224 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
IOWA STATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND ARCHIVES, Twenty-seventh Biennial
Report for the Period Ended June 30, 1944. Des Moines, State of Iowa,
1944. 72p.
JOHNSON, LORAND V., [The Descendants of William and John Johnson]. No
impr. [49] p.
JORDAN, JOHN W., ed., Colonial Families of Philadelphia. New York, The
Lewis Publishing Company, 1911. 2 Vols.
KENT COUNTY, DELAWARE, Calendar of Kent County, Delaware, Probate Rec-
ords, 1680-1800. Dover, Public Archives Commission, State of Delaware,
1944. [691]p.
KILPATRICK, MRS. MARIAN DOUGLAS ( JONES), The Kilpatrick Family; Ances-
tors and Descendants of Marian Douglas Jones and Robert Jackson Kil-
patrick With Related Families. N. p., Robert Jackson Kilpatrick, 1930.
Slip.
KING, HENRY T., Sketches of Pitt County [North Carolina], a Brief History
of the County, 1704-1910. Raleigh, Edwards and Boughton Printing Com-
pany, 1911. 263p.
LAMKIN, UEL W., History of Henry County, Missouri. N. p., Historical Pub-
lishing Company, 1919. 880p.
LANDON, JAMES ORVILLE, Landon Genealogy; the French and English Home
and Ancestry With Borne Account of the Descendants of James and Mary
Vaill Landon in America. Part II, Boardman Genealogy . . . New
York, Clark Boardman Company, Ltd., 1928. 385p.
LOWELL, DANIEL OZRO SMITH, A Munsey-Hopkins Genealogy; Being the
Ancestry of Andrew Chauncey Munsey and Mary Jane Merritt Hopkins
. . . Boston, Privately Printed, 1920. 216p.
McBuRNEY, J. R., A Brief History of the McBumey Families, Together With
an Account of the Origin and History of Their Reunion and Addresses of
That Day. Allegheny, Pa., Huether and Company, n. d. 16p.
McCLURE, ALEXANDER KELLY, Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania . . . Phila-
delphia, The John C. Winston Company, 1905. 2 Vols.
MAES, MRS. VIRGINIA (!NGLES), The Descendants of Bartlett Haley Ingles and
Margaret Allison of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Illinois . . . Mimeo-
graphed. [25] p.
, [The Descendants of John Frederick Lang ford and Mary Adams].
Mimeographed. [25]p.
, The Descendants of Peter Beghtol of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and
Illinois . . . With Miscellaneous Data on Various Lines of the Beghtol-
Bechtol Family and the Evans Family in America. Mimeographed. 21p.
, Record of the Descendants of Samuel Hooker. Mimeographed. 2p.
MARLIN, LLOYD G., The History of Cherokee County [Georgia]. Atlanta,
Walter W. Brown Publishing Company [c!932]. 289p.
MAURAN, JAMES EDDY, Memorials of the Mauran Family. Compiled by John C.
Stockbridge. Providence [Snow and Farnham], 1893. 171p.
MILLER, WILLIAM DAVIS, Notes and Queries Concerning the Early Bounds and
Divisions of the Township of East Greenwich As Set Forth in William
Hall's Plat, 1716. Providence, Society of Colonial Wars io the State of
Rhode Island, 1937. 19p.
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY 225
MONAGHAN, JAY, comp., Lincoln Bibliography, 1839-1939. Springfield, Illinois
State Historical Library, 1943-1945. 2 Vols. (Collections of the Illinois
State Historical Library, Vols. 31-32.)
MORGAN, NATHANIEL H., Morgan Genealogy; a History of James Morgan, of
New London, Conn., and His Descendants; From 1607 to 1869 . . .
Hartford, Press of Case, Lockwood and Brainard, 1869. 280p.
MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION, Annual Report, 1945.
Mount Vernon, Va., n. p., 1945. 34p.
NANTUCKET, MASS., Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts, To the Year
1850. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1925-1928. 5
Vols.
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF DAUGHTERS OF FOUNDERS AND PATRIOTS OF AMERICA, Index
to Lineage Books, Vols. 1 Through 25. [Somerville, Mass., Somerville
Printing Company, c!943.] 1213p.
NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN COLONISTS, Lineage
Book, Vol. 6, 5001 To 6000, 1943. Washington, D. C. [Press of Judd and
Detweiler, Inc.], 1943. 386p.
, Yearbooks, 2-15, 1930-1943. N. p. [1930-1943]. 14 Vols.
NEBRASKA, GOVERNORS, Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Ne-
braska, 1854-1941- A Special Publication of the Nebraska State Historical
Society. Mimeographed, 1941-1942. 4 Vols.
NEVADA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Sixteenth Biennial Report, July 1, 1942, To
June 30, 1944. Carson City, State Printing Office, 1944. 49p.
NEVIN, ALFRED, Centennial Biography; Men of Mark of Cumberland Valley,
Pa., 1776-1876. Philadelphia, Fulton Publishing Company, 1876. 452p.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS., Vital Records of New Bedford, Massachusetts, To the
Year 1850. Boston, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1932-1941.
Vols. 2-3.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (PROVINCE), Probate Records. . . . Vol. 9, 1767-1771.
Published by the State of New Hampshire, 1941. 527p. (State Papers
Series, Vol. 39.)
NEWMAN, HARRY WRIGHT, Charles County Gentry, a Genealogical History of
Six Emigrants Thomas Dent, John Dent, Richard Edelen, John Hanson,
George Newman, Humphrey Warren . . . Washington, D. C., Author,
1940. 321p.
, The Stones of Poynton Manor . . . N. p., Author, 1937. 47p.
NEWTON, CLAIR ALONZO, The Colchester, Conn., Newton Family; Descendants
of Thomas Newton of Fairfield, Conn., 1639. Naperville, 111., n. p., 1911.
134p.
NORTH CAROLINA, STATE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY, Twentieth
Biennial Report, July 1, 1942, To June 30, 1944. Raleigh, North Carolina
State Department of Archives and History, 1944. 59p.
NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL COMMISSION, Forty Years of Public Service, 1903-
1943. Raleigh, The North Carolina Historical Commission, 1942. 115p.
NORTON, AUGUSTUS THEODORE, History of the Presbyterian Church in the State
of Illinois. St. Louis, W. S. Bryan, 1879. 735p.
One Hundred and Fifty Years of the George Family, 1735 To 1885; Descend-
ants of Thomas George and His Two Sons, Robert George and Alexander
George. Typed Copy of Pamphlet Published in 1885. [68] p.
152371
From the collection of the
0*r m
o Jrrelinger
X
I ^-^\r\ ! ir\ ffeiin
v Jjibrary
v5
San Francisco, California
2007
THE
Kansas Historical
Quarterly
KIRKE MECHEM, Editor
JAMES C. MALIN, Associate Editor
NYLE H. MILLER, Managing Editor
Volume XIV
1946
(Kansas Historical Collections)
VOL. XXXI
Published by
The Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka, Kansas
21-4707
Contents of Volume XIV
Number 1 February, 1946
PAGE
THE PICTORIAL RECORD OF THE OLD WEST : I. Frenzeny and
Tavernier Robert Taft, 1
With the following illustrations (between pp. 32, 33) :
"On the Cattle Trail To Wichita, October, 1873."
"Wichita, October, 1873. Looking North On Main Street
Where It Crosses Douglas Avenue."
"A Thriving Kansas Industry of the 1870's The Land Office
in Sedgwick County as Sketched in October, 1873."
"Texas Cattlemen in Camp On the Herd Grounds West of
Wichita, October, 1873."
"The Grocery Stores of Dunscomb and McKee at Clearwater,
Fifteen Miles Southwest of Wichita, in October, 1873."
" 'Busted.' A Deserted Village On the Great Plains. Probably
Zarah, Barton County, Kansas, October, 1873."
"Curing Buffalo Hides and Collecting Bones, Possibly at
Dodge City, October, 1873."
"A Rough Mountain Road On the Way To the Mines. Probably
Sketched in Colorado in the Spring of 1874."
"Supply Train On the Plains in Winter. Sketched by Paul
Frenzeny in 1882."
"Attack by Indians On the Overland Trail Near Chimney Rock,
Nebraska. Painting by Jules Tavernier. Inset of
Tavernier. ' '
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES : Part IV The Platte Route Concluded,
George A. Root and Russell K. Hickman, 36
With illustrations of Pony Express and Overland Mail stations on the
Platte route, between pp. 64, 65.
THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer,
Executive and Nominating Committees; Annual Address of the Presi-
dent, THREE KANSAS STATE SCHOOLS, Ralph R. Price; Election of Offi-
cers; List of Directors of the Society Kirke Mechem, Secretary, 93
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 118
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 121
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 124
CONTRIBUTORS . 127
Number 2 May, 1946
PAOE
DUST STORMS : Part One, 1850-1860 James C. Malin, 129
THE PICTORIAL RECORD OF THE OLD WEST: II. W. J. Hays Robert Taft, 145
With the following illustrations of points along the Upper Mis-
souri in 1860 :
Mouth of the Yellowstone, Fort Union, June 16, facing p. 144 ;
Fort Clark and Fort Primeau, July 14, facing p. 145;
Old Fort Pierre and Fort Pierre, July 18, facing p. 152;
Sioux City, July 20, and Interior of Fort Stewart, June 22,
facing p. 153 ;
Fort Randall, July 19, inset of W. J. Hays (about 1870), fac-
ing p. 160, and
"The [Buffalo] Stampede" (painted in the 1860's), facing p.
161.
(iii)
A HOOSIER IN KANSAS; THE DIARY OF HIRAM H. YOUNG, 1886-1895:
Part One, 1886-1889 Edited by Powell Moore, 166
RECENT ADDITIONS To THE LIBRARY,
Compiled by Helen M. McFarland, Librarian, 213
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 233
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 234
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 238
Number 3 August, 1946
THE PICTORIAL RECORD OF THE OLD WEST: III. Henry Worrall,
Robert Taft, 241
With the following illustrations (between pp. 256, 257) :
'Henry Worrall, From a Photograph Taken About 1890";
'The Great Colored Exodus of 1879";
'Leavenworth . . . From Pilot Knob" ;
'Drouthy Kansas," Worrall's Famous Cartoon of 1869;
Indians^" Unnaturalized," and "Naturalized";
'Camp Scene; Herd Awaiting Buyer on Kansas Range";
'The Opening of the Cherokee Strip, September 16, 1893" ;
'Abilene and the Much -Discussed Wheat Field of T. C. Henry,
July, 1875," and
"Departure of the Cora Train From Wichita, 1884, To Relieve
the Flood Sufferers in the Ohio River Valley."
DUST STORMS : Part Two, 1861-1880 James C. Malm, 265
A HOOSIER IN KANSAS; THE DIARY OF HIRAM H. YOUNG, 1886-1895,
PIONEER OF CLOUD COUNTY: Part Two, 1890-1891,
Edited by Powell Moore, 297
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY. 353
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 354
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES.. . 357
Number 4 November, 1946
PAGE
THE PICTORIAL RECORD OF THE OLD WEST: IV. Glister's Last
Stand John Mulvany, Cassilly Adams and Otto Becker. . . Robert Taft, 361
With the following illustrations (between pp. 376, 377) :
Photograph of the Custer Battlefield, 1877 ;
John Mulvany's Famous Picture of 1881, "Custer's Last Rally";
"Custer's Last Fight," the Cassilly Adams
Painting As It Appeared After the Restoration of 1938 ;
"Custer's Last Fight," Painted by W. R. Leigh, 1939;
And the following portraits:
Cassilly Adams, facing p. 384 ;
Otto Becker, facing p. 385.
DUST STORMS: Part Three, 1881-1900 Concluded James C. Malin, 391
A HOOSIER IN KANSAS; THE DIARY OF HIRAM H. YOUNG, 1886-1895,
PIONEER OF CLOUD COUNTY: Part Three, 1892. .Edited by Powell Moore, 414
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 447
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 448
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 453
ERRATA AND ADDENDA, VOLUME XIV 456
INDEX To VOLUME XIV .457
THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
February 1946
IBP
Published by
Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka
KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN NYLE H. MILLER
Editor Associate Editor Managing Editor
CONTENTS
PAGE
THE PICTORIAL RECORD OF THE OLD WEST: I. Frenzeny and
Tavernier Robert Tajt, 1
With the following illustrations (between pp. 32, 33) :
"On the Cattle Trail To Wichita, October, 1873."
"Wichita, October, 1873. Looking North On Main Street
Where It Crosses Douglas Avenue."
"A Thriving Kansas Industry of the 1870's The Land Office
in Sedgwick County as Sketched in October, 1873."
"Texas Cattlemen in Camp On the Herd Grounds West of
Wichita, October, 1873."
"The Grocery Stores of Dunscomb and McKee at Clearwater,
Fifteen Miles Southwest of Wichita, in October, 1873."
" 'Busted.' A Deserted Village On the Great Plains. Probably
Zarah, Barton County, Kansas, October, 1873."
"Curing Buffalo Hides and Collecting Bones, Possibly at
Dodge City, October, 1873."
"A Rough Mountain Road On the Way To the Mines. Probably
Sketched in Colorado in the Spring of 1874."
"Supply Train On the Plains in Winter. Sketched by Paul
Frenzeny in 1882."
"Attack by Indians On the Overland Trail Near Chimney Rock,
Nebraska. Painting by Jules Tavernier. Inset of
Tavernier."
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES : Part IV The Platte Route Concluded,
George A. Root and Russell K. Hickman, 36
With illustrations of Pony Express and Overland Mail stations on the
Platte route, between pp. 64. 65.
THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer,
Executive and Nominating Committees; Annual Address of the Presi-
dent, THREE KANSAS STATE SCHOOLS, Ralph R. Price; Election of Offi-
cers; List of Directors of the Society Kirke Mechem, Secretary, 93
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 118
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 121
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 124
CONTRIBUTORS 127
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published in February, May, August and
November by the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kan., and is dis-
tributed free to members. Correspondence concerning contributions may be
sent to the editor. The Society assumes no responsibility for statements made
by contributors.
Entered as second-class matter October 22, 1931, at the post office at Topeka,
Kan., under the act of August 24, 1912.
THE COVER
"An Under-Ground Village" was the title Harper's Weekly gave
this sketch which appeared in its issue of April 4, 1874. The town is
possibly Sargent (now Coolidge), Kan., situated near the Kansas-
Colorado boundary. The sketch was made by Paul Frenzeny and
Jules Tavernier when they traveled west to the end of track on
the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe in October, 1873.
THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Volume XIV February, 1946 Number 1
The Pictorial Record of the Old West
I. FRENZENY AND TAVERNIER
ROBERT TAFT
(Copyright, 1946, by ROBERT TAFT)
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
E beginning this series, it seems advisable to consider how we can
determine the value of a picture as a document or a record of
the past. Doubtless no one will question that pictorial records are
important, although professional historians in general have not often
made them a matter of serious study. In fact, the most surprising
circumstance is that many historians, professionals and amateurs
alike, who are most meticulous about documenting their written
manuscripts with source notes and arguments, use illustrations with-
out the least attempt at documenting the source or the authenticity
of the illustrations used. This practice is so common that it seems
invidious to single out any one case for criticism.
Of the various types of illustrations available in modern times
for the historian's use, the photograph is regarded by the author
as the most important and I have treated it at length elsewhere. 1
This series of articles deals with the work of the artist, i. e., the
illustrator or painter, as he has left us a pictorial record of the past.
The past which is here re-presented is chiefly that of the plains and
the Rocky Mountain area, although an occasional excursion will be
made to the region still farther west. Further, the time period con-
sidered will be restricted to the nineteenth century, a century which
saw the development and the disappearance of our Western fron-
tier. The type of hand-executed picture with which we shall con-
cern ourselves is that which is of interest to the social historian
realistic scenes from everyday life of the past and usually called by
the artistic profession "genre" drawings or paintings, as distin-
guished from purely portrait, still life, or landscape work.
1. Photography and the American Scene (New York, 1938), see especially pp. 314-321;
tee, also, The Kansas Magazine, Manhattan, 1938, pp. 45-64.
2 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
From the standpoint of merit these pictures portraying the life
and growth of the old West, may be divided into several groups ac-
cording to the standard of evaluation used:
(1) Illustrations, sketches, drawings, paintings, made by eyewit-
nesses of a given scene; (2) illustrations that are imaginary but
which have been made by contemporary artists who have observed
and studied the environment, the characters, and the incidents de-
picted; (3) illustrations made by modern artists who have based
their work on study of contemporary literature and pictures, either
hand executed or photographic (this group lies outside the present
study) ; (4) and lastly, illustrations made by contemporary artists
which are purely imaginary with little utilization of fact or study.
All of these various types may have value but for present purposes
they are ranked in importance in the order given. Of course, it
should be realized that the artist, unlike the photographer, frequently
selects, excludes, and introduces detail at his discretion for the pur-
pose of giving unity and emphasis to the subject depicted. Such art-
ists, chiefly those included in the second of the above groups, can
produce pictorial records of very real value if they convey the im-
pressions of the place and time that are the contemporary prevailing
ones. Thomas Moran, well known for his landscapes of the West in
the period we are considering, has discussed this point and it is
worth repeating here:
I place no value upon literal transcripts from Nature. My general scope is
not realistic; all my tendencies are toward idealization. Of course, all art
must come through Nature: I do not mean to depreciate Nature or natural-
ism; but I believe that a place, as a place, has no value in itself for the artist
only so far as it furnishes the material from which to construct a picture.
Topography in art is valueless. The motive or incentive of my Grand Canyon
of the Yellowstone was the gorgeous display of color that impressed itself
upon me. Probably no scenery in the world presents such a combination.
The forms are extremely wonderful and pictorial, and, while I desired to tell
truly of Nature, I did not wish to realize the scene literally but to preserve
and to convey its true impression. Every form introduced into the picture is
within view from a given point, but the relation of the separate parts to one
another are not always preserved. For instance, the precipitous rocks on the
right were really at my back when I stood at that point, yet in their present
position they are strictly true to pictorial Nature; and so correct is the whole
representation that every member of the expedition with which I was con-
nected declared that he know the exact spot which had been reproduced. My
aim was to bring before the public the character of that region. The rocks in
the foreground are so carefully drawn that a geologist could determine their
precise nature. I treated them so in order to serve my purpose. 2
2. G. W. Sheldon, American Painters (New York, 1879), p. 125.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 3
Or, to quote another artist, the philosophical Kurtz, who spent
several years in the frontier trading posts of the upper Missouri
river during the early 1850's:
The artist's task is to improve nature's forms, make perfect her imperfec-
tions, strive not only to emulate but to excel her in the creation of beauty.
Nature achieves nothing in ideal perfection, but the artist's mind can conceive
of ideal beauty and clothe his ideas with correspondingly lovely forms, i. e.,
idealize them. 3
The psychological effect of the attitudes expressed by Moran and
by Kurtz upon the historian interested in precision of fact is to pro-
duce skepticism of the pictorial record as a document of history.
The work of such artists, however, does have value and frequently
it is of higher artistic merit than that of the literal transcribers in-
cluded in the first group. Possibly our judgment can best be ex-
pressed by stating that if the subject depicted is of an actual event,
the historian prefers as literal a transcript as the artist can render.
For general impressions of behavior and of place the second group
listed above does have important value. In either case it should be
remembered that we are seeing, or attempting to see, past life
through other skills and from a different viewpoint than that of the
written record.
This discussion may have suggested to the reader that still another
set of criteria should be made in judging these pictures of the past.
In any one class, differences between artists are to be observed and
such questions, especially in the first class, as "Was the artist a
careful and honest observer (or student) ?" and "Was he a compe-
tent and satisfactory draughtsman?" must be answered to our satis-
faction. The knowledge necessary to answer the first question can
be secured by seeking information concerning the artist, his train-
ing, his method of work (water color, pencil sketch, etc.), 4 the
judgment of his contemporaries, especially those who witnessed an
original incident or scene, and were able to compare it with the
artist's record of the event.
It is, of course, recognized that different artists in viewing the
same scene will reproduce their impressions in different styles and
manners. As Audubon philosophically (and resignedly) remarked
on comparing George Catlin's paintings of the upper Missouri river
with Audubon's own observations as he proceeded up the same river
in 1843 " different travelers have different eyes." 5
3. Journal of Rudolph Freiderich Kurtz (Washington, 1937), p. 189.
4. A water color, for example, cannot be expected to show the detail that is pr
efully drawn pencil sketch.
5. Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and His Journals (London, 1898), v. 2, p. 10.
4 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In answering the second question, even the least artistically
trained individual can distinguish between a crude drawing and a
well-finished one and certainly the well-finished one is to be pre-
ferred to the cruder drawing. Even crude drawings, it should be
pointed out, can, at times, be tremendously important, as witness
the Bruff sketches. 6 These drawings, crudely done and with little
sense of perspective, were executed with meticulous attention to de-
tail and portray one pioneer's experience on the overland route to
California in 1849. Their importance lies in the fact that they were
drawn in detail and are practically the only direct pictorial record
extant of this most important and dramatic migration in American
history.
Unfortunately, seldom is there available all the information
which we would desire in forming a complete and competent judg-
ment on any artist's work so far as its value to the social historian
goes. The same comment, of course, can be made on the written
record upon which our present histories are based. The same pro-
cedures, therefore, in passing judgment on the pictorial record must
then be employed as is employed in the examination of the written
record, namely, to utilize the information that is available to the
best of our ability and intelligence.
The question of passing final judgment in the case of pictorial
records, too, is complicated by the fact that many times the original
work of the artist is not available if the only record of the artist is
a reproduction in the form of a lithograph, a woodcut print, or an
engraving. These and other forms of reproduction necessitated the
hand of at least one intermediary (and usually more) who repro-
duced the original drawing (or painting) on stone, wood, or metal,
and the faithfulness to the original must often be taken into account.
Our problem is, therefore, a complex one and we can only make an
attempt to open up the field and leave to future historians a more
complete judgment as additional data and sources of information
are added to our store of knowledge.
We should again keep clearly in mind that our chief concern is
not with the artistic merit of any picture in which we are interested
but rather with its value as an authentic record of our past life.
As Isham has so pertinently pointed out in connection with his dis-
cussion of artists of the old West: "The subject is more [important]
. . . than the purely artistic qualities displayed in its represent-
ation." 7 In fact, many of the artists we shall consider are so obscure
6. Georgia W. Read and Ruth Gaines, eds., Gold Rush (New York, 1944), 2 vols.
7. Samuel Isham, The History of American Painting (New York, 1927), p. 501.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 5
and their work so poor (from an artistic point of view) that modern
artists and art historians daintily hold their nose by thumb and
forefinger when these "artists" are mentioned or their work exam-
ined. 8
The series, of which this article is the first, will be followed by
studies of other Western artists from the standpoint of the social
historian. The work of collecting data in this field was begun nearly
20 years ago and has been followed more or less persistently ever
since. As a result, thousands of notes, letters, photographic copies
of Western "pictures" have been accumulated from a group of nearly
200 artists.
As not all of these artists are of equal importance and as a few
have been dealt with individually in biographic form, some selection
will be made of the remaining individuals. The only plan followed
in making the selection will be that of the author's convenience. It
is hoped eventually to publish the material given in this series in
monographic form and with a more logical order of presentation.
The first artists selected for consideration are Paul Frenzeny and
Jules Tavernier.
FRENZENY AND TAVERNIER
In the fall of 1873 Harper's Weekly commissioned two artists,
Paul Frenzeny and Jules Tavernier, to make a series of sketches on
an expedition that took them from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Their
Western trip probably began early in September, 1873, in New York
City and was finished in San Francisco sometime in the summer
of 1874. Illustrations made on the expedition, however, are found
in the Weekly for the years 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876. The Weekly,
modestly subtitled A [not The] Journal of Civilization, announced
the expedition by stating:
. . . our artists, Messrs. Frenzeny and Tavernier, will tell the story of
an extensive tour, commencing at New York and intended to include the most
interesting and picturesque regions of the Western and Southwestern portions
of this country. These gentlemen will not restrict themselves to the ordinary
routes of travel. They will make long excursions on horseback into regions
where railroads have not yet penetrated, where even the hardy squatter, the
pioneer of civilization, has not yet erected his rude log-cabin; and the picto-
rial record of their journeyings will be a most valuable and entertaining
series of sketches. 9
8. It may be that the views of the art historian are undergoing change. In a recent issue
of the College Art Journal, Menasha, Wis., May, 1945, p. 192, Frederick A. Sweet calls at-
tention to the need of study of the artists of the Western expansion.
9. Harper's Weekly, v. 17 (November 8, 1873), pp. 961, 994. As this notice appeared
after some of the sketches had already appeared in the Weekly (see Footnote 21) and as the
artists were in Wichita on October 6, 1873 (see page 15), it is quite probable they left New
York in early September or possibly in August.
6 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The Weekly was correct, for the illustrations are still "a most
valuable and entertaining series of sketches" and give us pictorial
records of the West towns, living conditions, transportation, in-
dustries of plain and mountain, emigrant life, Indian troubles and
affairs, and minor but revealing incidents of Western life that are
nowhere else available. It is true that most of them are crudely
rendered because of the medium employed for reproduction (the
woodcut) ; one original pencil sketch, however, signed by Tavernier
alone, has been found and will be discussed later. Sufficient evi-
dence has been assembled to show that most, if not all, of the illus-
trations are authentic and were made from direct observations of
the scenes depicted.
Jules Tavernier at the time of the overland expedition was a
young French artist of 29. Born in Paris in 1844, he was for a time
a student of Felix Barrias and had achieved some artistic reputa-
tion in France before the Franco-Prussian war in which he fought.
One account has it that he was Communist and was exiled from
France a few months after the conclusion of the war. 10
Tavernier came to this country in 1871 and soon was illustrating
for the newly-established New York Graphic and for Harper's
Weekly. 11
Of Paul Frenzeny less biographical information is available save
that deducible from his published illustrations and a few scattered
newspaper references. 12
Presumably Frenzeny was, like Tavernier, a Frenchman. Pre-
sumably, too, he was a comparatively young man, if we may judge
by his willingness to undergo the long and arduous Western trip.
Frenzeny had been in this country longer than Tavernier for his
first published sketches in Harper's Weekly appeared in 1868. 13 Be-
tween this date and 1873, about 20 Frenzeny sketches appeared in
the Weekly, and were of varied character but included a number of
10. The biographical data are from obituaries in the San Francisco Morning Call, June
11, 1889, p. 3, col. 2, and the New York Tribune, June 10, 1889, p. 5, col. 5; see, also, rec-
ollections of Amadee Joullin, a well-known California artist and pupil and friend of Taver-
nier, in San Francisco Sunday Call, April 16, 1911, p. 5.
11. Tavernier's first illustration for Harper's, a full-page one, "The Christmas Dream,"
appeared in the issue for December 30, 1871, p. 1233.
12. The Division of Fine Arts, Library of Congress; the New York Public Library; the
Museum of the City of New York; the Frick Art Reference Library; the New York Histori-
cal Society; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; La Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris; the Cali-
fornia State Library; the Bohemian Club of San Francisco; and D. T. Mallett, author of
Mallett's Index of Artists, were all consulted in 1940 and information concerning Frenzeny
from these sources was meager. Examination of the Art Index to October, 1945, gives no en-
try under "Frenzeny." My friend, the late William H. Jackson, of pioneer photography
fame, was acquainted with Frenzeny but could tell me little about Frenzeny's personal his-
tory or the date of his death; see, also, Footnotes 94-99.
13. Harper's Weekly, v. 12 (1868), pp. 200, 733, 828. The first of these sketches "Las
Cumbres Railroad, Mexico Scene in the Pass de la Mula" and the text accompanying it in-
dicates that Frenzeny had been in Mexico before 1868.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 7
New York City views and sketches made in the Pennsylvania coal
belt. 14
One of these illustrations (Harper's Weekly, 1869, p. 4) is titled
"A Curious Custom Observed by the Greek Church in Russia,"
which might suggest that Frenzeny was a Russian or at least had
visited Russia.
Frenzeny's partnership with Tavernier began before the Western
trip, for there are two illustrations with their joint signatures in the
Weekly prior to September, 1873. One was a double-page and
fanciful group of drawings devoted to "Spring" and the other a full-
page illustration, "Circus Coming to Town." 15
The division of labor in tins partnership can only be guessed at.
Comparison of the sketches by the individuals with those bearing
the joint signatures is of little aid as the wood engraver reduced
nearly all illustrations to the same level. -The work of Winslow
Homer, C. S. Reinhart, T. S. Church, Sol Eytinge, Jr., and many
others whose illustrations appeared in the same years as those of
Frenzeny and Tavernier might all have come from the same pencil
as far as the draftsmanship was concerned, after the engraver was
through with them. Only the bold lines and grotesque figures of
man and animal in the cartoons of Thomas Nast bear any individu-
ality during this period. The magnificent wood engravings that ap-
peared in the 1880's had few counterparts in the middle 1870's.
As the woodcut reproductions of the work of Frenzeny and Tav-
ernier are of little aid, other information must be sought. It is
known that Frenzeny was an excellent pencil artist and Tavernier
a "colorist" interested in large masses, abilities which suggest that
Tavernier was responsible for background and composition and
Frenzeny for the foreground detail. 16 It is probable, too, that many
of the illustrations used by the Weekly were drawn directly on the
wood block by the artists before being sent to New York. In fact,
one Denver paper reported "The artists draw their sketches on wood
before sending them to the engraver." 17 If this procedure was the
one followed, probably Frenzeny with his skill with the pencil drew
the major portion of the sketch on wood, using a mirror as an aid
14. Ibid., v. 13 (1869), pp. 4, 108, 116; v. 14 (1870), pp. 616, 744; v. 15 (1871), p.
360; v. 16 (1872), pp. 161, 660, 661, 669, 836, 876, 908; v. 17 (1873), pp. 145, 148, 156,
157, 468, 744, 745.
15. Ibid., v. 17 (1873), pp. 296, 297, 865.
16. Deejay Mackart, a friend of both Tavernier and Frenzeny wrote that Frenzeny "was
infinitely more clever with the point than the brush." San Francisco Call, July 10, 1892, p.
13, cols. 7, 8. Paintings were also in the portfolio of Western sketches made by the two
artists. See Footnotes 60 and 71.
17. The Rocky Mountain News, February 28, 1874, p. 4. Frenzeny and Tavernier spent
the winter of 1878-1874 in and around Denver. See pp. 22-24.
8 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
to transpose the necessary reversed sketch on wood. The usual sig-
nature that appears in many of their reproductions is "Frenzeny
& Ta vernier/' although at times the signature is reversed or changed
in other ways. That the artists redrew their sketches on wood is
borne out by an examination of their signatures, for rather fre-
quently a letter, either n or z, is reversed. 18 The reversal would
be one more readily made by artists unaccustomed to drawing in
reverse than by professionals trained for such work in the wood
engraving plant. For their combined efforts the Harper brothers
are said to have paid the two artists $75 for a full-page illustration
and $150 for a double-page one. 19 As we shall see, they sold
sketches to other concerns and to individuals as they traveled
westward.
In many ways, Frenzeny and Tavernier were alike. Volatile and
excitable, susceptible to their surroundings, imaginative and extrav-
agant, they were a queer pair to send on a westward journey to a
country about as foreign to Paris and New York as could be im-
agined. Frenzeny soon after he reached the plains, acquired a
pointer, Judy, by name. He became greatly attached to the dog
and although she was not particularly intelligent, she had a valiant
defender in her owner. One can but wish that a good observer and
reporter had been in the background as these two eccentric char-
acters and their dog traveled by train, by stage coach and by horse
over the plains and mountains of the West and in localities where
it was still wild and woolly. Despite their highly individual per-
sonalities, their pictorial reporting is surprisingly complete. The
commonplace in the West was unusual to them and they recorded it
as they saw it. It might also be pointed out that they possessed
an unusual sympathy for the humbler class of individuals seen on
their trips; workers, emigrants, pilgrims of the plains in search of
new homes, were all treated pictorially with kindness and under-
standing. 20
The first two illustrations in the Frenzeny and Tavernier series
were made in New York City itself but dealt with Western emigra-
tion which was then rapidly increasing. "An Emigrants' Boarding
House in New York," a double-page illustration of one of "the
18. In their sketches appearing in Harper's Weekly for 1874, I have counted 21 letters re-
versed.
19. San Francisco Call, July 10, 1892, p. 13, cols. 7, 8.
20. Some of these observations will become apparent as we list or discuss the individual
illustrations. For the Bohemian character of the two (chiefly concerned with Tavernier) see
San Francisco Call, July 10, 1892, p. 13, cols. 7, 8; August 12, 1909, p. 6, cols. 6, 7 ; the
Sunday Call, April 16, 1911, p. 5; San Francisco Examiner, March 3, 1925, p. 7, col. 1, and
R. H. Fletcher, ed., Annals of the Bohemian Club (1872-1880), 2d ed. (San Francisco, 1900),
v. 1, p. 191.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 9
better class" houses, and "The Emigrant Wagon On the Way To
the Railway Station," a single-page illustration depicting the trans-
portation of emigrants from the boarding house to the cars for the
Western migration, were the subjects treated. 21 It was the custom
of the Weekly to make comment on its illustrations, the citation
to such a comment being included with the legend beneath the il-
lustration. Occasionally the comment gives useful additional in-
formation concerning the subject of the sketch, especially when it
is apparent that the information was supplied by the artists them-
selves.
The two initial views were followed by illustrations in and around
Pittsburgh dealing with the manufacture of iron. 22 Included in this
same series was an illustration depicting a secret meeting of coal
miners the locality not specifically stated, other than "in Penn-
sylvania." 23
The first of the trans-Mississippi sketches appears in the issue of
Harper's Weekly for November 8, 1873, but to aid in understand-
ing the work of the artists, their general route west from the Mis-
sissippi should be traced before giving consideration to the indi-
vidual illustrations. They apparently crossed the Mississippi river
at Hannibal, Mo. From Hannibal, the pair traveled on the Mis-
souri, Kansas and Texas Railway across Missouri to Fort Scott
and Parsons, Kan. They proceeded on the same railroad across
Indian territory to Denison, Tex., the terminus of the railroad.
Construction of the line to Denison had been completed only a few
months before the arrival of Frenzeny and Tavernier. After their
visit at Denison, the artists turned northward across the Indian
territory and eventually reached Wichita probably accompanying
a cattle drive at least part of the way. From Wichita the general
route was west along the Santa Fe railroad through southern and
western Kansas to the railroad terminus at Granada, Colo. By
stage they then traveled to Pueblo, Colo., and then by rail to Den-
ver. They remained in Denver during the winter of 1873-1874, then
visited Fort Laramie in Wyoming territory, the Red Cloud Agency
in Nebraska and finally returned to the Union Pacific railroad trav-
eling west to San Francisco, after a side trip to Salt Lake City. 24
The sketches for the November 8 issue of the Weekly include eight
21. Harper's Weekly, v. 17 (October 18, 1873), pp. 920, 921, 940.
22. Ibid., v. 17 (November 1, 1873), pp. 964, 965, three illustrations; on p. 993 (Novem-
ber 8, 1873), one illustration of eight views.
23. Ibid., v. 18 (January 31, 1874), p. 105, single page in size. The men depicted were
said to be members of the famed "Molly M'Guire Secret Society."
24. The evidence for this route will be presented in the text which follows.
10 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
illustrations, one of them being a left-over from the iron manufac-
turing scenes at Pittsburgh, previously mentioned. The seven re-
maining views are obviously scenes in southeastern Kansas, "A
Sunny Home on the Neosho River," "Herding with Comfort" (de-
picts a settler with an umbrella herding a few cattle on the prairie),
a street scene entitled "A Market Day in Parsons City 18 Months
Old," "Taking Water in the Prairie" (locomotive and train on a tree-
less plain), "Prairie Chickens for Sale," "A Surprise Party," and
"Going to Church" the last three illustrations depicting various
incidents of settler life. Unfortunately there are no Parsons' news-
papers available for this period as newspaper comment is one of
the valuable methods for checking on the accuracy of the scenes
depicted. The next group of sketches (four on one page) belong
geographically to the above group of seven. 25 They include "In the
Emigrant Train," "Switched Off," "Building the Log-Cabin," and
"Laying the Fences." The first two are emigrant scenes and were
probably made along the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway.
The first shows the interior of a passenger car at night filled with
emigrants and their belongings; the second, "Switched Off," depicts
a group of emigrants "sketched from an actual scene," the text tells
us, huddled about a closed depot waiting in the rain for their con-
necting train. "In this case," the description reads, "the emigrant
party, which included old people, delicate women, and children, were
compelled to remain all night exposed to a cold, drenching rain."
The pictured plight of the distressed travelers may have been due
to the lack of coordination in the recently organized M. K. & T. (a
combination of many smaller systems) or to the fact that "emigrant
cars" were frequently attached to freight trains and the emigrant
cars switched off at way stations so that additional freight could
be added to the trains; emigrant travel apparently being regarded as
a third or fourth-class mode of transportation. 26
25. Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (January 24, 1874), p. 76; the comment will be found on p.
78.
26. For the early history of the M. K. & T. see The Great South-West (a monthly
house organ of the M. K. & T.), Sedaha, Mo., June, 1874, and subsequent issues; Sylvan
R. Wood, Locomotives of the Katy (Boston, 1944), pp. 8-19; also Report of the Commis-
sioners of the M. K. and T. Railway Co. (New York, 1888), pp. 2, 3; map in Missouri, Kan-
sas and Texas Railway Company, Report To Stockholders, 1903 (Evening Post Job Print,
New York); A. T. Andreas-W. G. Cutler, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883),
From The Great South- West, we obtain some of our information on Frenzeny's and Ta ver-
nier's itinerary as it contains a number of illustrations signed by these artists and which ap-
pear in this publication as follows: Views in Hannibal and Sedalia, Mo., issue of July, 1874;
depot in Parsons, Kan., November, 1874; Denison, Tex., August, 1874; Arkansas river valley
(near Fort Gibson, I. T.), June, 1874; Neosho valley, July, 1874; interior of passenger car,
M. K. & T., November, 1874. Several of these illustrations were used a number of times in
different issues of The Great South-West . I have assumed, as seems reasonable, that these
illustrations were made on the trip beginning in the fall of 1873, for there is record of only
one trip through the West by these two artists.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 11
The Frenzeny and Tavernier sketches listed below are those
found in the Weekly showing scenes in Indian territory and Texas
and secured as the artists traveled by the M. K. & T. to Denison,
Tex. 27 As can be seen, they are not arranged according to the
chronological order of their appearance in the Weekly but are
grouped geographically. The appearance of the sketches in the
Weekly undoubtedly would be determined solely by the availability
of the sketches (dependent upon the promptness of the artists in
sending them to New York) , and the needs of the individual issues
of the Weekly.
1. "United States Signal Services-Watching the Storm," Fort Gibson, I. T.
(about % p.), Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (March 21, 1874), p. 267.
2. "In the Indian Territory," seven outline sketches on one page, including
Fort Gibson, ibid., v. 19 (May 15, 1875), p. 396. The sketches are not signed
but p. 406 of the text credits them to Frenzeny and Tavernier.
3. "Vigilance Court in Session" (full page), ibid,, v. 18 (April 11, 1874),
p. 326.
4. "An Oasis Along the Track" (the cover page), ibid., v. 18 (March 21,
1874), p. 249.
5. "Arkansas Pilgrims," from Arkansas to Texas through Indian territory
(about y 2 p.), ibid., v. 18 (April 4, 1874), p. 306.
6. "Arkansas Pilgrims in Camp" (about % p.), ibid., v. 18 (April 25, 1874),
p. 361.
7. "A Freshet in the Red River, Texas" (about % p.), ibid., v. 18 (April
25, 1874), p. 361.
8. "Sugar-Making in Texas" (about % p.), ibid., v. 18 (April 4, 1874),
p. 307.
9. "A Deer Drive in the Texas 'Cross-Timber'" (double page), ibid., v. 18
(February 28, 1874), pp. 206, 207.
10. "A Saturday Noon in a Southwestern Town" (the cover page), ibid.,
v. 18 (July 25, 1874), p. 613.
11. "The Texas Cattle Trade Guarding the Herd" (about % p.), ibid.,
v. 18 (March 28, 1874), p. 272.
12. "Calling the Night Guard," interior of bunk house (about % page),
ibid., v. 18 (March 28, 1874), p. 272.
The M. K. & T. ran in a line southwesterly across eastern Indian
territory, Fort Gibson being nearly half-way to the Texas line. 28
The U. S. army, then in charge of weather reports and surveys
through its signal service, maintained a weather station at Fort
Gibson, the only one in the southern plains region until Santa Fe,
27. In addition to the illustrations themselves, and those listed in Footnote 26, we may
add as further proof of the artists' actual appearance in Texas, the following item from the
Rocky Mountain News, Denver, November 6, 1873, p. 4, the day after their arrival in Den-
ver: "Messrs. Frenzeni and Tavernier, artists for Harper's Weekly, . . . have made an
extensive tour of Texas, Indian Territory, and southern Colorado, where they have made a
large number of interesting sketches of frontier life."
28. See Footnote 26 and map of the West showing army posts and Indian reservations,
Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (1874), p. 691.
12 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
N. M., was reached. The first illustration on the list depicted ob-
servers on the tower of the station watching the approach of a
storm ; a small vignette showed the interior of the station.
"An Oasis Along the Track," probably also sketched in Indian
territory, shows a mule-powered pump at a lone way station, stor-
ing water in a reservoir for future train use.
The end of the M. K. & T. track, as already has been pointed out,
was in Denison, Tex., when Frenzeny and Ta vernier traveled west
in 1873. Denison was four or five miles south of the Red river, the
boundary between Indian territory (Oklahoma) and Texas, and on
the Old Texas road that came down from Fort Gibson. Before the
coming of the railroad, the Old Texas road was the highway of
travel for southern-bound emigrants and still earlier for the Forty-
niners. 20 These facts, together with the Denison illustration pre-
viously noted (Footnote 26), indicate that several of the remaining
sketches listed above were made in or near the vicinity of Denison.
There is no precise information now available, save that furnished
by the Weekly illustration themselves, how much farther into Texas
the artists traveled than the border town of Denison. They appar-
ently spent little time in the town of Denison itself as Mr. E. R.
Dabney of the University of Texas library has searched for me the
files of the Denison News for 1873 and 1874 without finding any
mention of the names of Frenzeny and Tavernier.
"A Freshet in the Red River, Texas," the two "Arkansas Pil-
grims," the "Vigilance Court in Session" (locality stated as near
the Indian territory-Texas boundary) all, it is reasonable to as-
sume, fall in such a group. Denison, too, or the nearby country,
marked the beginning of some of the important northward cattle
trails 30 and the two sketches of the Texas cattle trade may have
been sketched not far from Denison. "Calling the Night Guard" is
more than faintly suggestive of Remington's illustrations made
many years later. "A Saturday Noon in a Southwestern Town" is
not identified save that it was "a border town" but the watermelons
and the negroes in the sketch fix its locality as Texas without much
doubt. It possibly may be a view of Denison itself. Unfortunately
the store signs do not yield a positive method of identification.
The most impressive illustration of this group is the double-page
"A Deer Drive in the Texas 'Cross-Timber'." As Denison is near
the western edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers, this sketch also
29. The Denison [Tex.] Guide, American Guide Series (Denison, 1939), pp. 11-16.
30. Ibid., p. 13.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 13
could have been based on the artists' impressions of the vicinity
near Denison. An exceptionally good word description of the Cross
Timbers and of deer hunting accompanies the illustration which
strongly suggests that part of the material was a report of the art-
ists' own experience.
"The camps at night," the report reads in describing a deer hunt
of several days, "present a very picturesque appearance. Bright
fires illuminate the scene, the horses are picketed in the rich grass,
hunters and hounds gather in groups about the fires, and songs and
stories and feasting are kept up till late in the night. Then, rolled
in blankets, the men lie down to sleep, and silence reigns in the
great forest."
KANSAS
Upon the completion of the Texas part of the Frenzeny-Tavernier
"expedition," the artists turned north again and returned to Kan-
sas. Their first sketches on their return were probably made in and
near Wichita, then the cattle-shipping center of this Western in-
dustry. The complete list of Kansas sketches, with the exception
of those described on page 10, and again arranged geographically,
include:
1. Nine sketches on pages 386 and 387, Wichita and the cattle trade, Harp-
er's Weekly, v. 18 (May 2, 1874). [Several in this group are reproduced in the
picture supplement accompanying this article which will be found between
pp. 32 and 33.]
2. "A Kansas Land-Office" (cover page), ibid., v. 18 (July 11, 1874), p.
573. [Reproduced in the picture supplement.]
3. "Fighting the Fire" (about V 2 page), ibid., v. 18 (February 28, 1874),
p. 192.
4. "A Prairie Wind-Storm" (full page), ibid., v. 18 (May 30, 1874), p. 460.
5. "Limestone in Kansas" (about % page), ibid., v. 18 (September 12, 1874),
p. 760.
6. "'Busted!' A Deserted Railroad Town in Kansas" (about % page),
ibid., v. 18 (February 28, 1874), p. 192. [Reproduced in the picture supple-
ment.]
7. "Curing Hides and Bones" (about % page), ibid., v. 18 (April 4, 1874),
p. 307. [Reproduced in the picture supplement.]
8. "Slaughtered For the Hide" (cover page), ibid., v. 18 (December 12,
1874), p. 1013.
9. "An Under-Ground Village" (about % page), ibid., v. 18 (April 4, 1874),
p. 306. [Reproduced on the cover of this issue.]
Fortunately, for the first group of sketches listed above, we have
valuable contemporary comment which appeared in the Wichita
Eagle for April 30, 1874 (p. 3, col. 2). The comment reads:
14 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Wichita and her trade has been immortalized by illustration. For some
months past Harper's Weekly has contained pictorial sketches of the west and
southwest, drawn by Frenzeny and Tavernier. Many of these delineations
were of scenes connected with the life of the cowboy and the hunter. The
supplement of that paper for May 2nd contains nine pictures, all relating to
the cattle trade. No. 1 shows the process of branding with a hot iron the in-
itials or the monogram of the owner. No. 2 represents a long winding herd
enroute for Wichita. No. 3 represents Clear Water on the Ninnescah, in this
county, with John Dunscomb's store in the foreground, and Ward, McKee and
Go's grocery store in the back, with a lot of boys scattered around in conver-
sation, while their horses are feeding out of a trough in front of the awning
of John's place. No. 4 represents the milling process, or a "rodeo" in which
thousands of head of cattle are rounded up and circled around and around, so
often witnessed here. No. 5 shows the process of "cutting out" cattle from
the main herd. No. 6 shows a camp of cattle men out on the herd grounds,
west of Wichita. The sun is just rising as the boys are taking their breakfast.
In the dim distance is the herd. Two are coming off the night-watch, and
others in- camp are preparing to take their place through the day. No. 7
shows the cars, pens, and the way the cattle are loaded for eastern markets.
No. 8 is a view of Main street, Wichita, from its intersection with Douglas
avenue looking north. While it does not do that street justice it is neverthe-
less recognizable. The last cut represents a party of drovers who have sold,
out their cattle, bought a Moser wagon, loaded in their outfit and are bidding
the Wichita boys good bye until another season. The illustrations are vivid
and true to life and to the character of the scenes represented, showing that
the artists had studied their subjects.
Comment on this group of pictures, possibly the most important
set of the entire series, also was made in the Weekly which called
Wichita "the grand central station for the cattle trade" and pointed
out that the drive from Texas through Indian territory took four to
five months.
The second of the Kansas sketches, the "Land Office," is a most
interesting one as it represents a typical "industry." It also was
made at Wichita, for the map in the background bears the legend
"Sedgewick [sic] County." Wichita, it should be remarked for
non-Kansans, is located in Sedgwick county. It will be noted that
it was published much later than the other Wichita sketches, a fact
supporting our argument on page 11.
It has been possible to determine with considerable exactness from
two sources when these Wichita illustrations were actually sketched.
The Emporia News of October 17, 1873 (p. 3, col. 2), reported on
that day:
Paul Frenzeny, and Jules Tavernier, representing Harper's Weekly, are here
for the purpose of making sketches of the scenery here for the pages of the
great illustrated paper. They have been to Wichita for some days taking
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 15
various views of that city, and of droves of Texas cattle, etc. We trust every
favor will be shown the talented artists during their stay with us. The en-
terprise of the Harpers in sending artists this far into the west to make sketches
for their great favorite illustrated paper is worthy of special note, and we are
glad that the Weekly is well patronized here.
From this comment, it appears that Frenzeny and Tavernier were
in Wichita during the first few weeks in October, 1873, but we can
be more precise about the date than "the first few weeks." The
Wichita Public Museum possesses an original pencil sketch signed
only by Jules Tavernier in the lower right corner of the sketch;
dated in the upper left corner "Oct. 6, 1873"; and in script on the
lower left corner is the notation "Maine [sic] Street from Eagle
Bloc [sic]." The view is of Wichita and is the only original sketch
included in the Frenzeny-Tavernier portfolio of 1873-1874 which
has been located; a portfolio which must have contained hundreds
of sketches which would now be priceless. 31
This Wichita sketch was probably bought by some interested
citizen of Wichita as there is additional evidence that the artists
sold sketches locally as they made their way West. The existence
of the lone Wichita sketch and the fact that no Emporia sketches
appeared in Harper's, although the News comment indicates that the
artists were at work in that town, shows this fact quite clearly.
Although no sketches of Emporia appeared in the Weekly it is
quite possible that sketches three and four of our Kansas list were
made near Emporia. Prairie fires were of common experience in the
days when much of the open country was unplowed and grass-cov-
ered. Autumn fires when the grass was tall and dry at times reached
magnificent and terrifying proportions. Indeed, the Emporia News
reports prairie fires in nearly every issue during October and No-
vember in 1873 and on November 14 reported, "Prairie fires have
blackened the prairies almost all around us. . . ."
"A Prairie Wind-Storm," depicting a pioneer woman in a horse-
drawn wagon, her husband attempting to calm the terror-stricken
horses at the approach of a dark and violent storm, is again an inci-
dent that was common in the fall on the open prairies. The illus-
tration recalls the far from easy life that our early settlers experi-
enced.
The locality of "Limestone in Kansas" I have not been able to
identify with certainty but I believe that it must be either Fort
Scott or Florence. The illustration shows a row of huge lime kilns
31. The Wichita sketch was recently reproduced, although incorrectly dated, as illustra-
tion No. 33 in Wichita 1866-1883 Cradle Days of a Midwestern City (Wichita, 1945), edited
by R. M. "Dick" Long.
16 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
where "was made two-thirds of all the lime used in the state."
Statistical data is lacking that would enable us to determine which
of the two towns was meant but more probably it was Fort' Scott. 32
The next four sketches on our Kansas list (Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9) are
to my mind the most interesting of the entire Frenzeny and Taver-
nier series. They were made as the artists traveled west from Em-
poria on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (which as all West-
erners know, does not start from Phil-i-del-fee-aye, as the current
popular tune has it). Our evidence for this statement must be
proved as no localities are given in the Weekly for these illustra-
tions. In the first place the scenes are those of southwest Kansas
through which the Santa Fe, in local parlance, made its way. In
the second place, the Denver papers, in noting their arrival in that
city, state that the artists came from southern Colorado, 33 as they
would if they traveled the Santa Fe. The only other route to Den-
ver would be by way of the Kansas Pacific which would have
brought them into Denver directly from the east. Emporia was on
the main line of the Santa Fe and not the Kansas Pacific. The trip
west from Emporia would mean retracing their "steps" as far as
Newton 34 for we have seen that Emporia was reached after the
artists had been in Wichita. To clinch our argument, that the trip
was made through southwest Kansas on the Santa Fe, we can point
out that the two artists registered at the American House in West
Las Animas, Colorado territory, early in November, 1873. 35
West Las Animas was on the stage route from the end of the
Santa Fe rail (which in the fall of 1873 was at Granada, C. T., 12
miles west of the Kansas-Colorado line) and Pueblo (133 miles
west of Granada), in southern Colorado, where rail connections
could again be made on the Denver and Rio Grande to Denver, 36
32. The Fourth Annual Report (1875) of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture (Topeka,
1875), p. 120, mentions an extensive manufactory in operation at Fort Scott. On the other
hand mention of production of lime and limestone at Florence will be found in a pamphlet
edited by Stephen C. Marcou, A Description of Marion County, Kansas (Marion Centre,
1874), pp. 8, 11; in Kansas in 1875 (Topeka, 1875), p. 15, the statement is made "3,000
carloads [of stone] were shipped" from Florence in 1874; and in The Kansas Handbook, J.
S. Boughton, publisher (Lawrence, 1878), the statement is made on page 14 that the most
extensive lime kilns and stone quarries in the state were in Florence. It will be noted that
Boughton's comment is made some four or five years after the Fourth Annual Report (which
makes no specific mention of lime kilns or quarries at Florence) and an examination of the
data given in Andreas-Cutler, op. cit., pp. 1264, 1265, indicates that extensive quarrying did
not begin in Florence until 1873, the year the artists were through Florence on the A. T. and
S. F. railroad. Since Fort Scott was on the M. K. & T. it seems more probable the illustra-
tion was made there on their original and southward trip through Kansas.
33. Rocky Mountain News, November 6, 1873, p. 4.
34. A short branch of the Santa Fe ran north from Wichita to the main line at Newton.
35. Las Animas (Colo.) Leader, November 8, 1873, p. 3, col. 2, has this entry under
"West Las Animas Items": "The following were the arrivals at the American House this
week, as furnished us by the affable Geo. D. Williamson, Clerk: Patrick Shanley, Kit Car-
eon, Col.; ... P. Frenzeny, New York City; Jules Tavernier, do. . . ."
36. Glenn Danford Bradley, The Story of the Santa Fe (Boston, 1920), pp. 140, 141.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 17
some 100 miles or more north of Pueblo. Therefore, there can be
little doubt that the Santa Fe was the route traveled by the artists
to railhead.
"Busted," I am assuming, was the first of these sketches made on
the westward trip from Emporia. As can be seen (see picture sup-
plement) it is at least partly imaginative but the sense of haunting
forsakenness created by the illustration makes it one not easily for-
gotten. I first saw the picture over 15 years ago and its image has
frequently flashed across my memory in the intervening years. It
was in fact, the illustration that started my first work on these
artists. Goldsmith in nearly 400 lines was not able to produce the
feeling of utter desolation that can be obtained by a single glance
at this illustration of the Great Plains' version of "The Deserted
Village."
The deserted town may be a composite view based on several such
towns seen by the artists for Kansas has had its share of "busted"
towns but there is record of a town whose description fits surpris-
ingly well with the illustration. In July, 1872, the town of Zarah,
Barton county, was quite a little village and the first town in the
county. It was about a mile east of a military reservation on which
was located Fort Zarah. 37 The Santa Fe railroad reached Great
Bend, about three miles west of Zarah, on August 5, 1872, 38 but
missed Zarah by about a mile and Zarah disappeared within a year
or so.
"Curing Hides and Bones," I am reasonably sure, was drawn at
Dodge City late in October, 1873, for it compares with considerable
exactness to the description given by Robert M. Wright, one of the
founders of Dodge City and the author of Dodge City, The Cowboy
Capital (Wichita, 1913, p. 156), which reads:
One of Dodge City's great industries was the bone trade. It certainly was
immense. There were great stacks of bones, piled up by the railroad track
hundreds of tons of them. It was a great sight to see them. They were
stacked up way above the tops of the box cars, and often there were not
sufficient cars to move them. Dodge excelled in bones, like she did in buffalo
hides, for there were then ten times the number of carloads shipped out of
Dodge, than out of any other town in the state, and that is saying a great deal,
for there was a vast amount shipped from every little town in western Kansas.
The fall and winter of 1872-1873 saw professional buffalo hunt-
ing reaching its height, 39 and in the fall of 1873, Col. R. I. Dodge,
37. Andreas-Cutler, op. cit., pp. 762, 763, 769.
38. Bradley, op. cit. f p. 85.
39. E. Douglas Branch, The Hunting of the Buffalo (New York, 1929), p. 158.
21863
18 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
after riding out from Fort Dodge, some four or five miles from
Dodge City, wrote:
Where there were myriads of buffalo the year before, there were now
myriads of carcasses. The air was foul with sickening stench, and the vast
plain, which only a short twelvemonth before teemed with animal life, was
a dead, solitary, putrid desert. 40
The buffalo were not yet gone in the fall of 1873 but they were
farther removed from the lines of the railroads ; and the illustration,
"Slaughtered for the Hide," shows a scene of wholesale slaughter of
the buffalo almost as bad as that suggested by Colonel Dodge. "Our
artists spoke with hunters on the plains, who boasted of having
killed two thousand head of buffalo apiece in one season. At this
rate of slaughter, the buffalo must soon become extinct," read the
description accompanying "Slaughtered for the Hide." 41
The last of the group of Kansas sketches, "An Under-Ground
Village," is unique. I know of no other illustration by any artist
which depicts this aspect of town life on the Great Plains. At first
glance, one might think that the illustration was the result of the
fantastic imagination of the artists but evidence is available which
shows that the illustration was probably based on fact. The dugouts
which constitute the underground village, were common habitations
of the early settlers on the plains. Illustrations of individual dug-
outs are fairly common; it is the collection of a number of these
dugouts together that constitute the uniqueness of the illustration
in question. 42
In a country devoid of timber, yet supplied with an endless
quantity of "moving" air, the dugout at first was almost a necessity.
If the reader wonders about the nature of a dugout, the following
description by a traveler, who made a Western trip but a short
time before Frenzeny and Ta vernier, can be quoted. The dugout,
he reports, "is simply a burrow with a pitched roof of sod, seldom
having a window, the door answering this purpose, however inelegant
in appearance, is truly a snug place in which to spend the blustery
winter days. There your plainsman can lie back at his ease on his
bed of robes, and think it a bed of roses and hear with philosophic
40. R. I. Dodge, The Plains of the Great West (New York, 1877), p. 133.
41. Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (December 12, 1874), pp. 1013, 1023. For the feeble efforts
made by the Kansas legislature to control the indiscriminate slaughter of the buffalo, see E.
O. Stene, "The Development of Kansas Wildlife Conservation Policies," Transactions of the
Kansas Academy of Science, v. 47 (1945), p. 291. In 1874, the Tcpeka correspondent of the
New York Tribune described the use to which buffalo bones, hides and meat 2,000,000
pounds of it were put; see "The Buffalo and His Bones," the Tribune, November 27, 1874,
p. 3, col. 2 (nearly a column).
42. For an excellent illustration of an individual dugout, see Edwin White's sketch in
Andreas-Cutler, op. cit., p. 253, or Henry Worrall's sketch in W. E. Webb's Buffalo Land
(Cincinnati and Chicago, 1872), p. 329.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 19
calmness the peltings of the rude storm without." 43 The plains-
man's philosophic calmness was no doubt rudely interrupted from
time to time as he scratched vigorously, for dugouts soon became the
habitation of insect as well as human population. "The land of the
free" went the ditty of the dugout dwellers of the 1870's:
The land of the bedbug, grasshopper and flea,
I'll sing of its praises, I'll tell of its fame
While starving to death on my government claim.
Another observer who traveled west from Dodge City on the
Santa Fe also saw dugouts along the line of the railroad. "On the
morning after my arrival in Dodge City," he wrote late in 1872, "I
got into a caboose car and went eighty miles further, within a very
short distance of Fort Aubrey. 44 . . . Twenty miles apart, out
in this wild country, there are stations, consisting of a water-tank
and a dugout. The dugouts are simply holes in the ground, or cel-
lars with roofs over them. They are the most convenient houses for
this windy country that can be built, and are exceedingly warm;
they are used as boarding houses for the section hands, and at pres-
ent for eating houses for those who may travel on construction
trains." 45
Subsequent newspaper accounts, written a few years later, report
dugouts at Dodge City, Larned and Kendall; the last two towns
being west of Dodge City on the Santa Fe. 46
There is thus ample evidence that dugouts existed along the line
of the Santa Fe westward from Dodge City and the question nat-
urally arises as to whether the illustration depicted any of the
towns along the railroad. If it does, the town must be one of three:
Dodge City, Sargent (now Coolidge) , Kan., or Granada, Colo., the
43. Pleasant Hill (Mo.) Leader, November 22, 1872, p. 2, col. 3. The quotation is from
a letter dated "Wallace, Kas., Nov. 15, 1872." Wallace was on the Kansas Pacific north of
the Santa Fe line and the traveler reported that at Wallace some of the habitations were dug-
outs.
44. Fort Aubrey was about eight miles west of the present town of Kendall, Kan.
Kansas, A Guide To the Sunflower State (New York, 1939), p. 390.
45. Pleasant Hill (Mo.) Leader, January 3, 1873, p. 2. An illustration of one of these
way stations on the Santa Fe appears as a wood engraving in Frank Fossett's Colorado (Den-
ver, 1877), p. 446. The account in the Leader cited in this note also gives some description
of the town of Dodge City.
46. In the North Topeka Times, December 20, 1878, are the recollections of a traveler of
1873. "During the year 1873 we 'roughed it' in the West," he writes. "Our first stopping
place was the famous Dodge City, at the time a perfect paradise for gamblers, cutthroats and
'girls.' On our first visit the buildings in the town were not buildings, with one or two ex-
ceptions, but tents and dug-outs. Every one in the town, nearly, sold whisky, or kept res-
taurant, perhaps, both. The A., T. and S. F. R. R. was just then working its way up the
low-banked Arkansas, and Dodge was the frontier town." "The unsightly dugouts" of early
Kendall are mentioned in the Syracuse Journal, June 11, 1886, p. 3, col. 3. The same issue
of the Journal (p. 2, col. 1) mentions "the inevitable tank and ... a store in a sort
of cellar" at Lakin. The dugout store was still there in 1879, when A. A. Hayes, Jr., and
W. A. Rogers went through Lakin on the Santa Fe, for Rogers drew a sketch of it; see A.
A. Hayes, Jr., New Colorado and The Santa Fe Trail (New York, 1880), p. 151.
20 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
end of rail. Our reason for this conclusion is that the illustration,
as can be seen, depicts a depot and these three towns were the only
ones that possessed, at the time of the artists' visit, frame buildings
as depots. 47 I do not believe that the underground town could be
Dodge City as Dodge had a hotel and dance hall by 1873 (see Foot-
note 45), and these were probably above ground. It is possible, of
course, that more of the town than is actually depicted in the illus-
tration existed but did not appear in the viewpoint that the artists
selected.
I believe, too, that the illustration was probably not Granada for
a contemporary newspaper account states that the town contained
in August, 1873, "about fifty buildings, 48 built mainly in a row
about 80 feet north of the railroad track." 49 If the artists did not
purposely foreshorten the foreground, the illustration could not rep-
resent Granada as the distance from tracks to "town" in the illus-
tration is quite obviously less than 80 feet.
The only remaining alternative then is that the illustration shows
the town of Sargent and we will therefore tentatively assign the
illustration to this locality. 50 Some reader, I trust, will be able to
produce evidence that will establish the locality of the "Under-
Ground Village" with certainty.
COLORADO TERRITORY
The Frenzeny-Tavernier sketches made in the centennial state, as
these artists continued on from Kansas, can be listed as follows:
1. "Staging in the Far West." Four illustrations on one page entitled:
"Throwing Out the Mail"; "Taking the Morning 'Slumgullion' " ; "Calling
For the Relays," and "Home Station on the Plains," Harper's Weekly, v. 18
(July 4, 1874), p. 556.
47. Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail-
road Co., for the year ending December 31, 1874 (Boston, 1875), p. 35. Other stops be-
tween Dodge City and Granada were Cimarron, Pierceville, Sherlock, Lakin, and Aubrey.
These possessed windmills and water towers only. Ibid., p. 37.
48. Note that no comment is made on the construction of the "buildings," however.
49. The Daily Chieftain, Pueblo Colo., August 26, 1873, p. 2, col. 2. Another contem-
porary written description, which offers no further clues, will be found in the Las Animas
(Colo.) Leader, July 4, 1873, p. 2. It was written two days before the Santa Fe reached
Granada.
50. A brief description of the town of Sargent appears in The Daily Chieftain, Pueblo,
Colo., February 19, 1873, p. 2, but it is of little value in identifying the illustration. Sar-
gent was almost on the Kansas-Colorado line. The Santa Fe was constructed to this point
by December 28, 1872; Bradley, op. cit., p. 85. J. H. Conard of Coolidge, long a resident
of western Kansas, has been interested in the history of Hamilton county. As Hamilton
county contains the towns Coolidge (formerly Sargent), Syracuse and Kendall, all on the line
of the Santa Fe, I wrote him some months ago describing the illustration "An Under-Ground
Village." Mr. Conard replied that he had talked with J. M. Ward, of Coolidge, who lived
in the town in the early days of the Santa Fe. Mr. Ward told him that the picture would
fit any of the three towns, Dodge City, Sargent (now Coolidge) or Granada, C. T. "That
is about the way all the towns near here started." Some of the results of Mr. Conard's
research on the history of Hamilton county from 1873 to 1887 will be found in the Syracuse
Journal, November 3 and 10, 1944.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 21
2. Mining in Blackhawk, Colo, (nine illustrations on two pages), ibid., v. 18
<May 30, 1874), pp. 456, 457.
3. "Gold and Silver Mining, Colorado A Honey-Combed Mountain"
(about % page), ibid., v. 18 (July 18, 1874), p. 597.
4. "On the Way To New Diggings Halt in a Rough Pass of the Rocky
Mountains" (double-page), ibid., v. 19 (May 1, 1875), pp. 360, 361. [Repro-
duced in the picture supplement.]
5. "Irrigation in Colorado Letting Water Into a Side Sluice-Way" (cover
page), ibid., v. 18 (June 20, 1874), p. 509.
6. "Trout-Hatching in Colorado" (about % page), ibid., v. 18 (July 4,
1874), p. 565.
7. "A Bear Hunt in the Rocky Mountains" (about % page), ibid., v. 20
(January 15, 1876), p. 45.
8. "Returning To Camp From "a Bear-Hunt" (about Vs page), ibid., v. 19
(May 29, 1875), p. 444.
9. "Shooting Antelopes From a Railroad Train in Colorado" (full page),
ibid., v. 19 (May 29, 1875), p. 441.
10. "A Bird Colony [Swallows] on Lake St. Mary" (about % page), ibid.,
v. 18 (July 18, 1874), p. 604.
Although the individual sketches of "Staging in the Far West"
are not identified as to locality I have assumed that they belong to
the Colorado group. If I am correct, the originals were then made
on the stage route between Granada, the railhead of the Santa Fe,
and Pueblo. As we shall see, the two artists made at least one
other stage trip (from Cheyenne to Fort Laramie) but the architec-
ture of the building seen in "Throwing Out the Mail" is so distinctly
of the Mexican type that southern Colorado seems surely indicated.
The stage route between Granada and Pueblo was well over 130
miles. 51 The trip between the two towns was made three times a
week in both directions so that several days were required for the
passage. 52 As is evident from Footnote 35, Las Animas or more
exactly West Las Animas, was one of the way stations. Possibly
the sketch "Home Station on the Plains" was that at Pueblo but
the mountains in the background seem somewhat exaggerated if this
is the case. The artists do not seem to have stopped at Pueblo (or
at least no mention is made of them in the Pueblo Chieftain) , but
went directly to Denver on the narrow-gauge Denver and Rio
Grande which had been completed in June, 1872. 53
The artists were at West Las Animas sometime during the week
of November 1-8, 1873, from the record in the Las Animas Leader,
51. Bradley, op. tit., p. 141, gives the rail distance as 133 miles and the stage route was
undoubtedly longer.
52. Pueblo Chieftain, November 5, 1873, p. 4, col. 1.
53. Bradley, op. cit., p. 161.
22 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
but they arrived in Denver on November 5, 1873. 54 These dates
would mean that, at the longest, four days were required to make
the trip from West Las Animas to Denver, but the time of course
might be less depending on their arrival and stay at West Las
Animas. Further, since they were at Emporia on October 17 and
in Denver on November 5, the entire trip from Emporia was made
in slightly less than three weeks. How much of this time was em-
ployed in stop-overs to make sketches and how much in traveling
we do not know for certain but the travel alone could probably
have been accomplished in a week or less.
The artists spent the winter in and around Denver, for there is
frequent mention of them in the Denver press, the first notice ap-
pearing the day after their arrival and the last on March 20, 1874.
They were in and out of Denver on numerous side excursions but
rented a studio in "Schleier's block" for much of their work. 55
All of the sketches which are included in the Colorado list, with
the exception of the first group, were probably made on these side
excursions. The second, "Mining in Colorado," is identified in the
text as the works of the Boston and Colorado Smelting Company at
Blackhawk, some 25 or 30 miles west of Denver. The text of nearly
a column in the Weekly describes at some length the details of the
smelting process. 56 The third illustration is not identified as to lo-
cality but shows many individual miners with their own shafts lit-
erally honeycombing the side of a mountain ; a sight that the author
saw repeated some dozen years ago when "the great depression"
brought back again the individual "miner."
"On the Way To New Diggings," a long mule train in the bend
of a mountain road, is the best engraved of all the Frenzeny-
Tavernier illustrations and is most realistic in its appearance. "Our
artists," wrote Harper's Weekly in its comment, "traveled for several
days with such a party, and the picture we give is an accurate tran-
script of an actual scene, both as regards the picturesque and roman-
tic pass where the halt has taken place and the figures and costumes
of the miners." 57
That the artists recorded many phases of the life and activities
through which they passed is shown again by the illustration, "Irri-
gation in Colorado." Again not identified as to locality it could
54. Rocky Mountain News, Denver, November 6, 1873, p. 4.
55. Mention of Frenzeny and Tavernier has been found in the following Denver papers:
Rocky Mountain News, November 6, 1873, p. 4; Daily Times, February 16, 1874; Rocky
Mountain News, February 17, 1874, p. 4; ibid., February 28, 1874, p. 4; Daily Times, March
5, 1874; ibid., March 20, 1874. The reference to their studio is made in ibid., March 5, 1874.
56. Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (May 30, 1874), p. 461.
57. Ibid., v. 19 (May 1, 1875), p. 362.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 23
represent many of the irrigation projects of that day which directed
water from the Front Range down into selected areas on the plains.
The illustration, "Trout-Hatching in Colorado," is not signed nor
is it credited to Frenzeny and Tavernier in the text of the Weekly.
I have assigned it to these artists, however, not only because it fits
naturally in the group but because an item from a Denver paper
(Daily Times, March 20, 1874) reads:
A number of invited guests, making all together quite a good-sized party,
among whom were Messrs. Paul Frenzeny and J. Tavernier, of Harper's
Weekly, made a flying visit, yesterday, to Alderman James M. Broadwell's
artificial trout ponds, situated some ten miles down the Platte.
The illustration, "Returning To Camp From a Bear-Hunt," iden-
tified as "a lake in the Rocky Mountains," possibly may depict one
of the artists, for one of the three figures is arrayed in a costume
quite obviously different from the other two. The action of "Shoot-
ing Antelopes From a Railroad Train" took place on the plains near
Kit Carson, Colo., some 150 miles east of Denver on the Kansas
Pacific. Incidentally, this full-page illustration is unique in that it
is the only one with which I am familiar which shows the destruc-
tion (not hunting) of antelope from a train. There are many
sketches and illustrations showing the destruction of buffalo from
passenger trains of the Kansas Pacific, but no other one showing
similar "sport" in the case of the antelope.
The last illustration on the Colorado list, No. 10, shows that the
artists visited Estes Park during their stay in Colorado, for the text
so locates the lake. 58
A number of other sketches were made in Denver, according to
newspaper accounts. A double-page illustration was actually pre-
pared on the wood block, ready for the Weekly's engravers, but it
never was published. The several views drawn on the block included
a view of Denver, one in Clear creek canyon, a street scene showing
"Larimer street from Sixteenth street west, with the distant foot-
hills in the background" and lastly a view in the Garden of the Gods
at Colorado Springs. 59 "The whole presents a fine grouping of views,
and will do more to give easterners an intelligible idea of this sec-
tion than would half the letters written upon them," comments the
reporter for the Rocky Mountain News who saw the sketches.
58. Another illustration should probably be assigned to the Colorado group. It is, how-
ever, signed by Frenzeny alone and appeared in ibid. (October 13, 1877), v. 21, p. 808. As
the text of the Weekly , in describing the picture, refers to the incident depicted, "Sheep
Raid in Colorado," as occurring "some time ago" it was probably drawn during Frenzeny's
stay in Colorado, 1873-1874.
59. Rocky Mountain News, February 28, 1874, p. 4. Note that the last item would in-
dicate a stop or a special side trip to Colorado Springs.
24 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The view of Denver mentioned above was a reduction of a large
water color prepared by the artists, a "view taken from near Gen-
eral Bearce's residence, and Cherry Creek, the water works, the full
sweep of the city, the plains beyond, and the mountains showing
Pike's Peak and the Buffalo back to the left. The sketch is finely
touched with water colors." 60 The water color was offered for sale
at $250 and was on exhibition at "Richards and Co.'s." "The blue
of the mountains is most artistically rendered, while Denver is given
the air of a metropolis," reports another Denver paper. 61
WYOMING AND NEBRASKA
In this group there are but three illustrations that were published
in the Weekly. Records of other work of the artists, however, are
available. The three in the Weekly are :
1. "Driven From Their Homes Flying From an Indian Raid" (about %
page), Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (April 11, 1874), p. 321.
2. "An Indian Agency Distributing Rations" (about % page), ibid., v. 19
(November 13, 1875), p. 924.
3. "Indian Sun Dance Young Bucks Proving Their Endurance by Self-
Torture" (double page), ibid., v. 19 (January 2, 1875), pp. 8, 9.
Although, aside from the illustrations themselves, there is no con-
temporary and direct evidence of the Wyoming-Nebraska excursion
of the artists, there is considerable indirect evidence. "Driven From
Their Homes" is described by the Weekly as an incident of the In-
dian troubles of early 1874 and depicts settlers in wintry weather
seeking army aid on the road between Fort Russell (near Cheyenne,
Wyoming territory) and Fort Laramie. The illustration appeared
in the issue of April 11, 1874; the action shown occurred "a few
weeks since." These statements agree with the known facts about
the Indian troubles around Fort Laramie in February and early
March of 1874. 62 However, if the scene depicted was an actual one,
60. Ibid., February 17, 1874, p. 4.
61. Denver Times, February 16, 1874. As the historian must at least attempt to be
honest we must record the comment of still another Denver paper a few days later: "Every-
body who examines that painting of Denver, in Richards and Go's windows, comes at once to
the conclusion that the artist must have been cross-eyed to have located the city between
the Platte river and the mountains, and near sighted to have the foot hills appear to be im-
mediately joining the suburbs, when they are fully ten miles distant." Rocky Mountain Her-
ald, February 28, 1874, p. 3, col. 1. We can't be sure, of course, that the Herald reporter
was referring to Frenzeny and Ta vernier's painting, as the word "artist" only is specified.
We might conclude from the opinion of the other two Denver papers, that the Herald reporter
was a grouch and unduly hypercritical, if the painting he was discussing belonged to Frenzeny
and Tayernier. It should be pointed out also that there was a considerable number of resi-
dent artists in Denver in the 1870's. I hope to discuss early art in Denver in a later number
of this series.
62. An account of the Indian troubles mentioned above may be found in George E. Hyde,
Red Cloud's Folk (Norman, Okla., 1937), pp. 210-215; see, also, letter by Col. John E. Smith
dated "February 12, 1874, Fort Laramie," New York Semi-Weekly Tribune, February 24,
1874, p. 5, col. 2; other mention of the troubles is given in ibid., February 17, 1874, p. 6,
col. 4 ; February 20, 1874, p. 5, col. 3. Troops under Colonel Smith left Fort Laramie on
March 2 and arrived at the Red Cloud Agency on March 5 effectively quieting the Indians for
the moment. Ibid., March 10, 1874, p. 5, col. 5.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 25
it meant that the artists made the trip to Fort Laramie and then
returned to Denver, for, as we have seen, they were in Denver on
March 20. As there is evidence that the artists were in Fort Lara-
mie and the Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska in May and June of
the same year, there may be some doubt whether the scene was
actually witnessed by the artists. It is possible, of course, that the
artists made the relatively short trip from Denver to Cheyenne by
rail and were on the trail from Fort Russell to Fort Laramie for
only a short distance and then returned to Denver, a second trip
northward being made later in the year.
The second and third of the -illustrations listed above were made
at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, some 145 miles northeast of
Cheyenne and 75 miles northeast of Fort Laramie. 63 Presumably
they were drawn in May or June of 1874 and I believe were sketched
on the spot. "The Indian Sun Dance," one of the earliest illustra-
tions of this ceremonial I have seen, was that of the Oglala Sioux
which in the early 1870's was held near the Red Cloud Agency. 64
The description and the illustration of the dance given in the
Weekly corresponds in general with that given in the standard au-
thorities. 65
The self-torture, as part of the public ceremony, the large and
roofless enclosure, the tall center pole and auxiliary side ones, the
time of occurrence (June), and the earpiercing of children are all
well-known facts of the ceremonial and are shown in the illustration
or stated in the text of the Weekly. The great number of spectators
of the dance is also in agreement with the fact that the Red Cloud
Agency was one of the largest of its day. Its reported population
in the middle 1870's ranged all the way from 9,000 to 16,000 individ-
uals. 66 Schwatka who saw the sun dance the following year re-
ported that it was "the grandest sun-dance within the memory of
the oldest warrior" and that 15,000 to 20,000 spectators witnessed it.
63. The record of the first distance will be found in Report of the Special U. S. Commis-
sion Appointed To Investigate the Affairs of the Red Cloud Indian Agency, July, 1875 (here-
inafter cited as Report of the Special Commission, 1875), (Washington, 1875), p. 195; the
second is from Hyde, op. cit., p. 206.
64. Report of the Special Commission, 1875 (Footnote 63), p. 496, and Footnote 65.
Catlin described the sun dance of the Sioux in 1832 but did not paint it although many Indian
dances were portrayed by this early artist. He arrived in Sioux country a few days after the
ceremonial had taken place. The dance took place, he reports, under "an awning of immense
size in the center of which was a pole." George Catlin, North American Indians (Edinburgh,
1926), v. 1, p. 262.
65. Harper's Weekly, v. 19 (January 2, 1875), p. 10; F. W. Hodge, ed., Handbook of
American Indians (Washington, 1910), Pt. 2, p. 650; Leslie Spier, "The Sun Dance of the
Plains Indians," Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History (1921),
v. 16, pp. 451-529.
66. The Indian population of the Red Cloud Agency for the year ending June 30, 1874, ia
listed as 9,177 Executive Document 6, House of Representatives, 43 Cong., 2 Sess. (Wash-
ington, 1874); see, also, Report of the Special Commission, 1875, pp. 435, 821.
26 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Schwatka also reported that the enclosure for the dance "looked not
unlike a circus tent, the top of which had been ruthlessly torn away
by a cyclone," certainly an apt description of the enclosure depicted
by Frenzeny and Tavernier. 67
The original sun dance sketch made by Frenzeny and Tavernier
in 1874 was in the possession of "Deejay" Mackart of San Francisco
as late as 1892. 68 Its present location, if still in existence, is un-
known.
"Distribution of Rations" is another sketch not signed or credited,
but since the Weekly stated that it was an occurrence at the Red
Cloud Agency, I feel certain that it was drawn by Frenzeny and
Tavernier. 69 There are several newspaper references in later years
to Frenzeny and Tavernier's experiences in the Indian country of
Wyoming and Nebraska, for apparently Tavernier was fond of re-
calling them. 70 Not only was he fond of recalling them but the ma-
terial gathered in 1874 was later used by Tavernier in a number of
paintings which include:
67. Schwatka's description may be found in the Century Magazine, v. 39 (March, 1890),
pp. 753-759. The 1875 dance also took place in June, the locality being between the Spotted
Tail Agency and "another agency 40 miles to the west." The second agency was the Red
Cloud Agency (Report of the Special Commission,, 1875, pp. 804, 807, 820). It is of interest
to note that Remington illustrated the Schwatka article but he did not attempt to depict the
sun dance itself. In fact, Remington did not see an Indian sun dance (Blackfoot) until July,
1890, after the illustrations of the Schwatka article were drawn. Harper's Weekly, v. 34
(December 13, 1890), p. 976, and my own exhaustive study of Remington. Oddly enough,
Remington did not produce a picture of a complete view of the sun dance until the last year
of his life. Evidently, however, the scene witnessed in 1890 made so profound an impression
on him that he wrote in his diary (now in the Remington Art Memorial, Ogdensburg, N. Y.)
under date of February 28, 1909: "Am starting 'Sun Dance' for the love of Record of Great
Themes but I'll never sell it it will give everybody the Horrors. It is in my system and its
got to come out."
68. San Francisco Call, July 10, 1892, p. 13, col. 7. Mackart stated that the sketch was
published in the Illustrated London News as well as in Harper's Weekly. I have made some
effort to find it in the News but so far without success.
69. Another half-page illustration, "Red Cloud Agency Distributing Goods," is found in
the Weekly, v. 20 (May 13, 1876), p. 393, and is signed by I. P. Pranishnikopf. My study
of Pranishnikopf is not yet complete but he had occasional Western illustrations appearing in
various periodicals for many years. In some of these, the illustrations, although signed by
Pranishnikopf, also had the added credit line "redrawn after a sketch by" so and so. It is
possible that the illustration, "An Indian Agency Distributing Rations," in the Weekly for
November 13, 1875, p. 924, was based on observation by Pranishnikopf but on the above
basis, I think it is unlikely. I have also considered the possibility that Pranishnikopf redrew
a Frenzeny-Tavernier sketch for the illustration of May 13, 1876, but this possibility seems
ruled out by the fact that in Pranishnikopf's illustration of the Red Cloud Agency the legend
"F. D. Yates Trading Co." appears on one of the buildings; but F. D. Yates did not begin
business at the Red Cloud Agency until April 16, 1875, nearly a year after Frenzeny and
Tavernier were there. Report of the Special Commission, 1875, p. 330. The Pranishnikopf
illustration may have been redrawn from a photograph. It should be pointed out, however,
that Pranishnikopf had what apparently was a Denver scene in Harper's Weekly, v. 20 (Octo-
ber 14, 1876), p. 836.
70. In addition to the references already noted are the vague recollections of Joullin (San
Francisco Call, April 16, 1911, p. 5) and a reference to the artist's experiences in 1874 with
General Smith, Spotted Tail and Red Cloud that will be found in California Art Research.
First Series (San Francisco, 1937), v. 4, p. 3. The General Smith is undoubtedly the Colonel
Smith mentioned in Footnote 62.
Dr. G. R. Gaeddert, formerly of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society but now
of Washington, kindly searched the records in the National Archives for me. He reports that
no mention of Frenzeny and Tavernier occurs in the period March 20 to July 1, 1874, in the
"Fort Laramie Letter Books and the Red Cloud Agency Letters." These materials, however,
are confined almost exclusively to military and agency affairs. Unfortunately no log books of
daily happenings and register of visitors at Fort Laramie, which I had hoped to find, are
among the collections of the Interior and War branches of the National Archives.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 27
1. Store of Post Trader, Fort Laramie, 1874. 71
2. Attacked by the Indians. 72 [Reproduced in the picture supplement.
The portrait of Tavernier which appears as a vignette in this illustration was
first published in the Annals of the Bohemian Club, 1898.]
3. Meeting Between Spotted Tail and Red Cloud. 73
4. Gathering of the Clans at Red Cloud Agency. 74
5. A Sioux Encampment. 75
UTAH AND CALIFORNIA
1. "Mormons at the Communion Table" (about % page), Harper's Weekly,
v. 18 (September 26, 1874), p. 793.
2. "Brigham Young's Wives in the Great Mormon Tabernacle" (about V%
page), ibid., v. 18 (September 26, 1874), p. 793.
3. "Quarrying Stone For the New Mormon Temple" (about % page), ibid.,
v. 18 (December 12, 1874), p. 1024.
4. "A Fresh Supply of Wives Going Out to the Settlements" (full page),
ibid., v. 19 (January 30, 1875), p. 97.
5. "Reading a Ukase in a Mormon Settlement" (about % page), ibid., v.
19 (February 6, 1875), p. 109.
6. "Indians Trading at a Frontier Town" (about % page), ibid., v. 19 (July
3, 1875), p. 537.
7. "Two Bits To See the Pappoose" (about % page), ibid., v. 18 (October
24, 1874), p. 880.
8. "Chinese Fishermen in San Francisco Bay" (% page), ibid., v. 19 (March
20, 1875), p. 240.
9. "Sketches in 'China-Town,' San Francisco" (six illustrations on one
page), ibid., v. 19 (May 22, 1875), p. 421.
10. "The Suburbs of San Francisco" (six illustrations on one page), ibid.,
v. 19 (May 29, 1875), p. 440.
"Two Bits To See the Pappoose" and the Mormon sketches give us
the clue to the continued westward journey of the partners. The
first sketch (the "pappoose" was a Shoshone) shows the "Union
Pacific Hotel" in the background and suggests that possibly the
stopping place was either Ogden or some point east of Ogden, as the
Centra] Pacific and the Union Pacific still had a junction at Ogden
71. This painting, on display in San Francisco in 1919, is probably the most authentic
evidence that the artists were at Fort Laramie. It was painted on the lid of a cigar box,
dated 1874, with the legend on the store "J. S. Collins." San Francisco Chronicle, April 20,
1919, p. 25, col. 5. The Wyoming State Library informs me that Gilbert Collins, a brother
of J. S. Collins, was actually in charge of the post-trader's store in 1874.
72. San Francisco Alta California, October 22, 1878, p. 1, col. 3. The vicinity of the
scene depicted was near Chimney Rock, western Nebraska. The locality would be between
Fort Laramie and the Red Cloud Agency. The painting is now owned by the Bohemian Club,
San Francisco.
73. Ibid., January 27, 1879, p. 1, col. 3. The account of the painting states "It recently
sold for $2,000."
74. Information from the California State Library, Sacramento. This item, together with
other data on Tavernier, was compiled in 1907. The painting was reported then as owned by
"H. Belloc, Paris."
75. California Art Research, First Series, v. 4, p. 25. Reported as painted about 1880-
1882.
28 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
in 1874. "Indians Trading at a Frontier Town" is in the same
category as the above illustration, for the text indicates that it was
drawn at a railroad town; the Indians depicted, however, are Utes
and the locality of the scene may have been east of Ogden as the
large Ute reservation in 1874 was in western Colorado. 76
The first two of the Mormon sketches listed above are not signed
nor are they credited in the text accompanying them to Frenzeny
and Tavernier. Nevertheless, I am assuming that they belong to
these artists as they fit naturally into the series both with respect
to time and place. A side excursion from Ogden to Salt Lake City
on the Utah Central Railway is obviously also indicated. Although
the Mormon sketches themselves are not unsympathetic, the text
accompanying the five illustrations is anti-Mormon; a reaction, of
course, which was well nigh universal throughout the rest of the
United States and which was very freely stated in the highly moral
Harper's Weekly. It is possible that the first sketch, "Mormons at
the Communion Table," was imaginary, for it is doubtful if the
artists would be permitted to view such a religious ceremony. Pos-
sibly, too, this fact accounts for the lack of signature or of credit
for the illustration, and for "Brigham Young's Wives in the Great
Mormon Tabernacle" which appeared on the same page.
The three California sketches mark the illustrative conclusion of
the transcontinental tour of Frenzeny and Tavernier. 77 Both artists
obviously had arrived in San Francisco very considerably in ad-
vance of the publication date of even the last of the San Francisco
sketches. Although no newspaper comment has been found as yet
on their arrival in San Francisco, Frenzeny had been elected a mem-
ber of the famed Bohemian Club of San Francisco on August 4,
1874, and Tavernier on October 6, 1874. 78 As the reputation of
these artists, based on the extensive series of illustrations in the
Weekly, was already established, I am inclined to think the differ-
ence in election dates means that Frenzeny arrived in San Fran-
cisco before Tavernier. At any rate, both were on the Pacific coast
by the fall of 1874, and by spring of the following year mention of
both artists' work, especially Ta vernier's, was fairly common in the
San Francisco press. 79
76. See map, Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (August 22, 1874), p. 691.
77. Contemporary notice in the San Francisco papers has been found for only one of the
above sketches. The San Francisco Bulletin, May 20, 1875, p. 3, col. 6, makes the brief com-
ment, "Harper's Weekly, just at hand, is embellished with a number of graphic views in the
Chinese quarter, San Francisco, by the artists Frenzeny and Tavernier."
78. Records of the Bohemian Club, San Francisco.
79. San Francisco News Letter, May 1, 1875, p. 12; May 15, 1875, p. 5; San Francisco
Bulletin, May 22, 1875, p. 2, col. 2 ; San Francisco Daily Post, May 22, 1875, p. 1, col. 3.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 29
UNCLASSIFIED ILLUSTRATIONS
Two of the Frenzeny-Tavernier series we have not discussed as
yet. The first, "Temperance, Industry, and Happiness," is easily
disposed of. 80 It is one of a pair of those contrasting "moral" illus-
trations in which the Weekly frequently indulged. It is possible
that the subject, a farmer, his family and his homestead, was a topic
suggested by the artists' Western trip. Its opposite, in case the
reader is interested, was a scene in a tavern, "Intemperance, Idle-
ness, and Misery." It was not drawn by Frenzeny and Tavernier.
The second illustration, "Watching For Montezuma," is said to
have been based on a legend of the Moquis (Hopi) Indians. 81 As
the scene depicts the pueblo-dwelling Hopi of northwestern New
Mexico or northeastern Arizona, I doubt if it was based on actual
observation. I have found, as yet, little evidence of a visit to this
region by the artists. 82 It should be remembered, however, that the
two men are known to have been in Denver nearly five months and
possibly longer, and I have by no means accounted for all of their
time while in that city. An excursion of two or three weeks from
Denver would be a possibility. If such a trip occurred, the scenes of
"Staging in the Far West" might be assigned to this suggested
period. Tavernier, later in life, produced a painting of nearly the
same title, "Waiting For Montezuma," 83 and still later, another one,
"The Coming of Montezuma." 84 Both of these, however, were im-
aginative, as they depicted life of the ancient Aztecs. Photographs,
without doubt, of the New Mexico-Arizona region were available in
Denver and these may have served as the basis of the original illus-
tration and the Tavernier paintings.
LATER LIFE OF THE ARTISTS
The Bohemian life of San Francisco and the California country
itself held both artists in that region for some years; Tavernier for
nearly the remainder of his life and Frenzeny for some five or six
years.
80. Harper's Weekly, v. 18 (March 14, 1874), p. 246.
81. Ibid., v. 19 (May 22, 1875), pp. 420, 426.
82. Among the paintings of Tavernier listed in California Art Research, First Series, v. 4,
p. 25, is "A Scene in New Mexico" which was dated 1880-1882. This painting may be based
on a trip to the New Mexico country in 1873-1874 or later, or it may be based on photo-
graphs as suggested later in the text.
83. San Francisco Alta California, April 2, 1879, p. 1. col. 3. In 1892, a painting, "Mon-
tezuma Landscape," by Tavernier, was reported in the possession of one Irving M. Scott.
The Wave, San Francisco, v. 8 (January 16, 1892), p. 7, col. 3. Whether this was the paint-
ing, "Waiting For Montezuma," or an additional one, is uncertain. It is possible that all
three references to the Montszuma titles refer to but one painting.
84. San Francisco Call, May 28, 1893, p. 26, col. 1.
30 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Tavernier soon became the boon companion of many California
and San Francisco artists of note, including Julian Rix, Joe Strong
(a brother-in-law of Robert Louis Stevenson) , Amadee Joullin and
others. He was, in fact, from the newspaper accounts of his day,
the Bohemian of Bohemians and the tales of his behavior have been
retold many times in more recent times but in many scattered
sources. His most striking characteristic was a detestation of work.
"He painted grand pictures in the air with his thumb and grew quite
enthusiastic over their value, but it was not until the screws of ma-
terial existence had tightened upon him to the last thread that he
would put these inspirations on canvas," reported one of his friends.
The sheriff was continually at his heels, for he was always in debt
and to escape them he finally made his way to Hawaii in 1884. 85
Here he painted Mauna Loa and the colorful landscape of the islands
but he again became so deeply in debt that he was not permitted to
leave. He died in Honolulu on May 18, 1889, of alcoholism. 86
"Poor Tavernier!" wrote one of his Bohemian Club friends. "The
sheriff was continually taking possession of his studio so that he
lived more or less in a state of siege. His friends had to go through
mysterious rites, give certain knocks on the door and be inspected
through peep holes before they could get in. Finally the sheriff made
a clean sweep, and Jules' friends, of whom he had many, and none
stauncher than fellow-artists as poor as himself, raised the money to
send him to the islands. He died there a few years after and the
Club erected a granite shaft over his grave in memory of their love
for him personally and for his great genius." 87
Although Tavernier was adverse to work many paintings in the
period 1874-1884 are known to have been made. They include land-
scapes, cartoons, portraits, figure pieces, etc. Among them, in addi-
tion to those already listed, are a number which are of interest in
the history of the West, some probably based on the trip of 1873-
1874. 88 They include the following:
85. Ibid., December 16, 1884, p. 7, col. 6.
86. See Footnote 10.
87. The quotations are from Annals of the Bohemian Club, v. 1, p. 191. Other sources
of information on Tavernier's later life are found in California Art Research, First Series, v. 4,
pp. 1-26, a very inadequate and poorly documented account. Among the newspaper refer-
ences utilized may be mentioned the following (many others are available at the California
State Library, Sacramento): San Francisco Alta California, July 13, 1877, p. 1, col. 9; Janu-
ary 27, 1879, p. 1, col. 3; San Francisco Morning Call, March 10, 1886, p. 4, col. 2; The
Wave, San Francisco, January 16, 1892, v. 8, p. 7, col. 3; San Francisco Call, July 10, 1892,
p. lo, cols. 7, 8, which credits Tavernier with the founding of the Monterey art colony; San
Francisco Call, August 12, 1909, p. 6, cols. 6, 7; the Sunday Call, April 16, 1911, p. 5; San
Francisco Examiner, March 3, 1925, p. 7, cols. 1-3; and obituaries listed in Footnote 10.
88. Tavernier also had an illustration appearing under his own signature in Harper's
Weekly (July 26, 1879), v. 23, p. 588, " 'Jeanette' Leaving the Harbor of San Francisco"
<full page).
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 31
1. The Pioneer, 1877.89
2. The Indian Dance, 1878 <>
3. Frontier Man (unfinished), 1879 . 91
4. Sketches of Northwest Indians, 1882.92
5. The Rodeo (1884-1885) s
Of Frenzeny's final years we know less than of Tavernier. He
took an active part in the affairs of the Bohemian Club of San
Francisco up until 1878. 94 His companionship with Tavernier con-
tinued apparently as long as he stayed in California. 95 A number
of his own illustrations (that is, signed by himself alone and not
joint work with Tavernier) appeared in Harper's Weekly for the
years 1876, 1877 and 1878. They all deal with aspects of life in
California and Nevada. The Chinese several times received Fren-
zeny's attention and one illustration in particular is notable, "A
Chinese Reception in San Francisco." It appeared as a double-
page drawing in the Weekly for June 9, 1877. The Nevada sketches
may have been obtained on his westward trip to the coast with
Tavernier. The most interesting one of this group is an illustration
of a "Camel Train in Nevada" showing remnants of the camel herd
introduced into this country in 1856. Several of the Frenzeny
sketches depict southern California, one, "Sunday Sports in South-
ern California," shows a version of the rough and callous pastime
of the frontier, "The Gander Pull." 96
In 1879 Frenzeny began a series of sketches in the Weekly de-
picting Central America. 97 As a sketch of Coney Island appears in
the same year it seems reasonable to assume that he returned to
89. Depicts a sick or dying pioneer in rude cabin. For an amusing contemporary criticism
of this piece see the San Francisco Argonaut, November 24, 1877, p. 3, col. 4. The original
painting is now in the possession of The Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco.
90. "Taken From Life" in an underground sweat house of the California Digger Indians
near Clear Lake. San Francisco Alta California, June 12, 1878, p. 1, col. 4.
91. California Art Research, First Series, v. 4, p. 25.
92. According to ibid., p. 19, Tavernier went to the Pacific Northwest on a hunting trip
with Sir Thomas Hesketh and sketches of the Northwest Indians were obtained. No other
record of the sketches or paintings resulting from the trip seems to be available.
93. Ibid., p. 25.
94. Annals of the Bohemian Club, v. 1, pp. 19, 26, 43, 107, 191. At the end of volume
1, Frenzeny is listed as a member of the board of directors of the club for 1876-1877.
95. Deejay Mackart. See Footnote 16.
96. Frenzeny's illustrations in Harper's Weekly for 1876-1878 are: "The Indian War
Buying Cavalry Horses," near San Francisco (full page), v. 20 (November 11, 1876), p. 924;
"Chinese Immigrants at the San Francisco Custom-House" (title page), v. 21 (February 3,
1877), p. 81; "Sunday Sports in Southern California" (full page), v. 21 (March 3, 1877), p.
164; "Chinese Lantern Feast" (% page), v. 21 (April 25, 1877), p. 332; "Charcoal Burning
in Nevada" (% page), v. 21 (May 26, 1877), p. 405; "Chinese Reception in San Francisco"
(double page), v. 21 (June 9, 1877), pp. 444, 445; "A Whaling Station on the California
Coast" (title page), v. 21 (June 23, 1877), p. 477; "Camel Train in Nevada" (% page), v.
21 (June 30, 1877), p. 501; "Nevada Silver Mine Changing the Shift" (title page), v. 21
(August 25, 1877), p. 657; "Sheep Raid in Colorado" (% page), v. 21 (October 13, 1877),
p. 808; "Mission Indians of Southern California . . ." (% page), v. 21 (October 20,
1877), p. 821; "The Vintage in California" (double page), v. 22 (October 5, 1878), pp. 792,
793; "On the Way To the Yosemite Valley" (full page), p. 952. For the camel experiment
of 1856, see Dan E. Clark, The West in American History (New York, 1937), pp. 520, 521.
97. Harper's Weekly, v. 23 (August 23, 1879), p. 664 ; v. 24 (1880), pp. 152, 556, 812,
32 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
New York City by way of Central America in 1879. 98 From 1880
to 1887 about 30 of his sketches appear in Harper's Weekly. Some
of these illustrations are of New York scenes, others of California,
and there are still others which are apparently based on his trip of
1873-1874. A number of the illustrations, as the 1880's advanced,
are exceptionally good. The art of wood engraving was rapidly
reaching its heyday and the individual character of the artist be-
comes more and more apparent. The Western sketches of Frenzeny
appearing in the Weekly during the 1880's are of sufficient impor-
tance to list :
1. "Muster-Day on an Indian Reservation/' from a scene which the artist
witnessed on the plains (% page), Harper's Weekly, v. 24 (July 24, 1880),
p. 476.
2. "Winter Life on the Plains" (two illustrations on one page), ibid., v. 26
(February 11, 1882), p. 89. [One scene is reproduced in the picture supple-
ment.]
3. "After the Thaw Victims of a Prairie Snow-Storm" (about % page),
ibid., v. 26 (June 10, 1882), p. 365.
4. "Fresh from West Point" to the plains (% page), ibid., v. 26 (Novem-
ber 18, 1882), p. 733.
5. "Taming and Training the American Mustang" (11 illustrations on
double page), ibid., v. 26 (November 25, 1882), pp. 744, 745.
6. "An Indian Funeral Off for the Happy Hunting Ground" (double page),
ibid., v. 28 (July 26, 1884), pp. 480, 481.
7. "On the Rio Grande Surrendering a Prisoner To the Mexican Authori-
ties" (y 2 page), ibid., v. 30 (August 28, 1886), p. 556.
8. "Smuggling on the Rio Grande" (about % page), ibid., v. 30 (Septem-
ber 4, 1886), p. 565.
I have no data on Frenzeny illustrations for the years 1887 and
1888, but in 1889 he illustrated Harrington O'Reilly's book, Fifty
Years on the Trail; A True Story of Western Life } recounting the
Western experiences of John Nelson, a character of considerable
fame in his day." Over 100 illustrations appear in the book, and
in the introduction, dated May, 1889, O'Reilly quotes Frenzeny as
saying "[Illustrating this book] has given me more pleasure than
any work I have ever undertaken for it is so graphic that it recalls,
without any effort on my part, scenes which I am able to draw,
not from imagination, but from personal observation;" the only
direct quotation now available from either Frenzeny or Tavernier.
After the publication of the O'Reilly book Frenzeny drops com-
pletely from view and although my search has been extensive no
98. "The Brighton Beach Fair Grounds, Coney Island" (full page), ibid., v. 23 (August
30, 1879), p. 684.
99. The book was published by June of 1889 as there is a brief description of it in the
Publisher's Weekly, v. 35 (June 29, 1889), p. 833.
ON THE CATTLE TRAIL To WICHITA, OCTOBER, 1873.
WICHITA, OCTOBER, 1873. LOOKING NORTH ON MAIN STREET WHERE IT CROSSES
DOUGLAS AVENUE.
A THRIVING KANSAS INDUSTRY OF THE 1870's THE LAND OFFICE IN SEDGWICK
COUNTY AS SKETCHED IN OCTOBER, 1873.
TEXAS CATTLEMEN IN CAMP ON THE HERD GROUNDS WEST OF WICHITA,
PCTOBER, 1873.
THE GROCERY STORES OF DUNSCOMB AND McKEE AT CLEARWATER, FIFTEEN
MILES SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA, IN OCTOBER, 1873.
i '
m
H I
+
" m
r"
*-i
i -
-
[f?
i'l
it it
I*
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 33
further information is available at present concerning him. I trust
these lines will be read by some individual who can supply me with
additional facts concerning Paul Frenzeny. 100
CONCLUSION
We have presented evidence the majority of which shows (1)
that the two artists whose work we have described observed the
scenes they depicted; (2) that contemporary statements concerning
the work of the artists agree that their illustrations were good repre-
sentations of the subjects depicted; and (3) that comparison of
written contemporary accounts, or of subsequent research, is in sat-
isfactory agreement with the record and information imparted by
other illustrations of the artists. We can again repeat, therefore,
that the Frenzeny-Tavernier illustrations as a group are important
and reasonably authentic pictorial documents of Western history;
one can but regret that their medium of reproduction was so crude
and that the original drawings apparently no longer exist. It is
unfortunate, too, that we can here reproduce only a few of the
Frenzeny-Tavernier series. The interested reader and student will,
of course, wish to examine the illustrations as they appear in the
files of Harper's Weekly for the years 1873-1876.
The influence which these illustrations exerted is difficult, if not
impossible, to trace. Harper's Weekly was one of the most widely
read journals of its day; a very real "force in American life" as one
student of American journalism has said. 101 The illustrations of
Frenzeny and Tavernier were, therefore, well known in their day not
only because of the medium of publication, but because their illus-
100. Further data on both artists and upon their work would be most thankfully received
by the author. He may be addressed at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan.
101. Frank Luther Mott, American Journalism (New York, 1941), p. 379. The circula-
tion of Harper's Weekly estimated by the American Newspaper Directory for 1875 (George P.
Rowell and Company, New York), p. 249, was 100,000. Mott, op. cit., p. 379, states that its
circulation by 1872 was 160,000; A. B. Paine, Th. Nast (New York, 1904), p. 204, states
that by 1871, the circulation of the Weekly had grown to 300,000. Neither Mott nor Paine,
however, give any indication of the source of their data. Paine attributes the wide circulation
of Harper's Weekly to the political cartoons of Nast in exposing the Tweed ring of New York
City. It is doubtful if any such claim is justified. The happenings in New York City (to
which the Nast cartoons were devoted exclusively), were of general interest to the nation but
the widely diversified character of the Weekly's offerings, both in print and in picture, were
of greater importance in establishing its wide circulation. Paine is undoubtedly correct (p.
204) when he points out that the illustrations of the Weekly were to be found "in the most
isolated farm-house of the West, in the woodsman's hut and in the miner's cabin" for we
have already observed the comment of the Emporia News (pp. 14, 15) "we are glad to know-
that the Weekly is well patronized here" ; a comment of special significance coming from a
small Western village.
For an opinion of the powerful influence of Harper's Weekly, more nearly contemporary
with the period of Frenzeny and Tavernier than is found in Mott, see the two and a half
page review and criticism in the staid North American Review, v. 100 (April, 1865), p. 625.
The Review account concludes with a prophesy now made fact: "Our historical societies and
public libraries throughout the country should secure a complete set of the volumes of the-
Weekly, for every year will add to their value as an illustrated record of the times. . . .""
31863
34 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
trations were numerous and unusual and appeared over a period of
some years. No effort was made to glamorize the West, an effect
many later illustrators of the West were prone to stress; in fact,
illustrations such as "Busted," "Slaughtered For the Hide" and the
torture shown in the "Sun Dance" were realistic in the extreme and
the majority of the illustrations were factual records of Western life
in its many aspects.
The Frenzeny-Tavernier illustrations were, therefore, a part of
the cultural background of their day. The lure of the West in all
its manifold forms was the compelling force that caused the Harper
brothers to send the two artists on their Western way, but the efforts
of these two artists were by no means all the "Westerns" published
by the Weekly. In the same years that the Frenzeny-Tavernier
illustrations appeared, Western sketches by Theodore R. Davis,
W. M. Gary and A. R. Waud were published in the Weekly, and the
Weekly's chief competitor, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper,
was also recognizing the popular interest in this field. 102
To those of us of the older generation, Frederic Remington and
Charles M. Russell were the illustrators and painters of the West.
But the fact of the matter is that they were but two of a long line
of Western artists, who, including Frenzeny and Tavernier, have
contributed their pictorial talents, of varying quality, to one of the
most dominant forces in past American life, the Western frontier.
Samuel Seymour, the first Western illustrator of note in the 19th
century, Catlin, Bodmer, Miller, Stanley, Eastman, Hays, Mathews,
Farny, Mary Hallock Foote, Zogbaum, Rogers, Graham, Hansen,
Schreyvogel, to name but a few of that long line, all contributed
their share of pictorial information, or misinformation, to the field of
Western history. Many of the later artists were influenced by their
earlier colleagues. Remington, for example, admitted that Catlin
was one of the determining forces in shaping his early career, 103
and an examination of Remington's boyhood sketch books preserved
in the Remington Art Memorial, Ogdensburg, N. Y., shows crude
Western sketches quite patently patterned after those appearing in
Harper's Weekly and other illustrated periodicals of the day. So
great was the influence of this material that we find him writing in
1877 to a boyhood friend, who, like Remington, was interested in
102. Leslie's, however, in this period never reached the circulation figures achieved by its
competitor. In 1874, the circulation estimated by the American Newspaper Directory, 1874,
p. 228, was 40,000. Frenzeny-Tavernier never published Western illustrations in Leslie's, al-
though I have found one Frenzeny sketch in that publication before the Western tour, Frank
Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, November 16, 1872, p. 149, "Rehearsal For Annual Training in B
Village Store Band."
103. Collier's Weekly, March 18, 1905, p. 16.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 35
sketching, "Send me [sketches of] Indians, cowboys, villains or
toughs. Those are what I want." 104 It was to this general influence
and background, therefore, that the Frenzeny-Tavernier illustra-
tions made their contribution which affected the lives of thousands
of boys and men and probably women in the early 1870's.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I acknowledge with sincere thanks the aid given me: by the staff of the
Kansas State Historical Society, by Robert Beine and especially by Ens. J. L.
Barry who called to my attention the illustrations of Frenzeny and Tavernier
in The Great South-West; by Miss Grace M. Mayer of the Museum of the
City of New York; by Messrs. John F. Connally, J. J. Liljestrom and Ken-
drick Vaughan of the Bohemian Club, San Francisco; by Miss Mabel R.
Gillis and the California State Library, Sacramento; by Miss Sereta Morris
of the Wichita Public Library who "discovered" the original Tavernier sketch
of Wichita; most of all, however, I am indebted to Miss Ina T. Aulls of the
Denver Public Library who generously made available the results of exten-
sive newspaper searches bearing on the work of Frenzeny and Tavernier in
Colorado. I also wish to express my thanks to the Graduate Research Com-
mittee of the University of Kansas for research grants which helped pay, in
part, the cost of securing transcripts, photostats, and photographs of original
materials used in this and other studies of Western artists.
104. Ibid., September 17, 1910, p. 28.
Pike's Peak Express Companies
PART IV THE PLATTE ROUTE Concluded
GEORGE A. ROOT and RUSSELL K. HICKMAN
THE PONY EXPRESS AND PACIFIC TELEGRAPH
IN the spring of 1859 the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express
Company began operations between Leavenworth and Denver,
by way of the Solomon and Republican rivers. Not long thereafter
the company took over the Hockaday line to Salt Lake City, neces-
sitating a transfer to the Platte route the old Oregon and Cali-
fornia trail. This road was longer than the initial trail but enjoyed
many natural advantages which made possible a more rapid transit
between the Missouri river and the Rockies. The company installed
improvements along the route and carried on a large business in the
transportation of treasure, mail and passengers between Denver and
Leavenworth. In February, 1860, the last trips were made by the
Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express Company, which was now con-
tinued as the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express
Company. The story of the latter organization and the accom-
panying Pony Express and Pacific Telegraph are treated in this
issue, with the concluding phases of the Pike's Peak Express com-
panies.
The growing tide of migration to the Oregon country and Cali-
fornia led to a growing demand for a railroad to the Pacific coast.
As early as 1845 Asa Whitney suggested such a project through the
public domain, and a few years later Thomas H. Benton proposed a
"Central National Highway" to the Western ocean, to include both a
railway and wagon road. 311 During the 1850's repeated proposals of
this nature were advanced, but every concrete suggestion as to route
foundered upon the rocks of sectionalism. Among the leading advo-
cates of the project was Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, who coupled
it with the territorial organization of the Nebraska region, then a
part of the Indian country and not open to settlement. In 1852 he
introduced a bill to protect the emigrant route and establish a tele-
graph line and overland mail from the Missouri river to California
and Oregon. 312 Despite his strenuous efforts in its behalf, congress
811. John P. Davis, The Union Pacific Railway (Chicago, 1894), p. 31.
312. Ibid., pp. 47-59; Frank Heywood Hodder, "Genesis of the Kansas-Nebraska Act,"
Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (1912), pp. 69-86. The idea of a
combined railroad, telegraph, and wagon road was early conceived, but in later years the
-wagon road was not urged, although the railroad, overland mail and telegraph project con-
(36)
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 37
refused to do more than provide for a careful survey of the possible
routes, the findings of which suggested five principal roads to the
Pacific coast. In January, 1855, Douglas introduced a bill in the
senate for a northern, a central, and a southern railroad, but he
could not obtain the agreement of both houses. By the late 1850's
there was a growing insistence throughout the country that congress
act on the matter.
William M. Gwin, veteran senator from California, was associ-
ated with Douglas in the matter of a Pacific railroad. He had long
championed improved communication to the East for his constitu-
ents, who were now particularly desirous of a quicker mail service
than that afforded by the Butterfield ("ox-bow") Overland Mail.
Many Californians believed the Central route would give them a
quicker service it was clearly growing in popularity the country
over, but was still objected to by some as neither free of snow
blockades, nor of possible attack by Indians or Mormons. 313 Almost
equally as insistent as the people of California were those of western
Missouri and Iowa and the territories to the west, particularly such
ports of embarkation as St. Joseph and Leavenworth. By the close
of 1859 St. Joseph was a leading claimant for the terminal of the
Pacific railroad-to-be, then envisaged as an extension of the Han-
nibal and St. Joseph road, already completed to that city, and a
telegraph line to California. 314 The St. Joseph Weekly West praised
the Central route from that place to Salt Lake City and Placerville
(Cal.) as "the route to the Pacific" it "being much shorter and pass-
ing over a better watered and grazing country than any of its
rivals," whereby "St. Louis and San Francisco can be brought within
fourteen days of each other" 315 This same route was urged by the
tinued throughout the period, following Benton's plan of a "Central National Highway" to
the Pacific. The Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854 erected two new territories instead of one,
and gave an equal chance to both the northern and central routes, although Douglas was
probably more interested in the former, which would develop Illinois and the city of Chicago.
See, also, Robert R. Russell, "The Pacific Railway Issue in Politics Prior To the Civil
War," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Cedar Rapids, la., v. XII, pp. 187-201.
313. Frederic L. Paxson, History of the American Frontier, 176S-1893 (Boston and New
York, 1924), p. 462. The Butterfield service had proved quite reliable, but required a trip of
some 25 days. See Leroy R. Hafen, The Overland Mail (Cleveland, 1926), pp. 79-99.
314. The Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad reached St. Joseph in February, 1859, far
ahead of its rival running west from St. Louis. It was planned to continue the St. Joseph line
to the west through Kansas as the "Marysville or Palmetto and Roseport Railroad." History
of Buchanan County, Missouri (Union Historical Co., St. Joseph, 1881), p. 578. The pioneer
telegraph line from St. Louis reached St. Joseph in March, 1853. The Missouri Telegraph
Line (Stebbins Line) from St. Louis arrived at the same point in February, 1860, and its
projectors hoped for an early extension to Fort Kearny, and eventually much farther west.
This line, of which Charles M. Stebbins was president, had reached Atchison in August, 1859,
and seems to have been the only line then operating in that vicinity.
315. Issue of August 13, 1859. On January 21, 1860, it described in glowing terms the
construction of a proposed road and the development of the Western country, and inquired if
the telegraph line then about to reach St. Joseph was to be extended westward. Such a line
was needed to the gold mines, the newspaper argued, and St. Joseph was the proper point.
"It is the point from which the Pacific railroad will start whenever it is built, and it is the
point from which, by all means, the telegraph, going westward, should start. Let us go to
work at once.
38 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
New York Tribune as the "most direct and expeditious" for a daily
overland mail to California, which could be "easily traversed in six-
teen days," and later in fourteen, at an annual cost of not over a
million dollars. "Such a mail should have a telegraph working by
its side. . . ," 316
Early in 1855, when hostile acts had been committed by the West-
ern Indians, the problem of proper protection of the emigrant routes
to California and Oregon was considered by congress. Senator Gwin
introduced a joint resolution in the senate (Congressional Globe,
January 18, 1855) proposing a "weekly express mail, for rapid com-
munication across the continent, the pioneer of a regular line of
mail stages . . ." between St. Louis and San Francisco, and as-
serted that he would demonstrate its practicability. Already there
were telegraph lines to Kansas on the east, and to the Sierra
Nevadas at Placerville on the west, which would shorten the time
of actual communication from New York to San Francisco to eight
days. "In a short time after the express is established, the telegraph
will extend, and our communication be brought down to six days."
On December 22, 1859, soon after the opening of the 36th con-
gress, Senator Gwin introduced a measure for a Pacific railroad, 317
and on the following January 18 a bill (Senate No. 84) to facilitate
communication between the Atlantic and Pacific states by electric
telegraph. The latter measure was considerably altered in the house
of representatives, and as finally enacted into law (June, 1860) it
authorized the advertising of bids for the use by the government of
one or more telegraph lines, to be constructed within two years "from
some point or points on the west line of the State of Missouri, by
any route or routes which the said contractors may select ... to
the city of San Francisco. . . ." 318 On April 10, 1860, Gwin re-
ported from his committee on the post office and post roads a bill
for a 20-day mail service between St. Joseph and Placerville, and
the next day insisted on its urgency, wanting the Pony Express, now
already in operation, to take back immediately news of favorable
action by the senate on a semiweekly mail by the Central route.
"It is a matter of such importance to the people of California, that
316. New York Daily Tribune editorial, October 4, 1859, concerning the report of Horatio
King on the cost of the mails.
317. Congressional Globe, 36 Cong., 1 Sess., Pt. 1, p. 214.
318. U. S. Statutes at Large, v. 12, pp. 41, 42. Gwin's original bill proposed to author-
ize nine persons the presidents of important telegraph companies, including Charles M. Steb-
bins of the Missouri line already extended to the Kansas border, to contract for a line to the
Pacific. The close connection of the projected telegraph with the firm of Russell, Majors &
Waddell and its subsidiaries was illustrated at the time of the debate in congress: "In build-
ing this line of telegraph the company will be compelled to use the stations of the mail com-
pany." Cong. Globe, 36 Cong., 1 Sess., v. 29, Pt. 2, p. 1693.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 39
I dare not, if I wished to do so, postpone it. . . ." 319 In the
consideration of these measures, particularly the telegraph proposals,
it is more than probable that Gwin conferred with William H. Rus-
sell, who was frequently in Washington, concerning a fast pony
express service which would supplement the telegraph, until the
latter was completed. A combination of the two would make pos-
sible, at a very early date, a great quickening of communication, and
would help to settle, once and for all, the perennial question of rail-
road routes to the Pacific. Russell long wanted an improved mail
contract, and may well have been given assurances by Senator Gwin
toward this end. The success^ of the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak
Express to Denver and Salt Lake City, with its extension to Cali-
fornia, was a potent argument toward this goal. A victory of the
Central route and an expedited Pony Express and Pacific telegraph
which would entirely eclipse the Butterfield interests would be a
"clincher" toward a mail contract by this road. 320
According to the narrative of Charles R. Morehead, his midwinter
trip (November, 1857- January, 1858) across the plains to Utah with
Capt. James Rupe to deliver supplies to the army of Albert Sidney
Johnston, gave William H. Russell the idea of a pony express:
We now passed through Nebraska and Kansas Territories, and arrived at
Fort Leavenworth on the 26th of January, 1858, which was thirty days out
from [Fort] Bridger.
William H. Russell, head of the contracting firm, wired us to come on to
Washington. We took stage to Jefferson City, Mo., and there took the Mis-
souri Pacific Railroad to St. Louis and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to
Washington.
In the estimation of all we had made a splendid trip, and we felt very
proud of it. We had traveled about 1200 miles, as the road then ran, in thirty
days, in the dead of a severe winter, through hostile Indians and ravenous
wolves, in snow every foot of the way, without a change of animals and with-
out grain, indeed, we walked at least two-thirds of the way.
After we completed our report, . . . Mr. Russell took us to see the
President, some Senators and members of Congress, and also the Secretary of
War and Quartermaster-General. With Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War, the ques-
tion of the feasibility of a pony express across the continent was presented by
Mr. Russell, and fully discussed. Captain Rupe's views were called for, and
319. Ibid., pp. 1628, 1647, 1648.
320. The struggle for an improved mail service to California furnishes the immediate back-
ground of the Pony Express. The author of the Overland Mail (Leroy R. Hafen) points out
(p. 166) the close connection between the Pony Express and a mail contra-ct, and quotes Rus-
sell as saying, September 26, 1860, with reference to the imminent expiration of the Salt Lake
mail contract (November, 1860) : "A mail contract alone would justify us to continue the
Pony. . . . We have however attained our principal object, that of practically demon-
strating that the route is feasible and practical, and with a good mail contract, and in that
way only, the Express can be sustained."
40 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
he expressed the opinion that it was entirely practicable at all seasons on this
route, all the way to California. . . . 321
In the popularization of the Central route from Salt Lake City
to Placerville, Cal., it is probable that the veteran mail contractor,
George Chorpenning, has not been given due credit. He describes
his venture and his pioneer Pony Express in his Brief History of the
Mail Service:
Mr. Chorpenning took a third contract in April, 1858, for a coach service
between Salt Lake and Placerville, California, for four years, to commence
July 1st following. It was this contract that led him to expend very large
sums of money ... in exploring and opening a new route to California,
by which the distance was shortened upwards of one hundred miles; and it
was upon this line that he built stations ... at intervals of about every
twenty miles. . . .
At the time Mr. Chorpenning opened and stocked the new route . . .,
there was not a single white inhabitant in the entire country between the
settlements of Salt Lake and the foot of the Sierra Nevada. . . . The line
of mail stations erected at once invited settlers. . . . During this time
[22 months] he had opened a complete road, had graded hills and bridged
streams. . . .
He projected and put into operation the first "Pony Express" that ever
crossed the country, and in December, 1858, delivered President Buchanan's
annual message through to California in seventeen days eight and a half hours.
It was this then wonderful feat, and the running through of coaches weekly in
thirty days, that demonstrated the practicability of overland communication,
and brought, for the first time, Mr. Chorpenning and the great importance of
his work before the public. 322
As early as August, 1859, John S. Jones and B. D. Williams of
the Pike's Peak Express promoted the idea of a railroad and tele-
graph to the West, in a meeting at Denver. 323 Late that year the
plans for this venture must have been well advanced, as the idea of
a telegraph line was then unofficially reported in an Elwood paper:
We are informed from a reliable source that it is the intention of Messrs.
Jones, Russell & Co., to establish, early in the spring, a telegraph line from
this point to Denver City. With their facilities for the undertaking the esti-
mated cost will be only about $45,000. . . . Every development of the day
321. William Elsey Connelley, Doniphan's Expedition and the Conquest of New Mexico
and California (Topeka, 19'07), Appendix C, entitled "Personal Recollections of Charles R.
Morehead," pp. 613, 614.
322. A Brief History of the Mail Service, Settlement of the Country, and the Indian
Depredations . . . Between Salt Lake and California . . . (Washington, 1874, mi-
crofilm copy, Historical Society; original in Library of Congress), pp. 7-10.
323. "Denver City, K. T.," correspondence, dated August 25, of the New York Daily
Tribune, September 12 ; Leavenworth Daily Times, September 9, 1859. It was a "large and
enthusiastic meeting" (August 24) to consider a memorial to congress for a Pacific railroad to
Denver and Auraria, and was presided over by Jones of the Express Company and Villard of
the Cincinnati Times. General Larimer and others spoke of the future importance of Denver
as a way station, but Judge Wyatt termed the whole project a humbug in advance of the
times. B. D. Williams believed a railroad a natural follower of the stage line. A second
meeting, also presided over by Jones, considered a Pacific railroad by the Central route, and
a telegraph line to accompany it. Memorials were to be sent to Washington.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 41
points irresistibly to the central route as the line of the great Pacific Rail
Road. . . .324
One of the best accounts of the founding of the Pony Express is
included in the Memoirs of Alexander Majors, of the firm of Rus-
sell, Majors & Waddell:
During the winter of 1859, Mr. W. H. Russell, of our firm, while in Wash-
ington, D. C., met and became acquainted with Senator Gwin of California.
The Senator was very anxious to establish a line of communication between
California and the States east of the Rocky Mountains, which would be more
direct than that known as the Butterfield route, running at that time from
San Francisco via Los Angeles, Cal.; thence across the Colorado River and
up the valley of the Gila; thence via El Paso and through Texas, crossing the
Arkansas River at Fort Gibson, and thence to St. Louis, Mo.
This route, the Senator claimed, was entirely too long; that the require-
ments of California demanded a more direct route, which would make
quicker passage than could be made on such a circuitous route as the Butter-
field line.
Knowing that Russell, Majors & Waddell were running a daily stage be-
tween the Missouri River and Salt Lake City, and that they were also heavily
engaged in the transportation of Government stores on the same line, he asked
Mr. Russell if his company could not be induced to start a pony express, to
run over its stage line to Salt Lake City, and from thence to Sacramento ; his
object being to test the practicability of crossing the Sierra Nevadas, as well
as the Rocky Mountains, with a daily line of communication.
After various consultations between these gentlemen, from time to time,
the Senator urging the great necessity of such an experiment, Mr. Russell
consented to take hold of the enterprise, provided he could get his partners,
Mr. Waddell and myself, to join him.
With this understanding, he left Washington and came west to Fort Leav-
enworth, Kan., to consult us. After he explained the object of the enterprise,
and we had well considered it, we both decided that it could not be made to
pay expenses. This decision threw quite a damper upon the ardor of Mr.
Russell, and he strenuously insisted we should stand by him, as he had com-
mitted himself to Senator Gwin before leaving Washington, assuring him he
could get his partners to join him, and that he might rely on the project being
carried through, and saying it would be very humiliating to his pride to return
to Washington and be compelled to say the scheme had fallen through from
lack of his partners' confidence.
He urged us to reconsider, stating the importance attached to such an un-
dertaking, and relating the facts Senator Gwin had laid before him, which
were that all his attempts to get a direct thoroughfare opened between the
State of California and the Eastern States had proved abortive, for the reason
that when the question of establishing a permanent central route came up,
his colleagues, or fellow senators, raised the question of the impassability of
324. Elwood Free Press, December 17, in Leavenworth Daily Times, December 21, 1859.
A contributor to the latter paper, signing himself "Wide Awake," added that such a line
would mean "a saving of not less than $15,000 . . . even at the low estimate of $150
per mile." This estimated cost is very close to the amount of the government subsidy
originally proposed by Senator Gwin's bill.
42 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the mountains on such a route during the winter months; that the members
from the Northern States were opposed to giving the whole prestige of such
a thoroughfare to the extreme southern route; that this being the case, it had
actually become a necessity to demonstrate, if it were possible to do so, that
a central or middle route could be made practicable during the winter as well
as summer months. That as soon as we demonstrated the feasibility of such
a scheme he (Senator Gwin) would use all his influence with Congress to get
a subsidy to help pay the expenses of such a line on the thirty-ninth to
forty-first parallel of latitude, which would be central between the extreme
north and south ; that he could not ask for the subsidy at the start with any
hope of success, as the public mind had already accepted the idea that such a
route open at all seasons of the year was an impossibility; that as soon as
we proved to the contrary, he would come to our aid with a subsidy.
After listening to all Mr. Russell had to say upon the subject, we concluded
to sustain him in the undertaking, and immediately went to work to organize
what has since been known as "The Pony Express." 325
During January, 1860, the plans for a Pony Express were com-
pleted and orders were issued to prepare for a start of the enterprise
early in April. 326 The first descriptive dispatch to be published was
wrong in asserting that it was to be a government project:
New York, Jan. 25
A dispatch from Washington says the government is about arranging for a
horse express from St. Joseph, Mo., to Placerville, California, to connect with
the telegraph to San Francisco, thus securing dispatches from the Pacific in
ten days. 327
Russell corrected this two days later in a dispatch from Washing-
ton to Leavenworth :
Washington, Jan. 27th, 1860
To John W. Russell Have determined to establish a Pony Express to
Sacramento, California, commencing the 3rd of April. Time 10 days.
Wm. H. Russell. 32
325. Col. Prentis Ingraham, ed., Seventy Years on the Frontier, Alexander Majors' Mem-
oirs of a Lifetime on the Border (Chicago and New York, 1893), Ch. XXII, pp. 182-184.
The original telegraph bill as introduced by Gwin proposed a subsidy of $50,000, later re-
duced to $40,000 a year for the operators (which was divided by the Pacific and Overland
telegraph companies). California offered an additional subsidy. It is unfortunate that there
is no corresponding account of Russell, which might clear up obscure points concerning the
origin of the Pony Express.
326. See William Lightfoot Visscher, A Thrilling and Truthful History of the Pony Ex-
press, or Blazing the Westward Way (Chicago, 1908), p. 22, which asserts that Senator Gwin
and several capitalists of New York, and Russell of the overland freighting firm had met in
Washington, and founded the Pony Express. Unfortunately it is difficult to pursue this story
further without a more exact citation of source, leaving the origin of the Pony Express still
wrapped in some obscurity.
327. St. Joseph Weekly West, January 28, 1860.
328. Leavenworth Daily Times, January 30, 1860. The comments from Leavenworth pa-
pers of this date indicate that it was confidently expected that that town would be the termi-
nal of the Express.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 43
In the founding of the Pony Express it appears that Benjamin F.
Ficklin had an important role, 329 second only to William H. Russell,
as is indicated by the following initial account in the Washington
(D. C.) Evening Star (January 30, 1860):
AN IMPORTANT ENTERPRISE
We learn that Benj. Ficklin, Esq., a gentleman connected with the business
of Messrs. Russell and Major, the well known Army contractors, left this city
on Saturday last for the Far West, to establish an independent horse express
across the Plains, to California, which shall make the trip between the extreme
points to which the magnetic telegraph now operates, in eight days; which
for the transmission of news will enable parties in New York and San Fran-
cisco to communicate with each other in that time, (eight days,) as the time
required to communicate by telegraph between New York and St. Joseph's,
Mo., and, again, between San Francisco and Sacramento, will be unappreciable,
of course.
Between St. Joseph's and Salt Lake City, Russell and Major have stations
every twenty-five miles, and between Salt Lake City and Sacramento Mr.
Chorporing [Chorpenning], the mail contractor, has stations the same distance
apart. Mr. Ficklin proposes to run the horse express weekly. . . . The dis-
tance between St. Joseph's and Sacramento is sixteen hundred miles, and it is
proposed to make (with the express) two hundred miles in the twenty-four
hours, traveling night and day. A hundred letters (embracing telegraph mes-
sages) paying $5 each will pay the expense of the trip ; ' . . . operations will
commence in April next. . . . One of the best points in the affair is, that
they do not propose to ask Government pecuniary assistance; a new feature,
indeed, in any such far western enterprise. 330
Without further details of the new venture, both Leavenworth
papers hailed the news of the Pony Express as a great development,
and assumed that Leavenworth would serve as the eastern terminal.
The Times ran the following headings:
329. Hafen, author of the Overland Mail, points out (p. 165) that Gwin in his "Memoirs"
(MSS. of Bancroft Library, University of California) refers to Ficklin as the one "who orig-
inated the scheme [of the Pony Express] and carried it into operation." In a speech Gwin
spoke of the Pony Express as "fostered and nurtured by his [Gwin's] labor."
330. The Washington correspondence, dated January 29, of the New York Daily Tribune,
January 30, 1860, added: "Messrs. Russell & Majors, government contractors, intend starting
a Courier Express between St. Joseph and Carson City, which is the western terminus [the
eastern terminus of the line being built from the west] of the California telegraph, by the
3d of April. Preparatory orders have already been given. The distance is 1,600 miles, which
it is proposed to travel in eight days, by horse relays every 25 miles, thus reducing communi-
cation between New York and San Francisco within ten days. The cost of dispatches to Car-
son City will be $5 apiece. It is estimated that the courier can carry 30 pounds of mat-
ter
44 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
GREAT EXPRESS ENTERPRISE !
FROM LEAVEN WORTH TO
SACRAMENTO IN TEN DAYS !
Clear the Track and Let the
Pony Come Through !
The seemingly impossible was about to be accomplished; the
"superior advantages of Leavenworth ... are becoming duly
appreciated; and to this token of it we are indebted to the enter-
prise of Wm. H. Russell." 331
In order to assure a more sound legal basis than had been pos-
sessed by the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express, the organizers
of the Pony Express applied for articles of incorporation by the
legislature of Kansas territory, which were passed by that body and
approved by Gov. S. Medary February 13, I860. 332 In the section on
express companies Chapter CXLIII of the private laws for that ses-
sion constituted the new charter, under which the stage company
and the Pony Express were now to operate :
AN ACT to incorporate the Central Overland California and Pike's peak
Express Company.
Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of
Kansas :
SECTION 1. That William H. Russell, John S. Jones, Benjamin F. Ficklin,
Alexander Majors, Benjamin C. Card, Webster M. Samuel, Jerome B. Simpson,
William B. Waddell, William S. Grant, Luther R. Smoot, John W. Russell,
Joseph A. Monheimer, and their associates, successors and assigns, be and they
hereby are declared to be a body corporate and politic, by the name, [of]
"The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company . . .
[statement of the usual corporate powers followed].
331. Cut of messenger on horseback reproduced from Leavenworth Daily Times, January
30, 1860 ; Leavenworth Weekly Herald, February 4. The comments in the former paper in-
dicated that its publishers were still in the dark as to details, but when they considered the
projectors, who had accomplished other undertakings of great magnitude, they were prepared
to believe the announcement.
332. Leavenworth Daily Times, February 13, 1860.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 45
SEC. 2. The capital stock of the said company shall be five hundred thou-
sand dollars, and shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each
. . ., such company may increase its capital stock ... as may be deemed
necessary. . . .
SEC. 3. The said company may commence business as soon as its capital
stock shall be fully subscribed for, . . .
SECS. 4-6. [These referred to officers, meetings and government of the
corporation.]
SEC. 7. The said company shall have power to establish, maintain, and
operate any express, stage, passenger, or transportation route or routes, by
land or water, for the conveyance of persons, mails, and property from, to,
and between any place in Kansas, and any place in or beyond the limits of
Kansas, and to create and organize branch companies for the same purpose,
and to build, hire, establish, and maintain storehouses, warehouses, and other
buildings for the safe keeping of goods, wares, and merchandise and other
property . . ., and shall have the power of exploring for minerals, and of
mining gold and other ores and metals, and cleansing, refining, and manufac-
turing the same, and assaying gold or other precious metals. . . .
SEC. 8. That the principal office of the said company shall be kept at
Leavenworth city, unless . . . changed by the vote of two-thirds of the
directors. . . .
SECS. 9, 10. [SEC. 9 concerned meetings of the directors, and SEC. 10 invest-
ment of surplus.]
SECS. 11-13. [Regulations for disposal of unclaimed freight; insurance', and
change of name.]
SEC. 14. This act shall take effect immediately.
EDWARD LYNDE,
Speaker pro tern, of House of Representatives.
W. W. UPDEGRAFF,
President of the Council.
Approved February 13th, 1860.
S. MEDARY, Governor*
The legislative report of the Leavenworth Times remarked that
this was "the great bill of the session'' which "if carried out to the
fullest extent" would "astonish the natives." It would place Leaven-
worth "in nearly a straight line from the cities East to the gold
fields of the West." 334 This account follows:
333. Private Laws of the Territory of Kansas, I860, pp. 254-259. Concerning the charter
see, also, Case No. 12,288, entitled Samuel v. Holladay, tried in the United States Circuit
Court, District of Kansas, October, 1869, and reported in The Federal Cases, Comprising
Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, Book
21 (St. Paul, 1896), pp. 306-312. [Hereafter cited Federal Cases.] It is here stated that
the capital stock amounted to $1,000,000, so apparently by July, 1861, the original sum of
$500,000 had been doubled. This decision examines the legal aspects of the charter, and the
actions thereunder, and is considered further in the conclusion of this article. Organization
of the "C. O. C." may have had as a further motive the escape from the financial troubles
then besetting the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express.
334. Dated Lawrence, February 10, in Leavenworth Daily Times, February 13, 1860.
46 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
THE GREAT OVERLAND EXPRESS
It is with the greatest pleasure we feel enabled to announce to the public
that the Legislature of Kansas has passed the act granting a charter to the
Central Overland Express Co., which will run from Leavenworth to the Pacific
Coast via the Gold Region. This enterprise is one of a mammoth character,
and will play a great part in the rapid development of the vast region lying
between the Missouri and the Pacific. In fact we believe we are not predict-
ing too much when we aver that the establishment of this Express Route will
mark the line of the Pacific Railroad. The beneficient results likely to flow
from this enterprise were so thoroughly appreciated by the Legislature that
the charter passed both Houses without a dissentient vote a fact as marvelous
as it was creditable, . . .
We are informed that the incorporators of the Express Company will lose
no time in effecting an organization and putting this great enterprise into
effective operation. . . . It is only necessary for us to say that our honored
fellow citizens Wm. H. Russell, Wm. B. Waddell, John S. Jones and Luther
R. Smoot, head the great enterprise, to convince all that the company will
accomplish whatever they attempt, and exceed the anticipations of the most
sanguine. These great mariners of the Plains represent an executive ability,
a comprehensive knowledge of the wants and necessities incident to overland
trade and travel, a fearless independence, a profuse liberality, a faith in West-
ern resources and capabilities, which will make their names conspicuous in the
growth and progress of an almost illimitable Region of which it may be truly
said
The elements of Empire here are plastic yet and warm,
The chaos of a mighty world is rounding into form. 335
A few days later the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak
Express Company was formally organized under the new charter,
the old firm of Jones and Russell was bought out, and a new slate
of officers chosen, which included William H. Russell as president.
THE NEW OVERLAND EXPRESS COMPANY
The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was
organized yesterday under a liberal charter from the Territorial Legislature,
with A. Majors, John S. Jones, Wm. B. Waddell, B, C. Card, W. S. Grant,
Jterome]. B. Simpson, and Wm. H. Russell as Directors; Wm. H. Russell,
President; J. B. Simpson, Vice President; J. W. Russell, Secretary and Treas-
urer, and Btenjamin]. F. Ficklin, General Road Agent. They have purchased
the old company of Jones, Russell & Co., who are running the Pike's Peak
335. Ibid. Continuing, the article said: "If the general benefits to the West are likely
to be of this character, our citizens can form a slight idea of the advantages that Leaven-
worth will derive from being the Grand Depot and Headquarters of the mammoth express
this side of the Rocky Mountains. The trains, outfits and supplies, with the armies of em-
ployees essential to the enterprise, will, of necessity, come from or be associated with our city.
The overland traffic and travel, which has already assumed the most gigantic proportions, will
pass through and centre here. In fact from this enterprise alone we sincerely believe that an
impulse will be given Leavenworth which will place her far above rivalry or competition the
acknowledged and accredited metropolis of the Far West.
"The charter obtained by the Overland Express Company is liberal in its provisions and yet
free from anything of an exclusive or monopolistic character. ... It was a slight return
for what these representative men, these indomitable pioneers, have done for the great
West.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 47
Express and Utah Male [sic] Line, for the sum of five hundred thousand
dollars, and will continue to run the same, together with the Pony Express to
Sacramento, California. Time to Carson City, ten days, and to Sacramento,
twelve days. 336
Although the partners of William H. Russell appear to have been
reluctant to embark on a venture with so precarious a future, once
the matter had been decided and the "C. 0. C." organized, the "spade
work" was speedily undertaken. In this Benjamin F. Ficklin played
a leading role 337 as chief field man under William H. Russell, a
position similar to that of John S. Jones as general superintendent
of the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express. Even before the new
company had been formally organized Jones & Russell advertised
for 200 grey mares to be used on the "horse express":
WANTED
TWO HUNDRED GREY MARES, from four to seven years old,
not to exceed fifteen hands high, well broke to the saddle, and
WARRANTED SOUND,
With black hoofs, and suitable for running the "Overland Poney
Express." JONES, RUSSELL & Co. 338
Feb. 10-1 w
Among the more urgent preliminary matters were those of pro-
viding a suitable route for the fast express line and sufficient sta-
tions for the riders. A dispatch from St. Joseph, March 15, 1860,
indicated that this was well under way :
We learn that the arrangements of Jones, Russell & Co., for a pony express
from this place to California are fast being consummated. A portion of their
ponies, riders, and agents have arrived here, and yesterday they started to de-
termine the route, and locate the stations. They expect to commence run-
ning about the 5th of April, and will go through in ten days. It is thought
336. Ibid., February 21, 1860.
337. A Denver correspondent, signing himself "Platte," on March 1 wrote to the weekly
Leavenworth Herald, March 17,1860: "Mr. B. F. Ficklin, general Road Agent of the Express
Company, is an accomplished gentleman and an active, thorough business man. It would
please you to have seen him make things fly about when he was coming out. With the prep-
arations that are now being made by this gentleman, there will be little difficulty in making
the trip from here to Leavenworth regularly in six days, and in five, if need be, after April
1st." Ficklin occupied a key position, since he was also interested in the project of a tele-
graph by the Central route to the Pacific, and later was an incorporator of the Pacific Tele-
graph Co.
338. Leavenworth Daily Times, February 10, 1860. This paper added that the trip to
Carson Valley was to be performed in eight days, where the first telegraph station would for-
ward the messages to Sacramento over the California telegraph line. "Short as the time may
appear . . . the trip will be performed. . . ."
In Frank A. Root and William E. Connelley, The Overland Stage to California (Topeka,
1901 hereafter cited Overland Stage), p. 106, the authors state that Russell bought some
200 ponies at Salt Lake City, and large numbers in California, Iowa, and Missouri. At San
Francisco it was announced that W. W. Finney had bought mules and horses. The animals
used were almost always referred to as "ponies," but were really fleet American horses, Cali-
fornia mustangs a small, hardy Mexican stock, then regarded as the fleetest animal in the
West. See, also, Arthur Chapman, The Pony Express (New York and London, 1932), pp.
84-89.
48 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
they will locate the starting point of their messenger and fast freight line, but
is is not fully decided yet. 339
Work of a similar nature was proceeding on the Western end of
the line between Salt Lake City and Sacramento the old Chorpen-
ning mail route, which was very inadequately supplied with sta-
tions. It was decided to shorten the line at some places a notable
change to be the adoption of the new road surveyed by J. H. Simp-
son southwest of Salt Lake City. 340 On March 23, 1860, the Sacra-
mento Union announced that W. W. Finney, superintendent of the
Western end of the line, had already finished plans for his division
with the purchase of 129 mules and horses (about 100 of the latter
called ponies), and a train had already been dispatched to stock the
line as far as Eagle Valley. From there to Salt Lake City this work
was to be carried on from the Mormon metropolis. The stations
were to be about 20 to 25 miles apart, so that the ponies might travel
to the next station and return once a week, and thereby accommo-
date a weekly service in each direction. 341 In carrying out this
work Finney ran into much trouble in the Sierra region east of
Placerville, where late snows greatly increased the cost of feed and
provisions, much of which had to be packed on the backs of mules.
In this extremity Ben Holliday, who was already operating local
stages of his own, came to the rescue of Finney by cashing drafts
of the Pike's Peak Express Company, and the work of construction
was finished according to schedule. 342
Late in March the New York Daily Tribune, in its classified col-
umn headed "Steamboats and Railroads/' carried the following an-
nouncement of the Pony Express and Western telegraph :
339. New York Daily Tribune, March 16, 1860. At this date both Leavenworth and St.
Joseph hoped to obtain the eastern terminus.
340. See Wm. M. Egan, ed., Pioneering the West, 1846 to 1878, Major Howard Egan's
Diary (Richmond, Utah, 1917 The Howard R. Egan estate), pp. 194-201, of which narra-
tives 33 and 34 are entitled "Finding the Egan Trail," and "Pony Express."
341. Chapman, op. cit. } pp. 112, 113 ; also Springfield, Mo., dispatch in New York Daily
Tribune, April 12, 1860. A San Francisco dispatch of March 30 (via Butterfield Overland
Mail) in the Atchison Union, April 28, 1860, reported that the superintendent of the Overland
Pony Express had arrived in Genoa, Carson Valley, where he met the superintendent of the
Salt Lake Telegraph, who reported the arrangements as nearly finished, so that the Express
and telegraph at each end of the line would be ready to begin operations on April 30.
342. Chapman, op. cit., p. 123. The mountain ranges and lack of waterways rendered it
very hard to locate a "best" route in the Great Basin region. There were then only a few
inhabited places between Camp Floyd and Carson City (the latter place a "city" in name
only). After the Pony Express got under way adobe buildings were constructed at Carson,
Sand Springs, and Cold Springs, which were far superior to other structures along this part
of the route, many of which were merely tents or shacks, or even dugouts in a hillside (ibid.,
p. 128).
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 49
STEAMBOATS AND RAILROADS
TO SAN FRANCISCO IN EIGHT DAYS
BY
THE CENTRAL OVERLAND CALIFORNIA
AND
PIKE'S-PEAK. EXPRESS COMPANY
The first courier of the Pony Express will leave the Missouri River on
TUESDAY, April 3, at 5 o'clock, p. m., and will run regularly weekly thereafter,
carrying a Letter-Mail only.
The point of departure on the Missouri River will be in telegraphic con-
nection with the East, and will be announced in due time.
Telegraph messages from all parts of the United States and Canada, in con-
nection with the point of departure, will be received up to 5 o'clock p. m., of
the day of leaving, and transmitted over the Placerville and St. Joseph tele-
graph wire to San Francisco and intermediate points, by the connecting Ex-
press, in eight days.
The Letter-Mail will be delivered in San Francisco in ten days from the
departure of the Express.
The Express passes through Forts Kearney, Laramie, and Bridger, Great
Salt-Lake City, Camp Floyd, Carson City, the Washoe silver mines, Placer-
ville, and Sacramento.
Letters for Oregon, Washington Territory, British Columbia, the Pacific
Mexican ports, Russian Possessions, Sandwich Islands, China, Japan, and India,
will be mailed in San Francisco.
Special Messengers, bearers of letters to connect with the Express of the
3d of April, will receive communications for the Courier of that day at No.
481 10th st., Washington City, up to 2:45 p. m., on FRIDAY, March 30, and in
New York at the office of J. B. Simpson, room No. 8 Continental Bank Build-
ing, Nassau St., up to 6:50 a.m., of 31st March.
Full particulars can be obtained on application at the above places and
Agents of the Company. WM. H. RUSSELL, President.
Leavenworth City, Kansas, March, 1860.
Office in New York. J. B. SIMPSON, Vice-President.
SAMUEL & ALLEN, Agents, St. Louis.
H. J. SPAULDING, Agent, Chicago. 343
In an editorial comment the Tribune remarked that letters and tele-
graphic messages would be carried for a $5 fee (incorrect as to
telegrams), and added:
For the present, this Express must make the long detour of Laramie and
the South Pass, but it will very soon be run by Denver (or some point on the
343. New York Daily Tribune, March 23, 1860, and for several days thereafter. A simi-
lar announcement appeared in the San Francisco Bulletin, March 17, 1860, concerning ar-
rangements for the Pacific end of the line, which is quoted in Hafen's Overland Mail, pp. 170,
41863
50 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
South Platte near that city), and so by the White River branch of the Colo-
rado to Salt Lake, saving at least 300 miles, and reducing the express mail
time to San Francisco to nine days and the telegraph time to seven days.
This is a strictly private enterprise, to be sustained by the voluntary patronage
of those who may profit by it; but the Government will often use it to great
advantage. The men engaged in it are abundantly able to* prosecute it, even
at a heavy loss. It is to be run weekly in either direction and we heartily
commend it to mercantile favor. 344
A few days later the Tribune announced that the first Pony Ex-
press would leave St. Joseph at 5 p. m., Tuesday, April 3, and
weekly thereafter on the same day and hour, William H. Russell
promising a transit to Virginia (Carson) City (then Utah terri-
tory), the first station on the California telegraph line, in eight
days. 345 The next issue of the St. Joseph Weekly West announced
the location of the eastern terminal at that place, rather than Leav-
enworth, 846 a decision which appears to have been forced upon Rus-
sell because of the fact that St. Joseph enjoyed a direct railroad
connection with the East, even though he personally favored Leav-
enworth. From this time on the Leavenworth papers greatly re-
duced the space they devoted to the Pony Express, and it was even
charged by some that Russell had given his home city the "cold
shoulder" no doubt an unfair allegation. 347
On April 2, 1860, it was announced from St. Joseph that arrange-
ments had been completed for the departure of the first pony at
5 P. M. on the next day. The second departure for California would
be Friday, April 13, and regularly thereafter on Friday, to avoid a
delay over the Sabbath of letters from New York and the East. 348
344. New York Daily Tribune, March 23, 1860.
345. St. Joseph dispatch, March 27, in ibid., March 28, 1860.
346. St. Joseph Weekly West, March 31, 1860.
"CENTRAL OVERLAND ROUTE!
"SAINT JOSEPH To BE THE STARTING POINT ! !
"A rumor, confirming information received by us today, authorizes us to announce the im-
portant fact that Messrs. Jones, Russell & Co., have determined to make St. Joseph the start-
ing point at this end of their Overland Route. This is a matter of great importance to our
city, as it will divert all the business, passengers and freight to this place. There is no doubt
that Messrs. J. R. & Co., will reap much benefit from the change as well as ourselves. . . ."
347. Washington, D. C., letter, dated May 30, of a Leavenworth citizen and friend of
Russell, in the Leavenworth Weekly Herald, June 9, 1860:
"I think our people are doing Mr. Russell great injustice by impliedly charging upon him
ingratitude. He feels this very sensibly, too, inasmuch as our young city has been his special
favorite. . . . His interest there exceeds that of any other one man, amounting in the
aggregate to over $200,000. . . .
"Owing to the Rail Road terminus at St. Joseph, he was compelled to start his Pony Ex-
press from that point. .
"He has not, and will not remove his passenger and freight express line from Leaven-
worth. . . ."
348. A short notice of Jerome B. Simpson, vice-president of the "C. O. C.," appeared in
the classified section of the New York Daily Tribune, April 9, 1860 :
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 51
The time to Fort Kearny was to be 34 hours; Great Salt Lake, 124
hours; Carson City, 188 hours; Placerville, 226 hours; Sacramento
City, 234 hours; and San Francisco, 240 hours. Telegraphic dis-
patches were to go to any place in California from any point in the
East in about 205 hours. 349 The fee for a letter (one half ounce or
less) was fixed at $5, and a dispatch from any point in Eastern
United States on telegraph lines to San Francisco, $6.90 for a 10-
word message, and 20 cents for each additional word. 350
The close cooperation of the Pony Express and telegraph was
illustrated by the following announcement of Charles M. Stebbins,
superintendent of the Missouri telegraph lines west of St. Louis,
which gave the precise details of the sending of dispatches by tele-
graph:
We learn from Mr. Stebbins, the Superintendent of the lines west of this
city, that they commence receiving despatches for the California Pony Express
to-day. Each message will be numbered, and will be forwarded from the first
station of the telegraph line in Carson Valley in the same order as received
here. Parties wishing their despatches to take precedence must therefore send
them in early. The lines will receive despatches up to 5 p. m. of Tuesday
next. Triplicates will be sent, and every precaution will be taken to prevent
their destruction by water or wear and tear. The tariff from St. Louis to any
point in California, including express and all other charges, will be $5.30 for
the first ten words, and ten cents for each additional word; and if messages
fail to go through ahead of any other route, the money will be refunded. The
rates from New York and other Atlantic Cities are $6.90 for ten words, and
twenty cents for each additional word, subject to the same conditions. 351 [On
May 22, 1860, the Tribune quoted the charge for extra words as 30 cents.]
The Pony Express was inaugurated April 3, 1860, with a celebra-
tion at St. Joseph in honor of u the greatest enterprise of modern
"TO CALIFORNIA IN EIGHT DAYS!
BY
THE CENTRAL OVERLAND CALIFORNIA
AND
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANY."
Letters would be received up to 3 o'clock Monday afternoon of each week, at the company
office, Room No. 8, Continental Bank Bldg., and telegrams up to 7 o'clock Thursday evening
at the office of the American Telegraph Co., 2y 2 Wall St.
349. St. Joseph dispatch in ibid., April 3, 1860. A more complete time table appeared
in the Elwood Free Press of April 7, with the following added stations : Marysville, 12 hours ;
Laramie, 80 hours; Bridger, 108 hours, and Camp Floyd, 128 hours.
350. St. Joseph Weekly West, April 7, 1860.
351. St. Louis dispatch, March 31, in New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1860. The
"Stebbins Line" was being projected as a link in the Pacific telegraph-to-be, as was apparent
from its title of "St. Louis, Salt Lake and California Telegraph," but it did not become the
main line.
Pony Express dispatches were carried in a specially designed mochila attached to the sad-
dle, containing four cantinas or boxes of hard leather which could be locked. See description
and illustration in Chapman, op, cit., pp. 86, 87.
52 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
times," which a border paper hailed as a seeming "impossibility,"
but one which they were confident would be accomplished, due to
the "well known energy" of its president and directors. It promised
to "benefit St. Joseph in a very marked and visible degree." Mes-
sages would be received up to 4:30 P. M. of the inaugural day, and
would be carried across the continent in the quickest time on rec-
ord. 352
The first Express was scheduled to leave the United States Express
office of Hinckley & Co., in St. Joseph at 5 P. M., but was slowed
up by the delay of the messenger from New York and Washington
with the Eastern dispatches. 353 While the pony and its rider waited,
a great crowd of people gathered. The assembled multitude "being
desirous, of preserving a memento of the flying messenger, the little
pony was almost robbed of his tail." 354 Mayor M. Jeff. Thompson
and Messrs. Russell, Majors and others made brief and appropriate
addresses, setting forth the advantages to be derived from this "mag-
nificent undertaking." 355
This is but the precursor, as Mr. Majors justly remarked, of another, a
more important, and a greater enterprise, which must soon reach its culmina-
tion, viz: the construction of the road upon which the tireless iron horse will
start on his long overland journey, opening up as he goes the rich meadows
of nature, the fertile valleys, and crowning the eminences of the rocky range
with evidences of civilization and man's irresistible mania of progression. . . .
Of a truth, "the desert shall blossom as the rose." 356
At about 7 P. M. the messenger arrived, making possible a de-
parture at 7:15, thereby delaying the first Pony Express only about
two and a quarter hours.
At 7 1 /4 oclock, the bag containing voluminous telegraphic dispatches from
all parts of the country for The Sacramento Union, The San Francisco Bulletin
and The Alta California, together with 49 letters, 5 private telegrams, and
some papers for San Francisco and intermediate points, was, by the request
of W. H. Russell, placed upon the pony, a spirited bay mare, by Mayor
352. St. Joseph Weekly West, April 7, 1860. "The magnitude of this enterprise can
scarcely be conceived. . . . Pending the completion of the overland telegraph line, the
transmission of messages over this route will be the most speedy known to modern times."
353. St. Joseph dispatch, dated April 4, to the New York Daily Tribune, April 5, 1860;
also a special account in the Weekly West, April 7, 1860, which added: "The messenger from
New York, with the through dispatches left that city on Saturday morning, but was detained
twenty-four hours in Detroit, reaching this city at five [seven] oclock last evening, via the
Palmyra Branch and Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, making the distance from the Mis-
sissippi to the Missouri in the unprecedented time of four hours and fifty-one minutes. . . .
The train consisted of only the engine and one passenger car, running something over forty
miles an hour. . . ." (See, also, Chapman, op cit., pp. 102-104.)
354. St. Joseph Weekly Free Democrat, April 7, 1860.
355. St. Joseph Weekly West, April 7, 1860 ; New York Daily Tribune, April 5, 1860.
356. St. Joseph Weekly West, April 7, 1860. The Tribune added (April 5): "All tele-
graphic dispatches . . . are duplicated on paper, beside a triplicate being taken on linen
prepared for the purpose in indelible ink, and carefully sealed. Water-proof copies are thus
forwarded to different points in order to guard against any chance of delay or miscarriage."
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 53
Thomason [Thompson], amid great enthusiasm, when the little bay dashed
off at a rapid rate, bearing her burden toward the Golden State. 357
The St. Joseph Weekly West gave further details about "Billy"
Richardson, the Pony Express rider on this occasion, and the "fine
bay mare" that was to run the first lap of the long journey:
Horse and rider started off amid the loud and continuous cheers of the
assembled multitude, all anxious to witness every particular of the inauguration
of this . . . enterprise. . . . The rider is a Mr. Richardson, formerly a
sailor, and a man accustomed to every description of hardship, having sailed
for years amid the snows and ice bergs of the Northern ocean. He was to
ride last night the first stage of forty miles, changing horses once, in five hours;
and before this paragraph meets the eyes of our readers, the various dispatches
contained in the saddlebags, which left here at dark last evening, will have
reached the town of Marysville on the Big Blue, one hundred and twelve miles
distant an enterprise never before accomplished even in this proverbially fast
portion of a fast country. 358
On the same day that the "spirited bay mare" left St. Joseph with
"Billy" Richardson the rider, a "little nankeen-colored pony" left
the San Francisco office of the Alta Telegraph Company, on Mont-
gomery street, with James Randall as its rider, on a like mission
to the East. 359 The 2,000 miles of plains, mountains and deserts
that intervened between the Missouri river and the Pacific coast in-
cluded some of the wildest regions of North America, the worst part
of which was the desert and mountainous stretch between Salt Lake
City and Sacramento. For a long distance, however, the route fol-
lowed was largely that of the Oregon and California trail by way
of the Platte, which was relatively improved, and was substantially
357. New York Daily Tribune, April 5, 1860. The Leavenworth Daily Times of the same
date remarked: "Our neighbors of St. Joseph had a jolly time, April 3d, over the starting of
the Pony Express . . . with forty -nine letters, nine telegrams, and newspapers for the
California Press. A large undertaking this! An enterprise great as the country!" The
Atchison Union (April 7) remarked that the first Express arrived at Kennekuk, 44 miles from
St. Joseph but only 22 miles from Atchison, in four hours and fifteen minutes. "If the Gov-
ernment had provided for running this express from and to Atchison, the extreme Western
Rail Road and Telegraph point, over two hours would have been saved in the transit. . . ."
The existing arrangement seemed to have been ordered "to subserve certain local interests."
In February, 1860, the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad was extended to a point opposite
Atchison, necessitating the use of a ferry until a bridge was constructed across the Missouri
river, continuous service not being inaugurated until June 13, 1860.
An additional account from the St. Joseph Gazette, April 4, 1860, is quoted by Howard
R. Driggs, in The Pony Express Goes Through (New York, 1935), pp. 38, 39.
358. Weekly West, April 7, 1860, quoted above. The identity of this rider was long in
dispute, it being maintained that Johnny Frey was the first messenger, riding a coal black
horse. The accounts quoted above agree that it was a spirited "bay mare," although only
one names the rider. These mooted points were carefully examined by Louise Platt Hauck in
1923, at the behest of the Pony Express celebration committee, and are reviewed in her article
in the Missouri Historical Review (v. 17, pp. 435-439), of Columbia, entitled "The Pony Ex-
press Celebration." She concluded that "Billy" Richardson was undoubtedly the first rider,
and Johnny Frey probably the second. It is possible that an error of memory arose in many
of the accounts, due to the fact that on the same day that the second pony left St. Joseph
(April 13), with Frey the rider, a celebration was in progress in honor of the safe arrival from
California of the first eastbound express.
359. San Francisco Alta California, April 4, 1860, quoted in Chapman, op. cit., p. 116.
Randall carried 85 letters, but his pony took the boat to Sacramento, where the first real
rider, William Hamilton, began the long, arduous journey. The San Francisco ceremonial was
really a bit of stage play to properly inaugurate the Express, since the permanent terminal
was placed at Sacramento, from which letters were thereafter sent by water to the Golden
Gate. (Telegraphic dispatches were sent from points still farther east.)
54 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the same road as that of the overland mail to Salt Lake City and
California. The following description of the Pony Express trail is
probably one of the best accounts:
The route from St. Joseph, after crossing the Missouri river, lay a little south
of west until it struck the old overland military road at Kennekuk, forty-four
miles out. Thence it diverged a little northwesterly across the Kickapoo
Indian reservation via Granada, Log Chain, Seneca, Ash Point, Guittard's,
Marysville, and Hollenberg; up the charming Little Blue valley to Rock
Creek, Big Sandy, Liberty Farm, and over the rolling prairies to Thirty-two-
mile Creek; thence across the divide and over the prairies and sand-hills to
the Platte river and due west up the valley to Fort Kearney. . . .
Westward from Fort Kearney the road for 200 miles was along the Platte
river, near the south bank of the stream, via Plum Creek, Midway, Cotton-
wood Springs, Fremont Springs, O'Fallon's Bluffs, Alkali, Beauvais Ranch, and
Diamond Springs, to old Julesburg. Here the South Fork was forded, and the
pony moved northwesterly and went up Lodge Pole creek, across the country
to Thirty-mile Ridge, and along it to Mud Springs; thence to Court-house
Rock, past Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluffs, and on to Fort Laramie ; thence
over the foot-hills at the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, via South
Pass, to Fort Bridger, Salt Lake City, Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley, the Hum-
boldt, Carson City, Placerville, Folsom, and Sacramento, where the pony was
changed for the steamer to San Francisco. 360
As the ponies on the first trip sped toward their destination, re-
ports of their passage were brought back by the mail coaches they
met along the way, which indicated that from the start the Pony
Express had adhered to its schedule. 361 Around midnight, May 14,
1860, when the pony reached San Francisco by the boat Antelope
from Sacramento, a great throng roared an enthusiastic welcome, the
band played "See, the Conquering Hero Comes," bonfires were
lighted, the speechmakers "studied their points," and a riotous cele-
bration continued until nearly morning. 362
360. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 113. See Mary Pack, "The Romance
of the Pony Express," Union Pacific Magazine, v. II, August, 1923, pp. 6-9, 28, 29, which
gives a map indicating the similarity of routes of the Pony Express and the San Francisco
Overland Limited of the Union Pacific railroad, along with an interesting account and many
illustrations; also Footnote 284 and adjacent text in the November, 1945, issue. W. R. Hon-
nell of Kansas City constructed probably the best "Map of the Pony Express Route," and
also wrote a short account which is published in The Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. V, pp.
66-71.
361. See Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens), Roughing It (Hartford, Conn., 1872), which
gives a colorful account of his trip by Pike's Peak Express to Carson City, and describes the
Pony Express, pointing out that, while the stage coach travelled 100 to 125 miles per day,
the pony rider made about 250 in the same time. His famous description (p. 72) follows:
"Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against the sky,
and it is plain that it moves. ... In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, ris-
ing and falling, rising and falling sweeping toward us nearer and nearer growing more and
more distinct, more and more sharply denned nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of the
hoofs comes faintly to the ear another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck,
a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and the man and horse burst past our excited faces,
and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm!
So sudden, is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for the flake of white
foam ... we might have doubted whether we had seen any actual horse and man at
all. . . ."
362. Chapman, op. cit., pp. 144-148; Hafen, Overland Mail, pp. 173-174.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 55
Just ten days after its departure from San Francisco the first east-
bound Pony Express arrived in St. Joseph and was awarded a most
enthusiastic welcome. A St. Joseph newspaper remarked :
The Pony Express arrived in our city at five o'clock yesterday afternoon,
just ten days from San Francisco. The event was duly and grandly cele-
brated last night, by fire-works, firing of cannon, parade of the military, and
illumination of Market square. . . . Twenty, or even ten years ago, the
man who would have suggested such an event would have been termed a
lunatic.
Hurrah, then, for the Pony Express and its enterprising proprietors. Long
may they live, and soon be the time when the "Iron Horse" shall supersede
the Pony 363
The Leavenworth Daily Times remarked that now the Pacific was
in close proximity to the Atlantic. The run from San Francisco to
Salt Lake City was made in two days and twenty hours and had
there been no snow in the mountains the whole trip would have been
completed in eight days.
Nor is this great triumph to be without fruit. . . . Government is lag-
gard. In all that relates to the interest of the West . . ., it has been nig-
gard as well as laggard. It can be so no longer. This great success of private
energy will prick the mind of the country to the necessity of Western wants,
and compel Government to attend to these wants quickly and well. 364
The initial dispatches by Pony Express and telegraph from the
Pacific coast did not appear in the St. Joseph Weekly West until the
following week (April 21), with a schedule of arrivals en route, and
words in appreciation of the work of Benjamin F. Ficklin as general
superintendent.
The number of letters brought through was eighty-five. The complete
success which has attended the first trip ... is due in no small degree to
the efforts of Ben. Ficklin, the efficient superintendent, who has been over
the route and has the general management of the enterprise. 365
A summary of Pacific news followed, dated San Francisco, April
3, 1860, which set the pattern for later Pony Express dispatches.
This same news appeared in the New York Daily Tribune, April 16,
being delayed a day by the activities of a band of horse thieves be-
363. St. Joseph Weekly Free Democrat, April 14, 1860; New York Daily Tribune, April
16, 1860. The St. Joseph Weekly West asserted this would demonstrate the practical nature
of transcontinental communication in less than one-half the previous time, which would be
reduced by the telegraph "until New York and San Francisco are joined in the fraternal em-
brace of progress. . . ."
364. Leavenworth Daily Times, April 16, I860. On April 24, 1860, M. Jeff. Thompson,
mayor of St. Joseph and president of a Pacific railroad being projected to the West, presided
at a celebration at Elwood inaugurating the enterprise.
365. Weekly West, April 21, 1860. In another column this same paper discussed "The
Pony Express and the Pacific Railroad," and pointed out that because of the success of this
venture, "we are glad to see a new impulse to the Pacific Railroad feeling in different parts
of the Union." They had "never had the shadow of a doubt but that the route from this
place by way of Salt Lake was that upon which the road ought to be built," and now "the
result of this last enterprise . . . has placed the question beyond dispute. The road
must start from St. Joseph. . . ."
56 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tween Kansas City and Leavenworth, who cut the wires in several
places. The publication of this news only 13 days after its trans-
mission at San Francisco meant a great victory of the Pony Express
and its collaborators, the Pacific and Overland telegraph companies,
for the Central route, over the Butterfield line. 366 From this time
on, as long as the Pony Express was in regular operation, the Pa-
cific and Oriental news was sent by this route, which with the tele-
graph on both ends made possible a marked saving of time, a trans-
continental transit now being possible in about 10 days. This was
a potent demonstration of the desirability of the Central route,
which could be understood by everyone. 367 A few weeks later the
majority report of the special committee of congress on the Pacific
railroad was made public. It favored the central route by the
Platte valley and Great Salt Lake, with branches from the western
boundaries of Iowa and Missouri. The committee concluded that
this was by far the most important emigrant route, with many set-
tlements along the way, including the Pike's Peak and Washoe
mining areas, and enjoyed the advantages of easy grade and few
streams to bridge. 368 As one historian concludes: "No single in-
fluence did more to give prominence to the Platte trail than the de-
cision to use it for the pony express, which was started in 1860." 369
From the very start the Pony Express attained a regularity of
service which could be depended upon. When for any cause it was
delayed immediate concern and disappointment was voiced by the
366. The one and a half column article in the Tribune was headed:
"FROM CALIFORNIA
SUCCESS OF THE PONY EXPRESS
ARRIVAL OF THE JAPANESE EMBASSY
THE SILVER AND GOLD MINES
"St. Joseph, Mo., Saturday, April 14, 1860. The first messenger on the Central Overland
Pony Express arrived here at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, with California dates to April 3,
and Carson Valley dates to the 4th.
"This messenger came through in ten days to a minute, he having left San Francisco at
4 p. m. on April 3."
The dispatch from Carson City remarked: "The Pony Express is greeted with great en-
thusiasm by the people of the Valley . . . as we have had but a semimonthly mail dur-
ing the past winter." The telegraph had already reached a point 30 miles east of that city,
and its early extension would probably reduce the time from St. Joseph to San Francisco to
eight days.
367. The Butterfield Overland Mail had long been the means of transmitting the Cali-
fornia news, but now was superseded by the swifter Pony Express, with the exception of the
period of the Pah Ute Indian war in Nevada (then western Utah). A telegraph was now
projected along this line from Springfield, Mo., to Fort Smith, Ark., Fort Yuma (Ariz.), and
Los Angeles, which it was hoped would soon afford equally good service (probably with a sec-
ond Pony Express to complete the connection). New York Daily Tribune, April 6, 9, 1860.
The western end of this telegraph was soon completed to Visalia (Cal.), where it halted for
some time.
368. St. Joseph Weekly West, April 28, 1860; Davis, op. cit., pp. 90, 91. The con-
gressional report mentioned St. Joseph as a suitable eastern terminal.
369. Paxson, op. cit., p. 465.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 57
public. The following dispatch from St. Joseph illustrates this
feeling :
The Pony Express, due here yesterday, has not yet arrived, and is now
twenty-four hours behind time. The delay is probably caused by high water in
the mountain streams. The last express coming East, while going at a rapid rate
in the night, the horse stumbled over an ox lying in the road, throwing the
rider, and the horse fell upon him, so badly crushing him that it was feared
he would soon die. Notwithstanding this accident, the express arrived here on
time. The express leaving here tonight will take out a full summary of news
and detailed accounts of the great prize fight [Heenan vs. Sayers] and other
European advices up to the 18th. This will put the news from London and
Liverpool through to California in the short space of twenty days. 370
The Pony Express considerably improved communications with
both Europe and the Orient, particularly when it made good con-
nections with a departing messenger. Oriental news along with that
from California, Oregon, British Columbia, and occasionally from
Mexico, was regularly dispatched to the East, while Eastern and
European news went by this medium to the Pacific. The Pony Ex-
press with San Francisco dates of May 11, 1860, reported:
The Japanese corvette sailed homeward via Honolulu on the 7th inst., hav-
ing been completely repaired at the Navy Yard free of charge. A farewell fes-
tival was given to her officers. . . . She started immediately after the ar-
rival of the Pony Express. . . . Her homeward trip will be a complete
transmission of news around the world in quicker time than ever before
made. 371
In May, 1860, the directors of the Pony Express opened an office
in New York City where letters would be received up to the close
of business on Tuesday, and telegrams to a corresponding time on
Saturday, to be dispatched on the westbound Pony Express at 11
P. M. on Saturday, and announced the following schedule of rates:
The tariff is as follows: for ten words, [by telegram] $6.90, and for each
additional word, thirty cents. The express charges are: letters weighing half
an ounce or under, $5; over half an ounce and under an ounce, $10; in all
cases to be inclosed in government stamped envelopes, and all express charges
370. St. Joseph dispatch, April 28, in New York Daily Tribune, April 30, 1860. The
same issue of this paper gave details of the prize fight in England, in which John C. Heenan,
"the Benecia Boy," won over his opponent Tom Sayers in a 37 -round bout, in which the vic-
tor knocked down his adversary 13 times.
Almost every California news summary by Pony Express during the first weeks of opera-
tion remarked that the news by steamboat or overland stage (Butterfield route) had been an-
ticipated by the pony and telegraph. That arriving at St. Joseph on May 14 asserted that
the last previous westbound pony had arrived at the outer telegraph station in Carson Valley
in only seven days and four hours from St. Joseph.
371. St. Louis dispatch to ibid., May 22, 1860. At that time a visiting delegation from
Japan was being lionized wherever it appeared. The St. Joseph Weekly West, April 21, 1860,
announced the transmission of a dispatch by Pony Express and telegraph with news of the
arrival in San Francisco of the clipper ship Andrew Jackson, 99 days out of New York. This
account claimed that previously no return was expected in less than six months, after a voyage
of 18,000 miles around Cape Horn.
58 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
prepaid. Persons sending letters by this express should see that they are
thoroughly dried, to prevent mildew. 372
Almost from the beginning the Pony Express was threatened by
Indian attack, since its route traversed the Indian country for long
distances. In April, 1860, rumors of impending hostilities were gen-
eral in the West. The war actually began May 7 with an attack
by Pah-Ute Indians on the station of J. O. Williams, in which seven
men were killed and the house burned. 373 The westbound Pony
Express apparently got through ahead of the main outbreak, with
news of the attack, which quickly spread over a wide territory of
Carson Valley and forced the closing of numerous stations along
the route toward Salt Lake City. The Express due at St. Joseph
May 28 arrived a day late, bringing dispatches from Salt Lake, but
none from California, and with the following note attached to the
Salt Lake way bill :
The rider has just come in. The Indians have chased all the men from the
stations between Diamond Spring and Carson Valley. The pouch in which
the express matter is carried is lost. 374
The problem of "chastizing" the Indians was naturally beyond
the resources of the Express company. W. W. Finney, division
agent at San Francisco, told of attacks along the line and described
his efforts to obtain aid from General Clark, in command at the
San Francisco Presidio. Finney admitted that the Pony Express
was an individual enterprise, with no right to call for protection, but
since it used the same route as that of the United States mail he
believed it deserved government protection, which might be accom-
plished with 75 armed men. Since Clark could not spare that many
Finney despaired of the consequences. 375 When news of the attack
on the Pony Express arrived in Washington a number of congress-
men requested the intervention of the War Department. Sec. John
372. New York Daily Tribune, May 22, 1860.
373. Hubert H. Bancroft, History of Nevada. Colorado and Wyoming (San Francisco,
1890 Works, v. XXV), p. 209 et seq. ; Effie Mona Mack, Nevada a History of the State
. .... . (Glenclale, Cal., 1936), p. 302 the chapter headed "Last Stand of the Nevada In-
dian." The latter author points out that the real cause of this attack is not definitely known,
but two stories exist, both of which blame the occupants of Williams' station. One account
charges that they seized several young Bannock squaws (allies of the Pah-Utes), leading to a
punitive expedition by the red men, and another that the station keeper, J. O. Williams, him-
self stole a horse of a Pah-Ute, leading to retribution on this score. Even before this attack
it was reported that 30 horses belonging to the Pony Express had been stolen by the Indians
(San Francisco dispatch, April 27, in New York Daily Tribune, May 8, 1860). William H.
Russell replied that inasmuch as the Express still operated, there could be no foundation for
the rumor. Leavenworth Daily Times, May 10, 1860. To the red man the Pony Express
was the visible symbol of a civilization that was threatening to displace him from his home-
land.
374. St. Joseph dispatch to New York Daily Tribune, May 31, 1860. On the last trip
the Indians were reported to have killed two Express riders. The distance of 1,200 miles be-
tween Salt Lake and St. Joseph was made by this Express in five days and seven hours.
375. San Francisco dispatch, May 28, via Butterfield overland mail to ibid., June 18,
1860, a detailed accoont from the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin, May 26, 1860.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 59
B. Floyd directed the commandant at Camp Floyd to dispatch
enough men to protect the route through the zone of trouble. 376
The settlers sent a small force against the Indians, which met de-
struction in an engagement near Pyramid Lake, causing a wave of
panic throughout Carson Valley. 377 A large force supported by reg-
ulars then decisively defeated and scattered the Indians under Win-
nemucca in fighting along the Truckee river, June 2, but did not
end the Pony Express troubles, which continued for about a month
thereafter. During this time additional stations were destroyed,
several more agents were killed, and stock was run off. 378
On June 1, 1860, an announcement was made at San Francisco
that Pony Express service had been suspended until the route could
be properly safeguarded. 379 Both Sacramento and San Francisco
advanced funds to reopen the line, 380 and a company of "twenty
picked men, well armed," left Carson City to accomplish this, and
to cooperate with the federals from Camp Floyd. On June 22 the
first westbound Express arrived at Carson Valley with all the mail
of the detained Expresses, bearing St. Louis dates to June 9, and
the prospect of reestablishing the enterprise was a matter of general
congratulation. 381 An Express reached the Pacific coast June 30,
but a two weeks' interruption followed, which caused much concern,
the politicians being "almost frantic for intelligence from the Balti-
more convention, having received news only up to the time of or-
ganization, and that by all the routes, ocean and overland." 382
Finally the Express of July 1 arrived at San Francisco on the 16th,
with letters carried by the preceding pony, and reported that the de-
lay was due to waiting west of Salt Lake for an escort of soldiers.
Traveling with them it was possible to make only 40 miles per day.
The route between Carson Valley and Salt Lake was then cleared
of Indians and well stocked, promising well for the future. 383 This
undertaking was not finished, however, until William C. Marley
376. Weekly Leavenworth Herald, June 9, 1860.
377. Mack, op. cit., pp. 303-305.
378. Ibid., p. 308. A San Francisco dispatch of June 4, in New York Daily Tribune,
June 26, 1860, reported the stations abandoned beyond Sand Springs toward Salt Lake. The
station at Simpson Park was burned, and the horses driven off ; the station keeper at Dry
creek was murdered.
379. San Francisco dispatch to Tribune, June 23, 1860. The Express of May 18 and 25
had already passed eastward through Carson Valley, but the latter was reported to have
turned back because of the destruction of the stations.
380. Ibid., June 23, 1860.
381. San Francisco dispatch, June 25, via the Butterfield overland mail to ibid., July 16,
1860. For some time Ruby Valley station, 300 miles west of Salt Lake was the one farthest
west (this side of the trouble zone) not interfered with by the Indians. At this time it was
announced that the Pony Express would begin semiweekly trips from St. Joseph (apparently
to take care of the emergency).
382. Ibid., July 27, 1860.
383. Ibid., August 1, 1860.
60 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
returned to San Francisco in the fall of 1860, after completing the
work along 400 miles of the line eastward from Carson Valley. 384
Late in August Col. F. W. Lander reported having interviewed the
principal Pah-Ute chief, Numaga, who promised to keep his war-
riors quiet for a year, until the dispute could be probed at Wash-
ington, thereby ending further danger to the Pony Express and over-
land route. 385
The Pah-Ute war necessitated a large additional outlay by the
Express Company, said to have been upwards of $75,000. 386 Al-
though temporary, it was a distinct setback and gave the Butterfield
overland mail a brief chance to regain its lost business, and "antici-
pate" the news dispatches of its rival, while the telegraph by this
southwestern route was being extended at both ends of the line, in
a race for supremacy. 387 The general public did not blame the com-
pany for the suspension of service. It resulted in a keener apprecia-
tion of the need of better federal protection of the overland routes,
gave the Pony Express even more publicity, and demonstrated the
high regard in which it was already held by the people along the
way, particularly in California. 388
By August 1, 1860, popular confidence in the regularity and per-
manence of the Pony Express had been generally restored it now
served as a regular carrier of the California and Oriental news, 389
just as the Pike's Peak Express did that of the Colorado region.
Accidents did occur, however, as the one chronicled in the following
dispatch :
The pony which should have brought the express letters, with St. Louis
dates to Aug. 4, arrived at Carson River on the morning of the 15th, without
rider or letter bags. The supposition is that the horse threw the rider and
got away, or else that the Indians killed the rider, took the letter-bags, and
allowed the horse to escape the latter part of the theory not being probable,
as the Indians would have kept the horse also. The pony arrived at the
384. San Francisco dispatch, September 26, to Tribune, October 9, 1860. A San Fran-
cisco dispatch, dated August 11, of the Leavenworth Daily Times, August 25, 1860, road:
"The patronage of the Pony Express is greatly increasing, since their trips are made in due
time and news received of the safe arrival of all letters sent Eastward. The new buildings
being put up ... for three hundred miles East of Carson Valley ... are sixty feet
square, with stone walls eight feet high ... to serve as forts when necessary."
385. Telegraph and Pony Express dispatch to St. Joseph Weekly Free Democrat, Sep-
tember 15, 1860; Bancroft's History of Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming, p. 216. Lander's
agreement was ratified by Major Dodge, Indian agent for this region.
386. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 122.
387. Early in June, 1860, the Pacific and Atlantic telegraph was completed to Visalia,
Cal., 280 miles from San Francisco, and by the following July the poles were up nearly to
Los Angeles on the Butterfield route, while the Missouri and Western telegraph on the eastern
end of the same line had reached Fort Smith, Ark.
388. A memorial was sent to congress for a daily overland mail, and governmental en-
couragement of the Pony Express.
389. Thus the Pony Express that arrived at St. Joseph August 6, carried California ad-
vices to July 25, Japan to June 26, and China to May 26, 1860, and in addition dispatches
from western Mexico. New York Daily Tribune, August 7.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 61
station only a few hours behind time; so that the accident, or whatever was
the matter, must have happened but a short distance east of Carson Valley. 390
The importance of the Pony Express as a carrier of news to the
people of California was heightened by the presidential campaign
of 1860. By October of that year there was intense anxiety in that
state concerning the result of the Pennsylvania election, which was
held a month early, because of its bearing upon the spirited contest
in California. 391 When the news arrived by telegraph and Pony
Express it created a sensation, making the Republicans exceedingly
jubilant and encouraging them to put forth their greatest efforts to
carry the state for Lincoln. 392 The first eastbound pony after the
November election with California returns passed the outer tele-
graph station at Fort Kearny early on November 22, but failed to
leave its news dispatches, causing a wail of disappointment. 393 These
first dispatches reported a very close contest, with Lincoln leading
over Douglas by only a few hundred votes, and an official recount
necessary. 394 About a month after the election an Express arrived
at Fort Kearny with news that Lincoln had a safe plurality, ending
public suspense. 395 Besides the regular westbound Express with pre-
election news which left St. Joseph November 5 for California, an
extra left Fort Kearny the day after that event, with considerable
ceremony, as related in the following account:
An extra Pony Express with the election returns for California left here
for Carson Valley at 1 o'clock today. . . . Both rider and horse were taste-
fully decorated with ribbons, &c, and they departed amid the cheering of a
large and enthusiastic gathering. The run is expected to be quicker than ever
yet made between here and the outer station of the California telegraph lines.
The ponies leaving St. Joseph on Thursday, 8th, and Sunday morning, llth,
are also to make double quick time, calling here for the latest telegraph
dates." 396
This Express arrived in Salt Lake City, 950 miles distant, in three
390. San Francisco dispatch, August 18, to ibid., September 1, 1860. Occasional reports
of Indian troubles persisted Agent Bromley in the Fort Laramie area asserted that his ponies
had been run off by the Indians, delaying the Express 24 hours. The theft of horses was not
confined to the aborigines, however.
391. San Francisco dispatch, October 17, to ibid., October 31, 1860. This Express was 40
hours late when it arrived at St. Joseph, due to a storm on the plains.
392. California dispatch, October 24, in ibid., November 7, 1860,
393. St. Louis dispatch in ibid., November 23, 1860. "The press, as well as the public,
are under heavy obligations to Messrs. Russell, Majors & Co., the gentlemanly and efficient
managers of the Pony Express, and they will, we doubt not, give such orders to their assist-
ants as will effectually prevent the recurrence of the present and past omissions to deliver the
public news from the Pacific to the nearest telegraph station, which at present is at Fort
Kearney."
394. Ibid., November 24 and 26, 1860.
395. Ibid., December 11, quoting a San Francisco dispatch of November 28, 1860. Final
official returns were published in the December 20 Tribune, and gave Lincoln a plurality of
757 votes over Douglas, and 4,750 over Breckinridge. Lincoln's California vote surprised the
politicians of that state.
396. Fort Kearny dispatch in ibid., November 8, 1860.
62 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
days and four hours, 397 and reached the outer telegraph station at
Fort Churchill November 14, 1860, thereby making a record passage
by Pony Express and telegraph of six days, with the news of
Lincoln's probable election.
At 8 o'clock today [14th] the Express arrived at Fort Churchill, Utah,
whence news of the result of the Presidential election was sent to San Fran-
cisco, and published in the extra Bulletin and Alta before nine o'clock, the
news having been expressed from St. Joseph to the telegraph station in the
unprecedented time of six days. It produced a great sensation. The Repub-
lican State Central Committee issued an address urging a general illumination
of San Francisco tomorrow evening. 398
With the approach of winter operation of the Pony Express was
threatened by the heavy snows that prevailed along portions of the
route. As early as late October a severe storm of wind, hail and
snow struck the Julesburg area, forcing the emigrant trains to
gather around the stage station, and detaining the Pony Express
five hours. 399 On December 1, 1860, William H. Russell officially
announced a change of schedule of the Pony Express for the winter
months, with an increase of time to 15 days between St. Joseph and
San Francisco, and 11 days between the outer telegraph stations
of Forts Kearny and Churchill.
This Schedule will be continued running as now semi-weekly trips during
the winter, or until Congress shall provide for a tri-weekly Mail Service,
which alone will enable the company to return to present or a shorter sched-
ule, the present mail service between Julesburg and Placerville being only
semi-monthly, which is not sufficient to keep the route open during winter.
WM. H. RUSSELL,
President. 400
Late in December a Pony Express rider was reported to have
frozen to death. 401 Yet despite the storms of winter the Expresses
397. St. Joseph dispatch to ibid., November 26, 18(50. The next, regular Express made
the 1,200 miles from St. Joseph to Salt Lake City in four days and 23 hours. A special trip
of the Pony Express was made to Denver, the distance of 696 miles being run in two days
and 21 hours, with news of Lincoln's election, partially anticipated by a coach of the Western
Stage Company from Fort Kearny. Neither Denver nor Salt Lake City patronized the Pony
Express to any great extent, as compared to California.
398. San Francisco dispatch, November 14, in ibid., November 26, 1860. A dispatch of
November 17 from the same place (ibid., November 29) reported that news of Lincoln's elec-
tion had greatly quieted political feelings in that state. The Republican illumination in
honor of his election had been a complete failure not over 50 houses responded, the Repub-
licans not being in an exultant mood. All parties feared serious trouble in the future.
399. Leavenworth Daily Times, November 1, 1860.
400. Advertisement dated Leavenworth City in ibid., December 1, 1860. A reduction of
Express rates was announced at the same time. Compare also Russell's statement (cited
above), September 27, 1860, concerning the imminent expiration of the Salt Lake mail con-
tract (November, 1860) : "A mail contract alone would justify us to continue the Pony.
. We have however attained our principal object, that of practically demonstrating
that the route is feasible and practical, and with a good mail contract, and in that way only,
the Express can be sustained." The Pony Express itself was independent of any direct gov-
ernment support.
401. Fort Kearny dispatch to New York Daily Tribune, December 27, 1860. Due to snow
over nearly the entire route, the Express that passed that place on January 20 was almost
two days late, and soon thereafter the westbound messenger was also reported late, but such
cases were decidedly exceptional.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 63
arrived with marked regularity, later in the season often reaching
their destination considerably in advance of the slower winter
schedule, thereby confounding the enemies of the Central route who
had argued against the possibility of such a feat.
The election of Lincoln was the signal for a great flood of seces-
sion threats and moves in the Southern states, the news of which
formed the general topic of conversation on the Pacific coast. Dur-
ing the following months, when the issue of secession hung in the
balance, the Pony Express and Western telegraph played an im-
portant role in the rapid dispatch of news, thereby aiding in the
retention of California in the union. 402
The message of President Buchanan to congress was sent by tele-
graph and Express across the country in about 12 days and pub-
lished in the San Francisco papers, thereby increasing public anxi-
ety, although the press in general favored moderation and the pres-
ervation of the union. 403 Several arrivals of the Pony Express were
delayed, occasioning immediate concern, whereupon both houses of
the California legislature passed a resolution asking financial aid
of congress. 404 The Pony Express carried news to the East of a
great union celebration in San Francisco, February 22, 1861, which
was as generally observed as a Fourth of July ceremony. A Cali-
fornia dispatch asserted:
California entirely repudiates the project of a Pacific Republic as vision-
ary, mischievous and impossible; that the true attitude of the people of Cali-
fornia at this time of trouble is that of fraternal kindness toward the people
of all the States. . . . It is generally conceded that this impromptu Union
demonstration was the largest mass meeting ever held in San Francisco.
,405
As the day of Lincoln's inauguration approached the people of
California grew increasingly fearful of a dissolution of the union
and followed the Eastern dispatches by Pony Express with growing
anxiety. The speeches of Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, and news of
402. See Bancroft, History of California, v. VII (San Francisco, 1890 Works, v. XXIV),
pp. 275-286; Glenn D. Bradley, The Story of the Pony Express, Ch. V, entitled, "California
and the Secession Menace." From the start there appears to have been a preponderance of
union sentiment in the state.
403. Fort Kearny dispatch to New York Daily Tribune, January 5, 1861. There was
some talk of organizing a Pacific republic, but a "vast majority" favored preserving the union.
The Tribune of February 6 carried a San Francisco dispatch of January 19, asserting that let-
ters of Congressmen Scott and Burch in favor of such a republic had been widely published,
and in general severely denounced by the press of the state.
404. San Francisco dispatch, February 9, to ibid., February 25, 1861. The two delayed
Expresses arrived at Carson Valley on February 8, with St. Louis dates to the 22d ult. De-
spite the delay the last outgoing Express had carried over 90 letters, and that day's load was
expected to total 150. The Express of February 2 from Fort Kearny carried news of the
passage of the Pacific railroad bill in the United States senate, which was joyfully received in
California, The bond scandal (see below) which had engulfed William H. Russell probably
prompted the California legislature to enact its memorial.
405. San Francisco dispatch, February 23, in ibid., March 11, 1861.
64 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the latter's inauguration at Montgomery, Ala., brought widespread
despair. 406 Perhaps the greatest feat of the Pony Express service
was the delivery of President Lincoln's inaugural address in record-
breaking time. In order to surpass all previous performances, each
horse along the line was led out from the different stations, and
each traveled a stretch of only about 10 miles. Every precaution
being taken to prevent delay, a transit was accomplished in the
unprecedented time of seven days and seventeen hours over the
1,950-mile course. 407
The announcement of the make-up of Lincoln's cabinet gave gen-
eral satisfaction to the people of California, and renewed their hope
that war might be averted. These anticipations were rudely shat-
tered by the outbreak of hostilities, which became the engrossing
topic of conversation.
As each pony arrives, and the news is received by telegraph, thousands of
people congregate in the streets and central localities, continuing for hours dis-
cussing the points.
The sentiment here is almost universal to sustain and encourage the Ad-
ministration in its present policy. 408
In May, 1861, a demonstration in support of the union was staged
in San Francisco which surpassed anything previously held. 409
When military campaigns and battles became the order of the day
California awaited the arrival of the pony with great eagerness. 410
The historian, Hubert Howe Bancroft, paid a tribute to the Pony
Express for its work in keeping the people of California properly
informed :
News was received every ten days by pony. That coming by the Butter-
field route was double the time; what came by steamship was from three to
four weeks old when it arrived. ... It was the pony to which every one
looked for intelligence; men prayed for the safety of the little beast, and
trembled lest the service should be discontinued. Telegraphic dispatches from
New York were sent to St. Louis, and thence to Fort Kearney, whence the
pony brought them to Sacramento, where they were telegraphed to San Fran-
cisco. Great was the relief of the people when Hale's bill for a daily mail
was passed, and the service changed from the southern to the central route.
406. Ibid., March 22, 1861.
407. W. F. Bailey, "The Pony Express," The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine,
October, 1898, p. 891; New York Daily Tribune, April 2, 1861.
408. San Francisco dispatch, May 8, in ibid., May 20, 1861.
409. Dispatch of May 11, in ibid.. May 22, 1861. "Business is totally suspended; all
the men, women and children of the city are in the streets. ... A procession marched
through the principal streets, composed of thousands of men. ... All political parties
joined in the demonstration. . . ." See, also, v. VII of Bancroft's California, p. 279.
410. San Francisco dispatch, June 1, in Leavenworth Daily Times, June 12, 1861. "Ev-
erybody is waiting with intense anxiety for Eastern news, and as each pony arrives, the an-
nouncement of attack on Harper's Ferry, Norfolk, or some other movement toward retaking
public property captured by the South, is expected."
o
32
g
11
II
55
O
02 Qi
fc s
< B
&
6
"8
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 65
. . . After all it was to the flying pony that all eyes and hearts were
turned; and to the praise of the St. Joseph company be it recorded that they
kept up the service, at a loss, until the telegraph was completed across the
continent in October, 1861. . . , 411
Early in March, 1861, congress passed a law (essentially Hale's
bill) providing for a daily mail by the Central route to California
and a semiweekly Pony Express, at a total annual compensation of
$1,000,000. The Butterfield mail line was to be moved north to the
Central route, to function thereafter as the Overland Mail Com-
pany, with a government contract. This firm entered into a sub-
contract with the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak
Express Company to run a daily mail and Pony Express from the
Missouri river to Salt Lake City, while the Butterfield firm, now
better known as Wells, Fargo & Company was to continue the serv-
ice from Salt Lake to Sacramento. 412 The Pony Express section of
the law provided:
They [the contractors] shall also be required during the continuance of
their contract, or until the completion of the overland telegraph, to run a pony
express semi-weekly at a schedule time of ten days eight months and twelve
days four months, carrying for the government free of charge, five pounds of
mail matter, with the liberty of charging the public for transportation of let-
ters by said express not exceeding one dollar per half ounce." 413
Pony Express rates were now drastically reduced to $2 for a half
ounce or less, and some months later (July, 1861) to $1 for the same
amount. 414
As had been envisaged by its founders, the Pony Express was only
a temporary arrangement, to be automatically terminated by the
completion of a telegraph line to the Pacific. In June, 1860, con-
gress passed the initial measure for a Pacific telegraph, which au-
thorized the advertising of bids for one or more telegraph lines from
western Missouri to San Francisco. 415 Early in October it was an-
nounced that Hiram Sibley, the president of the Western Union
Telegraph Company and long a champion of a Pacific telegraph,
411. Bancroft, History of California, v. VII (Works, v. XXIV), p. 281.
412. Hafen, Overland Mail, p. 189; Alvin F. Harlow, Old Waybills, The Romance of the
Express Companies (New York, London, 1934), p. 239.
413. U. S. Statutes at Large, v. XII, p. 206.
414. Harlow, Old Waybills, p. 239. Under the new arrangement Wells Fargo issued Pony
Express stamps for its end of the line. Concerning this see Chapman, op. cit., p. 288, and"
plate opposite.
415. See Footnote 318 and adjacent text. On September 15, 1860, the St. Joseph Weekly
Free Democrat gave an extended account of the bids submitted to the Secretary of the Treas-
ury. Among the bidders was Benjamin F. Ficklin of St. Joseph, also of the Pony Express,
who offered to run a Pony Express after the first 600 miles of line was finished, at the usual
telegraph rates, until the wire was completed.
51863
66 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was the successful bidder. 416 During the winter of 1860-1861 meas-
ures were taken to speedily complete a telegraph line to the West-
ern coast. Jeptha H. Wade of Western Union arranged the consoli-
dation of the California telegraph lines into the California State
Telegraph Company, with the Overland Telegraph Company in-
corporated as a subsidiary, in order to erect a line to Salt Lake
City. 417 To provide for the eastern end of the line the Pacific Tele-
graph Company was incorporated by the legislature of Nebraska to
enforce the provisions of the Sibley contract. 418 The problem of a
suitable route was an urgent matter, concerning which Sibley had
already deputed Edward Creighton to examine the one via Fort
Smith, and another via Memphis. Neither proving desirable, Creigh-
ton and W. R. Stebbins personally surveyed the Central or Pony Ex-
press route to California and in April, 1861, Creighton reported his
willingness to construct a telegraph line by this road, 419 although ef-
forts were still made in favor of the old Butterfield route. 420 The
whole idea of a transcontinental telegraph was ridiculed by some,
particularly as courting attack by the Indians. President Lincoln
told Hiram Sibley he thought it a "wild scheme" that it would be
"next to impossible to get your poles and materials distributed on the
plains, and as fast as you build the line the Indians will cut it
down." 421
The building of a telegraph line to the Pacific meant the final ex-
tinction of the spectacular and heroic Pony Express. After all pre-
416. Leavenworth Daily Times, October 6, 1860. The government subsidy for the con-
veyance of its dispatches from the Missouri river to the Pacific coast was to be $40,000 a
year. Sibley and Ezra Cornell had founded the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1854,
but Sibley did not obtain the united support of his associates for a Pacific telegraph, al-
though his company later absorbed the Western extension (1864). See James D. Reid, The
Telegraph in America (New York 1886), Ch. XXXVII; also Alvin F. Harlow, Old Wires and
New Waves (New York, London, 1936).
417. Reid, op. c#., pp. 501, 502; San Francisco dispatch of March 20 to Elwood Free
Press, April 6, 1861.
418. Reid, op. cit., p. 492. Sibley and Wade of Western Union were among its incor-
porators, indicating the close connection of the two firms, also Charles M. Stebbins of the
Missouri and Western Telegraph the "Stebbins Line," already completed to Fort Kearny,
and Benjamin F. Ficklin of the Pony Express. The Pacific Telegraph Company was formally
organized at Rochester, N. Y., April 17, 1861, with Wade, president, and Sibley vice-president
(New York Daily Tribune, April 18, 1861).
419. Reid, op. cit., p. 493. "Messrs. Edward Creighton and W. R. Stebbins, general agents
respectively of the Pacific and Missouri and Western Telegraph companies, left here this after-
noon, bound westward. They will survey the entire route to Salt Lake, thoroughly, and make
contracts for the construction of the line as far as Julesburg early in the spring." Fort
Kearny dispatch, November 20, 1860, in Leavenworth Daily Times, November 22. Wade ar-
ranged for the building of the California end of the line.
420. Before a public announcement was made in favor of the Central route, it was re-
ported that a Los Angeles party subscribed $10,000 for a telegraph line via the old Butter-
field road (New York Daily Tribune, November 7, 1860). The St. Louis Democrat pub-
lished the program of the Pacific and American Telegraph Co. for a line via Fort Smith,
Ark., and Yuma (Ariz.). When the Pony Express superseded the Butterfield Overland Mail,
the Fort Smith telegraph no longer paid expenses. A telegraph line along this route would
be more easily kept in repair, it was argued, and would avoid the "dangerous thunder storms
and atmospheric influences upon the Upper Platte river." New York Daily Tribun*, October
26, 1860.
421. "The Story of Western Union," a manuscript history of the Western Union Tele-
graph Co., p. 2, submitted by the courtesy of D. D. Daly, manager Topeka office.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 67
liminary details had been arranged, 422 large gangs of men were or^
ganized to begin work along the route. An expedition of 228 head of
oxen, 26 wagons and 50 men left Sacramento for Carson Valley,
May 27, 1861, to begin laying wires toward Salt Lake. 423 On July 11,
1861, the first pole for the Overland Telegraph in the Salt Lake area
was planted in the main street of that city. 424 East from that point
for a distance of 400 miles W. H. Stebbins directed construction
work, and about the same time (July 4 ; 1861) Edward Creighton
performed a like function on the section from Omaha westward. 425
Late in August the outer telegraph station on the eastern end was
established 95 miles west of Fort Kearny, and soon thereafter the
eastern leg of the Pony Express west of St. Joseph was abandoned. 426
The same process went on at the western end, with the moving of
the outer station eastward. By the last of July it had reached a
point 125 miles east of Carson Valley and was progressing at a rate
of 25 miles a day. 427 By early October the outer station on the east
was only 340 miles east of Salt Lake City, indicating the rapid
progress made in completing the line. 428 The final joint in the
422. See Reid, op. cit., p. 495. Not less than 25 poles of good quality were to be used
per mile, along with a good grade of wire. The whole undertaking was to be completed by
July 31, 1862.
423. San Francisco dispatch, May 29, in Leavenworth Daily Times, June 11, 1861.
James Gamble directed the two construction parties on the western end of the line, from Vir-
ginia City eastward, and was the first to reach Salt Lake City, thereby winning the prize of-
fered for this accomplishment. Driggs, op. cit., Ch. IV, entitled "Talking Wires," p. 52 et
seq.
424. Salt Lake City dispatch, July 11, in New York Daily Tribune, July 27, 1861. James
Street, Pacific Telegraph agent, reported it was a quiet affair any celebration would come
later. He had held several "confabs" with Shokup, chief of the Shoshones, and believed
there was nothing to fear from the Indians in that vicinity.
The Alta California, July 9, 1861 (quoted in the St. Louis Missouri Democrat, August 6),
published the details of one of these meetings at Robert's creek. Shokup was very friendly,
but pointed out that before the white man arrived his tribe was happy and enjoyed plenty
of game and roots; now the game had disappeared and the roots were almost extinct, making
huii unhappy, as his people were hungry. One of his wives was dangerously ill, and her
doctor blamed the Overland Mail as the cause. The interpreter denied that this could be
possible, and invited Shokup to ride on the stage to San Francisco. He accepted, but on ar-
riving at Carson City resolved to return. He called the telegraph the "wire-rope express,"
and could not believe that, after arriving at San Francisco he could talk with his wife almost
as quickly as if he were at her side. He supposed the Express to be an animal, and when told
it consumed lightning, could not understand what sort of beast it was. He wired the "Big
Captain" at San Francisco that his Indians would not trouble the line, and wished to be the
friends of the whites. General Carpenter, president of the Overland Telegraph, ordered pres-
ents sent to Shokup and his tribesmen.
425. Reid, op. cit., p. 495. Nearly a thousand oxen were necessary to transport needed
supplies for the various parties that began work July 4, 1861.
426. New York Daily Tribune, August 27, 1861. In September, 1861, a blunder by the
postmaster either at New York, St. Louis or St. Joseph resulted in the dispatch of all Pony
Express letters for California by overland mail (ibid., September 23, 1861).
427. San Francisco dispatch, July 31, in ibid., August 12, 1861. The Tribune of August
21 asserted that the wire had reached Reese river, 140 miles east of Fort Churchill. For a
list of the terminals, see Stanley B. Ashbrook, The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851-
1857, v. II, quoted by Emerson N. Barker in his "Highlights in the Postal History of the
Trans-Mississippi Region," International Stamp Review, St. Joseph, Mo., November 1, 1941.
428. New York Daily Tribune, October 4, 1861. This message carried San Francisco news
of September 25, indicating there were still delays along the line. The Tribune of October 7
carried California dispatches from Pacific Springs, 260 miles east of Salt Lake, as did also the
issues of October 11 and 14. A traveler who passed over the route wrote a detailed account
of the progress of the telegraph (San Francisco Bulletin, September 21, in Tribune, October
19, 1861). The poles were then already up from the Missouri river to considerably west of
68 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
eastern section was made at Fort Bridger, Utah, October 17, 1861,
and the next day Brigham Young sent a message to Jeptha H. Wade,
congratulating him on the completion of the Pacific Telegraph to
Salt Lake City, and assuring him of the loyalty of Utah to the
union. 429 On October 24, 1861, the first message from the Pacific
to the Atlantic was sent by Chief Justice Field of California to
President Lincoln:
The people of California desire to congratulate you upon the completion
of the great work. They believe that it will be the means of strengthening
the attachment which binds both the East and the West to the Union, and
they desire in this, the first message across the continent, to express their
loyalty to the Union, and their determination to stand by the Government in
this, its day of trial. They regard that Government with affection, and will
adhere to it under all fortunes.
Stephen J. Field,
Chief Justice of California. 430
The next day it was officially announced at San Francisco that the
Pacific and Overland telegraph lines had been completed, with the
following salutation:
The Pacific to the Atlantic sends greeting, and may both oceans be dry
before a foot of all the land that lies between them shall belong to any other
than our united country. 431
Pres. J. H. Wade of the Pacific Telegraph announced that over
200 private messages passed over the line on the first day, and con-
tinued as fast as the operators could transmit them. 432 A celebra-
tion of the event had been planned in San Francisco, but was post-
poned because of the untimely death of Sen. Edward D. Baker. 433
A dispatch from that city remarked:
Fort Laramie, excepting a short interval between Cottonwood Springs and Julesburg, which
the contractor, Edward Creighton, promised would be soon completed. He had recently
started a gang of men working east from Salt Lake City; west of that point Mr. Street had
been equally energetic and poles were being set at a rate of eight miles per day despite some
difficulty in their procural.
429. New York Daily Tribune, October 21, 1861, which quoted the messages of Young
and Wade, also that of Acting Governor Frank Fuller to Lincoln, and the President's reply.
Brigham Young's message appeared in the Tribune, October 19, 1860.
430. Sacramento dispatch, October 24, in ibid., October 29, 1861.
431. Manuscript, "History of Western Union," p. 2; San Francisco dispatch, October 26,
in New York Daily Tribune, October 28, 1861. The Sunday edition of the New York Herald
apparently beat this announcement of the Tribune one day.
432. New York Daily Tribune, October 29, 1861. The Atchison Freedom's Champion,
November 2, added that, because of the rush, it had been found impossible to send messages
as fast as received. The rate from New York to San Francisco was $5.85 for the first ten
words, and 46 cents for each additional word, and from Atchison to San Francisco these
.charges were $3.75 and 28 cents respectively.
The completion of a telegraph line to the Pacific meant a "vast accession of strength and
prestige" to Western Union, whose line now spanned the continent, even though a formal
merger came later (1864 for the Pacific Telegraph, and 1866 the California State Telegraph
Company the successor of the Overland Telegraph). See Reid, op. cit., pp. 496, 497, and
a series of articles by H. Hamlin in The Pony Express, Placerville, Cal., May and October,
1944, and April, 1945.
433. San Francisco dispatch, October 27, in New York Daily Tribune, October 30, 1861.
"Bancroft states (California, v. VII, p. 293) that the "first through despatch on the completed
overland telegraph brought the intelligence of his death." He was killed in action in the
Civil War.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 69
The completion of the last link of the American Telegraph connects Cape
Race with the Golden Horn, traversing nearly 5,000 miles with one continuous
wire, and bringing those two points within two hours telegraphic time of each
other.
The next westward extension of the line will be by the way of Behrings
Straits to the mouth of the Amoor River, to which point the Russian Govern-
ment is already constructing a line, commencing at Moscow. This is the ex-
tension which Mr. P. D. Collins projected. . . . [This] will leave scarcely
anything further to achieve in telegraphic enterprise. It will unite America
with Europe via Moscow, and . . . with all the important points in China,
India, Yedo, in Japan, and even Melbourne in Australia. 434
Pres. Bela M. Hughes of the "C. 0. C." announced the following
telegraph stations on the route to the Pacific (excluding the termi-
nals) : Fort Kearny, Cottonwood Springs, Overland City, Fort
Laramie, Horse Shoe, Pacific Springs, Fort Bridger, Salt Lake City,
Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley, Fort Churchill, Carson City, and Placer-
ville. 435 The Pony Express was now ended but in its death it en-
joyed the honor of giving way to one mightier than itself, a medium
which could do in minutes what it took days to accomplish with
horseflesh. The St. Louis Democrat reviewed the great progress in
overland communication of recent years the Butterfield stage line
in 25 days, the Pony Express and telegraph in 12 days (or less), and
now the Pacific and Overland Telegraph in some 100 minutes. "If
any one doubts that this is a fast age, he can here find a striking
illustration." 436 As a Kansas paper remarked concerning the "Prog-
ress of the Telegraph":
It was thought last year, and truly too, that the Pony had accomplished
wonders when he had given us a communication with the Pacific coast in from
six to seven days. But now the Pony has become a thing of the past his last
race is run. Without sound of trumpets, celebrations, or other noisy demon-
strations, the slender wire has been stretched from ocean to ocean, and the
messages already received from our brethern on the Pacific coast, most con-
clusively show that the popular heart beats in unison with our own, on the
absorbing question of the preservation of the Union. 437
On October 26, 1861, the San Francisco office of Wells, Fargo &
Company, operators of the western end of the Pony Express, was
directed to stop its service, but it was not until November 20 that
434. San Francisco dispatch, October 25, in New York Daily Tribune, October 26, 1861.
Hiram Sibley of Western Union attempted to obtain an Asiatic connection by way of Bering
Strait and Siberia, and with this in view visited Russia, where he was cordially received by
the czar. Wires were actually strung in Alaska and Siberia when the completion of the At-
lantic cable (1866) led to the collapse of the venture at a heavy loss (absorbed by Western
Union). Dictionary of American Biography, v. XVII (New York, 1935), p. 146, "Hiram Sib-
ley."
435. Atchison Freedom's Champion, October 12, 1861.
436. Quoted in New York Daily Tribune, October 26, 1860.
437. Freedom's Champion, November 2, 1861.
70 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the last pony left Sacramento on the boat for San Francisco. 438
Financially it had not been a success, as the following words of
Alexander Majors indicate:
As anticipated, the amount of business transacted over this line was not
sufficient to pay one-tenth of the expenses, to say nothing of the capital in-
vested. . . . [It] was undertaken solely to prove that the route over which
it ran could be made a permanent thoroughfare for travel at all seasons of the
year, proving, as far as the paramount object was concerned, a complete
success. 439
The projectors did achieve a signal victory in advertising the
Central route, which was adopted by the Pacific and Overland Tele-
graph lines, and later the Union Pacific railroad. Having obtained
a subcontract from their rivals, they thus achieved the coveted goal
of a daily mail to the Pacific which with the Pony Express and tele-
graph went a long way toward ending the isolation of that section.
It was another step in man's conquest of nature, as great for the
nineteenth century as his conquest of the air is for the twentieth.
The courser has unrolled to us the great American Panorama ; allowed us to
glance at the future home of a hundred million people, and has put a girdle
around the earth in forty minutes. 440
THE CENTRAL OVERLAND CALIFORNIA AND PIKE'S PEAK
EXPRESS COMPANY
Late in February, 1860, the Central Overland California and
Pike's Peak Express Company took over the running of Jones and
Russell's Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express. There was no inter-
ruption in service, which continued as before, but henceforth the
prefix "overland" came into more frequent use, although strictly
speaking this term was applicable only to the western extension to
Salt Lake City and California.
Early in the spring of 1860 there were reports of an unprecedented
tide of people on the move to the new land of gold by March great
crowds were congregating at the ''jumping off" places such as Leav-
438. Chapman, op. cit., p. 301, which publishes a press tribute in memory of "a fast and
faithful friend." Completion of the telegraph, however, did end the trips across the plains.
439. Ingraham, op. cit., p. 185. The Overland Stage, Root and Connelley, suggests a
loss of $100,000 (p. 118). Considering the expense involved, the Pony Express was not suf-
ficiently used, except by the people of California, to render it a financial success. No doubt
the projectors charged this to necessary expense towards a larger goal a daily mail contract.
440. St. Joseph Weekly Free Democrat, October 27, 1860, a memorial article entitled
"The Pony Express On Horsepitable Thought Intent ! ," quoted at some length in Glenn D.
Bradley, The Story of the Pony Express, pp. 49, 50. In addition to the Hollenberg station in
Washington county, two other principal buildings remain as memorials to the Pony Express
the station house at Gothenburg, Neb., and the terminal building at Sacramento, Cal., the
tetter a presentation to that city by the Western Union Telegraph Company. The buildings
used as stables at St. Joseph, Marysville, and Fort Bridger are other important structures
still remaining along the route.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 71
enworth and St. Joseph. 441 Early that month it was reported at
Leavenworth :
The Overland Express from this city is crowded to excess, all the seats being
engaged to April 1st, at which time the proprietors will commence running
coaches thence [tri] weekly, and soon thereafter a daily line. The running
time to Denver is seven days. 442
The crowding of the westbound coaches led one traveler to remark
that no "particle of fault" could be found with the arrangements
made by the company although a load of nine passengers lengthened
the trip one day. 443 Another advised prospective passengers to
"make a contract prohibiting the company from putting into the
coach more than six persons, for I had the (exquisite?) pleasure of
riding all the way with two others on the same seat, and speak
advisedly of the comfort (?) and convenience (?) thereunto at-
tached." 444 Eastbound traffic was naturally much less, but often
amounted to four or five passengers, several of whom were usually
well supplied with "dust." Benjamin F. Ficklin now made a con-
siderable improvement in the direct management of the line, the
former superintendent, John S. Jones, concerning himself chiefly with
his freight express to Denver (Jones & Cartwright) , 445 The rush of
emigrants induced the city of Leavenworth to survey a new and
better road by way of the Smoky Hill to Pike's Peak, but it was
never popular enough to compete with the older Oregon and Cali-
fornia trail and in 1860 was of no particular concern to the Pike's
Peak Express Company. 446
441. Leavenworth Daily Times, March 30, 1860: "Eager gold hunters pour into the city
from every steamer . . .by fifties and hundreds. Fortunate landlords and unfortunate
waiters are at their wits end, and the hurry and scurry, the fuss, flurry and fume, of one din-
ner table is no sooner over, than scores of hungry mouths demand instant relief in the shape
of beef and potatoes. . . . Charming chambermaids carefully carry countless cots to un-
used corners. . . . Leavenworth . . . is as busy as a swarm of bees. . . ." The
St. Joseph Free Democrat reported (May 12): "The emigration to the Pike's Peak region is
becoming immense ... an average of over 100 emigrant wagons crossing daily, besides
large droves of horses and cattle. . . ." The New York Daily Tribune, March 30, 1860,
published a three-column review of the Pike's Peak region by A. D. Richardson.
442. Leavenworth dispatch, somewhat garbled, in ibid., March 10, 1860. Emigrants
planning to cross the plains were advised to avoid the troubles of the previous year by wait-
ing until May 1, when the grass would be sufficient (the drought prevented this). Rumors
were then afloat that the stage line terminal would soon be changed to St. Joseph, but this
was officially denied by the secretary at Leavenworth.
443. Denver City, March 15, in Leavenworth Daily Times, March 23, 1860. With the
"gentlemanly" express messenger, J. S. Stephens, and the driver, a total of 11 people rode
this coach, including two children. A traveler who arrived at Denver in August, 1860, com-
plained about the crowding of nine or ten passengers into the coach, with carpet sacks and
express matter in the bottom "until your chin and knees came close enough together to make
the one serve as a pillow for the other." In addition there were at times two "substantial
ladies weighing about two hundred pounds avoirdupois, with all the crinoline fixings. . . ."
However, the rate of travel was most pleasing. Those not caring for a seven-day-a-week
diet of pork and beans, varied by beans and pork the standard dish at all station houses,
should take "a few cans of fruit, a few bottles of pickles, and many bottles of Bourbon or
Otard."
444. Denver City, J. T., March 28, in St. Joseph Weekly West, April 14, 1860.
445. Weekly Leavenworth Herald, April 21, 1860.
446. Many Leavenworth citizens were convinced of the necessity for their town of a road
via the Kansas, Smoky Hill and Forks of the Republican, rather than the more remote Platte
72 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
By virtue of its charter the Central Overland California and
Pike's Peak Express Company was authorized to convey "persons,
mails, and property" to any destination desired. It now assumed
the Hockaday contract for a weekly mail service to Salt Lake (re-
duced by the government to fortnightly, but later partially re-
stored), and in May, 1860, the George Chorpenning contract for
the Salt Lake City to Placerville route was declared forfeited, and
a semimonthly service was awarded to William H. Russell. The
"C. 0. C." now had complete control of the Pacific mail service by
the Central route. 447 It inherited the Pike's Peak mail business
a private service without government contract supported by a 25-
cent fee on each letter handled, in addition to the government
charge. In early 1860 the mail to Denver became very heavy and
the Washington authorities recognized the need of an improved
service by advertising a U. S. mail route directly to California.
The Utah contract forced the Express Company to route its over-
land mail to St. Joseph, where it was picked up or deposited by
route. Early in April the city of Leavenworth employed Green Russell, the famed Pike's Peak
pioneer prospector, to locate a suitable road to the new mining region. At the same time two
citizens of Leavenworth went to Washington to obtain a grant for a railroad by this same
route. On May 5, 1860, Russell made a detailed report of his survey, which was entirely
favorable. Ibid., May 19, 1860. See, also, the account of James Brown, in Leavenworth
Daily Times, August 28, 1860. On June 22, an expedition under the command of H. T.
Green left Leavenworth to open this road. Late in the summer the Rocky Mountain News
(August 28 in the Times of September 6) gave a detailed account of the report of Green,
with reflections on the earlier Pike's Peak Express route as contrasted to the new Smoky Hill
road, and the following spring (1861) the report was published in pamphlet form, in the in-
terest of the emigrant trade. The western extension of this proposed road from Denver to
Salt Lake City, then became of much interest to the officials of the "C. O. C."
447. Hafen, Overland Mail, pp. 156, 157, 207. The contract with George Chorpenning had
been annulled because of alleged failures, which Chorpenning vigorously denied in his A Brief
History of the Mail Service (microfilm copy in Historical Society; original in Library of Con-
gress). See, also, Overland Mail,, pp. 67, 68.
The regular correspondent of the St. Louis Missouri Democrat went over the line in June,
1861, and wrote from Denver to his paper (issue of July 9) : "Taking into consideration the
distance and the nature of the country through which this Company has located its route, it
is without doubt the most convenient and best equipped of any on the continent. The road
itself cannot be surpassed; there is but one bad place in it from St. Joseph to Denver. I
allude to what is called the "Narrows," which are on the [Little] Blue, about two hundred
miles from St. Joseph, and are caused by the near approach of the river to the bluffs.
This is no doubt a dangerous pass for an inexperienced driver; but none such are employed
by the company.
"In passing the Narrows, pur party experienced no little uneasiness . . . and by dark
we had fully made up our minds to receive a bath. . . . The moon went down .
the night became so black that it was impossible to see a foot from the coach, the wind came
howling wildly over the prairie, and the incessant flashes of lightning, together with the sharp
peals of thunder, breaking seemingly just overhead. . . . Charley [the driver] lighted
the coach lamps, meantime answering indefinitely questions put in agitated tones. We gath-
ered, however, that we must get through the Narrows before the rain reached us. ...
Presently we knew the coach to be entering a gulch, close to one side the lightning revealed
the waters of the Blue, on the other the rough sides of the bluff, and as we slowly passed a
crevice the bright eyes of a coyote, crouched a few yards from the window, flashed in men-
acingly upon us. ... Suddenly there was a cry from the box to 'lean to the right.'
No set of frightened school boys ever obeyed more quickly the commands of a severe peda-
gogue. . . . As we moved the coach took an abrupt turn, the lash was vigorously ap-
plied to the mules, and the next moment the cheering cry of 'all right' relieved us of all
further anxiety. In making this turn the near wheels come within a foot of the bank, the
road inclines toward the river, so that if the ground happens to be wet there is no way to
prevent the coach sliding off into the water, or too short a turn upsetting the institution and
its contents. . . ." (A map of the Narrows is given in Root and Connelley, Overland
Stage, p. 364.)
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 73
the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, and at times the mail for
Leavenworth was thereby delayed, to the benefit of Atchison and
St. Joseph. 448
The mail facilities enjoyed by the settlers in the Pike's Peak
region still left much to be desired, causing considerable criticism
of the "C. 0. C./ 7 as was evinced by the following dispatch of Albert
D. Richardson, July 3, 1860:
The express brings in and takes out about five thousand letters per week,
for which the writers and recipients are compelled to pay twenty-five cents
each, in addition to the Government postage. The recent "letting" of the
mail contract to this place is believed to be merely a nominal affair, it is ex-
pected that the Pike's Peak Express "Company will control it, and compel us
to submit to this heavy tax through the season. 449
In August, 1860, E. F. Bruce concluded the first government con-
tract to carry the United States mail from Julesburg, where it was
left by the C. 0. C. and P. P. Express, to Denver. He seems to
have been forced to engage the C. 0. C. to complete the service to
that city, the first coach with the United States mail leaving Den-
ver for Leavenworth August 14, I860. 450 Hinckley & Co. carried
the mail from Denver to the various mining camps. Richardson
described the situation in his regular letter to the Tribune :
Up to the present time the gold-seekers on the mountains have been sup-
plied with their letters and papers by Hinckley & Company's Express. That
line has sometimes forwarded seventeen hundred letters in a single day, and
during the month of July it paid the Central Overland and Pike's Peak Ex-
press nearly $5,000 for letters and papers. . . . Upward of twenty thou-.
sand miners are recorded in its books. . . .
The people of Denver were surprised and pleased on Friday, by the re-
ception of the first United States Mail ever brought to this region. It con-
tained six thousand letters, and came through from the Missouri River in
six and a half days. It was brought by the Pike's Peak Express Company,
which, after all, is to supply us mail matter. The contract time from the river
is fourteen days, and the intention was to throw off the mail sacks some two
448. Atchison Union, March 24, 1860. In the fall of 1861 the terminal was moved to
Atchison, where it remained during the later years of the Overland Mail. Lack of a Leaven-
worth connection for a time in 1860 caused that city to voice a strong objection in the
Weekly Herald, May 19, 1860: "We understand that Wm. H. Russell, Esq., President of
the C. O. C. and P. P. Express ... has telegraphed to the agents of the Company to
place on a tri- weekly line of coaches ... to run from this point. We believe the re-
cent removal of headquarters and withdrawal of the coaches were made without the knowl-
edge or consent of Mr. Russell, only to suit the whims of Mr. Ficklin, Road Agent. How-
ever it may be, we have certainly got a connection again, but how long we will retain it
against the combination now formed against Leavenworth by her enemies, we know not.
. The first coach starts on Tuesday."
449. Lawrence Republican, July 26, 1860. A second dispatch from Denver of the same
date, probably also by Richardson and appearing in the New York Daily Tribune of July 17,
added that the contract had been let for the nominal sum of $800 about a twentieth of the
estimated cost, causing much disappointment.
450. Hafen, Overland Mail, p. 160. This first eastbound United States mail contained
over 4,000 letters.
74 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
hundred miles east of Denver, and permit them to lie there a week; but there
was no messenger on the coach, and they were brought through by mistake. 451
When Bruce could not carry out the terms of his contract a sec-
ond agreement was concluded by the Post Office department with
the Western Stage Company, whose line ran west from Omaha to
Fort Kearny and now became the chief competitor of the Pike's
Peak Express Company for the Colorado trade. 452 Early in Sep-
tember, 1860, a regular United States mail left St. Joseph weekly
and a Pike's Peak Express triweekly, letters being sent by express
if so requested at an extra charge of 25 cents, but by the middle
of that month this fee was reduced to 10 cents. 453
During the summer of 1860 the coaches of the "C. 0. C." carried
larger and larger shipments of gold dust from the Pike's Peak re-
gion, notably exceeding those of the previous year. Starting with
a few thousand dollars worth, the amounts of treasure grew to some
$12,000 or $15,000 a trip. This included gold in private hands and
that shipped by express in the care of an express messenger, who
with the driver tended to become a regular fixture of each coach.
A coach arrived at Leavenworth late in August with $35,000 in the
care of the messenger, and $100,000 in private hands. 454 One
reached St. Joseph about three weeks later with $45,899 in its of-
ficial care, plus some $50,000 in private hands. 455 Many passen-
gers apparently preferred to carry their own treasure, although in
September it was announced that the company would thereafter
regularly maintain a messenger in its triweekly coaches. 450 The
Rocky Mountain coaches of Hinckley & Co. first brought gold dust
from the mining camps to Denver, where it could be coined at the
new mint of Clark, Gruber & Co. Besides that transported in the
form of dust by Pike's Peak Express to Leavenworth, Atchison or
St. Joseph, growing amounts were now being taken to Omaha by
451. New York Daily Tribune, August 25, 1860. "The Pike's Peakers are subjected to
a good deal of tribulation in connection with their mail matters, between the tender mercies
of the Express Company and the Post Office Department; but as a friend wrote . . . 'we
look forward to the election of old Abe Lincoln, as a redress for this, and all our other griev-
452. Hafen, Overland Mail, p. 160.
453. Announcement of S. K. Huson, postmaster at Lawrence, September 8, in Lawrence
Republican, September 13, 1860; Leavenworth Daily Times, September 15, 1860.
454. Ibid., August 28, 1860. Among the passengers was Doctor Cartwright of the
freighting firm of Jones & Cartwright.
455. St. Joseph dispatch to the New York Daily Tribune, September 22, 1860.
456. Ibid., October 1, 1860. A Denver dispatch of August 21 asserted that from $40,000
to $50,000 was then leaving for the Missouri river each week, most of it in private hands.
The October 1 Tribune told^ of two miners, one (Stevens) a former driver on the Salt Lake
mail route, who engaged the Pike's Peak Express Company to transport east the result of
their summer's labor $27,000 in gold dust and nuggets, carried in sacks on the shoulder like
bags of corn. In the preceding spring they had started "from scratch," and later had em-
ployed 30 to 40 men to help them work their rich claim. A dispatch from Mammoth City,
near the Gregory Diggings (September 26 Tribune), gave the dark side of the Colorado gold
mines many did not even make their board.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 75
Hinckley & Co.'s express via the coaches of the Western Stage
Company. 457 This growing competition apparently cut into the in-
come of the "C. 0. C." in all three lines of business express, mail
and passenger, and threatened the future of the stage company.
Late in July, 1860, William H. Russell presided at a meeting of
the directors of the C. 0. C. & P. P. Express Company in Leaven-
worth, at which it was resolved to reduce the passenger fare from
the Missouri river to Denver to $75, and also the fee on letters by
Pony Express. 458 This began a program of rate reduction appar-
ently aimed to regain lost trade in September the express fee for
letters to Denver was lowered from 25 cents to 10 cents in an an-
nouncement headed "Speed Increased! And Rates Reduced." 459
The triweekly coaches were scheduled to make the trip in 12 days,
the winter schedule being considerably slower than the regular one.
In November, 1860, Albert D. Richardson made a trip over the
stage line from Denver to St. Joseph, and wrote a vivid sketch of
what he found:
On the morning of the 6th inst. I left the metropolis of the gold region
for this city [St. Joseph], by one of the tri-weekly Concord coaches of the
Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company. As there
were twelve passengers beside the drivers and express messenger, and the
regulations of the line forbid carrying more than six persons in a coach, two
vehicles left that morning, and came through together. . . . The travel
eastward from the mines is now so heavy that the company is compelled to
send through an extra with almost every regular coach.
Nearly all the passengers brought in gold dust; and though the express
messenger carried only $3,000 or $4,000, there was upward of $30,000 on the
two coaches. The route (the Platte) is now enlivened by hundreds of miners,
on their way to the States, by private conveyance, to spend the Winter; and
long caravans of wagons bound for the gold region, and laden with flour,
sugar, coffee and whisky. A few stray buffaloes, journeying toward the South,
457. Omaha dispatches, dated September 26 and October 20, to ibid., September 28 and
October 22 respectively. The earlier dispatch reported the United States Express as entering
into this business, and bankers at Omaha purchasing an average of about $20,000 a week
from returning miners, plus large amounts received daily by the merchants in exchange for
goods. A Denver dispatch of August 19 (Leavenworth Daily Times, August 27), reported
Clark, Gruber & Co. as buying about $2,000 worth of dust a day, other bullion brokers
smaller amounts, while Hinckley & Co. had delivered not less than $20,000 to the "C. O. C."
during the preceding month.
458. Ibid., August 1, 1860. At this time Benjamin F. Ficklin resigned as superintendent,
and J. H. Clute was appointed in his place. Clute came to have quite a reputation for ef-
ficiency.
459. Ibid., September 15, 1860. "From and after the 15th of September, the Tri-Weekly
Coaches of this Company Leaving Leavenworth City & St. Joseph, on Tuesdays, Thursdays
and Saturdays, and Denver City on same days, will each be in charge of a Trusty Messenger,
for the purpose of forwarding each trip and way, Treasure, Express Matter, Letters, &c.,
Through in Six Days!" Letters weighing one-half ounce or less, enclosed in government en-
velopes, would be carried for ten cents, and newspapers five cents. The company planned at
an early date to run coach lines from Denver to the various mining districts. The weekly
U. S. mail then required a 12 -day trip. This announcement was signed by John W. Russell,
secretary of the company. In December, 1860, there was a further reduction of express rates.
76 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
scores of sly and sullen wolves, and great herds of agile, spotted antelopes,
were seen from the road, before reaching the "settlements."
The company keeps in active service, upon the Pony Express and the Stage
Line to Denver (exclusive of its Salt Lake and California routes), 906 mules,
439 horses, and 55 coaches. If the next Congress shall give it ... a daily
mail contract to California, it will . . . astound "old fogyism." Nature
and commercial laws have settled the question that the Pacific Railroad must
pass through this central region. . . . The route from Denver to St. Joseph
and Leavenworth is better stocked, I believe, than any other stage line in
the United States. . . 460
The winter of 1860-1861 was a very severe one on the plains,
causing the delay of the Pike's Peak Express coaches on a number
of occasions. A driver on the overland route to Salt Lake City was
reported to have frozen to death near Fort Laramie, and heavy
snow in the mountains west of Carson Valley and along the Platte
also caused trouble. 461 On the whole, however, fairly good service
was maintained, although the C. 0. C. & P. P. was now confronted
with keener competition for the Rocky Mountain trade from the
Western Stage Company and Hinckley & Company's Express.
The congressional session of 1860-1861 failed to provide for a
daily mail to California by the Central route. Many Californians
regarded the defeat of "Hale's Bill" a bitter pill and blamed Senator
Gwin as chiefly responsible. Gwin may have been thinking of
another alternative which would bring him the glory of obtaining
an improved service by this route he at least urged Buchanan to
conclude a contract with Russell, Majors & Waddell for a triweekly
mail by the Central route. 462 The partisans of the Central route
renewed their efforts in the short session of congress of 1860-1861
and achieved their goal in the Post Office Appropriation Act, enacted
March 2, 1861. 463 This law ordered the discontinuance of service
on the Butterfield route by the following July 1 and the substitution
of a daily mail on the Central route, such service to be "six times a
week on the central route, said letter mail to be carried through in
460. St. Joseph dispatch, November 23, in New York Daily Tribune, December 1, 1860.
On January 21, 1860, the St. Joseph Weekly West asserted that on the Salt Lake route the
firm had upwards of 400 mules and 30 coaches; on the Denver line 850 mules and 80 coaches.
Hinckley & Hall were then the agents at St. Joseph, at the office of the United States Ex-
press Company, indicating that at both ends of the Colorado line the "C. O. C." and Hinck-
ley & Co. were quite closely connected.
461. Dispatches to the New York Tribune and Leavenworth Times, December, 1860, and
January, 1861.
462. Hafen, Overland Mail, pp. 204, 205. This may well date back to "promises" made
by Gwin to Russell at the time of instituting the Pony Express.
463. U. 8. Statutes at Large, v. XII, pp. 204-207. An earlier law of the same congress
to provide for post routes (Ch. LVII, Sec. 15) authorized the Postmaster General to adver-
tise for bids "for the daily transportation of the entire mail, overland, between Saint Joseph,
Missouri, or some other point on the Missouri river, connected by railroad with the East
. . and Placerville, California, over the central route. . . ."
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 77
twenty days time, eight months in the year, and in twenty-three
days the remaining four months of the year, from some point on the
Missouri River connected with the East, to Placerville, California,
and also to deliver the entire mails tri-weekly to Denver City, and
Great Salt Lake City. . . ." 464 A few days later a contract
was concluded with the Overland Mail Company, representing the
Butterfield interests, which made the federal statute effective. 465
Preparations were quickly made so as to be ready for the begin-
ning of service July 1, 1861. The Overland Mail Company now
signed a subcontract with the Central Overland California and
Pike's Peak Express Company whereby the Pike's Peak firm was
to continue operation on that part of the line from Salt Lake City
eastward at an annual compensation of $475,000. West of that
point the Butterfield people were to assume complete control. A
message from Washington asserted:
W. H. Russell, President of the Central Overland California and Pike's
Peak Express Company, and founder of the Pony Express, has concluded a
contract with the Overland Mail Company, transferred by the last Congress
to the Central route, to run the Mail and Pony from the Missouri River, con-
necting with the Overland Company at Salt Lake City. 466
Early in April it was announced that the last coach on the But-
terfield route had left 10 days before and that the stock, coaches
and other supplies were then being removed. 467 Considering the
short period of time before the daily mail contract was to become
effective, details of route and improvements along the way were
urgent matters. The people of Denver wanted the mail to pass
directly through their city and on behalf of the Express Company
John S. Jones proposed that they construct the new stations and
bridges necessary for this change. 468 Russell and the officials of the
464. The following clause providing for a semiweekly Pony Express service has been
quoted above in the Pony Express section of this installment. "For the above service [daily
mail and Pony Express] the said contractors shall receive the sum of one million dollars per
annum. . . ."
465. The modified contract, dated March 12, 1861, is in 46 Cong., 3 Sess., Senate Execu-
tive Documents, v. I (Serial 1941), No. 21, p. 7.
466. Washington dispatch to New York Daily Tribune, March 20, 1861. The exact
terms of this agreement are conjectural, but the following summary states in the case of
Samuel v. Holladay, 1869 (Federal Cases, Book 21, p. 307 Case No. 12,288) : the company
"had a contract for carrying the United States mail over its route, from which it was to re-
ceive $475,000 in quarterly payments." The Leavenworth Daily Times announced (March 19)
that as soon as the new contract became effective, the company would run a daily express.
Travel eastward from Pike's Peak was then very small no passengers arrived on the last
coach from Denver, this being the off season for travel in that direction. Westbound coaches
were well filled, however, again illustrating the seasonal nature of this traffic.
467. Elwood Free Press, April 6, 1861. That this transfer had not been completed by
late May is indicated by a San Francisco dispatch (May 18) which asserted that the Over-
land Mail Company had sent a detachment of men from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City with
eight six-horse teams and 40 horses. Concerning the transfer of the western end of the Pony
Express to Wells, Fargo & Co., see notice of May 16 quoted in Chapman, The Pony Express.
p. 268.
468. Denver dispatch to Leavenworth Daily Times, April 30, 1861; Hafen, Overland
Mail, pp. 219, 220. The citizens of Denver made contributions toward this goal.
78 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Pike's Peak Express fully realized the strategic importance of Colo-
rado to their firm and scheduled a meeting of the stockholders at
Denver, April 26, 1861. At this meeting the board of directors was
reorganized by the election of Bela M. Hughes to the presidency, in
place of Russell. 469 Hughes was a cousin of Benjamin Holladay
and his presidency apparently inaugurated a transitional period in
the history of the company, in which Holladay's large loans made
him virtually a silent partner. The directors were so favorably im-
pressed with preliminary reports of a route by the way of Denver
that they instructed a party of surveyors and teamsters to carefully
examine the terrain so as to avoid the necessity of stocking the
route between Julesburg and Camp Crittenden (late Camp Floyd) ,
while still supplying Denver as required by their contract. 470
Hughes and Russell arrived in Denver May 6, 1861, and a few days
later an expedition commanded by Capt. E. L. Berthoud, and in-
cluding the famous scouts, James Bridger and Tim Goodell, left
under Pike's Peak Express Company auspices to locate a suitable
route over the "Snowy Range." Soon thereafter Berthoud discovered
the pass which bears his name, 471 and Russell, who had been touring
the mining districts, took a trip by coach up Clear creek to the
principal range the contemplated route for the overland mail, and
made a very favorable report. 472 He then hurriedly returned to
Leavenworth and laid the matter before the directors of the com-
pany, who decided on a more detailed survey of the route from
Denver to Salt Lake, to be directed by Berthoud and Bridger. An
expedition under their command left the eastern slope of the Rockies
on July 6 and returned to Denver September 27, 1861, with the re-
port that an entirely favorable route for a wagon road had been
found, over the central range, which was "shorter, nearer and more
accessible than the most sanguine could expect." 473 Bela M. Hughes
469. Ibid., quoting the Rocky Mountain News, May 8, 1861. After the bond scandal of
the preceding winter (described below) Russell spent an extended sojourn in Colorado, where
he was feted by the people.
Bela M. Hughes, a lawyer of St. Joseph, later became a railroad promoter and prominent
politician of Colorado.
470. St. Louis Missouri Democrat, quoted in the Leavenworth Daily Times, May 3, 1861.
471. Hafen, Overland Mail, pp. 220, 221. Chapter X of this work, entitled "The Million
Dollar Mail in Operation, 1861-1862," is based upon Colorado and federal documents, and
is the outstanding account of this phase of the history of the C. O. C. & P. P. Express
Company. In 1859 Berthoud surveyed a route as far as Lawrence for the Leavenworth,
Pawnee and Western railroad (Leavenworth Herald, November 19, 1859).
472. Dispatch from "Leavenworth Gulch, Colorado Gold Mines," June 10, in Leavenworth
Daily Times, June 28, 1861. Russell was accompanied by Governor Gilpin, and had been
given a "hearty welcome everywhere." The dispatch added: "In a few weeks we may ex-
pect to see the coaches and pony express passing through this way, and a telegraph will no
doubt follow the same route. It is much nearer than by way of the South Pass, and it is
expected that fully as good a road can be made."
473. Rocky Mountain News, reprinted in the Atchison Freedom's Champion, September
28, 1861 a good account.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 79
added that from Denver to Salt Lake City this route "far surpasses
the present troubled road," and gave "facilities for a continuous line
of settlement the whole way from Denver westward" which would
eventually shorten the distance to Salt Lake and California approx-
imately 300 miles. 474
A careful survey of the route from Denver to Salt Lake City via
Berthoud pass would necessitate an extended reconnaissance. The
contract for daily mail service was to become effective July 1, 1861,
and this forced the "C. O. C." to take recourse to the old Platte route.
Extra coaches were now distributed along the line, to make possible
an increase of trips. 475 Stocking of the stations under the Butterfield
contract began in April, with the plan of having them average some
15 miles apart, according to the terrain of the country, each to be
well supplied with men, horses and coaches, a trip across country
to be completed in 15 days. 478 The first through daily coaches on
the Central route left St. Joseph and Placerville simultaneously on
July 1, 1861, and both arrived at their destination on July 18, in a
few hours over seventeen days well ahead of the contract schedule
of 25 days.
The initial departure from St. Joseph apparently attracted little
attention, although the first eastbound mail from Placerville was
accorded a great ovation at that end of the line:
The first overland-mail coach started from Placerville on the 1st, escorted
out of town by an immense concourse of citizens, with bands of music and
cannon firing. The coach and horses were decorated with American flags.
There were six bags of letter mail and twenty-eight bags of newspaper mail,
in all weighing 1,776 pounds. 477
A Salt Lake City dispatch heralded the first arrivals at that point
and conceded that so far as time was concerned the overland mail
was already a success.
474. The detailed report of Berthoud was published in the Champion of November 2,
with a foreword by Hughes, who asserted that the cost to the company had been some $3,000
for outfit and wages, and the stringency of the times prevented them from constructing a road
west from Denver. Berth oud's report concluded that a wagon road from the South Platte to
Provo (Utah) was entirely practical, that if extended to California it would shorten the dis-
tance 200 miles, and would be entirely feasible for the overland mail and telegraph, but a
railroad would require a tunnel under the main range (not realized until the 1920's). In 1865
Hughes did construct a wagon road by this route to the western entrance of Berthoud Pass,
and later was interested in railroad development by this route. See Frank Hall, History of
the State of Colorado (Chicago, 1889), v. I, p. 409 et seq. The Butterfield Overland Des-
patch stage line adopted the Smoky Hill and Berthoud Pass route. In a "Letter from Colo-
rado," October 5, 1861, Berthoud carefully reviewed his part in the movement for an im-
proved road to Denver by this route, particularly his explorations for its extension to Salt
Lake City. Leavenworth Daily Times, January 30, 1862.
475. Elwood Free Press, June 8, 1861. This dispatch asserted that 25 coaches left the
city on the previous Wednesday, to be distributed along the route.
476. San Francisco dispatch of April 20 by Pony Express, in New York Daily Tribune,
May 2, 1861.
477. San Francisco dispatch, July 4, in ibid., July 20, 1861. About the same amount of
mail was received at St. Joseph, according to a dispatch from across the river at Elwood (in
the Free Press of July 20).
80 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The first Overland Daily Mail Stage arrived in the city this afternoon, be-
tween 5 and 6 o'clock, and in a few minutes after started West again, having
nine days to accomplish the journey, which the Western daily stage has made
in less than seven days. The first Overland Mail from the West arrived here
on Sunday evening last, about 10 o'clock, and today it arrived at 4 p. m. So
far, then, as time is concerned, the Central Overland Mail is a success. Pas-
sengers arriving from the West have some hours to rest in this city, as it is
considered impracticable to attempt during the night the passage through the
mountain defiles that lead into the city from the East. . . , 478
The first coach across the continent to arrive at St. Joseph carried
three passengers, among whom was Maj. J. W. Simonton, an editor
of the San Francisco Bulletin. Bela M. Hughes said the Express
line "solved the problem of overland transportation," and was "the
avant-courier of the great railroad line." 479
Beginning in September, 1861, the Post Office Department ordered
the dispatch of the overland mail from Atchison rather than St.
Joseph, since the Kansas town was 14 miles farther west on an ex-
tension of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad. The terminal of
the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company
was accordingly moved to the new location, partly because it would
be more free from involvement in the Civil War then raging in
Missouri. 480 President Hughes replied to an attack upon him and
the company, denying that when the office of the firm was located
in St. Joseph it discriminated against union men and branding as
entirely false the charge that four-fifths of the employees were
secessionists. 481 The future of the company necessarily demanded
a clear record in this matter.
The overland mail service to California was performed with con-
478. Salt Lake City dispatch, July 11, in New York Daily Tribune, July 27, 1861. The
writer deprecated the ten-cent postage rate then becoming effective as "very pernicious" for
that area, isolating it from the East and injuring the working classes.
479. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 43. A San Francisco dispatch of July 27
(New York Daily Tribune, August 8, 1861) remarked: "The Overland mail continues to ar-
rive regularly. The price of passage from Sacramento to St. Joseph has been fixed at $150.
Passengers who come through in the mail stages seem to regard the trip as one of no great
hardship, although they are compelled to ride continually night and day for eighteen days."
Another dispatch remarked that the first night was usually the most tiresome, that thereafter
"nature asserted itself," and the passengers obtained plenty of sleep.
480. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 44. During the war the mails were for-
warded fairly regularly through Missouri, although provision was made for additional service
by way of Omaha. The railroad reached a point opposite Atchison in February, 1860, but
did not actually enter the town via the new bridge across the Missouri until the following
June.
481. Atchison Freedom's Champion, November 2, 1861. At that date only two of their
employees had refused to take the oath of allegiance. Hughes pointed out he had left Mis-
souri for residence in another state (announced in the Champion of September 22). The sec-
retary of the company, J. W. Russell, moved to Atchison at the same time. The Champion
of November 16 condemned "the vindictive spirit of the St. Joseph Journal and the Denver
Herald against the C. O. C. & P. P. Express Company. . . . The public has been re-
galed over and over again with their senseless and unreasonable abuse, but never until now
has any representative of the company deigned to reply. . . ." (Benjamin F. Ficklin, the
former superintendent, became identified with the confederacy.)
"Paul Jones," a correspondent writing from St. Joseph, October 17, to the Missouri Demo-
crat (October 22, 1861), berated Hughes as a rascal secessionist, and charged that the de-
struction of the Platte river bridge had "jarred the festering treason from his soul, or the
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 81
siderable efficiency during the first months of its operation, for which
it received due praise. 482 In the fall of 1861 an article appeared
in the Atchison Champion expressing the determination of the offi-
cers to adhere to the regular schedules:
OVERLAND MAIL
The trip from here to Placerville still continues as a general thing to be
made in several hours less than the advertised time, which is seventeen days.
The officers of the company are determined to keep within their advertised
time, and with the ample means in their possession and their indomitable
energy, this will be accomplished. A large number of sleds of the best de-
scription were sent west some time ago, and distributed at different points
where needed, so that the interruption" will be slight, if any, from the fall of
snow. With careful drivers, experienced and courteous conductors, and com-
fortable coaches, the trip in pleasant weather is but a holiday excursion, and
crossing the continent under these circumstances is a trifling affair, occupying
but little time and attended with no danger. 483
During the winter of 1861-1862 service on the overland route was
sometimes delayed by heavy snow and floods, at the worst of which
newspapers arrived a month late. The Postmaster General stated
that the mails had been fairly regular, although the service had "not
been entirely satisfactory to the department." 484 Despite com-
plaints, the California legislature made a clear-cut declaration .on
the importance of the daily mail to that state, and the stage stations
to the continuance of the telegraph. 485
The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Com-
pany's financial troubles were growing in urgency by the fall of 1861.
About the middle of October it announced "greatly reduced rates"
to California and intermediate points, the fares from the Missouri
river being: To Fort Kearny, $25; Overland City, $50; Denver City,
$75; Fort Laramie, $75; Fort Bridger, $110; Salt Lake City, $125;
fear of losing his salary of $5,000 per annum, causes him to be a thorough Union man.
. . . While located in this city, that company were very careful that not a dollar of
Uncle Sam's money went into a loyal man's pocket. . . . Why is Mr. Slade kept in their
employ? ... a division agent . . . having charge of the entire route from the cross-
ing of the South Platte to the Pacific Springs. He is a vile-mouthed, rabid secessionist. . . ."
482. San Francisco Alta California, January 14, 1862, quoted in Hafen, Overland Mail,
p. 225.
483. Freedom's Champion, November 23, 1861. During the previous winter the company
tried sled runners, the Leavenworth Conservative of February 8 asserting: "The Pike's Peak
Express Company made the last trip from Denver to Leavenworth on runners the whole dis-
tance. We believe this has never been done before."
484. "Report of the Postmaster General," December 2, 1861, in 37 Cong., 2 Sess., Senate
Executive Documents, v. Ill (Serial No. 1119), No. 1, pp. 560, 561. The contractors agreed
to carry only the California letter mail, regardless of weight, but they later stated that if
this fell short of 600 pounds, they would take other mail. For this reason some papers were
carried and others delayed, causing some complaint. It was also alleged that bags of printed
matter were thrown off en route, to accommodate passengers and express matter, but this
charge was denied by the contractors. See the Postmaster General's remarks, entitled "Over-
land California Mail."
485. Hafen, Overland Mail, p. 226.
& 1863
82 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
and Placerville, $150. Although this made no change in the fares to
Denver or California, which had been previously reduced, it appar-
ently was the first public announcement, aimed to popularize the
stage line for long distance travel, since passengers for the Pacific
coast were usually few in number. The time to Denver was six
days and to Placerville 17 days. 480
In commenting upon this announcement the Freedom's Champion
indicated that the financial soundness of the company was then
being questioned, and branded as false the rumor that there had
been an attempt to rob a Pike's Peak Express coach:
It is useless to speak of the excellence of this line, the safety of its trans-
portation, and the obliging character of its employees.
Absurd falsehoods have been started to injure the Line, but they die out
before the force of truth. This line is of great advantage to Kansas, and we
may expect assaults on it in various ways. . . .
The mail pay alone for each ninety days service is $120,000. The Company
has earned a quarter's pay, which was due September 30th, and will be paid in
a few days. It has a claim for back pay, which we learn will be allowed to
it, of $93,000, and on the 31st day of December, another $120,000 will be due
to it, thus throwing into circulation in Kansas in a very few weeks $333,000 of
Uncle S'am's money.
There are persons inimical to the Government, who are predicting that it
will not be able to pay the Mail Contractors, &c, &c.
We have authority for stating that the pay of all the mail contractors in the
Union will be promptly met as soon as the certificates of the service are sent
forward to the Post Office Department.
Now we have a report of an attempted robbery of a Coach on the Plains and
of five robbers being killed by the passengers ! This has gone out all over the
land as a fact, when it is a remarkably unblushing impudent lie. . . , 487
It should be pointed out that the newspapers at least printed al-
most no accounts of robberies of the Pike's Peak stages, leading one
to believe that fiction writers may have later invented such episodes,
which became a body of legend, rather than fact.
486. Atchison Freedom's Champion, October 12, 1861. This announcement appeared
regularly for many weeks thereafter. Passengers could lay over at any point and resume seats
when vacant. Meals were "provided at convenient distances" at prices averaging 60 cents.
The rates for transporting gold dust, bank notes and drafts and freight were also quoted
only 25 pounds of baggage being carried free of charge. The advertisement was signed by B.
M. Hughes, president, and Isaac E. Eaton, superintendent.
In its issue of March 24, 1862, the St. Louis Missouri Democrat complained of the "ex-
tortionate charges demanded by the Pike's Peak or Overland Express Company on small par-
cels ... a day or two since we received a small parcel of gold remitted on subscription
from Denver, amounting to $7.20, and weighing including wrapper, about half an ounce, on
which the charge was $1.75." It added that because of this state of affairs undeserved
blame was often laid on other companies receiving parcels at Atchison, and thought "a good
opposition line from Atchison westward would remedy this extortion." This complaint was
made at about the time of the sale of the company to Holladay.
487. Atchison Freedom's Champion, October 12, 1861. Newspaper accounts of robberies
being practically nonexistent, one is forced to conclude that such incidents were at least of
very rare occurrence. It is probable, however, that the press of either Leavenworth or Atch-
ison, when the company headquarters was located there, was under strong pressure to not
print such reports. That it was amenable to such pressure at the time of the transfer to
the Platte, seems very probable.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 83
The rigors of the winter season of 1861-1862 appear to have ad-
ministered the final "coup de grace" to the already tottering finances
of the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Com-
pany. One writer points out that "unprecedented floods, deep snows
and blizzards broke up the service for days at a stretch and increased
expenses," delaying the mails and holding up the contractor's pay. 488
The history of the previous years had been one of repeated and
heavy outlays, without a corresponding income. As Majors stated
in his memoirs:
It so transpired that the firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell had to pay the
fiddler, or the entire expense of organizing both the stage line and the pony
express, at a loss, as it turned out, of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 489
Laying out the initial route by way of the Solomon and Repub-
lican valleys entailed a large expense probably not less than $75,-
000, but no exact figures are available. Majors states that this was
done on credit, Jones & Russell giving their notes, payable in 90
days, but that when these obligations fell due they were unable to
make payment. It then became necessary for the parent firm of
Russell, Majors & Waddell to assume the obligations and manage-
ment of the stage line in order to save their partner and the funds
they had advanced. 490 It has been said that the expenses of operat-
ing this line were $1,000 a day 491 at least the income nowhere near
equalled the cost. Before the Leavenworth & Pike's Peak Express
had hardly gotten under way, Jones & Russell took over the Hocka-
day firm, for which they paid $144,000, necessitating a transfer to
the Platte that probably required an additional expenditure of some
$75,000. One writer has estimated the cost of founding the Pony
Express and maintaining it for 16 months as $700,000, against which
can be credited a probable income of some $500,000, 492 patronage
never being heavy, particularly by Eastern residents.
488. Harlow, Old Waybills, p. 244.
489. Ingraham, Seventy Years on the Frontier, p. 167. If the parent firm of Russell,
Majors & Waddell had adhered to the more lucrative freighting business, the results might
have been different.
490. Ibid., p. 165. It is very possible that Ben Holladay made advances at this time
he certainly did later. That Russell, Majors & Waddell were the real proprietors of the etage
line was frequently stated, and is a reasonable deduction, judging from the interlocking nature
of the directorates. Holladay asserted that the freighting firm was the chief owner of stock
of the "C. O. C.," which would have made it, in consequence, virtually a holding company
with reference to the Pike's Peak Express companies. The financial affairs of the parent firm
at the close of 1860 are discussed in some detail in 36 Cong., 2 Sess., House Reports, v. II
(Serial No. 1105), No. 78, entitled "Abstracted Indian Trust Bonds" (henceforth abbreviated
"A. I. T. B. Report") a 365-page summary. A lack of definite data beclouds this whole
matter.
491. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 155.
492. Bradley, The Pony Express, p. 174. He includes the following items:
To equip line, $100,000 (probably rather high, as many of the stations were also used by
the stage line).
Maintenance at $30,000 per month, $480,000.
War with Pah-Utes and allies, $75,000.
Sundry expenses, $45,000.
Chapman (op. cit., p. 304) believes the Pony Express entailed a loss of more than $200,000.
84 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
From the start the company charged $125 for passenger fare from
Leavenworth to Denver, later reduced to $100 and still later to $75
(from Atchison), but the service could never have been very re-
munerative, due to the limited number of passengers that could be
carried (only six with entire comfort), and the seasonal nature of
the travel to Pike's Peak largely westbound in the spring and
summer, and eastbound in the fall and winter. After the contract
to Salt Lake was acquired there were a few passengers transported
in the overland coaches, but neither these nor those later carried to
California when the company enjoyed a share of the Pacific trade
were large in numbers. The income from express is difficult to esti-
mate initial rates were as high as one dollar a pound, but the total
volume could not have been great. The fee for letters to Denver
long remained at 25 cents each and when the volume increased this
must have been a sizeable source of revenue, although various tricks
were occasionally employed by the settlers to avoid payment.
Charges on treasure and drafts transported became considerable in
1860, but more was carried by private passengers than by the regular
messengers of the company. By 1861 Hinckley & Co. were serious
competitors for this business, by way of the Western Stage line from
Omaha. After the firm obtained the Hockaday contract (July 1,
1859) it enjoyed a government subsidy of $125,000, later increased
to $150,435 (July 24, I860). 493 In May, 1860, the contract of
George Chorpenning for a mail service between Placerville and Salt
Lake City was annulled and a new contract was concluded with
William H. Russell for a semimonthly service at an annual subsidy
of $33,000 (later increased to $38,164). 494 When the "Million Dol-
lar" mail contract became effective with the Butterfield firm (legally
the Overland Mail Company), July 1, 1861, a subcontract was con-
cluded by this concern with the Central Overland California and
Pike's Peak Express Company to carry the mail to Denver and
Salt Lake City for $475,000. 495
493. 37 Cong., 2 Sess., House Executive Documents, v. XI (Serial 1139), p. 556 "Re-
port of additional allowances made to contractors." The official name of the contractor was
then Hockaday & Smoot, after the sale the assignee of the Hockaday firm.
494. Ibid., p. 557 ; Hafen, Overland Mail, p. 157 ; George Chorpenning, A Brief History
of the Mail Service, p. 9. The latter made serious reflections upon the character of his rivals
in the following statements: "Numerous efforts were now begun to be made to secure Mr.
Chorpenning's interest and position in the work, but failing in this by direct purchase, in-
fluences were brought upon the Post Office Department, and under the most shameful and
positively false pretexts his contract, still having over two years to run, and his pay just on
the eve of being increased from $190,000 per annum to $400,000, was annulled, and all his
life's earnings . . . confiscated . . . and absolutely given to persons who had never
been in the country a day. . . ."
495. Ben Holladay to Angus Cameron, April 6, 1882, quoted in J. V. Frederick's Ben
Holladay, The Stagecoach King (Glendale, Cal., 1940), pp. 65, 66; New York Daily Tribune,
May 20, 1861. The details of this subcontract cannot be obtained, but the amount probably
was $475,000 (Federal Cases, cited above, Book 21, p. 307 Case No. 12,288); see, also. 47
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 85
No exact conclusion as to financial matters can be arrived at
without access to the books of Russell, Majors & Waddell and
their subsidiary companies, which so far as is known do not exist.
Perhaps the greatest amount of data concerning this organization
appeared in connection with the scandal that rocked Washington
and the nation at Christmas time, 1860, when it was announced
that $870,000 worth of Indian Trust bonds had been abstracted by
Godard Bailey from the Department of the Interior, in which he
was a clerk, and had been delivered to William H. Russell of the
firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell. 496 Russell and Bailey were
quickly arrested (the former was later released on bond), and an
extended congressional investigation followed. In carrying on their
extensive freighting business for the United States, particularly in
supplying the army outposts in the West, Russell, Majors & Wad-
dell had become financially embarrassed, and in 1858 they induced
the Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, to accept their drafts in an-
ticipation of their earnings. These "acceptances" were in effect
statements that a specified sum would be due on the execution of
certain services under the transportation contracts of the firm, i. e.,
when the freighting trains completed their trips. The Utah war
necessitated the prompt transportation for the army of tremendous
amounts of supplies, and since the army had to eat, regardless of
congressional appropriations, Floyd regarded it incumbent upon him
to authorize the issuance of acceptances to Russell, Majors & Wad-
dell to facilitate their business, as no other firm was so well
equipped to carry on a transportation project of such immensity. 497
Due to the hard times and the volume of acceptances authorized
by Floyd, their negotiation on the market became increasingly dif-
ficult. 498 By the summer of 1860 some $200,000 worth of these
Cong., 1 Sess., Senate Reports, v. Ill (Serial 2006), No. 403, p. 1, entitled "Report of Com-
mittee on Claims." The latter is in error, however, in making the annual compensation $450,-
000. This report gives precise figures on the stocking of the line under the Hockaday regime,
and losses due to Indian attacks.
496. The "A. I. T. B." "Abstracted Indian Trust Bonds Report" mentioned above is
too tremendous a document to be carefully reviewed here. The select committee of the house
of representatives, Isaac N. Morris, chairman, made a unanimous report of 20 pages, and
appended a large volume of testimony. The issue of acceptances to the Russell, Majors &
Waddell firm is a critical subject of this report.
497. There is a brief discussion in James Ford Rhodes, History of the United States
From the Compromise of 1850, v. Ill (New York, etc., 1895), pp. 237, 238. See, also, the
testimony of Thomas W. Pierce, of the Boston commission firm of Pierce & Bacon, who were
large purchasers of the acceptances, in "A. I. T. B. Report," pp. 359-362 ; Robert M.
Hughes, "Floyd's Resignation from Buchanan's Cabinet," Tyler's Quarterly Historical and
Genealogical Magazine, v. V, No. 2, January, 1921, pp. 73-95; James Buchanan, Mr. Bu-
chanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion (New York, 1866), pp. 186, 187, and
"John B. Floyd," in the Dictionary of American Biography, v. VI (New York, 1931), pp.
482, 483.
498. The "A. I. T. B. Report" found that nearly $7,000,000 worth of these acceptances
were issued by Floyd, of which at least $1,445,000 were still outstanding, and declared them
to be "unauthorized by law and deceptive and fraudulent in character." Buchanan warned
Floyd of their impropriety, but he continued to issue them. In 1868 the supreme court in a
divided decision declared them a violation of the law.
86 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
drafts were about to mature, and Russell feared they would be pro-
tested, "the government still withholding the large sums of money
due us." 499 In this extremity (July, 1860), Russell conferred with
Luke Lea, of the Washington banking firm of Suter, Lea & Co.
(which was closely connected with the Leavenworth banking house
of Smoot, Russell, & Co.), and who had formerly served as Com-
missioner of Indian Affairs. Lea seems to have confirmed the no-
tion of Russell that Godard Bailey, who had charge of the Indian
Trust fund bonds, might be of assistance. (In his later testimony
Lea was such an unwilling and artful witness that the select com-
mittee found it well nigh impossible to "pin anything" on him.)
At any rate Russell and Bailey did confer on the matter, with the
apparent object of avoiding any reflection upon "Governor" Floyd
incident to a large scale protest of the acceptances. 500 Thereupon
Bailey delivered to Russell at his private residence in Washington
$150,000 of state bonds, for which Russell gave the note of his firm,
and then directed his assistant Jerome B. Simpson, vice-president
of the "C. 0. C.," to immediately hypothecate them on the New
York market.
In September, 1860, Russell told Bailey he could not provide for
the bonds previously given, and Bailey then (allegedly) informed
him for the first time that they were Indian Trust bonds. 501 To
save "Governor" Floyd (a relative of Bailey) and to extricate
Russell from the financial morass which was now engulfing him,
Bailey took up the $150,000 note and advanced bonds worth $387,-
000, for which Russell gave the note of his firm for their par value.
The bonds were then so depreciated in value that their hypothe-
cation brought only a limited sum, while at the same time it ren-
dered their return to the government extremely doubtful. On De-
cember 4 Russell took another installment of bonds, the total then
standing at $870,000, for which he deposited the acceptances of
Floyd in like amount as security. 502 Irregularities in the coupons
499. Ibid., pp. 317-327, 334. From the abstract of payments made to the firm it is
not apparent that the government was holding up any payments, although Russell repeatedly
made such a charge. During the severe weather of the winter of 1861-1862, it is probable
that it was obliged to take this step, because of delays of the mail. By March, 1861, Russell
claimed the total withheld amounted to $1,349,548.
500. Ibid., pp. 45-76. The chief interview between Russell and Lea apparently took
place in July, 1860, on a train between Washington and New York. This testimony, al-
though very incomplete, makes it hard to believe Russell's assertion that he was at the start
ignorant of the nature of the bonds. See, also, the committee's summary, in ibid., p. 5.
501. Testimony of William H. Russell, ibid., pp. 2-63-288. The hypothecated bonds were
about to be sold, and in the meantime other acceptances were falling due. Russell made a
public explanation, which was liberally quoted in the New York Daily Tribune, March 30,
1861. At the time of the delivery of the first installment of bonds, he claimed he did not
understand their real nature, but at the later deliveries he fully realized his predicament, and
the danger to himself and firm. He could not turn back, however, once he had embarked on
his dangerous course.
502. Rhodes, op. cit., v. Ill, p. 237.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 87
on the abstracted bonds led to a discovery of the scandal. The
select committee appears to have committed a grave blunder in re-
questing the testimony of Russell and Floyd, since a law of 1857
specifically exempted witnesses before congressional committees
from criminal prosecution. Both eventually used this statute to
dissolve criminal actions begun against them, although the Secre-
tary of War clearly had had no part in the bond scandal. 503
Rightly or wrongly, the disclosure of the "Great Robbery" cast
a sinister light over the financial affairs of Russell and his firm.
It was said that while they were receiving extra allowances by
way of the acceptances they were also being regularly paid for
services rendered. 504 The issue of acceptances was ended, stopping
further revenue from this source. There is little doubt that this
affair, aggravated by the financial difficulties of the time and the
accumulated irregularities of the past, virtually destroyed the credit
of Russell, Majors & Waddell and made their financial failure a
certainty, precisely as Russell had feared. Can there be any won-
der that the government declined to give a new contract for the
overland mail to a firm which had condoned such practices? There
were allegations that it was a frameup to "get" Russell, and de-
feat his efforts to obtain the mail contract, 505 but the implications of
the bond scandal leave little doubt as to why it was awarded to
others.
503. The various complications of the "Great Robbery" led to numerous articles and dis-
patches for several months. Jerome B. Simpson, vice-president of the "C. O. C." and in
general charge of the New York office of the Pony Express, who had carried on the marketing
of the bonds on the New York curb, quickly disappeared, and could not be located. Several
witnesses later testified that he had gone to Europe "for his health." The criminal charges
against Russell were abstraction of the bonds (with Bailey), receiving them, and conspiring
(with Bailey and Floyd) to defraud the United States government. Floyd was made the
general scapegoat of the whole affair, far more than was Russell, as he soon was identified
with the confederacy, but he was freed of all criminal charges, and there is no doubt that he
"had no connection whatever in thought, word, or deed, with the abstraction of the Indian
trust funds. . . ." The select committee tried to obtain more information from Russell,
but he later refused to testify without the presence of his counsel, and declined to reveal
whether he had made payments or presents to persons attached to the War Department, in
the obtaining of contracts (a violation of federal statute), unless congress specifically empow-
ered its committee to this effect. Unfortunately congress failed to grant its committee further
power the approach of the Civil War overshadowed the whole affair. Bailey was not asked
to testify, but his statement was taken he had been known as the negotiator of the Florida
bonds for Mr. Yulee, and the Chiriqui acceptances, which congress refused to legalize.
504. The "A. I. T. B. Report" states (p. 17): "The facts, therefore, are, that Russell,
Majors & Waddell not only absorbed all the sums earned by them under their contracts, and
sold all the bonds they received from Mr. Bailey, but also raised very large sums of money
upon the acceptances issued by the Secretary of War."
505. "William H. Russell, Originator and Developer of the Famous Pony Express," Col-
lector's Club Philatelist, New York, January and April, 1929. At the time many had similar
views, particularly in the West, where Russell was called "The Brains of the Border" and the
"Napoleon of the West." Whether or not he at the start made a felonious arrangement with
Godard Bailey, it is probable that he honestly intended to return the bonds, but each step
made this more impossible. As far as the acceptances were concerned, the firm cannot be
blamed for anything more than very loose business, which was sanctioned by the Secretary of
War in the interest of properly supplying the army. The depreciation of these acceptances on
the market, and inability to regain the bonds proved too much. The affair left the United
States treasury in a precarious state, as the courts ruled that bona fide purchasers of the bonds
could not be questioned. Early in 1861 it was even charged on the floor of congress that this
scandal was the prime cause of the depleted state of the treasury.
88 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Russell's usefulness in the matter of finances having been largely
destroyed, he was replaced in April, 1861, and Bela M. Hughes
was made president of the Central Overland California and Pike's
Peak Express Company. 506 Soon thereafter Holladay advanced
money for better equipment and in July the directors placed a
mortgage upon the entire firm, so as to safeguard his advances. 507
The details of this important meeting are well described in the
following account:
These provisions of the charter and of the bye-laws being in force, and
when the whole number of directors was seven, that is, on the 5th day of
July, 1861, a special meeting of the board, attended by five of its members,
was held at the company's office in Leavenworth. The meeting was called
verbally about twenty-four hours before it convened. At this time the cor-
porate property, consisting of animals and vehicles, stations and buildings
scattered along its stage route, and used in the course of its business, was of
the value of about $500,000; and it had a contract for carrying the United
States mail over its route, from which it was to receive $475,000 in quarterly
payments. But its affairs had become seriously embarrassed, and Holladay
had advanced to it considerable sums of money, and had become liable as
indorser and acceptor of its paper for considerable sums further, in all amount-
ing to about $200,000. At this special meeting, by the unanimous vote of all
the directors present, the president was authorized to execute to Holladay a
bond and deed of trust upon all the corporate property, to secure him on ac-
count of the said advances and liabilities, and for such further sums as he
should thereafter advance, and such further liabilities as he should thereafter
assume. Accordingly, on the 22d day of November, 1861, the president made
to Holladay a bond of the company for the payment of all sums which he
had become or should become liable for, and of all sums which he had paid
or should pay on its account, and also made to Theodore F. Warner and Rob-
ert L. Pease a deed of trust in the name of the company, conveying all its
property, including the contract for carrying the mail. In this deed of trust
it was provided, that if the company should make default in the performance
of the condition of the bond, the trustees, Warner and Pease, upon Holladay's
request, should take possession of the property conveyed, thereafter continue
the business, and, upon a notice of twenty days, to be advertised in a news-
paper published at Atchison, sell all the property, and out of the proceeds
pay what was going to Holladay, and render the surplus to the company.
. . . Holladay claiming that default had been made in the condition of
the bond, on the 6th of December the trustees took possession of the line,
business, and property of the company, and advertised a sale for the 31st of
December. 508
A legal notice appeared in the Atchison Freedom's Champion, an-
nouncing a forthcoming sale of all the property of the U C. 0. C./'
506. Russell was received as a conquering hero at Denver and vicinity, where he made an
extended sojourn. The Russell, Majors & Waddell firm had long been regarded as a leader of
Western business, since thousands looked to it, directly or indirectly, for their support.
607. Frederick, Ben Holladay, The Stagecoach King, pp. 63, 64. All evidence points to
the increasing power of Holladay over the Pike's Peak firm, particularly after the bond scandal.
508. Federal Cases, Book 21, p. 307 Case No. 12,228.
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 89
to satisfy the conditions of a penal bond to Benjamin Holladay,
executed a few weeks before, the conditions of which had been
broken :
Whereas, on the 22d of November, A. D., 1861, the Central Overland Cali-
fornia and Pike's Peak Express Company, made, executed, and delivered to
the undersigned as Trustees, a deed conveying to said Trustees all the horses,
mules, cattle, coaches, wagons, buggies, setts of harness, hay, grain, provi-
sions, lumber, tools, materials and furniture, held and used by said Company
in carrying the overland mail from Atchison in Kansas, to Salt Lake City
in Utah, and from Overland City [Julesburg] to Denver, and from Denver
to Central City and to Tarryall, in Colorado Territory, together with all the
stations on said several roads, which said deed is made to secure the payment
of a penal bond to Benjamin Holladay, of even date with said deed, for the
sum of Four Hundred Thousand Dollars and for the performance of the con-
ditions of said bond and the covenants of said deed. And whereas the condi-
tions of said bond and the covenants of said deed have been broken and said
penalty is unpaid; in pursuance of said deed the undersigned as such Trustees
will on Tuesday, the 31st day of December, A. D. 1861, at the Massasoit
House, in the city of Atchison, in the State of Kansas, proceed to sell all the
above conveyed property in one body to the highest bidder for cash in hand
to satisfy the conditions of said deed.
T. F. WARNED
Atchison, Dec. 6, 1861. 509
ROB. L. PEASE 'Trustees.
The officials of the Pike's Peak Express obtained, an injunction in
the United States district court restraining the trustees from pro-
ceeding with the sale on the date announced. 510 The sale was re-
peatedly postponed, apparently in the hope that conditions would
improve so that Holladay's loan could be paid, but such did not
prove to be the case. 511 Finally the injunction was dissolved, and
on March 22, 1862, a public sale of the entire property was held in
front of the Massasoit House in Atchison. Holladay was the highest
bidder and is said to have purchased the line for $100,000, thereby
protecting his large investment. 512 He later explained that soon
after the Overland Mail company had made a subcontract with the
509. Atchison Freedom's Champion, December 7, 1861, and regularly thereafter.
510. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, pp. 465, 466. When called upon by Holladay
to take possession in his name, Warner declined to act, and Pease then proceeded alone. Rob-
ert L. Pease was a trusted employee of the stage company, who continued his financial duties
after the sale to Holladay.
511. The frequent notices of sheriff's sales in the Kansas papers at this time indicated the
bad financial conditions then prevalent.
512. So far as is known, not a word appeared in any Kansas paper concerning the sale,
at least not at the time. The newspaper code of ethics enjoined complete secrecy in such
matters, although it must have been well known to Atchison and Leavenworth residents. The
total debt to Holladay seems to have been slightly over $200,000. On the basis of Colorado
sources the author of the Overland Mail (p. 227) places it at $208,000. At least the penal
bond to Holladay was about double the actual debt, rendering him entirely safe. After the
credit of Russell, Majors & Waddell had been shattered, undoubtedly Holladay was the chief
source of ready cash.
90 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Pike's Peak firm (as a part of the Million Dollar daily mail to Cali-
fornia), he had agreed to loan the C. O. C. & P. P. Express Company
sums of money from time to time. To safeguard these loans the
company gave him a mortgage on its personal property and a deed
of trust on its real estate. In carrying out this arrangement Holla-
day lent the company considerable sums and also accepted drafts of
the "C. 0. C.," but when the parent firm of Russell, Majors & Wad-
dell got into difficulties, its creditors brought suit, and the public sale
and financial dissolution of the Pike's Peak firm was a direct re-
sult. 513
That the parent firm was in a bad financial state is indicated by
the numerous legal actions to recover sums of money, particularly
in the First district court of Kansas at Leavenworth, against the
assignees of Russell, Majors & Waddell and allied firms. 514 This
great firm was clearly passing out of the picture and early in 1862
the overland freighting contracts were let to another organization
Irwin, Jackman & Co., of Leavenworth. 515 The Central Overland
California and Pike's Peak Express Company was no doubt affected
by the general debacle, although the exact details are lacking. It
had long been beset by financial troubles failure to pay its em-
ployees promptly led to the charge that the C. 0. C. & P. P. stood
for "Clean Out of Cash and Poor Pay." 516 Now the great resources
of Benjamin Holladay were to achieve a magic change.
Upon assuming complete management, Holladay paid the debts
of the Pike's Peak Express Company, including back pay of the
employees making a total of over $500,000, and additional sums
for feed and provisions previously contracted for. 517 There was an
immediate reorganization Robert L. Pease continued his work of
settling financial matters contracted during his trusteeship, Bela M.
Hughes was retained as legal adviser, and the original management
513. Holladay's statement in 1882, quoted above. He pointed out that Russell, Majors
& Waddell were the chief owners of the stock of the C. O. C. & P. P. Express.
514. Leavenworth Daily Times, December 21, 1861, and February 27, 1862. The Leav-
enworth banking firm of Smoot, Russell & Co. also failed about this time. From time to
time there had been rumors of the failure of Russell, Majors & Waddell. A. B. Waddell of
Lexington, Mo., assigned all his property to pay the firm's indebtedness in that city and
county.
515. Ibid., March 9, 1862. The receiving of bids had been announced in the previous
fall. The December 15 Times quoted the Secretary of the Treasury as asserting that con-
tractors should be subject to "rigorous responsibility."
516. Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 584. One voiced his discontent in verse,
with telling effect:
"On or about the first of May,
The boys would like to have their pay
If not paid by that day,
The stock along the line might stray."
(A little did stray after the sale to Holladay.)
517. Frederick, op. cit., pp. 66, 67. Root and Connelley add in the Overland Stage (p.
466) that Holladay settled a large number of debts of the firm. Despite his payments to
employees, some "helped themselves to stock and outfits and went west with them. . . ."
PIKE'S PEAK EXPRESS COMPANIES 91
passed completely out of the picture. 518 Holladay now managed
the firm as the Overland Stage Line, although he continued its oper-
ation under the Kansas charter of the "C. 0. C." until February,
1866, when he obtained a new charter from the territory of Colo-
rado, under the name of the Holladay Overland Mail and Express
Company. 519 The terms of the sale were not agreed to by two of
the stockholders of the "C. O. C.," Webster M. Samuels and
Alexander Street, who on April 1, 1862, applied to the directors
to institute legal proceedings to recover the property transferred.
When this request was refused these parties brought suit, in July,
1862, to declare the sale void and return the property to the orig-
inal owners, on the grounds of illegality. In May, 1868, the United
States Circuit Court, district of Kansas, in an action in equity,
found the sale to have been "without authority, and was a violation
of their trust, for which they [the trustees] and Holliday, as pur-
chasers, can be called to account in a court of chancery, which has
special jurisdiction of trusts." 52 A further action took place in the
same court in October, 1869, entitled "Samuel v. Holladay," in
which more detailed findings were brought, but which in the main
confirmed the previous decision declaring the sale "without au-
thority." 521 Both actions were of necessity dismissed because the
Express Company, although the party wronged, had not been served
with process, as the marshal "could not find the defendant in his
district. Yet there is good reason to believe that it might be served
with process." 522 Apparently the Central Overland California and
Pike's Peak Express Company had entered a precarious stage of
existence preceding complete disappearance.
518. Ibid., pp. 465, 466. William H. Russell set up business in New York City (of all
places!). A native of Vermont, he had migrated with the family to Missouri, and by the
late 1840's WEB engaged in freighting on government contracts. In 1855 he formed a partner-
ship with Alexander Majors, another freighter, which became the nucleus of the great
freighting firm. He died at Palmyra, Mo., in 1872. A short biographical sketch by Charles
R. Morehead with an accompanying photograph may be found in the "Appendix" of Doni-
phan's Expedition, by William E. Connelley (cited above). See, also, The National Cyclo-
paedia of American Biography, v. XX (New York, 1929), pp. 451, 452, and the Dictionary of
American Biography, v. XVI (New York, 1935), pp. 252, 253.
519. Frederick, op. cit., p. 68; Root and Connelley, Overland Stage, p. 56.
520. Webster M. Samuels and Alexander Street v. The Central Overland California
and Pike's Peak Express Company, Ben Holladay and others, in James McCahon, Reports
of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the Territory of Kansas (Chicago, 1870), pp.
214-229. This work includes a chapter on actions in the "Circuit Court of the United States
for the District of Kansas," during the year of 1868. The above decision pointed out that
the Express Company was the only party that could make such a settlement, but it was not
before the court, since the subpoenas issued upon it could not be delivered.
521. Federal Cases, Book 21, p. 310 Case No. 12,288. Holladay's demands against the
company then amounted to $200,000, but the other debts exceeded the value of the property
"he wrongfully converted." Furthermore, the, conduct of the plaintiffs in the matter did not
recommend them to a court of equity.
In 1882 Holladay stated (Frederick, op. cit., p. 66) that kis ownership of the property
had been confirmed by the court, in which all persons concerned had acquiesced. It seems
probable that there was further legal action, of which it is impossible to find a published
statement.
522. Federal Cases, Book 21, p. 310 Case No. 12,288.
92 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Since the stage line continued to operate as usual, the world at
large seems to have paid little attention to the sale to Holladay.
Thus closed a stirring chapter in pioneer transportation and com-
munication which demonstrated beyond question the desirability of
the Central route from the Missouri river to the Pacific Ocean and
paved the way for the telegraph and railroad. The Pike's Peak
Express Company, with its rival the Butterfield line and their suc-
cessors, signalled the end of the isolation of the West, which the
railroad brought to more complete fulfillment.
The Annual Meeting
THE seventieth annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical
Society and board of directors was held in the rooms of the
Society on October 16, 1945.
The meeting of the directors was called to order by President
Ralph R. Price at 10 a. m. First business was the reading of the
annual report by the secretary.
SECRETARY'S REPORT, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 16, 1945
This is the seventieth annual meeting of the Society and the end of my
fifteenth year as secretary. Perhaps it is the place for a review of accomplish-
ments but we have so many new projects under way that it seems better to
look toward the future. Since it is customary to celebrate 75th anniversaries
it may be that by 1950, when we have had five years of peace, a diamond ju-
bilee will be more in order. It is enough to say that the Kansas Society is
among the largest state associations in the country, is possibly the best-bal-
anced, and that it is being developed systematically in all departments. The
new microfilm division, for which the 1945 legislature appropriated $33,800, is
in line with the latest archival procedure. The new Annals of Kansas, now
being compiled through an initial appropriation of $8,000, will be a valuable
addition to our published history. And repairs and redecoration for the Me-
morial building through an appropriation of $11,500, will again put the So-
ciety's physical plant in first-class condition.
Now that the war is over the Society is looking forward with the rest of
the country to more normal operations. The demand for birth certificates,
required by all war workers, has already decreased, and it may soon be pos-
sible for employees in this department to get back to tasks that have had to
be neglected. Two members of the staff are still on leave in the service. Lt.
Edgar Langsdorf is in France. Ens. Josephine Louise Barry, USNR, is in
California.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Ralph R. Price reappointed Judge John S. Dawson and T. M.
Lillard to the executive committee. The members holding over were Robert
C. Rankin, Charles M. Correll an-d Gen. Milton R. McLean.
Four members of the board of directors died during the year. They were
John G. Ellenbecker, Marysville; Isaac B. Morgan, Kansas City; Victor Mur-
dock, Wichita, and Mrs. George Norris, Arkansas City. Mr. Ellenbecker was
president of the Kansas council of the American Pioneer Trails Association.
Mr. Morgan was a well-known Kansas City educator. Victor Murdock was a
former congressman and long-time editor of the Wichita Eagle. His historical
articles, published almost daily for thirteen years, were a popular front-page
feature of the evening Eagle. Mrs. Norris, a pioneer Arkansas City resident,
was long active in women's club work in the state.
(93)
94 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
THE LEGISLATURE
As mentioned, the legislature made an appropriation for a new microfilm
division. A discussion of this project will be made at the afternoon meeting.
Work on the new Annals of Kansas, which was authorized by the legislature,
began on July 1, with Jennie Owen in charge. The following are acting as
an- advisory committee: Fred Brinkerhoff of Pittsburg, Cecil Howes of To-
peka, Dr. J. C. Malin of Lawrence and Justice William A. Smith of Topeka.
One meeting has been held.
The appropriation for the Memorial building provides for repointing all
stone and terra cotta and repairing and painting all exterior woodwork. Spe-
cifications have been drawn- and bids are now being asked for this work.
Money is also available for repairing and redecorating many of the interior
walls and ceilings. Since they are not subject to damage by the weather the
state architect has recommended that this work be postponed until labor and
materials can be contracted to better advantage.
Another appropriation of $7,000 provides for the installation of a new sec-
tion of steel shelving in the newspaper division.
Salary increases of from five to fifteen percent were given to members of
the staff. Although there are still discrepancies, this appropriation helps bring
salaries for most positions more nearly in line with what is being paid for
similar work in other state institutions. Slight increases were also given to
the custodians of Old Shawnee Mission and the First Capitol building.
Two other increased appropriations are: $500 a year added to the book
fund; and money for the salary of an additional janitor. Other appropria-
tions remain the same.
The Society is greatly indebted to the 1945 legislature for these appropria-
tions and especially to the members of the committees on ways and means,
fees and salaries, state affairs and buildings and grounds.
THE ELIZABETH READER BEQUEST
Last November the Society received a bequest of $5,634.79 from the estate
of Elizabeth Reader, who died August 17, 1943, in San Diego, Cal. The net
amount after California inheritance taxes were deducted was $5,251.19. With
the approval of the executive committee, $5,200 of this money was invested
in U. S. savings bonds.
Elizabeth Reader was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel J. Reader.
Mr. Reader came to Kansas in a covered wagon in the spring of 1855 and set-
tled on a farm near Indianola, north of Topeka, where he lived until his
death in 1914. A diary which he had kept from the time he was thirteen
years old was presented to the Society by Miss Reader a number of years ago.
This diary and a journal of reminiscences are among the most interesting
manuscripts the Society possesses. They are invaluable to any one doing re-
search in the territorial period. The proceeds from Miss Reader's bequest
will be used to purchase books and documents relating to this field.
LIBRARY
During the year 1,724 persons did research in the library. Of these about
700 worked on Kansas subjects, 500 on genealogy and 500 on general subjects.
Numerous inquiries were answered by letter and there were many requests for
loans by mail from the loan file on Kansas subjects. More than 85,000 cards
THE ANNUAL MEETING 95
were filed in the Library of Congress catalog. From October 1, 1944, to July
1, 1945, 3,303 clippings were mounted and cataloged.
An exhibit of early Kansas printing was prepared for display in the mu-
seum during International Printing Education week. Photographic copies of
early maps of the United States and Kansas owned by the Society were made
at the Topeka Army Air Field for lectures by Capt. Carl J. Holcomb. Typed
and printed genealogical records were presented by the Society of Colonial
Dames, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Daughters of Founders
and Patriots and the Daughters of American Colonists. Other gifts to the
library include collections of books and pamphlets from Mrs. H. J. Haskell,
Mrs. Lillian Ross Leis, Mrs. Erne Van Tuyl, Mrs. John Tasker, Mrs. Pearl
Keller, Mrs. J. Ralph Schnebly, Wendell Johnson, B. F. Young and the E. A.
Austin estate. Mrs. W. B. Culbertson presented records of the woris: of the
Topeka USO.
PICTURE COLLECTION
During the year 336 pictures were classified, cataloged and added to the
picture collection. One hundred of these were pictures of General Eisenhower's
homecoming celebration, taken en route from New York and Washington to
Abilene. The picture collection is in constant use by publishers of newspa-
pers, books and magazines. During the year copies of pictures of early-day
Kansas scenes were made for the following: A book on the Santa Fe railroad
to be issued by Look; Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia, by F. E. Compton
and Company, Chicago; This is the U. S. A., by the Museum of Modern Art,
New York; Album of American History, by Charles Scribner's Sons, New
York; and the World Book Encyclopedia, by the Quarrie Corporation, Chi-
cago. Also, the Kansas Power and Light Company used many early Topeka
pictures in an advertising series called "Then and Now in Topeka."
STATE ARCHIVES
The principal accessions for the year were the Kansas statistical rolls for
1937 and 1938 consisting of 6,100 manuscript books. These statistics are com-
piled currently by assessors of the state board of agriculture.
PRIVATE MANUSCRIPTS
Five manuscript volumes and 100,288 individual manuscripts were received
during the year.
The Douglas County Historical Society gave typed copies of tombstone in-
scriptions, 1854 to 1940, from twenty-nine rural cemeteries in Douglas county.
They were indexed by the Betty Washington chapter, D. A. R., of Lawrence.
D. D. Murphy sent inscriptions from markers in a cemetery six miles north
of Oswego in Labette county.
Records of marriages in Russell county, 1880 to 1882, were given by Judge
J. C. Ruppenthal.
Dr. Riverda H. Jordan of Avon Park, Fla., presented a biography of Benja-
min Harding, his grandfather, a pioneer of Doniphan county.
Fifty-one documents were received from the Shawnee county commissioners
through their chairman, Ed Camp. They include land patents, deeds and
mortgages in Shawnee county from 1854 to 1870. The names of O. K. Holliday,
John Ritchie, Thomas Ewing, James H. Lane and Edmund G. Ross appear
in these documents.
96 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Will T. Beck of Holton, Frank Motz of Hays and Judge J. C. Ruppenthal
of Russell responded to the Society's request for William Allen White letters.
Other manuscripts were received from Mrs. Mary O. Derrick Coleman, Lee
H. Cornell, Clara B. Eno, Mrs. Ella M. Ensminger, Mrs. Ethel M. Fox, C. S.
Gibbens, Ada Bel Tutton Gifford estate, Charles M. Harger, Claud W. Hib-
bard, E. H. Hulburd, Kansas Farmer, Karl Kennedy, Leavenworth City Li-
brary, Helen M. McFarland, Vallie McKee, Mrs. Flora V. Menninger, Mrs.
Percy Miller, Minnesota Historical Society, Bert Moore, Mabel Moss, Jennie
Small Owen, Frances I. Sands, Mrs. Faye McCartney Shaw, Mrs. William L.
Smith, Robert Stone, Harriet A. Tomson, Mrs. B. H. Unrich, Mrs. F. J. War-
ren, The Woman's Kansas Day Club, Rea Woodman and Clayton Wyatt.
NEWSPAPER AND CENSUS DIVISIONS
More than three thousand patrons were served by the newspaper and census
divisions during the year. Forty-six hundred single issues of newspapers and
3,100 bound volumes were consulted; 4,768 census volumes were searched and
from them 2,501 certified copies of family records were issued.
Eighty-nine reels of microfilm, purchased from the State Historical Society
of Colorado, have been added to the Society's collections. They cover the
weekly Colorado Chieftain, Pueblo, June 1, 1868, to June 12, 1873, and Febru-
ary 25, 1875, to January 20, 1876; The Daily Chieftain, from April 28, 1872, to
December 31, 1898. These papers contain many references to western Kansas.
The 1945 List of Kansas Newspapers and Periodicals was published in Sep-
tember. It showed the issues of 695 newspapers and periodicals being received
regularly for filing, nine more than were shown in the 1944 List.
Of the 695 publications in the 1945 List, 52 are dailies, seven semiweeklies,
411 weeklies, one three times monthly, 33 fortnightlies, 16 semimonthlies, two
once every three weeks, 104 monthlies, 13 bimonthlies, 24 quarterlies, 27 occa-
sionals, two semiannuals and three annuals, coming from all the 105 Kansas
counties. Of these, 134 are listed republican, 24 democratic and 241 independ-
ent in politics; 107 are school or college, 38 religious, 22 fraternal, nine labor,
six local, 14 military, eight industrial, 14 trade and 78 miscellaneous.
On January 1, 1945, the Society's collection contained 50,367 bound volumes
of Kansas newspapers and more than 10,000 bound volumes of out-of-state
newspapers dated from 1767 to 1945.
In addition to the 695 publications regularly received by the Society as
gifts from Kansas publishers, miscellaneous newspapers have been received,
including several early and rare issues from Michigan, New York and Wiscon-
sin, the gift of Mrs. Daisy Lamb, of Douglass, and other papers from Cornell
University, Ithaca, N. Y.; Mrs. Henry J. Haskell, Kansas City, Mo.; Dr. Ed-
ward Bumgardner, Lawrence; Walter E. McKeen, Manhattan; the Topeka
City Library, Lt. Col. John W. Carrothers, Irvin L. Cowger, N. E. Saxe and
Mrs. Charles R. Sneller, of Topeka.
MUSEUM
The attendance in the museum for the year was 32,805. There were 28
accessions. From January 15 to May 27 the museum was open from 2 to 5
Sunday afternoons.
Among the accessions was a wood conveyor from the Paxico flour mill which
was built in 1878 by the Strohwig brothers. Wm. W. Snead of Topeka donated
, THE ANNUAL MEETING 97
a bull whip which was used by early-day freighters. The handle is heavily
loaded and the end is tipped with wire. The Woman's Kansas Day Club gave
a Winchester rifle which was used by Dr. Arthur Hertzler of Halstead. The
pen with which Governor Ratner signed the merit law was presented by Mrs.
William Allen White of Emporia.
SUBJECTS FOR RESEARCH
During the year the following have been subjects for extended research:
Biography: William Allen White; Gen. Dwight Eisenhower; W. E. Campbell;
William Mathewson ; Jesse James. County and town history : History of
Smith county; history of Axtell, Kan.; history of Stillwater, Okla. Education:
History of Park College. Churches: Presbyterianism in Kansas; German
Methodist churches; Baptist churches. General: Missouri river; negroes; salt
and its effect on the Trans-Mississippi-West; Populist party; Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe railroad.
ACCESSIONS
October 1, 1944, to September 30, 1945
Library :
Books 970
Pamphlets 2,394
Magazines (bound volumes) 386
Archives :
Separate manuscripts 6,100
Manuscript volumes None
Manuscript maps None
Private manuscripts:
Separate manuscripts 100,288
Volumes 5
Printed maps, atlases and charts 326
Newspapers (bound volumes) 649
Pictures 336
Museum objects 28
TOTAL ACCESSIONS, SEPTEMBER 30, 1945
Books, pamphlets, bound newspapers and magazines 422,805
Separate manuscripts (archives) 1,558,506
Manuscript volumes (archives) 28,820
Manuscript maps (archives) 583
Printed maps, atlases and charts 12,686
Pictures 21,672
Museum objects 33,238
THE QUARTERLY
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is now in its fourteenth year. Owing to
the war, the 1944 and 1945 numbers were printed with fewer pages, and both
years will be bound and indexed together as Vol. 13. With its August, 19-15,
number the Quarterly appeared for the first time in a slick-paper illustrated
71863
98 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
cover, featuring General Eisenhower, with photographs of his homecoming
celebration inside. Much of the credit for the high rating of the magazine
among the state historical magazines of the country should go to Dr. James
C. Malin, associate editor, who is professor of history at Kansas University.
The Quarterly is widely quoted by the newspapers of the state and is used in
many schools.
OLD SHAWNEE MISSION
Now that gasoline is no longer rationed more visitors are being received at
the Mission, although it will be some time before they reach prewar numbers.
Minor repairs and improvements continue to be made on the property.
This year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the completion of the
North building. It is the newest of the three brick buildings now standing
and was first used as a dormitory where girls of the various Indian tribes lived
while attending school at the mission. Some of the Methodist missionaries,
who were teachers in the school, also lived there. Later it was the home and
office of Andrew H. Reeder, first territorial governor. In 1940 the building
was restored and in 1942 it was refurnished in the period of 1850. The Kansas
D. A. R. is conducting a centennial celebration at the building on October 17.
Mrs. Dorothy Berryman Shrewder, the present state regent, is a direct de-
scendent of the Rev. Jerome C. Berryman who was superintendent of the
Mission- at the time the building was erected.
FIRST CAPITOL OF KANSAS
During the war general traffic through the Fort Riley reservation was pro-
hibited and visitors to the old capitol building were limited to soldiers of the
post and their families. Last year the registration was only 521. The build-
ing and grounds have been maintained in good condition.
THE STAFF OF THE SOCIETY
In closing this report I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the mem-
bers of the staff. During the course of a year many persons from out of the
state visit the Society to do research and almost invariably they go out of
their way to praise the spirit of cooperation they find in every department.
Respectfully submitted,
KIRKE MECHEM, Secretary.
At the conclusion of the reading of the secretary's report James
Malone moved that it be accepted. Motion was seconded by John
S. Dawson.
President Price then called for the report of the treasurer, Mrs.
Lela Barnes. The report, based on the audit of the state account-
ant for the period August 31, 1944, to August 30, 1945, follows:
THE ANNUAL MEETING 99
TREASURER'S REPORT
MEMBERSHIP FEE FUND
Balance, August 31, 1944:
Cash $1,586.75
U. S. savings bonds, Series G 3,500.00
$5,086.75
Receipts :
Memberships 466.00
Bond interest 112.50
Reimbursement for postage 443.50
Elizabeth Reader bequest 5,251 . 19
6,273.19
$11,359.94
Disbursements 764.85
Balance, August 30, 1945:
Cash 1,895.09
U. S. savings bonds, Series G 8,700.00
10,595.09
$11,359.94
JONATHAN PECKER BEQUEST
Balance, August 31, 1944:
Cash $128.01
U. S. treasury bonds 950.00
$1,078.01
Interest received:
Bond interest 27.33
Savings account .93
28.26
$1,106.27
Disbursements, books 23 .25
Balance, August 30, 1945:
Cash 133.02
U. S. treasury bonds 950.00
1,083.02
$1,106.27
100 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
JOHN BOOTH BEQUEST
Balance, August 31, 1944:
Cash $49.04
U. S. treasury bonds 500.00
$549.04
Interest received:
Bond interest 14.38
Savings account .48
14.86
Disbursements, books
Balance, August 30, 1945:
Cash 38.40
U. S. treasury bonds . 500.00
538.40
$563.90
THOMAS H. BOWLUS DONATION
This donation is substantiated by a U. S. savings bond, Series G, in the
amount of $1,000. The interest is credited to the membership fee fund.
ELIZABETH READEB BEQUEST
Received from the Elizabeth Reader estate, March 13, 1945 $5,251 . 19
Balance, August 30, 1945:
Cash in membership fee fund 51 . 19
U. S. savings bonds, Series G (shown in total bonds,
membership fee fund) 5,200.00
$5,251.19
Interest on the bonds purchased with this bequest will be credited to the
membership fee fund. It will be expended for historical materials in accord-
ance with the terms of the bequest.
STATE APPROPRIATIONS
This report covers only the membership fee fund and other custodial funds.
It is not a statement of the appropriations made by the legislature for the
maintenance of the Society. These disbursements are not made by the treas-
urer of the Society, but by the state auditor. For the year ending June 30,
1945, these appropriations were: Kansas State Historical Society, $34,750; Old
Shawnee Mission, $3,750; First Capitol of Kansas, $1,074.
On motion of T. M. Lillard, seconded by John S. Dawson, the
report was accepted.
The report of the executive committee on the audit by the state
accountant of the funds of the Society was called for and read by
John S. Dawson.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 101
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 12, 1945.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
The executive committee being directed under the bylaws to check the
accounts of the treasurer, states that the state accountant has audited the
funds of the State Historical Society, the First Capitol of Kansas, and the
Old Shawnee Mission from August 31, 1944, to August 30, 1945, and that they
are hereby approved. JOHN S. DAWSON, Chairman.
On motion of Standish Hall, seconded by Milton R. McLean, the
report was accepted.
The report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society
was read by John S. Dawson:
NOMINATING COMMITTEE'S REPORT
OCTOBER 12, 1945.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:
Your committee on nominations submits the following report for officers of
the Kansas State Historical Society:
For a one-year term: Jess C. Denious, Dodge City, president; Milton R.
McLean, Topeka, first vice-president; Robert T. Aitchison, Wichita, second
vice-president. Respectfully submitted,
JOHN S. DAWSON, Chairman.
The report was referred to the afternoon meeting of the board.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY
The annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society con-
vened at 2:30 p. m. The members were called to order by the presi-
dent, Ralph R. Price.
The address by Mr. Price follows:
Address of the President
THREE KANSAS STATE SCHOOLS
RALPH R. PRICE
ON January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the union as the thirty-
fourth state. Kansas was a real example of "To the Stars
Through Difficulties." Financial difficulties continued to be very
real in this state till after the panic of 1873 and the grasshoppers of
1874. And yet within three years after its birth this new state out on
the very frontier of civilization, and in the midst of a great Civil
War, had established, or at least determined the location of, three
state institutions of higher education: The University of Kansas
102 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
at Lawrence, the Kansas State College at Manhattan and The Kan-
sas State Teachers College at Emporia. For many years these three
schools were generally called K. U., the Agricultural College and
the Normal School. It is hard for us of today to realize the pov-
erty, the sparse population and the primitive conditions of those
early days in Kansas. For example, Emporia was a town of 500,
and had only a triweekly stage to Lawrence, and the first railroad
did not reach Manhattan till 1866. So it is but natural that these
schools had a hard struggle in their early years, especially in the
matter of financial support. But they do show forth the spirit and
the high ideals of Kansas as revealed in its very earliest years.
I happen to have a personal interest in each of these three schools,
and when I learned that I was to prepare a paper for today's occa-
sion I promptly decided that I wanted to take these three schools
as my theme. I was born on a farm ten miles south of the Uni-
versity of Kansas. I did two years of graduate work at this insti-
tution. I also did my first teaching there, where for two years I
taught sections of the famous old class in English history. We used
that splendid text that the author, John Richard Green, called A
Short History of the English People. This was a fortunate begin-
ning for one who had chosen for his life's work the teaching of his-
tory and government.
Then in 1903 I was elected to be head of the department of his-
tory and government at the Kansas State College at Manhattan, in
which capacity I served the state for thirty -nine years. I am still
teaching American history and government on a part-time basis at
this institution, where I have thoroughly appreciated my oppor-
tunity to serve many generations of college students, always regard-
ing them as the future leaders of the state of Kansas.
And, to complete the trilogy of my interest in these schools, it so
happened that just forty years after I joined the faculty at the
Kansas State College at Manhattan the Board of Regents called
my son, James F. Price, to serve as president of the Kansas State
Teachers College of Emporia. Thus you see why I was interested
in preparing a paper on these three Kansas schools.
THE CONTEST FOR THE LOCATION OF THESE THREE SCHOOLS
By the act admitting Kansas as a state in 1861, the federal gov-
ernment had donated to the state seventy-two sections of public
land "for the use and support of a state university." In this year
1861, a bill passed both houses of the state legislature locating the
state university at Manhattan. This bill was vetoed by Governor
THE ANNUAL MEETING 103
Robinson, whose home was in Lawrence, and there the matter of
locating the university rested till 1863. It would seem that there
might be grounds for claiming that here is where the rivalry between
Lawrence and Manhattan had its beginning. In this connection, it
is interesting to note that Gov. Charles Robinson, of Lawrence,
wanted I. T. Goodnow, of Manhattan, then State Superintendent of
Public Instruction, to agree to locate the university at Lawrence
and the state capital at Manhattan.
On July 2, 1862, President Lincoln signed the so-called Morrill
act, providing for a grant to each state from the federal government
of 30,000 acres of public land for each United States senator and
representative from that state, for the endowment of what came to
be known as the land grant colleges. Kansas, then having one rep-
resentative and two senators, thus received 90,000 acres for the en-
dowment of such a college. This law stated the object of such col-
leges to be "without excluding other scientific and classical studies
and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning
as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts." Now it so
happened that members of the Methodist church had by this time
established at Manhattan a school called Bluemont Central Col-
lege, with a provision in its charter including in its curriculum the
teaching of agriculture and the mechanic arts.
On the passage of the above noted Morrill act, the trustees of
Bluemont Central College promptly offered to give to the state the
whole institution, including one hundred acres of land with its three-
story stone college building and its library and other equipment if
the state would locate the new land-grant college at Manhattan.
This offer was accepted by the state in a legislative enactment ap-
proved February 16, 1863, and what was at first known as The
Kansas State Agricultural College was thus located at Manhattan.
Meanwhile, the state university had not yet been officially lo-
cated, and Emporia now made a strong effort to secure this institu-
tion, offering the state eighty acres of land for this purpose. A bill
to locate the state university at Emporia was before the committee
of the whole in the house of representatives of the state legislature,
when a Douglas county representative moved to substitute the Law-
rence bill for that of Emporia, and the motion carried by a close
vote.
Lawrence offered the state fifteen thousand dollars and forty
acres for a campus if the state would locate the university in that
city. The bill was then passed by the legislature to the effect that
104 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
if Lawrence actually delivered title to the forty acres and actually
deposited the fifteen thousand dollars within six months therefrom,
the university would be located at Lawrence; otherwise the Em-
poria offer would be accepted and the university would be located
in that city. Charles Robinson now offered the forty acres on
Mount Oread in exchange for other property in the city of Law-
rence. Amos A. Lawrence, of Massachusetts, and treasurer of the
old New England Emigrant Aid Company, gave $10,000 in notes
owed to him by another college, and the citizens of Lawrence signed
notes for a total of $5,000, thus providing the required $15,000 and
the forty acres of land. Then the governor, on November 2, 1863,
finally declared the state university located at Lawrence.
Under the circumstances, it was very natural that the State Nor-
mal School, as it was then called, was located at Emporia by an
act of the legislature, approved March 3, 1863. Thus were located
the three Kansas state colleges in 1863, after much rivalry between
these three towns. And that in itself is quite a chapter in Kansas
history.
CONCERNING THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THESE STATE COLLEGES
As already noted, the federal government had given the State
University an endowment of 72 sections of public land, and the
Agricultural College an endowment of 90,000 acres. The federal
government had also given to the state as a possible endowment for
a normal school salt springs "not exceeding twelve in number, with
six sections of land adjoining each." In this connection, I find a
statement that "The Kansas State Normal School is the first state
normal school to receive as endowment land granted by the act
admitting the State to the Union." By the end of 1863 the state
had located each of these three schools, but for many years the
legislators seemed to think that these schools should live on the in-
come from their land endowments, together with such tuition or
fees as they might collect from their students. However, for years
these schools had very few students; and during these early years
there was practically no income from their land endowments. In
some cases the towns where these state institutions were located
found it necessary to give substantial financial assistance to keep
"its" particular state school in operation. This is a discouraging
chapter in the history especially of the University and Normal.
We must remember that these schools were born during the Civil
War, and that Kansas suffered heavy financial losses before and
THE ANNUAL MEETING 105
during this war, including, for example, Quantrill's raid on Law-
rence. Then came Indian wars, droughts, the panic of 1873, the
grasshoppers of 1874 and prairie fires, not to mention mortgages so
characteristic of a young state, the deflation following a long war,
and the handicaps that always accompany frontier life.
Take, for example, the case of the University. Its first building
long known as Old North College, was completed by the fall of
1866, not by any state appropriation but by funds secured from
various sources. The legislature of 1866 made the first appropria-
tion for the University. It included a total sum of $4,000 for the
salaries of the faculty. Each of the three members of the then
faculty, Snow, Rice and Robinson, was to receive a salary of $1,200
a year. This legislature of 1866 also appropriated the sum of $3,000
for the purchase of apparatus, library and furniture. In 1868 the
regents asked for $13,800, but the legislature appropriated only
$7,500. Finally, in 1870 the citizens of Lawrence voted that city
bonds should be issued to the amount of $100,000 for the erection of
a new, much-needed university building, later named Fraser Hall
after the then chancellor. After the city had paid interest on these
bonds amounting to $90,000, the state assumed this debt. However,
the legislature of 1873-1874 refused to vote $35,000 to complete this
building. Moreover, this legislature reduced the appropriation for
salaries of the faculty members, so that the faculty was reduced
from nine members to six.
The records show that Emporia had similar financial burdens on
account of the Normal School. Emporia donated twenty acres of
land to the state for a campus. When the Normal School opened
its doors in 1865 it literally had no doors to open. The city of Em-
poria permitted the use of one of its public school buildings for the
new Normal School. In 1872 the legislature appropriated $50,000
for a new building, provided Emporia would contribute $10,000
more for this building. In 1874 the president's salary was reduced
to $2,200, the two professors' salaries were reduced to $1,400 each
and the two women teachers to $900 each. Two years later the
legislature declared that the appropriation of 1876 was to be the
last appropriation ever to be made for the support of the State
Normal School at Emporia. As late as 1893 the legislature made an
appropriation of $50,000 for a new wing to the main building. But
the citizens of Emporia raised $1,500 to pay for the additional land
needed for this building.
Reverting to the salt springs land endowment of the Normal
106 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
School, the Emporia News of March 7, 1863, says that "The en-
dowment of this institution, in land, is fifty-nine sections." And
the state law approved March 3, 1863, turning this land over to the
Normal School as an endowment, provides that when this land
should be sold the money received for said land should be invested
in stocks yielding "not less than six percentum per annum upon
the par value of said stocks."
As to Manhattan and the Agricultural College, you will recall
that this institution started with the land, buildings and equipment
of Bluemont Central College; and with a nominal public land en-
dowment of 90,000 acres, which ultimately amounted to about half
a million dollars. I do not find that Manhattan was ever called
upon to contribute directly to the support of the Agricultural Col-
lege. However, the attitude of the state legislature toward this col-
lege is shown by the following summary of early appropriations,
quoted from pages 26 and 27 of Dr. J. T. Willard's excellent History
of the Kansas State College. He says "The legislature of 1863
made no appropriation whatever for the College; that of 1864 ap-
propriated $2,700 for salaries 'for the years . . . 1863 and
1864,' $125 for insurance of buildings, library, and apparatus, and
$60 for lightning rods. In 1865, $125 was appropriated for insur-
ance, and $3,200 for salaries and 200 copies of the catalogue. In
1866 the appropriations were: $125 for insurance, and $60 for light-
ning rods; $4,000 for current expenses, contingent on its receipt in
income from the investment of the land endowment funds ; and pro-
vision was made for state bonds to the extent of $5,500, which it
was expected would be repaid by income from the endowment to
be received in the future. These bonds were to cover arrearages
and the current expenses for 1866."
After discussing the appropriation by the legislature of 1867, Dr.
Willard notes the following interesting provision: "Besides the
sums thus definitely allowed [for buildings, fences, insurance, etc.],
$5,200 was provided for salaries 'to be taken and deemed a loan
from the State of Kansas to the State Agricultural College, to be
reimbursed to the State after the State shall have been reimbursed
for the $5,500 lent to said college for the year 1866'."
THE NEW DAY AND THE NEW PRESIDENTS OF THESE SCHOOLS
Possibly I should have limited this paper to the early history of
these three schools. But one reason why I chose this subject was
rather to note, though briefly, the reason, or justification, for these
schools in our day, when one of the great problems with which we
THE ANNUAL MEETING 107
are confronted is that of making democracy safe for the world. Our
boys have done their full share of winning the war, and thus mak-
ing the world safe for democracy. Are these three Kansas state
schools, supported as they are largely by the national and state
governments, doing their full share in winning a permanent peace
and in making democracy safe for the world? Our recent experi-
ence with Germany and with Japan has made us, as never before,
conscious of the great importance of education in matters of gov-
ernment, peace and prosperity, or of a world at war.
Thoughtful students of our American institutions have noted that
the time has come when, more than ever before, in our new indus-
trial society and in our new world relations, we must have more well
trained leaders in our political and governmental affairs if our de-
mocracy is to survive and if the new world is to live in peace. These
students also note that it is in our colleges that the men and women
are being trained who will be the leaders of our new world. Every
college student, from the very fact that he has attended college,
becomes for life a leader either a positive leader for the better
things, or a negative leader as an educated man who refuses to
work in the church or other community enterprises or to take an
active, helpful part in political parties, elections and government
as not being worthy of his best efforts.
Students of our college policies also note that the tendency
of our state schools has been more and more to devote themselves
to training men and women in the art of making a living more
easily, of becoming more and more efficient in their technical edu-
cation. And now the question is being raised whether the time has
definitely come when these schools, supported largely by state and
nation, should devote more attention and effort specifically to train-
ing their students, the leaders in our democracy, in much better and
more thorough understanding of our history, our government, and
our world relations. In this connection, training and leadership are
also imperative in the matter of the spirit and attitude and moral
responsibility toward society and government.
Our State Board of Regents, charged as it is with fixing the broad
general policies of our state educational institutions, has recently
selected a new leader for each of these three schools. (This part of
this paper was written some months ago.) In each case they chose
not a strictly professional educator, trained simply in the older
tradition of the schoolmen, but in each case they chose a younger
man with a viewpoint from the outside, practical, business world of
108 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
real life; apparently with the idea of re-orienting or re-directing in
part the function, the purpose or objective of these schools. In
doing this they selected in each case a man from the Middle West,
in fact from Kansas. Each of these new leaders had been born in
Kansas and had received his undergraduate training in Kansas
schools.
In the case of the University, they chose as chancellor, Deane
Malott, a graduate of the University over which he was now called
to preside. In the case of Kansas State College at Manhattan, they
chose Milton Eisenhower, a graduate of that institution. And in
the case of the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia they
chose James Price, also a graduate of the Kansas State College at
Manhattan. Each comes to the leadership of his school as a young
man, with a considerable business and world- wide experience in
addition to his scholastic training and educational preparation.
Deane W. Malott, at the age of forty-one, assumed the duties of
chancellor of the University of Kansas, July 1, 1939. Milton S.
Eisenhower became president of Kansas State College July 1, 1943,
at the age of forty-three. And in 1943 James F. Price was elected,
at the age of thirty-six, to the presidency of the Kansas State
Teachers College of Emporia.
AND WHO WERE THESE NEW LEADERS?
Deane W. Malott was born in Abilene, where he received his
public school education. He received his A. B. degree from the
University of Kansas in 1921, and his M. B. A. degree from the
Harvard school of business administration in 1923. He served as
assistant dean of this school from 1923 to 1929, when he was elected
vice-president of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company of Honolulu.
He served in this capacity till 1933, when he returned to Harvard
as associate professor and where he inaugurated a course in agricul-
tural industry. While a student at the University of Kansas he was
a member of many organizations, including Beta Theta Pi, Delta
Sigma Rho, Alpha Kappa Psi, the glee club, the dramatic club, etc.
In 1939, he was called back to his alma mater as chancellor of the
University of Kansas. The presidents of the other four state schools
have all been appointed since that year, 1939.
Milton S. Eisenhower was born September 15, 1899, also in Abi-
lene, and in the schools of this town he also received his public
school education. He was graduated from the Kansas State Col-
lege in 1924 with a bachelor of science degree in industrial journal-
THE ANNUAL MEETING 109
ism. He was on the college staff in 1923-1924, until he resigned to
become American vice-consul at Edinburgh, Scotland. In May,
1926, he entered the career service of the federal government and
two months later became assistant to Secretary of Agriculture Wil-
liam M. Jardine. He became director of information of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture in December, 1928.
In 1938, at the request of Sec. Henry A. Wallace, Mr. Eisenhower
became coordinator of the land-use programs of the Department of
Agriculture, continuing also as director of information until Jan-
uary, 1941, when he resigned the latter position. In March, 1942,
he was appointed by President Roosevelt to direct the War Reloca-
tion Authority; he organized and directed the relocation of Japa-
nese-Americans evacuated from the Pacific coast. As soon as the
Japanese-American evacuation was organized and under way, the
President appointed Mr. Eisenhower associate director of the Of-
fice of War Information. In December, 1942, shortly after the Al-
lied invasion of North Africa, President Roosevelt sent Mr. Eisen-
hower on a special mission to study refugee relief and relocation
problems in Algeria and Morocco. Mr. Eisenhower resigned his
position as associate director of the OWI on June 30, 1943, to be-
come president of the Kansas State College at Manhattan.
James F. Price was born in Manhattan, May 28, 1906, where he
received his public school education. He completed the four-year
work in high school in three years. While doing this, he played on
the high school football and basketball teams, was a member of the
glee club, debate team, and dramatics; and he made a record grade
of straight A's in every subject he took in high school. He spent
his freshman year at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, where he
held the Dudley Perkins scholarship, with the highest stipend this
school offered. His sophomore and junior years were spent at Kan-
sas State College, where he played on the varsity football and bas-
ketball teams, was a member of the glee club and the debate team,
and took the leading part in a college operetta. During his senior
year he was a student on the University Afloat, where he spent the
college year studying and traveling around the world under well-
guided direction. He served as president of the student body during
the year. This gave him unusual contacts at the ports of the nations
they visited all around the world. It also gave him valuable ad-
ministrative experience.
Mr. Price was graduated from Kansas State College in 1927, "with
honors," and was elected to the all-school honor scholarship society
110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of Phi Kappa Phi, as well as to other honorary societies, including
Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Kappa Delta, Alpha Kappa Psi, the "K" fra-
ternity and Purple Mask. Later, as a student at Stanford Univer-
sity, he was also elected to the law fraternity Delta Theta Pi and
to the national educational fraternity Phi Delta Kappa. He spent
the summer of 1927 studying at the University of Paris and traveling
in Europe. He was in Paris the night Charles A. Lindbergh dropped
out of the sky.
After having been graduated from Kansas State College, Mr. Price
spent three years in the graduate school of law at Stanford Univer-
sity in California, receiving the LL. B. degree in 1930. He was ad-
mitted to the bar for the practice of law in California and Kansas.
He was at once employed as legal adviser for a group of American
and English financiers in Shanghai, China, where he lived for nearly
three years. Here he was admitted to the practice of law in China.
He was in Shanghai when Japan dropped bombs on a part of that
city in 1931. Next, Mr. Price held a partnership seat on the New
York Stock Exchange for two years. During this time he also held
seats on the Cotton Exchange and on the Wheat Exchange. He
then returned to Stanford University for another graduate year of
study in law, and was awarded the master of laws degree in 1937.
During his period of work in Stanford University, Mr. Price also
worked in cooperation with the school of education of that insti-
tution.
Meanwhile, Mr. Price was elected head of the department of
business and social studies of Menlo Junior College, and instructor
in law in the night school of the University of San Francisco school
of law. Two years later he was elected professor of law on the
regular faculty of the University of San Francisco school of law.
Then in the spring of 1941 he was elected dean of the school of law
of Washburn Municipal University of Topeka. And in 1942 he was
drafted to serve as director-secretary of the Kansas Industrial De-
velopment Commission. This commission plans to make Kansas
the cross-roads of the airways of the nation as well as of automobile
travel. The commission carries as its slogan: "Kansas Where
East Meets West, and Farm Meets Factory." Finally, in the spring
of 1943 the State Board of Regents selected Mr. Price as president
of the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, and he entered
on the duties of this office July 1 of that year.
These three younger leaders of these three state schools imme-
diately developed a fine spirit of cooperation in working together
THE ANNUAL MEETING 111
for improved team work in the three schools for the state and for
the nation. Time does not permit any elaborate discussion of their
work, but we might note specifically that at the University, under
Chancellor Malott, a new course in Western civilization goes into
operation this year, training for world understanding. The Uni-
versity is also inaugurating a new course of lectures on America
at Peace.
At Kansas State College, under President Eisenhower, four new
comprehensive courses go into effect this year. One of these is
Man's Physical World. Another is Biology in Relation to Man.
One eight-hour course is Man and the Cultural World. And the
fourth is an eight-hour course of study in Man and the Social
World. In addition to these, there is a $200,000 endowment at the
Kansas State College especially for the teaching of American citizen-
ship. This endowed Institute of American Citizenship also goes
into operation this year. Also this year the students of Kansas
State, under the guidance of Prof. A. Bower Sageser, and with strong
outside lecturers to help, are organized in study groups of the In-
ternational Security Assembly to understand better the world in
which we live.
At the State Teachers College of Emporia, under the leadership
of President Price and Dean Robert Bush, and after long and
thorough consideration by the whole faculty, it was agreed that in
all of their courses and in all of their teaching there should be a more
conscious effort in the spirit and direction of preparation for better
home and family life, and for better leadership in government.
Also, during President Price's second year of leadership, the
Teachers College developed a new plan of radio classroom educa-
tion for the rural and elementary schools of the state. This new
step in education, directed from the Teachers College at Emporia,
also has gone into operation this year, under the special direction
of Prof. Russell Porter and in cooperation with the State Board of
Education and the Kansas state radio network. This new step for-
ward in public school education gives promise of greatly improved
interest, method, and content in all rural and elementary schools of
the state. Once more, Kansas takes the lead.
On account of his wife's health, President Price found it necessary
to move his family to Colorado. So he resigned the presidency of
the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, effective July 1,
1945. He most sincerely regretted that he was not able to remain
in Kansas to carry on the plans he was developing here. Mr. Price
112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
was at once appointed by the University of Denver as dean of the
school of law, of the school of commerce, accounts and finance, and
director of public administration.
The Board of Regents then elected David L. MacFarlane as the
new president of the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia,
effective July 1, 1945. Mr. MacFarlane was born in Scotland, but
when he was five years old his parents brought him to America and
they settled in Massachusetts. Mr. MacFarlane received his B. A.
degree from Northwestern University in 1916, his degree of bachelor
of sacred theology at Garrett Theological Institute at Northwest-
ern University in 1917, and his Ph. D. degree from Edinburgh Uni-
versity of Scotland in 1931. Meanwhile he entered the ministry of
the Methodist church. In 1922 he became head of the department
of history and government at Southwestern College, Winfield. In
1935 he became a member of the history department of the Kansas
State Teachers College of Emporia, and the next year was made
dean of men at that institution. In 1943 he was drafted temporarily
nom this position to become chairman of the Kansas Board of So-
cial Welfare. And in 1945 he returned to the Teachers College as
its president.
Thus ended the period when each of the five Kansas state schools
had as its president a man who had been born in Kansas.
SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES OF INTEREST IN CONNECTION WITH THESE
THREE KANSAS STATE SCHOOLS
You will recall that Kansas had more constitutional conventions
than any other state that ever entered the union four of them. It
is interesting to note that in the first of the constitutions, prepared
by the Free-State men at Topeka in 1855, it was provided that "The
general assembly may take measures for the establishment of a uni-
versity . . . for the promotion of literature, the arts, science,
medical and agricultural instruction." And this same constitution
also stated that "Provision may be made by law for the support of
normal schools."
The University of Kansas was the first state university in the
great plains region. It was co-educational (largely because of finan-
cial limitations) and was the third state university in the nation
and one of the first institutions of higher learning to become co-
educational.
The law creating our university was copied largely from a similar
law in Michigan. This provided for the office of a chancellor. Kan-
sas did not quite know just what the duties of this office were. The
THE ANNUAL MEETING 113
first chancellor, the Rev. R. W. Oliver, did not do any teaching, in
fact was not a member of the faculty, but served as president of
the Board of Regents, and drew no salary as chancellor.
The first University faculty consisted of three young men, E. J.
Rice who later became president of Baker University; D. H. Rob-
inson, who became the first dean of the state University; and F. H.
Snow, who served as chancellor of the University from 1890 to 1901.
In the beginning most of the students of these three state schools
were below college grade. There were few high schools in Kansas
to prepare students for college work. All three of these schools
had preparatory departments for, many years. The University, for
example, discontinued its preparatory department in 1891. When
the University opened its first session September 12, 1866, there
were 55 students, 26 women and 29 men, all in the preparatory
department. They met in old North College.
The State Normal School opened February 15, 1865, with only
one member on its faculty and with eighteen students, all below the
college level. They met in one of the public school buildings of
Emporia in a room equipped with borrowed furniture.
Kansas State College was the first of these three state schools
to open, it being practically the continuation of Bluemont Central
College. Its first catalogue, that for the year 1863-1864, gives the
names of 94 students in the preparatory department and fourteen
in the college proper, with six teachers on the faculty. In fact,
Kansas State College claims to be the third institution of higher
learning in the state. St. Mary's College claims to be the first, and
Baker University the second. Three attempts were made at Law-
rence to found a college before the University got started: one by
the Presbyterian church, one by the Congregational church and one
by the Episcopal church.
The University and the Normal School each graduated its first
class in 1873, and each had four students in its first class.
In the early years of the Agricultural College both Greek and
Latin were taught in this institution. It was the Rev. John A. An-
derson, who served as president from 1873 to 1879, when he re-
signed to enter congress, who was one of the leaders in transform-
ing the college at Manhattan from a classical to what was more
emphatically an agricultural and industrial institution. This change
was considered as nothing less than revolutionary in that day.
At first every student attending the State Normal School was
81863
114 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
required to sign a pledge that his purpose in attending was to fit
himself to become a teacher. This pledge was discontinued in 1901.
For many years each representative in the state legislature could
select one student from his district to attend the State Normal
School for twenty -two weeks, tuition free. The student was to re-
ceive a teacher's certificate on completion of the twenty-two weeks.
The school at Lawrence has always been called the University of
Kansas. The school at Manhattan was at first designated as the
Kansas State Agricultural College, but by an act of the legislature,
approved March 5, 1931, the name was changed to the Kansas State
College of Agriculture and Applied Science. By another act of the
legislature approved a few days later, in 1931, the Kansas State
Teachers College of Hays was renamed the Fort Hays Kansas State
College. At first the school at Emporia was called the Kansas State
Normal School, but in 1923 the name of this institution was changed
to the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia. And this same
year, 1923, the institution that had been started at Pittsburg in 1903
as the Kansas State Manual Training Normal School was changed
to the Kansas State Teachers College at Pittsburg.
In 1876 the Concordia State Normal School and the Leavenworth
State Normal School were to cease to be state institutions. It was
in this connection that the legislature also declared that the appro-
priation of 1876 would be the last ever to be made to the Normal
School at Emporia.
In 1900 congress gave the Fort Hays military reservation to Kan-
sas for educational purposes, and in 1901 the legislature gave 4,000
acres of the reservation for a western branch of the State Normal
School.
By 1891-1892 the Normal School at Emporia had 1,404 students
enrolled, and was claimed to be "the largest normal in the United
States." In 1925, notwithstanding the establishment of the schools
at Pittsburg and at Hays, the Normal at Emporia was still the
third largest.
As early as 1891 there was a beginning of a summer school at the
Normal. In 1901 the legislature made its first specific appropria-
tion for this summer school in the amount of $10,000. By 1908,
practically the entire faculty had to be retained for the summer
school. The University and the Agricultural College also started
their summer schools at the beginning of the century.
At the University a school of religion was established in 1921.
"This was one of the first to be established in a state school.
THE ANNUAL MEETING 115
It now ranks as a major department of the University." University
credit, not to exceed six hours, is allowed for work done here. The
Rev. Edwin F. Price is now dean of this school, and between 300 and
400 students are annually enrolled. The six different churches in
Lawrence assume all the expense of this school. At the Kansas State
College the Methodist church and the Presbyterian church has each
had for many years an assistant pastor in charge of the student
work at this institution. A definite movement is on foot both at
Lawrence and at Manhattan to erect a chapel building on the cam-
pus of each school.
To all this, I have attached the names and terms of those who
have served as the chief executives of these three Kansas state col-
leges. They are as follows:
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Rev. R. W. Oliver* 1865-1867
Gen. John Fraser 1867-1875
James Marvin 1875-1883
Joshua A. Lippincott 1883-1889
W. C. Spangler, acting 1889-1890
Francis H. Snow 1890-1901
W. C. Spangler, acting 1901-1902
Frank Strong 1902^1920
Ernest H. Lindley 1920-1939
Deane W. Malott 1939-
PRESIDENT OF THE KANSAS STATE COLLEGE
Rev. Joseph Denisonf 1863-1873
Rev. John A. Anderson 1873-1879
George T. Fairchild 1879-1897
Thomas Elmer Will.. 1897-1899
Ernest R. Nichols 1899-1909
Henry Jackson Waters 1909-1917
J. T. Willard, acting 1918
William M. Jardine 1918-1925
Francis David Farrell 1925-1943
Milton S. Eisenhower 1943-
PRESIDENT OF THE KANSAS STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE OF EMPORIA
Lyman B. KelloggJ 1865-1871
George W. Hoss 1871-1873
C. R. Pomeroy 1874-1879
R. B. Welch 1879-1882
Albert R. Taylor 1882-1901
Jasper N. Wilkenson 1901-1906
Joseph R. Hill 1906-1913
* Not a member of the faculty.
t Had been prominently connected with Bluemont Central College.
t Principal.
116
KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Thomas Walter Butcher 1913-1943
James Francis Price 1943-1945
David L. MacFarlane 1945-
Following the address of the president the report of the com-
mittee on nominations was then called for:
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORS
To the Kansas State Historical Society: OCTOBER 16, 1945.
Your committee on nominations submits the following report and recom-
mendations for directors of the Society for the term of three years ending
October, 1948:
Bailey, Roy F., Salina.
Beezley, George F., Girard.
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola.
Brinkerhoff, Fred W., Pittsburg.
Browne, Charles H., Horton.
Cron, F. H., El Dorado.
Ebright, Homer K., Baldwin.
Embree, Mrs. Mary, Topeka.
Gray, John M., Kirwin.
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit.
Hardesty, Mrs. Frank, Merriam.
Harger, Charles M., Abilene.
Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove.
Long, Richard M., Wichita.
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka.
Malone, James, Topeka.
Mechem, Kirke, Topeka.
Philip, Mrs. W. D., Hays.
Rankin, Robert C., Lawrence.
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell.
Sayers, Wm. L., Hill City.
Schulte, Paul C., Leavenworth.
Simons, W. C., Lawrence.
Skinner, Alton H., Kansas City.
Stanley, W. E., Wichita.
Stone, John R., Topeka.
Stone, Robert, Topeka.
Taft, Robert, Lawrence.
Templar, George, Arkansas City.
Trembly, W. B., Kansas City.
Walker, B. P, Topeka.
Woodring, Harry H., Topeka.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN S. DAWSON, Chairman.
Upon motion by John S. Dawson, seconded by John F. Doane, the
report of the committee was accepted unanimously and the mem-
bers of the board were declared elected for the term ending Oc-
tober, 1948.
The annual report of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical So-
ciety was given by its president, Mrs. C. V. Scoville.
There being no further business the annual meeting of the Society
adjourned.
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The afternoon meeting of the board of directors was called to or-
der by President Price, who asked for a rereading of the report of
the nominating committee for officers of the Society. The report
was read by John S. Dawson, chairman, who moved that it be ac-
cepted. Motion was seconded by Frank A. Hobble and the follow-
ing were unanimously elected :
For a one-year term: Jess C. Denious, Dodge City, president;
Milton R. McLean, Topeka, first vice-president; Robert T. Aitchi-
son, Wichita, second vice-president.
THE ANNUAL MEETING
117
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
DIRECTORS OF THE KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
AS OF OCTOBER, 1945
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1946
Barr, Frank, Wichita.
Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland.
Brigham, Mrs. Lalla M., Council
Grove.
Brock, R. F., Goodland.
Bumgardner, Edward, Lawrence.
Correll, Charles M., Manhattan.
Davis, W. W., Lawrence.
Denious, Jess C., Dodge City.
Fay, Mrs. Mamie Axline, Pratt.
Frizell, E. E., Larned.
Godsey, Mrs. Flora R., Emporia.
Hall, Mrs. Carrie A., Leavenworth.
Hall, Standish, Wichita.
Hegler, Ben F., Wichita.
Jones, Horace, Lyons.
Lillard, T. M., Topeka.
Lindsley, H. K., Wichita.
Means, Hugh, Lawrence.
Oliver, Hannah P., Lawrence.
Owen, Dr. Arthur K., Topeka.
Owen, Mrs. Lena V. M., Lawrence.
Patrick, Mrs. Mae C., Satanta.
Payne, Mrs. L. F., Manhattan.
Reed, Clyde M., Parsons.
Riegle, Wilford, Emporia.
fc Rupp, Mrs. Jane C., Lincolnville.
Schultz, Floyd B., Clay Center.
Sloan, E. R., Topeka.
Stewart, Mrs. James G., Topeka.
Van De Mark, M. V. B., Concordia.
Wark, George H., Caney.
Wheeler, Mrs. Bennett R., Topeka.
Wooster, Lorraine E., Salina.
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1947
Aitchison, R. T., Wichita.
Anthony, D. R., Leavcnworth.
Baugher, Charles A., Ellis.
Beck, Will T., Holton.
Capper, Arthur, Topeka.
Carson, F. L., Wichita.
Chambers, Lloyd, Wichita.
Dawson, John S., Hill City.
Durkee, Charles C., Kansas City.
Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland.
Hobble, Frank A., Dodge City.
Hogin, John C., Belleville.
Hunt, Charles L., Concordia.
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville.
Lilleston, W. F., Wichita.
McLean, Milton R., Topeka.
Malin, James C., Lawrence.
Miller, Karl, Dodge City.
Moore, Russell, Wichita.
Price, Ralph R., Manhattan.
Raynesford, H. C., Ellis.
Redmond, John, Burlington.
Russell, W. J., Topeka.
Shaw, Joseph C., Topeka.
Smith, William E., Wamego.
Solander, Mrs. T. T., Osawatomie.
Somers, John G., Newton.
Stewart, Donald, Independence.
Thomas, E. A., Topeka.
Thompson, W. F., Topeka.
Van Tuyl, Mrs. Erne H., Leavenworth.
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton.
Wilson, John H., Salina.
DIRECTORS FOR YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1948
Bailey, Roy F., Salina.
Beezley, George F., Girard.
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola.
Brinkerhoff, Fred W., Pittsburg.
Browne, Charles H., Horton.
Cron, F. H., El Dorado.
Ebright, Homer K., Baldwin.
Embree, Mrs. Mary, Topeka.
Gray, John M., Kirwin.
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit.
Hardesty, Mrs. Frank, Merriam.
Harger, Charles M., Abilene.
Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove.
Long, Richard M., Wichita.
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka.
Malone, James, Topeka.
Mechem, Kirke, Topeka.
Philip, Mrs. W. D, Hays.
Rankin, Robert C., Lawrence.
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell.
Sayers, Wm. L., Hill City.
Schulte, Paul C., Leavenworth.
Simons, W. C., Lawrence.
Skinner, Alton H., Kansas City.
Stanley, W. E., Wichita.
Stone, John R., Topeka.
Stone, Robert, Topeka.
Taft, Robert, Lawrence.
Templar, George, Arkansas City.
Trembly, W. B., Kansas City.
Walker, B. P., Topeka.
Woodring, Harry H., Topeka.
Bypaths of Kansas History
IT WAS EVER THUS !
From the White Cloud Kansas Chiej, January 6, 1859.
We understand that, at the Iowa Point Ball, last week, several young gentle-
men and ladies, in dancing a Schottische, tried which one could out-dance the
others. One young man keeled over, and came very near "kicking the bucket" ;
and, we understand, has been laid up ever since. How many deaths are caused
by such foolishness in dancing?
A MAIL CONTRACT
The following letter, probably written about 1860, was lent to the
Historical Society for copying by Mrs. Evelyn Whitney of Topeka,
a granddaughter of J. B. Whitaker.
FRIEND WHITTAKER
Dear Sir-
In regard to the proposed carrying of the mail I came up to see you a
while ago Not having heard any thing from you I knew not your inten-
tion. But aside from that it becomes necessary for me to explain that the
exigencies of the case today obliged me to close an arrangement for carrying
the same until 1st July next with the person who has lately been on the
route He & Pardee [or Pardu?] had a falling out and both mails were
likely to be greatly retarded this week I finally made an arrangement by
which he is to put on the route to Fort Riley a two horse passenger hack,
and gives me & my wife the privilege of riding therein to Fort Riley or up
country occasionally, free of expense This I supposed was better than you
would do But I had to close it today I trust you will excuse me for not
finding you sooner
Yours truly
E. HOOGLAND
SALUTE FOR KANSAS
From the Washington (D. C.) Evening Star, February 2, 1861.
At noon, today, a national salute was fired at the Columbian armory, in
honor of the admission of Kansas into the union. The noise of the firing
caused much inquiry upon the streets as to the occasion of it. The salute was
fired by Lieut. Fry's company of light artillery now quartered in Dr. Lawson's
house, first ward. As the troops rode through the streets, large crowds flocked
from all quarters to see them, and followed to the armory grounds. The
thoroughgoing military appearance of the soldiers was the subject of admiring
comment by all who witnessed the turn-out.
(118)
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 119
THE OLD TIME RELIGION
From The Congregational Record, Lawrence, July, 1861, p. 56.
Western ministers, in log school-houses, sometimes have their solemnity
rather hard pressed. One of them gives ns the following bit of experience in
this line:
"Imagine, for instance, a huge rat coming out from a hole in the desk
floor, and running up to my feet, so that I have to kick at him and frighten
him away. Think of this same rat taking a circuit of the front of the
desk floor, and being caught sight of by a little dog, who starts for him, just
loses his game in the hole, and sets up a bark, right in the midst of the ser-
mon, and just too far away to be reached by my foot!"
From the Hope Dispatch, November 12, 1886.
The Methodist folks have tacked cards on the walls of their church calling
attention to the fact that you are not expected to spit on the walls of the
building or throw nut hulls around promiscuously. They intend to break up
this practice if it takes all winter.
GENERAL SHERMAN A KANSAS BOOSTER
From the Ford County Globe, Dodge City, October 28, 1879.
On the return trip of the presidential party from its Kansas visit, General
Sherman addressed a multitude at the Illinois state fair at Springfield. Here
is his reference to Kansas:
"When out on the plains where the Indians were but yesterday, where the
buffalo roamed, and the elk and the antelope found a home, it appeared to
us that it would be proper for us to say words of cheer to the brave soldiers
and to the men who went to that land and made fields of corn and wheat,
and made the earth to blossom. To them we felt willing to say words of
cheer and words of praise, because they had made those prairies to blossom
as a rose. You in Illinois found when you were born a country partially
cultivated, and you have gone on doing what your fathers did, and I hope
you will go on to the end of time. [Cheers.] But you don't hold a candle
to those fellows out there in Kansas. [Laughter and cheers.] Whenever you
get too much crowded in this state, I want the president to tell you that there
is plenty of room in Kansas for 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 more. We found 1,000,000
of brave and hardy people out there, and not a single man, woman or child
complaining. Every one swears that he is living in the very beet county in
the very best state in the union, and that he has the best farm in the country.
[Laughter and cheers.] There is not a discontented soul in Kansas. [Laugh-
ter and cheers.] They had plenty of cornbread to eat and plenty of beef,
and all of them worked hard."
120 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
DODGE CITY HUNTING PARTY OF 1879
From the Dodge City Times, November 29, 1879.
The hunting party, consisting of Mayor J. H. Kelley, A. B. Webster, Samuel
Marshall, Jim Anderson and George Sullivan, which left here on the 16th,
returned Tuesday evening, having been absent ten days. The party had an
adventurous trip. They killed a bear, a panther, a coon, three deer, 40 turkeys,
and severely punished a demijohn. The first day's drive brought them to the
ranch of John Glenn, 27 miles out, on Bluff creek. Here they were finely en-
tertained by Mr. Glenn. The next night found them at Red Clark's ranch on
the Cimarron. Red entertained his guests in his usual happy style. The third
night found them at Ft. Supply; their teams, by order of the commanding
officer, were put in charge of Mr. Stewart; while the party were taken possession
of by the entire fort and right royally entertained by officers and men. . . .
Some of the incidents of the trip were full of interest. The party went out 40
miles east of Supply. Their first day's hunt was on Oak creek. Mr. Webster
shot a turkey, and Mr. Sullivan killed a coon. In the afternoon Mess. Marshall
and Sullivan went to find the deer Sullivan reported he had killed. On the
way Marshall espied a coon in a tree ; and of course he promptly brought down
that coon, which to his surprise was cold. Sullivan said all the coons in that
country were cold coons, whether dead or alive. The coon had been killed
with a club and showed no marks of shot. Web put the coon in the tree, and
he declares he is even on those "decoy ducks" which Sam set in the Arkansas
river last summer. The coon hunt enlivened the hunters' camp after supper,
and yet is a subject spoken of.
Kelley 's exploit with a bear is told with a gusto. He was hunting quail and
his gun was loaded with small shot. He found a bear cub in the jungle. He
shot that bear, but his fowling piece might just as well have been loaded with
salt. The bear was shot all over, and yet he didn't die. Kelley had a desperate
encounter with this cub, and lashed with the butt end of his gun, and yet the
bear wouldn't die. The bear and Kelley embraced; and wouldn't let go until
Jim Anderson and his dog "Cute" came to the rescue. "Cute" is a very small
dog, but he is heavy on bear cubs.
The last camp made before reaching Supply on their return was made under
a tree, a few feet from an Indian burying ground. As the party was preparing
for a night's rest an owl set up a terrible screech. This was the signal of dis-
tress. The owl watched over the graves as he does a prairie dog village. Some
members of the party thought the camp was haunted. One of the number
declared he saw the ghost of Tecumseh. Another commanded silence, while
there appeared weird spirits, flashing tomahawks, and hoop-las; and in the
profound wonder and silence which followed, the screech was declared to be
that of a cayote; but it was an owl, and you can't get Jim Anderson to sleep
on an Indian grave any more. He says they were good Indians, because they
were dead Indians.
The owl, the coon, the bear, and the Indian graves furnished the party with
a fund of merriment. At one camp they were mistaken for the President and
his party, as invitations had been given to His Excellency to visit the camp;
but when the lady found they were a party of hunters from Dodge, she thought
her calico wrapper was good enough to receive them in. We have told the
story about as it was related to us, and drew very little on the imagination.
The facts are there.
Kansas History as Published in the Press
Biographical information on Lucy Hobbs Taylor, "The First
Woman Dentist," written by Dr. Edward Bumgardner of Law-
rence, was published in Oral Hygiene, of Pittsburgh, Pa., in the
May, 1943, issue. Mrs. Taylor, who was born in New York, was
a resident of Lawrence from 1867 until her death in 1910. Dr.
Bumgardner has given Mrs. Taylor's diploma and a manuscript
copy of the article to the Kansas State Historical Society.
An article on the founding^ of Colby marking the sixtieth anni-
versary of the city was printed in the Colby Free Press-Tribune,
April 11, 1945.
A three-column sketch of the life of Charles J. "Buffalo" Jones,
southwest Kansas townsite promoter and rancher of the 1880's,
appeared in the Hutchinson News-Herald, April 29, 1945. The
story, written by Henry L. Carey, describes Jones' experiments in
cross-breeding buffalo and cattle.
Increased coal production was the theme of the "Seventeenth
Annual Coal Edition" of the Pittsburg Headlight, September 24,
1945, and the Pittsburg Sun, September 25. Stories of the work at
the various mines and pictures of some of the buildings and equip-
ment were featured.
The history of the First Congregational Church of Topeka,
founded October 14, 1855, was sketched by Russell K. Hickman for
the Topeka Daily Capital, October 12, 1945.
John G. Whittier's interest in "the prairies of the West and in
the life of the peoples who dwelt on them" is the subject of a com-
prehensive study by Miss Cora Dolbee of Lawrence, being printed
currently in The Essex Institute Historical Collections, of Salem,
Mass. Publication of the paper, entitled "Kansas and 'the Prairied
West' of John G. Whittier," commenced in the October, 1945, issue
and is scheduled to be concluded in the April, 1946, number. Miss
Dolbee is a member of the library staff of the University of Kansas.
The names of more than 3,200 men who served in the armed
forces from Butler county were featured in a thirty-four page
"Home Front" edition issued by the El Dorado Times, October 23,
1945. Of these, 148 lost their lives.
(121)
122 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Parsons honored the M.-K.-T. railroad with a special week of
celebration October 29 to November 3, 1945, in observance of the
"Katy's" diamond anniversary. The Parsons Sun of October 27
printed an M.-K.-T. edition replete with pictures and stories illus-
trating the early history of the railroad and the city.
A picture of the remains of a pre-Civil war government building
on the Plaza at Fort Scott after damage caused by a recent fire ap-
peared in the November 20, 1945, issue of the Fort Scott Tribune.
The east half of the structure is being razed. The west side was
only slightly damaged.
A fiftieth anniversary edition of 112 pages was published by the
Burlington Daily Republican, December 10, 1945. The issue fea-
tures historical articles dealing with many phases of early-day com-
munity life in Burlington and Coffey county and also contains a
list of 1,460 men and women of the county who served in the armed
forces in World War II. John Redmond has been editor and pub-
lisher of Burlington newspapers since the late 1890's. Feature arti-
cles dealt with the laying out of the Burlington townsite in 1857,
the arrival of the first railroad train over the Missouri, Kansas and
Texas railroad in 1870, the casting of ballots by four Ottumwa
women for a presidential candidate in 1868, Western Christian
University at Ottumwa, the hotly- contested elections for the county
seat, and the Burlington battery of the Kansas National Guard.
The diary of Charles Puffer for 1858 also appears in this anniver-
sary edition.
The stories of two Kansas families have been sketched in the
"Series of Old Time Carson County Pioneer Families" printed in
current issues of the Panhandle (Tex.) Herald. The Robert W.
Ware family of Severance was featured in the issue of December
14, 1945, and the George W. Garretson family of Robinson, Decem-
ber 21.
The Dodge City Journal reached another milestone with the pub-
lication of its issue of December 27, 1945. Founded under the name
of the Dodge City Democrat, the newspaper was launched in 1883.
W. F. Petition was listed as the first business manager. Joseph G.
Berkely and Herbert N. Etrick are editors and publishers of the
Journal. The anniversary number carried several early-day Dodge
City views.
KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 123
An article on Howard R. Barnard and Entre Nous school which
he established in Rush county in the early 1900's, by Leota Motz,
appeared in the Hays Daily News, December 23, 1945. Barnard,
now 83 years old, is librarian of the La Crosse city library.
The Fredonia Daily Herald issued a ninety-six page edition De-
cember 24, 1945, featuring news and pictures of hundreds of the
men and women from Fredonia and vicinity who served in the armed
forces.
Kansas Historical Notes
The fourth annual "Pioneer Mixer" of the Clark County His-
torical Society was held in Ashland, October 20, 1945. The society's
newly-elected officers are: John E. Stephens, president; Mrs. Ethel
Gardiner Wilson, vice-president;. Mrs. Effie Walden Smith, first
honorary vice-president; Mrs. Ruth Clark Mull, second honorary
vice-president; Mrs. Melville Campbell Harper, recording secre-
tary; Mrs. Lillie Skelton Nunemacher, corresponding secretary;
Sidney E. Grimes, treasurer; Sherman G. Ihde, auditor; Mrs. Dor-
othy Berryman Shrewder, historian, and Mrs. Bertha McCreery
Gabbert, curator. The township directors for 1945-1948 are: M.
G. Stevenson, Ashland; Frank Pittman, Appleton; Miss Lena E.
Smith, Brown; Mrs. Ruth Harvey McMillion, Center; Mrs. Grace
Wright Randall, Cimarron; I. Jennison Klinger, Edwards; A. L.
Roberts, Englewood; John E. Stephens, Lexington; William J.
Weikal, Liberty; Mrs. May Seacat Jackson, Sitka, and Mrs. Ruth
Clark Mull, Vesta. Mrs. Mull was also the retiring president.
Dr. 0. P. Dellinger of Pittsburg was elected president of the
Crawford County Historical Society at the annual meeting held
October 22, 1945, at Pittsburg. Other officers elected were: Ralph
Shideler of Girard, vice-president; Mrs. C. M. Paris of Pittsburg,
recording secretary; Mrs. C. D. Gregg of McCune, corresponding
secretary, and Mrs. George Elliott of Pittsburg, treasurer. Direc-
tors named for three-year terms were: H. W. Shideler, Girard; Mrs.
L. H. Dunton, Arcadia, and Mrs. Grover Exley of Pittsburg. George
F. Beezley of Girard was the retiring president.
Two hundred persons attended the old settlers' reunion of the
Kiowa County Historical Society at Greensburg, October 27, 1945.
New officers of the society are: C. Morford, Mullinville, president;
Herbert Parkin, Greensburg, Mrs. Bruno Meyer, Haviland, and
Mrs. Sam Booth, Wilmore, vice-presidents; Mrs. Benj. 0. Weaver,
Mullinville, secretary, and Mrs. Charles T. Johnson, Greensburg,
treasurer.
The Protection Historical Society was organized November 5,
1945, at a celebration in observance of the anniversary of the found-
ing of the town. The following officers were elected : Fred Denney,
president; Claude Rowland, first vice-president; Maude Carpenter,
second vice-president; W. T. Maris, third vice-president; Nell Riner,
(124)
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 125
fourth vice-president; Pirl Baker, fifth vice-president; Blanche
Towner, recording secretary; Theo. Shrauner, corresponding secre-
tary, and Harry Large, treasurer.
Officers of the Hodgeman County Historical Society were reflected
at the annual business meeting held at Jetmore, November 9, 1945.
They are: L. W. Hubbell, president; Mrs. 0. W. Lynam, vice-
president; E. W. Harlan, secretary; Mrs. Ora L. Teed, treasurer,
and Margaret Haun Raser, historian. The directors are: E. W.
Harlan, S. H. Pitts, Ora L. Teed, L. H. Raser, Mrs. 0. W. Lynam,
Elfrieda Kenyon, Mrs. Mary E. Newport, Lee G. Jackson and L. W.
Hubbell.
Members of the Pawnee County Historical Society held their
first meeting in nearly four years November 10, 1945, at Larned.
The genesis of the public schools in Pawnee county was reviewed
by Miss Bertha Marymee, county superintendent, who said the
first school was held in a saloon. Mrs. Jessie Grove spoke on the
county's contribution to the armed forces in World War I and the
Spanish-American war. The society elected the following officers:
A. H. Lupfer, president; A. A. Doerr, first vice-president; Charles
Peterson, second vice-president; Mrs. Jessie Grove, secretary; Mrs.
Leslie Wallace, treasurer, and Miss Lois Victor, custodian. Direc-
tors chosen were: E. E. Frizell, Dr. J. A. Dillon, Mrs. A. H. Moffet,
H. L. Reed, Mrs. George Bindley and Harry Hunsley. Lists of re-
cent donations to the society, including relics, photographs, books
and documents, were published in the Larned Tiller and Toiler,
November 29 and December 27, 1945, and in the Larned Chrono-
scope, December 6 and 20.
Facts concerning the proposed marker at Lamb's Point, east of
Detroit, near the Union Pacific right-of-way and Highway 40, were
presented at the annual meeting of the Dickinson County Historical
Society held November 15, 1945, at Abilene. Officers reflected
were: Mrs. Carl Peterson of Enterprise, president; Mrs. Elsie
Rohrer of Elmo, vice-president, and Mrs. H. M. Howard of Abilene,
secretary and treasurer. The society took under advisement the
proposal of John Cregan of Chapman that the Dickinson County
Pioneers and Dickinson County Historical Society be merged.
Cregan is president of the Pioneers group.
Doris Fleeson of Washington, D. C., was the featured speaker at
the twenty-eighth annual meeting of the Native Sons and Daugh-
ters of Kansas held in Topeka, January 28, 1946. Newly-elected
126 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
officers are: Native Sons Frank Haucke, Council Grove, president;
Warren W. Shaw, Topeka, vice-president; Will T. Beck, Holton, sec-
retary; William Ljungdahl, Menlo, treasurer; Native Daughters
Mrs. John C. Nelson, Topeka, president; Mrs. C. I. Moyer, Sever-
ance, vice-president; Mrs. Kenneth McFarland, Topeka, secretary;
Miss Abbie Bellport, Abilene, treasurer. Judge Homer Hoch, To-
peka, and Mrs. W. H. von der Heiden, Newton, were the retiring
presidents.
The erection of a Peace Memorial auditorium in Manhattan was
favored four to one in a recent city-wide survey conducted by the
Riley County Historical Society.
Facts You Should Know About Kansas is the title of a 29-page
booklet by W. G. Clugston which deals largely with the political
background of the state. The booklet was issued by the Haldeman-
Julius Publications of Girard.
A 566-page biography of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Soldier
of Democracy, by Kenneth S. Davis, was recently published by
Doubleday, Doran & Company. The author describes the moving
of the Jacob Eisenhower family from Pennsylvania to Kansas, the
marriage of the general's parents in Lecompton, his birth in Texas,
and childhood and youth in Abilene. Eisenhower's military career,
beginning with West Point and World War I, was traced step by
step to his appointment as the commanding United States general in
the European theater and to his subsequent leadership in the allied
conquest of North Africa, Sicily and the all-out invasion across the
channel through France and into Germany.
Santa Fe The Railroad That Built an Empire is the title of a
465-page book by James Marshall describing the dream of Cyrus
K. Holliday of a great railroad linking the Southwest which was
fulfilled with the creation of a system extending from the Great
Lakes to the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Many pioneer
figures and Western characters of the period are mentioned as well
as the land-run to the Indian territory. The author also describes
the introduction of the diesel locomotive. An appendix shows
names of towns derived from those of officials, employees or mem-
bers of their families, and a historical list of Santa Fe trains show-
ing date of inauguration and when discontinued, if not now oper-
ating. The chronological development of the system is traced step
by step in a section comprising 54 pages.
Contributors
DR. ROBERT TAFT, of Lawrence, is professor of chemistry at the University
of Kansas and editor of the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science.
He is author of Photography and the American Scene (Macmillan, 1938), and
Across the Years On Mount Oread (University of Kansas, 1941).
GEORGE A. ROOT and RUSSELL K. HICKMAN are members of the staff of the
Kansas State Historical Society.
RALPH R. PRICE of Manhattan, president of the Kansas State Historical
Society for the year ending in October, 1945, was for thirty-nine years head of
the department of history and government at Kansas State College. He con-
tinues to teach American history and government on a part-time basis at the
college.
THE
KANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
May 1946
Published by
Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka
KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN NYLE H. MILLER
Editor Associate Editor Managing Editor
CONTENTS
PAGE
DUST STORMS : Part One, 1850-1860 James C. Malin, 129
THE PICTORIAL RECORD OF THE OLD WEST: II. W. J. Hays Robert Tajt, 145
With the following illustrations of points along the upper Mis-
souri in 1860:
Mouth of the Yellowstone, Fort Union, June 16, facing p. 144;
Fort Clark and Fort Primeau, July 14, facing p. 145 ;
Old Fort Pierre and Fort Pierre, July 18, facing p. 152 ;
Sioux City, July 20, and interior of Fort Stewart, June 22,
facing p. 153 ;
Fort Randall, July 19, inset of W. J. Hays (about 1870), fac-
ing 160, and
"The [Buffalo] Stampede" (painted in the 1860's), facing p.
161.
A HOOSIER IN KANSAS; THE DIARY OF HIRAM H. YOUNG, 1886-1895:
Part One, 1886-1889 Edited by Powell Moore, 166
RECENT ADDITIONS To THE LIBRARY,
Compiled by Helen M. McFarland, Librarian, 213
BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 233
KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 234
KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 238
The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published in February, May, August and
November by the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kan., and is dis-
tributed free to members. Correspondence concerning contributions may be
sent to the editor. The Society assumes no responsibility for statements made
by contributors.
Entered as second-class matter October 22, 1931, at the post office at Topeka,
Kan., under the act of August 24, 1912.
THE COVER
"Group of Buffalo," painted by W. J. Hays in 1860. The origi-
nal painting measures 4' 10" x 3' and is owned by the American
Museum of Natural History of New York City. (See page 164 of
this issue.) In reproducing the painting for the cover it was neces-
sary to omit some of the detail at the margins.
THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Volume XIV May, 1946 Number 2
Dust Storms
Part One,,1850-1860
JAMES C. MALJN
DUST storms are among the natural phenomena of the Great
Plains. They are a part of the economy of nature and are not
in themselves necessarily abnormal; at least, not in the sense in
which the subject was exploited during the drought decade of the
1930's. The top-soil materials of the Great Plains, in their con-
dition prior to occupation by man, were the product of natural
processes essentially continental in scope. They were derived
largely from materials carried out from the Rocky Mountain for-
mation by the water of melting glaciers, were deposited upon the
bed rock, and were wind-blown prior to their being covered by
vegetation and from time to time thereafter. Of course, no soil
blows when the surface is fully covered by vegetation. In desert
areas, under natural conditions, the vegetation was widely spaced
by reason of the scanty supply of moisture, most of the soil surface
being exposed to the action of the elements. In low rainfall areas,
not deserts, the vegetation was widely spaced, but afforded more
coverage, and as the effective moisture increased eastward the grass
assumed a bunch habit, the distance between the bunches being de-
termined by moisture, soil, topography, plant specie adaptation,
and other factors. The short grasses such as the buffalo or blue
grama closed up the spaces and formed an effective sod with a rela-
tively scant amount of moisture, while the bluestems did not change
from a bunch to a substantial sod condition until much farther
eastward and with still additional moisture.
The vigor of vegetation and its effectiveness as a soil cover was
influenced by a number of factors such as long-term weather fluc-
DH. JAMES C. MALIN, associate editor of The Kansas Historical Quarterly , is professor of
history at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. He is the author of John Brown And the
Legend of Fifty-Six (Philadelphia, The American Philosophical Society, 1942), Winter Wheat
in the Golden Belt of Kansas (University of Kansas, 1944), and other books.
(129)
130 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
tuations, prairie fires, burrowing animals, overgrazing and tramping
by wild and later domestic animals, especially during prolonged dry
periods. When the soil was exposed to the action of winds by these
factors, especially by cumulative combinations of them, dust move-
ments of varying proportions occurred. Various theories of dust
storms have been advanced and attempts made at classification ac-
cording to type characteristics, but with only a limited success.
Superficially, there are at least two kinds; one where the dust is
carried along the surface, and the other where the dust is lifted high
into the atmosphere, often several thousand feet, and carried some-
times hundreds of miles, before it is dropped at some point distant
from the place of origin. In connection with the first type, vio-
lence and persistence of the wind are conspicuous features, and the
effects may be primarily local. In the latter type, high velocity of
the wind is not necessary, the dust-lifting power being associated
with the turbulence of the air-mass and general air-mass move-
ments. Of course, sometimes both types of dust storms occur at the
same time and place and the separate characteristics are difficult
to distinguish. Air-mass analysis at high altitudes became prac-
tical and important only with the development of the airplane and
so far as the application of principles of air-mass analysis to the
dust-storm problem was concerned, only beginnings were made dur-
ing the dust period of the 1930's. So far as the condition of the
soil contributed to dust storms, theories differed; but varying em-
phasis was placed upon one or more of the following: exhaustion
of the organic or humus factor in the soil, break down of the soil
structure into separate soil particles, drying out of the soil by pro-
longed drought, and electrical phenomena. It is not the purpose
of this article to discuss these theories or to pass judgment upon
their validity, only to describe historically something of the fre-
quency, extent and intensity of recorded dust storms.
The most difficult handicaps to the historical study of dust storms
are the problems of terminology and of records. The difficulty in
terminology turns on indefiniteness of words used in newspapers,
letters, diaries, and reports describing the weather. Standardization
of terms was being established only near the end of the nineteenth
century. Sometimes references to dust blowing meant only that
the dirt of unpaved streets was disagreeable, and such an interpre-
tation was occasionally made explicit by the suggestion that the
town should buy a street sprinkler. Another kind of difficulty in
interpreting these weather descriptions was the sensitiveness of the
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 131
boomer spirit to admission of the existence of dust storms or the
ruining of crops by blowing. Furthermore, there was no quanti-
tative measure of the seriousness of the dust blowing even when
the fact was admitted. Prior to 1874 and 1879 the United States
weather service made no attempt to gather certain kinds of weather
data. In the former year systematic collection of data began on
prairie fires, droughts (30 successive days without more than 0.25
inches) , and electrical phenomena. In the latter year in June, the
reporting of dust and sand storms began. Evidently these inno-
vations were in response to a demand growing out of the severe
and prolonged drought period beginning in 1873, and belated addi-
tion of dust and sand storms in 1879 was evidence in itself of the
widespread prevalence of that kind of phenomena even if the his-
torian did not have other evidence. These reports on dust storms
were not printed for the years 1890-1894 inclusive, but were re-
sumed in a different form in 1895.
The formal weather records present their difficulties, for the
earlier years, because competent observers were not obtainable for
all stations, and there were not enough stations in operation to pro-
vide an adequate coverage. The full-fledged federal weather ser-
vice really was being set up for the first time in the reorganizations
beginning in 1887, the service not being effected in some states until
later. In was only after these dates that uniform data were avail-
able for the United States, or to put it differently, that there was
a systematic attempt to secure reports on the weather from ob-
servers who were reporting on the basis of a uniform set of in-
structions, terms and definitions. Even after several years of ef-
fort, standardization was admitted to be imperfect. As respects the
records of particular weather stations kept at Western army posts,
beginning in the 1830's and 1840's, any careful study should reveal
their inadequacies. Sometimes they seem to have been recorded
faithfully, but at times it is evident that they possess no validity
whatsoever, and attempts to use them only falsify the picture. Also,
many typographical errors occur in the printing of the weather
records. The whole body of early printed records should be revised
and reprinted, with full and candid explanations of the nature and
the extent of the deficiencies, if they are to serve adequately as a
basis for study of climate and history.
It is obvious that there could be little data assembled on dust
storms prior to the settlement of the Western country and easy
communications. Travelers and explorers of the first half of the
132 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
nineteenth century usually entered the Indian country in the spring,
after grass had started sufficiently to support their wagon teams,
and too late to experience the March-April windy season, returning
or reaching the mountains prior to the early winter windy season.
An adequate record of dust would be possible only from year-round
records covering long periods of years, including the successions of
wet and dry years.
Little dependence can be placed in Eastern records of phenomena
similar to the experiences of the 1930's, because no one a century or
a century and a half earlier was dust-storm-conscious. Unless there
was something that directed attention particularly to the phenomena
they usually passed unnoticed. The same is true of Kansas. On
several occasions since the passing of the drought decade of the
1930's the present author has noted substantial dustfalls and other
evidence of dust storms that were not recorded by the weather bu-
reau and were not the subject of comment in the press. They were
as severe as many of the dust storms of the mid-1930's, the only
difference being that people were not at that moment interested in
dust storms.
There were fairly numerous occasions when the Eastern United
States experienced dark days of sufficient severity to become the
subject of comment, especially on October 21, 1716; October 19,
1762; May 19, 1780; October 16, 1785, and July 3, 1814. These
have been attributed usually to forest fires, although the evidence
is not necessarily conclusive. Besides dust storms and forest and
prairie fires, another cause of dustfalls or dark days may include
volcanic ash from active volcanoes.
Within the Kansas area the most explicit record of early dust
storms was the journal of Isaac McCoy covering his experiences on
an expedition surveying the Delaware Indian reservation boundary
during October and November, 1830. Two factors were emphasized
in his descriptions, the intensity of the drought that destroyed vege-
tation and the prairie fires; both of these, separately and jointly
destroyed the vegetational cover and contributed to the exposure of
the dry surface soil to the action of the winds. 1 Fuller local records
became available with settlement of Kansas after 1854. The most
notable droughts of definite record prior to the 1930's were 1860,
1864-1865, 1874, 1901, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1919, and 1922-1923. The
greater apparent frequency in the twentieth century seems to be the
1. Lela Barnes, "Journal of Isaac McCoy For the Exploring Expedition of 1830," The
Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. V (1936), pp. 364-372.
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 133
result of completeness of records. The state-wide federal weather
service in Kansas was inaugurated in 1887, but several years were
required to develop a stable and reasonably adequate coverage.
The great drought of 1860 was not an isolated dry year, but was
the culmination of a period of dry years beginning definitely in 1854
and possibly in 1853. Of the intervening seasons only that of 1859
seems to have been a favorable crop year. The year 1850 is listed
as one of low rainfall in the records of the Fort Scott and Fort
Leavenworth stations and two men living in Kansas during the In-
dian period (Wilson and Dyer) recorded it as a half-crop year or
almost failure, and the Osage Mission records showed a corn and
potato failure. The next two years, 1851 and 1852, were reported
good. For 1853, the evidence is incomplete, Wilson and Dyer re-
porting good crops, and the Osage Mission and Fort Leavenworth a
drought. The agreement is complete as respects 1854, the first year
of Kansas settlement; drought, grasshoppers and crop failure. 2 The
drought and crop failure of 1854 was quite general throughout the
United States, the best summary of its impact upon the West, by a
Western paper, is to be found in the St. Joseph (Mo.) Gazette,
issues of August and September, especially those of September 13
and 20. A report from Fort Scott, dated August 25, declared that
As regards the emigration to Kansas Territory, I do not think many will
be able to settle in this part for the next twelve months, there being almost
an entire failure in the crops throughout this section of country. Prospects
are really dismal here for all kinds of produce. There will not be "hog and
hominy" enough for the old inhabitants, much less for a large influx [of]
emigration. 3
At the same time a report by a man just in from Fort Laramie,
stated that
the drouth, from which we suffer, here, had prevailed severely on the Plains,
accompanied, as here, by intensely hot weather. There is scarcely any grass
to be found, it having been almost literally burned up by the heat. 4
A resident of Manhattan wrote, May 22, 1854, that "A fairer,
more genial climate, we think, cannot be found on earth, though
early in the spring we are told 'high winds' and clouds of dust were
a great annoyance." 5
2. Sister Mary Paul Fitzgerald, Beacon on the Plains (Leavenworth, 1939), pp. 83, 92;
A. T. Donohue, "A History of the Early Jesuit Missions in Kansas" (MS. Ph. D. thesis,
University of Kansas, 1931); J. W. Dyer, Waterville Telegraph, reprinted in the Weekly
Champion & Press, Atchison, February 19, 1870; Robert Wilson, letter dated January 14,
1861, Topeka State Record, January 26, 1861.
3. St. Joseph Gazette, September 20, 1854.
4. Ibid.
5. Julia Louisa (Mrs. Charles H.) Lovejoy, "Letters From Kanzas [to the Independent
Democrat, Concord, N. H.]," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. XI, pp. 38, 39.
134 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The spring of 1855 was dry and backward, John Everett writing
from the vicinity of Osawatomie that there had been no rain of
consequence for ten months prior to mid-May. 6
The interpretation given to this situation by the Kansas Free
State, Lawrence, January 31, 1855, was unusual:
The strong south winds that we experience here are our greatest annoyance.
They frequently last for several days, and are loaded with the black dust
from the burnt prairie, which penetrates every corner of our houses, and makes
every one who is exposed to it as sooty as a collier. This annoyance, however,
will not be so great when the surrounding country is brought under cultivation,
and the prairies cease to be burned.
It seems scarcely reasonable that the ashes of burned grass alone
would have produced so endless a supply of black dust. As Mc-
Coy's description of 1830 had indicated, the prairie fires removed
the protection of a vegetational cover, and top soil as well as ashes
of the burned grass provided the material of the dust storms. The
Kansas Free State editor's views on cultivation only tend to em-
phasize his misunderstanding of the whole situation. By April 21,
he was no longer confusing the two aspects of the dust problem:
We have had some strange weather in Kansas. No rain yet. The air, in
consequence of the winds, is filled with dust a very strange appearance to
those of us who have lived always in the States, and have been accustomed
to seeing rainy and muddy weather at this season.
The following week (April 30) the same editor commented:
"High winds, no rain yet, and everything in our office covered with
dust."
The rival editor, G. W. Brown of the Herald of Freedom, com-
mented on the situation April 14, 1855, referring to last Friday
[apparently April 6] as a hot day with an office temperature of
90 in mid-afternoon: "extremely dry weather, and superabundance
of dust, accompanied by high southern winds. . . ." On April
21 he wrote that there had been no rain of consequence since May,
1854, a matter upon which he could speak only from report, but he
revealed most clearly the two-fold aspect of the dust storms prai-
rie fire and dust exposed after the burning of the grass cover:
The High winds which have prevailed in this vicinity for the last few
weeks, accompanied with heavy clouds of dust, have no doubt been a source
of very great annoyance to strangers who have been on a visit to the Terri-
tory, as well as to the citizens. Whether those winds are common to Kansas in
the spring we are not informed, probably they are; but the dust, which is the
most annoying, is a resultant of the burning of the prairies, and will not
6. "Letters of John and Sarah Everett," April 28, July 27, 1855, in ibid., v. VIII, pp.
8, 9, 13, 14.
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 135
exist after the annual fires have abated. Neither will they harm us after the
grass shall get high enough to prevent the wind from taking up the surface,
and hurling it with so much force through the atmosphere.
We are frank to confess that we have felt more inconvenience from the
wind and dust, since our arrival in Kansas, than from any other source. Our
houses are all open, and the wind whistles in at every crevice, bringing along
with it a heavy load of fine particles of charcoal, ashes, etc., and depositing
it on our type, paper, library, furniture, and in fact not regarding our dinner,
but liberally covering it with a condiment for which we have no relish.
A few months will give us tight houses, and then adieu to these annoyances;
till then we must bear with patience those sources of vexation. Those who
cannot do this of course will go out of the Territory complaining it is the
worst climate they ever knew.
The drought ended in May, the Herald of Freedom announcing
it May 5, but the Kansas Free State was convinced only by more
substantial rains which were recorded in its issue of May 21. Both
papers agreed that it was the end of an eleven-month drought. June
was the loveliest of months, and the Herald of Freedom, June 30,
commented that except for April, the editor's seven and one-half
months in Kansas had been "all we could have desired. On account
of the high winds through that month it was the most unpleasant
one we can call to mind. . . ." He returned to the theme two
weeks later in connection with an editorial condemning the faint
hearted who had become discouraged and returned to the East. He
admitted that upon his arrival in Kansas City in November, 1854,
he had had misgivings about Kansas, but they were dissipated upon
leaving that town and "From that time forth, save during a single
day in April, when the winds enveloped everything about our prem-
ises with dust, have we felt anything bordering upon regrets." R.
G. Elliott of the Kansas Free State was similarly impressed and
the next year, March 3, commented with evident feeling upon the
contrasting rains of early 1856: "An exquisite satisfaction, it would
have been to us one year ago, when we were choked and blackened
with clouds of dust."
The drought condition of Kansas was not local in 1855 and the
evidence of it was a matter of record in the East. Professor Fair-
child of Oberlin College, Ohio, reported February 7, upon a black
snow, icy pellets which had a smoky taste. 7 No satisfactory explan-
ation of this phenomenon was forthcoming, whether the black snow
had its origin in forest or prairie fires or in a combination fire and
dust storm.
The year 1856 in Kansas was notorious for the presidential cam-
7. Kansas Free State, Lawrence, May 14, 1855.
136 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
paign and the Kansas civil war, in both of which slavery was made
the center of the political controversy. Under these circumstances
explicit commentary on the weather as such was slight and the crop
failure or short crop of that year was usually charged to aggression
of the enemy in diverting farmers from their work in the fields or
to destruction of crops in the course of hostilities and reprisals. As
already pointed out, the Kansas Free State, March 3, contrasted
the mud of 1856 favorably with the dust of 1855, but later in the
spring the rains did not come, the same paper commenting April 28
on the first season of rain that spring. The private letters of John
and Sarah Everett, living near Osawatomie, presented a discour-
aging crop outlook. On July 22 Sarah wrote home that "It is very
dry. We have had no rain to do much good for over 5 weeks. If
we do not have some soon our crops will present a totally ruinous
look," and on August 1, "The weather here continues very dry and
hot! Newcomers are mostly getting down sick." 8 The summer
drought was quite general over the country at large, numerous re-
ports being gathered in the New York Tribune during the late
summer.
The next year, on April 25, 1857, the Herald oj Freedom reported
that,
The weather continues cold and cheerless. Vegetation has not yet made
its appearance. Cattle are suffering. . . .
and the following week
The winds continue to blow, the dust flies, and the prospect is quite cheer-
less. We need rain and warm weather.
Another two weeks brought encouragement:
The weather is more humid than it has been, and the dust, which has been
penetrating every crevice, and making the old residents almost sick of Kansas,
has been 1 laid to rest. Kansas would sell at a great advance from last week's
prices.
Not until the end of the month, however, was there more sub-
stantial improvement, when on May 30 the same paper recorded
that "some fine showers during the fore part of the week has laid
the dust, and given a new impetus to vegetation. Cattle and horses
now subsist anywhere on the prairies, without the aid of grain." In
another place the editor said that the emigration came a month too
early, and, as the season is backward, instead of finding "verdure
and beauty . . . they found dust and blackened fields, and cold
winds. . . . We regret that the thousands who came and have
8. Everett letters, in Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. VIII, pp. 144-147.
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 137
gone back disappointed with Kansas, could not be here now. . . ."
In retrospect he continued "a person living for a day in the clouds
of dust which infest our city at times during dry periods, and when
the winds are high, feels the force of the Scriptural remark, 'Dust
thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.' ' The rains of May
called out too much optimism, and June 27 the paper reported the
continuance of severe drought in the Lawrence area, although south-
ern Kansas received its usual spring rains. Scarcity and starvation
prices stared the population of Kansas in the face.
The season of 1858 promised well, but a frost on May 18 and a
wet season in early summer cut the wheat crops, and a dry summer
cut the corn crop to about one half or less. 9 The dry fall brought
prairie fires in numbers and earlier than usual. 10 The Weekly Kan-
sas Herald of Leavenworth, October 9, 1858, complained about the
dust: "It fills our eyes, ears, nose, and mouth; settles upon our
broadcloth; turns black brown; seasons our victuals, and endows
us with a little of the grit. Save us from high winds and dusty
streets."
The year 1859 was the only one in the decade that did not bring
complaint, and, with only occasional exceptions, all crops were re-
ported abundant. The fall of 1859 was dry, however, the beginning
of the notorious drought of 1860, the climax of the 1850's. The
Lawrence Republican, February 23, 1860, summarized the winter of
1859-1860: "No rain, no snow, and much open, thawing, mild
weather, alternated with sharp, though brief [cold] snaps. . . ."
The first days of April, 1860, seemed to bring the climax of the
spring wind, several papers emphasizing the dust. The Fort Scott
Democrat, April 5, said in comment on the storm of April 3 that it
was "one of the most severe, and by far the most disagreeable we
ever experienced. For the space of half an hour the cloud of dust
was so intense, that it was impossible to distinguish objects at the
distance of a dozen yards. . . ." The Leavenworth Weekly
Herald, April 7, said that the "Wind and dust seemed to be on a
regular 'high' yesterday." Apparently that was April 6. The Free-
dom's Champion, of Atchison, April 7, gave the fullest and most
vivid characterization of the season's dust experience:
We once thought that the worst thing in Kansas was mud, and certainly
did get enough of it. ... But we are willing to compromise on the orig-
inal mud, now. In fact we would consider a slight sprinkling of mud with
9. Dyer, loc. cit.; Kansas City (Mo.) Western Journal of Commerce, May 29, 1858;
Emporia Kansas News, July 3, 24, November 6, 27, 1858.
10. Ibid., September 18, October 9, 23, 1858.
138 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
feelings of reverence just now. During nearly three months we have had dry
weather, with hardly even a sprinkle of moisture. And now that the soil is
perfectly dry, the wind is doing its best to blind every inhabitant of this sec-
tion of country with dust. And such clouds of it! It penetrates everywhere;
and has grown to be a most intolerable nuisance. We, one of the begrimmed
and bedusted sufferers, protest against it. We can stand a little "throwing of
dust in our eyes," but we don't like the mammoth wholesale business old
Boreas has been conducting for the past week. Will take mud, any time, and
thankfully, after this dust. . . .
Although the focus of this dust story is upon the Kansas scene,
the drought was general, with the characteristic attendant phe-
nomena. At Syracuse, N. Y., April 5, there was a "black rain,
. . . the drops resembling faint ink. Everybody and everything
was spattered." n These dates coincide closely with the high mark
of Kansas dust, irrespective of whether or not the black rain was
explained as ashes of forest or prairie fires or combinations with
dust. A late frost in Kansas May 9 killed much of the fruit, crop
prospects were discouraging, "the grass upon the high prairie is dry-
ing up" and a plea was made for Kansans to stay and develop the
territory, not to return East or go to the mines in the West. 12
Terrific storms, a particular intensity centering in the country
west of Osawatomie, were experienced early in June. Houses were
blown down at Stanton where three persons were killed. One ac-
count said that "The air was filled with bricks, barrels, boxes, tubs,
signs and boards which were blown about like chaff, and the dust
so beclouded the air as to shut out the light of day." 13
July brought another round of extremes of heat, wind, and
drought. In an address prepared by G. W. Martin, probably about
1906, but not published, he described a dust storm which he dated
July 11, 1860:
The year 1860, known as the great drought and famine year, was quite
remarkable for these hot winds. At Topeka, July llth of that year, the
thermometer at 11 a. m. stood at 85 degrees, when a heavy dust cloud came
from the south with great force. The air was so filled with exceedingly fine
dust that a person could scarcely be seen one hundred yards. At 1 p. m.
the thermometer stood at 112 degrees in Topeka; at Fort Scott 115; and at
Fort Riley about the same as at Topeka. Domestic fowls and animals suf-
fered terribly, and in some places many perished. Business in some sections
was entirely suspended for from five to six hours. 14
11. Emporia News, May 5, 1860.
12. Lawrence Republican, May 10, 17, 1860.
13. Kansas City (Mo.) Western Journal of Commerce, June 14, 21, 1860; Lawrence
Republican, June 28, 1860.
14. "G. W. Martin Papers," in the Manuscripts division of the Kansas State Historical
Society.
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 139
Explicit contemporary confirmation of all details of Martin's
story is lacking, but the records show particularly intense days
July 4 and 9, and an eclipse of the sun July 18. There might have
been some confusion of memories which linked the storms with
the eclipse, but the descriptions of the storms as printed in several
papers, Atchison, Leavenworth, Oskaloosa, Lawrence, and Topeka,
are of such a nature as not to challenge seriously Martin's version.
The several descriptions are printed in the order listed.
Freedom's Champion, Atchison, July 14, 1860.
EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON. Kansas was visited, on Monday last, by one
of the most extraordinary wind storms we have ever felt, or ever heard of
except in the desert of Sahara. At about 12 o'clock, as we were sitting in
our office, we felt a gust of wind so hot and scorching that we at first supposed
some building close by must be on fire, and rushed to the window to ascer-
tain. We found, however, that it was nothing but the air, but such an air!
Scorching, withering, blighting in its effects, it rapidly drove every one within
doors, and forced them to close every apperture through which it could gain
admittance. The wind blew very strong, but it was the first time in our life
that we experienced a breeze in summer that was oppressive and intolerable.
It continued until between three and four o'clock and during the whole of
that time the breeze could be compared to nothing but a simoon of the desert.
We understand that in some parts of the country all vegetable matter was
withered and shriveled as though by fire, and it is feared much damage is
done to the crops. What was the cause of this strange freak of nature, we
are unable to explain. We hope, however, never to see the like again.
The Daily Times, Leavenworth, July 10, 1860.
The heat of yesterday was almost intolerable. It was the remark of every
one that they had never experienced anything like it. The wind was dry and
burning; and the atmosphere betokened a severe storm or hurricane. The
thermometer stood as high as 108.
Leavenworth Dispatch, reprint in Topeka State Record, July 14,
1860.
The hot, burning breeze of yesterday (Monday) [July 9] was unprecedented
. . . and can not be accounted for by the oldest of the old inhabitants.
It seemed as if the gates of Hell (metaphorically speaking) had been thrown
open. . . . To us it is unaccountable.
The Independent, Oskaloosa, July 11, 1860.
On Monday afternoon last this region of Kansas was visited by so extra-
ordinary a wind storm as to seem out of the course of nature, except on the
burning deserts of Africa. So suddenly did the storm come up, and so hot
was the wind that many persons at first supposed some building near by them
was on fire. Others, though the weather was very warm, closed their doors
and windows to keep the scorching air out of their houses. For some time
the inmates of our dwelling took refuge in the cellar from the oppressive heat
140 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
of the almost scalding wind. The leaves of plants were literally parched up
and killed, as if by a heavy frost. Three years ago the wind at times blew
very warm about the middle of the day, but never before has it been our
misfortune to experience such severe blasts of heated air. Every breath we
drew seemed to almost dry up the vital moisture of our lungs, and leave
only an inward burning sensation.
Lawrence Republican, July 12, 1860.
During the past week, the weather has been hotter than we have ever
known it before in Kansas. Last Monday was a terrible day. The wind
blew a gale from the south, and was as hot as though directly from the mouth
of a blazing furnace. Thermometers exposed to it in the shade ran up to
115 degrees. Such heat is almost insupportable. Were it not for our cool
nights, these fierce summer heats would be most disastrous. But the earth
cools off with remarkable rapidity, and the hot, burning days are succeeded
by the most delicious nights.
Topeka Tribune, July 14, 1860.
Monday last may be set down as the hottest day of the season. It was
an intensely warm one, the wind blowing strongly from the South, bearing a
degree of heat which would compare favorably with the raging sirocco which
sometimes sweeps the southern portions of Europe from the heated deserts
of Africa. Mercury rose to 106 . . . , and we almost fancied we could
smell brim-stone and hear the bubbling, seething and foaming of those naughty
old chaldrons which used to loom up so frightfully in the days of our youth-
ful disobedience.
In the evening, however, the wind shifted around into the North, when
the sufferings of the day were soon forgotten and forgiveness granted for the
"bad words" which the day had provoked. For the greater part, this season,
we have been favored with quite agreeable days, and decidedly cool and re-
freshing nights.
Topeka State Record, July 14, 1860.
We had on Monday last [July 9], the severest storm of wind ever known
in this country. It was not so hard a blow as has several times visited us this
Spring and Summer, but its peculiarity, as well as severity, lay in its tempera-
ture, being heated almost to suffocation. Penetrating every crevice, it was
impossible to escape, entirely, its baleful effects. The clouds of dust, also,
which it raised, were blinding to those who were compelled to be out of doors.
Such was the severity of the wind and dust combined, that it was impossible
to perform any out-of-door labor, or even to remain out of doors for any
length of time. We have heard of several instances of animals and poultry
being completely prostrated by it, and even of the young shoots of fruit trees
being withered and literally burned by this terrible wind. The storm continued
from 10 in the morning until 6 in the evening, when it slackened, and a fine
fresh breeze sprung up from the North-west, which was a most welcome relief,
infusing new life and vigor where before was exhaustion and prostration.
Only the last of these, the Topeka State Record, admitted ex-
plicitly the dust, the primary occasion for the editorials being a com-
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 141
mentary on the unusual, which was the hot wind. They were all
boomers at heart and were not admitting any more than seemed
necessary. It should be apparent that Martin's account is not
proved wrong and may have been only more candid than the con-
temporary accounts. At any rate it is plausible with the date
shifted from July 11 to July 9. These summer winds were occur-
ring in the season of the year when the vegetational cover was
most complete and on that basis there should have been the least
possible hazard of a general dust storm. Even in a drought year
there is no reason to assume that the grass of eastern Kansas had
been killed out sufficiently to expose the top soil of large areas, the
prairie fire season would do that later. But farther west, the situ-
ation was different, and it is from that area that the essential infor-
mation is lacking. None of the comment quoted was from any point
west of Topeka. Some indirect evidence of scarcity of grass in the
plains is available in the comment of the Topeka Tribune, June 23,
that buffalo were unusually numerous and of the Lawrence Re-
publican, August 30, which was more explicit in its statement that
on account of the drought the buffalo had migrated east earlier
than usual. This shifting of the buffalo migration eastward to
the tall grass country was nature's adjustment of wild life to food
supply and was essentially the same kind of thing that was done by
cattlemen during later drought periods in driving or shipping their
livestock east to pasture and feed, and Kansas in 1860 was to do
likewise later in that season.
Two more hot winds of somewhat similar intensity occurred later
in the summer, July 30 and August 26, but they were not described
in such detail as that of July 9. It would only have been repeti-
tion, except that in connection with a storm of August 8, the Leav-
enworth Times, August 10, emphasized the electrical phenomenon
which disturbed the operation of the telegraph. On September 6
the Kansas City Western Journal of Commerce gave a dust de-
scription that may appropriately close this section of the incidents
of 1860:
At no period of this unprecedentedly dry season has the drouth and its
attendant dust been so desperately oppressive. With every gust of wind the
dust whirls up in suffocating clouds. The continued heat and the constant
motion of animals, vehicles and footmen upon the streets, has rendered the
dust a perfect powder and the slightest breeze sets it in motion. All moving
objects are enveloped in it like a cloud. . . . Here it comes in at the
window, in at the door, over the furniture, over the floor; rolling and curling
and whirling it flies, stopping your guzzle and closing your eyes; we breathe
142 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
it, we drink it, we swallow it down, we "gol-darn" the weather and "gol-darn"
the town; turning our noses in supreme disgust; but thus must it dust
and dust thus it must. Kerwhang, bang! there went ther masheen, and
phew! ke-chew! booh! ah! the dust!
Certain facts about the dust problems of the decade of the
1850's stand out clearly. All that McCoy had revealed in his de-
scriptions of 4ust storms in north central Kansas in 1830 was con-
firmed over and over again during this decade when scarcely any
sod had been broken. Drought, animals and prairie fires impaired
the vegetational cover sufficiently to expose the dry top-soil to the
action of the wind. Certain other facts about the dust problem
were not explicit in these accounts which are drawn exclusively
from eastern Kansas, and the exact meaning of some of the de-
scriptions await the more complete perspective of experience in the
next two decades. The kind of data is lacking which would be
essential for quantitative comparisons of the severity of these and
later storms, but the contemporary descriptions determine beyond
question a high degree of both severity and frequency. Similar
studies of the frontier to the north and south, Minnesota, Dakota,
Nebraska, and Texas, would establish as explicitly a similar situa-
tion all along the Great Plains front where settlement was provid-
ing slowly for the first time a continuous body of records.
The degree of crop failure in 1860 varied somewhat, but for the
most part approached completeness. Relief committees were or-
ganized and private capital was brought to the aid of farmers in
need of seed. Thaddeus Hyatt, a New York philanthropist, who
had headed the National Kansas Committee of 1856, again in 1860
came to the aid of the territory in giving freely of his time to re-
lief work. Also he dramatized the situation by a poem :
THE DROUTH IN KANSAS
A PRAYER FOR RAIN
Cover thy Sun, O God !
Oh! cover it with thy hand!
For it scorcheth man, and it scorcheth beast,
And it burneth up the land !
It glowers and simmers: a Sun in its name,
But a hell in its wasting, its fierceness and flame!
An oven it gloweth at morn;
A furnace it glareth* at noon!
It roasteth the clouds, and it baketh the air,
Till the heavens turn brass in its terrible glare,
And the zephyrs smitef like a simoon !
MALIN: DUST STORMS, 1850-1860 143
Then, cover thy Sun, O God!
O ! cover it with thy hand,
That its fearful heats may no longer curse
This parched and perishing land!
That this demon-like Sun no longer may glare
On thy desolate ones in their silent despair!
The cattle vainly roam
In search of spring and stream;
But nothing they find, though fainting and blind,
Save dust and the Sun's red gleam;
For the springs are dry, and the streams are bare,
And all moisture is burnt from the fiery air!
Rain! rain! O God, send rain!
For the vault above is brass;
And the earth below lies sore with wo,
With neither corn nor grass;
And the very eyes of the cattle look
Like globes of crimson glass!
Rain for the land, O God!
O! send thy pleaders rain!
Let not their piteous cries come up
Before thy Throne in vain!
Speak to thy clouds, God!
And bid them seek the sea,
And charge thine Ocean, Lord, to send
Its waters up to thee,
That thou mayest send them back again
To earth, in showers of welcome rain!
Rain, Lord! for the mourners, rain!
Rain! Rain for the wretched and lost!
Let them hear the sound of thy coming rain,
Like the tramp of a mighty host!
Let not thy people plead in vain!
Rain, Lord! 0! send thy people rain!
For rain the Earth would climb to Thee!
For rain the Heavens would seek the Sea ! 15
The people who settled Kansas came mostly from the Ohio valley
and the Middle Atlantic states, a forest country, where corn culture
provided the core of their agricultural system. 16 Corn required a
substantial amount of rainfall. In entering Kansas it became evi-
dent that they were dealing with a climate in which, because of low
rainfall, corn was a marginal crop. Except for the eastern part of
15. The poem was printed first in the Lawrence Republican, September 13, 1860. Sub-
sequently three words were changed and it is the revised version that is printed here. The
original words are indicated : * gleameth, f strike, $ heats.
16. Topeka State Record, June 16, 1860, called corn "that never-failing staple of a new
country," and the Lawrence Republican, August 23, 1860, referred to its position as "the
staple commodity of the country generally."
144 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the state, the region was subhumid for corn, and for the other crops
which were usually associated with the corn economy. It became
traditional on that kind of a standard of measurement, to refer to the
low rainfall areas of the west as subhumid. It was to require some
years to reorient thinking in relation to the geographical environ-
ment and to arrive at the realization that grass was the normal
vegetation, and that the country was not subhumid for grass, nor
for agricultural crops of similar water requirements such as hard
wheat and the sorghums. These people who were entering the grass-
land did not submit to the idea of geographical determinism or
climatic determinism. They thought it possible to find new ways
of living in this country that behaved so strangely. With Hyatt,
they prayed for rain:
Rain for the land, O God !
O! send thy pleaders rain!
They prayed, but they acted also upon the ancient Irish proverb
that even God needs encouragement. They pointed out the need of
better tillage methods, and of different crops, pointing to the possi-
bilities of wheat, sorghum and other crops. They stayed, and by
learning to capitalize upon the differences between the grass and
forest environment, achieved eventually a good measure of under-
standing of the mysteries of the grassland.
(A Second Article Will Follow Dealing With "Dust Storms,
1861-1880," And a Third, "Dust Storms, 1881-1901")
I
*w -^
"*" I
The Pictorial Record of the Old West
II. W. J. HAYS
ROBERT TAFT
(Copyright, 1946, by ROBERT TAFT)
WILLIAM JACOB HAYS, known chiefly as a painter of animal
life, owes his reputation as an artist to material gathered on a
trip up the Missouri river in the summer of 1860. His work is but
little known at present, but in his prime (1855-1875) he received
considerable recognition both at home and abroad. Tuckerman de-
votes over a page and a half to his work and dismisses the work of
George Bingham in five lines and the work of John James Audubon
in a dozen lines ; 1 yet the latter two are far better known at present
than is Hays. A London paper in 1865 commenting on one of Hays'
pictures then on display in London, said, "English artists must look
to their laurels, or America will rob them of some of them in land-
scape and animal painting in which they have hitherto held their
ground almost undisputed." 2 The Art Journal in 1875 called Hays
"one of the most able painters in the country." 3 S. G. W. Benjamin
in his review of American art stated that "William Hayes [sic]
showed decided ability in his representations of bisons, prairie dogs,
and other dogs. Weak in color, he yet succeeded in giving spirit and
character to the group he painted, and holds among our animal
painters a position not dissimilar to that of Mount in genre." 4 The
only modern comment on Hays with which the author is familiar is
his biographical sketch in the Dictionary of American Biography; 5
the inclusion of his name in this distinguished work is in itself recog-
nition of the fact that Hays was important in his day.
In this series of articles we are not so much concerned with his
reputation as an artist as we are with his Missouri river trip of 1860
and the graphic materials he gathered. There are still extant, sketch
DR. ROBERT TAFT, of Lawrence, is professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas and
editor of the Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. He is author of Photography
And the American Scene (Macmillan, 1938), and .Across the Years On Mount Oread (University
of Kansas, 1941).
For a general introduction to this pictorial series, see The Kansas Historical Quarterly,
February, 1946, pp. 1-5.
1. Henry T. Tuckerman, Book of the Artists (New York, 1867), pp. 495, 496.
2. London Weekly Times, June 18, 1865.
3. The Art Journal, New York, n. s., v. 1 (1875), p. 127.
4. S. G. W. Benjamin, Art in America (New York, 1880), p. 85.
5. Dictionary of American Biography (New York, 1932), v. 8, pp. 463, 464 W. H.
Downes was the author of the sketch ; see, also, Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography
(New York, 1887), v. 3, p. 147.
(145)
10-2371
146 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
books, letters, and contemporary newspaper accounts that are im-
portant in adding to our store of knowledge of the pictorial and
written record of the old West. 6
Hays was born on August 8, 1830, and died March 13, 1875, spend-
ing most of his life in New York City. 7 He received some training
under the artist John Rubens Smith and had begun exhibiting by
1852, a piece "Head of a Bull-Dog" winning him considerable
renown. 8
Hays has left no evidence available to the writer that would indi-
cate a reason for selecting the Missouri river route for his westward
travels. It can be pointed out, however, that even as late as 1860
the upper Missouri country was, by virtue of small steamships and
the absence of railroads, the most accessible region for an examina-
tion of the flora, fauna and aborigines of the Far West. It was no
unknown country, for fur traders and visitors had exploited or de-
scribed this region so extensively that it was internationally famous.
The region, as a fur-trading country, had passed its prime when Hays
visited it in 1860. In its heyday, the 1830's and 1840's, the upper
Missouri country witnessed some of the most extraordinary spec-
tacles of the past American scene. Here lived, at Fort Union, Ken-
neth McKenzie, Scotch "Emperor of the West," who "ruled over an
extent of country greater than that of many a notable empire in
history." 9 Scarcely less picturesque in the fur trade was James
Hamilton, an English "gentleman," reticent and fastidious, with a
scorn and hatred of the native Indians ; and Lucien Fontenelle, fur-
trade partisan, leader of the mountain brigades of fur hunters and
trappers. Up the Missouri before the Hays trip came an almost
ceaseless flow of notables for sport, for science, for humanity, for art,
or for adventure: 10 Prince Paul of Wurttemberg; Maximilian,
6. It is a curious fact that Downes (see Footnote 5) reports that Hays visited Colorado,
Wyoming and the Rocky Mountains in 1860. Downes was apparently basing this statement
on the obituary of Hays in the Art Journal for 1875 (Footnote 3). Thus are errors propagated.
A student looks up a previous account and without verification repeats the earlier statement ;
a type of error which we all are prone to make. Hays was never in Colorado, Wyoming or
within several hundred miles of the Rockies, for his 1860 trip up the Missouri river was his
only Western trip. Although the Missouri does eventually reach the Rockies, there is no
evidence that Hays went any farther west than Fort Stewart on the Missouri (see page 155)
which was still many hundreds of miles from the Rockies proper.
7. New York Tribune, March 16, 1875, p. 7, col. 6; Art Journal citation in Footnote 3
and Dictionary of American Biography cited in Footnote 5.
8. Tuckerman, op. cit., p. 495.
9. For much of the material in this paragraph, I am indebted to Dr. Annie Heloise Abel's
"Historical Introduction" in Chardon's Journal at Fort Clark, 18S4-18S9 (Pierre, S. D., 1932),
pp. xv-xlvi. (Dr. Abel's work, it should be remarked, is one of the most exhaustive and
scholarly studies of original sources in the literature bearing on the early history of the West.)
The closing quotation above is from H. M. Chittenden's The American Fur Trade of the Far
West, hereinafter cited as American Fur Trade (New York, 1935), v. 1, p. 385.
10. My comment above "of the most extraordinary spectacles of the past American
scene" should not be taken to mean "the most romantic spectacles," although the discussion
in the text, I grant, would make such inference correct. Life in the upper Missouri country
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 147
Prince of Wied, with his artist Karl Bodmer; a young son of Pres.
William Henry Harrison; the famous Audubon, naturalist and bird
artist, and still others, including "Blackrobe," Father Pierre-Jean
De Smet. Of powerful physical build, of forceful personality, of
singleness of purpose, De Smet traveled up and down the Missouri
river, crossing and re-crossing the Rocky Mountains, establishing
Indian missions, and spreading his peaceful doctrine from St. Louis
to the Northwest coast from 1838 until his last trip to the Indian
country in 1870. To further his work, he wrote a number of accounts
of his missionary experiences in the years 1841-1863. 11
Probably, however, the most "important visitor of all to the upper
Missouri country as far as spreading knowledge of this region goes,
was George Catlin, author and artist. Without making any critical
examination of his work as an artist or as an author, it can be said
that Catlin was the great publicist for this region. As a result of a
trip to the upper Missouri in 1832, there was published in 1841 his
book (of varying title) 12 which in its earliest edition was called
Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the
North American Indians . . . "with four hundred illustrations,
carefully engraved from his original paintings." Between 1841 and
1860, this book in various modifications was published in nearly
20 American, English, German, French and Belgian editions. 13
In addition to this book, Catlin published in the same period a
fascinating set of large colored lithographs, the North American
Indian Portfolio, also in several editions. 14 It is no small wonder
also had its extraordinary spectacles of exploitation, of unbridled rivalry, of debauchery, of
viciousness, and of corruption. The white invaders of the Indian country (traders, trappers
and engages), as Dr. Abel remarks in the conclusion to her "Historical Introduction," relapsed
into barbarism rather than making any attempts to assist the red man to emerge from that
state.
11. Some six publications of Father De Smet published before 1865 are listed in the
bibliography, Henry R. Wagner's The Plains and the Rockies, rev. and ext. by Charles L.
Camp (San Francisco, 1937). The most extended account of "Blackrobe's" life will be found
in H. M. Chittenden and A. T. Richardson, Life, Letters and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean
De Smet, S. J. (New York, 1905), 4 vols. Some measure of the magnitude of the extraor-
dinary journeys of Father De Smet is given in his own words in summarizing his travels
(upon his return to St. Louis) for a single year, 1842: "From the beginning of April I had
traveled 5,000 miles. I had descended and ascended the dangerous Columbia river. I had
seen five of my companions perish in one of those life-destroying whirlpools, so justly dreaded
by those who navigate that stream. I had traversed the Willamette, crossed the Rocky
Mountains, passed through the country of the Blackfeet, the desert of the Yellowstone, and
descended the Missouri; and in all these journeys I had not received the slightest injury."
Ibid., v. 1, p. 402.
12. Catlin states that the book was based on eight years' travel among the Indians of
North America (1832-1839), which is correct. However, half of the work (sometimes in two
volumes; sometimes in one) was devoted to his 1832 trip in the upper Missouri country.
13. Thomas Donaldson, "The George Catlin Indian Gallery in the U. S. National Mu-
seum" Part V of "Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution,
. . . To July, 1885," in House Miscellaneous Documents., 49 Cong., 1 Sess. (Washington,
1886), pp. 786-793. It should not be inferred that there were no other editions of Catlin
published. There are many subsequent to 1860. In fact, one was published in Edinburgh
(cited later in this article) as late as 1926.
14. There are at least three editions and probably more. Public exhibitions of Catlin's
work at home and abroad was a third publicity factor not mentioned above. Catlin will have
future consideration in this series.
148 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
with this record of publication that I find Catlin's name the most
frequently mentioned in biographical accounts of later artists of
the West or for that matter one of the most frequently referred
to authorities on the early history of the upper Missouri country.
If one could make a guess, then, at Hays' incentive for his West-
ern trip, a very good one would be that a knowledge of Catlin was
an important factor in making his final decision.
Whatever the cause, the desire to broaden his field presumably
led Hays to turn West, and in the spring of 1860 he arrived in
St. Louis accompanied by one Terry, 15 and made plans for his trip
up the Missouri river. The artists left St. Louis May 3, 1860, on
the steamboat Spread Eagle which was accompanied by two small
"mountain" steamboats, the Key West and the Chippewa. 16 On
May 9 Hays wrote his father as follows:
On board Steamer "Spread
Eagle" May 9th, 1860
Dear Father,
We are now about 350 miles on our way. The thermometer has fallen from
90 to 50. Stoves and over coats comfortable, the wind is blowing a gale
and it looks like a sand storm on shore, yesterday it blew so hard that the
steamers were blown ashore and remained so for nearly five hours, so that we
only made thirty miles all day when they get out of fuel and there should
happen to be no wood yard near, they send men ashore to cut it, at night
this is done by fire light, the effect is very picturesque. It is not likely that
we will reach fort Randall in less than a fortnight. There is some chance of
trouble with the Sioux as they are dissatisfied with last years pay, but as our
party numbers about 600 men I think they will find it dangerous to molest it;
however I hope they will try it. The troops are under the command of Major
Blake of the dragoons, 17 a fine old gentleman, who with the other officers is a
15. I have made some effort to identify this Terry. Hays speaks of him in one of the
letters published later in the text and the St. Louis correspondent of the Crayon, New York,
v. 7 (July, 1860), p. 206, reports: "Hays and Terry, artists of your city, passed through
here on their way to the Yellowstone River. They will have a splendid trip, as several tribes
will show up for the first time. . . ." Terry possibly may have been W. E. Terry, a
wealthy amateur animal painter who lived for a time, at least, in Hartford, Conn. H. W.
French, Art and Artists in Connecticut (Boston and New York, 1879), p. 163. Recent inquiry
directed to the Hartford Public Library gave me no further information than that given by
French.
16. The Tri-Weekly Missouri Republican, St. Louis, reports in the column, "Port of St.
Louis," in its issue of May 5, 1860, p. 1, col. 10, that the Chippewa, Key West and Spread
Eagle, upper Missouri boats, left St. Louis Saturday morning, which would presumably mean
that the three steamships left before May 5. The same newspaper for July 28, 1860, reports
under "River News," p. 1, col. 10, the return to St. Louis of the Key West and states, "She
left this port [on the upriver journey] with the Spread Eagle and Chippewa on the 3rd of
May"; see, also, Footnotes 23 and 54. I am indebted to William S. Wight of the University
of Missouri Library, Columbia, who made the search of the Republican for me.
17. Major Blake and the soldiers mentioned in Hays' letter of June 20, without doubt,
were a group of 300 U. S. recruits sent by steamboat up the Missouri river to Fort Benton
(the first time troops had been thus transported), and then overland to Fort Walla-Walla
in the Military Department of the Pacific. Senate Executive Documents, 36 Cong., 2 Sess.
Special Session (Washington, 1861), v. 4, No. 2, p. 3. Major "Blake" is the name given in
the Executive Document No. 2. It is difficult to tell from Hays' handwriting whether the
name is "Blake" or "Blade." In the account in the Missouri Republican (see Footnote 23)
the typography is so poor that one is uncertain whether "Bruce," "Blice" or something else
is meant. From the Executive Document, Major Blake was shown as the commanding officer
of the overland force, and I have used the spelling given there.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 149
graduate of West Point and has seen service in Florida, Mexico, and the Indian
country. I am very well, and the time passes very pleasantly, give my love
to all
Your affectionate son
W. J. Hays
P. S. It is hard to write the boat shakes, we expect
to reach Lexington today when I will mail this letter. 18
Two days later the Spread Eagle reached Fort Leavenworth and
Hays again wrote his father:
On Board Steamer
"Spread Eagle" May llth, 1860
Dear Father
To day we reached Fort Leavenworth, and remained there several hours, I
spent the time walking around the fort, which is no fort at- all, but simple an
enclosure with barracks and parade ground. Tomorrow we expect to reach
St. Joseph where I shall mail this.
Our progress has been slow as the river has never known to be so low as now.
At Fort Leavenworth they have had no rain since February, and further up
the river none in eighth months. The weather today is very warm. I hope
you have sent me some papers to Fort Randall.
All well, give my love to all
Your affectionate Son
W. J. Hays
A. B. Hays, Esq.
The frontier and river towns of St. Joseph and Sioux City were
passed as was Fort Randall, a military post about 30 miles (by
land) above the entrance of the Niobrara river into the Missouri
(in present Charles Mix county, South Dakota). 19
Terry and Hays apparently made no stops of any length, how-
ever, until they reached Fort Union on the Missouri river, three
or four miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone river. 20
The date of arrival at Fort Union over 1,800 miles by boat
from St. Louis is established as June 15 in Hays' letter of June
20 (reproduced later). The trip from St. Louis to Fort Union was
a tedious one as they traveled up the river westward across Mis-
souri, northward between Iowa and Nebraska territory, northwest-
erly through the present Dakotas to the junction with Yellowstone
river, near the boundary line of present Montana and North Da-
is. The four Hays letters and the sketches discussed or reproduced in the present article
were obtained from H. R. Hays of New York City, grandson of W. J. Hays. Mr. Hays
kindly placed at my disposal a considerable fund of information and was most helpful in
many other ways in collecting material for this article.
19. The position of Fort Randall is given in Frederick T. Wilson's "Old Fort Pierre and
Its Neighbors," in South Dakota Historical Collections (Aberdeen, S. D., 1902), v. 1 pp. 291,
292, and by Elliott Coues, ed., Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri- the
Personal Narrative of Charles Larpenteur (New York, 1898), v. 2, p. 355, Footnote 1 (written
by Coues); see, also, Footnote 51.
20. Charles De Land's "Editorial Notes on Old Fort Pierre and Its Neighbors," in South
Dakota Historical Collections, v. 1, p. 351.
150 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
kota. The time necessary to make the upriver trip to Fort
Union (from St. Louis) varied considerably. Records show that
in the late 1840's the time required was from 40 to 44 days, 21 but
Larpenteur in 1864 reported that he left St. Louis on March 26
and did not reach Fort Union until May 31. 22 The length of Hays'
trip from St. Louis to Fort Union (May 3 to June 15) thus ap-
pears to have been of average duration. Hays wrote his father
again from Fort Stewart on June 20, the letter giving some of the
interesting details of his upriver trip:
Fort Stewart, Upper Missouri
June 20th 1860
Dear Father
My last letter was dated Fort Pierre. 23 I was present at a grand council
between the Indian agent and about six hundred of the Sioux Indians who are
friendly to the whites, since then I have been present at two more councils
vix Forts Clark and Berthold, I have seen the Rees, Mandans, Gros Ventres,
and Assinoboines The day before we reached Fort Union we saw the first
buffalo, the same afternoon we met two buffaloes swimming in the river and
soon killed them. There was a perfect volley of balls poured into them. They
were taken on board. The meat was very good. We have had plenty of elk,
antelope and deer meat. A gentleman on board shot a big horn or mountain
sheep from the deck of the steamer with a soldiers musket at the extraordinary
distance of more than six hundred yards. We arrived at Fort Union on the
21. Chittenden, American Fur Trade, v. 2, p. 956.
22. Coues, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 355, 359, 360. Larpenteur's trip was slow, however, as his
boat was delayed by unusually low water and was held up for three days at Fort Sully
because of Indian troubles.
23. Although Hays' Fort Pierre letter is apparently no longer extant, some extremely
interesting side lights, additional information, and corroboration of the information in the
Hays letters, will be found in an extensive account published in the Tri-Weekly Missouri
Republican, Thursday morning, July 12, 1860, p. 1, col. 9, on the return of the Spread Eagle
to St. Louis. The account reads:
"The steamer, Spread Eagle, Captain Bob. Wright, arrived yesterday morning about 7
o'clock, from the mouth of the Milk River. She was the 'flag-ship' of the fleet of mountain
boats which left here on the 3d of May, in charge of Commodore Chouteau, of the American
Fur Company. The fleet had a most trying time in reaching Fort Randall in consequence of
the extremelow water, and an unusual large number of passengers and amount of freight.
At Fort Randall the fleet met the mountain rise, and from there up had comparatively smooth
sailing.
"From Mr. Jacob Linder, mate, and Mr. Joseph Mayhood, carpenter, of the Spread Eagle,
we gather some news in regard to the upper country, and the up -trip of the fleet. Forts
Clark and Kip on the Missouri and Fort Sarpy on the Yellow Stone have been abandoned by
the Fur Company. The various tribes of Indians along the entire upper river are reported to
be engaged in a war of extermination. Everyday almost, war parties were seen on the bank of
the river. Bleeding scalps were seen dangling from sticks at the door of the lodges of the
chiefs and big men. Murmuring out complaints were the burden of the speeches at every
council held. They complain of the government of the Indian Agents and of one another.
The probabilities are that they will allow no peace to each other till a strong military post is
established at some point in their country, as the Agents feel that until this is done their
influence has but little force in controlling the turbulent spirit of the young and ambitious
warriors.
"A difficulty occurred on the Key West on her upward trip, between Lieutenant G. W. Carr
and Henry Dix, pilot of the boat. It appears, from the statements of the gentlemen who were
present, that Lieut. Carr, or some one of his soldiers, was desirous of shooting an elk which
was seen upon the bank. The boat was approaching the bluffs above Fort Pierre, and it was
desired to give notice of her approach to persons on the shore, so as not to delay the boat
more than possible. To effect this, Mr. Dix blew the whistle, and at the same moment the
soldier was going to shoot the elk. The elk was startled by the noise, and ran off. Lieut.
Can- then took a squad of soldiers, and went up to the pilot house to attack Mr. Dix. He
fired his Sharp's rifle at him but missed him, when Mr. Dix drew his revolver and commenced
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 151
15th but finding that there were no buffalo near Mr. Terry and myself con-
cluded to go on to Fort Stewart about eighty miles further up the river. Here
we bid good bye to our soldier friends, and with much regret for our inter-
course had been of the most agreeable kind.
The Spread Eagle will go on as far as the water will permit, and then transfer
her freight and passengers to the Key West and Chippewa, and then return to
St. Louis. I will send this letter by her. Mr. Terry and myself will remain at
Fort Stewart until the return of the Key West and Chippewa from Fort Benton
and then return with them home. The Sioux Indians who threatened to wipe
us out probably concluded that discretion was the better part of valor for we
saw nothing of them. The weather has been very fine and I have been very
well, give my love to all
your affectionate son
(signed)
W. J. Hays
A. B. Hays, Esq.
The original sketches made by Hays on this trip and examined
by the author are of two types. One set was made on sheets of
drawing paper varying slightly in size. The largest ones in this
group measure 10" x 14". (Several sketches may appear on a single
firing upon Lieut. Carr. He fired four shots (the fifth one missing fire) only one of which
took effect upon Carr, very seriously wounding him in the shoulder. The soldiers then rushed
into the pilot house, knocked Mr. Dix down, thrust at him with their bayonets, (one going
through his hand) and finally tied him, and locking him in a stateroom, placed a guard over
him.
"During all this time the boat was under way, with no one at the wheel. When anyone
tried to reach the roof of the boat, the soldiers would force them back, and when some
remonstrated with Carr, and told him that there was danger of sinking the boat, his reply
was, 'Let her sink, and be d d.' Captain Wright finally, when he found he could not reach
the pilot-house to manage the boat, went below and had the engines stopped until the other
boats came up. Major Blake [?] promptly released Mr. Dix, and Lieut. Carr was court
martialled, but their verdict was not determined upon when the Spread Eagle left on her re-
turn trip.
"Buffalo, elk, deer, bear, and big-horn were reported more plentiful along the river than
they have been known before for many years. Fresh meat was therefore had in abundance
on the entire trip. From the hearty looks of our friend James A. Hull, and others, we should
judge a trip up the Missouri very conducive to health. They all look as hearty as if they
had been training for a prize mill. No sickness is reported on any of the boats, and this,
in a company of some six hundred men, is remarkable.
"Below we give memoranda of the down trip furnished us by the clerk, Mr. James A. Hull:
The mountain fleet arrived at the mouth of the Milk River, Friday, June 22d, fifty days out
from St. Louis, and as the river had commenced falling, it was thought advisable to send
the 'flag-ship,' Spread Eagle back. Accordingly we transferred the balance of ovir freight to
the Chippewa and Key West. Com. Chouteau then proposed that the Spread Eagle should
make a pleasure trip above the point reached by the El Paso some years since. With the
army officers, and most of the officers of the fleet, on board, she ran some fifteen miles above
El Paso Point, and Captain La Barge has now the honor of having taken the Spread Eagle
higher up the Missouri river than was ever reached by any other side-wheel boat. On our
arrival at this point two guns were fired, a basket of champagne drank by the officers and
guests, and one bottle buried, which I have no doubt anyone will be welcome to who will
take the trouble to go back after it. The Spread Eagle could easily have gone higher; indeed,
at one time it was thought she would reach Fort Benton, but when the river commenced
falling, though still only a matter of doubt, Com. Chouteau did not wish to risk so much only
for glory. The river above the mouth of the Yellow Stone was some eight feet higher than it
had been known for several years, and the little boats anticipated no trouble in reaching Fort
Benton. They are probably now on their return, and may be looked for here in about two
weeks.
"After we got through our pleasure trip we returned to where the little boats lay. Here
Com. Chouteau, Captain La Barge, and our other friends left us ; Captain La Barge trans-
ferring the command of the Spread Eagle to Captain Bob. Wright. After bidding adieu, and
firing a parting salute, the Chippewa and Key West left on their upward voyage and the
Spread Eagle down the river homeward bound." [There then followed the log of the down-
river trip.]
152 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
sheet, however.) The second set was made in a small notebook
measuring about 2"x4". In many cases the larger sketches are
dated. It should be remembered, of course, that these are field
sketches, many of them hurriedly done. The best finished ones are
the sketches of Fort Union (the only one in the author's possession;
all others are the property of Hays' grandson, H. R. Hays, of
New York City, as pointed out in Footnote 18) and of a fawn elk.
The pencil lines in a number of the sketches are so lightly drawn
that they are lost in reproduction. As a group, however, they are
important because they portray a number of the trading posts of
the upper Missouri, for some of which there are no other pictorial
records; they are also important for the few buffalo sketches in-
cluded in the group. Field sketches of buffalo when they still
survived in considerable number are relatively few.
A list of 11 of the more important of 23 field sketches with the
legends as written by Hays follows:
LARGE SKETCHES
1. "Mouth of the Yellowstone Fort Union. Upper Missouri, June 16, 1860"
[reproduced facing p. 144].
2. "Interior of Fort Stewart, Upper Missouri, June 22nd, 1860" [reproduced
facing p. 153.]
3. "Fawn elk. Upper Missouri, Fort Union, July llth, 1860." Two views,
excellently drawn in pencil but too light in tone to reproduce.
4. "Fort Clark, July 14, 1860" (upper view on sheet) and "Fort Primeau,
Upper Missouri, July 14th, 1860" (lower view). [Both reproduced facing p. 145.]
5. "Fort Pierre July 18th, 1860 On the Missouri" (lower part of sheet;
upper part shows faint outlines of hills). [Reproduced facing p. 152.]
6. "Old Fort Pierre. July 18, 1860 on the Missouri " [reproduced facing
p. 152].
7. "Fort Randall, Missouri River, July 19th, 1860" [reproduced facing p.
160].
8. "Sioux City, July 20th, 1860--(From the Missouri River)." [Reproduced
facing p. 153.]
9. "St. Joseph, Missouri River, July 25, I860."
10. Two sketches on one sheet (not dated). The upper view shows a herd
of buffalo crossing a large stream, presumably the Missouri river; the lower
view shows a large herd of buffalo advancing slowly toward the observer on the
open prairie.
11. Lower half of sheet. Snags in a large stream (presumably the Missouri
river), with the river bank, brush and trees, and hills in the background.
SMALL SKETCHBOOK (ABOUT 2" X 4")
12. Small group of buffalo crossing small stream on the prairie.
13. "Fort Kip[p]" (exterior view).
14. "Fort Union, Upper Missouri, July 11, 1860." The sketch occupies two
PM ^-- - - ' ...
i
;l
1 1 \
1
III
Ml!
,
JP
-ms*
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 153
opposite pages (therefore 2" X 8") and shows the panorama of the country from
behind Fort Union looking toward the Missouri and the hills across the river.
15. "Fort Stewart, Upper Missouri, June 20, 1860" (exterior view).
16. "The man who looks everywhere Crow War Chief." The only portrait
in the group.
The first sketch in the above list was made the day after Hays'
arrival at Fort Union. The original sketch is dated "June 16, I860."
It is in general agreement with other sketches and information con-
cerning Fort Union, one of the most historic structures that ever
existed on the upper Missouri (see Footnote 25). The fort itself
not a military post but one o the chain of posts belonging to the
American Fur Trading Company 24 was an important one in the
company's empire, and enclosed a space 220' x 240'. 25 Two block-
houses (for some reason called "bastions" in the literature of the
West) occupied diagonal corners of the enclosure; one blockhouse
being shown in the Hays drawing. The detail of this blockhouse,
including the oddly-shaped weather vane on its top, corresponds
with a view of 1864, drawn with perspective from above to show
the interior arrangement, and reproduced by Coues. 26 In the Hays
drawing, too, the outline of several roofs, chimneys, etc., appear in
a manner corresponding to the 1864 view, which Coues ascribes to
"a soldier, name unknown."
Early views of Fort Union were made by the pioneer artists of
the upper Missouri, Catlin (1832), 27 and Karl Bodmer (1833). 28
24. It is so listed by Chittenden-Richardson, op. cit., v. 2, frontispiece. Chittenden's
American Fur Trade, v. 1, ch. 22, carries the history of the American Fur Company to 1843
only; see, also, Footnote 29.
25. The most extensively quoted source of information on Fort Union is the one given in
1843 by Edwin T. Denig who lived for some years at Fort Union, and which was published in
Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and His Journals (London, 1898), v. 2, pp. 180-188. A briefer
description of Fort Union more nearly contemporary (1863) with Hays' visit will be found
in Henry A. Boiler's Among the Indians (Philadelphia, 1868), pp. 370-373. "The great dis-
tributing Post for the Northwest" as Boiler calls it, was planned about 1829 (Abel, op. cit.,
p. 201, Footnote 12); it was torn down beginning August 7, 1867 (Coues, op. cit., v. 2, p.
389, Footnote 9). "This ended," writes Coues, "what may be regarded as on the whole the
most historic structure that had ever existed on the upper Missouri, excepting of course Fort
Mandan of Lewis and Clark." Still another description of the fort in 1853 is given by Isaac
Stevens (see Footnote 31).
26. Coues, op. cit., v. 1, opposite p. 68. In the "Journal of Rudolph Friederich Kurz,"
in Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 115 (Washington, 1937),
Plate 13, there will be found a Kurz sketch credited with some doubt as "Fort Union?," the
date 1852. The sketch shows a portion of the main headquarters building. Comparison with
the sketch in Coues leaves little doubt that the Kurz sketch was that of Fort Union. The
main difference in detail between the two sketches is a tall flagpole in front of the building
in the Kurz sketch which is not seen in the one published by Coues. The difference in dates
(1852 and 1864) might readily account for the change.
27. Catlin's painting of Fort Union (painted June, 1832) is reproduced lithographically in
Catlin's North American Indians (Edinburgh, 1926), v. 1, opposite p. 14, Plate No. 3. Coues,
op. cit., v. 1, p. 69, criticizes the illustration because Catlin showed the fort with more than
two "bastions." Presumably the original painting from which the illustration is reproduced,
is now in the United States National Museum. I have a photograph of this painting and the
fort is so far distant as to be scarcely discernible, the painting being a panoroma of a vast
stretch of country. The painting is catalogued as No. 388 in "The George Catlin Indian
154 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Both of these views are distant ones so that their chief use is in
obtaining an impression of the surrounding country. A sketch of
Fort Union drawn by Carl Wimar (probably in 1858) is one of six
illustrations on one page appearing both in Wimar's biography and
in the life and letters of Father DeSmet. 29 I have also found a
reference to a painting of Fort Union made by Isaac Sprague, an
artist of Audubon's retinue who made the trip up the Missouri in
1843. 30 The painting was made for Alexander Culbertson, for
many years head at Fort Union, but whether the painting still exists
is unknown.
There is also a colored lithographic illustration of Fort Union by
J. M. Stanley in Stevens' Pacific railroad report of 1853. 31 The
lithograph may have been redrawn from a daguerreotype, as Stev-
ens used the daguerreotype process 32 and sketched as well. Fort
Union, in the Stanley illustration, is shown as part of the back-
ground 33 and its detail is not carefully drawn, but in general it
agrees as far as can be seen with the Hays and Coues views.
Hays' other sketch of Fort Union (listed as No. 14) is small and
roughly drawn, showing the fort only in outline as it appeared from
the hills behind the fort, as are the distant views of Catlin and Bod-
mer. There is still another Hays illustration of Fort Union. It is
Gallery." Donaldson, op. cit., p. 274. This exhaustive treatise on Catlin is Part V of the
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution.
28. The view by Karl Bodmer in R. G. Thwaites' Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, v.
25 (atlas), Plate 61, bears the subtitle "Assiniboins Breaking Up Their Camp." Bodmer ac-
companied Maximilian, prince of Wied, on his travels up the Missouri river, and the artist's
sketches of the journey were first published in an atlas with Maximilian's Reise in das Innere
N or d- America in den Jahren 18S2 bis 18S4 (Coblentz, 1839-1841). Thwaites' four volumes
concerning Maximilian's Missouri river journey are based on the original English edition
published by Ackermann and Co. (London, 1843). I have a tinted folio plate the same in
form as Plate 61 mentioned above. My plate bears the legend "Fort Union on the Missouri"
in English, French and German. The publisher's legend on this separate sheet is "London,
published by Ackermann and Company, 90, Strand, 1st March, 1841" with the artist's legend
"Karl Bodmer, pinx. ad nat." I mention these two plates of Fort Union for the reason that
in the Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institu-
tion (Washington, 1930), opposite page 394, there is an illustration "Fort Union As It Ap-
peared in 1833"; a plate on the lower part of the illustration reads "Fort Union, 1833, Acker-
mann & Co., London (Publ)." This illustration is the same as the above two, save for a
difference of a few figures in, the right foreground and middle distance. Evidently this last
illustration is either another version of the Bodmer illustration or possibly it was made by a
copier of Bodmer's work.
29. W. R. Hodges, Carl Wimar (Galveston, 1908), opposite p. 32. Wimar apparently
made several excursions up the Missouri but Hodges quotes at considerable length a letter of
Wimar's written in 1858 describing his experiences on the upper Missouri and the forts he
visited. The six forta sketched by Wimar appear on a single page, the legend for the page
being forts of "Pfierre] Chouteau, Jr., Fur Company." The six forts included were Fort
Berthold, Fort Union, Fort Clark, Fort Pierre Chouteau, Fort Benton, and Fort Kipp. The
same plate is reproduced as the frontispiece in v. 2 of Chittenden- Richardson, op. cit.
30. Maria R. Audubon, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 77, 78, 82, 84, 86.
31. Isaac I. Stevens, Reports of Explorations and Surveys, . . . For a Railroad From
the Mississippi River To the Pacific Ocean, v. 12, Book 1 (Washington, 1860), Plate 16,
opposite p. SB. The original illustration was drawn (or photographed) on August 7, 1853.
32. Robert Taft, Photography and the American Scene (New York, 1938), pp. 261, 262.
33. The foreground shows the annual government distribution of goods to the Assini-
boins which took place on the visit of Stevens and Stanley to Fort Union.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 155
a small oil painting somewhat larger than the pencil sketch (No. 1)
but taken from the same viewpoint, save that it shows a small strip
of the river in the immediate foreground. It is subdued in color
but pleasant in appearance and finished in more detail with respect
to surroundings than is the sketch. It was probably painted from
the pencil sketch after Hays returned home.
The views of Fort Stewart (No. 2 and No. 15) are apparently
the most hurriedly done of the group. The exterior view (No. 15)
shows simply a small stockade; the interior view is reproduced in
this article. The chief importance of the sketches lies in the fact
that they probably are the only sketches of Fort Stewart extant;
at least they are the only ones with which I am familiar. 84
Hays' letters indicate that Fort Stewart was the western limit
of their voyage, and from the information in his letters and the
dates on his sketches, he and Terry stayed there from about June
19 to July 9, and in this interval of nearly three weeks many
sketches were doubtless made, far more than have survived. Doubt-
less, too, many of these were animal sketches used for Hays' later
paintings. Fort Kipp (No. 13 on our list) was made in this in-
terval as it was a small trading post only 200 yards from Fort
Stewart. 35
The down-river trip from Fort Stewart was begun on July 9 on
the Key West, but a stop for a day or so at Fort Union is indicated
by the date of two of his sketches, July 11, 1860 (sketches No. 3
and 14) . Other incidents of his return trip are given in a letter to
his mother, written aboard the Key West on July 21, 1860.
On board steamer Key West
Missouri River July 21st, 1860
Dear Mother
I left Fort Stewart on the 9th of July and arrived at Fort Randall on the
19th where I received Sarah's letter of the first of July and two letters from
Father together with newspapers they were very welcome I assure you. On
my way down the river I saw thousands of buffalo they covered the bluff and
prairie as far as we could see. Until this last month there had been no rain
in this part of the country for about a year, but since then they say they have
34. Fort Stewart was established as a fur-trading post in 1854 and was destroyed by fire
in 1860. (All the more reason that the above crude sketches are important.) It was about
57 channel-miles above Fort Union on the Missouri, although the land distance was about
35 miles. Its site was in present Dawson county, Montana. Larpenteur (whose journals
Coues edited) was in charge of Fort Stewart during the winter of 1859-1860, but probably
had left by the time Hays and Terry reached there. Coues, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 306-308, and
map opposite p. 316.
35. Ibid., p. 316. Coues says that Larpenteur arrived in the neighborhood of Fort
Stewart and Fort Kipp on November 9, 1860, and found that both "forts" had been burned
by Indians. Traveling west up the Missouri in Hays' day had its adventures, as both this
incident and the Hays letters show. Hays' sketch of Fort Kipp is again a crude one. A few
buildings, part of a stockade, and four Indian tepees in the foreground are shown. Wimar
(Footnote 29) also sketched Fort Kipp in 1858 and his sketch shows it to be a somewhat
larger establishment than is indicated by Hays.
156 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
never known so much, the consequence is the mosquitoes literally swarm, at
Fort- Stewart I lived under a mosquito bar for five days and nights, only leaving
it to eat and then hurrying back as quick as possible it was a relief to get on
board of the steamboat again. As we had no soldiers on board coming down
the river we thought the Siouxs would take advantage of it to attack us, so we
prepared for war, three cannon were kept loaded with grape for more than a
week, while every man on board kept his fire-arms loaded and ready for use at
a moments notice, but we passed through their country without seeing a liv-
ing creature all as still as the grave. . . , 36 I hope you will keep the Great
Eastern in New York until I arrive or I shall be obliged to go to England to
see her. I have no news to tell you. My journey is nearly over I hope to be
in St. Louis on the first? of August so far I have met with no accident or mis-
hap have not lost a day by sickness in fact I never felt better in my life. I
will write from St. Louis as I do not know how long I shall stay there or what
route I shall take home give my love to all
Yours affectionate son
(signed) W. J. Hays
Mrs. S. P. Hays
P. S. I will mail this at St. Joseph.
The sketch of the buffalo crossing the Missouri (No. 10, upper
view) may be the result of the observation of "thousands of buffalo"
he saw on the down-river trip. Hays seems to have realized, as
he started homeward, the importance of making pictorial records
of the forts along the Missouri, and for several of the forts, the
sketches obtained are the only ones available as far as the author's
studies go. The dates of these sketches in each instance corre-
spond to their geographical position as the Key West steamed with
comparative swiftness down the Missouri.
Thus, the sketches of Fort Clark and Fort Primeau (No. 4) are
dated July 14, 1860, three days after the sketch of Fort Union (No.
14). These two forts according to Coues were only 300 yards
apart. 37 Fort Clark, one of the most important trading posts of
the fur trade, was located on the Missouri some 55 miles above
the present Bismarck, N. D. 38 The only other sketch of Fort Clark
with which the author is familiar was drawn by Carl Wimar (see
Footnote 29).
36. Two sentences are here omitted as they deal with a death in the family which oc-
curred while Hays was in the upper Missouri country.
37. Coues, op. cit., v. 1, p. 227. According to Coues, Fort Primeau was built at this
location "in the fifties or later." Charles E. De Land, loc. cit., v. 1, p. 378, states that a
detailed description of Fort Primeau "is not at hand; but it was built and occupied by Chas.
Primeau early in the sixties and probably before 1862." From the uncertainty of Coues and
De Land, the Hays sketch serves to give some idea of its appearance and shows that it was in
existence on July 14, 1860. The Hays sketch of Fort Primeau is the only one in existence as
far as I know.
38. Chittenden, American Fur Trade, v. 2, p. 932. For the early history of Fort Clark,
see, Abel, op. cit. Curiously enough, Dr. Abel has no illustration of Fort Clark in her book,
probably because the only one available to her was the very small sketch by Carl Wimar
(see Footnote 29) which would be unsuitable for reproduction; the Hays sketch was unknown
to her, of course.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 157
"Fort Pierre" (No. 5) and "Old Fort Pierre" (No. 6) are dated
July 18, 1860, as they should be, for both forts lie down the Mis-
souri from Forts Primeau and Clark and were in the vicinity of
present Pierre, S. D. The Pierre forts again were close together
(three miles apart) 39 but there appears to be some confusion in
the names of the two forts which should be explained.
Fort Pierre, or Fort Pierre Chouteau, named after the head of
the American Fur Company in St. Louis, was established in 1832
and was "the finest and best equipped trading post on the upper
Missouri with the exception of Fort Union." Like Fort Union, it
was an important and historic spot. At this post many of the In-
dian trails, both east and south, were centered. "Here [i. e. in or
near the site of Fort Pierre] Lewis and Clark had their first serious
encounter with the Sioux; here were found the headquarters of var-
ious tribes, in the form of evidences of a winter camp, in 1810,
when the Hunt-Astoria expedition and the Lisa party halted on
their way up the Missouri; here Catlin found the center of the
Sioux country in 1832 ; here Fremont and Nicollet ended their up-
river journey in 1839; here the Raynolds expedition took its de-
parture from the Missouri in 1859. To old Fort Pierre [as head-
quarters] came the Indian missionaries ... in the process of
laying foundations for civilizing the Indians in this region." 40 For
a quarter of a century its history and trade made it a byword in the
Missouri river country. In fact, Frederick T. Wilson states, "The
words 'Fort Pierre' were in themselves a phrase. They included any-
thing and everything between the Great Bend [of the Missouri] to
the Cheyenne, and between Jim river and the Black Hills. A recog-
nition of this fact will explain many otherwise contradictory pas-
sages in the history of the plains." 41 The United States army
bought Fort Pierre for a supply depot in 1855 but found it inade-
quate and it was abandoned in 1857. 42 Soon the demolition of
Fort Pierre was underway and Capt. W. F. Raynolds, of the United
States Army Corps of Engineers, noted in his diary under date of
September 10, 1860: "As we passed old Fort Pierre, I noticed that
but little was left of the structure, the remains consisting of the
shell of one row of houses, and the demolition of this was in prog-
ress, the material being used in the new fort." 43
39. Wilson, loc. cit., v. 1, p. 296.
40. The quotation is from editorial notes on "Old Fort Pierre" by Charles E. De Land in
South Dakota Historical Collections, v. 1, p. 344, as is the information prior to the quotation
in the text.
41. Wilson, loc. cit., v. 1, p. 295.
42. Ibid., pp. 278, 279, 290.
43. Senate Executive Documents, 40 Cong., 2 Sess. (Washington, 1868), No. 77, p. 121.
The quotation is from Captain Raynolds' journal of the 1859-1860 Yellowstone expedition.
158 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
In the meantime (1857) a trading post was built three miles above
"old" Fort Pierre on a bluff at the edge of the river. Like the "old"
fort, it contained two "bastions" fifteen feet in height at diagonal
corners of the stockade. "This small establishment soon became
known as Fort Pierre, though it was a most unworthy and insignifi-
cant successor to the original. . . ." 44 It would appear, there-
fore, that Hays in his two sketches of the forts has incorrectly titled
them. "Old Fort Pierre" (No. 6) as labeled by Hays is doubtless
the new Fort Pierre just described, and the Hays sketch "Fort
Pierre" is really the remains of "old Fort Pierre" as suggested by the
Raynolds' comment. There are no other sketches of the "new" Fort
Pierre extant as far as the author knows. Of "old" Fort Pierre a
number of illustrations are available. Catlin painted or sketched
it in 1832, 45 Bodmer in 1833, 46 Kurz in 1851, 47 Wimar in 1858, 48 and
Charles E. De Land 49 possessed still another view. Although Hays
could not record old Fort Pierre in its original form he saw its site
and in its neighborhood saw the grand council of the Sioux on the
upriver trip (see his letter of June 20, 1860) .
The downward trip was now progressing swiftly. Fort Randall,
150 miles below Fort Pierre, 50 was passed the day after leaving Fort
Pierre, for the Pierre sketches are dated July 18 and the Fort Randall
(No. 7) sketch was made on July 19. Although the sketch has an
odd perspective (doubtless it was done hurriedly as the Key West
stopped momentarily) it is the only sketch of this military post
the only military post above Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri in
1860 that I have ever seen. 51
The day after leaving Fort Randall the Key West passed Sioux
44. Wilson, loc. tit., p. 296.
45. Catlin, op. cit., v. 1, Plate 57, opposite p. 234. Catlin's original painting of Fort
Pierre in the United States National Museum is No. 384. Donaldson, loc. cit., p. 274.
46. Bodmer's sketch is published as Plate 43 of the atlas which comprises v. 25 of
Thwaites' Early Western Travels, and is the fourth part of Thwaites' series subtitled, "Maxi-
milian, Prince of Wied's, Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834." Thwaites'
reprint of Maximilian's travels is from the original English edition translated from Maximilian's
work.
47. Kurz, loc. cit., Plate 42.
48. Hodges, op. cit., pp. 17-19, and Chittenden-Richardson, op. cit., v. 2, frontispiece.
49. De Land's picture of "old" Fort Pierre was one prepared under the direction of one of
the Chouteaus of St. Louis from recollections of employees of the American Fur Company,
from steamboat pilots and others. It was, therefore, not drawn by a "pinx. ad nat." De
Land refers to it in one place as a pen drawing (p. 344) and on another page as a painting
(between pp. 256, 257) where it is reproduced in half-tone. De Land, loc. cit.
50. Ibid., p. 366.
51. Fort Randall was laid out in 1856 by Gen. W. S. Harney and was named for Daniel
Randall, one-time deputy paymaster general of the United States army. It was abandoned
on July 22, 1884. South Dakota Historical Collections, v. 1, pp. 288, 292, 365, 428; Coues,
op. cit., v. 2, p. 355. (See Footnote 19 for the location of Fort Randall.) Coues wintered
there in 1872-1873. At the time of Hays' visit Fort Randall was garrisoned by over 300
troops of the Fourth artillery under Capt. J. P. McCown. Fort Randall was the only mili-
tary establishment above Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri in the Military Department of
the West. Senate Executive Documents, 36 Cong., 2 Sess. (Washington, 1861), v. 2, p. 216.
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 159
City (July 20, sketch No. 8) which was 175 miles below the fort 52
and Hays apparently made the sketch of the town from the small
steamboat; in a similar manner the sketch of St. Joseph was made
on July 25. 53 (Sketch No. 9.)
On July 27, 1860, the Key West docked at St. Louis with her crew,
her passengers, "1,800 packages of buffalo robes, furs, peltries, etc.,
and a young grizzly bear." 54
One more Hays sketch of the 1860 trip deserves brief mention.
The tremendous number of snags (fallen tree trunks with their huge
exposed roots) in the Missouri (No. 11, undated) were always an
object of wonder to travelers up the lower Missouri. Bodmer drew
them. 55 Not only a source of wonder to travelers, they were a source
of continual despair to the river pilots, and being snagged was the
usual end of the Missouri river boats, according to Coues. Such
was the fate in 1862-1863 of the Spread Eagle, which carried Hays
up the Missouri. 56
How long Hays remained in St. Louis after his return we do not
know, but the probabilities are that it was not long. In the fall of
1860, however, a reporter visited him in his studio in New York City
and wrote: "Mr. Hays is engaged on a very spirited picture, the
result of his recent trip to the Rocky Mountains, representing a herd
of buffaloes scampering wildly over the prairies." 57
Outside of the fact that the reporter considered the West and the
Rocky Mountains as one and identical, the brief item shows that
Hays was soon at work after his return from the Western trip. The
painting referred to above is probably one of Hays' best known
paintings, 'The Herd on the Move." Although the picture sug-
52. Coues, op. cit., v. 1, p. 22, Footnote 10. Sioux City was platted in 1854. Encyclo-
pedia Britannica, v. 20 (1945), p. 717.
53. St. Joseph, or St. Joe, was one of the earlier up river Missouri towns, being platted in
1843. Dictionary of American History (New York, 1940), v. 5, p. 10. An engraving, prob-
ably based on a daguerreotype of St. Joseph in the early 1850's, much better finished than the
hurriedly -drawn sketch by Hays, will be found in Charles A. Dana, ed., The United States Illus-
trated (Herrmann J. Meyer, New York, n. d.), West, v. 1, opposite p. 140. Although this
work is not dated, it was reviewed in Putnam's Monthly Magazine, v. 3 (June, 1854), p. 675.
This two-volume work, judging from the review, was first published serially.
54. Tri-Weekly Missouri Republican, St. Louis, Saturday morning, July 28, 1860, p. 1,
col. 10 (River News). The note also records the fact that the Chippewa and the Key West made
the run directly to Fort Benton, the head of navigation on the Missouri (some 300 or 400 miles
above Fort Union) and were the first steamboats that ever landed at the fort (Benton). The
three boats, Key West, Spread Eagle (Hays' upriver ship) and Chippewa, left St. Louis May 3
as already noted. The Key West and the Chippewa reached Fort Benton on July 2. The two
ships left Fort Benton on July 5 and the Key West reached St. Louis July 27 as mentioned
above. The Chippewa reached St. Louis a few days after the Key West. H. M. Chittenden,
History of Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River (New York, 1903), v. 1, p. 219, men-
tions that the Chippewa and Key West, in 1860, were the first steamboats to complete the
journey to Fort Benton but he gave no further details.
55. R. G. Thwaites, op. cit., v. 25 (atlas), Plate 39.
56. Coues, op. cit., v. 2, p. 324. Coues also reports the fate of the Spread Eagle men-
tioned above in the text.
57. New York Daily Tribune, October 6, 1860. p. 4, col. 4.
160 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
gests movement, "scampering wildly over the prairies" is overdoing
the motion depicted. Hays himself described the painting in this
manner :
THE HERD ON THE MOVE
By the casual observer this picture would, with hardly a second thought, be
deemed an exaggeration, but those who have visited our prairies of the far
West can vouch for its truthfulness, nor can canvass [sic] adequately convey the
width and breadth of these innumerable hordes of bison, such as are here repre-
sented coming over a river bottom in search of water and food, their natural
instincts leading them on, constantly inciting them to this wandering life, since
vegetation would be quite exhausted were it not for the opportunity thus af-
forded for renewal. As far as the eye can reach, wild herds are discernible;
and yet, farther behind these bluffs, over which they pour, the throng begins,
covering sometimes the distance of an hundred miles. The bison collect in
these immense herds during the Autumn and Winter, migrating South in Winter
and North in Summer, and so vast is their number that travelers on the plains
are sometimes a week passing through a herd. They form a solid column, led
by the strongest and most courageous bulls, and nothing in the form of natural
obstructions seems ever to deter their onward march, they crossing rivers and
other obstacles from which a horse would shrink. The soil of the river bottoms
unlike the prairie proper, which begins at the bluffs in the distance is very
rich, and vegetable growth very luxuriant. In the foreground is represented
the sweet briar, or wild rose ; and in the middle distance, the light tints which
look like water is the artemesia, or wild sage. 58
"The Herd on the Move" was on exhibition in New York City
during the winter of 1861-1862 and the following spring Hays was at
work on a companion piece, "The Stampede," which measured six
by three feet. 59 (The painting is here reproduced facing p. 161.) The
original painting is now in the American Museum of Natural His-
tory, New York City, but is referred to by that institution, for some
unknown reason, as the "Buffalo Hunt." Hays' description of the
piece follows:
THE STAMPEDE
The immense herds of Bison which roam over the prairies are sometimes
seized with fright, from some real or imaginary cause, and the panic, beginning
perhaps with but few, is at last communicated to the whole herd, when, with
headlong fury, they dash and drive each other on, in wildest fear. The picture
represents the arrival of a herd, during one of these panics, upon the brink of
one of the small canons, or ravines, which everywhere intersect the prairies,
and are generally invisible until their edge is nearly approached. The foremost
animals, despite their fear, discover their danger and frantically struggle to
retain their foothold, but the immense pressure of the terror-stricken creatures
58. The description is from an exhibition catalog published in the early 1860's. It was
furnished me by H. R. Hays. Tuckerman, op. cit., p. 495, copied the same description in 1867.
59. New York Times, June 14, 1862, under "Fine Arts." The Times account refers to the
painting as "Stampede of the Bisons."
I
\
- Q
o
PICTORIAL RECORD OF OLD WEST 161
in the rear renders it impossible; they are forced forward, and plunge into the
ravine, their bodies serving as a bridge for the rest of the herd, which con-
tinues its mad career until exhausted. A stampede is the great dread of emi-
grants crossing the plain, as it is almost impossible to prevent the cattle and
horses from being carried off with it. The soil of the rolling prairie is chiefly
sand and clay, which, baked dry by the intense heat, is raised by the wind in
intolerable clouds of dust. The vegetation is principally buffalo grass, amid
which flourish the most delicate wild flowers; in the foreground may be no-
ticed the cactus opuntia, or prickly pear, which, in this region, is found in
abundance. 60
Hays himself lithographed "The Herd on the Move" in 1863, and
it was published by Goupil and- Company. The lithograph meas-
ured 36" x 18" and a contemporary account stated that it "admir-
ably reproduces the color of the original painting." "The Stam-
pede" was reported to have been engraved for reproduction but I
have no proof that this was ever done. 61
The painting which is most frequently referred to as Hays' mas-
terpiece is "The Bull at Bay" or "Bison at Bay" or occasionally as
"The Wounded Bison." It depicts a wounded bison separated from
the main herd which can be seen retreating in the middle distance,
the bull being surrounded by coyotes. It was probably painted in
1864 or 1865 and was first exhibited in London. It is now owned
by the American Museum of Natural History. 62
Although regarded by Hays' contemporaries as his masterpiece,
it was, nevertheless, severely criticized in its day. A critic, who
modestly signed himself "Rembrandt," wrote an extended criticism
of the painting in the spring of 1866 when it appeared on exhibition
in Goupil's gallery in New York City. 63 "Rembrandt," who claimed
that he himself had been on the plains, criticized the painting on
the grounds that the habitat of the buffalo was incorrectly depicted
60. The source of this description is the same as that indicated for the description of "The
Herd on the Move." Tuckerman also reprints it.
61. The New York Evening Post, September 25, 1863, in its column, "Fine Arts," reports
the lithograph, "Herd on the Move." H. R. Hays writes me that he has seen a number of the
lithographs but I have never had that good fortune. Goupil and Company was a branch of
the celebrated Parisian firm of lithographers founded by Adolphe Goupil. The Art Journal,
London, v. 45 (1893), pp. 31, 32; see, also, Harry T. Peters' America on Stone (New York,
1931), p. 197. Peters does not include Hays in his list of artists and does not reproduce "Herd
on the Move."
62. The American Art Journal, y. 6 (1866), p. 149, reports : "Hays has at his studio the
large picture of a Bison at Bay which, although painted some few years since, has never been
exhibited in this country, having been sent to Englan 
