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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01064 7102
TRANSACTIONS
OF THE
COM PH ME NTS OF .
Secretary Kansas State Historical Society.
ALSO,
A CATALOG OF KANSAS CONSTITUTIONS, AND TERRITORIAL ANP STATE
DOCUMENTS IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY.
EDiTEb BY GEO. W. MARTIN, Secretary.
VOL. VI .
TOPEKA:
W. Y. MORGAN, State Printer.
1900.
-Os^ X
d
Ty ■•■f-^
TRANSACTIONS
OP THE
KANSiS SITE
1897-1900 :
TOGETHER WITH
ADDRESSES AT ANNUAL MEETINGS, MEMORIALS, AND
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS.
ALSO,
A CATALOG OF KANSAS CONSTITUTIONS, AND TERRITORIAL AND STATE
DOCUMENTS IN THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY.
EoiTEt* BY GEO. W. MARTIN, Secretary.
A
VOL. VI .
97iA
¥\ i^^
M, C
•
TOPEKA :
W. Y. MORGAN, State Printer
1900.
1(^-X*^ij ,<^^
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS.
Officers for the year 1S97.
HARRISON KELLEY, Burlington President.
JOHN SPEER, Garden City President.
WILLIAM H. SMITH, Marysville Vice-president.
STEPHEN McLALLIN, Topeka Vice-president.
WM. A. PEFFER, Topeka Vice-president.
FRANKLIN G. ADAMS, Topeka Secretary.
JOHN GUTHRIE, Topeka Treasurer.
Note.— Hon. John Speer was elected the 22d day of November, 1897, by the executive com-
mittee of the Society to fill the unexpired term caused by the death of Pres. Harrison Kelley.
At a meeting of the committee November 12, 1897, Hon. Wm. A. Pelfer was chosen to till the
vacancy ai'ising from the death of Vice-pres. Stephen McLallin.
Officers for the year ISOS.
JOHN SPEER, Wichita President.
EUGENE F. WARE, Topeka Vice-president.
Wm. a. PEFFER, Topeka Vice-president.
FRANKLIN G. ADAMS, Topeka Secretary.
JOHN GUTHRIE, Topeka Treasurer.
Officers for the year 1S99.
EUGENE F. WARE, Topeka President.
GEO. W. MARTIN, Kansas City Vice-president
GRANT W. HARRINGTON, Hiawatha Vice-president.
FRANKLIN G. ADAMS, Topeka Secretary.
GEO. W. MARTIN, Kansas City Secretary.
JOHN GUTHRIE, Topeka Treasurer.
Note.— At a meeting of the executive committee of the Society December 6, 1899, Geo. W.
Martin was chosen to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Sec. Franklin G. Adams, for that
portion of the unexpired term ending January 16, 19U0, the date of the annual meeting, when
he was elected for the remainder of the term.
Officers for the year 1900.
JOHN G. HASKELL, Lawrence President.
E. B. COWGILL, Topeka Vice-president.
JOHN FRANCIS, Colony Vice-president.
GEO. W. MARTIN, Kansas City Secretary.
JOHN GUTHRIE, Topeka Treasurer.
DIRECTORS.
For three years ending January 15, 1901.
Adams, Miss Zu Topeka.
Blackmar, Frank W Lawrence.
Caldwell, Alex Leavenworth.
Chase, Harold T Topeka.
Connelley, W. E Topeka.
Dallas, E.J Topeka.
Gleed, Chas. S Topeka.
Graham, I. D Topeka.
Guthrie, John Topeka.
Hackbusch, H. C. F Leavenworth.
Harrington, Grant W Hiawatha.
Haskell, John G Lawrence.
Holliday, C. K* Topeka.
Hopkins, Scott Horton.
Horton, A. H Topeka.
Johnson, A. S Topeka.
Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth A White Rock.
Kuhn, Henry t Marion.
Lane, V. J Kansas City.
Legate, Jas. F Leavenworth.
Lowe, P. G Leavenworth.
Martin, Geo. W Kansas City.
Moore, Horace L Lawrence.
Morrill, E. N Hiawatha.
Murdock, T. B El Dorado.
Popenoe, F. O Topeka.
Reynolds, Adrian Sedan.
Sims, William Topeka.
Smith, W. H Marysvillo.
True, A. E Vera.
Vandegrif t, Fred L Kansas City.
Wellhouse, Fred Topeka.
Williams, A. L Topeka.
*Died March 29, 1900.
tDied Junell, 19C0.
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
DIRECTORS.
For t?ircc ycnrs ending January 21, 1902.
Adams, J. B El Dorado.
Anderson, T. J Topeka.
Brown, W. L Kinpniau.
Clark, Geo. A Junction City.
Cowgill, E. B Topeka.
Dodge, S. H Beloit.
Francis, John (Colony.
Gilmore, Jt)lm S Fredonia.
Grimes, Frank E Leoti.
Hoch, E. VV Marion.
Houston, D. W Garnett.
Hudson, .J. K Topeka.
Lowelling, L. D Wichita.
McKeever, E. D Topeka.
Martin, John Topeka.
Mulvauc, John K Topeka.
Murdock, M. M Wichita.
Nelson, Frank Lindsborg.
Padgett, W. W Fort Scott.
Peiier, Wm. A Topeka.
Remington, J. B Osawatomie.
Rice, Harvey D Topeka.
Rockwell, Bertrand Junction City.
Scott, Chas. F lola.
Semple, R. H Ottawa.
Stanley, W. E Wichita.
Taylor, Edwin Edwardsville.
Troutman, James A Topeka.
"Valentine, D. A Clay Center.
Whiting, A. B Topeka.
Whittemore, L. D Topeka.
Wilkinson, West E Seneca.
Woodward, B. W La'wrence.
For three pears ending January 20, 190S.
Anthony, D. R Leavenworth.
Baker, F. P Topeka.
Barnes, Chas. W Topeka.
Bush, W. E Fort Scott.
Bigger, L. A Hutchinson.
Capper, Arthur Topeka.
Carruth, W. H Lawrence.
Coburn, F. D Kansas City.
Conway, John W Norton.
Doster, Frank Topeka.
Gi'eene, A. R Lecompton.
Herbert, Ewing Hiawatha.
Harris, Edward P Lecompton.
Hamilton, Clad Topeka.
Hodder, Frank H Lawrence.
Howe, E. W Atchison.
Junkin, J. E Sterling.
Kingman, Miss Lucy D Topeka.
Leis, Geo Lawrence.
McVicar, P Topeka.
Mac Lennan, F. P Topeka.
Meridith, Fletcher Hutchinson.
Montgomery, F. C Topeka.
Morphy, J. W Smith Center.
Madden, John Emporia.
Nelson, W. H Smith Center.
Riddle, A. P Minneapolis.
Seaton, John Atchison.
Speer, John Wichita.
Ware, E F Topeka.
White, W. A Emporia.
Wilder, D. W Hiawatha.
Wright, John K Junction City.
CLASSIFICATION OF DIRECTORS BY DEPARTMENTS.
Arcliaeology.— F. W. Blackmar, J. W. Conway, E. B. Cowgill, J. K. Wright, E. N. Morrill,
'W. H. Smith, R. H. Semple.
Historic Relics.— A. R. Greene, W. E. Bush, W. A. White, E. W. Howe, E. J. Dallas, J. K.
Hudson, B. W. Woodward.
Explorations. — E. F. Ware, A. B. Whiting, Alex. Caldwell, L. A. Bigger, P. G. Lowe, A. L.
Willianis, John Madden.
IiMlian History.— John Guthrie, V. J. Lane, A. S. Johnson, H. C. F. Hackbusch, W. W.
Padgett, A. E. True, W. E. Connelley.
History of the Territory.— D. W. Wilder, M. M. Murdock, John Speer, C. K. Holliday,
Jas. F. Legato, J. B. Remington, A. P. Riddle.
History of the State.- F. H. Hodder, D. R. Anthony, W. E. Stanley, F. P. Baker, L. D.
Lewelling, E. W. Hoch, B. Rockwell.
Geography (including maps, views of buildings, and scenery).— F. D. Coburn, J. B. Adams,
J. W. Conway, W. H, Carruth, F. O. Popenoe, J. W. Morphy, Jas. A. Troutman.
Orij^in of Local Names.— F. C. Montgomery, E. P. Harris, John S. Gilmore, W. L. Brown,
John G. Haskell, Scott Hopkins, F. W. Blackmar.
Journals, Diaries, and Manuscripts.- John Madden, L. D. Whittemore, J. E. Junkin,
Frank Doster, Fred. WoUhouse, F. P. Mac Lennan, T. B. Murdock.
Local History, Interviews, and Chi-onicles.- W. E. Connelley, Harvey D. Rice, D. A.
Valentine, Grant W. Harrington, John Seaton, H. Kuhn, J. W. Morphy.
Organ izatirtn of Local Historical Societies.— A. P. Riddle, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Johnson,
Adrian Reynolds, W. H. Nelson, Geo. Leis, Fletcher Meridith, Geo. W. Martin.
Hiography.— John Martin, D. W. Houston, T. J. Anderson, J. B. Remington, C. W. Barnes,
P. McVicar, West E. Wilkinson.
Portraits.— C. F. Scott, Frank E. Grimes, J. R. Mulvane, William Sims, Clad Hamilton,
Zu Adams, T. J. Anderson.
Gen<'al««:y and Hireotories.- H. L. Moore, John Francis, Edwin Taylor, E. D. McKeever,
E. B. Cowgill, A. H. Horton, M. M. Murdock.
Newspapers, Periodicals, and S< rap-hooks.— F. L. Vandegrift, Geo. A. Clark, S. H.
Dodge, T. B. Murdock, Arthur Capper, H. T. Chase, J. E. Junkin.
Literature.— W. H. Carruth, Ewing Herbert, Frank Nelson, Lucy D. Kingman, B. W, Wood-
ward, W. A. Peffer, C. S. Gleed.
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
With Teems of Service, from 1876 to 1900.
Abbott, Mrs. Elizabeth W., De Soto. 1897-'98.*
Abbott, James B., De Soto, lS85-'97.*
Adams, Franklin George, Topeka, 1878-'99.*
Adams, John B., El Dorado, 1899-'00.
Adams, Nathaniel A., Manhattan, 1887-'92.*
Adams, Miss Zu. Topeka, 1899-'00.
Admire, Jacob V., Osage Citv, 1886-'8S.
Ady, John W., Newton, 1884-'85.
Amos, J. Wayne, Gypsum City, 1887-'89.
Anderson. James W. D., Baldwin, 1891-'92.*
Anderson, T. J., Topeka, lS99-'00.
Anthony, D. R., Leavenworth, 1875-'76 ; 1879-'00.
Anthony, Geo. T., Ottawa, l»85-'87 ; 1890-'92.*
Arnold, Andrew J., Topeka, 1896-'99.*
Atkinson, R., Ottawa, 188.>-'86.*
Bailey, Lawrence D., Garden City, 1888-91.*
Baine, James S., , 1884.
Baker, Floyd P., Topeka, 187.5-'0O.
Baker, Lucien, Leavenworth, 1893-'95.
Ball, Volney, Lincoln, 1888- '90.
Ballard, David E., Ballard's Falls, 1879-'80.
Barnes, Cha«!. W., Topeka, 1900.
Barnes, W. H., Stockton, lSS5-'86.
Barnes, William H., Topeka, 1897-'99.
Barrett, Albert G., Barrett, 1879.*
Berry, Ed. A., Waterville, 1891-'9J.
Bigger, L. A., Hutchinson, 1900.
Billingsly, James, Axtell, 188.5-87.
Bissell, John, Phillipsburg, 188.=J-'86.
Blackmar, F. W.. Lawrence, 189:)-'92; 1899-'00.
Blair, Charles W., Fort Scott, 1882-'8S.*
Bliss, John A., Atwood, 1885.*
Blood, .James, Lawrence, 1879-'80.*
Blue, Richard W., Pleasanton, 1881-'88.
Bonebrake, P. I., Topeka, 1879-'88.
Booth, Henry, Larned, 1880; 1889-'91.*
Brown, A. Z., Guilford, 1891-93.
Brown, W. L., Kingman, lS93-'00.
Buchan, William J., Kansas City, 1886-'88.
Burton, J. R., Abilene, 1886; 1887-'89.
Bush, William E., Mankato, 1897-'00.
Butterfield, J. Ware, Topeka, 189.5-'97.
Caldwell, Alexander, Leavenworth, 1892-'00.
Caldwell, John C, Topeka, 1894-'96.
Caufield, James H., Lawrence, 1890-'91.
Capper, Arthur, Topeka, 1894-'00.
Carr, Erasmus T., Leavenworth, 1886-91.
Carroll, Ed., Leavenworth, lS81-'94.
Carruth, W. H., Lawrence, ls94-'00.
Case, Geo. H.. Mankato, 1881-'82.
Cavanaugh, Thomas H., Salina, 1877.
Chapman, J. B., Topeka, 1893-'95.
Chase, Harold T., Topeka, 1898-'00.
Christian, James, Arkansas City, 18S9-'91.*
Clark, George A., Junction City, 1899-'00.
Clark, J. R., La Cygne, 189.5-'1898.
Clarke, W. B., Junction City, lS84-'86.
Clogston, J. B., Eureka, 1886-'89.
Cobun, M. W., Great Bend, 1891-'93.
Coburn, F. D., Kansas City, 1894-'00.
Coleman, Albert L., Ceatralia, 1887-89.
Collins, Ira F., Sabetha, 1881-82.
Collins, James S., Topeka, 1892-'93.*
Connelley, Wm. E., Topeka, 1899-'00.
Conway, John W., Norton, 1903.
Cordley, Richard, Lawrence, 1890-'92.
Cowgill, E. B., Topeka, 1893-'00.
Crawford, George A., Fort Scott, 1875-'81.*
Crew, E. B., Delphos, 1887-'89.
Crozier, Robert, Leavenworth, 1879.*
Dallas, Everett J., Topeka, 1886-'(j0.
Davis, Chas. S., Junction City, 1893-'95.
Davis, J. W., Greensburg, 1894-'96.
Diggs, Mrs. Annie L., Lawrence, 1893-'95.
Dodge, S. H., Beloit, 1899-'00.
Doster, Frank, Marion, 1897-'00.
Doty, Geo. W., Burlingame, 1887-'99; 1891-'93.
Downing, Jack H., Hays City, 1885-'86 ; 1889-'90 ;
1892.
Drinkwater, Orlo H.. Cedar Point, 1885-'86.
Drought, E. S. W., Wyandotte, 1885.
Dumbauld, Levi. Hartford, 1893-95.*
Eckert, T. W., Arkansas City, 1892-'93.
Edwards, Wm. C, Larned, 1S86-'91 ; 1896-'98.
Elder, P. P., Ottawa, 1883-'87 ; 189l-'93.
Elliott, L. R., Manhattan, 1886-'99.*
Elliott, Robert G., Lawrence, 1890-92.
Elliston, Henry, Atchison, 1890-'92.
Emery, James S.. Lawrence, 1880-'99.*
English, A. N., Wichita, 188S-'90.*
Eskridge, Chas. V., Emporia, 1886-'9;i.
Everest, AaroQ S., Atchison, 188t-'87.*
Fairchild, Geo. T., Manhattan, 1890-'92.
Faulkner, Charles E., Salina, l^H6-'89.
Felt, Andrew J., Atchison, 1896-'98.
Fenlon, Thomas P., Leavenworth, 1887.
Finch, Lucius E., Burlingame, l«.'s6-'88.*
Forney, A. G., Belle Plaine, 1893-'98.
Foster, Warren, Hutclunson, 1893-94.
Francis, John, Colonv, 1877-'90: 1899-'00.
Gaines, Henry N., Salina, 1893-'95.
Gillett, Almerin, Emporia, 18S6-'88.*
Gilmore, John S.. Fredonia, 1880-'81 ; 1899-'00.
Gleed, Chas S., Topeka, 1892-'00.
Glick, Geo. W., Atchison, 18S3-'93.
Goodnow, Isaac T., Manhattan, 188.5-'94.*
Goss, Nath'l Stickney, Neosho Falls, l»>j2-'91.*
Graham, George, Seneca, 1879-"81.*
Graham, Isaac D., Topeka, 1898-'00.
Green, Chas. R., Lyndon, 1894-'96.
Green, Henry T., Leavenworth, 188:^'S1.*
Greene, Albert R., Lecompton, lH84-'00.
Green, Nehemiah, Stockdale, 1881-'82.*
Greer, Ed. P., Winfleld, 18S5-'87 ; 1888-'90.
Griffin, Albert, Maahattan, lS85-'86.
Grimes, Frank E., Leoti, 1899-'00.
Guthrie, John, Topeka, 1S92-'00.
Guthrie, Warren W., Atchison, 1879.
Hackbusch, H. C. F., Leavenworth, ]895-'00.
Hackney, William P., Winfleld, 1884-85.
Hagaman, James M., Concordia, 1893-'95.
Halderman, John A., Leavenworth. 18S0-'81.
Hale, George D., Topeka, ]890-'92.
Hamilton, Clad, Topeka, 1900.
Hamilton, James W., Wellington, 18'^8-'90.
Hanna, Benjamin J. F., Saliua, 1S89-'91.*
Hardesty, R. G., Dodge City, 1885.
Harding, Benjamin, Wathena, 1897-'98.
Harrington, Grant W., Hiawatha, ]898-'00.
Harris, Edward P., Lecompton, 1900.
Harris, William A., Linwood, 1894-'98.
Harvey, James M., Topeka, lS79-'8.5.*
Haskell, John G., Lawrence, 189o-'00.
Haun, T. S., Jetmore, 1887-'89.
Havs, R. R., Osborne, 1889-'97.
Hebbard, Joseph C, Seneca, 1879-'93.*
Heizer, David N., Great Bend, 1.889-'91, lS94-'97.
Herbert, Ewing, Hiawatha, 1894-00.
Higgins, William, Topeka, 1890-'92.
Hiller, Chas. A., Salina, 18SS-"90.
Hills, F. M., Cedar Vale, 1889-'91.
Hoch, Edward W., Marion, 1890-'00.
Hodder, Fk. H., Lawrence, 1900.
Hodgdon, D. P., Lyons, 1894-'99.
HoUiday, Cyrus K., Topeka, 1878-'00.*
Holt, Joel, Beloit, 1884-'85 ; 1888-'90.*
Hopkins, Scott, Horton, lS89-'00.
Horton, Albert H., Topeka, 1879-'82; 1892-'00.
Houk, L., Hutchinson, 1896-'97.*
Houston, D. W., Garnett, 1899-00.
Howe, Edgar W., Atchison, 1890-'92; 1900.
Hudson, Joseph K., Topeka, 18S5-'ao.
Hudson, T. J., Fredonia, lH^.5-'^6.
Humphrey, James, Junction City. 1889-'9t. _
Humphrey, Lvman U., Independeuce, 1885-'93.
Hunt, McCown, Leavenworth, 1893-'98.
Hurd, Thomas A., Leavenworth, 1SS7.*
lagalls, John J., Atchison, 1879.
Inman, Henry, Larned, 1881-'87.*
Ives, John N.,lS91-'93.
Jaquins, Edward, Winfleld, 1897-'99.
Johns, Mrs. Laura M., Salina, 1893-98.
Johnson, Alexander S., Topeka, l8»5-'00.
Johnson, Mrs. E. A., White Rock, 1898-'00.
Johnson, John B., Topeka, 1886; ls92-'94.»
Jones, C. J., Garden City, 1885-'yi.
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
Jones, John P., Coldwater, 1888-'90.
Junkin, John E., Sterling, 1S94-'(X).
Kellev. Harrison, HurliuKton, KH94-'97.*
Kellogf;, L. B., Emporia, l.S.S(V92.
Kelly, H. B., McPherson, 18S7-'92.
Kimball, Charles H., Parsons, 18S6-'92.
Kintimaii, Lucv D., Topeka, l.s9H-'00.
Kingman, S. A., Topeka, l!>75-'76; 1879-'80;
18S4-'9.5.
Knapp, Geo. W.. Clyde, lS87-'89.
Knox, John D., Topeka, 1886.
Kuhn, Henry, Marion, 1898-'00.*
Lane, Vincent J., Wyandotte, 1886-'00.
Leedy, John W., Lawrence, 1897-99.
Legate, J. F., Leavenworth, 1879-96; 189S-'00.
Leis, George. Lawrence, 1S97-'(X).
Lemmon, Allen B., Winfield, 1881-'82.
Leonhardt, Charles W., Paola, 1879.*
Lester, H. N., Syracuse, 188S-'90.
Lewelling, L. D., Wichita, 189::i-'00.
Lippincott, J. A., Topeka, 1890-'92.
Little, Edward C, Abilene, 1894-'99.
Little, John T., Olathe, 1893-'95.
Lowe, Joseph G., Washington. ISS.VSfi.
Lowe, Percival G., Leavenworth. 1835-'00.
McAfee, Josiati B., Topeka, 1SH7-'89.
Mc Bride, W. H., Kirwin, 1885-'93.
McCarthy, Timothy, Larned, 1890-'92.*
McCoy, John C. Kansas City, 1882-"85.*
McCoy, Joseph G., Wicliita, 1897-'99.
McDowell, J. L., Manhattan, 1879.
McHenry, J., Minneapolis, 1885-'86.*
Mclntire, Timothy, Arkansas City. 1888-'96.
McKeever, Edwin D., Topeka, 1899-'UU.
McLallin, Stephen, Topeka, 1893-'y7.*
Mac Lennan, Frank P., Topeka, 1891-'00.
McXall, Webb. Gaylord, 1895-'96.
McNeal,T. A., Medicine Lodge,Topeka,1885-'92.
McTaggart, Dan, Liberty, 18»9-'9l.*
McVicar, Peter, Topeka, 1890-'00.
Madden, John, Emporia, 1900.
Maloy, John, Council Grove, 1892-'97.
Martin. George W., Kansas City, 1880-'00.
Martin, John, Topeka, 1892-'94; 1899-'00.
Martin, John A., Atchison, 187ii-'9il.*
Maxson, Perry B., Emporia, 1893-'98.
Mead, James R., Wichita, 1889-'94.
Meridith, Fletcher, Hutchinson, 1894-00.
Miller, Sol., Troy, 1875-'77; 1879-82; 1884-'88;
1890-'97.
Mohler, Martin, Osborne, 1884-'88.
Montgomery, Frank C, Topeka, 1891-'00.
Moody, Joel, Mound City, 1889-'94.
Moore, H. Miles, Leavenworth, 188.i-'90.
Moore, Horace L., Lawrence, 1897-'00.
Morphy, James W., Smith Center, 1897-'00.
Morrill, E. N., Hiawatha, 1879-'82 ; 1892-'00. ,,
Mulvane, John R., Topeka, 1896-'U0.
Murdock, M. M., Wichita, 1880-'8S; 1890-'00.
Murdock, T. B., El Dorado, 188.5-'92; 1898- '00.
Nelson, Frank, Lindsborg, 1899-"U0.
Nelson, W. H., Smith Center, 1900.
Osborn, R. S., Stockton, 1894-'96.
Osborn, Thomas A., Topeka, 1886-'89; 1891-'93.*
Otis, Mrs. Bina A., Topeka, 1896-'98.
Padgett. W. W., Fort Scott, 1900.
Paine, Albert B., Fort Scott, 1894-'96.
Patton, W. G., Cottonwood Falls, 1885-'87.*
Peck, George R., Topeka, 1886-'94.
Peffer, William A., Topeka, 1897-'00.
Phillips, William A., Salina, 1879-VO: 1888-93.*
Pilkenton, Wm. H., Wa Keenev, 1885-'86.*
Plumb, Preston B., Emporia, 1879.*
Popenoe, Frederick O., Topeka, 1S98-'00.
Pratt, John G., Piper, 1887-'89.*
Prentis, Noble L., Atchison, 1886-'98.
Price, John M., Atchison, 1892-'97.*
Purcell, Edward B., Manhattan, 1885-'89.
Quayle, W. A., Baldwin, 1890-'92.
Remington, J. B., Osawatomie, 1893-'00.
Reynolds, Adrian. Sedan, 1889-'0O.
Reynolds, Milton W., Parsons, 1879; 1885-'90.*
Rice, Harvey, D. Topeka, 1896-'00.
Rice, John H., Fort Scott, 1886-'89.
Rice, William M., Fort Scott, 189l)-'92.
Richardson, John Benton, Hiawatha, 1886-'88.*
Riddle, Alex. P., Minneapolis, 1881-'00.
Robinson, Charles, Lawrence, 1878-'94.*
Robinson, Mrs. Sara T. L., Lawrence, lS95-'99.
Robison, J. W., El Dorado. 1896-'98.
Rockwell, Bertrand, Junction City, 1900.
Rogers, William, Barnes, 1893-"95.
Root, Joseph P., Wyandotte, 1880-'81 ; 1885.*
Ross, E. G., Lawrence, 1882-'83.
Rus.sell, Edward, Lawrence, 188I-'96.*
St. John, John P., Olathe, 1879-'87.
Schilling, John, Hiawatha, 1889-'91.
Scott, Chas. F., lola, 1890-'00.
Scott, John W., lola, 188.5-"89.*
Seaton, John, Atchison, 1897-'00.
Semple, Robert H., Ottawa, 1893-'00.
Shean, Woodman M., Gardner, 188.V88.*
Simpson, Benjamin F., Paola, 1879-'82; 1884-97.
Sims, William, Topeka, 1892-'00.
Slavens, W. H., Yates Center, 1885-'88.*
Sluss, H. C, Wichita, 1884-'».'>.
Smith, A. W., McPherson, 1887-'92.
Smith, Ed. R., La Cygne, 1879-'8U.
Smith, James, Mary.'^ville, 1882-'88.
Smith, William H., Marysville, 1892-'00.
Smith, William W., Waterville, 1885-'88.
Snow, E. H., Ottawa, 1894-'96.
Sno\v, Francis H., Lawrence, 1892.
Speer, John, Wichita, 1879-'&0; 1883-'00.
Spicknall, W. R., Wellington, 1895-'97.
Sponsler, A. L., Hutchinson, 1895.
Spring, Leverett W., Lawrence, 1885-'86.
Stanley, Edmund, Lawrence, 189.5-'97,
Stanley, Wm. E., Wichita, 1899-'00.
Steele, James W., Topeka, 1886-'88.
Stewart, A. A., Olathe, 1893-'98.
Stewart, Samuel J., Humboldt, 1891-'93.
Stotler, Jacob, Emporia, 1879; ]882-'94.
Street, W. D., Oberlin, 18S9-'91 ; 1897-'99.
Stringfellow, Benj. F., Atchison, 1880 '83.*
Strvker, William, Great Bend, 1897-99.
Sutton, William B., Russell, 1895-'97.
Swensson, Chas. A., Lindsborg, 1889-'94.
Taylor, Albert R., Emporia, lS90-'92.
Taylor, Edwin, Ed wards ville, 1896-'00.
Taylor, J. E., Seneca, 1885-'86.
Taylor, Thomas T., Hutchinson, 1885-'89.
Thacher, Solon O., Lawrence, 1883-'87 ; 1893-'95.*
Thacher, T. D., Lawrence, 1877 ; 1879-'93.*
Tilton, W. S., WaKeeney, l885-'89.
Troutman, James A., Topeka, 1896-"00.
True, A. E., Vera, 1895-'00.
Trueblood, W. P., Barclay, 1897-'99.
Valentine, Daniel Mulford, Topeka, 1890-'92.
Valentine, D. A., Clay Center, 1899-'00.
Vandegrift, Fred L., Kansas City, 1898-"00.
Veale, Geo. W., Topeka, 1887-'89.
Waggener, Bailie P., Atchison, 1894-'96.
Wagstaff, William Ross, Paola, 18n.5->6.«
Wakefield, W. H. T., Lawrence, 1893-'9d.
Walrond, Z. T., Osborne, 18s9-'91.
Walters, J. D., Manhattan, 1894-'96.
Walton, Wirt W., Clay Center, 1883-'86.*
Ware, Eugene F., Fort Scott, Topeka, 188.3-'00.
Warner, Alexander, Baxter Springs, l896-'98.
Wasson, L. C, Ottawa, 18>-5.
Waters, J. S., Oswego, 1882-'83.*
Waterson, Thomas W., Marysville, 1880-'81.*
Weightman, Matthew, Topeka, 1891-'96.*
Wellhouse, Fred, Topeka, 1889-"00.
Wheeler, S. C, Concordia, 1891-'93.
White, Wm. A., Emporia, 1900.
W'hiting, Alva B., Topeka, 1893-'00.
Whittemore, L. D., Topeka, 1896-'00.
Whittington, A. N., Lincoln, 1891-93.
Wilder, Daniel Webster, Fort Scott and Hia-
watha, 1875-'76; 1879-'80; 1883-'00.
Wilkiu.son, West E., Seneca, 1899-'00.
Williams, Archie L., Topeka, 189.VO0.
Williams, Henry H., Osawatomie, 1887.
Williamson, Charles, Washington, 1887-'89.
Wood, Mrs. M. L., Strong City, 1892-'99.
Wood, Samuel N., Topeka, 1879-'88; 1891.*
Woodward, Brinton W., Lawrence, 1896-'00.
Wright. John K., Junction City, 1892-'97; 1900.
Wright, R. M., Dodge City, 1884-'90.
* Deceased.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Officers, 1897-1900 3
Directors 3^ 4
Classification of directors by departments 4
Members of board of directors, 1877-1900 4,5
Proceedings of meetings 9
Report of secretary, January 16, 1900 30
Address of Col. Horace L. Moore, January 19, 1897 35
Memorial of Gov. James M. Harvey, by L. R. Elliott, January 19, 1897 53
Address of Prof. E. B. Cowgill, January 19, 1897 56
Address of Hon. John Speer, January 18, 1898 60
Address of Chancellor F. H. Snow, January 18, 1898 70
Presentation of bronze bust of Hon. D. W. Wilder, by Hon. Eugene F. Ware,
January 18, 1898 7G
Address of Brinton W. Woodward, January 18, 1898 77
Memorial on Hon. Timothy Dwight Thacher, by Rev. Richard, Cordley, Jan-
uary 18, 1898 8.3
Address of Prof. William H. Carruth, January 19, 1897 90
Address of William E. Connelley, January 17, 1899 97
Address of Pres. A. R. Taylor, January 17, 1899 Ill
Address of Col. W. F. Cloud, January 17, 1899 122
Address of Prof. S. W. Williston and H. T. Martin, January 17, 1899 124
Address of Maj. W. L. Brown, January 17, 1899 130
Address of Col. Wilder S. Metcalf, January 16, 1900 ia3
Address of Maj. A. M. Harvey, January 16, 1900 137
Address of Lieut. Col. James Beck, January 16, 1900 113
Address of Lieut. J. R. Whisner, January 16, 1900 116
Address of Hon. Eugene F. Ware, January 16, 1900 117
Memorial on Franklin G. Adams, by Daniel W. Wilder, Samuel A. Kingman,
and Floyd P. Baker, January 16, 1900 169
Biographical sketch of Franklin G. Adams 171
Address of Col. Richard J. Hinton, January 16, 1900 175
Memoir of Gov. Charles Robinson, by Prof. Frank W. Blackmar 187
Memoir of Gov. Geo. T. Anthony, by Hon. P. I. Bonebrake, January 18, 1898, 202
Memoir of Hon. Solon O. Thacher, by Stuart Henry 206
Memoir of Hon. Harrison Kelley 219
Memoir of Hon. Edward Russell 221
Memoir of Hon. James S. Emery 223
Memoir of Maj. James B. Abbott, by L. F. Green, January 18, 1898 225
Memoir of L. R. Elliott, by Frank A. Root 231
Memoir of Dr. Stephen McLallin, by Mrs. Annie L. Diggs 2:5;3
Memoir of Matthew Weigh tman 2.34
Memoir of Hon. George A. Crawford 2.37
Paper on Col. Samuel Walker, by Chas. S. Gleed 249
Memoir of Hon. Almerin Gillett -"i^
(7)
8 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Memoir of Capt. Andrew J. Arnold 275
Memoir of Maj. Henry Hopkins, by Mrs. Florence M. Hopkins 276
Memoir of Gov. Thomas A. Osborn, by Chas. S. Gleed 284
The value of local history and the importance of preserving it, by William
E. Connelley •. ... 288
Topeka and her constitution; address of Gov. Charles Robinson, February
26, 1877 291
Address of Hon. John Speer, January 17, 1899 305
Organization of the republican party, by Hon. O. E. Learnard .312
The Lawrence raid, by Capt. H. E. Palmer 317
Pike of Pike's Peak, by Noble L. Prentis, February 19, 1877 325
The story of Kansas, by Hon. D. W. Wilder. 3.36
James Montgomery, by Maj. E. S. W. Drought 342
The Indians agree to abandon Kansas, by Hon. T. A. McNeal .344
The battle of Arickaree, by Winfield Freeman 346
The first Kansas railway, by Charles S. Gleed 357
Claims for losses of Kansas settlers during the troubles of 1855-'56, by Hon.
William Hutchinson 360
Marais des Cygnes tragedy, by Ed. R. Smith 365
Pens that made Kansas free, by Col. R. J. Hinton 371
Bibliography of Kansas constitutions 3^
Bibliography of Kansas territorial documents 394
Bibliography of Kansas state documents 419
Appendix: The real Quivira, by W. E. Richey 477
General index 487
TRANSACTIONS
OF THE
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
NOVEMBER 17, 1896.
The board of directors met in the west room of the Historical So-
ciety, at three p. m., November 17, 1896, Pres. Edmund N. Morrill
in the chair. The following members were present : E. N. Morrill,
John Guthrie, William Sims, S. McLallin, H. D. Rice, Mrs. B. A.
Otis, James B. Abbott, A. J. Arnold, A. P. Riddle, Fred. Wellhouse,
John Speer, F. D. Coburn, E. B. Cowgill, Miss Lucy D. Kingman, J. E.
Junkm, A. B. Whiting, L. D. Whittemore, J. Ware Butterfield,
Brinton W. Woodward, W. H. Carruth, L. R. Elliott, James F. Legate,
W. H. Smith, W. C. Edwards, F. G. Adams, Arthur Capper, R. H^
Semple, E. F. Ware, John R. Mulvane, Scott Hopkins.
Letters of regret were received from Chas. F. Scott, P. G. Lowe,
D. R. Anthony, and P. B. Maxson.
The secretary submitted the annual report for the consideration of
the board, which, on motion, was adopted.
The financial report submitted by the executive committee, of which
the following is an abstract, was read and approved. The finances of
the Society for the year ending November 1, 1896, are as follows :
1S95. RECEIPTS.
Nov. 1. . . . Balance of apppropriation to June .SO, 189G $3,431 90
1896. Balance in hands of treasurer of Society — fees 1.30 15
July 1 . . . . Appropriation to June 30, ] 897 5,680 00
Receipts from membership fees GO 00
Total receipts $9,302 11
EXPENDITURES.
Salaries and clerk hire 8-1,609 03
Purchase of books 358 62
Postage, freight, and contingent 621 40
Treasurer's account, membership fees 171 04
5,7(J0 09
Unexpended balance S3,542 02
On motion of W. H. Smith, the following resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That the legislative committee of this Society be and is hereby
instructed to prepare a bill and endeavor to procure its passage by the incoming
legislature to secure the action contemplated in the report of the committee on
(9)
10 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the subject of the transfer of the miscellaneous department of the state law
library to the library of the State Historical Society; also, to secure a provision
by law by which the governor and one or more of the executive officers of the state,
together with the chief justice of the supreme court, be added to and made
members of the board of directors of the State Historical Societ}'.
On motion of John Guthrie, the president and secretary were di-
rected to select a committee on legislation for the ensuing year, to
consist of twelve members.
On motion of John Guthrie, the following resolution was adopted,
and the president requested to appoint the committee:
Resolved, That the legislative committee (to consist of the secretary and
twelve members to be appointed) confer and advise with the incoming executive
council concerning the completion and furnishing of the rooms for the Society
in the east wing, as contemplated by concurrent resolution No. 22 of the legisla-
ture of 1895.
On motion, the legislative committee was instructed to ask the in-
coming legislature for an addition to the contingent fund for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1897.
The following committees were then appointed to secure the i^repa-
ration of memorials on deceased members :
On Charles Robinson : V. J. Lane, D. R. Anthony, and John
Guthrie.
On George T. Anthony : A. P. Riddle, J. R. Mulvane, and W. H.
Smith.
On James M. Harvey: L. R. Elliott, E. B. Cowgill, and J. E.
Junkin.
On Solon O. and T. Dwight Thacher: B. W. Woodward, W. H.
Carruth, and E. F. Ware.
The committees were instructed to prepare such memorials without
regard to length, and to be delivered as addresses at special or stated
meetings of the Society or to be published in the collections of the
Society, as the committees may deem best.
On motion, the board adjourned to meet at three p. m., Tuesday,
the 19th of January, 1897.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 19, 1897.
The twenty-first annual meeting of the board of directors of the
Xansas State Historical Society was held in the Society's west rooms,
Tuesday afternoon, January 19, 1897, and was called to order by Vice-
Pres. Harrison Kelley, the president. Governor Morrill, being absent.
The following members of the board participated in the meeting :
Harrison Kelley, James S. Emery, John Speer, L. R. Elliott, James
B. Abbott, John G. Haskell, Mrs. M. L. Wood, A. E. True, A. R.
Greene, John Guthrie, B. W. Woodward, Matthew Weightman, W.
TWENTY-FIRST ANMUAL MEETING. 11
H. Carruth, Samuel A. Kingman, C. R. Green, Mrs. Bina G. Otis,
Fred. Wellliouse, P. G. Lowe, F. G. Adams, F. D. Coburn, A. B.
Whiting, Arthur Capper, E. B. Cowgill, J. Ware Butterfield, L. D.
Whittemore, J. E. Junkin, P. B. Maxson, and H. D. Rice.
Secretary Adams read the proceedings of the meeting of the board
of directors held November 17, 189(i, which is included in the tenth
biennial report of the board, since published.
The bill to consolidate the two miscellaneous libraries of the state
in the library of the Historical Society was read, and the following
resolution and accompanying declaration of the Society adopted :
Resolved, That the Kansas State Historical Society has built up its li})rary
and collections for the people of the state, and that it has always been the inten-
tion and purpose of the Society that such library and collections should be held
as the property of the state.
Resolved, That to remove all doubts which may hereafter exist as to the
legal ownership of said library and collections, the president and secretary of the
Society be and they are hereby authorized by the Society to execute and file with
the constituted authorities of the state a written declaration signed by them
under the seal of the Society, granting and relinquishing to the state all right
and title to the property of the Society, its library, and its present and future
collections of every description, to be and to remain the sole property of the state
forever, in form as follows :
Declaration : In pursuance of authority vested in the president and secretary
of the Kansas State Historical Society, by formal action taken by said Society at
its annual meeting, January 19, 1897, we, the undersigned, such president and
secretary, do hereby, in the name of the Society, grant and relinquish to the state
all right and title to the property of the Society, its library, and its present and
future collections of every description, to be held and to remain the sole property
of the state forever.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto affixed the seal of said Society, this —
[seal.] day of — , 1897.
A. B. Whiting presented the report of the nominating committee,
giving the names of thirty-three members of the board of directors,
for action at the evening meeting of the Society ; also, the names pro-
posed for officers of the Society and committees to be elected at the
evening meeting of the board.
Names proposed for honorary, active and corresponding member-
ship were then read by the secretary, and additional names were
added by members of the board present, for action at the evening
meeting of the board.
A resolution, suggested by Edward Russell, of Lawrence, was pre-
sented by the secretary, and finally adopted, as follows :
Resolved, That a committee of six be appointed by the president of the
Society to cooperate with its secretary, to consider the propriety of holding a
general state memorial convention under the auspices of the Society, for the
object of commemorating the public events in the history of the state ; said com-
mittee to determine the time and place of holding such meeting, and to report
12 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
within sixty days at a called meeting of the board of directors; state and judi-
ciary officers and members of the legislature especially, from the beginning of the
territory to the present time, to be invited to attend and participate.
The president appointed Edward Russell, John G. Haskell, John
Guthrie, P. G. Lowe, Henry Booth and Mrs. M. L. Wood members of
such committee.
Samuel A. Kingman then presented to the Society, in the name of
G. G. Gage, of Topeka, a handsomely bound copy of the volume en-
titled "The Battle of the Blue." On motion of John Guthrie, the
thanks of the board of directors were extended to G. G. Gage. Ad-
I'ourned.
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY.
JANUARY 19, 1897.
The twenty-first annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical
Society was called to order in Representative hall, Tuesday evening
January 19, 1897, at 7:30 p. m., by Harrison Kelley, vice-president.
An abstract of the report of the board of directors, including the
financial report of the executive committee, was read by the secretary,
and on motion was adopted.
The further proceedings of the meeting were in accordance with
the following program :
Music by the Washburn glee club.
Address by Col. Horace L. Moore, of Lawrence, on the svibject "The Cam-
paign of the Nineteenth Kansas Volunteer Regiment against the Indians of the
Plains, 1868-'69."
Memorial address by L. R. Elliott, of Manhattan, on Gov. James M. Harvey.
Paper by Prof. W. H. Carruth, of the state university, on "The New Eng-
land Emigrant Aid Society as an Investment Company."
Paper by Prof. E. B. Cowgill, Topeka. on the subject "The Kansas Descend-
ants of the Emigrant Passengers of the Ship 'Welcome,' 1682."
At the close of the program, John Guthrie offered the following :
Resolved, That the appreciative thanks of the Historical Society are extended
Horace L. Moore, L. R. Elliott, W. H. Carruth and E. B. Cowgill for their in-
teresting addresses, and the Washburn glee club for its charming music.
The following members of the board nominated at the afternoon
meeting were then elected for the three years ending January 16, 1900:
D. R. Anthony, F. P. Baker, W. H. Barnes, W. E. Bush, Arthur
Capper, W. H. Carruth, F. D. Coburn, Frank Doster, A. R. Greene,
Ewing Herbert, D. P. Hodgdon, Edward Jaquins, J. E. Junkin, Har-
rison Kelley, Miss Lucy D. Kingman, J. W. Leedy, George Leis, E. C.
Little, P. McVicar, F. P. Mac Lennan, Fletcher Meridith, Frank C.
Montgomery, J. W. Morphy, A. P. Riddle, Mrs. Sara T. D. Robinson,
John Seaton, John Speer, W. D. Street, William Stryker, W. P. True-
blood, E. F. Ware, D. W\ Wilder, Mrs. M. L. Wood, and Horace L.
Moore. The meeting adjourned.
TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. 13
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 19, 1897.
At the close of the annual meeting of the Society a meeting of the
board of directors was called, P. G. Lowe taking the chair. The fol-
lowing officers were then elected by ballot :
President, Harrison Kelley, Burlington; vice-presidents, W. H.
Smith, Marysville, S. McLallin, Topeka; secretary, F. G. Adams,
Topeka ; treasurer, John Guthrie, Topeka.
The new president, Harrison Kelley, then took the chair, and the
following committees and members of the Society, nominated at the
afternoon meeting of the board, were appointed and elected :
Legislative committee: S. McLallin, A. B. Whiting, E. J. Dallas,
J. R. Mulvane, J. W. Morphy, E. B. Cowgill, W. J. Costigan, Arthur
Capper, E. F. Ware, W. L. Brown, Fred. Wellhouse, and Geo. M.
Munger.
Executive committee: John W. Leedy, W. E. Bush, C. K. Holli-
day, A. J. Arnold, and William Sims.
Honorary members : John Sherman, Mansfield, Ohio ; Gen. Nelson
A. Miles, Washington, D. C, suggested by P. G. Lowe ; Gen. William
Brindle, suggested by A. R. Greene.
Corresponding members : Adoniram Judson Patterson, D. D., Rox-
bury, Mass., suggested by Rev. C. D. Bradlee ; John P. Jones, San
Diego, Cal. ; George M. Herrick, Washburn College ; Henry B.
Blackwell. Boston, Mass.; James W. Steele, Chicago, 111.; Henry
King, St. Louis, Mo.; George T. Pierce, Goodrich, Kan.; Rev. H. D.
Fisher, Topeka ; J. V. Brower, St. Paul, Minn., by L. R. Elliott ; An-
drew T. Still, Kirksville, Mo., by John Speer; Rev. Richard Cordley,
Lawrence.
Active members : J. F. Todd, Topeka ; C. A. Lewis, Weir City ;
Mrs. Elizabeth A. Johnson, White Rock ; George Johnson, White Rock ;
D. S. Alford, Lawrence ; F. W. Blackmar, F. H. Hodder, and E. D.
Adams, of the state university, Lawrence, suggested by W. H. Carruth.
The board then adjourned.
MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
NOVEMBER 12, 1897. .
The executive committee of the State Historical Society met in
the Society's south rooms, November 12, 1897, at three p. m., for the
object of filling vacancies in the board of directors and officers of tlie
Society. There were present : J. W. Leedy, C. K. HoUiday, W. E.
Bush, and William Sims, A. J. Arnold being unavoidably absent.
Vacancies in the board of directors were filled as follows : J. G.
McCoy, of Sedgwick county, in the place of Harrison Kelley; Wni.
14 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
A. Peffer in the place of S. McLallin ; Mrs. Elizabeth W. Abbott, of
De Soto, in place of James B. Abbott; Benjamin Harding, of
Wathena, in the place of Sol. Miller.
Vacancies in the officers of the Society were filled as follows : For
president, Peter Mc Vicar, of Topeka, in the place of Harrison Kelley,
deceased; Wm. A. Peffer, in the place of S. McLallin, deceased.
The meeting then adjourned.
APPOINTMENT OF JOHN SPEER TO BE PRESIDENT.
Peter McVicar having declined the appointment of president ten-
dered to him by the executive committee, the committee, under date of
November 22, 1897, by the following writing, signed by all the mem-
bers, appointed John Speer to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
Pres. Harrison Kelley, July 24, 1897 :
The under.signed, members of the executive committee of the Kansas State
Historical Society, in view of the fact that Peter McVicar has, owing to ill
health, declined the office of president of the Society, to which he was appointed
by us to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Harrison Kelley, we, and each
of us, favor the appointment of John Speer to the place, and authorize the
secretary to enter such record of appointment upon the books of the Society.
(Signed) William Sims.
Cyrus K. Holliday.
W. E. Bush.
A. J. Arnold.
J. W. Leedy.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 18, 1898.
The twenty-second annual meeting of the board of directors was
held in the west rooms of the Society, January 18, 1898, John Speer,
president of the Society, presiding.
The following members of the board were present : J. W. Leedy,
L. R. Elliott, E. B. Cowgill, F. C. Montgomery, Peter McVicar, A. B.
Whiting, F. P. Baker, Fred. Wellhouse, Mrs. Bina A. Otis, L. D.
Whittemore, J. E. Junkin, Geo. W. Martin, Miss Lucy D. Kingman,
John Guthrie, J. Ware Butterfield, Horace L. Moore, Brinton W.
Woodward, Frank W. Blackmar, Robert H. Semple, William Sims,
Cyrus K. Holliday, William A. PefPer, Chas. S. Gleed, John G. Has-
kell, William Stryker, W. H. Carruth, Fletcher Meridith, William E.
Bu.sh, Harvey D. Rice, and F. G. Adams.
The annual report was read by the secretary, and approved by the
board, on motion of John Guthrie.
The report of the executive committee on the finances of the So-
ciety was read by C. K. Holliday, and approved.
The committee on nominations then made its report. The report
was adopted. Honorary and corresponding members were then nomi- ^
nated. John Guthrie reported for the committee on the memorial
TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING. 15
of Charles Kobinson, and upon his motion, F. W. Blackraar, of the
state university, was appointed to prepare the memorial for publica-
tion in the Society's collections.
B. W. Woodward reported that the memorial on T. Dwight Thacher
had been prepared by Rev. Richard Cordley, and would be presented at
the evening meeting of the Society, and that the memorial of S. O.
Thacher was being prepared by Stuart Henry.
Secretary Adams stated that L. F. Green, of Woden, Tex., had been
chosen by Mrs. Abbott and the friends of her husband to prepare a
memorial on James B. Abbott, and the paper had been received by
the Society. The secretary also stated that a memorial of George T.
Anthony had been prei^ared by P. I. Bonebrake, at the request of the
committee, and had been printed by the family, and a copy furnished
the Society.
On motion of F. C. Montgomery, it was voted that the memorials
prepared and on file, of George T. Anthony, James B. Abbott, and T.
Dwight Thacher, be printed in the sixth volume of the Society's col-
lections.
The secretary then reported the following names of deceased mem-
bers of the board for whom memorials should be prepared, and on
motion the executive committee was requested to obtain suitable
memorialists : George A. Crawford, Matthew Weightman, Sol. Miller,
Harrison Kelley, and S. McLallin.
The secretary then made a statement regarding a collection of
manuscripts made by William E. Connelley, of Beatrice, Neb., relat-
ing to the Wyandotte and other tribes of Indians in Kansas, and to
the earliest steps which had been taken towards opening Kansas
territory to settlement. At the secretary's request, Mr. Connelley had
brought the manuscripts to Topeka in order that the board of direct-
ors at this meeting might take such action as might be thought best
in reference to securing the manuscripts for the Society's use. Charles
S. Gleed, who had seen the manuscripts, also made a statement testify-
ing to their value.
The following resolution, offered by the secretary, and seconded by
Charles S. Gleed, was then adopted :
Resolved, That a committee of five, consisting of Wm. A. PefFer, W. H.
Carruth, L. D. Whittemore, John Speer, and F. W. Blackmar, be appointed to
examine the manuscripts of William E. Connelley, and report the results of their
investigations to the executive corhmittee and that the executive committee be
authorized to act.
L. R. Elliott offered the following resolution, which was adopted :
Whereas, We deem that it will be a matter of interest to future residents of
Kansas to be able to associate the faces of the directors of this Society with their
recorded names : therefore, be it
Resolved, That the secretary of the Society be requested to solicit from each
]6 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
of the several persons vrho have served as directors a i)hotograph, of such size
and style as he may designate; and we hereby instruct the secretary to procure a
proper receptacle for said j)hotographs, and place them therein, with suitable
statements of the dates of service of each; and we further reijuest the secretary
to obtain, if possible, from friends of deceased directors, the photographs of those
who have passed away. ,
On motion-of E. B. Cowgill, the following resolutions were adopted :
Whereas, This Society has received from J. V. Brower, of St. Paul, Minn., a
copy of his memoir of his investigations in Kansas concerning the prehistoric oc-
cupants of this region, and especially concerning the semi-historic Quivera, men-
tioned by the Spanish explorers in 1541; and
Whereas, The developments made by J. V. Brower in his examinations in the
central portion of the state have been of a unique and interesting character: and
Whekeas, The information obtained by the author and recorded in the inter-
esting memoir he has prepared leads us to believe that the subject of the earliest
occupancy of Kansas has not by any means been thoroughly investigated; and
Whereas, The chief purpose of the existence of this Society is to secure and
record the history of Kansas from its beginnings: therefore,
Resolved, That we do hereby appoint a committee, consisting of Vice-pres.
.Eugene F. Ware, Treas. John Guthrie, and L. R. Elliott, who may in their dis-
cretion, and in the name of the Society, and under its auspices, arrange for the
continuance of the investigations begun by J. V. Brower, and for the publication
of the results thereof in a volume which shall be of a style creditable to this
Society and to the state of Kansas, or in the regular series of volumes of the col-
lections of the Society. And that we may avail ourselves of the valuable services
and ripe knowledge of J. V. Brower, who also is a corresponding member of the
Society, we hereby cordially invite him to act with the above-named committee.
Also,
Resolved, That the committee herein named be requested to procure from
J. V. Brower the use of the illustrative cuts and maps now in his possession, to
the end that the new volume to be prepared may contain the important matter
presented in the memoir this day dedicated to this Society, as well as all such
additional information as the contemplated investigations of the committee may
develop.
The following resolution, offered by W. H. Carruth, was unani-
mously adopted :
Resolved, That this Society views with concern the absence throughout the
state of adequate records of births and deaths, and advocates the enactment of
measures requiring the keeping of such records; that a committee of five be
appointed to draft a bill to this effect, and to advocate its adoption by the next
legislature.
The committee was appointed by the president, consisting of H.
L. Moore, John Guthrie, George W. Martin, W. H. Carruth, and L.
R. Elliott.
The meeting ^hen adjourned.
TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING. 17
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY.
JANUARY 18, 1898.
The twenty-second annual meeting of the Historical Society con-
Tened in Representative hall, Tuesday, January 18, 1898, at 7:30 p. m.
The meeting was called to order by John Speer, president. The an-
nual report of the board of directors was then presented by the sec-
retary, and adopted.
Thirty-three members of the board of directors were then elected
for the term of three years, ending January 15, 1901, as follows: F.
G. Adams, Topeka : Alexander Caldwell, Leavenworth ; Harold T.
Chase, Topeka ; J. R. Clark, La Cygne ; E. J. Dallas, Topeka ; L. R.
Elliott, Manhattan ; J. S. Emery, Lawrence ; Charles S. Gleed, Topeka :
I. D. Graham, Manhattan ; John Guthrie, Topeka ; H. C. F. Hackbnsch.
Leavenworth ; Grant W. Harrington, Hiawatha ; John G. Ha.skell,
Lawrence; C. K. HoUiday, Topeka; Scott Hopkins, Horton : A. H.
Horton, Topeka : A. S. Johnson, Topeka : Mrs. Elizabeth A. John-
son, White Rock ; Henry Kuhn, Marion ; V. J. Lane, Kansas City :
P. G. Lowe, Leavenworth ; Geo. W. Martin, Kansas City ; Horace L.
Moore, Lawrence; E. N. Morrill, Hiawatha; T. B. Murdock, El
Dorado ; F. O. Popenoe, Topeka ; Adrian Reynolds, Sedan ; William
Sims, Topeka; W. H. Smith, Marysville; A. E. True, Vera; Fred L.
Vandegrift, Kansas City; Fred. Wellhouse, Topeka ; A. L. Williams,
Topeka.
Geo. W. Martin offered the following resolution, which was adopted
on the second of the secretary of the Society :
Resolved, That in the judgment of the State Historical Society all controversy
concerning the state library should end, and the committee is hereby discharged
from further consideration of the subject.
The iDresident then read the annual address, on the subject "The
Importance of Accuracy in Historical Statements."
L. R. Elliott made a few remarks explanatory of the work of J. V.
Brower-in tracing Coronado's route in Kansas, and his antiquarian
researches near Manhattan.
Francis H. Snow read a paper entitled "Beginnings of the State
University."
Charles S. Gleed then formally presented to the Society, in behalf
of Eugene F. Ware, a bronze bust of D. W. Wilder, executed by R.
E. Bringhurst, of St. Louis. Charles S. Gleed read a paper commu-
nicated by Eugene F. Ware, relating to the gift, and containing the
following limitation :
I retain my proprietary interest in the bust until it can be determined whether
or not the state will give the Society proper rooms and necessary facilities in the
State-house. If not, I will remove the bust elsewhere. E. F. Ware.
18 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Samuel A. Kingman offered the following resolution, which was
adopted on motion of President Speer :
JiesoJved, That hearty thanks be oflfered to Eugene F. Ware for his generous
gift, valuable as a work of art, but precious to us as a perfect representation of an
early and tried friend and former president of the Historical Society and doubly
prized as linking the name of the munificent donor with that of D. W. Wilder
in a perpetual memorial of these two esteemed members of our Society.
Alexander S. Johnson, of Topeka, who was born in Kansas in 1832,
then presented to the Society a gavel made from the wood of an Eng-
lish Golden Russet ajjple tree, one of the trees in an orchard planted
by his father, the Rev. Thomas Johnson, on the farm of the Shawnee
Indian manual labor school (now in Johnson county, Kansas), in
the year 1837. Colonel Johnson said the gavel had been prepared by
E. P. Diehl, a prominent horticulturist of Johnson county, who was
somewhat familiar with the history of this orchard, and took this
mode of preserving, in the Historical Society of Kansas, a relic of the
first orchard planted in Kansas. Mr. Diehl, in his letter accompany-
ing the gift, had referred to Colonel Johnson's association with that
orchard in his childhood, and had brought to his mind many reminis-
cences of those early days when Kansas was a wilderness, its inhabit-
ants the red men, a few missionaries and teachers who were seeking
to teach them the ways of civilization, and a few Indian traders ; and,
besides these, only the occupants of the military posts at Fort Leaven-
worth. In this manual labor school was instituted, it is said, the first
effort to teach industrial pursuits to Indian children. It was the ini-
tiatory step in Indian education, which, followed by other societies
and by the government of the United States, embraces so prominent
a feature in the work of Indian civilization at the present time.
On motion of H. D. Fisher, a vote of thanks was given A. S. John-
son and E. P. Diehl for the gift of the valuable memento of the Rev.
Thomas Johnson.
B. W. Woodward then read a paper on "Reminiscences of Septem-
ber 11, 185(3; Invasion of the 2700."
Rev. Richard Cordley read a memorial address on T. Dwight Thacher.
On motion of the secretary, a vote of thanks was extended Frank
Weightman for his entertaining solos, and to Oscar, Thomas, Grace
and Marion Darlow for their well-rendered orchestra music.
The meeting then adjourned.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 18, 1898.
The board of directors was called to order by the president, on ad-
journment of the annual meeting. Ofiicers were elected for the
following year, as follows : President, John Speer, Garden City : vice-
presidents, E. F. Ware, Topeka, and W. A. PefPer, Topeka.
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD. 19
The following honorary and corresponding members were also
elected :
Honorary member : Aldace F. Walker, New York city, nominated
by C. K. Holliday.
Corresponding members: Angus McDonald, M. D., Ph.D., nomi-
nated by Rev. C. D. Bradlee ; Julius T. Clark, Topeka ; William E.
Connelley, Beatrice, Neb. : Bradford Kingman, Brookline, Mass.,
nominated by Samuel A. Kingman ; Sidney Clarke, Oklahoma City,
O. T. ; W. R. Brown, El Reno, O. T. ; Addison Danford, Canon City,
Colo. ; Edmund G. Ross, Albuquerque, N. M. ; Elias S. Stover, Albu-
querque, N. M. ; Allen B. Lemmon, Santa Rosa, Cal. ; Henry C. Speer,
Chicago; W". H. H. Lawrence, Plainesville, Ohio; William Higgins,
Kansas City, Mo. ; E. P. McCabe, Guthrie, O. T.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
NOVEMBER 15, 1898.
The November meeting of the board of directors of the Kansas
State Historical Society was held in the west rooms, November 15,
1898, to consider the eleventh biennial report.
In the absence of the president, John Speer, detained at his home
through illness, Eugene F. Ware, first vice-president, presided.
There were present the following members of the board : Horace
L. Moore, George Leis, John G. Haskell, J. S. Emery, Geo. W. Mar-
tin, John Guthrie, W. H. Barnes, F. P. Baker, William Sims, Peter
Mc Vicar, L. D. Whittemore, E. F. Ware, Harold T. Chase. L. R. El-
liott, Miss Lucy D. Kingman, Fred. Wellhonse, Fred O. Popenoe, E.
B. Cowgill, E. J. Dallas, F. D. Coburn, and F. G. Adams.
The secretary read letters from the daughters of John Speer and
V. J. Lane, stating the serious illness of their fathers, and expressing
regret that they were unable to attend the meeting; a telephone mes-
sage from A. B. Whiting mentioned that he would be necessarily ab-
sent on account of the celebration of his fortieth wedding anniversary.
A letter from D. W. Wilder was read, explaining the reasons for
his absence. The letter also contained the following suggestion, the
subject of which, on motion, was referred to a committee of three to
be appointed by the president, for action at the January meeling of
the board :
I have a proposition to make: The Centennial managers at Philadelphia,
about 187i, called upon states, counties and towns to signalize 187G by publish-
ing histories. A good response was made in the states, and especially in Kansas»
with new county histories. I found time to compile the "Annals."
Now we are near the end of the century. I want our Society to father a
movement for new local histories all over the state. The editors, all of whom are
members of the Society, are the men who will make the most numerous responses.
But city councils and county commissioners will also take up the patriotic work.
Frank Montgomery will complete the "Annals." The State Historical Society
can greatly aid in the work.
20 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The secretary then read the eleventh biennial report, which, in-
cluding the financial report of the executive committee, on motion of
John Cxuthrie, was adopted and ordered to be printed.
Vice-president Ware stated that urgent business compelled him to
retire. He called E. J. Dallas to the chair.
H. L. Moore, from the committee on the subject of proposed legis-
lation to secure the recording of vital statistics, stated that he had ex-
amined the laws of Eastern states on this subject, and had selected that
of Massachusetts as most applicable to the needs of our state. He had
secured from John Guthrie the promise to draw up a bill, patterned
after this law, to be submitted to the coming legislature. He thought
the records of marriages as now preserved by the probate courts were
adequate, and that the new law should have special reference to the
preservation of records of births and deaths.
John Guthrie called the attention of the board to the Society's
lack of room. He also said that an effort ^hould be made with the
coming legislature to restore the appropriations in salaries and clerk hire
which were reduced by the legislature of 1897. On his motion, the
president was instructed to appoint a committee of seven to cooper-
ate with the president and secretary for the purpose of securing
through the executive council the rooms accorded the Society by the
legislative resolution of 1895. The president was also instructed to
appoint a new committee on legislation.
L. Vernon Briggs, secretary of the Old Colony Commission, Boston,
was elected an honorary member of the Society, by nomination of Sec-
retary Adams.
James S. Emery, on motion of Geo. Leis, was invited to prepare a
paper of reminiscences relating to the early history of Kansas for
filing among the manuscripts of the Society.
E. B. Cowgill si^oke of the im^Dortanc'e of securing the cooperation
of local historical societies throughout the state, and suggested that
this might be done by giving some officer or other member of such
societies representation on the board of directors of the state Society.
On motion, he was requested to formulate a re.solution to that effect
for presentation to the annual meeting of the board.
The following resolution offered by H. L. Moore, at the suggestion
of Dr. H. Z. Gill, secretary of the state board of health, was then
adopted :
Resolved, That, in the opinion of the board of directors of the State Histor-
ical Society, at its meeting, November 15, 1898, the vital statistics of the state,
being of so great importance, should be carefully collected and preserved in such
manner as shall secure them for future use; that the state health authorities, as
now organized, should be strengthened, and collection of said vital statistics be
facilitated by additional legislation.
On motion, the meeting adjourned.
%
TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING. 21
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 17, 1899.
The twenty-third annual meeting of the board of directors of the
Kansas State Historical Society was held in the west rooms of the
Society, Tuesday afternoon, January 17, 1899, commencing at two
o'clock.
In the absence of the president, John Speer, who was unable
through illness to attend the meeting, Geo. W. Martin was called to
the chair. Franklin G. Adams also being ill, the assistant secretary
was requested to act in his place.
The following members of the board were present : Geo. W. Mar-
tin, D, W. Wilder, Mrs. Bina A. Otis, Peter Mc Vicar, Eugene F.
Ware, John Guthrie, A. B. Whiting, John G. Haskell, William Sims,
C. K. Holliday, F. P. Baker, Frank C. Montgomery, Harvey D. Rice,
William H. Barnes, W. L. Brown, E. B. Cowgill, Miss Lucy D. King-
man, J. B. Remington, A. R. Taylor, Fred. Wellhouse, L. D. Whitte-
more.
D. W. Wilder, for the committee on nominations, reported a list of
thirty-three members of the board of directors for election at the an-
nual meeting of the Society in the evening, and officers and honorary
and corresponding members for election at the evening meeting of
the board. The report of the committee was accepted.
On motion of D. W. Wilder, the following resolution was unani-
mously adopted :
Resolved, That the secretary of this Society be requested to prepare a circu-
lar and send it to every editor in the state, suggesting the timeliness of preparing
histories of every town, city and county in the state as a fitting patriotic me-
morial of the end of this century. A request similar to this was made to the
nation by the Centennial commissioners in 1874, and was appropriately responded
to in 1876 by people in all parts of the union, Kansas being a generous and dis-
tinguished contributor.
John Guthrie reported that he had prepared a bill for submission
to the legislature, providing for the collection and preservation of
vital statistics by the state. After a brief synopsis of the bill by
John Guthrie, and remarks upon the subject by members of the
board, the matter was withdrawn by consent, and referred again to
the committee for consideration.
E. B. Cowgill then made the following report, which, on motion,
was adopted :
Your committee on cooperation of local historical societies with the State
Historical Society begs leave to recommend that each county or other local his-
torical society be entitled to one delegate to the State Historical Society, who
shall have all the rights and privileges of membership in the State Historical
4
22 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL* SOCIETY.
Society, including the right to be elected a director or officer of said society, the
right to take part in the discussions, and the right to vote. It is further recom-
mended that every such county or other local historical society be invited to
deposit in the library of the State Historical Society such historical collections
as it shall make.
The following resolution was then ofPered by Geo. W. Martin, and
seconded by S. A. Kingman with appropriate and forceful remarks :
Resolved, That the executive council is respectfully memorialized to comply
with concurrent resolution No. 22, adopted by the legislature of 1895, granting to
the Historical Society for its library and museum the two floors of the east wing
below the senate chamber, upon the removal of the state library.
After a lengthy discussion upon the subject of additional rooms,
the resolution was adopted.
S. W. Williston, of the state university, then read his paper on '"An
Ancient Sod House in Western Kansas."
On motion of Samuel A. Kingman, the thanks of the Society were
accorded Doctor Williston for his very interesting pajjer, and a copy
was requested for publication in the collections of the Society.
J. C Price, of Republic City, was then invited by the chair to make
some remarks explanatory of the objects of the Pawnee Republic His-
torical Society, and of the proposed purchase by the state of the vil-
lage .site. He responded at some length, and presented, in the name
of Mrs. Elizabeth A. Johnson, of White Rock, a fine crayon portrait
of Capt. Zebulon M. Pike.
At the close of J. C. Price's remarks, a cojDy of a bill prepared for
presentation to the legislature, by F. M. Woodward, member from
Republic county, was read for the consideration of the board, and on
motion of Peter McVicar was referred to the legislative committee.
On motion of D. W. Wilder, the thanks of the board were extended
to J. C. Price, and he was requested to put his remarks in writing for
publication in the minutes of the meeting.
E. F. Ware made a brief verbal report for the committee on J. V.
Brower's Coronado investigation, stating that the committee, composed
of John Guthrie, L. R. Elliott, and himself, had examined the i^ropo-
sition to continue the investigations of J. V. Brower, and believing
that the investigation and publication of the result by the Society
would require an outlay which the Society could not afford, the com-
mittee decided adversely to the proposition. The report of the com-
mittee was accepted.
The following report of the committee on the Connelley collection
of Wyandotte Indian manuscrij)ts was approved, and the committee
discharged :
The committee appointed by the State Historical Society, composed of Wm,
A. Pelfer, L. D. Whittemore, John Speer, F. W. Blackmar, and W. H. Carruth,
TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING. 23
agree that the Connelley collection is well worthy of deposit in the files of the
Kansas State Historical Society, and are of the opinion that the legislature,
upon proper information, will appropriate funds sufficient to make reasonable
compensation for the collection, and they would be pleased if W. E. Connelley
should find it convenient to place the collection in the care of the Society for
preservation, and for submission to the proper committee of the legislature, at
its next meeting, and in case Mr. Connelley does so place the collection, the
Society will undertake to make proper representation as to their value as ma-
terials of history.
W. E. Connelley, of Beatrice, Neb., being detained at home through
illness, Geo. W. Martin, of Kansas City, the former home of Mr. Con-
nelley, stated the subject of his address to be "The First Provisional
Government of Kansas," and said that as the paper was lengthy he
would not attempt to read it. Mr. Martin said further, that Mr. Con-
nelley probably knew more about the history of the Wyandotte In-
dians than any one now living ; that he was an indefatigable collector
of the materials of the history of the tribe, and was an accurate and
painstaking historian.
On motion of John Guthrie, the address was ordered to be printed
in the collections of the Society.
The meeting then adjourned. .
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY.
JANUARY 17, 1899.
The Society met in Representative hall at 7:45 Tuesday evening,
the 17th of January, 1899, Vice-pres. E. F. Ware presiding. An over-
ture by Wood's orchestra was followed by an invocation, pronounced
by Rev. H. D. Fisher, in the absence of Rev. Allen Buckner. who was
prevented from attendance on account of illness.
The thirty-three members of the board of directors nominated at
the afternoon meeting were formally elected, as follows :
Mrs. J. B. Abbott, De Soto; J. B. Adams, El Dorado; T. J.
Anderson, Topeka; A. J. Arnold, Topeka; W. L. Brown, Kingman;
Geo. A. Clark, Junction City ; E. B. Cowgill, Topeka ; S. H. Dodge,
Beloit ; A. G. Forney, Belle Plaiue ; John Francis, Colony ; John S.
Gilmore, Fredonia ; Frank E. Grimes, Leoti : Benjamin Harding, Wa-
thena; E. W. Hoch, Marion; D. W. Houston, Garnett : J. K. Hud-
son, Topeka; L. D. Lew^elling, Wichita; E. D. McKeever, Topeka;
John R. Mulvane, Topeka; M. M. Murdock, Wichita; Frank Nelson.
Lindsborg; W. A. Peffer, Topeka; J. B. Remington, Osawatomie;
Harvey D. Rice, Topeka; Chas. F. Scott, lola; R. H. Semple,
Ottawa ; W. E. Stanley, Wichita ; Edwin Taylor, Edwardsville ; James
A. Troutman, Topeka ; D. A. Valentine, Clay Center ; A. B. Whiting,
Topeka; L. D. Whittemore, Topeka; B. W. Woodward, Lawrence.
24 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Further proceedings of the meeting were in accordance with the
program.
John Guthrie read extracts from President Speer's address entitled
"The Burning of Osceola, Mo., September 23, 1861." At the close
of the address, the following resolution was adopted, on motion of D.
W. Wilder :
Resolved, That the Society greatly regrets to learn that its president, John
Speer, the surviving pioneer journalist of our state, is prevented by illness from
attending our meeting. With our regrets we send him our heartfelt sympathy,
and our hope for his speedy recovery to his usual and Kansas robust health.
The program was then continued, as follows :
Mr. Frank Weigh tman, of Topeka, sang a solo, and responded to an encore.
Dr. A. R. Taylor, Emporia, read a paper entitled "History of Normal School
Work in Kansas."
Orchestra music.
Col. W. F. Cloud, of Kansas City, explained the objects of the Kansas
Soldiers' Monument Association, and made a brief address on the subject.
Orchestra music.
Maj. W. L. Brown, of Kingman, read a paper on "Kansas in the War with
Spain."
Samuel A. Kingman then offered the following preamble and resolu-
tion, which was adopted :
Whereas, I have long been a member of this Society, and have known its
officers and members from the beginning — have seen them come and go — but
I never before missed from his place of duty the secretary, who has, since his
appointment in 1875, always performed his office at the annual meeting: and be it
Resolved , That we hereby extend to him our sincere sympathy in his illness,
and express the hope that he will be restored to health, and enabled to resume
his post of duty.
A vote of thanks was then requested by Geo. W. Martin in ac-
knowledgment of the songs of Mr. Weightman and the music by-
Wood's orchestra, which was unanimously given.
The meeting then adjourned.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 17, 1899.
At the close of the annual meeting, a meeting of the board of direc-
tors was called to order by John Guthrie. The following officers were
elected for the year ending January 1(3, 1900 : President, Eugene F.
Ware ; vice-presidents, Geo. W. Martin and Grant W. Harrington.
For the two years ending January 15, 1901 : John Guthrie, treasurer;
Franklin G. Adams, secretary.
Eugene F. Ware then took the chair, and the following honorary
and corresi^onding members, nominated at the afternoon meeting of
the board, were elected :
Honorary members: Noble L. Prentis, Kansas City, Mo,: Noah
Brooks, New York city.
TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 25
Corresponding members: Robert Tracy, St. Joseph, Mo.; J. W.
Baird, Louisville, Ky.; E. E. Ayer, Chicago; Albert Bigelow Paine,
New York city ; August Bondi, Salina.
The president informed the meeting that he would postpone the
appointment of the standing committees for the present.
The meeting then adjourned.
APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
MAY 13, 1899.
I hereby appoint the following as the executive committee of the Kansas
State Historical Society, to serve until the next regular annual meeting: W. E.
Stanley, Geo. A. Clark, C. K. Holliday, William Sims, A. B. Whiting.
(Signed) E. F. W^are, President.
MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
DECEMBER 6, 1899.
A meeting of the executive committee of the Kansas State His-
torical Society was held in the west rooms of the Society, at two p. m..
Wednesday, December 6, 1899. There were present : Geo. A. Clark,
William Sims, and A. B. Whiting. Gov. W. E. Stanley was pre-
vented by illness from attending, and C. K. Holliday was absent from
the city. Geo. A. Clark acted as chairman.
On motion of William Sims, Geo. W. Martin, of Kansas City, was
elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death, on the 2d instant, of
the secretary, Franklin G. Adams.
Vacancies in the board of directors were filled by the election of
the following persons : West E. Wilkinson, Seneca, in place of Mrs.
J. B. Abbott, of De Soto ; John Martin, Tojoeka, in jjlace of A. J.
Arnold, of North Topeka ; Frank W. Blackmar, Lawrence, in place of
James S. Emery, of Lawrence ; W. W. Padgett, Fort Scott, in j^lace
of Benjamin Harding, of Wathena ; Wm. E. Connelley, Topeka, in
place of L. R. Elliott, of Manhattan; Zu Adams, Topeka, in place of
Franklin G. Adams, of Topeka.
President Ware appointed D. W. Wilder, Samuel A. Kingman and
F. P. Baker a committee to prepare a memorial on the late secretary,
Franklin G. Adams, to be read at the next annual meeting of the So-
ciety. Adjourned.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
JANUARY 16, 1900.
The twenty-fourth annual meeting of the board of directors of the
Kansas State Historical Society was held in the hall of the house of
representatives, Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 1900. The meeting
was called to order at 1:30 by Pres. Eugene F. Ware.
The roll of members being called by the secretary, the following
were found to be present : A. B. Whiting, F. P. Baker, William Sims,
—2
26 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
William E. Coimelley. E. F. Ware, James A. Troutmah, Mrs. M. L.
Wood, B. W. Woodward, Robert H. Sample, Mrs. Elizabeth A. John-
son, Fred. Wellhouse, William H. Smith, L. D. Whittemore, Horace
L. Moore, John Francis, F. D. Coburn, W. H. Barnes, Lucy D. Kinoj-
man, William A. Peffer, Harold T. Chase, Peter McVicar, John
Guthrie, D. A. Valentine, Frank W. Blackmar, John Martin, D. E.
Anthony. Frank Doster, E. D. McKeever, Frank Nelson, Harvey D.
Rice, West E. Wilkinson, Geo. W. Martin, E. B. Cowgill, John G.
Haskell, V. J. Lane, J. E. Junkin, John K. Wright, Zu Adams, L. A.
Bigger, E. P. Harris.
Secretary Martin read the annual report of the Society, which was
unanimously adopted. (See page 30.)
The report of the nominating committee was read by the secretary,
and on motion of John Guthrie was adopted, and referred to the even-
ing meetings of the society and board of directors for action.
On motion of W. H. Smith, the name of E. R. Fulton, of Marys-
ville, was added to the list of nominations for active membership; also
the name of John D. Milliken, of McPherson, on nomination of Presi-
dent Ware.
William Sims, for the executive committee, made the following
report of the Society's finances for the year ending October 30, 1899,
which was accepted:
1898. RECEIPTS.
Nov. 1 . . . . Balance of appropriation to June 30, 1899 $3,038 85
1S99. Balance in hands of treasurer of Society — fees 94 44
July 1 . . . . Appropriation to June 30, 1900 .5,140 00
Deficiency in salary, two years 1,200 00
Receipts from membership fees 54 00
Total receipts $9,527 29
EXPENDITURES.
Salaries and clerk hire '. $4,940 00
Purchase of books 604 55
Postage, freight, and contingent 500 07
Treasurer's account, membership fee 85 00
Total expenditures 6,129 62
Balance $3,397 67
John Guthrie then offered the following resolution, which, after
discussion, was adopted :
Resolved, That the thanks of this Historical Society and other patriotic
people of the State of Kansas are due and are hereby tendered to Mrs. Elizabeth
A. Johnson, of White Rock, Republic county, for donation to this Society of
eleven acres of land, embracing the site of the Pawnee Indian village where Capt.
Zebulon M. Pike, in 1806, first raised the American flag on Kansas soil. Mrs.
Johnson, in her patriotic zeal, paid $2300 for a quarter-section of land, in order
to prevent this interesting spot from passing into careless hands, and to further
protect it bought a roadway around it, and it is the judgment of this Society
that the legislature should suitably mark the same.
TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 27
The following resolution, oflfered by William E. Connelley, led to
much discussion, but was adopted without amendment :
Resolved, That a committee of three, of which the secretary of the Society
shall be one, be appointed by the president, to consider the propriety of amend-
ing the constitution of this Society in relation to the charge of annual fees for
membership and the admission of delegates from local historical societies in the
state; and that said committee be required to report to a meeting of the Society
to be held on Tuesday, the 1st day of May, 1900, and if in the opinion of the
committee such amendment or any amendment is desirable, such amendment be
formulated by such committee and reported at said meeting.
H. L. Moore then presented the following resolution, prepared by
W. H. Carruth, of the state university, which was unanimously
adopted :
Resolved, That the work of this Society be organized into divisions, as fol-
lows: Archa?ology; historic relics: explorations; Indian history: history of the
territory: history of the state; geography (including maps, views of buildings,
and scenery); origin of local names; journals, diaries, and manuscripts: local
history, interviews, and chronicles; organization of local historical societies;
biography: portraits: genealogy and directories; newspapers, periodicals, and
scrap-books; literature; and that the directors, according to their own prefer-
ence and subject to the discretion of the executive committee, be assigned to
committees which shall have especial care and supervision of the work com-
prised under such divisions, subject to the advice and control of the executive
committee.
Miss Zu Adams offered the following resolution, which was adopted :
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to prepare for a suitable ob-
servance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the organization of the Kansas State
Historical Society.
The president announced that the required committees would be
appointed by his successor.
H. L. Moore requested that the matter of vital statistics be re-
ferred to the members of the committee on genealogy, and that they,
in cooperation with the state board of health, be requested to prepare
a bill on this subject for submission to the coming session of the
legislature.
John Gr. Haskell then presented to the Society two volumes, enti-
tled "Select Charters and Other Documents Illustrative of American
History, 160(i-1775," and "Select Documents Illustrative of the His-
tory of the United States, 1776-1861,"' edited by William MacDonald.
B. W. Woodward nominated William MacDonald, who holds the
chair of history in Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, as corre-
sponding member of the Society.
The board adjourned, and the Society met in session.
28 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
MPJETIN(J OF THE SOCIETY.
JANUARY 16, 1900.
Richard J. Hinton was invited by the president to make a few-
remarks. He paid a brief but eloquent tribute to the work of Frank-
lin G. Adams for the State Historical Society.
Col. W. S. Metcalf then delivered an address on "The Twentieth
Kansas in the Philippines." At the close of the address, D. R. Anthony
moved that the thanks of the Society be extended to Colonel Metcalf
for his admirable paper, and that a copy be requested for publication
in the collections of the Society.
Maj. A. M. Harvey followed with an address on "The Organization
and History of the Twenty-second Kansas regiment." On a motion by
John Martin, the thanks of the Society were given Major Harvey for
his excellent paper, and a copy was requested for publication.
The secretary then read an address by Lieut. -col. James Beck,
who was unable to be present, on "The Organization and Services of
the Twenty-third Kansas." Upon conclusion of the paper, D. R. An-
thony moved that, in consideration of the historical value of the docu-
ment and the influence it may have on the future organization of
troops, a copy be requested for preservation.
The meeting then adjourned to eight p. m.
The evening meeting was held in Representative hall, and was
called to order by President Ware.
Preceding the program of the evening, an informal reception was
held in honor of Richard J. and Mrs. Hinton, and was largely partici-
pated in by members of the Society and other citizens.
Rev. John S. Glendenning, of the Second Presbyterian Church,
Topeka, pronounced the invocation.
The thirty-three members of the board of directors nominated at
the afternoon meeting of the board were elected for the three years
ending January 20, 1903, as follows :
D. R. Anthony, Leavenworth ; F. P. Baker, Topeka ; Charles W.
Barnes, Topeka ; W. E. Bush, Fort Scott ; L. A. Bigger, Hutchinson ;
Arthur Capper, Topeka; W. H. Carruth, Lawrence; F. D. Coburn,
Kansas City; John W. Conway, Norton; Frank Doster, Marion; A.
R. Greene, Lecompton ; Ewing Herbert, Hiawatha ; Edward P. Har-
ris, Lecomptoa; Clad Hamilton, Topeka; E. W. Howe, Atchison; J.
E. Junkin, Sterling; Miss Lucy D. Kingman, Topeka; George Leis,
Lawrence ; E. C. Little, Abilene ; P. McVicar, Topeka ; F. P. Mac
Lennan, Topeka; Fletcher Meridith, Hutchinson; F. C. Montgomery,
Topeka; J. W. Morphy, Smith Center; John Madden, Emporia; W.
H. Nelson, Smith Center ; A. P. Riddle, Minneapolis ; John Seaton,
TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 29
Atchison ; John Speer, Wichita ; E. F. Ware, Topeka ; W. A. White,
Emporia ; D. W. Wilder, Hiawatha ; John K. Wright, Junction City.
A. G. Forney, in list for 1902. failed to qualify, and Bertrand Rock-
well, of Junction City, was elected to fill the vacancy.
E. C. Little having declined to serve, the executive committee ap-
pointed F. H. Hodder, of the state university, to fill the vacancy.
President Ware then read his address on the "Neutral Lands."
Mrs. Mary G. Smith sang an original song, "Alone," with violin
obligato by Prof. Henry B. Beerman. The words of the song were by
Mrs. C. S. Baker.
Secretary Martin read the report of the memorial committee on
Franklin G. Adaifis, which was followed by his favorite hymn, "Lead,
Kindly Light," rendered by the St. Cecilia quartette.
Lieut. Jacob R. Whisner and Fred. D. Heisler then presented, in
behalf of company B, of the Twentieth Kansas regiment, a flag cap-
tured by that company February 7, 1899, at Caloocan, P. I. On motion
of Johrw K. Wright, the thanks of the Historical Society were given
company B for the flag.
Miss Irma Doster and Professor Beerman then rendered a violin
duet.
The address of the evening, by Richard J. Hinton, followed : "The
Nationalization of Freedom and the Historical Place of Kansas
therein."
The St. Cecilia quartette then sang Schubert's "Serenade."
On motion of Wm. E. Connelley, the thanks of the Society were
extended to Mrs. Mary G. Smith. Misses Gertrude, Mary and Lucia
Wyatt, Miss Irma Doster, Miss Eleanor Work and Prof. Henry B.
Beerman for the excellent music they had given for the entertain-
ment of the annual meeting of the Society.
The meeting then adjourned.
MEETING OF THE BOARD.
JANUARY 16, 1900.
The evening meeting of the board was called immediately after the
adjournment of the annual meeting, by President Ware, and the fol-
lowing officers were elected for the term of one year : John G. Ha.s-
kelL president; E. B. Cowgill, first vice-president; John Francis,
second vice-president ; Geo. W. Martin, secretary, to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of Judge Adams.
President Haskell was conducted to the chair.
The following honorary, corresponding and active members, nomi-
nated at the previous meetings, were then elected :
Honorary members: Clark Bell, publisher, 89 Broadway, New
30 KANSAS STATB HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
York ; James Burton Pond, Everett House, Union Square, New
York ; J. W. Ozias, Lawrence.
Corresponding menil)er8 : William Henry Wyman, Omaha, Neb.,
general agent ^liltna Insurance Company, Hartford ; Warren Upham,
secretary Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul ; William MacDon-
ald, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me
Active members : Mrs. Susannah Marshall Weymouth, 418 Harri-
son street, Topeka; J. S. Dawson, Hill City; E. L. Ackley, Con-
cordia; Miss Viola Troutman, Topeka; E. R. Fulton, Marysville ;
John D. Milliken, McPherson.
President Haskell appointed the following committees :
Executive committee : W. E. Stanley, John Martin, Geo. A. Clark,
William Sims, A. B. Whiting.
Legislative committee : R. H. Semple, Arthur Capper. J. W^. Mor-
phy, John Seaton, W. A. White.
Committee on program : C. K. Holliday, Charles F. Scott, F. W.
Blackmar, W. L. Brown, D. A. Valentine.
Nominating committee: S. A, Kingman, E. B. Cowgill. J. E.
Junkin, F. P. Baker, L. D. Whittemore.
Committee on fees and membership : W. E. Connelley, F. W.
Blackmar, George W. Martin.
Committee on twenty-fifth anniversary : E. F. Ware, Lucy D.
Kingman, D. R. Anthony, J. W. Conway, W. H. Smith.
Adjourned.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
STATEMENT OF THE GONDITION, GROWTH, EXTENT AND USEFULNESS OF THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL LIBRARY.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
Since the last annual meeting of the State Historical Society, the public serv-
ice and the duty of historic collection, the precept and example of the good
man and good citizen, have suffered by the death of Franklin G. Adams, the
secretary of the Society since its organization, twenty-four years ago.
The theory of your organization placed the principal responsibility for the
gathering, arranging and preservation of materials illustrative of the history of
Kansas upon the secretary, and my first duty is a pleasant one, of testifying to the
completeness, the perfect order, scrupulous neatness and surprising exactness of
system which characterizes the splendid collection this Society has the honor
of bestowing upon the state of Kansas. Judge Adams lost much of individual
credit and proper appreciation with the general public because of his exceeding
modesty, but this by no means circumscribes a limit to the results of his labors
or his delightful example. There may be another man in Kansas who could have
shown the same patience and perseverance and self-sacrificing devotion under
constant discouragements and apparent lack of appreciation as these shelves tes-
tify, Vjut he is beyond my acquaintance or conception. I am not indulging in obitu-
ary gush, but testifying to an important public and official fact. If we regard the
starting-point of our state's history as worth anything, Franklin G. Adams per-
formed, if not greater, then more interesting public service for less compensation
TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 31
than any other official. In the early days of the Society his wife assisted for
weeks and weeks, at various times, and his children for a long lime gave their
hours after school, without compensation, in assorting and systematizing the
great collection which began to pour in from his solicitation and efforts. An in-
timate acquaintance with his methods and labors for years justifies me in saying
that, from my standpoint, the only criticism possible is that he started this work
on a basis bordering upon the penurious, rather than that of extravagance or even
liberality, which was due to an intense honesty and the scrupulous care he gave
to every dollar the state placed at his disposal.
I am familiar with the criticisms of this Society and its collections for many
years. Much has been said about the ability or judgment of a secretary, or a
collector of historic material, to discriminate. A notion prevails quite generally,
even with public men whose names appear frequently and sometimes constantly
in the newspapers and public records of the state, that this Society conducts
some sort of a junk-shop; that for some mysterious and inexplicable purpose, to
develop away off in the future, you are engaged in piling away "trash." There
is a wide-spread absence of any appreciation of the fact that the collection of
history is for daily use — a blindness to a constant and uniform demand to-day
for practical use of history made and preserved years ago, and which will be re-
peated in the years to come until the record of our actions will be called for by
people just as deeply interested as the current crowds who visit these rooms.
In the face of much of this sentiment. Judge Adams exhibited a heroic per-
sistence but little short of inspiration ; and while there is no doubt much of trash
here, because human ambitions, tastes and performances are so varied, it is a
safe proposition that posterity will justify and admire the foundation he has laid.
Such peculiar ideas held by many concerning a historic collection suggested
that a test of some sort be made. This Society has a function of practical every-
day value to perform, and if it has not, then all this labor and expense bestowed
causes an empty sentiment to come high. The collection gathered by this
Society is of indispensable use in the daily administration of aif airs -official,
political, and general business. The student and the gentleman of leisure who
may have but an idle curiosity to gratify constitute but a very small per cent, of
those who daily consult the records preserved in these rooms. The public officials
(state and countyi, public men, newspaper men, politicians, lawyers, those en-
gaged in various enterprises or speculations, constantly call for data to them
important, and oftentimes essential in their business. Every day the old man
appears, searching for something he neglected to care for when he was younger
and smarter and engaged in sneering at this "pile of trash." The young man,
you all know, is full of hope, vpith the world in his grasp, the future wide open
before him, wholly indifferent to the present, while the old man indulges in regret
that he lacked the proper appreciation of the sweet now-and-now when he was
on earth, cutting some figure in public or business affairs. A serious difficulty
in the way of a proper historic interest in Kansas is this idea that the young or
the middle-aged have no interest in it — that the collection and preservation of
history is especially the duty of the old people; and hence a preliminary task is
to impress present actors in life's drama that what they are doing is history, in
which the future will take greater interest than we do in that which has gone
by, because events just as interesting constantly occur, and, as many believe, a
revival in historic work is near at hand. I have no desire to belittle the abstract
idea of preserving history, but to show that this generation is getting something
out of this work.
In common with all public libraries, cheerfully maintained for the general
32 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
good, the collections of this Society have a wide patronage, with the addition to
the usual educational and literarj' features of a practical business use. It is
proper that the legislature should know that the money expended in aiding this
Society is not alone for the preservation of the state's history, but that the peo-
ple and the taxpayers draw liberal returns from the help so extended. 1 had
hoped to have some statistics for thirty days showing the calls upon this Society
and the special interest in any particular feature, but our ideas were crude, and
with some misunderstandings the results have been clear and satisfactory in but
one respect, and that concerning the newspaper files. Such information we
thought might aid the executive council in furnishing the rooms designed for
the final' home of the Society, in the east wing of this building.
From December 21, 1899, to January 1.3, 1900, SO'! persons visited the rooms
in the south wing. Of this number, 120 called for 222 books and 8 maps. This
was an average of about sixteen visitors per day. This room contains the assort-
ment of Kansas books and general historical works. At the room in the west
wing the visitors for the same time averaged ninety-eight per day. This room
contains portraits, curios, and relics, in which the public interest seems to cen-
ter. We had hoped to have some measure of the absorbing desire general among
all classes for relics and pictures, but our count is not svifiicient. We have a
large quantity of museum material, but now sadly piled up.
In view of the criticisms which have been common concerning the newspaper
portion of this collection, the figures are gratifying and significant; gratifying
because they were accurately kept, and significant because they demonstrate.
The newspaper room had 715 visitors from December 12, 1899, to January 13,
1900, who did not call for papers. Those who called for newspaper files num-
bered 189, and they consulted 918 volumes. In addition, the correspondence of
the office during this time required the use of 155 of these newspaper volumes.
A great many people believe that this newspaper feature must some day be aban-
doned or curtailed because of the space required. Some extraordinary stories
are told of the value these newspaper files have been to public officers, property
owners, and litigants, from which it is apparent that the people have made ten-
fold more than they have cost the state. I am not saying this with any bias, be-
cause I have entertained doubts about the jjracticability of so large a collection.
And as to curtailing or discriminating, it is enough to say that the most insignifi-
cant issues have been of the greater use in dollars and cents to those who needed
them. Every officer in the building has frequent use for these newspapers in ob-
taining data that each could not keep for himself, and which is not to be had
from any other source. This room is the Mecca of politicians and newspaper
writers. In the recent trial of the Hillmon case the file of the Hutchinson jVeics
for 1879 and the file of the Leavenworth Timea for 1883 were used ; the former to
show the Santa Fe time-card governing trains at Kingman, which could not
be had at the railroad offices, and the latter for a legal document, the particular
number being lost from the files in the Times office. Such instances, showing
the great value and the wide, varied and constant use of this newspaper collec-
[ From January 1 to 31, 1900, inclusive, 1221 persons visited the Historical rooms; 553 called
in the west rooms, looking at pictures, relics, and curios; 211 patrons called for 6t)3 volumes of
newspaper files, and there were 110 visitors in this room who did not call for papers ; 176 patrons
called for 141 Kansas historical books and 221 volumes of general history, and there were 171 who
did not desire books. During the montli, there were 193 letters written on Kansas historical
topics, 247 acknowledgments or receipts mailed, and 47 letters sent after missing copies in the
newspaper files.
During the mouths of January, February, and March, 1900, 3710 people visited the rooms of
the Society. Of these, 561 persons called for 1769 newspaper files; 340 Kansas historical books
were called for, and 458 books of general history. Two-thirds of the visitors each month call to
see the pictures, relics, and curios.— Sec. I
TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING. 33
tion, making it the most important public record we have, might be given several
times for each week in the year. Great care has always been exercised in having
each volume complete ; during the past thirty days 220 postals and circulars were
mailed calling for missing numbers, and 810 volumes for the year 1899 are now in
the hands of the binder.
The correspondence indicates also a general demand upon this collection.
Since December 12, 1899, besides ninety-eight formal receipts or acknowledg-
ments, 223 letters have been written in response to requests for information or sug-
gestions concerning every feature of Kansas history or development. Many of
the letters required hours of research through books, pamphlets, and manuscripts.
Two requests were made during this time — one from Washington and the other
from New York — for information of a historical nature, each of which required
from a week to two weeks of searching through scores of volumes, which we were
compelled to decline because they were too much for our present help.
The original intent of the Society to gather material illustrative of the his-
tory of Kansas has expanded until we have here a reference library of wide-
spread proportions. There is but a trifle of a purely literary nature in this
collection, and, outside of a few Kansas publications, we have no calls in that
line. We have an extensive collection of western travels which is largely used.
Our customers call for information in history, or for facts or figures concerning
public questions or public administration. The actions of political parties,
church associations, educational, philanthropic and reform gatherings, states-
men, authors, men of note, are here on record because of a general demand.
Anything in this line not on hand, when called for, we secure by gift or exchange,
if possible. To illustrate: The latest received by gift, which we requested be-
cause called for, and they were not on hand, was a full set of the police reports
of the city of New York. I think this an outgrowth of the newspaper files.
Men spend hours and days in these rooms digging after something in this line.
Young men are constantly calling and spending much time looking up their
fathers' military records. The Sons of the Revolution have desk room with us,
and time and work are given by the officers in gathering information for individ-
uals and families in different parts of the state concerning their ancestors in the
revolution, or ancestors they hope to find involved in the events of that period.
This feature, as well as a like interest from other motives, indicates that a desire
for family history, or genealogy, exists to a considerable extent in Kansas, and,
as a resvilt, this collection must grow in that direction.
This collection is almost wholly the result of gifts or exchange: hence, there
are doubtless many books in it that would not otherwise be here. The small sum
appropriated for the purchase of books I find has been conscientiously limited to
the line of history. It will please you to know, as it pleases me to state, from
correspondence, publications, and gentlemen of distinction who have called, that
this Society and its work stand very high in literary, historic and library cii-cles
throughout the country.
We have a full collection of books, pamphlets, photos, curios and newspaper
clippings concerning the Kansas soldiers in the Spanish-Philippine war. In all
features of current events the duty of gathering is closely followed. The Society
is under great obligations to J. W. Ozias, of Lawrence, a private in company H,
Twentieth Kansas, for his thoughtful consideration every day during the Philip-
pine campaign, in gathering and forwarding relics and curios: and also to A. M.
Coville, of Topeka, a private in the Rough Riders in Cuba, for a like service.
The museum feature has been wonderfully enhanced by these gentlemen.
On the 6th of July, 1899, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Johnson conveyed by deed to the
34 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Kansas State Historical Society eleven acres of land in Republic county, a part of
section 3, in township 2 south, of range 5 west, being the site of Pike's Pawnee
Indian village. This deed has been placed in escrow with the secretary. The con-
ditions of this deed are, that the State Historical Society shall fence and suitably
mark said described land to commemorate the first raising of the American flag
on Kansas territory, within four years from date, or, if at any time thereafter the
land shall not be used for state or national purposes, then the same shall revert
to Mrs. Johnson. Capt. Zebulon M. Pike, on his famous expedition of 1806, held
a council with the Pawnees on the 29th of September. In his diary for this date
he says :
"After the chiefs had replied to various parts of my discourse, but were silent
as to the flag, I again reiterated the demand for the flag, adding that it was im-
possible for the nation to have two fathers; ' that they must either be the children
of the Spaniards or acknowledge their American father.' After a silence of some
time an old man rose, went to the door, took down the Spanish flag, brought it
and laid it at my feet. He then received the American flag and elevated it on
the stafT which had lately borne the standard of his Catholic majesty."
The location of this Pawnee village, where this interesting and patriotic inci-
dent occurred, has been definitely and authoritatively established on the land
embraced in Mrs. Johnson's deed, and it would be a" handsome and inspiring act
for the state of Kansas to suitably mark it forever.
During the year there have been added to the library 951 volumes of books;
4932 unbound volumes and pamphlets; 1545 volumes of newspapers and period-
icals; 2000 single newspapers containing matter of historical interest; 69 maps,
atlases, and charts; 389 manuscripts : 200 pictures and other works of art; 35
pieces of scrip, currency, and coin; 96 relics and miscellaneous contributions;
166 war relics. Thus to the library proper, of books, pamphlets, newspapers,
and periodicals, during the year, have been added 7428 volumes. Of these, 7175
have been procured by gift and exchange and 253 by purchase.
Of newspapers and other periodicals now being published in Kansas, our list
shows 807 in all : 51 dailies, 619 weeklies, 3 semiweeklies, 103 monthlies, 10 quarter-
lies, 12 semimonthlies, 1 bimonthly, and 8 occasionals. The regular issues of all
these, with scarcely an exception, are being given the Society by the publishers,
and are bound in annual or semiannvial volumes.
ADDRESSES AND PAPERS DELIVERED AND READ
AT ANNUAL MEETINGS.
1214C22
D
THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY.
An address by Hon. HoRArE L. Moore, before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-first annual meeting, January 19, 1897.
URING the summers of 1868 and 1869 the western part of Kansas, the
_j^_^ southeastern part of Colorado and the northwestern part of Texas were
raided over and over again by war parties of what were called the Plains Indians.
The Indians engaged in these forays were Cheyennes, Arapahoes. Kiowas,
Comanches, northern Cheyennes, Brule, Ogalalla Sioux, and the Pawnees.
On the 10th of August, 1868, they struck the settlements on the Saline river.
On the 12th they reached the Solomon and wiped out a settlement where the
city of Minneapolis is now situated. In this raid fifteen persons were killed, two
wounded, and five women carried off. On the same day they attacked Wright's
hav camp, near Fort Dodge, raided the Pawnee, and killed two settlers on the
Republican. On the 8th of September they captured a train at the Cimarron
crossing of the Arkansas river, securing possession of seventeen men, whom they
burned: and the day following they murdered six men between Sheridan and
Fort Wallace. On the 1st of September, 1868, the Indians killed four men at
Spanish Fori:, in Texas, and outraged three women. One of these women was
outraged bv thirteen Indians, and afterwards killed and scalped. They left her
with the hatchet still sticking in her head. Before leaving, they murdered her
four little children. Of the children carried off by the Indians from Texas in
1868, fourteen were frozen to death in captivity.
The total of losses from September 12, 1868, to February 9, 1869, exclusive of
the casualties incident to military operations, was 158 men murdered, sixteen
wounded, and fortv-one scalped. Three scouts were killed, fourteen women out-
raged, one man was captured, four women and twenty.four children were earned
off" Nearly all these losses occurred in what we then called western Kansas,
although the Saline, Solomon and Republican do not seem so very far west now.
In 1867 the Union Pacific railroad was built as far west as Fort Hays, and as
the graders were constantly being attacked by Indians, the Eighteenth Kansas
cavalry (a battalion of four companies, was mustered into the service of the
United States for the purpose of furnishing protection to the laborers on the
railroad and to keep the Santa Fe trail clear for the passage of wagon trains and
the overland coaches. The battalion was rendezvoused at Fort Marker near
where Ellsworth is situated, on the 15th of July, 1867. I was mustered with the
rank of major in command. At that time the Asiatic cholera was epidenuc on
the plains, and the hospitals at Harker were full of soldiers and laborers sick
with cholera. . , . f„f:,^„
As soon as the command was mustered into the service and t-ansportation
and supplies could be obtained, it marched to the southwest to strike the Arkan-
sas river near Fort Zarah, at the mouth of Walnut creek. The sick were left at
(35)
36 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Harker. The afternoon march of the 15th of July developed no new cases of
cholera. On the Kith a long march was made, and camp pitched on the left bank
of Walnut creek, about ten miles above Zarah (Great Bend now). The day
brought no new cases, and everybody felt cheerful, hoping that the future had
nothing worse in store than a meeting with hostile Indians. By eight p. m. sup-
per was over, and in another hour the camp became a hospital of screaming
cholera patients. Men were seized with cramping of the stomach, bowels, and
muscles of the arms and legs. The doctor and his medicine were powerless to
resist the disease. One company had been sent away on a .scout as soon as the
command reached the camp, and of the three companies remaining in camp the
morning of the 17th found five dead and thirty-six stretched on the ground in a
state of collapse. These men had no pulse at the wrist, their hands were shrunken
and purple, with the skin in wrinkles, and their eyes wide open. The doctor pro-
nounced them in a state of hopeless collapse. By sunrise a grave had been dug
and the dead buried.
Commissary and quartermaster stores were then thrown away, and two of the
sick (most favorable cases) were put into the single ambulance with the com-
mand, and the remaining thirty-four were put into the wagons with blankets
under them. A government wagon is wide enough for three men to lie side by
side, and long enough for two men at the side, so that each wagon would carry
six. In this way the sick were all taken along. It was necessiry to follow up
Walnut Creek three or four miles before a crossing could be effected. While this
was being done the sick were examined, and not one was found to have died
since the cholera camp was left. On this the doctor took new courage, and
during the balance of the day he was unremitting in his attentions. He went
from one wagon to another, giving stimulants where it was possible to get the
patient to swallow, and details were made to assist him in chafing the hands and
feet to restore, if possible, the circulation.
A long march was made on the 17th, and camp was finally made on the Ar-
kansas river above Pawnee Rock. Not a man had died during the day. A buf-
falo calf was shot, soup made, and the sick taken from the wagons and made as
comfortable as possible under the circumstances. The night was spent in the
most assiduous care of these sick men, and in the morning a detachment was
sent to Fort Larnedto notify the commanding officer of the post of the condition
of the command. On arriving at the crossing of Pawnee Fork, now Larned, the
sick were turned over to United States surgeons who had established a hospital
at this place. Although these thirty-six men were in a state of collapse when
they were loaded onto the wagons at the camp on Walnut creek, every one of
them lived to be turned over to the doctors at Fort Larned at noon on the 18th.
Their circulation had been restored and they were able to take nourishment. I
think this favorable result is entirely unprecedented in the treatment of Asiatic
cholera. The doctor, a young contract surgeon, by the name of Squire, from
New Hampshire, was attacked with cholera during the night of the 19th. As
the command had to move in the morning, the doctor was given his choice, to
move with it or remain in the hospital. He chose the latter, and on the second
day his case terminated fatally.
The command moved up Pawnee Fork without a medical attendant, and on
the second day after leaving Fort Larned one of the sergeants was attacked, and
died of cholera that night. This was the last fatal case in the command. The
hospital steward was attacked at the same time but recovered.
The battalion served four months on the plains, marched about 2200 miles, and
fought a battle with the Cheyennes on Prairie Dog creek, a branch of the Re-
THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY. 37
publican, in which it suffered a loss of fourteen officers and men killed and
wounded.
The depredations of the Indians during the fall of the following year ( 1868)
satisfied the war department that something more effective than a summer cam-
paign would have to be resorted to, to protect the frontier settlements and teach
the Indians that the army was able to punish any tribe that made a pastime of
robbery and murder. General Sheridan, who was then in command of the de-
partment of the Missouri, determined on a winter campaign. If there is anything
that strikes terror into the heart of the soldier, it is a winter campaign. There is
no feed for his horse except what he can haul in the train, and the roads are
generally impassable for trains and artillery. His camp equipage must be cut
down all that is possible to save transportation. Tents, camp stores and cloth-
ing must give place to commissary stores, and, as a general statement, the im-
pediments of the army must be reduced to the lowest point possible.
The battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 1.3, and the army went
into winter quarters, where it remained till May 2 following. On the last of
September, Meade retreated across the Rapidan from Mine Run, and did not
move again till the ith of May following, when Grant began the Richmond cam-
paign, and Sherman began the Atlanta campaign at the same time. The final
campaign that resulted in the capture of Richmond began on the 29th of March.
The battle of Borodino was fought on the 17th of September, and soon after Napo-
leon was forced to begin a winter campaign that lost him his army. In a winter
campaign was the only hope of subduing the Indians. In the summer the plains
were covered with grass and buffalo. The Indians' forage and rations were
everywhere. In the winter the buffalo were in the caiions and mountains, snow
covered the grass, and blizzards swept the plains.
On the 9th of October, 1868, General Sheridan called on Gov. S. J. Crawford,
of Kansas, for a twelve-company regiment of cavalry, to be mustered into the
United States service for this winter campaign. On the 15th of October General
Sherman wrote as follows to General Sheridan :
"As to extermination, it is for the Indians themselves to determine. We
do n't want to exterminate or even fight them. At best it is an inglorious war,
not apt to add much to our fame or personal comfort: and for our soldiers, to
whom we owe our first thoughts, it is all danger and extreme labor, without a
single compensating advantage. ... As brave men, and as the soldiers
of a government which has exhausted its peace efforts, we, in the performance
of a most unpleasant duty, accept the war begun Vjy our enemies, and hereby re-
solve to make its end final. If it results in the utter annihilation of these In-
dians, it is but the result of what they have been warned again and again, and
for which they seem fully prepared. I will say nothing and do nothing to re-
strain our troops from doing what they deem proper on the spot, and will allow
no mere vague general charges of cruelty and inhumanity to tie their hands, but
will use all the powers confided to me to the end that these Indians, the enemies
of our race and of our civilization, shall not again be able to begin and carry
on their barbarous warfare on any kind of pretext that they may choose to
allege. I believe that this winter will afford us the opportunity, and that before
the snow falls these Indians will seek some sort of peace, to be broken next year
at their option: but we will not accept their peace, or cease our efforts till all
the past acts are both punished and avenged. You may now go ahead in your
own way, and I will back you with my whole authority, and stand between you
and any efforts that may be attempted in your rear to restrain your purpose or
check your troops." (Se"e Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 18, XLth Cong., 3d session, p. 5.)
This letter of General Sherman's will be understood when it is remembered
that the Indian bureau is a part of the department of the interior. The Indian
department appointed Indian agents, bought and issued supplies, and had entire
control of Indian affairs, till an outbreak occurred, when the war department
3S KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
was called upon to force the hostiles into submission. As soon as the army
struck the Indians, "the charges of cruelty and inhumanity," mentioned by
General Sherman, were made and reiterated from one end of the country to the
other, with the result that the army was called olf. Now Sherman promised
Sheridan to "back him with his whole authority" and stand between him and
the querulous and impracticable humanitarians of the East.
The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry was called into the United States service under
instructions received by his excellency S. J. Crawford, governor of Kansas, from
Maj.-gen. P. H. Sheridan, dated October 9, 1868. The proclamation of the
governor calling for volunteers was dated October 10, 1868, and the regiment was
mustered, anned and the organization completed at Topeka, Kan, on the 4th of
November, by the muster-in of Samuel J. Crawford as colonel. I was mustered in
with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
In obedience to orders from General Sheridan, Captain Norton, D troop, and
Captain Lender, G troop, were sent by rail to Fort Hays on the 5th, with their
command'^, and, under instructions from the same source, the remaining ten com-
panies broke camp at Topeka, and marched en route to the mouth of Beaver
creek (the north branch of the North Canadian), where a depot of supplies was
to be established by General Sully on the 15th inst. Our route was via Camp
Beecher, now Wichita, at the mouth of the Little Arkansas, distant 150 miles,
which distance we were to make with a new organization, supplied with five days'
rations, and depend upon procuring forage from the country through which we
were to pass, as our limited transportation of fifteen wagons precluded the possi-
bility of carrying any supply with us. The command arrived at Camp Beecher
on the 12th inst. This was the first experience of the regiment in making five
days' rations do the work of ten, and, like all first efforts, it was not a complete
success. General Sheridan says:
"On November 15 I started for Camp Supply to give general supervision and
to participate in the operations. I deemed it best to go in person, as the cam-
paign was an experimental one — campaigns at such a season having been deemed
impracticable and reckless by old and experienced frontiersmen — and I did not
like to expose the troops to great hazard without being present myself to judge
of their hardships and privations." (Page 45.)
The regiment marched from Camp Beecher on the 14th of November, with
five days' rations, ea route to Camp Supply: supposed distance, 140 miles. On
the night of the 16th the command camped on the Chicaskia, and the last of the
forage was fed to the animals. On the night of the 18th the regiment camped
on Medicine Lodge creek. A stampede of the animals of B, I and K troops oc-
curred here, and about eighty horses were lost.
The regiment moved out of camp on the morning of the 19th without forage
for the animals or subsistence for the men, marching through an unexplored re-
gion in search of a camp of supplies supposed to be situated somewhere on the
Canadian river, and on the night of the 22d carnped on Sand creek, during a
heavy fall of snow, in sight of the bluffs of the Cimarron. Buffalo were abun-
dant, and thus far the command had subsisted on them. Captain Pliley, A
troop, and Lieutenant Parsons, C troop, with fifty of the best-mounted men of
the command, were sent forward from this point to find General Sheridan, if pos-
sible, and cause supplies to be sent back to the regiment.
November 23 a blinding snow-storm continued all day. The guides found it
impossible to keep the direction, and the command was forced to lie in camp.
November 24. The snow this morning was fifteen inches deep. The horses
had subsisted on cotton wood bark and limbs, and were, by this time, so much ex-
hausted that the men walked and led them. The country was so broken that, in
<
THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY. 39
some instances, ten miles were traveled winding around the canons to make two
miles on the line of march. The regiment camped that night at Hackberry Point,
on the Cimarron, so named by the men from the abundance of hackberrie^ in the
vicinity, which were used for food. The canons of the Cimarron are not like
those of Arizona, which are cut in the solid rock and have perpendicular walls,
but are like the canons of the Llano Estacado, or staked plain. The Cimar-
ron cuts its way through a plateau of clay or loess, and the main stream, together
with the innumerable side streams, have cut the whole country into a labyrinth
of canons or deep gulches that are almost impassable. The snow was from a foot
to eighteen inches deep everywhere. The guide knew no more about the country
than any man of the regiment, and the only course left was to continue the
march, keeping a southwest course as nearly as possible, and keep going until the
command got out of the canon country. It happened that about sundown of the
2ith a bunch of buflfalo bulls were seen among the bluffs. The command was
halted while the guides stole up on them and shot the whole number. The train
failed to come up at night and the command bivouacked on the snow without the
usual small supply of blankets.
November 2o. The train got in by morning, and the regiment was divided.
Four hundred and fifty men (the best mounted) crossed the Cimarron atone p. m.
and marched in a southwest course in search of Camp Supply. Those horses
which were most nearly exhausted, together with the train and the sick, were left
in camp under command of Major Jenkins, with orders to remain until supplies
reached them. The country on the south side of the Cimarron at this point is
much broken, and the command was forced to reach the table-land above by follow-
ing up the dry bed of the stream which had cut its way down through the inacces-
sible bluffs. The men dismounted, and leading, single file, wound their way
around cliffs and over broken banks for several miles, till a little after sunset
and just as the full moon came up they emerged from the canon, and by climb-
ing a precipitous cliff were enabled to overlook the inhospitable table-land cov-
ered with snow. To-night we bivouacked in a small ravine with the never-failing
buffalo meat for supper, no salt.
November 26. Still southwest over rolling prairie and through deep canons,
horses perishing by the way, but with stout hearts the command moved forward,
one company after another taking their place in front to break the road through
the deep show. The crust to-day in some places was strong enough to hold up
the men. Bivouacked on a nameless stream, fifteen miles north of the Canadian.
November 27. Crossed Captain Pliley's trail at noon and bivouacked at night
on the Canadian, at a point supposed to be twenty-five miles below the mouth of
Beaver creek. Made supper from wild turkey.
November 28. Moved up the Canadian, and at three p. m. the advance came
back to the regiment with the welcome news that Camp Supply was in sight.
The advance of the command took up the shout, and it was carried back along
the column with a vigor which evinced the fact that each had felt more anxiety
for the safety of the command than he cared to express. Made camp at sun-
down, canvas being furnished from the post by General Sheridan. Captain
Pliley had arrived on the 25th instant, and supplies had been sent to the detach-
ment left at Hackberry Point on the 25th. The detachment arrived at Camp
Supply on the 1st of December. The camp where the train was left was always
known among the men as Camp Starvation.
After leaving Camp Beecher the regiment marched 205 miles on three days'
forage and five days' rations, consuming fourteen days in making the trip: seven-
ty-five horses perished from the cold and want of food. The health of the regi-
40 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ment was good and it endured the hardships of the march without a murmur.
We did not lose a man.
Touching the loss of the regiment in the Cimarron canons, General Sheridan
aays in his "Memoirs":
"Instead of relying on the guides, Crawford had undertaken to strike through
the canons of the Cimarron by what appeared to him a more direct route, and
in the deep gorges, filled as they were with snow, he had been floundering about
for days without being able to extricate his command. Then, too, the men were
out of rations, though they had been able to obtain enough butfalo meat to keep
from starving."
This was written in 1888. It is better to quote from the general's official
report, made at the time, twenty years before he wrote his "Memoirs" :
"On November 25 I was relieved from great anxiety by the arrival of Cap-
tain Pliley and about thirty men. The regiment had lost its way, and becoming
tangled up in the canons of the Cimarron, and in the deep snow and out of pro-
visions, it could not make its way out and was in a bad fix. Provisions were im-
mediately sent, and good guides to bring it in. It had been subsisting on butt'alo
for eight or nine days."
The word "good" is important, as it implies that the one sent to Topeka was
"no good," and the statement that Colonel Crawford did not rely on the guide
till the guide got lost is entirely without foundation. The report was current
in the command that when the guide met Sheridan the said guide picked up
considerable information as to the way English was spoken by the British army
in Flanders on a certain occasion. The general reported of the regiment:
" Officers and men behaved admirably in the trying condition in which they were
placed."
When the regiment arrived at Camp Supply it found a camp prepared. The
snow had been cleared otf the ground, "A" tents pitched for the men, and
wall tents for the officers, with hay in every tent for bedding. This was a palace
hotel compared with the canons of the Cimarron, and Sheridan had captured
the regiment at one blow.
On the 6th of December Captain Norton, D troop, reported at Camp Supply,
and was ordered to the command. Captain Moody, M troop, being detailed for
escort duty in his place.
Captain Norton reached Fort Hays on the Ith of November, and escorted
a train to Camp Supply, arriving on the 22d inst.: returned to Fort Dodge and
escorted a train to Camp Supply, arriving on the 6th. On the same day Maj.
Chas. Dimon, with one captain, three lieutenants, and 250 men, were detached
from the command and left at Camp Supply: this included the dismounted and
the sick. This detachment was employed during the winter in garrisoning the
post and escorting supply trains.
On the morning of the 23d Custer had been ordered to follow on the back
track a trail that came up from the southwest and crossed the Fort Dodge road
between Supply and Dodge. The trail led him to an Indian camp on the Wash-
ita, some seventy-five miles south of Supply. Custer attacked the camp at day-
light on the morning of the 27th of November, and had a hard fight. He lost
nineteen officers and men, killed and wounded, with Major Elliott and fifteen men
missing. He killed 103 Indian warriors, and some of the squaws and children
were killed and wounded in the excitement. He captured saddles, buffalo robes,
Ijrovisions, and 875 horses. These were surrounded and shot. General Custer
returned to Camp Supply November 30.
On the 7th of December the whole command marched for Fort Cobb. This
included the Nineteenth Kansas, Seventh United States cavalry, and a company
¥
I
MARCH OF TJiE /S'^'KANS/iS CAWiLRY.
rTPOAt OCT. /eea to /n/tRcn /669.
41
ik of Wolf
command
rch was a
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ing a full-
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the Nine-
;he fate of
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as the ser-
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e stripped
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the Nine-
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riking his
er bosom,
•rning the
THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY. 41
of Osage Indian scouts. The first day's march was to the south bank of Wolf
creek, a distance of ten miles. The snow was still deep, and, when the command
left Supply, the temperature was below zero. The second day's march was a
little more than thirty miles, and camp was made on Hackberry creek, with
plenty of wood for fires. During the night the wind rose, and by morning a full-
fledged norther, or blizzard, was on the boards, billed for two nights and a mati-
nee. The country seemed to be full of blizzards. The first had struck the
regiment in the caiions; the second while it was in camp at Supply; this was
the third. General Sheridan says of No. 3:
"We camped in excellent shape on the creek (Hackberry), and it was well we
did, for a norther, or blizzard, struck us in the night. It would have been well to
remain in camp till the gale was over, but the time could not be spared. We
therefore resumed the march at an early hour next morning, with the expecta-
tion of making the south bank of the main Canadian, and there passing the night,
as Clark, the guide, assured me that timber was plentiful on that side of the
river. The storm greatly impeded us, however, many of the mules growing dis-
couraged, and some giving out entirely, so we could not get to Clark's 'good
camp,' for, with ten hours of utmost effort, only about a half day's distance could
be covered, when, at last, finding the struggle useless, we were forced to halt for
the night in a bleak bottom on the north bank of the river. But no one could
sleep, for the wind swept over us with unobstructed fury, and the only fuel to be
had was a few green bushes. As night fell, a decided change of temperature
added much to our misery. The mercury, which had risen when the ' norther ' be-
gan, again falling to zero. It can be easily imagined that, under the circumstances,
the condition of the men was one of extreme discomfort; in truth, they had to
tramp up and down the camp all night long to keep from freezing. Anything
was a relief to this state of things, so, at the first streak of day, we quit the
dreadful place and took up the march."
The next morning the command crossed the Canadian, which was about half
a mile wide, by first breaking up the ice with axes and then marching the cavalry
through. It took till noon to get the command over. Luckily there was timber
on the south side of the stream. Fires were built and clothes thawed out and
dried. General Sheridan says, in his official report: "We moved due south until
we struck the Washita, near Custer's fight of November 27, having crossed the
main Canadian with the thermometer about eighteen degrees below zero." The
command marched in the afternoon and made camp on the Washita about dark.
As wood was abundant, it was determined to lay over here till the storm subsided.
The next day, December 11, General Sheridan, with several officers of the Nine-
teenth and Seventh, visited the battle-field to determine, if possible, the fate of
Major Elliott and his men. It took but a few minutes to discover the bodies on
the bank of a tributary of the Washita, called Sergeant-major creek (as the ser-
geant-major of the Seventh was one of the killed), on the south side of the battle-
field. They were lying in a circle, feet to the center, and a pile of empty cartridge
cases by each man told how dearly he had sold his life. The bodies were stripped
of clothing, except the knit undershirt, and the throat of every one of them had
the appearance of having been cut. This was caused by the Indians having cut
out the thyroid cartilage. None were scalped, and none of the bodies had been mo-
lested by wolves. The men all lay with their faces down and the back was shot
full of arrows. Wagons were sent for and the dead buried that night in a grave
dug on the north bank of the river, opposite the scene of the battle.
On his way back to camp. Doctor Bailey, of Topeka, surgeon of the Nine-
teenth, discovered the body of a white woman and a little boy two years old.
The woman had been shot in the forehead, and the child killed by striking his
head against a tree. The mother had a piece of bread concealed in her bosom,
as though she had attempted to escape from the camp. The next morning the
—3
42 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
woman was laid on a blanket on her side and the boy on her arm, and the men
ordered to march by to see if possibly some one might identify her. It was Mrs.
Hlinn, captured by the Kiowas October 6, with a train going from Lyon to Dodge.
Her husband was killed at the time. The body of the woman and child were
taken along, and finally buried in the government cemetery at Fort Arbuckle.
On the 2d of November a number of Mexican traders had been in the Kiowa
camp, and she had taken the opportunity to send out a letter by them. It is
dated Saturday, November 7, 18(38, and reads as follows:
"Kind friends, whoever you may be: I thank you for your kindness to me
and my child, '^'ou want me to let you know my wishes. If you could only buy
us of the Indians with ponies or anything and let me come and stay with you
until I can get word to my friends, they would pay you, and I would work and
do all I could for you. If it is not too far to their camp, and you are not afraid
to come, I pray tKat you will try. They tell me, as nfjar as I can understand,
they expect traders to'come and they will sell us to them. Can you find out by
this man and let me know if it is white men ? If it is Mexicans, I am afraid
they would sell us into slavery in Mexico. If you can do nothing for me, write
to W. T. Harrington, Ottawa, Franklin county, Kansas, my father: tell him we
are with the Cheyennes, and they say when the white men make peace we can
go home. Tell him to write to the governor of Kansas about it, and for them to
make peace. Send this to him. We were taken on the 9th of October, on the
Arkansas, below Fort Lyon. I cannot tell whether they killed my husband or
not. My name is Mrs. Clara Blinn. My little boy, Willie Blinn, is two years
old. Do all you can for me. W^rite to the peace commissioners to make peace
this fall. For our sakes do all you can, and God will bless you. If you can, let
me hear from you again: let me know what you think about it. Write to my
father: send him this. Good-by. Mrs. R. F. Blinn.
" I am as well as can be expected, but my baby is very weak."
The command marched on the morning of the 12th, following the Indian
trail down the Washita. This was a hard day. It is well to see what so old a
campaigner as General Sheridan thought of it:
"At an early hour on December 12 the command pulled out from its cozy
camp and pushed down the valley of the Washita, following immediately on the
Indian trail which led in the direction of Fort Cobb, but before going far it was
found that the many deep ravines and canons on this trail would delay our train
very much, so we moved out of the valley, and took the level jjrairie on the di-
vide. Here the traveling was good, and a rapid gait was kept up till midday,
when, another storm of sleet and snow coming on, it became extremely difficult
for the guides to make out the proyjer course: and, fearing that we might get
lost or caught on the open plain without food or water — as we had been on the
Canadian— I turned the command back to the valley, resolved to try no more
short cuts involving a risk of a disaster to the expedition. But, to get back was
no slight task, for a dense fog just now enveloped us, obscuring the landmarks.
However, we were headed right when the fog set in, and we had the good luck to
reach the valley before nightfall, though there was a great deal of floundering
about, and also much disputing among the guides as to where the river v/ould be
found. Fortunately we struck the stream right at a large grove of timber, and
established ourselves admirably. By dark the ground was covered with twelve or
fifteen inches of fresh snow, and, as usual, the temperature rose very sensibly while
the storm was on, but after nightfall the snow ceased and the skies cleared up.
Daylight having brought zero weather again, our start on the morning of the 13th
was iKvinful work, many of the men freezing their fingers while handling the horse
equipments, harness, and tents. However, we got oflf in fairly good season, and
kept to the trail along the Washita, notwithstanding the frequent digging and
bridging necessary to get the wagons over ravines."
Three days' march brought the command within striking distance of the
Kiowa camp. The Indians did not suppose it possible for soldiers to move in
such weather, and were taken by surprise. While the command was being got
across a bad ravine, some of them appeared with a flag of truce, and delivered a
letter from General Hazen saying the Kiowas were friendly. The soldiers repre-
THE NINETEKSTH KANSAS CAVALRY. 43
sented the war department and Hazen the Indian department. It was exactly
this back-fire and this influence that General Sherman had promised to guard
against. There was no way out of it now, however, and Sheridan accepted the
promise of the chiefs, Satanta and Lone Wolf, to move their families to Fort
Cobb at once, and said the warriors would go with the command. So the march
was resumed. In a little while the warriors began to drop out one by one. At
last Satanta tried to get away, when he and Lone Wolf were both put under
guard. The command reached Fort Cobb on the evening of Dc cember 18, and
General Sheridan reported only two sick men in the Seventh cavalry and six in
the Nineteenth. He said: "The whole command is in shelter tents, as we could
not spare transportation for others, but the men now prefer the 'shelter,' even at
this season of the year. Everybody is feeling well and enthusiastic."
On the march from Camp Supply to Fort Cobb the command lost 148 horses,
perishing from cold and want of food. Brigadier-general Forsythe, assistant
inspector-general, department of Missouri, inspected the regiment on the 22d of
November, and said in his report:
" The soldierly bearing and military appearance of this regiment has made
rapid and marked improvement since my inspection at Camp Supply; for this
favorable condition of alTairs the field officers are entitled and are deserving of
special mention and praise. I have the pleasure, in concluding this report", to
mention particularly the military bearing and soldierly appearance of Captain
Norton's company D of this regiment. Next to Captain Norton's company, I
'have the pleasant duty of bringing to your notice Capt. A. J. Pliley's company A.
By reference to the table before given, it will be seen that Captain Pliley was the
only officer either in the Seventh cavalry or Nineteenth Kansas that made the
march through from Camp Supply to this post without losing a single horse."
Perhaps some of you have never made the acquaintance of a " shelter" tent.
During the war it was always called a "dog" tent. It is made of ducking, very
thin, is about six feet long and five or six feet wide. To pitch his tent the soldier
must first hunt up a couple of sticks with a fork or crotch, stick them in the
ground with the fork a couple of feet from the ground. Now he hunts another
stick that will reach from one fork to the other, and then stretches the cloth over
this, pinning the edges as close to the ground as he can. This leaves his tent
open at both ends, with an open space of three or four inches between the cloth
and the ground on each side. It always seemed to me that in zero weather this
tent sacrificed a great deal in the interest of ventilation.
When the command reached Cobb they found no Kiowas, but Sheridan told
Satanta and Lone Wolf that he would hang them both on the day following if
the tribe did not report by that time. Satanta was put into a Sibley tent witk
an armed guard around it. He would wrap his blanket around himself and come^
out and sit down by the side of the tent, then swaying back and forth, chant the
most doleful and monotonous death-song. Then stooping over he would scoop-
up sand and dirt and put into his mouth. Then he would go around to the
south and west side of the tent and, shading his eyes with his hand, would sweep-
the horizon to discover if possible the approach of his people. But Satanta's.
hour had not yet struck. Before sundown the advance of his tribe came in, andi
before morning the Kiowas were camped around Fort Cobb ready to obey orders.
This settled the Kiowas, and the Comanches had all reported except one small
band. General Evans struck this band on the western base of the Wichita
mountains on Christmas day, killing twenty-five warriors: then what was left
reported, some at Fort Cobb and some at Fort Bascom. Messages wese sent to
Yellow Bear, of the Arapahoes, and Little Robe, of the Cheyennes, to report, and
the former finally got his band in. This left nothing out but the Gheyennes.
44 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The command now moved south to the Wichita mountains, and established
Fort Sill, on Cache' creek. The Indians were all required to accompany the com-
mand. It was impossible to obtain forage for the animals that had survived the
st'vere winter and hard service, and after the arrival of the command on Cach<?
creek the horses of the Nineteenth were turned in to the regimental quartermas-
ter, Capt. L. A. Thrasher, and taken to Fort Arbuckle. While we were in camp
at Fort Sill, General Custer took a scout of about fifty picked men and, passing
along the southern foot of the Wichita mountains, marched to the west a dis-
tance of a hundred miles or more. He got into a desolate country of sage-brush
and mesquite, entirely destitute of game and almost without water. As he could
discover no signs of the Indians he returned to camp.
On the 12th instant Colonel Crawford received a leave of absence for twenty
days, and resigned his commission as colonel, to take effect at the expiration of
his leave of absence. He left the command on the 15th of February, carrying
with him the best wishes of the regiment, both officers and enlisted men. I as-
sumed command of the regiment by virtue of seniority of rank.
On the 2d of March, 1869, the Nineteenth Kansas and the Seventh cavalry
marched from Fort Sill with intention to find Little Robe's band of Cheyennes.
The command marched to the west, and on the second day out camped at Old
Camp Radziminski, a camp where the Second dragoons, under Colonel Van Dorn,
wintered, long before the war. The course was still west, across the North Fork
of Red river and across the Salt Fork of Red river, till the command reached
Gypsum creek. Here the command was divided. Most of the train, and all the
footsore and disabled were sent to the north up the North Fork and along the
state line, with orders to procure commissary stores and halt on the Washita till
joined by the balance of the command.
The Seventh and Nineteenth then pushed on up the Salt Fork, and on the 6th
of March struck the trail of the Indians. It was as broad and easy to follow as
an ordinary country road. The scanty rations were now reduced one-half, and
the pursuit began in earnest. At the head waters of the Salt Fork the trail
turned north and skirted along the foot of the Llano Estacado. The trail led
through a sandy mesquite country, entirely without game, although the streams
coming out of the staked plain furnished abundance of water. By the 12th of
March rations were reduced again. The mules were now dying very fast of
starvation, as they had nothing to live on except the buds and bark of cotton-
wood trees cut down for them to browse on. Every morning the mules and horses
that were unable to travel were killed by cutting their throats, and the extra
wagons were run together and set on fire. On the 17th the command came onto
Indian camp-fires with the embers still smoldering. The rations were all ex-
hausted on the 18th, and the men subsisted, from that on, on mule meat, with-
out bread or salt.
On the afternoon of the 20th the Nineteenth Kansas came in sight of a band
of ponies off to the west of the line of march, which was now in a northeast direc-
tion. In a few minutes Indians began to cross the line of march in front of the
command, going with all haste towards the herd. The regiment quickened its
pace, and I directed the line of march to the point from which the Indians were
coming. In another mile the head of the column came upon a low bluflf over-
looking the bottom of the Sweetwater, and saw a group of 250 Cheyenne lodges
stretching up and down the stream and not more than 100 yards from the bluflf.
The men thought of the long marches, the short rations, the cold storms, of Mrs.
Blinn and her little boy, of the hundred murders in Kansas, and, when the order
"left front into line" was given, the rear companies came over the ground like
THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY. 45
athletes. But "there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." Lieutenant
Cook, Seventh cavalry, rode up to the commanding officer, and, touching his hat,
said, "The general sends his compliments, with instructions not to fire on the
Indians." It was a wet blanket, saturated with ice-water. In a minute another
aide came with orders to march the command a little way up stream and down
into the valley to rest. The order was executed and the regiment formed in
column of companies, with orders to rest. The men laid down on the ground or
sat on the logs, but always with their carbines in hand. Custer was close by,
sitting in the center of a circle of Indians chiefs holding a powwow. In two or
three minutes an officer of the Seventh came up, and in a low tone asked that a
few officers put on their side-arms and drop down one at a time to listen to the
talk. While Custer talked he watched the officers as they gathered around, and
in a few minutes he got up onto his feet and said, "Take these Indians prison-
ers." There was a short but pretty sharp struggle, and a guard with loaded guns
formed a line around these half-dozen chiefs, and Custer continued the talk.
But he had pulled out another stop. The tone was different. He told them
they had two white women of Kansas, and they must deliver them up to him.
They had denied this before, but now they admitted it, and said the women were
at another camp, fifteen miles further down the creek. He told them to instruct
the people to pick up this camp and move down to the camp mentioned, and we
would come down the next day and get the women.
As soon as the chiefs were taken prisoners, the warriors mounted their ponies,
and, armed with guns or bows and arrows, circled around the bivouac of the
troops. They looked very brave and warlike. They wore head-dresses of eagle
feathers, clean buckskin leggins and moccasins, and buckskin coats trimmed
with ample fringe. Lieutenant Johnson, commissary of the Nineteenth, watched
them awhile, and then remarked: "This is the fartherest I ever walked to see a
circus." In a surprisingly short time after Custer gave them permission, the
whole camp was pulled down, loaded onto the ponies, and not an Indian was in
sight except the half-dozen held by the guards. Another night of stout hearts
but restless stomachs, and in the morning the command began a march of
fifteen miles down the Sweetwater to the other camp. The trail was broad and
fresh for five miles, and then it began to thin out and get dimmer and dimmer,
until at the end of ten miles not a blade of grass was broken. At the end of
fifteen miles an old camp was reached, but no Indians had been there for two
months. The regiment bivouacked for the night, and General Custer had the
head chief taken down to the creek, a riata put around his neck and the other
end thrown over the limb of a tree. A couple of soldiers took hold of the other
end of the rope, and, by pulling gently, lifted him up onto his toes. He was let
down, and Romeo, the interpreter, explained to him that, when he was pulled up
clear from the ground and left there, he would be hung.
The grizzly old savage seemed to understand the matter fully, and then Cus-
ter told him if they did not bring those women in by the time the sun got within
a hand's breadth of the horizon on the next day, he would hang the chiefs on
those trees. He let the old chief's son go to carry the mandate to the tribe. It
was a long night, but everybody knew the next afternoon would settle the matter
in some way. As the afternoon drew on the men climbed the hills around camp,
watching the horizon, and about four p. m. a mounted Indian came onto a ridge
a mile away. He waited a few minutes, and then beckoning with his hand to
some one behind him he came on to the next ridge, and another Indian came on
to the ridge he had left. There was another pause, then the two moved up and
a third came in sight. They came up slowly in this way till at last a group of a
40 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
dozen came in si|?ht, and with a fjlass it could be seen that there were two per-
sons on one of the jionies. These were the women. The Indians brought them
to within about 200 yards of the camp, where they slid off the ponies, and Romeo,
the interpreter, who had met the Indians there, told the women to come in.
They came down the hill clinging to each other, as though determined not to be
scjiaratcd whatever might occur. I met them at the foot of the hill, and taking
the elder lady by the hand asked if she was Mrs. Morgan. She said she was,
and introduced the other. Miss White. She then asked, "Are we free now?"
I told her they were, and she asked, "Where is my husband?" I told her he
was at Hays and recovering from his wounds. Next question: " W^here is my
brother?" I told her he was in camp, but did not tell her that we had to put
him under guard to keep him from marring all by shooting the first Indian he
saw. Miss White asked no questions about her people. She knew they were all
dead before she was carried away. Custer had an "A" tent, which he brought
along for headquarters, and this was turned over to the women.
I forgot to say that on the trip a scouting party had chased an Indian who
got away from them, but he lost a bundle, which was thrown into one of the
wagons. On examination it proved to be some stuff that he had bought of some
of the traders at the fort. It contained calico, needles, thread, beads, and a
variety of things. The bundle was given to the women, and in a surprisingly
short time they had a new calico dress apiece. The stoiy the women told us of
their hardships, the cruelty of the squaws, the slavery to which they were sub-
jected, their suffering during the long flight of the Indians to escape the troops,
ought to cure all the humanitarians in the world. The women told us the In-
dians had been killing their dogs and living on the flesh for the last six weeks.
At the retreat that night, while the women stood in front of their tent to see
the guard mounted, the band played " Home, Sweet Home." The command
marched the next morning for the rendezvous on the Washita. It was a couple
of days' march, but when the end came there was cotTee, bacon, hard bread, and
canned goods. Any one of them was a feast for a king. From Washita to Sup-
ply, Supply to Dodge, Dodge to Hays, where the women were sent home to Min-
neapolis, and the Nineteenth was mustered out of the service. The Indian
prisoners were sent to Sill, and soon after the Cheyennes reported there and went
onto their reservation.
The generals had a good word for the Kansas volunteers and the work they
had done. General Sheridan :
" I am now able to report that there has been a fulfilment of all the condi-
tions which we had in view when we commenced our winter's campaign last
November, namely, punishment was inflicted; property destroyed : the Indians
disabused of the idea that winter would bring security; and all the tribes south
of the Hlatte forced on the reservations set apart for them by the government,
where they are in tangible .shape for the good work of civilization, education, and
religious instruction. I cannot speak too highly of the patient and cheerful con-
duct of the troops under my command : they were many times pinched by hunger
and numbed by cold: sometimes living in holes below the surface of the prairie,
dug to keep them from freezing; at other times pursuing the savages, and living
on the flesh of niules. In all these trying conditions the troops were always cheer-
ful and willing, and the officers full of esprit."
General Custer says in his official report:
"The point at which we found the Cheyenne village was in Texas, on the
Sweetwater, about ten miles west of the state line. Before closing my report, I
desire to call the attention of the major-general commanding to the unvarying
good conduct of this conunand since it undertook the march. We started with all
the rations and forage that could be obtained, neither sufficient for the time for
which we have already been out. First, it became necessary to reduce the amount
THE NINETEENTH KANSAS CAVALRY. 47
of rations: afterwards, a still greater reduction was necessary, and to-night most
of my men made their suppers from the tiesh of mules that had died on the march
to-day from starvation. When called upon to move in light marching order,
they "abandoned tents and blankets without a murmur, although much of the
march has been made during the severest winter weather I have experienced in
this latitude.
"The horses and mules of this command have subsisted day after day upon
nothing but green cottonwood bark. During all these privations the officers and
men maintained a most cheerful spirit, ivnd I know not which I admire most,
their gallantry in battle, or the patient but unwavering perseverance and energy
with which they have withstood the many disagreeable ordeals of this campaign.
"As the term of service of the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry is approaching its
tenjiination, and I may not again have the satisfaction of commanding them dur-
ing active operations, I desire to commend them — officers and men — to the fa-
vorable notice of the commanding general. Serving on foot, they have marched
in a manner and at a rate that would put some of the regular regiments of in-
fantry to the blush. Instead of crying out for empty wagons to transport them,
each morning every man marched with his troop, and, what might be taken as
an example by some of the line officers of the regular infantry, company officers
marched regularly on foot at the head of their respective companies; and now,
when approaching the termination of a march of over 300 miles, on greatly defi-
cient rations, I have yet to see the first straggler.
"In obtaining the release of the captive white women, and that, too, without
ransom or the loss of a single man, the men of my command, and particularly
those of the Nineteenth Kansas, who were called into service owing to the mur-
ders and depredations of which the capture of these women formed a part, feel
more fully repaid for the hardships they have endured than if they had survived
an overwhelming victory over the Indians."
The expedition resulted in forcing the Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyennes and
Arapahoes onto their reservations, and since then the frontier settlements of
Kansas have been practically free from the depredations of Indians.
The campaign was a most arduous one, prosecuted without adequate camp
equipage, in the midst of winter, and much of the time with an exhausted com-
missariat. The regiments of Kansas have glorified our state on a hundred battle-
fields, but none served her more faithfully or endured more in her cause than the
Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry.
See roster of commissioned officers, next page et seq.
48
KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
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as
MEMORIAL ON JAMES M. HARVEY. 53
MEMORIAL ON JAMES M. HARVEY.
An address by L. R. Elliott, read before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at tweuty-lirst annual meeting, January 19, 1897.
JAMES MADISON HARVEY was the son of Thomas and Margaret Walker
Harvey. He was born in Monroe county, Virginia, September 21, 1833, of
Virginia parents, who, when their children were young, removed to the West,
first to Bush county, Indiana, thence to Iowa, and thence to Adams county,
Illinois, and it was under such conditions that he received his early education
amid the stirring scenes of pioneer life, in the public schools of Indiana, Iowa,
and Illinois.
He began going to school when very young, and it is said that he always stood
at the head of his class. He very soon acquired a great thirst for knowledge ;
and any history, no matter how large, was none too big for him. Even before he
was ten years old, his favorite pasttime was to busy himself with a book of his-
tory so big that he could not handle it. He would set it against the wall, and
lie down on the floor in front of it, and so completely forget all else that he would
hardly stop to eat his meals. His memory was excellent, and he never forgot
anything he read, and to the day of his death was always accurate in his refer-
ences to matters of history. His body and mind were well developed at an early
age. At seventeen years he was a match for the brawniest harvest hand in the
field, or the most learned historian or politician he met in debate. While he was
a strong and logical reasoner face to face on many subjects, he was not an orator,
and a man greatly his inferior in knowledge and honesty would excel him in that
one particular gift. The cognomen, "Old Honesty," given him in the Kansas
legislature, continued through his two terms as governor, and followed him
through the United States senate. It was a well-merited designation and far too
appropriate to be lost sight of in this sketch.
Very early in life he became an admirer of military heroes, and he never failed
to praise a brave or to condemn a cowardly act. He knew no such thing as fear,
and was always to be found where duty called him, regardless of consequences.
In fact, duty was his guiding star through all his life, and he was never known
to swerve an iota from what he conceived to be his 'duty.
He was married in 1854 to Miss Charlotte Richardson Cutter, of Adams
county, Illinois. She, with six children, four daughters and two sons, survives
him. In 1859 he removed from Adams county, Illinois, where he had followed his
chosen occupation of land surveying, to Kansas, where, with an interval of a few
years spent in Virginia, he made his home until his death. In Kansas, he at
once began to develop his preemption claim which he had taken in Riley county,
and upon which he made his permanent home.
In 1861, at the beginning of the war, he enlisted as soldier in the union army.
He organized a company at Ogden, Kan., and was mustered into the service at
Fort Leavenworth; and from 1861 to 1864 was captain, successively, of companies
in the Fourth and Tenth regiments of Kansas volunteer infantry. He was mus-
tered out in 1864 and returned to his homestead farm, and in 1865 served as repre-
sentative from Riley county in the Kansas legislature, and was returned in 1866.
At this second election there was but one vote cast against him. He was a mem-
ber of the state senate in 1867-'68, from the then seventh district, composed of
5-4 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Marshall, Riley and Shirley counties: was elected governor of Kansas in 1868,
anil reflected in 1870, each time for the usual term of two years.
Prior to the holding of tlie primaries in 18G8, Mr. Harvey canvassed his
chances of support for the gubernatorial nomination in perhaps a dozen counties
and found a good support; but to make a canvass required money, and this was
not at his command, so he had decided to retire from the field. The state con-
vention was about to be held. At this stage, a neighbor of Senator Harvey was
informed by a friend in another part of the county that if the senator needed
money to conduct his campaign he would supply him. The result of this unex-
pected offer was that Senator Harvey borrowed $200 of this friend, and that sum
paid all the expenses of the campaign. Some years later Governor Harvey said
to this friend: " That offer of yours tendering me money was the turning-point
of my life. I had decided not to go before the state convention as a candidate,
and had given it all up. I would not ask anyone to loan me money, but the ten-
der of it unasked was the occasion of my going into the convention, and the
result made me governor and, later. United States senator." The prominent
candidates before the convention were Geo. A. Crawford and ex-Governor Car-
ney, with the former in the lead, but after the second ballot Carney withdrew
and Harvey was nominated. That was before the days of prohibition. Some of
Harvey's supporters thought that a little whisky was desirable, but there was not
a drink of Harvey whisky to be had; for he had said: "If I can't be elected
without paying for whisky votes with drink, I prefer to remain a private citizen."
Those most familiar with the campaign say that not a dollar was spent for
whisky, nor for anything except personal expenses. He was a plain man and
not at all given to display, and his success seems to have come because of his
worth as a citizen. His majority in 1868 was about 16,000, and in 1870 about
20,000.
After completing his second term as governor he returned to his old-time
business of surveying, and was engaged in a survey of part of western Kansas
when he was called to Topeka, and was elected to fill the vacancy in the United
States senate caused by the resignation of Alexander Caldwell. This was in
1874, his term beginning February 8 of that year, and expiring March 4, 1877,
when he again "went back to his plow and his compass and chain." Between
1881 and 1884 he filled government surveying contracts in New Mexico, Arizona,
Nevada, and Utah.
In 1884, his health being impaired, and hoping to receive benefit from a milder
climate, he, with hie family, removed to Virginia, living three years in Norfolk
and three years in Richmond. In 1890 the family returned to Kansas, to the old
home, where, with the exception of the summer and fall of 1891 spent at govern-
ment surveying in No Man's land, and the winter of 1893 passed in southern
Texas, Governor Harvey lived until his death. He died of Bright's disease, at
his home near Vinton, Riley county, on Sunday evening, April 15, 1894, aged 61
years. It was such an ending as we love to picture for a life well rounded out.
It was like the passing of a glorious sunset into the quiet of a calm summer's
evening. His grave was made in Highland cemetery. Junction City, on one of
the bluffs overlooking the Republican and Kansas river valleys.
But few men have filled so large a place in so many circles — in the family,
the neighborhood, the state, the nation, and in that comradeship born of war-
as he of whom I write. It cannot be said of Governor Harvey that he was a
towering genius in any particular direction, yet it can and must be said of him
that he has filled a place larger, grander and more eminently useful than often
fell to the lot of the most transcendent genius to fill. And the place left vacant
MEMORIAL ON JAMES M. HARVEY. 55
behind him is vaster in proportion than that left by many of the loftiest genius,
and the result of his living is a monument taller and more gigantic than is some-
times built by the sublimest and most colossal intellects.
Take his part from the records of the civil war, from the legislation of the
state and nation, from the executive department of Kansas, from the circle of
friendship, and brilliant pages of our history are gone — much that has elevated
home and manhood and womanhood, that has broadened the foundations of
good government, and that has given prestige and glory to our flag and nation,
will be lost.
A writer who knew Grovernor Harvey and the state of Kansas well, and who
will be recognized as Noble L. Prentis, says :
"The period covered by Governor Harvey's administration may be counted,
perhaps, as the most interesting for the gubernatorial periods. It is inspiring to
see anything grow ; and those were growing days for Kansas. It was not so much
a 'boom' period, as one of genuine increase. The Union Pacific railroad, the*
'Kansas Pacific' of that day, was completed through the state to Denver, the
first road to span Kansas in either direction, and other roads gained a great start.
Everybody wanted railroads, and then, when they were built, wanted more. The
state was also a builder: it was in the first year of Governor Harvey's reign that
the state government removed its ' local habitation ' from the old ' state row ' to
the first completed wing of the capitol, and the executive office from the front
room of a newspaper office to the apartments now [1897] occupied by the governor.
" It was the era of town building. There were some failures, but the greater
number of the towns which were started or which took a fresh start in the years
1869- '73 are still good towns, and some have risen to the dignity of actual cities.
It may be said that of the numerous foundations of many kinds laid in those
years most have proved enduring.
"The great claim, boast and pride of Kansas, in that period, was agriculture ;
and it was an appropriate circumstance that the governor of the state was in
those years a farmer — not a political or play farmer, but an actual owner and
tiller of the soil: a farmer, and, like George Washington in his youth, a land
surveyor. He was called from these pursuits to be a soldier and a governor and
a United States senator, but when released from these labors he went back to
his plow and his compass and chain. It is hard to believe in these days that
there was a time, less than twenty-five years ago, when the governor in his mes-
sages enlarged upon the garden-like productiveness of the state, recounted with
pride the triumphs of the farmer called out to speed the plow, and urged that all
means be used to forward immigration: when, moreover, the railroad companies
not only proclaimed but demonstrated the fertility of their acres by exhibition
in half of the windows of Kansas of great ears of corn and sheaves of wheat
(one of which would have been a fortune to the gleaning Ruth), great red apples,
and everything that goes to fill Ceres' horn of plenty in the pictures. Kansas,
with a farmer governor, was then given bold advertisement as preeminently the
farmers' state, and everybody mocked the old geographers and their story of the
American desert."
Governor Harvey was a man of sturdy frame, fit in youth to cope with any toil,
brave enough to meet any danger: a deliberate, not to say slow, sort of a man,
but capable of being roused to a certain heat and glow as of iron in the fire. He
had dark, solemn eyes which seldom glittered or flashed, but which looked every
man in the face and never quailed. But he was a man quite incapable of making
what the Scriptures call a vain show. This inability to show off followed him in
all he did. Those who knew him as a soldier could readily conceive that he
would stand and die whenever the time came, if those were the orders, but never
that he would shine and corruscate in the dispatches. In a state full of orators,
he, with a full command of facts and ideas, scarcely ever made speeches — never
if he could, with propriety, avoid it. He was a reading man, and especially fond
of poetry by the masters of verse, but it is doubtful if this was known outside of
his immediate circle of acquaintances. He lived his honorable, brave and simple
£6 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
life, and whon he had done serving his state, either as its chief magistrate or its
representative in the senate chamber, he lived apart from the maddening crowd,
on his farm, whieh was miles from any town; traversing weary leagues in New
Mexico with his surveying party, seeking restored health in the oldest of old Vir-
ginia, at last returning to husband his remaining days and die in the Kansas he
loved, which will bear forever on her map his honored name.
On the occasion of the opening of his second campaign for governor, at a mass
meeting in Leavenworth, Governor Harvey was expected to make a speech.
Major Hudson says of the occasion :
" For hours before the meeting he suffered with nervous fear as to the possible
result of his attempting to speak. He endeavored to prepare some heads of sub-
jects for a twentv minutes' speech, and mapped out his points. He was greeted
with friendly ap'plause on his appearance, and delivered his first point without
a break, and'was vociferously cheered. In the second sentence he began to falter,
missed his best points, and used his peroration inside of five minutes, and sat
down. The crowd accepted it as all right, and generously applauded, but the
governor tossed sleeplessly for hours afterward, nervous over what he deemed as
entire failure."
But he was elected by a very large majority, for he was always very close to
the hearts of the farmers, and that made him strong, even invincible.
As United States senator, though his term was short, he held at its close posi-
tions of importance on several committees. He was chairman of the select com-
mittee to examine the several branches of the civil service— a committee that
numbered in its list Conkling, Allison, Boutwell, Merriman, and Eaton. He was
also a member of the committee on public lands and agriculture, on mines and
mining, and of the select committee on the levees of the Mississippi.
"Whether driving oxen in breaking the prairie or moving among his distin-
guished peers in the United States senate chamber, whether offering shelter to
the many early settlers Who called at his home or conferring with the counselors
of state at the capital, he remained a true son of the prairie in mien and mood,
heart and soul, and in republican simplicity."
THE PASSENGERS ON THE "WELCOME."
A paper by E. B. Cowgill, read before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-first annual meeting, January 19, 1897.
SOME time during the second week in November, 1682, there was landed, at
the head of Delaware bay, a ship load of people who had sailed from Eng-
land with the proprietor of the province of Pennsylvania. This proprietor was
William Penn. These people were members of the religious society of Friends.
The ship was the "Welcome." The entire expedition was called by its projector
"The Holy Experiment."
The passengers of the "Welcome" were said to be "people of consequence,"
"people possessed of property," the servants having come in another vessel.
Their appearance, however, was, in some cases, gruesome. A description says
that many of them had their ears and their lips slit and that they bore other
marks of their experiences in English prisons. Their imprisonment had been in-
flicted on account of their religious heterodoxy. Even the proprietor had suf-
fered imprisonment and had been renounced by his father, an English admiral,
who had relented only when he found that persecution failed to change the
young man's convictions on matters of religion.
These pilgrims, like those of the "Mayflower," who had preceded them by
THE PASSENGERS ON THE "WELCOME. 57
sixty-two years, came to America that they might worship according to the dic-
tates of their own conscience. But the Plymouth colony had already been
founded on this principle, and, unless something more than this were to be tried,
Penn could scarcely have had rxcuse for applying to his colony so pretentious an
appellation as '"The Holy Experiment.''
Before the colony left England the essential features of the experiment were
determined and reduced to writing. The Massachusetts Pilgrims had been perse-
cuted for conscience's sake, and fled to America rather than submit to the exac-
tions of the estai)lished church. In the certaintv^ of conviction that they were
right, they, in their new home, required conformity to their own religious views.
While languishing in their English prisons, Penn and his followers had ample
opportunity tc meditate on the fact that the Plymouth Pilgrims had been perse-
cuted for their V)elief. and had, iu turn, become pcrsi^outors of those who believed
not as they; that the irons from which the Quakers sutfered were inflicted for
beliefs from which the Plymouth people dissented, and for which punishment
was meted out in Massachusetts. It was, therefore, determined to try the un-
heard-of experiment of allowing every one liberty of belief. This was shown bv
the first section of the document prepared before the "Welcome" sailed. It
reads aj loiiows:
"That all persons living iu this province, who confess and acknowledge the
one Almighty God to be the creator, upholder and ruler oi the world, and that
hold themselves obliged ui conscience to live peacably and justly in civil society,
shall in no ways be molested or prejudiced for their religious persuasion cr prac-
tice in matters of faith and worship, nor shall they be compelled at any time to fre-
quent any religious worship, place or ministry whatever."
Thus was laid the foundation of the religious liVjerty which was afterwards
incorporated in the constitution of the United States and has spread throughout
the Protestaut Christian world.
The prevalent methods of acquiring lands from a people having prior posses-
sion had, in all ages, been by conquest of war. The history of the world is
chiefly a record of robbery of the weak by the strong; the spoliation of the sim-
ple by the crafty. When Columbus had discovered America, the nations vied
with each other in their efforts to rob the natives of it. Making a pretense of
propagating Christianity, Cortez wrested Mexico from its possessors by the
sword, taking a few monks along to sanctify his robbery, treachery, and murder.
Historians have sought to find some merit in Cortez's expedition.
The Virginia settlers sought to crowd themselves into the land for the pur-
pose of establishing colonies. The religious pretense was not extensively used
to cloak their violence with the natives. Their motives and their professions, as
well as their practices, were improved over the savagery of the Spanish invasion
of Mexico.
The New England Pilgrims came to gain the privilege of worshiping as they
thought right. They forgot to accord to others the .^ame .'•ight of dissent which
they themselves prized, and they failed of any general recognition of the right of
the possessors of the soil to treatment as owners. They were .soon in the midst
*jf wars of conquest, as had been all nations and peoples heforr* them.
The second es.seutial of "The Holy Experiment'' was the recognition of the
rights uf the Indians to be treated as owners of their lards, a right of which they
cuuld justly be deprived only by voluutary treaty and in consideration of a fair
equivalent.* Penn had, it is true, bought Pennsylvania from King Charles in
* The Indi.-ins with whom Pmm n',a(ie his treaty in 16^2 vt^vp thf> Delaware;! aod representa-
tivf.-i of rh« shdwnees. Th? Del;iv."are.s were <ift<Tvvar(i.s stntieii in Oiiio, ia Mi-<:?(>uri. ,m<i sub-
■"^"lueiitly in aortheastorn Kansas, witli a;i outlft to the Rocky mountaias, aad, tinally, io tho
I
58 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
satisfaction of a claim against the crown inherited from his father for services as
admiral. The conscience of any leader hitherto would have been satisfied, with-
out regarding the rights of the weak people who inhabited it, by saying that,
having bought and paid for it once, he would not pay for it again. It is to be
noted, however, that the example of common honesty— the example of considera-
tion of rights because they were rights, and without regard to the defenseless
character of the possessors — was so contagious that since the organization of tlie
government of the United States and to this day [1897] on but one occasion has
territory been acquired by conquest.
William Penn and the passengers of the "Welcome" tried successfully the
holy experiment of buying property instead of getting it by robbery and murder.
The nation adopted the plan. After having lived in Philadelphia, a Boston boy,
Benjamin Franklin, when he came to mature years, uttered what is now a na-
tional proverb, namely: "Honesty is the best policy."
The descendants of the "Welcome's" passengers have scattered into all parts
of the country. They have been modest in pushing for public preferment. But
it were well for the country, it were well for humanity, if not only the religious
zeal and tolerance, but also the Christian honesty of these passengers, the recog-
nition of and respect for the rights of those who are unable to assert their, rights,
which actuated the course of the pilgrims who came over with Penn could be
substituted for selfish greed: if the simplicity and purity of life practiced by
these Friends could take the place of the opvilent indulgence, the Babylonian
revels, which sap the moral as well as the physical vitality of those who should
be strongest, and cast over the future the only shadow of menace to perpetuity
and advancement.
Nobody knows how many of the descendants of the " Welcome" are living in
Kansas to-day. The adults of the present are the sixth and seventh generations
born in this country. It has been proposed to form a society of these children
of "The Holy Experiment." In these days of high-priced blooded domestic
animals, a lineage to the people whose peculiar principles are now among the
most cherished provisions of our government should be a valued possession.
For the benefit of those interested, there is hereto appended a list of the pas-
sengers of the "Welcome," which is believed to be within three or four names
of complete. It is copied from a "History of fhiladelphia, 1883," in the library
of this society, being in pamphlet form; "Specimen Chapters of the Historv- of
Philadebphia,"' now being prepared by J, Thomas Scharf and Thompson West-
cott. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts ct Co.
NAMES OF PERSONS WHO CAME OVER WITH WILLIAM PENN
IN THE "WELCOME."
John Bakber ami Elizabeth, his wife. He wa^ a "first purchaser" and made his will on
board the " Welcome."
William Bead oed, tirst printer of Philadelphia and earliest government printer of New
York.
William Bcckmas and Maey, his wife, with Saeah and Mari, their chil.lrea. of Billing-
hurst. Sii.-i^x.
John Cabvee and Maet, his wife, of Hertfordshire, a first purch.iser.
Benjamin Chambers, of Koche^ter, Kent; afterwards .--herilT [ifiya], ;ind otherwise i.romi-
nent in public atYiirs,
Thomas CriBoxsr.ALE [Croa.-dale] and Agnes, his wife, with sis childrei;, of YTrkshi,-".
Indian t<>rntory. The Shawne^s were removed to Ohi.j, ami from Ohio to Kausns, pi;.i i rnal
remnant from Ka:isa> to the Iiuiiau territory. The ideas of p.-ace and justice which ft.e Del.i-
waj-^^f'-ceive.! from Peun have b.-ea maintained throutrhont their hi.-tory. I'he Frieu.!^' jh licy
at Fhila.hdphia was thnsa benediction to Kansas 150 to ZUJ VL■a^^ later, anl the bt-Itof wamonm
presented to VVilham Penn under the elm Las not inaptly betn designated as tHe only treaty
not 8wom to and never broken.
THE PASSENGERS ON THE " WEECOME." 59
Ellen Cowgill and family. [Certificate from "Settle monthly meeting of Friends, York-
shire, EtiRlaad." states that she was a widow. Her children's names are believed to
have been Ezektel, Thomas, John, Jane, and Ralph.]
John Dcttox and wife.
John Fishek, Makgaret, his wife, and son John.
Thomas Fitzwaltek, and sons Thomas ami George, of Hamworth, Middlesex. He lost
his wife, Mary, and Josiah and Mary, liis cliiidren, on the voyage. Member of assembly
from Bucks in ltj>3; active citizen and eminent Friend.
Thomas Gillett.
Robert Geee-VAWay, master of the " Welcome.''
Bartholomew Gkeen.
Nathaniel Harrison.
Clthbert Hayhlkst, his wife and family, of Easingtou, Bolland; Yorkshire, a first pur-
chaser.
Thomas Heriott, of Hurst-Pier-Point, Sussex, first purchaser.
John Hey.
Richard Ingelo, clerk of provincial council in 1685.
Isaac Ingram, of Gatton, Surrey.
Thomas Jones.
Giles Knight, Mart, his wife, and son Joseph, of Gloucestershire.
Philip Theodore Lehnman [afterwards spelled Lehman], Penn's private secretary.
William Llshington.
T_, «'.__ „,. ,
ui^.L^vu ill. n 1 i. <-l. L< ^ I o ■
HANNif'H MOGDRIDGE.
JosHCA Morris.
David Ogden [probably from London].
Evan Oliver, with Jean, his wife, and David, Elizabeth, John, Hannah, Maky, Evan,
and Seabop.n, tbeir children, of Radnor, Wales. [The last named ■was a daughter, bora
at sea, within sight of the Delaware capes. October "24, l&v2.]
Pearson, emigrant from Chester, Penn's friend, who renamed Upland, after his native
place. [ His first name probably Robert.]
Dennis Rochfcrd and Mary, his wife [John Heriott's daughter], from Emstorfey, Wexford,
Ireland. Also their two daughters, who died at sea. Rochford was member of the as-
sembly in 16>3.
John Rowland and Priscilla, his wife, of BiUiughiirst, Sussex, first purchaser.
Thomas Rowland, Billinghurst, Sussex, fir^t purchaser.
John Songhcest, of Chiliincton. Sussex, first purchaser. [Some say from Coynhurst, or
Hitchingfield, Sussex.] Devoted to Penn : member of first and subsequent assemblies ;
a writer and preacher of flistinction among Friends,
John Stackhouse and Margery, his wife, of Yorkshire.
William Smith.
George Thompson.
Richard Townsend. of Loudon, wife .\.nna, daughter Hannah, and son James [born on
"Welcome," in Delaware river. 1 First purchaser. A leading Friend and eminent iLin-
ister; miller at Upland and on Schuylkill.
William Wade, of Hankton parish. Sussex.
Thomas Walmsley, his v.ife Elizabeth, and six children, of Yorkshire.
Nicholas Waln, of Yorkshire, first purchaser. Member from Bucks of first assembly;
prominent in early history of province.
Thomas WiNNE, cliirurgeou, of Carwys, Flintshire, north Wales; speaker of first two as-
semblies; magistrate for Sussex county; "a person of note and character." [Chestnut
street, in Philadelphia, was originally named after him. J
John Woodroofe.
Thomas Wrightsworth and wife, of Yorkshire.
There were in all iibout 100 passengers on the " W elcome." About forty ships
came over during the year whose passengers were a part of the great movement,
and assisted in the holy experiment of inaugurating tolerance in religion and
justice in acquiring land. Many of those who became prominent were passengers
on these other rossels. Several of the names are known, but the writer is aware
of no complete lists of them.
I
60 KANS^ts STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ACCURACY IN HISTORY.
Ad addross by John Speer, delivered before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-second aunual meeting, January 18, 1898.
THE settlement of Kansas was made in the throes of a political revolution;
and the character of her people and their acts must be gauged by a state of
embryo war, leading up to a war which had no parallel in the civihzed world.
We were but a few years removed from a condition of public sentiment when.
even in the most enlightened portions of the North, the attempt to discuss slavery
at all had been met with tar and feathers, lynching, and many other modes of
torture. Even in enlightened Boston the clamor of the mob of '-men of wealth
and respectability" had hardly passed away, when the very elite of that city had
pursued the poor fugitive Anthony Burns and delivered him up to the slave
power, and the rope had been tied to the neck of William Lloyd Garrison, and ha
had narrov.-ly escaped the scaffold. Up to the passage of t^-^ Kansp^-V^i^'-.-airo
organic act, it was dangerous to express sympathy with the slave anywhere, and
peril of death to do it near the border slave states.
When Kansas was declared subject to settlement, the very best class of citi-'
zeus were ready to harness their teams and pack their baggage for a land which
had been heralded to the world as having scarcely an equal in fertility and pro-
ductive resources. The temptation of homes in Kansas aroused the ambitioti of
the very best elements of civilization, and there was no discount on the heroic
courage of the men and women who dared venture upon the unique pioneer life
now offered to the world. What followed the wildest theorist never predicted.
Settlers from the North had no ambition to enter into war. Arguments were
their weapons; they expected a conflict of reason and of intellect, in which the
ballot was to settle the question of whether the new state was to be free or slave.
They came unarmed and unsuspicious of violence.
On the part of the slave power, it is true, threats had been sent abroad that
abolitionists never should be allowed to enter Kansas. These threats, however,
were regarded as bravado, until the rifle and revolver in the hands of the devotees
of slavery made the welkin ring. The first night I slept upon Kansas soil
( September 26, 18.j4 ), our small party of emigrants from free states were awakened
by demands of where we were from, and threats of expulsion, tarring and
feathering, hanging and drowning, to every abolitionist who dared to enter
Kansas. The second night after reaching Lawrence we were called to defend
the Rev. Thomas J. Ferril, a Methodist minister, w'ho had just arrived with his
bride. No retaliation was attempted. At the first election for members of the
legislature, March .30, IS.'j,'), 1000 armed invaders from Missouri seized the polls
and voted at Lawrence, and similar bodies at Leavenworth, Delaware, Kickapoo,
.and many other places, electing a pro-slavery legislature. That was an all-sutli-
•cient cause for resistance; and the man who would have fired a battery into one
of those camps would have been as heroic a patri-jt as they who defended Lex-
ington and Bunknr Hill: yet the free-state men bided their time in peace, although
eight months of threats, outrage and usurpation had gone by.
Several free-state men's houses were destroyed in the spring and summer of
185.J, but no retaliation. To avoid a conflict of arms, the peace loving free-state
men met at Big Springs, Douglas county, September 8, 18.')."), to consider means
for a peaceful solution of the troubles. They had borne their amictions then for
ACCURACY IN HISTORY. 61
more than a year. On November 21, ISoo, Chas. W. Dow, a peaceable free state
man, was murdered in cold blood by a pro-slavery man. All that was attempted
was to hold a meeting for the expression of sympathy for the friends of the dead
and condemnation of the murderer.
Fifteen months of peaceful acts of the free-state men had passed, and no re-
venge or retaliation. Just then a peaceful old man from Indiana, Jacob Bran-
son, so mild in his manners that, although I knew him pretty well, I never found
out his politics, was arrested without being shown a warrant, tortured by being
placed upon a mule and hurried through woods and over hills and prairies until
he was unable to dismount without help. For his rescue a body of twelve free-
state men was quickly organized.- Meeting a body of the same number having
the free-state prisoner, his release was demanded, and secured without blood-
shed. This brought on the Wakarusa war, so called, a siege of Lawrence, the
erectnon of rifle-pits and all necessary means for defense — not against their neigh-
bors, but against an invasion of 1200 men from Missouri. Every effort for peace
had been exhausted. Sixteen months had passed without a single hand having
been raised against the persons or property of pro-slavery men.
As an eye-witness of the affairs of Kansas in all this period. I solemnly de-
clare, and defy contradiction, and call on any man in this audience to deny, these
facts. It seems almost cowardice to admit them. I am speaking of occurrences
the like of which afflicted all the free-state settlements.
On the approach of winter, a peace-loving people, their wives and their little
ones illy provided for — a winter the severest that has ever occurred in Kansas —
were assailed for sixteen days by armed hordes of foreign enemies to freedom,
because they refused to abandon their homes and their hearths or forswear their
devotion to liberty and the universal rights of man. Thus the armies stood.
In this desperate strait, Dr. Charles Robinson, afterwards Governor Robinson,
as commander-in-chief, and James H. Lane, in active command, ready for the
charge, Grovernor Shannon at length suggested or agreed to a consultation, and
a peace was patched up, and a fearful slaughter, which no man can estimate,
averted. During this threatened conflict a dozen armed pro-slavery men, Geo.
W. Clarke one of the number, rode down three farmers returning to their homes,
and Clarke murdered Thos. W. Barber, of whom more hereafter.*
And yet, with all this record of patient, agonizing suffering, men of the East,
men of learning in colleges, are writing assaulting article.^ upon the early settlers
of Kansas, as natural murderers, assassins, gamblers, thieves — guilty of all the
crimes in the calendar of criminology. And even some of our own teachers in our
schools of learning h^ive been led into like errors. It is time that some words of
protest should be uttered against this style of Kansas history. Let us quote from
a work written by a professor in our state university, intended for the instruction
of youth in our Kansas schools. After reciting the two classes, free-state and
* These notes were not in the speech, but I asked "leave to print" :
May 17, l^'i.'i, William Phillips, of Le-i^euworth, r.a-? captured and taken to Weston, Mo,, his
head shaved, hi- clothe- stripfied off. tarred ami feathered, and sold at aucik)n by a negro. The
cbartre wa- ^!eI!ine a protest atrainst the :jl)th nf March election. I WiMer's Anuals, page lii) He
was aftt-rward-^ murdered iri his own house, his blood spurtitii: upon the t'annents of a bride — a
guest of the fainils i Mrs. Nancy A. Ij. Leibey, of Lawrence,* —as innocent of wrong-<loing as the
babes whom Herod slew,
.lauu.-iry 20, 1h.')6. Ki'.-se P. Brown, for participation in th^ free-state election, was hacked to
Eieces with hat^-hets, carried to his home in a farm wagon, rudely delivered to his wife, where
e told lier he had been cruelly murdered without a cause, and died within two hours.
Mr. Mitchell, a Kentuckian, a free-st.ite man, who had befrie:;i!i'd Hrown, was. early in tbe
next summer, bucked and gatrged and left on th.e prairie to die, b\it was rescued.
June 6, iS'.'i. a peacable Kansas free-state man, Jacob Cautiell, who emigrated from Mis-
souri, was traveling on the highway, with this device on his wagon cover: "Kansas a tree
Istate," He was captured and liung, for '" treason to Missouri."
62 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
pro-slavery, in his book, entitled "Civil Government of Kansas," Prof. F. H.
Hodder describes a third class thus:
"The third class consisted of adventurers of various sorts from both sections:
broken down politicians: restless, lawless men, to whom the restraints of civili-
zation were irksome ; gamblers, ruffians, and fugitives from justice — a class of men
who always drift to now countries. They cared not whether slavery was voted
up or down, but were ready to emV)race any party that promi.?ed them otlice and
jwwer, and welcomed a state of society in which murder, arson and robbery would
go unpunished. It was the presence of this class, ranged as they were on both
sides in the political contest, that accounts largely for the disorder and bloodshed
in the early history of the state."
" This third class the learned author makes so prominent and leading that the
fact of their presence "accounts largely for the disorder and bloodshed in the
early historv- of the state." He so magnifies this class that the great struggle
for principles between the free-state men who were in the right, and the- pro-
slavery men who were in the wrong, sinks into insignificance. This foisting of a
fictitious and imaginary class as an important element in the Kansas struggle
gives a false coloring to the whole conflict. In the estimation of the civilized
world, the question of whether human slavery should be further extended over
the free soil of America, or whether it should be checked in its progress further,
was fought out nobly here on Kansas soil by as brave, enlightened and heroic a
set of men and women as ever in the world's history battled for a just cause.
This mode of treatment is entirely untrue as to the free-state men. and it is
injustice even to the pro-slavery men as a body. Slavery was a barbarity, and
there is no instance in history where the forces fighting for the wrong were the
best and most moral men: but thp South selected the most heroic and best men
of the period among them to lead in the conliict, and raised money for this pur-
pose. Many of these men, on all other questions, were gentlemen.*
I venture to assert (and this can only be opinion, but my opinion ought to be
as good as that of a man from the East who was not born at that time] that there
never was in this country, in the settlement of any territory, so honorable, up-
right, intelligent a body of men as settled Lawrence — the headquarters of the
free-state forces in the first two years of the conflict. Their first act was to
establish prohibition, by the Lawrence Association, with Doctor Robinson as its
president. The charge that "broken-down politicians" were a leading element
is answered in the fact that in the first legislature elected by the free-state voters
there was not a single man in either house who had ever before sat officially in a
legislative body. It would be most interesting to follow their later careers as
soldiers and statesmen, at least two of them leading brigades. Only one in both
bodies was ever known as of intemperate habits.
Another error: Of the Leavenworth constitution Professor Hodder says
( page 22 ) :
" Notwithstanding the veto of Secretary Denver, who was soon after appointed
governor, delegatt^s were elected, and met at .Minneola, whf nee they adjourned to
Leavenworth. Here a free-state constitution was adofited, identical in lurge part
with the Topeka constitution."
It is utterly vmaccountable how, from so able a source, an error like this should
have crept into a book for schools. It implies that a mob, without the semblance
of law, after their own party had almost unanimous contrcU in both branches of
» -♦ ^^'^ '°^*"°«;f> '"'°- •^"<' Sbelby, wl;o su^pi'i.iiecl hi? b;:?iu:^s3 at Loxiu;;tan, Mo., anci with
rorty of his hanils came to Lawroiico and v.it.'<l : aud witii whom I took liitUK^r that (iav at Col.
&am. .V Wooil s lions('. It was the mnnit't'sration of condition^. The atn.Htioui-t wa.s con-
snlf^rcd a uei;ro tbicf. aud the man who intcrfored witli such 'projiprty" w.-is considiTed as
much worse than a hor.-,e thief a.s the slave was rp^arded more valuable chau a horso.
ACCURACY IN HISTORY. 63
the legislature, had assembled and made a constitution, and attempted to force
it upon the people. 1 know this error has been circulated through several sources.
The truth is, Secretary Denver never vetoed that bill. It was passed in all the
regular forms, and taken to his office by the clerk three days, one hour and ten
minutes before the expiration of the forty days which constituted the term; and
the governor had gone to bed and left word with his clerk to receive no more
messages.* It was his duty under the law to either sign and return it, or to re-
tarn it vetoed, within three days : but he " pocketed" it and refused to return it,
attempting thus to defeat it, because the legislative term, as he erroneously as-
serted, had expired — an act of tyranny without an example. This statement
both houses of the legislature unanimously affirmed, and declared the bill passed,
notwithstanding the governor refused to sign it, but withheld it without his ap-
proval, t These facts were attested by the clerk of the house, Mr. Whiting, and
Mr. Caleb S. Pratt, of the council, as well as by Perry Fuller and other private
citizens; and I superintended the preparation and delivery of the bill, and saw it
taken to his room, as I now state.
As specimens of the "usurpers" under the Leavenworth constitution, we may
mention Hon. Henry J. Adams, as governor, in whose honor a golden tablet has
Leeu piaueu iu RepreseutaLue uaii: Hon. Cyrus K. iioinaay, projector of the
A. T. Jc S. F. railroad, as lieutenant-governor; as superintendent of public instruc-
tion, .John Morgan Walden, long a bishop of the M. E. church.
The men whom this statement represents as unlawfully assembled, usurping
the powers of a convention, were as capable and worthy a body as would gener-
ally have been selected at any period of Kansas history. The charge against
that body is an insult to the intelligence of the people who elected them. Three
of them were afterwards generals in the army (.James H. Lane, Thos. Ewing, and
Robert B. Mitchell). Among them were such able lawyers as Chief Justice
Ewing, Senator P. B. Plumb, and Jas. S. Emery: and Hon. T. Dwight Thacher,
also a member, has written a history of the convention, which will be read with
interest in after-times as a refutation of the charge that it was jjossible for such
a body of men to have assumed, ignorantly or wickedly, any such position.
Iff the same work, on page 22, Professor Hodder, after saying that "south-
eastern Kansas was at first almost entirely settled by pro-slavery men from the
Southern States" — in which he was mistaken, at least two-thirds of them being
free- state — mildly adds:
"A few free-state men had come here, however, and in the autum of 1S56 one
Captain Clarke attacked them, destroyed their property, and drove them from
their homes. The free-state men organized for defense under the leadership of
James Montgomery, and, finding guerrilla warfare quite to their liking, continued
to raid and rob pro-slavery men, both in Kansas and Missouri, for a yearor more.
In the spring of 1S-')S, Chas. A. Hamilton, of West I'oint. Mo., raised a band of men
for the purpose of making reprisals. Crossing the Kansas line to Trading Post,
Linn county, on tae 19th day of May, 18.3S, he seized eleven free-state men, and,
taking them to a ravine ne;ir the Marais des Cygnes. shot them down in cold
blood. Five of the men were instantly killed, five were seriously wounded but
afterwards recovered, and one escaped unharmed by feigning death."
"One Captain Clarke," indeed! What mildness is this instating a pretended
historical fact as to the infamous condueL of that mcjst infamous man I The true
history of his conduct ought to read thus :
Capt. Geo. W. Clarke, the murderer of Thos. W. Barber in cold blood in
• See Governor Denver's stataineat in Lawrence lie-piMican, , li.'i'S.
tThe language of the organic act is precisely that of the United States constitution, except
that ""three days " is iu the-former and '"ten days " in tlie latter; and hundreds of bills have be-
tuac lure^? uays is lu cof-ioriner anii teni;a>s lu lue iaiu
come laws jast as this act did — notably the Wilson tariff bill.
I
64 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1855,* havine Hed the country, again appeared on the unprotected frontier in the
free-state settlements in southeastern Kansas, and renewed his assaults upon
these helpless people. He was the same man who, at a Lawrence town-site meet-
ing in the winter of 185i-'55, attempted to murder Governor Robinson, and
probably would have murdered him, had not one John Speer jumped upon him
from his seat in the audience and partially wrested his revolver from him and
turned it upon his own heart, and held it in such a position that any attempt to
pull the trigger would have killed the assassin, until one Wilson, a Kentuckian,
interfered and secured peace. This was at a meeting at Lawrence in regard to
the town-site rights, in which Clarke had no interest, and where he was brought
as a "killer." Before his attempt on Robinson he knocked Mr. Alphonso .Jones
off the stand while he was speaking. He also had a tilt with J. H. Shimmons
with rifles not long after. On another occasion he had arranged to assassinate
Jones one night as the latter was expected to be returning from an anti-slavery
meeting, and would in all probability have succeeded had not Clarke's slave Judy
got to Mr, Jones's window the night before, and in a shrill whisper said, "Massa
Jones, dey's gwine to kill you as you come from dat abolition meetin' ef you
do n't look out! Min' w'at I say! I'ze otfl" At this meeting, Ed. Chapman,
the man then tioiamg the Jenkms claim near Lawrence, was backing Clarke up:
he was the man who chopped down Robinson's house, for which, among other
merits, he was soon after elected a member of the "bogus" pro-slavery territo-
rial legislature: and, as soon after that as he could spare time from his legislative
duties, he murdered Geo. Wilson, of North Carolina, by a blow from a club,
while Wilson's daughter of sixteen sat by his side in a buggy. Wilson's death
right then was only prevented by that child seizing the whip and reins and driv-
ing to Westport, Mo. (thirty-five miles i, where she appealed to the Odd Fellows,
who ministered to him till his death, and buried him with the honors of the
order: and that murderer. Chapman, afterward went to the penitentiary by the
way of Iowa, and still later to that other place,
"With all his crimes broad blown as flush as May:
And how his audit stands, who knows save Heaven ?
But in our circumstance and course of thought,
'T is heavy with him.''
That is the true history of Clarke and one of his confederates in crime. They
were twin criminals and conspirators, whose history cannot be separated.
I had but slight acquaintance with Capt. James Montgomery,! but I know
he was not a disreputable man, seeking innocent blood, nor stealing property,
and that he had a following of as honorable settlers as ever peopled any country.
I mean no disrespect to the teacher, but I would like to see some bright, inno-
cent little girl in a country schoolhouse hang her head, raise her hand, and say
to Professor Hodder: " Please, master, may I ask some questions ? An old settler
•The report of the congressional comiiiittco on Kansas claims, 1861, paere 17, savs: "Dur-
ing the foray, eitiier Uho. VV. Clark.^ or Mr. Hiirn.'s nuinlen-d Th-.s. W. Barber, while the latter
was in tho hichway on the roa.l from Lawrence to iiis claim. Both fired at him, and it is im-
possible, from the proof, to tell who-e .-hot was fatal." On the same pace the committee savg:
The chief guilt must rest on S<anriJ. Jones He said Major Clarlie and Mr. Buriies
both claimed the credit of killing • that damned abolitionist,' and be did a't know w hich ou^rht
to have it.
tu *,^'*-,^- Smith, one of Montgomery's men, too well known to ueed ccmmendation, savs of
that leader: • H<- was scrupulously honest and conscientiously religious," and I have more than
*L ^^ "!^,"'^r "f *'"^ '^'^-■'t "i^'Q in the community in wiuch Montk'omerv operated wljij wiil rije
tneir atlidavits yenfyim.' this .stateinei-.t.
Maj, E. S, W. Droui^'ht. sui>erinteudeut of construction, Kansas Citv StocK Yards Company.
says of Captain MontAri.mery : "He whs one ,.f rh-^ mildest anrl trenth-st of in«n ne^er nsTjir
language that could not be used in the pre-euce .if ladies and children, and at all time, on the
marcti instructing the othcers and men not to take i.rivate property or -iisturb tlie homes of
women and cliildren. He was much oppo.se.i to the n-e of intoxicatingliqirors. He was a model
otiicer, and the very opposite of a marauder and btjrder rutnan."
ACCURACY IN HISTORY. 65
spoke at our schoolhouse, on the Marmaton. and he told us that Preston B. Plumb,
WUliam A. Phillips, James B. Abbott, Dr. S. B. Prentiss, E. B. Whitman and
several other gentlemen rallied to assist Captain Montgomery to protect us when
the cold weather was coming, and we had nothing but corn bread and rabbit to
eat, and the cabin needed chinking. Were they the broken-down politicians,
gamblers, ruffians and fugitives from justice that you speak about on page 11
of your little book? Did the gamblers want to play poker with papa for the
rabbits? *'
Professor Hodder undoubtedly appreciates precisely the meaning of the word
"reprisals," when he says in the extract we have quoted: "In the spring of
1858 Chas. A. Hamilton, of West Point, Mo., raised a band of men for the pur-
pose of making reprisal's.'" Would that imply that Montgomery had invaded
Missouri and murdered some of her citizens ? We observe here that, in our ex-
tract, he states that two murderers, Clarke and Hamilton, leading their bands,
had invaded Kansas from Missouri. We knew several of the men whom Hamil-
ton stood up in line and murdered and wounded. Asa Hairgrove, one of the lat-
ter, became state auditor of Kansas, and from him I learned much of the character
of the victims of Hamilton. There was not a disreputable man among them. I
Knew nev. >ir. Reed, one of his "reprisals,"* and helped Duci-oi Miuci Jicao his
wounds. " Death loves a shining mark.'' So do devils — for destruction. Ham-
ilton might as well have kept on to Lawrence, and taken as a "reprisal'" and
murdered that distinguished divine whose name is on our program here to-
night, and who has recently celebrated his fortieth anniversary as a minister.
Rev. Dr. Cordley. Perhaps the guerrillas who burned the house of Doctor
Cordley and took two or three shots at him, in the Lawrence massacre, were
merely attempting to make a " reprisal "" of him, and if he had died, some pro-
fessor of literature might have written an apology for Quantrill, as apologies
have been written. It will be noted that all the murders occurred in Kansas,
and all the murderers came from Missouri. Why did all the wounding and all
the murdering occur on the Kansas side of the Missouri line? Kansas stood on
her own side of the line, and stood for peace; and for more than four long years
not one drop of blocd by a Kansas hand ever stained the soil of Missouri: not
one armed foe crossed the "sacred soil" of slaver}-, until it was crossed by troops
under the flag of the union and the call of Lincoln for men to put down the re-
bellion. Hamilton's "reprisal'" of blood was as fiendish as ever disgraced the
annals of crime, and was neither a "reprisal" under the definition of Webster
nor Vattel.
I speak in no spirit of animosity — not in anger, but in sorrow. In that spirit
I have a right to reply even to a professor in a chair of the Kansas State Univer-
sity. I hope I am not intruding my own personality when I say, concerning the
earliest movements towards the founding of the University of Kansas, that I have
no memory of a more satisfactorily spent Xew Year's day than that of 13.35, when
I joined Dr. Chas. Robinson and A. D. Searle, the surveyor of Lawrence, to carry
the chain, surveying a site for a schoolhouse where the "old university" now
stands. If there was a better day spent in my owd history, it was when I joined
that eminent educator. Gen. John Fraser, in efforts to elevate th« embryo uni-
versity, in an appeal to the people of Lawrence for a vote of .3100,000 in its behalf.
In the meeting to consider that proposition, a committee of prudent, economical
business men reported in favor of .3-">0,00U. General Fraser had stood in the ser-
ried ranks of war, but at this time he looked as if he might be "knocked down
with a feather."' I moved to strike out 850,000 and insert 8100,000, and backed
niy proposition up by the best words I could utter, illustrating the importance of
06 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIKTV.
education by my own want of it. Bishop Thomas H. Vail, who was present, fol-
lowed in the most elotjuent appeal I ever heard, and the motion was carried. The
"school" was ended and the university besran: and to-day it stands, the pride
and glory of Kansas —the peer of Vale, Harvard, or Michigan.
It is true — too true — that several books of history on Kansas have been is-
sued in the East equally or more unjust than the work quoted; but such works
should never go into the schools of Kansas, and it is because of my pride in
Kansas that I attempt to refute their falsity.
Within the past two years a convention was held at Houston, Tex., in which
a learned committee consulted on devising a means to correct history by show-
ing that slavery was not the cause of the war, but some indefinable question of
"state rights" was at the bottom of it all; and they suggested that some man
learned in history should be selected to correct the false public sentiment: and,
recently, General Reagan, the last of the Jefferson Davis cabinet, has been
quoted as reiterating that sentiment. Since Balaam rode up the mountain on
the only ass that ever talked good horse sense, for the purpose of cursing Israel,
and rode down again "altogether blessing them," there has been no better trib-
ute to the spirit of freedom which first broke out in Kansas and permeated the
whole union. Not only Kansas, but the South and the \vhule world are ashamed
to be compelled to believe that the institution ever existed. It looks now as if a
premium had been offered to some man to write a book proving that the Gettys-
burg speech was a fable, the emancipation proclamation a fraud, and old Abe
not much of a statesman anyhow, and a lot of Eastern professors were in the
race, neck and neck, to win the prize.
If the war was not made upon Kansas solely to plant slavery here — and, in-
deed, to extend it through the union — why did not Pierce's administration say
so? If that were true, why did not the president, instead of ordering Colonel
Sumner to i)lant a battery near where the Topeka post-office now stands, ready
to fire upon and disperse the legislature under the Topeka constitution, send
some peace officer and tell them to elect their free-state senators, and he would
send a message to congress recommending the state's admission ? If slavery were
not the issue, why did President Buchanan, in 1858, send a special message to
congress, declaring that "slavery existed as much in Kansas as it did in Geor-
gia" ? Why did he, in that message, denounce Kansas as in rebellion, under a
"turbulent and dangerous military leader'"? All the "turbulent and danger-
ous" people of Kansas wanted was a free state, and that was after Buchanan's
own governor, Robert J. Walker, had written to him that Kansas was on the
wrong side of the "isothermal line" for slavery, that the people were opposed to
it, and that the best possible way to do was to make it a democratic free state;
and that then his administration "would go out in a blaze of glory."
Much of the enmity to Kansas has been aroused by Eastern men in their con-
tention as to who did the most to save Kansas. The position they get the nearest
together on is, that in the aggregate they in the East did it all — that Kansas
could n't have been saved without them. Measurably the latter proposition may
be true. Without the sympathy, mat<^rial aid and prayers of the good and great
men all over the country, Kansas could not have been made free: but the brunt
of the battle, the strife and the loss of life and treasure fell upon the heroic men
and women of Kansas. Xor do I depr'-ciate the vast sums of money expended
by the Emigrant .\id Company; nor have I forgotten the national convention at
Buffalo, in IS7)>.], presided over by Governor Reeder, in which I myself was a
Kansas delegate, where Gerrit Smith planked down 61000, and pledged 61000 per
month until Kansas should be made free; but what I do lament is. that so many
ACCURACY IN HISTORY. 67
^'new kings have arisen who know not Joseph" except bv tradition, going back
on the deeds of their fathers, with few sources of information, sizing us up as
sarages, imagining that they are the priests preserving the history of the dark
ages.
Archimedes said he could lift the world with a lever if he had a place to stand
on. He was mistaken. The great men of the East have tested that question.
No fulcrum can be used by which a corner-stone can be laid in Kansas, with the
laboring end of the lever in New York or Boston. A Virginia slave, in describing
the Natural Bridge, said: '* I '11 nevah forgit the day I driv master to see 'em lay
de co'ner-stone of dat bridge! All de fust famblies was dar!" The men who
laid the corner-stone of Kansas in Boston do not know whether that stone was
carved from the everlasting granite of the Sangre de Cristo, or of the kaolin im-
bedded in the same mountains, beautiful to look upon, but crumbling with the
atmosphere and dissolviug with the summer rains.
Some of these men, if they were not so intensely Puritan, would claim that
the Maytiower anchored at mid-sea, put out a lighter, and that the crew sailed
around by the Pacific, put up the Holy Cross in the mountains one Saturday
afternoon before prayers, and passed through to the eastward and discovered
Kansas long otriojo jJou -l/h-j^u cio j. tiitn^oii drv^r^mCj. c ^^z prcvincc c .^uivsr".
I was amazed to read in a magazine article an expression dropped by one of
the most estimable patriots, philanthropists, and divines, as well as among the
most eminent litterateurs of this country, to the effect that he supposed there
never were any slaves in Kansas. It is such utterances from such sources that
hurt. What were we fighting about? The ruffian might bawl himself hoarse
and do no harm. This good divine never was acquainted with Buck Scott, the
good slave who contracted with his master to send him seventy percent, of his
earnings if he would let him live at Lawrence, and fulfilled his contract manfully,
voluntarily returning to slavery. He never knew Tom Bourn, of Washington
creek, whose master brought him and a dozen more slaves from Virginia "to es-
tablish the institution in Kansas,"' who, when the master got scared and wanted
to take them back to "the old Virginia home," replied: "No, no, Massa Bourn;
I com' to 'stablish de institution, an' I'ze gwine to see it froo"; and in less time
than two weeks ran otl' to the North with the whole gang I He never madethe
acquaintance of Bob Skaggs, who, with twenty-seven fellow slaves, made a big clear-
ing in the woods opposite Lecompton, and was run olf to Texas at the sound of the
voice of the " Crusader of Freedom," and came back "after the break up," as the
slaves called it, and made a home on the Verdigris, and brought his " po' ol" massa "
in his poverty to live with him. the ex-Kansas slave. He never sat with your speaker
at the Big Springs hotel warming his toes, while poor Liza, one of eleven slaves
of a Kansas judge, cooked his meal, with her little pickaninny crawling around
her feet on a dirty dirt floor. He was not present when a fugitive from Kansas
slavery on the Marais des Cygnes made her escape to Samuel N. Wood's house in
Lawrence, her back cut in welts. Perhaps the good man was not acquainted
with that amiable Christian woman, now a director of this Society, when the
slave sleuths were in pursuit:, and surely he never heard her sobs and cries,
"O God! what would I do if this were my sister?" when her life depended on
flight. He never knew the three pro-slavery men who took the slave to the
Shawnee Mission to consult the territorial officers, and returned her to slavery!
And surely, surely, the good man never had a warrant issued for him as an "abo-
litionist" by that woman whipper, after he was made a pro--iiavery judge! He
did not even know the pro-slavery divines of Kansas, one of whom, at T^cumseh,
told me the beautiful storv of St. Paul, the slave-driver, sending Onesimus, the
I
68 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
slave, buck to his master; the other at Osawkee, of whom it was said by the
abolitionists that he was a pretty good man, but a little quarrelsome when he was
drunk I
When thn Wakarusa war broke upon us, there were more than half as many
slaves in Kansas as there were able-bodied free-state men who stood up in the
ranks for our defense.
A few weeks ago I called upon the venerable Dr. J. N. O. P. Wood at Wichita,
a well-known opponent of the free-state movement, and compared notes on our
personal knowledge of slaves in Kansas, and we counted over iOO — and quit.
But they said "Shoo!" in Boston, as an old lady frightens chickens from her
flower-beds, and the masters and the slaves tied in terror I
It is pleasant to know that some of these errors have been corrected.
In E. Taylor's History of the United States, the brief but admirably written
histon.- of Kansas by Xoble L. Prentis had two errors, which did great injustice
to the memory of Governor Reeder. One represented him as calling the first
legislature to elect members of the legislature "and county officers." There were
no counties made, and he could not have ordered county officers elected: and one
of the truthful accusations against the legislature was that it denied to the people
the right to elect county offiooro^ p^d elected tLCi^i b^ the legislature, except the
filling of vacancies by the governor (pro-slavery, of course l in their absence,* and
no officers were elected by the people till the free-state men got power, in 18-"iT.
The other error was a statement that "Governor Reeder signalized the begin-
ning of his administration by an abortive attempt to remove the territorial legis-
lature to Pawnee, near Fort Riley." He had no power to reiaove a legislature,
and never attempted any such act. He called the first legislature to meet at that
place, as was his duty by law. To have attempted to remove a legislature would
have been an usurpation unparalleled in American government. I made an ap-
peal to the publishers of that work, backed up by Col. C. K. Holliday. and the
correction was made in both instances, with the ajjproval of the author.
I have no doubt Professor Hodder will also make the proper corrections when
he investigates the subject: but his books have gone out, and imperative duty
demands that the children of the state and all posterity should have these o<3r-
rections as extensively as pos.sible: and the more so "because this bistorj- of Kan-
sas has been made a part of a school history of the United States, and thus goes
to the world with all the authorit}' of a "professor of American history in the
University of Kansas."
In my long newspaper experience I have handled much poetry on the dead,
and one verse of one of these effusions, though fifty years old, has never left my
memory :
"And can it be <
That God should take the best we see,
And leave behind a worthless lot
That we could spare as well as not?"
We cannot call up the dead and exhibit them here as samples of bravery,
honesty, and virtue. We who are left can, as relics of the past, while we hv?,
testify to their general good character, their great accompli.shments. and point
to their works — to the liberal and enlightened constitution which they left to us
for our guidance: to the two preceding constitutions thwarted by tyranny; to
the liberal and just laws, from year to year made more perfect under an instru-
ment which has existed lonsjer than the constitutions of many of the other states
of the union. We cannot call up the martyrs who died for freedom; but we can
•See "Kansas Historical Collections," vol. 3. l>-il, pp. 2S;J, 284, 2}55, etc.. au.l •Bogus' Laws.
ACCURACY IN HISTORY. 69
bring up our children even to thi3 hall, where they have placed the names of
some of them in tablets of gold as mementoes of their patriotism, as the descend-
ants of the Gracchi were for many generations wont to bring their children up to
their temples to look upon their images in emulation of their virtues.
As the good die young, we can, however, still point to a goodly number of the
"worthless lot left behind," whereby those who follow them can conjure up some
imagination of what the men who ''builded better than they knew" have done
for those who come after them. We can now only at random point to a few
around us as samples of the ''• worthless lot left behind," for whose characters we
have no apology: Cyrus K. HoUiday, John Armstrong, Copeland Gordon, Guil-
ford Dudley, F, W. Giles, W. C. Garvey, of Topeka: B, W. Woodward, Jas. G.
Sands, Wesley H. Duncan, Chas. S. Duncan, John G. Haskell, Peter D. Ridenour,
H. W. Baker, Jas. C. Hortou, L. J. Worden. Jeff. Wakefield, Ed. P. Harris, J. H.
Shimmons, O. E. Learnard, S. W. Eldridge, Paul R. Brooks, R. G. Elliott, and
C. W. Smith, of Lawrence; D. R. Anthony, H. Miles Moore, Chas. Currier, E.
N. O. Clough, Henry and Doc. Keller, of Leavenworth,
We have several more of the "worthless lot left behind," but we do not want
to throw them to the front in a skirmish. These men remain, among the honored
uiiizeub of the iliiee leading towns in which the great anti-olaVciy struggle iu
Kansas was fiercest. And I might mention that the veteran secretary of this
State Historical Society was one among those who bore a full part in that strug-
gle in more than one of the towns mentioned. We can show them the institutions
these men inaugurated — the State L^niversity, the State Agricultural College,
Baker University, and our great common-school system, our state-house and its
occupants, most of whom are patterns of our pioneers: and we can go through
the materials of the pioneer history of Kansas in the vast collections of our State
Historical Society, the most complete and valuable possessed by any state, with
possibly one exception.
Let us beg to apologize to our distinguished fellow citizens of the enlightened
East, who have lived for three centuries under the restraints of law, the benefits
of churches and schools, by humbly reminding them that for nearly half the
period of our territorial existence we had no law. "We were a law unto our-
selves." In no other condition does man so exhibit all the bad elements of
humanity. Yet here, It-ft to ourselves, as the citizens of Kansas, unmolested by
invasion, in no place was property safer than here. We paid our debts honestly,
to the best of our ability. When misfortune rendered us unable to pay, the
creditor forgave the debtor. The honor of the man was the only guaranty.
The golden rule was the guiding star of our existence. Some of us may not
have been able to recite it, but all tried to follow it.
"Through all the warring seas of life
One vast current sunward rolls,
And, within ail outward strife.
One eternal right controls —
Right, at whose divine command
Slaves go free and captives fall,
In the might of those who stand
All for one and one for all."
70 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS.
An adilress by Chancellor F. H. Snow, before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-second annual meeting, January 18, 189^.
THE official be;,'inniDjj of the State University of Kansas must be considered
as occurriner on the 1st day of March, ISGi, when the legislative act of or-
ganization, having been approved and signed by Governor Carney, was made a
law by its official publication. But for more than seven years prior to this date
there existed a period of preliminary beginnings, corresponding with a similar
condition in the earth's history, when the institution was without form and void.
As early as lS.")<j, Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, of Boston, one of the founders of the
New England Emigrant Aid Company, in whose honor the city of Lawrence re-
ceived its name, requested Charles Robinson to spend some money for him in
laying the foundation of a school building on the north piart of Mount Oread.
Mr. Lawrence explained his hopes and plans in a letter to Rev. Ephraim Xuce. of
Lawrence, JuLcJ December 1'3, 1S56. He says: " You shall have a college which
shall be a school of learning and at the same time a monument to perpetuate the
memorj- of those martyrs of liberty who fell during the recent struggles. Be-
neath it their dust shall rest: in it shall burn the light of liberty which shall
never be extinguished until it illumines the whole continent. It shall be called
the 'Free State College,' and all the friends of freedom shall be invited to lend
it a helping hand."
In another letter to the same correspondent, Mr. Lawrence writes in reference
to the proposed site upon the highlands above rhe town: "-Trade will not go up
the hills except to get prospect of a good bargain, and there is no risk in locating
a college or a church on a hill, even in a large city. The Romanists have under-
stood this, and we see in Europe their institutions on the pinnacles over the cities.
This insures a good view and seclusion."
Three days later Mr. Lawrence forwarded to Charles Robinson and S. C.
Pomeroy, as trustees, notes and stock amounting to .^12.6M.14, to be held by said
trustees in trust, the income to be used for the advancement of the religious and
intellectual education of the young in Kansas territory.
In 1S.>S initiatory steps were taken for the establishment of a school of high
grade on Minint Oread, to be under the immediate control of the Presbyterian
church of the United States of America. The Kansas directors of this institu-
tion were: William Richardson, Richard Cordley. Charles Robinson, John M.
Coe, Charles E. Miner, G. W. Hutchinson. James A. Finley. and C. L. Edwards.
Plans were made for the erection of a building tifty feet square and two stories
high. The legislature of 1S.j9 granted a charter to this institution under the
name of "The Lawrenck Univeksity," with the following board of trustees:
C. E. Miner. William Bishop, G. W. Hutchinson, J. M. Coe, A. W. Pit^er, E.
Nute, Charles Robinson, S. C. Pomeroy. C. H. Branscomb, William Wilsou, J.
A. Finley, C. L. Edwards, T. D. Thacher, Charles Reynolds. Rob<-rt Murruw,
James Blood, R. S. Symington, Josiah Miller, Lyman Allen. Thomas Ewing, F.
P. Montfort, and Willi:im Brindle. The prejjaratory department of thi.-, institu-
tion was opened September 19, 1859, in the basement of the Unitarian church,
and was continued for about three months, when its patronage ceased, and it was
given up.
The Congregationalistd next proposed to establish on Mount Oread an institu-
BEGINNINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 71
tion to be called Monumental College, intended to commemorate the triumph of
liberty over slavery in Kansas, and to serve as a monument to those who assisted
in achieving that victory. The trustees of the Amos Lawrence fund, Messrs
Robinson and Pomerny. with the consent of Mr. Lawrence, agreed to make over
that fund to Monumental College on condition that the Congregationalist.s should
have control of the institution. Donations of land, town lots and money pledges
valued at from 640.000 to 870,000 were obtained in a little over three days from
the people of Lawrence, the paper on which the names of the donors were in-
scribed making a roll some eight feet in length; but the drought of 1860 and the
breaking out of the civil war caused this enterprise to collapse, and when the
Congregationalists ne.xt took up the question of a church college, in 1863, they
located the institution at Topeka under the name of Lincoln College, which con-
tinues to exist up to the present time under the name of Washburn College.
In the meantime the Presbyterians, although their preparatory school had
ceased to exist, pushed forward the work of building the foundations of their
college building. The corner stone of this building was laid on October 18, IS.'iG,
by the Freemasons, and Solon O. Thacher and others delivered speeches appro-
priate to the occasion. Work was pushed on the basement story of this building
J*. ,■» » .,-..1 ^ • m. I 1- .|. f .1
uuLii i_una v>cciiij.<ri v.uiijjjcut-u. lua i^rsoQLiuu. O-iiC liai u. tiiiitra jcokiiiiijg IfOm tn©
drought of 1S60 stopp^'d further work upon the building after the Presbyterians
had invested a total amount of sl62.'i.50 in the so-called Lawrence Cniversity.
In 1861, under the auspices of the Episcopal church, a new institution was
chartered, with a new board of trustees, under the name of "The Lawrence L'^ni-
versity of Kansas."' The trustees named in the charter were; Charles Reynolds,
Charles Robinson. Charles E. Miner, H. J. Canniti. C. W. Babcock, George W.
Deitzler, William H. Hickcox, Geo. W. Smith, J. M. Bodine. Caleb S. Pratt,
Samuel Reynolds, George Ford. James Blood, N. E. Preston, John Foreman, R.
G. Elliott, L. Bullene, and S. A. Riggs. The Presbytei-ians surrendered their
claims to the new Episcopalian board, but the interferpnce of the civil war pre-
vented the accomplishment of the new enterprise. The claims of the Episcopal
church were subsei^uently donated to the state of Kansas, and the preliminary
educational work accomplished on Mount Oread was ultimately transferred to
the St.^te University.
This universitv- had. as yet, no location and no existence, except in the wise
forethought of the founders of the commonwealth of Kansas. The first constitu-
tion of Kansas territory, adoptf^d at Topeka in December, IS.")"), provided as follows ;
"The general assembly may take measures for the establishment of a university,
with guch branches as the public convenience may hereafter demand, for the pro-
motion of literature, the arts, sciences, medical and agricultural instruction." A
year and a half later, the free-state legislature which met at Topnka, June 9,
ISoT, enacted five laws, one of which was "for establisling a State University at
Lawrence." The framers of the Lecompton constitution enacted that "Seventy-
two sections, or two entire townships, shall be designated by the president of the
United States, which shall be reserved for the use of a seminary of learning and
appropriated by the legislature of said state solely to the use of said seminary."
The Leavenworth constitutition, also adopted by the free-state men, in April, 1858,
provides that, "As the means of the state will admit, educational institutions of a
higher grade shall be established by law so as to form a complete system of public
instruction, comprising the primary, normal, preparatory, college and university
departments." Finally, the Wyandotte constitution, under which the government
of the state of Kansas has been administered since its admission into the union,
adopted in July, IS-jO, declares, in the seventh section of the sixth article, that
72 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" Provision shall be made by law for the establishment, at some eligible and cen-
tral point, of a State University for the promotion of literature and the arts and
sciences, including a normal and agricultural departjaent." By an act of con-
gress approved on the day of the admission of Kansas into the union of states, it
was ordered that "Seventy-two sections of laud shall be set apart and reserved
for the use and support of a State University."
There had been a general feeling that the State University should be located
at Lawrence, and when the state capital was located at Topeka there seemed to
be a tacit understanding that Lawrence should have the university. Mr. Amos
A. Lawrence had expressed a willingness that the Amos Lawrence fund should
be employed as an endowment fund for the university/if its location could be
secured for the city of Lawrence.
But there were other claims for the possession of the coveted prize. The first
attempt to locate the State University, under the constitution, was a proposition,
in 18G1, in favor of Manhattan, where the Methodists already had a school in
operation under the name of Bluemont College. The bill for this location passed
both houses of the legislature, but was vetoed by Governor Robinson. Manhat-
tan, having secured the agricultural college, waived her claims to the university,
arid the citT of Empcria took her place as tut »^Lic' coiupeLnui uf j-iawreuce in
the struggle for the university. C. V. Eskridge, in the legislature of 18G.3, intro-
duced house bill No. 12-2, to establish the State University at Emporia, which
eventually became a law, but not until its text had been radically changed, and
Lawrence substituted for Emporia in the title of the bill. Great feeling was
manifested in this legislative contest. The final vote resulted in a tie. It was
settled in favor of Lawrence by the chairman, Mr. Edward Russell, of Doniphan.
The bill passed the senate on February 11 without contest, and received the ap-
proval of Governor Carney February 20, and so became a law upon its official
publication February 21, 1SG3.
But the locition of the university at Lawrence was made conditional upon a
donation to the state by that city of a suitable site for the buildings. If the city
of Lawrence, within six months, should fail to secure a campus of forty acres
adjacent to the city, and to deposit with the state treasurer an endowment fund
of $15,000, the provisions of the act should be null and void, in which case the
proposition of the city of Emporia to grant an eligible site within or adjacent to
that city should be accepted by the state, and the governor should issue his
proclamation locating the university at Emporia.
Governor Carney appointed three commissioners, S. M. Thorp, Josiah Miller, .
and I. T. GtX)dnow, for the purpose of examining and determining upon suitable
grounds for the location of the university. The city council of Lawrence, at a
special session, accepted the proposition of Charles Robinson to furnish the forty
acres constituting the original university campus, on condition that the city would
deed to him a half block of land lying south of what is now the North college
campus, on the east face of Mount Oread. Governor Robinson subsequently con-
veyed to the city as a free gift ten acres additional land. Nearly one-half of the
original campus was tne property of Mrs. Robinson, who received for her share
about SoOO from the citizens of Lawrence.
The endowment fund of .si5,0<J0 was provided by the generosity of .\mos A.
Lawrence in donating to the university the 610,000 ori<rinaily intended for the
Free State College, and by the l^^ading citizens of Lawrence, who gave, as a sub-
stitute for the interest obligations of the Lawrence University, Wisconsin, a per-
sonal note for 6.">,0(X», wnich was cashed by Governor Carney, of Leavenworth,
just in time to prevent the location of the university at Emporia, according to
BEGINNINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 73
the terms of the original act. The governor's proclamation declaring the univer-
sity permanently located at Lawrence was issued November 2, 1863. The legis-
lature of 1864 passed a law organizing the university.
The Qharter of the University of Kansas was modeled upon that of the Uni-
versity of Michigan. The government of the institution was vested in a board
•of regents, to consist of a president and twelve members, to be appointed by the
governor, with the state superintendent of public instruction and the secretary
of state as ex officio members. Six departments were named as composing the
university — the department of science, literature, and the arts; the department
of law: the department of medicine; the department of theory and practice of
elementary instruction ; the department of agriculture, and the normal depart-
ment. By an act of the legislature approved March 6, 1873, the board of regents
to be appointed by the governor was reduced from twelve to six, who were em-
powered to elect a chancellor, who should be a member of the board with the full
power of a regent. This organization has continued to the present time.
It is a paradoxical fact of great interest that, although the State University
of Kansas enjoys the proud distinction of being the first of the state universities
to admit young women as students upon terms of exact equality with the young
men, its charter declared that it should consist of two branches, a male and a
female branch. To quote the exact language of this instrument: "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, and to estab-
lish and maintain the said female branch the regents shall annually appropriate
a sufficient amount of the funds of the university." It is humiliating to be
obliged to record that, although the original draft of the charter included a pro-
vision for equal educational privileges for both sexes in the university, this at
that time radical proposition was on the point of defeating the bill, whereupon
the concession was made by the conservative element in the legislature and the
provision for the two branches became a law. However, this provision was not
carried into execution, and the University of Kansas, from the day of its open-
ing, has made no distinction whatever in the educational facilities offered to the
two sexes.
On the day following the final enactment of the act of organization, Governor
Carney appointed the following regents: Charles Robinson, J. S. Liggett, E. J.
Mitchell, Geo. A. Crawford, J. S. Emery, A. H. Horton, C. B. Lines, S. O.
Thacher, Geo. A. Moore, John H. Watson, Samuel A. Kingman, and John A.
Steele. Unsuccessful attempts to convene this board delayed the first meeting
for more than one year, or until March 21, 1865, when the following resolution
was adopted: '^Resolved, That, in the opinion of the regents present, the state
executive, in filling vacancies in the board of regents, should have reference to
the appointment of such persons as will attend the meetings of the board." At
this meeting Rev. R. W. Oliver, rector of the Episcopal church of Lawrence, was
elected chancellor of the university, and it was decided, on motion of State Super-
intendent Goodnow, ex officio member of the board, to open a preparatory de-
partment as soon as the citizens of Lawrence should provide suitable rooms free
of expense to the state. It was considered impracticable to attempt to erect a
building on the forty-acre tract already belonging to the university, at the south
end of Mount Oread, and accordingly an arrangement was made by means of
which the foundation erected by the Presbyterians on the north end of Mount
Oread, with the adjacent grounds belonging to the city of Lawrence, should be-
come the property of the university. James H. Lane increased the gift of the
—5
74 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
city by donating to the state two and three-fourths acres of land necessary to
complete the square of ten acres constituting the North college site.
The first university building, called the North college, was erected upon the
Presbyterian foundation, at a cost of about $20,000. Of this amount, S9000 was
realized from the St. Louis relief fund to enable the citizens of Lawrence to re-
build their buildings and business houses after their destruction by Quantrill,
to which amount was added about $5000 derived from a similar relief fund col-
lected chiefly in the city of Boston, the gift of Amos A. Lawrence and other
friends of the free-state cause. To these amounts the regents added $4720, the
gift of Amos A. Lawrence, which amount Charles Robinson had collected as in-
terest on notes to Mr. Lawrence from Lawrence University, of Appleton, Wis.
It thus appears that no part of the cost of the North college building, nor of
the grounds upon which it is located, was borne by the state of Kansas.
The North college building was brought to completion early in September, 1866,
the carpenters putting the finishing touches to the stairway on the morning of
the day of the opening of the university, on September 12. In the meantime, on
the 19th of July, 1866, the regents met for the purpose of electing the first fac-
ulty. It is to be noted as a significant fact that during the early years of the
university ecclesiastical politics had much to do with the appointment of mem-
bers of the board of instruction. In order to keep the control of the institution
out of the hands of any one church denomination, it was agreed at the outset that
two professors should not be chosen from the same denomination until all th&
leading denominations should have at least one representative in the faculty.
Three professors were elected: Elial J. Rice to the chair of belles-lettres and
mental and moral science, as the representative of the Methodist church : David
H. Robinson to the chair of ancient languages, as the representative of the Baj)-
tist church; and Francis H. Snow to the chair of mathematics and natural
science, as the representative of the Congregational church.
Reliable tradition asserts that the election of the third member of the faculty
was accomplished after a severe struggle between the Presbyterian and Congre-
gational elements of the board of regents, which was not concluded until long
after the hour of midnight. Professor Rice, by reason of his greater age and
experience in school work, was made the acting president of the faculty. The
two junior members of that body, however, constituted a good working majority,
and practically controlled the internal administration of the university.
At the dedication of the North college, on September 12, 1866, Judge Solon O.
Thacher delivered the principal address, and formally dedicated the building " to
the use of impartial, patriotic and Christian education." At the end of the first
academic year Professor Rice resigned his position, and John W. Horner was
elected to fill his place as instructor. No acting president was appointed, and
when Chancellor Oliver resigned his position, in the fall of 1867, the board of
regents combined into one the offices of chancellor and president of the faculty,
passing a resolution that "it is the judgment of the board that under the law
the chancellor of the university is the president of the faculty." On the 4th of
December, 1867, Gen. John Fraser, president of the Agricultural College of
Pennsylvania, was elected chancellor of the university. He did not, however,
enter upon his official duties until the 17th day of June, 1868. The most dis-
tinguished service rendered by General Fraser was the successful execution of
his own plan for the erection of the main building of the university, now denomi-
nated Fraser Hall.
On the 3d of February, 1870, one and a half years after the beginning of his
administration, the citizens of Lawrence, by almost a unanimous vote, author-
BEGINNINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 75
ized bonds to the amount of 8100,000 for the purpose of erecting this building.
The state legislature of 1872 added 850,000 to the amount realized from the Law-
rence bonds, and on December 2 of the same year the building was first occupied
by university classes.
At the opening of the university, September 12, 1866, forty students presented
themselves for admission. In this number there were twenty-two boys and
eighteen girls. Not one of them was svifficiently advanced to be entitled to ad-
mission to the freshman class. In the first annual catalogue an apology was
made for the elementary character of the students in attendance, and the hope
was expressed that the preparatory department might be entirely abolished at
the end of the second year. As a matter of fact, twenty-five years elapsed before
the worlf of this department was entirely abolished and the work of preparation
for admission to the university was entrusted to the high schools of the state.
Not until that time did the University of Kansas take its proper place as an in-
tegral part of the free public-school system, constituting the twelfth, thirteenth,
fourteenth and fifteenth grades of that system, with as natural and easy a transi-
tion from the high school to the university as that which exists between the
lower grades and the high school.
The forty students enrolled during the first day of the first year were increased
to fifty-five as the total enrollment for that year. The unsettled condition of
society in those times necessitated the withdrawal of more than one-half of this
number before the end of the academic year in order to assist their parents in
agricultural and domestic duties, so that only twenty-two students remained at
the end of the year. Among these students of the first year were : A daughter
of John Speer, the honorable president of this Society; a son of Gen. Jas. H.
Lane; a brother and a daughter (Mrs. Geo. Leis) of Edmund G. Ross; two
sons of the "fighting parson," H. D. Fisher*; a daughter of Jos. Savage (Mrs.
D. S. Alford); two elder brothers and an elder sister of Prof. W. H. Carruth ;.
and a daughter of Dr. Alonzo S. Fuller (Mrs. Jos. E. Riggs).
The course of study leading to the degree of A. B. occupied seven years, in-
cluding three years of preparatory work, so that the first class to graduate from
the University of Kansas was the class of 1873, which consisted of four members :
Ralph Collins, now a Pennsylvania farmer: Murray Harris, a civil engineer;
Flora Richardson, now Mrs. Coleman; and L. D. L. Tosh, an attorney of Kan-
sas City, Kan.
The author of this paper is the only surviving member of the first faculty of
the University of Kansas, and is now in the thirty-first year of his connection
with the institution. During that time the number of students has increased
from 55 to 1155, and the number of the members of the faculty has been en-
larged from three to fifty-six.
The limited time assigned to this paper renders impossible a discussion of the
many important features connected with the beginnings of the university. The
field of higher education in Kansas was entirely uncultivated at the inaugura-
tion of the University of Kansas. The first faculty were largely untrammeled
by ancient tradition in determining the course of study and the methods of ad-
ministration of student afifairs. Coeducation and instruction in the modern
sciences, as an essential part of the regular curriculum, were features unknown
to other institutions of the same class at the time of our beginning, and it is a
source of great satisfaction to the author of this paper that in these, and in many
other respects, the University of Kansas has kept well to the front in its educa-
tional development.
*Dr. C. E. Fisher, located in Chicago, has reached great distinction. He was the youngest
student in the first class, and studied with the Doctors Houston.
76 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
BRONZE BUST OF D. W. WILDER.
A letter from Edgene F. Waee, read before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-second annual meeting, January 18, 1898.
I DESIRE to place in the custody of the State Historical Society the bronze
portrait bust of my friend, Hon. D. W. Wilder. I retain my proprietary in-
terest in the bust, but leave it in the possession of the Historical Society until it
can be determined whether or not the state will give the Society proper rooms
and necessary facilities in the state-house. If not, I will move the bust else-
where. The wishes of Mr. Wilder have not been consulted in this matter, and,
as he is alive and very modest, little will be at present said of him, but in the
future his life and services will be more at length set forth for preservation by
this Society.
Mr. Wilder was born back in the days of Andrew Jackson, July 15, 1832. He
did not have as much of the gift of prophecy as he should have had, because,
being the seventh son of a seventh son, he started a republican newspaper in St.
Joseph, Mo., before the war and got indicted and lost all his property.
His work in Kansas is a matter of household knowledge, and now is no time
for eulogy. The world will not endure panegyric when applied to the living, and
I will leave that branch of my remarks, after saying that the name of Mr. Wilder
•will be more plainly great in a hundred years than now, because we who now
remember and can relate the facts will be buried, and the "Annals" will be the
surviving witness of the youthful greatness of the state. The century will act
as a lens to make Mr. Wilder's great book more great, while behind it the sena-
tors and congressmen and governors will be massed in a yellowish blur, and all
forgotten, except as found in the "Annals."
As regards this State Historical Society, I wish to be permitted to say a few
words concerning Mr. Wilder's connection with it, for I remember it being talked
of considerably at the time.
On April 7, 1875, the editorial convention of the state met at Manhattan. It
was addressed by my friend Geo. A. Crawford, of the Fort Scott Monitor. At
the meeting of the convention Mr. Wilder offered the following resolution, which
was adopted :
"Whereas, All efforts to establish an active and efficient State Historical
Society have been failures: and
"Whereas, Such an organization is imperatively demanded for the purpose
of saving the present and past records of twenty-one years of eventful history:
therefore,
'■'■Resolved, That this association respectfully requests that F. P. Baker, D.
R. Anthony, John A. Martin, Sol. Miller and G. A. Crawford act as a committee
to organize such a society, and ask of the legislature an appropriation of not less
than §1000 annually to pay for subscriptions and for the binding of every news-
paper published in the state, and for such other historical records as can be se-
cured."
The reason the Historical Society was placed quickly in successful operation
was that such men as F. P. Baker, D. R. Anthony, John A. Martin, Sol. Miller
and Geo. A. Crawford acted as the committee.
On January 1, 187G, Judge Adams was elected to take charge of the Society,
and on May 15, 1877, issued its first report, and to his energy, scholarship and in-
fluence the largest share of the present result is due. I have the honor and the
pleasure to place in charge of Mr. Adams the bust of him who offered the resolu-
tion, and I would like to see the bust of each of the committee and of Judge
Adams beside that of Mr. Wilder.
INVASION OP THE 2700. 77
REMINISCENCES OF SEPTEMBER 14, 1856; INVASION
OF THE 2700.
An address by Beinton W. Woodward, before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-second annual meeting-, January 18, 1898.
T?ARLY in the afternoon of Sunday, September 14, 1856, a young soldier of the
-*— ' legion — the Kansas free-state legion — lay peacefully reposing in his tent at
Lawrence. This sentence perhaps needs some qualification in the outset. The
military force aforesaid was really no legion whatever — certainly its " name" was
not "legion" in the sense of numbers, consisting really of but a few companies
of half-organized volunteers, who banded themselves together to rally, to march,
and to fight if occasion demanded, but, afterward, mostly dispersed to their homes
when the exigency was past. The tent above referred to was a second-story back
room over a store on Massachusetts street, and the especial volunteer mentioned
boasted himself no warrior indeed, and really was n't much of a soldier in any
event, being, in heredity, the net resultant of some half a dozen generations of
peace-loving Quakers since his ancestors had come over with Penn to leave be-
hind the English persecution of that peculiar people. But he had felt impelled
to cast in his lot with the struggling free-state settlers of Kansas, and he had
early discovered that active and determined resistance to the aggressions of
slavery on this fair soil — aggressions characterized by fraud, violence and outrage
of almost every description — was a sacred and imperative duty.
So, for more than a year now, he had been enrolled, and had done duty in the
various emergencies that had come upon the free-state settlers. The struggle
had been arduous, and sometimes apparently well-nigh hopeless, in view of the
sanction and aid extended to the violent pro-slavery party by the federal admin-
istration.
But lately things had taken a more favorable turn for us. The active re-
sistance and retaliations of the free-state men had convinced their enemies in
Missouri that it was an affair of war, in which there were deadly blows to take
as well as give, while the now thoroughly alarmed democratic administration at
Washington seemed at last aroused to the fact that these pro-slavery outrages in
Kansas were operating strongly against their chances in the approaching presi-
dential election. It was their best policy to excite no further the sympathies of
the North in favor of the downtrodden free-state settlers in Kansas.
So again the experiment should be tried of sending a new governor for the
territory, and this time the choice happily fell on one whose feelings were enlisted
on the side of fairness towards us, and who really took in earnest the declaration
of his party, that the majority of the actual settlers in Kansas should be allowed
to rule. This declaration Governor Geary had taken opportunity to repeat, both
in open speech and in public proclamation, immediately upon his arrival in Kan-
sas. But a few days had elapsed since his advent into the territory, but these
assurances, evidently given in sincerity, that the bona fide settlers should have
fair play and all necessary protection in life and property at the hands of the
general government, had inspired a confidence that was as new as it was welcome.
Meanwhile "Gov." Charles Robinson and the rest of the "prisoners of state"
had been released on bail and returned to us, other free-state citizens wantonly
arrested had been given up, and the blockade of our highway to Leavenworth
had been raised, so that we were again able to receive from that river port pro-
visions and other needed supplies. A large share of our armed forces were dis-
78 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
persing, as men who had fled or been driven from their homes at peril of their
lives now Mt that they might return to their families with some assurance of
safety, and even resume their long forbidden peaceful avocations of life.
Governor Geary had himself visited Lawrence but two days before, accom-
panied by quite a considerable escort of government troops, and attended by a
light battery of four pieces of artillery, and in his speech to the citizens here had
pledged himself that lawless incursions from Missouri, with all their attendant
category of crime and outrage, should cease. So "our bugles sang truce," and
we fondly trusted that better times and an established order were near at hand,
when men might go about their business, proceed to develop the covmtry, and
establish an era of self government — of free government — for a future free state
of Kansas.
To the mind of ardent youth there is apt to be something fascinating and
insjiiring in the excitements and incitements of struggle in a cause like that in
which our free-state settlers had been engaged: a fight for the principles of free-
dom, carried on under such strenuous conditions that we seemed sometimes al-
most upon the very verge of revolution. Yet to one whose normal instincts as well
as hie whole early education and training all inclined to peace, there was now felt
something quite grateful in this lull which seemed the percursor of a return to
normal conditions of life. Peace was coming, and not any too soon. This young
volunteer had already been afforded sufficient opportunity to note some of the
unfavorable aspects and untoward results of civil war, even when pursued in as
righteous a cause as ours. Factions, divisions and demoralizations were already
showing themselves — jealousies between the leaders, a spirit of recklessness
among the men. Peace would restore the equilibrium. It would bring back to
us the restraints of order and the influences of wholesome occupation. Really
our young volunteer had become somewhat weary of this protracted time of tur-
moil wherein every night was full of alarms, and every new day brought further
sickening reports of violence and outrage, some of these happily proving false,
indeed, but far too many of them true. So the mental reaction had come, and
the change was welcome. " Grim-visaged war had smoothed his wrinkled front,"
seeming content to shuffle off the stage, while on the other side fair peace came
smiling in.
Such was his vision that quiet Sunday afternoon, when he rested and slum-
bered peacefully. Suddenly he was harshly aroused by the shout of a comrade :
"Up, Woodward! do n't lie sleeping here. Do n't you know that the enemy are
almost upon us ?" It was a rude awakening. Scarce could he realize or credit the
alarm — the sense of peace and security had impressed him so happily. "Why,
there's a whole army of them coming this time by forced march, straight from
Missouri. They 've got us sure," cried his friend. "They 're already nearing the
Wakarusa at Blue Jacket's: don't you see the flag flying on Blue Mound?"
That was our agreed signal of danger.
I looked across to Blue Mound, some five miles away "as the crow flies," and
on its summit (my eyes being sharper in those days) I thought I detected a little
gleam of color. Another reaction had come now, swift upon the heels of the first.
Bright-winged peace had come and ijassed; the gleam of her departing wings
was in that flutter on the summit of Blue Mound. There was no peace — it was
war — war to the knife, and its point striking uncomfortably towards us.
A little reflection showed us how slight were our chances. Partly owing to
our recent confidence in the situation, but fully as much to the fact that alarms
from other quarters had dissipated our efficient fighting force, Lawrence was now
left almost wholly ungarrisoned. The Wakarusa company had gone southward
INVASION OF THE 27C0. 79
on an alarm, the Topeka company had returned home, and Lane had departed
with an escort of mounted men toward Nebraska. Then, on the road, he had
flung back that message to Harvey, whose event proved so disastrous in long im-
prisonment afterward to 101 of our men intercepted and arrested by the United
States marshal and troops after that futile attack upon Hickory Point, near Val-
ley Falls, and whose further consequence now threatened destruction to Law-
rence thus left so undefended — for Harvey had taken with him about 150 of our
best fighting material, about all the best arms, and our boasted cannon, "Old
Sacramento," with Bickerton as artilleryman. About one-half of this 150 was
the "Stubbs"' company — the sturdy, sinewy, short-legged but long-winded
*'Stubbs," who in "brigade" association with our stalwart "Cabot Guards," in
Harvey's flank movement on Lecompton only ten days before, had proved them-
selves our superiors in marching qualities at least.
Figuring the matter up now, from the best estimate I can make of those who
showed themselves ready to take part in the defense, with weapons ranging from
repeating rifles down to pitchforks, I can scarce compute more than 125 men.
Of course, taking all in all, old men and striplings, armed and unarmed, the
number was somewhat larger — possibly in the vicinity of 200.
The actual number of the enemy was unknown to us, but we had reason to
believe that it was overwhelming in comparison with our depleted remnant.
There has always been some latitude in its estimate — whether 2500 or 2800; but
supplied as they were with the best arms, four pieces of cannon, and officered by
the men of most military experience among our bitter foes, and led by John W.
Reid, ex-colonel of the Mexican war, there were surely enough of them to wipe
us out utterly.
The little inquiry I then made did not elicit very definite information as to
just who the leader might be that was organizing our defense, and I have scarce
been entirely successful even yet in determining that point — whether Major Ab-
bott or Captain Cracklin. My own idea is that in the emergency we were get-
ting together by companies — of which there were very few left — or into the mud
forts without much definite administration of leadership. The three earth forts
or bastions, located near Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island streets, re-
spectively, and bearing east and west from each other in a line coinciding closely
to that of Henry street, were first manned. These quasi forts we had thrown
up and rudely constructed in the previous December, at the time of the "Wa-
karusa war." Colonel Cook, the commander of the United States troops, had
officially reported that he could ride his horse right across any of them.
The "Cabot Guards," to which I belonged, Capt. Joseph Lowe commanding,
had been so named through our desire to " work " the generosity of Doctor Cabot,
of Boston, to such length that he should equip the company with good repeating
rifles. The charm of the name had not worked successfully and we were vari-
ously armed, mostly with rather inefficient weapons. I soon learned that this
company had been assigned to the defense of the fort on Mount Oread, which
had been built that present summer from the rough stone found about its site
on the bluft". I should join them at once! My first thought was to my equip-
ment. Some time before this I had been the fortunate possessor of a Sharp's
repeating rifle, but only lately I had lent it in aid of the cause to one of the boys
who was going out on scout. His memory proved too weak to insure its return,
so I never owned that trusty rifle any more, even upon so urgent an occasion as
this. There had, however, been some partial distribution of arms recently, and in
this shuffle I acquired an old musket. I had received this old musket already
loaded, and it wisely occurred to me then that, before going into this fight, 't would
80 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
be well to find out somethinfj: about its charge, I sought the river bank to dis-
charge it, and the recoil nearly knocked me over. In the fray it might have
proved a dangerous weapon— to me.
Attending to a little preliminary matter of finance, I made up a little packet
of coin, placing it in a tin Seidlitz-powder box, and bestowed it away on the in-
side sill of a back cellar window to our store. In the rather improbable event of
my ever surviving the anticipated destruction of the town, this money would
come in handy some time, and I might find it in this nook without redigging the
cellar. So, with a light purse, if not a light heart, I started to join my company.
It need not be disguised that I felt rather disgusted at the turn affairs had taken.
Reloading my musket, I took my way south on Vermont street. This taking me
close by the little circular earthwork, which was an affair about breast high,
with a trench inside, near the corner of Henry street, and just east of the present
city hall and court-house location, I paused a moment to observe what was going-
on there. Among the few in the little enclosure I observed John 'Brown, whose
eyes seemed peering southward with, I thought, a strained expression, and I felt
sure, from what we knevV of the old man, that there was chance for some fight-
ing in that vicinity, if the border ruffians should come that far into the heart of
the town. I am particular in emphasizing the fact that I saw John Brown on
this occasion, for I may want to write a whole volume of reminiscences of him
some day, and it is fast coming to the point that anybody who ever actually saw
John Brown can be free to write reams of romance thereon. The career of that
prodigy was wonderful enough without adding to it legend and myth; and I ap-
prehend that the more we have of latter-day legend the less we shall know of
the real John Brown.
The fort on Mount Oread had been located and built, under the direction of
Lane, at the point of the bluff coming north, where it drops down to the rather
lower level or ridge on which Governor Robinson's house had stood and where the
first university building (since called North college) was afterward placed. Its
site has scarcely even yet been wholly obliterated by grading, and it was directly
west of where Mr. Frank A. Bailey's residence now stands. It occupied a very
sightly and commanding position. Unfortunately it was not now in a condition
to command. It was of irregular outline, following the curve or point of the
bluff on two sides, with a straight chord subtending on the south. It was laid
up as a loose, dry wall, from the rough stone gathered about, to the height of
from three to four feet, thus making a show of outline fairly exhibited to the
east. The present chronicler owned very little military knowledge, indeed, but it
was quite obvious to his understanding that, with an enemy approaching us from
the south, gaining access to the plateau, and with their cannon planted, say,
where the main university building (Fraser hall) now stands, our citadel, built of
these loose rocks, might become a very dangerous affair indeed — for us. If out
in the open, we might have some little show to escape their shot, but inside, with
their balls impelling every loose stone of our battlement against us, our chances
would be slim indeed. And yet, I am convinced that this little pen of rock
which might, in urgency, have held, perhaps, 100 men, but now enclosed only
some forty, had something to do with saving Lawrence that afternoon. At all
events, its garrison enjoyed the advantage of a fine post of observation. Few
finer landscapes stretch out anywhere before the eye in all this broad land;
and, truth to tell, on this Sunday afternoon, we all united in scanning it closely.
Between the skirts of the two streams— the Kansas and the Wakarusa— our
vision then was quite unobstructed by trees, such as now diversify the scene.
But it was not solely the charming landscape that absorbed our attention; we
INVASION OP THE 2700. 81
were looking for figures in the middle distance and in the foreground ! Of course
we realized that the plain before us, rolling so gently on either hand to its flank-
ing streams, might serve as an admirable open battle-ground, but we felt too
well assured that our own forces were far too few and too feeble to render the en-
counter interesting and agreeable to us.
All this while, however, there was an opposing current of imagination, which
projected itself westward. For the first time in our free-state campaign, we
hoped for help from the direction of Lecompton. We remembered the assurance
so recently given by Governor Geary of help, through him, by the United States
troops, while engaged in any lawful undertaking of defense, such as he must al-
low this to be. He would not, he could not, quietly suffer the destruction of this
little free-state town and the slaughter of its citizens by this overwhelming Mis-
souri horde, even though that invading army falsely claimed to be Kansas terri-
torial militia. In fact, we knew he had already, by proclamation, called upon all
such bodies to disband. So we had hurried messengers to him, or at least a
messenger — Gaius Jenkins, one of the recent treason prisoners — advising our
perilous situation. But would he come promptly and in time? Paraphrasing-
the traditional language of Wellington on the field of Waterloo, we ardently ex-
claimed, "Oh, that night or Geary and his troops would come!"
At length — perhaps about four o'clock, and early enough — we began to see
signs of the enemy, as, leaving the immediate valley of the Wakarusa, hidden in
that direction by the intervening high ground, they came on to Franklin — some
three miles southeast of Lawrence — and the ascending smoke of Stroup's mill,
which they had fired, was an ominous sign that destruction would follow in their
wake. We could not, however, see, what we afterward learned, that three of
their advance guard, pushing ahead of the rest, down on the bottom below Frank-
lin, had been bravely charged upon by the two McGee boys, James and Thomas,
full of courage and spirit — there was no prohibition of the latter in those days —
and in the encounter of attack one Greathouse, of their number, firing closely
at Tom McGee, had scorched the back of his neck. Revolving the barrel of the
pistol with his finger, as it had stuck, Tom had fired at him at close range in re-
turn, laying him dead on the field.
Meanwhile, Colonel Learnard, who had been commanding a little force of
horsemen, left the town with what men he could gather and started down the
south road towards Blanton's bridge. W^ith him, as I am informed, went George
W. Deitzler, afterward Colonel and later Brigadier-general Deitzler in the war
of the rebellion, who learning from Learnard, while at a hasty noon meal together
at the Johnson House, of the purposed reconnoissance had expressed a wish to
accompany, saying that on account of his confinement with Robinson and the
rest of the "treason " prisoners that summer (and from which he had just been
released on bail) no chance had yet come to him that season to have any "fun."
When about two miles from town, finding no enemy in that direction, they turned
eastward, and were intercepting the Franklin road, on the high ground near the
Jordan Neal place, when, noting the advance guard of the Missourians coming in
considerable force, some 300 strong, and apparently tr>-ing to cut them off, they
turned back toward town — their own little force probably not exceeding twenty-
five men. As they strung along the Franklin road on their way homeward, we
watched them intently, and especially were we interested in two lagging horsemen
in their rear, especially the hindmost. " That man's horse is no good — he '11 get
cut ofif, sure," was our exclamation. I am inclined to think, however, that those
were the McGee boys getting out of the way of the enemy after their rencounter.
Somewhat to our surprise and gratification, when the advance of the Mis-
82 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
sourians had reached the vicinity of Robert Miller's present place, they left the
road, approachinj? afterward not much nearer the town, and circled around on
the prairie northward toward the Enos farm and Haskell's. Then we observed
our horsemen under Learnard range themselves about the fence around Hans-
comb's corn-field, and exchange some long-distance shots with them. My immedi-
ate exclamation was, when the enemy began circling off in an even radius: "They
are afraid of this fort; they take it for granted we have our cannon, and they
are keeping, as they suppose, just out of range." This, I afterward learned, was
also Learnard's impression, and that they were probably deterred thereby from
making a dash into town. Afterward, as a part of their force had swung a little
further north to the protection of the timber on the Haskell place, more of our
men, with rifies, under Captain Cracklin's lead, rallied out to the ridge about the
line of Delaware street, and from our elevated perch we could witness their firing
at long range. Some response was made to this, but it was ineffective, as, no
doubt was that of our own boys; but they kept the foe at bay, and as the dusk
of even began to settle down on the scene his force finally concluded, it would
seem, that they had n't sufficient strength to take the town, and, therefore, might
as well draw off, retire upon their main body, and then overwhelm us with their
whole force upon the morrow. Tired as they were with their long march that
day, they were not to be blamed for that conclusion, though thereby they lost
their favorable opportunity.
All this while our little company of about forty had strung themselves along
the wall of our fort, facing the east aijd the enemy, making — when taken in con-
nection with the assumption that we had at least one cannon with us — rather a
formidable appearance. As we moved about, outlined against the sky as a back-
ground, no doubt our numbers were magnified to their apprehension. This was
a case when "distance lent" if not "enchantment" at least illusion to the view.
Had they known how few and poorly armed we really were, they would scarce
have counted us as much of a factor in the problem. All the while my own im-
pression was that it would be merely a question of time until we were surrounded
on all sides by far superior numbers, and that our only chance then would be to
cut our way through their lines.
Now, however, when the enemy had drawn off for the night apparently, ad-
vantage was taken to secure some provender, and by small squads the members
of our company were allowed to go down town and get something for supper. On
my return at dusk a cheerful fire had been built in the fort, but Captain Lowe
detailed James Blood, Samuel Kimball and myself to watch the " California road"
{so called) at the point of the bluff where it began to drop down to the valley, a little
distance southeast of where the new physics building of the state university now
stands. We constituted an outpost, at perhaps one-half mile away from our com-
mand. As the shades of night came down this seemed a trifle lonesome, for our
outpost was quite a long distance from any houses of the little town; but our
duties were light, as nobody appeared to be passing along the road.
At length some noise was heard from down the road, near the locality where
the Judge Thacher residence now stands, and Blood suggested that himself and
Kimball would go down and investigate. They were gone for quite a while, but
on their return reported that they had discovered nothing. In the meantime the
sound of a horseman approaching from the west had come to my ears, and soon
I dimly descried him through the dusk. "Halt ! " I cried, and he halted. Bring-
ing my old musket to a "ready," I sang out, "Who goes there?" "A friend,"
was the reply. "Give an account of yourself, friend; who are you?" "I am
an officer of the United States army with a despatch from Governor Geary to
MEMORIAL ON TIMOTHY DWIGHT THACHER, 83
the Missouri camp below." As the appearance of his clothing and bearing
seemed to warrant his statement that he belonged to the army, I did n't feel jus-
tified in detaining him further. Indeed, I scarce felt sure that he didn't have
as good a right to be on that road as myself, and if he bore the kind of dispatch
that we hoped from Governor Geary, I felt little inclination to delay him — so he
passed on. I have since then felt a little doubtful at times of the exact truth of
this man's story, but at all events it was some one who assured the Missourians
when he got to their camp that they had better keep away from Lawrence.
After the return of my comrades no further incident offered, until at about
ten o'clock came a message from our captain that we might come in, as Governor
Geary and his United States troops had arrived. Once more a crisis had passed,
the tension was relieved, and Lawrence was saved from such sack, burning and
slaughter as was to be her cruel fate some seven years later. As we took our
way in, somewhere on the east line of the blutf, near where the tower of the
water-works now stands, we noted some white tents and a little battery of four
light field-pieces — six-pounders, I think — ranged in a row, with their mouths
turned eastward. I own to some appreciation of the beautiful in nature and in
art, but in all my varied observation I don't know that I have ever seen any-
thing prettier than those four little bulldogs of war, with their throats open and
ready to bark in the direction that Reid's Missouri army would have to take in
attacking Lawrence.
MEMORIAL ON TIMOTHY DWIGHT THACHER.
An address by Rev. Richard Coedley, before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-second annual meeting, January 18, 1898.
^IMOTHY DWIGHT THACHER was descended from a long line of Puritan
-^ ancestors. He was of the seventh generation from Rev. Thomas Thacher,
who came from England in 16.35, and who was the first pastor of the Old South
Church, Boston, on its formation in 1669. His portrait may be seen with the
pastors of the New "Old South" in Boston, where it hangs among the portraits
of other distinguished men who have filled the pulpit of that historic church.
In the Old South Museum, on Washington' street, may be seen several manu-
script sermons of his in the closely written style of that day. A century later,
another of the same line of descent, Rev. Peter Thacher, was pastor of Brattle
Street Church, in Boston. He was a very eloquent man, and was known as the
"Silver-tongued Thacher." In March, 1776, he delivered an oration before the
American troops at Walertown. In this oration he stated the grievances of the
American colonies against Great Britain, and the list almost exactly corresponds
with that which Thomas Jefferson, a few mouths later, inserted in the declara-
tion of independence.
The father of T. Dwight Thacher was Mowry Thacher. In the early part of
this century, he and his brother Otis removed from New England and settled in
Steuben county, New York. Mowry settled on a farm close to what is now the
•city of Hornellsville. He was a man of sterling integrity and good sense, and by
steady industry accupiulated a modest competence. He was held in high esteem
in that whole region. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church most of his
life, and was entrusted several times with large civil responsibilities.
Timothy Dwight was born October 31, 1831. He attended the district school
in bis youth, and in 1851 entered Alfred Academy, an institution not far away,
under the management of Seventh-day Baptists. The men controlling it seemed
84 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
to be broad men, and they pursued a very liberal policy, and the academy
proved a great blessing to that community. Kansas certainly has reason to re-
joice in the work of that academy. The Thachers, the Wordens, the Aliens,
Chancellor Marvin, and doubtless others about Lawrence, were from that insti-
tution. After three years at Alfred, Mr. Thacher entered Union College, at
Schenectady, as junior, and graduated in 1856. Union College was at that time
in its glory. The famous Dr. Eliphalet Nott was president, Dr. Laurens Hickok
professor of metaphysics, and Dr. Tayler Lewis professor of Greek. They were
all men distinguished in their day for learning and power, and took great interest
in the young men who came to them. Doctor Nott was one of the most distin-
guished educators of the time. He was president of Union College for over fifty
years. He was a great friend of Dwight Thacher, and said that "he was the
most promising student who had graduated during his administration." As 370O
young men graduated during his presidency, this is very high praise. Mr,
Thacher was also a great admirer of Doctor Hickok, who was one of the ablest
metaphysicians of this century.
Mr. Thacher had a fine philosophical mind and delighted in philosophical study.
He had thus far had in view the gospel ministry, and his studies had all pointed
in that direction. When he graduated, in July, 1856, the Fremont campaign was
at its height, and the great questions at issue took hold of the young man's mind
with great power. He had made a number of political speeches before he gradu-
ated. Now he threw himself into the contest with all the fervor of his nature.
He was in great demand at public meetings, and was called for in all directions.
At the close of the campaign in November he went back to Union College to pur-
sue some postgraduate studies in philosophy under Doctor Hickok. While thus en-
gaged he received an invitation from Lyman and Norman Allen to go to Lawrence,
Kan., to take charge of a new free-state paper they proposed to establish. The
Aliens were schoolmates of the Thachers in Alfred, and old friends. Mr. Thacher
had been profoundly stirred by the Kansas question. During the Fremont cam-
paign this had been the leading issue. He felt it was a crisis for him. To accept
the invitation was to change his whole plan of life. He consulted his teachers
♦as to his duty. His favorite teacher, Doctor Hickok, hesitated, but Doctor Nott
was enthusiastic. He said : "Go, my son. You may do more good there in a few
years than you can do here in a lifetime."
In the spring of 1857, therefore, he started for Kansas. On arriving he com-
menced the publication of the Lawrence Bepublican. From the very outset he
made it one of the leading free-state papers of the territory. He was anti-slavery
by heredity, education, and personal conviction. He based his opposition on
radical grounds. He had no apologies to offer, no compromises to make. He
believed slavery was wrong, and for that reason should not be permitted to enter
Kansas. He had no patience with the half-and-half sentiment which wanted a
"free white state." He despised the whole economic argument which opposed
slavery because it would not be profitable. He based his opposition on the
rights of the slaves, and not on the mere advantages of freedom. But in his
paper and on the platform he threw himself into the controversy with all the
force and enthusiasm he possessed. He attended all the free- state conventions,
and everywhere struck right and left for freedom on the grounds of justice. His
presence was like a tonic to the free-state party. The free-state party was com-
posed of two classes — those who would exclude slavery because they believed it
wrong, and those who would exclude it because they deemed it bad policy.
These last wanted neither slavery nor "niggers," as they termed them. Mr.
Ihacher had no patience with this heartless and cold-blooded sentiment. In his
paper and in his speeches he was radical, unsparing, and uncompromising.
MEMORIAL ON TIMOTHY DWIGHT THACHER. 85
The first time I saw Dwight Thacher was the day I entered Lawrence, Decem-
ber 2, 1857. A free-state convention was in session in the old stone Congrega-
tional church. The convention was a very important one, and a very large one.
The Lecompton constitution had just been sent to congress without being sub-
mitted to a vote of the people. There was great danger that congress would ad-
mit Kansas into the union under that constitution, and she be made a slave state
in spite of an overwhelming free-state majority. This convention met to pro-
test against such an outrage. T. Dwight Thacher was chairman of the com-
mittee on resolutions, and the resolutions adopted had the ring
" Of the good old colony times
When we were under the king."
The closing paragraph will give some idea of the tone of the whole set:
"Appealing to the God of justice and humanity, we do solemnly enter into
league and covenant with each other that we will never, under any circumstances,
permit the said constitution, so framed and not submitted, to be the organic law
of the state of Kansas, but do pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred
honor to ceaseless hostility to the same.
))
Three weeks later, December 23, this same convention reassembled, according
to the terms of its adjournment. They now confronted another question in re-
gard to this same Lecompton constitution. An election was to be held January 5,
1858, for state officers under it. A number of the free-state leaders were in favor
of participating in that election, so as to take possession of the constitution in
case congress should accept it. The debate on this question in this convention
was one of the ablest and most stirring debates to which I ever listened. A large
portion of the old leaders of the free-state party were in favor of taking part in
the election for state officers, so soon to occur. Mr. Thacher, without any though t
of such a thing, became the leading spirit of the opposition to that policy. He
gave that day a succession of speeches whose power and brilliancy would have
made the reputation of any man. He was in all the freshness of youth, with the
classic air of college life still upon him. He had been in Kansas long enough to
catch the full import of the situation, and the fire of the great conflict was burn-
ing within him. He brought into the debate the clear-cut, well-defined views of
a born abolitionist, the fervor and enthusiasm of a young man, and the classic
finish of a college training. Against him were arrayed a large portion of the old
free-state leaders, chief among whom was Gov. Charles Robinson, the president
of the convention. Their argument was that they must vote under the Lecomp-
ton constitution in order to get possession of it and destroj' it. They must "stoop
to conquer " ; in the less elegant language used by the speakers, " they must fight
the devil with fire. " Against such a policy and such a defense the soul of Dwight
Thacher boiled with indignation. He denounced any attempt to compromise
with wrong for the sake of success. He said:
"We have all agreed that the old 'bogvis' legislature was a fraud and a usurpa-
tion. We have never consented to the laws it enacted, and never recognized the
officers it imposed upon us. This Lecompton constitution is the offspring of that
legislature, and again and again we have denounced it as a fraud to which we
would never submit. To vote for officers under it is to acknowledge it: then if
we are beaten we have no recourse. Both principle and policy demand that we
treat it in the future as we have treated it in the past, as an outrage and an
imposition to which the people of Kansas will never for a moment submit. To
do otherwise is to stultify ourselves, and throw discredit on all the brave things
we have said and all the heroic things we have done in these two eventful years.
Let us maintain the high ground on which we have stood; then if, in spite of
our protests and in spite of justice, congress insists on imposing this hateful con-
stitution upon us, let us fall back upon the reserved rights of a free people, and
resist it to the bitter end. Let us be true to our word when three weeks ago we
86 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
pledged our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to ceaseless hostility to this-
same fraudulent instrument."
Notwithstanding the array of great names against him, his eloquence carried
the convention, and the resolution was voted down by a large majority.
The 4th of January following was election day. A vote was to be taken on
the Lecompton constitution itself, as well as for officers under it, and I had de-
termined to cast the first vote in Lawrence against that unspeakable outrage. I
went early to the polls so as to be present at the opening. As I hurried up from
one side, I met Mr. Thacher hurrying up from the other side. We met face to
face right in front of the ballot-box, each with ballot in hand, eager to deal the
first blow by depositing the first ballot against the stupendous fraud. As we-
met in front of the voting window, both instantly saw the situation, and both
smiled. "I yield to you," he said politely, and stepped back and let my ballot
go in first, while his. followed as the second.
Mr. Thacher was largely instrumental in the forming of the republican party
in Kansas. A number of leading men were in favor of keeping up the old free-
state party, but Mr. Thacher had the sagacity to see that that was impossible.
The members of that party were hopelessly divided on nearly everything except
the question of a free state in Kansas. Now that that question was settled, there
was no point of cohesion. The republican party was the rising party of freedom
in the nation at that time. Mr. Thacher believed in being in line with the larger
movements of freedom in the whole country. He was, therefore, one of the prime
movers in calling the convention which met in Osawatomie May 18, 1859, and
formed the republican party in Kansas. He was chosen president of the conven-
tion, and had much to do with shaping its utterances. Horace Greeley was at
this convention and took great interest in the result.
Mr. Thacher was always loyal to his party, but never servile. He fearlessly
criticized the mistakes and denounced the wrongs of his own party, and did
more, perhaps, than any other man in driving out the corruptionists which cursed
it. He was a politician in the best sense, but he had a wholesome contempt for
men who pursued politics as a trade. He never hesitated to oppose and to expose
the men who sought office for mercenary motives or by corrupt means. Since
his death, an intimate friend of his was telling an incident which illustrates this
characteristic. A gentleman whom Mr. Thacher had helped into office was in
company with Mr. Thacher. In talking of political success, this gentleman said :
" I sought this office simply for the money there was in it." Mr. Thacher over-
heard the remark, and turned to the gentleman at once and said: "Do I under-
stand you to say that you wanted this office simply for the salary?" "That is
just what I said," replied the other. "Then I want to say to you," replied Mr.
Thacher, " that if I had known that sooner you never should have had the office."
Another friend was telling an incident to the same effect. Mr. Thacher was pro.
posed for a good position which was very congenial to him, and to which he ardently
aspired, and for which he was admirably fitted. His securing it turned on very
small margin. A gentleman who had the power to turn the scale in his favor
called upon him one day and offered to sustain him on "certain considerations."
Mr. Thacher replied: "If you think I am the man for the place, vote for me:
if not, do not vote for me." He did not secure the place.
With a brief intermission, Mr. Thacher continued to publish the Lawrence
Republican until 1863. In the spring of that year he was persuaded to pur-
chase the Kansas City Journal of Commerce, and removed to that city. He
left his brother, S. M. Thacher, in charge of the paper at Lawrence. In the
Quantrill raid, which occurred August 21 of that year, the Lawrence Repub-
MEMORIAL ON TIMOTHY DWIGHT THACHER. 87
llcan building was the first to be set on fire by raiders, and the whole property
was consumed. Mr. Thacher now gave his whole attention to his Kansas City
paper. It was not an easy thing at that time to publish a thoroughly loyal paper
in a border town like Kansas City. There was a strong rebel sentiment in the
place, and papers and pulpits were timid in their expression. They were be-
tween Scylla and Charybdis — careful not to offend the common sentiment, and
careful also to avoid the watchful eye of the military authorities. Mr. Thacher
regarded neither of these perils, but simply followed his convictions. He pub-
lished a thoroughly loyal paper, fearless and outspoken, and yet did it so wisely
and with so kind a spirit that he won the respect of all classes, and was a power
for the union cause in that important center. At the close of the war, in 1865,
he sold his interests in Kansas City and removed to Philadelphia, where he be-
came the chief editorial writer on the Evening Telegraph.
But he had been too important a figure in Kansas affairs to be contented any-
where else, and in 1868 he returned to Lawrence. In the many newspaper
changes which had occurred since he left, his old paper had disappeared. After
looking the ground over, he decided to reestablish that paper, and he was again
the editor of the Lawrence Republican. After several consolidations and
changes, the paper at last assumed the name of the Lawrence Repuhliean-
Journal, which Mr. Thacher continued to publish until he was elected state
printer, in 1881, when he removed to Topeka, where he afterwards made his
home.
Mr. Thacher was twice married. In 1857 he was married to Miss Catherine
Faulker Angell, who died in Lawrence January 22, 1858. May 18, 1861, he was
married in Philadelphia to Miss Emma Elizabeth Heilman, who made for him a
delightful home which he very much enjoyed. He was a charming man in his
home, as all his friends can testify. Of the eight children born to them, five are
living — two sons and three daughters. The elder son is a lawyer in New York,
the younger son away at school, and the three daughters are with their mother
in Philadelphia.
Mr. Thacher's friends have regretted that he never was chosen to any office
of large responsibility and influence. His name was often mentioned for con-
gress and other high offices of the state, and everybody recognized his eminent
fitness. In congress he would have honored the state and made his mark on
the nation. I once heard Hon. Charles B. Lines say that Dr. Leonard Bacon's
greatest ambition was to be president of Yale College, and everybody recognized
his eminent fitness. But when the time came to choose a president, a violent
opposition sprang up and he was defeated. One paper, in opposing him, gave
the reason: "Doctor Bacon is too great a man to be president of Yale College."
He was never president of Yale College for the same reason that Clay and Web-
ster were never president of the United States. But though Doctor Bacon was
never president, he did more to make Yale College what she became than any
president she ever had.
Mr. Thacher was never governor of Kansas, but he did more to make Kansas
what she is than half the men who have filled the governor's chair. He never
went to congress, as many of his friends wished he might, but in influence he out-
weighed a whole delegation of congressmen. He was an illustration of the fact
that a man does not need office to exert an influence upon the state. The men
who make the state are the men of large capacity and noble spirit, who put their
thought and life into its growth. In my mind's vision, I see an eagle perched upon
the crags 2000 feet above the sea. All at once he poises himself, darts down like
an arrow towards the ocean. But before he reaches the water a little fish-hawk
flies from a bush near the shore and seizes the prize the eagle should have had.
88 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
But the fish-hawk goes back to his bush a fish-hawk still, while the eagle soars
to his mountain home and is still the king of birds. In Kansas politics it has
been (juite common for the fish-hawk to secure the prize, while the eagle remains
on the crags.
As an editor Mr. Thacher was a model. His paper was always clean and
high toned. He never lowered its tone for a larger sale. His editorials were
always able, and often wonderfully brilliant. He fearlessly denounced wrong
always, and wrong-doers everywhere. Yet he never descended to abuse or per-
sonalities, and always treated his opponents with respect. He was always
courteous, even when he was cutting. He was often attacked, sometimes in a
very vicious style, but he always let the "mud slingers" have the field to them-
selves. He delighted in honorable controversy, but he had no taste and no in-
clination for personal vituperation. At one time the paper across the street
became very scurrilous and personal. Every issue was filled with the vilest in-
sinuations and assaults. Truth and decency were utterly ignored. Being in his
oflSce one day, I referred to these shameless attacks on him. " Yes, they are hard
to bear, but to reply would only please them too well. Detraction is their native
air. They are at home in that style of warfare. I shall never notice these at-
tacks in any way whatever." And day by day his paper was as serene as a sum-
mer sky. You would never know from anything he said that that editor across
the street was not his best friend. In time, of course, the cesspool dried up.
But he did not always pursue the policy of silence, as his opponents sometimes
learned to their cost. He knew when forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, and
when he did reach such a conclusion, there were lively times in at least two
newspaper offices. At one time the notorio«s I. S. Kalioch published a rival
paper in the town, and for some reason showed a most malicious enmity towards
Mr. Thacher. He was most persistent and aggravating in his flings and slurs
and insinuations. He was a keen writer, and his attacks were very galling, and
were having their effect on the public mind. For a long time Mr. Thacher made
no reply. Kalloch's reputation was not at all savory, and he was at his lowest
in Kansas. At last Mr. Thacher came out with a column and a half of as keen
and cutting invective as ever appeared in literature. The style was clear-cut
and brilliant, the matter choice and delicate, yet through it shone Kalioch so
clearly that the case was closed, and Kalloch's insinuations ceased.
Noble L. Prentis, who was for years associated with Mr. Thacher in news-
paper work, speaks thus of the temper and spirit of the man : " To Mr. Thacher be-
longs the honor of having, in a rude time, and amid all sorts of trials and terrors,
privations and difficulties, preserved the language, the tastes, the manners and
the feelings of a scholar and a gentleman." Mr. Thacher was trained a Christian,
and in all the provocations and exasperations of the conflict he never forgot what
belonged to a Christian profession. He was brought up in a refined home, and
amid the rough scenes of the frontier he never lost the spirit and manners of a
gentleman. He came from college with its honors upon him, and amid the care-
less methods of Western speech he never lost the style of a scholar.
Mr. Thacher originally intended to enter the gospel ministry, and his studies
in academy and college had that work in view. Though he never entered the
ministry, he never lost his love for the themes with which the ministry concerns
itself. He was never more at home than in the fields of mental science and phi-
losophy. He had a pure theological mind, and not many clergymen are more
familiar than he was with the whole realm of theological thinking. He would
have been an able and influential minister, and would have made his mark in
the iiublic thought. I am inclined to think that he did not abandon the idea of
some time entering the gospel ministry for many years. He had a strong religious
MEMORIAL ON TIMOTHY DWIGHT THACHER, 89
nature, and loved to think and speak on Christian themes. On coming to Law-
rence, he associated himself with Plymouth Church, and was always one of
its strong helpers. He was always present at the services, and was an interested
and sympathetic hearer. He was never critical, but always stimulating and ap-
■preciative. He cooperated with the church in many lines: in fact, was always
ready for any service, from teaching a class in Sunday-school to filling the pulpit
in the absence of the pastor. He was one of a group of six or eight men in Plym-
outh Church, who, in the early seventies, were always ready to fill the pulpit
when desired. This group included Mr. Thacher, his cousin, Solon O. Thacher,
Dudley C. Haskell, and others. During the summer vacation they would fill
the pulpit for weeks together with great satisfaction and with large audiences.
Some of Mr. Thacher's pulpit orations were among the finest addresses he
ever made, and would do honor to any pulpit. In the midweek service, also, he
was always ready to help. That service was one of the marked features of the
church, and he often led the meeting with very happy effect. Being a fine
singer, he was for years a member of the choir. For a long time, when there
was no choir, he acted as precentor in leading the congregation in the service of
song. In this last office he was exceptionally good. He could do this in such a
voice that the whole congregation could readily follow, and yet put on none of
the airs which so often make precentors a "burden grievous to be borne." A
newspaper correspondent who visited the church about this time, in writing an
extended account of the service, spoke with especial commendation of this part
of the service and of Mr. Thacher's work as a precentor.
His last appearance in Plymouth Church was only a few months before his
death. He had been invited by the Young Men's Christian Association to make
the annual address before that body. He gave the address in Plymouth Church
one Sabbath morning. He was very much moved at being once more in the
church where he had wrought so long and standing in the pulpit where he stood
twenty-five years before. He referred with great tenderness to the olden times,
and to the Christian comrades of former years. He spoke with peculiar tender-
ness of the sainted ones who had gone on before. The address was different from
anything I ever heard from him. There was nothing of the positive and ag-
gressive tone that so characterized his ordinary speech. The tender pathos of the
opening thought ran through the whole address and made it almost a reverie —
as if he were thinking aloud. It was all very impressive and very touching. One
passage attracted my special atttention at the time and has since seemed almost
prophetic, in view of what happened soon after. His theme was the powers and
possibilities and privileges of youth. He drew a vivid contrast between the
young man, with his life before him and his work yet to be done, and "those of
us whose life is behind us and whose work, perhaps, is almost finished." As the
news of his sudden death came to me a few weeks after, I could not help recalling
this passage which had impressed me at the time. I could not help wondering
if there had not come over him some shadow of the event that was so near. Was
there some dim intimation as to how nearly true it was that his "life was behind
him" and "his work finished" ?
The passing away of two such men as Timothy Dwight Thacher and his
cousin, Solon Otis Thacher, within so short a time, was an untold loss to the state.
The whole commonwealth is the poorer for their going. They were not alike,
but they were both men of large caliber and high character, par nohile gratum.
They were among the strong men of Kansas, who helped to lay her foundations,
and their life and thought are largely interwoven with her structure.
—6
90 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE NEW ENGLAND EMIGRANT AID COMPANY AS AN
INVESTMENT SOCIETY.
An address by William H. Cakruth, before the Kansas State Historical Society, at
twenty-first annual meeting, January 19, 1897.
A LARGE part of this paper appeared in the Neio England Magazine for
March, 1897, and is reprinted here with the consent of the publishers. "It
will be just as well for you not to mention the fact that you are from Boston,"
said a Harvard man of the class of '.36 to a friend of mine who arrived in Law-
rence twenty years ago to take a position as teacher. Maybe there was a bit
of cynicism in the remark, but there was surely much practical wisdom based
on experience. To those who have heard or read only of the large part taken by
New England in the settlement of Kansas, this must seem strange, even incredi-
ble. There is no doubt of the existence of this feeling for some years after the
incident referred to, although I believe it is now quite imperceptible. Some
inquiry touching the source of this suspicion or hostility of Kansas people
towards those of New England, and especially of Boston, has led to the present
paper. Mr. Godkin's recent explanation of it as a general distrust of Western
people toward Eastern. people, due partly to the fact that the latter wear socks
and tailor-made clothes, is not entirely satisfactory. For the sock habit has
spread in Kansas, so that there are some addicted to it in nearly every com-
munity. In large degree, the true explanation is to be sought in the history
and dealings of the New England Emigrant Aid Company.
A complete account of this extraordinary movement is still wanting, despite
Mr. Thayer's own publications in his pamphlet histories and his book, "The
Kansas Crusade." The rough data of the situation to be made by the Kansas-
Nebraska bill were: A fertile territory opened to settlement; the extension of
slavery, or perhaps the beginning of its extinction, to be determined by the set-
tlers themselves; pro-slavery settlers near at hand, but few and naturally slow,
agrarian, and their belongings not easy to move; anti-slavery settlers distant,
but plentiful, aggressive, more mechanics and town dwellers. To winning that
fertile territory and achieving that victory for freedom, the one obstacle seemed
to be the element of distance, for there the opposition had an immense advan-
tage. Pondering these elements in his study at Oread Home, Worcester, and in
his seat in the general court of Massachusetts, Eli Thayer evolved the plan of a
society which should offer to anti-slavery emigrants inducements sufficient to off-
set this advantage held by the other side. Already, nearly ten years before this,
Rev. E. E. Hale had considered the greater fecundity of the Yankee, and had
proposed to locate the surplus of New England population in Texas, teaching
thus "How to conquer Texas before Texas conquers us." But Texas was further
away and quite cut oft" from the free North, and the North was not yet roused
by the discussions of 1852 and 1854.
Mr. Thayer's plan was an epitome of Yankee characteristics — thrift and de-
votion to principle. He did not propose to win Kansas with hirelings, but to
show the natural aggressiveness of the Yankee an outlet for his energy at once
honorable and profitable. And thus, also, the company he proposed was not to
be a charitable labor entirely, as religious missionary societies mostly are; but
he asked: Why is it worse for a company to make money by extending Chris-
tianity, or suppressing slavery, than by making cotton cloth ? The company
which he planned was intended to be an investment company, giving and taking
NEW ENGLAND EMIGRANT AID SOCIETY. 91
advantages with those whom it induced to go to Kansas, and incidentally crippling
slavery. The plan was plausible; it is still so; and, omitting the war for prin-
ciple, is pursued by the railroad and irrigation companies of the West to-day.
April 26, 1854, more than a month before the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska
bill, Mr. Thayer procured a charter for the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Com-
pany,* with a capital limit of 85,000,000. Immediately he set to work holding
public meetings, and advertising what Horace Greeley dubbed " the plan of free-
dom." It caught the attention of the already roused North; it grew into the
lurid image of a last judgment in the suspicious imagination of the South. The
capital stock of §5,000,000 became, to the excited Southerners, a cash corruption
fund whereby to fill Kansas with hireling voters. On July 29, 1854, just after the
Emigrant Aid Company's first party of twenty-nine members had passed through
Kansas City, the Platte County Self-defensive Association, meeting at Weston,
resolved: "That this association will, whenever called upon by any citizens of
Kansas territory, hold itself in readiness to assist and remove any and all emi-
grants who go there under th^ auspices of the Northern emigrant aid societies."
The trustees of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company discovered legal
weaknesses, as they thought, in the charter, and preferred to work as a private
company, until, in the spring of 1855, a new charter was obtained, and the name
changed to the New England Emigrant Aid Company. Meantime Mr. Thayer
was indefatigable. He was writing and speaking constantly and organizing local
leagues. The subscriptions to the stock of the company were liberal and prompt,
amounting to about §100,000 before June, 1856. Among the largest subscribers
were Charles Francis Adams, Amos Lawrence, J. M. S. Williams, W. B. Spooner,
Eli Thayer, and W. M. Evarts. The company advertised its work well. In
July, 1855, a special appeal was made to churches to take shares for their min-
isters. The call was signed by Lyman Beecher, Starr King, Hosea Ballou, Cal-
vin E. Stowe, Leonard Bacon, and Horace Bushnell, among others. It added
less than S2000 to the stock of the company, but it interested 200 ministers in the
cause, which was said to represent not only freedom, but temperance, education,
and religion.
In September, 1855, the company issued an address to the people of Missouri,
some of whom had expressed a desire to hang Mr. Thayer. Like all manifestos
from this source, it was moderate and appealed to reason. In the senate report
of the thirty-fourth congress, Stephen A. Douglas, chairman of the committee on
territories, made a report, in which the Kansas troubles were ascribed largely to
the machinations of the Aid Company. Again the company put forth an "Ad-
dress to the People of the United States," admirable in its tone and content.
"The language of the senate report," it said, "would lead to the inference that
the Kansas-Nebraska act was especially designed for the benefit of those indi-
viduals and societies who seek to render the institutions of Kansas congenial to
those of Missouri. Their action is spoken of as simply defensive, while that of
the Massachusetts society is characterized as aggressive." Another device of
the company for arousing interest in its work was the prize of fifty dollars, offered
in February, 1855, by the secretary. Dr. Thomas H. Webb, for the best poem on the
subject of the emigration. This was won by Lucy Larcom, at that time a teacher
in Wheaton Seminary, at Norton, Mass., over eighty-eight competitors. Before
her authorship of "The Call to Kansas" was publicly announced, she was sur-
prised at being greeted one morning with the presentation of her song by a chorus
of her pupils.
*See notes on page 96.
92 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Whittier's beautiful "Hymn of the Kansas Emigrants " was a gift to the
cause. It appeared in 1855.
But the most powerful literary agency enlisted for the winning of Kansas was
the New York Tribune, Mr. Thayer tells in his book how he labored with
Horace Greeley, and the files of the Tribune from that time on show with what
complete success. Doctor Webb, secretary of the company, in his office at 3 Win-
ter street, Boston, kept the newspaper record of the fight for Kansas, with
which he filled twenty large folio scrap-books — an invaluable collection, now in
possession of the Kansas State Historical Society. The work done by the New
England Aid Emigrant Company toward determining the nature of the institutions
of Kansas was, without doubt, the most weighty factor in making Kansas free.
But much of this result was accomplished indirectly and incidentally. The agi-
tation of the cause and the advertising of the country probably started many
towards Kansas who never heard of the company. Mr. Hale's book, "Kansas
and Nebraska," published in 1854, and Mrs. Dr. Robinson's account of her ex-
periences, " Kansas, its Interior and Exterior Dife," both prompted indirectly
by the company, were powerful agents in accomplishing the final result.
But now we come to, the subject of the company's standing in Kansas, and
the reasons for its financial failure.
The report of the committee on organization, while assuring the company's
stockholders of "that satisfaction, ranked by Lord Bacon among the very high-
est, of becoming founders of states, and, more than this, states which are pros-
perous and free," alluded confidently to "an investment which promises large
returns at no distant day." This hope of dividends flickers up from time to time
even as late as May, 1861, when the executive committee, in a report to the
directors, said: "It must be shown that the free-state system of settling a new
country pays well in money. This we do not absolutely despair of doing, even in
the case of Kansas." But in the following June, Doctor Russell, better informed,
in a meeting of the directors, quenched the hope with a "might-have-been."
Yet this very rational expectation was made a subject of reproach against the
company by some supersensitives who alluded to "money-changers in the temple."
The Aid Company's emigrants were not the first free-state men on the ground.
By the end of 1856 they were not in a majority — if, indeed, they ever were. Of
course the pro-slavery men, from among whom there were, and continued to be,
many bona fide settlers, did not love the Aid Company's people. The free-state
men from the rest of the North brought from home, even then, a bit of prejudice
against the superior refinement and provincial pronunciation of the down-easters,
and to this was now added in many cases a mild jealousy. It was generally be-
lieved that the Aid Company's emigrants had been assisted, and had thus an
unfair advantage over their brethren from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
The Aid Company's agents, Charles Robinson and S. C. Pomeroy, were cautious
and law-abiding, yet firm in the defense of their rights. So there were some set-
tlers who thought the Aid Company had unnecessarily aroused Southern opposi-
tion, and others again who claimed to think that it was timidly conservative.
Furthermore, among the New England emigrants themselves there was more or
less dissatisfaction with the company because they were not aided more than
they were, or because the company did not keep its agreements as they under-
stood them. For instance, the fare from Boston to Kansas City was advertised
as twenty-five dollars — six dollars less than it is to-day. In some cases parties
arriving at St. Louis were charged anew for transportation to Kansas City. Mr.
Pomeroy refunded this double charge to some, but others did not know enough
to demand it, and did not get it. Then, again, with the third and later parties
NEW ENGLAND EMIGRANT AID SOCIETY. 93
were some kid-gloved gentlemen, who had come out expecting to live on the fat
of the land. These, of course, were disappointed and cursed the company. Some
of them returned; others were unable to do so, and stajed.
So it will be seen how many elements there were to supply open or secret ill
will towards the company. That such a feeling existed, and that right early, is
manifested by the passage of the following resolutions by the Lawrence Town
Company, January 16, 1855:
^'■Resolved, That the organization of the Emigrant Aid Society has been of
exceeding great benefit in the transmission of emigrants to the territory, and
their establishing an agency in this city and their investment of capital herein
has been a decided advantage to the place, and we believe their efforts thus far
have been entirely disinterested; we, therefore, most cordially invite them to re-
main and continue their operations among us, assuring them of our sincere
approval of the past, and of our cooperation in the future; that we, as citizens
of Lawrence, particularly approve of the course pursued by the Lawrence Associ-
ation toward the Emigrant Aid Society in extending an invitation to that com-
pany to invest their capital here, and the basis upon which they are allowed to
operate; and we shall duly respect their city rights and support them in all law-
ful and liberal movements."
Clearly these resolutions protest too much. The "basis" referred to was at
first a grant of one-half of all the town lots, which was not too much consider-
ing that Branscomb, the company's agent, paid S500 to purchase one-half of the
original town site. But soon the company's proportion was reduced to one-
fourth, and in the spring of 1855, while Doctor Robinson, the local agent, was
absent in the East, the company was finally assigned eight out of 220 shares into
which the town stock had meanwhile been divided. Of the three free-state
papers in Lawrence, one openly and constantly antagonized the movements and
policy of the Aid Company, while the Herald of Freedom, which was equipped
by money borrowed from the company, considered it policy for a time to deny all
connection with the New England propagandists. In later days the obligation
to New England has been so generously acknowledged in Lawrence that it is
almost forgotten how hard New England had to fight even her own friends.
Here, as everywhere, was felt the combined love and jealousy of foreign capital.
Now consider briefly what the Aid Company actually did, aside from agitating
and advertising. It established a Boston office, where intending settlers could
get information and gather for the start. Here they became acquainted and
learned the watchword which, Mr. Hale says, ought to be the motto of Kansas,
"Together." The character of Mr. Thayer's appeals and the nature of the case
brought together "men of industry and enterprise, who believe in hard work and
are accustomed to it"; men who could not fail to "carry with them a love for the
institutions which recognize the dignity of labor and allow to every man the just
rewards of his toil." While many local auxiliaries openly proclaimed their pur-
pose to aid only free state emigration, the company never questioned those who
purchased tickets through their agent as to their attitude on the slavery question.
In New England that was unnecessary. An amusing result of this policy, how-
ever, narrated in detail in Mr. Speer's account of James H. Lane, was that Gov-
ernor Walker and Secretary Stanton, both of whom denounced the transactions
of the Emigrant Aid Company, came into the territory on the Aid Company's
cheap tickets.
» While the Aid Company must be credited for something of the high tone of
the New England emigrants, it is a common error to suppose that these emigrants
came to Kansas expecting to win martyrs' crowns. I have questioned many of
them as to their motives, and the uniform answer has been : "We went to Kansas
to better our condition, incidentally expecting to make it a free state. We knew
94 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
we took some risks; but if we had foreseen the struggles and hardships we
actually underwent, we never should have gone." This is about what Mr.
Thayer calculated on.
The company then secured its passengers a low rate of transportation — a re-
duction of about ififteen per cent. It erected hotels and sawmills, thus providing
immediate accommodations for the new arrivals, and materials for building
homes. These institutions were calculated to be profitable, and to serve as
nucleuses for towns. Schools and churches were to be encouraged, but not out
of the company's stock funds. The company did not propose to speculate, or to
loan money, though it did so rarely in aid of semi-public enterprises. The com-
pany did not pay the transportation of any but its agents. It did not advance
money to intending emigrants. It " never invested a dollar in any implements of
war." This is the sworn testimony of Mr. Lawrence and of Mr. Conway, the
company's agent, before the Harper's Ferry committee. It is difficult to see why
a plan so wisely made did not succeed better.
What, then, became of the Emigrant Aid Company's money? Let us see.
The journal and ledger for the first two years are not at hand. From May, 1857,
to the close, kept in the beautiful figures of Anson J. Store, the assistant treas-
urer, they are in possession of the Kansas Historical Society, by the gift of Mrs.
Amos A. Lawrence. The stock account shows a total paid in of $136,300, to
which must be added donations of about $9000 — in all, $145,.300. Sales and rents
brought in, all together, $26,918. Thus there is $172,218 to be accounted for.
The total expenses of the Boston office for the eight years of the company'a ac-
tivity in Kansas were $30,465. This leaves us $141,753. In Kansas the company
bad as agents: Charles Robinson, 1854-'56; C. H. Branscomb, 1854-'58; S. C.
Pomeroy, 1854-'62; M. F. Conway, 1858-'62 — all receiving alike $1000 per annum,
expenses, and commission. The last items are not summarized in the ledger,
but some items given seem to warrant an estimate of fifty per cent, for them.
This will make the expenses of the Kansas end of the management $27,000,
and leave $114,753, or more likely under that, as the amount actually invested.
Of course, the treasurer charged up, and very properly, all expenses of manage-
ment to these investments, and his invoice of the company's property, footing up
$126,616.27, may be read clearly in the ledger now in possession of this Society.
A similar invoice, made in March, 1862, makes the total valuation $143,322.98.
But alas! the gap between debit and credit is often wide. On the 27th of Feb-
ruary, 1862, all the company's projjerty in Missouri and Kansas was sold at auc-
tion to John N. Noyes, for Messrs. Adams & Ayling, of Boston, for $16,150 — not
much more than enough to pay outstanding claims. And so, as Mr. Hale said
in 1879, "no subscriber to that fund ever received back one cent."
And still we have to answer the question, Why? While Mr. Thayer himself
declares that the money was contributed "'mainly as a charity, and without hope
of returns," and Mr. Hale says of the stockholders, "some of them did and some
of them didn't" expect dividends, it can easily be shown, in more detail than I
have done, that the management steadily hoped at least to pay back the original
investment; and besides, there is the testimony of various officers and agents
that the company "never gave a cent toward any man's passage," "never hired
a man to go to Kansas, or offered any inducement if he did not mean to go,"
"but we invested capital."
The company's financial agent was S. C. Pomeroy, afterward senator from '
Kan.sas. Mr. Pomeroy was not, however, a financier. Some mild-mannered
Westerner once warned a stranger against trifling with Wild Bill, explaining that
he was "reckless with firearms." Mr. Pomeroy was reckless with drafts. The
NEW ENGLAND EMIGRANT AID SOCIETY. 95
books do not show for what many of these drafts were drawn, but it is fair to
presume that all bargains were construed liberally in behalf of the emigrant.
"We understood the Aid Company to be a benevolent institution," said an old-
timer to me, "and we regarded anything of the company's that came in our way
as a gift." Pomeroy always paid liberally. He was not the man to make a sharp
bargain for the company. Very likely the company would have dismissed him
if he had done so. Three mills, costing in New York $4000, paid in freight $2146,
and an additional $583 foi" storage. The proprietor of the Herald of Freedom
repaid his loan of $2000 in territorial scrip, which was never redeemed. An agent
of the company, in making settlement, turned in ten shares of Quindaro town
stock at $3578, which was then really rated high, but soon became worthless.
The temporary sod and thatch hotels at first erected in Lawrence were soon
superseded, and were thus a loss. The largest single loss to the company was
the destruction by Sheriff Jones of the Free State hotel. A grand jury, deriving
its instructions from a United States district court, found the following indict-
ment: "We are satisfied that the building known as the Free State hotel, in
Lawrence, has been constructed with a view to military occupation and defense,
and regularly parapeted and portholed for the use of cannon and small arms, and
could only be designed as a stronghold for resistance to law, thereby endanger-
ing the public safety and encouraging rebellion and sedition to the country; and
we respectfully recommend that steps be taken whereby this nuisance may be
removed." A United States marshal brought a posse of Missourians to the city,
and then turned them over to the vengeful Jones, who, acting directly on this in-
dictment, without any order from the court, proceeded to destroy the hotel and
other property belonging to the company. When the sale was made, in 1862,
the company reserved its claim against the government of $20,000 for the destruc-
tion of the Free State hotel. The claim has never been allowed, but a juster one
was seldom made.
Resuming my report of the company's capital at the point where the operat-
ing expenses had been deducted, you will recall that we had left $114,753 to
account for. Among the definite items of loss which I have noted are the $20,000
for the Free State hotel, $2000 for the Herald of Freedom, and $3578 in Quin-
daro town stock. At least $1000 worth of other property belonging to the com-
Ijany was destroyed in the sacking of Lawrence May 21, 1856. This makes a
total of $26,578, direct loss, which, deducted from $114,753, leaves $88,175 to be
accounted for. How an investment of $88,000 can shrink to twenty per cent, of
that amount scarcely needs any explanation to those who lived through the
disastrous boom of 1886 to 1890.
Finally came the "collapse of the boom." The year 1857 was a boom year in
Kansas. The sacking of Lawrence and other outrages, in 1856, so increased in-
terest in the Kansas cause that the following year saw an astonishing influx of
settlers and capital. But the bottom went out soon. Investments made that
year could not find a purchaser at twenty per cent, in 1858. Things did not get
much better until, in 1860, they got much worse. Of course the beginning of the
war did not raise Kansas values. So it is not hard, even without any sinister sug-
gestions, to see how the company's $172,000 finally shrunk to $16,000. A careful
manager would have made this result very much more favorable, but it is doubt-
ful whether, under the best management, the stock could have been made to pay
dividends. Of the total, about $100,000 passed through the hands of Pomeroy.
Only $17,000 was handled by Robinson. Yet, without doubt, the latter would
have been a better manager for the company. If his advice had been taken, the
company would have had, for $3000, the site of the union depot in Kansas City,
now worth several millions.
96 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The Yankees of the New England Emigrant Aid Company who expected to
make money by the Kansas venture were disappointed. Those in Kansas who
made money out of the company contributed, naturally enough, to the distrust of
New England and the prejudice against Boston. But it is pleasant to know that
the chief of those who made that investment regarded it still, as did W. M,
Evarts, as "the best I ever made," and that they can say with Rev. E. E. Hale,
"All the same, we received our dividends long ago." They came in Kansas free,
a nation free; in the emancipation of four millions of black men, and in the
virtual abolition of slavery the world over.
EARLY KANSAS AID COMPANIES.
The reader of early Kansas history is apt to confuse the many organizations formed in the
East to assist in the settlement of Kansas.
Or, while recognizing that the number of them was great, it is a common error to suppose
that they were all practically charitable or missionary movements. Let me attempt to enu-
merate and disentangle these organizations.
In the order of their formation, they are :
1. The Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company (April, 1854).
2. The New England Emigrant Aid Company ( successor to the preceding, March, 1855- '62 ).
3. The Emigrant Aid Company of New York and Connecticut ( alHIiated with Massachusetts
Emigrant Aid Company and absorbed into New England Emigrant Aid Company, July 18, 1854).
4a. The Union Emigration Society ( spring of 1854; members mostly members of congress).
46. The Kansas Aid Society ( Goodrich, of Massachusetts, president, Fenton, of New York,
vice-president; just after passage of Kansas-Nebraska bill; probably identical with 4o). Some
subscriptions made — probably absorbed by New England Emigrant Aid Company; issued ap-
peals to emigrate.
5n-z, Kansas Leagues (number indefinite). Organized by Mr. Thayer under auspices of
Massachusetts or New England Emigrant Aid Company, from summer of 1854 to 1856 or 1857;
such as Worcester County Kansas League, its object to promote emigration— talked up Kan-
sas, organized party to go, probably assisted individuals by neighborly acts; the Oberlin Kan-
sas League, etc.
Of these, 2 absorbed 1 and 3 and 4 so far as they represented the investment idea, and it was
and remained the chief organ of the propagandist idea represented partly in 3 and 4, and
wholly in 5.
After the sack of Lawrence, May 21, 1856, there sprang into existence a number of organi-
zations in which the investment idea was unknown, but which were prompted by thq two pur-
poses of relief to the settlers and defense of the free-state cause. These were :
6. The National Kansas Committeee, or the Kansas National Committee, Thaddeus Hyatt,
president; appointed at a mass meeting held at Buffalo, N. Y., May or July, 1856. This com-
mittee is also referred to by some persons as the General National Kansas Aid Committee, to
distinguish it from certain state auxiliaries (Sa-ni).
The National Kansas Committee held but one meeting in New York, in January, 1857, but it
appointed an executive committee of three citizens from Illinois, known as the —
66. National Kansas Executive Committee, who transacted all the business of the greater
body. J. D. Webster, chairman; H. B. Hurd, secretary; Horace White, assistant secretary.
This committee collected and disbursed about $120,000, but never formally dissolved, and
never had a final accounting. Agents in Kansas: W. F. M. Arny, E. B. Whitman, T. B.
Eldridge, et a I.
la. The Boston (Relief) Committee, or Faneuil Hall (Relief) Committee, S. G. Howe, chair-
man ; organized at a meeting in Faneuil Hall, May, 1856; collected considerable money and
clothing; merged into —
76. The Massachusetts State Kansas Committee, G. L. Stearns, president, July, 1856 ; virtually
dissolved in 1858, but never formally. Raised cash, $50,000 ; supplies, $30,000.
8a-»i. State auxiliaries to 6 — working partly through the National Executive Committee,
and in part directly ; such as the Kansas Aid Society of Wisconsin, and Female Aid Society of
Wisconsin, Aug. Wattles, agent.
9. Finally there were Southern Kansas aid societies of pro-slavery men, suggested by Colonel
Buford, of which I have no details.
The name of the first of these organizations. Emigrant Aid Company, is responsible for much
of the confusion between the two groups. It was in fact a company not to aid emigrants, but to
aid emigration.
The confusion was further fostered by the fact that many persons prominent in the first set
of societies were also active in the second group, the relief societies, and that the officers and
machinery of the Emigrant Aid Company were used by the relief organizations of 1856 and 1860.
Finally, further misunderstandings in the matter are due to the fact that leaders in the
Emigrant Aid Company, as well as in the relief societies, acted often on their own responsi-
bility. Amos A. Lawrence gave to leaders in the free-state cause more than the amount of his
stock in the Emigrant Aid Company. George L. Stearns, president of the Massachusetts State
Kansas Committee, gave more on his personal responsibility for the purchase of arms and the
support of John Brown's movements than he contributed through the committee.
As an illustration of this confusion, I call attention to a letter of George W. Deitzler, read
at the quarter-centennial celebration of the settlement of Kansas, and printed without direct
correction on page 123 of Robinson's " Kansas Conflict," in which it is stated that the executive
committee of the New Eugland Emigrant Aid Company gave an order for 100 Sharp's rifles,
which were shipped to Kansas as books.
Now, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Thayer, Mr. Hale and various other officers of the Emigrant Aid
Company have declared repeatedly, under oath and otherwise, that the Emigrant Aid Company
never spent or appropriated a dollar for arms, or even to pay the expenses of any one save its
agents. This testimony must stand, and the seeming contradiction is explained by the facts I
have cited. Mr. Deitzler and the common impression are wrong. The Emigrant Aid Company
did not give those Sharp's rifles, but they were given by individual subscriptions from Mr. Law-
rence, Mr. Williams, Mr. Thayer, and others.
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 97
THE FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS.
An address by William E. Connellet, before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-third annnal meeting, January 17, 1899.
THE WYANDOTS.
ON the burning pages of Parkman we can read the modern history of the
Wyandots.^ They are of that linguistic stock of North American Indians
known as the Iroquoian family. For far-seeing policy, inordinate pride of race,
indomitable courage, the capability of vast organization, for enterprise and am-
bition, the Iroquoian family far surpassed all other North American Indians.
After threading a way which " was pathless and long, by rock and torrent and
the gloom of savage forests," the Jesuits stood, at length, on "the lonely shores
of the great Georgian bay, and before them stretched in savage slumber lay the
forest shores of the Hurons."
Here a number of Iroquoian tribes in close alliance composed what we know
as the Huron Confederacy. Their chief seat was between Lake Simcoe and the
Georgian bay, in what is now the province of Ontario, Canada. One of these
tribes lived to the south and west of the main body, and along the shores of the
Bay of Nottawassaga, spreading even into the fastnesses of the Blue mountains.
These were the Tionnontates, called by the Jesuits Nation de Petun, or Tobacco
nation, from the remarkable fact that they cultivated and raised tobacco in
sufficient quantity to create an extensive commerce in its barter and exchange
with other tribes.
In 1649 the Iroquois attacked their kindred with savage ferocity, and destroyed
forever the confederacy of the Hurons. To escape extermination, the fragments
of the broken tribes of the confederacy fled from the fury of the Five Nations
and took their sad and disconsolate way northward along the great lakes. Of
all the Huron tribes, the Tionnontates alone retained a tribal organization after
this catastrophe. Expatriated and wandering, the broken tribes traversed the
whole length of the upper lakes. No rest was found for their weary feet. Turn-
ing to the southwest, they reached the Mississippi. Here they were soon attacked
by those warlike children of the great American desert, the Sioux, and compelled
to retrace their steps. They settled on Point Saint Esprit, near the Islands of
the Twelve Apostles, at the southwestern extremity of Lake Superior. When
the Tobacco nation had absorbed and assimilated the remnants of the tribes of
the Hurons, and all that remained of the Huron Confederacy were merged and
blended into a single people, with the common name of Wyandot, they began to
slowly descend the great lakes. They stopped at Detroit, and there became
Pontiac's best and bravest warriors.
In the wars between the Americans and the British, they were on the side of
the English until the war of 1812, when a part of them espoused the American
cause. They were the prime movers in the formation of the Northwestern Con-
federacy of Indian Tribes, which opposed so long and so successfully the settle-
ment by Americans of the territory northwest of the Ohio river. They stood at
the head of this confederacy, and were the keepers of the council-fire thereof.
We shall see that their confirmation in this position was a potent factor in the
formation of a territorial government for Kansas. The present city of Upper
Sandusky was the center of the Wyandot lands in Ohio. Here Methodism was
1. Parkman's " The Jesuits in North America."
98 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
intrxMluced amonR them, and civilization made much progress. Families founded
bv whit., captives who had been adopted into the tribe came mto the ascendancy
in ihe HlTairs of the nation. The last full-blood Wyandot died in Canada about
the year 1820, and there was a preponderance of white blood in the tribe before
1H40. ^ , ^, .
The Wvnndots were the last of the tribes to abandon the graves of their
f:ithers and turn their faces to the west. In July, 1843, they set out for their
home beyond the Mississippi.- In the same month they landed at the mouth of
the Kansas river. Thoy had been promised 140,000 acres of land by the govern-
ment, but they were unable to find so large a body of good land unoccupied
st)uth of the Kansas river. As it was necessary that a home be procured before
the commencement of winter, they purchased the country in the fork of the Mis-
souri and Kansas rivers from the Delawares. They purchased thirty-six sections
and were given three sections.''
The Wyandots brought with them from Ohio an organized civil government,
modeled, to some extent, after that of an American state, especially in their
manner of procedure and practice before their council, which was their court.
They brought also a Methodist church, a lodge of Freemasons, and a code of
written laws which provided for an elective council of chiefs, the punishment
of crime, and the maintenance of public order.
In the Wyandot tribe were men of education and ability. The Walker family
can trace their ancestry to the nobility of France.^ The Armstrongs, the Browns,
and many other families were noted for intelligence and force of character,
.\b('l:ird Guthrie was descended from an old Pennsylvania family of north of
Ireland Presbyterians. He was married to Miss Quindaro Nancy Brown, in what
is now Kansas City, Kan., early in 1844. These men took a lively interest in
national atlairs. They watched narrowly the enactment by congress of measures
tending to affect their interests. They readily detected the tendencies of the
2. The Wyandotts left for the far west in July, 1843, and numbered at that time about 700
souls.— Howe's "Historical Collections of Ohio" (Cincinnati, 1847), 549.
3. AKrecment in writing between the Delaware and Wyandott nations, on the 14th of Decem-
IxT, 1H43, for the purchase of certain lands by the latter of the former; confirmed by the senate
July 'i"), 184.S:
"Wheeeas, From a lonK and intimate acquaintance, and the ardent friendship which has
for a (Treat many years existed between the Delawares and Wyandotts, and from a mutual desire
tliat the same feeling shall continue and be more strengthened by becoming near neighbors to
oiich otlier: therefore, the said parties, the Delawares on one side, and the Wyandotts on the
other, in full council assembled, have agreed, and do agree, to the following stipulations, to wit:
"AKTifLE 1. The Delaware nation of Indians, residing between the Missouri and Kansas
rivers, being very anxious to liave their uncles, the Wyandotts, to settle and reside near them,
do hereby donate, grant, and (juitclaim forever, to the Wyandot nation, three sections of land,
containing six imndred and forty acres each, lying and being situated at the point of the junction
of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.
'"Artici-e 2. The Delaware chiefs, for themselves and by tlie unanimous consent of their
Ix'Mple, do hereby cede, grant, iiuit-claim, to the Wyandott nation, and their heirs, forever,
thirty-six sections of land, each containing six hundred and forty acres, situated between the
aforesaid Missouri and Kansas rivers, and adjoining on the west the aforesaid three donated
the Missouri river: tlience down the said river with the meanders to the place of beginning; to
bo surveyed in as near a square form as the rivers and territory ceded will admit of.
• '/^u^'V^'i '^' ^° consideration of the foregoing donation and cession of land, the Wyandott
chiefs bind themselves, successors in ottice, and their people, to pav to the Delaware nation of
Indians forty-six thousand and eighty dollars, as follows, viz: six thousand and eighty dollars
to Ik. paid the year eighteen hundred and forty-four, and four thousand dollars annually there-
after for ten years.
'•Article 4. It is hereby distinctly understood between the contracting parties, that the
aforesaid agreement shall not be binding or obligatory until the president of tne United States
»hall have approved the same, and caused it to be recorded in the war department."
I" Land Laws of the United States of a Local and Temporary Character," vol. 2, p. 849.]
*r ,*.■ ''^i'"' ^^ "','*"'■ family are descended from the Montours, for an accountof whom see William
M. Darlington s edition of the "Journals of Christopher Gist."
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 99
times. They read with the comprehension of statesmen the inevitable change
soon to come to the land in which they had so recently made their new home.
FIRST EFFORTS TO ORGANIZE NEBRASKA TERRITORY.
The territory embraced at the present time in the states of Kansas and Ne-
braska, and in addition the territory immediately west of them to the summit of
the Rocky mountains, began to be known as "Nebraska territory" or the "Ne-
braska country " at a period as early as the arrival of the Wyandots at the mouth
of the Kansas river. In his annual report for the year 1844:, the secretary of war
recommended the organization of this territory. In accordance with this recom-
mendation, Mr. Stephen A. Douglas, at that time on the house committee on
territories, gave notice, on December 11, 1844, that he would bring in a bill for
the establishment of the territory of Nebraska. On the 17th of the same month
he introduced the bill, and it was referred to the committee on territories. The
bill was amended in the committee, and on the 7th of January, 1845, reported,
and referred to the committee of the whole, but no further action was had thereon.
In the meantime Mr. Douglas had been elected to the senate. Here he in-
troduced a bill for the organization of Nebraska territory, which was, on the 20th
day of April, 1848, made the order of the day for Monday, April 24, but no
further action was had thereon.
Mr. Douglas gave notice, on December 4, 1848, of another Nebraska bill; on
the 20th of the same month the bill was referred to the committee on territories,
but no further action was had thereon.
After these ineffectual efforts, congress seems to have fallen into indifference
in regard to this matter, for nothing more was heard on the subject for four years.
But it is more than probable that this long silence was the result of a well-defined
policy determined upon by the slave power of the South. The next movement
for the organization of Nebraska territory was by the people themselves, and their
efforts bore fruit, as we shall see.
THE REORGANIZATION OF THE NORTHWESTERN CONFEDERACY,
The movement in congress to organize a territorial government for a territory
which would include or surround their lands deeply interested the emigrant
tribes. Their treaties provided that their lands should not become a part of any
state or territory, and that they should never be made subject to the laws of any
state or territory. The introduction of bills into congress for the establishment
of a territory to be called Nebraska convinced the emigrant tribes that they
would be called upon to surrender their lands to the government at an early date.
Such interest arose, and so great became the concern, that the emigrant tribes
called an Indian congress to discuss this and many other matters. This congress
met at or near Fort Leavenworth, in October, 1848.^ The emigrant tribes, con-
sisting of the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawatomie, Shawnee,
and Miami, were the original members of the Northwestern Confederacy of Indian
Tribes. The council-fire of the ancient confederacy was rekindled at this con-
gress, and all the functions pertaining to it were reaffirmed and reenacted. Two
other tribes, the Kickapoos and Kansas, were received into the confederacy, as-
sumed its duties and obligations, and agreed to abide its decisions. The Sacs
and Foxes were present. They had been the enemies of the Wyandots for a
century ; peace between them had not been declared.
Such was the awe in which they stood of the Wyandots, that when Governor
Walker rose and displayed the wampum belts — the archives and records of the
5. Governor Walker's journals of that date. See, also, Clark's "Traditional History of the
"Wyandotts," 132.
100 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
confodoracy— the chiefs of these tribes kept their eyes fixed upon him. Gov-
«Tnor Walker was an eloquent man. He was familiar with the language of the
trilirs of the league. These belts had not been explained nor shown in council for
a quarter of a century. Many a young warrior saw them here for the first time
and heard from the official oracle what his father had often repeated to him
about the ancient compact. Grizzled warriors looked upon them and thought
of the glory of long-gone battle-fields where they had met the enemy and gath-
ered many a bloody trophy. At length Governor Walker took up a long belt
upon which was worked a blood-red tomahawk, indicating the declaration of
war upon the Sacs and Foxes by the confederacy at the instigation of the Wyan-
dots. At sight of this belt the chiefs of these tribes sprang to their feet, uttered
a whoop of warning, and fled in terror, followed by their warriors. Messengers
were sent after them, but they could not be induced to return to the congress.
This congress lasted several days, and the ancient and honorable position
held by the Wyaudots since the founding of the league was confirmed anew to
them, and they were continued as the head of the Northwestern Confederacy,
and made keepers of its council-fire.
THK DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.
Gold in California ! How these words stirred the nation ! The mechanic flung
aside his tools; the minister deserted his pulpit; the student forsook his books
and his school; the physician abandoned his patients; the pale and sickly clerk
put by his yardstick and tore himself from the ribbon counters and dimity shelves;
the lovers embraced their sweethearts and swore by the stars to be true and faith-
ful beyond the Sierras — all these joined in a motley throng and fell into long, ir-
regular lines, moving with all haste over prairie, mountain, burning desert and
scalding alkali plains, animated by the common hope of being able to gather a
portion of the golden harvest of the enchanted streams of California. It was
claimed in speeches delivered in congress that during the years 1849-'50 more
than 100,000 emigrants passed through what is now Kansas and Nebraska, on
their way to the El Dorado by the Golden Gate. No such movement had ever
before been seen in America. The hardships experienced on the plains and in the
mountains were often beyond description.
The construction of a railroad to the Pacific ocean to obviate these sufferings,
and to bring back the golden treasure for which they were borne, was advocated
and discussed. It became the settled conviction that some means aside from the
ox-team must be devised for the connection of the East and the West. Many of
these Argonauts passed through the lands of the emigrant tribes. To them the
purpose to build this road, and the presence of the gold hunters, was another
evidence that they must soon surrender their lands. They came to the con-
clusion that this was inevitable. If they must sell their lands they desired to
obtain as high a price as could be procured. They came to see that the organi-
zation of Nebraska territory would enhance the value of their lands, and from
thenceforth were in favor of the measure.
Benton's oreat national highway to the pacific ocean.
On Monday, December 16, 1850, Thomas H. Benton introduced into the senate
of the United States a bill providing for the construction of a "great national
highway" from St. Louis, Mo., to San Francisco, on the Pacific ocean. In his
he'sS*^"'^^ remarks preceding the introduction of this bill, among other things,
" \^ 's t" be^national in its form and use, not consisting of a single road adapted
U) a smgle kmd of transportation, but a system of roads adapted to all kinds of
ira^eimg, and of all kmds of carrying, free from monopoly, and free from
FIEST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 101
tolls. It proposes a railroad and a common road, to be begun at once, and the
common road finished next summer; with such other roads, either macadamized,
plank, or additional tracks of railroad; and a margin for lines of magnetic tele-
graphs, running parallel to each other, and at sufficient distance apart to avoid
interference, and yet near enough together to admit of easy transition from one
to the other. This fulfils another requisite of nationality; for a nation must
contain people of all conditions, rich and poor, and of all tastes and tempers,
and addicted to all the modes of traveling. Some, to whom time is every-
thing, and money nothing, and who demand rapidity without regard to cost.
Others to whom money is an object, and time a subordinate consideration, and
who want a cheap conveyance, no matter how slow. Others again who may
choose to carry themselves, going on a horse, or in a vehicle, or on foot. All these
will be accommodated, and without crowding or jostling; a mile wide for the
whole, and an ample track for each, gives room for all."
The road was to be owned by the government, and about one-tenth of the
public demain, as it existed at that time, was set aside as a fund for its construc-
tion; also the excess, over cost of collection, of the customs of California, Oregon,
Utah, and New Mexico.
But Senator Benton was not permitted to push the construction of this en-
terprise to an issue in congress. The growing arrogance and the insolent intoler-
ance of the slave power antagonized him in Missouri. In 1850-'51 he stood for
reelection to the senate, and was defeated. However, St. Louis returned him
to the house of representatives. He was in favor of the organization of Nebraska
territory. Long before, he had insisted that the point where Kansas City now
stands was to become a great commercial center. The defeat of Colonel Benton
was the result of the existence in Missouri of two uncompromising c.nd bitterly
hostile factions in the democratic party of that state. One faction was led by
Senator Benton, Willard P. Hall, Frank P. Blair, jr., and to some extent by the
St. Louis Republican, the principal newspaper of the state. This faction fa-
vored the organization of Nebraska territory, and stood for the rights of slavery
as defined by existing law, and were appalled at the proposal to repeal the Mis-
souri compromise.
The inspiring genius of the other faction was William Cecil Price,^ of Spring-
field. He inaugurated and carried to a successful issue the fight on Senator
Benton, and he did not abate his efforts until Benton had been twice defeated
for senator. He was the trusted and supreme representative in Missouri of the
slave power of the whole South. By birth he is a Virginian, and a direct de-
scendant of Cecil (Lord Baltimore) who settled in Maryland. At the time of
which we write he was in the prime of life, and was a man of rare ability and a
sanguine enthusiast. He was an ideal leader, imperious in manner, aggressive,
fearless, bold, adroit, and fertile in resource. He spurned public office, and it
6. William Cecil Price was born iu Tazewell county, Virginia, and is a descendant of the
Wittens and Cecils of Maryland, two of the most aristocratic families of America. He came
with his parents to Greene county, Missouri, in 1828 ; was prominent in the politics of the state
until the war ; was an able lawyer, and was elected to many places of honor and trust while
a young man, but he never sought office. Later in life he stood high, not only in the councils
of his party in Missouri, but in the democracy of the nation, and could have had what he chose ;
but the routine of office was irksone to him, and it was only when the question of removing the
deposits in the mints from New Orleans was agitated that he consented to accept the office of
treasurer of the United States, under President Buchanan. He was urged to retain this position
by President Lincoln, but refused. He was an advocate of secession and the representative of
the highest councils of the slave power of the South in Missouri. He selected Claiborne Jackson
to be the candidate of the democratic party for governor of Missouri, and organized and carried
to a successful issue the fight on Col. Thomas H. Benton ; but in defeating Benton he divided
the democratic party in Missouri. He joined the confederate army, was captured at Wilson's
Creek, and for a long time was confined in the military prison at Alton, 111. In manner Judge
Price was haughty and imperious, but no gentler or kinder man ever lived. His life has been
absolutely blameless and chaste ; he is an old-school Southern gentleman ; he is simple in
manner and quaint in expression ; he has a keen sense of humor, and at times cannot resist
expressing it. A friend once introduced him to a stranger and remarked, "Judge Price was in
the United States treasury under President Buchanan." "Yes," said the judge, "and in the
penitentiary under President Lincoln." —
102 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
was with dimmltv thnt he was induced to accept the position of treasurer of the
United States under President Buchanan. Senator Atchison was his man of
jiction in western Missouri, and seldom has a leader had a more faithful and ca-
pable lieutenant. His cousin, Sterling Price, was also a reliable subaltern and
faithful follower, and for his fidelity was rewarded with the governorship of the
state. This faction stood for the repeal of the Missouri compromise, and opposed
the organization of the territory of Nebraska unless slavery could be expressly
made one of its fundamental institutions.
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF NEBRASKA TERRITORY.
But it remained for the emigrant Indian tribes to make the first effective
efforts in the work of securing the organization of Nebraska territory. All the
agitation of the matter in the states produced no tangible result. It, however,
aroused the opposition of the government. Governor Walker says:
"The.se discussions attracted the attention of the interior department, and
drew forth official intimations that the government could not allow any portion
of that territory to be occupied or settled by white people; and that the president
was authorized to employ, if necessary, the military force of the United States in
removing from the Indian country all persons found there contrary to law.
"But, unfortunately for the government, it turned out that it was the
Indians, not the indigenous, but the emigrant Indians themselves, especially the
Wvandots, that warmly favored the occupation by white people of the vacant
lands, and the ultimate organization of the territory."
These people petitioned the first session of the thirty-second congress upon
this subject, and asked for the organization of a territorial government for Ne-
braska territory. These petitions were accorded little or no consideration. They
now decided to adopt a more aggressive course, one less easily passed by with in-
attention. They determined to elect a delegate to the thirty-second congress,
and send him to attend the second session of that body, to be held in the winter
of ]8o2-'53. The chief men in this course were William Walker, Abelard Guth-
rie, Joel Walker, Matthew R. Walker, Isaiah Walker, Francis A. Hicks, George
I. Clark, Charles B. (Jarrett, Russell Garrett, Joel W. Garrett, Silas Armstrong,
Matthew Mudeater, and John W. Greyeyes.
The election was held in the council-house of the Wyandot nation, on October
12, 18r)"2. Governor Walker notes it in his journal, and says: "Attended the elec-
tion for delegate for congress from Nebraska territory. A. Guthrie received the
entire vote polled."
Mr. Guthrie says^ of the difficulties he was forced to face: "One Colonel
Fauntleroy, commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth (and now, I believe, of the
rebel army), threatened to arrest me if I should attempt to hold the election."
And in a communication to the New York Tribune, August 9, 1856: "I met with
many difficulties, and on one occasion was threatened with imprisonment by the
commanding officer of one of the military posts in the territory for my attempt
at ' revolution,' as he called it."
For the purpose of neutralizing any effect this irregular action might have in
congress, the military authorities, at the suggestion of Senator Atchison, de-
cided to hold an election for delegate, also. A Mr. Barrow was put forward as
the candidate to be voted for, but the people were tired of delay and voted for
Guthrie, who defeated Barrow by a vote of fifty-four to sixteen at this second
election.
Mr. (iuthrie left home for Washington November 20. Upon his arrival in
Washington he set to work with his usual enerery to accomplish the purpose for
7. Letter of Abelard Guthrie to Governor Walker, now in my collection.
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 103
which he was sent. His efforts bore fruit. On December 13 Willard P. Hall in-
troduced a bill for the organization of the Territory of the Platte, with the fol-
lowing boundaries: On the south, the thirty-sixth degree and thirty minutes;
on the north, the forty-third degree ; on the west, by the summit of the Rocky
Mountains; on the east, by Missouri. Mr. Hall's bill was referred to the com-
mittee on territories but was never reported. In lieu thereof, William A. Rich-
ardson, of Illinois, from the committee, reported a bill, on February 2, 1853,
providing for the organization of Nebraska territory, with boundaries identical
with those in Hall's bill. In the committee of the whole the bill met with strong
opposition from Southern members, and was reported back to the house with a
recommendation that it be rejected, but on February 10, 1853, it passed the
house by a vote of ninety-eight to forty-three. It was sent to the senate on the
following day. Here it was referred to the committee on territories, of which
Stephen A. Douglas was chairman. February 17, Mr. Douglas reported the bill
without amendment. The term of congress would expire by limitation March
4, and Mr. Guthrie was anxious to have the bill taken up as long before that date
as possible. It was not taken up, however, until March 3, when it was laid on
the table by a vote of twenty-three to seventeen.* Mr. Guthrie believed he had
a majority in the senate for the bill, and this was probably true could the vote
have been had at an earlier date. In his letter to the New York Tribune, Mr.
Guthrie says that the bill was not reached in the senate, but this is an error.
While Mr. Guthrie was not admitted to a seat in the hodse, and did not secure
the passage of his bill, he accomplished the purpose sought in his election. He
forced a consideration of the question of the organization of Nebraska territory.
The passage of the bill in the house and the close vote upon it in the senate was
taken by the slave power to indicate the question was certain to be considered at
the coming session of congress.
The Wyandots determined to proceed with the work of securing the organiza-
tion of Nebraska. We have ample evidence of this in the following document,
which was given to me by Hon. Allen Johnson, head chief of the Indian terri-
tory Wyandots.^ It is in the handwriting of Governor Walker, though unsigned.
It is a legal document, and was probably handed to the council of chiefs during
a joint session of the legislative committee and the council. The legislative com-
mittee was the highest tribunal of the Wyandot government. While it is not
dated, it is evident that it was written at the time of which we are speaking:
"The legislative committee previous to adjournment deemed it necessary to
make some formal and official expression of its views upon our Indian relations
as they now exist, and upon our relation with the United States in the present
aspect of affairs.
^^ First, then, it is well known that for the last hundred years a league has ex-
isted between the following tribes, viz.: Wyandott, Delaware, Chippewa, Ottawa,
Pottawatomie, Shawnee, and Miami. This league unanimously elected the Wyan-
dott keeper of the council-fire, where all diplomatic and other important matters
involving the interests of the several tribes composing this league were to be dis-
cussed. Whether in peace or war, this league maintained a unity of mind and
action in all important measures. On the happening of any important event in-
teresting to them, it appears from past history that the keeper of the council-
fire was the member whose duty it was to apprise the members, by a confidential
runner bearing the official wampum, of the nature of the information received.
"In pursuance of this understanding mutually entered into, the tribes com-
posing this confederacy naturally looked to the Wyandott for all official informa-
tion of importance to them. Thus the principles of this compact were kept up
8. For confirmation of these statements, see the Congressional Globe under proper dates.
9. This paper in my collection.
104 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
till, liy action of the United States jrovernment, the tribes composing this con-
foileracy n'moved from the north and east to the west of the Mississippi. This
c-aused'sunie denvn^enient in our intercourse with each other; caused an inter-
ruiition of the usual interchange of friendly messages. Thus matters continued
till the autumn ( October i of 1848, when the members of the league assembled for
the first time in the west and demanded, 'Where is the council fire'? The
kee|H>r promptly responded: 'When I rose from my seat in the east, with my
face to the west, I snatched the only firebrand yet burning in the eouncil-fire
and bnniglit it with me; here, my brethren, I rekindle it in the west. Light the
pipe and scour up my dish and camp-kettle again.'
"At this first session west, all the former arrangements of the league were sol-
emnly renewed, and two other tribes joined us and agreed to incur the responsi-
bilities and abide by the regulations and joint acts of the league, viz., the
Kickapoos and Kansas. It is well known the Sacs and Foxes played an unmanly
|iart on this occasion, and we have had no explanation. The Wyandott being
thus formally reajjpointed the keeper of the council-fire in the west, the obliga-
tion still rests upon him to discharge faithfully those obligations he incurred
when originally invested with this mark of distinction.
''Second, our relations with the United States government. It would seem
from present indications that the present Indian policy is about to undergo an
important and, to us emigrant tribes, vital change. Heretofore the general pol-
icy has been to purchase the domain of the red men little by little, and confining
him to narrower limits, with the view, as the government said, of compelling him,
by the extinction of game, to resort to agricultural and civilized pursuits. This
not working well, or rather it was the excuse, the injurious and demoralizing ef-
fects of being surrounded by a dense white population being so palpable, induced
the government again to change the whole policy to that of colonizing the red
race in a new country west, to be assigned them by the government, and to be
theirs 'as long as grass grows and water runs'; where they could have their
choice of pursuits, either the chase or agriculture, and where they and their de-
.scendants would be free from the trammels of state or territorial laws, and be
governed by their own laws, usages, and customs. And in order to do this the
government threw around the emigrant tribes its strong protecting arm. This
change in its jiolicy took place about twenty-two years ago. The next and pres-
ent apprehended change is that of purchasing of us emigrant tribes the lands
assigned, or rather sold to us, to be our perpetual homes. This presents to us a
new question. If we submissively fall into this new line of policy, what is to be-
come of us? Further west we cannot go — nor indeed to any other point of the
compass, as the government has no more rich-soiled, timbered and watered ter-
ritory on this continent to bestow upon the red man. What are the emigrant
tribes to do? In this exigency the committee would respectfully suggest to the
executive council the propriety of sending the messenger with the wampum to
the tribes composing the confederacy and such other tribes as emigrated from
the east as we may be upon friendly terms with, apprising them of this appre-
hended change, with a view to a consultation upon this propriety of uncovering
the great council-tire, and devising the measures necessary to be adopted in this
new cast."
I have it from Matthias Splitlog and many other old Wyandots, that this
meeting of the tribes was called, but for what purpose I was at a loss to know
until I found this document. This preliminary meeting was held in the Wyandot
council-house some time in May, and that the fixing of the time for the formation
of the provisional government was determined at that time there is little doubt,
although I cannot say that I have found anything positively confirming it. But
that it was resolved to hold a convention for this purpose, in the council-house of
the Wyandots, on the day appointed for the green-corn feast, I have been assured
by a great number of old Wyandots — so many that I have no doubt at all of the
accuracy of their statements in regard to it. I was disappointed in not finding
mention of it in Governer Walker's journal, but he omitted so many important
events that I do not attach importance to his silence on this subject.
In the year isr,:i the green-corn feast was fixed to fall on Tuesday, August 9.
The other emigrant tribes were notified of this intention to form a provisional
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 105
government for Nebraska territory on that day, and asked to send delegates;
and all white men then resident in the territory among the emigrant tribes were
requested to be present and participate in the work. Russell Garrett says these
notices were written. Only such white persons as were then in the service of
the government in the capacity of agents, missionaries, agency farmers, agency
blacksmiths, agency carpenters and licensed Indian traders were permitted to
live in the "Indian territory." I have the assurance of a great number of the
first settlers of Wyandotte county, as well as of the older Wyandots, that Colonel
Benton was advised of this conclusion of the Wyandots, and that he approved
it, if, indeed, he had not urged it.
The fixing of the location of the line of the railroad soon to be built to the
Pacific ocean now became a factor in the movement for a provisional government
for Nebraska territory. Iowa wanted the initial point of this road on her
western border. Missouri, without regard to party or faction, supported the route
proposed by Senator Benton, and insisted that the valley of the Kansas river was
the logical, most central and most practicable way. Ever since the enormous and
phenomenal emigration to California, the initial point of this "great national
highway" proposed by Colonel Benton had been a matter of contention between
the people of Iowa and Missouri, and, to a certain extent, of the country at
large. The North, generally, favored Council Bluffs as the starting-point, and
insisted that the valley of the Platte was the route of greatest utility, from a
national standpoint. The South contended that the mouth of the Kansas river
was the better location from which to start. The controversy followed the old
line drawn between the North and South by the question of the extension of
slavery. From the time of the introduction of Colonel Benton's bill this matter
was one of general discussion, and opposing forces were seeking to fix the line of
the road where it would best subserve their interest. ^o
A meeting in the interest of the Missouri or central route was appointed to be
held on July 26, 1853, in that part of the "Indian country" immediately west of
Missouri. The Benton democracy and their adherents in the Indian territory or
"Nebraska," for some reason, unknown as yet, determined to hasten the matter
of organizing the provisional government, and to form it at this meeting in the
interest of the "central route."
The determination to organize the provisional government of Nebraska at the
convention in the interest of the "central route" made it necessary that this
meeting should be held in the council-house of the Wyandots. Abelard Guthrie
was, perhaps, the only Wyandot notified in advance of this change in the pro-
gram. Governor Walker, in his notes, says: "In the summer of 1853 a ter-
ritorial convention was held pursuant to previous notice to be held in Wyandot.
The convention met on the 26th of July ." This statement does not say that
the notice was that the convention should meet on the 26th of July. In Governor
Walker's entry in his journal, describing the convention and its proceedings, he
states that he did not attend this meeting until noon, and then only after he had,
Cincinnatus-like, been sent for. It is more than probable that he did not know
of the change in the order of events until he arrived at the council-house. The
series of resolutions adopted by the convention bears only one resolution in his
handwriting. And, again, it was not his intention to accept any office in the
provisional government. Public office had no attractions for him. He intended
that one of his brothers, Matthew R. Walker or Joel Walker, both splendid busi-
10. See the statement of Hadley D. Johnson, in vol. 2, p. 85, and following, in the "Trans-
actions and Heports of the Nebraska State Historical Society."
—7
lOG KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ness men and possossinp fine executive ability, and several years younger than
himself, should be selected as the provisional governor.
Among the delegates to the convention were the following persons: William
Walker, Russell Garrett," Silas Armstrong, W. F. Dyer,!^ Isaac Munday,!'' James
Fiudley,'* Grover,'' William Gilpin"' (afterwards governor of Colorado),
Thomas' Johnson, Cieorge I. Clark,'' Joel Walker,"^ Charles B. Garrett,i9 Joel
Walker (iarrett,-"" Matthias Splitlog,^' Tauromee, Abelard Guthrie, Matthew R.
Walker,-'- Francis A. Hicks, John W. Greyeyes, Irvin P. Long, H. C. Long,
Captiin Hull head,-' Baptiste Peoria,2nhe Blue-jackets,^' and other Shawnees.
The only written account of the convention and its proceedings which I have
been able to find is that in Governor Walker's journal, and which is as follows:
"Monday, July 25, 1853. Cool and cloudy morning. Resumed cutting my
grass. Warm through the day. Sent Harriet to Kansas for some medicines for
Mr. ('., who has every other day a chill. In the evening three gentlemen rode up
and in.iuirod if W. W. resided here. Upon being assured in the affirmative, they
stated thev wished to stay all night. I sent them to C. B. G.'s. They said they
were delegates to the railroad meeting in Nebraska on the 26th instant. I would
gladly have entertained them, but owning to family sickness I was compelled to
send them where I did.
"Tuesday, July 20, ISo."^. Very cool and clear. Went over to C. B. G's and
got my scythe ground. Warm day.
"On yesterday morning One-hundred- snakes Standing Stone died of mania-
a-potu.
"At noon a messenger was sent for me to attend the railroad convention. I
saddled my horse and rode up to the Wyandot council-house, where I found a,
large collection of the /lahifnns of Nebraska.
"The meeting was called to order, and organized by the appointment of Wm.
P. Birney,-"of Delaware, president, and Wm. Walker secretary. A committee
was then appointed to prepare resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting.
James Findley, Dyer and Silas Armstrong were appointed.
" In accordance with the resolutions adopted, the following officers were elected
as a i)rovisional government for the territory : For provisional governor, Wm.
Walker: secretary of the territory, G. I. Clark; councilmen, R. C. Miller, Isaac
Munday, and M. R. Walker.
"Resolutions were adopted expressive of the convention's preference of the
'great central railroad route.'
"A. Guthrie, late delegate, was nominated as the candidate for reelection.
Adjourned."
The resolutions adopted by the convention served the provisional government
of Nebraska territory as a constitution. An election was held according to its
provisions. These resolutions are copied from the original document now in my
collection. It was given to me by Mrs. Margaret Pipe, a Wyandot, now living
on the Wyandot reserve in the Indian territory. When in the Indian territory.
Governor Walker spent much of his time at the home of Irvin P, Long. As he
had given up housekeeping and had no permanent home, he carried all his im-
portant papers with him to the Wyandot reserve. He gave Mr, Long this and
many other papers. A short time before his death Governor Walker went to Ohio
to deliver a series of lectures, and took many of his papers with him. He let
some one there have some of them for the purpose of having them copied, but
none of them were ever returned to him. I feel very confident that this person
was a Mr, George W, Hill. Governor Walker died at the home of Mr. Henry
Mrs. Smalley writes me that after his death some one representing a historical
11 to a. See notes, on page 110, et aeq.
26. WiLMAM P. BiRNEY Was an Indian traderat Delaware, in the Delaware reserve, I liave
tx'on able to loarn but littk> of him. He remained in Wyandotte county at least until the com-
mr-ncomcnt of th«> war. He is frequently mentioned in Abelard Guthrie's journals, and on the
11 or January, \m), is mentioned as one of tlie persons owning property in Quindaro City. He
y have lived there at that time, >= ^ f ^ -v
ma
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 107
Smalley, in Kansas City, Mo. Mr. Smalley lives now in Springfield, Mo., and
society came and got some of his books and papers. So, to the present time,
these invaluable papers remain scattered abroad.
Mr. H. M. Northrup and Nicholas McAlpine both told me that the mice de-
stroyed many of his papers, including his history of the Wyandots. I searched
for this paper unsuccessfully for many years. I looked through hundreds of re-
ceptacles for old papers in the public offices of Wyandotte county, Kansas, in the
hope of finding it. I continued the search in the Indian territory. Mrs. Pipe
cared for Mr. Long's household during the last years of his life, and her daughter
was adopted by him and made his heir by will. She lives in the old Long home-
stead, where I visited her and secured this paper. She did not know the his-
torical value of these papers, and in house cleaning burned large quantities of
them as useless rubbish, so she said.
This is the first state paper of Kansas and Nebraska, and is as follows:
THE PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTIONS.
"Whereas it appears to be the will of the people of the United States that
the Mississippi Valley and Pacific Ocean shall be connected by rail-road to be
built at the national expense and for the national benefit; it becomes the duty of
the people to make known their will in relation to the location of said road and
the means to be employed in its construction. In selecting a route ' the greatest
good to the greatest number' should be the first consideration and economy in
the construction, and in protecting the road should be the second
In estimating 'the greatest good to the greatest number,' present population
alone should not govern, but the capability of the regions to be traversed by the
road, for sustaining population should be considered
Economy in the construction will be best secured by the cultivation of a pro-
ductive soil, where materials for the road exist, along and contiguous to the line
of road whereby provisions, labor and materials can be obtained at low rates.
Then the farmers with their teeming fields will ever be in advance of the railroad
laborer to furnish him with abundance of wholesome food at prices which free
competition always reduces to a reasonable standard. At the same time they
will be a defense to the work and the workman against savage malice without
the expense of keeping up armies and military posts. These too will be the
surest and safest protectors of the road when finished and without expense to
the Government. But should the road be constructed through barren wastes
and arid mountains and upon the frontier of a foreign and jealous and hostile
people an immense and expensive military power must be erected to protect it—
a power ever dangerous to freedom and desirable only to despots. In view of
these facts therefore be it
Resolved That from personal knowledge of the country and from reliable
information derived from those who have traveled over it we feel entire confidence
in the eligibility of the Central Route as embracing within itself all the ad-
vantages and affording all the facilities necessary to the successful prosecution
of this great enterprise.
Resolved That grants of large bodies of the public lands to corporate com-
panies for the purpose of building railroads, telegraph lines or for any purpose
whatever are detrimental to the public interests, that they prevent settlement,
are oppressive and unjust to the pioneer settler and retard the growth and pros-
perity of the country in which they lie.
Resolved That we cordially approve of the plan for the construction of a
railroad to connect the Mississippi valley and Pacific Ocean recently submitted to
the public by the Hon. Thomas H. Benton whereby the settlement and prosperity
of the vast country between Missouri and California will be promoted and the
construction of that great work be rendered much cheaper, more expeditious,
and more universally useful.
Resolved That it was with profound regret that we heard of the failure of
the bill to organize a government for Nebraska Territory ; that justice and sound
policy alike demand the consummation of this measure and we therefore respect-
fully but earnestly recommend it to the favorable consideration of Congress and
ask for it the earliest jjossible passage.
Resolved That the people of Nebraska cherish a profound sense of obligation
103 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
to lion Thomas H. Benton and to Hon. Willard P. Hall of Missouri for their
conerous and j.atriotic oxortious in support of the rights and interests of our
territory and that we hereby express to them our grateful acknowledgements.
Whkkkah it is a fundamental principle in the theory and practice of our gov-
ornmrnt that there shall be no taxation without representation and the citizens
of Nebra-^ka being subject to the same laws for the collection of revenue for the
supiK'rl "f government as other citizens of the United States it is but right that
they shall be represented in Congress, therefore be it . ,^ .
Brsulvrd That the citizens of Nebraska Territory will meet in their respective
precincts on the second Tuesday of October next and elect one delegate to repre-
sent them in the thirty third Congress. . . , ^
Eesolvrd That this Convention do appoint a provisional Crovernor, a provi-
sional Secretary of State and a Council of three persons, and that all election re-
turns shall be made to the Secretary of State and be by him opened and the votes
counted in the presence of the Governor and Council on the second Tuesday of
November next and that a certificate of election shall be issued by them to the
person having the largest number of votes.
Resolved that while we earnestly desire to see this territory organized, and
become the home of the white man, we as earnestly disclaim all intention or de-
sire to infringe upon the rights of the Indians holding lands within the bounda-
ries of said territory .
Resolved That the people of Nebraska Territory are not unmindful of the serv-
ices rendered by our late delegate in Congress the Hon Abelard Guthrie, and we
hereby tender him our sincere thanks and profound gratitude for the same
Resolved that this Convention nominate a suitable person to represent Ne-
braska Territory in the 33d Congress
Resolved that Editors of Newspapers throughout the country favorable to
the Organization of Nebraska Territory and to the Central Route, to the Pacific
Ocean are requested to publish the proceedings of the Convention
Resolved That the Editors of newspapers throughout the country who are
favorable to the organization of Nebraska Territory and to the Central Route to
the Pacific Ocean are requested to publish the proceedings of this Convention."
Indorsed on the back are these words:
"Preamble and resolutions to be submitted to the Nebraska Convention to
meet on the 26th July 1853"
No boundaries were fixed for the territory for which the provisional govern-
ment was organized, but the language of the resolutions makes it plain that it
was the territory as defined by the Hall and Richardson bills.
Each faction of the Missouri democracy determined to secure the delegate to
be elected in the following October. The Price-Atchison faction had a tre-
mendous advantage in this contest, in that they controlled the patronage of the
Indian bureau of the department of the interior, while Mr. Guthrie, Benton's
representative, could only depend upon his own personal efforts and the personal
efforts of his friends.
Handbills were printed containing the record of the proceedings of the con-
vention. These were distributed, and were copied into the newspapers of Mis-
souri. We find the following entry in Governor Walker's journal:
"Thursday, July 28, 1853. A. Guthrie called upon and dined with us to-day.
Received the printed proceedings of the Nebraska territorial convention. Great
credit is due the proprietors of the Industrial Luminary , in Parkville, for their
promptitude in publishing the proceedings in handbills in so short a time."
Governor Walker mentions the issuance of the proclamation for the election
of a delegate as follows:
"Saturday, July .30, 1853. Well, by action of the convention of Tuesday last
I was elected provisional governor of this territory. The first executive act de-
volving on me is to issue a proclamation ordering an election to be held in the
different precincts of one delegate to the thirty-third congress.
"Monday, August 1, 1853- Issued my proclamation for holding an election in
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 109
the different precincts in the territory on the second Tuesday in October, for one
delegate to the thirty-third congress."
This proclamation was printed and distributed throughout the territory, and
in all probability it was printed in most of the newspapers of Missouri. Their
preparation for distribution is mentioned by Grovernor Walker:
"Monday, August 8, 1853. Geo. I. Clark, secretary of the territory, called
this morning and delivered the printed proclamation (200 copies) for circulation."
The provisional government had hoped that no candidate would be put for-
ward to stand for election against the regular nominee of the territorial conven-
tion. While the leaders of the Price-Atchison democracy of Missouri had
opposed the organization of a provisional government, and believed that the
slave power could prevent the admission of Nebraska territory and the recogni-
tion of its provisional government, it still believed it best to participate in the
election for delegate to congress. A strong man in thorough sympathy with the
extremists of the slave power of the South was sought for and found, in the person
of Rev. Thomas Johnson, missionary of the M. E. church south to the Shaw-
nees. Mr. Johnson resided near Westport, Mo., in the Shawnee country. The
Shawnee and Kickapoo tribes are closely related by blood, and Mr. Johnson's
nomination was made in the country of the latter tribe. Governor Walker, says :
"A few days after the adjournment of this convention another, rather informally,
was called at Kickapoo, at which Mr. Johnson was nominated as candidate for
delegate. The latter then yielded to the wishes of his friends and became a can-
date in opposition to the regular nominee."
Having secured a strong candidate, the Price-Atchison democracy brought to
bear every influence at their command to secure his election. The commissioner
of Indian affairs came to the territory, where he remained more than a month to
personally influence the emigrant tribes (and perhaps the other tribes) to vote
for Mr. Johnson. Governor Walker leaves us enough evidence to confirm this :
"Tuesday, September 6, 1853. Mr. Commissioner Manypenny came over in
company with Rev. Thos. Johnson to pay the Wyandots a visit. The council be-
ing in session, I introduced him to the council, to which body he made a short adr
dress.
"Thursday, October 6, 1853. Received a letter from Major Robinson inform-
ing me that Commissioner Manypenny wished to have an interview with the coun-
cil to-morrow.
"Friday, October 7, 1853. Attended a council called by the commissioner of
Indian affairs. Speeches were passed between the parties on the subject of the
territorial organization, [and] selling out to the government.
"Tuesday, October 11, 1853. Attended the election for delegate to congress,
for Wyandott precinct. Fifty-one votes only were polled. A. Guthrie, 33; Tom,
Johnson, 18. The priesthood of the M. E. church made unusual exertions to ob-
tain a majority for their holy brother. Amidst the exertions of their obsequious
tools it was apparent it was an up-hill piece of business in Wyandott.
"Monday, October 31, 1853. I suppose we may safely set down Thomas
Johnson's election for delegate as certain. It is not at all surprising, when we
look at the fearful odds between the opposing candidates. Mr. Guthrie had only
his personal friends to support him with their votes and influence, while the
former had the whole power of the federal government, the presence and active
support of the commissioner of Indian affairs, the military, the Indian agents,
missionaries, Indian traders, etc. — a combined power that is irresistible."
The territorial council canvassed the returns of the election at the Wyandot
council-house November 7, 1853, and issued a certificate of election to Mr. John-
son on November 8. Governor Walker notes these transactions in his journal :
"Monday, November 7, 1853. Attended at the council-house at an early
hour, though in poor health. The territorial council, secretary and governor
110 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
then i)root'pded tx3 ^iien the roturns of the territorial election. After canvassing
tho returns, it appeared that Thomas Johnson had received the highest number
of votes and was declared elected deleerate to the thirty-third congress.
"Tuesday, November 8, 185.3. J. W. Garrett, deputy secretary, attended at
my hou.se, aiid we issiii'd the certificate of election to Thomas Johnston, dele-
gate elect to the thirty-third congress."
The Wyandots felt outraged by the action of the commissioner of Indian
affairs, but as their interests were so largely in his hands they could do nothing
else than submit without protest, and this they all did, except Mr. Guthrie. He
filed a conte.st for the .seat of delegate, and vigorously attacked the commissioner
of Indian affairs in the public prints. He spent a portion of the winter in Wash-
ington, and labored for the organization of Nebraska territory until he was con-
vinced that the slave power would organize two territories and endeavor to make
one slave and permit the other to come in free,
THE RESULTS OF THIS MOVEMENT.
Abelard Guthrie declared that Kansas was the arbiter of the destinies of the
republic. At the time of the adoption of our constitution slavery was not mo-
lested, but was suffered to remain one of the institutions of a government set up
for the liberty and perfect freedom of mankind. But even at that time the
principles and theories of the Puritan and the Cavalier were antagonistic on this
point. Who could have conceived that the spark to ignite the fires destined to
burn away this foul Vmrrier to perfect liberty was to be struck out by a people
who were, at the time of the formation of our government, pagan savages; and
that this should transpire in a land which was at the same time no part of our
common country? Yet such is the potency of our institutions that in less than
three-quarters of a century this remote possibility became a remarkable fact.
He would be rash indeed who declared that this movement was the cause of
the rebellion ; but that the organization of the provisional government for Ne-
braska territory was the immediate cause, the precipitating event, of the passage
of the Kansas-Nebra.ska bill, the repeal of the Missouri compromise, the pro-
slavery and free-state conflict in Kansas, and, finally, the war of the rebellion, I
believe capable of demonstration beyond doubt or question.
The Wyandots, as the head of the Northwestern Confederacy of Indian Tribes,
moved for this provisional government for Nebraska territory. This antagonized
the plans of the slave power for that country. This premonitory movement in-
augurated at the mouth of the Kansas river gathered strength. It raised its
head in Washington, and its voice was heard in the halls of congress. It became
formidable through the circumstances enumerated herein. It forced the con-
flict. The slave power mustered every resource for the final struggle, which it
foresaw must be a desperate one, for its existence. But it foresaw, also, that if it
retained an existence it could thenceforth dominate the nation. Its first aggress-
ive act in opposition to this movement was the introduction of the Kansas-Ne-
braska bill. The second was the repeal of the Missouri compromise. At this
stage the conflict became national; and the little band at the mouth of the Kan-
sas who.se action itrecipitated the struggle had nothing to say in its settlement
until it came to open blows and became a question of the life of the nation.
NOTES.
II. Hlhhkll Oarhktt is tho son of Charles B. Garrett and the nephew of Governor Walker.
Ho liTtiH in Vt-ntura, Cal., and is tiie only delesate to the convention known to be now living.
Ho wrote out Ins recollections of tlie convention for me.
11 **'*■ }\' ^•, .^'^KR " lived and kept a store on Grasshopper river at the military crossing, on
the road loadinR from l-ort Leavenworth to Fort Riley," Russell Garrett writes me. He was
arterwanlHcouuty treasurer of Jefferson county, Kansas. See " Kansas Historical Collections,"
vol. J, p. dub.
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. Ill
13. Isaac Munday was a blacksmith for the Delawares and lived at the "Delaware Cross-
ing." This was the point where the military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Scott crossed
the Kansas river. This was only a very short distance above the point where the southwest cor-
ner of the " Wyandot Purchase" was fixed on the Kansas river. His house is marked on one of
the old maps of the " Wyandot Purchase," although it was on Delaware land. Russell Garrett
says: "I remember Isaac Munday very well. He was a blacksmith for the Delawares. He
iad a shop and lived at what was called, at that time, the military ferry. It crossed the Kan-
sas river on the military road leading from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Scott. He lived in West-
port, Mo., before he was appointed blacksmith for the Delawares. I now remember that he was
a delegate to the convention. I do not remember where he went to when the Delawares got
through with him, if I ever heard."
1-4. James Findley was an Indian trader at that time and lived at the "Delaware Cross-
ing." He traded with the Delaware and Shawnees. I have this information from many persons
yet living in the Indian territory, and from Maj. John G. Pratt. Russell Garrett says: "James
Findley lived at the military ferry. He was an Indian trader. He kept a variety store and
traded with the Delawares. He lived there with his family, as did Munday, the blacksmith."
15. Geovee was the son of a missionary to the Delawares. I do not know certainly his
given name. He was either D. A. N. Grover or Charles H. Grover. These were brothers, sons of
a missionary from some church in Kentucky to the Delawares. They were both in the council
of the legislature of 1855, D. A. N. as a member, and Charles H. as assistant clerk. From the
quotations from their speeches given by Wilder, I should think that Charles H. was with the
Delawares at the time, and if he was, he is the one tbat attended this convention. They were
lawyers. I find this in Russell Garrett's letter to me : " I knew a Mr. Grover, and he was there,
but I do not know where he lived or what he did. But his father was a missionary among the
Indians, and was shifted around from pillar to post, so I cannot tell where he lived at that
time. It may be that his son lived with him. I do not remember where they went to."
16. William Gilpin was at that time editor of some newspaper published at Independ-
ence, Mo., or if not editor, then in some way connected with it. He addressed the convention;
so says Mr. Garrett.
17. George I. Claek was the son of Clark who married Brown, daughter of Adam
Brown, the adopted white man who was chief of the Wyandotts, and who purchased William
Walker, sr., from tUe Delawares. George I. Clark was born .June 10, 1802. He was a man of in-
fluence in the Wyandot nation, and was elected head chief. He was a good man. Abelard
Guthrie says in his journal : "I mourn his loss with tears — the first that have moistened my eyes
for years." He belonged to that faction of his people that favored the old church and opposed
slavery. He and J. M. Armstrong maintained that slavery
was foreign to ancient Wyandot custom and usage. They
said, with entire truth, that any member of the tribe must [Square and compasses.]
necessarily be as free as any other member of it; that the geobge i. claek
tribe in ancient times either killed or adopted all prisoners head chief of the
of war. If adopted, they were entitled to all privileges wyandott nation
of those born into the tribe. He and the wife of Abelard bokn
Outhrie were cousins, and he seems uniformly to hare sup- .june 10 1802
ported Guthrie. He married Catherine . They had three died
children, Richard W., Harriet W., and Mary J. They are jcne 25 18.58
buried in Huron Place cemetery, in Kansas City, Kan. The aged 56 yes
following is copied from the stone at the head of George I. 7 mo 8 Ds.
Olark's grave :
18. Joel Walker was a brother of Governor Walker. He was born in Canada West. The
three dates of his birth which I have found are all diilerent. In the family Bible of his father
the date is July 1", 1813. In Governor Walker's journal the date is February 18, 1813. On his
monument it is February 17,1813. His Indian name was W'a-wahs ( Way-wahs), and means
"lost turtle," or "turtle in a lost place," and was given to commemorate the manner of his
birth, which was on this wise: His mother, Catherine Walker, like all her maternal ancestors,
"was familiar with the languages of many of the tribes of the Northwest, and had very great in-
fluence with them. Her presence was required at many of the councils of consequence.
At one time she was sent for to act as interpreter in an important meeting, which would
determine some question for some tribe relating to the war of 1812. Her period of
maternity was fulfilled, or nearly so, and she objected to the journey to the meeting. But
as the council could not proceed without her, the warriors procured a wagon and team, and,
having bundled her into this rough conveyance, started away in the darkness, over rough roads.
In the black darkness of the cloudy night the horses left the way, and they were soon driving
aimlessly about through the dark woods. The result was as she had feared. She was seized
with parturient pains, and a son was born to her while she was lost in the forest. His name
was to keep this event in memory.
When Wyandott City (now Kansas City, Kan.) was laid out, a street was named Wawas, for
Joel Walker. Some years ago a city council, wholly ignorant of the city's history and the his-
tory of its founders, changed the name of the street to Freeman avenue, because Mr. Winfield
Freeman built a fine residence on it. The old name should be restored.
Joel Walker was married to Mary Ann Ladd (born July 1, 1819, died January 8, 1886) in Frank-
lin county, Ohio, May 19, 1844. Their children were: Florence, born March 20, 1845, died October
6, 1845; Maria W., born June 17, 1847, died February 26, 1891 ; Justin, born April 6, 1849; Ida E.,
born February 22, 1851, died February 16, 1866; Everett, born
August 27, 1853, died March 30, 1888. Only Maria W. was
married. She was married to Nicholas McAlpine (born in in
County Down, Ireland, April 5, 1835) June 21, 1866. Their memoriam
children are: Robert L., born May 8, 1867; Jessie S., born joel walker
July 19, 1874; Mary A., born January 24, 1882; John W., born boen in Canada west
June 30, 1887. fee 17, 1813
On the monument over his grave in the old Huron Place died in wyandott Kansas
cemetery, Kansas City, Kan., is the following: sept 8 1857.
112 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
I
10 RU88KLL B. Garrett sends me the following biographical sketch of his father:
•• siy fathor Chiirlos B. Garrott, was born in Greenbrier county, [now] West Virginia, Octo-
b«r-'S I " 7<.4 His fatli.-r's name was William Garrott. His motlier's name was Winnaford
B^.ui Garr-tt His father was a farmer: all my father's earliest days were spent on a farm.
Ho "c.-iv"l a g..,,,l c.M.nu.n-school education. When he was not more than seventeen years old
ho caught tl... WesU-rn fovcr, and he and several young men of his acquaintance formed a httle
com?, n a. 1 marche.i to Vinconnes and joined Gov. William Honry Harrison, who was at that
t h . gover , r of the northwestern territory, comprising Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Ohio
had boon ma.lo a stat*^ onlv a short time before. The three first named composed what was then
r 1 lo t lo In.iian territory. Harrison was made governor of this latter territory. As governor
1... wa< also appointed Indian agent, with his headquarters at Vincennes.. And it was here t^at.
tlio little baud of bravo and determined 'little boys,' you might say, joined him and marched
with him to the Tocumseh war. Those boys took part in that ever-t^-be-remembered battle of
Tii.pocan.M", in .November, 1811. The following year Governor Harrison was made commander
of all the forces of the Northwest ( in November or September). He at once began preparing to
recapture Detroit, which General Hull had surrendered to the British. , „ . ,
•• Mv father stayed with General Harrison's command, doing good work. He was in where-
ever and whenever there was fighting to do. Ho was neither wounded nor sick while in the
service and there was plenty of hard fighting done. He was with General Harrison when he
embarked on Commodore Perry's ships to cross the lakes to the Canada shore, in pursuit of
(ienoral Proctor and Tecumseh, who had gone to the valley of the Thames. On the 2d of Octo-
ber 1S13 the Americans began their march in pursuit of General Proctor, whom they overtook
in the valley of the Thames river. The battle was brief. The victory of the Americans was
complete. . , T,. . . ^ 1 . i I J
"After the battle of the Thames my father returned to Virginia. On his return he passed
through the beautiful couutrv in eastern Ohio. He was met with open arms by his parents and
friends and made much of. He did not remain very long at home. He became restless and soon
boiran to plan to return to Ohio. About 1816 he, with several families and friends, formed, near
Williamsburg, Greenbrier county, the county. seat, a little colony, and moved to Ross county,
Ohio. 'There father married Miss Kitti(^ Ann White, August 29, 1818. Her father was one of the
pioneers of Ross county, and one of the families who moved from Greenbrier county, Virginia,
to Ohio. He was a captain in the revolutionary army and a brother-in-law of President Mon-
roe, he having married Monroe's sister, and mv father's first wife was a niece of President Mon-
roe. By this marriage there were born three children, Amanda, William, and Wesley. The first
two wero born in Ross county, Ohio, the youngest in Crawford county, Ohio, my father and sev-
eral other families having pushed on farther west, where the prospect of getting more and bet-
ter land was good. His son Wesley was born September 26, 1823. A few days later his wife died
of puerperal fever and was buried in Crawford county, Ohio.
•• The familv record in the Bible says that Charles B. Garrett and Miss Maria R. Walker
were married October 31, A. u. 1826, at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. My mother was the daughter of
William Walker, sr., and Catherine (Raukin) Walker, his wife, and the youngest sister of the
late William Walker, jr. She was born near Detroit August 9, 1807, and being the daughter of
Catherine (Rankin) Walker made her what is called a quarter-blood Wyandot Indian. It was
through my mother that mv father became a Wyandot Indian. After his marriage to her he
was regularly adopted by the Wyandots with all the pomp of ceremony of adoption of those
early days, at Upper Sandusky, Wyandot county, Ohio, then Crawford county, Ohio. From
that day to this he was always recognized as a member of the W.vandot tribe of Indians by all
ac<iuainted with him. All his business and social interests were identified with theirs.
" When the Wyandots sold out their lands in Ohio and came west to settle on their lands at
the mouth of the Kansas river he concluded to move with them, and did so, although he was
doing a good business there in carding and fulling mills and farming, near what is known as
Little Wyandot, in Wyandot county, Ohio. In 1843 the Wyandots landed at what was then
known as Westport Landing, now Kansas City, Mo. They took up their residence at Westport
till they could build their houses in their new homes, he among the rest. He lived but a short
time in Westport, but was interested in what was the Wyandot company store.
" My father built his cabin on Jersey creek, close to where the Northwestern railroad track
crosses Seventh street. Here he spent most of his life, with but little to vary it. However, in 1849
he took a gold fever and formed a company of Wyandots and whites and went overland to Cali-
fornia to dig gold. They were about six months on the way. They found plenty of gold on the
north fork of Feather river, but minin,' did not agree with him. He took what was called
mountain fever and was very sick. I was with him on this trip, and with others of the party
saw that he was a very sick man. We advised and persuaded till we got him to consent to be
t.'ikeii homo. ^ We took him by easy stages to San Francisco, where we embarked on a barque
forborne.^ We camo on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to New Orleans. We landed in New
Orleans, February 1, 1852, and remained there until the ice melted out of the Mississippi in the
Hpriug of 18.12. With the exception of one move to Westport and back, he spent all the latter
part of his life on the farm on Jersey crook, where his life was quiet and peaceful.
" He died at the age of seventy-three years one month and eleven days, of dropsy, on Decem-
ber 2, 1867, at my house, on corner of Fourth street and Nebraska avenue, in what was then
called Breviilore House. His wife, my mother, died a few years before. She also died at my
house. May 30, 1866, in the fifty-eighth year of her age, from abscess of the liver.
" I am the only child left of both families. Wesley, the son of his first marriage, died at or
near Locompton, on January 6, 1894, of la grippe. His wife, Sarah (Spurlock) Garrett, died of
la grippe December 18, 1893, at Lecompton. They leave three daughters, all married and living
in and around Lecompton, Kan. Amanda Roseberry, his oldest daughter, died at Bucyrus,
Ohio, in IKt.V of blood-poisoning. She leaves four daughters, all married and living in Ohio.
The wife of William Garrett, my half-brother, is still living, or was when I heard from her.
After my brother died she married James Zane and moved to the Indian territory, to the new
purchase under the treaty of 1865."
2«. Joel Walker Garrett was the son of George Garrett, who died February 17,1846,
aged forty-six years. George Garrett was the brother of Charles B. Garrett. He married Nancy
Walker, a sister of Governor Walker. Joel Walker Garrett was their first child. He was born
June IK, ivifi He married Jennie Ayres. Their daughter Nina lives vet in Kansas City, Kan.
bhe married Mr. Charles Trantam. Joel Walker Garrett was appointed deputy secretary of
Btate for Nebraska territory, and seems to have performed most of the labor attached to the
secretary s ollice. He died August 25, 1862.
FIRST PROVISIONAL CONSTITUTION OF KANSAS. 113
21. Matthias Splitlog was a Cayuga-Seneca by desceut, his ancestors having been from
each of those tribes. His immediate ancestors married into the Wyandots, and furnished them
some of tlieir bravest warriors and chiefs. He was born in Canada in 1816, he has often told me.
He married Eliza Charloe, a Wyandot, and came west with the Wyandot nation. His home was
in what is now Connelley's addition to. Kansas City, Kan. Here, at an early day, he built a
horse mill for grinding corn, but was of so eccentric disposition that he often refused to grind.
He had a large family of children, and much land was allotted to him for them when the Wyan-
dots accepted their lands in severalty. These lands increased enormously in value and made
him the famous "millionaire Indian." Unprincipled white men swindled him out of much of
his money. He built and equipped a railroad from Neosho, Mo., to the Arkansas state line.
This road is now a part of the Pittsburg & Gulf main line. He was an ingenious man. and could
copy and construct almost any piece of machinery that he had an opportunity to thoroughly ex-
amine. It was by taking advantage of his love for machinery that scoundrels interested him in
schemes for the purpose of robbing him. He made his home in the Seneca country when the
Wyandots moved to the Indian territory. Here he erected a fine church building and a good
dwelling. He died there late in 1896.
22. Matthew R. Walker was a brother of Governor Walker. He was born June 17, 1810.
He belonged to the Big Turtle clan of the Wyandot tribe. His Indian name was Rah-hahn-tah-
seh. It means "twisting the forest," ?. c, as the wind twists the forest, and it refers to the wil-
lows and reeds along the streams as they are swayed by the breezes. He was one of the leading
business men of the Wyandot nation. Before the Wyandots removed from their home at Upper
Sandusky he made a trip from Ohio to the Senecas and to the Delawares and Shawnees, for the
purpose of selecting a home in the West for his tribe. This was in 1841. Governor Walker had
visited the country about the mouth of the Kansas river in 1833 (some say in 1831). On the re-
ports of these and some others of the tribe, the Wyandots came to what is now Wyandotte
county, Kansas, when they removed west. Matthew R. Walker lived on the banks of the Mis-
souri wliere the mansion of George Fowler now stands, in Kansas City, Kan. He married Lydia
B. Ladd. One of their daughters is Mrs. Lillian Walker Hale, the well-known writer, who now
lives in Kansas City, Kan.
The first communication of a Masonic lodge in what is now Kansas was held in Matthew R.
Walker's home, and Mrs. Walker acted as the tyler, there being not enough Masons present to
fill the official places. The meeting was an informal one, and these informal meetings were
continued up to July, 1854, no Masonic labor being performed or attempted in them. In July,
1854, a warrant was obtained from the Grand- Lodge of Missouri authorizing J. M. Chivington,
W. M., M. R. Walker, S. W., and Cyrus Garrett, J. W., to meet and work U. D. V. J. Lane says
the first meeting under this dispensation was held August 11, a. l. 5854, and a lodge of Masons
U. D. was duly organized. The officers of the lodge were installed by Brother Piper, D. G. M. of
Missouri.
In May, A. L. 5855, a charter was granted from the Grand Lodge of Missouri to M. R.Walker,
W. M., Russell Garrett, S. W., and Cyrus Garrett, J. W., authorizing them to meet and work
under the name of Kansas Lodge No. 153, A. F. & A. M. The first meeting under this charter
was held July 27, a. l. 58.55. On the 27th of December, A. l. 5855, a meeting of the lodges of the
territory of Kansas was held in Leavenworth city, at which Wyandotte, Smithton and Leaven-
worth lodges were represented. At this meeting the Grand Lodge of Kansas was organized.
Matthew R. Walker was an officer of the Grand Lodge. In the by-laws of Wyandotte Lodge
No. 3, A. F. & A.M., of Kansas City, Kan. (the oldest lodge in the state), is the following:
WYANDOTTE LODGE NO. 3,
IN MEMORIAM.
MATTHEW R. WALKER, P. M. & P. S. G. W.,
OCT. 15, I860.
Matthew R. Walker was probate judge of Leavenworth county, Kansas, when it included
what is now Wyandotte county. He is buried in the old Huron Place cemetery, in Kansas City,,
Kan. On the monument over his grave is the following inscription :
M. R. WALKER
BORN
JAN 17 1810
DIED
OCT 14 1860
23. Captain Bdll-head belonged to the Porcupine clan of the Wyandot tribe. He had
two names. The first was Ohn-dooh-toh, the meaning of which is lost. The second name was
Stih-yeh-stah, and means "carrying bark," i. e., as the porcupine carries it in his pocket-like
jaws from the top of the hemlock where he has been feeding. Captain Bull-head was the
gurest in blood of any Wyandot who cume west with the nation, but he was not a full-blood, as
as been supposed. The last full-blood Wyandot was Yah-nyah-meh-deh, clan unknown, who
died in Canada about the year 1820. Captain Bull-head was better informed in the legends and
tribal history of the Wyandots than any other member of his tribe, and Governor Walker often
consulted him on these subjects. He was in Proctor's army in the war of 1812, and always car-
ried a large knife in a brass scabbard, which he swung over his right shoulder and under his
left arm by a brass chain. He died in Wyandott county, Kansas, after the year 1860.
24. Baptiste Peoria was the principal man of the Miami tribe.
25. Charles Blde-jacket was the son of a Shawnee chief of the same name. He was born
in what is now the state of Michigan, on the banks of the river Huron, in 1816. His grandfather
was Weh-yah-pih-ehr-sehn-wah, the famous Shawnee chief who was associated with Mih-shih-
kihn-ah-kwah, or the Little Turtle, the chief of the Miamis, in the battle in which General Har-
mer was defeated by the Northwestern Confederacy of Indians, in 1790. In the battle in which
Wayne defeated the confederacy, Weh-yah-pih-ehr-sehn-wah, or Blue-jacket, or Captain Blue-
jacket, as he was called, commanded the allied Indian forces. The ancestors of the Blue-
jackets were war chiefs, but never village or ciyil chiefs until after the removal of the tribe to
the West. When Charles Blue-jacket was a child his parents moved to the Piqua plains in
Ohio. In 1832 they removed to that part of the Shawnee reservation in the West now in Wyan-
dotte county, Kansas. Here Charles Blue-jacket lived with his tribe. He moved to the Indian
I
111 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
HISTOKY OF NORMAL-SCHOOL WORK IN KANSAS.
A paper by Albeet R. Taylor, read before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-tliird annual meeting, January 17, 1899.
X 182.3 the Rev. S. R. Hall, pastor of a church at Concord, N. H., opened a
l)rivate seminary in that village for the purpose of educating and fitting
teachers to keep school. He also admitted a class of children which served as a
model or practice school. In 1829 his "Lectures on School Keeping," embrac-
ing his talks to his seminary classes, was published and had a wide sale in the
Eastern and Central states. He afterwards established teachers' seminaries at
Andover, in 18."^, and at Plymouth in 18:37. In 1839 the Plymouth seminary had
2.')0 students and was furnishing teachers to nearly all of the towns in that part
of the state. The success of these and similar teachers' schools awakened gen-
eral interest, and many educators and literary men from Maine to South Carolina
assisted in awakening public sentiment to a sense of their value in an educa-
tional system. Edmund D wight offered $10,000 to found a state normal school,
provided Massachusetts would appropriate a like sum. The proposition was
promptly met, and the school was opened in 1839 at Lexington with three pupils,
all women, the regulations providing for admitting women only. In the next
fifteen years less than ten public normal schools were established, but one of
them being west of New York, that of Michigan. Is it any wonder, then, that
when, in 1862, State Superintendent Goodnow suggested that a state normal
school would comfort the people of Emporia, who had failed by one vote to get
the state university, that it is said a prominent legislator wanted to know, in a
blankety blank way, "What is a normal school, anyhow?"
The thrilling incidents accompanying and following the admission of Kansas
into the union delayed but two years the organization of her higher institutions of
learning, and the university system was completed by the establishment of the State
Normal School in the act approved March 3, 1863. The journals of both houses
of the legislature give little information concerning the arguments for and against
the school, though there seems to have been little opposition to any provision of
the act. Representative Eskridge, in the house, and Senator Maxon, in the sen-
ate, easily convinced the members that southern Kansas was entitled to one of
the higher institutions of learning. The university and agricultural-college
grants, from the national government, had been set apart for the endowment of
those institutions. The state had received, under the enabling act of congress,
.seventy-two sections of so called "salt lands," "to be used as the legislature shall
direct." Forty-eight sections of these lands were now " set apart and reserved as
a permanent endowment for the support and maintenance of the Normal School
established and located by this act." The law of 1869 added twelve more sections
to the endowment, and the law of 1886 the remaining twelve sections, making a
total of seventy-two .sections thus sot apart.
The original act provided that all moneys derived from the sale, rent or lease
of these lands should be invested in certain specified stocks or bonds, to consti-
tjTritary in 1871. His lioine was at the town of Blue Jacket, named for him by the Missouri,
Kansas a lexas Kailroad Company. He was chief always after coming to Kansas. He was an
-.skwali-tnh-wiih, and sometimes Ehl-skwah-tah-wah, and was present at his burial in 1836
^ o.l'ioH'T." '"^■.">''"l'' ^Vvaudotte county, Kansas. Mr. Blue-jacket was a Freemason. He was
h 1889 twenty-three children were born to him. His youngest child was born
HISTORY OF NORMAL-SCHOOL WORK IN KANSAS. 115
tute a perpetual fund, the " interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated by
the legislature for the support of the Normal School." It was also provided that
the legislature might modify the act at its pleasure, "but such alteration, amend-
ment or repeal shall not cause a removal of said Normal School, nor operate as a
diversion or diminution of the endowment fund herein provided for."
All of the lands thus granted to the school have been sold, at an average of six
dollars per acre, and the endowment thus provided amounts to about 8270,000.
From it the school has realized as high as $17,000 in interest per annum, though
the low rate of interest has now reduced the income to about §13,000.
The act locating and establishing the school provided for the appointment of
three commissioners to select and approve a site, which the town of Emporia had
agreed to deed to the state. The site was to include a tract of land of not less
than twenty acres. It was not until February, 186J:, that an act was passed pro-
viding for the organization of the school. It placed the management in a board of
nine directors, six to be appointed by the governor, and the governor, secretary of
state, state treasurer and state superintendent of public instruction. That act
provided very fully many interesting details for the government of the board and
the school.
In 1874, however, the legislature enacted a general law providing for the gov-
ernment of each educational institution by a board of seven regents, six of them
to be appointed by the governor, and the seventh to be e.r officio the president
or chancellor. The special law of 1876 limited the number of members in the
board to six, and provided that all should be appointive, and that they should
iold office for four years, half of them being appointed every two years.
Four members of the first board were appointed August 19, 186i, namely: G.
C. Morse, C. V. Eskridge, T. S. Huflfaker, and J. W. Eoberts. David Brockway
and James Rogers were appointed August 19, 1865. There was much urging on
the part of State Superintendent Goodnow and others, but the school was not
opened until February 15, 1865. As no building had been provided by the state,
the city of Emporia offered the use of the upper floor of its handsome new school
building, and there for two years the new institution found a home.
On February 7, 1866, the governor approved the bill appropriating 810,000 for
the erection of a building, with the proviso that it should be regarded as a loan
and shovild be returned to the state treasury from the first sales of land set apart
for the use of the school! A building 40x60, two stories and basement, was
at once erected on the site selected at the head of Commercial street. On Feb-
ruary 19, 1867, another bill was approved, with similar provisions, which set apart
$9000 for finishing and furnishing said building. In February, 1872, the legis-
lature appropriated $50,000 for an additional building, on condition that the city
of Emporia contribute 810,000 toward the erection of the same. This condition
was promptly met, and a handsome new structure was erected a few feet south of
the first building. It was dedicated June 19, 1873, T. Dwight Thacher making
the inaugural address. This beautiful building, along with the other in the rear,
was destroyed by fire, resulting from spontaneous combustion of coal, on October
26, 1878. The city of Emporia again came to the rescue, and at an expense of
$1000 immediately fitted up two buildings for class use. ■
The friends of the school rallied to its support, and in March, 1879, the legis-
lature appropriated $25,000 for a new building, on condition that Emporia and
Lyon county should supplement said appropriation with 820,800 in addition.
Though Emporia had already contributed 812,000 directly to the school, and in
1870 $6000 more to erect Normal School boarding-houses, the heavy requirement
above named, burdensome as it appears, was met by a unanimous vote of both
IIT) KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the city council and the county commissioners. Thus Emporia and Lyon county
were comi)elied to create a bonded indebtedness of nearly $40,000 that proper
buildings inipht be provided and the school continued. The new building rising
out of the ashes of the old was entered by the school on May 11, 1880, all joining
in singing "Hold the Fort!" the same song whose inspiring strains had cheered
them as they sang it, with tears in their eyes, on the morning after the fire. The
first building on the north was remodeled for a boiler-house.
The increase in the attendance necessitated more room, and the legislature of
1887 appropriated 625,000 for a wing on the west, which was ready for occupancy
in February, 1889. Hardly had the new rooms been assigned until it was evident
that still more liberal provision should be made for the school, and the legisla-
ture of 189.3 appropriated 830,000 for a wing on the east end of the main building.
It was completed and dedicated on September 4, 1894. The entire structure is
nearly 300 feet long, is three stories and basement, and contains eighty rooms- —
all admirably adapted to the purposes of the school. It is fitted up with modern
appliances and in a general way is well equipped for its mission. The assembly-
room is probably the finest college hall in the entire West. The site, buildings
and equipments are estimated as worth about $200,000, making the total value of
the plant, including the endowment, about $470,000.
Before turning to the study of the work of the school, I beg permission ta
speak here of the other normal schools organized by the state.
An agitation for more normal schools began in 1869 and has jjeriodically re-
curred at nearly every session of the legislature. On May 3, 1870, what was
known as the Leavenworth Normal School was established. The city furnished
a building and appropriations were regularly made to it until 1876. It was or-
ganized with John Wherrell as president, and in 1874 had about 100 students.
A law approved March 1, 1872, appropriated $2,500 for the support of a normal
.school for colored people in connection with Quindaro University, at Quindaro.
I do not find that any appropriations for the Quindaro normal have been made
since that time. The school appeared to have attracted few students and inter-
est in it was not sufficient to induce further expenditures.
The Concordia Normal School was established in 1874, under conditions similar
to tho.se under which the Leavenworth school was established. E. F. RobinsoQ
was appointed principal for the first year, and ex-State Supt. H. D. McCarty
president at the opening of the second year. The announcement for 1875 showed
eighty-six students for the year.
The miscellaneous appropriation bill for 1876 contained a few items to meet
some old normal-school accounts at Leavenworth, Concordia, and Emporia, and.
the death-sentence of at least two of them, in the following proviso:
" Provided, that these appropriations to the Leavenworth Normal School, the-
Concordia Normal School and Emporia Normal School shall be received in full
for all claims against the state, and that said schools cease to be maintained at
the expense of the state, and that under no circumstances shall the regents of
said institutions incur any liability or create any debt beyond this appropriation;
and the state shall not be liable for any expense in excess of this appropriation:,
ancl that the Leavenworth and Concordia normal schools cease to be state insti-
tutions. '
At the next session of the legislature a strenuous effort was made to reestab-
lish the Concordia school, but the bill was killed in the committee. In 1887 a.
bill providing for a uniform system of normal schools was introduced in the legis-
lature, but it met the same fate.
Returning again to the State Normal School at Emporia, we take up the ad-
ministrative side of its work.
HISTORY OF NORMAL-SCHOOL WORK IN KANSAS. 117
The two men whose faith in the school showed itself in never-tiring work in
the early years were Rev. G. C. Morse and C. V. Eskridge. Both of them
served seven years on the board of regents, and spared no labor to place the
school on a permanent footing. Many of their suggestions, even concerning
details of administration, were adopted, and still remain as characteristic fea-
tures of the school. The former was sent to Normal, 111., to select a principal.
As a result of such negotiation, Prof. L. B. Kellogg, a graduate of the Illinois
Normal University, was placed at the head of the school, and on February 15,
1865, classes were organized, and the school entered on its mission. Eighteen
pupils were present, and the parable of the sower seemed an appropriate read-
ing. Before the year closed the total enrollment had increased to forty-three.
Prof. H. B. Norton, of Illinois, was called as vice-principal later in the year,
and the school assumed very much the same atmosphere as that of the univer-
sity at Normal, after which it was gradually modeling. Probably no men were
ever more happily adapted as yokefellows to give character and enthusiasm to
an institution of learning than these two. The attendance doubled the second
year, and the enrollment for 1870 was 2i3, or about six times as many as for 1865.
The school "was much visited and talked about" in the newspapers; even the
Indians made frequent visits of inspection. On May 2, 1865, a four days' insti-
tute was organized, and thus was laid the foundation of the great institute sys-
tem of Kansas. Professor Norton, after ten years' service in Kansas, accepted a
chair in the San Jose, Cal., State Normal School, where ten more busy and grow-
ing years rounded out a life of wide-spread usefulness. Principal Kellogg re-
signed in June, 1871, and since then he has devoted himself to the practice of
law, holding many honorable positions at the hands of his fellow citizens, among
them those of state senator and attorney-general. He has never lost interest in
the school and has often been of eminent service to it.
He was succeeded by Dr. George W. Hoss, ex-state superintendent of public
instruction of Indiana, a man of fine general culture and of recognized ability
as an educator. The change reduced the attendance a little, but the new build-
ing erected in 1873 added greatly to the attractiveness of the school. Hardly
had Doctor Hoss become acquainted with the field when an oflfer from Indiana
enticed him back to the Hoosier state.
Dr. C. R. Pomeroy, of Iowa, probably the most learned man who has filled
the position, was elected to the vacancy. These changes in the administration
of the institution were accompanied with more or less friction among the faculty
and students, but the attendance in 1875 ran as high as 375. After the legis-
lature withdrew all support from the school in 1876, the board authorized Presi-
dent Pomeroy and such assistants as might desire to do so to continue the school
and charge fees for their salaries. The attendance dropped to 125 in 1877, and
to ninety in 1879. Intense opposition to President Pomeroy developed in the city,
and, though the board unanimously supported him, the trouble became a matter
of state-wide notoriety. A tornado greatly damaged the main building in April,
1878 ; Agent Bancroft embezzled a large sum of money derived from land sales ;
and internal dissensions also bore heavily upon President Pomeroy. The de-
struction of the building by fire in October, hereinbefore mentioned, with charges
and counter-charges of carelessness, forced him at last to resign, at the end of the
school year, June, 1879. The record of these years of self-sacrifice, of misunder-
standing and of final defeat is pitiful enough for tears.
Supt. R. B. Welch, of Illinois, was called in August to the position. Almost
an entire new faculty was appointed. The endowment derived from sales of lands
had begun to bring a little income to the school, the interest for 1879 amount-
118 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
in^r to lO'.Tri.lT, and in 1880 to over 89000, thus enabling the school to employ a
small faculty, and to anticipate greater things in the near future. Thus the
school survived the crisis in spite of the fact that no appropriations were made
for 18SO-'8-2-'8;?, and but a few hundred dollars all told for the running expenses
of the school for the years 1877-'78-'79-'81.
President Welch gave additional prominence to the strictly professional sub-
jects, basing thoin more directly upon psychological laws, and established the
kindergarten training class. He visited many parts of the state, awakening en-
thusiasm and making friends on all sides. The school seemed to be entering
upon a career of great usefulness when, to the surprise of its friends. President
Welch resigned, in the spring of 1882, that he might enter the practice of law.
The present incumbent was invited to fill the vacancy, and entered upon the duties
of his othce in August, 1882. The impetus given to the attendance by President
Welch and his able associates carried the attendance for 188.3 to 452, and there
has been an average increase of about 100 students in the normal department
every year up to the present time. Last year the attendance in the various de-
partments aggregated the sum total of 1957, ninety-three counties and nineteen
states being represented.
The mileage system for students outside a radius of 100 miles, adopted in
1883, has enabled the school to cover the entire state. About 200 students now
receive mileage each year. In 1884 the legislature had the courage to ignore the
proviso in the law of 1871 which said that no appropriations should ever be made
in the future for the school, and set apart over $5000 for repairs and other inci-
dental expenses. Since that time it has been making more liberal appropriations
for similar purposes each year. The legislature of 1898 made an appropriation for
salaries for each of the years 1898-'99 of $28,950, and instructed the regents to
use the interest and fees for departmental and other current expenses. The total
expenditures for the support of the school, including buildings, apparatus, sal-
aries, and endowment, have been about $1,0.50,000.
The school is organized in accord with the most advanced plans for conduct-
ing such institutions. The normal department provides instruction in all branches
which the teachers in the public schools, including high schools, are required to
teach, as well as liberal courses in psychology, child study, school law, philosophy
of education, history of education, school methods, and school management. The
professional branches of course differentiate the school from other higher in-
stitutions of learning, but all of these academic subjects are taught with the
pedagogical side in view, the work in the common branches being particularly
comprehensive and exhaustive. The model school is organized as a typical graded
school, embracing the work from and including the kindergarten to the high
school. It serves as a pedagogical laboratory to the normal department, and is
as essential to it as a chemical laboratory to the department of chemistry. Here
pedagogical principles are exemplified and tested and the student given practice
in the art of managing and teaching children.
Every candidate for graduation is required to spend one hour per day for one
year, or its e(|uivalent, in this school, observing and teaching. The various grades
are under the care of experienced critic teachers, whose friendly counsel and ad-
vice are of incalculable value to the pupil-teachers. The model school was es-
tablished in 1867 and reorganized in 1880. Though it is maintained and used as a
practice school, and a fee of five dollars per term is charged, it frequently hap-
pens that applicants are denied admission for lack of room, showing its high
standing and popularity in a city noted for the excellence of its schools.
Even if desirable, time would not permit a brief sketch of the origin and de-
HISTORY OP NORMAL-SCHOOL WORK IN KANSAS. 119
velopment of the different departments of the school. Suffice it to say that, as
rapidly as the income would permit, they have been established, until now some
seventeen departments are fairly well equipped for their specific work, several of
them equaling those of the best colleges in scope and variety. Three years ago
child study was added to the curriculum and, combined with the work in ele-
mentary psychology and the kindergarten, furnishes a fine basis for the special
training of primary teachers. The department of drawing was established as
early in 1885 and now occupies two handsome and liberally equipped rooms on the
third floor. Last fall the department of manual training was organized and it
has already become a popular feature of our work. The natural-science depart-
ments have grown to such an extent that they now occupy ten rooms, including
laboratories and museums.
No single feature of the school has grown more rapidly than its library. In
1884 there were scarcely 1000 books in the library, everything having gone with
the fire in 1878. Now there are nearly 1-4,000 volumes on the shelves, the average
increase since then being nearly 1000 volumes per year. The books have been
selected with great care, and as a working library it has few superiors. Four
large and well- lighted rooms accommodate the library, and they are usually
crowded with students.
The department of vocal and instrumental music has grown to an equal promi-
nence with the other departments. In 1882 there was but one piano in the build-
ing; now there are fourteen, including the four pianos belonging to the literary
societies and those in use in the gymnasium, kindergarten, and assembly-room.
There are also several claviers bt longing to the department, some of them, as well
as some of the pianos, being the private property of the professor of music.
The work in physical training, for a score of years a popular feature of the
school, has been made a regular department under an expert teacher.
There are now forty instructors in the faculty, including head professors,
associate professors, and assistants, many of them of high standing in state and
nation.
It is difficult to discover in a definite way what any school has done for its
state. Universities and colleges are usually pleased to point to the number of
high officials in state or nation among their graduates, or to the number of
eminently successful business or professional men, as if these were the only or
even the best tests of their efficiency. If a similar test were to be put on the
State Normal School, it would already, though but a third of a century old, be
found rich in men and women occupying high positions in educational and pro-
fessional fields, and even in the business world, though practical business and
party politics are not included in its curriculum.
A glance at the alumni register shows that four of them are professors in state
colleges ; thirteen professors in state normal schools in six different states and
territories, one of them being the principal; one is professor of pedagogy in a
college of good standing ; and several others are professors in good colleges in this
and other states, one of them being at the head of the Mennonite college in this
state, and one at the head of the Mennonite mission school of Manitoba. Grad-
uates and undergraduates are superintendents of four Indian schools, Haskell
Institute and Chillocco, I. T., the most important schools next to Carlisle, being
among them. Twelve of the graduates are assistant teachers in the State Normal
School of Kansas; twenty-six of them occupy important city superintendencies,
including three of the six really first-class cities of the state — Topeka, Leaven-
worth, and Pittsburg. It is worthy of remark here that no other Kansas college
has a representative in these fitet-class-city superintendencies. About 100 are
120 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
principals of third-class-city schools, and about a dozen of ward schools; twenty
are principals of high schools, and forty-two assistant principals and teachers in
high schools. The principalships of two of the six county high schools are filled
by its students, and graduates are teaching in the remaining four. Two hundred
of its graduates are teaching in the grades in the city schools, and fourteen
former students were elected to county superintendencies in November last.
I?ut when we consider that probably not over one student in six graduates at
the school, it is easily seen that these figures show in a very poor way the num-
ber of graduates and undergraduates at work in the schoolroom and in other
learned professions. They also fail to show much that they have been doing in
the last third of a century.
It is estimated that there have been, all told, about 10,000 different matricu-
lations in the normal department. Of these, 1115 have been graduated. Nine
years since, inquiries brought us the names of over 700 undergraduates, former
students, GOO of whom were teaching. We cannot think that there are less than
2500 State Normal School students actually teaching in the schools of Kansas
to-day. About one-fourth of the members of the State Teachers' Association
are from its ranks. It has furnished two out of every five of the association
presidents for the last fifteen years. Three-fifths of the State Normal School
students are young women and, in the natural order of things, most of them be-
come home-keepers after a few years of service; and what fine mistresses of the
manse does this education make of them! The foregoing showing would be
doubled if all of them remained in the schoolroom; and yet scarce a score of its
graduates can be fifty years of age and most of them are still to earn recognition
in the schools.
But numbers and positions easily mislead, if the inquiry ignores the only true
test of all educational work, wider outlook, healthful growth, greater efficiency.
The Normal School stands for a principle. It maintains that all good teaching
rests upon a scientific basis; that that basis has been fairly well established and
that methods of teaching should be in harmony with it. The Normal School holds
that there is just as much difference between modern scientific teaching and or-
dinary schoolroom instruction as there is between modern methods of treating
ores and the old wasteful methods of smelting, or between the modern scientific
method of lighting buildings and that which relied wholly upon tallow dips.
Far-reaching and brilliant have been the discoveries and advances in medicine
and surgery, but they have not been greater than those of pedagogy. The tri-
umphs of scientific warfare in the late war were not more assured than are
the triumphs of scientific school keeping.
The Normal School, at its founding in Kansas, undertook to demonstrate and
disseminate rational educational principles and to introduce improved methods
of instruction. It soon became the center of a great movement. Its students
went to all parts of the state carrying a new gospel. The members of the faculty,
by lectures and by the public press, aroused a new interest in education. Insti-
tutes were organized and the teachers awakened to a sense of the defects of their
work and of the value of rational method. So industriously and successfully
were these lines pursued through the years, that at last our splendid normal-
institute system was established, and now every teacher in the state is required to
go through the form, at least, of passing an examination in the theory and prac-
tice of teaching.
The Normal School early discovered that a knowledge of elementary psychology,
or of the child mind and its order of growth, is necessary to an intelligent under-
standing of even the simplest problems of instruction, and largely through its
HISTORY OP NORMAL-SCHOOL WORK IN KANSAS. 121
efforts that idea is embodied in every teachers' examination given in Kansas to-
day.
Pardon a personal reference. I came to Kansas nearly seventeen years ago.
At that time, in my tours of inspection, I seldom found a teacher successfully
using laboratory methods in teaching the sciences. As a member of the state
board of education, it fell to my lot to prepare the course in some of them for the
county institutes and to prepare the questions on the same. Both course and
questions met with general protests, even a member of my faculty insisting that
I was asking some impossible things. They were, however, at once worked out
in our laboratories, and gradually the teachers throvighout the state learned three
things: First, that it does not require a university education to make many inter-
esting and instructive experiments in the sciences; second, that a great variety
of them can be made with very simple and inexpensive apparatus; and third, that
the stimulating as well as the educational effect of these experiments lends a new
charm to every subject in which used. Almost at the same time the methods in
teaching geography in the state were revolutionized through the efforts of the
teacher of geography at the State Normal School. Among the first normal schools
in this country to establish a kindergarten was the State Normal School of Kan-
sas. Probably no one will question the statement that in a few years it had, di-
rectly or indirectly, elevated and improved the work of nearly every primary
teacher in the state. I need not speak of the changes brought about in the teach-
ing of arithmetic and grammar and history and drawing and other subjects. The
details, though interesting to us, might not be to you.
In all of these, and in other lines, the school has endeavored to serve the teach-
ers of the state, in season and out of season. It would be unpardonable arro-
gance for me to claim that the Normal School alone has accomplished all that has
been done. No one knows better than I the value of the other forces that have
also been at work. Lack of time forbids enumerating them, but their cooperation
is gladly acknowledged.
These improvements would not have been possible, however, save for the un-
yielding and aggressive stand which the Normal School has ever taken with
reference to two things: (1) Scholarship as a basis for professional preparation;
(2) acquaintance with the theoretical and practical processes of scientific school-
teaching as essential to success in the training of children.
The result of all this is seen in the awakened interest in all lines of professional
study. At this time there are probably 5000 Kansas teachers making a special
study of the child mind under the direction of the teachers' reading circle, a
movement which had its origin at the Normal School. It is seen in the state
course of study for pviblic schools, which is in accord with the most advanced
thought of our times, much of which would have been Greek to nearly every
teacher twenty years ago. It also had its origin at the State Normal School, the
most modern parts in it having been adapted and prepared by members of its
faculty and by its graduates. It is seen also in the awakened conscience of the
teaching profession, in the new dignity which has come into the schoolmaster's
life, in richer experiences, in wider vision, in more satisfactory service.
But what of the future of normal-school work in Kansas ? That must rest in
large measure with the legislature. If the safeguards are maintained and more
liberal provisions are made, the foundation now so well laid will not fail in giving
to the state still higher and higher types of teachers.
122 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
THE KANSAS SOLDIERS' MONUMENT ASSOCIATION.
An address by Col. W. F. Cloud, delivered before the Kansas Historical Society,
at tweuty-tliird annual nieetintj, January 17, 1899.
IT may be truly said that history knows no future; scarcely apprehends the
present: knows only the past. My theme, nevertheless, requires me to refer
to both the present and the future. It might well be divided into two main topics
— Kansas soldiers, and a monument for Kansas soldiers.
The history of this great commonwealth shows that she began to battle for
the principles which were the involvement of the civil war six years before any
other state had raised a regiment. The slavery propaganda— the loversof slavery
more than the union — sowed dragon's teeth on this fair soil, which speedily
sprang up as armed men. The pioneers of liberty in Kansas, having such early
contentions, were prepared and ready for the final and successful battle for
liberty and national unity. In that final contention, Kansas sent more men to
swell the ranks of the federal army, in proportion to population, than any other
state; she had a larger percentage of her soldiers killed or wounded in battle
than any other state.
When the immortal Lincoln called for military aid that he might enforce the
laws and repossess national property, one regiment was required from Kansas,
and two responded. All other requisitions were filled with patriotic alacrity.
Seventeen regiments and three batteries were mustered into the United States
service. It was my privilege to know the field-officers and many of the sub-
alterns and enlisted men of all those commands; to join them in parades and re-
views, and to be with them in camp, on the march, and in the trying realities of
battle. They are the first topic of my theme — "Kansas Soldiers" — they the
subject of review.
I will not say, with a distinguished soldier and orator, "The past rises before
me like a dream," for the recollections of those times and of those men are too
vivid and too real to be classed with the mystic films of which dreams are mostly
composed. Oh, the personnel, the characteristics, the style, the achievements
and the death of those thousands of men, as they pass in retrospection and re-
view ! How they cause varied and commingled emotions to contend for supremacy !
Who can so well concentrate thought and gratify emotions as the poet, when he
sings his "Echoes of the Old Camp Ground"?
Oh, sing for me to-night these brave and merry songs,
When bright and warm the cheerful camp-fire blazed.
At twilight's lonely hour, with comrades gathered 'round,
We gaily sang those oft-repeated lays.
How quickly beats my heart when comes the echoed strain,
I listen now to catch the faintest sound;
Though other songs are sweet, none are so dear to me
As the song we sang upon the old camp-ground:
John Brown^s body lies moldering in the grave.
I hear the bugle pealing forth its brazen notes,
I listen to the rolling of the drum;
The sounding call to arms, the battle's clash and din —
Like mocking echoes with the song they come.
The fire is burning low, the sentry lonely treads
With slow and measured steps his weary round;
All these I seem to see, as I listen to the song —
The song we sang upon the old camp ground:
Yea, we HI rally Wound the flag, boys, rally once again r
KANSAS soldiers' MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. 12S
Where are my comrades now ? Oh, why am I alone ?
Go ask it of the mocking echoes: Why ?
Go stand upon the plains and count their lonely graves,
Where on a hundred battle-fields they lie.
Then wonder not that I should love those simple strains,
Though sadder mem Ties cluster thick around;
Though other songs are sweet, none are so dear to me
As the song we sang upon the old camp ground :
Many are the hear-ts that are weary to-night.
Wishing for the ivar to cease;
Many are the hearts looking for the right.
To see the dawn of peace.
Tenting to-night, tenting to-night,
Tenting on the old camp ground;
Tenting to-night, tenting to-night.
Tenting on the old camp ground.
Those songs, and marches, and alarms, and battles are past forever. The
union soldier achieved and succeeded in all his objects and ambitions. The laws
were sustained and government property recovered to lawful custodians. No
rebel flag floats to the breeze to-day; no foe to national unity, no advocate of
secession, no scheme or desire to reenact slavery. Scarcely a reactionist who
would undo aught of the work so well done by the union soldier — the grand vol-
unteer reinforcement who aided the police force of the nation to suppress a re-
bellion. Never again in the history of this commonwealth will there be a struggle
to exclude human slavery — to defeat the slave propaganda. Never again will
her patriotic citizens and civil officers be arrested, imprisoned, tried and con-
demned because of their devotion to liberty and the cause of a free-state organi-
zation. Never again will the First and Second Kansas campaign with General
Lyon, fight another bloody battle at Wilson's creek, check the march of seces-
sion, and save Missouri to the union. Never again will Deitzler, and Mitchell,
and Blunt, and Wier, and Montgomery, and Ewing, and McCook, and Jennison,
and Judson, and Jewell, and Phillips, and Martin, and 17,000 other soldiers from
Kansas, make a history and reputation for loyalty, skill and courage upon bloody
battle-fields, so as to justify the maxim of her eccentric but daring general and
senator. Lane, in saying, "It has become a proverb: As brave as a Kansas sol-
dier." The true Kansas soldier was never a filibuster; his battles, like those
of America, have been fought upon vital fundamental principles, and, with
victory achieved, the sword has been sheathed, and the cannon's lips have been
allowed to become silent and cold.
So, with the era of peace, the Kansas soldier and his children, and the soldier
from other states and his children, have made rapid conquest of the land, and
against many difficulties, disasters and hardships have made a great common-
wealth, so that the few of a third of a century ago have become the many of
to-day.
What will Kansas be a hundred years from now ? Or what a quarter of a
century from this hour ? Shall patriotism continue to be a marked characteristic
of her eventual millions ? Shall the memory and record of the noble deeds of
her first population be an incentive to love of liberty and of country ? Shall the
deeds of Kansas heroes be appreciated, and thus memories be cherished with
emotions of state pride ? Will citizen and official, drawing inspiration from his-
tory, continue to say, "It is a glorious thing to be a Kansan" ?
Although the majority of Kansas soldiers have been mustered out — death
having given them their final discharge — and the graves of many have been so
neglected or unidentified that they are lost to view and location, it has been
124 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
deemed an act of patriotic duty and of justice to provide for the perpetuation of
their names and deeds by the erection of a suitable monument which will be
equal to any and superior to many erected by other communities. To this end
an association has been incorporated, directors elected, a plan of visitation
adopted, and an agent (myself) appointed to secure needed funds and organize
auxiliary societies throughout the state. In the line of such duties I am here to
make these announcements, and to prepare the public for other efforts in behalf
of the cause: and now, in the name of the directors, I thank this Historical So-
ciety for its recognition of this adjunct to its honorable efforts to preserve names
and events in the history of the state.
It is scarcely too much to say that Kansas owes a duty to her distinguished
officers and private soldiers, who, in the language of a director of the Monument
Association, " helped to make the state what she is to-day, and they should be re-
meml)ered by an enduring monument. Kansas never gave her soldiers anything.
She was poor then. Now she is great and prosperous, and cannot afford to be indif-
ferent to the memory of the men who made her greatness possible." We look up at
the sun, we contemplate the solar system, and stand firmly upon the solid earth.
We know something of the laws of nature: we think all these to be of eternal
duration. But when we think of ourselves and of the citizenship of this state,
we know that we are mortal and must all pass away. Still we would perpetuate
eras and events, and the names and achievements of men and of armies. How ?
When the children of Israel ended their wanderings and crossed the Jordan,
dry shod, they were bidden to take from the stones of that stream the materials
with which they should erect a perpetual memorial of the wonderful event.
It is now proposed that the citizens of Kansas, those who participated in her
early trials and triumphs and those who have become citizens by birth or adop-
tion since those times, shall take of Kansas materials and erect upon Kansas soil
a suitable monument, so that, sometime in the first decade of the twentieth cen-
tury, and from then on forever, the citizen or stranger who passes through the
state upon the great highways of traffic and travel shall, at some suitable place,
look upon a shaft which, piercing the skies, shall testify to the deeds and record
the names of soldiers who made Kansas to stand in the front rank of the immor-
tal patriots who saved the union: and which shall also immortalize the pioneers
of Kansas, who, by successful contention with difficulties, secured for Kansas a
place among the states, justifying her motto, ^^Ad astra per aspera.''''
SOME PUEBLO RUINS IN SCOTT COUNTY, KANSAS.
By S. W. W1LLI8TON and H. T. Martin, of the University of Kansas.
INTKODUCTION BY S. W. WILLISTON.
l^OR the past fifteen years or more the existence of certain remarkable ruins
•*- in Scott county, Kansas, has been known to the people of the vicinity, and
to certain others who have visited the locality, attracted by their fame. The
writer first heard of them while engaged in geological work in the Smoky Hill
valley in 1891, but found it then inconvenient to examine them, though his inter-
eat was much excited. While in their vicinity in the summer of 1898 he seized
the opportunity, in company with a friend, Mr. W. O. Bourne, of Scott City, to
visit the immediate .site of the ruins and make such brief examination of them
as the time would permit.
The ruins are situated in the valley of Beaver creek (wrongly called Ladder
SOME PUEBLO RUINS IN SCOTT COUNTY, KANSAS. 125
creek on the maps), in the northern part of Scott county, twelve miles due north
from Scott City, and about ten miles south of the Smoky Hill river, as shown on
the maps, precisely where the township line touches the most eastern bend of
the creek. At this place the valley of the creek, which here runs nearly north,
is less than a mile wide, surmounted on either side by high bluffs of Tertiary
material. The immediate valley is excavated in the Cretaceous chalk. The re-
sult is that here, as elsewhere in western Kansas where like geological conditions
obtain, the underflow through the porous Tertiary sandstones, over the impervious
chalk floor, comes abundantly into the valley, furnishing a considerable stream
of water. Perhaps no stream in the western part of the state offers more favor-
able conditions for irrigation than does this in its lower part. In the dryest years
there is always an abundance of water in the stream, and in the deep pools along
its course there are always many fish. About a half mile above the site of the
present ruins, the tertiary underflow comes to the surface along the side of a hill
in such perpetual abundance that it is utilized in the irrigation of a considerable
tract of land.
These two facts — easy facilities for unfailing and extensive irrigation, and a
fish- and beaver-producing, perpetually flowing stream — are undoubtedly explana-
tory of the location of the ruins at this place. The ruins are situated near the
middle of the valley, close to the stream, and away from any possibility of am-
bush by hostile savages. They occupy a small knoll of ground, and, as first seen
by us, consisted of a low, rounded heap of soil and stone, perhaps 75 or 100 feet
in diameter, the soil wholly overgrown by buffalo- grass. The rocks are the coarse
sandstone of the neighboring hills. A small excavation had been made near the
middle of this mound by previous explorers, perhaps two feet in depth and of a
dozen square feet in area.
The foregoing, together with a brief account of the results of the short ex-
ploration made by us, and by persons living in the vicinity, and some conjectures
as to the origin of the structure, was read by me at the meeting of the Historical
Society in the autumn of 1898, and was published in the Kansas University Quar-
terly for January, 1899. My object at the time was simply to call attention to
the ruins, which I was satisfied represented the work of either white men or
Pueblo Indians of a time antedating the present century. A newspaper version
of my remarks made me say that I believed the ruins to have been the work of
Coronado's expedition. My only statement concerning Coronado was: "It may
have been Coronado who was here, but that is a conjecture." For this opinion
as published I was taken severely to task by Mr. Jones, of Washington. I do
not now and never did believe that any of the Coronado expedition was responsible
for the construction of the buildings hereinafter described. Nevertheless it is
believed by one who is certainly competent to have an opinion on the subject —
Mr. Joel Moody — that the ruins do date from the time of Coronado. Such an
origin would not be impossible were the ruins of a consistent character, which
they are not. In connection therewith, it is of interest to state that in 1887 an
old Spanish sword, bearing the inscription
"No me saquer san razon
No me embainer sin honor"
was discovered on the Walnut thirty-eight miles southeast of the ruins, and is
now in the possession of Mr. John T. Clark, of Ellis, Kan. Mr. Moody has con-
tended that such relics ought to be found in this region, and the sword goes a
long ways toward substantiating his theory that Coronado's expedition entered at
the western part of the state and not in the southern, as has been generally be-
lieved.
126 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Jlowpver, n\y interest in tho subject being much excited by the letter of Mr,
Jon.'s, ns published in the Mail and Breeze in September of last year, I re-
<lU08t«Hi Mr. H. T. Martin, assistant in the geological museum of the university,
and who had long resided in the vicinity of the ruins, to undertake their explo-
ration. Mr. Miirtin's .skill and intelligence in such work of exploration have had
the most happy results. In the course of about three weeks he thoroughly ex-
cavated the ruins, and made careful collections of all tools, implements and ref-
use material found there: has carefully measured, photographed and described
thoni all. The material collected has been brought to the university museum,
and after careful restoration of the broken objects has been placed for safe-keep-
ing in the university cabinet. I regret that many of the photographs cannot be
rejiroduced in connection with this article.
One fact is established from the explorations — the ruins are of Pueblo origin.
Of this there can be no question. The plan of the structure is only such as the
Pueblo Indians could have devised and carried out. It is not the work of white
men, either Spanish or French, though it is very probable that both the Span-
iards and French may have occupied this and other structures at this locality
at later times, or even contemporaneously with the Pueblos. The finding of an
iron ax, of rude and primitive workmanship, it is true, indicates white men's
skill. It is very evident, also, that other metal instruments were used by the
occupants. Several of the manufactured articles show clearly the imprints of
metal saw teeth.
The origin of the ruins is of course not positively proven, yet I believe that
concerning even this there is scarcely a doubt that they represent the old forti-
fied place known as Cuartelejo, founded about 1650 by a party of Indians who
fled from the oppression of the Spaniards, from Taos, in New Mexico. The only
information concerning this place that I have so far been able to obtain is from
works of Hubert Bancroft, vol. xvii, on Arizona and New Mexico, and the suc-
ceeding quotation, to which Col. H. L. Moore has kindly called my attention.
From the volume cited, it appears that
"about the middle of the century [the seventeenth] there was a backsliding of
certain families of Taos, who went out into the eastern plains, fortified a place
called Cuartelejo, and remained there until the governor sent Juan de Archuleta
to bring them back." ( Page 166.) "Captain Uribarri marched this year out into
the Cibolo plains; and at Jicarilla, thirty-seven leagues northeast of Taos, was
kindly received by the Apaches, who conducted him to Cuartelejo, of which he
took possession, naming the province San Luis and the Indian rancheria Santo
Domingo." (Page 229.)
This was about 1706.
".\ leading event of Valverde's rule was his expedition of 1719, with 105
Spaniards and 30 Indians, being joined on the way by the Apaches, under Cap-
tain C'arlana, against the Yutas and Comanches, who had been committing many
depredations. His route was north, east, southeast, and finally southwest back
to Santa Fe. He thus explored the regions since known as Colorado and Kan-
sas, going farther north, as he believed, than any of his predecessors. He did
not overtake the foe, encountering nothing more formidable than poison oak,
which attacked the odicers as well as the privates of his command. On the Rio
NapoHtle, ai)i)arently the Arkan.sas, Valverde met the Apaches of Cuartelejo and
found men with gunshot wounds received from the French and their allies, the
Pananas and Jumanas. An order came from the viceroy to establish a presidio
there twenty-five men would not suffice." (Page 236.)
One hundred and thirty Spanish leagues, which was measured on such expe-
ditions by pacing, are about 450 miles. This on the map, in a direct line from
SOME PUEBLO RUINS IN SCOTT COUNTY, KANSAS. 127
Santa Fe, -brings the locality of Cuartelejo within a score or two of miles of the
site of the ruins on the Beaver. Cuartelejo, thus being located north of the Ar-
kansas, must necessarily be within a short distance of the present locality. As
there is no other place so well suited for a settlement anywhere within a hundred
miles or more of the Beaver, in Scott county, the conclusion is almost certain
that the present site corresponds to Cuartelejo.
"In 1727 Bustamente notified the viceroy that the French had settled at
Cuartelejo and Chinali, 160 leagues from Santa Fe, proposing an expedition to
find out what was being done, and asking for troops for that purpose; but it was
decided that such an entrada was not necessary, though all possible information
should be obtained from the Indians."
The following quotation is from the narrative of Fray Silvestie Velez de Es-
calante, April 2, 1778, as translated in the Land of Sunshine, vol. xii. No. 5, p.
314; the parentheses are by the translator:
' ' The second of my f reasons ) is that in the middle part of the last century some
families of Christian Indians of the pueblo and tribe (nacion) of Taos uprose,
withdrew to the plains of Cibola ( not Coronado's ' Cibola," but the buffalo plains)
and fortified themselves in a place which afterwards for this (reason) called the
Cuartelejo, and they were in it until Don Juan de Archuleta, by order of the
governor, went withtwenty soldiers and a party of Indian auxiliaries and brought
them back to the pueblo (Taos). He found in the possession of these revolted
(Taos) Indians casques (text, casos, apparently a misprint for cascos) and other
pieces of copper and tin, and when he asked them where they had acquired them
they replied 'from the Quivera pueblos' to which they had journeyed from Cuar-
telejo."
DESCRIPTION OF RUINS BY H. T. MARTIN.
Since the reading of Professor Williston's paper on "An Ancient Sod House
in Western Kansas," before the Historical Society, the writer has, at his request
and under his advice, spent some time in making a thorough examination of the
ruins, with most interesting results. Before giving a detailed description of the
results, the writer wishes to thank, not only Doctor Williston for his assistance and
advice, but also Mr. H. D. Steele, who owns the land upon which the ruins are situ-
ated, for his kindness and assistance, with team, plow, and scraper, gratuitously
given ; and Mr. H. H. Hatheway, for information concerning the probable course
of the old irrigation ditch. For an account of the locality and surrounding region,
the reader is referred to the preceding paper by Doctor Williston.
In the excavation of the chief structure referred to in the cited paper, all pos-
sible care was taken to avoid mutilating the plastering with which the walls were
covered, thus permitting the exact size and shape of each room to be ascertained.
As now excavated, the walls are about two and a half feet in height. The struc-
ture measures fifty by thirty-two feet in size, and stood as nearly due east and
west in its greater measurement as it would be possible to locate it with an or-
dinary compass. The outer walls were of heavy stone, from eighteen inches to
two feet in thickness, and were cemented or grouted together, making the full
measurement of the building about fifty-three by thirty-five feet. The building
site, as has been described by Doctor Williston, was a slightly raised mound,
about seventy-five yards from the bed of Beaver creek, which here affords an
abundance of water for both irrigational and domestic use. By the side of the
building there are two large, hollowed out places, which had probably been used
for the puddling and mixing of the adobe employed in the construction of the
building. The stone used in the building, all of which had been brought from
the surrounding hills, was considerable in amount, and many single pieces are
all that a man can lift.
About 100 yards south of the main edifice there is evidence of several other,
128 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
smaller buildings, all of which must have been constructed of adobe alone, since
no rock remains. These smaller structures, two of which were examined by us,
yielded no utensils or other relics ; nor could their size and shape be made out with
certainty. Both of these buildings, as well as the large one, present evidence of
having been destroyed by fire, whether as the result of some accident or by In-
dian foes one cannot say, of course. From the fact that no human bones were
found anywhere about, the probability of design is lessened. That the larger
structure had been destroyed by fire there can be no doubt, since the adobe is
burnt, and charcoal is thickly scattered everywhere; the stone and bone imple-
ments also all show evidence of fire. Rooms IV and VII, as I have designated
them, show only slight evidenoe of the fire, and it is possible that one or both of
these rooms had never been covered, and hence contained but little subject to
destruction by fire. Room IV had portions of the rotted posts, evidently used
as a ladder, remaining.
Charred corn was found in every room except VII, in some places four or five
inches deep. In room V there had been four or five bushels of this corn in a
slightly hollowed out place at one side.
About twenty-five yards north of the main structure there appear to have
been three or four small structures, each separated a small distance in an east
and west line parallel with the main building. These structures were apparently
circular in outline, and were perhaps tepees.
The most interesting room in the structure is the one I will designate as
room I. Its dimensions were seventeen feet by thirteen feet and nine inches.
It had a raised dais or platform on two sides, about six inches high: that on the
west side five feet and three inches wide; that on the north side two feet. The
wider one was doubtless used for sleeping purposes, and the narrower one as a
bench. Very near the center of the room there is a box-like receptacle, formed
of thin stone set edgewise. Like the others described further on, the bottom of
this one was about six inches below the level of the floor, and its size was eighteen
by twenty-one inches. It had been plastered at the bottom, and contained, when
examined, a quantity of clean wood ashes. The receptacle may have been for
the grinding and mixing of corn. In the southwest corner of the room there is
a peculiar structure three feet nine inches in length by two feet and one inch in
width, inside measurements, built of adobe. Its walls are eighteen inches in
height at the west end and twelve at the east end, the slope gradual from one
end to the other. The walls, five or six inches in thickness, had been nicely
rounded at the top. In the middle, and joined to the west end, is a small plat-
form, about sixteen inches in length by twelve in width, raised about six inches
above the bottom of the grooves which surround it. These grooves, shaped
somewhat like a U, sloped toward the closed end. This part was filled with
ashes, suggesting that the use of the oven was for the baking of pottery. Near
the east end was a large hole, twelve inches in diameter and eighteen inches in
depth, covered with a flat rock. It contained nothing save fine dust.
The walls and floors were nicely plastered. The plastering gave no indications
of finger marks, but seemed to have been smoothed off with some instrument.
Stones that might have answered such uses were found in the rooms. In this
room was found a small pipe, decorated with horizontal markings. Here also
were found a needle or awl for the sewing of hides, several arrow-heads, frag-
ments of pottery, and bone needles. The remains of two posts, about eighteen
inches apart, were found in the northeast corner, evidently for the uprights of a
ladder for ingress and egress. Similar holes in like positions were found in the
other rooms. There were no indications of doors or other openings in any of the
SOME PUEBLO RUINS IN SCOTT COUNTY, KANSAS. 129
rooms. The roof was evidently made of willow poles or brush covered with
adobe, as large quantities of the latter show impressions of twigs.
Room II was sixteen feet and four inches in width by eighteen feet six inches
in length, and had both wall and floor plastered. The fireplace was two feet by
one foot seven inches in size, and close by it was a hole twelve inches in diame-
ter. On the east end there was a bench, as in room I, four feet two inches in
width, and on the north side one two feet in width, while on the other two sides
the width was but twelve inches, but raised to about ten inches in height. Close
to the fireplace was found a grooved stone maul, ribs with marks of a saw upon
them, arrow points, pottery, bone and stone scrapers, and a small pipe. On the
ledge at the east end was found the half of an iron ax or wedge. The iron is of
course much rusted, and the tool appears to have been split longitudinally and
transversely by some mishap. It had a groove near the head, instead of an eye,
for the attachment of the handle, after the manner of the stone axes of the abo-
rigines. This room contained more charred corn than did any of the others.
Room III was fourteen by thirteen feet in size, with plastered walls and floor,
the corners rounded at the east end and square at the west. It had a fireplace
eighteen inches by twenty-four, and a raised bench four feet wide at the west
end. The holes for the posts supporting the roof and for the ladder were as in
the other rooms. The plastering turned up about the posts showed that this
work had been done after the roof had been placed over the structure. This
room furnished grinders and several bone implements — scrapers and fleshers —
made from the shoulder-blade of the buffalo and deer or antelope. The wall posts
were rotted in the ground, and not burnt as in the other rooms, nor were the
bone implements partly burned, as was the case with those in the other rooms.
In this room, also, was found a part of a musical instrument, a flute or flageolet,
made from the wing bone of a large bird; also a bone implement with a serrated
edge.
Room V was the smallest in the building, being only ten by fourteen feet in
size. It had well-plastered walls and floor, a fireplace seventeen by twenty-two
inches in size, a large quantity of corn, arrow-heads, grinders, scrapers, pottery,
etc. Close by the fireplace there was a hole in the floor covered by a fiat stone
that had been undisturbed. At its bottom was found half of a clam shell,
which had been sawed lengthwise by a toothed saw, the tooth marks being very
plainly apparent. In the northwest corner was a small oven, nine inches in
width and sixteen in depth, excavated from the wall of the room and plastered
throughout. It contained three or four inches of wood ashes in the bottom. In
this were also found three oval and one square adobe bricks, about ten by fourteea
inches in size, flattened above and rounded below. They may have been used in
the baking of tortillas.
Room VI was ten feet five inches in width by thirteen feet and eight inches
in length. The level fioor had been plastered, as also the fireplace, which was
eighteen by twenty-six inches in size. There was a narrow partition between
this room and room V, and since no indications of a ladder were found here it is
possible that the two rooms had been connected. Several scrapers, of bone and
flint, together with grinders, etc., were found here.
Room VII, thirteen feet square, differed from all others in having no fireplace
or plastered walls. Numerous bones of bison, deer, antelope, coyote, badger,
etc., were discovered in this room. The only relics were bone and flint scrapers.
Probably the room had been used as a sort of storehouse, and not for human
dwelling.
The pottery found was in part composed of plaster of Paris, possibly obtained
130 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
from tin- crvatals of seleuite scattered over the chalk exposures in the vicinity.
\ numl.er of ribs were found which had been smoothed at one end into a sort of
spatula, and had probably been used in the making of pottery or in the plaster-
ing of the building. Coiled as well as smooth pottery was found, but only a single
piece that showed evidence of decoration. Some of this pottery has been sub-
mitted to Professor Hewitt, of Las Vegas, N. M., who has given much attention
to the work of the Pueblo Indians. He was of the opinion that all this pottery
had been introduced from New Mexico, and had riot been made in the vicinity of
the building or village. Probably this is the furthest east that such pottery has
yet been found.
In one of the rooms were found several squash seeds; some between two pieces
of i>ottery, in good condition, others much decayed.
Mr. H. H. Hatheway informs me that the earliest settlers here utilized what
were undoubtedly the remains of an old irrigating ditch in digging their own
ditches in the vicinity of the present residence of Mr. Steele, and which ditches
he now uses in the irrigation of his garden.
KANSAS IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
An address by Maj. W. L. Brown, of the Twenty-first Kansas regiment, before the Kansas
Stilt© Historical Society, at twenty-third annual meeting, January 17, 1899.
TO write the part that Kansas took in the Spanish- American war would neces-
sarily take a close inspection of the records of the war department. While
it is easy to speak of our Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-
third, this does not include the boys from the Sunflower state engaged in all
branches of the service. They were with Dewey at Manila bay ; with Sampson
and Schley on their fleets, manning the guns that sunk the pride of Spain; they
were in the charge at San Juan hill — in fact, wherever on land or sea battle was
given, Kansas was representated by her brave sons, who never disgraced their
uniforms or the state, all fighting to relieve an oppressed people from the hellish
acts of Spain and her tyranny, and to allow Cuban people and their generations
yet to come the blessing of breathing the health-giving air of liberty.
When President McKinley, in compliance with the resolution declaring war,
issued his call for troops, there was no state in the union responded more quickly
than Kansas, and the reason why this is so needs but little explanation. Our
characteristic painted stronger than all else is justice and patriotism. In the
dark days of '60 and '6.5 Kansas furnished more troops according to her popu-
lation than any state in the union. At the close of that war thousands, yea,
tens of thousands, of men who wore the blue crossed
" . . the prairie as of old
Our fathers crossed the sea.
To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free."
Their influence on the generation that took part in the conflict cannot be
measured. Patriotism has been taught from the schoolhouse, from the pulpit,
from the rostrum, and the beacon lights of the G. A. R. hall. The great soldier
state of Kansas was ready for the fray, and had the call been tenfold in number
that it was, they would have been equipped and sent to 'the front with the same
energy that sent those three regiments under the first call. Perhaps I could find
no words that would describe the condition better than the copy of the telegram
KANSAS IN THE SPANISN-AMERICAN WAR. 131
sent by our chief executive at that time, in reply to one from the secretary of
war in regard to stating the number we should have under the second call:
"ToPEKA, May 28, 1898.
*^ Hon. Russell A. Alger, Secretary of War:
"In reply to your telegram saying it will require 990 men to fill the organiza-
tion of Kansas troops already in the field to maximum, will say that the three
regiments from Kansas left the state with ranks filled to the maximum according
to your instructions. Three thousand men signed the roll, and not one made his
mark. If you will give us two regiments under this call, we will fill them with
the same kind of men, and any subsequent call will be met promptly, and no
■draft will ever be needed in Kansas, and if more men are needed in the regiments
already organized they will be promptly furnished.
(Signed) J. W. Leedy,
Governor of Kansas.''''
The statement made by the governor in regard to any man belonging to the
three regiments, which I had the honor to help recruit, is absolutely true, and is
attributed to the educational intelligence of our people, and stands unparalleled
in the history of the war and the quota from the different states.
I had the honor of being the first officer sworn in the service of the govern-
ment under this call, and was assigned the recruiting to be done in the seventh
district, and raised six companies in that number of days. Whoever says that
the boys of the seventh district, and for that matter I can safely say of the state,
enlisted for the financial consideration that they would receive, is a prevaricator
beyond hope of redemption. I have seen strong men who failed to pass the phys-
ical examination sit down and sob like children, and many of the applicants
who failed to pass begged for another trial. I can name a score of cases where
men gave up jobs that were paying them 8100 per month, or better, and enlisted
as private soldiers, and the question was never asked, "What am I to receive?"
It was patriotism, pure and unadulterated — the patriotism that would give up
life if necessary to uphold our flag and national greatness.
There had been differences between the National Guard and the governor,
which in some cases hindered members of the guard from enlisting. There were
plenty of men ready and anxious to go. Among the oflflcers of the Twenty-first
Kansas, fifty per cent, of them were members of the guard, and a large per cent,
of the privates had seen duty in that organization.
As to their calling in life, about fifty per cent, were farmers, twenty-five per
cent, laborers, and the other twenty-five per cent, represented different profes-
sions. It is a boast of our regiment that we had men representing every vocation
in life: the doctor, the preacher, the lawyer, the clerk, the student, the telegra-
pher, the photographer, the jeweler, druggist, printer — in fact, everything, even
to the aeronaut who canceled his dates to enlist, as well as the sail-maker who at
one time bathed his feet in Massachussetts bay and eked out a livelihood fishing
for cod. This was a matter of much comment among army officers. Other re-
markable facts were that we were the only state in the union who had nine officers
commissioned by the governor who had seen service in the war of the rebellion.
There were differences of opinion between the war department and the executive
of the state in regard to the right to commission veterans of the civil war. But
the governor's idea prevailed, and their presence and experience added materially
to the efficiency of the Kansas troops.
Another fact, remarkable as it may seem, held good in the Twenty-first, and
I believe in other regiments, that out of the 1300 men of the regiment 800 were
Kansans, born and bred. It is needless for me to describe the Kansas soldier as
he appeared ; you all saw them on Dewey day as they marched through the
132 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
strt't'ts of Topeka — not like they were later on, when military training had given
them the bearing of soldiers, but the raw material from which soldiers are made.
No state in the union had soldiers with better developed forms and hardier
ponstitutions. On tho historic battle-field of Chickamauga, at one time, were
campt'd tX.),(.KX) men, and the difference in stature, soldierly bearing and hardihood
gave our men the sobriquet, "iron men from the wild and woolly West." When
with the long hours of drill came the regimental brigade and division corps re-
views beneath the burning sun of the southern clime, the Kansas boys would
return to camp singing and jollying, while the fellows from New York and the
New England states would fall with fatigue by the wayside, fanning themselves,
beneath the shade-trees.
While it is- true the Kansas volunteers did not all see actual service, yet it is
also true that in the line of duty they gained the plaudits of all those with whom
they came in contact. At Chickamauga our well-drilled companies, lines straight
as an arrow, evoked applause when on review. At the rifle range they led the
division by a large per cent. In the words of the commanding general, speak-
ing of the troops under his command: "When I want something done, and am
not particular about it, I call on Massachusetts : when there is something to be
done that does not matter much whether it is done or not, I call on Ne^v York;
but when there is something I want done and done right, I call on Kansas." To
my memory comes the great review at Chickamauga, where 40,000 wearers of the
blue passed in review before General Breckenridge, who had just been assigned
to the command of the First army corps. I have seen the time when I was
proud to be a citizen of Kansas, when the great wheat crop dotted the prairies,
when our magnificent live-stock resources were exploited, and when we out-
stripped in the race on certain lines at the great expositions, in competition with
the world, but never was I as proud of our own Kansas as when I witnessed
10,000 people who had remained like statues for an hour watching the different
troops march past without approval or disapproval go wild with applause when
Kansas came, headed by the flag given us by the noble women of our state, a
tribute to our soldiers in the state of Kansas more eloquent than I can paint in
a pen picture.
At Lexington, Kansas was designated to act as the escort of the corps com-
mander. The Twenty-first Kansas was again made the guard of honor on the
arrival of the secretary of war during his visit to Lexington on a tour of inspec-
tion, and after review, at the request of the commanding officer, he revoked the
muster-out order that we were then under.
History records the deeds done by the Twentieth, and every citizen is proud
of the record they made. The Twenty-second was an honor to the state, and
the Twenty-third did its part. Kansas has no apologies to make for her part in
the Spanish-American war. Every battle-field was wet with the blood of her
sons. While her citizens may disagree on politics, and differ in religious views,
yet when the call to arms comes they are always ready, and always will be. "To
the stars through difficrulties" we are making our way, but far in advance of any-
other idea is jjatriotism, love of country and flag.
THE TWENTIETH KANSAS REGIMENT. 133
THE TWENTIETH KANSAS REGIMENT IN THE
PHILIPPINES.
An address by Col. Wildee S. Metcalf, before the Kansas State Historical Society,
at twenty-fonrth annual meeting, January 16, 1900,
'' I^HIS paper is not in any sense a history. It does not pretend to be anything
-'- more than a few remarks about the service of the Twentieth Kansas
infantry.
At the commencement of the war with Spain, there were in the state of Kan-
sas two National Guard regiments, partially uniformed and partially armed and
equipped. Many of the men were doubtless unable to pass the required physical
examination preliminary to muster into the service of the United States. How-
ever, there were a number of officers and men in the two regiments who had
taken a lively interest in military affairs and who were fairly proficient in drill,
and who had acquired at least the rudiments of discipline. There were a few
who, in a quiet but none the less earnest and intelligent way, were real students
of military science.
On the call for three infantry regiments by the governor of the state, in re-
sponse to the call of the president for 125,000 volunteers, the existing military
force in the state was ignored entirely — perhaps wisely — and recruiting stations
were named and dates for enrolment fixed.
In nearly every company as enrolled, there were, however, a few men, and in
several companies officers, who had received, either in the National Guard or in
the regular army, some military training. It is quite probable that the influence
and example of these officers and men, and their knowledge and experience as
well, aided largely in bringing the Twentieth regiment to its eventual high state
of discipline and efficiency. The influence of the presence of these officers and
men upon the molding of the mass was, perhaps, almost unnoticed, but it did its
work nevertheless.
The enrolment began on April 29, and the first company camped at the
designated rendevouz on April 30. From that date companies were constantly
arriving and being physically examined and mustered into the service. On May
11 the companies to compose the Twentieth were announced, and on May 13 the
entire regiment was formally mustered into the service of the United States.
Of the thirty-six original company officers, twenty-five had had more or less
military experience, and in only one of the companies had none of the three
officers received military training; and I must say here that by reason of a very
high order of intelligence in both officers and men, and by the unremitting appli-
cation of its officers to the study of their duties, this company became eventually
one of the best in the regiment.
Without waiting for equipment or clothing, the regiment left on May 16 for
San Francisco, arriving on May 20. The regiment was in a pitiable condition as
to clothing and shoes and blankets, owing to the fact that most of the men left
home with their poorest clothes and oldest hats and shoes, expecting to be at
once supplied by the government. Under these circumstances, and after over
two weeks of camp in rain and mud at Topeka and five days on railroad trains
en route to San Francisco, the appearance of the regiment can be as easily im-
agined as described.
While there was much newspaper chaff and many a readable reporter's story
at the expense of the regiment, among the men themselves there seemed to be
134 KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
no complaints what.'vor. Anything and everj'thing, no matter how disagreeable
or uncumfortal.le, was accepted and endured with the same really surprising de-
gree of good temper. The terrible rain and mud at Topeka, the crowded railroad
coaches, the cold fogs and the drifting sands of Camp Merritt, the jibes and
abuse of the San Francisco press, were all accepted as a part of the business and
endured with the same good-natured equanimity.
Day after day, in strict military cadence and with unwavering zeal, the com-
panies' marched the streets near the camp and tramped the beautiful drives in
Golden Gate park. Day after day the regiment made its daily pilgrimage to the
Presidio hills, a mile away, for battalion and regimental drills.
Clothing and equipment came finally to be abundant and uniform. Day by
day the regiment took on a more and more soldierly appearance. While the Kan-
sas regiment was very properly excused from participation in the Decoration Day
parade, while it was inspected by General Hughes on June 7 and found wanting,
while it received 300 recruits on June 19 and 20, still, by July 4, it was fully
the equal of any volunteer regiment in San Francisco in military appearance
and discipline. On July 30 it even credited for a few hours a rumor that it was
to sail for the Philippines on the Tartar.
On August i it gave a public drill in a large pavilion in the city of San
Francisco, which drill was admittedly superior in exactness and general merit to
any of the many that had been given by the various other volunteer regiments.
Continued disappointments about sailing for Manila caused much dissatis-
faction and some clamor to be mustered out and sent home; but the order finally
came and the regiment sailed at last, two battalions on October 27, the other on
November 9.
Meantime, what had these five months and more of incessant drill done for
the Twentieth Kansas ? It had changed the heterogeneous mass of recruits into
a well-dressed, well-drilled, well-disciplined regiment of soldiers — so well dressed
and drilled and disciplined that the Kansas regiment was well-nigh universally
recognized, before it left the United States, as one of the very best volunteer
regiments, in every particular, that the country ever produced — so well thought
of by those who knew its history that every br 
