Full text of "The Kansas historical quarterly"

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THE

Kansas Historical
Quarterly

NYLE H. MILLER, Managing Editor

JAMES C. MALIN, Associate Editor

FORREST R. BLACKBURN, Assistant Editor

Volume XXIX
1963

(Kansas Historical Collections)
VOL. XLVI

Published by

The Kansas State Historical Society
Topeka, Kansas

72294

Contents of Volume XXIX

Number 1 Spring, 1963

PACK

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT AND LIFE IN KANSAS Emory Lindquist, 1

THE "EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI Glen Schwendemann, 25

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A Revised Annals, Part Nine,

1836-1837 Compiled by Louise Barry, 41

With portraits of Henry Dodge, facing p. 48, and Stephen
Watts Kearny, facing p. 40.

THE ANNUAL MEETING: Containing Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer,
Executive and Nominating Committees; Election of Officers; Resolu-
tion to Mrs. Lela Barnes; Revised Schedule of Dues To Be Effective

July 1; Last of Directors of the Society '...'. 82

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY ..;.... 103

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS .......:. :. . . . . . . . 104

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . . . 108

Number 2 Summer, 1963

PAGX

ERASTUS D. LADD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWRENCE

MASSACRE Russett E. Bidlack, 113

With a reproduction of a water color of the Quanta-ill raid on Lawrence by
Mrs. Lauretta Louise Fisk, facing p. 113.

A PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS Dorothy V. Jones, 122

THE MUNICIPAL CAMPGROUNDS OF KANSAS Clinton Warne, 137

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A Revised Annals, Part Ten,

1838-1839 Compiled by Louise Barry, 143

With a reproduction of a segment of Hutawa's map (1842) showing the Fort
Leaven worth vicinity, facing p. 160, and Ado Hunnius* sketch of Pawnee
Rock in 1867, facing p. 161.

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, Compiled by Alberta Pantle, Librarian, 190

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 217

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 220

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 228

(iii)

Number 3 Autumn, 1963

PAGE

THE EARLY CAREER OF ABRAHAM L. EISENHOWER,

PIONEER PREACHER Gladys Dodd, 233

With pictures of Dr. and Mrs. Abraham L. Eisenhower, a G. A. R. reunion
in front of the Eisenhower store at Hope in 1887, and the Eisenhower
home in Abilene, frontispiece.

AT WHAT AGE DID MEN BECOME REFORMERS? James C. Malin, 250

NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS IN 1887-1889: From the Letters of Leslie and
Susan Snow of Junction City (in two installments, Part One),

Edited by Lela Barnes, 267

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A Revised Annals, Part Eleven,

1840-1841 Compiled by Louise Barry, 324

With portraits of Jacques Ash-Kum, the Rev. Felix L. Verreydt and John
Tecumseh "Tauy" Jones, facing p. 328; and Jerome C. Berryman and
picture of the Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian Manual Labor
School, facing p. 329.

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 360

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 361

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . 365

Number 4 Winter, 1963

PAGE

A TEAR-JERKING ILLUSTRATED SONG OF 1897,

"THE LETTER EDGED IN BLACK" John W. Ripley, 369

With its eight slides reproduced as the frontispiece.

NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS IN 1887-1889: From the Letters of Leslie and
Susan Snow of Junction City (in two installments, Part Two),

Edited by Lela Barnes, 372

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A Revised Annals, Part Twelve,

1842-1843 Compiled by Louise Barry, 429

With picture of John C. Fremont and map showing his exploring routes
across "Kansas," 1842-1844, facing p. 448; and portraits of Non-on-da-
gum-un and Matthew R. Walker, facing p. 449.

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 487

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 488

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES , 491

ERRATA, VOLUME XXIX 494

INDEX TO VOLUME XXIX 495

(iv)

QUARTERLY

PUBLISHED BY
THE KANSAS STATE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
TOPEKA

>.*

NYLE H. MILLER JAMES C. MALIN FORREST R. BLACKBURN

Managing Editor Associate Editor Assistant Editor

CONTENTS

PAGE

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT AND LIFE IN KANSAS Emory Lindquist, 1

THE "EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI Glen Schwendemann, 25

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A Revised Annals, Part Nine,

1836-1837 Compiled by Louise Barry, 41

With portraits of Henry Dodge, facing p. 48, and Stephen
Watts Kearny, facing p. 40.

July 1; List of Directors of the Society 82

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 103

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 104

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES. . . 108

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 the members of the Society; nonmembers may purchase single
issues, when available, for 75 cents each. Membership dues until July 1, 1963,
are: annual, $3; annual sustaining, $10; life, $20. Membership applications
and dues should be sent to Edgar Langsdorf, 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

"Crossing the Kansas" Artist Alfred Jacob Miller's water
color showing the American Fur Company's caravan of 1837
fording the river (some seven or eight miles above present Law-
rence) en route to the Rocky mountains. (See Marvin C. Ross,
editor, The West of Alfred Jacob Miller, Norman, Okla., c!951.)
Reproduction courtesy of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore,
Md., and the University of Oklahoma Press. For story in the
text, see p. 64.

THE KANSAS 5

HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Volume XXIX Spring, 1963 Number 1

The Swedish Immigrant and Life in Kansas

EMORY LINDQUIST

THE coming of the Swedish immigrants to Kansas was a part of
the general movement that developed with increasing tempo
during the second half of the 19th century. The extent of that
development in Kansas is indicated numerically by the census of
1865, which showed 204 Swedes in Kansas, and 25 years later in
the census of 1890, the highest point, when 17,096 Swedish-born
men, women, and children claimed Kansas as their home. In 1890
the Swedes ranked in third place behind the Germans and the
English in the category of foreign born in the state. Although the
total numbers dropped in 1900, the Swedes ranked second behind
the Germans numerically in that census year. 1

The motives which brought the Swedes to Kansas were generally
not unlike those of the Swedish immigration to other states, but
the situation created by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and the
events prior to and during the Civil War were factors in determin-
ing the time, and also quite likely, the extent of the Swedish im-
migration to Kansas. There were ardent champions and bitter
opponents of Kansas among the Swedes as a place of settlement
during the Civil War era. An early supporter of immigration to
Kansas, who later changed his attitude, was the Rev. T. N. Hassel-
quist, an influential Lutheran clergyman and founder in 1855 of
the principal, and at the time, the only Swedish newspaper pub-
lished in America, Hemlandet, Dei Gamla Och Det Nya, Galesburg,
111. In Hemlandet, March 31, 1855, Hasselquist referred to Kansas

DR. EMORY KEMPTON LINDQUIST, Rhodes scholar and former president of Bethany
College, is an inter-departmental professor at the University of Wichita. He is author of
Smoky Valley People: A History of Lindsborg, Kansas (1953), and numerous magazine
articles.

This article is an expansion, plus footnotes, of his presidential address before the annual
meeting of the State Historical Society in Topeka on October 16, 1962.

1. The "Compendium of the Kansas Census of 1865" was published for the first
time in J. Neale Carman, Foreign-Language Units of Kansas: v. 1, Historical Atlas and
Statistics (Lawrence, 1962), pp. 5-8. The statistics for 1890 and 1900 are from the
federal census. Sixteenth Census of the U. S.: 1940, Population, v. 2, Characteristics of
the Population, pt. 3, p. 31. The federal census for 1860 showed 122 Swedes in Kansas
and 4,954 in 1870. The decade of greatest gain was from 1870 to 1880 when the num-
ber increased from 4,954 to 11,207. Ibid.

2 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

as "an excellent country/' On July 14, 1857, in a special feature,
"Some Words to Recently Arrived Immigrants and Others Who
Are Seeking Their Luck in America/' he pointed out that the
Eastern states offered few opportunities, that land in Illinois and
Iowa was already too costly for immigrants of modest means, and
that the wise decision would be to go to some new territory like
Kansas or Nebraska.

A pre-Civil War enthusiast for Scandinavian immigration to
Kansas was Dr. C. H. Gran, a physician of Andover, 111., who was
heartily supported in the columns of Hemlandet by Hasselquist.
Gran planned a Scandinavian colony in Kansas, which never be-
came a reality, but he wrote enthusiastically about the prospects in
Kansas. In Hemlandet, December 3, 1857, Gran described at
length the advantages of Kansas, based on an extensive trip to the
area. The countryside was beautiful and productive, and, "when
one gets up on a bluff and looks about these fruitful plains and
woods, and sees these wonders of God's creation, the soul is filled
with a stirring that words cannot describe." The description of
Kansas included the Kansas, Big Blue, Smoky Hill, and Republican
river valleys, which the physician had visited. Gran found the
climate to be moderate, the soil fertile, and the rainfall adequate.
Here indeed was the promise of a great future for the immigrant. 2

Other enthusiasts for Kansas wrote frequently to Hemlandet,
which was read extensively by Swedes in this country and in the
homeland. Henry L. Kiisel, who had been in the United States
for eight years, addressed his countrymen through the pages of
Hemlandet, December 15, 1857, as follows: "Countrymen in New
York and in other eastern states! You who work hard every day
for your small daily wage, now is the chance for you to get your
own home, where you can live independent of Americans, and
you will escape working so hard and cease to be dependent upon
your daily wages." Kiisel ended his plea by urging the Scandinavian
immigrants "to hurry to Kansas." Letters continued to urge settle-
ment in Kansas. On March 15, 1859, Hemlandet carried another
enthusiastic account from Riley county, where John Johnson had
settled in the area known as Mariadahl in 1855, from a corre-
spondent who described the fertile soil, plentiful water, good sup-
plies of wood and building stone, invigorating and healthful
climate, plenty of good level land, and trading posts within 30 miles.

2. For a discussion of the proposed Gran colony in Kansas, see Emory Lindquist,
"The Swedes in Kansas Before the Civil War," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 19 (August,
1951), pp. 258-265, and "A Proposed Scandinavian Colony in Kansas Prior to the Civil
War," The Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly, Chicago, v. 9 (April, 1958), pp. 48-60.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 3

However, the pages of Hemlandet also contained letters opposing
Kansas as a field for settlement. On March 15, 1859, Hemlandet
carried a long article by Louis Lybecker, a Swede who had spent
a year with a surveying party in Kansas. He was outspoken in
his criticism of Kansas as he wrote:

My knowledge about Kansas is such that from the bottom of my heart I
never want to think of it. What is home for us people from the North without
a glorious Summer, without snow, without woods and water? Are we accus-
tomed to an endless prairie with its eternal monotony? No, we feel at home
when we find ourselves surrounded by beautiful nature, by evergreen forests
along a lake or river. Then we can call it New Sweden.

Lybecker contended that he was in weekly correspondence with
countrymen in Kansas who were disgruntled with the prospects
there. He concluded his attack upon Kansas by urging the Swedes
to settle in Minnesota. A. Thorson, writing in Hemlandet July 6,

1858, had warned his Swedish readers that

Kansas is the battle ground and the scene of conflict between two great polit-
ical parties, and the end of the struggle is far off. For this reason at present
Kansas can only with difficulty be settled and occupied by peaceable people,
who must earn their bread by the sweat of their brows.

A combination of factors turned Swedish immigration away from
Kansas until after the Civil War. 3 The failure of the Gran plan
for a large colony, and frequent discouraging reports from Swedes
in Kansas, created an adverse situation. In Hemlandet, March 8,

1859, the editor reported that a letter "earnestly urging Swedes not
to come to Kansas," had been read at a large meeting at Galesburg,
111., on February 28. Newspaper reports and "Amerika brev," let-
ters from the new country to friends and relatives in Sweden,
created a negative attitude toward Kansas. Hemlandet, October
19, 1860, reprinted a long letter from the Chicago Tribune describ-
ing in most graphic language the terrible economic conditions as a
result of the prolonged drought of that year. The newspaper also
discussed the impact of the Civil War on Kansas, and on September
30, 1863, Hemlandet described the casualties among the Swedes in
Lawrence as a result of QuantriU's raid. When the Civil War was
concluded, a new situation prevailed in Kansas, and united with
economic and religious factors in the homeland, the stage was set
for a new era of Swedish immigration to this state.

3. Accounts of the early Swedish settlements in Kansas are found in A. Schon,
"De forste svenskarne i Kansas," Prariebloman, 1912 (Rock Island, 111., 1911), pp. 171-
173; T. W. Anderson, "Swedish Pioneers in Kansas," Year-Book of the Swedish Historical
Society of America, St. Paul, Minn., v. 10 (1924-1925), pp. 7-18. A compilation of
letters from Hemlandet is edited and translated by George M. Stephenson in Year-Book of
the Swedish Historical Society of America, v. 8 (1922-1923), pp. 56-152. This source
has been used in this study.

4 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

The relationship of the future growth of Kansas to European
immigration was recognized in February, 1864, with the passage of
an act by the Kansas legislature to establish the bureau of immi-
gration. This legislation provided for two commissioners, ap-
pointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, with the
governor as an ex-officio member. Section 1 stated that the com-
missioners had ". . . power to appoint one or more agents to
visit Europe for the purpose of encouraging and directing immi-
gration to this State. . . ," 4 The first report pursuant to the
act creating the bureau of immigration was presented by L. D.
Bailey and George A. Crawford, commissioners, and Gov. S. J.
Crawford for 1867. The report indicated that no appropriations
for the work of the bureau had been made by the legislature,
although the bureau had prepared a one-page "immigration letter
paper" which had been distributed widely. This first report in-
cluded an urgent appeal for developing financial resources to pro-
mote immigration to Kansas. Emphasis was placed upon "the
starving condition of 500,000 people in Sweden. Every western
and northwestern State but Kansas appropriates money to secure
a share of this human harvest." 5 On December 30, 1868, J. B.
McAfee, adjutant general of Kansas, reported that "the great
famine in Sweden has been causing tens of thousands to immigrate
to this country; a great portion of them might, with proper effort,
be secured to this State." 6 In February, 1865, John P. Swensson,
a Swede residing in Junction City, wrote to Governor Crawford
that he had received a letter from a countryman in Sweden, "a
man who says that thousands of them [Swedes], also in Norway
and Denmark, make preparation to go to this country. . . ." 7
Four years later, in January, 1869, Swensson urged Gov. James M.
Harvey to promote Swedish immigration, offering his services as
an immigration agent if the legislature would appropriate funds
for that purpose. 8 Although the activity of Kansas immigration
agents was quite extensive in Germany and France, this phase of
promotion of Swedish settlement in Kansas was limited. The
official roster of Kansas shows only one such appointment on
March 13, 1874. 9

4. Laws of the State of Kansas, 1864, ch. 75, see. 1, pp. 143, 144.

5. Report of the Office State Bureau of Immigration, Topeka, March 7, 1868 (Leaven-
worth, 1868), pp. 5-8. The condition in Sweden has been described as follows: "An
economic crisis gripped Sweden in 1864 and 1865 and was followed by three distressing
years of crop failures." Florence Edith Janson, The Background of Swedish Immigration
(Chicago, 1931), p. 222.

6. D. W. Wilder, The Annals of Kansas (Topeka, 1886), pp. 495-496.

7. John P. Swensson to Gov. S. J. Crawford, February 6, 1865.

8. John P. Swensson to Gov. James M. Harvey, January 29, 1869.

9. Kansas Historical Collections, v. 16 (1923-1925), p. 682.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 5

Kansas profited directly from the various activities of immigra-
tion companies with headquarters in New York and Chicago.
The American Emigrant Company, which carried on extensive
operations in Europe, was represented by an agent in Gothenberg,
the principal port city in Sweden, as early as 1865, and the com-
pany began advertising to enlist the attention of Swedes planning
on immigrating to America in 1866. The Columbian Emigration
Company also began its activities in Sweden about the same time.
Other active groups were the Chicago Emigrant Agency and the
American Emigrant Aid and Homestead Company. Several news-
papers in the Swedish language were circulated in Sweden be-
ginning in the 1870's for the avowed purpose of stimulating an
interest in immigration. Amerika-Bladet was one of the best known
of these publications. 10

The railroad companies took the lead in promoting immigration
of various nationalities to Kansas, and appropriate recognition was
given to Sweden. In 1874 the Santa Fe railroad printed a modest-
sized pamphlet in Swedish in promoting a Swedish settlement at
Pawnee Rock, in the upper Arkansas valley. Swedish immigrants
were urged to settle in an area which included 115,000 acres of
railroad land which sold from $4.00 to $7.00 per acre with credit
terms for 11 years. 11 A comprehensive attempt to enlist the in-
terest of Swedish immigrants to Kansas was presented by the
Kansas Pacific railroad in a 24-page pamphlet published in the
Swedish language at Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1877. The pam-
phlet identifies C. W. Helstrom as immigration agent in Gothen-
burg. Helstrom later became a well-known citizen in McPherson
county. The names of 19 Swedes in Kansas, who would endorse
the superior advantages of the state, are listed. The pamphlet
affirmed that "it is undeniable beyond any doubt that Kansas is a
paradise." 12

Several other factors, in which Swedes already in America took
the initiative, brought their countrymen to Kansas. It has been
pointed out that many Swedes came to the United States between
1867 and 1879 through the influence of friends and relatives already
in this country. 18 A vital element in developing interest in America
was the "Amerika brev" letters from immigrants to friends and rel-
atives at home. One Swedish immigrant has described the ac-

10. Janson, op, cit., pp. 233-240.

11. Available only in an English translation.

AI. l ' f^ h Col rad - En kort beskrivning ofver landet dess Boskapsskotsel och
Akerbruk, langs Kansas-Pacific Jembanan (Kopenhamm, 1877), 24 pages.
13. Janson, op. cit., p. 271.

6 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

counts as "full of hope and great expectations for the future, and
people came from far and near to read these letters. Copies were
made and read to crowds of people upon public occasions in the
surrounding country." 14

A special factor in promoting Swedish immigration to Kansas was
the organization of land companies by Swedes. The year 1868
witnessed the organization by Swedes already in this country of
two companies whose activities were decisive in creating the large
Swedish element in southern Saline and northern McPherson coun-
ties with Lindsborg as the center. The First Swedish Agricultural
Company of McPherson county was organized at Chicago on April
17, 1868. On the basis of information available on 42 members, 30
of them had arrived in the United States in 1867 and 1868. The
company purchased 13,168 acres of land from the Kansas Pacific
railway in McPherson and Saline counties. The Galesburg Land
Company was formed at Galesburg, 111., in the autumn of 1868.
This group acquired 14,080 acres in Saline and McPherson counties,
with the centers of activity at Freemount and Salemsborg. 15 The
year 1868 also witnessed the founding of the Scandinavian Agricul-
tural Society of Chicago, which purchased 12 sections of land along
the Republican river. The colony, called New Scandinavia, now
known as Scandia, in Republic county, brought many Swedes to
the area. 16

The increasing tempo of Swedish immigration in the 1880's
stimulated Swedes in Kansas to organize for the promotion of
settlement in their state. The leaders in the movement were the
Rev. Olof Olsson, who had come to Lindsborg in 1869 in the area
provided by the First Swedish Agricultural Company, and Dr.
Carl Swensson, founder and president of Bethany College. The
two men toured western Kansas in 1887 and gave glowing ac-
counts of the prospects there. The special area urged for settle-
ment was in Wallace and Logan counties. Olsson and Swensson
used extensively the pages of the Swedish newspaper, Framat,
published in Lindsborg, for promoting this venture. Olsson pre-
dicted that the prophecy of Isaiah 35 would be forthcoming, "The
wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert will rejoice

14. C. J. A. Ericson, "Memories of a Swedish Immigrant," Annals of Iowa, v. 8 (April,
1907), p. 2.

15. Alfred Bergin, "The Swedish Settlements in Central Kansas," Kansas Historical
Collections, v. 11 (1909-1910), pp. 22-30; Emory Lindquist, "A Land Company and a
Community: The Background Factors in the Founding of Lindsborg, Kansas," The Swedish
Pioneer Historical Quarterly, v. 9 (October, 1958), pp. 111-123.

16. I. O. Savage, History of Republic County (1883), p. 68; New Scandinavia's
Ninety-Three Years, 1868-1961 (Scandia, 1961), pp. 3-5.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 7

and blossom." 17 The Lindsborg News reported enthusiastically
on February 3, 1888, that the Southwest Swedish Colonization
Company had sold nearly 50,000 acres of land in western Kansas
since the previous July. The editor predicted that Wallace, Logan,
Greeley, Sherman, and Thomas counties would soon have pros-
perous Swedish settlements. Another colonization company was
promoting settlement in Trego county. It was predicted that Vasa,
Birka, Vega, and Altona would be as well known as Lindsborg.
Although the exhuberant expectations of the promoters were never
realized, a sizeable Swedish element settled in the area south of
Ogallah in Trego county, and near Sharon Springs in Wallace
county, and in the area of Page City in Logan county. 18

The transition from life in the old country to Kansas was marked
by a variety of responses dependent upon the outlook and circum-
stances of the immigrant. There was, nevertheless, a common
element expressed in the Swedish word, hemldngtan, which is dif-
ficult to translate meaningfully into English. Hemldngtan includes
the vital and fundamental meaning of "longing for home," ex-
pressed only partially in the English word "homesickness." Nature
must have contributed mightily to this feeling as the immigrant
contrasted the wide expanse of uninhabited prairie with the pine
and spruce woods, the colorful small meadows, the birch-lined
streams, and the winding roads of the homeland. One Smoky
valley immigrant, decades after leaving the homeland as a youth,
unobtrusively carried out a personal ritual each Sunday morning,
when, after the church service which had been conducted in the
liturgical form of Sweden, he plucked a few pine needles from a
tree on church property, rubbed them gently in his hands, and
inhaled the fragrance of the residue, sharing thus silently in a
sacrament of remembrance from former days.

The feeling of hemldngtan was magnified by a full realization
that the immigrants were separated from familiar faces and places
by the vast expanse of the Atlantic ocean and half of the space
of the great American continent. The likelihood of a return to
Sweden was remote because of economic factors, but the possi-
bility was kept alive in the temple of memory. There was at first
a feeling of lostness, too, in the newness and strangeness of the
language, customs, people, and life in the new world.

17. Frarndt was used extensively in 1887 and 1888 for promoting this project. A
long description of opportunities for Swedes in western Kansas by the Rev Olof Olsson
"En Titt Till Kansas," is found in Framdt, October 29, 1887.

18. For the pattern of Swedish settlements, see Carman, op. cit., in the county sections.

8 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Although there are many expressions of this hemldngtan in
"Amerika brev" written from Kansas to the old country, the depth
and meaning of it is beautifully and poignantly expressed in a
series of letters written from a farm home near Manhattan by Mrs.
Ida Nibelius Lindgren to her mother in Sweden during the period
1870-1881. 19 In the best tradition of Sweden, the farm was given
a name, Lindesfrid, and from there and at other places in the area,
this cultured and sensitive wife and mother of five children
shared her feelings about life in Kansas. When mail came one
day from Sweden containing flower seeds, she wrote: "When
they [the flowers] bloom, as I hope they will do, and when some
evening they send their fragrance through the window to me,
I will think that it is a dear greeting from my loved ones/' Only
one picture had been brought from Sweden. It hung over her
bed and reminded her of "by gone and happier times." But there
were the ever-present resources of God's great universe which
she shared with her dear ones far away. She described what
this meant to her shortly after arriving in Kansas:

I see the stars twinkling and the milky way shines here so clearly. It sits
so low here, right in front of my window. I know that it sits right in front of
mamma's front hall door. Oh, you small, clear stars, may you shine there on
happy, joyous people, blink at them, and greet them from me and tell them
that I love them and long for them always.

This pioneer Swedish woman recalled the festivities of Midsum-
mer day, June 24, in the old country, when they wandered out in
the fields and meadows, seeking a great variety of beautiful flowers,
the serenading of the young men with the sound of the last chorus
singing in her ears, "Summer is such a happy time for the young,"
and the great joy of the day. But Midsummer day was only an-
other day on the calendar of Kansans. There were other times of
remembrance, a wedding anniversary, with a rose in the hair to
identify it, and tears mingled with the carpet rags as the pioneer
woman thought of former days. One August day in 1875 a visitor
came to Lindesfrid, a man selling a highly prized item, a sewing
machine. This would be a splendid possession in a household of
seven persons but the family funds would not produce the $70 re-
quired for purchase. But Mrs. Lindgren was resourceful. She re-
called that packed away in the sea chest was her beautiful white
silk shawl, a treasured possession from Sweden. The shawl was
displayed, and to the great pleasure of the owner, the man liked it.

19 Ida Nibelius Lindgren, Brev Fran Nybyggarhemmet I Kansas, 1870-1881 (Gote-
borg, I960), April 12, 1871, p. 38; February 9, 1871, p. 35; October 9, 1871, p. 44;
June 24, 1877, p. 69; August 28, 1875, pp. 66, 67. These letters constitute an excellent
source of information about the daily life and aspirations of a cultured Swedish immigrant.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 9

Soon a bargain was concluded. The Swedish immigrant parted with
her treasured white silk shawl and $25, and in return she now owned
the sewing machine.

There were times of great sorrow also for the immigrants trying
to build a new life in a distant land. One pioneer mother asked
herself why "God's hand rests so heavily upon us. He beats us in
so many ways, not that we do not deserve it and much more no,
it is that we should require so much discipline, that strikes me
so heavily. I read last evening the first two chapters of Job. I
thought that we needed to be reminded, how a Christian should bear
his adversities." 20 On New Year's Eve, in 1868, in the Smoky
valley, Mrs. John Nelson, the mother of seven small children, died
as the New Year was dawning. Six dollars were subscribed among
her neighbors for the purchase of lumber for a coffin. Burial took
place as C. R. Carlson, a schoolteacher, read the simple service of
the homeland. 21 On May 20, 1870, a Swedish woman made this
entry in her diary at Lake Sibley, Cloud county, six weeks after
leaving Sweden:

Anna is better today and God be praised that she didn't die here. They
have buried Glaus* son, but no preacher, no bells, no cemetery. They bury
their dead under a large, lone tree out on the prairie, sometimes without a
coffin. Glaus nailed together a little coffin and we decorated it both inside
and outside with flowers. They themselves read the burial service. 22

The pattern of life includes sorrow for the family of man every-
where, but the burden of tragedy must have been especially
great for the immigrants in a strange and far-away land. The
Rev. Olof Olsson, who came to Kansas from Varmland, Sweden,
in 1869, pondered these facts later and gave his response:

From whence should strength and comfort come to us as we were called
upon to bury our dear ones in the wilderness? You must have a spiritual, yes,
a divine strength that upholds you when you must withstand anguish, mis-
reckonings, sorrow, and loss year after year. Pioneer life in the wilderness is
no joke; it is a war, a battle. We should have been most foolish to have lost
our hope in the heavenly home. 23

The Swedish immigrant was confronted with the difficulty of
learning the English language and the rate of that achievement
varied considerably among individuals and in different communities.
Some of the Kansas immigrants never learned the language of the
land, while many others made substantial progress. It was generally

20. Ibid., p. 44.

21. Alfred Bergin, Lindsborg. Bidrag Till Svenskarnas och Den Lutherska Kyrkans
Historia 1 Smoky HiU DdLen (Rock Island, 111., 1909), pp. 31, 32.

22. Ida Nibelius Lindgren, Vdr Resa Till Amerika, 1870. Dagboks antcckningar
(Stockholm, 1958), p. 40.

23. Olof Olsson, Samlade Skrifter (Rock Island, 111.), v. 3, p. 186.

10 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

true that Swedes in towns and cities adapted themselves more
readily to the English language than people in distinctly rural
areas. The men, who were involved in wider contacts than the
women, generally learned English earlier. The process of Ameri-
canization increased in tempo as the children of immigrants
attended American schools. These children became bi-lingual and
they soon felt more at ease in the use of English than in Swedish.
One factor which perpetuated the use of the Swedish language was
the "Swedish schools" held usually for two months in the summer,
and conducted under the auspices of individual congregations. An
observer in Lindsborg, writing in 1919 and reviewing developments
in the previous decade or so, pointed out that children often
answered the questions of their parents in English, although the
mother or father had used Swedish in making the inquiry. Sunday
School materials were written in Swedish but the discussion had
been in English for several years prior to the writer's comments. 24

Prof. J. Neale Carman, of the University of Kansas, has rendered
a great service to the knowledge of Kansas life and history in his
excellent and comprehensive study of foreign-language units and
linguistic developments in Kansas, published this year. 25 In an
analysis of 44 Swedish settlements among the 59 identified by Profes-
sor Carman, the most critical years for the abandonment of the
Swedish language in Kansas were the years 1914-1918, the period
of World War I. Professor Carman appropriately defines the term
"critical year" as "the year in which a community ceased to use
the foreign language habitually in the majority of the homes where
there were growing children." 26 In 14 settlements the critical
year occurred before 1914, and in five of them as early as 1905.
The World War I period was critical for 18 settlements, including
the large Swedish area in McPherson and Saline counties. Twelve
Swedish communities reached the critical year after 1918, with
three related to 1925 and one as late as 1930.

The pattern of development is interesting and sometimes quite
puzzling. For instance, Garfield township in Clay county, a
distinctly rural area, had its critical year in 1905. One possible
explanation is found in the fact that there had been only modest

24. G. A. Peterson, "Svenskheten i Lindsborg," in Bergin, Lindsborg after Femtio &r,
pp. 146-149. The influence of children in the Americanization of Swedish immigrants is
discussed in Oscar Algot Benson, "Problems in the Accommodation of the Swede to Ameri-
can Culture" (an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 1933), pp.
118, 119.

25. Carman, op. cit.

26. Ibid.., p. 2. Professor Carman states: "Because of its character of estimate, the
date fixed in the Atlas for the critical year of any community may be in error by as much
as two, three, or even five years; five may be regarded as the maximum error."

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 11

immigration there since early times, because in 1895 only 221
persons out of the total Swedish stock of 533, were born in Sweden.
However, in Laing township in Rawlins county, also like Garfield
township a definitely rural area, the critical year was 1930. In
1895 112 of the Swedish stock of 191 were born in Sweden, indi-
cating a more direct relationship with the old country than in
Garfield township. In Morris county, the Marion Hill Swedes and
Burdick Swedes have similar patterns except that the former was
founded in 1869 and the latter in 1881. The critical year for the
Marion Hill Swedes was 1912 and for the Burdick Swedes it was
1925. 27

Evidence suggests that the presence of a church with a Swedish
background was not always a decisive factor in perpetuating the
Swedish language. Isolation in a rural area and the number and
date of arrival of Swedish-born residents tended to be decisive
factors. The critical year 1918 for the Lindsborg Swedes, although
dominant in that region, may be explained at least in part to the
presence of Bethany College as an Americanization factor and the
desire of this Swedish community, so well known in Kansas, to be
recognized as an integral part of the American scene during the
abnormal years of World War I.

The Swedish language was often used in church services beyond
the time that it was generally spoken in the homes. Dr. Alfred
Bergin has written that the first preaching in the English language
in the Bethany Lutheran church, Lindsborg, occurred in 1885. The
church report for 1895 indicates that there had been an effort made
to preach in English the previous year, but, as it encroached upon
the regular program of the church, the services were moved to
[Bethany] College. There was no rite of confirmation in the
English language prior to 1904. 28 Swedish was the language of
the services of the large Bethany Lutheran church at Lindsborg
until 1928, when the practice was initiated of having one morning
service in Swedish and one in English. However, Messiah Lutheran
church, in which the English service was used exclusively, was
organized in Lindsborg in 1908 to serve the non-Swedish popula-
tion and Swedes who favored the language of the land for church
services. The principal service at the Bethany Lutheran church
after 1928 was conducted in English. Beginning in 1941 English
was used exclusively except for one Bible class. The minutes of
congregational business were written in Swedish until 1934. 29

27. Ibid., pp. 101, 102. 211, 241-243.

28. Alfred Bergin, The Story of Lindsborg (Lindsborg, 1929), p. 15.

29. Emory Lindquist, Smoky Valley People (Rock Island, HI., 1953), p. 182.

12 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

The pattern at Lindsborg was quite typical of other Swedish com-
munities in the use of language in church services.

Available written materials indicate that the Swedes readily
adopted English words for expressing meaning whenever this was
convenient. The official records of the First Swedish Agricultural
Company of McPherson county, 1868-1877, produce interesting
evidence. Included among the English words and modifications
of them in the midst of Swedish sentences were such words as
farming, floring (flooring), motion, gaten (gate), lawyer, deedens
(deed), platformen (platform), trainen (train), and depoten
(depot). 30 One scholar has pointed out interesting usage based
upon a diary kept by a Kansas Swede, 1870-1885. This diary in-
cluded such usage as "tubb" for tub, "peel" for pail, "skingel" for
shingle, "lomber" for lumber, "torkis" for turkey, and "fans" for
fence. 81 Quaint and interesting results often occurred in the
spoken word as English was mixed with Swedish. G. N. Malm,
a Kansan, and a well-known name in literary and artistic circles
among Swedish Americans, has caught the tone and spirit of this
language in his classic volume on Swedish American life in the
1890's entitled, Charli Johnson. 82 This volume is a splendid source
for this phase of linguistic study. In the hundreds of examples in
the volume the following are cited: kroppen (crop), kutta (cut),
hajrat (hired), kipat upp (continue), kaontrit (country), karload
(carload), tjita (cheat), tometes plantes (tomato plants), enjoyat
(enjoyed), palajt (polite), evriting (everything), exhastada (ex-
hausted).

The Swedes in Kansas realized the need for newspapers and
periodicals in their own language until a new generation could
master the English language. The first Kansas publication in
Swedish was Nytt och Gammalt, a religious journal written by the
Rev. Olof Olsson at Lindsborg and printed in German type in
Salina. Six issues totaling 190 pages were published between April
and November, 1873. The journal was then merged with other
Swedish language publications. Ten other Swedish language
newspapers and periodicals were published in Kansas. The oldest
newspaper, Svenska Herolden, a weekly, was published in Salina,
1878-1881. Lindsborg Posten, a weekly, had the longest continuous
history. The first issue appeared in 1897; it ceased publication in

30. "Records and Minutes of the First Swedish Agricultural Company of McPherson
County, Kansas."

31. C. Terence Pihlblad, "The Kansas Swedes," The Southwestern Social Science
Quarterly, Austin, Tex., v. 13 (June, 1932), p. 42.

32. G. N. Malm, Charli Johnson. Svensk-Amerikan (Chicago, 1910).

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 13

1930. Other Swedish language publications have been Kansas
Stoats Tidning, 1879-1880; Kansas Posten, 1882-1883; Pedagogen,
1885-1886; Praktiken, 1886; Framdt, 1887-1888; Kansas Missions
Tidning, 1904-1912; and Budbdraran, a Bethany College publica-
tion appearing occasionally for a few years beginning in 1892.
Kansas Morritoren, a short-lived journal, was published in Salina.
The editor apologized "for his deficiency in Swedish spelling and
grammar." However, he stated, "that really makes no difference,
since the purpose of Monitoren is merely to promote true culture
among the people of the Saline valley." 33 All the above publica-
tions, except as noted, had their origin in Lindsborg. 34

The political affiliation of the Swedes in the United States gen-
erally as well as in Kansas has been definitely with the Republican
party. An important factor was the commitment of the Rev. T. N.
Hasselquist, founder and editor of Hemlandet, Det Gamla Och Det
Nya, to the Republican cause. Hasselquist greatly admired Horace
Greeley of the New York Tribune and the columns of the Tribune
furnished much material for this Swedish newspaper. The iden-
tification of the Democratic party with slavery caused the Swedish
immigrants generally to shun that party. An authority on Swedish-
American life has described the situation as follows:

Although one denomination fought another for converts, all agreed upon
the merits of the Republican party. It was the staunch adherence to the
tenets of the Republican party by the Swedish American press from 1855
to 1876 which is largely accountable for the faithfulness of the Swedes to
the Republican party both during and following that period. 35

The situation in Kansas is described at least symbolically in the
terse philosophy of life declared by one Swedish immigrant as
follows: "Jag ar Luteran, jag ar Republikan och jag kor en Mc-
Cormick sjalv binder." ("I am a Lutheran, I am a Republican, and
I drive a McCormick self-binder.") Dr. Carl Swensson, founder of
Bethany College, writing to D. W. Wilder from Lindsborg in
January, 1881, declared:

We Swedes come from a free and noble people, and our history as a free
people dates back at least as far as the beginning of the Christian era. . . .
The Swedes of Kansas and Iowa, as a class, have worked hard for Prohibition,
and that as good Republicans, because every Swede is born a Republican and
will remain such if no unforeseen accidents overtake him. 36

33. J. Oscar Backhand, A Century of the Swedish American Press (Chicago, 1952),
pp. 69, 70.

34. A fairly complete list of Swedish papers published in Kansas is found in William
E. Connelley, History of Kansas Newspapers (Topeka, 1916), pp. 232, 233.

35. O. Fritiof Ander, "Swedish-American Newspapers and the Republican Party "
Augustana Historical Society Publications, Rock Island, iff., v. 2 (1932), p. 77.

36. C. A. Swensson to D. W. Wilder, January 16, 1881.

14 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

The voting record of the Kansas Swedes, in so far as it can be
determined, indicates that generally "no unforeseen accidents"
overtook them politically. Prof. Walter Nugent in his compre-
hensive study of voting patterns in Kansas has pointed out that
McPherson county, with a large concentration of Swedes and Protes-
tant Germans, was "farther above the average in Republicanism
throughout the period 1880-1908 than either the native or other
immigrant counties among the 26 counties that were studied/' He
goes on to point out that 15 Swedish precincts in the period 1894-
1908 were "generally and heavily Republican. In 1908 the
heavier the Swedish percentage in the precinct, the heavier the
Republican vote with two exceptions/' An analysis of voting in
1894, in Smoky Hill township, where Lindsborg is located, shows
the following: Populist, 21.3%; Democratic, 3%; Republican, 75.9%.
For the entire state of Kansas: Populist, 38.8%, Democratic, 9.5%;
and Republican 51.7%. 37

Although the commitment to the Republican party was decisive,
some interesting and spotty voting can be observed in Swedish
communities during the Populist era. In McPherson county, in
the contest for governor in 1896, the incumbent Republican candi-
date, Edmund N. Morrill, won decisively in the Swedish townships,
Smoky Hill and Union, but John W. Leedy, the Populist candidate,
the winner in the election, gained the largest number of votes in
the Swedish settlement, New Gottland. In Saline county, in Falun
and Smolan townships, where the Swedes had dominating superi-
ority in numbers, Leedy had a two to one majority over his Repub-
lican opponent. The results were particularly interesting in Union
and New Gottland townships in McPherson county where the
Swedish voters dominated and were almost identical in number.
Union chose the Republican by a large majority, and New Gottland
preferred the Populist, but by a lesser majority. 38

The above facts are interesting but difficult to interpret because
of the parallel similarity in Swedish background. One important
factor accounting for the great Republican strength in Lindsborg
and Smoky Hill township was the personal influence of Dr. Carl
Swensson, president of Bethany College and a dedicated Repub-
lican. As early as 1882 the Lindsborg Localist, October 26, 1882,

37. Walter Nugent, "Populism and Nativism in Kansas, 1888-1904" (an unpublished
dissertation for the Ph.D. degree, University of Chicago, 1961), pp. 206-209.

38. The census for 1895, preceding the election of 1896, shows the following: Union
township, total population. 608; Swedish stock, 560; Morrill (R), 121, Leedy, (P), 28.
New Gottland township, total population, 607; Swedish stock 540, Morrill (R), 67, Leedy
(P), 81. The statistics on population and Swedish stock are found in Carman, op. cit.,
p. 190. The statistics on the election are found in the records of the secretary of state of
Kansas.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 15

announced a Republican rally on Sunday evening at the Swedish
Lutheran church where Swensson was the pastor. He was, more-
over, an avowed and vitriolic opponent of the Populists. In a letter
to the Populist Gov. L. D. Le welling, in April, 1894, he wrote:

The plague of grasshoppers and droughts cannot be compared to the
disasters that have been heaped upon our young, noble state by the doctrines
and proclamations and public and private utterances by yourself and other
leaders of your party. You have made Kansas the laughing-stock of the entire
intelligent world. 39

The Republicans organized strong Swedish-American Republican
clubs in various parts of the state. The state-wide League met in
i Lindsborg on March 6, 1896, with delegates from 50 local Swedish-
American Republican clubs in attendance. The objective of the
League was "to educate the Swedish-Americans along the lines of
republicanism and Americanism." 40 In October of the same year,
John A. Enander, editor of the Republican newspaper, Hemlandet,
published in Chicago, addressed a great rally at Lindsborg attended
by 2,500 people. 41

The normal Republican commitment of the Swedes of Kansas
was modestly challenged by the growth of the Farmers' Alliance
and Populist movement. Smoky Valley Alliance No. 2535 had been
organized in the Lindsborg community and carried on an active
program. The group planned picnics and rallies. This unit of the
Alliance was entitled to 10 delegates to the county convention at
McPherson on June 26, 1891. 42

The activities of the Alliance were bitterly opposed in some
Swedish communities. The climax of conflict came in the Smoky
valley when on August 12, 1891, seven members of the Bethany
Lutheran church, Lindsborg, were excommunicated for their mem-
bership in the Alliance. 43 The organization nevertheless sponsored
an Alliance picnic at Lindsborg on August 15 which attracted be-
tween 500 and 600 people according to the Populist press. A cor-
respondent of the Topeka Capital, however, reported that the
"attendance was very slim and a great disappointment to the
leaders." 44

As the controversy developed in Lindsborg, the editor of the
Peoples Advocate, McPherson, wrote on October 2, 1891, that the
attitude of the "Luthren [sic] church is unamerican, anti-demo-

39. Topeka Capital, April 29, 1894.

40. Lindsborg News, March 13, 1896.

41. Ibid. , October 9, 1896.

42. Peoples' Advocate, McPherson, June 12, July 31, 1891.

43. "Record of Ministerial Acts, 1891," Bethany Lutheran church, Lindsborg, p. 240.

44. Peoples' Advocate, August 21, 1891; Topeka Capital, August 16, 1891.

16 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

cratic, and less liberal than the Pope of Rome/' Dr. Carl Swensson,
a staunch Republican and pastor of the Bethany Lutheran church
which had excommunicated the Alliance members, replied at
length to his McPherson critic in a long article in the Lindsborg
News, October 30, 1891. He pointed out that he had replied to
his Alliance opponents in a letter to Judge Coldwell of McPherson
on September 15, 1891, stating that

politically the decision has no significance whatever, as our church as such
has not taken any part in politics, nor does it intend to. ... But as to
all secret organizations the founders . . . had taken the stand that such
organizations are unchristian, unrepublican in their tendency, and therefore
antagonistic to the best interests of the state, church, and family, however
innocent and benevolent their exterior appearance may be.

The Lindsborg pastor further informed his readers that the posi-
tion should not be changed although some of the "sons . . .
make fools of themselves by supporting without previous examina-
tion a secret political organization called the Alliance/'

The debate about the excommunication of the Alliance members
of the church was not confined to the 1890's. There are some who
felt that the action was taken not because of the "anti-republicanism"
cited in Swensson's letter, but because of the anti-Republican party
position of the Alliance. However, the farmers' movement was
not crushed at Lindsborg, because on June 17, 1892, the Lindsborg
News reported that a stock company had been organized there
with a capital stock of $5,000 for the purpose of publishing a
Populist newspaper in the Swedish language in the city. These
plans never materialized. The pattern of loyalty to the Republican
party was fully re-established at the turn of the century, and
received support from many quarters. In October, 1906, for in-
stance, a pastor of the Swedish Lutheran church in Marshall county
published a three-column article in the semi-official Kansas Con-
ference organ, Lindsborg Posten, entitled "Some Words to Swedes
in Kansas." In this article the pastor pleaded, "Countrymen, let us
be Republicans and here in Kansas vote for Governor Hoch." 45

Sen. Frank Carlson of Concordia, the son of Swedish immigrants,
has achieved the most distinguished record among the Swedes
of Kansas in politics and elective office. Carlson's father, who
arrived in America in 1880, was born in the province of Varmland.
His mother's birthplace was in Smaland. Mrs. Carlson's parents
are also Swedish born. Frank Carlson represented the former
sixth district in the United States congress from 1934 to 1946. He

45. The Rev. A. S. Segerhammar in Lindsborg Posten, October 17, 1906.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 17

then served as governor of Kansas from 1946 to 1950. Carlson
was first elected to the United States senate in 1950 and was
re-elected in 1956 and 1962 by substantial majorities. He holds
important committee assignments in the senate, including member-
ship on the senate foreign relations committee. 46

Religion and the desire for freedom in religious expression were
important factors in Swedish immigration to Kansas, especially
in the early era. The Lutheran state church was challenged effec-
tively about the middle of the 19th century by dissent within its
own ranks. One phase was related to a free, evangelical movement,
Lutheran in doctrine, whose members were known as Idsare. This
group maintained a distinctively pietistic and subjective emphasis
and attracted increasingly large numbers of adherents as the years
advanced. Individuals like Carl Rosenius, editor of Pietisten,
and Peter Fjellstedt, the Biblical scholar, and the organization
Fosterlands-stiftelsen (The Evangelical Fatherland), were import-
ant influences in this development. This evangelical movement
produced great hymns by Lina Sandell-Berg (L. S. ). Tryggare Kan
Ingen Vara and Blott En Dag Ett Ogonblick I Sender, from the
hymn book, Hemlandsanger, were sung with deep feeling by many
Kansas Swedes. 47

Closely identified with this evangelical movement was the Rev.
Olof Olsson of Sunnemo, Karlstad diocese, who came with a large
party of immigrants to the Smoky valley in 1869 to share in the
founding of Lindsborg. In that year, 1869, a newspaper correspond-
ent in Sweden, writing in Hemlandet, August 10, 1869, observed:
The largest number of immigrants consists of vigorous people, of
which a large number belonged to that group called Idsare in other
words, those who have with earnestness found the greatest end
in life: to live by faith in Christ and to die happy/' The Rev.
Olof Olsson, a distinguished preacher, writer, leader, and the first
member of the Kansas house of representatives from McPherson
county, was a great spiritual force among the Kansas Swedes
during the formative period of the late 1860's and 1870's. 48

Important Swedish colonizing companies in Kansas were definitely
committed to religious principles and to the development of spir-
itual life. The First Swedish Agricultural Company of McPherson

46. Official Congressional Directory, 87th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington, Government
Printing Office, 1962), p. 53.

47. Oscar N. Olson, The Augustana Lutheran Church (Rock Island HI. 1950) pp.
16-26. An interesting description of the career of Lina Sandell-Berg by T. E. Liliedahf is
found in the Lindsborg News-Record, July 12, 1962.

48. The Kansas phase of Olof Olsson's career is described in E. W. Olson, Olof Olsson.
The Man, His Work, and His Thought (Rock Island, 111., 1941), pp. 46-146.

25500

18 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

county provided in the second article of its constitution the follow-
ing statement: "Everyone received as a member of this corporation
shall be a believing Christian, adhere to the doctrine of the Evan-
gelical Lutheran church, be industrious and thrifty, and exert him-
self for the upbuilding and development of the company." Several
leaders and members of the company were members of the Idsare
movement. The minutes of the meetings of the company reflect
a serious religious spirit. The Galesburg company, which like the
First Swedish Agricultural Company, acquired thousands of acres
of land in McPherson and Saline counties, was also based upon
the desire to found a Swedish settlement upon Christian principles.
This company was organized in the Galesburg, 111., Swedish
Lutheran Church, where the Rev. A. W. Dahlsten was the pastor.
Dahlsten, the leader of the group, became the first president of
the Kansas conference of Swedish Lutheran churches. 49

Since religious motives played an important role in immigration,
it was only natural that the Swedes would found and support
churches in Kansas reflecting this doctrinal, liturgical, and linguistic
commitment. Swedish Lutheran, Mission Covenant, Baptist, and
Methodist churches were established in communities where any
sizeable number of Swedes lived. The largest group numerically
were the Swedish Lutherans who founded at least 50 churches in
Kansas. The first church of this denomination was organized in
the Blue valley near Cleburne in Riley county on October 13,
1863. It was named Mariadahl in honor of the mother of the John-
son children, whose first representative, John, came to this area in
1855. The great center for Swedish Lutherans has been the Smoky
valley area where in McPherson and Saline counties, 12 congrega-
tions were established. 50

The Lutheran churches among the Swedes in Kansas experienced
in intense form the conflict which divided Swedish Lutheran
churches throughout America and in Sweden as a result primarily
of the teaching of P. P. Waldenstrom on the doctrine of the atone-
ment. Scarcely any Swedish community was spared the agony and
strife produced by the issues of doctrine as earnest men and women
strove to know the truth. The dissenters withdrew from the Lu-
theran churches and organized independently, including many Lu-
theran elements in their new church. These congregations organized
into what became known as the Mission Covenant church. In some

49. Alfred Bergin, "The Swedish Settlements in Central Kansas," Kansas Historical
Collections v. 1 (1909-1910), pp. 19, 24-30.

50. Kansas-Konferensens Referat, 1897, "Statistics, 1896," pp. 2, 3. Other volumes
of the Referat furnish full information about the Swedish Lutherans in Kansas.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 19

rural areas in Kansas, a Swedish Lutheran church and a Mission
Covenant church were located within the same section, or on op-
posite corners of intersecting miles, and in towns, the two groups
occasionally had churches within a block or two of each other. The
Mission church at Rose Hill, five miles north of Lindsborg, founded
in 1873-1874, was the first one of this denomination in Kansas. The
Mission Friends, as they were known, organized 28 churches, 11
mission congregations, and conducted religious services in 19 other
communities in Kansas. 51 Swedish Baptists founded 19 churches
in Kansas. The first congregation of this denomination was organ-
ized at Swede Center, Neosho county, near Chanute, in May, 1869. 52
Clay Center was the site for the founding of the first Swedish Meth-
odist church in Kansas in April, 1870. Seven congregations of this
denomination were organized among the Swedes of Kansas. 53

The Swedish Baptist and Swedish Methodist churches in Kansas
merged with their American counterparts in the 1920's. The Lu-
theran churches with Swedish antecedents have merged this year
(1962) with three other Lutheran groups. The Mission Covenant
church alone maintains its historic identity with the period of
Swedish immigration.

Religious motives were the principal factors which created the
tradition of education and culture at Bethany College, which con-
stitutes the greatest single contribution of the Swedes to Kansas.
Dr. Carl Swensson, pastor of the Bethany Lutheran church, Linds-
borg, was the founder of the college in 1881, and served later for
many years as its president until his death in 1904. The Rev. Olof
Olsson, Swensson's predecessor as pastor of the Lutheran church,
had earlier discussed with friends the possibility of founding a
school in the Smoky valley. However, the personal initiative and
faith of Swensson was the decisive factor. He described the back-
ground factors in 1884 in these words:

"I saw how God had blessed our settlements in this beautiful, flourishing,
and liberty-loving state. But how our children and youth should obtain the
necessary Christian education was a question not easily answered. Without the
elevating influence exerted by a good school to mould the character of students
and others, we would evidently be in danger of sinking into the worship of
the almighty dollar and materialism. In addition, among our youth, how
many gifts that would otherwise be hidden and deteriorate, would not such a
school disclose, gifts to benefit and gladden the community and the church
of God. Finally, after consulting the members in the vicinity and laymen

51. Strb'dda Drag Ur Missions-Vannernas Verksamhet i Kansas (Topeka, 1917) de-
scribes the activities of the Evangelical Mission Covenant church of Kansas in detail.

52. P. Lovene, History of the Swedish Baptist Churches of Kansas and Missouri,
1869-1927.

53. Svenska-Metodismen i Amerika (Chicago, 1895), pp. 455-463.

20 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

who were interested in the work, all of whom with one accord seconded the
project, we ventured upon the undertaking! 54

The support of the college was broadened significantly for the
future when the Kansas conference of the Swedish Lutheran
churches assumed responsibility for the institution in 1884.

Bethany College furnished the setting for the origin and growth
of the great oratorio tradition at Lindsborg. The Swedish immigrants
and their children, under the inspiring leadership of Dr. and Mrs.
Carl Swensson, established the distinctive "Messiah" tradition which
has an outstanding record of achievement since 1882. 55 Dr. Birger
Sandzen joined the faculty of Bethany College in 1894, coming
directly from Sweden. He became Kansas' most outstanding artist.
His paintings, watercolors, and prints have attracted national and
international acclaim. 56 The faculty of Bethany College was
greatly enriched in the early decades by Swedish immigrants of
distinguished learning and culture, who shared in building a fine
educational tradition.

The Kansas Swedes, like all immigrants, were confronted with
the conflict produced by old allegiances and the challenge of accom-
modation to the reality that America was their new home. Inevita-
bly there were transitional phases in this adjustment. It was only
natural that the immigrants cherished the observance of festive days,
like Midsummer day and Christmas, in the manner of the old coun-
try. One pioneer Swedish mother wrote to Sweden about the Christ-
mas observance near Manhattan in 1870, the year of arrival in
Kansas. A few Swedish friends in the vicinity came on Christmas
Eve for the traditional Christmas coffee and Swedish delicacies.
The beautiful cedar Christmas tree, with the Swedish flag at the
top, and aglow with 24 candles, was decorated with apples, nuts,
raisins, and candy. Familiar Christmas carols were sung in the
mother tongue to the accompaniment of an harmonica. 57 The non-
Swedish editor of the Lindsborg Localist described the traditional
Jul Otta service in Bethany Lutheran church in 1881. He awakened

54. Kansat-Konferensens Protokoll, 1884, pp. 35, 36. A detailed description of the
founding and early years of Bethany College is found in Carl Swensson, "Hum Bethany
College Blef Till," Prariebloman, 1903 (Rock Island, HI., 1902), pp. 76-86. Material on
the life of Carl Swensson is found in Ernest Skarstedt, "Laroverkspresidenten Carl Swen-
sson," Prariebloman, 1905 (Rock Island, IU., 1904), pp. 77-93; J. E. Floreen, "Dr. Carl
Aaron Swensson," Korsbaneret, 1905 (Rock Island, 111., 1904), pp. 175-193; Lindquist,
Smoky Valley People, pp. 126-146.

55. The literature describing the Lindsborg "Messiah" is extensive. For a bibliography,
see, Lindquist, Smoky Valley People, pp. 260-262.

56. Extensive printed material is available on Birger Sandzen: see William Allen
White's introduction to the volume, In the Mountains (McPherson, 1925); Charles
Matthews, "Artist, Gentleman, and Scholar," Kansas Magazine, Manhattan, 1938, pp. 3-7;
Charles Pelham Greenough, III, The Graphic Work of Birger Sandzen (Manhattan, 1952);
Margaret Sandzen Greenough, "From Sweden to Kansas," American Artist, Stamford, Conn.,
v. 25 (January, 1961), pp. 26-31, 72, 73.

57. Lindgren, Fran Nybyggarhemmet i Kansas, pp. 58, 59.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 21

at 4 a. m. in response to the ringing of the church bell, calling
the residents to the festive worship service. Christmas morning that
year was "clear, starlight, and pleasant. The city was illuminated,
nearly every house had tapers in the windows, and the farm houses
out on the prairie, as far as the eye could reach, glimmered and
twinkled with lights." 58 The church had candles in every window.
The choir sang the famous Swedish Christmas anthem, "Hosianna,"
and the congregation sang enthusiastically, "Var Helsad Skona Mor-
gon-Stund" ("All Hail to Thee, Oh Blessed Morn"). The liturgy
was the familiar one of the distant church in Varmland or Smalan.

Swedish communities observed regularly Gustavus Adolphus day
in commemoration of the great King of Sweden and hero of Protes-
tantism, who died on the field of battle at Lutzen on November 16,
1632. 59 On those occasions the immigrants and their children sang
enthusiastically the Swedish national anthem, "Du Gamla, Du Fria"
("You Old, Free Nation") and "Hell Dig, Du Hoga Nord" ("Hail
Thee, Thou Great Northland").

The nature of this dualism involving American and Swedish ele-
ments can be readily illustrated from the printed sources in the
Lindsborg Localist. On July 5, 1879, the Locdist described the
great Fourth of July celebration in the Lindsborg community. This
splendid event had been initiated with a parade a half-mile long
and the multiple events of the day were concluded when "the
Captain of the players called 'partners for cotillion', and all went
merry as a marriage bell, till the wee small hours chased the full
moon away." The same article, however, contained the following
statement: "Meanwhile the Sweeds [sic] celebrated the American
Holiday, in a grand pic-nic on the banks of the boisterous Smokey,
thus showing that they are not sweeds [sic], but Americans, loyal
patriotic Americans. . . ." Apparently there was a rift in the com-
munity that year between Swedes and non-Swedes. On the basis of
the pietism of the Swedish immigrants in the Smoky valley and
their attitude towards dancing, the key was undoubtedly the phrase
quoted above, "the Captain of the players called 'partners for cotil-
lion', and all went merry as a marriage bell, till the wee hours
chased the full moon away."

Several interesting aspects of the distinction between the Ameri-
can and Swedish elements are recorded in the early life of the
Lindsborg community. 60 In 1880, following the developments dur-

58. Lindsborg Localist, December 29, 1881.

59. Lindquist, Smofcy Valley People, p. 184.

60. Lindsborg Localist, July 5, 1879; May 20, 1880; July 7, July 14, September 9,
1881; August 10, 1882.

22 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ing the Fourth of July celebration the previous year as described
above, it was decided that the various elements in the community
should join in one great celebration. Arrangements should be an-
nounced in the Lindsborg Localist and in the Swedish weekly, Sven-
ska Herolden, published in Salina. Allen Wilbur was listed as the
"English Secretary" and John A. Rodell, the "Swedish Secretary."
When the Augustana Swedish Lutheran synod met in Lindsborg in
July, 1881, the Localist carried this announcement: "There will be
English preaching in the Lutheran Bethany Church next Sabbath
p. m. by some visiting clergymen. Americans are cordially invited
to attend." Later, the editor observed that the services were "greatly
appreciated by the Americans present." In September, 1881, me-
morial services were held at the Bethany Lutheran church for Pres-
ident Garfield. "Mrs. Rev. Swensson" is listed as leading "the
Swedish choir" and Mrs. A. Wilbur, "the American choir." The
editor of the Localist urged Pastor Carl Swensson in August, 1882, to
preach in English on Sunday afternoons. He was certain that this
arrangement "would secure the attendance of many of the Ameri-
cans."

The records indicate that the intermarriage of Kansas Swedes with
non-Swedes was rather rare in the early days of settlement. For in-
stance, the Rev. Olof Olsson, pastor of the Bethany Lutheran church,
Lindsborg, performed no mixed marriages during his pastorate
from 1869 to 1877. The records of McPherson county show that
from November, 1870, to January, 1880, 76 marriage licenses were
issued to couples who were both Swedish and eight when only one
was of that nationality for a ratio slightly higher than nine-to-one.
From March, 1880, to March, 1887, in McPherson county, 181
licenses were purchased by Swedish couples to 38 when only one
party was Swedish for a ratio slightly less than five to one. 61 Rec-
ords for couples at the Bethany Lutheran church in 1896 show no
mixed marriages out of a total of 87 marriages in the United States. 62

Professor Carman's summary of the census for 1895 shows that
there were 15,352 children in Kansas whose parents were both
Swedish or only one was Swedish. It shows further that 11,664
or 75.9% were children of parents who were both born in Sweden
and 3,688, or 24.1% had only one parent born in Sweden or a ratio
of about three to one. The range was from 92.7% to 7.3% in Rawlins
county, but it was reversed, 48.1% to 51.9% in Jewell county. 63 This

61. Lindquist, Smoky Valley People, p. 182.

62. Helming Fran Pastors-Embetet I Lindsborg, 1896, Bethany Lutheran church,
Lindsborg. This material consists of a questionnaire filled in by members.

63. Carman, op. cit., pp. 13-25.

THE SWEDISH IMMIGRANT IN KANSAS 23

study shows that the greater the concentration of Swedes the lesser
the number of mixed marriages for the obvious reason that the
range of opportunities for marriage outside the Swedish settlement
were restricted. In 1900 there were 2,930 native Americans in
Kansas whose fathers were born in Sweden and 1,422 whose
mothers were born in that country. The other spouse was generally
an American. Since there were 15,755 native-born Americans in
Kansas with full or partial Swedish parentage, it can be concluded
that 11,403 or 72.4% of the children came from homes where both
parents were born in Sweden. 64 The evidence is clear that in the
early period, parents urged their children to marry men or women
of Swedish nationality. Expressions such as the following: "She
married an American," to distinguish marriage to a non-Swede,
have been common until recent times and may still be heard.

When Bethany College was founded in 1881, the colors of the
Swedish flag, yellow and blue, were chosen as the college colors.
When the first edition of Bethany College songs appeared, the 30
selections were all in the Swedish language. Included was the
"Bethany Song," which was to be sung to the well-known Swedish
patriotic tune, "H ell Dig, Du Hoga Nord" The board of directors
of the college published an extensive hymn book Hemdt in the
Swedish language in 1888. 65

When a college yell became a part of collegiate life at athletic
contests, the "Terrible Swedes" of Bethany College were urged on
to victory by words in the Swedish language based in Nordic
mythology:

Rockar Stockar
Thor och Hans Bockar
Kor Igenom, Kor Igenom
Tju Tju Tju.
Bethania!

The words are difficult to translate. They refer to the Nordic
god, Thor, driving his chariot with great speed on an urgent
mission. The aid of the Nordic god and his example was sought
in order to drive through the line, Kor igenom, Kor igenom, ( Drive
through, Drive through) for a touchdown. "Rockar, Stockar" is
still the official college yell. Recent generations have pronounced
these Swedish words with strange accents. 66

Although the Swedish heritage has been cherished at Bethany
College and great resources have been derived from it, the orienta-

64. Twelfth Census of the V. S.: 1900, v. 1, pt. 1, pp. 815, 823, 831.

65. Lindquist, Smoky Valley People, p. 184.

66. Ibid., pp. 220, 221.

24 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

tion and purpose of the college has been toward making a dis-
tinctive contribution to American life and culture. The aim of the
founder, Dr. Carl Swensson, who was American born, was described
by him in the Lutersk Kvartal-Schrift, Rock Island, 111., July, 1887,
as follows: "The education that our people in America need is
Swedish- American. We do not wish, even if it were possible, which
it is not, to build a little, new Sweden in this country. That would
be as childish as it would be wrong, but on the other hand, we do
not wish to become Americanized at the turn of the hand." This
statement expresses clearly the spirit of the Swedes in Kansas. 67

The Swedish immigrant identified himself quite readily with
American life. He soon found in America what he described by
the Swedish word, jramtidslandet, "the land of the future/' The
Rev. Olof Olsson, a leader among the early Swedish immigrants
in Kansas, viewed the developments after approximately two dec-
ades in this country in the following words:

When I think of all the settlements I have visited, which my countrymen
have built under toil and difficulties but with the divine reward of having
their own homes, my heart leaps with joy, especially when I see it all in the
light of history and know that only a few centuries ago all the working men
in the world's most civilized continent, Europe, were slaves. In America,
every workingman can, if he will, become a nobleman, baron, and count. 08

Dr. Carl Swensson, also writing on the same subject in 1887,
described the coming of the Swedes and their settlement in Kansas.
He found that the following pattern developed after the passing
of 10 years:

The sod-house yields to a comfortable wood house, the shade trees are large,
the fruit trees have already started to bear fruit, the fields are extensive and
well-cultivated, the farmer is the happy proprietor in the largest and best
country in the world. So it goes from year to year. Children are born, the
family grows up, there are churches and schools, and with respect for and
love of God's word, they will become a large and happy people. 69

For the vast majority of Swedish immigrants to Kansas, America
proved to be "framtidslandet," the land of the future. 70

67. The relationship of Bethany College to Swedish life and culture is carefully docu-
mented and discussed from Dr. Swensson's point of view in Emmet Eklund, "A Study of
Bethany College and Its Educational Objectives as Interpreted by Its Founder, Dr. Carl
Aaron Swensson, From 1881 to 1904" (an unpublished M. A. thesis, University of Chicago,
1958), pp. 38-48.

68. Skolwannen, October 31, 1887, quoted in George M. Stephenson, The Religious
Aspects of the Swedish Immigration (Minneapolis, 1932), p. 401. A summary
view of the Americanization of the Swedish immigrant is found in Oscar Algot Benson,
"Problems in the Accommodation of the Swede to American Culture" (an unpublished
Ph. D. dissertation, Pittsburgh University, 1933), pp. 111-135.

69. Framat, September 3, 1887.

70. Statistics are not complete relative to Swedish immigrants to Kansas who returned
to the homeland. Such entries as the one in the church records at RSda, Varmland, in
1869, contain a more meaningful story than the following words suggest: "Jan Eriksson,
veterinarian, immigrated to Kansas in the Spring with his wife and one child but returned
here in the Autumn."

The "Exodusters" on the Missouri

GLEN SCHWENDEMANN

QATURDAY afternoon, April 19, 1879, had become a little too
O warm for the Negroes clustered around the depot in Wyandotte,
and they were forced to find protection from the sun's rays. Some
were seen under the railroad station itself, which was built on
trestle-work, while others had sought refuge among the lumber
piles near the Missouri river, a short distance from the tracks. All
were awaiting the arrival of the train which was to carry them to
Lawrence, where they expected to find homes and a welcome con-
clusion to a journey begun weeks before on the river banks of
Louisiana and Mississippi.

These were some of the "Exodusters," or Negro migrants who
had gained national attention by their unprecedented mass move-
ment up the Mississippi river to Kansas. They and hundreds more
throughout the river parishes and counties of Louisiana and Missis-
sippi had been pouring northward since early March in quest of
a new life on the plains of Kansas. 1 Walking or riding to the river,
carrying what few possessions they had not sacrificed in the rush
to leave, the migrants deserted the plantations in great numbers.
Negroes who previously had been ignorant of the very existence
of the Sunflower state, soon began filling the towns and cities along
the river. Even at places where the steamers made no regular
stops, freedmen had gathered in large groups endeavoring to attract
the attention of the passing vessels. 2

The first boatload of migrants had arrived in St. Louis aboard
the steamer Colorado on the evening of March 5. The newcomers,
apparently expecting some kind of assistance on the last leg of their
journey to Kansas, were greatly disappointed when no such help
was forthcoming. 3 A reporter of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat,

GLEN SCHWENDEMANN, native of Oklahoma and graduate of the University of Okla-
homa, Norman, is teaching in the Torrance, Calif., public schools.

1. For a discussion of the causes of the migration as well as the Negroes' departure
from the South, see Glen Schwendemann, "Negro Exodus to Kansas: First Phase, March-

Iuly, 1879" (unpublished master's thesis, Department of History, University of Oklahoma,
957), pp. 1-39.

2. Ibid., pp. 36-39, 152, 153. See, also, the St. Louis Missouri Republican, April 27,
1879; the Atchison Daily Champion, May 6, 1879, and an unidentified and undated news-
paper clipping in "Horatio N. Rust Scrapbook; Relating to the Negro Exodus From the
South to Kansas, 1880," Kansas State Historical Society library, p. 48.

3. A St. Louis Globe-Democrat reporter, who interviewed the migrants arriving on the
steamer Colorado, wrote of their "firm and abiding faith that they would be furnished
free transportation to Kansas, where the Government would not only provide each indi-
vidual darky with a good farm free of charge, but also with the necessary mules and
farming implements at the same price. Their mistaken belief, it was said, had been im-
parted to them through the medium of printed circulars." St. Louis Globe-Democrat,
March 13, 1879. See, also, ibid., March 12, 1879, for a further discussion of this subject.

(25)

26 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

who visited the levee the following morning, found 280 men,
women, and children in "utter want." The women and children
were sitting dejectedly around several fires, while the men were
either loafing on the levee, or had gone into the city and elsewhere,
probably in search of food and shelter. Nothing more than a few
chunks of bread was discovered among the whole group. 4

The plight of the newcomers had apparently aroused little more
than curiosity among the white residents of St. Louis. The colored
people of the city, however, had quickly begun to provide relief
for their Southern brethren. Charleton H. Tandy, a Negro resident
of St. Louis, was the first of his race to become concerned about the
condition of the new arrivals. He found shelter for a part of the
group, and many of the remainder sought a welcome among the
Negro residents of St. Louis, where they were provided with food
and shelter. 5

Scarcely had the first boatload been settled in the city than the
steamer Grand Tower docked on March 16 with a record of 500 to
600 on its decks. 6 This development, plus news from the South of
thousands more awaiting transportation northward, 7 compelled the
colored people of St. Louis to put relief on a more permanent basis.
Two Negro churches, St. Paul's chapel (A. M. E.) and the Eighth
Street Baptist church were thrown open to the migrants. In ad-
dition, a mass meeting of colored people was held at St. Paul's chapel
on March 17, at which meeting it was agreed to undertake the re-
lief of the refugees from the South who were temporarily "stalled" in
the city. A committee of 15 (later expanded to 25) was appointed
to provide ways and means to relieve the migrants. 8

The problems confronting the committee were more than merely
providing food and shelter, however. Unless the migrants were
shipped from the city periodically, relief work would soon become
impossible through sheer weight of numbers. This question was
discussed at the first meeting of the committee of 15, and it was
felt necessary to inaugurate the transporting of the Negroes on to
their destination as soon as possible. Accordingly, a transportation
committee was created with one Charles W. Prentice at its head,

4. Ibid., March 13, 1879.

5. Ibid., March 16, 1879. See, also, the St. Louis Missouri Republican, March 19,
1879, and Charleton H. Tandy's testimony in "Report and Testimony of the Select Com-
mittee of the United States Senate to Investigate the Causes of the Removal of the Negroes
from the Southern States to the Northern States," Senate Report, No. 693 (Serial 1899),
46th Cong., 2d Sess., 1880, pt. 3, p. 37.

6. St. Louis Globe-Democrat and Missouri Republican, March 17, 1879.

7. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 16, 17, 1879, and St. Louis Missouri Republican,
March 19, 1879.

8. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 18, 1879.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 27

and arrangements were made with the Missouri River Packet Com-
pany to transport the first boatload westward on March 22. 9

The movement of migrants from St. Louis to Kansas had already
begun, however. On March 16 the steamer Fanny Lewis had de-
parted for the "Promised Land" carrying 150-200 of the Grand Tower
group capable of paying their own passage. 10 Such financial in-
dependence among the migrants proved an exception, however, and
the remaining shipments to Kansas, beginning with the Joe Kinney
on March 22, 11 were financed and supervised by the St. Louis re-
lief group. These were destined for Wyandotte, which soon be-
came the recipient of all migrants arriving in that state.

It was not chance that had given Wyandotte such a prominent
role in the migration, for with the exception of Kansas City, Kan.,
no other town was as geographically well located to receive the
Negroes. Kansas City, with a population of about 3,200, had been
considered as the objective point for the migration until the author-
ities there had announced that they would "positively" refuse to
allow the Negroes into the city. 12 Kansas City, Mo., with well over
55,000 inhabitants 13 and a prosperous business community, would
have been a logical depository for the migrants had it been a Kansas
town. In this respect it failed to meet a most important require-
ment.

The elimination of these two cities narrowed the choice to the
settlements on the west side of the junction of the Kansas and
Missouri rivers. Although this area would one day become a part
of a great industrial city, in 1879 there was little to indicate its
future growth. Except for Wyandotte, located immediately west
of the river junction, the region was in its infancy. North of
Wyandotte a few miles, on the long trip up the Missouri river to
Leavenworth and Atchison, was the former Free-State town of
Quindaro, which had declined rapidly since the Civil War. Near
Wyandotte on the south was the village of Armstrong with its
nearly 718 inhabitants. Still farther southward, beyond the bend
in the Kansas river, was Rosedale, whose population of around 962

9. St. Louis Missouri Republican, March 19, 20, 1879.

10. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 17, 1879, estimated that 150 took the
Fanny Lewis and 250 departed by rail. The latter group were probably those who arrived
in Topeka on March 19, the first of the "Exodusters" to enter the state. The Topeka
Commonwealth and the North Topeka Times, March 21, 1879, both estimated the group
at 200 persons. See, also, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1879 (Supplement),
for a report of this group of migrants.

11. For descriptions of the departure of the steamer Joe Kinney, see the St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1879 (Supplement), and the St. Louis Missouri Republican
of the same date.

12. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 16, 1879.

13. Tenth Census of the United States, 1880, v. 1, p. 242.

28 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

afforded little rivalry to its bustling sister city at the confluence
of the two rivers.

Wyandotte was, therefore, the bright spot in the whole area
around the junction of the two rivers, and by 1879 it could boast
a population of nearly 5,000. 14 The "click of the trowel and the
sound of the hammer/ 7 heard throughout the town, testified to
its prosperous condition. The town could point to frequent visits
by Jay Gould, the well-known financier, who "pranced around
over the macadam" as though wishing to invest in the "Metropolis
of Kansas." It was even rumored he had threatened to make a
"whistling station" of Kansas City, Mo., because of its opposition
to him, and to locate a "big town" on the Kansas side of the state
line. 15 Certainly, the prospects for Wyandotte never looked
brighter than on the eve of the influx of the migrants from the
South.

Yet in spite of the favorable condition of the city, it was not
prepared to weather the deluge of destitute Negroes that began
arriving. Following the landing of the Fanny Lewis, previously
mentioned, came the Joe Kinney on March 31 with over 400
migrants, 16 and the E. H. Durfee on April 6 with 450 on its decks. 17
This mass of humanity, numbering close to 1,000, was sheltered
in the Negro churches of Wyandotte and supported from whatever
the citizens of the city could supply. 18

The Wyandotte Herald of May 1, 1879, in describing the first
arrivals in the city, recalled that they had been composed "almost
entirely of helpless children and aged and infirm people, many
of whom were sick and some of whom had been paralytics for a
series of years." V. J. Lane, editor of the Herald, in his testimony
before the senate committee investigating the exodus, further
described the newcomers as "the most God-forsaken set of people"
he had ever seen. "They were entirely destitute," continued Lane,
"and it looked like the almshouses of the Mississippi valley had

14. See an unofficial census published in the Wyandotte Herald, April 17, 1879, which

1880, v. 1, p. 449.

15. Wyandotte Herald, March 27, May 22, 1879. See, also, the Topeka Daily Capital,
April 22, 1879, quoting from the Wyandotte Gazette of an unknown date.

16. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 23, 1879, set the number at 450; the
Wyandotte Herald, April 3, 1879, estimated the group to be 400, while the Kansas Pilot,
Kansas City, April 5, 1879, reported 350. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat, however, arrived
at its figure from the number of tickets bought in St. Louis.

17. Wyandotte Herald, April 10, 1879.

18. For a general account of the migration in Wyandotte, see Glen Schwendemann,
"Wyandotte and the First 'Exodusters* of 1879," The Kansas Historical Quarterly (Autumn.
1960 ),v. 26, pp. 233-249.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 29

been searched to get them together, and it became an act of
humanity to do something for their relief." 19

Initially, the migrants had been received by most of the residents
of Wyandotte with a mixture of surprise and sympathy. As the
numbers in the city increased, however, this attitude turned to one
of fear and indignation fear because it was generally believed
the Negroes baggage carried yellow fever germs; indignation be-
cause the burden of caring for so many indigent persons had soon
become an intolerable imposition. This feeling led to a demand
by a large segment of the population that the migrants in the city
be transported away, and new arrivals be excluded. 20

In the face of this mounting discontent, Mayor J. S. Stockton,
who had been appointed chairman of the Wyandotte relief com-
mittee formed on April 8 to care for the migrants, 21 selected an
executive committee of three to expedite the transporting of the
newcomers from the city. 22 Such a course of action had become
increasingly necessary. On April 13 the steamer Joe Kinney made
its second appearance in the city with around 200 more Negroes.
News had also arrived that over 300 migrants were leaving St.
Louis on April 14 aboard the E. H. Durfee. 23 These developments
hastened the committee to appeal to the "Generous of The United
States" for their help in providing for the destitute freedmen. 24

The response to the committee's appeal for help was heartening,
especially in Kansas where several of Wyandotte's neighbors agreed
to receive some of the newcomers. Among them was Lawrence,
whose offer to take 100 of the migrant families was quickly ac-
cepted by the Wyandotte committee. 25 Throughout the morning
the migrants had been transported in wagons from the African
Methodist church, one of the places in which they had been
quartered, to the Wyandotte depot where the arrival of the
chartered "cars" was expected momentarily. Morning had slipped
into afternoon, however, and still the Negroes waited patiently,

19. Senate Report, No. 693, pt. 3, p. 326.

20. Schwendemann, "Wyandotte and the First TSxodusters,' " loc. cit., p. 242. See,
also, the Topeka Commonwealth, April 23, 1879.

21. Wyandotte Herald, April 10, 1879.

22. Senate Report, No. 693, pt. 3, pp. 326, 327. See the testimony of V. J. Lane,
editor of the Wyandotte Herald, who, with George H. Miller, head of the state asylum
for the blind, and G. W. Bishop, made up the committee.

23. Wyandotte Herald, April 17, 1879, and the Atchison Daily Champion, April 16,
1879.

24. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 17, 1879, and the Topeka Commonwealth, April
18, 1879.

25. Other towns in the state offering to receive the Negroes, as of April 24, were
Leavenworth, Tonganoxie, Manhattan, and Ottawa. Atchison had requested 200 of the
migrants but apparently withdrew the request later. Wyandotte Herald, April 17, 24, and
May 1, 1879.

30 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

bedding, frying pans, coffee pots, and other household gear form-
ing the nucleus around which the families gathered. Their vigil
was finally rewarded when the train, with "comfortable passenger
coaches" adequate for the crowd, came into the station and was
quickly loaded. After consigning the shipment to T. D. Fisher,
editor of the Lawrence Journal, members of the Wyandotte relief
committee distributed loaves of bread among the travelers, and,
much to the joy and relief of the citizens of the city, the train pulled
out of the station. 26

The migrants had scarcely gotten under way, however, when
word came from Mayor Isaac Newton Van Hoessen of Lawrence
countermanding the earlier offer to receive the freedmen. No
effort was apparently made by the Wyandotte committee to comply
with the order, but as they began preparations for the next shipment
of migrants to Leavenworth, they must have wondered how the
newcomers would fare in a city which had so nearly rejected them.

The residents of Lawrence, however, displayed no sign of con-
tempt or regret as the trainload of Negroes arrived in the city on
April 20. Nor was such a spirit in evidence four days later when
the citizens of the city filled Frazer Hall to "overflowing" in an
effort to provide aid for their new charges. The "undivided
sentiment" of those present saw the exodus as the "legitimate re-
sult of the injustice" inflicted upon the fleeing migrants by the
Southern whites. Not only did they protest the misuse of the ex-
slaves, but they also pledged their continued demand that the
Negroes receive full political rights in the South. 27

The main accomplishment of the evening, however, was the ap-
pointment of a seven-man committee to provide aid for the migrants
in the city. The group was also instructed to co-operate with other
local aid societies to assure the creation of a system of state-wide
relief administered by an "efficient and responsible State executive
committee." 28 The citizens of Lawrence had apparently come to
realize, as had other groups in the state, that the exodus was be-
coming too large for the resources of individual cities. This was
also the attitude taken by the Topeka Commonwealth, which had
been urging the formation of a state organization to cope with
what it considered a critical problem. A call for a meeting of
Topeka citizens at the Opera House on Sunday evening, April 20, 29

26. See N. C. McFarland's description of the migrants in Wyandotte in the Topeka
Commonwealth, April 24, 1879. A more complete account, probably by McFarland also,
appeared in the Topeka Daily Capital, April 22, 1879.

27. Atchison Daily Champion and the Topeka Daily Capital, April 25, 1879.

28. Atchison Daily Champion, April 25, 1879.

29. Topeka Commonwealth, April 19, 20, 1879.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 31

was heartily endorsed by the newspaper, which urged the at-
tendance of every person having an interest in the welfare of the
state. The meeting resulted in the formation of the Central Freed-
men's Relief Committee with Gov. John P. St. John at its head. 30
The objectives of the group were fully revealed on April 24, when
the executive committee, appointed by the governor on April 21, 31
published an appeal "To The People in Kansas." The various cities
throughout the state were asked to establish freedmen's aid societies
to assist the central committee in placing the migrants in jobs and
homes where they might become useful, self-sustaining citizens. 32

The inauguration of centralized relief on a scale proposed by
the executive committee in Topeka coincided exactly with the wishes
of the Lawrence meeting. The resolutions of the latter group ex-
pressed the conviction that a state which had secured its own free-
dom through "suffering and blood" would be untrue to its history
by refusing succor to the Negroes coming into the state. As the
migrants were fleeing the South to the protection of "free institu-
tions and equal laws" so should they be aided in their efforts to
settle in the state. 33

While the citizens of Lawrence were advocating the relief of
thousands on a state-wide scale, the local committee found that
the handful in their midst was enough to keep them occupied. The
newcomers, with nothing material to contribute to their own cause,
had to be provided with all the necessities of life, in addition to
being helped to eventual self-support. The Negroes had already
been quartered in an old school house, where, with the assistance
of the colored citizens of Lawrence, they were soon provided with
food, clothing, and medical attention. 34

A more important problem than relief was facing the authorities
at Lawrence, however. It was manifest that the Negroes could not
be supported indefinitely by the city, and the sooner they became
self-sufficient the better it would be for all concerned. It was
hoped that some of them could be placed on the surrounding
farms, and the remainder either transported to neighboring towns
that had not received migrants, or to one or more of the Negro
colonies established throughout the state. Placing the migrants
was only a part of the problem plaguing the committee, however.

30. Topeka Daily Capital, April 21, 1879, and the Topeka Commonwealth, April 22,
1879.

31. Topeka Daily Capital, April 21, 1879.

32. See the text of the address in the Topeka Commonwealth, April 25, 1879- the
Wyandotte Herald, May 1, 1879, and the Coffeyville Journal, May 3, 1879.

33. Atchison Daily Champion, April 25, 1879.

34. Lawrence Journal, April 24, 1879, as quoted in the Topeka Daily Capital, April
25, 1879.

32 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Money with which to transport the newcomers from the city was
wholly lacking, and it was not until Jay Gould had written offering
transportation on the Kansas Pacific railroad that the problem was
solved. 35

With this assurance, the relief committee met in the office of
the Lawrence Journal on May 2 to make plans for sending the
Negroes to other localities in the state. One place the committee
had in mind was Nicodemus colony, in Graham county, Kansas,
a Negro settlement planted in 1877 mainly by colonists from
Kentucky. 36 Sidney Clarke, a member of the Lawrence group, had
conferred with the central committee in Topeka, and reported
that that body was not yet ready to advise shipping the migrants
to Nicodemus until a closer examination of the settlement could
be made. 37

The Lawrence committee turned to the alternative of settling
the migrants in the surrounding area. The group had earlier issued
an address "To the People of Douglas and the Adjoining Counties,"
explaining that a considerable number of families were still in
Lawrence living on charity, and requesting the farmers to furnish
employment for them. 38 The central committee in Topeka was
also petitioned for $150, which was promptly sent, not only to
help provide relief for the migrants in the city, but also to finance
a survey of employment opportunities in the surrounding counties. 89

The necessity of removing the Negroes had become more ap-
parent when a delegation that investigated the migrants' condi-
tion reported much uneasiness and discontent among them. In
addition, Dr. C. W. Lawrence explained that overcrowded condi-
tions among the newcomers, and the approach of warm weather
necessitated their removal to prevent an outbreak of disease. 40

The committee's plan to disperse the migrants was not imme-
diately accomplished, however. The Lawrence Tribune of May 8,
voiced its opposition to the newcomers remaining in the "crowded
conditions" any longer, reminding the authorities of the danger of

35. See the text of a telegram from Jay Gould to Judge John P. Usher of Lawrence
in the Lawrence Standard, of an unknown date, as quoted in the Wyandotte Herald, May
1, 1879.

36. A short sketch of the founding of Nicodemus colony may be seen in the Topeka
Journal, January 7, 1922. See, also, the Nicodemus Western Cyclone, April 21, 1887.

37. The Kansas Freedmen's Relief Association of Topeka established a colony in
Wabaunsee county, about 50 miles west of Topeka, and furnished the colonists with
everything necessary to begin farming. Although some assistance was given to other
Negro colonies in the state, the central committee generally ignored these settlements as
depositories for the newcomers. It was widely believed that the plantation Negro could
not maintain himself on the frontier. The Negroes who colonized Kansas were usually
from Kentucky and Tennessee and were more industrious and self-reliant.

38. Topeka Commonwealth, May 1, 1879.

39. Ibid., May 3, 4, 1879.

40. Topeka Daily Capital, May 3, 10, 1879.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 33

disease spreading throughout the city. 41 This, however, was the
last appeal that was necessary, and by May 14 the migrant camp
was "mainly" broken up. 42 The committee had been successful
in its efforts to place most of the Negroes on surrounding farms,
while the remainder were shipped to Topeka where they were
again transported to other localities by the central committee. 43

Lawrence took great pride in the manner in which it had wel-
comed and cared for the migrants. 44 The city, however, was in
a position to boast of its humanity, since being off the transporta-
tion routes followed by the migrants, it could accept or reject the
Negroes as it chose. This was not the case with such Missouri
river cities as Leavenworth and Atchison, where the whistle of
every steamboat might prove to be the herald of an addition to the
migrants already on hand.

While the steamboats were later to play a part in the migration
in Leavenworth, the city's initial contact with the freedmen came
when a trainload was shipped from Wyandotte on April 23, arriving
in Leavenworth the following morning. During the forenoon the
residents of the city were seen visiting the tracks to view this latest
of spectacles. Upon arrival the ten carloads of migrants, numbering
about 300, had been switched off near "Ryan's pork house," but in
the afternoon they were returned to the depot where the group was
unloaded. 45

The Leavenworth Appeal was not optimistic concerning the city's
latest acquisition. "We are compelled to say they are a sorry lot,
and are evidently the rag-tag-and-bobtail of the pilgrims." Besides
their obvious hunger and "seedy" appearance, the newspaper espe-
cially noticed the lack of "good field hands" among the number, the
majority being old men, women, and children. 46 But the Wyandotte
Herald, probably intending to be more humorous than informative,

41. Ibid., May 10, 1879.

42. Ibid., May 14, 1879. The New York Daily Tribune, May 20, 1879, noted that
the migrants' camp was "nearly deserted," and "the spot which the exiles made historic
may soon be consecrated as a place of mourning sacred to the use of those prophets of
the unnumbered ills that were to befall the country in consequence of the arrival of these
hordes of paupers."

43. By May 24, the last of the migrants had been shipped to Topeka. Topeka Daily
Capital, May 28, 1879. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat of May 21, carried an article
datelined, "Lawrence, Kansas, May 18, 1879," in which it was reported that "600
colored refugees," an exaggerated figure, had been absorbed into the surrounding country-
side and were working on farms.

44. Ibid., May 21, 1879.

45. The Leavenworth Appeal of an unknown date, as quoted in the Wyandotte
Herald, May 1, 1879, waxed poetic when it wrote: "The Africans came down like tike
wolf on the fold, and they had nary cent in silver and gold." C. C. Baker of the Topeka
Commonwealth, who visited the city at this time, reported that the migrants were the "chief
topic" of conversation, and were crowded into empty buildings all over the city. Topeka
Commonwealth, April 29, 1879.

46. Leavenworth Appeal, as quoted in the Wyandotte Herald, May 1, 1879.

35500

34 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

observed that the Appeal was mistaken in its appraisal of the new-
comers. "We shipped them ourself," continued the Herald, "and
picked a good lot." 47

Regardless of the newcomers' worth, relief was set in motion
that evening by a meeting in Laing's Hall. A collection of $22
was taken with pledges received for a like sum. A previous meeting
had produced $12, making a total of $56 in all, which the Topeka
Daily Capital thought was "pretty good, for Leavenworth," a city
with a population of 16,546 by 1880! 48 Unfortunately, the small but
humane efforts of the citizens of Leavenworth were mostly undone
by the subsequent action of the city authorities.

On April 28, four days following the migrants' arrival, Mayor
W. M. Fortescue called a special session of the city council to
decide upon a course of action in dealing with the migration. The
board of health was instructed to determine whether "contagious
diseases or the germs of yellow fever" were being carried in the
Negroes' baggage. If an investigation produced such evidence,
the newcomers were to be removed to the quarantine limits, five
miles from the city, and further groups of the refugees, "or other
persons so afflicted," were to be prevented from entering the city. 49

A supplementary resolution, perhaps the most unfriendly of-
ficial action taken by any city affected by the exodus, ran as
follows:

Resolved, That the Mayor be, and is hereby instructed to call upon the
Captain of any boat bringing colored refugees to this city, and make arrange-
ments to transport said refugees to other points, and we hereby appropriate
any sum of money necessary for said purpose. 50

At the moment this measure occasioned little response from
Leavenworth's neighbors, but a few more days were to produce a
sharp reaction. The Wyandotte Herald, in the meantime, thought
the idea of Leavenworth,

head and ears in debt, and that for months has been attempting to repudiate
its honest obligations, appropriating money to carry the colored refugees to
some other point is preposterous. Better set them to work and try to build up
the failing fortunes of the city. 51

47 Ibid. V. J. Lane, editor of the Herald, was a member of the committee which
selected the Leavenworth group.

48 Tenth Census, 1880, v. 1, p. 178. See, also, the Topeka Daily Capital, April 25,
1879.

49 Wyandotte Herald, May 1, 1879, and the Atchison Daily Champion, April 30,
1879.

50. The italics are mine. Wyandotte Herald, May 1, 1879.

51. Ibid. During the Civil War, the terminal for the Western trade shifted from Kan-
sas City, Mo., to Leavenworth because of the military protection afforded by the latter
city. By 1880, however, this trade was again finding its way to Kansas City, occasioning
a loss of population in Leavenworth amounting to 1,327 between 1870 and 1880. Tenth
Census, 1880, v. 1, p. 178.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 35

The determination of the Leavenworth city council to quarantine
the town against the entrance of more migrants was not original
with that group. A number of cities either had such laws or had
toyed with the idea of passing ordinances of that nature. In the
end, however, finding such statutes impractical or unenforceable,
they turned to relieving the Negroes and transporting them away
in a more dignified manner. The practice of bribing steamboat
captains to carry the migrants away, however, was a Leavenworth
innovation, soon to be tested by the approach of the steamer Joe
Kinney, laboring up the Missouri river with 275 migrants destined
for Leavenworth.

The Kinney had left St. Louis on April 20 carrying the migrants
in the hold of a barge it was towing. In spite of mechanical
trouble the vessel reached Wyandotte on May 1, where the Negroes
were provided with enough food for the trip to Leavenworth. 52 On
the morning of May 2, therefore, the steamer docked at Leaven-
worth and was preparing to discharge its cargo when Mayor For-
tescue went aboard. The ensuing conversation was not recorded,
but ample evidence left no doubt that the mayor gave the captain
$250 with the understanding that the load would be taken on up
the river, and as no other suitable depository then existed, ob-
viously to Atchison. 53

News of the arrival of the Kinney in Leavenworth and its subse-
quent departure with the migrants still in tow had preceded the
vessel to Atchison. 54 The captain, therefore, probably feeling the
urgency of a quick retreat from the city, landed "below Ketcham's
mill," without sounding his whistle, ran the migrants ashore and
was on his way in around 15 minutes. 55 The operation was per-
formed with such dispatch that Mayor John C. Tomlinson scarcely
had time to go aboard to make his unsuccessful remonstrance. Ac-
cording to the Atchison Globe, a critic of the migration, the cap-
tain was "driven away from Wyandotte by force, and bribed by
the Leavenworth people to come to Atchison," and his only ob-
jective was to be released from his cargo as soon as possible. 56

As the citizens of the city gathered to view these much-publicized
Southerners, the newcomers, mainly from Warren county, Missis-
sippi, were sitting on the river bank "blinking at the sun" and await-

52. St. Louis Missouri Republican, April 21, 1879, and the Wyandotte Herald, May 8,
18 9.

53. Wyandotte Herald, May 8, 1879. See, also, the Topeka Daily Capital, May 5,
1879, which set the bribe at $200.

54. Atchison Daily Champion, May 3, 1879.

55. Ibid. See, also, the Atchison Globe, May 3, 1879.

56. Atchison Globe, May 3, 1879.

36 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ing the next move. A reporter for the Atchison Daily Champion
was reminded of the recent war on seeing the

old and young, big and little, huddled together on the river bank with their
queer collection of household gear. All were plantation negroes, the women
with their handkerchiefs tied around their heads, and the men clad in a general
assortment of rags. 57

As the afternoon wore on, it suddenly dawned on the residents of
the city that their visitors, even though uninvited, must be cared
for, and a relief movement was immediately begun. The African
Methodist Episcopal and the Ebenezer Baptist churches were
opened to provide shelter, with priority given to women, children,
and the sick. 58 A wagon was hauled throughout the city collecting
staples, and the citizens responded generously. The relief efforts
were continued after dark, and at a "late hour" some of the colored
men were still sitting on the river bank warming themselves at
several fires. The emergency, however, had passed and the city
relaxed momentarily to ponder the next move. 59

The following morning, May 3, found the citizens of Atchison
at work completing the labors of the previous night. All the Ne-
groes were fed, and after covering the basement floor of the Meth-
odist church with bedding, the sick were made comfortable. The
long trip from the South, involving some 20 days of exposure and
inadequate food had taken its toll. There were about six cases of
pneumonia, 27 afflicted with bronchitis, five suffering with measles
and many with chills. Several cases were critical. 60

In the afternoon, the Atchison city council held an emergency
meeting, and "in conformity with the state law," passed an ordinance
designed to prevent the landing of paupers, or persons likely to
become charges on the city. Violators were to be punished by a
fine of not more than $100, or imprisonment for three months, or
both. The river banks were to be patrolled to assure that Atchison
received no more migrants. 61

With the safety of the city apparently secured, the attention of
Atchison turned to Leavenworth, the instigator of the recent deluge.

57. Atchison Daily Champion, May 3, 1879. "Had the King of the Cannibal Island,
with his staff and a brass band suddenly arrived," reported the Champion, "a crowd
would not have gathered more quickly. The newly landed were immediately surrounded
by a crowd of curious questioners of both colors."

58. The Rev. William M. Twine (colored), pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist church,
testified that he even vacated his church office for a while to make room for the migrants.
Twine however, opposed the exodus because he felt Kansas had no use for so much
unskilled labor. Senate Report, No. 693, pt. 3, p. 319.

59. Atchison Daily Champion, May 3, 1879.

60. Ibid., May 4, 1879. The colored citizens of Atchison, who took the lead in
relieving their Southern brethren, organized a relief committee on May 5. See ibid.,
May 6, 1879, for a report of the Negro meeting.

61. Atchison Patriot, May 6, 1879, as quoted in the St. Louis Missouri Republican,
May 8, 1879.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 37

Insult was added to injury when Mayor Fortescue of Leavenworth
telegraphed Mayor John C. Tomlinson asking if Atchison could care
for more migrants, for his city had an ample supply and two boat-
loads were expected there momentarily. 62 The answer was emphatic
and to the point:

No. We have all the city can provide for. I hereby respectfully notify
you and the city of Leavenworth that the city of Atchison will hold you and
your city responsible for the paupers you caused to be sent here yesterday. 63

The Atchison Champion, never slow to come to the defense of
the city, took up the pen against Leavenworth. After referring to
the humor of the Leavenworth mayor as about "the consistency of
Missouri bottom gumbo," it proceeded to give that city what it
considered sound advice:

As these refugees are all farm hands, the proper place for them to stop is
evidently Leavenworth. They might be profitably employed cultivating
patches of garden truck in the streets of that city. The ground is useless
for any other purpose. And at least five thousand of them could find shelter
in the vacant houses of that deserted village. 64

Even the boatload sent to Atchison, continued the Champion,
"would have given the town a business look it has not known for
years." 65

The latter conclusion was evidenced by the fact that the mi-
grants were finding themselves useful in Atchison. Some were seen
unloading railroad ties at the tracks, others were cutting wood, and
the women generally found household work. The remainder, how-
ever, "quite a large number/' according to the Champion, were
seen at the churches loafing, "an operation which they conducted
with singular fidelity and success." w

Meanwhile, the authorities of the city continued to have the
river banks patrolled to prevent another landing such as that of the
previous Friday afternoon, but nothing rewarded their vigil. The
city was, however, greatly disturbed by a report that a vessel with
400 migrants on board was approaching the city. This, much to the
relief of all, turned out to be a "cruel joke." 67 With steps taken to
prevent the entrance of more Negroes, the council began making
plans for the removal of those in the city. The Central Branch of

62. Atchison Globe, May 3, 1879.

63. Ibid.

64. Atchison Daily Champion, May 4, 1879.

65. Ibid. The Wyandotte Herald of May 8, 1879, noting the difficulty between
Atchison and Leavenworth, remarked quite appropriately, that the "Leavenworth and
Atchison papers gave a large amount of wholesome advice to Wyandotte while we had
over 1,000 of them [the migrants] here, some of which they ought to apply to their own
cities now that they know how it is themselves."

66. Atchison Daily Champion, May 6, 1879.

67. Ibid. The news was brought by the captain of the steamer Yellowstone.

38 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the Union Pacific, as well as the Atchison and Nebraska railroads
both offered to transport the newcomers for one cent per mile,
which the city council quickly accepted. 68

While efforts were being made in Atchison to clear the city of
its newly acquired charges, the Leavenworth Times renewed the
contention between the two cities by accusing Atchison of "being
the only town in the State to cry and whine" over the migrants she
had received. 69 The Champion responded in a similar vein, laying
the whole blame for the unpleasantness between the two cities on
the "impudent, foolish telegram" sent by the mayor of Leavenworth.
He had done a "mean thing" to divert the migrants from a city with
plenty of empty houses to a city with none. 70 The Times, however,
felt that the chief complaint was that the Negroes had been sent
from Leavenworth, "as though they had not been sent to Leaven-
worth from Wyandotte, and to Wyandotte from St. Louis." 71

The Democratic newspapers across the river in Missouri were de-
lighted with the feud between Atchison and Leavenworth. The
St. Joseph ( Mo. ) Gazette, however, was inclined to agree with the
latter city concerning the nature of Kansas relief. Noting that the
"philanthropic" people of Leavenworth "shoved" the migrants up
the river to Atchison, the Gazette thought it in line for the latter city
to pay their fares to Elwood. Perhaps Elwood could then send them
on to Nebraska. "Philanthropy," sarcastically added the Gazette,
"is of the telescopic order, alas! too frequently." 72

The St. Joseph Herald, on the other hand, was amazed at the at-
titude of Leavenworth and Atchison. It was common knowledge,
said the Herald, that both of the cities were "strong" on colored
people, although a little stronger on days when the Negroes were
voting. And since elections ran close in both towns, the migrants
should have been welcomed with open arms by the Republicans.
"You see," continued the Herald,

Republicanism in the abstract, in the clouds, in speeches and delightful editorial
articles, is not precisely the same as a nigger at your door who wants a dinner

68. Atchison Daily Champion, May 6, 1879.

69. Ibid., May 7, 1879.

70. Ibid. The St. Joseph (Mo.) Herald, as quoted by the Atchison Globe of May 7,
1879, noted that Atchison's philanthropy was "bounded by her city limits," and that her
excuse of inadequate housing as a reason for not wanting the migrants was "Very thin.
Not Christian. Not Republican." Atchison's excuse was not without some foundation,
however. Between 1870 and 1880 the city's population grew from 7,054 to 15,105.
Tenth Census, 1880, v. 1, p. 174.

71. Atchison Daily Champion, May 7, 1879. The Atchison Globe of May 6, 1879,
although a critic of the migration, reminded the city of Leavenworth, that while Atchison
was "willing to do [her] part toward providing these miserable devils homes, and keep
them from starving, we will not allow Leavenworth to ship her proportion to us, and
then boast of it as a cunning trick."

72. Ibid., May 3, 1879.

"EXODUSTERS" ON THE MISSOURI 39

and a bed. Now Atchison is the most hospitable little village in the world.
And she is pretty Republican. But here are these niggers, so to speak. 73

In spite of the ridicule from the Democratic side of the Missouri
river, Atchison was proceeding with plans to divest itself of the
migrants. One Giles E. Scoville of the city was sent out to arrange
for transporting the migrants to towns on the Central Branch. 74 On
May 8 groups were sent to Muscotah, Whiting, Netawaka, and as
far as Scandia. There were also shipments made on the Atchison
and Nebraska railroad consisting of 13 migrants destined for Bren-
ner and Hiawatha. By May 10 it was reported that only 17 families
remained in Atchison. 75 These were later sent to Topeka where they
were cared for by the state relief committee, which, by this time,
has assumed the responsibility for all migrants arriving in Kansas.

Only a few days earlier, on May 5, the central committee, through
the insistence of the Wyandotte relief group, had made arrange-
ments to meet all new arrivals in Kansas City, Mo., and to forward
them by rail to Topeka. 76 This news was joyously received in
Wyandotte, which had borne the brunt of the migration since its
beginning. Relief of that city was only one of the several benefits
derived from the action of the central committee.

It marked the end of a haphazard and often ineffective system
of relief administered by the various cities. The danger of a clash
between the races, such as almost occurred in Wyandotte, was like-
wise considerably lessened. Centralized aid was also responsible
for ending needless duplication of relief efforts, and made possible
a more economical and orderly way of handling the Negroes. More
important, perhaps, was the dignity and responsibility given to the
relief movement by the leadership of Gov. John P. St. John. His
presence helped insure adequate relief supplies, since philanthropists
and humanitarians in New England and throughout the East, feel-
ing confident their contributions were in safe hands, gave generously
to an organization so ably led.

Finally, the additional responsibility undertaken by the central
committee forced that body to expand its relief facilities. This was
especially significant, for after a lull in the exodus during the summer
of 1879, the migration was renewed on a scale that would have
overwhelmed the resources of individual cities. Around 5,000
Negroes who entered Kansas between April and June of 1879, had

73. Ibid., May 7, 1879.

74. Atchison Daily Champion, May 9, 1879, as quoted in the Topeka Daily Capital,
May 10, 1879.

75. Topeka Daily Capital, May 12, 1879.

76. Schwendemann, "Wyandotte and the First 'Exodusters,' " loc. tit., p. 245.

40 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

been settled within the state, but only with great difficulty. 77 The
expansion of relief work would prove absolutely necessary when
the stream of migrants from the lower Mississippi river area was
swelled by thousands of freedmen from Texas, who began pouring
into the state in the winter of 1879. By rail, wagon, and often on
foot, the Negroes from the Lone Star state moved across the Indian
territory to find homes in southeastern Kansas. Their journey was
especially difficult, and the end of the trek often clothed in disap-
pointment, but still they came, refusing all entreaties to return to
their Southern homes. The firm determination of the migrants to
sojourn in the "Land of Promise/' to which they fondly believed the
Lord was leading them, was a phenomenon difficult to explain.
Perhaps it was best revealed by a group of "Exodusters" arriving in
St. Louis, who spurned an offer to return to the South by simply
declaring: "We'se goin* to Kansas, and we won't go back dar." 78

77. For a discussion of the numbers involved in the first phase of the exodus (March-
July) see Schwendemann, "Negro Exodus to Kansas" (M. A. thesis, University of Okla-
homa, 1957), pp. 160, 161.

78. St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 17, 1879.

Kansas Before 1854: A Revised Annals

Compiled by LOUISE BARRY

PART NINE, 1836-1837

7836

JANUARY 5. From Westport, Mo., Isaac McCoy mailed Rep.
J William H. Ashley a memorial, addressed to the house of repre-
sentatives, asking that the mail route (in "Oklahoma") from Fort
Towson to Fort Gibson be extended from the latter post to Fort
Leaven worth (see item on petition of 1834 under February 2, 1835,
entry).

As set forth in the memorial (dated "Western Territory 1835") the distance
would be 318 miles: Fort Gibson to the Creek subagency, seven miles Union
Mission, 22 miles A. P. Chouteau's, on east bank of Neosho river, 16 miles
W. C. Requa's [Hopefield Mission], 15 miles Osage Agency, 65 miles
Harmony Mission, a few miles within Missouri, 75 miles Wea Mission, 50
miles Westport, Mo., 35 miles "Delaware Smithery" (near the Delaware's
Kansas river ferry), 10 miles Fort Leavenworth, 23 miles. (The distances
vary from those given in the 1834 petition noted above. )

The memorial's 38 signers were: Col. Henry Dodge, Capt. David Hunter,
Capt. Matthew Duncan, Lt. G. P. Kingsbury, Lt. Asbury Ury, Lt. Enoch
Steen, Lt. L. P. Lupton, Lt. B. D. Moore, Lt. J. S. Van Derveer, Lt. B. A.
Terrett, Asst. Surg. S. Preston Moore, Lt. J. W. Hamilton, L. V. D. Stryker,
J. H. Freligh, Anthony L. Davis (emigrating agent for Pottawatomies), John
P. Smith (Kickapoo blacksmith), Wea missionaries the Rev. Joseph Kerr,
Henry Bradley and Francis Lindsay, Agent Richard W. Cummins, the Rev.
Isaac McCoy, Capt. Lemuel Ford, Dr. J. A. Chute, W. W. Kavenaugh, C. M. H.
London, W. T. Loudon, Charles Findlay, Nat. H. Scruggs, H. C. Davis, J. B.
Chiles, Michael Farmer (?), Peter Duncan, James M. Hunter [these last 11
were Westport, Mo., residents], the Rev. J. C. Berry man, Jotham Meeker,
Robert Simerwell, Dr. Johnston Lykins, John C. McCoy. [The persons whose
names are in italics were not among the signers of the 1834 petition for a post
route. One name notably absent from both lists is that of the Rev. Thomas
Johnson.]

(See, also, March 19 entry.)

Ref: Isaac McCoy's copy of the memorial (in McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 23, KHi ms.
division), with note on verso of attached page that he has enclosed the original to Ashley
with a letter of January 5, 1836.

C MARRIED: Moses R. Grinter (aged 26?), an operator of the Dela-
wares' Kansas river ferry (See KHQ, v. 28, pp. 180, 181), and Anna
Marshall (aged 16), half -Delaware, daughter of Indian trader Wil-
liam Marshall, in January, on the Delaware reserve (present Wyan-
dotte county).

LOUISE BARRY is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.

(41)

42 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

To this couple 10 children were born. The Grinters' land (north of the
ferry site), was on Sec. 20 and 21, T. 11, R. 24 E., in Wyandotte township of
today. A two-story brick house, erected by Moses Grinter in the late 1850's, on
his farm, still is in use (1963). Grinter died June 12, 1878. Anna (Marshall)
Grinter died June 28, 1905.

Ref: Goodspeed's Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas . . . (Chicago,
1890), pp. 622, 623; Wyandotte Gazette, June 14, 1878 (or, see Biographical Clippings,
"G," v. 3, p. 287, in KHi library); Kansas City (Mo.) Star, June 28, 1905 (or see Bio-
graphical Clippings, "G," v. 7, p. 321); U. S. census, 1870, Wyandotte tp., Wyandotte
co., p. 4 (which lists Moses R. Grinter, 61, native of Kentucky; his wife Ann, 50, native
of Indiana; and son William, 28, born in "Kansas").

C On January 29 John C. McCoy, founder (in 1834) of Westport,
Mo. (also its first storekeeper, and first postmaster), wrote (in a
letter to his father): "We have sold out our stock of goods to Col.
[William M.] Chick of Chariton [Mo.] for cost and 12 per cent and
I have rented my house to him for one year." Chick succeeded
McCoy as Westport postmaster, also.

("We" referred to McCoy and his partners J. H. Flournoy and J. P. Hick-
man operating under the name J. P. Hickman & Co. The partnership was
dissolved on February 6, 1836. )

Ref: Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 23.

C As shown by Comm'r Elbert Herring's January 30 report, em-
ployees of the Department of Indian affairs in "Kansas," were:

Northern Agency of Western Territory Agent Richard W. Cummins; Inter-
preters Joseph James, James Connor, Peter Cudjoe [Cadue], Henry Clay,
Joseph Parks; Blacksmiths and gunsmiths John P. Smith, Claybourne Colbert,
William Donalson, Lewis Jones, Robert Dunlap, William Carlisle, and assistants
William V. Smith, Preston Moore, R. D. McKinney, John Barnes, Samuel

Boydston, and Jackson; also William Barnes, miller for the Delawares

and Shawnees; Teachers Jerome C. Berryman and John D. Swallows for the
Kickapoos, and Henry Rermick for the Delawares.

Osage Subagency Sub agent Paul Ligueste Chouteau; Interpreter Baptiste
Mongrain; Blacksmith Gabriel Philibert, and assistant E[tienne] Brant.

Ref: 24th Cong., 1st Sess., H. Doc. No. 95 (Serial 288). Spellings of some names
have been corrected from the printed listing.

C BORN: at Delaware Methodist Mission (present Wyandotte
county), on February 25, Mary (or Margaret?) Jane Peery, daugh-
ter of the Rev. Edward T. and Mary S. Peery.

Ref: Si and Shirley Corn's Our Family Tree (1959), Section 4. Mary Jane Peery
married Henry B. Bouton on September 2, 1852 (Jackson county, Mo., marriage records).
In 1860 they were Westport, Mo., residents and had two children Julia (4) and Edward
H. (1), according to the U. S. census, 1860, Jackson county, Mo.

C BORN: at Kickapoo Methodist Mission (present Leavenworth
county), on March 4, Gustavus P. Smith, son of the government
blacksmith for the Kickapoos, John P. Smith, and his wife Elizabeth.

Ref: KHi 16th Biennial Report, p. 66; G. J. Remsburg, in Atchison Daily Globe, April
13, 1914. In 1837(?) the John P. Smith family moved to Platte county, Mo.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 43

C Early in March, about a mile above the mouth of American Chief
(now Mission) creek (in present Shawnee county), a party of
workmen, supervised by the Rev. William Johnson, began erecting
two logs cabins for a Kansa Methodist Mission. (By survey de-
scription, the site was the N. W. & ( apparently ) of Sec. 33, T. 11,
R. 14 E., Dover township.) American Chief's village (see KHQ,
v. 28, p. 59) was not far away; and down near the creek's mouth,
was Frederick Chouteau's American Fur Company trading post
(see KHQ, v. 28, p. 58).

(Appointed missionary to the Kansa at the Methodists' Missouri conference
in the fall of 1835, Johnson had twice visited the Indians before winter set
in, to make preliminary arrangements. See KHQ, v. 28, p. 179, for his earlier,
short-lived Kansa Mission.)

On June 7, 1836, William Johnson wrote: "We have now 20 acres of good
soil, fenced and planted; two cabins built, and a garden nearly finished. We
removed into our cabins about two weeks since. [He had married Mary
Jane Chick, of Chariton, Mo., in May, 1834.] The Indians have . . .
gone out to hunt for buffalo. ... We are preparing to instruct these
people . . . but shall not be able to do much before winter, as we have
our dwelling house to build also to depend upon our new farm for provision,
as we are 100 miles from the nearest white settlement. . . . [The Kansa]
have some corn, and but little of anything else . . . no cattle or hogs,
and few horses . . . The . . . agent [R. W. Cummins] . . .
is at this time having about 300 acres of land [near the mission] fenced and
planted for them."

As reported in February, 1837, the mission buildings were: a not-yet-
completed, hewed-log dwelling ( 36' x 18' ) a story and a half high; a kitchen,
and a smoke house ( each 18' x!8' ) under the same roof, with a 10-foot passage-
way between. The occupants were the Johnsons, and a farmer. A 20-acre
fenced farm was ready for cultivation.

Apparently no formal school was ever undertaken. A few Kansa children
lived at the mission for brief periods, and were taught as time permitted. The
Johnsons also labored faithfully among the adult Indians till William Johnson's
death in 1842. The Kansas Methodist Mission on American Chief creek was
maintained (though twice suspended in the 1840's) till the end of 1846.

Ref: Christian Advocate and Journal, New York, v. 10, pp. 138, 186, v. 11, p. 130;
Kansas Historical Collections (KHC), v. 1-2, pp. 277, 278 (contains errors, especially in
dates), v. 8, pp. 426, 428, v. 9, pp. 196-201 (also has errors), v. 16, pp. 229-236, 239-241,
251, 253-266; J. S. Chick letter, April 19, 1906 (in KHi ms. division); J. T. Peery letter,
December 30, 1880 ( in ibid.); Comm'r of Indian affairs (CIA) Reports, 1838-1846; Baptist
Missionary Magazine, Boston, v. 20 (1840), pp. 42, 43.

C According to a March 8 report (published as Senate Report 288,
24th Congress, 1st session) on the number and situation of Indians
on the frontiers, about 31,000 Indians had been removed west of the
Mississippi, and some 72,000 were yet to be removed. Below are
some statistics relating to "Kansas" from the report's "Census of
Indian Tribes." Also listed, for comparative purposes, are figures

44 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

published in Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1837 statistics
apparently obtained in late 1836, which, for the emigrant tribes, are
more realistic than those of the "census." (See KHQ, v. 28, p. 358
for 1834 statistics.)

Indigenous Tribes '"Census" McCoy

Kansa 1,471 about 1,606

Osages * 5,120 about 5,510

Emigrant Tribes

Pottawatomies from Indiana 441 444

Kickapoos 588 625

Delawares 826 921

Shawnees 1,250 of Kansas river 823

Ottawas 200 79

Weas 222 206

Piankeshaws 132 157

Peorias and Kaskaskias 132 142

* From one-third to one-half of the Osages were in "Oklahoma."

Ref: 24th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Report 228 (Serial 281); Isaac McCoy's Annual
Register for 1837, p. 7 (McCoy states most of his materials were collected prior to January,
1837). N lies' Weekly Register, Baltimore, v. 50 (August 27, 1836), pp. 435, 436, has a
table ( with varying figures ) prepared "at the topographical bureau."

C March 19. A resolution of congress authorized the postmaster
general to establish the following post roads: (1) from Fort Towson
(in present southern Oklahoma) to Fort Gibson (in present east-
central Oklahoma); and (2) from Fort Gibson by way of Fayette
[ville] in Arkansas territory, Barry [county, Mo.] courthouse [i. e.,
Cassville, Mo.], Van Buren [county, Mo.] courthouse [now Cass
county, Mo., county seat Harrisonville], Jackson [county, Mo.]
courthouse [i. e., Independence], Fort Leavenworth, Liberty (Clay
county, Mo.), Plattsburgh (Clinton county, Mo.), and Fort Des
Moines, to the town of Dubuque [Iowa].

Ref: 17. S. Statutes at Large, v. 5, p. 131. The name of Van Buren county, Mo., was
changed to Cass county on February 19, 1849. See J. N. Kane's The American Counties
(New York, 1960), p. 326.

C April 7. Reaching Liberty, Mo., from the East (after a trip up
the Missouri on the Chariton ) was a missionary party in the service
of the American Board of Comm'rs for Foreign Missions. Bound
for the Oregon country were Dr. Marcus Whitman and his bride
Narcissa (Prentiss) Whitman, the Rev. Henry H. Spalding and his
wife Eliza (Hart) Spalding; and with them two(?) Nez Perces boys
(brought East the previous autumn by Whitman see October 26,
1835, entry). Also, there were Dr. Benedict Satterlee (sent out as
missionary to the Pawnees ) , with his seriously-ill wife, and Emeline
Palmer (bride-to-be of Samuel Allis see April 17 entry), whose
destination was Bellevue ( Neb. ) .

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 45

The Whitman-Spalding party, by previous arrangement, was to join the
American Fur Company's caravan at Bellevue for the overland journey to
Oregon. Remaining at Liberty for three weeks, this group outfitted while
awaiting arrival of the American Fur Company's Diana for passage of some
of the group to the Council Bluffs. During this interval William H. Gray (a
skilled mechanic), arrived to join the Oregon party.

See, also, next entry, and April 27 and May 1 entries.

Ref: Eliza S. Warren's Memoirs of the West . . . (Portland, Ore., 1916[?]), pp.
57, 58 (for Mrs. Spalding's diary); Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, Portland,
1891, pp. 81-94 (for Mrs. Whitman's letters); C. M. Drury's Marcus Whitman . . .
(Caldwell, Ida., 1937), pp. 133-140; also his Henry Harmon Spalding (Caldwell, Ida.,
1936), pp. 120-131.

C April 17-23. The steamboat Diana, which had left Bellevue
(Neb.) April 15th, stopped at Fort Leavenworth on the 17th, en
route to St. Louis. A passenger who disembarked, and remained
three days, was Missionary Samuel Allis ( who had reached Bellevue
on April 1, after spending the winter with the Pawnee Loups).

(The Diana, on her first upriver voyage of the season, had left St. Louis in
March, but as reported hit a snag below Lexington; sank in shallow water;
was delayed for repairs and drying of cargo; and did not get to Bellevue till
April. )

Samuel Allis arrived at Liberty, Mo. (overland from Fort Leav-
enworth), on April 21; and on the 23d was married to Emeline
Palmer of Ithaca, N. Y. (who had reached Liberty on the 7th, in
company with the Whitman-Spalding party). The Rev. Henry
H. Spalding officiated.

Ref: KHC, v. 9, p. 301, v. 14, p. 710; C. M. Drury's Henry Harmon Spalding, pp. Ill,
126, 131; Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions (19th annual reunion), 1891, p. 81
(for Mrs. Narcissa Whitman's comment on the Diana's mishap); op. cit., p. 58.

C BORN: at Shawnee Methodist Mission (present Wyandotte
county), on April 20, Eliza Shallcross Johnson, daughter of the Rev.
Thomas and Sarah T. ( Davis ) Johnson.

Ref: KHC, v. 12, p. xii; KHi 15th Biennial Report, p. 35. (Eliza S. Johnson mar-
ried John Wornall. She died July 5, 1865, aged 29.)

C April 21. On the San Jacinto river (about 22 miles east of pres-
ent Houston, Tex. ) Samuel Houston's Texas army defeated a Mexi-
can force under Santa Anna in a brief battle which won independ-
ence for Texas, and avenged the massacres of the Alamo (March 6)
and Goliad ( March 27) .

One inscription on the San Jacinto Monument (at the battle site) reads (in
part):

"Measured by its results, San Jacinto was one of the decisive battles of the
world. The freedom of Texas from Mexico won here led to annexation and
to the Mexican War, resulting in the acquisition by the United States of the

46 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, and parts of
Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma. . . ."

Ref: Walter P. Webb, editor-in-chief, The Handbook of Texas (Austin, 1952), v. 2,
p. 554.

C In the spring, on a 320-acre tract leased from the Shawnees (a
tract some four miles west of Westport, Mo. ) , native workmen em-
ployed by the committees of Ohio, Indiana, and Baltimore yearly
meetings, Society of Friends, began erection of three Shawnee Mis-
sion buildings ("two houses of hewn logs, twenty feet square, one
and one-half stories high, with a brick chimney in each end, and
another for school and meeting-house, of same dimensions, to be
warmed by a stove" ) .

The original land survey plat of the 1850's shows the Friends' mission land
principally within the S. E. & of Sec. 7, and extending southward into the
N. E. & Sec. 18, T. 12, R. 25 E. It is now partly within the city limits of
Merriam, Johnson county.

Apparently the log houses of 1836 were completed by midsummer.
Jotham Meeker, of the Baptist mission two miles to the northeast,
wrote in his diary on August 29: "Attend at the Quakers' buildings
to witness the Shawanoe Councils, &c preparatory to their drawing
their annuities on to-morrow."

Beginning in mid-1837 (see, June, 1837, entry) and continuing, except for
brief interruptions, till 1869, a boarding school for Indian children was main-
tained by the Friends. In 1845 a 24 by 70-foot, three-story, stone-and-frame
permanent mission house was erected. During the 1860's most of the pupils
were orphans.

Ref: KHC, v. 8, pp. 250-269, especially pp. 262, 267, 268; Meeker "Diary," in KHi
ms. division; CIA reports, from 1838; Kansas Historical Quarterly (KHQ), v. 10, p. 348
(gives the text of the historical marker for Shawnee Friends Mission).

C April 27. The Rev. Henry H. Spalding, William H. Gray, three
Nez Perces boys, and a hired man, left Liberty, Mo. (see April 7
entry), with the Whitman-Spalding party's outfit (two loaded
wagons, horses, mules, and 17 head of cattle) to cross the Missouri
at Fort Leaven worth (which they did, after delays, on May 2) and
head northward across "Kansas" to the Otoe Mission (six miles
above the Platte's mouth). Some 40 miles beyond the fort, a
young man traveling alone joined them. He was Miles Goodyear
( aged 19 ) who later became "the first white settler in what is now
the State of Utah." See, also, May 1-19 entry.

Ref: William H. Gray's History of Oregon (Portland, 1870), pp. 113-142; KHC, v. 14,
pp. 710, 711; Utah Historical Quarterly, Salt Lake City, v. 21 (July, 1953), pp. 195-218
(for Dale L. Morgan's article on Miles Goodyear); C. M. Drury's Henry Harmon Spalding,
pp. 131-133; and his Marcus Whitman, p. 140.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 47

C In April, after a tour of the Southwest during the winter of 1835-
1836 (on a mission for U. S. commissioners Montfort Stokes and
Gen. Mathew Arbuckle), Paul Ligueste Chouteau reported on the
Indians of that region, as follows:

Comanches Claim and occupy all the country bounded North by the
Arkansas river, South by the Mexican Settlements, West by the Grand Cor-
dillera, and East by the Cross Timbers. The numerical Military force of the
Comanches ... is estimated ... by the Mexican Government at
8,000; but, from my own personal observation I have been induced to calculate
the number of Comanche warriors at 4,500.

Kaywahs [Kiowas] Occupy at pleasure during the different seasons of the
year, such parts of the Comanche Country as suit their immediate convenience.
This is done by full consent of the Comanches, who consider the Kaywas
their closest allies, Number of Warriors (at least) 1,500.

Cah-tah-kahs or a band of Apaches; Reside generally with and under the
protection of the Kaywahs. Military force estimated at about 300.

Wee-che-tah [Wichita], Tow-wac-car-ro, Wacco and Keetz-ash Bands of
Pawnee Picts; Are corn planters occupy several permanent villages and
reside within the limits of the Comanche Country; which last nation together
with the Kaywahs are supplied by them with corn and other production of
the earth. Their force has been variously estimated but I think it would not
be exagerated at 1,000 men.

Calculating the respective numbers ... as one to six, to the whole
population, would make the latter amount to 43,800. [Comanches: 27,000;
Kiowas: 9,000; "Cah-tah-kahs": 1,800; Wichitas (and other Pawnee Pict
bands): 6,000.]

Ref: Grant Foreman's Advancing the Frontier 1830-1860 (Norman, 1933), p. 148,
quotes P. L. Chouteau's April 25, 1836, report.

C May 1-19. The Diana (upbound on her second trip of the sea-
son, and with a new captain) passed Liberty Landing, Mo., on May
1, refusing to stop, or "take a pound for any person." This occurred
as the Oregon-bound missionary party (see April 7 and 17 entries),
awaiting the steamboat at Liberty, was preparing to bury Mrs. Bene-
dict Satterlee (who had died the day before).

On May 3, having made hasty arrangements to journey overland
to the Council Bluffs, the Whitmans, Mrs. Eliza Spalding, Doctor
Satterlee, and the Allises, started for Fort Leavenworth. (Allis pur-
chased a wagon and three yokes of oxen; Doctor Whitman hired a
team, wagon, and driver; the three women rode on horseback.)
They reached the fort on May 5. Samuel Allis set out to overtake
Spalding, Gray, and the wagons (see April 27 entry). The others
remained at the post guests of Capt. Matthew Duncan, and of
Alexander G. Morgan (postmaster-trader) till the evening of May
7; then continued five miles northward to the Kickapoo Methodist

48 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Mission, where they spent Sunday, the 8th, with the Berrymans,
and journeyed northward again on May 9. Allis, meantime, had
traveled to within 30 miles of Bellevue before overtaking Spalding,
Gray, and the wagons on May 8. Gray and Allis returned to the Big
Nemaha, and from there Allis continued to backtrack till he met his
party about 45 miles north of Fort Leavenworth. On May 11 they
all reached the Big Nemaha.

The Whitman-Spalding-Gray group, in haste to join the American Fur Com-
pany caravan setting out from Bellevue, hurried on ahead, crossing the Platte
on May 19 and 20. (The Allises and Doctor Satterlee proceeded more slowly;
stopped for three days at the Otoe Mission; and reached Bellevue on the 27th.)

Headed by Thomas Fitzpatrick, the American Fur Company caravan ( which
included Capt. William Drummond Stewart's hunting party) had started up
the Platte from Bellevue on May 15. The Whitmans, Spaldings, and Gray set
out in pursuit on May 21; and by making forced marches caught up with the
caravan four and a half days later.

Subsequently, the fur traders, Stewart's party, and the Oregon-bound mis-
sionaries reached "Fort Laramie" on June 13; crossed the continental divide by
way of South Pass on June 4; and reached the rendezvous (on a branch of
Green river, near present Daniel, Wyo. ) on July 6.

Under escort of John McLeod (and Thomas McKay) of the Hudson's Bay
Company, the missionaries continued westward reaching Fort Hall on August
3, Fort Boise on August 19, and Fort Walla Walla at the beginning of Sep-
tember.

Narcissa (Prentiss) Whitman and Eliza (Hart) Spalding were
the first white women to cross the Rocky mountains. The Spaldings'
light wagon, though not the first to cross the mountains, was the first
wheeled vehicle (at Snake river it was converted to a two-wheeled
cart) to go as far as Fort Boise, in present Idaho. Of the mis-
sionaries' 17 cattle, the eight which completed the journey from
Liberty, Mo., to Fort Walla Walla were the first to be taken over the
Rockies and through to Oregon.

Ref: C. M. Drury's Marcus Whitman, pp. 141-154; C. M. Drury's Henry Harmon
Spalding, pp. 132-152; KHC, v. 14, pp. 710, 711 (for Samuel Allis' journal); Oregon
Historical Quarterly, Salem, v. 38, pp. 355-369 (for William H. Gray's journal); Oregon
Pioneer Association Transactions (19th annual reunion), 1890, pp. 40-68 (for Mrs. Narcissa
Whitman's journal); Warren, op. cit., pp. 59-68 (for Mrs. Eliza Spalding's diary); Bernard
De Veto's Across the Wide Missouri (Boston, 1947), pp. 244-250, 440 (for the American
Fur Company party).

C About May 7 Capt. Benjamin L. E. Bonneville left the Missouri
frontier on his second journey to the Rocky mountains (where he
would "make a final close" of his fur trade interests). Presumably
he crossed "Kansas/ 7 but nothing is known of his route, his com-
panions, or even the point of departure (which may have been Fort
Leavenworth). (See August, 1835, entry, also, for item on Bonne-
ville.)

Henry Dodge (1782-1867) was colonel of the (First) U. S. dragoon
regiment from its organization in 1833 to mid-1836, when he resigned
to become governor of the new territory of Wisconsin. From Autumn,
1834, to Spring, 1836, he was commandant at Fort Leaven worth,
headquarters of the (First) dragoons. Reproduced is Catlin's portrait
of Dodge, in hunting garb, painted during the 1834 expedition to
the Comanche and Wichita country. (From Iowa Historical Record,
Iowa City, October, 1889, courfesy State Historical Society of Iowa.)

Stephen Watts Kearny (1794-1848) became colonel of the (First) U. S.
dragoons on July 4, 1836. He succeeded Col. Henry Dodge (see verso)
as commandant at Fort Leavenworth, arriving in mid-1836 and remaining
till August, 1842. For brief periods he was at the post again: in 1845
(heading a dragoon expedition to South Pass), in 1846 (as commander of
the Army of the West), and in 1847. On June 30, 1846, Kearny became
a brigadier general; and in August, 1847, was brevetted a major general.
(Photo from an oil portrait, courtesy Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.)

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 49

He reached Fort William (Fort Laramie) after June 6; probably
did not go beyond Powder river (Wyo.); left the mountains in July;
and by August 6 had reached Fort Leavenworth.

Awaiting at the army post was a War Department order (of April 22) re-
instating Bonneville as a captain in the Seventh U. S. infantry. He set out, at
once from Fort Leavenworth, on horseback, for his designated station Fort
Gibson (Okla.).

Ref: Washington Irving's The Adventures of Captain Bonneville . . ., edited by
E. W. Todd (c!961), pp. xxx, xxxvii, xxxviii, xliii; Lt. G. K. Warren's "Memoir," in
Reports of Explorations and Surveys . . . for a Railroad ... to the Pacific
Ocean (1861), v. 11, p. 33 (for quote of Bonneville's letter of August 24, 1857: "I left
the mountains in July, 1836, and reached Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, the 6th of August
following"); Niles' Weekly Register, v. 51 (September 3, 1836), p. 16; Dale L. Morgan's
letter of June 9, 1962, to L. Barry, for the "after June 6" statement; 23d Cong., 2d Sess.,
H. Ex. Doc. 97 (Serial 273) for trading license issued to "Astor, Bonnville & Co." on
April 16, 1834; William Clark's statement of licenses granted from March 7 to May 3,
1836, in "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs" (microfilm from National Ar-
chives), for April 19, 1836, license issued to B. L. E. Bonneville to trade with the
Arapahoes at a point of timber (on the south side of the Platte) called "Laramai's point."

C May. A steamboat named Kansas was advertised for the Mis-
souri river trade. On May 21 a St. Louis newspaper carried notice
that the Kansas and the John Hancock would leave soon for Missouri
river; and a June 25 issue noted the scheduled departure of these
same two steamboats for the Missouri on June 27.

Other boats advertised for the Missouri between April and July included:
the American Fur Company's Diana (the only one to go beyond the Council
Bluffs), the Iowa, the Howard, the Boonville, the St. Charles, the Tiskilwa, the
Chariton, and the Dart. On November 30 the Missouri Republican, St. Louis,
stated that five steamboats had been lost on the Missouri during the season
past. One was the Diana which sank "in Diana bend," above Rocheport, Mo.,
on October 10, 1836, with a valuable cargo of furs. A few days later the
Chariton went down (but was apparently salvaged see April, 1837, annals).
On November 26 the John Hancock (heavily laden), hit a snag "at Belle-
fontaine" and sank in 10 feet of water.

Ref: Nebraska Historical Society Publications, Lincoln, v. 20, pp. 65, 66; KHC, v. 9,
pp. 301, 305 (the Kansas is said to have been piloted by Joseph La Barge); Jeffersonian
Republican, Jefferson City, Mo., October 22, 1836.

C May 23. By an act of this date, the President was authorized
to raise an additional regiment of dragoons.

As a result the existing U. S. dragoon regiment (organized in
1833) commanded by Col. Henry Dodge, and headquartered at Fort
Leavenworth, became the First U. S. dragoons. See, also, July 4
entry.

Ref: U. S. Statutes at Large, v. 5, pp. 32, 33.

C Beginning May 25, and ending in the fore(?) part of June,
John C. McCoy and a party of "seven or eight poorly-armed men,"
surveyed the north line of the Osage reservation (treaty of 1825)
45500

50 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

from the northeast corner (a point now in southwest Bourbon
county), due westward as far as the Arkansas river (in present
Sedgwick county). See map facing p. 177 (KHQ, v. 28) for visual
reference.

Nine years earlier see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 33, 34 Angus Langham had can-
celed a survey of this line, due to Osage hostility. McCoy, too, met opposi-
tion. In an address, in 1889, he told of the experience. As he and his crew
approached the Neosho they worked only about three miles above the Little
Osages' village (the uppermost Osage town north of present Chanute,
Neosho co.). Braves on horseback, watching and following them, became
increasingly restive claiming their land extended much farther north. McCoy
found it expedient to pay a visit to the head chief Nicheumanee (Walking
Rain). He and Charles Findlay, with an Indian escort, rode to the village
(over 100 lodges), "situated on a high prairie hill a mile or so west of the
Neosho." There, in the chiefs large, centrally-located lodge (of bark, over
a framework of poles), the surveyor faced Nicheumanee and several hundred
head men and braves of the Little Osages. He remained firm in the face of
threats. The council (much of it conducted in sign language, for lack of an
interpreter) ended in a stalemate. McCoy says: "Findlay and I took our
departure. . . . We found our horses at the [lodge] door, with the tail
of my horse completely denuded of hair. I was glad to get the horse, even
with his corn-cob tail." Back at the surveyors' camp, meantime, an Osage
attempt at robbery had been thwarted.

The survey westward was continued "without serious molestation." The
line of march across Township 26 South of today ran a few miles south
of present Eureka and El Dorado. ( McCoy states that the Arkansas tributary
now called Walnut river was then known as the "Little Neosho"; and the
stream now named Whitewater river was then called the "Little Verdigris"!).
They reached the Arkansas at 124 miles from the point of beginning, about
five miles above the mouth of the Little Arkansas.

Ref: KHC, v. 5, pp. 308-311 (for McCoy's 1889 address), v. 8, p. 199 (where the
northwest corner of the Cherokee Neutral Lands [identical with the northeast corner of the
Osage line as noted by McCoy, v. 5, p. 309] is described as 20 rods south of the north
line and three-fourths of a mile east of the west line of Sec. 26, T. 26 S., R. 21 E., Bourbon
county); SIA, v. 1, pp. 267-269 (for McCoy's plats) and pp. 276-283 (for his field notes,
dated "West Port, Mo., Septr 16th 1836"). The field notes contain little of interest
beyond the comment, that, on the highlands as they approached the Neosho they crossed
"an Indian Trace [running north and south] leading from the little Osage village to the
Wea settlements. . . ."

C May. The annual spring caravan to Santa Fe was overtaken
several days out on the trail by Charles Bent's seven-wagon train
which traveled in company (for protection from Indians) as far
as Cimarron crossing of the Arkansas. The experienced moun-
tain man Robert ("Doc") Newell (see KHQ, v. 28, p. 50) was one
of Bent's party.

Another hand, not experienced, was young Richens Lacy
("Dick") Wootton (hired as a mule driver) whose account of the
journey (his first to the west) was included in reminiscences pub-

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 51

lished in 1890. By Wootton's recollection, the caravan numbered
some 150 men and 57 wagons. (Josiah Gregg, in 1844, listed the
Santa Fe-bound trade statistics for 1836 as 135 men [35 of them
proprietors], 75 wagons, and $130,000 in merchandise.)

On night guard at the Little Cow creek camp (present Rice county),
Wootton shot "Old Jack" (a mule) mistaking it for an Indian. At Pawnee
Fork 250 or more Comanches "charged through the camp three or four
times, trying to make the mules break loose." They failed, and lost three
warriors in the attempt. After leaving the caravan at Cimarron crossing,
to continue up the Arkansas, Bent's small train was met by Ceran St. Vrain
and a mounted party from Fort William ("Bent's Fort") and escorted to
that post.

Ref: H. L. Conard's "Uncle Dick" Wootton (Chicago, 1890), pp. 28-42; Josiah
Gregg, Commerce of the Prairies . . . (New York, London, 1844) v. 2, p. 160;
David Lavender's Bent's Fort (Garden City, N. Y., 1954), pp. 166, 167, 393, 394.
Henry Inman, in a tale entitled "How 'Pawnee Rock' Was Named" (published in his
Stories of the Old Santa Fe Trail [Kansas City, Mo., 1881], pp. 1-10), attributed the mule-
shooting incident to "Kit" Carson on an alleged first trip west in 1833. But see KHQ, v.
28, p. 29, for Carson's first (1826) journey on the Santa Fe trail. James Hobbs may have
been another tyro hand with this Bent, St. Vrain & Co. party. In his reminiscences (Wild
Life in the Far West fast published in 1872) Hobbs told of being taken captive by
Comanches (near the Arkansas, west of "The Caches") during his first trip west in 1835
(but perhaps, correctly, 1836) as a Bent, St. Vrain & Co. employee; and of being ran-
somed four(?) years later by William Bent.

C Kickapoo Catholic Mission had its beginning on June 1, when
the Rev. Charles F. Van Quickenborne, S. J., and three lay broth-
ers (Andrew Mazzella, Edmund Barry, George Miles) debarked
from a Missouri river steamboat at Kickapoo Landing (about five
miles, by water, above Fort Leavenworth), and took up temporary
residence in a log cabin of American Fur Company trader Laurence
Pensineau, whose post was at the landing. (They had left St.
Louis on May 25. )

At a site over a mile west of Pensineau's post, and near both Kickapoo
settlements Chief Pa-sha-cha-hah's village (half a mile southwest) and
Kennekuk's town (a quarter-mile south) the first mission building (a one-
story, hewed-log schoolhouse, 16'xl5') was erected, after some delays. Ready
for use in October, it served as mission headquarters during the winter, and
until completion, in the spring of 1837, of a log house and chapel house
(48'x20'xl6'). Father Christian Hoecken (who had arrived some weeks
after Van Quickenborne's party) then opened a school which, in the autumn,
was reported to have 20 pupils.

At the end of 1836 the mission church had only two Kickapoo members
(both children). The chief obstacles to converting these Indians were:
(1) their addiction to whisky, and (2) the increasing opposition of the
Kickapoo Prophet (Kennekuk) who had his own religion, many followers,
and a government-built church in which to preach. Nor did the school pros-
per, for the Kickapoos felt they did not need it having already the govern-
ment school run by Methodist missionary J. C. Berryman.

52 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Father Felix L. Verreydt replaced Van Quickenborne in July, 1837. Later,
Father Anthony Eysvogels became head of the mission. Chief Pa-sha-cha-hah
and his followers moved some 20 miles distant in 1839(?), leaving the Catho-
lics few supporters. The school dwindled to eight students and the govern-
ment withdrew its $500 per annum support (given since 1837) in 1840.

On September 19, 1840, the decision was made to close the Kickapoo
Catholic Mission. Apparently its last use for church services was in late
December.

Ref: G. J. Garraghan's The Jesuits of the Middle United States . . . (New York,
1938), v. 1, pp. 395-421 (p. 421 contains a footnote on the subsequent use of the mission
house); R. J. Bollig's History of Catholic Education in Kansas . . . (Washington,
D. C., 1933), pp. 10-12.

C June 7. An act of this date provided for the extension of Mis-
souri's western boundary to the Missouri river. (The existing line
ran due north and south from the mouth of the Kansas see map
in KHQ, v. 28, facing p. 177. )

Prerequisites for adding this area (the "Platte Purchase") to
Missouri: (1) extinguishment of Indian title to the land lying
between Missouri's boundary and the Missouri ( i . e. y the Little
Platte country), and ceding of jurisdiction to the State of Missouri,
(2) assent of the State of Missouri to the act's provisions, (3) a
Presidential proclamation see March 28, 1837, annals entry.

Ref: U. S. Statutes at Large, v. 5, p. 34.

C June 11. At Fort Leavenworth, Capt Matthew Duncan (the
commanding officer), together with Agent John Dougherty, held
a council with 49 chiefs and head men of the Missouri band of
Sac (and Fox) Indians who had arrived the day before to seek
redress of grievances (relating to a claim for annuities; and in
regard to their removal to the southwest side of the Missouri).

Ref: Capt. Matthew Duncan's June 18, 1836, report, in "Letters Received by the Office
of Indian Affairs" microfilm from National Archives. Col. Henry Dodge see July 4
entry had already left Fort Leavenworth.

C June 13. Capt. Matthew Duncan and Agent R. W. Cummins,
at Fort Leavenworth, counciled with the Kickapoo Indians in re-
gard to a war dance recently held at their upper village (Pa-sha-
cha-hah's settlement) a dance reportedly in celebration of an
Indian victory over U. S. troops in Florida.

Ref: Capt. Matthew Duncan's report, loc. cit.

C June 15. Arkansas, a territory since 1819, was admitted to the
Union as a state.

Ref: U. S. Statutes at Large, v. 5, p. 50.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 53

C July 2. President Jackson approved the enabling act for the
better protection of the Western frontier. It provided: (1) for
the surveying and opening of a military road from a point on the
upper Mississippi to Red river in the south; (2) that the road
should pass west of Missouri and Arkansas ( after getting the assent
of the Indians through whose territory it would run); (3) for the
construction of military posts along the road (locations unspeci-
fied ) ; ( 4 ) for the use of U. S. troops to perform the required labor;
(5) he sum of $100,000 to accomplish the objects of the act.

Ref: Ibid., p. 67; KHQ, v. 11, p. 117.

G At the northeast corner of the Kansa lands (in present Jackson
county), on July 2, John C. McCoy and a work party began a
survey of the north boundary of the Kansa reservation (treaty of
1825). Before July ended they had proceeded west for 206 miles
(to Rooks county of today), where they terminated the survey
"on [a] high level prairie covered with short curley Buffalo grass.
. . . Solomons fork about 1& miles to Stouthl."

Ten years earlier (1826-1827) Angus Langham had surveyed the east and
south Kansa lines (see KHQ, v. 28, p. 28); and six years earlier (1830),
John C. McCoy had accompanied his father on a survey of the Delaware
Outlet's north line (see KHQ, v. 28, p. 176) a boundary which paralleled
the Kansa north line and ran only 10 miles above it. (See map facing p. 177
in KHQ, v. 28, for visual reference.)

It appears that the northeast corner of the Kansa lands was (by current
description), about the southwest comer of Sec. 22, T. 7 S., R. 15 E., Franklin
township, Jackson co. The line then ran due west through Township 7.
McCoy, in his field notes, mentions "Soldier creek" (crossed between 10 and
11 miles from the beginning point); "Egoma Saba (or Black paint) Creek"
[since McCoy was in present Pottawatomie county, the stream referred to is
the Red Vermillion creek of today]; the "blue earth river" [Big Blue] crossed
between 52 and 53 miles west; the "Republican fork of Kanzas" between
79 and 80 miles west; and the bank of "Solomon's fork" between 121 and
122 miles west. This last-named stream is mentioned again at 151 miles,
at 192-193, and 195-198 miles, as well as at the end of the survey.

Ref: Superintendency of Indian Affairs, St. Louis, "Records" (SIA), v. 1, pp. 271-
275 (for McCoy's survey plats) and pp. 284-294 (for his field notes, dated "West Port,
Mo. September 16, 1836").

C July 4. Col. Henry Dodge (whose resignation as head of the
First U. S. dragoons was effective this date) took the oath of office
as governor of the newly created Territory of Wisconsin, at Min-
eral Point (Wis.).

To rank from July 4, Lt. Col. Stephen Watts Kearny was promoted colonel
of the First U. S. dragoons, Maj. Richard B. Mason became the regiment's
lieutenant colonel, and Capt. Clifton Wharton its major.

54 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Colonel Kearny, who had been at Fort Des Moines since the autumn of
1834, received orders in July to move to Fort Leavenworth and assume
command. ( See KHQ, v. 28, p. 175, for his earlier, brief, tour of duty there. )

Ref: Iowa Historical Record, Iowa City, v. 8 (July, 1892), pp. 300, 302; D. L. Clarke's
Stephen Watts Kearny . . . (Norman, c!961), pp. 69, 70; F. B. Heitman's His-
torical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army . . . (Washington, 1903).

C July 18. In the settlement of Frenchmen and Indians, at the
mouth of the Kansas (present Kansas City, Mo.), Father C. F.
Van Quickenborne (of Kickapoo Catholic Mission) baptized 14
mixed-blood Indian children (Flatheads, Kutenai, Iroquois, etc.),
all, apparently, from 12 families which had "lately come down
from the Rocky Mountains." Also on the 18th he performed two
marriage rites (the earliest recorded in that vicinity). Both
parties in the first ceremony were Iroquois Indians: Benjamin
Lagautherie (son of Victor) and Charlotte Gray (daughter of
John and Marianne). The other rite for Clement "Liserte"
(Lessert) and Julia Roy renewed a civil marriage of 1829 (see
KHQ, v. 28, p. 53).

In a letter of October 4, 1836, Van Quickenborne referred to the recent
settlement on the "low level ground that skirts the right bank of the Kaw
at its junction with the Missouri" of 12 families which had "lately come down
from the Rocky Mountains"; and stated that on the second of two visits to
the Indians he "found them all sick, and, in despair of being able to live
here, they were talking of going back to their mountains." With his sketch
map of "the Indian country" (also October 4, 1836) he wrote this descrip-
tive note relating to the Kaw's mouth settlement: "Place where the American
Fur Company has built a small church ["Chouteau's Church" see July, 1835,
entry] here live 25 families 20 of which are Indians or half breeds. . . ."

Ref: Garraghan, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 259, and between 402 and 403 (for map).
Benjamin "Logatree" was deeded land near "mouth of the Kansas," on April 10, 1836,
by Francis G. Chouteau Jackson County (Mo.) courthouse, in Book E, p. 564.

BORN: within the Kickapoo reserve (present Leavenworth
county), on July 23, Brigitte Aimable Pensineau, daughter of Trader
Paschal Pensineau and Catharinette, "an Indian woman (Kickapoo)
vulgo Greenwood." (She was baptized January 4, 1837, at "Kicka-
pootown," by the Rev. C. F. Van Quickenborne, S. J. )

Ref: "Kickapoo Register," at St. Mary's College, St. Marys, courtesy of the Rev. Augustin
C. Wand, S. J.

C Gholson Kurcheval (appointed July 2) superintended the re-
moval west, during the summer, of several hundred more Potta-
watomies of Illinois. Capt. John B. F. Russell was the disbursing
agent. Apparently they were the Indians who had spent the pre-
ceding winter in southeastern "Iowa" see December 2, 1835,
entry.)

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 55

These Pottawatomies joined the emigrants of 1835 in the Little Platte
(Mo.) country. They were placed under the temporary supervision of Emi-
grating Agent Anthony L. Davis (whose residence was at "Kickapoo town"
above Fort Leavenworth ) .

Expenditures by the government for the emigrants included payments of
$2,352.20 and $7,977.30 to [J. T. V.] Thompson and [Hiram] Rich for pro-
visions; $56 to N. W. Hutchins for transporting Indians on the steamboat
Siam; $8 to Francis L. Vallier for service as interpreter.

Though a December 1, 1836, report stated that the number of Potta-
watomies (and united Chippewas and Ottawas) removed west of the Mis-
sissippi was 1,712, a later report (1840) estimated their number did not
exceed 1,455. (In November, 1835, the figure had been given as 1,200[?].)

Ref: Grant Foreman's The Last Trek of the Indians (Chicago, c!946), p. 107; 24th
Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. No. 137 and H. Doc. No. 141 (both in Serial 303); 24th Cong.,
2d Sess., Sen. Doc. 1 (Ser. 297) for CIA report of December 1, 1836; 24th Cong., 1st
Sess., Sen. Report 228 (Serial 281), p. 5, for November 24, 1835, report; Report of the
Comm'r of Indian Affairs for 1840 (Document 3, with the report).

C August 26. After an official inspection of Fort Leavenworth,
Col. George Croghan wrote:

. . . it is not only not a fort but is even devoid of the regularity of a
common barrack. Of defences it has none. Colonel [S. W.] Kearny [the
new commandant] having very wisely recommended the erection of block
houses, has . . . contracted for the building of two . . . both of
them will be finished, it is believed, by December. . . .

Ref: F. P. Prucha, ed., Army Life on the Western Frontier . . . (c!958), p. 24.

C William Clark's journey to Fort Leavenworth in September
(see, also, next entry) may have been his first and only visit to
that post. He traveled there aboard the steamboat Boonville,
leaving St. Louis on August 30. George Rogers Hancock Clark
(his 20-year-old son, serving as secretary), an interpreter, and a
servant, accompanied him. After the treaty was concluded in
mid-September, Clark returned to St. Louis on the American Fur
Company's Diana.

In 1804, bound up the Missouri with the Lewis & Clark expedition, and
again in 1806, returning, he had passed the site of the future fort. But there
does not appear to be any record that William Clark returned to that vicinity
in the 30 years between 1806 and 1836, though he was situated no farther
away than St. Louis, as superintendent of Indian affairs, during most of the
intervening time.

Ref: "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs," St. Louis Superintendency
(National Archives microcopy 234, Roll 751) George Maguire's September 2, 1836, letter,
and William Clark's abstract of disbursements from October 1, 1836, to September 30,
1837. See, also, next entry references.

C September 17. At Fort Leavenworth William Clark (sup't of
Indian affairs, St. Louis) negotiated a treaty with the lowas, and
the band of Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri. By its terms, the
Indians

56 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

(1) Gave up all claim to lands lying between the State of Missouri and
the Missouri river and received a present of $7,500. (This was the "Platte
Purchase" country, where they were residing. )

(2) Were assigned a reserve across the Missouri a small strip of land
between the Kickapoos' north line and the Grand Nemaha, extending "back
and westwardly" from the Missouri to encompass 400 sections, to be divided
equally between the lowas and the Sacs & Foxes. (See map of 1834, in KHQ,
v. 28, facing p. 177, for general location.) The rectangular tract of land
as surveyed in 1837-1838, was divided by a diagonal line into "twin reserves."
(See May, 1837, entry, p. 67.)

(3) Agreed to move as soon as arrangements could be made. In return,
the government was to do these things for the lowas: build five comfortable
houses; fence and break up 200 acres of land; furnish a farmer, blacksmith,
teacher, interpreter; provide agricultural implements (for five years), rations
for one year, a ferry boat, a mill, 100 cows and calves, five bulls, 100 stock
hogs; and assist in removing them to the extent of $500. For the Sacs 6- Foxes
the terms were the same, except only three houses were to be built, and but
$400 provided for removal.

"Mo-hos-ca" (White Cloud), "Nau-che-ning" (No Heart), and 10 others
signed for the lowas. "Cau-ca-car-mack" (Rock Bass), "Sea-sa-ho" (Stur-
geon), and 13 others signed for the Sacs & Foxes.

Treaty witnesses were: Col. S. W. Kearny (commandant at Fort Leaven-
worth), Agent John Dougherty, George R. H. Clark (son of William Clark),
Subagent Andrew S. Hughes, William Duncan (farmer for the lowas), Sutler
Joseph V. Hamilton, Joseph Robidoux, Jr., Sgt. Maj. William Bowman (of
the First dragoons); interpreters Jeffrey Dorion, Peter Cadue, Jacques Mette,
and Louis M. Dorrion.

Ref: C. J. Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties (Washington, 1904), v. 2,
pp. 468-470; KHQ, v. 16, p. 2 (for item on George R. H. Clark); KHC, v. 8, p. 82.

C About September 19 John C. McCoy and a work party left
Westport, Mo., and set out southward, to survey the Cherokees*
reserve. They reached a beginning point on the Arkansas (loca-
tion not identified) on October 14. (A dragoon escort from Fort
Leavenworth, detailed to accompany McCoy, did not leave that
post till October 19.) After completing between 60 and 70 miles
of the survey, illness and bad weather forced suspension of work
till 1837. (See p. 63.)

Ref: Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 23 (Isaac McCoy letter of December 15, 1836).

C September 26. At Fort Leavenworth Col. Stephen W. Kearny
was dinner host to British army captain William Drummond
Stewart, who was en route East after a summer's hunting expedi-
tion in the Rocky mountains.

Captain Stewart's party (a companion "Mr. Sillem, a German gentleman";
three servants; two light wagons; some fine horses; and two dogs) had trav-
eled to the mountains with the American Fur Company caravan (headed by
Thomas Fitzpatrick) which left Bellevue (Neb.) on May 15 and followed
up the Platte. It is supposed that Stewart and party returned to Bellevue

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 57

with Fitzpatrick, by the same route, in August and September. (See, also,
October 26-31, 1835, entry. )

Ref : Clarke, op. eft., p. 73; De Voto, op. cit., pp. 244, 270.

C BORN: at Delaware Baptist Mission (present Wyandotte
county), on October 7, Lydia Blanchard, daughter of the Rev.
Ira D. and Mary (Walton) Blanchard.

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," October 7, 1836, entry; A. J. Paddock correspondence,
in KHi ms. division.

C October 15. At Bellevue (Neb.) the Otoes, Missourias, Oma-
has, and Yancton & Santee bands of Sioux, after a council with Agent
John Dougherty and Subagent Joshua Pilcher, signed a "conven-
tion" giving up all claim to lands lying between the State of Mis-
souri and the Missouri river. (See the June 7, 1836, "Platte Pur-
chase" annals item. )

The acting secretary of the proceedings, who also signed the document as
witness, was "Jtoseph] Varaum Hamilton, sutler, [First] U. S. dragoons," of
Fort Leavenworth.

Ref: Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 479-481.

C October 21. The chiefs and leading men of the Delawares,
Shawnees, Piankeshaws & Weas, Peorias & Kaskaskias met in coun-
cil with Agent Richard W. Cummins (head of Northern Agency,
Western Territory), and signed an agreement giving "our full
consent that the United States, open and establish a road through
each of our countries, and establish therein such military posts,
as the Government of the United States may think proper. . . ."
(See July 2, entry.)

In return, the Indians were paid $900 in goods (the Delawares and
Shawnees, $300 each; $150 each to the two smaller Indian groups). Dela-
ware signers were Nah-comin, Captain Ketchum, Nonon-da-gomin, Captain
Swanock, "Sackindeattun" (Secondine), and four others; for the Shawnees,
John Perry, George Williams, Young Blackhoof, Letho, Little Fox, Peter
Cornstalk, and two others signed; Charley, Swan, Go-to-cop-wah, and six
others signed for the smaller nations. Witnesses to the agreement were:
Dr. J. Andrew Chute, W. W. Kavanaugh, Angus G. Boggs; also, interpreters
Joseph Parks and Baptiste Peoria.

Ref: SIA, v. 1, pp. 262, 263, v. 26, p. 78.

C November 5. Jesse Overton received payment (from Lt.
Thomas Swords, assistant quartermaster) of $1,795 for having
made three farms for the Kansa Indians.

(According to Isaac McCoy, these fields, "fenced and ploughed," were at
the "lower village" and of 130, 140, and six acres in size. Earlier, 10 acres
had been ploughed and fenced. )

Ref: 25th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. No. S62 (Serial 330), p. 86; Isaac McCoy's Annual
Register for 1837, p. 32.

58 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

C In November Capt. Edwin V. Sumner, and Company B, First
U. S. dragoons, arrived at Fort Leaven worth, from Fort Des
Moines. They had left the latter post on October 30.

Ref: Louis Pelzer's Marches of the Dragoons in the Mississippi Valley . . . (Iowa
City, 19 17), p. 62.

C DIED: Ten-squa-ta-wa (the Shawnee Prophet), in November,
at his small settlement ( four huts ) on the Shawnee reserve ( within
the bounds of present Kansas City, Wyandotte co. ). He was
probably about 68. (The year of his birth is given as 1768. )

A brother of famed chief Tecumseh, Ten-squa-ta-wa ("the open door"
a self -given name) was, in the early 1800's, a powerful and influential man.
(Throughout his life he claimed to have direct communication with the Great
Spirit.) He abetted Tecumseh in the plot to unite the Indian nations against
the United States. When the Battle of Tippecanoe (1811, in Indiana) ended
in defeat for the Indians, Ten-squa-ta-wa's prestige declined, and he became
an obscure figure.

It is said that he came to "Kansas" in 1828, from the Shawnee settlement
in the Cape Girardeau, Mo., area, where he had lived two years; that he
settled on the N. E. X of Sec. 32, T. 11, R. 25 E., but moved to the N. E. X of
Sec. 30 about a year before his death. See his portrait (by Catlin), in KHQ,
v. 28, facing p. 336.

Ref: KHC, v. 9, pp. 164n, 165n; Kansas City Sun, March 5, 1909; the Kansas City
(Mo.) Star, March 27, 1950, shows a picture of "White Feather" spring (described as
"in a ravine which bisects Ruby avenue," in the block west of 38th street, Kansas City,
Kan.) and notes that the Shawnee Prophet is buried near by; Bureau of American Eth-
nology, Fourteenth Annual Report, pt. 2, pp. 673, 674.

C According to the December 3 report of the secretary of war, the
army's Western Department force (under Maj. Gen. Edmund P.
Gaines ) totaled only 2,458 troops.

At Fort Leavenworth the aggregate strength was 321 men
seven companies of the First U. S. dragoons. In present Oklahoma
there were 132 men at Fort Gibson, 44 at new Fort Coffee, and
158 at Fort Towson.

Ref: 24th Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc. 1 (Serial 297), pp. 107, 146.

C MARRIED: The Rev. Robert Clark Ellifrit and Ann Eliza Jefferson
(teacher), both of the Kickapoo Methodist Mission, on December
20, at Shawnee Methodist Mission, by the Rev. Thomas Johnson.

(In the fore part of 1837 the Ellifrits were at Delaware Methodist Mission,
but moved, in the latter part of the year, across the Missouri, where they
were early settlers in the "Platte Purchase.")

Ref: Jackson County, Mo., marriage records, Independence, Mo., v. 1, p. 102; W. M.
Paxton's Annals of Platte County, Mo. (Kansas City, Mo., 1897), see index; KHC, v. 9,
p. 206; "Remsburg Scrapbook," v. 1, p. 252 (in KHi library); Isaac McCoy's Annual
Register for 1837, p. 30. It is said that Mrs. Ann Eliza Ellifrit was a relative (grand
niece?) of Thomas Jefferson.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 59

C A gold mine (or buried treasure) was the quest of a party of
men who were guided, in 1836, by Jesse Chisholm, from Arkansas
to the mouth of the Little Arkansas river (present Sedgwick
county).

James Mead told of this journey in an address made in 1907, and thereby
contributed an item to "Kansas" buried treasure lore. He stated that the search
was undertaken partly because Antoine S. Le Page du Pratz's map of 1757 (see
reference in KHQ, v. 27, p. 92) showed "A Gold Mine" in that vicinity; and
also because of a tradition "that long ago a party from New Mexico, descend-
ing the river in boats, were surrounded by Indians in the night at this point, and
after a siege of several days were all killed but one, who escaped, after he had
buried their gold and silver."

Ref : KHC, v. 10, p. 9. Mead no doubt heard this tale direct from Chisholm.

1 Employed in "Kansas" by the Indian Department during all, or
part of the year 1836, were the following persons:

In the Northern Agency, Western Territory Agent Richard W. Cummins
[whose headquarters was the old Shawnee Agency (present Johnson county,
near state line)]; Interpreters Joseph James [Kansa], Joseph Parks [Delawares,
etc.]; Gun and blacksmiths John P. Smith [Kickapoos], Lewis Jones [Shawnees],
Elias M. Walker [Kansa], Nelson A. Warren [Kansa], Robert Dunlap
[Delawares], William Carlisle [Weas, etc.]; Assistant gun and blacksmiths
William V. Smith [Kickapoos], Preston Moore [Kansa], R. D. McKenney
[Shawnees], John M. Owen [Kansa], Samuel Boydston [Delawares; and Shaw-
nees], John Barnes [Shawnees], Peter Duncan [Delawares], Jack-
son [Weas, etc.], James Whitlock [Shawnees], P. G. Cayton [Weas, etc.];
Teachers J. C. Berryman [Kickapoos], John D. Swallows [Kickapoos], Henry
Rennick [Delawares]; Millers William Barnes [Shawnees & Delawares], John
Allen [Delawares], James Allen [Delawares].

In the Osage Subagency Subagent Paul Ligueste Chouteau; Interpreter
Bfaptiste] Mongrain; Gun and blacksmith Gabriel Philibert; Assistant smith
E[tienne] Brant.

"Assistant agent in the emigration of Indians" Anthony L. Davis [tempo-
rarily situated at "Kickapoo-town" above Fort Leavenworth] in charge of
the Pottawatomies who had emigrated west between 1833 and 1836 ( and who
were residing both on the Kickapoo reserve, and across the Missouri in the
"Platte Purchase").

Ref: 24th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. No. 141 (Serial 303); 24th Cong., 2d Sess., H.
Doc. No. 137 (Serial 303), pp. 27-30; 25th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. 362 (Serial 330),
pp. 86, 87.

7837

C BORN: on January 17, at Fort Leavenworth, George Kearny, third
son of Col. Stephen W. and Mary (Radford) Kearny. (He died on
October 6, 1837.)

Ref: Clarke, op. cit., p. 76.

C BORN: on January 30, at Shawnee Baptist Mission (present John-

60 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

son county), Eliza(?) Rollin, daughter of the Rev. David B. and
Sarepta(Reed) Rollin.

( The Rollin family David B., wife, and infant son Edward had arrived at
Shawnee Baptist Mission on November 5, 1836, after a "protracted journey of
more than four weeks" from the Baptist mission to the Western Creeks [near
Fort Gibson, "Oklahoma"], which had been suspended due to Indian opposi-
tion. The Rollins remained in "Kansas" till the spring of 1839 removing to
Commerce, Mich., where Mr. Rollin died on May 12, 1839. When they left
"Kansas" they had three children. Of the third child born in 1838? no infor-
mation is available.)

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Dairy," November 5, 1836, and January 30, 1837, entries;
Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 17 (February, 1837), p. 45; v. 19 (August, 1839), p. 202;
J. R. Rollins' Records of Families of the Name of Rawlins or Rollins . . . (Lawrence,
Mass., 1874), pp. 85, 155-158.

C February 11. In a treaty concluded at Washington with the
chiefs of several small bands of Indiana Pottawatomies, the United
States agreed to give the Pottawatomies of Indiana, a tract of
country "on the Osage [Marais des Cygnes] river southwest of the
Missouri river, sufficient in extent, and adapted to their habits and
wants; remove them to the same; [and] furnish them with one
year's subsistence after their arrival there."

Qui-qui-to (a "Kansas" resident on the Kickapoo reserve since 1833
[see KHQ, v. 28, p. 333]) was the first to sign; followed by Che-chaw-kose,
Ash-kum, We-saw (or Louison), Muck-kose, Sin-qui-waugh, and Po-ga-kose.
The U. S. commissioner was John T. Douglass. John C. Burnett, Abram
B. Burnett, and William Turner were the interpreters. All three of the latter
were part Pottawatomie, and all three subsequently migrated to the "Osage"
river reserve.)

This first Pottawatomie reserve in "Kansas" was subsequently laid out
by Isaac McCoy. Its northeast corner was a little over 16 miles west of the
Missouri line, at a point a few miles below the Weas' and Piankeshaws' south-
west corner. It bordered, on the north, generally, the lands of the Peorias
and Kaskaskias, and the Ottawas. The reserve's width, as stated by Isaac
McCoy, was 24 miles; the distance the land would run west had not been
determined. (See map in KHQ, v. 28, facing p. 177, for visual reference.)

Ref: Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, p. 488; Comm'r C. A. Harris' letter of July 21, 1837, in
McCoy's "Manuscripts," v. 24; A. L. Davis' May 15, 1838, letter in Office of Indian
Affairs (OIA), Letters Received from SIA, St. Louis (Microcopy 234, Roll 752, National
Archives), contains a drawing of the Pottawatomie lands and the Indian reserves north of
it; McCoy's Annual Register of Indian Affairs for 1838, p. 58.

C March 4. Inauguration Day. At Fort Leavenworth, as the Rev.
Thomas Johnson passed by, en route to the Kickapoo mission, "the
cannon was firing in honor of the new president" Martin Van
Buren.

Ref: Christian Advocate and Journal, v. 11 (July 7, 1837), p. 182.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 61

C Early in the spring William C. Requa established an Osage
mission Hopefield (No. 3) near the southeast corner of the
Osage reserve, on La Bette creek, about nine miles from its junc-
tion with the Neosho (southwest of present Oswego, Labette co.).

Requa, who had closed Hopefield (No. 2) or New Hopefield in present
Mayes county, Okla., in 1835 (?) see KHQ, v. 28, p. 170 and then occupied
Boudinot Mission (abandoned by the Nathaniel B. Dodge family in 1835
ibid., p. 169), had himself abandoned the Boudinot site in late 1836, or early
1837, to relocate at a place more favorable to begin an Indian farming com-
munity (such as Hopefield had been).

He "made considerable progress in preparing the requisite build-
ings and other improvements, and hoped soon to have a colony
of 50 [Osage] families around him." But during the summer the
"hostility of other portions of the tribe" caused Requa to discon-
tinue the mission. ("The cattle belonging to the station were
killed . . . other property was seized, and some of the
[Osage] settlers were threatened and actually assaulted and
beaten by their savage countrymen.") In July he removed his
belongings and abandoned Hopefield ( No. 3 ) .

In a journal entry of September 5, 1837, the Rev. David B. Rollin (en
route from Shawnee Baptist Mission to visit the Creek Indians) wrote:
"Arrived at Harmony [Mo. where the first mission to the Osages had been
founded in 1821 (see KHQ, v. 27, p. 511)]. Here, about fifteen years ago,
missionary efforts were commenced on a large scale, for the benefit of the
Osages. Labors have of late been suspended. At this place, I was intro-
duced to Mr. Requa, the last of many missionaries who have left these
degraded sons of the forest. The Osages have recently been very abusive,
and Mr. Requa has concluded to quit their country, after a service of about
sixteen years. There is now no missionary among this people, and their
prospects, for time and eternity, are indeed gloomy."

Ref: Report of the American Board of Comm'rs for Foreign Missions for 1837, pp.
Ill, 112; Missionary Herald, Boston, v. 33, p. 476; Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 18,
p. 42.

C March 28. President Van Buren proclaimed the Indian title ex-
tinguished to the lands lying between the State of Missouri and the
Missouri riverthe "Platte Purchase" (act of June 7, 1836 see p.
52), thereby making the area a part of Missouri, and opening it to
settlement.

Six northwestern Missouri counties Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Noda-
way, and Atchison) subsequently (1838-1845) were organized from the "Platte
purchase."

Ref: James D. Richardson's Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1902 (1905),
v. 3, p. 32; State Historical Society of Missouri, comp., Historic Missouri . . . (Co-
lumbia, cl959), p. 27.

62 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

C At the beginning of April seven steamboats were reported "en-
gaged in the commerce of the Missouri." They were the Chariton,
Phillos, Kansas, Howard, Dart, Bridgewater, and Fayette. The first
four had arrived on the same date (April 4?) at St. Charles, Mo.,
from the upper river, after a long absence. The Dart was still to
come down.

Ref: Missouri Argus, St. Louis, April 7, 1837 (copied from the St. Charles [Mo.]
Clarion).

C April 13. Revised regulations adopted by the Indian Depart-
ment included these changes in the superintendences, agencies, and
subagencies, as organized under the July 7, 1834, regulations see
KHQ, v. 28, pp. 361, 362.

THE SUPERINTENDENCY OF ST. Louis (William Clark, sup't) was enlarged
to include the united Pottawatomies, Chippewas & Ottawas north of the
Missouri river, in addition to all the other Indians south of the Missouri and
north of the northern line of the Osage reservation. Its subdivisions:

Fort Leavenworth Agency* (Richard W. Cummins, agent) for the Dela-
wares, Kansa, Shawnees, and Kickapoos. [Location: the old Shawnee Agency
buildings, in present Johnson county, near the state line.]

Council Bluffs Agency (John Dougherty, agent) for the Otoes, Missourias,
Omahas, and Pawnees.

Upper Missouri Agency (Joshua Pilcher, agent) for the Sioux of the
Missouri, Cheyennes, and Poncas.

Upper Missouri Subagency (W. N. Fulkerson, subagent) for the Mandans,
Blackfeet, etc.

Council Bluffs Subagency (Dr. Edwin James, subagent appointed April
28) for the United Pottawatomies, Ottawas, & Chippewas north of Missouri
river.

Great Nemahaw Subagency* (Andrew S. Hughes, subagent) for the lowas,
Sacs & Foxes of Missouri. [Location: on the Missouri, just above the mouth
of Wolf river, present Doniphan county.]

Osage [Marais de Cygnes] River Subagency* ( Anthony L. Davis, subagent
appointed April 28) for the Ottawas, Peorias & Kaskaskias, Weas & Pianke-
shaws, and the Pottawatomies south of Missouri river. [Location: on Wea
creek, present Miami county, at Wea Presbyterian Mission.]

THE ACTING SUPERINTENDENCY OF THE WESTERN TERRITORY (William Arm-
strong, acting sup't) was to have three agencies (Choctaw, Creek, and Chero-
kee), and two subagencies: Osage Subagency* (Paul Ligueste Chouteau, sub-
agent) for all of the Osages [Location: on the Neosho river, present Neosho
county]; and Neosho [Grand] River Subagency for the Senecas, united Senecas
& Shawnees and the Quapaws.

* Agency, and subagencies with headquarters in "Kansas."

Ref: Report of the Comm'r of Indian Affairs, 1837, pp. 660-664 (for new regulations);
25th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. No. 135 (Serial 326) for names of officials. For data on
sites, see A. S. Hughes' letter of August 14, 1837, A. L. Davis' letter of May 15, 1838,
and R. W. Cummins' letter of May 18, 1838 all in OIA, Letters Received from SIA, St.
Louis (National Archives, Microcopy 234, Roll 751).

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 63

C April 20. Anthony L. Davis ("emigrating agent" for the Pot-
tawatomies from Indiana, residing on the Kickapoo reserve) set
out from Westport, Mo., with Isaac McCoy, Robert Simerwell,
Dr. J. A. Chute, Robert Polke and son of Indiana, "Mr. Holliday"
(a Pottawatomie), and Lewis McNoff (a Chippewa) to view the
country in which he would soon relocate as subagent (appoint-
ment date: April 28) of the new Osage River Subagency.

This party reached Wea Presbyterian Mission (present Miami county) on
April 21; proceeded next day south and west to the "Osage" [Marais des
Cygnes] river; followed up its course to the Peoria & Kaskaslda line; crossed
the river and camped. On April 24th these explorers arrived at an "Osage"
tributary which (wrote McCoy) "we named Putawatomie creek, supposing
that the first settlement of the [soon-to-arrive] Putawatomies would be on it."

Crossing and moving southward, they camped on the Neosho on the 25th.
On the night of April 27, after traveling up the Neosho's north bank, they
were (according to McCoy) some 70 to 75 miles west of the state of Mis-
souri (in present Lyon? county). On the 28th the line of march was north-
east for about 12 miles, then east for perhaps 13 more, to a branch of "Puta-
watomie Creek." Continuing east on the 29th, McCoy noted: "We . . .
examined some very prominent and singular natural mounds at noon" (in
present Franklin county one of these landmarks was referred to, in 1845,
as "the steamboat mound"). Before evening they had come again to the
"Putawatomie Creek" ford, where they crossed to the left bank and moved
two miles downstream to make camp. [Apparently this was the ford subse-
quently known as "Dutch Henry's crossing."]

Concluding the exploration on May 2, two of the party went on to Wea
Presbyterian Mission, while McCoy and the others proceeded to the Peoria
Methodist Mission (near Peoria, Franklin co., of today). McCoy (and com-
panions ) reached Westport on May 3.

Ref: Isaac McCoy's "Journal," April 17-May 3, 1837, entries; Calvin McCormick's
The Memoir of Miss Eliza McCoy (Dallas, 1892), pp. 58, 59; James C. Malin's John
Brown and the Legend of Fifty-Six (Philadelphia, 1942), p. 714; Johnston Lykins'
"Journal," April, 1839. Lykins stated that the mound at the forks of the Pottawatomie
"appeared above the forest, like an immense steamboat top. . . ."

C Leaving Westport, Mo., on April 25, John C. McCoy proceeded
southward to resume and complete the Cherokee reserve survey
begun in October, 1836 (see p. 56).

Writing some 50 years later, McCoy stated that he surveyed, in 1837,
"the south, the west, and the north lines of the land now known as the
'Cherokee strip/ extending west to longitude 100 west from Greenwich, the
south line being between the lands of the Creeks and the Cherokees, and
the north line [in Kansas] between the Cherokee and the Osage reservations."
(For visual reference, see map in KHQ, v. 28, facing p. 177. )

Ref: Isaac McCoy's "Journal," May 3, 1837, entry; KHC, v. 4, p. 301. The north
line the dividing line between the Osage and Cherokee reserve was three miles north
of the 37th parallel (which is the southern boundary of Kansas) see KHQ, v. 1, p. 104,
Footnote 5.

64 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

C May 5. Journeying west to Kansa Methodist Mission (present
Shawnee county), Agent R. W. Cummins, the Rev. Thomas John-
son, the Rev. Nelson Henry, of Independence, Mo., and Cephas
Case "met some 4 or 500 of the Kanzas Indians going to the
white settlements to beg provisions, for they had nothing to eat
at home; and those that had not gone to the white settlements to
beg were nearly all scattered over the prairies digging wild po-
tatoes." (Scientist Thomas Say of Maj. S. H. Long's 1819-1820
expedition recorded that the Otoe Indians' word for the Kansas
river was to-pe-o-ka, "good potatoe river/' This suggests the origin
of the word, Topeka. )

After reaching the mission, Agent Cummins counciled with the Kansa on
May 6 and 7. Arrangements were made to "take a few children into the
mission family," each chief being given the privilege of selecting one boy.
Leaving on May 8, the party of white men returned to Shawnee Methodist
Mission on May 9.

Ref: Thomas Johnson's letter of August 11, 1837, In Christian Advocate and Journal,
v. 12 (September 8, 1837), p. 10; or KHC, v. 9, p. 199; R. G. Thwaites, ed., Early West-
ern Travels, v. 17, p. 300 (for Say).

C In the spring (early May?) the American Fur Company's S*.
Peters brought employees and equipment up the Missouri, probably
to Chouteau's Landing two miles below the Kaw's mouth, in prepa-
ration for an expedition to the 13th annual rendezvous of the Rocky
mountain trappers. Not since 1834 had the route across "Kansas"
been chosen. (The caravans of 1835 and 1836 had started from
Bellevue [Neb.].)

At a camp not far west of the Missouri line, two or three weeks were spent
in recruiting animals, outfitting and awaiting the "season of grass." Two
veteran mountain men in this company evidently holding responsible posts were
"Black" Harris and Etienne Provost. Joining the expedition here were Capt.
William Drummond Stewart (heading West for the third time) and his well-
equipped party (about 10 in all), which included the artist Alfred Jacob Miller,
L[evi?] Philh'p^on, F. Y. Ewing, and half-breed Antoine Clement (as "hunter
and purveyor").

The cavalcade which left the eastern "Kansas" line some time in May in-
cluded at least 120 men (company employees; Stewart's group; a band of free
hunters; 25 or more Delaware Indians), numerous wagons and carts, and a
large number of horses and mules.

No journal of the trip is known to exist. David L. Brown (new to the West
in 1837), in recollections printed in 1845, supplied a cursory account. Other
information comes from Artist Miller's on-the-spot sketches, and accompany-
ing notes written some years later. [The cover of this Quarterly reproduces
Miller's water color of the caravan crossing the Kansas river.] It appears that
"Sublette's Trace" the route of 1834 was followed in 1837. If so, the
Kansas was forded seven or eight miles above present Lawrence, at the site of
the Kansa Agency (closed in August, 1834). Miller made at least two other
sketches relating to "Kansas": a portrait of a young Kansa chief "White Plume''

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 65

(White Plume II, apparently see KHQ, v. 28, p. 353); and a drawing of a
"Western Log Cabin" the substantial home of a Shawnee Indian ( perhaps the
residence of Joseph Parks, later head chief of the Shawnees) located near the
expedition's outfitting camp. His "Bee Hunter" sketch, too, was probably done
in "Kansas."

From Fort Laramie, in mid- June, "Black" Harris went on ahead of the cara-
van to the Green river rendezvous. Missionary William Gray, returning East,
met him there, interviewed him, and jotted down in his journal (under date of
July 13) information he obtained from Harris on "names of streams on the
East & west sides of the Mts from Independence Mo. to the Grand Round,
Oregon" (though no notes were actually recorded for streams west of Inde-
pendence Rock). Presumably the itinerary from the Missouri line to Fort Lara-
mie described the route the American Fur Company caravan had just traversed.
The following table of distances is a summary of the first 13 entries as list-
ed in Gray's journal, with corrected spelling of most place names. (He wrote
"Wasse ree saw" for Wakarusa; "Soterel" for Sauterelle, etc. )

The Big Blue 14 miles from Independence "empties into the Cansus"
[Gray's error, surely, for Harris would have known that the Big Blue
of Missouri empties into the Missouri.]

Wakarusa 40 miles

Kansas river 25 miles

A small creek near the [Kansa] Agency 4 miles

Sauterelle, or Grasshopper river [now the Delaware] into the Kansas
6 miles

Soldier creek 15 miles (6 miles from the Kansa village it empties into
the Kansas)

to Prairie creek 15 miles

Black Vermillion 18 miles

Big black creek a fork of the Blue 30 miles

North fork of the Blue [the Big Blue, of Nebraska and Kansas] 15 miles

Big Sandy creek 40 miles

The west fork of the Blue [Little Blue river] "136[?] to the Paune [Paw-
nee] trails" 25 miles

Across to the Big Platte 20 miles

Ref: David L. Brown's "Three Years in the Rocky Mountains," in Cincinnati Daily
Morning Atlas, September 8, 10-13, 1845 (microcard, KHi); De Voto, op., cit., pp. xvii,
309-319, 391, 409, 414, 415, 444; Marvin C. Ross* The West of Alfred Jacob Miller
(Norman, Okla., c!951), pp. xvii, 17, 48; William H. Gray's "Diary" for July 13, 1837
(typed copy of the Oregon Historical Society's original, supplied to this compiler by Dale
L. Morgan, of the Bancroft Library, who also gave additional valuable help on this entry
in his letter of December 10, 1962, to L. Barry). Though De Veto's account places
Thomas Fitzpatrick at the head of the 1837 caravan, there is no evidence that he was
with the expedition while it traveled from Missouri to Fort Laramie.

C May. On her way to the American Fur Company's upper Mis-
souri trading posts, the St. Peters probably passed along the "Kan-
sas" shore in the latter part of the month. Among the passengers
were Indian agents John Dougherty and Joshua Pilcher; and the
boat's cargo included annuity goods for their Council Bluffs and

55500

66 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Upper Missouri agencies. (The St. Peters reached Fort Clark
on June 19. )

At, or near, Fort Leavenworth, a Company employee a mulatto became
ill. Before the St. Peters arrived at Bellevue [Neb.] the Council Bluffs
Agency his disease smallpox was fully developed and "had been com-
municated to several other persons subject to it."

From this introduction (according to Joshua Pilcher) there followed the
devastating smallpox epidemic of 1837-1838 which destroyed some, and
nearly wiped out others of the upper Missouri Indian nations; and thereby
altered the river fur trade. (The nations most affected were the Mandans,
Arickaras, Minnetarees, Assiniboines, Blackfeet, and Sioux. )

According to Isaac McCoy, upper Missouri fur traders "conjectured" 15,000
Indians had perished of smallpox by year's end.

Ref: Joshua Pilcher's February 5, 1838, letter to William Clark (copy in John C.
McCoy Collection, KHi ms. division); Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, pp. 22-24.
There are other versions of the origin of the epidemic. Bernard De Voto has discussed
them in his Across the Wide Missouri, pp. 279-301, 442. Apparently he did not know
of the Pilcher letter referred to above.

C A Gazetteer of the State of Missouri, compiled by Alphonso
Wetmore, was published at St. Louis in the spring. The western
border county of Jackson (created in December, 1826; county
seat, Independence, established in 1827 see KHQ, v. 28, p. 38)
was listed as having a population of 4,522 in 1836 (as against
2,823 in 1830).

In the Gazetteer is a table of distances "From Jackson county to Santa
Fe" (calculated as an 897-mile journey). The indications are that it was
compiled by Wetmore when he captained an 1828 expedition to Santa Fe
(see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 39, 40).

Another table gives the mileage by water, from St. Louis to Fort Leaven-
worth. By this reckoning the distance up the Missouri from St. Louis to
Franklin and Boonville was 204 miles; 115 more to Lexington; 32 miles to
Sibley [Fort Osage]; 20 to Liberty; eight to Independence; 12 to [Francis G.]
"Chouteau's"; and 40 to Cant. [i. e., Fort] Leavenworth a total of 431 miles.
[An up-to-date table would have listed Westport Landing.]

Ref: Wetmore's Gazetteer . . . (as noted above); Missouri Argus, St. Louis, May
12, 1837 (contains editorial comment on, and long quotes from, the Gazetteer); J. F.
McDermott, ed., The Early Histories of St. Louis (St. Louis, 1952), p. 21.

C May 12. John G. Pratt (missionary and printer), with his
bride Olivia (Evans) Pratt, reached Shawnee Baptist Mission
(where they would replace the Jotham Meekers who were pre-
paring to settle among the Ottawa Indians).

Ref: Isaac McCoy's "Journal," May 14, 1837, entry; Jotham Meeker's "Diary," May
11, 1837, entry; J. W. Manning's "John Gill Pratt" (dissertation, 1951, on microfilm in
KHi). He states the Pratts arrived at Westport Landing on May 11; and reached the
mission on May 12.

C May. According to Josiah Gregg's statistics (as compiled for
his Commerce of the Prairies, 1844), the goods taken to the South-

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 67

west over the Santa Fe trail in 1837 were estimated to be worth
$150,000. The merchandise, belonging to some 35 proprietors,
was carried in about 80 wagons; and around 160 men made the
journey. Gregg, southwest-bound for the third time, was one of
the merchants. (He returned in May, 1838.) Not all the traders,
necessarily, went in the spring caravan.

Ref : Gregg, op. cit., v. 1, p. 305.

C During the spring and early summer, the Iowa Indians, and the
Sac & Fox Indians of Missouri, assisted by their subagent Andrew
S. Hughes, moved across the Missouri from their old homes in the
"Platte Purchase" (northwestern Missouri) to the lands provided
by treaty of September 17, 1836 (see pp. 55, 56), settling in present
Doniphan county, north of the Kickapoos* reserve.

Subagent Hughes wrote in mid-May that he had recently taken the lowas to
the new reserve. On July 31 Brig. Gen. Henry Atkinson (from "Independence
landing") sent Isaac McCoy (at Westport) a letter stating: "The lowas &
Sauks have generally crossed the river to their own lands, a few being permit-
ted to remain a short time to gather their crops of corn." He urged McCoy to
go up at once and mark out the division line between the two bands' reserves
as the Indians were fighting over their rights of location. (McCoy went, a
few days later, and before August 12, had straightened out the difficulties. )

With his August 14 letter to the Indian department, Subagent Hughes sent
a rough sketch showing the new Indian settlements at "Eagle Point," "on the
Prairie" along the Missouri's right bank. The Sacs & Foxes were just north of
the mouth of Wolf river (now Wolf creek), and the Iowa Indians a little
higher up the Missouri ( elsewhere, the distance between settlements was given
as one mile). Hughes wrote that it was about four miles between Wolf river
and the next Missouri tributary to the north which he called "Mill creek"
(now Clear creek) and that the Indians were located right on the river be-
tween these two streams.

On August 26 Subagent Hughes reported that the Indians had erected 41
bark houses, and that the early-arriving families had small fields or patches of
corn, pumpkins, beans, and other vegetables. "According to the best count I
can make," he wrote, "the loways consist of 992 souls; the Sacs consist of 510
souls."

Ref: Isaac McCoy's "Journal," May 19, 1837; Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 24 (for
McCoy letters of August 2 and September 23, 1837, and for an A. S. Hughes letter of July
8, 1837); Presbyterian Historical Society, American Indian Missions correspondence (micro-
film, KHi), for S. M. Irvin and Aurey Ballard letter of August 12, 1837; OIA, letters re-
ceived from SIA, St. Louis (National Archives Microcopy 234, Roll 751) for Hughes'
August 14, 1837, letter, and August 26, 1837, report (the latter is, also, in Report of the
Comm'r of Indian Affairs for 1837, but undated there).

C May 26. At Fort Gibson (Okla.) delegations of chiefs and
leading men from the Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, and Tawakoni tribes,
entered into a treaty of peace and friendship with the United
States the first such treaty negotiated with these western prairie
Indians.

Also present were representatives of two "eastern" tribes the Muscogees
(Western Creeks) and the Osages of the Verdigris. Auguste P. Chouteau

68 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

and Montfort Stokes signed for the United States. Ta-ka-ta-couche (Black
Bird) headed the Kiowa signers; Roly Mclntosh signed first for the Mus-
cogees; and Clermont for the Osages.

Ref: Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 489-491; Grant Foreman's Pioneer Day* in the Early
Southwest (Cleveland, 1926), p. 231.

C June 6. The steamboat Kansas reached Fort Leavenworth
(from St. Louis) with 62 dragoon recruits, in the charge of two
lieutenants one of them 2d Lt. Philip Kearny (nephew of post
commander Col. Stephen W. Kearny).

Ref: Clarke, op cit., p. 75. Philip Kearny was commissioned a second lieutenant in the
First dragoons as of March 8, 1837. Heitman, op. cit., v. 1, p. 586.

C Between June 7 and 18 Methodist ministers Andrew Monroe,
William W. Redman, and Nelson Henry, all of Missouri, visited
the Peoria, Shawnee, Delaware, and Kickapoo missions of their
church, holding business and religious meetings. They left for
home on June 20.

Ref: Christian Advocate and Journal, v. 12 (September 8, 1837), p. 10; or, KHC,
v. 9, pp. 199, 200.

C In June Lt. Col. Richard B. Mason and the remaining troops
(18 men) of Companies H and I, First U. S. dragoons, arrived at
Fort Leavenworth from Fort Des Moines (which had been aban-
doned on June 1, by War Department order).

(The ranks were depleted because many dragoons had completed an enlist-
ment period and left the army. )

Ref: Pelzer, op. cit., pp. 62, 63.

C Ottawa Baptist Mission had its beginning on June 18 when Mis-
sionary Jotham Meeker and family unloaded their wagons at a
site (selected in March) on the north bank of the Marais des
Cygnes, near present Ottawa, and moved into temporary living
quarters ("a small rough cabin intended for a stable"). Before
mid-October the mission house had been completed.

Two days earlier the Meekers had left Shawnee Baptist Mission (some 40
miles distant) which had been their home since October, 1833. On the
Ottawa reserve there were only 79 Indian residents in June, 1837, but 170
more arrived in October ( see p. 75 ) .

Jotham Meeker's first teaching efforts were in the Ottawa language. By
report, a school of 26 men, women, and children was opened in January,
1838 conducted by visits of the missionary to the homes of Indians who
were interested (many were not). In February, 1838, Meeker went to the
Shawnee Baptist Mission and printed 400 copies of an Ottawa First Book.
This stimulated interest in reading, and in the summer he built a schoolhouse,
where, on July 9, he commenced teaching in English (at the chiefs request).
His day school was conducted with some success. In February, 1839, Meeker
reported that 17 Indians attended, but he averaged nine or ten students.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 69

Many Indians refused to send their children because the missionaries did not
board and clothe them.

Ottawa Baptist Mission was moved, after the flood of 1844, to a site "back
on to the hills" some five miles northeast of present Ottawa. Following
Jotham Meeker's death in January, 1854 the mission was discontinued.

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary"; Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 18 (June, 1838),
p. 140, v. 19 (May, 1839), p. 117, also, later issues; Spooner & Rowland's History of
American Missions . . . (1840), pp. 545, 546; Report of the Comm'r of Indian
Affairs for 1837, p. 609; KHC, v. 8, pp. 472-475.

C At Shawnee Friends Mission a school was opened in June. (For
construction of the mission buildings in 1836 and other data, see
p. 46. ) The first superintendents were Moses Pearson and his wife
Sarah (Pearson) Pearson, who came out in covered wagons, from
Miami county, Ohio, with their five children (Rhoda, aged 12,
Mahala, Timothy, Ann, and three-year-old Joshua), in the late(?)
spring. Mary H. Stenton (assistant matron) and Elias Newby
(teacher) also came in 1837.

As reported in 1838, the Friends' school had 17 scholars, who were instructed
in English, and fed and clothed by the mission. The Pearsons remained in
"Kansas" for three years their appointed time and were succeeded in mid-
1840 by Henry and Ann Harvey.

Ref: Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, p. 64; KHC, v. 8, pp. 267, 268} The
History of Miami County, Ohio (Chicago, 1880), p. 849; W. W. Hinshaw's Encyclopedia
of American Quaker Genealogy, Ann Arbor, Mich., v. 5 (1946), pp. 790, 819; Comm'r
of Indian Affairs Report, 1840, pp. 150, 151. As noted hereafter, two sons were born
to the Pearsons during their "Kansas" stay one in 1837, the other in 1840.

C June- July. As reported at St. Louis in late July, "Captain White's
company" of Santa Fe traders had recently returned to Fayette, Mo.,
bringing between $80,000 and $100,000 in gold dust and silver bars.
During the journey east this party had lost most of its mules. Pre-
sumably this company crossed "Kansas" in June.

Ref: Missouri Republican, St. Louis, July 28, 1837 (as reprinted in Nebraska State
Historical Society Publications, v. 20, p. 67).

C On the Shawnee reserve, by mid-year, a saw and grist mill had
been completed, at a reported total cost of about $8,000. Michael
Rice received a payment of $6,994.40 (from Capt. E. A. Hitchcock,
handling disbursements for the St. Louis superintendency) for
erecting this mill. (Rice, in 1833, had built a mill costing less
than half as much, apparently for the Delaware Indians. See
KH<2,v.28,pp.330,331.)

Ref: OIA, Letters received from the St. Louis superintendency (Hitchcock's disburse-
ments for the half year ending September 30, 1837), National Archives Microcopy 234, Roll
751; Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1837, p. 27.

C About July 1 the third issue of Isaac McCoy's Annual Register
of Indian Affairs (with a title-page date of May, 1837) was pub-

70 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

lished at Shawnee Baptist Mission, by John G. Pratt, in a 1,500-
copy edition. So far as known this was the first work printed by
Pratt on the Shawanoe Mission Press (or, "Meeker press"). He
had arrived on May 12.

Ref: McCoy's Annual Register . . . (as noted above); his History of Baptist
Indian Missions (1840), p. 524; D. C. McMurtrie's and A. H. Allen's Jotham Meeker
... (Chicago, 1930), p. 154.

C July 9. Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines arrived at Fort Leaven-
worth on an inspection trip. He subsequently reported: "the
first Dragoons as drilled by Colonel [S. W.] Kearny are the best
troops I have ever seen."

Ref: Clarke, op. cit., p. 76.

C BORN: on July 15, at Shawnee Friends Mission, present John-
son county, Abram Pearson, son of the mission superintendent
Moses Pearson and his wife Sarah. (See June annals entry.)

Ref: The History of Miami County, Ohio (1880), p. 849; W. W. Hinshaw's Encyclo-
pedia of American Quaker Genealogy, v. 5, p. 819.

C In July and August the emigrant bands of united Pottawatomies,
Chippewas, and Ottawas residing (since 1835 and 1836) across the
Missouri from Fort Leavenworth in the "Platte Purchase," were
removed ( under the management of Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines )
to the Council Bluffs reserve (southwestern Iowa) set aside for
them by the treaty of September 26, 1833.

Aboard the steamboat Kansas, Brig. Gen. Henry Atkinson, Col. S. W. Kearny,
Dr. Edwin James (the Indians' newly appointed subagent), and some 100
Pottawatomie women, children, and invalids, arrived at the new location on
July 28. A second group of Indians (about 75) reached the Council Bluffs
on August 8, aboard the Howard. Meantime the main body traveled over-
land up the left bank of the Missouri and probably arrived before the
end of August.

By November 842 more Pottawatomies had "removed themselves" from
east of the Mississippi to this reserve; and on November 26 Lewis H. Sands
"delivered" an additional 287 Indians. At the end of 1837 some 2,500
Pottawatomies were under the care of the Council Bluffs Subagency. By
official report, up to 1840 a total of 2,734 had been removed there.

The united Pottawatomies, Chippewas, & Ottawas were also called the
"Prairie Band of Pottawatomies." In 1847 they moved to "Kansas" to the
new Kansas river reserve for all of the Pottawatomies provided by the treaty
of June 5, 1846.

Ref: Nebraska State Historical Society Transactions, Lincoln, v. 4, p. 184; Missouri
Argus, St. Louis, August 8, 1837; Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Iowa City, v. 11,
pp. 341-363; Indiana Historical Collections, Indianapolis, v. 26, pp. 405, 412, 423, 424,
457-462; Nebraska History Magazine, Lincoln, v. 18, pp. 5-9; Report of the Comm'r of
Indian Affairs for 1840 (document No. 3, accompanying report); Grant Foreman's The
Last Trek of the Indians (c!946), pp. 107-109.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 71

C July 20-22. Anthony L. Davis, head of the new Osage River
Subagency, moved from the Fort Leavenworth vicinity (where he
had been, since December, 1834, agent for the Pottawatomies squat-
ting along the Missouri in that region) to the "Osage" (Marais des
Cygnes ) river country.

The "temporary" subagency (to which he had already moved his family)
was at Wea Presbyterian Mission, on Wea creek (present Miami county). In
May, 1838, Davis was of the opinion his residence had been purchased by
the government from the missionaries, and wrote that he considered it eligible
for use with $100 to $150 repair; and in his 1840 report the subagent stated
his headquarters was still on the Wea lands for lack of orders to erect build-
ings on the site selected in April, 1837, within the Pottawatomie reserve.

Ref: Indiana Historical Collections, v. 26, p. 419; A. L. Davis' letter of May 15, 1838
(cited under April 13, 1837, entry); A. L. Davis, report for 1889, in Report of the Comm'r
of Indian Affairs for 1839.

C Late July and early August. Aboard the American Fur Com-
pany's St. Peters (Bernard Pratte, Jr., captain), Count Francesco
Arese (aged 32, from a noble family of Milan, Italy) journeyed up
the Missouri from St. Louis to the Council Bluffs. ( He was the only
passenger not connected with the fur trade. )

"Fort Leavenworth/' wrote tourist Arese, "is the last American post. It has
a regiment of dragoons and artillery to keep the savages respectful. Some
wretched barracks and a second-rate blockhouse is all there is to what is
called the military establishment." Present at the fort "because it so happened
that several chiefs of different tribes were ... on their way to Washing-
ton to see the President," was "a big gathering of savages ... all in their
finest costumes."

A few hours later, above Fort Leavenworth, the St. Peters stopped "at a
post of the American Fur Company and landed the boss [Laurence? Pensineau]
of the [Kickapoos'] trading station . . . The boat was instantly flooded
with savages, to whom tobacco and brandy[!l were given. They greeted the
boss . . . affectionately, wringing his hand and calling him 'Papa,
Papa/ They played cards with great enthusiasm and even passion, and re-
mained on board very late that night; and three young Indian women remained
on board all night . . . with the consent of the Kickapoo chief. . . ."

The St. Peters reached the Council Bluffs "after 11 days on the Missouri."
Arese, with two companions, subsequently traveled on horseback across present
Minnesota; then, by canoe, and dug-out, made his way to Prairie du Chien;
traversed Wisconsin (mostly in canoes); spent some time in the Great Lakes
region; eventually reached Boston; and then returned to Italy.

Ref: Francesco Arese's A Trip to the Prairies and in the Interior of North America
. . ., translated ... by Andrew Evans (New York, 1934); Mississippi Valley
Historical Review, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, v. 20 (December, 1933), pp. 381-399.

C Late in the summer the Pottawatomies residing on the Kickapoo
reserve above Fort Leavenworth left that location and journeyed
70 miles southward to the "Osage" (Marais des Cygnes) river

72 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

reserve which had been provided for the Pottawatomies of Indiana
by the treaty of February 11, 1837. ( See p. 60. )

Jotham Meeker reported that the first migrants arrived at the "Osage" on
August 16, but indications are that most of them (681) made the journey
in September. An abstract of Indian department expenditures for September
13 shows the following items relating to removing the Pottawatomies from
Fort Leavenworth to "Osage" river: to Johnston Lykins $617.50 for his serv-
ices as assistant agent, and $372 for aiding in the Indians' removal; to Joseph
Barrette[?] $60 for "ferriage over Kansas river" of 552 Indians and their
horses, etc.; to "Sacarcopy" [Sarcoxie a Delaware] $16.12 for "ferriage over
Kansas river" of 129 Indians and their horses, etc.; also, to Charles Johnson,
William Mattingly, John P. Smith, William M. Chick, and Joseph Barrette,
payments for "hire of a wagon" (two wagons in the case of Chick) in re-
moving the Indians.

These Pottawatomies made their camps along the south side of Potta-
watomie creek. According to Isaac McCoy and Subagent A. L. Davis, many
of the Pottawatomies who migrated to the "Osage" river reserve in 1837
were either "Kankakee" ( 111. ) Indians, or "St. Joseph's river" ( Mich. ) Indians,
formerly enrolled in the Chicago Agency and therefore not Indiana Pottawat-
omies.

On September 27, coming direct from east of the Mississippi, 53 Potta-
watomies under the care of George Proffitt, reached the Marais des Cygnes, also.
(And see p. 78 for November arrivals.)

Ref: Meeker "Diary," August 16, 1837, entry; 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc. No. 174
(Serial 347), p. 59; Indiana Historical Collections, v. 26, pp. 405, 419-424, 459-461,
465, 466; Report of the Comm'r of Indian Affairs for 1837 (A. L. Davis' report, in-
corporated); ibid., for 1840 (Document No. 3 accompanying report); Johnston Lykins'
"Journal," April, 1839 (in KHi ms. division); also, the references cited for Pottawatomie
Baptist Mission see p. 77.

C MARRIED: William Smith Donohoe and Eleanor McCoy, on
August 22, at the home of the bride, near Westport, Mo., by her
father the Rev. Isaac McCoy.

Ref: Jackson county, Mo., marriage records, v. 1, p. 119.

C August 30. A Chippewa "exploring deputation" from Michigan
(three chiefs of the Saginaw band, three from the Swan creek and
Black river bands, their conductor, Albert J. Smith and attendants
10 persons in all), accompanied by the Rev. Isaac McCoy, left
Westport, Mo., to examine the country west and south, of the
Ottawas* reserve in present Franklin county which McCoy (as
agent for the government) had selected for the Chippewas' 8,320-
acre reservation ( promised under terms of the May 9, 1836, treaty ) .

[Conductor Smith's abstract of disbursements shows payment, on August
27, 1837, to the Steamboat Kansas of $20 "for self," and of $72 "for Indian
chiefs," from St. Louis to Westport. Residents who supplied goods or serv-
ices were: Daniel Yoacham (who boarded the party), merchants William M.
Chick, and Parks 6- Findlay (who outfitted the deputation), and Thomas J.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 73

Colbert (who was paid for "Transportation of Indians from Westport to Inde-
pendence" when the Chippewas started home). Notably, this abstract con-
tains one of the early specific references to Westport as an outfitting point.]

On August 31 the deputation reached newly founded Ottawa Baptist
Mission (on the Marais des Cygnes, near present Ottawa); and on Septem-
ber 3, after several days of exploring, was back at the mission, en route to
Westport.

The Chippewas, and their aides, returned to St. Louis on the Boonville,
boarding her at Independence, Mo., about September 9. By the end of the
month they had reached their Michigan homes.

( In November, 1839, 62 of the Swan creek Chippewas came to "Kansas" to
make their home in present Franklin county. )

Ref: 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc. No. 174 (Serial 347), pp. 19-21 (for Smith's
abstract of disbursements); KHC, v. 11, p. 314; Jotham Meeker's "Diary," August 31, Sep-
tember 3 and 4, 1837, entries; Isaac McCoy "letters" of September 6, 1837, in "McCoy
Manuscripts/' v. 24.

C Between September 1 and October 8 the route subsequently
known as the Fort Leavenworth-Fort Gibson military road was lo-
cated and surveyed by a party made up of Col. S. W. Kearny, Capt.
Nathan Boone, Charles Dimmock (civil engineer), his assistant, and
a small escort of First U. S. dragoons.

On the exploratory journey southward, through what is now the eastern
tier of Kansas counties (after leaving Fort Leavenworth on September 1), the
line of march was never more than a few miles within the Indian country, and,
on occasion, approached within yards of the Missouri boundary. In the latter
part of September, the Kearny-Boone party arrived at short-lived Fort Coffee
(on the Arkansas, about eight miles west of the state of Arkansas) the chosen
terminus for this middle section of the Western military road (see p. 53 for
note on the July 2, 1836, frontier protection act).

The actual survey was made (by Dimmock) on the return trip, beginning at
the Arkansas river, opposite Fort Coffee (Okla.) on September 27. It was
completed to Fort Leavenworth on October 8. In his report Dimmock com-
mented on the extensive rolling prairies in the "Kansas" portion of the route
the 158 miles between Spring river (in present Cherokee county) and Fort
Leavenworth. The streams to be forded he listed as "Spring river," "Pomme
de Terre" [Cow? creek, Cherokee county], "Wildcat" [Drywood?], "Mermiton"
[Marmaton], "Little Osage," "Cotton Wood [Mine?l creek," "Marias des
Lygne" [Marais des Cygnes], "Blue" [Big Blue, Missouri tributary], and the
"Kanzas."

(See, also, October 15, 1838, annals entry.)

Ref: KHQ, v. 11, pp. 115-121, also map facing p. 129. Fort Coffee (Olda.) was
abandoned in the autumn of 1838. Ibid., p. 123.

C September 18. Lt. Thomas Swords (acting quartermaster)
made a contract with J. B. Wells to prepare and sow in timothy
seed, 100 acres of land near Fort Leavenworth; also a contract with
Jesse Overton to prepare, sow in timothy seed, and fence in, by the

74 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

31st of October (1837), and the 31st of May (1838), 500 acres of
prairie near Fort Leavenworth.

Ref: 25th Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc. 200 (Serial 316), pp. 352, 353, 360.

C September 27. An exploring delegation of 18 to 20 New York
Indians, conducted by the Rev. John F. Schermerhorn, of Utica,
N. Y., left Westport, Mo., to examine a tract north of the Cherokee
Neutral Lands and the Osage reserve.

This party first entered "Kansas" some 70 miles south of Westport prob-
ably a little above the Linn-Bourbon county line of today; proceeded to tour the
Little Osage river country, and some tributaries of the Neosho; visited the
Osage Subagency; descended the Marmaton; crossed the Missouri line to
Harmony; and by October 13 was back at Westport, en route East.

Subsequently, by treaty of January 15, 1838 (which was signed by all the
groups of New York Indians those who had emigrated to Wisconsin in the
1820's, as well as those residing in New York), a large rectangular reserve
(1,824,000 acres) in the "Kansas" area described above, was assigned to these
tribes. (The negotiations involved an exchange of 435,000 acres of the land
in Wisconsin which had been given them by the treaty of 1831.) On June
11, 1838, the U. S. senate amended the treaty, but only part of the New York
Indians signed the final document.

Though something like 200 New York Indians finally came out to the reserve
in 1846 only 32 received patents (for 320 acres each) provided by terms
of the treaty, and none settled permanently in "Kansas."

After President Buchanan, in 1860, declared the vacant reserve public do-
main, open for settlement, the New York Indians filed suit for indemnity. In
1898 their claim was allowed.

Ref: John F. Schermerhorn letter of October 13, 1837 (in McCoy "Manuscripts," v.
24); also Isaac McCoy letter of November 23, 1837, in ibid.; Felix S. Cohen's Handbook
of Federal Indian Law . . . (Washington, 1942), p. 420; KHC, v. 8, pp. 83-85;
Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 502-512; 52d Cong., 1st Sess., Senate Report No. 910 (Serial
2915), pp. 5, 6. In KHC, v. 4, p. 301, John C. McCoy (in 1889) stated that he sur-
veyed, in 1837, "a. tract south of the Pottawatomies and north of Fort Scott [established
in 1842] for the New York Indians. . . ."

C Late in September (?) some 100(?) Shawnee and Delaware
men, who had been enlisted for six months' service in the war against
the Seminoles, left "Kansas" for Florida. The leading Delaware chief
Nah-ko-min was in this company, but the captain was Joseph
Parks (part Indian; later Shawnee head chief). By one report about
80 of each nation went; however, Capt. Thomas Swords ( AQM, Fort
Leavenworth), on September 27, made a contract with Joseph
White to transport 100 Indians, and the officers in command, from
mouth of Kansas river to Jefferson Barracks, Mo.

Thirty Delawares (led by Captain Parks) took part in the battle near Lake
Okeechobee, Fla., on December 25. (It was in this engagement that Missouri
volunteer troops suffered heavy casualties, and lost their leader, Col. Richard
Gentry. ) Prior to the battle, the "greater part" of the Shawnees had been de-

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 75

tached, and the rest had refused to accompany Col. Zachary Taylor "under the
pretext that a number of them were sick, and that the remainder were with-
out moccasins/' It is said that all these Indians returned to "Kansas" safely
in 1838.

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," October 6, 1837, entry; 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc.
94 (Serial 346), p. 54; Isaac McCoy letter of December 15, 1837 (published in Indiana
Historical Collections, v. 26, p. 474); 25th Cong., 1st Sess., H. Doc. 27 (Serial 311); 25th
Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc. 227 (Serial 316); KHC, v. 10, p. 400; E. C. McReynolds' The
Seminoles (Norman, c!957), pp. 193, 201; Isaac McCoy letter of July 1, 1839 (for item
on Nah-ko-min).

C October 6-20. Conducted from Maumee, Ohio, by John McEl-
vain, a party of 170 Ottawas arrived at Chouteau's Landing on the
6th, aboard the St. Peters. Ten wagons and teams, supplied ( at $4
a day per team) by Westport merchant William M. Chick, then
transported the Indians (between October 7 and 11) to the reserve,
in present Franklin county, occupied by approximately 80 Ottawas
who had come to "Kansas" in 1832 (see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 204, 363,
364).

The reserve assigned these new arrivals (the Roche de Boeuf and Wolf
Rapids Ottawas) was both south, and west, of the tract already occupied; but
Jotham Meeker, of the newly founded Ottawa Baptist Mission (near present
Ottawa), wrote in his diary on October 20: "Our new Indians have just decided
to settle near us." (In August, 1839, 108 more Ottawas came to "Kansas.")

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," October 6-20, entries; 25th Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc.
200 (Serial 316), pp. 2-4; Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 24, for McCoy's letter of Sep-
tember 30, 1837, and a September 22, 1837, letter by Disbursing Agent Criger; KHC,
v. 13, pp. 373-375 (for Joseph B. King's article, which contains errors in dates, etc., but
is, in general, correct); Grant Foreman's Last Trek of the Indians, p. 91.

C October 9. The Rev. Learner B. Stateler and his bride Me-
linda (Purdom) Stateler arrived at Delaware Methodist Mission
(present Wyandotte county) see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 191, 192, for its
1832-1837 history where the Rev. E. T. Peery and his family had
recently resided.

Stateler first preached to the Indians on October 15. Subsequently he
was occupied for some weeks in repairing the mission buildings. On January
4, 1838, he opened a school for Delaware children. (The Statelers were
transferred to Shawnee Methodist Mission in 1840. )

Ref: E. J. Stanley's Life of Rev. L. B. Stateler (1907), pp. 81, 87, 88, 104; Christian
Advocate and Journal, v. 12 (February 16, 1838), p. 102 (for Thomas Johnson's report of
December 27, 1837 wherein he notes that the Munsees who arrived in December, 1837,
settled about three miles from the Delaware Methodist Mission); portraits of L. B. and
Melinda Stateler are in KHC, v. 9, pp. 222, 223.

C October 11. The Rev. Lorenzo Waugh (a single man) arrived
at Shawnee Methodist Mission, to serve as assistant missionary.
He lived with the Rev. Thomas Johnson family.

As he later recollected: "At the old Shawnee Mission [in Wyandotte county!
then we had only a small farm, and all the mission buildings were poor and

76 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

inconvenient." (Waugh left the Indian country in 1840. Besides teaching
the Shawnees, he had also spent some months at the Kansa Methodist Mis-
sion assisting Missionary William Johnson. )

Ref: Lorenzo Waugh's Autobiography . . ., 2d edition (San Francisco, 1884),
pp. 112, 117, 126, 134; KHC, v. 9, pp. 168, 226.

C MARRIED: the Rev. Nathan T. Shaler, and Annie Beauchemie
(aged 17?, of Chippewa, Shawnee, French, and English ancestry),
daughter of Mackinaw and Betsy (Rogers) Beauchemie, in the
autumn, at, or near, Shawnee Methodist Mission (present Wyan-
dotte county).

Ref: KHC, v. 16, p. 253 (for the Rev. E. T. Peery's statement concerning this mar-
riage); ibid., v. 9, p. 171n and KHQ, v. 28, p. 350 (for items on Mrs. Betsy Beauchemie,
and another daughter). Nathan T. Shaler had arrived at Shawnee Mission in late 1836.
KHC, v. 9, p. 170. Annie Beauchemie had been educated at the mission. Ibid., pp. 171n
and 211. She died in March, 1843. Ibid., v. 16, p. 253.

C MARRIED: Joseph Papin and "Kansas"-born Mary Josephine
("Josette") Gonville (daughter of the Frenchman Louis Gonville
and a Kansa woman [who was either a daughter, or niece, of Chief
White Plume]), on October 25, at "Chouteau's Church," in present
Kansas City, Mo., by the Rev. Felix L. Verreydt, S. J. (See, also,
KHg,v.28,p.348.)

Ref: Frederick Chouteau's May 5, 1880, letter (in KHi ms. division); 37th Cong., 2d
Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 58 (Serial 1122), p. 2; G. J. Garraghan's The Jesuits of the
Middle United States, v. 1, pp. 95, 260 (where the bride's name is given as Mary "Cave"
doubtless because of difficulty in deciphering Verreydt's handwriting in the original Kickapoo
Register. As early as 1833 a "J. Papin" was an employee of the American Fur Company;
and a company trader whom Missionary William Gray described as "a Frenchman by the
name of Joseph Papair" [Joseph Papin?], was credited by Gray as saving him from death
at the hands of the Sioux in the summer of 1837. De Voto, op. cit., pp. 331, 332. James
Beckwourth, in his reminiscences (op. cit., pp. 394, 395) referred to a "Joseph Pappen,"
on the Missouri river in 1837.

C Late in October Pottawatomie Baptist Mission was established
when Robert Simerwell moved his family (wife and four children)
from Shawnee Baptist Mission (their home since May, 1834 see
KHQ, v. 28, p. 343) to a log cabin 50 miles southwest, near the
newly arrived Indians.

The mission station, as constructed in 1839-1840, was on the south side
of Pottawatomie creek, in southeastern Franklin county of today. (On good
evidence it appears the site was on the S. W. of Sec. 9, T. 19, R. 21 E.,
about two and a half miles above present Lane, and the ford known as
"Dutch Henry's crossing." As described in October, 1840, the recently
completed hewn-log mission buildings were: a story-and-a-half dwelling
32'xl8', divided into two apartments above and below, with a stone chimney,
shingle roof, and plank floor; a 16'xl6' cookhouse, with a stone chimney; and
a 20'xl8' schoolroom, with three 12-light windows and one door. (It is
said the SimerwellsV original cabin was a little farther downstream.)

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 77

When Simerwell began visiting the Pottawatomie camps in January, 1838,
almost everybody seemed anxious to be taught to read. But in the spring the
Indians "commenced drinking," and later the "sickly season" arrived. Many
Pottawatomies died; and all the Simerwells were ill. Following the arrival
of more Indians in 1838, there was a movement of many Pottawatomies
(beginning in March, 1839) to a settlement on Sugar creek (in present Linn
county). In October, 1839, the missionary reported that a day school, begun
in January for the Pottawatomie creek Indian youths and his own children,
had been attended by nine to 14 Pottawatomies. This school was soon sus-
pended. Simerwell subsequently took employment as a government black-
smith, in order that the Baptist Board in Boston might apply his salary for
a minister at the mission. But no minister was sent. Jotham Meeker, of
Ottawa Baptist Mission (about 14? miles northwest), had pastoral charge,
for a time, beginning in May, 1840.

In April, 1844, the Board in Boston "judged it expedient to suspend the
station," and "dissolve their connexion with Mr. Simerwell." Four months
later Robert and Fanny (Goodridge) Simerwell were appointed missionaries
by the American Indian Mission Association (a new Baptist organization,
headed by the Rev. Isaac McCoy, with headquarters in Louisville, Ky.).
Under the A. I. M. A., Pottawatomie Baptist Mission was continued at the
Pottawatomie creek location till 1848; and then was re-established in present
Shawnee county after the Indians moved, in 1847 and 1848, to a reservation
on the Kansas river.

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," particularly October 27, 1837, and May 4, 1840,
entries; Reports of the Comm'r of Indian Affairs for 1837, 1839, 1840; Jotham Meeker
letter, January, 1838 (in McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 25); Baptist Missionary Magazine, v.
18 (June, 1838), p. 139, v. 19 (April, 1839), pp. 90, 91, v. 20 (June, 1840), p. 128,
v. 23 (June, 1843), p. 140, v. 24 (July, 1844), p. 182; Johnston Lykins' "Journal," for
April, 1839; Malin, op. cit., pp. 714-717 (wherein Doctor Malin's thorough research for
the history of "Dutch Henry's crossing," and vicinity, provides evidence of the Pottawatomie
Baptist Mission location); Bessie E. Moore's "Life and Work of Robert Simerwell" (thesis,
May, 1939), pp. 40-56; Spooner & Rowland's History of American Missions, pp. 543, 544.

C About November 1 the Rev. Samuel M. and Eliza H. Irvin oc-
cupied a recently built log cabin on the Iowa reserve, above the
mouth of Wolf creek ( in present Doniphan county ) and established
in "Kansas" the Presbyterian mission for the Iowa Indians which had
been founded, in 1835, across the river at the old Iowa Agency in
the "Platte Purchase" of Missouri.

(On October 12 Irvin had written: "We have one building put up at the
new station and as much hay as will support our cattle through the winter/'
The location for the cabin had been determined in mid-August after Isaac
McCoy surveyed the dividing line between the lowas and the adjoining Sacs &
Foxes of Missouri see p. 67. )

Whereas the mission east of the Missouri had been for the lowas
only, the school at the new station (at the invitation of Subagent
A. S. Hughes) was to include the Sacs & Foxes. Near the end of
December (see p. 80), the Rev. William Hamilton and his wife

78 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

joined the Irvins, at the Iowa, Sac & Fox Presbyterian Mission. (To
the missionaries it was the "loway and Sac Mission.")

In 1844 a decision was made to form a "manual-labor boarding-school." A
three-story stone and brick building (containing 32 rooms) started in 1845
was completed in 1846. The site of this mission (the surviving portion of this
original building is a state museum) is some two miles east of present High-
land, within Sec. 24, T. 2, R. 19 E.

Ref: Presbyterian Historical Society, American Indian Missions correspondence (micro-
film, KHi), for S. M. Irvin and Aurey Ballard's letter of August 12, 1837, S. M. Irvin's
letters of May 16, and October 12, 1837, Eliza H. Irvin's letter of June 2, 1837, and Aurey
Ballard's letter of November 20, 1837; Reports of the Comm'r of Indian Affairs, 1842-1861
(especially 1844-1847); KHC, v. 10, pp. 312-321; KHQ, v. 10, p. 348, v. 23, pp. 124,
125; and Spooner & Rowland's History of American Mission*, pp. 724, 725.

C In the middle of November, To-pen-e-bee (or, To-pin-a-bee)
the principal chief of the PoUawatomie nation, and 164 of his people,
arrived in "Kansas'* to settle on the "Osage" river reserve. They
were from St. Joseph river in Michigan.

Under the superintendence of Lewis H. Sands, and conducted by Capt.
Robert H. McCabe, nearly 500 Pottawatomies from Michigan and Illinois
had started overland in September crossing the Mississippi at Quincy, 111.,
beginning September 24. The larger number (287) of these emigrants went
to the Council Bluffs (Iowa) reserve; but through the efforts of Luther
Rice (part Pottawatomie, whose family was in the party), Moses H. Scott
(assistant emigrant agent), and Isaac McCoy, Chief To-pen-e-bee and his
followers diverged from the route to Council Bluffs at a point about 40 miles
above Westport, Mo., and came down to the Marais des Cygnes, and the
settlement on Pottawatomie creek ( see p. 72 ).

With this accession, the total Pottawatomie population in the Osage River
Subagency at the end of the year was between 850 and 900.

Ref: Grant Foreman's The Last Trek of the Indians, pp. 107, 108; Indiana Historical
Collections, v. 26, pp. 433, 438, 439, 457-462; 25th Cong., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc. 395
(Serial 318), p. 2; McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 26 (A. L. Davis' letter of January 22, 1839).

C During mid-November Bishop Jackson Kemper, the Protestant
Episcopal Church's "missionary bishop of the Northwest/ 7 made
an overland tour of Missouri river towns, as far as Westport, and
also journeyed to Fort Leavenworth to discuss with Col. S. W.
Kearny the need for a chaplain there. ( He was accompanied from
Fayette, Mo., by the Rev. Mr. Peake. )

As a result of this brief visit the first by Episcopalian clergymen to the
post a minister of Bishop Kemper's church was appointed, in 1838, as Fort
Leavenworth's first chaplain. (See December 17, 1838, annals.)

Ref: KHC, v. 16, p. 355; Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
Richmond, Va., v. 4 (September, 1935), pp. 198, 199; John Wilson's letter of November
13, 1837, in McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 25.

C November 19. The steamboat Boonville, en route to Fort
Leavenworth (and laden principally with stores for that post) hit a

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 79

snag a few miles above Independence, Mo., and went down a total
loss.

Ref: Missouri Republican, St. Louis, November 28, 1837, as reprinted in Nebraska
State Historical Society Publications, v. 20, p. 69; the Rev. William Hamilton's November
20, 1837, letter (in Presbyterian Historical Society, American Indian Missions correspondence

microfilm KHi).

C December. Accompanied by the Rev. Jesse Vogler, Moravian
(United Brethren) missionary, John Kilbuck's party of Munsee (or,
Christian) Indians 72 persons in all arrived at the "mouth of
Kansas river" early (?) in the month, aboard the St. Peters. By
the end of December, these Indians, and their missionary, were
established on the reserve of the Delawares (kindred of the Mun-
sees) at a site some eight miles above the Kaw's mouth, and north
of the river. Their settlement or the Munsee Moravian Mission
in its midst was called "Westfield." (The location: at, and near
present Muncie, Wyandotte co., in Sections 14, 15, and 16(?) of
T. 11,R.24E.)

More Munsees arrived, in 1839, with some Stockbridge Indians. The Rev.
J. Christopher Micksch (and wife) succeeded Vogler at the Moravian mis-
sion; and after Micksch's death, in 1845, other missionaries came. Although
"Westfield" was within that part of the Delawares' reservation which they
granted to the Wyandot Indians late in 1843, the Munsees continued to live
there till about the end of 1853. (The Wyandots finally requested them to
move.) By the Delaware treaty of May 6, 1854, the Munsees were granted
four sections of land located about three miles below present Leavenworth
land now occupied by the Wadsworth veterans' facility, and Mount Muncie
cemetery. They lived at "Shekomeko" (as the new settlement, or the
Moravian mission, was called) for only four years (1854-1858); then sold the
reserve; confederated with the Swan creek Chippewas who came to "Kansas"
in October, 1839; and moved, as did their missionaries, to present Franklin
county. The Munsee Moravian Mission, which began in (or, was trans-
ferred from Canada to ) "Kansas" in 1837, continued in operation till 1905.

Ref: OIA, Letters received from SIA, St. Louis (Microcopy 234, Roll 751 National
Archives), William Clark's abstract of requisitions for 1837 (item for December 4 $432
for transportation of John Kilbuck's party of "72 Delawares from Canada" on the St.
Peters); Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 18 (June, 1838), p. 139; E. J. Stanley's Life of
Rev. L. B. Stateler (1907), p. 87; KHC, v. 11, pp. 314, 317-323; Henry R. Schoolcraft's
Personal Memoirs . . . (Philadelphia, 1851), pp. 564, 565; Reports, of the Comm'r
of Indian Affairs, especially 1840, 1844, 1845; KHC, v. 8, pp. 85, 86; KHQ, v. 21, pp. 454,
459, 485 (for "Shekomeko"). A Munsee(?) burial place is shown on the land plats of
the 1850's in Sec. 16, T. 11 S., R. 24 E. The History of Jackson County Missouri
. . . (Kansas City, Mo., 1881), p. 684, states: "At this time [1855] Isaiah Walker
[Wyandot Indian] . . . lived in the old Moravian Mission House ... at Mun-
cie town."

C MARRIED: John Calvin McCoy and Virginia Chick (daughter

of William M. and Ann Eliza Chick), on December (?), at

Westport, Mo., by the Rev. Isaac McCoy (father of the groom).

80 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

(The William M. Chick family had moved to Westport from Howard
county, Mo., in 1836 [see p. 42]. Earlier, in 1834, Mary Jane Chick [older
sister of Virginia] had married the Rev. William Johnson, missionary to the
Shawnees and the Kansa. )

Ref: The Annals of Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo., v. 1 (October, 1924), p. 467; KHC,
v. 9, p. 178n. No exact date of this marriage has been located. Apparently it was not
recorded at the Jackson county, Mo., courthouse though other McCoy marriages are to
be found at Independence, Mo.

C On December 28 the Rev. William Hamilton, afoot, and his wife
Julia Ann N. (McGiffin) Hamilton, on a mule, crossed the Missouri
on the ice from Joseph Robidoux's trading post (now St. Joseph,
Mo.) and proceeded cross-country (through present Doniphan
county ) towards the new home of the Iowa, Sac & Fox Presbyterian
Mission 25 miles to the northwest, above Wolf creek.

With them, on a pony, were two small girls (one? an Indian) from "Mr.
[Aurey] Ballard's family." (The Ballards still occupied the former Iowa mission
station [founded 1835] at the old Iowa Agency east of the Missouri, some nine
miles below the Robidoux post.)

Late in the afternoon of December 29, after a night out on the
prairie, and some hardships, these travelers reached their destina-
tion the mission cabin occupied (since November see p. 77) by
the Rev. Samuel M. and Eliza H. Irvin.

The Hamiltons remained in "Kansas" as missionaries to the Iowa and Sac
& Fox Indians till 1853. Of five daughters born to them during the 16-year
interval, four were living when the family removed to "Nebraska."

Ref: Presbyterian Historical Society, American Indian Missions correspondence (micro-
film, KHi), for Hamilton's November 20, 1837, and September 29, 1852, letters; Nebraska
State Historical Society Transactions, v. 1, pp. 60-73.

C John Treat Irving, Jr/s The Hunters of the Prairie, or the Hawk
Chief. A Tale of the Indian Country, was published at London in
1837. The locale of the novel was 'Wolf Hill" [Fort Leavenworth],
and the frontier to the west and north (the country of the Kansa,
Pawnees, Otoes, Sioux, and Omahas) a region which the author
had visited in 1833 (see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 332, 333, 337, 338, 340).

In the introduction to this work of fiction, young Irving wrote: "The tract
of country ... is a wild and luxuriant region of prairies, glowing with
gorgeous flowers and rich herbage, and here and there intersected by small
rivers of crystal waters, bordered by groves of lofty trees. It is, in truth, a
fairy-land, and fitted for wild adventure." The plot, concerning hunters, In-
dians, and mounted rangers, was an implausible adventure tale.

Ref: J. T. Irving, Jr.'s The Hunters of the Prairie . . . (London, R. Bentley,
1837).

C Employed in "Kansas" by the Indian Department during all, or
part of the year 1837 were the following persons:

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 81

FORT LEAVENWORTH AGENCY Agent Richard W. Cummins; Interpreters
Henry Tiblow (appointed May 14, 1837), and Clement Lessert (appointed
July 15, 1837); Gun and blacksmiths David Shahan (for Shawnees), William
Donalson (for Shawnees), John P. Smith (for Kickapoos), Nelson A. Warren
(for Kansa), and William F. Newton (for Delawares); Assistant gun and
blacksmiths Paschal Fish (for Delawares), John Bluejacket (for Shawnees),
William V. Smith (for Kickapoos), Silas Dougherty (for Kickapoos?), John
M. Owen (for Kansa), William Pechalker (for Kansa), and Charles Fish (for
Kansa); Farmer Cephas Case (for Kansa?); Teachers the Rev. J. C. Berryman,
John D. Swallow, and David Kinnear (all for the Kickapoos), Henry Rennick
( for Delawares ) ; Millers James and John Allen ( for Delawares and Shawnees ) .

GREAT NEMAHAW SUBAGENCY Subagent Andrew S. Hughes; Interpreters
Jeffrey Dorney (for lowas), and Nimrod Henderson (for Sacs & Foxes); Gun
and blacksmiths James Duncan (for lowas), James Gilmore (for Sacs &
Foxes); Assistant gun and blacksmiths Joseph H. Ficklin (for lowas), Madi-
son Gilmore (for Sacs & Foxes); Farmers William Duncan (for lowas), and
Leonard Searcy (for Sacs & Foxes).

OSAGE [MARAIS DBS CYGNES] RIVER SUBAGENCY Subagent Anthony L.
Davis (appointed April 28); Interpreters Francis Le Vallier, and John T.
Jones (paid for December only); Gun and blacksmiths William Carlisle, and
Perry G. Graf ton (assistant).

OSAGE SUBAGENCY Subagent Paul Ligueste Chouteau; Interpreter Bap-
tiste Mongrain; Blacksmiths Etienne Brant and Louison Brequier ( assistant ) .

Ref: 25th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. No. 135 (Serial 326); 25th Cong., 2d Sess., H.
Doc. No. 862 (Serial 330), pp. 84, 86, 87; 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc. No. 174 (Serial
347), pp. 58-60.

(Part Ten Will Appear in the Summer, 1963, issue.)

fr-5500

The Annual Meeting

THE 87th annual meeting of the Kansas State Historical Society
and board of directors was held in Topeka on October 16, 1962.
At 10:00 A. M., a public meeting was held in the G. A. R. audi-
torium. Thomas Witty, state archaeologist and a member of the
Society's staff, presented a paper and colored slides on the subject,
"Locating and Investigating Kansas Archaeological Sites." Edgar
Langsdorf, assistant secretary, presided.

The meeting of the Society's board of directors was held con-
currently, with Pres. Emory Lindquist presiding. First business was
the report of the secretary:

SECRETARY'S REPORT, YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 16, 1962

At the conclusion of last year's meeting the newly elected president, Emory
K. Lindquist, reappointed Charles M. Correll and Frank Haucke to the execu-
tive committee. Members holding over were Will T. Beck, Wilford Riegle,
and Alan W. Farley.

Two members of the board of directors have died since the last meeting.
Frank Hodges, Olathe businessman, banker, and philanthropist, passed away
February 5, 1962. He had been a member of the Society for more than 30
years and a director since 1950. Mrs. Isabelle Cone Harvey, widow of former
Lt. Gov. A. M. Harvey, died in Topeka April 12. Daughter of a pioneer
Kansan, W. W. Cone, Mrs. Harvey was a life member of the Society from
1929 and a member of the board of directors since 1933. She was active in
the Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames, and other patriotic
groups, and for many years was secretary of the Kansas Department of the
United Spanish War Veterans.

As a result of the adoption last year of a retirement system for state em-
ployees, several members of the staff retired on June 30. They are Kirke
Mechem, secretary from 1930 to 1951 and continuing thereafter as an editor
and informational counsel; Mrs. Lela Barnes, the Society's treasurer since 1940
and a member of the staff since 1931; Mrs. Grace Menninger, library clipping
clerk since 1948; Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Hardy, caretakers at Shawnee Mission
since 1939; and Mr. and Mrs. Elwood M. Jones, caretakers at the Kaw Mission
since 1951. To all these people, who became our personal friends as well as
valued co-workers, sincere thanks are due for their years of capable and
devoted service.

APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET REQUESTS

This year the Society is operating on a budget, exclusive of capital improve-
ments, some $5,000 less than in the previous two years. The major portion of
this reduction, $4,000, is in the allocation for printing, which is reduced from
$22,000 to $18,000. The printing budget includes the cost of library and news-
paper binding and the reproduction of the monthly newspaper releases which
are prepared in the state's central duplicating division, but the effect of the
cut will be reflected most sharply in the 1963 Quarterly, which absorbs the

(82)

THE ANNUAL MEETING 83

lion's share of the printing appropriation. This is doubly regrettable, for the
Quarterly is not only the Society's most permanent scholarly contribution but
in many instances it is the only way in which the Society is known to historians
and to users of libraries not only in Kansas but across the entire nation and
even in foreign countries.

The position of informational counsel was lost when Kirke Mechem retired,
and this will throw a greater load of editorial work on other members of the
staff. Requests in the last two budgets for a maintenance engineer and a di-
rector of field services are repeated in the budget for 1964, which was sub-
mitted to the state budget director late in September. Increases were requested
in many operational categories, partly to compensate for higher costs and partly
to enable the Society to expand and improve its services to the public. Capital
improvement requests include a number of items from past budgets which
were not granted, and one major new item, replacement of the wooden win-
dows and frames on the south and west sides of the Memorial building.

PUBLICATIONS AND SPECIAL PROJECTS

As mentioned in the annual report a year ago, the four-color covers used
on the Quarterly during 1961 were so favorably received that they were con-
tinued this year. One of the country's foremost Western history scholars and
writers, Dale L. Morgan, wrote last March to commend the "magnificent"
Spring issue, adding, "I do hope that funds can be found to permit you to go
on indefinitely, or forever, with these colored covers."

Unfortunately, the reduced printing appropriation effective last July 1 makes
it unlikely that this feature can be continued in 1964 unless financial relief is
provided. In response to a distress call published in the Mirror several mem-
bers have sent in contributions to help defray the cost. With these, and by
effecting other economies, it now seems probable that color can be utilized
on the 1963 covers. However, unless a miracle occurs, the 1963 issues will
still have to appear with fewer pages.

Circulation has increased by about 100 since last year's report. More than
2,700 copies of the Quarterly are now being mailed to members of the Society
and to schools and libraries. The Autumn number contained the llth and
final installment of the popular series, "Cowtown Police Officers and Gun
Fighters." Plans are now being made for the publication of these articles,
with additional material, in book form. Work is also underway on another
major book, Kansas in Newspapers, which will be printed under the auspices
of the Baughman Foundation. Further details will be announced when these
projects are farther along.

A new series of Sunday afternoon motion pictures began on October 7
as a public service. This year the series consists of some of the classic silent
pictures, among them, "The Covered Wagon," "Birth of a Nation," "Hunch-
back of Notre Dame," and "Son of the Sheik." They will be shown at 2:30
in the Society's auditorium on the first Sunday of each month, concluding in
May, 1963.

Texts for Kansas Historical Markers relating to the discovery of helium at
Dexter, Cowley county, and on Osawatomie, as mentioned previously, have
been finished. Another text was completed, and research on others is in
process. Titled "The High Plains," the new marker is to be installed on
U. S. 40 at the Kansas-Colorado line. It mentions Fort Wallace and the

84 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Butterfield stage line which operated through the area, and calls attention to
Mount Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas.

ARCHAEOLOGY

The Society has continued to co-operate with the National Park Service in
performing archaeological salvage work in several reservoirs now under con-
struction in Kansas. Preliminary surveys were completed in the Elk City and
Cheney reservoirs and last summer was devoted to a full-scale excavation in
the Council Grove reservoir.

Within the Elk City reservoir area 21 new archaeological sites were located
and recorded. The Cheney survey discovered four new sites which will be
inundated when that reservoir is completed. Appraisal reports of these surveys
have been submitted to the Park Service and future investigations in the areas
will be based upon these findings.

Nine weeks were spent in the Council Grove area during June and July
with a seven-man crew excavating four sites: a camp of the Preceramic period,
two small villages of the Woodland period, and a Hopewell burial mound.
The first site was a deeply buried camp area several thousand years old. A
bulldozer was employed to strip off the top four feet of overburden from the
main camp level which lay five to seven feet below the surface. The second
and third sites investigated were village sites belonging to the Woodland In-
dians who were the first potters, farmers, and users of the bow and arrow in
this section. Residue of an earth covered structure, storage pits and refuse
areas were found. The fourth site was a low, rock-filled burial mound which
contained the remains of several individuals. Notable artifacts recovered from
the mound were three well-made chipped stone blades, of a type normally
associated with the Illinois section, and a marine shell bead probably from the
Gulf of Mexico.

Publications dealing with the archaeological work of the Society that have
been released during the past year are an Appraisal of the Council Grove
Reservoir, published by the Society, and a survey report of the Cheney and
Elk City reservoirs, appearing in the Newsletter of the Kansas Anthropological
Association. In the manuscript stage is a detailed report of the excavations
carried out in the Wilson reservoir, in Lincoln and Russell counties, during
the summer of 1960.

ARCHIVES DIVISION

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

Source Title Dates Quantity

Administration,

Department of Original budget requests

to the legislature 1933-1953 32vols.

1956-1959
Agriculture, Board of . . Population schedules of

cities and townships . . 1961, 1962 8,427 vols.
Statistical rolls of counties,1960 1,678 vols.

Abstracts of agricultural

statistics 1954, 1958, 315 vols.

1959
Abstracts of population . . . 1954-1961 8 vols.

THE ANNUAL MEETING 85

Source Title Dates Quantity
Centennial Commission . . Correspondence, papers and

fiscal records 1960-1962 12 file drawers

Insurance Department . . Correspondence : 1923-1946 1 file drawer

Annual statements (life) . . 1958 256 vols.

Agents' licenses 1953-1955 68 vols.

Fire marshal tax statements,1951-1955 12 vols.

Certificates of authority . . 1948-1957 40 vols.

Cash books 1946-1950 6 vols.

Actions against companies, 1942-1943 IvoL
Policy registers (by com-
pany) 66 vols.

Labor Department Papers of the Industrial

Welfare Commission . . 1916-1929 1 box

Reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1961, were received from the
Board of Healing Arts and the Central Mail Service. Mrs. M. L. Beeson, Dodge
City, donated a copy of the first census of Ford county, 1873, and one box
of miscellaneous transcripts, 1895-1921, was received from the McPherson
county district court.

LIBRARY

The library was used by 5,413 patrons, 2,285 of whom worked on Kansas
subjects, 1,524 on genealogy, and 999 on subjects of a general nature, while
605 consulted library material on microfilm and microcard in the microfilm read-
ing room. Loan file packets sent out numbered 179. These packets include
pamphlets, reprints, and typed articles about Kansas subjects and are used to
answer as many mail inquiries as possible. Many go to Kansas school children,
who often return the material with a note of appreciation. However, useful
though this loan file is, most inquiries received require individual research. The
Society has taken pride in providing such service, but the increased work load
of the last few years has made it necessary to limit the amount of time that
can be given to it.

During the year 14 centennial editions, over 50 months of extra newspapers
and 1,000 miscellaneous issues were read, clipped, and mounted in addition
to the seven regular dailies. Mrs. Grace Menninger, who has capably headed
this department for 13 years, retired July 1 and was succeeded by Mrs. Wilford
Green.

Local histories prepared for the 1961 centennial and other anniversaries are
still being received. Among this year's accessions were historical sketches from
31 churches. Town histories included works on Hillsdale, by Charles D. Ever-
hart; New Scandinavia, by Mrs. Homer Cardwell; Courtland, by Mrs. Anona
Blackburn; Cawker City, by Warren J. Lingg; and a Minneola diamond an-
niversary historical book.

Area books include A Handbook on the Frontier Days of Southeast Kansas,
by Bernice C. Shackleton; Maple Hill Stories, by Roderick Turnbull; and From
Out of the Past, the Origin of the State of Kansas, Its People and Places of In-
terest, by Bernice Holden and Bernhard Fleming.

The library's genealogical collection has increased substantially by gift and
purchase during the past few years. This collection is useful not only to the
genealogist but also to the biographer who needs background information on
Kansans and former Kansans. As the collection becomes better known to

86 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

genealogists over the country more letters of inquiry are received, and also an
increased number of family histories and records are donated. Two outstanding
genealogical contributions were made by Kansans this year. Mrs. Nancy E.
Hineman, Dighton, donated a copy of her genealogy of the Newby family, and
Dr. Glair V. Mann, Rolla, Mo., who grew up in north central Kansas, sent in-
stallments of his story, From Kansas Dust, a chronicle of the Mann, Shedden,
and Reser families and their experiences in a frontier state.

Marriage licenses of Gray county, 1885-1913, were copied and sent in by
Mrs. T. C. Ward, Copeland, and through Mrs. Jesse Harper, Sitka, a microfilm
copy of Clark county marriage records was obtained. Harper county cemetery
inscriptions were donated by the Martha Vail chapter, D. A. R. Cemetery in-
scriptions of Coffey county, copied by Mrs. C. J. Garrett, Burlington, and of
Ottawa county, copied by Mrs. B. A. Bourne and daughter, were received.
Records of this kind are valuable for reference work and these copies are a
safeguard against loss of the cemetery originals, by fire, flood, or deterioration.

The out-of-state census file was augmented by a gift of microfilm copies of
the 1850 census of Maryland and Rhode Island from the Kansas Society,
Daughters of the American Colonists, and eight affiliate chapters. Margaret
Dunning chapter, D. A. C., has donated sums of money in memory of Mrs. A. B.
Griggs and Mrs. C. L. E. Edwards for the purchase of the 1850 Michigan
census. Elizabeth Knapp chapter, D. A. C., donates money each year for census
records on microfilm.

The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of Kansas provided
funds for purchase of film of the 1810 census of Virginia, the 1820 census
of Ohio, and the 1830 census of Ohio, Illinois, and New Jersey. Just this week
the Colonial Dames sent in another check for $349.50. Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Helm purchased the 1820 and 1830 census of the District of Columbia for the
library files. Several fine genealogies were added with money from the Lois
Johnson Cone Fund of the Shawnee County Historical Society. The Huguenot
Society of Kansas donated money for the purchase of books relating to Huguenot
families.

Mrs. Marian Rosen Crawford gave a collection of records of the Bodwell
family. Collections of books were also received from Standish Hall, Wichita,
and the estates of Ada Remington, Osawatomie, and John S. Dawson, Topeka.
Through the efforts of Mrs. Ralph Ewing, Russell, a copy of the memoirs of
the Rev. August Augustine, pioneer minister of Russell county, was received
from a descendant, Mrs. Fred Zachow, Eau Claire, Wis. Two Bibles, originally
owned by Maria Simpson, daughter of Jotham Meeker, the first printer in Kan-
sas territory, were given by Mrs. Herman Pabst, Colby, and Mrs. Grace Koehne,
Coffeyville. Historical material on "Grandmother's Trunk and Pantry" was
given by the Woman's Kansas Day Club. A collection of World War I songs
from Mrs. Edward E. Musick and the song, Dear Old Kansas, from John Ripley
were important additions to the sheet music collection.

Theses donated included The Stevens County Seat Controversy, by Joseph
W. Snell; Pardee Butler, Kansas Abolitionist, by Daniel Thomas Johnson; and
Child Labor in Kansas, by William Cape, gift of Mrs. Nellie Kennedy.

Outstanding Kansas books of general interest during the year included
Foreign Language Units of Kansas, by J. Neale Carman; William Clarke Quan-
trill, His Life and Times, by Albert Castel; The Little Toy Dog, by William L.
White; Kansas Folklore, by Samuel J. Sacket and William E. Koch; Rider on

THE ANNUAL MEETING 87

the Wind: Jim Lane and Kansas, by Kendall E. Bailes; and Arthur Capper:
Publisher, Politician, and Philanthropist, by Homer E. Socolofsky.
Library accessions, October 1, 1961-September 30, 1962, were:
Bound volumes
Books

Kansas 159

General 614

Genealogy and local history 189

Indians and the West 85

Kansas state publications 55

Total, books 1,102

Clippings 29

Periodicals . 97

Total, bound volumes 1,228

Microcards (titles) 1

Microfilm (reels) Ill

Pamphlets

Kansas 902

General 852

Genealogy 57

Indians and the West 25

Kansas state publications 726

Total, pamphlets 2,562

MANUSCRIPT DIVISION

Mrs. Lela Barnes retired June 30 as head of the manuscript division. She
was succeeded by Joseph W. Snell, formerly her assistant. Dan Holt of Hoyt
has been employed in Snell's old position.

Approximately 86 cubic feet of private papers plus 49 reels of microfilm and
one 1,200-foot reel of magnetic recording tape were accessioned this year.
Papers of the late Sen. Andrew F. Schoeppel made up the largest collection
received. Former Governor Schoeppel ( 1943-1947 ) represented Kansas in the
United States senate from 1949 until his death in January, 1962. The still un-
organized collection consists of the equivalent of about 37 transfer cases.
Mrs. Schoeppel, the donor, has indicated that use of the papers will be re-
stricted for the time being.

A generous gift of Mrs. Raymond Millbrook, Detroit, Mich., enabled the
Society to purchase microfilm copies of the records of Fort Hays from the Na-
tional Archives. The 22 reels consist of "Letters Sent," 1866-1889; "Letters
Received," 1867-1889; and "Orders," 1869-1889. Shortly after these records
had been received Mrs. Millbrook made possible the purchase of an additional
five reels containing similar records of Forts Harker, 1865-1873; Larned, 1859-
1878; Scott, 1869-1873; and Zarah, 1868-1869.

Mrs. Ray Garrett, Neodesha, donated the diary of W. R. Smith who, as a
member of the 20th Kansas regiment, participated in the suppression of the
Philippine insurrection in 1899. Mrs. Garrett also gave a ledger of the Law-
rence National hotel and a minute book of the East lola Methodist church
board of trustees.

A journey from Pennsylvania to Kansas in the spring of 1855 is described in
the diary of Jasper Gleason which was donated by Ruth Marie Field, Holly-

88 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

wood, Calif. The diary also details a trip to the Colorado mines over the
Santa Fe trail in 1860.

Eva Belle Glassford Pomeroy, Pasadena, Calif., donated a typed copy of
the Civil War diary of Fletcher Pomeroy, Co. D, Seventh Kansas cavalry, 1861-
1865.

Civil War letters of Augustus Bodwell and World War I letters of George
L. Dewey were donated by Mrs. Marian Rosen Crawford, Topeka.

Letters and record books of Valley Falls' pioneer mill operator, Joseph M.
Piazzek, were given by Mrs. Edna Piazzek Gilpin, Phoenix, Ariz.

Francis W. Schruben, Reseda, Calif., donated a taped recording of a recent
interview with former Gov. Harry H. Woodring concerning politics in the 1930's.
The Rev. Ernest F. Tonsing, Topeka, lent for microfilming a group of letters
written by his grandfather, John A. Martin, Atchison newspaperman, soldier,
and governor of Kansas, 1885-1889. For the most part the letters cover Martin's
Civil War service as lieutenant colonel and colonel of the Eighth Kansas
cavalry regiment, 1861-1864.

Mrs. Merritt L. Beeson, Dodge City, lent several interesting western Kansas
items for copying. Among them were records of the COD cattle ranch which
was owned by Mrs. Beeson's father-in-law, Chalkley M. Beeson, in partnership
with W. H. Harris; reminiscences of the last Indian raid in Kansas, 1878; and
notes and letters of Henry H. Raymond, buffalo hunter and pioneer Dodge City
blacksmith.

The diary which Henry Raymond kept when he first went to Dodge City
was lent to the Society for microfilming by his daughter, Mrs. Charles G. C.
Blake, Wichita. In addition Mrs. Blake lent several letters written by Raymond
and his wife in 1874-1875. Both the letters and diary contain frequent mention
of Bat, Ed, and Jim Masterson, with whom Raymond was friendly.

Mrs. Frank L. Davis, Holton, lent for microfilming 32 letters of the Bryant
family, 1841-1867. These form a valuable addition to the Peter Bryant letters
published in the Autumn and Winter, 1961, issues of the Kansas Historical
Quarterly.

Another diary of interest is that of James H. Guthrie, who kept a record of
his Civil War service through the Battles of Wilson's Creek and Shiloh and his
imprisonment at Andersonville. Guthrie was enlisted in three different Iowa
units. This journal was lent for microfilming by Dale E. Foose, Topeka.

Mrs. Grace Wilkerson, Russell, lent for microfilming the letters of Warren
and Mary A. Day, 1857, 1862-1865, 1878. Mr. Day served during the Civil
War in both the 13th Kansas infantry and in the First regiment, Indian Home
Guards. In 1878 the family homesteaded in Russell county.

Other donors were Mrs. L. J. Aubert, Topeka; Richard W. Baker, Solomon;
Louise Barry, Topeka; Robert W. Baughman, Liberal; Tom Buchanan, Washing-
ton; Mrs. L. L. Camien, University Park, N. M.; Adrienne V. Christopher,
Kansas City, Mo.; Mariam Lawton Clayton, Clark Fork, Idaho; Hubert Daw-
son, Wichita; Judge Harry W. Fisher, Fort Scott; Hortense B. C. Gibson,
Wichita; John D. Gilchriese, Glendale, Calif.; Alfred Gray, Dallas, Tex.; Evelyn
Gray, San Francisco, Calif.; Frances Grinstead, Lawrence; Dr. and Mrs. Law-
ton Hanna, Clay Center; the estate of the Rev. Charles Harms, Lincoln, Nebr.;
Highland Presbyterian Church, Highland; M. G. Hoffman, Topeka; Nellie Ruth
Huffman, Topeka; Mrs. Wilma Bethel Hull, Harlingen, Tex.; the Hutchinson
Chamber of Commerce; Harmon Johnston, Los Angeles, Calif.; Mrs. Jesse M.

THE ANNUAL MEETING 89

Jones, Leavenworth; Mrs. C. E. Jurney, Kingman; Mrs. Erwin Keller, Topeka;
Mrs. Maxine L. Kinton, Mansfield, Ohio; Mrs. Henry Knouft, Holton; Amy
Lathrop, Norton; Mrs. V. E. McArthur, Hutchinson; Helen M. McFarland, To-
peka; Helen V. Marshall, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Lilian Hughes Neiswanger,
Urbana, 111.; Frederick I. Olson, Milwaukee, Wis.; the Ottawa County Historical
Society; Mrs. Addie Underwood Penny, Lawrence; Kelsey Petro, Topeka; Mrs.
Chet Poole, Webber; Leoto Frances Riddick, Topeka; Floyd E. Risvold, Min-
neapolis, Minn.; Doris Roebke, Holton; David J. Roenigk, Morganville; Elma
Schmidt, Dodge City; William Simpson, Atchison; Mrs. R. W. Stumbo, Golden,
Colo.; Mrs. V. L. Teeter, Partridge; Thomas County District Court; Topeka
Public Library; Mrs. Paul Torok, Highland; Washington State University, Pull-
man, Wash.; Mrs. Ben E. White, Bonner Springs; Max R. Williams, Topeka;
Mrs. Chester Woodward, Topeka; and Mrs. Lois York of the George Smith
Public Library, Junction City.

A microfilm copy of Boyd B. Stutler's collection of John Brown material
was purchased from the Ohio Historical Society. The purchase consists of
eight reels of film which contain items ranging from original John Brown
letters to radio and television scripts.

MICROFILM DIVISION

Illness in the department reduced the production of microfilm considerably
below normal, but even so 134,810 exposures were made, totaling 205 rolls.
About half of this production was devoted to the Kansas City (Mo.) Daily
Drovers Telegram, February 25, 1884-September 20, 1889, and May 1, 1890,
through 1960. This newspaper is the only daily in the area which is dedi-
cated primarily to agriculture, and most of its circulation is in Kansas. It is
expected that this film will be of unusual interest to students in this field.

Other newspaper microfilming projects included the Wichita Morning Eagle,
1959-1961; Council Grove Republican, July 4, 1884-October 24, 1918, March
29, 1919-August 28, 1924; Lindsborgs Posten, February 8, 1898-December 31,
1930; Columbus Border Star, May 3, 1878-August 6, 1880, June 9, 1882-No-
vember 12, 1886; Parsons Sun, January 5, 1878-December 23, 1880; Parsons
Daily Republican, May 10, 1880-May 7, 1881; Parsons Daily Infant Wonder,
December 26, 1878-April 30, 1880; Parsons Eclipse, January 2, 1879-December
23, 1880; Baxter Springs Times, October 17, 1878-December 30, 1880; and
the Bloom Telegram, April 5, 1888-December 28, 1889.

Through the co-operation of Alan W. Farley the Society was able to borrow
from O. L. Sanford, Olathe, a file of the Washington (Pa.) Western Tele-
graph and Washington Advertiser, August 17, 1795-August 8, 1797. This in-
teresting early newspaper was microfilmed last April and is now available
for use.

MUSEUM

After the record attendance of 1961 the number of visitors to the museum
returned to the pre-centennial norm. Approximately 61,000 toured the gal-
leries and 405 organized groups were given tours.

Late in August social science teachers of the Topeka public school system
met with members of the museum staff for a discussion of ways in which the
museum might co-operate more closely with them in the teaching of American
and particularly Kansas history. They were given an opportunity to see the
facilities of the Society and were urged to make as much use as possible of

90 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

them. Two talks were given to high school classes in September by John
Mitchell, the Society's new assistant museum director. He replaced Frank
Walsh, who resigned to accept a position with the North Carolina Department
of History and Archives.

In September a display centering on "The Life of the Kansas Pioneer" was
exhibited at the Hutchinson State Fair, and later in the month was used again
at the Topeka antique show. The old-time general store which was so popular
at the Topeka World Food Fair and Mid America Fair in 1961 was operated
again this year, and was well received.

An important event of the year was the annual meeting of the Mountain-
Plains Museum Conference, for which the Society was host. Delegates from
eight states participated and heard informative papers on museum problems
and techniques. Joseph A. Patterson, director of the American Association of
Museums, Washington, D. C., was a principal speaker. The delegates toured
the Menninger Foundation and spent a day at the Eisenhower Museum and
Library in Abilene. The Society's museum director, Stanley Sohl, was general
chairman of the conference. Earlier in the year, in February, the Society was
also host to the quarterly meeting of the Museum Council of Mid-America,
which was attended by representatives of 11 institutions in this area.

Again this year the Woman's Kansas Day Club made a significant contribu-
tion to the museum by donating funds for the purchase of four specially made
mannequins for the Victorian parlor. Dressed in appropriate costume, an
amazingly lifelike grandmother, mother, daughter, and guest are now partaking
of tea in the parlor, to the delight of museum visitors.

Another period room, a "little red schoolhouse," was completed in the west
gallery. It includes desks for 16 students, a teacher's desk on a raised plat-
form, blackboard, and all the materials needed to bring back memories of the
one-room country school. A back porch was also added to the farm kitchen.

Two new case displays were installed in the Military Hall, one featuring
Kansans who won the Medal of Honor, the other "Modern Warfare." Four
other displays in this area were redesigned and improved. On the fourth floor
new displays were completed on Gen. George A. Custer's Kansas career, the
Pony Express, C. K. Holliday, lighting through the years, the buffalo hunter,
and the oil industry.

There were 188 museum accessions totaling 1,025 items. Among these were
a working model of the Norman No. 1, famous Kansas oil well, from O. A.
Daugherty, Neodesha; a De Laval cream separator and Civil War drum from
George Jelinek, Ellsworth; a Fisher upright piano from Gen. Mahlon S. Weed,
Kansas City; items of clothing from Mr. and Mrs. T. E. Osborne, Neosho, Mo.,
Mrs. C. O. Fogerty, Topeka, and the estates of W. W. Hetherington, Atchison,
and Sarah Owens Cheal.

Other donors included: Gov. John Anderson, Jr., Topeka; Mrs. Ella M.
Annen, Topeka; Mrs. L. T. Aubert, Topeka; Mrs. Merritt Beeson, Dodge City;
James A. Bell, Topeka; Major Benson, Ellsworth; Mrs. A. F. Berch, Willmette,
111.; Robert Billard estate, Topeka; Nannie Gingham, Sabetha; Mrs. H. S.
Blake, Sr., Topeka; Wayne L. Bland, Topeka; Mrs. Frank W. Boyd, Mankato;
O. D. Butcher, Topeka; William Butler, Tecumseh; Mrs. L. L. Camien, Uni-
versity Park, N. M.; Ernest Carr, Independence; Mrs. Melvin Carson, Denver,
Colo.; Jack L. Casner, Topeka; Robert Castoe, Independence; Don Catron,

THE ANNUAL MEETING 91

Topeka; Centennial Distributors, Inc., Topeka; Vera Chapman, Great Bend;
Nellie N. Chilson, Payson, Ariz.; Mrs. F. F. Clinger, Topeka; Marguerite P.
Coffman, Shawnee Mission; Mrs. Franklin Corrick, Topeka; R. L. Cotterill,
McPherson; Emma Crabb, Topeka; Mrs. J. A. Crabb, Topeka; Virginia Crane,
Topeka; Harry E. Crawford, Topeka; Mrs. Marian Crawford, Topeka; John
Cregut, Topeka; Mrs. Ethel Dalton, St. George; Robert W. Domme, Topeka;
Dr. and Mrs. Lucius Eckles, Topeka; J. T. Edwards, Topeka; Verne Epyle,
Topeka; Mrs. Nelson Euwer, Topeka; Mrs. Alice M. Finch, Arkansas City;
Mrs. Nora Flickinger, Topeka; Pauline Foulston, Wichita; Mrs. Lee Forbes,
Topeka; Mrs. Elda M. Geiler, Tulsa, Okla.; Wayne Geraghty, Topeka; Leslie
Guild estate, Topeka; Guy S. Guthrie, Wichita; B. L. Haines, Topeka; Standish
Hall, Wichita; Mrs. Frank Haucke, Council Grove; Mrs. James D. Hayes, To-
peka; Mrs. Alta Hays; Nancy Henderson, Topeka; A P. Henry, Topeka; Mrs.
Nellie Ruth Huffman, Topeka; David Hughes, Topeka; Mrs. Esther Jacobs,
Council Grove; Fred Jinks, Topeka; Mrs. Jewell Johnson, Eureka; Bob Jones,
Topeka; Mrs. H. W. Jones, Topeka; Roger Jones, Johnson; Sadie Jurney, King-
man; Kansas Centennial Commission; Kansas State Federation of Labor; Kan-
sas Tax Commission; Stanley Kaufman, Topeka; Mrs. Erwin Keller, Topeka;
Melvin Kelsey, Topeka; Mrs. Jean Kerrens, Coffeyville; E. V. King, Topeka;
Mrs. C. W. Koch, Southgate, Mich.; Adolph Lange family, Leavenworth; Edgar
Langsdorf, Topeka; Mrs. Augusta E. Layman, Topeka; Mrs. Ward Lesher,
Fairbury, Nebr.; Royal Lewelyn, Broughton; Mrs. D. E. Logan; Mrs. Aden
Lowry, Sedan; Leighton Mark, Topeka; Arlo Martin, Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs.
Charles I. Martin, Topeka; Joseph H. Mauzey, Topeka; C. W. McCampbell,
Manhattan; Ed McCarty, Oneida; Mrs. J. Warner McCloy, Tucson, Ariz.;
Genevieve Schuler McDade, Topeka; Mrs. C. H. McElroy, Merriam; Robert
McNason, Topeka; Mrs. Grace Menninger, Topeka; L. V. Metz, Admire; Mrs.
N. H. Miller, Topeka; Clinton Moore, Topeka; L. M. Moore; Nina Moore estate,
Topeka; Edward E. Musick, Osage City; Barbara Nollman, Columbus, Mo.;
Adeline Peers, Topeka; Mrs. Eugene Pfleider, Horton; Mrs. Barbara Phelps,
Portola Valley, Calif.; Mrs. U. A. Ralston, Topeka; Mrs. Robert F. Ragland,
Potter; Paul M. Reid, Mission; Ada Remington estate, Osawatomie; Mrs. Lou
Roberts, Chanute; Fred Ross, Jr., Colt's Patent Fire Arms Mfg. Co., Hartford,
Conn.; Harvey Roush, Lincoln, Nebr.; Mrs. T. T. Rowe, Topeka; Cecil H.
Runneals, Anaheim, Calif.; Christina M. Sander, Victoria; Mrs. A. C. Schultz,
High Point, N. C.; Frank M. Shelton, Topeka; Walter Ashton Smith; Stanley
D. Sohl, Topeka; Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., Topeka; State Printer,
Topeka; Mrs. S. L. Stebbins, Kansas City, Mo.; Grace M. Steves, Topeka; Mrs.
J. G. Strickler, Topeka; Blanche Taylor, Topeka; Pete Taschetta, Topeka; Judge
and Mrs. Walter Thiele, Topeka; Mrs. L. R. Tillotson, Topeka; Hattie Truitt,
Los Angeles, Calif.; William W. Utterback, Topeka; Mrs. R. W. Van Deventer,
Wellington; Avis Van Lew, Topeka; Walter Van Liew, Lawrence; Mrs. Fred
Vasey, Topeka; Mrs. Esther Viohl, Topeka; Bert Watustradt, Burlingame; Mrs.
May Warner, Topeka; Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Warren, Emporia; Allen M.
Weaver, Topeka; Mrs. E. B. Weaver, Topeka; Dick Wellman, Alden; Mrs.
Ben White, Bonner Springs; J. L. Wikus, Topeka; Mrs. Clara Wilkins, Topeka;
Arno Windscheffel, Smith Center; Mrs. Harry D. Wolf, Topeka, and Phil Zim-
merman, Topeka.

92 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

NEWSPAPER AND CENSUS DIVISION

Nearly 11,000 searches in census and newspaper volumes were made during
the year in serving 6,362 patrons who visited the department and answering
4,112 requests received by mail. Certified copies of 3,628 census records and
newspaper items were furnished, most of them to provide proof of age and
place of birth for persons seeking delayed birth certificates or attempting to
qualify for social security or other retirement programs.

Materials used by patrons and the staff this year included 17,531 census
volumes, 6,775 bound volumes of newspapers, 4,764 single issues of news-
papers, and 3,368 microfilm reels of newspapers.

Other services provided by the department included arranging for the
reproduction of newspaper articles and microfilming of longer runs of news-
papers for patrons. Also, numerous requests for information received by tele-
phone were answered.

The Society continues to receive current issues of Kansas newspapers from
the publishers. Fifteen publishers are also sending microfilm copies of their
current issues. Newspapers presently received include 57 dailies, nine tri-
weeklies, 14 semiweeklies, 301 weeklies, and 113 published less frequently, a
total of 494. Of these, 161 are school, church, fraternal, labor, industrial, trade,
and miscellaneous periodicals; the remaining 333 are regular newspapers. Four-
teen out-of-state newspapers are received.

The file of bound volumes of Kansas newspapers was increased by 537 dur-
ing the year, making a total of 59,736. Fifteen volumes were added to the
out-of-state collection, which now totals 12,052. Newspapers on microfilm
increased by 239 reels to a total of 8,642.

Among older newspapers acquired this year were: Western Home Journal,
Ottawa, February 11, 1869; La Cygne Weekly Journal, June 18-November 26,
1870 (not complete); and a microfilm copy of the Las Vegas (N. M.) Optic,
January 20, 1880-December 31, 1881, March 8, 1883-August 21, 1884. Donors
of single newspapers included: Berlin B. Chapman, Stillwater, Okla.; John
H. Cooter, Topeka; Dr. Lucius Eckles, Topeka; Standish Hall, Wichita; Mrs.
Ruthanna Hazel, Atchison; Ethel Linder, Topeka, and Ada Remington estate,
Osawatomie.

In addition, Waldo Koop of Wichita donated a microfilm of the Las Vegas
(N. M.) Optic, January 3-June 30, 1882, and Harold Milliken, Topeka, gave
an issue of the Kansas Settler, Tecumseh, for February 10, 1858. Ralph
Shideler, Girard, lent the Girard Press, November 11, 1869-December 23, 1875,
for microfilming.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS

During the year 2,319 black and white photographs have been added to
the picture collection while 79 duplicate, damaged, or otherwise valueless
prints have been removed, making a net increase of 2,240. Of these 1,014
were gifts, 590 were lent to the Society for copying, 223 were made by the
Society staff and 492 were transferred from other departments. Sixty-five
color slides were added.

In addition to the still photographs accessioned, four reels of motion picture
film and one film strip were given to the Society. Donors were the Centennial
Commission, Frank and Whitney Warren of Topeka, and WIBW-TV.

THE ANNUAL MEETING 93

Several large groups of pictures were received by the Society again this
year. Among the more important gifts were 563 pictures descriptive of the
state's centennial celebration, from the Centennial Commission; 34 color slides
from Dan B. Rumpf, Topeka; 45 glass negatives representing Topeka in the
early 1900's from Mrs. Augusta Layman, Topeka; 74 portraits of prominent
Kansans from Judge Walter A. Huxman, Topeka; and two collections of Atchi-
son photographs, one from the Hetherington family through Mrs. Ruthanna
Hazel, and the second from Balie P. Waggener, both of Atchison.

Collections of Kansas photographs were lent for copying by Mrs. Merritt
Beeson, Dodge City; Eisenhower Library, Abilene; Paul Gibler, Claflin; Floyd
Souders, Cheney; Nat Armel, Humboldt; Helen D. Little, LaCrosse; Mrs. Ben
White, Bonner Springs; Otis B. Zirkle, Brownton, W. Va.; Mrs. Franciska
Winters and Mrs. Ray Garrett, Neodesha; George Jelinek, Ellsworth; Mrs.
C. W. Koch, Southgate, Mich.; Seward County Historical Society, Liberal;
Mrs. Henry A. Humphrey, Wichita; Robert E. Galvin, Ft. Scott; Mrs. C. H.
Engle, Topeka; and Don Russell, Chicago, 111.

One hundred and twenty maps and atlases have been accessioned this year,
56 being recent issues of the United States Geological Survey. The United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey deposited 11 aeronautical charts for Kansas
and the Kansas Highway Commission gave 12 new county highway maps.

A map of Atchison for 1888 was donated by the Hetherington family through
Mrs. Ruthanna Hazel of Atchison. Dr. Ben Fuson, Salina, gave a copy of
the Centennial literary map of Kansas, published in 1961. Other donors to
the map collection include Robert Baughman, Liberal; Wellington chapter of
the Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Chet Poole, Webber; Roland
Swanson, Pittsburg; the J. W. Roberts family, Oskaloosa; Alfred Gray, Dallas,
Tex.; David Miller, Jim Barkes, and the Chamber of Commerce, Topeka.
SUBJECTS FOR RESEARCH

Extended research was done during the year on a variety of topics. In the
area of county history, work was carried out on Jefferson, Johnson, and Reno
counties. Biography included Pardee Butler, Frank Chance, and J. J. Pennell,
and church history dealt with Lutheran and Methodist denominations. Re-
search was also done on a large number of miscellaneous topics, among them
agriculture, cattle towns, 42d division in World War I, Kansas State Teachers'
Association, Kickapoo Indians, Salt Springs, state schools, Walt Whitman in
Kansas, and many others.

SOCIETY HOLDINGS, SEPTEMBER 30, 1962

Bound volumes
Books

Kansas 10,958

General 60,089

Genealogy and local history 10,775

Indians and the West 1,801

Kansas state publications 3,382

Total, books 87,005

Clippings 1,352

Periodicals 18,067

Total, bound volumes 106,424

94 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Manuscripts (archives and private papers, cubic feet) 5,787

Maps, atlases, and lithographs 5,724

Micro-cards (titles) 182

Microfilm (reels)

Books and other library materials 541

Public archives and private papers 2,351

Newspapers 8,642

Total 11,534

Newspapers (bound volumes)

Kansas 59,736

Out-of-state 12,052

Total 71,788

Paintings and drawings 1,103

Pamphlets

Kansas 98,745

General 40,932

Genealogy and local history 3,931

Indians and the West 1,143

Kansas state publications 7,901

Total, pamphlets 152,652

Photographs

Black and white 40,635

Color transparencies and slides 635

Total 41,270

THE FrasT CAPITOL

Attendance at the First Capitol was somewhat less than last year but was
more diversified. Visitors registered from all 50 states and the District of
Columbia, and from 28 foreign countries. Total attendance was 7,707.

Seven new case displays dealing with the history of Fort Riley and portray-
ing various aspects of life on the post were installed by the museum staff.
Among these were "Camp Funston and the First World War," and "The Big
Red One in World War One," the latter featuring exploits of the First infantry
division which is now stationed at Fort Riley.

THE FUNSTON HOME

At the Funston Home 936 visitors registered, 812 of them Kansans and
124 from 22 other states. No changes were made in the exhibits, and until
the operating appropriation currently $355 for the year can be increased it
probably will not be possible to do more than to provide for routine main-
tenance.

THE KAW MISSION

Mr. and Mrs. Elwood Jones, caretakers at the Kaw Mission since it became
state property in 1951, retired at the end of June and were succeeded by Mr.
and Mrs. Harlan Trego. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were capable and devoted people,
and their services will be missed, but the new caretakers are equally interested
and are taking hold of the job with enthusiasm.

Registration was 5,860, including visitors from 43 states, the District of
Columbia, and 16 foreign countries. Thanks are due again to the Council
Grove Republican, the Chamber of Commerce and the street and police de-
partments for their continued interest and assistance, and to Harry Behring,

THE ANNUAL MEETING 95

Erma W. Lewis, Marjorie Huffaker Toth, and Frank Warnica for articles
donated to the museum.

OLD SHAWNEE MISSION

The retirement of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hardy on June 30 ended a career
of nearly 23 years during which they were in direct charge of the Shawnee
Mission. Commendable progress was made during this period and the Society
is greatly in their debt for their long and faithful service. They were suc-
ceeded on July 1 by Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Wiltz, who are meeting their con-
siderable responsibilities with intelligence and zeal.

During the summer nearly 9,000 visitors registered from 32 states and the
District of Columbia and from seven foreign countries. These included many
school and church groups, as well as Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, and Bluebirds.
The Daughters of the American Revolution held their annual pilgrimage to
the Mission on September 17, and on two Sundays during the month the ladies
of the Westport Historical Society and the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical
Society, dressed in costume, served as guides in the North and East buildings.

In addition to these groups, the Society is glad once more to express its
appreciation for their interest to the Colonial Dames, Daughters of 1812, and
Daughters of American Colonists.

THE STAFF OF THE SOCIETY

The accomplishments outlined in this report are due, as always, to the
efforts of the staff. While it is not possible to name each individual, credit
should be given to Edgar Langsdorf, assistant secretary, and to the department
heads: Alberta Pantle, librarian; Robert W. Richmond, archivist; Stanley Sohl,
museum director; Thomas Witty, archaeologist; Forrest Blackburn of the
newspaper and census division; and Mrs. Lela Barnes and her successor, Joseph
Snell, of the manuscripts division. Acknowledgment should also be made of
the fine work of the custodians of the historic sites administered by the Society:
J. L. Brownback at the First Territorial Capitol; L. A. Foster at the Funston
Memorial Home; Mr. and Mrs. Harry A. Hardy and their successors, Mr. and
Mrs. A. N. Wiltz, at Old Shawnee Mission; and Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Jones and
their successors, Mr. and Mrs. Harlan Trego, at the Kaw Mission.
Respectfully submitted,

NYLE H. MILLER, Secretary.

Following the reading of the secretary's report, George L. Ander-
son moved that it be accepted. The motion was seconded by
Angelus Lingenfelser, and the report was adopted.

Mr. Lindquist 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 15, 1961, to August 15, 1962.

MEMBERSHIP FEE FUND
Balance, August 15, 1961:

Cash $6,776.63

U. S. bonds, Series K 5,000.00

$11,776.63

96 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Receipts:

Membership fees $1,929.02

Interest on bonds 165.60

Interest on savings account 152.68

Gifts 1,642.45

3,889.75

$15,666.38

Disbursements $4,006.14

Balance, August 15, 1962:

Cash $6,660.24

U. S. bonds, Series K 5,000.00

11,660.24

$15,666.38

JONATHAN PECKER BEQUEST
Balance, August 15, 1961:

Cash $164.00

U. S. bond, Series K 1,000.00

$1,164.00

Receipts:

Interest on bond $27.60

Interest on savings account 5.34

32.94

$1,196.94

Disbursements $39.50

Balance, August 15, 1962:

Cash $157.44

U. S. bond, Series K 1,000.00

1,157.44

$1,196.94

JOHN BOOTH BEQUEST

Balance, August 15, 1961:

Cash $62.92

U. S. bond, Series K 500.00

$562.92

Receipts:

Interest on bond $13.80

Interest on savings account . . .90

14.70

$577.62

THE ANNUAL MEETING 97

Disbursements > '-' $71.48

Balance, August 15, 1962:

Cash $6.14

U. S. bond, Series K 500.00

506.14

$577.62

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 15, 1961:

Cash (deposited in membership fee fund) $401.47

U. S. bond, Series K 5,500.00

$5,901.47

Receipts:

Interest on bonds ( deposited in membership

fee fund) 151.80

$6,053.27

Disbursements: books, photostats $475.40

Balance, August 15, 1962:

Cash (deposited in membership fee fund) $77.87

U. S. bonds, Series K 5,500.00

5,577.87

$6,053.27

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,
1962, these appropriations were: Kansas State Historical Society, including
the Memorial building, $253,510; First Capitol of Kansas, $4,619; Kaw Mission,
$4,696; Funston Home, $4,070; Pike Pawnee Village, $90; Old Shawnee
Mission, $11,094; Mother Bickerdyke cemetery, $2,000.

Respectfully submitted,

MRS. LELA BARNES, Treasurer.

Frank F. Eckdall moved that the report be adopted. Mrs. J. C.
Harper seconded the motion and the report was accepted.

Alan Farley presented the report of the executive committee on
the audit of the funds by the state department of post-audit:

75500

98 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

October 5, 1962.
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 15, 1961, to August 15, 1962, and
that they are hereby approved.

ALAN W. FARLEY, Chairman,
WILL T. BECK,
FRANK HAUCKE,
C. M. CORRELL.

On motion by A. Bower Sageser, seconded by E. A. Thomas, the
report was accepted.

The report of the nominating committee for officers of the Society
was read by Alan Farley:

NOMINATING COMMITTEE'S REPORT

October 5, 1962.
To the Board of Directors, Kansas State Historical Society:

Your committee on nominations submits the following report for officers
of the Kansas State Historical Society:

For a one-year term: James E. Taylor, Sharon Springs, president; John W.
Ripley, Topeka, first vice-president; and Henry B. Jameson, Abilene, second
vice-president.

For a two-year term: Edgar Langsdorf, Topeka, treasurer.
Respectfully submitted,

ALAN W. FARLEY, Chairman,
WILL T. BECK,
FRANK HAUCKE,
C. M. CORRELL.

Mr. Farley moved the acceptance of the report. Howard C.
Raynesford seconded the motion and the officers were unanimously
elected.

A resolution of appreciation of the services of Mrs. Lela Barnes
was offered by Alan Farley and accepted by a rising vote of the
board:

RESOLUTION TO MRS. LELA BARNES

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the directors of the Kansas State Historical
Society extend their thanks to Mrs. Lela Barnes for her long and faithful serv-
ice as treasurer of the Society. Mrs. Barnes joined the Society as a member
of the manuscript division on July 1, 1931, and retired from this staff position
on June 30, 1962. For the greater part of the time she was in charge of the
division. She also served the Society in various other capacities, and was
elected to the office of treasurer in 1940, a position which she has filled capably
and conscientiously to date.

THE ANNUAL MEETING 99

It is with genuine regret that the Society bids goodby to Mrs. Barnes in her
official capacity, for officers and members as well as the general public have
always found her to be more than helpful in furthering the Society's work.

President Lindquist presented to the board a study of the Society's
schedule of dues, prepared by the secretary and the staff, with the
recommendation that consideration be given to increasing the fees
and adding an additional class of patrons. A general discussion
followed and on motion by E. A. Thomas, seconded by Phil H.
Lewis, the following schedule was adopted, to become effective
July 1, 1963:

Participating annual $ 5.00

Supporting annual 10.00

Life 50.00

Patron, annual 100.00 or more

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 Hotel Jayhawk,
Pres. Emory Lindquist presiding. About 140 members and guests
attended.

The invocation was given by the Rev. John Hoon, pastor of the
First Methodist Church, Newton.

Following the introduction of guests at the speakers' table, Presi-
dent Lindquist addressed the meeting on, The Swedish Immigrant
and Life in Kansas," which is published on pp. 1-24, of this maga-
zine. President-elect James Taylor presented Mr. Lindquist with a
retiring president's plaque.

Robert R. Bolton, director of the Eisenhower Library, Abilene,
then spoke on "Presidential Papers and Presidential Libraries."

On behalf of the American Association for State and Local His-
tory, President Lindquist presented a certificate of commendation
to Robert Baughman, Liberal, for his recently published book,
Kansas Post Offices. Mr. Baughman's earlier book, Kansas in Maps,
and his assistance in other historical projects were also commended
by President Lindquist.

Alan Farley, chairman of the executive and nominating commit-
tees, presented a plaque to the retiring treasurer, Mrs. Lela Barnes,
and then read the report of the nominating committee for directors
of the Society:

100 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTORS

October 5, 1962.

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, 1965:

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.

Chandler, C. J., Wichita. Menninger, Karl, Topeka.

Clymer, Rolla, El Dorado. Moore, Russell, Wichita.

Cochran, Elizabeth, Pittsburg. Rankin, Charles C., Lawrence.

Cotton, Corlett J., Lawrence. Raynesford, H. C., Ellis.

Eckdall, Frank F., Emporia. Reed, Clyde M., Jr., Parsons.

Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland. Sageser, A. Bower, Manhattan.

Farley, Alan W., Kansas City. Stewart, Donald, Independence.

Card, Spencer A., lola. Thomas, E. A., Topeka.

Harvey, Perce, Topeka. von der Heiden, Mrs. W. H., Newton.

Jelinek, George J., Ellsworth. Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton.

Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville. Wilson, Paul E., Lawrence.

Respectfully submitted,

ALAN W. FARLEY, Chairman,
WILL T. BECK,
FRANK HAUCKE,
C. M. CORRELL.

Motion for the acceptance of the report was made by Alan Farley,
seconded by Charles M. Correll. The report was adopted and di-
rectors for the term ending in October, 1965, were declared elected.

Then followed a discussion of the work of the local historical
societies. Reports of the Lyon and Reno county historical societies,
and the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society were received
and filed. Mrs. V. W. Maupin reported for the Reno County His-
torical Society, and Mrs. George W. Cox for the Shawnee Mission
Indian Historical Society. Howard C. Raynesford of Ellis, who
has made a detailed survey of the Butterfield Overland Despatch
road through northwest Kansas and is now engaged in a trail-
marking project, was introduced. Mrs. C. M. Slagg reported for
the Riley County Historical Society; Miss Helen Yoakum for the
Leavenworth County Historical Society; Homer Cardwell for the
Republic County Historical Society; Mrs. Jesse C. Harper for the
Clark County Historical Society and the new railroad museum at

THE ANNUAL MEETING 101

Ashland; George J. Jelinek for the Ellsworth County Historical So-
ciety; and Homer E. Socolofsky on plans for the observance of the
centennial of Kansas State University in 1963.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

An open house and refreshment hour at the Memorial building
followed.

102

KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Directors of the Kansas State Historical Society as of

October, 1962

DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1963

Bailey, Roy F., Salina.
Baughman, Robert W., Liberal.
Beezley, George F., Girard.
Beougher, Edward M., GrinnelL
Brinkerhoff, F. W., Pittsburg.
Cron, F. H., El Dorado.
Docking, George, Arkansas City.
Ebright, Homer K., Baldwin.
Farrell, F. D., Manhattan.
Hamilton, R. L., Beloit
Hanson, Harry E., Muncie.
Harper, Mrs. Jesse C., Ashland.
Haucke, Frank, Council Grove.
Hope, Clifford R., Sr., Garden City.
Kanaga, Clinton W., Shawnee Mission.
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.
Ripley, John W., Topeka.
Rogler, Wayne, Matfield Green.
Ruppenthal, J. C., Russell.
Simons, Dolph, Lawrence.
Slagg, Mrs. C. M., Manhattan.
Templar, George, Arkansas City.
Thomas, Sister M. Evangeline, Salina.
Townsley, Will, Great Bend.
Woodring, Harry H., Topeka.

DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER, 1964

Barr, Frank, Wichita.
Charlson, Sam C., Manhattan.
Correll, Charles M., Manhattan.
Denious, Jess C., Jr., Dodge City.
Hall, Standish, Wichita.
Hegler, Ben F., Wichita.
Humphrey, Arthur S., Junction City.
Jameson, Henry, Abilene.
Jones, Horace, Lyons.
Kampschroeder, Mrs. Jean Norris,

Garden City.

Kaul, Robert H., Wamego.
Lauterbach, August W., Colby.
Lewis, Philip H., 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.
Riegle, Wilford, Emporia.
Robbins, Richard W., Pratt.
Roberts, Larry W., Wichita.
Rose, Franklin T., Topeka.
Scott, Angelo, lola.
Shrewder, Mrs. Roy V., Ashland.
Sloan, E. R., Topeka.
Socolofsky, Homer E., Manhattan.
Stanley, Arthur J., Jr., Bethel.
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, 1965

Aitchison, R. T., Wichita.
Anderson, George L., Lawrence.
Anthony, D. R., Leaven worth.
Baugher, Charles A., Ellis.
Beck, Will T., Holton.
Bray, Mrs. Easton C., Syracuse.
Chandler, C. J., Wichita.
Clymer, Rolla, El Dorado.
Cochran, Elizabeth, Pittsburg.
Cotton, Corlett J., Lawrence.
Eckdall, Frank F., Emporia.
Euwer, Elmer E., Goodland.
Farley, Alan W., Kansas City.
Gard, Spencer A., lola.
Harvey, Perce, Topeka.
Jelinek, George J., Ellsworth.
Knapp, Dallas W., Coffeyville.

Landon, Alf 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.
Sageser, A. Bower, Manhattan.
Stewart, Donald, Independence.
Thomas, E. A., Topeka.
von der Heiden, Mrs. W. H., Newton.
Walker, Mrs. Ida M., Norton.
Wilson, Paul E., Lawrence.

Bypaths of Kansas History

WHEN BASEBALL WAS KING

From the Hutchinson News, June 28, 1906.

A dispatch under a Hutchinson date to the Kansas City Times is as follows:
A new difficulty in the matter of harvest help was experienced yesterday
at the big Forsha ranch, nine miles south of here. The ball fever is at its
height and all the hands engaged in the wheat harvest at this ranch struck
yesterday afternoon and came to town to see the game between the Hutchinson
and Joplin teams of the Western association. Manager Fred Forsha had con-
sented to put up a big bulletin board at one side of the field to keep the
workers posted on the game. The board was put up last night and the hands
all returned to work today. This afternoon the result of the game was tele-
phoned to the Forsha ranch by innings and posted on the board for the
benefit of the 100 or more workers engaged in the harvest.

Six MEN IN THE TUBS WITH RUB-A-DUBS?

From the Daily Drovers Telegram, Kansas City, Mo., August 13,
1913.

LEAVENWORTH, KAS., AUG. 13. Warden J. D. Botkin of the state prison
issued an order that all convicts of the institution must attend religious services
every night from 6:30 to 7:30.

Six more prisoners were baptised in the prison laundry tubs last Sunday,
which makes 36 to "profess religion" since the preacher-warden took office.

EXIT, AN EDITOR

From the Osage County Chronicle, Burlingame, January 1, 1914.

This also appears to be a hard, hard world from the viewpoint of the Everett
Enterprise, which observes:

"The stork disappears and we look into the cradle and behold a male child.
After running the gauntlet of measles, mumps and chicken pox, he enters
school. At the age of 10 he is a red-headed, freckle-faced boy and the terror
of the neighborhood. At 12 he is apprentice in a printing office. At 18 he has
acquired two cases of long primer and an army press, and is the editor of a
country newspaper. At 20 he is married. At 30 he is bald-headed, stoop-
shouldered and the father of a large family. At 35 he is a corpse in a cheap pine
coffin and as 500 delinquent subscribers file past his bier for the last look they
are heard to say: 'He was a good fellow, but he couldn't save his money/ "

(103)

Kansas History as Published in the Press

Church histories appearing in Kansas newspapers in recent
months included: Highland Presbyterian, Atchison Daily Globe,
July 15, 1962; Our Savior's Lutheran, Norway, Belleville Telescope,
July 26, Concordia Blade-Empire, July 31, and Scandia Journal
and Concordia Kansan, August 2; St. Paul's Evangelical and Re-
formed, Bluff City, Caldwell Messenger, August 6; St. Aloysius
Catholic, Osborne, Osborne County Farmer, Osborne, August 16;
Goodland Christian, Sherman County Herald, Goodland, and Good-
land Daily News, August 23; New Gottland Lutheran, McPherson
County News, McPherson, August 30; Horton Presbyterian, Horton
Headlight, August 30; St. Paul's Methodist, Wichita, Winfield
Courier, September 1; St. Mary's Catholic, Jamestown, Jamestown
Optimist, September 13; Johnson Methodist, Johnson Pioneer, Sep-
tember 20, October 4; St. Fidelis Catholic ["Cathedral of the
Plains"], Victoria, Daily Tribune, Great Bend, September 23; Zion
Lutheran, Independence, Independence Reporter, September 28;
St. Patrick's Catholic, near Atchison, Atchison Daily Globe, Sep-
tember 30; New Hope Baptist, near Ottawa, Ottawa Herald, October
6; Coldwater Presbyterian, Western Star, Coldwater, October 18;
Highland Baptist, Highland Vidette, October 18; Horton First
Baptist, Horton Headlight, November 12; Mt. Pleasant Methodist,
Rooks county, Rooks County Record, Stockton, November 15, 29;
Blue Mound Methodist, Fort Scott Tribune, November 20; Hope-
well United Presbyterian, Anthony Republican, November 29; St.
Rose Catholic, Columbus, Columbus Advocate, November 30;
Bethany United Presbyterian, Wichita, Wichita Evening Eagle
and Beacon, December 1; and Church of the Ascension, Burlington,
Burlington Republican, December 3.

The Plains Indians as a barrier to the settlement of central and
western Kansas in the years following the Civil War are discussed
by Lonnie J. White in "The Cheyenne Barrier on the Kansas Fron-
tier, 1868-1869," printed in Arizona and the West, Tucson, Spring,
1962.

In its July 19, 1962, issue, the Lincoln Sentinel-Republican pub-
lished a history of Lincoln newspapers by Ben Marshall.

Articles by Gordon S. Hohn in the Marysville Advocate during
recent months included: "First White Child [Hattie Magill] Born

(104)

KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 105

in Marysville Amidst Tornado Some Early Events," July 19, 1962;
"Great Automobile Sociability Run of 1910 Dominated by Max-
wells," August 2; "First Blue Rapids Fair and Old Settlers' Re-
union Here in 1916," August 23; "Pony Express Stable Here Served
for Years as Cottrell Livery Stable," August 30; "Famous Names
on Alcove Pioneer List Include Kit Carson, Jim Bridger," Septem-
ber 27; "City Firemen and Turners Busy in 1900 as McKinley
Carried County," October 4; "Famous Overland Trail Freighting
Outfit [Russell, Majors and Waddell] Once Had Rest Area Here,"
October 18; "Business Growth Began Here After the Great Finan-
cial Panic of 1897," October 25; "Judge [Buce] Here Once Chased
Defendant [W. M. F. McGraw] Around Log Courtroom With a
Gun," November 1; "Early Stage Drivers on Overland Trail Here
Led Perilous Existence," November 22; and "Thos. McCoy Was
Pioneer Harness Maker, One of First Businesses Here," Novem-
ber 29.

Historical sketches of pioneer families of the Logan area con-
tinue to appear frequently in the Logan Republican. Among the
families featured in recent months were: James N. Wilson, July
19, 1962; Abram Troup, August 9; Jefferson J. Siegrist, August 23;
Frank Webber, August 30 and September 6; Joseph Spiegel, Sep-
tember 27; and George Vielguth, November 8.

Among historical articles prepared by committees of the Morris
County Historical Society and published recently in the Council
Grove Republican were: "[George Leitch] Helped Build Morris
County Court House," by Charlotte Keith Leitch, July 19, 1962;
"Ohio Township Schools Then and Now," September 11; and
"Recall History of Beman A Town in 1870," by Mrs. George
Eberle, October 25. On October 16 the Republican published a
history of Council Grove Masonic Lodge No. 36. The Beman
history was also printed in the Alta Vista Journal, October 25.

A history of Liebenthal, Rush county, by Orville Young as told
to him by Martin M. Herrman and John Schmidt, was published
in the Hays Daily News, July 22, and the Ellis County Farmer,
Hays, July 26, 1962. The town, started in the late 1870's, is noted
for its stone buildings.

Alex and Margaret Bird were Rawlins county pioneers, arriving
in the fall of 1879. A biographical sketch of the Bird family, by
Ruth Kelley Hayden, appeared in the Citizen-Patriot, Atwood,
July 26, 1962.

106 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Notes on the Kidder massacre, taken from the news dispatches
of the period by John S. Gray, appeared in The Westerners Brand
Book, Chicago, August, 1962. Lt. Lyman S. Kidder and several
men were killed by Indians in early July, 1867, in present Sherman
county.

Beginning August 9, 1962, the Valley Center Index, published
serially "The Founding of Valley Center/' a master's thesis by Mrs.
Herman Fann. Settlement in the Valley Center area began in 1868.

Kittie Dale is the author of a history of Humbogen published in
the Ellis Review, August 16, 1962. The Ellis county settlement
was established nearly 85 years ago by Russian immigrants.

O. W. Mosher's column, "Museum Notes," in the Emporia
Gazette included the following articles in recent months: "Origin
of [Lyon] County Township Names . . .," August 21, 1962; a
series on the Kaw Indians, September 3, 7, 18, 27, October 4, 17;
"Lyon County Indians [Sauk and Fox] Were Feared as Superb
Fighters," October 31; and "Prairie Fires Once Caused Frequent
Trouble in State," November 14.

"Old Hayes House, Family History Once Pride of Olathe, Now
All But Forgotten," a story of the Col. J. E. Hayes family and resi-
dence in Olathe, by Martha C. Wood, was printed in the Olathe
Daily News, August 21, 1962. The house, built in the late 1850's,
still stands. Hayes served in the Civil War and later was state
treasurer.

Early on the morning of August 21, 1863, William C. Quantrill
led his band of some 400 guerrillas into Lawrence. The story of
the raid is recalled in an article in the Journal-World, Lawrence,
August 22, and in the Hays Daily News, August 23, 1962. Quan-
trilTs Olathe raid, September 7, 1862, was described in the Osa-
watomie Graphic-News, October 4.

A page-length history of Argonia Rural High School was pub-
lished in the Argonia Argosy, August 23, 1962. Although high
school subjects were taught as early as 1889, it was 1905 before
the high school district was organized.

"Bassett Incident 94 Years Ago Was Last Indian Trouble Here,"
the story of the abduction of Mrs. W. W. Bassett and her infant
son by Indians in 1868, was published in the McPherson Daily
Sentinel, August 25, 1962.

Fort Leavenworth's founding in 1827 was discussed in an article

KANSAS HISTORY IN THE PRESS 107

in the Leavenworth Times, August 26, 1962. The site was selected
by Col. Henry Leavenworth May 8, 1827.

A history of the Bank of Holyrood was published in the Holy-
rood Gazette, August 29, and in the Bushton 'News, November 8,
1962. The bank was organized in 1887.

Wilson county school district No. 80, Brooks school, was the
subject of a historical article in the Neodesha Register, August 30,
1962. The district was organized in 1871, operating until its con-
solidation with other districts in 1961.

A history of Fort Harker, near present Kanopolis, by Mrs. George
Sauers, was published in the Ellsworth Reporter, August 30, and
the Ellsworth Messenger, September 5, 1962. The fort was estab-
lished in 1864 as Fort Ellsworth.

The Dodge City Daily Globe published a 72-page progress edi-
tion September 3, 1962, containing stories and pictures of south-
west Kansas history and progress.

"Waconda Spring Near Beloit Once Shrine of the Indians," a
brief history of the famed site, by Eunice Souders, appeared in
the Salina Journal, September 10, 1962. On September 30 the
Journal described the last Indian raid in Kansas in 1878.

"Early Days in Kansas," the reminiscences of 92-year-old Dr.
M. W. Axtell, was printed serially in the Axtell Standard, Sep-
tember 13, 20, 27, and October 4, 1962. Axtell came to Kansas as
a boy, attended school at Axtell, and later practiced medicine at
Irving and Argonia.

Stockton's first public cemetery was discussed briefly by Francis
W. Schruben in the Rooks County Record, Stockton, September
20, 1962. The article includes information from the few remaining
gravestones.

A 58-page diamond jubilee supplement was published as part
of the September 21, 1962, number of the Catholic Advance Reg-
ister, Wichita, publication of the dioceses of Wichita and Dodge
City. The occasion was the 75th anniversary of the establishment
of the diocese of Wichita.

The reminiscences of 98-year-old Mrs. Martha Francis, Hunter,
written by Mary Wiles, were printed in the Beloit Daily Call, Sep-
tember 22, 1962. Mrs. Francis' family came to the Hunter area
in 1872.

Kansas Historical Notes

"Fort Bissell," near Phillipsburg, torn down after 1878, has been
reconstructed by the citizens of Phillipsburg as a memorial to the
early settlers of the area. The new fort, consisting of cabins stocked
with museum items, and enclosed by a log stockade, was opened to
the public May 26, 1962.

Officers elected at the annual meeting of the Marion County
Historical Society in Marion, July 20, 1962, were: L. A. Powell,
president; Al Riffel, vice-president; Mrs. O. J. Shields, secretary-
treasurer; and Mrs. Harvey Albreight, Fred Moffitt, E. G. Unruh,
Emanuel Becker, and A. J. Klenda, directors.

Mrs. Elmer Sherar was re-elected president and Walter Martin
first vice-president of the Douglass Historical Society at the July 30,
1962, meeting of that organization. Other officers chosen included:
W. A. Graves, second vice-president; and Mrs. Turia Bolington,
secretary-treasurer.

Over 200 persons attended the Jackson county old settlers' dinner
and reunion, September 7, 1962, at Holton. Featured speakers were
Ruth Kittle, a daughter of Jackson county pioneers, who recalled
experiences of the early settlers, and Mrs. Alice Moulden, who gave
a biography of Green Campbell for whom Campbell College, for-
mer Holton school, was named. New officers elected by the group
were: the Rev. Alex Eckert, president; Harley Manuel, vice-presi-
dent; R. E. Singer, secretary; and Bertha Hinnen, treasurer. Mrs.
Winifred M. Nelson was the retiring president.

All Chase County Historical Society officers were re-elected at
the society's annual meeting September 8, 1962, in Cottonwood
Falls. They are: William Selves, Sr., Cottonwood Falls, president;
Paul B. Wood, Elmdale, vice-president; Mrs. Mildred Speer, Cotton-
wood Falls, secretary; and George T. Dawson, Elmdale, treasurer.
Directors appointed were: Dawson, Wood, Wayne Rogler, and Dr.
Harry M. Wilcox.

C. L. Hubbell was chosen president of the Hodgeman County
Historical Society at a meeting September 10, 1962, in Jetmore.
Other officers elected were: Bert Brumfield, vice-president; Frances
Pitts, secretary; Mrs. Lida S. Benge, treasurer; and Mrs. Lula Jones,
Mrs. Benge, and Mrs. Gladys B. Wright, directors. Brumfield was
the retiring president.

(108)

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 109

Ninety persons attended the 15th annual meeting of the Sons and
Daughters of Pioneers of Stanton and Spring Ridge townships,
Miami county, September 21, 1962, in Spring Ridge Hall. Howard
Mannen was elected president; Dorothy Nutt, vice-president and
treasurer; and Arline Sprague, secretary and reporter, for the coming
year. Robert W. Richmond of the Kansas State Historical Society,
addressed the group on the "Lighter Side of Kansas History."

Members of the Crawford County Historical Society re-elected
all officers at their fall meeting September 28, 1962, in Pittsburg.
They include: Mrs. A. N. Ligon, Pittsburg, president; Robert O.
Karr, Girard, vice-president; Mrs. R. P. Emmitt, Pittsburg, secretary;
Flora Holroyd, Pittsburg, treasurer; and Lora Allen, Pittsburg, cor-
responding secretary. William H. Matthews, Pittsburg, addressed
the group on "History of Early Coal Mining in Southeastern Kansas."

B. F. Park was re-elected president of the Franklin County His-
torical Society at the society's annual meeting, September 30, 1962,
in Ottawa. Loren Latimer was chosen vice-president; W. S. Bowers,
secretary; and Alma Schweitzer, treasurer. The organization's trus-
tees are: Bowers, F. H. Parks, Mrs. Harry Cochrane, Franklin P.
Baker, Mrs. B. Fleming, Mrs. G. R. Belt, and Glen Gillette.

Baxter Springs' Chamber of Commerce opened a historical mu-
seum in the C. of C. building October 6, 1962, the 99th anniversary
of the Quantrill raid at Baxter Springs.

Loren Hahn was re-elected president of the Lane County Histori-
cal Society at the annual meeting of the society, October 9, 1962, in
Dighton. Other officers selected were: R. J. Tillotson, vice-presi-
dent; Mrs. Henry York, treasurer; and Mrs. R. J. Tillotson, program
chairman.

New officers chosen by the Ottawa County Historical Society at
a meeting in Tescott, October 13, 1962, were: Dr. L. B. Eustace,
president; A. R. Miller, vice-president; Josephine Halberstadt,
secretary; Elsie Ballou, treasurer; and Zella Heald, public relations
chairman. Miller was the retiring president.

Mrs. W. G. Anderson was re-elected president of the Cowley
County Historical Society at a meeting in Winfield, October 16,
1962. Other officers, also re-elected, are: Mrs. Cloud Huston, vice-
president; Mrs. Paul Guy, secretary; and Lena Williams, treasurer.

Officers elected at the annual meeting of the Leavenworth Histori-
cal Society, October 22, 1962, were: Edward J. Chapman, Jr., presi-
dent; Donald E. Bachtel, first vice-president; Ed Reilly, Jr., second

110 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

vice-president; Mrs. R. B. Deffenbaugh, recording secretary; Mrs.
Charles Fogarty, corresponding secretary; and Ormand Leavel, Jr.,
treasurer. Other business included the adoption of a new constitu-
tion which provides for incorporation of the group.

Officers of the Shawnee Mission Indian Historical Society for
1963 are: Mrs. O. N. Eggleson, president; Mrs. Granville Bush,
first vice-president; Mrs. John Cochran, second vice-president; Mrs.
Reginald Miller, recording secretary; Mrs. Pearl Miller, correspond-
ing secretary; Joan Barkley, treasurer; Mrs. Tom Davis, historian;
Mrs. Robert Withers, curator; Mrs. James Glenn Bell, member-in-
waiting; Mrs. Stella Smith, parliamentarian; and Mrs. J. S. Tarr,
chaplain. Mrs. George W. Cox was the retiring president.

All officers of the Smith County Historical Society were re-elected
at the society's annual meeting, November 1, 1962, in Smith Center.
They include: Lincoln Strong, president; Roy Lumpkin, first vice-
president; Emett Womer, second vice-president; Mrs. Van Venables,
secretary; and Mrs. Claude Diehl, treasurer. Mrs. Mamie Boyd,
Mankato, was guest speaker at the meeting.

The annual meeting of the Morris County Historical Society was
held in Council Grove, November 1, 1962. R. W. Hunter, White
City, was elected president; Morris S. Dowell, Council Grove, vice-
president; Mrs. Howard Strouts, Wilsey, recording secretary; Mrs.
Alvin Lowe, Council Grove, corresponding secretary; and Mrs.
Robert Oleen, Dwight, treasurer. Neosho Fredenburg was the
retiring president. Thomas Witty, archaeologist for the Kansas
State Historical Society, was the featured speaker at the gathering.

New officers chosen by the Comanche County Historical Society
at a meeting in Coldwater, November 10, 1962, were: Melvin Par-
cel, president; Marvin Plank, vice-president; Laura Lohrding, record
secretary; and F. H. Moberley, treasurer. Ward Butcher was the
retiring president. The principal address at the gathering was
given by the Rev. Ernest Lawrence of Wilmore.

The Clark County Historical Society's annual meeting and pioneer
mixer was held November 17, 1962, in Ashland. At the business
session Mrs. Phyllis Seacat Shattuck was elected president; Mrs.
Louise Cauthers Berryman, vice-president; Rhea Gross, first honor-
ary vice-president; and Mrs. Venna Wilson Valentine, second honor-
ary vice-president. Miss Gross was the retiring president. Benja-
min O. Weaver, Mullinville, was the principal speaker at the
gathering.

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES 111

A McPherson County Historical Society was organized at a
meeting in McPherson, November 26, 1962. Temporary officers were
elected as follows: James A. Gassier, president; Anton Peterson,
vice-president; Mrs. George R. Lehmberg, secretary; Robert Bartels,
treasurer; and John Ash, Chester Peterson, L. H. Ruppenthal, Mrs.
John Kubin, Nick Neufeld, and John P. Krehbiel, directors.

Paul Sanders, Belle Plaine, was chosen president of the Sumner
County Historical Society at a meeting in Oxford, November 26,
1962. Other officers selected for 1962 are: John C. Orr, Conway
Springs, vice-president; Mrs. Elmer Dill, Belle Plaine, secretary;
Elmer Dill, Belle Plaine, treasurer; Raymond Cline, Conway Springs,
public relations; Mrs. David Heeney, South Haven, historian; and
Opal Vulgamore, Milton, photographer. Directors of the society
are: Freda Earles, Argonia; Harry Jenista, Caldwell; Wallace
Champeny, Oxford; David Heeney, South Haven; Roy Frantz,
Conway Springs; Elmer Holt, Wellington; and Millard Ross, Mul-
vane. Jenista was the retiring president.

Dr. Daniel Boorstin, University of Chicago, was the principal
speaker at a seminar for high school teachers and students of history
held at Southwestern College, Winfield, November 28, 1962. An-
other feature of the program was a panel discussion on "The
Agrarian Problem Abroad." It is planned to make the seminar a
biennial event.

Cyclone Carry The Story of Carry Nation, by Carleton Beals,
a 364-page book published in 1962 by the Chilton Company, Phila-
delphia and New York, is a biography of the colorful Kansas saloon
"smasher."

Nineteen essays presented at the Conference on the History of
Western America in Santa Fe, October 12-14, 1961, have been pub-
lished in 1962, by the Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, in
a 216-page volume entitled Probing the American West.

I. P. "Print" Olive's life is the theme of Harry E. Chrisman's new
426-page book, The Ladder of Rivers, published in 1962 by Alan
Swallow, Denver. A comprehensive picture of the range cattle in-
dustry is revealed through the story of this colorful Texas cowman.

A 593-page volume entitled Independent Historical Societies, by
Walter Muir Whitehill, was published in 1962 by the Boston Athe-
naeum. The study includes the history, the holdings, and the work
of many of the independent societies. Somewhat briefer reviews of
some of the state-supported societies are also included.

112 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Mildred P. Mayhall is the author of a 315-page book entitled
The Kiowas, published recently by the University of Oklahoma
Press, Norman. The author traces the Kiowas' evolution from moun-
tain dwellers, to Plains nomads, and finally to settlement on a
reservation.

Eider on the Wind Jim Lane and Kansas, a 228-page book by
Kendall E. Bailes, was published in 1962 by the Wagon Wheel
Press, 5832 Woodward, Shawnee Mission, Kan.

Two Diaries is the title of a 135-page volume published in 1962
by the Denver Public Library. The diaries are those of Calvin Perry
Clark, who traveled by wagon train from Illinois to Denver in 1859,
and his sister, Helen E. Clark, who made a similar journey in 1860.

A History of Steamboating on the Upper Missouri River, a 215-
page work by William E. Lass, was published by the University
of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, in 1962.

George E. Hyde is the author of a new 295-page book entitled
Indians of the Woodlands: From Prehistoric Times to 1725, pub-
lished by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. It is a
companion volume to his Indians of the High Plains: From the
Prehistoric Period to the Coming of the Europeans.

The State Parks Their Meaning in American Life, by Freeman
Tilden, is a 507-page volume published by Alfred A. Knopf, New
York, in 1962.

Bliss Isely is the author of a new biographical account of the
early days of George Washington entitled The Horseman of the
Shenandoah, published early in 1963 by the Bruce Publishing Co.,
Milwaukee.

Biographies of 14 American women who pioneered in fields
"closed to their sex" are included in Madeleine B. Stern's We the
Women, a 403-page volume published early in 1963 by the Schulte
Publishing Co., New York. One of them is Lucy Hobbs Taylor,
first American woman doctor of dental surgery, who for many years
practiced dentistry in Lawrence.

KANSAS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SUMMER 1963

NYLE H. MILLER JAMES C. MALIN FORREST R. BLACKBURN

Managing, Editor Associate Editor Assistant Editor

CONTENTS

PAGE

ERASTUS D. LADD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWRENCE

MASSACRE Russell E. Bidlack, 113

With a reproduction of a water color of the Quantrill raid on Lawrence by
Mrs. Lauretta Louise Fox Fisk, facing p. 113.

A PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS Dorothy V. Jones, 122

THE MUNICIPAL CAMPGROUNDS OF KANSAS Clinton Warne, 137

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A Revised Annals, Part Ten,

1838-1839 Compiled by Louise Barry, 143

With a reproduction of a segment of Hutawa's map (1842) showing the Fort
Leavenworth vicinity, facing p. 160, and Ado Hunnius' sketch of Pawnee
Rock in 1867, facing p. 161.

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY, Compiled by Alberta Pantle, Librarian, 190

BYPATHS OF KANSAS HISTORY 217

KANSAS HISTORY AS PUBLISHED IN THE PRESS 220

KANSAS HISTORICAL NOTES . 228

The Kansas Historical Quarterly is published four times a year by the Kansas
State Historical Society, 120 W. Tenth St., Topeka, Kan., 66612. It is dis-
tributed without charge to the members of the Society; nonmembers may
purchase single issues, when available, for $1.25 each. Membership dues:
annual, $5; supporting annual, $10; life, $50; patron annual, $100 or more.
Membership applications and dues should be sent to Edgar Langsdorf, 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

"Hutchinson's Automobile Fire Department" as
reproduced from a German-made post card. Al-
though the picture is undated, presumably it can
be labeled "the early 1900's."

THE KANSAS
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Volume XXIX Summer, 1968 Number 2

Erastus D. Ladd's Description of the
Lawrence Massacre

RUSSELL E. BIDLACK
I. INTRODUCTION

THE guerrilla raid on Lawrence by William C. QuantriU's band
of Missouri ruffians is remembered as one of the most shocking
episodes of the Civil War. Sweeping into the town of over 2,000
at dawn on August 21, 1863, a force of perhaps 450 bushwhackers
obeyed their commander's order to "kill every man big enough to
carry a gun." In the course of about four hours, some 150 male
citizens of Lawrence were killed. This massacre and its aftermath
give substance to the historian's claim that, of all human conflict,
civil war is the most cruel.

Although to their dying day, most survivors remembered the
Lawrence massacre as the most horrible four hours of their lives,
relatively few eye-witness accounts have survived. While doing
research recently among old Michigan newspapers, the present
writer found such an account in the forgotten pages of a weekly
called the Marshall Statesman of September 16, 1863. It is in the
form of a letter written just nine days after the raid by Erastus D.
Ladd who had migrated to Kansas in 1854 as a member of the
Second party of the Emigrant Aid Company. The letter was written
to Ladd's father in Marshall, Mich.

The name of Erastus D. Ladd is familiar to Kansas historians, for
they have frequently quoted from a series of his letters which were
published in the Milwaukee (Wis.) Sentinel during the 1850's.
These letters describe his arrival in Kansas, the organization of the
town of Lawrence, and the subsequent conflict which gave rise
to the name "Bleeding Kansas." Similar letters written by Ladd
and published in the Marshall Statesman, including the one describ-

DR. RUSSELL E. BIDLACK, native of Iowa, did his graduate work at the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor. He became a teaching fellow in the department of library science
in 1948 and has continued on the faculty where he is now an associate professor. He has
published a number of articles and papers, including Letters Home, the Story of Ann Arbor's
Forty-miners (Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Publishers, 1960).

(113)

114 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ing the Lawrence raid, have been unknown to historians. Tran-
scripts of these letters have been deposited in the Kansas State
Historical Society by the present writer.

Erastus D. Ladd was born on September 10, 1815, in Otsego
county, New York, and died at his home in Wakarusa township,
Douglas county, Kansas, on August 24, 1872. His father was Samuel
Ladd, a shoemaker by trade who was also something of an adven-
turer. About 1830 Samuel Ladd moved his family to Canada where
he "engaged in trade and warehousing." 1 About 1840 he moved
again, this time to the youthful town of Marshall, Mich., where he
opened a leather store. A native of Vermont, Samuel Ladd was an
active abolitionist and infused in his son a similar zeal for the de-
struction of the "peculiar institution."

The formal education of Erastus Ladd was limited, although he
did attend the Wesleyan Seminary at Laurens, N. Y., before the
family moved to Canada. After coming to Marshall, young Ladd
became a partner with his father in the leather business under the
corporate name "S. and E. D. Ladd." Not content to remain a
shoemaker, however, Erastus set out to improve his status. He read
extensively, studied law, and, in 1847, became an agent for the Soci-
ety for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Included in his reading
were the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, and he became a convert
to the New Jerusalem Church. The telegraphic experiments of
Samuel Morse intrigued him, and in 1848, while the line was being
erected between Buffalo and Cleveland, Ladd went east, learned
the telegraph business, and became the first manager of the tele-
graph office in Chicago. Later he was transferred to Milwaukee,
but in 1854 he abandoned his new profession to join the New Eng-
land Emigrant Aid Company in its settlement of Kansas.

Erastus Ladd, accompanied by a younger brother, John A. Ladd,
joined the so-called Second party sent out by the Emigrant Aid
Company. When it departed from Boston on August 29, 1854,
this group comprised a total of 67 individuals, but as it moved
westward additional emigrants boarded its train until the original
number was doubled. The Ladd brothers joined the party at
Chicago on September 1. In a letter written a week later, Erastus
Ladd characterized the membership of the Second party as follows:

At Chicago ... I met the Kansas party from the east, numbering
about 100 men, 15 women and some score or more of children. They are of
such an appearance, and a limited acquaintance has satisfied me of such a
character, as shall make a conspicuous mark in the character of the institutions

1. Wan-en Ladd, The Ladd Family (New Bedford, Mass., Privately Printed, 1890),
p. 140.

LADD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE 115

which shall prevail in this "center of the world." They are hardy and in-
dustrious intelligent and moral, with a determination never to admit, to the
least extent, any application of the principle of Slavery in Kansas, at the same
time they will not interfere with the business concerns of their neighbors in
the slave states. 2

On September 13 the party reached its destination in Kansas, at
the site of present Lawrence sometimes referred to as Waukarusa
or Yankee Town in the early days. Writing to his father on the
17th, Ladd noted:

You must understand there is not a house here, with the exception of one
log hut, about half a mile from us, and the next cabin is 6 miles East, and
one 6 miles West . . . As far as the country is concerned, there is nothing
like it in the world. The city will be laid out very soon, 1 miles wide back
from the river, and 2 miles on the river. . . . We are scattered all over
the prairie and wood land to keep claims from the Missourians. 8

On September 19 the First party, which had arrived on August 1,
joined with the Second party to form the "Lawrence Association of
Kansas Territory/' and a constitution was drawn up. On the
following day officers were elected, Dr. Charles Robinson being
chosen as president. Erastus Ladd was elected to the dual office
of register of deeds and claims and clerk of the court. In a letter
to Seth Lewis, editor of the Marshall Statesman, Ladd confided
that his was "the best paying office in the association." 4 A little
later he was chosen as the town's postmaster, and at the election
of May 22, 1855, he was elected a member of the first territorial
legislature. Like other Free-State members, however, Ladd was
expelled when the so-called "Bogus Legislature" met in July. At
the first election in which Free-State men afterwards participated,
in 1857, Ladd was elected a justice of the peace, an office which
he still held, along with that of register of deeds and claims, at the
time of the Lawrence massacre.

As Lawrence grew and and prospered, so also did the material
possessions of Erastus Ladd. When the 1860 census was taken,
he was credited with real estate valued at ten thousand dollars.
When his name appeared in print, it was usually followed by "Esq.,"
and he owned a large house on Massachusetts street in the most
fashionable part of town.

The Proslavery population of Kansas looked upon the town as a
center of abolitionism and the particular stronghold of the hated
Emigrant Aid Society. In 1856 occurred the so-called "sack of

2. Letter of E. D. Ladd to the Milwaukee (Wis.) Sentinel. September 8. 1834 re-
printed in the Marshall (Mich.) Statesman, October 4, 1854.

3. Letter of E. D. Ladd to Samuel Ladd, September 17, 1854, printed in the Marshall
Statesman, October 4, 1854.

4. Letter of E. D. Ladd to Seth Lewis, September 24, 1854, printed in ibid., October

116 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Lawrence/' and, in the years following, numerous other "incidents"
which kept the town in a constant state of apprehension. Nor was
Lawrence merely a passive victim. More than one antislavery
raiding party had its origin in the town, and more than one Law-
rence family possessed articles of dress, furniture, and livestock
which could be characterized by but one word loot. The blood
of Bleeding Kansas was not shed altogether by one side.

On November 10, 1855, Erastus Ladd was married to Mary W.
Tribou of Middleborough, Mass. Their only child, a son, died
shortly after birth, and on January 22, 1857, Mrs. Ladd died of
consumption. On October 24, 1858, Erastus Ladd was married to
Eliza Jane Blackford. At the time of the Lawrence massacre there
were three children of this latter union: Emma, Georgie, and
Winnie.

As indicated in the letter to his father, Ladd returned to Law-
rence shortly after the bushwhackers left. Within a few days, he
and his family were able to set up housekeeping in three rooms
of one of the houses that had escaped the torch. Shortly thereafter,
however, Ladd became ill with what was described as a fever
"owing to exposure." Although he gradually recovered from the
fever, his health was permanently damaged, and at the close of the
war he retired to a farm near Lawrence. There he died on August
24, 1872, at the age of fifty-six. The following paragraph was con-
tained in his obituary published in The Daily Kansas Tribune:

For the past few years, he has resided on a farm in Wakarusa township,
respected and honored by all who knew him as one of the worthiest of the
brave pioneers of freedom who established liberty and equal rights in Kansas.
He was a worthy, intelligent, useful citizen, and his death will be lamented
by all who knew him. He leaves a widow and several children to lament his
loss, for whom the most earnest sympathy is felt by the entire community. 5

II. THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE

LAWRENCE, KAN., Aug. 30, 1863.
DEAR FATHER:

* * * It was five minutes past five o'clock, when I got up and
went down stairs. I stepped out on the porch on the south side of
my kitchen, and was standing there for a moment, when I heard,
first, two or three scattering shots, followed immediately by a dozen
or more in quick succession, in a south-easterly direction, but hidden
from my view by houses. The shots were accompanied by cheers,
or rather yells. In a few moments, as I stood looking, some three or

5. "Death of Hon. Erastus D. Ladd," The Daily Kansas Tribune, Lawrence, August
27, 1872.

LADD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE 117

four negroes from the camp, which was some forty rods from where
I stood, came rushing by, hallooing, "The secesh have come!" As
I looked, the head of the column of fiends rushed down the street
on which the camp was, full in my view, and commenced shooting
down the boys in camp near by. There were twenty-five boys there
at the time, of whom they shot down and killed nineteen. How the
rest escaped I do not know. I estimated there were some two
hundred of the devils. There were about three hundred altogether.
I saw that, too truly, "the secesh had come!" I went to call
Eliza, but she was already up. We commenced to get up and
dress the children as fast as possible. We saw that every man
was shot down at sight. When they had rode into the main street,
and commenced their hellish work, they immediately broke into
squads and rushed through all the streets, killing every man they
saw, probably in order to prevent any concentration or organization
on our part for defense. They rode up and down the streets seeking
victims. As soon as all danger of opposition was over they com-
menced to rob and plunder the houses and barns, and fire them.
Eliza at first insisted that I should stay with the family, which I
proposed to do, at least for the time, but when she saw them shooting
every man they found, she insisted that I should run and get out
of town. I concluded, however, that it was better for me to stay
until the first fury of the assault was passed; for, to be discovered
in the street was certain death. I told her so, and remained. To
this fact I probably owe my life.

When they came to plundering and burning, the streets were
comparatively clear. When they were near my house, or along the
street, I would go into my cellar; and when they were temporarily
absent, I would come up and watch the progress of affairs from
the windows or porches. The first fire I saw was a large barn,
about one hundred feet from my house. They had taken the only
horse in it, and then set it on fire. In the course of time it came
our turn. I was in the cellar. A devil came to the door with a
cocked revolver in his hand, and called Eliza out. He demanded if
1 was in the house. She told him I was not. He demanded her
money, jewelry and arms. She gave him what she had. He then
broke up some chairs, and tore up some books, piled them up in the
dining room, and in the kitchen, and set them on fire. He was a
perfect demon. She begged for five minutes time to get out some
things. He would not give her a moment. I heard the flames
crackling and roaring over my head. I expected, however, that
I should be able to escape through the outside cellar door, which

118 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

I had fastened on the inside, after he should have left the house,
and before I should suffer from the heat. He told Eliza if she put
out the fire it would be a damned sight worse for her. He then
went to the next house. Eliza got some water and put out the fire
in the dining-room, and partially in the kitchen. I supposed she had
done so altogether, but she, fearing if it was put out entirely that
they would be there again, before I could get away, threw some
paper on the kitchen fire, and let it burn.

When the fellow had gone, I came up from the cellar, took an
observation, saw that the fellow was out of sight, in the next house,
and that no one was passing on the street although there were
some in sight above and below, but they were not approaching,
being otherwise engaged took the children's wagon, put Emma in
it, and Georgie in her lap, took Winnie by the hand, and Eliza, a
bundle of clothing for them and herself, and a change a thin coat,
vest, and pants for me, in a pillow-slip, and we went boldly out
into the street, crossed over it, went along the road out of town
for about two miles, and were not disturbed. The road led out
west, at right angles with the street. When we had gone a few
rods, one of them crossed before us a few feet on another street,
but he was walking his horse leisurely along, as though he was
satisfied with what he had done. He had three or four muskets
across the horn of his saddle, before him. He glanced at us, but
said nothing, and I made no effort to attract his attention, I assure
you. When we had gone about a mile, as we turned the corner of
a fence, we saw two of their pickets some rods ahead of us. We
turned to go in the opposite direction, and confronted two more
that way. We turned back, and I told those with me for there
were at this time some ten or twelve women and children along
that I thought the first-mentioned were persons from the country,
who had rode in so far to see what was going on, and we would
go that way, as it was in the course of the place we were going to.
As we approached them they turned and rode off towards some
others, and left the road clear. I was told afterwards they were
pickets.

Soon we passed along and out to our friends, Rev. Mr. Brown's,
of the Unitarian Church. Here we found a large number of persons
already collected, among whom were several men, and as we were
in full view of some six or seven horsemen who appeared to be
pickets, we thought we had better disperse. So, leaving the women
and children at the house, we scattered through the cornfield, and
along a ravine in the rear of the house, and remained there secreted

LADD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE 119

about an hour and a half, when word came that the devils had left
the town, or were leaving.

I then went back to town. I went away from my house hoping
that the devils would not go back to it again, after the fire was put
out, and so it would be saved, not knowing, till we had gone a long
ways, that we had left it burning. But I presume they would have
fired it again. Many houses were burnt after that, just as they
were leaving town. Many were set on fire several times, and the
women put them out, some of which were finally saved. I presume
half of the houses were saved by the women putting out the fires
after the devils had left them. Perhaps this is too large an estimate,
but a great many were thus saved, and among them some of our
best dwellings.

I will not attempt to describe the desolation which I saw on my
return to our town, which was just in the full tide of the greatest
prosperity it had ever seen. I could not describe it if I would.
I cannot do better than those have done who have written for
the papers, and still they have utterly failed. Many of our best
men were murdered. All, except one of our best blocks of buildings
have been consumed, a large portion of our town destroyed, and
all of it sacked and plundered. As to the amount of property
destroyed, the many horses and goods taken, &c., the papers have
informed you better than I can. Eliza and the children came in
towards night of that day, and, through the kindness of friends,
we have had a home, or rather several stopping places until yester-
day, when we moved into a part of a house. We have three small
rooms, blackened with smoke, and glass most all broken by the
heat, (for it was set on fire among the last, and put out after they
left the town) for which we pay nine dollars per month. By
buying, borrowing, and (not begging) donations, we have got a
few things to keep house with.

My office was saved in the only good block of buildings, not
destroyed. That block was on fire, and was put out after the
fiends had left. I have a great many small accounts on my dockets,
due me, but cannot collect much of them. My loss was from
$2,000 to $2,500 in my house and contents. My official business is
almost entirely suspended, as nearly all the liquor shops in town
are destroyed, and consequently there are no violations of law and
order. This is a great blessing, but it cuts off my principal source
of living. Civil suits are not brought on, as everybody has been
robbed, and there is no money to pay costs and judgments with.

I will mention one or two circumstances of that day that I

120 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

have omitted. I was frequently inquired for specially on that day
by the devils, and I am informed they forced one of our men to
point out my house to them. When they left town, one of them
was cut off from the company and captured, about four miles east
of town. After taking from him the money, said to be $1,000, and
the plunder he had strapped to his saddle, they brought him to
town to deliver him into the hands of the citizens, for summary
punishment. When on the way here, he told his captors that he
tried to kill me, and if a lady had not beckoned me in once, he
should have done so. He had sworn vengeance against me before,
because of some proceedings against him before me.

Now, father, why have we been so terribly punished? why so
infinitely worse than any other place in all the history of this
war? why beyond comparison and precedent, except in the war
of the British and Sepoys, in India, or some of the wars with the
savages in our own history? Our city has been a doomed city in the
feelings and intentions of the rebels since 1854, when we came
here. They have only awaited their opportunity. It has come, and
they have had their revenge. Kansas was the first territory, and
Lawrence the first place where this great strife and war between
freedom and slavery took an active form where this power of hell
was first told, "Thus far, no farther, come." As Lawrence was the
representative of a principle in all that great revolution, so, as such
representative, has the hellish hate of that infernal power been
poured out upon her devoted head, and she feels to rejoice that she
is counted worthy to receive such a baptism of blood, and fire,
and desolation.

Quantrell said here, after he had satiated his hate and revenge,
the he was now "ready to die." A universal shout will go up from
every part of slavedom, and from the infernal regions, when this
event shall have reached their ears.

Now what is the duty of the country, of the freedom-loving por-
tion of the country, in this case? Lawrence should never be per-
mitted to be blotted out. Her noble and lamented dead cannot be
restored, but their memories can be cherished and honored, and
her waste places can be built up and restored. Her pecuniary losses
should be made up to her in full; her other and more serious losses,
and her sad and harrowing experiences should suffice for her share.
Who would voluntarily endure the latter for all that was lost in
the former? Good God! the recollection of it is overwhelming!

Our neighboring cities are doing well. Leavenworth has con-
tributed some $15,000, Kansas City from $3,000 to $5,000, Atchison

LADD'S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE 121

a large amount, which has come here in clothing and provisions for
the destitute 85 WIDOWS, and 240 ORPHANS! only think of it, and
other sufferers and St. Louis and Chicago are taking hold, and
other places will do so. But, as I said before, the relief of suffering
and distress is not all the country owes to Lawrence. It should
make up every farthing of the losses incurred in this raid. Nothing
less will satisfy justice, and even then its indebtedness to Lawrence
will scarcely have begun to be liquidated.

Should Marshall do her share in paying this just debt, I can assure
you that we have a committee, (of whom I do not happen to be one,
and hence can speak freely) who will see that your wishes are strictly

and honestly carried out.

* * *

Yours &c.

ERASTUS.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The asterisks at the beginning and the end of
this letter have been copied as they appear in the newspaper. They
were doubtless used to show omissions of personal matters. This
letter appeared in the Marshall (Mich.) Statesman of September
16, 1863.]

A Preface to the Settlement of Kansas

DOROTHY V. JONES

The Removal act of May 28, 1830, authorized the President to
treat with any tribe of Indians living within any state or territory
regarding an exchange of their lands for land west of the
Mississippi. Debate on the bill and subsequent publicity centered
on the large Southern tribes, but several thousand Northern Indians
were also affected by it and, under its provisions, moved to new
homes in what is now Kansas.

JAMES B. GARDINER was tired when he sat down to
write a letter to the commissary general of subsistence in the
war department in Washington, and his weariness, shows through
the courtesies of 19th century correspondence. He was tired of
traveling about Ohio to hold councils with the 800 Indians who
had agreed to move to new homes west of the Mississippi. The
removal treaties had been signed in late summer, 1831, 1 with the
understanding that removal would begin early the following spring.
Spring, however, was one long succession of difficulties and delays,
and it was June 20, 1832, when the weary Gardiner sat down to
write yet another letter to Washington. The Indians were, he
wrote, at last ready to move. 2

So was Gardiner. He was tired of waiting. Above all, he was
tired of the government regulations that kept him from making
necessary preparations. Prices of corn and meal were high and
would go higher before the summer was out. The new crop was
poor and would not be in the mills in time to do the emigrating
Indians any good. If he could buy now what would have to be
bought anyway before the emigrants left Ohio, he could save
the government $1,000. 3

But no. He could not spend one penny, nor could he let con-
tracts for provisions and transportation even though he was in
charge of the Ohio emigration. All money matters had to be

MRS. ROBERT (DOROTHY VINCENT) JONES, now of Milwaukee, Wis., is a graduate of
Washburn University, Topeka. Under a grant from the Eugene F. Saxton Memorial Trust,
she is presently working on a book which will describe America's first attempt to sell the
idea of Western civilization to underdeveloped natives the American Indians.

1. July 20, 1831, the mixed band of Seneca and Shawnee Indians living at and
around Lewiston, Ohio; August 8, the Shawnee Indians of Wapakoneta and Hog creek;
August 30, the Ottawas living on Blanchard's Fork of the Great Auglaize river, and on
the Little Auglaize river at Oquanoxie's village. C. J. Kappler (ed.), Indian Affairs. Laws
and Treaties (4 vols., Washington, 1904), v. 2, pp. 327-339.

2. "Correspondence on the Subject of the Emigration of Indians Between the 30th
November, 1831, and 27th December, 1833 . . .," 23d Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. 513
(5 vols.; hereafter abbreviated to Doc.) v. 1, p. 689.

3. Ibid., p. 691.

(122)

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 123

handled by a disbursing officer from the regular army. "If I am
not to make any disbursements," he wrote, and added stiffly, "(and
I have no desire to do so), some person must be continually with
me, at all times and places, as my purchases, though comparatively
small, will be multifarious, and must be made in a great variety
of places, as necessity or expediency may require." 4

Then Gardiner's dignity slipped enough to reveal his exaspera-
tion with Lewis Cass, secretary of war. He had clearly under-
stood, he wrote, that each superintendent of Indian emigration
would be allowed to disburse his own funds under a system of
strict accountability, ". . . but the Secretary thought other-
wise, and his opinions are certainly entitled to the highest respect,
aside from the authority to enforce them: yet, I shall be much
mistaken if he does not become convinced that his plan in this
particular will not operate as much like clock work as he antici-
pated." B

By the end of June, 1832, the plans for the Ohio emigration were
already moving like a clock with a wobbly balance wheel. Most
of the Ohio Indians had not planted corn that spring, and had sold
their cattle and hogs in anticipation of an early move. Some of
them were already short of food. As Gardiner traveled among them,
counseling patience and economy, he had to buy food and tobacco
for them out of his own pocket. 6 On June 23 Gardiner wrote
directly to Cass that if the disbursing officer were not already on
the way then he himself should immediately be authorized to pur-
chase rations. "I cannot anticipate any impediments which will
prevent us from setting out early in August, if we are not delayed
by the want of funds. . . " 7

Impediments promptly appeared. The summer of 1832 was full
of impediments which Gardiner and the war department could
neither anticipate nor prevent. There was the Black Hawk war,
for one, and Asiatic cholera for another. In May of that year,
Black Hawk and a band of Sac and Fox Indians had blundered
into open conflict with the militia on the northern Illinois frontier.
On the face of it, there was no reason why this should affect the
Ohio emigration, although some people worried that the Ohio
Indians might be drawn into the war or made restless by it.
Gardiner notified the war department in June that there was abso-

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid., pp. 689, 691.

7. Ibid., p. 697.

124 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

lutely no cause for alarm: "I can confidently assure you that no
fears are necessary on that subject/' 8

By the first part of July, Gen. Winfield Scott was on his way to
Illinois with regular troops from the Atlantic states, and the effects
of the war began to be felt in Ohio and to upset Gardiner's plans
for an early August departure. The administrative mills had been
grinding away on the problem of a disbursing officer for the Ohio
emigration. Special orders were sent to Lt. Joseph Clay at Newark,
N. J., but Lieutenant Clay was already on his way west with General
Scott's troops. Meanwhile Gardiner had been told to spend no
money and let no contracts until Clay's arrival in Ohio. By the
time the office of the commissary general of subsistence learned that
Lieutenant Clay was not available for duty in Ohio, the lieutenant
was on board a steamboat bound for Detroit. And by the time
Gardiner wrote to inform Washington that "Lieutenant Clay has not
yet arrived," Joseph Clay of the 4th U. S. infantry had been dead
five days of Asiatic cholera. The summer of 1832 was getting
underway. 9

With the appearance of cholera in the West, 10 Gardiner's real
troubles began. Inadequate communication, as in the case of
Lieutenant Clay, had slowed the Ohio emigration to a crawl;
cholera brought it to a dead stop. For some time the Indians had
been protesting the government's plans to send them west by boat.
As Gardiner explained:

They are more allied to their ancient customs than any other people on
earth. They scarcely ever change a trail when once made, however crooked
or circuitous, and they now wish to travel "in the manner of their fathers."
They know nothing about steamboats. They do not wish to "move by fire"
nor to be scalded "like the white man cleans his hog" [Boiler explosions were
a hazard of steamboat travel in the 1830's.] Some of their little children
might be drowned. Their native modesty revolts at the use of the only
convenience on board a boat to obey the calls of nature. They have many
horses, too, from which they could not be induced to part for any considera-
tion whatever. These, and many other arguments, they use, in the most
forcible and importunate manner, in favor of selecting a route by land. 11

The reply from Washington was that President Jackson was de-

8. Ibid., p. 689.

9. Ibid., pp. 101, 102, 614, 699; J. S. Chambers, The Conquest of Cholera (N. Y.,
1938), pp. 87, 90.

10. Asiatic cholera first appeared in America in the spring of 1832. It was carried
to Quebec and Montreal by immigrants from Ireland. The disease spread quickly with
the dispersal of the immigrants to New York and west through the Erie Canal to the
Great Lakes. Accurate mortality records for the whole U. S. are not available but scat-
tered reports indicate mortality was high. Contemporary writers estimated that in New
Orleans, alone, 6,000 died from cholera in the fall of that year. Chambers, op eft., pp.
24-118.

11. Doc., v. 1, p. 690.

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 125

termined that the Indians should go by boat; Gardiner must tell
them the plan was unalterable. 12

There were good reasons for the policy and for its firm application.
By the summer of 1832 the government had had enough experience
with emigrating Indians to know some of the problems involved.
If the Indians started late in the season, as they usually seemed to
do, cold weather overtook them long before they arrived at their
new homes. Their inclination was to settle down wherever this
happened, and live off the country until spring. This inevitably
led to trouble with white settlers nearby. Then, too, Indians travel-
ing by land were far easier prey for the gamblers and whisky ped-
dlers who hung about their camps. The summer was slipping by.
For their own good the Ohio Indians must be gotten under way,
and for their own protection they must go by boat. Thus, the
government's intentions.

But the Shawnees at Wapakoneta and Hog creek, the Ottawas on
the Auglaize rivers, and the mixed band at Lewistown, were not
impressed. They had little reason to make plans on the basis of the
government's good intentions. Good intentions had not authorized
their removal in time to make crops on their new land. Good inten-
tions had not yet sent them anyone who could spend money for
preparations. Besides, Washington and the President were far
away. In their own villages were traders, men they had known all
their lives perhaps, who assured the Indians that boilers on the
Western river boats frequently blew passengers to bits. These were
men who had given more than one Indian the medicine he needed
when his child was sick, who had lent others money for traps and
a gun, 13 and were very likely lending many of them money to live
on while they waited on the government. The Indians knew these
men and believed what they said and they said to go by land.

Then came the news that cholera was on the Great Lakes. There
were cases in Detroit and in Cleveland. Most of the river towns
were stricken. The Indians refused outright to go by boat. On
July 23 Gardiner wrote to Washington and asked that the matter be
laid before the President. 14

In the midst of this confusion, Lt. J. F. Lane arrived in Ohio.
He was Lieutenant Clay's replacement as disbursing officer, but
he also had orders to investigate the land vs. water dispute. On

12. Ibid., p. 102.

13. For this seldom-noted aspect of the trader's character, see F. E. Leupp, The
Indian and His Problem (N.Y., 1910), pp. 188-191, quoted in Laurence F. Schmeckebier,
The Office of Indian Affairs (Baltimore, 1927), pp. 266, 267.

14. Doc., v. 4, p. 113.

126 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

July 31 he reported his conviction that only harsh measures would
induce the Indians to go by water. He was sure their attitude
was "owing to the intrigues of interested persons," but matters
had gone too far to remedy, and he agreed with Gardiner that the
Indians should be allowed to travel overland. 15 In their three
months' association, this is almost the only time that Lane and
Gardiner agreed on anything.

For one thing, Lane complained, Gardiner would not furnish
him estimates of expenses either by land or water. These he would
try to determine himself. Meanwhile: "I shall await here an altera-
tion in the present singular position of the measures for removal." 16

The "present position" was maddening but, as Gardiner could
have told Lane, it was by no means singular. Communication was,
as usual, far behind the event. When Lane arrived in Ohio to get
the emigration under way at last, he discovered that the $10,000
supposedly placed to his credit in the United States Bank at Cin-
cinnati, was not there. Bank officials knew nothing about it. 17
Now Lane began composing urgent letters to Washington.

His letters arrived in a city where official channels got longer
and slower every day, as more and more government officials left
town to escape the heat and the cholera. Lane's dilemma, which
was fairly routine, could be handled by the remaining war depart-
ment staff. They had only to check the files to discover that on
July 23 a letter had been written notifying him that the money
had been deposited. Time would take care of the rest, although
on July 31, nearly two weeks after his arrival, Lane still had no
money. 18

Gardiner's request for special permission to remove the Indians
by land was something else again. The acting commissary general
of subsistence referred the matter to the acting secretary of war,
who considered it for a time and then referred it to President
Jackson, who was not in Washington but at The Hermitage in Ten-
nessee. 19 In Ohio the Indians waited, and used up their capital.

Two weeks of August dragged by. Then a third. The reserva-
tions swarmed with traders, gamblers, whisky sellers, creditors,
peddlers of every description. Lieutenant Lane urged the war
department not to pay the Indians for the improvements on their
Ohio land until after their arrival in the West. "If paid immedi-

15. Ibid., v. 1, p. 725.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid., p. 724.

18. Ibid., pp. 127, 725.

19. Ibid., pp. 131, 135.

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 127

ately, the Indians will be ungovernable here, and destitute here-
after." He warned that fraudulent acknowledgements of large
debts were being gotten from the Indians in anticipation of the
payment. 20

Nothing he said or did seemed to have any effect, and on August
18 Lieutenant Lane lost his official composure. "I will no longer
be silent," he burst out, and launched into a furious denunciation
of the men who were intriguing to keep the Indians in Ohio be-
cause "a thousand little rills of profit flow from them." It was more
than Lane could stand. "I declare unhesitatingly my belief, that
this Indian business, as now proceeding, and as it is likely to pro-
ceed, will be made a profitable job, to the detriment of the Indians,
and the discredit of the Government." Lane suggested a peremptory
order to go by water. 21

But August 18 was too late for peremptory orders, or even for
reasonable suggestions. A letter from Jackson granting permission
for the Ohio Indians to travel by land, ". . . provided the ex-
penses incident to such removal shall not exceed twenty dollars
per head . . ," 22 was already on its way from Tennessee to
Washington. When Lane saw the copy of this letter which was
sent to him and to Gardiner, 23 he must have thrown up his hands in
despair. He had already informed Washington that if present plans
were persisted in, "twelve thousand dollars will no more than cover
expenses to the end of the month" 24 and the emigration had not
even gotten under way. But summer was drawing to a close. If
anything was to be done that year it had to be done quickly or the
Indians would be caught by winter en route. A bustle of frantic
activity began, into which Lane was drawn willy nilly.

Men were sent north to begin collecting the Ottawas who wan-
dered a great deal in the most settled times and who would now
be doubly difficult to find since, as Gardiner had reported earlier,
"certain deluded or mischievous men are trying to persuade them
not to emigrate." The orderly Lewistown Indians were assembled
and vaccinated at their own request. Smallpox had appeared among

20. Ibid., p. 726.

21. Ibid., pp. 726, 727.

22. Ibid., p. 717.

23. In February, 1833, Gardiner sent a special report to the secretary of war explain-
ing the reasons that delayed the start of the emigration. One of the reasons given (ibid.,
v. 4, p. 113), was that he did not receive a copy of Jackson's August 17 letter giving
permission for the Indians to go by land until about September 10, 1832. The conductor
of the Lewistown detachment of Indians kept a "Journal of Occurrences" during the
emigration., and he noted (ibid., p. 79) that Gardiner notified them on September 3 that
they had been given permission to go by land. The letters from the acting commissary
general of subsistence transmitting copies of Jackson's letter to Gardiner and Lane, are
dated September 1 (ibid., v. 1, pp. 152, 153).

24. Ibid., p. 731.

128 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the Shawnees in the West the previous fall, and had spread to the
Kaw Indians as well, thinning, frightening, and scattering the tribes.
Even the unruly Shawnees at Wapakoneta were sobered by the
news, and they, too, requested protection. They were assembled
and vaccinated some 400 of them. The confusion can be im-
agined: children crying, dogs and little boys dashing through the
crowd, fearful old women, suddenly become deaf, shaking their
heads obstinately at the shouting interpreters. 25

A few days later the Indians were assembled again and the treaty
goods distributed: 100 blankets, 10 rifles, and $300 worth of tenting
to the Lewistown band; 200 blankets and $400 worth of tenting to
the Shawnees of Wapakoneta and Hog creek. Twenty-five rifles
for the Shawnees had been mislaid in the administrative forest, but
Gardiner had already written Washington about the matter and the
rifles were being shipped to St. Louis. The arrangement did not im-
prove the tempers of the Shawnees. 28

Meanwhile the Indians' horses must be shod some 500 of them.
Extra horses must be bought by the government. The scent of
profit brought in every horse trader from miles around. Seventy-five
worn out beasts were bought, and put on rented pasture. Grain
costs were high that fall because of widespread crop failures, but
grain was bought to try to bring the horses up to traveling condi-
tion. (Later Gardiner was to admit that the horses were poor,
diseased, and old. "They were not such as were ordered," he ex-
plained, "and were purchased at a higher price than was stipulated
by me/') 27

The Ottawas were drawing rations or at least contractors were
being paid for Ottawa rations but no one seemed to know where
they were or how soon they would assemble. The Lewistown band
and the Shawnees of Wapakoneta began the agonizing process of
deciding what to take with them. There would be some pack horses,
and a few baggage wagons. Not many wagons were to be taken
because the roads were so bad; conductors, assistant disbursing
agents, and clerks would also transport their baggage in those few
wagons. The Hog creek Shawnees had their own teams and wagons,
but were not yet sure they would go. They were a peaceable, hard-

25. Ibid., pp. 692, 696, 697; v. 4, p. 79; letter of Thomas Johnson, Shawnee Mission,
to corresponding secretary of the Missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church,
December 29, 1831, printed in Kansas Historical Collections, v. 16, pp. 236, 237. Re-
garding the vaccination of the Indians, Gardiner noted in his February, 1833, report
(Doc., v. 4, p. 113), that the project was a failure since "the matter procured in Ohio
proved useless. ... But the failure was not ascertained until it was too late to
obtain new matter from Baltimore. . . ."

26. Doc., v. 1, pp. 122, 141, 143; v. 4, p. 79.

27. Ibid., v. 1, p. 728; v. 4, pp. 114, 115.

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 129

working band and they had no desire to travel with the disorderly
Shawnees of Wapakoneta as they had been told they must. 28

September was passing. The weather was uncertain. There were
a thousand things to do before the Indians could leave. Arrange-
ments which had been put off all summer suddenly had to be made
at once. At Lewistown, the Senecas and Shawnees sorted through
their belongings for the last time. What they could not take with
them, they turned over to a government appraiser for evaluation
and sale. The rest was packed for travel, which for most of them
meant packed into bundles to be piled behind Grandmother on
the family baggage horse. These were the obvious tasks. There
were others, equally pressing so far as the Indians were concerned.
They devoted one whole day to honoring their ancestors with the
Feast of the Dead. This was an annual celebration, the more mean-
ingful now that they were about to leave their dead among strangers.

On September 3, the Lewistown Indians had been told to be ready
to leave on the 13th; no delay was to be allowed. Not until the 15th,
however, did the money arrive to pay them for the improvements
they had made on their land: the cabins, com cribs, stables, fences,
etc., which they were leaving behind. For these, the 200-some
Lewistown Indians were paid $6,000 which the government ad-
vanced against the proceeds of the sale of their lands. On the 17th
they were paid for their personal property. When it became known
that the Indians had money, their village was overrun with men
determined to make it as easy as possible for them to get rid of it.
The talk against moving was renewed. Everywhere the Indians
turned they were told of the hardships waiting for them on the road.
They were offered whisky and trade goods, and urged to stay where
they were, among friends. In the midst of this confusion, they
learned of the death of Mrs. James McPherson, wife of their agent.
He had been planning to conduct them to their new homes, but after
his wife's death he resigned his post. This put a heavy load of
sadness and fear on the already over-burdened Indians, a fact im-
mediately seized upon by the men who hung about their camps:
You see? The government agents brought cholera with them. They
killed Mrs. McPherson, and they'll kill you, too, once you're on the
road away from home.

Many of the Indians attended Mrs. McPherson's funeral and
then milled about in confusion, afraid to set off for their new
homes, afraid to stay in their old ones. By the next day government
agents had coaxed some of them into leaving the village and travel-

28. Ibid., v. 1, pp. 70S, 729.
97260

130 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

ing seven miles to the crossing of the Great Miami river, where
they camped for the night. Gardiner took charge of that group
and sent the conductor and his assistant back to bring up the rest
of the Lewistown band. The emigration had begun. 29

Once united and on the road, the Lewistown Indians moved west
at a steady rate of 12 to 15 miles a day. Bad roads, rainstorms,
or strayed horses delayed them occasionally, but more frequently
they were delayed by the Indians on the road behind. Several
times the Lewistown band was halted to allow the Shawnees and
Ottawas to catch up. After a day or so in camp, they would be-
come restless. "Nearly all the Indians went into town," reads one
entry in the journal kept by the conductor of their detachment,
"some to see the place, some to trade, and some to get intoxicated."
But a more common entry is "order reigned," or "Indians quiet to-
day." And usually he recorded the day's progress: "Struck our tents
at 9 o'clock, and marched thirteen miles and a half. . . ." 30

The Indians crossed the Wabash river at Clinton, Ind., swimming
the horses across to save ferry charges. In Illinois they had good
roads and fair weather and they began to make 19 or 20 miles a
day. Their spirits rose. On October 28 at Hickory Grove, 111.,
their conductor noted: "The Indians remained in camp; quietness
was exhibited from every tent; good feeling abundantly prevailed
throughout the day. The Indians have not for several days had an
opportunity of procuring liquor; they consequently remain sober." 31

At Hickory Grove the Lewistown detachment was to turn south.
Their new lands were in the Neosho river in the northeastern
corner of present Oklahoma, while the other Ohio Indians were
bound for lands just west of Missouri on the Kansas river. So the
groups would separate, but not without pain and uncertainty. Many
in the mixed band were closely related to the Shawnees of Wapa-
koneta. Should they go with them, or go south? "Two men, while
on the route, left the family of Civil John and joined the Shawnees,"
the enrolling agent noted on the muster roll. And again: "Joe
White and family joined the Shawnees, while on the route." But
there were some who could not make the change, even to be with
their families: "Louis Dougherty and family and John Dougherty
and family joined the Shawnees, while on the route, with the
exception of one woman, who is now with John Smith's family." 32

29. The movements of the Lewistown Indians can be followed in their conductor's
journal, ibid., v. 4, pp. 79, 80, and in Gardiner's accounts of their last days in Ohio, ibid.,
v. 1, p. 702, and v. 3, p. 478.

30. Ibid., v. 4, pp. 80, 81.

31. Ibid,, pp. 81, 82.

32. Ibid., p. 77.

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 131

It was October 29 when the Lewistown band left the Ottawas
and the Shawnees of Wapakoneta at Hickory Grove, 111. 33 A month
earlier the chances of getting these latter groups as far as Illinois
seemed almost nonexistent. No one was able to handle them
when they were drunk, and they were drunk as often as they could
possibly manage it. The last week of September was a nightmare
for everyone connected with the emigration. The Shawnees of
Wapakoneta in particular seemed bent on drinking themselves to
death and laying their bones in the land of their fathers. Gardiner
wrote:

They forfeited every promise, and abused every kindness. It seemed im-
possible to get them to make the least movement towards preparation. They
were furnished with every thing promised, and much more. We lent them
twenty-five horses, and supplied three light two-horse wagons for their baggage.
They abused the horses, rode them off to the neighboring towns, kept in a
state of intoxication for several days together, until nature sunk under their
beastly intemperance. ... At length I was compelled to go back from
Turtle Creek to Wappaughkonetta [Wapakoneta] myself. ... I found
the Shawnees in a most wretched situation. Many sick, some wounded, then-
own horses all astray, and all that could still drink whiskey, women as well
as men, half -crazy and infuriated. . . . 34

Whisky was cheap in 1832 about 20 cents a gallon for whites,
and whatever the Indian traffic would bear. It was the currency
of the West, the most easily transportable form of the section's
huge corn crops. What Westerners didn't ship out, they drank.
Contemporary travel accounts frequently comment on the preva-
lence of whisky drinking especially among "the lower orders"
and the Indians. The lower orders were bad enough when in
liquor, but the Indians were a menace to themselves and everyone
within gunshot. When the men began to drink, the Indian women
hurried to hide guns, hatchets, camp knives, anything that might
be used as a weapon. But the men got along without. Ears were
torn off, noses bitten until the blood ran, eyes gouged out. Burning
brands were snatched up from the cookfire and used as clubs, or
the flames were ground out in an enemy's face. The noise was
unceasing: howls, chants, the screams of women, the yipping of
a dog kicked out of the way, the moans of a man fallen into a
campfire. 35

The violence and bloodshed that accompanied an Indian drink-
ing spree are recorded by government agents, by traders, mission-

33. Ibid., p. 82.

34. Ibid., v. 3, p. 478.

35. For contemporary descriptions, tee Charles Joseph Latrobe, The Rambler in North
America (2 vols., London, 1835), v. 2, pp. 210, 211: journal of Sgt. Hugh Evans, Missis-
sippi Valley Historical Review, Ceciar Rapids, Iowa, v. 4. p. 212.

132 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

aries, and anyone who had anything to do with Indians. Everyone
agreed that die best thing was to leave them alone till they sobered
up. But Gardiner could not wait until the Shawnees were sober.
It was the end of September and winter was approaching. The
authorities at Washington would be wondering why the Indians
weren't on the road.

Gardiner flattered and scolded, coaxed, and threatened. He and
his assistants gathered up six Indians at one place and a dozen at
another and got them moving. Then they gathered a dozen more
and hurried forward to keep the first bunch moving. It was slow
and maddening work, but Gardiner kept at it, prodded perhaps
by the rumors of his dismissal which had been circulating through
the camps. 36

He found the Ottawas sulking in the woods north of Wapakoneta.
They were furious because their regular annuities had not arrived,
and they were feeding their fury on whisky. Gardiner tempted
them with talk of the treaty goods that were waiting for them if
they would only go with him. He sent an express rider to pick
up their annuity money. Finally they were persuaded to move,
and they joined the Shawnees at an encampment on Turtle creek
in Shelby county, Ohio. There was one last big drunk a three-
day affair and then Gardiner and his men got the Indians moving
again and marched them hard: 55 miles in two and a half days.
They arrived in Richmond, Ind., sick, exhausted, and ready to sit
down for the winter right where they were. 37

Back in Piqua, Ohio, Lieutenant Lane took time to write to his
superiors in Washington. For the past week and a half he had
been trying to keep track of the Indians so that he would know
where to deliver their food rations. He would arrange for delivery
at one point and find that the rations were wanted somewhere
else. When he asked Gardiner to give consistent notice of need,
Gardiner replied, "All is chaos. I know not where the Indians will
be tomorrow night." The harassed lieutenant had had all he could
stand: "I say, officially and fearlessly, that Mr. J. B. Gardiner,
special agent and superintendent is unworthy and incapable. There
is but one opinion: I have expressed it." 38

At the same time the equally harassed Gardiner, just up from
a severe attack of fever, was expressing his opinion that Lane was

36. Doc., v. 1, p. 733; v. 3, p. 478.

37. IZrid., v. 1, p. 704; v. 3, p. 478.

38. Ibid., v. 1, p. 730.

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 133

obstructing the emigration, and conniving with the contractors to
make a killing on the Indians' rations. 39

Inevitably, the two men quarreled a bitter, public quarrel.
Lane immediately wrote to Washington asking that he be relieved
of his duties as disbursing agent for the Ohio emigration, and
granted a three-months' furlough. He found the difficulties of
working with Gardiner insurmountable: "His drunkenness and
destitution of character place him below gentlemanly notice. His
age forbids personal chastisement." 40

Five days later, on sober second thought, Lane withdrew the
request. If he left now, he wrote, it would look as if Gardiner's
charges were true. He hurried after the emigrants, hoping, as later
letters reveal, to be put in charge of the emigration and, by his
successful conduct of it, regain the good reputation that he felt
had been lost through no fault of his own. 41

At Indianapolis the Eastern mail caught up with him, but there
were no letters from headquarters. Lane was almost out of funds.
Contractors, officers, teamsters, all were demanding payment. A
steady stream of Indians flowed through his quarters requesting
money for services rendered the government, for the hire of then-
horses on government business, for repairing rifles, mending dam-
aged tents, and filling a thousand other needs. Angry citizens
brought in sworn certificates that the Indians' horses had broken
into their cornfields on such-and-such a date, inflicting so-many-
dollars worth of damage and when was the government going to
pay? 42

Lane stalled them off, bought on certificate when he could, and
finally decided to send to Cincinnati to see if more money had been
deposited to his credit, and if not, to borrow what he could. When
no express rider would go to Cincinnati where the cholera was then
raging and deaths were reported to be 40 a day, Lane went himself.
There he found that another $10,000 had been deposited and he
turned about and rode hard for the Wabash where he hoped to catch
up with the Indians. The emigration had been going forward, Gar-
diner later reported, with money borrowed from the Indians them-
selves. 43

39. Ibid., pp. 702, 706.

40. Ibid., p. 730.

41. Ibid., pp. 732, 733.

42. Ibid., pp. 181, 733, 734.

43. Ibid., pp. 734, 735; Maximilian, Prince of Wied, Travels in the Interior of North
America (London, 1843), reprinted in Early Western Travels (Cleveland, 1908), R. G.
Thwaites (ed.), v. 22, p. 155; Doc., v. 4, p. 115.

134 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

As the emigrant train moved through Indiana, the days settled
into a routine. The Indians rode in groups of five or ten strung
out along the road within sight of each other. Most of them were
on horseback. Some of the sick and old, and a few of the children
rode in the baggage wagons. According to one contemporary ac-
count, the Indians "exhibited a fantastic appearance, their clothing
and ornaments being of almost every color and description." 44 No
details are given, but other descriptions of Shawnees and portraits
of their leaders suggest some of the details: Calico shirts with the
ruffled neck worn open; gaudy sashes; black hair bound by a hand-
kerchief or all but hidden under a turban of brightly-colored calico.
There would be some with their ears slit along the outer rim and the
lobes pulled down by the weight of ornaments into a loop of flesh
that swayed with every movement of the head. A few of the chiefs
would be wearing Presidential medals on ribbons about their necks.
Others would have blue military coats given them perhaps on state
visits to Washington. There would be wide pewter armbands, and
pewter gorgets worn at the throat. A few might be wearing nose
rings, and have slashes of red paint on each cheek, while next to
them rode relatives in the jeans and calico of the white settlers. 45

The long train of Indians passed through Indiana and Illinois
in October. Pawpaws were ripe, and acorns covered the ground.
The hammering of woodpeckers echoed in the woods where leaves
had changed color and were beginning to fall. Bright red Virginia
creeper wreathed the trunks of many trees the tall maples, beeches,
elms, ashes, limes, and walnuts of the virgin forest. Even where
settlers had cut these out, huge sycamores still stood, some of them
with hollow trunks big enough to stable a horse. Deer were be-
coming scarce, but squirrels, raccoons, possums, and rabbits were
still plentiful, and wild turkeys not unknown, so the Indians were
able to supplement their ration of beef and pork, flour and corn-
meal. 46

The rations were always a problem. After Indianapolis, meat
was purchased on the hoof and driven to the Indians' camp for
them to slaughter. Thus, to the usual evening uproar was added
the bawl of frightened cattle and the squeal of tethered pigs.
Traders drove up to exchange coffee, sugar, and tea for hides and
tallow from the slaughtered animals. The inevitable whisky sellers

44. Missouri Intelligencer, Columbia, November 12. 1832, p. 2, quoted in Grant
Foreman, The Last Trek of the Indians (Chicago, c!946), p. 84.

45. Descriptions drawn from portraits in Thomas H. McKenney and James Hall,
History of the Indian Tribes of North America . . . (Philadelphia. 1836-1844).
reprinted in Edinburgh, 1933-1934, 3 vols., F. W. Hodge (ed.)7

46. Maximilian, Travels, in Thwaites, v. 22, pp. 148, 165-168.

PREFACE TO THE SETTLEMENT OF KANSAS 135

hid out in the nearby woods. In some places white people made
up sightseeing parties to go out and watch the Indians. 47

At Hickory Grove, 111., within 40 miles of St. Louis, the Indians
went into camp. They were moved off the main road to avoid
contact with travelers from St. Louis where cholera was epidemic.
Here, 80 Hog creek Shawnees, about half the band, joined them.
They had finally decided to go, and a conductor had been sent
back for them, but all across Indiana and Illinois they had kept
well back of the main party. Here, too, Lieutenant Lane came
up. Also, Col. J. J. Abert, U. S. army, who had left Washington
October 4 with orders to take over the emigration, arrived. Some-
one had noticed at last that all was not well with the Ohio emigra-
tion. 48

Abert took charge and the Indians felt the difference at once.
He had been granted sufficient authority to get the necessary done
when it needed doing, not some time after an answer arrived
from Washington. 49 The immediate necessity was money: "Money
must be supplied," he wrote, "or the emigration be arrested: there
is no half way course/' 50 He arranged to borrow $8,000 from
William Clark, superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis. He
appointed Lane disbursing officer to the Lewistown band, turned
over $3,000 to him for expenses, and started the detachment south
to the Neosho. These things accomplished, Abert got the remain-
ing Indians under way, and on November 2 he wrote "The Missis-
sippi is behind them to-day." 51

Nothing seemed to ruffle his calm. In Missouri some of the
Ottawas went on a drunk. "An excessive use of peach brandy, dur-
ing a three days debauch, killed the old Ottaway chief," Abert re-
ported matter of factly, "and two others are rather in a doubtful
way." The sickness gave rise to reports of cholera which Abert
promptly squelched. 52 There was a great dread of the disease in
Missouri, and a fear that the Indians were carrying it. Abert wrote:

You would laugh to see how we are frequently received on the road:
doors are slammed in our faces, yet some are bold enough to peep at us

47. Doc., v. 4, p. 114; Foreman, op. cit., p. 76.

48. Doc., v. 1, pp. 705, 735; v. 4, pp. 114, 115, 117.

49. His instructions read in part: "The department, entertaining full confidence in
your judgment and ability, commits the whole subject to your discretion, with power to
adopt alJ such measures as, in your opinion, the honor of the Government and the interest
of the Indians may require." Ibid., v. 1, p. 341.

50. Ibid., p. 392.

51. Ibid., pp. 392, 393, 396. It is only just to Colonel Gardiner to note that Colonel
Abert asked Gardiner to accompany him as far as the Mississippi, which he did. In fact,
Abert reported that he "experienced great advantages from the advice and remarks of
Col. Gardiner." He invited Gardiner to continue with him to the end of the journey, but
Gardinei declined. He was granted a "leave of absence" to return to Ohio and visit his
family. Ibid., v. 4, pp. 5, 6.

52. Ibid., v. 1, p. 397.

136 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

through the windows. However, so long as they do not stop our progress,
we don't care; and yet some of these whites will continue to sell whiskey
to our Indians. About twenty of our Ottaways were as drunk as David's
sow yesterday. When sober, these are by far the most orderly and man-
ageable of the whole detachment. But drunk, sober, or sick, we will move
them along. 53

In mid-November with winter storms beginning, it was the
greatest kindness that could be done. Drunk, sober, or sick, the
Indians were moved along, and on November 30 they arrived at
the Shawnees' new reservation 20 miles west of Independence, Mo. 54

These Shawnees and Ottawas were among the first immigrants
to settle in what is now Kansas. 55 Like the well-publicized later
immigrants, they came with axes and cross-cut saws. They built
cabins, plowed the prairie, and planted corn. 56 They did not
come singing "We cross the prairies as, of old, our fathers crossed
the seas," but they had their own songs, and their own memories
of the days when their forefathers were giants in the land they
had left behind.

But it would be foolish to overemphasize their resemblance to
later settlers, and it would be unfair to them. Many of the Indians
retained as much of their own culture as they possibly could,
having seen little to admire in the culture that had pressed for
their removal to Kansas and then made such a botch of moving
them there. 57 The two peoples, red and white, were a great dis-
tance apart on that cold November morning when the Shawnee and
Ottawa immigrants arrived on the frozen ground of their new
homes. They were closer in Kansas, however, than in northern
Illinois or southern Wisconsin where differences between the races
had erupted into open warfare. A small step had been taken on
the long and difficult road to mutual tolerance. And with it, a
settlement of Kansas had begun.

53. Ibid., p. 399.

54. Gardiner remarked (ibid., v. 4, p. 114) that he never knew how many Indians
were in his charge "in consequence of the constant intercourse between the tribes, their
habits of visiting each other alternately, for days together, their practice of scattering along
the road, or through the woods, or remaining in the villages where whiskey could be pro-
cured. . . ." In a letter to William Clark (ibid., p. 117), Gardiner estimated that
there were 250 in the Lewistown band, 100 Ottawas, and 450 Shawnees of Wapakoneta
and Hog creek. The enrolling agent for the Lewistown Indians reported 220 in that band
(ibid., p. 77). On December 22, 1832, Agent Richard W. Cummins reported that he
had had a count made of the new arrivals and that there were 334 Shawnees and 73
Ottawas (ibid., v. 3, p. 567).

55. Shawnees from Missouri and Ohio had begun moving to their Kansas reservation
at least as early as the spring of 1828. In the fall of 1830 Delawares from Missouri
started settlement of their lands north of the Kaw river. Journal of Isaac McCoy for the
exploring expeditions of 1828 and 1830, Lela Barnes (ed.), printed in Kansas Historical
Quarterly, v. 5, pp. 260, 376.

56. In 1838 their agent Richard W. Cummins reported that they raised com, po-
tatoes, cabbages, peas, pumpkins, melons, wheat, and oats. 25th Cong. 3d Sess., House
Doc. 2, "Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs," p. 477.

57. When the Indians were delayed at Arrow Rock, Mo., by a violent snow storm,
Abert commented, "Ah! this weather, this weather they should have been at their homes
before this, and could have been if the business had been properly managed from the
start." Doc., v. 1. p. 400.

The Municipal Campgrounds of Kansas

CLINTON WABNE

/DAMPING out while traveling by automobile has again become
v popular. With some encouragement on the part of automobile
manufacturers, the vacation tourist is fast renewing an old American
tradition. It might be interesting then, to take a look at the camp-
ing accommodations available to early motorists, especially in
view of the fact that some of the early campgrounds are again
in use. Because the early municipal campgrounds were highly
popular for only a short period of time, several questions immedi-
ately come to mind: What was the need for campgrounds? Why
were Middle Western communities not only willing but eager to
offer camping facilities? Why was the popularity of these accom-
modations so short-lived?

For the early motor traveler, procurement of suitable lodging
for the night presented obstacles which, while not altogether
unassailable, could cause some real inconveniences. West of the
Mississippi river, the condition of the roads, the scarcity of choice
accommodations and the distance between stopover points did
not lend themselves readily to the making of hotel reservations in
advance. Efforts to reach previously selected destinations before
nightfall often swallowed up the enjoyment of the trip. Hence,
the development of municipal campgrounds where all tourists were
free to stop for the night offered a welcome alternative. Thus it
was, that during the early 1920's, the municipal camp area reached
an apex of popularity in the Middle West where major cities are
few in number and often hundreds of miles apart. It was esti-
mated in 1921 on one Western highway that every second car
carried camping equipment. 1 Since the percentage of campers was
high throughout the Middle West, it is not surprising to discover
that the state of Kansas, with its central location, was one of the
earliest to encourage campgrounds and remained a leader through-
out their years of popular use. Accordingly, knowledge of condi-
tions as they developed in the campgrounds of Kansas seems espe-
cially pertinent.

As early as 1902, St. Marys is reported to have opened to travelers

DH. CLINTON WAKNE received his A. B. degree from the University of Colorado and
his Ph. D. from the University of Nebraska. He is currently in the department of economics,
Ohio State University, Columbus.

1. Walter P. Eaton, "Tenting on the New Camp Ground," The Nation, New York,
September 14, 1921, p. 287.

(137)

138 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

a municipal park which was capable of handling 100 parties in its
23 acres of ground. 2 In the next few years other municipal camp
areas developed, until by 1920 there were 300 cities in the nation
offering this overnight lodging privilege. 3 By 1922 the number
had risen to 1,000. 4 As campgrounds proliferated rapidly, Kansas
continued to assert its leadership in the offering of camping facili-
ties. John G. Stutz, writing in Kansas Municipalities, stated:
"Kansas has the distinction of having more tourist camps per 100
cities than any other state in the Union." 5 At that time there were
156 Kansas municipalities that proudly boasted some kind of
municipal camp area. 6

The deliberate encouragement of the municipal camp area was
based on the premise that it was necessary to control the otherwise
accidental locations which the tourist might select for his overnight
lodging. The automobile tourist could be expected to locate not
only near the highway but also within easy reach of the com-
munity, both because of the need to obtain food, automobile sup-
plies, and good water, and also because of a certain degree of fear
of being alone and completely isolated. However, these self -chosen
locations were not always the most auspicious for the health inter-
ests of the community concerned. There was then, need for some
regulation of the activities of the casual camper. The municipal
campground seemed at the time to be an effective way of meeting
this need.

These municipal camps usually were located in a park near the
downtown commercial zone, where the automobile traveler could
conveniently acquire the services he needed. Foremost among
these was the need for such enterprises as gasoline filling stations,
garages, and tire shops, but travelers also patronized grocery mar-
kets, restaurants, dry goods and drug stores, as well as telegraph
and post offices.

Many municipal parks displayed a sign stating that a camper
was welcome to stop. Moreover, stimulated by the efforts of their
civic organizations, many communities offered municipal camp-
grounds that became elaborate places with kitchens, tables, fire-

2. John G. Stutz, Tourist Camps in Kansas Cities (Municipal Reference Bulletin No.
35, University of Kansas, Lawrence, March 1, 1923), p. 28. The date given in the re-
port is 1902. However, this seems a bit early for the need for a large campground to
have been felt. A check of a St. Marys newspaper for 1902 revealed that land was
purchased and a city park established, but there is no indication that it was open to
tourists for camping at that time.

3. Bellamy Partridge, Fill 'er Up (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1952), p. 195.

4. John J. McCarthy and Robert Littell, "Three Hundred Thousand Shacks," Harpers
Magazine, Concord, N. H., July, 1933, p. 183.

5. "Kansas Has Many Tourist Camps," Kansas Municipalities (published by the
League of Kansas Municipalities), Lawrence, February, 1923, p. 17.

6. Ibid.

MUNICIPAL CAMPGROUNDS OF KANSAS 139

places, showers, baths, and rest rooms, and they even offered police
protection. At the opening of a campground at Manhattan, it was
claimed that the city had taken ". . . the lead among all the
states in providing the most convenient as well as beautiful 'free*
camp park maintained for the traveling public/' 7 In this particular
camping area the tourist was offered, in addition to the usual
facilities, a community building containing a lounge room with a
rock fireplace. This was situated in an artistic park planted with
every shrub and ornamental tree known to thrive in the Middle
West, and with flower beds containing hundreds of blooming
flowers. 8

The costs were high for the construction of elaborate facilities
such as those at Manhattan. Up to $35,000 was spent by Kansas
City, Kan., alone. 9 In order to justify a financial outlay of this
magnitude for a municipal campground, local merchants calculated
the increased returns anticipated by the businesses of the com-
munity from trade with overnight guests. For most tourists, the
average length of stay in a given camp area was approximately
two days, and it was typical for the spending of each tourist group
to net the merchants of the community about $5.00 per day. 10
One unnamed community which kept records on the campers
realized an estimated $100,000 increase in cash trade resulting
from the stay of visitors sheltered in its municipal campground. 11

On September 15, 1923, the Chamber of Commerce in McPherson
reported on the volume of business from a municipal campground
which had been built there in 1921 for $7,000. By that time the
income, including that realized from the 5,886 tourists from 43
states, Canada, and Mexico who stayed in the camp during the
summer of 1923, amounted to several times the original cost of the
camp. 12 Similar economic gains were experienced by many other
communities, not only in Kansas but also along other major high-
ways of the Middle West.

In spite of their decided economic advantage to the community,
these municipal campgrounds faced strong local opposition for

7. "Long Oil Company Has Attractive Camp Site/' Topeka Daily Capital, May 20,
1928.

8. Ibid.

9. Dr. L. B. Gloyne, "The Grading of Tourist Camps," Kansas Municipalities, Sep-
tember, 1923, p. 28. Dr. Gloyne makes the interesting remark that the community had
received more favorable comment on its tourist camp, and "has got more good advertising
out of it, than from any one thing that it has done in a number of years."

10. J. W. Gregg, "Essentials for Tourist Camps," Kansas Municipalities, September,
1921, p. 16.

11. Charles Harger, "Free Tourist Camp, One Mile," The Outlook, New York, August
15, 1923, p. 591.

12. Kirke Mechem, ed., The Annals of Kansas, 1886-1925 (Kansas State Historical
Society, Topeka, 1956), v. 2 (1911-1925), p. 364.

140 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

several reasons, even at the peak of their popularity. The chief
antagonists represented two specific factions. Most vocal were
those who were deprived of the opportunity of serving these
tourist groups. Especially bitter were the members of hotel
associations 13 and the owners of commercial tourist lodgings. A
second contingent consisted of those who felt that community
campgrounds were not a legitimate area of municipal govern-
mental activity. The opposition elements had spokesmen who were
vitally concerned with and influential in the affairs of their com-
munities. The most convincing charge against the municipal
campgrounds centered around health.

It was charged by those opposed to the municipal campground
that adequate sanitary standards could not be maintained. Condi-
tions in some of these tourist camps were such, that on February 15,
1923, the Kansas State Board of Health, under the authority of
Section 10122 of the General Statutes of Kansas, 1915, unanimously
recommended a set of sanitary regulations specifically designed to
improve campgrounds. 14 Kansas was the first state to take such
action. Unfortunately, there have always been persons who mis-
treat or misuse any kind of public facility, so that even with these
regulations, the conditions of the campgrounds in Kansas re-
mained variable. Some were of good quality, others deteriorated. 15
In order to publicize the satisfactory municipal camp areas and at
the same time to encourage indirectly the improvement of others,
a Tourist Camp Bureau was organized on April 18, 1924. Cities
which belonged to this Tourist Camp Bureau were to have standard
facilities and to charge the tourist camper 50 cents per day for the
use of the camp area. In addition the Tourist Camp Bureau issued
uniform registration blanks, and each automobile was given a
recognizable type of serially numbered tag. These tags were a
receipt for registry and at the same time were to serve as identifica-
tion for the motorist during his stay in a given city. 16

It was felt by the leaders of this movement that the 50-cent fee
would assist in improving the conditions in each of the camps and
at the same time keep out the "gypsy" or "hobo," who polluted
streams, left heaps of rubbish behind and accidentally set forest
fires.

M. 13 ; Norman Hayner, "Auto Camps on the Evergreen Playground/' Social Forces,
Chapel Hill, N. C., December, 1930, p. 263, reports on the effective efforts of a local hotel
association to close a camp.

14. Albert H. Jewell, "Tourist Camp Sanitation," Kansas Municipalities, March, 1923,
p. 20.

15. Harger, loc. cit.

16. "Cities to Charge for Use of Camps," Lawrence Daily Journal-World, April 19,

MUNICIPAL CAMPGROUNDS OF KANSAS 141

In spite of the efforts of the Kansas State Board of Health and
the Tourist Camp Bureau to control conditions in camp areas, the
Kansas Public Health Association at its meeting in Wichita on
September 19, 1922, specifically ordered tourist camps throughout
the state to improve their sanitary conditions. 17

The failure on the part of city officers to administer sanitary and
police regulations effectively had, by the mid-1920's, forced the
desirable types of campers to seek other lodgings. Official notice
of this trend was taken at the second conference of city officials
of Kansas held in Topeka in April, 1924. At this time, it was
stated that: "While a majority of the tourists are appreciative of
the services offered by the cities, not a few are unappreciative,
destructive, and in many cases criminal in their treatment of tourist
camp facilities. . . ." 18 As this thoughtless type of person
came to be dominant among those using the facilities, additional
members of the community began to question the wisdom of allot-
ting city taxes for the maintenance of municipal camp areas. The
city manager of Wichita, Earl C. Elliott, forcefully summarized
this position when he called the Wichita municipal camp,
". . . a liaven of roost* for the automobile tramp and for the
^boomer* who travels through the country living off the community.
Our experience is that many of the folks who light in our camp
are tramps . . . who become a charge upon the community." 19

As unsatisfactory conditions in the municipal campgrounds be-
came increasingly prevalent, discerning campers ceased using them
entirely, and with the rapid degeneration of most of the camps,
even the "gypsy" or "hobo" camper began to avoid them. Robert
D. McGiffert of the Topeka City commission stated that during the
early part of the summer of 1928 the Topeka campground had not
averaged eight persons per week. He commented that the 50-cent
fee charged each of these groups was not enough to pay for the
watchmen and caretakers necessary to maintain the grounds. 20

Thus it appears that by 1928, not only did the commercially
desirable class of tourist avoid the municipal campgrounds, but
even those less considerate in their treatment of the sites had turned

17. Mechem, op. cit., p. 328. At this same time other states were experiencing similar
difficulties. An Indiana State Board of Health survey of 116 municipal tourist camps in
Indiana reported in May, 1924, that 27 per cent of the water supplies were undesirable
or unsafe, only 22 per cent of outside toilets were approved, and only 47 per cent had ap-
proved garbage disposal facilities. "Unsanitary Tourist Camps," Literary Digest, New
York, October 11, 1924, p. 61.

18. "Standardizing City Tourist Camp Regulations," Kansas Municipalities, May, 1924,
p. 28.

19. Earl C. Elliot, "The Case Against the Tourist Camp," American City, New York,
January, 1923, pp. 77-79.

20. "City Tourist Camps Go," Topeka Daily Capital, July 12, 1928.

142 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

to other sources of lodging. It ceased to be common to see infor-
mally dressed men, women, and children alighting from heavily
loaded cars to spend the night in these municipal camps. This
loss of popularity marked the end of an era in the wanderlust of
the American tourist.

Kansas Before 1854: A Revised Annals

Compiled by LOUISE BARRY
PART TEN, 1838-1839

7838

C Robert Polke (recently of Indiana) opened a trading house for
the Pottawatomies (on Pottawatomie creek, about where present
Lane, Franklin county is today) in the latter part of 1837, but no
reference earlier than the January 3, 1838, diary entry of the Ot-
tawas* missionary Jotham Meeker has been located. He wrote:
"Visit Quaquatau [Qui-qui-to, Pottawatomie chief], do some busi-
ness at Mr. Polks ["Robert Polke & Co."] and ride [12 miles]
home. . . ."

(Subagent A. L. Davis had met Polke a brother-in-law of Isaac McCoy
in the spring of 1837 and promised him a trading license when the Pottawat-
omies removed to the Marais des Cygnes country.)

In a July, 1838, journal entry, McCoy recorded that on July 21 he took his
wife "to Mr. Polke's among the Putawatomies," after a journey from Westport,
Mo., and overnight stop at Davis* "Agency among the Weas. . . ." ( Rem-
iniscing, in 1879, John C. McCoy stated that "Robert Polk and Moses H. Scott,
traders among the Pottawatomies ... [in the 1830's] broke and put in
cultivation a large field in the valley of Pottawatomie creek, near Osawatomie,
which they cultivated for several years . . . [with indifferent success].")
It appears that W. W. Cleghome was also trading at Pottawatomie creek, as
early as 1839.

Robert Polke was still living on Pottawatomie creek at the time of his
death in 1843. Apparently he, his wife Elizabeth (Widener) Polke (and
some? of their children) had been "Kansas" residents during the intervening
years. His oldest son Thomas W. Polke (about 23 in 1838) probably was
associated with the trading house from the beginning; and his second son,
John W. Polke (about 18 in 1838) later(?) became a trader.

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," in Kansas State Historical Society (KHi) ms. div.,
January 3, 1838, and occasional subsequent entries, also May 26, 1843 (for Polke's death);
Isaac McCoy's "Journal," in KHi ms. div., as noted above; Indiana Historical Collections,
Indianapolis, v. 26, pp. 362, 398; 26th Cong., 1st Sess., H. Doc. No. 173 (Serial 366),
p. 93 (for an August 25, 1839, item on "Robert Polke & Co.," and mention of "W.
Cleghome"); 27th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc. No. 164 (Serial 403), p. 97; Vital Historical
Records of Jackson County, Missouri, compiled by the Kansas City chapter, D. A. R.
(c!934), p. 415 (Polke burials in McCoy cemetery); Indiana Magazine of History t Bloom-
in gton, v. 10 (March, 1914), pp. 86 and 107 (for biographical data on Robert Polke and
family). Kansas City (Mo.) Journal, February 6, 1879 (or, "Kansas Reminiscences,"
clipping volume in KHi library) for John C. McCoy's statement. The Polkes are not in
the 1840 U.S. census of Jackson county, Mo., but Elizabeth Polke (Robert's widow), and
five sons, are listed in the 1850 census under Jackson county, Mo. (These sons were:
Thomas W., John W., Oliver H. Perry, Charles, and Robert T.; Robert Polke's only daugh-
ter, Mary A., married Pierre Menard Chouteau, son of Francis G. Chouteau, in 1849.) A

LOUISE BARRY is a member of the staff of the Kansas State Historical Society.

(143)

144 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

"Moses G. Scott" is listed in the 1850 U. S. census of Jackson county, Mo. "Mr. deghorn,"
of Pottawatomie creek, is mentioned in Meeker's "Diary," under date of December 26,
1840.

BORN: on January 15, at Shawnee Methodist Mission (present
Wyandotte county), Mary Cummins Johnson, daughter of the Rev.
Thomas and Sarah T. (Davis) Johnson.

Ref: Kansas Historical Collections (KHC), v. 12, p. xii; or, 15th Biennial Report of
the Kansas State Historical Society, p. 35. (This infant died two months later on March
19.)

C January. The Rev. Christian Hoecken (of Kickapoo Catholic
Mission), after a difficult eight-day, 80-mile winter journey, arrived
at Pottawatomie creek (near the present Miami-Franklin county
line) on his first visit to the Pottawatomie Indians. He remained
for "about a fortnight" as guest of the chief "Nesfwawke" (Nas-
waw-kee) and his band of Catholic Indians (formerly of Indiana).

On January 30 Father Hoecken performed marriage ceremonies for two
Pottawatomie couples. Both "brides" were daughters of "Nesfwawke." These
marriages (of Wawiakachi to Josette, and Chachapaki to Wawasemokwe) are
the earliest of record among the Pottawatomies of the Marais des Cygnes
country. They were, it appears, ceremonies revalidating irregular marriages.

Ref: Christian Hoecken's "Diary," as published in T. H. Kinsella's . . . The
History of Our Cradle Land . . . (Kansas City, 1921), pp. 225, 226; G. J. Garrag-
han's The Jesuits of the Middle United States . . . (New York, 1938), v. 1, pp. 190,
191, and 195. In Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, p. 59, the chief's name is
given as "Naswaugee." The April 22, 1836, Pottawatomie treaty "signature" is "Nas-
waw-kee."

G January-February. Smallpox was prevalent among the Pawnees.
(See p. 66.) It had been transmitted first to the Pawnee Loups
by captives (some 20 women and children, most of whom suc-
cumbed to the disease) and plunder taken in a winter battle with
the Sioux. "Multitudes" of Pawnee children died as smallpox
spread to the other villages. According to Missionary John Dunbar,
the mortality among the adults was not so great. The victims
were chiefly those persons born since the 1831 epidemic.

The Pawnee Loups, in order to "retrieve their good fortune," resorted to a
custom for which this Pawnee band was notorious, killing one of the remaining
Sioux prisoners (a 14-year-old girl) in a human sacrifice rite. "The chiefs of
the other bands refused to witness the bloody spectacle though specially invited
to be present." This incident occurred on February 22.

Ref: KHC, v. 14, pp. 630-832, 640; Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, pp.
22-24; Henry R. Schoolcraft's Personal Memoirs . . . (Philadelphia, 1851), p. 614;
John B. Dunbar's The Pawnee Indians, A Sketch (reprint from Magazine of American
History).

C BORN: on February 10, at Kickapoo Methodist Mission (present
Leavenworth county), Emily Greene Berryman, daughter of the
Rev. Jerome C. and Sarah C. (Cessna) Berryman.

Ref: 15th Biennial Report of the Kansas State Historical Society, p. 35.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 145

C February 15. The "fast running St. Peters" (the steamboat
which in 1836 and 1837 had carried American Fur Company em-
ployees and supplies to the upper river trading posts, and brought
back fur returns) was advertised to leave for Fort Leavenworth
"as soon as the navigation will permit/' and to "run as a regular
packet in the Missouri trade" during the ensuing season.

On October 11 the Missouri Republican, St. Louis, reported the return (on
October 9 or 10) of the St. Peters perhaps completing her last run of 1838
on the Missouri. This boat was also in service during 1839.

Ref: Nebraska State Historical Society Publications, Lincoln, v. 20, pp. 70, 86.

C March. In an altercation between some Missourians and a party
of Osages (over Indian depredations on livestock), Nathaniel B.
Dodge, Jr., was killed, another white man was wounded; and the
Osages had two men killed and one wounded. This border incident
perhaps occurred in Linn or Bourbon county of today.

Ref: Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts" (in KHi ms. div.), v. 26 (1839), in a McCoy
"document" labeled "Remarks to aid Genl Tipton in speaking on Ind Affs. . . .";
History of Vernon County, Missouri . . . (St. Louis, 1887), p. 157.

C Late in March Parks & Findlay (Joseph Parks, prominent mem-
ber of the Shawnee nation; and James Findlay, of Jackson county,
Mo.) erected a trading house near the Ottawa Indian settlements
(present Franklin county) and within a few miles of Ottawa Bap-
tist Mission. Missionary Jotham Meeker assisted in the "raising"
of this "store house" on March 29.

(On September 8 Meeker noted in his diary: "Visit Mr. Findlay who
arrived with his goods on yesterday at his Post." On December 25 he "At-
tended the Ottawa [annuity] payment at Findlay's store. . . . The Agent
[Anthony L. Davis] and Paymaster [Dr. John C. Reynolds] . . . [left]
at sunset.")

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," entries of February 23, March 29, September 8, 21,
December 25, 1838, January 19, 1839 (and subsequent entries). In the 1850 U.S.
census of Jackson county, Mo., James Findlay is listed as aged 34. He was about 22,
apparently, in 1838. See, also, June 16, 1838, annals entry.

C In late March(?) taking advantage of an early break-up of ice
in the Missouri the American Fur Company's new steamboat
Antelope passed along the "Kansas" shore, en route to the upper
river trading posts. Trader Charles Larpenteur and Robert Christy
(coming down from Fort Union in a canoe, with two oarsmen)
met the steamboat at the Flattens mouth some time in April,
apparently.

The Antelope returned in mid- July. On arrival (July 16) at St. Louis, it
was reported that most of the 1,000 packs she brought were buffalo robes; and
that the more valuable furs were coming down in Mackinaw boats.

Ref: Charles Larpenteur's Forty fears a Fur Trader . . . (New York, 1898),
v. 1, p. 136; Nebraska State Historical Society Publications, v. 20, p. 78.

107260

146 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

C April 3. Joseph V. Hamilton, sutler (since 1835) at Fort
Leavenworth, was also appointed postmaster, succeeding Alexander
G. Morgan (who had been Hamilton's predecessor as sutler).

(See, also, June 27, 1839, entry.)

Ref : KHC, v. 1-2, p. 255.

C DIED: Francis Gesseau Chouteau, on April 18, at his farm on
the Missouri's right bank, two to three miles below the Kaw's mouth,
within present Kansas City, Mo. (See KHQ, v. 28, p. 25, for his
settlement there.) He was 41 years old, and died suddenly.
Notably, his death occurred at a time when the American Fur Com-
pany's caravan was organizing in the Westport and Chouteau's
landing area. See next entry.

Francis G. Chouteau (son of Pierre Chouteau, Sr.) had entered the fur
trade about 1816 (see KHQ, v. 27, p. 378). At the time of his death,
"Chouteau's Landing" (on the river front of his property) was at the height
of its prominence as a shipping point on the Missouri. This lower landing
( where his warehouses served as a base for American Fur Company or, Pierre
Chouteau, Jr., and Company operations) was the steamboat port generally
used for traffic and commerce bound to Westport, Mo., or the Indian Country
beyond. The upper, or "Westport Landing," some two miles above, near
the Kaws mouth was, as yet, the lesser-used shipping point.

The following quotations (from a sequence of letters Sup't Joshua Pilcher
wrote Subagent A. L. Davis in the latter part of 1839) show that Cyprian
Chouteau (younger brother of Francis G., whose own trading place was on
the Kansas river, a few miles above its mouth, in present Wyandotte county)
took over the operations at Chouteau's Landing. Pilcher, on September 9,
wrote: [about goods for the Pottawatomies] "which I wished you to be pre-
pared to receive by the 13th at Chouteaus landing . . ."; and on Septem-
ber 25: "I will ship the property . . . and have it consigned to Mr.
Ciprien Chouteau's landing . . ."; and on November 4: "the property
. . . was shipped on board the Pizarro, and Mr. Chouteau, being absent,
it was taken to the upper [Westport] landing, and placed in charge of Mr.
[Thomas A.] Smart. . . ."

Ref: The following information was supplied to this compiler by James Anderson,
historian of The Native Sons of Kansas City, Mo., and his help is acknowledged with
gratitude. There is extant a Bible inscribed "To Delia from her Grandma" [i. e. t to Odille
Chouteau from Mme. Berenice Chouteau (widow of Francis G. Chouteau)] which was
(and probably is) at the Boatman's Bank, St. Louis. On a page in this Bible are Chouteau
family vital records, apparently recorded there by Mme. Berenice Chouteau; and therein
the death date for Francis G. Chouteau is entered as April 18, 1838. Also, the Missouri
Saturday News, St. Louis, of April 28, 1838 (in Mercantile Library, St. Louis, Mo.),
reported the sudden death (on an April day unspecified) of "Mr. Francis Chouteau" at
the "mouth of the Kansas river," and stated that his remains had been brought to St. Louis
"on Tuesday last [. e., April 24] and interred in the Catholic burying grounds." This
tends to corroborate the April 18 death date. Sup't Joshua Pilcher's letters, noted above,
are to be found in Superin tendency of Indian Affairs (SIA), St. Louis, "Records," v. 7,
typed copy, pp. 44, 46, and 55.

C April 22-28. Andrew Drips headed tbe American Fur Com-
pany's caravan which left Westport, Mo., on Sunday, the 22d, for

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 147

the Rocky mountains. Moses ("Black") Harris was his lieutenant;
additionally there were perhaps 45 company employees; and an
outfit of 17 carts and some 200 horses and mules.

With the caravan were Capt. William Drummond Stewart (making his
fourth trip West) and party of five(?) which included William Clark's son
William Preston Clark and step-son John Radford (Stewart and Clark each
had a wagon); also, Swiss-born John Augustus Sutter (who would become
prominent in California's development after his settlement there in 1839),
and a friend named "Welter," or "Wetler?"

By April 27 (having followed a section of the Santa Fe trail and the
general pathway up the south side of the Kansas river across present Johnson,
Douglas, and Shawnee counties soon to be known as the "Oregon trail")
the American Fur Company caravan reached a point of timber on the Kansas
river, above(?) present Topeka, and encamped. At that place (apparently for
the first time) the crossing would be made, after the arrival of a company
flatboat then on its way upriver with supplies. (For crossing apparently used
on the 1837 journey, see p. 64.)

On April 28 a party of missionaries, Oregon-bound, reached the camp of
Drips and party, to travel in company as far as the Rocky mountain rendezvous.
(See, also, following entries.)

Ref: Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, Portland, 1889, pp. 54-88 (for Mrs.
Myra F. Eell's "Journal"); C. M. Drury, editor, First White Women Over the Rockies
. . . (Glendale, Calif., 1963), v. 2 (contains diaries of Mrs. Mary Walker and Mrs.
Myra F. Eells); Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Seattle, v. 29 (1938), pp. 277-282 (for
W. H. Gray's "Journal"); C. M. Drury, editor, The Diaries and Letters of Henry H.
Spalding and Asa Bowen Smith Relating to the Nez Perce Mission 1838-1842 (Glendale,
Calif., 1958), pp. 43-79; Ruth Karr McKee's Mary Richardson Walker, Her Book (Cald-
well, Ida., 1945), pp. 140-157; C. M. Drury's Elkanah and Mary Walker . . . (Cald-
well, Ida., 1940), pp. 67-95; Cornelius Rogers' letter of July 3, 1838 (microfilm, KHi);
J. Ceca Alter's Jim Bridger (Norman, Okla., c!962), p. 182 (for names of Wffliam
Clark's son and stepson); J. P. Zollinger's Sutter, The Man and His Empire (New York,
1939), pp. 36-38, 41, 345; E. G. Gudde's Slitter's Own Story . . . (New York, 1936),
pp. 11, 12; Myron Eell's Father Eetts . . . (Boston, c!894); 'Tersonal Reminiscences
of General John Augustus Sutter" (in Bancroft Library), typed copy, courtesy of Dale L.
Morgan; Kansas City (Mo.) Journal, January 23 and 30, 1879, or, "Kansas Reminiscences,"
clipping volume, in KHi library, for John C. McCoy's statements on Sutter.

C April 23-28. Nine missionaries (four couples, and a single man)
left Westport, Mo., on Monday, the 23d, to begin an overland
journey to the Oregon country (where they would serve as re-
enforcements for the Indian mission sponsored by the American
Board of Comm'rs for Foreign Missions). They were: William
H. Gray (who had gone to "Oregon" in 1836, and returned in
1837), his bride Mary A. (Dix) Gray, the Rev. Gushing Eells, his
bride Myra (Fairbank) Eells, the Rev. Asa B. Smith, his bride
Sarah G. (White) Smith, the Rev. Elkanah B. Walker, his bride
Mary (Richardson) Walker, and Cornelius Rogers (bachelor).
Their companion, and guide, on the first stage of the journey was
Dr. J. Andrew Chute, of Westport. The four women in this party
were the first white females to cross "Kansas" by the Oregon trail

148 KANSAS HISTORICAL, QUARTERLY

pathway. (Compare with the route which Narcissa Whitman and
Eliza Spalding traveled in May, 1836 see pp. 47, 48.)

(The Eells, Smiths, Walkers, and Rogers had debarked at Independence
Landing, Mo., on April 15, from the steamboat Howard; the Grays had reached
Independence a few days earlier. At this town they outfitted; then moved 12
miles to Westport, where the American Fur Company caravan was organizing.
There they hired mountain man John Stevens, as their packer. At Westport,
Mary Walker and Mary Gray were guests at Isaac McCoy's home; the others
stayed in quarters Doctor Chute found for them.)

At the start the missionaries had 25 horses and mules, 12 homed cattle
(including two fresh milch cows), and a light one-horse wagon. The available
journals (of Gray, Smith, Myra Eells, and the Walkers) provide detailed in-
formation of their journey across present Johnson, Douglas, and Shawnee
counties; and make it clear that they traveled nearly 100 miles to reach the
Kansas river crossing (just above present Topeka) where the American Fur
Company caravan was encamped. (By a direct route this would have been
little more than 70 miles.)

From Westport, on the 23d, their course was south of west towards the
Santa Fe road (which they would follow for a time). According to the journal
of William H. Gray (whose log is used here because he was die experienced
traveler in the party) their first day's journey was eight miles to "Sapling
Grove," where a little stream ran northwest into the Big Blue of Missouri.

On April 24, after 25 miles of prairie travel, their night's camp was on "a
little stream called Brush Creek" [headwaters of Bull creek]. (Myra Eells
wrote that it was "one of the head branches of the Osage river.")

After eight miles of travel on the 25th, they "proceeded onto a beautiful
stream called the WaKorusah from a root found in abundance on its banks
made use of for food by the Natives," according to Gray. [There are several
versions of the meaning of "Wakarusa."] Late in the day they crossed this
stream. (Smith recorded: "Had one small river to cross just before we en-
camped wh. we forded without any difficulty.") They had traveled 20 miles.

On the 26th they "proceeded over high rolling prairie ... on the top
of the divide between the waters of the Wakerusah and the Kansas . . ."
(Gray's journal), and camped on the open prairie, after a 20-mile journey.

They traveled 17 miles on the 27th, and (according to Gray) camped on
the west bank of a "stream running into the Kansas" [the Shunganunga, or a
branch] at a spot "about 9 miles East of the Kansas Village." [Hard Chiefs?
prominently located village in Dover township, Shawnee co. see KHQ,
v. 28, p. 59.] During the night three of their best horses disappeared pre-
sumably stolen by Kansa Indians.

On April 28 they "proceeded about 7 miles do [due] North" to the Kansas
river where they "found the Fur Co. encamped on its South bank in a point
of timber . . ." (Gray's journal).

Gray's "distances" total 97 miles. (By the estimates of two others in his
party, the journey to the Kansas crossing, from Westport, was slightly over
100 miles.) If Gray's statements can be taken literally (as to traveling due
north to the river after camping "about 9 miles" east of the Kansa village),
the caravan crossed the Kansas just above present Topeka. But, see annals
entry for the American Fur Company party of (May) 1839.

Ref: Same as for preceding entry. See, also, preceding entry, and entries of April 28
and April 29.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 149

C April 28(?) The American Fur Company's supply-carrying flat-
boat, cordelled up the Kansas river to the overland caravan's camp
(above present Topeka), made rendezvous late on the 28th (or
early on the 29th?). (See preceding entry.)

In 1906 nearly 70 years after the event Joseph S. Chick (aged nine in
April, 1838) wrote: "In 1838 I was visiting my sister, Mrs. William Johnson
. . . [at the Kansa Methodist Mission a few miles above the caravan's
camp] when the Chouteaus [about April 30?] brought a 'Periogue' to the
mouth of Mission Creek [where Frederick Chouteau had his trading post see
KHQ, v. 28, p. 193]. Every body living near there, whites and Indians, went
to see it." In an interview (1908) Chick stated: "Chouteau's pirogue was
cordelled up the Kaw river. It had a plank deck. The goods were all down
in the hold. There was no awning over the boat." Chick (in 1906) also
wrote: "I have no recollection of any keel boats on the Kansas river. The
Chouteaus did use pirogues on both the Missouri and Kansas."

However, Frederick Chouteau stated (see KHC, v. 8, p. 428) that keelboats
were used for the Chouteaus' trading activities on the Kansas. He described
them as "ribmade boats, shaped like the hull of a steamboat, and decked over.
They were about eight or ten feet across the deck and five or six feet deep
below deck. . . ." Chick and Chouteau seem to describe the same type
of craft, but Chick called them pirogues, and Chouteau called them keelboats.

Ref: See April 22-28, and April 23-28 entries; and Joseph S. Chick's letter of May 3,
1906, and interview of October 19, 1908 (in KHi ms. division).

C On Sunday, April 29, the rendezvous-bound American Fur Com-
pany caravan and the Oregon-bound missionary party crossed the
Kansas river not far above present Topeka. The baggage was
ferried on the Company's flatboat, and the animals swam. After
camping for the night on the north bank, the cavalcade (stretching
for nearly half a mile) set out, on the 30th, up the Kansas valley.
According to Myra Eells, there were about 60 men, and besides
the four females of the missionary party, "ten or fifteen Indian
women and [half-breed] children."

The further "Kansas" travels of this company (while spelled out in con-
siderable detail in the missionaries' journals) are not here outlined since the
route from this point was the now "old" and familiar "Sublette's Trace" (or,
"Oregon trail") previously noted in these annals (and dealt with at some
length in KHQ, v. 28, pp. 352-355).

On May 13 the cavalcade crossed from the Little Blue to the Platte. (The
camp that night was "about 27 miles below the head of the Grand or Big
Island in the Platt River on its South East Bank." Gray.) On the 30th these
travelers crossed Laramie's Fork and came to "Ft. Laramy or Ft. William at
the foot of the black hills." Gray stated: "As near as we can make or calculate
the distance it is 790 miles [although] it is called ... [by those who
travel with pack animals] but 750." (Myra Eells' estimate to this point was
776 miles; Asa B. Smith calculated it as 740 miles.)

After reaching the Wind river rendezvous on June 21, the missionaries
remained in camp till July 12; then continued westward (to Fort Hall) with

150 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Francis Ermatinger (of the Hudson's Bay Company) and a small company
(about 20 men) which included John Augustus Sutter and party of five.
Eventually on August 29 (after four months and one week en route from
Westport) the nine missionaries reached the mission at Walla Walla, where
they were greeted by the Whitmans and Spaldings (pioneers of 1836).

Ref: Same as for April 22-28 entry; also, see The Missionary Herald, Boston, v. 35
(July, 1839), p. 269, and v. 36 (January, 1840), pp. 15 and 33.

C DIED: Clermont, II, chief, since 1828, of the Osages on the
Verdigris river, in "Oklahoma," in the spring(P).

On June 5 Montfort Stokes wrote (from Fort Gibson): "The recent death
of their [Osages'] Principal Chief Clermont, will cause their turbulent warriors
to go to war before winter with the Pawnees, Kiawas, and other tribes of the
great Prairies, with whom they have been at peace ever since our late Treaties."

Ref: Grant Foreman's Pioneer Days in the Early Southwest (1926), p. 239, footnote.
See Kansas Historical Quarterly (KHQ), v. 28, pp. 40 and 320, for other data on Clermont
and his band of Osages. A successor, Clermont (III), signed the Osage treaty of January
11, 1839.

C Beginning May 9, and continuing into June, John C. McCoy
surveyed the Pottawatomie reserve completing a project on which
preliminary work had been done in August, 1837. (See p. 60.)

Ref: Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 25 (for survey field note*); "Plat of the Putawat-
omie Lands Surveyed in 1838 by J. C. McCoy" (photostat from National Archives, in
KHi ms. division); 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc. No. 174 (Serial 347), p. 105. In these
references August, 1837, is indicated as the time the preliminary survey was made.

C May 10. This was the scheduled date for the annual traders'
caravan to depart from Independence, Mo., for Santa Fe (as an-
nounced in the St. Louis Missouri Argus of April 5).

Little information has been located which relates to the 1838 season. Over-
land trade to Mexico was in a 'languishing condition," partly due to recently
imposed higher duties at Santa Fe for American traders, and also because
of an uprising a revolutionary movement (lasting till the spring of 1838)
which had begun in the province of New Mexico in the summer of 1837. A
memorial that the General Assembly of Missouri addressed to congress in
December, 1838, stated "only seven [Missourians'P] wagons" had gone to
Mexico "during the last season." According to Josiah Gregg's later-published
estimate, some 50 wagons (carrying goods worth $90,000), and around 100
men (20 of them proprietors) made the trip to Santa Fe in 1838. It may be
that the wagons of Mexican traders carried the bulk of the 1838 New Mexico-
bound trade.

Ref: Missouri Argus, St. Louis, April 5, 1838; 26th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. 472
(Serial 360), p. 6 (for memorial of December 27, 1838); R. E. Twitchell's Leading Facts
of New Mexico History (1912), v. 2, pp. 53-60; Josiah Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies
(New York, 1844), v. 2, p. 160. The 1838(?) expedition recollected by Oliver P.
Wiggins (see E. L. Sabin's Kit Carson Days [1935], v. 1, pp. 307, 308; The Trail, Denver,
v. 3, no. 7 [December, 1910], p. 6; and M. M. Estergreen's Kit Carson [c!962], pp.
77-79), has been omitted here for lack of substantiation, and because of discrepancies in
Wiggins' accounts. For lack of time, the files of certain St. Louis newspapers (not avail-
able in KHi) have not been examined. The Missouri Republican, particularly, may contain
items which throw additional light on the Santa Fe trade of 1838,

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 151

C May 11. In the party of 22 Americans (with 12 Mexican
servants, and outfit of seven wagons, one dearborn, and two small
fieldpieces) arriving at Independence, Mo., after a 38-day journey
from Santa Fe, were traders Josiah Gregg, and "Messrs. Ryder and
Payne." Gregg and the other principal proprietors brought with
them about $150,000 in specie and bullion. ( Ryder and Payne were
later reported as reaching St. Louis with $65,000 in gold and silver.)

(This company left Santa Fe on April 4; John J. Langham died after they
had proceeded some 130 miles; at a camp in the Cimarron valley, below the
Willow Bar, Pawnees attempted, but failed, to stampede the stock; the rest of
the trip was without incident.)

Ref: Gregg, v. 1, pp. 308-313; Missouri Argus, St. Louis, May 31, 1838.

C BORN: on May 12, at Shawnee Baptist Mission (present Johnson
county), Ann Eliza Pratt, daughter (and first child) of Missionaries
John G. and Olivia (Evans) Pratt.

Ref: Pratt Collection (KHi ms. division); J. W. Manning's "John Gill Pratt . . ."
(dissertation, May, 1951; microfilm copy in KHi).

C May 21. About this date there arrived at Kickapoo Catholic
Mission (five miles above Fort Leavenworth) a small party of
Jesuits: the Rev. Peter Joseph Verhaegen (superior of the Missouri
Jesuits), as a visitor, the Rev. Anthony Eysvogels and Brother
William Claessens (who were to remain at the mission), and the
Rev. Pierre- Jean De Smet (whose ultimate destination was the
Pottawatomie settlements at Council Bluffs [Iowa]).

All had traveled from St. Louis on the S. Howard as far as Independence,
Mo. There Father Verhaegen had disembarked and made his way overland,
on horseback, to Fort Leavenworth reaching that post four days later. The
others remained on the Howard till the boat put in at the fort's landing.
Father De Smet (who stayed to supervise baggage unloading) was a day later
than the others in reaching the mission.

Ref: De Smet's letter of July 20, 1838, in Chittenden and Richardson, op. cit., v. 1,
p. 161; Garraghan, op. cit., v. 1, p. 433. Verhaegen had previously visited Kickapoo
mission in 1837 see ibid., pp. 403-406.

C May 25. The Rev. Pierre-Jean De Smet and two missionaries
from die Kickapoo Catholic Mission (the Rev. Felix L. Verreydt
and Brother Andrew Mazzella) boarded the upbound steamboat
Wilmington at a landing near the mission (five miles above Fort
Leavenworth), to journey to the Pottawatomie settlements at
Council Bluffs (Iowa), where they were to establish a mission.

The night of May 25 the Wilmington s stopping place was "two miles from
the village of Pashishi" ( Pa-sha-cha-hah Kickapoo head chief). De Smet
paid the chief a visit that evening at his town "situated on the river." Sub-
sequently, the steamboat stopped at the Blacksnake Hills (the future St.
Joseph, Mo.) for two hours, and De Smet had a 'long talk with J[oseph]

152 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Rfobidoux, Jr.] who keeps a store and runs his father's fine farm." "The
place is one of the finest on the Missouri for the erection of a city," wrote
Father De Smet. Later, as the Wilmington passed "up by the Sauk country,
the bank for more than a quarter of a mile presented nothing but groups of
savages, warriors, women and children, accompanied by an army of dogs."
At the Iowa village, where the boat stopped for several hours, De Smet talked
with young head chief Mahaska (Francis, or Frank, White Cloud). Farther
up the Missouri he visited the Otoes. On May 31, in the afternoon, the
Catholic missionaries reached their destination the Pottawatomie settlements
ftt Council Bluffs (Iowa).

Ref: Chittenden and Richardson, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 150-157, 161, 162; Garraghan,
op. cit., v. 1, p. 418 (which refers to a move by Pa-sha-cha-hah and his band in 1839[?]
to a locality about 20 miles from the Kickapoo mission). De Smet, in 1838, found this
band living on the bank of the Missouri a location which apparently is not the same as
the 1837 village site shown in Father Verhaegen's sketch (of 1837 date) published in
Garraghan, op. cit., v. 1, facing p. 403.

C May-June. In company with the Rev. Peter Joseph Verhaegen
("the Superior of the Missouri Jesuits"), the Rev. Christian Hoecken
(of Kickapoo Catholic Mission) paid a second visit to the Catholic
Indians on Pottawatomie creek. ( See January, 1838, entry. ) Their
particular host was Joseph Napoleon Bourassa an education Pot-
tawatomie, and one of the nation's prominent young men. Though
Verhaegen's stay was brief, Hoecken remained about three weeks
among the Pottawatomies. ( See, also, October 2 entry. )

Ref: Christian Hoecken's "Diary," in Kinsella, op. cit. f p. 226; Garraghan, v. 2, pp.
191-193. On December 10, 1838, Father Hoecken performed a marriage ceremony for
(Joseph) Napoleon Bourassa and Memetekosikwe. Ibid., pp. 193 and 195.

C June 16. Licenses to trade with the Indians in the Fort Leaven-
worth Agency (the Kickapoos, Delawares, Shawnees, and Kansa)
were issued by Agent R. W. Cummins to: (1) C[yprian] Chouteau,
(2) William M. Chick, (3) J[oseph] Parks and Charles Findlay,
(4) A[lbert] G. Boone.

For earlier mention of Cyprian Chouteau, see, particularly, KHQ, v. 27, p.
378, and v. 28, p. 45. (Kansa trader Frederick Chouteau, though not named,
was "covered" by Cyprian's license.) William M. Chick had arrived in
Westport, Mo., to make his home, in 1836 (see ibid., v. 29, v. 42). Joseph
Parks had resided on the Shawnee reserve since 1833 (see ibid., v. 28, p. 334).

Traders James Findlay (see March, 1838, annals) and Charles Findlay were,
apparently, brothers. They are listed in the 1840 U. S. census of Jackson
county, Mo. (both in the 20-30 age bracket). Two letters of 1840 written
from "West Port," by Mrs. H. C. D. Findlay to her daughter Margaret C.
Findlay (then aged 17), and addressed to "Lone Jack Jackson Co., Mo.," refer
to trading activities. The August 14 letter mentions "William" (probably
William S. Chick son of William M. above whom Margaret later married),
and James Findlay's store (at Lone Jack), also "Charles" (Findlay) at West-
port. The August 27 letter includes these statements: "Mrs. [Joseph?] Parks
is sick the new [trading] goods has been here some eight or ten days . . .,"
and "Your brother [Charles] has gone to Park's since supper to try and get a
horse to send for you."

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 153

Albert G. Boone (son of Jesse Bryan Boone; and grandson of frontiersman
Daniel Boone) brought his family to live in Westport, Mo., about 1838, it is
said. He had been a resident of Callaway county, Mo. Boone remained at
Westport till the beginning of the Civil War.

Ref: Office of Indian Affairs (OIA), Letters Received from St. Louis Superintendency
(R. W. Cummins' letters of June 28, 1838), Microcopy 234, Roll 751, National Archives;
Mrs. Carrie W. Whitney's Kansas City Missouri, Its History and Its People . . .
(Chicago, 1908), v. 1, pp. 649-651 (for Findlay letters); KHC, v. 9, p. 565 (for W. R.
Bernard's statement regarding A. G. Boone); Hazel A. Spraker's The Boone Family (1922),
pp. 125, 126, 189.

C June(?). At Fort Leavenworth on an inspection trip, Col.
George Croghan commented favorably on the "experiment" there
to grow forage for the garrison's horses and cattle. (See Septem-
ber 18, 1837, annals entry on pp. 73, 74.)

"About 1,000 acres of prairie are now under fence and in corn," he wrote,
"from which 20,000 bushels may be expected, that is to say, 20 bushels an
acre or half a crop and no more, such being the average of prairie lands that
have been broken up during the fall previous to planting." (He anticipated
a second-year crop of 40 bushels to the acre given a reasonably favorable
season in 1839.)

Ref: F. P. Prucha, editor, Army Life on the Western Frontier (c!958), p. 83.

C July 3. Iowa became a territory. (The organic act of June
12 had provided for the division of the territory of Wisconsin, and
the establishment of the territorial government of Iowa.

Ref: 17. S. Statutes at Large, v. 5, p. 235.

C July. Dr. J. Andrew Chute, of Westport, Mo. (employed by the
Indian department), gave smallpox vaccinations to the Ottawas at
the beginning of the month; and proceeded to the Pottawatomie
settlements on July 4. He also visited some of the other Indian
reserves in "Kansas" on this mission during the summer. Probably
he had vaccinated the Kansa in April. See p. 147.

Doctor Chute, aged 27, died at Westport, Mo., on October 1, 1838.

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," June 30, July 2, 4, and October 8, 1838; C. M. Drury,
editor, First White Women Over the Rockies (1963), v. 2, p. 59. See, also, September 6,
1839, annals entry.

C July 5. The act of this date to increase the "present military
establishment" of the United States, included a provision for the
organization of the Corps of Topographical Engineers (to replace
the previous Bureau ) ; and a provision which permitted "the officers
composing the council of administration at any post . . ." to
employ a chaplain.

Capt. Washington Hood (appointed a captain in the topographical corps
effective July 7) arrived at Westport, Mo., not long afterward (in the summer?)
to make surveys in the Indian territory. (For this purpose congress, in 1838,
appropriated $10,000). He began, at the mouth of the Kansas river, an initial

154 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

project to determine the eastern boundary of the Indian territory. John C.
McCoy was hired to assist in the survey. Work on this line (which was also
the western boundary of Missouri) was continued some 40 miles southward,
then abandoned when Captain Hood became incapacitated and had to return
East. McCoy, in reminiscences, indicated Captain Hood found Joseph C.
Brown's 1823 survey of the western boundary of Missouri (see KHQ, v. 27,
p. 527) accurate, and made no changes.

The provision of the July 5 act which related to chaplains was amended
on July 7, by limiting to 20 the number of posts permitted to have such an
officer. See December 17, 1838, entry for Fort Leavenworth's first chaplain.

Ref: 17. S. Statutes at Large, v. 5, pp. 257, 258; Kansas City (Mo.) Journal, February
13, 1879, or "Kansas Reminscences," clipping volume, in KHi library (for McCoy); also
KHC, v. 4, p. 301.

C July 12. Fur trader Lancaster P. Lupton's small caravan, bound
for Fort Lupton (or, Fort Lancaster) on the South Platte, started
out from Independence, Mo., on the Santa Fe trail. Seth E. Ward
(aged 18), beginning his career in the West, was one of the hired
hands. His recollections provide the only information located on
this journey, which took about six weeks. ( See, also, July 26, 1839,
entry.)

Soon after reaching the South Platte, young Ward joined fur traders Thomp-
son & Craig; crossed the continental divide to their post (Fort Davy Crockett)
at Brown's Hole [in the northwest corner of present Colorado]; and spent
some seven years in the mountains, and among the Indians, before becoming
an independent trader, and a freighter. Later, from 1857 to 1871, Seth
Ward was sutler at Fort Laramie. Subsequently, he lived in the Kansas City,
Mo., area. Alexander Majors, in 1893, described the Wards' home as a
spacious, two-story brick house, two-and-a-half miles south of Westport, on
the old Santa Fe trail.

Ref: The United States Biographical Dictionary . . . Missouri Volume (New
York, etc., 1878), pp. 466-469; H. L. Conard, ed., Encyclopedia of the History of Missouri
. . . (1901), v. 6, p. 372; Alexander Majors' Seventy fears on the Frontier (Chicago,
etc., 1893), pp. 119-124; A Memorial and Biographical Record of Kansas City and Jackson
County, Mo. (Chicago, 1896), pp. 567-570; Annals of Wyoming, Cheyenne, v. 5 (July,
1927), pp. 5-18; L. R. and Ann W. Hafen, editors, To the Rockies and Oregon, 1838-1942
(Glendale, Calif., 1955), p. 57 (Obadiah Oakley's journal).

C July. Outfitting at Independence, Mo., partners Louis Vasquez
and Andrew W. Sublette moved out on the Santa Fe trail (about
mid-month?) with ox-drawn supply wagons, and a company which
included James Beckwourth, bound for their trading post "Fort
Vasquez" (of autumn, 1835, origin) the first of the forts on the
South Platte river.

(These partners had received their first trading license for the South Platte
country on July 29, 1835, at St. Louis. "Fort Vasquez" about one and a
half miles south of present Platteville, Colo. was maintained by Vasquez and
Sublette till the spring of 1840.)

As Beckwourth later recollected it, the particular incidents of this journey
on the Santa Fe trail and upper Arkansas route (past Bent's Fort) were (1)

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 155

his own illness from sunstroke (suffered while crossing the Arkansas-Platte
dividing ridge), and (2) Louis Vasquez's encounter (on the upper Arkansas)
with a war-party of Pawnees (on foot). By his account, it was after this
1838 company reached the post that "suitable buildings" were erected at
"Fort Vasquez."

Ref: T. D. Bonnets The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth (New York,
1856), pp. 422-424; OIA, "Registers of Letters Received" (National Archives microfilm),
for William Clark's August 3, 1835, letter; E. W. Smith's "Journal, in To the Rockies
and Oregon . . ., edited by L. R. and Ann W. Hafen, p. 161; Dale L. Morgan'i
letter, June 9, 1962, to L. Barry; The Colorado Magazine, Denver, v. 29 (October, 1952),
p. 241; Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, v. 12 (December, 1925),
pp. 335-341. Since Beckwourth says he spent July 4, 1838, on a Missouri river steamboat
en route to Independence, Mo., it seems the overland journey may have commenced by
mid-July.

C July 14-26. Conducted by James L. Schoolcraft (with four
assistants), a delegation of 26 Ottawas and Chippewas from Michi-
gan arrived at Westport, Mo., on the 14th, en route to examine
lands for a future home.

Under Isaac McCoy's direction, this party set out on the 19th for the
Ottawa settlements (present Franklin county), traveling by way of the Osage
River Subagency (on the Weas* land, present Miami county), and across the
Peoria & Kaskaskia reserve. On July 22 McCoy joined the group, which pro-
ceeded, on the 23d, to examine the Marais des Cygnes country adjoining the
existing Ottawa reserve. After a noon council on the 24th, at a crossing of
the river, the company started home. Schoolcraft's party was back at West-
port, Mo., by July 26.

Ref: Isaac McCoy's "Journal," July 18-26, 1838, entries; Isaac McCoy's History of
Baptist Indian Missions (1840), p. 543; Jotham Meeker's "Diary," July 23 and 25, 1838.

C Between July 18(?) and August 10 William S. Donohoe sur-
veyed the "twin" reserves of the Iowa, and Sac & Fox Indians, on
the Missouri river in northeastern "Kansas," under instructions from
John C. McCoy. ( Preliminary surveying had been done in August,
1837 see p. 67.)

The lowas' lands extended, on the north, to the Great Nemaha river (in
southeastern "Nebraska"). The Sac & Fox lands (below the Iowa reserve)
extended southward to the Kickapoos' north line. The two reserves were
divided by a diagonal line having a beginning point near the mouth of Wolf
river and running to the northwest.

Ref: Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 25 (for field notes); Isaac McCoy's "Journal,"

July 28 and August 8, 1838, entries; survey plat (in KHi ms. division); 25th Cong., 3d

Sess., H. Doc. No. 174 (Serial 347), p. 98. The field notes were dated "Westport, Mo.,
Sept. 15, 1838."

C BORN: on August 3, at "loway and Sac Mission" (present Doni-
phan county), Anna Maria Hamilton, daughter of the Rev. William
and Julia Ann N. (McGiffin) Hamilton.

Ref: Presbyterian Historical Society, American Indian Missions correspondence, Box
100 (microfilm, KHi), William Hamilton's letter of September 29, 1851. Though some
sources have suggested that the Rev. S. M. Irvin's son Elliott Loury Irvin was born at
the above mission in 1838 or 1839, it appears that he was born in Pennsylvania. (The

156 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Irvins returned East in the fall of 1838, because of Mrs. Irvin's health, and she remained
there till the spring of 1840.) Also, see, Ittustriana, Kansas . . . (1933), p. 580
(biographical sketch of Elliott Samuel Irvin); and Mrs. Mary Irvin Leigh's letter of
February 25, 1907, in KHi ms. division.

C August. On the Arkansas river a war party of about 80 Kansa
and Osage Indians surprised a party of Pawnees and took 11 scalps.
Their own losses were four killed and two wounded. In a separate
skirmish, warriors from the same party killed five Pawnees.

Isaac McCoy, who reported these incidents, also wrote: "On the first of
September a party of about 20 Kanzans, headed by the 3d Chief of the
nation named 'The Hard Chief/ was absent on a war and stealing expedition,
the result of which I have not yet heard. In August last a large drove of
horses was stolen from the Osage villages. Besides many horses stolen from
other Indian tribes, the Osages have among them some valuable horses stolen
from the whites."

Ref: Grant Foreman's Advancing the Frontier 1830-1860 (Norman, Okla., 1933),
p. 197 (quoting McCoy's letter of November 27, 1838, from OIA, Western Superintendency
records in National Archives); Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 26 (1839), also contain
McCoy's statements, in a copy of lengthy "Remarks" he originally prepared for Sen. John
Tipton.

C In late August and early September the American Fur Com-
pany caravan (including some 30 fur-laden wagons and carts)
homeward bound from the summer rendezvous (held near present
Riverton, Wyo.), crossed "Kansas" doubtless retracing the "Ore-
gon trail" pathway utilized on the westward march in April and
May. Indications are that Moses "Black" Harris, and probably
Lucien Fontenelle too, made this journey.

Capt. William Drummond Stewart returned with the caravan; presumably
William Preston Clark and John Radford were with him. Some travelers from
the Oregon country also were in the party. They included the Rev. Jason
Lee (going East for re-enforcements to the Methodist mission on the Wil-
lamette river), Philip L. Edwards (missionary assistant; now homeward bound
to Missouri), F. Y. Ewing (who had gone West with the 1837 party),
and five Indian youths ( in Lee's charge ) who were to be educated in the East.
(Lee and Edwards had crossed "Kansas" westbound, in 1834, with N. J.
Wyeth's second expedition. -See KHQ, v. 28, pp. 352-355.)

(Capt. William Drummond Stewart learned, after he arrived at St. Louis on, or before,
September 28, that his brother, Sir John A. Stewart, had died in Scotland on May 20.
As successor to the title, he thus became "Sir William.")

On September 5 Jason Lee arrived at Shawnee Methodist Mission (the
"old" mission, present Wyandotte county) and remained for several days. At
one o'clock on the morning of September 9 two messengers from the West
reached the mission to notify Lee that his wife and infant son had died in
"Oregon" in late June. (One of the men who had left Fort Hall [Ida.], after
July 27, on this mission was Paul Richardson.)

Ref: Drury's EUcanah and Mary Walker, pp. 87, 88, 91; Christian Advocate and
Journal, New York, v. 13 (November 9, 16, 23, 30, 1838, January 4, 1839), pp. 46, 54,
60, 77, 78; William Drummond Stewart's letter of August 27, 1838, from "Head of the
Blue Fork," en route to Missouri (item not seen by this compiler available by

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 157

courtesy of Dale L. Morgan, of the Bancroft Library, from the original in the Missouri
Historical Society, St. Louis); Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1889, pp. 79, 83;
Dale L. Morgan's letter of March 5, 1963, to L. Barry (for Harris and Fontenelle); Jason
Lee's "Diary," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Portland, v. 17 (December, 1916), pp.
403-430; Pacific Northwest Quarterly, v. 29 (July, 1938), p. 282; Alter, op. cit., pp. 181,
183; Bernard DeVoto's Across the Wide Missouri (Boston, 1947), p. 358 (for "Sir
William" data); C. J. Brosnan's Jason Lee . . . (New York, 1932), pp. 92-103.

C DIED: William Clark (sup't of Indian affairs at St. Louis since
1822), on September 1, at the home of his son Meriwether Lewis
Clark, in that city. He was 68 years old. The Missouri Republican
was of the opinion Clark was "probably the oldest American settler
residing in St. Louis/'

Ref: Nebraska State Historical Society Publications, v. 20, pp. 80-82 (for item from
Missouri Republican, St. Louis); KHQ, v. 16, pp. 1-3 (for brief sketch of Clark's life).

G In the autumn (or late summer), Henry Bradley, his wife, and
Mrs. Rosetta Hardy the last of the Wea Presbyterian Mission per-
sonnel removed to the "loway and Sac Mission" in present Dorri-
phan county. The Wea mission buildings (on Wea creek, near
present Paola, Miami co.) were sold to the government for
$750, and the Osage River Subagency headquarters, established
there in 1837, by Subagent A. L. Davis, remained at that location
till after 1843(?).

Ref: Presbyterian Historical Society, American Indian Missions correspondence (micro-
film, KHi), Box 100; Spooner & Rowland's History of American Missions (1840), p. 724;
Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, v. 28 (December, 1950), pp.
244, 245; Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, p. 60.

C Pottawatomie Methodist Mission was opened in the autumn at
a site near one of the Indian settlements on Pottawatomie creek
not far from the Miami-Franklin county line of today. ( No informa-
tion has been found on its exact location. ) The main building was
a story-and-a-half "double log house, standing east and west, with
a hallway between/' Mackinaw Beauchemie (half Chippewa, but
raised among the Pottawatomies ) and his family may have moved
into quarters there before the Rev. Edward T. Peery (with his
family) arrived in the latter part of 1838.

A missionary had been assigned (by the Missouri conference) in the fall
of 1837, to work among the Pottawatomies, but failed to arrive. Meantime,
the Rev. Thomas Johnson (of Shawnee mission) visiting the Pottawatomies,
and finding them unsettled, determined not to build a mission in 1837; but
"employed a native exhorter [Beauchemie] from the Shawnee mission . . .
who speaks the language to labor among them this winter [1837-1838] and to
act as interpreter for the missionary when he arrives."

According to an October 15, 1839, report, Pottawatomie Methodist Mission
had opened, within the preceding year, despite strong opposition from various
sources; the missionary [Peery] had "suffered much from affliction himself,
and in his family," yet had been able "to collect a little band of 23 Indians.

158 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

. . ." The 1840 report indicated that "on the whole," prospects were en-
couraging. In the fall of 1840 the Rev. Nathaniel M. Talbott (of nearby Peoria
Methodist Mission) was assigned to minister also to the Pottawatomies. (The
Peerys were reassigned to Delaware mission.)

Pottawatomie Methodist Mission was maintained till the Indians removed
(in the latter 1840's) to a reservation on the Kansas river. Mackinaw
Beauchemie and his family continued to occupy the mission house till the
deaths of both Beauchemie and his wife in the early part of 1849.

Ref: KHC, v. 9, pp. 211, 212, 228, 227; Christian Advocate and Journal, v. 12
(February 16, 1838), p. 102 (for Johnson letter of December 27, 1837), v. 13 (November
9, 1838), p. 28 (for 1838 report), v. 14 (November 22, 1839), p. 54 (for 1839 report),
v. 14 (March 20, 1840), p. 122 (for 1840 report); Report of the Comm'r of Indian affairs
for 1839, p. 518; Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, p. 59; Christian Advocate and
Journal, v. 13 (September 21, 1838), p. 18, for a Thomas Johnson letter of August 17,
1838.

C Pottawatomie Catholic Mission (present Miami county) had
its beginning on October 2 when the Rev. Christian Hoecken
reached the Pottawatomie creek settlements to serve the Indians
of Catholic persuasion already there, and await the arrival of the
"Wabash and St. Joseph" Pottawatomies (then en route from
northern Indiana). The location, by Father Hoecken's description
(in an 1837 diary) was southwest of present Osawatomie five
miles from the mouth of Pottawatomie creek.

Chief Nas-waw-kee's new cabin served as Father Hoecken's headquarters
for over a month. The large immigrant party reached Pottawatomie creek on
November 4 see pp. 160, 161. (They were accompanied by Father Benjamin-
Marie Petit, who remained two months in poor health.) The newcomers
"immediately constructed a church 40 feet long and 22 feet wide; and by
means of wood and bark and canvas they raised shanties for a temporary
shelter, until they could select a fixed abode." In January, 1839, Father
Hoecken reported there were 600 Catholics among the Pottawatomie creek
Indians, and that his mission was thriving.

See March 10, 1839, annals for continuation of Pottawatomie Catholic
Mission at a new site on Big Sugar creek (in present Linn county).

Ref: Christian Hoecken's "Diary" of 1837 (at St. Mary's College, St. Marys), and of
1838 in Kinsella, op. cit., pp. 226, 227; Garraghan, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 193, 194, 200;
Indiana Historical Society Publications, v. 14 (1941), especially p. 131.

C MARRIED: James Hays, "agriculturist for the Kansas Indians,"
and Rebecca Lemons, of Jackson county, Mo., on October 13, by
the Rev. William Johnson, of Kansa Methodist Mission.

Ref: Jackson county, Mo., marriage records. The place of the ceremony is not indicated.

C October 15. Contracts were let (at Independence, Mo.,) to
(1) Aaron Overton and (2) D[aniel] M[ organ] Boone and others,
by Capt. George H. Crosman (AQM), for the "construction and
completion" of the 72-mile section of the Western military road
between Fort Leavenworth and the Marais des Cygnes (in present
Linn county). Work was started at once, but not completed till
the fore part of 1839. (See, ako, October 29, 1839, annals entry.)

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 159

Ref: 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc. No. 194 (Serial 346), p. 57; 25th Cong., 3d
Sess., H. Ex. Doc. No. 2 (Serial 344), p. 122; KHQ, v. 11, pp. 123, 125.

C DIED: White Plume (principal chief of the Kansa for at least 13
years), also four Kansa braves, during the Indians' autumn hunt.
( Some died of fever, others of whiskey, as reported by Missionary
William Johnson).

(A year earlier, the aging chief had made his last visit to St. Louis. There
is a record of payment on November 11, 1837, by the Indian department, of
$36 to "E. Flenister" for "transportation of White Plume, principal chief of
the Kanzas, and six Indians, from St. Louis to Liberty, Mo.")

Commenting on the Kansa Indians, after an April, 1839, visit to their vil-
lages, the Rev. Henry Gregory wrote: "An old chief [White Plume], who was
opposed to the abandonment of their Indian habits, recently died, and now
the two principal chiefs, both active and intelligent men, are in favor of
civilization."

Whereas Isaac McCoy, in his Annud Register of Indian Affairs for 1835,
1836, and 1837, had listed "Nam-pa-war-rah or White Feather" [White
Plume] as principal chief for the Kansa (followed by "Ka-he-ga-wa-ta-ne-ga"
[Fool Chief], and others), in the 1838 edition (not published till early 1839?),
there was a significant change with "Nam-pa-war-rah, (Fury)" [or, White
Plume, II] as first chief, followed by "Kia-he-ga-wa-ta-in-ga (Reckless [or,
Fool] Chief)," "Kia-he-ga Wah-cha-ha (Hard Chief)," and "Me-chu-shing-a
(Little White Bear)," as second, third, and fourth chiefs.

Ref: KHC, v. 16, p. 230 (for William Johnson's statement); 25th Cong., 3d Sess.,
House Doc. No. 174 (Serial 347), p. 52 (for Capt. E. A. Hitchcock's disbursement of
November 11, 1837); Baptist Missionary Magazine, Boston, v. 20 (February, 1840), p. 42
(for Henry Gregory's statement); Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for 1838, p. 66. White
Plume, first mentioned in these annals in 1815 (see KHQ, v. 27, p. 377), was head chief,
apparently, by 1825, since he was the first to sign the June 3, 1825, Kansa treaty. For
C. B. King's 1821 (?) portrait of White Plume, see cover of KHQ, v. 28 (Spring, 1962).

C October 19. At the Great Nemahaw Subagency (present Doni-
phan county), John Dougherty (as commissioner for the United
States) concluded a treaty with the Iowa Indians which confirmed
cession of all claims by them to lands between the Missouri and
Mississippi which had been held in common with the Sacs & Foxes.

In return, the government was to invest (at not less than five per cent
interest) $157,500 for the tribe's use; and to pay the income annually, in
October, to the lowas (less a $50 lifetime annuity to their interpreter Jeffrey
Dorion ) ; also, 10 houses were to be built for the lowas ( in addition to the five
promised under the treaty of September 17, 1836).

Heading the 13 Iowa signers were "Frank White Cloud" (i. e., young
Mahaskah, or White Cloud) and "Non-gee-ninga, or No Heart" (second chief,
whose name also appears as "Nacheninga," etc.).

Ref: C. J. Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties (Washington, 1904), v. 2, pp.
518, 519; Report of the Comm'r of Indian affairs for 1839, p. 328; T. L. McKenney and
James Hall, The Indian Tribes of North America . . . (Edinburgh, 1934), v. 1, pp.
283, 301, 303, v. 2, pp. 110, 111, 114 (for biographical data on the chiefs White Cloud
and No Heart).

C October 30. Maria Pensineau, daughter of trader Paschal
Pensineau and a Kickapoo(P) woman "Dutchi," was baptized by

160 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the Rev. Anthony Eysvogels. Joseph Robidoux (of Blacksnake
Hills, Mo.) was sponsor.

Maria, or Mary Pensineau (born June 25?, 1838) apparently did not have
the same mother as Brigitte Pensineau (see July 23, 1836, annals entry). In
the 1850's Mary Pensineau married Tom Whipple. In 1883 she was living
in Mexico, separated from her husband (who was residing with the Cherokees);
and their son, aged 26 (born in 1857?) was on the Kickapoo reserve in
Kansas.

Ref: "Kickapoo Register," St. Mary's College, St. Marys, Kan.; Paschal Pensineau's
dictation, in KHi ms. division. Indications are that Paschal was not the son of Kickapoo
trader Laurence Pensineau. His parents, it appears, were Louison and Lizette Pensineau,
of Cahokia, 111. See "Remsburg Clippings," v. 1, p. 147 (in KHi library). In the dicta-
tion, Pensineau says only that his father was a Frenchman, and that his mother had some
Pottawatomie blood.

C MARRIED: William Turner and Mary Bowers, on November 1,
at Ottawa Baptist Mission, by Missionary Jotham Meeker, in the
presence of about 30 Ottawa Indians.

(After the wedding dinner, the couple removed into their own house. Both
had lived with the Meekers for over four years. Turner, on January 15, 1838,
had received permission to settle on the Ottawa reserve, and that same day
had selected a site for a cabin and a field near the mission. )

Ref: Jotham Meeker's "Diary," January 15 and November 1, 1838, entries.

C November 4. Some 750 emigrating Pottawatomies (of Wabash
river, Ind., and St. Joseph river, Mich.), under the conductorship
of William Polke, arrived at the settlements of their kinsmen on
Pottawatomie creek (near the present Miami-Franklin county line),
after a two-months' overland journey.

Their trip had begun on September 4, from a camp near Plymouth, Ind.,
where some of the reluctant-to-move Pottawatomies had been collected forcibly
by a volunteer militia force headed by John Tipton ( U. S. senator from In-
diana). The emigrating party (by report over 850 persons) had been escorted
to the Illinois line by Tipton and a few militiamen, and turned over to Polke's
charge on September 20 near Danville, 111.

Among the chiefs who made the journey were Ash-kum, I-o-weh, and Pe-
pish-kay. Father Benjamin-Marie Petit accompanied the Indians, and his
presence helped to reconcile the Catholic bands to the move westward.
(Menominee, Black Wolf, and Pepinowah all "improperly called chiefs"
leaders of these bands, had been among those in militia custody early in
September. )

The Pottawatomies crossed the Mississippi at, or near, Quincy, 111., on
October 8, and the Missouri at Lexington, Mo., on October 27. (At the end
of October, Ass't Conductor Jacob Hull, with 23 Pottawatomies, caught up
with Polke's party.) The company which crossed the Missouri line on No-
vember 2 (some 18 miles southwest of Independence) totaled about 750 Pot-
tawatomies. (On the long march some had dropped out because of illness;
others had "deserted"; and around 43 persons had died.)

On November 3 the immigrants camped near the Wea settlement on Bull
creek (present Miami county); on November 4, at 2 P.M., they began

Reproduced here is an enlarged segment of Hutawa's map (1842) of the "Platte Country." East
of the Missouri (in the dark background) is shown a part of Platte county, Mo. (organized follow-
ing the 1837 Platte Purchase addition to the state of Missouri). West of the river, in present
Leavenworth county, is Fort Leavenworth, and to the north, a part of the Kickapoo Indians' reserve.

ON THE "KANSAS" SIDE: Forf Leavenworf/i was founded in May, 1827 (see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 34,
35); the Kickapoo Village[s] were of May, 1833, origin (see KHQ, v. 28, p. 326); Pens/neau's trad-
ing posf was opened about October, 1833 (see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 338, 339); Kickapoo [Methodist]
M[ission] was founded in November, 1833 Csee KHQ, v. 28, p. 344); Kickapoo Catholic Mission
("Cathc. C/i. [and] Missionary Estbt.") was begun in June, 1836, and closed in December, 1840
(see KHQ, v. 29, p. 51). Mill crfeek] presumably was so labeled by Hutawa because the Kickapoo's
mill (built in 1835-1836 see KHQ, v. 28, p. 513) was located on it, but the stream's name, at
least as early as 1833 (see KHQ, v. 28, p. 338), was Salt creek. (The 18th century French post,
Fort Cavagnolle, of 1744 origin, was located near the mouth of Salt creek see KHQ, v. 27, p. 88.)
The large island in the bend of the Missouri (opposite Weston, Mo.) is Kickapoo Island. On maps
of later decades it appears in varying shape and size.

ON THE MISSOURI SIDE: The U. S. Military Reserve (a tract of some 6,840 acres) was created
June 21, 1838, to prevent whisky sellers and other undesirables from settling opposite the fort.
It was reduced in size, in 1844, to 936 acres. Rialto (or, "the Rialto"), at the mouth of
Pens/neau's creek, was also known as Pensineau's Landing. Weston, selected for a town site in
1837 by ex-soldier Joseph Moore (for whom Moore's creefe evidently was named), had a population
of some 300 persons in 1839 (see KHQ, v. 29, p. 176). Ellis ferry was licensed on March 11,
1839 (see KHQ, v. 29, p. 166).

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KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 161

crossing the Marais des Cygnes; and around 3:30 P. M. they reached the
end of their journey. Subagent A. L. Davis being absent, Conductor Polke
(and his son Benjamin C. Polke, an assistant conductor) remained in the
Indian Country till Davis* return at the beginning of December.

Ref: Indiana Magazine of History, v. 21 (December, 1925), pp. 315-336, v. 44
(December, 1948), pp. 393-408, v. 45 (September, 1949), pp. 285-288; Indiana Historical
Society Publications, v. 14, no. 1 (1941), especially pp. 87-110; Reports of the Comm'r
of Indian affairs for 1838, 1839, and 1840; Indiana Historical Collections, v. 26, pp.
659-769; Niles' National Register, Washington City, v. 55 (October 6, 1838), p. 88.

C November. As reported by the army's commander-in-chief, Fort
Leavenworth's garrison consisted of six First U. S. dragoon com-
panies with Col. Stephen W. Kearny's command having an ag-
gregate of 329 (24 commissioned officers and 305 troops); addi-
tionally 99 recruits were "on march." (The other four First dragoon
companies were at Fort Gibson [Okla.].)

On August 31 Lt. Col. J. B. Brant had arranged (by contract with J. P.
Moore) for transportation of four officers and 190 recruits from Jefferson Bar-
racks, Mo., to Fort Leavenworth; and on October 8, had made a contract with
T. Dennis for carrying up to Fort Leavenworth two officers, one surgeon, and
180 recruits. (The November report obviously did not include all the late
arrivals. )

Ref: 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Ex. Doc. No. 2 (Serial 344), table between pp. 120,
121; 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Doc. No. 94 (Serial 346), pp. 50, 58.

C November 14. The Gabriel Prudhomme estate a 257-acre
Missouri river front property which included "Westport Landing,"
was sold for $4,220 to a hastily-organized town company of 14
persons, who were: William L. Sublette, of St. Louis, Moses G.
Wilson, John C. McCoy, William Gilliss, Fry P. McGee, Abraham
Fonda, William M. Chick, Oliver Caldwell, George W. Tate, Jacob
Ragan, William Colh'ns, James Smart, Samuel C. Owens, and Russell
Hicks, all of Jackson county, Mo.

The proprietors reached an agreement that their projected town (the future
Kansas City, Mo.) should be called "Kansas." John C. McCoy made out a
plat for about 15 acres of the "Westport Landing" area, which William S.
Donohoe (his brother-in-law) then surveyed. Because the legality of the
Prudhomme estate title sale was undetermined till 1846, little was done in the
intervening eight years to develop the town of "Kansas."

Nine town lots were sold in May, 1839, but these sales were never effective.
Some time in 1839, Thomas A. Smart located at Westport Landing (operating
the first trading house in that vicinity). The steamboat Pizarro, in October,
1839, delivered some Indian goods at the "upper landing" and placed it "in
charge of Mr. Smart" It may be that he occupied the small (20'x40')
hewed-log warehouse which the town company built (in 1838?, or 1839?)
at "Kansas."

In 1843, according to the later recollection of Washington H. Chick (son
of W. M.), aside from the warehouse, the only building within the original

117260

162 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

15-acre town limits was a two-story double log house built by William B.
Evans and "occupied by him as a dwelling and hotel." Joseph S. Chick (son
of W. M.) wrote, in 1906: "At that time [1843] there was, as I remember,
the Evans tavern at the foot of Main Street and Levee, a warehouse and two
other houses [not in the 15-acre area?]. My father built the next houses,
a warehouse [in the winter of 1843-1844] on the Levee and the first residence
on the hills in Kansas City [Mo.]."

By 1846 instead of 14 town of "Kansas" shareholders there were only seven:
Robert Campbell, of St. Louis (four shares), William Gilliss (three shares),
Fry P. McGee (two shares), John C. McCoy (two shares), Jacob Ragan,
William B. Evans, and Henry Jobe, each one share.

Ref: The History of Jackson County, Missouri . . . (Kansas City, Mo., 1881),
pp. 396-398; C. C. Spalding's Annals of the City of Kansas (reprint of 1858 edition),
pp. 15-20; Superintendency of Indian Affairs (SIA), St. Louis, "Records," v. 7, typed
copy, p. 55 (for item on Smart); letter of February 22, 1963, James Anderson (historian
of The Native Sons of Kansas City, Missouri) to L. Barry, and enclosures with the letter;
John C. McCoy's statements in Kansas City (Mo.) Journal, February 17, 1884; W. H.
Chick's recollections, and J. S. Chick's letter of May 3, 1906, are in the KHi ms. division.
In v. 32 of the Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts" (in ibid.), is a fragment of what may be
J. C. McCoy's original(?) outline plat of "Kansas" which, on the back, records 15 lot
numbers with corresponding names of would-be(P) purchasers, and the price to be paid.
The names on this list are: D[aniel] Yoacham, J. C. McCoy, M[ilton] McGee, C. Young,
W. L. Sublette, H. Weymeyer, [W. S.] Donohoe, E. Downing, J[acob] Ragan, A. Justice,
O[liver] Caldwell, J. C. McCoy, Jr. [?], and McGee.

C For use at the Kansa Methodist Mission, 300 copies of a 24-page
book in the Kansa language were published, probably in the latter
part of the year, by the Shawnee Baptist Mission press (John G.
Pratt, printer).

No copy is known to exist. Isaac McCoy, in his Annual Register for 1838
(published in late 1838, or early 1839) stated: "A small book in the Kauzau
language, upon the New System, has been published and brought into use."

Ref: Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 19 (June, 1839), p. 125; McCoy, Annual Register,
1838, p. 67; D. C. McMurtrie and A. H. Allen, Jotham Meeker . . . (1930), p. 125.

C December 17. Newly arrived Rev. Henry Gregory, of the
Protestant Episcopal Church was appointed chaplain at Fort
Leavenworth, by the council of administration. He was the first
chaplain there (see July 5 entry), and the first resident Episcopalian
clergyman in "Kansas/' (He resigned September 30, 1839.)

During his brief tenure, Chaplain Gregory officiated at four marriages, and
three funerals; baptized one child; distributed Bibles, prayer books, and tracts
in addition to preaching. Also, he made two tours into the Indian country
(visiting the Kansa in April, 1839, with Agent Cummins; and accompanying
Colonel Kearny's party to the Otoe and Missouri village, and to the Pottawat-
omie settlements around Council Bluffs, [Iowa] in September, 1839).

Ref: KHC, v. 16, p. 355; David C. Skaggs, Jr.'s, thesis "Military Contributions to the
Development of Territorial Kansas" (microfilm, KHi); Historical Magazine of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, Richmond, Va., v. 4 (September, 1935), pp. 201, 202; Baptist Missionary
Magazine, v. 20 (February, 1840), pp. 42-44 (for Gregory's account of tours in the
Indian country).

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 163

C DIED: Auguste P. Chouteau (long-time trader with the Osages,
and other nations on the frontier), on December 25, at Fort Gibson
( Okla. ) . He was 52 years old.

(For first mention of him in this chronology, see 1807 annals entry in KHQ,
v. 27, p. 362; and see his portrait [together with a summary of his connection
with "Kansas" history], facing p. 361 in the same volume.)

Ref : Grant Foreman's Pioneer Days in the Early Southwest, p. 239.

C December 31. An act by the general assembly of Missouri to
organize the counties of Platte and Buchanan (both bordering on
the Missouri river; and formed from the "Platte Purchase") was
approved on this date.

Ref: The History of Buchanan County, Missouri . . . (St. Joseph, Mo., 1881),
PP. 152-154.

C Between December, 1838, and March, 1839, over 11,000(?)
Cherokees, removed by force from their southeastern United States
homes, arrived in "Oklahoma" to join the Western Cherokees (resi-
dents for more than 20 years in the Indian country see KHQ, v.
27, p. 380), and some 3,000 other Eastern Cherokees (arrivals in
late 1837 and during the summer of 1838), on the large Cherokee
reserve (see KHQ, v. 28, pp. 39 and 514).

The Indians in the 13 detachments which made the late 1838-
early 1839 journey overland endured hardships, which caused them
much misery and distress. (Chief John Ross placed the number
of deaths en route at 424.) The Cherokees' phrase for this trek,
"the Trail of Tears," has endured as a fitting description for an
event of great tragedy in their history.

Ref: Grant Foreman's Indian Removal (Norman, Okla., 1932), pp. 229-312; Grace
S. Woodward's The Cherokees (Norman, Okla., c!963), pp. 192-218; Missouri Historical
Review, Columbia, v. 56 (January, 1962), pp. 156-167 (article by B. B. Lightfoot, "The
Cherokee Emigrants in Missouri, 1837-1839"); Report of the Comm'r of Indian affairs, 1839
("Of the Indians removed last year [1838-1839] there are now . . . upon subsistence
. . . 10,000 Cherokees, whose 12 months will expire at different periods from December
[1839] to March, next.").

C Employed in "Kansas" by the Indian Department during all, or
part of the year 1838, were the following:

FORT LEAVENWORTH AGENCY Agent Richard W. Cummins; Interpreters
Henry Tiblow and Clement Lessert; Gun and blacksmiths William Donalson
(for Shawnees), Robert Dunlap (for Shawnees), James M. Simpson (for
Shawnees), Andrew Potter (for Kickapoos), William F. Newton (for Dela-
wares), and Nelson A. Warren (for Kansa); Assistant gun and blacksmiths
Mathew King (for Shawnees), Wilson Rogers (for Shawnees), Charles Fish
(for Kickapoos), Paschal Fish (for Delawares), J. Bezain (for Delawares;
appointed in October), William Pechalker (for Kansa); Farmer James Hays
(for Delawares; appointed January 30, 1838, subsequently, farmer for the
Kansa); Teacher David Kinnear (for Kickapoos); Millers James Allen (for

164 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Datawares), Edward Brafford (for Dela wares), and Azariah Holcomb (for
Shawnees ) .

GREAT NEMAHAW SUB AGENCY Subagent Andrew S. Hughes (with nota-
tion: "Discontinued" John Dougherty "acting temporarily"); Interpreter
Jeffrey Dorion; Gun and blacksmiths Hiram W. Morgan ( for lowas ) and James
Gilmore (for Sacs & Foxes); Assistant gun and blacksmiths Francis Brishnell
(appointed in April), Benjamin F. Catlett, and Samuel M. Gilmore; Farmers
William Duncan (for lowas) and Leonard Searcy (for Sacs & Foxes); Teacher
Aurey Ballard (for lowas; appointed May 31).

OSAGE [MARAIS DES CYGNES] RIVER SUBAGENCY Subagent Anthony L.
Davis; Interpreter John T. Jones; Blacksmith William Carlisle; Assistant black-
smith Perry G. Crafton; Clerk (in payment of goods) Joseph N. Bourassa.

OSAGE SUBAGENCY Subagent Paul Ligueste Chouteau (with notation:
"Resigned Mr. [Robert A.] Galloway [of the Neosho River Subagency] act-
ing temporarily."); Interpreter Baptiste Mongrain. [No other employees
listed.]

Ref: 25th Cong., 3d Sess., H. Ex. Doc. No. 103 (Serial 346); OIA, Letters Received
from SIA, St. Louis (Maj. E. A. Hitchcock's disbursements for July, 1838) National
Archives Microcopy No. 234, Roll 751; John Dougherty's requisitions, for quarters ending
June 30, and September 30, 1838, in ibid., Roll 752; Isaac McCoy's Annual Register for
1838. Also, see, October 13, 1838, annals entry.

1839

C January 11. At Fort Gibson [Okla.], Brig. Gen. Mathew Ar-
buckle (as U. S. commissioner) negotiated a treaty with the Osage
Indians. The government, taking cognizance of the long-neglected
Osages' destitute condition (see KHQ, v. 28, p. 320), found it im-
perative to ( 1 ) induce the Osage bands still living on the Verdigris
(in the Cherokees' reserve), to join the rest of the nation, and
(2) to extinguish title to the half-breed tracts (of 640 acres each)
granted under the 1825 treaty. By the above negotiation these
purposes were accomplished.

The Osages ceded all claims under the treaties of 1808 and 1825 (except
Article 6 of the latter); and the bands on the Verdigris promised to remove
to the reservation in "Kansas." The government agreed to pay the Osages
annually, for 20 years, $12,000 in money and $8,000 in goods; and to furnish
blacksmiths; mills and millers; stock; agricultural tools, etc.; also to furnish
each of 22 chiefs with a house worth $200. (The first eight chiefs on this
list were: Pa-hu-sca [White Hair], Clermont, Chiga-wa-sa [Shingawassa],
Ka-he-gais-tanga, Tawan-ga-hais, Wa-cho-chais, Ni-ka-wa-chin-tanga, and
Tally. ) Also, the United States arranged to buy the half-breed tracts ( some in
"Oklahoma" on Grand, or Neosho river; others on the Marais des Cygnes,
or Osage, in "Kansas") at $2 an acre (and specified that the fund of $69,120
should be invested to produce annual income of $3,456 for the Osages).

Sup't William Armstrong (of the Western Superintendency ) , in his report
for 1839, stated that the Osages were "concentrating in their country, where,
with the attention of an agent lately appointed for them [Congreve Jackson],
they will probably turn their attention to labor. . . . Their character has
been greatly misunderstood. They are represented as fierce, and disposed to
war; they are on the contrary civil and easily governed. They are a fine
looking race of Indians, but little removed in point of civilization from the

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 165

prairie Indian. They have been reduced very much in numbers within a few
years. . . ."

Ref: Kappler, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 525-527; Comm'r of Indian affairs Report for 1839.

C January. The steamboat Kansas, upbound on the Missouri,
stopped at Jefferson City, Mo., on the 20th, and the local paper
commented on "the novel spectacle of a steam boat landing at
our shore in January."

During the last week of January, the Pirate (a new craft)
ascended the river (above Jefferson City), and the Kansas came
down. Floating ice was thick in the Missouri, and the water level
low.

Ref: Jeffersonian Republican, Jefferson City, Mo., January 26 and February 2, 1839.

C January. A petition (relating to withheld annuity funds) from
the Pottawatomies of Pottawatomie creek, Osage River Subagency,
which Subagent A. L. Davis forwarded to Washington on January
22(?), was signed by about 110 Indians.

The principal chief of the Pottawatomie Nation To-pen-e-bee headed the
list. Other leading chiefs who signed were O-ke-mas, Che-bas, Pash-pa-ho,
We-we-say, Ash-kum, Sin-ba-nim, Au-be-nah-ba, and I-o-way. Louis "Bernott"
[Burnett?] and Abraham Burnett were 14th and 15th on the list of chiefs.
Among the prominent Indians in the section headed "young men*' of the
Pottawatomie Nation were J[oseph] N[apoleon] Bourassa, Luther Rice, and
Stephen Bourassa.

Ref: Isaac McCoy "Manuscripts," v. 26.

C February. The last day of the month, the Kansas (again up-
bound see January) was at Jefferson City; and departed March 1
for Independence, Mo. The Missouri was reported "higher than in
many months/' and excellent for navigation.

( In the latter part of February, the Howard, going downriver, sank and was
"entirely lost.")

Ref: Jeffersonian Republican, March 2, 1839.

C March 4. Joshua Pilcher was appointed to head the superin-
tendency of Indian affairs, St. Louis ( as successor to William Clark,
deceased ) .

Ref: 26th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. 126 (Serial 357), p. 5; OIA, Letters received
from SIA, St. Louis (National Archives Microcopy No. 234, Roll 752) contains Pilcher's
March 13, 1839, letter of acceptance.

C March 10. With their missionary, the Rev. Christian Hoecken,
the Catholic band of Pottawatomies (600? Indians see p. 158)
moved, in a body, from Pottawatomie creek to a new home 15
miles southward, on (Big) Sugar creek, present Linn county. A
small log church (replaced in 1840 by a larger one) was built im-
mediately after they were settled, the Indians erecting it in three
days' time. Thus the Pottawatomie Catholic Mission of October,

166 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

1838, origin was re-established on Sugar creek, where it would
remain till 1848 when the Indians again moved to a Kansas river
reserve.

The location of these Pottawatomies was approximately four miles (in a
direct line) northeast of present Centerville, Linn co. (The government
survey plat of the 1850's, shows an "old Indian field" in Sections 12 and 13,
T. 21 S., R. 22 E., which coincides, generally, with the above description.)
In 1843 Father Felix Verreydt wrote that the mission was "about 15 miles
direcdy west from the point where the military road leading from Fort Leaven-
worth to Fort Scott crosses the Osage River" (i. e. y 15 miles west of present
Trading Post, Linn co. see July, 1839, annals entry, p. 177).

On April 26, 1839, Father Herman G. Aelen and Brother Francis Van der
Borght arrived at Sugar creek. For two months Aelen worked among other
tribes (Peorias, Ottawas, etc.). But when Father Hoecken left the Indian
country in July, because of illness, Father Aelen took charge of Pottawatomie
mission. It is recorded in Hoecken's diary that after he left the Indians "were
sorely tried by sickness and disease" and "being without medicines, they died
in great numbers in . . . [1839] and . . . 1840." ( Hoecken returned
to Sugar Creek mission in 1841.) A school for Indian boys was opened July
7, 1840.

Ref: Christian Hoecken's "Diary," in Kinsella, op. cit., p. 227; Garraghan, op. cit.,
v. 2, pp. 194-196; Felix Verreydt*s report in Report of the Comm'r of Indian affairs for
1842. In Kinsella, op. cit., the location of the Pottawatomie settlement of Sugar creek
is stated as "Five and a half miles northeast, on the Michael Zimmerman farm, but about
four miles in a direct line from Centerville."

C March 11. At the first term of the Platte county (Mo.) court,
Isaac M. C. Ellis was licensed to keep a ferry on the Missouri
between the Platte county side and the Kickapoo village in "Kan-
sas." His location, it appears, was some three and a half miles
above Weston, Mo.

Ref: The name is "Isaac McEllis" in W. M. Paxton's Annals of Platte County, Mis-
souri (Kansas City, Mo., 1897), p. 26, and in the History of Clay and Platte Counties,
Missouri . . . (St. Louis, 1885), p. 572; but in Edwards Brothers' An Illustrated
Historical Atlas of Platte County, Missouri (Philadelphia, 1877), p. 10, a tax list of
1839 lists "Isaac M. C. Ellis," and several other taxpayers with the surname "Ellis." See,
also, KHQ, v. 2, p. 25.

C In the spring (March?, or April?), Capt. John D. Keiser's new
steamboat Shawnee, built for the Missouri river trade at Pittsburgh,
Pa., and chartered there early in the year by the Rev. Jerome C.
Berryman, arrived at Westport Landing, Mo., with a load of ma-
terials for the new Shawnee Methodist Mission and Indian manual
labor school, in present Johnson county. (See May 23, 1839, annals
item, p. 171.)

Berryman, sent East (by Rev. Thomas Johnson) to make the purchases,
had spent a month at Pittsburgh on this mission.
Ref: KHC, v. 16, p. 219.

C April 6. A commission as subagent for the Osage Indians was
forwarded from St. Louis to Congreve Jackson, of Howard county,

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 167

Mo. (The Osages, since the resignation of their long-time agent-
subagent Paul Ligueste Chouteau, had been in the temporary charge
of Robert A. Galloway, head of the Neosho River Subagency [in
northeastern "Oklahoma"].)

Ref: SIA, St. Louis, "Records," v. 7, typed copy, pp. 2, 3; 25th Cong., 2d Sess.,
H. Doc. No. 135 (Serial 326).

C April. The American Fur Company's Antelope (Edward F.
Chouteau, master) left St. Louis April 4 on the annual journey to
the upper Missouri trading posts. She carried about 12 clerks and
120 hands. Around midmonth this steamboat passed along the
"Kansas" shore.

French scientist Joseph N. Nicollet (in U.S. government service) was
aboard, and in his party were Lt. John C. Fremont (of the U. S. Topographical
Engineers), Charles A. Geyer (botanist), Etienne Provost (mountain man),
Louis Zindel (former Prussian soldier), and one other person. (They were
to be convoyed to Fort Pierre [S. D.]; there to begin an overland journey
which would take them as far as Devi's Lake [N. D.], for the purpose of
collecting data for Nicollet's subsequently-prepared map of the "Hydrographical
Basin of the Upper Mississippi River.")

Company employees making this journey (or part of it) included John
F. A. Sanford, William Laidlaw, and James Kipp. From Council Bluffs
(Iowa) as far as the Vermilion river (some 360 miles upstream), Father
Pierre-Jean De Smet was also a passenger on the Antelope.

In a report (dated September 13, 1843), Nicollet observed that they were
69 days (April 4- June 12) in ascending a distance of 1,271 miles (from St.
Louis to Fort Pierre), "which, on the Mississippi, and with a steamboat of
the same power, could have been accomplished in twelve days." Neither
Nicollet's report or his journal (begun April 21, 1839, in the Council Bluffs
vicinity) contain mention of the "Kansas" area of the Missouri.

Ref: 28th Cong., 2d Sess., House Doc. 52 (Serial 464), for Nicollet's report; Missouri
Republican, St. Louis, April 5, 1839, item, as quoted in Nebraska Historical Society Pub-
lications, v. 20, p. 97; South Dakota Historical Collections, Pierre, v. 10, pp. 98-129;
North Dakota History, Bismarck, v. 21, pp. 75-82; Annie H. Abel, editor, Chardon's Journal
at Fort Clark (Pierre, S. D., 1932), p. 270 (Note 257); John C. Fremont's Memoirs
. . . (1887), pp. 30-54; Chittenden and Richardson, op. cit., v. 1, pp. 179-182; Susan
D. McKelvey's Botanical Exploration of the Trans-Mississippi West . . . (1955), pp.
659-667.

C April 20(?) The Pirate, which had started up the Missouri
from St. Louis on April 2, hit a snag and sank about seven miles
below Council Bluffs (Iowa).

The total damage was estimated at $40,000. She carried government pro-
visions for the Council Bluffs Pottawatomies, and for scientist Joseph N.
Nicollet's party (traveling on the Antelope). Supplies for Father De Smet's
Catholic mission at Council Bluffs also were lost.

Ref: Chittenden and Richardson, op. cit., v. 1, p. 183; Garraghan, op. cit. t v. 1, p.
441; Abel, op. cit., p. 270 (Note 257). In OIA, Letters received from SIA, St. Louis
(National Archives Microcopy 234, Roll 752), Agent John Dougherty's requisitions for
the quarter ending June 30, 1839, include one of April 8 date for transportation (upriver)
of himself, John Gantt, and Jeffery Dorion on the Pirate. In ibid., is Dougherty's letter

163 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

of April 4, 1839, from Liberty, Mo., referring to his impending journey to the Council
Bluffs with the disbursing agent. He planned to go up on the Antelope.

C April. After a journey to the Kansa villages, in company with
Agent R. W. Cummins ( and five other persons ) , Fort Leavenworth's
chaplain, the Rev. Henry Gregory, wrote:

"The number of the Kauzas, as ascertained from the pay roll, during my
visit, is 1588. They are settled principally in the eastern part of their
country, on the Kauzas river, and continuously [?] to each other, as respects
the three several villages. . . . Their missionary [the Rev. William John-
son], his assistant!?], and the farmer [James Hays] are Methodists, and speak
more or less of the Kauzas language.

"The U. S., within the last two or three years, have made . . . [the
Kansa] several fields for corn, and have furnished them with a farmer and
blacksmith. (The assistant blacksmith [Charles Fish] is a Shawanoe Indian,
and a good workman too.) . . . nearly every head of a family is begin-
ning to engage in agriculture. . . . They are abandoning their filthy
wigwams of earth, and beginning to erect dwellings of logs. Several of them
have recently fenced and cultivated little fields of their own."

(Agent R. W. Cummins, in his annual report for 1838, had stated: "This
tribe number about 1,700; they are divided into three bands, each band
having a village or town, all located on the Kanzas river; two of which, one
on the north [Fool Chiefs] and the other [Hard Chiefs, apparently] on the
south bank [are] nearly opposite each other. . . . [The third] is on the
north bank, about 30 miles higher up. . . ." In February, 1839, Mission-
ary William Johnson had written: "The Kanzas . . . number two thou-
sand souls. . . .")

Ref: Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 20 (February, 1840), p. 42 (for Gregory's letter
reprinted from Spirit of Missions). As quoted above, the order of the letter's contents has
been altered. See Comm'r of Indian affairs Report for 1838 (for Cummins); and KHC,
v. 16, p. 230 (for Johnson). The chief, in 1839, of the "third" village (which soon
changed location again) is not known. By 1841 Chief E-ya-no-sa had a village eight
miles above the Kansa mission, on the south side of the Kansas river, near the mouth of
present Mill creek, Wabaunsee co. See KHC, v. 16, p. 264.

C May 1. Bound for Chihuahua, by way of Santa Fe, Josiah
Gregg's trading caravan (fitted out by Gregg and George C. Pick-
ett), left Van Buren, Ark., to follow a route across "Oklahoma/'
on the north side of the Canadian river. There were 34 men,
14 road wagons (carrying about $25,000 in goods), half drawn by
mules, half by oxen, a carriage, a Jersey wagon, and two swivels
on one pair of wheels.

Lt. J. M. Bowman and some 40 First U. S. dragoons were detailed to meet
the traders at Camp Holmes (see location in KHQ, v. 28, p. 510) and escort
them westward (to the boundary?). If the dragoons actually performed this
service, Josiah Gregg signally failed to mention it in his Commerce of the
Prairies (1844).

Gregg's caravan reached Santa Fe on June 25; subsequently departed for
Chihuahua in August; arrived on October 1; left there October 31; and was
back at Santa Fe on December 6. Leaving Santa Fe on February 25, 1840,
47 men, Gregg's 27 wagons, one belonging to Samuel Wethered and James

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 169

R. Ware, and some 200 mules made up the returning caravan. The route was
"in the vicinity" of the 1839 journey west, except that the party traveled much
of the way on the south side of the Canadian. On April 22 the caravan reached
Van Buren, Ark.

Ref: Arkansas State Gazette, Little Rock, May 15, 1839; Gregg, op. cit., v. 2, pp.
9-155; M. G. Fulton, editor, Diary 6- Letters of Josiah Gregg . . . (Norman, Okla.,
1941), pp. 43-69; Grant Foreman's Pioneer Days in the Early Southwest, pp. 241, 242.
See Carl I. Wheat's Mapping the Transmississippi West (San Francisco, 1957), v. 2 (1958),
pp. 174-176 for the Garland-Gregg map of 1841 and comment on it. Gregg's route to
Santa Fe in 1839, and his return route of 1840 are shown on this manuscript map. The
dragoon escort is noted in the Arkansas Gazette issue (noted above); also, Maj. Gen.
Alexander Macomb in his 1839 report (26th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 1 [Serial
354], p. 56) mentioned the two squadrons of the First dragoons "currently engaged" in
building Fort Wayne. "These squadrons," he wrote, "also furnished last spring an escort
to a caravan of traders to Santa Fe in Mexico."

C May 4. At Sapling Grove (about eight miles from Westport,
Mo., in the Shawnee reserve) the various persons 27 in all who
were to comprise the American Fur Company caravan of 1839,
gathered for their first overnight camp. (Most of them had set
out from Westport the organizing point that morning.)

Moses ("Black") Harris headed the expedition. There were eight other
Company hands; and an outfit of four two-wheeled mule-drawn carts, plus
pack animals. (The mules and horses of the entire party totaled between 50
and 60.)

Two independent Oregon-bound missionary couples made this trip: the
Rev. John S. Griffin and his bride Desire C. (Smith) Griffin; Asahel Munger
(a carpenter) and his wife Eliza. (The Munger's diary is one source of in-
formation on the journey. ) With the missionaries was Paul Richardson, hired
as hunter.

Another cotraveler was Dr. Frederick A. Wislizenus, of St. Louis (who
had been at Westport since debarking from the S*. Peters at Chouteau's
Landing sometime in mid- April). The narrative of Wislizenus (as translated
from the German) states: "All the rest [including himself] joined the expedi-
tion as individuals," and most were headed for the Columbia, or California
"actuated by some commercial motive." (See, also, September 17 entry.)

Sapling Grove, says Wislizenus, was "in a little hickory wood, with fresh
spring water." From the Grove, on May 5, the company "marched over the
broad Santa Fe road, beaten out by the caravans." Then, turning to the
right, they "took a narrow wagon road, established by former journeys to the
Rocky Mts., but often so indistinctly traced, that our leader at times
lost it, and simply followed the general direction . . . through prairie
with many undulating hills of good soil ... [and through a region]
watered with a few brooks and rivulets. . . ." [Wislizenus thus pictures
for us "Subletted Trace" as it was in 1839, just prior to becoming known as
the "Oregon trail."]

On the fifth day of travel (May 8) the caravan "reached the Kanzas, or,
as it is commonly called, Ka River . . ." [Wislizenus]. Camp was made
"on an elevation near the river," to await the arrival of the Company's "canoe"
(bringing supplies up the Kansas). Wislizenus says this camp was "some
miles" below the Kansa village, and implies that they had traveled about
100 miles to reach the crossing point. [This fits the general description of

170 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

the American Fur Company's 1838 crossing place see p. 148.] But Asahel
Munger wrote that the camp (the missionaries' camp, at least) was "within
2& miles" of the Kansa village. This would seem to place the crossing higher
above present Topeka than is indicated by the other accounts.

For about two and a half days the caravan remained on the Kansas river's
south bank. On May 9 the Mungers visited Missionaries William and Mary
Jane (Chick) Johnson at the not-far-distant Kansa Methodist Mission (see
p. 43, and p. 149), where they exchanged three horses for two horses and two
mules. Next day, the Griffins called on the Johnsons.

Doctor Wislizenus, too, made a "side trip" to the deserted Kansa village.
("The greater part of the inhabitants were hunting buffalo. The rest had
gone to our camp.") This settlement presumably Hard Chiefs town was
"on an elevation from which one can enjoy a pleasant and wide view." "The
whole village consists of 50 to 60 huts, built, all in one style, in four somewhat
irregular rows. The structure is very simple. On a round, arched frame of
poles and bark, earth is placed with grass or reeds; at the top, in the middle,
an opening is left for light and smoke; in front, at the ground, a similar open-
ing as an entrance; and the shanty is finished. At the open door there is
usually a reed-covered passage, extending a few steps into the street. There
are about twelve cut braces inside the house; the fireplace is under the opening
in the roof; at the side are some bunks of plaited strips of wood. The whole
is rather spacious."

The "canoe" having arrived, the American Fur Company caravan crossed
the Kansas river on May 11. The boat was utilized to carry the baggage
over; the carts (empty) were driven across, and the animals swam the river.
The travelers repacked and "drove on 3 hours and camped." From this point
they were again on "Sublette's Trace."

Apparently, on May 23d the expedition crossed from the Little Blue to the
Platte; on June 14 Fort Laramie was reached; and on July 5 this company
arrived at the Green river rendezvous. The missionaries eventually reached
their "Oregon" destination. Of the noncompany travelers, Dr. Frederick A.
Wislizenus, Paul Richardson, and two others reappear on the "Kansas" scene
see September 17, entry.

Ref: Oregon Historical Quarterly, v. 8 (December, 1907), pp. 387-405 (for the
Mongers' diary); F. A. Wislizenus, A Journey to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1839
(St. Louis, 1912), pp. 27-105; Missouri Republican, St. Louis, April 12, 1839, item on
the Griffins (reprinted in Nebraska Historical Society Publications, v. 20, p. 102); De Voto,
op. cit., pp. 379, 380; H. H. Bancroft's History of Oregon (1886), v. 1 (1834-1848),
pp. 239, 240, lists a number of the "individuals" in the party.

C May 7. Julius C. Robidoux was licensed by the Buchanan
county ( Mo. ) court to keep a ferry on the Missouri river at Robi-
doux's Landing (at, or near present St. Joseph, Mo.).

Ref: The History of Buchanan County, Missouri . . . (St. Joseph, Mo., 1881),
p. 167.

C May 11. In Platte county, Mo., William Hague was granted
a license to operate a ferry on the Missouri at the Fort Leavenworth
crossing.

Ref: Paxton, op. cit., p. 27.

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 171

C May- June. The annual spring caravan which crossed "Kansas"
to Santa Fe contained, by one report, "93 men with 53 wagons/'
(Another traveler wrote that the train contained about 40 "im-
mense waggons" and nearly 400 mules.) Dr. David Waldo and
Manuel Alvarez headed the caravan, and presumably were the
principal proprietors.

On June 19, after this wagon train had corraled for the night on the east
bank of Pawnee Fork (near present Lamed), the "Peoria party" (see p. 172)
came up and joined the traders, to travel in company as far as the Arkansas
crossing a point which was reached on June 28. (The Kansa Indians, on
their summer hunt, were on the west bank at Pawnee Fork crossing.)

Solomon P. Sublette (youngest of the five Sublette brothers) may have been
with this wagon train. It is known that he left Independence, Mo., by the
late spring of 1839, to return to Santa Fe.

The ledgers of Manuel Alvarez seem to indicate that he had (during his
trip East in the winter of 1838-1839) purchased goods in New York,
Philadelphia, etc., valued at $9,411.93, which were carried to Santa Fe in the
above caravan; and that his wagons, teams, and other equipment were given
a valuation of about $2,500 ( at Independence, prior to starting on the overland
journey).

Ref: R. G. Thwaites, ed., Early Western Travels (Cleveland, 1904-1906), v. 28, pp.
80-93 (for Thomas J. Farnham's account); L. R. and Ann W. Hafen, op. cit., pp. 88-45,
100-102, 297; New Mexico Historical Review, Santa Fe, v. 21 (April, 1946), p. 136 (for
Alvarez ledgers), and v. 36 (January, 1961), p. 52 (for item on Solomon P. Sublette).

C In early May, by report, Captain Kelly's train ( 14 wagons; about
30 men) started from Independence, Mo., for Santa Fe. But this
company did not leave Council Grove till early June. (Untrained
mules, and a 'long . . . spell of rainy weather" contributed to
the delay.)

On June 12, at Cottonwood Crossing, the mounted "Peoria party" (see p.
172 ) overtook and passed Kelly's wagon train.

Ref: Thwaites, op. cit., v. 28, pp. 57, 68 (for Farnham's mention of Kelly and
company); L. R. and Ann W. Hafen, op. cit., pp. 30, 34, 35 (for Oakley's account),
p. 71 (for Sidney Smith's mention); J. E. Sunder, editor, Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail
(Norman, Okla., c!960), p. 81.

C May. New missionaries at Shawnee Baptist Mission (present
Johnson county) were: the Rev. Francis Barker (who began work
on the 20th), and Elizabeth Churchill (who arrived on the 25th).
(See, also, October 23 entry.)

Ref: Baptist Missionary Magazine, v. 19 (September, 1839), p. 228.

C May 23. At the site of the new Shawnee Methodist Mission
and Indian manual labor school (present Johnson county), about
40 men were at work on the project (which had been started late
in January).

The location (as described by Agent R. W. Cummins in October, 1838,
when he and the Rev. Thomas Johnson chose it): about six miles nearly due

172 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

south of the mouth of the Kansas river, and about half a mile west of the
Missouri line. (By current survey description: the S. W. K of Sec. 3, T. 12,
R. 25 E.) "The site," he wrote, "is on a beautiful elevated ritch prairie near
& adjoining a beautiful grove of timber on the south on a small creek
known by the name of brush creek . . . there are also three springs which
are in a line in the edge of the timber. . . ."

Accomplishments on the project, as of May 23, by Cummins'
report: 400 acres of land rail-fenced (12 acres in orchard, and in
vegetables; 176 in corn, 85 in oats; "five ploughs . . . breaking
the balance . . . which is intended for timothy and blue
grass"). "The buildings are under way/' he wrote, "mechanics
preparing brick, 30,000 feet of lumber at the place, 15,000 of it
dressed ready for laying floors, 2,500 lights of sash made, stone
quarried for the first building, nails, glass, hinges, locks &c ready
on the premises."

See, also, October 22-29, 1839, annals entry.

Ref: R. W. Cummins' letter of October 18, 1838 (photostat from National Archives,
in KHi ms. division); SIA, St. Louis, "Records," v. 8, pp. 4, 5 (for Cummins' May 23,
1839, report); Christian Advocate and Journal, v. 13 (March 8, 1839), p. 113 (for John-
son's January 22, 1839, letter).

C May 29. With Thomas J. Farnham as captain, 18 mounted
men (mostly from Peoria, 111., and all novices in the West), set
out from a camp west of Independence, Mo. (Seven pack mules
carried provisions.) Oregon was their destination (they called
themselves the "Oregon Dragoons"), but their pathway (on the
advice of traders Andrew W. Sublette and Philip F. Thompson)
was the Santa Fe trail and upper Arkansas route.

[A book Farnham subsequently wrote, together with the journals of Obadiah
Oakley and Sidney Smith, and Robert Shortess's later-written narrative, give
detailed information on the experiences of this company.]

The Peoria party crossed the Big Blue (of Missouri) on May 31 and en-
camped that evening at Elm (or Round) Grove [about 33? miles west of In-
dependence] in the Shawnee reserve. By the evening of June 7 (after several
days of delays) they were at 110-Mile creek. Next day three men turned
back (accompanying a returning wagon party which had been out to Council
Grove). At Cottonwood Crossing the Peorians overtook, and passed, Captain
Kelly's train (see p. 171); on June 13, about eight miles east of the Little
Arkansas, they met Charles Bent's Missouri-bound wagons (see p. 173); on
the 16th a hunting detachment of the Peorians caught up with the large Santa
Fe-bound traders' caravan (headed by Dr. David Waldo and Manual Alvarez);
and on the 19th, at Pawnee Fork, the rest of the party joined this wagon
train to travel in company as far as the Arkansas crossing (see p. 171).

On June 21, in a gun accident, Sidney Smith severely wounded himself.
(Doctor Waldo removed the bullet, and gave other assistance.) At the Ar-
kansas crossing ( on June 28 ) three more of the "Oregon Dragoons" deserted
to head for Santa Fe with the caravan. A man named Blair (from the wagon
train) joined the dissension-split Peoria party, which with this accession,

KANSAS BEFORE 1854: A REVISED ANNALS 173

totaled 13. Continuing up the Arkansas (Smith despite his wound managed
to ride a mule) the group traveled together as far as Bent's Fort reached on
July 6.

Robert Shortess headed the party of eight which then proceeded to Fort
St. Vrain on the South Platte. ( Eventually six of these men arrived in Oregon
five, at least, in 1840.) Farnham, Smith, Oakley, Joseph Wood, and Blair,
hiring a trapper named Kelly to guide them across the Rockies, made their
way to Fort Davy Crockett on Green river. There, Oakley and Wood turned
back, but the other three went on to Oregon.

Ref: L. R. and Ann W. Hafen, op. cit., pp. 20-120 (Obadiah Oakley's journal, pp.
25-64; Sidney Smth's diary, pp. 67-93; Robert Shortess's narrative pp. 94-120). Thomas
J. Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Praries from the London, 1843, edition (as
reprinted in Thwaites, op. cit., v. 28). The Shortess narrative was also published in 1896,
in the Transactions (24th annual reunion) of the Oregon Pioneer Association.

C June-October. G. S. Turtle's contract with the war depart-
ment called for delivery at Fort Leavenworth of 1,000,000 "well-
burnt bricks" 200,000 each month beginning June 1 for which
he was to receive $7.39 per thousand.

(In November, 1838, the quartermaster general had noted the satisfactory
progress "during the past season in the work of enlarging and repairing the
quarters at Fort Leavenworth, and in the erection of stables, rendered indis-
pensably necessary by the increase of the dragoon force stationed at that post.
. . .")

In November, 1839, the quartermaster general reported: "The
barracks at Fort Leavenworth are in rapid progress; and if an
adequate appropriation be made, they may be completed during
the next year/'

(At the end of 1840, out of an 1840 appropriation of $30,000 for barracks,
quarters, etc. at Fort Leavenworth, $10,000 had been spent.)

Ref: 25th Cong., 3d Sess., House Ex. Doc. No. 2 (Serial 344), p. 123 (for 1838
report); 26th Cong., 1st Sess., H. Doc. No. 89 (Serial 365), p. 19 (for Turtle contract,
made by Capt. Thomas Swords, AQM, on December 31, 1838); 26th Cong., 1st Sess.,
Sen. Doc. No. 1 (Serial 354), p. 113 (for 1839 report); 26th Cong., 2d Sess., H. Doc.
No. 74 (Serial 383), p. 4 (for 1840 item). For a sketch of Fort Leavenworth in 1838,
see KHQ, v. 22, facing p. 113.

C BORN: on June 9, at Delaware Baptist Mission (present Wyan-
dotte county), Olive Ann Blanchard, daughter of Missionaries Ira
D. and Mary (Walton) Blanchard.

Ref: A. J. Paddock correspondence, in KHi ms. division.

C June. En route from Bent's Fort to St. Louis, Charles Bent, and
"Larout" [Antoine Leroux?], with 30 to 35 men, 10 ox-and-mule-
drawn wagons (carrying peltries), and 200 "Santa Fe sheep/'
crossed "Kansas" on the Santa Fe trail. On June 13, in present
McPherson county, the west-bound "Peoria party" met this east-
bound train. (Bent, earlier, had lost 30 mules and seven horses.
These strays were found by the Peorians and taken to Bent's Fort. )

174 KANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Ref: Thomas J. Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies (as reprinted in
Thwaites, op. cit., v. 28, p. 71); L. R. and Ann W. Hafen, op. cit., pp. 36, 37, 40, 50 (in
Obadiah Oakley's journal); Oregon Pioneer Association, Transactions (24th Annual Re-
union), 1896, p. 95 (Robert Shortess narrative).

C MARRIED: the Rev. Jesse Greene (a presiding elder in the
Methodists' Missouri conference) and Mary Todd (teacher at
Shawnee Methodist Mission), on June 21, by the Rev. Thomas
Johnson, at the "old" mission (present Wyandotte county). Mary
Todd had come to Shawnee mission late in December, 1838.

Ref: Belle Greene's letter of November 13, 1906, in K