A history of Kansas, Part 10

Author: Prentis, Noble L. (Noble Lovely), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : C. Prentis
Number of Pages: 394


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267. Captain Payne and Oklahoma .- In 1880, Cap- tain David L. Payne appeared as the original "Oklahoma boomer." Captain Payne was an old-time and well-known citizen of Kansas. He had settled in Doniphan eounty in 1858. He enlisted early in the war, and served three years as a private soldier in the Tenth Kansas Volunteers, and subsequently was commissioned a captain in the Eighteenth Kansas Cavalry to serve against the Indians; he later joined the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry and took part in General Sheridan's campaign against the savages in 1868. Captain Payne was elected a member of the Kansas Legislature from Doniphan county in 1865; was Postmaster at Fort Leaven- worth in 1867, and was chosen a member of the Kansas House from Sedgwick county (where he had established "Payne's Ranch" in 1870), in the session of 1872. In 1879, while an employe of the Government in Washington, he made the discovery, as he believed, that the lands in the western part of the Indian Territory which had been ceded by the Creeks to the Government for occupation by other


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AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.


civilized tribes, and by the freedmen, formerly slaves in the Territory, but had not been so occupied, belonged to the publie lands of the United States, and subject to entry under the public land laws. Beginning in 1880, parties of "boomers," as they came to be called, marched into the coveted Territory on an average about twice a year under the command of Captain Payne. They were as often arrested and turned out by the United States troops, and held to appear in, the United States courts, but nothing suppressed the boomers, and the name of their chief and his portrait, as a far-famed western scout, adorned all the walls. On the 28th of November, 1884, David L. Payne dropped dead of heart disease at Wellington, Kan. But his work prospered in the hands of Captain Couch and other lieuten- ants, the agitation was transferred to Congress, and the opening became first a probability and then a certainty.


268. Railroad Strike .- In March, 1886, began, on the line of the Missouri Pacific Railway in Missouri and Kan- sas, the most extensive strike in the history of railroads in those States. The men in the operative department of the road left work at Sedalia on the 6th of March, and thence the strike spread to all the centres of extensive railroad employ- ment, as Wyandotte, Atchison and Parsons. On the 30th of March, thirty engines were disabled at Atchison. On the 24th of April, a freight train was wrecked at Wyan- dotte, and the engineer and fireman were killed. Governor Martin held consultations with Governor Marmaduke of Missouri, endeavored to bring about an arrangement between the striking men and the railroad companies, and had great hopes of success, but, in consequence of the disturbed conditions at Parsons, ordered Colonel L. L.


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HISTORY OF KANSAS.


Patrick, of the First Kansas Militia, to call out companies from Olathe, Humboldt, Columbus, Girard, Ottawa, Fort Seott and Garnett. The strike was declared off and ended in the last of April. It caused much suffering, both to the working people and the general public. It was apparently under the direction of a man named Martin Irons, who disap- peared from the control of affairs after the strike was over. The original cause was the discharge from employment of a foreman in the Missouri Pacific ear shops, at Marshall, Tex.


269. Amos A. Lawrence .- The announcement of the death, at Nahant, Mass., of Amos A. Lawrence, was received with unusual tokens of respect at Lawrence, a city named in his honor. Mr. Lawrence was one of the organizers of the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Society. His name was given to the new Free Soil settlement in the autumn of 1854. In 1856, at a meeting held in Lawrence to institute a university, Mr. Lawrence was chosen a trustee. A gift of $10,000 in notes by Mr. Lawrence for educational pur- poses, and which was turned over to the Kansas State University on its location at Lawrence, was the first endow- ment of the institution.


Amos Lawrence was regarded, in a sense, as the father of Lawrence and of the University. The manufacturing city of Lawrenee, Mass., was also named in his honor, and he was the founder of Lawrence University at Appleton, Wis.


270. Election of 1886. In November, 1886, John A. Martin was re-elected Governor; A. P. Riddle, Lieutenant- Governor; E. B. Allen, Secretary of State; S. B. Bradford, Attorney-General; J. H. Lawhead, Superintendent of Public


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AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.


Instruction; D. M. Valentine was elected Associate Justice; J.W. Hamilton, Treasurer, and Timothy McCarthy, Auditor; Congressmen Morrill, Anderson, Funston, Perkins, Ryan and Peters were re-elected, and E. J. Turner was elected from the Sixth District.


SUMMARY.


1. Death ravages the ranks of the old soldiers and pioneers of Kansas.


2. The Quarter-Centennial of the admission of Kansas is cele- brated at Topeka.


3. A reunion of the surviving members of the Wyandotte Consti- tutional Convention is held at Kansas City, Kan.


4. In 1882, George W. Glick was elected Governor.


5. Kansas extended aid to sufferers by flood in the Ohio valley. .


6. "Kansas Day" is generally observed by the schools, and the sunflower is adopted as the State emblem.


7. John A. Martin was elected Governor in 1884.


8. To. the list of State institutions were added, during the years 1880-1890, the Asylum for Imbeciles, the State Soldiers' Home, the Reform School for Girls, the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, and the State Reformatory. The United States established the National Soldiers' Home and Haskell Insti- tute.


CHAPTER XXVI.


THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887.


271. Governor Martin's Opinion on Indebtedness .- Governor John A. Martin, on the opening of the Legislature of 1887, took occasion to remark in his message: "The steady and enormous growth of bonded indebtedness amply justifies alarm. It seems to me that in view of the facts and figures presented, it is the imperative duty of the Legisla- ture to repeal at once every law authorizing the creation of municipal indebtedness for any purpose whatever, except, perhaps, the building of schoolhouses."


272. Speculation .- On the 1st of January, 1887, the great Kansas "boom" was booming, and it continued for many months. On that date it was announced that the manufactures of Wichita, the past year, had yielded $570,000; the amount paid in mercantile salaries had reached $1,910,180; her bank clearings were $18,870,598; the whole- sale trade was $15,076,000; the real estate sales $16,793,527. The list of real estate sales made a newspaper column a day. Later in the season ninety-five acres of land near Wyandotte were sold for $450,000.


273. Improvements .- In Topeka, in the year 1887, 2,500 houses were erected, and $1,000,000 were devoted to public improvements. Eighty-one newspapers were started in a year. Natural gas was struck at Fort Scott, and many other points, and Paola indulged in a great celebration.


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THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887.


The "Santa Fe," the Missouri Pacific and Rock Island built through and through the State.


274. State Buildings Remodeled .- "Syndicates" were organized to deal in real estate in many of the towns, and waterworks and electric light plants and street railways became numerous. During the "boom" period, the State fully kept up with the general and public desire for improve- ment. In that time the State University added to its build- ings "Snow Hall of Natural History," costing $50,000. The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb erected three build- ings costing $82,000. The Asylum for Idiotic and Imbecile Youth, at Winfield, completed a new building at a cost of $25,000. On the two insane asylums at Osawatomie and Topeka, in the four years closing with the year 1888, there were expended $353,000.


The State Capitol, begun in 1866, grew apace. The old east wing was remodeled at a cost of $140,000. In 1879 the west wing was begun, and occupied in 1881, and com- pleted in 1882. Work was begun on the central building in 1881, and still continues. A contract was let for a new wing of the State Normal School building at Emporia. The substantial completion of a building for a State Reformatory, at Hutchinson, was announced, but some years were to elapse before its occupation. The State continued its interest in tree culture, and established a forestry station near Fort Dodge.


275. State Reformatory .- The idea of a State Reforma- tory was suggested to the Kansas State Board of Charities by the celebrated Reformatory at Elmira, N. Y. The aini and object of the institution being the reformation rather than the punishment of youthful criminals between the ages of


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HISTORY OF KANSAS.


sixteen and twenty-five; boys under the limit of age being sent to the State Reform School at Topeka. The system at the Reformatory implies a graded course of treatment, the condition and comfort of the prisoner being made depend- ent on his conduct.


276. Educational Institutions. - The schools and other public institutions of the State were remembered by communities and by individuals. The library of the Soldiers' Home was enlarged by 2,000 volumes, collected for it before his death by Henry Ward Beecher. The Catholic building and grounds at Atchison are valued at $500,000. On the 5th of April, 1887, the Kansas Wesleyan University at Salina was dedicated.


In March, ground was broken at Sterling for the Cooper Memorial College. In July Bethany College, at Lindsborg, announced the completion of a new and splendid building. A German Baptist (Dunkard) Col- lege was located at McPherson. The Hiawatha Academy at Hiawatha was established. The Central Normal Col- lege of Great Bend was established by Professor Wm. Stryker.


Bethel College, located at Newton, is one of two Menno- nite colleges in the United States. St. John's Military School at Salina, a school for boys, under the control of the Episcopal Church, was established in 1887.


The older and later educational institutions of the State, as Baker University, Highland Academy, Ottawa University, the College of Emporia, Midland College at Atchison, Southwest Kansas College at Winfield, Fairmount College at Wichita, St. John's Lutheran College at Winfield, and many others, felt the impetus of this period.


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THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887.


277. Inauguration Ceremonies .- On the 20th of January, 1887, occurred the second inauguration of Gover- nor Martin. The ceremonies were attended by Governors Robinson, Carney, Osborn, Anthony and St. John. Gover- nors Glick, Crawford and Harvey were absent.


278. Extension of Suffrage .- The Kansas Senate, on the 28th of January, 1887, and the House, on the 11th of February, passed the municipal suffrage bill, which con- ferred on women in Kansas at school, bond and municipal elections, the same right to vote possessed by men. The bill received the signature of Governor Martin on the 14th of February. About 26,000 women voted at the following spring election, and Mrs. Medora Salter was elected Mayor of Argonia, perhaps the first woman in the world to hold the office.


279. Labor Legislation. - The Legislature, which adjourned on the 5th of March, legislated in regard to the arbitration of labor controversies, limited the amount of bonds to be issued to railroads, and submitted two amend- ments to the State Constitution; one to strike out the word "white," and one "concerning the purchase, enjoyment and descent of property." Clifford C. Baker was elected State Printer.


280. Centre of Population .- The centre of population of the State, which in 1865 was in the western part of Douglas County, was announced to be, in 1887, in the northwest part of Marion County.


In the year 1887, 812 schoolhouses were built in Kansas.


281. Mrs. Northrup's Gift. - It was made known, through the Historical Society, that by a contribution of $1,000 by Mrs. Margaret Northrup, of Brooklyn, N. Y., a


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HISTORY OF KANSAS.


pew for citizens of Kansas had been secured forever in the Metropolitan M. E. Church, in Washington, D. C.


The largest individual land owner in Kansas is said to be Mr. James P. Pomeroy, of Atchison, who owns 60,000 acres.


282. Explosion Near Fort Scott .- An explosion on the 25th of January, on a Missouri Pacific train near Fort Scott, caused probably the loudest and most frightful noise ever known in Kansas. Two hundred cases of giant powder exploded at a single blast. But one man, a brake- man, was killed, but houses were shaken throughout Bour- bon county, window panes were broken in Nevada, Mo., twenty-five miles distant, and $10,000 worth of plate and other glass was destroyed in Fort Scott.


283. Remarkable Fossil Discovery .- Mr. S. S. Hand sent to Chancellor Snow, of the State University, a fossil fish, found in Hamilton county, and Professor Snow wrote: "My view about your fine fish is, that it lived and died when what is now Hamilton county, Kan., more than 3,000 feet above the present sea level, was under the salt water ocean. Remains of fishes, sharks and great sea monsters are found abundantly in the rocks of Western Kansas, especially along the banks of the Smoky Hill river and its branches. In fact, the ocean covered the entire western portion of the United States. The Rocky Mountains were not upheaved when your fish lived and died."


Kansas is an attractive field for the labors of the paleon- tologist, especially in the Niobrara formation in Rooks, Ellis and Trego counties. Of the thirteen fossilized birds of the North American continent and Europe, catalogued in 1873, seven species were found in Kansas. Of saurians, or lizards, thirty-one are found in the small strip of the


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THE HAPPENINGS OF 1887.


Niobrara in Kansas to four in all of Europe. In the ocean which covered what is now Kansas, sharks swam numer- ously, as many as three hundred of their teeth having been found in a space of thirty inches square. The fossil beds of Kansas have been intelligently and diligently searched for many years, and invaluable specimens have been pre- served in the collections of the State University and other Kansas institutions of learning, and of Yale University, where they have attracted the attention of the scientists of the world.


SUMMARY.


1. Governor Martin advised the repeal of laws authorizing the creation of municipal indebtedness.


2. In 1887 the "Kansas Boom" was at its highest.


3. Snow Hall was built, the State Reformatory was completed, new buildings were added to the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the Imbecile Asylum; State Capitol remodeled.


4. Large number of colleges established and 812 schoolhouses were built.


5. On February 14, 1888, the municipal suffrage bill became a law.


6. Two amendments to the Constitution were submitted.


7. The center of population was announced to be in Marion county.



CHAPTER XXVII.


A PROSPEROUS YEAR.


284. Recovery .- The year 1888 was a year of recovery, in an agricultural sense, from the disasters of 1887, a year of drought in Kansas and throughout the Western States. These periods of recovery have often been noticed in Kansas history. The "bad years" in the first thirty years of Kansas, viz., 1860, 1868, 1870, 1874, and 1887 were followed by seasons of uncommon fruitfulness.


285. Mexican Pilgrimage .- The passage through the State, by rail, of a party of 250 Mexican people on a pil- grimage to Rome, was a reminder of the changed order of travel and transportation. Such pilgrimages had not been unknown in Mexico before, but had been undertaken entirely by sea from Mexican ports. These pilgrims recognized the opening of a great continental route through the United States via Kansas, eating, drinking, sleeping, and assembling in the ears for their devotions as they journeyed.


286. Disappearance of the Buffalo .- It was announced that the last buffalo remaining in Kansas was sold by Mr. C. J. Jones to a party in New York, and was to leave the State. The event created but a sentimental regret. The disappearance of the buffalo, which existed in Kansas in such numbers, even after the settlement of the State had begun, as to delay the passage of railroad trains, was regarded like the vanishing of the Indian, as inevitable and


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A PROSPEROUS YEAR.


not to be deplored. The buffalo served a purpose in earliest days by furnishing his meat, hide and bones for the tem- porary uses of the pioneer, but the latter found no difficulty in subsisting without them after the supply was withdrawn. Much more of a loss than the buffalo himself was that of the buffalo grass, which formed the pasturage of countless thousands of these animals both winter and summer. This began to give way to a coarser and less nutritious herbage with the disappearance of the tramping herds. On the other hand, it was claimed by competent observers that the earth became more absorptive of moisture and responsive to cul- tivation. The disappearance of the buffalo wallow, the prairie dog town, and the botanic family of the cacti, marked the surrender of the land to fertility and civilization.


287. Death of Judge Samuel D. Lecompte .- In April, 1888, died in Kansas City, Mo., Judge Samuel D. Lecompte, first Chief Justice of Kansas Territory, appointed by Presi- dent Pierce, in 1854. Judge Lecompte's name was promi- nent in the angry discussions of that troubled time, yet he lived in peace in Kansas for many years afterward, in the midst of the quieted disputants, and died at the age of seventy-four.


288. Thomas Carney .- On the 30th of July, Thomas Carney, second Governor of Kansas, and the first to fall ont of the line of Kansas chief magistrates, was buried in honor at his long-time home, Leavenworth. Governor Carney was born in Delaware county, Ohio, August 20, 1827. He came to Leavenworth in 1858 and became imme- diately engaged in extensive mereantile business. He was elected Governor in 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, and was one of the Kansas "War Governors." At a critical


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HISTORY OF KANSAS.


period in the financial history of the State he pledged his private fortune to preserve the publie eredit.


289. Stevens County Difficulties .- In July, 1888, Governor Martin issued his proclamation organizing the county of Greeley, with Tribune as the county seat. This completed the organization of Kansas counties, 106 in all. Subsequently, the county of Garfield was attached to Finney county, and the number reduced to 105.


In the last days of July, information reached Topeka that the troubles in Stevens county had again broken ont in an aggravated form. Brigadier-General Myers and Attorney- General Bradford were sent to the county and learned that Sheriff Cross, of Stevens county, and a party of four men belonging to the Woodsdale faction, had gone over into the seetion known as No-Man's Land, and coming to the eamp of some parties making hay, had asked permission to lie down and sleep. While thus reposing, they were surprised by a party of fourteen men from Hugoton-Woodsdale and Hugoton being rival towns-and Sheriff Cross and three of his men were killed and a fourth wounded.


290. Militia to Preserve Order .- The county was found in a State of great excitement, and the Second Regi- ment of Kansas militia was ordered to the county to pre- serve order.


Six men were arrested at Hugoton by the United States Marshal, who accompanied the troops, on complaint of Samuel N. Wood, and arraigned before the United States Commissioner, at Topeka, and released on bail. It was decided that No-Man's Land was not within the jurisdic- tion of Kansas, and they were subsequently brought to trial at Paris, Tex.


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A PROSPEROUS YEAR.


291. Effects of Stevens County War .- The "Stev- ens county war," which was destined to have other evil effects, caused much indignation and disgust throughout the States. "County seat fights" with accompaniments of fraud and violence, had not been unknown in Kansas, but that the contentions of rival villages should be carried to the point of murder, and necessitate the interference of the arm of the State, was felt to be a great hardship and disgrace.


292. Haskell Institute .- In September, 1888, Gover- nor Charles Robinson resigned the Superintendency of the Haskell Institute, at Lawrence, which, under his care, had attained a high state of efficiency. Additions were made to the institution, increasing its capacity by 300 more students.


293. Natural Resources .- The search for gas and other natural resources continued. Professor Robert Hay estimated, in October, 1888, that $150,000 had been expended in the various borings for coal, oil and gas. At some points the search proved successful. In September, natural gas was used for lighting and heating the State Insane Asyhim at Osawatomie. A mill at Humboldt uses gas for fuel, and the boundaries of the natural gas belt in the State began to be defined.


In 1888 the first salt was made at Kingman, and it was claimed that it would require ten years to exhaust an aere of the natural rock salt supply at Hutchinson. One natural resource after another was discovered, claimed or developed; soapstone here, gypsum there. At one place it was reported that in boring for gas, coal and oil had been discovered.


294. Mine Disaster .- On the 19th of November, hap- pened in Cherokee county, the most fatal mine disaster in


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HISTORY OF KANSAS.


the history of Kansas. On the morning of that day 164 miners were lowered in Frontenac mine, No. 2, of the Santa Fe Coal Company. At the noon intermission, the shots were fired in safety, and the miners descended for their afternoon work. At half past five, arrangements had been made for firing, but before a man had been hoisted there eame a frightful explosion. At first it was believed that no one had eseaped, but the final count placed the loss of lives at thirty-nine, with a large number of burned and wounded. The explosion was deemed by the miners the result of carelessness or incompetence on the part of the State Mine Inspector, and a large convention of miners demanded his removal.


295. Rev. Innocent Wolf an Arch Abbot .- The Right Rev. Innocent Wolf, of Atchison, was raised to the position of Areh Abbot of the Benedietine Order in the United States. This Order is one of the oldest and most powerful of the religious orders in the Catholic church, and its establish- ment in Kansas one of the most important in the United States.


296. Railroads in 1888 .- In 1888 it was noted that the present system of railroads in Kansas would make twenty lines running parallel the length of the State. The State is 400 miles long, and there are 8,000 miles of railroad. Perhaps it was in view of the extent of Kansas railroad facilities that fewer railroad bonds were voted by Kansas, . in 1888, than in any previous year of its history.


297. State Industrial School. - The city of Beloit secured, in January, 1888, the Industrial School for Girls, established by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, donating to the institution eighty acres of land. It was


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A PROSPEROUS YEAR.


opened temporarily in February. The school became a State institution by the action of the Legislature of 1889.


298. Prohibition Law Strengthened .- The Prohibi- tion Law received additional judicial sanction by the affirma- tion by the State Supreme Court of the constitutionality of the Metropolitan Police Law.


299. Death of David Ware .- David Ware, for twenty- six years janitor of the Kansas State House, died in Topeka, in September, 1888. He was born a slave in Missouri, and came to Kansas during the war. He took charge of the Capitol on its first occupation by the State, and continued its custodian to the close of his life. His fidelity and honesty were unimpeachable. His funeral was attended by the officers of the State, and his character was made the subject of eulogy by the Governor. David Ware.


300. Gift to the Kansas State Medical. Society .- Mrs. Jane Stormont, widow of Dr. D. W. Stormont, a pioneer physician of Topeka, gave to the Kansas State Medical Society $5,000, to be used in maintaining a library of medical books in connection with the State Library.


301. Election of 1888 .- In November, 1888, occurred the National and State election. The vote of Kansas was given to Benjamin Harrison, who received 182,356 votes to 102,725 for Grover Cleveland. For Governor, Hum- phrey, Republican, received 181,318 votes; Martin, Demo- crat, 107,822; Elder, Union Labor, . 36,230; Botkin, Prohibitionist, 6,452; plurality for Humphrey, 72,405.


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HISTORY OF KANSAS.


The State officers chosen in 1888 were L. U. Humphrey, Governor; Andrew J. Felt, Lieutenant-Governor; William Higgins, Secretary of State; J. W. Hamilton, Treasurer; Timothy McCarthy, Auditor; L. B. Kellogg, Attorney-General; George W. Winans, Superintendent of Public In- struction ; William A. Johnston, Associate Justice of Supreme Court. The entire Congressional delegation chosen in 1886 was re-elected in 1888. The Republicans carried every county in the State for President, and all the counties, save Governor L. U. Humphrey. Leavenworth and Ellis, for Governor. 302. Relics .- The Historical Society's collection was increased by some interesting relics of ancient Kansas. From a mound near Lindsborg was obtained, by one of the professors in Bethany College, a frag- ment of Spanish chain mail, dating back, perhaps, to Coronado; and from a point on the Arkansas river, near Garden City, a peace medal, bearing on one side a medallion of President Van Buren, and the words "Martin Van Buren, President of the United States, A. D. 1837." On the obverse, a soldier's hand clasping the hand of an Indian, over which are a tomahawk --- and pipe crossed, and the words, "Peace and Friendship." Chain Mail.




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