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THE 

Kansas Historical 
Quarterly 



NYLE H. MILLER, Managing Editor 

KIRKE MECHEM, Editor 
JAMES C. MALIN, Associate Editor 



Volume XXVI 
1960 

(Kansas Historical Collections) 
VOL. XLIH 



Published by 

The Kansas State Historical Society 
Topeka, Kansas 



33_4411 



72201 



Contents of Volume XXVI 



Number 1 Spring, 1960 

PAGE 

SOME NOTES ON KANSAS COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS, 

Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snett, 1 

COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS Thomas H. O'Connor, 34 

SOME NOTES ON THE COMANCHE CATTLE POOL Mary Einsel, 59 

With photographs of cowboys employed by the pool in 1884, facing p. 64, 
and portraits of Bill Hill and William Blair, facing p. 65. 

BUSINESS AND AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS IN KANSAS, 1871-1888: As Re- 
ported by a New England Mortgage Broker Glenn H. Miller, Jr., 67 

THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer, 
Executive and Nominating Committees; Election of Officers; Address of 
the President, WICHITA COWTOWN, by Richard M. Long; List of Di- 
rectors of the Society 74 

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 103 

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 104 

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . 109 



Number 2 Summer, 1960 



PACK 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS: The Letters of 

Charles Monroe Chase Edited by Lela Barnes, 113 

KANSA VILLAGE LOCATIONS IN THE LIGHT OF 

MCCOY'S 1828 JOURNAL Roscoe Wilmeth, 152 

With map of McCoy's probable route, p. 154. 

SOME NOTES ON KANSAS COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 

Continued Nyle H. Mitter and Joseph W. Snett, 158 

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, Compiled by Alberta Pantle, Librarian, 206 

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 228 

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 229 

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 231 

(iii) 



Number 3 Autumn, 1960 

PAGE 

WYANDOTTE AND THE FIRST "EXODUSTERS" 

OF 1879 Glen Schwendemann y 233 

MONUMENT STATION, GOVE COUNTY Charles R. Wetzel, 250 

EUGENE WARE AND DR. SANGER: The Code of Political Ethics, 

1872-1892 James C. Malin, 255 

AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS: The Letters of 

Charles Monroe Chase Concluded Edited by Lela Barnes, 267 

SOME NOTES ON KANSAS COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 

-^Continued Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, 302 

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 340 

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 341 

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . 343 



Number 4 Winter, 1960 

PAGE 

KANSAS CONGRESSMEN AND REAPPORTIONMENT . . Lorene Anderson Hawley, 345 
THE EARLY CAREERS OF WILLIAM BRADFORD WADDELL AND WILLIAM 
HEPBURN RUSSELL: Frontier Capitalists, 

Raymond W. Settle and Mary Lund Settle, 355 

With reproductions of company advertising, facing pp. 376, 377; and 
portraits of William H. Russell and William B. Waddell, facing p. 377. 

COLLEGE DAYS AT COOPER MEMORIAL, 

1895-1898 Edited by Kenneth Wiggins Porter, 383 

SOME NOTES ON KANSAS COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 

Continued Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, 410 

With sketches of James B. Hickok and Agnes Lake, facing p. 424; portraits 
of Dr. John H. Holliday and Wyatt Earp, and a reproduction of Doc 
Holliday's dentistry advertisement, between pp. 424, 425; and repro- 
duction of Wichita police committee's report of 1876 presumably 
relating to Wyatt Earp, facing p. 425. 

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 456 

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 457 

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 461 

ERRATA AND ADDENDA, VOLUME XXVI 464 

INDEX TO VOLUME XXVI 465 

(iv) 



THE 



KANSAS HISTORICAL 
QUARTERLY 



Spring 1960 




Published by 

Kansas State Historical Society 

Topeka 



NYLE H. MILLER KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN 

Managing Editor Editor Associate Editor 



CONTENTS 



SOME NOTES ON KANSAS COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS, 

Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, 1 

COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS Thomas H. O'Connor, 34 

SOME NOTES ON THE COMANCHE CATTLE POOL Mary Einsel, 59 

With photographs of cowboys employed by the pool in 1884, facing p. 64, 
and portraits of Bill Hill and William Blair, facing p. 65. 

BUSINESS AND AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS IN KANSAS, 1871-1888: As Re- 
ported by a New England Mortgage Broker Glenn H. Miller, Jr., 67 

THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer, 
Executive and Nominating Committees; Election of Officers; Address of 
the President, WICHITA COWTOWN, by Richard M. Long; List of Di- 
rectors of the Society 74 

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 103 

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 104 

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . . 109 



The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas 
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth St., Topeka, Kan. It is distributed 
without charge to members of the Society; nonmembers may purchase single 
issues, when available, for 75 cents each. Membership dues are: annual, $3; 
annual sustaining, $10; life, $20. Membership applications and dues should be 
sent to Mrs. Lela Barnes, treasurer. 

Correspondence concerning articles for the Quarterly should be addressed to 
the managing editor. The Society assumes no responsibility for statements made 
by contributors. 

Second-class postage has been paid at Topeka, Kan. 



THE COVER 

A portion of Front street, Dodge City, in the 1880's. 
"Kansas has but one Dodge City," wrote a Kinsley editor 
in the summer of 1878, describing it as "The Beautiful, 
Bibulous Babylon of the Frontier." Part of the sign of the 
famed Long Branch saloon shows at the right of the second- 
floor porch railing. 



THE KANSAS 
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Volume XXVI Spring, 1960 Number 1 

Some Notes on Kansas Cowtown Police Officers 
and Gun Fighters 

NYLE H. MILLER and JOSEPH W. SNELL 
INTRODUCTION 

OF the thousands of requests for information which come to the 
Kansas State Historical Society each year, many are for ma- 
terial on famous Western marshals, sheriffs, and gunmen, as well as 
lesser lights. Letters are received from all parts of the United States, 
Canada, Europe, and even Australia. Those who write are from all 
walks of life, and include professional writers, clerks, lawyers, fac- 
tory workers, housewives, and school boys and girls. 

For years James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was their favorite. 
Since the coming of television, Wyatt Earp and William Barclay 
"Bat" Masterson have taken the ascendancy. There is no doubt 
that TV Westerns have been the cause of a reawakening of interest 
which, though it has had previous periods of activity, has never 
before captivated audiences so extensively. Not only have more 
TV Westerns been scheduled each season, but "factual" Western 
magazines have made their appearance. Biographies of Western 
personalities have been written and rewritten, and countless motion 
pictures have retold with variations stories that have appeared many 
times before. 

It is unfortunate that few of the authors of these scripts, articles, 
and books have dug deeper than previously published works for 
their information. Errors, some of which may have been simple 
mistakes in original publications, become enriched with age and 
accepted as fact by latter-day writers. Too seldom is there indica- 
tion that present-day authors have returned to primary source ma- 
terials for their stories. In fact, it seems at times that a few 
deliberately reject fascinating fact for not-so-fascinating fiction. 

Because of the tremendous demand for information concerning 
the lives of many of these Western personalities, the State Historical 
Society is preparing a file which will contain copies of available 

NYLE H. MILLER and JOSEPH W. SNELL are members of the staff of the Kansas State 
Historical Society. 



2 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

contemporary records on the law and lawless of several of Kansas' 
more famous cowtowns. Frankly, the collection is expected to 
reduce the outlandish number of hours members of the staff are 
having to spend in searching for answers to these numerous re- 
quests, many of which are submitted in detail. Also, the cream of 
this research is now available for publication in this and succeeding 
issues of The Kansas Historical Quarterly. 

Pains have been taken to see that all known contemporary records 
were examined from each of the towns chosen. Newspapers of 
the day and official city, county, and state records have been con- 
sulted. Manuscript material of the individuals concerned has also 
been used when available. 

The compilers of this series have concentrated as much as possible 
on primary records. Efforts have been made to avoid undue evalua- 
tion or interpretation of the data gathered. Quoted items in most 
cases speak for themselves. Emphasis has naturally been given 
to the activities of these individuals in Kansas, although occasionally 
their careers outside the state receive mention. 

Considering the meager material available, a project of this kind 
cannot be definitive. Therefore, the Society will be the first to admit 
that it does not have all the answers and never will, for contem- 
poraneous information simply is not available to cover many epi- 
sodes in the lives of these individuals. It is believed, however, that 
the following series will be the most accurate and complete chronicle 
yet published of many of the well-known peace officers and gun 
fighters of Kansas. Additional evidence of any kind will be en- 
thusiastically received by the Society, especially if it is contemporary 
with the period. 

Eight Kansas cowtowns were chosen for inclusion in this series. 
There are, of course, others which would qualify, and undoubtedly 
some readers will feel that the compilers have discriminated and 
made poor selections. Unfortunately such complaint could be 
made of any selection less than the whole. 

The towns chosen, and their necessarily fluid end dates, are: 
Abilene, 1867-1871; Caldwell, 1879-1884; Dodge City, 1873-1886; 
Ellsworth, 1872-1875; Hays, 1869; Newton, 1871; Wichita, 1871- 
1875; and Hunnewell whenever appropriate information was dis- 
covered. 

Of these towns, Hunnewell alone had no direct source of infor- 
mation available, and data had to be obtained from extra-local 
sources. Abilene, Caldwell, and Wichita city records were avail- 
able. Copies of nearly all the commissioners' journals of the sev- 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 3 

eral counties involved were consulted. Contemporary newspapers 
have been searched for all the communities except Hays, Hunne- 
well, and Newton. For the last-named towns, the Society has no 
newspaper files for the years concerned. 

All persons found serving as police officers at any governmental 
level have been recorded. However, only those for whom some- 
thing of special interest has been found, are given separate treat- 
ment. 

In addition to lawmen, certain others who were either astraddle 
or outside the law were included. This latter category includes 
such well-known Western characters as Luke Short, Clay Allison, 
and John H. "Doc" Holliday. For the purposes of this list, the 
term "law enforcement officer" means police officer. However, 
when the same individuals also served in other governmental ca- 
pacities, those facts occasionally have been mentioned in passing. 

As work for this paper progressed interesting discrepancies ap- 
peared. The almost standard characterization presented by the 
movies and television was found to be highly imaginary. For 
instance, the classic main street chivalric engagement, known as 
the "quick draw," apparently was not indulged in either by law- 
men or "badmen." When police officers "drew," it was to make a 
quick arrest without gunfire, if possible. When "badmen" resorted 
to gunplay, it was either deliberate, premeditated murder from 
a safe vantage point, or "spur of the moment" shooting caused by 
anger, drunkenness, or fear. It was rare indeed for principals to 
walk toward each other down the middle of main street at high 
noon in that dramatic and awe-inspiring manner so often depicted 
on the screen. Such show business for real was far too likely 
to be fatal, or at least damaging, to a large percentage of the par- 
ticipants. It was natural, then as now, for most to value their lives, 
so why give the other fellow an even break when he could be 
disposed of otherwise, with less risk? 

It was curious to note, too, what deplorable marksmen many 
of the gunslingers sometimes were. Classic examples may be 
found in the Loving-Richardson duel in Dodge City and the Hickok- 
Coe affair in Abilene. 

As one reads the sketches in this series it will be noted that 
nearly all the more famous police officers were, at one time or 
another, on the receiving end of the law. Wild Bill Hickok, Bat 
Masterson, Wyatt Earp, William M. Tilghman, Henry Brown, all 
were arrested on suspicion, or for infractions of the law in some 
degree. Certain other lawmen were equally at home on either 



4 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

side of the fence. But this condition resulted largely as a by- 
product of the times and, in fairness, each of them should be 
judged in the light of his existing "cultural" surroundings. 

Unfortunately for history, many of Kansas' better lawmen seldom 
receive due credit, while others bask some undeservedly in the 
warmth and glory of fame. Probably one of the finest peace of- 
ficers ever to serve in Kansas was Thomas J. Smith, who was chief 
of police at Abilene during the cattle season of 1870. Other ex- 
cellent and dedicated peace officers included Charles E. Bassett 
and Edward J. Masterson of Dodge City and Mike Meagher of 
Wichita and Caldwell. Three of these men lost their lives be- 
cause they wore, or had worn, the badge. 

The following pages are presented, then, in the hope that some 
of the inaccuracies of the present may be halted before they go 
orbitting into eternity, and that deserving lawmen will receive more 
of the appreciation that is due them. Also, may the reader have 
some enjoyable moments overlooking a few items that are grue- 
some, of course in reliving the days of the "wild and woolly West." 

One final "moment of truth," before permitting the past to speak 
for itself. Stories of the prowess of Matt Dillon, famed on tele- 
vision and radio today, are not to be found in this compilation. 
"Matt Dillon, U. S. marshal, Dodge City" though he puts on a good 
show, simply does not exist in history. 

ALLISON, CLAY 



Much has been written in various books about Clay Allison's 
adventures in Dodge City but very little mention of him was 
found in the town's newspapers. On August 6, 1878, the Ford 
County Globe noted that "Clay Allison, one of the Allison Bros., 
from the Cimarron, south of Las Animas, Colorado, stopped off at 
Dodge last week on his way home from St. Louis. We are glad to 
say that Clay has about recovered from the effects of the East St. 
Louis scrimmage." 

The Globe, September 10, mentioned that Allison was again in 
Dodge on September 5. On March 2, 1880, the Globe printed a 
letter written by Allison in which he defended his reputation and 
explained the "East St. Louis scrimmage": 

A CARD FROM CLAY ALLISON. 

To THE EDITOR OF THE GLOBE: 

About the 26th of July there appeared in one of the St. Louis papers an 
account of an altercation between myself and one Tisinger, in East St. Louis, 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 5 

in which account there appeared several gross misrepresentations which I 
desire to contradict. 

1st It was alleged that I was a murderer of fifteen men. In answer to this 
assertion I will say that it is entirely false, and that I stand ready at all times 
and places for an open inspection, and any one who wishes to learn of my past 
record can make inquiries of any of the leading citizens of Wayne county, 
Tennessee, where I was born and raised, or of officers of the late rebellion, 
on either side. I served in the 9th Tennessee regiment, Co. F, and the last 
two years of the service was a scout for Ben McCulloch and Gen. Forrest. 
Since the war I have resided in Mexico, Texas and Kansas, principally on the 
frontier, and will refer to any of the tax payers and prominent men in either 
of the localities where I have resided. I have at all times tried to use my 
influence toward protecting the property holders and substantial men of the 
country from thieves, outlaws and murderers, among whom I do not care to 
be classed. 

2nd, It was also charged that I endeavored to use a gun on the occasion 
of the St. Louis difficulty, which is untrue, and can be proven by either Col. 
Hunter, of St. Louis, or the clerk of Irwin, Allen & Co. It was also stated that 
I got the worst of the fight. In regard to this I also refer to Col. Hunter. I do 
not claim to be a prize fighter, but as an evidence of the correct result of this 
fight I will only say that I was somewhat hurt but did not squeal, as did my 
three opponents. 

My present residence is on the Washita in Hemphill county, Texas, where 
I am open for inspection and can be seen at any time. 

CLAY ALLISON. 

DODGE CITY, Feb. 26, 1880. 

St. Louis and other papers please copy. 

The final reference to Allison's being in Dodge was this short item 
in the Globe, August 17, 1880: "Clay Allison came up from the Pan 
Handle Sunday." 

BASSETT, CHARLES E. 

( -1895) 

The first sheriff of Ford county was Charles E. Bassett. Chosen 
at a special election June 5, 1873, he was re-elected twice and 
served a total of about four and one-half years. 1 

In early April, 1876, young John Callaham and a stranger named 
Cole, who was sharing Callaham's camp on Saw Log creek some 
15 miles from Dodge City, were hanged by a posse from Sumner 
county. The posse, pursuing horse thieves, believed that both 
Callaham and Cole were guilty but later events seem to indi- 
cate that John Callaham was the innocent victim of lynch law. 2 

R. C. Callaham, a Topeka sewing machine salesman and father 
of John Callaham, conferred with Gov. Thomas A. Osborn and 
then journeyed to Dodge. He carried with him this letter from 



6 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

the governor to Sheriff Bassett and the county attorney of Ford 
county: 

April 24[, 187]6 
To THE COUNTY ATTORNEY & 
SHERIFF OF FORD COUNTY. 

GENTLEMEN: 

This will be handed to you by Mr. R. C. Callaham, whose son, John F. 
Callaham, was executed by mob violence in your county, on the 8th inst. 
He visits Ford County for the purpose of making a thorough investigation 
of all the facts and circumstances attending the death of his son. He claims 
that there is no doubt of his son's innocence, and if this claim is correct the 
[word illegible] atrocity of the crime an utterly law-defying one at the best 
certainly demands the attention of all law-abiding people, and more especially 
of the officers to whom is entrusted the execution of the law and the preserva- 
tion of the public peace. 

I trust that you will extend to Mr. Callaham all the assistance, counsel and 
encouragement which it may be in your power to extend. There must be 
an end to mob violence in this state, and local officers exercising vigilance 
and energy in its suppression and punishment may rely upon the Executive 
for support and assistance. Let me know in what manner I can be of service 
in bringing to justice the perpetrators of this recent outrage, and I shall not 
be slow in responding to any practical suggestion. In the meantime I trust 
that you will do everything in your power to facilitate the inquiry which 
Mr. Callaham proposes to institute. 

Very Respectfully, 
Your Obed't Servant, 

THOS. A. OSBORN. 3 

Shortly after Callaham's arrival in Dodge City, Sheriff Charles 
E. Bassett wrote to Governor Osborn and reported Callaham's 
findings as well as his own feelings in the matter: 

SHERIFF'S OFFICE, 
FORD COUNTY, KAS., 
DODGE Cnr, April 28, 1876 
THOS. A OSBORN 

Gov. State Kans 
DEAR Sm 

Mr. R. C. Calleham presented to me your letter of the 24 inst 

I gave the Gentleman all the encouragement I could but as I was ignorant 
of the facts in the Case, My suggestions as council could be of little benifit 
to him. 

Through what little information I gave him and his own exertions he has 
ascertained the fact that his son, John Calleham, was at Dodge City, on the 
3rd day of April 1876 the day on which we held our municipal election. It 
appears from the statements made by the Sumner County and other papers 
that the horses were stolen on the 30th inst., and that the parties in persuit 
followed the thieves a distance of 300 miles. The theory is that if the de- 
ceased John Calleham was here on the 3rd day of April that it would be 
physically impossible for him to have have stolen those horses. Several Citi- 
zens of good standing are willing to qualify [sic] that they spoke with him on 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 7 

the 3rd of April, at Dodge City. If he was one of the thieves the time given 
him to travel over 300 miles of ground was 3 days from the night of the 
30th of March to the morning of the 3rd of April. I do not hesitate to say that 
this fete could not be performed by any one horse or horseman in the time 
given, especially as the ground was so soft, as to leave an impression, so plain 
that it could be followed at a very rapid gait. 

To be brief I am now of the opinion that the man was innocent of the 
crime alledged, and for which he has suffered death. Mr. Calleham wishes 
me to go to Sumner County and arrest the parties interested in the hanging, 
but without the assistance of the executive department I am totally unable to 
do anything, as I am in a poor fix financially to undertake so lengthy a Journy. 
And as I have to deal with men who have themselfs disregarded the law, I 
will nessarily have to take with me three men to assist in making those arrests. 
This of course will be some slight expense to the State, without which I am 
unable to opperate. 

I hardly think it safe to entrust my business to the Sumner Co Sheriff as 
I think that possibly he might convey the intilegence to them and thereby 
give the offenders an opportunity to escape 

Yours Very 

Respectfully 
CHAS E. BAssETT 4 

The financial aid which Bassett requested was not forthcoming. 
On May 1 Governor Osborn's secretary replied: 

CHAS. E. BASSETT, ESQ. 
Dodge City, Kansas. 

DEAR SIR: 

The Governor directs me to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 
28th ult. Though he is decidedly anxious that the parties who illegally exe- 
cuted young Callaham should be brought to justice, there is no public fund 
from which the expense of their re-capture can be defrayed. It is the duty 
of the local authorities to execute the law, and the Governor hopes that the 
County Board will provide the necessary means. 

Yours Truly, 
WARD BURLINGAME, 
Private Sec'y. 5 

Further research has not disclosed the outcome of the Callaham 
case. 

Little is known of Bassetfs service as sheriff of Ford county from 
May, 1876, until the spring of 1877, when issues of Dodge City 
newspapers begin to appear regularly in the State Historical So- 
ciety's files. The first known newspaper item which credited Bassett 
with having performed an official duty was in the Dodge City 
Times, March 31, 1877: 

A slight horse-thief scare prevaded this morning. From what we learn it 
appears that twelve horses were missed from Mr. J. W. Miller's cattle camp 
on Crooked yesterday. Supposing they had been stolen, the authorities were 
informed, and Sheriff Bassett and Marshal [Lawrence E.] Deger started out this 



8 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

morning to see what they could find. About three miles west of town they 
discovered the horses, but no thieves were in sight. 

Short items telling of Bassett going after a jewel thief, visiting 
Harvey county on official business, etc., appeared from time to time 
but apparently nothing of major importance happened which in- 
volved the sheriff of Ford county until September, 1877. On Sep- 
tember 18 six men robbed a Union Pacific train of $60,000 at Big 
Springs, Neb. It was reported that the bandits were headed south 
and Sheriff Bassett set out to catch them. Here is the story from 
the Times, September 29, 1877: 

IN PURSUIT. 

A dispatch was received by Sheriff Bassett last Wednesday from Superin- 
tendent Morse, stating that the train robbers had started south and would 
probably cross the A. T. & S. F. near Lakin. Accordingly Bassett, under-sheriff 
[William B. "Bat"] Masterson and John Webb went west on the Thursday 
morning train: but they heard nothing of the robbers and returned Friday 
morning, thinking it more likely that the robbers would cross near Dodge. A 
few hours before they arrived news was brought into town that five men had 
crossed the railroad going south about thirty miles west of here. As soon as 
preparations could be made, Bassett, Bat Masterson and Webb started south- 
west on horseback, intending to try to intercept the robbers if possible. Assistant 
Marshal Ed. Masterson and Deputy Sheriff [Miles] Mix went west the same day 
to find out what they could about the men who crossed the road. They could 
learn nothing of any importance except that the men had been seen on Thursday 
morning, but no one had taken particular notice of them. Masterson and Mix 
returned the same evening. 

Nothing has been heard from Sheriff Bassett and his men since they started 
from here yesterday morning. 

Quite likely the Bassett posse did not catch up with the bandits 
for no further word of the chase was printed. 

Later, Sheriff Bassett was embarrassed by a jail break, as the 
Dodge City Times reported October 27: 

OUR BIRD HAS FLOWN. 

FORD COUNTY'S ONLY JAIL Brno PLUMES 
His PINIONS AND TAKES His FLIGHT. 

. . . When Sheriff Bassett heard that his bird had flown he looked as 
sorrow-stricken as if he had lost his dearest friend, and immediately sought to 
find his prodigal and return him to his keeper, but George was still on the wing 
at last accounts. The following card shows that the sheriff means business: 

FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD BROKE JAIL, 

The above reward will be paid for the apprehension of Geo. W. Wil- 
son, who broke jail at this place on the night of October 22d. Wilson is 
5 feet 11 inches tall, dark hair, blue eyes, good looking, straight built, 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 9 

22 years old, small moustache and gotee, has a scar from a pistol shot in 
his back, wore dark clothes and a wide-rimmed white hat. 

CHAS. E. BASSETT, 
Sheriff Ford county, Kansas. 

In December, while still sheriff, Bassett received an additional 
law enforcement duty. "Sheriff Bassett has been appointed by 
Mayor [James H.] Kelley to assist Marshal [Edward J.] Masterson 
in preserving order and decorum in the city. Mr. Bassett has had 
thorough training, and is a good man for the place/' said the Times, 
December 15, 1877. Bassett's salary in this position was the same 
as the marshal's, $75 per month. 6 

Limited by the state constitution, Bassett could not run for a 
successive third regular term as sheriff. On January 14, 1878, he 
was replaced by William B. Masterson who had been elected on 
November 6. One of Bat's first acts as sheriff of Ford county was 
to appoint Bassett his under sheriff. 7 

In February and March, 1878, Bassett spent much of his time 
pursuing the men who had attempted to hold up a Santa Fe train 
at Kinsley on January 27. Since he was, in this episode, the sub- 
ordinate of Bat Masterson the full account of the pursuit will be 
given in the section on W. B. Masterson. 

Early in April, 1878, three men from George Grant's English 
colony at Victoria came to Dodge to join Mayor James H. Kelley, 
Charles Bassett, and James Martin in a buffalo hunt. The party 
left Dodge April 4 and headed for a spot 75 miles southwest where 
they expected to find bison. They were gone about a week. When 
they returned Bassett found that City Marshal Edward J. Master- 
son had been killed by drunken cowboys. The city council of 
Dodge lost little time in appointing Assistant Marshal Bassett to 
the higher position and shortly thereafter he was given a salary 
increase to $100 per month. 8 

During the summer of 1878 Deputy United States Marshal H. T. 
McCarty was shot and killed in the Long Branch saloon; Cowboy 
George Hoy was shot by the Dodge City police and in September 
the cross state journey of Dull Knife's band of Cheyenne Indians 
threw the town into a frenzy of excitement. Toward the end of the 
cattle season Fannie Keenan, alias Dora Hand, was shot and killed. 
City Marshal-Under Sheriff Bassett participated in the pursuit and 
capture of Miss Keenan's alleged murderer, James Kennedy, but 
this tale, again, properly belongs to the sheriff of Ford county and 
details of the chase may be found under W. B. Masterson. 



10 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

In reporting the January term of the Ford county district court 
the Dodge City Times, January 11, 1879, had this to say concerning 
the efficiency of the county peace officers: 

The large criminal calendar suggests the "probability" of an "endeavor" 
on the part of the officers to do their duty. To an unprejudiced person, some- 
body has been making things lively. Sheriff Bat Masterson, Under Sheriff 
Bassett, and Deputies [William] Duffy and [James] Masterson, have evidently 
earned the high praise accorded to them for their vigilance and prompt action 
in the arrest of offenders of the law. 

On February 15 Bassett, Sheriff Masterson and others were at 
Fort Leavenworth to pick up seven Cheyenne prisoners from the 
military authorities. The Indians, members of Dull Knife's band, 
were accused of committing atrocities during their September, 
1878, flight across Kansas and were to be taken to Dodge City for 
trial. Further details may be found under W. B. Masterson. 

April 5, 1879, saw one of Dodge's more famous killings and City 
Marshal Bassett played a role in the story as reported by the Ford 
County Globe on April 8: 

ANOTHER TRAGEDY. 

FRANK LOVING AND LEVI RICHARDSON FIGHT WITH PISTOLS. 
LOVING COMES OUT WITH A SCRATCH AND RICHARDSON GOES TO His GRAVE. 

There is seldom witnessed in any civilized town or country such a scene 
as transpired at the Long Branch saloon, in this city, last Saturday evening, 
resulting in the killing of Levi Richardson, a well known freighter, of this city, 
by a gambler named Frank Loving. 

For several months Loving has been living with a woman toward whom 
Richardson seems to have cherished tender feelings, and on one or two oc- 
casions previous to this which resulted so fatally, they have quarrelled and even 
come to blows. Richardson was a man who had lived for several years on the 
frontier, and though well liked in many respects, he had cultivated habits 
of bold and daring, which are always likely to get a man into trouble. Such 
a disposition as he posessed might be termed bravery by many, and indeed 
we believe he was the reverse of a coward. He was a hard working, indus- 
trious man, but young and strong and reckless. 

Loving is a man of whom we know but very little. He is a gambler by 
profession; not much of a roudy, but more of the cool and desperate order, 
when he has a killing on hand. He is about 25 years old. Both, or either 
of these men, we believe, might have avoided this shooting if either had 
posessed a desire to do so. But both being willing to risk their lives, each 
with confidence in himself, they fought because they wanted to fight. As 
stated in the evidence below, they met, one said "I don't believe you will 
fight." The other answered "try me and see/' and immediately both drew 
murderous revolvers and at it they went, in a room filled with people, the 
leaden missives flying in all directions. Neither exhibited any sign of a desire 
to escape the other, and there is no telling how long the fight might have 
lasted had not Richardson been pierced with bullets and Loving's pistol left 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 11 

without a cartridge. Richardson was shot in the breast, through the side 
and through the right arm. It seems strange that Loving was not hit, except 
a slight scratch on the hand, as the two men were so close together that 
their pistols almost touched each other. Eleven shots were fired, six by 
Loving and five by Richardson. Richardson only lived a few moments after 
the shooting. Loving was placed in jail to await the verdict of the coroner's 
jury, which was "self defense," and he was released. Richardson has no rela- 
tives in this vicinity. He was from Wisconsin. About twenty-eight years old. 

Together with all the better class of our community we greatly regret this 
terrible affair. We do not believe it is a proper way to settle difficulties, 
and we are positive it is not according to any law, human or divine. But if 
men must continue to persist in settling their disputes with fire arms we would 
be in favor of the duelling system, which would not necessarily endanger the 
lives of those who might be passing up or down the street attending to their 
own business. 

We do not know that there is cause to censure the police, unless it be to 
urge upon them the necessity of strictly enforcing the ordinance preventing 
the carrying of concealed weapons. Neither of these men had a right to carry 
such weapons. Gamblers, as a class, are desperate men. They consider it 
necessary in their business that they keep up their fighting reputation, and 
never take a bluff. On no account should they be allowed to carry deadly 
weapons. . . . 

The newspaper then gave the testimonies of individuals who had 
knowledge of the shooting but since they are so similar we give here 
only those of Adam Jackson, bartender at the Long Branch, City 
Marshal Bassett, and Deputy Sheriff William Duffey. 

Adam Jackson, bar-tender at the Long Branch, testified as follows: 

"I was in the Long Branch saloon about 8 or 9 o'clock Saturday evening. 
I know Levi Richardson. He was in the saloon just before the fuss, standing 
by the stove. He started to go out and went as far as the door when Loving 
came in at the door. Richardson turned and followed back into the house. 
Loving sat down on the hazard table. Richardson came and sat near him on 
the same table. Then Loving immediately got up, making some remark to 
Richardson, could not understand what it was. Richardson was sitting on 
the table at the time, and Loving standing up. Loving says to Richardson: 
If you have anything to say about me why don't you come and say it to my 
face like a gentleman, and not to my back, you dam son of a bitch/ Richard- 
son then stood up and said: *You wouldn't fight anything, you dam ' could 
not hear the rest. Loving said 'you try me and see/ Richardson pulled his 
pistol first, and Loving also drew a pistol. Three or four shots were fired when 
Richardson fell by the billiard table. Richardson did not fire after he fell. 
He fell on his hands and nees. No shots were fired after Richardson fell. 
No persons were shooting except the two mentioned. Loving's pistol snapped 
twice and I think Richardson shot twice before Loving's pistol was discharged. 

A. A. JACKSON. . . . 

Chas. E. Bassett testified: "When I first heard the firing I was at Beatty 
& Kelley's saloon. Ran up to the Long Branch as fast as I could. Saw Frank 
Loving, Levi Richardson and Duffey. Richardson was dodging and running 
around the billiard table. Loving was also running and dodging around the 



12 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

table. I got as far as the stove when the shooting had about ended. I caught 
Loving's pistol. Think there was two shots fired after I got into the room, 
am positive there was one. Loving fired that shot, to the best of my knowledge. 
Did not see Richardson fire any shot, and did not see him have a pistol. I 
examined the pistol which was shown me as the one Richardson had. It con- 
tained five empty shells. Richardson fell while I was there. Whether he 
was shot before or after I came in am unable to say. I think the shots fired 
after I came in were fired by Loving at Richardson. Richardson fell immedi- 
ately after the shot I heard. Did not see any other person shoot at Richardson. 
Did not see Duffey take Richardson's pistol. Do not know whether Loving 
knew that Richardson's pistol had been taken away from him. There was 
considerable smoke in the room. Loving's pistol was a Remington, No. 44 
and was empty after the shooting. 

CHAS. E. BASSETT. 

Wm. Duffey testified: "I was at the Long Branch saloon. I know Levi 
Richardson, who is now dead. I know 'cock-eyed Frank* ( Loving ) Both were 
there at the time. I heard no words pass between them. They had fired several 
shots when Frank fell by the table by the stove. I supposed that he was shot. 
I then had a scuffle with Richardson, to get his pistle, and threw him back 
on some chairs. Succeeded in getting his pistol. There might have been a 
shot fired by one or the other while we were scuffling. Cannot say whether 
Richardson had been shot previous to that time, but think he had, as he was 
weak and I handled him easily. Richardson then got up and went toward the 
billiard table and fell. I can't swear whether any shots were fired at Richardson 
by Loving after Richardson was disarmed. Don't think Loving knew I had 
taken the pistol from Richardson. It was but a few seconds after I took 
Richardson's pistol that he fell. WILLIAM DUFFEY. . . ." 

Five months later City Marshal Bassett again disarmed the victor 
of a fatal quarrel. The Ford County Globe carried the story on 
September 9, 1879: 

A COWARDLY MURDER. 

B. MARTIN BRAINED WITH A WINCHESTER 

BY A. H. WEBB. 

Dodge City has added another item to her history of blood, and rum has 
found another victim. 

Yesterday afternoon B. Martin and A. H. Webb became involved in a dispute 
in a saloon on Main street. Many complimentary allusions to the parentage, 
habits and previous history of the parties, usually passed during such scenes 
in Dodge circles, were freely bandied between the two, ending by Webb 
knocking Martin down. Martin, who was a remarkably small man, generally 
inoffensive and timid, made an apology to Webb for some of his strongest 
epithets, and then went out and sat upon a bench in front of his little tailor 
shop adjoining Henry Sturm's saloon. Webb seemed to be very little placated 
by the submission of his little antagonist. He walked up Main street, threaten- 
ing more vengeance at every step. He went into Zimmerman's hardware store 
and asked Mr. Connor to loan him a pistol, but he was refused. He then went 
to his house on the hill, saddled his horse, got his Winchester rifle and returned 
to Main street. He hitched his horse at Straeter's corner, walked to where 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 13 

Martin was seated, raised the rifle with both hands and brought the barrel of 
it down on Martin's head with terrific force. Martin fell like a log and never 
was conscious afterward. 

Webb then jumped for his horse to make off. The murderous blow, how- 
ever, had been seen by several persons, who ran to prevent the escape. Marshal 
Bassett seized him and took away his rifle, which was found to be loaded and 
cocked. He was first taken to the calaboose, but a crowd gathering quickly, 
among whom were some who favored lynching, the sheriff deemed it prudent 
to remove the prisoner to the county jail. . . . 

On October 21, 1879, the Ford County Globe told of another 
railway robbery: 

THE TRAIN ROBBERY. 

At 1:45 Wednesday morning, Mr. J. M. Thatcher, Gen'l Ag't Express Co., 
received a telegram informing him of the express train at Las Vegas having 
been taken in by masked robbers. With Messrs. [Harry E.] Gryden, Bassett 
and [Chalkley M.] Beeson he immediately left for Las Vegas. From Judge 
Gryden, who returned this morning, we learn the following particulars. 

The night being rainy five men entered the Express car immediately on 
leaving Las Vegas. Covering the conductor Mr. Turner, the messenger Mr. 
Monroe, and the baggage master, and compelling the messenger to open the 
safe "dam quick." The booty consisted of two $1,000 bills, $85.50 in C. O. D. 
packages and $1,000 in time checks of the A. T. & S. F. R. R., a package of 
$245 was overlooked. The three revolvers of the conductor, messenger and 
baggage master was also taken from them and all the lanterns, the parties 
then left the train without stopping it. Two of them have through the efficiency 
of Mr. Thatcher been arrested at Las Vegas, the others are known and will be 
caught. It was a neat and prompt job; but between Messrs. Thatcher and 
Judge Gryden they will, we have no doubt, be all landed in the penitentiary. 

On November 4, 1879, the Globe reported that "Ex-Sheriff Charles 
E. Bassett returned last week from New Mexico, where he has been 
for the past ten days in the interest of the Adams express company." 
The day the Globe came out the city council met and appointed 
James Masterson city marshal to replace Bassett who had by then 
resigned. 9 

On December 23 Bassett was reported to be in St. Louis, Mo., 
but by January 6, 1880, when the January term of the Ford 
county district court convened, he was back in Dodge for duty as 
deputy sheriff. 10 His name appeared in the newspapers a few times 
in minor items which stated that he took prisoners to the penitentiary, 
but apparently nothing of note happened to him for the remainder 
of his stay in Dodge City. On April 27, 1880, the Ford County 
Globe noted his exit from town: "Ex-Sheriff Chas. E. Bassett, ac- 
companied by Mysterious Dave [Mather] and two other prospectors, 
started out last week in search of 'greener fields and pastures new/ 
They went in a two-horse wagon, after the style in the days of '49.'* 



14 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

The Times, May 1, stated that he was headed for the Gunnison 
country. 

The newspapers of Dodge City did not mention Bassett again for 
over 16 months. On September 13, 1881, the Globe noticed his 
return in this article: "Charles E. Bassett, ex-sheriff of Ford county, 
and formerly city marshal of Dodge City one of the old timers 
arrived the city last Tuesday after an absence of a year and a half. 
Charley looks as natural as life, wears good clothes, and says Texas 
is suffering from dry weather/' On September 8, two days after his 
return, he was mentioned as a possible candidate for sheriff, 11 but 
two weeks later he was in Kansas City and apparently planning to 
stay, judging from this item in the Times, September 22, 1881: "Hon. 
C. E. Bassett, a well known cattle man of Kansas and Texas, re- 
turned to the city yesterday after a brief stay at Dodge City. He 
will remain here for some time. Kansas City Journal. Jim Kelley 
has charge of Mr. Bassett's herds during his absence/' 

Another 18 months passed before the name of Charles E. Bassett 
again appeared in the Dodge City newspapers. The Ford County 
Globe of March 20, 1883, reported that he had been in Dodge City 
from Kansas City "the first of last week and spent a day or two in 
our city visiting old-time friends/' 

Bassett was again in Dodge City in June, 1883, along with several 
other prominent Western gun fighters, to aid Luke Short in his 
quarrel with the city authorities. (For further information see the 
section on Short. ) 

Twice more, on January 1, 1884, 12 and April 7, 1885, 13 Bassett was 
mentioned as being in Dodge City. No further contemporary in- 
formation has been found on the Dodge City career of Charles E. 
Bassett. 

1. "Ford County, Briefing of Commissioners' Journals" (transcribed by the Historical 
Records Survey of the Work Projects Administration, in archives division, Kansas State 
Historical Society), pp. 2, 4, 18. 2. Topeka Daily Commonwealth, April 21, 1876. 3. 
"Governors' Correspondence," archives division, Kansas State Historical Society. 4. Ibid. 
5. Ibid. 6. Dodge City Times, January 5, 1878. 7. Ibid., January 12, 19, 1878. 8. 
Ibid., April 6-20, May 4, 11, 1878; Ford County Globe, April 16, 1878. 9. Dodge City 
Times, November 15, 1879. 10. Ford County Globe, December 23, 1879; Dodge City 
Times, January 10, 1880. 11. Dodge City Times, September 8, 1881. 12. Ford County 
Globe. 13. The Globe Live Stock Journal. 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 15 

BEAMER, PETER W. 

On June 10, 1882, P. W. Beamer was named to the Dodge City 
police force. The Ford County Globe, June 13, 1882, reported the 
appointment in this article: 

THE NEW POLICE FORCE. 

We congratulate our city officials in their wise and judicious selection of 
police officers last Saturday. 

P. W. Beamer, as city marshal, is a good selection in fact one of the best 
that could be made at this time. Mr. Beamer is one of our best citizens an 
earnest, unassuming citizen temperate in his habits, and a person especially 
suited for the place. Lee Harland and Clark Chipman, as policemen, are 
both nervy fellows and are, if we do not misjudge them, the proper men 
for the positions named. 

The mayor has adopted a set of rules for the especial guidance and ob- 
servance of the police force, which, if carried out, will be an additional in- 
centive to have officers perform their duties. He insists that these rules must 
be observed or he will speedily remove any officer that violates them. 

The rules which Mayor A. B. Webster adopted were printed in 
the Dodge City Times, June 22, 1882: 

POLICE REGULATIONS. 

1. Each and every member of the Police force shall devote his whole time 
and attention to the business of the department, and is hereby prohibited from 
following any other calling. They must at all times be prepared to act im- 
mediately on notice that their services are required. 

2. Punctual attendance and conformity to the rules of the department 
will be strictly enforced. 

3. Each and every member must be civil, quiet and orderly; he must 
maintain decorum, command of temper and discretion. 

4. They must not compound any offense committed or withdraw any 
complaint unless authorized by the Mayor. 

5. All officers on duty must wear the star or shield on the outside garment 
on the left breast. 

6. No member of the police force while on duty shall drink any intoxicating 
liquor or allow any to be introduced into the city jail. 

7. No member shall leave the city or be absent from duty without per- 
mission from the Mayor. 

8. They must not render assistance in civil cases except to prevent an 
immediate breach of the peace, or quell a disturbance. 

9. Every member will be furnished with a copy of these regulations and 
is expected to familiarize himself with the same and also with the city 
ordinances. 

10. The members of the police force will as soon as practicable after 
making an arrest report the same to the City Attorney and execute, under 
his directions, the proper papers, and promptly attend the police court at the 
hour set for trial of causes. 



16 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

11. Every officer will be held responsible for the proper discharge of his 
duties; following the advice of others will be no excuse, unless he be a superior 
officer. 

12. The City Attorney will furnish information on legal matters on any 
officer's request, and will be responsible to the Mayor and Council for their 
correctness. 

13. The presence of any infectious disease must be promptly reported to 
the Mayor. 

14. A memorandum of all property taken from prisoners by the marshal or 
police, must be handed to the City Attorney, to be by him filed with a note 
of final disposition in the police court. 

A. B. WEBSTER, Mayor. 

Less than three weeks after assuming the office of city marshal 
Beamer quit. "During the past week City Marshal P. W. Beamer 
handed to Mayor Webster his resignation as City Marshal of Dodge 
City the same to take effect at once. Just what induced Mr. Beamer 
to take this step we were unable to learn. Mayor Webster assumes 
the duties of the office until such time as he may be enabled to 
fill the office/' reported the Globe on June 27, 1882. 

BEHRENS, JOHN 

(1840? ) 

John Behrens' appointment as policeman on the Wichita force 
was confirmed by the city council on May 6, 1874. x 

On July 24, 1874, he assisted in jailing a prisoner who had over- 
come his guard while on a street gang. After his recapture 
another officer began to beat the prisoner but was stopped by 
Behrens. (For the complete story see the section on William 
Dibbs.) 

In October, 1874, Behrens and Wyatt Earp, at the instance of a 
Wichita merchant, collected an unpaid bill at gunpoint some 75 
miles from the city. (The article reporting this incident is in- 
cluded in the section on Earp.) 

Behrens was promoted to assistant city marshal on April 21, 
1875, at a salary of $75 per month. 2 

In May "Behrens and Earp picked up a horse thief by the name 
of Compton from Coffey County . . . with the property in 
his possession," and in July "John Behrens picked up a deserter 
from the 4th U. S. Cavalry on Friday. . . . 3 

Marshal Mike Meagher and Assistant Marshal Behrens were 
credited with the arrest of three thieves on November 5, 1875. 
The Wichita City Eagle, November 11, reported that "Wm. Potts 
and two colored men were arrested here last Friday by city Mar- 
shal, Mike Meagher and Assistant John Behrens, charged with 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 17 

stealing eight yoke of cattle and two wagons at Fort Sill, which 
property was found in their possession. The parties were lodged 
in jail." The Wichita Beacon, gave Wyatt Earp and Meagher 
credit for this arrest. 4 

Also in its issue of November 11, 1875, the Eagle reported that 
"Ed. Hays was arrested and confined in jail Monday evening by 
Assistant Marshal Behrens, on information received by letter from 
Great Bend. Hays is charged with passing counterfeit money." 
The Beacon, omitting mention of Behrens, gave Marshal Meagher 
credit for the Hays arrest. 5 

The Wichita Weekly Beacon, on November 17, 1875, reversed 
itself on who arrested Potts and Hays while complimenting Behrens 
for his efficiency: 

While we are not aware that Deputy Marshal Behrens cares a fig for 
official honors, yet when he is justly entitled to credit it is due him to have the 
same. Far be it from us to withhold from so efficient an officer what belongs 
to him, much less give the praise to others. We say this much without the 
knowledge of Mr. Behrens, in order to set ourselves right in the matter of 
several arrests made last week; one of them Ed Hays, the other Bill Potts 
and his two associates. Deputy Marshal Behrens spotted all these parties, 
arrested Hays, himself; and traced the others to their lair, assisting Mike 
Meagher in the arrests. 

The Eagle, on January 27, 1876, reported that: 

Mr. John Behrens, deputy marshal, arrested two men on Tuesday afternoon, 
charged with stealing 136 skunk skins, one cow hide and one coon skin, from 
Messrs, Hale & Co. of Hutchinson. They started from Hutchinson with an ox 
team, but left it with a farmer on the road whom they hired to bring them 
with their plunder to this city. They gave their names as Smith and Kirk- 
patrick. 

In the list of salaries paid for the month of April, 1876, John 
Behrens' name does not appear although he had received a full 
month's salary for March. At a meeting of the city council on 
May 22, 1876, that body heard a recommendation of the police 
committee that "Script of W. Earp & John Behrens be with held, 
until all moneys collected by them for the City, be turned over 
to the City Treasurer. . . ." 6 How this was settled is not 
known since this was the last contemporary item found concerning 
John Behrens. 

1. "Proceedings of the Governing Body," Records of the City of Wichita, Journal A, 
p. 376. 2. Ibid., Journal B, pp. 44, 55, 62, 66, 71, 75, 78, 85, 90, 96, 100; Wichita 
Weekly Beacon, April 28, 1875. 3. Wichita City Eagle, May 6, 1875; Wichita Weekly 
Beacon, July 28, 1875; see, also, section on Wyatt Earp. 4. November 10, 1875; see a 
reprint of this article in the section on Wyatt Earp. 5. November 10, 1875; see a re- 
print of this article in the section on Mike Meagher. 6. "Proceedings of the Governing 
Body," Records of the City of Wichita, Journal B, pp. 100, 112, 115. 

22200 



18 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

BELL, HAMILTON B. 

(1853-1947) 

"Ham" Bell was appointed deputy United States marshal for 
Ford county about May 22, 1880, succeeding W. B. Masterson. 1 
There are contemporary records of his reappointment about May 
30, 1882, and again about November 5, 1885. 2 At least one person, 
however, held the position between these latter dates. 3 

Only two references were found concerning his performance of 
the duties of the federal office. The first appeared in the Ford 
County Globe on April 11, 1882: 

ON THE TRAIL. 

April 1st, 1882. 

. . . We are sorry to learn that a controversy has arose between Mr. 
Teasing and Mr. Shrader with regard to a tree-claim near "The Trail/' It 
seems that Mr. Teasing filed on aforesaid claim about four years ago, and 
not complying with the requirements of the law (having skipped the country 
in advance of Bat Masterson's six-shooter), Mr. Shrader jumped said claim 
and did plow and sow to wheat ten acres. Then comes Mr. Teasing, and 
refusing to compromise, plowed under the ten acres of wheat and planted the 
same to trees. The latest reports are that Mr. Teasing skipped the country 
again, between two days, in fear of U. S. Marshal Bell. How this will terminate 
we do not know. Teasing, what is the matter with you; can't you behave 
yourself any more? 

The second is from the Globe of October 23, 1883: 
Deputy U. S. Marshal H. B. Bell, of this city, returned Friday morning 
from Buffalo Park, Kansas, where he arrested Charles Ellsworth, better known 
as "Arkansaw," who it is supposed murdered Ellsworth Schuttleman in the 
latter part of August, who at the time was employed by Mr. Johns. "Arkansaw" 
was at the time employed at the V ranch. It is also supposed that he was the 
party that stole a horse from J. W. Carter on the Saw Log, as the horse was 
found and had been sold by "Arkansaw," and the bill of sale is now in the 
hands of H. B. Bell. 

1. Dodge City Times, May 22, 1880. 2. Ibid., June 1, 1882; Ford County Globe, 
May 30, 1882; Dodge City Times, November 5, 1885. 3. Fred Singer was appointed 
about October 8, 1885. See the section on Singer. 

BETTS, C. F. 



C. F. Betts was appointed city marshal of Caldwell on June 30, 
1880, 1 apparently as an interim appointee while the city officials 
of Caldwell, including Mayor Mike Meagher and Marshal William 
Horseman, were under arrest for suspected complicity in the mur- 
der of George Flatt who had been killed June 19. Betts must 
have served only until about July 8 for on that date the Caldwell 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 19 

Post reported that the "old police force resume their former places 
and everything is quiet." (See the section on Mike Meagher for 
the complete story of the arrested officials.) 

1. Caldwell Post, July 1, 1880. 

BOTTS, SAMUEL 

(1829- ) 

The Wichita City Eagle, June 11, 1874, reported that "Mr. Botts 
has been added to the police force, which business he understands, 
having been deputy marshal of Jacksonville, Illinois." 

In July, while attempting to arrest a man for carrying a gun in 
the city, Botts was set upon by a dozen or more armed men and 
his would-be prisoner released. However, a secret citizens' police 
came to the rescue and all the gun toters were arrested. The 
Wichita City Eagle reported the event on July 9, 1874: 

A little episode occurred upon our streets on Monday evening which we 
hope will serve to teach certain roughs and would be bullies who infest this 
town, a lesson. Sam. Botts, one of our policemen, in attempting to enforce 
the law which says "that no firearms shall be carried within the city," was 
braved by some twelve or fourteen fellows who pulled their weapons upon 
him and prevented him from arresting a man whom he just disarmed. The 
police alarm was sounded and in a shorter time than it takes to write this, 
forty or fifty citizens armed with well loaded shot guns and Henry rifles, 
rushed to the aid of the officers. In the mean time the roughs had taken 
refuge in hotel. Of course they were arrested, and of course they were taken 
before the police judge and fined, just as they would have been had there been 
a hundred of them. We have a secret police force, all sworn and armed, 
numbering, we shall not say how many, which was organized in view of an 
outrage committed by the above class this spring in broad day light upon a 
principal street, and had it not been just at supper time these defiers of law 
would have been surprised at the array of armed and determined men that 
would have confronted them. As it was, but forty or fifty appeared, but 
they were from among our best and most substantial citizens, many of whom 
were officers of rank in the late war and who consequently know how and 
dare to use arms when it comes to sustaining the majesty of the law. There 
is no use talking or caviling about the matter, the laws of this city will and 
must be enforced and they shall be respected, whether our authorities feel able 
to so enforce or not. The past two years Texas dealers, cow boys, roughs and 
gamblers have obeyed our laws and regulations and respected our citizens; and, 
if they would advoid trouble, it would be well for them to continue to do so. 
There are no better class of people in the world than our permanent citizens 
quiet, orderly, law abiding and moral, but they will not be run over and have 
their laws and rights trampled under foot, though it become necessary to 
clear the town of every vestage of the cattle trade upon half a day's notice. 

On July 24, while taking a prisoner, who had attempted to escape, 
back to jail, Botts beat him over the head until he was stopped 



20 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

by Policeman John Behrens. (The article reporting this is reprinted 
in the section on William Dibbs.) 

Apparently Botts made some remonstrance against what Milton 
Gabel, the editor of the Beacon, had said of his conduct in this 
matter for in the August 5, 1874, issue of the Beacon Gabel printed 
this: 

. . . With regard to the conduct of Samuel Botts . . . it is claimed 
by him that he did not strike McGrath, yet he admits that he "chucked him 
about roughly," and says that under the excitement coming up as he did 
after the shooting had begun, and while McGrath was shooting at Dibbs the 
second time thinking that Dibbs was fatally wounded, &c., and, in his over- 
zealous efforts to save him, etc. etc., he treated McGrath more roughly than 
he intended to, and, under the excitement, and what he considers aggravating 
circumstances, more so than he otherwise would have done, and thinks that 
should at least partially excuse the rough treatment, which we characterized 
brutality, and of which we made mention in Wednesday's article. This may 
in a measure palliate the offense, but it shows inefficiency, and even this I 
think will not justify the mistreatment of a prisoner disarmed, and on the way 
to the calaboose, and I will not alter my judgment on this matter as heretofore 
expressed. I gave the facts as they came under by own observation, together 
with the evidence of others, the truth of which can be substantiated by sworn 
statements of at least seven witnesses. . . . l 

The last contemporary mention found concerning Samuel Botts 
was the payment of $42 for his services as policeman for "part of 
April/' 1875. 2 At the rate which other policemen were being paid 
($60 per month) this would indicate that Botts was on the force 
for about 21 days in April, 1875. 

1. A full report on this incident will be found in the section on William Dibbs. 2. 
"Proceedings of the Governing Body," Records of the City of Wichita, Journal B, p. 55. 

BRATTON, CHARLES G. 

( -1874) 

Charles G. Bratton served four days as a special policeman 
on the Wichita police force, probably in February, 1872. For this 
work he was paid $8.00 on February 21. 1 

On December 22, 1874, while assisting the city marshal of 
Burlingame to take a drunken butcher to jail, Bratton was stabbed 
and killed. The following article appeared in the Wichita City 
Eagle, January 7, 1875: 

Charley Bratton, a former policeman of Wichita, under Mayor Allen, was 
brutally murdered at Burlingame last week, by a butcher named Dan Wortz. 
Wortz was drunk and abusing his wife, Bratton, who was a city officer, inter- 
fered, when he was stabbed twice, both wounds being severe enough to pro- 
duce death. The weapon used was a butcher knife. One stab severed a rib 
and sftnk deep into the kidney. Young Bratton was a quiet boy. He came 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 21 

to Burlingame with his parents, when quite a small boy. The murderer is 
in custody and will go up for life. 2 

1. "Proceedings of the Governing Body," Records of the City of Wichita, Journal A, 
p. 148. 2. See, also, the Topeka Datiy Commonwealth, December 27. 1874. 

BRIDGES, JACK L. 

(1839?- ) 

The earliest mention yet found of Jack Bridges as an officer of 
the law was in a letter from Maj. George Gibson of Fort Hays to 
Gov. James M. Harvey, dated October 3, 1869. Gibson stated that 
Deputy United States Marshal Bridges and his assistant had ar- 
rested one Bob Connors for the murder of a drover near Pond City 
and had lodged their prisoner in the fort's guard house to protect 
him from mob violence in Hays City. (A copy of the letter is re- 
printed in the section on James Butler Hickok.) 

The 1870 United States census listed Bridges as being a deputy 
United States marshal in Hays. Reporting as of June 25, the census 
showed Bridges as 31 years old, holding real estate valued at $1,800. 
He was born "at sea." 

Bridges next turned up in Wichita in February, 1871. He ar- 
rived there well reinforced to arrest J. E. Ledford. Resistance 
was offered and Ledford was killed. Here is the story from the 
El Dorado Walnut Valley Times, March 3, 1871: 

HORRIBLE AFFAIR AT WICHITA. 

We have just learned the particulars of an unfortunate affair that occurred 
at Wichita on Tuesday afternoon the 26th of February, at about four o'clock. 
It seems that Deputy U. S. Marshal Jack Bridges, and Lee Stewart, a scout, 
with a party of 25 soldiers under command of Capt. Randall of the 5th U. S. 
Cavalry, from Fort Harker, came to Wichita to arrest J. E. Ledford, the 
proprietor of the Harris House at that place, on the charge of resisting a 
U. S. officer. 

The troops came into town with a rush and immediately surrounded the 
hotel. Ledford seems to have had an idea that they were there to arrest him 
and secreted himself in an out building. Bridges, Lee Stewart and a Lieu- 
tenant, discovered Ledford in the out building and advanced to the door 
with their pistols in hand; Ledford seeing them advancing immediately threw 
open the door and came out; both parties immediately commenced firing, after 
emptying their revolvers at Ledford the three persons, Bridges, Lee Stewart, 
and the Lieutenant, turned and ran; Bridges, being badly wounded fell faint- 
ing; Ledford walked across the street into Dagner's store, mortally wounded. 
Dr. Hilliard immediately examined Ledfords wounds and pronounced them 
mortal, he being shot twice through the body and twice through the right 
arm. He was carried into the hotel parlor and lived about a half hour. In 
a difficulty last summer between Ledford and Bridges on the line of the 
Kansas Pacific railroad, Ledford gave Bridges a sound threshing, and Bridges 



22 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

is said to have threatened to shoot him on sight. The fatal wound received 
by Ledford was given him by Lee Stewart, who being behind him shot him 
in the back. 

Ledford has had the reputation heretofore of being a wild and reckless 
man but had recently married a fine young lady at Wichita, and seemed to 
have settled down and was gaining the good will of all at that place. Deputy 
U. S. Marshal Walker, who is also Sheriff of Sedgwick County, had recently 
arrested Ledford on the same charge for which these men proposed to arrest 
him, and Ledford had given bail for his appearance at the next term of the 
U. S. Court at Topeka. Our informant was an eye witness of the affair and 
we are satisfied that the statements are as near substantially correct as one 
can give them witnessing so sudden and exciting an affair, the whole of which 
transpired in a few moments time. This is the first instance of bloodshed by 
violence in the streets of Wichita since its organization all reports to the con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

Unfortunately the issue of the Wichita Vidette (then the town's 
only newspaper) which reported the shooting is missing from the 
files of the State Historical Society. However, the Vidette of March 
11, 1871, stated that: 

The Walnut Valley Times and the Emporia News both publish accounts 
of the "Wichita Murder," in which they give substantially the same statement 
of the affair as published by us. . . . The News says: "The impression 
prevails that there was no occasion for the arrest of Ledford, and that the 
pretext of arresting him was only a cloak for the premeditated intention of 
killing him. 

Jack Bridges disappeared from the pages of the cowtown news- 
papers until June 29, 1882, when the Dodge City Times announced 
that "J ac k Bridges, well-known by old timers, will receive the ap- 
pointment of City Marshal of this city. He is now in Colorado, 
and has telegraphed Mayor Webster that he will accept the ap- 
pointment, and will be in Dodge City about July 10th/' Bridges 
was sworn in on July 8, 1882. The Dodge City Times commented 
on his appointment in its issue of July 13, 1882: 

Jack Bridges was installed as City Marshal on Saturday last. Marshal 
Bridges was for a number of years Deputy U. S. Marshal in Western Kansas. 
He is a cool, brave and determined officer, and will make an excellent city 
marshal. Jack's friends speak highly of him and of his integrity and bravery. 
He has done some fine service for the government, and upon every occasion 
acquitted himself with honor. He is a pleasant man socially, and has courage 
for any occasion. 

At about the same time Bridges assumed the office of city mar- 
shal the police force of Dodge City doffed its frontier clothing and 
donned newly acquired blue uniforms. "There is a metropolitan 
air in their manner/' said the Times, July 13, 1882. 

Bridges' appointment caused many to reminisce about the Led- 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 23 

ford shooting. On July 20, 1882, the Times brought the subject up 
in this article: 

LEDFORD'S LEAGUE. 

Early settlers remember Ledford, the chief of a gang of horse thieves, 
counterfeiters and desperadoes that traversed the wild regions of Kansas, the 
Indian Territory and the Panhandle. Jack Bridges, City Marshal of Dodge 
City, at that time was Deputy U. S. Marshal. He caused the breaking up and 
arrest of the gang, and in the capture of Ledford a desperate encounter took 
place. . . . 

There were some, however, who felt that Dodge had made a 
poor choice for city marshal. One of these was the editor of the 
Caldwell Commercial who published this attack, which the Ford 
County Globe reprinted on July 25, 1882: 

The Times Dodge City says that Jack Bridges has been appointed City 
Marshal of that town. Jack, like Wild Bill and Bat. Masterson, belongs to 
the killer-class and it is only a question of time when he will lay down with 
his boots on. Jack might have made a respectable citizen at one time, but he 
got to running with a psalm-singing U. S. Marshal Jim Lane and Sid Clarke, 
shoved off upon Kansas at one time, and learned some of the said Marshal's 
pious tricks. He has never been worth a straw since. Still, if the Dodge 
folks think they have found a treasure in Jack, it isn't for us to find fault. 
Caldwell Kansas Commercial. 

Yes we need him in our business [the Globe added]. 

Then the Dodge City Times, on July 27, joined in with a vigorous 
counterattack: 

Caldwell, through her newspapers, is jealous of Dodge City. The latest 
exhibition of jealousy appears in the Caldwell Commercial, edited by W. B. 
Hutchison. It is a scurrilous attack on Jack Bridges, City Marshal of Dodge 
City. Caldwell is incapable of self-government. Three city marshals have 
been cowardly slain in that city. Yet Hutchison animadverts on Dodge City. 
A friend comes to the rescue of Bridges, and furnishes us with the following: 
FOR THE TIMES: 

That the venom of the reptile, the sliminess of the toad and the odoriferous 
qualities of the skunk cling to them till death, was never more clearly illus- 
trated than in the case of W. B. Hutchison and his article on the City Marshal 
of Dodge City. We happen to know the why and wherefore of this attack 
on Jack Bridges; we can now look back to the year 1867-8, when the said 
Hutchison, a Justice of the Peace, was the recognized backer, go-between and 
supporter of the infamous horse thieves of Ellis county. We remember to, 
how Jack Bridges, almost single handed, drove them from the country; how 
Ledford, Black and Strapp, attempted to assassinate him and almost suc- 
ceeded; how at last they fled from the country accompanied by their com- 
panion Mr. Hutchison. How Bridges exterminated the gang, except Mr. H., 
whose Uriah Heap nature and tactics shielded him from Bridges and the law, 
and then we do not wonder after all that Hutchison's natural traits of char- 
acter assert themselves and that he makes this scurrilous attack upon him. 
Jack is here and should Mr. H., mourning his friends and companions, wish 



24 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

to interview him, he can readily find him. The old citizens of Ellis county, 
many of whom are here, well remember the gang, their dressing as Indians 
while making a dash on a herd of horses, and the fact that Hutchison was 
one of the boys. 

LEX. 

Apparently all the editors concerned felt it was time to let well- 
enough alone, for the matter disappeared from the pages of the 
press. 

In September, 1882, Bridges was involved in this interesting case 
on which the Globe reported, September 12: 

AN ELOPEMENT. 

On last Thursday a gentleman presented himself at the Wright House and 
asked for board and lodging for himself and wife; a room was assigned to 
him, and he left for a few minutes to bring in the woman he claimed as his 
wife. While he was gone Mr. Lybrand selected the room and noted on the 

register, Mr. and Mrs. and noting the number of the room. When 

the person returned he registered after the Mr. and Mrs., 'H. G. Petty/ the 
couple were shown to their room and remained there until Sunday, after the 
arrival of the three o'clock train, which brought with it a person by the name 
of F. Ruble, who at once made his mission known, saying he was in search 
of a recreant wife who he had reason to believe had come to this city in com- 
pany with some other person. He closely scrutinized the hotel registers and 
failed to find anyone registered in the name he was looking for, but finally 
on making inquiries at the Wright House concerning certain individuals he 
was assured by some of the employees that a couple were occupying rooms 
there that answered the description he gave. This afforded enough clue for 
him and at once ascended the stairs and proceeded to said room and knock[ed] 
for admission. It appears that his approach had been noticed by the occupants 
and the door was barred against him. The loud talk brought Mr. Lybrand to 
the scene, who demanded to know the cause of all this disturbance. Mr. 
Ruble explained and told the landlord that his wife was in the room and that 
he wished to see her. Mr. Lybrand informed him that he would send for 
the city marshal and have the whole outfit arrested. At the same time prep- 
arations were going on inside for a hasty exit through the window. Sheets 
and quilts were tied together and the fellow made his descent and landed safe 
and sound, after which he made hasty steps across the hill, hotly pursued by 
the city marshal [Bridges] who brought him back to the city and took him 
before his honor Judge Burns, before whom a complaint was made against 
the individual for disturbing the peace and quiet of the city/ 

Court was convened (although Sunday) and all the parties were brought 
face to face, all being charged alike. The court was promptly opened and 
the charge made, and the court prefaced his remarks by saying "that on ac- 
count of its being Sunday he could enter no plea from either of said parties 
except the plea of guilty." Mr. Petty 's case being the first called he plead 
guilty as charged, and the court before passing sentence insisted on knowing 
some few facts and proceeded to examine witnesses, and finally assessed a fine 
of twenty-five dollars and cost against number one. This he said he would 
not pay, but rather than to be further annoyed paid the fine. The other two 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 25 

Mr. Ruple and his supposed wife were called on to plead, both of whom an- 
swered not guilty, and their cases were continued to Monday, both being re- 
quired to give bond in the sum of one hundred dollars each, which bonds we 
learn were readily given. 

Monday morning when court opened the lone and deserted woman was the 
only one of the trio to make their appearance in court, who was fined fifteen 
dollars and cost. What became of Ruple and his case we cannot say. Petty 
took the first train out of town, and the only one remaining is the woman, who 
is still here and disclaims being the wife of either. 

In the spring of 1883 Bridges was caught in the middle of the 
"Dodge City War." Being city marshal he was directly responsible 
to Mayor L. E. Deger who was one of the protagonists in the affair. 
Finally Bridges declared that he was "as much the marshal for one 
party as the other" * and seemingly was content to remain astride 
the fence. The full story of that "war," including the role of Jack 
Bridges, may be found in the section on Luke Short. 

On July 6, 1883, the city council of Dodge City increased the 
marshal's salary. The Globe, on July 17, 1883, reported the change 
in this article: 

The City Council on the 6th inst. passed an ordinance which gives the 
City Marshal a salary of $150 per month and the assistant marshal $125 per 
month, and on the following day they considered it a retractive ordinance 
and instead of allowing the salaries as prescribed by the old ordinance $100 
per month for marshal and $75 for the assistant marshall, they allow them 
each two months' increase salary as prescribed by the new ordinance. 

The Nickerson Argosy noticed the salary hike and mentioned 
some fringe benefits in this item which the Globe copied on July 
24, 1883: "Dodge City pays her marshal $150 per month and the 
assistant marshal $125 per month. Besides this each of them is 
entitled to kill a cow boy or two each season." 

The Dodge City Times, October 4, 1883, reported that "On 
Monday a lot of drunken cowboys had another hurrah at Coolidge, 
shooting through doors, windows, etc., and making things lively 
generally. [Under Sheriff] Fred Singer and Jack Bridges arrested 
one of the leaders and placed him in jail Tuesday morning." 

Frontier judges could also huff and puff as this article from the 
Ford County Globe, October 23, 1883, clearly shows: 

The case of the State of Kansas vs. Charley Heinz was continued on account 
of the absence of Jack Bridges, witness for the State, who left for Pueblo the 
day before the day of trial was set. The court was very indignant and or- 
dered Marshal Bridges to be arrested and brought before His Honor if he re- 
turned before court adjourned; and if he made his appearance after court 
adjourned he was to be arrested and incarcerated in the jail of Ford county 
and held there until next term of court, and further stated that no writ of habeas 



26 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

corpus would let him out. He wanted it distinctly understood that there 
was one court in Ford county that could not be trifled with. Bridges is 
back, but as yet not under arrest. Ed. 

Later. We learn that the court revoked the order before leaving. 

Apparently Marshal Bridges' salary was reduced to its former 
level in the fall of 1883. In reporting the November 9 meeting of 
the city council, the Dodge City Times, November 15, 1883, listed 
his salary as $100 per month. 

No further mention of Jack Bridges was found. 

1. Topeka Daily Capital, May 17, 1883. 

BROOKS, BILL 

(1836?- ) 

Bill Brooks, marshal of Newton in 1872, was wounded by cow- 
boys in a June melee. On June 14, 1872, the Wichita City Eagle 
reported the fracas: 

Bill Brooks, marshal of Newton, formerly a stage driver between that point 
and Wichita, was shot three times, on Sunday night last, in an attempt to 
arrest a couple of Texas men. As near as we can get at the facts, the Texas 
men were on a spree, and, as a consequence, making it hot for pedestrians. 
Brooks had run them out of the town, when they turned and fired three shots 
into him, with what effect may be judged, from the fact that he continued his 
pursuit for ten miles before he returned to have his wounds dressed. One 
shot passed through his right breast, and the other two were in his limbs. We 
learn from a driver here that he will recover. Bill has sand enough to beat 
the hour-glass that tries to run him out. 

The Kansas Daily Commonwealth of Topeka, June 15, 1872, said 
that a "party of Texans, fresh from the trail, had corralled the 
proprietor of a dance-house with their six-shooters, and were carry- 
ing things on a high hand, when Marshall Brooks, being sent for, 
endeavored to preserve the peace. While thus employed, one of 
the party by the name of Joe Miller, fired at him, the ball striking 
the collar bone, but inflicting merely a trifling wound. . . " 

No further mention of Brooks as a police officer has been found. 
However, the Wichita City Eagle, on March 20, 1873, recorded 
that "Billy Brooks, the whilom Wichita stage driver, is not dead, 
as was reported, but is on duty in Dodge City." Whether the 
Eagle meant employment as a police officer or stage driver has not 
been determined. 

BROWN, GEORGE S. 

(1854P-1882) 

The Caldwell Commercial of November 3, 1881, reported that 
George Brown, as well as Mike Meagher and Dan Jones, had been 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 27 

offered the position of Caldwell city marshal. Each declined so 
John Wilson was finally appointed. 

Mike Meagher was killed on December 17, 1881. At the cor- 
orner's inquest George Brown was one of the witnesses. The pro- 
ceedings of this inquest, which the Caldwell Post reported on 
December 22, will be found in the section on Meagher. 

By March, 1882, Brown had apparently accepted the marshal- 
ship of Caldwell. The Commercial on March 9, 1882, stated that 
"Since Geo. Brown has been acting as City Marshall, $216 in cash 
have been collected for fines by the Police Court." 

According to the Caldwell police docket, which for 1882 begins 
with April, Marshal Brown was required to perform his duties 
mostly upon drunks, gamblers, madams, and prostitutes. In his 
brief tour of duty no record was found that he encountered more 
serious crimes until he was shot and killed by cowboys on June 22 
in a most gruesome manner. The Caldwell Commercial of June 
29 carried the details: 

ANOTHER MURDER IN CALDWELL. 

THE CITY MARSHAL SHOT DOWN IN COLD BLOOD. 
ESCAPE OF THE ASSASSIN. 

About half past nine o'clock on Thursday morning of last week, the city 
was alarmed by the report that Geo. Brown, our city Marshal had been shot 
dead at the Red Light. Proceeding up street, we learned that the killing 
had occurred but a few moments before and that the parties engaged in it had 
barely rode past the COMMERCIAL office which is located on the lower part 
of Main street, on their way to the Territory, the refuge for every fiend who 
perpetrates a crime upon the southern border of Kansas. 

On going to the Red Light, we found the body of George Brown at the 
head of the stairs, his face covered with a clot of blood and his brains spattered 
on the wall and floor of the building, while the gore dripped through the 
floor to the rooms below. Dr. Hume had been called in and was engaged in 
washing off the blood in order to ascertain the nature of the wound which had 
caused Brown's death. 

It is useless to give the various stories told as to how the murder occurred, 
and we shall only state the facts as made up from the statements of different 
parties. 

Shortly after 8 o'clock in the morning, three men, two of them brothers 
going by the name of Steve and Jess. Green, and another whose name has not 
been ascertained so far, went to the Red Light. Brown at the time was on 
Main street, engaged in obtaining signatures to a couple of petitions in reference 
to voting bonds. Some one informed him (as near as can be ascertained) 
that a man had gone down there armed, and Brown requested Constable 
[Willis] Metcalf to go down with him, as he (Brown) did not want to go 
alone. Arriving at the Red Light Brown and Metcalf proceeded up stairs, 
the former in the lead. On reaching the top of the stairs they found three men, 



28 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

one of whom had a pistol in his hand. Brown laid his hand on the man with 
the pistol and told him to give it up. The latter replied "let go of me," when 
Brown grasped hold of the fellow's arm and pressed it against the wall. Mean- 
time another man grasped Metcalf by the throat and backed him up into 
the corner, at the same time telling him to hold up his hands, the order being 
enforced by another who held a pistol at his head. 

Just then another man jumped out of a room across the stairway and to 
the right of where Brown and the man he was holding stood, and called out 
"Turn him loose." This seems to have attracted Brown's attention momentar- 
ily, but that moment was most fatal to him, for the man whom he held turned 
his wrist and fired, the ball from the weapon crashing through the Marshal's 
head, and he fell to the floor dead, without a struggle or a groan. 

The man who shot Brown and the other who held Metcalf then ran down 
stairs, while the fellow who had drawn on Metcalf guarded the retreat. The 
two former proceeded on up Fifth street to the alley in the rear of the Opera 
House, followed the alley to a passage between the buildings fronting on 
Main street, went through the passage, down Main street to the front of the 
Hardesty corner, where they mounted their horses and rode on down the 
street toward the Territory. 

Fully ten minutes transpired before it was known that Brown had been 
shot, but as soon as the fact was ascertained and that his murderer had es- 
caped, several citizens mounted their horses and started in pursuit. 

It is needless to detail the operations of the pursuing parties. Suffice it to 
say that J. W. Dobson, who was among them ascertained that on reaching 
Bluff creek the murderers turned down the stream, crossed over Wm. Mor- 
ris' farm, thence north across the creek and through E. H. Seal's place thence 
down the line to a point east of Cozad's place, where they turned into the 
bottoms of Bluff creek and probably remained there until towards evening. 

When the pursuing party started out nothing was known or could be as- 
certained as to who the two men were, or whose herd they belonged to, al- 
though, as subsequent investigation showed, one or more persons knew all 
about them, but refused to give any information, fearing, perhaps, they might 
loose six bits worth of trade if they "gave away" a cowboy, no matter what 
crime he might commit. But it was learned before noon that the men belonged 
to Ellison's outfit, camped on Deer creek, and that of the others who were 
with them at the time of the murder, one was McGee, the boss of the herd, 
and the other two were herders. No effort seems to have been made to take 
in the Greens in case they went to camp, which they did about 6 o'clock, 
obtained fresh horses and ammunition, and then started off in a southeasterly 
direction. Up to the present writing the men have not been captured, and 
if any efforts have been put forth in that direction, the fact is kept a profound 
secret. 

Geo. Brown, the murdered officer, was a young man about 28 years of 
age. He has resided in this city about two years, and has borne a good charac- 
ter. There was nothing of the bully or the braggart about him, but in the 
discharge of his duties he was quiet and courageous. It is not known that he 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 29 

had an enemy, therefore his murder would seem to be an act of pure fiend- 
ishness, perpetrated solely from a desire to take human life. 

Of the Greens, Steve and Jess., we are informed that they are brothers, 
French Canadians by birth, and came originally from the vicinity of Colling- 
wood, Ontario. They have been employed as herders for several years, and 
have visited Caldwell every season for the last three years. McGee, Ellison's 
foreman, says they came to the herd, and were employed by him, on the trail 
south of Red River; that they were desperate men, who did not seem to care 
for danger, but rather coveted it, but that they were good hands, doing their 
work faithfully and well. It is probable that they are outlaws, all the time 
fearing arrest, and constantly on the alert to prevent being taken alive. If not 
taken or killed for their last crime, it is only a question of time when they 
will yield up their lives in much the same manner in which they have taken 
the lives of others besides George Brown. 

George Brown was a single man, resided on Fifth street, east of Main, his 
sister, Miss Fannie Brown, keeping house for him. When the terrible news 
was brought to her that her brother, her supporter and protector, had been 
cruelly shot down within a stone throw of his own door, the poor girl could 
not realize it at first, but when the truth forced itself upon her mind, she gave 
way to the most heart rending screams. Kind and sympathetic friends did 
everything in their power to solace her, but notwithstanding all their efforts 
it was feared at one time that she would not be able to survive the terrible 
blow. But nature, ever kind, came to her relief, and by Friday the intensity 
of her grief had given way to a calm resignation. Word was telegraphed to 
their father at Junction City, but owing to railroad connections he did not 
arrive until Saturday. George was buried on Friday afternoon, the funeral 
being largely attended by our citizens. All the business houses in the city 
closing out of respect for the deceased during the funeral. 

A coroner's jury was summoned by J. D. Kelly, Esq., and an inquest began 
on Thursday afternoon. The inquest was not concluded until Monday after- 
noon, when a verdict was rendered that the deceased came to his death from 
a gun shot wound at the hands of J. D. Green. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE GREENS. 

J. D. or Jess Green as he is called, is a man about five feet ten inches in 
height, strong built, weighed about 180 pounds; full, broad face, dark com- 
plexion; hair black, coarse and straight, mustache and imperial colored black, 
but naturally of a sunburnt color. Had on dark clothes, leggings, and new 
white felt hat with a leather band around the crown. 

Steve Green is about five feet six or eight inches high, heavy built, coarse 
black hair, mustache and imperial dyed, broad face, very dark; dressed about 
the same as his brother, save that his hat was not new. As stated above, the 
men are brothers, and from their appearance would be taken for Mexicans. 
When last heard from they were traveling west, evidently intending to make 
for New Mexico. 



30 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Shortly after Brown's death the sheriff of Sumner county, in 
which Caldwell is situated, wrote the governor of Kansas and asked 
that he offer a reward for the capture of the Greens. 
Office of 
J. M. Thralls 
Sheriff Sumner County. 

WELLINGTON, KAN., June 1882 
GOVERNOR J. P. ST. JOHN 
DEAR Sm 

On the 22" day of March [June] 1882 the City Marshal at Caldwell George 
Brown was killed by one of two men giving their names as Jeff and Steve 
Green "Cow boys" The circumstances are about these Brown went up to one 
of them & asked him for his revolver he said he did not have any When 
Brown and an assistant took hold of him he jerked loose and shot Brown 
through the head killing him instantly Now are you not authorized to offer 
a reward of $500 apiece for their arrest and delivery to the Sheriff of Sumner 
Co We are having so much of this kind of work it does seem as tho the 
State should offer a good reward for some of these "Texas killers" and outlaws 
This is the fourth murder within the last year at Caldwell and Hunnewell and 
no reward offered by State for any of them 

Yours truly J M THRALLS 

Sheriff 
Please answer 1 

Within days Gov. John P. St. John responded with this proclama- 
tion: 

GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION. 
$1000 REWARD! 

STATE OF KANSAS, 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, TOPEKA, July 6, 1882 

WHEREAS, "JEFF. GREEN AND STEVE. GREEN" stand charged with the murder 
of George Brown, City Marshal of the City of Caldwell, in Sumner County, 
Kansas, on or about the 22nd day of March [June], 1882, and are now at 
large and fugitives from justice: 

Now THEREFORE, I, JOHN P. ST. JOHN, Governor of the State of Kansas, 
by virtue of the authority vested in me by law, do hereby offer a reward of 
FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS each, for the arrest and conviction of the said 
Jeff. Green and Steve. Green of the crime above stated. 

In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and 
[L. S.] affixed the Great Seal of the State, at Topeka, the day and year first 
above written. 

JOHN P. ST. JOHN. 
By the Governor: 
JAMES SMITH, 

Secretary of State. 2 

The shooting of George Brown prompted at least one out of town 
newspaper to censure Caldwell's city officers. Wellington's Sumner 
County Press, June 29, 1882, claimed that all of CaldwelFs troubles 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 31 

were caused by men who had been "fired to evil by bad whiskey 
and prostitute women, both of which were placed within their 
reach only by means of flagrant violations of the laws of the state, 
through and by the sanction of the city governments of Caldwell 
and Hunnewell. . . ." 

These charges were not taken lightly by the Caldwell Post which 
answered in its issue of July 6, 1882: 

WHISKY, PROSTITUTES, MURDER. 

Under the above caption the Sumner County Press, of last week, proceeds 
to read the citizens of Sumner county, and officers of Caldwell and Hunnewell 
a lecture on morality and immorality. The editor states what he is pleased 
to call facts, what in reality is a string of falsehoods or mistakes. In the first 
place, he says there has been forty murders committed in Sumner county in the 
last ten years, all traceable to whisky and lewd women, and that only three 
of the murdreers have been brought to justice, namely, Jackson, Chastain and 
Carter. 

In the three cases above, the city of Caldwell had nothing whatever, to do. 
Jackson killed his man for money was tried, convicted and allowed by his 
guards to escape them while they were playing cards. The guards were leading 
citizens of Wellington, and were not drinking whisky at the time. 

If we remember right, the citizens of Wellington murdered three or four 
men in an early day, that was not decidedly traceable to mean whisky. A 
murder was committed in London township, and the murderer was tried and 
not convicted. The murder was not committed while either of the men was 
under the influence of whisky nor prostitutes. 

The murder of two men in the early days of Caldwell was not traceable to 
either whisky or prostitution. One was hanged by the citizens for his cursedness, 
and the other was committed by an outlaw just for the fun of the thing, who 
was chased by the citizens and killed. 

George Flat was killed to satisfy a grudge. Frank Hunt was killed for the 
same reason and not on account of either women or whisky. 

George Spear was shot by citizens or officers while assisting the Talbot gang 
to escape. 

Talbot shot Mike Meagher in a riot, not caused by whisky or women, but 
from a supposed insult. He was an outlaw, and the officers nor citizens were 
not responsible for his actions no more than the city of Wellington. He was 
killed in Texas about two weeks ago. 

George Brown was shot in the discharge of his duties. The men who did 
the killing were not under the influence of whisky or lewd women. One of them 
had taken two drinks and the other had not taken any. They were outlaws 
and would have made the same play had they been anywhere else in the State. 
They would give up their arms only after they were past using them. 

The Press* fine-spun theory in the above named cases is decidedly at varia- 
tion with the truth. 

George Woods was killed by a man who had not touched whisky in two 
years, and was the outgrowth of a feud and supposed insult, but was, we are 
willing to admit, brought about through prostitutes. 



32 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Rare cussedness has been the cause of nine-tenths of the murders committed 
in the county, and not whisky and public sentiment, as the Press would have 
one believe. The city authorities are no more responsible for the murders that 
are committed in Caldwell, than is the President of the United States, and it is 
a base slander for any one to make such a statement. 

Sheriff Joseph Thralls, who was instrumental in having a state 
reward offered for Jesse and Steve Green, added $400 to the 
amount, according to the Commercial of July 13, 1882. 

Out-of-town newspapers were still taking pot shots at Caldwell 
in November. Again the Post defended the town's honor in its 
issue of November 9, 1882: 

GIVE THE DEVIL HIS DUES. 

The cowboys have removed five city marshals of Caldwell in five years. 
Dodge City Times. 

We most emphatically deny the charge made by the Times that the cowboys 
removed five city marshals. The fact is, the cowboys have "removed" but 
one city marshal, and that one was George Brown. His murd[er]ers were 
escaped convicts from the Texas penitentiary, and were only making the pro- 
fession of herding cattle a cover to their outlawry and cattle and horse-stealing 
operations. Jim Talbot killed Mike Meagher, assisted by cowboys, some of 
them being in a row of that class for the first time. Mr. Meagher was not a 
city marshal at the time of his death, nor was his murderer a cowboy at that 
time. The other marshals spoken of by the Times were not killed by cowboys, 
but by male prostitutes, to put it mildly. 

It looks to us as though the charge contained in the item quoted from the 
Times comes with very bad grace from a man whose entire support bread 
and butter, as it were comes from men whose chief patrons are cowmen. 
The cowboys of our acquaintance are not the class of men that commit mur- 
ders and raise riots simply because they can. They are, as a majority, well- 
educated, peaceable and gentlemanly fellows. The day of the wild and woolly 
cowboy is past, in this section, at least, if it is not in such ungodly towns as 
Dodge City. If the Dodge City editors would visit us once, and see what 
kind of people live here, we think they would not be so rash in their asser- 
tions. 

On November 7, 1882, Sheriff Thralls reported the deaths of the 
Greens: 

Office of 

J. M. Thralls 

Sheriff Sumner County. 

WELLINGTON, KAN., Nov 7" 1882 
GOVERNOR J. P. ST. JOHN 
DEAR SIR: 

You doubtless remember having offered a reward about July 1st for the 
arrest and conviction of the murderers of City Marshal George Brown of 
Caldwell I had issued cards describing them as minutely as possible and 
sent them to every P. O. in the I. T. N. M. Colorado and the western 
half of Texas besides getting them into the hands of all Officers possible 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 33 

The result was the Officials of Wise County Texas got after them had a 
fight with them on Monday Oct 9*782 when they whiped the constables' 
posse and escaped with one of them carrying a Winchester ball in his right 
side which disabled him from traveling much. They were again overtaken 
on the following Wednesday morning When asked to surrender they replied 
with a Shot gun and Revolver The posse replied killing one instantly 
and hitting the other 12 times 2 Winchester balls and 10 Buck Shot en- 
tered his body but did not disable him so badly but what we could bring 
him to this County, his right side was paralyzed so he could not handle him- 
self We have had him in our Jail since until today last Saturday he 
was taken suddenly ill and became unconscious all at once and died Sunday 
morning The Post mortem examination showed that our Buck Shot, of 
small size, entered his forehead and passed through the lower part of his 
brain and stoped near the back part of head Then had puss formed along 
the course of the ball which caused his death. That ends the course of 
the two murderers of George Brown Now what is necessary for us to do 
to get the State reward which goes to their captors in Texas We can give 
you several affidavits of his own admission to killing Brown The one that 
died in our Jail is the one who fired the fatal shot while the other, his bro 
was present and assisted by keeping off Brown's Deputy and came near 
shooting him He told the boys in Jail (5 of them) the circumstance of 
their flight after the murder 

If you will indicate in what way we can get the State reward I think 
we can fully satisfy you as to their identity and guilt If you will appoint 
some attorney in this section of the country we will furnish him the wit- 
nesses as to Identity and guilt, or any attorney from any where so it is not 
too Expensive to us We are asking this for the Texas Officers who have 
done good work in the case And what was dangerous work, in good faith, 
and at some expense, now I would like to see them rewarded to make our 
part of the contract good 

Hoping to hear from you soon I remain 

Yours Respectfully, 

J. M. THRALLS. 3 

1. "Governors* Correspondence," archives division, Kansas State Historical Society. 
2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 

(To Be Continued in the Summer, I960, Issue.) 



32200 



Cotton Whigs in Kansas 

THOMAS H. O'CONNOR 

A LARGE part of the eternal fascination of history is derived 
from the strange paradoxes which are to be found in its 
pages. There are few stranger paradoxes in the ante-bellum period 
of American history than the sight of old Boston's staid gentle- 
men of property and standing suddenly converted to rabble-rousing 
fire-eaters over the slavery issue, spending half their time and for- 
tunes sending free-soilers westward to save Kansas. "We went 
to bed one night, old-fashioned, conservative, compromise, Union 
Whigs/* related Amos Adams Lawrence, one of the most prominent 
financiers in the North, "and waked up stark mad Abolitionists." * 

Whatever could have caused such a startling metamorphosis? 
That such a change did take place is frequently mentioned in 
most studies of the ante-bellum decades. The story of the Emi- 
grant Aid Company has often been told, its techniques studied 
and effects calculated. But what of the motives behind the de- 
cision to populate Kansas with free men? Why did the so-called 
"Cotton Whigs" of Boston wait until now to actively intervene 
in the slavery issue? Had these men suddenly changed their po- 
litical and constitutional principles or had they rejected them 
completely? Had Yankee businessmen given up all hope of saving 
the Union and maintaining the peace, or was this an llth hour 
attempt to stave off what some were beginning to regard as an 
"inevitable" conflict? 

The answer to many of these questions goes much further back 
into American history than Senator Douglas, the Kansas-Nebraska 
act, or the Compromise of 1850. An appreciation of the deadly 
dilemma with which the conservative elements of the Bay State 
were faced must necessarily begin about 20 years earlier, when a 
man by the name of William Lloyd Garrison ran off the first edi- 
tion of a newspaper called the Liberator. 

When Garrison started his Abolition crusade in 1831, he found 
the solid citizenry of the city of Boston ranged against him, and 
the early issues of his paper caused hardly a ripple upon the smooth 
surface of the town. "Suspicion and apathy" were the only re- 

DR. THOMAS H. O'CONNOR, native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Boston University, 
is assistant professor of history at Boston College. 

1. Amos A. Lawrence to Giles Richards, June 1, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," 
Mss., Massachusetts Historical Society (hereafter cited as 'M. H. S."), v. 2. 

(34) 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 35 

actions to his movement, and even when apathy gave way to 
curiosity and Boston did sit up and take notice, the results were 
anything but encouraging. Looked upon generally as agitators, 
cranks, and crackpots, Abolitionists were simply not socially ac- 
ceptable. 

Boston's men of property and standing had their own ideas re- 
garding the perplexing problem of slavery and its eventual solu- 
tion and they did not include what they considered the fanatical 
proposals of Garrison and his friends. If a Christian gentleman 
felt the need of putting his moral opposition to slavery into some 
tangible form, the "colonization" program of the American Coloni- 
zation Society offered a reasonable solution. The opportunity to 
donate sufficient funds to send a Negro off to Africa made it pos- 
sible for a gentleman to assist the individual Negro, without in- 
volving himself in an unsavory controversy regarding the nature 
of the institution itself. Harrison Gray Otis, mayor of Boston and 
a heavy investor in cotton textiles, even went so far as to publicly 
support a program of federal colonization which would provide an 
annual appropriation to indemnify the slave owners and allow 
each plantation state to devise its own method of colonization. 2 

The Abolitionists, however, were quick to condemn what Garri- 
son sneeringly labeled "that popular but pernicious doctrine of 
gradual abolition." They went out of their way to attack the 
policy of colonization which was known to have the active sup- 
port of prominent Bostonians, and charged the colonization society 
with being nothing more than a secret agency for slaveholders. 3 

Before long, conservative Bostonians began to drop their attitude 
of indifference and became worried about the unsettling effects 
which Garrison and his followers were producing. The cotton 
textile interests of the Bay State, in particular, were genuinely 
alarmed concerning the possible repercussions which Garrison 
might have on the Cotton Kingdom. Already there were ominous 
rumblings from the South, as outraged planters threatened all sorts 
of economic reprisals unless Northerners put an end to Abolition- 
ist agitation. "The people of the North must go hanging these 
fanatical wretches if they would not lose the benefit of Southern 
trade/' growled the Richmond (Va.) Whig; and when a demon- 
stration of pro-Abolitionist sentiment broke out among the workers 

2. Boston Daily Atlas, December 23, 1835; Samuel Eliot Morison, The Life and Letters 
of Harrison Gray Otis, Federalist, 1765-1848, 2 vols. (Boston, 1835), v. 2, pp. 288, 289. 
Also, see J. K. Douglas to Amos Lawrence, August, September 10, 1846, "Amos Lawrence 
Letters," Mss., M. H. S., v. 7; Stephen Fairbanks to Amos A. Lawrence, June 16, 1851, ibid., 
v. 9. 

3. William Lloyd Garrison, Thoughts on African Colonization (Boston, 1832), passim. 



36 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

in the Lowell Mills, the South became even more apprehensive. 
Lamenting the fact that Abolitionism had been allowed to make 
such inroads into the ranks of the workers, Southerners threatened 
a boycott which would cause Lowell to "wither or be forced to 
expel the Abolitionists/' A prominent Louisiana planter hastened 
to tell a leading New England textile manufacturer of the dangers 
brewing below the Mason-Dixon line. "There will be strong 
measures taken in this state during the winter . . . which will 
be alarming to the people of the North," warned the planter, "and 
I fear the late Lowell affair will cause some resolutions which will 
be acted on, aimed at her manufactures." 4 

Boston manufacturing and shipping interests sought some way 
out of this awkward situation. The businessmen of Massachusetts 
were inextricably bound up with the fortunes of the Cotton King- 
dom and the South knew it! American factories were already 
using over 100 million pounds of Southern cotton, and Northern 
mills depended upon a steady flow of this cotton upon which to 
base their profits. Northern bankers who grew rich by extending 
liberal (but risky) credit to Southern planters against next year's 
crops, insisted on good relations and a stable economy. Northern 
shippers looked forward to the increasing raw cotton production 
of the South as their principal item of export, while depending upon 
the busy looms of Lawrence and Lowell to provide one of the 
most important media of the Yankee carrying trade. The result 
was that the economic interests of the otherwise disparate sections 
had gradually drawn both parties into an unusually tolerant, 
friendly, and cordial relationship. Commercial and professional 
contacts between the enterprisers in the North and the plantation 
owners in the South were augmented by personal correspondence 
and frequent visits. Southern planters vacationed at Boston hotels 
as they might at summer resorts, while Northern manufacturers 
were hospitably received into the best private homes in the South. 
Young Southern gentlemen with dashing manners and generous 
allowances courted the young ladies of Boston, attended dinners 
and parties in Beacon Street homes, and reported regularly on their 
marks and deportment at Harvard to the heads of Boston's first 
families, who promptly relayed the information back to their 
fathers in the South. 5 

4. NUes Weekly Register, Baltimore, v. 49 (October 3, 1835), pp. 72-80; William 
Sparks to Amos Lawrence, October 17, 1835, "Amos Lawrence Letters," v. 4. Also, see 
Philip Foner, Business and Slavery (Chapel Hill, 1941), p. 4, and Bernard Mandel, Labor: 
Free and Slave (New York, 1955), pp. 74, 75. 

5. Robert Means, Beaufort, S. C., to Amos Lawrence, March 10, 1823, May, 1824, 
"Amos Lawrence Papers," Mss., M. H. S., Box 1; Henry A. Bullard, New Orleans, to Law- 
rence, January 28, 1832, April 5, 1838, "Amos Lawrence Letters," v. 3; John L. Toomer, 
Charleston, S. C., to Lawrence, June 24, June 28, 1840, ibid. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 37 

A complementary economic system between the North and the 
South, a tolerant regard for the rights and the privileges of the 
other side, and a warm social relationship to augment close eco- 
nomic ties these were the valuable contributions to national unity 
and harmony which many conservative Bostonians felt were now 
being jeopardized by the immoderate demands and dangerous 
threats of the Abolitionists. The only solution which they could 
see was to publicly reassure their Southern friends that the dis- 
turbing element was only a small lunatic fringe which was not 
at all representative of the Northern point of view. Constantly the 
"Cotton Whigs" of Boston pleaded with their Southern brethren 
to make a sharp distinction between the Abolitionist and the re- 
mainder of the North particularly the Whigs. "The Whigs were 
the first to denounce the Abolitionists," the Boston Daily Atlas 
pointed out, and asked the Southland not to associate Abolitionists 
like Garrison and Tappan with the Whig party. 6 

In virtually all his appeals to the South, the Northern business- 
man emphasized the fact that any solution to the slavery problem 
was to be accomplished only in accordance with the wishes of each 
of the Southern states. This was one of the most significant points 
of the conservative argument against Abolition. Slavery, the aver- 
age Northern Whig would readily concede, was an integral part 
of the American historical process, given specific sanction by the 
terms of the constitution of the United States. While he might 
personally deplore the institution of slavery on moral grounds, he 
felt that any political solution of the issue was only constitutionally 
possible by and with the consent of the respective states. 7 

Petitioners from various parts of the North proceeded to flood 
congress with memorials publicly denouncing Abolitionism, and 
in Boston a huge mass meeting of some 1,500 citizens met in Faneuil 
Hall on August 21, 1835, to display the good intentions of Boston's 
men of property and standing toward the South. An audience 
composed of a number of prominent slaveholders from all parts 
of the nation heard Harrison Gray Otis warn that Abolitionism 
was waging war against the lives, the property, the rights, the 
institutions, the pride, and the honor of the Southern states. Even 
the most skeptical visitor from the South must have been satisfied 

6. Boston Daily Atlas, September 30, October 10, 17, 1835. 

7. Amos Lawrence to Robert Barnwell Rhett, South Carolina, December 12, 1849, in 
William R. Lawrence, Extracts From the Diary and Correspondence of the Late Amos Law- 
rence (Boston, 1855), pp. 274-276; Harrison Gray Otis to Benjamin Hunt, October 17, 
1831, Morison, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 262, 263. Also, see Arthur B. Darling, Political Changes in 
Massachusetts, 1824-1848 (New Haven, 1925), p. 152. 



38 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

with this meeting in the "Cradle of Liberty"; and the Boston Atlas 
took pride in reprinting a New Orleans editorial which praised 
the speech of the former mayor of Boston and reported that his 
words were hailed throughout the South as welcome evidence that 
the insidious movement had been brought to a halt. 8 

The pressure of local reaction against Garrison reached its cele- 
brated climax in October, 1835, when the Abolitionist leader was 
manhandled and almost lynched in the streets of Boston. Of the 
nature of the mob which attacked him, Garrison had no doubt. 
"It was planned and executed," he insisted, "not by the rabble, 
or the workingmen, but by 'gentlemen of property and standing 
from all parts of the city/" Wendell Phillips, who had been a 
nonpartisan witness to the event, later gave a classic description 
of the attack being conducted by the "gentlemen" of the city 
in "broadcloth and in broad daylight"; and James L. Homer, editor 
of the Commercial Gazette, described the mob as "gentlemen of 
property and influence." The conservative character of the rioters 
is further confirmed by a visitor from Baltimore, T. L. Nichols, 
who chanced to see the historic outburst as he walked through 
the city and saw the "merchants and bankers of Boston, assembled 
on 'Change in State-Street'" come swinging around from State 
street onto Washington street to put an end to the Abolitionist 
proceedings. 

Although the evidence is still largely circumstantial, there would 
seem to be little doubt that some persons close to Boston's leading 
merchants and businessmen had decided to demonstrate their good 
will to their Southern brethren by deeds as well as by words. By 
the first of the following year, young Amos A. Lawrence could 
write back to his father from the nation's capital, his opinion that 
the attacks against the Abolitionists had achieved their purpose. 
He himself had heard Thomas Hart Benton declare proudly on 
the floor of the senate that the "indignation manifested at the North 
during the last summer" was proof that Northerners were as hostile 
to Abolition doctrine as any "reasonable Southerner could wish." 9 

Despite efforts of conservative Northerners to suppress and 
destroy the Abolitionist movement, however, national events dur- 

8. Boston Daily Atlas, August 22, October 17, 1835; Benjamin Curtis to George Ticknor, 
August 23, 1835, Benjamin ft. Curtis, A Memoir, 2 vols. (Boston, 1879), v. 1, p. 72; 
Morison, op tit., v. 2, pp. 271, 272. 

9. Wendell and Francis Garrison, eds., William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879: The Story 
of His Life Told by His Children, 4 vols. (New York, 1885), v. 2, p. 30; Wendell Phillips, 
Speeches, Lectures and Letters (Boston, 1892), p. 214; T. L. Nichols, Forty Years of Amer- 
ican Life, 1821-1861 (New York, 1937), pp. 84-88; Amos A. Lawrence to Amos Lawrence, 
January 8, 1836, "Amos Lawrence Letters," v. 1. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 39 

ing the 1840*8 forced the issue of slavery more and more into the 
forefront of political debate. The surge of westward expansion, 
the rebellion in Texas, the war with Mexico, all served to focus 
the eyes of the nation upon the complexities of Negro slavery and 
its constitutional right to exist and to expand. 

While the gentlemen of Boston might repeatedly assure their 
friends in the South that they would not lift a finger to interfere 
with the peculiar institution where it already existed under the 
sanction and protection of the constitution, most of these same 
"Cotton Whigs" were strongly opposed to territorial expansion, 
particularly when they felt such expansion would foreshadow the 
simultaneous expansion of slavery. The Northern businessmen 
would never interfere with the guarantees of the constitution in 
protecting slave property in the Southern states, but the same men 
were quite adamant in refusing to allow slavery to be brought 
"where it is not now under the Federal Government/' Since the 
question of territorial expansion was regarded as completely out- 
side the original constitutional provisions which had insured the 
security of slavery in the states, men like Abbott Lawrence, Amos 
A. Lawrence, Nathan Appleton, Rufus Choate, Edward Everett, 
and Robert C. Winthrop felt that the South could have no possible 
grounds for thinking that her constitutional rights and prerogatives 
were being assailed. It was with this clear-cut constitutional theory 
in mind, then, that conservative elements of Boston consistently 
opposed the admission of Texas to the Union. All other questions 
of the day were "insignificant in comparison" to this infernal "hum- 
bug" which constituted the most dangerous threat to the Union 
since the days of the constitution. 10 

When they were unable to prevent the annexation of Texas, the 
"Cotton Whigs" next tried to stave off the war with Mexico which 
they regarded as the inevitable outgrowth of slavocracy's greed 
for empire. Reluctant to endanger their sensitive economic rela- 
tions with the Cotton Kingdom, and still very careful not to em- 
barrass their Southern Whig friends, the "Cotton Whigs" of Massa- 
chusetts nevertheless opposed the war with Mexico on constitu- 
tional principles. While Daniel Webster was accusing President 
Polk of having unsurped the constitutional powers of congress, 
Sen. John Davis, a "Cotton Whig" choice from the Bay State, pro- 

10. S. G. Brown, ed., The Works of Rufus Choate With a Memoir of His Life, 2 vols. 
(Boston, 1862), v. 2, p. 274; Hamilton Hill, Memoir of Abbott Lawrence (Boston, 1883), 
p. 21; Amos Lawrence to Jonathan Chapman, November, 1844, Lawrence to a friend in 
South Carolina, June 12, 1852, Lawrence, Diary, pp. 192, 317, 318; Henry A. Bullard, New 
Orleans to Amos Lawrence, January 25, 1837, "Amos Lawrence Letters," v. 2. 



40 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

vided one of the two negative senatorial votes against the war. 
Governor Briggs of Massachusetts stolidly refused to commission 
officers of a company of volunteers unless they promised not to 
march beyond the state boundaries, and old Amos Lawrence, noted 
merchant and philanthropist, sneered at the state volunteers as 
"the most miserable, dirty and worn-out wretches that can be 
scraped up this side of the infernal regions !" Congressman Win- 
throp summed up the conservative position quite well when he 
said: "So far as we have power constitutional or moral power 
to control political events, we are resolved that there shall be no 
further extension of the territory of this Union subject to the in- 
stitution of slavery/* 11 

These voices of restraint and moderation, however, were drowned 
out by the almost hysterical chant of Manifest Destiny which 
ended only when the United States relieved Mexico of about two- 
fifths of her lands. The "Cotton Whigs" were appalled at the 
enormity of the act, and suspected that this victory over Mexico 
was only the signal for all Western lands to be opened to Negro 
slavery. Determined to head off such a possibility, the gentlemen 
of Boston prepared to control as much of the national political 
power as they could by putting the "right" kind of Whigs into 
office in 1848. Behind the glamorous figure of the military hero, 
Gen. Zachary Taylor, and with Millard T. Fillmore as a last-minute 
substitute for Abbott Lawrence in the second position, the Whigs 
marched to victory and took immediate steps to secure their hold. 
Sen. John J. Crittenden of Kentucky saw to it that only moderate, 
pro-Taylor Whigs were admitted to the magic circle. Clayton 
of Delaware, Meredith of Pennsylvania, Johnson of Maryland, 
Preston of Virginia, and Crawford of Georgia were cabinet ap- 
pointees whose views were consistent with the conservative Whig 
tradition; while Abbott Lawrence, the famous textile industrialist, 
left Boston to take up residence at the Court of St. James. 12 

Firmly entrenched, the Whigs waited for the shooting to start 
when the 31st congress assembled in December, 1849. They did 
not have long to wait. It took all of 63 ballots just to elect a 
speaker of the house, and by the time that the explosive issues 

11. Abbott Lawrence to John J. Crittenden, April 5, 1844, "Crittenden Mss.," United 
States Library of Congress; Fletcher Webster, ed., The Writings and Speeches of Daniel 
Webster, 18 vols. (National Edition, Boston, 1903), v. 4, pp. 31, 32; Amos Lawrence to 
Mark Hopkins, July 19, 1848, "Amos Lawrence Letters," v. 9; Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., 
Memoir of Robert C. Winthrop (Boston, 1897), pp. 58, 59. 

12. Amos Lawrence to Abbott Lawrence, February 28, March 3, March 5, 1849, Law- 
rence, Diary, pp. 266, 267; Nathan Appleton to Millard Fillmore, February 6, 1849, "Nathan 
Appleton Mss.," M. H. S.; Robert C. Winthrop to Nathan Appleton, January 2, 1849, 
Winthrop Mss., M. H. S., v. 36. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 41 

created by the Mexican war came up for discussion, tempers had 
been filed down to a hair trigger. Flare-ups were common and 
fist fights were frequent, as taunts, jeers, charges, and counter- 
charges reverberated through the chambers. "Upon the whole," 
confided Robert C. Winthrop to Nathan Appleton, "a seat in Con- 
gress is a most undesirable possession." 13 

It was against this background of debate and furious recrimina- 
tion that the elderly Henry Clay rose slowly in his place in the 
senate to offer a solution which might salvage some semblance of 
national unity and restore some measure of sectional harmony. 
Clay's famous plan was a compromise, pure and simple, designed 
to appeal to as much of the moderate sentiment of all parries as 
possible. Peace and conciliation were the basic ingredients of 
the Compromise of 1850, and all that was needed was for some 
leading political figure to second the proposals of Clay. 

On March 7, 1850, Sen. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, de- 
fender of the Union, statesman of national renown, and spokesman 
of the interests of tradition, property and respectability, rose to 
speak. In the last great speech of his life, the aging senator gave 
an eloquent defense of the proposals of Clay, pleaded for peace 
and reconciliation, and promptly brought down upon his head 
the violent indignation of the antislavery elements of the Bay State. 

But to the New England business community as a whole, to a 
majority of the men of wealth and property and standing, Webster 
was the man of the hour. Having appreciated the seriousness of 
the national crisis in 1850, and having realized how close the South 
had really been to secession ("the future historian will pause with 
astonishment and terror when he comes to record it," prophesied 
Rufus Choate), the merchants and the businessmen of the North 
had been prepared to clutch at almost any plan which offered any 
reasonable measure of national peace. This was by no means 
the best solution, most of them agreed, but it was far better than 
disunion and war. Webster's stand, commented the conservative 
Advertiser, was a "monument of his power of analyzing public 
affairs, and of his devotion to the interests of the Union, and the 
defence of the Constitution that is the heart and life of that 
Union." 14 All through the state "Union Meetings" were organized 

13. Winthrop, op. cit., pp. 91, 92; Winthrop to Nathan Appleton, January 6, 1850, 
"Winthrop Mss.," v. 36. Also, see Holman Hamilton, " "The Cave of the Winds' and the 
Compromise of 1850," Journal of Southern History, Lexington, Ky., v. 23 (August, 1957), 
pp. 331-353. 

14. Boston Daily Advertiser, March 12, 1850; Brown, op. cit., v. 2, p. 313; Robert C. 
Winthrop to Edward Everett, March 17, 1850, "Everett Mss.," M. H. S.; Winthrop to George 
Morey, March 10, 1850, "Winthrop Mss.," v. 36; Susan Loring. ed., Selections From the 
Diaries of William Appleton, 1786-1862 (Boston, 1922), p. 143. 



42 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

in support of Webster and the compromise, and 800 of the most 
prominent citizens of the city promptly rushed to add their well- 
known signatures to a public letter to Senator Webster. Merchants 
such as Lawrence, Appleton, Perkins, and Amory; lawyers such 
as Choate, Lunt, and the Curtises; scholars such as Ticknor, Everett, 
Prescott, and Sparks all added their voices to the paeans of praise 
for a statesman who had "pointed out to a whole people the path 
of duty," and who had "convinced the understanding and touched 
the conscience of a nation." 15 

As far as the "Cotton Whigs" of Massachusetts were concerned, 
the Compromise of 1850 had solved those political nightmares 
which had almost driven the country into a state of national hys- 
teria. Basking in the warm glow of local prosperity and national 
progress, Boston's men of standing relaxed in the firm belief that 
the possibility of sectional conflict had passed. In theory, the 
compromise had appeased the South by admitting its constitutional 
privilege to let slavery follow the flag. In practice, however, the 
Yankee reflected, it was not practical for slavery to expand into 
the western prairies; and so, de facto, the freedom of the West was 
assured. "Since . . . the whole of the vast territories hereafter 
to be admitted as States are to be free," wrote Amos A. Lawrence 
in obvious complacency, "it seems most unwise to be quarreling 
about abstractions." 16 Despite certain features of the compromise 
which they personally found distasteful ( such as the Fugitive Slave 
act), the "Cotton Whigs" of Boston held tightly to this contract 
which offered present intersectional accord with the promise of 
future liberty. The Union was indivisible, the constitution was 
infallible, and the Compromise of 1850 was indissoluble this was 
the creed of those New Englanders who wanted to expunge the 
moral turpitude of slavery without endangering the social and 
economic relations they maintained with the South. 

And then it happened. On January 4, 1954, the beautiful dream 
ended, and the "old fashioned, conservative, compromise Union 
Whigs," were transformed into "stark mad Abolitionists." On that 
day Stephen A. Douglas, senator from Illinois reported a bill into 
the senate (the Kansas-Nebraska act) calh'ng for the organization 
of new territory above 36 30'. He then went on to propose that 

15. Boston Daily Advertiser, April 3, 1850. 

16. Amos A. Lawrence to Samuel Eliot, January 20, 1851, Lawrence to J. E. Tyler, 
February 12, 1851, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," v. 1; Robert C. Winthrop to John C. 
Warren, August 16, 1851, "Warren Mss.," M. H. S., v. 29. Also, see R. N. Ogden and 
Henry A. Bullard, New Orleans, to Amos Lawrence, December 29, 1850, January 25, 1851, 
"Amos (Lawrence Letters," v. 10. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 43 

this territory be opened to popular sovereignty, and that when 
prepared to enter the Union should do so "with or without slav- 
ery" as determined by its constitution at the time. 

As expected, leading antislavery elements immediately led the 
attack upon the measure as further proof of an insidious conspiracy 
to extend the slave empire into the west. But among the groups 
in the North which set themselves against this "Nebraska infamy" 
none were more outraged and resentful than the "Cotton Whigs" 
of Massachusetts. Convinced that they had demonstrated their 
own good faith by having upheld the institution of slavery where 
it was sanctioned by the constitution, they expected that the South, 
in return, had guaranteed that the territories would remain free. 
Assured that the Compromise of 1850 had ended the issue of slavery 
once and for all, they were now furious at this inexcusable dem- 
onstration of bad faith. On February 23, 1854, some three thou- 
sand of the "solid" men of Boston, headed by Abbott Lawrence, 
Robert C. Winthrop, and Samuel Eliot, held a great meeting at 
Faneuil Hall to protest the way in which they had been cheated 
and ridiculed by what they considered to be the machinations of 
cheap demagogues. 17 

Business interests, which had always deplored public antislavery 
agitation, now began to add their mighty influence to the ground- 
swell of public opinion and curse themselves for having to do it. 
"If I could have prescribed a recipe for reinflating Free-Soilism 
and Abolitionism, which had collapsed all over the country," sput- 
tered Robert C. Winthrop in utter frustration, "I should have 
singled out this precise potion from the whole materia medica of 
political quackery." His friend Amos A. Lawrence agreed, and 
condemned the political stupidity which reopened the issue of 
slavery and split North and South again. After all, if the wealthy 
merchants and the "retired gentlemen who go into State Street 
for an hour or two every day" were now going over to the anti- 
slavery cause, then who else was left? "These constitute pretty 
much all the 'slave power' in this community," he confided to a 
friend, "and if they give up the Compromises and say that they 
have been cheated, we all know that sympathy for the South and 
their 'Institution* must be gone." 18 

17. Boston Daily Advertiser, February 23, 1850; Boston Times, February 23, May 30, 
1854; Amos A. Lawrence to George S. Park, January 23, 1857, "Amos A. Lawrence Letter- 
book," v. 4. 

18. Winthrop, op. cit., pp. 165, 166; Edward Everett, Mss. "Diary," M. H. S., May 27, 
1854; Amos A. Lawrence to Samuel Walley, May 12, 1854, Lawrence to Mr. Andrews, May 
26, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," v. 2. 



44 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

The first object of the "Cotton Whigs" was to defeat Douglas 
and destroy his nefarious bill. While the gentlemen of Boston 
pleaded with their Southern friends not to upset the peace es- 
tablished by the Compromise of 1850, they urged their political 
representatives in Washington to "pour in the vollies of red hot 
shot" upon the Nebraska bill and make sure that "Douglas' day 

"10 

is over. ] 

But the consummate political skill of Senator Douglas proved 
more than a match for the irate protestations of his Whig op- 
ponents in the North. Borne along by the energies of young Doug- 
las, supported by administrative approval from the White House, 
and sustained by jubilant Southerners of all parties, the Kansas- 
Nebraska act swept aside its opponents and was signed into law 
by President Franklin Pierce on May 30, 1854. 20 

With the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act, the "Cotton 
Whigs" of Massachusetts found themselves in a peculiar dilemma: 
As realistic men of business and capital, the Yankee manufacturers 
felt obliged to retain the faith and good will of a Southern planta- 
tion economy upon which their own substantial fortunes were 
solidly based. As men of political principle, the New England 
Whigs felt constrained to preserve the Union which Marshall had 
defined, Webster had defended, and which the Whig party had 
labored so hard and long to maintain. But as men of honor and 
integrity, the keepers of the "Puritan Conscience" felt themselves 
consumed by righteous wrath at what they considered to be the 
selfish designs of unscrupulous politicians who had gambled with 
national unity for the sake of railroad ties and caucus votes. 

Nowhere, perhaps, is the startling metamorphosis of the Boston 
businessman so well demonstrated than in connection with the 
seizure of the Negro, Anthony Burns, on May 26, 1854. So great 
was the opposition of Boston to this application of the Fugitive 
Slave law that it was necessary to use the entire city police force 
plus federal troops to escort Burns to the wharf. Amos A. Law- 
rence angrily told the mayor that he would prefer to see the court- 
house burned to the ground than have Burns returned to slavery; 
and when he was forced to witness the victim's march to the docks, 
he told his brother that only the immense display of military 
power "prevented the total destruction of the U. S. Marshal and 

19. Amos A. Lawrence to R. A. Crafts, New Orleans, March 7, 1854, Lawrence to Hon. 
Samuel H. Walley, May 12, 1854, Lawrence to Hon. J. W. Edmonds, March 16, 1854, ibid. 

20. Robert W. Johannsen, "The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Territorial Government in 
the United States," Territorial Kansas (Lawrence, University of Kansas Social Science 
Studies, 1954), pp. 17-32. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 45 

his hired assistants." 21 These were the words of a man who only 
two years earlier had offered his personal services to the U. S. 
marshal in Boston to aid "in any capacity" in carrying out the very 
same law. 22 "The commercial class of the city have taken a new 
position on the great question of the day," reported the Boston 
Times, and noted that a number of prominent merchants "who 
have never before given their influence on the anti-slavery side," 
had just signed a public petition to have the Fugitive Slave act 
repealed. 23 It seemed, indeed, as if the conservative gentlemen 
of Boston had become "stark mad Abolitionists" overnight, and 
all they needed was some means of converting their sentiments into 
action. 

As "Cotton Whigs" they had repeatedly pledged their word that 
they would never interfere with the South or with any of her in- 
stitutions where the constitution provided sanctions; but they had 
also gone on record as opposing the extension of that "peculiar 
institution" beyond those prescribed constitutional limits. So, by 
God, Douglas or no Douglas, bill or no bill, if population was the 
determining factor in deciding the fate of Kansas, these Yankees 
would see to it that there would be a flood of "free citizens" to 
Kansas, the like of which had not been seen since the waters of 
the flood overflowed the earth. "The North was on fire," exclaimed 
Edward Everett Hale, and prophesied that a gigantic wave of 
emigration like nothing since the days of Moses would soon be 
passing into the valleys of the Nebraska and the Kansas like the 
crusaders of old under Peter the Hermit. This was no old "anti- 
slavery warhorse plan," maintained Hale. This was a plan to "meet 
the South on its own terms" by sending emigrants to Kansas in 
accordance with a plan which "the whole providence of God de- 
mands, and which is made easy by the wonderful arrangement of 
His wisdom." 24 

"Anger hath no mercy nor fury when it breaketh forth. And 
who can bear the violence of one provoked!" states the Book of 
Proverbs. With all the fervor of an evangelistic crusade, the New 
England conscience went to work, with the battle cry of William 
Seward ringing out: "God give the victory to the side that is 

21. Amos A. Lawrence to William Lawrence, June, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letter- 
book," v. 2. 

22. Amos A. Lawrence to Marshal Charles Devens, February 17, 1851, ibid., v. 1. 

23. Boston Times, May 30, 1854. 

24. Edward E. Hale, Jr., The Life and Letters of Edward Everett Hale, 2 vols. (Boston, 
1917), v. 1, pp. 248, 256, 257. 



46 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

stronger in numbers as it is in right/* and with Amos Lawrence 
answering: "We shall beat them!" 25 

The earliest response to the Kansas challenge centered about the 
"Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company" which had been created 
early in the spring of 1854 while the Kansas-Nebraska act was still 
pending. The work of Eli Thayer of Worcester, a member of the 
Massachusetts legislature, the plan proposed to mix philanthropy 
with profit. Thayer planned to sponsor whole villages of free 
settlers to develop the fertile soil of Kansas, and then divide up 
the profits between the homesteaders and the investors. On April 
26, 1854, the governor of Massachusetts signed a charter authoriz- 
ing a capital stock of $5,000,000, and Thayer was off to New York 
to convince other subscribers of the fabulous opportunities involved 
in making Kansas free. 26 

Back in Boston, however, hardly a month had passed before 
Thayer's project began to be labeled as a crass, money-making 
scheme, and the motives of its membership ascribed to selfish 
greed masquerading behind the glittering fagade of humanitarian- 
ism. Amos A. Lawrence, now a leading merchant and financier, 
prominent in the Emigrant Aid movement, was disturbed by the 
ugly rumors which he himself had heard. Hard pressed by many 
of his influential colleagues and investors who had suddenly be- 
come fearful of the great amount of liability which they had in- 
curred in Thayer's "harum scarum" scheme, Lawrence now de- 
manded that Thayer reform the company or lose the support of his 
Boston subscribers. 27 

Learning of these developments in New York City, Thayer 
rushed back to Boston after hastily obtaining a charter of corpora- 
tion from the state of Connecticut apparently in order to hold to- 
gether his New York subscribers. Thayer's attempts to fight the 
Boston men proved fruitless. Lawrence was adamant, and threat- 
ened to withdraw his name and his money if a change were not 
forthcoming. Thayer yielded, and on July 24, 1854, a "voluntary 

25. Amos A. Lawrence to William Lawrence, June 20, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Let- 
terbook," v. 2. 

26. Amos A. Lawrence to Moses Grinnell, New York, June 21, 1854, ibid. Also, see 
Samuel A. Johnson, "The Genesis of the New England Emigrant Aid Company," New Eng- 
land Quarterly, Portland, Maine, v. 3 (January, 1930), pp. 95-122, and R. V. Harlow, 
"The Rise and Fall of the Kansas Aid Movement," American Historical Review, Richmond, 
Va., v. 41 (October, 1935), pp. 1-3. 

27. Patrick Jackson to Amos A. Lawrence, June 10, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letters," 
v. 11; Eli Thayer to Lawrence, June 22, 1854, ibid. See, also, Robert E. Moody, "The 
First Year of the Emigrant Aid Company." New England Quarterly, v. 4 (January, 1931), 
pp. 149, 150, and Eli Thayer, A History of the Kansas Crusade (New York, 1889), pp. 25-30. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 47 

association" was formed by which the subscribers associated them- 
selves together into a noncorporate joint stock company to be 
known as "The Emigrant Aid Company/' Management was vested 
in three trustees, Amos A. Lawrence, J. M. S. Williams, and Eli 
Thayer, with Dr. Thomas H. Webb as secretary, and Lawrence 
acting as treasurer. 28 

In February of the next year, the members of what was now 
commonly referred to as "The New England Emigrant Aid Com- 
pany" applied to the Massachusetts legislature for a charter, and 
on February 21, 1855, Governor Gardner signed the act authoriz- 
ing corporation "for the purpose of directing emigration West- 
ward and aiding in providing accommodations for the emigrants 
after arriving at their places of destination. . . ." On March 
5, a meeting was held, the charter accepted, and the organization 
crystalized which would operate in the struggle for Kansas during 
1855-1856. John Carter Brown of Providence was elected presi- 
dent, Eli Thayer and J. M. S. Williams chosen as vice-presidents, 
Amos A. Lawrence continued in his post as treasurer, and Dr. Webb 
was kept on as secretary. 29 

The new company was now established as a purely local or- 
ganization, separate and distinct from similar emigrant organiza- 
tions in other states, with wary investors assured of limited liability 
under the careful hand and expert eye of Mr. Lawrence. From 
now on "aid" would consist of free information and a 15 per cent 
reduction in railroad and steamship fares through quantity pur- 
chase. No political questions were to be asked of the emigrants, 
since the avowed purpose of the organization was to get people 
to Kansas, and there let them make their own free choice to op- 
pose the establishment of slavery "by all legal and constitutional 
means." In this respect Lawrence went out of his way to make it 
clear that the reorganized company was not a speculative venture 
for profit. Although some members, especially Eli Thayer, con- 
tinued to expect fabulous returns on their investments, Lawrence 
himself never expected that the company stock would pay divi- 
dends or even that the stockholders would ever see their money 
again. He was quite upset when the free settlers named their 
capital "Lawrence," fearing that his motives in sponsoring the Emi- 

28. Amos A. Lawrence to Eli Thayer, July 5, July 6, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letter- 
book," v. 2; Thayer to Lawrence, July 15, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letters," v. 11. See 
Moody, "The First Year," New England Quarterly, v. 4, pp. 152, 153, and Johnson, "Emi- 
grant Aid Company," ibid., v. 3, p. 100. 

29. Ibid., pp. 105-107. 



48 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

grant Aid Society would be interpreted as an attempt to promote 
his own influence and "celebrity." 30 

Writing to Sen. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, Lawrence 
denied that the funds of the company were used for any other 
purpose but to provide for the basic needs of the emigrants and 
insisted that the stock was worthless. Furthermore, continued Law- 
rence, these emigrants were not Abolitionists. "So far as we know, 
not one known to be of that stamp has gone in our parties," he 
wrote. "They are free to vote and do as they please. The society 
has no agreement with them nor pledge, nor are they asked any 
questions." 31 When two of the trustees proposed to buy real estate 
in Kansas, to the amount of 28 million dollars, Lawrence vetoed 
the idea. Such a purpose, he wrote in a memorandum, "is for the 
purpose of speculating, to make a profit; and it is not necessary 
in order to accomplish the objects for which the Society was 
formed." The Emigrant Aid Society was created for the purpose 
of promoting freedom not money. 32 

With the company reorganized, Lawrence not only received 
the additional backing of such men as his prominent uncle, Abbott 
Lawrence, and of William Appleton and Joseph Lyman, but was 
contacted by such leading New York merchants as Moses Grinnell 
who sought to join forces with the New England group. 33 Collect- 
ing money, writing letters, encouraging friends, and denouncing 
foes, Lawrence demonstrated the enthusiasm which motivated 
many Northern Whigs to work so zealously for a free-soil Kansas. 
He had letters sent to every minister in New England, explaining 
the nature and purpose of the Emigrant Aid Society and soliciting 
their support. "We beg you," he urged, "to consider with your most 
influential and patriotic parishioners and townsmen, and with them 
take such measures as shall carry forward this undertaking to a 
successful issue." 34 So convinced was he of the righteousness of 
his cause that Lawrence told Governor Gardner that if he were a 
member of the Massachusetts legislature, he would go so far as to 

30. William Lawrence, The Life of Amos A. Lawrence: With Extracts From His Diary 
and Correspondence (Boston, 1888), p. 84; Amos A. Lawrence to Charles Robinson, Septem- 
ber 30, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," v. 2; Lawrence to the Rev. S. Y. Lum, 
Lawrence, Kan., November 28, 1854, ibid. 

31. Amos A. Lawrence to Thomas Hart Benton, January 2, 1855, ibid., v. 3. 

32. Memorandum to Messrs, Williams and Thayer, August 26, 1854, ibid., v. 2; 
Charles Robinson, The Kansas Conflict (Lawrence, 1898), p. 182. Also, see Johnson, 
"Emigrant Aid Company," loc. cit., pp. 100, 112-115, for a good comparison of the ideas 
of Thayer and Lawrence regarding the proper objectives of the company. 

33. Amos A. Lawrence to Eli Thayer, July 31, 1854, Lawrence to Hon. John Goodrich, 
August 2, 1854, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," v. 2. 

34. Letter to be sent to every minister in New England, dated September, 1854, ibid. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 49 

vote "in favor of placing at the disposal of the Governor and Coun- 
cil a liberal sum to be used in case an attempt is made to drive our 
people from the Territory [Kansas] by force/' 35 

With great satisfaction, Lawrence and his friends saw hundreds 
of free settlers start off from the East, make their way to Kansas 
City, Mo., and then set off along the Santa Fe trail into Kansas. 
All in all, a total of some 600 such homesteaders had settled either 
in Lawrence, or in nearby settlements as Osawatomie, Manhattan, 
and Topeka, by the time the freezing winter of 1854 closed in. 
Assuming that there was no question as to the legitimate status 
of the free-soil inhabitants of Kansas, Lawrence formally requested 
the President of the United States to recognize the free settlers 
as the legally constituted government of Kansas. 36 

The New Englanders, however, reckoned without the hostile 
attitude of the Proslavery settlers just across the border in Missouri. 
Angered at what they considered to be an unwarranted interfer- 
ence in the normal course of events, Missouri border men, includ- 
ing bull-whackers, buffalo hunters, and Indian fighters, prepared 
to take whatever steps were necessary to prevent free-soil Yankee 
imports from creating an artificial free state. The first opportunity 
for such action came in the fall of 1854 when the governor, An- 
drew Reeder, called for the election of territorial delegates. Into 
Kansas swarmed a roaring horde of Missouri "ruffians" to stuff the 
ballot boxes in favor of slavery. When Reeder called for the elec- 
tion of a territorial legislature the following March, the Missouri 
once again overflowed its banks. 37 

Outraged at what he considered to be an unfair and illegal inter- 
ference with a perfectly constitutional procedure, Amos A. Law- 
rence wrote directly to Franklin Pierce. Informing him of the 
activities of these Missouri agitators, Lawrence warned the Presi- 
dent that if the United States government did not take imme- 
diate steps to protect the free settlers, they would have to take 
matters into their own hands. Against the current accusations 
that the free-soil emigrants were traitors because they refused to 
recognize the new territorial government of Kansas, Lawrence 
condemned this government as fraudulent, and flatly denied that 
the emigrants would ever resist or even question the laws of the 
United States when executed by "the proper officers." But, he 

35. Amos A. Lawrence to Governor Gardner, March 7, 1856, ibid., v. 3. 

36. Amos A. Lawrence to President Pierce, April 17, 1855, ibid. 

37. National Intelligencer, Washington, June 22, 1854. 

42200 



50 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

concluded, the free-soil settlers would never recognize the present 
Proslavery legislature, "nor its enactments, nor its officers." 88 

Lawrence also took time to write Senator Atchison and demand 
of the gentleman from Missouri that he see that the contest be 
conducted according to the rules of fair play. The Kansas-Ne- 
braska act had decreed that the future of Kansas was to be de- 
pendent on the factor of population, and it was to be a wide-open 
race so let the best man win! These New England settlers, Law- 
rence pointed out to the Western railroad magnate, were not Abo- 
litionists, but continued interference on the part of the Proslavery 
elements, he warned, "may make them abolitionists of the most 
dangerous kind/' 39 

Even as he wrote, threatened and argued, Lawrence came to 
the apparent conclusion that stronger measures would have to be 
taken in order to provide adequate protection for the emigrants. 
Charles Robinson, the free-soil leader in Kansas, had been plead- 
ing for guns ever since the spring elections. "Cannot your secret so- 
ciety send us 200 Sharps rifles as a loan till this question is settled?" 
he begged Eli Thayer on April 2, 1855; and a few days later sent 
a letter off to Edward Everett Hale, urging that 200 rifles and two 
field pieces be sent to Kansas. Not content with merely waiting, 
Robinson sent George Washington Deitzler to New England to 
obtain as many weapons as possible for the free-soil cause. 40 

A month later, Robinson was in possession of a letter signed by 
Thomas H. Webb, secretary of the Emigrant Aid Society, acknowl- 
edging the arrival of Deitzler, and assuring Robinson that one 
hundred "machines" were on their way. The first shipment of 
"machinery" arrived at Lawrence, Kan., in the middle of May; 
and when the emigrants tore open the crates variously stamped 
"hardware," "machinery," or "books," they found themselves in 
possession of a hundred of the latest and most advanced type of 
breech-loading weapon the Sharps rifle. With increased fire- 

38. Amos A. Lawrence to President Pierce, July 15, December 10, 1855, "Amos A. 
Lawrence Letterbook," v. 3. Also, see Lawrence, Amos A. Lawrence, pp. 95, 104. 

39. Amos A. Lawrence to Hon. David Atchison, March 31, 1855, "Amos A. Lawrence 
Letterbook," v. 3. 

40. Charles Robinson to Eli Thayer, April 2, 1855, Robinson to Edward Everett Hale, 
April 9, 1855, W. H. Isely, "The Sharps Rifle Episode in Kansas History," American His- 
torical Review, v. 12 (April, 1907), pp. 551, 552. Because Eli Thayer flirted with the 
Know-Nothing movement in Massachusetts for about a year, the question may well arise as to 
whether Robinson was referring to the Emigrant Aid Company or the Know-Nothing organi- 
zation when he mentions a "secret society." Since Thayer's affiliation was brief, however, 
since Edward Everett Hale was violently opposed to the Know-Nothing movement, and since 
it was Dr. Webb who sent out the first shipment of rifles, the present writer is inclined to 
feel that Robinson was referring to the Emigrant Aid Company which had been working 
quietly as a voluntary joint-stock company during the early months of 1855. See Edward 
Everett Hale, Letters, v. 1, p. 260, and George F. Hoar, Autobiography of Seventy Years, 
2 vols. (New York, 1903), v. 1, p. 189. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 51 

power and accuracy, the free-soil settlers of Lawrence were, for 
the first time, in a position to offset the numerical superiority of 
the hostile Missourians across the border, most of whom were 
still armed with antiquated muzzle loaders and buffalo guns. 41 

Up until recently, Amos A. Lawrence had refused to consider 
the idea of sending weapons to the emigrants, but after learning 
of the fraudulent elections and the attacks of the "border ruffians" 
he changed his mind. Writing to Robinson, Lawrence told him of 
his decision. "You must have arms, or your courage will not avail," 
he admitted. "We must stir ourselves here tomorrow and see what 
can be done." But Lawrence did not wait for the next day to 
"stir" himself, for on the same day he sent out a letter to the sec- 
retary of the Emigrant Aid Company, ordering: "Write to Hart- 
ford and get their terms for one hundred more of the Sharps rifles 
at once." As far as the industrialist was concerned, the course was 
clear "when farmers turn soldier, they must have arms. 9 ' "Up to 
this time," he wrote to President Pierce accusingly, "the govern- 
ment has kept so far aloof as to force the settlers to the conclusion 
that if they would be safe, they must defend themselves; and there- 
fore many persons here who refused at first (myself included), 
have rendered them assistance by furnishing them means of de- 
fence." 42 

Undoubtedly encouraged by the extraordinary encouragement 
and assistance they were now receiving from their patrons in the 
East ("It has a wonderful effect upon our Mo. neighbors to hear 
that men are enrolling, & money is being raised in the North," 
Robinson told Salmon P. Chase), the free settlers of Kansas took 
things into their own hands. They elected delegates to a con- 
stitutional convention at Topeka in October, 1855, and proceeded 
to draw up a Free-State constitution. Submitted to a totally free- 
soil electorate, the constitution was adopted, Charles Robinson was 
named governor, and a free-soil legislature was elected. The con- 
gress of the United States was now formally requested to admit 
the territory of Kansas to the Union as a free state. 43 

41. Thomas H. Webb to Charles Robinson, May 8, 1855, Isely, "Sharps Rifle," loc. cit., 
pp. 552, 553; Lawrence, Amos A. Lawrence, pp. 97, 98. See, also, W. O. Smith, The Sharps 
Rifle: Its History, Development and Operation (New York, 1943), pp. 11-16. 

42. Amos A. Lawrence to Charles Robinson, July 20, 1855, Lawrence to Dr. Webb, 
July 20, 1855, Lawrence to President Pierce, July 15, 1855, "Amos A. Lawrence Letter- 
book," v. 3. See, also, Lawrence to Professor Packard, July 13, 1855, ibid. 

43. Charles Robinson to Salmon P. Chase, February 22, 1856, "Diary and Correspond- 
ence of Salmon P. Chase," Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1902, 
Washington, v. 2, pp. 475, 476. See James C. Malin, "The Topeka Statehood Movement 
Reconsidered," Territorial Kansas, pp. 33-69, for a recent reappraisal of the complex factors 
which went to make up the demand for statehood. 



52 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

The question had been thrown back into the collective lap of 
official Washington to decide. Which was the lawful government 
of Kansas? Which votes were legitimate and which were fraudu- 
lent? Who should make the final decision? These questions tied 
the federal lawmakers into knots. President Pierce denounced the 
free-soilers, Senator Douglas denounced the President, and the 
congress was not certain whom to denounce. By the spring of 
1856, tempers had been brought to a white-hot heat and the furious 
debates on the Kansas issue reached their climax with the famous 
attack upon Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts by Congress- 
man Brooks of South Carolina. 

Events in Kansas, however, were not to quietly await the de- 
cision of Washington. Even as the debates in the halls of congress 
had reached their celebrated crisis, the situation among the fac- 
tions in Kansas had degenerated from the opposition of legislatures 
and constitutions to the crack of rifle fire and the thud of bowie 
knives. The day before Sumner was sent crashing to the floor 
of the senate, a Proslavery "posse" of about a thousand men came 
riding into the "Boston abolition town" of Lawrence, Kan., to 
arrest "treasonous" Free-State leaders and sack the town. Three 
days later, a "ranger" named John Brown struck at Pottawatomie 
creek, cutting down five Proslavery settlers to avenge the five free 
men already killed. The lid was off, and the "little civil war" was 
on. 44 

Quite obviously the conservative members of the Emigrant Aid 
Company, "hunkers" like Amos A. Lawrence and J. Carter Brown, 
would have preferred to avoid violence and bloodshed alto- 
gether. 45 As a matter of fact, Lawrence had been hoping that a 
political compromise could be worked out so that the Kansas issue 
would be removed from the area of political conflict as well. Ap- 
palled at the swift rise of the Republican party which had come 
in the wake of the Kansas-Nebraska act, Lawrence saw a political 
quid pro quo as the only effective means of checking the progress 
of this new "sectional" party. Kansas should either be admitted 
to the Union right away, or the issues compromised to the satis- 
faction of both sides as soon as possible. If this could be accom- 

44. See James C. Malin, John Brown and the Legend of Fifty-six (Philadelphia, 1942), 
for the most exhaustive historical analysis of the operations of John Brown in 1856. 

45. Amos A. Lawrence to Charles Robinson, July 10, 1855, Lawrence to Giles Richards, 
December 15, 1855, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," v. 3. Also, see Lawrence to Sen. 
John Crittenden, May 24, 1856, ibid., for an expression of Lawrence's desire for mutual con- 
cessions between the North and the South even after the attack by Brooks upon Senator 
Sumner of Massachusetts. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 53 

plished, the Republicans would no longer have any distinctive 
platform upon which to campaign. 46 

Much to Lawrence's disgust and discouragement, no political 
compromise was forthcoming, as congressmen showed more interest 
in feathering their own political nests and 'laying down grand 
principles" with one eye on the coming elections of 1856, than in 
working out a solution to a grave national crisis. 47 

With compromise an impossibility, and the situation in Kansas 
having erupted into fierce and ruthless civil war by the summer 
of 1856, there seemed only one thing left to do. The backers of 
the freedom struggle back in Boston shipped out more rifles, wrote 
more checks, called for more action and gave only one final 
warning: avoid trouble with the federal authorities! Kick Cal- 
houn "and his adherents" out of the territory, "put an end to their 
operations at once," don't let your "boys" permit a "handful of 
scoundrels" to embarrass the government and breed ill will through- 
out the country, urged Mr. Lawrence from Boston. But and this 
was a large "but" this violence must be employed by "volunteers" 
who have no connection with the Free-State government; and 
never, under any circumstances, must it be directed against the 
federal authorities. Lawrence repeated this point again and again 
in his personal correspondence with "Governor" Robinson. "We 
would be pleased to hear of their expulsion in any informal way," 
he wrote the Free-State leader. "But it is very important that they 
should be the action of independent corps of men and not of the 
free state Government or any of its members." Lawrence seemed 
resigned to sanction any activity as long as it did not impugn "the 
direct authority of the Federal Government." For this eventuality, 
Lawrence could see no excuse or apology. Any attempt to weaken 
the national government would only destroy the "moral force of 
the party or organization which favors it," he warned Robinson, 
and pleaded with the doctor to use "prudence, forbearance and 
decision" in planning his strategy. 48 

So obvious had this program become that Governor Shannon 
reported to Washington in April, 1856, that he found himself faced 
with "a more systematic and dangerous organization to defeat and 

46. Lawrence to Robinson, November 4, 1854, Lawrence to S. G. Haven, April 7, 1856, 
Lawrence to John Carter Brown, April or May (undated), 1856, ibid., vols. 2, 3. 

47. Lawrence to Robinson, July 24, 1856, Lawrence to S. N. Simpson, August 7, 1856, 
Lawrence to S. G. Haven, October 10, 1856, Lawrence to G. W. Brown, December 11, 1856, 
ibid., v. 3. 

48. Lawrence to Robinson, August 16, December 17, 1857, January 2, 29, February 3, 
1858, "Robinson Manuscripts," archives, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Folder 3. 



54 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

baffle the due execution of the "Territorial laws" than at any time 
in the past. Whenever an officer, whether United States marshal, 
sheriff, or constable, attempted to execute a writ or process, if he 
were aided by a posse of United States troops he would be "evaded, 
but not openly resisted." If a similar attempt were made without 
United States troops, Shannon observed, he would be "resisted by 
force at all hazards." It would seem that a great number of the 
free-soilers in Kansas were following the same distinction between 
federal troops and territorial forces as the directors of the company 
back in Boston. 49 

The only danger that Lawrence could see in this respect was 
the unpredictable and irresponsible actions of John Brown, whose 
campaign of terror had made him notorious, and he warned Rob- 
inson to keep a close watch on this "ranger." These two men had 
met about 12 years earlier, when Brown was a wool merchant and 
young Lawrence was still traveling around learning the textile 
business under the guidance of his father and his uncle. When 
Brown's four sons later sent for their father to join them in Kan- 
sas, Brown sought out Lawrence, who was then a prominent busi- 
ness man and treasurer of the Emigrant Aid Company. 50 

Lawrence was held in a spell of almost hypnotic fascination by 
the old warrior whom he called the "Miles Standish" of Kansas; 
and he constantly praised his heroism, his puritanism and his res- 
olute determination in the cause of freedom. At the same time, 
however, the Yankee was shrewd enough to realize that when he 
was "aroused," this old man became a "dreadful foe"; and when 
Robinson reported that Brown would just as soon shoot down a 
United States officer as a border ruffian, Lawrence's worst sus- 
picions were confirmed. Make sure that Brown reports to you 
regularly, the New Englander cautioned Robinson. "It is bad 
policy to have a ranger like him with money and arms at his dis- 
posal and only accountable to people here." John Brown, to be 
sure, would be useful to the cause of freedom in Kansas, but 
needed "some controlling power near him." 51 

Even in the midst of bloodshed and civil war, Amos A. Law- 
rence continued to cling steadfastly to the strict constitutionality 

49. Correspondence of Governor Geary, Collections of the Kansas State Historical So- 
ciety, v. 4 (1886-1888), pp. 404-408, cited in Malin, John Brown, pp. 79, 80. 

50. Lawrence, Amos A. Lawrence, p. 122. 

51. Amos A. Lawrence to Charles Robinson, March 31, August 16, 1857, "Robinson 
Mss.," Folder 3. Also, see Lawrence, Amos A. Lawrence, pp. 123-125. John Brown had no 
official connections with the Emigrant Aid Company. "On the contrary," says Professor 
Malin, "it would appear that he was taking his own line . . . and telling Thayer about 
it afterwards." See Malin, John Brown, p. 64. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 55 

of the true Whig position as he saw it. A man was free to act 
on slavery in the territories, as long as he did not transgress the 
authority of the national government or infringe upon the rights 
of the Southern states where they were protected by the consti- 
tution. It was the only way to obey the letter of the Compromise 
of 1850 and still prevent the territorial expansion of slavery. This 
was a supreme effort to make freedom in Kansas consistent with 
the national unity of the states. 52 It was in this same spirit that 
William M. Evarts of New York contributed one thousand dollars 
to the Emigrant Aid Company. A well-known "Hunker Whig" 
lawyer who, like Lawrence, had struggled to maintain the Fugitive- 
Slave Law during the early 1850's, Evarts now thanked Eli Thayer 
for the opportunity "to contend successfully against slavery without 

violating the laws or sacrificing the Constitution and the Union. 
53 

The final constitutional threat to the "Cotton Whig" position 
came after the election of James Buchanan, in the fall of 1856. 
Anxious to quiet the fearful Kansas uproar, President Buchanan 
appointed Robert J. Walker of Mississippi governor of Kansas, and 
Walker immediately made an appeal to both factions for a bi- 
partisan constitutional convention. When the suspicious free-soil- 
ers abstained, the Proslavery group was able to formulate what 
became known as the Lecompton constitution, which gave legal 
recognition to slavery but permitted a vote on its further extension. 

"Cotton Whigs" in the East were loud in their condemnation 
of the Lecompton "fraud" which they said had been perpetrated 
by "renegades," and Walker himself had to be recalled because 
of his open denunciation of "a base counterfeit and a wretched 
device to prevent people from voting." While President Buchanan 
continued to insist on the Lecompton constitution as the final settle- 
ment of the Kansas question, Senator Douglas broke with the ad- 
ministration and openly denounced the President's position as a 
flagrant violation of the principle of popular sovereignty. Con- 
servatives applauded his stand and that of Senator Crittenden 
who labeled the constitution as a "gross violation of principle and 
good faith." 54 

52. See James C. Malin, On the Nature of History (Lawrence, 1954), p. 201. Amos A. 
Lawrence, writes Professor Malin, "understood the issue of federal nationalism and advised 
the free state men repeatedly against any course in Kansas that would compromise their posi- 
tion of loyalty to federal nationalism." 

53. Thayer, op. cit., pp. 203, 204. 

54. Amos A. Lawrence to John W. Geary, March 19, 1857, Lawrence to Sen. John J. 
Crittenden, May 4, 1858, "Amos A. Lawrence Letterbook," v. 4; Lawrence to Charles Robin- 
son, January 2, 29, February 3, 1858, "Robinson Mss.," Folder 3. 



56 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

The deadlock that followed was broken only by a house-senate 
compromise known as the English bill, which called for a new 
vote on the Lecompton constitution. If a majority accepted it, 
Kansas would enter the Union immediately; if not, Kansas would 
have to wait until her population was large enough to justify ad- 
mission. The obvious expectation was that the Kansas voters 
would be so desirous of Union status that they would swallow 
the otherwise unpalatable features of the document but this 
did not prove true. In August, 1858, Kansas overwhelmingly re- 
jected the compromise and voted to remain a territory. Although 
slavery continued to be legal for the time being, the free-soilers 
held control of the legislature and it was apparent to all that slav- 
ery would be abolished as soon as Kansas achieved statehood on 
its own terms. 55 

For all practical purposes, the battle for Kansas had been won, 
and the "Cotton Whigs" of New England congratulated themselves 
upon the fact that by their prompt action they had made a signifi- 
cant contribution to a complete moral and political victory in the 
territories without either impugning the authority of the federal 
government or infringing upon the constitutional rights of the South- 
ern states. 

The leading participants in the struggle to make Kansas free 
were fully convinced that they had done more than any other 
party or organization to preserve the Union through the agency 
of their Emigrant Aid Company. Eli Thayer was fond of recalling 
a meeting with Congressman Henry J. Blow in 1862 when the 
Missourian introduced himself and enthusiastically hailed the con- 
sequences of the battle for Kansas. "Your success in making Kan- 
sas a free state has kept Missouri in the Union," said Blow, pump- 
ing the New Englander's hand. "If she had seceded, Kentucky 
and Tennessee would have gone also. . . . Your Kansas work 
has made it possible to save the Union!" 56 

In reviewing the success of the free-state movement, Gov. 
Charles Robinson claimed that "the people of Kansas almost made 
the Republican party. They have furnished most of the material 
to make it what it is now. . . ." Robinson was especially ex- 
pansive in his praise of the role of Amos A. Lawrence, without 

55. Amos A. Lawrence to Charles Robinson, May 3, 4, 6, 1858, ibid.; John C. Under- 
wood to Eli Thayer, "Thayer Manuscripts," v. 1, John Hay Library, Brown University, 
Providence, R. I. 

56. Undated manuscript, ibid. 



COTTON WHIGS IN KANSAS 57 

whose name "the Emigrant Aid Company would have been a 
cipher." 57 

Lawrence, too, felt confident that the crisis of the Union was 
over and that the work for which the Republican party had been 
formed had already been "effectually accomplished" by his Emi- 
grant Aid Company. As Lawrence saw it, Robinson, Thayer, and 
all the other Free-State leaders in the Kansas crusade had "in 
reality carried off the day, and all real danger of the extension of 
slavery had passed." 58 From now on, all Kansas politics was 
strictly of local interest and the "great question" was finally settled. 
"Now," said Lawrence, "we must be magnanimous to the South." 59 

In terms of the political and constitutional development of Amer- 
ican thought, the involvement of the "Cotton Whigs" in the Kansas 
crusade is worthy of more attention than it has hitherto received. 
This was not merely an off-hand, emotional gesture of futile anger 
by Northern business men protesting against the activities of 
Douglas and his Southern supporters. This was a well-planned 
and seriously organized attempt by political conservatives to stop 
the spread of slavery into the territories without causing the dis- 
ruption of the Union. 

The Kansas crusade was a great experiment as far as the "Cotton 
Whigs" were concerned. It was an attempt to maintain the Com- 
promise of 1850 by continuing to uphold the constitutional privilege 
of slavery but making its actual expansion a practical impossibility. 
In this respect, the "Cotton Whigs" continued to adhere rigidly 
to the political tenets of the old Whig party. They did not turn 
"abolitionist," for they constantly assured their correspondents that 
they had no intention of interfering with slavery in the Southern 
states. Neither did they turn Republican for they insisted upon 
regarding their actions as entirely extra-political. Leaders like 
Amos A. Lawrence were adamant in their refusal to permit anti- 
slavery planks or policies (even concerning the territories) to be 
written into the platform of the Whig party. 60 

The "Cotton Whigs" did not feel that in sponsoring the Emigrant 
Aid Society they had altered their fundamental constitutional prin- 

57. Speech by Gov. Charles Robinson of Kansas in favor of the election of Hon. Eli 
Thayer, delivered in Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Mass., November 3, 1860, ibid.; Lawrence, 
Amos A. Lawrence, pp. 112, 113. 

58. Speech of Amos A. Lawrence in support of the election of Eli Thayer, November, 
1860. Written half in pencil and half in ink, this manuscript is in the archives of the Amer- 
ican Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 

59. Amos A. Lawrence to the Rev. E. Nute, July 18, 1857, "Amos A. Lawrence 
Letterbook." v. 4. 

60. Amos A. Lawrence to Moses G. Cobb, July 8, 1857, Lawrence to Charles Robinson, 
August 1, 1858, ibid.; Robinson to Lawrence, August 16, 1858, "Amos A. Lawrence 
Letters," v. 17; Winthrop, op. cit., p. 173. 



58 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

ciples one iota. They were not infringing upon the rights or 
privileges of the South because they were operating only within 
territorial limits. They were not impugning the authority of the 
federal government because they were abiding by the letter of 
the Kansas-Nebraska act and assiduously avoiding all contact 
with forces of the United States government. In short, the "Cotton 
Whigs" considered themselves completely free to act in what ap- 
peared to be a political no man's land free to follow any action 
which did not violate the constitution, the rights of the South 
or the prerogatives of the national government. And by 1858 
these men rejoiced that their great experiment had succeeded 
the Union had been saved. 



Some Notes on the Comanche Cattle Pool 

MARY EINSEL 

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

For several years following the Civil War, Texas cattle dom- 
inated the American meat-packing industry. In those days it was easy 
enough to sell the tough, half-wild, longhorn steers to a meat-starved 
Eastern market. Within a few years, however, some of the more per- 
ceptive cattlemen and promoters realized that as soon as the Eastern 
buyer received an ample quantity of meat he would begin demanding 
an improved quality. Improving the quality meant the establishment 
of ranches for fattening and cross breeding programs for improved 
strains. 

Many early Kansas ranches were stocked with Texas longhorns. It 
is a seldom-noted fact that of all the cattle trailed north from the Lone 
Star state, only about 25 per cent were immediately shipped to Eastern 
markets. The remainder were kept in Kansas or driven on to states 
north and west to stock new ranches. Range cattle in Kansas num- 
bered only 93,455 in 1860; 373,967 in 1870, but jumped to 1,533,133 
by 1880. 

The men who owned these new ranches were generally old trail 
drovers, Eastern farmer-stockmen, or complete newcomers to the cattle 
business. In a sense they were all novices, for operating a cattle 
ranch was entirely different from trailing herds and raising farm cattle. 
It was a new industry in nearly every state outside of Texas. While 
most owners had past experience with cattle, the business of grazing 
them on a fixed range presented many new problems with which they 
were on the whole unfamiliar. For instance, being largely unattended, 
range cattle were more susceptible to predatory animals, thieves, prairie 
fires, etc. The Eastern cattleman found that Kansas ranching some- 
times required four to six times the amount of land needed to graze each 
head adequately as it did in, say, Missouri. As breeds improved, their 
adaptability to climatic extremes decreased. Hence for protection and 
care the ranchers found they needed large ranges, big crews, and, of 
course, large sums of money. 

It wasn't long before many ranchers realized that these problems 
could be more profitably overcome through co-operative effort. Not 
only could expenses be cut but protection could be increased. The re- 
sult was the formation of a cattle pool. 

In forming a pool, several local ranchers would combine and agree 
to graze their herds communally. They would hire pool cowboys, a 
foreman, and an accountant, and share all expenses according to their 
holdings. The pools were conducted along the line of joint stock com- 
panies, each head of cattle being one share of stock. The unusual thing, 

MRS. RALPH (MARY) EINSEL, who attended the University of Wichita, now lives 
a ranch near Coldwater, in former Comanche pool territory. 

(59) 



60 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

however, was that most pools allowed each member only one vote at 
business meetings no matter how much stock he held. Generally a gov- 
erning board of directors, consisting of a president, secretary, and 
treasurer, was elected to serve without pay. The board was empowered 
to act for the company between quarterly and semiannual meetings of the 
pool. Major decisions were made at general meetings. 

The only property actually owned by the pools, besides a small 
quantity of land, were horses, wagons, and equippage. All the cattle on a 
pool's range were the individual property of members who were respon- 
sible for their own purchases and sales. 

While some of the grazing land was deeded to the pool, most of it was 
public domain open range. Though no one had authority to monopo- 
lize public domain, local residents generally recognized certain areas as 
the exclusive range of such-and-such a pool, and avoided it as though 
it were private property. 

In Kansas, one of the first and possibly the largest of the pools was the 
Comanche County Cattle Pool. Formed in April, 1880, it covered parts 
of Barber county and the Cherokee strip as well as most of Comanche 
county. Business offices were maintained in Medicine Lodge and operat- 
ing headquarters at Evansville, a now extinct settlement in southeast 
Comanche county. 

In the five years of its Kansas operation the Comanche pool had re- 
markable success in lowering the per capita cost of producing beef. At 
the end of its days the cost was only 71 cents to graze one head a whole 
year. It was a leader in experimentation with cross breeding, its members 
purchasing fine Black Galloway, Hereford, Durham, Polled Angus, and 
Shorthorn bulls for inclusion with the herd. It indirectly fostered the 
growth of cities and it made rich men out of many of its members. But 
the Comanche County Cattle Pool was destined to an early end; it could 
not exist in a land given over to grangers. 

Beginning in 1884 a series of setbacks plagued the pool. In May, E. 
W. Payne, one of the leading members of the pool and its perennial treas- 
urer, was shot and killed in the attempted holdup of the Medicine Valley 
bank at Medicine Lodge. Payne, the bank's president, was shot while 
defending his trust against a small gang led by Henry N. Brown, the city 
marshal of Caldwell, on leave! 

About this same time market prices began to drop and profits fell off 
sharply. In 1884-1885 a worse than usual winter preceded the terrible 
blizzards of 1886. Snow, cold, sleet, and winds covered the buffalo grass, 
drifted cattle, and finally froze them. In some areas near the pool range 
losses were as high as 42 per cent. But the fracturing straw was the rapid 
settlement of the range area in 1884 and 1885. 

At a semiannual meeting of the pool in April, 1885, the members de- 
cided to evacuate the Kansas area of operations. Though some of the 
members voted to continue in the Cherokee strip on land leased from the 
Cherokee nation, many returned to small ranching or dropped from the 
business entirely. Headquarters were moved from Evansville to a site 
on the Red fork in the Indian territory. All the bulls were sold off and 
only she cattle kept on the southern range. Pool land was to be divided 
among the members according to the holdings of each. 



NOTES ON THE COMANCHE CATTLE POOL 61 

"This change," said the Barber County Index, of Medicine Lodge, on 
April 10, 1885, "is necessary by reason of Commanche county being so 
completely settled up that ranging cattle there will no longer be profit- 
able. . . . The pool will, at the roundup this year, count out every- 
thing, take a new start, and, we hope, enjoy the continued prosperity 
that has heretofore attended them." 

By the middle of June the pool had all its cattle in the territory and in 
July the accountant, Maurice Royster, went to Medicine Lodge to prepare 
for the final distribution of the pool's 11,000 acres of deeded land. This 
final act was accomplished on October 7, 1886. 

Though the Comanche pool continued to operate for a short time in 
the Indian territory, it was gone forever in Kansas. It was the offspring 
and subsequently the victim of its era. Born in a time when land 
was plentiful and free for the taking, it could not exist when the horizons 
closed in and the sod was plowed under. 

QHORTLY after the Civil War, during a 19-year period, over five 
O million cattle from Texas were trailed north to Kansas. 1 These 
huge herds were sold in Abilene, Newton, Ellsworth, Wichita, Cald- 
well, and Dodge City. Before being shipped, the cattle were fat- 
tened on the rich grasses which grew in what is now northern 
Oklahoma and southern Kansas. 

At the time of these trail herds, Medicine Lodge was the only 
town of any size in Barber and Comanche counties. 

On February 6, 1880, Medicine Lodge's newspaper, the Cresset, 
published the following news item which was to affect greatly the 
handful of ranchers who were living in that area: 

Jess Evans, of the firm of Evans, Hunter & Evans, predicts that the herds, 
. . . ranging in Barbour and Commanche counties, will not be troubled 
by the Texas drive the coming season. He has been informed that the Indian 
authorities at the new post known as Sheridan's Roost, are unwilling to allow 
the cattle to pass through on the old trail. As a consequence, it will be turned 
either east or west so far that it will not endanger the herds ranging south of 
here. 

Evans visualized the potentiality for fattening large herds of 
local cattle on the grass that would be left idle by the nonexistent 
Texas drives. Three other businessmen, Richard W. Phillips, Wylie 
Payne, and Maj. Andrew Drumm also recognized the remarkable 
ranching opportunity. They discussed a plan with the small ranchers 
who were already drifting cattle in the vicinity. 

The idea of banding together, as the best way to utilize the grass, 
was decided upon. The outgrowth of this idea eventually became 
the largest cattle ranch ever established in Kansas. 

1. Joseph Nimmo, "Report on the Internal Commerce of the United States," House Bx. 
Doc. No. 7, Pt. 3, 48th Cong., 2d Sess. (1884-1885), p. 122. 



62 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

It was called the Comanche pool. Cattle under its control 
reached the 80,000 mark. 2 Al Jennings, Oklahoma outlaw, and 
Frank Eaton, author of Pistol Pete, were both on the payroll. The 
story of the Comanche pool parallels the history of Kansas' last free 
open range. 

The idea of the pool was for members to go in together and to 
range their cattle as one great common herd. The expenses incurred 
and the profits received were in direct ratio to the number of a par- 
ticular rancher's cattle to the total number of the whole herd. 3 

The pool started business with 26,000 head. In the History of the 
State of Kansas, published by A. T. Andreas, it is stated that: "The 
increase of this monstrous herd is about 15,000 annually." 4 

On January 6, 1881, an official roster bearing the charter names 
of the Comanche pool appeared in the Barbour County Index. All 
told there were 17 men: Jesse Evans, Robert Hunter, A. G. Evans, 
R. Kirk, C. W. James, R. W. (Dick) Phillips, Fred Taintor, George 
Cutrif, Wylie Payne, J. B. Doyle, John Wilson, J. A. McCarthy, W. 
R. Colcord, Tom Doran, J. M. Rawlins, C. D. Nelson, and William 
Blair. The paper went on to say: "This is certainly the biggest 
thing ever attempted in southern Kansas.*' 

The first board of directors was comprised of Evans, Phillips, and 
Payne, with Payne acting as treasurer. 5 

The region used by the Comanche pool included some of the best 
grass to be found. From their winter horse camp near present Way- 
noka, Okla., the pool's western boundary followed the Cimarron 
river 30 miles upstream. Heading on north its territory in Kansas 
took in the heads of Salt fork, Bluff creek, and Mule creek, 
the three main streams of the area. Going east, the line ran along 
the Medicine river within a few miles of Medicine Lodge, the east- 
ern boundary, then veered back south towards Waynoka. 

Mr. Sampson, a bookkeeper from St. Louis, Mo., was hired to set 
up the books. He drew up balance sheets showing individual hold- 
ings and presented them to members every six months. 6 

The main ranch house and corrals were built 30 miles southwest 
of Medicine Lodge. What started as headquarters for the Co- 
manche pool soon grew to be a small town called Evansville. Here 
a warehouse was provided to store wholesale goods sent out from 

2. "Reminiscences of Charles F. Colcord," Chronicles of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, v. 
12 (March, 1934), p. 7. 

3. Coldwater Western Star, September 28, 1951, from the Barbour County Index, Janu- 
ary 6, 1881; Medicine Lodge Cresset, November 24, 1881. 

4. Page 1523. 

5. Barbour County Index, April 14, 1881. 

6. Ibid., December 23, 1880. 



NOTES ON THE COMANCHE CATTLE POOL 63 

Kansas City by Maj. Andrew Drumm. Although Drumm's name 
did not appear on the list of pool owners, he is often spoken of as 
having a part in it. 7 Whenever he arrived at the ranch on an in- 
spection tour, his surrey was always driven by a Negro valet. 

In addition to the ranch headquarters at Evansville and the line 
camps, three principal horse camps were maintained. One, called 
Big Timber, which had a log cabin, was established at the pool's 
southern point along the Cimarron river not far from Waynoka, 
Okla. This was the wintering headquarters for most of the horses. 
Frank Lockert, Coats, Kan., describes it as follows: "They fenced 
in a strip M to / mile wide up and down the river. The horses 
wouldn't cross the river because it was boggy. Grass stayed green 
down by the river all winter and when spring came those horses 
were generally fat." 

"Wildcat" was another camp. It lay 25 miles north of Big Timber 
near the Oklahoma-Kansas border. "Salt Fork" was located 20 
miles west of Evansville along the Salt Fork creek. 

The outer boundary of the ranch was constantly patrolled by cow- 
boys who kept the cattle shoved back on their own range. This 
was no small task, for the pool covered approximately 4,000 square 
miles. These line camp riders lived on the prairie in dugouts or 
"soddies," which were built a day's ride apart. 

Drinking and card playing were strictly forbidden in pool terri- 
tory. As one editor put it: "We are informed that on the Pool 
range there is not a euchre deck to be found. Card playing and 
drinking is prohibited and the cowboys do not disobey the order." 
The directors had ruled thumbs down on the ground that it caused 
trouble among the riders. 8 

During the spring of 1881 about five hundred head of pure bred 
young bulls were shipped in from the east, many of which were for 
the improvement of the pool herd. They came by train to Harper, 
68 miles from Evansville. 9 

Jesse Evans owned one third of the pool in 1882. That summer 
he sold his interest to A. G. Evans and Robert Hunter for $175,000. 
The sale included, among other things, 27,000 head of cattle and the 
Evansville Merchandise Store. 10 

The pool's roundups were such large affairs that notices were 
published in the papers. Small ranchers, "parties," could have their 

7. Letter from E. E. Dale to author, September 22, 1955. 

8. Barbour County Index, December 30, 1880. 

9. Medicine Lodge Cresset, June 3, 1881. 

10. Barbour County Index, July 21, 1882. 



64 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

strays gathered by sending their brands to ranch headquarters. 
Extra cowboys were hired during this time and the outfit was split 
up into several crews. The territory was also divided and riders 
worked the range in sections. A calf was branded according to 
the brand carried by the mother cow. Tally records were kept as 
each calf was marked. 11 After the roundup each member was 
responsible for the disposition of his own beeves. 

Jeff Long of Medicine Lodge said: "I knew some of the Pool 
riders. I never worked for them myself, but I was on what the 
outfits called a general roundup. Cowboys came from as far away 
as the Colorado line. It looked like an army camped on the 
prairie." 

One pool rider was to become better known than the rest of the 
men. In a letter from Tarzana, Calif., where he spent the later years 
of his life, he wrote: "I know the country well. I worked on the 
Comanche Pool in the Cherokee Strip south of Coldwater in 1885." 
The letter was signed Al Jennings. 12 He was an unsuccessful Okla- 
homa train robber. Another pool rider, Frank Eaton, author of 
Pistol Pete, wrote: 'While I was a trouble-shooter for them a long 
time I asked no questions. A man lived longer if he kept his eyes 
and ears open and his mouth shut." 13 

Mrs. Frank Gordon, Lake City, Kan., recalls that pool cowboys 
preferred to do their celebrating in Kiowa. "They were generally 
good boys. I remember how they came riding into town one day 
and bought all the paper flowers the stores had. They gave some to 
every lady on the street." 

One of the biggest undertakings of the pool was the fencing of 
their range. Fencing did not mean one continuous, unbroken line. 
The south and western range was marked by the natural barrier of 
the sandy bars along the Cimarron, and to the north and west drift 
fences were built along the high ridges. The Medicine Lodge Cres- 
set reported: 

The chief topic of interest among the members of the Pool is the range fence, 
which has been determined upon. This thing of building a fence one hundred 
and eighty miles in length, which will require nearly 60,000 posts, and 240,000 
pounds of wire, is an undertaking which would tend to astonish a man. 
After the fence is built, a rider will be appointed for about every thirty miles 
of fence. The cost . . . will be in the neighborhood of $30,000. 14 

Part of that wire is still used today. It can be found on ranches 

11. Medicine Lodge Cresset, November 24, 1881. 

12. Ruby Basye, "Outlaw Proved to Settlers He Was Man of His Word," Wichita 
Sunday Eagle Magazine, November 20, 1955, p. 2. 

13. Letter to author, October 13, 1955. 

14. May 25, 1882. 




Crew of cowboys, Comanche cattle pool, 1884. 



Cowboys employed by the pool, at Medicine Lodge, 1884. From left to 

right: Joe Bowers, Bud Snow, Frank King, Mike Cavanaugh, and Barney 

Armstrong. The sixth (at the right) has not been identified. 






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U 60 

CO 



NOTES ON THE COMANCHE CATTLE POOL 65 

located in the vicinity, and is easily identified by its coarse thickness 
and many-sided prongs. 

When the total expenses for the pool were figured by Sampson, it 
was learned that it took $1.00 per year or nine cents a month to keep 
each head of stock. Short items concerning their expenses were: 
an advertisement by the treasurer, E. W. Payne, for 5,000 bushels 
of corn at highest market prices, 15 and "D. W. Phye came in from 
Harper last Sunday with two car loads of horses for the Comanche 
pool/' 16 

Operations had been going for two years when the newspapers be- 
gan to paint the outline of a wealthy picture. In April, 1882: "It is 
estimated that 20,000 beeves will be shipped from the Comanche 
County Pool this year." 17 In October: "The Comanche County 
Pool will brand in the neighborhood of twelve thousand calves this 
year." 18 The following year: "This range [Comanche pool] sup- 
ports something over 50,000 cattle from a thoroughbred Texan to 
the thoroughbred Durham, Hereford, Polled Angus and Galloway. 
. . . The shipments . . . this season have been 9,800 head 
of three-year-old and over. . . ." 19 

Since the pool covered such a large territory many drovers crossed 
its range on the way to the market at Dodge City, 70 miles north- 
west. Disputes developed when the pool claimed drovers got off 
the trails, moved too slowly, and used up the grass. The Kansas 
Cowboy, the cattleman's paper of Dodge City, reported: 

Colonel Benedict, Indian inspector has been stopping at the Southwestern 
since Monday. He has been looking over the cattle trails across the Indian 
territory with a view to investigating the troubles of the drovers in getting 
through that country. He has examined the Chisholm and the Western trails, 
and will report them all right and amply sufficient for the needs of the drive on 
those trails. 20 

In 1884 and 1885 the town of Coldwater sprang up at the north- 
west corner of the pool. One of the first acts of the commissioners 
of newly organized Comanche county was to declare the herd law in 
force in the county. After June 1, 1885, it was unlawful for anyone 
to permit cattle, horses, mules, asses, swine, sheep, or goats to run 
loose in the county under penalties prescribed by the laws of the 
state of Kansas. 21 But in Barber county, where some of the pool 

15. Barbour County Index, November 24, 1882. 

16. Ibid., April 20, 1883. 

17. Medicine Lodge Cresset, April 27, 1882. 

18. Ibid., October 12, 1882. 

19. Barbour County Index, November 30, 1883. 

20. Caldwell Journal, reprinted in the Kansas Cowboy, Dodge City, July 19, 1884. 

21. Barber County Index, May 8, 29, 1885. 

52200 



66 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

range was also located, the herd law was not accepted without op- 
position. The editor of the Medicine Lodge Index spoke out bit- 
terly against it: ". . . there are indications of a herd law fight 
brewing in this country; ... we want to [be] put on record 
as opposing the adoption of a herd law. It will be to the disadvan- 
tage of every citizen." 22 

The steady influx of homesteaders, filing on what had been open 
range, created pressure on the pool. The cowmen were unjustly 
accused of starting Indian scares in hopes of driving settlers away; 
although some did add fuel to the fire by passing the rumors on. 
But contrary to popular belief, the first few settlers were welcomed 
by the cattlemen. They helped stop prairie fires, killed wolves and 
coyotes, and their small scattered homes made the plains a little less 
lonely. 

The pool was also faced with another problem: that of taxes. 
Records in Medicine Lodge show: "The Comanche County Pool 
still object to giving in their property for taxation. The commis- 
sioners, on the other hand, have ordered the levy made. The matter, 
of course, can only be settled in court." 23 

An old abstract unceremoniously acknowledges the pool's death. 
The members dissolved partnership with each one receiving a desig- 
nated part of the pool range. For instance, the amount of land given 
to Dick Phillips was determined by the fact he owned an 8,766/ 
50,327th interest in the pool. In 1886 the 12 Comanche pool own- 
ers signed over their undivided interests to William Blair, including 
50,527 head of cattle. The Comanche Land & Cattle Company was 
the largest single owner at that time with 29,986 head. According 
to the abstract, each owner, through Blair, received title to certain 
tracts in fee simple, determined by each one's ratio to the whole. 24 
A Comanche county map, created by Register of Deeds Mrs. Wilma 
Lewis, shades the land taken over by pool owners. Sections along 
the creeks obviously were the most popular. 

Many of the cattle died during the hard winter of 1885 and the 
still harder winter of 1886. Although Evans and Hunter continued 
to hold some pool cattle on leased Indian land in the strip, even 
these were taken out, with Frank King as foreman, when "Old Okla- 
homa" was opened for settlement. 

The era of the pool is gone but the old-time cowman's stamina 
and courage is not easily forgotten. 

22. Ibid., reprinted in the Kansas Cowboy, July 5, 1884. 

23. Medicine Lodge Cresset, August 2, 1883. 

24. Abstract of title of the R. W. Phillips ranch now in possession of Dillman Shaw, 
Medicine Lodge. 



Business and Agricultural Conditions in Kansas, 

1871-1888 

As REPORTED BY A NEW ENGLAND MORTGAGE BROKER 
GLENN H. MILLER, JR. 

DURING the 1880's, Kansas, along with the rest of the Western 
frontier, underwent a boom in agricultural lands, town lots, and 
railroad building and manufacturing. The first two were financed 
principally by real estate mortgages, the third to a great extent 
by the issue of municipal bonds. It was these mortgages and bonds 
that facilitated the movement of money from the East (and from 
Europe) to the capital-deficient West. This was done through 
the establishment of a great number of land mortgage companies. 
Of these, there were several types: individual brokers, private 
mortgage companies, and corporations issuing debentures backed 
by land mortgage security. 

One such mortgage broker who did a considerable business in 
Kansas was Charles M. Hawkes of Portland, Maine, and New 
Haven, Conn. The business and some personal letters written 
by Hawkes from December 11, 1871, to January 20, 1888, are con- 
tained in 14 letter-press books preserved by the Kansas State His- 
torical Society. Hawkes spent the years 1854-1858 working in the 
West, in Chicago, and in Davenport, Iowa. After several years 
as a partner in a New England import-export firm he entered the 
Western bond and mortgage brokerage business in late 1871. He 
concentrated on Missouri municipal bonds for a few years, but by 
1875 had shifted his major interest to Kansas urban and rural land 
mortgages. At the Kansas end, Hawkes operated through corre- 
spondents who examined the property of potential borrowers and 
forwarded applications to him. His major sources of funds in the 
East were (1) personal acquaintances, generally from the middle 
classes (often in the professions or retired), and (2) several colonies 
of the "United Society called Shakers" in New York and New Eng- 
land. These societies were Hawkes' most important sources of 
loanable funds, his business acquaintance with one group dating 
back to 1859. 1 

GLENN H. MILLER, JR., native of Chapman, attended the University of Kansas and is 
a candidate for a Ph. D. degree in economics at Harvard University. He is currently assistant 
director of the Center for Research in Business at the University of Kansas. 

1. Further discussion of Hawkes' lending operations may be found in my unpublished 
master of arts thesis, University of Kansas, 1954, entitled "Financing the Boom in Kansas, 
1879 to 1888, With Special Reference to Municipal Indebtedness and to Real Estate Mort- 
gages," and in an article published in the Business History Review, Cambridge, Mass., 
Autumn, 1958, pp. 293-310. 

(67) 



68 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Hawkes expected to visit the West at least once each year, 
usually in the fall, spending from six weeks to three months (prin- 
cipally in Kansas). These trips were made primarily to "keep 
familiar with the values of farms there and visit large numbers of 
my loans each trip." 2 Further time was spent "in looking over 
the country and talking over and arranging with competent men 
whom I deem entirely trustworthy to examine the property upon 
which borrowers apply for loans, and make their reports to me 
thereon thus aiming to secure reliable knowledge of the property 
offered as security. . . ." 8 

Hawkes had barely launched his Western bond and loan business 
when the panic and depression of 1873 overtook the country. 
Writing from Portland in September, 1872, he explained to a Kan- 
sas City firm why it was that bonds were selling slowly. 

The present stringency in the money market affects this city more than usual 
and my customers get disappointed in collecting and Banks are pressed very 
hard. I have trades already made but hanging solely in consequence of the 
temporary stringency at the Banks preventing the parties from realizing their 
funds, which would put me in funds, for this as I have the Bonds laid aside for 
delivery soon as they can raise the money. 4 

Money continued tight through December and into 1873, and cus- 
tomers remained slow in taking bonds off Hawkes' hands. In Febru- 
ary he reported that "investors appear scarce hereabout, and I 
have still $6,000 of the Sedalias on hand. . . ." 5 

By October, when he was predicting that money would remain 
scarce for some time, Hawkes was beginning to feel the pressure 
personally. 

. . . It is impossible to raise money these times on any kind of security 
without sacrifice. . . . The only thing at my command that could be forced 
off in the present state of the market . . . is the $1,000 Govt Bond now 
about 9 pr. ct. lower than when it was bought, owing to the changed condi- 
tion of the money market. This I may be compelled to sell to take care of 
some payments I have to make. . . ." 6 

General financial conditions had become noticeably better in De- 
cember, 1873 (although not in the lending business), when Hawkes 
wrote: "Business here in investments is dull but our business com- 
munity find money accessible for their needs/' 7 and by the next 
February he commented that "money is gradually easing up with 
us." 

2. C. M. Hawkes to Elder Simon Atherton, Ayer, Mass., January 8, 1881. 

3. Hawkes to W. F. Foster, Norway, Maine, February 18, 1882. 

4. Hawkes to J. G. Watkins and Co., Kansas City, Mo., September 23, 1872. 

5. Hawkes to Col. A. D. Jaynes, Sedalia, Mo., February 28, 1873. 

6. Letter of October 20, 1873, addressee not known. 

7. Hawkes to Bartholomew Lewis and Co., St. Louis, Mo., December 19, 1873. 



CONDITIONS IN KANSAS, 1871-1888 69 

Hawkes' business was fully recovered by 1877, when he made 
one of his regular autumn visits to Kansas, reporting back to Elder 
Vance, trustee of the Alfred Shaker Society, that "Kansas corn beats 
all that I have seen so far. There is a remarkably heavy emigra- 
tion into this state largely to Edwards Co. on the A. T. & S. F. R. R. 
. . ." 8 Upon returning to the East Hawkes wrote to another 
investor as follows: 

I reached home yesterday after an absence of five weeks in Kan. where I 
found the people cheery under return of prosperity. Business there seems to 
have recovered mostly and I think the east is feeling the good results of it. 
Loan business in Kan however is dull as there is comparatively little money 
wanted. On the other hand the supply has steadily increased and now money 
is offering to the fanners below 10% and in some cases as low as 8% but with 
restrictions in the latter case to suit the whims of the strange investor such as 
near proximity to the Capital, etc. Crops abundant and the wheat prospect 
very fine throughout the west especially in Kansas. 9 

By May, 1880, money was offering "so freely to Kansas that Ap- 
plications come in very slowly/* When Hawkes reached Kansas 
the following autumn he discovered that the year had not been a 
good one for the state. 

I prolonged my stay in Kan a few days visiting the western part of the 
state which has suffered considerably this season from the drought so preva- 
lent all over the north and west. Those relying upon sod crops and some 
others lost their crops & the former many of them new settlers were used up. 
Many however got fair to good crops of corn. In some locations the drought 
& chinch bugs which are so apt to accompany a drought swept nearly all the 
wheat. On the other hand many found their wheat threshed out much better 
than the short stalks promised & on the whole Kan is in good condition with 
money in most parts (especially the east half of the state) plenty and new 
settlers taking lands in more easterly counties instead of the great tide to the 
western counties which are some of them losing population this fall. . . , 10 

But Hawkes' confidence in Kansas was not shaken. 
. . . another year will see their places occupied either by themselves or 
others for Kansas is too promising to be retrograde. Prices of both farm & 
town property in the eastern half & much of the western advance steadily, 
and money is generally plenty there and the state developing wonderfully. 11 

The year 1881 was better, Kansas faring "rather better than the 
average state west from N. Y. state I think but many have poor 
crops/' 12 especially on the uplands which "felt the drought in most 
places severely, but the corn on the bottom lands will turn out 

8. Hawkes to J. P. Vance, Alfred, Maine, October 9, 1877. 

9. Hawkes to Rebecca Clarke, Norridgewood, Maine, November 6, 1877. 

10. Hawkes to H. J. Wheeler, Woodford, Maine, November 13, 1880. 

11. Hawkes to Rebecca Clarke, Norridgewood, Maine, November 13, 1880. 

12. Hawkes to Lydia Hawkes, Portland, Maine, October 4, 1881. 



70 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

pretty well." 13 "Enough have fair to good crops with the high 
prices to give really a good result as to money so the Bankers 
all tell me. . . ." 14 Hawkes found the lending business too 
active to suit him. "Loans are overdone/' he wrote to his brother, 
"too much money pressing on Mtges. so that farmers are borrowing 
too much & too easy." And, he added, at too low an interest 
rate seven per cent. The situation inspired Hawkes to contact 
his chief investor, Elder Vance. "I want to have a good chat with 
you and Elder Otis soon on the Loan business which is having its 
full share of boom so that too much money is wanted or too poor 
security offered both bad." 15 

But it was not easy to dampen Hawkes' enthusiasm about Kan- 
sas, especially after the state embraced prohibition. In August, 
1882, he was "glad to get so good reports as are coming from all 
parts of Kansas. With such fine crops 6- prohibition the money 
lenders occupation will be reduced to close figures in Kan." Hawkes 
was thoroughly happy as he wrote the next day to his cousin. 
"Kansas is prospering finely fine crops wheat & other small grain 
& good prospect for corn & prohibition is strong enough to nominate 
my friend Gov. St. John for a third term, . . . the issue was 
the endorsement of his strong prohibition ground." 16 His annual 
fall trip in no way changed Hawkes' impressions of the summer, 
for he wrote his wife in November that "Kansas is in very pros- 
perous, hopeful condition as well as temper and I am well satisfied 
with my business and prospects." By the next February the New 
Haven broker was inspired to write in the following manner. 

Have sold more Kan property and had more inquiry this winter than ever 
before & my sales have been at an advance above prices of a year ago for the 
same property, and considerably more above those of two years ago. Indeed 
the improvement in the demand has been very steady for five or six years. Kan. 
has now reached a position that precludes doubt about its success in future. 17 

And in August he wrote: ". . . from all sections where I have 
business I receive accounts of prosperity, new arrivals and buyers 
of real estate at advanced prices." After viewing Kansas in the 
fall his description was just as glowing: ". . . the 1883 crops 
[were] very good and the winter wheat green & beautiful very 
promising so Kan is having an era of decided prosperity and land 
& city property generally advancing." 18 

13. Hawkes to Otis Sawyer, Alfred, Maine, October 6, 1881. 

14. Hawkes to the Rev. W. J. Alger, Aubumdale, Mass., October 15, 1881. 

15. Hawkes to J. P. Vance, Alfred, Maine, December 23, 1881. 

16. Hawkes to the Rev. W. S. Hawkes, South Hadley Falls, Mass., August 12, 1882. 

17. Hawkes to A. J. Gleason, Alma, February 12, 1883. 

18. Hawkes to Sarah Clarke, Norridgewood, Maine, August 5, November 21, 1883. 



CONDITIONS IN KANSAS, 1871-1888 71 

The panic of 1884 temporarily checked this prosperity. In May 
Hawkes acknowledged the "flurry" but insisted that his business 
would not suffer and sincerely hoped that neither would that of 
his Kansas correspondents. Faith in Kansas was expressed to Vance 
at the same time. 

As you see by the papers, there seem no futher troubles as yet, but I fear the 
troubles are not all over. I find solid comfort nowadays in Kan R Est. & Mtges. 
Wish I had every dollar invested in them, but will feel my way to good in- 
vestments I think. No doubt there is money to be made on Wall St. now, but 
glad I am not troubled with such speculations the bank risks are all I want. 
My Bk. here & N. Y. seem to be all right so far. 19 

Hawkes claimed to remain unaffected by the panic during June. 
"I have not suffered any by the late financial troubles in N Y C & 
my business is good & Kansas prosperous & happy especially with 
a chance to vote for her pet J. G. Elaine. I like the man/' 20 Upon 
visiting Kansas, however, Hawkes discovered a slowing down in 
lending, and interest payments : "Business in the loan line is a little 
dull and there is a temporary lull in conditions. . . . This 
country is prosperous however and remittance will come fast 
enough soon." 21 

In writing to his sister on the same day, Hawkes said that good 
crops had kept the farmers happy in spite of low prices and that 
"farm lands [are] steadily advancing in price." Slightly less opti- 
mism was present in his comment to his brother that "business [is] 
generally pretty dull, I believe all over the country and considerable 
complaint in Kansas," although the advancing price of land con- 
tinued to be emphasized. Finally in November, Vance was told 
that "just now business seems dead save the coup remittees, but 
I look for an improvement and opportunity for good loans & so a 
good winter in my line." 22 But winter came and with it this terse 
comment: "Money has not been so scarce with me before and the 
complaint is general. . . ," 23 Late the next January, Hawkes 
apologized to Vance for having no applications available, blaming 
the severe weather. At the same time, he was eagerly requesting 
applications from his Kansas correspondents "to reach money ready 
in the Bank." The presence of ready money awaiting placement 
was mentioned again in April, 1885, when there was "more money 
offering than ever." Commenting on the continued lull in business 

19. Hawkes to J. P. Vance, Alfred, Maine, May 21, 1884. 

20. Hawkes to the Rev. W. S. Hawkes, South Hadley Falls, Mass., June 10, 1884. 

21. Hawkes to J. P. Vance, Alfred, Maine, October 27, 1884. 

22. Hawkes to ibid,, November 29, 1884. 

23. Hawkes to C. B. Hawkes, Topeka, December 18, 1884. 



72 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

activity, Hawkes mentioned the possibility of war as a stimulant 
to the idling economy. 

As to business hereabouts "generally" there has been much complaint & 
there is still of dullness and the uneasiness about tariff does not seem to be 
dispelled but there seems a waiting. I think there will be improvement right 
along unless something in the new administration acts or utterances prevents. 
War in any of the fields now threatening would benefit business in this coun- 
try. . . .24 

By late spring Hawkes' volume of business had picked up, as 
had the general level of activity. Kansas was provided with an 
abundant corn crop and Hawkes was again able to report as fol- 
lows: "Kansas is prosperous and having a large immigration chiefly 
to the western portion of the state which years ago was supposed 
not to have sufficient rain but which is producing fine crops." 25 

From this point, Hawkes' reports on Kansas conditions lack the 
buoyancy and easy optimism of the earlier years, as crops declined 
and the boom began to reach new heights, bringing unprecedented 
competition in the lending business. In October, 1886, Hawkes 
informed Vance that "light crops and low prices make general 
business dull here. Just at this point too much eastern money is 
pressing now & too large loans making on the securities." To 
another lender he pointed out that although Kansas crops were 
light and prices low, there were being made "more public and 
private improvements than ever before." 

The arrival of boom conditions brought a new set of problems. 
Hawkes bitterly denounced the many loan agents who were (he 
implied) undermining the business of the more cautious operators. 

The West is full of real estate agents, dickering in Real estate exchanging 
etc. until it is too much like horse jockeying business. The agents displaying 
no more regard for the character of what they handle and careful only to secure 
their commissions. 28 

In reply to an apparent proposition from his son that he take 
part in the Topeka town lot boom, Hawkes wrote the following 
letter, "In re 'Boom'": 

Thanks for yours of 26 inst. with invitation, but taking your quotation of 
prices as sample I must be left out far out in this great Kansas enterprise 
so far as regards adding anything to my Kan. Real Estate of which I have plenty 
and fear to have more from foreclosures at prices way below those that the 
high jumping, optimistic, cheery boomer boometh. Just measure the territory 
involved in the boom and estimate when all these "Lots" can be sold to be 
built upon & so the length of time that the "Lambs" buying will have to hold 

24. Hawkes to C. W. Pickard, Portland, Maine, April 4, 1885. 

25. Hawkes to Anna A. Nettleton, Guilford, Conn., October 19, 1885. 

26. Hawkes to Elder Elijah Myrick, Ayer, Mass., December 7, 1886. 



CONDITIONS IN KANSAS, 1871-1888 73 

or take their chances of finding equally sanguine (or sanguinary) ones to un- 
load upon and then with me you will get your enjoyment of the boom largely 
as a spectator. ... I would greatly enjoy seeing you & visiting you and 
have too considerable that I could do in Kan. but not in buying R. Est. at pres- 
ent. If I live ten years hence I shall look with complacency upon the few who 
are raised from small to large estate by their boom few as compared with the 
poor multitude who will "get left." 27 

By July, 1887, Hawkes had accepted, in a more resigned manner, 
the fact that competition had made the rates "rather low in some 
places" at the same time making the loans "rather large for the 
security in very many cases." He stated, however, that he was 
still getting "good loans at fair rates in various places/' 28 and in 
October wrote to his sister, Lydia: "Crops poor but my business 
prosperous. Will have some good loans for you." 

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell from the available letters 
( which reach only to about the peak of the boom ) how the subse- 
quent waves of foreclosures, business failures, and agrarian protest 
affected Hawkes and his mortgage brokerage business. 

27. Hawkes to S. N. Hawkes, Topeka, March 29, 1887. 

28. Hawkes to John M. Brumbaugh, Concordia, July 9, 1887. 



The Annual Meeting 

84th annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society 
* and board of directors was held in Topeka on October 20, 1959. 

For the second year a meeting was held in the Memorial build- 
ing in the morning designed to aid persons interested in local 
museums and historical societies. The meeting was called for 10 
A. M. Edgar Langsdorf, assistant secretary of the State Historical 
Society, presided and Stanley D. Sohl, museum director, discussed 
museum record-keeping and administrative problems. County or- 
ganizations in many parts of the state were represented. 

The meeting of the Society's board of directors was held con- 
currently in the newspaper reading room. Called to order by Presi- 
dent Richard M. Long, the first business was the report of the sec- 
retary: 

SECRETARY'S REPORT, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 20, 1959 

At the conclusion of last year's meeting the newly elected president, Rich- 
ard M. Long, reappointed Will T. Beck, John S. Dawson, and T. M. Lillard to 
the executive committee. Members holding over were Charles M. Correll 
and Frank Haucke. 

Three members of the Society's board of directors have died since the last 
meeting. Mrs. Jean S. Reser of Hamilton succumbed unexpectedly at Boulder, 
Colo., on November 19, 1958. A devoted student of Kansas and Greenwood 
county history, Mrs. Reser and her husband assembled an unusually fine col- 
lection of historical mementoes and antiques, some of which she lent for dis- 
play in the Society's museum. One of her last projects was the preparation of a 
history of Greenwood county which was published in the Eureka Herald in 
September and October, 1955. 

Mrs. Jane C. Rupp of Lincolnville, another long-time friend, died January 
2, 1959. She had been a life member of the Society since 1929, and even 
earlier had contributed a listing of tombstone inscriptions in Hillcrest ceme- 
tery in Florence which was published in volume 17 of The Kansas Historical 
Collections. She was also the donor of three Marion county scrapbooks to our 
library. 

Judge Karl Miller died July 12, 1959. A resident of Dodge City from 
childhood, he was at various times a practising attorney, county attorney, 
member of the legislature, and from 1926 until his retirement in 1955 was 
judge of the 31st judicial district. He also served as state pardon attorney in 
1955-1956. He was coauthor of a history of the Southwest Kansas Bar Asso- 
ciation which was prepared in 1956. 

The loss of these friends will be deeply felt. 

APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET REQUESTS 

During the present fiscal year the Society is operating on a tight budget, 
as are most other state agencies. This is not to imply that our budget is not 

(74) 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 75 

always tight, for it is, but this year it is a little tighter than usual. With a close 
eye on the pennies, however, we shall manage to survive, barring additional 
expensive incidents such as an unforeseen elevator repair bill of $500 last month. 

The 1959 session of the legislature appropriated $15,000 for completing 
air conditioning on the fourth floor and extending it to offices on the third 
floor. It also increased by $1,150 a previous appropriation for installing a 
fire protection system. No other capital improvement requests were approved, 
but $5,000 was added to the Society's budget for the purpose of erecting a 
memorial to Kansans who participated in the campaigns before Vicksburg 
during the Civil War. 

Budget requests for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1961, were filed with the 
state budget director in September. Permission was requested to employ an 
additional janitor, to change one part-time position to a full-time job, and to 
increase the number of part-time employees. No new capital improvement 
requests were made, but those denied last year were repeated, including the 
sandblasting of the Memorial building, construction of a suspended ceiling in 
the museum, installing a new elevator, and with emphasis the remodeling 
of the G. A. R. hall area on the second and third floors. The latter also provides 
for air-conditioning for the remaining offices and reading rooms. 

Early this month supplementary budget schedules were filed with the budget 
director to cover salary increases authorized by the state finance council. The 
council also approved establishment of the position of archaeologist on the 
Society's staff. 

Except for these changes operating expenses are expected to remain at about 
the present level both for the Society proper and the historical properties which 
it administers. 

PUBLICATIONS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS 

The 1959 volume of The Kansas Historical Quarterly begins with the presi- 
dential address of Alan W. Farley on the Union Pacific railroad in Kansas. 
Letters written by the Rev. S. Y. Lum in Kansas during 1854-1858, edited by 
Dr. Emory Lindquist, appeared in the Spring and Summer issues. Dr. James 
C. Malin's contributions this year consist of a story on William Sutton White 
in the Spring and Summer issues, and articles on Eugene F. Ware scheduled 
for the Autumn and Winter numbers. A story of particular interest for the 
Summer and Autumn magazines was the history of the U. S. Army and Air 
Force flight installations in Kansas. Religion in Kansas during the Civil War 
is the subject of an article by Dr. Lindquist, to appear in the Autumn and 
Winter numbers. 

The four issues of 1959 will comprise volume 25 of the Quarterly, and 
volume 42 of the Collections. Approximately 2,600 copies of each issue are 
mailed to members of the Society, to Kansas newspaper publishers, schools, 
and libraries. 

Now in its fifth year, the bimonthly Mirror continues to give members of 
the Society current news of developments, plans, and activities. Since its pub- 
lication was begun this little newsletter has been especially helpful in calling 
attention to items needed in the museum and other departments, and the 
response from readers has been prompt and generous. 

Weekly releases are still sent out each month to the Kansas press, presenting 
articles from Kansas newspapers of a hundred years ago. Many publishers 



76 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

over the state use this material regularly. The Johnson County Herald editor 
wrote last month: "We newspaper men don't get many thanks for things we 
do, and have to assume that if we get no kicks, things are O. K. So . . . 
just a word of thanks and appreciation to you folks who mail us the Kansas 
100 Years Ago material. I enjoy reading it and I know Herald subscribers do 
also." The Society will continue to issue these releases as long as they are so 
well received. 

This month a special release was sent out, to weekly newspapers only, at 
the suggestion of President Long. The subject selected, Abraham Lincoln's 
visit to Kansas late in 1859, should be timely and interesting. Possibly such 
stories can be released from time to time, especially in connection with the 
Kansas centennial, if ways and means of paying for the necessary "mats" can 
be worked out. 

Today is the official publication date of the long-awaited Comprehensive 
Index to Publications, 1875-1930 on which Louise Barry, of the Society's staff, 
has been working for several years. It is a great satisfaction to make this 
announcement, and if this 515-page volume proves as useful a reference tool 
as everyone expects, the time and labor expended on itr production will be 
well worthwhile. It is also a pleasure to report that Miss Barry has already 
started indexing the Quarterly series, which began in 1931. This second 
Comprehensive Index volume will be published as soon as her work can be 
completed. 

Texts for seven new historical markers have been prepared. One for the 
Kansas Turnpike Authority features "Lawrence and the Old Trails." The 
other six are: "Land of the Plains Indian," erected in Clark county; "Open- 
ing of the Mid-Continent Oil Field," to be erected at Neodesha; "The Bloody 
Benders," near Parsons; "Alcove Springs and the Oregon Trail," east of Blue 
Rapids; "Montgomery County," east of Independence; and "Land of the 
Buffalo," west of Kingman. 

Work is underway in earnest on a pictorial history of Kansas which it is 
hoped can be published by January, 1961. Plans have been made for a 
300-page book containing about 550 pictures, some in color with colored maps. 
The accompanying text will tell briefly the exciting story of Kansas. This is 
designed to be a book with wide popular appeal, not for the scholar but for 
the person who likes his history in a nutshell and who enjoys looking at in- 
teresting illustrations. The Kansas Centennial Commission has included pro- 
duction costs of the book in the budget which it will present to the 1960 
legislature. If all goes well, this will be the Society's major contribution to 
the centennial observance. 

The generosity of Robert Baughman, one of our directors, in establishing 
the Robert Baughman Foundation, has made it possible to begin work on 
two special research projects. One is a compilation of all Kansas post offices 
with dates of establishment and discontinuance, names of postmasters and 
dates of their service. The second is a descriptive listing of Kansas maps, 
atlases, and plats. Funds have been given to the Society by the Foundation 
to pay the salaries of the two research workers employed on these projects 
and to purchase the necessary supplies and equipment. 

There are many projects in Kansas history which are worthy but may never 
be accomplished except for aid of this kind. And it is redundant to report 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 77 

here that the Society considers it a privilege to be able to co-operate with 
Mr. Baughman in this fine work. May others, who have Kansas history in- 
terests, be inspired to come and do likewise. 

ARCHAEOLOGY 

During July and August the Society conducted archaeological excavations 
on the George Hart farm in the area of the Pomona reservoir, Osage county. 
Cosponsors were the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution. 
The site was located in 1958 during a preliminary archaeological survey, and 
surface materials indicated an occupation dating 600 to 800 years ago. A 
report of this survey, which also included the proposed Melvern reservoir, 
was published by the Society last November. 

Probably the most interesting result of the summer's work, supervised in 
the field by Roscoe Wilmeth, the Society's assistant museum director, was 
the discovery of the remains of a house quite different from the Plains earth 
lodge which might normally have been expected. It was apparently ovoid 
in shape, measured 18 x 14 feet, and had a roof made of grass and twigs 
plastered with mud. It showed influences derived presumably from the 
"Caddoan" area of eastern Oklahoma and Texas, and is significant because 
it shows the connection between prehistoric Indians of this area and the more 
elaborate cultures to the southeast. 

Plans have already been made for a survey this winter in the area of the 
John Redmond reservoir in Lyon and Coffey counties, and for a "dig" next 
summer at the Milford reservoir in Clay county. Meantime the artifacts found 
at Pomona will be studied and a formal report will be prepared. 

ARCHIVES DIVISION 

Public records from the following state departments have been transferred 
during the year to the archives division: 

Source Title Dates Quantity 

Administration, Depart- 
ment of, Accounts & 

Reports Division Fiscal Records 1951 12 vols. 

Agriculture, Board of ... Abstracts of Agricultural 

Statistics 1956, 1957 212 vols. 

Statistical Rolls of Counties, 1952 1,719 vols. 

Population Schedules of 

Cities and Townships . . 1958, 1959 8,835 vols. 

Governor's Office Correspondence Files 1955, 1956 5 bxs. 

Insurance Department . . *Annual Statements 1951, 1952 936 vols. 

*Record of Agents' Licenses, 1945-1952 87 vols. 
*Applications for Agents' Li- 
censes 1934, 1939- 

1952 63 vols. 

( * To be microfilmed and originals destroyed. ) 

Annual reports were received from the Board of Basic Science Examiners, 
Board of Healing Arts, Board of Podiatry Examiners, Livestock Sanitary Com- 
missioner, and Workmen's Compensation Commissioner for the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1958, and from the Corporation Commission for the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1959. A biennial report from the Office Building Com- 
mission for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1958, and a report of the Old Age 



78 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

and Survivors Insurance program, issued by the Department of Administration 
for the calendar year 1958, were also received. 

Records of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Kansas, were 
moved into the archives division from the old office space of the G. A. R. dur- 
ing the past year. Fiscal and reunion records, 1879-1936, have been micro- 
filmed while letters and papers of the organization, totaling 18 manuscript 
volumes and 14 document boxes, have been arranged and shelved. 

In 1952 the Society received from Johnson county a large quantity of original 
records dating from 1857 to 1930. The bulk of this material has now been 
microfilmed on 14 reels. With the consent of the Johnson county commis- 
sioners, most of the originals have been destroyed although four document 
boxes of manuscripts have been retained. 

A special project, to microfilm the statistical rolls of counties for the years 
1919 and 1937-1952, is currently underway. When it is completed, about the 
end of this year, filming of abstracts of agricultural statistics and population 
schedules of cities and townships will begin. 

LIBRARY 

The total number of library patrons for the year was 4,508. Of this number 
2,236 worked on Kansas subjects, 1,395 on genealogy, and 877 on subjects of 
general interest. In addition to queries from Kansas patrons, the correspondence 
included letters from 38 states, Germany, Ireland, and England. These out- 
of-state requests were chiefly concerned with Kansas people, places, or events. 
Nearly 200 packages of loan file material were sent out. 

One of our most valuable collections is the material on churches. It includes 
clipping volumes, periodicals, histories of several individual churches, and 
proceedings of annual conferences for the major denominations. Some of the 
conference records date from the territorial period. Records of some of the 
early congregations were kept carelessly, if at all, so these conference reports 
are useful in answering requests for information about a particular church. 
This is especially true now, when many churches are celebrating their cen- 
tennials. 

The library's file of histories and sketches of individual churches, usually 
written on the occasion of an anniversary, is far from complete. Last summer 
51 letters were written to churches which had celebrated either 75th anni- 
versaries or centennials during the years 1957 and 1958, asking for copies of 
any printed materials issued in connection with the anniversary. Twenty-three 
replies were received. It is apparent from these figures that the help of our 
members and friends is needed. 

In the clipping department one year's issues of nine dailies and 14 weeklies 
were read in addition to the seven dailies which are regularly read and clipped. 
New clippings totaling 6,320 were mounted and 15 worn scrapbooks, com- 
prising 3,643 pages, were remounted. 

A microcard reader was purchased and microcards of 105 genealogies and 
local histories, now out-of-print, were purchased. The cost of microcards is 
only a fraction of the cost of original books, particularly out-of-print books 
offered by rare book dealers. Thus far only genealogical materials have been 
purchased, but many other books are now being reproduced on microcards 
and some will be purchased in the future. 

Several Kansas authors have donated copies of their books during the year 
and an unusually large number of genealogies have been received from out-of- 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 79 

state authors. Paul Popenoe, Mr. and Mrs. John F. Amos, and J. Frank Dobie 
are among those who contributed collections of books and pamphlets. Bio- 
graphical sketches of Kansas governor's wives came from the Woman's Kansas 
Day Club which each year does research on a Kansas subject and files the 
papers written with the Historical Society's library. The National Society of 
the Colonial Dames of America in the state of Kansas has established a special 
fund, the interest from which is given to the Society's library each year for 
the purchase of genealogical material. The past year county histories of 
Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Indiana were purchased from this fund. Mrs. Vir- 
ginia McArthur donated the membership list and index of ancestors of the 
National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars, 1950-1958. Mr. and Mrs. Frank 
Helm gave money for two reels of microfilm. The Daughters of the American 
Revolution, Daughters of American Colonists, and several separate chapters 
donated volumes of typed records as well as money to apply on the purchase 
of the 1850 federal census of New York state. 

Typed copies of the following theses were donated by the authors: "Per- 
suasive Techniques in Selected Speeches and Writings of John R. Brinkley," 
by Anita Grim Taylor, and "A Congressman and His Constituents: Jerry Simp- 
son and the Big Seventh," by M. C. Scott. Mr. and Mrs. Harrie K. Mueller 
gave a copy of "The Initiation of Mail Distribution and Communication in 
Eastern Kansas, 1828-1870," by Mrs. Jean De Masters Folse. 

Kansas Doctor; A Century of Pioneering, by Thomas Neville Bonner, and 
A Frontier State At War: Kansas, 1861-1865, by Albert Castel, were out- 
standing Kansas books of the year. A third book deserves to be mentioned, 
Concerning Kansas by Richardson, edited by D. von R. Drenner, which won 
an award for design and craftsmanship last spring. This book, published by 
the Zauberberg Press at Coffeyville, was put together entirely by hand, printed 
with a mixed-to-order ink on a special all-rag paper from France, and hand 
bound with Shizuoka Vellum for the spine. It is a beautiful example of fine 
printing. 

Library accessions, October 1, 1958-September 30, 1959, were: 
Bound volumes 
Books 

Kansas 225 

General 1,090 

Genealogy and local history 118 

Indians and the West 53 

Kansas state publications 54 

Total 1,540 

Clippings 14 

Periodicals 229 

Total, bound volumes 1,783 

Microcards (titles) 105 

Microfilm (reels) 79 

Pamphlets 

Kansas 3,126 

General 572 

Genealogy and local history 23 

Indians and the West 18 

Kansas state publications 266 

Total 4,005 



80 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

MANUSCRIPT DIVISION 

Holla Clymer, editor and publisher of the El Dorado Times, has deposited 
his papers for the period 1919-1958. The collection fills 53 letter file boxes. 
Mr. Clymer began his newspaper career as a reporter on the Emporia Gazette 
under William Allen White. His identification with the Times dates from 
1919. He has been active in the field of politics, has served as director of the 
Kansas Industrial Development Commission, president of the Kansas Press 
Association, and was recently given the William Allen White award for ex- 
cellence in journalism. His papers should provide valuable information in the 
areas of his activities. 

Diaries of Thomas A. Bone for the years 1877-1881 were given by his grand- 
daughter, Phoebe Lovell Bone Bell, Beaumont, Tex. Bone came to Kansas 
from Illinois and operated a stock farm in Franklin county. The diaries offer 
many details about his farming operations, current prices, and business condi- 
tions. 

The Jess C. Denious collection, received in 1954, has been increased by 
about 1,000 items received from his son, Jess C. Denious, Jr., Dodge City. 
This collection is of unusual value and interest. 

W. W. Harris, Santa Rosa, Calif., has presented the original field notes 
of John C. McCoy's survey of the Cherokee lands, 1836-1837. Mr. Harris 
is a grandson of John C. McCoy and a great grandson of Isaac McCoy, Baptist 
missionary. 

Papers of the late Marco Morrow have been given to the Society by Mrs. 
Morrow. They include manuscripts of books, essays, poetry, and speeches. 
Mr. Morrow was associated with Capper publications for 35 years and was 
assistant publisher and vice-president at the time of his retirement in 1943. 

Errett P. Scrivner, Kansas City, U. S. congressman from the second district 
from 1943 to 1959, has deposited papers relating to his efforts to prevent the 
sale of the Huron Place cemetery in Kansas City, burial ground of the Wyan- 
dotte Indians, and photostat copies of lists of Wyandotte families and schedules 
of land allotments. 

The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., has 
given the military papers of Capt. C. S. Bowman, Fourth U. S. cavalry, who 
served as disbursing and ordnance officer in Kansas, 1861-1864. The papers 
include enlistments retained at Fort Leavenworth, contracts, returns of equip- 
ment and ordnance, and a small amount of correspondence of Capt. William 
Prince who was recruiting officer for Kansas during the Civil War. 

Six guest registers from the Ellsworth hotel were given by George J. Jelinek, 
Ellsworth. The hotel was operated under several names: Grand Central, 
Putnam, Ballou, Jennings, Larkin, and White House. Most interesting volume 
in the series is the register for 1873-1876, the first few pages of which give 
information about herds of Texas cattle being held in the vicinity awaiting sale. 

Microfilm copies of the following have been acquired: 

The diary of Walter Hastings Woods, 1858, 1859. Woods, with associates, 
operated during these years a carriage and wagon shop in the now extinct 
town of Sumner. Typescript was lent by Wayne Delavan, Arkadelphia, Ark. 

Thirteen letters written by Frederick Funston to friends and members of 
his family, 1892-1908. The originals were lent by his sister, Mrs. Ella F. 
Eckdall, Emporia. 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 81 

McCoy family papers, 28 items. Originals were lent by W. W. Harris, Santa 
Rosa, Calif., whose relationship to John C. and Isaac McCoy has been pre- 
viously noted. 

Twenty-nine pages from the day book of the Western Bakery, Lawrence, 
1861, were lent by the University of Kansas library and were combined for 
filming with 34 pages held by the Society. The bakery was burned during 
the Quantrill raid and the pages were recovered from the ruins. 

The order book of Capt. John B. Vansant, Co. F, 5th cavalry, Missouri 
state militia, 1862, 1863. Original was lent for copying by Lester F. Phillis, 
McPherson. 

Reminiscences of Catharine Wiggins Porter, 1888-1902. These are the 
experiences of the author as a pupil in northwest Kansas, a student at Cooper 
Memorial (now Sterling) College and a teacher in northwest and central 
Kansas. The original was lent by her son, Kenneth W. Porter, University of 
Oregon, Eugene, Ore. 

Highland University records: proposed charter; minutes of the board of 
trustees, December 19, 1859-November 12, 1868; incomplete draft of a report 
on the condition of the university, undated. Fenn Ward, Highland, lent the 
records for filming as well as an Eclectic Almanac, 1839, used at Highland 
Mission, and two letters by Christian H. Isely, written at Fort Lincoln, May, 
1863. 

Peery family letters, 1846-1921. Included in the 36 items are several letters 
written at Shawnee Methodist Mission in Johnson county where John Thompson 
Peery served as a teacher, 1849-1852. Originals were lent by Mrs. Wilma 
Peery Garvin, Kansas City, Mo. 

Reminiscences of Fred S. Curry. Mr. Curry, who lives in Rose Hill, reviews 
his life as a cowboy in the Ellsworth area and his experiences in the Northwest, 
Canada, and New Mexico. The original was obtained for copying through the 
kindness of J. Frank Dobie, Austin, Tex. 

Fifty-seven letters from William Allen White to Dan Casement, Manhattan, 
1927-1943. The originals were lent through the courtesy of James S. Carey 
and the department of history and government, Kansas State University, Man- 
hattan. 

Guest registers of the Ellsworth hotel. George J. Jelinek, Ellsworth, lent 
several registers which were combined for filming with registers given by him 
to the Society. The film includes 12 registers, 1873-1904. 

The generous gift of Mrs. Raymond H. Millbrook of Detroit for the purchase 
of microfilm copies of records of early military installations in Kansas has been 
used to obtain records of Fort Wallace, 1866-1882, from the National Archives. 
Included are copies of letters sent and orders. 

Other donors were: John F. Amos, Oswego; Laird Archer, Fayetteville, 
Ark.; C. L. Barnes, Oswego; Mrs. J. William Benton, Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. 
Ross Blake, Oakhill; George H. Browne, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Mrs. Grace 
Parker Bruce, Topeka; Cecile Jacoby Strohm Brunt, Topeka; Buffalo (N. Y.) 
Historical Society; Mrs. Lola R. Carr, Topeka; W. G. Clugston, Topeka; Archie 
W. Coffman, Topeka; Mrs. L. L. Cullen, Belleville, Wis.; Charles Darnell, 
Wamego; David Downs, Winston Salem, N. C.; Mrs. Martha Engert, Man- 
hattan; Mrs. Wm. H. Ennis, Pottsville, Pa.; Alan Farley, Kansas City; Josephine 
A. Few, Nevada, Mo.; Fort Leavenworth Museum; Wesley Harder, Silver Lake; 

62200 



82 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Harrison, Hollywood, Calif., through Marion A. Barlow, 
Lawrence; Ben Hershfield, Tyjunga, Calif.; Alva Earl Home, Topeka; Mrs. 
G. W. McClung, Westminster, Md.; Mrs. H. W. Harbaugh, Phillipsburg; Mrs. 
Elmer D. Jewett, Olathe; C. Vincent Jones, Clay Center; Adjutant General of 
Kansas; Mrs. Warren C. Lichty, Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. F. M. Manshardt, 
Topeka; Donald Ferguson Martin, Los Angeles, Calif.; Marie Munsell, Council 
Grove; Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas; Norman H. Niccum, Tecumseh; 
Jennie Small Owen, Topeka; Mrs. J. A. Piatt, Hamilton; Mrs. Bertha Piedalue, 
Danbury, Neb.; S. F. Roberts, Tecumseh; Joseph G. Rosa, Ruislip, England; 
F. M. Redpath, Olathe; Frank L. Reid, Howard; Richard W. Robbins, Pratt; 
J. C. Ruppenthal, Russell; N. E. Saxe, Topeka; Shawnee Mission Indian His- 
torical Society, Kansas City; Norbert Skelley, Salina; Wint Smith, Washington, 
D. C.; A. L. Soule, Topeka; Mrs. Raymond J. Tillotson, Shields; Topeka Stamp 
Club; Mrs. Carl F. Trace, Topeka; Ed. M. Tucker, Temple City, Calif.; Irwin 
S. Vincent, Topeka; Daisy Job Wood, Garnett. 

MICROFILM DIVISION 

Since it began operation in 1946 the microfilm division has made 5,196,000 
photographs as of September 30, 1959. More than 305,000 have been pro- 
duced in the past 12 months: 168,000 of newspapers, 126,000 of archival ma- 
terials, 5,500 for the library, and 2,800 for the manuscript division. The 
balance were negatives made on special order for private purchasers. In addi- 
tion more than 617,000 pages of Statistical Rolls of counties, 1919, 1937-1944, 
and 1946, have been filmed on another camera which was rented last May. 
This work is not yet finished. 

Among the larger newspaper projects of the year were the microfilming of 
the Wellington Daily News, September 2, 1901-December 31, 1919; the Wichita 
Eagle, both morning and evening editions, March 1, 1957-December 31, 1958; 
and the New Era, published variously at Lecompton, Medina, and Valley Falls, 
August 28, 1866-September 28, 1916. Other newspapers microfilmed included 
the Atchison Weekly Champion, June 26, 1869- June 25, 1909; Atchison Daily 
Patriot, May 6, 1869-May 31, 1880 (incomplete); Atchison Weekly Patriot, 
September 24, 1870-September 19, 1896; Cheney Sentinel, January 2, 1941- 
December 25, 1958; Garden City Herald, March 17, 1883-December 30, 1920; 
Junction City Union, September 12, 1861-November 19, 1864, April 15, 1865- 
December 27, 1901; Olathe Mirror, January 13, 1876-September 28, 1905; and 
11 other newspapers and periodicals each requiring four rolls of film or less. 
Work on the Olathe paper is continuing. 

Filming of the state census of 1895, begun last year, was completed, and 
certain records of the Insurance Commissioner for 1949-1951 were microfilmed, 
in addition to smaller quantities of other archival records. 

MUSEUM 

For the third straight year the number of visitors to the museum has 
reached an all-time high. The new record for the year ending September 
30 is 65,144, an increase of 6,650 over last year's record. The total was 
swelled by 508 groups which took advantage of the guided tours conducted 
by the museum. 

A print shop, eighth in the series of period rooms, is now open in the east 
gallery of the museum. Among the objects on display are a Washington hand 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 83 

press used in the 1870's, a Columbia job press, a proof press, an early Lino- 
type, a small paper cutter, a battered roll-top desk, an old wall telephone, 
type cases, and several samples of handbills and advertisements dating from 
the turn of the century. The ninth period room, a blacksmith shop, should 
be completed late this month. This display is located across from the dentist's 
office in the east gallery. 

The museum has had three loan exhibits in the "Collector's Corner" this 
year. Stan Kaufman, Topeka, lent a collection of mechanical banks, Mr. and 
Mrs. Robert H. Kingman, Topeka, lent material for inclusion in a postal dis- 
play, and Harvey E. Crawford, Dr. Cotter Hirschberg, and Dr. Robert E. 
Switzer, all of Topeka, lent collections of paperweights, which are currently 
on display. 

In the third floor lobby eight displays were prepared by the museum staff. 
One is devoted to old-time photographic equipment while others contain 
examples of chinaware, kitchen gadgets of the last century, railroad equipment, 
musical instruments of the Kansas pioneers, lighting equipment, and greeting 
cards. 

For the second year the Historical Society had a display at the Mid-America 
Fair. Total attendance for the six-day period was 8,944. The exhibit in- 
cluded displays of pioneer life, musical instruments of the early 1900's, and a 
general store complete with clerk in celluloid collar and sleeve holders. 

A total of 179 accessions was received during the year. The John Turnbull 
estate of Maple Hill donated a fine collection of blacksmith equipment and 
tools which are on display in the blacksmith and harness shop. A melodeon 
which was once used in the Lawrence home of Charles Robinson, first governor 
of Kansas, has been placed in the museum on indefinite loan by Charles Reser 
of Hamilton. Mrs. Edgar York of Dunlap donated an 1897 hand-operated 
Boss washing machine which is in perfect condition. Marie Munsell of Council 
Grove gave a teacher's desk which has been in use since the 1870's. A com- 
plete set of dolls dressed to represent all the governors' wives of Kansas was 
donated by the Woman's Kansas Day Club. 

The museum's growing costume collection was expanded by a donation 
from Emily V. Wood of Manson, Mass. This contribution, totaling 37 ob- 
jects, includes women's clothes dating from the 1880's. 

Other donors included: Myra Adler, Ottawa; Mr. and Mrs. John F. Amos, 
Oswego; Mrs. Mary Arnold, Lawrence; George W. Axtell, Topeka; Mrs. Cecil 
Baker, Topeka; Florence and Guy Baker, Ozawkie; Don Melvin Baker, and 
Mrs. Louise L. Baker, Lawrence; William A. Baker, Kansas City; the Bennett 
C. Beach family, Topeka; Vivian Bernard; Henry Beurman, Lawrence; Mrs. 
Carl D. Biegert, Junction City; George Bistline, Topeka; Mrs. Henry Blake, 
Topeka; L. E. Boles, Randolph; Mrs. Lucille Bowen, Junction City; Mrs. 
R. F. Brock, Goodland; Mrs. Lynn Brodrick, Marysville; Mrs. Thomas Bruner, 
Topeka; Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, N. Y.; E. L. Cannon, Phillips- 
burg; Mrs. Paul A. Carnahan, Leavenworth; Mrs. Charles Catron, Topeka; 
Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Chapman, Houston, Tex.; Dr. Louis Cohen, Topeka; 
Mr. A. S. Coil, Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. Homer W. Cole, Topeka; Stanley 
Cordy, Calistoga, Calif; Mildred Cox, Leavenworth; Mrs. O. J. Crandall, Butler, 
Mo.; Mrs. Warren M. Crosby, Jr., Topeka; Charles Darnell, Wamego; Daugh- 
ters of Union Veterans, Topeka; Charles Davis, Topeka; Mrs. William G. 
Davis, Topeka; Esther Delker, Chapman; Mrs. Dean Depler, Louistown, 111.; 



84 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Benjamin Dolen, George Dolen, and Nell Dolen, Oketo; K. K. Doyle, Topeka; 
Mrs. Martha Engert, Manhattan; Charles Euwer, Topeka; Mrs. Lloyd E. 
Fauss, Lincoln, Neb.; Lucia and Mildred Floersch, Topeka; Ethelynn Fortescue, 
Topeka; Mrs. Spencer Card, lola; Mrs. Fred Garwood, Olathe; Mrs. Richard 
P. Gaulke, Kansas City; William R. Geren, Topeka; Jessie May Gibson, To- 
peka; Mrs. Edna Piazzek Gilpin, Phoenix, Ariz.; Paul R. Givens, Topeka; 
Mrs. Anna Harbour Goodger, Lafayette, Calif.; C. A. Grinnell, Americus; 
Mrs. H. P. Haskell, Topeka; Mrs. Frank Haucke, Council Grove; Ben Hersh- 
field; Otis Hollenbeck, Topeka; Mrs. Charles E. Holman, Topeka; John 
Hoskinson, Oskaloosa; Mr. and Mrs. George P. Hug, Sr., Topeka; Janis Hyde, 
Reading; Elizabeth Jennings, Topeka; Mrs. Elmer D. Jewett, Olathe; Fred 
Johnson, Topeka; Iowa Jones, Marysville; Kansas Cosmetologists Association, 
Inc., by Mrs. Pearl Baker, Pittsburg, and Mrs. Freda G. Hervey, Manhattan; 
Kansas State Office Building Commission, by Paul Clark; Kansas State Print- 
ing Plant by Lillie Washabaugh; Stan Kaufman, Topeka; Mrs. Charles A. 
Kelley, Ottawa; Francis W. Kelley, Topeka; Mrs. Kenneth Kennedy, Berryton; 
Mrs. B. Gage Kenny, Lincoln, Neb.; Myrna Kerns, Bonner Springs; Mrs. 
Robert H. Kingman, Topeka; W. A. Kingman, Topeka; Winslow O. King- 
man, Topeka; Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Kirkbride, Chapman; Mrs. William D. 
Kretsinger, Emporia; Alfred M. Landon, Topeka; Charles A. Lassiter, Topeka; 
Virgil J. Lawrence, Topeka; Mrs. Richard W. Leach, Evanston, 111.; Mr. and 
Mrs. Harry Lee, Topeka; Ralph Leep, Topeka; Frank Lill, Emporia; Helen 
D. Little, LaCrosse; Howard Lyman, Frankfort; Helen McFarland, Topeka; 
George Mack, Topeka; Wayland W. Magee, Bennington, Neb.; Mrs. F. M. 
Manshardt, Topeka; Mrs. Edna Manspeaker, Topeka; Masonic Lodge No. 14, 
Oskaloosa; Mrs. Henry B. Miller, Topeka; Mrs. Henry W. Miller, Delavan; 
Mr. and Mrs. Nyle Miller, Topeka; Floyd Monroe, Topeka; Mr. and Mrs. R. F. 
Morris, Topeka; C. L. Morse, Topeka; Marie Munsell, Morris county; Elinor 
Neal, Topeka; Robert Neiswender, Topeka; Elsie Neuenschwander, Lawrence; 
Lewis M. Norris, Leneville, Ala.; Mrs. Alvin Owen, Louisville; Ronald L. 
Peters, Topeka; Mrs. Marie Phillips, Parsons; Mrs. E. S. Ping, Topeka; Mrs. 
Robert Price, Topeka; Lane Ramsey, Topeka; Mrs. W. W. Reed, Topeka; 
Mrs. Fred A. Rehkopf, Topeka; Mrs. E. K. Richmond, Wellington; Mr. and 
Mrs. Robert Richmond, Topeka; John Ripley, Topeka; Mrs. George Root, To- 
peka; Albertina Rosencraus, Manhattan; Leslie W. Rowles, Topeka; Frank 
Rude, Topeka; Lorene Russell, Manhattan; Pete Rust, Smith Center; Santa Fe 
railroad, Topeka; Mrs. J. H. Schimmell, Topeka; Walter H. Schoewe, Lawrence; 
Angelo Scott, lola; Errett P. Scrivner, Kansas City; Mrs. L. E. Shaw, Topeka; 
Frank M. Shelton, Topeka; Mrs. Mazie Morrison Simpson, Topeka; William 
Sneed, Topeka; Jeanine Sohl, Topeka; Stanley Sohl, Topeka; George Sternberg, 
Hays; R. N. Stevenson, Topeka; F. M. Steves & Sons, Printers, Topeka; K. B. 
Strafuss, Manhattan; Joseph Strathman, Seneca; Ruth Sumey, Topeka; Annie 
B. Sweet, Topeka; E. M. Tucker, Temple City, Calif.; Robert L. Thompson, 
Jr., Moran; Mrs. L. R. Tillotson, Topeka; Mrs. Carl F. Trace, Topeka; Mr. 
and Mrs. Maurice Valentine; H. Van Brunt; C. R. Van Dniff, McLouth; Mr. 
and Mrs. J. R. Waddell, Topeka; Bessie and Gustie Waite, Topeka; Mrs. 
Malcolm Whyte, Milwaukee, Wis.; Roscoe Wilmeth, Topeka; H. D. Wilson, 
Topeka; C. C. Witmer, Topeka; Mrs. L. E. Womer, Agra; Woman's Kansas 
Day Club; Emily V. Wood, Manson, Mass.; Otto Wullschleger, Frankfort; 
Keith Wingerd, Navarre; Mrs. Edgar York, Dunlap; Mrs. T. F. Yost, Topeka; 
J. W. Zavodnik, Wilson; and Mary A. Zimmerman, Valley Falls. 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 85 

NEWSPAPER AND CENSUS DIVISION 

More than 4,500 patrons were served in person by the newspaper and 
census division during the past year. In addition over 5,500 requests were 
answered by mail. 

Almost 10,000 searches were made by members of the staff in news- 
papers and census volumes. Certified copies of records furnished totaled 
4,173. Among the uses made of these certificates are proof of age and place 
of birth, proof of publication for legal purposes, and family history. 

Patrons and staff members used, during the year, 15,633 census volumes, 
6,591 bound newspaper volumes., 4,930 single issues of newspapers, and 2,343 
microfilm reels of newspapers. 

Nearly all Kansas publishers continue to contribute their newspapers to the 
Society for filing. Now being received are 54 dailies, 12 semiweeldies, and 
291 regular weeklies. Also, 143 newspapers published by Kansas schools, 
churches, labor unions, and other institutions are donated by their publishers. 
Nine out-of -state newspapers are received. 

Bound volumes of Kansas newspapers now total 58,087, and bound volumes 
of out-of-state newspapers number 12,010. Three hundred and fifty-three 
reels of newspapers on microfilm were added to the collection, which now totals 
7,442. Thirteen Kansas publishers donate microfilm copies of their current 
issues to the Society. 

Older Kansas newspapers received during the year included: Junction City 
Daily Union, December 26, 1866, donated by Don Martin, Los Angeles, Calif.; 
Cora Union, February 25, 1886, donated by Charles Darnell, Wamego; Terri- 
torial Enterprise, Virginia City, Nev., May 2, 1952, May 8, 1953-December 27, 
1957, given by the University of Kansas library, Lawrence; Salina Herald, June 
6, 1874, donated by Norbert Skelley, Salina; Kansas Farmer, Leavenworth, 
May 15, 1869, donated by Fenn Ward, Highland; and Kansas Farmer, Topeka, 
January 2, 1872-December 25, 1878, donated by Gordon West, Topeka, and 
the publisher. 

Other donors of newspapers were: Mrs. Carl F. Trace, Topeka; Maurice 
Valentine, Council Grove; Errett Scrivner, Kansas City; Mrs. Mary Arnold, 
Lawrence; Mrs. Bruce Warner, Topeka; B. B. Chapman, Stillwater, Okla.; Mrs. 
Ben Franklin, Topeka; Evelyn Warren, Honolulu; Mrs. Henry Blake, Topeka; 
Topeka Rotary Club through Charles Howes; and Russell W. Walker, St. John. 

PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS 

During the year 1,891 photographs were added to the Society's collection 
while 32 duplicate prints were removed, making a net increase of 1,859. Of 
these, 916 were gifts, 427 were lent to the Society for copying and 548 were 
taken by the Society staff. Fifty-six color slides have been accessioned. 

Several large groups of photographs were given to the Society this year. 
Among the more important were 39 views of early Spearville, Ingalls, and 
construction work on the Eureka Irrigating Canal in western Kansas from A. L. 
Soule, Topeka; 84 views of Salina streets, businesses, and citizens from Norbert 
Skelley, Salina; 110 pictures of the Wichita aircraft industry from the Kansas 
Industrial Development Commission; 99 postal card pictures of early Kansas 
courthouses from Mrs. Maude Funston, Parsons; 15 Indian portraits from 
George H. Browne, St. Petersburg, Fla.; and 26 early street scenes of Kansas 
cowtowns from the Denver Public Library. 



86 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Excellent collections of Kansas pictures were lent for copying by Paul Gibler, 
Claflin; Wilbur Hess, Salina; W. F. Holmes, Oswego; Kansas University, Law- 
rence; Mrs. Amy Lathrop, Norton; the Ottawa County Historical Society, 
Minneapolis; Mrs. Fred A. Rehkopf, Topeka; John Ripley, Topeka; Floyd 
Souders of the Cheney Sentinel; and Joseph Strathman, Seneca. 

The demand for copies of photographs in the Society's collection continued 
undiminished through the year. Publications of national circulation, broad- 
casting companies and writers continue to ask the Society for help with regard 
to illustrative material. 

Seventy-seven new maps and atlases have been accessioned this year, 32 of 
which are recent issues of the United States Geological Survey. The Kansas 
Highway Commission has deposited with the Society 27 county highway maps 
in the new series now being printed. 

Other map gifts of particular interest include a plat of Oswego from J. F. 
Amos, Oswego; a map of Fort Laramie, 1863, from the National Park Service, 
Fort Laramie National Monument; an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad 
map, 1876, from Mrs. Joe Zimmerman, Topeka; and two maps of the same 
railroad, 1866, from W. A. Kingman, Topeka. Other donors included Fred M. 
Mazzulla, Denver, Colo.; Robert Martin, Lyons; Jerry Riseley, Stockton; Mr. 
and Mrs. Paul Harrison, Hollywood, Calif.; Service Pipeline Co., Tulsa, Okla.; 
Norbert Skelley, Salina; and D. M. Cunningham, Winona. 

Fenn Ward, of Highland, lent a lithograph of the town of Hiawatha, 1879, 
for copying. 

SUBJECTS FOR RESEARCH 

Subjects for extended research included: Dr. John R. Brinkley; Abilene; 
Ellsworth; vote against war in 1917; Kansas place names; late 19th century 
agriculture; folklore; history of Sterling College; pioneer years of Hillsboro; 
Soule College; William Allen White; Alfred M. Landon; Populism; impact of 
Farmers' Alliance on Republican party in 1888-1892; Kansas in the early 
1930's; Nicodemus; grasshoppers; frontier religion; the Herd law; cowboy songs; 
Westphalia; Bent's Fort; local aids to railroads; the Kansas Freedman's Bureau; 
Baptists in Kansas; U. S. presidents in Kansas; Arthur Capper; William Tilgh- 
man and other noted frontier police officers who saw service in Kansas. 

SOCIETY HOLDINGS, SEPTEMBER 30, 1959 

Bound Volumes 
Books 

Kansas 10,194 

General 58,027 

Genealogy and local history 10,217 

Indians and the West 1,576 

Kansas state publications 3,255 

Total 83,269 

Clippings 1,298 

Periodicals 17,523 



Total, bound volumes 102,090 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 87 

Manuscripts (archives and private papers, 

cubic feet) 5,815 

Maps and atlases 5,444 

Microfilm (reels) 

Books and other library materials 323 

Public archives and private papers 1,511 

Newspapers 7,442 

Total 9,276 

Newspapers (bound volumes) 

Kansas 58,087 

Out-of-state 12,010 

Total 70,097 

Paintings and drawings 427 

Pamphlets 

Kansas 95,956 

General 39,036 

Genealogy and local history 3,785 

Indians and the West 1,089 

Kansas state publications 5,998 

Total 145,864 

Photographs 34,896 

THE FIRST CAPITOL 

All 50 states and 14 foreign countries were represented among the visitors 
to the First Territorial Capitol on the Fort Riley military reservation. Total 
registration was 7,061, slightly higher than last year, with 4,911 from Kansas. 
One of the visitors was Emma Gatewood of Gallipolis, Ohio, who received 
wide publicity for her feat of walking from Independence, Mo., to Portland, 
Ore., following more or less the old Oregon trail. 

THE FUNSTON HOME 

Visitors to the Funston Home, north of lok, numbered 862, of whom 722 
were Kansans. The remainder came from 26 other states. 

Although lack of funds has prevented further development of the Funston 
Home as a museum, the building and grounds are well-kept and attractive. 

THE KAW MISSION 

At the Kaw Mission, in Council Grove, 5,676 visitors registered, 4,552 from 
Kansas, 1,109 from 45 other states, and 15 from nine foreign countries. Ap- 
preciation is due again to the Council Grove Republican for its weekly "Mu- 
seum Scoreboard,*' and to the Junior Chamber of Commerce which operates 
an information booth at the Cowboy Jail and is instrumental in directing 
many visitors to the Mission. Thanks are due also to the Nautilus Club, 
which again this year presented a rose bush to the Mission. 

Progress has been made by the Council Grove Rotary club toward com- 
pletion of the Indian cabin by installation of a concrete walk and floor. The 
club also plans to put in electric wiring and to place a rock veneer around the 
chimney. 



88 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Donors of museum items included Mr. and Mrs. Russell Adams, Mrs. 
Marguerite Atwood, Mrs. C. L. Carr, G. E. Jones, Mrs. August Langvardt, 
Mrs. Hattie Moore, Mrs. Jessie Ramsey, Raymond Veil, and Mrs. Edgar 
York. Mrs. R. R. Cross lent part of her collection of china and glassware 
for a temporary display. 

OLD SHAWNEE MISSION 

Visitors at Old Shawnee Mission came from 44 states and 16 foreign 
countries. The total was 8,266 as compared to 6,182 last year. Out-of-state 
visitors numbered 2,768 while 5,464 were Kansans. Six visitors were 
descendants of missionaries who served at the Mission prior to 1862: Joe 
Greene, great grandson of the Rev. Jesse Greene; Mrs. Wilma Peery Garvin 
and Virginia Peery Whitwarth, grand-nieces of the Rev. John T. Peery, and 
John Wilbur Peery, a great-nephew; William Charles Bluejacket, a grandson 
of Shawnee Chief Charles Bluejacket, and Russell P. Bluejacket, a great 
grandson. 

As in past years, the Society is happy to express its thanks for con- 
tinued interest and assistance to the Colonial Dames, Daughters of American 
Colonists, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of 1812, and the 
Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society. 

THE STAFF OF THE SOCIETY 

It is a pleasure to make this annual acknowledgment to the Society's 
staff for the accomplishments noted in this report. The work of a historical 
society, especially one as large and as active as ours, cannot be handled by 
any one person, or two, or three. All the members of the staff have worked 
conscientiously and efficiently, and all can be proud of their part in earning 
such commendations as these: "Out of twelve requests to state libraries, 
yours was the only one to be so thorough and was of any help at all"; "the 
finest state library in the country . . . especially impressed by the catalogu- 
ing"; "Your reference service is outstandingly fine"; "As a life member of the 
Society I am interested to find how widely the Society ranges for information 
on Kansans. No doubt that is one reason you have such a superb library!"; 
"It is my sincere opinion that you and your staff have made the State Historical 
Society Museum the best that I have seen anywhere." 

Special attention should be called to the work of Edgar Langsdorf, assist- 
ant secretary, and the department heads: Mrs. Lela Barnes of the manuscript 
division, who is also treasurer of the Society; Robert W. Richmond, archivist; 
Alberta Pantle, librarian; Stanley Sohl, museum director; and Forrest R. 
Blackburn of the newspaper division. 

Appreciation is also due the custodians of the historic sites administered 
by the Society: Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hardy at Shawnee Mission, Mr. and 
Mrs. Elwood Jones at Kaw Mission, Mr. and Mrs. V. E. Berglund at the 
Funston Memorial Home, and Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Brownback at the First 
Territorial Capitol. 

Respectfully submitted, 

NYLE H. MELLER, Secretary. 

At the conclusion of the reading of the secretary's report, Charles 
M. Correll moved that it be accepted. The motion was seconded 
by Mrs. Jesse C. Harper and the report was adopted. 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 89 

President Long then called for the report of the treasurer, Mrs. 
Lela Barnes: 

TREASURER'S REPORT 

Based on the post-audit by the State Division of Auditing and Accounting for 
the period August 5, 1958, to August 8, 1959. 

MEMBERSHIP FEE FUND 

Balance, August 5, 1958: 

Cash $3,871.78 

U. S. bonds, Series K 5,000.00 

$8,871.78 

Receipts: 

Membership fees $1,575.00 

Interest on bonds 138.00 

Interest on savings 43.35 

Interest, Thomas H. Bowlus gift 27.60 

Gifts 336.78 

2,120.73 



$10,992.51 

Disbursements $1,260.41 

Balance, August 8, 1959: 

Cash $4,732.10 

U. S. bonds, Series K 5,000.00 

9,732.10 



$10,992.51 

JONATHAN PECKER BEQUEST 
Balance, August 5, 1958: 

Cash $81.58 

U. S. bond, Series K 1,000.00 

$1,081.58 

Receipts: 

Interest on bond $27.60 

Interest on savings account 4.13 

31.73 



$1,113.31 

Balance, August 8, 1959: 

Cash $113.31 

U. S. bond, Series K 1,000.00 

$1,113.31 



JOHN BOOTH BEQUEST 
Balance, August 5, 1958: 

Cash $147.62 

U. S. bond, Series K 500.00 

$647.62 



90 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Receipts: 

Interest on bond $13.80 

Interest on savings account 2.06 

15.86 



$663.48 

Balance, August 8, 1959: 

Cash $163.48 

U. S. bond, Series K 500.00 

$663.48 



THOMAS H. BOWLUS DONATION 

This donation is substantiated by a U. S. bond, Series K, in the amount 
of $1,000. The interest is credited to the membership fee fund. 

ELIZABETH READER BEQUEST 

Balance, August 5, 1958: 

Cash (deposited in membership fee fund) $462.64 

U. S. bonds, Series K 5,500.00 

$5,962.64 

Receipts: 

Bond interest (deposited in membership fee fund) . . 151.80 



$6,114.44 



Balance, August 8, 1959: 

Cash ( deposited in membership fee fund ) ........ $614.44 

U. S. bonds, Series K ......................... 5,500.00 

- $6,114.44 



STATE APPROPRIATIONS 

This report covers only the membership fee fund and other custodial funds. 
Appropriations made to the Historical Society by the legislature are disbursed 
through the State Department of Administration. For the year ending June 
30, 1959, these appropriations were: Kansas State Historical Society, in- 
cluding the Memorial building, $252,080.58; First Capitol of Kansas, $3,482; 
Kaw Mission, $5,133; Funston Home, $3,657; Old Shawnee Mission, $9,882. 

Respectfully submitted, 

MRS. LELA BARNES, Treasurer. 

Kirke Mechem moved that the report be adopted. Will T. Beck 
seconded the motion and the report was accepted. 

Will T. Beck presented the report of the executive committee on 
the post-audit of the Society's funds by the State Division of Audit- 
ing and Accounting: 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 91 

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

October 16, 1959. 
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 Department of Post-Audit has 
audited the funds of the State Historical Society, the Old Shawnee Mission, the 
First Capitol of Kansas, the Old Kaw Mission, the Funston Home, and Pike's 
Pawnee Village, for the period August 5, 1958, to August 8, 1959, and that 
they are hereby approved. 

WILL T. BECK, Chairman, 
CHARLES M. CORRELL, 
T. M. LILLARD, 
FRANK HAUCKE. 

On a motion by Will T. Beck, seconded by E. R. Sloan, the report 
was accepted. 

The report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society 
was read by Will T. Beck: 

NOMINATING COMMITTEE'S REPORT 

October 16, 1959. 
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: E. R. Sloan, Topeka, president; Jerome C. Berryman, 
Ashland, first vice-president; and George L. Anderson, Lawrence, second 
vice-president. 

For a two-year term: Nyle H. Miller, Topeka, secretary. 

Respectfully submitted, 
WELL T. BECK, Chairman, 
CHARLES M. CORRELL, 
T. M. LILLARD, 
FRANK HAUCKE. 

James Malone moved that the report be accepted. Angelus 
Lingenfelser seconded the motion and the officers were unanimously 
elected. 

After an informal discussion of the Society's recent publication, 
Comprehensive Index to Publications, 1875-1930, Emory Lindquist 
offered the following resolution: 

Resolved, That we express our genuine appreciation and hearty congratu- 
lations to Louise Barry and all others who have made possible the compilation 
and publication of the Comprehensive Index to Publications, 1875-1930, which 
provides another excellent resource for the study of Kansas history; and that 
we express our great pleasure at the prospect of the publication of a second 
volume in this series. 



92 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Mr. Lindquist moved the adoption of the resolution. James E. 
Taylor seconded the motion and the resolution was adopted. 

An oil portrait by Boris B. Gordon of the late Philip Pitt 
Campbell, congressman from the Third district, 1903-1923, and 
well-known lawyer of Pittsburg, was the subject of a discussion, 
the portrait having been sent to the Society by the artist for 
temporary display. Fred W. Brinkerhoff presented a resolution 
expressing the desirability of the Society's acquiring the portrait, 
if offered, providing the subject's daughter, Mrs. Robert Kleberg 
of Kingsville, Tex., approves it as a satisfactory likeness. Motion 
to accept Mr. BrinkerhofFs resolution was made by Will T. Beck, 
seconded by E. A. Thomas, and the resolution was adopted. 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned. 

Annual Meeting of the Society 

The annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society opened 
with a luncheon at noon in the roof garden of the Jayhawk hotel. 
About 175 members and guests attended. 

The invocation was given by the Rev. Peter Beckman, professor 
of history at St. Benedict's College, Atchison. 

Following the luncheon, President Long introduced guests at 
the speakers' table. These included Governor and Mrs. Docking 
and officers of the Society and their wives. 

The address of President Long of Wichita followed: 

ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT 
WICHITA COWTOWN 

RICHARD M. LONG 
Mr. Chairman, Governor and Mrs. Docking, and fellow Kansans: 

WHEN it dawned on me that our annual meeting was only weeks 
away and that I would be called on to address this group on 
some matter of historical interest I gathered together some material 
and decided to just make a few notes and talk from them. 

It seemed a wonderful idea until I mentioned it to my wife. She 
did not exactly veto the plan. She suggested that I convert the 
notes into a manuscript; that by so doing there would be some 
control over how long I would talk, so here is my control: 

There was a day, not long past, when discussions of pioneers and 
the early settlement of Kansas was considered a topic for old folks; 
for those reminiscing of their youth. The selection of my topic for 
discussion here today would have rated me an old fogey. My sub- 
ject is "Wichita Cowtown." 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 93 

But in recent years, due in large part to the movies and to tele- 
vision my subject brands me with no connotation of age and senility. 
On the contrary I might be classed as a youngster, for cowtowns 
are becoming modern. 

When Wichita's cowtown was started a decade ago it was the 
first in the Midwest. True, Dodge City had its "Boot Hill," and 
any number of communities had their historical museums, some 
quite small. Today cowtowns are modern. There's one at Dodge 
City, Abilene, Oklahoma City and no doubt others will be started. 

Several weeks ago I was asked to participate on a television panel 
program for a round-table discussion of Wichita's Cowtown. One 
of the first questions put to me was: 'Who originated the idea for 
Wichita's Cowtown?" And the only answer that could be given 
was "No One." For Wichita's cowtown, like Topsy, just grew. 

The germ of the idea which developed into Wichita's cowtown 
originated in the desire of the late Victor Murdock, editor-in-chief 
of the Wichita Eagle, to preserve the first permanent church build- 
ing in Wichita as a historical monument for the city. That was back 
in 1942. 

When Mr. Murdock resigned from the Federal Trade Commission 
to resume his editorialship of the Eagles in Wichita he continued the 
regular Eagle policy started by his father, the late Col. Marsh Mur- 
dock, of boosting the city; of pointing out its wonderful location 
and the potentials for greater development. But, as a sideline he 
sought to preserve in type the historical material still available. He 
urged staff members to write of the early history of the community. 
And he insisted on accuracy. He culled out fanciful fiction which 
was the common property of most pioneer communities. Mr. Mur- 
dock had a wide acquaintanceship over Kansas and did his stint of 
historical writing. 

One day I turned in a story concerning Wichita's first permanent 
church building; how it still survived as a rooming house on North 
Main street in Wichita. Since Mr. Murdock insisted so strongly 
on accuracy he personally checked the records before allowing the 
story to be published. 

Convinced that the old weather-beaten structure was in reality 
Wichita's first permanent church edifice he made plans to purchase 
the building and restore it as a historical monument for the com- 
munity. But he was stymied. The owner of the building would 
not sell. It was wartime and every room was rented. While the 
value of the property was nominal it was a money-producer, 
Thwarted in his plans Mr. Murdock pointed out that when the 



94 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

war years were over the building undoubtedly would be condemned 
as a fire hazard. And he exacted from me a promise that in case 
he was gone that I would see that the church building was restored. 

I left word with the fire chief that if ever the building was con- 
demned that I was to be notified. Several years later, while on a 
vacation in Galveston, Tex., I received a telegram from the fire de- 
partment that they were bringing condemnation proceedings against 
the building. They had extinguished a small fire there and its 
hazardous state was called to their attention. 

I telephoned to the mayor of the city, the late Dr. L. A. Donnell, 
and asked that the proceedings be held up until I returned. Back 
in Wichita I found that the owner had sold the building to a salvage 
operator. After considerable dickering I was able to contract to 
purchase the old frame building for $400. I believed I had made 
a bargain deal until months later when I learned the owner had 
given it to the salvage man if he would remove it. 

I called on a group of Wichitans with an interest in the com- 
munity and told them of Mr. Murdock's desire to save the church 
building. They were heartily in favor of the plan so we called on 
business and professional men to put up the purchase money and in 
less than a day raised the needed amount. We felt rather proud of 
ourselves for a couple of days, until the owner of the property 
notified us that the building had to be removed in 20 days. That 
meant more "hat passing," quite a bit more for it cost us $1,200 to 
take the building down in sections and store it in the county yards. 

Along with the church building was a small house, the former 
church parsonage. It had been condemned along with the other 
building so the salvage man just threw that in. There we were, a 
group of Wichitans with a mission to perform, two old buildings 
stored in sections and no one willing to give us an estimate on the 
restoration and no site on which to erect the historical structures. 

First, we decided that if we were to be successful we should have 
a nonprofit corporation to operate the affair. Once incorporated 
we could operate in a more business-like manner. That was how 
Historic Wichita, Inc., was born. And since there were two at- 
torneys on our board they had the incorporation papers so general 
that we could do almost anything so long as we labeled it "His- 
toric." 

Our next step was to secure a site for the historic church and 
parsonage. By that time we had enjoyed all the difficulties possible 
in fund raising and decided that the site costing the least in dollars 
and cents would be best. So it seemed only natural that we would 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 95 

turn to the Wichita Park Board. They had control of the greatest 
acreage of land in the city suitable for such a project and surely 
they would be glad to donate a little. 

The park board members readily agreed that we had a most 
worth-while project and of course they would help, if they could. 
It was a cool, iffy response. We had just the site we needed picked 
out in Oak Park. But, by that time we had learned considerable. 
As a matter of fact we felt like old pros and decided to so conduct 
ourselves. 

The park board panned us off on their director, Emory Cox. 
It was agreed that we would look over possible sites with him. Our 
first suggestion was Central Riverside park which we realized was 
unattainable. Emory Cox was ready with the explanation of why 
that area just wouldn't be possible. After about four similar sug- 
gestions with the always courteous turn-down, backed by most 
logical reasons, we drove to Oak Park for the site we had in mind. 
We believed that we had the director worn down and that we had 
exhausted all of his negative arguments. We were mistaken. Direc- 
tor Cox had figures to show how many thousand dollars the city 
had expended to develop the area; how buildings and a parking area 
would change the entire aspect of the natural woodland. 

And then Director Cox played his hole card. He happened to 
think of an undeveloped area in the city much closer to the down- 
town district which we might acquire. It was 23 acres of sand 
hills by the Arkansas river owned by the Wichita Water Company 
and only used as a site for emergency water wells. 

He was confident that we could persuade the city commission to 
lease the site for 99 years from the water company and then in turn 
lease it to us for a dollar a year. And then we could beautify the 
area and as a clincher he promised to help us make the deal. The 
only logical course seemed to be acceptance of his proposition 
which did not cost the city a square inch of park space. 

Director Cox kept his word. He joined forces with us and we 
locked horns with attorneys for the Water company. We met, we 
talked, we argued and in due course of time we had a lease on 
the surface rights of 23 acres when we needed only one. Of 
course we had to agree not to disturb the water lines, electric 
lines, and not obstruct water company work parties. 

With the lease duly signed we broke ground for the church and 
parsonage. We were off to a good start with lumber companies 
furnishing lumber and building firms man hours of labor. As the 



96 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

work progressed we realized that restoring a building was far more 
expensive than erecting a new one. 

The frame-work of the buildings was in excellent shape, but the 
weather-boarding so brittle that it could be broken with thumb 
and finger. We could get identical boards, but the price was stiff. 
The project almost ground to a halt when it was rescued by Mrs. 
Lola Fisher, the widow of Dr. Jesse Clyde Fisher who had been 
one of Historic Wichita's organizers. Mrs. Fisher agreed to under- 
write the remaining cost, which totaled more than $15,000. 

This first permanent church building in Wichita was erected in 
1870 by the Presbyterian congregation. It cost only $500 since 
much of the labor was donated. It served as a Presbyterian church 
until 1873, when the Presbyterians had outgrown the structure and 
had funds enough to erect a brick building large enough to 
accommodate their thriving congregation. They offered the frame 
building for sale and it was purchased by the newly organized 
Catholic congregation and for years served as a Catholic church. 
When sold by the Catholic congregation it was moved to North 
Main street and converted into a two-story rooming house. 

We had scarcely completed the restoration of the church and 
parsonage when officers of the Eunice Sterling chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution offered us the Munger 
house, or what was left of it; $3,000 and a lot worth $1,500 if we 
would agree to restore this historic old building. The ladies had 
purchased this building in order to save it and when faced with 
the restoration cost decided to offer it to experts, as we then 
believed ourselves to be. 

The Munger house was erected in Wichita in 1869-1870 by D. S. 
Munger. It was the first house in Wichita, a log and plaster affair. 
Next to the church it undoubtedly is one of Wichita's most historic 
buildings. It was erected by Munger to be used as a dwelling for 
his family, but soon after its completion there was such a demand 
by travelers for rooms that the upstairs rooms were rented out and 
an outside stairs added to the building. In this manner rooms 
could be rented without discommoding members of the family. 
For a short time the house served as Wichita's post office with 
Mr. Munger serving as postmaster. 

Practically all of the materials for the house, with the exception 
of glass for the windows and hardware, came from Wichita. The 
house was a two-story affair of logs with a one-story kitchen 
addition. The walls were of cottonwood logs and the floors, 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 97 

doors, and windows of walnut sawed on the spot. The logs were 
squared and mortised. They came from trees growing along the 
river bank. The laths for the plastered portion were slender 
willow branches. The plaster was river sand combined with lime 
obtained by burning clam shells and the plaster was reinforced with 
buffalo hair. Plaster sections have been preserved and are framed 
under glass in the restored house. 

And on this house we again learned about the cost of restoration. 
We discovered termites no respecter of historical structures and 
that it took time and money to hew out cottonwood logs and 
rough-saw walnut flooring. 

Before the Munger house had been completed the Wichita 
school board purchased a residential property in order to enlarge 
a school ground and acquired a staunch and much battered building 
which had been Wichita's first jail. The school board couldn't 
give it away, but they did sell it to us for a dollar and we moved 
it to a site close to the Munger house. 

This first Wichita jail is generally referred to as Wyatt Earp's 
jail because it was used when Earp was employed on the city's 
police force. It was used to confine many notorious criminals, and 
not a few of them cut their initials in the walls of the timbered cells. 
A few did better. They cut their way out. These old exit holes 
show to this day. They indicate the escaping prisoners had outside 
help, by some friend with a brace-and-bit. While it served its 
purpose during the early days it certainly was not an escape-proof 
jail. Early city records indicate that the building was the first 
constructed by the newly-formed Wichita city government; that 
the contractor had difficulty in constructing it to suit the city 
fathers and that the city government had trouble in financing the 
venture. City records show that its cost was $800. Yes, in Cow- 
town Wichita it cost more to erect a jail than a church. Today it 
is different. It cost us much more to restore the church than the 
jail. 

In replacing damaged timbers in the walls of the frame building 
we again found trouble. We searched lumber yards for weeks for 
timbers of the dimensions used in the jail building. We were 
about convinced that we would be forced to have them sawed to 
order when our builder found that the wood used in crating cast- 
iron pipe for the water company was identical with that used in 
the original construction of the jail. Yes, we added to our knowledge 
in the restoration of the jail. 

72200 



98 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

We started out to restore one building and we had completed 
four. And we had plenty of room for more. It was at this time 
that the idea came for a cowtown village. We then located a 
building which fitted the exact description of Wichita's first post 
office. And one of our directors was confident the Santa Fe rail- 
way might be induced to restore the first Wichita railway station. 
We decided to go ahead and restore from 20 to 30 buildings which 
were a part of Wichita during the cowtown period of the com- 
munity, from 1870 to 1880. 

I would like to say that everything went smoothly, but that would 
not be correct. We had overcome many difficulties with the first 
four structures. Before the fourth building was completed we 
encountered the problem of vandalism. Youths threw rocks through 
windows. They broke open doors. They destroyed paint and stole 
tools. 

For more than a year all restoration work was stopped while we 
centered our efforts on building a caretaker's house. By that time 
the city commission recognized the value of the work we were 
doing and came to our assistance with a salary for a caretaker and 
funds to help complete his home. 

Then there was the problem of rest rooms and sewerage con- 
nection for the caretaker's house. Our land was directly over a 
water supply area for the city and we could not use a septic tank. 
Again the city came to our assistance with additional help. 

We found that many people would give money to restore historic 
buildings but few would subscribe to a sewer connection or pay 
for protection of buildings. 

We encountered a period when an economy-minded city com- 
mission could not appreciate the value of our work and it took 
most of our funds to pay the caretaker. 

But our board was either stubborn or determined. We even 
had one of our newly restored buildings, a drug store, destroyed 
in a windstorm. Fortunately we had the building insured, so 
there was enough money to start rebuilding. 

If I attempted to recount all of our difficulties it would take hours. 
And they might not be as tragic to this group as to ourselves. 

Today in addition to the church, parsonage, jail, and Munger 
house we have a fire station, post office, barber shop, the city's 
first schoolhouse, railway depot, lumberyard, and stockyards. We 
have a section of early-day railway track, a railway hand work car, 
and a box car. We have under construction a blacksmith shop and 
newspaper building. And we are working on plans for a cowtown 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 99 

general store, a saddle shop, a photograph gallery, a livery stable, 
an opera house, and a famous landmark which in the early days 
was located at Main street and Douglas, the famous Keno corner, 
a saloon downstairs, and a gambling hall upstairs. 

Today we are working under pressure. We want to have a 
complete pioneer town ready by 1961 when the state starts its 
centennial celebration. To do this we must have a safe parking 
area, a cowtown eating place, and a fence around the area. That 
is why we are making plans for a supreme effort in 1960 to raise 
funds and restore buildings. 

One of our problems has been the publicity we received. In a 
way it was good. It helped in our drives for funds but it brought 
visitors. But the visitors were not content just to look at the ex- 
teriors of our buildings. And you cannot show buildings without 
guides and guides must eat. This was one of our major problems 
two years ago. It was a serious one, for many Wichitans were 
proud of our efforts and wanted to show the restored buildings to 
their friends. 

On learning of our latest dilemma in 1958 the Girl Scouts of 
Wichita volunteered to help. They offered to set up a guide service. 
Our board met with officials of the Wichita Girl Scout Council. 
General plans were outlined and a program of showing the build- 
ings evolved. Of course the most desirable plan would have been 
to have guide service available 12 hours a day, seven days a week 
the year round. Our directors realized this was impossible so 
we arranged to have the tours conducted three hours a day, six days 
a week during the summer vacation and open on Sundays for three 
hours during September and October. The plan had its drawbacks 
as many visitors wanted to inspect the buildings at hours when the 
scouts were not available. However, it was the best plan we could 
devise at the time. And I would say it was successful since during 
the summer of 1958 more than 30,000 persons signed our guest 
registers. The visitors were from 46 states and 11 foreign countries. 

The Girl Scouts volunteered to help us again this year. And I 
would say that they were even more successful. We hope they 
will be inclined to help us in 1960; the year we expect to be a record 
one for our project. We hope to have from 10 to 20 new buildings 
erected, and adequate parking area paved and the area fenced. It 
is an ambitious program but we have great hopes of its success, 
since we believe the community is pleased with our modest success 
to date and would like to be in the foreground in the 1961 centen- 
nial celebration. 



100 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

I'll admit that it is difficult for me to stop talking about matters in 
which I am deeply interested, and especially about matters of Kan- 
sas history, but I know my time is up. We feel that we are doing 
a great work in restoring Wichita's Cowtown and I am confident 
that we have been inspired to a great measure by the long and 
continued efforts of the Kansas State Historical Society. Therefore, 
I cannot close without paying tribute to Nyle Miller, his splendid 
staff, and the directors of the Kansas State Historical Society. 

At the close of retiring President Long's address, a small plaque 
was presented to him by the newly-elected president, E. R. Sloan, in 
recognition of his service to the Society. 

Folklorist William E. Koch, a member of the English depart- 
ment of Kansas State University, Manhattan, entertained with a 
group of folk songs of the frontier, providing his own guitar ac- 
companiment. 

Fred W. Brinkerhoff, former president of the Kansas State His- 
torical Society, member of the board of directors of the Centennial 
commission and director of the re-enactment of Lincoln's tour of 
Kansas, spoke on "Lincoln in Kansas: The Centennial of His Visit." 

The report of the committee on nominations for directors was 
called for and read by Will T. Beck: 

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORS 

October 16, 1959. 
To the Kansas State Historical Society: 

Your committee on nominations submits the following report and recom- 
mendations for directors of the Society for the term of three years ending 
in October, 1962: 

Aitchison, R. T., Wichita. Landon, Alf. M., Topeka. 

Anderson, George L., Lawrence. Lilleston, W. F., Wichita. 

Anthony, D. R., Leavenworth. Lose, Harry F., Topeka. 

Baugher, Charles A., Ellis. Malin, James C., Lawrence. 

Beck, Will T., Holton. Mayhew, Mrs. Patricia Solander, 

Bray, Mrs. Easton C., Syracuse. Wichita. 

Chambers, Lloyd, Clearwater. Menninger, Karl, Topeka. 

Chandler, C. J., Wichita. Moore, Russell, Wichita. 

Clymer, Rolla, El Dorado. Ranlcin, Charles C., Lawrence. 

Cochran, Elizabeth, Pittsburg. Raynesford, H. C., Ellis. 

Cotton, Corlett J., Lawrence. Reed, Clyde M., Jr., Parsons. 

Dawson, John S., Topeka. Rodkey, Clyde K., Manhattan. 

Eckdall, Frank F., Emporia. Shaw, Joseph C., Topeka. 

Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland. Stewart, Donald, Independence. 

Farley, Alan W., Kansas City. Thomas, E. A., Wichita. 

Card, Spencer A., lola. von der Heiden, Mrs. W. H., Newton. 

Knapp, Dallas W., CofFeyville. Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton. 

Respectfully submitted, 

WILL T. BECK, Chairman, T. M. LILLARD, 

CHARLES M. CORRELL, FRANK HAUCKE. 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 101 

Motion for the acceptance of the report was made by Alf. M. 
Landon, seconded by Wilford Riegle. The report was adopted and 
directors for the term ending in October, 1962, were elected. 

Reports of local societies were called for and given as follows: 
Harry E. Hanson for the Wyandotte County Historical Society; 
Mrs. Robert F. Withers for the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical 
Society; and Mrs. Sam Cravens for the Clark County Historical So- 
ciety. Mention was made by the secretary of the activities of the 
societies in Lyon, Lane, Ottawa, and Crawford counties; also of the 
publications issued by the Clark and Riley county societies. At- 
tention was directed to the annual meeting of the Shawnee county 
society on December 4 which will feature early Topeka businesses. 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 
Members and guests were invited to attend an open house at the 
Memorial building where special displays had been arranged. 
Refreshments were served in the museum. 



102 



KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 



Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society as of 

October, 1959 

DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1960 



r, Roy F., Salina. 

nan, Robert W., Liberal. 

r, George F., Girard. 
Beougher, Edward M., Grinnell. 
Bowlus, Thomas H., lola. 
Brinkerhoff, Fred A., Pittsburg. 
Cron, F. H., El Dorado. 
Docking, George, Lawrence. 
Ebright, Homer K., Baldwin. 
Farrell, F. D., Manhattan. 
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit. 
Harper, Mrs. Jesse C., Ashland. 
Harvey, Mrs. A. M., Topeka. 
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove. 
Hodges. Frank, Olathe. 
Lingenfelser, Angelus, Atchison. 
Long, Richard M., Wichita. 



McArthur, Mrs. Vernon E., 

Hutchinson. 

McCain, James A., Manhattan. 
McFarland, Helen M., Topeka. 
McGrew, Mrs. Wm. E., Kansas City. 
Malone, James, Gem. 
Mechem, Kirke, Lindsborg. 
Mueller, Harrie S., Wichita. 
Murphy, Franklin D., Lawrence. 
Ripley, John, Topeka. 
Rogler, Wayne, Matfield Green. 
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell. 
Simons, Dolph, Lawrence. 
Slagg, Mrs. C. M., Manhattan. 
Templar, George, Arkansas City. 
Townsley, Will, Great Bend. 
Woodring, Harry H., Topeka. 



DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1961 



Barr, Frank, Wichita. 
Berryman, Jerome C., Ashland. 
Charlson, Sam C., Manhattan. 
Correll, Charles M., Manhattan. 
Davis, W. W., Lawrence. 
Denious, Jess C., Jr., Dodge City. 
Hall, Standish, Wichita. 
Hegler, Ben F., Wichita. 
Humphrey, Arthur S., Junction City. 
Jones, Horace, Lyons. 
Kampschroeder, Mrs. Jean Morris, 

Garden City. 

Kaul, Robert H., Wamego. 
Lauterbach, August W., Colby. 
Lillard, T. M., Topeka. 
Lindquist, Emory K., Wichita. 
Maranville, Lea, Ness City. 



Means, Hugh, Lawrence. 
Montgomery, John D., Junction City. 
Owen, Mrs. E. M., Lawrence. 
Payne, Mrs. L. F., Manhattan. 
Richards, Walter M., Emporia. 
Riegle, Wilford, Emporia. 
Robbins, Richard W., Pratt. 
Roberts, Larry W., Wichita. 
Scott, Angelo, lola. 
Sloan, E. R., Topeka. 
Smelser, Mary M., Lawrence. 
Socolofsky, Homer E., Manhattan. 
Stewart, Mrs. James G., Topeka. 
Taylor, James E., Sharon Springs. 
Van De Mark, M. V. B., Concordia. 
Wark, George H., Caney. 
Williams, Charles A., Bentley. 



DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1962 



Aitchison, R. T., Wichita. 
Anderson, George L., Lawrence. 
Anthony, D. R., Leavenworth. 
Baugher, Charles A., Ellis. 
Beck, Will T., Holton. 
Bray, Mrs. Easton C., Syracuse. 
Chambers, Lloyd, Clearwater. 
Chandler, C. J., Wichita. 
Clymer, Rolla, El Dorado. 
Cochran, Elizabeth, Pittsburg. 
Cotton, Corlett J., Lawrence. 
Dawson, John S., Topeka. 
Eckdall, Frank F., Emporia. 
Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland. 
Farley, Alan W., Kansas City. 
Card, Spencer A., lola. 
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville. 



Landon, Ah*. M., Topeka. 
Lilleston, W. F., Wichita. 
Lose, Harry F., Topeka. 
Malin, James C., Lawrence. 
Mayhew, Mrs. Patricia Solander, 

Wichita. 

Menninger, Karl, Topeka. 
Moore, Russell, Wichita. 
Rankin, Charles C., Lawrence. 
Raynesford, H. C., Ellis. 
Reed, Clyde M., Jr., Parsons. 
Rodkey, Clyde K., Manhattan. 
Shaw, Joseph C., Topeka. 
Stewart, Donald, Independence. 
Thomas, E. A., Wichita, 
von der Heiden, Mrs. W. H., Newton. 
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton. 



Bypaths of Kansas History 

A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR 

From a report of a "special correspondent" at Fort Harker, dated 
July 8, 1867, in the Leavenworth Daily Conservative, July 10, 1867. 

The other day, while Gen. Sherman was on his way up to Harker, and 
while the train was stopping at Manhattan, Lieut. Governor Green called upon 
him, and with other gentlemen, urged the propriety of the U. S. government 
furnishing the Kansas volunteers with horses to ride. "Why," said the great 
chief, "all that is necessary in Kansas is, for a man to take a bridle in one 
hand and a little salt in the other, start out, and he will get a horse most any- 
where. At least I have been led to believe so." 

Someone in the party of listeners gathered around, very quietly remarked: 

"That might have done very well in Georgia, General, but it won't work in 
this country. We hang men here for doing that thing." 

The General smiled, but said nothing. 



WETTING DOWN THE ROUGHER ELEMENT 

From the Newton Kansan, May 15, 1873. 

J. B. Dickey came in from Sargent [now Coolidge] last Saturday and re- 
turned Monday. He says the way they punish a man out there if he doesn't 
behave himself, is to first place him under the water tank spout and give him 
a wetting, and if he then persists in his meanness they hang him up a telegraph 
pole. He represents the morals as good. 



CERTIFICATE FOR "NIGHT HERDING" 

From the Washington Republican, February 27, 1874. 

A certificate for "night herding" is what they call marriage licenses way- 
down in Southern Kansas. This idea is supposed to have originated with 
Bent. Murdock, of the [El Dorado] Walnut Valley Times. He went to "herd- 
ing" recently. 



KEEPING THE PEACE AT CHERRYVALE 
From The Commonwealth, Topeka, May 16, 1875. 

They do not allow any protracted disturbances at dances in Chenyvale. 
Mr. Hollifield lately invaded a scene of revelry by night in that place, and 
went to shooting off his light fantastic mouth, when he was promptly knocked 
down by a skillet in the hands of a floor manager. 

(103) 



Kansas History as Published in the Press 

Among the articles in the Bulletin of the Shawnee County His- 
torical Society, Topeka, July, 1959, were: "Marco Morrow, 1869- 
1959," by Charles E. Sweet; "An Inviolable Secret," the story of the 
Mission Township Mutual Protective Association, by Mary Davis 
Sander; another installment of George Root's "Chronology of Shaw- 
nee County"; "The Sod House," by I. D. Graham; part 2 of "Early 
Elections in Shawnee County," by Russell K. Hickman; and "Jake- 
town," historical notes on the now-vanished Wabaunsee county 
hamlet. Articles in the December, 1959, number included: "That 
Tribe [Cigar-Store] Indians," by Eileen Charbo; "Fuss and 
Feathers," millinery and dressmaking in Topeka, by Margaret 
Morns Holman; "The Early Grocery Store," by the late Gertrude 
E. Robertson Burlingame; "Early Day Photography," by Nancy 
Veale Galloway; "Topeka's Sweet Tooth," by Grace Gaines Men- 
ninger; "Gleanings From the George A. Root Collection of Notes 
on Topeka Hotels," arranged by Lena Baxter Schenck; "The Lesser 
Smiths, the Great Smith and the Stafford [Automobiles]," compiled 
by John W. Ripley; "Some Early Architects in Topeka," by Lillian 
Stone Johnson; and "Sweets and Sours," a history of the sugar, 
sorghum, cider, and cheese industries in Shawnee county, by Mary 
Davis Sander. 

The series of illustrated historical articles on the communities 
of Wabaunsee county continues to appear regularly in the Signal- 
Enterprise, Alma. Towns covered in recent months included: 
McFarland, Paxico, Alta Vista, and Harveyville. 

A 70-page centennial edition was published by the Kansas City 
Kansan, August 2, 1959, featuring articles on Kansas City and 
Wyandotte county history. 

Early development of the oil industry in Kansas was featured 
in the August, 1959, issue of Kansas Oil Marketer, Wichita, publi- 
cation of the Kansas Oil Men's Association. 

A history of the Wesley Chapel Methodist church, near Colby, 
appeared in the Colby Free Press-Tribune, August 13, 1959. 

Articles included in Heinie Schmidt's column, "It's Worth Re- 
peating," in the High Plains Journal, Dodge City, during recent 
months were: "Pioneer [Clayton Hall, Sr.] Tells of Rapid Growth 
in Town of Appleton," August 13, 20, 1959; "Town of Chantilly 

(104) 



KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 105 

Phantom City in Kearny County," by Francis L. Pierce, August 27, 
September 3, 10; "Badmen of the West/' by A. J. Myers, September 
17; "Smoky Pool Empire," by Myers, September 24; "Trail Blazers 
of South Side in Kearny County," by Mrs. Florence Stoneman 
Stallard, October 1; "Dr. T. L. McCarty Identified as Ford Pio- 
neer," October 8; "Lakin's First School," by Mrs. Lenora Boylan 
Tate, October 15; "Murders, Mysteries Played Part in Kearny's 
History," by Mrs. Bessie Stutzman McClurkin, October 22; a bio- 
graphical sketch of a pioneer nurse, Sister Mary Winifred, No- 
vember 5; "West's Plains Had Little Appeal to Aging Lawman 
[Bat Masterson]," by Marvin Swanson, November 12, 19; "Pioneer 
[Charles S. Smith] Tells About Early Days in Western Kansas," 
November 26; a biographical sketch of Mrs. Emily Allen Drew, 
one of Richfield's early school teachers, by Mrs. Doris Henderson, 
December 3, 10, 17; "History of Early Town of Deerfield," by Mrs. 
Virginia Pierce Hicks, December 24; the cowboy as pictured in 
the Kansas Cowboy, Dodge City newspaper of the 1880's, De- 
cember 31, and January 7, 14, 1960; "Home on the Range Popular 
as Kansas Song," by Heinie Schmidt, January 21, 28; and "Early 
Dodge City House Recalls Village Blacksmith [Adam Schmidt]," 
by Heinie Schmidt, February 4, 11. 

T. H. McNary, native of the Horton area, recalled some of the 
activities of the vigilantes during the 1880's in an article published 
in the Horton Headlight, August 20, 24, 27, 1959. 

Historical articles in the Conway Springs Star in recent months 
included: articles and pictures featuring Conway Springs schools, 
August 27, 1959; the town's churches, September 3; the Stars 
history, October 15; and the story of the Henry Sneeringers, pio- 
neers in the Conway Springs area, by a daughter, Mrs. Cora Shobe, 
January 21, 1960. A historical edition was published by the Star, 
September 24, 1959, in observance of the 75th anniversaries of the 
town and the newspaper. 

Esther Haas is the author of a history of the Allen public schools 
which appeared in the Emporia Times, August 27, 1959. On 
October 8 the Times printed the reminiscences of J. W. Bolton, a 
resident of Lyon county for 86 years. 

On August 27, 1959, the Council Grove Republican printed a 
brief history of Parkerville and an article on the Old Homestead 
ranch, near Council Grove. The original 160 acres of the ranch 
was homesteaded by Frank and Mary Doran in 1859. Now en- 
compassing 3,000 acres, the ranch is still owned by the same family. 



106 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Articles of historical interest appearing recently in the Pittsburg 
Headlight included: "Haying Not What It Used to Be," a review 
of haying before the advent of the modern baler, by Hazel Sellers, 
August 31, 1959; "Recall Days Before Frontenac James DeVore 
Cut Grass to Pitch Tent/* by Joseph F. Cicero, September 5; "Long 
Gone But Far From Forgotten Livery Barn Had Big Early Day 
Role," by Len B. Herod, October 12; historical notes on early 
Arcadia, by G. W. Corporon, January 5, 15, 16, 1960; and a bio- 
graphical sketch of Charles Curtis, February 9. 

"El Dorado as It Looked Just the Other Day," a series by Ralph 
Meeks, began appearing in the Butler County News, El Dorado, 
September 10, 1959. 

Yaggy School, Reno county, was the subject of an article by 
Laura Yaggy Krantz in the Hutchinson News, September 14, 17, 
1959. The school, started in 1879 as Salem School, closed in 1951. 

A history of the First Christian church of Clyde, compiled by 
Mabelle R. Hakes and Mrs. Thressa Trowbridge, was printed in 
the Clyde Republican, September 24, 1959. The congregation 
was organized in the autumn of 1882. 

Historical articles of interest to Kansans appearing in the Kansas 
City (Mo.) Star in recent months included: "'John Brown Country* 
of Kansas Recalls Stirring Events of 100 Years Ago," by Margaret 
Olwine, October 4, 1959; and "Lincoln Got Little Publicity for 
Kansas Speeches in 1859," by F. W. Brinkerhoff, and "History's 
Peacetime Relics Shown at Fort Leavenworth," by Margaret Ol- 
wine, November 29. Articles in the Kansas City (Mo.) Times in- 
cluded "Snow Meant Reading Time on Farm," by Jennie Small 
Owen, January 20, 1960; "Kansas Story in One Man's Life," a review 
of One-way Ticket to Kansas, Frank M. Stahl's autobiography as 
told to Margaret Whittemore, by John T. Alexander, January 29; 
and "Editing a Daily Paper 'In His Steps/ " the story of Dr. Charles 
M. Sheldon as editor of the Topeka Daily Capital, by Clifford V. 
Souders, March 9. 

Arrington Methodists observed the 75th anniversary of their 
church in 1959. A history of the church appeared in the Atchison 
Daily Globe, October 4, 1959, the Holton Recorder, October 19, 
and the Valley Falls Vindicator, October 28. 

The Holton Evangelical United Brethern church celebrated its 
100th anniversary in October, 1959. On October 8 the Holton 
Recorder and the Jackson County Clipper, Holton, published his- 
tories of the church. 



KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 107 

Two of Garnett's churches, the United Presbyterian and the 
Methodist, observed centennial anniversaries in October, 1959. The 
Anderson Countian, Garnett, printed a history of the United Pres- 
byterian church, October 15, and of the Methodist church, October 
22. 

Emporia's First Baptist church, which recently reached its cen- 
tennial year, was the subject of a historical article by the pastor, 
the Rev. Ralph E. Herrick, published in the Emporia Gazette, 
October 17, 1959. 

In recognition of its 75th anniversary, a history of the South 
Haven Christian church was printed in the South Haven New Era, 
October 22, 1959. 

In 1869 the first services of the Frankfort Methodist church were 
held in the Missouri Pacific depot at Frankfort. The schoolhouse, 
the Presbyterian church, and other buildings served as meeting 
places until completion of the first church building in 1881. A 
history of the church was published in the Frankfort Index, Oc- 
tober 29, 1959. 

Histories of the Haven Methodist church appeared in the Haven 
Journal, October 29, and the Hutchinson News, October 31, 1959. 
The church received its charter and completed a building in 1889. 

A biographical sketch of 102-year-old Mrs. Isabelle Jackson Lee, 
Fredonia, by Mrs. Charles Shue, was printed in the Longton News, 
November 5, 1959. 

"Dodge City's Magic Circle/' a tour of southwest Kansas his- 
torical points, is the subject of an article by Edward Collier, in the 
Wichita Beacon, November 3, and the Manhattan Mercury, No- 
vember 29, 1959. Besides Dodge City, towns on the tour include: 
Kinsley, Lamed, St. John, Pratt, Medicine Lodge, Coldwater, and 
Greensburg. 

Ninety-year-old Al Hecox pictured lola 80 years ago in an article 
in the lola Register, November 3, 1959. On November 20 the 
Register printed a letter from E. C. Walker describing lola in 1893 
and 1903. 

On November 5, 1959, the Argonia Argosy began printing a 
series of articles on the early history of Harper county, written by 
the late Odell Cleous in 1947. Another series of historical articles, 
by Sarah Hutchinson, was started in the Argosy, January 21, 1960. 



108 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

"Ulysses 'City of the Plains/" by Kenneth Gray, the winning 
essay in the contest held during Ulysses* golden anniversary cele- 
bration, was published in the Ulysses News, November 26, 1959. 
The town was originally founded in 1885 and moved to its present 
location in 1909. 

Abraham Lincoln's visit to Kansas in 1859 was featured with 
special stories in The Kansas Chief, Troy, December 3, 1959. 

Twin pioneers of Russell county, Charles W. and Joseph E. Bear, 
were sketched in the Russell Record, December 14, 1959. The 
brothers came to Russell county in 1879. 

On December 19, 1959, the El Dorado Times published a 50-page 
40th anniversary edition. The Times grew out of the old Walnut 
Valley Times and the El Dorado Republican. 

Wichita's Christmas of 1870, was the subject of an article by 
Ralph Hinman, Jr., in the Wichita Beacon, December 20, 1959. 

The Baldwin Ledger, December 24, 1959, printed a history of 
the Coal Creek Library, Vinland, Douglas county. The library, 
said to be the oldest in Kansas, recently observed its 100th anni- 
versary. 

A study of the conflict during the 1870's between the Denver 
and Rio Grande railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe 
as the latter "sought to crush and absorb the little mountain narrow 
gauge company," by Robert G. Athearn, was published in The 
Colorado Magazine, Denver, January, 1960. 

O. W. Mosher's column, "Museum Notes," which appears regu- 
larly in the Emporia Gazette, giving bits of information about the 
Lyon County Museum and notes on the history of Lyon county 
and Emporia, included a biographical sketch of Capt. Lemuel T. 
Heritage, January 4, 1960. Heritage came to Emporia in 1857, 
served as a Union officer in the Civil War, and was one of the 
organizers of the Emporia National Bank. At his death he left a 
fund of over $30,000 for the benefit of the children of Emporia. 

On January 7, 1960, The Western Times, Sharon Springs, began 
printing a series of articles, by Ruth Jackson, on the George R. 
Allaman family, Wallace county pioneers, and Wallace county his- 
tory. 

O. W. and Harriet Highley homesteaded near present Neodesha 
in 1866. A sketch, relating some of their early experiences, by Joe 
W. Allen, appeared in the Neodesha Daily Sun, January 15, 1960. 



Kansas Historical Notes 

A county-wide celebration was held July 29 to August 8, 1959, 
in observance of the Kansas City and Wyandotte county centen- 
nial. Among the events were: re-enactment of the signing of the 
Wyandotte constitution, centennial parade, presentation of the 
historical pageant "Rivers to Rockets," combined church service 
with Sen. Frank Carlson as speaker, the display of the original 
Wyandotte constitution, and publication of an 80-page souvenir 
booklet. 

Robinson, Brown county, held its centennial celebration August 
14-16, 1959. Reunions of classes, square dances, an old settlers' 
picnic, dedication of the new grade school building, and com- 
munity church services were events of the program. A short his- 
tory of Robinson appeared in the Atchison Daily Globe, August 9. 

Ulysses observed its golden anniversary with a three-day cele- 
bration November 9-11, 1959. Events included: an essay contest, 
a re-enactment of the moving of the town to its present site, a 
parade, a free barbecue, and an address by Nyle H. Miller, secre- 
tary of the Kansas State Historical Society, entitled "On the 
Midway, U. S. A." 

George and Frank Roniger, Bazaar, have presented a museum 
building to Chase county. It was formally accepted by the county 
commissioners December 8, 1959. Located on the courthouse 
grounds in Cottonwood Falls, the museum is for the purpose of 
preserving items of Indian origin and other articles of historical 
interest to residents of the county. It will be called the Roniger 
Memorial Museum. 

The Hamilton County Historical Society was formed at a meet- 
ing in Syracuse, January 5, 1960. E. W. McNeill was chosen chair- 
man of the new organization; Mrs. Jessie Conard and Carroll 
Wainwright, vice-chairmen; and Amelia Minor, secretary. I. N. 
"Jibo" Hewitt, special representative of the Kansas Centennial 
Commission, addressed the meeting and assisted in the organization. 

Ralph V. Clark was elected president of the Wyandotte County 
Historical Society at a meeting at the Grinter House, January 14, 
1960. Other officers chosen were: Joe Lastelic, vice-president; 
Mrs. Raymond Lees, secretary; Mrs. Harry M. Trowbridge, treas- 
urer; Mrs. Samuel Bell, historian; and Mrs. George B. Smith, Jr., 
and Harry Hanson, trustees. Hanson was the retiring president. 

(109) 



110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Dr. O. W. Mosher was re-elected president of the Lyon County 
Historical Society at a meeting in Emporia, January 22, 1960. Wil- 
ford Riegle was elected first vice-president; John G. Atherton, 
second vice-president; Myrtle Buck, secretary; Warren Morris, 
treasurer; and Mrs. F. L. Gilson, historian. 

The Pratt County Historical Society was organized at a meeting 
in Coats, January 22, 1960. J. K. Shriver, Coats, was elected presi- 
dent; Mrs. Carl Terry, Sawyer, Bob Frazier, Cullison, and Roger 
Miller, Pratt, vice-presidents; Dr. J. W. Jacks, Pratt, co-ordinator; 
Mrs. Ruby Bayse, Coats, secretary; E. L. Trock, Coats, treasurer; 
Dick Holdren, Pratt, publicity director; and J. Rufus Gray, Pratt, 
and George Miller, Sawyer, historians. 

Officers of the Smith County Historical Society were all re-elected 
at the annual meeting, January 23, 1960, in Smith Center. They 
are: Emmet Womer, president; W. E. Lee, vice-president; Mrs. 
Margaret Nelson, secretary; Mrs. Claude Diehl, treasurer; and Ray 
Myers, Lou Felton, I. A. Nichols, Walter Hofer, and Oscar Rice, 
directors. 

Guy H. Dyer, retired McCune publisher, spoke to a meeting of 
the Crawford County Historical Society in Pittsburg, January 25, 
1960, on his work in writing a history of Crawford county. Fred 
Brinkerhoff, Pittsburg, and Rolla Clymer, El Dorado, were also on 
the program via films of the re-enactment of Abraham Lincoln's 
visit to Kansas. 

Dean E. Yingling, Topeka, was elected president of the Native 
Sons, and Mrs. J. C. Tillotson, Norton, of the Native Daughters, 
at the annual meeting of the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas 
in Topeka, January 28, 1960. Other officers of the Native Sons are: 
Floyd R. Souders, Cheney, vice-president; Emery F. Fager, Over- 
brook, secretary; and Marshall Gardiner, Leavenworth, treasurer. 
Officers of the Native Daughters include: Mrs. Chester Dunn, 
Oxford, vice-president; Lela Hough, Topeka, secretary; and Mae 
Oliver, Topeka, treasurer. The retiring presidents were: Wayne 
Randall, Osage City, and Evelyn Ford, Topeka. The "Kansan of 
the Year" award went to Rolla Clymer, El Dorado. Plans of the 
organization for 1961, Kansas' centennial year, were announced. 

The history of banking in Kansas was the theme of the Woman's 
Kansas Day Club annual meeting in Topeka, January 29, 1960. 
Mrs. McDill Boyd, Phillipsburg, was elected president for the 
coming year. Other officers are: Mrs. Marion Beatty, Topeka, 



KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 111 

first vice-president; Mrs. Claude R. Stutzman, Kansas City, second 
vice-president; Mrs. Roy S. Gibson, Chanute, recording secretary; 
Mrs. Frank Huffman, Topeka, treasurer; Mrs. Paul Wedin, Wichita, 
historian; Mrs. R. T. Unruh, Topeka, auditor; and Mrs. Sharon 
Foster, Ellsworth, registrar. The district directors are: Mrs. M. A. 
Brawley, Frankfort, first district; Mrs. Paul Mitchum, Kansas City, 
second district; Mrs. Tillie Karns Newman, Coffeyville, third dis- 
trict, Mrs. Roscoe Mendenhall, Emporia, fourth district; Mrs. 
Floyd Breeding, Rolla, fifth district; and Mrs. Herbert Rogg, Rus- 
sell, sixth district. Mrs. Harry A. Chaffee, Topeka, was the retiring 
president. 

Members elected to the board of directors of the Finney County 
Historical Society at the society's annual meeting, February 9, 
1960, in Garden City, were: E. E. Bill, Abe Hubert, Mrs. Delia 
Gobleman, D. D. Richardson, Warren Maltbie, Clifford Hope, Jr., 
Mrs. Cecil Wristen, C. H. Cleaver, A. M. Fleming, Mrs. J. O. 
Carter, and Lester McCoy. 

Larry Yost, president, and R. Roy Taylor, vice-president, were 
re-elected at the annual meeting of the Southwest Kansas Historical 
Society in Dodge City, February 15, 1960. The following were 
elected to the board of directors: James A. Williams, J. P. Mc- 
Collom, Joe Hulpieu, Mrs. Robert Rath, and George Henrichs. 
Other officers and members of the board are: Mrs. C. R. Harner, 
secretary, and Fred Swart, treasurer. 

Organization of the Harper County Historical Society was com- 
pleted at a meeting in Harper, February 20, 1960. Included among 
the officers are: Mrs. Phil Antrim, president, Mrs. Bill Nye, secre- 
tary, and Homer Thompson, co-ordinator. The county's three edi- 
tors, J. E. Jacobsen, Anthony; Don C. Parr, Attica; and Robert N. 
Bolitho, Harper, are publicity directors. 

In observance of its 25th anniversary, the Trinity Lutheran 
church of Salina issued a 32-page historical pamphlet, June 14, 
1959. The occasion also marked the tenth anniversary of the dedi- 
cation of the church building. 

100 Years of Methodism in Holton is the title of a 32-page pam- 
phlet issued by the Holton Methodist church in observance of 
its centennial in 1959. 

Faith of Our Fathers., a 32-page historical pamphlet by Carldon 
H. Broadbent, was recently published in observance of the 75th 
anniversary of the Pleasant View Methodist church of Beloit. 



112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Kansas History in Graduate Study, a 64-page bibliography of 
theses and dissertations, edited by Homer E. Socolofsky, was pub- 
lished by Kansas State University in 1959 as a contribution to the 
Kansas centennial. 

Coldwater and Comanche county history was featured in a 64- 
page diamond jubilee souvenir booklet published in connection with 
Coldwater's celebration August 30-September 2, 1959. 

Log Cabin Days Along, Salt Creek, a 60-page pamphlet by Agnes 
Tolbert on the early history of Republic county, was published in 
1959 by Adams Press, Chicago. 

In observance of its centennial anniversary, the First Presbyterian 
church, Topeka, published a 27-page historical booklet early in 
1960. 

In co-operation with the Kansas Wheat Commission and the 
Agricultural Marketing Service of the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture, the Kansas State Board of Agriculture recently issued a 134- 
page booklet entitled Marketing Kansas Wheat. The publication 
includes a history of wheat growing in Kansas and discusses the 
stages wheat goes through, seeding, growing, harvesting, market- 
ing, milling, and making the bread and cereals for world-wide con- 
sumption. 

James Iverne Dowie is the author of a 262-page, paper-bound 
volume entitled Prairie Grass Dividing, published in 1959 by the 
Augustana Historical Society, Rock Island, 111. It is largely the 
story of the Swedish settlements in Nebraska and Kansas, their 
churches and their schools. 

Horace Jones' The Story of Early Rice County, originally pub- 
lished in 1928, has been republished in 1959 in a 141-page, paper- 
bound volume, by Paul E. Jones. 

Pioneer Days in Lane County, a 154-page, paper-bound booklet, 
comprised largely of reminiscences by early settlers of Lane county, 
was published by the Lane County Historical Society in 1959. 

A 124-page historical review of the Diocese of Kansas of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, from its formation in 1859 to its 
centennial in 1959, entitled The First 100 Years, was recently pub- 
lished by the Allen Press, Lawrence. 



n 



THE 

KANSAS HISTORICAL 
QUARTERLY 



Summer 1960 




Published by 

Kansas State Historical Society 

Topeka 



NYLE H. MILLER KIRKE MECHEM JAMES C. MALIN 

Managing Editor Editor Associate Editor 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS: The Letters of 

Charles Monroe Chase Edited by Lela Barnes, 11-3 

KANSA VILLAGE LOCATIONS IN THE LIGHT OF 

MCCOY'S 1828 JOURNAL Roscoe Wilmeth, 152 

With map of McCoy's probable route, p. 154. 

SOME NOTES ON KANSAS COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 
Continued Nyle H. Miller and Joseph W. Snell, 158 

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, Compiled by Alberta Pantle, Librarian, 206 

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 228 

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 229 

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 231 

The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas 
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth St., Topeka, Kan. It is distributed 
without charge to members of the Society; nonmembers may purchase single 
issues, when available, for 75 cents each. Membership dues are: annual, $3; 
annual sustaining, $10; life, $20. Membership applications and dues should be 
sent to Mrs. Lela Barnes, treasurer. 

Correspondence concerning articles for the Quarterly should be addressed to 
the managing editor. The Society assumes no responsibility for statements made 
by contributors. 

Second-class postage has been paid at Topeka, Kan. 



THE COVER 

William C. Quantrill's raid on Lawrence the morning 
of August 21, 1863, as sketched in pencil by Sherman 
Enderton, Co. E, llth Kansas volunteers, who reached 
the ruined city several hours later. For a written de- 
scription of the massacre by a traveler who arrived 
next day, see pp. 143-148. 



THE KANSAS 
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Volume XXVI Summer, 1960 Number 2 

An Editor Looks at Early-Day Kansas 

THE LETTERS OF CHARLES MONROE CHASE 

Edited by LELA BARNES 

I. INTRODUCTION 

KANSAS had enjoyed more than two years of statehood by the 
time the first of these letters were written. The turbulence of 
the territorial days had passed into history, but newspaper men 
were still attracted to the scene, as they had been from the be- 
ginning. Thus it was that Charles Monroe Chase came to eastern 
Kansas in 1863 and, during his year's stay, served for a time as 
local editor of the Leavenworth Times. 

C. M. Chase (1829-1902) was a native of Lyndon, Vt, and spent 
the greater part of his life in that community. After his gradua- 
tion from Dartmouth, he located in Cincinnati where from 1854 
to 1856 he taught music at Cincinnati College and studied law. He 
then went to Sycamore, 111., where he was admitted to the bar and 
formed a law partnership with Jacob A. Simons. Here, also, he 
entered the newspaper business which subsequently became his 
major interest. 

Chase went into the Union army in 1861 with a brass band. 
His intention, he said, was "to kill the cussed rebels, of course, 
but none of them heard the music, and so not many died on my 
account." 

In August, 1863, he recorded his impressions of the Kansas area 
for readers of the True Republican and Sentinel of Sycamore, 111. 
These letters comprise the first installment. 

Chase returned to Lyndon in 1865 and established the Vermont 
Union which he edited until his death in 1902. He made other 
trips to the West, sending back his observations in letters to the 
Union. In 1873 he was again in the Kansas region and letters 
written on this visit will be published in the Autumn issue of the 

MRS. LELA BARNES is treasurer and head of the manuscript division of the Kansas 
State Historical Society. 

(113) 



114 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Quarterly. Letters written while traveling in New Mexico and 
Colorado in 1881 were issued in book form under the title, The 
Editors Run. They offer a lively account of that journey. 

Publication of the Kansas letters of 1863 and 1873 was made 
possible through the co-operation of N. Louise Chase, New Lon- 
don, Conn., daughter of C. M. Chase. Miss Chase kindly lent a 
scrapbook containing clippings from the Sycamore and Lyndon 
papers. Only minor changes have been made, mostly to correct 
typographical errors. 

II. THE LETTERS OF 1863 

ST. JOSEPH, Mo., August 7th, 1863. 

ED. REPUBLICAN. Twenty-six hours' travel via Burlington & 
Quincy R. R. will take you to St. Joseph, Mo. Friday evening at 
8 o'clock I left Chicago arriving at St. Joseph the next evening at 10. 

Missouri is said to be a God-forsaken country; and one who 
draws conclusions from the general appearance of the genuine 
"Butternuts," l is apt to believe that Providence has not been over 
lavish in favors towards the "Pukes." 2 

The northwestern portion of Missouri is unsurpassed in beauty 
or productiveness. After crossing the river at Quincy you enter 
upon a wild country, uneven in surface and covered with timber, 
with here and there, on the line of the railroad, a dilapidated village. 
But from Livingston county to the Mississippi 3 you pass through 
a beautiful undulating country, more uneven than the rolling prairie 
in Illinois, but all tillable and rich. This portion of the state is 
destined, at no distant day, to be one of the finest farming sections 
in the Union. 

Slavery in Missouri has run its race nothing but shadows of the 
institution are observable. People who have designed to settle in 
Missouri, as soon as slavery should be done away with, will now 
flock in there and commence the development of the rich resources 
of the state. Farming land is exceedingly low. As good a farm as 
can be found in DeKalb county [Illinois] can be bought in north- 
western Missouri for $5 per acre. There are many cases of Secesh 
vacancies, where property can be purchased for a song. People 

1. George Earlie Shankle, State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other 
Symbols (New York, H. W. Wilson Co., 1934), pp. 147, 148: "The name Butter-nuts 
was first given to the soldiers of Tennessee during the Civil War from the tan color of 
their uniforms, and later it came to be applied to the people of the entire State." 

2. Ibid., p. 129: "Leopold Wagner [in his More About Names] says that 'the natives 
of Missouri are universally styled Pukes, a corruption of the older name Pikes, which 
still obtains in California as the description of the migratory whites from the South owing 
to the idea that these originally came from Pike County, Missouri.' " 

3. Chase undoubtedly meant the Missouri river and wrote Mississippi in error. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 115 

with their eyes open will take advantage of the present disturbance 
in Missouri society and property. Present opportunities will not al- 
ways exist. "The early bird catches the worm." 

Saint Joseph is a point. When the war broke out rebels ruled the 
town. More than half of her citizens were genuine Secesh, and it 
was only after the severest military discipline that Unionism tri- 
umphed. Hundreds of her citizens left for the South in hot 
haste and between days. Their property was, of course, left behind, 
and in many cases has been sold for one-eighth of its real value. 
This state of things has tended to cripple the city temporarily. 
Property, in the average, has depreciated two-thirds, rents are down, 
everything, for the moment, is deranged; but that business will re- 
sume its wonted channel, and that St. Joe will increase seems beyond 
question. From here one of the branches of the Pacific Railroad is 
surveyed, and the citizens of St. Joe as an extra inducement to the 
government have already graded a road for twenty miles west. 
Through here passes all the business from the East going into Kan- 
sas. Eastern freight for Atchison, Leavenworth, Kansas City, &c., 
&c., all passes through St. Joe. Sometime Leavenworth will doubt- 
less have direct communication, by rail, with Chicago, but at present 
St. Joe is the only railroad point for Kansas, 4 and before any other 
road is built she will have acquired wealth, increase and influence 
enough to render her future importance secure. 

The population of St. Joe is now about 12,000. It has been more, 
but war and skedaddles have diminished her population several 
thousand. She is situated on the flat and bluff. The court house 
stands conspicuously on the top of a high bluff; and the finest resi- 
dences are scattered along on the top and sides, while the main busi- 
ness streets are on the flat. The finest hotel in the city, and one of the 
finest in the west, is the Patee House, built a few years ago at a cost 
of $90,000. It was located in a remote part of the city, and designed 
to draw the business streets towards it and enhance the value of lots 
in that locality. National calamities have frustrated the owners' 
designs, and the property is to be sold for what it will bring prob- 
ably $15,000 or $20,000. 

The people hereabouts are not famous for their appetite for 
Scripture. The "golden rule" is not definitely impressed upon the 

4. The first railroad line in Kansas, planned to continue westward from St. Joseph, 
was chartered by the territorial legislature of Kansas in 1857 under the name Marysville 
or Palmetto and Rosepoi't road. It was soon known as the Elwood and Marysville road. 
The Hannibal and St. Joseph reached St. Joseph early in 1859 and in April of the following 
year an engine and several cars were ferried across the river. A formal opening of the 
line took place in July, with a train running as far as Wathena, a distance of about five 
miles. 



116 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

minds of the people. If a man in St. Joe knocks down a neighbor, 
that neighbor forgets the other cheek injunction and proceeds to re- 
turn the compliment. This custom sometimes makes a little dis- 
turbance in society, but it helps the law business, furnishes the local 
reporter with an item, and contributes something to the finances of 
the city, to say nothing about the pugilistic discipline it affords the 
parties. C. M. C. 

KANSAS CITY, JACKSON Co., Mo., 
August 8th, 1863 

ED. SENTINEL: Yesterday morning, at 7 o'clock, I left Leavenworth 
and arrived in this city, by boat, a little before noon. The scenery 
on the Missouri river is but a slight improvement on that of the 
Mississippi. Its chief attractions are muddy water and forest trees. 
From eastern points you reach Kansas City by boat; from here west 
or south the stage is the only public conveyance. The old fashioned 
eastern staging commences at this point. Some of the old coaches, 
used in Vermont and New Hampshire, are in use here now. The 
rattle of the wheels, the crack of the whip, the rush to the stage 
hotels on the arrival of the coaches from different points, remind one 
of the old New England towns, long ago, where railroads and steam 
whistles were subjects for dreams and visionary speculations. Stag- 
ing is an important feature in Kansas City business. The Santa Fe 
line of stages starts from this point every Friday morning. Horses are 
changed every fifteen miles, and the steeds measure off the distance 
at the rate of 80 miles per day, making the round trip, a distance 
of 1600 miles, in twenty days. 5 The fare to Santa Fe is $125. An- 
other line of stages runs from Kansas City to Denver City, a distance 
of 700 miles. Fare to Denver is only $75. Why this difference of 
$50 in fare, when the difference in the length of the two routes is but 
100 miles, I cannot say. Perhaps it is because there is more travel 
to Denver than to Santa Fe. Emigrant teams may also operate as 
a competition in the business. The Santa Fe trade adds much to 
the business-like appearance of Kansas City. Almost daily large 
trains of five- and six-yoke ox teams are arriving or leaving. 

If the Santa Fe merchants do their trading here, it alone is an 
immense business to the city. If they trade chiefly in New York 
and simply freight or reship from this point, it fills the city with 
life and must necessarily leave a large amount of money in the 

5. Frank A. Root and William E. Connelley in their Overland Stage to California 
(Topeka, 1901), p. 54, state that until 1866 the fastest time by mail stage between Santa 
Fe and Kansas City was 11 days for a distance of more than 800 miles. This is cited as 
a record. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 117 

place. By referring to the map it will be noticed that at this point 
the Missouri River turns from west to north, making Kansas City 
the stopping point for river freight going west. As river freight 
is always cheapest the bulk of eastern goods destined for New 
Mexico, southern and western Kansas, and a portion of southwestern 
Missouri, will be shipped direct to Kansas City. The trade in these 
localities is already very heavy and as this immense stretch of 
territory becomes settled and developed, Kansas City, it would 
seem, must be its depot, where its products must center and where 
its commercial wants must be supplied. 

At the present time Leavenworth is leading everything west of 
St. Louis. The fort here, and the consequent transaction of all 
government business at this point, is giving Leavenworth a great 
present advantage, and on the strength of it she is rapidly building 
up. Her people believe, and perhaps they are correct, that this 
present prosperity will give wealth and influence sufficient to enable 
her to control the principal business of all western points, even after 
the war is closed. Much will depend on the establishment of 
railroad communications east and west. At present she has no rail- 
road. If during her present triumph over Kansas City, she succeeds 
in building a road east to connect with the Hannibal & St. Joseph 
road, and another the Pacific Railroad west, she may acquire 
so much strength as never to be overtaken by Kansas City. She 
expects to have these lines of road completed within a year. 

On the other hand Kansas City expects to have completed within 
a year the railroad projected from St. Louis to Kansas City and 
already completed to Warrensburg only 50 miles distant, another 
connecting Kansas City with the Hannibal and St. Joseph road 
at Cameron, and also a portion of the Kansas City branch of the 
Pacific railroad, going directly west. These two cities are both 
sanguine in their expectations, and about equally confident in their 
ultimate success in the race for importance. They are now balanc- 
ing, but a few years more will settle the question and do away with 
all rivalry. The world will soon speak of one of these places as 
one of the thriving cities of the country and the other, the world 
won't speak of at all. 

St. Joe has a few claimants for her future importance, grounded 
on the immense territory northwest of her, which they think must 
make her the greatest city on the Missouri. These three cities are 
about equal in size. Leavenworth is a little the largest. A glance 
at the map shows an immense country northwest of St. Joe and 



118 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

southwest of Kansas City. If these two cities attract all the busi- 
ness in their respective territories, Leavenworth, which lies just 
between them, and only forty miles from either, would be left 
out in the cold. But while Leavenworth and Kansas City both 
have a charter for a branch of the Pacific road, St. Joe has none, 
and it is somewhat doubtful whether she ever gets a charter for the 
third branch. If she does, and that soon, she will enter the race 
with the other two cities, and with a fair prospect of success. 

The worst enemy to Kansas City today is the Bushwhacker. 
There is no county in the state so much infested with these in- 
fernal devils as Jackson county. The county is well timbered, and 
the density of the wood along the streams and in the ravines af- 
fords excellent rendezvous for these pestiferous gangs. There is 
not a road leading into the city which is safe to travel. At any 
moment and at any place these villains are liable to spring upon 
the traveler, rob him of his horses and money and perhaps take his 
life. They are not apt to molest a woman. Last night before 
dark one Geo. Todd, 6 with thirty of his gang, approached within 
a half mile of the city limits, took six horses from one man, took 
the next neighbor prisoner, and moved the furniture out and 
burned the next house down. Todd is a resident of Kansas City. 
A year ago his father's family was waited upon and advised to 
leave the city within a specified time. George was mad, took to 
bushwhacking, and has since been a terror to the whole country. 

Quantrell, the chief of rebel Bushwhackers, also operates in this 
county and all along the border in Missouri and Kansas. The 
Jennison jayhawking has ceased. 7 One not acquainted, by prac- 
tical experience, with the state of this society cannot realize the 
constant insecurity for life and property felt by the citizens. Every 
man sleeps with a loaded revolver; the least noise without brings 
him to his feet; men do not travel the streets without revolvers; 
revolvers are everywhere ready to go off on short notice. This 
state of society has temporarily injured the business of Kansas 
City, and unless Bushwhackers are very soon exterminated it will 
be ruined. City property has depreciated nearly one half, though 
at present it seems to be rising. Farms a mile out of town which 

6. Todd, an itinerant stonemason and ditchdigger, joined Quantrill in December, 1861, 
and within a few months was made 2d lieutenant of the guerrilla band. William E. Con- 
nelley, in his Quantrill and the Border Wars (Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Torch Press, 1910), 

&317 says: "The venomous blood-rioters of the guerrilla band were Bill Anderson and 
eorge Todd; these panted for blood. . . . They lived only to murder." Todd 
eventually took over leadership from Quantrill. He was killed near Independence, Mo., 
in October, 1864, while acting as scout for Confederate forces. 

7. Charles R. Jennison was colonel of the Seventh Kansas cavalry, known as Jen- 
nison's Jayhawkers. He was assigned command of the western border of Missouri. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 119 

have been held as high as $300 per acre, can now be purchased 
for $150 or $200 per acre. A person with capital could doubt- 
less invest here now to great advantage. The surface of the 
country is very uneven, and the soil is extremely rich. There is no 
better county for farming in the State. Independence is the county 
seat, from which point I will write you soon. C. M. C. 

EL WOOD, DONIPHAN Co., KANSAS, 
August 9th, 1863. 

EDITOR REPUBLICAN: Every one has heard of the village lot 
speculations in the various towns in Kansas. In 1856 and '57 divers 
farms in Kansas were platted off into town lots and sold at enormous 
prices. People convinced that certain points must eventually be- 
come important cities, eagerly invested. Elwood, situated on the 
banks of the Missouri opposite St. Joe, was platted in 1856. Many 
supposing that, in a short time, it would outstrip St. Joe, went wildly 
into the village lot speculation, paying for choice lots as high as 
$700. People from various eastern points moved into the village, 
built and settled for life. The town rapidly increased, society im- 
proved, and Elwood was really considered one of the prospering 
and promising points in the state. 

But the crash of '57 came, real estate began to depreciate, many 
were alarmed, sold out and returned to their eastern homes; then 
came the rebellion, with civil war and lawlessness in all the little 
border towns, not excepting Elwood; property again depreciated, 
people were more than ever alarmed, emigration for the East again 
set in, and Elwood was left with hardly people enough to keep the 
houses; and, as if this was not enough, the Missouri river last year 
took about one third of the town lots into her channel, compelling 
people to tear down their houses in hot haste, and move their 
valuables to the main land. Some, even, were discomforted by 
seeing their residences and other property floating away in the 
middle of the river. Amid these misfortunes Elwood "played out." 
Village lots are now sold for five dollars, and would be given away 
if people would build on them. The town contains not more than 
a hundred people. The buildings are dilapidated. Stores are 
closed; streets empty; sidewalks broken to pieces. Everything re- 
minds one of past thrift and present destitution. 

I met in this town an old school-mate, who insisted on my visiting 
his place. I found him situated five miles west from Elwood, on the 
top of the highest bluff in all that region, with St. Joe plainly in view, 
and a prospect of many miles in every direction. As his history 



120 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

since leaving college is, in many respects, similar to that of many 
Kansas men, I am disposed to give your readers a sketch of it. 

Mr. R 8 was born in Gainsville, Ala., and educated in a New 

England college. After leaving college he travelled for a year or 
two, visiting all parts of the country. He traversed the western 
states several times over; visited and studied all the border cities 
and towns, and finally concluded that the Missouri valley was the 
destined garden of Eden. He then went home and related his 
asseverations to his father, who handed him over $30,000 for western 
speculation. Returning he invested in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri 
and Kansas. After a year or two of buying, selling and exchanging, 
he concluded that Elwood, Kansas, bid the fairest for a large town, 
and consequently disposed of most of his property in other places 
invested in Elwood farms and village lots; and was reaping hand- 
some profits when the crash commenced. Today an invoice of his 
property shows him that he has paid the physician just $25,000 to 
cut his eye teeth for him. 

Reverses, however, do not discourage him. He does not leave 
the country, but stays and fights the battles of Kansas. In 1860 he 
married an Elwood girl and moved out on the farm, plants a vine- 
yard, and goes whole soul into grape and general fruit raising and 
politics, succeeding admirably in both. Today he has a promising 
little brick farm house, with convenient out buildings, excellent 
horse, a fine carriage and is situated like a young lord in his castle. In 
politics he has succeeded in making himself one of the most in- 
fluential men of the state. He is at present a representative in the 
legislature, enrolling commissioner for the southern district of Kan- 
sas, and Quartermaster General of the state. Notwithstanding his 
southern birth he is liberal in politics, but very anti-secesh, is 
generous towards his opponents, and loves his adopted state, which 
is the secret of his popularity. Like all Kansas men, he is very 
desirous of displaying the beauties and advantages of his own 
section. Accordingly, I found it impossible to leave Doniphan 
county without first taking a trip with the General to Troy, the 
county seat, situated fifteen miles west. 

From the river, ten miles west, you pass through a region of 
steep bluffs, covered with oak timber, and well watered with little 
streams. It reminds one much of New England scenery, but unlike 
that, the bluffs or hills are of uniform height, their tops once forming, 
apparently, a level surface with valleys dug out by the action of 

8. Edward Russell. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 121 

water. The road is continually up or down, unrelieved by a rod 
of plain. The soil is exceedingly rich and productive. All along 
the road you pass beautiful fruit and stock farms, but of small 
dimensions seldom over eighty acres being cultivated by one 
farmer. From these bluffs you emerge into endless rolling prairies 
more rolling and uneven, just as rich, and more beautiful than any 
prairie I have ever seen. 

Troy is situated some six or eight miles from the bluffs, and is 
tumbled in among the rolls of the prairie. The Court House stands 
in a square park of four acres around which stand the business 
houses. I made the acquaintance of all the county officers, and 
many who expect to fill their places. Every one here thinks Troy 
will be a great business center ere long, and consequently "happy 
the man" who drives his stake. The town now numbers about six 
hundred and is at a "dead stand still" though when the war is 
over the railroad from St. Joe, which is already graded to this place, 
will be completed, and emigration to Troy will commence. 

In returning we took the road leading over the bottom land or 
along the banks of a little creek bordered on either side with a 
narrow strip of trees and shrubs the only appearance of trees in 
all that section. This road led us through Wathena, a town of former 
pretentious and village lot mania. The village at present numbers 
about one hundred people and thirty or forty houses scattered over 
an area of a half a mile square, a little store here, a shanty away 
over there, a story and a half cottage away down next to the woods, 
a barn over the creek, &c., &c. "Played out" is the only sign board 
to be seen in town. Formerly good lots in Wathena sold for $100, 
and upwards; now they can not be sold at any price. This may be 
owing to the national troubles, but more likely to the fact that 
speculators attempted to plant a town in a place where a town 
would not grow. C. M. C. 

LEAVENWORTH, August 10th, 1863. 

MR. EDITOR. Jayhawkers, Redlegs and Bushwhackers are every- 
day terms in Kansas and western Missouri. A Jayhawker is a 
Unionist who professes to rob, burn out and murder only rebels 
in arms against the government. A Redleg is a Jayhawker originally 
distinguished by the uniform of red leggings. 9 A Redleg, however, 

9. To guard against guerrilla incursions into Kansas and aid the Union cause, a com- 
pany of border scouts, known as Red Legs, was organized in 1862. The name came from 
their red or tan leather leggings. Some were attached to the Union army. Writings on 
the Civil war offer divergent views of the character of this organization. Its members are 
described on the one hand as outlaws who endangered the peace and security of society; 
on the other as men above the average in ability, generally honest and patriotic, but 
drawn by the exigencies of the time into a savage and ruthless warfare. 



122 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

is regarded as more purely an indiscriminate thief and murderer 
than the Jayhawker or Bushwhacker. A Bushwhacker is a rebel Jay- 
hawker, or a rebel who bands with others for the purpose of preying 
upon the lives and property of Union citizens. They are all lawless 
and indiscriminate in their iniquities. Their occupation, unless 
crushed out speedily, will lead into a system of highway robbery 
exceeding anything that has yet existed in any country. It excites 
the mind, destroys the moral sensibilities, creates a thirst for wild life 
and adventure which will, on the restoration of peace, find gratifica- 
tion in nothing but highway robbery. 

In my last I promised you a history of one of the leading Kansas 
Jay hawkers. I have time only to give you a very brief sketch of a 
conversation of many hours: 

The name of Captain Tuft or according to his own spelling 
"Tough" carries with it a degree of terror in Kansas of which 
people in peaceable society can have no conception. 10 It reminds 
some of the loss of horses, some of the destruction of their homes, 
and some of the murder of their dearest friends. Captain Tuft was 
born in Savannah, Ga., and at an early age moved to Baltimore. In 
1860, at the age of twenty-one, he moved to Saint Joseph, Mo. His 
father helped him to a little capital, and he, with a partner, invested 
in mules and wagons, and commenced freighting from St. Joe to 
Denver City. They prospered in business until the war broke out, 
when, for some reason or other, his mules were taken from him by 
a squad of Jayhawkers. He immediately goes to headquarters, at 
Leavenworth, for indemnification but gets no satisfaction from 
Uncle Sam. He then determines to state his cause to the rebels, and 
crosses the river at Leavenworth in search of rebel headquarters. 
He had proceeded but a half mile into the woods when he was con- 
fronted by five Bushwhackers, who ordered him to halt. Not inclined 
to obey the orders, he put spurs to his horse, the consequence of 

10. The name was actually William Sloan Tough. Chase was in error in giving it 
as Tuft. 

R. McE. Schauffler, in his "Biographical Notes on Capt. William Sloan Tough" (manu- 
script in the library of the Kansas State Historical Society), states that Tough was born 
in Maryland in 1840 and that as a very young man he came West to seek adventure on 
the frontier. His first fancy was to be a "mountain man" and he went to the Rocky 
Mountains with a company of trappers, but soon lost interest in the project because of 
the declining fur trade. Schauffler s account of subsequent events in Tough's colorful 
career coincides to an extent with the account given here by Chase. He states that theft 
of the mules took place when Tough was field manager or wagon boss for the McDonalds, 
bankers and merchants of St. Joseph, who had contracted to haul supplies to military posts' 
in northern Kansas and southern Nebraska. 

Comparatively little has been written about Tough. Schauffler describes him as a man. 
of unflinching courage and great resourcefulness who was projected by the violence of the 
times into a career not always consonant with his true character. 

For many years Tough, with his sons, conducted a large horse and mule market at the 
Kansas City stock yards. During the Boer war he supplied great numbers of animals to 
the British army and so impressed the officers with his keen judgment and fair dealing 
that English purchasing agents sought out his son during World War I and commissioned 
him to buy for them. Tough died in 1914. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 123 

which was he was shot down and left for dead. He recovered, how- 
ever, and after a few weeks' nursing by some kind woman in the 
woods he was able to travel. Prior to this occurrance he had no 
particular interest in the fight, either one way or the other. But now 
he determined to go into the fight with all the force he possessed, 
not from any feelings of patriotism, but from pure motives of re- 
venge. He swore eternal vengeance to the squad that shot him 
down, and to all others of that class. 

In Leavenworth and vicinity he raised seventy-five men and took 
to the woods. They were soon well mounted on rebel horses, and 
well disciplined for their ferocious work. He adopted a system of 
scouts, spies and disguises, and was very soon in the secret of the 
Bushwhackers' operations. In just one month from the time he took 
his men into the brush he had the unspeakable satisfaction of seeing 
the five who first assaulted him swinging from the same limb. He 
seemed to have been transformed into a demon, he said, and to take 
the wildest delight in seeing the "poor cusses gasping for breath." 
On another occasion, he, with a half dozen of his men, were passing 
a house and found a woman crying bitterly over her dead baby. He 
learned that the Bushwhackers had just been there inquiring of the 
woman of Captain Tuft's men. While she was answering their ques- 
tions her child began to cry, and one of the fiends drew his revolver 
and shot it through the head. Tuft put himself on their track and 
in a week killed five of the gang including the one who shot the 
child. 

At another time he found one of his scouts beside the road with 
his head blown open with powder. He immediately took three of 
his men to track out the enemy. Towards night, after riding thirty 
miles, they came suddenly on seven horsemen whom they took to be 
rebels. Feigning himself a Bushwhacker, he galloped into their 
midst with, "Halloo, boys, whar's Quantrill?" Not knowing Tuft 
or his companions, they were at first very cautious in their answers. 
But being a very shrewd man, he let on right smart" like a Bush- 
whacker. "Here's a hoss" says he "I shot a d d Yankee off from not 
more nor an hour ago." After boasting of several Yankee butcheries, 
and house burnings he had performed since breakfast, one of the 
rebels ventured to crow a little over what they had done. They 
had caught one of Old Tuft's scouts in the morning, made some 
holes in him, loaded his ears up with powder, touched 'em off, and 
"blowed his old mug to h 1." Instantly Tuft gave the order, and 
those seven men were biting the dust before they had time to cock 
a revolver. These were among the incidents he related. 



124 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

There were an infinite number of single murders, and lesser crimes 
he mentioned, but enough has been related to give an idea of the 
character of the man. He lived in the woods, plundered from armed 
rebels, burned their houses and killed the fighting population with- 
out scruple. His plunder was divided among his men, who would 
sell it and get pay for their service. They belonged to no military 
organization but ran an independent concern. By many Tuft is 
regarded as a pure horse thief and murderer; others of a rabid, law- 
less nature, incline to wink at his crimes as long as his avowed 
purpose is to rob and murder rebels. It proves dangerous however, 
to suspend the law and give such characters as Tuft discretionary 
license to rob and murder. Where there is a fine horse in the way, 
or a personal enemy, Tuffs discretion between Union and Secesh 
is not accurate. 

Jay hawking has run its race in Kansas; honest people are all on the 
side of the law; indiscriminate robbery is the result of the Jay- 
hawker's license, and in many cases its friends have paid heavily 
towards its support. Tuft himself acknowledges the inevitable 
tendency of the practice. He says he has few regrets for the past; 
his victims have not yet appeared in his dreams, still he doesn't like 
the business and has determined to lead a better life. Gen. Blunt, 
a few months ago gave him a position on his staff as Chief of Scouts, 
with a pay of $250 per month. He is now under arrest for killing 
a man at Fort Scott, but if his story is true the man ought to have 
been killed, and his detention will be brief. He says I shall meet 
him again at Fort Scott. We shall see. C. M. C. 

INDEPENDENCE, JACKSON Co., Mo. 

August 12th, 1863. 

In this country the old notion that men are the protectors of 
women has exploded, the tables are turned, men are now the weaker 
vessels, and women the protectors. A man dare not travel alone 
five miles from Kansas City, but with his wife he feels compar- 
atively secure. Bushwhackers have not yet raised a hand against 
a woman, they sometimes burn a house over her head, but are 
careful not to injure her person. Among travelers, they not only 
respect her, but have some regard for her male companion. This 
morning I was invited by the enrolling officer for this district, and a 
friend of his, to ride to Independence. For security one of the 
men took his wife. The officer said if Todd should catch him, he 
would unquestionably terminate his participation in terrestrial en- 
joyments, as he was one of those who formerly waited upon the 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 125 

Todd family with an invitation to leave the state. George, he said 
was a "blood thirsty cuss/' beside whom Quantrill was a gentle- 
man. This announcement kept our eyes strained for whackers 
in the brush. The ride was ten miles, over a good road, but a 
very uneven surface, and through woods. The journey was per- 
formed without molestation, though at the Little Blue, the general 
rendezvous of Bushwhackers, we told no stories, made no jokes; 
still tongues and sharp eyes seemed especially appropriate to the 
occasion. Having passed through the ravine through which the 
Blue runs, a deep, dark, densely wooded place, breathing seemed 
to be freer, and the tongues began to wag again. 

From the Blue to Independence most of the buildings on the 
road are burned, some smoky brick walls were still standing, 
mournful relics of domestic happiness. Most of the buildings 
were destroyed by Jennison a year or more ago, some by bush- 
whackers of a recent date. The country all the way exhibits the 
finest farms I have ever seen, most of them cultivated this year 
by tenants living in barns or little shanties fixed up by the ruins 
of the old mansions. When within three miles of Independence 
we pass Rock Creek, memorable in this section as the place where 
the first blood of the war was shed. 

Before the war Independence was one of the most beautiful 
and flourishing towns in Missouri. It was one of the old towns in 
the state, the center of a large and rich agricultural community, 
the grand starting point for Santa Fe, the best out-fitting point for 
emigration to California, Pikes Peak, &c. Among its inhabitants 
were some of the wealthy men of the state, retired from business, 
living in affluence, and devoting their attention to beautifying and 
enjoying their homes. It was one of the few towns in Missouri 
where society was fixed and permanent, where retired merchant 
princes would desire to pass their declining years. In the center 
of the town stood the Court House in a park of five acres, well 
ornamented with trees and surrounded by a low wall on the top 
of which was a chain fence with iron posts. The streets of the 
town run parallel with the sides of the park. Around the park 
stood compact blocks of three story wood and brick business 
buildings. All the streets for some distance from the park were 
business streets. Farther back in the suburbs and outskirts of 
the town were beautiful and costly residences surrounded by 
tasty yards, with fruit in abundance and variety. But the war 
commenced and Independence collapsed. There is not a stock 



126 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

of goods in town. Every store around the park is closed, except 
a few used as stables or rooms for soldiers to quarter in. 

The large hotel which formerly rented for $2500 is kept by the 
owner simply to prevent destruction by soldiers. He would be 
glad to give the use of it to any man who would keep it from 
destruction. Half the houses in town are entirely deserted, and 
the remainder have only tenants enough to keep them in order. 
I was introduced to General [Samuel D.] Lucas, who has for many 
years held the office of Major General of Missouri Militia, and 
has been twice in action since. From him I learned the history 
of Independence since the rebellion commenced. At the begin- 
ning he said the town was full of rebels; the moment a confederate 
flag was invented it was hoisted in Independence. About the 
first military move made on Missouri was the sending of Captain 
[W. E.] Prince, of the U. S. Army, to Kansas City. The people 
of Independence, not comprehending the necessity of having a 
U. S. Captain stationed in their state, and so near them, raised a 
force of 1500 men, under Col. [E. B.] Halloway, and commenced 
a march towards Kansas City. Captain Prince hearing of the 
movement sent one Capt. [David S.] Stanley with one hundred 
men to inquire into the meaning. These forces met at Rock Creek. 
Capt. Stanley under a flag of truce marched a long distance ahead 
of his men to meet Colonel Halloway for consultation. While the 
two officers were conversing, the undisciplined rebels in the rear 
marched, some to the right and some to the left, designing to 
flank our men and take them prisoners; but they wheeled into the 
road before they reached our men, and each wing seeing the other 
fired, supposing they were shooting Yankees; and some six or eight 
rebels, including their colonel, were killed, and the rest took to 
their heels. Thus settled the battle of Rock Creek, the first blood, 
the general said, of the war. 

February 22nd, 1862, the inevitable Quantrill and one Parker, 
with sixty mounted bushwhackers, entered Independence for 
plunder and destruction. They supposed the town comparatively 
defenseless, but found Gen. [Charles] Doubleday with two hundred 
men ready to receive them. There was a brisk helter skelter fight 
around the square, lasting over an hour, when the rebels escaped 
with a loss of five or six killed. There was another fight in town on 
the llth of August 1862 between Captain [James T.] Buel with two 
hundred Federals, and [Col.] John F. Hughes, author of the history 
of the Mexican War, with 200 rebels. The fight was for the posses- 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 127 

sion of the town, and was a desperate struggle for two hours, when 
Buel was compelled to surrender. 11 Hie rebels lost their Colonel 
in the engagement and occupied the town only a half day when they 
retreated before Col. Burroughs of Leaven worth. 12 They suc- 
ceeded, however, in taking with them large quantities of stores, 
ammunition, &c. The general said the bullets whistled through the 
streets "to kill/' The citizens were frightened half out of their wits, 
hid themselves in mills, barrels, &c., &c., but no one was hurt. 

To-day Independence is strongly guarded, pickets are kept out on 
every road and cannon are stationed in the main streets. The Gen- 
eral says there are just as good rebels in town as ever, men on good 
terms with bushwhackers and who furnish them with information, 
&c. Should the soldiers leave he thinks the loyal citizens would be 
obliged to follow. It is hard for you, reader, living in a quiet un- 
disturbed community, to realize the state of society, this insecurity 
felt every moment by those living in towns where unionists and 
rebels are mixed in together. Extermination of bushwhackers and 
their aiders and abetters, is perhaps the only way to restore law and 
order, and this business the citizens themselves will undertake after 
a little more suffering. C. M. C. 

PAOLA, MIAMI COUNTY, KANSAS 
August 15th, 1863. 

ED. REPUBLICAN: Last night the General and I had a long and 
desperate battle with about 100,000 bed-bugs. The conflict raged 
without decisive tendency till about twelve o'clock when the enemy 
was reinforced with 400,000 fresh recruits. The General sounded 
a retreat, and we withdrew leaving the enemy in possession of the 
sheets and a thousand or more of their own dead. We lost large 
quantities of hard words and patience, but no life. I never was 
loyal to the bed-bug supremacy. They can never make peace with 
me until they exterminate or demoralize me. 

We left Olathe this morning at half past seven, arriving at this 
place, distant 25 miles, at noon. As we enter Miami (formerly 
Lykins) county the prairie becomes less broken, though still more 
rolling than DeKalb county, Illinois. As you go south or away from 
the river, the prairie seems to expand or spread out into longer rolls, 
and the prospects are more extended. Nine miles from Paola we 

11. The battle actually lasted four hours. Robert M. Scott, ed., The War of the 
Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies 
(Washington, 1885), "Action at and Surrender of Independence, Mo.," Ser. I, v. 13, 
p. 225. 

12. Lt. Col. John T. Burris, Tenth Kansas infantry, left Fort Leavenworth on August 
12, 1862, and arrived in Independence the next day. There was no action. The rebels 
withdrew towards Lexington. Ibid., pp. 231, 232. The name Burroughs is incorrect. 



128 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

passed Spring Hill, a little town standing on one of the highest rolls 
of prairie; lonely enough in the distance, and still more lonely when 
we reached it. A little store, a hotel, two or three small dwellings 
and a public well, comprise all there is of the village, yet this little 
isolated "Hill" had the presumption, three years ago, to ask $100 
for town lots, which can now be bought for two bits. 13 Before 
reaching Paola we passed along beside a branch of the Osage, 14 a 
stream about three rods wide and from three to eight feet deep. 
When we came to the crossing place, however, it was a little rivulet 
about a foot wide and two inches deep. This, the General informed 
me, was a peculiarity in the Kansas streams. Even in the smallest 
branches there are every few miles, long channels of deep, still 
water, abounding in fish and serving as reservoirs in dry times. 
Miami county is better supplied with water and timber than John- 
son. There are numerous little tributaries to the Osage meandering 
through the prairie ravines, skirted on either side with timber, from 
one rod to a mile in width. Wherever you see trees on the prairie, 
there you may find water. 

Paola numbers about 400 people, and is really one of the active, 
thriving Kansas towns. It stands in a basin eight or ten miles in 
diameter, on land somewhat higher than the country immediately 
adjoining, and is surrounded by groves of the Osage tributaries 
giving it a plentiful supply of wood and water. Stone is also in 
great abundance. A good stratum of limestone easily obtained 
and easily worked underlies the entire surface of eastern Kansas, 
sometimes appearing many feet below the surface and often on the 
top. A steep ledge of rock is very common in the roads, more 
common in southern Kansas where the stone generally lies near 
the surface. 

Paola, like nearly all Kansas towns, is built around a square. There 
is no Court House, but one soon to be built. Unimproved land 
within a mile of the town can be bought for two or three dollars 
per acre. Town lots are still held about as high as ever, showing 

13. J. B. H., writing from Spring Hill in January, 1858, to the Lawrence Herald of 
Freedom, described the town in these glowing terms: ". . . [It] is within one mile 
of a large body of very superior timber, and convenient to three saw mills; has a never 
failing supply of pure spring water; is distant half a mile from an extensive vein of stone 
coal of the best quality, easily worked, and has an abundant supply of excellent lime- 
stone for building and fencing, as well as pure sand of the best character for mixing mortar. 
It has been universally healthy during the entire sickly season; has a good church, school 
house, post-office, and a very commodious and well conducted hotel; two large stocks of 
goods, and will shortly have a daily line of stages from Wyandott; is fast settling up 
with an enterprising people. . . . The company are at work in earnest, and having 
secured a liberal charter, are prepared to offer inducements to mechanics, citizens, and 
actual settlers, that will insure a rapid increase in the value of its stock and an early 
settlement of good conservative people of the right stamp." 

14. The stream is called Marais des Cygnes in Kansas, Osage in Missouri. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 129 

that confidence is firm in the ultimate increase of the town. As the 
General went to attend to his troops, he left me with a Mr. Wagstaff, 
one of the town lawyers. Last year Mr. Wagstaff was candidate 
for Governor of Kansas. 15 The General said he represented all the 
soreheads in the state, that is, disappointed republicans, democrats, 
&c. Of course, representing those elements in Kansas, he was most 
tremendously "flailed out/' We supped with Mr. G. A. Colton, 
formerly from Sycamore. Mr. Colton is at present Indian agent, has 
represented his district in the state senate, is well known among 
Kansas politicians, and is, I believe, regarded as one of the best wire 
pullers in the state. I asked Mr. Colton if Kansas politicians were 
generally honest and reliable. Mr. Colton looked up and smiled, 
whereupon I looked down and blushed. The General, noticing 
my confusion, remarked that I had not been long in the state, and 
should be excused for asking so absurd a question. I inferred that 
the political wires of Kansas were worked by men unacquainted 
with "Baxter's Call to the Unconverted." 16 

The evening I spent with G. W. Brown, former editor of the 
Herald of Freedom, which was destroyed by the Border Ruffians. 
In the early Kansas troubles Mr. Brown was one of the most con- 
spicuous Free State men in the state, and by many was regarded 
as insanely radical and rabid on that subject. He is a man about 
forty years old, six feet high, with rather long contour of face, light 
hair and whiskers, grey eyes, somewhat reserved and unapproach- 
able in appearance, and by some regarded as phlegmatic and cold- 
hearted. In conversation he is rather measured and precise, always 
using a choice selection of words, stopping when he gets through, 
and listening with most respectful attention to the one he is con- 
versing with. The natural inclination of his mind is more towards 
theory than practice; it is speculative and sometimes, perhaps, 
visionary. He is liberal towards those with whom he differs, but 
firmly fixed in his own opinions. At present Mr. Brown is out of 
politics and engaged wholly in law. He has a library worth $2,000, 
the second, if not the first library in the state. 

It will be many years before Paola will see a railroad. 17 Her 
situation is about half way between Kansas City and Fort Scott, 
through which points roads running east and west will probably pass. 

15. W. R. Wagstaff was a candidate for governor on the "Anti-Lane" ticket in 1862. 
He was defeated by Thomas Carney. U". S. Biographical Dictionary (Chicago, S. Lewis 
& Co., 1879). 

16. A work by Richard Baxter, English divine, 1615-1691. 

17. The Missouri River, Fort Scott and Gulf railroad opened its line to Paola in 
February, 1869. J. L. Tracy, Guide to the Great West (St. Louis, Tracy & Eaton, 1871), 
p. [171]. 

93024 



130 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Paola may some time get a branch connecting with the road from 
St. Louis to Kansas City, but it will be only when her section be- 
comes settled and rich. For many years she must depend for growth 
wholly upon the patronage of the agricultural community of which 
she is the immediate center. 

Paola was once the home of the notorious bushwhacker and 
outlaw, Quantrill. Here he once lived in harmony with those he 
would plunder and murder. Our landlord, Col. [Henry] Torrey, 
brought him here from Ohio, when but a lad. He raised him, but 
says he never taught him the art of bushwhacking. 18 The Col. told 
me Quanta-ill's first experience in the business which led to his 
present life. At the beginning of the rebellion Quantrill raised a 
gang of rowdies and arranged a plan to go into the country, take 
a certain man's horses and plunder his house. He then informed 
the man that such a plan was formed and when it was to be exe- 
cuted. At the appointed hour Quantrill led his men up to the rear 
of the house, and then ordered them to go ahead. The consequence 
was they were all killed. Quantrill escaped, and was of course, 
handsomely rewarded for his valuable information. C. M. C. 

STANTON, MIAMI Co. KANSAS 
August 16th, 1863. 

ED. REPUBLICAN: This morning Mr. [William P.] Button, for- 
merly of Sycamore, now sheriff of this county, invited me to ride 
to his place, ten miles west of Paola. This is the town in which 
our Sycamore emigration first settled. It is situated on the brow 
of a prairie roll looking off into a long sweep of bottom land 
skirted by timber. It was once the county seat, and is, I believe, 
the oldest town in the county. When the county seat was moved 
to Paola, Stanton collapsed, 19 her town lots depreciated from $75 to 
zero, leading men moved away, taking, in some cases, their build- 
ings with them, leaving in the town about half a dozen buildings 
and a few huts. Twenty-five people comprise all the population 
of the once proud Stanton. Two small stores and a postoffice 
comprise the business street. The merchants manage to dispose 
of ten or fifteen thousand dollars worth of goods every year, but 
where they go to is not apparent, as there are but a few houses 
in sight. 

We took dinner with a Mr. Strong, a hard fisted, hard sensed, 

18. For details of Torrey's relationship with Quantrill see William E. Connelley, 
op. cit. 

19. Paola has always been the county seat. But one election was held on this question, 
at which time, in 1858, Osawatomie was the principal competitor. A. T. Andreas-W. G. 
Cutler, History of the State of Kansas (Chicago, 1883), p. 881. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 131 

practical man, and well to do farmer. Mr. Strong believes in the 
future importance of his section of the country. He knows the 
richness of the prairie soil, its facility for cultivation, its adaptabil- 
ity for the growth of grain and stock, must eventually insure its 
settlement and prosperity. Mr. Strong thinks if a man with a loose 
$1000 would invest in cattle and "squat" anywhere on the prairie 
in this section, giving his attention to stock raising only, he would 
be a rich man in ten years. The only cost in raising stock would 
be the trouble of cutting grass and feeding in the winter, adding 
a few dollars each year for salt. To invest in sheep he thinks one 
would double his money every year. I almost wonder that some 
of our wealthy DeKalb county farmers, with a large surplus of 
funds on hand, do not come out here and invest a portion of their 
means in this business. There is no one here engaged in it as a 
principal business. Mr. Strong, like all the other farmers, came 
here to farm as they had learned to do in Indiana, Illinois, and 
Missouri, investing all their means in land and farming apparatus. 
Their money is consequently locked up, and they are compelled 
to engage in general farming. Mr. Strong said he was working 
into stock as fast as he could and would be glad, if his money 
was loose, to engage in it wholly. The prairie here spreads out 
into immensely wide fields, with here and there isolated mounds 
and long ranges of prairies rolls. As far as the eye can reach 
towards the west is rich, unoccupied prairie, some time to become 
a thickly populated and wealthy country. Lucky he who settles 
early and secures the rise in lands. C. M. C. 

MOUND CITY, LINN Co., KANSAS 
August 17th, 1863. 

EDITOR REPUBLICAN: The distance from Paola to this place is 
thirty two miles. During the whole ride we were not out of sight 
of groves, and were frequently passing little streams. Miami and 
Linn are among the best watered and wooded counties in the state. 
Stone also appears in greater abundance, and steep pitches they 
can hardly be called hills of lime rock are more numerous in the 
road. 

The first village we passed was Twin Springs. So named from 
two little springs of water twenty rods apart, gushing out on op- 
posite sides of a prairie roll. The village consisting of a store, three 
small houses and a barn, stands on the eminence between the 
springs. The inhabitants are not without hopes of the future im- 
portance of their burg, which according to the plat, recorded in the 



132 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

register's office, already spreads her lots over the area of a half mile 
square. We next come to Paris and then Moneca, about equal in 
size, each larger than Twin Springs, but smaller than New York 
City. Twenty houses would cover the boast of either village. 20 
Mound City is not built around a square; the plat of the town 
which occupies a half section of land contains a fine park but some 
thoughtless fellow commenced to build on one side of the plat, 
others built around him, what there is now of city, leaving the 
square nearly a half mile out of town. The place contains a present 
population of three hundred people. But in expectancy there are 
ten thousand. The famous Jayhawkers, Jennison and Montgomery, 
formerly honored this place with their residence, the former is now 
keeping a livery stable in Leavenworth, 21 and the latter doing serv- 
ice in his country, at the head of a North Carolina Colored regiment. 
Montgomery was, by profession, a Baptist minister, 22 a very modest, 
unassuming man, kind and generous in his impulses and much es- 
teemed as a citizen. Such is his representation by his neighbors. 
A Dr. Davis in justifying Montgomery's lawlessness in 1858, on 
grounds of county defense, told the following incident: In 1858 one 
Charles Hamilton 23 made threats that he was going to split the 
Union, and was going to insert the wedge right between Linn and 
Bates counties (adjoining counties in Kansas and Missouri). With 
that intent, he had for a long time been plundering and robbing the 
free state men in Linn county. On one occasion he raised a gang 
of ruffians, entered the county early one morning, seized twelve 
farmers as they were going into their fields, marched them onto the 
bluffs of Bates [Linn] county, arranged them along in a row, shot 
them down and left them for the buzzards to finish. Six or eight 
were killed, and the others miraculously lived to tell the tale. 24 The 
Doctor thought that was a "pesky mean trick/' and he didn't blame 
Montgomery for opposing lawlessness with lawlessness, particularly 
as long as it secured the safety of Kansas' border. Murder, robbery 
and arson had been perpetrated by the Missouri border outlaws for 

20. Twin Springs, Paris and Moneka are now extinct locations. 

21. A Leavenworth city directory, 1863-1864, lists Charles R. Jennison and J. G. 
Losee as operators of a livery stable on Shawnee between 3d and 4th Streets. 

22. Montgomery was mustered into the Union army as colonel of the Third Kansas 
infantry, but was transferred to the command of the Second South Carolina Colored 
regiment. He had been a minister of the Christian church. Kansas Historical Collections, 
v. 7, pp. 395, 396, footnote. 

23. Charles Hamelton. 

24. Hamelton, who had been driven from the territory by Free-State men, retaliated 
by invading Linn county with about 30 Missourians. Capturing 11 Free-State men he 
marched them to a ravine and lined them up before a firing squad. Five were killed, five 
were wounded and one escaped by feigning death. This incident has become known as the 
Marias des Cygne massacre. A monument bearing lines from Whittier's tribute to the 
victims stands in Trading Post cemetery. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 133 

years, and he was in favor of wiping them out the speediest way. 

The General introduced me here to a Judge Lowe, as the promi- 
nent man of southern Kansas. 25 He is a man forty years old, for- 
merly practiced law in Cincinnati, was Judge of the city court one 
or two terms, removed to Kansas in 1858, and opened a law office 
in this great town. He is now state senator for this district, and is 
perhaps the ablest man in the Kansas Legislature. He and his 
friends expect he will be made Chief Justice of the state the ensuing 
fall. I asked the judge what induced him to exchange a good prac- 
tice in one of the first cities on the continent, for an uncertain prac- 
tice in an uncertain country. It was the principle that he would 
rather be first here than second there. I remarked too that there 
was an uncontrollable thirst in the human for change, men are never 
fully satisfied with any condition; they want something new, some- 
thing beyond their immediate range of vision, as if what is unseen, 
unexperienced, sparkled with diamonds. Rasselas was discontented 
while in the enjoyment of every pleasure the world afforded, and 
men today and everywhere, are wishing to exchange a good position 
for uncertainties of a new one. Love of locality and family ties 
fasten many, but do not destroy the insatiate desire to change. 
Many break away from good anchorage to try their fortune in un- 
fathomed water; while some improve their conditions others cap- 
size. The Judge admitted the truth of these remarks, but thought 
that most of those who came to Kansas improved their condition. 
It was a new state, enterprising, and destined to become thickly 
populated. Men of merit find more opportunities for the exercise 
of their industry and talent than in older states where occupation 
is crowded, where the channels of business are already cut, and all 
kinds of property well secured. Here nothing is fixed, property is 
floating, people are not permanently settled, vacancies are occurring, 
&c., &c. Honesty, industry and talent are in demand in new and 
fast-growing communities, and he who brings with him those ele- 
ments of success, cannot fail to rise. 

While we were conversing a dozen men from Potosi, 26 five miles 
east on the very border of Kansas, having heard that the General 
was about to muster out a squad of soldiers who had been pro- 
tecting them during the past month, entered the office in a great 

25. David P. Lowe served as judge of the fourth judicial district from 1864 until 1867 
when he was appointed judge of the sixth judicial district. He held this office until his 
election as Congressman in 1870. He was re-elected in 1872. Following the expiration 
of his term, he was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of Utah Territory, but 
subsequently returned to Kansas and served as judge of the sixth district, remaining in that 
office until his death in 1882. 

26. The settlement is now extinct. 



134 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

state of alarm. They said if the troops were mustered out they 
would be compelled to leave their neighborhood, and neglect the 
harvest of their crops. They knew Quantrill was in Bates county 
opposite, with a large force of bushwhackers, preparing for a raid 
into the state, and they were to be the first ones to suffer, if left un- 
protected. They had positive information that within a week Quan- 
trill was going to make a descent somewhere, and they had already 
suffered enough, having been stripped for two or three successive 
years of their entire earnings. The General was without authority 
to continue in service a single squad of the state militia, but, under 
the circumstances, said he would assume the responsibility of not 
mustering them out if the soldiers, who had so far been paid out of 
the Governor's private purse, would look to the Legislature for 
their subsequent pay. 

Here commenced a struggle between the soldiers and the Potosi 
delegation. The soldiers were not going to "take any Kansas Legis- 
lature for their pay, they had seen enough of the Kansas Legisla- 
ture." With tears in their eyes the old men pleaded for the boys 
to stay and protect them, but the boys "couldn't see it." Judge 
Lowe then made a speech of some length, explaining the helpless- 
ness of the Potosi people, and assuring the boys that as a senator 
he would use his best endeavors to put their pay bill through the 
Legislature, &c. Still the boys were determined not to serve. The 
General then arose and made a flaming speech, appealing to their 
patriotism, their strong arms, referring to the helplessness of the 
old men, &c., closing up by drawing a ten dollar "green back" and 
sending them down to the saloon. In ten minutes they all returned, 
the most patriotic squad of militia I have ever seen. They sent up 
cheer after cheer for the General and the Union, and expressed 
themselves determined to see the last of the rebellion, pay or no pay. 

C. M. C. 

FORT SCOTT, BOURBON Co., KANSAS 

August 19th, 1863. 

EDITOR REPUBLICAN: At 11 o'clock this morning we arrived at 
Fort Lincoln nine miles south of Mound City. This fort was estab- 
lished by Lane in 1860, and is now abandoned, as a position com- 
manding nothing and easy to be reduced. It consists of an enclosure 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 135 

with one building about eighty feet long, a large well, &c. 27 The 
city of Fort Lincoln consists of two families, one outside and one 
inside the fort. Geo. Walrod, from Sycamore, Illinois, commands 
the post, holding all the offices from high private to Brigadier. As 
we entered the Fort, we were very cordially welcomed by the 
Brigadier, and invited to remain and participate in the enjoyment 
of the noon rations. At Paola I was informed that Walrod was 
severely afflicted with "sorghum on the brain." Walrod denies this 
on the grounds that a disordered brain conceives improbabilities 
and impossibilities, and he conceives neither in his sorghum specula- 
tions. 

He said sorghum in Kansas will yield at least 200 gallons per acre, 
that every gallon was worth, at least, fifty cents, that he expected 
to manufacture this season 200 acres, getting for his pay half of 
all he manufactures or the entire crop from a hundred acres, 
making his figures of profit as follows: 100 acres of sorghum, at 
200 gallons per acre, yields 20,000 gallons which at 50 cents per 
gallon gives $10,000 from which he deducts expenses, $1,000, leaving 
a net profit of $9,000. From this he is willing to deduct $4,000 more, 
to cover possible accidents, which will make a "dead sure" profit 
of $5,000 for the season. 

Walrod thinks it passing strange that so many young men should 
remain in the East, actually begging the privilege of ten per cent 
investments when this country affords so many opportunities for 
more profitable investments. He instanced one case, where he 
believes 100 per cent, could be realized in a few months. One of 
his neighbors owned a rich farm of a hundred sixty acres, with 
house recently built, costing $500, and rail fence costing $300. There 
were seventy acres of standing corn, and a few acres of other crops. 
Circumstances compelled him to sell, and he offered the whole for 
$800 in cash. Every day, he said, there were similar opportunities, 
but few here with the ready money to take advantage of them. 

Fort Scott is one hundred miles south of Kansas City and about 
ten miles from Missouri State line. It was formerly one of the 
frontier Indian forts, and until the rebellion broke out, contained 
nothing but the buildings in the fort. But as the war broke out 

27. William Ansel Mitchell, in his Linn County, Kansas (1928), quotes on p. 125 
from the diary of John Howard Kitts of the 12th Kansas regiment, October 9, 1862: "We 
at last arrived at Fort Lincoln, where we camped for the night. Fort Lincoln is con- 
structed of logs, hewn out and put up, and is a pretty strong structure. It is used for 
the purpose of confining prisoners." 

C. W. Goodlander, Early Days of Fort Scott (Fort Scott, Kan., 1900), p. 66: "In 
the summer of 1861, Jim Lane had built a fort on the north side of the Osage River, and 
named it Fort Lincoln. It was built on low bottom land that was no more a fit place for 
a fort than where Knapp's Park is now located. This fort consisted of a stockade and a 
large blockhouse. In later years this stockade and blockhouse were moved to Fort Scott and 
located about the junction of Lowman and First Streets." 



136 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

it was still filled with soldiers and all the southwestern government 
business was transacted here. Business men began to move in 
and build adjoining the Fort, until now it is the largest town in 
southern Kansas, numbering between one and two thousand per- 
manent, and as many more transient residents. 28 Good buildings 
are going up in every part of town, the streets are constantly crowded 
with people, and everything presents an air of life, enterprise and 
progress. The Fort buildings are situated around a large square, 
while the new town is built on adjoining the Fort. 

Like all towns springing up in a day and containing a large tem- 
porary population, Fort Scott is a "fast town." It would require no 
effort to get up a race, a bet, a drunk, a fight, or any other little 
amusement common among men. The town contains many well 
stocked stores, a good hotel, a countless number of beer saloons, 
a couple dozen of billiard tables, two or three ten pin alleys, &c., 
&c. The theater goers are accommodated with a barn fixed up 
with temporary conveniences, supplied with two or three changes 
of scenery, one or two tolerable performers for stars, and a half 
dozen very scurvy stock performers. Running in a ravine is a small 
stream of water, bordered as usual, with a thick growth of timber. 
This timber is, at present, crammed with refugees and contrabands 
from Missouri and Arkansas. . . . 

Contrabands are increasing beyond the most extravagant aboli- 
tion expectation throughout the entire Kansas border. Some esti- 
mates place the daily emigration from Missouri at from fifty to one 
hundred. They emigrate during the night, in squads or families, 
accompanied generally by a span of good mules and a lumber wagon 
with whatever portables they can seize upon. Some are glad to 
get work and prove their manhood and usefulness; others lounge 
in idleness, refusing good offers, preferring to live on the hospitality 
of those who have erected little shanties and are earning a living. 
Kansas men are pleased with every escape. . . . 

I was introduced today to a Mr. Crawford, who came here in 
1857, and, under the impression that this must sometime be a point, 
bought a farm adjoining the Fort. 29 Until '60 he did but very little, 

28. The city of Fort Scott grew up around the Western frontier outpost established by 
U. S. dragoons in 1842 and named for Gen. Winfield Scott. The Fort was on a military 
road at a point about midway between Fort Leavenworth and Fort Gibson. Troops were 
withdrawn hi 1853 and the buildings sold to settlers two years later. The town was 
incorporated in 1860. During the Civil War the Fort was re-established and it became 
Union headquarters and supply depot for southeast Kansas. 

29. George Addison Crawford was a native of Pennsylvania. On his arrival in Kansas 
in 1857, he organized the Fort Scott Town Company and, with his associates, purchased 
520 acres of land on which the city now stands. He built a sawmill, flour mill, woolen fac- 
tory, foundry, machine shop, and in 1869 re-established the Fort Scott Daily Monitor. In 
1861 he was given about two-thirds of the vote for governor, but his election was declared 
illegal, and he was subsequently twice defeated as candidate for the Republican nomination 
for that office. He was a founder of the towns of Osage Mission, now St. Paul, and Grand 
Junction, Colo. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 137 

he said, except watch the prospects. In 1858 and 59 he was "blue 
enough" his money all locked up in a large prairie farm with no 
prospect of realizing anything or of seeing any more society. But 
the rebellion came, and with it the soldiers and the business men. 
He immediately laid off his farm into lots, and sold them as fast 
as he could make out his deeds. I remarked to him that good fortune 
had followed his three years of blues. "Yes," said he, "I'm in town 
now." Today he is selling his lots at from $50 to $500 each. His 
farm is yielding untold profit, and he is in the very midst of the 
fastest society. . . . 

Wood is worth here from $1.50 to $2.00 a cord, delivered, coal 
$3.00 per ton. There is an excellent coal mine nine miles south 
of town. Farming land, unimproved, can be bought for $1.50 per 
acre, a mile or two from town. A good residence lot in town can 
be bought for $50. Bourbon county is more level than any county 
I have seen in the state. It is subject to drouth, and, although this 
has been a remarkably good year, the crops and grass are decidedly 
inferior to those of northern Kansas. 

I met my old friend Capt. Tuft here, and Capt. J. Finn Hill, both 
somewhat notorious in Kansas warfare. Finn Hill carries a very 
important and brave look, but I am told, is of little account in the 
service. Tuft is affable, good natured, very polite, and knows no 
fear. He still adheres to his determination to "jayhawk no more," 
but desires to render himself useful in the service. He is enroute 
for the army of Gen. Blunt. 30 C. M. C. 

HUMBOLDT, ALLEN Co., KANSAS, 
August 19th, 1863. 

EDITOR SENTINEL: Fort Scott is the last southern settlement in 
Kansas. A few miles further south and you enter the Indian 
country, and see no more of the pale faces, except an occasional 
man, well known and trusted by the red faces, who has located 
in a little hut and engaged in stock raising. Then you are in the 
"Sunny South," where winter is a stranger, and seldom visits, where 
cattle graze the year around, requiring no harvest for their sup- 
port, where the only cost of raising stock is the herding and mark- 
ing. 

From Fort Scott we turn west. Eight miles traveled, and we 
are at Marmaton, formerly county seat of Bourbon county, a little 
village containing a dozen houses, half of which are tenantless. 
Here we stopped an hour and conversed with Mr. Representative 

30. Tough served as chief of scouts with Brig. Gen. James Blunt of the Army of the 
Frontier. 



138 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Jones, the man of this section. 31 Jones is more sensible than some 
men. He is satisfied that his own town never will make a large 
city. He would have been a rich man, though, if Fort Scott had 
not "played a nasty trick on Marmaton, and stole the county seat." 32 
His farm was all laid off into lots, and the lots were selling well, 
when this "nasty trick" killed his expectations. His farm is now 
worth about $3.00 per acre. . . . Jones had soliloquized after 
this manner: "I own 160 acres of land. This land is all laid out 
in village lots, each acre making four lots. I own 640 village lots. 
This town is the county seat bound to grow can't help it 
splendid country rich land no town near here everything is 
all right. These lots will bring me from $25 to $500 each they 
will average at least $100. I'm a rich man right in town 
$64,000 on a two hundred dollar investment; that will do me." 
Butthat "nasty trick." 

From Marmaton we drove seventeen miles through uncultivated 
prairie, passing but five or six small farms, to Chaffin's a little log 
house which sometimes accommodates the hungry traveler. 83 Here 
we took dinner and asked questions. Chaffin moved in here, from 
Indiana, in 1855, entered his land and has been traveling up hill 
ever since. Certain crops, he said, could not be raised in southern 
Kansas. He had tried five successive years to raise oats, and each 
year something had spoiled his crop. The drouth was common 
every year, and in 1860 destroyed everything. Stock, he thought 
the most profitable business for this section. I observed that 
prairie grass was much thinner here than in the northern counties, 
which he admitted, but said that stock never failed to do well in all 
seasons on the prairie. "Here," said he, alluding to a pair of twins 
on his knee, is the best strike I have made since I left "Injianny." 
If he was to select another point, it would be on the Missouri or 
Kansas river, where there was plenty of water, richer land, more 
hills and less drouth. 

Between Chaffin's and Humboldt we passed over an open, 
slightly undulating prairie, a distance of eighteen miles without 
seeing a house a charming ride for meditative men, who dislike 
to have their thoughts diverted by surrounding objects. Humboldt, 
a little burg of 200 inhabitants, and county seat of Allen county, 

31. Probably William T. Jones, representative from Bourbon county in 1862. 

32. Because of border troubles, the county seat of Bourbon county was moved tem- 
porarily from Fort Scott to Marmaton by a legislative act of 1859. An election for the 
purpose of relocating the county seat was held in May, 1863, and Fort Scott received 
a majority of the votes cast. 

33. Anthony and Elijah Chaffin are both shown in the 1860 census as settlers at 
Turkey Creek, Bourbon county. This location, now Uniontown, was between Marmaton and 
Humboldt. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 139 

was laid out in 1858. 34 It is called the key to the Neosho valley 
one of the finest valleys in the state. If the rebels should incline 
to devastate this valley they would have to pass through Humboldt. 
In 1861 the rebel Cols. Williams and Mathews visited the town 
with a small force and sacked nearly every house and store. The 
next year immediately after Lane burned Osceola, Gen. Price sent 
Col. Talbot to retaliate on Humboldt, which he did effectually, 
leaving but one or two houses standing around the square. The 
citizens of Humboldt have had their share of the evils of rebellion. 
Col. Talbot not only sacked and burned, but killed some four or 
five of the citizens who attempted to defend their property. 35 

We spent the evening at Humboldt with a Mr. Thurston and 
family. Mr. Thurston is a lawyer by profession owns a thriving 
saw mill, and is state senator. 36 His house stands a half mile from 
the stores on the bank of a stream, in the edge of the woods. 
His law office is in his house, and his mill but a few rods off. He 
has fine buildings, with all necessary appendages, including an 
agreeable and accomplished wife. Mr. Thurston is a man of most 
excellent moral principles an anomaly among Kansas politicians 
a pure minded Douglas democrat, whose "higher law" is the Con- 
stitution of the United States. He is in favor of fighting rebels until 
the seed of that kind of evil is entirely rooted out of the soil. His 
hate of rebels is intense. Of the enemies or traitors to the govern- 
ment, he calls rebels rebels Vallandigham 37 democrats, eunuchs 
Abolitionists, revolutionists. Either class, he thinks, would destroy 
the government if it could, and bullets, he thinks, they all deserve. 
Mrs. Thurston gave her experiences among rebels. The first time 
they visited the town they ransacked her house from cellar to 
garret, taking everything in the shape of clothing they could carry. 
Mr. Thurston was absent and she determined to defend his prop- 
erty as best she could. When they got through searching they set 
the bed on fire; this she extinguished. Then they set the curtains 
afire and various other places in the house were on fire at the 

34. The townsite of Humboldt was located in March, 1857, by J. A. Coffey. 

35. On September 8, 1861, Humboldt was raided by a band of Missouri guerrillas, 
Cherokee and Osage half-breed Indians under the command of Captains Matthews and 
Livingstone. Stores and dwellings were sacked. On October 14 of the same year, rebel 
forces under Colonel Talbott invaded the town setting fire to buildings and homes. One 
man was killed. 

36. Olin Thurstin came from Ohio about 1857. He served as colonel of a regiment 
of state militia during the Civil War. 

37. Clement L. Vallandigham, lawyer and politician of Dayton, Ohio, opposed the 
Civil War as unnecessary and unconstitutional and his bitter denunciation of the govern- 
ment and the war policy led to his arrest in May, 1863. A military commission found him 
guilty of disloyal utterances and conduct and he was sentenced to confinement during the 
war, but Lincoln commuted the sentence to banishment beyond the Union lines. He fled 
to Canada but returned to his home in 1864 without interference and again became active 
in the Democratic party. 



140 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

same time. All, however, were put out by the indefatigable efforts 
of Mrs. Thurston, who was alone in the house. The rebels, admir- 
ing her activity and bravery, gave up the job. The second time she 
played "possum" by feigning sickness. She heard the command 
given, to fire the house, but when the captain entered her room, 
he had compassion on her, and countermanded the order. He 
would search for arms, he said, and withdraw his men, hoping his 
intrusion would not distress her. C. M. C. 

SAC & Fox AGENCY, FRANKLIN [OSAGE?] Co., KANSAS 
August 21st, 1863. 

EDITOR SENTINEL: We left Humboldt yesterday morning, turning 
northwest up the Neosho Valley, passing through the northeast 
corner of Woodson, into Coffey, and stopped for the night in Frank- 
lin county, at Irishman Drum's, said Drum being a farmer located 
beside a pretty grove, and miles from any other living man. Drum 
did not set himself up as a hotel keeper, but was willing to give us 
the best he had, which, as we had traveled fifty miles since breakfast, 
and there being no other house for fifteen miles beyond, we con- 
cluded to accept. Drum's log house contained but one room, and 
was hardly sufficient to accommodate his own family, consisting of a 
wife and six tenor Drums little drums, I mean young ones. There 
were two travellers besides the General and myself, making twelve 
in all to sleep in Drum's kitchen. The General and I took the floor 
with the little Drums scattered all around us in promiscuous confu- 
sion. The other two travellers took the spare bed. We all determined 
to make the best of it, and get all the sleep we could; but the room 
was too densely populated to admit the possibility of realizing any 
great expectation in that direction. 

The lights had scarcely been extinguished, when the whooping 
cough, or something else, set one of the little Drums to drumming. 
He rattled away for an hour incessantly, except when spelled by 
some other little Drum on a different key. Once or twice all the 
little Drums were going together, making the most awful calli- 
thumpian band I ever heard. The Drums had but fairly ceased 
when one of the travellers, in the spare bed, suddenly bounded into 
the middle of the floor, and swore several large mouthfuls, without 
stopping. Unfortunately he and his companion had gotten into a 
bed-bug highway, where there was too much travel for sleep. 
During the whole night one or the other of them was constantly 
in the middle of the floor scratching and "harking for bugs." Sweet 
sleep ne'er came to our eyelids; all night long we were constantly 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 141 

scratching, turning and yawning, and yawning, turning and scratch- 
ing. Morning came and we were out early, if not bright. Bed-bugs 
are the curse of new countries. 

The Valley of Neosho is said to be one of the finest and most 
beautiful portions of Kansas. The Neosho is a small, but pretty 
stream, supplied with numerous little tributaries, all of which are 
well timbered. 

The first village we passed was Neosho Falls. Here we stopped 
for dinner, and I made the acquaintance of one Mr. Phillips, the 
first settler in these parts. 38 He came from Iowa in 1857, hunted 
the state all over, and finally concluding that the Neosho Falls must 
sometime make a point, he entered his land and blocked out his 
town. The county grew fast until it numbered about a thousand 
inhabitants, when the troubles came on and progress of all kind 
stopped. Mr. Phillips' farm which promised so much, is worth now 
not to exceed five dollars per acre. The village will always be a 
little inland center, but can never aspire to anything more. It now 
contains a hotel, a store, a Doctor's office, a mill and about twenty 
dwellings. 

Mr. Phillips conducted me down to the mill dam, and said if I 
liked fishing, and would stay over a day, he would show me some 
sport. Mr. Phillips, with five other men, had on several occasions 
"caught, in three hours, 400 pounds of fish out of that very dam" 
a good fish story, I thought. He said they caught catfish there 
every season weighing over a hundred pounds. These statements 
were more than corroborated by the people in town. 

On the rocks below the dam, we crossed the river and visited the 
camps of the Seminole Indians. All there is left of that once power- 
ful tribe, which gave Uncle Sam so long a struggle in Florida, and 
put him to so many million dollars cost, is now encamped at Neosho 
Falls. They number only about 3,000. Their warriors are all in the 
Union army. By treaty the Government provides their necessary 
wants. All they do is to draw their rations and cook them, occasion- 
ally catching fish or picking a few berries, which they sell in the 
village for rum money. Their time is spent lounging in the shade 
or tents supplied by the Government. I visited nearly all the tents, 
and spoke a few words to the inmates; but the Indian "umprT was 
the only notice I could command. The little "injuns" at our ap- 

38. N. S. Goss and I. W. Dow are generally credited with the founding of Neosho Falls 
in 1857. After selecting the site and calculating the potential water power, they built a mill 
which subsequently produced lumber for the homes of settlers. The names of John Phillips, 
farmer, and William Phillips, wheelwright, appear in the census of 1860 as residents of 
Neosho Falls. 



142 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

proach would disappear in the brush and peep out from behind the 
leaves. The Seminoles have always been slave holders. They have 
several families of their slaves with them in this tremendously free 
state of Kansas. We visited the slaves' camp a few rods away from 
the camp of the Indians. . . . 

From Neosho Falls to Leroy, six or eight miles, we passed no set- 
tlements, but one continued stretch of uncultivated, slightly rolling 
prairie. The prairie all through this section is covered with a large 
yellow flower; it resembles the sunflower, but is much smaller. In 
some places near the towns they were ten feet high, and so thick as 
to be almost impenetrable. Further out on the prairie they dwindle 
down to one foot or less. Some say the presence of these flowers 
indicates a poor quality of prairie soil, others that they usually grow 
where the prairie is stocked. The former is the more probable rea- 
son. In northern Kansas I noticed on the prairies which were 
well stocked nothing but pure prairie grass, while in southern 
Kansas, in places where stock has never been over, I noticed a large 
mixture of flowers and weeds. The truth is northern Kansas is the 
best farming country. 

Leroy is the largest place I have seen since leaving Fort Scott. 
It really seemed quite lively there. Everything, however, seemed 
dirty and neglected. There are several stores, a mill, a tavern, two 
or three law offices, &c., and about 500 people in the village. 

From Leroy to this place a distance of 35 miles there are no white 
settlements except Drum's. As we approach the Agency we enter 
the settlements of the Sacs and Foxes. The government by treaty 
built a large number of good and strong buildings on their lands, 
most of which are now occupied by the Indians who partially culti- 
vate the land and behave themselves very much like white folks. 
Among them is occasionally a good farmer but most of them are 
lazy and their lands are neglected. This tribe all dress as we do and 
some of them speak the English language. At the Agency is a store, 
a hotel, a large mission school and twenty or thirty houses. 39 There 
are but few whites in town. The store, I am told, clears nearly 
$50,000 per year. Only this one merchant is allowed to trade with 
this tribe. 

The mission school generally contains about sixty scholars. Today 
Commissioner [W. P.] Dole is expected from Washington to treat 

39. Original agency buildings were in Franklin county but under the terms of the 
treaty of 1860, the tribes ceded all Franklin county lands to the government and the agency 
was moved to the site of present Quenemo, Osage county. The missionaries at the time 
of Chase's visit were the Rev. R. P. Duvall and his wife, sent to the tribes in 1860 by the 
Kansas Methodist Conference. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 143 

with the Osages for a portion of their land lying south of Kansas. It 
is consequently a great day at the Agency. Long files of the wildest 
looking Indians are coming in on their ponies. The Osages are the 
fiercest looking fellows I have ever seen. The blanket and breech 
cloth is their only dress. Their noses and ears are loaded with tink- 
ling trinkets, their heads are shaved, leaving a narrow strip of stiff 
hair a half -inch long from the forehead to the crown. Their faces 
are painted with bright red and yellow. I visited their camp and 
was introduced to their Chief Little Bear, who shook hands with 
me and said "how" and then the conversation ended. Little Bear 
is said to be the most sensible Chief among the Western tribes, but 
in my conversation with him I got no new ideas. In camp ah 1 the 
men were over six feet high, probably picked men to represent the 
tribe at the treaty meeting. 

I was introduced here to Father Shoemaker who has for sixteen 
years been at the head of a Mission School in the Osage tribe. 40 
This school, he says, before the war, numbered constantly one hun- 
dred and sixty scholars, and some of them he says, are very bright, 
but generally they are hard scholars. C. M. C. 

LAWRENCE, DOUGLAS Co., KANSAS 
August 22nd, 1863. 

EDITOR SENTINEL: The country from Sac and Fox Agency im- 
proves as you go north, the prairie grows thicker, weeds and flowers 
dwindle away, crops of all kinds are more flourishing, and land be- 
comes more inviting to the industry of the farmer. Franklin county 
is much better than Coffey, while Douglas adjoining the Kansas 
river on the south, is equal in beauty and fertility to any in the 
state. The emigrant to this western country should remember that 
the river land, consisting of timbered bluffs and meadows, is the 
best. On the Missouri this strip of land is from ten to twenty-five 
miles wide; on the Kansas, from two to ten miles wide. In the 
eastern part of Kansas you emerge from this river land into rich, 
rolling prairie; in the western part the prairie is poorer, and in 
many places too poor for profitable cultivation. 

Yesterday we passed two little villages, Centropolis and Min- 
neola, 41 on opposite sides of the same grove and about a mile apart. 

40. Father John Schoenmakers came to Osage Mission (now St. Paul) in April, 1847, 
and worked among the Indians until his death in 1883. 

41. The town of Minneola was projected by Free-State settlers who hoped to make 
it the territorial capital. In February, 1858, the legislature sitting at Lawrence passed a bfll 
so designating it. The bill was vetoed by Acting Governor Denver but was passed over 
the veto. The attorney general of the U. S., to whom an appeal was taken, declared that the 
bill was in violation of the organic act and therefore void. Before the decision of the at- 
torney general, many buildings including a hotel and town hall were erected, and the town 
had a population of several hundred. A constitutional convention met there in March, 1858, 
but quickly adjourned to Leavenworth. The town declined and is now an extinct location. 



144 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

As we reached the place we found people in arms, and excited over 
a report that Lawrence had been burned by Quantrill, and that all 
the Negroes in the place had been killed. Everyone was disposed 
to prepare for defense, while but few inclined to credit the report. 
As we entered Minneola we found more excitement. All who 
could shoulder a musket had gone towards Lawrence, leaving the 
aged, with women and children, in a terrible fright. We had not 
believed the report, but now it did begin to look serious. A mes- 
senger from the scene of terror had just rushed through the place 
alarming the country, and informing the people that "the last 
house in Lawrence was burned/' that the bushwhackers numbering 
from three to ten hundred were returning on this very road, destroy- 
ing everything in their way; that they had just destroyed Brooklyn, 42 
and were now burning Baldwin City and murdering the people. 
Baldwin City was only five miles ahead, and was the place we were 
designing to stop at during the night. We were not positive which 
road Quantrill would prefer, and consequently were not positive 
which road to take ourselves. The General was in a "phix." He 
had important papers in his possession which would make him 
a dead man if he was taken. No time was to be lost. After a 
moment's reflection, he put the horses into a quick gait, and turned 
to the left into a less traveled road, passing Willow Springs 43 on 
the Santa Fe road. 

Everywhere we found people in the greatest state of alarm; men 
were arming themselves and rushing to and fro, some hastening 
towards Lawrence, and others in doubt what to do. Women, terri- 
fied, were moving children and household goods to the cornfields, 
and running about in the wildest confusion. Commotion, confusion, 
terror, and vengeance, all blended into one indescribable feeling, 
were driving the people into hurried and indiscriminate activity. 
As no one knew positively QuantrilFs destination, everyone was 
momentarily expecting his habitation to be turned into a scene of 
fire and bloodshed. Through these scenes we passed until nine 
o'clock in the evening, when we reached a Dutch farm house, seven 
miles from Lawrence, and were gladly welcomed as lodgers for the 
night. From here we could distinguish the line of Quanta-ill's retreat 
for many miles, by the light of burning houses. The nearest light 
was that of buildings a mile distant, belonging to a forehanded 

42. A settlement in Douglas county, now extinct, about 11 miles south of Lawrence 
on the Santa Fe trail. 

43. A point about seven miles northwest of Baldwin. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 145 

farmer who had just completed a large harvest. He had a fine two- 
story brick house, and the finest barn buildings in the county, packed 
to overflowing, with large stacks of grain and hay adjoining. All 
was now in ashes. 

During the evening at the Dutch farm, several interesting law 
questions arose. The Dutchman's boy had brought home from the 
pursuit a fine black horse, taken from a bushwhacker. Another 
man came in and claimed it. He was the nearest man in the pursuit 
when the bushwhacker jumped from the horse and ran into the 
woods; but being more patriotic than avaricious, he rushed into 
the woods after him, while the boy seized the horse and brought 
him home. Who owned the horse, was the question at issue. Both 
admitted the spoils of war belong to the victor; that, as Uncle Sam's 
men were not in the engagement, Uncle Sam had no direct interest 
in the spoils, and that capture was the ground of title. All this 
admitted, the boy on his side kept putting the question "who caught 
the horse," which seemed to muzzle the claimant, and in the end 
defeated the claim. Another Dutchman who had been burned out 
came in to claim a gun the Dutch boy had brought home. A rebel 
in his haste dropped the gun in the public road before the Dutch- 
man's burning house, and the Dutchman claimed it on the ground 
of its being dropped near his house. Both questions were argued 
with great zeal; but the boy "couldn't see it" plain enough to give 
up the horse or gun. 

In the morning, after an early breakfast, we drove over on to the 
road leading to this once beautiful town. Every house save two 
or three was a smouldering ruin. All along the road was a con- 
tinuous line of beautiful farms, well cultivated and ready for the 
harvester. Occasionally a man would be seen sitting among the 
ruins of his once happy home, seemingly striving to realize the 
awful and sudden change, but few people, however, were anywhere 
to be seen. So we rode into the town, the first sight attracting my 
attention was a Negro rushing through the streets on horse back, 
dragging the naked body of a dead rebel, with a rope around his 
neck hitched to his saddle. 44 A crowd was following, pelting the 
rebel with stones. The heart sickens at the thought of the terrible 
scene Lawrence presents. Three hundred rebels under Quantrill 
entered the town yesterday morning at daylight, scattering in dif- 

44. The body was that of the guerrilla, Larkin M. Skaggs, one time Baptist minister 
of Cass county, Mo. Earlier in the day he had shot John Speer, Jr., son of John Speer, 
publisher of the Kansas Weekly Tribune. The boy died later after being shot by another 
member of the band. William Speer, brother of John Sprer, Jr., shot Skaggs from his horse 
and a Delaware Indian, White Turkey, killed him. Wm. E. Connelley, op. cit., pp. 356, 
381. 

103024 



146 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

ferent directions, and murdering and burning as they went. 45 Perfect 
security was felt up to the very moment of their entrance. People 
alarmed at the outdoor confusion, jumped from their beds, rushed 
into the streets and were shot down before they hardly had time 
to discover the awful situation of affairs. Houses were fired and their 
male inmates shot whenever they attempted to make their escape. 
All over the town flames were roaring, pistols cracking, women and 
children screaming, and defenseless men piteously begging for their 
lives. 

In two hours a quiet, peaceful town suffered a loss of a hundred 
and fifty murdered citizens and $2,000,000 worth of property. 
Nothing in our early history exceeds, or even equals it in barbarity. 
People were used as guides, promised protection, and afterwards 
shot down like dogs. At one Dr. [J. F.] Griswold's, three of the 
prominent men of the state were boarding. The rebels took them 
out, cautioning their wives not to follow. They marched them away 
from the house, told them they were safe, inquired their names, shot 
them all down, and left them. 46 Dr. Griswold was not quite killed. 
He attempted to crawl towards his house, but a rebel saw him and 
returned giving him two more shots in the presence of his screaming 
wife. One woman attempted to save her wounded husband by 
throwing herself upon his bleeding body, but a rebel forced his 
pistol between their bodies and killed her husband. One woman 
saved her husband by repeatedly jerking the horse's bridle of the 
rebel, who was chasing her husband around the house and shooting 
at him. In another case a house was burning and the rebels watch- 
ing outside for the owner. The wife got permission to remove a 
carpet and succeeded in bringing the husband out under it. 47 

The Eldridge Hotel, the largest in the state, surrendered formally 
to Quantrill. A boarder 48 waved a white flag from the balcony and 
inquired for Quantrill, who soon appeared. (From the balcony) 
"What is your object in coming to Lawrence?" (Quantrill) "Plun- 
der." ( Balcony ) "We are defenseless and at your mercy, the house 
is surrendered, but we demand protection for the inmates/' Quan- 
trill promised them protection, marshalled them in the street, led 
them himself down to the Whitney House, and remained with them 
for protection. Quantrill used to live in Lawrence and boarded at 

45. Quantrill's command numbered about 450 men. The guerrillas, numbering 294, 
were joined by Col. John D. Holt with 104 men, and about 50 others, designated the Grand 
river reinforcement. William E. Connelley, op. eft., p. 315. 

46. These men were H. W. Baker, J. C. Trask, and S. M. Thorp. Only Baker survived. 

47. Wife of the Rev. H. D. Fisher. 

48. Capt. Alexander R. Banks, provost marshal of Kansas. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 147 

the Whitney House. Miss Stone, the landlord's daughter, was,, 
during those days, a great favorite of his. She told Quantrill that 
one of his men had robbed her of a finger ring. The man was sent 
for and made to return it. He was mad, and as he left the room 
said "she would be sorry for that." Afterwards, when Quantrill had 
left, he came back and shot her father. Quantrill took breakfast 
at the Whitney House and conversed with many old acquaintances. 
He was surprised that his men were murdering people, but said 
they had got into the saloons, got drunk and beyond his control. 
He came to destroy the town and plunder its wealth, in retaliation 
for Lane burning Osceola. 49 When he left he bid his former friends 
good-bye, and hoped when they met again it would be under more 
happy circumstances. 

Massachusetts street, one of the finest business streets in the state> 
is entirely destroyed. In the smoking ruins I saw the charred re- 
mains of several human bodies. Everyone is at work burying the 
dead, which are now, twenty-four hours from the time of the massa- 
cre, scattered about the city, in collections from two to twenty. 
Many awful incidents of this awful tragedy crowd upon my mind 
as I write, but you will have read many accounts of them before 
this reaches you. Dr. Kellogg told me he was led around for 
an hour, by two rebels who kept cocked revolvers at his head con- 
tinually. He had made up his mind to die, but thought he would 
do his best to please them. At their direction he led them into the 
best liquor stores, found some money for them, set several of his 
neighbors' houses on fire, and was finally, against his expectation, 
released. The doctor said the first few breaths after his release, were 
worth $1,000 apiece. One man saved his house and life for $1,000. 
Another paid $1,000 to one man, and was shot by another. One 
woman saved her house by marking "Southern" over the door. 

Jim Lane's house was burned, while Lane saved himself in a corn 
field. One man saved himself and house by genuine grit by mak- 
ing a good show of pistols and swearing he would blow the first 
man's brains out that came near him. A young man named Calla- 
more and his wife, from northern Illinois, were traveling through 
the state looking for a place to settle. They were in one of the 
hotels which was on fire, and the man knew he could not go down 
stairs without being killed. He jumped from the second story win- 
dow and was immediately seized by two rebels, who led him out of 
sight with revolvers at his head. This is the last the young wife has 

49. Gen. James H. Lane, commanding a brigade composed of the Third, Fourth, and 
Fifth Kansas regiments, burned Osceola on September 29, 1861. 



148 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

heard from him. She is here with a little child and no money, and 
cannot be consoled. We are stopping at the Whitney House, the 
only hotel left. The town is filling with strangers from every part 
of the state. Vengeance against the bushwhackers is the overruling 
principle everywhere. This is one of the cases where there is no 
punishment severe enough. Hanging, disemboweling and quarter- 
ing are not half severe enough to satisfy the righteous vengeance 
of the people. C. M. C. 

LEAVENWORTH, Aug. 29, 1863. 

ED. REPUBLICAN: One week ago today (Saturday), I arrived at 
this growing city. From Lawrence to Leavenworth is forty miles. 
The road leads over the Delaware Reserve, as rich and beautiful 
farming land as can be found. The Delawares cultivate a little of 
their land, enough to provide for their necessary wants, beyond 
which their knowledge extends not. 

After leaving the Reserve you enter Leavenworth county and are 
among fine farms all the way to the city. 

It is impossible to describe the excitement which has prevailed 
in this city since the sacking of Lawrence. The feeling was for the 
relief of the sufferers. Within two hours after the news reached 
the city, a contribution was taken up and supplies forwarded. Gov. 
Carney headed the subscription with $1,000, others followed with 
sums between $5, and $500, until $15,000 was raised with less talk 
than would ordinarily be required to raise $100. This generosity 
on the part of Leavenworth is greatly to her credit. Lawrence and 
Leavenworth were not on the best of terms. Lawrence was playing 
into the hands of Kansas City. Her interests and intimacies were 
all with Kansas City and against Leavenworth. It would be natural 
for Leavenworth to have expected Kansas City to be most liberal 
toward her suffering allies, but she did not wait to see what others 
would do, nor to consider former differences, but was the first and 
most liberal in her contributions. After the sufferers were provided 
for, the feeling of vengeance took possession of every mind. People 
were hardly willing to wait for the authorities to act, but were dis- 
posed to take the sword of vengeance in their own hands. 

From the balcony of one of the hotels Lane made a wild speech, 
inciting the people of Kansas to an indiscriminate murder of all 
border Missourians, taking the motto of "devastation for safety, 
blood for vengeance, and plunder for profit." He told the people 
of Kansas if they wanted a man in the U. S. Senate who would vote 
for peace before the last slave was free, not to send Jim Lane there, 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 149 

for he would fight that is, he would vote for others to fight twenty 
years before he would have peace on any other terms. Before 
closing his speech he presented a resolution to the effect that the 
people of Kansas meet at Paola on the 8th of September, each man 
supplied with musket, ammunition, a blanket, and fifteen days' 
rations. The object being to devastate Jackson, Bates, and Cass 
counties, Mo., or "burn them over" as he said and "kill every 
living thing." The resolution was unanimously passed. At Law- 
rence I heard many republicans charge the destruction of that town 
to the destruction of Osceola, Mo., by Lane two years ago. Quan- 
trill, while there, said he was ordered to destroy Lawrence in re- 
taliation for Osceola. 

But notwithstanding Lane's unpopularity with many, all were 
listening to his speech with open mouths, and ready to commit any 
outrage on the border men he might suggest. Every one was boiling 
over with concentrated rage, and had the expedition to Paola started 
at once, it would have taken every able-bodied man in Leavenworth. 
But before the time arrives better councils will prevail. Whenever 
one of those Lawrence murderers is caught let him hang until the 
buzzards fat on his carcass. But let us not imitate his barbarous 
example by an indiscriminate butchery of innocent persons. 

After Lane, Jennison was called on. He came forward and spoke 
an hour much after Lane's style. He principally, however, devoted 
himself to electioneering for the 15th Kansas Infantry, of which 
regiment he is to be Colonel. Jennison was formerly Colonel of one 
of the Kansas regiments, but was removed for outrages committed 
upon innocent persons and for plundering the people to enrich 
himself. 50 Since then people have been satisfied to let him rest in 
privacy. But the Lawrence massacre seemed to call for some law- 
less leader, to inflict a punishment on those counties from which 
these fiends were supposed to have come, and Jennison was ap- 
pointed Colonel of the 15th Kansas infantry. People even went 
so far as to plan a raid into Platte county, over the river. No one 
dreamed that that county was implicated in the Lawrence massacre, 
but the almost uncontrollable feeling was to devastate some part of 

50. In his "Early History of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry," Simeon M. Fox, adjutant of 
the regiment, makes the following statement about Jennison's resignation which has been 
described by some writers as forced: "This resignation was not forced . . . but was 
a voluntary act induced by the appointment of James G. Blunt to the rank of brigadier 
general, a position that he [Jennison] personally coveted and had hoped would be his. He 
made an intemperate speech to the men the regiment was at Lawrence at the time |-and 
during its course practically advised them to desert; and before his wrath cooled his resigna- 
tion was out of his hands and beyond recall." Kansas Historical Collections, v. 11, pp. 
240, 241. 



150 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Missouri. A lot of men, among whom were a part of the Lawrence 
police, planned a raid into that county a few nights since, and went 
down to the ferry to cross over but the ferry happened to be on the 
Missouri side, and the raiders were obliged to return home. 

This has also been an exciting week in the police, or Mayor's 
court. Mayor Anthony fined a Lieutenant $20 for saying that there 
were as loyal people in Missouri as in Kansas, and that Kansas was 
filled with horse and nigger thieves. And another man was fined 
$100 for saying that "Lawrence was served just right." There have 
been several other $100 fines for similar expressions. The Lieu- 
tenant, as the witness testified, was jesting with a radical comrade 
in a beer saloon and did not really mean all he said, but the Mayor 
said "jest or earnest no such talk would be allowed in Leavenworth." 
No one had any sympathy for the others as their remarks indicated 
a heart suited for die infernal regions. 

During the week every able-bodied man has been compelled to 
drill every afternoon at four oclock. Leavenworth turns out at 
these drills 2,000 good militia men. They actually fear a raid into 
their city, but if bushwhackers once get in here they never will 
get out. 

The prosperity of Leavenworth exceeds all expectations; every 
disaster in this section seems to contribute to her growth. The Law- 
rence raid has frightened trade from Kansas City to this point. The 
long Santa Fe trains which ordinarily go into Kansas City, have 
since the raid come in here, fearing to travel in Jackson county. 
The people here are confident of being able to keep that business 
after it has once come here. A glance at the map, however, will 
show that Kansas City is the natural point for Santa Fe trade, and 
without doubt when Jackson county is out of danger, it will return 
there. Leavenworth was never more hopeful than now. She ex- 
pects that the Pacific railroad will start from Kansas City, and in- 
stead of going straight up the Kansas river valley, will turn north 
from Kansas City and go to Lawrence around by Leavenworth, in 
which case Leavenworth would be reached from the West before 
Kansas City. This would throw Kansas City on to a side track, and 
Leavenworth on the main line to the East. Should that course be 
made Kansas City is blasted and Leavenworth is to be the town 
of the West. But should the road go straight up the valley, Leaven- 
worth would be on the side track, and Kansas City would be the 
town. 



AN EDITOR LOOKS AT EARLY-DAY KANSAS 151 

I gave you a description of Leavenworth when here three weeks 
ago. It has not appeared in your paper yet. Possibly it has mis- 
carried, but as it may reach you some time I will not send you an- 
other. ... C. M. C. 

(The Concluding Installment, Containing the Chase Letters of 1873, 
Will Appear in the Autumn, I960, Issue.) 



Kansa Village Locations in the Light of McCoy's 

1828 Journal 

ROSCOE WlLMETH 

A S AN aid to an archaeological survey of the Kansas river val- 
** ley, the Kansas State Historical Society has been making a 
study of documentary sources dealing with the Kaw or Kansa 
Indians, in an effort to establish the location of their villages. 
These Indians, of special interest through having contributed their 
name both to the river and the state, occupied this area from the 
time they were located by European explorers, until 1846 when the 
tribe was moved to the Council Grove area. The problem has al- 
ready received some attention, particularly from George P. More- 
house and Waldo R. Wedel, who have used documentary sources 
and archaeological methods in defining Kansa sites on the Missouri 
and Kansas rivers. 1 Morehouse, a member of the Kansas State 
Historical Society for more than 40 years, and its president in 
1918, was a devoted student of the history of the Kansa. Dr. 
Wedel, curator, division of archaeology, Smithsonian Institution, 
is a native Kansan who has conducted much of the archaeological 
work carried out in the state. 

One source on the Kansa apparently has been overlooked, namely, 
Isaac McCoy's journal of his 1828 exploring expedition in present 
eastern Kansas. McCoy (1784-1846), a Baptist missionary, was 
one of the leading proponents of the policy of removing the In- 
dians to the West, believing this would save them from the de- 
generating influence of contact with the whites. Following the 
1828 expedition, McCoy played a leading role in the selection 
and survey of Indian lands in Kansas. 

In 1828 McCoy visited one Kansa village and traveled in the 
vicinity of three others; at least three of these appear not to have 
been recognized heretofore. The purpose of the present paper is 
to trace McCoy's route as far as is necessary to establish his posi- 
tion on reaching the Kansas river, and to determine at least the 
general location of the villages mentioned in the journal. The 
journal, which is in the possession of the State Historical Society, 

ROSCOE WH.METH is the State Historical Society's archaeologist. 

1. G. P. Morehouse, "History of the Kansa or Kaw Indians," Kansas Historical Col- 
lections, v. 10 (1907-1908), pp. 327-368; W. R. Wedel, "Inaugurating an Archaeological 
Survey in Kansas," Smithsonian Institution, Explorations and Field Work, 1937, Publi- 
cation No. 3480 (1938), pp. 103-110; W. R. Wedel, "The Kansa Indians," Transactions 
of the Kansas Academy of Science, v. 49 (1946-1947), pp. 1-35. The writer is indebted 
to Wedel for reading this article and making many helpful suggestions. 

(152) 



KANSA VILLAGE LOCATIONS 153 

has been edited and published by Mrs. Lela Barnes of the So- 
ciety's manuscript division. 

In the summer of 1828 McCoy, then Baptist missionary at 
Carey, Mich., was commissioned by the War Department to ac- 
company a group of Potawatomi on a visit to the area west of 
the Mississippi. This was a preliminary stage in the program 
of Indian removal to that area. Leaving Carey in July, McCoy 
and party traveled to St. Louis, where they were delayed for some 
time. In August they were finally permitted to leave for the West, 
and at once set out, reaching Harmony Mission in western Mis- 
souri on September 2. 2 

On the night of September 4 McCoy camped on the Marais des 
Cygnes river within the boundaries of the present state of Kansas. 
For the next week his route followed the course of this stream 
to the west, through present Linn, Miami, Franklin, and Osage 
counties. On September 11, early in the morning, McCoy reached 
the Santa Fe trail about three miles from camp, and was able to 
determine his position : "By my map, the measurement of the Santa 
Fe road, made our encampment last night eighty one miles west of 
the state of Missouri." The camp of the evening of September 
10 must have been a few miles north of Admire, Lyon county, near 
the point where the Santa Fe trail crossed the upper Marais des 
Cygnes. 3 

The expedition proceeded northwest and west on September 
11, but on the 12th, "We proceeded Southwest in order to find a 
branch of Neosho river," the branch being found at a distance of 
about 12 miles. From September 12 to 15, an estimated 58 miles 
of travel, they proceeded southwest, crossing a number of branches 
of the Neosho river. A large branch was reached on September 
15, and McCoy wrote: "My map appears to be incorrect so that 
I am not able to decide which branch of Neosho this is. I sup- 
posed it to be a middle fork, but Mograin [McCoy's Osage Indian 
guide] says it is the main Southern branch." The main southern 
branch is the Cottonwood river, while the Neosho itself was the 
"large branch" crossed on September 13. 4 Mograin's accuracy is 
confirmed both by the distance traveled and by subsequent events. 

On September 16 the party went north up a creek on which it 
had camped the night before, reached the Santa Fe trail, and 
followed it east. On September 17, they continued east, and again 

2. Lela Barnes, "Journal of Isaac McCoy for the Exploring Expedition of 1828," The 
Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 5 (August, 1936), pp. 227-244 passim. 

3. Ibid., pp. 246-250; W. E. Connelley, History of Kansas (Chicago and New York, 
1928), v. 1, p. 113. 

4. Barnes, loc. cit., pp. 250-252. 



154 



KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 



met the trail; here McCoy was able to calculate his position as 
122 miles west of Missouri. The trail at this distance from Mis- 
souri is a little east of Lost Springs in Marion county. Working 
back from this position, it seems likely that the creek McCoy fol- 
lowed north on September 16 was Brook creek, which enters the 
Cottonwood not far from where McCoy must have reached that 




KANSA VILLAGE LOCATIONS 155 

river. He stated, "Left camp quarter after 8. proceeded up the 
creek on which we had s[l]ept, north, about 9 crossed & passed 
between forks of nearly equal size/' 5 This description fits Brook 
creek, which forks about two miles above its mouth. 

The remainder of McCoy's description of the events of Septem- 
ber 17 is contradictory. From the point where he ascertained 
his position, he "steered north, from 12 till five o'clock, when we 
encamped as I believed on the waters of Ne[os]ho which we had 
descended about two miles." In the same passage he stated that 
the day's journey was across land separating the Neosho and Osage 
from the Kansas: "We have now left Neosho waters. . . ." 6 
Obviously, McCoy did not camp on the Neosho, which he had 
left, nor could he descend it going north. From the latter state- 
ment quoted it is apparent he was descending a branch of the 
Kansas. On the basis of his position as calculated on the Santa 
Fe trail, the branch must have been either Lyon or Clarks creek. 

The following day, September 18, McCoy's party descended 
to the Kansas river and reached a village of the Kansa Indians. 
McCoy found this, the "upper Indian town on the river," to be 
125 miles due west of Missouri. The distance places McCoy and 
the Kansa in the vicinity of Junction City, near the mouth of 
the Smoky Hill or perhaps that of Clarks creek, allowing a few 
miles of possible error in his calculation. Two topographic fea- 
tures mentioned support McCoy's figure. He viewed the river, 
and found that it passed between relatively high hills, and that 
the country was broken and hilly near the river. This agrees with 
the valley topography near Junction City. Secondly, while descend- 
ing the creek early in the day, "on top of a high natural mount 
we discovered an artificial mound of stone, apparently constructed 
from the same principles on which our earthen mounds are to be 
east." 7 Junction City is the center of a pre-Columbian complex 
designated the Schultz Focus, typified by rock burial mounds and 
related to the Hopewell culture of the eastern United States. 8 It 
was unquestionably one of these mounds that McCoy saw. 

McCoy traveled down the river on September 19, and going a 
little north of east passed between two small villages in the course 
of ten miles. The river flows northeast between Junction City and 
Manhattan, a distance of 18 miles, and the two villages must have 

5. Ibid., p. 253. 

6. Ibid., p. 254. 

7. Ibid., pp. 254-258. 

8. C. E. Eyman, "The Schultz Focus: a Woodland Mound Complex of the Lower 
Republican Valley, Kansas," unpublished manuscript, Museum of Natural History, University 
of Kansas, Lawrence. 



156 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

been located in this area. At one o'clock McCoy was in sight of 
the principal Kansas village seven miles away. He went southeast 
to see the country on a large creek (probably Deep creek) and 
here estimated he was still seven or eight miles from the village 
mentioned. This "principal" village must have been fairly close 
to Manhattan. It is entirely possible that this was the village 
near the mouth of the Blue on the north side of the river, visited 
by Thomas Say in 1819, which would have been visible from 
McCoy's position on the opposite bank. McCoy covered 30 miles 
that day and probably camped in the vicinity of McFarland or 
Alma in Wabaunsee county. 9 

Early the next morning a large creek, probably Mill creek, was 
crossed. A total of 20 miles was traveled, bringing the party to a 
point about 70 miles west of Missouri and 15 miles south of the 
Kansas river. 10 McCoy was now near the head of the Wakarusa 
river. The party continued eastward along the divide between 
the Kansas and Osage, and on September 24 reached the Missouri 
boundary. 

The three villages seen by McCoy, and possibly the fourth, were 
on the south side of the river between Junction City and Man- 
hattan (shaded area on map, p. 154). None of them is mentioned 
in the literature. Either McCoy's journal has been overlooked as a 
source on the 19th century Kansa Indians, or the villages he visited 
have been confused with others located farther down the river. 
Root identified the villages as those of Hard Chief and American 
Chief (on Mission creek) in Shawnee county, and stated that 
McCoy was informed of Fool Chiefs village north of the river. 11 
McCoy did not give personal names of the Indians he met, nor did 
he mention any village north of the river. In addition, the distance 
from Missouri to Mission creek is only 65 miles. Finally, there is the 
statement of Frederick Chouteau, long a trader to the Kansa, that 
the Mission creek villages were not established until 1830, two years 
after McCoy's journey: "They built their lodges there the same 
year I went, 1830. . . . These two bands built their villages 
there because I was going there to trade, as I told them." 12 

McCoy's brief description of the Indian communities he visited 

9. Barnes loc. cit., pp. 256, 257; Edwin James, Account of an Expedition From Pitts- 
burgh to the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819, 1820, in R. G. Thwaites 
(ed.), Early Western Travels, 1748-1846 (Cleveland, 1905), v. 14, pp. 186-198. 

10. Barnes, loc. cit., p. 257. 

11. George A. Root, "Chronology of Shawnee County," Shawnee County Historical 
Society Bulletin, v. 1 (December, 1946), p. 4. 

12. F. G. Adams, "Reminiscences of Frederick Chouteau," Kansas Historical Collec- 
tions, v. 8 (1903-1904), p. 425. 



KANSA VILLAGE LOCATIONS 157 

is important with reference to native settlement patterns in the 
early 19th century. The first village visited contained but 15 
houses, while the villages McCoy passed between are described as 
small, and it seems probable the latter two were no larger than the 
first. 13 This is in contrast to the village at the mouth of the Blue, 
where Say found 120 lodges in 1819. 14 Wedel pointed out that 
it has long been suspected that the large, often fortified, villages 
of the early 19th century were frequently the center of a number 
of smaller satellite communities, and the McCoy journal helps to 
confirm this view. 15 To some extent this pattern was followed 
when the Kansa moved downstream in 1830. Chouteau reported 
a large village of 700-800 persons at Menoken on the north bank 
of the river, with two others of respectively 500-600 and 100 per- 
sons south of the river on Mission creek. 16 It may be noted that 
at both locations, the smaller villages are on the south side of the 
river. The reason for this is undetermined, though it may have 
been for greater protection against attack by the Pawnee. 

McCoy's journal also confirms that both the circular earthlodge 
and the long bark-covered lodge were used by the Kansa in this 
period. At the first village encountered he was entertained in 
a "large bark hut." 17 Sibley in 1811 also described the bark lodge 
at a Kansa village which Wedel believes to be the town at the 
mouth of the Blue. 18 On the other hand, Say observed circular 
earthlodges at the Blue river village in 1819, and a lodge of this 
type has been excavated at this site. 19 

Identification of the remains of the villages visited by Isaac Mc- 
Coy will raise considerably the total number of Kansa sites spe- 
cifically located. It is hoped that excavations can be carried out 
at many of these, for several reasons. First of all, it will increase 
the knowledge of the economic life of the Kansa in the 18th and 
early 19th centuries. Secondly, recovery of aboriginal materials 
from Kansa sites of the period of European contact may make 
possible the identification of pre-European villages of this people 
and aid in placing them in their proper perspective relative to 
Plains history in general. 

13. Barnes, loc. cit., p. 256. 

14. James, loc. cit., p. 188. 

15. W. R. Wedel, letter, April 2, 1958. 

16. Adams, loc. cit., p. 425. 

17. Barnes, loc. cit., p. 254. 

18. Wedel, "The Kansa Indians," loc. cit., pp. 13, 21. 

19. James, loc. cit., p. 189; W. R. Wedel, letter, March 7, 1957. 



Some Notes on Kansas Cowtown Police Officers 
and Gun Fighters Continued 

NYLE H. MILLER and JOSEPH W. SNELL 

BROWN, HENRY NEWTON 

(1857-1884) 

SHORTLY after the murder of Caldwell City Marshal George 
Brown, on June 22, 1882, the city council appointed B. P. "Bat" 
Carr as his replacement with Henry N. Brown as Carr's assistant. 
The Caldwell Commercial voiced its approval of the appointments 
in this article, July 6, 1882: 

The City Council on Monday night appointed Henry Brown, formerly 
marshal of Tuscosa, Texas, Assistant City Marshal. Mr. Brown is a young 
man who bears an excellent reputation, and although he has acted in similar 
capacities for several years, has never acquired any of those habits which 
some seem to think are absolutely necessary to make an officer popular with 
the "boys." With Mr. Carr for Marshal, and Henry Brown for assistant, we 
think the city has at last secured the right kind of a police force. Carr is a 
quiet unassuming man, but there is that look about him which at once im- 
presses a person with the idea that he will do his whole duty fearlessly and 
in the best manner possible. We have not the least doubt but he will give 
entire satisfaction, and it is now the duty of every citizen to see that he is 
promptly and efficiently sustained in his efforts to preserve the peace of the 
city and the safety of its inhabitants. 

The Caldwell Post, July 6, 1882, called upon the city to back its 
new officers for better law enforcement: 

Messrs. B. P. Carr and Henry Brown are on the police force of our city 
now as Marshal and Assistant Marshal. These gentlemen will do their utmost 
to see that order is kept, and the. peace of the city preserved, if a little bit of 
fine shooting has to be indulged in by them. If our citizens will back the 
officers, there will be a great deal less trouble with the lawless classes than 
there has been heretofore. 



We have a new Assistant Marshal on the police force now Mr. Henry 
Brown and it is said that he is one of the quickest men on the trigger in 
the Southwest. 

In August, 1882, Brown assisted Marshal Carr in preventing a fist 
fight which had certain religious connotations. The newspaper item 
reporting this may be found in the section on B. P. Carr. 

NYLE H. MILLER and JOSEPH W. SNELL are members of the staff of the Kansas State 
Historical Society. 

NOTE: Appearance of the first installment of this series m the Spring, 1960, Kansas 
Historical Quarterly, has resulted in numerous requests for additional copies. If interest 
continues the entire series will be reprinted and offered for sale under one cover, with ad- 
ditional information and perhaps an index. 

(158) 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 159 

About the middle of September, 1882, Henry Brown resigned as 
assistant marshal in order to accompany Sheriff J. M. Thralls' posse 
into the Indian territory after the killers of Mike Meagher. 1 The 
expedition, however, was a failure. The Caldwell Commercial, 
October 12, 1882, recorded the posse's adventures: 

AFTER THE TALBOTT GANG 
A HUNT OF Two WEEKS AND No CAPTURE. 

About the 14th or 15th of last month information was received from below 
that the Talbott gang, or part of them, was located in the southwest part of 
the Indian Ter., and had with them a lot of stolen horses and cattle. The 
information came from a reliable source, and acting upon it, Sheriff Thralls 
organized a party to hunt up and if possible capture the gang. 

The sheriff and his men left on the 19th of September, returned last 
Thursday the 5th inst, having been gone seventeen days. From Henry 
Brown, Assistant Marshal of this city, who accompanied the expedition, we 
learn that the party went from here to the Cheyenne and Arapahoe agency, 
and after consulting with Agent Miles a detachment of troops was secured 
to accompany Sheriff Thrall's party, and if need be assist in the capture of 
the outlaws. 

It was also learned at the agency that Dug. Hill and Bob Munsing were 
among the outlaws, the former going by the name of Bob Johnson and the 
latter by the name of Slocum; also that Dug Hill had been connected with 
and employed in the camp of a man named Kooch, holding cattle on Quarter- 
master creek, ever since the 27th of last July. 

Thrall's party traveled about one hundred miles southwest of Cantonment, 
to Seger's cattle camp, where they halted and Seger went over to Kooch's 
camp, about twenty miles distant, to ascertain the exact whereabouts of Hill 
and Munsing. Brown says it took Seger two days and one night to travel the 
forty miles, and when he returned he stated that from the description given 
of Dug Hill, the man at Kooch's camp going by the name of Bob Johnson, 
could not be Dug. However, the sheriff's party proceeded to Kooch's camp, 
and on arriving there found that "Bob Johnson" was gone, and that "Mr. 
Slocum" had cut his foot and gone to Cantonment to get some medicine for it. 

The Thrall's party then followed Quartermaster creek to where it empties 
in the Washita and not obtaining any trace of the fugitives, came on home. 

Mr. Brown also informs us that in addition to the camp of Seger and Kooch, 
the Standard Cattle Co., Ben Clark, Henry Street, and others are holding 
cattle in that section of the Territory. The country is supposed to be a 
part of the Kiowa and Comanche reservation, but whether that is the fact 
we are unable to say. 

Having returned to Caldwell Brown was reappointed assistant 
marshal. The Caldwell Post, October 12, 1882, announced his re- 
employment. 

Henry Brown is again on the police force, after a two-weeks' lay-off. 
Henry has been down in the Wichita mountains on the lookout for "rustlers," 
but the birds had been notified of his coming, and had flown. There must be 
an underground railway connected with these cattle thieves' camps and the 
border towns, or they could he taken in with less trouble. 



160 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Shortly after Brown's return, Marshal Carr took a leave of ab- 
sence and the assistant marshal assumed the duties of acting city 
marshal. The Caldwell Commercial, October 19, 1882, reported: 

Henry Brown is acting as City Marshal during the absence of Bat Carr, 
with Ben Wheeler as assistant. Henry is all business, yet withal quiet and 
obstrusive, and will do his full duty in preserving the peace of the city. Of 
this fact he has given ample evidence in his former position as assistant City 
Marshal. 

On November 2, 1882, the Commercial reported that: 

Henry Brown, acting city marshal, received a letter on Tuesday from Ben 
Franklin, Will Quinlin's foreman, notifying him that he had the horse and 
saddle stolen from Jim Sibbets on Sunday night, October 22. The horse was 
taken while Jim was in church. No particulars were given by Mr. Franklin 
as to how the horse came into his possession. 

Bat Carr returned to his Caldwell position on November 2, 1882, 2 
and Brown resumed his job as assistant. 

On December 28, 1882, it was announced in both the Post and 
the Commercial that Henry Brown had been appointed city mar- 
shal. Said the Post: 

The City Council appointed Henry Brown as city marshal Thursday eve- 
ning last. Henry has been assistant marshal for some time past, and is now 
promoted to the chiefship. Mr. B. is a good one, and will have the moral as 
well as physical support of our citizens in running the city as it should be. 

The Commercial reported Brown's appointment as effective Fri- 
day rather than on Thursday as stated by the Post. 

In the same issue of December 28, the Commercial noticed that 
"Henry Brown was the recipient of two very useful presents that 
is they may be in the near future, if things turn out satisfactorily 
to all parties concerned given him by some unknown friend on 
the Methodist Christmas tree, being a rattle box and a tin horn." 

On New Year's Day the citizens of Caldwell presented Brown 
with a fine rifle. The Caldwell Post recorded the event on January 
4, 1883: 

A HANDSOME PRESENT. 

A few of the citizens of this city, appreciating the valuable services of 
Mr. Henry Brown, city marshal, concluded to present him with a suitable 
token of their esteem, and so settled upon an elegant gold-mounted and 
handsomely-engraved Winchester rifle, as an article especially useful to him 
and expressive of services rendered in the lawful execution of his duties. The 
gun was presented to him Monday, Mr. Frank Johnes making the presentation 
speech, and a handsome one it was, too (we mean the speech this time[)]. On 
the stock of the gun is a handsome silver plate bearing the inscription "Pre- 
sented to City Marshal H. N. Brown for valuable services rendered the citizens 
of Caldwell, Kansas, A. M. Colson, Mayor, Dec., 1882." Henry is as proud 
of his gun as a boy of a new top. He appreciates the present very highly, but 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 161 

not half so much as he does the good will shown and approval of his services 
by the citizens of this city, as implied by the present. 

The Commercial, in its edition of January 4, differed with the 
Post's version of the inscription: 

A FINE NEW YEAR'S PRESENT. 

On Monday afternoon our efficient City Marshal, Henry Brown, was 
quietly tolled into York-Parker-Draper M. Co.'s store, and in the presence of 
a few friends presented with a new Winchester rifle. The presentation speech 
was made by Frank Jones, to which Henry responded as well as he could 
under his astonishment and embarrassment at the unexpected demonstration. 
The rifle is of superior workmanship, the barrell being octagon, the butt end 
beautifully engraved and plated with gold. The stock is made of a fine piece 
of black walnut, with a pistol grip, and one side of it has a silver plate in- 
scribed, "Presented to H. N. Brown by his many friends, as a reward for the 
efficient services rendered the citizens of Caldwell. A. M. Colson Mayor, 
Jan 1, A. D. 1883." 

The present is one worthy of the donors and testifies in a substantial manner 
their appreciation of a most efficient officer and worthy gentleman. 

At the end of January, 1883, Brown obtained leave to visit his 
home in Missouri. The Commercial, in announcing his absence, 
commended his performance of duty: 

Henry Brown, our city marshal, having obtained a leave of absence from 
the mayor and council, left yesterday on a visit to his old home at Rolla, 
Missouri, after an absence of ten years. Mr. Brown during the past eight 
months has given his entire time and attention to his duties first as assistant 
marshal, and then as marshal, has proven himself a most efficient officer and 
fairly earned the holiday. It is no flattery to say that few men could have 
filled the position he has so acceptably occupied. Cool, courageous and 
gentlemanly, and free from the vices supposed to be proper adjuncts to a man 
occupying his position; he has earned the confidence of our best citizens and 
the respect of those disposed to consider themselves especially delegated to 
run border towns. One other thing may be said in his favor: he has never 
been the recipent of self-presented testimonials, nor hounded the newspaper 
offices of the surrounding villages for personal puffs, and it gives us supreme 
satisfaction to state these facts. For one the COMMERCIAL hopes Mr. Brown 
will heartily enjoy his trip, the visit to scenes of his childhood, and return 
with renewed energy for the duties of his position. 3 

Brown returned to Caldwell about a month later. The Com- 
mercial on March 8, 1883, reported that "H. N. Brown, city marshal, 
returned on Saturday from a visit to his old home in Missouri, and 
has resumed the duties of his office. Since his return, the boys are 
not quite so numerous on the streets at night." 

Apparently Brown entered into the social life of Caldwell for on 
March 22, 1883, the Commercial reported that "A party of young 
folks, headed by Prof. Sweet, guarded by City Marshal Brown 

113024 



162 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

. . . started last Sunday for the classic shades of Polecat in 
order to enjoy a picnic. . . ." 

In April, after the annual city election, the new city council of 
Caldwell met and reappointed both Brown and his assistant 
Wheeler. 4 A few days later Brown and Wheeler accompanied 
Deputy United States Marshal Charles M. Hollister after some 
horse thieves. In making the arrest the officers killed a man. The 
article reporting this battle may be found in the section on 
Hollister. 

City Marshal Henry Brown killed an Indian in a Caldwell grocery 
store on May 14. Here is the story from the Journal, May 17, 1883: 
KILLED BY THE MARSHAL. 

Spotted Horse is no more. He departed this life last Monday morning, at 
the hands of the city marshal, H. N. Brown. The manner of his death and 
the circumstances leading thereto are about as follows: 

Spotted Horse was a Pawnee Indian, whose custom it was to make 
periodical visits to Caldwell with one or more of his squaws, bartering their 
persons to the lusts of two-legged white animals in whom the dog instinct 
prevailed. Last Friday or Saturday Spotted Horse drove into town in a 
two-horse wagon, with one of his squaws, and went into camp on a vacant 
lot between Main and Market streets. About half past six on Monday morning 
he walked into the Long Branch Restaurant with his squaw and wanted the 
proprietors to give them breakfast. This they refused to do, when he left 
and wandered around town, taking in the Moreland House, where he was 
given a sackful of cold meat and bread. From thence he and the squaw 
went over to E. H. Beals' house on Market street, north of Fifth. Mr. Beals 
and his family were just sitting down to breakfast when Spotted Horse and 
his squaw walked in without the least ceremony and demanded something 
to eat. Mr. B's. wife and daughter were considerably alarmed, and the 
former ordered the Indians to leave. They went out and then Spotted Horse 
handed to the squaw the bundle of grub he had obtained at the Moreland, 
and walked back into the house, up to the table and put his hand on Miss 
Beals' head. Mr. B. immediately jumped to his feet and made signs for the 
Indian to go out, at the same time applying an opprobrious epithet to him. 
The Indian immediately pulled out his revolver, and Mr. Beals told him to go 
out and they would settle the trouble there. Spotted Horse put up his pistol 
and walked out, and Mr. B. after him. Once outside, the Indian pulled his 
revolver again, and Mr. Beals seized a spade that was at hand. Just about 
this time Grant Harris run up to the Indian and told him to go away, that 
he ought not to attack an old man. The Indian then opened out with a 
volley of abuse, directed to Mr. Beals, in good plain English. Young Harris 
finally induced him to put up his pistol and leave. 

The next heard of S. H. and his squaw was that they had walked into the 
back door of the Long Branch kitchen and helped themselves to breakfast, 
Louis Heironymous being the only one connected with the restaurant present 
in the building at the time, made no objections, and the two reds had a good 
feast. 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 163 

It appears that after breakfast the squaw went to the wagon, while Spotted 
Horse strolled into Morris' grocery, one door north of the Long Branch. 
Meantime a complaint had been made to city marshal Brown in reference 
to the Indian's conduct at Beals' house, and the marshal had started out to 
hunt him up, finally finding him in Morris' grocery. The marshal approached 
Spotted Horse and requested him to go with him to Mr. Covington, in order 
that the latter might act as an interpreter. The Indian refused, when the 
marshal took hold of him. Spotted Horse didn't like that, and commenced 
to feel for his revolver. The marshal pulled his out and told the Indian to 
stop. On the latter refusing to do so, the marshal fired at him. In all four 
shots were fired by the marshal, the last one striking the Indian about where 
the hair came down to his forehead, and came out at the back of his head. 
Parties who were present state that if the officer's last shot had failed, the 
Indian would have had the advantage, because he had just succeeded in 
drawing his revolver when the shot struck him. 

The Indian was shortly after removed to the ware house two doors north, 
where every attention was given him, but he died in about two hours without 
uttering a word, although he seemed to be conscious up to within a few 
moments before breathing his last. 

Coroner Stevenson was telegraphed for and came down late in the after- 
noon, viewed the body and held an inquest that night. On Tuesday morning 
the jury brought in a verdict that the deceased came to his death by a gun 
shot wound in the hands of H. N. Brown, and that the shooting was done in 
the discharge of his duty as an officer of the law, and the verdict of the entire 
community is the same. 

The squaw, we are told, upon hearing the first shot fired, hitched the 
horses to the wagon and drove off as fast as she could toward the Territory. 

Toward the end of May, 1883, Brown, Wheeler, and Hollister 
again teamed up to arrest a thief. The Journal reported the story 
on May 31, 1883: 

On Tuesday morning Constable McCulloch might have been seen wending 
his way to the office of Squire Ross. Preceding him was a lively young man 
of apparently twenty-five summers, or some'ers about, who bore upon his 
broad and stooping shoulders a heavy saddle, such as the festive cowboy is 
wont to sit upon while chasing the flying bovine, a saddle blanket and other 
paraphrenelia necessary to clothe a range horse. As the two took their 
solemn and stately walk up the stairs leading to the justice's office, with the 
bearer of burthens in the lead, our curiosity became excited, and, following 
the cavalcade into the sacred precincts of justice, we ascertained that the 
bearer of the saddle was one who gave his name as John Caypless; that, in 
company with two others, he had been loafing around the outskirts of the 
town for three or four days; that the attention of Brown, Hollister and Ben 
Wheeler had been called to the fact; that on Friday night Moores & Weller 
lost a saddle, which fact they reported to the police. On Monday night they 
ran across Mr. Caypless and interviewed him so successfully that he finally 
consented to show where his wicked partners who had vamoosed the ranch 
had hid the saddle. They accompanied him to the spot, which proved to 
be the ravine near I. N. Cooper's place, on Fall creek, where, hidden in a 



164 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

clump of bushes, the saddle was found. Mr. Capless* attendants, taking into 
consideration the fact that he had packed the saddle to its hiding place, con- 
cluded that he could carry it back to town, which he did. Caypless, on 
examination, was bound over, and, as the poor fellow had missed his break- 
fast, Mac took him to get a square meal, after which the train took him to 
Wellington, where he is now receiving the hospitalities of the hotel de Thralls. 
Had Caypless and his friends succeeded in their schemes, there is no doubt 
that other saddles would have been missing, like-wise three good horses. 

The Caldwell police force, made up of Henry Brown and Ben 
Wheeler, was more than paying its own way. The Caldwell Jour- 
nal, August 2, 1883, reported: 

Marshal Brown and his assistant, Ben Wheeler, have certainly earned their 
salaries for the past five months. During that time they have run into the city 
treasury, for fines for violations of city ordinances, the sum of $1,296, being 
just $421 more than the salary they have received for that time. A very good 
showing for a quiet town like Caldwell. 

Ordinarily the arrests which Marshal Brown was required to 
make during his day-to-day routine consisted of nothing more seri- 
ous than apprehending persons gambling, operating "houses of 
ill fame," carrying weapons within the city limits, fighting, swear- 
ing, and disturbing the peace. A fine of from one to ten dollars 
was usually assessed and the offender released. 5 On December 20, 
1883, however, the Caldwell Journal reported a more serious ad- 
venture of Marshal Brown's: 

NEWT BOYCE KILLED. 

Newt Boyce, a gambler, was shot last Saturday night by City Marshal Henry 
Brown, and died about three o'clock the next morning. The coroner was tele- 
graphed for, but word was sent back that he was out of town. Squire Ross, 
therefore, had a coroner's jury impanneled, and proceeded to hold an inquest. 

The testimony went to show that on Friday night Boyce had some trouble 
in a saloon a few doors north of the post office, and had cut a soldier, and 
one of the proprietors of the saloon, with a knife. Ben Wheeler assistant city 
marshall, afterward took the knife away from Boyce and made him go home. 
Subsequently while Brown & Wheeler were in the Southwestern Hotel, some 
one informed them that Boyce was out again and liable to do some harm. 
The officers started out to hunt him up, and while passing Hulbert's store, saw 
Boyce in there. Brown stepped in, and seeing a knife and revolver lying on 
the counter, which B. was paying for, pushed the implements to one side, 
arrested Boyce, and put him in the cooler, where he stayed all night. 

The next day he was brought before the police judge and fined, but at the 
time did not appear to be angry at the officers for what they had done. Dur- 
ing the day, however, he got to drinking, and made threats against both 
Wheeler and Brown. 

About an hour before he was killed, Wheeler saw Boyce in the saloon 
north of the post office, dealing monte. B. asked him where Brown was, at 
the same time applying epithets regarding Brown. Wheeler afterward met 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 165 

Brown and told him to look out, that Boyce was a dangerous man, and was 
liable to do him some harm. Brown then went to the saloon, and some words 
passed between the two men, Boyce remarking that as soon as he was through 
with that game he would settle with Brown. 

Shortly after Wheeler met Boyce in front of Moore's saloon, and B asked 
him where Brown was, that he wanted to see that fighting S. B. etc. Wheeler 
told him that Brown was in the saloon, but advised Boyce to go home and 
behave himself. While they were talking, they heard footsteps, as if some 
one [were] approaching the door from the inside. Boyce immediately stepped 
to the alley way between the saloon and Moore's, and, as he did so, Wheeler 
noticed that he had his right hand under his coat, on the left side T. L. 
Crist came to the door, and Wheeler, seeing who it was, turned to go north. 
Boyce immediately jumped out of the alley way, pulled his pistol, cocked and 
pointed it directly at Wheeler's back, but seeing Crist at the same time, he 
put back the weapon and started down the alley. 

Crist called to Wheeler and informed him regarding Boyce's actions, and 
while they were talking Brown came out of the saloon. Wheeler informed 
him what had occurred, and cautioned him to look out, that he believed Newt 
Boyce intended to do him some harm. Brown said if that was the case he 
would go and get his Winchester, because he didn't want to be murdered by 
any one. 

After Brown got his gun, he and Wheeler walked north on the west side 
of Main street, and when opposite UnselTs store they saw Boyce standing on 
the sidewalk in front of Phillip's saloon. Brown immediately started across the 
street, and when within about thirty feet of Boyce, called out to him to hold 
up. Boyce ran his right hand into his breast, as if feeling for a weapon, and 
stepped around so as to put one of the awning posts between himself and 
Brown. The latter fired two shots from his Winchester, and Boyce started 
toward the door of the saloon, at the same time telling Brown not to kill him. 
Brown followed him into the saloon, and shortly after entering it, Boyce fell. 
Dr. Noble was called in, and an examination showed that the ball had struck 
Boyce in the right arm, close to the shoulder, broken the bone and penetrated 
the right side. Every effort was made to save his life, but he expired the 
next morning from the loss of blood. 

Boyce had a wife here, who had the remains encased and started with them, 
Tuesday, for Austin, Texas, where Boyce's father lives. 

The verdict of the jury was that the deceased came to his death at the 
hands of an officer while in the discharge of his duties. 

On January 24, 1884, the Caldwell Journal suggested that the city 
police should be elected constables : 

The JOURNAL nominates for constables of Caldwell township, to be voted 
for on February 5, Messrs. Henry Brown and Ben Wheeler. The boys would 
make excellent constables, and the offices would be a great advantage to them 
when pursuing criminals outside of the corporations. When a city marshal 
makes an arrest outside of the corporation limits of the city in which he is 
serving, he does it as a private citizen, and if he kills a man while resisting 
arrest, he can be successfully prosecuted for murder, whereas were he a con- 
stable he could make the arrest legally and be protected by the statutes. 



166 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

No record was found of their subsequent nomination or election. 

On March 27, 1884, the Journal announced Brown's marriage: 
BROWN-LEVAGOOD 

But he did not Lev(a)good girl at all, but took her unto himself for better 
or for worse, in true orthodox style, at the residence of Mr. J. N. Miller, in 
this city, last evening. Rev. Akin officiated, and in a few quiet remarks joined 
Mr. Henry N. Brown and Miss Maude Levagood in the holy bonds of wedlock. 
A company of select friends witnessed the ceremony, and extended congratula- 
tions to the happy couple. The JOURNAL, metaphorically speaking, throws its 
old shoe after the young folks and wishes them a long and prosperous life. 

Apparently Brown intended to settle permanently in Caldwell 
for on April 10, 1884, the Journal reported that "Henry Brown has 
bought the Robt. Eatock place, and has gone to house-keeping/' 

Also in April Brown was appointed city marshal for the third 
time. 6 

Less than a month later Caldwell was shocked to learn that its 
marshal and assistant marshal had attempted to rob a bank at 
Medicine Lodge. The Journal May 8, 1884, elaborated on an 
earlier dispatch: 

A TERRIBLE DAY! 
MEDICINE LODGE WITNESSES AN ATTEMPTED BANK ROBBERY, 

TWO MURDERS AND FOUR LYNCHINGS IN ONE DAY. 

CALDWELL'S FORMER MARSHAL AND ASSISTANT THE LEADERS OF THE BAND. 

RETRIBUTION, SWIFT AND SURE OVERTAKES THE DESPERADOES. 

THE BRAVERY OF THE MEDICINE LODGE MEN. 

Last Thursday morning a dispatch came to this city stating that the Medicine 
Valley bank, at Medicine Lodge, had been attacked by robbers Wednesday 
morning, and that the president and cashier were both killed. This much last 
week's JOURNAL contained. This was considered startling news enough to 
justify a second edition of the paper, which contained all the particulars that 
could be obtained. 

Not until late Thursday evening was the startling announcement flashed 
over the wire that Caldwell was directly interested in the affair, other than 
as a sister city mourning the loss of her neighbor's prominent citizens; but 
when the news came it fell like a thunderbolt at midday. People doubted, 
wondered, and when the stern facts were at last beyond question, accepted 
them reluctantly. 

The evidence that has since come to light shows that the plan was of 
mature deliberation, and that it had been in consideration for weeks. Just 
who the originators were will, perhaps, never be known. It is surmised that 
it was originated in this city this spring; that it was a deep-laid scheme to 
perpetrate several robberies, the Lodge first, the banks at this place the next, 
and a train on the Santa Fe the next. This is, however, only rumor; but from 
remarks made by members of the band before they were captured, it can 
be accurately conjectured that they had an extensive campaign planned, 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 167 

which only the vigilance and bravery of Medicine Lodge men prevented being 
carried into execution. That the termination was as short as it was terrible 
is a matter of congratulation. 

THE START. 

One week ago Sunday afternoon, Henry N. Brown, marshal of this oity, 
and Ben F. Wheeler, his deputy, having obtained permission from the mayor 
to be absent from the city for a few days, mounted their horses and rode 
out of town, going to the west. The excuse they made for leaving was, that 
there was a murderer a short distance down in the Territory, for whom there 
was a reward of twelve hundred dollars, and they thought they would be able 
to capture him. Previous to starting, they both had their horses shod for 
running, and supplied themselves with a large quantity of ammunition. Both 
carried 44-calibre revolvers and Winchester rifles. They were joined, it is 
supposed, on Monday by Smith and Wesley, cowboys. The former worked 
on the T5 range, and the latter for Tredwell & Clark. Both were hard men, 
and at the last Smith showed himself to be the bravest man of the party. 

The first news that reached here was brought by telegraph Thursday evening. 
It was in few words, and caused more excitement than there has been in this 
city for years. People gathered on the streets, and business for the evening 
was stagnated. Every one discussed the matter, and not until a late hour 
were the streets deserted. The telegram was received about 6:30 Thursday 
evening, and in an hour was known all over the city. 

The following is a copy: 

MEDICINE LODGE, Ks.,\ 
May 1, 1884.J 
BEN S. MILLER, Caldwell, Kan.: 

The bank robbers were Brown and Wheeler, marshal and deputy of Cald- 
well, and Smith and Wesley. All arrested. Tried to escape. Brown killed. 
Balance hung. Geppert dead. Payne will die. 

CHAS. H. ELDRED. 

Of the account of the tragedy at Medicine Lodge, we can give it no more 
accurately than it was published in the Cresset, of that city. We reproduce it 
entire. It will be remembered, however, that this was published last Thursday 
morning, and that there are facts that have since come to light: 

Our little city was yesterday (Wednesday, April 30) thrown into a state 
of intense excitement and horror by the perpetration of a murder and attempted 
bank robbery, which, for cold-bloodedness and boldness of design, was never 
exceeded by the most famous exploits of the James gang. 

The hour was a little after nine, a heavy rain was falling and comparatively 
few people were upon the streets, when four men rode in from the west and 
hitched their horses back of the bank coal shed. The bank had just opened 
up; Mr. Geppert, had taken his place and begun work on settling the monthly 
accounts; E. W. Payne, president, was sitting at his desk writing, when, as 
nearly as we can learn, three of the robbers entered. According to a pre- 
concerted plan, we presume, one advanced to the cashier's window, one to the 
president's window, while one seems to have gone around into the back room to 
the iron lattice door. Almost immediately after the men were seen to enter the 
bank, 



168 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

SEVERAL SHOTS WERE HEARD, 

in rapid succession. Rev. Friedly who happened to be just across the street, 
immediately gave the alarm, and Marshal Denn, who was standing near the 
livery stable, across the street from the bank, fired on the robber outside, who 
returned the fire, fortunately without effect. The robbers now saw that the 
game was up, and broke for their horses, mounted and rode out of town, going 
south. It was but a few minutes until a score or more men were in hot pursuit. 

To those who remained, on going into the bank, a horrible sight was pre- 
sented. George Geppert, the esteemed cashier, lay at the door of the vault 

WELTERING IN His BLOOD, 

and dead. A hole in his breast showing where the ball had entered and prob- 
ably severed the carotid artery, told the tale. Mr. Payne, the president, lay 
near him 

GROANING WITH PAIN. 

An examination showed that a pistol ball had entered the back of the right 
shoulder blade, and ranging across had probably grazed his spine and lodged 
somewhere under the left shoulder blade. 

[Mr. Payne died Thursday morning, May 1st, about 11 o'clock, having 
suffered for twenty-four hours, eighteen which he was conscious. We give 
his obituary in another place. ED. JOURNAL.] 

THE PURSUIT. 

Going back to the pursuing party, we get the story of the exciting chase 
from a participant. The pursuing party first came in sight of the robbers 
beyond the crossing of the Medicine south of town. The party, seeing that 
they were about to be overtaken, turned and opened fire. Several volleys were 
exchanged. While the fight was going on, Charley Taliaferro and we believe 
one or two others rode around the robbers and headed them off on the south. 
Seeing that they were cut off in this direction they left the road and started 
almost west, toward the breaks of gypsum hills, but were so hotly pursued 
that they took refuge in a canyon some three or four miles southwest of town. 
The boys in pursuit surrounded the canyon to prevent the possibility of escape, 
and George Friedley and Charley Taliaferro came in for reinforcements. In a 
short time every gun and horse that could be brought into service was on the 
road to the canyon. Before the reinforcements arrived on the ground, how- 
ever, the robbers had surrendered. The surprise of the captors can be better 
imagined than expressed when, on taking charge of the outfit, they found that 
they were all well known. The leaders of the gang were 

HENRY BROWN, MARSHAL OF CALDWELL, 

and Ben Wheeler, assistant marshal of the same city; the other two were well 
known cowboys, William Smith, who has been employed for some time on 
the T5 range, and another cowboy who is known by the name of Wesley, but 
having several aliases. 

Of these men, Brown is the only one who has acquired any notoriety. His 
history on the frontier began with his connection with "Billie the Kid" in New 
Mexico. It is said that he was a companion of the noted desperado in some 
of his most exciting adventures. Of late years, however, he seemed to have 
sobered down. Some three years since he was elected assistant marshal of 
Caldwell, and for the past two years has occupied the position of marshal of 
our neighboring city. In appearance Brown does not show the criminal 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 

particularly. He is a man of about medium height; strong, wiry build; wears 
no beard except a mustache, and his face indicates firmness and lack of physical 
fear. During the time he has held his office he has killed several men, but 
was generally considered justifiable. 

Ben Wheeler, the man who fired the shot that killed George Geppert, is a 
large and powerfully-built man, dark complected, with rather an open counte- 
nance. So far as we know he has never been noted as a desperado. He has 
occupied the position of assistant marshal of Caldwell for the past two years, 
and has been considered, we believe, a good officer. His action yesterday, 
however, showed him to be the most cold-blooded murderer in the gang. 

Wesley is rather under medium size, and has an evil, reckless expression 
of countenance, and is just such a boy as would aspire to be a desperado. 

Smith is also an undersized man with dark complexion and rather a hardened 
expression of countenance. 

When the party were brought in they were surrounded by a crowd of 
exasperated citizens, and cries of 

HANG THEM! HANG THEM! 

sounded on every side, and for a while it looked as though they would be torn 
from the hands of the officers and lynched on the spot. A somewhat calmer 
feeling came over the crowd, not that the feeling was any the less intense, 
but the desire to do the job up in a more business-like style was greater. 

All afternoon little knots of quiet, determined men could be seen, and all 
over town was that peculiar hush which bodes the coming storm. Little was 
said, but the impression prevailed that before many hours the bodies of four 
murderers would swing in the soft night air. 

So ended the most exciting and the most sorrowful day in the history of 
Medicine Lodge. No bank robbery ever chronicled in the annals of crime was 
ever bolder in its design or accompanied by more cold-blooded murder in its 
attempted execution. That the desperadoes failed in accomplishing their full 
purpose was not the fault of their plan, but was due to the courage and prompt- 
ness of a number of our citizens and others a promptness and courage, in 
fact, which has rarely been equaled on any similar occasion anywhere. 

CLOSING SCENES. 

About nine o'clock the stillness of the night was broken by three shots fired 
in rapid succession, and at the signal a crowd of armed men advanced toward 
the jail and demanded the prisoners. This was refused, but, notwithstanding 
their spirited resistance, the sheriff and his posse were overpowered and the 
doors of the jail opened, when the prisoners who were in the inner cell un- 
shackled made a sudden 

DASH FOR LIBERTY. 

In an instant the moonlight was so mingled with bullets that it was a highly 
unsatisfactory locality for a promenade, and the fact that no one except the 
prisoners was injured is a matter of wonder. Of the robbers, Wheeler, Smith 
and Wesley were captured, Wheeler badly wounded. Brown ran a few rods 
from the jail and fell dead, riddled with a charge of buckshot, besides having 
a few stray Winchester balls in various parts of his body. 

Wheeler, Smith and Wesley were taken by the crowd to an elm tree in the 
bottom east of town, and told if they had anything they wished to say, now 
was their time to say it, for their time of life was short. Wheeler at the last 
showed great weakness, and begged piteously for mercy. Wesley was also 



170 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

shaken, but managed to answer, in reply to inquiry, that he was born in Paris, 
Texas, in 1853, and requested that word of his fate be sent to friends in 
Vernon, Texas. Smith displayed great nerve, and gave directions coolly, to 
sell his horse and saddle and some few other trinkets, and send the money 
to his mother, in Vernon, Texas. 

After the remarks the ready ropes were fastened on the necks of the rob- 
bers, the end tossed over a limb, and in a moment more their bodies swung in 
the wind. So ends the chapter. Mob law is to be deplored under almost 
any circumstance, but in this case the general sentiment of the community 
will uphold the summary execution of justice by the taking of these murderers' 
lives. 

THE VICTIM. 

Of the deceased, who was shot down in such cold blood, we have not space 
to speak in fitting eulogy. He has been a resident of our town for some four 
years past, and was widely known and universally respected by all his acquaint- 
ances. A man of excellent business capacity, he had already accumulated a 
handsome competence. In the prime of life and vigor of his manhood, with 
a most comfortable home and a pleasant family, the future seemed to have 
in store for him abundant years filled with golden fruitage of happiness. The 
respect of his fellow citizens was shown by the fact that the business houses 
of the town, we believe withou[t] an exception, were draped in mourning. 
His death has aroused the deepest and most general sympathy. We have lost 
a most excellent man, a kind husband and father, and one of our most enter- 
prising citizens. 

This ends all there was known Thursday morning. While in jail at the 
Lodge Brown wrote a letter to his wife. We reproduce it below, only leaving 
out such parts as are of a purely business character and of no interest to 
the public. They contained minute directions how to dispose of his property 
and as to the payment of some debts. 

BROWN'S LAST LETTER. 

MEDICINE LODGE, April 30, '84. 

DARLING WIFE: I am in jail here. Four of us tried to rob the bank here, 
and one man shot one of the men in the bank, and he is now in his home. 
I want you to come and see me as soon as you can. I will send you all of 
my things, and you can sell them, but keep the Winchester. This is hard 
for me to write this letter but, it was all for you, my sweet wife, and for the 
love I have for you. Do not go back on me; if you do it will kill me. Be 
true to me as long as you live, and come to see me if you think enough of 
me. My love is just the same as it always was. Oh, how I did hate to 
leave you on last Sunday eve, but I did not think this would happen. I 
thought we could take in the money and not have any trouble with it; but 
a man's fondest hopes are sometimes broken with trouble. We would not 
have been arrested, but one of our horses gave out, and we could not leave 
him alone. I do not know what to write. Do the best you can with every- 
thing. I want you to send me some clothes. Sell all the things that you do 
not need. Have your picture taken and send it to me. Now, my dear wife, 
go and see Mr. Witzleben and Mr. Nyce, and get the money. If a mob does 
not kill us we will come out all right after while. Maude, I did not shoot 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 171 

any one, and did not want the others to kill any one; but they did, and that is 
all there is about it. Now, good-bye, my darling wife. 

H. N. BROWN. 

This shows that he anticipated the doom which awaited him, and realized 
in his calmer moments the awful atrocity of his crime. 

Mrs. Brown is also in receipt of a very kind letter from Sheriff Riggs of 
Barber county, of which the following is a verbatim copy. 
THE SHERIFF'S LETTER. 

MEDICINE LODGE, May 1st. 
MRS. H. N. BROWN, Caldwell, Ks. 

Madame: It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the death of your 
husband, H. Newton Brown, at the hands of an infuriated mob. Your husband 
and three others attempted to rob the Medicine Valley Bank, and in so doing 
killed Mr. Geo. Geppert, the cashier, also wounding the president, Mr. 
Payne, from which wounds he will surely die. I wish to say that in my 
capacity as sheriff of this county I did my best to protect my prisoners; but 
by being overpowered I was forced to submit. Perhaps it will be some 
satisfaction to you to know that his death was instantaneous and quite pain- 
less, being shot two or three times, dying instantly, while his comrads in crime 
were taken some distance from town and hung. There are some effects in 
this town the property of your husband, and as soon as I can get them together 
I will forward them to you. I also send to you a letter written by your hus- 
band and handed to me to send to you. He wrote it a little before dark last 
evening. C. F. RIGG, 

Sheriff. 

Friday morning last Messrs. Ben. S. Miller, John A. Blair, S. Harvey Horner 
and Lee S. Weller started over to the Lodge, Messrs. Miller and Blair to give 
their sympathy to the bereaved families, and Messrs. Weller and Horner to 
look after property that belonged to them. From them we learn the full 
details, and give them below as nearly as possible: 

Mr. Payne and Mr. Geppert had been warned of the attack, and had agreed 
to surrender. When Brown and Wheeler entered the bank, the positive char- 
acter of Mr. Payne asserted itself and to defend his property he reached for 
his revolver. This was his death warrant. Brown shot him, and Wheeler 
immediately shot Geppert while that gentleman had his hands up! Wesley, 
thinking to add to the terrible work already done, shot him again to make 
assurance doubly sure. After being shot twice, Mr. Geppert, true to his trust, 
staggered to the vault and threw the combination lock on, and then sat down 
in front of the vault a corpse, the contents it guarded safe from the profaning 
hands of his murderers. 

The story of the capture is briefly told. Nine men were the principles 
in it. Barney O'Conner was the first man to mount his horse and start in 
pursuit, and in all of the short, final run guided the pursuing party to ultimate 
success. After the failure the robbers were completely demoralized. They 
had not taken failure into consideration in their plans. They were without 
an appointed leader, and all wanted to lead; hence the capture. One horse 
began weakening, and they left the main road and turned into a canyon in 
the gypsum hills. This led into a small pocket thirty or forty feet deep, with 
only one exit, that by which they entered. The bottom of the canyon was 



172 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

covered with water from a foot and a half to two feet deep, and it was raining 
hard and water running down the sides. Here resistance was kept up for 
two hours, many shots being exchanged but no one hit, all having to shoot 
at a disadvantage. The cold water was the greatest friend the pursuers had. 
It cooled the ardor of the pursued, and in two hours after they entered this 
place they surrendered. Brown was the first to lay down his arms and 
walk out, and was followed by the rest. When they rode into the city the 
people were wild, and loud threats of lynching them were made; but not until 
night were they put into execution. In the afternoon comparatively good 
pictures of the band were taken, and also of the captors. They ate two 
hearty meals while in the jail, and Brown wrote the above letter. Wheeler 
tried to write, but broke down. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Henry Newton Brown is the only one of the band who has achieved any 
notoriety as a desperado. He was a native of Rolla, Phelps county, Missouri, 
but at an early age left his home for the West. He went first to Colorado, 
and from there drifted into a cow camp in Northern Texas, where he killed a 
man after firing three shots at him. He shortly went into the band of the 
celebrated "Billie the Kid," and participated in many of his most daring 
exploits. In the Lincoln county war he was with the Kid's party when they 
lay ambushed for Sheriff Brady's party and killed him and nearly all of his 
men. In the fall of 1878 he was at Tuscosa, Texas, with the Kid with be- 
tween 75 and 100 stolen horses. In a short time he went to New Mexico and 
was employed as boss of a ranch, but owing to a shooting scrape there he 
left for Texas, having been among the number pardoned by the governor of 
that State for participation in the Lincoln county war. He was appointed 
deputy sheriff of Oldham county by Capt. Willingham in 1880, but only held 
the office a short time, when he started up the trail and came to Caldwell. 
Batt Carr was then marshal of this city, and having known Brown as deputy 
sheriff in Texas, had him appointed as his deputy marshal in the summer 
of 1882. In the fall of that year, Carr having resigned, he was appointed 
marshal, and has since held that position, being reappointed the third time 
only four weeks ago. Since in office he has killed two men. The only fault 
found with him as an officer was that he was too ready to use his revolver 
or Winchester. He had gained the entire confidence of the people however, 
and had conducted himself in such a manner that the doors of society were 
always open to him. He neither drank, smoked, chewed nor gambled. In 
size he was rather under the medium, but compactly built, and such a man 
as would be supposed capable of great physical endurance. He was very 
light complexioned, blue eyes and light mustache. He was twenty-six years 
old last fall. He leaves relatives in R[o]lla, Missouri, and a sister in Iowa. 
Only six weeks ago he was married to a most estimable young lady in this 
city, Miss Alice M. Levagood. 

Ben Robertson, alias Ben F. Burton, alias Ben F. Wheeler, was a native of 
Rackdale, Milam county, Texas, where he was born in 1854, and where he 
has a number of relatives who are most estimable people. One of his brothers 
was at one time general land agent of the State of Texas. Wheeler, as he was 
known here, left Texas about six years ago on account of a shooting scrape in 
which he severely wounded a man. He went to Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 173 

where he stayed for some time and then started south again with cattle. At 
Indianola, Nebraska, he met Miss Alice M. Wheeler. In November, 1881, 
they were married under the name of Burton, at her parents' residence in that 
place, where they lived happily together until the next spring. He then left 
and came to this place, where he was soon appointed deputy marshal. She 
came in a few months, but he refused to keep her here, and told her if she 
would go away he would support her. She stayed away most of the time, but 
last winter spent several weeks here. Her father died last December, and she 
is left alone to support her aged mother and one sister, and also her eighteen- 
months-old child. She is willing and anxious to work for their support, and in 
her brave resolution she will no doubt meet with ready help from the kind- 
hearted ladies of this city. 

Of Smith and Wesley little is known other than that they were natives of 
Texas, one of Vernon and the other of Paris. Smith was employed on the T5 
Range, and had just been given charge there. He was about 28 years of age. 
Wesley has been employed on Treadwell & Clark's ranch all winter, and when 
he left Sunday afternoon he stated he was going to meet Smith in Kansas. He 
was always considered a hard citizen, but a good hand about the ranch. He 
always carried his six-shooter, and never retired at night without his Win- 
chester was within his reach. He was about thirty years old. 

Wheeler is said to also have a wife and four children in Texas, under the 
name of Robertson. 

FINALE. 
There was another heavy sound, 

A hush and then a groan, 
And darkness swept across the sky, 

The work of death was done. 

The tragic death of the robbers has already been told. That it was just, 
all know; that it was a terrible penalty for their crime, visited on them by the 
iron hand of judge lynch, all admit. There have been cases before where it 
was surely justifiable and there will be others to come. The near relations 
which two of the principals bore to the citizens of this city made it doubly 
horrible. They had made many warm friends in this city, and while here had 
made two as good officers as the city has ever had. They had been given credit 
for honor and bravery, and while here no man can say, and say truthfully, 
that they had not been worthy this trust. That they have brought disgrace 
on the city, no one can help; and that they met their just deserts, all rejoice. 
But let the mantle of charity fall over their memory, and like the tear of the 
repentant sinner which the peri brought to the gates of heaven, let it obliterate 
them as it did the sins of the penitent, blot them out from existence, and let 
them be judged by the Higher Court where we are taught to believe that all 
shall receive justice. Let them fall into the past as beings that are gone and 
forgotten; and while the dark cloud that obscures the final ending is rent by a 
few rays of golden light, let no rude hand be stretched passionately forth to 
close forever from sight those redeeming glimmerings. 

1. Caldwell tost, September 28, 1882. 2. Caldwell Commercial, November 9, 1882. 
3. February 1, 1883. 4. Caldwell Commercial, April 5, 1883. 5. "Police Docket," Rec- 
ords of the City of Caldwell, July, 1882-May, 1884. 6. Caldwell Journal, April 10, 1884. 



174 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 



BROWN, J. CHARLES 

(__-_) 

For several days following the August 15, 1873, shooting of 
Sheriff Chauncey B. Whitney, the city of Ellsworth had police 
problems. The men on duty at the time of Whitney's death were 
summarily dismissed by the mayor and not until August 27 did 
the police force assume any semblance of permanence. On August 
28, 1873, the Ellsworth Reporter gave the names of the new officers 
in this article: "The entire police force was changed at a special 
meeting of the City Council yesterday, Richard Freeborn was ap- 
pointed City Marshall, with power delegated to select two police- 
men. He selected J. C. Brown and DeLong." 

In September Brown shot and killed John Morco, a former Ells- 
worth policeman, for wearing weapons within the city limits. "The 
coroner's inquest over the body of 'Happy Jack* decided that 7 onn 
Morco came to his death from the effects of two bullet wounds, dis- 
charged from a six-shooter in the hands of Chas. Brown, a police 
officer of the city of Ellsworth, in self defence, while in discharge 
of his duty, and was justified in the act," said the Reporter, Septem- 
ber 11, 1873. The article which reported the shooting may be found 
in the section on Morco. 

Marshal Freeborn resigned on November 18 and apparently 
Brown was then promoted to the higher position for on December 
11, 1873, the Reporter, in its "City Officers'* section, began to list 
him as marshal. 

Several months later Charles Brown assisted the Ellis county 
sheriff to arrest "Dutch Henry," a widely known horse thief. The 
Ellsworth Reporter carried this article on June 18, 1874: 

HENRY BORN ARRESTED. AN EXCITING CHASE. 

Last Monday afternoon an arrest was made near this city that occasioned 
considerable stir among our population. Sheriff Ramsey came down from 
Ellis county, and armed with a United States warrant and revolver proceeded 
to obey orders, having called to his assistance under-sheriff Stephens of this 
city. About five miles from town as they were riding horseback they dis- 
covered their man riding across the prairie. Riding after him Ramsey ordered 
him to surrender in answer Born raised his revolver. Ramsey and Stephens 
dismounted from their horses and each fired at Born. Born galloped off to 
Oak creek where he secreted himself in the bushes. Ramsey ordered Stephens 
to ride to Ellsworth for more men and some guns. Stephens returned with 
City Marshal Brown and S. G. John, each being armed with guns. Arriving 
at the creek it was found that Born had hid himself in a cave and had after- 
wards crept up a ravine. He was soon found by the party, hid in the grass. 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 175 

Not answering the sheriff's orders to give himself up, a shot from that officer's 
revolver, which inflicted a slight wound on his face, and the presentation of 
three long guns in different directions, brought him to terms and he was 
disarmed, brought into the city and lodged in jail. The people here mean- 
while knew what was going on and were out en masse watching the result. 
When the party rode in, a great crowd of men and boys gathered at the 
jail to see the prisoner. He was wounded in three places but none of the 
shots were dangerous. He was cared for by our physicians. Sheriff Ramsey 
took his prisoner up to Hays City on the 10:35 train and will duly hand him 
to the U. S. authorities at Topeka. The prisoner was arrested for stealing 
mules from the Government. He was once before arrested by Sheriff Whitney, 
but there being some informality in the arrest he was released. Born and his 
brother have had a claim on Oak creek for two years though it is said that 
they have never entered their claim at the Land Office. 

Nothing more was found concerning Marshal Brown until July 22, 
1875, when the following appeared in the Ellsworth Reporter: 

CITY COUNCIL MEETING 

At a regular meeting of the city council, held July 20th, Mr. Beebe intro- 
duced the following resolution: 

WHEREAS, Our Marshal, J. C. Brown, having resigned his position to fill 
one of like character on the frontier. Be it 

Resolved, That in severing the connection of the Marshal with this city, Mr. 
J. C. Brown, has for the past two years, performed his duty to the entire 
satisfaction of our citizens. 

That we cheerfully recommend him as an officer who is fearless, prompt, 
honest, and always on hand to attend to his duty and equal to any emergency. 

That a copy of these resolutions be signed by the mayor and, with the 
seal of the city attached, be presented to Mr. J. C. Brown. 

On motion of Mr. Montgomery, the above resolution was adopted and 
ordered spread upon the record, and the minutes of this meeting containing 
such, ordered published in the Ellsworth REPORTER. M. NEWTON, 

Attest: Mayor 

W. F. TOMPKINS, City Clerk. 

BROWN, JOHN 



The Dodge City Times, April 13, 1878, reported that "Joseph 
Mason and John Brown have been placed on the Police force to 
serve temporarily." On May 7 Brown was paid $52.50 for "salary 
as Ass't Marshal," according to proceedings of the city council pub- 
lished in the Times on May 11, 1878. Also it reported that on 
"motion of C. M. Beeson the appointment of John Brown as police- 
man was confirmed." The Times, from its issue of April 20 through 
the issue of May 11, 1878, listed Brown as assistant marshal in its 
"Official Directory." 



176 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

Brown served as policeman under Marshal Charles E. Bassett 
and Assistant Marshal Wyatt Earp. "Dodge City is practically 
under an efficient guard/' wrote the editor of the Dodge City Times, 
May 18, 1878. "The city fathers have wisely provided for the honor, 
safety and character of the city by the appointment of an excellent 
police force. We believe no better men for the positions can be 
found anywhere." 

In May, June, and July Brown remained on the police force. At a 
city council meeting held August 6, 1878, it was decided that "the 
police force [should] be reduced; and the clerk be instructed to 
notify Policeman John Brown that his services would no longer be 
required." l 

A few weeks later Brown was taught a lesson in etiquette, Western 
style. The Ford County Globe reported the affair on September 
24, 1878: 

THE FESTIVE REVOLVER. 

A man named Brown, formerly one of our policemen, spat at Al Manning's 
face last Wednesday. Al very promptly responded to this insult by emptying 
a six-sho[o]ter at Brown, who being an expert runner and dodger, evaded the 
bullets. We are, however, sorry to say that a young man by the name of 
Wm. Morton caught one of the bullets in his foot. He is at present confined 
to bed nursing his wounded foot. While we regret very much to hear of the 
use of the revolver where innocent parties are liable to be hurt, we are glad 
to believe that Mr. Brown has learned a lesson he'll not forget soon. 

The last mention found of Brown in Dodge City was in the pro- 
ceedings of the city council meeting of December 3, 1878, as re- 
ported in the Times, December 7. At this meeting Brown was paid 
$12.50 for "balance of salary," perhaps for the six days he had served 
in August. 

1. Dodge City Times, August 10, 1878. 

BROWN, NEIL (NEAL) 

(1847P-1926) 

James Masterson and Neil Brown were appointed marshal and 
assistant marshal of Dodge City on November 4, 1879. These "off 
season" appointments were occasioned by the recent resignations 
of Marshal Charles E. Bassett and Assistant Marshal Wyatt Earp. 
In reporting the appointments, the Dodge City Times, November 
15, 1879, concluded with the statement that "these men make good 
officers." Brown and Masterson each received $100 per month for 
their police services. 1 

On March 30, 1880, the Ford County Globe reported that "Capt. 
Dan Gardiner officiated as police officer yesterday in the temporary 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 177 

absence of the marshal. He succeeded in steering another weakneed 
rooster over to the dog house, but his courage failed when police- 
man Brown arrived and proposed to put the two in together/' 

Both James Masterson and Neil Brown were reappointed by the 
city council on May 4, 1880. 2 

In June Brown arrested one of Dodge's first citizens and roughed 
him up somewhat in the process. The Globe reported the incident 
on June 8, 1880: 

IN THE BASTILE. 

Dr. Galland and Capt. Howard, proprietor and clerk, respectively, of the 
Great Western Hotel, were, after a short preliminary skirmish, in which the 
Doctor received a patronizing welt or two from the festive revolver of Police- 
man Brown, arrested and locked up in one of the dismal cells of the bastile, 
where they remained until the Policeman saw fit to kindly liberate them. The 
cause of the arrest was for a failure to pay hotel license. Yesterday the two 
culprits were brought before Judge Weaver who fined the Doctor one dollar 
and cost and dismissed the case against Howard. The Doctor and his friends 
claim that he was mistreated and abused by the policeman, and that the affair 
was caused by the Doctor's resignation last week as a member of the Council. 
Such cases of "unpleasantness" are not proper amusements for Christians to 
indulge in, and our voice is for peace. 

Action was brought against Brown for his method and the trial 
was reported in the Ford County Globe, June 15, 1880: 

The case of the State of Kansas vs. Policeman Brown, charged with a 
felonious assault upon Dr. S. Galland, late member of the City Council, was 
called last Saturday in Chief Justice Cook's court. Nelson Adams, of Lamed, 
appeared for the defendant and Jones and Frost for the State. The court 
took the case under advisement until Monday, and when Monday came he 
took the case under advisement for another week. In the fullness of time 
we presume the judge will render an elaborate opinion. 

The case was finally concluded in January, 1881. Brown was 
convicted and fined $10 and costs. 3 

In August, 1880, Brown wounded a man while making an arrest. 
The Globe, August 24, 1880, reported: 

Policeman Brown undertook to disarm a stranger last Friday, who was 
carrying a pistol in his pocket. The stranger refused to disgorge and started 
to run, whereupon the policeman gave chase and fired two shots, one of them 
passing through the stranger's foot and bringing him to a stand-still. He 
was taken to the calaboose and fined eight dollars, which he paid and took 
his departure from this beautiful city on the first train, taking with him quite a 
severe wound. 

The city council, at a meeting held October 5, 1880, decided 
to reduce the salaries of the marshal and his assistant. The Dodge 

123024 



178 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

City Times reported the action on October 9: "On motion of W. C. 
Shinn, seconded by T. J. Draper, that after the 31st of October 
1880, the expense of Marshal and Assistant be reduced to one hun- 
dred dollars per month, which passed; the mayor will take notice 
to have such offices filled for amount named above." 

The decision was reaffirmed at the December 7, 1880, meeting 
of the council: 

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved, after they 
were corrected by motion of W. C. Shinn and seconded by M. W. Sutton, 
that the motion of W. C. Shinn in the previous minutes in regard to expense 
of city to read as follows: That after the 30th day of October, 1880, the 
total expense of the city marshal and assistant be reduced to one hundred 
dollars per month to keep the peace and quietude of said city, and the mayor 
take notice to have such offices filled for amount named above, passed the 
council Oct. 5, 1880. 

The following bills were presented and allowed. 
Jas. Masterson, salary for 1 month $100 00 

Neil Brown, " 100 00. ... 

The bills of James Masterson and Neil Brown, as marshal and assistant 
in the month of November, for one hundred dollars each, was presented, and 
on motion of W. C. Shinn, seconded by T. J. Draper, That fifty dollars be 
paid (the bills reduced that amount) and remainder laid over until the next 
meeting of the council for consideration, passed the council Dec. 7, 1880. 4 

On April 6, 1881, after the annual city elections, the newly elected 
city council met and declared the positions of marshal and assistant 
marshal to be vacant and new officers were appointed. Brown 
and Masterson were each paid $420 on April 12. 5 

When the trouble occurred between Luke Short and the city 
authorities in the spring of 1883, Brown was still a resident of 
Dodge. Though his part in the troubles is difficult to ascertain, 
he was prominent enough to be included in the famous photograph 
of the "Dodge City Peace Commission/* The story of the "war," 
and what is known of Brown's role, will be found in the section on 
Luke Short. 

The Dodge City Times of August 30, 1883, printed a list of 
members of Dodge's recently formed militia unit, the Click Guards. 
Neil Brown appeared as a member along with Luke Short, Bill 
Tilghman, Clark Chipman, and others famous in Dodge City's 
early history. 

In January, 1889, when Cimarron and Ingalls were fighting a 
"war" for the county seat of Gray county, Brown was involved 
in a sharp and bloody battle in the streets of Cimarron. Other 
former Dodge City policemen were also participants: James Mas- 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 179 

terson, Fred Singer, Ben Daniels, and Bill Tilghman. The full 
story of the fight may be found in the section on Tilghman. 

1. Dodge City Times, January 17, April 10, May 8, July 10, August 7, September 11, 
October 9, December 11, 1880. 2. Ibid., May 8, 1880. 3. Ford County Globe, January 
25, 1881. 4. Dodge City Times, December 11, 1880. 5. Ibid., April 7, 14, 1881. 

BUGG, THOMAS 

( -1883) 

Contemporary evidence of Tom Bugg's law enforcement career 
is sketchy at best. In July, 1881, Bugg testified at the coroner's 
inquest over the body of Joseph McDonald who had been killed by 
Dodge City Marshal Fred Singer. At that inquest Bugg is quoted 
by the Ford County Globe, July 26, 1881, as saying "I am deputy 
sheriff. . . ." (The testimony may be found in the section on 
Fred Singer.) 

The sheriff at that time was George T. Hinkle; the under sheriff 
was Fred Singer. Just when Bugg was appointed deputy sheriff 
of Ford county is not known. On November 3, 1881, the Dodge 
City Times reported that "Thomas Bugg, Deputy Sheriff, has re- 
signed his office. Sheriff Hinkel has not yet designated Mr. Bugg's 
successor." 

Apparently Bugg was reappointed a deputy sheriff for on March 
7, 1882, the Globe mentioned that "Sheriff Hinkle has relieved 
Thomas Bugg of his office as Deputy Sheriff. Sensible move." 

Bugg held another law enforcement position as this article from 
the Times, August 10, 1882, shows: "Thos. Bugg, acting con- 
stable, was yesterday accidentally shot. The ball passed through 
the left leg above the knee, and left arm above the elbow. He was 
scuffling with a man and the pistol fell out of the scabbard and 
was discharged. The wounds are not dangerous." 1 

In October, 1882, Bugg was a member of a posse, led by Ford 
county Under Sheriff Singer, which went to Lakin for several cow- 
boys who had shot into a Santa Fe passenger train. (The account 
of the cowboys' capture may be found in the section on Singer.) 

Tom Bugg died on February 10, 1883. The editor of the Dodge 
City Times was quite eloquent in this obituary which was published 
on February 15, 1883: 

THE DEATH ROLL. 

Like the plant that has stood the variable climate, wither and die the 
early citizens of the border. There is nothing remarkable about the death 
of the old-timer, but to the surviving old-timers there is a lurking spirit of 
sadness on the sudden demise of those who have borne the brunt of the 



180 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

battle on the plains. None here who have not enjoyed the full measure of 
life's pleasure, endured its hardships and for a period survived its vicissitudes. 
But there is a limit to physical endurance. Energy and work will sustain 
life, but poor whisky, the bane of the hail fellow, saps the foundation and 
soon destroys the manly physical body. Tom Bugg, who died Saturday night, 
after a brief illness, deserves no particular mention for either good or bad deeds. 
He was a hero withal. He struggled for an existence and bore the burden of 
his life's troubles. Whisky has done for Tom Bugg what it will do for all 
who tarry long at the social glass. It was heart disease, the doctor said; 
and how many more of the poor wanderers, sentinels on the border, are there 
in our midst, barring against that fate that awaits all of the human fainilyl 
But these are of Tom Bugg's class. Their ebb of life is fast flowing and the 
receding stream is drawing them 
. "Nearer, my God, to thee." 

The preacher Sunday night delivered a doleful sermon on the grave. He 
preached the funeral service of the countless millions who pass to the other 
shore, unwept, unhonored and unsung. Appropos, the spark of life had no 
sooner left Al Updegraff, than came eternity's chariot and carried away Tom 
Bugg. Another, less known, but no less a man, though of a dark skin, also 
passed in his chips, and called the turn. Wm. Davis, the colored barber, died 
in Speareville, of pneumonia caused by exposure and over indulgence in strong 
drink. . . . 

Tom Bugg was a carpenter by trade, and followed that business until about 
two or three years ago. He held the office of deputy constable at the time 
of his death. He resided in Dodge for several years. Of his antecedents we 
know nothing. His death was rather unexpected, he apparently being in the 
enjoyment of good health a few days previous to his death. 2 

1. See, also, Ford County Globe, August 15, 1882. 2. See, also, ibid., February 13, 
1883. 

CARR, B. P. 



The murder of George Brown, June 22, 1882, left Caldwell 
without a city marshal. Only one arrest was recorded in the 
Caldwell police court docket between the date of Brown's death 
and July 1, and that was on complaint of J. A. Neal, a policeman. 
On July 1, 1882, the name of Marshal B. P. Carr began to appear 
on the docket. Both the Caldwell papers, the Post and the Com- 
mercial, in issues of July 6, 1882, mentioned that B. P. Carr had 
been appointed but no exact date was given. 

"Carr is a quiet unassuming man, but there is that look about 
him which at once impresses a person with the idea that he will 
do his whole duty fearlessly and in the best manner possible. We 
have not the least doubt that he will give entire satisfaction . . .," 
said the Commercial's article. 1 

Apparently Carr gave immediate satisfaction, for within two 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 181 

weeks the citizens of Caldwell took up a collection and presented 
him a gift of appreciation. The Post, July 13, 1882, reported the 
presentation: 

ARMED. 

The citizens of Caldwell, seeing the necessity of having an officer well 
armed, proceeded to raise seventy-five dollars yesterday morning by sub- 
scriptions from business men on Main St, Col. Jennison heading the list. He 
purchased a brace of fine six-shooters, and presented them to Mr B P Carr in 
behalf of the citizens. Col. Jennison said, in substance: Mr Carr: In 
behalf of the citizens and business men of this city, I present you with these 
weapons, not that we would encourage the use of them, but that you may 
better protect the rights of property and life, and maintain the dignity and 
honor of the city and your office as Marshal. It is not for the intrinsic value of 
the present we offer you, but in it our appreciation of your services as an 
officer. I request you to accept these pistols from the citizens of this city 
as a slight token of their confidence in your ability to protect the same from 
being used for any purpose other than the defense of the city and maintaining 
peace and quiet in the same. 

The presents were handsome ones, and Mr. Carr fully appreciates the 
sentiments that induced the citizens to present them to him. 2 

In the same issue the Post had occasion to mention Marshal 
Can's dexterity with that type of weapon: 

City Marshal Carr put it onto a wild and woolly negro that was promenading 
the street the other day. Carr concluded that the fellow had a six shooter 
on him and asked him for it. The negro instantly went down to get it, with 
the intention of standing the marshal off; but quicker than thought a "45" 
was shoved up under his nose, accompanied by a gentle request to throw up. 
He threw up both hands in short order, and was disarmed and taken to 
Judge Kelley's sanctuary and stuck for $12 50, and told that he had better 
leave his gun off, in the future. 

Bat Carr put a new twist in the interpretation of law at Caldwell 
when he saved a cowboy from going home completely broke. 
The Commercial, July 20, 1882, carried the story: 

City Marshall Carr had to bruise a fellow last Friday, and all about a cow- 
boy. It seems the latter came in from camp a day or two previous, with a 
couple of horses, one of which he sold. A chap running one of the gambling 
games in the city got hold of the cowboy, filled him up with whisky and then 
played him out of his money. The next morning the cowboy, partially sobered 
up and dead broke, undertook to sell the other horse, when Marshal Carr was 
informed of the circumstances. The marshal hunted up the youth, put him 
on his horse, and started him off for camp. Supposing everything all right, 
the marshal went off to attend to some other matters, when his attention was 
called to the fact that the gambler was endeavoring to have the cowboy 
remain, and had offered the latter $40 on his horse in the game. The marshal 
went up and invited the gambler to move on and let the cowboy alone. The 
man of games couldn't see it, and not content with refusing to go off, gave 



182 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 

the marshal some slack. The latter settled the question very promptly by 
flooring the gambler, and compelling the cowboy to go to camp. Of course 
there was some indignation at the course of the marshal, but the more con- 
siderate portion of the community think he did just right. It has, in the 
past, been too common a thing for some of the sporting fraternity to beat 
every cowboy they could get hold of out of his hard earned money, and 
apparently without any det [sic] or hinderance on the part of the police 
force. That a change in that state of affairs has been inaugurated, and for the 
better, gives cause for congratulation. Our present force seem to comprehend 
the fact that men coming into the town are not to be openly robbed without 
any interference on their part, and we are glad of it. 

The editor of the Caldwell Commercial seemed pleased on 
August 24, 1882, to report the growing use of fists over six guns: 

Civilization is advancing in the west, particularly in that portion of it 
covered by the town of Caldwell. And for why? Because the Winchester 
and self-cocker have given place to nature's arms, good "bunches of fives," 
and perhaps a stick. Two ructions of that kind occurred last week, one on 
Thursday and the other on Saturday. Uncle Bill Corzine says the first row 
arose from the circumstance of one of our well known citizens having attended 
church or prayer meeting (we have such things in Caldwell) the night 
previous, where he learned for the first time that the Jews had killed the 
Gentile Savior something over eighteen hundred years ago. It incensed him 
to such an extent that the next morning he pitched on the first Jew he met. 
Bat. Carr and Henry Brown, both of whom appear always to be in the way 
when any fun is going on, stepped up just in time to stop the citizen in his 
mad endeavor to avenge the wrongs of eighteen centuries standing, and 
quietly conducted him before his honor Judge Kelly. Uncle Bill says that 
his honor, putting on all his magisterial dignity, asked the prisoner in his 
most impressive tones: "What have you to do with Christ, anyhow?" Being 
unable to answer the conundrum his honor told him to contribute to the 
depleted city treasury the amount of five dollars, with an extra "In God we 
trust," to maintain the dignity of the court. The next imitation of a Democratic 
ward meeting, was brought about by a difference arising from a financial 
settlement. Both parties got the worst of the row, physically and financially. 
But while they may feel sore and somewhat distressed, we must congratulate 
them upon being pioneers in the new order of things that makes the six 
shooter in this community of no more account than a toy pistol. 

Civilization was indeed advancing in Caldwell and in "the new 
order of things" a local saloon had discovered the value of sex 
appeal. "A new device to get the cow boy's money and we are 
afraid it catches a good many others a woman dealing hazzard 
in one of the saloons," the Commercial reported on August 31, 1882. 

Carr could also clamp down on the cowboy when it became nec- 
essary. The Commercial, September 7, 1882, said: 

Monday is rather an uninteresting day in Caldwell, either in police, or other 
circles, but last Monday proved an exception. At least Bat Carr, our city 
marshal, thought so. A hilarious chap from the range came into town Monday 



COWTOWN POLICE OFFICERS AND GUN FIGHTERS 183 

morning, and enthused by the pure air and easy going surroundings of Caldwell, 
undertook to have a little fun all by his lone self, so he mounted his kyuse and 
gaily galloped about the village. In his wild career he run across Dr. Noble's 
place where some of the doctor's fine sheep were sauntering around, like tony 
men saunter in front of a popular place where beverages are sold, and he 
proceeded at once to practice throwing the lariat upon them. It was fun for 
the ranger, but the sheep did not appear to enjoy the matinee. While engaged 
in his pleasant pastime, Bat. rode up along side of the ranger's pony, relieved 
t