USA > Kansas > Republic County > A history of Republic County, Kansas, embracing a full and complete account of all the leading events in its history, from its first settlement down to June 1st, 1883 > Part 2
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The train camped for the last time in the valley at that point in Republic county where the old military road left the Republican and struck across the prairie for the Little Blue, more than one hundred miles from Fort Riley. This point was at, or near, the present site of Republic City. Just as the train was hitching up to roll out of camp in the early morning, the Indians charged, shouting through the train, and shooting in every direction, to stampede the stock and drive the owners from the train. All was disorder and confusion, and little resistance was made. They fled from the train, many of them just as they rose from their beds. Smith, the captain and largest owner, in attempting to escape on a horse, was shot, his body stripped of valua- bles, and mutilated in a shocking manner.
Four of the men in the train were killed, others wounded, one young woman very seriously. But plunder, not blood, was the object of the Indians ; and, as soon as the whites left the train, they left them to their fate, and ransacked the wagons. A keg of whisky found among the loading soon had the whole band engaged in a drunken revel ; but, while the emigrants saw from the hills the Indians drunk to helplessness, they dared not attempt to recapture the train
Their drunken orgies over, the Indians loaded their ponies from the train. The wagon covers were stripped off, sacks of flour, meal and dried fruit were poured on the ground that the bags might be carried away, the clothing packed on the ponies, and, driving the herd of stock, they started for their camp-wherever that might be.
The events of after years satisfied the settlers in the Republican val-
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History of Republic County.
ley that this robbery was committed by the Pawnees, nominally friend- ly, but ever ready to rob and murder when they thought it would be charged up to Siouxs, Cheyennes, and other hostile tribes on the plains.
Meanwhile, the emigrants, turned away from the train without food, or means of procuring it ; with half the men in the party killed, includ- ing the captain ; with several children, the wounded woman to care for, and ninety miles from the settlement,-were in danger of starva- tion.
Two men started for help. Without food or rest, and almost dead from exhaustion, they reached the settlement in three days, coming to the house of Moses Yonkin, in eastern Clay county. The settlement was very small, few horses were in the country, and a sack of flour was very hard to find ; but as soon as a team could be got together, bullets run, and provisions found, Moses and Wm. Yonkins and A. B. Whit- ing started up the valley, while word was sent to Fort Riley asking for help, and the country was scoured to follow those on the way ; but so scarce were horses, that in twenty miles only three could be found for the trip. And now the relief party began to meet the emigrants in bands of twos and more, the strongest first, as they straggled to- ward the settlement, but so scared, crazed and bewildered that they fled and hid away from the friends who were bringing them relief. The sixth day after the attack the relieving party found the last of the emigrants about thirty miles from the scene of the butchery. An old white-headed woman, her long hair streaming in the wind, almost borne on the shoulder of her son. he fainting from the wound of a pois- oned arrow that afterward caused his death, having on his other arm a couple of old muskets, and a fire brand in his hand, both haggard, dirty, bloody and wild,-they presented a spectacle once seen never to be forgotten. And when the certainty of help and relief came to them, their utter prostration and helplessness told as words could not the sufferings they had endured.
It is a sufficient commentary on the administration of James Buchanan, that, in a case like this, with six companies of cavalry at Fort Riley, not a man, nor a gun, nor a ration, could be had for the relief of this unfortunate party till after a handful of poor frontier set- tlers had gone out, gathered them up, and brought them to the Fort. And this is only one of many instances where frontier settlers in Kan- sas, and notably in Republic county, "stood picket" for the United States troops, who were placed near the frontier ostensibly for its pro- tection.
The survivors of these emigrants mostly returned to Arkansas, a few, however, remaining in Kansas.
RESIDENCE OF I.O. SAVAGE, FREEDOM TOWNSHIP.
TOPERA LITHOGRAPH.YG CO TOPEKA, KANSAS
大仙
CHAPTER II.
REPUBLIC COUNTY.
BOUNDARIES OF THE COUNTY DEFINED-EARLY SETTLEMENTS-FIRST SCHOOLS -EARLY MAIL FACILITIES-INDIAN DEPREDATIONS-SYWASHA SPATTY- BAT-CAPTAIN SCHOOLEY AND BROTHER WEST-SALT CREEK MILITLA- ETC., ETC.
The first mention we have of Republic county is by the Legislature of 1860, which defined its boundaries and gave it a name. It is so called from its relations to the Republican river, which enters the county near its northwestern corner, flowing a little east of south, leaving the county about eight miles east of the southwest corner. The river received its name by reason of the fact that at one time the band of Pawnee Indians called the "Pawnee Republic" had its principal village and seat of government in its valley. The bounda- ries of the county, as fixed by the Legislature of 1860, are as follows : Commencing at a point where the sixth principal meridian intersects the base line of the State of Kansas ; thence south on said sixth prin- cipal meridian, to the township line between townships four and five, south ; thence west with said township line, to the range line between ranges five and six, west of sixth principal meridian; thence north with said range line, to the base line of the State of Kansas; thence east on said base line, to the place of beginning. These boundaries have never been changed; and the idea, entertained by some of our citizens, that the county originally embraced a larger area, and that one tier of townships on the south had been detached from Republic and attached to Cloud county, is erroneous. The county is as large to-day as it has ever been, being thirty miles from east to west, and twenty-four from north to `south, containing seven hundred and twenty square miles, and is located in what is popularly called the " northern tier," immediately south of the fortieth parallel of north latitude, and west of the sixth principal meridian. It is bounded on the north by Thayer and Nuckols counties, Nebraska, on the east by Washington, on the south by Cloud, and on the west by Jewell county. It is one hundred and twenty-five miles, on an air line, west of the Missouri river, and ninety miles northwest of the geographical center of the United States. We think the above sufficiently definite to enable future immigrants to find the county without the aid of guide-boards on their hats.
2
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History of Republic County.
Daniel and Conrad Meyers were the first white settlers of Republic county, Daniel settling upon the E } of NE } and E 3 of the SE & of section 1, town 4 south, range 3 west, and Conrad taking W 3 of N W # and W } of SW } of section 6, town 4 south, range 2 west, where he now resides.
These settlements were made the 28th of February, 1861. The nearest white settlement, at that time, was at Lake Sibley, in Cloud county, which did not prove permanent on account of Indian depre- dations. Conrad Meyers is the only one of the early settlers who did not, at any time, leave the county on account of the Indian troubles, and for more than four weeks during the spring of 1861 was the only white person in Republic county. The nearest post-office at that time was at Manhattan, eighty miles away ; and it is not, perhaps, neces- sary to state that Mr. Meyers did not at that time take the daily papers.
Daniel Meyers built the first dwelling house in September, 1861, a comfortable log structure, in which he lived during his entire residence in this county. John Meyers, a cousin, came with Daniel and Conrad, but did not take up any land. He died the last of April, 1861, being the first white settler who died in the county.
The next settler after the two Mr. Meyers was James G. Tuthill, who arrived at Salt Marsh, now Seapo, on the 10th day of June, 1861, and located on the NW } of section 28, town 4 south, range 2 west, where he still resides. On the day of his arrival, he eut and hauled four logs for the foundation of a house, intending to build at onee, but was obliged to return to Jefferson county, Kansas, his former home, on account of the serious illness of his hired man, where he re- mained until July 1st, when he returned with four men, intending to complete the building of his house as speedily as possible. Again was he disappointed, one of his men being so unfortunate as to have a bug crawl into one of his ears on the night of his arrival; and, having no means of removing the same, and fearing the same would prove fatal, necessitated the return of the entire party to Jefferson county. Mr. Tuthill then employed C. M. Way, a resident, at that time, of Jeffer- son county, to come on and complete his house ; Mr."Way, arriving at the Marsh August 16th, 1861, but finding the country swarming with Indians, returned at once to Clifton, where a small settlement had already been made.
Mr. Tuthill remained in Jefferson county until the latter part of September, 1861, when he again set out for Republie county, bringing his family and two good men as help with him, arriving at the Marsh
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History of Republic County.
October 1st, and built that fall two houses of logs, each 18x20 feet. Next to Mr. Meyers, these were the first buildings erected in the county.
The winter of 1861-62 was yery mild, no snow or rain falling, and little freezing weather, no ice forming thicker than a knife blade. The spring opened very early, and Mr. Tuthill broke ten acres of prairie at the Marsh in February, 1862, and had his garden all made by the 10th of March. He had a splendid garden that year, melons being ripe on the 4th of July. On Sunday after the 4th, about 6,000 Indians,-principally Pawnees, Iowas and Otoes,-camped near Mr. Tuthill's place, and harvested his melons and other garden truck most successfully, but offered no violence to himself or family. After everything on the place had been stolen, the chief in command placed a double guard around the garden patch. This action of the chief was very considerate, and highly appreciated by Mr. Tuthill after his property had been stolen.
The next settlers were James VanNatta and Wm. Harshberger, the former settling on the NW } of section 19, town 3-2, on the 10th day of March, 1862, and the latter on the SW } of same section and same date. David and John Cory came in April of the same year, settling on Salt Creek near Mr. Meyers, and are still living on the land first taken.
The same spring a settlement was made on White Rock Creek, by Mr. Philip Keyser, on what is now known as the Fisher farm. Key- ser had been here but two months when the creek overflowed its banks, and swept over the bottom to the depth of four feet or more, and continued this way for nearly two weeks. Until very recently, the driftwood at the foot of the hills indicated the hight of the water. The water in this creek has not been as high since by five feet. Mr. Keyser left as soon as the water fell so he could go, not liking that kind of a drouth.
In the fall of 1863, S. M. Fisher, James Reed and one Clark, a preacher, homesteaded the land now owned by Fisher, Johnson and Lovewell, and remained upon it until the spring of 1864. That spring the Pawnees and Cheyennes had a battle on the (town site of White Rock, which resulted in the death of one of the Pawnee braves named Sywasha Spattybat, the first blood known to have been spilled in White Rock township. The presence of large numbers of Indians, and their hostile demonstrations, so alarmed the settlers that they all left, and no further settlement was attempted until the spring of 1866, when Thomas Lovewell and others came back to stay.
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History of Republic County.
But to return to the settlement on Salt Creek. In the fall of 1862, Isaac M. Schooley settled on the NW 1 of section 7, town 4 south, 2 west, and made homestead entry No. 54 on the same, January 17th, 1863, and made final proof on the same September 10th, 1870. Dan- iel Meyers made entry No. 55 on the E } of NE } and E } of SE 1 of section 1, town 4 south, range 3 west, on the 17th day of January, 1863, and made final proof January 17th, 1868, being exactly five years from the date of his homestead papers. Thus it appears that Capt. Schooley made the first final proof in the county by reason of five years' continuons residence on the land, and the eighth one in the land district., the office being at that time located at Junction City.
John Cory made final proof on the W 3 of the SW & of section 7, and the W 3 of the NW } of section 18, town 4 south, range 2 west, with land warrant, on the 5th day of October, 1864, thus becoming the first real-estate tax-payer in the county.
The first prairie broken was by Daniel and Conrad Meyers in March, 1861. The population of the county, according to the census of 1861, was 5. In 1862 this number was augmented by the arrival of Dayid and John Cary, James VanNatta and family, making a total of 13 at the close of that year. Rev. R. P. West came to Republic county in October, 1863, and settled on the NW } of section 18, town 3 south, range 2 west. The entire population of the county at that time was 47. Conrad Meyers paid $2.89 taxes in May, 1864, for the tax of 1863, which was the first paid in the county. The first white child born was Lincoln, son of Daniel and Matilda Meyers, September 15th, 1861.
The first persons married in the county were Sidney S. Way and Madora Tuthill, at Salt Marsh, near the present town site of Seapo. They were joined in the holy bonds by a United Brethren preacher from Nebraska named Pring, in December, 1864. Edward Enoch and a Miss Johnson were the second couple married, this marriage being solemnized by Rev. R. P. West, in May, 1865.
The first school- house was built in the summer of 1867, and the first school was taught in the fall of the same year by Margaret Tate, a married lady, and oldest daughter of J. G. Tuthill. This school was taught in Jefferson township, in a house bought of one of the pioneers, named Peter Moe, and finished up for a school-house ; and, in later years, occupied by W. P. Peake as a granary. There has been some dispute about this first school-house business, and the above we give on the authority of Bro. West, who has carefully investigated the matter, and reports as above stated.
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History of Republic County.
The first school district that was laid off' or formed was six miles wide and twelve long, embracing all the territory occupied by the first settlers. On the division of this district, by some mistake or other, that part having the first school-house, and where the first school was taught, was named No. 2, and district No. 1 was formed from territory lying next on the south.
During the war the growth of the county was very slow, scarcely averaging five families a year, the settlement of the country west of the sixth principal meridian being regarded as an experiment only. The only soldiers from Republic county in the war of the rebellion were Ezra Spencer Cary, son of our esteemed fellow citizen, David Cary, who enlisted at Ft. Riley as a private in company C, 21 Kan- sas Cavalry, August 27th, 1863, served a little more than a year, and died at Springfield, Mo., March 9th, 1864, of disease contracted in the service, and Wm. Harshberger, before mentioned, who, from the best information we can get, enlisted soon after leaving the county, and, on the 8th of April, 1865, was commissioned by the President as second lieutenant in the 5th U. S. volunteers.
As before stated, the nearest post-office was at Manhattan, 80 miles from the settlement on Salt Creek, and more than 100 from the settlement on White Rock ; and, about twice a month, some one of the settlers made this pilgrimage for the mail, and to procure flour and groceries for the settlement. The mail was brought to the residence of J. E. Van Natta, and from there distributed. This continued until the summer of 1863, when the mail route was extended to Fox village, now called Clifton, 20 miles distant from the nearest settle- ment in Republic county, and over 50 miles from White Rock. Two years later the line was extended to Elk Creek, now called Clyde. This extension was granted by the Government on condition that the settlers pay all the expenses of carrying and handling the mails, which they did for two years, Moses Heller, the first postmaster at Elk Creek, having the contract for the same. The office was kept in a stovepipe hat, the weekly mail never being sufficient to fill the hat half full. In 1868 the line was extended to Salt Marsh, and James G. Tuthill appointed postmaster, this being the first post-office established in Republic county.
The gospel of peace was first proclaimed in Republic county by Wm. Harshberger, a Methodist Episcopal preacher, who came to the county with J. E. Van Natta in March, 1862, and preached his first sermon at Mr. Van Natta's house in April following, to a small congregation, we judge, as the population of the county did not exceed
History of Republic County.
13 at that time. From what we can learn of the Rev. Mr. Harsh- berger, we are inclined to the opinion that he was not possessed of a superabundance of piety, his religion probably being of that sort which would not well bear transportation across the Missouri river. His place was soon filled, however, by R. P. West, who commenced preaching in October, 1862, and who has preached more sermons in Republic county than any other man living. Still, his work was not confined to this county alone, but embraced a large scope of country, his circuit being more extensive than is usually assigned to Methodist preachers. As near as we can learn, his circuit was bounded on the north by the Platte river, on the east by the Missouri, on the south by the Kaw, and on the west by the Rocky Mountains.
John Harris, jr., and James Swan were the first settlers on Mill creek, in the eastern part of the county, locating ou section 4, in Rich- land township, March 5th, 1866, Mr. Harris taking a homestead on the N } of NW } of section 4, and Swan filing on the NE } of the same section. This land was, at that time, within the limits of the old survey of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, their route at that time being up the Republican river, but was changed to the Smoky Hill route in the summer of that year.
The next settler to arrive in this part of the county was Edwin Enoch, who settled on the NE { of section 2, Richland township, in April, 1866. The next were by Z. P. Rowe and Jacob Hull, who came the same summer. M. H. Harper, Henry Willoughby, Wm. Oliver, and Samuel Elder came in the fall of the same year, Harper making settlement in the north part of Elk Creek township, and the others in the south part of Richland. John Swan came in the fall of 1867, Joe Long and Ira McIntyre in the fall of 1868.
The nearest post-office at that time was Haddam, in Washington county, ten miles distaut from this settlement. In the spring of 1868, an office was established at Cuba, and Z. P. Rowe appointed post- master. This was the second post-office established in Republic county.
A school was started in the fall of 1867, tanght by Miss McBride, in school district No. 4. This school district embraced a territory of nine by fifteen miles, and a school population of eighteen at the time of its organization.
John Harris was the first reporter of agricultural statistics from the county, reporting to the Commissioner of Agriculture at Washington for the years 1868 and 1869. He was also one of the first board of county commissioners, being appointed by Gov. Crawford in
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History of Republic County.
September, 1868. The Indians were not troublesome in this neigh- borhood, but confined their operations to the settlements farther west.
On the 15th of May, 1867, Thomas Register and his two sons, Job and Robert, and one daughter, made a settlement on Rose creek, in what is now Rose Creek township. This was the first settlement attempted in the northeastern portion of the county. During the summer of 1867, serious apprehensions of an Indian raid were anticipated, so much so that Mr. Register and family, and a few other settlers, left their claims, and went some miles down the creek into Nebraska, where, in company with the settlers of that region, they erected a stockade or fort, and where they remained for several weeks. Joh and Robert Register are still living in Rose Creek township.
During the war, and even as far down as 1869 and 1870, the set- tlers were almost constantly harassed by the Indians, their crops destroyed, cattle and horses driven off, and occasionally a settler butchered.
The first organized armed resistance to these depredations was made in September, 1864, a company of militia having been formed, comprising about fifty men, all mounted, each man furnishing his own horse, saddle and bridle,-made up of the early settlers of what is now the counties of Clay, Cloud, Washington and Republic, com- manded by Captain I. M. Schooley, with headquarters at Elk Creek, now called Clyde. The arms and ammunition for this company were furnished by the General Government, drawing the same at Fort Riley, the nearest military post. The arms were old and condemned, and consisted of Enfield, Springfield, Harper's Ferry muskets, some smooth bore, some rough bore, and some with scarcely any bore at all; but all were considered good enough for the pioneers of Republic county to fight Indians with. At the time arms were drawn, thirty days' rations were furnished, consisting of bacon and hard tack ; and so this little independent command was placed on a war footing.
Capt. Schooley held a commission from Gov. Robinson, and seems to have been chosen to this distinction on account of gallant services rendered in Missouri, or some other place, in the early part of the war. He also seems to have been an exceedingly prudent and careful commander, seldom, if ever, exceeding the authority vested in him by virtue of his commission.
These were troublesome days, and many a feat of noble daring remains to be recorded by the historian, and to be graphically told in ballad and poem. Kansas has her tales of border Indian warfare
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History of Republic County.
awaiting the pen of the novelist, and her chivalrous deeds awaiting the poet's rehearsal.
When our future romancer shall come, one incident at least, con- nected with the early history of Republic county, will court his atten- tion, and render the valley of the Republican as romantic as the high- lands of Scotland. It was in the autumn of 1864, when Capt. Schooley and his command were preparing for a campaign up the Republican river, and when the little band of heroic souls was drawn up on the banks of the stream preparatory to starting. Yes, heroes ! ye readers of tales of chivalry resonant with the clashing of swords against mailed armor, and bedecked with gaudy plumes! these hardy, rudely clad frontiersmen, mounted on their horses taken from the plow, were as great heroes as any you read of in your romances; and, though no fine court ladies bade these brave men adieu, they saw around them wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, whose lives and homes were to be protected from ruthless savages. The time for departure had arrived. The gallant captain, seated on a noble charger, addressed his company from a little eminence in front ; and, as the locklets from his finely formed forehead floated on the morning breeze, and the burning words fell from his determined lips, all felt that the leader was worthy of his trust, and that he was every inch a hero.
In that company stood every male inhabitant of lawful age, and in close proximity stood the women of their households. Good-bye came at last, and heart-rending cries and sobs rent the air. The sun looked down with a calm, autumnal smile upon the brown prairie, and the gentle Kansas zephyrs sighed, scarcely heard over the placid stream. Life seemed beautiful and good ; but, alas! man ever mars the har- mony established by the Creator, and here on this beautiful morning and on this lonely spot, stood a band of men in the very prime of life's enjoyment, preparing to rush into the jaws of a cruel death. Alas ! with so intrepid a leader, much danger must be encountered, many a brave one must fall, and many a fair face must be mutilated by savage hands. Shrieks and sobs rent the air, and wives and children and gray-haired mothers clung to the noble men with the grasp of despair. Only one woman among them all manifested no emotion. The captain's wife stood unmoved amid all this scene of sorrowing, and reminds us of one of Sparta's noble dames. She was a noble woman, and worthy to be the wife of the gallant leader of his fellows. No sign of grief, or fear, or sadness, did she betray. Not a word escaped her lips until the' troops were about to start, and were already drawn up in live ; then she waved ber hand to the women to
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