From the collection of the
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San Francisco, California
2007
THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
KIRKE MECHEM, Editor
JAMES C. MALIN, Associate Editor
Volume VI
1937
(Kansas Historical Collections)
VOL. XXIII
Published by
The Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka, Kansas
17-1991
Contents of Volume VI
Number 1 February, 1937
PAGB
KANSAS CITY, Mo., A FAMOUS FREIGHTER CAPITAL Walker D. Wyman, 3
FERRIES IN KANSAS : Part XII Marmaton River, Part XIII
Wakarusa Creek, Part XIV Turkey Creek George A. Root, 14
THE EMIGRANT AID COMPANY IN THE KANSAS CONFLICT,
Samuel A. Johnson, 21
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 34
EXPLORING THE SOLOMON RIVER VALLEY IN 1869 : From the Journal of
Robert McBratney Edited by Martha B. Caldwell, 60
THE ANNUAL MEETING : Containing the Reports of the Secretary,
Treasurer, Executive and Nominating Committees; President
E. E. Kelley's Address, "Some Southwest Kansas Pioneers";
Election of Officers; List of Directors of the Society,
Kirke Mechem, Secretary, 77
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 97
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 106
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES .111
Number 2 May, 1937
PAQK
DISORGANIZING EFFECTS OF THE MEXICAN WAR ON THE SANTA FE TRADE,
Lewis E. Atherton, 115
THE STUBBS Martha B. Caldwell, 124
FERRIES IN KANSAS : Part XV Marais des Cygnes River, Part XVI
Verdigris River, Part XVII Cottonwood River, Part XVIII
Spring River, Part XIX Ninnescah River, Part XX Walnut
River, Part XXI Independence Creek, and Part XXII Potta-
watomie Creek Concluded George A. Root, 132
THE KANSAS PRAIRIE: Or, Eight Days on the Plains Isaac Moffatt, 147
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE GARDNER PHOTOGRAPHS OF KANSAS,
Robert Taft, 175
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY :
Compiled by Helen M. McFarland, Librarian, 178
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 200
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 211
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 223
(in)
Number 3 August, 1937
PAGE
A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY : The Disposal of the Christian
Indian Tract Paul Wallace Gates, 227
LETTERS OF CYRUS KURTZ HOLLIDAY, 1854-1859 Edited by Lela Barnes, 241
HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION Eugene F. Ware, 295
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 315
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 325
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . 335
Number 4 November, 1937
PAGB
THE SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY : From the Journal of
Hugh Campbell, Astronomical Computer. .Edited by Martha B. Caldwell, 339
MEDICAL SKETCH OF THE NINETEENTH REGIMENT OF KANSAS CAVALRY
VOLUNTEERS Mahlon Bailey, 378
WICHITA AND HER PUBLIC LIBRARIES Hortense B. C. Gibson, 387
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 394
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 404
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 414
INDEX TO VOLUME VI 419
(iv)
THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
Volume VI Number 1
February, 1937
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
W. C. AUSTIN. STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1937
16-6164
Contributors
WALKER D. WYMAN is associate professor of the department of social sciences
at the State Teachers College of River Falls, Wis.
GEORGE A. ROOT is curator of archives of the Kansas State Historical Society.
SAMUEL A. JOHNSON, formerly associate professor of history of the Emporia
Kansas State Teachers College, is professor of history of Harris Teachers Col-
lege, St. Louis, Mo.
MARTHA B. CALDWELL is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical
Society.
NOTE. Articles in the Quarterly appear in chronological order without re-
gard to their importance.
Kansas City, Mo., a Famous Freighter Capital
WALKER D. WYMAN
THE overland trade to New Mexico was the most ancient and
honorable of all ox-team freighting from Missouri river towns.
Beginning in the eighteen twenties, it grew slowly until the Mexican
War; 1 then the necessity of supplying troops stationed in the area,
as well as other Americans, created a new era in this traffic. Lower
Missouri river towns outfitted this trade in its infancy. But when
Kansas City came into existence in the forties it soon became the
headquarters. Its fame lies in being the patron saint of the trade
down the old Santa Fe trail. It enjoyed practically an unbroken
monopoly on the private trade to New Mexico, but only a small
proportion of the other western trade.
Independence, Mo., located in the fat farming country ten miles
east of the Kansas boundary, and four miles below the river, was
the depot for the Santa Fe and Indian trade as early as 1832,
favored because it was the westernmost point of settlement. 2 This
it enjoyed until a new settlement, farther to the west, at the bend
of the river, grew up to steal the whole business.
Thomas Hart Benton, spokesman for the West in this middle
period, once prophesied:
There, gentlemen, where that rocky bluff meets and turns aside the sweeping
current of this mighty river there, where the Missouri, after running its south-
ward course for nearly two thousand miles, turns eastward to the Mississippi,
a large commercial and manufacturing community will congregate, and less
than a generation will see a great city on those hills. 3
Evidently other men, not necessarily shrewd men either, saw that
there where the current ran close to the rock bank, making an ex-
cellent landing, should rise a frontier depot. Just below this ideal
landing place, upon the trail from Independence, there was growing a
settlement known as Westport, noted for its "truck and dicker"
trade with the Indians and the sale of last-minute knickknacks to
emigrants. Although goods were landed there at the bend after 1832,
freighters still loaded in Independence until the middle of the forties.
1. The classic volumes covering the prewar days of Santa F6 freighting is Josiah Gregg's
Commerce of the Prairies (New York, 1845), Vols. I and II. Two years before the war
started four companies went out from Independence, Mo., employing 160 men, 92 wagons,
60 oxen, and 780 mules. See the article, "Commerce of the Prairies," Merchants' Magazine
and Commercial Review, v. XI, p. 475. Author not given.
2. See Gregg, ibid., v. I, pp. 33-34; W. H. Miller, The History of Kansas City (Kansas
City, Mo., 1881), p. 23; and S. W. Eldridge, "Recollections of Early Days in Kansas," Pub-
lications of the Kansas State Historical Society, v. II, p. 26.
3. Quoted in P. W. Morgan's History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and Its People
(Chicago, 1911), v. I, p. 113.
(3)
4 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
When H. M. Northup came up to Westport Landing in 1844 with
the "largest stock of merchandise ever yet offered" to the conveyors
of overland goods, and when W. H. Chick built a warehouse, out-
fitting had properly made its debut. Four years before, W. G. and
G. W. Ewing had built a warehouse for Indian goods. The next
year, 1845, Bent and St. Vrain shipped there the first load of goods.
When this train of twenty-five wagons was unloaded the ware-
house was full from top to bottom and 5,000 tons of buffalo hides
covered with a tarpaulin were stored on the levee. 4 Within another
year it was "conceded that Kansas City and Westport fairly divided
this great trade with the city of Independence . . . " 5 The
first commission house grew up in Westport, but the history of the
two towns is inextricably interwoven. The economic differentiation
during the first few years is as difficult to ascertain as are the
boundaries of Westport today.
The Kansas City of the fifties was but little more than a few
rough warehouses. Its narrow levee was accessible through a
ravine and walled in by hills covered with a mighty forest and
studded with a few cabins hanging perilously to the precipice. All
the life was at the wharf, where the few inhabitants gathered to see
the daily show of churning steamboats, men bustling about loading
or unloading goods, and plodding oxen, drawing prairie schooners up
the ravine, urged on by Missouri or Mexican profanity. This was
the beginning of the golden age of steamboating. The railroad
menace was yet to come. Some sixty steamboats were to make
regular (or as nearly regular as a boat could be on the Missouri)
trips to the bend of the river, and half as many "tramps" were to
operate on a "come and go when possible" basis. 6
From the turn of this decade this town among the hills claimed a
lion's share of the freighting to the mountains and to the Southwest.
Six hundred wagons left there in 1850. In 1854 the business of
Kansas City was given thus: merchandise, $3,185,502; warehousing,
$545,000; livestock, $2,148,200; and exports, $1,767,761. 7 The Santa
Fe trade was growing; as the Indians sold their birthrights for an-
4. W. H. Chick in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, December 14, 1906.
5 C C. Spaulding, Annals of the City of Kansas (Kansas City, 1858), p. 33. The be-
ginning of this trade is compiled from C. P. Deatherage, Early History of Greater Kansas City
(Kansas City Mo 1927), v. I, pp. 362-363; C. W. Whitney, Kansas City (Chicago, 1908),
v. I, pp. 95-97; Spaulding, op. cit., passim; Miller, op. cit., pp. 23-34; and Eldridge, op. cit.,
p] 26.
6. Reminiscence of a pioneer in a clipping from the Kansas City (Mo.) Journal-Post y
September, 1925.
7 Spaulding, op. cit., p. 33; Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, "Commerce
of the Prairies,"' v. XLIV, pp. 25-26; and Deatherage, op. cit., p. 468.
WYMAN: KANSAS CITY A FREIGHTER CAPITAL 5
nuities more wagon loads of glittering trinkets and kegs of whisky
were needed; and the hinterland began to fill up with farmers to
save Kansas. Merchants realized that the fish-barrel could not
repose on the calico counter. Specialization began in earnest.
Stores selling dry goods, drugs or hardware alone characterized the
business life before the end of the decade.
In 1857 some 300 merchants and freighters were engaged in the
mountain and New Mexican commerce and a total of 9,884 wagons
loaded at the levee for the territories and the hinterland. Hides,
pelts, and furs worth half a million dollars were shipped in and a
New York buyer bought them for export. Wool was first imported
this year. In 1854 the saddle and harness business amounted to
$14,000 in Independence, but in 1857 that trade had mounted to over
$81,000 in Kansas City alone. Freight charges and commissions
paid at the warehouses were close to $500,000. 8 Fourteen thousand
seven hundred horses, mules, and oxen were sold, and 52,000 stock
cattle from Missouri, Texas, Arkansas and the Cherokee country,
changed hands there for California, Salt Lake, Forts Kearney and
Laramie, and home markets. The city had become a rendezvous for
cattle dealers from far and wide, a place through which coursed
cattle from the West going east and from the East going west. 9
8. Total pounds of freight, 59,304,000; mules and oxen used, 98,840. Some writers state
that this number constituted the New Mexican trade, a position which seems incredible and
in error. The St. Louis Missouri Republican, October 17, 1857, gives 13,440 as the total for
the year. See Spaulding, op. cit., pp. 32-34, 74-81, and the writer's "Freighting: A Big
Business on the Santa Fe Trail," The Kansas Historical Quarterly, November, 1931, pp. 22-23.
Spaulding, op. cit., p. 79, gives the following as the total warehouse business:
Number of packages 381,628
Number of wagons 1,172
Number of plows 2,246
Number of sacks of flour 49,266
Number of sacks of meal 4,560
Number of sacks of oats 2,160
Number of sacks of corn 2,760
Number of sacks of potatoes 1,760
Number of bales of hay 336
Number of kegs of powder 1,940
Number of dry hides 2,280
Number of bales of buffalo robes 7,040
Number of bales of furs and skins 2,580
Number of bags of buffalo tongues 514
Number of packages of furniture 7,768
Number of gallons of stone-ware 5,936
Number of carriages 256
Number of pianos 32
Mexican wool received 865,000 Ib.
Lumber 1,277,200 ft.
Lath 844,200 ft.
Shingles ... . ... 656,090 ft.
Amount of gold and silver received $1,139,661 . 50
Amount of silver ore from Gadsden Purchase 2,000 Ib.
Other freight 12,985,600 Ib.
A total of $3,183,502.34 in business was done that year, lumber, dry goods, groceries, and
furs being the greatest items of trade.
issues Ibid '' PP ' 78 " 79: and the Kansas Citv < Mo -) Journal of Commerce for 1858, scattered
6 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Kansas City realized that her future, as that of no other town
on the Missouri, lay in the commerce of the frontier. Each year
over $5,000,000 in specie was distributed there by the government,
emigrants and freighters: $1,100,000 in annuities went to the
Indians; the army spent $2,000,000 for stock, forage, and salaries,
and if any of it was withheld from circulation there was "more
husbandry in our army than it had credit for" ; mail contractors were
paid $200,000; an estimated $300,000 was spent by emigrants; and
the Santa Fe traders paid out some $1,500,000 annually to mer-
chants, blacksmiths, producers of livestock, and bullwhackers. 10
This was sufficient to stave off any panic similar to the one of 1857
which struck most towns so hard but left Kansas City fairly intact.
The question of agricultural surpluses was cared for seemingly for
all time ; they were not to be disposed of in Europe but between the
Missouri border and the Rockies, "around the campfires of emigrants
and freighters in the cabins of the pioneer and the wigwam of the
Indian, far, far away in the mountains." n
The merchants believed they had every advantage necessary for a
grasp upon the commerce of the whole plains, prairies, and moun-
tain areas. They purchased largely in the East, as did many St.
Louis merchants, and sold for cost plus five percent, as did their
down-river brethren. The extra freight charges up river from St.
Louis were offset by lower rents in Kansas City. Competition of the
rising Kansas towns was not feared for they lacked the abundance
of stocks and the stability of prices.
As the year 1858 loomed over the horizon, business prospects
seemed bright. The turmoil in Kansas was waning and trade with
the West was potentially greater. In April several Santa Fe as well
as local merchants and freighters were granted contracts for food
supplies to be delivered at southwestern forts. 12 Russell, Majors,
and Waddell were also to start ten trains from McCarty and Ran-
son's warehouse, the official depot rented by the army. 13 There was
reason, therefore, for the organization of a chamber of commerce,
the grading and macadamizing of Front street (at the river front),
the extension of the levee three times normal size, the erection of
10. Spaulding, op. cit., pp. 22-23.
11. Kansas City (Mo.) Jourr<al of Commerce, November 7, 1857.
12. Flour contractors and destinations were: Joseph Hersch, Santa Fe and Albuquerque;
Ceran St. Vrain, Fort Union; A. J. Otero, Fort Defiance. Beans: Ceran St. Vrain, Fort
Union, Fort Massachusetts and Cantonment Burgwin ; F. White, Fort Fillmore and Fort Bliss ;
F. and C. Huning, Albuquerque. Vinegar: Dens and May, Fort Fillmore; Kesler and Zecken-
dorf, Albuquerque; Thomas Logan, Fort Thorn; Joseph Nangle, Fort Bliss. Salt: Jamea
Cumming, destination not given. Ibid., April 10, 1858.
13. Ibid., June 19, July 1, 10, 1858, and January 4, 1859. Also the Weekly Kansas
Herald, Leavenworth, July 24, 1858.
WYMAN: KANSAS CITY A FREIGHTER CAPITAL 7
new warehouses and a packing plant, and the improvement of the
Westport road. 14
As soon as the ice broke steamboats began to unload everything
from lager beer to church bells, destined for over thirty towns in
the Santa Fe area and for that many in Missouri and Kansas terri-
tory. 15 Mexican traders Jose Chaves, Juan I. Peres, P. Delgado,
J. C. Armigo, and others Yankee freighters, and local farmers
loaded over 8,000 wagons at Kansas City and nearly 2,000 from
Westport, paying about $800,000 for freight and commission at the
warehouses. 16 This was not all Santa Fe business, for fewer than
2,000 wagons creaked down that trail. 17 This year, for the first
time, most of Indian trade from Bent's Fort, Laramie, and the Osage,
Ottawa, and Cherokee countries concentrated there instead of at St.
14. Journal of Commerce, December 17, 1857; January 23, March 6, November 7, Decem-
ber 17, 1858.
15. These articles were seen in one warehouse: doors, circular saws, bands, packing,
machinery, sashes, whisky, sugar, cog wheels, shovels, wheels, church bells, grind stones,
furniture, bedding, brooms, stoves, nail iron, lager beer, fan mills, crockery, crates, saw mill,
wagon felloes, bows, spokes, horse collars, cement, soda, syrups, wine, leather, glass ware,
preserved fruit, log chains, bacon, flour, emigrant chests, axletrees, rope, and pianos.
The destination was Bent's Fort, Fort Union, Fort Massachusetts, Fort Thorn, Albu-
querque, Pena Blanca, Atrisca, Rio Ariba, Santa Fe, Bernallilo, Ranches, Las Vegas, Las
Lunas, Regada, Taos, Peralto, Valverde, La Micia Donna, Socorro, Sabine, Parida, Louis
Lopez, Limitar, Moro, Anton Chico, Donna Ana, Las Castillo, Algodennis, San Miguel, San
Jose, Tocolote, West Point, New Santa Fe, Harrisonville, Westport, Dry Wood, Tecumseh,
Lawrence, Brownsville, Wyandot, Wabonsa, Topeka, Butler, Ossawatomie, Prairie City, Leroy,
Centropolis, Council Grove, Cofacheque, Neosho, Manhattan, Fort Riley, Oakland, Monticello,
Emporia, Lexington, Olathe, McCannish, Oxford, Shawnee, and Richardson. Ibid., June
25, 1858.
16. Missouri Republican, July 18, 1859, and Kansas City (Mo.) Daily Western Journal of
Commerce, January 1, 1859. This summary of the year's business is given by the latter:
merchandise sold, $3,232,921.52; brick sold, $96,000; livestock sold, $2,241,217; and exports,
$2,018,045.75.
The exports were given thus: Mexican wool, 1,051,000 Ibs. ; goat skins, 55,000; dressed
deer skins, 60,000; dry hides, 61,857; specie in boxes, $1,527,789; estimated furs, peltries,
and skins, $50,000; or a total of $2,018,045.75.
The cattle trade report showed the sale of 16,600 horses, mules, and oxen, for $1,328,900;
stock cattle from Missouri, Cherokee country, Texas and Arkansas, and sold for California,
Salt Lake, Fort Kearney, Laramie, Riley, Chicago, and home markets, 864,000 (11,000 being
taken to Chicago), valued at $864,000; 5,063 hogs, $45,557; and 1,825 sheep, $3,650; a
total of $2,241,217.
The merchandise business was thus distributed: dry goods, $399,231.68; boots and shoes,
$151,875.25; hats and caps, $25,228.15; clothing, $105,131.04; boots and stationery, $16,-
136.10; hardware, $150,146.38; powder and lead, $49,042; glassware, $26,138.64; wooden
ware, $10,926.02; stoves and tin, $71,948.50; plows, wagons, carriages, $56,052; groceries,
$526,536.20; flour and meal, $395,645; bacon and lard, $103,163.04; liquors, $151,234.28;
cigars and tobacco, $55,941; robes and hides, $582,190; drugs, etc., $93,002.25; soaps and
candles, $41,095; confectionery, $12,998.64; crackers and pilot bread, $27,653.78; saddles,
harnesses, and leather, $92,563,19; furniture, $74,840; lumber, shingles, and such, $324,319.28.
The warehouse business in detail was thus given: number of packages received, 513,292;
wagons, 1,836; plows, 2,117; sacks of flour, 76,324; meal, 3,275; oats, 3,168; corn, 5,400;
potatoes, 2,120; bales of hay, 175; Mexican wool, 1,051,000 Ibs.; lumber, 1,926,750 feet;
number of shingles, 857,000; laths, 1,234,000; kegs of powder, 2,054; dry hides, 4,628; buffalo
robes, 8,080; bales of furs and skins, 2,718; bags of buffalo tongues, 746; buffalo meat,
75,000 Ibs.; packages of furniture, 10,806; gallons of stoneware, 10,600; carriages, 158;
pianos, 43; and gold and silver in boxes, $1,527,789.
17. S. M. Hayes & Co., located on the trail at Council Grove, recorded these engaged in
the Santa Fe trade: 2,440 men, 1,827 wagons, 429 horses, 15,714 oxen, 5,316 mules, 67
carriages, and 9,608 tons of goods. These statistics are pasted in front of a copy of John
Maloy's "History of Morris County, Kansas, 1820 to 1880" (newspaper clippings), which is
in the Kansas State Historical Society.
It was also reported that a "wind wagon" or "Ship of the Prairie" was to make a trial
run to Santa Fe. In 1860 a "steam wagon" was exhibited at the court house. See the
Kansas City (Mo.) Daily Western Journal of Commerce, April 22, August 30, 1859, and
February 11, 1860.
8 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Louis. 18 The army sutlers at Fort Laramie also purchased at this
place, and at least one merchant sent goods "comprising everything
that is needed to constitute a stock in trade of a miner's mer-
chant. . . ," 19
From spring until late summer the warehouse, wharf and stores
bustled with activity. Hacks and drays rattled up and down the
hilly streets. The prairie southwest of town was covered with the
camps and corrals of the traders. In June "at least four thousand
head of stock" grazed serenely on the prairie grass. An observer
mused over the thought of an easterner's reactions to such a sight,
saying that u in any of these places [in the East] every housetop,
window, and balcony would be crowded with people looking at this
mountain caravan. . . ." 20 Of course, frontiersmen would also
gape at the sight of clipper ships lying in harbor.
The border editor, speaking for the business interests of his
bailiwick, carried upon his shoulders the troubles of the town, and
periodically gave the people something new to worry about. In
1859 the Journal looked sadly at liquor and wagon importations.
Why should corn from the prairies of Kansas be shipped to Kansas
City, down to St. Louis, and then returned in bottles, two-thirds of
which was sent overland to New Mexico? Across in Clay county,
Missouri, Henderson and Reed were distilling liquor. Could not
such be done in Kansas City? Why should freighters and farmers
import nearly 2,000 wagons annually from Chicago, St. Louis, Cin-
cinnati, and the town of Indiana in Pennsylvania, at an average
cost of $160 plus fifteen cents per hundred pounds freight costs to
Kansas City, when there were 13,000 acres of timber in the area of
the "City of Hills"? 21 Within a few years local wagon makers were
to take the suggestion literally, but that was a time when the heavy
wagon had been relegated to second position by many freighters for
a lighter type of vehicle.
The gold discovery at Cherry creek was not greatly to affect the
economic life of Kansas City. Certainly its position as border depot
was not so dependent upon it, as was any river town above there.
18. Journal of Commerce, July 15, 1858. The Cherokee traders noted were Major Linn
and Colonel Bryant, the latter being "the largest and most popular dealer in the nation";
from Laramie were Ward and Geary, and Maj. A. Drips; the Creek trader was a Mr.
War-field; the Osage was A. B. Canville; and Col. William Bent came from Bent's Fort, a
man said to have "probably transported more merchandise over the Great Western Plains
than any one man living." Compiled from ibid.. June 5, 19, 26, July 8, 15, August 5, 7, 12,
1858.
19. Ibid., September 11, 1858.
20. Ibid., May 29, 1858.
21. Ibid., June 5, 19, July 1, 3, 17, 1858. Russell, Majors, and Waddell purchased
wagons at a cost of $4,000. The wagons weighed 2,400 pounds and were shipped in fourteen
pieces.
WYMAN: KANSAS CITY A FREIGHTER CAPITAL 9
The mountain, New Mexican and hinterland trades were deeply
rooted there by tradition, as well as by geography, and only the
vicissitudes of a Civil War could disrupt that and send it to a rival
town. This city, as it claimed, was one "destined to be the greatest
Western Centre beyond the Mississippi. . . ."
In the first year of the major rush to Pike's Peak Kansas City
prospered, but not upon the Colorado trade. Leavenworth had been
regarded as an unworthy but largely successful competitor at the
business of government freight before 1859 ; 22 but when Leavenworth
captured a fair proportion of the miners' trade, that was going a
bit too far. Hence, thereafter, there was but one rival to condemn
and abuse, and that was the city near the fort. The establishment
of branch firms in the mountain valleys would have been a better
way to corner a good share of that commerce. This was not done
nearly to the extent that Leavenworth did. Instead a "Kansas City
Gold Hunter's Express Transportation Company" was organized to
make the vital contact with a region which the town feared would
ultimately become a producer itself. This was hailed as a certain
method of becoming the economic sire of the Rockies. Another
express was planned which, if it did materialize, did not do a great
business. 23
The extent of the miners' trade is not known, nor is the total over-
land commerce for the season given. 24 The Santa Fe total was in-
completely given as 1,970 wagons. 25 Wool and hides continued to
be the great imports from the end of the trails. 26 The four commis-
22. Col. E. C. McCarty, commission merchant of Kansas City, said in a speech, December
25, 1857, that Brown, Russell, & Co. offered to receive government freight at St. Louis, and
pay transportation and insurance to Kansas City rather than ship it to Fort Leavenworth,
but were refused, for "who ever knew an army officer to walk ten steps out of his way to
accommodate anybody?" Spaulding, op. cit., p. 33. In 1858, some of the government freight
was shipped from Nebraska City and Kansas City.
23. Daily Western Journal of Commerce, March 19, May 5, 1859. The first was organized
by Irwin, Porter & Co., to run via the Santa Fe road, to carry twenty-five percent cheaper
than any other company, and to insure delivery from ten to twenty days in advance of all
others. The second was planned by John S. Jones. But the Kansas City Western Journal of
Commerce, December 30, 1859, spoke of a meeting being held by the business men to talk
over a permanent stage line to s Jefferson territory and Santa Fe, for unless such was done,
the loss of that business was feared.
24. The total trade, including overland freighting was given thus by the Daily Kansas
City Journal of Commerce, January 5, 1860: Groceries and provisions, $954,090; dry goods,
$368,300; hardware, $179,150; drugs, $110,000; furniture, $32,463; boots and shoes, $101,-
330; saddles and harness, $37,000; clothing, $156,237; books and stationery, $7,525; leather,
$12,000; hides and skins, $67,836; grain, $38,707; lumber, $114,500; stock, $83,128; hogs,
$26,871; millinery, etc., $4,060; saloon sales, $67,394; confectioneries, $10,375; wagons,
plows, and ox yokes made in Kansas City, $30,595; wagons sold there (Eastern made),
$18,000; carriages made there, $25,500; brick, $30,000; bakery sales, $17,086; butchers'
sales, $53,043; auction sales, $28,000; queensware, $15,750; beer manufactured there and
sold from brewery, $35,000, and brooms made there, $1,000.
25. Missouri Republican, August 15, 1859. This was between March 1 and August 15,
1859. Since some wagons ran quite late in the fall and winter it is probable that this cannot
be taken as complete. A total of 2,300 men, 840 horses, 4,000 mules, 15,000 oxen and 73
carriages were employed in transporting the 1,900 tons of freight to New Mexico.
26. The Daily Kansas City Journal of Commerce, January 5, 1860, states that 456,771
pounds of wool, 6,787 pounds of hides, and 21,120 pounds of furs and pelts were shipped
from there in 1859.
10 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sion and forwarding houses, three harness makers, two steamboat
agents, six wholesale groceries, and twenty-two saloons surely had a
profitable year in this great splurge before the shadow of secession
hovered over Kansas City. 27 The navigation of the Kansas river
was expected to deal the finishing blows to Leavenworth, while the
completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad would open up
the upper Mississippi valley. 28 Even Main street was macadamized
to lure the inexperienced as well as to keep the faithful in the vast
commercial net. One merchant showed his abounding confidence in
the "Gem of the Prairies" by establishing a new store designed to
appeal to New Mexico alone. In so doing he exemplified the
economic life of his own city its staff of freighting life being that
rutted road-bed leading toward the land of the Mexicans and
Indians, and Yankees in uniforms and civilian clothes. Their de-
mand for the food and comforts of civilization made these humble
men the builders of Kansas City.
That the Civil War paralyzed the economic life of the patron
saint of Santa Fe freighting is a belief which must be slightly
modified. The year 1860 was a good one. Levee life began in
February and by April one could see trains for the interior, Santa
Fe and the mountains loading at the warehouses. Several of the
merchants established branch houses at the mines. 29 While the
town expected to capture one fifth of the total (or 14,940 wagons) it
is doubtful if such success was achieved. 30 Whole trains of private
goods for New Mexico, totaling 2,170 wagons, did outfit at Kansas
City commission houses. 31 But the greatest victory of all was the
removal of the army depot from Leavenworth. All goods for the
Kansas and New Mexican forts and the Indians were to be trans-
ported from Kansas City. With reason did the Journal joyfully
write :
Yes, we have got the government outfitting business. Immense stone ware-
houses for this trade have sprung up at the upper end of our levee within the
past two weeks and already nearly one thousand wagons have been shipped
and now cover over acres of ground in the bottom just above our city. Yester-
day some eight or ten wagons arrived from Leavenworth, bringing the goods
27. Sutherland and McEvoy, Kansas City Directory, and Business Mirror for 1859-1860
(St. Louis, 1860), pp. 69-79.
28. Daily Western Journal of Commerce, May 8 and 21, 1859.
29. James Sutherland, Kansas City Directory, and Business Mirror for 1860-1861 (Indian-
apolis, Ind., 1861), p. 16.
30. Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, v. XLIV, in its article "Commerce of
the Plains," fails to credit Kansas City with any commerce to the mines. This is in error.
See miscellaneous wagons loading in Daily Kansas City Journal of Commerce, January 28 and
February 26, 1860. Sutherland, op. cit., mentions the branch stores there.
The "probable" total was based on the assumption that 50,000 people were there, con-
suming two pounds per day, plus machinery. See the Daily Kansas City Journal of Commerce,
January 19, 1860.
31. Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, v. XLIV, p. 43.
WYMAN: KANSAS CITY A FREIGHTER CAPITAL 11
which had been purchased and shipped to that point for the hundreds of men
who are in the employ of this government freighting company. The finest
business house in this city, consisting of two rooms 40 by 100 feet each, has
been opened for the reception of these goods. . . , 32
All that remained to be done, it was believed, was to get the Salt
Lake trade!
Alexander Majors, of the firm of Russell, Majors, and Waddell,
nearly apologized to this happy city for bringing his bullwhackers
down upon them. In a warehouse he delivered to a great crowd a
speech long to be remembered. After the reading of the first Psalm
and the rendition of a prayer, he talked for two hours about how he
tried to keep his drivers from getting intoxicated, being immoral,
playing cards, and otherwise living a life leading to ruin. He had
been freighting for ten years, he said, and had made the Bible a rule
of action. If men would study it, they would succeed in life. He
had no education, but God had given him sense to understand right
from wrong. He hoped the drivers would think of these things and
be upright moral men. It was reported that the drivers were im-
pressed, but the secret of getting government contracts remained, as
it is today, an undivulged matter. 33
The two government contractors, Irwin, Jackman & Co. and
Russell, Majors, and Waddell loaded 863 wagons for Forts Garland,
Larned, Wise and Union. The freighters of Indian annuities, Bent
and Campbell, sent out at least 57 wagons. The government freight-
ing, therefore, increased the commercial activity of this town by
over 900 wagons. 34 But the private freighting remained as it had
been in the past and was to be in the future, the greatest segment in
the economic life of Kansas City exclusive of the hinterland traffic.
Eighteen hundred sixty-one was a year of calamity to this lower
Missouri river town. Secession came, and with that act the govern-
ment and private freighting largely shifted to Leavenworth. Indian
annuities were shipped from this town again in 1861. 35 It was
alleged that no trains starting from the fort city were attacked by
the Kansas abolitionists. Thereafter they had to pull their wagons
through the mire of "Government Lane" from Leavenworth to a
point four miles west of Kansas City, or take the Fort Riley road
and then turn south to the old trail. Apparently a great number of
the New Mexicans shifted to these routes from 1861 to 1863. Al-
32. Daily Kansas City Journal of Commerce, May 20, 1860.
33. Ibid., May 22, 1860.
34. Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, v. XLIV, p. 43. Russell, Majors, and
Waddell loaded 546 of the 863 wagons. The two firms employed 1,030 men, 216 mules, and
10,670 oxen in transporting the 4*859,124 pounds of freight. Also see Daily Kansas City
Journal of Commerce, May 31, 1860.
35. Sutherland, op. cit., p. 17. Forty wagons were sent out with 240,000 pounds of freight.
12 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
though the Journal spoke of streets blocked with wagons and of the
great revival in 1862, evidence does not cause one to conclude that
the days of pre-secession years had returned. When the army depot
for the "District of the Border" was established there in 1863, a few
residents began to smile again. 36 New Mexican traders were lured
back to the fold by assurances from the chamber of commerce that
troops were to be stationed at Westport, Cottonwood Springs, and
Olathe to protect them. 37 This military news, along with prices,
appeared in public print both in English and Spanish. About 2,000
wagons constituted the total business of the year, many of which
probably were loaded for the Kansas interior. 38 A moral victory
was gained when the Santa Fe mail was transferred from Independ-
ence. While the war crippled the city, it certainly was not as
prostrate in 1860 and 1863 as some have been inclined to believe.
By 1864 Kansas City had gained back a major part of its private
freighting to New Mexico. The chamber of commerce kept the ox-
team professionals informed of the freedom of the Santa Fe trail.
It was pointed out that stages ran regularly to Fort Scott and
Lawrence, and that Union troops kept the bushwhackers away. 39
This must have had considerable effect in bringing back those who
had forsaken the traditional depot. The total Santa Fe trade of
3,000 wagons, although not all from Kansas City, showed no in-
crease over that of two years before. 40 Surely Kansas City out-
fitted more of the 1864 trade than that of a year before.
Slightly greater gains were made in 1865. Dusty, bronzed
"greasers" were more numerous, as were the merchants from Las
Vegas, Moro, and elsewhere in that area. An owner of a bridge at
142 Mile Creek reported that 4,472 wagons crossed there between
May 20 and November 26. 41 Apparently Leavenworth and Kansas
City shared evenly in this trade for the season. Both branches of
the New Mexican legislature were reported to have passed a resolu-
tion recommending Leavenworth as a terminal for the Santa Fe
stage, since " 'nearly all their purchases are made in Leaven-
worth . . .' ". But obviously this statement was inspired by
36. Kansas City (Mo.) Western Journal of Commerce, October 24, November 7, 14, and
21, 1863.
37. Ibid., August 15, 1863.
38. Ibid., August 8, 1863. Up to July 1, 1,385 wagons had loaded at five houses with
6,482,928 pounds of freight.
39. Ibid., March 5, 1864. A government wagon train was robbed that fall at Cabin
Creek. Ibid., September 24, 1864. A Santa Fe trader, Antonio Manuel Oterio, was robbed
in the Raton mountains that summer. Ibid., July 2, 1864.
40. Maloy, op. cit., gives the total of 618 horses, 20,812 oxen, 8,046 mules, 98 carriages,
3,012 men and 15,000 tons of merchandise for 1864, In 1862, the Council Grove Press, June
15, 1863, gives this total: 3,000 wagons, 618 horses, 20,812 oxen, 6,406 mules, 96 carriages,
and 3,720 men.
41. Kansas City (Mo.) Weekly Western Journal of Commerce, December 16, 1865.
WYMAN: KANSAS CITY A FREIGHTER CAPITAL 13
Leavenworth propaganda. The bushwhacker dangers were over;
only Indian difficulties remained for these last years of the overland
traffic to the Southwest. Leavenworth could no longer hold that
supremacy when abnormal circumstances disappeared.
In 1866 happy days were in evidence again, but bullwhacking as
a business was nearing an end. The old trail was open and the rail-
road from St. Louis was pushing west; competition between the
Hannibal and St. Joseph, the Kansas Pacific and the river boats
assured low rates. The traders, coming in earlier than usual, were
advised not to ship from the end of the railroad. Mexican trains
were reported to have "almost entirely" returned to the fold. Daily
records give evidence of the genuine revival. Government freights
for posts south of Laramie were to be shipped by rail direct to
Topeka, and then taken overland to Fort Riley. 42 Of the estimate
for the season by Col. J. F. Meline five or six thousand wagons
Kansas City probably had a share fairly commensurate with its
geographic advantages. But after 1866 the railroad transported the
goods to the end of the line from which it was forwarded by the
remnants of a great business. Those bands of steel kept for Kansas
City the prestige gained in a former day, while competitors up-
stream settled on the river bank for a long period of drowsy exist-
ence.
The Santa Fe trail and the Missouri river made Kansas City.
The New Mexican and the mountain trade made it famous for more
than a decade. The consequences of Civil War destroyed the monop-
oly and perhaps contributed to the failure to get more of the
Colorado business. It did not deserve the government patronage to
the upper forts, nor was it favorably situated to sell to the Mor-
mons. That belonged elsewhere. But the inexorable forces of
geography dictated that it should be the supply depot for the upper
Arkansas and New Mexico. That portion secured by Leavenworth
(government freighting before 1858 and from 1860 to 1865, and a
good part of the private freighting for three years or so in the
sixties) was not so much a result of natural advantages as of po-
litical influence. Even in the sixties it would probably have been
cheaper to send troops with trains through Kansas rather than pay
extra freight costs from Leavenworth. In spite of these discrimina-
tions in producing a distortion of economic forces, Kansas City
was the capital of the trade to the Southwest most of the years of
its existence.
42. Ibid., February 4, 1866.
Ferries in Kansas
GEORGE A. ROOT
PART XII MARMATON RIVER
THE Marmaton river rises in the eastern part of Marmaton
township, Allen county, and flows south and east for about ten
miles into the Marion township, Bourbon county. Thence, by a most
circuitous route east and west across Bourbon county, it crosses the
Kansas line and enters Missouri in Vernon county, to join the Little
Osage river a few miles from Schell City. The stream is approxi-
mately 85 miles long, about 10 being in Allen county, 50 in Bourbon
county, and 25 in the state of Missouri.
The late Judge Charles E. Cory, of Fort Scott, in his pamphlet
Place Names of Bourbon County, Kansas, has the following regard-
ing the Marmaton:
The Marmaton had its name from the old French voyageurs or trappers
who came here long before the settlers or even the traders came across the
plains. Along this stream they first found prairie dogs, which they called
Marmots, supposing them to be the little animal common in Europe, to which
the prairie dog is related. The name Marmaton which they gave the stream,
was a puzzling thing for the English-speaking hunters and the few settlers
who soon came. They could not pronounce the nasal French "N." And so,
for a long time, the writing and speaking of the name was badly confused. In
old documents it is found written and printed Marmiton, Marmoton, Mar-
maton, Marmitaw, Marmotaw, and perhaps in other ways. There are plenty
of people now living who have heard it pronounced as if spelled in the last
form. The speakers were trying to accommodate their English tongues to the
French pronunciation. However, the name finally settled down to its present
spelling.
Scant mention has been accorded this stream in histories of either
Kansas or Missouri. Lippincott's Gazetteer has the most preten-
tious account we have examined about three or four lines reciting
that it is a small river which rises in Allen county, runs across
Bourbon county, and enters Missouri in Vernon county, and joins
the little Osage about twelve miles north of Nevada.
The earliest mention of the Marmaton we have located is on a
map of a road from Fort Coffey to Fort Leavenworth, prepared in
1837 by Charles Dimmock. He spelled the name Marmiton.
Ferries were probably not needed on this river, except during the
period of spring freshets. While there may have been one or more
ferries operating earlier, the first mention we have noticed, is the
following item printed in a newspaper of 1859:
(14)
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 15
Capt. Daniel Funk intends placing a large ferry boat at the lower ford of
the Marmiton for the transportation of wagons and horses, during the high
waters which prevail in the spring and fall. Such an institution is very much
needed, and we trust the Capt. may be as successful in this line as he has
been in his piscatorial operations. Fort Scott Democrat, August, 1859, re-
printed in Lawrence Republican, August 11, 1859.
By 1860 the Fort Scott Bridge and Ferry Co. had been organized,
and at the special session of the legislature that year obtained au-
thority to erect a toll bridge across the Marmaton river and Mill
creek, at or near the mouth of Mill creek, in Bourbon county, and
to keep a ferry on the Marmaton at that point until the bridge was
built. This company included William R. Griffith, 1 William R. Jud-
son, 2 H. T. Wilson, 3 S. A. Williams, B. F. Riggins and their associ-
ates. Their capital stock was divided into shares of $10 each, not to
exceed $8,000 in all. This act was signed by Gov. Samuel Medary
on February 25, I860, 4 and took effect at once.
Probably the last movement for water transportation on this
stream in Kansas was made by the Marmaton River Navigation
Company, organized on July 1, 1890, at Fort Scott, for the purpose
of making this stream within the state of Kansas navigable by slack
water navigation for boats in the carriage of freight and passengers.
The business of the corporation was to be transacted on and along
the river, with the principal place of business in the city of Fort
Scott. The corporation was "to exist for all time to come," and to
be governed by a board of five directors, those chosen for the first
year including F. L. Spengler, Emil Spengler, J. M. Limbocker,
J. A. Schmith and Griffith Peters. The new corporation was capi-
talized at $5,000, divided into 200 shares of $25 each. This charter
was filed with the secretary of state July 9, 1890. 5
The Marmaton has numerous tributaries, the main ones from the
north being Turkey and Mill creeks, and from the south Yellow
Paint creek, made famous by Eugene F. Ware, the "Paint creek
bard." At times excessive rains in the watershed drained by the
Marmaton have disrupted travel and made ferrying necessary. One
such freshet occurred during the spring of 1862, when the military
1. "William R. Griffith was the first State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
2. William R. Judson was colonel of the Sixth Kansas cavalry.
3. Hiero T. Wilson was a prominent early day citizen of Fort Scott. He was appointed
postmaster February 26, 1849, and in 1854 was appointed county commissioner. He was a
judge of the first election, November 29, 1854, and an early director of the Kansas State
Historical Society.
4. House Journal, 1860, special session, pp. 293, 334, 537. Senate Journal, 1860, special
session, pp. 495, 519. Laws, 1860, special session, pp. 16, 17.
5. "Corporations," v. 35, p. 380.
16 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
bridge across the Marmaton was swept away. Another flood oc-
curred on July 11, 1869, when many houses in the Marmaton bottom
were completely submerged. 6
No mention has been found of the date the first bridge was built
across the Marmaton, but it must have been in the early 1860's, for
an item in the State Journal, of Lawrence, of May 1, 1862, men-
tioned that the military bridge across this river had been swept
away. This structure was probably close to the old ford where
the military road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson crossed the
river, about a mile east of town. This bridge, or one that replaced
it, was known as the "Osbun" bridge, because it was on the farm
of Dr. A. G. Osbun, one of the earliest settlers in the county. 7 In
1933 a new structure over the river at this point was dedicated. An
Associated Press dispatch of March 22, said:
A concrete bridge costing $40,000, built across the Marmaton river by the
city [Fort Scott], was dedicated here today. Opening of the bridge on Na-
tional avenue marks the end of detours on U. S. highway 73 E and 54 through
here. The dedication program included a parade, an address by Mayor Martin
Miller, vaudeville entertainment at Memorial Hall and a salute by Bat-
tery E, 161st field artillery. The bridge replaces a steel structure built in 1872,
one section of which collapsed in July, 1931, killing a workman repairing a
girder. The new bridge is 200 feet long and of rainbow arch type.
The city of Fort Scott, built around the old fort which was es-
tablished in 1842, was on the old military road running south. For
many years this was the only established highway reaching the
frontier forts and Indian settlements to the south. In later years
a number of roads were laid out to and from Fort Scott. One in
1859 ran to Leavenworth ; one in 1865 to Ottawa ; another the same
year, to lola; one in 1868 to Baxter Springs, and one in 1870 to Erie.
These roads were primary factors in the development of the south-
eastern portion of the state, which, up to the early 1870's had been
the habitat of various Indian tribes. 8
PART XIII WAKARUSA CREEK
WAKARUSA creek or river has its source in a number of small
branches that head in Wabaunsee and Shawnee counties. The
most westerly of these, as well as the longest, begins in Wabaunsee
county, in Township 13, Range 12, about four and one half miles
from the Shawnee-Osage and Wabaunsee county boundary, flows
6. State Journal, Lawrence, May 1, 1862. Fort Scott Monitor, July 14, 1869.
7. Cory, Place Names of Bourbon County, Kansas, p. 34.
8. Laws, Kansas, 1859, p. 585; 1865, p. 145; 1867, pp. 247, 261; 1870, p. 210. Original
plats of above roads are in the Archives division of the Kansas State Historical Society.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 17
across the northwest corner of Osage and enters Shawnee county in
the southwest corner of Auburn township, not far from old Grand
Haven post office. Through Shawnee county the stream has a
west to east course, deviating less than three miles from north to
south. It enters Douglas county in S. 26, T. 13, R. 17. From here
its course is to the northeast for several miles, thence after a some-
what circuitous route eastward it joins the Kansas river at the
eastern limits of present Eudora. The stream is approximately 75
miles in length, about 35 being in Douglas county, 31 in Shawnee
county, six or seven in Osage county, and the balance in Wabaunsee
county.
Wakarusa creek has been known by that name for considerably
more than 100 years. It is a Kaw word. A literal translation of
the word cannot be printed without offense, although in the Indian
tongue there was no vulgarity and the definition is a perfectly proper
one. In modern times the accepted version of this translation as
handed down by those versed in the Kaw tongue, is "hip deep." 1
Another and more modern definition is "River of Big Weeds." 2
The earliest printed mention of the stream we have located is that
by Prof. Thomas Say, of Long's expedition of 1819-1820, who made
a trip to the Kansas Indian village, and mentioned that the prairies
about the headwaters of the "Warreruza" abound in game. 3 Isaac
McCoy and his son John C. McCoy, in their survey of Cantonment
Leavenworth and the Delaware reservations, in 1830, mentioned
the stream as the Warkusa and also Wacharusa river. 4 Joel Palmer,
in his Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains to the Mouth
of the Columbia River, in 1845 and 1846, mentions having crossed
the W^lkarusha. 5 Among various spellings of the name we note the
following: Wakaroosa, 6 by J. W. Abert, in 1846; Wah-karrusi, 7 by
Abert in 1847.
The first and probably the only ferry over the Wakarusa was at
Bluejacket's, 8 where the Oregon trail from Westport crossed this
1. Letter of George W. Brown, July 8, 1902, in Manuscript division, Kansas State
Historical Society.
2. Andreas, History of Kansas, p. 531.
3. Thwaites, Early Western Travels, v. 14, p. 183.
4. "Indian Surveys in Kansas," pp. 35, 56.
5. Thwaites, Early Western Travels, v. 30, pp. 36, 37.
6. Sen. Ex. Doc. 7, p. 11, 30 Cong., 1st sess., Ser. No. 505.
7. Ibid., pp. 389-391.
8. Charles Bluejacket was a grandson of the famous Bluejacket, chief of the Shawnees.
The original Bluejacket acquired his name on account of a blue linsey woolsey blouse he was
wearing when captured by the Shawnees. He was white, a native of Virginia, and was
named Marmaduke Van Swerangen, being known as Duke by his family. On being captured,
Duke consented to go with his captors and become a member of the tribe, providing they
allowed his brother to return home. This the Indians agreed to do and the arrangement was
2-6164
18 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
stream. Just when Bluejacket inaugurated this service has not been
definitely learned, but it must have been early in 1855, when the
bulk of travel south of the Kansas river followed the Oregon trail.
The flatboat for Bluejacket's ferry was built in 1855 by a Shawnee
named Tula or Tooley, who operated a ferry not far from the Dela-
ware crossing, or Grinter's as it was commonly known. The Emma
Harmon, a small stern-wheeler, and the first steamboat to ascend
the Kansas river after the white settlement began, had left Kansas
City on the afternoon of May 19, 1855, for Topeka and way land-
ings. About noon the next day the boat went to the bank to get
a supply of wood, and shortly after starting again it was hailed by
an Indian, who made the crew understand that he wanted a flat-
boat towed up the river. The steamboat accordingly was brought
alongside and the flatboat made fast, before proceeding on its
journey. At the mouth of the Wakarusa the tow lines were cast
off and the passengers waved a parting salute to the red man, who
proceeded to "pole" his ungainly craft up the smaller stream. 9
Bluejacket's ferry, as shown on an early map of Douglas county,
was located on the SE^ of the SW%, S. 12, T. 13, R. 21E. 10 This
was near the Wakarusa fort and crossing at the north boundary of
the defunct town of Sebastian, and about two miles from the his-
toric town of Franklin. From Bluejacket's the old Oregon trail ran
through the towns of Franklin and Lawrence, touched the northeast
corner of Marshall, thence westward to Big Springs and Shawnee
county. At a number of points through Douglas and Shawnee
counties, the ruts of this old thoroughfare are still plainly visible,
showing where countless thousands of ox and mule teams plodded
their way across the prairies on their toilsome journey westward.
Aside from the following item, but scant mention has been found
of this ferry:
James Moore in attempting to cross the Wakarusa at Bluejacket's crossing,
on Tuesday last, was drowned. He was driving a team attached to a wagon,
and had his wife in with him. While crossing in the ferry, the horses got
frightened and jumped over. The horses, as well as the driver, were drowned,
but the lady was rescued. Lawrence Republican, February 21, 1861.
carried out in good faith by all concerned. Bluejacket soon became popular with the
Shawnees, entering heartily into all their activities, and when about twenty-five years of age
was made chief of the tribe. He took a Shawnee for a wife, and had several daughters and
but one son. This young man was named William, and was a rather wild and reckless young
fellow who married and left several children, one of whom was Charles Bluejacket. Charles
was born in what is now Michigan, on the Huron river, in 1816, and came to Kansas with
the tribe in 1832. He was educated at the Quaker mission before coming to Kansas, be-
came a Christian, and united with the Methodist church. He moved to Indian territory with
the tribe and died there October 29, 1897. Kansas Historical Collections, v. 10, pp. 397, 398.
9. Ibid., v. 9, pp. 331, 382.
10. J. Cooper Stuck's Map of Douglas County, Kansas (1857).
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 19
Bluejacket's was an important point in its day, and as early as
1855 the legislature passed an act establishing a territorial road
from Shawnee Methodist Church, South, to Tecumseh, by way of
this crossing. 11 Two years later the legislature of 1857 established a
territorial road from Olathe on the Santa Fe trail, on the most direct
and practicable route to the crossing of the Wakarusa at Blue-
jacket's. 12
With the settlement of the Wakarusa valley there was a demand
for a more expeditious mode of crossing than by the old ferry. As
early as 1855 the legislature authorized James Findlay to establish
a bridge across the Wakarusa river at the crossing of the territorial
road leading from the Missouri line to Lawrence and Tecumseh,
requiring him to complete the bridge within three years. 13 At the
same session John G. McClelland and Clarkson M. Wallace were
authorized to erect a toll bridge across the Wakarusa river, where
the road leading from Fort Leavenworth to St. Bernard crosses the
river. 14
So far as known this completes the history of ferrying and early
bridging of the Wakarusa.
PART XIV TURKEY CREEK
nTMJRKEY creek of Johnson and Wyandotte counties rises in the
JL southern part of Shawnee township, Johnson county, about five
miles south of the town of Shawnee. It flows in a north and north-
easterly direction into Wyandotte county, and before its first diver-
sion passed through the present Rosedale business district, thence
across the state line into Missouri, emptying into the Missouri river
about two miles from the Kansas line. The stream took its name
from the abundance of wild turkeys which ranged along its course
in early days. The first mention of the stream we have located is
found on a map of the Shawnee lands, surveyed in 1833 by Isaac
McCoy and his son John C. McCoy. The creek originally was
about fifteen miles long, but various diversions in modern times have
shortened this by four or five miles.
In 1919 following many disastrous floods in this creek, its waters
were diverted through a 1,450-foot tunnel into the Kansas river in
Kansas City. Despite the fact that Turkey creek most of the time
11. Statutes, Kansas territory, 1855, p. 954.
12. Laws, 1857, p. 169.
13. Statutes, Kansas territory, 1855, pp. 770, 771.
14. Ibid., p. 965.
20 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was a small and insignificant stream, it occasionally proved to be
most troublesome to the traveler, for it had no rock-bottom fords
near its mouth, and teams and vehicles sometimes mired in the mud.
Gov. William Walker in his "Journal" under date of March 10,
1849, makes mention of a bridge over Turkey creek that was gone,
and of a ferry boat used there for some years following. 1 The
next year he wrote that he made a trip to "Kansas [City] and on
my way found the ferryboat at Turkey creek sunk. After hard
labor (and I bearing the principal part) we succeeded in getting
her afloat; then commenced the process of bailing with an old tin
kittle with as many holes as it had seen years and their names was
'Legion'." 2
In later years this ferry must have been discontinued, and the
only ferry accommodations remaining was a ferryboat operated by
Capt. S. Wiltz, called the Gate City, that ran from Wyandotte to
Turkey creek, and across into Missouri. 3 The foregoing references
are the only ones we have found regarding ferrying on Turkey
creek.
1. "William Walker and the Provisional Government of Nebraska Territory," in Proceed-
ings and Collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society, Second Series, v. 3, p. 284.
2. Ibid., p. 313.
3. Advertisement in Western Argus, Wyandotte, September 30, 1858.
The Emigrant Aid Company
in the Kansas Conflict
SAMUEL A. JOHNSON
IT IS a familiar story to every casual student of Kansas history
that even before the Kansas-Nebraska act had become a law,
men from the border counties of Missouri rushed across the border
and staked out claims to all the best land. This is usually repre-
sented as a conspiracy on the part of the slavocracy to seize Kansas
for slavery. The plain fact seems to be that these Missourians
cared next to nothing about the question of slavery extension and
still less about national politics. They simply wanted the land. 1
Like all frontiersmen, they regarded the land near them as right-
fully theirs, whenever it should be opened to settlement. This land
hunger was whetted by a failure of the corn crop in the Platte
purchase. 2 Some of these men intended to remove their families to
the land as soon as they could conveniently do so; others wished
only to establish a preemption right which they could sell to later
comers. They were not particularly disturbed by the arrival
through the summer of 1854 of squatters from the Ohio valley, even
though these were known to be of Free-State sentiments. But when
rumors began to reach the border that a great corporation was being
formed by Eastern abolitionists to take possession of Kansas, that
this corporation had a capital of $5,000,000 (supposed in the West
to be cash in hand) , and that it was hiring twenty thousand armed
men to come to Kansas to drive all pro-slavery men from the terri-
tory, the Missourians were thrown into a state of panic. 3
Many of these farmers of western Missouri were slaveholders in
a small way; they all took slavery for granted and hoped to own
slaves. Indeed, they had assumed, probably at the prompting of
their politicians, that the Kansas-Nebraska act was in the nature
of a compromise intended to consign Kansas to slavery, Nebraska
1. E. L. Craik, "Southern Interest in Territorial Kansas," Kansas Historical Collections,
v. XV, pp. 348 et seq. A. T. Andreas, History of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), pp. 419, 421.
2. New York Daily Times, August 18, 1854.
3. The original charter of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company (never used) au-
thorized a capitalization of $5,000,000. Eli Thayer and Edward Everett Hale published a
pamphlet, called Organization, Objects and Plan of Operations of the Emigrant Aid Company,
which recommended the settling of 20,000 persons in Kansas. Original charter and copies of
this pamphlet are among the papers and effects of the New England Emigrant Aid Company
in the archives of the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka. For an account of the actual
operations of the company, see article "The Emigrant Aid Company in Kansas," Kansas His-
torical Quarterly, v. I, pp. 429-441.
(21)
22 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to freedom. 4 With typical frontier credulity they now accepted the
rumors that the Emigrant Aid "Society" (as they always called it)
was a corporation of fabulous wealth (the Westerner was highly
suspicious of corporations of any kind), and that it was about to
use its vast resources to seize the new territory by force and to
deprive them of their birthright, the adjacent unoccupied lands. 5
Naturally enough they regarded such an action as an unwarranted
and unconstitutional aggression on the part of Eastern fanatics and
were willing to go to any length to resist it.
This state of mind was meat and drink to Sen. David R. Atchison
of Missouri. He had been striving since 1850 to displace the veteran
senator, Thomas Hart Benton, as Democratic boss of Missouri, and
in 1851 his followers had combined with the Whigs to defeat Benton
for reelection for a sixth consecutive term. The sectional issues of
1850 had split the Missouri Democrats into violently hostile fac-
tions, Bentonite and anti-Bentonite, which were virtually distinct
political parties. Benton and his following were old style "Jack-
sonian" or "Union" Democrats, anxious to avert the rising tide of
sectionalism, and utterly out of sympathy with Calhoun's "'State
Rights" philosophy. The St. Louis merchants, who formed the back-
bone of the Bentonite faction, were willing to encourage the migra-
tion of Easterners to Kansas, since this would, in their opinion,
further the development of the Pacific railway westward from St.
Louis and facilitate the sale of goods. 6 Atchison's term as senator
was about to expire. In January, 1855, he would stand before the
legislature for reelection, opposed by Benton and a Whig candidate.
In such a three-cornered fight anything might happen, so it be-
hooved Atchison to attempt to rally the Whigs to his standard.
Under the circumstances, his strategy was marked out for him. He
would play upon the fears of the slaveholding counties, where there
was considerable Whig strength, and persuade them that their
interests, their institutions, and even their homes were imperiled by
the aggression of Eastern fanatics. He would then lead a move-
ment to resist this aggression, and so become the hero of the slave-
holding section. This was expected to bring the pro-slavery portion
of the Whigs to his support and secure his election. 7
4. Many so testified before the congressional investigating committee in 1856. "Kansas
Affairs," a report of the special committee appointed to investigate the troubles in Kansas, in
Reports of Committees of the House of Representatives, No. 200, 34 Cong., 1 sess., pp. 926,
1114. Hereinafter cited as "Howard Report."
5. Mary J. Klein, "Missouri in the Kansas Struggle," Mississippi Valley Historical Asso-
ciation, Proceedings for the Year 1917-1918,, v. IX, pp. 393-413 (especially 395).
6. Craik, loc. cit.
7. Clipping from St. Louis Democrat, July 6, 1855, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. IV, p.
205. New York Daily Times, November 23, 1854.
JOHNSON: EMIGRANT AID IN KANSAS 23
Accordingly there were held during the summer of 1854 a series
of meetings in the border counties of Missouri which denounced the
Emigrant Aid "Society" in bitter terms and called upon the people
of Missouri to rally to the support of their institutions. One such
meeting, held at Weston, July 29, 1854, organized the "Platte
County Self-Defensive Association," and resolved "That this asso-
ciation will, whenever called upon by any of the citizens of Kansas
territory, hold itself in readiness to go there to assist in removing
any and all emigrants who go there under the auspices of Northern
Emigrant Aid Societies." 8
As the Emigrant Aid Company settlers came along in weekly
parties during the fall of 1854, the excitement in western Missouri
increased. Though the actual number who came was small, the
regularity of their coming, their peculiarities of speech and manner,
and their loose talk about the Aid Company having the men and the
money to make Kansas a free state, 9 all served to confirm the worst
fears of the borderers and to create something like a state of frenzy.
Of this situation Atchison and his able lieutenants, the Stringfellow
brothers, were ready to take full advantage. More meetings were
held, which were recognized by the Bentonite newspapers of St.
Louis as using zeal for slavery as a cloak for senatorial politics. 10
Secret societies were formed, known variously as "Blue Lodges,"
"Social Bands," "Friendly Societies," and "Sons of the South," osten-
sibly to counteract the activities of the Emigrant Aid "Society." n
In a speech at Liberty, Mo., November 6, 1854, Atchison showed
his hand. He complained that the natural course of migration
along parallels of latitude was being interfered with, and that
abolitionists of the North were spending vast sums of money to turn
the North to the South, to abolitionize all the territories, and ulti-
mately to assail Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. Their success in
Kansas, he asserted, would mean the ruin of Missouri. ' Now," he
concluded, "if a set of fanatics and demagogues a thousand miles
off can afford to advance their money and exert every nerve to
abolitionize the territory and exclude the slaveholder, when they
have not the least personal interest, what is your duty? When you
reside in one day's journey of the territory, and when your peace,
8. W. M. Paxton, Annals of Platte County, Missouri (Kansas City, 1897), p. 184. An-
dreas, History of Kansas, p. 90. Contemporary newspaper accounts (one of which gives
date as July 20), "Webb Scrap Books," v. I, pp. 104, 112.
9. Testimony in "Howard Report," pp. 1151-1152, 1157, 1183.
10. Clippings from Boston Daily Advertiser, June 21, 1854, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. I,
p. 20, and New York Daily Tribune, July 26, 1854, ibid., p. 67. Item copied from St. Louis
Intelligencer (date not given) in New York Daily Times, November 23, 1854. Other clippings
in "Webb Scrap Books," v. II, pp. 187, 226.
11. Testimony in "Howard Report," pp. 356, 838, 896-897, 902, 903.
24 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
your quiet and your property depend upon your action, you can,
without an exertion, send five hundred of your young men who will
vote in favor of your institutions." 12 The only immediate effect
of this appeal was that in the election of a delegate to Congress,
November 29, the "Blue Lodges" crossed over into Kansas in force
and voted, but more important was the indication of what might
be expected for the future.
In January, 1855, the Missouri legislature assembled to elect a
senator, but after forty-one futile ballots, it adjourned without
making a choice. 13 Had Atchison been elected the history of the
next two years in Kansas might have been quite different, but as
it was his political future was at stake. It was apparent that he
had not yet made himself master of the slavery-extensionist element
in Missouri, but that, in the words of one newspaper reporter, the
politicians of the legislature had only been using him "to play horse
with Benton." 14 In consequence, he redoubled his efforts on the
Kansas border. Whether his aim for the next year and a half, as
generally believed in Bentonite circles, was "to try to reconcile the
Doniphan Know Nothings" (the ex- Whigs), and so regain his
senatorship, 15 or, as asserted by the St. Louis Evening News, was
to force the admission of Kansas as a slave state in order to secure
a senatorship here "in lieu of the one he lost in Missouri," 16 can
not now be told; he may have been thinking of both possibilities.
While the Missouri legislature was in session, Kansas meetings
continued to be held throughout western Missouri as far east as
Howard county, in which the Emigrant Aid "Societies" and "aboli-
tionist" emigration were denounced, and pledges made to "use every
honorable means" to secure Kansas for slavery. 17 The meetings
may have been instigated to further Atchison's candidacy, but their
effect was to keep the excitement alive. As the time approached
for the election of a territorial legislature in Kansas, rumors were
spread along the border that Gov. Andrew H. Reeder had given
advance information of the date of the election to the Emigrant Aid
Company, and had delayed that date until the thawing of the
Missouri river should make it possible for the company's "emi-
12. Boston Atlas, December 4, 1854, copied from Platte (Mo.) Argus, "Webb Scrap
Books," v. II, p. 28. National Era (Washington, D. C.), December 12, 1854, copied inde-
pendently from the Argus, ibid., p. 32.
13. W. F. Switzler in C. R. Barnes (Ed.), Switzler's History of Missouri (St. Louis, 1879),
pp. 277-273. New York Daily Times, January 13, 16; February 6, 1855.
14. New York Daily Times, February 6, 1855.
15. Copy of item from St. Louis Democrat (date not given) in New York Daily Times,
September 17, 1855.
16. St. Louis Evening News, May 16, 1855, quoted in Craik, loc. cit., p. 341.
17. Newspaper clippings in "Webb Scrap Books," v. II, pp. 187-188.
JOHNSON: EMIGRANT AID IN KANSAS 25
grants" to arrive in overwhelming numbers. It was reported that
the Aid Company was shipping paupers to Kansas by thousands to
vote slavery out of the territory, and that the river was crowded
with boats bringing these "armies of hirelings." 18 More meetings
were held in which Reeder was denounced for betraying the people
to the "abolitionists," and the Emigrant Aid "Society" for violating
the spirit of the Kansas-Nebraska act by sending "Hessian Mer-
cenaries" to abolitionize Kansas. 19 Atchison, B. F. Stringfellow,
and others made speeches in which they assured their fellow Mis-
sourians that they had as much right to go into Kansas on election
day and vote as did the "military colonies" sent out by the Emigrant
Aid "Society," and that the only test for voters contemplated in the
organic law of the territory was American citizenship and presence
at the polls. 20 All through western Missouri young men were re-
cruited and organized into companies; transportation, food and
liquor were provided by popular subscription, and, at least in some
instances, a cash consideration was offered to go over to the elec-
tion. 21 The result was the notorious "bogus" election of March
30, 1855.
A year later, in the investigation by the Howard congressional
committee, nearly every Missourian questioned asserted that he had
gone into Kansas on election day to counteract the influence of the
Emigrant Aid Societies. 22 They were led to believe that, having
advance notice of the time of the election, the Aid Company was
hiring men to come to Kansas merely to vote and that, having per-
formed this obligation, these "emigrants" were free to return. Many
testified in proof of this that they had seen Easterners returning
immediately after the election. 23 The fact is that the company
never hired anyone to go to Kansas for any purpose whatever except
its regular agents and a few skilled mechanics who were under con-
is. So many persons testified to the prevalence of these rumors that it is impossible to
cite them all. For a few samples, see "Howard Report," pp. 356, 361, 384, 385, 410, 412,
859, 860, 897, 899, 1145.
19. Newspaper accounts of some of these meetings are preserved in the "Webb Scrap
Books," v. II, pp. (Ray county) 187, (Glasgow) 187, (Fayette) 188, (Lexington) 266. "Kan-
sas meetings" are known to have been held in practically all the border counties.
20. Dr. C. A. Cutler, a Free-State candidate for the legislature (he was a native of Ten-
nessee and had moved to Kansas from Missouri), told the Howard committee that, although
the Emigrant Aid Company was made a pretext, the real reason for the fraudulent voting was
that Atchison had told the Missourians that they had a right to vote. "Howard Report," p.
858. J. N. Holloway quotes a speech of B. F. Stringfellow asserting the right of Missourians
to vote. Holloway, History of Kansas From the First Exploration of the Mississippi Valley
to its Admission Into the Union (Lafayette, Ind., 1868), pp. 140-141.
21. On April 10, 1855, the New York Times printed a letter from a correspondent on the
border, written before the election, which stated: "Funds have been raised in Missouri and
men hired by thousands to come over into the territory and do all the voting."
22. "Howard Report," pp. 133, 144, 149, 156, 160, 242, 246, 316-317, 329, 356, 361,
385, 395, 865, 1145.
23. Ibid., pp. 153, 336, 836, 852, 857, 862, 867-870, 899, 1160, 1172.
26 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tract to set up mills or do other labor, and it sent no one to Kansas
merely to vote. 24 Neither is there any valid evidence that the com-
pany had advance information of the time of the election, whereas,
Dr. Thomas H. Webb, secretary of the company, categorically
denied it in a letter to Sen. Charles Sumner a few days after the
election. 25 It is true, however, that Doctor Webb tried to find out the
date of the election as early as he could, and that he endeavored to
get the first spring parties of settlers to Kansas in time to vote. 26
In fact, two of these parties did reach their destination before March
30, 1855. One, the party that settled Manhattan, reached the site
three days before the election and all voted. Together with a party
of Pennsylvanians who had recently settled Pawnee, probably with
a foreknowledge of Governor Reeder's intention to locate the capital
there, the Manhattan colonists were able to outvote the small pro-
slavery delegation sent out to carry the district and so to elect the
only Free-State members of the territorial legislature. The other
party, conducted by Dr. Charles Robinson, reached Lawrence the
evening before the election. According to Doctor Webb, the party
contained 126 men (besides about sixty women and children), of
whom the poll book showed thirty-seven to have voted. 27 From
the point of view of the Free-State men, this voting by recent
arrivals was quite different from the Missouri incursion, since these
men had come as bona fide settlers. Still, the circumstance gave
the Missourians a peg on which to hang their excuses.
Naturally the Free-State people were embittered by this "bogus"
election and began to denounce all Missourians as "border ruffians."
Prior to the election there had been little coherence among the Free-
State element. Most of the actual settlers, especially the great
majority from the Ohio river states, were concerned chiefly with
their lands, and were interested only passively, if at all, in the ques-
tion of slavery. Political Free-Stateism was limited largely to the
Lawrence association, made up almost entirely of Emigrant Aid
Company settlers, and dominated largely by Dr. Charles Robinson,
one of the Aid Company agents. 28 The conduct of that election,
even more than its outcome, had the effect of galvanizing the nascent
24. The evidence of these facts is too complex to be cited in a footnote. In general it
may be said that these conclusions are based on an exhaustive study of the company's corre-
spondence, minutes, and other records in the archives of the Kansas State Historical Society.
25. Letterpress copy of letter, Webb to Sumner, April 12, 1855, in Emigrant Aid Com-
pany letterpress books (hereinafter cited as Aid Company Letters), "Book A," p. 395.
26. Aid Company Letters, "Book A," pp. 83-84, 98-99.
27. "Howard Report," pp. 887-893.
28. So stated J. N. O. P. Wood, a settler from Illinois, who was a Free-State man until
the fall of 1855 when he changed sides. Ibid., pp. 653-660. There is ample corroborative
evidence in miscellaneous newspaper allusions and reminiscences of old settlers.
JOHNSON: EMIGRANT AID IN KANSAS 27
Free-State sentiment into a fervor, and Robinson set about to whip
it into activity. As to his motives, one may only guess. They were
probably mixed, but undoubtedly a large ingredient in the mixture
was personal ambition.
Whatever the explanation, Robinson at once began to instigate
a revolution against the pro-slavery territorial government. Within
three days after the election he had organized the men of Lawrence
into four military companies and had written a letter to Eli Thayer,
chief projector of the Emigrant Aid Company, pleading for two
hundred Sharps rifles. 29 He soon started to preach repudiation of
the new legislature and all its works, and the formation of a Free-
State constitution. When the legislature met in July it played
directly into his hands by enacting the obnoxious "bogus laws,"
an atrocious slave code and an election law which acknowledged
as a voter any man who, being present at the polls, would pay a
poll tax of one dollar and swear to uphold the fugitive-slave law.
Most repugnant of all to the democratic instincts of the pioneers
from the Ohio valley was the action of the legislature in itself
designating all county officers. This seemed to deny to the settlers
any modicum of self-government. Had the territorial legislature
been more moderate and circumspect in its actions, the Free-State
politicians might have lacked an effective basis for their activity;
the blunders of that body furnished the fuel for the fire that Robin-
son and his associates sought to kindle.
Of course Robinson and the other "insiders" were not so nai've
as to believe that Kansas could be admitted to Union under their
projected state constitution. Their aim was to create a coherent
political party in the territory and to manufacture an issue that
would keep it alive until such time as they could gain control of
the territorial government. The formation of a state constitution
and a campaign for admission would provide such an issue. As
Robinson himself expressed it years later, "Such a movement would
serve to occupy the minds of the people, attract the attention of
ambitious politicians, become a rallying point for all opposed to
the usurpation, and, in case of necessity ... be used as a
de facto government, even though not recognized by Congress." 30
The obvious place to begin the agitation was in Lawrence, where
the Yankees were more susceptible to the call to a crusade than
Letter of Robinson to Thayer, April 2, 1855, quoted in W. H. Isely, "The Sharps
46-5
133.
Isely, "The Sharps
Rifle Episode in Kansas History," America* Historical Review, v. XII, pp. 546-566. Quoted
also in F. W. Blackmar, Life of Charles Robinson (Topeka, 1902), pp. 131-
Charles Robinson, The Kansas Conflict (Lawrence, 1898), p. 169.
28 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
were the squatters on the quarter-sections. But before the move-
ment could be begun even in Lawrence the timid must be given a
sense of security; this was probably the real reason for the call for
the rifles. As soon as the first weapons arrived there began a series
of conventions, seven in all, which culminated in the formation of
the Topeka constitution. This long series of conventions was neces-
sary to reconcile divergent interests and to generate the degree of
sentiment essential to a party organization.
When, in February, 1856, officers were installed under the Topeka
constitution, Kansas settlers were marshalled into two armed camps.
There were two rival governments, each commanding the allegiance
of a portion of the population, each with an armed militia force.
The "Wakarusa War" of December, 1855, had been a straw to show
the direction of the wind. Feeling was tense. "Atrocities" were
frequent. The only question was when the firing should begin. The
Fort Sumter of this Kansas conflict was the sack of Lawrence, May
21, 1856, and for the next three months Kansas was plunged into
civil war. 31
Among pro-slavery people in Kansas and Missouri, the Emigrant
Aid Company was blamed for all the trouble. Every pro-slavery
meeting on either side of the border, and there were dozens of them,
adopted resolutions cursing the supposed activities of the company
and similar organizations, 32 and in the congressional investigation
practically every pro-slavery man questioned stated that in his
opinion there would have been no more excitement in Kansas than
was usual in the settlement of new territories but for the activity
of the aid societies. 33 The company was represented as having in-
spired, directed and financed the whole Free-State movement.
Whether the Emigrant Aid Company deserved the blame (or credit,
as one cares to consider it) of being the power behind the Free-State
party is perhaps less important than the fact that it got it, and so
became a national issue. But for the present purpose it is of in-
terest to inquire to what extent, if at all, the claim was true.
Several facts are obvious. The company from first to last
avowed as its aim, along with the goal of a pecuniary profit, the
"defeating of the minions of the slave power" by making Kansas a
free state. The fifteen hundred or more people who came to Kan-
sas under its auspices during 1854 and 1855 (of whom perhaps a
31. Space limitations of this article do not permit a more detailed summary of the events
of the Kansas conflict. The story may be read in any history of Kansas.
32. Newspaper reports of these meetings in "Webb Scrap Books," v. IV.
33. The testimony of twenty-six separate witnesses who made this assertion is printed
in the "Howard Report."
JOHNSON: EMIGRANT AID IN KANSAS 29
thousand remained as permanent settlers) were actuated to a far
greater extent than were the pioneers from the Northwest by a
crusading zeal against slavery. The Free-State movement began
in Lawrence among these Aid Company settlers, and was led by
Doctor Robinson, agent of the company, who was assisted more or
less by Samuel C. Pomeroy, the company's other Kansas agent.
Small wonder that Westerners in general, and pro-slavery men in
particular, assumed that the company was back of the whole move-
ment.
An extensive study of the minutes and correspondence of the Aid
Company shows that, although the company made no secret of its
friendship for the Free-State party in Kansas, the corporation as
such took no hand in the activities of that party until the early
months of 1856 when the Free-State de facto government was a
going concern. Nevertheless, the officers and principal directors of
the company had, "unofficially" or "in their private capacities,"
held chips in the game from the start. Amos A. Lawrence particu-
larly, treasurer, and chief contributor to the company, had from
the fall of 1854, the time of the election of the first territorial dele-
gate, encouraged Robinson by letters and by gifts of money, to
rally the Free-State forces. 34 In the spring of 1855, Doctor Webb,
secretary of the company, made an effort, as already noted, to get
the first parties of settlers to Kansas in time to vote and wrote to
Pomeroy admonishing him to see that the Free-State people put
up a united front in the election. 35 Although it was never made a
matter of record, the Executive Committee of the company gave
tacit permission to the company agents, Robinson and Pomeroy,
to devote time, for which the company was paying them, to Free-
State political activities. 36 Indeed, Lawrence and John Carter
Brown, president of the company, even discussed the feasibility of
sending a political agent, to be paid partly out of company funds
and partly by individuals, who "should stump the territory of Kan-
sas, taking his plan from our agents there, but not being recognized
as under our auspices." 87 The plan was not carried out, but the
fact that it was discussed is significant.
When Robinson decided to arm his followers he sent his appeal
34. Lawrence to Robinson, October 17, 1854, in Kansas State Historical Society's "Letters
of Amos A. Lawrence About Kansas Affairs and to Correspondents in Kansas from June 10,
1854, to August 10, 1861," bound typewritten copies, hand indexed, prepared under direction
of Mrs. A. A. Lawrence, from letterpress copies. Hereinafter cited as "Lawrence Letters,"
p. 35. November 21, 1854, ibid., p. 44.
35. Webb to Pomeroy, March 26, 1855, Aid Company Letters, "Book A," pp. 101-102.
36. At least these men were constantly writing letters to the home office describing their
activities, and no exception was taken by the committee.
37. Lawrence to Brown, September 1 and 11, 1855, "Lawrence Letters," pp. 96-98. The
quotation is from letter of September 11.
30 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
for rifles to Eli Thayer and Edward Everett Hale, both active in the
affairs of the Aid Company. 38 Thayer took the matter up with the
Executive Committee in an "unofficial" meeting (unofficial in that
no minutes of the meeting were entered in the record book) . The
committee decided that the company as such must not dabble in
the business, but they agreed to raise the money by subscription
and buy the guns. They designated one of their number, Dr. Samuel
Cabot, to take charge of the matter. 39 This effort to put the settlers
in a state of defense was continued until peace was finally restored
in Kansas in the fall of 1856. Although the facts did not become
known outside Aid Company circles until years afterward, it was
universally believed among pro-slavery people on the border and
by administration supporters generally that the company was arm-
ing the Free-State party, and it was this belief, even more than
the colonizing activities, that stirred the borders to such a rage
against the Emigrant Aid Company.
Through the summer and fall of 1855 the company was exerting
itself to the extent of its means to provide for the physical needs
of the Free-State settlers and at the same time increase the value
of its own holdings. All the money that could be raised by the sale
of stock was used to establish sawmills and grist mills in Kansas
and to build a large stone hotel in Lawrence. No objection was
raised to the mills, except to complain of their inadequacy, but it
was believed rather extensively on the border that the Free-State
hotel was being built as a fort. 40 There is nothing to indicate that
the Executive Committee had such an intention, but it is a fact
that the building was used as a barracks by the Free-State militia
whenever Lawrence was threatened (which was most of the time
during the first five months of 1856), and there is evidence from a
Free-State source that the construction of the building was modified,
probably by order of Robinson or Pomeroy, to make it more suit-
able for defense. 41
After the Wakarusa War the company began to combine with its
pleas for stock subscriptions an appeal for funds to relieve destitute
38. Letter to Thayer quoted in Blackmar, Robinson, pp. 131-133. Original letter to Hale
preserved among Aid Company papers.
39. The late .W. H. Isely worked out this story almost thirty years ago. Isely, loc. cit.
The present study has gone over the ground thoroughly, but has brought to light almost
nothing that would modify Isely's findings.
40. "Howard Report," p. 907. See, also, J. C. Malin, "Pro-Slavery Background of the
Kansas Struggle," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, v. X, pp. 285-305 (esp. 303), and
Wm. Phillips, Conquest of Kansas (Boston, 1856), p. 309. Professor Malin found that the
Herald of Freedom stated that the hotel was being built as a fort, but it is only fair to note
that, although the Herald was commonly regarded as an Aid Company organ, its editor, G. W.
Brown, was not an authorized spokesman of the company and often embarrassed the Executive
Committee by his rash statements.
41. Boston Daily Advertiser, February 13, 1856, in "Webb Scrap Books," v. IX, p. 113.
JOHNSON: EMIGRANT AID IN KANSAS 31
Free-State settlers. As conditions in Kansas grew more critical
during the succeeding months emphasis was shifted until all efforts
were concentrated on relief. Thousands of dollars were raised and
sent to Kansas to supply food and clothing to men who had aban-
doned their claims to take up arms in the Free-State cause.
Meanwhile, Lawrence continued to exert himself in the interest
of a free state. He corresponded with President Pierce, to whom
he was related by marriage, and even made a trip to Washington
in an effort to secure the President's promise to sustain Governor
Reeder in the project to set aside the "bogus" election. 42 When
he became convinced that no relief could be had in this quarter he
declared "That a revolution must take place in Kansas is certain,
if that can be called a revolution which is only an overthrow of
usurpation." 43 During the summer of 1855 letters flew thick and
fast between Lawrence and Robinson. Robinson kept Lawrence
informed of all his actions, and usually asked advice in advance.
Lawrence, in turn, wrote letters of advice and encouragement. He
approved the launching of the Free-State movement, but urged
what he called a Fabian policy of avoiding open conflict until
success was certain. 44 He favored the repudiation of the territorial
legislature and its enactments, but warned against the slightest
resistance to Federal authority. 45 At first he doubted the wisdom
of actually forming a state constitution, lest it be construed as
rebellion against the Federal government, suggesting that the mere
threat to take such a step might serve the same purpose, 46 but when
the Topeka constitution was formed he supported the move and,
along with other directors of the company, furnished the money for
the election in which the constitution was ratified and Reeder elected
territorial delegate. 47
During the spring of 1856, when events in Kansas were rapidly
moving toward a state of open warfare, the Emigrant Aid Company
dropped the incognito of "unofficial" action which, down to that
time had veiled, all too thinly, its support of the Free-State party.
When a Free-State delegation was sent East in February to arouse
interest in the movement the members made their headquarters at
42. Lawrence to President Pierce, "Lawrence Letters," p. 73. Lawrence to Professor
Packard, July 14, 1854, ibid., pp. 81-82. Lawrence to Robinson, August 18, ibid., p. 94.
43. Lawrence to Dr. Webb, July 20, 1854, ibid., pp. 84-85.
44. Lawrence to Robinson, July 23, 1855, ibid., p. 86; January 31, 1856, ibid., pp.
128-129.
45. Lawrence to Robinson, August 10, 1855, ibid., pp. 88-89.
46. Lawrence to Robinson, August 16, 1855, ibid., pp. 91-92.
47. Original letter, Robinson to Lawrence, September 28, 1855, amonf the Emigrant Aid
Company papers, Kansas State Historical Society.
32 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the company's office in Boston. Indeed, the office appears to have
acted as a sort of booking agency for them, arranging their speak-
ing dates and mapping their itinerary. 48 Often a representative of
the Aid Company spoke from the same platform. Allusions to the
Free-State party began to appear for the first time in the minutes
of the Executive Committee, and after the raid on Lawrence the
company treasury was drawn upon for relief funds. 49 During this
spring, too, the company became more open in supplying arms to
the Free-State party, although the "rifle fund" was still kept en-
tirely separate from the company treasury. 50 The company had now
definitely identified itself with the Free-State party.
But the attack on Lawrence, May 21, 1856, together with the
agitation of Republican politicians, aroused the whole North. Dur-
ing June Kansas aid committees sprang up in nearly all the free
states and in July a National Kansas Committee was formed. These
new organizations now took up much of the burden, so far borne
by the Emigrant Aid Company, of arousing moral and political sup-
port for the Free-State cause, recruiting settlers, furnishing arms,
and relieving the needy. The Aid Company had a share, and an
important share, in this larger effort, but it was now only a part of
a movement that extended throughout the North. "Bleeding Kan-
sas" had become a national issue.
What then is the place of the Emigrant Aid Company in the Kan-
sas conflict? In the first place, it furnished the excuse, and in some
measure the provocation, for the Missouri invasion. In the second
place, while the company can hardly be said to have inspired
and directed the Free-State movement, it did, through Amos A.
Lawrence, who was the real, though not the nominal head of the
company, keep in close touch with the movement in its formative
stages, and aid with encouragement, advice and money. In the
third place, it was the officers of the company, if not the company
itself, that armed the Free-State party. And finally, it was the
Emigrant Aid Company that, during the first trying months, carried
on almost alone the task of furnishing moral and physical support
48. Doctor Webb wrote several letters arranging speaking dates for members of the delega-
tion (Aid Company Letters, "Book A"), and each week their activities were reported to the
Executive Committee of the Emigrant Aid Company, "Minute Books," v. II, pp. 48, 49,
67, 68, 91.
49. Original letter, A. J. Stone, assistant treasurer, to Pomeroy, among Emigrant Aid Com-
pany papers. Down to this time all relief money had been kept in a separate fund adminis-
tered by Doctor Webb.
50. Down to April, 1856, Doctor Webb had replied to all letters asking about arms, that
the Emigrant Aid Company had nothing to do with them. After that time, however, he
began to refer inquirers to Doctor Cabot, and even took the initiative in offering to furnish
arms to organized parties of emigrants. Aid Company Letters.
JOHNSON: EMIGRANT AID IN KANSAS 33
to the Free-State movement. Although much that was said and
believed about the Emigrant Aid Company in the days of its ac-
tivity was either mere froth emitted by its overzealous champions,
or the outright invention of opponents who wished to use the com-
pany as a bugaboo, and much that has been written about it since
is the merest piffle, the fact is obvious that it was a real factor in
the struggle, and no account of the Kansas conflict is adequate
which fails to accord it a place.
3-6164
An Old Play on John Brown
THE execution of John Brown, following the shock of the Harper's
Ferry raid and the suspense of the trial, was in its effect on
public emotion like throwing gasoline on a kindled fire. Orators,
preachers and journalists in both the North and South helped fan
the flames and the dramatists of the day made haste to capitalize
the mounting excitement on the stage. Within a month three plays
on the theme of slavery were produced in New York, and one of
these, Ossawattomie Brown, here reprinted, had its premiere only
fourteen days after the hanging. The New York correspondent of
a Kansas newspaper of the time, commenting on these productions
and the current agitation, wrote :
MORE LIGHT!
Nothing could show more forcibly the depth of the present agitation on
the slavery question, even in this sin-ridden city, than the fact that at the
present time no less than three of the largest theatres announce dramas which
bear directly on the "irrepressible conflict," and which, in the words of the
posters, "will be repeated to-night and every evening." At the "Winter
Garden" (Agnes Robertson's Theatre) we have "The Octoroon, or Life in
Louisiana," by Bourcicault, the greatest of living comedians ; at Laura Keene's
Theatre, we have "Distant Relations, or a Southerner in New York"; and at
the Old Bowery we have a piece of the high tragedy order, under the caption
of "Osawatomie Brown." The subject is thus brought before hundreds of
thousands who otherwise would never give it a thought. And besides these,
lectures, discourses, speeches and poems are delivered every night everywhere,
by everybody, pro and con, on "John Brown," on "Osawatomie Brown," on
"Old Brown," on "Captain Brown," and on the "Hero of Harper's Ferry."
. . . Truly this old fanner has made such a stir as not all the "statesmen"
and "little giants," and professional agitators have been able to produce, and
which they are much less able to quiet. J. S. 1
The author of Ossawattomie Brown was a young actress of New
York, known in the theatre by her maiden name, Kate Edwards,
daughter of John Edwards, an English physician, who came to
America in 1846 when she was thirteen. Before she was twenty she
had appeared in minor parts at the old Bowery theatre and had
begun writing for the stage. In this work she made the acquaint-
ance of J. Clarke Swayze, a printer employed on the Saturday Eve-
ning Courier, a weekly devoted to the stage and its people, whom
1. Lawrence Republican, January 5, I860. John Brown was executed December 2, 1859.
Dion Boucicault, the Irish -American playwright, was an outstanding figure in the theatrical
world ; Agnes Robertson was his first wife. Laura Keene was at the height of her popularity
as an actress. It was her company, five years later, that was playing at Ford's theater,
Washington, the night of Lincoln's assassination.
(34)
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 35
she married in June, 1856. The young couple wrote several plays in
collaboration and later organized the Kate Edwards theatrical com-
pany, touring Eastern and Southern states under Mr. Swayze's man-
agement. Two years later, following the birth of a daughter, they
disbanded the troupe and returned to New York, where Mr. Swayze
purchased the Courier plant. In 1859 he entered the publishing
business at Griffin, Ga., but did not return for his family until after
the birth of a son on January 19, 1860, one month after the pro-
duction of the mother's play, Ossawattomie Brown. At Griffin an-
other daughter was born in September, 1861, and here, in the early
months of the war, after her husband had been imprisoned as a
traitor and had escaped to the Union army, Mrs. Swayze died,
August 13, 1862, at the age of twenty-eight. 2
Ossawattomie Brown was written when its author was only
twenty-five. Little can be learned about the stage production or
its reception by the public. There was no advertisement of the
play for the evening of December 16, its first night, in any of the
five leading New York papers. An advertisement of the Bowery
Theatre in the New York Herald of December 17 mentioned "the
new Ossawotomie Brown drama of The Insurrection," and on Sun-
day, December 18, advertising the performance of the 19th, the
same paper carried the notice, "to conclude with the new three act
drama of The Insurrection; Or, Kansas and Harper's Ferry." A
news item in the same paper on the 19th said:
At the Bowery Theatre the attraction for this evening is "An original drama,
written by a lady of Brooklyn," and called "Insurrection, or Kansas and
Harper's Ferry." Rather a delicate subject. Two other pieces are given a
drama and a ballet.
The New York Daily Tribune of the same date said:
Old Bowery. Ledger stories are dished up here with surprising rapidity ; the
"Red Ranger" is the last, to be played for the first time to-night, with a ballet
and the John Brown piece.
Professor Odell, writing of the Bowery Theatre season of 1859-
1860 in his annals of the New York stage, said:
Nothing could long satisfy the Bowery appetite. And here on the 17th,
was another questionable thing The Insurrection, or Kansas and Harper's
2. Kate Lucy Edwards was born in London, England, November 24, 1834. J. Clarke
Swayze was born in Hope, N. J., March 24, 1833. His first venture as a publisher in Griffin,
Ga., was Swayze's Southern Railway Guide. This was followed by the weekly, The Bugle
Horn of Liberty. The first issue was the last: a band of Morgan's raiders destroyed the
plant and Swayze was taken under arrest to Macon, and later to Richmond, where he escaped.
He became a captain of scouts in Sherman's army and served in the secret service. When
he returned to Griffin after the war he found that his motherless children had been cared for
by a loyal Southern family. He reentered the publishing business in Griffin and Macon, con-
tinuing until 1873, when he came to Kansas. He published the Topeka Blade until his death
there on March 27, 1877. Typewritten statement, March, 1936, by Oscar K. Swayze of
Topeka, son of J. Clarke Swayze and Kate Edwards Swayze.
36 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ferry, by a lady of Brooklyn, with Boniface as John Brown. . . . Evans
and Holland as Brown's sons. . . . Mrs. Cantor as Mrs. Brown. 3 . . .
The copy of Ossawattomie Brown used as the text for this reprint
was recently presented to the Kansas State Historical Society by
Oscar K. Swayze of Topeka, the son who was born only a month
after the play's first production. Manuscript copies of four other
plays by his mother also were donated, but this is the only one the
Library of Congress lists as having been copyrighted by her. 4
3. George C. D. Odell, Annalt of the New York Stage, v. VII, p. 230.
4. These four manuscript plays are entitled: "Nigger Sweethearts," "The Play Mania,"
"The White Wolf or the Sons of Brittany," "The Forger's Daughter."
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 37
THE STANDARD DRAMA.
Na CCXXVI.
OSSAWATTOMIE BROWN;
OK,
THE INSURRECTION AT HARPERS' FERRY.
& grams, in
TO WHICH ARE ADDBD
A Description of the Costume Cant of the Characters Entrance* and Exits-
Relative Positions of the Performers on the Stage, and
the whole of the Stage Business
BY MRS. J. C. SWAYZE.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860. by J. C. Swirzi, in the
Clerk'i Office of the DiBtrict Court for the Southern District of New York.
gtfo fork:
SAMUEL .FRENCH,
122 NASSAU ST., (Up STAIRS)
FACSIMILE OF THE TITLE PAGE
38 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
CAST OF CHARACTERS
As first performed at the Bowery Theater, December 16, 1859
John Brown Mr. G. C. Boniface.
Mr. Cook Mr. Foster.
Frederick "j f Mr. Warwick.
Oliver I Brown's I Mr. Garden.
Watson | Sons, 1 Mr. Evans.
Lewis J ^. Mr. Holland.
Black Jim, a Border Ruffian Mr. Rynar.
Little Billy Mr. W. M. Reeve.
Old Dearborn Mr. Hotto.
Ralph Dearborn, His Son Mr. J. M. Ward.
Landlord Mr. Davenport.
Reporter Mr. Lee.
Citizen Mr. Moore.
Jailor Mr. Burke.
Soldiers, Citizens, Ruffians, &c.
Mrs. Brown Mrs. Cantor.
Julia Miss Annie Senter.
Alice Mrs. Boniface.
Jeptha Miss H. Lang.
Suke Miss Osborne.
Mrs. Sligo Miss Lee.
OSSAWATTOMIE BROWN
ACT I.
SCENE I. An apartment in the North Elba farm. MRS. BROWN seated in an
arm chair. Room arranged for the reception of guests.
Mrs. Brown. It is a sad fate which keeps me here, and debars me of that
privilege, so dear to a mother's heart, of witnessing the happiness of my dear
son, my boy Frederick, who this day leads to the altar, one who is already
dear to me as a daughter.
Enter JEPTHA.
Well, Jeptha, you seem to have a heavy load there.
Jeptha. [Putting down a tremendous wedding cake, and displaying a num-
ber of extremely large favors.'] Heavy load! well I reckon the size of that
er' weddin' cake's not to be come at every day. And as these 'ere dandy
jumpers, it's not the weight so much as the orders I've got not to muss 'em.
Mrs. B. But what are you going to do with them all, Jeptha?
Jeptha. Why, ye see the gals was all a doin' somethin' to help to tidivate,
and as none of them thought of my cake, I jest asked for these, and as it'll
take about two dozen of 'em to go round, I'd better be a sticken' of 'em on.
{.Sticks them on with pins as she speaks.
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 39
Mrs. B. The neighbors are very kind.
Jeptha. Kind! well I reckon a litter from the same sow couldn't be more
like brothers and sisters than the young folks, and as to the boss, there is not
one in the village but calls him Mr. Brown, for his larnin'. And well they
might, for he talks like a 'lectioneer and raises the best cows in the hull
United States. But where 's that Little Billy well, if he aint the most
provokinist piece of animal flesh in these parts, my name aint Jeptha Ann
Higginbottom. [Calling.'] Little Billy Little Billy. I bet he's a peggin' into
those quintze preserves like a half starved alligator, to say nothin' of the
apple tarts. {.Again calling.'} Little Billy Little Billy.
Enter LITTLE BILLY. He is eating as he enters, hides a tart in
his jacket, and wipes his mouth.
Jeptha. I told you so. Jest look at that 'ere unshameful villain. If he
can't take more down that meek-lookin' mouth of his than an underground
railroad, or a hogshead with the bottom out.
Little Billy. Ah now, my darlint, what's the use of palarverin'; sure I aint
been afther spoilin' none of the work of ye's fair fingers, [Aside] unless yer
count ther pies.
Jeptha. And don't ye know ye're a spilin' of it now, a standin' here tellin'
lies, when you know you've shirked your work, like a lazy, good-for-nothin'
that you are.
Little B. Och ! now, Mrs. Higginbottom
Jeptha. Don't Mrs. Higginbottom me, yer pesky critter, I tell you ye
didn't milk the black cow
Little B. Sure and you're wrong inthirely. [Aside] I milked him yesterday.
Jeptha. And Kitty, with the skew horns?
Little B. Yes, shure. [Aside.] Devil a dhrop since the day before.
Jeptha. Well come and help me fix the things on this table, and see if yer
can keep yer fingers off the eatin' sass. [They go up, quarreling.
Enter BROWN.
Brown. Well, wife, we shall soon be called upon to give up our three boys
for a time. I hope one at least will go more hopefully on his journey for the
fond prayers of a wife.
Mrs. B. But who knows the hardships they may endure?
Brown. I hope none, wife, but should they need aid, thank God their
father's arm is strong, and his blood warm, and he'd spill it to the last drop,
should danger threaten them.
Jeptha. [Coming down.] Never mind, old man. Don't get excited. The
Injuns aint got 'em yet, and till they do, you'd better be a straightenin' down,
for the weddin' party's a comin' down the road, and '11 be here before you can
count nothin'.
Enter the bridal party FREDERICK leading JULIA OLIVER,
ALICE, WATSON and LEWIS with ladies of the party.
Frederick. Your blessing my dear parents, for myself and my dear Julia,
who will send her husband off with a smile, while she has your affection to
cheer her in his absence.
Julia. Say rather I rejoice in being able to cheer your hours of loneliness;
and, as I never was permitted by my Heavenly Father, to know the happiness
40 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of a parent's love, all that duty I should have shown to them is garnered in
my heart for you my father mother.
Taking the hand of BROWN, and sinking at the feet of MRS. BROWN.
Mrs. B. Bless you, my child !
Jeptha. Well, here's Master Lewis a gettin' as hity-tity as a grasshopper
on a hot griddle. His fiddle's a spilin', to say nothin' of the weddin' cake, and
the cider, and Well, it's a queer weddin,' the dear knows.
[Screams at seeing LITTLE BILLY choking He makes the most violent gesticula-
tions as JEPTHA looses his neck, slaps him on the back, and at last throws a
quantity of water in his face.
The dear knows, I thought he was gone, for he's been eatin' the weddin' cake,
and one of them 'ere pins has stuck in his throat.
[Guests arrive at intervals Music heard Places taken for the dance As the
dance is ended, all rush forward, at a scream from JEPTHA, who is support-
ing MRS. BROWN in her chair.
Mrs. B. [Slowly recovering.] Do not grieve, my children it is the will of
Heaven; I had not thought to leave you now. But since it must be so, heed
well, my children, your mother's last request
Fred. Speak! oh, speak.
Mrs. B. You are yet young, all of you, and need a guiding hand. Promise
me to obey your father at all times, at any sacrifice. You will show him that
devotion that shrinks not at the cost of life.
All. We promise.
Mrs. B. [To JULIA.] And you, my daughter, will live to take my place
towards my young, my gentle Alice to bless my Frederick with a true wife's
love, and soften his declining years with watchful care. [Pointing to the bowed
form of BROWN.] Promise me this.
Julia. I do, I do.
Mrs. B. My children Alice Husband. [Dies.
TABLEAU.
SCENE II. Garden without the Farm.
Enter JEPTHA, with milk pails.
Jeptha. Well, there ; if I was to hunt from Thanksgivin' a year, to the next
Fourth of July, I reckon I'd be as near on to findin' that consarned Irisher.
Not that I want to cast eyes on him, but since Mr. Frederick's gone, and
Oliver and Watson, there's a heap to do, and it all falls on me. Well, if there
aint that half-breed between a elephant an' a crocodile, a swollerin' down my
doughnute, hot out o' the pan.
[Enter LITTLE BILLY. On seeing JEPTHA, tries to hide doughnuts, they burn his
fingers and he puts them in the breast of his coat.
Little B. [Aside.] Shatay there, ye divils! How purty she looks. If 1
could just get her to listen to a little touch of me illoquence now, jest so she'd
give me a touch of her purty lips widout raisin' the divil wid a poor boy. [To
her.] Mrs. Higginbottom.
Jeptha. A grissly cow, with her ears cropped, and as blind as a young
kitten'd have more sense to larn, than some folks that thinks they're smart.
Little B. Mrs. Higginbottom. [Detaining her.
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 41
Jeptha. [Going.] Let me go, yer pesky fool !
Little B. Miss Jepthy
Jeptha. [Turning back.] Wall, what is it?
Little B. [Aside.] Ah, ah, ye stubborn little divil, yer. [Aloud, drawing
her back.] Miss Jipthy ah, now, me darlint, come here yer don't know
what I'm going to say to yer.
Jeptha. I do, you're always a makin' love to me. [Simpering.
Little B. I ain't. [She turns away.] But I'm a goin' to now. [She turns
to him.] I'm a goin' to tell yer how much I love ye. Through you I've lost
me appetite; through you I've lost tin pounds of flesh; through you I've lost
me me me money.
Jeptha. Your money !
Little B. Yes. [Aside.] As much as I had of it. [On his knees.] If ye
only knew the love that's burnin' in me brist, [Sniveling.] that's burnin' in
me brist [Jumping up.] By me faith och murdher murdher [Opening his
coat and dropping the doughnuts out.] I might well say that, for there was
somethin' burnin' in me brist, and no mistake. [JEPTHA is going.] Hould on.
Jeptha. What do you want?
Little B. Don't ye know?
Jeptha. No. [Still going.
Little B. Yer little divil ye, I must get a kiss. [She coquettes, he follows
her until near the door, he attempts to kiss her, when she slaps his face and
runs off.] That was a stinger. But 111 be even with the little varmint. Now
I'm a boy of a dilicate appetite, but I'll go and 111 stale all of her mince pies
that's in the closit, and if I don't ate every one of 'em, damn me, Mrs. Hig-
ginbottom. [Exit.
SCENE III. Interior of a rude tavern or ranchero.
BLACK JIM and ruffians gambling. Landlord looking on. SUKE busy at side.
Black J. Euchred! By God! Suke, fetch some more of that whiskey
here, or
Suke. Here's lazy bones will get you the whiskey. And now, my gentle-
men, you've got to clear off from this table, while I put some supper down for
the travelers.
Black J. Travelers, what travelers?
Suke. Three young men that's traveling out here with stock farmers from
York State, I reckon. They're gone to put up the critters.
Black J. Traveling with stock, be they? Now look'ee here Suke, I'm going'
out to take a look at their stock, and mind, no unpleasant siniwations about a
feller's character while we're gone; you know me, Suke.
[Exeunt loafers.
Suke. I do know ye for the biggest blackguard and bully in the territory,
and if you wasn't the shot you are, you'd have been under the ground this
many a long day.
Enter FREDERICK, OLIVER, and LEWIS.
Welcome, strangers. Sit and take something.
Lewis. Thank you, my good woman. But tell me who are those men who
Suke. Hush, they are here.
42 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Enter BLACK JIM and the others.
One of them is my husband, young men.
Black J. Good evening strangers. [To LEWIS.] Try a drink?
Lewis. No, I am not in the habit of drinking.
Black J. Well, no offense. Here Suke, give us something to keep the blue
devils out. Take a hand of cards, youngster?
[To LEWIS, as OLIVER and WATSON sit at table.
Suke. [Making signs to LEWIS.] There's time enough after the young
fellows have had their supper.
Lewis. If I chose to gamble with you I should say so.
Black J. You wont take a hand, then?
[Taking out his knife and trifling with it.
Lewis. No !
Black J. Dog garn ye ! then take that.
Striking him, the blow is returned. BLACK JIM'S companions try to pull him
away and mollify him. He breaks from them and strikes at LEWIS with
his knife. FREDERICK snatches the knife from his grasp and fells him to the
earth.
PICTURE.
SCENE IV.
Enter FREDERICK, travel-worn and weary.
Fred. I am weary and would fain seek rest, but while there is yet a hope of
finding shelter for my brother, I cannot see him perish. But where! Oh
heaven! No sight or sound denotes the tread of man for miles. I'll on! on!
Kind Providence direct me to find aid to save a dying brother!
[Exit.
Enter LEWIS, supported by OLIVER.
Lewis. Here let me rest, my brother. I feel I cannot go further. I am but
wearing out your strength and my own
Oliver. Try yet, my brother. Bear up but a short time, and Frederick
may find aid. Oh how I curse the hand that dealt this coward blow! Why
had I not slain him ere his arm was raised? But let me reach the haunts of
men again I swear
Lewis. Take no such oath, my brother. I feel that had I not received that
wound, the end had been the same. My strength has given way before the
hardships of our journey, slowly at first, but surely, as day by day cast perils
in our path. I fear I have but ill repaid my brothers for the love which took
the burden of my duties on themselves, already overtasked.
Oliver. Speak not so, my brother. Oh heaven ! he is sinking, his hands are
icy cold, his lips are powerless. Oh, brother ! brother !
Enter FREDERICK.
Fred. I have no help, and he is dying! Oh, God! are we then so power-
less? so helpless, and alone?
Lewis. Dear brothers, do not weep for me. I cannot tell you how hard,
how very hard it is to leave you, and that dear home which I can never see
again. My father, and our dear, dear Alice. My brothers too, who would have
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 43
shared our peril. Tell them I go in peace to join our sainted mother! I see
her now, her form encircled in its angel brightness is beckoning me to heaven.
[Dies.
SCENE V. Interior of BROWN'S house in Pottowottomie Creek.
BROWN seated, reading. JULIA occupied at table. JEPTHA busy round the
room.
Julia. Pray do not give way to this sadness, dear father. Are we not all
again united and living in comparative prosperity?
Brown. I cannot dismiss from my thoughts the fate of my son. Brave boy,
he had undertaken a mission that was too much for his strength.
Julia. And it has pleased his Heavenly Father to take him to a happier
home.
Brown. But 'twas my fault my fault. What were my few remaining
years to his young life?
Enter ALICE.
Alice. Much, dear father, to those who love you. Can we devise no
means to cheer you?
Brown. It was a blessed day that restored the poor wanderers to us.
Julia. Daily and hourly I remember it with gratitude and pray that we
may never know another separation.
Enter FREDERICK, OLIVER, and WATSON.
Fred. A prayer which I second with all my heart, sweet wife. With what
joy I see you all again, gathered around a peaceful, happy hearth, and I can
come home after a day's hard toil to claim this sweet reward.
[Kisses Julia.
Julia. Our father is sad to-night go speak to him.
Fred. Not giving way to sadness, old man, and such prospects before us?
Brown. I know, my boy, I know. But I don't like the place. It's not a
peaceful one. I see men's rights molested by a set of lawless ruffians. Sooner
than suffer the innovations that some do, I'd rather death, war, anything but
tyranny.
Jeptha. [Coming down.] There now, old man, don't go tew gettin' excited,
'cause it brings on colic with them that's of a bilious turn. I remember my
old grandmother used tew say so, for she was subjic' to it.
Fred. What, Jeptha? biliousness, or getting excited?
Jeptha. Some folks is subjic' tew too much smartness, and then it's apt
to be dangerous. But here's Miss Alice, sittin' as deserted as a dead rat in a
two-acre turnip field. Can't you take some notice of the gal?
Julia. Hush, Jeptha. Alice is suffering some anxiety of mind, and does not
wish to join in conversation.
Jeptha. No; it's my belief she'd rather be a jining onto somethin' else.
But I jest thought. [Hunting in her pocket.] Mrs. Jackson sent her boy
down tew the settlement, and as I knew Miss Alice was a pining like a new
weaned heifer, I told him tew keep his eyes skinned when the mail come in.
[Producing letter.
Alice. [Snatching it.] Oh, Jeptha, Jeptha !
Jeptha. Wall, if you was in a hurry, why on airth didn't you say so?
Alice. From dear, dear Ralph. [Exit.
44 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Jeptha. [Looking off.] And she's a cryin' over it as if it was his last dying
speech and confession.
Oliver. Frederick, who was that man you gave work to, yesterday?
Fred. A fellow traveling through the country, almost starved, so he said.
And indeed he seems grateful enough for the shelter he has found.
Oliver. A suspicious looking fellow; his face haunts me like a dream.
Julia. Husband be careful.
Enter a farm laborer.
Man. Mr. Frederick, one of the men's been kicked by the black heifer.
He's hurt pretty bad, and wants to see you.
Julia. You will not go.
Fred. And why not, little coward? [Turning back and embracing her.]
Why so alarmed, dearest? If I am not back in five minutes, send the boys
after me. [Exit.
Julia. Father, I am alarmed. If that man should be here under false
pretenses? if Black Jim
Oliver. [Starting up.] Black Jim! that face! why did I not remember?
Father! brothers! Come! come!
A shot is heard JULIA screams and sinks upon her knees They bring in
FREDERICK, who is wounded, and place him on the ground beside her She
shrieks and sinks upon his breast ALICE, who has entered, stands motion-
less.
PICTURE.
Brown. [After a pause, and standing over FREDERICK'S body.] If ye are
sons of mine, remember your mother's dying words, and swear to avenge this
deed. My son! my son! your father's head shall know no rest this hand
shall know no touch but an implement of death, to wield against your
murderers until it is avenged. I'll spare no recreant heart that dares be-
friend them. I'll leave no roof unburned that ever gave them shelter. I'll
leave no foot-path in the wilderness untracked, till I have laid them in the
dust. Swear this!
All. We swear! we swear!
END OF ACT I.
ACT II
SCENE I. A Wood.
Enter BROWN, as if pursued.
Brown. To what extremity am I driven? Hunted down, pursued, accused
of the blackest crimes by those whose homes I hold as sacred as my own. In
the pursuit of vengeance, we drove those lawless ruffians to further deeds of
violence and bloodshed. Whilst still evading our pursuit, they drew the in-
habitants from their beds, brutally murdered, and then left them to be counted
as our victims. Thus are we in our turn pursued. My sons may even now be
overtaken murdered by the infuriate mob.
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 45
Enter OLIVER, WATSON, and others.
Ha! You are here. Fought through them like brave fellows, as you are. But
hark! they are not far distant. What chance is there for escape?
Oliver. But little. The people are infuriated they swear 'twas we who
committed last night's outrage.
Watson. There is nothing left but to surrender up our lives, and strive to
die like men.
Brown. And is that spoken like a man? No, lads, one more effort, and we
are home. The doors are stout we have arms and ammunition once in our
stronghold we can defy them for a while. Come, lads, come ! [Exeunt.
SCENE II. Same as Scene V, Act /.
JULIA, ALICE and JEPTHA discovered.
Alice. Look up, dear Julia must we forever weep? Oh! why does not
my father come?
Julia. Frederick! oh, my husband!
Alice. Alas! what shall I do?
Jeptha. Why, just trust to the old man and the boys, and be cheerful,
like I am. [Sobbing violently.
Julia. What is that ! [Starting up wildly.
Jeptha. Taint nothin'.
Julia. Did you not hear? Alice, cling to me! away with all selfish grief
and heaven grant me strength to meet new trials.
Shouts are heard BROWN rushes in, followed by OLIVER and WATSON.
Brown. Bar the doors and windows, make fast every place, and give them
fight. If we're to be hunted down like dogs, well sell our lives as dearly as
we can.
[As he is speaking and doors being secured, a man appears at window, levels
musket at BROWN, is seen by JEPTHA who snatches his musket and levels it
at his head; he retreats.
Jeptha. No you don't while my name is Jeptha Ann Higginbottom.
[Secures window.
Brown. Don't fire boys, we will leave that till the last. They all may have
wives or sisters, and I want not to shed a drop of innocent blood if I can
help it.
Julia. [Looking out.'} But who are these who threaten you so violently?
These are no hired ruffians! Oh, tell me in heaven's name what you have done
to arouse such hatred in them? What heavy crime committed?
Brown. Crime, girl! Look down upon those men, and in every face behold
a slaveholder! The crime I have committed against those men is not the
bloody deed with which they charge me, but worse, far worse, for I have told
them to their teeth, that I hold not with their creed which teaches them to
barter human souls.
Julia. [To OLIVER.] Is this true?
Oliver. It is.
Brown. And they think to shut the old man's mouth that he may breathe
no word to rob them of their sanctity. [Shots without.! They think to mur-
der the old bear in his den, but they'll find it is not so easy. [Shots again.}
46 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ha, ha, the old fox is not reached yet. [Shots.] You've got him cornered, but
let him once get loose again, and he has teeth that will bite, aye, and leave
their mark among ye.
Oliver. They seem afraid to force an entrance.
Julia. Perhaps they may yet disperse.
Alice. Heaven grant they may!
Brown. Amen, for your sake child, but I wager they are hatching some new
treachery.
Jeptha. [Looking out.] That's so, old man. They move around with
torches a bellerin' like scared injuns. Why, I do believe
[An explosion heard.
Brown. Great God! They have fired the house. [All stand horror stricken.]
Shout to them "hold." If this poor body will satisfy their malice, I'll throw
myself a hostage in their midst. Let them tear me limb from limb, but burn
not these innocent children in their home. [Rushing to door.] Hold! I am
ready ! I surrender.
Oliver and Watson. No, no, we will share your fate.
Alice. No, no, why should our lives be bought at such a price. Let us
die here together.
Julia. [Placing herself in doorway.] You shall not stir! Father, brothers,
no ! Rather let us fall upon our knees in prayer, and occupy our few remaining
moments in supplicating mercy from above!
Jeptha. Unless we can find a safer place below. [Opening trap.] Down
into the milk-cellar, the other steps lead up into the barn; the night is dark,
and while the villains think we are roasting up alive, we can make for the
woods, and off before they get their eyes skinned.
[Sends them down singly. The flames mount higher and higher. JEPTHA
begins to descend as the flames burst in.
PICTURE.
SCENE III. Apartment in DEARBORN'S house.
Enter DEARBORN and RALPH.
Dearborn. Ralph, you appear somewhat distrait this morning.
Ralph. Yes, sir; I acknowledge my mind is not quite at rest.
Dearb. I regret it. I had looked forward to a little conversation this
morning.
Ralph. My dear sir, I surely cannot be the very unsociable being you
would represent me. I am always ready to listen to your agreeable and in-
structive conversation.
Dearb. I am glad you are so fully impressed with what is your duty towards
a parent. Let me remember, Oh ! I was about to remark that I had received
a letter from your uncle, in which he has promised me a visit. This will be
the more interesting to you, as he will be accompanied by his wife and
daughter, your cousin Lucy. But you are not paying such strict attention
Ralph. Pray excuse me, sir; I own I am a little absent minded this morning.
Dearb. Your cousin Lucy is a very charming girl. [Ralph seems lost in
thought.] I was remarking that your cousin, Lucy [Very loudly] Ahem!
Ralph. [Starting.] Pray go on, sir, I am all attention.
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 47
Dearb. [Pointedly.] Yes, I see you are. [Rising.] Well, sir, as you seem
to treat the matter with so much indifference, I shall not trouble myself
further than to inform you that you are expected to treat your aunt and
cousin with some respect and in short that I have more settled views in
prospect for you.
Ralph. Sir, may I ask, without impropriety, that you will be more explicit
in your remarks.
Dearb. Well, then, sir, since you drive me to it, I have always intended
that you and your cousin should form an alliance, that is much desired by her
father and myself. And since there is no possible obstacle
Ralph. I am glad at last to see the tendency of your remarks, and that
there may be no misunderstanding, will you now oblige me by resuming your
seat and giving me your attention for a few moments.
Dearb. Well, sir, be brief.
Ralph. You said just now, that there could be no possible obstacle to the
fulfillment of your plans. My dear father, there is an obstacle, which I will
state in as few words as possible. Some two years back I made the ac-
quaintance of a young girl under somewhat peculiar circumstances. It so
happened that, under Providence, I was the means of rescuing her from great
peril. I became in time a welcome visitor at her father's house. I found her
to be as virtuous and amiable, as I already knew she was beautiful. But her
parents, who are poor, though honest people, being forced to emigrate, I have
endured a separation of some months only, however, with the promise of
claiming her my beautiful Alice at the expiration of a year.
Dearb. Very fine! Quite a romance. But do you know the consequences
in case of my displeasure?
Ralph. I know that it is in your power to make me penniless, but only
condescend to see my beautiful Alice, and I will answer for the rest.
Enter a Servant, with Letters.
Dearb. Will you? Well, just hand me those letters. [Does so.] And
now go about your business; I'll think this over. [Exit RALPH.] [Opening
letter.] I declare the fellow has quite bewildered me with his sudden dis-
closures. What, my little Lucy to be thrown away on a stranger, and he run
off with this little chit of a nobody knows who. Ah! what is here? A letter
in a strange hand, and on the very subject. [Reads.] "Beware of your son
forming a connection which would be discreditable to the last degree. He is
about to marry the daughter of a man notorious for his bad deeds. An outlaw
and a murderer." Good heavens! can I believe my eyes? This must be put a
stop to at once, if true, but I'll not believe it. Here, Ralph! Ralph!
[Exit.
SCENE IV. Interior of a miserable shed.
JULIA supporting ALICE. JEPTHA seated near.
Julia. How terrible is this suspense! It is long since our brother, risking
all for our protection, went in search of help, and the other members of our
little band are guarding, lest, being found, the fury of the mob should drive
us even from this poor shelter. But alas! the time is flying rapidly and no
assistance yet. We may be waylaid, killed perhaps, and then, oh heaven!
what can save us then?
48 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Alice. [Awakening.'] Where am I? Have I been sleeping? Yes, I was
once more happy, for I thought I was again at home. Where are they?
Where's my father?
Julia. Compose yourself, dear Alice. I trust he will soon be here.
Alice. And you, my dear sister. How much greater must be your suffer-
ings, and yet for my sake you bear all in silence. But hark! what noise is that!
[Starting up.} I hear them. Father! brothers! you are come ah
[Falls senseless as BLACK JIM appears at window.
Julia. Lost! lost!
Black J. Halloa! what in thunder's here? Instead of pitching on the old
wolf in his den, he's given chase and left us to stumble in among the cubs.
Hallao! what, dead? [Seeing ALICE.] No, only scared. Let's see.
[7s about to lift her. Julia hurls him off.
Julia. Villain, away ! Whatever your hellish purpose, while I have life, you
touch not with impious hand, that stricken girl.
Black J. Away, woman ! or take the same fate as your husband.
Julia. My husband! ah, I know you now, and yet I do not fear you. I ask
not mercy for myself. I would bless the hand that gave me peace and heaven.
But if you would escape the curse of him whose blood now stains your
hands, spare her, the innocent sister of your victim, and let her go unharmed.
[JEPTHA steals to window and makes signals for assistance.
Black J. Enough of this. Away there from the girl.
Julia. Merciful heaven! is there no way to move you? Is it not enough to
know your hands are already dyed in her brother's blood? Should you com-
mit this double deed of infamy, the curse of heaven would follow in your
footsteps; her voice with his would shout it in your ears by day and night,
thou traitorous coward, thou double murderer!
Black J. What ho! there!
Julia. I do not fear you now. When your murderous steel shall pierce the
only heart that shields her, heaven will send some power to aid the helpless
and the friendless!
[He rushes toward her, when JEPTHA seizes a gun and fires out of window.
Black J. Ah, you'd bring the old wolf down on me would you?
[Seizes JEPTHA, holds a knife over her, when BROWN and WATSON rush in.
BBQWN, snatching the knife from his grasp, plunges it in his heart; he falls.
Brown. Die I Murderer of my son !
PICTURE.
SCENE V. An apartment in COOK'S house.
Enter COOK with an open letter.
Cook. Our plans are well nigh ripe, and as the old man Brown has long
been looked upon as the most fit leader of the undertaking, his escape and
arrival here is most opportune. Ha, here comes his pretty daughter-in-law.
Enter JULIA.
Julia. Mr. Cook, how can we express sufficient thanks
Cook. None are needed, I assure you. I am happy in being able to afford
my friends assistance. But you wished to see me?
Julia. Yes. You say my father is about engaging in a scheme which has
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 49
for its object, that which makes me tremble for his safety. I would ask you,
can this mad project not be surrendered? Can he not be restored to his
peaceful home, or who persuades him to this?
Cook. None, he joins our cause heart and hand, as one who holds with
freedom.
Julia. But why choose him? His mind has been so tried with suffering, I
fear 'tis overbalanced. I need not tell you there are some men that sink under
great trials hopelessly and at once, and others whose minds will bend be-
neath the storm, to rise, crooked, deformed perhaps, but not extinguished. Is
it not so with him? under his great trials, his mind has warped and cramped
until he can see nothing but through the glass of his revenge, and lives but
to redress his wrongs.
Cook. It may be so.
Julia. It is, and being so, is it just or generous to choose him for this pur-
pose? Is it not fostering a madness that has grown out of his misfortunes?
Cook. You are severe. But you will find that his friends are at least pre-
pared to share the danger with him but he is here. Your interview must be
short, for your time is limited by your father's fears for your safety.
[Exit as BROWN enters.
Julia. Could I but move him from his purpose, but I fear this madness is
not to be repressed. Father! you are fully determined on this mission?
Brown. I am, girl, fully.
Julia. And you have thought on all the serious consequences on the dan-
ger to my brothers?
Brown. Who says they are unwilling?
Julia. They are willing. Their courage will always equal their duty and
affection. But is it right, my father, to put it to the test?
Brown. Thank God ! my boys are not cowards ! But try not to dissuade me
it raises an alarm in my breast I cannot conquer speak of it no more.
Julia. I will not, and since you are bent on this, I can but pray for you.
[ALICE rushes on, and sinks into her father's arms he regards her with great
tenderness and emotion.
Brown. Alice, my good child!
Alice. Oh! tell me it is not true. You are not going forever from your
Alice? You will not send us from you? Think how heavily the hours must
pass that threaten you with danger. [.Sinks at his feet.
Brown. My child I feel your sorrow, but there are reasons which you can-
not understand.
Alice. If but for my brother's sake. Think of the dear one we have lost
think of the husband for whom she sorrows, and add not another Oh, my
father!
Brown. My child my child!
Alice. Oh, say you will stay your purpose. Come back to our dear old
home come back, and our lives shall know no object but to make you happy
we'll work and toil you shall not know a care Oh, father, answer me, or
my heart will break.
Brown. My child I could not if I would. I am bound by an oath I dare not
break. Take her from me, girl. [To JULIA.] Remember her mother's trust.
God bless you both! [Turns away. ALICE clings to JULIA.]
46164 PICTURE.
50 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ACT III.
SCENE I. Interior of the Kennedy Farm, near Harper's Ferry.
BROWN seated at table with letters.
Brown. [Reading letter.] "It is well known, that in every instance where
an enlightened body of men have espoused the cause of the oppressed, and have
endeavored to set them free, the result has invariably proved a failure, from
sole cause that the would-be liberators, depend on the cooperation of those
whose battles they are fighting, but which inevitably fails them at the moment
of action. This is a painful conviction, but one that is forced upon every
thinking mind by all past experience. It is a stubborn fact, recorded in the
history of ages. To emancipate at one blow any down-trodden race, you must
provide force enough to liberate them at least without cooperation from, if not
absolutely against their will. In withholding education from the slaves, the
men of the South have raised a barrier that is mightier than any force of arms
that can be brought to bear against it, and it is called ignorance and fear.
If, in spite of these arguments, you are still determined to rush on to the
attack, I will give you all the pecuniary aid in my power, but remember, /
have no faith in the success of the undertaking. A Philosopher." [Speaking.']
There's a wet blanket, and from a professed abolitionist! [Derisively.] An old
fox. A philosopher truly but one of that school that fattens on the follies
of men, and chuckles over his wisdom and his prudence. Well, friend, ha,
ahem ! [checking himself.] your money may do more for us than your sym-
pathy, but I would not give much for either. What have we here? [opening
another letter.] signed G. S. ha, this is joining opposites if you will. Mark
now from that stoic, this nervous, sympathetic nature that feels the wrongs of
others as they were his own. [Reads.] "Is it natural when the body's bent,
to regain its upright posture? Is it natural, were one hand corded to our side,
the other should be used to free it? Is it not a law divine, that when the
bird escapes from bondage it soars to retain its freedom? Are we not there-
fore bound by strong ties of humanity, to burst the ties that bind the slaves
to bondage, that they may soar to regain their level with the free men of the
earth." [Speaking.] Those may be the sentiments of a visionary enthusiast,
but there's more humanity in them, and I like him for it. Well, boy?
[As OLIVER enters.
Enter OLIVER.
Oliver. Another load of rifles has arrived. I want directions about going
down after them. There are also several of our people waiting to see the
Captain.
Brown. I cannot see them until I have finished looking over these letters.
Oliver. Are they from friends in the North?
Brown. Yes; from our friends "Philosopher," and "G. S." One predicting
failure, and the other success as inevitable results. One thing is certain, the
result, be it what it may, cannot much affect them at the very safe distance
they are likely to remain.
Oliver. There seems to be no question as to the result.
Brown. No, nor is there. It depends not on these men who preach to us.
They would not place themselves here, as I have done, sounded every depth,
watched and waited till the time should come, and guarded every avenue to
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 51
surprise. I have set emissaries to find out how the pulse beats in every part.
I have organized a plan whereby our forces are so stationed, that in one day's
time I have them at command. I have collected arms, unknowing to the
people, that, in the hands of outraged men, who are fighting for their freedom,
would insure their safety against many thousand. This is no lawless outbreak
we are not here to murder and to rob. God knows I have no thirst for blood.
Those weapons are for self-defense to guard the passage of our rescued band
to shores of greater safety and I have no fear in leaving it to all humanity
to justify the act.
Enter WATSON.
Watson. Father, Cook has just arrived, and wants to see you.
Brown. Let him come in.
Enter COOK, disguised as a Peddler.
Well, friend, what news?
Cook. Much, that is satisfactory. I have been in many Northern towns
since I was here, and in every place is the same sympathy evinced, the same
assistance offered. When I come this way I am cautious, as you see, disguis-
ing myself in this way in order to ascertain the feeling that is manifested.
Brown. And you find the cause goes well?
Cook. The cause works gloriously. We have more sympathy than you
would well believe. Every man who dares to speak his real thoughts, is
ready for the struggle. All seem prepared, and once let the blow be struck,
there is not one but goes with us, heart and hand.
Brown. And the sooner now that blow is struck, the better. [Rising.}
This is no sudden movement. Men have worked for this with patient toil for
years. It is a question that involves the whole social structure of the world
and what is this poor brain, and heart, and strength to give to such a cause?
I have seen it could be done, and seen the means, and now the time is come
'tis ripe 'tis almost here one effort and the day is ours.
Cook. God speed it, and make it a bloodless one.
Brown. And bloodless it shall be. For what else was time and caution
needed? We are not here for purposes of blood and riot. He among us who
would strike a blow, except in self-defense, falls at once from a martyr and a
hero to grovel among the lowest felons of the earth. But I must leave you,
for I have weighty business yet on hand.
[Exit.
Oliver. [To COOK.] Go you with my brother and refresh yourself. I
must away to bring up the rifles.
Cook. Heaven speed the cause.
Oliver. Amen! [Exeunt severally.
SCENE II. Same as Scene /, Act I.
Enter JEPTHA.
Jeptha. Well, now, it's pesky queer that there can't be no peace in this
'ere family anyhow. I did think when we got safe back with hull skins,
which the dear knows was a miracle under the circumstances, that there'd be
somethin' pleasant in the shape of a weddin'. Instead of that, everything's
gone as crooked as a blind bull arter a butterfly. When I think of it well,
52 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
there, it's no use. [Crying.} There was Miss Alice a tryin to forget all the
queer shines the old man's been a cuttin' up, and beginnin' to look so pretty
and sunshiny again, and the young gentleman was a skippin' around her like
a bee round a honeysuckle, when bang comes in old Pap Dearborn and forbids
the banns. Oh, dear! when I think of it well, there, it's no use. [.Cries.]
He says that her father ain't actin' respectable, and that his son shan't marry
his daughter. That is, Pap Dearborn sez his son shan't marry our Pap's
daughter. Oh, dear, when I think of it well there, it's no use. [Cries.
Enter RALPH.
Ralph. Jeptha I
Jeptha. Lord! how ye skeered me.
Ralph. Why, did you think it was a certain young Irish gentleman that I
saw going round the corner just now?
Jeptha. No, Little Billy's not a gentleman, and I reckon he never will be,
but I thought it was young Mrs. Brown, and I wouldn't let her see me cryin'
for anythin', for her own sorrows are always a comin' up in big round tears to
her eyes, but always driven back again for fear they'd pain her darling, as
she calls her.
Ralph. How is she, how is Alice?
Jeptha. Well, if ye want me to say she's pretty well I can't, 'cause it aint
so, but she's able to get up to-day for the first time since you see her before.
Ralph. Thank heaven for that. But will she see me?
Jeptha. Well I don't really think she will. You see she's as dutiful as a
new preacher, and things is turnin' out worse and worse. The old man's
turned out to be a ringleader, and that's somethin' worse than robbin' on the
high seas.
Ralph. Why will that rash man bring all this trouble on us?
Jeptha. I don't know. But I do know that whatever he does he thinks
it's right, and I won't hear nobody speak agin' him. Old pap brought me up,
and though I ain't turned out much, it aint no fault of his, for he's a regular
church member and talks every bit as smart as the deacon.
Ralph. If Alice would but see me for a moment
Jeptha. Well don't look so kill-me-quick-ish and I'll go and see. Oh dear,
when I think of it well it's no use [Cries and exit.
Ralph. I cannot but blame my father who exacts this cruel sacrifice. But
if Alice would consent to brave his displeasure for a while
Enter ALICE.
Alice. Ralph!
Ralph. Alice, dear Alice, how it grieves me to see you suffer thus. Can no
argument, no fears for my peace induce you to alter your decision?
Alice. No, dear Ralph. I know all you would urge, but indeed I cannot
dare not accede. You owe a duty to your father which you must obey at any
sacrifice, and were I to tempt you from that duty, it would forever stand
between us and our happiness. It was to tell you this, and show you how
wrong it is for us to meet with such a barrier between us, that brought me
to you now.
Ralph. Alice, listen to me.
Alice. I dare not. I could not forego the joy of looking on your dear face
once again, but you must leave me now. Strive with all your manly courage
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 53
to forget the love you bear me, and try as I shall pray you may do, to forget
me. Leave me farewell
Ralph. Alice, I will not reproach you for your harsh decision, but may you
never know the anguish it has caused me. Farewell forever.
[Rushes out as JULIA enters.
Alice. Ralph Ralph I oh, it will break my heart.
[Falls on JULIA'S shoulder, who leads her off.
SCENE III. Same room in DEARBORN'S house.
Enter DEARBORN.
Dearb. There really is no accounting for the tastes of the young men of
the present day. Here's my son with the coolest indifference renounces in one
breath all claim to the hand of my pretty little niece, and her three thousand
a year. True, he pleads a prior attachment, but then what do these senti-
mental attachments amount to with the young men of the present day.
Enter SERVANT.
Servant. Sir, a lady wishes to see you on important business.
Dearb. Show the lady in. [Exit Servant. ,] Really I begin to feel nervous
this cannot be
Enter JULIA and JEPTHA.
Why bless me, this must be the sentimental attachment. Madame are you?
am I to suppose
Julia. I come, sir, on behalf of my sister.
Dearb. [Aside.'] Oh! the sister to the sentimental attachment.
Julia. Do not imagine I am here at her request she is far too young and
innocent for that and I am so much older; indeed, stand almost in the light
of a mother to her.
Dearb. A mother! dear me, impossible.
Julia. Oh, sir, if you could see her she, whom your son had chosen for
his wife, when all was happy round them when she gave him her young, pure
heart, without a doubt to mar the brightness of the future.
Dearb. Madam, this intercession
Julia. Oh, sir, do not blame me. Could I, or any one who loved her, see
her young head bowed down with sorrow, and make no effort to alleviate it?
Dearb. What would you have me do?
Julia. What do? She was once happy, free your son came and won her to
himself her heart was his her happiness, her life in losing him, she loses
all. Restore her her happiness, and with it life and hope.
Dearb. The daughter of a wild fanatic, who has made his name notorious
Julia. And she, the innocent victim of your pride, is made to suffer for the
wrongs of others.
Dearb. I am sorry, very sorry but I can never consent to a union of my
son, to a daughter of that mad that misguided man.
Julia. Then all is lost, indeed. [Exit, followed by JEPTHA.
Dearb. Really, this young woman's story, in spite of my naturally strong
nerves [taking out his handkerchief,] has quite
54 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Re-enter JEPTHA, suddenly.
Jeptha. You thought I was gone, didn't you?
Dearb. [Starting violently.] Bless me! young woman.
Jeptha. Reckon you're nervous, aint you? I jest stepped back to give you
a piece of my mind, right straight up and down. And to begin, I think you're
a great heap more nice than wise. You ain't too good lookin' 'nuther nor too
well dragged up, though you do stick it out you be and Miss Alice, with
her sweet face, and pretty ways, aint no more fit to be in the same house
with you, than a white dove in a thunderstorm. You won't let your son
marry her, 'cause of the boss but you don't know everything I aint lived
in the family all my life, for nothin' and if you don't have to give in yet,
old fellow, there's no squeakin' in pigs.
Dearb. Really, young woman, this extraordinary conduct
[Exit.
Jeptha. Well, I guess the old un's heard enough he hops out like an old
bull frog on his hind legs. Well, as I can't be doin' nothin' here, I guess I'd
better be a goin' too. [Exit.
SCENE IV. Exterior of Armory at Harper's Ferry.
Several of BROWN'S men stationed as Sentinels Enter COOK and OLIVER
They sign to Sentinels, and are approaching the entrance, when BROWN
appears from within.
Brown. Well, lads, what cheer?
Cook. All right, Captain; all is going on steadily and quietly.
Brown. Yes, the die is cast and thus far, success attends us. By taking
possession of the armory we can supply our forces with such arms as could
not be procured elsewhere. Are the reinforcements still coming in?
Cook. I must say, but slowly.
Brown. Do you keep strict watch for the employees of this building?
Oliver. Yes; but I reckon you have them all inside there, close prisoners.
Brown. Is all quiet at the hotel?
Oliver. Yes; but it seems more the quiet of fear than security. The lights
are all out.
Brown. Fools! they need not fear if they let us alone. But it was that
skirmish on the bridge that scared them. If they send word down by that
train, we may yet get hot work.
Cook. We are gathering men from the plantations every minute.
Brown. True; but it all takes time and until they see something like a
force here, they will not rally. Are all who received instructions off to the
plantations?
Cook. All that had the word. For my party it lacks an hour.
Brown. Never mind that hour. If you are ready, start. Get every able
negro; securing the master to bring here as prisoner. It is important we
have men of influence to be held as hostage, in case of an attack.
Cook. You have some big men already, Captain, and if luck aids me I
will bring you more. [Exit.
Brown. Why did I let that train go down? they'll take the news, and if
our reinf 01 cements are thus tardy [To OLIVER.] Have you found out who
killed that man upon the bridge?
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 55
Oliver. No sir, but it was one of our party.
Brown. It was a mad, a ruinous act! It never had my sanction. It
would give them an excuse, should our cause fail, to disregard the rules of
open warfare, and shoot us down like dogs.
Oliver. Do you think it was well to let that train pass?
Brown. I fear it was an evil stroke of policy but if it prove so, I've but
to thank the sentiment that prompted me, for I swear 'twas one of mercy.
Enter WATSON.
Watson. There is a report of the approach of forces brought on to attack
us here.
Brown. How did you learn the rumor?
Watson. Some of our men say they are tight upon us.
Brown. Ah! the telegraph wires have not escaped destruction?
Watson. No !
Brown. And the reinforcements?
Watson. Still come slowly in. Some are lurking in the woods, as if to
secure escape.
Brown. Afraid to join us! The coward herd! 'Tis all the effects of
letting that train pass down. [To OLIVER.] Go you, my lad, and see what
you can learn. [Exit OLIVER.] Fool that I was, to let such a miserable
weakness sway me in the matter!
Enter one of Brown's men.
Man. Well, Captain, the cause looks queer. Troops are already coming
up from Charlestown, and I should not wonder but we'll have hot work.
Enter OLIVER.
Oliver. The sentinels at the bridge are already overpowered. There is a
great stir at the hotel. I can scarce keep the men at their posts, they fear
the armory will be stormed.
Brown. No fear of that while the prisoners are within. They will not fire
at risk of killing them. Tell every man to keep his post until the last. Come
you, lads, into the building by this door, come all of you. [Sentinels and
men file in.] If they are coming, we will not be unprepared. They must
treat with us to save the prisoners and if the worst shows us grim death, we
will teach them we can face it, and not be killed like dogs.
[Exeunt into armory.
A noise is heard as of the approach of a body of people. BROWN reappears at
entrance, looks around and turns to give orders within.
Brown. Ah! they are upon us; take care of the prisoners. Place them in
a position where they may not be injured. Open those doors at back to let
in our people, these are no longer safe. Now then, to work, to barricade these
doors. [Retires.
The noise of barricading is heard within. Shouts increase without. Tramp of
Military, who presently appear, preceded by a noisy crowd. Shouts kept
up with cries of down with them.
Capt. M. Make an entrance.
[Soldiers attempt to batter in the doors, which do not yield.
Surrender !
56 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
[The door is opened and an aged citizen appears bearing a flag of truce.
Do you surrender?
Voice. [From within.'] No, but name conditions.
Capt. M. What are they?
Voice. That we are allowed to take the prisoners with us as a body guard
to a stipulated place, and then suffered to go free.
[Cries of no, no, murmuring among the people.
Capt. M. We cannot grant your terms. Nothing but an unconditional sur-
render.
[Cries of down with them! Tumult increases. Doors again barricaded. A
ladder is procured and used by the soldiers as a battering ram. After re-
peated efforts the door is burst open. Soldiers rush in. Skirmish. Cries of,
Look to the prisoners! OLIVER and WATSON are seen to fall, and BROWN is
brought out a prisoner. Shouts.
SCENE V. Street.
Enter STEVENS, marks of blood on his face and clothes, staggering. Looking
back as if pursued. Shouts. Enter a body of men, with cries of, Down with
him! Shoot him! Sinks exhausted, and in an attitude of despair, begs for
mercy. Shouts and hisses. He is thrown from one to the other. Pistols
fired. He is wounded. Falls. Partly rising, he drags himself off, followed
by mob, shouting.
SCENE VI. Prison.
BROWN lying on a cot, holding newspaper.
Brown. Tried condemned aye, and executed, if these fellows had their
way. But not that yet. How easy it is for them to string a few light words
together to sum up the aims and creation of a scheme like this, of which they
know so little. Lost! It is not lost. True, our effort failed, and our lives
must pay the forfeit, but the cause the glorious cause lives yet in the hearts
of men who will follow in our foot steps.
Enter JAILOR.
Jailor. Old Man Brown, there are some more gentlemen wish to speak with
you; shall I bring them in?
Brown. Yes, let them come in. [Exit JAILOR.] Another lot to see the old
wolf in his cage.
Enter REPORTER, CITIZEN and JAILOR.
Reporter. Good day, Mr. Brown; do I disturb you?
Brown. No, sir, I am glad to see you. A New York reporter, I believe?
[He bows.] I am always glad to see you gentlemen, for there are so many
false reports and misstatements regarding our undertaking, or rather its failure,
that I can but look to you to set it right. I know that your superior education
and cosmopolitan habits, render you freer from prejudice than most men, and
I always look for truth from your hands.
Reporter. I am glad to have your good opinion. But do they make you
comfortable here?
Citizen. Comfortable; what does he deserve?
Brown. You are a slaveholder, I suppose? [To citizen.]
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 57
Reporter. To what do you accredit your failure, Mr. Brown?
Brown. Entirely to a mistake. To my mistake in letting that train go
down.
Citizen. And to Southern chivalry.
Brown. I was unwilling to cause unnecessary suffering, and this is the result.
Citizen. You would not cause unnecessary suffering, but you'd steal niggers.
Reporter. Sir, whoever you may be, allow me to say, I think your remark
unwarranted. For there is no occasion when unmerited insult can come from
the lips of a gentleman.
Citizen. Oh! I suppose you are a pair of abolitionists together, and as I
only came to take a look at the prisoners, I'll leave you. Good day to you
both. [Exit.
Brown. I need not tell you that I have a great many such visitors. But I
do not take their absurd speeches as any insult, for they do not represent the
class they pretend to belong to.
Reporter. I am not sure that I fully understand your object in this move-
ment.
Brown. Whatever is represented to the contrary, believe me, our sole object
was to free the slaves, from motives of philanthropy. We look upon ourselves
as workers in a great and good cause, to which we have sacrificed our lives.
I would have wished it otherwise, but being so, we lay them down freely, and
trust that the future will beam on more successful efforts.
Reporter. However I may condemn that cause, or the means taken to up-
hold it, I can but admire the man, who, thinking it right, sacrifices all to it
as you have done. Mr. Brown, I would like to converse further with you,
but I see it is against the rules, and I would not be the means of curtailing
your few privileges. Good bye, I may see you again.
Brown. Good bye, sir, I feel happier for having seen you. [Exit Reporter
and Jailor.} And so I am to have a visit from a lady. Mrs. Sligo, I know
her well by name. It is generous and kind of the good soul to come to me.
But I fancy it is not so much the sympathizing woman feeling for one in my
desolate position, as the strong minded lady claiming sympathy with the
cause. Good soul! she had better leave the cause alone, and claim no
sympathy but what her heart teaches. However, I must not be ungrateful for
her kindness.
Enter MRS. SLIGO and JAILOR.
Mrs. Sligo. Oh, my poor, dear, persecuted man. I felt all your sufferings,
and I thought I could not better aid the noble cause, for which you bleed,
than by exerting every influence to get to see you.
[Takes out tablet.
Brown. Madame, I am truly grateful for your kindness.
[Exit Jailor.
Mrs. Sligo. [Writing his words down.] And you are prepared for the
worst? And willing to die a martyr, and all that sort of thing?
Brown. I am willing to follow where the other brave hearts have gone
before. I regret the course of events more for others than for myself.
Mrs. Sligo. [Aside.] I always said so. What a man, to be sure! He's as
calm and collected as if he was not going to be hung, and and all that sort
of thing.
58 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Enter JAILOR.
Jailor. Madam I am sorry, but there is another lady. Prepare yourself,
sir, to see
[JULIA rushes on and sinks on her knees at the bedside.
Julia. Father !
Brown. My child, my child. [Exit Mrs. Sligo
Julia. Oh how I have prayed to see you once again.
Brown. Poor child, I thought they would not let you come to me.
Julia. Nor would they until now.
Brown. How ill and pale you look, and yet you found courage to come and
comfort the old man in his prison.
Julia. Are you not his father? Could I desert you in your hour of peril,
and hope to meet his smile?
Brown. Dear child.
Julia. I have seen them, too. They whom he loved so well. I have stolen
to their graves and wet them with my tears. [Giving him a lea}.] I planted
this in secret o'er them, and when 'twas done I plucked this tiny spray and
brought it to you, that you might see the flower that grows above their grave.
Brown. [Weeping over it.] My sons! my sons!
SCENE VII. A Conidor in the farm.
Enter JEPTHA.
Jeptha. I wish Miss Julia would come back. I was hardhearted as a crab
to send her but I could not see the gal a pinin' away any more 'an she
could and when I told her I knew what would fetch all square with Pap
Dearborn, off she goes to the old man for proofs, for it 'pears what I say aint
no use unless it's writ down by somebody else. Here comes Little Billy,
lookin' for all the world like a young banty with his feathers flyin'.
Enter LITTLE BILLY.
Little B. Are ye here, me darlint?
Jeptha. Your darlin'. I'd like tew know.
Little B. And aint ye me darlint that's to be Mrs. Billy in two blessed
weeks? But what's the matter?
Jeptha. Nothin'.
Little B. Ye aint offended?
Jeptha. No !
Little B. Ye little divil, ye know ye be! And that [kisses her] was what's
the matter.
Jeptha. You'd orter be more Christianly, and so much trouble in the house.
Little B. [Wiping his eyes.] Who's in disthress?
Jeptha. Never you mind, but jest go right to Pap Dearborn and fetch him
here. If he asks you what for, tell him there's some things you don't know,
and that's one of 'em. The dear knows! this family would all go to tew
pot if it warn't for me. [Exit.
Little B. That gal's as full of since as a herrin's full of bones. Now I'm to
fotch Mr. Dearbones. Well old Dearbone, or chape bone, or whatever yer
name is, if ye don't come I'll carry ye. [Exit.
AN OLD PLAY ON JOHN BROWN 59
SCENE VIII. Same as Scene 7, Act I.
Enter JEPTHA and RALPH.
Jeptha. Taint no use I tell ye.
Ralph. But I am going away for years, perhaps forever.
Jeptha. Welll taint no use. [Aside.] Maybe yer aint goin' as quick as
you think.
Enter ALICE, who starts on seeing RALPH.
Alice. Ralph, you here?
Ralph. Forgive me, Alice. I will no longer pain you by my presence.
[Going.
Jeptha. [Detaining him.} Lorkee here just keep the quarrel up a little
longer. I can't explain, but something might turn up.
Enter JULIA. ALICE screams and rushes to her.
Alice. Dear Julia, you are ill.
Julia. [Taking paper from her bosom and forcing it into RALPH'S hand.]
Never mind read read.
Enter LITTLE BILLY and DEARBORN.
Ralph. [Glancing over paper.] "Alice is not my daughter. Adopted from
her birth proofs to be found father." Alice can this be true?
Jeptha. True? of course it's true. I knew it all the time. Three cheers for
General Washington!
Julia. [Seeing DEARBORN.] Thank Heaven! I am not too late. You con-
sent? [DEARBORN joins their hands.
Alice. Sister, dear sister.
Julia. Do not grieve for me. I am happy oh, how happy for I soon
shall be with him. Farewell, my sister. Frederick, my husband. I come
I come.
[Dies. ALICE and RALPH join hands in prayer. DEARBORN turns away. JBPTHA
and BILLY weep. Slow music.
THE END.
Exploring the Solomon River
Valley in 1869
Edited by MARTHA B. CALDWELL
I. INTRODUCTION
AMONG the many railway lines projected during the enthusiasm
of the 1860's was the Junction City, Solomon Valley and Den-
ver Railroad. Early in September, 1869, a company composed
largely of Junction City men was organized, and at the first meet-
ing in October the board of directors elected Robert McBratney 1
president and empowered him "to make such exploration on the pro-
posed route of railway as in his judgment would be necessary and
proper." 2
In compliance with this order McBratney set out on an exploring
trip up the Solomon valley to the western boundary of the state.
He was accompanied by U. S. Sen. Edmund G. Ross; B. F. Mudge,
professor at the Agricultural College and former state geologist; and
Richard Mobley, state agent for the sale of railroad lands. These,
with the driver of the ambulance, one cook, and one servant made a
party of seven. The outfit consisted of a government ambulance and
four mules provided by Gen. J. M. Schofield, one company wagon,
one wall tent, and one saddle horse. In addition, Gov. J. M. Harvey
ordered 100 state troops to accompany them from the Forks of the
Solomon as a protection from the plains Indians. On October 14
they assembled at Solomon City and proceeded up the valley to the
Forks, where Senator Ross and Mr. Mobley left the party and re-
turned home. From their start at Solomon City they traveled up
the Solomon and its North Fork for almost 140 miles, when a short-
1. Robert McBratney was born January 1, 1818, at Columbus, Ohio. He served a printer's
apprenticeship, began the study of law, and in 1842 became part owner of the Xenia Torch-
light, conducting it as an antislavery Whig paper. In 1848 he moved to Detroit and estab-
lished the Peninsular Freeman, but a fire destroyed his paper in 1852 and he returned to
Xenia and the Torchlight.
Excitement regarding Kansas led him west, and in 1857 he and S. C. Pomeroy purchased
the Atchison Squatter Sovereign, changing it to a Free-State paper. Here he also practiced
law for a time. In 1861 he was appointed register of the land office at Junction City, resign-
ing this office four years later to become presidential elector. He then began the practice of
law and thereafter made Junction City his home.
Mr. McBratney was deeply interested in the development of Kansas and was closely
identified with the organization of railroads, including the Kansas Pacific; Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe; Missouri, Kansas & Texas; the Central Branch of the Union Pacific; and the
Junction City & Fort Kearney. His later years were devoted to the development of minerals
in southeastern Kansas.
Mr. McBratney was married at Springfield, Ohio, in 1848, to Miss Mary Palmer. They
had three daughters. After the death of Mrs. McBratney in 1859 he married Miss Mary E.
Harbison of Xenia, Ohio. He died in 1881.
2. The Junction City Union, October 16, 1869.
(60)
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 61
age of provisions, forage and ammunition for the troops compelled
them to turn back.
Mr. McBratney and Professor Mudge both wrote letters to eastern
Kansas newspapers 3 giving most favorable accounts of the resources
of the region. These letters were widely read, and while they failed
to attract capitalists and railroad builders, as was their object, they
did perhaps cause many home seekers to settle there in the follow-
ing years, and these in turn induced the Union Pacific to extend a
branch line through the valley.
Mr. McBratney also kept a diary on the trip in which he gave a
detailed account of the movements of the party together with a de-
scription of the geological formations, the water resources and the
wild life of the country. This journal, which was recorded in a
"Receipts" book 5"x7%" bound in red leather, was written in the
confusion and bustle of camp and by the fire light. It is here
printed verbatim. The original, now in the possession of the Kan-
sas State Historical Society, was the gift of Charles H. Trott of
Junction City.
II. ENTRIES FROM THE DIARY: OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER, 1869
Junction City. Completed loading team for start. Govt. ambu-
lance reported at 12 A. M. Commissariat hired of Smith & Callen,
Robt. Milligan, driver. Hall Cook driver of ambulance.
At 4% took train for Salina. Met here B. F. Mudge, Professor of
Agricultural College, and for[mer] state geologist, E. G. Ross, U. S.
Senator, and R. D. Mobley, who propose to accompany us on the
trip.
Solomon City, Oct. 14. Parties met at Salina last night report
here for a start up Solomon. Teams not yet arrived. Visit salt
works 2 miles west of S. C. Well 600 ft. Wind mill, thirty vats of
1,000 ft. Salt pure white, but large globules or cubes, ground by
steam, 4 to 5,000 bushels on hand. Capital $25,000, owned by Co.
at New Bedford, Mass. One section land. Manager Charles H.
Reed. Met Elder Downer, who lives on Saline river. Thinks R. R.
from J. C. to Denver should follow the Solomon river. Teams arrive
at 12 A. Start at 2 P. M. Start. Ambulance leading. After one
hours drive, find our commisserat wagon falling behind, the light
load having four and heavy load but two mules ; re-arrange.
Three miles from Sol. cross Buckey [e] , a small stream. Ten miles
Hard crossing [creek] fifteen miles reach Sand Creek, & go into
3. Several of McBratney's letters were published in the Leavenworth Times and Conserva-
tive, October 23, 27, November 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1869.
62 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
camp. Weather warm evening cool. Soil light alluvial with sand.
Bottom 2*4 to 4 miles wide. Timber along river and creeks light.
Oct. 17. Get rather a late start Sunday and matters not well
arranged for expedition. Last night amb. mule very sick. All right
this morning. The sleep in the tent last night comfortable. Party
in good spirits. Sand Creek on which we are camped (at deserted
homestead of Richard Night [Knight]) is a small stream of excel-
lent soft water. In June it was so high as to submerge houses or
dug-outs of settlers. Water rose in four minutes to depth of 20 ft.
The Sol. has improved most decidedly both in width, soil, tim-
ber &c. since leaving mouth. Camp visited last night by Geo. &
And. Ingersoll. This morning by Mr. John Night [Knight] a vet-
eran pioneer, who presented us with two sacks potatoes for the trip.
12 o'clock reach Lindsey. [Candidate] Co. se[a]t Ottawa, sit-
[uated], on high bot. pretty sight. Meet W. W. Lambert, Dr.
Stewart, Mr. Mckee, Simpson, R. Night, Mr. Waddell & others.
Also Lt. Tucker of Co. C, 2d Bat. State troops, who is to ac-
company us.
2 o'clock, reach Minneapolis, four miles further. Met Mr. Smith
who thinks he will overtake us on Tuesday and go with us. Bluff
near the river. A flour and saw mill run by water of Solomon.
Crossed Lindsey Creek at Lindsey and Pipe Creek at Minneapolis
Both well timbered. Pipe creek runs nearly parallel with the river
for a long distance. Uplands undulating, sandy but fertile and
very beautiful.
3 o'clock, met Mr. Johnson, messenger from Governor's office who
had been out to get our escort ready and Mr. Wright of Junction
City. Mr. J. had promised to accompany us, but gave it up.
At sundown went into camp on the river, south west of road,
on Kelly claim & in abandoned cabin. Weather not so warm as
yesterday. Evening bright moonlight.
Oct 18. This morning cloudy and threatening rain. Cool. Yes-
terday met several soldiers who are to go in our escort. This morn-
ing several more have reported. They all want to be with us.
Breakfast late. Got off at 8% o'clock. Three miles from camp
Yockey Creek and Delphos P. 0. Mailed letters here. P. M.
doubtful about Senator Ross' franks sufficient to pass letters through
the mail. Examine here a mound, which was a curiosity, on ac-
[coun]t of remains of crockery ware found in it. Ware burned, but
few specimens could be had at all perfect. Saw here the first beaver
and rackoon. Beaver dams frequent along the river and creeks.
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 63
At noon reached camp of Capt. Dalrymple on Fisher Creek. 4 As we
are one day ahead of time, concluded to go into camp, one of our
mules being very lame, & the day being very raw and windy. At
our camp are two very salt springs coming out on opposite sides of
river. After dinner Prof. M. visited water fall four mile from camp
said to be underlaid with blue lime. Found it light sand rock.
Water power very fine and easy to improve.
Day very disagreeable. Find officers and men ready for ex-
pedition. Are unable however to find any one who has been over
30 miles beyond the forks of Solomon. Opinions differ 'as to which
branch of Sol. best and most direct for Denver. Unable too to get
any definite idea of courses or distances. Met at camp Capt. Snyder
& Capt. Potts, both of whom have resided in neighborhood of our
camp for past three years both are of the Union volunteers. Capt.
Dalrymple promises us an escort of 12 men to the forks of Solomon.
Oct. 19. Last night cold. This morning just before day, set into
snowing hard. Wind still blowing. Early start proposed deferred.
At 8 o'clock got under way. Lame mule better. Eight miles from
Dalrymple reached Asher creek, residence of Capt. Reese. Promise
them extension of mail route and P. 0. T[w]o miles from Asher
Cr. visit camp of G troop Seventh Cav. U. S. A., Lt. Law com-
manding. Senator arranges for a horse and escort to go with him
to Republican & across to the Saline
Four miles further reach Plumb Cr. and camp of Capt. W. A.
Wincell [Winsell] of State troops. 5 Our escort to this point ten
men under Corporal Lyon who continue with us to Forks of Solomon.
Found Capt Wincell expecting us. He has orders to go with us
as far as W. line of state with forty men & two wagons. He is afraid
he will be unable to carry enough forage. We determine to engage
another wagon. We also determine to reduce our load. Beyond
the forks our Co. will be reduced to Prof. M. & self. The road
today bad, the snow balling on hoofs. Reached this point at 1%.
Found Capt. Wincell on hand and ready for the expedition with
thirty men. Encamped for the night.
Oct. 20. Last night very cold. This morning cool but pleasant.
Bo't 16 bushels corn at 75 cts. Employed Richards, a hunter going
to the forks to haul half of it that far. Got off at 8 o'clock. Our
cavalcade of 40 men and eight wagons (including three hunters)
make quite a formidable appearance. Reached Mulberry, 4 miles in
one hour. Banks steep. Had to attach lariat and put on 20 men to
4. Ner the present town of Glasco in Cloud county.
5. Camp was approximately three miles southeast of present Beloit in Mitchell county.
64 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
haul up wagons. 2 miles further on reached Brown's Cr. & had to
repeat operation. Both Crs. finely wooded & watered. Nooned
on Brown after crossing. Water excellent. 8 miles further Lime-
stone Cr. After crossing pass over up-land for two miles and
strike into the Wacanda bottom which we keep to Forks. On high
land tested depth of soil. Dug 20 inches on highest point without
reaching subsoil or getting below roots of grass. Bottoms from
Plumb Cr. to Forks widest yet seen. Average width about six miles.
Soil black loam. Generally covered with prairie grass. West bank
of bluff, shell or fossiliferous lime fossils very plentiful and very
distinct.
Neglected to say Capt. Wincell failed to accompany us on account
of sudden sickness of his wife. Supplied her with medicines and
jellies. Detachment of troops in charge of Lt. Beecock [Joseph
Becock].
Reached Waconda or Solomon Forks at 4 P. M. Found here
Capt. Stanfield from Republican and Lt. Whitney from Saline each
with detachment of 30 men to accompany us. Called council of
war. Find men provided with rations for 15 days, but short in
forage and ammunition. Whole force 89 men, rank and file and
about 15 other persons, including our party teamsters and scouts.
Concluded to reduce the force fifteen and divide their ammunition
and provisions among others. Officers think we will be apt to find
Indians, & do not think it safe to go into the country with less men.
Fix time for starting at 1 P. M. tomorrow.
Oct. 21. At eight started with our regular party to visit the land
in the forks of the Sol. Found the conformation very much as it is
at Junction City except that the second bench is higher, & the hills
back not so high. Saw lands next to both rivers. Soil good. All
concluded it a nice place for a town. Off to the N. comes in Oak
Cr. and to the S. W. another fine and wooded Cr. the name of which
we have not heard.
Taken in connection with the creeks crossed yesterday, & the
tributaries above in connection with the heads of tributaries of the
Saline and Repub. this is as fine a centre as any in the state and
were there a military post here, as there should be, it would go
far to defending the whole of this part of the State, & in a short time
would grow up around it a settlement that would defend itself.
Crossed the S. B. of S. and struck out for the Waconda or great
spirit spring of the Indians, which is about four miles below the
forks. Three miles below camp crossed the main Sol. and have thus
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 65
crossed all the branches. Find about the same amt. of water in all,
that is a stream about 50 ft. wide and from two to three feet deep,
at this its dryest. Water clear and pure, & excellent for drinking.
About a mile from our last crossing found the spring. The river
approaching in S. E. direction makes a sudden bend to the east &
after a sweep of about three and a half miles returns to its course.
The sp. is situate in the bend. The land on which we approach is
high prairie. The top of the spring is on a level with the surface
of the prairie. East of the spring the ground falls off thirty to
forty feet. The basin of the spring is a natural mound, composed of
lime and sandy shale in place, or in thin and irregular stratification
the form being an irregular elipse about three hundred feet from east
to west by four hundred and fifty from N. to S. The thickness of
the rock being from twenty five to thirty feet. The sp. rises in
the center of this stone basin, is circular in form and thirty feet
in diameter. Its depth is uncertain, as it seems to be filled up with
dirt and rubbish. At the time of our visit, the bowl was even full
and running over on the east side. Depth as far as we could judge
10 ft. The water is strong salt with slight taste of lime. Basin
surrounded by a ditch 50 to 75 feet wide, 20 to 25 ft. deep to bottom
of mound.
Returned to camp at 11. As men were strangers to each other and
to officers, and needed organizing and drilling together, concluded
to defer starting till morning. After dinner Senator Ross put men
thro' cavalry drill for an hour & then made short speech explaining
objects of exploration, the necessity of subordination, the dangers &
privations to be expected and the advantages of R. R. Writer also
made short speech. Orders by Capt. Stanfield for all to be ready
to move out by 7 o'clock in morning as forces would move breakfast
or no breakfast.
At sundown a strong cold wind sprang up from the north, but at
this time 9 P. M. it has moderated.
This morning Mobley and Lt. Tucker examined two creeks of S. F.
One 6 coming in from S. two miles from W. with a fine stone quarry
half mile. Half mile below Cr. good water power. Water in creek
stopped by Beaver dams. Cr. well timbered with hard timber, and
growing better up. Width of bottom % to y 2 mile, water good.
The other Cr. 3 miles from W. below. Examined Cr. for six to
seven mile. Running water. Bottom y 2 mile wide hard & soft
wood. Bet. Cr. good rolling pr[airie] with lime stone and pools of
6. Probably Carr or Carl creek.
56164
66 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
water. This after [noon] Prof. M. and Mobley examined Oak Cr.
for seven to 9 miles. Find it nearly as large as a Br. of Solomon,
with bottom 1% miles. Well wooded with hard wood. Gooseberry,
plumbs and grapes. Three branches, all wooded, with good bottoms.
Upland rich loam. Ascent gradual. Rock 8 m up. lime. Water of
Cr. running, but not strong. Also ponds supplied with stock water.
Oct. 22. 5 A. M. All hands up this morning at 4 prepare to
forward movement, but 0. Phoebus, a strong norther blowing filled
with snow, that fairly stings the face.
5% o'clock. Have sent word to Capt. to suspend execution of
order to move at 7. Breakfast under difficulties at 6. Invited Capt.
to make tent headquarters, and advised him to organize his bat-
talion by detailing men for adjutant, wagon master, and scouts.
Agreed to. Lt. Tucker Co. C, appt. adj. Private Deland wagon
master, and privates Newton & Garrison Company A, L. Taggert
and Street Co. D, and Hanniwalt and Swallow designated as Scouts.
Genl. order No. 1 designating headquarters, appointing adj. &c.
defining order of march, guard mount &c issued, also sp. order No.
1, & Sp. Field Order No. 1 appt scouts. Hour of guard mount fixed
at 5 P. M.
At a y to 9, the storm having moderated, Senator Ross and Com.
Mobley mount for a return to the settlements under Sergeant Lyon
and a detail of five men from Capt. Dalrympie's troops. We part
with them with regret. As soon as they were gone, the order was
given to take up line of march in % of an hour or at 9^2 o'clock.
The snow had ceased falling and the men obeyed the order with
alacrity. Crossed N. B. of S. at the proposed town site, at a good
crossing and moved up the stream. We followed the valley for two
miles, & then took the uplands by a gentle ascent of perhaps twenty
feet. The prairie is gently rolling, and smooth for wagon. At three
and a half miles crossed a ravine which had cut thro' the stratum
of shell rock which we have noticed since passing the sand stone belt.
The technical designation given this rock is inoceramus, that animal
being the principal one found in the formation.
Soon after reaching the prairie the snow storm re-commenced,
with almost blinding fury. Suggested to Capt. that on account of
the men, who are badly provided with clothing, that we get into
camp as soon as possible. At twelve o'clock got into camp, in
timber of Solomon, wood, water and grass convenient.
Oct. 23. C[am]p Stanfield. Last night very cold ice in bucket
one inch. Good deal of noise and disorder in camp last night. Too
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 67
much shooting yesterday, as none of the men started with over 30
rounds. Capt. with us last night. In bed at 7% and not up till
called for breakfast. At my request he issued this morning Gen.
Ord. No. 2, admonishing men that we are upon dangerous ground
and exhorting to vigilance. Prohibiting shooting on march or in
camp except by order or in case of attack requiring horses to be
brought into camp lines at 8, and perfect quiet by 9 at taps. Our
camp last night as near as I can make out by Colton's map, was in
S. 30, T. 6, R. 11 W. 7 Before leaving home I ordered from the land
office a plat of the surveys along the N. B. of S. but on opening it on
reaching the river found the plat for S. B.
Got off this morning at 7 A. M. Followed up the bottom in a
westerly course, with an inclination to the North. After traveling
some ten miles found our wagons some four miles in the rear and
column moving without rear guard. Protested to the Capt. against
such an arrangement. Waited for train to come up, & put guard in
rear. Order of march stragling, column stretched out from two to
five miles. Delayed at a small Cr. in getting our wagons over.
Advance marched on getting two miles ahead, when turned into a
bend of the river to camp leaving the ambulance to pass on. Had
to turn back. Two men sick; took them in ambulance. For first
ten miles made by 11 very cold. At 12 moderated, snow melting
and balling.
Our trail since starting, up a rich smooth high bottom ; from two
and a half to three miles wide. Six miles from Waconda there is
a succession of small hills, fifty to sixty feet above the prairie, and
very much broken or cut up, present themselves to the left. The
severe weather prevented us leaving the column to examine the
plains back of these hills ; but as the buffalo keep in them, only cross-
ing the bottom to get to the river, we conclude there is a soil there
that will produce what will sustain animal life. For the past four
days we have found the bottoms marked and considerably cut up by
buffalo paths from the highland to the prairies. Sometimes these
paths are within ten to twelve feet of each other. They resemble
wagon ruts, except that they are wider, usually being from ten inches
to a foot and two to three inches below the surface. They give
quite a jolt on crossing. To-day we have seen several thousand
buffalo, grazing near or upon the highlands on both sides of the
river. As our men are forbidden to shoot, they are not disturbed.
They are generally males, the patriarchs of the herds which we know
7. About two miles west of the present town of Downs in Osborne county.
68 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
are grazing in the uplands. They are kinds of outposts who give
the herd notice of the approach of danger. Imposing as think our
cavalcade, it does not appear to disturb these wild cattle. Oc-
casionally a squad of them will, after staring at us for a short time,
gallop leisurely off to a short distance, then stop, take another look
and resume their feeding.
At two o'clock, went into camp, as near as I can make out on
Sec 3, T 5, R. 14 W. 8 Distance to-day about 18 miles. Below us
some four miles, come in Crs of considerable size. We are only
about four miles below the mouth of Middle fork of S. The pre-
vailing surface rock is still lime, but of a different character, and
several kinds. Among them are found nodules, resembling maple
sugar, caked in the dirt, specimens of the magnetian found at Junc-
tion City, but more buff, and their strattas of a darker hue, from
which hydraulic cement lime is made. On this side occurs but three
small Crs. to Waconda. More have presented themselves from the
other side, to avoid crossing which, we chose this side the river.
Bow Cr. C[am]p Oct. 24. Last night cool but pleasant. Capt.
retired at 7% and slept soundly till called for breakfast. Had done
same night before. He is proving himself an able sleeper. He al-
lows the camp to take care of itself. Guard out all night and awake.
Went round to see. Gave the Capt. rather severe reprimand for
leaving ambulance and train three to four miles. Required him to
halt the column, at different crossings, & to use the men in getting
wagons over.
Rolled out at 8 A. M. This being Sunday tho't it best to give
the men an extra hour. Crossed the Solomon about one mile from
Camp, at a very good crossing. Struck out on a magnificent bottom,
at least six miles. A creek came into the river a mile below where
we crossed and another just above. A mile or two after crossing,
including the river we had four wooded streams in view. We passed
for some distance between two of these Cr. crossing the upper, after
which we passed for near ten miles over as fine a bottom as we have
seen since starting. Its average width was full six miles, with a
gradual swell to the up [lands]. Both the prairie and the uplands
are rich black soil, at one place where we used the spade, on bot-
tom found the soil rich vegetable mould to the depth of 20 inches,
with a subsoil of light clay, very dry and hard. Our course to-day
as for the past three days has been over the prairie grass, with oc-
casional bunch grass, in the lower bottoms. The sod seems to be
**- Approximately three miles from the present town of Gaylord.
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 69
very firm and hard, the hoofs of 60 men in front of us making no
impression perceptible to ordinary eyes, and our ambulance mak-
ing frequently no track. Our distance to-day has been only about
15 miles. During the day we have seen more timber than any day
since starting. Some five miles from camp our route brought us to
the bank of the Solomon, where we noticed a low valley, on the other
side, half a mile wide and reaching to our present camp, very well
wooded, with cottonwood, pin oak, elm and ash. On one of the
creeks we found very nice sweet grapes. Before going into our
present camp we passed from the higher into the lower bottom, in
crossing which we noticed patches of sand plums. From the north
side we had sight of a stream which we took to be Middle Fork 9 of
Solomon. If it was so we have no desire to explore it. Our reason
for supposing it S. F. was that it made a larger opening in the high-
lands than any other that we noticed, & the opening appeared to be
filled with trees, the tops of which were far below the bluffs on both
banks. From the North side for a greater portion of the distance,
today, the highlands appear to come almost up to the south bank of
the river, and were more rugged than any we have before noticed.
We noticed also that these bluffs were frequently broken by ravines
some of which were timbered for short distances, and on some of
them we thought we saw cedar we were the more disposed to think
so from the fact that on one or two of the short creeks or ravines of
this side, some of which had attained a growth of twenty to twenty-
five feet.
We have passed out of the salt basin. The water of the Solmon
and its tributary is clear, pure and hard, and known as limestone.
On the creeks we were obliged to dig, and to use the lariats in
letting down [and] pulling up the wagons. The creeks have cut
down their beds to 25 to 30 feet through the loamy soil, their
bottoms were narrow and their sides steep. But for the cuts down
their sides made by the buffalo & the wearing of rains, it would
have been impossible to have crossed them, even with the aid of the
strong and willing hands of the troops.
Our camp to-night is just above Bow Creek, in T. 5, R. 17 W. 10
This is the only creek, the name of which we could learn. It is not
large, but has a fair valley.
The day has been pleasant. Our camp is on the S. West side of
the river. The grass is scarce, the buffalo having kept it grazed
down short. This is hard on the animals of the troops, as the ex-
9. Modern maps do not mention Middle fork.
10. In the vicinity of Kirwin, Phillips county.
70 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
pedition is woefully short of corn. Our train now consists of 77
men and seven wagons, two of which are 4-horse. One team horse
was taken sick last night, & this morning got into the river and was
unable to get out, and so was shot to put him out of his misery. One
team and three men left this morning to return to Fort Sibley. 11
Our scouts this evening report fresh Indian signs north of the
river. The hunters remark it as a strange coincidence that all the
buffalo seen are heading north. We have seen but few to-day not
over 100. Several have been shot, some distance from the trail, but
none of the meat has been brought to camp. Several turkeys, as
usual have been killed. To-day one of our men killed a bird of a
strange specie to us all, of bright black and green plumage, tufted
head & long tail feathers. Its voice was represented as like that of
the magpie. Another of the men picked up a large pelican on the
prairie, supposed to have been shot by Indians within the last 24
hours. It is a beautiful specimen, and large, measuring full eight
feet from tip to tip of wings. Its bill to back of head measuring
about 15 inches, and its pouch of the capacity of two to three quarts.
One wing and bill appropriated by the Professor, the other wing by
myself and the breast feather by Hall, our cook.
Since the foregoing was written, the buffalo have fairly swarmed
about our camp. More than a dozen have been killed & the camp
is well supplied with meat. Our mess have a pair of hams of a
yearling heifer.
Since camping have visited the uplands, and have found the mag-
netian limestone fifteen [feet] thick, one layer being over four feet.
This stone is white with a slight tinge of buff. It is ahead of the
Junction stone. Also a stratum of white impure limestone, or a
species of hard chalk. This stratum is irregular, but of about 20
ft. thickness.
From the uplands the view is splendid; several finely timbered
Cr. coming toward the river as far as the eye can reach ; the ground
is nearly level, and a fair soil as fair as any lands east of the
Republican.
To-day we have seen more timber than any day since starting;
and in sight from the uplands and within a radius of ten miles
there is more good timber than can be seen from any other point on
the river.
A few miles below our present camp we passed through a last
year Indian camp, covering more than a half section oi land. It is
11. Located on Lake Sibley in Cloud county. Fort Sibley was a military camp estab-
lished about 1867 for defense against Indians.
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 71
equal to the accommodation of at least 2,000 Indians. We picked
up several relicks, but none of much interest.
Three of our men out on a scout towards the Middle Branch,
(about eight miles south) ran upon a herd of ten horses, running
loose upon the prairie.
Camp Retreat 12 Oct. 26. Left camp this morning at 8, recrossed
river on to the high bottom, when limestone cliffs in hills came into
view. Pr[airie] Broad 4 to 6 mi. wide and course straight & no
obstruction for 10 miles. Uplands, both sides, very level & land
rich. Buffalo numerous men in chase and 7 gray wolves try it &
fail from shouting of men. Strike an old trail soon after leaving
camp & follow all day. Trail overgrown. Pull up Creek bottom
changes to south side. We pass over a point of high land one mile
& again strike bot. Go into camp in woods on river seventeen miles.
Our camp 5 miles west of Hays. Horses starving grass poor men
out of rations Determine to turn back in morning. It is literally
out of the question to go on. The grass is all eaten off by the
buffalo, & some of the horses have had no corn for three days. We
find that we made a fatal mistake to our enterprise in relying on
the state troops for escort. However well they may do to watch
neighborhoods, they are unfit for a march or a prolonged military
effort. The men regard their employment a farce, & they show
little respect for officers or others. Besides the officers are very like
the men, untrained for their duties and accepting them simply as a
bridge over some financial or other difficulty. The duties that the
militia are expected to perform is one that ought to be performed
by the army of the U. S. and it is to be hoped that our public men
will see to it that the duty is strictly performed.
Camp Whitney 13 Oct. 27. Got out of camp on retreat at 8y.
Reached Saurian Cr. seven miles, in two hours. Whilst train getting
over Cr. we visit Saurian Point half a mile north of the road. The
Prof, was after shells & was very successful. One new shell found
by him, belonging to the oyster family, shows that it has been fully
12x15 inches. It was found in chalk formation. The outside of this
large shell is covered by smaller shells, apparently barnacles.
Another of the same shell seen by him imbedded in a stone which
he was unable to remove or get away, he estimated to be 2%x2 1 /
feet. But the discovery of the greatest interest to the professor was
that of the vertebra of some animal the species of which he could
12. About four miles east of present town of Logan, Phillips county.
13. About three miles southwest of Kirwin.
72 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
not determine, but believed it to belong to the Saurian family the
nearest living representative is the alligator. This was found in the
lower part of the chalky formation, at least fifty feet below the top
of the cliff of chalk rock. In this formation, he also secured a very
large number of fossils which must prove of great interest to science.
But I shall leave him to tell his own story in relation to the rocks,
shells, &c of this interesting country. The time consumed in ex-
amining these relics of a past world consumed a couple of hours,
during which time our train was moving on. But as we had with
us a small guard, we felt no uneasiness, though we tho't it prudent
to keep a lookout for Indians.
The professor desires that the creek be called Salurian Creek, and
the point from which he collected his shells &c. be called Salurian
Point.
A rapid ride of an hour took us across 10 mile Prairie. At the
lower end of this Prairie the bluffs close down upon the river, re-
quiring that the road should cross the stream. At the lower end of
the prairie, we found Capt. Stanfield and his company halted taking
a noon meal. They had concluded to leave us here, & to strike over
to the Republican, and follow it to their post at White Rock. We
bid them good bye & proceeded on, crossing the river three times
passing our Bow Cr. Camp & the mouth of Bow Creek, and camping
on the river 20 miles from our starting point this morning. In the
timber of Solomon and Bow Cr. we find the wild turkey almost as
numerous as the buffalo on the Prairie. Before we had been in camp
an hour as many as 20 turkeys had been brought in six by Lieut,
Marshall of Co. A, who also br't in one black tailed deer, and
wounded another.
The command of our escort devolves upon 1st Lieut. C. B. Whit-
ney of Co. A, who takes the place of Capt, Stanfield in our mess.
Camp Lawrence, South Branch Solomon, Thursday Oct 28, 1869.
Camp quiet last night. Concluded, as the weather was pleasant,
to drive over to South Fork of S. and go back to Forks by that
Brfanch]. So, here we are. Prof. & self made the trip on horse
back moving down N. B. on S. side three miles and then crossing
the line of march of column, & striking the S. B. some five miles
above our present camp. 14 Our object was to see the character of
the soil and topography of the land between the two streams. It
is quite as level as we expected and the soil rich. Stone plenty and
convenient. No wood or running water after getting one mile from
14. Near the present town of Alton.
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 73
the river, on the route we travelled. The distance between the two
streams at this point is about 18 miles. 15 But as our course was
southeast and along the divides the distance travelled by the column
was full twenty -two miles. The distance ridden by Prof. M. & self
over 30 miles. The hills were nearly covered with buffalo. We have
seen more of them today than altogether. Saw also deer, elk and
antelope. Also gray wolves thousands of prairie dogs, coyotes, and
sage hens. We find the grass much more abundant, which explains
the comparative scarcity on the bottoms. In a canon of the N. B.
we found the cliff of magnetian limestone full 35 ft. This was as
far as we could see for the debris at the foot. The Prof, calls it the
Ft. Hays stone. It is the best building stone in the state.
We struck the river at 12 M. Found it very much larger stream
than the N. B. & running three times as much water. The bottom
however is not so wide, not being over two to 2% miles wide. Tim-
ber not so plenty so far. The distance from our present camp about
forty miles, as we estimate it, but as we are not certain where we are
it may be further.
To-day the men have enjoyed their propensity for slaughter, and
have left no less than 10,000 Ibs of beef on the prairie. Lieut.
Marshall brought in a piece of a 3 year old cow, the fattest we have
seen. In any market it would pass for stall fed beef. Our camp
is on the S. B. bank. The buffalo are swarming about it.
Camp Marshall, 16 Oct. 28. As we made it our camp of last night
was 36 miles from the Forks. Our present camp is in T. 7, R. 13, or
15 miles from the Forks.
In a ride of 15 miles on the South side of the S. F. have had a
good opportunity to see the creeks, wood and water & the bottom
and upland soil of this branch of Solomon. Magnificent country
the very finest in the state taking the two branches together. Bot-
tom 6 to 7 miles wide & rising to rolling uplands so gradual as to
make it difficult to say where the bottom ends and uplands begin.
Soil deep rich loam. Dug to depth of 30 inches without getting
through. A majority of our party think this is the best valley of
the two. Prof. M. & self do not agree in this. The width of bottom
of N. F. greater, more timber and good rock convenient. On this
B. timber of better growth, more water in river.
In crossing from N. to S. B. failed to find Middle Branch as laid
down in Colton's map. We think it comes in 50 miles from Forks.
Peculiarity of this stream, its straightness. From R. 6 W. to R.
15. Nearer twelve miles.
16. Near present Osborne.
74 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
23, in T. 7 or 100 miles not varying at any time more than 6 miles
from due east course. No other stream in the state so straight.
This has been another fine day, and & another of slaughter among
Buffalo and turkeys. A Mr. Phillips of Lt. Becock's Co., shot four
on line of march, & a halt of an hour to secure the meat.
Since coming into camp Mr. P. has shot two others the horns of
one which he presented Prof. & self to be carried home. He took out
30 Ibs. of tallow which he was unable to bring in, & has left it for
morning, leaving one of his socks with it to keep off wolves, said to
be a sure remedy.
Camp Becock, Oct. 29, 1869. Camp astir early this morning.
Mr. Phillips went out for his tallow and found it all safe. He also
brought in hams of another buffalo.
Rolled out at 7% o'clock. As we were within an easy half day's
march [of the] Forks, the block house & safety, the men were loose
in their movements, & some who have not ventured to leave the
column for a week, are off for a hunt, & it is difficult to keep up
any regular order in the movement of the column.
Soon after leaving camp, left the line of march, with Bob to have
a little hunt on the highlands between the rivers. On getting out of
bottom found our camp of last night was not over four miles from
N. B. The lands between very beautiful undulating prairie, & as
rich as the bottom. Found plenty of buffalo, & a rough ride and
several shots, only damaged a couple however both of which [ran]
off.
Followed the divide down to the Forks. Train had gotten ahead
of us, it having travelled only about 14 miles, whilst we have ridden
at least 20, most of it a perfect steeple chase.
On overhauling train found that Co. of Lt. Whitney had turned
off for the Saline, which they expect to reach to-morrow. Command
of escort now devolves on Lieut. Beecock. At 12 M. left the Forks
on down and return trip. Some of men turned off to visit spirit
springs, & after doing continued down river sending a herd of
several hundred buffalo directly across our line of march. An excit-
ing chase and shooting, but no meat. At 1% went into camp on
Limestone, a very fine creek and well wooded. Grass in last camp
& this plentiful.
Limestone Cr. Cp., 17 Oct. 31. Up at 5. As the State troops are
stationed on Republican, Solomon & Saline and Smoky, find our
escort dwindled down to a few men, and as we had reached what we
17. About one mile east of the present town of Glen Elder.
CALDWELL: EXPLORING SOLOMON VALLEY 75
regarded as safe country, dismissed the remainder, determined to
make our way to R. R. alone, leaving one commissary wagon to fol-
low at their leisure. Reached Fisher's Creek and encamped on farm
of Capt. Snyder who has been settled here over a year. Here found
corn for our animals, which had been without it for several days,
and were much reduced in consequence. In the evening camp visited
by Capts. Snyder and Potts, both of whom complained that the
Sol. Val. had been neglected, and emigrants turned to other valleys
not so valuable, greatly to their damage. Were confident that unless
settlers could be induced to come in and take up the lands, the few
now in the valley would be driven out by Indians. Tried to en-
courage them by assurances, that since our expedition had gone out
we had written letters to papers east that would make known the
merits of the valley, and whether a R. R. was built or not the
notoriety that we would give to the valley would insure its rapid
settlement. They are both favorable to a R. R. and think that with
one, the Sol. in a few years would contain a population of 100,000.
The great draw-backs to the valley are the incursions of the bloody
and merciless Cheyennes, Arapahoes, the Brule and Ogallo Sioux.
The first of these are located South of the Arkansas & the latter
north of the Platte, on reservations. But the Government is unable
to confine them to their Reservations, to protect settlers from their
marauding expeditions, or indemnify the whites against their losses
as promised by the intercourse act of 1832. During the past 10
years there have been witnessed in this valley and the val. of the
Rep. Saline & Smoky, many tragic and bloody scenes, the loss of
many lives, and the destruction of much property. But all appeals
of pioneers to the General Government for protection or redress
from the Ind. revenues have thus far been unheeded.
Nov. 1. Left Camp this A. M. and passing through Minneapolis
and Lindsey reached our camping ground on Sand Creek before
Sundown. This is Sunday and is a calm and beautiful autumn day.
The people of Lindsey and Minneapolis seem to be entirely absorbed
in the question of the county seat (Ottawa Co.) and local politics.
They are indifferent about R. R. contenting themselves with a very
earnest conviction that the Solomon is a natural route for a R. R.
and that some day the cars will come along without any effort of
theirs to bring them.
Our old friend Knight again tendered us the hospitality of his roof
and farm, & we were glad to avail ourself of his fresh vegetables
and eggs.
76 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Since leaving camp this morning we have passed a number of
settlements or colonies of Squatters, outside the villages named,
nearly all of which are surrounded by stockades, or logs set on end
in the ground, as protection against attacks of Indians. The Knights,
although they have resided here for more than ten years, do not
deem it safe to dispense with these means of defense, and the ex-
perience of the past twelve months justifies their caution.
For the past ten years, or since 1859, the settlements up the Sol.
have not advanced, practically, five miles. The dread of the Indian
has blocked the progress of civilization.
One snort of the iron horse in this valley would do more to people
the wilderness we have traversed, than an army with banners.
Going out, as the land from mouth of Solomon to Fisher Creek
was pretty well known we did not examine the valley as we have
to-day. That portion of it lying within the limits named, is equal
to any other portion of it. In some places, the valley is full fifteen
miles wide, of rich alluvial soil, intermixed with sand, and some
day will not be excelled in the production of crops adapted to the
State.
Sand Creek, 18 Nov. 2. To-morrow is the day fixed for the State
election, and the civilians of our camp are anxious to reach home to
vote. So we take an early start for the K. P. road at Sol. City.
The road follows the valley, and is quite Sandy, but the fields
appear to have produced good crops. From Minneapolis to Solo.
City the valley is tolerably well settled, but most of the uplands
are unoccupied.
We reached Sol. City at noon & loading our tent traps, boxes of
specimens, curiosities &c on the cars, start our ambulance and
wagon for home empty, take the cars ourselves and by evening are
with our families, the professor at Manhattan, the writer at Junction
City.
18. Near the present town of Bennington, Ottawa county.
The Annual Meeting
THE sixty-first annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical
Society and board of directors was held in the rooms of the
Society on October 20, 1936.
E. E. Kelley, president of the Society, was unable to attend the
meeting because of illness, and E. A. Austin, vice-president, was
called out of the state because of the death of a brother. In their
absence Thomas A. McNeal presided at the morning meeting of di-
rectors and T. M. Lillard presided at the afternoon meetings.
Mr. McNeal called the meeting to order at 10 a. m. The first
business was the reading of the annual report of the secretary.
SECRETARY'S REPORT, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 20, 1936
The past year has in many respects been the busiest in the history of the
Society. The political campaign with Gov. Alfred M. Landon as Republican
candidate for President has turned the attention of the nation to Kansas.
Research men and writers of both parties have made constant use of our rec-
ords, particularly the newspaper files. Every source of information relating to
the governor's past life has been gone over with a fine-tooth comb, beginning
with the Independence newspapers, continuing through University of Kansas
publications and including the voluminous reports of his later political career.
Among the by-products of this investigation have been a number of books,
scores of magazine articles and countless newspaper stories. It has been im-
possible of course for the Society to attempt to secure copies of newspaper
articles, but books and magazine stories are being filed. Subscriptions to all
weekly magazines and special orders for issues of other magazines enable the
Society to keep abreast of this flood of publicity.
The state has been put under the microscope along with its governor. Not
since the days of "bleeding Kansas" have we been subjected to so close an
inspection; not even Populism and Peffer nor Prohibition and St. John
focused such a minute examination. The Historical Society has been the lab-
oratory for much of this research, and a great deal of what has been written,
spoken and broadcast about the state in recent months originated in our
records.
In addition to these duties, the staff has had to supervise the work of
twenty-five W. P. A. and N. Y. A. helpers, as well as to assist researchers
from the Federal Writers' project, the State Historical Records Survey and
other similar projects. The study of local history was featured by many
schools in small towns and rural communities, who wrote for detailed his-
torical data about their towns and communities. The members of the staff
have been kept busy on these tasks and much that should have been done
in cataloguing and organizing books and other collections was postponed.
(77)
78 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The death of Dr. F. H. Hodder last December, only two months after he
was elected president, deprived the Society of the leadership of one of the
state's few truly great historical scholars. Dr. James C. Malin's fine appre-
ciation of Dr. Hodder's career, which appeared in the Quarterly, speaks for
all who knew him, but the secretary wishes to express here his personal in-
debtedness to Dr. Hodder for the many occasions when his counsel and sympa-
thetic understanding were invaluable.
Dr. Hodder appointed Robert C. Rankin and Chester Woodward on the
executive committee and reappointed Thomas Amory Lee, the members hold-
ing over being Judge John S. Dawson and T. M. Lillard. The committee met
regularly except during the summer months, advice of the members was sought
in all matters of consequence, and in accordance with the constitution and
by-laws they approved all expenditures.
APPROPRIATIONS
Appropriation requests which will go before the next legislature were filed
with the budget director the first of October. Upon the advice of the ex-
ecutive committee it was asked that all salaries be restored to the amounts
received before the salary cuts of 1933. Two new clerks are requested, as well
as a number of catalogue cases and a new newspaper filing rack.
FEDERAL PROJECTS
Application for a new project to supplant last year's K. E.R. C. work pro-
gram was submitted to the Works Progress Administration, August 24, 1935.
It was not finally approved for several months, the first workers arriving on
January 21, 1936. Within a thirty-day period the full quota of fourteen had
reported. These were assigned and classified as research workers, typists, as-
sistant museum curator, book and map mender, and library helpers. As under
the K. E. R. C. project requests for trained librarians and a taxidermist could
not be filled. Pursuant to the instruction of a W. P. A. official the Society ap-
plied for a project to run ten months. The federal government was to spend
$8,900 in salaries and it was estimated that the Society would contribute $210
for working materials. From January 21 to October 5, the government's con-
tribution totalled $5,850.90. The Society's expenditure for the same period was
approximately $200. Employees under this project work sixteen days per
calendar month.
Late in 1935 the Society was asked by officials of the National Youth Ad-
ministration to place as many of its clients as possible in a work project. Since
the status of our W. P. A. application was unknown at that time it was tenta-
tively agreed that eighteen of these young persons could be employed. With
the actual commencement of the W. P. A. project, our N. Y. A. application was
scaled to nine, and work was begun January 29, 1936, with each worker re-
ceiving six days' work monthly. The federal government has contributed to
date approximately $1,300 in salaries for the operation of this project.
Washburn college, through the courtesy of Pres. Philip C. King, permitted
the Society to use two Washburn students from their project part time during
the past winter.
Workers under these projects have been employed in all departments.
Typists have copied indexes of the seventeen volumes of The Kansas Historical
THE ANNUAL MEETING 79
Collections. This was begun under a former work project and is a preliminary
step necessary to the preparation of a general index to the series. Other
workers have wrapped and tied about five thousand duplicate volumes of the
Collections and Quarterly, preserving them from damage. Another worker has
checked all the Society's office equipment, mending and gluing pieces where
necessary. Other work accomplished through government aid is described in
this report in more detail under the department headings.
Except for the unexpected tabling of our request either here or in Washing-
ton for the five months between the dates of the W. P. A. project application
and actual commencement of the work, we have had good cooperation on the
part of both the state and first district administrative officials. When a state-
wide personnel cut was made in May, with the Society's project scheduled to
lose four of its fourteen workers, officials of the Federal Writers' project and
the Historical Records Survey, organizations which have leaned heavily on our
collections for information, agreed to pay the salaries from their own funds in
order that the Society might continue to employ them.
A word of appreciation is due workers on the three projects operated by
the Society during the past year for their cooperative spirit, their alertness,
and the above-standard work which has resulted.
Probably no one is able to predict at this time what the future holds for
projects of this type. Experience has taught us that we can absorb without
waste motion about two of these temporary workers to one of our regular
staff members. Lack of table room, shortage of typewriters and supplies, and
pressure from routine duties prevent us from taking more. Much good work
has been done, and if available, we hope to continue to utilize as much of
this labor as we can efficiently absorb.
SUBJECTS FOR RESEARCH
Research on many phases of the state's history has been made during the
year, including the following subjects: early days in Chetopa; Rawlins county
history; Samuel C. Pomeroy; Emporia Gazette editorials; stage coaches in
the West; Kansas imprints; theatre programs; Chouteau family; reclamation
by irrigation; history of photography; coal mine disasters; history of irriga-
tion; Edmund G. Ross; gold rush of 1858-1861; early Kansas literature;
Connecticut Kansas colony; history of the Progressive Republican movement
in Kansas; Kansas Pacific railroad; geography of Topeka and vicinity; survey
of retail prices to farmers, 1909-1914; disposal of the public domain; history
of poetry in Kansas; local color in the works of Margaret Hill McCarter;
political geography of Kansas; William Allen White; consolidated schools;
and the office of the attorney general.
LIBRARY
A government project employing writers working on the "American Guide"
has required much assistance from all departments, and particularly from the
library, supplying a vast amount of information on state, county and town
history. There have been since last November an average of probably six
persons daily in the library working on this project and the minute subjects
on which information has been furnished are too numerous to mention.
Under the W. P. A. project the catalogue cards, both in the Library of Con-
gress depository catalogue and in the library catalogue have been redistributed,
80 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and all trays have been relabeled. The filing of the Library of Congress deposi-
tory cards has been kept up under this project, and the library catalogue is be-
ing revised. The books in the Hall Lincoln collection have been rearranged and
labeled. Six hundred and seventy-eight books, pamphlets and volumes of
clippings have been catalogued for portraits, and approximately 13,000 cards
have been typed to be added to the picture catalogue. An index to 178 vol-
umes of biographical clippings has been compiled and typed, and much typing,
largely of articles for the loan file, has been done. One of the most useful
projects has been the mounting of valuable material which would soon have
been completely lost through disintegration. Four hundred and eighty-four
maps have been mounted on muslin, including a complete set of Kansas maps
issued by the United States Geological Survey, and 141 broadsides, eleven
genealogical charts, ninety-seven miscellaneous circulars and 657 pictures.
Many portfolios, pamphlet boxes, folders, large mailing envelopes and binders
have been made by project workers.
Under the N. Y. A. project, whose workers come only six days each month,
work was assigned requiring a short time for completion, such as book label-
ing, pasting clippings, checking periodicals, filing cards and indexing.
PICTURE COLLECTION
The work of cataloguing the picture collection, explained in the secretary's
report at the annual meeting in 1933, was resumed the first of this year with
the employment of a full-time cataloguer out of membership fee funds.
This task has progressed until now the major portion of those pictures
directly concerning Kansas have been properly filed. The work of earlier
years had progressed to the point that a large proportion, numerically, of the
pictures were already catalogued, but very important numbers of pictures had
not been touched. Next to cataloguing portraits chief stress has been placed
upon the building of an accurate and complete file of Kansas scenes. Im-
portant additions to this file of recent date have been those covering the
Spanish- American and World Wars. A total of approximately 1,500 pictures
have been filed this year, including both Kansas scenes and portraits. There
remain several hundred important Kansas scenes, that many or more portraits,
and a number of special collections. There are, in addition, a considerable
number of out-of-state scenes and portraits.
In the matter of the preservation of pictures important work has also been
accomplished. Six hundred and seven pictures have been mounted upon sign
cloth by one of the project workers, which will add greatly to their life. The
problem of the preservation of pictures from fading also needs attention, par-
ticularly in the case of the World War pictures.
The Society owns 241 large framed pictures which have recently been
cleaned and sorted. Most of these will be taken out of the frames, as is done
by other societies, and filed in drawers. Unfortunately the Society does not
possess enough large filing cases to do this, without placing the pictures tem-
porarily in large paper folders. There are also approximately 118 other pic-
tures, including war scenes, Kansas scenes, legislative pictures (duplicates),
and miscellaneous pictures and framed certificates that need similar treatment.
Another part of the current project has been the indexing of important
group pictures in the museum. A number of project workers listed the leg-
THE ANNUAL MEETING 81
islators portrayed, and cards were made for each. This index now numbers
3,875 cards. In connection with the picture collection a catalogue is being pre-
pared by a W. P. A. worker of 627 cuts used by the Society in its publications
during the past fifty years. The cuts are being sorted, cleaned and refiled.
PRIVATE MANUSCRIPTS
Gifts to the manuscript division during the year include letters; documents;
an autograph collection from Dr. Edward Bumgardner of Lawrence; notes,
with accompanying lantern slides, on Lincoln, belonging to the late Frank
Heywood Hodder, given by Mrs. Hodder; and typewritten copies of docu-
ments and local records. Acknowledgment is also made to the following for
gifts: Mrs. D. R. Carr; J. M. Challiss; Chase County Historical Society;
Mrs. Mary T. Ford; Claude K. Davis; Lewis E. Frazeur; W. W. Graves;
Mrs. Mary Huron Hale; Stuart Henry; Alex D. Johnson; Kansas State Li-
rary; Frank Korab; Schuyler Lawrence; Walter Montgomery; Paul Parrish;
Mrs. A. B. Seelye; Shawnee County Old Settlers' Association; Donald W.
Stewart; Floyd B. Streeter; Oscar K. Swayze; Wichita City Library; William
Allen White; George W. Wilhelm and James I. Wyer. Manuscripts acces-
sioned total 4,402, including the 3,946 manuscripts of the Elam Bartholomew
collection which was received just before the report for last year. Nine manu-
script books were accessioned.
N. Y. A. workers, supervised by this division, are making an index of the
correspondence volumes of the Society. Much historical material is to be
found in these letters which heretofore has been inaccessible.
STATE ARCHIVES
The archives department now has a total of 933,364 single manuscripts,
27,223 bound volumes, and 583 maps. This does not include the more than
500,000 pieces of manuscripts from the old post-office building. The accessions
received since July 1, 1935, include 82 maps and 69 manuscripts descriptive of
them, given by the Woman's Kansas Day Club; and 8,500 manuscripts from
the State Board of Agriculture.
The department work has been heavy, mainly in cooperation with the
W. P. A. project. From the original census returns of 1855, approximately 2,800
cards have been filed, showing names of persons in Kansas at that date. From
corporation volumes about 55,000 cards have been filed, which show all char-
tered concerns up to 1886, ranging from Anti-Horse Thief and other associa-
tions to windmills, and from banks, churches, and manufacturies to town com-
panies.
Work is progressing on the listing of thousands of townsites and post offices
abandoned or changed.
The collection of original territorial road maps is being greatly improved
by expert mounting and mending. These old maps are of great interest and
service to civil engineers and the highway department. Another history of
Kansas might be written from the volumes of charters, the collection of old
maps, and the list of "ghost" towns.
The department has furnished information to many patrons. The Santa Fe
Railway Co. asked for the origin of all town names on one branch of that road.
A representative of the U. S. Department of Agriculture was given information
&--6164
82 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
on the organization and development of Haskell county, in connection with a
"Sociological Study of the Effects of Drought Upon Haskell County, Kansas."
HISTORIC SITES
Last year a large map, eight by four feet, was mounted on an easel for the
purpose of designating on it by means of numbered pins all the historic sites
in Kansas. This project, which entails many hours of research, was begun,
but because of the pressure of other work it had to be discontinued. This map
when completed will show the locations of several hundred sites, and an at-
tached loose-leaf book will indicate the present condition of each site, whether
marked or not, and will describe the events connected with it. The Society
has furnished information about historic sites to many individuals and organ-
izations throughout the state during the past year and a number have been
marked.
NEWSPAPER SECTION
Several individuals and institutions have availed themselves of the W. P. A.
and N. Y. A. operating through nearby colleges to sponsor special projects
utilizing the Society's extensive newspaper collection. Three persons have
averaged seven days a month during the past college year copying poetry from
Kansas territorial newspapers on subjects directly relating to Kansas. From
two to four persons were employed during a two months' period compiling
statistical data on mine disasters in the state. Other workers represented the
"American Guide," the highway safety division, and the department of agri-
culture. The work of political researchers has been mentioned.
According to information received from Washington the Kansas section of
the Union List of Newspapers went to press September 25, 1936. This list,
when published, will show in a geographical arrangement of places of publi-
cation, files of all newspapers issued since 1821 preserved in the libraries of the
United States and Canada. Since the fall of 1933 the newspaper division,
with the assistance of workers from the several federal projects, has devoted
as much time as possible to the revision of our Kansas lists. While there
doubtless will be errors, due in part to the inexperience of some of the workers
who assisted in the reclassification, the new list is the best the department
could compile under the circumstances. Miss Winifred Gregory, editor of
the Union List, has written as follows regarding our Kansas holdings: "Your
package containing your holdings of out-of-Kansas papers is received safely.
What an imposing list it is. We had heard that there was an excellent collec-
tion in your library, but had quite underestimated its value. . . . Congratu-
lations on the fine collection of papers in your keeping. ... I began work
yesterday on the Kansas lists and am so enthusiastic about them. What a
splendid collection you have. Kansas is going to be one of our banner states."
Considerable progress has been made toward the checking of several large
stacks of duplicate newspapers which have accumulated through the years.
Nearly every number is compared with the file copy before the extra issue
is marked "duplicate" and filed as such. These duplicate files are retained in
a separate section and when not turned over outright to Kansas college li-
braries they are used for trading purposes with out-of-state libraries.
On January 1 the collection of Kansas newspapers totalled 43,554 bound vol-
umes, and that of out-of-state papers approximately 10,000. One bound vol-
THE ANNUAL MEETING 83
ume of the Commercial Gazette, Wyandotte, from August 18, 1860, to October
5, 1861, was perhaps the most notable newspaper accession of the year. Other
accessions were : Real Estate Register, Emporia, July, 1869, received from A.
0. Barton, of Madison, Wis.; six issues of the Stars and Stripes, American ex-
peditionary force newspaper, from J. J. Blevins of Manhattan; The Kansas
Democrat, of Topeka, 1875 to 1881, from Miss Ella N. Peacock, Kansas City,
and The United States Daily of Washington, 1926 to 1933, from the Kansas
state library. These of course are in addition to all current papers regularly
received.
MUSEUM
The attendance in the museum for the year ending July was 30,777. The
largest number of visitors ever recorded in one day came on Governor Lan-
don's notification day when, although the museum closed at four o'clock, a
total of 1,244 had been counted.
Among the interesting accessions during the year was the full dress uniform
of Gen. Wilder S. Metcalf, used during the Spanish-American War, donated
by Miss Madge Bullene, of Lawrence, together with the nurse's uniform which
she wore during the World War. Mrs. Ida Suberkrup, of Leavenworth, gave
a bugle which had been carried through the Philippine insurrection by her
husband, William Suberkrup, who was a member of Company C, Twentieth
Kansas Volunteer regiment. Miss Bessie Kellerman, of Denver, presented a
Colt Frontier Six-Shooter, nickel-plated with bone handle, and the belt, hol-
ster, cartridges, original primers, powder measuring cups and bullet molds,
which had been used with the revolver. These had belonged to James Keller-
man, a well-known cattleman in Gove county, between 1873 and 1889. A
Henry rifle, originally gold plated, which had been presented to Maj. Gen.
James G. Blunt by the officers of his staff in the Civil War, was donated by
James G. Blunt, of Houston, Tex., a grandson.
Since January, with the assistance of one W. P. A. worker, the Brower
archaeological collection, consisting of fourteen cases, including 6,233 speci-
mens, and the Zimmerman archaeological collection of 3,020 pieces, have been
cleaned and relabeled. All leather pieces in the museum have been treated
with neat's foot oil. All other collections, with the exception of the Goss bird
collection, have been cleaned and rearranged and the catalogue files are now
being revised.
ACCESSIONS JULY 1, 1935, TO JUNE 30, 1936
Library :
Books (volumes) 906
Pamphlets 3,454
Magazines (bound volumes) none
Archives :
Separate manuscripts 8,569
Manuscript volumes none
Manuscript maps 82
Private manuscripts:
Separate manuscripts 4,402
Volumes 9
Printed maps, atlases and charts 177
Newspapers (bound volumes) 850
Pictures 345
Museum objects 15
84 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
TOTAL ACCESSIONS, JUNE 30, 1936
Books, pamphlets, bound newspapers and magazines 366,276
Separate manuscripts (archives) 933,364
(This count does not include the 500,000 pieces in
the post office collection which have not been cata-
logued.)
Manuscript volumes (archives) 27,223
Manuscript maps (archives)
Printed maps, atlases and charts 10,702
Pictures 15,673
Museum objects 32,815
SHAWNEE MISSION
Despite the handicap of limited funds much improvement has been made on
the grounds and the two south buildings at the mission. Continous work is
necessary to keep these three old buildings, now nearly one hundred years old,
in repair. As reported last year, the unsightly old garage was torn down, and
the new garage and work shop, designed to match the east building, has now
been completed.
There are five organizations directly cooperating with the Society at the
mission: The Colonial Dames, the Daughters of the American Revolution,
the Daughters of 1812, the Daughters of American Colonists and the Shawnee
Mission Indian Historical Society. The rooms assigned to these societies are
being made more attractive each year and the active interest of their members
is rapidly making the mission one of the best-known historic sites in the Mid-
dle West.
In the mission budget which will go before the legislature in January a
request is made for $25,000 for the restoration of the north building. This
building is now in such condition that visitors cannot be admitted. It is the
only one of the buildings, however, that still contains the original floors, man-
tels and interior woodwork, and if money for this purpose can be secured it
will be possible to restore it almost exactly as it was when erected.
FIRST CAPITOL OF KANSAS
The first capitol of Kansas on the Fort Riley reservation was visited by
more persons than in any year since it was restored. Of the 18,025 visitors,
4,083 came from other states, and a number from foreign countries. The
exterior woodwork and all the outbuildings and fences were repainted last
Spring. PIKE PAWNEE MONUMENT
The legislature of 1935 appropriated $1,600 for repairing this monument,
which was blown over or struck by lightning during a storm. A new shaft
was placed on the old base last spring under specifications prepared by the
state architect, and it now presents a better appearance than it has for many
years. The iron fence around the property and the flag pole were also repaired.
The total cost of this work was $861.54, the balance being returned to the
general fund.
This report would be incomplete without mention of the members of the
staff of this Society. They are uniformly courteous, loyal and conscientious.
The secretary acknowledges his indebtedness to them for the accomplishments
doted herein. Respectfully submitted,
KIRKE MECHEM, Secretary.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 85
At the conclusion of the reading of the report of the secretary,
Mr. McNeal stated that it stood approved if there were no objec-
tions. In commenting on the report Mr. McNeal said he appre-
ciated as never before the extent of the collections of the Society
and their historical and human-interest value.
Mr. McNeal then called for the reading of the report of the treas-
urer, Mrs. Mary Embree, which follows:
TREASURER'S REPORT
STATEMENT OF MEMBERSHIP FEE FUND
From October 15, 1935, to October 20, 1936
Balance, October 15, 1935 $2,470.30
Treasury bonds 3,500. 00
Life memberships fees 550. 00
Annual membership dues 165.00
Interest on bonds 219.40
Refund of money advanced for postage 372. 16
Postage sent in for Quarterly _. .50
Total receipts ...$7,277.36
Expenditures :
Rent of chairs for 1935 annual meeting $4 . 00
Premium on bonds of secretary and treasurer 10.00
Sellards Cleaning Co 2.80
Extra clerk hire 740.50
Subscriptions Ill .25
Rent of safe deposit box 3 . 30
Christmas checks to janitors 13.50
Reporting annual meeting 15.00
Stencils for addressing machine 3.11
Money advanced for supplies 3.24
Flowers 4.25
Telegram 1 .42
Jordan Electric Co., installing lights, balance 15.00
Postage 381 . 16
Traveling expenses 119.60
Expenses for First Capitol 24.32
Notices of annual meeting 16 . 00
Total expenditures $1,468.45
Balance, October 20, 1936 5,808.91
$7,277.36
Balance consists of
Treasury bonds $3,500.00
Cash 2,308.91
$5,808.91
JONATHAN PECKER BEQUEST FUND
Principal, treasury bonds $950 .00
Balance, interest, October 15, 1935 69.24
Interest from October 15, 1935, to October 20, 1936 42.68
Total amount received . $m . 92
86 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Expenditures :
New Hampshire Historical Society Papers, Vol. 35 $4 . 50
Balance on hand October 20, 1936 $107.42
JOHN BOOTH BEQUEST FUND
Principal, treasury bonds $500.00
Balance, interest, October 15, 1935 19.47
Interest from October 15, 1935, to October 20, 1936 21 .21
Total amount received $40.68
No expenditure.
THOMAS H. BOWLUS FUND
Principal, treasury bonds (interest included in membership fund). . . $1,000.00
Respectfully submitted,
MARY EMBREE, Treasurer.
At the conclusion of the reading of the treasurer's report Mr.
McNeal stated that it stood approved if there were no objections.
Mr. McNeal called for the report of the executive committee. It
was read by Mr. Chester Woodward, who had been appointed by the
executive committee to examine the treasurer's report.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE'S REPORT
OCTOBER 20, 1936.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
Having been appointed to check the accounts of the treasurer, I wish to
state that I have gone over them and that they are hereby approved.
CHESTER WOODWARD, Member of the Executive Committee.
Mr. McNeal stated that the report of the executive committee
stood approved if there were no objections.
The report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society
was called for and it was read by Mrs. Henry F. Mason, chairman:
NOMINATING COMMITTEE'S REPORT
OCTOBER 20, 1936.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations begs leave to submit the following report
for officers of the Kansas State Historical Society :
For a one-year term: Edwin A. Austin, Topeka, president; William Allen
White, Emporia, first vice-president; J. M. Challiss, Atchison, second vice-
president.
For a two-year term: Kirke Mechem, Topeka, secretary; Mrs. Mary
Embree, Topeka, treasurer.
Respectfully submitted,
MRS. HENRY F. MASON, Chairman,
MRS. A. M. HARVEY,
T. A. MCNEAL,
THOS. F. DORAN,
JAMES C. MALIN.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 87
The report of the nominating committee was accepted and re-
ferred to the afternoon meeting of the board.
There being no further business to come before the board of direc-
tors, the meeting adjourned.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
The annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society con-
vened at 2 o'clock p. m. The members were called to order by T. M.
Lillard. In taking the chair Mr. Lillard stated that the Society had
suffered a great loss in the death of Dr. Frank H. Hodder only two
months after his election last year. He called on the secretary to
introduce Dr. James C. Malin of the University of Kansas, who pre-
sented a photograph of Doctor Hodder to the Society. Mr. Mechem
said that he had expressed himself regarding Doctor Hodder in his
annual report, and that Doctor Malin, who had long been an inti-
mate friend, had expressed himself in a fine review of Doctor Hod-
der's career which had already appeared in The Kansas Historical
Quarterly. He introduced Doctor Malin, who presented a splendid
enlarged photograph in the name of Mrs. Hodder and the depart-
ment of history at the University of Kansas.
The annual address of the president was then called for. In the
absence of Mr. Kelley his address was read by Mr. Charles M. Cor-
rell of the Kansas State College at Manhattan, as follows :
SOME SOUTHWEST KANSAS PIONEERS
Southwest Kansas is that high plains region extending westward from the
hundredth meridian to the Colorado line and southward from a parallel at 38%
degrees to what is now the Oklahoma line. It has an area of 12,000 square
miles. Its altitude ranges from 2,500 feet to 3,600 feet. The eastward-flowing
Arkansas river divides it into approximately equal areas.
At the time this area was being settled, the second generation was carrying
on in eastern Kansas. Even the children of the second generation were at-
tending our schools, colleges and universities. Around Lawrence, Council
Grove, Osage Mission, Osawatomie and a score of other places, traditions
already had gathered. Histories of Kansas already had been written while
this great Southwest was yet either Mexican territory or else was attached to
Marion county for judicial purposes. The settlement of this region did not
begin until the Santa Fe railroad had been built from Atchison to the Colo-
rado line. It was a dozen years after 1872 until the first county was organized
in this area. Then, during the five years from 1884 to 1888, inclusive, the en-
tire 12,000 square miles was organized into fifteen counties. Fifteen county
seat towns were established, innumerable towns were started, some seasonably
to flourish, others to shrivel and die, their locations returning to the shortgrasa
sod from whence they had come.
From among the pioneers who helped transmute this region from grazing
ground for herds of wild horses and great multitudes of buffalo to alfalfa fields
88 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and wheat fields of green and gold, and spick-and-span little towns with mod-
ern homes, I single out three types for record: The first cattleman, the first
merchant, and the first homesteader.
Into southwest Kansas first came the cattleman. His industry flourished
for eight years. By 1880 the coming of homesteaders menaced the free range ;
and the great blizzard of 1886 dealt the cattle industry a mortal blow. The
ever increasing tide of immigration with its homesteaders finished it. The
free range was gone.
The old-timers who owned great herds in those days mostly are gone. One
of them yet lives on at Ingalls, Gray county D. W. Barton, now 85, tall, erect,
keen-eyed, alert, reticent of speech, with a mouthful of natural teeth and an
abiding fondness for a cigaret. He is a wheat farmer now.
"Dock" Barton, as he is known by old-time friends, established the first
cattle camp in Kansas west of Dodge. He was born in Texas. His father
came from South Carolina to Texas in 1840 while the Lone Star state was yet
an independent young republic. He engaged in cattle-raising. "Dock" and his
brother Henry grew up in the cattle business. They became familiar with the
old Chisholm trail and the driving of herds northward to market. It was a
long, long trail. "Dock" and Henry decided there would be more profit in
raising cattle were they closer to a market. Up on the Arkansas, in southwest
Kansas, was tall grass in the bottoms, rich short grass on the uplands, plenty
of water. It would be weeks closer to a shipping point and the Santa Fe rail-
road was building in that direction.
In February, 1872, they left the home ranch in Texas, eighty miles north
of San Antonio and twenty miles west of Austin, with a herd of 3,000 long-
horns. Nearing the Indian territory region they learned the Indians were on
the warpath. So the herd was turned westward along the Pecos trail toward
New Mexico. When the Pecos river was reached, the herd was driven north-
ward to Pueblo, Colo., and then down the valley of the Arkansas and into
Kansas. Five months after leaving the home ranch in Texas the Barton camp
was established by the "Lone Tree," an immense cottonwood near the site of
present Garden City and known as a landmark in the old Santa Fe trail days;
a landmark some old-timers of Garden City remember, though few of them
agree upon its location. It was cut down in 1879 but that's another story.
As winter drew near the Barton brothers moved their camp on down the river
and established headquarters near the site of present Pierce ville. There their
cattle could and did range east as far as the site of present Cimarron and
south to the Canadian river.
By way of digression, one June day in 1924, Ol Brown, then sheriff of Fin-
ney county, brought to us in the Garden City Herald office a copy of an old
newspaper which had just been taken from a souvenir box that day removed
from the crumbling corner-stone of the old courthouse. It was a copy of the
Garden City Irrigator, O. O. Layne, editor, dated September 5, 1885. In it was
the publication of 107 different cattle brands. Among them was that of D. W.
Barton, described as "OS bar on the left side, crop off the right ear." At that
time Mr. Barton had a herd of approximately 12,000 cattle bearing his brand
more than 11,000 grades and 800 registered cattle. Early in January, 1886,
came what is still spoken of as "The Great Blizzard." Cattle drifted before the
storm and scattered. They bunched in draws, canyons and against wire fences
THE ANNUAL MEETING 89
to the southward and were frozen to death. After the roundup following the
storm, Mr. Barton counted 11,000 grade cattle and 800 registered animals
among his losses. The remnant, rounded up from as far south as Texas, were
thin, starved and worthless. And "Dock" Barton was out of the cattle busi-
ness.
Three years ago I had a number of visits with Mr. Barton at his home and
at mine. As best I could I endeavored to draw from him some sidelights on
the life and adventurous happenings incident to cattlemen of those days. "Ad-
ventures?" No, nothing ever happened. He was away when the Indians
burned Pierceville in 1874. In the winter of 1875-1876 a bunch of Cheyennes
were in camp in the White Mound valley in old Garfield county (now Garfield
township of Finney county, and the largest township in the state, falling just
short of the 432 square miles required by law as the minimum area for a
county), but they didn't bother the whites. Probably ten or twelve thousand
of them. The next fall a band of Sioux camped in the same locality, spotting
herds of ponies which they planned to stampede from other tribes; which they
later did and had a running fight through Kansas northward and into Ne-
braska. That fall Barton was on the Pawnee looking after a herd of 160 good
saddle horses, but the Sioux were friendly and didn't bother him.
"Bother his cattle?" No, Indians never bothered his cattle; unless you'd
call this bothering: Once while he was driving a herd to Great Bend, south-
west of that town a band of Pawnees killed eighteen of his steers. "But the
Pawnees were hungry," he explained, "and only killed what they wanted to
eat. It didn't amount to anything. They were hungry."
"Boot Hill?" Yes, the first twenty-four buried there maybe the first thirty
died with their boots on. Mostly gamblers, toughs and desperadoes. Only
one cowboy among the number. Cowboys were not as bad as they were
painted. "Slaughter Kid" worked for him for three years and was a good cow-
hand, though he had a bad reputation. Same for Ben Hodges, desperado and
horsethief by reputation. Ben worked for him several years. Good cowhand.
"Bat Masterson?" Yes, he knew Bat. Bat was a young man of eighteen
when Dodge was started in 1872. Later he was elected sheriff of Ford county.
He wasn't the killer he had the reputation of being. It's foolish, that story of
his having killed thirty-two men. He certainly killed one man possibly three.
He may have had thirty-two gun battles, and if others were shot they were
only wounded, not killed.
One bright autumn day R. E. Stotts of Garden City and his two sons and
myself were with Mr. Barton on a sandhill twelve miles southwest of Ingalls,
hard by where the Cimarron branch of the Santa Fe trail once was a freight-
ers' highway. Toward the center of a weedy section of farmland he pointed:
"There," he said, "in 1873 I was scouting one day for cattle. About half way
between this spot and that ranch house yonder I ran upon the bleached re-
mains of a wagon train. There must have been fifty or sixty wagons, some
burned, some good as when they went into camp there. I asked others what
about it. None knew anything about it, or of a massacre there, and I never
found anybody who did know. In 1875, I think, George Emerson, who was
hauling buffalo bones to Pierceville, came over here and salvaged enough
chains, oxbows and yokes and wagons to start a bull train of thirty-five wagons
between Dodge and Fort Elliott, Texas, 200 miles south of Dodge." On the
90 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
return trip, approaching Ingalls, he pointed out the location of the old Cim-
arron crossing, and the upper Cimarron crossing, and the point on the hillside
far to the southwest where the divergent trails joined; and likewise traces of
the old Santa Fe trail, deep-rutted and grass-grown, winding down the slope
of the uplands toward the river.
Among my talks with "Dock" Barton there was but one flash of humor. It
came unexpectedly. I had asked him about Bob Wright of Dodge City. He
answered my questions and then went on, reminiscently :
"One season I built a corral on the south side of the river just across from
where Charleston now is. There was quite a big grove of cottonwoods along
the river and on an island there. So we cut a lot of the trees and built a cor-
ral ten rails high and big enough to handle 5,000 head of cattle. The corral
had cross-fences and was all fixed for cutting-out and branding. Then the
outfit went out to round up our cattle. They had grazed far south and it was
some weeks before we got back to the corral. When we got back, there waa
no sign of the corral. It had vanished."
I waited for the explanation. Finally, I asked.
"Well," he grinned, "Bob Wright had a contract with the government to
furnish wood to the forts. His men ran upon my corral, found nobody there
and proceeded to load it up, haul it away and turn it in on the contract, figur-
ing if they did not somebody else would. Besides, it saved cutting and split-
ting." And all of the foregoing I give you as I had it by word of mouth from
D. W. Barton, the pioneer cattleman of southwest Kansas.
On December 28, 1872, the Santa Fe railroad reached the Colorado line.
That day a train was run from Atchison to the end of the road. A telegraph
station had been put at a point about seventy miles west of Dodge and named
Lakin. Here, in April, 1873, came an Irishman, John O'Loughlin, to make his
home. So far as I can learn he was the first white settler west of Pierceville,
thirty-five miles to the east, in all of southwest Kansas and north of the Okla-
homa line. In April, 1873, he opened a store and trading post in a dugout at
Lakin. In the late 1860's he had appeared in western Kansas with Gen. Phil
Sheridan's command in the earlier days of Fort Hays and Fort Dodge. On the
trail between those forts was a steep-banked crossing on the Pawnee. O'Lough-
lin decided it would be a good place for a toll bridge ; so he built one of logs
cut from along the Pawnee. Also he built a trading post. He took toll for
the use of his bridge one dollar for each government team crossing, fifty cents
for all others. Over this bridge passed famous warriors General Dodge, Gen-
eral Sheridan, General Custer, General Hancock. And President Hayes. And
those two fighters of some reputation, Jesse James and "Wild Bill" Hickok. It
was something for O'Loughlin to remember in his latter days. Incidentally,
O'Loughlin was the first white settler in Hodgeman county.
When the Santa Fe had reached Dodge, John O'Loughlin sold his toll
bridge and trading post to George Duncan, and the place in time became
known as Duncan's crossing. The old log bridge did duty until 1923, when it
was replaced by one of modern type.
John O'Loughlin soon had a prosperous business in his dugout store at
Lakin. His early business was with trappers, freighters, soldiers, buffalo
hunters, cow-punchers. He carried a line of dry goods, groceries, Sharp's
THE ANNUAL MEETING 91
rifles, ammunition (regular and "fixed"), six-shooters, chaps, spurs, saddles,
cowboy boots, gorgeous silk shirts, scarfs and handkerchiefs, Stetson hats,
Dutch ovens, ox-yokes and bows, cross-cut saws, ox-shoes. His daughter,
Jennie Rose O'Loughlin, in her "Lakin in 1873," says: "The last thirty pairs
of ox shoes were sold in 1901 by Ernest McDowell to a man who was driving
cattle through the country. At the same time the last of the 'fixed' ammu-
nition for buffalo guns was sold to a customer who made a special trip to
Lakin for it, having heard he would find some of it in stock in this store."
John O'Loughlin bought furs from the trappers, hides from the buffalo
hunters, in the first years. Later he bought buffalo bones. He salt-cured
buffalo hams. He loaded up chuck wagons headed for the roundups with food.
He did some farming, some ranching. He acquired lands in Texas, Oklahoma,
and of course in southwest Kansas. The famous Pig Pen Ranch of Grant
county was his property. His trading post in the dugout became the nucleus
of a hamlet which became a village and then a town. In the dugout days his
store did a primitive banking business. Customers would ask him to keep
their money on call. He kept their money as he did his own between bolts
of calico, in tin pans and coffee pots, even in the fish keg. He was of that
old-fashioned type a merchant who trusted his customers who, in turn,
trusted him. He passed on in 1915 at Lakin, having seen it grow from a
telegraph station and a dugout store to an average-sized western county-
seat town.
For the pioneer homesteader, I offer a leaf from the life of one of the
illustrious unknown the life of a woman who came to southwest Kansas as
a young wife to help her husband make a home while it was yet a cattle
country. Sallie Crow came with her husband, William H. Crow, a Civil war
veteran of the Ninety-first Ohio Volunteer infantry, to old Sequoyah county
(later Finney county) early in 1879. I had tried, directly and indirectly, to
have a talk with her about her pioneer days, but age and ill health prevented.
Two or three years ago she passed to her reward at the age of eighty-six.
Strange to say, she left behind a short and concise written account of her
early years in old Sequoyah county. I had the privilege of reading it after
her death. The account says she and her husband left Ohio early in 1879,
reaching Rice county, Kansas, by train. There Mr. Crow bought a yoke of
oxen, an emigrant wagon, a stove and a cow. Then they made a three-weeks
trek into Sequoyah county, arriving April 12, 1879.
"We took a claim five miles east of town (Garden City) and dug a well
100 feet deep," she writes. "Later we' left this place and took up school land
one mile east of town. The first year we broke sod and put in spring wheat,
and as it came up the jack rabbits ate it up. The eighth of August Oran
Crow was born. He was the third baby born in Sequoyah county. Mr. Crow
went five miles east with an ox team after an old doctor and his wife.
"We raised nothing this year and everything we had to buy was very high.
Meat was fifty cents a pound. At this time Mr. Crow plowed sod and built
a sod house. He went to the river and got brush for the roof and threw dirt
on it so it would not leak. This house was built to hold the winter fuel,
which was cow chips. We lived in a plank one-room house with a small dug-
out built at one side.
92 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
"The rattlesnakes were so thick we could see them coiled up in the
yard. . . . The coyotes, deer, antelope and wild horses could be seen in
the distance. . . . That fall Sim Buckles went to the river, got a log
and tied it under the wagon, let one end drag on the ground to make a trail
by which to find the way home. He and Mr. Crow would drive miles over
the open prairie hunting buffalo bones and cattle bones to sell at the depot to
get money to live on. When they got their load they would put the log on
the wagon and follow their trail home. . . . Our oxen and cow we would
stake out on grass. Prairie fires were numerous. We had to keep a wide
strip plowed around the place to stop the fires.
"The last of August, 1880," continues Mrs. Crow's narrative, "Mr. Crow
got a job ten miles north of town to build a large sod barn and sheep corral
for $50. At the same time the children and I, one child nine, the other eleven
and the baby one year old, took fifty bucks to take care of, for $50. I herded
them all day long, the children on an old horse when the weather was warm
enough. When it was cold I went alone on foot. The grass on those lower
lands grew tall and I would hear the rattlesnakes rattle near me; and when I
would jump one way I never knew if I was jumping off or on another one.
"At the end of his work Mr. Crow came home with $50. About the same
time my months of herding ended, the man came and got his bucks and
paid me $50. Mr. Crow took the $100 to Mr. Menke's grocery store and paid
our bill. Mr. Menke said he would carry us through the winter if we could
pay what we owed him." Incidentally, Mrs. Crow relates that on his way
home with his fifty bucks, the sheepman was caught in a blizzard and forty-
nine of the sheep were frozen to death. It was in this storm that the long-
horn cattle drifted south from the Smoky Hill country.
"This valley was filled with them," says Mrs. Crow, "eating our grass, and
breaking down our fences around the stacks and eating the hay. Of nights
we often heard guns fired in the air to scare them away. . . . About this
time Mr. Crow got work with the Santa Fe railroad, walking the track. The
rails were of iron instead of steel and often broke when frost got into them.
Mr. Crow would take his lantern and walk six miles of this track going east.
At that time a man would start from Pierceville, walking west. When they
met, at a dugout, they would stay there until the train passed. Then each
would take his track back, reaching home about daylight. The children and
I were alone at night."
In 1881, during a time of sickness in the family, the Rev. L. H. Platt (an-
cestor of the Platt family of Kirwin) with his wife called on the Crow family,
"bringing," says Mrs. Crow, "love and encouragement and gifts of friend-
ship. Reverend Platt was the first minister (to live) here and established a
church; and for four years services were conducted in a room over the Red
Lion livery stable. There was no denominational discrimination and people
of every belief attended, although Reverend Platt was a Congregationalist."
And there is a little of the story of Sallie Crow's first two years as the wife
of a homesteader in the southwest of Kansas. There, all you Kansans of
these days of 1936 who still manage to take Sunday afternoon motor-car
rides over paved highways, and attend the movies, and are among those pres-
ent at the bridge party and who buy ripe tomatoes and head lettuce in mid-
winter and yet complain of the high cost of living there is the unadorned
story of one woman and there were hundreds of her kind who fifty years
THE ANNUAL MEETING
from now will rate as a desirable ancestor for a future proudly clannish so-
ciety that will likely be known as The Daughters of the Kansas Pioneer
Mothers. E. E. KELLBY.
October 19, 1936.
At the conclusion of the reading of Mr. Kelley's address, Mr.
Lillard said it recalled to his mind an incident that occurred when
he was a young man in college in Illinois. He and some friends
had decided to come to Kansas to be cowboys. They went to
Pierceville, mentioned in Mr. Kelley's paper, and worked for a
rancher at Charleston, also mentioned in the paper. He told how
they discovered that the life of a beginner on a ranch was confined
largely to work about the barns and in the cow lots, and how they
finally persuaded the rancher to permit them to ride on the range.
A special collection of many of the Society's old and rare maps,
charts, atlases, town-promotion lithographs and broadsides, was on
display during the day on tables in the main lobby. About thirty
of the most interesting early-day maps were mounted and exhibited
during the meeting and commented on by the secretary. This col-
lection began with the earliest map possessed by the Society bear-
ing the name Canses, and continued with succeeding maps in chro-
nological order illustrating the growing knowledge of the geography
of the plains country. A number of more recent maps were shown
to indicate the development of the state and its political divisions.
Several town-promotion lithographs were included in this display
to explain the conditions that had brought many of the early set-
tlers to the territory.
At the conclusion of this exhibit the report of the committee on
nominations for directors was read by Mrs. Henry F. Mason, chair-
man, as follows:
OCTOBER 20, 1936.
To the Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations beg leave to submit the following report
and recommendations for directors of the Society for the term of three years
ending October, 1939:
Beeks, Charles E., Baldwin.
Beezley, George F., Girard.
Bonebrake, Fred B., Topeka.
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola.
Browne, Charles H., Horton.
Dean, John S., Topeka.
Embree, Mrs. Mary, Topeka.
Gray, John M., Kir win.
Harger, Charles M., Abilene.
Harvey, Mrs. Isabelle C., Topeka.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove.
Kagey, Charles L., Wichita.
Kinkel, John M., Topeka.
Lee, Thomas Amory, Topeka.
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka.
McFarland, Horace E., Junction
City.
Malone, James, Topeka.
94 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mechem, Kirke, Topeka. Sayers, Wm. L., Hill City.
Morrison, T. F., Chanute. Simons, W. C., Lawrence.
Norris, Mrs. George, Arkansas City. Seller, August, Washington.
O'Neil, Ralph T., Topeka. Stanley, W. E., Wichita.
Philip, Mrs. W. D., Hays. Stone, Robert, Topeka.
Rankin, Robert C., Lawrence. Trembly, W. B., Kansas City.
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell. Walker, B. P., Topeka.
Ryan, Ernest A., Topeka. Woodward, Chester, Topeka.
Respectfully submitted,
MRS. HENRY F. MASON, Chairman,
MRS. A. M. HARVEY.
T. A. MCNEAL,
THOS. F. DORAN,
JAMES C. MALIN.
On motion of Justice John S. Dawson, seconded by Dr. Edward
Bumgardner, these directors were unanimously elected for the term
ending October, 1939.
The reports of representatives of other societies were called for.
Mrs. Mark E. Zimmerman, of Doniphan county, spoke briefly
about the old mission at Highland. She called attention to the fact
that the building is rapidly deteriorating and asked the Society and
its members to help in the work of saving it for posterity. She was
followed by Mrs. Fenn Ward of Highland, who also commented on
the mission and its influence in the early history of northeastern
Kansas.
The secretary stated that Mr. W. F. Thompson of Topeka, who
could not attend the meeting, had telephoned a request that the
attention of the Society be called to the two historic covered bridges
over Stranger creek in Leavenworth county which should be pre-
served.
Mr. C. W. Hawkins of Clements made a report for the Chase
County Historical Society.
The report of the Douglas County Historical Society was read by
Mrs. Lena V. Owen of Lawrence.
Mr. C. M. Correll of Manhattan made a report for the Riley
County Historical Society.
The report of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society was
presented on behalf of that society by Mr. Mechem.
A report of the Kansas Catholic Historical Society was made by
Father Angelus Lingenfelser of St. Benedict's College, Atchison.
Mr. Lillard ordered that the above reports be filed with the rec-
ords of the meeting.
There being no further business the annual meeting of the Society
adjourned.
THE ANNUAL MEETING
95
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The afternoon meeting of the board of directors was called to
order by Mr. Lillard. He asked for a re-reading of the report of the
nominating committee for officers of the Society. The following
were unanimously elected:
For a one-year term: E. A. Austin, president; William Allen
White, first vice-president ; J. M. Challiss, second vice-president.
For a two-year term: Kirke Mechem, secretary; Mrs. Mary
Embree, treasurer.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned.
KIRKE MECHEM, Secretary.
DIRECTORS OF THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AS OF
OCTOBER, 1936
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1937
Austin, E. A., Topeka.
Berryman, J. W., Ashland.
Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M., Council
Grove.
Bumgardner, Edward, Lawrence.
Cornell, Charles M., Manhattan.
Davis, John W., Hugoton.
Denious, Jess C., Dodge City.
Fay, Mrs. Mamie Axline, Pratt.
Frizell, E. E., Larned.
Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia.
Hall, Mrs. Carrie A., Leavenworth.
Haskin, S. B., Olathe.
Hegler, Ben F., Wichita.
Jones, Horace, Lyons.
Kelley, E. E., Garden City.
Lillard, T. M., Topeka.
Lindsley, H. K, Wichita.
McCarter, Mrs. Margaret Hill,
Topeka.
Mercer, J. H., Topeka.
Morgan, Isaac B., Kansas City.
Oliver, Hannah P., Lawrence.
Patrick, Mrs. Mae C., Satanta.
Reed, Clvde M., Parsons.
Rupp, Mrs. W. E., Hillsboro.
Schultz, Floyd B., Clay Center.
Scott, Charles F., lola.
Shirer, H. L., Topeka.
Uhl, L. C. Jr., Smith Center.
Van de Mark, M. V. B., Concordia.
Wark, George H., Caney.
Wheeler, Mrs. B. R., Topeka.
Woolard, Sam F., Wichita.
Wooster, Lorraine E., Salina.
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1938
Aitchison, R. T., Wichita.
Capper, Arthur, Topeka.
Carson, F. L., Wichita.
Challiss, J. M., Atchison.
Dawson, John S., Hill City.
Doerr, Mrs. Laura P. V., Larned.
Doran, Thomas F., Topeka.
Ellenbecker, John G., Marysville.
Hobble, Frank A., Dodge City.
Hogin, John C., Belleville.
Huggins, Wm. L., Emporia.
Hunt, Charles L., Concordia.
Johnston, Mrs. W. A., Topeka.
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville.
Lilleston, W. F., Wichita.
McLean, Milton R., Topeka.
McNeal, T. A., Topeka.
Malin, James C., Lawrence.
Mason, Mrs. Henry F., Topeka.
Moore, Russell, Wichita.
Morehouse, George P., Topeka.
Price, Ralph R., Manhattan.
Raynesford, H. C., Ellis.
Russell, W. J., Topeka.
Smith, Wm. E., Wamego.
Solander, Mrs. T. T., Osawatomie.
Somers, John G., Newton.
Stevens, Caroline F., Lawrence.
Thompson, W. F., Topeka.
Van Tuyl, Mrs. Effie H., Leavenworth.
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton.
White, William Allen, Emporia.
Wilson, John H., Salina.
96
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1939
Beeks, Charles E., Baldwin.
Beezley, George F., Girard.
Bonebrake, Fred B., Topeka.
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola.
Browne, Charles H., Horton.
Dean, John S., Topeka.
Embree, Mrs. Mary, Topeka.
Gray, John M., Kirwin.
Harger, Charles M., Abilene.
Harvey, Mrs. Isabelle C., Topeka.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove.
Kagey, Charles L., Wichita.
Kinkel, John M., Topeka.
Lee, Thomas Amory, Topeka.
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka.
McFarland, Horace E., Junction
City.
Malone, James, Topeka.
Mechem, Kirke, Topeka.
Morrison, T. F., Chanute.
Norris, Mrs. George, Arkansas City.
O'Neil, Ralph T., Topeka.
Philip, Mrs. W. D., Hays.
Rankin, Robert C., Lawrence.
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell.
Ryan, Ernest A., Topeka.
Sayers, Wm. L., Hill City.
Simons, W. C., Lawrence.
Seller, August, Washington.
Stanley, W. E., Wichita.
Stone, Robert, Topeka.
Trembly, W. B., Kansas City.
Walker, B. P., Topeka.
Woodward, Chester, Topeka.
Bypaths of Kansas History
MANY patrons of the Kansas State Historical Society are in
touch with the Society only through the medium of the Quar-
terly. Unfortunately this does not permit access to the 50,000 bound
volumes of newspapers, or the 300,000-odd books, pamphlets, and
magazine volumes, or the million manuscript pieces, or the numerous
broadsides and dodgers all of which make up the story of Kansas.
These collections represent several generations in the state's history.
In them are found the records of the times the accounts of hap-
penings that were important in the lives of individuals and commu-
nities. It seems appropriate that as many of these little-mentioned
bypaths be explored as space and time will permit; hence this de-
partment.
EMIGRANTS FROM MISSOURI
From The Democratic Platform, Liberty, Mo., June 1, 1854.
PASSAGE OF THE NEBRASKA BILL. By reference to the . . . proceedings of
Congress it will be seen that the bills organizing territorial governments for
Kansas and Nebraska, has, after a long and stormy debate, passed the House
of Representatives. The house bill differs from the one previously passed the
Senate in only one particular, that is the striking out of the Clayton amend-
ment, which excluded foreigners from voting at the first election.
We congratulate the citizens of Missouri on the favorable termination of
this great debate. We will now have two new territories to colonize, with
Southern citizens. Let us set to work immediately, and make preparations
for having every family in Missouri represented in the new territory. We
must make Kansas a slave state, else we have no security for our property.
The only way for us to accomplish that is to go there and "settle." If you
cannot leave, a substitute must be found, who will be on hand, when the vote
on the constitution is taken.
Ibid., June 29, 1854.
RESOLUTIONS OF THE SQUATTER ASSOCIATION. Whereas, we, the citizens of
Kansas territory, and many others, citizens of the adjoining state of Missouri,
contemplating a squatter's home on the fair plains of said territory, are as-
sembled at Salt creek valley, for the purpose of taking such steps as will se-
cure safety and fairness in the location and preservation of claims;
Therefore, be it unanimously
1. Resolved, That we are in favor of bona fide squatter sovereignty, and
acknowledge the right of any citizen of the United States to make a claim
in Kansas territory ultimately with the view of occupying it.
2. Resolved, That such claim when made, shall be held so long as a bona
fide intention of occupying it is apparent; and for the purpose of protecting
and defending such claim, we agree to act in concert, if necessary, to expel
intruders.
(97)
76164
98 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
3. Resolved, That every person of lawful age, or who may be the head of
a family, who shall make out his claim of 160 acres, so that it may be apparent
how the same lies, and proceeds with reasonable diligence to erect thereon a
cabin or tent, shall be deemed to have made a proper claim.
4. Resolved, That any person, on marking out his claim, shall be deemed
to have forfeited it, unless he commences his claim, or pitches a tent within
two weeks thereafter, unless the same be on such lands as prohibit it by mili-
tary or Indian reservation.
5. Resolved, That all persons now holding claims shall have two weeks,
from this day, in which to make the improvement contemplated by the fore-
going resolutions.
6. Resolved, That no person shall be protected by the "Squatter Associa-
tion," who holds in his own right more than one claim.
7. Resolved, That a citizen of the territory be appointed as "Register of
Claims," who shall keep a book in which he shall register the names and de-
scription of all squatters and their claims, and the date of making same, for
which registration he shall be allowed the sum of fifty cents for each claim,
to be paid by the claimant.
8. Resolved, That we recognize the institution of slavery as already exist-
ing in the territory, and recommend to slaveholders to introduce their property
as fast as possible.
9. Resolved, That we afford protection to no Abolitionists as settlers of
Kansas territory.
10. Resolved, That a "Vigilance Committee" of thirteen be appointed by
the chairman to decide upon all disputes in relation to claims, and to protect
the rightful party; and for that purpose shall have power to call together the
entire "Squatter's Association."
11. Resolved, That all persons who wish to become members of the "Squat-
ter Association" shall subscribe to the foregoing preamble and resolutions.
12. Resolved, That the secretary of this meeting be instructed to hand
these proceedings to E. S. Wilkinson and S. J. Finch, or either of them, for
immediate publication and reference.
Saturday, June 19th, 1854 :
Lewis Burnes, President.
J. H. R. Cundiff, Secretary.
Ibid., July 6, 1854.
GREAT KANSAS MEETING IN CLAY COUNTY. On Monday the 3d day of July,
1854, in the court house in the city of Liberty, assembled one of the largest
gatherings ever witnessed in Clay county.
The meeting was called to order, whereupon Judge James T. V. Thompson
of Liberty was called to the chair, and G. W. Withers elected secretary.
The chairman in an eloquent manner explained the object of the meeting,
when the following resolutions reported by Mr. Gwinner, were laid before the
meeting.
Whereas: In republican governments the voice of the people in public
meeting assembled is universally respected.
Therefore, we the citizens of Clay county, believing self-preservation to be
the first law of nature, and learning that organizations have been effected in
the Northern states for the purpose of colonizing the territory of Kansas with
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 99
such fanatical persons as composed the recent disgraceful mob in the city of
Boston, where a United States officer, for simply attempting to obtain justice
for a Southern citizen, was shot down in the streets; and learning too that
these organizations have for their object the colonization of said territory,
with "Eastern and foreign paupers" with a view of excluding citizens of slave-
holding states, and especially citizens of Missouri from settling there with their
property, and further, to establish a link of the Underground Railroad, con-
necting with the Iowa line, when thousands of our slaves will be stolen from
us in thwarting their attempts upon our rights we do
Resolved, That Kansas ought of right to be a slave state, and we pledge our-
selves to cooperate with the citizens of Jackson county, and the South gen-
erally in any measure to accomplish such ends.
Resolved, That the citizens of Clay county have no sympathy for, or con-
nection with abolitionism, and we pledge ourselves to support and sustain our
sons and brothers in Kansas who may resist the encroachments of Northern
fanatics; peaceably if we can, but forcibly if we must.
Resolved, That the proceedings of the Westport and Kansas meeting on
this subject meet our hearty approval, and we promise to cooperate in all
measures for the protection of the slave interest in Kansas territory.
Resolved, In the language of our Westport brethren "that we will carry
with us into the new territory of Kansas, every species of property including
slaves, and that we will hold and enjoy the same; that we desire to do so
peacefully, and deprecate any necessity for resorting to violence in support of
our just and lawful rights; yet, (in no spirit of bravado and with the strongest
wish for peace,) apprehensive of interference with our private and domestic
concerns by certain organized bands who are to be precipitated upon us,
we notify all such, that our purpose is firm, to enjoy all our rights, and to
meet with the last argument all who shall in any way infringe upon them.
Resolved, That we recommend to our fellow-citizens of Missouri and Ar-
kansas, more especially of the border counties, to organize with these ends in
view; and to each and every man who feels an interest in the destiny of the
future state of Kansas, to be on the alert that we may avail ourselves of the
great advantages which the contiguity the new territory at once gives to us,
and entitles us, in moulding the government and institutions of the future state
in accordance with those of our own, and thus guarantee for the future a good
neighbor and a firm friend, united to us by the bond of interest.
Resolved, That we tender our warmest thanks to Hon. David R. Atchison,
Hon. Henry S. Geyer, John S. Phelps, James G. Lindley, A. W. Lamb, John
G. Miller, Samuel Caruthers and Mordecai Oliver, for the manly and patriotic
stand they took in defense of the Douglas bill, and the rights of the South.
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the city
papers and other papers in the state be requested to copy.
The resolutions were discussed by Messrs. Thos. T. Gill and E. M. Samuels
and F. Gwinner, who were favorable to their passage. On motion of Capt. W.
E. Price the resolutions were unanimously adopted nearly every person in the
meeting voting.
After this decided expression of the citizens of Clay county, the meeting
adjourned.
JAMES T. V. THOMPSON, President,
G. W. WITHERS, Secretary.
100 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Ibid.
KANSAS MEETING. In another column will be found the proceedings of a
Kansas meeting lately held in this city. The resolutions there passed, we
endorse to the letter, and are in favor of having them carried out. The reso-
lutions are such as ever[y] true Missourian can subscribe to, they show the
citizens of Clay to be sound on the slavery question, and willing to adopt
ultra measures to rid ourselves of the squad of abolitionists, and Negro Steal-
ing Free-Soilers, who infest this state. If every county in the state would
speak as Clay has spoken, there would be no danger of Kansas becoming
a free state, or the citizens of Missouri being longer troubled with such nui-
sances as Abolitionists, and Free-soilers.
Ibid., July 13, 1854.
Attention is directed to the articles from the Weston papers, offering $200
reward for one Eli Thayer, principal of the "Massachusetts Emigrant Aid So-
ciety," an association for colonizing Kansas with Abolitionists and Northern
paupers, at the exclusion of citizens of slave-holding states. We hope the
individual may be found, and meet with just such a course of treatment that
one of his sort deserves hanging!!
Ibid., July 20, 1854.
A large company left this city on Tuesday last, for Kansas territory. They
took with them mechanical tools, and farming implements, for the purpose, we
suppose, of "making improvements" in the new territory. They are of the
"right stripe" and as soon as comfortably fixed will take slaves into the
territory.
TRAVEL BY STAGE
Copied from an early-day broadside.
HO! FOR KANSAS!
ELDRIDGE BROTHERS'
EXPRESS & DAILY
POST COACH LINE
Fare to Lawrence, $3.50
Through From Kansas City to Lecompton In One Day
One Daily Line from LAWRENCE to OSAWATOMIE, and Two Daily Lines
From LAWRENCE to LEAVENWORTH City.
Passengers by this Line have an opportunity of traveling over
the most attractive and cultivated portion of the Territory in
Splendid Four Horse Concord-built Coaches, and will save at least
TEN MILES of tedious travel, making it the Shortest, as well as the
Cheapest and most agreeable Route to the
INTERIOR OF KANSAS
Passengers leaving Kansas City by the Morning Line, breakfast
at Wyandott, dine at Wolf Creek, and arrive at Lecompton in
time for supper, making five changes of horses between Kansas
City and Lecompton.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 101
Express Freights taken at the Lowest Rates & delivered with
Promptness & Despatch.
Office, 109 Levee, Opposite the Steamboat Landing, Kansas City.
AGENTS. Kansas City, M. F. Caswell; Wyandotte & Lawrence, Eldridge
Bros. ; Leavenworth, Buckley.
S. W. ELDRIDGE, J. M. ELDRIDGB,
T. B. ELDRIDGE, E. S. ELDRIDGE, Prop's.
TRADE OF THE PLAINS
From Kansas National Democrat, Lecompton, August 30, 1860.
Some idea may be formed of the vast emigration and trade across the
Plains from the following figures:
During the present season, one hundred and fifty thousand persons have
crossed on the roads leading through Kansas alone. In freighting, traveling,
expressing, and carrying mails, 15,000 head of mules, 2,000 head of horses,
8,000 wagons, and 85,000 head of cattle are employed. The value of merchan-
dise shipped to New Mexico, Pike's Peak, Utah, and to military posts and
Indian traders' forts in the mountains, during the present season, is estimated
at $12,000,000, employing a capital of $5,500,000 and returning a profit of
$5,000,000, or fifty percent, which is about the average profit claimed by persons
engaged in the trade. Leavenworth Dispatch.
SHINPLASTERS
From Freedom's Champion, Atchison, June 14, 1862.
Our city is cursed with an innumerable quantity of miserably executed
Leavenworth shinplasters. We don't want them, and if Leavenworth bankers
persist in sending them out of their city, we advise our business men to adopt
a system of promptly returning them to the issuers. We have a chartered
bank which has always redeemed its issues in coin, and a responsible private
banker, and if desired, they would undoubtedly supply all the small notes
which our community would require, and of a quality which would not be
worn out after passing through a few hands.
WICHITA IN 1870
Excerpts from the Wichita Vidette, August 13, 1870.
We present, today, the first number of the Wichita Vidette. . . . Vidette!
That is the name of our paper. The word is from the French, who spell it
Vedette. It means an out-post, or picket, or rather "sentinel on horse back,"
as Webster hath it. As we conceive ourselves to be the sentinel or picket of
journalism in Southwestern Kansas, we claim the right to spell the word as
we see proper, and therefore print it Vidette. Of course we expect some smart
Aleck of a quill-driver will discover a mare's nest as soon as our title strikes
his eye; and we expect him to go for us on what he will imagine to be very
bad orthography, or at best a misprint. But we don't care a continental.
''Vidette" is the name of our paper, and we purpose having it known as
such. . . .
About ten miles southwest of Wichita, there is one of the greatest natural
102 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
curiosities in the world. It is the finest quality of salt imbedded in the earth
similar to a rock quarry. It can be easily obtained with but little labor, and
when pulverized (which is easily done), is similar to the Kanawa salt of
Virginia. This is where the Indians, from all parts of the plains, get their
supply of salt. This great salt plain is so extensive that there is no doubt
but at some time it will be of great value.
There is another natural curiosity, eight miles east of Wichita near the head
of Dry creek. It is a large apperture or cave, about thirty feet under ground,
through which flows a stream of pure clear water, containing several varieties
of fish. It was first discovered by Captain Payne, whose curiosity was excited
at finding a shallow ravine, along which was occasionally a hole that had ap-
parently been made by the earth being removed from the bottom which upon
investigation, proved to be correct.
Captain Payne made a rope fast a few feet back from the apperture, then
fastened the other end around his waist and descended into it through one
of those holes to this great cave. Its extent as yet has not been explored.
The distance from where the captain tapped this cavern to the foot of the
bluff is about a quarter of a mile. The water flows directly in that direction,
but sinks, as it approaches it, in the sand below. The height of the opening
is about three and a half feet, the width varies from two to nine feet. The
water flows south. The other end of this curious subterranean passage was
explored by the Captain and some other gentlemen a few days since, for a
distance, as they supposed, of about 500 yards. The main channel is nearly
straight. At a short distance from the opening there is a chamber of about
10 by 14 feet and six to six and a half feet high, with lime stone rock above
and sand stone below, perfectly dry. The sides are lime stone and yellow
clay. There are other chambers, the extent and formation of which we have
not yet learned. The Captain says he is determined to know more about this
curious cave just as soon as he can find time to give it a thorough examination.
The most singular part of this discovery is that fish should live where they are
entirely excluded from the light.
There is the finest quality of soil along the Little Arkansas river, Cowskin
and Chisholm creeks, and in fact along all tributaries of the great Arkansas
river from twenty miles above Wichita to forty miles below, than there is
in the United States, the Sciota Miami, and Great American bottoms not ex-
cepted. They are the most beautiful streams of clear running water, with level
bottoms that any country can boast of from which the inhabitants catch the
finest quality of black and yellow cat-fish, white bass, buffalo, and many other
varieties ; and as for wild game, it is far ahead of anything in the West. Along
all the streams wild turkeys are found in abundance. Prairie chickens abound
all over the valley, and, within a short distance immense herds of buffalo,
antelope, deer and elk are found. The farmer has only to take his team and
wagon, throw in sufficient bread-stuff to last him two or three days, a little
salt, some coffee, tin cup, coffee pot and frying pan, and strike out west or
south from twelve to twenty miles to get all the wild meat he wants to last
himself and family three months. The settlers are crowding the wild Indians
so far back that we have all these great hunting grounds to ourselves, un-
molested by them.
In 1868 General Lawrence, Durfee, Munger, and others began talking about
laying out a town; but it seems that the land could not be obtained for that
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 103
purpose. A year later Mr. Munger got a title to a part of the old town,
and laid it off in lots. He had several buildings put up, which gave it the
appearance of a town. Little else was done until about three months ago,
when William Griffinstein laid off a town south of the old town, since which
time buildings have been going up as fast as mechanics can do the work and
building materials furnished. At an early day steps were taken to secure the
publication of a newspaper, the first number of which is before you. . . .
Wood is cheap in this market only $4 per cord. . . . Sod corn here
will produce, this year, forty bushels to the acre. . . . Three thousand
head of cattle passed over the trail on Friday morning. A large herd came
in this morning. . . . The Texas cattle trail is now permanently located
at this point, and when railroads reach us, think, oh! wise men of the East,
and study a way to this cattle Mecca. ... A quarterly meeting of the
M. E. Church will be held in Wichita on Saturday and Sunday next. We
are glad to see so great an interest manifested in religious matters as is being
exhibited by the members of the different religious denominations. . . . We
are under many obligations to both stage lines, the Southern Kansas (Henry
Tisdale's), and Kansas Stage Co. (Terry & Co.). Both run a daily line to
Wichita. The managers spare no pains to accommodate the traveling public,
while their agents and drivers are as kind and courteous as men can well be.
. . . The Presbyterian church of this town are about erecting a very fine
church edifice. . . . Joe Irwin's bull train passed through here today, en
route for Harker. It came from Fort Sill, and had been on the road fifty-four
days. The stock was in first rate condition. The drivers informed us that
Wichita was on the most direct and best route between Forts Sill and Harker.
... A ball and party, gotten up in a very respectable way, and comparing
favorably with towns much older than we, was attended with great harmony
and good feeling, last night. The music was excellent, and the viands par-
taken of with a relish. . . . Last week, we in company with J. C. Burke
and Captain Payne, "went fishing" in the Little Arkansas about a mile and
a quarter above town. We had Mr. Burke 's net and fish-rack. This rack
consists of narrow plank framed together, and when a haul is made the fish
is taken from the net and placed in the rack, which is floated after the net.
We made five hauls and took out about 500 pounds of fish, the largest cat-fish
weighing fifty-two pounds gross. We like fishing when we can do as well as
we did this time.
DEAD NEWSPAPERS
From The Commonwealth, Topeka, April 2, 1875.
The following beautiful and touching obituary notices appear in the Cawker
City Tribune: "The Beloit Index has ascended the tin tube. It expired at
the early age of three months. The fierce struggle for corn meal and potatoes
was too much for it in these grasshopper times. Another good newspaper of-
fice will now become food for the sheriff. The Solomon valley is paved with
newspaper presses, as hell is with good intentions. They stand at every four
corners, monuments of warning to would be Greeleys and Bennetts. They
are all sacred to the memory of departed ambition and ruined hopes. Only
the bleaching buffalo bones outnumber them. Phillipsburg once had one.
Kirwin has one dead and one stored away. Cedarville once had it, and it
died. Osborne City killed one. Stockton was threatened with one. Cawker
City has borne up under the infliction of two of them, and now supports
104 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
one. The place where Lindley once stood is marked by an old hand press.
Solomon City gets away with about two a year, and this is not the first death
that has occurred in Beloit. It buried a Mirror once. But now McBride 'has
stepped down and out/ and the grief of Beloit is so great that she 'sits on
the ragged edge' and wishes she had never held out inducements to lure the
young 'Ibex' on to his ruin."
BUFFALO HUNTERS
From Dodge City Times, Aug. 18, 1877.
Dickinson county has a buffalo hunter named Mr. Warnock, who has
killed as high as 658 in one winter. Edwards County Leader.
Oh, dear ! What a mighty hunter ! Ford county has twenty men who each
has killed five times that number in one winter. The best on record, how-
ever, is that of Tom Dixon, who killed 120 at one stand in 40 minutes, and
who from the 15th of September to the 20th of October, killed 2,173 buffalo.
Come on with some big hunters now, if you have any.
CHIPS
From the Pearlette Call, April 15, 1879.
You know wood is scarce in Meade county, and coal is expensive, hence you
will doubtless wonder what we do for fuel.
Those who can afford it buy coal in Dodge, at $7 to $9 per ton, while
others, having teams, get some wood in the canyons east of us.
But the most of us burn chips buffalo chips we call them, but the majority
of those we find were doubtless dropped by Texas cattle when passing north.
These chips make a tolerable fair fire, but of course burn out very rapidly;
consequently to keep up a good fire you must be continually poking the
chips in and taking the ashes out. Still we feel very thankful for even this
fuel.
It was comical to see how gingerly our wives handled these chips at first.
They commenced by picking them up between two sticks, or with a poker.
Soon they used a rag, and then a corner of their apron. Finally, growing hard-
ened, a wash after handling them was sufficient. And now? Now it is out
of the bread, into the chips and back again and not even a dust of the
hands !
PROSPECTUS FOR A WESTERN KANSAS HUNT
From the Lakin Eagle, August 22, 1879.
HO FOR A BUFFALO HUNT! !
On The Plains of Western KANSAS.
In charge of CHARLES YOUNGBLOOD, The
Renowned Hunter of This Country.
A rare chance for INVALIDS and PLEASURE-
SEEKERS to spend a week among the herds
of wild HORSES, BUFFALO and ANTELOPE of
KANSAS and COLORADO.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 105
TOURISTS
must not forget that C. Henderson will commence to run his excursion train
over the WILD PRAIRIE in either direction for your accommodation, on the first
of October next, and CHARLES YOUNGBLOOD, will go as PILOT. Youngblood has
traversed the western plains for eight successive years, and knows it equal to
the "RED MAN," whom he has met frequently, and will show you many in-
teresting features, in connection with all kinds of WILD game found on the
plains or, "Great American Desert."
EXCURSION
These excursions will commence promptly on the first day of October next
and will be continued from time to time as occasions require, and start from
Lakin, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.
This enterprise will be managed by men of ability and integrity, who are
experienced frontiersmen, and will be under the immediate control of
CHARLES YOUNGBLOOD
a man who has been eight years on the BORDER, and is acquainted with the
whole country, from Dodge City, Kansas, to Pueblo, Colorado.
Mr. Youngblood is a man fifty-three years of age, rather under medium
height, dark complexioned, with keen piercing eyes, and dark hair sprinkled
with grey. He is safe, trustworthy and reliable, and proposes to find game
for all parties who go out under his leadership, or make no charge.
LAKIN
is situated on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, in Kearny county,
Kansas, and on the extreme frontier of civilization, but here the tourist and
pleasure-seekers can obtain as good hotel accommodations as are to be found
in the state, and at the stores of O'LOUGHLIN'S or GRAY & JONES', all the nec-
essary articles can be purchased to supply the wants of the excursion parties.
These parties are organized in the fall, for the reason that, that is the
most delightful of our seasons for travel and recreation.
A love of the chase is a passion inherent in everyone, and when it is for
game that is rare to Eastern people such as Buffalo, Antelope, and Wild
Horses, it is rendered doubly so; but here is an opportunity for all to get a
sight of those wonderful animals that they have only been acquainted with
in books and legends, and to breathe the pure and exhilarating air of the
MAGICAL PLAINS
of the West. The atmosphere of this country is so pure and dry that any
one can sleep at night in the open air with perfect impunity and in fact many
a one, suffering from pulmonary diseases or general debility, have been ef-
fectually cured by living a time in the camp of the hunter or stockman.
HUNTING EXCURSIONS
will be run exclusively for the benefit of Health and Pleasure seekers, and the
necessary out-fit for the accommodation of parties will be in readiness at the
time stated. MR YOUNGBLOOD
proposes to make one round trip for each week, and parties will be taken for
ONE DOLLAR per day each.
The herd of WILD HORSES, spoken of elsewhere is held within about a mile
of LAKIN, and will doubtless be an object of interest to all new comers.
Kansas History as Published
in the Press
Several articles relating to the early history of Anderson county
were published in the Garnett Review some months ago. The
county's historic sites were described by Harry Johnson in articles
appearing January 9, 23, February 6 and April 16, 1936. The sites
are being considered for marking by members of the county Woman's
Kansas Day Club. Valentine Gerth's early experiences in the
boundaries of the present county were discussed by his son, John
Gerth, of Lane, in the issue of February 27. Valentine Gerth was
reported to be the first white settler of the county. He went there
in 1854. Early life in Reeder township was discussed by M. C.
Reddington, now of Los Angeles, CaL, writing in the March 5 issue.
A series of feature articles entitled, "Little Journeys to the Homes
of Kansas Authors," by Adele Mehl Burnett, of Pittsburg, has been
appearing in the Kansas Teacher, of Topeka. The articles com-
menced in the April, 1936, issue.
"Know Your Kansas," or "Oddities in the History of Kansas," is
the heading for a weekly news release to newspapers of the state
from the Kansas office of the American Guide, the federal writer's
project of the Works Progress Administration. The series of re-
leases was started about June 1, 1936.
Ox teams in early Haskell county were discussed by William
Wallace in the Sublette Monitor, June 25, 1936.
A Lyons advertising letterhead of 1887, describing Lyons and Rice
county of that period, was reprinted in the Lyons Daily News,
August 8, 1936.
El Dorado banking history was reviewed in the El Dorado Times,
September 3, 1936. The Walnut Valley Bank, organized in 1871,
was the first bank in the city.
The history of Liberal's Christian Church was briefly sketched
in The Southwest Tribune, Liberal, September 10, 1936. The church
erected its present building in 1911.
Brief historical sketches are being contributed by F. A. Hobble
to the Dodge City Daily Globe for its Monday issues. The series,
labeled "In Young Dodge," is a continuation of a previous collection
appearing under the heading, "When Dodge Was Young."
(106)
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 107
The first decade of Gen. William J. Palmer's work as a Colorado
railroad builder, 1870-1880, was discussed by Dr. George L. Ander-
son, of the history division of Colorado College, Colorado Springs,
and a former staff member of the Kansas State Historical Society,
in the October, 1936, issue of Colorado College Publication, General
Series No. 209. The issuance of the 172-page review marked the
one hundredth anniversary of the birth of General Palmer, who was
a director of the old Kansas Pacific Railway Co. and the promoter
of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Co.
Historical features printed in the Neodesha Daily Sun in recent
months included: "History of Neodesha," by Mrs. Clinton Mc-
Glinn, in issues of October 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10, 1936; "Neodesha
Pioneers," by Mrs. Elaine White, October 13, 16 and 17, and "His-
tory of the Refinery," by Mrs. H. A. Lockard, November 24.
Sketches of Council Grove's Methodist, Congregational and Pres-
byterian churches were published in the Council Grove Republican,
October 10, 1936.
"Early Days of Liberal" was the title of a series of articles ap-
pearing from time to time in The Southwest Tribune, of Liberal.
The series, which started in the issue of October 15, 1936, was con-
tributed by Mrs. Clay G. Stevenson.
A four-column review of L. M. Foster's pioneering experiences in
Western Kansas was printed in the Hoxie Sentinel, October 15, 1936.
Over fifty views of Clay Center taken in 1887 were published in
the Clay Center Dispatch, October 16, 1936.
Drury J. Feild, who came to Bourbon county nearly seventy-eight
years ago, reminisced of early days in the county in an article ap-
pearing in the Fort Scott Tribune, October 17, 1936.
The origin of some of Ford county's place names was discussed in
an article in the Dodge City Journal, October 22, 1936.
Excerpts from Judge J. C. Ruppenthal's speech, "Ethnic Elements
of Ellis County," given before a meeting of the Hays Saturday
Afternoon Club were printed in the Hays Daily News, October 26,
1936.
The National Resources Board has published in Part VTI of the
Supplementary Report of the Land Planning Committee several
articles on the federal government's land policies which were pre-
pared in part by Paul W. Gates, recently of the Land Policy Section
of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, later the Resettle-
108 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ment Administration. The study is the result of nearly a year's
work and is a part of a much larger project Mr. Gates has under
way on the ''History of the Disposal of the Public Domain." Mr.
Gates spent several days the past summer doing research work in
the Kansas State Historical Society's collections before taking up
his new duties as a member of the faculty of Cornell University.
A picture of the first schoolhouse in Chanute was printed in the
Chanute Tribune, November 12, 1936.
Russell county's census of 1870 was discussed by Judge J. C.
Ruppenthal in his column, "Russell Rustlings," appearing in the
Luray Herald and several other western Kansas newspapers No-
vember 12, December 3 and 10, 1936.
A resume of Frank 0. Carr's history of the First National Bank of
Wichita which was read at the sixtieth anniversary banquet held in
Wichita November 16, 1936, was printed in the Wichita (Morning)
Eagle and Beacon, November 17. Mrs. Hiram W. Lewis, wife of the
late Colonel Lewis, founder of the bank, was an honored guest.
Original minutes of the drought convention of Shawnee county,
November 13, 1860, found in the home of Mrs. Dwight W. Whitney,
of Topeka, were discussed by Cecil Howes in the Kansas City (Mo.)
Times, November 17, 1936.
A brief biography of W. H. Lindsay, lieutenant governor of Kan-
sas, was published in the Kansas City (Mo.) Journal-Post, Novem-
ber 22, 1936.
The history of electric lighting in Cottonwood Falls was sketched
briefly in the Chase County Leader, November 25, 1936.
Bluff City's early history was recalled in the Bluff City News,
November 26, 1936. First lots for the new town were sold by the
Border Line and Town Co., on November 20, 1886.
A history of the Johnson Methodist Church, organized in 1886,
was outlined in the Johnson Pioneer, November 26, 1936.
The killing of the last buffalo in Cloud county during the winter
of 1872-1873 was recounted by G. F. Gray, of Tacoma, Wash., in
a letter printed in the Concordia Blade-Empire, November 30, 1936.
A history of Irving township, Brown county, was briefly reviewed
in the Hiawatha Daily World in its issues of November 30 and
December 3, 1936.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 109
"Robert J. Walker, Financial Agent to Europe, 1863-1864," a
paper written by Wirt A. Williams, head of the department of social
science at Delta State Teachers College, Cleveland, Miss., appeared
in the College's Bulletin for December, 1936. Mr. Walker was
governor of Kansas territory in 1857.
Historical articles featured in recent issues of the Pony Express
Courier, of Placerville, Cal., of interest to Kansans include: Decem-
ber, 1936 "Wikiup and Wakonda," "The Frontier Was Snaky," a
discussion of early-day place names, by George J. Remsburg; "The
Chisholm Trail," and "The Pony Express," a reprint from Hutch-
ing's California Magazine, of 1860. February, 1937 "The Great
Overland Trail in 1849," by Mr. Remsburg, and "Thomas J. Rana-
han," Pony Express rider, by John G. Ellenbecker. March, 1937
"Recollections of a Pioneer [Frank A. Doty] ," formerly of Topeka,
by Mr. Remsburg, and "John Phillips' Heroic Ride," by Mr. Ellen-
becker.
"Heretofore Unpublished Facts Concerning the Fleagle Gang,"
as recalled by Ben Strawn, former sheriff of Finney county, were
mentioned in an article in the Kinsley Graphic, December 3, 1936.
Papers read at a special meeting held on November 22, 1936, ob-
serving seventy-eight years of Methodism in Randolph, were printed
in the Randolph Enterprise, December 3, 1936.
"Kansas Governors Have Had a Long Line of Capable Secre-
taries," was the title of David D. Leahy's article appearing in the
Wichita Sunday Eagle, December 6, 1936.
The history of early-day Oatville, as recalled by Bernell Bigelow,
former postmaster, was related in an article in the Wichita (Even-
ing) Eagle, December 16, 1936.
Havensville newspaper history was reviewed in the Havensville
Review, December 17, 1936.
The history of Santa Fe, Haskell county ghost town, was outlined
in the Sublette Monitor, December 17, 1936.
A history of the lot on the southwest corner of Douglas avenue at
Market street in Wichita was sketched by Victor Murdock, in the
Wichita (Evening) Eagle, December 18, 1936.
Regular train service between Kansas City and Lawrence began
seventy-two years ago, the Kansas City (Mo.) Star recalled in an
article published December 19, 1936.
110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The work of Beatrice Paddock of the reference division of the
Wichita City Library in translating parts of Margry's publication
of the memoirs and documents of several French explorers who
traveled over present Kansas and Oklahoma nearly two centuries
ago was discussed by Bliss Isely in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, De-
cember 20, 1936, and the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, February 4,
1937. A detailed history of the Wichita Immanuel Lutheran Church
was also published in the same issue of the Eagle.
"Father Padilla Died as a Christian Martyr in Kansas 400 Years
Ago," was the title of a feature article by Cecil Howes in the Kan-
sas City (Mo.) Times, December 24, 1936.
Wichita high school in the middle 1880's was described by Mollie
Wilson, of Wellington, in the Wichita Eagle, December 27, 1936.
The early history of Tennessee Bend, Butler county, as recorded
by N. P. Reid, was discussed by Victor Murdock in the Wichita
(Evening) Eagle, December 28, 1936.
"Narratives of a Missionary Journey to New Mexico in 1867,"
edited by Thomas F. O'Connor, was the title of an article appearing
in the January, 1937, issue of Mid- America, of Chicago. The
article briefly referred to encounters with Indians while journeying
across Kansas.
Location of oil pools opened in Kansas in 1936, names of opera-
tors, and initial production of the discovery wells was summarized
in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, January 3, 1937.
The Fowler News sketched its history in its issue of January 7,
1937.
A special inaugural edition of The Advocator, of Topeka, was is-
sued January 7, 1937, preceding the inauguration of W T alter A.
Huxman as governor of Kansas on January 11. The edition re-
viewed the accomplishments of the various federal agencies operat-
ing in the state and sketched the history of the Democratic party
in Kansas.
Reno county's history was briefly outlined in the Hutchinson
Record, January 8, 1937. The county was organized in 1872.
A biographical sketch of Gov. Walter A. Huxman, as presented
in a speech delivered by Bruce Kurd at a recent Topeka Chamber
of Commerce dinner for Governor Huxman, was printed in the
Topeka State Journal, January 11, 1937.
Kansas Historical Notes
The Franklin County Historical Society was organized at a meet-
ing held in Ottawa, February 20, 1937. A. P. Elder, 82-year-old
Ottawan who has lived in Kansas nearly 79 years, was elected
president. Other officers elected were: B. M. Ottaway, Ottawa,
first vice-president; Asa F. Converse, Wellsville, second vice-presi-
dent; Howard Rounds, Ottawa, recording secretary; Mrs. B. M.
Ottaway, corresponding secretary; W. G. Tulloss, Rantoul, treas-
urer; directors, one-year terms, W. S. Jenks, Ottawa, R. H. Lister,
Wellsville, Mrs. M. L. Robinson, Princeton; directors, two-year
terms, Ernest Bohnet, Mrs. R. S. Gault, Richmond, Hiram Welton,
Rantoul; directors, three-year terms, Dana Needham, Lane, Mary
McLindon, Williamsburg, S. F. Harris, Ottawa. The constitution
and bylaws as prepared by B. M. Ottaway, A. P. Elder and Mrs.
H. L. Kennedy were adopted for the society.
Judge Otis E. Hungate was elected president of the Shawnee
County Old Settlers' Association at a meeting held in Topeka, De-
cember 5, 1936. Other officers elected were: Frank Washburn,
vice-president, and Alice Meade, secretary. William A. Biby was
the principal speaker of the session.
A History of Anderson County, Kansas, written by Harry John-
son and published by the Garnett Review, was issued late in De-
cember, 1936. Mr. Johnson spent several years in research, and
during the past few years as a result of these investigations, numer-
ous historical articles have appeared in Garnett newspapers under
his signature. This new addition to Kansas county history shows
thorough familiarity with the subject, and the quality of printing
produced by the publisher maintains a high standard. Included in
the six-section 383-page book are: A resume of two former histories
of the county's early settlement; news briefs from newspaper files,
1867 to 1933; stories of the settlement, industries and natural re-
sources of the county; historical sketches of the district schools;
pioneer and other reminiscences, and histories of the county's pres-
ent and "ghost" towns.
One of the best Kansas books of recent years is People of Kan-
sas, a Kansas State Planning Board publication of 1936, written and
compiled under the direction of Carroll D. Clark and Roy L. Rob-
(111)
112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
erts. The book makes the population factor the central interest,
and is concerned primarily with the growth, sources, distribution,
composition, shif tings, and adjustments of the Kansas inhabitants.
William Allen White wrote in the foreword: "This book ... is
a most interesting study. It has been carefully done a scholarly
work. More than any other book I have read, this book explains
why Kansas is Kansas; why it is not, for instance, Oklahoma, and
not Nebraska, certainly not Missouri nor Colorado."
A fascinating story of family life on the Kansas plains in the last
quarter of the nineteenth century was told by Dr. John Ise, of Law-
rence, in his recent book Sod and Stubble, published by Wilson-
Erickson, Inc., of New York City. The author sets forth with
sincere regard the heroic part played by a pioneer woman his
mother who at the age of seventeen married a young German
farmer and moved to a homestead in north central Kansas, where
she reared eleven of her twelve children, and, remembering regret-
fully her own half-day in school, sent nine of them through college.
D
THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
Volume VI Number 2
May, 1937
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
w. c. AUSTIN, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1937
16-7954
Contributors
LEWIS E. ATHERTON is an instructor in history at the University of Mis-
souri, Columbia.
MARTHA B. CALDWELL is a member of the staff of the Kansas State His-
torical Society.
GEORGE A. ROOT is curator of archives of the Kansas State Historical Society.
ROBERT TAFT is professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
NOTE. Articles in the Quarterly appear in chronological order without re-
gard to their importance.
Disorganizing Effects of the Mexican War
on the Santa Fe Trade
LEWIS E. ATHERTON
THE Santa Fe trade was among the safer occupations followed by
residents of the West. Violence was not unknown, however, and
the use of military escorts attests the dangers frequently arising to
confront those engaging in the trade. Troubles were intensified for
the Santa Fe merchants during the years 1846 to 1848, a period
which saw the United States and Mexico engaged in war. Normally
such a status ends all trade between the warring countries, but, in
spite of the dangers involved, American goods continued to reach
Santa Fe markets during the struggle.
The disastrous expedition of Samuel Owens and James Aull to
Santa Fe in 1846 illustrates in many ways the obstacles created by
the war time conditions. No claim is made that the experiences of
these two traders were typical in all respects of the problems en-
countered by merchants during the war. Some merchants disposed
of their goods in less time than did Owens and Aull, some escaped
the necessity of serving in the army, and other merchants were
spared their violent deaths. In general, however, the problems of
this one firm were the problems of all other merchants involved.
When the story of Owens and Aull departs from the usual run of
experience it is generally in the direction of greater troubles than
those faced by the average trader. Their difficulties, therefore,
serve to illustrate how the Mexican War increased the possibilities
of trouble for those engaged in the Santa Fe trade.
The troubles encountered by Owens and Aull cannot be charged
to personal failings or inexperience. These men had been merchants
in western Missouri for a number of years. From 1831 to 1836,
James Aull headed the firm of "James and Robert Aull," a company
with stores at Lexington, Liberty, Richmond and Independence, Mo. 1
In this capacity he traveled widely, making yearly trips to the At-
lantic seaboard to purchase goods and occasional trips to New
Orleans for groceries. Trappers, government forts, Indian missions
and Santa Fe traders were among his customers, giving him a wide
acquaintance with frontier life. In the early 1830's he invested in
Missouri river steamboats, opened a rope walk at Liberty, Mo.,
1. "James and Robert Aull A Frontier Missouri Mercantile Firm," Lewis E. Atherton
Missouri Historical Review, v. XXX (1935), pp. 3-27.
(115)
116 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and built his own flour mill. But in 1836 an increasing load of debt
caused the dissolution of the firm, and for the next ten years Aull
devoted his time to the operation of the store at Lexington.
To a man so recently in the very center of things the new arrange-
ment must have been dull, for Lexington was rapidly losing its
favored position in western trade to Independence. The records of
Aull's business during this period are fragmentary, and it is impos-
sible to estimate the decline in the volume of his trade. 2 The one
store, however, could not reach the trade area formerly served by
the chain, and this, coupled with the decline of Lexington in the
Santa Fe trade, limited his business activities to a relatively small
field. Under these circumstances it was only natural for his interest
to turn to the direct trade with Santa Fe, an enterprise with which
he was well acquainted. In the 1830's, while Lexington still had
hopes of competing with Independence, Aull had sold goods to the
traders annually. In 1832 he sent his own agent to Santa Fe with
a supply of merchandise. His primary reason for not personally
continuing in the trade after that time came from the difficulty he
experienced in disposing of goods in Santa Fe in time to meet his
credit obligations in the East. 3 Thus his mercantile experience and
his knowledge of the Santa Fe trade, gained over a period of years,
were sufficiently great to give him every prospect of success in the
venture he was undertaking.
The dissolution of the Aull chain of stores in 1836 resulted in
the formation of a partnership between a younger brother, Robert
Aull, and Samuel Owens, to continue the business at Independence.
Owens was a self-made man, having started out as James' "head
man" at Independence when the chain was formed. Through the
years he had gradually added to his wealth and position as a busi-
ness man. In 1844 he purchased Robert's interest and became the
sole proprietor of the store at that place. By that time he had be-
come known in the Santa Fe trade, having the reputation of being
a kind and liberal man who would "furnish wagons, teams, provi-
sions, and general outfit for credit" to those engaging in the trade
to the southwest. 4 Thus as an Independence merchant Owens nat-
2. Letter books, invoice books, and account books for the firm of James and Robert Aull
are complete for the years 1831-1837. A gap exists in the record to the letter book of Robert
Aull, covering the period from November 20, 1847, to November 13, 1851. "Aull Collection,"
Lexington (Mo.) Historical Society, hereafter cited as "L. B. V."
3. James Aull, "Letter Book," January 3, 1830, to February 14, 1833. Entry dated
November 3, 1832.
4. James J. Webb, Adventures in the Santa Fe Trade 18M-1&47 (v. I, The Southwest
Historical Series, ed. by Ralph P. Bieber, Glendale, California, 1931), pp. 42 and 274. Webb
mentions the fact that Owens occasionally sent goods of his own, but gives no estimate of
the extent of this business.
ATHERTON: MEXICAN WAR AND SANTA F6 TRADE 117
urally became interested in the Santa Fe trade, and found a ready
partner in his former employer who saw in the Mexican trade an
opportunity to enter once more the main current of western com-
merce. As a result, the two men formed a partnership and set out
for Santa Fe in the spring of 1846 with a $70,000 stock of goods.
They could hardly have chosen a less propitious time. Mexican
animosity towards the United States had increased as a result of
the annexation of Texas; rumors of war had become increasingly
current, and this would mean that the entry ports for goods in the
Santa Fe trade would in all likelihood be blockaded. If war devel-
oped the merchant would find himself in enemy territory, his goods
a free prize to a population willing to pay a high price for American
products in more peaceful times. To forestall such a contingency,
one group of traders left Independence early in May, 1846, and by
rapid travel reached Santa Fe in forty-five days. Trouble devel-
oped, however, when they journeyed south to Chihuahua, the trad-
ers being held prisoners for a time before being allowed to start the
sale of their goods. Men of English, German, and French nation-
ality received preferred treatment, and at least one American trader
was reduced to the necessity of traveling as assistant wagonmaster
under a Prussian Jew, and with his goods under the man's protec-
tion. 5
The group of traders of which Owens and Aull were members did
not leave Independence until the latter part of May. They had
traveled only three hundred miles when they were overtaken by a
detail from S. W. Kearny's command and required to wait at the
Pawnee Fork until the main body of troops arrived. The remainder
of the journey was then made in the rear of the American troops,
with progress so slow that Santa Fe was not reached until August.
A peaceful commercial undertaking had thus become involved in
the Mexican War, valuable time had been lost, and the matter of
disposing of the goods had been plunged into the greatest uncer-
tainty. War Department orders to Kearny to detain the traders
were based on the belief that the merchandise would be confiscated
in Santa Fe if military protection were not provided. Military
authorities thought the least the traders could have expected, had
they been allowed to proceed without protection, was detention in
Santa Fe. In such a contingency the Mexican merchants would
have preceded the Americans to the southern markets, and placed
5. This man was James J. Webb, Adventures in the Santa Fe Trade 1844-1847, pp. 180,
26?-264.
118 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
them at a disadvantage in the disposal of their wares. 6 The mer-
chants involved did not concur in these views, but found it impos-
sible to alter the course of events.
Kearny's protection ended in Santa Fe, and the traders then set
out for the markets of Chihuahua. The caravan camped for two
weeks near the ruins of Valverde, however, in the hopes of obtain-
ing news of conditions to the south. There they were overtaken by
a detachment of Col. A. W. Doniphan's regiment of Missouri volun-
teers, under the command of Captain Walton, and were required
to wait until Colonel Doniphan arrived. 7 The period at Valverde
preceding the arrival of the troops was not a pleasant one, rumors
of a Mexican attack keeping the group in a state of alarm. The
traders exceeded three hundred in number and had formed a corral
of their wagons for defense. But such measures did not conceal the
fact that it would be useless to resist a Mexican army. Further-
more the patriotism of the American made no appeal to the foreign
traders when the governor of Chihuahua tossed in an apple of dis-
cord by instructing merchants to dismiss American drivers in favor
of Mexicans, with the assurance that those who did so could bring
in goods free of duty. Most of the Mexican and English traders
complied with the order, but the Americans remained adamant.
The situation was not helped any by the offer of the British agent
in Chihuahua to have the caravan proceed under his protection, a
scheme particularly appealing to the traders of that nationality.*
The arrival of Doniphan put an end to the arguments, and the
traders followed his troops into El Paso del Norte, taking advantage
of the occasion to make a few small sales. But military restric-
tions proved irksome, some attempting to escape Doniphan's con-
trol and others getting into difficulties with him over endeavors to
communicate with Chihuahua. 9 Doniphan finally decided to push
on to that city, but rumors of superior Mexican forces caused him
to order the creation of a "Traders battalion" of two companies, to
be commanded by "Major" Samuel Owens, one of the two part-
ners. 10 The procedure was very unusual, to say the least. Doni-
phan was commanding only a volunteer regiment, and without
authority from the War Department had converted a group of
6. "Report of Committee on Claims," House Reports, 30 Cong., 1 sess., No. 458, pp. 1-2.
7. Ibid., pp. 2-3.
8. John T. Hughes, "Diary," Thursday, October 26, to Friday, December 4, 1846. In
John T. Hughes, Doniphan's Expedition and the Conquest of New Mexico and California, ed.
by William E. Connelley, Topeka, 1907.
9. Hughes, "Diary," January 2, February 4, 1847.
10. "Report of Committee on Claims," p. 4. The order was issued February 9, 1847.
ATHERTON: MEXICAN WAR AND SANTA FE TRADE 119
Santa Fe merchants into "soldiers." The Mexicans easily might
have seized them and their goods later on the clearly legal grounds
that they were a military expedition.
The general story of the battle of Sacramento, fought on Feb-
ruary 28, 1847, lies outside our present narrative. It is important
here because of the consequences for the firm of Owens and Aull.
Few Americans were killed in the battle, but Major Owens was
among the casualties. There are innumerable stories of how he met
death. Doniphan says that he lost his life by excessive rashness,
riding up to a redoubt filled with armed men and continuing to fire
his pistols until both he and his horse fell under the return fire. 11
James J. Webb was told by one of Owens' men that the major prob-
ably courted death because of family troubles and had shaved and
dressed in clean clothes just before the battle. Webb also reports
that only the horse was killed in the first firing and that Owens was
pinned beneath it. Thus the Mexicans were able to kill Owens and
strip him of his valuables. 12 William E. Connelley cites the story
that he was killed by the spears of the Mexicans, and that his seem-
ing rashness is to be explained as the result of the machinations of
a cabal which stopped the general charge by the troops in order
to give an officer named Reid the honor of winning the battle. Still
another account pictures the major as charging with a shout of
"Give it to them, boys ! They can't withstand us," and falling two
minutes later with a grape shot through the forehead, and so close
to the gun that the fire burned his clothes. 13 Indeed, Samuel Owens
died as many different deaths as there are sources reporting on him.
The funeral was in harmony with the importance of the death of
the major. Burial took place "with great pomp" in Chihuahua after
that city was occupied on March 1, 1847. A "coffin with trimmings"
was obtained, costing seventy dollars only a little more expensive
than the bill for wax candles, an item which totaled sixty-five. 14
The burden of caring for the goods of the firm was now left to
James Aull. After Chihuahua was occupied the traders were free
to dispose of their goods, their objective when they left Independ-
ence ten long months before. Danger had not disappeared even yet,
however, for if Doniphan should depart the merchants would be at
the mercy of the Mexicans. Consequently, a petition was presented
11. Daily Missouri Republican, St. Louis, June 18, 1847.
12. Webb, pp. 274-275.
13. Doniphan's Expedition, footnote 107. Connelley gives a number of versions by men
who participated in the battle.
14. Owens and Aull, "Day Book," containing invoices of goods from February 14, 1846,
and letters and entries from January 28, 1847. Entry dated March, 1847. Hereafter cited
as "D. B. I."
120 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to Doniphan asking him to make known his plans, a request he was
unable to answer until he received orders from his superior officers.
This uncertainty furthered the willingness of the merchants to sell
at sacrifice prices on a market which would have been sluggish, even
in a normal year, as the result of such heavy importations of
goods. 15
But James Aull was unwilling to be stampeded. For several
years in the 1830's he had undergone a yearly battle to get his goods
through from Philadelphia in time to serve the spring trade of four
stores, and in spite of the primitive condition of transportation he
had always succeeded. Schooled to expect difficulties, he was un-
willing to admit defeat. So he set to work to sell the goods of
Owens and Aull as fast as he could, but only at prices that would
pay dividends on the venture. Even the slow journey down had
been turned to profit, the account book of the firm containing
numerous entries of sales made to the troops under whose protec-
tion Aull had traveled. On April 3, 1847, for example, he was able
to send pay accounts of officers and drafts for army supplies in
excess of $15,000, to Rich and Pomeroy at Santa Fe, to be forwarded
to his brother Robert at Lexington. Some of the money came from
acting as middleman for the troops, his difficulties not preventing
him from buying provisions from the Mexicans and quoting pork
and mutton to the army at profitable figures. Nor were the profits
to remain idle after they were delivered in Lexington, for James
instructed Robert to invest the proceeds in treasury notes at five
and six percent interest if they could be obtained at par. 16 Thus
dangers from a state of war had not deterred him from embracing
the opportunities created by the predicament in which he found
himself.
Meanwhile the sale of goods continued. By taking a note he was
able to sell a load of goods to Santiago Ulivarri at St. Miguel for
$1,260. By the last of May his brother-in-law, E. W. Pomeroy, at
Santa Fe, was able to send $16,000 to Lexington, and at about the
same time Owens' nephew, Harrison, left for Independence with
seventy-five mules, six wagons, and $1,250 in money. 17 Obviously
the goods rapidly were being liquidated, but a second major catas-
trophe was now to descend on the firm.
Doniphan had finally received orders from Gen. Zachary Taylor
to join him at Saltillo. What were the traders to do? If they re-
is. Doniphan's Expedition, pp. 453-455, 465-466.
16. "D.B.I."
17. E. W. Pomeroy to Robert Aull, May 29, 1847, Aull MSS.
ATHERTON: MEXICAN WAR AND SANTA F TRADE 121
mained they would be without protection. If they accompanied the
troops there was small prospect of disposing of their goods. Don-
iphan attempted to help them by the negotiation of a treaty with
Governor Trias to provide for the neutrality of Chihuahua, but his
effort failed. On the twenty-fifth of April Doniphan ordered the
evacuation of the city, and by the twenty-eighth all had obeyed, ex-
cept a very few traders who were unwilling to sacrifice their goods.
Among the latter was James Aull. His friends in Santa Fe realized
his precarious position, and Pomeroy, in his letter of May 29, 1847,
could give Robert little assurance of his brother's safety. Persons
of influence in Chihuahua had promised protection, but were un-
willing to answer for the mob. Misgivings must have filled the
minds of these merchants as they watched the scene which greeted
their eyes on the morning of April 28, 1847 "The army and a part
of the traders were moving off in the direction of Saltillo, while a
bustling train of merchants were hurrying out at the other end of
the city in the direction of Santa Fe; the skulky Mexican soldiers
and lawless rabble rejoicing at our departure from the capitol, and
Mexican girls dressed as men accompanying their sweethearts on the
road to Saltillo." 18
Shortly after Doniphan left the remaining traders agreed to pay
the legal rates of duty on the imported goods, in return for which
they were to receive protection. On the evening of June twenty-
third, however, while alone in his store, James was attacked by four
Mexicans and fatally stabbed in the back, and most of the available
money and goods taken. 19 The act was motivated solely by the
hope of plunder, and the municipal authorities made what recom-
pense they could by apprehending the culprits and giving James a
big funeral. But the second of the two partners had now met his
death, and the property of the firm was in danger of being confis-
cated.
The Mexican authorities appointed a "depositary" for the goods,
and from June to August they were stored in two rooms for which
the heirs of the estate were charged twenty-five cents a day. The
"depositary," John Mandri, proved himself to be a good bookkeeper.
He collected $4,323.19, from the sale of wagons and harness and
from debtors of the estate. His accounts show that he paid out
exactly the same amount for translating, customs, fines for illegal
inclusion of powder and whiskey in the goods, transportation, and
18. John T. Hughes in the Liberty (Mo.) Weekly Tribune, July 3, 1847.
19. Hughes, Doniphan's Expedition, p. 477.
122 THE KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
rent. 20 But this was at least better than the confiscation of all the
goods, a rumor which was current for a time.
On August 8, Pomeroy with several others left Santa Fe for
Chihuahua to settle the estate. Apache Indians had been ter-
rorizing the Mexicans along the route and Pomeroy 's party was at-
tacked, but managed to escape with the loss of only three mules and
three hundred dollars worth of provisions. Fortune continued with
them, and they were able to obtain possession of the goods about
the middle of October. These proved to be principally lienzo, a
bleached goods for which there was little demand. The partners had
originally planned to sell these farther south, but, as there was now
no hope of getting permission to make the journey, two retail stores
were opened in Chihuahua. 21 By November 15 a third store was
in operation and $9,000 worth of goods had been sold.
A Doctor Connelley, who had engaged in ventures with Owens in
Chihuahua in 1843, was appointed legal representative for the estate
under a bond of over $150,000. Power of attorney had to be ob-
tained if the estate was to be kept out of the courts, and Pomeroy
urged that a trip be made to Pittsburg, Pa., from Lexington, Mo.,
to get the Mexican consul there to certify the papers. The situation
at Chihuahua was grave, and the difficulty of communicating with
the outside world is shown by the fact that copies of Pomeroy 's
letter were sent out both by way of Santa Fe and Vera Cruz, in the
hope that at least one letter would get through. Pomeroy closed his
urgent request with the words, "Remember that we are in H-ll and
wish to be transferred to a better place." ' In spite of the appeal
for haste the papers were not ready until March 4, 1848, at which
time the required authorization was sent to Chihuahua. 23
The Mexicans had permitted the sale of the goods to continue,
however, and by January, 1848, the estate had been liquidated, with
the exception of forty bales of bleached cotton. Pomeroy estimated
that there was enough of this article in Chihuahua to supply the
demand for two years. Otherwise the goods sold at an excellent
price. The cost of the original outfit had been $70,000. Duties and
expenses connected with the liquidation brought the total invested
to $100,000. Pomeroy had hoped to realize a net profit of $30,000
20. "D. B. I."
21. Joseph P. Hamelin to Robert Aull, October 31, 1847, Aull MSS. Hamelin was a clerk
for James Aull.
22. E. W. Pomeroy to Robert Aull, November 22, 1847, Aull MSS.
23. Robert Aull to John Potts, March 4, 1848, "L. B. V."
ATHEBTON: MEXICAN WAR AND SANTA F6 TRADE 123
from the expedition, but when the books were closed it was found
that the venture had barely cleared expenses. 24
Owens and Aull had left Independence in 1846 with reasonable
expectations of disposing of their goods in six months at an excel-
lent profit. Conditions created by the war had lengthened the time
to two years, taken the lives of the two men and destroyed the pros-
pects of a profit. Prompt action on the part of Santa Fe friends of
the men had prevented the last possible disaster, the confiscation of
the cargo.
24. Robert Aull to Siter, Price & Company, July 14, 1848, ibid.
The Stubbs
MARTHA B. CALDWELL
AFTER the invasion of the polls by the Proslavery forces at the
election of March 30, 1855, the Free State settlers began to
organize to defend their rights. In Lawrence two companies, of
about fifty members each, were formed, and an agent was dispatched
to Boston to secure arms. One of these companies, Kansas Rifles
No. 1, organized on April 16, 1855, was, according to Joseph Crack-
lin, 1 its captain, the "first military company organized in Kansas,
and the only one that preserved its organization until the close of
the war and many years after." 2
During the summer of 1855 the Kansas Rifles drilled daily and
served as part of a "standing army" for the protection of Lawrence.
In November of that year when the arrest and rescue of Jacob
Branson precipitated the Wakarusa war, they were among the first
to enroll in the Free State army, being mustered in on November 27,
1855, as Company A, First regiment Kansas Volunteers, First bri-
gade. This company and another were quartered in the Kansas
Free State printing office, during which time the paper was sus-
pended. R. G. Elliott states that Company A was so "vociferous"
for an attack on the Proslavery forces that it threatened mutiny
when the peace treaty was signed, and it was only when Gov. Charles
Robinson assured them that the "unratified and unproclaimed treaty
was not a surrender but a triumph of diplomacy" that the mutineers
were quelled. 3 Immediately after peace was made the Free State
army was disbanded.
About a year after its organization the Kansas Rifles officially
adopted the name Stubbs. Most of the men who composed the com-
1. Joseph Cracklin was born in Boston, Mass., May 2, 1816. He was educated in the
public schools of Boston, and at the age of sixteen went to sea, where he remained for twelve
years, rising to the command of a vessel. Lured to California by the gold rush of 1849, he
engaged in mining for two years and then returned home by way of the Isthmus. In 1854
he again set out for the west with the second party of the Emigrant Aid Company. On
reaching Lawrence he decided to remain and aid the Free State cause. He was one of the
original members of the Lawrence Town Company. As captain of the Stubbs, he took an
active part in the border trouble. During the impending attack upon Lawrence in September,
1856, he resigned his Stubbs captaincy to receive a commission as lieutenant colonel from
Gen. James Lane. He was again elected captain of the Stubbs in 1857, serving until 1859.
In the Civil War Captain Cracklin served successively as captain of Company D, Second
Kansas Volunteer infantry, battalion adjutant in the Second Kansas Volunteer cavalry and
second lieutenant of Hopkins battery of the same regiment. He was mustered out in Decem-
ber, 1862. Returning home, he was under medical care for some time for disabilities caused
by a sunstroke received in the sendee. He then engaged in the real estate business in Law-
rence and served as city marshal for a number of terms. He was married in 1847 to Miss
Julia A. McDuffy, who died ten years later. In 1858 he married Miss Emily Dunlap. After
a long illness he died August 2, 1881.
2. Lawrence Gazette, April 5, 1883.
3. R. G. Elliott to Katharine Mayo, August 6, 1908, Elliott papers, Kansas State His-
torical Society.
(124)
CALDWELL: THE STUBBS 125
pany were of short stature, one squad under Sgt. Jonas Colburn
being called the "stumpy squad." While in camp on April 6, A. D.
Searle moved to change the name to "Stubbs" because the "Stumpies
were in the majority." 4 The motion carried and on April 24 a meet-
ing was held whereby the organization was perfected under the new
name. 5 In December of the same year the company also endorsed
the title of "Oread Guards" as its name in compliment to the ladies
of the Oread Female Institute, of Worcester, Mass., who had made
and presented each member with a water-proof overcoat. These
they proudly displayed in a parade on Christmas day.
During the border trouble of 1856 the Stubbs were continually in
the field. They participated in the attack on the Proslavery forces
at New Georgia and at Franklin, and they took part in the capture
of Fort Saunders and Fort Titus. In September they joined Col.
James A. Harvey's command, which, in response to Lane's call for
reinforcements, marched to the attack at Hickory Point. Though
they succeeded in capturing the place, the adventure proved dis-
astrous. On the return journey to Lawrence they were captured by
the federal troops, marched to Lecompton, and imprisoned; some
being confined for several months. The prisoners apparently re-
ceived no undue favors, for they felt impelled to issue an appeal to
the "American People" from their "Great Political Prison," in which
they set forth the circumstances of their capture and the hardships
they endured at the hands of the Proslavery guards. This appeal
appeared in the Herald of Freedom, of Lawrence, November 15,
1856, signed by ninety-eight prisoners, at least twenty of whom were
members of the Stubbs. The list of names included Capt. A. Cutler,
F. B. Swift, E. D. Lyman and L. D. Coleman. Their trial was held
at the October term of court. Many were acquitted and some were
convicted, six members of the Stubbs being among the latter. By
March, 1857, all had either escaped or had been pardoned.
Following the border troubles the Stubbs continued their organ-
ization, and in February, 1858, obtained a charter from the Terri-
torial legislature. They also revised their constitution and bylaws.
These articles, which are here reproduced, are interesting examples
of the rules and regulations governing the many local military or-
ganizations popular throughout the country at that time.
4. Leavenworth Press, December 18, 1879.
5. Lawrence Gazette, April 5, 1883.
6. Herald of Freedom, Lawrence, December 13, 1856.
126 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
CONSTITUTION OF THE STUBBS T
WHEREAS, the Stubbs organized themselves, upon the 16th day of April,
1855, for the protection of Lawrence and the people of Kansas; and whereas a
Constitution and By-Laws which were then adopted were imperfect in many
respects, having been hastily drawn up and adopted at a time when it was
more our duty to look after the welfare of Kansas than the perpetuity of our
Company;
Therefore Resolved, That we deem it necessary that our former Constitu-
tion and By-Laws be altered or amended to meet the present necessities of
the Company, and we the undersigned bind ourselves to be governed by the
following Constitution and By-Laws:
SECTION 1. This Company shall be known as the "STUBBS," and shall be
composed of any number of men not to exceed sixty-four rank and file.
SEC. 2. The military officers of this Company shall consist of five commis-
sioned and ten noncommissioned officers, and the civil officers shall consist of
six, all of whom shall be elected upon the last Thursday in February in each
year, and whose term of office shall be one year; the commissioned officers to
be elected by ballot, all others viva voce.
SEC. 3. The commissioned officers shall consist of one Captain, three Lieu-
tenants, and one Surgeon; and the noncommissioned officers, one Ensign, five
Sergeants, and four Corporals; and the civil officers, one Recording and one
Corresponding Secretary, one Treasurer, and three Trustees.
SEC. 4. The duties of commissioned and noncommissioned officers shall be
the same as lain down in Cooper's Manual, with the exception of fifth Ser-
geant, whose duty it shall be, in addition to his other duties, to take charge of
the field piece, and see that it is kept in perfect order.
SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the Captain to preside at all of the meetings
of the Company, and in case of absence the senior officer present shall preside.
SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the Recording Secretary to keep a strict
account of all the proceedings of the Company, and of all money received by
the Company, and to receive and pay over the same to the Treasurer and take
his receipt for the same; to keep an account of all fines against members of
the Company, and enter them in a book to be kept for that purpose, and to
give credit for the same when paid; to keep a journal of all the battles in
which the Company took a part, and their action therein.
SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the Corresponding Secretary to carry on all
correspondence for the Company; to keep a copy of all letters sent, in a book
to be used for that purpose, and file all letters received; to hand over to the
Treasurer all moneys received by letter, and take receipts for the same.
SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to keep a strict account of all
monies paid to him belonging to the Company, and to pay over to the Re-
cording Secretary all money from the treasury not otherwise appropriated
which he may demand on order signed by himself, and countersigned by the
Captain, and no money shall be paid in any other way, and keep a strict ac-
count of all such money so paid over, and carefully file away all such orders,
and at any time to be ready to make a report when called for by the Company.
7. The constitution and bylaws of the Stubbs were presented to the Kansas State His-
torical Society by Mrs. Mary S. Learnard of Lawrence, Kansas.
CALDWELL: THE STUBBS 127
SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the Trustees to receive and preserve all
deeds, bonds, or other writings for property, which may be received for the
Company, and a duplicate of all leases which may be given or received by the
Company, and have them properly recorded in the office of the county tri-
bunal transacting such business, and to keep a correct record of all such papers
in a book to be kept for that purpose, and to see that all such writings for the
Company be made out in the name of the "Stubbs," and to sign in the name
of the Stubbs all deeds, mortgages, leases, articles of agreement, and other
writings, when so directed by a vote of the majority of members present at
any of the stated meetings of the Company, or at a called meeting, when two
thirds of the members shall have been previously notified of such meeting by
hand-bills posted or otherwise; to make contracts for the purchase and sale
of property, always subject to a vote of the Company, and to see that deeds
be procured where bonds have already been given.
SEC. 10. The Company shall be divided into three rolls Active, Honorary
and Retired Rolls.
SEC. 11. The Active Roll shall consist of all active members of the Com-
pany, who shall at all times hold themselves in readiness to go into active
service, and shall be subject to fines and other punishments, for disobedience
to their officers, or non-attendance of meetings and drills of the Company.
SEC. 12. The Honorary Roll shall be composed of persons who may or may
not have been upon the Active Roll of the Company, who shall receive none
of the benefits to which active members are entitled, nor take any part in
drills or meetings of the Company, but may attend meetings at any time.
SEC. 13. The Retired Roll shall be composed of persons who have been
upon the active list, and who have taken part as members of the Company in
some of the battles of Kansas. They may or may not attend meetings or
drills at their pleasure; and shall be entitled to vote in the Company, but
shall be subject in other respects to all the rules and regulations to which ac-
tive members are subject.
SEC. 14. By-Laws may be altered or adopted at any meeting of the Com-
pany, by a vote of the majority present, provided such adoption or alteration
does not conflict with this Constitution.
SEC. 15. This Constitution may be altered or amended at any meeting of
the Company by a majority vote of the members present, provided that one
week's notice in writing shall have been given of such proposed amendment.
BY-LAWS OF THE STUBBS
I. Any person becoming a member of this Company shall sign his name to
the Constitution and By-Laws, and agree to be governed by all the rules of
the Company, and bind himself to pay all fines imposed, or suffer such other
penalty as shall be inflicted upon him by the Company, for neglect of duty
in any respect, and to pay his proportion of taxes levied to defray the ex-
penses of the Company.
II. If any member of this Company shall absent himself from Company
meetings, he shall be bound by the action of the members of the Company
present at any such meeting, and if absent, unless by sickness, or on parole,
shall be subject to a fine of not less than twenty-five cents nor more than one
128 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
dollar; provided, that no person living more than five miles from town be
compelled to attend weekly meetings.
III. If any member of this Company be guilty of disobedience to superior
officers, or neglect to attend a regular parade when duly notified, unless absent
by sickness or on parole, he shall pay a fine of not less than two, nor more
than five dollars, or be expelled from the Company, or fined and expelled.
IV. Each member of the Company shall hold himself accountable to the
Company for any injury that may befall any arms entrusted to his care; and
shall be fined if he appear upon parade with such arms or accoutrements out
of order, soiled or rusted, or with his uniform unclean or out of repair, not less
than two dollars nor more than ten, unless a good and sufficient excuse in the
estimation of the Company be given, and shall return all such arms, ac-
coutrements and uniform to the officer in command, at such time and place
as he may designate, and in good order.
V. The Orderly Sergeant of the Company, or other officer acting as such,
for any neglect of duty in notifying members to appear at meetings, drills, or
parades of the Company, when so ordered by the Company, or by the com-
manding officer of the Company, or in cases provided for in these By-Laws,
shall be fined for each such offence not less than two dollars nor to exceed
twenty-five.
VI. All other officers, for neglect of their duties, shall be fined for each
offence at the discretion of the Company, not to exceed five hundred dollars.
VII. This Company shall meet for public parade once in each three months,
and on their anniversary, and upon such holidays as the Company may desig-
nate, notice being given by the Orderly Sergeant, through one or more papers,
or by notices posted in three or more public places in this city, which shall be
considered a sufficient notice.
VIII. The Company shall meet for the transaction of business or to drill,
on Thursday of every week, and meetings may be called for the transaction of
special business, by a call signed by any three of the members.
IX. No person shall become a member of this Company without he first
pay an entrance fee of ten dollars, and receive a majority vote of the mem-
bers present at a stated meeting; provided, nothing in this section be con-
strued into compelling any person whose name is upon the Revised Roll to
pay the above fee.
X. In case of any member being sick, it shall be the duty of each member
of the Company to see that he is properly cared for, and in case a member in
good standing becomes destitute, his wants shall be provided for by the Com-
pany, and should a member die while thus destitute, the expenses of his funeral
shall be borne by the Company.
XI. The civil officers of this Company shall, upon entering on the discharge
of their duties, each give bond for the faithful discharge of the business en-
trusted to their care, in the sum of five hundred dollars.
Because of the territorial tension the Stubbs company was prob-
ably a more serious minded organization than similar groups in the
Eastern states. However, like other companies, it was partly social
in nature, and was popular in Lawrence where its members fre-
CALDWELL: THE STUBBS 129
quently gave military balls. The Kansas Free State of November
19, 1855, published an account of an elaborate ball given by the
company at the Free State hotel just before the Wakarusa war,
which was attended by five hundred guests. Another was given
Christmas day 1856, shortly after the release of some of the mem-
bers from the Lecompton prison. 8 The Stubbs also possessed that
love of pageantry and the exhibitionism which still prevails in the
parades of many secret orders and veteran organizations today.
Ample proof of this is seen in the description of the proposed uni-
form, which was to meet the following specifications:
UNIFORM OF THE OREAD GUARDS, ALIAS STUBBS 9
Hats for Privates
Black Kossuth hat, high crown, black feather on right side of hat, fastened
up with silver loop and button, Silver cord and tassel encircling hat.
Coats
Deep blue cloth hunting frock with cape and belt at waiste, and close coat
sleeve, with buttons at waiste and on sleeve, bottom of cape, and skirt
trimmed with silver fringe. Silver gilt bayonett in each corner of cape.
Pants
Black Cassimere pants with Silver cord I /IQ of an inch in diameter down the
outside seam.
Officers
For Captain, three Lieutenants, and Surgeon, uniform same as for privates
with the exception that where Silver trimmings are used for privates, Gold is
used for Officers.
Arms and Equipment
Seventy-five Sharps Rifles, Seventy navy-size Colts Revolvers, Five dress
Swords, Five Sashes, Ninety Six Cartouch boxes. White patent leather
Shoulder Straps and Belts, and Pistol Holster.
An addition to this description of the uniforms also indicated the
amount of material to be used. For one captain, three lieutenants,
one surgeon and ninety-six privates, the materials were as follows:
275 yds. black cassimere; 96 silver loops and buttons for hats; 100
Kossuth hats; 250 yds. blue broadcloth; 96 silver cords and tassels
for hats ; 480 yds. silver fringe for coats ; five gold loops and buttons
for hats ; five gold cords and tassels for hats ; 25 yds. gold fringe for
coats; 12 V2 yds. gold cord Me inch in diameter for pants; 10 gold
gilt bayonets for coats; 192 silver gilt bayonets for coats; and 100
black feathers for hats.
8. Herald of Freedom^ January 3, 1857.
9. The original manuscript is in the possession of the Kansas State Historical Society,
the gift of Thaddeus Hyatt.
97954
130 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
It is doubtful whether any similar organization had a sterner rec-
ord of service in the Civil War than did the Stubbs. When Presi-
dent Lincoln called for troops in May, 1861, they responded im-
mediately. After filling their ranks they proceeded to Fort Leaven-
worth, where they were mustered into the First regiment of Kansas
Volunteer infantry. In completing the organization of the regiment,
lots were drawn for rank and that of "D" fell to the Stubbs. The
company's officers were F. B. Swift, 10 captain, N. W. Spicer, 11 first
lieutenant, and Caleb S. Pratt, 12 second lieutenant. On June 12
orders were issued for six companies of the First regiment to proceed
to Wyandotte. Much to the disgust of the Stubbs they were left
behind, due to the illness of Captain Swift and the absence of Lieu-
tenant Spicer. 13 But the delay was only for a few days and soon
the whole force was under orders to march.
Within two months after organization the First regiment engaged
in its first major battle at Wilson creek, one of the most important
battles in the West. In this engagement hard fighting fell to the
First Kansas and the First Missouri infantry, both of which suffered
terrible losses. It is recorded that the Stubbs here displayed the
greatest bravery, being one of six companies of the First Kansas or-
dered by Col. George W. Deitzler to engage a rebel force four times
their number. 14 Lieutenant Spicer, who took command after Cap-
tain Swift was wounded, wrote of the battle: "At one stroke the
officers of our company all fell but myself. After Captain Swift
was wounded and disabled, I took command. . . . We were ex-
posed to a galling fire from two directions for over three hours. The
men fell around me in every direction. There was a perfect storm
of iron and lead. But our men never flinched or moved until ordered.
Thirty of our company were killed and wounded, although I only
10. For biographical sketch of Francis B. Swift see The Kansas Historical Collections,
v. 10, p. 482.
11. Newell W. Spicer came to Kansas from Pennsylvania in 1856 with an emigrant party
from Chicago. He arrived in Topeka August 13, and immediately joined with the attack on
Fort Saunders. During the remainder of the struggle he was continually in the field, rising
from the rank of first lieutenant of the Chicago company to the office of adjutant. He be-
came a member of the Stubbs company, and was elected third lieutenant in 1859. He en-
tered the Civil War as first lieutenant of Company D, First regiment Kansas Volunteer in-
fantry in 1861, and was promoted to captain in 1862. In June, 1863, he rose to the rank of
colonel.
12. Caleb S. Pratt, a native of Massachusetts, arrived in Lawrence September 12, 1854,
a member of the second party sent out by the Emigrant Aid Company. He engaged in the
real estate business in Lawrence, and from 1858 until his death he held the office of county
clerk. He also served as city clerk for several years. As a member of the Stubbs he took a
conspicuous part hi the territorial struggle. On June 3, 1861, he was mustered ha to the federal
service and became second lieutenant of Company D, First regiment of Kansas Volunteer
infantry. He fell at the battle of Wilson creek, August 10, 1861. He was twenty-nine years
old and unmarried.
13. The Kansas State Journal, Lawrence, June 20, 1861.
14. Major Halderman's report of the battle of Wilson creek in W. S. Burke's Military
History of Kansas Regiments, Appendix, p. 454.
CALDWELL: THE STUBBS 131
reported 24." 15 He also quoted Maj. S. D. Sturgis as saying, "The
Kansas boys are doing the best fighting I ever saw before." 16 In his
official report, Maj. John A. Halderman likewise gave much credit
to the First Kansas. "All the officers and men of this command
fought with a courage and heroism rarely, if ever, equaled." 17
For the remainder of 1861 the First Kansas did guard duty along
the railroads in Missouri. In February, 1862, it was ordered to
Fort Leavenworth to join the contemplated expedition to the south-
west. Plans for the expedition were abandoned, however, and the
regiment was sent east to reinforce Gen. W. H. Halleck in Missis-
sippi. In February, 1863, the regiment was mounted and served
the ensuing eighteen months as mounted infantry, being mustered
out of service on June 17, 1864. 18
An unusually large number of Stubbs received recognition for
valiant service. Captain Cracklin stated that twenty-seven out of
the sixty held commissions. 19 Milton Kennedy, who was a later
captain of the company, in an interview with the editor of the
Kansas Tribune, gave some interesting particulars concerning its re-
markable record, asserting that "the entire rolls of the company
contain 390 names since its first organization and the aggregate on
their discharge was eighty-nine. There were fifty-two promotions
mostly from the original company, as it was organized at Lawrence,
of whom three became colonels." He added, "It is probable that no
volunteer company in the service has so large a list or better record
for gallantry." 20
After the war the need for local military companies ceased, and
the ranks of the original Stubbs were too much depleted, perhaps,
to allow a continuation of the organization. At any rate no account
of their meetings is found. At the old settlers' anniversary meeting
held at Lawrence in September, 1871, W. I. R. Blackman, the first
captain of the Stubbs, called the roll of the company. 21 Only five
or six persons answered to their names. The greater part of the
absentees were either listed as "dead" or having moved to some other
locality.
15. Extract from a letter of Lieutenant Spicer to his wife, The Kansas State Journal,
Lawrence, August 29, 1861.
16. Ibid.
17. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, 1861-1865, "Military History
of Kansas Regiments," p. 7.
18. Ibid., pp. 8, 9.
19. Lawrence Gazette, April 5, 1883.
20. Kansas Weekly Tribune, Lawrence, September 28, 1865.
21. Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, September 16, 1871.
Ferries in Kansas
(Concluded)
GEORGE A. ROOT
PART XV MARAIS DES CYGNES RIVER
THE Marais des Cygnes river rises in the northeast part of Lyon
county, being formed by the junction of One Hundred and
Forty-two and Elk creeks. It flows in a generally easterly direction
across Osage and Franklin counties, cutting off the southwest cor-
ner of Miami and the northeast corner of Linn before entering Mis-
souri. Early maps designate the stream as the Grand river, but
the Osage Indians called it the Marais des Cygnes. A footnote in
Andreas' History of Kansas, page 63, states that the northern fork
of the Osage was called the Marais des Cygnes until its junction
with the Little Osage, the two forks uniting to form the Osage or
Great Osage. However, in Kansas the stream is known as the
Marais des Cygnes as far as the state boundary, but after it crosses
the line it is known as the Osage river. The river is about 445 miles
long, approximately 150 miles being in Kansas.
Ascending the river within the state of Kansas, the first ferry
location of which we have information was that one at the mouth of
Big Sugar creek, in Linn county. In the legislature of 1857, House
Petition No. 1 was presented, asking for a charter for a ferry across
the river at the mouth of Big Sugar creek. 1 House bill No. 12 was
also introduced, granting to Samuel Carmack permission to operate
a ferry at that point for a period of fifteen years. This bill was
passed and signed by the governor. 2
In 1860 another ferry was projected for this vicinity when a bill
was introduced in the house of representatives to incorporate the
Osage Falls Bridge and Ferry Co. The company consisted of A. B.
Massey, Hardy Keeney, Addison Danford, John Watson, George A.
Crawford, Asa Hairgrove, Andrew Stark, Robert B. Mitchell and
Jacob M. Fickes. The act gave them ferry privileges for a period
of twenty-one years, with power to erect a toll bridge or bridges
across the Marais des Cygnes and Big Sugar creek, and to run a
ferry across the river at the mouth of Big Sugar creek until such
bridge or bridges should be built. Capital stock of the company was
listed at $15,000, with shares at $10 each. 3
1. House Journal, Kansas, 1857, p. 45.
2. Ibid., pp. 45, 56. Council Journal, 1857, pp. 49, 55, 70, 84. Private Laws, 1857,
pp. 165, 166.
3. 77oM.se Journal, 1860, special session, pp. 356, 391, 692. Council Journal, 1860, special
session, pp. 507, 534. Private Laws, 1860, special session, pp. 23, 24.
(132)
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 133
The next ferry location upstream was probably in the vicinity of
old Trading Post, about a mile distant. During the regular session
of the legislature of 1860, Mr. G. A. Colton introduced a bill for the
establishment of a ferry at that location. Owing to friction be-
tween the governor, secretary and the legislature growing out of the
removal of the legislative body to Lawrence, and the refusal of the
secretary to provide needed supplies for the use of the members, the
solons voted to adjourn and did so, without taking action on the bill. 4
Another ferry project for the same locality was contemplated in
a bill introduced the same year at the special session by Rep. J. H.
Jones; who on January 23, submitted a bill to establish a ferry at
the old Trading Post in Linn county. This location was approxi-
mately a mile above the mouth of Sugar creek. 5
The earliest ferry within Linn county was authorized by the legis-
lature of 1855, in House bill No. 117. It was established by Martin
Taylor and John Ballard, at or near their own ford on lands claimed
by them. They were granted special privileges at this point and for
a distance of two miles above their ford, for a period of ten years. 6
W. A. Mitchell, in his "Historic Linn," published in The Kansas
Historical Collections, v. 16, p. 614, says Taylor and Ballard were
given the monopoly of a ferry and ford where the old mill stands,
which was built at considerable expense by R. A. Denton in 1870,
and was on the Mundell farm. The ferry was operated opposite
where Thorton Creager lived in later years.
In 1859 the legislature passed an act granting authority to N. H.
Williams and his heirs and assigns to keep a ferry across the Marais
des Cygnes river within one mile of Ballard's ford, in Linn county,
with exclusive privileges within the distance of one mile on each side
of his ferry location. The operator was required to keep a good and
substantial boat or boats, sufficient to cross the traveling public,
and keep the same in good repair, or in case the boat was lost to
secure another. Ferry charges were to be fixed by the county au-
thorities. This act was signed by Gov. Samuel Medary on February
11, 1859, and took effect at once. 7
The next ferry location upstream was at a point near where the
road from Twin Springs to the Missouri state line crossed the
Marais des Cygnes river. In 1860 Henry Dunbar was granted au-
thority by the legislature to establish a ferry within one mile of the
4. Home Journal, 1860, p. 138.
5. Ibid., special session, p. 64.
6. Ibid, 1855, pp. 199, 202, 226, 238, 249. Council Journal, 1855, p. 147. General
Statutes, 1855, pp. 796, 797.
7. Private Laws, 1859, pp. 108, 109.
134 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
above location and was to have a ten-year exclusive privilege for a
distance of one mile on each side of his ferry site. This location is
about three miles northwest of La Cygne. 8
The next ferry location upstream was in present Miami county,
where the old "Telegraph" road from Kansas City, Mo., crossed the
Marais des Cygnes. Lacking data of Miami county ferries, the
writer appealed to the venerable editor and publisher of The West-
ern Spirit, of Paola, who kindly furnished the following:
PAOLA, KANSAS, 4, 15, '36.
DEAR ROOT Hoover and English (Dr. Woodson D. Hoover, pioneer practi-
tioner in Paola, and T. C. English of Osage township, a farmer) operated a
ferry at what was known as "Wire Crossing" of Marais des Cygnes river, 6
miles directly south of Paola, in 1867, and continued it until the early summer
of 1869, when Mo. Riv., Ft. Scott & Gulf R. R. went through Miami county.
There were other owners in latter part of 1866. The operators from summer of
1867 to the close were R. P. Loomis and Henry White. It paid fairly well,
even against heavy flood losses, until the railroad was built in 1869. "Wire
Crossing" was so named because in 1864-'5 the U. S. government ran a tele-
graph line from Kansas City, Mo., to Ft. Scott, via Paola. I helped Henry
White do ferrying in the spring of 1869. BERNARD JAMES SHERIDAN.
Osawatomie was probably the next ferry location, and a ferry was
in operation there the summer of 1855. We have been unable to
locate any mention of this enterprise aside from two slight references.
The earliest of these mentions was in a letter written from Osa-
watomie to the Missouri Democrat, St. Louis, under date of July 27,
1855, and copied in the Herald of Freedom, of Lawrence, on August
18, stating that "A deep cut is made in the banks of the streams for
the crossings; and a ferry boat has been placed upon the Osage."
The other was by the Rev. S. L. Adair, who referred to it in his
testimony in a suit brought by the Osawatomie Town Company 9 vs.
Samuel M. Merritt, Jacob Benjamin, Daniel W. Collies, Randolph
Hughes and John Yelton, mail contractor, before the land court at
Lecompton, in the late 1850's. This location was on the northeast
quarter of S. 11, T. 18, R. 23. How long the above ferry operated
and who ran it, we have no knowledge, but it must have been taken
over by other parties or discontinued, for in 1859 0. C. Brown, H. H.
Williams, George W. Cavert, Cyrus Foster, Samuel Geer, S. C.
Parish, F. W. Cram, Amos Alderman, Wm. Chestnut, J. B. Scofield,
F. Conant, H. B. Smith and others secured a charter from the legis-
lature permitting them to establish and keep a ferry on the Osage
8. House Journal, 1860, special session, p. 329. Council Journal, 1860, special session.
Private Laws, 1860, special session, pp. 277, 278.
9. This original document is in the Manuscript division of the Kansas State Historical
Society.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 135
river and Pottawatomie creek. They were to have exclusive privi-
lege for one mile each way from a point opposite Osawatomie for a
term of five years, or until the streams were bridged at or near the
town. The above-named parties agreed to keep in repair a good and
substantial boat or boats, steam or flat, as the wants of the public
might demand, but in case of accident or loss of boat were to be
allowed proper and necessary time to repair or obtain a new one.
County authorities were to fix ferriage rates from year to year, and
these were to be posted at the ferry landing. The operators were
also required to file a good and sufficient bond. This act was ap-
proved by Governor Medary on February 9, 1859, and took effect
at once. 10
The next ferry upstream was in the vicinity of Stanton, where
Josiah Bundy was engaged in the business at a point known as
Bundys' ford in Lykins county. We have been unable to learn the
date this enterprise was started. During the session of the 1859
legislature he secured a charter permitting him to engage in the busi-
ness, with exclusive privileges for a five-year period, no one being
permitted to engage in a similar service within the distance of a mile
of his ferry. He gave bond in the sum of $2,000 that he would pay
all damages ensuing from any neglect or mismanagement of the
ferry on his part. This act was approved by the governor on Jan-
uary 28, 1859, and went into effect at once. 11 Horace Greeley, of the
New York Tribune, while on his way to Osawatomie to make an
address, wrote of it as follows :
We were early on the bank (a mile from Stanton) of the Marais des Cygnes,
which was running heavy driftwood, and otherwise misbehaving itself. It had
buried up the ferry-rope, without whose aid the boat could not be propelled
across its sweeping current; one of the trees to which that rope was attached
was now nearly in the middle of the stream; and there had been no crossing
for a day or two. But a new rope had been procured and somehow stretched
across the stream; whereby we were taken across in our turn, after waiting
somewhat over an hour. A mile or so of well timbered and too well watered
bottom brought us again to prairie, over which we drove rapidly into Osa-
watomie, which we reached before 10 a. m. 12
I left Osawatomie on the morning of the nineteenth, in the Lawrence stage,
crossing the Marais des Cygnes at Bundy's ferry (where we crossed the day
before), and finding the water considerably lower, though still over its regular
northern bank, and the access on either side most detestable. 13
10. Private Laws, 1859, pp. 115, 116.
11. Council Journal, 1859, pp. 51, 64, 84, 106, 168, 171, 182. House Journal, 1859,
pp. 122, 171. Private Laws, 1859, pp. 109, 110.
12. Greeley, Horace, An Overland Journey, p. 31.
13. Ibid., pp. 38, 39.
136 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Several measures were before the special session of the legislature
in 1860 for ferry privileges on the Marais des Cygnes river, some of
which passed both houses but failed to get the approval of the gov-
ernor. One, however, for a ferry at the Morse ford, near Stanton,
became a law. This act authorized S. L. Morse to operate a ferry
for a period of five years at this point. His charges for ferriage
were to be fixed by the county board. 14
The next ferry location upstream was in the vicinity of Peoria,
in Franklin county, but aside from a mention in the journal of the
lower house of the legislature of a bill to authorize a ferry at the
old town of that name, we have been unable to locate any further
history. 15
In 1860, Henry Shively, 16 a member of the house of representa-
tives, gave notice at the regular session of that body that he would
at an early day introduce a bill for the establishment of a ferry
across the Marais des Cygnes. The legislature adjourned before
action was taken on his measure. During the special session which
convened immediately afterwards a new bill was introduced which
passed both houses and was approved by the governor on February
27. This act carried a five-year privilege at a point known as the
Sewel ford. Ferriage rates were fixed by the county board. 17
The next ferry upstream was at or close to Ottawa, and the first
one in this vicinity may have been operated by Ottawa Indians, who
were living on a reservation which embraced lands in this immediate
neighborhood. Fred Richmond, an early resident of Ottawa, says
that he was the first white boy to live in Ottawa after it was laid
out in 1864, and to the best of his recollection the Ottawa Indians
operated the first ferry at that point, using ropes. He thought that
a Mr. Robbins, who also ran a store, operated a ferry at one time.
The earliest mention of ferries in this locality coming to our at-
tention was one dated 1859. That year D. W. Houston, P. P. Elder,
and A. R. Morton and their associates were given authority by the
legislature to establish and keep a ferry across the Marais des
Cygnes in Franklin county for a term of ten years, with landing
privileges on both sides of the river. This act was approved by the
governor on February 9, 1859, and took effect at once. 18
An item in the Wyandotte Gazette, of June 30, 1866, stated that
14. Private Laws, 1860, special session, p. 279.
15. House Journal, 1860, special session, p. 729.
16. Henry Shively is listed in the "Census of 1860," Franklin county, Peoria township,
pp. 275, 276. His age is given as 41. He was a native of Indiana.
17. House Journal, 1860, p. 126. Private Laws, 1860, special session, p. 278.
18. House Jownal, 1859, pp. 202, 225, 242, 277, 278. Private Laws, 1859, pp. 110, 111.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 137
"A good ferryboat has been placed in the Marais des Cygnes, at
Ottawa." F. W. Brinkerhoff, Pittsburg publisher, an early resident
of Ottawa, recalled a story told by the late Col. J. N. Harrison,
better known among his acquaintances as "Curly" Harrison, about
Charles Robbins, who ran the ferryboat at Ottawa before the bridges
came :
Colonel Harrison said that the late Charles Robbins, picturesque pioneer of
Ottawa, was operating the ferry across the Marais des Cygnes at Ottawa.
Business was not exactly rushing one warm summer day and Robbins had his
ferry docked on the south side of the stream. He was engaged in a game of
cards in the shade with some "unemployed" friends. A man appeared on the
north side of the river. He called across but the ferry operator did not want
to be annoyed. The newcomer kept clamoring for attention, however, and
finally Robbins turned around and demanded to know what he wanted. He
shouted that he wanted to cross the river. Robbins, peeved by the interrup-
tion, shouted the demand: "How much money have you got?" The man who
wanted to cross announced that he had a dime. "If you've only got a dime,
you will be just as well off on that side as on this side," Robbins yelled back,
closing the negotiations and returning to his interrupted card game. 19
Mr. Brinkerhoff in a letter to the author, dated April 13, 1936,
gives additional data of this early-day operator. He wrote :
Rpbbins was one of the first men in Ottawa. I knew him very well. He
served for many, many years as justice of the peace and died, as I now recall
it, about 20 years ago. He was an early-day sheriff of Franklin county. Rob-
bins had an affliction. He seemed to have no roof in his mouth.
Another story that Harrison used to tell ran like this. Robbins was on his
ferry on the south side of the river one day when another fellow afflicted in
the same way appeared at the north side dock. He called across to Robbins
who got the notion he was being mocked. According to Harrison the battle
of words was terrible until a bystander intervened and straightened the thing
out.
We have discovered no mention of ferry matters for the Marais
des Cygnes in either Osage or Lyon counties, and nothing further for
Franklin.
PART XVI VERDIGRIS RIVER
THE Verdigris river is formed by a number of small branches
which start in Chase county, in R. 9 E., and T. 21 and 22 S.
The stream flows east into Lyon county, cutting the southwest corner
and on into Greenwood county, which it leaves at a point almost east
of Eureka. From here it enters Woodson county, close to the town
of Toronto, and flows across the southwest corner. Wilson and
Montgomery are then crossed in a circuitous fashion before the
stream enters Oklahoma. From the state line south the river con-
19. Pittsburg Sun, December 6, 1935.
138 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tinues through Nowata, Rogers and Wagoner counties, and joins the
Arkansas river in the extreme northeast corner of Muskogee county,
about a mile above the point where the Neosho river enters that
stream. The Verdigris is approximately 270 miles long, of which
about 158 miles are in Kansas.
Probably the earliest mention of the stream is by Pike, the ex-
plorer, who refers to the river in his journal under date of Septem-
ber 10, 1806. 1 Thomas Nuttall, another explorer, mentions the river
in his journal on July 14, 1819, and speaks of the rapids in the
stream. 2 Maj. S. H. Long also wrote of the Verdigris on September
4, 1819, and gives Was-su-ja, as the Osage name. 3
The first ferry north of the Kansas-Oklahoma line was probably
not far from the old town of Parker. This town was established in
1869, named for D. T. Parker, and was located on the east side of
the Verdigris, about one half mile north of the state boundary. We
have been unable to learn who operated this crossing, or how long
it was in service.
Westralia was probably the location of the next ferry, which may
have started sometfme during 1869. On June 24, that year, the
Westralia Bridge and Ferry Company was organized, its incorpo-
rators being Eli Dennis, Oscar F. Johns, Wm. D. Bailey, H. C. Craw-
ford and E. T. Saunders. The principal office of the company was
to be located at Westralia, and its capital stock was placed at
$10,000, with shares at $100 each. The purpose of the company was
to establish a ferry across the Verdigris river and to improve cross-
ings and fords on the stream, commencing at the point where the
37th parallel of latitude or south line of Kansas crosses the Verdigris
river, thence north up the river for a distance of ten miles, including
all fords and crossings on the river. The company was also privi-
leged to improve the banks of the principal crossings and to build a
toll bridge within the ten-mile limit at the northwest corner of
Westralia. This charter was filed with the secretary of state, June
30, 1869. 4
Verdigris City was the next ferry location upstream. On July 7,
1869, the county commissioners of Montgomery county granted a
license to Daniel McTaggart and M. C. Dickey to operate a ferry at
this point. Mr. Dickey was one of the founders of Topeka. Mc-
Taggart, a Civil War veteran, was an early settler of Montgomery
1. Pike, Expeditions (1810), p. 136.
2. Thwaites, Early Western Travels, v. 13, pp. 234, 235.
3. Ibid., v. 16, p. 281.
4. "Corporations" (copybooks from secretary of state's office in Archives division, Kansas
State Historical Society), v. 2, p. 94. Andreas, History of Kansas, p. 1565.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 139
county, and located on Indian lands in this vicinity soon after the
war. He was the first county treasurer of Montgomery county, and
later served as a member of the legislature. He also operated a
flouring mill and cotton gin, and during the later years of his life
he resided at Liberty.
The next ferry location upstream was at Independence. The ferry,
which was run by J. W. Jones, was probably started about 1869 or
1870, and was the first ferry at this point. A letter to George H.
Wark, of Independence, regarding it brought the reply that "there
seems to be a very meager record in the city hall at Independence,
but the ferry was operated there near the site of what was afterwards
Waldsmith Mill, during the year of 1870 and perhaps part of 1871."
Another ferry upstream was the one operated by E. H. Moseley,
at the north line of S. 4, T. 28, R. 15, in Wilson county. This
location is shown on a plat of a road running from Humboldt, in
Allen county, via Fredonia, to the junction of Duck creek and Elk
river. 5 Moseley was an early-day trader among the Osages, and
was one of the commissioners who laid out the road.
Toronto was probably the last location on the river to require
a ferry, but aside from an item in the Western Home Journal, of
Lawrence, January 17, 1871, which stated that "A ferryboat is to be
put on the Verdigris at Toronto," we have found no further mention
of ferries on this river.
PART XVII COTTONWOOD RIVER
THE Cottonwood river has its source in northwest Marion county
where a number of small branches unite. A little over two miles
west of the city of Marion the south branch of the Cottonwood joins
the larger one, and the combined streams flow in a southeasterly di-
rection through the county to enter Chase at a point about a mile
northwest of the village of Cedar Point. Frdm here the river flows
in a northeasterly direction, making a bend to the south and east,
touching Cottonwood Falls on the north, and thence in an easterly
direction to leave Chase county at a point about two and one half
miles due east of the village of Safford, where it enters Lyon county
about one mile west of the village of Plymouth. From here it flows
in a circuitous course, touching the southern limits of Emporia, and
on into the Neosho about three miles northwest of the town of Neo-
sho Rapids. The Cottonwood has the distinction of being the larg-
est tributary of the Neosho. It is approximately 137 miles long,
5. Original plat and field notes are in the Archives division of the Kansas State Historical
Society.
140 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
about 42 being in Marion, 58 in Chase and the balance in Lyon
counties. Its drainage area is estimated at 1,690 square miles. 1
A writer in the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, of July 22, 1930, wrote
that a small steamboat brought from Lake Michigan, plied up and
down the Cottonwood in the early 1880's. The boat was known as
the Maude Murphy, and was named for a popular teacher in the
Marion schools. This boat is also mentioned in a Handbook of
Marion County, published in 1886.
The first ferry on the Cottonwood upstream was located a short
distance south of Emporia, about two blocks south of the old Soden
mill, and was operated by "Big" and "Little" Jim Moore father
and son. This enterprise was started in 1866 or 1867, and continued
until the bridges came. The late E. M. Hinshaw, of Emporia, at
times assisted in the running of the ferryboat. His son, John E.
Hinshaw, has a lively recollection of the old ferryboat, and in
a letter to the writer describes it as a rope ferry. A cable was
stretched across the river, and a wheel rode on top. A windlass with
spokes wound or unwound as the boat crossed over.
Mrs. Martha S. Rees, 1901 Rural street, Emporia, also remembers
the ferryboat. She was living south of the Cottonwood river at that
time, and recollects that the ferry was located a short distance south
of Soden's mill.
Mrs. Flora I. Godsey, Emporia, in a letter to the writer, stated
that she had talked with Mrs. Hallie Soden, daughter of Emporia's
early miller, and a Mrs. Stack, and that they both had spoken of
the large, flat-bottomed boat used occasionally when the river was
up.
Ordinarily the Cottonwood was easily forded, the ferryboat being
used when highwater prevailed.
Agitation for a bridge began early in 1867 and at that time the
river was too high to be forded, 2 so it is more than likely the ferry-
ing in this county ceased this year or the next.
The next ferry upstream was in Chase county, near the town of
Cottonwood Falls. The only mention of this we have discovered is
the following item and advertisement in the Chase County Banner,
Cottonwood Falls, January 10, 1869:
Wood's Ferry Boat is in running order. Persons wishing to cross the
Cottonwood will always find a safe and easy passage. This ferry being only
three fourths of a mile below town, it will accommodate the travel going to
Council Grove as well as that passing down the Cottonwood. This arrange-
1. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, Daily River Stages, Part IX, p. 47.
2. Emporia News, February 8, 22, 1867.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 141
ment will also relieve our Butler Co. friends from the necessity, as has fre-
quently been the case, of waiting upon the bank of the Cottonwood until a
large freshet had subsided; as it will be but a very little out of their direct
line of travel to Emporia and other points farther north and east.
WOOD'S FERRY is Now IN RUNNING ORDER. One Mile Below Cottonwood
Falls. My Boat is 36 feet long, 14 feet wide, and perfectly safe. The toll is as
follows: Loaded wagon, $1.00; Empty wagon, 50; One horse and wagon, 50;
Single Horse and Rider, 25 ; Footman, 15 ; Loose cattle and horses, 5 cents per
head; Sheep and hogs, 2 cents per head; Teams of over two horses, or one
yoke of Oxen, 10 cents additional for each animal. S. N. WOOD.
So far as we have been able to learn, this completes the history
of ferrying on the Cottonwood river.
PART XVIII SPRING RIVER
OPRING river rises in the western part of Lawrence county, Mis-
O souri, flows in a slightly northwest direction across it and Jasper
counties and enters Kansas in Cherokee county. It runs in a gen-
erally southern course out of Kansas and into Ottawa county, Okla-
homa, where it unites with the Neosho river. The stream is about
100 miles long, twenty five of which are in Kansas.
The first ferry on the river north of the Kansas line was in the im-
mediate vicinity of Baxter Springs. Frank M. Perkins says:
Mr. Geo. A. Root, BAXTER SPRINGS, Ks., Aug. 9, 1932.
Topeka, Kan.:
DEAR SIR. Yours of July 2 rec'd and will say I have interviewed every old
timer here in regard to the ferry matter.
The Baxter Springs Bridge and Ferry Co. never did function.
A. Willard built and operated a cable ferry from 1867 to the time the bridge
was built over Spring river in 1886. This was on what is now called 12th street
or River street and is one half mile east of Baxter. There was a ferry over
the Neosho at Chetopa, and one over Spring river at Boston Mills, about 6
miles up the river from Baxter.
There was a ferry known as Pooler's ferry in Oklahoma, about 20 miles
south of here. Mose Pooler was a half-blood Cherokee Indian.
Yours truly,
FRANK M. PERKINS.
Another ferry in the vicinity of Baxter Springs was known as
Stanley's ferry, and was operating in the spring of 1870. At meet-
ings of the county commissioners on May 2 and 3 of that year, a
petition was presented by J. S. Van Epps, asking the board to ap-
point commissioners to view, locate and lay out a road running from
Water street, in Baxter Springs, to Spring river, thence along that
142 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
river south to Stanley's ferry. This petition was granted and J. S.
Van Epps, R. Little and C. Harvey were appointed commissioners,
who, together with the county surveyor, were to view and survey
this road on May 23, 1870. No further mention of this ferry has
been located. 1
On March 2, 1869, the Baxter Springs Bridge and Ferry Co., was
organized, its projectors being Wm H. Hornor, Goodwin Vanwinkle,
E. W. Botsford, A. S. Dennison and D. W. King. This organization
was capitalized at $50,000, with shares at $25 each. Baxter Springs
was designated as the principal place of business, and the company
contemplated building a bridge or operating a ferry on Spring river
near there. This charter was filed with the secretary of state March
10, 1869, 2 but according to Mr. Perkins the company got no further.
Boston Mills, about six miles up Spring river from Baxter Springs,
was the next ferry crossing. The mills were on the west side of the
river. The post office of Destine was here also, the military road
passing between the mills and post office. Boston Mills was about
two miles north of Empire City, 3 and is shown in the Third Annual
Report of the State Board of Agriculture of 1874.
John Broylis operated a ferry on Spring river in Cherokee county,
but we have been unable to locate any data concerning it, other than
the casual mention that the ferry was an intermediate point on a
state road running from Sovereen's ferry on the Neosho river, to
Columbus and via Broylis' ferry to the state line. Milton Douglas,
Fred Wagoner and John Broylis were the commissioners who laid out
the road, the latter probably being the operator of the ferry. 4
PART XIX NINNESCAH RIVER
'TVEE Ninnescah is formed by two branches, the North and South
JL Forks, which unite slightly northwest of the village of Venice in
Sedgwick county. The North Fork rises in the southeast part of
Stafford county, flows slightly to the northeast and enters Reno
county in Range 10 W., Township 24. Describing an arc the stream
passes close to Sylvia and Arlington, thence eastward, passing just
south of the village of Castleton, thence to the southeast into Sedg-
wick county to unite with the South Fork. The South Fork is the
longer of the two branches and rises in Pratt county in Range 14,
near the center of that county from north to south. It has a
1. The Workingman's Journal, Columbus, May 20, 1870.
2. "Corporations," v. 2, p. 37.
3. Andreas, History of Kansas, p. 1169.
4. Laws, Kansas, 1871, p. 302.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 143
practically east course through that and Kingman counties, thence
to the southeast and across the southwest corner of Sedgwick, uniting
with the North Fork, the combined streams then entering Sumner
county and crossing that county to the southeast to join the Arkan-
sas river about three miles north of the town of Oxford. The North
Fork is approximately 77 miles long, while the South Fork to its
junction with the Arkansas is about 147 miles in length. Ninnescah
is an Osage word, and the meaning has been variously given. One
rendering is "Beautiful squaw." l The late James R. Mead, of
Wichita, who lived among and traded with the Osages, in a paper on
the "Origin of Names of Kansas Streams," read before the Kansas
Academy of Science, said the word is an Osage (Dakota) name
meaning "good spring water," from the great number of springs
coming out of the tertiary gravels of its upper course. 2 Another au-
thority gives the word as Nen-ne-es-cah, an Osage word, meaning
"white water." 3 Andreas' History of Kansas, page 1525, says the
Ninnescah is a beautiful stream and being fed altogether from
springs, its water is pure and clear.
The earliest mention of ferries on this stream is the following from
the Arkansas City Traveler, of June 20, 1877: "The body of John
Broderick, who was drowned some weeks since by the upsetting of
a ferry boat on the Nenescah river, has been recovered." Lacking
opportunity to consult . county records we are unable definitely to
locate this ferry, or give the names of its operators. Since the only
mention we have found appears in papers near the mouth of the
stream, we are convinced the ferry was in Sumner county and close
to the Arkansas river.
Another item mentioning the ferry is found in The Sumner County
Press, Wellington, February 21, 1878: "The Nennescah river was
past fording last week and the ferry at London crossing was brought
into requisition."
Nothing further has been found concerning Ninnescah ferries.
PART XX WALNUT RIVER
/ T\HE Walnut river has its source in the northeast part of Butler
-L county, and flows slightly southwest, passing Augusta to the
east and south, and on into Cowley county. By a circuitous course
the stream continues southward through Winfield and joins the
Arkansas river in the southeastern part of Arkansas City. The
1. The Leader Courier, Kingman, April, 1900.
2. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, v. 18, p. 216.
3. Arkansas City Traveler, February 13, 1878.
144 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
river takes its name from the abundance of walnut timber which
grew along its course. The Walnut is about 130 miles in length, ap-
proximately 75 miles being in Butler county and the balance in
Cowley.
The first ferry on the river upstream was in the vicinity of Ar-
kansas City, and apparently was in operation as early as 1877. We
have been unable to learn the name of the operator of this ferry, the
date it started, or the length of time it was in service. Aside from
the following items from the Arkansas City Traveler, of June 20,
1877, we have found no other mention:
At last the Walnut is fordable and the farmers are permitted to come to
town without the exquisite pleasure of a ride on the ferry and a walk the
balance of the way.
The saw frame belonging to Lippman's mill, sunk in the Walnut river by
the capsizing of the boat, was fished out yesterday. It was lying fifteen feet
under water and was bedded 18 inches in mud.
Another ferry upstream was located at the south entrance of Win-
field, and was operated by Thomas Wright. He was granted a li-
cense by the county commissioners on February 1, 1871, and was
authorized to collect the following rates for ferriage: For a two-
horse team and wagon, 75 cents ; horse and buggy, 25 cents ; 1 horse,
15 cents; footman, 10 cents; loose horses and cattle, 15 cents; sheep
and hogs, 5 cents each.* This ferry probably functioned when nec-
essary, up to the completion of a bridge across the Walnut near
Winfield.
So far as we have learned no other ferries operated on the Walnut
river.
PART XXI INDEPENDENCE CREEK
ONE of the shorter but most interesting streams of Kansas is In-
dependence creek, in Doniphan and Atchison counties. This
stream has its source in a number of small branches some of which
rise in the southwestern part of Doniphan county and the others in
Lancaster township, Atchison county. The creek forms a small part
of the boundary between Atchison and Doniphan counties before its
confluence with the Missouri, at a point about two and one half
miles above the city of Atchison. Independence creek is approxi-
mately fifteen miles long, about equally divided between Atchison
and Doniphan counties. 1
* "Commissioners' Records," Cowley county, 1871.
1. Everts, Atlas of Kansas (1887), pp. 26,, 29. Anderson's Atlas of Doniphan County,
Kansas (1927), p. 3. Ogle's Standard Atlas of Atchison County, Kansas (1903), p. 7.
ROOT: FERRIES IN KANSAS 145
The first mention of this creek, which was not named at the time,
was by the French explorer Bourgmont, who in 1724 referred to it
while on a visit to the Kansas Indians at this point, calling it "a
small river." To Lewis and Clark belong the credit for the naming,
when they camped there on the evening of July 4, 1804. Their jour-
nal of this date says:
The morning of the 4th July was announced by the discharge of our gun.
. . . After fifteen miles sail we came to on the north a little above a creek
on the southern side, about thirty yards wide, which we called Independence
creek, in honour of the day, which we could celebrate only by an evening gun,
and an additional gill of whiskey to the men. 2
Maj. Stephen H. Long's Yellowstone expedition stopped at the
mouth of the creek in 1819, and in his journal he marks the stream
as Independence creek. The expeditionary force of Capt. Howard
Stansbury camped on the headwaters of the stream in 1849 and
also designates it by that name. 3 The probabilities are that the
name bestowed by Lewis and Clark is the one by which it was first
known to the whites.
So far as we have been able to discover, there was but one ferry
on Independence creek. It was operated by Joseph B. Beatty, and
was running during the later fifties. In a pictorial edition of the
Atchison Daily Globe of July 16, 1894, is an item about Col. A. G.
Ege, a well known early-day Southerner of Doniphan county. The
colonel was a frequent Atchison visitor, who came by way of the
ferry, and was almost always accompanied by a pack of hounds.
The article stated that he always carried a pistol, and one of his
modes of diversion was putting a hole through some bystander's
hat without hitting him. On one occasion, while at the Independ-
ence ferry, the colonel took a shot at a man's hat but, aiming a trifle
too low, creased him. Being a gentleman, the colonel took the in-
jured man to his own home and nursed him until he was recovered.
Just how long the ferry was operated we have not learned. But
since the legislature of 1858 passed an act granting to Jacob N.
McCall, Egbert M. Lee, A. J. Allison, Benjamin Wrigley and E. W.
Stratton, members of the Kansas Express Stage Company, the right
to erect a toll bridge across Independence creek within two miles
of its junction with Deer creek, 4 it is probable that Mr. Beatty soon
after discontinued his ferry, for the legislature of 1859 passed an
2. Lewis and Clark, History of the Expedition (1814), v. 1, p. 21.
3. Kansas Historical Collections, v. 10, p, 838. George J. Remsburg, in Atchison Daily
Globe, November 8, iy05.
4. Private Laws, Kansas, 1858, p. 39. House Journal, 1858, pp. 82, 246. Council Journal.
1858, pp. 271, 273.
107954
146 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
act granting him the right to construct a toll bridge across the creek
at a point known as Beatty's ferry. 5
PART XXII POTTAWATOMIE CREEK
A CCORDING to Harry Johnson, writing in the Garnett Review,
-f* of July 12, 1934, a ferry run by Charles Ellis, spanned the
"North Fork" of Pottawatomie creek, in Anderson county, where
the present bridge on highway No. 73W is located. No dates were
given, but the time was before any stream in the county was crossed
by a bridge. The Pottawatomie figured quite prominently in the
troublous times of territorial days, the Pottawatomie massacre tak-
ing place at Dutch Henry's crossing. The creek, like most small
Kansas streams, was fordable the greater part of the year, requiring
ferry service only during the occasional periods of high water. On
such occasions the ferryman charged one dollar each for taking
wagons across.
On one occasion, following a rainy spell, Yankee Robinson's cir-
cus, the first one to show within the confines of Anderson county,
drew up before the ferry. They were to show in Garnett that day.
Having pulled through the sticky mud of the valley to the bank of
the river where the ferry was located, the boss in charge was not
long in accepting Ellis' offer to ferry his outfit across for $1 a wagon.
Thirteen wagons had been taken across and Ellis had collected a
dollar apiece for same, when a teamster decided to water his team.
Spying a place where it appeared practicable to get his horses down
to the water, he finally reached the creek and at the same time dis-
covered that a ford was located at this place in fact he saw a set-
tler of the neighborhood drive into the water and start across, the
muddied waters not reaching above the horses' knees. The circus
teamster hurried back to where the balance of the teams were pull-
ing up the steep bank on the south side of the stream, shouting the
news as he came. The whole circus outfit at once started a search
for Mr. Ellis, who, having witnessed the teamster making for the
ford to water his team, and knowing his discovery of the ford, wisely
locked his boat to the bank and suddenly departed from the scene.
Not finding him, the circus outfit returned to the task of getting the
wagons to the top of the hill, the show's one and only elephant ably
assisting in this chore. Yankee Robinson's circus showed in Garnett
in later years, crossing the North Fork on a bridge, high above where
the ferryboat operated.
5. Private La,w&, 1859, pp. 21, 22.
The Kansas Prairie
Or, Eight Days on the Plains
ISAAC MOFFATT
I. INTRODUCTION
ISAAC MOFFATT, whose record of a visit to Kansas in 1859 is
here reproduced, was a resident of Philadelphia. He came to the
territory to remove the body of a friend, named only as George in
the account, who was a member of a surveying expedition and who
died about a month before Moffatt's arrival. Moffatt wrote some-
what extravagantly and a few flights into the upper reaches of his
fancy, quite irrelevant to the presentation of a picture of Kansas
through the eyes of an Eastern traveler, have been omitted. In a
preface he offered an apology for the deficiencies of a narrative
written only for members of his family and close friends who might
be interested in an account of travel in the newly opened territory.
Spelling and punctuation for the most part are reproduced as in the
original. The manuscript is a small bound volume of 105 leaves;
the writing is heavily shaded in the fashion of the period. Phila-
delphia, 1860, appears on the title page.
II. THE NARRATIVE
EIGHT DAYS IN KANSAS TERRITORY
Chapter 1st
The morning of the 19th September, 1859, dawned on the little
town of Kansas City with a cheerless aspect, the rain which had
fallen at intervals throughout the previous day had rendered the
unpaved streets nearly impassable. The travel for the last fifteen
hundred miles from Philadelphia to this place had been unmarked
by any particular event to relieve the monotony and the tedium of
a through passage by rail and steamboat, and I now awaited the
gearing up of the team that was to convey me to the interior with
that anxiety that a man might be expected to entertain, who is
about stepping out into the untried world for the first time ; and I
must confess that the continuance of my journey in the manner now
intended, and over a new country of entirely different complexion
to any yet seen, had that charm for me, which the beautiful and
romantic never fails to excite in the breast of any true lover of na-
(147)
148 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ture. Breakfast over, and bills paid "I wait for the waggon" which
in a short time makes its appearance at the door of the Hotel, the
baggage is duly stowed away, the Buffalo skins adjusted, and we
are off for the Plains.
Our team one of that class more for service than for show was ad-
mirably chosen, a full size gray horse of the norman stock, and
his mate the black a sample of the perfect roadster, one in whom
a good judge would expect to find great endurance; a real wiry fel-
low! the waggon, one without springs, long, easily set on the
wheels, once of a bright blue colour is fitted with bows for a cover,
and by the arrangement of an old buggy seat jammed in between
the additional side boards makes quite a comfortable voiture, and
one in which you might with confidence expect to reach your des-
tination in safety; the driver my only companion is a young lad
whose entire experience has been gathered in the neighbourhood of
the stable, and to whom the care of horses appeared to be a posi-
tion of considerable importance in the world; in fact he thinks
for them, talks to them, and I verily believe dreams of them;
such is my coachman Dominique! a simple child of nature, with
as good a heart as was ever encased in a mortal frame, kind, cheer-
ful and happy.
The road we are now traversing between Kansas City and West-
port is in a dreadful state from mud, mostly uphill and through a
considerable piece of oak and walnut timber, the rain has washed
the earth away from the huge stones which form the basis of the
road, rendering our progress very slow and troublesome.
The heavy clouds which have been for some time gathering over-
head, now break upon us in a copious shower of rain, and we halt
at the roadside, under the temporary shelter of the noble trees to
arrange and put up our canvas cover, which the hurry of prepara-
tion for our departure had prevented us from doing sooner; this
done we continue our westward course and pass through the village
of Westport on the boundary line of Missouri, and within two
miles of the prairie; in a few minutes we overtake a number of
waggons conveying emigrants for the interior, some of the waggons
having hopelessly settled in the mud holes on the road; we pass on,
and arrive at the Missouri line, where we meet a large party of
Santa Fe traders and their waggons encamped, and getting ready
for their long and tedious overland voyage ; here also is the United
States mail for Santa Fe, at a halt, and are about taking down the
small tent which they had pitched on the roadside; the conductor
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 149
a half Mexican looking individual with a slouched hat, and a
Blue Blanket shawl, under which a large revolver, and a bowie
knife are plainly visible, is keeping guard, and paying no more at-
tention to the drizzling rain which is steadily descending, than if it
was part and parcel of his lot in life! half a mile further and we
are launched on the Grand Rolling Prairie! which under the misty
canopy which now covers it, is like an immense sea of land, en-
veloped in fog, the grass on its great wavy surface, sparkling in
moisture and resembling the heavy swell of the Ocean after a storm,
while the road from the peculiar nature of the soil, and the rain,
looks like an enormous Black Snake! wending its tortuous course
over a green velvet carpet.
Onward through the disagreeable and chilling rain the team holds
its course, at the usual walking pace adopted by all travellers in
crossing this territory, the continual up and down of the road, as
you descend into a slough at the foot of every hill, and rise again to
the summit of the next crest, forbidding a trot, except at rare in-
tervals where a level suface intervenes for a half mile or so. We
now come in sight of an improvement in the shape of a large farm,
or ranche, entirely surrounded with a durable stone fence, with a
large yard partitioned off in like manner for cattle, in which I can
discern some two hundred head, or more; the other portion of the
farm, entirely covered with Indian corn; but the day is too gloomy
to see anything to advantage, and I must notice this excellent farm
again, on my return.
For some miles further on, no sign of habitation is visible ; this
county (Johnson county) being mostly Indian Reservation, and
few Indians having actually settled thereon makes this portion of
the road particularly lonesome, and the weather today renders it
more so.
Shortly after passing the ranche we cross Indian Creek, 1 an in-
significant stream of water, near which is a corn patch, and an
Indian's hut in the midst of it, and after three or four miles of the
same desolate road, I at length discern at the top of a fine crest a
small log-cabin, which Dominique says must be our Hotel for this
time. As it is now getting late I make up my mind to give up fur-
ther travelling for this day, the limited amount of light remaining
being insufficient for us to reach the next station ; dinner time has
passed and gone, long since without a chance of obtaining that wel-
1. Indian creek rises in Olathe township, Johnson county, and flows in a northeasterly
direction joining Tomahawk creek in Oxford township about a mile west of the state line.
150 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
come meal, the wide expanse of country, over which we have
passed, not presenting any other habitation than the one Indian hut;
so that cold, hungry, and with stiffened limbs, we gladly avail
ourselves of the humble shelter and fare of this lonely cabin before
us, scramble out of our waggon as best we can, and enter Cook's
mansion, for such we find is the name of our host; the horses are
put up for the night, and a hasty meal ordered of our active hostess.
The log-cabin is an extremely well ventilated one of the most primi-
tive style, containing in all, two small rooms, Parlour, Dining-
room, and Kitchen in one, and sleeping and store room the other,
the entire house is only about eight feet high, and twenty feet long,
with a rude chimney of prairie flag-stones on the outside of one
gable, a door on either side, and a small window about two feet
square, adjoining the front door, the sleeping room has also a simi-
lar window, which completes the outside decoration of this prairie
Home, it is not a regular house of entertainment, but being situ-
ated at cross roads, and being also the only house for miles, it is
always sought by those who need refreshment or rest; the furniture
of the interior is much on a par with the house itself, being of the
rudest description, two beds, a tin meat safe, and a coffee mill, com-
prise the movables in the chamber, three old chairs, a cooking stove,
two old and common tables, also furnish up the general department,
a bucket, a wash basin, two or three pots, and a frying pan, are all
the kitchen utensils I have been able to discover, while a few odd
cups and saucers, and some old plates comprise the dinner and tea
service; on one of the tables, a side table there is the paste-board,
on which a small bag of flour holds a prominent position, a bowl of
fat, and a hair comb are alongside, the skillet is on the stove, and
the cook (Mrs. Cook) is about slicing up some cold boiled-beef
which is destined for the skillet, to reappear in the shape of beef-
steaks, she has also made from the flour and fat, some biscuits as
they are called, which are deposited in the oven, and with the kettle
now beginning to speak for itself, preparations on a large scale are
going forward for the united dinner and supper of the City-man!
The house now begins to wear the appearance of a genuine Hotel ;
as the darkness comes on and the winds howl, other benighted
travellers make their appearance, and although on our arrival there
was but one guest, a real specimen of the Missouri frontier-man,
acquainted as I afterwards find, with every creek and every settle-
ment on the Missouri line, or in Kansas territory, we are soon
favoured with two more arrivals from Leavenworth, who with the
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 151
usual plea of wearyness and hunger, wish to be allowed to remain
over night, so that our party now numbers five, who have availed
themselves of the friendly shelter of Cook's Prairie Hotel (as I have
christened it), to escape from the cold and violent blast which is
now sweeping over the prairie with a force and power unknown in
any other portion of this continent.
Our combined kitchen, dining-room and parlour presents a strange
and busy scene, huddled together, as near the fire as possible to
avoid the winds whistling through the hundred and one chinks and
cracks with which the room is ventilated, not forgetting the ill-
fitting frame of the six-light window sash; the busy house wife
bustling round in close proximity to the stove, and striving to make
out a decent meal by the aid of the aforesaid biscuits, steaks,
coffee, and apple-sauce, is a scene, the novelty of which will not
be easily forgotten.
At length, we gather round the welcome board, where with the
assistance of a solitary and dimly burning candle, (stuck in a bottle)
we attend to the wants of the inner man, who has for some time been
asserting his right to consideration; This interesting and satisfac-
tory operation ended, for "hunger is sweet sauce," we gather
around the stove, turn up the collars of our overcoats, to turn
off the superfluous atmosphere, and for an hour or so before retiring,
are edified by the tales of border broils, and other events in the
early settlement of this Kansas territory; its future prospects,
incidents of travel, and the usual amount of roadside news. Our two
friends from Leavenworth had been cultivating the acquaintance of
a friend whom they styled "Tanglefoot," better known as bad
whiskey; the name is novel to me, though I must own not inap-
propriate, seeing that they have much difficulty in walking straight.
Our host, and hostess fill their pipes, immediately after supper,
and join in the conversation of the evening, ... the number of
bushels of corn they expect to raise, and such like topics forming the
staple of their talk, which they utter in that drawling, twanging
voice acquired by a down-easter when he has become westernized,
for the Cooks are Yankees, who have lived for some time on the
Ohio near Pittsburg, and have emigrated from thence to their Kan-
sas home. In looking over my map by the dim light of the candle,
I enquired of our hostess the name of the settlement, her farm (or
claim as they call it) is located in, she replies, by asking me, if I
notice the name of Elizabethtown, on the map, which I answered
in the affirmative, she states that I am now on that spot, and
152 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
that when the road commissioners were at her house a year ago,
they applied themselves to the task of designating the place, and
after selecting various names, all of which they found on looking
over the list of towns and villages in the territory had been already
monopolized, she mentioned her own (Elizabeth) and as that was
then new in Kansas, it was henceforward set down as Elizabethtown,
Johnson county. 2
The dishes having been washed up by the good wife, while I am
nursing the baby who has been for some time restless, (owing to an
attack of chills and fever) , she finds time to fix up the beds in the
adjoining room, the apartment of state, and one in an outhouse for
our "Tanglefoot" friends, we take our line of march bedward, I
have the best bed offered me and my man, our hosts occupy the
other bed, and the frontier man turns in, on the floor; I choose
the back part of the couch, and having divested myself of overcoat,
hat, and shoes, and placing my undercoat on the pillow, so as to
have the pistol pocket at hand, I retire to rest in my other clothes,
having wrapped my handkerchief around my head, to keep off the
excessive ventilation with which the chamber is favoured, and
after sweeping away two or three large spiders near my face, and
commending myself to the protection of my Heavenly Father, with
a prayer for those I love, in the far off regions of the East, I sink
into a profound slumber, as sweet as could be obtained in a Palace!
no frightful dreams marred the repose of that Prairie bed, and I
awoke at daylight much refreshed in body and spirits ; and now for
breakfast, and the road again; Breakfast in this section is but
a repetition of the same bill of fare as supper, and needs no further
description.
Chapter 2nd
Second day on the plains: Twenty-two miles from Kansas City,
cold bracing wind from the north, clear sky, and sunshine, course
southwest; make an early start, the sun just peeping over the
hills, the roads nearly dry from the effects of the high winds during
the night, and the weather giving tokens of a fine day; after an
hours drive we come to a fine spring, and there meet the first living
soul this day, a team is leaving the spring, beside which the male
and female occupants of the waggon, have just finished their camp
breakfast, the rude fire of sticks among the stones, is still burning,
they have the usual prairie waggon, with its close canvas cover,
and have camped out all night, as is the universal custom with
2. Elizabethtown, Johnson county, was situated four miles southeast of present Olathe.
Now an extinct location. Shown on Robert L. Ream's Sectional Map of the Territory of
Kansas, 1858.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 153
the inhabitants of the plains; their team consists of six oxen, and
they seem prepared for a long journey. We pass onward and pro-
ceed to Spring Hill 3 , which we reach at ten o'clock, make no stay
here, but forward to Marysville where we intend to dine, Spring
Hill is a very nice little settlement, with three or four superior
looking houses for this part of the country, and there are several
large patches of splendid corn near them, the first semblance of
comfort I have seen since I came into the territory; we reach
Marysville 4 about noon put up the horses and engage dinner. This
place bids fair to make a thriving settlement, situated on a high
ridge of land, overlooking an immense tract of country; boasts
of two little stores, some cabins and a good weatherboarded house
at which we are stopping, and which has been intended for the
village or roadside Tavern (though no sign of a bar or liquor is
visible), and is surrounded with several fine farms, its course is
evidently upward and onward.
While awaiting dinner I notice an Indian and squaw riding past,
on a visit to some of their neighbours, they are drest off in their
best and are mounted on two excellent horses, their attire is a cross
between the Indian garb and the white mans costume, the squaw is
touched off with some gaudy red trappings, but she sits her horse
like a Queen!, but the whiskey bottle which is tied up in a red and
white handkerchief, tells a tale of Indian ruin ; their whole appear-
ance however is highly picturesque and accords well with the scene
around.
This portion of the county is also mostly Indian reservation,
which accounts for the sparsely settled population, and will re-
main so until it is sold back again to the government which will be
at no distant date, Indians at the best making but poor farmers.
After a better dinner than that of yesterday we resume our jour-
ney, the day has now become delightful, the clear sky, the brilliant
sunshine, and the bracing air of the Prairie filling the breast with
rapture, as the magnificent scenery bursts on the view from the
summit of one of the higher crests ; here on every side for miles,
as far as the eye can reach is one continuous chain of hills and
valleys, all green and fertile! no barren spots, or frowning preci-
pices; undulating like the swell of the ocean, and interspersed
and laced in every direction with beautiful belts of timber, the
sure sign of some gently winding Creek or River! While around
3. Spring Hill, situated in the township of the same name, Johnson county, was surveyed
in 1857 and the first building was erected in the same year. It is ten miles south of Olathe,
on the southern boundary line of the county.
4. Marysville, or St. Marysville as it was also known, was about seven miles north of
present Paola, Miami county. In 1861 the name was changed to Lyons. It is now an extinct
town.
154 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
you, every here and there, large patches of Prairie flowers ! usurp
the place of the native grass. . . .
Such is the landscape through which we are now taking our after-
noon ride, a treat worth coming the entire distance from Philadelphia
to enjoy!, while ever and anon, startled by the rumbling of our
waggon, the beautiful Prairie Chicken rises from its covert in the
long grass, like pheasants in an English preserve; and after de-
scribing a semi-circle in the air, disappears again, in its native
sphere! these birds are very curiously formed, and when dead as
we see them at market, convey no idea as to their beauty when seen
in this part, their handsome spotted plumage, and fat, round
forms, deficient in tail, render them easily recognizable among other
birds.
After an hours drive we cross Big Bull creek, 5 the most pic-
turesque piece of water on the plain, about the width of the widest
part of our Wissahickon, with lofty trees growing to the water's
edge, and with a gentle serpentine course, it looks charmingly
romantic! while the water at the ford is as clear as crystal,
running over a bed of flag stones, and now only about two feet
deep.
Some ten miles from Bull creek over a road much improved in
condition as regards sloughs, and lonely as the most devoted lover
of solitude could desire (not an habitation being visible) ; the
timber of the Osage River is reached, it extends in width on either
side of the river some half mile, and the track through the woods is
of the very worst description, the heavy rains having made great
pools of soft mud, in which the wheels sink to the hub, every
minute, but we are out on the open plain again, and all is pleasant
once more; this river is no wider than Bull creek, and not quite
so picturesque.
The sun is now declining, . . . the evening dews . . .
are now beginning to gather. The Prairie Chicken are trotting along
the road in front of us, in parties, their custom at eventide, the
Plover are enjoying a walk also, the grasshoppers are chirping their
evening lay, and all nature lies serene beneath the setting sun!
About a mile from the western bank of the Osage River, we come
up with a new house, not yet entirely finished, the appearance of
which from its modern design, invites us to make it our hotel, for
the night, we ask leave to put up with the family, our request is
granted if we will be content with their fare, our answer of course
5. Big Bull creek rises near the southern boundary of Johnson county and flows south,
joining the Marais des Cygnes about four miles south of Paola, Miami county.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 155
is very happy to do so, the team is installed in the barn, my
carpet bag carried into the house and laid on the carpenter's bench,
there are three carpenters at work here finishing the interior of
the structure, the floor has for a carpet, a goodly coat of shavings
about ankle deep, and altogether the prospect for a comfortable
night's lodging, is anything but encouraging.
The stove in the center of the one large room, which comprises at
present the entire lower part of the house, together with the car-
penter's bench, and a lot of lumber, as also a bedstead in one
corner, on which is reclining a very sick old man, and the only
table, now spread with plates, leave not a particle of room for
locomotion, and I therefore take a seat beside my bag on the
bench; the women for there are two raw-boned, dark skinned speci-
mens of female loveliness, (one of whom, by the by, the most for-
bidding looking individual I have met with in many a day) are
preparing supper, and enjoying their pipes! but to my anxious eye
there is nothing particularly attractive ; however we are now seated
at the table;
Will you take coffee Sir? if you please, coffee handed, such
stuff, but for the cup, you would not know what to call it, have
you any sugar and milk? we have milk, but no sugar, take a
Biscuit? if you please, I take a hot Biscuit, made from black ill
looking flour, seeing no butter, and fearing it is in the same place
as the sugar, I do not ask for any ; so I proceed to make my supper
from the black Biscuit, and the sugarless coffee; will you take
some more coffee Sir? no, I thank you, I will take a glass of
milk, they hand me buttermilk, which I do not touch, there are
some boiled potatoes of a black, watery complexion, on the table,
as also some bare-bones which they call beef, I decline them
both, and with a supper little calculated to produce indigestion, I
retire to my seat on the carpenter's bench, to await the time for
retiring. I cannot help thinking as I sit in communion with myself,
how deceptive is outside appearance. This house from the tasty
manner in which it is finished externally, promised to my sanguine
nature comfort, and good fare! but Oh! what a disappointment,
the people are filthy, and the food fit only for a savage! they
may be getting along well in their farming operations, as they have
considerable land under cultivation, but Oh, how lost to everything
that can make life desirable, cleanliness, decency, and education;
the coarse, nonsensical conversation which they are indulging in,
proclaims them ignorant in a degree ! . . .
156 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
We are now informed that our bed is ready, when we wish it;
and myself and Dominique gladly avail ourselves of the release from
the jargon of this circle, and proceed up stairs; one large room
meets our view, with four beds spread out at intervals on the
floor; steady there! in wending my way to the litter allotted to
us, I come near making a short descent into the kitchen below;
as I find the floor is only loose boards laid on the joists, and I grasp
the red hot stove pipe which comes up through the floor, in prefer-
ence to scraping an acquaintance with the stove below.
Now if the theory of well ventilated sleeping apartments is cor-
rect, then this is a remarkable healthy one, for it is minus one
sash, and as the chimney was not yet built, the stove pipe is al-
lowed to pass out through a large hole in the roof, which serves
also to create a thorough draught; there is one thing in the econ-
omy of sleeping chambers in this territory calculated to save time,
that is the trouble of taking off your clothing at night, and putting
it on again in the morning! in fact the slight cover on each bed,
admonishes you that instead of undressing, your overcoat will be
better laid on your shoulders; profiting by last night's experience,
and the look of this garret, I lie down just as I have been drest
all day, hat, boots, overcoat and all, and sleep until three in
the morning, when the wind from the hole in the roof awakens me,
and I remain thinking of the future of my journey, till daylight.
One feature has attracted my attention in this part, that is the total
abscence of Pine- wood; talk about Black Walnut Furniture on
East as being a luxury, why the very house in which I am now
domiciled is built of Black Walnut from the ground to the roof;
in fact it is all hard wood you meet with in this section, and I
verily believe there is not a stick of Pine-wood growing in the ter-
ritory.
Chapter 3rd
Third day on the Plains: Arise this morning shortly after day-
light, and scrawl a few lines before breakfast, Breakfast I said!
well, I'll not cavil about terms, I'll call it so, but it does not
come up to the standard of the supper!, true we have some white
butter, churned alongside the stove, while the kettle is boiling,
but then we have no milk! so the change is not for the better;
I shall in future say little more on the score of food, until some
remarkable change for the better takes place, I dislike this same-
ness in description, as much as I do in actual practice, and as
meals in general are not objects of primary importance with me,
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 157
I should not have devoted so much time in talking about them if I
could have given an idea of the domestic habits of the settlers in
this country in any other way. However here comes the team,
all right! we are on the road again; the same fine weather, sun
rising over the plain in magnificent style, with a prospect of a very
warm day; after a short ride we fall in with an encampment,
some of whom are crawling out of their beds in the waggons,
while others are seated before some burning logs, preparing break-
fast, and close by a fine spring, they are evidently going far into
the interior and are from one of the western states, it is a romantic
sight to one unaccustomed to such scenes, but is a regular system
of life on the plains ; in fact few of the persons crossing the country
ever think of staying at a house ; they have their household furni-
ture and utensils with them, as also their stores, and they in-
variably select some spring, or creek, to locate their camp. In
about two hours ... we ford the Pottowattomie creek, Two miles
south of Stanton, 6 and proceed to Greely, 7 during this morning,
and at times yesterday I have had occasion to consult my map and
compass frequently, the many roads running into the one we are
on, at divers points, rendering it difficult at times to fix upon the
right course, but the compass always settled the matter; we knew
where we had to go by the map, and the unerring magnet pointed
the way!
The scenery to day is growing richer, and richer, the Prairie
is more undulating than ever, and is what may be called a wooded
Prairie, that is, there are small belts of woodland at every three
or four miles distance independent of that on either sides of the
creeks, and then again, to add fresh beauty to the scene, every
now and then we come in sight of one or more of those beautiful
natural mounds for which this part of Anderson county is remark-
able.
These Mounds are very large, and high, a half mile or so in
length, and fashioned in the most artistic manner, and when by
some turn of the road we come in sight of five or six of these lovely
creations, as is now the case, description utterly fails. . . .
6, Stanton is in Stanton township, Miami county, about one half mile from the western
boundary of the county.
7. Greeley townsite, Anderson county, was selected in the spring of 1856 and was surveyed
in April, 1857. In as much as the territorial administration was unfriendly to Horace Greeley
for whom the town was named, the post office established at that point was called Walker, as
was also the township, in honor of Gov. Robert J. Walker.
158 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
We are now nearing Canton 8 which is visible on a high crest before
us, there is a fine weather-boarded house of dazzling whiteness,
near by are several smaller tenements, one of which has a tall Hick-
ory pole beside it, the unmistakable sign of the country store,
and the large white house must be the storekeeper's dwelling, we
shall look for dinner there. My poor Dominique has been in a
dreadful way all this forenoon; after watering the horses at the
creek, the white horse who is an awful glutton, having through the
night devoured a quantity of new corn, and not being used to it,
took to swelling, to such a degree, that the faithful driver would
frequently stop the waggon and exclaim, he will die! I know he
will, look how he is swelling! he cannot stand it, and I shall
loose him ! I know I shall ! in vain I tried to sooth his fears ; we
had endeavoured to procure old corn on the way, but to no purpose;
I now bid him be of good cheer, as we were approaching the finest
settlement I have yet met with and felt certain that we should find
the great desideratum in Canton, old corn!
Arrived there we make for the store, as everybody else does who
enters a village, for the store is also the Postoffice; Mr. Tyler the
gentlemanly proprietor will be taking dinner, in half an hour, and
will be pleased to accommodate us, he is happy to say also, that
he is the only man in Anderson county who has old corn, which
we can have for one dollar per bushel, (price of new corn about
thirty cents), a bargain is struck for three bushels, and the horses
receive their first instalment; Oh! what a radiance there is on
Dominique's visage! Canton bathing in the sunbeams looks no
brighter! Here I find in addition to the store of our host, a car-
penter's and blacksmith's shop, while the large white house of the
storekeeper, his ample barns and stable, and farm, convey an im-
pression of comfort and decency that I have not witnessed since
leaving Westport.
At the table I am introduced to Mrs. Tyler who has been busy
fixing up the dinner ; I find her of a different class altogether from
any of the females so far, having been accustomed to live like a
Christian in her native (New York) state, she has endeavoured as
far as may be to keep up to the mark in Kansas, but it is a hard
task; the chills and fever, that curse of this western paradise,
8. "The town of Canton was located and laid out in 1857, by B. Tyler, on S. 23, T. 20,
R. 20. It was laid out as a rival to Garnett. Some improvements were made on its site in
1858-1859; but, when the question of the county seat was settled in favor of Garnett, Canton
was soon abaadoned and left to the roaming herds, but has since been reduced to fine farms
by the husbandman. Such was the fate of the once noted rendezvous of intemperance and
wickedness." W. A. Johnson, History of Anderson County (Garnett, 1877), p. 256. Canton
is shown on Robert L. Ream's Sectional Map of the Territory of Kansas, 1858. The U. S.
Official Register, 1861, lists Brockholst Tyler as postmaster at Canton.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 159
have made sad havoc with her, and she sighs for her Northern
home!
After leaving Canton and pursuing our route, now nearly south ;
in a short time we pass through Garnet, and Shannon 9 which joins
it, leaving Ossawattomie 10 some two miles to the south east;
Garnet is the largest village in this county; and boasts a steam
saw-mill, several small stores, carpenters and blacksmiths shops,
several dwellings, and withal is a thriving place, a Prairie town
situated in a valley; houses are going up in all directions, and its
success appears certain.
A little further on we cross the south fork of Pottowattomie Creek,
an inconsiderable stream, being only a branch from the main trunk.
At Canton we were advised to make for the house of Tyler (No. 2)
no relation to our Canton friend and about twelve miles distant,
towards sunset we arrive at the house mentioned, and congratulate
ourselves on the appearance of the place, although our last nights
experience should have forbid us trusting again to outside show.
I alight and make enquiry, but alas! our anticipations meet
with a severe check, when we are informed that they cannot ac-
commodate us, as Mr. Tyler has just died; n here is a dilemma,
of slight consequence perhaps in a town, or in a thickly settled
country, but here on the open Prairie! the sun just going down,
and no other house for fourteen miles ! several sloughs to be passed,
also a creek (Deer Creek), no moon! the darkness so great
that we can scarcely see the road, and that only by occasionally
getting out, and reconnoitering ! however the horses eyesight is
stronger than ours, and by dint of perseverance we thread our way
through that most difficult part in a dark night, the timber, skirt-
ing a creek; arrive at the bank of the stream, we examine the
steep and crooked road as best we can, plunge forward into the
ford, and mount the opposite bank! the whole proceeding very
much like a leap in the dark ! through the timber on the south bank
with some trouble, then out on the plain once more and all is safe !
9. Garnett is the county seat and largest town in Anderson county. The townsite was
selected in 1856 and by March, 1857, had been surveyed and platted. Early settlers included
a colony from Kentucky. Shannon, also laid out in 1857, a mile south of Garnett, was the
county seat until its removal to Garnett in 1859. Shannon was named in honor of Wilson
Shannon, second governor of Kansas territory. The town was abandoned soon after the re-
moval of the county seat.
10. This, obviously, is an error. The author undoubtedly revised the record of his trip
through Kansas territory after his return to Philadelphia and it may be assumed that in this
instance his notes were incorrect or that he misinterpreted them. The south fork of Potta-
watomie creek ran about two miles to the south and east of Shannon and it is possible that
he intended to note this fact.
11. W. A. Johnson, op. cit., states that Patrick Tyler was the first white settler in Monroe
township, Anderson county, arriving in the spring of 1855. He also notes a Patrick Tyler as
a settler in Washington township in the summer of 1856. The "U. S. Census of 1860" records
the death of Patrick Tyler of Anderson county in August, 1859.
160 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
After calculating from the time we have been out in this "Night on
the Prairie," that we could not be far from the house, we are
gladdened by a flash of light, like a falling star, in the dark canopy
of Heaven ! see there ! it flashes again ! it is the house ! but how
distant, and so high ! it is far away yet, and we are rising some
very steep ground, ah! we are on the Ozark Mountain! 12 and it
is surely the house! Fash, flash, again, the inmates are moving
about with the light, and it is right on our course, the horses too
have seen it! and although they have drawn their heavy load for
forty miles to day, they prick up their ears, and self-impelled,
trot through the darkness; nearer, still nearer is the light, and
now smaller lights appear, we are approaching the settlement of
Elizabethtown, Allen county. 13 The open door of a house, through
which our beacon light, has been sending its cheering ray far out
into the darkness to guide us to a home is now before us, they are
cooking a late supper, and we are just in time.
After our meal, in casual conversation with Mr. Stubblefield our
host; I state that I am going onward to Humboldt, on business
with Genl. McKee the surveyor; I am well acquainted with McKee
answers my host, and with all his party, there was a fine young-
man from the East, who died at the Camp about a month ago, I
was at his funeral, and this young man Mr. Martin who boards
with me attended him in his sickness at Mr. Flinn's house; and
also helped to bury him! did you know his name I enquired?
yes, very well, everybody knew George! and loved him too!
Well then my dear Sir, the calamity as I at first considered it, in
having to come on from Tyler's through the night, has been the
best thing for me after all, in thus placing me among friends, and
facilitating my operations ; for there, in that waggon, is the leaden
coffin in which I must bear his remains to his sorrowing parents.
These friends inform me that he is buried only three miles from
here! that the house where he died, is also three miles, in another
direction, that the Doctor, and the minister who attended him
live nearby, and Mr. Martin promises that on the morrow he will
go with me, to the Grave, to Mr. Flinn's, and to the camp of
Genl. McKee at Humboldt, which kind offer I gladly accept. Here
was good fortune awaiting me, when and where I least expected
12. An elevation of land running across Ozark township, Anderson county, is known as
Ozark ridge. It divides th waters of the Arkansas and Missouri rivers.
13. Elizabethtown was on S. 16, T. 23, R. 19 in Anderson county. The fact that it was
within a mile of the northern boundary of Allen county accounts for the author's error. The
town was located and laid out in 1859 and soon thereafter a small store was opened by W.
Stubblefield & Co Elizabethtown is listed in Folk's Kansas Gazetteer as late as 1888-1889.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 161
it! and I shall retire to rest this night in a comfortable frame house,
with the conviction in my heart, that "Whatever is, is best"!
Chapter 4th
Fourth day on the plains:
Up and about shortly after daylight, amuse myself writing these
few remarks till breakfast, that over, prepare for the road, our
new friend Mr. Martin in company as pilot and so forth; strike
across the Prairie without reference to road, Indian fashion, our aim
Mr. Flinn's, arrive there about eight o'clock, find them a very
worthy old couple, their home small, but very neat and clean,
the family consists of five children, two of them men grown ; here
again chills and fever is at work, and they have buried a son, a
fine lad, about two weeks since, who died only a few days after
George's funeral, and of the same disease Typhoid fever; the
mother is much cast down ; they are all glad to see me ; and speak
of George in the highest terms; he had found true friends in that
humble, but worthy family, who had ministered to his wants with
a care and attention only equalled by a parents unremitting watch-
fulness, and undying love.
After spending an hour with these deserving people, we strike
out over the plain for lola, on the road to which place we shall
visit the Grave, the weather still continues delightful; about ten
o'clock we pull up alongside a small low log cabin, encircled by a
worm fence, heaps of logs and brushwood are lying about in every
direction ; a small patch of corn extends from the rear of the cabin
to the timber of Deer Creek, 14 the cabin is very small, but firmly
built and close, with two window frames about two feet square, the
whole building being about the size of a moderate room ; the noise
of our waggon brought the "Monarch of a Shed" to the threshold, I
am introduced by my friend Martin to Dr. Laeder, of Deer Creek,
Allen Co., Kansas; this gentleman, (for he is a gentleman, not-
withstanding his unshaven beard, his blue blanket coat, and his
general hoosier like appearance) attended George in his short sick-
ness and I feel certain did all that human skill could; the indica-
tions of a good and generous heart which shone out full in his honest
manly face, giving a full warranty that he did his duty.
14. Deer creek flows from the northeast across D'eer Creek and Carlyle townships, Allen
county, emptying into the Neosho river at the northern boundary of lola township. Settlers
located near the mouth of the stream as early as the spring of 1855.
117954
162 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
After bidding the doctor good day we pass on to the south west,
and in a few minutes my attention is arrested by a small clump of
elegant trees standing alone, and forming the extreme point of a belt
of timber, which adorns the plain at this spot. At the foot of these
five trees little square plots are fenced in with rails, raised about
five or six feet in height; little mounds of fresh earth may be seen
inside of each inclosure, and to the Eastward of these and opposite
to one of the finest of the Trees, and disconnected from the rest,
there is one lone Grave! the fence is like the others, the Earth
too is fresh, but there is a rude headstone standing in this en-
closure (and the only one upon the ground), it bears the name of
George ! With a feeling that such a scene as this is calcu-
lated to inspire, I linger around this beautiful spot for some
minutes, admiring the charming site which the inhabitants of Deer
Creek have selected as a repository for their Hearts treasures! and
then, with the said reflection, that on the morrow I must disturb the
quiet repose of this Hallowed soil, I push forward for Tola, 15 at
which place we arrive for dinner. This little town which has sprung
up within six months has now several neat frame houses, ranged
in perfect lines, and carpenters are busy putting up others, there
are two square buildings, each about sixteen feet in diameter, on
opposite sides of the main street (that is to be) and dignified by a
sign over the threshold "Store," one of these owned by the person
at whose house we dine, is also the Post office, the merchandise
in this establishment might fill a waggon, and comprises a small
lot of groceries and some common dry goods, chiefly cotton fabrics;
the opposition store appeared pretty well used up, for I could
discern no other articles of commerce than six bags of coarse salt,
half a barrel of the vilest whiskey, six boxes of sardines, and a
chunk of tobacco! Dinner dispatched we are again en route for
Cofachicque and Humboldt, and are now crossing Rock Creek, on
the south side of Tola ; after descending the south side of the Ozark
Mountain, immediately on leaving Elizabethtown, we strike a level
line of country, which has continued on ever since, and I am told by
our friend Martin extends to Humboldt, and although more desir-
able for farming purposes, looses considerable of the interest felt
by the traveller in the more picturesque portions of the country.
15. lola, present county seat of Allen county, was founded in 1859 by a group of settlers
who were dissatisfied with the location of the county seat at Humboldt. The remoral to lo'.a
was not accomplished until 1865.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 163
After a drive of three miles, we are at Cofachique, 10 a village,
much older than extensive; there is but one house visible here,
it is a large size frame building of a dingy brown colour, and is
as usual the store and Post office of the settlement; this house is
not far from the timber of the Neosho River, which lies on the
western side of the road.
On our way from Cofachique to Humboldt a distance of six miles ;
we have the rare pleasure of witnessing that sublime, and grand
spectacle,
The Prairie on Fire!
Immediately on leaving Cofachique we are met by clouds of
smoke, which betoken an extensive fire in front of us, the wind is
blowing from the south, and right in our faces, in a few minutes the
clouds of smoke become more dense, and roll closer, and closer to
the ground, the roaring and crackling sound of the fire, may be
distinguished; there is no escape! but we are relieved from fear
of actual danger from the fact that we are on the road and the
grass is all worn off the track, so that there is nothing inflammable
under the horses feet, the smoke now becomes suffocating like that
from burning straw, the warmth may be plainly felt, though no
fire can be seen through the heavy rolling cloud of smoke which is
wafted past us, louder and plainer is heard the roaring and crack-
ling element! the smoke is lifted from the Earth by the wind,
and we behold the entire Prairie on fire from East to West, in a
line of more than a mile in width! the flaming tide is now upon
us ! we force the horses into a brisk trot, and amidst a shower of
cinders flying past us, and with our hands carefully covering our
eyes, we pass through the scorching blaze, in safety!
The danger over, we turn round to admire this great destroyer of
the Prairie! this devastating tide, which spares nothing within
its reach! . . . The Prairie a few minutes before, so green, fertile,
and velvetry in appearance, is now a charred and blackened des-
16. The town of Cofachique, Allen county, was founded in 1855 by a group of Proslavery
men from Fort Scott. It was laid out on the east bank of the Neosho river about one and
one half miles southwest of present lola and the town association was authorized to hold any
quantity of land, not exceeding 900 acres, where the town was located. Cofachique was the
only town in Allen county for nearly two years and was the county seat until 1858. The
town lasted but a short time after the removal of the county seat to Humboldt. The natural
disadvantages of the townsite it was not easily accessible and there was no water supply
together with the sympathies of the founders contributed to the ultimate death of the com-
munity. Writers of the state's history are not agreed on the origin of the name Cofachique.
Duncan and Scott in their History of Allen and Woodson Counties (lola, 1901) state that the
name was that of an Indian chief. C. E. Cory in his article "Slavery in Kansas," The Kansas
Historical Collections, v. 7, p. 238, states that the town was named for an Indian princess who
met De Soto on the Savannah river. Accounts of the De Soto expedition of 1540 contain
references to a pause at the Indian town of Cofitachique (the name is given various spellings)
where friendship and entertainment were offered by the woman governor. That she was later
made a prisoner is interesting if not pertinent. The similarity of the names suggests that the
town of Cofachique, Allen county, may have been named for the sixteenth century village on
the Savannah river, but there is a lack of evidence.
164 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ert; not a vestige of what it was, is left to tell of its once lovely
crests and slopes! the Prairie flowers . . . are now no more!
all is black! desolate, and dreary! and must remain so, until the
balmy breath of Spring! and the warm rains . . . again call forth
the green blade, and the gay flowers . . .
We are now at Humboldt, 17 the Capital of Allen County, and
about one hundred and thirty miles by the windings of our road
from Kansas City; it is situated near the banks of the Neosho
River, on a level plain, and overlooks towards the south, a consider-
able tract of country of a more undulating character than that over
which we have passed for the last fourteen miles; it is decidedly
the most stylish town of any on the route, with streets properly
laid out, stores built in City Style, and boasts a church! and a
creditable looking Court-house, there are also two excellent steam
saw mills on the Neosho, at one of which, that of Mr. Thurston,
I find Genl. McKee, 18 a fine looking gentleman, now suffering from
chills and fever, that old and constant scourge. my business
finished with the Genl., he introduces me to Mr. Mitchell, and the
other gentlemen of the surveyors camp, now pitched on the Neosho,
near the mills.
They have just closed the labours of the day, the ox team has
come in, and the oxen turned loose to graze, the compass man is
returning with that invaluable instrument on his shoulder; on an
old bench, one is mixing up some of the everlasting Biscuit, while
slices of salt pork are in the skillet ready for the fire! another
is washing out the under clothing, samples of his work are hanging
on lines between the trees, and every thing looks romantic! but
stay! we enter the Tent, and there, stretched on the ground,
with a blanket and an India Rubber sheet beneath them, are two
robust framed men of some thirty years, lying as helpless as infants,
from chills! a fate the whole party with the exception of one
member, have equally shared; pale, haggard, and careworn,
they look the picture of distress.
Sickness is not confined to the Human family, alone, in this sec-
tion, the cows are dying daily from what is here called the Spanish
17. Humboldt, named for Baron Von Humboldt by its German founders, was located in
the spring of 1857 and the first houses were built in the summer of that year. It was the
county seat from 1858-1865, losing then to lola. A U. S. land office was located here, except
for a period of a few months, from 1861-1870. The town was burned by rebel raiders in
1861 but was later rebuilt. The first church of the community was that of the United
Brethren in Christ begun in 1859 and finished the following year. It was used as a union
church for several years, also for a schoolhouse.
Orlin Thurston came to Humboldt during the summer of 1857 and erected a steam saw-
mill. In the following spring another sawmill, also grist mill, was opened by W. C. O'Brien.
18. The name Hugh McKee in the capacity of deputy and survey examiner appears in the
reports of Ward B. Burnett, surveyor general for Kansas and Nebraska, for the years 1858,
1859. s ee Reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1859, 1860. The name
David T. Mitchell occurs in the report for the year ending September 30, 1861.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 165
fever, said to have been contracted by the native cows, from a
drove of Texas cattle that lately passed through Humboldt; the
inhabitants are consequently deprived of milk.
After taking leave of the Genl. and his camp, with a promise from
him that he would be up at the grave, before noon tomorrow, if he
could possibly ride there; we turned again toward the north star!
and commence the first stage on the way home, but there is much
to be done yet e'er I can say now for Home! We return to lola in
time for supper; one of the surveying party, a young man from
Norfolk, Virginia, is boarding at this house, for the recovery of his
health, having been laid up for more than a month ; he was taken
sick a few days before George, they had been running the compass
together, and were wading up to their breasts in Deer Creek, for
about an hour; the stagnant water brought on the sickness, fatal
to one, and nearly so to the young man before me; there he was,
pale, emaciated, without energy, carr[y]ing about with him a
bottle of mixture for the chills, as hot as fire, and as bitter as gall!
poor youth! he had left his mother in Virginia, to sow his wild
oats in Kansas! and was reaping his crop! poor fellow, I
tendered him a free passage in the waggon to Kansas City, if he
could get home from there, but he could not make his arrange-
ments.
Chapter 5th
Well this day has come at last ! the looked for day ! I rise early
and breakfast, Mr. Martin, myself and Dominique are soon on the
road to Mr. Flinn's distant about ten miles, where we had left the
coffin and case yesterday; we get that in the waggon again, but
my hopes begin to sink when I discover no inclination on the part of
any of the persons present to assist in the undertaking; am I to be
defeated in my project, and at the moment of seeming success?
it must not be! I insinuate in the course of conversation, that I
intend doing the Lion's share of the work myself, and that if any
of my friends can spare time to assist, money will be no object!
This is the Talisman! when will it cease to be! I now gradually
obtain assurance of assistance from the party, and soon the Flinns,
father and the two grown sons are in their saddles, armed with
spades and axes. I take leave of the good lady, thanking her over,
and over again, for her motherly kindness, and with a parting
memento, I leave this comfortable cabin and turn our team towards
the Prairie Grave!
On our way we call again on our friend the doctor who is desirous
of going to the ground as a looker on, and by the time we arrive in
166 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sight of the little clump of trees that mark the spot, we find one
or two horsemen already there, attracted by the novelty of the
affair, which has already spread through the settlement; the sun
is now near meridian, and we are now taking down the rails; the
horses are driven under the shade of the trees, the strangers have
tied their horses, and are reclining on the grass, we have taken
the case out of the waggon, and are waiting a few minutes in the
hope of being joined by the Genl. he comes not, and we com-
mence our work; I strip off every article of superfluous clothing,
the case is near the grave, my carpet bag is open, and the necessary
tools laid out, one has already cut up a quantity of the rails to
make a fire for the soldering bolt, and to melt the cement for the
case, another is cutting away the grass around the spot where the
fire is to be kindled, to prevent another conflagration of the
Prairie; two of the young men are digging open the grave, while
I am busy opening the case previous to cementing its joints, now
the massive leaden coffin is laid near the excavation on the wind-
ward side; I have finished the cement, and am now scraping the
joint around the coffin lid, preparatory to soldering the same, the
smoke of our fire ascends and travels over the plain, and the
visitors look on in astonishment and silence. . . .
We accomplished our work in about three hours, the outer case
now rendered air tight, is placed in the waggon, the scattered im-
plements are gathered up, the grave filled in again and smoothed
over, and each one of the party, after an affectionate farewell,
turns homeward, the Prairie resumes its accustomed Silence! and
our team is on its way to our old friend Stubblefield's at Elizabeth-
town where we shall pass the night. 5 o'clock, we have finished our
journey for the day, and are awaiting dinner; I feel much fatigued,
partly with anxiety, as also the incessant labour of the last few
hours, dinner over I sit at the door looking out at the wide expanse
of country to the south, but the heart will turn its affections home-
ward, as the magnet to the pole ! my thoughts are centered there
that word is uppermost. . . .
Chapter 6th
Sixth day on the plains,
The task is finished ! Breakfast over, and an early start, Ho !
for our own loved Philadelphia! To where the sun is rising in his
majesty gilding the tops of the timber, as with burnished gold!
we direct our course ; here, on the summit of the Ozark Mountain !
looking over miles of receding hills, woodlands and valleys,
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 167
. . . we commence our homeward march. I long to get over the
sixteen hundred miles which separate me from my loved ones,
and for the next three days shall vote this team traveling a slow
coach; but patience, patience! the steamer and the dashing cars
will soon convey me there once more. ... I resign myself to
the three days snails pace on the plains ; the whole country is more
than beautiful, but I have no interest in it! and there is no health
here! I have not visited a single house in which sickness is not,
or was not, chills and fever, chills and fever is the Universal Cry !
and the doctors make the best of it; ague pills and mixtures out-
sell everything else, and are a sure card in the storekeepers hands.
There is no doubt, however, that a great portion of the sickness in
this Territory is brought about by incautious exposure, the want
of proper habitations, and by the general practice of locating farms
on the borders of the Creeks, in order to secure a portion of Timber
land, but then again the chills are also felt on the highest points
of the Prairie, though not so generally as on the Creeks ; the con-
clusion therefore we must arrive at is this; that the primary cause
of all this disease is owing to the immense amount of vegetable
matter constantly decomposing. And again there is another striking
peculiarity about this country; during the latter part of summer,
and the Autumn, the winds are from the south, and those located
on the south side of the creeks are comparatively healthy; while
others on the north side, receive all the malaria arising from the
stagnant water, wafted upon them by the southern breeze, and
are consequently more frequently sick; there is no doubt however
that as the country becomes more settled and cultivation takes the
place of rank vegetation, most of these evils will be abated, and
the territory will then perhaps as an agricultural region of vast
extent, be unequalled on the continent; almost everything usual
on a farm may be grown to perfection and in immense quantities;
and as to Beauty, there is none to compare with it!
We have retraced to day about forty miles of our outward trip,
and have now halted for the night on the northern side of Potto-
wattomie Creek; As I repassed those wonderful mounds near
Greely, I could not but take one long, lingering gaze . . . and
turned away reluctantly from the most lovely landscape my eyes
ever beheld, or expect again to see. . . . About noon we dined
with our old friend Tyler at Canton, and obtained a further supply
of Dominique's coveted old corn. On our way to this creek we fall
in with a large family making their entre into the interior; as they
descend a gentle slope we notice three teams of six oxen each, the
168 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
large covered waggons are filled with every article necessary to fur-
nish their new home; before, alongside, and in rear of the teams,
are Horses, Cows, and Calves; in one of the waggons are the
good old mother and her cheerful daughters, in another the boys
are frolicking, while in front, the weatherbeaten, gray haired old
sire, mounted on the strongest horse, is leading the van! care on
his brow, and anxiety in his eye, seeking an independent home for
his offspring, a Grave! for himself and the partner of his youth!
indeed I could not help picturing to my mind the numerous hard-
ships this little community must endure e'er they can call them-
selves settled in their new Home in Kansas Territory.
The house at which we are now staying is the largest we have met
with since leaving Westport; it is two stories in height, with a
superfluity of windows, and is a strong frame tenement; there is
a large farm attached to it, and the first garden we have met in
the territory; the family are in comfortable circumstances, have
only resided here a year or two, and are from Indiana ; their name
is Butler ; Our host has passed the meridian of life and is suffering
from the everlasting chills; his wife (a second wife) is a very
pretty and respectable person, and their habits are those of well
to do farmers who have been raised in good Society.
I feel more at home here than I have done since I came on the
plains. They are preparing supper in a large and cleanly kitchen
while our host is shooting some chickens for the morning's breakfast.
The first table for a week where decency and decorum has pre-
sided ; the board well provided with everything that can be desired
in a farm house, coffee, milk, sugar, good Biscuits, and preserves,
with cleanliness for a relish! I need not say I enjoyed myself;
Happy indeed for Kansas the day, when she can count such homes
as this is by the thousand!
In conversation with Butler who by the way is a very intelligent
man, he informs me that although accustomed to large crops of
corn &c in Indiana, his last year's crop surprised him, it was be-
yond his most sanguine expectations.
Chapter 7th
Seventh day on the plains:
Early breakfast off the aforesaid chickens, and we are on our way
again, sky clear with the prospect of a hot day, must make
Cook's tonight. This place was the scene of a terrible massacre in
the early settlement of Kansas, here was the residence of the Doyle
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 169
family, this house is situated in the extreme northwest corner of
Lykens County which our road intersects. 19 . . .
The drive through the timber of the Osage, this early in the morn-
ing is particularly pleasant; the varied hues of the foliage, from
the delicate green, the orange tinge, to the glowing carmine which
adorns the smaller brushwood, is beyond the painters art to de-
pict, or the pen to describe! and I cannot resist the temptation
of cutting a cane from one of the small sapling oaks, here growing in
profusion, as a memento of this charming spot!
On our way to Marysville I am amused by a practical demonstra-
tion of the wonderful intelligence of that valuable animal the shep-
herd dog! on the gently rolling land over which we are passing
there are a number of oxen grazing, a man on horseback is in-
structing the dog to collect such of them as belong to his master,
which feat he proceeds to accomplish with wonderful precision;
singling out from the number only those desired, gathering them
into groups and as each one is brought to a certain point, the quick
eye of the dog is directed to his master for approval, and for further
orders ; and when all are collected, a wave of the master's hand,
and the dog is marching them in the direction indicated for the vil-
lage, ever watchful that none of the drove stray away from the
main party, and continually turning his intelligent eye on his mas-
ter, to read his wishes; thus the apparently difficult task is ac-
complished with precision and diligence, without one particle of
trouble on the part of the owner, who never leaves his seat in the
saddle.
We are again at Marysville, for our Sunday's dinner, and the
team rests for an hour.
This settlement as I remarked previously is on high ground over-
looking a large extent of country, and the settlers experience great
difficulty in getting water, the person with whom we are stopping,
has already sunk two wells, without the desired result and is now
sinking a third one very deep; at present he has to haul water from
a well, nearly a quarter of a mile distant from his house, water is
not plentiful on any part of the Prairie, and often very scarce on
the higher localities, which will be found a great inconvenience and
drawback as the country becomes more thickly settled, the scarcity
of water, and the total absence of pine wood, together with the
19. The author was here confused in his statements. The distance traveled, and his men-
tion of the scene of the Pottawatomie massacre and the home of the Doyle family would place
him at this time in Pottawatomie township of Franklin county, near Lane. His route of
travel did not take him across the northwest corner of Lykens (present Miami) county at
any time.
170 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
scantness of fuel, will operate disastrously on the future prospects
of Kansas.
After a short rest we resume our course ; the day for this season
is intensely hot; towards evening we recross the beautiful stream
of water which is threading its way over the plain like a vein of
liquid silver and known as Bull Creek, 20 the gem of the Prairie!
The air is now becoming sultry and oppressive in the extreme, the
sky is undergoing a marked change, fitful puffs of a cooling breeze
are wafted over the Prairie, and there are unmistakeable signs of
a severe storm abroad; we quicken our pace somewhat to recross
Blue River 21 before dusk, and just succeed in so doing; two miles
yet to Cook's; the sun has gone down some time since, setting
with a fearful glare ! the lightning is now visible around the
horizon, and the distant thunder is heard with a dull roll; near a
spring we pass a small party camping for the night, they are at
supper round a small fire, apparently at ease, and perfectly uncon-
cerned about the weather. One mile more, Cook's house visible
in every flash! but what strange sight is this? through the dark-
ness, each flash reveals to us a number of covered waggons, the
house is literally surrounded by them, and see there are tents
pitched on the ground! it is a large train of emigrants for the in-
terior, the waggons are arranged in a circle, with their fronts to
the center; their fires are burning brightly, they are cooking;
their cattle are grazing near the tents, in great numbers, and they
are placing old quilts and other rags over the canvas covers, to
ward off the heavy rain which has now commenced, but we are at
the House !
This is a large party of emigrants, they have made all their
preparations for the dreadful night before them, they have evi-
dently travelled a long distance and are used to this mode of life,
moving around quite contented and happy, and look like wander-
ing Arabs !
The rain is descending in torrents, the thunder rolling in fearful
peals, the lightning for rapidity and grandeur exceeding any I
ever beheld; it is not the sheet lightning, nor the forked or zig-
zag, such as I have been accustomed to see; it is as though an
immense ball of molten Silver burst in the high heavens, scattering
its contents in every direction, and in the most fantastic windings,
20. Since the route of travel was north from Marysville, the creek here crossed must have
been Little Bull creek, Bull creek or Big Bull creek, as it was also called, passing to the west
of Marysville.
21. The Blue river of Johnson county flows northeast across the county emptying into the
Missouri river about 6 miles east of the state line.
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 171
like nothing I can name but one of those splendid rockets, which
exploding high in air, discharge a hundred fiery serpents to wriggle
out their brief existence for the gratification of sight seers on the
Glorious Fourth!
The storm has now lasted for several hours, the thunder roaring
louder and louder, and the lightning becoming more frightful,
while the heavy gusts of wind, sweeping over the Prairie, threaten
the removal of our shanty every moment ! I can only add that to
behold a thunder storm in perfection you must come to the Prairie !
We have for fellow lodgers, a middle aged man and woman be-
longing to the train, with their sick child; they are a hard fea-
tured, weatherbeaten couple, with skins as dark as Arabs, and
as withered and dry as parchment! in conversation they inform
me that they are enroute for the Verdigris River, which is beyond
the Neosho some twenty miles; they have some friends there,
but the man says if he does not like the appearance of the country
when he gets there, he will travel further on! such is Western
life ! Onward ! Onward ! Westward Ho !
Chapter 8th
Eighth day on the plains;
Early start, Storm all over, and the sky serene again, On the
road for the last time, eighteen miles more and we will be at West-
port Missouri, and off the plains! and four miles further Kansas
City will finish our waggon voyage.
The roads are somewhat muddy but not sufficiently so to make
them heavy ; recross Indian Creek, the last stream on our road ;
day becoming delightful, the grass looking all the better for the
thunder storm, and the Prairie-flowers of a deeper and richer hue,
are waving their graceful heads in the gentle breeze. . . .
We are now in sight of the Stone fenced Ranche, the plains
round about it are moderately sloping, and are admirably adapted
for grazing; all the cattle we noticed in the enclosure, on our out-
ward trip are now scattered over the prairie and what a sight! they
are, their sleek spotted hides, and fat round limbs, would furnish a
grand subject for the pencil of a Bonheur, as seen on their native
lawns.
This is really a model farm of large extent, the well built wall of
flag stone (set up without mortar and with as much regularity as a
brick wall) which surrounds the entire farm, will endure for ages;
and the crop of tall corn which is peeping over the fence is remark-
ably heavy; this farm may be taken as a sample of what Kansas
172 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
will present as the country fills up, and men of means emigrate
there and devote themselves to stock-raising, for which the country
is admirably adapted. the grazing is excellent on the prairies from
April to November, and the native grass, when made into hay,
with the corn fodder affords excellent forage for the winter months ;
in a word their keep costs next to nothing, with the exception of
the fattening off.
The habit of smoking is here supreme male and female addicting
themselves to it alike, in nearly every house I have visited the
women smoked, indeed I have watched them making the biscuits
and frying the meat, at the same time filling up a dirty smoke
blackened pipe, lighting it, pushing down the coarse tobacco with
their fingers, and then sucking away at the short stem with all
their might, while their clothing appeared to have had no con-
nexion with the wash tub for at least two weeks ; there is only one
excuse I can make for these men and women, the prevalence of
the chills among them makes them careless as to everything about
personal appearance, and the effect of the complaint on the system
is to deprive them of energy and ambition, and causes them to
consider everything they have to do, a trouble. Daylight dawns,
and the grass (some two or three feet high) is so wet that it is unfit
to go through except on horseback, then the cattle have to be
hunted up, work about the farm is carried on in a slow, slovenly
way ; dinner time comes, again work is resumed till the sun begins
to set, and then the darkness and the chilling dews of evening drive
every body to their dwellings and their beds, and thus at present
proceeds the monotonous life of a Prairie farm! no churches!
no schools! no social circle! no enlivening and instructive con-
versation! no friendly visitings! the damp air and the distance
from other habitations forbid that pleasure. Kansas lovely in
Nature ! in the interior must long continue a place of Self exile !
We are now nearing the Missouri line, the heavy timber form-
ing a natural barrier to the plain, in a straight line from North to
South, we enter the splendid woodlands and take our last gaze
at Kansas and her verdant lawns ! through the straggling outskirts
and extensive orchards we re-enter Westport and make for its ex-
cellent Hotel; gazing on the beauties of nature in their pristine
purity is delightful food for the mind! but in a charming little
town, and at the door of a comfortable house of entertainment I
must be pardoned when I say that for the moment the animal pro-
pensity prevailed over the romantic ! and I went through the neces-
MOFFATT: THE KANSAS PRAIRIE 173
sary ablution to fit me for the dining room with alacrity. Dinner
was just over when I made my appearance, but towards the head
of the table was gathered an abundance of good things, to which my
man Dominique and myself had for a week been strangers, and
we sat down with a feeling of evident satisfaction, the good old
sable daughter of Africa, the major-domo of the Establishment being
our attendant; after all the courses usual at Hotel dinners, we
came to the pastry (which I never saw excelled not even at the St.
Nicholas!), we pay our respects to the dainties, thoughts of the
leaden biscuits of the Osage! occasionally intruding themselves,
and after satisfying ourselves that we had in nowise slighted the
good dames preparations and were thinking of retiring, the good
old lady would insist on us making a fresh attack on the preserves
and cake, alledging dat as Massa hab to pay for wot he eat, dar
was no use of leabin de table, hungry! so we had to patronize the
preserves and cake, and top off with a glass of milk to please her,
as she allowed dat when Massa was at de Hotel he should make his-
self at home!
After strolling along the main street a few minutes while Domi-
nique is looking after the horses, we resume our seats and are off
for Kansas City.
Westport is indeed a very neat little village having a large Hotel,
two or three churches, several good stores, and is well laid out,
and derives great support from the Santa Fe merchants who pur-
chase nearly all their waggons here; one wheelwright informs me
that there were nearly eight hundred waggons sold in the village this
season, as this is the starting point of the Santa Fe traders; the
trade holds good from April to September.
On the road from Westport to Kansas City, which is beautiful
in dry weather, I notice many very fine residences surrounded by
handsome grounds, and as we proceed we are met by a long train of
Santa Fe traders who have been to Kansas City for their goods
and are now outward bound, the drivers are rather a hard looking
set of fellows, and the long Bowie Knives dangling from their
girdles do not add anything to their beauty.
We are now overtaken by a party of Indians mounted on fine
wiry ponies, who are coming in from the plains, they pass on in
their usual sullen mood ;
They are drest out in a fanciful manner, and each one has his
Rifle slung over his shoulder, and is otherwise decorated with orna-
ments.
174 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The road is now one scene of animation and bustle, heavily
loaded Ox teams are leaving for the interior, neighbouring settlers
are passing home with supplies, residents taking their afternoon
drive, Farmers and their wives on horseback are carrying home
some light articles of dry-goods or clothing, and all is Life! The
houses touch one another, Stores may be counted by the dozen,
carpenters are busy in all directions, the Farriers are busy at work
shoeing the horses of the traders, the road is filled with all classes
of vehicles, meat shops, and Lager-beer Saloons meet you on either
side, a party of Germans are dancing on the green to the music
of an Excellent Band ! in short, I am in the World again ! and in
Kansas City !
Additional Notes on the Gardner
Photographs of Kansas
ROBERT TAFT
IN the Quarterly for February, 1934, attention was directed to the
stereoscopic photographs of Kansas made by Alexander Gardner,
of Washington. 1
A catalogue of the 150 Gardner views owned by the Kansas State
Historical Society was published in this paper and 1868 was as-
signed as the year of their origin. I was not altogether satisfied
with the authenticity of this date, which was based on indirect evi-
dence. Since the publication of the original article several extended
searches have been made, and additional data has come to light
which now makes it possible to fix the date when these photographs
were made with reasonable certainty.
In the Lawrence Daily Tribune for September 21, 1867, 2 there
appears among the local items the following note:
Mr. Gardner, a photographic artist from Washington City is in Lawrence,
having come to Kansas for the purpose of taking photographic views of re-
markable and noted places in our state. He comes here, we believe, under the
auspices of the Union Pacific Railway to make draughts of points on the road
He will take a view of Massachusetts Street this forenoon. These views will
be a fine advertisement for our state and we hope the a-rtist may have all the
assistance and courtesy which our citizens can render him.
This item, together with the fact that the printed labels on the
individual photographs of the Gardner collection bear the caption
"From Gardner's Photographic Art Gallery, 511 Seventh street,
Washington. Across the Continent on the Union Pacific Railway,
Eastern Division" leave little room to doubt that the photographs
referred to in the Tribune item and those of corresponding title in
the Gardner collection are one and the same. The matter is settled
without doubt, however, by the additional evidence described below. 3
In my original paper I called attention to the fact that the Gard-
ner photographs were reported to have been made in larger sizes
1. "A Photographic History of Early Kansas," by Robert Taft, The Kansas Historical
Quarterly, v. 3, pp. 3-14 (1934).
2. Page 3, column 1.
3. It should be stated that the item from the Lawrence Tribune is confirmed in part by
the photographs (Nos. 34 and 34%) themselves. The Tribune stated that the view of
Massachusetts street would be made "this forenoon." An examination of these photographs
shows from the position of the shadows that they were made in the forenoon. Further, if
one accepts the date of September 21, 1867, as that of their origin, the angle made by the
shadows shows that the photographs were made about 10:30 a.m. of that day.
(175)
176 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
than the stereoscopic views. Mrs. Laura Perry Carpenter of St.
Louis, a granddaughter of John D. Perry, president of the Union
Pacific when under construction, wrote me that she had in her pos-
session a number of Gardner views of Kansas which bore the cap-
tion "Across the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad 1867."
These views were subsequently given to the Missouri Historical
Society. Through the courtesy of its curator, Mrs. N. H. Beaure-
gard, information concerning Mrs. Carpenter's collection was ob-
tained and may be summarized as follows:
The prints donated by Mrs. Carpenter measure 6x8 inches and
are mounted and titled in print. The size, including mounting, is
12 x 18 inches. There are 115 photographs in the collection, 12 num-
bers being missing. Several of the views are identical with those
reproduced in my original article, in particular No. 38 and No. 152. 4
In addition there is one view, obviously the last in the series from a
chronological standpoint, slightly different from No. 152, which
bears the date in print, October 19, 1867.
It is thus established that the photographs were made in the
period beginning about September 15, 1867, to October 19, 1867.
The last date is that of the last photographs in the series. The
first date is based on the fact that the Lawrence views, at least those
of Massachusetts street (Nos. 34 and 34%) were made on Septem-
ber 21, 1867. As these come early in the sequence of views it is
reasonable to assume that the first ones (those made at Wyandotte)
were made approximately a week before the Lawrence views. At-
tempts to secure exact dates upon which other photographs of this
series were taken have as yet not been successful. The date of the
item from the Lawrence Tribune obviously suggests an examination
of the newspapers of neighboring towns for reference to Gardner's
activities. A search of the newspaper files available in the Histori-
cal Society's possession failed to disclose any such reference.
The authentication of the date of origin of these Gardner photo-
graphs serves to enhance further their historic value. They record
a typical cross-section of the state of Kansas when it was a little
under seven years of age. Indeed, some of the western towns on
the Union Pacific were yet in their swaddling clothes. Thus the
views of Ellsworth (Nos. 139, 140, 141, 142 and 143) were made
when the town was but three months old. 5
4. Numbers refer to catalogue as published in my original paper (see footnote 1).
5. A. T. Andreas, History of the State of Kansas, 1883, pp. 1276-1277. According to
Andreas, Ellsworth was laid out on the banks of the Smoky Hill river in the spring of 1867.
As a result of a devastating flood, the town was moved back to higher ground in July of 1867.
As the photographs of Ellsworth were made approximately October 1, 1867, the town as then
located was but three months old.
TAFT: THE GARDNER PHOTOGRAPHS OF KANSAS 177
Again, the view of McCoy's cattle yard (No. 115) was made only
a few months after McCoy had decided to establish a cattle depot
at Abilene. 6
The views made at Hays City (Nos. 146 and 148) were likewise
taken when the town was in its infancy. Andreas 7 states that
Hays was platted early in 1867 before the arrival of the Union Pa-
cific. Upon the arrival of the railroad, the growth of the town was
extremely rapid. The railroad probably arrived at Hays October
5, 1867, 8 and consequently the Gardner views of the town were made
two weeks later than this event. An examination of the view of the
town (No. 146) reflects its rapid growth, for a considerable pro-
portion of the dwellings are tents.
It should also be pointed out that this set of photographs, with the
time of origin so definitely established, furnishes a valuable refer-
ence date for many moot points of Kansas history and local geogra-
phy. For instance, it has been stated 9 that the first frame residence
in Salina was built in 1868. An examination of the views of Salina
(Nos. 120, 121) actually shows frame residences, which from the
date of the photographs, were in existence by October, 1867.
6. Joseph C. McCoy, Historic Sketches of the Cattle Trade, 1874, p. 51. McCoy states
that the decision was made in July, 1867.
7. Andreas, History of Kansas, p. 1291.
8. The Junction City Weekly Union of Saturday, October 5, 1867, p. 3, contains the fol-
lowing item of interest in this connection: "The R. R. is progressing at the rate of 2 mi. per
day and is expected to be at Hays City this (Saturday) evening. Wednesday it was within
six miles of this place." That the railroad reached Hays early in October of 1867 is also
borne out? by the Gardner photographs themselves. No. 152 shows the end of track on
October 19, 1867. According to the label on the photograph this location was twenty miles
west of Hays on this date. Accepting the rate of construction as "2 mi. per day" and allow-
ing for no halts, the arrival of the railroad at Hays would be October 8 or 9.
A description of the town of Hays a few days before the arrival of the Union Pacific ia
given by a correspondent of the Weekly Union of October 12, 1867, p. 3.
9. Andreas, History of Kansas, p. 701.
127954
Recent Additions to the Library
Compiled by HELEN M. MCFARLAND, Librarian
IN ORDER that members of the Kansas State Historical Society
and others interested in historical study may know the class of
books we are receiving, a list is printed annually of the books ac-
cessioned in our specialized fields.
These books come to us from three sources, purchase, gift and
exchange, and fall into the following classes: books by Kansans
and about Kansas ; books on the West, including explorations, over-
land journeys and personal narratives; genealogy and local history;
and books on the Indians of North America, United States history
and biography.
We receive regularly the publications of many historical societies
by exchange, and subscribe to other historical and genealogical pub-
lications which are needed in reference work.
The following is a partial list of books which were added to the
library from October 1, 1935, to October 1, 1936. Government and
state official publications and some books of a general nature are
not included. The total number of books accessioned appears in
the report of the secretary in the February issue of the Quarterly.
KANSAS
ADAMS, RAMON F., Cowboy Lingo. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936.
ALCTHAUS, CARL B., and J. W. TWENTE, The Organization and Financing of
Rural High Schools in Kansas. [Lawrence, Kan., University of Kansas,
1932.] (Bulletin of the University of Kansas, VOL. 33, No. 13. July, 1932.)
An Anthology of 63 Contemporaries: Kansas Poets. Foreword by May
Williams Ward. New York, Henry Harrison [c!935].
ARNETT, ANNA WILLIAMS, Takamere and Tonhon; Two Little Red Children
in Their Prairie Home. Chicago, Beckley-Cordy Company [c!932].
ARNETT, CLAUDE E., Social Beliefs and Attitudes of American School Board
Members. Emporia, Emporia Gazette, 1932.
AZIERE, CHARLES B., Accounting for Catholic Institutions of Higher Education.
Atchison, Kan., Benedictine Educational Association, 1933. (National Bene-
dictine Educational Association. Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 2.)
BARNARD, EVAN G., A Rider of the Cherokee Strip. Boston, Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1936.
BIBY, WILLIAM A., Kansas Tomorrow f [Topeka, Kansas Cooperative League,
1935.]
Bradstreet's Reports of the State of Kansas, January 8, 1877. New York, The
J. M. Bradstreet & Son Company, n. d.
(178)
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 179
BRENTANO, SISTER MARY THERESA, Relationship of the Latin Facetus Litera-
ture to the Medieval English Courtesy Poems. Lawrence, University of
Kansas, Department of Journalism Press, 1935. (University of Kansas.
Humanistic Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2.)
BRININSTOOL, EARL ALONZO, The Custer Fight; Capt. Benteen's Story of the
Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25-26, 1876. . . . Hollywood, Calif.,
Author, 1933.
BROWDER, EARL, What is Communism? New York, The Vanguard Press, 1936.
BROWN, BARRON, Comanche, the Sole Survivor of All the Forces in Custer's
Last Stand, the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Kansas City, Mo., Burton
Publishing Company [c!935].
BROWNING, GRACE 0., The Development of Poor Relief Legislation in Kansas.
Chicago, University of Chicago Press [c!935].
BUTLER, JOHN J., and ANGELA A. CLENDENIN, Praying the Mass; a Study of
the Prayers and Ceremonies of the Holy Sacrifice. Wichita, Catholic Ac-
tion Committee of Women [c!934].
CAMPBELL, Ross TURNER, Classroom Lectures on the Apostles Creed. Sterling,
Sterling Bulletin Print, 1931.
CHAPMAN, CLOWRY, How Advertisements Defeat Their Own Ends. New York,
Prentice-Hall, 1931.
CHERINGTON, PAUL T., People's Wants and How to Satisfy Them. New York,
Harper & Brothers, 1935.
CLAPPER, RAYMOND, Racketeering in Washington. Boston, L. C. Page <fe
Company [cl933L
COMER, BURT, The Tale of a Fox; As Kansans Know Alfred M. Landon.
Wichita, Burt Comer [c!936].
DARLING, ARTHUR B., A Historical Introduction to the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. New Haven, Quinnipiack Press, Incorporated, 1932.
DAVIS, FRANK MARSHALL, Black Man's Verse. Chicago, The Black Cat Press,
1935.
DAVIS, KARY CADMUS, The New Agriculture. Third edition, revised. Chicago,
J. B. Lippincott Company [c!933].
DOUGLASS, AUBREY A., The American School System; a Survey of the Prin-
ciples and Practices of Education. New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1934.
EDDY, SHERWOOD, A Pilgrimage of Ideas, or the Re-education of Sherwood
Eddy. New York, Farrar & Rinehart [c!934].
Russia Today, What Can We Learn From Itf New York, Farrar &
Rinehart Lcl934].
ELDRIDGE, SEBA, Public Intelligence; a Study of the Attitudes and Opinions of
Voters. Lawrence, Kan., University of Kansas, Department of Journalism
Press, 1935. (Kansas University. Humanistic Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1.)
Etrick's Ford County Directory 1924. Dodge City, The Etrick Company, 1924.
EUBANK, KENT, Horse and Buggy Days. Kansas City, Mo., Burton Publish-
ing Company, c!927.
180 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
EULER, HARRISON LESLIE, County Unification in Kansas. New York, Teachers
College, Columbia University, 1935.
FARNSWORTH, FRANCES JOYCE, Cubby Returns. New York, The Abingdon
Press [cl935L
FOWLER, RICHARD B., Deeds Not Deficits; the Story of Alfred M. Landon.
N. p. [c!936.]
FRIESEN, GORDON, Flamethrowers. Caldwell, Idaho, The Caxton Printers, 1936.
GAGLIARDO, DOMENICO, Labor Legislation for Kansas Coal Mines. Lawrence,
University of Kansas, School of Business, 1936. (Kansas Studies in Busi-
ness. No. 17.)
GRAVES, WILLIAM WHITES, Annals of Osage Mission. St. Paul, Kan., W. W.
Graves, c!935.
The Broken Treaty; a Story of the Osage Country. St. Paul, Kail.,
The Journal, c!935.
GRAY, PATRICK LEOPOLDS, Princess Winona; an Irishman's Adventures Among
the Indians in the Days of Lewis and Clark. Severance, Kan., Princess
Press, 1908.
GRIMES, WALDO ERNEST, Modern Agriculture Based on "Essentials of the
New Agriculture" by Henry Jackson Waters. [Boston] Ginn and Company
[c!931].
HALEY, J. EVETTS, Charles Goodnight, Cowman and Plainsman. Boston,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936.
HARBORD, JAMES GUTHRIE, The American Army in France 1917-1919. Boston,
Little, Brown, and Company, 1936.
HARLEY, TOM, The Depression; In Again, Out Again, Gone Again. [Wichita,
c!935.]
HARRISON, WILLIAM BENSON, The New Deal in Economics. Wichita, Damon
Publishing Company [c!934].
HAYES, CORA WALKER, Francis Little Hayes, a Brief Story of His Lije. No
impr.
HERBERT, PARCUS CORY, Christ Victorious, a Key to Revelations. Wichita, Au-
thor, c!933.
HERRING, HUBERT, and HERBERT WEINSTOCK, editors, Renascent Mexico. New
York, Covici Friede [c!935L
HINKLE, THOMAS C., King, the Story of a Sheep Dog. New York, William
Morrow & Company, 1936.
HOLTZCLAW, HENRY F., The Principles of Marketing. New York, Thomas Y.
Crowell Company [c!935].
HOWELL, EVELYN TETRICK, Ventures in Verse. N. p. [c!935.]
HOYT, VANCE JOSEPH, Zorra, the Biography of a Gray Fox. Boston, Lothrop,
Lee & Shepard Company [cl933L
HUMBLE, EMMA, The Jayhawker Book; a Book of Kansas for Little Kansans.
Chicago, Lyons & Carnahan [c!935L
In Commemoration of Frank Hey wood H odder ; University of Kansas. [Law-
rence, Kan., University of Kansas, 1936.]
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 181
ISELY, BLISS, and W. M. RICHARDS, Four Centuries in Kansas. Wichita, The
McCormick-Mathers Company [c!9361.
ISHAM, MRS. GEORGE W., The Jubilee Record of Topeka Branch. Published
by Topeka Branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, 1933.
JANZEN, ABRAHAM EWELL, The Two Kingdoms and Closely Related Events.
Hillsboro, Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, 1927.
JIMISON, BRUNETTA, "The First Decade" (Being a Brief History in Pageant
Form of the Ten Years Preceding the Organization of Stafford, Kansas, as
a Town). Typed.
John Brown in Bronze 1850-1859; Containing Program and Addresses of the
Dedicatory Ceremony and Unveiling of the Monument of John Brown,
May 9, 1935, at the Farm Bearing His Name at Lake Placid, N. Y., in the
Town of North Elba on the 185th Anniversary of His Birth. Lake Placid,
John Brown Memorial Association, 1935.
JOHNSON, HUGH SAMUEL, The Blue Eagle From Egg to Earth. Garden City,
N. Y., Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1935.
JOHNSON, ICIE F., William Rockhill Nelson and the Kansas City Star. . . .
Kansas City, Burton Publishing Company [c!935].
KANSAS EMERGENCY RELIEF COMMITTEE, Preliminary Rural Electrification
Survey. Mimeographed.
Public Welfare Service in Kansas 1934- [Wichita, McCormick-Arm-
strong Company, 1935.] (Their Bulletin, No. 289, November 1, 1935.)
KANSAS GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Proceedings of the Fourth, Sixth and Eighth
Annual Field Conference, 1980, 1932, 1934. Mimeographed. 3 Vols.
KANSAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Reports and Recommendations Submitted to
the Legislature December 8, 1934. Topeka, Kansas State Printing Plant,
1934.
KANSAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, RESEARCH DEPARTMENT, Accomplishments of the
Kansas Legislative Council. May 23, 1935. Mimeographed.
Corporation Code, Preliminary Analysis Mimeographed.
Corporation Code, Supplementary Analysis. . . . Mimeographed.
Corporation Fees. . . . Submitted to the Legislature February
13, 1935. Mimeographed.
Cost of Government in Kansas. . . . Total and Per Capita Cost.
. . . 1929, 1932, 1988, 1934, 1935. November, 1935. Mimeographed.
Homestead Tax Exemption; Preliminary Statement Prepared for Coun-
cil Committee on Taxation. . . . March, 1936. Mimeographed.
Homestead Tax Exemption: Supplementary Report . . . Prepared
for the July, 1936, Meeting of the Legislative Council. Mimeographed.
Kansas' Experiment With a Legislative Council; Estimates of Ac-
complishments May 15, 1983, to March 27, 1936. Mimeographed.
Kansas Income Tax Revenue; Analysis of Kansas First Year Collec-
tion Experiment. . . . Mimeographed.
The Loan Shark Problem in Kansas; Preliminary Statement.
November, 1935. Mimeographed.
182 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Possibilities of Additional Revenue From Fees. Research Report Sub-
mitted to the Kansas Legislative Council, June 28, 1986. Mimeographed.
Relief Expenditures in Kansas; Showing Expenditures of Federal, State,
and Local Funds for Public Welfare Service. November, 1934. Mimeo-
graphed.
Report on State Penitentiary; Preliminary Information. . . . No-
vember, 1935. Mimeographed.
The Sales Tax (Supplementary Report) .... November, 1935.
Mimeographed.
School Finance Survey. . . . Abstract of Findings. March, 1934.
Mimeographed.
School Textbook Adoptions in Kansas; Preliminary Statement . . . .
November, 1935. Mimeographed.
The Social Security Program; Questions for Legislative Determina-
tion, Parts 1-3. Mimeographed.
The Social Security Program; State Plans, Status of Kansas Plan and
Analysis of Provisions of State Plans Which Have Been Approved by the
Social Security Board. March 26, 1936. Mimeographed.
State Aid to Municipal Subdivisions; Preliminary Statement. . . .
March, 1936. Mimeographed.
Summary of School Finance Equalization Plan; Legislative Council
Bill No. SI. December, 1934. Mimeographed.
KANSAS STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED SCIENCE, A Twenty-Year
Program, Prepared by the Faculty, With the Assistance of Alumni, Students
and Others, in 1934 and 1935. (Their Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 2.)
KANSAS STATE COLLEGE VERSUS ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, Socialized
Medicine. New York, H. W. Wilson Company, 1935.
KING, CLYDE L., Public Finance. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1935.
[KINKEL, GEORGE H., and CHARLES A. JONES, comps.], The Golden Jubilee
Anniversary of Thomas County and Its Neighbors, 1885-1935. [Rexford,
Rexford News, 1935.]
KISTLER, JOHN JOSEPH, An Outline for the Study of the History and Art of
Printing. Lawrence, University of Kansas, Department of Journalism Press,
1929.
LANDES, KENNETH K., Scenic Kansas. Topeka, Kansas State Printing Plant,
1936. (Bulletin of the University of Kansas, Vol. 36, No. 18.)
LAWRENCE, PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, Sixtieth Anniversary, 1854-
1914; Historical Papers. Lawrence, Bullock Printing Company, n. d.
LEAGUE OF KANSAS MUNICIPALITIES, Directory of City Officials and Index to
Kansas Cities, 1933, 1935. Lawrence, League of Kansas Municipalities,
1933, 1935. 2 Vols.
LEE, C. A., ed. and comp., To the Memory of the Late Andrew S. Poulson,
Pioneer Minister and Founder of Prairie Home Chapel, Elson, Kansas. No
impr.
LUMMIS, CHARLES FLETCHER, Some Strange Corners of Our Country; the Won-
derland of the Southwest. New York, Century, 1906.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 183
MAGOFFIN, RALPH VAN DEMAN, and EMILY C. DAVIS, The Romance of Archae-
ology, Formerly Magic Spades. Garden City, N. Y., Garden City Publish-
ing Company [c!929].
MECHEM, KIRKE, A Frame for Murder; a Detective Novel. New York, pub-
lished for the Crime Club, Incorporated, by Doubleday, Doran & Company,
1936.
MILLIKEN, VIRGINIA GREENE, The House That Took Root. New York, The
Abingdon Press [c!932].
MOORE, RAYMOND C., Historical Geology. New York, McGraw-Hill Book
Company, Incorporated, 1933.
MUSGRAVE, WALTER, Fireside Poems. [Topeka, c!934.]
NASLUND, ELMER, The Voice of Verdun. St. Louis, The Elm Publishing Com-
pany [c!935].
OGDEN, GEORGE WASHINGTON, Whisky Trail. New York, Dodd, Mead &
Company, 1936.
OSBORN, MRS. JENNIE STOUGHTON, Memories. Medicine Lodge, Kan., Press of
the Barber County Index, 1935.
PALMER, FREDERICK, This Man Landon; the Record and Career of Governor
Alfred M. Landon of Kansas. New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1936.
Folk's Arkansas City (Kan.) Directory, 1982, Including Cowley County Tax-
payers. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!932.
Folk's Chanute (Kan.) City Directory, 1981, Including Neosho County Tax-
payers, Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!931.
Folk's Coffeyville (Montgomery County, Kan.) City Directory, 1933. Kan-
sas City, Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!933.
Folk's El Dorado (Kan.) City Directory, 1931, Including Oil Hill, Midian and
Augusta, Also Butler County Taxpayers. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk &
Company, c!931.
Folk's Emporia (Lyon County, Kan.) City Directory, 1934- Kansas City,
Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!934.
Folk's Hutchinson (Kan.) Directory, 1924. St. Paul, R. L. Polk & Company,
C1924.
Folk's Independence (Kan.) City Directory, 1931. Kansas City, Mo., R. L.
Polk & Company, c!931.
Folk's Ottawa (Franklin County, Kan.) City Directory, 1933. Kansas City,
Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, 1933.
Folk's Pittsburg (Crawford County, Kan.) City Directory, 1933. Kansas City,
Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, 1933.
Folk's Salina (Saline County, Kan.) City Directory, 1933, Including Saline
County. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!933.
Folk's Wichita (Kan.) City Directory, 1934, ^935. Kansas City, Mo., R. L.
Polk & Company, 1934, 1935. 2 Vols.
Folk's Winfield (Kan.) City Directory, 1933, Including Cowley County. Kan-
sas City, Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!932.
PONZIGLJONE, PAUL M., Antecedents of Osage Mission, Kansas. No impr.
184 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
PORTER, MOSES W., In Memoriam; Poems Relating to the Assassination and
Death of the Hon. William McKinley. . . . Topeka, n. d.
PUGH, BURTON HOMER, Twilight Reveries. Topeka, Crane & Company, 1902.
RANDOLPH, VANCE, Hedwig; a Novel. New York, The Vanguard Press
[c!935L
REAGAN, ALBERT B., The Sun God Moccasin Tales, Vol 2: Some Flood Myths
of the Indians. Provo, Utah, M. H. Graham Printing Company [cl936L
REISNER, CHRISTIAN F., God's Power for Me. New York, Fleming H. Re veil
Company [c!932].
RUNYON, DAMON, Blue Plate Special. New York, Frederick A. Stokes Com-
pany, 1934.
Russell County Kansas Yearbook-Directory, 1936. No impr.
SHAWNEE MISSION INDIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Year Book, 1935-1936. No
impr.
SHOUSE, JOUETT, "Breathing Spells"; Speech Over the Columbia Broadcasting
System, September 16, 1935. Washington, D. C., American Liberty League
[1935].
SOCIAL SECURITY BOARD, Suggested Unemployment Compensation Legislation;
Employer Reserve Account Type. Reprint March, 1936. [Research De-
partment, Kansas Legislative Council.] Mimeographed.
Suggested Unemployment Compensation Legislation; Pooled Fund
Type. Reprint March, 1936. [Research Department, Kansas Legislative
Council.] Mimeographed.
STEWART, JOSEPH B., VERSUS THE UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY, EASTERN DIVISION,
In Equity. United States Circuit Court. Topeka, Record Printing House,
n. d.
STONE, ROBERT, The New Deal and the Constitution; a Popular Discussion.
Read Before the Saturday Night Club, October 19, 1935. No impr.
STRALEY, JOHN THOMAS, The Sentry's Last Beat, and Other Poems. Kansas
City, Mo., 1935.
STREETER, FLOYD BENJAMIN, Prairie Trails and Cow Towns. Boston, Chapman
& Grimes [c!936].
SWEENY, SARAH LOUISA, Harvest of the Wind. Caldwell, Idaho, Caxton Print-
ers, 1935.
TENNAL, RALPH, History of Nemaha County, Kansas. Lawrence, Standard
Publishing Company, 1916.
THOMPSON, WALTER, The Control of Liquor in Sweden. New York, Colum-
bia University Press, 1935.
TOPEKA, ORDINANCES, Revised Ordinances of the City of Topeka, Kansas . . .
1935. Topeka, Capper Printing Company [c!935].
TOWLE, GEORGE, A Century Old, 1836-1936. Leavenworth, Cox Printing Com-
pany, n. d.
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, History of the Union Pacific Railroad ... On
the Occasion of the Celebration at Ogden, Utah, May 10th, 1919, in Com-
memoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Driving of the Golden Spike.
N. p. [c!919.]
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 185
VESTAL, STANLEY, Fandango, Ballads of the Old West. Boston, Houghton
Mifflin Company, 1927.
Happy Hunting Grounds. Chicago, Lyons and Carnahan [c!928].
WELLMAN, PAUL I., Broncho Apache, a Novel. New York, The Macmillan
Company, 1936.
WELLS, JOHN W., Meet Mr. Landon. N. p. [c!936.]
WESTERVELT, JOSEPHINE HOPE, The Pool of Sacrifice, a Story of Adventure
in Central America. New York, Fleming H. Revell Company [c!9311.
WHITE, WILLIAM ALLEN, What It's All About. New York, The Macmillan
Company, 1936.
WICHITA, CITY PLAN COMMISSION, 1923, A Comprehensive City Plan for
Wichita, Kansas. No impr.
WILDER, LAURA INGALLS, Little House on the Prairie. New York, Harper &
Brothers, 1935.
WILLIAMSON, RETTA, Souvenir of the Kansas State School for the Deaf, 1861-
1936. Olathe, 1935.
WILSON, NEILL C., Treasure Express, Epic Days of the Wells Fargo. New
York, The Macmillan Company, 1936.
WILSON, VERNON, The House of Wilson and Its Connections. N. p. [1936.]
WINFIELD HIGH SCHOOL, SENIOR AMERICAN HISTORY CLASS [1925], History
of Winfield. Typed.
THE WEST
ALTROCCHI, MRS. JULIA (COOLEY), Snow Covered Wagons; a Pioneer Epic; the
Donner Party Expedition 1846-1847. New York, The Macmillan Company,
1936.
BATCHELDER, GEORGE ALEXANDER, A Sketch of the History and Resources of
Dakota Territory. Yankton, Press Steam Power Printing Company, 1870.
Reprint of original edition, 1928.
BEERS, HENRY PUTNEY, The Western Military Frontier 1815-1846. Philadel-
phia, 1935.
BROWN, JESSE, and A. M. WILLARD, The Black Hill Trails; a History of the
Struggles of the Pioneers in the Winning of the Black Hills. Rapid City,
S. D., Rapid City Journal Company, 1924.
COLLIER, WILLIAM Ross, and EDWIN VICTOR WESTRATE, Dave Cook of the
Rockies; Frontier General, Fighting Sheriff and Leader of Men. New York,
Rufus Rockwell Wilson, 1936.
COURSEY, OSCAR WILLIAM, Beautiful Black Hills, a Comprehensive Treatise on
the Black Hills of South Dakota. . . . Mitchell, S. D., Educator Supply
Company [c!926].
DODGE, RICHARD IRVING, The Black Hills; a Minute Description of the Routes,
Scenery, Soil, Climate, Timber, Gold, Geology, Zoology, etc. . . . New
York, James Miller, 1876.
EDWARDS, EVERETT E., References on the Significance of the Frontier in Amer-
ican History. (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Library, Bibliographical
Contributions, No. 25.)
186 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ERSKINE, MRS. GLADYS (SHAW), Broncho Charlie; a Saga of the Saddle; the
Life Story of Broncho Charlie Miller, the Last of the Pony Express Riders.
New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Company [c!934].
FLINT, THOMAS, Diary of, California to Maine and Return, 1851-1855. Re-
printed from the Annual Publications, Historical Society of Southern Cali-
fornia, 1923.
FREMONT, MRS. JESSIE (BENTON), Far-West Sketches. Boston, D. Lothrop
Company [c!890J.
GARRAGHAN, GILBERT J., Chapters in Frontier History; Research Studies in the
Making of the West. Milwaukee, Bruce Publishing Company [c!934].
GUERNSEY, CHARLES ARTHUR, Wyoming Cowboy Days. New York, G. P.
Putnam's Sons, 1936.
HOWBERT, IRVING, Memories of a Lifetime in the Pike's Peak Region. New
York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1935.
HULBERT, ARCHER BUTLER, and DOROTHY (PRINTUP) HULBERT, eds., Marcus
Whitman, Crusader, Part One, 1802 to 1839. [Colorado Springs] The Stewart
Commission of Colorado College ; [Denver] Denver Public Library [c!936] .
LEVINGE, SIR RICHARD GEORGE AUGUSTUS, Echoes from the Backwoods; or,
Sketches of Transatlantic Life. London, Henry Colburn, 1846. 2 Vols.
LOUNSBERRY, CLEMENT A., Early History of North Dakota. . . . Washing-
ton, D. C., Liberty Press, 1919.
MACK, EFFIE MONA, Nevada; a History of the State From the Earliest Times
Through the Civil War. Glendale, Cal., Arthur H. Clark Company, 1936.
MALTBY, WILLIAM J., Captain Jeff, or Frontier Life in Texas With the Texas
Rangers. . . . Colorado, Tex., Whipkey Printing Company, 1906.
MASTERS, JOSEPH G., Stones of the Far West; Heroic Tales of the Last Fron-
tier. Boston, Ginn and Company [c!935].
MORFI, JUAN AGUSTIN, History of Texas 1678-1779, Albuquerque, The Qui-
vira Society, 1935. 2 Vols.
O'HARRA, CLEOPHAS C., O'Harra's Handbook of the Black Hills. . . . 2d
ed. Rapid City, S. D., The Black Hills Handbook Company, 1927.
OTERO, MIGUEL ANTONIO, The Real Billy the Kid, With New Light on the
Lincoln County War. New York, Rufus Rockwell Wilson, Incorporated,
1936.
PEARCE, J. E., Tales That Dead Men Tell. [Austin, University of Texas] 1935.
(Anthropology Papers of the University of Texas, Vol. 1, No. 1.)
PELZER, Louis, The Cattlemen's Frontier; a Record of the Trans-Mississippi
Cattle Industry From Oxen Trains to Pooling Companies, 1850-1890. Glen-
dale, Calif., The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1936.
PORTER, ROBERT P., The West; From the Census of 1880, a History of the In-
dustrial, Commercial, Social and Political Development of the States and
Territories of the West From 1800 to 1880. Chicago, Rand, McNally &
Company, 1882.
REMINGTON, FREDERIC, Drawings. New York, R. H. Russell, 1898.
SANDOZ, MARI, Old Jules. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1935.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 187
STUABT, ROBERT, The Discovery of the Oregon Trail; Robert Stuart's Narra-
tives oj His Overland Trip Eastward From Astoria in 1812-13. . . .
New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935.
SWAN, OLIVER G., ed., Covered Wagon Days. New York, Gosset & Dunlap
[cl928L
WEBB, WALTER PRESCOTT, The Texas Rangers; a Century of Frontier Defense.
Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935.
WESLEY, EDGAR BRUCE, Guarding the Frontier; a Study of Frontier Defense
From 1815 to 1825. [Minneapolis] The University of Minnesota Press,
1935.
WILLIAMS, CHAUNCEY PRATT, Lone Elk, the Life Story of Bill Williams, Trap-
per and Guide. Part Two. Denver, John Van Male, 1936. (The Old West
Series, No. 7.)
GENEALOGY AND LOCAL HISTORY
American Annual Monitor for 1859; or Obituary of the Members of the So-
ciety of Friends in America, for the Year 1858. No. 2. New York, Samuel
S. and William Wood, 1859.
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Proceedings at the Semi-Annual Meeting
Held in Boston, April 17, 1935. Worcester, Mass., Society, 1935.
ANDOVER, MASS., SOUTH CHURCH, Historical Manual. Andover, Warren F.
Draper, 1859.
ANDREWS, CHARLES M., The Rise and Fall oj the New Haven Colony. [New
Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Con-
necticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
AYLSWORTH, HOMER ELHANAN, Arthur Aykworth and His Descendants in
America. . . . Providence, R. I., Narragansett Historical Publishing
Company, 1887.
BALDWIN, ALICE MARY, The Clergy oj Connecticut in Revolutionary Days.
[New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of
Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
BLAKELY, QUINCY, Farmington, One of the Mother Towns of Connecticut.
[New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of
Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
BLISSLAND PARISH, VIRGINIA, The Vestry Book of Blisland (Blissland) Parish,
New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1721-1786. Richmond, Divi-
sion of Purchase and Printing, 1935.
BOYD, JULIAN PARKS, The Susquehannah Company: Connecticut's Experiment
in Expansion. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission
of the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
BRIGHT, J[ONATHAN]. B[ROWN]., The Brights of Suffolk, England, Repre-
sented in America by the Descendants of Henry Bright, Jun., Who Came to
New England in 1630, and Settled in Watertown, Massachusetts. Boston,
John Wilson and Sons, 1858.
BURNS, ANNIE WALKER, Record of Abstracts of Wills in Warren County,
Kentucky. Mimeographed. 1936.
Record of Marriages in Onslow County, North Carolina, Prior to 1825.
Mimeographed. 1935.
188 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Records of Marriages, Pulaski County, Kentucky. Mimeographed. 1936.
CALDWELL, STEPHEN A., A Banking History of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, Lou-
isiana State University Press, 1935. (Louisiana State University Studies,
No. 19.)
COLE, CYRENUS, I Remember, I Remember; a Book of Recollections. Iowa
City, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1936.
CONNECTICUT, STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, Forty Years of Highway Devel-
opment in Connecticut, 1895-1935. [New Haven] Published for the Ter-
centenary Commission of the State of Connecticut by the Yale University
Press, 1935.
COONS, PAUL WAKEMAN, The Achievement of Religious Liberty in Connecti-
cut. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the
State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
COWIE, ALEXANDER, Educational Problems at Yale College in the Eighteenth
Century. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of
the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
COY, OWEN C., Pictorial History of California. Berkeley, University of Cali-
fornia, Extension Division [c!925].
DAUGHTERS OF FOUNDERS AND PATRIOTS OF AMERICA, Nebraska chapter, Found-
ers and Patriots of Nebraska. [Omaha, Citizen Printing Company, 1935.]
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, Lineage Book, Vols. 145-150. Wash-
ington, D. C., [Press of Judd & Detweiler, Incorporated] 1935-1936.
Kansas City chapter, comps. and pubs., Vital Historical Records of
Jackson County, Missouri, 1826-1876. Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City chap-
ter, D. A. R., 1933-1934.
DAY, CLIVE, The Rise of Manufacturing in Connecticut, 1820-1850. [New
Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Con-
necticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
Directory of Portland, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth [Maine}, 1935.
Portland, Fred L. Towers Companies, c!935.
DODGE, MELVIN GILBERT, Jonathan Bollard (1790-1872) and Eleanor Simmons.
His Wife (1787-1853) Ohio Pioneers. A Genealogical Record. Utica, Kirk-
land Press, 1935.
DUNSTER, SAMUEL, Henry Dunster and His Descendants. Central Falls, R. I.,
E. L. Freeman & Company, 1876.
El Paso City Directory, 1935. El Paso, Tex., Hudspeth Directory Company,
c!935.
FAXON, GEORGE L., The History of the Faxon Family, Containing a Genealogy
of the Descendants of Thomas Faxon of Braintree, Mass. . . . Spring-
field, Mass., Springfield Printing Company, 1880.
FIRST FAMILIES OF VIRGINIA, Order of, Annual Message 1936-1636. No impr.
FOREMAN, MRS. CAROLYN (THOMAS), Oklahoma Imprints 1835-1907 ; a History
of Printing in Oklahoma Before Statehood. Norman, University of Okla-
homa Press, 1936.
FULLER, GEORGE NEWMAN, ed., Governors of the Territory and State of Mich-
igan. Lansing, Michigan Historical Commission, 1928.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 189
GOODNIGHT, S[COTT]. H[OLLAND]., The Good Night (Gutknecht) Family in
America. Madison, Wisconsin, 1936. (Reprinted from the Register of the
Kentucky State Historical Society for October, 1935.)
HAILEY, JOHN, The History of Idaho. Boise, Idaho, Syms-York Company,
Incorporated, 1910.
HARRIS JOELN C., and LYLB HARRIS HADLEY, George Harris of Virginia and
Ohio; a Partial Record of His Descendants. 1936. Typed.
HICKS, FREDERICK C., Yale Law School: Founders and the Founders Collection.
[New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State
of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
History of Brown County, Ohio. . . . Chicago, W. H. Beers & Company,
1883.
History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, 1745-1880. Newark, Ohio, J. A.
Caldwell, 1880.
History of Montgomery and Fulton Counties, New York. . . . New
York, F. W. Beers & Company, 1878.
History of Ogle County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County, Its
Cities, Towns, etc. Chicago, H. F. Kett & Company, 1878.
HOOKER, ROLAND MATHER, The Colonial Trade of Connecticut. [New Haven]
Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut
by the Yale University Press, 1936.
HOOPES, PENROSE ROBINSON, Connecticut's Contribution to the Development
of the Steamboat. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Com-
mission of the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
HUGUENOT SOCIETY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Transactions, No. 40. Charleston, S.
C., Published by Order of the Society, 1935.
ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY, Illinois Census Returns 1810, 1818. Spring-
field, Illinois State Historical Library [c!935]. (Its Collections, Vol. 24.)
Census Returns 1820. Springfield, Illinois State Historical Library
[c!934]. (Its Collections, Vol. 26.)
ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Transactions for the Year 1935. Printed
by Authority of the State of Illinois, n.d.
JACKSON, HUGH PARKS, The Genealogy of the "Jackson Family." [Urbana,
Ohio, Press of Citizen and Gazette Company] 1890.
JERABEK, ESTHER, comp., A Bibliography of Minnesota Territorial Documents.
St. Paul, The Minnesota Historical Society, 1936.
JORDON, JOHN C., An Historical Citizen, Career of Phineas Davis, the Noted
Inventor. [York, Pa., 1904.] (Historical Society of York County, Pro-
ceedings, Vol. 2, No. 1.)
York in Its Relation to the Revolution; Lecture Delivered Before the
York County Historical Society, May 21, 190S. [York, Pa., 1903.] (His-
torical Society of York County, Proceedings, Vol. 1, No. 3.)
KELLAR, HERBERT ANTHONY, ed., Solon Robinson, Pioneer and Agriculturist.
Vol. 1. Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau, 1936. (Indiana Historical
Collections, Vol. 21.)
190 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
KELLOGG, LOUISE PHBLPS, The British Regime in Wisconsin and the North-
west. Madison, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1935. (History
Series, Vol 2.)
KELLY, JOHN FREDERICK, The Connecticut Tercentenary 1635-1935; Architec-
tural Guide for Connecticut. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary
Commission of the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
LATHROP, WILLIAM GILBERT, The Development of the Brass Industry in Con-
necticut. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of
the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
Los Angeles City Directory, 1932. Los Angeles, Los Angeles Directory Com-
pany, c!932.
MCDONALD, ADRIAN FRANCIS, The History of Tobacco Production in Connecti-
cut. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the
State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
McVoY, LIZZIE CARTER, and RUTH BATES CAMPBELL, A Bibliography of Fiction
by Louisianians and on Louisiana Subjects. Baton Rouge, Louisiana State
University Press, 1935. (Louisiana State University Studies, No. 18.)
MARBLE, ANNIE RUSSELL, The Hartford Wits. [New Haven] Published for
the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut by the Yale Uni-
versity Press, 1936.
MARYLAND, GENERAL, ASSEMBLY, Proceedings and Acts of the General Assem-
bly of Maryland 1755-1756. Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society, 1935.
(Archives of Maryland, Vol. 52.)
Memorials of Deceased Friends Who Were Members of Indiana Yearly Meet-
ing. Cincinnati, E. Morgan & Sons, 1857.
MICHIGAN (TERRITORY) SUPREME COURT, Transactions of the Supreme Court
of the Territory of Michigan 1805-1814. Ann Arbor, The University of
Michigan Press, 1935. 2 Vols.
[MORRILL, PHILIP, AND MRS. ETHEL MoRRELL McCoLLiSTER] , John of Kittery ;
a Morrell Memorial. Typed.
MORROW, RISING LAKE, Connecticut Influences in Western Massachusetts and
Vermont. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of
the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
MORSE, JARVIS MEANS, Connecticut Newspapers in the Eighteenth Century.
[New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of
Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
MUNICH, AUSTIN FRANCIS, The Beginnings of Roman Catholicism in Connec-
ticut. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the
State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (Province), Probate Records of the Province of New Hamp-
shire, Vol. 5, 1754-1756. N. p. Published by the State of New Hampshire,
1936. (State Papers Series, Vol. 35.)
New Haven Genealogical Magazine, Vols. 1-8, July 1922-April 1932. New
Haven, Donald Lines Jacobus, 1922-1932.
Nix, EVETT DUMAS, Oklahombres, Particularly the Wilder Ones. [St. Louis,
Eden Publishing House, c!929.]
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 191
NUGENT, NELL MARION, Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land
Patents and Grants 1623-1800. Vol. 1. Richmond, Dietz Printing Company,
1934.
OLSON, ALBERT LA VERNE, Agricultural Economy and the Population in Eight'
eenth-Century Connecticut. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary
Commission of the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
Panhandle-Plains Historical Review, Vol. 9. Canyon, Tex., Panhandle-Plains
Historical Society, 1936.
PARSONS, FRANCIS, A History of Banking in Connecticut. [New Haven] Pub-
lished for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut by
the Yale University Press, 1935.
PECK, THOMAS BELLOWS, The Bellows Genealogy; or John Bellows the Boy
Emigrant of 1636 and His Descendants. Keene, N. H., Sentinel Printing
Company, 1898.
Pennsylvania Archives, Eighth Series. N. p., 1931-1935. 8 Vols.
Ninth Series. N. p., 1931-1935. 10 Vols.
PILCHER, MARGARET CAMPBELL, Historical Sketches of the Campbell, Pilcher
and Kindred Families. . . . Nashville [Press of Marshall & Bruce Com-
pany, c!911].
Folk's Boulder County (Colo.) Directory, 1926. Colorado Springs, R. L. Polk
Directory Company, c!926.
Folk's Council Bluffs (Pottawatomie County, Iowa) City Directory, 1934-
Detroit, R. L. Polk & Company, c!934.
Folk's Des Moines (Iowa) City Directory, 1929. Des Moines, R. L. Polk &
Company, c!928.
Folk's Independence (Mo.) City Directory, 1932. Kansas City, Mo., Gate
City Directory Company, c!932.
Folk's Muskogee (Okla.) City Directory, 1932, Including Muskogee County.
Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk & Company, c!932.
Folk's Omaha (Douglas County, Neb.) City Directory, 1935. Detroit, R. L.
Polk & Company, c!935.
Folk's Ponca City (Okla.) Directory, 1932. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk &
Company, c!932.
Folk's Sioux City (Iowa) Directory, 1929. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk &
Company, c!929.
Folk's Tulsa (Okla.) City Directory, 1932. Kansas City, Mo., R. L. Polk &
Company, c!931.
POWERS, ALFRED, History of Oregon Literature. Portland, Metropolitan Press,
1935.
RHODES, THOMAS WILLETT, Genealogy, History and Traditions of Thomas
Rhodes (1696?-1761?) and His Descendants. Syracuse, Mason Press, 1898.
ROGERS, ERNEST E., comp. and ed., New London's Participation in Connecti-
cut's Tercentenary, 1935. New London, The New London County Histori-
cal Society, 1935. (Their Occasional Publications, Vol. 3.)
192 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ROSENBERRY, MRS. Lois (KiMBALL.) MATHEWS, Migrations From Connecticut
After 1800. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of
the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
SARGENT, WILLIAM M., The York Family; Reprint From the Maine Historical
and Genealogical Recorder With Additional Notes by Walter E. McKeen.
Manhattan, Kan., Art Craft Printers, 1936.
SCOTT, S. C., Family Records of Lemuel Snodgrass and Richard Scott and
Their Related Families. Lawrence, Kan., 1928.
SEYMOUR, MABEL, A Lawyer of Kent : Barzillai Slosson and His Account Books,
1794-1812. [New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of
the State of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
SHELDON, ADDISON E., Land Systems and Land Policies in Nebraska. Lin-
coln, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1936. (Publications of the Ne-
braska State Historical Society, Vol. 22.)
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Reports and Proceed-
ings, July 1, 1934, to June 30, 1936. No impr.
SORENSON, ALFRED, History of Omaha From the Pioneer Days to the Present
Time. Omaha, Gibson, Miller & Richardson, 1889.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, South Dakota Historical Collections,
Vol. 17, 1934. Pierre, State Publishing Company [1934].
SPALDING, SAMUEL J., Spalding Memorial; a Genealogical History of Edward
Spalding, of Massachusetts Bay, and His Descendants. Boston, Alfred
Mudge & Son, 1872.
SPOFFORD, JEREMIAH, A Genealogical Record, Including Two Generations in
Female Lines of Families Spelling Their Name Spofford, Spafford, Spa-
fard and Spaford. . . . Boston, Alfred Mudge & Son, 1888.
SQUIRE, WILLIAM WALTER THOMAS, Charities and Corrections in Connecticut.
[New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State
of Connecticut by the Yale University Press, 1936.
SWEM, E[ARL]. G[REGG]., Virginia Historical Index. Roanoke, Va., Stone
Printing and Manufacturing Company, 1934. 2 Vols.
SWISHER, JACOB A., The Iowa Department of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Iowa City, State Historical Society of Iowa, 1936.
TAINTER, DEAN W., History and Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph
Taynter, Who Sailed From England April, A. D. 1638, and Settled in Water-
town, Mass. Boston, David Clapp, 1859.
THE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT, The Tercen-
tenary of Connecticut 1685-1935. . . . N.p., The Tercentenary Com-
mission of the State of Connecticut [1936].
TREADWAY, OSWELL GARLAND, Edward Treadway and His Descendants; News
Letter No. 4. Chicago [1936].
TROWBRIDGE, FRANCIS BACON, The Champion Genealogy: a History of the
Descendants of Henry Champion of Saybrook and Lyme, Connecticut, To-
gethe-r with Some Account of Other Families of the Name. New Haven,
Printed for the Author, 1891.
VERMONT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Proceedings 1936. Montpelier, the Society, 1936.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 193
VIETS, ROGER, Records of Rev. Roger Viets, Rector of St. Andrew's, Simsbury,
Conn., and Missionary From the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
in Foreign Parts 1768-1800, by Albert C. Bates. Hartford [Press of the
Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company], 1893.
VIRGINIA COMPANY OP LONDON, The Records of, Vols. 3-4. Washington, United
States Government Printing Office, 1933-1935.
Virginia Historical Register and Literary Advertiser, edited by William
Maxwell. Richmond, Printed by MacFarlane and Fergusson, 1848-1853.
6 Vols.
VONNEGUT, EMMA S., tr. and ed., The Schramm Letters, Written by Jacob
Schramm and Members of His Family From Indiana to Germany in the
Year 1886. Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Society, 1935. (Their Publi-
cations, Vol. XI, No. 4.)
WELCH, ARCHIBALD ASHLEY, A History of Insurance in Connecticut. [New
Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Con-
necticut by the Yale University Press, 1935.
WELD, RALPH FOSTER, Slavery in Connecticut. [New Haven] Published for
the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut by the Yale
University Press, 1935.
WELKER, MARTIN, Farm Life in Central Ohio Sixty Years Ago. Wooster, Clap-
per's Print, 1892.
WELLES, LEMUEL AIKEN, The Regicides in Connecticut. [New Haven] Pub-
lished for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut by the
Yale University Press, 1935.
WHITAKER, EPHER, Whitaker ) s Southold; Being a Substantial Reproduction of
the History of Southold, L. I., Its First Century. Edited With Additions
by the Rev. Charles E. Craven, D. D., Princeton, Princeton University
Press, 1931.
WILLIAMS, STANLEY THOMAS, The Literature of Connecticut. [New Haven]
Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State of Connecticut,
1936.
Wisconsin Magazine of History Index, Vols. 1-15, 1917-1931. Madison, State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1934.
WITHINGTON, SIDNEY, The First Twenty Years of Railroads in Connecticut.
[New Haven] Published for the Tercentenary Commission of the State
of Connecticut, 1935.
WORCESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Publications, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 1.
Worcester, Mass., Worcester Historical Society, 1935.
Worley's Dallas (Tex.) City Directory, 1932. Dallas, John F. Worley Direc-
tory Company, c!932.
WYOMING COMMEMORATIVE ASSOCIATION, Proceedings, 1935. No impr.
GENERAL
ABRAHAM LINCOLN ASSOCIATION, Papers Delivered Before the Members of the
Abraham Lincoln Association. . . . 1930-1933, 1935. Springfield, The
Abraham Lincoln Association, 1932-1933, 1936. 5 Vols.
137954
194 EANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Proceedings at the Annual Meeting Held in
Worcester October 17, 19$4. Worcester, The Society, 1935.
ANGLE, PAUL M., "Here I Have Lived" ; a History of Lincoln's Springfield,
1821-1865. Springfield, The Abraham Lincoln Aaiociation, 1835.
Lincoln 1854-1861; Being the Day-by-Day Activities of Abraham Lin-
coln from January 1, 1854, to March 4, 1861. Springfield, The Abraham
Lincoln Association [c!933L
ARMSTRONG, NELSON, Nuggets of Experience; Narratives of the Sixties and
Other Days; With Graphic Descriptions of Thrilling Personal Adventures.
N. p. Times-Mirror P. and B. House, 1906.
[BARUCH, BERNARD M.], Taking the Profits Out of War; a Program for Indus-
trial Mobilization. No impr.
BASS, MRS. ALTHEA, Cherokee Messenger. Norman, University of Oklahoma
Press, 1936.
BATES, ERNEST SUTHERLAND, The Story of Congress 1789-19S5. New York,
Harper & Brothers, 1936.
BESAULT, LAWRENCE DE, President Trujillo; His Work and the Dominican Re-
public. [Washington] The Washington Publishing Company, 1936.
BOWERS, CLAUDE G., Jefferson and Hamilton, the Struggle for Democracy in
America. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company [c!936].
Jefferson in Power, the Death Struggle of the Federalists. Boston,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936.
BRADLEY, EDWARD SCULLY, Henry Charles Lea, a Biography. Philadelphia,
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931.
BRUCE, JAMES, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768,
1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 & 1773. Second edition. Edinburgh, Printed by
James Ballantyne, 1805. 8 Vols.
CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE, DIVISION OF INTERCOURSE AND
EDUCATION, International Conciliation; Documents for the Year 19S5. New-
York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, n. d.
CARTER, CLARENCE EDWIN, comp. and ed., The Territorial Papers of the United
States, Vol. 4. The Territory South of the River Ohio, 1790-1796. Wash-
ington, United States Government Printing Office, 1936.
CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE, The Works of, Vol. 6, 1629-1632. Toronto, Champlain
Society, 1933.
CHEEVER, GEORGE B., The Guilt of Slavery and the Crime of Slaveholding,
Demonstrated From the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. Boston, John P.
Jewett & Company, 1860.
CLUM, WOODWORTH, Apache Agent, the Story of John P. Glum. Boston,
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936.
COFFIN, CHARLES CARLETON, My Days and Nights on the Battlefield. Boston,
Perry Mason & Company, 1888.
COTTERHL, ROBERT SPENCER, The Old South; the Geographic, Economic, So-
cial, Political and Cultural Expansion, Institutions, and Nationalism of the
Ante bellum South. Glendale, Cal., The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1936.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 195
Dictionary of American Biography, Vols. 17-19. New York, Charles Scribner'e
Sons, 1935-1936.
DOOLIN, PAUL RICE, The Fronde. Cambridge, Harvard University Press,
1935. (Harvard Historical Studies, Vol. 39.)
DRAKE, FRANCIS S., Indian History for Young Folks. New York, Harper &
Brothers [c!884, 1919, 1927].
EASTMAN, ELAINE GOODALB, Pratt the Red Man's Moses. Norman, University
of Oklahoma Press, 1935.
EDWARDS, EVERETT E., George Washington and Agriculture; a Classified List
of Annotated References With an Introductory Note. [Washington, United
States Government Printing Office, 1936.] (U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture, Library, Bibliographical Contributions, No. 22. February, 1936.)
Encyclopedia of American Biography, New Series, Vols. 4-5. New York,
American Historical Society, Incorporated, 1935-1936.
ENGELHARDT, ZEPHYRIN, The Franciscans in Arizona. Harbor Springs, Mich.,
Holy Childhood Indian School, 1899.
ERVIN, SPENCER, Henry Ford vs. Truman H. Newberry; the Famous Senate
Election Contest. New York, Richard R. Smith, 1935.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF ADMINISTRATION, The Emergency Work Relief
Program of the FERA April 1, 1934-July 1, 1935. No impr.
FINNEY, T. M., Pioneer Days With the Osage Indians West of '96. N. p.
[c!935.]
FISKE, FRANK BENNETT, Life and Death of Sitting Bull. Fort Yates, N. D.,
Pioneer-Arrow Print [c!933L
GIRNON, ELAINE BROOKS, The Lincolns in Chicago. Chicago [Ancarthe Pub-
lishers] 1934.
GLASGOW, MAUDE, The Scotch-Irish in Northern Ireland and in the American
Colonies. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1936.
GREENE, LAURENCE, America Goes to Press; the News of Yesterday. Indian-
apolis, The Bobbs-Merrill Company [c!936L
HARRIS, TOWNSEND, The Complete Journal of Townsend Harris, First Ameri-
can Consul General and Minister to Japan. Garden City, N. Y., Double-
day, Doran & Company, 1930.
HAYNES, WILLIAMS, Men, Money and Molecules. Garden City, N. Y., Double-
day, Doran & Company, 1936.
HICKEY, WILLIAM, The Constitution of the United States of America . . .
The Declaration of Independence; the Articles of Confederation. . . .
Seventh edition. Philadelphia, 1854.
HUTCHINSON, WILLIAM T., Cyrus Hall McCormick: Harvest, 1856-1884. New
York, D. Appleton-Century Company, 1935.
HYDE, ANNIE BRADFORD, The Story of Methodism. . . . Greenfield, Mass.,
Willey & Johns, 1887.
LEFFEL, JAMES AND COMPANY, The Construction of Mill Dams. . . . Spring-
field, Ohio, James Leffel & Company, 1874.
LEYBURN, JAMES G., Frontier Folkways. New Haven, Yale University Press,
1935.
196 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LOWIE, ROBERT H., The Crow Indians. New York, Farrar & Rinehart [cl935L
McMuRTRiE, DOUGLAS C., Antecedent Experience in Kentucky of William
Maxwell, Ohio's First Printer. Louisville, Ky., 1932.
The Beginnings of Printing in Idaho. N.p., 1932.
A Bibliography of Books and Pamphlets Printed at Geneva, N. Y.,
1800-1850. Buffalo, N. Y., Grosvenor Library, 1935.
A Bibliography of Morristown Imprints, 1798-1820. Newark, Pri-
vately Printed, 1936.
A Bibliography of Peoria Imprints, 1835-1860. Springfield, 111., 1934.
A Century of Progress in the Graphic Arts. Chicago, 1933.
Civilization Follows the Press. . . . Chicago, 1934.
- The Earliest Extant Mississippi Imprint. Chicago, 1933.
The Early Career of Joseph Charless, the First Printer in Missouri.
Columbia, Mo., 1932.
The Early French Press in Manitoba. Chicago, 1932.
An Early Newspaper of Eastern Oregon. Chicago, 1934.
Early Printing in Tennessee. . . . Chicago, Chicago Club of
Printing House Craftsmen, 1933.
- The First Guides to Niagara Falls. Chicago, 1934.
The First Known Wisconsin Imprint. Chicago, 1934.
The First Printing in Alberta. Chicago, 1932.
The First Printing in Florida. Atlanta, 1931.
The First Printing in Indiana. Metuchen, N. J., 1934.
The First Printing in Manitoba. Chicago, Eyncourt Press, 1931.
Det Forsta Trycket pa Svenska I Amerika. Stockholm, 1934.
History of Printing in the United States. Chicago, 1929.
History of Printing in the United States. . . . Vol. 2, Middle
and South Atlantic States. New York, R. R. Bowker Company, 1936.
John Bradford, Pioneer Printer of Kentucky. . . . Springfield,
111., 1931.
A Louisiana Decree of 1770 Relative to the Practice of Medicine and
Surgery. Reprinted from New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol.
86, pp. 7-11 (July, 1933.)
Newspaper Typography Since 1929. New York, 1933.
Notes in Supplement to "The First Printers of Chicago." Chicago, 1931.
Pamphlets and Books Printed in Buffalo Prior to 1850. Buffalo, Grosve-
nor Library, 1934.
El Payo de Nuevo-Mejico. Albuquerque, 1933.
The Pioneer Printer of New Orleans. Chicago, Eyncourt Press, 1930.
Pioneer Printing in California. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
- Pioneer Printing in Connecticut. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
Pioneer Printing in Illinois. Springfield, 111., 1931.
Pioneer Printing in Iowa. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 197
- Pioneer Printing in Maine. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
- Pioneer Printing in Maryland. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
- Pioneer Printing in Minnesota. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
Pioneer Printing in Mississippi. Atlanta, 1932.
Pioneer Printing in Montana. Iowa City, 1932.
- Pioneer Printing in Nebraska. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
Pioneer Printing in New York. [Springfield, 111., 1933.]
- Pioneer Printing in Rhode Island. [Springfield, 111., 1932.]
Pioneer Printing in Tennessee. Springfield, 111., 1931.
Pioneer Printing in Texas. Austin, Tex., 1932.
Pioneer Printing in Wyoming. Cheyenne, 1933.
Printing History; Typography; the Technique of Printing; a List of
Books and Pamphlets. Chicago, 1935.
The Sweetwater Mines, a Pioneer Wyoming Newspaper. . . . Min-
neapolis, 1935.
Two Early Issues of the Council Bluffs Press. . . . Des Moines, 1935.
Was There a Printing Press in Washington in 1844? Chicago, Black
Cat Press, 1934.
Washington Newspapers 1852-1890. . . . Seattle, Washington Uni-
versity Press, 1935.
MENCKEN, HENRY Louis, The American Language; an Inquiry Into the De-
velopment of English in the United States. New York, Alfred A. Knopf,
1936.
MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY, Records of the University of Michigan 1817-1837. Ann
Arbor, University, 1935.
MILITARY ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES, OHIO COMMAND-
ERY, Sketches of War History 1861-1865, Vols. 1 and 3. Cincinnati, Robert
Clarke & Company, 1888, 1890.
MORROW, HONORS, Great Captain; The Lincoln Trilogy of Forever Free, With
Malice Toward None, The Last Full Measure. New York, William Mor-
row & Company, 1935.
MOUNT VERNON LADIES ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION, Annual Report, 1935. No
impr.
NEIHARDT, JOHN G., Indian Tales and Others. New York, Macmillan Com-
pany, 1926.
New York Times Index . . . Annual Cumulative Volume, Year 1935. New
York, New York Times Company, 1935.
NOREM, RALPH A., Kiaochow Leased Territory. Berkeley, University of Cali-
fornia Press, 1936. (Publications of the University of California at Los
Angeles in Social Sciences. Vol. 6, No. 1.)
Patterson's American Educational Directory, Vol. 33. Chicago, American
Educational Company, 1936.
PAULLIN, CHARLES OSCAR, Commodore John Rodgers, Captain, Commodore,
and Senior Officer of the American Navy 1773-1838; a Biography. Cleve-
land, The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1910.
198 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
PETTIT, EBER M., Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad. . . .
Fredonia, N. Y, W. McKinstry & Son, 1879.
PRIESTLEY, HERBERT INGRAM, Tristan De Luna, Conquistador of the Old South,
a Study of Spanish Imperial Strategy. Glendale, Cal., The Arthur H. Clark
Company, 1936.
SANDBURG, CARL, Mary Lincoln, Wife and Widow. Part 1 by Carl Sandburg;
Part 2, Letters, Documents and. Appendix by Paul M. Angle. New York,
Harcourt, Brace and Company [c!932].
SHOPPELL, ROBERT W., Modern Houses; Beautiful Homes. New York, Coop-
erative Building Plan Association [c!887].
SPALDING, M. J., Sketches of the Life, Times and Character of the Rt. Rev.
Benedict Joseph Flaget, First Bishop of Louisville. Louisville, Ky., Webb
and Levering, 1852.
STEWARD, JOHN F., The Reaper; a History of the Efforts of Those Who Justly
May be Said to Have Made Bread Cheap. New York, Greenberg [c!931].
STEWART, LOWELL O., Public Land Surveys; History, Instructions, Methods.
Ames, Iowa, Collegiate Press, 1935.
SULLIVAN, MARK, Our Times; the United States 1900-1926. Vol. 6. The Twen-
ties. New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935.
THOMAS, BENJAMIN P., Lincoln's New Salem. Springfield, 111., The Abraham
Lincoln Association, 1934.
Thomas 3 Register of American Manufacturers and First Hands in All Lines.
New York, Thomas Publishing Company, 1933.
TITUS, CHARLES HICKMAN, Voting Behavior in the United States; a Statistical
Study. [Berkeley, University of California Press, 1935.] (Publications of
the University of California at Los Angeles in Social Sciences. Vol. 5, No. 1.)
Trial and Imprisonment of Jonathan Walker, at Pensacola, Florida, for Aiding
Slaves to Escape from Bondage. Boston, Anti-Slavery Office, 1846.
TURNER, FREDERICK JACKSON, The United States, 1830-1850; the Nation and Its
Sections. New York, Henry Holt and Company [c!935].
UNITED STATES, CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, Journals of the Continental Congress,
1774-1789, Vols. 32-33. Washington, United States Government Printing
Office, 1936.
UNITED STATES, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, Naval Documents Related to the
Quasi-War Between the United States and France, Naval Operations from
February, 1797, to October, 1798. Washington, United States Government
Printing Office, 1935.
VERRELL, ALPHEUS HYATT, Our Indians; the Story of the Indians of the United
States. New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons [c!935].
WARBURG, JAMES PAUL, Hell Bent for Election. Garden City, N. Y., Double-
day, Doran & Company, Incorporated, 1935.
WARWICK, EDWARD, and HENRY C. PITZ, Early American Costume. New York,
Century Company [c!929L
WELD, THEODORE DWIGHT, Letters of Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Grimke
Weld and Sarah Grimke, 1822-1844. New York, D. Appleton-Century Com-
pany [cl934]. 2 Vols.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY 199
WHARTON, CLARENCE, Satanta, the Great Chief of the Kiowas and His People.
Dallas, Tex., Banks Upshaw Company [c!935].
WICK, B. L., The Character of Abraham Lincoln; an Address Delivered Before
the Kiwanis Club, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, February 12, 1936. No impr.
WIDTSOB, JOHN A., Joseph Smith as Scientist; a Contribution to Mormon
Philosophy. Salt Lake City, The General Board, Young Men's Mutual
Improvement Associations, 1908.
WILSON, ARTHUR MCCANDLESS, French Foreign Policy During the Administra-
tion of Cardinal Fleury, 1726-1743. Cambridge, Harvard University Press,
1936.
World Almanac and Book of Facts for 1936. New York, New York World-
Telegram, c!936.
Bypaths of Kansas History
SKETCH OF A BORDER RUFFIAN
From the Geary City (Doniphan county) Era, August 1, 1857.
Dr. Gihon, the private secretary of Ex-Governor Geary, in his forthcoming
work on Kansas, gives the following truthful and graphic picture of the world-
renowned Border Ruffian. Every citizen of Kansas will attest to its accuracy.
As the race is fast becoming extinct, so few now being found who will acknowl-
edge the name, they will soon be as scarce as witches. Hence a painting of
them drawn from life will in a few years be of great interest :
"Active preparations for war were discernible at all the river towns. At
Lexington, a large crowd was assembled on the levee, many of the persons
comprising it loaded with arms. But at Kansas City, the warlike demonstra-
tions were still greater. This town is on the southern side of the mouth of
Kansas river, which, at this point, separates Missouri from the territory of
Kansas. It is situated about five miles from Westport, near the eastern
landing of Kansas, where the Missouri army was concentrating preparatory to
the invasion of the territory. Both of these towns have become notorious as
places of refuge for the most desperate characters, whose almost nameless
crimes have blackened the annals of Kansas, and as being the resorts of
numerous combinations which have there congregated to plot against its peace.
In a word, they are the strongholds of the worst of the 'Border Ruffians.'
"Let it not be understood that this latter term is considered by those to
whom it is applied as one of reproach. On the contrary, they boast of it, are
proud of it, glory in it, and do all in their power to merit it, and very many
of them have been eminently successful. In their manner they assume the
character of the ruffian in their dress they exhibit the appearance of the
ruffian and in their conversation they are ruffians indeed. They imitate and
resemble the guerrillas, ladrones, or greasers of Mexico the brigands of Spain
or Italy, or the pirates, robbers and murderers of the theatre. On the levee at
Kansas City stood a sort of omnibus or wagon, used to convey passengers to
and from Westport, upon either side of which was painted, in flaming capitals,
the words 'BORDER RUFFIAN'. Standing about in groups, or running in every
direction, were numbers of the men who claim for themselves that gentle
appellation.
"A description of one of these will give the reader some idea of their general
characteristics. Imagine, then, a man standing in a pair of long boots, covered
with dust and mud, and drawn over his trousers, the latter made of coarse,
fancy-colored cloth, well soiled the handle of a large bowie-knife projecting
from one or both boot-tops a leather belt buckled around his waist, on each
side of which is fastened a large revolver a red or blue shirt, with a heart,
anchor, eagle, or some other favorite device braided on the breast and back,
over which is swung a rifle or carbine a sword dangling by his side an old
slouched hat, with a cockade or brass star on the front or side, and a chicken,
goose or turkey feather sticking in the top hair uncut and uncombed, covering
his neck and shoulders an unshaved face and unwashed hands. Imagine such
(200)
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 201
a picture of humanity, who can swear a given number of oaths in any specific
time drink any quantity of bad whisky without getting drunk, and boast of
having stolen a half-dozen horses and killed one or more abolitionists, and
you will have a pretty fair conception of a border ruffian as he appeared in
Missouri and Kansas."
FINANCIAL PROSPECTS FOR 1858
From The Kansas Crusader of Freedom, Doniphan City, January
30, 1858.
Money is very scarce in Kansas. But we believe that there will be more
money in the territory next summer than in any state in the union, in pro-
portion to population. The Utah expedition has already cost $6,000,000; the
army has already lost 1,700 mules and between 3,000 and 4,000 head of cattle.
The probability is that all their stock will be gone before spring. This stock,
the feed and fodder every kind of agricultural produce will have to be
replaced. It will give a market to our farmers who will sell for cash, at the
highest prices, all that they can raise. Let Eastern Emigrants, who have stock,
bring them on.
ANNEXATION OF "SOUTH PLATTE," NEBRASKA, TO KANSAS
From The Weekly Highlander, Highland, January 1, 1859.
For two years past in fact ever since the organization of Nebraska and
Kansas, there has been considerable said in Congress and out of it as to the
practical operations and beneficial results most likely to arise by annexing
"South Platte," Nebraska, to Kansas. As a journalist, and private citizen, to-
gether with, we are satisfied, a great majority of the citizens of Nebraska resid-
ing south of the Platte river, we have opposed such a proposition for the single
reason that we would thus become mixed up in the "Kansas troubles." These
difficulties being now removed, or settled, we are forced to admit that there
are many and weighty reasons in favor of the movement. We will hastily give
a few arguments that present themselves to our mind.
In the first place, the Platte river is a natural boundary line; has been, is
and always will be, an almost inseparable barrier, dividing the two sections of
Nebraska, known as "North Platte," and "South Platte." Full one-half the
season it is utterly impassable. It cannot be bridged except at an enormous
expense; and should this be done, owing to the treacherous embankments and
bed of the river, nine chances to one, the first freshet after its completion,
would sweep it away.
Again, there has grown up a bitter sectional or local feeling between those
two portions of the country, entering into almost every question that may be
agitated; which always has and always will prevent harmonious effort, and re-
tard the progress and development of the territory. In short, there are no in-
terests in common at stake.
And still again while we remain as we are we cannot reasonably expect to be
admitted into the great sisterhood of states short of ten years to come. We
have not the population to gain admittance. We have not the financial ability
to sustain ourselves as an independent state government.
202 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In the second place, the line as it now exists between Kansas and Nebraska
is really only imaginary on paper in passing from one to the other it can-
not be found. Not even a stone or a stake denotes the separating line, except,
perhaps, some private mark of the surveyor known only to himself. The nat-
ural interests of the two sections spoken of are one and the same ; nature has
so arranged, and it cannot be otherwise.
By annexation, we assist to swell a population sufficiently large to gain
immediate admission into the union, and thus take our place in the rank as a
sovereign state, with a voice, votes, and influence in our national council. We
become identified with a portion of the country possessing a world-wide
notoriety. And however much we may deplore the manner of obtaining, and
the cost of that notoriety, yet we must admit Kansas has an advertisement
unprecedented; attention has been drawn to her from, we might say, almost
every portion of the known world. We become attached to, and gain a popula-
tion and wealth; a section of country susceptible of agricultural advancement
and internal improvements, proportionate with our own. We become joint
participants in the extensive land donations which usually follow the admission
of new states, and will thereby be enabled to adopt and carry out a system of
internal improvements, and consequent development, which will in a surpris-
ingly short time, make a state of unsurpassed wealth, prosperity and greatness.
We become possessed of the power to regulate and govern our own affairs ; we
pass from minority into majority, become men of full stature; breathe free,
feel free, and are free.
We have briefly given a few of our individual ideas in relation to this mat-
ter, in this number of our paper. We shall refer to it again; perhaps fre-
quently; and in the meantime would be pleased to hear from others who may
feel disposed to present their ideas through the columns of the Advertiser,
either for or against.
We have conversed with a number of prominent citizens of Nemaha, John-
son, and Clay counties within a few days past, and find a very general opinion
in favor of annexation. We trust, however, that no action will be asked of, or
taken by Congress, until an expression by petition or otherwise, of the citizens
interested, can be had. Brown ville [Neb.] Advertiser.
ANNEXATION MEETING AT BROWNVILLE, NEBRASKA. A meeting of the citizens
of Brownville was called on Tuesday evening of the present week, at the new
Presbyterian church, to take into consideration the expediency of calling a con-
vention of the people of South Platte portion of Nebraska, for the purpose of
obtaining an expression of their views and feelings in regard to annexation to
Kansas.
The meeting being organized by the appointment of Richard Brown as
president, and O. B. Hewett, secretary, the following preamble and resolutions
were unanimously adopted:
Whereas, the question of annexing that portion of Nebraska south of the
Platte river to the territory of Kansas is beginning seriously to agitate the
public mind, and the measure is one that so materially concerns the interests
of the people of that section of Nebraska, as to merit their prompt and serious
consideration; and whereas, we, the citizens of Brownville, and Nemaha
county, deem it desirable that a conference of the people of South Platte
should be held, and an interchange of views and feelings upon the subject
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 203
should be had, and further, that a time and place for holding such a conference
should be appointed.
Therefore be it resolved, that the people of every county of South Platte,
Nebraska, be, and are hereby invited to meet with the people of Nemaha
county in a convention to be held at the city of Brownville on the first Wed-
nesday of January, A. D. 1859, for the purpose of interchanging views and ob-
taining the sense of the people of that section of Nebraska upon the proposed
annexation to Kansas.
Resolved, that we do earnestly urge upon our fellow-citizens the import-
ance of such a convention being held, and that in selecting Brownville as the
point for holding it, we are influenced only by consideration of its local con-
venience to the whole South Platte.
Resolved, that we recommend to our fellow-citizens of other counties, that
they do immediately take steps to secure a representation in the proposed con-
vention, and that the citizens of Nemaha county be requested to meet on
Wednesday the 15th instant, at Peru, for the purpose of appointing delegates
to the South Platte convention.
Resolved, that the proceedings of this meeting be published in the Ad-
vertiser and Journal of Brownville, and that all papers favorable to the pro-
posed convention be requested to copy them.
A BUFFALO HUNT
From The Commercial Gazette, Wyandotte, December 1, 1860.
John P. Alden, T. J. Darling, I. D. Heath, John Blachly and Alanson Reeve
started from Wyandott on Thursday, Sept. 27th, as our readers were informed
at the time, on an expedition in search of buffalo, with the determination to
bring back some meat if there was any to be found in the buffalo country.
Messrs. Alden, Darling and Heath arrived home with the ponies and light
wagon on Thursday night of last week, the 22d inst., having been gone just
eight weeks. Messrs. Blachly and Reeve came in with the ox teams on Sunday
night, bringing the "spoils" amounting to over 5,000 pounds of as fine buffalo
meat as ever tickled the palate of a hungry man.
By conversation with members of the party, and a hasty glance at the diary
of one of them, we have gathered some items in regard to the expedition which
may be of interest to our readers.
They took along two ox teams, each two yoke of oxen, a pair of ponies with
a light wagon, a small rat terrier and a big dog.
In the way of outfit they had a tent, three Sharp's and one muzzle-loading
rifle, two shot guns for small game, three Colt's revolvers, navy size, five Ibs.
powder, ten Ibs. shot, twenty-five Ibs. lead, five sacks flour, two sides bacon,
one bushel onions, one bushel potatoes, seven bushels corn meal, four cwt.
salt, fifty Ibs. sugar, ten Ibs. coffee, five gallons sorghum, one gallon common
molasses, table salt, pepper, ginger, pipes and tobacco for three smokers, &c.,
&c., <fec.
Thursday, Sept. 27th, started from Wyandott, crossed the bridge to the
south side of the Kansas, went through Shawnee and camped on Mill creek,
having made about 16 miles.
Friday, Sept. 28th, went about 15 miles and camped on the prairie.
204 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Saturday, Sept. 29, went a little beyond Lawrence, camped near the forks of
the road, and stayed over Sunday. Heavy thunder shower Saturday night and
drizzling rain most of Sunday.
Monday, Oct. 1st, started in the afternoon, made about 9 miles, and camped
about 4 miles S. E. of Lecompton.
Tuesday, 2d, went on about 2 miles beyond Tecumseh and camped. Killed
some prairie chickens. Met a good many people going out of the territory,
but most of them said they were coming back in the spring.
Wednesday, 3d, went about five miles beyond Topeka, crossing the Kaw at
that place, and camped on Soldier creek, just west of Indianola, in the Potta-
watomie reserve.
Thursday, 4th, drove on past Silver Lake, and past the council house of the
Pottawatomies, and paid outrageous toll over Cross creek bridge, when, had
we taken the left hand road at Silver Lake would have had an excellent ford
with a shorter and better road, as proved on return. Crossed a toll bridge
over Mud creek, 7 miles from Cross creek, (a poor ford close by,) camped one
and half miles this side of St. Mary's mission, making a day's drive of 22 miles.
Friday, 5th, passed the mission, which is a Catholic institution for the
Indians. Grounds neatly fenced and kept, buildings of wood, and beginning
to show age. Went on over Lost creek on a toll bridge, (which may be
avoided by going a little lower down,) and camped on the Vermillion.
Saturday, 6th, drove through Louisville, which is just west of the reserve
over a beautiful rolling prairie, camped at Pittsburg, at the mouth of the Big
Blue, and remained over Sunday.
Monday, Oct. 8th, drove through Manhattan and Ogden, and camped two
miles this side of Fort Riley.
Tuesday, 9th, drove by the fort and Junction City, and camped at Kansas
Falls, eight miles beyond Junction.
Wednesday, 10th, drove across Chapman's creek, and 16 miles further across
Mud creek, and camped two miles beyond Mud creek, having driven 24 miles.
Here prairie chickens, ducks and geese were abundant, and buffaloes in count-
less numbers had been seen but ten days previous, between Chapman's and
Mud creeks. Darling and Heath had their first shot at buffalo about three
miles off the road. Had a hard time looking for camp, and finally gave it up
and passed a cold uncomfortable night at the mouth of Solomon, eight miles
beyond Mud creek.
Thursday, llth, the teams having come up about 11 o'clock, spent the rest
of the day in fishing and shooting ducks. Caught a barrel of fish and salted it
down.
Friday, 12th, drove on up Solomon, and camped on Hard-crossing creek
(fitly named). There the buffalo carcasses were very numerous, showing that
there had been great slaughter among them a few weeks previous. A good
many Irish and German settlers in this neighborhood. Shot at more buffalo.
Saturday, 13th, drove on across Sand creek, a beautiful soft water stream,
and camped on Solomon. Shot at more buffalo, but brought none down yet.
Sunday, 14th, forded Solomon and camped on Salt creek. Saw a few wild
turkej's. The timber consists of cottonwood, burr oak, white oak, black walnut
and elm.
Monday, 15th, killed three buffalo, and brought two, nicely dressed into
camp before sundown. Lost the other from not being able to dress it soon
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 205
enough. Buffalo must be dressed immediately after being killed, or the meat
will spoil. Two of these were killed each with a single ball, while the third
was so tenacious of life that he refused to give up till he had nearly a pound
of lead under his skin.
Tuesday, 16th, spent the day cutting up beef, and commencing the process
of "jerking." Cut up the hind quarters in thin slices, across the grain, which
are then dipped in hot brine, or allowed to lie in cold brine all night, and
afterwards the meat is spread upon small strips of wood or upon wire, and
dried by smoke, sun and wind.
Wednesday, Oct. 17th, Darling, Blachly and Reeve went out and brought in
one buffalo, nicely dressed. Some one remained in camp all the time.
Thursday, 18th, killed a fat young buffalo, and "jerked" the whole.
Friday, 19th, killed one buffalo.
Saturday, 20th, killed three buffalos, but saved only one of them.
Monday, 22d, Alden, Blachly and Reeve killed four buffalos late in the
afternoon, about four miles from camp. Went after the meat with the ox
team, and returned about 2 o'clock in the night, with all the hind quarters,
and some of the fore shoulders.
Tuesday, 23d, spent all day curing our beeves.
Wednesday, 24th, killed one buffalo.
Thursday, 25th, killed nichts.
Friday, 26th, had a severe thunder storm. First day on the hunting ground
that the weather has been other than most delightful weather.
Saturday, 27th, cold drizzling rain all day. Darling and Heath killed three
buffalo between sun-down and dark. Two fell at the first fire with one bullet
each. Walked eight miles into camp, ate supper enough to astonish the nation,
went back with the ponies, light wagon and blankets, dressed our buffalo and
slept by the meat.
Sunday, 28th, moved camp higher up Salt creek, and brought in our meat.
Monday, 29th, spent all day curing our meat. Beautiful day.
Tuesday, 30th, killed one buffalo.
Wednesday, 31st, killed three buffalos, but saved nothing but two tongues
and one hide. They were run till the meat was heated before they were killed.
Thursday, Nov. 1, killed one buffalo. All right.
Friday, Nov. 2d, it snowed, rained and hailed all day.
Saturday, Nov. 3d, killed four buffalos, which finished the hunt.
Sunday, Nov. 4th, a beautiful day.
Monday, Nov. 5th, began packing up for return home.
Tuesday, 6th, finished packing, and all ready for an early start.
Wednesday, 7th, opened cold, wet and gloomy. Broke up camp towards
night, and traveled two miles towards home.
Here we will drop the diary, having stated in the outset that our hunter
friends got home safely, and subjoin some reflections by one of the party.
"This hunt we all will ever remember as one of the pleasantest episodes of
our lives. We examined the country thoroughly, and it is our opinion that the
bottom lands of the Solomon, Saline and Smoky Hill will support an im-
mense population, for richer lands cannot be found. The country back is
rolling and much of it very rough. It is not fit for cultivation, but will make
a most excellent grazing country, and will fatten countless herds. Beautiful
springs are abundant.
206 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
U 0n the whole the hunt was a complete success. Each one gained about
twenty pounds. Let every one who wishes to smell God's pure air, enjoy the
most perfect health, eat enough to frighten himself and his friends, and grow
fat, go on just such a trip, and we will insure recovery from disease, and con-
fusion to physicians."
POSTAGE STAMPS FOR CURRENCY
From the Freedom's Champion, Atchison, October 18, 1862.
The following order has been issued to postmasters. It explains itself.
POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENT, FINANCE OFFICE,
September 27, 1862.
Sir: Postmasters are instructed not to sell stamps knowingly for use for
currency. The department is at present unable to supply one half the current
demand, by reason of large sales by postmasters to the public to supply the
want of small change. Respectfully yours,
A. N. ZEVELY,
Third Assistant P. M. General.
CHEYENNE SCALPS, TEN CENTS EACH
From the Junction City Weekly Union, December 28, 1867.
Our town has been full of Kaw Indians during the past week. They have
abandoned their regular winter hunt on account of the hostility of the Chey-
ennes. When they came to town Stover was here, but instead of introducing
them, as was his duty, he left town and has not been heard of since. The party
brought in about twenty-five Cheyenne scalps, which they retailed out along
the road in small bits at ten cents a piece, which was a business transaction.
We believe this is the first time they have visited us since the locomotive came
among us, and their gaping astonishment is indescribable.
STATE CAPITOL SQUARE IN 1875
From The Commonwealth, Topeka, April 3, 1875.
The law creating a board of state house commissioners has been repealed
and the legislature has abandoned the capitol square to the cows. The secre-
tary of state is the custodian of the miniature Sahara which encompasses the
state house, and he has no appropriations in his hands to expend upon the
grounds. He therefore solicits "aid" in rendering the grounds at least re-
spectable in appearance. Citizens are invited to set out trees in the inclosure,
and places will be assigned to those who wish to do so. The grounds ought to
possess one or more specimens of every tree native to Kansas. Topeka is
interested in seeing the public ground beautified. Ample pasturage for cows
can be found elsewhere.
SNAKES
From the Concordia Empire, October 20, 1876.
On Saturday last we were asked by Mr. Jonathan Fulford if we had "heard
about the snakes." We hadn't, and he proceeded to tell us a story that we at
first thought incredible, but which we were at last fain to believe, and which
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 207
we now know to be true, having seen the horrid sight; and can vouch with
sworn affidavit if necessary, as can others who may have visited the scene
within the past two weeks, as to the truth of what we have to relate.
On the 2d inst., toward evening, a young son of Mr. A. Thompson, who
lives about 8% miles from town southward, was passing over a hill on the
farm of Mr. Gibbs Myers, a neighbor, in quest of his father's cattle, when he
accidentally stepped into a small hole, and drawing his leg out quickly, drew
with it several serpents. The sight frightened the lad, and he ran home with
all speed and reported his experience. He soon returned, however, with an-
other lad, and found that the hill-top was the home of a community of crawl-
ing reptiles, and before they left the spot they had dispatched forty-six.
The matter was now reported among the neighbors, and on the following
day, Messrs. J. Fulford, T. R. Graves, and B. Bessee went to the place indi-
cated, and began a war upon the serpents, finding that the hole into which
the boy had stepped was the resort of hundreds of the snakes, and that the
hill -top was literally "alive" with them. They dug down to a crevice between
two upright stones about two feet below the surface and then fought for hours,
killing hundreds, and still apparently making not the least diminution in their
numbers.
Day after day this work went on, until last Sunday the dead snakes were
picked up and counted and placed in a pile near the mouth of the den. The
number of 1,776 was counted 1 and still the work of killing goes on from day to
day. We went to the place on Monday accompanied by L. H. Smyth, and
the astounding sight of near 2,000 snakes in one pile met our gaze, with live
ones still in apparently undiminished numbers upon the hill. We killed fifteen
in as many minutes and had enough, while two little lads were all the time at
work. And the work of killing has been going on ever since, until now we
hear that about 3,000 have been dispatched, and there are hundreds, perhaps
thousands left!
The snakes are of the species called the blue racer, with a sprinkling of
adders, and vary in size from the thickness of a man's finger to that of his
wrist and in length from a foot to four or five feet. They run with remark-
able speed, and at first were cowardly, endeavoring to escape and not much
disposed to show fight. They are now, however, becoming vicious, and show
fight, and at times get startlingly aggressive.
A reasonable theory is that the hole leads to a cavern somewhere in the
depths of the hill, where there are many thousands possibly of writhing ser-
pents; and that they have gathered here from all directions for a winter resi-
dence. Some think they are poisonous; others that they are harmless, except
the "hissing adders," which are doubtless venomous. At all events, Mr. Graves
informs us that three horses that had grazed upon the hill during the "raid"
have had severe spells of sickness.
The above statement is absolutely true, and the sight is worth a pilgrimage
to see.
Now what is to be done? A work of extermination should be set about and
carried to completion. A blast has been suggested; but something should be
done to rid the neighborhood of such an ugly mass of possibly venomous rep-
tiles. Let a plan be devised, a time set, and a snakekilling "bee" organized to
see what may be hidden in the gloomy depths of that horrid hill.
208 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Issue of October 27, 1876.
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE SNAKES. We understand that a number of our
citizens were out to the snake den last Sunday, and that three hundred more
of the serpents were killed; so that the number killed up to Sunday evening
was stated to be 3,6001
It was proposed to unearth the reptiles this week by blasting. We would
suggest, in this connection, that the pile of decaying snakes should be either
buried deeply in the ground or covered with lime, or it will soon be dangerous
to be in their vicinity.
Since writing the above paragraph we have received a note from Mr. T. R.
Graves, saying that he and others visited the snake den on Monday, and
killed two hundred more.
Judge Borton who was on the ground yesterday, says 350 were killed that
day.
THE BONE BUSINESS
From the Dodge City Times, August 3, 1878.
A large number of teams came in from the range Wednesday loaded with
bones, which were gathered for miles south. A regular business in gathering
bones has long been established though not so profitable as formerly. Car-
casses are not as numerous, the buffalo is becoming extinct and the long horn
gives up his bones to the slaughter pen, being driven over the plains with less
loss. There are thousands of buffalo and cattle that are killed and die an-
nually; and the bones are gathered at all seasons of the year, thus affording
constant employment to a large number of men and teams. The bones are
shipped East by the carloads, where they are ground and used for fertilizing
and manufactured into numerous useful articles. The bone business extends
over a great portion of western Kansas.
No QUESTIONS, PLEASE!
From the Belleville Telescope, June 12, 1879.
An emigrant passed through this place the other day with the following
painted on the side of his wagon, from which we would infer that he was from
Boston, and bound for Edwards county, Kansas, and did not wish to be bored
with questions: "Boston, Mass.; through line west; read this and ask no
questions; refreshment and sleeping car; take our advice and go west, or where
you darned please, but don't keep stopping us."
TIMBER IN WESTERN KANSAS
From the Republican Citizen, Atwood, November 5, 1880.
People who are desirous of seeking homes on the frontier, or in the land of
the "cow boys" and where coyotes visit the chicken pantry, are zealous in
looking over the columns of our periodicals to see what there is in the shape of
timber. Is it hazel brush, under-brush, jack-oaks, cottonwood, or is there any
brush or wood of any description? I hazard the assertion that in all the great
states of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, in all this great domain of
real-estate, not a solitary county exists but what contains timber of some kind,
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 209
let it be large or small, hard or soft; consequently Cheyenne is not an excep-
tion to the general rule. At present there are plenty of claims with good tim-
ber and splendid water, but six months hence such may not be the case. The
majority of such may be found in the northern half of Cheyenne, while the
southern has little or none of that genera, excepting a very little on the banks
of the South Beaver which meanders through the southeast corner of the
county. In the northeast part on Big Timber creek, there you will find big
timber sure enough trees so large that if cut into stove wood would be suf-
ficient to last an ordinary stove one year. Now this may seem an exaggera-
tion of a sane man's veracity, but it is nevertheless true and in a prairie country
too. Timber is found for distance of ten miles on this stream from the source
which heads near Kepferle post office. The South Fork affords some nice
cottonwood along the banks for fifteen miles from its mouth, which is found
on the north line of the county. It comes from the southwest out of Colorado,
but after you pass the center of the county you find scarcely anything on the
stream to burn except buffalo chips, which are in abundance and make the
hottest fires when dry. Many a poor man has been and is compelled to re-
sort to this kind of fuel, and finds it a very good substitute on the prairie,
and cheap as dirt. Hackberry and Plum creeks in the northwest quarter of
the county, have some excellent timber, both fruit trees and fire-wood. But
very few claims are taken in that part of the county. One man and his better
half have recently settled on the Hackberry, and are hard at work building a
log house. Beside what has been mentioned, there is a vast amount of timber
on the North Fork of the Republican, only fifteen miles from the center of the
county. On Landsman creek just across in Colorado, you will find timber
on the west side of this county. But one year hence timber will be replaced as
fuel by coal, brought by the B. & M. Railroad from Denver. The cost of the
coal will be six dollars a ton delivered here. This is encouraging surely to
those who wish to locate in the "Garden of Eden," only 165 miles east of the
golden city of Denver, the greatest and best market between St. Louis and
San Francisco. Denver is the city of the fastest progress in population and
wealth of any in the last decade in the United States. Whatever else may be
said on the fuel question in this corner of Kansas we leave until another time.
"THROW OUT THE LIFE-LINE"
From Session Laws, Kansas, 1903, Ch. 67, pp. 113, 114.
REGULATING THE USE OF AUTOMOBILES
AN ACT in relation to automobiles and motor vehicles, regulating their speed
and operation on the public highways in this state, providing for their
proper equipment, and providing penalties for the violation thereof.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
SECTION 1. That the term "automobile" and "motor vehicle" as used in
this act shall be construed to include all types and grades of motor vehicles
propelled by electricity, steam, gasoline, or other source of energy, commonly
known as automobiles, motor vehicles, or horseless carriages, using the public
highways and not running on rails or tracks. Nothing in this section shall be
construed as in any way preventing, obstructing, impeding, embarrassing or
in any other manner or form infringing upon the prerogative of any political
14_7954
210 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
chaffeur to run an automobilious band-wagon at any rate he sees fit compatible
with the safety of the occupants thereof: Provided, however, That not less
than ten nor more than twenty ropes be allowed at all times to trail behind
this vehicle when in motion, in order to permit those who have been so for-
tunate as to escape with their political lives an opportunity to be dragged to
death: And provided further, That whenever a mangled and bleeding political
corpse implores for mercy, the driver of the vehicle shall, in accordance with
the provisions of this bill, "Throw out the lifeline."
SEC. 5. No automobile or other motor vehicle shall be run on any public
highway outside the limits of the thickly settled or business part of a-ny city
or town at a speed exceeding twenty miles an hour, and no such vehicle shall
be run on any public street or highway within the thickly settled or business
part of any city or town at a speed exceeding ten miles an hour.
Kansas History as Published
in the Press
Five articles read by Mrs. Frank A. Hardesty before meetings of
the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society during 1935 and 1936
were printed in The Suburban News, of Merriam, as follows: "Wig-
wams," December 12, 1935; "Christmas at Shawnee Mission," De-
cember 26; "What Are We Doing to Preserve Kansas History for
Our Posterity?" and a biographical sketch of the Rev. Thomas
Johnson, January 30, 1936; "Old Pine Tree," March 5, and "The
Kelly Glass Collection at Thomas Johnson Hall," May 28. Mrs.
Hardesty is historian of the society.
Subjects of a historical nature discussed in the Salina Journal
during the past year include: March 7, 1936, issue Russian settle-
ment in Russell county in 1876; April 7 and 11 reminiscences of
early pioneer days in the Salemsborg community as told to Karo-
lina Falk Miller by John Englund; April 9 W. A. Sharpe, "first
white male child born in county"; April 29 Colorado, Lincoln
county ghost town ; June 11 dust storm of 1862 ; August 22 J. E.
Putnam recalls the blizzard of 1886; December 5 St. John's Lu-
theran Church history; December 14 brief history Salina Journal',
January 6, 1937 National Bank of America history; February 9
history of Social Hill schoolhouse, Osborne county; March 9
W. E. Brown's recollections of Salina printing offices fifty years ago ;
March 13 Grand Central hotel and Salina theater histories.
Dean Carver and Zack Phelps, of Oakley, have spent consider-
able time in recent years relocating the relay stations and forts
along the old Butterfield stage route in northwest Kansas. Mr.
Carver wrote of the investigations and of the history of this region
for the Oakley Graphic in articles appearing under the following
headings: "Relocates Remount Stations on Historic Butterfield
Trail," March 13, 1936; "Judge Ruppenthal Comments on Old
Trail Discoveries," March 20; "Camp Pond Creek Station Identi-
fied Later Named Fort Wallace," April 3; "Reason for Decatur
Massacre Later Battle of Beaver Creek," April 10, and "Logan
County Ghost Towns Existing Before the Railroad," May 1. The
issue of April 3 also featured another historical article entitled "J. R.
Gardner Recalls Fellows Murder at Oakley in 1885." The history
of Oakley's Methodist Church, chartered in 1886, was sketched in
the May 8 number.
(211)
212 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Names of former teachers were featured in the history of Monroe
school reviewed in The Lincoln County News, of Lincoln, April 16,
1936. The history of the old town of Abram was also briefly
sketched in this issue, and in the Lincoln Sentinel-Republican for the
same date.
"Before the Days of Russell," a story of Fossil station and an In-
dian raid in 1869 as told by Frank Stafford to Judge J. C. Ruppen-
thal in 1902, was reprinted in the Russell Record, April 23, 1936.
The article was first published in the Russell Reformer, August 22,
1902.
The Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church, southeast of Inman, cele-
brated the sixtieth anniversary of its founding with special services
held May 10 to 12, 1936. A brief history of the church by A. J.
Dyck, pastor, was printed in the Inman Review, May 29.
Emmanuel Evangelical Church, of Abilene, observed its golden
jubilee with special services held on July 5, 1936. Historical sketches
of the church were published in the Abilene Daily Reflector and
Daily Chronicle in issues contemporaneous with the anniversary
observance.
The building of the first railroad, the S'alina, Lincoln and Western
Railway (now the Union Pacific), into Lincoln was discussed in a
three-column article in The Lincoln County News, of Lincoln, July
9, 1936.
Special events for old-time Lane county residents were scheduled
at the Lane County Fair held in Dighton, August 12 to 14, 1936,
celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the county's organization. The
Dighton Herald published forty letters from pioneers in its issues
of August 6 to 13. A newspaper history of the county by J. E.
Lucas was featured in the August 6 number, a biographical sketch
of Richard Deighton, town founder, was printed September 3, and
a letter from Chester Evans, November 12.
Russell county rural school teachers for the 1936-1937 school term
were named in the Russell Record, August 13, 1936.
Several articles of historical interest have appeared in the Colby
Free Press-Tribune in recent months. A history of the city's Presby-
terian Church which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on November
8, 1936, was briefly sketched in the November 4 issue. "Lore of the
Great Plains," a series of articles by Jessie Kennedy Snell, was be-
gun in the November 25 issue and continued in succeeding issues.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 213
The history of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank which cele-
brated its fiftieth anniversary, January 2, 1937, was reviewed ex-
tensively in the December numbers.
George F. Cook, now living in Alfalfa county, Oklahoma, was
mentioned as being the first white child born in Russell, in an article
appearing in the Russell Record, November 26, 1936. Mr. Cook
states he was born there on March 17, 1869.
In December, 1936, the Dodge City Daily Globe completed its
twenty-fifth year as a daily. J. C. Denious, its publisher, was
honored with a dinner, January 7, 1937, by Dodge City business
men. The January 11 issue of the Globe, the anniversary number,
featured the following stories: "Dodge City Has Had a Globe 59
Years," "Three Trails Across the State," "News Thrills of Quarter
Century Carried in Globe," "How Carols on Air Originated in Dodge
City," "First Issue [of the Daily Globe] Four Pages," and "Steam
First Farm Power." In the January 12 issue the city's theater his-
tory was reviewed.
The plight of Lawrence settlers inspired Lincoln's "Lost Speech"
Dr. Edward Bumgardner reported in an article in the Lawrence
Daily Journal-World, January 18, 1937. The speech, of which
there is no copy, was given at Bloomington, 111., in 1856.
Poll-book sheets of Winfield's first city election, held in March,
1873, were quoted in an article, "Coming Spring Election and Old
Records Recall First City Voting Here," printed in the Winfield
Daily Courier, January 20, 1937. A brief history of Winfield's
First Presbyterian Church was another feature of this issue.
A letter from W. E. Lyon recalling the late Martin Johnson's boy-
hood days was published in the Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, Jan-
uary 21, 1937. Mr. Johnson, former Kansan and explorer, died Jan-
uary 13 following injuries received in an airliner crash in California.
"The History of Scott County," is the title of a paper prepared by
Oliver S. Lawson which is running serially in The News Chronicle,
of Scott City, beginning with the issue of January 21, 1937.
"Wichita In Its Infancy as It Is Remembered by Mr. Fred J.
Cossitt Today," was the subject of Victor Murdock's column in the
Wichita (Evening) Eagle, January 22, 1937. Mr. Cossitt arrived
in Wichita in April, 1871.
Lorene Squire, of Harper, was the subject of a feature sketch ap-
pearing in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, January 24, 1937, under
214 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the title "A Girl's Hobby Is Photographing Wild Fowl on the Kan-
sas Prairies."
The first celebration of Kansas day was discussed in short articles
in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, January 28, 1937, and the Topeka
State Journal, January 29. L. G. A. Copley, patriotic educator of
Paola, is said to have held the first Kansas day celebration in 1877.
Included in the historical articles which have appeared in The
Kansas Optimist, of Jamestown, in recent months is "What Price
Buffalo Valley? A Chronicle of Northwestern Cloud County," by
Gail French Peterson, which has been printed regularly since Jan-
uary 28, 1937. Gail Peterson also conducts a column in The Kan-
san, of Concordia, under the heading, "Along the Republican."
The reminiscences of Zachariah F. Dodge, Civil War veteran, as
recorded by Miss Lillian Forrest in an interview on October 24, 1934,
were published in the Beloit Daily Call, January 29, 1937. Mr.
Dodge settled in Jewell county in 1870.
Episodes in the experiences of Cyrus K. Holliday, founder of the
Santa Fe Railway Co., were recorded by J. F. Jarrell in an article
under the title, "Dreaming a Railroad," in the February, 1937, is-
sue of The Earth, of Topeka.
The story of the Coleman Lamp and Stove Company, of Wichita,
an industry whose pay roll has expanded in the space of thirty-six
years to include 750 persons, was told in Progress in Kansas, of
Topeka, in its February, 1937, issue. W. C. Coleman, the founder,
is president of the company.
Kiowa county history was briefly reviewed by Mrs. Wayne Mc-
Coy in an article in The Kiowa County Signal, of Greensburg,
February 4, 1937.
A biographical sketch of the late J. C. Bedwell was printed in the
Wellsville Globe, February 4, 1937. At the time of his death early
this year the Globe reported him "the oldest continuous resident of
Kansas."
St. John's history, as read by Mrs. Rosa Horstman Stewart before
a recent meeting of the St. John Hesperian Club, was published in
the St. John News, February 4, 1937.
The Horton Methodist Episcopal Church observed the fiftieth an-
niversary of its founding at services held February 7, 1937. His-
tories of the organization were briefly sketched in the Horton Head-
light and The Tri-County News in their February 4 issues.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 215
Wichita's early threshermen associations and the start of present
Tractor Row were discussed by Fred Wieland and recorded by
Victor Murdock in his Wichita (Evening) Eagle front-page article
in the issue of February 10, 1937.
A brief history of the Norton Daily Telegram was featured in its
issue of February 11, 1937, the thirtieth anniversary of its founding.
Indian attacks in present Lincoln county in the 1860's were re-
called by Cecil Howes in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, February 13,
1937.
The history of journalism at Kansas University was extensively
reviewed in the thirty-two page twenty-fifth anniversary edition of
the University Daily Kansan issued February 14, 1937. The Kan-
san was not the first newspaper published by student groups on the
Lawrence campus. It emerged, however, as the official student
newspaper and began daily publication on January 16, 1912.
A history of woman's suffrage in Kansas was briefly sketched in
the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, February 15, 1937.
Early-day Towanda and a tornado visitation in 1892 were re-
called by Joseph Mooney and published by Victor Murdock in his
front-page article in the Wichita (Evening) Eagle, February 17,
1937.
The Kiowa County Signal, of Greensburg, celebrated its fifty-
first birthday, February 18, 1937, by republishing names of the
city's business men as printed in the first issue of the Signal of Feb-
ruary 19, 1886. The charter issued to the Greensburg Street Rail-
way Co., in 1887, was also featured in the edition.
John B. Edwards' recollections of "Wild Bill" Hickok and early-
day Abilene appeared in the Topeka State Journal, February 20,
1937.
Two views of Summit street, Arkansas City, photographed in 1873,
were printed in the Arkansas City Daily Traveler, February 20,
1937. Other early pictures appeared occasionally in succeeding
issues of the Traveler.
A review of the activities of the Public Works Administration in
Kansas was featured in a "PWA Illustrated Section" issued by the
Topeka Daily Capital, February 28, 1937.
Santa Fe trail history was briefly reviewed by J. F. Jarrell in the
March, 1937, issue of The Earth, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe
Railway publication of Topeka.
216 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Histories of Cullison and luka were outlined in the Pratt Daily
Tribune's forty-page third annual "Progress Edition" issued March
1, 1937. The edition presented the highlights in the progress and
development of Pratt during the past twelve months.
Overbrook's history was briefly sketched by Elizabeth Oveson in
the Overbrook Citizen, March 4, 1937.
The "Ames House," Wamego's "first real hotel," was razed early
this spring. The history of the house, built by Mr. and Mrs. J. W.
Ames in 1870, and notes from its early registers were printed in the
Wamego Reporter, March 4, 1937.
Approximately eighty volumes of Kiowa county newspapers,
bound recently by National Youth Administration project workers
under the supervision of the Kiowa County Historical Society, have
become the property of the Kiowa county society. Brief histories
of some of these papers were outlined in an article in the Mullinville
News, March 11, 1937.
The history of St. Patrick's church, of Lincoln, by Rev. D. B.
Mulvihill, was sketched in The Lincoln County News, of Lincoln,
March 11, 1937. Whether the town's name is "Lincoln" or "Lincoln
Center" was discussed in an article in the March 18 issue. Either
is "technically correct," the writer reported.
A history of the Oskaloosa First Presbyterian Church as written
by Mrs. Elizabeth B. Slade for the special services held on March
14, 1937, at the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the organ-
ization, was printed in the Oskaloosa Independent, March 18.
The Smith automobile factory, Topeka's pioneer motor car builder,
was recalled by Harry E. Ross in a Topeka State Journal feature
article published March 20, 1937.
Pocket canyon battle in which Kansas buffalo hunters broke the
war spirit of the Comanche Indians in the Panhandle country on
March 18, 1877, was reviewed by Paul I. Wellman in the Kansas
City (Mo.) Star, March 21, 1937.
The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Caldwell News
was observed by the Caldwell Daily Messenger, March 23, 1937,
with the issuance of a 32-page illustrated historical supplement.
Harold Hammond, publisher of the Messenger, purchased the News
in 1928 and combined the two papers. Features of the edition in-
cluded a letter from P. C. Simons, son of R. T. Simons the founder
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 217
of the News; the reminiscences of David Leahy, D. C. Dacy, and
Joe Wiedeman, a cattle driver over the Chisholm trail; histories of
the city and its newspapers, clubs, railroads, schools, churches, busi-
ness houses; names of mayors and the years they served, and con-
gratulatory letters from prominent citizens of Kansas and the nation.
Titles of other articles were: "Harry Woods Tells Vividly of Early-
Day Bull Fight," "Not All of CaldwelPs Background Was Tough',"
and "First Telephone Here in '81, Grant Harris Says." Additional
historical notes appeared in several succeeding issues of the Mes-
senger.
The Bank of Pleasanton held open house on March 19, 1937, cele-
brating the fiftieth anniversary of its founding. A history of the
organization was sketched in the Pleasanton Observer-Enterprise,
March 25.
St. Theresa's origin and the Leoti-Coronado feud were recalled by
B. H. Scheve in the Herndon Nonpareil, March 25, 1937.
Redoubts in Kansas on the Ft. Dodge-Camp Supply military road
were discussed by Mrs. India H. Simmons in her "Southwest History
Corner" column appearing in the Dodge City Daily Globe, March
26 and 29, 1937.
"Military Protection of the Santa Fe Trail to 1843," was the title
of an article by Henry Putney Beers in the April, 1937, issue of the
New Mexico Historical Review, of Santa Fe.
Early days in La Crosse were recalled by W. M. "Billie" Goodwin,
a settler of 1878, in the La Crosse Republican, April 1, 1937.
The history of Oak Lodge No. 287, A. F. & A. M., of Lebanon,
chartered on March 26, 1887, was outlined in detail in the Lebanon
Times, April 1, 1937.
Marquette history was briefly reviewed in the fiftieth anniversary
edition of the Marquette Tribune issued April 1, 1937. The town-
site was surveyed in March, 1874. The Tribune which was started
in April, 1889, was preceded by the Marquette Monitor, first issued
in March, 1887.
Kansas' first arbor day and the famous cottonwood tree on the
south statehouse lawn were discussed by Dr. Edward Bumgardner,
of Lawrence, in a letter published in the Holton Recorder, April 1,
1937. The Topeka State Journal reprinted the letter on April 6.
218 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Wichita's early-day physicians as recalled by Dr. David W.
Basham, and "Remains of Caddoan Indian Tribes Seen in This
Area," by J. B. Thoburn, were feature articles of the Wichita Sunday
Eagle, April 4, 1937.
A letter written by Floyd Allen in 1893 giving a detailed account
of his "run" into the Cherokee outlet was sketched in the Protection
Post, April 8, 1937.
Herington history was briefly reviewed in The Advertiser, of
Herington, April 8, 1937, in observance of the fiftieth anniversary of
the incorporation of Herington as a city of the third class.
Abraham Lincoln's letter to Grace Bedell, in response to her
request that he grow whiskers, was described in detail in the Wichita
(Evening) Eagle, April 8, 1937. The letter is now in the possession
of H. D. Billings of Delphos. Additional notes on this exchange of
letters appeared in the issues of April 29 and May 2.
The history of the Kansas Federation of Women's Clubs was
briefly sketched in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, April 11, 1937.
Sixty years' residence in Barber county were reviewed by Mrs.
A. B. Wilkins, of Medicine Lodge, in The Barber County Index,
April 15, 1937.
Jim Crossfield's recollections of the county-seat fight in Pratt
county were recorded by Victor Murdock in his front-page article
in the Wichita (Evening) Eagle, April 20, 1937.
The Zion Evangelical Church, located north and west of St.
Francis, celebrated on April 18, 1937, the golden anniversary of its
founding. A history of the church, which was started by the Rev.
J. G. Schwab, was printed in the Saint Francis Herald, April 22.
Picket Rock, located ten miles southeast of Cherryvale, was de-
scribed in the Cherryvale Republican, April 22, 1937.
The history of the Yates Center News was outlined in its issue of
April 22, 1937. The News was founded on June 8, 1877.
Eudora's history was briefly reviewed in the Eudora Weekly
News, April 22, 1937. The city was eighty years old April 17.
The Burdett community school, District No. 18, celebrated the
sixtieth anniversity of its organization at a meeting held April 23,
1937. The early history of the school, written by S. E. Notestine )
was printed in The Tiller and Toiler, of Lamed, April 22.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 219
Newton's school history was briefly sketched in the Evening
Kansan-Republican, April 23, 1937. Mary A. Boyd opened and
taught the first school in the city on September 2, 1872.
Gun battles in early-day Newton were discussed by Paul I. Well-
man in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, April 25, 1937.
The Battle of Beecher's Island was reviewed by Guy Murchie,
Jr., in an illustrated article appearing in the Chicago (111.) Sunday
Tribune, April 25, 1937.
Maplehill celebrated its fiftieth birthday, April 24, 1937. A brief
history of the town, by Mrs. John Turnbull, was printed in the
Topeka Daily Capital, April 25, and the Eskridge Independent,
April 29.
Operation of the old Wyandot ferry at the mouth of the Kansas
river in the 1840's and 1850's was discussed by A. R. Sorrells in the
Kansas City (Mo.) Star, April 26, 1937.
The Bonner Springs Chieftain, founded forty-one years ago, re-
viewed its history in the issue of April 29, 1937.
Some memories of Turon and vicinity by E. F. Koontz, of Wichita,
were published in an article in the April 29, 1937, issue of the Turon
Press. Mr. Koontz, who formerly edited the Press, arrived in Turon
in the spring of 1889.
A four-column history of the Cedarvale Methodist Church, con-
tributed by the Rev. E. K. Resler, was printed in the Cedarvale
Messenger, April 29, 1937. Although the church had its beginnings
in 1869, the Cedarvale circuit of the Wichita district was not fully
organized until April 20, 1872.
The alumni of Cuba High School, 1915-1936, were listed in a
special "High School Seniors" edition of the Cuba Tribune on April
29, 1937.
Completion of Bushton's first fifty years was celebrated by the
Bushton News with the issuance of a 72-page liberally illustrated
historical edition on April 29, 1937. Histories of the town's business
houses, clubs and churches were printed. The establishment of the
first post office was noted. Titles and authors of feature articles
were: "First Ten Years of the News," by L. D. Harding; "Early
Happenings," by Bert Peterson; "A Voice From the Past," by C. W.
Swartz; "Pioneer Reminiscences," by Mrs. Frank Shonyo; "The
220 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
World War," by Fred Boldt; "Early Community History," by
Henry Roelfs; "Memories of Younger Days," by J. F. Peterson;
"Civil War Veterans," by Harry West; "Bushton Grade School,"
by L. E. Timmons; "Bushton High School"; "A History of Bushton,"
by B. C. Shonyo; "Life on the Prairie," by Mrs. Sophia Castholm;
"Mrs. [Fred] Roehr's Impressions of Early Kansas," as told to
Paul Volkland; "Prosper, Ellsworth County, Kansas," and "The
Old Trail [Fort Barker to Fort Zarah]," by George R. Sturn; "Rees
History," by Mrs. Anna Rees Clair; "Farming From 1872," by
M. L. Shonyo, and "Memories of Pioneer Days," by Richard Blay-
lock.
Kansas' early history was reviewed in The Citizen-Patriot, of
Atwood, in its issues of April 29, May 6 and 13, 1937.
A history of Latham written by the eighth grade class of the
Latham school under the supervision of Ralph 0. Hammer, principal,
is being published serially in the Latham Leader beginning April
29, 1937.
Naming of the Peters post office in Kingman county was discussed
by A. M. Weinschenk in Victor Murdock's Wichita (Evening) Eagle
column of April 30, 1937. Mr. Weinschenk's early home was on
the stage route between Hutchinson and Medicine Lodge.
The history of the Union Church of Bancroft was briefly sketched
by F. A. Cordon in the Wetmore Spectator, April 30, 1937.
A history of St. Anthony's Parish, first Catholic church in Wichita,
was reviewed in The Catholic Advance, of Wichita, May 1, 1937.
The church was dedicated in September, 1887.
The story of the capture of Addie German (now Mrs. Frank
Andrews of Bern), and the massacre of the older members of the
John German family in 1874, was retold by Mrs. Florence Miller
Strauss in the Topeka Daily Capital, May 2, 1937.
The cornerstone for Westf all's new Presbyterian church was laid
May 2, 1937. The church's history was briefly sketched in the
Lincoln Sentinel-Republican, May 6.
A brief history of the Kansas Bankers Association, as published
in Bank News, was reprinted in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, May 9,
1937. A meeting of sixty bankers in Topeka in February, 1887, was
the start of the association.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 221
The naming of Big and Little Islands, on the Neosho river south
of St. Paul, was discussed by T. F. Morrison in the St. Paul Journal,
May 13, 1937.
Some early Kansas banking history was reviewed by C. Q. Chand-
ler in an address delivered before a meeting of the Kansas Bankers
Association in Wichita, May 13, 1937. Excerpts from the speech
were printed in the Wichita Eagle, May 15.
The Delahay and Hank families of northeast Kansas were rela-
tives of Abraham Lincoln, George J. Remsburg reported in the
Leavenworth Times, May 17, 1937.
Street transportation history in Topeka was mentioned in the
Topeka State Journal, May 18, 1937. Horse cars were used in 1880
and seven years later electric cars were started.
A history of the Peoples bank of Pratt was reviewed in a supple-
ment to the May 18, 1937, issue of the Pratt Daily Tribune. The
bank was chartered on May 20, 1887.
The stdry of the attempted robbery of the Labette County State
Bank at Altamont on July 13, 1933, was retold by Victor Murdock
in an interview with Mrs. Colene McCarty, one of the bank's em-
ployees, published in his Wichita (Evening) Eagle front-page col-
umn on May 19, 1937.
Kinsley's Church of the Holy Nativity commemorated the fiftieth
anniversary of its founding at a special service held on May 16,
1937. The church was chartered in Lewis, May 14, 1887, and later
moved to Kinsley. The history of the church was briefly sketched
in the Kinsley Graphic, May 20. Another history compiled by Anne
Thome appeared in the May 20 issue of the Kinsley Mercury.
The story of the building of Lake Sheridan in Sheridan county
was reviewed in The Gove County Advocate, Quinter, May 20, 1937.
The lake was dedicated May 25.
Reminiscences of H. S. Lyman, who served in the militia detailed
to run down an Indian war party in 1874, were printed in the
Hutchinson Herald, May 21, 1937.
Menno community, which is about midway between Syracuse and
Ulysses, was named for the Mennonite settlers who arrived in 1906,
the Syracuse Journal reported in a history sketched in the May 21,
1937, issue.
222 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Notes on the history of St. John's military school of Salina,
founded fifty years ago, were published in The Skirmisher, official
cadet newspaper, May 21, 1937.
The story of the discovery of the helium pocket at Dexter was
retold in an article in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, May 23, 1937.
El Dorado's school history was extensively reviewed in a 34-page
edition of the El Dorado Times on May 26, 1937, at the completion
of the city's new high school and junior college building which was
formally dedicated May 27. The first school opened in El Dorado
on July 30, 1868, the first high school was organized in 1880, and the
junior college was established on April 5, 1927, by an overwhelming
vote of the patrons of the school district.
"State Executive Mansion Is Now In Fiftieth Year," was the title
of an article by Paul Montgomery in the Topeka Daily Capital,
May 30, 1937. The house was purchased by the state in 1901, and
Gov. William E. Stanley was its first executive occupant.
Articles in the June, 1937, issue of the Pony Express Courier,
Placerville, Calif., include: "Wikiup and Wakonda, Terse Tales of
Tepee, Tomahawk and Tom-tom Time in the West," by George J.
Remsburg, and "My Personal Contact With James Butler Hickok,"
by Fred E. Sutton.
St. Paul's Evangelical Church, seventeen miles northwest of Cald-
well, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding, June
6, 1937. Its history was sketched in the Caldwell Daily Messenger,
June 3.
Tecumseh's early history was briefly outlined by Helen Adams
Gillespie in the Topeka State Journal, June 4, 1937.
Kansas Historical Notes
Lincoln county citizens marked two of the county's historic sites
during the past year. The Abram townsite marker was erected in
April, 1936, near the site of the county's first courthouse, approxi-
mately one mile and a quarter south and two and one half miles
east of the township corner in Lincoln. The marker is triangular, of
black sandstone, about 55 inches in height, set on a concrete base.
On an inlaid plate of marble is the inscription: "Abram townsite,
located here April 11, 1871; vacated February 24, 1872. First
county seat Lincoln county." The Moffitt massacre monument was
set up in December, 1936, southeast of Lincoln, near the site of the
killing of four men who were attacked by Indians in 1864. The
monument is built of dark brown cobblestones set in concrete. It
is block-shaped with a pyramid-shaped top. Attached to the side is
a bronze plate which reads: "First settlers of Lincoln county, Kan-
sas, J. L. Moffitt, Thomas Moffitt, James Tyler, J. W. Houston, were
attacked by Indians while hunting buffalo, took refuge here, and
were massacred August 6, 1864."
Horton's First Presbyterian Church observed its golden anniver-
sary at an all-day celebration held January 10, 1937. W. R. Honnell,
of Kansas City, gave the dedicatory address for the stone marker
located on the site of the old Kickapoo Indian mission building,
which was the forerunner of Presbyterianism in the Horton district.
The mission opened to the Indians on December 1, 1856. The Horton
church was organized on January 8, 1887. Brief histories appeared
in Horton newspapers contemporaneous with the celebration. A 66-
page historical pamphlet, written by George Wilbur Nelson, the
pastor, and published by The Tri-County News, also was issued.
The 1937 regular session of the Kansas legislature designated the
western meadow lark as the official state bird and the cottonwood
as the official state tree through the passage of House bills Nos. 49
and 113, which were approved by Gov. Walter A. Huxman on
March 23, 1937. Through the courtesy of A. W. Relihan, representa-
tive from Smith county who sponsored the bills, the Kansas State
Historical Society has received official signed copies of the acts.
The Kansas History Teachers Association held its annual meeting
at the University of Wichita, April 17, 1937. At the morning session
under the general theme "Neutrality," the following program was
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224 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
presented: "Can America be Neutral?" E. L. Harshbarger, Bethel
College, Newton; "Neutrality and Public Opinion," K. R. Galle,
Arkansas City Junior College; "Bugle on the Plains," Kenneth W.
Porter, Southwestern College, Winfield; "A Round Table Discussion
of Recent Works on History and Allied Subjects," R. R. Price, Kan-
sas State College, Manhattan. Papers presented at the afternoon
meeting under the general theme "The Social Studies in the New
Curriculum" were: "On the Junior High School Level," H. H. Scott,
Newton Senior High School; "On the Senior High School Level,"
Marian Nelson, Hutchinson Senior High School; "On the Junior Col-
lege level," Arley Riggs, Parsons Junior College. Officers elected for
the new year are: Fred L. Parrish, Kansas State College, Manhat-
tan, president; James C. Malin, Kansas University, Lawrence, vice-
president, and Delia Warden, Kansas State Teachers College, Em-
poria, secretary-treasurer. Other members on the executive commit-
tee are: H. A. Shumway, El Dorado Junior College; Ernest Mahan,
Kansas State Teachers College, Pittsburg; E. L. Harshbarger, and
Arley Riggs.
What Price White Rockf A Chronicle of Northwestern Jewell
County, by Harry E. Ross, was issued in April, 1937, by The Herald
Press, of Burr Oak. The attractive and neatly printed 152-page
paper-covered book is a revised compilation of the series of articles
Mr. Ross prepared and published in the weekly Herald commencing
with the issue of June 25, 1936.
At the annual meeting of the Dickinson County Historical Society
held in Abilene on May 25, 1937, the following officers were elected:
W. A. Stacey, president; Mrs. A. B. Seelye, first vice-president; W.
C. Bocher, of Solomon, second vice-president; Walter Wilkins, of
Chapman, treasurer, and Mrs. H. M. Howard, secretary.
THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
Volume VI Number 3
August, 1937
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
W. C. AUSTIN. STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1937
17-728
Contributors
PAUL WALLACE GATES is assistant professor of American history at Cornell
University, Ithaca, N. Y.
LELA BARNES is curator of manuscripts of the Ka-nsas State Historical Society.
EUGENE FITCH WARE, Kansas author and lawyer, died in 1911. A biograph-
ical sketch appears on page 295.
NOTE. Articles in the Quarterly appear in chronological order without re-
gard to their importance.
A Fragment of Kansas Land History:
The Disposal of the Christian Indian Tract*
PAUL WALLACE GATES
key to much of the early history of Kansas is to be found
in the competition of squatters, speculators and railroads for
ownership of its fertile acres and in the land policies established by
the federal government for that territory. In Kansas, land disposal
was not so completely determined by what are generally known as
"public land policies" as it was in many other states, since much of
the land in eastern and southern Kansas never became part of the
public domain and therefore was never subject to such land policies
as preemption and homestead. In this part of the state lay the In-
dian lands which, when ceded by their original owners, were trans-
ferred directly to individuals or to companies rather than to the
United States, or were ceded to the United States in trust to be sold
for the benefit of the Indians under conditions differing from those
applicable to the sale of public land, or were allotted in severalty to
individual Indians. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the
struggle for possession of the Christian Indian tract, a struggle which
serves to illustrate on a small scale the many land controversies of
this period of Kansas history.
The Indian intercourse act of 1834 was designed to create a defi-
nite Indian territory in which unlawful settlement was proscribed by
heavy penalties (section 11) and any attempt to acquire by "pur-
chase, grant, lease or other conveyance of lands, or of any title or
claim thereto, from any Indian nation or tribe of Indians," save by
properly constituted public officials was strictly forbidden (section
12 J. 1 The present area of Kansas was included in the Indian terri-
tory and the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska act did not suspend
the operation of the intercourse act within the Indian reservations
in Kansas. 2 Unfortunately for the Indians, the opening of Kan-
sas territory, from which settlers had hitherto been excluded, was
like opening the flood gates of an angry river; hordes of land seekers
* The gathering of material for this article was made possible, in part, by a grant-in-aid
from the Social Science Research Council. If it were customary and proper the writer would
dedicate this article to the memory of Frank Heywood Hodder whose famous article on "The
Genesis of the Kansas-Nebraska Act" (Proceedings, Wisconsin State Historical Society, 1912,
pp. 69-86) provided a more intelligent approach to the history of the pre-Civil War decade.
Mrs. Lela Barnes and especially Miss Martha Caldwell of the Kansas State Historical Society
were of great assistance in searching for material in the rich archives of the Society.
1. 4 U. S. Stat., 730.
2. 10 17. S. Stat. f 277 passim.
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228 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
poured across the Missouri river in their search for homesteads and
speculative opportunities. These people, completely disregarding
the intercourse act and the warnings of Indian agents, penetrated
into the Indian reservations, squatted upon their choice lands, stole
their timber and seduced the Indians into signing away their lands.
Efforts to enforce the intercourse act by expelling the intruders and
punishing those violating section 12 of the act were largely fruitless. 3
The prevailing contempt for the law was the result in no small de-
gree of the violation of section 12 by practically all of the territorial
officials and military officers stationed at Fort Leavenworth. 4
The lands of the Christian or Munsee tribe of Indians consisted
of 2,571 acres, located two miles from the town of Leavenworth. 5
These Indians 6 had been moved from frontier to frontier by a gov-
ernment which was endeavoring, most unsuccessfully, to keep the
Redmen away from the demoralizing influence of white civilization.
A small band of these Indians eventually settled on the Delaware
reservation in Kansas and in 1854 they were authorized to purchase
from the Delawares four sections of land near Leavenworth, which
included the small improvements they had made. 7
By the same treaty in which the Christian Indians acquired their
tract, the Delaware Indians also surrendered their lands about
Leavenworth and retired to a tract more remote from settlement,
3. The correspondence of the officials of the office of Indian affairs contains frequent allu-
sions to efforts to oust the squatters. The commissioner of Indian affairs in a letter of
October 8, 1855 (Pratt MSS., Kansas State Historical Society) said the President had decided
to order the troops to cooperate with the Indian agents in removing intruders. Public notice
was to be given and then a written or printed notice was to be served on each intruder. After
a reasonable time the troops were to be called in to evict those who refused to leave volun-
tarily. George W. Clarke, agent to the Pottawatomie Indians, relates the difficulties in re-
moving squatters from the Kansas half-breed lands in a letter to B. F. Robinson, August 6,
1856, Pratt MSS. When driven off by the troops the squatters moved to the adjacent Dela-
ware reservation and camped there until the troops were withdrawn. Then they returned to
the half-breed lands. See, also, letter of B. F. Robinson, Delaware agency, September 29,
1857, to the superintendent of Indian affairs, and J. W. Denver, commissioner of Indian
affairs, Westport, Mo., October 3, 1857, to B. F. Robinson, Pratt MSS.; Lawrence Republican,
November 8, 1860, quoting Mound City Report. Robinson warned the squatters off the Dela-
ware lands by an advertisement in the Leavenworth Weekly Kansas Herald, January 8, 1859.
4. Reeder, Lecompte, Isaacs (spelled variously, "Isaacs," "Isacks," "Isaacks"), Elmore,
and Johnston of the territorial officials, Majors Macklin and Ogden of Fort Leavenworth, and
Pomeroy and Robinson of the Emigrant Aid Company all were guilty of violating the inter-
course act.
5. The location of the tract is shown on map No. 27, Eighteenth Annual Report, Bureau
of American Ethnology, 1896-1897, Part 2 (Washington, 1899). The land office description
of the tract as recalled by M. Mills (letter to J. A. Halderman, November 23, 1862, Haider-
man MSS., Kansas State Historical Society) was as follows: Ey 2 sec. 1, T. 9 S., R. 22 E., of
the 6th p. m., 275.10 acres; EV 2 and EMjW% sec. 12, T. 9 S., R. 22 E., 480 acres; E% and
Ey 2 WM> sec. 13, T. 9 S., R. 22 E., 480 acres; fractional sees. 6 and 7, T. 9 S., R. 23 E.,
598.10 acres; fractional sec. 17 and sec. 18, T. 9 S., R. 23 E., 738.37 acres, the total being
2,571.57 acres. Miss Annie Heloise Abel in her admirable study: "Indian Reservations in
Kansas and the Extinguishment of Their Title," The Kansas Historical Collections, v. VIII
(1904), pp. 72-109, especially 86, only mentions the sale of the Christian Indian tract.
6. Joseph Romig, "The Chippewa and Munsee (or Christian) Indians of Franklin County,
Kansas," The Kansas Historical Collections, v. XI (1910), pp. 314-323.
7. Article 13, treaty of July 17, 1854, 10 U. S. Stat., 1051. It is interesting to note
that the framers of the treaty feared strong opposition would be shown to article 13 because
it left the Christian Indians in possession of a tract of great value. Article 17 was therefore
included which stated that "should the senate of the United States reject the thirteenth article
hereof, such rejection shall in no wise affect the validity of the other articles."
GATES: A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY 229
leaving the Christian Indians quite surrounded by the hordes of im-
migrants who poured into the Delaware lands after the passing of
the Kansas-Nebraska act. Despite the removal of the more power-
ful Delawares from their neighborhood and the opening to settle-
ment of land surrounding their now isolated reservation, Indian
Commissioner George W. Manypenny was optimistic that the Chris-
tian Indians would succeed upon their reserve which was "well
adapted to agricultural uses." 8 Manypenny believed that the re-
duced reservations into which the Indians in Kansas were being
crowded by a series of treaties, adopted principally in 1854, must be
regarded as "their permanent homes. They cannot again be re-
moved. They must meet their fate upon their present reservations
. . . and there be made a civilized people, or crushed and blotted
out." 9
The Christian Indian tract being adjacent to the Missouri river
was certain of squatter penetration, the more so as it was for a num-
ber of reasons especially desirable. It was close to Leavenworth,
for long the most rapidly growing community in Kansas; the chief
commercial route into the interior of Kansas passed through the
center of it; part of it was fertile and suitable for farming and had
the advantage of being close to a growing market; and finally, in a
territory where timber was scarce and consequently highly prized,
this tract, being heavily forested, was certain to be coveted.
The attack upon the Christian Indian tract began with the open-
ing of the territory. In May, 1855, the resident Indian agent warned
the squatters to cease their intrusions, only to "excite against Com-
missioner Manypenny and myself angry threats." 10 Warnings and
orders had no effect ; the intruders remained upon the tract, steadily
despoiling it of its commercially valuable timber. The use of troops
to expel the intruders was sought but was not granted, the adminis-
tration contenting itself with issuing orders and tacking up notices
directed against violations of the Indian intercourse act. By 1857
at least fifteen families were squatting upon the tract. 11 Many of
the early Kansas squatters were speculators, bent on establishing
claims to resell to others. One of the more fortunate squatters sold
8. Report of Commissioner Manypenny for 1856, House Executive Documents, 34th Cong.,
3d sess., 1856-1857, v. 1, part 1, p. 560.
9. Ibid., p. 573. Manypenny's sympathy with the Indians and disgust with the squatters
and speculators who were violating the treaties and the reservations is brought out clearly in
his correspondence with his superior, R. W. McClelland, Secretary of the Interior. See, espe-
cially, Manypenny to McClelland, September 22, 1855, "Old Files," office of Indian affairs,
Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. (Hereafter cited as I. O.)
10. Letter of B. F, Robinson, May 11, 1855, Pratt MSS.
11. Petition of T. Y. Chevalier and others, Leavenworth, Kansas territory, July 29. 1857,
"Delaware File," I. O.
230 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
his claim to the chief justice of the territory, Samuel D. Lecompte,
for the extraordinary price of $1,900 for 160 acres. 12 This was for
a mere squatter's claim, the government title or Indian title not be-
ing included and, in the light of subsequent developments, it was a
hazardous investment. At the time, however, it was thought that
squatters on the Christian Indian lands would be treated in the same
way as squatters on the surrounding Delaware lands, who hoped
that preemption privileges would be conceded to them either at the
government minimum of $1.25 per acre or at appraised valuations,
regardless of improvements of squatters. Two other purchases of
160 acre claims were made for $1,500 and $1,000 respectively. 13
Such prices were calculated to whet the appetites of larger specula-
tors who now began to look upon the tract with much interest.
The chief income of the Christian Indians, meager as it was, came,
after the white invasion, from the sale of the timber on their lands. 14
Probably but a small proportion of the timber taken was actually
paid for, but nevertheless it did provide a small source of income.
This easy money and the continued demoralization resulting from
contact with whites, so lugubriously pictured by the Indians' mis-
sionary friend, Gottlieb Oehler, 15 made them ready listeners to white
men's schemes for purchasing the entire tract. The Indians soon
became aware of the value of their tract and it took little urging to
induce them to part with it in return for the money which, they
hoped, would give them immediate pleasures and permanent freedom
from the drudgery of work.
When, therefore, the Christian Indians were approached by Dr.
Charles Robinson, one-time agent of the New England Emigrant
Aid Company and of its land investing affiliate the Kansas Land
Trust, 16 and by Samuel C. Pomeroy, also an agent of the New Eng-
land interests in Kansas, they were in an agreeable mood for action.
Robinson had previously shown little regard for the Indian inter-
course act which he had openly flouted in a contract made with cer-
12. Samuel D. Lecompte, Leavenworth, February 13, 1857, to Doctor Eddy, commissioner
for the sale of the Delaware lands; petition of Lecompte and six others, dated February 24,
1857, demanding the right to purchase the government title to their claims; Lecompte to
Jacob Thompson, May 23, 1857, "Delaware File," I. O.
13. Lecompte to Jacob Thompson, May 23, 1857, I. O.
14. The Christian Indian annuity was a paltry $400 per year. Act of August 18. 1856,
11 U. S. Stat., 69.
15. Undirected letter of Gottlieb Oehler, Moravian mission, Kansas, February 18, 1857;
same to James W, Denver, commissioner of Indian affairs, June 20, 1857 ; John C. Jacobson,
Bethlehem, Pa., March 9, 1857, to Geo. W. Manypenny; same to James W. Denver, June 9,
1857, I. O.
16. Russell K. Hickman's admirable article on the "Speculative Activities of the Emigrant
Aid Company" (The Kansas Historical Quarterly, August, 1935, v. IV, pp. 235-267), is a
mine of valuable information.
GATES: A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY 231
tain Delaware Indians for the purchase of logs. 17 Furthermore,
Robinson had sought to purchase for the Emigrant Aid Company
1,280 acres of the extremely desirable Kansas half-breed lands lo-
cated across the Kansas river from Topeka adjacent to the tracts
fraudulently purchased by Gov. Andrew Reeder. 18 When legal diffi-
culties prevented him from carrying out his scheme, which was also
in violation of the intercourse act, he denounced the Missouri Pro-
slavery party for raising such obstacles in order that they might
monopolize the half-breed lands. 19 Pomeroy, although a New Eng-
lander, had quickly acquired the frontiersman's disregard for laws
and treaties affecting the Indians and had been associated with Rob-
inson in the above-mentioned enterprise. These were the men who
offered the Christian Indians $37,000 for their entire tract, a sum
calculated to take away the breath of the owners, who accepted with
alacrity. 20
News of the sale was quickly spread about and came to the ears
of Benjamin F. Robinson, government Indian agent to the Dela-
wares. Agent Robinson had the interests of the Indians sincerely
at heart and raised immediate objections to the sale. It was con-
trary to the intercourse act; it did not adequately compensate the
Indians for their land ; and it created a new problem as to the future
policy to be followed towards the Christian Indians. 21 Furthermore,
though this may have mattered little to Agent Robinson, Dr. Charles
Robinson and Samuel C. Pomeroy were of the despised "abolition-
ist" school of politicians and the choice speculative plums were not
for them.
George W. Manypenny, Indian commissioner and a man who
really sought to do his best for the Kansas Indians, agreed that the
sale was illegal and declared that the participants in this attempt
to violate the law should be prosecuted. 22 He further stated that
the Christian Indians could not sell their lands except in accordance
with the provisions of the treaty with the Delawares and then only
17. Thomas H. Webb, Boston, December 21, 1854, to Dr. Chas. Robinson, Emigrant Aid
Co., "Letter Book," I; "Records of the Executive Committee," Emigrant Aid Co., January
13, 1855, Kansas State Historical Society. Webb remarked that the 25 cents a cord for
standing timber which Robinson has agreed to pay "seems hardly credible" in view of the
great scarcity of timber in Kansas.
18. "Records," Executive Committee, March 17, 1855.
19. Ibid., January 13, 1855.
20. Benjamin F. Robinson, Delaware agency, January 23, 1857, to George W. Many-
penny, I. O.
21. Ibid.
22. George W. Manypenny, February 7, 1857, to Benj. F. Robinson, v. 56, I. O. Roy
F. Nichols, who has studied most intensively the Pierce administration, is convinced that the
Secretary of the Interior, Robert McClelland, and Manypenny were honest and well meaning
in their management of the Indians. See his Franklin Pierce. Young Hickory of the Granite
Hills (Philadelphia, 1931), pp. 274, 319, 407, etc.
232 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to the United States. 23 Mere violators of Indian rights, despised
political opponents though they might be, were not, however, to be
punished, except that the sale was not recognized as legal. Robinson
and Pomeroy were for the time being on the wrong side politically
and had to wait for a number of years before their share of govern-
mental favors was handed out.
The same day that Manypenny sent his refusal to Robinson and
Pomeroy, a second group consisting of Leavenworth magnates at
the head of which was William H. Russell, submitted a bid of $20
per acre for the tract, or $51,200. 24 Russell was one of the most
prominent business men in Kansas, being a member of the firm of
Russell, Waddell and Majors which in 1856 secured from a friendly
administration the lucrative freighting contract for the transporta-
tion of government supplies across the plains. He had strong fi-
nancial as well as political support through his connection with Luke
Lea 25 and one would suppose that the bid offered by a syndicate
headed by Russell would receive serious consideration. Neverthe-
less, it also was refused.
In quick succession, three more offers were made for the purchase
of the tract. James W. Hughes, of St. Louis, on April 23, 1857, of-
fered a straight $50,000 ; 26 Ben Holladay offered $50,000 for the land,
$1,500 for improvements thereon, and $4,000 for the chiefs; 27 and,
finally, a group of associates headed by A. Titlow, M. S. Reyburn
and Lucy Powers offered $55,000. 28 Titlow and his associates were
claim owners residing on the tract who had purchased their claims
for substantial sums. Ben Holladay made a special trip to Wash-
ington to negotiate the sale but to no avail. The acting Indian com-
missioner stated to him that the "Secretary of the Interior has
declined to entertain any proposition in regard to the sale of the
lands. . . ," 29
Still another communication concerning the Christian Indian
tract was received by the Indian office. This was the petition of
T. Y. Chevalier and fourteen other heads of families squatting upon
23. C. Robinson to Amos Lawrence, January 23, 1857, Lawrence MSS., Massachusetts
Historical Society.
, 24. The other members were Fred Emory, E. C. McCarty, George W. Ward, Simon
Scruggs and John H. Day. See letter of Russell and others, Leavenworth, February 7, 1857,
to B. F. Robinson, I. O.
25. There is a mass of information on the financial relations of Russell with Luke Lea
and others in House Reports, 36th Cong., 2d sess., No. 78, "Abstracted Indian Trust Bonds,"
pp. 49 and elsewhere.
26. James W. Hughes to James W. Denver, April 22, 1857, I. O.
27. Ben Holladay, Washington, May 6, 1857, to Jacob Thompson, I. O.
28. Titlow, Reyburn and Powers, Leavenworth, May 25, 1857, to Jacob Thompson, I. O.
29. Charles E. Mix, June 15, 1857, to Benjamin Holladay, "Letter Book," 57, I. O.
GATES: A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY 233
the tract who demanded the right to buy their farms at a fair ap-
praisal, 30 a privilege which the settlers on the Delaware lands had
in effect extorted from the government. They pointed out that there
were fifty-four persons in their families, that they had been on the
tract from one to four years and had made improvements to the ag-
gregate value of $7,200. All these offers were refused with equal
firmness and it seemed that the department had the fullest intention
of safeguarding the homes of the Indians against white encroach-
ment.
While Russell, Hughes, Holladay, the combination of claim pur-
chasers, and the squatters were endeavoring to purchase the Chris-
tian Indian tract through negotiations with the Indian office, another
Kansas politician determined to make an effort to buy the tract di-
rectly from the Indians. This man was Andrew Jackson Isaacs,
formerly of Louisiana, who, in 1854, had been appointed by Presi-
dent Pierce attorney general for Kansas territory. Like most of the
early Kansas politicians, Isaacs had his eye out for the main chance
and was more interested, apparently, in his land speculations than
in his political preferment. He was an incorporator of the Pro-
slavery town of Tecumseh, 31 once promoted as the territorial capital
of Kansas, and he cooperated with other territorial officials in an
attempt to purchase, illegally, 2,300 acres of Kansas half-breed lands
located on the north bank of the Kansas river. 32 He was also a
member of the Pawnee association which sought to establish the ter-
ritorial capital on a military reservation at Pawnee. 33 President
Pierce refused to confirm the Kansas half-breed sale, branding it as
a violation of the intercourse act, and the territorial legislature re-
fused to remain at Pawnee, but adjourned to Shawnee mission. 34
For their participation in these obviously fraudulent activities Gov-
ernor Reeder and Judges Elmore and Johnston were dismissed by
the President, but Isaacs retained his position. As subsequent events
were to prove, Isaac's ill-success in these early deals was not to de-
ter him from similar illegal efforts later. It is not unfair to state
that the illegal Kansas half-breed sale was used by the Pierce ad-
30. Petition of Chevalier and others, Leavenworth, July 29, 1857, I. O. The petition-
ers claimed that they had settled upon the tract at the invitation of the Indians.
81. Statutes of Kansas Territory, 1855, p. 818.
32. The Indian agents who were seeking to expel squatters from the Kansas half-breed
lands found that Isaacs, then attorney general, was actually opposing their efforts by advising
the squatters to remain on the tracts, and maintaining that they had a right to settle upon
the lands. Geo. W. Clarke, Indian agent, Pottawatomie agency, August 6, 1856, to B. F.
Robinson, Pratt MSS.
33. A. J. Isaacs to J. A. Halderman, March 1, 1856, Halderman MSS.
34. For these episodes see House Executive Documents, 33d Cong., 2d sess., Doc. 50. It
is interesting to note that Isaacs concurred in a decision of Judge Lecompte which held that
the territorial legislature's action in removing from Pawnee to Shawnee mission was valid.
234 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ministration as a pretext to drop Governor Reeder whose antislavery
views were unacceptable to it. Isaacs need not feel then, that
another sale in which only administration supporters were involved
would be so treated.
Isaacs was intimately associated in a business way with the most
important group of capitalists in Kansas: William H. Russell,
Alexander Majors, Amos Rees and Hugh Boyle Ewing. Russell
and Majors were in the freighting business; Rees and Russell had
been active in organizing the city of Leavenworth and in the squat-
ter association which dominated the public sale of the Delaware
trust lands in 1856 and 1857. Russell, Rees, Isaacs and others or-
ganized the Leavenworth Fire and Marine Insurance Co., with a
capital of $50,000, the Kansas Valley Bank, and were participants
in promoting the towns of Tecumseh, Louisiana, and Wewoka. 35
More important, this group organized the Leavenworth, Pawnee and
Western Railroad which was projected as a possible transcontinental
road and which, it was hoped, might receive a generous subsidy from
congress. This railroad, later known as the Union Pacific, Eastern
division, and still later as the Kansas Pacific, was to receive from
the federal government during the years 1860 to 1865 the most gen-
erous treatment of all the railroads seeking bounties at its hands.
The road was chartered in 1855 by the Kansas legislature 36 but was
not organized until December, 1856. It then elected Hugh Boyle
Ewing, son of former Sen. Thomas Ewing of Ohio, president, and
instructed him to proceed to Washington, there to lobby for a grant
of public land. 37 Isaacs and Ewing were in Washington at the same
time and were probably mutually helpful in their efforts to secure
the concessions they sought. It appears that the Christian Indian
tract was desired by Isaacs' friends for the railroad they were pro-
moting, and it is quite probable that their opponents, Robinson and
Pomeroy, also wanted to obtain the tract for the Missouri River
and Rocky Mountain Railroad or some other of the railroad schemes
in which they were already deeply involved. 38
35. Statutes of Kansas Territory, 1855, passim.
36. Ibid., p. 914.
37. H. Ewing, Leavenworth, December 26, 1856, and January 5, 1857, to his father, Hon.
Thomas Ewing, Ewing MSS., Library of Congress.
38. Robinson and Pomeroy were promoting the town of Quindaro on the Missouri river
south of Leavenworth and in this town they had invested a part of the funds of the New
England Emigrant Aid Company entrusted to their charge. Robinson was a director of the
Missouri River and Rocky Mountain Railroad which was projected as a rival of the L. P. &
W. and in the years 1857 to 1860 he was bending all efforts toward getting government aid
for the line. He was especially concerned with the rich lands of the Delawares and Christian
Indians and sought to win the right of purchasing them, as did also the L. P. & W. Robin-
son's correspondence in the Pratt MSS. and in his own collection in the Kansas Historical
Society and his letters in the Lawrence MSS. are full of reports on his efforts to secure these
lands. Indeed, judging by them one would almost conclude that he was more interested in
his railroad and land ventures than in the slavery question.
GATES: A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY 235
Isaacs went to Washington in March, 1857, where he submitted
his resignation as attorney general for Kansas and then set out to
secure confirmation of a sale he had previously negotiated with the
Christian Indians for the purchase of their lands. 89 But before seek-
ing confirmation of the sale, he thought it advisable to put his pro-
posed purchase in a better legal position than that of Robinson and
Pomeroy. Consequently, steps were taken to have the title to the
four sections vested in the Indians, and this was done on May 21,
1857. 40 Article 13 of the treaty of 1854 with the Delawares stated
that the four sections "shall be confirmed by patent to the said
Christian Indians, subject to such restrictions as congress may pro-
vide . . ." As no restrictions were imposed, it would appear that
the Indians, now having the patent to their tract, might dispose of
it if they so wished, and that section 12 of the intercourse act would
no longer be applicable to it. True, Jacob Thompson, Secretary of
the Interior, subsequently implied in a letter of April, 1858, that the
Indians could not dispose of the tract without the consent of con-
gress, 41 but Isaacs could at least feel that he was on stronger ground
than others who had previously sought to purchase it. Eight days
after the patent was issued, Isaacs concluded a new contract with
the Christian Indians for the purchase of their 2,571 acres for $43,-
400. 42 Gottlieb Oehler, Moravian missionary to this tribe, tells how
Isaacs secured the consent of the Indians to this sale; he got them
drunk, debauched them, bribed three of the leaders and induced
them to sign his document when they were not in a state to know
what they were doing. 43
One further step was necessary to pave the way for favorable
39. The sale to Isaacs is described in a letter of G. F. Oehler, Moravian mission, Febru-
ary 18, 1857, unaddressed, I. O. This was just eleven days after Manypenny, incensed at the
efforts of Doctor Robinson and S. C. Pomeroy to buy the Christian Indian tract, instructed
Benjamin F. Robinson, Indian agent, to get all possible information on their negotiations as
grounds for prosecution under the intercourse act. Manypenny to Benjamin F. Robinson,
February 7, 1857, Pratt MSS. No mention of prosecuting Isaacs for his violation of the act
was found in any of the numerous letters dealing with the business.
40. There is considerable correspondence in the Indian office from Joseph Kilbuck and
other representatives of the Christian Indians, concerning the title to their lands. Kilbuck
had earlier opposed the sale of the tract, maintaining that to return to dwelling with the
Delawares, which the sale of their tract would necessitate, would be a "return to heathen-
ism." Kilbuck, January 8, 1857, to George W. Manypenny. Kilbuck was an uneducated
Indian who was easily influenced. Probably his earlier attitude better reflected his real feel-
ings although the hand of Oehler is apparent. Kilbuck received $100 from Isaacs and two
other Indians received $50 each for their part in making possible Isaacs' purchase. B. F.
Robinson on June 2, 1857, said that Kilbuck now repudiated his signature to the sale con-
tract, claiming that he was drunk at the time and therefore unaware of what he was signing.
Congressional action to give legality to the same may have been prompted by the repudiation
of Kilbuck and others.
41. To A. B. Greenwood, chairman, committee on Indian affairs, house of representa-
tives, I. O.
42. See act of June 8, 1858, 11 U. S. Stat., 312. Oehler reported on February 18, 1857,
that the sale price was $48,000. Unaddressed letter, I. O.
43. Oehler to James W. Denver, June 20, 1857 ; B. F. Johnson to Col. A. Cummins, June
2, 1857 ; John C. Jacobson, Bethlehem, Pa., March 9, 1857, to James W. Denver, and Jacob-
son to Geo. W. Manypenny, June 9, 1857, L O.
236 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
action by congress, and this was to prevent ratification of a treaty
then before the senate which provided for the sale of 120 acres of
the Christian Indian tract to the Church of the United Brethren.
This treaty 44 was drawn up on December 16, 1856, by Benjamin F.
Robinson, representing the United States, three chiefs of the Chris-
tian Indians including Joseph Kilbuck and Gottlieb Oehler repre-
senting the United Brethren. The treaty authorized the sale of 120
acres "now occupied by the agents" of the church "and embracing
their improvements" for the sum of $1,440. It had been sent to the
senate early in 1857 with the approval of Commissioner Manypenny,
but was permitted to slumber in committee for more than a year.
To clear the records for Isaac's purchase, it was advisable to dispose
of the treaty and on March 30, 1858, Senator Sebastian reported it
back to the senate adversely. On April 7 the treaty failed 45 of
ratification and the way was now clear for Isaacs to press his claims.
Before the news of the methods employed by Isaacs in dealing with
the Indians reached Washington, Isaacs besieged the officials of the
general land office and the Indian office to get them to confirm the
sale. J. W. Whitfield, Kansas delegate to congress, was induced to
support the sale, and in a letter to the Indian office of April 1, 1857,
he stated that $40,000 was a fair price for the land and that Isaacs'
offer should be accepted. Somewhat earlier, Norman Eddy, chosen
by the government to administer the sale of the Delaware trust lands
in Kansas, had stated to Isaacs that the lands were worth $16 per
acre or a total of $40,960. 46 This statement was now passed on to
the proper officials. Gen. James W. Denver, recently appointed
commissioner of Indian affairs and later territorial governor of Kan-
sas, was favorable to Isaacs' purchase of the tract, so much so, in-
deed, that he misrepresented to the Secretary of the Interior the
views of Gottlieb Oehler. 47 Denver's support is better understood
in the light of a letter of Madison Mills to J. A. Halderman, 48
44. Because the treaty was not ratified it was not made public at the time. The senate
ordered it "printed in confidence for the use of the senate." Confidential Executive Document
No. 7, 84th Cong., 3d sess. The Department of State furnished the writer a photostat copy
of this treaty from 44 Regular Confidential Documents.
45. Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate, v. X, 1855-1858, pp. 354, 357;
National Intelligencer, Washington, April 8, 1858.
46. Norman Eddy, Washington, March 15, 1857, to Col. A. J. Isaacs, I. O.
47. J, W. Denver, May 11, 1857, to Jacob Thompson, "Report Book," No. 10, I. O.
Oehler in a letter of February 18, 1857, had told how Isaacs had debauched the Indians to
get them to sign the sale papers. Then, when informed that Kilbuck, a leader of the Christian
Indians on whom he relied in his work, had consented to the sale, Oehler wrote on February
23, that although he felt the sale unwise and unfair, "since" Joseph Kilbuck now favored it
he would no longer raise objections. When Oehler learned that Kilbuck had been bribed to
favor the sale and later repudiated his action, he resumed his denunciation of it. In the
meantime, however, Denver had distorted the meaning of his letter of February 18 in such a
way that the Secietary of the Interior was given to understand that Oehler favored the sal*
to Isaacs.
48. Halderman MSS.
GATES: A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY 237
prominent Leavenworth attorney and townsite promoter, dated No-
vember 23, 1862, wherein it appears that General Denver owned a
share in the tract he aided Isaacs in purchasing.
When news of Isaacs' purchase became known, the Department
of the Interior was deluged with letters from local Indian agents,
missionaries, some of the Christian Indians, the squatters and claim
owners on the tract and other persons seeking to acquire the lands,
all protesting against confirmation of the sale. The purport of the
letters was that Isaacs had debauched the Indians to secure their
consent to the sale, that he had made the sale at distinctly less than
the market value of the tract, and that the Indians actually did not
wish to move from their tract, but preferred to have it allotted in
severalty. In his annual report for 1857, which was published in the
Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Benjamin F. Robinson con-
demned the sale to Isaacs without mentioning the latter's name.
"Under bad council," he said, a few of the Indians had been induced
to sell the tract against the wishes "and to the prejudice of the
larger portion of these people," and he recommended that legislation
be adopted to keep the lands from "the grasp of the speculator." 49
Elsewhere Robinson pointed out the Indians themselves wished to
have the lands allotted in severalty as did the intruders on the tract
who could then acquire them from the Indians, but he seemed to
feel that a sale to the highest bidder should be made. 50
Before Isaacs' purchase was confirmed Gottlieb Oehler made yet
another suggestion for the disposal of the tract. He proposed that
Judge Lecompte and other claim owners on the tract be permitted
to purchase their 835 acres for $26,000 and that the remainder of
the tract be put up at auction from which at least $80,000 should be
expected. 51 Such prices reflect the high value commonly placed on
this land.
Isaacs was not easily deterred by the clamor raised against his
purchase. He denied that there was any illegality in it, contended
that the intercourse act did not apply in this case, stated that he had
actually paid $40,000 of the purchase price to the Indians and
claimed that the title received from them was good. He further
stated that the opposition to and criticism of the sale came from
"selfish grasping people" who hoped themselves to have a share in
the lands. 52
49. Senate Executive Documents, 35th Cong., 1st sess., 1857-1858, v. I, p. 454.
50. B. F. Robinson, January 29, 1858, to Mix, I. O.
51. Gottlieb Oehler, Washington, D. C., March 15, 1858, to Charles Mix, I. O.
52. A. J. Isaacs to Charles Mix, March 31, 1858, I. O.
238 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Isaacs' purchase could have no validity until it was recognized by
the Department of the Interior and, on the face of things, it seemed
that its consent would not be forthcoming. Commissioner Many-
penny had earlier committed himself by denouncing the sale to
Robinson and Pomeroy as being a violation of the intercourse act
and it was difficult to see how the bureau could reverse itself now
that a loyal Democrat was the violator instead of Republican
abolitionists. The Secretary of the Interior had likewise declined to
consider the sale of the lands. 53 Also, Commissioner Mix on April
31, 1858, inferred that no sale of the tract need be recognized by the
government. 54 On April 12, 1858, the Secretary of the Interior ex-
pressed the view that congressional action was necessaiy to validate
the sale. 55 This gave the friends of Isaacs their opportunity, and
three weeks later Congressman Greenwood of Arkansas reported out
a bill 56 to give validity to Isaacs' purchase and a similar measure
was introduced into the senate by Sebastian. 57
The senate measure was slipped through without any considera-
tion, but subsequently a move to reconsider was made by Preston
King, Republican of New York. King had been impressed by the
widespread participation in land speculation by the territorial of-
ficials which Pierce and Buchanan had sent into Kansas and he was
curious enough to look into Isaacs' land venture. The fact that he
went to Marcus J. Parrott, Free Soil representative from Kansas,
for information suggests that he was not loath to unearth unsavory
information damaging to his Democratic colleagues, but this does
not vitiate the value of the information he presented, which was in
harmony with the letters the Indian office was receiving from Kan-
sas. Senator King argued that haste was unnecessary and that it
would be well to look into the matter before confirming what, on its
face, was obviously an illegal sale. He pointed out that Parrott was
opposed, that the Indians themselves were opposed, as were the
people in the vicinity of the lands, that the price was distinctly less
than the market value of the lands, and that the Indians wished to
retain their lands. It also troubled King that "personages intrusted
with the charge of these matters" should be speculating "in the prop-
erty of the Indians, who are, in some extent, under their care." In
conclusion, he said, "The more I have seen of it, and the more I have
heard of it, the more I have come to the belief that it is one of those
53. Mix to Benjamin Holladay, "Letter Book," 57, I. O.
54. Mix to Jacob Thompson, April 30, 1858, "Report Book," No. 10, I. O.
55. Jacob Thompson to A. B. Greenwood, I. O.
56. Congressional Globe, 35th Cong., 1st sess., 1857-1858, p. 1943.
57. Ibid., p. 2016.
GATES: A FRAGMENT OF KANSAS LAND HISTORY 239
land speculations in the neighborhood of Leavenworth that are not
entitled to the sanction or consideration of congress." 58
When Senator Sebastian rose to defend the measure, Stephen A.
Douglas, a friend of Isaacs, confident that the latter's supporters had
a safe majority, impatiently urged Sebastian to give no further ex-
planation, saying "I take it for granted that the senate will vote
down the motion for reconsideration without further explanation." 59
Such arrogant treatment of the opposition to a measure so patently
questionable was too much for old Sam Houston, of Texas, who en-
tered into a rambling discourse on the matter to justify his support
of the sale. He made no attempt to meet the objections of Senator
King, but was mainly concerned with the opposition, a "Moravian
missionary" doubtless Gottlieb Oehler who, he said, had de-
manded compensation to the amount of $2,300 for improvements
put upon the lands by his church. Houston infers that all such op-
position ceased when Isaacs agreed to pay this compensation. This
ended the debate; the vote to reconsider was not agreed to and two
days later the house accepted the senate bill without opposition, 60
and it was signed by the President on June 8. 61 The measure recited
that Isaacs had agreed to purchase the lands for $43,400, "which
sum was a fair consideration . . ." and the sale was confirmed.
The sum was paid by Isaacs within the ninety-day time limit pre-
scribed by the law and the lands then passed into his hands. 62
Meantime criticism of the sale did not diminish. Oehler remained
opposed though he recognized that the action of congress in confirm-
ing the sale, "arbitrary" as it was, must end the matter. 63 The
squatters on the tract kept up their opposition 64 and, indeed, so
vociferous did the clamor become that James W. Denver, now gov-
ernor of Kansas territory, to quiet fears in Washington, induced Job
Samuel, one of the Christian Indians, to sign a statement dated Oc-
tober 13, 1858, in which he declared his approval of the sale to Isaacs
and maintained that the opposition to the same among the Indians
came from members whose lives were threatened unless they ex-
pressed their opposition. As witnesses of this remarkable paper, ap-
pear the names of Oehler and Governor Denver, the latter protesting
58. Ibid., p. 2628.
59. Ibid., p. 2628.
60. Ibid., p. 2714.
61. 11 U. S. Stat., 312.
62. Mix to Isaacs, September 2, 1858, v. 59, I. O.
63. Oehler to Mix, August 18, 1858, I. O.
64. Wm. Kimberland, Leavenworth, November 18, 1858, to Charles Mix, I. O.
240 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
that the Indian signatures were made voluntarily and that he him-
self prepared the statement! 65
The later history of the Christian Indian tract is beyond the
bounds of this story. 66 Its importance is not so much in the ultimate
ownership or use of the tract but rather in the way in which the
tract was sold. The sale to Isaacs was the first instance of the
transfer of an important tract of Indian land directly to an indi-
vidual or group. It marked the end of the Manypenny influence in
the Indian office, an influence which may have been inopportune, but
was certainly sympathetic to the Indian problems, and the substi-
tution therefore of forces more friendly to the "Indian Ring," so-
called. The sale also opened up a new avenue for speculators and
railroad promoters to get control of Indian lands before they became
a part of the public domain, an avenue which was used liberally be-
tween 1860 and 1868 and by means of which some of the best Kan-
sas lands passed directly to influential groups without becoming a
part of the public domain. The precedent bade fair to break down
the entire land system until brought to a halt by the land reformers.
65. Indian office.
66. A little over a year later Isaacs and M. Mills of Leavenworth were advertising the
2,571 acre tract for sale in lots to suit purchasers, Leavenworth Weekly Herald, March 3,
1860. The tract remained undivided at least until November, 1862, at which time proposals
were made for its division among the four owners, one of whom was General Denver. Isaacs'
name does not then appear among the owners. M. Mills, St. Louis, Mo., November 23, 1862,
to J. A. Halderman, Halderman MSS.
Letters of Cyrus Kurtz Holliday,
1854-1859
EDITED BY LELA BARNES
I. INTRODUCTION
KURTZ HOLLIDAY, 1 the writer of the letters here re-
produced, is nationally known as the original promoter and
first president of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, but he
played a considerable part, as well, in the territorial history of
Kansas, particularly in the founding of the city of Topeka. While
the railroad, following generally the route of the old Santa Fe trail
into New Mexico, was built upon his conception and as a result of
his persistent efforts, he threw himself with equal determination into
the territorial struggle for a free state. He was one of the organizers
of the Topeka town company, assisting in laying out the town ; and
at the sacrifice of his personal political ambitions was largely instru-
mental in having it made the state capital.
Holliday came to the territory in the autumn of 1854, at the age
of twenty-eight, leaving behind him his young wife, to whom these
letters were addressed. He had some capital, realized from work in
the organization of a railroad in Pennsylvania, and a determination
to build a business career on the frontier. Within four weeks after
his arrival he was engaged in founding the town up the river, look-
ing with clear vision beyond the immediate time, and planning with
the acumen that marked his entire business life.
These letters, covering only the period 1854-1859, form part of a
collection given to the Society by Lillie Holliday Kellam, Holliday's
daughter. They are published with no changes beyond the deletion
of a few personal passages.
II. THE LETTERS
Chicago, Illinoise 2
, , T, Nov. 1st 1854
My Dear Mary
We arrived safe in Cleveland on the evening we left you at Erie.
. . . I retired early being quite unwell but the next morning I
found myself much better and at 3 o'clock (Tuesday) we left Cleve-
1. Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was born near Carlisle, Pa., April 3, 1826. He was a graduate
of Meadville College, Allegheny, Pa., and practiced law for a time before coming to Kansas.
2. This slight joke suggests Holliday's impression of Chicago.
(241)
16728
242 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
land and arrived here today at one. We will leave here for St.
Louis tonight at 10 o'clock and expect to reach St. Louis tomorrow
at noon when we are in hopes of getting immediate passage to Kan-
sas. I will try and write you again from St. Louis.
Mr. Brigdon could not make his arrangements so as to go along
with us which we very much regret as he would have made a good
travelling companion.
There is scarcely a stone left standing of the New England Hotel
where we stopped last summer when in Cleveland. It together with
two or three entire blocks are entirely consumed.
Everything as yet looks encouraging for us. About ten days ago
some two hundred persons passed this way to Kansas and since
then another party of 51 from Oberlin near Cleveland have also
gone. We find, however, that a great many of those aboard the cars
are [going] to other parts of the West chiefly Iowa.
You had better have your silk dress made this winter for should
we select a home in the West you will have no chance to wear it
among your Meadville friends.
I think of nothing further about which to write especially as we
are both writing upon a nasty dirty washstand with our lead pencils.
And as you will have trouble enough deciphering what is already
written I will close. . . . In all I do, Mary, I have your welfare
fondly at heart.
Believe me your loving Husband. My love to all the family.
C. K. HOLLIDAY
We cant tell you yet where our address will be
Missouri River
Steamer F. X. Aubrey 3
Monday Morning Nov. 6, 1854
My Dear Mary
. I will try and write you a line but you will perceive by
the scrawly appearance that it is no easy work to write aboard a
steamboat.
We are now about 320 miles up the Missouri River above St.
L ou is quite a little trip to make in one week ! for you will remem-
ber it is just one week since we left home. We are now within 120
miles of Kansas, and hope if all goes well to reach there by tomor-
row morning. We did expect to have reached our destination early
3. The steamer F. X. Aubrey, named for the famous freighter and rider, Francois Xavier
Aubrey, plied the Missouri river during the years 1853-1860. She bore on her hurricane roof
the figure of a man riding at full speed on horseback. The boat sank in 1860 near Her-
mann, Mo.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K HOLLIDAY 243
this morning but we have been running aground continually ever
since we left St. Louis the River being very low and our Boat being
very large. We have had, as a general thing, a very pleasant journey
thus far.
I wrote you a line while in Chicago well we left Chicago at 10
o'clock Wednesday night and at 3 o'clock the next day were in St.
Louis. We immediately went aboard the F. X. Aubrey which was
advertised to leave on that evening and at 6 o'clock Thursday eve-
ning started for Kansas. I suppose we are on the best Boat in the
River in proof of which Ingram will send you a bill of fare. Every-
thing that is upon the bill we had upon the table. 4 I am afraid
there will be a great contrast between our bill of fare for dinner
today and the dinners we expect to get in a week or two from now.
W^e have about 200 or 250 passengers aboard the Boat many of
whom are emigrants and chiefly bound for Kansas. We have formed
acquaintance with most on board and find among them very many
true gentlemen. At St. Louis I met the agt. for the Emigrant com-
panies who was very anxious to have us wait until the Crawford
County Emigrants arrived. 5 I am afraid they will have some dif-
ficulty getting along the water is so very low. We shall wait for
them a day or two at Kansas, Missouri, but if they do not come
soon we shall go on. I have defined no definite course of action yet
nor will not, perhaps until I shall have looked considerably
through the territory. But I think I shall enter my claim and then
turn my attention to merchandizing at some good point along the
River. But I can tell you more of this hereafter. . . . The
game is immense. I have seen acres of wild geese rise from the sand
bars and form three soldier like lines in the sky a sight of truly
the sublimest magnificence. Storks, cranes, geese, swans, ducks
and every kind of water fowl abound in the greatest quantities. My
health has not been as good as I could wish since I have been gone.
On the train from Chicago I was attacked with dysentery & vomit-
ing every evening; and again last night was more severely attacked.
I feel better this morning but am not well yet. I do not yet know
4. The excellence of the food served on river boats was so noteworthy that Redpath &
Hinton, in their Hand-Book to Kansas Territory and the Rocky Mountains' Gold Region
(New York, J. H. Colton, 1859) included the following in rule 13 for travelers: "The fare
on the river bouts is generally as good as in first-class hotels, and the manifold temptations
to gormandize are frequently indulged in to a dangerous extent, especially by travelers un-
accustomed, during their trip, to so many and such delicious luxuries. Hence, a medical
authority tells us, 'the only prudent, as well as the safest course, is to select the plainest food
cooked in the simplest manner.' "
5. A company known as the Western Pennsylvania Kansas Company was organized at
Conneautville, Crawford county, Pa., on September 16, 1854. Members left Pennsylvania for
Kansas on October 27, arriving in the territory November 9. Many of them went at once
to Osage county but their settlement in that section, Eureka, was short-lived. The company
scattered to various points in the territory and Missouri.
244 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
where my post office address will be but if anything of great im-
portance should arise you might address me at Kansas, Missouri, a^
a venture, as I will perhaps get it from there quicker than from any
other point. ... I will not write more now but will write you
again in a day or two or soon after I get to Kansas. Remember
me to all ... C. K. HOLLIDAY
City of Lawrence K. T.
Nov. 18, 54
My Dear Mary
Through the politeness of the City Magistrate I am favored with
materials to pen you a single line just previous to Mr. Ingram's
departure. Had it not been for his kindness you could not have
heard from me except by word of mouth. Mr. Ingram will fully
explain all the inconveniences of our situation and the trials through
which we have passed. I design remaining here for some time
how long I don't know in order to effect some business arrange-
ments. I would not have gone here for anything just now but at
the same time will expect to have you come with me here hereafter.
I am perfectly delighted with the Country. You may tell those who
inquire that my idea of the country is simply this that God might
have made a better country than Kansas but so far as my knowledge
extends he certainly never did. I am bound to make it my home if
I can at all succeed in making suitable business arrangements. The
site of this new city I think is most beautiful and I know you
would be delighted with it. But of all those matters Mr. Ingram
will fully tell you. It may be that I will be home in a week or ten
days after Ingram's arrival but you must not look for me at that
time as I may not come until near spring. ... If I conclude to
stay here for a while I will make arrangements for putting up a
building early in the spring and [if] I succeed in making suitable
arrangements we will try and come out in the spring.
Ingram will tell you how to address me and I will hope to hear
from you often much oftener than you can hear from me. There
has been a good deal of suffering among some of the Emigrants, in
consequence of not properly understanding their business. The
Penna. company arrived the day after we did and were very illy
prepared for the journey. There was a good deal of disaffection
among them. Where they have gone I can't find out but some of
them I believe are here and some at Council Grove about 100 miles
south of this. But I will write no more. . . .
A letter from you will do me much good
Yours affectionately HOLLIDAY
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 245
City of Lawrence
Kansas Territory
Dec. 3, 54
My Dear Mary This Sunday evening I avail myself of the gen-
erous offer of a friend to pen you again a very few lines. You will
see by this that I have got no place to call my home. But I hope
ere long to have you with me and then I feel that I will truly have a
home.
I should not have written this evening were it not for the consid-
eration that tomorrow I again start for the up country to be gone
I know not how long perhaps 3 or 4 days perhaps a couple of
weeks. Hence I thought I had better write to you this evening as
I might not get a chance to write to you again for some time to
come. I am going about 40 miles up the Kansas River to assist in
laying out a new town. I do wish you were here, Mary, I should
never go back again to Meadville except merely to visit and
scarcely that. I have found the very best of people in Kansas. I
am becoming more and more pleased with them every day, and I
know you would like them and the place were you here. Last Thurs-
day I was invited and attended a "thanksgiving dinner." Several
gentlemen and ladies were present and we had a good time generally.
The gentleman who favors me with the privilege of writing this
note says if you will come out he will immediately surrender all
right and title to his mansion. It is one of the best in the place. I
will describe it. In shape it is exactly like the roof of an ordinary
house about 14 ft. long. The floor is earth such as the Creator
made. Next the frame work of the building which are rough poles
stuck together is a layer of brush next a layer of sod or turf
and next a covering of prairie grass. If you would like the accom-
modations let me know and yet I have seen beautiful and refined
and educated women occupy just such mansions. . . . None in
the city have any better. Even Mrs. Nichols the great lecturer on
women's rights and editor of a newspaper has been living here a long
time in just such a house. 6
I don't know yet when I shall be home perhaps soon. Maybe
not till spring. I can tell you more in my next letter I hope.
Tell Drew I will try and write to him as soon as I can find a place
to write in or upon. Tell him the country pleases me much that
it far exceeds my most sanguine expectations. Give my love to all.
Address to "Lawrence Kansas Territory."
HOLLIDAY
6. See The Kansas Historical Collections, v. 12, p. 94, for biographical sketch of Clarinda
Irene Howard Nichols.
246 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
"Up the River" K. T.
Dec. 10, 1854
My Dear Mary I have thought that I could not spend this Sab-
bath morning in a more appropriate manner than in addressing
another letter to you. Consequently I now find myself at 11 o'clock
A. M. seated on the end of a trunk and writing upon the end of a
half band keg a little better fixture than when I wrote to Ingram
for then I had nothing better than the bottom of a pewter platter
upon which I had just eaten my breakfast. This will give you some
idea of life in a new Territory.
I believe I addressed you last from Lawrence. I am now thirty
miles above Lawrence on the Kansas River assisting in starting a
new town. We are just about in the central portion of the settled
territory and with perhaps the best landing and the most eligible site
for a city in the entire country. Governor Reeder 7 passed through
our place day before yesterday and spoke very encouragingly of our
enterprise. We hope all will go well.
You can't tell, Mary, how glad I am that you are not with me.
What we have to endure is almost beyond belief and you never could
have gone through it. It is a long time since I have seen anything
in the shape of a bed. I have a Buffalo Robe and two blankets in
which I roll myself and lay down to rest upon the bare ground with
boots, hat, overcoat and all on. Our food is mush, molasses and
bacon, mixed plentifully with dirt three times each day. Thus we
live in Kansas. Yet notwithstanding all this I have never had better
health in my life growing fatter and heartier each day.
A more lovely country I certainly never saw and yet it looks
worse now than at any other season. I am told by those who know
that in the spring and early summer when the grass and shrubbery
and flowers appear it is beautiful beyond conception. So I think it
must be. And in a few years when civilization by its magic influence
shall have transformed this glorious country from what it now is to
the brilliant destiny awaiting it, the sun in all his course will visit no
land more truly lovely and desirable than this. Here, Mary, with
God's kind permission, we will make our home. ... I do not
know when I will return home, as yet. As soon as things are so as
not to require my attention here I will go back but I find that it
will be greatly to my advantage to be on the ground.
I have not had any letter from you yet. I hope, Mary, you will
remember me often in writing. You would appreciate the matter
better if you could see how anxiously our men inquire for letters
7. Andrew H. Reeder, first territorial governor of Kansas.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 247
whenever a wagon approaches our cabin. Among others I inquire
every time but as yet have had no favorable response. Please re-
member this. My love to all. Your loving husband wishes you
much health and happiness. C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka, K. T. 8
Dec. 17, 1854
My Dear Mary
. . . Having warmed up a little I have concluded to sit down
again and write you but a single line.
I am still living (no! stopping) at the place from which I wrote
you last. I am enduring almost every thing that it is possible for a
man to endure! Yet notwithstanding this I enjoy it all well. My
health still continues good except for the past few days I have been
a little unwell but nothing serious. This is certainly a most de-
lightful country. I doubt whether even sunny and far famed Italy
can favorably compare with this. I will try and make arrangements
to have you come out in early spring but cannot say definitely.
. . . Perhaps, as usual I will some of these times start off
at a tangent and be at home before you will know it, but you must
not be encouraged by this for I may not take such a start for some
time to come. I find it necessary to be upon the ground in order to
watch out for chances and I have some things here working which
I find it necessary to be on hand to see to. I may know more in a
few days how things will go.
HOLLIDAY
Lawrence K. T.
Dec. 24, 1854
My Dear Mary As you will perceive by my heading I am again
in Lawrence having returned here on last Wednesday for the pur-
pose of attending to some business for the Association in our new
City and also for personal business. Notwithstanding we have a
very beautiful site for a town above where I have been operating for
the past three weeks yet I must confess I was much pleased to get
8. Fry W. Giles, in his Thirty Years in Topeka (Topeka, Geo. W. Crane & Co., 1886)
states that the founders of the new settlement met on the evening of January 1, 1855, to
consider names. No decision was reached and another meeting was held the next evening
when Topeka was offered and accepted. Giles adds: "Holloway, in his History of Kansas,
says that the name was first suggested by Mr. Webb, secretary of the New England Emigrant
Aid Society, but this is entirely wrong. The writer first heard the word spoken by the Rev.
S. Y. Lum, in a conversation with him at Topeka, on the second day of January, 1855 ; and
when he presented it for adoption as the name of the embryo town, no one present had ever
heard it before." Holliday's letter of this date indicates that the name had been given
before January 2, 1855
248 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
back again to Lawrence. Here I can find a chair to sit upon, a table
to eat from and a bed to lie upon. At our town above I can obtain
neither, it having neither chair, table nor bed in the entire limits.
Something of a city that. Yet we hope for something better and
we think we have good reason for our hope. Our city site is without
doubt the prettiest in the Territory the country round is more ex-
tensive and better for agricultural purposes than any other I have
ever seen and the right kind of men have taken hold of it. I want
to, if I possibly can, put up a building for us this winter in order
that we may have some place to move into in the spring. . . .
Yet I cannot say definitely whether that home will be at this place
Lawrence or at Topeka our new town. At Topeka I have a city
interest and have taken a farm claim both of which I hope to hold.
But if I succeed in holding the claim it will be necessary for me to
live upon it hence I think I will put a house upon it and we will
live there when you come on to the Territory.
I am much gratified by the favorable reception I am meeting with
in the Territory it proves what I have often said to you that I
could do nothing at Meadville but let me get off and try my hand
among a new people and under different influences and I could pur-
sue a different course of action. This has proven true. For instance
in our own town I have acted as their President from our earliest
commencement to the present time and last Monday I was unani-
mously, by ballot, elected as their first constitutional President to
serve until the first Monday of July 1855. I have also received the
appointment of temporary agent for the Emigrant Aid Co. of New
England. I merely mention these facts to show you that I hold a
respectable position before the people among whom I live.
[MS. mutilated: part of page is missing.]
When you want to write you can sit down to your task in a good
warm room with paper, table, chairs, pen and ink all at your hand.
While I am obliged to sit down upon the ground and write with such
and upon such things as I can command. Sitting upon the ground
and writing upon a trunk are generally the best accommodations I
can find for writing. Today I am better provided than usual sitting
upon a chair and writing upon the top of a pine box.
[MS. mutilated: remainder of letter is missing.]
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 249
Topeka K. T.
Dec. 31, 1854
My Dear Mary The second service of today having just been
concluded I know of no better way to spend the remaining hour than
to employ it in addressing you. . . .
. . . If you knew the inconveniences under which I write
you would almost excuse me from writing at all. I am now bet-
ter situated for writing than I have been on perhaps, any other oc-
casion ; and I am now sitting upon a trunk with a box ... be-
fore me as my desk. At this moment the Minister who has just
preached for us and who is lying upon my bed, which consists of a
handful of hay and a Buffalo Robe by accident has almost kicked
my desk over and while writing the last line I have removed twice
once to get out of our cook's way, and once to get nearer the door
for light, our cabin having no windows in it. You will see from
what I have said in the last few lines that writing is in no sense de-
sirable occupation. . . .
. . . I am President of our city association and acting agent
for the Mass. Emigrant Aid Co. These together with my own busi-
ness give me as much as I can well attend to.
My health keeps good. In fact I weigh more than I ever weighed
in my life before and 15 pounds more than when I left home. Our
living is very homely indeed, but no doubt is very healthy at least
I hope so.
You Pennsylvania people would be greatly surprised could you
have a view of us as we find ourselves situated in this new Territory.
In our new city where I now am we number about 30 inhabitants
all told among whom there are no women or children. Our wash-
ing we get done as we can. For myself I am wearing today a shirt
that I put on two weeks ago and scarcely know when I will get a
clean one. But this is all right. I would not exchange Kansas and
its dirty shirt for Penna. with all its elegance & refinement. Clean
shirts & good living will come after awhile and then our territory
will far eclipse anything you can find in the East. For instance take
our weather. . . . Today there is not one particle of ice in our
River or any of the creeks ! And with a few days exception we have
had no ice this winter. For the past 10 days it has been almost as
pleasant as September and this entire week we have gone about
our work without our overcoats and most of the time in shirt sleeves.
Except to cook our victuals scarcely requiring fire. Thus it is in
Kansas. Tis true we occasionally have a pretty severe wind but it
250 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
does no more damage than to blow the dust a little around which
makes us very dirty.
I cannot say yet when I will come home. I am trying to effect
something that will be of some moment here before I come.
I cannot tell you what it is upon paper as it would take too long,
but it will be all right if I can effect it and you will be the better
pleased . . . [MS. mutilated: two lines are missing] turn yet
from the position I occupy in our city association.
We are likely to have some trouble with some Missourians and it is
necessary to stick together until all difficulty may be removed. We
are in hopes of getting our saw mill agoing soon then we will get
better houses then I can write you better letters. I am hurrying
through this as it is getting dark and Revd. Lum 9 by whose hands
it will go leaves us before day tomorrow. . . .
Direct to Lawrence, via Kansas City as usual. Love to all. From
your loving husband HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kansas Territory
Jan. 7, 1855
My Dear Mary I find myself as usual this Sunday morning en-
gaged in attempting to pen you a few lines and I am thankful to a
kind and all merciful Providence that I am thus permitted, weekly,
to send my thoughts . . . they are an inconstant quantity and
the product of the times and the circumstances under which I am
surrounded. Therefore, you are entitled to them ... as rapidly
as they may suggest themselves to my own mind.
Well, then, to begin. I think there is no such a country in the
world as Kansas. It is certainly more beautiful and desirable than
any country I ever saw. And truly glad, indeed, am I, that I ever
cenceived the thought of coming here. I think again, Mary, that if
you will yield to my wishes in this matter, that this delightful coun-
try will be our future home. And I think, again, that after you shall
have seen this country as I have seen it and tried it as I have tried
it (though I pray God you may never have to endure what I have
endured) you will be equally delighted with it and will be well
reconciled also, to make this, with me, your future home. The
climate here is most cheering. For the past week, it is true, we have
had weather a little rough, but today again is bright and glorious.
9. The Rev. Samuel Y. Lum, of Middleton, N. Y., was commissioned by the American
Home Missionary Society in 1854 to labor as a Congregational missionary in Kansas territory.
He arrived in September of that year and began his work at once, preaching his first sermon
in Lawrence on October 1. During the winter of 1854-1855 he preached at intervals to the
colony at Topeka.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 251
Since I have been in the Territory there has been but one day that
the sun was not visible.
I venture to say that you have had many days in Meadville since
I left, that you could not see the sun. I fear it may be a little too
warm for me in Summer as you know I suffered a good deal last
Summer in fact this is the only dread I have of the Territory but
I even think this will all be right inasmuch as we have no dead
levels no towering mountains but the whole country is gently
undulating and rolling like the waves of the sea. For this reason
(and I am told it is true) there will be a steady, constant, breeze
which will very much relieve the heat which would otherwise be
oppressive.
I had a letter from my Brother the Minister a few days ago in
which he expresses a strong desire to come out to the Territory and
make it his home. I have advised him to do so and to come to this
place. . . .
Mr. Thomas Willson sent me a letter a few days since in which
he wants to obtain information concerning Kansas with the expecta-
tion of coming out here to live. And thus it is they are coming from
all parts of the country and Kansas will truly be over-flooded with
intelligent and enterprising emigrants in the spring.
My health, as I informed you in my last, has never been better
than it has been since I have been here. From this I take great
hopes from the fact that our way of living is such that a man
would not be likely to grow fat over it.
I have often thought that I would like to give you a description of
our living and modes of life. But the thing is too tedious and would
tend, perhaps, a little to discourage you.
Suffice it to say that today I am in the principal house and hotel in
Topeka. It is 12 x 14 ft. of logs chinked with turf or sod and
roofed with sod. I have known twenty-four persons to sleep in this
house at one time.
I am now writing this sitting on a trunk and writing upon the end
board of a wagon which I am holding in my lap. We have no
windows. Our door is of 6^ ct cotton cloth. Our house is full of
boxes, trunks logs of wood, tools of different tradesmen, guns, and
the floor is strewn with chips, shavings, stones, earth, coals, ashes and
prairie grass a handful of the latter in one corner together with two
buffalo robes and two blankets serves as the bed of a Mr. Giles 10 a
10. Fry W. Giles, a native of New Hampshire, came to Kansas territory in November,
1854. He was one of the founders of Topeka and served as treasurer of the Topeka Associa-
tion. He held various public offices and in 1864 opened the first bank in Topeka. He waa
the author of Thirty Years in Topeka (Topeka, 1886).
252 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
fine gentleman from Chicago and myself. Each evening we turn
into our humble couch with as much good feeling and peace of mind
and conscience, and sleep as soundly and dream as pleasant dreams,
as though we were resting our limbs on beds of down in marble halls;
and beside our wives as Mr. Giles has just been cruel enough to
suggest. We have both agreed to take back that last sentence.
In this Hotel, or Hall, or Church or whatever it may be we hold
our public meetings, discuss the affairs of the Territory and country
and world at large sing glees and choruses and other innocent
amusements and every other Sabbath (and will soon every Sabbath)
have preaching twice a day. 11 Last Sabbath our Preacher while
speaking pretty near fell down by stumbling over our cook pots and
pans which were directly behind him. Enough of this. For I must
stop . . .
From your loving husband HOLLIDAY
Lawrence K. T.
Feb. 11, 1855
My Dear Wife As you will see by my heading I am again in
Lawrence and have just begged a sheet of paper from a friend to
write you my usual quantum of Sunday talk. I should be at church
at this time instead of writing, but I had to walk some four miles
from the Country where I was stopping last night with Mr. Water-
man a friend to Mr. Ingram and myself and I got in too late for
service. The Methodists are holding their Quarterly Meeting 12 to-
day and the "Elder" is just preaching.
11. The Rev. William H. Goode (see following footnote) made a tour of the Wakarusa
mission circuit early in 1854 and stopped at Topeka enroute to Lawrence to attend the
February quarterly meeting. Of his visit to Topeka he wrote in his Outposts of Zion
(Cincinnati, Poe & Hitchcock, 1864), p. 329: "We traveled through the Pottawatomie Re-
serve . . . and took up at the newly -la id -off town of Topeka, since famous for free-state
Constitutions, Conventions, and Legislatures, then consisting of a solitary frame shanty oc-
cupied as a hotel, with a cabin dormitory hard by, and a few claim structures in the suburbs.
. . . At Topeka we found a company of intelligent, enterprising men, mostly at that time
from Pennsylvania, full of hope as to their town; laboring hard, and living on rough fare.
We were kindly received, found a place to stake out our animals, and a little prairie hay to
place before them. Our plain evening repast over, the men assembled in the cabin room.
. . . They were willing hearers, and enlivened the exercises by excellent singing from a
well -trained choir. At bedtime I found that I was to be exempted from a lot in the
crowded, floorless, common dormitory, and honored with a superior position in the main
building. Ascending by the aid of a ladder to a high bunk, I stowed myself away, and slept
securely. The main article of diet for our evening and morning meal was 'hasty pudding,' or,
in Western parlance, 'corn-mush,' without any of the accompaniments usually considered ap-
propriate. But our hosts were kind and generous, and our appetite good ; we ate freely, and
I trust with grateful hearts. Three years afterward the session of Kansas and Nebraska
conference was held in this place."
12. An exploration of the area then designated Nebraska, to determine possibilities for
mission work, was planned by the Methodist Episcopal church in the spring of 1854 while
the Kansas-Nebraska bill was still pending in Congress. The Rev. William H. Goode was
sent to the field and as a result of his survey the Kansas-Nebraska mission district was
organized. This comprised territory extending from the eastern limits of Kansas and
Nebraska to the Rocky Mountains and from the Arkansas river to the Canadian line. One of
the subdivisions within this district was the Wakarusa mission circuit comprising all the
Kansas valley from the mouth of the river to Fort Riley. James S. Griffing was placed in
charge of this circuit and the meeting here referred to was the second quarterly meeting held
at Lawrence under the direction of Mr. Goode, presiding elder.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 253
I am [in] Lawrence today on my way to the Shawnee Mission
again to see Governor Reeder. I will start tomorrow for the Mission
and will try and return to Topeka next Thursday, Friday or Sat-
urday.
Everything has gone well with our people since I wrote you last,
and the best of feeling is prevailing among them. There is but one
thing wanting to make Topeka the first place in the Territory and
that one thing I am now on my way to see the Governor about, in
order, if possible, to accomplish it. 13 Our Society at Topeka is very
superior what we have. There are as yet but four or five families in
the immediate town but two thirds of our men are married & have
families and will bring their families to our place as soon as naviga-
tion opens in the spring.
No place can be more healthy than ours has been. What it may
be in the future time alone will determine. But for two and a half
months we have had an average population of at least fifty persons
among us and out of that entire number but one has been sick.
Such a good report cannot be given of this place, Lawrence, although
it is very healthy here. G. W. Brown, Editor Herald of Freedom,
has been lying dangerously ill for some time but is now improving.
A Mr. Litchfield, Hotel Keeper, 14 died last night and will be buried
today.
Still there are many more inhabitants in Lawrence than in To-
peka there being some 400 or 500 in Lawrence while there are not
over 80 or 100 in Topeka.
I have had no letter from you since I wrote you last nor I think
since I wrote you two letters. This perhaps is not attributable to
you so much as to the mails. I understand today that the mails be-
tween Chicago and St. Louis have been blocked by snow and ice
for some ten days or more. Hence I expect when a mail does come
I will receive a whole package from you. I hope so indeed.
13. This is probably a reference to the great need of timber for the building of the settle-
ment. Governor Reeder at this time was endeavoring to buy timbered land on the north
side of the Kansas river from the Kansas half-breed Indians, and the settlers at Topeka
were hoping for the consummation of the purchase, inasmuch as they had been assured of
lumber if the contracts were approved at Washington. Indian Commissioner Manypenny,
however, disapproved the contracts as being in violation of the treaty of 1825 with the
Kansas Indians, and the attempted purchase of the lands by Reeder was later used as one
of the reasons for his removal from office.
14. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis T. Litchfield of Massachusetts opened a hotel on the bottom
lands in September of 1854. It was a rude structure of poles, thatched with prairie grass.
J. Savage, in his "Recollections of 1854," Lawrence Western Home Journal, September 8,
1870, writes: "The pioneer boarding house or hotel was kept by Mr. and Mrs. Litchfield.
. Elegant lodgings and well -prepared food were out of the question in their house.
The bread was raised in a large wash-tub which stood behind the stove to keep it warm, and
was baked in a large stone oven. It was never light for want of time to rise. This, with
boiled and fried beef, was their staple food ; plenty of molasses, vinegar and mustard were
always on the table, as well as sauce made of dried apples and peaches; and for a substitute
for butter we used the drippings from the beef, salted. In the large open tent, the November
mornings were cold and chilly without a fire, so that we generally ate wearing our hats
and overcoats."
254 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The weather since I wrote you last has again moderated. The
past week has been almost as mild as summer. Today is very pleas-
ant but very windy. I do not think we will have much cold weather
this year, at least not of long continuance.
I think now that I will be enabled to let you know when I will
come home after I have seen Reeder, or especially soon after the
election. Though of this you must not flatter yourself. I will come
just as soon as I possibly can. My business here has shaped itself
two or three times in different attitudes and I am desirous of having
it become somewhat fixed before I leave for home.
It is hard to tell how I will succeed in money matters out here. I
know pretty well how I have succeeded that is I know that I
have expended all the money I brought with me and will be obliged
to borrow some 20$ to 50$ to pay off a debt I contracted yesterday.
I wish it were so that I could have you send me fifty or one hundred
dollars for I will need it greatly in getting home. But I may be able
to borrow for that purpose also. If, however, you and Ingram can
raise fifty or one hundred dollars I would be glad if you would pur-
chase a draft with it upon some good house in New York and send
it to me. Let Ingram or some one who understands it attend to it
so there may be no error as a hundred dollars is too much for me to
lose at this time. If Ingram thinks it cannot be sent with safety do
not send it. But a great deal of money is sent to persons in the
Territory in that way and I hope you will send it if you can con-
veniently.
I have made investments at Lawrence and Topeka, and if I had
money to spare I would like to make investments at other towns in
the Territory such as Leavenworth, Pawnee, &c., &c. But if I
can't do as I would I must do as I can, and I earnestly hope that
what I have done will come out right. The great trouble is the in-
security of titles. If it were not for this a man could not help but
do well.
. . . Direct as usual to Lawrence via Kansas City Missouri.
Your loving husband C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka K. T. Feb. 18, 1855
My Dear Wife
When I have begun several of my last letters to you I always
commenced by saying that I would pen you "but a single line" or "a
few lines" or some such remark and then go on and fill up eight or
ten pages. This time, however, I will try and be as good as my
word and really only write you a "few lines." I have two reasons
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 255
for saying so first it is late in the evening and second I have no
kind of disposition to write.
When I wrote you last I was at Lawrence. Since then I have
been to Kansas City and Westport in Mo. and at the Methodist
Mission in the Shawnee Reservation where Gov. Reeder is now
stopping. I learned while down at Kansas [City] the causes that
have prevented me from receiving any letters from you for so long
a time as it has been, and I suppose the same causes prevent you
from receiving any letters from me. The causes are simply these,
that a tremendous snow storm has blocked up the Chicago & Missis-
sippi R. R. so that no mails have passed for some four weeks. As
soon as a mail gets through I hope to have a good time in reading
at least a half dozen letters from you. I wish I had them now to
cheer me up; for I must confess I have the "blues" a little this eve-
ning. I am satisfied they arise only from the fact that I am some-
what homesick. . . .
There has nothing new transpired among us since I wrote you last
We have our Mill almost erected. 15 It will be done in about two or
three weeks; then we will go to cutting boards and building houses
and I trust make something as a show for a town. I was in hopes
that my trip to the Governor would enable me [to] know when I
might think of starting home but it has not done so definitely. I
can say this, however, that unless something arises to change my
intention I will leave for Meadville the week after the election. I
have an engagement that I must meet on the Wednesday following
the election. I know now of nothing else to prevent my coming at
that time. But when will the election be? I hear you ask. Well,
Mary, I don't know. But this I do know that it will take place
sometime between now and the middle of March. I wrote in my
last for you to send me one hundred dollars getting what portion
you have not from Ingram. From what I have said you see you will
have to send it soon or it will not reach here in time. My love to
all the family. From your loving & true husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
15. This mill was given by the Emigrant Aid Company in return for a portion of the town
property. (See Samuel A. Johnson's "The Emigrant Aid Company in Kansas," Kansas His-
torical Quarterly, v. 1, pp. 434-435, for a brief statement of the policy of the Aid Company
in establishing mills in the territory.) In January, 1855, Holliday and M. C. Dickey went to
Kansas City to get the engine and boiler which had been purchased in Rochester by the Aid
Company for the new settlement. Transportation to Topeka was attended with great diffi-
culty. Samuel C. Pomeroy, financial agent of the company in the territory, reported to
the executive committee that Mr. Dickey, who had contracted to transport the mill and set it
in running order for $1,000, claimed a loss of $700 by the transaction. Pomeroy asked for
instructions from the committee and was advised to do whatever equity dictated in the
case. Minutes of the executive committee, Emigrant Aid Company, May 19, 1855, in Kansas
State Historical Society, division of MSS. Pomeroy's financial records are incomplete and
the terms of the settlement with Dickey are not known.
256 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Topeka Kansas Ter.
March 18, 1855
My Dear Wife
I believe I mentioned in my last that I have after a delay of near
two months, received a letter from you. It was dated January
no February 15th. ... If I receive the money from you and
Ingram for which I have written / will leave for home on or before
the middle of April. You must however, My Dear Mary, take this
statement as you have had to take many others and that is: as
being subject to many exceptions. For something may arise between
now and that time that may wholly thwart my purpose. Let noth-
ing that I have said in any of my former letters deter Ingram from
making his arrangements of coming to Kansas. My opinion of the
Territory is unchanged; and I have seen it in its worst possible
aspects. And I do think if, after enduring what I have endured this
Winter, I am still in love with the Territory I shall certainly love it
always.
But mark! I do not urge upon Ingram to come. He knows
for himself concerning the Territory & if he is satisfied from what
I have from time to time written to you concerning it, and from
what he knows personally concerning it, that Kansas is the place for
his home, then would I indeed be glad to have him come out here
and make it his home. But he must understand it well that invest-
ing property in Kansas is like buying tickets in a lottery. He may
"draw" a "capital prize." He may "draw" nothing "a blank."
But he knows this as well as I, and much better; therefore he must
use his own judgment: at the same time assuring him that I could
not be better pleased with any country than I am with Kansas, and
that I think it possesses all the advantages for making money and
getting a home that we both thought it did last fall.
We are again having cold weather. I think day before yesterday
was the most stormy day we have had. The snow was about six
inches deep. For two or three days it had been snowing gradually;
and on Friday afternoon it came down with great force. At noon I
left my house and returned to it after supper in the evening. I found
the snow everywhere throughout my house. I measured it on a
board and found it three inches deep inside. My bed was also
covered with snow three inches deep and I took my washbowl and
with a sweep or two of the hand piled it heaping full and thawed it,
or melted it for wash water in the morning, having to economize as
I have to carry my water one mile. The balance of the snow I
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 257
shook off upon the floor. I then took a hoe that some of the boys
dug from an Indian grave a few days before, and with it scraped a
pathway from the door to the stove. I believe you generally use
snow scrapers outside of the house in Penna. Remember that in
Kansas we use them for the inside.
I then turned into bed, slept soundly, if not "sweetly" as the poets
say woke up the next morning finding my bed again well covered
with snow. This, my dear wife, is life in Kansas. Do you think
you can endure it. I hear you answer no ! Well ! Well ! don't say
no too quick for I certainly hope and pray that neither you nor I
nor any persons will be obliged to live in such houses as we have
lived in here this Winter. Yet many intelligent refined and even
very beautiful ladies have lived the kind of life and endured the
hardships above described in this Territory this winter. But few
of them, however, have been in Topeka though for the past two
months we have had a few families with us but quite a number of
families have lived as I have described in the City of Lawrence.
Things, however, will we all trust soon be better.
Write immediately Yours truly C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka K. T.
April 1, 1855
My Dear Wife
. . . Today even I ought to be giving my attention to the care
and comfort of some one hundred emigrants who have just arrived
from the East; but I could not let the day pass without scribbling
you a line and letting you know that I am still living and in the en-
joyment of good health and spirits.
Enclosed you will find a circular by which you will learn that
my name was used as a candidate for Representative for the Third
District. When we went to the polls the Missourians had charge of
the grounds had driven off the Judges of the election and [had]
taken the matter into their own hands. We therefore did not vote
at all but left the grounds peaceably and have protested against the
legality of the whole election. Had the citizens alone been per-
mitted to vote I could have been elected by a respectable majority.
Our District numbers, by the Census, one hundred and one votes.
There could not have been less than 400 or 500 Missourians on the
ground ; hence we took the course we did. What the final result of
17728
258 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
all this will be I know not. I was very fearful that there would be
much violence and bloodshed on the day of election at Lawrence
and other points; but so far as I have heard every thing went off
peaceably. This one thing, however. I do know that Kansas will
be a free state. The friends in the East may fully rely upon this.
Our city is looking up considerable since the warm and pleasant
weather has set in, and I am also satisfied that we must become one
of the most considerable points in the Territory. Buildings are go-
ing up rapidly and every day adds some new improvement to the
place.
I am now fearful that I cannot leave here as soon as I wrote you
in my last. I will, perhaps, know this week but being president
of the Association my attention and time are very much required
at this place. So that if I do not come as soon as you might wish
you must attribute it to the fact that necessity will oblige me to re-
main here and not to any neglect. . . .
. . . It is a couple of weeks since I have had any word from
you and Oh! how long the time does seem. I know not why my
letters do not come more regularly. You ought to just see how
ragged I am. My clothes are all worn out. They don't even stick
together any more and what is worst I have no money even to buy
more with but I will try and raise some at Lawrence this week.
Give my love to all the family & tell everybody that I like Kansas
better & better every day Your lov'g Husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Winona M. T. 16
Wednesday, July 11, 1855
My Dear Wife
As you will perceive I am still at Winona.
Yesterday Mr. Drew and I started for a tour of a few days into
the Territory but just as we had got fairly started some fifteen
miles from Town, a span of runaway horses ran over us & broke our
axletree right off. Hence we were obliged to give up the trip and
return to Winona.
Neither of us were hurt the least. I regret very much that this
happened inasmuch as I am very favorably impressed with what I
have seen of Minnesota and wished much to look at it further. I
am so favorably impressed indeed that if things don't move right
after my return to Kansas I may shape my course this way.
16. The Lawrence Herald of Freedom, April 21, 1855, recorded the presence of Holliday
in that city on April 18, en route to Pennsylvania. The letters resume while he is in
Minnesota territory, on his way back to Kansas.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 259
I will start down the river at the first opportunity and make as
much headway as possible on my tour to Kansas. I ought to be
there before now.
Winona is one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful
town site I ever saw, has a good back country to sustain it and must
make a place of very considerable importance. I like it much. I
will try & write you again from some point in Iowa, although I may
not have an opportunity.
There is nothing new or stirring here nor have I heard of anything
of importance since I arrived here. It is too far beyond civilization
for news.
Kiss the babe "Little Lillie" 17 for me once, twice, thrice, yes a
dozen or more times I love it much. ... C. K. HOLLEDAY
Iowa City Iowa
Saturday July 14, 1855
My Dear Wife
I embrace this occasion to pen you another line. I arrived here
today at 2 o'clock (it is now 7) and I fear will be obliged to remain
over until Monday. I regret this not that I want to travel on Sun-
day, but that I ought to be in the Territory and dislike to remain
still when I once get started on a journey.
I have nothing new to communicate today. My health continues
singularly good for which, of course, I am profoundly grateful to
the Giver of all good and perfect gifts.
I left Winona, M. T. on Thursday morning last arriving at Du-
buque Iowa the same evening at 12 o'clock. Friday morning I left
Dubuque arriving here, as above stated, today.
When I again get started from here I will be some four days in
going to Council Bluffs city. If I can get a steamer down the Mis-
souri River I can arrive at Kansas City in two days more, so I shall
expect to get there the close of next week, or beginning of the week
after.
I am much pleased with the appearance of the lands & settlements
through Iowa. The "lay of the land" is beautiful while all the
towns have a thrifty and healthy appearance. Hence my trip
through this country may be turned to a profitable account; for if
things don't go right in Kansas I will have some idea of where else
to turn my steps.
17. Lillie Holliday Kellam, only daughter of Cyrus K. Holliday, was born March 18.
1855, at Meadville, Pa.
260 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I have learned nothing from the Territory since I left you of any
consequence. Nor do I suppose I will until I arrive in the Territory.
The place where I am now writing is the Capital of Iowa a
pleasant & pretty place and in the midst of a fine farming country.
And all the lands between Dubuque & this point are very excellent
indeed.
They want me to come to Winona and live and in fact I feel
very much like doing so, from this one consideration alone; that I
never felt more at home in a strange place than I did at Winona.
Still Kansas is better if we can only get rid of our difficulties here.
I will try & write you again at Fort Des Moines or Council Bluffs
although I may not until I get into the Territory.
I have a miserable pen and can scratch no more.
Kiss little "Lillie" for me. . . . Your loving husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Kansas City
July 24, 1855
My Dear Wife
My love to you and "little Lillie."
I arrived here yesterday at 10 A. M. but have delayed writing
until today.
My health still continues remarkably good. In fact, since I left
Cleveland I have scarcely had an unwell hour. This is the more
remarkable when considered in connection with the fact that all
through Iowa I was obliged to drink the meanest kind of water
from cisterns or drains or sloughs or something of that kind. Today,
however, we have had green corn & water melons and I must now
look out for a change.
After having travelled over Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska & Missouri, I am prepared to
say that Kansas exceeds them all in point of true excellence. The
lay of the land in Kansas is much similar to that of Iowa and West-
ern Illinois ; but there is a greater depth to the soil & more richness.
I have not been here long enough to ascertain how the political
movements stand ; but I understand that Gov. Reeder pays no kind
of attention to any bill the Legislative Assembly passes, but vetoes
everything. They of course immediately pass it over his head.
Those elected at the supplementary election were rejected from
BABNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 261
their seats. 18 This was as I expected it would be. Consequently
it did not matter much my not being here on the 1st Monday of this
Month. It is the unanimous disposition of the settlers to resist any,
every, and all laws that the present Assembly may pass. What the
result will be, God knows, I do not. They think here, however, that
everything will go off peaceably. I earnestly hope so for if diffi-
culties once commence there is no telling where they will end.
I will leave for Topeka tomorrow passing via Lawrence.
The crops are good out this way much better than I expected.
My books arrived here on the 17th inst., a week in advance of me.
I had a hard trip down the Mo. River from Council Bluffs. We
were 3% days in coming three hundred & fifty miles. ... I
became acquainted while in Omaha city with Gov. Izard 19 & other
prominent gentlemen of Iowa & Nebraska.
I can state nothing definite concerning the future nor can I
until sometime after I arrive at Topeka. The free state men of this
place are confident that Kansas will be a free state & that without
fighting. I hope so. I am sure so fair a country is worthy of some-
thing better than slavery. . . . Kiss Lillie for me. . . .
Write often, my dear Mary, to your affectionate husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Lawrence Kan. Tery.
July 29, 1855
My Dear Wife
I arrived in Lawrence last evening and after having returned from
the service of the Rev. Mr. Lum, conclude that I will resume my
old established custom of writing to you upon the Sabbath day.
Day before yesterday (Friday) I spent at the Shawnee Mission
with the Governor and in visiting the pseudo-Territorial Legislature.
The Governor and the Assembly are at perfect loggerheads. The
Gov. does not recognize them as a legal body, vetoes all their bills,
and pays no respect whatever to them. 20 Where this will all end I
18. An election was called by Governor Reeder on May 22 to fill vacancies in the terri-
torial legislature, the elections of March 30 in six out of eighteen districts having been set
aside by him as fraudulent. Free-State voters alone participated in the election of May 22,
but members elected by them were unseated by Proslavery members.
19. Mark W. Izard, of Arkansas, second regularly appointed governor of Nebraska
territory.
20. The first territorial legislature met at Pawnee on July 2, 1855, but passed an act on
July 6, over Governor Reeder's veto, to remove the seat of government to the Shawnee
manual labor school, and adjourned to meet there on July 16. Upon Reeder's refusal to
sanction any of its acts while in session at the labor school, the legislature memorialized the
President to remove him from office, eagerly using as one of its charges the fact of Reeder's
pecuniary interest in the town of Pawnee which he had selected for the territorial capital.
Reeder's removal was officially announced on July 31.
262 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
or no other man can dare to predict. The Governor says that when
he left his family he told his wife just how things stood and that it
was probable she might never see him again. That will give some
idea of how he regards things. You must not argue from this that
there is any immediate danger. I think not in fact and things
have now assumed such a shape that they will attack Reeder before
they do the citizens. I find the crops here remarkably good. Corn
is 12 to 16 feet high on an average and must sell for about 25 cents
per bushel. Lawrence has improved somewhat since I left, in fact
is rapidly beginning to assume the appearance of an old settled
place. Topeka I understand is also improving; but I will know more
of that in a few days as I will leave for Topeka tomorrow if I can
arrange my business here so as to do so. The weather is quite warm ;
though nothing like what it was in Penna. last year. You remember
how hot it was there at Lownys Hotel. I shd. like the country much
if it were not for the political difficulties though they must all
work out right in course of time. . . .
Your loving & faithful husband C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kans. Tery.
Aug. 4, 1855
My Dear Wife
... I arrived at Topeka from Lawrence last Monday & found
things moving on as well as I could expect. Our town has increased
more in proportion to its stage of advancement when I left than any
other town in the Territory. In fact it is the largest place in either
Kansas or Nebraska except Lawrence and Leavenworth city and
I am not certain but that we shall soon exceed them. A newspaper
has been partially started here since I left. 21 As soon as it gets
thoroughly under way I will send it to you. Two new stores have
also been started & quite a number of new, but small, buildings have
gone up.
I was much gratified at the very cordial reception with which I
21. The first issue of the Kansas Freeman, published at Topeka by Edward C. K. Garvey
& Co., appeared on July 4, 1855. The policy of the paper was set forth in a prospectus,
Lawrence Herald of Freedom, June 9, 1855, and subsequent isssues: "The Freeman will make
no promises at the commencement of its career, but will endeavor to stand on its own merits
and the soundness of its principles on the momentous questions which agitate the public mind
not only in this Territory but over the whole extent of our glorious Union. . . . The con-
ductors of the Freeman have determined to hold themselves independent and at liberty to dis-
cuss the various questions of the day, free and untrammelled by party ligatures. It shall be
always found en the side of Temperance and religious morality and shall continue to advocate
the most extensive system of Public Free Schools and Colleges, with freedom of conscience to
all men seeking a home within our borders. . . . No advertisement or article, calculated
to offend the most delicate, shall be permitted to enter the columns of the Freeman."
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 263
met at the hands of the citizens of this place. Every person seemed
glad to see me even those who never saw me before. I am about
engaging in an enterprise or two that I think will pay. One is the
navigation of the Kansas River 22 the other the erection of new
buildings. In either I think I can make something. Besides these
I have about concluded that I will get hold of a piece of land and do
some farming.
Business as a general thing is dull in the Territory with the pros-
pect of brightening as soon as fall immigration sets in.
Your aff. husband C. K. HOLLIDAY
Lawrence K. T.
Aug. 12, 1855
My Dear Wife
I am again at Lawrence and quite well. I am on my way to Kan-
sas City in order to see if [I] can procure a Wyandotte land war-
rant in order to make our city property more secure. 23 I design
remaining in this place until Wednesday and will take part in the
great free-state Convention to be held here on Tuesday the four-
teenth inst. 24 I will send you two papers tomorrow, one with my
letter from Cleveland signed "Public Opinion" the other from To-
peka signed "H." 25 You may show them to the neighbors.
22. Navigation of the Kansas river was considered entirely feasible by the founders of
Topeka and had been a determining factor in the selection of the townsite. A levee was
constructed at a point near the foot of Quincy street in the spring of 1855 and three or four
boats reached the settlement that year, one proceeding as far as Manhattan. Boats con-
tinued to ascend the river to Topeka until 1861. In 1864 the state legislature declared the
Kansas river not a navigable stream and gave any duly incorporated railroad company the
right to bridge or dam it. For a detailed account of the navigation of the Kansas river see
The Kansas Historical Collections, v. 9, pp. 317-358.
23. Thirty-five individuals of the Wyandot nation of Indians were given the right, by
the terms of a treaty at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, March 17, 1842 (modified January 31, 1855),
to select, each, a section of public land in territory west of Missouri and Iowa. Certificates
issued to them were known as land floats, and each grantee, upon making his selection, was
given a patent. Title to land during this period was secured more quickly by the use of floats
than by any other means and they were sought by town founders. The Topeka association
purchased float No. 20 of the series issued to the Wyandots from Isaiah Walker, paying him
$1,200. The association located all of S. 31, T. 11, R 16 E. under the float. A patent was
issued February 14, 1859, and on July 1 of that year, Isaiah Walker and his wife, Mary, exe-
cuted a warranty deed conveying the land to the Topeka association. Fry W. Giles, op, tit.,
gives a detailed account of the acquisition of title to the townsite, pp. 61-66.
24. First convention of Free-State men made up of adherents of various political parties.
This convention issued the call for the Big Springs meeting of September 6 which effected
organization of the Free-State party.
25. The letter signed "Public Opinion," here referred to, was published in the Lawrence
Herald of Freedom, July 28, 1855. It was dated at Cleveland, Ohio, July 4, and was ad-
dressed to the paper as if written by a nonresident, "to give you and your readers," Holliday
wrote, "an inkling of the disposition of the public mind growing out of the recent unparalleled
outrage upon the elective franchise in your Territory, and the probable issue that awaits the
Kansas question ... I am safe in saying that an overwhelming majority of the people
of the entire North rather than see Kansas a slave state of this Union would prefer to see
the Union itself shivered into ten thousand atoms. They say they love the Union; but when
it becomes impotent to secure to the citizens of the republic the highest and dearest rights
of a freeman, it is no longer worthy of preservation." A severe condemnation of President
264 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
After my return from Kansas I can write you something more
definite of what I am doing and what I intend to do.
I cannot form any opinion of how our political difficulties will
end here. Some are sanguine there will be fighting others again
think differently. Two months or less, I think, will determine the
matter. Then I will be prepared to answer you better about your
coming out to Kansas. I certainly wish you were here and I hope
to have you here. But I believe Mary you are better off where you
are than to be here now. But there will be a large emigration from
the North this fall and as I before said the difficulties will assume a
distinctive feature in the course of two months. Then I can give
you more definite information.
It has been raining almost continually for two days with very
heavy thunder & lightning. . . . The crops look fine and Kan-
sas will raise enough corn, beef & pork for her consumption this
year pretty well for beginners.
I am offered a claim near Topeka with a good house upon it. I
may buy it upon my return to Topeka and go to farming. I have
rented my house that I have in Topeka. You remember I told you
last winter that it cost me some 35 or 40 dollars. I rent it for six
dollars per month, or at the rate of 75 dollars per year. Pretty good
investment.
At Ft. Riley 75 miles above Topeka on the Kansas River the
cholera broke out last week in a very aggravated form. It is vari-
ously estimated that from 40 to 170 have died. 26 It is now healthy
there the epidemic has entirely abated. Topeka is healthy, so is
Lawrence, so is the Territory generally. . . .
Yr. aff. husband C. K. HOLLIDAY
Pierce for his attitude towards Governor Reeder followed, and he then concluded, "It is
astonishing to see the very great change that has been wrought, politically, in the public
mind of the northern states, since the Kansas election has forever sealed the doom of slavery.
You may rely upon this. It is utterly impossible that Kansas, Nebraska, or any other
territory, can ever be admitted into the Union as a slave state. The people have decreed
it. . . ."
The letter signed H, published in the Lawrence Herald of Freedom, August 11, 1855, was
dated Topeka, August 6. It was mainly a comparison of Kansas with the western states and
territories through which Holliday traveled on his return from the East for the purpose of
examining the merits of each and satisfying himself of the superiority of Kansas. The letter
also denounced those emigrants who, finding life in the territory too rigorous, reported un-
favorably upon their return to the East.
26. Percival G. Lowe, in his "Recollections of Fort Riley," Kansas Historical Collection*,
v. 7, p. 110, states that the dead numbered not less than 75 nor probably more than 100.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 265
Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 20 [1855]
My Dear Wife
My love to you and our dear little girl. Yesterday I did not get
an opportunity to write you owing to the fact that I was anxious
to see Governor Reeder before leaving here and had no other oppor-
tunity to see him than yesterday. Therefore I spent yesterday with
him. Today I will scribble a line to you.
I am still in the enjoyment of most excellent health as I trust you
and Lillie also are.
I am at Kansas attending to some business for the Topeka As-
sociation and will return today by the Steamer "Financier." I am
laboring to secure for our town a better title than we now have ; and
have great hopes of success. 27 If I can do so it will then give me
more liberty to look after other matters.
We had a great political convention at Lawrence last week. 28
What is a little unusual at political conventions with public men, I
made more friends than I lost. That of which I spoke to you con-
cerning congress really seems to be brightening from day to day.
But I shall make no effort for this object but leave things take their
course and abide the consequences. But I have no time to write
today and will let you know more of this matter soon.
Tell me what success you have had in the lottery business. Did
you draw the 5,000$ prize? I hope so.
Remember me to all the friends.
I will send you some papers upon my return to Lawrence.
Yours very affectionately and truly C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kan. Ter.
Aug. 27, 1855
My Dear Wife -
Yesterday I was unable to write to you as usual, therefore I take
the first moment after my breakfast this morning to let you know
that as yet all things go well. I arrived in Topeka last Friday from
Kansas City and Lawrence and will remain here until about the
middle of next week when I again expect to go to Kansas City. My
next visit there will fully arrange my business there and then I will
try and become more settled.
I have been offered, since I wrote you last, a chance of equal
partnership in the best and largest Mercantile House in Kansas.
I have also been invited to take charge of the "Kansas Freeman"
27. See footnote 23.
28. See footnote 24.
266 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
newspaper. I am after something more desirable to me than either
and will be able to know this week, I think, how things will ultimate,
perhaps not till next week. . . .
You are anxious to know . . . when you can come out. I
can't tell you yet, my Dear Mary. But after I arrange the business
hinted of in the foregoing part of this letter, then I can answer you
more definitely upon this point.
I have been very busy since my return trying to secure something
permanent for us and as soon as I succeed in doing so, I will then be
able to look farther.
Yesterday I was at Sunday School and Church and then at Class
Meeting in the evening a regular old fashioned Methodist class
meeting. I will try and keep up this good disposition.
. . . My love to all Your aff. husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka K. T. Sept. 10, 1855
My Dear Wife
As our mail goes out regularly on Tuesdays & Saturdays I don't
know but that I will have to change my day of correspondence to
correspond with the mail. I received two letters from you while
in attendance at the Big Springs Convention of the 5th inst. One
of date 16th, the other 23d August. You may rest assured I was
most glad to learn that you & the babe were still in the enjoyment
of good health and I trust this will find you so.
For myself my health still continues not only good, but it has
never been better. But this is not so with others and may not con-
tinue so with me. We have a number of sick in our town and
neighborhood at the present time; but this is nothing more than I
expected would occur at this season of the year. The disease is
generally of a bilious kind fever & ague bilious, intermittent, re-
mittent, and in some instances typhoid fevers. But few deaths,
however, have as yet occurred, and I earnestly hope may not occur.
With respect to your earnest request to come to Kansas, I have
only to say that it is as earnestly my desire as it can be yours to
have you here; and from the way things are now going I think I
will either send for you, or go for you myself, before long. I do not
want to go for you, for it will cost me quite two hundred dollars
directly out of pocket, but at the same time I will want more money
and may for this reason be obliged to go east. If not I will trust
to your ability to financier and have you employ Mr. Lenhart to go
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 267
[to] the city for you and raise the money; but of this I will write
more fully again.
I think it is now probable that I will take charge of the Paper at
this place. I have been solicited so to do; and if I can agree with
Mr. Garvey upon terms I will accept. My next principal object will
be to secure a good farm claim and then have you here. But be not
impatient my dear Mary, all things will I am satisfied ultimate in
good. If you can learn of any one coming out to the Territory let
me know and I will try and make it so as to have you come with
them.
At the Free State convention, Gov. Reeder was nominated as the
Delegate to Congress. We small fry all had to stand back for his
Excellency. But it is all well. He is much the strongest man and
will have by far the most influence at Washington of any man that
could have been nominated. 29 Had Reeder not have run my chance
stood next best in the Convention.
Our town is still improving and we will very soon have a pretty
little place. . . . We will issue a paper from this office this
week and I will send you a copy.
. . . Write often. Your aff. husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka K. T.
Sep. 16, 1855
My Dear Wife
... As I wrote you in my last we have many sick in our
neighborhood generally with ague & fever, or slight bilious attacks
which are incident to all new countries. There was one death in the
place this last week. A young man, named Brown. He had no
relative or particular friend or associate in the Territory. Rather a
lonely and sorrowful sight to see a funeral under such circumstances.
Things move along here in much their accustomed manner. That
matter of which I was hoping to secure for the city and thereby se-
cure to us a good farm claim & home in the immediate neighborhood
of the city I have not yet been enabled to effect. I hope to hear of
it this week.
If an opportunity occurs by which you can send, by a reliable man
to New York one of those Bonds and sell it, you may do so. And
29. Congress refused to seat either Reeder or John W. Whitfield, delegate of the Pro-
slavery party.
268 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
thus if I should want you to come out here after a while you would
not have to delay on that account. . . .
You need not urge the sale too strongly. Sell if a good opportunity
occurs. I may return this fall, but do not want to unless it is ab-
solutely necessary. It will cost so much. I think now without doubt
I shall want you to come out this fall, and will either go myself or
send for you. Now mark. If you get an opportunity to come out
with any reliable person do so. Fix up your things there and come
right along. I have no house properly prepared for you yet; but
jit will not take very long to get one prepared and in the meantime
we can board with some of the neighbors. I am sick & tired of the
kind of life we have been living; you there and I here. I want we
should get together once more, and live as man and wife should live.
With respect to our difficulties they are not yet settled, nor perhaps
wont be for some time although things look more peaceful than
formerly. In two weeks from today the Missourians will come into
the Territory to vote for delegate there may be difficulty on that
day. We shall see. . . . Yours aff. & truly
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kan. Ter.
Spt. 26, 1855
My Dear Wife
Since I wrote you last I have a letter from you which contained
the good news that you are still well and that our babe was growing
both large & pretty. I hope this will find you in the enjoyment of
equally good health.
I want to write you today chiefly on business. I find that it will
be next to impossible for me to go East or to Meadville this fall
again owing to the way things are shaping themselves here. But I
am very anxious that you should be here and as time is passing
away rapidly you will have to come soon or travelling will be so
that you will be unable to come. You will remember we talked
this matter over; and you were of the opinion that if I could not go
for you, you could come out yourself. Now, Mary, if you think
you can travel alone I would be most happy, indeed, to have you
come ; and with what experience you have had in travelling you must
make up your own mind upon this subject. You will no where en-
counter anything worse in travelling than we have already en-
countered at such places as Cleveland, Alliance &c. Now under the
supposition that you will come, I wish to offer a few suggestions in
respect to business and travel.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 269
I want you (if you have not done so already, for I wrote you
somewhat touching this matter in my last) to employ Mr. I. H.
Lenhart to go to New York and sell one of the remaining Bonds in
the same way as he sold for me this Spring and if he can sell for
anything near what is right let him sell both. I see, by accounts
from New York that the same kind of Bonds have recently sold for
85 and Sl 1 ^ cents on the dollar. // he can obtain in the neighbor-
hood of 80 cents, let him sell both bonds.
Now I think the above is clear and explicit and if you will show it
to Mr. Lenhart he will thoroughly understand it. Pay Mr. Lenhart
anything that is right and proper for his trouble ; and I know he will
ask nothing but what is right and proper. I would prefer to have
the proceeds of the Bonds in gold; but as you will find it too in-
convenient as well as dangerous to carry gold you had better have
him (Lenhart) procure it in 50$ and 100$ dollar bills on the Bank
that he may regard as the safest and most secure; bills of the "State
Bank of Missouri" are here regarded as the best paper money in
use and can readily be converted into gold without discount. There-
fore he had better get bills of the "State Bank of Missouri" if pos-
sible. He might think that "drafts" on New York would be prefer-
able to bills; upon this he must use his judgment, as he is much
better posted in money matters than I am. If he should conclude
that "drafts" are best, let him get small ones, as it is difficult to
exchange or sell a draft here of a large amount. Read this also to
Mr. Lenhart and he will doubtless do for me better than I could do
for myself. I speak particularly of your having Mr. Lenhart trans-
act this business as he is perfectly honest, and will doubtless have
business to see to at New York this fall and can transact this at the
same time. But you must insist upon his taking ample remunera-
tion for his trouble.
Now a word with respect to yourself. Be sure and secure the
money in such a manner about your person that you cannot lose it,
or that it cannot be taken from you by thieves and pickpockets.
Your ingenuity will contrive some plan to carry it under your outside
garments. You ought not to carry it next your person either, for the
moisture from your body might deface the appearance of the bills or
drafts particularly might destroy the President's & Cashier's signa-
tures. At Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago and St. Louis you will be
most liable to have your pockets picked or cut open therefore you
will want to be most on your guard at those places. But these are not
the only places where they may be found; but frequently the smooth
270 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
faced gentleman or lady that will make your acquaintance in the
cars, and Hotel, and more especially on the steamboats, is of that
profession and by his, or her, insinuating address is only desirous of
ascertaining how much money you have got, where you carry it,
and what the chances are to rob you. So be on your guard, Mary,
at all times and against all classes of persons.
A word now concerning your route of travel. You can procure a
ticket at Erie clear through to Saint Louis for about $20.00 or from
Cleveland to St. Louis for $17.00. At St. Louis you can again [get]
ticket for Kansas City for $10 or $12. Your route will be by way
of Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, Alton, St. Louis and Kansas City.
At Cleveland you take the Cleveland & Toledo Rail Road. At To-
ledo you take the Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan R. R.
At Chicago you take the Chicago Alton & St. Louis R. R. this last
named road was formerly called the Chicago & Mississippi R. R.
This last road will take you to Alton. At Alton you will find a
Steamboat in waiting to take you to St. Louis. At St. Louis you will
take Steamboat for Kansas City. When you get on the boat there
will be no further trouble. You will have to change cars at Cleve-
land, at Toledo and at Chicago at Alton you change cars for Boat
and at St. Louis you change Boat for Boat. So you will only have
five changes to make in all.
You can "check" your baggage through from Erie to Chicago, I
think; certainly from Cleveland to Chicago (and perhaps from Erie
or Cleveland to St. Louis; but of this I am not sure). At Chicago
you can again check to St. Louis ; and at St. Louis get your baggage
in your "state room" and it will of course, go with you. When you
get a check for your baggage to a certain place, you need pay no
attention to it until you arrive at that place ; then you must see to
it and have it checked again to the next farthest place on the line
of your travel. After you get your baggage on the Cars there are
but two places where you need give it much attention to wit at
Chicago & St. Louis ; and perhaps a little at Alton.
Now, Mary, I have strung this letter of cautions and advice until
it is enough to frighten an ordinary person; but you will find after
you have gone through the journey that, like a long bill of fare, it
is not near so formidable as you might reckon. I have enumerated
these many particulars in order that you might be well posted.
Carry enough of money in your usual way to pay your expenses
through say fifty or sixty Dollars the rest, as before said, con-
ceal or secure about your person.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 271
Now one word more. Mr. F. R. Foster 80 of Spring Corners, Craw-
ford County, Pennsylvania, is expected to start soon for this place.
He is a reliable young man. I advise you to send some person out
to Spring Corners in order to see if he is still there, and try and
make arrangements to come with him. A Mr. Slaton of the same
place is also coming out. Of him I know nothing, but you would
doubtless be perfectly safe in coming with him. Mr. Foster I know
would be glad to bring you out and you had better send some person
out to see him. If you don't feel like risking the journey alone,
hire somebody at Meadville ... to bring you as far as Chi-
cago or St. Louis. I had rather pay the expenses of a guide clear
here than that anything should go wrong.
Buy such articles of dress and clothing generally as you may want
this winter and for some time to come, and such other things as you
may want.
You had better not attempt to bring more than one trunk in your
charge. Have it well marked, with your name in full, and "Mead-
ville Pa." or "Topeka K. T." either or both of the places. The bal-
ance of your baggage, together with my trunk, clothes, books &c.
have packed in another box or boxes and delivered to the "Express
Co." Mark the boxes & trunks sent by the "Express Company" as
follows :
(C. K. Holliday
(Topeka, Kansas Territory
(Care of B. Slater, St. Louis, Mo.
(Care of Riddlesbarger & Co., Kansas City, Mo.
I have another suggestion to offer. If you fear to travel alone, or
can get no one to travel with you, you can consign yourself to the
care of the "Express Company" and it, through its agents, will see
you safely delivered on board the boat at St. Louis. This perhaps
would be your better plan. It will cost a little more; but then you
will have care and protection the whole way to St. Louis and will-
have yourself safely placed aboard the Boat at St. Louis. The
"Express Company" does not extend its operations beyond St. Louis,
toward the West.
When you arrive at Kansas City go to the "American Hotel" 81
30. Freeman R. Foster, a native of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, first arrived in the
territory in 1854 with a party of emigrants. Illness necessitated his return to the East for
a short time. He assisted in platting the town of Topeka where he resided during the re-
mainder of his life.
31. The Emigrant Aid Company, through its financial agent Samuel C. Pomeroy, pur-
chased the Union hotel in Kansas City in September, 1854, for the accommodation of emi-
grants proceeding to Kansas under its direction. It was renamed the American house.
Shalor W. Eldridge leased the building from the company for a time, then purchased it.
Eldridge later leased the Free-State hotel in Lawrence, also owned by the Emigrant Aid
Company, and upon its destruction in 1856 purchased the property and built the Eldridge
house on the site.
272 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and tell the Proprietor, Mr. Eldridge, who you are and that you
want a good room. He will furnish it to you. If I should not be
there, you will, of course, write me immediately, and I will go down
to Kansas City for you.
Try and send me word when you will expect to start from Mead-
ville, and then I will try and be at Kansas City in order to meet you
upon your arrival there. It will take you from six to nine days to
reach Kansas City.
At St. Louis you can go from the one Steamboat to the other, I
think; inasmuch as there is a boat leaving every day for Kansas
City. But if there is no boat about to leave you can go to a hotel.
The best Boats on the Missouri, are the "Polar Star," "F. X.
Aubrey," "Martha Jewett," "Sam Cloon," "New Lucy," "James H.
Lucas," "Admiral," "Genoa," &c. If you find either of these on
your landing at St. Louis, go right aboard [one] of them and engage
your room and passage up the River.
The more I think of your consigning yourself into the hands of
the "Express Co." the more favorably the project strikes my mind.
If you should do so the agt. of the Co. will see to your baggage,
point out your cars, wait upon you to meals, &c., &c.
As I said before it will cost something more, but that is nothing
when your safety & comfort is considered. In case you should con-
clude to come by Express you must remember that you will pay for
no tickets or anything of the kind. Simply make a bargain with the
agent at Erie to see you and your baggage safely delivered aboard
some good Boat at St. Louis, and take his receipt for the same. If
you can't get some responsible person to travel with you I certainly
think you had better come by Express. This may seem novel to
you. It is certainly not common yet it is frequently done, and I
think you had better do so. It will insure you more safety, more
speed, more comfort, less annoyance, less fear, less trouble of all
kind than if you should come alone, or even with another. In case
you come by Express you will not have to look after your baggage
at all, the agt. will look after it; and inasmuch as I have directed
you to send my books, &c., by Express, perhaps it would be best to
include yourself and all come by Express together. Your fare alone
from Erie to St. Louis would be about $20. You can judge from
this whether the agent for the Express Co. would be inclined to
charge an exhorbitant price; but don't quibble with him for five or
ten dollars, but if he asks you any reasonable fare, pay it to him,
take his receipt and come by Express.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 273
P. S. It is now the last day of Sept. I had no opportunity to
send this letter before. If you conclude to come, you will have to
come as soon as possible as it is getting late and cold. I will write
you in a day or two again, such other matters as I may have for-
gotten in this. Yours as ever C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka, K. T.
Oct. 7, 1855
My Dear Wife
I again take up my pen to address you a line. It will prove I
fear only a "line" from the fact that I do not feel in a mood to
lengthen out to any great extent today ; and secondly from the fact
that a few days ago by the last mail I wrote you a good long
letter of some twelve crowded pages. In that letter, which I trust
you will readily receive I requested you, if you deemed it expedi-
ent, to make your arrangements and start for Kansas. I mentioned
among other things that a Mr. Foster of Spring, Crawford Co., Pa.,
was coming to the Territory this fall and that you could perhaps
make arrangements to come with him. I have since learned that
Foster is now on his way; so that you will be cut off from the op-
portunity of travelling with him. I would therefore renew the sug-
gestions I offered in my last, that if you conclude to come & cannot
get some reliable person to travel with that you had better, by all
means, consign yourself into the care of the "Express Company"
and have them place you on board some good boat at St. Louis for
Kansas City. I am satisfied this will be your safest way to travel,
and while it will cost you somewhat more than it would if you
travelled on your own responsibility, yet when the over charges
and "gouging" to which you will be subjected when travelling alone,
are taken into consideration it may prove quite as cheap.
I mentioned in my last that the way things were shaping them-
selves here prevented my going after you. What I then had refer-
ence to, but did not fully express, is this: A Convention to frame
a Constitution for Kansas is to be holden at this place on the fourth
Tuesday of this month, and it was suggested by many that my name
would be used as one of the Delegates to that Convention. Yester-
day a Convention met to put in nomination a ticket for this dis-
trict, and I reed, the unanimous vote of the Convention as one of
18728
274 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the Delegates. Next Tuesday the election will take place, and if the
Missourians do not trouble us (and I don't think they will) I will
be elected by an almost unanimous vote. 32 This is a very distin-
guished and responsible trust and honor, and I know you will re-
joice with me that the people have so much confidence in me as to
confide it to me. And I know too that this and other business mat-
ters that I need not represent at present, will be ample excuse for
my not coming for you myself.
I sent you the Kansas Freeman of last week. All the inside mat-
ter was prepared by me. I did have hopes of becoming Editor of
the Freeman but some circumstances have since arisen that will
probably prevent my acting as such. I will, however, effect such
an arrangement if I can. I am not building as yet, but will com-
mence soon. It may be we will have to board a short time after
you come out, but not long, as I can soon build a pretty good house.
But even if we have to board some time we may as well board here
together as to be boarding apart as we are now doing.
I will leave for Lawrence and Kansas City on Tuesday next and
will either write you the result of the election or send you a paper
or both. . . .
You had better not bring any girl with you, as girls can be ob-
tained here I think. . . . Your aff. husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka, Kansas Territory
Nov. 27, 1855
My Dear Wife
In the same mail in which this letter will go out, there will one
go out that I wrote to you yesterday.
Since writing yesterdays letter, I reed, two from you, the mail
having come in last night.
When I opened the one, I was rejoiced to learn that you were
almost here ; but when I read the other I almost wept to learn that
you were obliged to abandon your coming. 33 I still however have
faith that you will be here this fall.
32. Holliday was elected a delegate to the Topeka constitutional convention.
33. Mary Holliday's letters to her husband at this time indicate that she abandoned
her plan to join him in the territory upon the advice of friends, and because of ill health.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 275
I am now in session with the Ex. Com. of Kansas 84 & cannot write
more. Earnestly hope that you will still be here.
My love to all Yours as ever
C. K. HOLLIDAY
The selling of the one Bond is right. You had better send all the
money except what you will want for yourself.
Head Quarters
Dec. 6, 1855
My Dear Wife
Major Shanklund is just leaving for the states and I have only
opportunity to write a line. My last informed you that we are in
the midst of difficulties. This informs you that, as yet, they have
not ceased. We are now hourly expecting an attack 1000 troops
are now assembled in Lawrence on our side 400 of the enemy are
4 miles south of us and 500 eight miles west of us. There is now
no kind of question but that there will be the biggest kind of a
fight. I am doing all I can to prevent it. But if the enemy attack
us they will catch and no mistake.
Kiss Lillie for me. I may never see you or her again; but if not
remember I fall honorably as I trust I have lived. As ever
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Head Quarters
Army of Defence
Lawrence Kansas
Dec. 13, 1855
My Dear Wife
The War is over for the time being and all is safe. 35 I think
the last battle has been fought that will ever be fought in Kansas
growing of this much vexed question of making our Territory a
slave state.
Things looked very alarming here for the ten days just passed.
The City is full of fortifications & breastworks of defence 1800 to
2000 armed men paraded each day; while the enemy who were en-
camped some five miles from us numbered as many, or more than
we & were well provided with artillery.
34. "The Executive Committee of the Territory of Kansas, as appointed at the Topeka
Convention, on the 19th 9f September, and endorsed by the Constitutional Convention, con-
sists of, J. H. Lane, president, J. K. Goodin, secretary, G. W. Smith, G. W. Brown. M J.
Parrott, P. C. Schuyler, C. K. Holliday.
"In the absence of any other legally constituted authority, this committee has been invested
by the people, with all the powers that may be necessary for setting the wheels of govern-
ment in motion under the new [Topeka] Constitution; and as such they hold stated meetings
once in two weeks at the office of the Committee in Topeka." Lawrence Herald of Freedom,
December 1, 1855.
35. On December 8, Governor Shannon made a treaty with the Free-State leaders.
276 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I pray God I may never again witness such scenes as have tran-
spired here within the past few days.
I was honored with the command of the Second Regiment of Kan-
sas Troops by the title of Colonel. But I will send you papers con-
veying more information than I could write in a week; besides the
mail is going and I must hand this to the driver.
Your letter containing the draft for 50$ was reed. You had bet-
ter, if you have not already done so send the remainder (except
what you want for yourself) on immediately as I want to build a
house & make other improvements upon my property.
The Bond sold as well as I expected & Mr. Lenhart has my thanks
for his services. As ever yours C. K. HOLLIDAY
The weather is very fine. The Boats are still running. . . .
Topeka Kansas
Jan. 7, 1856
My Dear Wife
A happy New Year to you and little Lillie.
Before the mail goes out this morning I must pen you a single
line. By the last mail I reed, two letters from you, one enclosing a
draft for 40$. I received a few days ago your other draft for 50$.
I hope you have sent ere this the remainder of the funds (except
such an amount as you may need for yourself) .
Things are going strangely with us in Kansas. What the end will
be God only knows.
I am nominated on the Free State ticket for Secretary of State.
It is doubtful about my election. 36 But will know in a few days
as one week from tomorrow is the election.
The Ex. Com. have appointed me to go to Washington. I may go
after the election; but hardly think I will go. Should I go I will
pass by home.
It is well for you and our child that you are in Penna. It is very
cold in Kansas & has been for ten weeks; and there is a great deal
of suffering. Last night was the most stormy night I ever saw.
Today opens up fine again. I will write more fully in a day or two.
Yours as ever C. K. HOLLIDAY
36. Holliday was defeated by Philip C. Schuyler of Council City in this election.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 277
3 o'clock P. M.
Jan. 19, 1856
Dear Wife
I open my letter to announce to you that a courier has just arrived
having ridden all night who states that day before yesterday at the
election at Easton a town about 25 miles from Leavenworth the
free state & pro slavery men came in collision I know not from
what cause and two pro slavery men were killed and a number of
both parties wounded.
I hope there will be no further difficulty but I greatly fear the
results. As ever Your aff. husband, C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kansas
Feb. 4, 1856
My Dear Wife
Having a moments leisure I embrace it for the purpose of writing
you a line.
I am still well, but feel lonely without you. Oh, how I do wish
you were here. And yet can hardly make so cruel a wish, for the
weather has been most intensely cold for more than six weeks; and
with our poor houses & poor clothing it is very cold indeed, and
what you & Lillie would do I scarcely know. But it will be warm
weather soon & then you can come.
I wrote to you a few days ago suggesting the propriety of your
coming with Mrs. Nichols. I then stated that you had better leave
there the middle of March or first of April. I now think that neither
you nor Mrs. Nichols had better start until you are satisfied the
difficulties are not to be resumed here in the spring.
It is our general impression here that the Missourians will make
another invasion on the 4th of March, the day the general Assembly
convenes at this place. Should they do so they will be apt to at-
tack Topeka, from the fact that here the session convenes.
You had, therefore, better remain long enough in the spring before
starting to hear whether the Missourians have invaded Kansas or
not.
I have had no letter from you for some two or three weeks.
I understand the mails are again interrupted owing to the depth
of the snows, cold weather &c. I suppose this is the cause of my re-
ceiving no letters.
I send you papers weekly which give you much more general
information than I can write.
278 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I wish you would send me papers occasionally from there.
I am writing with the last ink there is [in] town & it is so bad
that you will not be able to read what I have written, therefore I
will stop. Write often. Kiss Lillie. Love to all
As ever yours aff. C. K. HOLLIDAY
Lawrence Kansas
Feb. 24, 1856
My Dear Wife
I wrote you a few days since that I expected to leave in a day or
two for the States, and would then see you.
When I came to Lawrence last Monday I found things in such a
condition as to render my leaving at this time highly impracticable.
I am a member of the Provisional Government of Kansas, & should
I leave there will not be a quorum left; and owing to the apprehen-
sions of another difficulty it is necessary that the Government should
fontinue in full force during the interregnum between now and the
inauguration of the new government.
The threat of the Missourians now is that they will attack the
Gen. Assembly at Topeka on the 4th of March, and inasmuch as
many of our influential citizens have been sent from Kansas to pre-
sent the cause of Kansas to the States, it is therefore necessary that
the remainder of our prominent citizens should remain until after the
sitting of the Gen. Assembly.
I now expect to start for Penna. about the 10th of March, but
you must place no particular reliance upon this statement, from the
fact that something may arise tomorrow or any day, compelling me
to go, or to remain. Such is Kansas.
I will continue of course, to keep you advised of the current
events, and you will make all your arrangements to start for Kansas
at any time. But as I wrote to you some time ago you must not
come until you hear that everything is quiet here. But there is but
little doubt but that I will be at Meadville this spring; or I will be
there if possible.
Our winter which has been very long and severe, is now breaking
up. Today is mild and spring like. The frost is coming out of the
ground. The ice is leaving the streams, the snow is rapidly melting
from the prairies, the birds are singing, and everything gives evi-
dence of approaching good weather.
The mud is very deep, and surprises everybody but it will dry up
rapidly and soon our plowing, planting, sowing will begin.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 279
I think if we do not have difficulty on the 4th of March that we
will not have any more trouble in Kansas. And I am greatly de-
sirous of using all my influence to prevent difficulty then. I have
recently made arrangements by which I will do tolerably well in a
pecuniary sense. So much so that I will save myself and with cer-
tain contingencies resulting in my favor, will make me well off. I
will write you again soon.
Kiss Lillie for me & write often. Your aff. husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Lawrence Kansas
Feb. 26, 1856
My Dear Wife-
All is peace. How long it will last, I know not. The late Message,
and particularly the proclamation, of the President, 37 are interpreted
as being more in favor of the people of Kansas, than against them;
and it is thought by many that the Missourians will not attempt to
invade us again. Others say that they will certainly be at Topeka
on the 4th of March, and that writs of arrest for high treason will
be issued against the general assembly and state government. I
hardly think they will undertake it; but there is no telling, as the
"Border Ruffians" are capable to do any act of villainy.
I have nothing further to advise with respect to my coming home
than I wrote you in my last. I can inform you more fully in a week
or ten days from now but I still think it probable that I will be in
Meadville this spring.
Be a good girl and if the difficulties in Kansas do not continue too
fiercely, I will either soon see you there, or you will see me here,
providence permitting.
Kiss Lillie for me. Give my love to all the friends. Think of me
often and pray for me often, and all will ultimately go well.
No more now. Your aff. husband, C. K. HOLLIDAY
. . . I have just been commissioned as Brigadier General in
the service of the people of Kansas. During the "last war" I held
the commission of Colonel of the 2nd Regiment.
37. In a special message to congress on January 24, President Pierce endorsed the BO-
called bogus legislature and declared the formation of the Topeka government revolutionary
and an act of rebellion. He asked for the passage of a bill authorizing the people of Kansas
to frame a constitution. In the proclamation of February 11 he commanded "all persons
engaged in unlawful combinations against the constituted authority of the Territory of Kansas,
or of the United States, to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes."
280 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Topeka Kansas
Mch. 30, 1856
My Dear Wife
I wrote you six pages by the last mail. Will write you but a line
by this.
We are having a thunder storm while I write. And, as I doubt
not but that ordinarily the lightning is very severe in this Country,
I want you to go, or send, to A. B. Richmond and obtain from him
two of his lightning rod points. I mean the polished silver top for
the lightning rod. But he will know what I have reference to.
Please do not forget this. You can pack them in your trunk, or
mine, or almost anywhere among your things, as they do not weigh
more than half a pound.
When I commenced this letter I said there was a thunder storm
raging. It is now raining, hailing, snowing, blowing, thundering, &
lightning all at the same time. A great Country.
Continue to make your arrangements to come to Kansas about
the first of May.
I had a letter from Mr. Randolph of Meadville a few days ago,
in which he speaks of coming to Kansas, and of your coming with
him. This would be a very good arrangement. If this Randolph is
the young man I think he is, he would be perfectly safe to travel
with. Or if Thickstun should come as far as St. Louis you could
come with him. If you cannot [come] with either then I don't see
any better plan than for you to come with Mrs. Nichols. I know
it will be difficult for you to come alone, or by Express, as I sug-
gested, from the fact that Lillie must be getting very heavy and
troublesome. I may be east yet this spring but think it very doubt-
ful. If I do I will be in Meadville before the First day of May.
If I am not there by that time you will be safe in coming.
As I before wrote have Lenhart sell the Bond, and take good care
of the money. But tell Lenhart not to have it drawn on Derickson.
It is difficult to sell his drafts here, as he is only a private Banker
and is not known. I have to become personally responsible for all
his drafts. This I do not like. You had better get the proceeds in
Gold, or in sound bankable bills say "Easton Bank" or "State Bank
of Missouri." Your aff. husband, C. K. HOLLIDAY
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 281
Topeka Kansas
May 15, 1856
My Dear Wife
Mr. Nichols will start tomorrow morning for Penna. and will upon
his return, bring you with him. This will be the better plan.
I almost, however, regret to have you come now, as we are having
difficulties of the severest kind again, and there is no telling when
things will end. Still I want you here, and I presume that long
before you get to Kansas, or even will be prepared to start, that
our difficulties will have assumed some definite form.
Mr. Nichols judgment will be good upon matters and if he says
come you may come with safety.
There are 1000 to 1500 Border Ruffians in the neighborhood of
Lawrence again threatening destruction to the people and Town.
I am greatly in hopes that the thing will be amicably arranged but
I sometimes fear the days of our Union are numbered.
I have not time to write more Yours as ever
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Mr. Nichols has started before I could send this to him therefore
I enclose it with the other. Nothing new this morning from the seat
of war. But I still fear there will be difficulty.
Topeka Kansas
May 15, 1856
My Dear Wife
I have just written you a note by hands of Mr. Nichols. He starts
tomorrow. You of course will come with him.
We are having difficulty here again of the hardest kind. I know
not when it will end. I expect there will be fighting tomorrow at
Lawrence or Franklin as there are 1000 to 1500 men around Law-
rence threatening to destroy the town and murder the inhabitants.
I had hoped the difficulties were over, but it seems not. But I
am inclined to think that this is the last struggle of the slave power
in Kansas.
If anything should happen to me you must remember that I am
engaged in my duty defending my principles, my property and life,
and those of my brethern in Kansas. I have hitherto sent you a
schedule of my property. You can retain it all as the title to all
is good. Upon share 55 of the Topeka Association which was bought
in your name and traded to Col. M. C. Dickey for a house and lot
282 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in Topeka upon that share I owe about $80 Eighty Dollars to E.
S. Dexter of Newtonville, Massachusetts.
Should anything happen to me you will of course pay this in-
debtedness in order to secure the property. I have one share re-
cently obtained in Centropolis 38 upon which I have paid the tax of
10$. As ever
But I must not write more. . . . Your aff. husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kansas
June 1, 1856
My Dear Wife
. . . The draft of 100$ came in time. I needed it very
much. You ask whether I want more. I hardly know what to say.
If I had about 50$ or 100$ more I could get along for the present.
In my last I requested you to start just as early as possible for
Kansas and so urged Mr. Nichols in a note to your care.
Now listen what I say. Do not start for Kansas until you hear
jrom me again. The state of things in Kansas at the present time
is perfectly awful; and where it will end God only knows. Men are
being killed or driven from their homes or imprisoned almost daily,
and unless a change soon takes place civil strife must ensue. 39 My
mail matter generally comes through but it may be unsafe to send
much more now so you had better withhold sending more for the
present, or until you hear from me again.
Write immediately. Yours as ever C. K. HOLLIDAY
P. S. I cannot explain now why I write you not to come at this
time. I know you will think it very singular, as you have often
charged me with being very changeable. But Dear Mary there
seems to be a necessity for this time, else I think I would not so write
for you know I want you here greatly.
You shall hear from me soon again. H.
38. In Franklin county. The Centropolis town company was organized in 1856. Andreas'
History of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 603.
39. On the afternoon of May 21, Sheriff Jones led a band of armed Proslavery men into
Lawrence, and claiming to be acting under orders from the first district court of Douglas
county, destroyed the offices of the Herald of Freedom and the Kansas Free State, and the
Free -State hotel. Stores were broken open and pillaged and the home of Charles Robinson
was burned. This overt act was followed on May 24 by the murder of five Proslavery men
living on Pottawatomie creek, in Franklin county, by a band led by John Brown.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 283
Topeka Kansas
June 9, 1856
My Dear Wife
I have waited until the very last moment before the departure of
the mail in order to give you the latest advices.
Everything is confusion & strife in the districts East of Topeka. 40
As yet we have peace here but the Courts sit today and tomorrow
the difficulties may be extended to this district. I earnestly hope not
but that Topeka may continue to have peace & prosperity.
Gen. Whitfield is 40 miles from here with about 300 to 400 men.
Some 200 or 300 Free State men are also in the vicinity. It is ex-
pected there will be a fight between them soon, unless Col. Sumner
with his command can succeed in dispersing them which he is now
laboring to do. 41 I am greatly in hopes that the difficulties are over
at least for the present but cannot tell. I wrote to you last week
not to start for Kansas until I sent you word to that effect. I now
repeat. Do not start (nor Mr. Nichols either) until I say come. I
understand this thing better than you do, and however anxious I
may be to have you come yet I regard your coming now as im-
prudent & dangerous. As ever
You shall hear from me soon again. C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Kansas
June 16, 1856
My Dear Wife
I wrote you last on last Sunday. While many things have tran-
spired during the past week yet they have been of such a public and
notorious character that you will obtain a better account of them
through the public prints than I could possibly write them. The
Papers you most want to examine to ascertain our difficulties are
the N. Y. Times and N. Y. Tribune. Almost any person in Mead-
ville will lend them to you. I can send you no papers from Kansas.
We have two published here and they never get through Missouri.
I wrote to you on the 1st day of June not to come to Kansas
until you could hear from me again. Since then I wrote to you
twice, I think, repeating the same, and I now repeat again. You &
Mr. Nichols must not start until I tell you to come. I think mat-
40. The two weeks preceding the date of this letter were marked by the capture of John
Brown, Jr., and Jason Brown, and their subsequent imprisonment at Lecompton, the battle of
Black Jack, the Free-State attack on Franklin and the sack of Osawatomie.
41. John W. Whitfield was a leader of the Proslavery forces in Kansas. Col. Edwin
Vose Sumner was stationed at this time at Fort Leavenworth. For a brief biographical sketch
of the latter see The Kansas Historical Collections, v. 7, p. 393.
284 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ters will take a more favorable turn in a few days, weeks at most.
Yesterday Sunday the Ft. Riley Troops Cannon and all passed
through this place on their way to the scene of strife. The Ft.
Leavenworth troops have been in the field for some time. We are
hourly expecting word of a sanguinary battle between the U. S.
Troops and the Border Ruffians. There will be about 1000 on a
side with Cannon, Dragoons, Infantry, &c., &c. upon each side and
it will be a desperate battle. Look out for the news of the result.
Should there be a fight there is no telling when the thing will end.
Gen. Whitfield commands the Missouri forces, so I understand, and
Col. Sumner the regulars.
I have got 35 acres of corn and beans planted and tolerably well
fenced. My house that blew down is pretty near done and will
make a right pleasant place to live.
I have reed, the 398$ spoken of in your last, all right. It will be
enough to meet my present demands.
We get accounts from the States that everything is there on fire.
I think it is time. But the people of the States can have & do have
no kind of idea the amount of suffering and outrage to which our
people are subjected. A man must be here and go through the trials
to appreciate them.
But everything will come right in the morning. And Kansas will
yet be not only a free state but the best state in the Union. Mark
that. And if anybody in Meadville wants a home they can find no
better country for a home than Kansas. I certainly can conceive of
nothing better than Kansas has been all this spring.
You shall hear from me again soon. In the mean time do not
start for Kansas until I tell you to come.
Love to all.
As ever your aff. husband, C. K. HOLLIDAY
Of course you will tell Mr. Nichols the contents of this note
advising him also, not to start.
Topeka Kansas
June 22, 1856
My Dear Wife
Yours of June 9th came to hand on Thursday last. It seems from
your letter that you had not as yet received mine advising you not
to come at the present or until you would hear from me again.
You have doubtless reed, it before now. For the past few days
things have been comparatively quiet. Col. Sumner drove the in-
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 285
vaders from Kansas and is now encamped with his troops on the
border of Missouri. Eight proslavery ruffians were killed near Os-
sawatomie this week by two Wisconsin men and Gov. Shannon's
resignation (so reported) are the latest items for this week. We
have escaped arrests and indictments at this place for the present.
How long we can remain thus I know not. But not long. On the
2d & 3d of July there will be a large mass convention at this place
and on the 4th the Gen. Assembly will convene. This may be con-
sidered a pretext for the renewal of trouble but I hope not. You &
Mr. Nichols must not think of coming until after the fourth. In the
meantime you will hear from me, or as I before wrote you, do not
start until I tell you to come. My crops look very well. . . .
I certainly never saw neither could I dream of a better country
than Kansas. . . .
Keep writing often. Love to all.
Your aff. & faithful husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka July 2, 1856
My Dear Wife
I have only time to write a line to you in answer to yours of
June 15th reed, yesterday.
I am equally sorry with you that things are as they are and that
your arrangements of coming out here were so suddenly thwarted
by my letter of the 1st of June. While our difficulties have to a
certain extent subsided, yet they [are] not over I fear. While I
write men are crowding into Topeka by hundreds to be present at a
Mass Convention tomorrow, and at the convening of the session of
the Gen. Assembly on the day after. Within one half mile of town,
on the one side is a detachment from Ft. Leavenworth of some 200
U. S. Dragoons and one mile & a half on the other side a detach-
ment from Ft. Riley of 200 to 300 Dragoons and batteries of can-
non. Their united force will consist tomorrow of about 800 to 1200
Dragoons besides several batteries of artillery. It is greatly feared
there will be difficulty.
The Gen. Ass. is determined to meet but will not take any ag-
gressive movement. 42
So far as the present would seem to indicate it is just as well you
are not here and a little better although for myself I would greatly
desire you to be with me.
42. The Free-State legislature met at Topeka on July 4, but was dispersed by federal
troops under Colonel Sumner.
286 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I will try and drop you a note again by Fridays mail.
Recently two companies from the states Illinois of 69, Ohio of
80 have been disarmed and sent back on the Mo. River. This far
transcends any other outrage to which we have been subjected.
Whether the people of the states will stand this remains to be seen
but I suppose the most they can do is to pass a few silly resolutions
as usual. It has got to be perfectly intolerable when citizens from
Ohio, Ills, or Pa. dare not emigrate to Kansas.
Kiss baby Lillie for me and remember me to all friends.
As ever your aff. husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
St. Lawrence Hotel
Philadelphia, July 30/56
My Dear Wife
A pressure of business has prevented me addressing you until
today. 43
I left Meadville, as you will remember, on Wednesday morn.
Reached Pittsburgh Thursday morning & Harrisburgh Thursday
evening at about the time I expected. Found Gov. Roberts 44 await-
ing me. The State Ex. Com. being chiefly at Philadelphia we con-
cluded to come on here and accordingly left H h at 1 P. M.
Friday arriving here at 7 P. M. same day. Next day saw the Com-
mittee except Charles Gibbons Esq. 45 who was visiting at Cape May.
The Committee telegraphed to Gibbons, but he could not return
before Monday. Saturday evening both Roberts & I spoke before
the Central Fremont club at Head Quarters. Sunday we spent with
a most excellent gentleman, Wm. Morris Davis Esq., a member of
the Committee, at his residence seven miles in the country. In the
afternoon of the same day, Mr. Davis family & ourselves met quite
a number of gentlemen & ladies at a brothers of Mr. Davis at tea.
They were mostly Quakers. Among the guests was Hon. Chas.
Sumner, senator from Mass., who was so brutally beaten by Brooks
of S. C.
43. On July 7, Holliday went to Pennsylvania to visit his family and arrange for their
removal to the territory. Almost immediately upon his arrival he was pressed into service in
the campaign in that state of John C. Fremont for the presidency on the Republican ticket.
On January 20, 1891, Hoiliday delivered an address before the Kansas State Historical
Society on the presidential campaign of 1856 with particular reference to the Fremont campaign
in which he participated. This address has been published in The Kansas Historical Collec-
tions, v. 5, pp. 48-60.
44. William Y. Roberts, a native of Pennsylvania, located at Big Springs, Douglas county,
in the summer of 1855 and took an active part in territorial affairs of the succeeding years.
He was elected lieutenant-governor under the Topeka constitution. Holliday has referred to
him as his running mate throughout the entire Fremont campaign.
45. Charles Gibbons, a Quaker, was chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican state
committee in 1856.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 287
Monday evening we met the Committee to make arrangements
for stumping the state. Last evening we went to Westchester, 30
miles in the country, & spoke afternoon & evening to large & en-
thusiastic audiences. The four succeeding evenings this week we
were announced to speak in this city. It is then our intention to try
& make a move for western counties commencing at Erie on the 5th
day Aug. This will bring us to Meadville about next Wednesday.
We have not concluded our arrangements yet with the committee
but they are exceedingly anxious to have us canvass the state. If
you should write me here address me at "St. Lawrence Hotel,"
Philadelphia. As ever
Your aff. husband C. K. HOLLIDAY
Monongahela House Pittsburgh
Oct. 17, 1856
Dear Wife
I beg your pardon for neglecting you so long. But I have not had
one moment of time to write for the past two weeks except the last
day or two and then I felt little like writing to anybody.
Since writing I have been down through Fayette & Green &
Washington counties speaking twice nearly every day.
The election is over. The result disappoints me. From all I could
learn I was in hopes of carrying Penna. by 20,000 maj. As it is
the result is very doubtful though the latest advices this morning
lead us to hope & believe that the Republicans have carried the state
by a small maj. say 500 to 2000. I care not now how small the
maj. may ,be. If we only have a maj. it will enable us to carry the
state in Nov. for Fremont. 46 I expect to leave for Phila. soon per-
haps tonight will see you in a couple of weeks at farthest.
At present it looks very much against your going to Kansas this
fall owing to the very unsettled condition of things there.
If the people endorse this system of Border Ruffianism at the bal-
lot box, I don't know what will become of our Kansas people.
May God direct the hearts & minds of the people to do right in
the coming contest should be the prayer of every honest man &
woman in the country.
But we must "labor & wait." I found Gov. Roberts' sister to be
a very fine woman & very fine people generally in that section of
country.
46. The Democrats carried the state of Pennsylvania in the October election, but their
victory was not conceded by the opposition for nearly a week. Holliday, "The Presidential
Campaign of 1856 the Fremont Campaign," Kansas Historical Collections, v. 5, p. 54.
288 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I hope your visit proved very pleasant in Ohio. . . .
Write me immediately at Philadelphia, care of the "St. Lawrence
Hotel" but you need not send any of my letters. You can extract
from them as before. It may be possible that I will return im-
mediately from Phila. and confine my labors the balance of the cam-
paign to Crawford, Warren & adjoining counties.
Your aff. husband C. K. HOLLIDAY
Monongahela House
Pittsburgh Pa.
Oct. 19, 1856
My Dear Wife
I am still at Pittsburgh and quite well. I expect to leave for
Philadelphia tomorrow taking the counties as I go so that I will not,
perhaps, arrive there for some days. Judge Church, D. A. Finney,
J. W. Farrelly, and others from your section of country are now here.
None of them knew whether you had got home or not.
I hope you and the baby are well. I am very anxious to hear
from you, and yesterday thought I would try and go to Crawford
and speak there the balance of the campaign, but have finally con-
cluded we had better go East. There is little probability of your
going to Kansas this fall owing to the lamentable condition of
things there. I scarcely now see any hopes of avoiding civil war,
growing out [of] the course pursued in Kansas by the Administration
at Washington.
Penna. has gone against us by a majority of about 1000 out of
400,000 votes. This is not defeat and I shall certainly hope that
Fremont will carry the state in November. If he don't may God
have mercy on us.
Be of good cheer Mary. I will be with you in a couple of weeks
now. Kiss Lillie for me. And give my love to all the folks.
Write me at "St. Lawrence Hotel," Philadelphia, Pa.
Your aff. & faithful husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Howard Hotel New York
Oct. 23, 1856
My Dear Wife
I arrived in this city yesterday morning. Will leave again this
evening for Phila. Everything looks well for the Fremont ticket
particularly in Penna.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 289
I am well will write to you again from Phila. In the meantime
keep in good cheer for all will go well. I have just called upon
"Jessie" Fremont John C. not at home. Yours as ever
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Girard House
Phila. Penna.
Oct. 26, 1856
My Dear Wife
I wrote you from the Howard Hotel New York, last Thursday
I believe. On Friday night I returned to this city and am stopping
at the Girard instead of at the St. Lawrence as I had suggested
I would stop. I have been to the St. Lawrence but found no letters
from you as I had hoped. I don't know how long I will remain here.
I may leave tomorrow, perhaps not until after the election. If I
were at Meadville I would be very glad, but we have made arrange-
ments for a Kansas meeting at Boston on the 5th day of Nov. and it
will be cheaper to remain here & then go on to Boston, than to re-
turn to Meadville & go from there. We have spoken but little since
the 14th election and we will not speak much more. The time for
speaking is past and for action, private action, arrived.
Things look mixed in Penna. but I am still in hopes that Fremont
will carry the state. The union that was effected at Harrisburg on
last Wednesday would seem to indicate such a result. 47 I pray God
it may be true, for I cannot tolerate the idea that the great state of
Penna. will deliberately endorse this infamous Administration and
all the crimes that are known to civil society. But we shall see.
We shall know all on the 4th of Nov. Until then I shall hope for the
best believing that truth must prevail.
I have not yet been able to ascertain what I shall realize from the
Committee. I will try and learn tomorrow. I am afraid I have got
about all I shall get. I hope not.
I will be here in all probability for some days. Hence you can
address me at this place "Girard House," Phila. or I will be at
Boston on the 5th of Nov. and you can address me at that time there
at the "Marlboro' House," Boston, Mass.
Kiss Lillie. My love to all.
Your aff. & faithful husband
C. K. HOLLIDAY
47. The union here referred to was a somewhat intricate plan devised by the Republican
and American parties of Pennsylvania, acting together, by which they hoped to defeat
Buchanan in that state. Buchanan, however, won a sweeping victory. Holliday, op. cit. t p. 55.
19728
290 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Council Chamber
Lawrence Jan. 30, 1859 48
Dear Mary
Your letter of the 17th inst. came to hand a day or two since ; and
you may rest assured that I was very glad to hear from you and of
your safe arrival at home ; I was also glad to learn of the good health
of all your friends.
Your expenses have not much exceeded what I supposed they
would be, but I certainly do not like the way G acted in borrow-
ing the money from you which I had just borrowed from him. He
has been down two or three times since he returned from Leaven-
worth but he said nothing about it to me. But let that pass for the
present.
I am still at Lawrence. The Legislature will close its session in
two weeks from yesterday unless we should get an extension of time
from Congress. We have petitioned for twenty days more, and I
see a bill was introduced into the Senate to that effect. But it is
very doubtful about its passage.
The Legislature is working very hard ; and as a general thing very
acceptably. I suceeded in carrying through four very important
measures one electing a Board of Commissioners to codify the
Laws, another annexing all that part of Nebraska which lies south
of the Platte River to Kansas, 49 another calling a new Constitutional
Convention, and the other locating permanently the County Seat of
Shawnee County at Topeka. 50 The Topeka boys fired off their
cannon, held a public meeting, and had a good time generally upon
the passage of this latter bill. The Tecumseh people of course were
very angry, and fought the bill from day to day in the Legislature
and before the Governor, but it did not succeed. I argued the ques-
tion for half a day before the Governor, against Judge Hoogland and
others, and finally obtained the Governor's signature to the bill.
48. No record has been found of the exact date of Mary Holliday's removal to the
territory, but since Holliday went to Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1856 to bring his family
back, it is quite possible that she came in that year. There are no letters addressed to her
after October, 1856, until January 30, 1859, when she was visiting her former home at
Meadville. Holliday was at that time a member of the territorial legislature of 1859.
49. G. W. Martin, in his "The Boundary Lines of Kansas," Kansas Historical Collections,
v. 11, p. 68, points out the anomaly of this Free-State legislature petitioning for the an-
nexation of southern Nebraska, while the Free-State members in the Wyandotte constitutional
convention bitterly opposed it. The vote of the constitutional convention on the measure
was 29 against, 19 for.
50. The first territorial legislature designated Tecumseh the county seat of Shawnee county.
The people of the county, however, with the exception of residents of Tecumseh, were
generally opposed to that selection. The question of location was submitted to popular vote
on October 4, 1858, and the poll books were returnable to the office of the probate judge,
held at that time by Edward Hoogland, a resident of Tecumseh. The election had been
clearly in favor of Topeka but Hoogland withheld publication of the vote until December
and then declared the election illegal and fraudulent. The act of the legislature, referred to
by Holliday, settled the dispute in favor of Topeka.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 291
Hoogland is trying all he can to upset the arrangement; but he wont
succeed.
There is much trouble in the Southern part of the Territory. There
was a battle fought a few days since in Lynn Co. 51 in which it is re-
ported that ten or twelve men were killed; but I think this will be
found to be exaggerated.
The emigration is already beginning to set in for Pikes Peak. It
will reach a full hundred thousand.
I have not been at Topeka since I came down on the 2nd inst. I
had intended to have gone up today but could not get time.
I think I am not losing any friends here this winter. I have the
entire confidence of the Council and to a great extent of the House
of Rep.
I have bought me a new frock coat and the finest military over-
coat you ever saw. I was obliged to do this, as there is much more
fine dressing here than last winter. The Eldridge House is fully
open 52 and is very splendid, and elegantly furnished. It is as good
a house as any in Cleveland and as large as all the Hotels in Mead-
ville put together. It cost $76,000.
The weather has been very fine all this winter excepting a day
or two it has been as mild as in September, and today is as bright
and beautiful as a May day.
Mrs. Smith & Mrs. Morrow made many inquiries about you ; and
offered many regrets that you were not going to spend the winter in
Lawrence. I have not spoken to another lady in Lawrence since I
have been here than the two above. Yes, I forgot Mrs. O'Donnell.
She inquired about you and says she is going to Pikes Peak in the
spring. I expect she will as her husband is going. He was out all
summer and just returned a week or so ago.
I send you the Daily Republican and hope you regularly re-
ceive it. I wish you would send me some Meadville papers. We
had better subscribe for one and after you read it send it to me.
They are rebuilding the Topeka bridge. 53
Now I think I have given you all the news. . . .
Yours as ever C. K. HOLLIDAY
51. Probably a reference to skirmishes in Linn county between a posse composed mainly
of Missourians, acting under Marshal Russell, and Free-State men. The posse had been or-
ganized to capture Free-State invaders of Missouri. There were no fatalities. Lawrence
Republican, February 3, 1859.
52. A "grand opening ball" was held at the Eldridge House on December 31, 1858.
Holliday was a member of the committee on arrangements. Music was furnished by the
Lawrence brass band.
53. A bridge across the Kansas river at Topeka had been opened to traffic on May 1,
1858. On July 17 of the same year, floodwaters lifted the structure from its piers and carried
it downstream. An unsuccessful attempt to rebuild the bridge was made in 1859.
292 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Council Chamber
Sunday Feb. 6, 1859
Dear Mary
Your second letter came to hand a day or two since. I have had
no time to answer it until today. I was glad to learn that you and
Lillie were well and enjoying yourselves so much.
My own health is pretty good, although I am suffering somewhat
from a cold, damp rooms and hard work. We have done a vast deal
of labor this session; more, I venture to say, than ever a similar
body performed in the same length of time.
We are about completing up our work; and it is well that it is so
for next Friday the Assembly adjourns by limitations. You had
consequently better address me hereafter at Topeka. I still send
you daily the Lawrence Republican, and hope you regularly receive
it; as it will give you a full report of the proceedings of the Legis-
lature, as well as matters and things in general.
Last night there was a grand festival at the Eldridge House.
Speeches, talks &c. I was not present although one of the Commit-
tee of arrangements. The reason I was not present is because you
were not there. There has been more trouble since I wrote you last,
almost wholly in the negro line, and amounts to little or nothing.
John Doy & son of this place were going to Nebraska with 15 run-
away slaves, and were overtaken and carried into Missouri, and are
now at Weston awaiting their trial. 54 "Old John Brown" was also
running off with some 15 or 20 more when Dr. Woods of Lecompton
and a number of others took after him, but failed to catch him. 55
The troubles in the south part of the Territory seem to have ceased.
At Leavenworth a negro named "Charley Fisher" was stolen and
taken into Mo. 56 He afterwards escaped, and returned to Leaven-
worth. He was then arrested as a fugitive slave and while guarded
as such the door of his room was broken open, his keepers knocked
down, and he carried off to Nebraska or elsewhere as no word has
been received concerning him since.
I have not been up to Topeka since I came down. But I hear
from there frequently, and learn that everything is going off well.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that yesterday in half a minutes
54. For accounts of the subsequent rescue of Doctor Doy, see "The Rescue of Dr. John
W. Doy," by James B. Abbott, Kansas Historical Collections, v. 4, pp. 312-323; and "The
Doy Rescue," by Theodore Gardner, ibid., v. 17, pp. 851-855.
55. This trip out of the territory with eleven slaves, captured in Missouri, was actually
Brown's farewell to Kansas. A. P. Wood led a posse from Atchison in an attempt to intercept
the band or its way north, but Brown successfully eluded his pursuers.
56. Charley Fisher, an alleged fugitive slave from Louisiana, was kidnapped in Leaven-
worth and taken to Missouri. He broke away from his captors and returned to the territory.
A further effort was made to arrest him, but he escaped from the territory. After the Civil
War he was a state senator in Mississippi. Andreas' History of Kansas, pp. 427-428.
BARNES: LETTERS OF CYRUS K. HOLLIDAY 293
time a bill was introduced into the Council & passed clear through
under a suspension of rules, divorcing Josephine Branscomb from
the man she married 6 or 8 months ago. It then went to the House
of Representatives, and with equal dispatch, and no discussion, went
through there. In all there was not exceeding 15 or 20 minutes in
making Miss Branscomb a single woman. It only wants the signa-
ture of the Governor to become a law; and this it will doubtless
receive. 57
The Constitutional Convention is to be held at Wyandotte, in
July next. I tried all I could to get it at Topeka, but hadn't strength
enough. Winants has been here all week. He wanted me to recom-
mend him to the Gov. for Probate Judge in place of Hoogland and
got very angry because I would not do so. He then went off and
got drunk and Patrick had to put him to bed at ten o'clock in the
morning.
I don't think of anything else just now. . . .
Yours as ever C. K. HOLLIDAY
Topeka Mch. 23, 1859
Dear Mary
Day before yesterday (Monday) I took my first meal at my new
boarding place that is to say with Mr. Frazier in my own house.
I am now writing from the room I occupy, which is the large front
chamber up stairs. I have got one of our good bedsteads, straw
bed, card table and two chairs in my room. They will be better
taken care of here than at James'.
James is going on with the farm. He has sowed some 15 or 20
acres of wheat and is now plowing for corn. It may be that he will
do pretty well but I still fear it. He commences well however.
It will be difficult for me to tell what or how I am going to do
until after the Osawatomie Republican Convention on the 18th of
May. I may be sacrificed at that convention and may have to shape
my course differently from what I otherwise would.
We have nothing new in town. Weather is very fine perfectly
spring like. Thousands upon thousands are going to Pike's Peak.
I have had this house painted in the inside and two rooms papered.
It looks very nice. The folks I live with seem to be very clever
people. . . .
Let me hear from you very often. . . .
Yours truly C. K. HOLLIDAY
57. Divorces were granted by the legislature before the passage of the act of February 27,
1860, vesting the power in the district courts.
294 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Wyandotte, July 14, 1859 58
Dear Mary
I have now been at this place just one week looking after Capital
matters, and my political prospects. 59 In a day or two the Capital
question will be decided. Today the chances are altogether in our
favor and I now think we will get the Capital located at our place.
But the trickery of politicians may change this expectation. I have
said or done little for myself since here. I have no doubt my ad-
vocacy of the Capital matter will materially injure my political
prospects, but if the Convention will locate the Capital for 5 years
at Topeka (what we ask) I am willing to be defeated for a year or
two to come. . . . Every boat that arrives at the Wyandotte
levee I go to see if you are not on board.
I have, some how or other, had great confidence that you would
come here during the sitting of the Convention but as yet you ar-
rive not.
We have had some fine showers recently but today is as hot as
I think I ever saw it. It is almost difficult to move around.
. . . The Convention will not adjourn before the close of next
week, perhaps not for two weeks to come. . . .
C. K. HOLLIDAY
Wyandotte July 24, 1859
Dear Mary
I dropped you a line yesterday informing you of the important
fact that the Convention has located the Capital at Topeka. This
is certainly a great triumph and will greatly enhance the prospects
of our town and of our property.
It kills me politically, however, for a time at least but present
pecuniary good is worth more to me than prospective political posi-
tion.
. . . Tomorrow night we give a supper to the Topeka friends
soon after which I will return to Topeka.
Yours as ever ... C. K. HOLLIDAY
58. The Wyandotte constitutional convention was in session in Wyandotte at this time.
59. In a letter dated March 81, 1859, not here reproduced because of its lack of general
interest, Holliday stated: "I intend to shape my course either for delegate or governor. . . ."
History of Sun-Gold Section
EUGENE F. WARE 1
I CAME out of the army in bad shape. I had a wound that never
healed. I was tired and used up and had a persistent attack of
malaria. This came about this way: I was held in the army long
after the war closed, and, having had service in the Indian country,
was detailed on a great Indian peace commission. The so-called
civilized tribes of the Indian territory at the beginning of the war
had seceded from the United States, and many Indians had joined
the Confederacy. Others had declared for the Union and had gone
into Indian Union regiments. When the war closed these soldiers
had been hostilely opposed to each other. So, the administration
determined to have a grand peace convention and pow-wow at Fort
Smith, Ark., and a large number of commissioners were chosen and
I was made one of the party.
Most of the members of the party went up the Arkansas river in
a small boat, but the party to which I was attached, went overland
from Fort Leavenworth south to Fort Smith. We had cavalry
horses and ambulances and an escort of a hundred regular cavalry.
Of our party, there were Gen. W. S. Harney, Gen. J. G. Blunt,
Gen. R. B. Mitchell, Gen. C. W. Blair and myself. There was an-
other party that joined us en route, composed of General Du Bois
and Grant's Indian staff officer (Col. Barker), who was said to be
the chief of the Six Nations of New York. With them were several
regular army officers whose names I have forgotten, and with the
party was Ben McDonald, of Fort Scott, whose brother afterwards
became senator from Arkansas. There was also Perry Fuller of
1. This paper, giving an account of Mr. Ware's early experiences in Kansas, was written
some years before his death. Through the courtesy of his children it is here published for
the first time.
Eugene Fitch Ware was born at Hartford, Conn., May 29, 1841. While still a boy his
parents moved to Burlington, Iowa. He enlisted in the First Iowa infantry at the beginning
of the war and subsequently served successively in the Fourth Iowa cavalry and the Seventh
Iowa cavalry, being mustered out as captain. In 1867 he came to Kansas and took land in
Cherokee county, where, in addition to farming, he studied law and was admitted to the
bar in 1871. He edited the Fort Scott Monitor in 1872 and the next year opened a law office
in Fort Scott. It was also at this time that he began writing poetry under the name "Iron-
quill." He was married to Miss Jeanette S. Huntington, of Rochester, N. Y., in 1874. He
was active in politics, being twice elected to the state senate, and in 1888 he was presidential
elector -at -large for Kansas. In 1893 Mr. Ware moved to Topeka, joining the firm of Gleed
& Gleed, and in 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him United States commissioner
of pensions. On retiring from this position in 1905 he returned to Topeka, resuming the
practice of law. In 1907 he moved to Kansas City, and formed a law partnership with his
son. In the spring of 1911 he retired to his farm and on July 1 of that year he died at
Cascade, Colo.
See "Eugene Fitch Ware," by C. S. Gleed, Kansas Historical Collections, v. 13, pp, 19-41;
"Acceptance [of Bronze Bust of Mr. Ware] on Behalf of the Historical Society," by William
E. Connelley, ibid., pp. 42-51 ; "Eugene Fitch Ware as a Literary Man," by C. E. Cory,
ibid., pp. 52-64; "Eugene Ware," by Judge J. S. West, ibid., pp. 65-71.
(295)
296 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Kansas who was collector of the port at New Orleans and who had
had much experience in trading with the Indians. In fact, the whole
party was composed of those who had had Indian experience.
We went down through the country. After passing Fort Scott
going south, there were no more houses or habitations until we got
down to Fort Gibson. The war had cleaned out about everything
and there was nothing between Fort Gibson and Fort Smith. Ben
McDonald and I, while en route through the Indian territory, went
fishing one evening in Grand river and were fired on from the brush
after dark, but neither was hit. When we got to Fort Smith, we
camped down in the Arkansas river bottom and almost every person
sooner or later was ill. This trip was in the fall of 1865. We after-
wards returned by the same route to Fort Leavenworth. Generals
Harney and Mitchell rode in my ambulance. The peace convention
was a very great success and quite a number of Indians were gath-
ered together; and the proceedings were very interesting.
The Osage Indians at that time were uncivilized blanket Indians
and had their delegates to the convention in true aboriginal style.
My duties at Fort Leavenworth were very onerous, and after my
return thereto a low malarial fever hung upon me, which, while it
did not incapacitate me for serving, wore me down until I was very
lean. In addition, an old army wound made matters still more un-
pleasant for me. Thus, when I was mustered out in the summer of
1866, 1 was about used up. I went to Doctor Nassau, the celebrated
surgeon of the Ninth Iowa cavalry, who lived in Burlington, which
was then my home ; he started in to cure me with relays of quinine.
In the meantime, I was offered a position upon the Burlington
Hawk Eye, which was then perhaps the leading paper of Iowa.
I worked along and doctored as I worked and thought that I was
improving. The work became more burdensome and yet more at-
tractive and I was soon overworking. The editor of the paper was
arranging to get a government position and he piled on to me, from
time to time, more and more work until I found myself doing most
of it, and making considerable reputation at a great cost to my
health. Finally, Doctor Nassau started in on arsenic, saying that
my malarial symptoms were such that quinine would not control
them, so for about two months he gave me arsenic and I kept hard
at work and became about the whole thing on the paper. After a
while Doctor Nassau said that he could not use arsenic any more,
that its effects were cumulative and that he must try strychnine.
This went on until I went to the doctor and told him that while I
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 297
was proud of the success I had made in the paper, I had gotten to
that point of nervousness and emaciation where I was afraid I was
going to collapse. He gave me a very careful examination and told
me that I had brought out of the army a variety of malarial trouble
that I would never get rid of, and which would take me into my
grave unless I abandoned work and went to living in the open air
and put in all my time at acquiring health.
In the meantime the editor of the paper, Mr. Beardsley, had been
detailed to a bureau in Washington at a fine salary and I was prac-
tically in control. The paper was being quoted a great deal and
when I went to the manager, who ran the finances and took care of
the stockholders, he thought I was trying to get a raise of salary
and he asked me how much I wanted. When I told him that my
salary was very satisfactory, for I was getting a good one, he ap-
peared to be very much worried and asked me to stay a little while
until he could make some arrangements. I agreed to stay a few
days. Finally he came to me and told me he would pay me any
sum I wanted, if it was anywhere within reason, and when I told
him that my health was my only consideration he appeared to be
very much worried over it. Doctor Nassau found fault with my
remaining with the paper and told me that I must get right out,
stop every kind of work, live in the open air and drink a compound
which he said he would prepare for me. He advised me to wait no
longer. Among other things he said, "Get on your horse and ride
across the state to Council Bluffs and back. Go leisurely and do
nothing but ride your horse."
Just at this juncture, a peculiar circumstance took place. A Mr.
Campbell came to me and introduced himself. He said: "You
served in the army with my two boys and they think a great deal
of you, and I have been talking business with them and I have come
to make you a proposition." Then he continued: "I have $18,000
lying idle over there" (pointing to the building of Coolbaugh and
Brook's Bank. This Coolbaugh was afterwards the prominent
Chicago banker who killed himself on the Douglas monument and
whose daughter was the wife of the United States Chief Justice
M. W. Fuller) . Then he continued: "I want to go down into south-
western Missouri where you and my boys were soldiering part of
the time in the army, and I will buy a lot of cattle for you and my
two boys to take charge of. I will divide the profits, one fourth to
me, one fourth to you, each of my boys one fourth. All you will have
to do is to furnish your own horse and your own board, and you,
298 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Mr. Ware, will have to keep the books and look after the finances.
My boys want you in and are willing to go down there in this sort
of a scheme if you will go along, and it won't cost you much of any-
thing; and there is a whole lot of money in it and if you will say that
you will go, I shall get up a fine traveling wagon and we will go
right on down overland." (There were no railroads yet into that-
country.) "We shall pick out some good places and then go over
into Kansas and buy stock. The country down there has been so
cleaned out by the war that you won't have many neighbors, but
will have lots of cattle range."
I made an appointment with Mr. Campbell for another talk and
went to Doctor Nassau. He said: "It is just the thing for you;
two or three years of that kind of life will bring you out all right
and make a new man of you. Otherwise you are liable to slip into
your grave at any time." I notified Mr. Campbell to get ready
and I would go with him, but he was delayed.
In the meantime I worked off and on about the Hawk Eye office
as I could, until the first thing I knew I was not able to work any
more and was laid up. My nerves had gone all to pieces. I was
very weak, lean and irritable and had about made up my mind that
I could not stand the trip, when Mr. Campbell, with his two boys,
drove into town with a fine covered wagon and a fine pair of horses
and a nice sleeping outfit in the wagon. I had brought out of the
army my old cavalry horse that had been born on Andrew Jackson's
hermitage farm in Tennessee. It was a magnificent large black
animal with curly mane and tail; about the best and most in-
telligent horse I ever knew. I threw my leather trunk into the
wagon, got on my horse, "Old Bill," and into my McClellan saddle,
and off we started just as the grass was beginning to peep in the
early spring. With me was a jug of Doctor Nassau's preparation.
It was whisky with from fifteen to twenty different kind of bitters.
He gave me the formula on a piece of paper which I retained for
years. I can remember now only the Peruvian bark, cammomile
flower, dandelion, quassia, gentian and boneset. There were a lot
more of the ingredients, but I do not remember them. He told
me to drink just as much of it as I could; the injunction was a joke.
No man could drink over a tablespoonful at a time and no man
could have nerve to drink a spoonful oftener than once in two hours.
It was absolutely the worst decoction I ever saw or heard of and
had no tendency to produce dissipation.
We started southwest of Burlington, I riding ahead on my horse
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 299
and swapping to rest in the wagon, for I tired easily and was thor-
oughly used up. But I said nothing about my matters to my
associates and made no complaint. I had along with me my mili-
tary rubber poncho and I made it a point to stay on horseback as
much as possible.
We went overland to Memphis, Mo. ; thence to Kirksville, thence
started south, but rains set in and we were held up by high waters
and bad roads. When we got well down into northern Missouri,
we struck a new condition of things. The "Klu Klux Klan" was
organizing. Returning Confederate soldiers were passing and re-
passing on the road. Little bunches of them were together and
would come into our camp and want to know where we were going
and why we did not stay home. One evening when we had gotten
nearly to Keytesville a gang of armed fellows came into camp and
one of them, raising up what appeared to be a military carbine,
began pointing it at one after another of us and said "Just see how
easy I could kill a Yankee." No remonstrance seemed to prevail
and he kept this up for about half an hour. There were seven of
them and old Mr. Campbell was frightened almost to death. We
made very slow progress on the trip and this manner of visit and
attempted intimidation kept up. The people told us to go back
north and that they did not want us down there. They would not
sell us horse feed and would not sell us butter or eggs. Things got
in such a way that Mr. Campbell proposed to drive farther west and
said that he would not cross the Missouri river east of Lexington.
One of the Campbell boys in the wagon had a double-barrelled
shotgun and I went out and shot some quail and prairie chickens
and broiled them for the old gentleman, who was then about 65
years of age. The constant rains, our slow progress, the newness
of the country, the fact that there was hardly any bridges and those
that were had been destroyed by the war, caused Mr. Campbell to
get melancholy.
As we were going southwest we all at once crossed on a high
prairie a north and south road that appeared very much traveled.
All at once Mr. Campbell, who was sitting in the front seat with his
son, directed his son to turn to the right and follow the main road
to the right, going north. I spoke and asked what was the cause
of it. He said: "I am not going to go any farther south." I
began to remonstrate and told him that we had passed through the
worst country of our trip, that when we got out towards south-
eastern Kansas, it would be better. But the old gentleman was
300 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
obdurate and said : "I am going back to Iowa ; not a cent will I put
into such a country as Missouri. I will not invest a dollar in such
a state." The boys began to protest to their father against going
back and a very angry controversy arose between them to which I
was a silent spectator. When we had passed through Kirksville I
had received a lot of letters from my sister, because we had made
very slow progress, and among them were a great number of clip-
pings which had been gathered from the state papers and published
in the Hawk Eye, very complimentary to me and very much re-
gretting that my failure in health had deprived the state press of my
services, etc. The clipping spoke complimentary and told of my
going down south for my health.
Under these circumstances, I could not very well afford to go back
to Iowa. So, at a certain point of the debate between the old
gentleman and his boys, I chipped in and said: "I do not believe
that I care to go back to Iowa and if you want to go back, you
can just leave my trunk here at the cross roads." The old gentle-
man hesitated for a while and then said: "We are going back."
So, I let down the end gate of the wagon, took out my trunk and
jug and said: "I am not going back. If you want to go back,
you go."
I sat on my trunk, holding my saddle horse by the bridle rein,
while the boys protested with their father. All at once the old
gentleman turned to me and said, "If you leave me here, you have to
pay for your board on the trip." Then he took a book out of his
pocket and began to figure and the boys said: "Don't pay him a
cent." Finally he figured up that I owed him $7.94 as my share of
subsistence which I should now pay him because I had deserted
him. I got ready to pay, but the boys would not permit it; both
of them said: "Don't pay him a cent." The boys did not want to
go back, but finally the old gentleman said, "This is my outfit and
everything belongs to me and I order you to get into the wagon
and take me back home." The boys and the old gentleman, still
quarreling, got into the wagon, turned northward and soon dis-
appeared over the prairie, and I have never heard of them or any-
thing about them from that day to this. I only know that the boys
told the old gentleman that they were ashamed of the way he was
treating me and that they wanted me to understand that they did
not approve of it. What I blamed them for, however, was that they
did not get out and stay with me because if they had shown the
right kind of grit, the occurrence would not have happened, but the
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN -GOLD SECTION 301
old gentleman had a great deal of money and was tyrannical and
the boys were afraid to have a rupture with him. So, there I was
sitting on my trunk on the prairie in a new country and only one
house in sight and that far down south on the road.
As I sat on my trunk holding my horse, I cogitated what to do.
I could not carry the trunk with me and so had to stay with it, and
I thought I would have to wait until some farm wagon drove by.
After while a man came from a northern direction, driving a team
of horses to a farm wagon without any bed on it. He was riding on
the rear hounds of the wagon. I asked him if he could haul my trunk
to the house, which I saw far to the south, in the direction in which
he was going. I then told him I would pay him for it. He assented
and we got the trunk and jug aboard. He was very inquisitive in
knowing who I was and where I was going and how I happened to
be out on the prairie all alone with a trunk and what I had in the
jug. I told him briefly that we had started down from Iowa to
southern Missouri and that my people had backed out and had gone
back and that I wanted to go on. I asked him if there was any
work that could be done in that part of the country or if anybody
wanted any help. He said there was a man down in the timber who
was trying to find somebody who could burn brick; that he had
started a brick kiln and had gotten the brick all in ready to burn
and the man who was to do it had left the country.
Now it happened that I had seen brick burned often when I was a
boy and was of the impression that all anybody had to do was to
keep throwing in firewood, and I told the man that I would burn the
kiln of brick and asked him to stop at the house when he came back
and tell me if the man wanted me. So, when we got down to the
house, he unloaded my trunk. I paid him a quarter in postal cur-
rency and he went on. I then went to the house to make arrange-
ments for stopping and told them I was to have a job for burning
brick, but to my surprise they refused to permit me to stop or even
to let me store my trunk. They evidently thought I had been a
soldier which was perhaps visible in my outfit, McClellan saddle and
poncho. I was very much put out for I did not see another house in
the neighborhood and to my questions as to where they thought I
might get a place to stay they simply told me they did not know.
So I went out and sat on my trunk on the road and it was getting
along towards noon. I did not know exactly what course to pursue
and thought I would wait until the man in the wagon came back.
I had waited until I was worried and discouraged, when looking to
302 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the north I saw a row of whitetopped emigrant wagons coming down
the road. I tied my horse to a post and walked up the road. As
they came more visibly into sight I saw three men walking at the
head of the train, about two hundred yards in advance, and all
three of them had guns over their shoulders. Two of them had on
what were then called "McClellan" army caps of an official cut.
The Grand Army of the Republic had been organized the fall
before and I was one of five charter members for Iowa. Just before
I had left Burlington we had succeeded in forming a strong post and
as these people appeared in view, by the time I had gotten within a
hundred yards of them, I gave the G. A. R. hailing signal and it was
responded to by the middle one of the three men who were marching
ahead. On arriving, we shook hands, went off and had a private
talk and I told him that I had been captain of Company F of the
Seventh Iowa cavalry and he told me he had been a captain in
Birges sharp shooters, a regiment that I well knew. His name was
Warren and the man to whom he introduced me on his right was a
brother-in-law, Mr. Wesley Tibbetts, and the other was the latter's
son-in-law. They said they were going down to southwestern Mis-
souri to look at the country and pick up some cheap land. Without
any trouble I entered into the following arrangement with them.
They were to haul my trunk. I was to pay my share of mess board
and my horse should pull in the team every third day, so my trunk
was put in and off we went, the people at the house all standing
and looking, two men and five women and several children in a
large well built, two-story frame house, where I was so inhospitably
received. I told the man whom we passed on the road that I could
not stop to burn the brick and we went on a few miles and camped.
Captain Warren and I went out to buy some provisions, but found
the country pretty well desolated. We stopped at a house where a
woman was baking some corn-bread in a Dutch oven on the coals
on a hearth. The woman was about forty. She spoke about her
husband who would soon be in. Finally she introduced us to a boy
who was about eighteen, who she said was her husband. I asked
if it were not her son instead of her husband and she said "No, I
married him. What is a woman to do? My husband was killed
during the war and there ain't any more men around. They've all
been killed, and what is a woman to do? Why, she has to do the
best she can. There was not any body for me to marry except him
and he makes me a pretty good husband even if I am old enough to
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 303
be his mother." This is a true picture of the desolation of the
country after the war, in its theater.
We crossed the river near Brunswick and went on down south,
turning to the southwest until we got south not far from Lamar in
western Missouri. The country was practically deserted. The
chimneys were standing lonesomely everywhere. Constant talk of
murders were heard of, and fights between returning soldiers. It
would appear from what was told us that great outlawry prevailed.
At this point a man coming from the southwest stopped us and
asked us where we were going. He told us that the grasshoppers
in Kansas were knee deep and when I ridiculed the idea he stuck
to it. This was the last straw for several of the party who com-
posed the train. Some turned northward and only three wagons of
us went on. Captain Warren and I stayed together.
Bacon was fifty cents a pound. There was no flour in the
country and corn-meal was five cents a pound, sixty pounds for
three dollars.
Mr. Tibbetts had a relative at Carthage, as he supposed, so we
went to Carthage, Mo. It had been so thoroughly desolated by the
war that there was hardly anything left of it. A man from the
wreck of some old buildings was putting up a little wooden frame
structure which he said was to be a harness shop. Here we held a
council of war and determined that we would quit Missouri. It
was debated quite a while as to whether we should go to Springfield,
Mo., or turn westward into Kansas. I think my voice turned the
tide, for I advocated going into the Indian neutral lands south of
Fort Scott, as I had heard that some settlers from Kansas had gone
in and that there might be a prospect of the land being thrown open
for settlement. So in we went, through what is now Cherokee
county, Kansas, and went to the Neosho river and went into camp
down near the mouth of Lightning creek, in what is now Cherokee
county, about opposite Oswego. We just had to abandon Missouri.
It looked to us then as an impossible country.
At the place near where we camped another old soldier named
Sidney S. Smith, afterwards a very prominent citizen of the county
and for years county treasurer, had put up a log cabin and had
started a farm. Captain Warren and I got on horse-back and
leaving everything in camp started over the country to make a se-
lection of land. There were but very few settlers in the county
and those were along the water courses and were mostly union sol-
diers of the late war. They wanted us to take up claims near them.
304 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
We rode over the county week after week. I took up a claim at the
head of Deer creek, as a temporary expedient, because there was a
settler near there named Betzer who would break out some prairie
for me and I employed him to break me twenty acres for $80.
Captain Warren found a man who wanted to sell out his claim
with log cabin on it and he made a deal with him for $200. We
wanted material for a house and as a man by the name of Hotter
below the mouth of Lightning creek had put up a little temporary
sawmill, we concluded to cut some lumber and have it sawed up.
We went to the Neosho river bottom and found a man who claimed
a bottom quarter and he told us to go in and haul away all of the
down dead timber that we wanted; that it would save him the
trouble of clearing. We went down to look at the timber. It was
a perfect mass of ancient dead trees lapping over each other. There
had apparently never been a fire and the big black walnuts were
overlapping each other on the ground, and the bushes and young
trees were so dense among them that we could hardly get through.
There were black walnuts that had evidently fallen over a hundred
years before.
Captain Warren and I picked out some fallen trees near the bank
so that we could roll the logs to the river and commenced sawing
up with a cross-cut saw, dry, thoroughly seasoned, black walnut
logs, four feet in diameter. We worked about a month, got the logs
into the river and got them sawed up into two-inch planks. It was
the most beautiful lot of lumber I ever saw, but the work was very
hard. The weather was hot in July, almost suffocating down in the
timber, and the mosquitoes were in a perfect cloud. We built
smudges to keep off the mosquitoes and worked in the heat and
smoke. I was not yet strong enough to keep up with Captain War-
ren and from time to time I hired a young man to assist me; but
I was getting on my feet fast, and had drunk up my jug of bitters
and had filled it at the Missouri river crossing.
Our party had scattered. Captain Warren and I, while cutting
the saw logs, slept up on the hay roof of the Smith stable above
the range of the mosquitoes and we had a camp where we cooked
fish, coffee and bacon, having our corn bread cooked in Mr. Smith's
log cabin. Our camp was under a large water-oak tree. The weather
was hot and the work was hard, but we got through. A team came
along one day as we were getting low on bacon and we bought a
pound for fifty cents, all the bacon the teamster would sell, and
Warren hung it up on a tree out on the end of a limb. Coming
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 305
home from work one evening, we saw a long, ravenous greyhound
jumping up in the air to get that bacon. We yelled at the dog, but
he was too far off. He finally got the bacon and sat down to eat it.
His master came riding along on horse-back ; the dog had run ahead
of him. Warren said to the man: "What do you want for that
dog?" The man replied: "What will you give?" Warren said:
"Fifty cents." The man said: "He is yours." Warren then turned
to me and said, "Give me a quarter." I asked: "What do we want
that dog for?" Warren replied: "To get our bacon back." So we
bought the dog. The dog was a good one and Warren kept him.
We caught lots of fine fish and almost lived on them.
One day the Tibbetts party came down to hunt us and said that
somebody had to go out east for family supplies, that there was
neither bacon nor corn-meal left in the country. Warren agreed
that if I would go with Tibbetts and the wagon and get supplies, he
would see that the logs were all put into lumber and piled up at the
mill and I agreed to it. We started east and reached a store that
had been opened on the route near the Missouri line. We stopped
there to talk about food, and cornmeal was 6 cents a pound and
bacon was 60, so we kept on east and we went east until we got
well up into Missouri nearly a hundred miles east of Kansas. We
struck a little new water mill up north of Springfield and bought
corn-meal for $2 a bushel and bacon at 50 cents. We bought a
little more than we thought we might need and we sold a store-
keeper, back in Kansas, some of the meal for $2.50 and some of
the bacon for 75 cents.
When I got back, my lumber was piled up my share, Warren's
share and the mill owner's share. Mine were two-inch broad boards
and I had them hauled up to my temporary claim where breaking
was going on. About that time Warren got news that his wife
would be in Sedalia on a certain day and said he would go up in an
ox team and bring her back. There being no corn-meal in the
country, or oats or horse feed except green grass, an ox team was
the best rig.
Just as we got ready to start a prolonged rain set in. The roads
became impassable and we had to go up to Fort Scott on the ridges
and it was then that I first got a good view of "Sun-Gold Section."
There was not a settler within miles of it and deer were very nu-
merous and were playing around over the country plainly visible.
I had determined to go up with Warren in his rig and ride my horse
and get another supply of the doctor's medicine. We arrived at
20-728
306 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Sedalia. Warren loaded up his wife and a quantity of trunks and
furniture and was about to start back. I made up my mind that I
would ride on up to Burlington, Iowa, to tell my father and mother
what a beautiful country I had found, and get them to sell out and
move down into Kansas. The place I had considered the best was
Fort Scott, through which town Warren and I took our ox team.
I was feeling much better. The weather was cheerful and after I
left Sedalia I made 40 miles a day on horseback and soon arrived
in Burlington, having been gone about four months.
I was feeling better on my return but somehow when I got to
sleeping indoors and neglecting active outdoor exercise my bad
feelings quickly returned. I had a consultation with Doctor Nassau
and he told me that if I would continue his treatment, he felt sure
of my recovery. About this time I got a letter from Captain Warren
which stated that some men had jumped my claim, which gave me
considerable solicitude. In the meantime I had depicted the ad-
vantages of Fort Scott and southern Kansas to my parents and my
father was inclined to consider a change.
My father had been ill for some time and had discovered that his
partner was getting away with him and my father desired some pre-
text for selling out the business and dissolving the partnership. I
may say that he afterwards did that and moved to Fort Scott, but
I started with my horse back to Kansas. I went down to the Mis-
sissippi river at Burlington, led my horse on to a steamboat bound
for St. Louis and soon arrived there. All of the steamboats had
horse stalls on the lower deck, together with feed, and there was
much traffic of that kind. On arriving at St. Louis, the boat having
made a quick trip, I led my horse on to a Kansas City boat and
soon got up the river to Kansas City. From there I wrote Captain
Warren that I was coming down to shoot both of them. In those
days that was the way people talked, and down in the Indian
country that was the way people did. I sent my letter to Oswego
at which point, then only a village, Captain Warren got his mail,
which ran every week. I then rode down on horse-back to Fort
Scott and then I pushed on down to Captain Warren, making a ride
of 145 miles. He had communicated my message and when I got to
my place I found it deserted. The persons who had jumped it had
moved off.
I found my twenty acres broken out in good shape. I paid for the
breaking, settled up with Captain Warren on our lumber deal, got
my lumber and a lot of posts hauled up to my claim and then went
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN -GOLD SECTION 307
up to Fort Scott and worked at the harness business all winter until
the first of March. Then, Kansas City being the nearest place, I
hired a wagon to haul down from there to the claim a load of spring
wheat and I hired a man to put it in. I came down to my claim
and put up my black walnut shanty, ten feet wide and sixteen feet
long, with a lean-to roof. One end of the shanty was occupied by
a large sod fire-place which being built on the outside formed one
side of the shanty. The four corners were made of black walnut
posts about six inches in diameter. I let them down into the ground
in a hole, dug with a post auger which I had bought. A visitor
watching the performance said that I was building a very nice house
and was "mortising the corners into the earth." I bought a team
of good horses, plows and other implements and started in sleeping,
batching, and holding the claim until I could select something in the
shape of a square section which I wanted for the whole family.
As soon as my wheat was in and my garden planted I started out
to find what I wanted. In the meanwhile other settlers had come in
but they mostly settled along the creeks and stream beds. I went
out and made continuous explorations of the country on the upland,
doing what work was necessary at the Deer creek claim, but I rode
constantly all over the county. I found several places which I
thought would do; one down in the southern part of the county;
one on the stream east of where Columbus now stands; but finally
I picked out the hill on "Sun-Gold Section" and concluded that I
would take up a square mile ; a one quarter for myself, one quarter
for father and one for each of my two brothers. There were 100
square miles of vacant territory there and I had my choice.
It was the country that I had seen the year before, 1867, when
Warren and I went up to Fort Scott. During the time, and I think
it was during the winter, the government had surveyed the town-
ship lines of the Neutral land, but had not yet sectionized it. So in
order to locate my land I hunted up a township corner, and by
measuring a mile west I could get the section line. I first stepped
it off and came quite close to it and made my plans in accordance
with it. Afterwards a lone darkey, who lived down in the Indian
territory, passed through. He was about twenty years of age and I
hired him to help me. I went to Cherry creek about five miles
below "Sun-Gold Section," where there was some vacant timber
and I cut foundation logs and hauled four of them up onto the N. E.
quarter and afterwards went back and cut four more and put them
on the rising ground of the S. W. quarter.
308 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
I also joined the Deer creek club and will briefly explain the
pioneer law of the times. There being no civil organization of any
kind, that is to say, no counties, townships or local officers, the
people formed into clubs and by a majority vote made such local
laws as they cared to have, based upon other laws of the state.
The club ordered that for a person to take up a claim he must
go on it personally with a witness and say he took it as his home-
stead. In order to mark the place, a stake was driven down with
the date and the man's name on a piece of paper attached to the
stake. It was very often that a simple envelope covering a letter
that had been received slipped down over the stake. Within ten
days a claimant must put on what was called the foundation of
his house. He was supposed to build a log cabin on the land not
less than 12 feet square. The foundation was four logs, not less
than 12 feet each in length, put in square form on the land. Some-
times these were merely poles, but the rule was that they should
be at least six inches in diameter. At the time of the laying of the
foundation a stake was driven with the new date of the laying of the
foundation. If the land which was taken was not a square quarter,
but consisted of forty-acre tracts, arranged otherwise than as a
square, the claim stake must specify the 40's. From the time of the
laying of the foundation six months was given within which, in
contemplation of club law, the man had an opportunity to go back
to the states and get his family. If he did not come back within
six months, or caused nothing further to be done on the land, any-
body could jump the claim. Every person who joined the Club
signed a book with the statement written out that he agreed to
abide by the club rules and assist any worthy neighbor whose claim
should be jumped or should be mistreated by anybody. As stated,
I put up two foundations on "Sun-Gold Section" and finally put
up two more near the center. Afterwards the land was surveyed
and sectionized by the government. Shortly thereafter, finding the
definite boundaries, I relocated the foundations and afterwards, in
the fall of 1868, I again relocated the foundations and put up new
claim stakes so as to carry my right through the winter until next
spring and I offered my Deer creek claim for sale.
The year 1868 was a very dry year and there came in but very
few people and the land was reported to have been sold in a body
to a railroad company which kept out very many immigrants.
In the meantime my father and two brothers had come to Fort
Scott and I took my two brothers down to the farm and introduced
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 309
them around and told everybody where their claims were. I also
got my father and mother to come down from Fort Scott where they
had located, to make me a brief visit on the claim, which they did,
driving in a double buggy, coming down one day, staying one day
and going back in a day.
I went up and worked all of the winter at the harness business
again, and in the spring came down and put my twenty acres into
corn. This was in 1869. That summer's work was a very profitable
year. I cleared $1,400 in cash from what I raised. The immigration
which came paid about $1.25 a bushel for corn and fifteen cents a
shock for fodder. I had cut up all of my twenty acres into fourteen
hill squares. This was on the Deer creek claim. My brother and
I then went over to "Sun-Gold Section." Under the law the build-
ing should begin on "Sun-Gold Section," and I went down to the
mill, hauled up some lumber and measured the exact center of the
section. I sowed a whole lot of blue grass seed among the prairie
grass in the swales. I broke, around the house, about five acres of
ground to be used as a garden. One fourth of it being on each
quarter section and for each member of the family. I set up stakes
around the section so that we could plow a hedge row, hedges being
at that time in great favor. Certain farmers near Fort Scott made
a specialty of planting hedge seed and selling hedge plants in great
numbers for hedges. I had set out on Deer creek claim along side
of my cornfield enough seed to make hedge plants to go around the
section.
I forgot to say that during the summer of 1868 my brother
Robert came down to see me and I took him over to show him "Sun-
Gold Section." We rode over in a farm wagon, took blankets and
horse feed and determined to stay all night and carefully inspect
the land. As we got to the hill on the section, it began to rain. We
took off our wagon box, inverted it upon the ground and, tying our
horses to the wheels of our wagon, we got under our wagon bed
to keep out of the rain and we ate our lunch lying down while it
was raining. It was only a passing shower, but before it was over
we became aware that we were down over several nests of big,
fierce, black ants. It got so we could not stand it any longer so we
peeled off our clothes threw them under the wagon bed and danced
around in the rain and got rid of the ants. When the rain was over,
the ground being soaking wet, we concluded to go back home and
come again.
Late in 1869 I went back to Fort Scott and went to work at the
310 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
harness business. I was by this time made over. I had long since
stopped drinking Doctor Nassau's prescription. I was a new man.
I had none of the thoughts or ideas which I formerly had. I did
not feel the same way, think the same way, nor act as if I were the
same person. I had lived one life and was now living an entirely
different one, as much so as if I were an entirely different individual.
I had different view of things, different aspirations, different taste
for reading, society and work. We arranged to be down on the
farm, my two brothers and I, on the first of March in 1870. My
brother, Charlie, went to school during the winters. My brother
Robert was a skillful saddle hand and worked off and on as he
pleased and kept a separate business account of his own. His claim
was the northwest quarter. We started in the spring of 1870, two
or three days late, from Fort Scott, came down to Bone creek to
camp, intending to reach the farm by supper time. We were a
little delayed and did not get to "Sun-Gold Section" until about the
third or fourth of March and it was about 8 o'clock at night. Com-
ing on to the land at night, we found a hedge row twenty feet wide
broken around the section and we heard a crowd of men driving off
in a team laughing and shouting. We did not understand it until
morning. We found our house opened and some cooking utensils
and bedding there in the house which somebody had left. In the
morning we found a little box shanty about ten feet square had
been erected on my brother Robert's quarter, near the northwest
corner, and about five acres of land broken on it. On the southwest
quarter was another little house. We were armed with my Colt
cavalry revolvers and a shot gun. In the morning I had my father
and two brothers get into the wagon and we went over to the
shanty on the southwest quarter and found a man in there with a
trunk, Dutch bake oven, food supplies and a horse tied to a knot-
hole in the shanty. A pile of straw was in front of it. Upon in-
quiry as to what he was doing there, he said he had taken the
quarter section and that he and his crowd, which he said consisted
of ten men, had taken charge of the section. When I told him that
it was our section, he said that our rights had lapsed ; that we had
not been on it long enough and had been away too long. I told him
that he could not come and take our property in that way and that
he would have to get off from the place. He said that he did not
propose to get off from it and would stay by his claim. Thereupon,
I covered him with a revolver; ordered my brothers and father to
untie the horse ; push the house over and load it up into the wagon.
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 311
This they did. The house came apart in a very convenient way. I
turned the halter strap of his horse over to him and told him to pack
his things upon it and move. He was very mad and declined to do
anything and then I told him that I would march him off from the
section and this I did and I turned his horse loose and off it started
on the run down Cherry creek, and was soon out of sight and the
fellow was on foot. I then let him go and told him that if I saw him
on the claim again he would have a shooting match.
Having unloaded his shanty at the center of the section, we then
started over to see the man at the northwest corner. As we got near
the house he stepped out of the door of the shanty with a double
barrelled shotgun loaded and cocked, and he covered us. I told my
brother Robert to get around on the other side of him and I told the
man that he could get one of us, but could not get both of us. He
backed into the door and we got on both sides of the house. We
determined that we would stay with him and not let him get out of
the house. So two of us constantly watched the house each with a
revolver and he stayed in it. Two or three persons came up to see
him, but we told them that they could not see him. We expected
that if there were ten men, they would rally and make us trouble.
So we kept the shot-gun in readiness at our own house and two
constantly stayed around the claim jumper's shanty. We did not
of course walk around close to the shanty but we walked around
outside of effective range of his shotgun and he knew that if he
fired we would begin throwing bullets through his shanty. Several
persons came by and we told them all how things were and they all
sided with us; and being an old soldier I had the full sympathy of
the old soldiers, and finally one of them said he would go and raise
some men to help me. After three days of siege, the occupant must
have felt a little bit as if he were on the wrong side. I hailed him ;
went to the door at evening and told him that I would have a posse
up there in the morning and that he might have a great deal of
trouble. I told him that the old soldiers of the club would not per-
mit me to fail in getting him.
The man was perhaps hungry and thirsty but he was still defiant.
We were pretty well used up ourselves and when darkness came we
slipped off home to get a square meal and some sleep. I concluded
that night that the thing to do was to go and make him get right out
of the house and make him get off of the land. So in the morning we
drove on over and he saw us coming, and shouldering his shotgun
he left the house and walked off a distance from it. We had an axe.
312 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
We loosened up his house; then we took all of his household stuff,
loaded it in the wagon and hauled it across the freshly plowed fur-
row line to the adjoining section and dumped it there for him.
Then we went back and loaded up his house and took it to the
center and made a hencoop of it. Off and on, that summer, owing
to the breaking of the hedge row and the garden spot and the house,
the claim became an object of envy and we kept finding claim
stakes stuck up on the land from time to time all summer. It would
appear that they came at night and stuck them up so as to have
a talking point in case they could get sufficient strength to take the
claim by force.
During the summer of 1870 I broke out with two spans of mules
about forty acres around the center of the section, hauled a lot
of posts from down on the Lightning and Neosho and made a graz-
ing corral and built a stable partly of sod, corn stalks and poles.
My brothers, Charley, Robert and I kept alternating from Deer
creek place and trying to sell it out. We claimed that Deer creek
place belonged to our mother, and that "Sun-Gold Section" belonged
to myself, father and two brothers. Women, under the club law,
could hold claims.
In the fall of 1870 I thought that I had arranged to sell the Deer
creek land, but we kept cultivating it all of the time. It finally
got to the point that unless somebody came down and stayed on the
land and represented the quarters that it would be lost. So my
father and mother and two brothers determined to come down.
There had been a great deal of litigation over the land as to whether
the railroad was entitled to it or not. The railroad offered to sell it
and give titles. We did not care to make an out and out purchase
of the land from the railroad for two reasons ; one was that the liti-
gation was not yet settled, and second that ugly feuds had grown up
regarding what the settlers should do. So we compromised the mat-
ter by giving a secured note for $300 payable to litigation committee
in case they should win. That made them feel all right. I made
application to the railroad company for an assignment of land to us
providing they should win. I have forgotten the railroad price. It
is shown in the deed. When it was noised about that I had arranged
with a railroad company to take the land if they won, a great deal
of trouble arose. I was at a political convention at Columbus in
the fall of 1870, Columbus being then a mere hamlet. My seat was
challenged in the convention because I had agreed to recognize the
railroad company if it won; the idea being that the people on the
WARE: HISTORY OF SUN-GOLD SECTION 313
land should have an armed fight if they did not win. Shortly be-
fore that time, when I was down at Deer creek, I had gone to see
Captain Warren, and going back, at a long distance I noticed a
long file of men on horseback. They disappeared and I did not
understand what was the matter until I arrived at my shanty and
found a card up on my door telling me that they had come to hang
me, but had not found me in and that if I did not get out of the
country and never come back, they would return and carry out their
purpose. In the meantime the railroad was building down through
the country and I had a very fine market for everything. I made
money and put in improvements in the shape of fencing; barbed
wire fencing had not then been developed but telegraph wire was
used instead. I had hired a man to haul me down a wagon load of
telegraph wire from Kansas City.
Late in 1870, having corresponded considerably in the columns
with the Fort Scott Monitor, Gov. Samuel J. Crawford asked me
to come up and go on the paper and assist in the editing of it, hav-
ing heard of my Hawk Eye experience. At this time I was in the
most perfect health. I was around helping at thrashing and stack-
ing and found that I could throw down almost any man in the
whole neighborhood. One week I was engaged in stacking prairie
hay and stacked eighty tons, so that when I left the farm I had
absolutely recovered and was absolutely a new man.
My father sold the Deer creek farm claim for $1,500 with the
crop on it and the black walnut house that was "mortised into the
earth." The little claim house at the center of "Sun-Gold Section"
was moved up on the hill. My father and two brothers moved into
it and put on an addition. Money came in right along and the
section was claimed by my father, mother and two boys.
Father became very popular and they wanted to run him for the
legislature, and although I had no title at that time we were never
disturbed. I afterwards bought out my brother Robert's interest
and mother's interest which in fact belonged to me, which made me
one-half owner. I afterwards bought out Charlie's interest and af-
terwards father's interest. I was making money all of the time in
Fort Scott and father was constantly losing money in speculation.
But afterwards, he having to move to Fort Scott in 1885, where
mother could receive good care and treatment, and the title being
finally adjusted, the renting of the farm began.
While I was down in Cherokee county during 1867, '68, '69 and
'70, I had read law and practiced law. The first will on record in
314 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the county I drew. When I went to Fort Scott I took some addi-
tional studies and was admitted there to the bar in 1871. I had a
gun and a pointer dog and whenever I wanted a quail or prairie
chicken, all I had to do was to step out and get one. Hunting and
fishing were good.
I was soon well established in the law business in Fort Scott, and
in the fall of 1874 was married in Rochester, N. Y., and my new
wife and I went down to the farm about November 1 of that year
with my sister, Mrs. McComas, and her children, and the whole
family had a royal time for about a week.
Bypaths of Kansas History
KANSAS IN 1854
From the New York Daily Tribune, New York, June 23, 1854.
A correspondent of The Ohio State Journal writes an interesting letter from
Council Bluffs, Iowa, under date of June 10, from which we copy the following :
On Tuesday morning I took a seat in a coach, or a thing that was intended
to supply the place of one, from Independence through Kansas territory to
Fort Leavenworth. My good opinion of Independence, and of the agricultural
richness and beauty of the country, is not changed. It is very beautiful. In
due time we arrive at Kansas [City, Mo.], at the mouth of the Kansas river.
It is not a place of much importance. There are some good store-houses on
the shore at the landing, but the site for the town is rough and not at all at-
tractive. It is my judgment that it will not be a second St. Louis.
Four miles from Kansas we came to Westport [Mo.]. This is back from the
river and not in sight of it, but the California trade and outfit business has
made it a point of some importance. There are several fine large brick build-
ings going up. But I was compelled to the same judgment about its future as
I was about Kansas. I may be mistaken, but it does not seem to me to have a
great prospect. The Kansas is navigable for 200 miles by steamers that will
carry at least 100 tons of freight, and I think there will be towns up its waters
that will be the starting points for New Mexico, and that portion of the emi-
grants that take the more southern route to the Pacific. The country is rich
and well timbered for the West.
Fort Leavenworth is on the west bank of the Missouri and in the new terri-
tory of Kansas. It is entirely a military encampment, the only things that
look like forts being a pair of block-houses, with musket port-holes. The bar-
racks are extensive and appear to be in fine order. The store-houses, &c., are
also extensive, and are substantially built of stone. There is a farm of 1,000
acres that is cultivated by Uncle Sam. It is a beautiful tract and in a high state
of cultivation. Corn and oats are raised in great abundance, for the use of
the garrison, horses, &c. The attempt was made to cultivate this land by the
labor of the soldiers, but it would not work and it has been abandoned. The
corn was excellent and was kept in beautiful condition. The landing is of rock,
and is one of the finest and most substantial on the river. It is my opinion
that Fort Leavenworth is the place for a large town on the west side of the
Missouri, and in the Kansas territory. It has a position and a fine country
about it that will make it attractive and give it importance. I advise am-
bitious, enterprising young men who want to get into a new place, with good
prospects, to stop at Fort Leavenworth. It will be the capital of Kansas terri-
tory.
Between Kansas and Westport we passed an encampment of 3,000 Mormons
that were on their way to the Great Salt Lake. They were waiting for the
balance of their company, and had been encamped there for several days.
They were in a fine forest. Some were sleeping in their wagons, but the most
of them had tents, and the woods and fields adjoining in all directions were
(315)
316 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
covered with these white and fragile dwellings. Oxen are used for teams.
Men, women and children were scattered about on all sides. Blacksmiths'
hammers were heard, and the hum of preparation came up from all parts of the
camp. It was a singular sight, and fraught with many suggestions and reflec-
tions upon this strange and deluded people. These emigrants are generally
from Europe, and the most of them do not speak a word of English. They
have a long journey before them. The cholera is said to be among them, but
I have heard so many rumors of this disease out west on the rivers, &c., and
have seen so little of it, that I have lost all confidence in the truth of these
stories.
Before we passed the Kansas, we came upon an encampment that attracted
attention. It turned out to be a grand hunting company for the plains. Sir
George Gore, an English baronet, has taken it into his head that it will be fine
sport to hunt buffalo, &c., on our great western plains; so he packed up hia
trunks, &c., and started for a regular summer campaign. He brought the most
magnificent pack of dogs that were ever seen in this country. Between forty
and fifty dogs, mostly greyhounds and staghounds, of the most beautiful breeds,
compose this part of the expedition. He had a large carriage, and probably a
dozen large wagons to transport provisions, &c. These require five yoke of oxen
to each wagon. These, with the horses, men, &c., made up quite an imposing
company. Sir George is a fine-built, stout, light-haired, and resolute looking
man. But there are other things besides fun in such a trip, and it will try the
manner of stuff of which he is made before he returns.
Kansas is a rich agricultural territory. Timber is the great want, and the
Shawnees and Delawares in their reservations retain the most of it that is of
value. I am constrained to say that I fear slavery will get the start there. I
made this a matter of special inquiry through western Missouri, and propose to
talk more of this when I have more time. Meanwhile, it is well to remember
that no emigration can take place before next winter, and probably not till
spring, as the Indians retain possession till that time. Nebraska will of course
be free, but I fear for Kansas.
I spent the night at Weston, on the east side of the river. It is a flourishing
place, and does an immense business in the hemp trade. It has about 3,000 in-
habitants. At that point I determined to take a passage in the stage for
Council Bluffs. The distance is about 180 miles, but it will give me a fine
chance to see the country. The ride was a rough, hard one, but I was amply
compensated by the sights I saw, and the facts I learned about the country.
The northern counties of Missouri are prairie, like Iowa. But I must devote a
separate chapter hereafter to a detailed description of north-western Missouri.
It is clearly destined to be a wealthy and valuable part of that immense State.
I have been over the river to Nebraska, and find it very beautiful. Prairies
are rich and boundless. There is no limit to their capacity for production. But
the great drawback to this region exists in Nebraska. Timber is scarce. Till
this defect is supplied, either by raising a crop, which can easily be done in a
few years, or by bringing it down from the upper waters, this will be the great
obstacle. Were timber la-nds in sufficient quantities to be had, this country
would improve more rapidly than any other on the face of the earth. As it is,
it is destined to go ahead with wonderful rapidity. Iowa is fast filling up with
a hardy, valuable population.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 317
A PANORAMA OF KANSAS
From the Manhattan Express, July 21, 1860.
Our citizens have been charmed during the past week, by two opportunities
of seeing this meritorious work of art recently executed by Mr. Gardner, a
young artist of rare talents for landscape and scene painting.
The sketchings from natural objects and other preliminary arrangements,
have been in progress for two years, though the representations of the Kansas
towns and cities show them just as they are at present.
The scenes as at present arranged commence at Fort Leavenworth and em-
brace all the points of any interest down the Missouri river to Wyandotte,
thence up the Kansas, giving all the various places so notorious from having
been the theatre of the "Border Ruffian War," to Junction, and then commences
the jaunt over the plains; during which we see many of the interesting phases
in emigrant life to Pike's Peak, where we see all the towns of importance in
that wild and sublimely picturesque region. Passing from these scenes, all of
which so fully engross the public mind, the spectator or traveler, rather
finds himself confronting the enchanting vistas in the far-famed valley of the
Grea-t Salt Lake, with the beautiful scenery of those gorgeous hills and valleys
so vividly and truthfully delineated upon the glowing canvas before him that
he is involuntarily transported in propria persona to that interesting country.
Among other views in Salt Lake City is one which gives the observer a little
insight into the unusual and somewhat extensive family arrangements of the
notorious Brigham Young and a personal acquaintance with a few (200 or so)
of his charming little household.
This gigantic work is in four sections, occupying in all over 2,000 yards of
canvas, and we venture the assertion that if not the very largest panorama
extant it embraces the most diversified and interesting scenery ever depicted
upon canvas.
The work was gotten up with especial reference to exhibition in Eastern
cities and is now on its way East where the proprietors will doubtless meet
with the success their enterprise and skill so eminently deserves.
THE QUANTRILL MASSACRE AT LAWRENCE
JUffi
A view of Lawrence on the morning of "Bray 21, 1863, when
William Quantrill's band of raiders ransacked and burned the town
is found in the letter of Elise Engelsmann, of Lawrence, to Mrs.
Christine Fliesen, published in a German book in 1926. The letter
was discovered by Dr. Joseph Schafer, superintendent of the State
Historical Society of Wisconsin, on pages 56 and 57 of Geschichte
der Familie Fliesen, Und der Anverwandten Familien (Karl Fliesen,
Griinstadt, 1926). Doctor Schafer presented a photostatic repro-
duction to the late Dr. Frank H. Hodder, head of the history de-
partment of the University of Kansas. This translation was made
by Doctor and Mrs. Hodder some time before Doctor Hodder's
death.
318 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LAWRENCE, Nov. 10, 1863.
Dear good Aunt !
We received your dear letter of September 30th several days ago. I know
well, that we should have written you immediately after the terrible massacre,
which took place here, but you must excuse us since our place of business, our
dwelling and everything we possessed was burned; a few weeks before we had
fitted up the house almost entirely anew and were so comfortably situa-ted, that
there was almost nothing left to wish for. For the first eight days after the
fire with two other families we moved into a sort of stable where for the first
week we had to get along without chair, bed or table and besides my cousin
Philipp (Uncle Wilhelm's youngest son) mortally wounded, who died of his
wound the second day after the massacre. Our joy was great when he came
here so unexpectedly, but it was not to be of long duration, for he was here not
four full weeks when he had to lose his young life and find such an untimely
grave.
You write, dear aunt, that the first terrible news, which you received through
the newspapers, was softened by the second. We take many newspapers East-
ern and Western but not one of all even comes near describing the horrors
which were committed here, no one who was not present himself, can form any
idea of it, of what happened here, only think how in the short space of three
hours out of a population of 3,000 souls over two hundred unarmed innocent
men were murdered, all the business houses and at least two-thirds of the
dwelling houses were reduced to ashes. The appearance of the town, after the
Barbarians were gone, was more than heartbreaking, women with their hair
flying ran through the streets, calling loudly the names of their husband,
father, brother or other relatives. I saw one woman carrying home the re-
mains of her burned husband in a pail. But let me break off here I cannot
keep back the tears, when I think of that horrible morning.
Now I want to write you, how it has gone with us. The 20th of August
we went to bed all peaceful and carefree but Oh! how frightful was to be our
waking, a half hour before five o'clock we were suddenly awakened by a shoot-
ing and yelling, but even then it was already too late, Quantrill with his band
was already in the middle of the town, there may have been perhaps 350 men,
each with a rifle and two revolvers, indeed many had four revolvers conse-
quently 25 shots without loading, all were well mounted. If at any time a
man even let himself be seen on the street or at the door or window he was
shot. Father and Uncle instructed us to remain quiet in-door and if this
band asked for anything to give up everything they wanted, as for ourselves
we would be safe and they would do their best to save themselves, Father,
Uncle and Philipp sought safety in flight. They were not yet far from the
house, four other men joined them to save themselves as best they could, but
they had not gone far, when they were pursued by nine men and hunted like
dogs. Of the seven men Father and Uncle are the only ones saved and they
in truth as by a miracle. The other four men fell to the ground and poor
Philipp was so severely wounded, that he died the second day. Up to the last
moment he had great hope that he would get well again but it was to be other-
wise.
Now I want to come back again to Mother and myself, and write you how
it went with us during this time. We knew well, that they would do nothing
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 319
to women, moreover at the beginning we believed they would confine them-
selves to plundering, we were just on the point of hiding things of value when
about eight men stopped in front of our store, pushed in the door with a few
thrusts and entered but soon thereafter went ttway again. We did not know
what to think of it, however we expected every moment, that others would
come in, we feared constantly hearing any one on the steps, we did not dare
to go outside, until suddenly Mother called: My God something smells of
smoke here, after all they have set our store on fire, thereupon I ran to the
balcony when a neighbor woman called to me, go right out of the house it is
already burning underneath in bright flame, I saw too at the same time, that
smoke was already rising everywhere in other houses, then of course no other
choice was left but to go outside. A few clothes is all that we saved, we
couldn't save even the business books. Father and Uncle have started a store
again, this is the second time already, that it has happened to us here in Kan-
sas. Business is good again in spite of all, but it is no small matter to start
with nothing.
Mother, thank God, has borne the shock better than I had feared. For
my part my happy disposition has helped me luckily over this shock, what is
tho use of worrying over things, that have once happened and are not to be
changed, I pity only my parents that in their old age they must meet with
such a misfortune and my Uncle, he hardly realized having one of his children
here when in so horrible a way he had to be sna-tched away again forever.
Of my trip to Germany perhaps nothing will come, although Uncle thinks,
if it is at all possible I should have the pleasure, of visiting you. I hardly be-
lieve however that anything will come of it. Now in closing do not be troubled
about us. The shock was hard to be sure, we are doing everything possible
to get through and the damage if not entirely yet in part, will be made good
again in a few years. Tell Elsie Presser and Anna Feldmiiller they should write
to me again some time and greet them both very heartily from me.
Greetings and kisses many times over from your truly loving
Niece
Elise Engelsmann (later married Willemsen.) (Daughter and only child of
Luise Fliesen of Kaiserslautern and Fritz Engelsmann.)
ONE OF SOL MILLER'S INCOMPARABLES
From the White Cloud Kansas Chief, May 28, 1863.
The West Wind [Missouri river steamer] passed up, on Wednesday eve-
ning, crowded with Minnesota Indians, on their way to Fort Randall. They
were having a good time generally, and kept up their dancing and yelling aa
long as the boat was within hearing distance. A crowd of lowas who stood on
the levee, could not contain themselves, but got up a fandango of their own.
One of them expressed his admiration of the performance on the boat, in the
following elegant language: "Hurrah for you, God damnl"
320 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
A SNOWSTORM ON THE PLAINS
From the Kansas Daily Tribune, Lawrence, December 10, 1863.
Major Miller, paymaster, and Ira Olds, Esq., his clerk, arrived in Lawrence
yesterday morning, after a long and perilous journey to Fort Larned, owing
to severe cold and a terrible snowstorm. From these gentlemen we gather
the following facts in relation to the storm:
The snow fell from Fort Riley to Santa Fe from one inch to fifteen. It
was very cold, and the snow drifted so as to make the ravines almost im-
passable. The coach on the Riley proceeded to within seventy-five miles of
Fort Larned, and there had to stay, and the passengers constructed a sled,
and took off the bed from the stage-coach, and putting it on the rude sled,
went on their way to Larned. In many places they had to drive around the
ravines, the snow being too deep to get across.
Between Larned and Santa Fe, the snowstorm was still more heavy. The
Santa Fe coach and passengers were caught out in it, and detained so long
that they got out of both provisions for passengers and feed for the mules.
Five out of nine of the mules died.
Lieutenant Dodge, of the Wisconsin battery, tried to get in to Fort Larned
on one of the mules. The animal gave out, and then the lieutenant tried
to get in on foot. He arrived within three miles of the fort, became exhausted,
and laid down. The officers at the fort were looking out with glasses, and
observing an object on the prairie sent out assistance. Had it not been for
this fortunate circumstance, probably the whole of the passengers would have
perished.
Between Larned and Santa Fe there are two hundred and fifty miles with-
out a human habitation, and, of course, trains crossing, getting out of pro-
visions, and having no feed, with the snow drifted so that they lose the road,
there is but little chance of getting through safe.
Some of the old Indian traders, who have been in the country for thirty
years, say that they never witnessed such a storm in the month of Novem-
ber before.
Large herds of buffalo were continually met with, almost paralyzed with
the cold. In the day-time they kept a short distance from the coach; but at
night, for miles, the coach was interrupted by their being in the way, and
the driver was continually hallooing at them, like a man driving cattle, to get
them out of the way.
A train known to be out has not been heard from, and it is feared that it
has perished.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 321
STOCK VERSUS THE UNION PACIFIC
Copied from an early-day broadside.
NOTICE
To Whom it May Concern
Union Pacific Railway, E. D.
Office of Gen'l Superintendent,
Wyandotte, Ks., Oct. 15, 1866.
On and after this date, the Union Pacific Railway Co., E. D., will pay, to
the owners thereof, one-half of the appraised value of all Stock killed on the
Track by the Trains. w w WRIGHT , Genn Superintendent.
A LONG WALK
From the Guilford Citizen, Guilford, July 9, 1870.
The Osage Mission Journal, under the head of "Weston Outdone," says:
"An Osage Indian named Gnew-can-steze Long Pole in the fall of 1856,
walked from the mission to Fort Scott and back in one day a distance of
eighty miles. He started from the mission at 6 o'clock a. m., and returned the
same day, making his eighty miles in about 13 hours. He was the bearer of
an important dispatch from Major Dorn, agent of the Osages, to the com-
mander of the military forces stationed at Fort Scott. We learn the above
facts from those connected with the mission, and they say it was not an un-
common occurrence for Long Pole and other young braves to walk to Fort
Scott and back in one day. Long Pole is still living, but we fear his pole
ain't long enough to accomplish that feat now."
PRAIRIE FIRES
Editorial in the Walnut Valley Times, El Dorado, March 19, 1875.
Stop the prairie fires 1 In the name of all that is good, stop the prairie fires
at once ! Stop the prairie fires, and you stop drought, hot winds and parched
crops. Stop the prairie fires and you will save the country from another visita-
tion of grasshoppers. Stop the prairie fires and you produce regular rainfalls.
Stop the prairie fires and you fill up our springs, cause the streams to flow,
fill the earth with moisture, cause thousands of young trees to spring up over
the earth and enrich your lands an hundred fold. Stop the prairie fires and
Kansas is a garden of Eden. Continue them and it will ever continue to be
an American desert. For Heaven's sake, stop the prairie fires!
THE Sioux INDIANS PASS THROUGH TOPEKA
From the Topeka Daily Blade, Topeka, November 6, 1876.
A large number of people were present at the Santa Fe depot Saturday noon
to see the Sioux delegation that passed through here on their way to the In-
dian territory. There were 76 Indians, including squaws and half-breeds. The
21728
322 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
train arrived about one hour behind time. People were a little disappointed
upon seeing them, for all expected to see them in their war costume, with
their bloody tomahawks and dripping scalping knives. They had, however,
their tomahawks, but the people thought they were pipes, and some really
were smoking their hatchets. Upon arriving at the depot a number of bucks
with tin buckets made a break for the eating house where they got hot cof-
fee and returned to their cars, where they partook of their frugal meal, which
consisted of boiled beef, without seasoning, and coffee. They gorge them-
selves when they eat. They all eat out of the same pan and drink coffee out
of the same can. This is the reason they are not allowed to go into hotels to
eat. They don't know how to behave themselves. This applies to a majority
of the Sioux and the Indians in general. However, a few of the "big injuns"
were allowed the privilege of setting at the white man's table. Messrs. Spotted
Tail, Red Dog and Fast Bear were taken to the railroad eating house, where
they partook of double rations. They got away with everything set before
them, in fact, everything that was within reach. They exhibited some of the
traits of a human by using knives and forks, and blowing their coffee to cool
it. They also mopped their mouths with napkins which they forgot to put in
their pockets after using. Mr. Tail understood the uses of the knives and
forks. He held the piece with the fork while he severed it with the knife, and
with his fingers he placed the largest piece on the knife and dumped it into
his mouth. Mr. Dog wiped off his gooms with his tongue after eating enough
for three big men like John Carter. But old Pap Bear gave the crowd away.
After getting up from the table he reached over and grabbed up all the apples
he could hold in his big hands, which were about four apiece, probably under
the sweet impression that he was stealing them. There were some ladies at
the depot who considered it a great honor to grasp these dusky murderers of
the forest and plains by the hands. Red Dog was so struck with the beauty of
a lady there that he returned to the room to get a look at her. . . .
LAP JACKET
From the Dodge City Times, May 12, 1877.
We yesterday witnessed an exhibition of the African national game of "lap
jacket," in front of Shulz' harness shop. The game is played by two colored
men, who each toe a mark and whip each other with bullwhips. In the con-
test yesterday Henry Rodgers, called Eph for short, contended with another
darkey for the championship and fifty cents prize money. They took heavy
new whips from the harness shop and poured in the strokes pretty lively.
Blood flowed and dust flew and the crowd cheered until Policeman Joe Mason
came along and suspended the cheerful exercise.
In Africa, where this pleasant pastime is indulged in to perfection, the con-
testants strip to the skin, and frequently cut each other's flesh open to the
bone.
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 323
AND THE WIND DID BLOW IN 1880
From the Wichita Eagle, April 15, 1880.
The probability is that the individuals in this valley are scarce who would
have the temerity to assert that the Eagle has ever proven remiss in blowing
for Kansas. But we come now to acknowledge that the blowing she has done
for herself the past week has nipped our blowing pretentions in the bud. It
may as well be asserted here and now that Kansas as a paradise has her fail-
ings, not the least of which is her everlasting spring winds. If there is a man,
woman or child in Sedgwick county whose eyes are not filled with dust and
their minds with disgust, he, she, or it must be an idiot or awful pious. From
everlasting to everlasting this wind for a week has just set on its hind legs
and howled and screeched and snorted until you couldn't tell your grandfather
from a jackass rabbit. And its sand backs up its blow with oceans of grit to
spare. We saw a preacher standing on the corner the other day with his back
up, his coat-tails over his head and his chapeau sailing heavenward, spitting
mud out of his mouth and looking unutterable things. He dug the sand out
of his eyes and the gravel out of his hair and said nothing. It wouldn't have
been right. But we know what he thought. As for our poor women, weighted
down with bar lead and trace-chains as their skirts are, their only protection
from rude gaze is the dust, which fills up the eyes of the men so that they
can't see a rod farther than a blind mule. Dust, grit and sand everywhere
in your victuals, up your nose, down your back, between your toes. The
chickens have quit eating gravel they absorb sand enough every night to
run their gizzards all next day. Out of doors people communicate by signs.
When they would talk they must retire to some room without windows or a
crack, pull out their ear plugs and wash their mouths. The sun looks down
through fathoms of real-estate in a sickly way, but the only clouds descried
are of sand, old rags, paper and brick bats. We haven't done the subject
justice, and we didn't expect to when we started out, but it blows, you bet.
A GOOD SHOWING
From The Republican Citizen, Atwood, September 17, 1880.
J. F. Collier came to Rawlins county in June, 1879, and took a claim in
township 5, range 34, between the North and the Middle Sappa. He could
do little last season, and returned [to] Phillips county to winter. He moved
his family on his claim the 17th day of last March, and began operations in
earnest. Since March he has broken fifty-one acres of prairie, and in addition
has gathered and hauled bones to the aggregate value of $180. His corn crop
was a failure from the start the squirrels ate it up. He then planted the
land to millet, and has a good crop. He has been out this week haying, and
has put up a good quantity. It is hard work and an eye on the main chance
that wins. Mr. Collier has Providence and bone-hauling as reserves for every
emergency. He will weather the gale and come out on top at last.
324 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
FOR THE SANTA FE SCRAPBOOK
From the La Crosse Chieftain, July 7, 1886.
The Santa Fe has surveyed across the line of the K. &. C. in 29 different
places, and are still at work, but the K. & C. had the right of way in e very-
instance. This is evidently done to find some point to locate a road where
the K. & C. has not secured the right of way, and then enjoin them from
crossing, but they will not succeed.
FIRST WOMAN TO BE ELECTED MAYOR IN THE UNITED STATES (?)
From the Argonia Clipper, April 9, 1887.
The ladies of the W. C. T. U. called a caucus on Saturday night last, at
which the following officers were nominated as the Equal Suffrage ticket. For
mayor, S. P. Wilson; police judge, Jos. Arnold; and for councilmen, J. E.
Carr, M. L. Smith, N. A. Springer, O. B. Harlan and S. W. Duncan. Mon-
day morning the People's ticket was brought out, the only change being in
the head of the ticket, Mrs. Dora Salter being substituted in place of S. P.
Wilson. The result of the election is as follows: For mayor, Dora Salter 71,
S. P. Wilson 24; for judge, Jos. Arnold 86; for councilmen, J. E. Carr, 82,
M. L. Smith, 84; O. B. Harlan, 95, S. W. Duncan, 93. Only 98 votes were cast,
of which 20 were by women.
AD ASTRA PER ASPERA
From the Wichita Daily Journal, September 3, 1888.
One of the marble monuments placed in the Wichita cemetery last week
contained the startling Kansas maxim, "Ad Astra, per Aspera," by the way,
on an inscription under the name of the departed one. Inquiry revealed the
fact that the deceased had been blown to pieces by a boiler explosion and as
they had never found much of his body his widow had stumbled upon the
epithet as the most fitting one for the occasion.
Kansas History as Published
in the Press
Wichita of the 1890's was featured in a series of articles by Molly
Warren Wilcox in The Democrat, of Wichita. The series began in
February, 1936, and continued for several months.
Early-day musicians in the Saline valley were recalled by Judge
J. C. Ruppenthal in the Lucas Independent, February 27, 1936.
George Stanton's reminiscences of early days in Beaver and Nor-
way townships, Republic county, were recorded in the Belleville
Telescope, March 12, 1936.
A history of the Burr Oak Civilian Conservation Corps camp, the
"first camp in Kansas to be assigned exclusively to soil and water
conservation," was contributed by V. B. Fredenhagen, superintend-
ent of the camp, to the Belleville Telescope, April 2, 1936.
St. Francis church in Timbered Hills was the first religious struc-
ture in Wilson county, Belle C. Lyon related in the Wilson County
Citizen, of Fredonia, April 10, 1936. Father Paul Ponziglione
founded the church. The first building was erected in 1869.
Cuba's school history was reviewed in the Cuba Tribune, April 30,
1936.
Logging the Beloit-Colby cutoff, a story of early-day road build-
ing for automobiles was told by W. F. Hughes in his "Facts and
Comments" column in the Rooks County Record, of Stockton, April
30, 1936. The capture of Sarah White Brooks by the Indians, as
written by Mr. Hughes after an interview with Mrs. Brooks, was
the column's subject June 25 and July 2.
Tiblow in 1870 was described briefly in the Bonner Springs Chief-
tain, May 7, 1936. Tiblow is now Bonner Springs.
"Old Lamed Hotel Register Gives Some Sidelights on Early-Day
History Here," was the title of an article in The Tiller and Toiler,
of Lamed, May 21, 1936.
Belle Plaine's Methodist Episcopal Church history was featured
in the Belle Plaine News, May 28, 1936. The church was started
in 1871. The city's history was briefly sketched by Pearl E. Wight
in the News of July 2. The townsite was located January 5, 1871.
(325)
326 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Peter Robidoux, pioneer citizen of Wallace county, was discussed
in The Western Times, of Sharon Springs, May 28 and August 6,
1936.
Garfield history was recounted by members of the Garfield Rural
High School in the Lamed Chronoscope and The Tiller and Toiler,
May 28, 1936, and by Harry H. Wolcott in the Chronoscope of De-
cember 10.
The reminiscences of Ira Hodgson, veteran of the Eleventh Kansas
infantry, appeared in a two-column article in the Harveyville Moni-
tor, June 11, 1936.
County seat wars in western Kansas were discussed by J. Arthur
Carr in three stories in The Tiller and Toiler, of Lamed, as follows:
Hugoton-Woodsdale and Cimarron-Ingalls, issue of June 11, 1936;
Leoti-Coronado, June 18 number.
Tescott history was reviewed in a series of articles under the title
"Retrospection" in the Tescott News, July 23, 1936. Another article
on the town's early history was printed August 20.
Excerpts from the Greenleaf Bugle of May 1, 1877, the town's first
newspaper, appeared in the Greenleaf Sentinel, July 30, 1936.
Osborne county rural teachers for the 1936-1937 school year were
named in the Osborne Empire- Journal and the Osborne County
Farmer, July 30, 1936. Teachers in the city schools were listed in
the Empire- Journal of August 6.
The history of Grand Center Baptist Church and community was
reviewed by H. P. Tripp in the Waldo Advocate, August 3 and 17,
1936. The church was organized early in 1878.
Viola's Presbyterian Church observed its founding anniversary
with special services August 2, 1936. "The church was organized
July 29, 1876, in the home of William G. Shaw, the only charter
member now living," it was related in a brief historical sketch in the
Clearwater News, August 6.
The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Leoti's Methodist
Episcopal Church was observed at a three-day celebration on August
21, 22 and 23, 1936. The history of the organization was reviewed in
the Leoti Standard, August 13, 20 and 27.
Memories of Leonardville and vicinity by C. A. Lovgren appeared
in the Leonardville Monitor, August 27, 1936. Mr. Lovgren went
out from Lindsborg as a singing evangelist in 1887, visiting Leon-
ardville and several other Riley county towns.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 327
Early Wabaunsee county history was recalled in articles in the
Alma Enterprise, September 4, 11, 18, and October 2, 1936.
Names of pastors who have served the Hugoton Methodist Church,
which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its founding with serv-
ices held September 20, 1936, were featured in J. M. Banie's history
of the organization in the Hugoton Hermes, September 25. A history
of the Hugoton Christian Church, which observed its twentieth birth-
day on November 1, was sketched in the Hermes, October 23.
Life in early Woodson county was discussed by E. B. Moore, of
Neosho Falls, in an interview in The Woodson County Post, of Yates
Center, October 15, 1936. Mr. Moore settled in the county in 1858.
The history of Prairie Grove school, District No. 65, of Nemaha
county, was reviewed by Georgia Milner in The Courier-Tribune,
Seneca, October 15, 1936, and in the Seneca Times, October 22.
An Osborne county Indian "scare" of 1878 was recalled by H. P.
Tripp writing in the Osborne County Farmer, of Osborne, October
29, 1936.
Pioneers of west central Nemaha county were mentioned by Mrs.
Bert Hay in a two-column article in The Courier-Tribune, of Seneca,
November 9, 1936.
Rush county men who served in the World War were named in
the La Crosse Chieftain, November 12, 1936.
"When Osborne Was Just Six Years Old," an article written by
the late Howard Ruede and published in the Osborne County Farmer,
of Osborne, December 17, 1908, was reprinted in the Farmer, De-
cember 3, 1936.
A letter written in 1873 by the Rev. A. H. Annis, the "first per-
manent clergyman in Russell county," describing the progress made
by the county's religious organizations, was printed in the Russell
Record and The Russell County News in their issues of December 3,
1936.
Names of prominent Rooks county citizens whose marriage anni-
versaries fell during the years 1874 to 1895 were listed in the Rooks
County Record, of Stockton, December 3, 1936.
A history of the Seneca Methodist Episcopal Church, by Mrs. W.
H. Smith, was a feature of The Courier-Tribune, of Seneca, Decem-
ber 7, 1936. The church recently celebrated the seventy-ninth an-
niversary of its founding.
The old overland trail from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Kearney,
with particular attention to its routing through Nemaha and Brown
328 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
counties, was discussed in a six-column article by John T. Bristow
in the Wetmore Spectator, December 11, 1936.
Two uncles of the Rev. J. S. Coppoc, pastor of the Larned Baptist
Church, were with John Brown at Harper's Ferry, an article in the
Larned Chronoscope, of December 24, 1936, disclosed.
Some early Wallace county residents were recalled by Judge J.
C. Ruppenthal, of Russell, in a letter in The Western Times of
Sharon Springs, December 31, 1936.
Grant county history was reviewed by Rex Lee Schwein in an
article entitled, "A County in the Making," printed in the Winter,
1937, number of The Aerend, a Fort Hays Kansas State College
publication. "Robbers Roost Creek," by W. A. Hill, a story of the
origin of several Rooks county geographical names, was also a fea-
ture of this issue.
Histories of the Idana Presbyterian Church, which celebrated the
fiftieth anniversary of its founding, January 24, 1937, were recorded
in the Clay Center Dispatch and Economist, January 27, and the
Times, February 4.
McCracken's history was reviewed in the McCracken Enterprise,
January 29, 1937. From July 22 to 24 the city celebrated the fiftieth
anniversary of its founding. Historical feature articles in the En-
terprise, July 8, include: Letters and reminiscences of Thomas J.
Brown and Mrs. Francis Kline; "Blizzard of 1886," by Mrs. Jerry
Curtis; "L. L. Darkes the First School Teacher in District 29";
"Charley Lovitt Saw McCracken Grow Into a Prairie Town," and
"History Reveals McCrackenites Still Keep Pioneer Ideals." In the
July 22 issue "Early History of McCracken," and a letter from J. R.
Lovitt, were printed.
Early days in western Kansas were described by L. L. Scott in a
series of articles in the Bazine Advocate, beginning February 19,
1937.
"Annals of St. Paul" is the title of a new series of articles by W.
W. Graves in his St. Paul Journal starting February 25, 1937. The
series is a continuation of the "Annals of Osage Mission" printed
previously in the Journal, and issued in book form. Other books by
Mr. Graves are: Life and Letters of Fathers Ponziglione, Schoen-
makers and Other Early Jesuits at Osage Mission; Life and Letters
of Rev. Father John Schoenmakers, S. J., and The Broken Treaty.
Sumner county towns in 1883 were mentioned in the Wellington
Daily News, March 13, 1937. Several of the towns thriving at that
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 329
time are now nonexistent. "Wellington's Industrial History," "Grist-
mill Floated Down River; Sixtieth Anniversary This Year," "Well-
ington Pool Is Recognized As Wonder Oil Field of State," and "Au-
thentic Account of Wellington Catastrophe, Cyclone of May 27,
1892 . . ." were feature articles of the March 23 issue.
An article entitled "Jessie Chisholm, Trail Builder," by Warren
Matthews, was published in the Clearwater News in the issues of
April 1, 8, 15, and 22, 1937.
The history of the Standard Life Association of Lawrence was
briefly sketched in its magazine The Standard, in the May-June,
1937, issue.
Boot Hill and the Beeson museum at Dodge City were discussed
by Helen A. Lobdell in the Nickerson Argosy, May 13, 1937.
A history of the McPherson Baptist Church was briefly sketched
in the McPherson Daily Republican, May 19, 1937. Dr. W. A.
Sharp, compiler of the history, revealed that the first sermon in
McPherson county was preached by D. D. McGregor, a Baptist
minister. The McPherson church was organized December 11, 1872.
McPherson College celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its found-
ing with a four-day program, May 28 to 31, 1937. Histories of the
college were published in the McPherson Daily Republican, May 27,
and McPherson County Advertiser, May 28. The city's history also
was briefly reviewed in the Advertiser of the same issue.
The history of the Bazine cemetery was sketched by Carey Olson
in the Bazine Advocate, May 28, 1937.
Eureka's Christian Church celebrated the seventy-fifth anniver-
sary of its founding with special services May 30 to June 1, 1937.
The history of the organization was briefly noted at the time in the
Eureka Herald and The Democratic Messenger. Fort Montgomery,
built at Eureka in the early 1860's, was described by C. H. Duby in
The Democratic Messenger, June 3.
The story of the coming of Mennonite immigrants to Kansas and
their development of Kansas' hard wheat was outlined in the Junc-
tion City Union, May 31, 1937.
Included among subjects of a historical nature discussed recently
by Victor Murdock in his front-page column printed daily in the
Wichita (Evening) Eagle were: Sedgwick county in 1870, as re-
membered by Mrs. Geneva Blue Speer, in the June 7, 1937, issue;
"Big Roller" of April 14, 1935, "greatest of all the dust storms,"
June 16; sixty years ago was Wichita's wettest spring, June 28;
330 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
early Wichita photographers, July 12; four classes of land available
in Sedgwick county to its pioneer settlers, July 13; Morton county
"ghost" towns, July 17 ; evolution of transportation and its effect on
Wichita, July 27, and an interview with 0. P. Hicklin who recalled
early settlers of Minneha township, Sedgwick county, August 6.
The Garden City Daily Telegram issued its annual "Southwest
Kansas Resource Edition" on June 8, 1937. The edition of 56 pages
is claimed to be the largest ever published in Garden City.
Barrett's early history was briefly recalled in the Frankfort Daily
Index, June 9, 1937. The town and its postoffice were established
in 1857.
Girard's flying school and factory, started in 1908 by the late
Harry Laurens Call, was discussed in an illustrated article in the
Kansas City (Mo.) Star, June 9, 1937.
Lerado's history was reviewed by Fred Henney in a five-column
article entitled "Lerado, Once Booming Community, Being Revived
by Oil Discoveries," in the Hutchinson Herald, June 13, 1937.
Lerado was named for Laredo, Tex., according to the story, but a
mistake in spelling in the post office application had it Lerado and
Lerado it remained.
"My Old Pal And Neighbor of Fort Scott Albert Bigelow Paine,"
by Willis A. Coston as told to A. B. Macdonald was a feature article
of the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, June 13, 1937. Mr. Paine, famous
author, spent ten years of his early manhood in Fort Scott. "Many
of his early writings were published first in the Star," the article
reported.
The introduction of golf to Wichitans was recounted by Roger
Kirkwood in the Wichita Sunday Eagle, June 13, 1937. The first
nine-hole course was laid out in the city in the late 1890's.
A history of Trinity Reformed Church of Cheney, organized on
May 6, 1883, was published in the Cheney Sentinel, June 17, 1937.
The life story of Walter P. Chrysler, written by Boyden Sparkes
collaborating with Mr. Chrysler, entitled "Life of an American
Workman," appeared in The Saturday Evening Post starting in the
issue of June 19, 1937. Mr. Chrysler, who is chairman of the board
of the Chrysler motor car corporation, was born in Wamego, Kan.,
and spent the early years of his life in Ellis and other railroad
towns.
Pictorial biographies of several Atchison citizens were featured
in the Atchison Globe under the heading, "Atchison Personalities."
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 331
The series was published infrequently, beginning in the June 19,
1937, issue.
Hail stones weighing up to two and one half pounds fell in To-
peka 's worst hail storm June 24, 1897, Milton Tabor recalled in the
Topeka Daily Capital, June 23, 1937.
Early missions in Kansas were discussed by Margaret Whitte-
more in a Kansas City (Mo.) Times feature article June 23, 1937.
The new postoffice building at Eureka was dedicated June 19,
1937. A history of the postal service in the city, as compiled by
Anna Huffman and read at the ceremony, was printed in the Eureka
Herald and The Democratic Messenger in their issues of June 24.
Scott county history was the theme of the fifty-two page illus-
trated fiftieth anniversary edition of The News Chronicle, of Scott
City, issued June 24, 1937. Featured articles include: "Scott City,
Kansas, 1887-1937"; "Old Man Prairie," and "Surprise in the Well,"
by Bonnie Deane Vaughn; "Settlement in Scott County Started in
1884"; "Life at Breezy Meadows," by Mrs. N. H. Bailey; "My Life
in Scott County," by E. C. Whitham; "Yes I Came West!" by
J. W. Lough; "Coxey's Army Gave Scott City a Thrill"; "Speaking
of Schools in the Early Days," by Mrs. A. D. Hull; "Early Day
Reminiscences of Scott City," by E. E. Coffin; "George Norman's
Trip to Kansas"; "High School Graduates," 1904-1937; "An Ode
to the Old [Pioneer Sales] Barn"; "City Officers, 1887 to 1937";
"First Couple Married in Scott County"; "Scott County State
Park"; "[J. C. Starr] Pioneer Publisher of Scott Newspapers";
"Irrigation From Under Flow Water Is Profitable"; "Oil Is Becom-
ing One of Scott County's Industries," and "Officers of Scott County,
1886-1937." The city's newspaper, church and school histories were
briefly reviewed in other articles.
The history of the Parsons' stockyards, founded five years ago,
was sketched in the Parsons Sun, June 25, 1937.
J. E. Games' reminiscences of North Topeka were recorded by
Joe Lovewell in the Topeka Daily Capital, June 27, 1937. Mr.
Gaines arrived in Topeka in 1882.
Excerpts from Col. Asa Kinney's diary relating incidents in early
Russell county were printed in Judge J. C. Ruppenthal's "Russell
Rustlings" in the Paradise Farmer, June 28, July 5 and 26, 1937.
Adventures of "Bob Ridley," whose real name was Robert Sewell,
were recalled by George J. Remsburg in the Pony Express Courier,
332 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of Placerville, Cal., in the July, 1937, issue. Mr. Sewell drove a
stage in northeastern Kansas for several years.
"Osage Mission, a Factor in the Making of Kansas," was the
title of a fifteen-page article by Sister Mary Paul Fitzgerald ap-
pearing in the July, 1937, issue of Mid- America, of Chicago. Osage
mission, located near the present site of St. Paul, was established
among the Osage Indian tribe by the Jesuit Fathers in 1847.
The fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of Belleville as a
city of the second class, Independence day, and the dedication of a
new recreation center were celebrated by Belleville's citizens with
special programs held July 3, 4, and 5, 1937. The Belleville Tele-
scope issued a twenty-eight page "Golden Jubilee Edition," July 1.
Historical articles featured included: "John Bowersox, 94, Is Last
of Original Settlers in County"; "Lists Officials Fifty Years Ago";
"Telephones Used in City for 39 Years"; "[Daniel and Conrad
Myers] First White Settlers in Republic County"; "First Train
Came to City in 1884"; "Postoffice at Seapo Was First in County";
"Story of Development of Belleville's Water Supply"; "History of
County Relates Struggles for Civic Growth"; "Activities of C. of C.
Grow Every Year"; "[John Kalivoda] Early-day Settler Tells Ex-
periences in Republic County"; "Migratory 'Hoppers Swarmed the
County in Clouds in 1874"; "N. C. K. Free Fair Leads Early His-
tory of State"; "Tells History of Catholic Church in Republic
County," by Father James McKenna; "Muster John Brown Post,
G. A. R., in 1882," by Mrs. W. H. Fulcomer and Mrs. J. H. Rost;
"In a Reminiscent Mood," by A. Q. Miller, and a story relating the
pioneering experiences of E. D. Haney. Early Belleville and Sibley
history as prepared for the celebration by Lillian Forrest, of Jewell,
was printed in the Topeka State Journal, July 5.
A chart revealing the subsurface paths and points of outcrop of
many important oil-producing strata in Kansas was a feature of the
120-page Wichita Beacon, July 4, 1937. The edition marked the
ninth anniversary of the taking over of the newspaper by the pres-
ent publishers, Max, Louis and John Levand.
Several pictures of the run into the Cherokee outlet in 1893 ac-
companying a brief story of the event were printed in the Wichita
Sunday Eagle, July 4, 1937.
Clay Center's street cars of the 1880 boom days were recalled in
a Kansas City (Mo.) Star feature article July 7, 1937.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS
Potter's early history was briefly sketched by George J. Rems-
burg in the Potter Kansan, July 8, 1937. The town was platted
July 21, 1887, as Bennett Springs.
Inman held an all-day celebration July 16, 1937, observing the
fiftieth anniversary of its founding. The Inman Review issued a
twenty-page illustrated anniversary edition July 9. Titles and au-
thors of the feature stories were: "Threshing Machine Days Were
the Happy Days," "G. A. R.," "The Milling Industry," and "Civic
Improvements," by Mrs. Harry Enns; "Erection and Dedication of
New High School Building," by T. Elvis Prather; "Livery Stables,
Hotels and Garages," by Lillian Meyer; "Word From the First Ed-
itor of the Review" by L. C. Heim; "Inman and Its Government
Affairs From Fifty Years Ago to the Present Time"; "History of
the High School," by Mrs. Fred Schultis and Minnie Hahn; "In-
man Grade School," by Mrs. H. H. Wilson and Minna Bartels;
"Musical Organizations," by Mrs. F. W. Baerg; "Zoar Academy and
Bible School," by J. H. Klassen; "Municipal Cemetery," by Mrs.
A. Bartels; "Grasshoppers, Drought, Fires and Wind," by Mrs. Alva
Postier; "Post Office," by Mrs. A. W. Balzer; "Transportation To-
day," by Mrs. R. R. Hargis; "Inman Newspapers," by Mrs. Aron
Dick; "Organizations," by Mrs. Vandegraft; "Industries," by Mrs.
O. W. Lennen; "Lodges," and "Inman Sports," by Leona Achilles;
"Churches, Church Organizations," and "Mennonite Missionary So-
ciety," by Mrs. C. F. Hoefer; "Origin and Story of the Inman Men-
nonite Church," by H. F. Reimer; "Gospel Mission," by the Rev.
J. P. Balzer; "Physicians of Inman," by Mrs. J. W. Johnson. Rem-
iniscent articles by Leon 0. Depp, P. G. Kroeker, Dr. F. W. Tret-
bar, Mrs. Foster Cline and C. M. Enns, were also printed.
Harper county rural school teachers for 1937-1938 were named
in the Anthony Times, July 12, 1937.
John G. Ellenbecker told why he believed Coronado came to pres-
ent Marshall county in an article in the Marshall County News, of
Marysville, July 15, 1937.
A history of School District No. 50 and Waldo High School, by
Juanita O'Neill, was printed in the Waldo Advocate, July 19, 1937.
The school district originated in 1883.
Utica observed its fiftieth birthday at a celebration held on July
19 to 21, 1937. Pioneers settling in the Utica vicinity before 1890
who registered at the gathering were named in the Utica Star-
Courier, July 22.
334 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Stories reviewing the development of Kansas' road system and oil
industry were features of the Wichita Eagle's sixty-fifth anniversary
edition July 25, 1937.
A sail-driven wagon built in Westport, Mo., in 1853, was described
by Sam Smith in the Kansas City (Mo.) Star, July 25, 1937.
Pillsbury Drive, a new viaduct over southeastern Manhattan and
the Kansas river, was dedicated July 29, 1937. The drive was
named for Josiah Hobart Pillsbury, early Manhattan newspaper
man, surveyor, postmaster, engineer and farmer. Brief historical
sketches of communities near Manhattan appeared in special sec-
tions of the Manhattan Mercury, July 27, and The Morning Chron-
icle, July 28. A two-column biography of Mr. Pillsbury was printed
in the Manhattan News, July 29.
Life in early Sedgwick county was discussed by Mrs. Moses Jay,
pioneer, in the Wichita (Evening) Eagle, July 28, 1937.
Notes on the history of Downs schools as gleaned from the official
school record books are being published in the Downs News, start-
ing with the issue of July 29, 1937.
Outstanding flour mills in Kansas' early history were discussed in
a Kansas City (Mo.) Times feature article July 29, 1937.
"Speaking of Kansas," a 48-page illustrated article by Frederick
Simpich, was featured in the August, 1937, issue of The National
Geographic Magazine, published by the National Geographic Soci-
ety, of Washington, D. C. Mr. Simpich touched upon interesting
phases of Kansas' history from Coronado to the western Kansas
rabbit drives of the past few years while he wove into his story
mention of Kansas' important position in the nation through its
crops, oil and industrial developments.
The history of Protection was reviewed by Lester W. Bogner in
the Wichita Sunday Eagle, August 1, 1937. The city was established
in 1884.
White Cloud's founding was briefly discussed by Tom Dickinson
in the Kansas City (Mo.) Journal-Post, August 1, 1937.
The history of St. Patrick's parish, which celebrated the seventy-
fifth anniversary of its founding August 4, 1937, was recounted in
the Atchison Daily Globe, August 4. The church is located eight
miles south of Atchison.
Kansas Historical Notes
Pictures of John S. Gilmore, publisher of the Wilson County Citi-
zen of Fredonia until his death in 1913, and Thomas Benton Mur-
dock, publisher of the El Dorado Republican, who died in 1910, were
recently unveiled in the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame room at
the University of Kansas. For names of the thirteen other Kansas
newspaper men who have been nominated to this honor see The
Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. V, p. 336.
Celebrating the anniversary of the founding of Wellington, April
2, the Wellington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion displayed its excellent historical collection, assembled during the
past few years, in the Wellington City Library, April 1 to 3, 1937.
The collection includes books, manuscripts, pictures, souvenirs, maps
and atlases dealing with Wellington and Sumner county.
"The Pony Express," is the title of an eight-page pamphlet issued
recently by John G. Ellenbecker, of Marysville. Mr. Ellenbecker
has done considerable research on the Pony Express during the past
several years, and has been a frequent contributor to the Marshall
County News.
Col. Charles H. Browne, of Horton, was the featured speaker at
the annual picnic meeting of the Riley County Historical Society in
the Manhattan city park, June 9, 1937.
A memorial to Gen. Leonard Wood, commanding officer of Camp
Funston during the World War, was dedicated at services at the
camp June 20, 1937. A bronze plaque commemorating General
Wood's service was placed on a restored chimney at the site of the
cottage he occupied during the war. The fireplace, chimney and
foundation of the house have been restored, and a flight of steps has
been constructed up the hillside from Highway No. 40. The Man-
hattan American Legion post sponsored the memorial plans.
History of the Great Plains region is being recorded in mimeo-
graphed bulletins issued occasionally by the Minnequa Historical
Society of Pueblo, Colo. Several Kansas pioneers have contributed
their reminiscences to the publication, which is edited by Thomas
P. Wilson, of Pueblo, secretary of the society.
A Check List of Manuscripts in the Edward E. Ayer Collection is
the title of a recent book compiled by Dr. Ruth Lapham Butler and
(335)
336 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
printed by the Newberry Library of Chicago, custodian of the manu-
scripts. Mr. Ayer began his collections about fifty years ago with
the intention of specializing on the archaeology and ethnology of
the American Indian. From this, which involved many phases of
exploration, colonial and frontier history, he expanded his interests
to include such marginal subjects as pre-Columbian geography and
the development of the cartography of America. The Check List will
be of considerable help to students of American history who con-
template research in these fields.
The 791-page volume, American Newspapers, 1821-1936, a Union
List of Files Available in the United States and Canada, was pub-
lished late in the spring after three years of intensive work on the
part of Miss Winifred Gregory, the editor, and her staff. The book
presents, in a geographical arrangement of places of publication,
files of newspapers found in the libraries of the United States and
Canada, and as far as possible, those preserved in county court-
houses, in newspaper offices and in private collections.
The Kansas section occupies forty-four of the 791 pages. It lo-
cates newspaper collections in seventy-two places in the state. Since
the publication of the Kansas State Historical Society's History of
Kansas Newspapers in 1916 the Society has not had available a pub-
lished list showing its accessions from that time. The new book, for
which the Society's newspaper division contributed many hours'
work in the revision of its lists, not only carries over the important
items of the 1916 History but continues the record of accessions up
to 1936.
Research students who depend upon newspaper files for reference
should find the painstakingly and for the most part accurately
compiled list of inestimable value. It is to be regretted however
that the editors did not lean backwards far enough in their definition
of a newspaper to pick up some of the publications in that narrow
field between newspapers and periodicals, publications which we
know from experience to be in as much demand as bona fide news-
papers. Organs of labor unions, religious denominations, fraternal
lodges, trench, camp and ship's publications were not included. It
is hoped that these publications may be listed in future works.
THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
Volume VI Number 4
November, 1937
PRINTED BY KANSAS STATE PRINTING PLANT
W. C. AUSTIN. STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA 1937
17-1991
Contributors
MARTHA B. CALDWELL is a member of the staff of the Kansas State His-
torical Society.
MAHLON BAILEY, 1835-1893, was a pioneer Kansas physician and banker.
For a brief biography see page 379.
MRS. HORTENSB B. C. GIBSON, of Wichita, was reference librarian at the
Wichita City Library from September, 1929, to July, 1937.
NOTE. Articles in the Quarterly appear in chronological order without re-
gard to their importance.
The Southern Kansas Boundary
Survey
From the Journal of Hugh Campbell, Astronomical Computer
EDITED BY MARTHA B. CALDWELL
I. INTRODUCTION
A CCOUNTS of the survey of the southern boundary of Kansas 1
*\. have been preserved in the letters and journals of at least four
members of the expedition. The journal of Joseph E. Johnston,
commander, published in The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 1, pp.
104-139, was copied from the original deposited by relatives with the
library of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Eugene
Bandel, private of the Sixth infantry, recorded his impressions in let-
ters and journal, edited by Dr. Ralph P. Bieber, of Washington Uni-
versity, St. Louis, and printed in his Southwest Historical Series, v.
2. The accounts of John H. Clark, astronomer, and his principal as-
sistant, Hugh Campbell, were located by Doctor Bieber in the War
Department records. Doctor Bieber's photostat copy of the Camp-
bell journal was lent to the Kansas State Historical Society for pub-
lication.
The astronomical party, consisting of John H. Clark, Hugh Camp-
bell, and three assistants, set out from St. Louis, April 29, 1857.
Traveling southwest "by way of the state road" they arrived at the
western boundary of Missouri fifteen days later and located their
camp on the Quapaw reserve just west of the Missouri line. For
two weeks they remained in that region, attempting to establish the
place where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude intersects
the western boundary of Missouri. The densely wooded area and
the frequent rains greatly hindered their observations. Further-
more, the western boundary of Missouri was marked "by blazing
trees on a breadth of from ten to twenty feet," 2 thus making it diffi-
cult to fix the "initial point accurately with reference to it." 3 So it
was not until May 29 that they had located their position satis-
factorily.
On May 31 the party struck camp and proceeded to the camp of
the military escort near Baxter Springs. The command then began
1. For the preliminary history leading to the survey see Joseph E. Johnston's "Surveying
the Southern Boundary Line of Kansas," edited by Nyle H. Miller, The Kansas Historical
Quarterly, v. 1, pp. 104-139.
2. Johnston's "Journal," May 30, op. cit.
3. Ibid.
(339)
340 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
its travel west along the thirty-seventh parallel. For over three
months the group continued its journey. The astronomical party,
moving in advance of the surveyors, established, in all, eleven ob-
servation stations along the 463-mile boundary line.
The astronomers "finished operations at the terminal point," Sep-
tember 10, and on the following day Johnston, in obedience to addi-
tional instructions, 4 proceeded to the southwest to reconnoiter for a
railroad route. Near Rabbit Ear mountain in New Mexico the ex-
pedition turned east, traveling along the North Fork of the Ca-
nadian river. After a fourteen days' march in this direction, John-
ston divided the command. He with a detachment of cavalry, pro-
ceeded south to the Canadian river, and the remainder, including the
astronomers, continued eastward, under Captain Wood, arriving at
the initial point in southeast Kansas on October 25. Two weeks
later the expedition, again united, set out for Fort Leavenworth.
Much controversy has developed over the original survey. Re-
ports by subsequent surveyors that an error had been made in the
southeast corner of Kansas were, according to Dolph Shaner, of
Joplin, Mo., confirmed by the Geographical Survey. 5 In a letter
to him the director stated that the thirty-seventh parallel of north
latitude intersected the western boundary of Missouri approximately
480 feet north of the southern boundary of Kansas. The error was
of importance when ore veins were developed along the state line.
However, a letter from the Department of Interior settled all con-
troversy by asserting that the survey made by Col. Joseph E. John-
ston "forms the true boundary line between Oklahoma and Kansas,"
and that "The public land survey recognized this line as limiting the
jurisdiction in the respective states, and its relation to the true 37th
parallel does not enter into consideration in connection therewith." 6
Recently a movement has been under way to erect a monument at
the southeast corner of Kansas to commemorate this expedition.
Progress to the extent of surveying and locating the exact corner has
been made.
The diary of Hugh Campbell covers the period from his starting
at St. Louis, April 29, 1857, to his return to Fort Leavenworth, No-
vember 15, of the same year.
4. A letter from John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, directed him to ascertain the most
practicable route for a railroad from the initial point of the boundary of Kansas to the Rio
Grande. House Ex. Docs., 35 Cong., 1 sess.
5. Dolph Shaner to Kansas State Historical Society, March 7, 10, 1933.
6. Thomas C. Howell, assistant commissioner of the General Land office, to R. J. Tuthill,
auditor, Commerce Mining & Royalty Company, Miami, Okla., July 2, 1926. Copy.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 341
II. ST. Louis TO INITIAL POINT ON WESTERN BOUNDARY OF MISSOURI
April 29, 1857. Started from St. Louis to commence operations
for the survey and demarcation of the southern boundary of Kansas.
Met with Col. J. Johnston, 1st cavalry, under whose direction the
work is to be carried on. The following is the organization: John
H. Clark principal assistant. Hugh Campbell asst. & John E. Weyss
surveyor.
Mr. Clark and myself go in advance, in order to establish the
initial point (37 North lat.) before the arrival of the surveyor. The
party with which Mr. Clark sets out consists of 1 wagon, 1 ambu-
lance and 5 men all told. We marched about 5 l / 2 miles from the
suburbs of the city and encamped on a creek near the line of Pacific
railroad. Estimated, 5% miles.
April 30th. Started about 7 a. m. and marched over a Macadam-
ised road until 2 p. m. when we encamped. Today for the first time
this spring, I have seen the Peach tree in blossom. The country
through which we passed is very fertile, well fenced and cultivated.
To give an idea to what extent the spirit of speculation has gone.
A gentleman told Mr. Clark last night, "that he had sold some land
at $800 per acre," & "that prices varied between five and eight
hundred dollars." This point was distant between five and six
miles from St. Louis.
The only town of any importance passed today was Manchester,
consisting of about 2 doz. buildings, mostly taverns. I noticed one
Medical gentleman's office (a small log cabin.) Estimated 28 miles.
May 1st. Started at 6 a. m. and travelled until 4h -15m p. m.
when we encamped on the left bank of the river Merrimac.
The road over which we marched today, has been exceedingly
rough, having many difficult ascents and descents. The country is
thickly timbered with Black Jack on the heights, and a heavy
growth of white oak in the deep valleys. In many of these valleys
we passed some beautiful farms with fine dwellings. As a general
thing I have seen but few Negro hands employed in the fields.
Today we crossed the Pacific road. The Merrimac is a beautiful
stream clear and swift, its banks at some points are high and covered
with a growth of Cottonwood, oak, &c. Estimated about 30 miles.
May 2. Morning, cold, cloudy and raining, at 7% a. m. we crossed
the Merrimac, from last night's camping ground and continued until
3h-2m p. m. when we encamped.
The greater portion of the country through which we travelled to
day, is very poor. The timber consists of a low growth of scrubby
342 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
oak, fit for no other purpose than fence rails. Passed a branch of
the Pacific R. R. to Springfield where the hands were at work.
About 24 miles.
May 3. Started at 7 a. m. and marched until 3 p. m. when we en-
camped at Bush creek.
The character of the country through which we passed is sterile,
there is but little timber and that of an inferior quality. We are
much annoyed by poor and ravenous hogs stealing corn from our
mules and otherwise disturbing us &c. About 24 miles.
May 4th. Started from camp at 7 a. m. and marched until 4^/2
p. m. when we encamped on Beaver creek.
To day the country affords quite a relief. Passing high ridges we
could in some instances see for several miles. Crossed two prairies,
between 5 or 6 miles in width, which appeared to be very fertile.
The principal occupation of farmers in these regions seems to be
stock raising.
Seated at present on an eminence at the ford of Beaver creek, I
have a full view of the surrounding country. Beneath is the valley
of this beautiful mountain stream, dotted in spots by fields of lux-
uriant wheat and oats, when the surrounding heights are well tim-
bered and that of a superior quality to what we have hitherto seen,
being much straighter and more free from knots, rendering it suitable
for R. R. ties.
The water during our march was rather scarce, being mostly sup-
plied from wells and springs near the road. Crossed the surveyed
track of the Pacific R. R. (Branch to Springfield.) About 28 miles.
May 5th. Started at 7 a. m. and marched until 1 p. m. when we
encamped on the left bank of a clear mountain stream called the
Big Peine. 7
To day our road lay through a succession of beautiful, well watered
and fertile valleys, of which that of the little Peine [Piney] was by
far the most interesting, being well timbered with white oak and
cottonwood of a superior size. About 18 miles.
May 6th. Started from Camp on big Peine at 6% a.m. and
marched until 4 p. m. when we encamped on the left bank of the
Gasconade river.
We have now passed the following counties viz. St. Louis, Franklin,
Crawford, Pulaski and Le Clede in which we are now travelling.
Forded a river at Weens ville [Waynesville] (County seat of Pul-
aski.) the name of which I could not ascertain. Passed over some
7. Piney Fork, a tributary of the Gasconade river.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 343
very rich bottom lands, where I saw wheat between 4 and 5 inches
long.
The valley of the Gasconade is very fertile, and well timbered
with oak, cottonwood, &c. The river is about 100 yards wide, very
clear and rapid. About 33 miles.
May 7th. Started this morning from camp on the Gasconade
river at 7 A. M. and marched to 4 p. m. when we encamped.
The country through which we passed is fertile some places, in
others very poor. We endeavoured at several places to purchase
eggs to no purpose. The people of the mountainous districts are
particularly poor. They live in low log cabins and appear in want
of many necessaries of life. Passed through Lebanon the county seat
of LeClede. It consists of two or three small groceries, a court
house without windows, and a jail. About 26 miles.
May 8th. Started this morning at 7 a. m. and marched to 3 p. m.
when we encamped on the left bank of a small stream.
To day we have travelled in Webster county. The country here
presents a better appearance than most of the preceding counties.
We are now about 14 miles from Springfield. About 26 miles.
May 9th. Started at 6% A. M. and marched until noon when we
encamped on a small stream, about 1 mile west of Springfield
through which we passed. About 15 miles.
May 10th. Started from camp 1 mile from Springfield at 6 a. m.
and travelled until 4h-21m p. m. when we encamped near a house on
an open prairie.
The morning was very cold and disagreeable feeling more like a
January than a May morning. At noon we halted one hour to graize,
when the day became quite warm, toward evening it clouded up and
we encamped in a heavy rain.
The country through which we passed to day is generally better
suited for farming purposes than any we have passed over for the last
few days. It consists chiefly of open prairies covered with numerous
and well cultivated farms. These prairies are intersected with clear
and cool streams of water, besides large springs are frequently met
with. Those facilities combined with that of good grass and ex-
cellent soil renders it a desirable location. I noticed great numbers
of prairie chickens. In some instances we drove flocks of them in
advance of us on the road. They appear much larger than those I
have seen in Texas.
I have just learned that very extensive lead mines have been dis-
covered in this vicinity, which will prove very productive as soon
344 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
as proper means of transportation can be procured to bring that min-
eral to market. I have also learned that congestive chills and fevers
are raging with fatal effect in many instances, particularly in the lo-
cality where the lead mines are worked. About 30 miles.
May llth. Last night we experienced a severe storm of wind,
thunder and rain which continued the greater part of the night.
Started at 8% a. m. and marched until 3% P- ni. when we encamped.
Our march to day was over a rolling prairie, the Eastern terminus
of the great Buffalo plains. The soil is quite fertile. The country
as far as the eye can see is studded with scattering farms. Fine
streams of water are met at short and convenient distances. The
uncultivated portions are covered with herds of mules, horses &c.
Belts of timber are stretching out in all directions along the banks of
rivers and creeks, suitable for fencing or building. All that is wanted
is a Railroad to carry the produce to market, to make this a flour-
ishing agricultural region. Passed the town of Mount Vernon which
has about 300 or 400 inhabitants.
We encamped on the bank of a fine stream near a flour mill a
little East from a small village called Sarcoxe. About 21 miles.
May 12th. Last night we came nigh having a serious accident in
a stampede of our animals. The six wagon mules becoming
frightened broke loose from the wagon tongue, all being fastened to
the trough which they dragged along until becoming entangled in the
bushes, we succeeded in capturing them.
We marched for the most part over a rolling prairie extending in
every direction for several miles when we arrived at a considerable
stream called Shoal creek where we encamped. Passed a mill at the
ford where they refused to sell us bran for our animals. 8
We are now in Newton county having passed through Webster,
Green [and Lawrence.] About 25 miles.
May 13th. Marched to day about 3 miles which brought us to
Grand falls where we encamped, for the purpose of reconnoitering
with the sextant to find the parallel of 37 North latitude. We
pitched our camp near the residence of a Mr. Scott, who has a store
and a fine flour mill. The different falls on shoal creek afford ex-
cellent water power.
May 14th. Last night Mr. Clark observed (at Camp near Scott's
mill) for time and Lat. We found Grand falls about 2 miles North.
Struck camp and travelled in a south west direction, about 7 miles,
where we found the west boundary, of Missouri, a little west of
8. Probably the mill of J. S. Reding near Shoalsburg, Newton county, Missouri.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 345
which we encamped with a view of further reconnoitering. We are
now encamped on what is called the Quawpaw reserve. The west
boundary of Mo. is marked by blaizes on trees, and is very indis-
tinct.
May 15th. Mr. Clark observed last night. I computed and
found our Camp in 36 59' 30". Moved farther East in order to get
a clearer space for a meridian line, the country in the vicinity being
densely wooded. Should the lands along the line continue the same,
I do not believe we will be able to get farther than the Arkansas
river this summer. We are still in the Quawpaw nation, having fixed
our permanent camp for establishing the 1st meridian, near a log hut
owned by a Delaware Indian named Jim, and about 150 feet west of
the Missouri boundary.
May 16th. To day put down log, on which to mount instrument,
it was found too small for Transit Inst, but sufficiently large for
zenith telescope which Mr. Clark mounted. The observing tent was
then pitched over it. This is merely a large wall tent having an aper-
ture of about 1% feet extending from one wall to the other, through
which the Inst is pointed. Mules wandered off, up to 2 p. m. nothing
heard of them. This evening near sunset 4 were recovered. 7 still
missing.
May 17th. Last night very stormy, rain and thunder accompanied
with high wind. It has continued so through the whole day. Occa-
sionally we have a shower of sleet. Weather excessive cold. Mr.
Clark and myself collected wood and built a large fire in front of
our sleeping tent which we found to be very comfortable. To day
the seven missing mules were recovered.
As yet we have not been able to make any observations.
May 18th. Morning clear with rather a cool breeze, but appar-
ently more favorable for our operations.
Mr. Clark permanently fixed observing tent, mounted and levelled
zenith telescope, observed for time and placed this inst. in the me-
ridian approx.
May 19th. Day clear and warm but toward noon it clouded up. I
computed sext obs for time.
Mr. Clark adjusted zenith telescope in verticality, by observing
the Polar star direct, and the reflected image in a basin of Quick sil-
ver. Night so cloudy we have not been able to operate farther.
May 20th. Morning cloudy and hazy, bad prospects for hasten-
ing the work.
346 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
May 21st. Day clear and warm. Major Dorin (Indian agent) 9
and Mr. Scott visited us. Observed for Lat until 1% a. m.
May 22. I was engaged to day in computing Lats one result
places about % of a mile south of the Initial point, or parallel of
37 North Lat.
May 23. Observed last night from sun set, to dawn for Lat, and
value of micrometer screw which we did not succeed to obtain ac-
curately.
The morning clear and warm, toward noon it clouded up and a
heavy rain set in. No prospects for our being able to observe to
night.
May 24th. We were employed to day computing the observa-
tions previously made, which gave rather unsatisfactory results.
This evening a courier arrived at our camp, with the informa-
tion, that the surveying party had come up and was encamped south
of us.
Evening cloudy, showing indications of rain. Barometer falling.
No prospect of observations. At 2 a. m. observed elongations of
Polaris for values of micrometer screw, which was found to be
"6609" for one division.
May 25th. Last night we were visited by a severe storm of rain,
thunder, &c. Mr. Clark remained over night at Mr. Weyss Camp,
May 26th. Last night observed and to day computed the Lat of
our camp which we found to be 36 59' 09", distance of observatory
south of parallel of 37 5157.63 feet.
May 27th. Employed all last night in observing for Latitude. Mr.
Weyss cleared out North to the parallel about 6 yards wide.
Day, cloudy, thunder, wind and rain.
May 28th. Last night made obs. for lat. Early in the evening
we experienced severe storm of thunder, hail, rain &c. afterwards it
cleared up.
Col. Johnston 10 arrived at our camp and dined with us. His com-
mand of about five hundred men is encamped seven miles East
[west?] 11 The Colonel informs us that he has received orders from
the Secretary of War, to make a reconnaissance for a Pacific rail-
road wherefore he intends to return by the valley of the Canadian.
May 29th. Observed all night from sun set to sun rise with zenith
telescope for Lat, and Brunner theodolite on Elongation (Eastern)
9. Maj. Andrew J. Dorn was agent at the Neosho agency from 1853 to 1860. Dorn
county (the present Neosho and Labette counties) was originally named for Major Dorn.
10. For biographical sketch of Colonel Johnston, see Johnston, "Journal," op. cit., p. 106,
footnote.
11. Ibid., entry for May 28, 1857.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 347
of Polaris for the true meridian. Error of signal lamp from true
meridian 2' 16" west of North. Latitude furnished to Mr. Weyss
36 59' 08.87. On this he will prolong the meridian to the 37th
parallel, on which he determines the Prime Vertical.
May 30th. Last night cloudy, raining &c. It appears to rain here
almost every other day. Owing to this state of the weather, I had
the comfort of a good night's sleep. "Want of sleep is the only
bane of Astronomy."
The Indian reservation on which we carried on operations in lay-
ing off this first meridian, is owned by a tribe called Quawpaws
who are almost extinct. The region in the immediate vicinity of our
encampment is rather sterile, for agricultural purposes, except in the
valleys of creeks or rivers. The country is rolling and covered with
timber principally Black jack on the elevations distant from the
streams, but near the rivers, oak, ash, and Cottonwoods of a superior
quality are met with.
III. ALONG THE KANSAS BOUNDARY
May 31st. Struck camp and marched seven miles west, which
brought us to the Camp of Colonel Johnston on the left bank of
Spring river, where emerging from the timber for the first time we
came in full view of an open rolling prairie extending north, south
and west as far as the eye can see. After striking the valley of this
river I noticed several Indian farms, having neatly fenced fields of
oats, wheat and corn. They also plant cabbage, turnips &c. The
soil in this portion of the valley is very fertile. The timber on the
banks of Spring river consists chiefly of oak, cottonwood & ash with
a heavy undergrowth in many places. The grass and general vegeta-
tion on the prairie west is now between 6 and 8 inches long present-
ing rich verdure, and luxuriance. The military command under
Colonel Johnston consists of four companies of cavalry two com-
panies of infantry and two mountain howitzers. The train number,
between 80 and 100 wagons. Distance from the Initial point 7
miles.
June 1st. Mr. Clark established observatory and adjusted instru-
ment in the meridian. 12
June 2. Last night Mr. Clark made a good set of observations
for Latitude. We found ourselves about 30" North of the parallel.
Morning clear and pleasant. We also had sextant observations for
time. The dew was so heavy, that we found it necessary in observ-
12. Observatory station was set up about one half mile south of present Baxter Springs.
348 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ing to be continually wiping the object glass in zenith telescope and
the covering of the artl. horizon of the sextant.
June 3. Last night clear and pleasant, observed for Lat. until
after 1 a. m., result obtained 37 00' 31".67.
This morning at 8 a. m. we were entertained with a cavalry drill,
four companies deployed out from camp, over the neighbouring
heights making a magnificent display.
June 4th. Last night so cloudy we were not able to make further
observations.
June 5th. Last night succeeded in making a few observations
among the flying clouds to determine the lat and true meridian.
Distance measured from observatory to Parallel 3180.5 feet. (Lat of
sta. 37 00' 31".67.)
I was informed during our operations at this camp, that on cow
creek about 25 miles North and Shwanee creek 30 miles North, both
tributaries of Spring river, excellent coal was taken up from the
beds of these streams, indicating extensive fields of this fuel in their
vicinity.
June 6. Struck camp and moved west over the beautiful and
fertile prairie above mentioned. Crossed several small streams of
which the most remarkable is Tar creek, from whence that substance
is taken for use by the settlers. A march of 20 miles brought us on
the right bank of the Neocho [sic] river which we forded and pro-
ceeding about 4 miles further in a North west direction, encamped on
a small tributary.
The Neocho is between 80 and 100 yards in width and rather
muddy like most prairie streams, it is rapid and has a mean depth at
this ford of 2% feet. The east bank at this point is high, and ex-
hibits the various stratas composing the prairie which we crossed,
between it, and spring river. The lowest strata, or that, on a level
with low water, is slate, underneath which, I have been informed by
reliable authority is found coal. It is a crooked stream forming a
valley, at each curve of its meanderings, between four and five miles
in width. This valley contains rich alluvial soil covered with rank
vegetation between three and four feet high. It is well timbered
principally with oak, ash and black walnut, of a superior quality and
great size. Getting out from this timber, the open prairie is again
seen extending west, with slight belts of wood indicating the courses
of small streams. Some scattering Indian farms are met with. The
few settlers are engaged principally in planting corn. Distance
travelled 25 miles.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 349
June 7th. Marched south about one mile and encamped on Rus-
sell creek on which was established the 3rd meridian. 13 The soil
in the vicinity of this creek is fertile and the graizing excellent,
a narrow strip of timber marks its course as far as the eye can see.
This timber consists chiefly of cottonwood and oak of a rather di-
minutive growth. On its immediate banks I found numbers of wild
rose bushes in bloom. I have been informed by Mr. Childers a
settler near the crossing of the Neocho, that in a south west direction
from our present camp, coal is abundant. This statement was
corroborated by other settlers, who further represented, that on Fly
creek which empties into the Neocho a little south of the ford, and
in fact most of the tributaries of that river, this fuel is commonly
found.
We were continually visited at this camp by rain and thunder
storms. During the night of the 8th and morning of the 9th of June
we experienced the most severe one, I have yet seen in those regions.
Mr. Clark and myself were obliged to escape from the covered ambu-
lance in which we slept, and seek refuge in the observing tent, even
there the rain beat through heavy marine duck, completely saturating
our bedding and personal clothing. Peal after Peal of thunder con-
tinued from midnight until near 3 a. m. The whole surface of the
prairie stretching out toward the Neocho river and the strip on
Russel's creek, appeared illuminated at intervals, with a yellow
light. During this time sulphurous fumes were sensibly felt by the
whole party.
The Neocho river is now so much swollen, with the recent rains
as to render it impassible to the surveying party on the east bank.
For some days previous, I had been annoyed with rhumatism
slightly, but now I am completely prostrated. I can scarcely stoop
to the basin to wash my face. There is a sudden rise in the Bar to
day.
June 10th. Last night we were again visited as usual by another
rain and thunder storm, but not quite so severe as that of the night
of the 8th and morning of the 9th. To day it is clear and cool. As
yet we have not had a chance to make further observations for Lat.
June 11. Day clear and warm. Continued obs. during the greater
part of the night, for Lat and true meridian.
June 12th. Last night Mr. Clark succeeded in getting a full set of
observations for latitude and true meridian. Took down observing
tent and Instrument, packed up for camp on the Verdigree river.
13. The third observatory station was located about three and one half miles south of
the present town of Chetopa.
350 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Lat of astronomical station on RusseFs creek where we left the post
or log, in the ground on which the Inst was mounted, 36 59' 31". 3.
Day cloudy with a strong breeze from the southwest.
June 13th. At 9 a. m. struck camp and marched over an open
rolling prairie about 21 miles and encamped, at a point known as
Camp Snow, on a sluggish prairie stream. The timber consists of a
few scattering bushes of cottonwood and hickory. Here we found
the main body of the cavalry encamped about four miles farther
down the stream.
The prairie over which we accomplished this day's march is very
fertile, as indicated by the luxuriant growth of vegetation. Patches
of flowers (some over an acre in extent) of a deep scarlet color, are
interspersed over the elevations. On the lower grounds, and in
marshy localities, great quantities of wild garlic grow. Distance 21
miles.
June 14th. Marched about 8 miles over a small elevation, when
we arrived at and crossed Labet creek 14 a small stream close to the
Verdigree river. The timber on this creek consists of cottonwood
and post oak of a diminutive growth. Graizing good. Encamped
on the Verdigree river. The course of this stream is discernible at
a considerable distance in consequence of its being marked by an
extensive belt of timber, which consists of oak, ash, cottonwood, and
black walnut, some of these, particularly the latter, is of very large
dimensions. A very rank growth of vegetation is everywhere to be
seen in this valley.
June 15th. Struck camp in a heavy rain, and crossed the river.
Marched about 4 miles over a delta formed by the junction of the
Verdigree and one of its tributaries called Pumpkin creek [Onion
creek?] on which we encamped. This creek is well timbered, with
the same. quality which is found on the Verdigree river. The soil
in the delta is very fertile, and covered with luxuriant vegetation.
To our north and in view of Camp are situated the villages, of
the Osage Indians, which are now deserted, as they (Indians) have
gone on their summer campaign to hunt the buffalo, beyond (west of)
the Arkansas river. These habitations consist of frame work, covered
with canvas or hides, which covering they remove before leaving
them. At this point they receive their annuities from the agent.
June 16th. Remained encamped to day in order to reconnoiter for
a crossing.
Last night experienced heavy rain, morning cloudy and haizy,
14. The description fits that of present Pumpkin creek.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 351
toward noon the day cleared off with a strong S.west breeze. There
are two peculiarities in the Meteorological character of this country
in the summer. First. Rain does not cool the atmosphere, as the
heat is very oppressive, before, during, and after heavy showers.
Second. Rain does not clear off the sky, as it often rains for days,
and is cloudy in many instances for the same number of days after-
wards.
June 17. Moved in a south west direction about three miles, and
made arrangements to establish the fourth meridian. 15 After cross-
ing Pumpkin Creek we found ourselves ascending beautiful heights
or uplands covered with the most luxuriant grass and other vegeta-
tion, particularly flowers of various colors. As the ascent continues,
little specks of timber can be seen in all directions, the growth be-
coming more dense toward the Verdigree and its tributaries. The
grass in our present vicinity is of a superior quality, to that hitherto
met with, being much finer, and consequently better liked by the
animals. The view to the S. W. still displays numbers of small
streams flowing toward the Verdigree, on some of these I found great
numbers of wild rose bushes. We had less rain and a much clearer
sky, than at any of the previous camps.
June 18th. Last night obtained a good set of observations from
which we found our astl. station about 19" or 20" north of the par-
allel.
This evening the Honl. Mr. Phelps 16 of Mo. and Mr. Eno 17 of New
York arrived in our camp. Colonel Johnston and Captain Garnett
came up with the remainder of the command, and encamped close
to us.
June 19th. Mr. Phelps and Mr. Eno have concluded to remain in
our mess. The former gentleman gave the first information of a
riot in Washington, D. C. at the municipal election. 18
June 20th. Last night cloudy and stormy, Colonel Johnston
wishes the lat. obs. repeated another night. Mr. Weyss (surveyor)
arrived. Distance measured from Initial point to 4th meridian
57% miles. 19 He (Mr. Weyss) lost a man named James Field who
was drowned in crossing the Neocho river.
15. Astronomical station was established approximately three miles southwest of present
Coffeyville, Montgomery county.
16. John S. Phelps of Springfield, Mo., served as congressman from his district from
1844 to 1863. He was later elected governor of the state.
17. Mr. Eno was a nephew of Mr. Phelps.
18. A dispatch from Washington, dated June 1, 1857, gives the following account:
"Our municipal election is in progress. There has been fighting at the polls and some blood
shed. The executive authority, at the request of the mayor, ordered out the marines to
preserve order throughout the city, and prevent improper interference with voters afc the polls.
There is great excitement in the city." New York Daily Tribune, June 2, 1857.
19. For method of marking the line, see Johnston, "Journal," June 15, op. cit. t p. 111.
352 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
June 21st. Last night we succeeded in getting a few observations
through the thin clouds which covered the heavens. This morning
Mr. Weyss received the final result 37 00' 19".2.
At 9 a. m. the cavalry and infantry struck their respective camps
and marched westward. Three companies of cavalry moved for-
ward, one remains behind under Capt. T. J. Wood 20 to escort the
surveying party.
At noon Mr. Clark struck camp, and marched west in rear of the
column.
The country over which we pursued our course presented a differ-
ent aspect to that hitherto traversed. Ridges, mounds and small
elevated tablelands, covered with a luxuriant growth of vegetation,
intersected with lines of timber (mostly black jack and cottonwood)
marking the courses of gullies or small streams, now occupies the
view. The country as far as the eye can see, has the same broken
and irregular appearance. Continued our course until 5 p. m., when
we came up with the military and encamped on a small stream, the
banks of which are well wooded with sycamore, cottonwood and
Hackberry. Distance about 12 miles.
June 22. Took up line of march at 9 a. m. Seven miles from our
encampment struck a prong of the little Verdigree west, close to a
circular pond or lake about 1000 yards in diameter. Here we re-
mained several hours in order to cut a road through the banks, which
are high on the east, and heavily timbered on the west. From this
point we proceeded about ten miles farther, and encamped at 6 p. m.,
on the bank of a small creek (Horse-head-creek) well timbered on
the west bank with oak, cottonwood, sycamore, walnut & cherry.
The country on this day's march is still more abrupt and broken,
at several gullies, we had much trouble in crossing the wagons.
Passed over many ridges very rocky and covered with a dense growth
of black jack. Distance about 16 miles.
June 23. Our march today was over a hilly, broken country. We
had many bad places to cross the wagons. Passed through a large
grove of Post oak and encamped on a stream called Walnut creek. 21
This stream has very high banks and its valley is well timbered with
oak and black walnut. It appears to be the main trunk to which,
different other streams heading in the highlands north, unite at a
point south of us, forming one considerable tributary to the river
bearing the same name.
20. Thomas J. Wood was a native of Kentucky. He became captain in the First cavalry
in 1855 and served with distinction in the Union army, being promoted to major general
in 1865. Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military
Academy, v. 2, p. 116.
21. Description is that of Big Caney creek.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 353
June 24th. This morning Mr. Clark crossed the river and com-
menced operations for establishing the 5th meridian. 22 The soil in
the valley of this river is very fertile and the grass here, as well as,
on the neighboring highlands is excellent. The principal produc-
tions are as follows, viz. Timber in immediate vicinity of river con-
sists of oak, sycamore and walnut, of which, the latter is of very
large dimensions. Fish. Cat, Trout or Bass. 23 Buffalo and Garr.
Game. Deer, Antelope and Turkies are very numerous. The latter
are met with chiefly in this valley and those of the adjoining
streams.
June 25th. Last night Mr. Clark observed for time and lat, also
for true meridian. He succeeded in getting a good set of observa-
tions.
June 26th. Last night repeated observations for lat and true
meridian. Day very warm and cloudy. Tht. Farht. 90 in the
shade.
June 27th. To day struck camp and again crossed the creek, when
we encamped in a grove close by the river.
We managed last night to get a good set of obs. for latitude.
June 28. To day computed our observations for final result of 5th
meridian (36 59' 52".6) 748 feet to be measured North to Parallel.
Captain Anderson marched this morning with his company in ad-
vance in order to reconnoiter and open the road.
June 29th. Having finished operations on the 5th meridian yes-
terday, we started early this morning, continued part of the day on
the same stream. At 4 p. m. we encamped on one of its tributaries, 24
branching into heights on our west. We are now evidently approach-
ing the dividing ridge. The soil is of the same character previously
mentioned, but not of such depth. The waters of all these streams
are very clear. Below the point where they unite forming one river,
I have been told the valley is settled and under a high state of culti-
vation by Cherokee half breeds. Distance 12 miles.
June 30th. To day we passed the highest ridge, between the waters
flowing east and those running west into the Arkansas river, from
thence we rapidly descended and encamped on Spring creek 25 a
tributary of that river. (Arkansas.)
22. Astronomical station was located across the line in present Oklahoma and slightly west
of Elgin, Chautauqua county.
23. Bandel wrote: "This forenoon we did not expect to leave camp, and therefore we
went fishing. In about two hours we caught more fish than the whole company could eat.
There were some forty fish caught, some of them weighing over ten pounds." Bandel,
"Journal," June 24, 1857, Southwest Historical Scries, v. 2, p. 152.
24. Rock creek.
25. Probably Beaver creek.
231991
354 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The character of the country over which we passed, is a high roll-
ing plain covered with fine grass.
In the timber of the creek I noticed very large walnut and mull-
berry trees. Distance 12 miles.
July 1st. Started at 8% a. m. Marched over some broken rolling
country, crossing several small streams. At 2% P- m. we came in
sight of the Arkansas river where we encamped. Graizing in the
vicinity is excellent. Distance 15 miles.
July 2. From sextant observations found ourselves about one
mile south of the Parallel (37 N. Lat.) Moved up on the east bank
and made preparations for crossing camp equipage and provisions.
The advance guard was first ferried over, which consisted of two
companies of infantry with baggage, ammunition &c. under Capt.
Garnett. 26 Every thing was transported across in ammunition
wagons, which are lined with sheet iron. Four of these are bound
together with strong poles over the boxes & hauled back and for-
ward with hawsers.
The ferry was established at the ford used by the Osages, while
going on their hunting excursions west of this river.
The Arkansas river at this point is about 300 yards wide, its
waters are muddy, not quite as much so, as those of the Mississippi
or Rio Bravo. Its valley is wooded and about two miles in width,
the main bottom here, being on the East side. On the west it is a roll-
ing prairie as far as the eye can see, affording excellent grass.
The entire country from the west boundary of Missouri up to this
river, is fully capable of sustaining a large population in agricul-
tural and pastoral pursuits. The creeks and rivers afford timber of
the largest and finest quality, while the graizing ranges are inex-
haustable. In addition to the above, the country will undoubtedly
furnish immense beds of coal which will ultimately prove a great
source of wealth.
July 3. This morning Mr. Clark moved his camp North of that of
the military about one mile, in order to establish himself closer to
the Parallel. We accordingly placed observatory on the summit of
a mound, about 100 feet above the level of the river. 27 This com-
mands quite an extensive view of the Arkansas, and some of its
tributaries which appear to be well timbered.
July 4th (Saturday) . Last night succeeded in getting a good set of
26. Richard B. Garnett became captain of the Sixth infantry in 1855. Joining the Con-
federacy in 1861, he rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was killed at the battle of
Gettysburg. Cullum, op. cit., p. 25.
27. The observation station was situated east of present Chilocco in Kay county, Oklahoma.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 355
observations. This day, being the anniversary of the declaration of
independence, was strictly observed in the military camp. At noon
the troops were drawn up in line, and a national salute fired from
the howitzers. After this a grand fourth of July dinner was served
up, at which all the officers both military and civil presided.
July 5th. Last night we had another good set of observations.
Lay over in camp during the day.
July 6th. Finished operations of this meridian and started at 1
p. m. making a march of sixteen miles. Passed several small creeks
tributaries of the Arkansas. This march was over a low flat prairie.
The soil is fertile and grass excellent.
July 7th. The march today was over a rolling prairie extending to
the horizon in every direction, saw many dry buffalo chips indicating
the presence of those animals at certain seasons of the year. At
2 p. m. we arrived at, and encamped on a creek flowing south with
a deep sandy bed. (Pa-ha-be-creek) 28 several of the wagons
bogged down, rendering it necessary to attach extra mules. East
bank high, a low bottom extending west from the other bank. Some
large timber is here met with, oak and cottonwood. Distance about
13 miles.
July 8th. Marched today over a broken country, and encamped
on a creek having dark muddy water.
The region in our present vicinity presents for the first time a
sterile appearance, the vegetation is shorter, there is less timber
than in any portion hitherto visited, and its general aspect less in-
viting.
While encamped, we were visited by a band of Osages with their
Chief Bighead. 29 They numbered about fifty (50) , all well mounted.
They are very tall and athletic. Their only clothing is the breech
cloth, and blanket. The head is bare, with the hair shaved closely,
except on the top of the head where a small triangular portion is
allowed to grow long. The chief wore a fur band around his temples.
They all were painted with rouge or vermilion, about the face and
head.
There were several boys amongst them, who displayed their dex-
terity with the bow and arrows, in shooting down a small stick, hav-
ing either a five cent or a ten cent piece placed on its top. This
sport was furnished by the teamsters and soldiers, who appeared to
enjoy it very much. The distance at which the boys fired was about
28. Bluff creek.
29. For Colonel Johnston's account of this visit see Johnston, "Journal," July 8, 1857,
op. cit., p. 117.
356 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
ten yards. Those Indians informed us that the buffalo were scarce.
Distance marched, 15 miles.
July 9th. Started this morning at 8% a. m. and marched until 2
p. m. when we encamped on some buffalo water ponds. (No wood,
very bad water.) The buffalo chips are now the only fire wood, to
be found.
The soil in the vicinity of our camp and the line of this day's
march is very dry and parched. The first buffalo was killed today
by Captain Wood's servant. Distance 18 miles.
July 10th. Started this morning at 8% a. m. and marched until
noon, when we encamped on the west bank of a creek flowing
(south) under the surface of sand. 30
The first portion of our march was over a considerably broken
country, having many gullies or sloughs, produced evidently by the
washing of water from the still higher country north, during heavy
rains. The latter part was a sandy region, overgrown with wild
hemp. The sand appears to increase in depth toward the south but
diminishes in the north. At a distance in the south, can be seen
white sand hills, with a few scattering bushes of diminutive timber,
farther in the same direction I am informed by one of our Indian
guides, 31 is a large salt plain, which will be more minutely described
hereafter.
Four buffalo were killed today; for the first time on this trip we
dined on the flesh of this animal. Distance 13 miles.
July llth. Last night so cloudy we were not able to observe.
Slight showers of rain occurred during the night. We are very much
annoyed by a species of large black sand bug which keeps constantly
on the move in the night.
This evening a hunting party, which started in the morning, re-
turned, bringing with them two buffalo bulls, two cows and three
calves killed during the day. They reported meeting with a herd,
going north, numbering about 5,000 which they broke and pursued.
July 12th. This morning the cavalry moved to a stream farther
west, owing to the scarcity of grass in our present camp, leaving the
infantry to guard us while at this station. Colonel Johnston, Mr.
Phelps, Mr. Eno and Captain Garnett go to visit the salt plain south
of our camp. 32 They are escorted by a strong detachment of cavalry.
This party returned before sunset. The Colonel places the com-
30. Observation station was located on Sandy creek about one half mile south of the line
and west of the present town of Waldron, Harper county.
31. The three Delaware Indian guides were Jim Conner, Benjamin Love, and George
Washington.
32. See Johnston's account, "Journal," July 12, op. cit., p. 118.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 357
mencement of the salt plain or Pewsa about 15 miles south of our
astronomical station. It is situated about 98 15' west of Green-
wich and in 36 43' north lat. & it is formed by a number of streams
heading in the ridges north and gradually converging, make a point
of confluence which overflows at certain seasons of the year an
area of about 15 square miles. During the dry summer months,
evaporation ensues, producing a fine crystalized salt. It is not
found of any considerable thickness except in such places as
water may have remained in pools. In all the streams flowing
into it, water is found immediately beneath the sand, by digging,
and is very brackish. The soil is sandy with very little vegetation,
and scarcely a stick of timber to be seen.
Last night 12 pairs of stars observed with zenith sector, place us
in lat. 36 59' 38".4.
July 13th. Last night we had another good set of observations,
although considerably disturbed by high wind, which has blown
from the south since we left the Arkansas river. At 1 p. m. the
Tht. Fart, reads 101 in the observing tent. The heat appears to in-
crease with the breeze.
This evening a little before sunset two buffalo came in full view
of our camp, distant about 800 yards. Several of Captain Garnett's
men on foot crept up within a few yards and fired without effect.
They (buffalo) were then pursued by Lieutenant Macclemore 33
mounted, who getting outside kept them at the same distance making
a semicircle toward camp. He finally succeeded in separating the
bull and run him within a few hundred yards of the wagons, when
he brought him to bay by a shot, during this time a number of foot
and mounted men attacking, killed him.
July 14th. Messrs. Phelps and Eno left this morning for the east.
Today I observed and found the temperature of drinking water
at this camp 80 Fart.
Captain Anderson 34 commanding escort to surveying party ar-
rived, and reported that Mr. Weyss will be here tonight, also Mr.
Kennerly with the surveying train.
Toward evening a buffalo came close to camp, he was immediately
pursued by three of our Indian guides mounted, shortly after over-
taking him one of their horses fell, that of Jim Connors a Delaware,
and was instantly killed. The rider was not materially injured.
Mr. Weyss arrived at sunset.
33. Owen Kenan McLemore was second lieutenant in the Sixth infantry. He resigned
in 1861 to join the confederacy and was fatally wounded in 1862.
34. George Thomas Anderson, captain in First cavalry, resigned his commission in 1858,
and later became a brigadier general in the confederate army. Heitman, Francis B., His-
torical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, v. 1.
358 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
July 15th. This morning Mr. Weyss was placed on parallel,
which finished operations on the 7th meridian, (distance of par-
allel from observatory 2211 feet Lat 36 59' 38".l) after which we
marched over a dry parched ridge and encamped on another creek
larger than the one left, having a few cottonwood trees. The water
flows under a large bed of sand. We can see buffalo in all directions.
Last night a soldier of Captain Desausure's 35 company while on
post as a sentinel shot a Mexican, in the employ of the Quartermas-
ter. The man is not expected to live. The plea made by the sentinel
was "that he mistook him for an Indian." Distance 9% miles.
July 16th. Started at 9 a. m. and encamped at 3 p. m. The coun-
try over which we marched is a high level prairie, the wind blowed
from the south a very strong breeze and a perfect sirocco. The grass
is parched to a crisp as well as every other species of vegetation. I
saw several large herds of buffalo which came up close to the column ;
many were shot.
I noticed dogs, accompanying the soldiers, worn out by the fatigue
of the day's march, died on the road.
The water on which we encamped is highly impregnated with sul-
phur and salt. No wood. Grass good. Distance, 19 miles.
July 17th. The country, over which we marched today presented
a different view, to that of yesterday, being broken and hilly. It
appears to be the ascent to a tableland. Near the summit we can
see the declivities (red clay) washed clear of vegetation, sloping to
the prairie over which we have marched. Numerous streams head
near this slope, making their course south. We crossed one quite
large and encamped on a tributary; 36 found considerable timber con-
sisting chiefly of cottonwood and oak. Procured water, by digging in
the sand, which is so bitter as to render it disagreeable to use. Some
beautiful specimens of gypsum were collected in this vicinity. The
heat here is very oppressive. Tht. Fart, at 2 p. m. stood at 104 in
the shade, at 2% p. m., 106. A soldier of K. company 2nd cavalry
shot off the two fore fingers of his right hand. Distance, 10 miles.
July 18th. Today ascended the red bluffs before mentioned, and
passing over a very broken country encamped on a creek where we
found good water by digging. Plenty timber for cooking purposes,
principally cottonwood. Distance, 13 miles.
July 19th. Today marched to the summit of a high ridge from
35. William D. De Saussure was captain in the First cavalry. At the outbreak of the
Civil War, he joined the confederacy as colonel, losing his life at the battle of Gettysburg.
Ibid.
36. This camp was probably on Greenwood creek, a tributary of Salt Fork of the
Arkansas.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 359
which we can see the valley of the Cimarron river. The country
North and south appears much broken, being intersected with deep
gullies. We encamped near the source of one of these, bearing to-
ward the valley of that river. A large herd of buffalo today ran close
to the column, so that I had a good view of them. They first charged
toward us, and then shyed off at a greater distance, running parallel
with the column. They appear very clumsy, but run with great
speed. Distance, 12 miles.
July 20th. Today lay over in camp in order to reconnoiter for a
better position for our observatory, but not being able to find one,
we commenced operations after mid day for establishing the 8th
meridian. 37 The heat here is exceedingly oppressive, at 4 p. m. in a
very cool exposure the Tht. read 106, with scarcely what might be
called a breeze. Our position is now north of the second salt plain.
July 21st. Last night was so cloudy we were not able to obtain
observations for the determination of the Parallel. The Mexican
who was shot by the soldier a few days previous died about mid-
night, he was interred this morning on a height to the west of our
observatory. The body was first wrapped in blankets and deposited
in the grave, it was then covered with green willows, afterwards with
earth. He was a native of Taos in New Mexico.
The atmosphere today is more cool. A breeze is blowing from the
southeast, and sky is overcast with clouds.
The cavalry and Quartermaster's train moved to another creek
west of us, leaving the two companies of infantry to guard this camp.
Tomorrow the Colonel intends to visit the salt plain south of our
present station, where he will remain two days in order to make a
complete reconnaissance. When this meridian is determined, we will
have completed more than half the distance of the southern bound-
ary of Kansas.
July 22. Last night so cloudy we were not able to make any ob-
servations. This morning we had a heavy shower of rain. Four or
five Indian ponies came close to our camp, they were taken posses-
sion of by our Indian guides.
Colonel Johnston escorted by one company of cavalry, left this
morning on a reconnaissance to the second salt plain, also some salt
springs reported as lying in the same direction. 38
The surveying party arrived escorted by Lieutenant Bell. 39
37. Observation station was located in present Oklahoma about one half mile south of
present Avilla township, Comanche county.
38. See Johnston, "Journal," July 22, op. cit., p. 120.
39. David D. Bell was first lieutenant in the First cavalry. He died in 1860. Heitman,
op. cit.
360 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
July 23. Last night clear. Made obs. for Lat. the result of which
places us somewhat more than half a mile south of the parallel.
July 24th. Last night succeeded in getting a full set of observations
for Lat and true meridian. Final result places our observatory in
Lat. 36 59' 28". 6. After computing observations, struck camp and
marched six miles, which brought us up to the cavalry camp.
The Colonel has returned from his reconnaissance of the salt plain.
It is situated at the junction of the Cimarron and Red fork and has
an area of about ten square acres. In many places it resembles a
thick sheet of ice, varying from six to ten inches in depth, and is
very hard. Two wagon loads were taken up, for the use of the
command. Grasshoppers near the stream flowing through the centre
were found in a state of preservation, being incrustated with salt.
Long west of Greenwich [omission], Lat [omission]. Several salt
springs were found in the vicinity of this plain.
July 25th. Last night a soldier who had been previously affected
with scurvy, died of that disease. He was interred this morning
with the usual honors of war.
Struck camp at 9 a. m. and marching about 17 miles encamped on
a gullie or slue where water was found in pools. About three miles
from last Camp, we crossed the Cimarron river. The water at this
point runs under the sand. Its bed is between three or four hundred
yards wide. South of the point where we crossed it, salt is found.
The country over which we marched today is rolling, and inter-
sected with numerous ridges having but little vegetation. Captain
T. J. Wood with his company went on a reconnaissance to the south.
Distance, 17 miles.
July 26th. We were last night visited, by a heavy wind and rain
storm. The wind blew a terrific gale from the south, driving the
rain under our tents so as to inundate the floors.
Started at 9 a. m. and encamped at 4 p. m. in the bed of the
Cimarron river. Our course for the most part lay in the channel of
that river. Passed several salt ponds of water. Road very sandy.
Distance 18 miles.
July 27th. Struck camp at 9 a. m. and marching over a series of
ravines & ridges we again struck the river where we encamped. In
consequence of late rains, a sudden freshet has covered the bed of
the river with water. Distance, 18 miles.
July 28th. Last night one of the cavalry soldiers died from the
effects of drinking too much water, during the warm days previous
to striking the Cimarron river. He was interred this morning with
the usual military honors.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 361
Struck camp at 9 a. m. and marched in view of the river, on which
we again encamped at 3 p. m. Found some springs which in addition
to digged wells, afforded a sufficiency of excellent water. We are
still in view of the tortuous meanderings of the river. The character
of the soil, since we first struck the Cimarron is sterile and unfit for
cultivation. There is very little vegetation of any description. Dis-
tance, 15 miles.
July 29th. Marched several miles on the river's bank, when we
ascended the high table land on the west. The bluffs jutting out,
show horizontal stratas of pure limestone. Pursuing our journey a
few miles we encamped at 2 p. m. near some holes filled with rain
water, sufficient for cooking purposes. There is no wood and very
little grass here. Distance, 15 miles.
July 30th. Yesterday after encamping the Colonel concluded to
establish his 9th meridian at this point. 40 Consequently today we
have been employed erecting observing tent making computations &c.
Last night we were visited by a terrible storm of wind, and rain.
The tent in which Mr. Clark and myself slept was blown down, leav-
ing us exposed until the tornado passed over, which lasted some
hours.
At 6 p. m. three infantry soldiers arrived at our camp, from the
surveying party in the rear, informing us "that at 3 p. m. the In-
dians (Kioways) attacked the surveying party and killed the driver
of the instrument ambulance, and cutting loose the mules belonging
to it, run them off." Captain Desausure with one company of
cavalry goes in pursuit.
On the arrival of Mr. Weyss the surveyor I learned from him the
full particulars concerning this attack. 41 He (Mr. Weyss) with
40. Observation station was located just below the line in present Oklahoma and about
one mile west of the eastern boundary of present Seward county.
41. Bandel who was on guard with the surveyors, gives the following account: "We left
camp this morning at ten o'clock, marched about eleven miles, and encamped on the Cimarron
again. We marched all day in the bottom of this river. About five miles back two Indians
met us. They wore long hair and were dressed in white men's clothes. They were armed
with flintlock shotguns, and both had good ponies and seemed very friendly. They said they
belonged to the Kiowa. After viewing us to their satisfaction, they rode to where the sur-
veyor's party and escort were. The line runs on the far side of the Cimarron, and the
party who, at the time, were some four or five miles distant, could not be seen by us.
Now an ambulance with water kegs follows the surveyors on their line; and [the ambulance]
is drawn by two mules. This the Indians noticed. After shaking hands with our men,
taking presents from them, and ascertaining there were no cavalrymen with them, they
waited for an opportunity for action. At the same time the guard did not doubt the
friendly intentions of the Indians. The ambulance had to drive somewhat out of a straight
line to get around a hill. This was what the Indians waited for. They stood by the
ambulance, fired at the driver when they saw no soldiers near, and made the mules run
toward the river. There they cut the mules out of the harness and [ran] away with them.
A party has left camp to go after the ambulance, but has not yet returned. Four men,
mounted on the saddle mules of some teams, have been sent off to the cavalry for orders,
which must be thirty or forty miles ahead. A great mistake was made. When it came to
the point, it was found [that] there was no ammunition among the escort. Some had one
cartridge, some a few, [and] some none. This evening twenty rounds apiece have been issued
to us. After the attack the surveyors left flags, chain, and instruments, and came to camp
with the escort. The long roll was beat, but there was no use in any of us footmen follow-
ing the Indians on their swift ponies." Bandel, "Journal," July 30, op. cit., pp. 171, 172.
362 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
twelve men was engaged in prolonging the tangent and marking the
parallel, escorted by twenty-one infantry soldiers, numbering in all
thirty-three men. From the nature of the operations it was neces-
sary for these men to be scattered over an area of about three miles.
The surveyor had a small ambulance drawn by two mules, to trans-
port his light instruments in the field. About 3 p. m. while operating
among the bluffs near the point where we left the river ; two Indians
came up, one of whom spoke Spanish. They represented, that they
had been at Colonel Johnston's camp, and came back for a broken
down horse. They made every manifestation of friendship. The
surveyor having finished operations put away his instruments, and
the ambulance took the road which we previously made around the
base of the bluffs, in order to ascend the table land west. The foot
men kept near the crest of the bluffs and in view of the vehicle. The
Indians being well mounted took the road. Suddenly one of them
fired his gun from the pummel of his saddle shooting Le Clair, the
driver. They immediately stampeded the mules turning them toward
the river. Mr. Weyss shouted to collect the men, and the few close
by opened fire, at a distance of eight or nine hundred yards and ran
to the rescue. The mules shortly bogged down in the marshy ground
close to the river; the Indians immediately cut them loose and
escaped. When the escort got possession of the ambulance, they
found Le Clair dead, being shot through the heart. 42
July 31st. Last night so cloudy we did not succeed in getting any
number, of observations. However from one pair of stars, we found
our position very close but a little south of the parallel.
Mr. Thompson returned from a reconnaissance west, and reports
a rolling prairie as far as the eye can see without wood, but plenty
of water and grass.
August 1st. Last night we succeeded in getting a good set of ob-
servations. Lat deduced 36 59' 53".30. Captain Garnett, Mr. Ken-
nerly and Mr. Weyss arrived here today, no farther news from the
Indians.
At 2 p. m. struck camp and marched about 4 miles when we en-
camped at water pools. The grass in our present vicinity is superior
in quality to any we have hitherto seen. There appears to be con-
siderable moisture in the atmosphere.
August 2. This morning before starting, Captain Desesaure ar-
rived. He did not succeed in coming up with the Indians. Marched
about half mile north and encamped on a water pool.
42. See, also, Johnston, "Journal," July 30, August 1, op. cit., pp. 123-125.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 363
August 3. Starting at 9 a. m. marched over a level plain for the
distance of 20 miles when we encamped at pools of rain water. 43 No
wood to be seen. Buffalo chips the only fuel. Distance, 20 miles.
August 4th. Started this morning at 8 a. m., and marched to 2
p. m. when the cavalry column which was far in advance of the main
train halted, and graized about 2 hours. During this interval they
also reconnoitered for water, which was found about three miles in
advance.
The country through which we marched, is one extensive plain
inclining toward the east. There is not a stick of timber, or even a
tall weed to be seen. It appears like a calm sea extending in every
direction to the horizon.
The pond on which we encamped appears to be permanent, as I
have seen divers and a few ducks. Excellent grama grass grows in
the immediate vicinity of this isolated pool. It is about five hundred
yards in diameter. It is the intention of the chief to remain here
during the 5th and 6th to recruit the animals. Distance 25 miles.
August 5th & 6th. Remained over in camp those two days in
order to sufficiently recruit our now wearied animals before starting
for the terminus of the line.
Lieutenant Bell leaves tomorrow on a reconnaissance to the North
fork of the Canadian.
August 7th. Starting this morning at 8 a. m. We marched to 5
p. m. when we encamped. 44 We are still on a continuation of the
same table land, which we ascended after leaving the Cimarron river.
During this day's march it was quite level with very little grass.
Crossed several Indian trails running from south to north, all appear
to be old. North and south the same character of country extends
to the horizon. West, the direction of our march, is a gradual and
continuous ascent. Every slight elevation at a distance glimmers
through a dense mirage, appearing like small islands in a lake. The
view is neither relieved by a pond or water or a bush of timber.
Continued our march to late in the evening and encamped without
water. 45 From my tent I can hear the piteous cries of near one
thousand animals suffering from thirst, which awakens in my recol-
43. Camp in present Oklahoma about four miles southwest of present Liberal, Seward
county.
44. Expedition encamped in present Oklahoma about seven miles east of the present
western boundary of Kansas.
45. Bandel wrote: "The day being warm and the dust rising, you cannot understand
how we suffered. All the water the company has is two kegs full of ten gallon each. After
coming into camp, each of us got about a gill of water to quench our burning thirst."
Bandel, "Journal," August 7, op. cit. } p. 176.
364 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
lection, scenes on the desert west of the Colorado river of California.
Distance 30 miles.
August 8th. We were favored last night by a heavy shower of
rain, from which we caught considerable water from our tents, & on
Indian rubber blankets, thereby enabling us to give some to our
thirsty animals. We marched west about ten miles, and North three,
when we struck the Cimarron river and the Santa Fee road.
August 9th. Starting this morning about 9 a. m. we continued our
march along the valley of the Cimarron, about ten miles, when we
encamped and prepared to establish the 10th meridian.
Last night about 9 p. m. Mr. Weyss and party arrived at our camp
in an exhausted condition, having missed the road to the main body
of the escort. The mail party from Santa Fee encamped near us.
August 10th. Last night observed for Lat, but found ourselves
about three and a half miles south of the parallel. 46 The Colonel
accordingly countermarched on the same road back about 6 miles
and encamped. Here we met the surveying party.
The general aspect of the country in our present vicinity is not an
inviting one, not a tree meets the view as far as the eye can see.
The channel of the Cimarron is a dry bed of sand, where water is
only found by digging, and so impregnated with sulphur and soda as
to render it almost unfit for use. The heat is intense, the Tht. Far.
standing at 99 & 100 in the shade.
We are now about 4000 feet above the level of the sea, which
places us out of the regions of dampness. I have no reason to regret
this, as I feel almost well of a severe attack of rhumatism, which
rendered me unable to walk while passing over the damp country
between the west boundary of Missouri and the Arkansas river.
This disease I contracted from previous exposure, while in the service
of the United States & Mexican boundary commission.
This evening a difficulty occurred between two teamsters in which
one of them was stabbed through the liver with a butcher Knife; he
is not expected to live. The man who committed the act is kept
under a strict guard, in order to deliver him up to the civil authori-
ties, as well as to protect him from the fury of the other teamsters,
who will undoubtedly lynch him if they can get an opportunity to
do so.
August 12th. Finished operations on the 10th merid. Started
about noon and travelling ten miles encamped on the river. Colonel
Johnston remained in this vicinity during the 13th and 14th, in
46. Astronomical station established in present Cimarron county, Oklahoma, about nine
miles west of the present Kansas-Colorado line.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 365
order to hear from Leavenworth, in regard to a provision train which
he expected here. The Santa Fee mail passed our camp on the 15th.
From it the Colonel learned, that the provision train had not left on
the 24th ultimo.
August 16th. Started at 8% a. m. and marched about 17 miles up
the valley of the river (Cimarron) where we encamped.
As we continued our journey from the last camp, the features of
the country materially change; from an immense open and level
plain, it becomes suddenly broken and rocky. The river which was
formerly defined by one continuous bed of sand, now becomes a bold
and rapid stream, having its banks well clothed with rank vegetation
and a considerable amount of timber (cottonwood and willows).
At this point the valley begins to narrow, forming a canon.
August 17th. During last night a light rain driven by a N. E. wind
began and continued until after daylight. The Colonel has con-
cluded to remain in camp in consequence. It now begins to feel like
fall weather. The thermometer stands at 62 Farht. In front of
some of the markees, are to be seen fires with little groups of officers
collected around, indicative of the change in the atmosphere.
It continued to rain during the whole day.
August 18th. Last night about 12 p. m. a considerable commotion
was caused by one of the cavalry sentinels discharging his carabine.
He reported that he fired at a mounted man coming down from the
rocky cliffs in the vicinity toward the animals, after which he re-
tired at full speed.
Starting this morning, continued our march up the circuitous val-
ley, which as we advanced appeared to improve in aspect. It has a
rich soil with excellent grama grass, it widens out in some places to
about % of a mile, and is walled on both sides by precipitous
cliffs. Flocks of wild turkies are seen in all directions. Today
there were over thirty killed. In some instances they were absolutely
run down.
We met Lieutenant Bell commanding Co. K. 1st cav. who was
detached some days previous to reconnoiter the North fork of the
Canadian. Distance 12 miles.
August 19th. Struck west from the valley of the Cimarron on a
small tributary, in order to arrive at the terminal point, but were
obliged to retrace our march, owing to its becoming so narrow as to
be impassible.
August 20th. We again entered the valley of the Cimarron and
marched about 7 miles from our last camp, when we penetrated the
valley of a small creek, on the east, where we encamped.
366 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In the vicinity of our present encampment the ascent to the table
land inclosing the valley varies from four to six hundred feet in
height. Game in our present vicinity is very abundant, from thirty
to forty deer and antelope are daily brought into camp, by soldiers
and hunters.
To day on the march, I witnessed the shooting of one antelope and
three deer, the former attempted to run through the cavalry column
and was killed by Lieut. Bell. On our arrival, a deer ran through the
camp ground among the soldiers and escaped.
We remained here until the 24th occasionally moving a short dis-
tance, in order to procure better grass. During this time we had an
almost continuous rain, which swelled the small creeks to such a
height as to render them difficult to pass.
August 25th. The party detailed to operate on the 103 meridian
set out this morning, escorted by Lieut Otis 47 with 35 dismounted
cavalry. Proceeded up a beautiful little valley lying to the N. W. of
the main one, about 7 miles, and encamped. 48 This is our last camp
in the operations of running and marking the southern boundary of
Kansas. Colonel Johnston having established this encampment and
leaving an additional escort of mounted cavalry; after a few days
returned to the Santa Fee road with the main body of his command,
in order to meet his provision train from Fort Leavenworth.
August 26th. I was employed to day computing lists for Latitude,
and making general arrangements for the coming lunation.
August 27th. Last night we were visited by a very high wind
which prevented us from obtaining a good set of observations.
August 28th. Last night cloudy and stormy.
August 29th. A good set of observations for long obtained.
August 30th. Cloudy and windy.
August 31st. At 3 p. m. a hail shower fell the particles measuring
one inch in circumference.
We were occupied up to the 10th of Sept. at this point. During
this time we experienced such weather as above described.
The general aspect of the country in the vicinity of the head
waters of the Cimarron is rugged and much broken. This river ob-
tains its source from numbers of small streams heading at the base
of a tableland between four and six hundred feet, above the little
valleys from whence they flow. The soil of these valleys in most
instances, is fertile, but their extent is very limited. The only tim-
47. Elmer Otis was a native of Massachusetts. He was breveted second lieutenant of the
First cavalry in 1855. He later became colonel. Cullum, op. cit., p. 358.
48. Astronomical station was in the southwest corner of present Baca county, Colorado.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 367
ber found here is cedar, which grows on the slopes and broken ridges
of the ascent to this tableland. In every instance a fine quality of
grass is found, which accounts for the great variety of game, though
the country is little suited for agricultural purposes.
IV. RECONNOITERING FOR A RAILROAD ALONG THE NORTH FORK OF
THE CANADIAN RIVER, AND THE RETURN TO LEAVENWORTH
Sept. 10th, 1857. Finished operations at the terminal point, which
completes the field work on the southern boundary of Kansas.
Marched about 20 miles down the valley of the Cimarron toward
Aubury's trail. 49
Sept. llth. Starting this morning at 7 a. m. we continued our
march crossing a creek several times which in many instances was
very boggy, from high banks washed off by recent rains. In one
instance I was in a precarious position in consequence of my caratella
upsetting at a ford. The mules however keeping steady, it was im-
mediately raised by some soldiers who were on the spot, which saved
me the trouble of cutting open the covering with my knife, in order
to jump out. Distance 13 miles.
Sept. 12th. Started at 7 a. m. and continued, until noon, when we
perceived some horse men on an elevation about 4 miles distant. We
then halted in order to let some of the soldiers who had lagged be-
hind between five and six miles come up. This was owing to many
of them being Barefooted, and the roughness of the road over which
they marched. By the time of their arrival, we discovered those on
the eminence to ride back and forward, we advanced and found them
to be sentinels. This was joyful news as our provisions were just
out.
Two hours march farther brought us in sight of camp, when we
were rejoiced to meet old friends, and find plenty of provisions,
clothing, newspapers, &c. 50 Distance 15 miles.
Sept. 13th. Marched west, until sunset in Aubury's trail and en-
camped on Cedar Creek. 51 Distance, 30 miles.
Sept. 14th. To day marched over an open prairie when we ar-
rived at and encamped on Me. Neice's creek, on which there is no
49. Aubrey's trail was a route selected by Francis X. Aubrey, a Santa F6 trader, in
an attempt to shorten the Santa F6 trail. This route started at Fort Aubrey in present
Hamilton county and ran in a southwesterly direction. It crossed the Cimarron river and
joined the Santa Fe trail in the neighborhood of Cold Springs in present Cimarron county,
Oklahoma.
50. Bandel records: "Again the command is all together. The astronomers, having
finished their observations, have come in this evening. The train has also come in from the
Santa Fe road." Bandel, "Journal," September 12, op. cit. f p. 189.
61. Cedar creek, a branch of the Cimarron, is in the extreme western part of present
Cimarron county, Oklahoma.
368 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
wood. Distance, 9 miles. I endeavored to day to procure a pair of
shoes but did not succeed. I am almost barefooted. I hope yet to
be successful.
Sept. 15th. Lay in camp in order to make preparations for a re-
connaissance along the North fork of the Canadian and from thence
to proceed to the Initial point to observe for Longitude.
Sept. 16th. At 8% a. m. the cavalry trumpeters sounded the gen-
eral which is the signal for the last tents to fall, marched over a
rolling prairie when we arrived at Cottonwood creek where we en-
camped.
This is a small creek having pools of water at different distances,
its course is marked by a narrow strip of cottonwood timber. There
are many wild grape vines intermingled from which we collected an
abundance of that fruit. Distance, 13 miles (estimated) .
Sept. 17th. Started this morning at 8 a. m. and continued until
noon when we encamped on Rabbitear creek. 52
Our march to day was over a level prairie. We passed several dog
towns or marmot villages. Many of those animals were killed with
shot guns only. We could see large herds of Antelopes in the distance
gracefully scampering over the extensive plain, some times coming
close to the column as if in wonder at the novel sight before them.
Rabbitear creek is a small stream much like the one on which we
encamped last night, it runs at the base of a high table land, the
front of which shows striking evidences of volcanic action. Distance,
by viameter, 12 m, 3800 feet.
Sept. 18th. Morning cold, heavy mist with a slight rain rendering
the climate very disagreeable. Moved up the same creek and en-
camped in order to obtain better grass and await the arrival of some
officers from Fort Union 53 en route for the East.
The Barometer now reads 24.88 in. which places us a very high
elevation above the level of the sea. By the time we encamped, it
cleared off with a pleasant breeze from the South. Dist 2 miles,
4186 feet.
Sept. 19th. Starting early we turned our faces for the long wished
for East, continued our journey along Rabbitear creek which has
an easterly course. The high volcanic bank previously mentioned
continues as far as the eye can see on the North bank, on the south
it is a low rolling country over which we are marching. Encamped
at the junction of Cottonwood creek with Rabbitear. 54 Lat 36 36'
21". Distance, 15 m., 2903 feet,
52. This creek is located in the eastern part of present Union county, New Mexico.
53. Fort Union is in present Mora county, New Mexico.
54. The encampment was in the extreme southwestern part of Cimarron county, Oklahoma.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 369
Sept. 20th. Marched over the same character of country, along
the above mentioned creek which is in fact the North fork of the Ca-
nadian. Water found in pools, wood scarce, grass good. Lat [omis-
sion]. Distance, 25 m., 2506 feet.
Sept. 21st. Started at 9 h. 17 m. a. m. and continued our march on
the southern bank of the North fork, over a rolling plain. No wood,
sufficiency of water. Grass good. Lat 36 37' 36". Distance, 19 m.,
4500 feet.
Sept. 22. Left the creek at 6 a. m. and ascended slightly to pass
over a table land in order to cut off a bend, anticipated a long march
but was agreeably deceived, as we found a large pond about 2 miles
in circumference filled [with] water and well supplied with ducks.
Here we encamped. No wood. Grass poor. Lat 36 36'. Distance,
15 miles.
Sept. 23. Started this morning at 8 a. m. and marched until 2
p. m. when we encamped again on the North fork of the Canadian.
The country for the most part is a level prairie. Where we struck
the stream, its banks displayed white bluffs. Grass good. No wood.
Water plenty and pure. Lat 36 37' 20" .5. Dist 23 miles, 1933 feet
from large pond.
Sept. 24th. Today marched over a high ridge extending along the
south bank of the North fork. Not a particle of timber to be seen.
Crossed the stream and marched about 2 miles on the North bank
when we encamped on a plat of fine mesquite grass. Lat 36 42' 39".
Distance, 14 miles, 1895 feet.
Sept. 25th. Started this morning at 8 a. m. and marched until
1% p. m. when we encamped. Our course lay along the valley of the
North fork. At this point it is a level bottom covered with a luxuri-
ant growth of fine grama grass. Crossed Mr. Bell's road on his re-
connaissance to this stream. The valley at this point is between
three and four miles wide of a low level bottom, from thence the
country becomes slightly elevated and broken.
While turning an abrupt curve of the valley we suddenly came in
view of an Indian encampment, 55 at a distance of about four miles,
and a band of warriors advancing to meet us. They proved to be
Kaioways accompanied by their head chief, Tehorsen. They ap-
peared alarmed of our purpose in visiting them. About the lodges
we could see some confusion in hurrying off stock to the opposite side
of the valley. When they met the advance guard the chief presented
55. The Kiowa camp was located about ten miles east of the present town of Gunman,
Texas county, Okla.
241991
370 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a paper to Col. Johnston the purport of which was their treaty with
the government. They then scattered along and travelled with our
column, their numbers gradually increasing from every hill and
canon we passed. They were for the most part painted and in war
costume. They were all well mounted and made frequent displays
of their horsemanship. After encamping the head chief and Col.
Johnston held a talk. The Col. demanded the custody of two of his
tribe who had murdered one of the surveying party under Mr. Weyss
named LeClair in the latter part of July last on the Cimarron river.
This he (Tehorsen) at first denied and blamed on the Cheyennes,
but afterwards acceded, "that if any of the outlawed members of
his tribe had committed the deed, he would deliver them up to be
dealt with by the Government authorities." He at the same time
professed great friendship for the Americans.
After the talk had ended great numbers flocked into camp for the
purpose of trading. The principal articles of trade were moccasins,
adorned with beads, reatas &c, these they exchanged for articles of
clothing. Generally the Kaioways are of the medium high, with
muscular fraim, & very savage appearance. They wear the hair
rather long. The war chief of the tribe is called Setanki, 5Q he is said
to speak the Spanish language fluently, and to be a great scoundrel.
He was not with the band who visited our camp. Distance 16 miles,
2920 feet. Lat. 36 42' 41".
Sept. 26th. Set out this morning and continued our march along
the river bottom inclining slightly to the south, crossed some very
heavy sand hills and encamped south of them. Dist 18 miles, 4613
feet. Lat 36 41' 53".
Sept. 27th. Started this morning at 9 a. m. and continued down the
valley about three miles, when we crossed the stream on the now East
bank, the west bank being a white sandy barrier as far as the eye
could see, crossing a ridge we encamped on a tributary in the vi-
cinity of some excellent grama grass. Distance 8 miles, 5015. Lat
36 45' 05".
Sept. 28. Started at 8% a. m. and marched on the west bank until
evening, when we encamped on a tributary flowing from the south. 57
We crossed several others almost as large.
We were met to day by another delegation of Kaioways, one of
whom had an old hickory shirt suspended from a stick as a flag of
truce. The East bank of the North fork still presents the same ap-
56. Setangya (Sitting Bear) was commonly known to the whites as Satank. He was a
noted Kiowa chief and leader of the principal war society of the tribe. 'He was one of the
signers of the Medicine Lodge treaty of 1867. Handbook of American Indians, Part 2, p. 513.
57. Probably Clear creek.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 371
pearance, being a succession of steep sand hills. Distance 20 miles,
1800 feet. Lat 36 46'.
Sept. 29th. Started this morning at 8 a. m. and marched until 2
p. m. when we struck the river, crossed it, and encamped on the
opposite bank. (East.) 58
The country through which we marched was a succession of deep
arroyos and broken ridges. Crossed several tributaries, some having
running water.
The North fork at this point is about fifty feet wide, having in-
dications of overflowing its banks, at certain seasons. Several large
cottonwoods are found in the vicinity, affording sufficiency of wood
for cooking purposes, grass good.
First buffalo on our return trip was killed to day by John Connor
(Delaware) guide. Distance 18 miles, 2026 feet. Lat. 36 46' 44".
Sept. 30th. To day turned our course toward the North, when
after marching about 16 miles we came suddenly upon the Cimarron
river. Countermarched about 2 miles and encamped on some water
ponds on this dividing ridge. Distance to Ponds, 14 miles, 1226 feet.
Oct. 1st. This is my 27th birthday and 10th on the prairies.
Marched to day irregularly south and North on the dividing ridge
between the North fork of the Canadian and the Cimarron rivers, on
the latter part of our march we came in view of immense herds of
buffalo. Passed a large pond covered with brant and ducks, en-
camped near the source of the red fork 59 of the Cimarron. Country
much broken, large herds of buffalo can be seen in the distance all
around our camp. No wood. Grass very poor. Distance 16 miles,
823 feet.
Oct. 2. Starting this morning we took a S. E. direction, over a fine
rolling country. As far as the eye could see immense herds of buffalo
covered the plain. Sometimes the advance of the column was driving
them before it, at others they were cantering parallel with it, by
hundreds. We must at least have seen twenty thousand of these
animals to day.
Encamped on the red fork of the Cimarron in a heavy rain and
wind storm. Distance 17 miles, 3173 feet.
Oct. 3. To day marched along the valley of the Red fork and en-
camped in view of its junction with the Cimarron. Our march to day
was more difficult than hitherto, owing to our being obliged to cross
this stream several times, when the wagons bogged down in quick
58. Camp located in the eastern part of present Beaver county, Oklahoma.
59. Buffalo creek, a tributary of the Cimarron, rises in the northern part of present
Harper county, Oklahoma.
372 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sand. The valley at this point is shut in by red bluffs. The table
land or divide, appears to be covered in some places with a heavy
growth, of black jack. The valley is well timbered with cottonwood
& white oak &c. The waters of the Red fork are very brackish, and
those of its tributaries flowing through this red soil are bitter. Dis-
tance 13 miles. Lat. 36 45' 52".
October 4th. To day moved west about one mile to better grass. 60
The following is now the reorganization. Col. Johnston with 60
mounted cavalry goes to the Canadian. The remainder of the Com-
mand under Captain Thomas J. Wood will proceed without delay
to the Initial point.
The salt plain which was previously found here is entirely destitute
of salt which proves that it is merely an animal formation.
October 5th. Colonel Johnston with a company proceeded toward
the Canadian and the main command under Capt. Thos. John Wood
continued Eastward.
Crossed the salt plain after leaving camp, it has an area of about
10 square acres, but the salt had entirely melted away. Our course
being south of the Kansas [Arkansas river] and on the south slope
of the divide, we were under the necessity of crossing much broken
country.
Passed several large herds of buffalo. Some were killed in the
immediate vicinity of camp. Distance 18 miles, 1599 feet.
October 6th. Continued our march in the same direction from
l-2 south or North of East. Were much retarded by being obliged
to build temporary bridges across streams. Saw a great many
buffalo. Several were killed. Distance 17 miles, 2948 feet. Lat
36 42' 32".
Oct. 7th. This morning cold drizzling rain. Left camp about 10
a. m. crossed several deep and muddy streams. Marched over a
prairie on which we encamped. Saw several herds of buffalo. Dist.
8 miles, 3880 feet.
October 8th. To day marched over a rolling prairie gradually de-
clining toward the first salt plain west of the Arkansas river, near
which we encamped. Large herds of buffalo appeared moving to
and fro as far as the eye could see, several were killed close to the
Encamped close to first salt plain west of the Arkansas river.
Distance 20.4 miles. Lat 36 45' 14".
Oct. 9th. To day lay over in camp in order to recruit our animals
train.
60. The expedition was encamped in the extreme northern part of present Woodward
county, Oklahoma.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 373
which are much broken down. Saw a large herd of buffalo about
11 a. m. run within about 400 yards of camp toward our animals,
they were headed off by the mounted guard.
This morning Capt. Wood accompanied by a bugler left Camp in
order to explore the Salt plain. Up to 8 p. m. he has not arrived pro-
ducing some anxiety as to his safety.
October 10th. This morning at 8 a. m. Capt. Wood arrived in
Camp. Signals had been kept up during the night in firing guns,
blowing trumpets &c.
Started a little after 8 a. m. Our course lay over the Southern
extremity of the salt lake, struck it between 9 and 10 a. m. and
crossed it in about 1% hours. It is an immense sandy plain en-
tirely destitute of vegetation. At this season it has a crustation of
salt about % of an inch thick. Length of Lake from West to East
5% miles. Wherever water stands in small pools, it very brackish.
Saw immense herds of buffalo on this plain and its vicinity, I was
told by our guide, that they are more numerous here than elsewhere,
being enticed by the salt. We encamped on an outlet or river flow-
ing from it, which is the Salt fork of the Arkansas. 61 The bed of
this stream is about 1867 feet wide. Its west bank is well defined by
a strip of Cottonwood and walnut timber. This stream rises at the
Eastern extremity of the salt plain, and flows in an Easterly direc-
tion, about three miles, when it turns abruptly south. Its waters
are very salt. It has a sluggish current between 1 & 2 feet deep.
Saw over two thousand buffalo huddled together south of our ford.
Our camp is near two springs of fresh water close to the river.
Cloudy and rainy. No observations.
Distance llm, 881 feet.
October llth. Started this morning at 9 a. m. About two miles
of our march was over a sandy soil, when we struck a level prairie,
broken in some places by small arroyos: Saw immense herds of
buffalo as far as the eye could reach. Several herds ran close to
the Infantry column, where numbers were killed. 62 About 2 p. m.
we encamped on a red stream flowing south, having a few scattering
cottonwoods. 63 It is about 10 feet wide with between 2 & 3 feet
water.
61. Camp was in the western part of present Grant county, Oklahoma.
62. Bandel wrote: "Buffaloes very numerous. It seems if any more could find room on
the prairie, more would be there. We kill them more for the pleasure of hunting than for
the sake of meat. Of a buffalo weighing from eight hundred to a thousand pounds, hardly
fifty pounds of meat will be taken by the men of the command. I killed one on the road
today but did not take any of the meat, having plenty of it in our wagons already." Bandel,
"Journal," October 11, op. cit., p. 202.
63. The stream was probably Cottonwood creek which flows south through present Grant
county, Oklahoma, emptying into the Salt Fork of the Arkansas.
374 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
For the first time I was close by, when a buffalo was shot. It
was a young bull. Toward the posterior of the body the hair is very
short, near the head it is much longer, also very long on the front
parts of the fore legs. He appeared very tenacious of life, and it
took several shots to dispatch him after he fell. Distance 15 miles,
3066 feet. Lat 36 48' 51".
October 12th. Started this morning at the usual hour, and
marched over an open rolling prairie, intersected at short distances
with gullies or slues, the crossing of which very much fatigued our
animals. These water courses all flow from North W to S. E.
Crossed another considerable stream having timber, & encamped
on a third heavily timbered with Cottonwood. The banks of these
creeks are in most instances very steep and are lined with trees.
The grass is very fine. We now have a rich black soil, in place of
the red clay heretofore met. Distance 14 miles, 158 feet.
October 13th. Starting at the usual hour we prosecuted our march
over a now low level prairie, covered with long, coarse grass. Met a
band of Osages (Indians) hunting the buffalo. Encamped on a
tributary (Pa-ha-be-creek) 64 of the little Arkansas, 3 miles & 3000
feet south of our crossing, when we passed over it before (or the
point where the parallel of 37 N. Lat bisects it). Found Indians
encamped near us. (Osages.) Our mules were much fatigued
and some broken down when we got into camp. Distance 16 miles.
Lat 36 57' 23".
October 14th. Marched in a N. E. direction about 5 miles and
struck the road pursued while trailing the boundary. We were
obliged to remain on one of the creeks nearly the whole day in order
to construct a bridge to cross the train. Got entirely over by sun
down, when we encamped. Distance 5% miles.
October 15th. Marched over a rolling prairie on our former road
crossing two creeks, when we encamped in a low bottom covered
with very long course grass. Distance 17.25 miles.
October 16th. This morning for the first time we experienced a
heavy frost, the Thermomt. Fart, reading below 32. Marched until
noon when we arrived at the Arkansas river and encamped. The
Quarter master's train and Mr. Clark's party crossed the river which
is now very low and encamped on the opposite or East side. 65 Dis-
tance to river 10 miles.
October 17th. Started this morning at 7% a. ni. and marched
64. Bluff creek.
65. "Today the astronomers and an escort left ahead of us for Spring river, [in order] to
finish their work of observation before we get there." Bandel, "Journal," October 16, op. cit.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 375
until 4 p. m. when we encamped at the source of the little Verdigris,
about one mile west of our old camp on that stream. From the base
of a small ridge bearing south from our camp, a number of beautiful
springs are located, from whence flows one of the main branches of
the Verdigris. Distance from Arkansas river to this point is 25.5
miles.
October 18th. Last night we had heavy rain which continued
nearly the whole day. Struck camp at mid day, and marched along
the above mentioned creek when we encamped west of Merid. N. 5.
A courier arrived from the train with a letter for the mail. Distance
7.3 miles.
October 19th. This morning we were delayed from starting as
soon as we expected in consequence of the mules belonging to the
escort straying off and taking the road ahead. They were not found
before 10 a. m. Mr. Clark's teamster also had a mule to stray away,
which has not yet been found leaving only 5 mules in the team.
Stopped to graize at crossing when the wagon of the escort overtook
us, after which encamped. Distance 12.8 mi.
October 20th. Marched to last crossing of little Verdigris. En-
camped near a small lake south of the road. Distance 21.2 miles.
October 21st. Marched to Pumpkin creek at crossing; (This is
six miles from the Osage villages) 66 where we encamped after a
fatiguing march through cold disagreeable rain which lasted through
the whole day. Distance 19 miles.
October 22. Starting early this morning we crossed first Pumpkin
creek, Verdigris river and Labet creek, 67 from thence we pursued
our journey and encamped at Camp Snow. Distance 13.8 mil.
October 23. Starting early this morning we marched until sunset
when we struck the Neocho and encamped, near the ford. Distance
21.3 mil.
October 24th. Last night we were visited by Mr. Edwards, an
Indian trader among the Osages, who related many amusing and
interesting anecdotes concerning that tribe. Started early this morn-
ing and crossing the Neocho river, we continued our march over the
prairie lying between it and Spring river on which we encamped at
4 p. m. Distance 20.467 miles. Distance from Arkansas river to
Spring river 140.98 miles.
66. Osage villages were located in the northwest part of present Coffeyville, Montgomery
county.
67. Apparently they first crossed present Onion creek, then the Verdigris river and east
of that what is now Pumpkin creek.
376 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
TABLE OF DISTANCES FROM SPRING RIVER TO ARKANSAS RIVER
Miles
Spring river to Childer's house on Neocho river 20.00
Childer's house to Camp Snow 21.30
Camp Snow to crossing of Pumpkin creek near Osage villages 14.00
Pumpkin creek to Lagoon on 1st prong of Verdigris 19.00
Lagoon on 1st Prong of Verdigris to source of main prong 41.00
Source of main prong of Verdigris to Arkansas river 25.50
October 25th. Starting this morning we crossed Spring river
(four months and twenty five days since we passed it before) and
proceeding to the initial point encamped on the site of meridian
No. 1.
The distance of boundary line surveyed was 463 miles which oc-
cupied us 85 days. On this line there were 11 Astronomical stations,
determined in Latitude with the Zenith sector, from which offsets
to the Parallel were measured on the true meridian. The position of
the last station was determined in Longitude with reference to
Greenwich by observations of moon culminations with the Transit
instrument during one lunation. The remainder of the time was
taken up, in a reconnaissance along the North fork of the Canadian
and the country south of the Parallel (37). This (reconnaissance)
was made with the sextant, viameter and compass, and includes a
distance upwards of 540 miles, from the point where the Santa Fee
road crosses Rabbitear creek, to Spring river.
We continued making observations at this point up to Nov. 6th.
The command arrived on the 28 Oct. 68 and after recruiting a few
days, started for Fort Leavenworth.
Nov. 7th. Set out this morning for Fort Leavenworth in rear of
the main command. 69 Crossed Spring river and travelled on the
south bank. This stream possesses some excellent sites for water
power. Encamped on a small tributary called Shwanee creek. 70
Distance 21.5 miles.
Nov. 8th. Marched over a fine rolling prairie and encamped on
another small creek flowing south. Distance 27 miles.
Nov. 9th. Continued our march over some fine farming country.
Passed through Fort Scott and encamped about 3 miles beyond it.
Distance 20.5 miles.
Nov. 10th. Travelled over a fine rolling country having a few
scattering farms along the road, and encamped near Mine creek. 71
68. Captain Wood's party arrived on October 31.
69. The main command set out for Fort Leavenworth on November 5.
70. Shawnee creek flows south through the eastern part of present Cherokee county.
71. Mine creek, a tributary of the Osage river, is in Linn county.
CALDWELL: SOUTHERN KANSAS BOUNDARY SURVEY 377
After encamping a teamster named Grain became intoxicated and
threatened Mr. Clark's life. He promptly dismissed him. Distance
22.5 miles.
Nov. llth. Traveled over the same character of country as yes-
terday except it was better timbered. Encamped near a small vil-
lage called West point. 72 Mr. Clark went forward this morning to
give the Col. notice of Grain's dismissal. The main command be-
ing but one day in advance. Distance 16.5 m.
Nov. 12th. Marched to day on the borders of Missouri in Cass
county. Met a teamster from the other train with two mules to
join me; also a sergeant of cavalry with money to pay off Grain
and a letter from the Col. directing me to expell him from the train,
which I immediately did. Dist. 15 miles, 1000 feet.
Nov. 13th. Started at 8 a. m. after dismissing Grain from the
train and travelled until after sun down, when we came up to the
main camp near the village of Little Santa Fee 73 on Indian creek,
where we encamped. Distance 27.7 m.
Nov. 14th. From Indian creek we next struck Kaw river. It oc-
cupied the main train the whole day to pass it. We encamped with
Mr. Kennedy with the expectation of crossing it tomorrow. The
ferry boats are capable of passing over one wagon and six mules at
a trip. Indian creek to Touley's ferry 74 Kaw river 13.3 miles.
Nov. 15th. To day we travelled 22 miles which brought us to
Leavenworth city, where all the property was disposed of at auction,
it being advertised previous to our arrival.
From this point we set out with our field notes for Washington
City.
72. West Point was a town in Bates county, Missouri.
73. Little Santa Fe was located on the Kansas boundary in the southwestern part of
Jackson county, Missouri.
74. For a history of Toley's ferry see George A. Root's "Ferries in Kansas," Kansas
Historical Quarterly, v. 2, pp. 266, 267.
Medical Sketch of the Nineteenth Regiment
of Kansas Cavalry Volunteers
MAHLON BAILEY
I. INTRODUCTION
E1868 the plains Indians, growing increasingly hostile to the
juilding of the Union Pacific railroad and the rapid settlement
of the prairies, determined to make a last stand against the advance
of civilization. Disregarding their treaty at Medicine Lodge the
previous October, they swarmed over the western plains as soon as
spring came, murdering and robbing as they went. One band of
Cheyennes penetrated as far east as Council Grove, where they at-
tacked the Kaw Indians and robbed the settlers in the vicinity.
Other war parties, with arms and ammunition obtained from the
Indian agent at Fort Lamed, fell upon the unprotected settlements
on the Smoky Hill and Saline rivers, and after laying waste these
settlements continued their depredations in the valleys of the Solo-
mon and Republican.
United States troops under Gen. Philip H. Sheridan did what they
could to suppress the uprising, but their number was wholly in-
adequate to protect the border of more than 200 miles and guard
overland transportation and construction crews on the railroad.
Recognizing the futility of a summer campaign, General Sheridan
decided to carry the war into the Indians' own country and attack
them in winter quarters. In accordance with this plan he called
upon Gov. Samuel J. Crawford for a regiment of cavalry. Craw-
ford, having previously offered troops to the President, immediately
issued a call for volunteers, and within a few weeks the Nineteenth
Kansas cavalry, comprising 1,200 men, was mustered into United
States service for a period of six months. Governor Crawford
resigned his office and on November 4 was appointed colonel of the
regiment.
These troops were ordered to proceed via Camp Beecher (now
Wichita) to Camp Supply in the Indian territory. The officers and
men, and, as it proved, the guides as well, were unfamiliar with the
country south of the Arkansas river ; when they reached this region
they lost their way and for days wandered around in the canons of
the Cimarron in a severe snowstorm. Intense cold and lack of
provisions caused extreme suffering until supplies and guides sent
(378)
BAILEY: MEDICAL SKETCH OF THE 19TH KANSAS 379
from Camp Supply finally reached the regiment, enabling it to get
to the camp. Here the troops remained until December 7, when
under General Sheridan they marched southward in close pursuit of
the Indians. By February 15 all the tribes had surrendered except
one band of Cheyennes. In March a command sent against this
tribe rescued two white women captives and forced the Indians to
surrender. The regiment then marched to Fort Hays, where it was
mustered out in April, 1869.
This campaign, one of the most notable in the history of Kansas
troops, has been described in previous publications of this Society. 1
The account given below, written by the surgeon of the regiment,
Dr. Mahlon Bailey, is a unique record of volunteer troops on the
plains. 2 It is printed from the original manuscript in the possession
of the Kansas State Historical Society. 3
II. DOCTOR BAILEY'S ACCOUNT
This regiment was organized by Governor Crawford in October,
1868, at Topeka, Kansas. Enlisted for six months to serve in a
winter campaign against hostile Indians on the Plains. The organ-
ization of the regiment was completed in less than two weeks after
the arrival of the first recruits, hence the examination of the men
was made in a hurried manner, and a few succeeded, by the aid of
their company officers, in getting mustered that were not really fit
for soldiers. A large number were young men between the ages of
eighteen and twenty-one very few over forty and all together
were a fine lot of men physically ; the best volunteer regiment I ever
saw.
1. Horace L. Moore, "The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry," Kansas Historical Collections,
v. 6, pp. 35-52; James A. Hadley, "The Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry and the Conquest of the
Plains Indians," ibid., v. 10, pp. 428-456; "John McBee's Account of the Expedition of the
Nineteenth Kansas," ibid., v. 17, pp. 361-374.
2. Mahlon Bailey was born March 19, 1835, near Salem, Ohio. He began the study of
medicine at Iowa State University, and later attended St. Louis Medical College, graduating
there in 1858. In May, 1858, he moved to Kansas and settled at Emporia, becoming the
first physician in the town.
In 1861 Doctor Bailey entered the army as surgeon of the Tenth Kansas infantry, but
resigned, and in May, 1862, was made assistant surgeon of the First Kansas infantry. He
was promoted to surgeon of the regiment in June, 1863, and held this position until the regi-
ment was mustered out at Fort Leaven worth in 1864. He then went to Topeka, and in part-
nership with Doctor Stormont, resumed the practice of medicine. In October, 1864, he was
married to Miss Laura Jarbeo of Muscatine, Iowa. When in 1868 the Nineteenth Kansas
regiment was organized Doctor Bailey was made surgeon and served through the six months'
Indian campaign with Generals Sheridan and Custer. At the close of the campaign he re-
turned to Topeka, where he remained until 1870, when he moved to New Chicago, now
called Chanute.
While engaged in the practice of medicine, Doctor Bailey contributed valuable articles to
medical journals, and in 1869 was president of the Kansas State Medical Society. After his
removal to Chanute he abandoned the medical profession and devoted his time to banking and
other business pursuits. He established the first bank in Neosho county. He was an active
Republican, and was a delegate to the state convention in 1860, and again in 1876. Doctor
Bailey's family consisted of one daughter and four sons. He continued to reside in Chanute
until his death in 1893.
3. The manuscript also was made the basis of an article in Transactions of the Kansas
State Medical Society (1869), pp. 33-40.
380 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The men were from all parts of the state, and many were from
malarial districts, hence there was considerable ague at first, but
it disappeared very fast after we got on the Plains.
As is always the case when recruits first go into camp, there were
a great many cases of diarrhoea and dysentery, or rather a combina-
tion of the two diseases, and I think might appropriately be desig-
nated dysenteric-diarrhoea. Generally of a mild form, however,
and none of the cases assumed that severe chronic form which
proved so fatal during the late war.
The regiment left Topeka on the fifth of November, leaving only
one man a case of remittent fever. The men were well provided
with clothing, including ponchos, but were without tents or shelter
of any kind.
On the eighth it rained all day, snowed in the evening and turned
very cold, the men suffering severely. Left a bad case of pneumonia
at Emporia in charge of Doctor Jacobs.
On the twelfth we arrived at Camp Beecher 4 on the Arkansas
river, at the mouth of the Little Arkansas, where we remained one
day; received five days' rations of hard-bread, pork and coffee; left
in hospital one case of pneumonia, one case of periostitis, and one
case of accidental gunshot wound.
Crossed the Arkansas river on the morning of the fourteenth,
bidding adieu to the last vestige of civilization, directing our course
southwest, under the guidance of a scout known as "Apache Bill."
On the night of the fifteenth, after raining all day, it turned in-
tensely cold, froze hard and the wind blew a perfect hurricane from
the north. Were encamped in a bleak place on the Nenescah, 5
among sand hills. Several of the men had their toes frozen, but with
the exception of one severe case of pneumonia and some twenty
desertions, no other bad results from the night's exposure.
On the night of the eighteenth, while in camp on Medicine Lodge
creek, we were favored with a stampede of some three hundred
horses. Several men were hurt, which swelled the list of contusions
for the month, and the regiment was delayed one day, which was
an important item, as the distance to supplies was about an hundred
miles, forage all gone, and rations nearly out. The time, however,
was improved by sending out details to obtain buffalo meat.
On the night of the twenty-first it commenced snowing and con-
tinued for thirty-six hours ; not less than two feet of snow fell.
4. Established May 11, 1868, on the present site of Wichita. Hortense Balderston Camp-
beU, "Camp Beecher," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 3, pp. 172-185.
6. Probably the Ninnescah river.
BAILEY: MEDICAL SKETCH OF THE 19TH KANSAS 381
On the twenty-second it was impossible to move. We were en-
camped in a little brushy valley, and fortunately had plenty of
wood. Entirely out of rations and difficult to get buffalo on account
of the snow, which made it impossible to see more than a few yards.
A great many of the men actually suffered from hunger; and the
limited amount of buffalo that was obtained saved us the necessity
of eating horse-flesh, not only for this day, but for the next six days.
After one-and-a-half days' delay we resumed the march, expect-
ing to find Cimmaron [Cimarron] river in a few miles, and after
winding around sand breaks until dark, encamped within about
three miles of the river, and twenty-five miles below where we should
have struck it. The men and horses were becoming very much ex-
hausted. The next morning parties were sent out to obtain buffalo
meat, and in the afternoon Colonel Crawford took all that had
horses in condition to travel, which amounted to but little more
than half of the regiment, and struck out to find "Camp Supply/' an
indefinite distance of course. The balance of the regiment remained
in camp, being unable to move, and depended entirely upon buffalo
to live, which were plentiful by going a few miles from camp. Salt
water was carried from the Cimmaron in canteens to season the
meat with, and without anything else we succeeded in living. The
men suffered considerably from dysentery in a mild form. My
supply of opiates was soon exhausted, and I prepared a mixture of
olive oil, turpentine, fl. ex. ipecac and creosote, which proved to be
very efficient. A number of the men indulged in eating large
quantities of hackberries, which in a few cases produced rather
serious results. The broken seeds, or stones, became impacted in
the rectum, causing complete obstruction, and could only be re-
moved by using a scoop. The camp forever afterwards was known
among the men as "Hackberry Point."
While here I evaporated just one half pint of water from the Cim-
maron river and obtained, when perfectly dry, ninety-four grains
of salt. What is properly the salt plains of the Cimmaron is a
strip of country along the south side of the river, about opposite
this point.
On the night of the twenty-eighth of November we received rations
and forage by Captain Pliley, who had been sent forward on the
22d to find Camp Supply and procure provisions.
On the first day of December the detachment joined Colonel
Crawford, who had arrived three days before at General Sheridan's
supply camp, situated on Beaver creek, near its junction with north
382 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
fork of the Canadian, three hundred and fifty miles west of Topeka,
Kansas, where we remained for seven days, and started for Fort
Cobb. Left a detachment of about three hundred dismounted men
under command of Major Dimon, and in charge of the surgeon of
the post; ten of the number on sick report, three of whom were
wounded by accident. Upon the arrival of Doctor Robert Aikman,
second assistant surgeon of the regiment, some time in December,
he took charge of the detachment. His reports and the reports of
a detachment of about eighty men sent to Fort Dodge, and also
the reports of two companies that were detailed to escort trains, are
not included in my reports.
We arrived at Fort Cobb after twelve days marching during very
cold weather. The regiment was provided with shelter tents, had
plenty to eat and enjoyed excellent health.
We moved south to the east end of the Wichita mountains
(Medicine Bluff creek) in the fore part of January, where we re-
mained for about two months. Good country, excellent water and
plenty of fuel. As the reports for January and February show there
was no sickness at all. The weather was generally mild, no snow,
considerable rain, and with the exception of a "norther" occasion-
ally, was decidedly pleasant. The men built fireplaces to their "pup"
tents, and generally had rations sufficient, to which was added no
small amount of game, such as deer, antelope, turkeys, etc.
On the second of March the command under General Custer,
consisting of the Seventh U. S. cavalry, mounted, and the Nine-
teenth Kansas, dismounted, started west in search of the Cheyenne
Indians. The men suffered considerably from sore and blistered
feet, but it very soon became evident that the dismounted cavalry
could outmarch the mounted. And when on the fifth day out,
General Custer divided his command, he sent about two thirds of
the mounted and one third of the dismounted a short route to sup-
plies, and with the balance of his command, made a march of some
three hundred miles in seventeen days, on short rations, which were
entirely exhausted, and the men devoured with a relish the mules
that were killed because they could travel no farther, and decided
the meat better than the Texas cattle furnished by the commissary
department.
After the reunion of the command on the Washita river, seventy-
five miles south of Camp Supply, marching was commenced at the
rate of twenty-five miles a day, until our arrival at Fort Hays.
Many of the men became tired and foot-sore, but fortunately there
BAILEY: MEDICAL SKETCH OF THE 19TH KANSAS 383
was a large number of empty wagons along, that, after considerable
delay, were obtained to transport those that were unfit to march.
The total distance marched by the regiment was about twelve
hundred miles, two thirds of the distance on foot.
I shall not enter into any description of the country over which
we passed, further than to say that after crossing the Arkansas, one
hundred and fifty miles southwest of Topeka, with the exception of
the immediate vicinity of the east end of the Wichita mountains,
there is no country over which we marched that is not appropriately
named the "Great American Desert," and in everything that con-
stitutes a country susceptible to settlement, is as much inferior to
the plains west of Ellsworth in Kansas, as those plains are to a good
agricultural country. In fact, the whole region south of the Arkan-
sas, and especially south of the Cimmaron river, and west of the
Wichita mountains is one vast desert of red clay and sand, with
scattering gypsum and salt deposits.
The following is a consolidation of the monthly reports of the
regiment, which give the number taken sick and wounded during
each month. It shows the whole number taken sick was two hun-
dred and sixty-two, and the number wounded thirty-four, and also
that more than half of the number of cases for the term of service
from October 30th, 1868, to April 16th, 1869 occurred in the month
of November, which can be accounted for by the sudden changes
from civil to camp life, excessive rough weather, and want of shelter
and sufficient provisions, etc. Although during the month the num-
ber taken on sick report is large, in comparison with the other
months, the cases were generally mild only requiring to be relieved
from duty for a few days. The morning reports show that the
average number on sick report was but little more than one percent
of the strength of the command.
384
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Report of Sick and Wounded of the Nineteenth Regiment,
Kansas Cavalry Volunteers,
From October 30, 1868, to April 18, 1869.
DISEASES.
Taken sick in
October (2 days) . . .
November
December
January
February
P
3
cr
I.
00
!
g
Returned to duty. . .
d
si
Sent to hospital ....
Typho-malarial fever
Remittent fever
Intermittent fever
Acute diarrhoea
Acute dysentery
Tonsillitis
Gonorrhoea
Acute rheumatism
Neuralgia
1
1
5
84
28
55
1
2
7
2
4
9
7
3
1
1
3
84
28
55
1
2
7
2
4
9
4
3
1
1
2
2
4
5
1
40
12
32
1
2
17
7
9
5
2
5
3
3
11
4
4
2
2
2
1
3
2
5
3
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Conjunctivitis .
Pneumonia
3
1
2
Pleurisy . . . .
Colic
Constipation
Inguinal hernia
1
1
2
1
2
1
2
2
1
Inflammation of testicle
2
4
7
2
2
1
4
1
1
2
9
2
1
64
1
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
10
7
12
7
3
14
7
17
8
2
4
296
7
12
7
3
14
7
17
4
2
4
283
Boil
Ulcers
Burns and scalds
Contusions
Sprains
1
12
2
7
5
4
150
Frostbites
1
4
12
Gunshot wounds
16
Totals
21
12
23
BAILEY: MEDICAL SKETCH OF THE 19TH KANSAS 385
The following is the average percent on sick report:
During October 1. percent
During November 1 . 13 percent
During December 1.3 percent
During January 1.1 percent
During February 0.7 percent
During March 0.6 percent
During April .75 percent
Total number taken sick 262
Wounded 34
Which makes about one percent during the term of service, or in
other words, the average number on sick report was one man in
every hundred.
This includes all cases of sick and wounded that were relieved
from duty. I have not the necessary statistics to make comparisons,
but I think the above report indicates that the regiment suffered less
from sickness than is usual among troops, even on the Plains; and
it also shows that as far as the health of the troops is concerned,
there can be no objection to winter campaigning, and the great
"bug-bear," that active operations must stop on the Plains when
winter sets in, is, I think, thoroughly demolished by last winter's
campaign. In fact, as far as health and comfort of the troops are
concerned (to say nothing of other military advantages), I would
prefer the winter to the summer months.
Of those sent to the hospital all recovered and were returned to
duty except one, who died in the hospital at Fort Hays.
Besides the death of typho-malarial fever, reported above, there
was one man accidentally shot and instantly killed. Also one man
died of disease in the detachment under charge of Assistant Surgeon
Aikman. One man died of disease, and one was accidentally killed
in the companies that were detached from the regiment, making in
all six deaths, four from disease and two killed.
The case of typho-malarial fever that proved fatal was a severe
and well-marked case. Treated with quinine, whisky, &c.
The treatment of dysentery was generally commenced with epsom
salts or castor oil and turpentine, which was followed by opium
combined with camphor or ipecac.
The cases of pneumonia were all severe; all treated with stim-
ulants, opiates and tonics, together with extensive blistering; all
recovered, although exposed to an extent that would be sufficient
to account for the death of any case of pneumonia in private
practice.
251991
386 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The cases of frostbite were all of the toes none bad enough to
require amputation.
Of the gunshot wounds reported, all were accidental, and none
very severe, only one requiring a surgical operation, and that only
the amputation of a finger.
While I speak with pleasure of the good health and few casualties
of the regiment, I regret to say that on account of some philan-
thropic, "milk-and-water" Indian policy of those high in authority,
we were not allowed to punish those heinous savage outlaws for
the atrocious deeds committed, but a few weeks before upon de-
fenseless women and children of our own state. Deeds, which twelve
hundred brave men of Kansas volunteered to avenge on the first
sound of the bugle to arms! Men who were able and willing to
stand any exposure, march any distance, endure any hardships
necessary to punish in a manner that would forever secure their own
homes and families, and the wives and children of frontier settlers
from the merciless savage brutes, who consider every act of kindness
an indication of fear, and the fostering care of the government an
admission of its inability or fear to punish them.
Before closing, I wish to extend to the commander and all the
officers of the regiment, my regards for the prompt assent at all
times, to all measures suggested by the medical officers in regard to
the health and sanitary condition of the command, and their non-
interference with matters pertaining to the medical department.
I also take the privilege to express my high respect for the as-
sistant surgeon, E. K. Russell, who was constantly with the regi-
ment, for the prompt and skillful manner in which he performed his
duties, always ready and willing to do all in his power to aid the
sick, and no less vigilant in guarding against malingerers.
Also to Assistant Surgeon Robert Aikman, who had charge of a
detachment of the regiment, and proved himself to be an efficient
officer and a gentleman.
And I must say further, that if the medical officers of the regiment
were more fortunate in one thing than another, it was in having a
hospital steward, J. G. Land, that in everything pertaining to the
duties of a steward, could not be excelled. He combined with
superior qualifications an enduring energy, and a disposition to
promptly do all his duties that will long be remembered by those
connected with him.
w
Wichita and Her Public Libraries
HORTENSE B. C. GIBSON
ICHITA had scarcely assumed the status of a town when
churches and schools were established ; immediately afterwards
a library and lecture association was promoted. As early as 1873,
four years after the first settlers bought land for homes, an associa-
tion was formed which secured a charter for a library and lecture
association. This charter, issued on December 4, 1873, was granted
to the Wichita Library Association, "a corporation; formed for the
purpose of establishing and maintaining a public library and read-
ing room and for the diffusion of knowledge and the promotion of
intellectual improvement in the city of Wichita, Sedgwick county,
Kansas." * Nine directors were to govern the policies of the associa-
tion; the capital stock was to be $2,000, divided into 200 shares of
$10 each. Prospective shareholders were induced to join on the
promise that shares could be paid for on the monthly installment
plan, though the committee which made this agreeable offer also said
that one payment would be highly satisfactory. John P. Harsen,
William J. Hobson, Henry J. Walker, Quincy A. Smith, and M. S.
Adams were the five men who drafted the charter. 2
Evidently this library never functioned, for there is no mention
in later issues of the Eagle of its ever having been in business.
In the spring of 1874 an attempt was made to establish a mer-
cantile library association and Dr. C. C. Furley, one of its pro-
moters, went so far as to collect pledges sufficient to purchase 500
volumes. It also never materialized. 3
On February 3, 1876, W. P. Campbell, A. H. Fabrique, Fred
Schattner, J. M. Atwood, M. M. Murdock, Frank Fisher, Charles C.
Furley, W. E. Stanley, J. P. Harsen, Ben W. Aldrich, M. W. Levy,
H. G. Ruggles, and George E. Harris obtained permission to operate
a library association, also called the Wichita Library Association. 4
They had no money with which to buy books or rent quarters, so,
under the direction of their president, W. P. Campbell, they levied
a membership fee of three dollars. 5
1. Kansas, secretary of state, "Corporations," v. 5, p. 416.
2. Wichita Eagle, December 11, 1873, p. 3.
3. Ibid., March 19, 1874, p. 2.
4. Original charter is in the office of the secretary of state of Kansas. The Wichita
library has a certified copy of it.
5. Wichita Weekly Eagle, December 28, 1876, p. 3, "Bylaws of the Wichita Library
Association."
(387)
388 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Soon the women formed an auxiliary association to help raise
funds, sponsoring ice cream socials, concerts, and other entertain-
ments. 6 Mr. Campbell said in a recent conversation that lectures
by Noble Prentis on a trip to Europe and Joe Waters on a "Journey
of Jonah" enriched in no mean way the coffers of the association;
particularly since the lecturers donated their services, and in the
case of Mr. Waters paid admission to hear his own lecture. 7
Eagle hall, in the Greiffenstein building housed the first library, 8
the books for which were bought in 1877. 9 Later Nerius Baldwin's
photograph gallery on East Douglas was used, Dell Baldwin, the
photographer's daughter, serving as librarian. 10 She was followed
by Mrs. Ella Glenn Shields. 11
At first the library was opened only on Saturday afternoon. 12
Later it was opened Wednesday afternoon also. 13
From the first, this association was ambitious. It raised $1,250
among its own members for a building and asked Jim Hope, the
mayor, and his council to contribute an equal amount, but the city,
raising all its revenue from liquor taxes, refused to levy a tax on
property, and the movement failed. 14
Later the Odd Fellows had plans drawn for a three-story building,
the third story of which was for a library. 15 This project also fell
through.
The only record we have of the circulation of books is that of
1878, when 2,047 volumes were issued. 16 The Wichita Library As-
sociation ceased to exist in 1885, when the association turned over
all the books to the city. 17
For a few months the city employed the librarian formerly in
charge of the association library. 18 Then in November the city
council rented for twenty-five dollars a month a room in the old
Beacon building at 112 East Douglas, and signed a contract with
J. R. Mclntosh, of Chicago, to take charge of the library for one
year. 19 He was to receive all the income from cards sold and in
6. Ibid., February 15, 1877, p. 3.
7. Conversation of Mr. W. P. Campbell with Mrs. H. B. C. Gibson, April 30, 1935.
8. Conversation with Mr. Campbell.
9. Wichita Weekly Eagle, September 6, 1877, p. 3, "Appropriation for books."
10. Wichita City Directory and Immigrant's Guide (1878), p. 119.
11. Wichita Daily Beacon, January 18, 1882, p. 3.
12. Wichita Weekly Eagle, May 10, 1877, p. 3.
13. Wichita Daily Beacon, September 25, 1884, p. 1.
14. Conversation with Mr. W. P. Campbell, April 30, 1935.
15. Wichita Eagle, January 16, 1879, p. 3, and March 27, 1879, p. 3.
16. Wichita Weekly Beacon, January 15, 1879, p. 5.
17. Wichita Daily Eagle, August 30, 1885, p. 4.
18. Ibid.
19. Wichita, city council, "Proceedings," November 23, 1885.
GIBSON: WICHITA AND HER PUBLIC LIBRARIES 389
return was to buy five hundred volumes of the Century Library,
which included historical and scientific works and the best fiction.
Sixty-five dollars was appropriated for the printing of a catalog. 20
The fee at this time was a dollar per year, and so anxious was Mr.
Mclntosh to secure subscribers that he offered to allow them to pay
twenty-five cents per quarter. 21
Perhaps he might have had competition, too, from the Sedgwick
County Library which, sponsored by the W. C. T. U., flourished
from the middle eighties to the early nineties, although the type of
book which the Sedgwick County Library offered the public would
probably appeal only to the very serious reader. Tickets in it, too,
were one dollar per year. 22 In the Sedgwick County Library,
Emanuel Swedenborg was represented by twenty volumes ; The Gar-
den of Eden by Doughty, and the New View of Hell and Heaven,
revealed by Barrett, were said "to embody a system of philosophy
which is exciting the attention of the best minds of the day, and
the perusal will not fail to enlighten any one who reads them." 23
In 1888 the board of education accepted the gift of several li-
braries from both individuals and from societies, and for a year or
so made them available to the public, without any legal authority
to do so, until during the session of the legislature in 1889, Doctor
Stevenson, the superintendent of schools, and members of the board,
secured the passage of a law 24 giving boards of education authority
to establish and maintain public school libraries. 25 Though this
type of library was called a public-school library, it was open to
and patronized by the general public. 26
A major development in the progress of Wichita the building of
the city hall 27 was contemporary with the establishment of the Pub-
lic School Library. In making their plans for housing the books,
the board, then located in the Sedgwick block, petitioned and ob-
tained permission from the city council to occupy rooms on the first
floor of the city hall. In the old quarters the secretary of the board
acted as librarian 28 until, on May 26, 1893, quarters were secured
in the new city hall and Miss Isis Blanche Martin, now Mrs.
20. Wichita Daily Eagle, November 25, 1885, p. 4.
21. Ibid., December 13, 1885, p. 6.
22. Ibid., December 7, 1890, "W. C. T. U. Notes," p. 5.
23. Wichita Daily Beacon, December 1, 1886, p. 4.
24. Kansas, Session Laws, 1889, Ch. 227, Sec. 33.
25. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book D, September 6, 1909-September
12, 1916, pp. 106-108.
26. Wichita Daily Eagle, July 29, 1893, p. 5.
27. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book A, October 5, 1885, to August 17,
1891, p. 427. Permission given to the board to occupy rooms in city building.
28. Ibid., Book B, September 7, 1891, to February 6, 1899, pp. 26 and 27. Rules for
the governing of the City library adopted November 23, 1891.
390 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Charlesworth, of San Diego, CaL, was appointed librarian. 29 The
daughter of Dr. C. E. Martin, 30 she had come to Wichita in 1877,
and living at 411 Sherman, had attended the old "bed bug" school
at Second and Wichita streets. 31
Her tenure of office was short, only a year, but that of Minnie
McKibben, her successor, was still shorter, for Miss McKibben
officiated only from May 32 to December, 1894, 33 when she married
Earl Blake, a young attorney. Coming to Wichita in 1877 with her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. James A. McKibben, she remained here a
short time, and then lived in various parts of the country until
1890, when she returned to Wichita and remained here until her
death in 1931. She was a student in Garfield Central Memorial
University in 1891-1892. 34
Upon Miss McKibben's marriage Dula Pease, afterwards Mrs.
William A. Ayres, wife of the congressman, became librarian. A
native of Crabb Orchard, Williamson county, 111., she moved to
Wichita when a young girl and was educated in the city schools. 35
During her term of office, December, 1894, to July, 1896, 36 a catalog
of the library was printed, and the organization of the library was
such that it was almost self-supporting. 37 Marrying William A.
Ayres in 1896, she lived in Wichita until 1914, when, upon her hus-
band's election to congress, she divided her time between Wichita
and Washington. She died in 1934.
It was during the term of office of Miss Laura Gross, 1896 38 -1902, 39
that the subscription fee of one dollar was removed and the library
became free. Beginning March 1, 1900, 40 the city agreed to appro-
priate $50 per month for its support, and that, with the amount con-
tributed by the board of education, made it possible for 920 mem-
bers to have free cards by May 1, 1900. 41
Agitation started in the seventies was revived at this, the turn
of the century, when the Chautauqua Social Union, under the direc-
29. Ibid., pp. 170-171, May 26, 1893.
30. Letter from Mrs. Charlesworth, April 2, 1935.
31. Wichita Daily Eagle, September 11, 1932, p. 3.
32. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book B, p. 247, May 7, 1894. Elected.
33. Ibid., p. 292, December 3, 1894. Resigned.
34. Letter from Earl Blake, April 10, 1935.
35. Letter from William A. Ayres, April 4, 1935.
36. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book B, p. 292, December 3, 1894.
37. Wichita Daily Eagle, May 5, 1896, p. 5.
38. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book B, p. 364, May 4, 1896.
39. Ibid., Book C, March 6, 1899, to August 24, 1909, p. 163, December 23, 1902.
40. Ibid., p. 34, February 6, 1900.
41. Ibid., p. 42, May 7, 1900.
GIBSON: WICHITA AND HER PUBLIC LIBRARIES 391
tion of Mrs. R. M. Piatt, sponsored a movement to obtain a $50,000
Carnegie library. 42 Nothing came of it.
Following Miss Gross, 43 who resigned to study at the congres-
sional library in Washington, Miss Anna Eugene Wiegand became
librarian. 44 A native Wichitan, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.
Wiegand, she had graduated from Lewis academy 45 and had served
as an assistant librarian 46 for several years previous to her assum-
ing the librarianship. 47 She resigned in 1908 to marry Mr. W. E.
Brickman. After his death she studied secretarial science and is
now engaged in that work in Detroit.
Quarters for the library were established on the first floor of the
City building in 1893, 48 and remained there until January, 1908,
when the fourth floor became the scene of library activity. 49
A room especially for children was provided for the first time in
these new quarters. There were, besides this room, which was lo-
cated in the northeast turret, one large room, containing all the
books and bound magazines; a reading room; and a large store
room. 50 Miss Kathryn Cossitt, appointed in January, 1908, served
as librarian from 1908 to 1915, while the library was in this loca-
tion. She is a graduate of Lewis academy and of the Municipal Uni-
versity of Wichita. Both she and Mrs. Brickman completed the
summer course which Melvil Dewey offered for many years at
Chautauqua, N. Y. B1
In 1909 the legislature repealed the law passed in 1889, empower-
ing boards of education to levy a tax for the support of a public
library, 52 but the board continued to operate the library until Au-
gust 1, 19 II, 53 when it entered into an agreement with the city com-
missioners, and the library was turned over to the city. Twelve
hundred volumes were given to the high-school library, the remain-
ing 12,000 were consigned to the city without remuneration. The
fixtures, consisting of charging desk, steel stacks, and electric fix-
42. Wichita Daily Eagle, February 11, 1900, p. 5.
43. Ibid., December 20, 1902, p. 6.
44. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book C, p. 163, December 23, 1902.
45. Letter from Mrs. Brickman, April 19, 1935.
46. Ibid., April 9, 1935.
47. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book C, p. 42, May 7, 1900. First
appointed.
48. Ibid., Book B, pp. 170, 177, May 26, 1893.
49. Wichita Daily Eagle, January 31, 1908, p. 5.
50. Personal recollections of Mrs. Gibson.
51. Municipal University of Wichita, Seventh Annual Catalogue, 1932-1933, p. 15.
52. Kansas, Session Laws, 1909, Ch. 217. Act took effect February 27, 1909.
53. Wichita, board of education, "Proceedings," Book D, pp. 104-108, July 24, 1911.
ResumS of history of library gives date of July 31, 1911, as that on which the board sur-
rendered jurisdiction of the library to the city commissioners.
392 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tures, were transferred to the city for the sum of $1,000. The city
was to assume all bills and running expenses from August 1, 1911,
on. 54
Negotiations with the Carnegie corporation, asking for funds for
a library building, were begun in 1911, under Commissioner E. M.
Leach according to Miss Cossitt, 55 who pushed the project from the
first and saw it completed in 1915, but there is no official record
until February, 1912, when at the instigation of Commissioner Harts
the city clerk was instructed to write Andrew Carnegie, "taking up
the matter of donations for a public library." 56 In August of 1912
the city commissioners accepted the offer of $75,000 for a building,
and agreed to provide $7,500 for its maintenance and upkeep the
first year. 57 Mr. Anthony Allaire Crowell was the architect, whose
plans were approved by the Carnegie corporation and the city com-
missioners, 58 and Mr. H. J. Vandenberg was the contractor. 59 Mrs.
R. P. Murdock designed the interior, 60 with Arthur Covey doing the
mural paintings. 61
The personnel of the first library board included: Mayor 0. H.
Bentley, Mrs. Henry Ware Allen, Al Blase, Dr. A. M. Brodie, C. E.
Cosand, Mrs. Will K. Jones, E. M. Leach, Mrs. L. S. Trotter, H. V.
Wheeler. 62
The building was opened to the public on May 14, 1915, 63 but it
was not until September of the same year that the formal dedica-
tion took place 64 and Mr. Julius Lucht, librarian from 1915 to 1925,
took charge. 65 A graduate of Harvard University, and of the li-
brary science course at Pratt Institute, he had been librarian at
Leavenworth and at the University Club of Chicago before coming
to Wichita. 66 It was during his administration that the library
was organized into its present departmental state, with a greatly
augmented budget, staff and book collection.
54. Ibid., p. 101, July 17, 1911.
65. Statement of Miss Cossitt, April, 1935. She says the records are lost.
66. Wichita, city commissioners, "Proceedings," Journal I, p. 612, February 17, 1912.
57. Ibid., Journal J, p. 63, August 6, 1912.
58. Ibid., p. 124, November 7, 1912. Also p. 137, December 2, 1912.
59. Ibid., pp. 270-272, August 6, 1913.
60. Ibid., p. 343, January 22, 1914.
61. Wichita, city hall records. Letter of January 30, 1915, from the contractor H. J.
Vandenberg to the city commissioners.
62. Wichita, city commissioners, "Proceedings," Journal J, p. 517, April 9, 1915.
63. Wichita Daily Eagle, May 13, 1915, p. 2.
64. Wichita, city library, board of directors, "Minutes of the Meetings of the Directors
of the Library Board of the City Library of Wichita, Kansas, April, 1915-December 4,
1923," p. 25. Mr. Lucht's acceptance was formally received by the library board on July
19, 1915.
65. Ibid., opposite p. 42, printed program of the dedication. It took place September 29,
1915.
66. Autobiographical sketch written by Mr. Lucht, April 17, 1935.
GIBSON : WICHITA AND HER PUBLIC LIBRARIES 393
Mr. Lucht was succeeded in May, 1925, by Miss Ruth E. Ham-
mond, 67 who came to Wichita from Muskogee, Okla., where she
had been librarian for four years. Previous to that she had been
a member of the staff at the Hibbing, Minn., public library. She is
a graduate of the school of library science of the University of
Illinois.
During her years of service the library has grown until its staff
now numbers forty -three, its book collection totals 116,000, and its
circulation of books has for three years exceeded a million volumes
a year. 68
Little did the members of the Wichita Library Association, men
of vision though they were, foresee what their early efforts might
bring forth. It was this spirit born of a desire to make their com-
munity foremost in all things, financial, cultural, and spiritual, that
led them to start a library in this little cowtown of the prairies;
it was this spirit which has persisted throughout the years, and
which, culminating in the building of the Carnegie library in 1915,
has brought forth in Wichita a public library from whose shelves
Wichita citizens borrow each year a million books, a public library
which in content, and in use, is the largest public library in Kansas.
67. Wichita, city library, board of directors, "Minutes of the Meetings of the Directors
of the Library Board of the City Library of Wichita, Kansas, 1924-1931," p. 72, April 8,
1925.
68. Latest statistics available from the records of the Wichita City Library, May, 1935.
Bypaths of Kansas History
A MISSOURI FINGER IN A KANSAS PIE
From The Democratic Platform, Liberty, Mo., July 13, 1854.
A. Guthrie, the individual that was so badly beaten for delegate to congress
from Kansas, has been writing abolition letters east, encouraging his brethren
to come to Kansas. Citizens of Kansas, we are opposed to the "lynch law."
We would hate to see an American citizen hung without the "benefit of the
clergy" or a jury. But is there not some way to punish this traitor? Is
di owning too good for him? We merely ask the question!
ARRIVAL 
