
Solomon river 231, 252, 253, 394
Solomon Valley Pioneer, Lindsey, first
newspaper in Ottawa county 143
Somers, John G., Newton 100
"Song of Freedom," quoted 48
Son-ja-inga, a head man of the Kansas
Nation 346
Sorghum, sweet 247
Soule, Jasper S 820, 821
Soule canal, history of, mentioned 332
South Carolina, flag 66
— Fourth of July, 1866, in 68
— Protestant immigration to 192
South Dakota Place Names 194
South German Baptist Church 221
Southern Families, Notable 191
Southern Kansas, Fort Scott, first news- paper in Bourbon county 13
Southern Kansas Gazette, Augusta 144
Southern Kansas Herald, at Osawatomie, 20
— first newspaper in Miami county 19
Southwest, bibliography, note on 185
Southwestern Historical Quarterly,, Austin,
Tex 105
South wick, Charles A., author 332
Sowers, Fred A 302
— co-founder Wichita Vidette 140
— on Leavenworth Daily Times 141
Spangler, Mrs. Irma 109
Spanish -American War, Frederick
Funston in 367
— plaque dedicated to Helen Miller
Gould 428
GENERAL INDEX
465
Spanish fever
Spaugh, Ad, Texas cattleman
Specimen Days 150-
Speer, John
—difficulty in finding printer for his
Kansas Pioneer
— editor and founder Kansas Pioneer ....
— editor Medina (Ohio) Gazette
— in Kansas, fall of 1854
— manuscript of, in Historical Society, — started daily newspaper at Lawrence,
July 4, 1855
Speer, Joseph L., Lawrence publisher. . . .
Speer, Rollo Clayton 183,
Speer family
Spence, Dugald
Spier family
Spillman creek, Indian massacre on, 1869,
Sprague, Warren Vincent
Sprague Family in America
Spring, David
Spring Hill 281, 290, 291,
Spring Hill New Era
Springfield, extinct town of, Seward
county
— mentioned
— rivalry with Fargo Springs
Springfield (Mass.) Republican
Sprong,
Sproule, S. B., editor Greensburg
Rustler
Squatter Sovereign, Atchison 48,
— first newspaper in Atchison county. . 9, — newspaper file acquired by Historical
Society
— sold to company of Free-State men.. Squatter Sovereign Association, formation
of
252
180
152
9
7 6
41 7
192 192 221 192 363 193 193 295 295 176
399
51
297
53 351
87
Squire, Lorene 183
Stafford Citizen, first newspaper in
Stafford county 316, 317
Stafford City 317
Stafford county, first newspaper in. . 316-818
Stamps Ill
Stanley, Henry M., at Medicine Lodge
peace treaties, 1867 363
Stanley, W. E., of Wichita 90, 101
— second vice-president Historical
Society 100
Stansbury, Lt. Howard 126
Stanton, Frederick P 294
— home of, near Lecompton 353
Stanton, Miami county 264, 291, 295
Stanton county, first newspaper in 407
— part of, formerly in Hamilton county . . 407
Staples, Charles Richard 193
Stapleton No. 1, oil well, El Dorado
field 109
Star of the West, steamboat 370, 371
Starkey, G. W 110
State market agencies 181
State traveling expenses, regulation of. . 181
Steamboating, on the Missouri, 1842. ... 324
Steamboats 76
—Alton 413
— Edna, on Missouri river, 1842 324
— gambling on board 261
— Missouri river 76
— on Kansas seal, note on 419
— St. Paul, Missouri river boat 203
— Star of the West 370, 371
Stearns, Charles 45
Steel, David, editor Independence
Pioneer 136
Steiguer, Louis de, civil engineer 71
Stephens, Dan Voorhees 193
Stephens, Mrs. Eva Keys 426
Stephens, Lulu B 420
Stephens, Peter and Some of ffis
Deacendents 193
30—1043
Sterling 316
— formerly called Peace 309
— Walt Whitman's visit to 153
Sterling, Colo 427
Sterling Weekly Bulletin 153, 320, 323
Stevens, Aaron D 121
Stevens, Caroline F., Lawrence 100
Stevens county, first newspaper in. . 405, 406
— part of, formerly in Seward county . . . 405
Stewart, Donald, Independence 100
Stinson, George W 416
Stobaugh, Mrs. G'. A 428
Stockard, Sallie Walker 193
Stockbridge Indians. See Indians,
Stockbridge. Stockton News, first newspaper in Rooks
county 315, 316
Stone, Rev. A. L 36
Stone, Robert, Topeka 101, 183
Stone, building, in Johnson county 273
—use of 249, 250
Stookey, Roy W., state architect, plans
restoration of old Shawnee Methodist
Mission 85
Stordegraff, Lt. , of the Russian
navy 827
Storms, studies of 83
Story, Judge , owner Kansas City
(Mo.) Enterprise ^. . . 7
Stotler. Jacob, Kansas News acquired
by 16, 17
— partner of P. B. Plumb on Kansas
News 16
Stotler, W. R 425
Stoufer, A. K 399
Stover, W. W., of Wilson county 222
Stowe, Vermont, History of 186
Straight, Herbert R., Bartlesville, Okla., 109
Streeter, Floyd Benjamin, author 224
— librarian Fort Hays Kansas State
College 127
Strickland, Frank P., Jr 183
Stringfellow, Dr. John H 88, 72
— one of the editors and publishers of
the Squatter Sovereign 9, 10
Stroud, Albert, of Wilson county.. 222, 426 Stroud, Capt. Richard, of New London,
Conn 190
Stroud Family History, The 190
Stubbs, military company, Lawrence. . . 371
372, 375, 376
Stultz, H. P 322
Stutzman, Mrs. Luella 423
Sublette Monitor 402
Sullivan, Frank S 380
Sullivan, John, officer in Continental
Army 193
Sumner, Charles 48, 50
Sumner, Col. Edwin V 55, 57, 66, 67
— in command at Santa Fe 203
—quoted 63
— read order for dismissal to Topeka
legislature 58
— sent to Fort Kearny 77
— William A. Phillips' remarks addressed
to, after dispersal of the Topeka
legislature 59
Sumner, Henry T., editor Baxter Springs
Herald 126
Sumner City, rival of Wellington 218
Sumner county 207, 218
— first newspaper in 148
— historical marker for "Caldwell and
the Chisholm Trail" in 366
Sumner Gazette, published by John P.
Cone 32
Surveyors, Armstrong's party of, 1872.. 414 — massacre of, by Cheyennes, in Meade
county, 1874 364
— on south line of Kansas, celebrated
Fourth of July, 1857 71
466
GENERAL INDEX
Sutton, George Sylvester 183
Svobida, Lawrence 183
Swanseker family of Allen county 419
Swayze, J. C 316
Swayze, Oscar K 109
Sweet, William Warren 183
Sweet family, of Rhode Island 189
Swiss people, settled on Turkey creek,
Dickinson county 221
Switzer, Angeline 260
Swope, Lee M 110
Swords, Capt. , at Fort Leaven-
worth 324
Syracuse colony, mentioned 397
Syracuse Journal, first newspaper in
Hamilton county 396, 397
Tacoma (Wash.) News-Review 426
Taft, Robert, Across the Years on Mount
Oread, 1866-1911, note on 335
Tainter, Fred, pioneer cattleman, note
on 107
Tambourine 61
Taxation, personal property, Kansas, 180, 181
Taylor, Mary Snyder 193
Taylor, P. Z 22, 23
Taylor, S. W., co-proprietor of Lakin
Eagle 383, 384
Teall Genealogical Records in England
and America 188
Tecumseh, history, note on 424, 425
—July 4, 1857, in 72
— Proslavery activities at, July 4, 1856, 54
Tefft House, Topeka 152
Telfer, Mr. and Mrs. Robert 870
Temple, Josiah Howard 193
Temple, Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth (Kellum), 193
Texas, long trail from 180
Texas cattle. See Cattle, Texas.
Texas cattle trail 105
Texas fever 254
Texas State Historical Society 105
Thacher, Solon O., district judge 97
Thaeher, Timothy Dwight. . 40, 69, 152, 297
Tharp, J. H., Cherokee 110
Thomas, Capt. A. A 313
Thomas county, first newspaper in.. 393-395 Thomas County Cat, Colby, first news- paper published in Thomas county, 393-395
Thompson, Mrs. Albert 183
Thompson, C. C., editor Hector Echo.. 407
Thompson, Charles Nebeker 193
Thompson, Mrs. Harriet (Sterling) 183
Thompson, Thomas E., Early Days in
"Old Boston," cited 311
Thompson, W. F., Topeka 100
Thompson brothers, publishers Hector
Echo 407
Thoreau, Henry D 36
Thornburg and Meeker massacre 185
Thome, A. L 385
Thorne, A. S., autobiographical
sketch 385, 386
— editor, Attwood Pioneer 385
Thornton, T. G 58
Tilghman, Bill 364
Tilton, W. S 322
Timber, substitutes for 249, 250
Timber land, vs. prairie land 248, 249
Tingley, Frank 387
Tinkcom, Harry Marlin 183
Tioga 422
Tioga Herald 305
Tippecanoe, Battle of, mentioned 355
Titus, Col. Henry T 353, 376
Tixier, Victor 185
Tobacco, in Kansas 247
Toler, Sally 420
Toley's ferry, on Kansas river 288
Tomahawk 61
Tomlinson, William P 314
— biographical note 315
Tomlinson family 191
Tompkins, Fred. M 310
Tompkins, William C 310
Tompkins, Willie F 310
Tonganoxie Mirror 423
Toombs, Sen. R-obert 36, 37
Toonibs bill, in congress 67
Toothaker, Mrs. C. E., Hoxie 388
Topeka 63, 90, 152, 220, 315, 371
— band, at Fourth of July celebration
1855 42
— banquet for Grand Duke Alexis of
Russia in 327
— bridge, of 1858, destroyed by flood... 120
under construction 1857 120
— capital of Kansas since 1861 353
— Constitution hall, cannon directed at, 58 — directory, 1860, published in Topeka
Tribune 115
—1856 117
— federal troops concentrated around ... 55
—Fifth Avenue Hotel 327
— first newspaper issued on July 4, 1855, 41
— founded in 1854 853
— four military companies in 119
—Fourth of July, 1855 45
r-1856 59, 60, 64
— historical marker for "Capital of Kan- sas" near 353
— ladies of, present banner to military
company of 1856 56
— Legislative hall 58
— military company, uniforms described, 56
—Palace Hotel 152
— post office, .books and papers from,
given Historical Society 87
kept in Garvey House 12
— Shawnee mills 239
— streets named for presidents, note on, 353
—Tefft House 152
Topeka Bar Association 183
Topeka Bridge Company, organized 1857, 120
Topeka City Directory 182
Topeka Commonwealth 4, 137, 152
153, 299, 302, 304, 315, 327
Topeka Constitution 69, 280, 353
Topeka Constitutional Convention 11
Topeka convention 65
Topeka Daily Blade 153, 811, 313
Topeka Daily Capital 21, 82, 109
117, 166, 167, 216, 217 331, 382, 390, 424-426
—Walt Whitman described by 151
Topeka High School 223
Topeka legislature, dispersal of.. 54, 64, 371 Topeka Press Club, honors Frank H.
Roberts 429
Topeka Public Library 80, 184
Topeka State Journal 82, 127, 425
— gift of pictures to Historical Society . . 80
Topeka State Record 4, 144, 146
147, 207, 330
Topeka Town Association 11, 12
Topeka Tribune 55, 56, 60, 67, 72
115, 120, 122, 123
Topeka Weekly Leader 24
Topliff, A. L 313
Torrey, Mrs. 290
Torrey, Harry 265
Torrey, Col. Henry 260, 265
Torrey family 274
Townmaker, Osage chief 61
Trading Post, Gen. Sterling Price and
army camped at, 1864 858
— historical marker for Marais des Cygnes
massacre at 356
— monument to victims of Marais dea
Cygnes massacre in cemetery of 356
— origin of name 356
GENERAL INDEX
467
Trails, Chase county 110
— early, used by railroads 224
— Indian, note on 426
— overland, note on 420
Transportation, transcontinental 177
Trask, E. R., editor 130, 136
Traubel, Horace L 150
Traveling expenses, stats, regulation of. . 181 Treadway, Edward, and His Decendants, 193
Treat, Mr. 210
Tree planting, recommended, 1857 227
Trees, growth of, note on 420
Trego county 231
— first and second newspapers in 322
Trembly, William B., Kansas City 101
Trench and Camp, of Camp Doniphan,
Fort Sill, Okla 82
Triplett, C. S., publisher Wichita Stand- ard 401
Tripp, H. L 213
Tripp, H. P 425
Troy Chief 96
Troy Dispatch, materials of, removed to
Hiawatha 30
TVueblood, R. H., Jr., publisher Yates
Center News 218
Tucker, Mary 185
Tudor, Lt. Karl 327
Turkey, wild 73
Turkey creek, Dickinson county 221
Turner, -. 312
Turner, Mrs. R. H., Independence 108
Turnips 248
Tuscarora, settlement in Johnson county, 260 271, 273, 281, 290, 297
Tuscarora lake 271, 274, 278, 296
Tuscumbia (Ala.) Enquirer 13
Tustin, Mrs. George S 105
Tuttle, Charles R., Centennial History of
Kansas, cited 309, 310
Twelve Mile valley, Smith county 334
Twentieth Kansas infantry, Frederick
Funston colonel of 367
Type of the Times, Cincinnati, Ohio, 40, 45
U
Uhl, L. C., Jr., Smith Center 99, 101
Ulster county, N. Y., celebration of July
4, 1856 50
Ulysses 80, 217
— early history of 397, 898
— Grant County Register, first newspaper
in Grant county 397, 898
Ulysses News, fiftieth anniversary edition
of
217
Ulysses Tribune ,
"Underground railway" 353
Unemployment 83
Union Center, Howard county 146
Union Church, Leavenworth 62
Union County, New Jersey, History of, 190
Union Hall, Burlington, Vt 51
Union Hall, Lawrence 44
Union Hotel, Lawrence 43
Union List of Newspapers 86
Union Pacific railroad 87, 366, 403
— Eastern division, Hays City end of. . . . 128
— end of track 204, 206
— hunting buffalo via, 1868 204
— reached Fort Harker, 1867 359
Fort Hays, 1867 361
Junction City, 1866 845
Salina, April, 1867 124, 125
— restored Pawnee capitol 86, 352
— started building west from Wyandotte,
1863 355
Union Pacific Townsite Company 400
United Brethren Church, Prairie City. . 70 United Spanish War Veterans, Calvin P.
Titus Camp No. 5, Wichita 222
— Department of Kansas 428
Oregon trail marker dedicated by.. 108
United States, artillery, at Topeka, July 4, 1856, to disperse Free-State
legislature 65
— Census Bureau 198
— Congress, reconstruction policy of 126
— Department of Agriculture, Kansas
records of 179
— Department of Commerce, Kansas
records of 179
— Department of the Interior, John P.
Usher once employed in 152
Kansas records of 179
— Department of Justice, Kansas records
of
179
— dragoons .......................... 58
-- Dispersed Topeka legislature, 1856, 353 -- established Fort Scott, 1842 ....... 349
-- First, companies B and D ......... 38
— flag ................. 42, 46, 60, 70, 74
-- first raised in Kansas ............. 344
-- trimmed in mourning, waved at
Topeka, in 1856 ................. 56
— Library of Congress ................. 87
-- Kansas Weekly Herald issues pre-
served by ....................... 6
— National Youth Administration,
Kansas ........................... 183
— Navy Department, Kansas records of, 179
— Pottawatomie agency, St. Marys ...... 350
— regiments, cavalry at Lecompton ...... 67
-- First cavalry, Company E ......... 54
-- First dragoons, Company B ....... 203
-- Third artillery ................... 208
-- Fifth cavalry ................... 361
-- Sixth cavalry, near Hays City, 1871, 330 -- Sixth infantry, Company D ........ 203
-- Seventh cavalry ................. 185
— Register .......................... 128
— Treasury Department, Kansas records
of ................................ 179
— troops ........................ 59, 117
— War Department .................. 66
University of Kansas ............ 2, 83, 112
177, 182, 184, 352
— Dyche museum, opening, note on ...... 421
— Graduate Research Fund ............ 227
— history, notes on ....... . ....... 335, 421
— seventy-fifth anniversary publication,
by Robert Taft, note on ............. 335
—visited by Walt Whitman, 1879 ...... 152
— Watson library .................... 6
University of North Carolina Press, 191, 194 University of Texas ................... 224
University of Toledo .................. 115
Uribarri, Juan ........................ 343
Usher, John, Jr .................. 151, 152
Usher, Judge John P .................. 152
— Secretary of the Interior under Lincoln, 151 Usher, Linton ................... 151, 152
Utah, Federal Writers' Project ......... 193
— place names, origins of, note on ...... 193
Utica Star-Courier .................... 212
Valentine, Justice Daniel M 160
Valley Falls, formerly Grasshopper Falls, 355
Valley Falls Vindicator 217
Valparaiso 406
Van Brunt, Henry 421
Van de Mark, M. V. B., Concordia. . 99, 101 Vanguards of the Frontier, by Everett
Dick, note on 335
Van Laningham family, note on history
of 215
Van Nice, Charles Ray 183
Van Tuyl, Mrs. Efne H., Leavenworth.. 100
Varnum, Walter H 109
Vaughan, Champion 297
Vegetables, in Kansas 248
Vegetarian colony, note on 420
"Velocipede Arrives in Kansas"... ,. 207
468
GENERAL INDEX
Vera Crus 367
Verdigris river 349
— Civil War battle on, between Osage
Indians and Confederates 357
Verhoeff , Mrs. John, note on life of 105
Vermont Historical Society 187, 193
Veteran, name changed to Johnson City, 407 Veteran Sentinel, first newspaper in
Stanton county 407
Veterans of Foreign Wars, Pleasanton post, site of Marais des Cygnes mas- sacre purchased by and deeded to
state 219
Vickery, Mrs. Fanny Randolph Ill
Vidette, definition of word 141
Vieux, Lou;s, called "Uncle Louis" 208
Vineland Historical and Antiquarian
Society 193
Virginia, Wilson's raid in 83
Vivian, Arthur Pendarves 185
Voss, Helen 427
W
Wabaunsee, Congregational church, note
on history of 215
— Fourth of July, 1856 60
1857 74
— semicentennial pamphlet, cited 74
Wabaunsee county, first newspaper in ... 30 Wabaunsee County Herald, erroneously mentioned as first newspaper in Wa- baunsee county 30
Wabaunsee Patriot, first newspaper in
Wabaunsee county 30
Waconda 303
"Waconda, or Great Spirit Spring," text
of historical marker entitled 342
— note on 333
Waddell, William B 218
Waddell, Russell, Majors & 223, 334
"Wagon Bed Springs," text of historical
marker entitled 347
Wagons, army, used for ferry purposes. . 72
— drawn by oxen, Lawrence, 1855 43
— formed in circle to serve as fort 74
Waite, Charles L., publisher Western
Times, Scott Center 395
Wakarusa, Fourth of July procession by,
at Lawrence, 1855 42, 43
Wakarusa association, a Proslavery group, 92
Wakarusa company 372
Wakarusa creek 266, 283
—valley 70, 92
Wakarusa war, 1856 371-379
Wa-Keeney Kansas Leader, second news- paper in Trego county 322
Wa-Keeney Weekly World 381, 389
— first newspaper in Trego county 322
Wakefield, Judge John A 74, 376
Wakeley, Arthur C., author 39
Walden, John M 283
— co-founder Quindaro Chindowan 15
Walden, John R 421
Waldo Advocate 213
Walker, Bert P., Topeka 101
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton 100
Walker, J. A 313
Walker, Rev. Jason F., Danbury, Vt 51
Walker, Mrs. Lois H., first wife of
George W. Brown 8
Walker, Gov. Robert J 74, 77, 273
277, 284, 291-294
Walker, Capt. Samuel 375-377
Walker, W. N., sheriff Sedgwick county, 414 Walklpy, Samuel T., director Topeka
Bridge Company 120
Wal'ace, George Selden 193
Wallace, Smith & 809
Wallace 80
— historical marker for Fort Wallace at, 361 — Wallace County Register,, first news- paper in Wallace county 403, 404
Wallace county, business firms of Robi-
doux and Madigan in 403, 404
— description of, 1886 403
— first newspaper in 403, 404
— historical marker for Fort Wallace in, 361 Wallace County Register, Wallace, first
newspaper in Wallace county.... 403, 404
Walling ford, [Conn.] History of 191
Walnut creek, at El Dorado 73
— post at mouth of, 1853 208
Walnut tree 413
Walnut Valley Standard, Rush
Center 314, 315
Walnut Valley Times, Clarinda 382
Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado 103
320, 321
— first newspaper in Butler county 139
Walrond, Z. T 302
Walsh, Anna Kathleen 183
Walsh, James Martyn 183
Walsh, Richard J 21
"Walt Whitman in Kansas," by Robert
R. Hubach 150-154
Walters, 282, 297
Walters, L. M 109
Walters, Thomas G 24
Walton, historical marker for "Red
Turkey Wheat" near 365
Wamego 100
Wanner, Mrs. Grace M., Topeka 222
Wano, Cheyenne News, first newspaper in
Cheyenne county 389, 390
Wano News 390
Ward, Father , St. Mary's mission, 209
Ward, Mrs. Fenn, Highland, donor 82
Ward, Harry Parker 193
Ward & Pyle 312
Warden, Delia A 223
Ware, E. R 183
Ware, Eugene Fitch 183
Ware, Mrs. Josephine Grozier (Sandford), 193
Wark, George H., Caney 99, 101
Warner, Rufus S 193
Warner, W. H 136
Warren County, New Jersey, History of, 187
Washburn College, at Topeka.. 82, 184, 223
— Mulvane Art Museum 184
Washington, Fourth of July toast that
she become the capital of Kansas 46
Washington county 220
— first newspaper in 132
— historical marker for "Hollenberg Pony
Express Station" in 357
note on 334
— surveying of, note on 423
Washington County Historical Society.. 221 Washington County Oregon Trail Memo- rial Association, Hanover 220
— officers of 221
Washington creek, Douglas county. . 374, 375
Washington (D. C.) Mornirg Star 52
Washington Kansas Daily Republican. . . 133
Washington Observer, described 133
Washita, Battle of the, note on 184
Wa«ser, E. A 135, 136
Water supply 249, 253
Waterbury, Conn., history of 186
Waters, Elizabeth, of Virginia 186
Waters. Lawrence Leslie 184
Waterville 238
Wathena 63
Watossa, Missouri river steamboat.. 75, 76
Watson, Elmo Scott 422
Watters, Thomas G 24
Watt'es, Augustus, ousted member 1855
legislature 41
Wauneta, history, note on 424
Waupun, Wis., aid to Kansas, 1856 52
Waupun (W;s.) Sentinel 52
Wautoma CWis.) Journal 68
Wayman, Harry A Ill
— president Lyon County Historical
Society 334
GENERAL INDEX
469
Webb, Mrs. C. G., president Northeast
Kansas Historical Society of Highland, 219
Webb, James Josiah 346
Webb, Leland J., editor Cowley County
Censor, Winfield 143
Webb, Walter Prescott 182
"Webb Scrap Books" 9, 19, 35, 39, 48
50, 61, 53-61, 63, 65- 67
Weber county, Utah 193
Webster, Daniel 121
Webster's peak, Shawnee county, now
called Burnett's mound 117
Weed, George W 26, 27
Weekly Kansas Herald, Leavenworth,
See Leavenworth Herald.
Weeks, P. T 300, 302, 414
Weeks & Follett 301
Weir City 213
Weld, Lewis L 96, 97
Wellington, county seat of Sumner
county, notes on history of 218
425, 426
Wellington City Library 148
Wellington Daily News 218
— anniversary edition of, note on 425
Wellman, 137, 138
Wellman, Paul 1 105, 132, 184, 216
Wellman, Rev. W. M 307
Wells, J. A., publisher Erie Ishmaelite, 129
Wells, Laura J 110
Wells, Thomas C 27
— letter of, quoted 28
Wellsford Register 393
Welty, Bill 268
Welty, Raymond L 223
West, books en, added to Historical
Society library 184, 185
West Tennessee Historical Society 194
West Texas Historical Association 193
Western Giant, Marion 144
Western Home Journal, Lawrence 211
Western Home Journal, Ottawa, quoted, 130 Western Kansas Plainsman, Russell, first
newspaper in Russell county 299
Western Kansas World, Wa-Keeney 322
Western News, Detroit, first newspaper
in Dickinson county 138
Western News, Marion, first newspaper in
Marion county 144
— name changed to Western Giant 144
Western News, Stockton 316
Western Observer, Washington 145
— first newspaper in Washington county, 132
Western Spirit, Paola 304
Western Star, Coldwater, first newspaper
in Comanche county 390, 391
Western Star, Hill City, first newspaper
in Graham county 382
Western Times, Garden City 395, 396
Western Times, Scott Center, first news- paper in Scott county 395, 396
— moved to Sharon Springs 395
Westminster, Massachusetts, History of . . 189
Weston (Mo.) Reporter 203
Westover, Lorenzo 239, 241
Westport, Mo 72, 278, 279
— description of, 1842 324
—Harris Hotel 262
Westralia Vidette, found°rs of 136
Westward Movement, The 185
Wheat 416
—crops, Kansas, 1839-1872 230-259
— cultivation of 224
— from Ukraine, notes on story of. . 365, 421 — history of development in Kansas, note
on 419
—in Salt creek valley, 1856 f 2
—kinds of 247
— price of, 1860 122
— production of, in Upper Kansas and
Lower Smoky Hill river valleys.. 227-259 —Red Turkey 141, 865
"Wheat, Red Turkey," text of historical
marker entitled 365
Wheatcroft, J. D. (Josh), note on 212
Wheeland, W. W 321
Wheeler, Mrs. Bennett R. . . . 89, 90, 99, 101 — donor of World War posters to His- torical Society 80
Whig party 115, 121
Whisky 45, 62, 204, 210
— effect of, on Indians 209
"Whisky riot" 46
White, Capt. 301
White, William Allen 100, 110, 184, 428
White Cloud, Fourth of July, 1857, in.. 75 — main point in territory above
Leavenworth 75
White Cloud Kansas Chief 80
— quoted 20, 21, 32
White Hair, Osage chief 347
Whitehead, Doniphan county, Kansas
territory 37, 38, 63
Whiteside, Judge Houston 213, 304
Whiteside County, Illinois, History of,
noted 186
Wfhiting], A. B 235
Whitman, Thomas J., St. Louis, Mo 150
Whitman, Walt 88
— at old settlers' celebration Lawrence,
1879 150
— guest at Tefft House, Topeka 152
—his vision of the West 154
— interview with 150, 151
— visited Atchison and Wallace 153
"Whitman, Walt, in Kansas," article by
Robert R. Hubach 150-154
Whitman & Searl, Lawrence 71
Whitman mission 185
Whittemore, Margaret 421, 422
Whittier, J. B 279
Whittier, John Greenleaf 150
— wrote tribute to victims of Marais des
Cygnes massacre 219, 356
Wholesaler Printing Company,
Hutchinson 183
Wichita 99-101, 105,106
109, 212, 214, 222, 366
— Alfred MacDonald city manager of.. 222
— aviation center, note on 106
— district court, description of the
first 414, 415
— Douglas avenue bridge 222
— early schools of, note on 424
— historical marker, for Chisholm trail
near 333, 362
photograph of facing 339
for "Indian Treaties on the Little
Arkansas" near 360
— history of, note on 419, 420
— industrial development, note on 423
— recreational parks, note on 420
— seventeen historical markers in 212
Wichita Beacon, anniversary edition, note
on 423
— early history of 302
Wichita City Directory 182
Wichita county, first newspaper in. . 401, 402
Wichita Democrat 424
Wichita Eagle, anniversary edition, note
on 423
—cited and quoted 134, 141, 302, 414
— founded by M. M. Murdock 32
— list of articles of historical interest
published in 212, 214, 215, 419, 423
Wichita High School 228
Wichita Standard, Leoti City, first news- paper in Wichita county 401, 402
Wichita Tribune, moved to Sedgwick
City 301, 802
Wichita Vidette 103, 142, 207
— first newspaper in Sedgwick county. . . . 140
— sold, and moved to Wellington 141
470
GENERAL INDEX
Wickard, Claude R., U. S. Secretary of
Agriculture 214
Wide Awake, Peru 311
Wight, Danforth Phipps 194
Wight, Thomas, Dedham, Mass 194
Wight Family, The 194
Wilcox, 281, 282
Wilcox, H. H 289
Wilcox, Mrs. H. H 287
Wild Hog, Cheyenne Indian 211
Wilder, Daniel Webster, The Annals of
Kansas 4
Wilder, John 422
Wilder House, Fort Scott 825
Wilkinson County, Georgia, History of.. 188
Will County, Illinois, History of 190
Willard, Julius Terrass 184
Willes, S. J 249
Williams, Al F 222
Williams, Mrs. Armilda, slave experiences
of, mentioned 331
Williams, Harry H 61, 67
Williams, Judge John M 426
Williams, R. B., reminiscences, note on.. 423
Williams, S. A 76
Williams, William S. (Old Bill) 346
Williamson, Mr. 208
Wills, R. B., state highway engineer 340
Wilmington 73
— Fourth of July, 1857, in 72
Wilmington Quartette Club 73
Wilmot, David 34
Wilson, John H., Salina 100
Wilson, Latimer 118
Wilson, Robert 22
— president Junction City Town
Company 23
Wilson, S. L., editor Wallace County
Register 403
Wilson, Samuel 85, 339, 340
Wilson, first services for Methodists in.. 107
Wilson county Ill
—first newspaper in 137
Wilson County Citizen, Fredonia 312
Wilson County Courier, Fredonia 138
— first newspaper in Wilson county 187
Wilson County Historical Society 426
— meeting to encourage formation of 111
— officers of 222
Wilson family 192
Wilson World 107
Wilson's raid in Virginia 83
Winchell, Mrs. James M 47
Wind Mill Agricultural Company,
Lawrence 422
Windmills 250
—cost of 253
— Dutch, Lawrence, note on 422
— railroad, Junction City 250
Wingfield, Marshall 194
Winthrop, [Mo?] 296
Winton, Mr. 70
Wise family 192
Woestemeyer, Ina Faye 185
Wolf 103
Wolf creek 425
Wolf, John Harold 194
Woman suffrage 132
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society.... 183
Woman's Kansas Day Club 83
— donor 82
Woman's Missionary Society, Lutheran
Augustana Synod 428
Woman's Relief Corps, Mrs. Grace M. Wanner, president 222
Wood, Charles 260, 264-277
279-287, 289-295
Wood, Rev. G. W 313
Wood, George G 131
Wood, Leland N 194
Wood, Samuel N 30, 70, 150
— founder Kansas Press, Cottonwood
Falls 29
Wood, Simeon 194
Wood, Capt. T. J 379
Wood. See Timber.
Wood genealogy 194
Woodlands of Kansas 183
Woodring, Harry H 87, 101, 353
Woods, H. L 420, 425
Woodsdale Times 406
Woodson, Daniel 55, 57, 81, 377
— papers of, given Historical Society. ... 81
Woodson county 183
— first newspaper in 131
Woodson County Post 132
Woodward, Chester 79, 184
Woodward, E. R 885
Woodward, Mary Dodge 185
Woodward, Nathaniel 194
Woodward, Percy Emmons 194
Woolard, Sam F., Wichita 99, 101
Wooster, Lorraine E., Salina 99, 101
Worcester, E. P., co-owner Thomas
County Cat, Colby 393, 894
Worcester County, Massachusetts,
History of 190
Worcester Historical Society 194
Worcester (Mass.) Daily Spy 64
Worcester (Mass.) Daily Transcript. . 36, 42
57, 59, 60
Work, H. C., author 151
Work Projects Administration,
Kansas 84, 112
— Division of Community Service
Programs 835
—Nebraska 194
—South Dakota 194
Working, D. W 26
Workmen's compensation act of 1911 155
World Company, Lawrence 184
Wright, Jack, shot by McClilland 210
Wright, John, of England 194
Wright, Samuel 194
Wright, Thomas, Wethersfield, Conn 194
Wright, William Henry 194
Wright brothers, note on early-day aerial
successes of 21?
Wright family 194
Wullschleger, Otto J 427
Wyandot Indians. See Indians, Wyandot.
Wyandott Citizen 15
Wyandott City Register, first newspaper
in Wyandotte county 14
—founded by Mark W. Delahay 14, 15
Wyandotte 28, 263, 277
—Fourth of July, 1857, in 74
— laid out as town on Indian village site,
1857 355
— Nebraska avenue in 15
Wyandotte Constitution, Samuel A.
Kingman a leader in framing 98
Wyandotte Constitutional Convention 29
Wyandotte county, first npwspaper in .... 14 — historical marker for Kansas City
in 333, 355
Wyandotte Democrat 148
Wyandt, C. C 175
Wyoming Commemorative Association... 194
GENERAL INDEX
471
Yale, A. W 301, 306, 307
Yale, L. B 306, 307
Yale brothers 301
Yale University 190
Yankees 119
Yates Center 132
Yates Center News, note on history of . . 218
Yellow fever, Cuba 108
Young, Helen 427
Young, John H., co -publisher Humboldt Herald 32, 33
Young, Mrs. W. V 223
Younger brothers 176
Youngstrom, Martin, of Wilson county.. 222
Yukon river, Frederick Funston on 367
Yung Wing 420
Z
Zenda, note on history of 177
Zimmerman, Phil 428
Zimmerman's mill 413
Zook, Sam D., Abilene 214
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
W. c. AUSTIN. STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1941