USA > Kansas > Sedgwick County > History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county, Vol. I > Part 1
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Gc 978.101 Se28b v.1 1390090
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00828 6848
The First House in Whichvia- Built in 1066, D.S. Munger lowpart" The Conklin Stème no. for nir co due.
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HISTORY OF WICHITA
AND
SEDGWICK COUNTY
KANSAS
PAST AND PRESENT
INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF THE COUNTY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HON. O. H. BENTLEY
Vol. I
Illustrated
1910 C. F. COOPER & CO. CHICAGO
THE HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY, KANSAS
To the hardy pioneers of a great county, whose early hard- ships, fortitude and patience has made the desert to blossom like the rose and whose enterprise and faith has builded in the great American desert a peerless city and converted the erstwhile favorite feeding-ground of the buffalo into fruitful farms, with grateful acknowledgments to the gifted contributors, whose facile pens have so much embellished these pages, and especially to the press of Sedgwick county, which has proven a fund of reliable information; and more especially to that noble woman, Mrs. J. R. Mead, and that eminent lawyer and savant, Kos Harris, this History of Sedgwick County is affectionately inscribed, by
ORSEMUS H. BENTLEY, The Editor-in-Chief.
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INTRODUCTION
Few counties of the United States possess the stirring and romantic history that attaches to Sedgwick county. None has within such a short period of time achieved the fame and acquired the commanding commercial importance as the City of Wichita. Within the span of two generations, within the memory of men who are still in the prime of life, the wilderness has been trans- formed and a rich and thriving community has taken the place where once the Indians roamed at will and hunted the wild game, with which the prairies were so plentifully stocked. Nature provided the ideal site for the creation of such a city. But it was the work of man to build it, and few of those who now enjoy the benefits of their work have any adequate conception of the difficulties and hardships that the pioneers of Sedgwick county had to surmount. The builders of Wichita were men of indomitable perseverance. They were men who were endowed with prophetic vision. Unless they had been possessed of all these traits of character the city of Wichita would never have come into existence. They were able to forecast the future with a certainty that can only be characterized as marvelous, in view of the fulfilment of their predictions. They were laughed at as dreamers of dreams; they were scoffed at as visionaries. They were held up to ridicule, but the sturdiness and virility of these pioneers at last won the day for their cause, and the scoffers in time became the zealous converts and the active co-workers of the men they had ridiculed.
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To adequately write the history of Sedgwick county has been a work encompassed with tremendous difficulties. It has necessi- tated laborious investigation and research, and the cooperation of many of the oldest citizens. Of the history of the city itself, there is ample material to be obtained from the pioneers of the sixties and seventies. Many of these have long since passed to the other side, but they have left that record of their time. Still others are yet living, ripe in years and experience, but with a vivid recollection of the early days of the city's building
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INTRODUCTION
and a keen interest in relating the experiences of those epochal days. The stories of these pioneers form an indispensable and one of the most interesting parts of the present work. They possess also the additional value of authenticity. There is nothing of legend or tradition about their narratives. They are the plain, unvarnished tales of men and women, who bore the heat and burden of those days of trying endeavor, who endured almost incredible hardships, who never lost faith in the future greatness of their city and county, and many of whom still live to exult in its beauty and progress and to prophesy that the astounding development of today is but the forerunner of still greater things to come.
. ,And who shall venture to assert that they are not right and justified in these predictions ? Marvelous as have been the devel- opments of the past, what finite mind will set the barrier at which progress shall cease? The commerce which has made Wichita the greatest shipping point in the Southwest will not dwindle as the years pass. The wealth of the inconceivable richness of the soil in Kansas, and Sedgwick county in particular, will con- tinue, for ages to come, to pour a flood of riches through this natural gateway. The thousands of acres of the choicest farm- ing lands in the world which the county possesses will in time form the homes of many hundreds of thousands of people, all of whom will contribute their moiety to. the progress of the city of Wichita. The great Southwest will, year by year, send an ever increasing stream of its varied products to the city, there to be distributed to the markets of the world. The flood of commerce between the Orient and the East which will grow by leaps and bounds in the future, will always seek the city, because of its unrivalled transportation facilities. The unparal- leled advantages which the city has to offer for manufacturing will in time make it one of the great industrial communities of the West. Here are all the essential conditions for the building of a great city, and with them nothing can stop its future growth and progress.
When Wichita sprang into being forty years ago, it was the only settlement in Sedgwick county. Today there are a score of more of villages within a radius of twenty-five miles of the city, and this development of the county is no less marvelous than that of the city. These cities are a part of the exploitation of the agricultural resources of the county, but they are not
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INTRODUCTION
mere camps. They are built to stay. They are cities in every sense of the word. Their schools and churches are equal to those of any city of the land. Their public buildings, residences and streets are metropolitan in character. They enjoy all the luxuries and refinements of life, with a climate that is ideal in character. These cities are progressive, alert, gifted with a fine sense of civic pride, and steadily forging ahead to a greater development. In time they will become the commercial centers of the great and rich agricultural country and productive farms. The supremacy which Sedgwick county now enjoys, of being the richest county, agriculturally, of the state, is solely because of the unequaled richness of its soil for agricultural purposes.
The publishers of the history desire to acknowledge the cordial and valuable assistance which has been accorded them in its compilation by many citizens of Wichita and Sedgwick county. It has been a help deeply appreciated, and deserves due recognition. Among those to whom thanks are due are the Eagle and the Beacon, whose store of valuable historical collec- tions have been freely drawn upon, as well as the many conrtibutors whose names head their contributions.
NOTE
All the biographical sketches published in this history were submitted to their respective subjects, or to the subscribers from whom the facts were primarily obtained, for their approval or correction before going to press, and a reasonable time was allowed in each case for the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted, or before the work was printed, after being corrected or revised, and these may therefore be regarded as reasonably accurate.
A few, however, were not returned to us, and, as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, we "can not vouch for their accuracy. In justice to our readers, and to render this work more valuable for reference purposes, we have indicated these uncorrected sketches by a small asterisk (*), placed immediately after the name of the subject.
C. F. COOPER & CO.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. THE CITY OF WICHITA.
Favorably Located. The Second City in the State. The Sur- rounding Country of Unsurpassed Fertility. A Wholesale and Jobbing Center of Vast Importance. Two Hundred and Thirty Manufacturing Concerns. Bank Deposits and Clearing. The Union Stock Yards. The Grain and Milling Business. Street Railway System. Public Buildings. School Buildings. Natural Gas. Hospital. Sewer System and Drainage Canal. 500 "Knights of the Grip." Substantial Growth of the City.
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CHAPTER II. EARLY HISTORY OF WICHITA.
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Origin of Name. Town Platted and Surveyed by Chartered Com-
pany in 1868. The Old Time Business Center. "Durfees Ranch." Wichita's Early Merchants. Some Noted Characters of the Pioneer Days. The First Lecture Course in Wichita. Some Pioneer Women of Wichita. The First White Child Born in the County. First Religious Services. The First Church Edifice. In- corporated in 1870. First Town Officers. In 1872 Made a City of the Second Class. The Big Toll Bridge. The Cattle Drive from the Texas Plains. The Spirit of '72. Will Somebody Start Something. First City Officers of Wichita, 1872. First County Officers of Sedgwick County. Thirteen Mayors in Thirty-nine Years.
CHAPTER III. WICHITA AS A COMMERCIAL AND MANUFACTURING CENTER
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The "Peerless Princess of the Southwest."' Some Items of Some Interest. A Summary of What Wichita Has Done and is Doing Now. The Outlook. Commercial and Industrial Interests in Order of Importance. Wholesale and Jobbing. Live Stock and Meat Pack- ing. Grain and Milling. Selling Broom Corn and Manufacturing Brooms and Miscellaneous Manufacturing. Wichita as a Home Town and Some Reasons Why. Wichita's Flour Production. Wichita Job- bing Business Totals Forty Millions a Year. Lumber Trade of Wichita. List of Manufacturing Establishments. Wichita Has These. A World Market for Broomcorn. A Few of the Many Big Things That Wichita is Doing Now. Contractors and Craftsmen Help Make a Greater Wichita. Wichita Bank Taxes in 1910. The Why of Wichita's Greatness as a Railway and Job- bing Center. A Few Big Things Wichita Has. Property Values in Wichita. Interesting Facts Concerning Wichita. January, 1910, in Wichita, Kansas. February, 1910, in Wichita, Kansas. The Wichita Grain Market. A Great Motor Car Center. The Wichita Railroad & Light Company. Lumber and Building Materials. The Sash and Door Industry in Wichita. Wichita: Some Idea of the Importance of the City. Roster of City Officers of Wichita, Kansas, 1910. Wichita Fire Department.
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CHAPTER IV. THE WICHITA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
68 Was Organized in 1901. First Officers and What They Accom- plished. Later Achievements. Social Features. Number of Mem- bers and Directors. A Business -- Social Center and the Civic Center of Wichita. The New Location in the Beacon Block.
CHAPTER V. BOARD OF TRADE AND HOW IT GREW
75 The Trade Getters. Personnel of Officers and Members and the Firms They Represent. Something About the Importance of Wichita Grain Trade.
CHAPTER VI. THE COMMERCIAL CLUB AND COMMERCIAL LEAGUE .... Date of Organization. The Successes of the Coronado Club. The Promoters, Directors, First Officers. Some of the Big Things They Have Accomplished. The New Home of the Club. Some of the Live Wires Past and Present. The Present Board of Directors. The West Wichita Commercial League. The Young- est Commercial Body, but One of the Most Active. Have Accom- plished Much in a Short Time and are Planning Much for the Future. Something About West Wichita of Interest to the Man- ufacturer and Home Builder. The Men Who are Making the League Go.
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CHAPTER VII. THE WICHITA WATER COMPANY.
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An Unique and Efficient System. The Water Pure and Inex- haustible. A Modern Plant and Accessories. Analysis of the Water.
CHAPTER VIII. THE WICHITA LAND OFFICE.
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Its Early History. Its Officers, Clerks and Attorneys. Discrip- tion and Classification of Lands. Name of Land District. A Roster of Registers and Receivers of Wichita Land Office. Editor's Note.
CHAPTER IX. THE BANKS OF WICHITA ..
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The Arkansas Valley Bank. The Wichita Bank. The Wichita Savings Bank. The Kansas National Bank. The Kansas State Bank. The Citizens' Bank. The Bank of Commerce. Editor's Note. The West Side National Bank. The American State Bank. The National Bank of Commerce. The Commercial Bank. The State Savings Bank. The Citizens' State Bank. The Na- tional Bank of Wichita. The Gold Savings State Bank. The Stock Yards State Bank. The Merchants' State Bank. The Wichita State Bank. The Union Stock Yards National Bank. Twelve Million Dollars in Wichita Banks. The Country Banks of Sedgwick County. The Growth and General Prosperity. The Farmers' State Bank of Sedgwick. The Sedgwick State Bank. Valley Center State Bank. State Bank of Kechi. Farmers' State Bank of Mulvane. Mulvane State Bank. Home State Bank of Clearwater. The State Bank of Clearwater. Viola State Bank. Cheney State Bank. Citizens' State Bank of Cheney. State Bank of Garden-Plain. Goddard State Bank. Farmers' State Bank of Mt. Hope. First National Bank of Mt. Hope. Andale State Bank. State Bank of Colwick. The State Bank of Bentley.
CHAPTER X. WICHITA POSTOFFICE.
Two Hundred and Fifteen Persons Required to Give Us 'Mail. Rapid Increase in Postoffice Business; Thorough. Organization and Office Force. Records Showing Growth. The Rural Delivery. Thirty-six Rural Routes. Nine of Them from Wichita. Post Master and Employes of Wichita Postoffice. Railway Mail Service.
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CONTENTS
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CHAPTER XI. MEANING OF THE WORD "WICHITA " 111
A Controversy Between Local Historians and an Irishman. The Question is Now Regarded as Settled.
CHAPTER XII. THE DRILL HOLE AT WICHITA. 113
The Log of the Well.
CHAPTER XIII. WICHITA'S INDUSTRIAL HISTORY-IN THE BEGINNING In 1835. Some Pioneer Traders. The Arrival of the Wichita Traders' Merchandise. Credit to the Redmen. Traders' Credit Unlimited. Walnut Grove. The Law of the Plains. At Cow- skin Grove.
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CHAPTER XIV. THE LITTLE ARKANSAS ..
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From 1859 to 1862. Some Word Painting of the Beauties of the Valley. The Santa Fe Trail. The Great Osage Trail. The Great Herds of Buffalo. Their Summer Home. The First Attempt at Settlement. The Indian Settlers of 1863. Jesse Chisholm. The Treaty of the Little Arkansas. Kit Carson. Indian War Rumors. The Cholera Plague of 1867. Sheridan's Campaign of 1868. Some Good Indians and Some Bad White Men.
CHAPTER XV. A LAWYER'S REVERIES OF THE TIMES WHEN WICHITA WAS IN THE GRISTLE .. Prefatory. A Biography of the Brain. Some Early Scenes and Incidents. A Cherished Hope. An Early Survey of the Legal Profession in Wichita. Reminiscences of the Bar and Other Bars of Wichita. Duglas Avenue and North Main Street. A Few of the Noted Men of the Early Days of Wichita. One Thrifty Lawyer. The First Duel in Wichita. Jupiter vs. the Bull. The Arrest and Trial and Escape of Jesse James. An Aesthetic Drunk. The Migrating Christy Asphodel of the Bar.
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CHAPTER XVI. BARON JAGS IN WICHITA.
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How He Produced "Our American Cousin" with Local Talent -By One of the "Talent." "Through Tattered Clothes Small Vices Appear." The Star and the Rest of the Cast. " The American Cousin." "Earl of Jim Jams." "Height of a Diamond to the Depth of a Pawn Ticket."
CHAPTER XVII. WICHITA PRESBYTERIANISM AND ITS AMENITIES .... As seen by a Local Goat. First Acquaintance with the Faith. Description of First Meeting Places. The Rev. Mr. Harsen. Early Membership. Some Wrap Holders. Some Recollections and Annals of the Church.
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CHAPTER XVIII. THE BOARD OF TRADE OF WICHITA AND HEREIN. ... Some of the Early Trades and Why They Were Made. Greiffen- stein vs. the North End. Some Events and Who Caused Them. Wichita Gets Railroads and Other Things. The Boom is Started. More Railroads. Poker and Pap.
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. CHAPTER XIX. THE STREET RAILWAY-A. D. 1883. 194
Jim Steele's Last Work for Wichita. First Officers and General Make-up. A Money Maker From the Start.
CHAPTER XX. CHRONICLES. Some Railroad History of 1885. Jay Gould Comes on the Scene. The Wichita and Colorado Railroad. Reorganized Board of Trade. The Burton Car Works. "Don't Issue Bonds; Draw on Us for Amount Required-Wichita Board of Trade." The Dold Packing House. Much Oratory and Many Subscriptions. General Insolvency. Wichita Egotism. The Oklahoma Boom. Recapitulation. Retrospection and Prognostication. Hindsight and Foresight. A. D. 1910.
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CHAPTER XXI. REVIEW OF CITY. 230
Some Deductions and Suggestions. Wichita First Ruled by a Board of Trustees. The First Three Ordinances. Jim Hope's Administration. George Harris' Administration. Greiffenstein's Administration and a Pen Portrait of that Illustrious Dutchman. Joe Allen 's Administration. George W. Clement's Administration. John B. Carrey's Administration. J. M. Cox, the Seventh Mayor. Finley Ross; the Park Administration. Ben McLean's Adminis- tration. Ben Aldrich of Boom Times. Some of the Occur- rences of This Time. The Rock Island Depot.
CHAPTER XXII. REMINISCENCES OF A BRIEFLESS BARRISTER. 249 Some Recollections and Confessions. Don Carlos Jaundaro. A Stern Prosecutor and My Destiny.
CHAPTER XXIII. HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY ATTORNEY KOS HARRIS, DECEMBER 9, 1903. 256
An Exordium to be Remembered.
CHAPTER XXIV. OLD NEW YORK BLOCK-SCHWEITER CORNER- A NARRATIVE OF EARLY WICHITA .. 264
The Halcyon Days of Wichita. Wichita's First Circus. Keno Room Described. Jim Steele as a Fire Hero. A Case Where Justice and Liberty Interfered with Trade and Commerce. A Prophetic Quotation from "Dutch Bill." Old Time Law Firms. Some of the Belles of this Period. A Gorgeous Law Office. Bequeathing an Office.
CHAPTER XXV. THE LEGEND OF JOHN FARMER.
273 An Incident of Pioneer Justice Wherein a Friendless Irish Boy Encountered the Gray Wolves.
CHAPTER XXVI. WILLIAM MATHEWSON-BUFFALO BILL-LAST OF THE OLD SCOUTS. 276
The Last of the Old Scouts. A Vivid Description of Buffalo Bill from the Beacon. His Ancestry, Birth and Some of His Early Adventures. In 1849 with the Northwestern Fur Co. In 1852 with the Bent-St. Varin Co. He Conquers Satana "Sinpah Zilbah." The Terrible Winter of 1860-1861. Saving the Settlers' Lives and Earning His Title. Incidents of 1864. His Personal Bravery Saves a Wagon Train from Destruction. A Military Blunder and the Consequences. Mathewson Selected as a Sacrifice. He Makes Peace with the Warring Kiowa. He Rescues Women and Children from the Indians. A Pleasant Surprise at Leavenworth. Preëmpted His Homestead in 1868, Now the Heart of Wichita.
CHAPTER XXVII. SOME WELL-KNOWN PEOPLE.
Wichita's Mayor. Wichita Hay Man Has Become "Hay King of Kansas." Yank Owen. William Greiffenstein, "The Father of Wichita. " A Sketch of His Life. Abram Burnett, His Father- in-law. Doc Warrall. The Pioneer Rural Mail Carrier, W. L. Appling. Remembrances of His First Trip. The Oldest Mail Carrier in Wichita is George Chouteau. E. B. Walden. Oremus Hills Bentley, the Editor-in-chief of this Work. W. R. Stubbs, Governor. Mrs. L. S. Carter.
CHAPTER XXVIII. SOME PROMINENT BUILDINGS IN WICHITA. New Buildings Worth Two Millions in the First Four Months of 1910. The figures for the first four months of the year. "The Mathewson." Mrs. Grant Bradshaw Hatfield. The Interesting Romance of Wichita's First Skyscraper. The New Beacon Build- ing. Brief History of Beacon Block. The Schweiter Block. Wichita's Forum. The Address of Governor W. R. Stubbs at the Laying of the Corner-stone of the Beacon Building.
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CHAPTER XXIX. WICHITA AN IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL CENTER ..... Wichita Public Schools. The Public Schools of Sedgwick County. The Superintendent 's Report. Rural Schools are Growing. The Cheney High School and the Clearwater High School. Fifteen Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty-five School Kids in Sedgwick County. The Wichita City Schools. First School in 1871. Mrs. James Black, Teacher. Personnel of Wichita's School Boards. Wichita's High School. In 1874 Prof. B. C. Ward Organized the First High School. The Departments and Training. Grade Schools. School Property. The Board of Education. Enrollment in the Ward Schools. Razing of Webster School Building.
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CHAPTER XXX. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
Friends University. History of Fairmount College. Mount Carmel Academy.
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CHAPTER XXXI. THE PIONEER CHURCHES OF WICHITA, KAN. Episcopal Church. First Presbyterian. The M. E. Church. The First Baptist. Monuments to the Past. Wichita's First Church. The Rev. J. P. Hilton, the First Pastor. The Exterior and In- terior of the Church. The Vestrymen. An Incident Showing Their Character. Wichita's Churches of Today. The Young Men's Christian Association. Board of Directors. Officers. The Salvation Army Barracks.
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CHAPTER XXXII. CITY FEDERATION OF CLUBS .. Hypatia Club. Twentieth Century Club. Fairmount Library Club. The South Side Delvers. Wichita Musical Club. Eunice Sterling Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
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CHAPTER XXXIII. FRATERNAL ORDERS. York Rite Masonry. Wichita Lodge, No. 99, A. F. & A. M. Sunflower Lodge, No. 86, A. F. & A. M. Albert Pike Lodge, No. 303, A. F. & A. M. Ivy Leaf Chapter, Order Eastern Star. Wichita Chapter, No. 33, Royal Arch Masons. Capitular Masonry, Wichita Chapter. The Scottish Rite in Wichita. Review of Wichita Bodies. Mount Olivet Commandery, No. 12. Scottish Rite Masonry. The Mystic Shrine. Kansas Masonic Home and Chapel. Jeremiah Giles Smith. Other Fraternal Orders. Trades and Labor Organizations in Wichita. Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Wichita Lodge, No. 356. Ladies' Auxiliary, Peerless Prince Lodge, No. 349, B. of R. T. Order of Railway Con- ductors, Wichita Division No. 338. Peerless Princess Division, No. 221, Ladies' Auxiliary of O. R. C.
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CHAPTER XXXIV. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN WICHITA Wichita Hospital.
CHAPTER XXXV. SCRAPS OF LOCAL HISTORY. 418
Park City and Wichita and their Astonishing Contest. An Awful Election. The Countess. A Tragedy and a Romance of Park City. The Pioneer Real Estate Dealers. Circus Day in Sedgwick County. The Northwest Corner. The Arkansas River. The Struggles of the Early Business Men. A Little Reminiscence of the Days When Wichita Was Young-Inspired by Looking at the Beacon Building. Thoughts of Helping Wichita. The Main North and South Street of Wichita. The Old Munger House, the First House in Wichita. A Frontier Incident. Local Conditions. The Population of Wichita, Sedgwick County, and the State of Kansas. Tags. First Impressions were Lasting. Wichita's First Daily Newspaper. The Stage Coach Period of Wichita. The Story of the Peerless Princess. An Old Landmark. The Heart
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of Wichita. The Little Arkansas River. The Wichita Boom. The MeKnight Land. The Drainage Canal. The House in the Park. Wichita Sees Her Vision and Smiles. Versatile Preacher of Pioneer Days. The Charity of Wichita Citizens. Theaters in Wichita. The New Auditorium. Crawford Theater. Elite Theater. Marple Theater. The Novelty Theater. Orpheum Theater (vaudeville). The Princess Theater (vaudeville). Yale Theater. "Ida May" a Victim of Cowboy Sport. The Fuel Problem Per- plexed Pioneers. Farmers Brought Wheat Many Miles to Wichita. Sedgwick Home Lumber Hauled from Emporia. The Trend of Business. Sedgwick County Pays its Full Share of Taxes. The Benefactions of Tom Shaw. Kos Harris.
CHAPTER XXXVI. AN EARLY INCIDENT OF WICHITA
464 Judge S. M. Tucker Subdues Hurricane Bill. Mathewson's Pasture.
CHAPTER XXXVII. THE PRESS.
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The Founding of the Beacon. Introducing Mr. D. G. Millison. His Narrative. He and His Good Wife Entertain a Distinguished Journalist. Mr. Millison Visits Wichita and His Former Guest Reciprocates. Is Royally Entertained. But Does Not Buy. Has a Parting Feast with His Host. And Meets F. A. Sowers. Result the Beacon was Born Oct. 18th, 1872. The Beacon is Thirty-eight. How the Beacon was Named. Subsequent History. History of the "Wichita Eagle," Is the History of Wichita. Is Thirty-nine Years Old. Naming the "Eagle." Colonel Mur- dock's Joke. The First Subscriber. The Policy of the "Eagle" Has Always Been Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. Becomes a Daily in 1884. Always Broad, Liberal and Clean. The New Home of the "Eagle." Mrs. Victoria Murdock sole owner. Circulation Over 35,000. Other Publications from the "Eagle" Office. The "Wichita Weekly Eagle" and "Arkansas Valley Farmer." Biography of Col. Marshall M. Murdock. Editor's Note. The Early Contributors to the Press. Wichita's News- papers of Today. Agricultural Southwest. Catholic Advance. Daily Livestock Journal. The Democrat. Kansas Commoner. Kansas Farmer Star. Kansas Magazine. Missionary Messenger. Price Current. Primitive Christianity. Southwestern Grain and Flour Journal. Wichita Daily Beacon. Wichita Daily Pointer. Wichita Eagle. Wichita Herald. Wichita Searchlight.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. SEDGWICK COUNTY ..
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Origin of the County's Name. First Set of Officers. Elected in 1870. First Trading Post in 1863. Sedgwick County in Class A. Soil, Products, Climate and People. Sedgwick County, Its Organization. First Court House. Meeting of County Com- missioners, April 27, 1870. A Night Herd Law Enforced. A Saloon License Granted. Ordered that a Bond Issue be Voted on. The Tax Rolls of Sedgwick County for 1909. Taxable Property Shows Large Increase. The Investment of Sedgwick County Capital. The Population of a Great County. Roster of County Officers, Sedgwick County. Population of the Townships. Total Property Values. Live Stock on Hand. Last Indian Scare in Sedgwick County. The Kingman Trail.
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